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Monday, December 3, 2018
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No Loss November
Michigan finished off its perfect November with a win over North Carolina, then defeated Purdue to start December on the right foot.
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CAMPUS LIFE
First Arab sorority EAS forms ‘U’ chapter HANNAH SIEGEL/Daily
Epsilon Alpha Sigma, reveals new class of recruits Friday evening in Angell Hall
Students gather on the Diag for a vigil to remember the victims of the Borderline shooting Saturday afternoon.
Students, community remember victims of California shooting
Attendents held signs reading “Remember Borderline” and “Never Again” ALEX HARRING Daily Staff Reporter
Braving light rain and harsh winds with signs reading “Remember Borderline” and “Never Again”, approximately 20 University of Michigan students, faculty and community members
congregated on the Diag for a vigil Saturday afternoon in honor of those lost to gun violence. Music, Theatre & Dance freshman Olivia Johnson organized the vigil, hosted by Arts in Color, in response to a shooting near her hometown in Thousand Oaks, Calif. According to CNN,
the shooting transpired at Borderline Bar & Grill on Nov. 7 and left 13, including the gunman and a sheriff’s deputy, dead. It was “college night” at the Westernstyle bar, meaning entry was open to anyone over the age of 18 and the crowd included many patrons from area universities. Johnson attended Newbury
Park High School in Thousand Oaks and said she used to go to the bar with her friends on Wednesdays — the same day of the week as the shooting — for 18-and-over night.
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ZAYNA SYED
Daily Staff Reporter
Around 8:12 p.m. Friday, the Epsilon Alpha Sigma Sorority, is the University of Michigan’s first Arab sorority, dubbed the Empowered Arab Sisterhood, revealed its first class of new recruits. The seven girls recruited, the “Al-Afdal line,” marched into Auditorium D in Angell Hall, yelling “We’re the girls of Arab countries!” in Arabic. As the girls were revealed, a founding member of the sorority’s chapter at the University removed a pink bandana from each girl’s eyes and wrapped a flag from their
country of origin around her shoulders. Arab music blared as the girls announced themselves to the audience. “I’m number nine, the leader of my line, and my name is Maria Ulayyet,” one newly initiated sister said. “My sisters know me as bint al-sham (Daughter of Sham-Damascus) and I’m from Damascus, Syria, the oldest capital in the whole world.” “My name is Layla Jawad, my sisters know me as Amena,” another sister said. “I’m from Lebanon and I am one of the only Arab women in the Ross School of Business.”
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HIV Monologues aims to educate, Minimum Professor wage laws erase stigmas surrounding diagnosis discovers
GOVERNMENT
RESEARCH
scaled back by Senate
University Black Student Union and Creatives of Color co-sponsor event
Bill allowing workers more sick leave voted down, to move to State House
In honor of World AIDS Day, the National Council for Negro Women, the Black Student Union and Creatives of Color presented the HIV Monologues Sunday night to teach students and faculty about the disease that affects millions of people around the world. The Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and the University of Michigan Museum of Art co-sponsored the event, which was held at the Helmut Stern Auditorium. Using spoken-word poetry, skits, music and monologues, the monologue performers created a space to destigmatize those afflicted with the disease and educate the audience about the realities of HIV/AIDS. The night began with a moment of silence to remember the millions lost from HIV/ AIDS, followed by a question posed to the audience: Why should you care? A presentation highlighted the current reality of HIV/AIDS in the United States, which has particularly impacted the African-American community. In 2015, African Americans made up 44 percent of all new HIV diagnoses. The event then moved into the speaker section of the night. The first speaker was Nesha Haniff, an educator in the departments of women’s studies and Afroamerican and African
JULIA FORD
Daily Staff Reporter
Michigan state Senate Republicans voted to scale back minimum wage and paid sick leave laws, S.B. 1171 and 1175 last Wednesday. The bills now move to the state House of Representatives, while critics on the left mobilize to protest these and other Republicansponsored bills during the lame-duck session. The original initiatives, which would have raised the minimum wage to $12 by 2022, were supposed to appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. Instead, the state Senate adopted the proposal in September, which many Democrats worried was a maneuver to alter the bill after the election. Sociology lecturer Ian Robinson, president of the Lecturers’ Employee Organization, said because amending a ballot proposal would require a three-quarter majority in both houses, adopting the proposal made it easier for Senate Republicans to alter the bills. “If they passed it in full — See SENATE, Page 2A
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studies. Haniff’s speech centered around low representation of women in the discussion of HIV/ AIDS prevention. “The methodologies developed for women to prevent them from having HIV and STI infections are not very well developed and they are very, very unfriendly,” Haniff said. “And so, as a result, women become more vulnerable to infections like STIs and HIV.”
Haniff explained how the only options for women to protect their own bodies are to use the female condom, which can be uncomfortable and very noticeable to the partner, or to use pre-exposure prophylaxis, a drug that is difficult to access. “A lot of education breaks down in practice,” she said. “Be conscious of this problem, be educated about it, and advocate for the science that
are relevant for women’s bodies … revolutionize and change the science so that we can develop safe and important features for the new medications that we will take.” The night continued with various performances from students and faculty.
music from Auschwitz
University performed modern day tribute to music of the Holocaust REMY FARKAS
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Daily Staff Reporter
When University of Michigan Music Theory professor Patricia Hall heard of musical works potentially composed at Nazi concentration camps, she began her research into the sounds of Auschwitz. During Hall’s tours of the most deadly system of camps during the Holocaust last summer, she was struck by the irony of the manuscripts she analyzed. Upon deeper review, Hall decided she wanted to delve more broadly into music’s relationship with the history of the Holocaust. “I was immediately coming across highly ironic titles of popular German songs; I was so affected by them I had to stop what I was doing and stare at them to process some of these titles,” Hall said. A particularly intriguing piece Hall found was titled “The Most Beautiful Time of Life.” HANNAH SIEGEL/Daily
Dr. Nesha Haniff speaks at HIV Monologues presented by the National Council for Negro Women, the Black Student Union and Creatives of Color Sunday night.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 42 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
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News
2A — Monday, December 3, 2018
MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers
TUESDAY: By Design
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WEDNESDAY: This Week in History
THURSDAY: Twitter Talk
Bright Line Watch, a team of political scientists, The Central Campus Recreation recently released a study showing that Republicans, Building renovation, Democrats and independents are all more likely to
After 25 years of business,
Ann Arbor’s MD Bagel Fragel is being forced to move.
support candidates that respect
scheduled to begin in 2021, has a
Underground Printing launched a
independent legal investigations.
$150 million
University of Michigan Mcity Test Facility researchers are using
budget and will hold
16 acres
200,000 square feet.
of roads and traffic infrastructure on North Campus to test driverless vehicles with virtual reality.
Since University Recreational Sports employs over 600 students, CCRB employees will have to adjust to the facility closing in 2021.
FRIDAY: Behind the Story
T-shirt fundraising campaign
In a study published last month,
Dr. Victor Hong,
medical director of the University of Michigan’s Psychiatric Emergency Service, found
51 percent
of his sampled patients who had watched the the television show “13 Reasons Why” experienced
to help keep the bagel shop in business which received
100 shirt orders in the first 24 hours. Ann Arbor locals also started a GoFundMe to save MD Bagel Fragel, which had
raised $9,888 as of Sunday, Dec. 2.
their suicide risk increase
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HANNAH SIEGEL/Daily Senior David Conzelmann sings at the Friars’ annual Study Break concert in Rachkham Auditorium Friday. The Friars were founded in 1955 and are the University’s longest standing acapella group.
business and engineering, said he was taken aback by the Senate Republicans’ changes to the initiatives. “I’m shocked with the boldness with which the legislature has overturned what apparently is the public will,” Hopp said. “They passed these laws basically to prevent them from going on the ballot, then immediately after the election amended them.” Hopp said though increasing the minimum wage would cause some decrease in jobs, he thinks the benefits from a higher minimum wage would more than offset the drawbacks. “The big issue of income inequality in which we’ve seen the upper tier of the income distribution gain hugely over the past decade, while the bottom has stagnated,” Hopp said. “These minimum wage increases do bring up the
bottom of the distribution, and so I think we’re losing a significant opportunity to get more people to a living took it off the ballot initiative wage in the state of Michigan, — they could then modify it and what we’re getting in at a later date with a simple return is a very tiny boost in majority just like any other employment.” law that’s passed,” Robinson Maria Ibarra-Frayre, said. “So this kind of enabled the Southeastern Michigan them to do it, then they rushed Regional Organizer for We to do it during lame duck the People Michigan, has because this is the last period been educating citizens on of time they have before Gov. the lame duck session and the Whitmer will take over, and bills state Republicans are she would without a doubt trying to pass. Ibarra-Frayre veto any efforts to change this said the legislature’s cuts to minimum wage law.” minimum wage increases After the changes, S.B. will harm working families, 1711 raises the minimum many of whom have been wage to $12 by 2030 instead told their source of economic of 2022. It also raises the difficulties is caused by other tipped minimum wage to $4 disadvantaged groups. instead of merging it with the “I think this is hurting a standard $12 minimum wage. lot of working families, who Because the ballot proposal have been struggling for received enough signatures years, who have been fed this to appear on the Nov. 6 ballot, narrative that the reason why Sudoku Syndication Wallace Hopp, a professor of they’re struggling is because some other marginalized community is to blame,” Ibarra-Frayre said. LSA junior Austin McIntosh, communications chair HARD for the University’s chapter of the College Republicans, said he does not think the government should mandate how businesses pay their employees at all. “I don’t believe in the minimum wage,” McIntosh said. “I don’t believe that there’s any unfair wage in the United States because nobody forces you to take the job.” Along with his libertarian principles, McIntosh also opposes a minimum wage increase because a higher minimum wage can compel employers to hire fewer © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. ROCK CAFE puzzle by sudokusyndication.com employees and increase employment of workers with higher skills.
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“Another thing is half of ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY and ASHLEY ZHANG the people that get minimum Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com wage are teenagers or young Senior Opinion Editors: Tara Jayaram, Joel Danilewitz, Jeremy Kaplan, Ben adults living with their Charlson, Magdalena Mihaylova parents,” McIntosh said. MIKE PERSAK and LANEY BYLER “Historically, when we raise Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com the minimum wage, we put Senior Sports Editors: Mark Calcagno, Robert Hefter, Max Marcovitch, Anna those people out of work Marcus, Paige Voeffray because businesses start to Assistant Sports Editors: Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Matthew Kennedy, Tien Le, Ethan Sears, Jacob Shames, Avi Sholkoff hire more adults, more older people.” DANIELLE YACOBSON and MADELEINE GAUDIN Though Hopp recognizes Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com the opposition by some Senior Arts Editors: Becky Portman, Sam Rosenberg, Arya Naidu, Dominic business owners to higher Polsinelli Arts Beat Editors: Jack Brandon, Fallon Gates, Shima Sadaghiyani, Tess Garcia, labor costs, he said now would Sofia Lynch be an opportune time to raise the minimum wage. ROSEANNE CHAO and CASEY TIN “I’m sure that big employers Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com like it at the margin, it’s less Senior Design Editor: Jack Silberman costly for sure,” Hopp said. ALEXIS RANKIN and KATELYN MULCAHY “On the other hand, we’ve Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com seen 10 years of economic Senior Photo Editors: Amelia Cacchione, Emma Richter, Evan Aaron, Claire Meingast Assistant Photo Editors: Alice Liu, Darby Stipe, Max Kuang, Ryan McLoughlin, growth, we have a very, very Alec Cohen low unemployment. If we were going to do this kind of BRIAN KUANG thing, now would have been Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com the time to do it.” Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford, Jennifer Meer After the changes, S.B. 1175 http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ FINN STORER and ELISE LAARMAN allows workers to have one Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com hour of paid sick leave per 40 Senior Copy Editors: Emily Stillman, Allie Bopp, Miriam Francisco hours of work instead of per 30 ROBERT LESSER and JORDAN WOLFF hours of work. Similar to his Managing Online Editors lesserrc@michigandaily.com view on minimum wage laws, Senior Web Developers: Patricia Huang, Abna Panda, Hassaan Ali Wattoo, Rebecca Tung McIntosh does not believe the government should decide NOAH TAPPEN Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com how many hours of paid Senior Video Editors: Abe Lofy, Robby Weinbaum, Jillian Drzinski, Danielle Kim sick leave businesses should provide their employees. JASON ROWLAND and ASHLEY TJHUNG “If a company wants to Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com offer sick leave, yeah, why Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Zainab Bhindarwala, not?” McIntosh said. “But I Christian Paneda, Nisa Khan, Na’kia Channey Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Angelo McKoy, Kareem Shunnar, Maya don’t think the government Mokh, Efe Osagie, Samuel So has to mandate it.” In addition to benefiting KAYLA WATERMAN and CARRINGTON TUBMAN Managing Social Media Editors the sick employee, IbarraFrayre said offering an AVERY FRIEDMAN adequate amount of paid Managing Podcast Editor sick leave hours is essential to maintaining healthy workplaces. ADRIANNA KUSMIERCZYK Creative Director “In reality, who wants to CAMERON COANE DEANA ZHU have a sick employee come Sales Manager Special Projects Manager to their place of work and JEFFREY ZHANG MARIO DRESAJ then get everyone else sick?” Local Accounts Manager Brand Manager Ibarra-Frayre said. “If you ALEC SPELLER ROHIT IYER working at a restaurant and Marketing Consulting Manager Business Development Manager you’re there, that’s a liability The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the for everyone which can be so
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Monday, December 3, 2018— 3A
Controversy in the League: Reclaiming our Swastik RIYA KUMAR MiC Contributor
As a senior entering my last semester of undergrad, I’ve taken a lot of time to reflect on what experiences of mine have been the most memorable these past four years. Close to the top of my list has been my job since freshman year at the Conference and Event Services of the University Unions. It helped me discover one of my most important spaces on campus, one that many students pass by every day without a second thought. As both a student staff member and student representative to the Michigan League Board of Governors, the Michigan League is a place I consider a home. Tucked among the many historical relics and steeped in the building’s history of the first space for women on the University of Michigan’s campus is the Blagdon Room — one of my favorites for its antique feel and beautiful stained glass windows. Another reason I feel so at peace in this room is the room’s historical purpose as a non-
denominational religious space. Among the stained glass windows are depictions of many world religions — including symbols such as the Star of David and the Christian Cross. A prominent figure at the League shared a powerful quote with me from the original architects of the building. Irving and Allen Pond noted: “The room is to appeal to individuals of all shades of belief, or non-belief; to anyone who desired in contemplative spirit, touched with humility, to place herself in harmony with the universe.” It is with the Blagdon Room’s original purpose and meaning in mind that I take offense to a request to University President Mark Schlissel, made by a group of students in early November, to remove one of my religion’s most sacred symbols – which has since the 1920s occupied a pane on one of the stained glass windows. As a Hindu, the Swastik (S-vasthik) or Swastika (S-vas-thik-a) is very important to me. This clockwise rotated cross with four dots in each quadrant is an essential
sign of Hinduism. Celebrations and prayers are incomplete without the Swastik. It symbolizes the sun and is an auspicious symbol used as a good luck charm in many aspects of Hindu life. In my house, a Swastik along with a symbol that resembles the number 3 called Om or Aum – they’re also frequently seen on the sides of yoga studios and interfaith bumper stickers. These symbols greet visitors as a way of welcoming them into our home and are used to prevent negative energy and evil from entering my family’s space. Historically, Om and the Swastika have been held as equally important spiritual relics necessary to mark occasions of happiness and allow for the influx of positive energy wherever they are placed. While the Om symbol is commonly tattooed on non-Hindus, viewed as a sign of peace and even a symbol of hippie culture, my family and other Hindus have been forced to decrease our use of the Swastik sign and feel ashamed and embarrassed by it because the symbol was culturally appropriated in the 1930s. This symbol belongs to my
people, but I’ve faced questions about its relation to Nazism my entire life. It’s important the general population knows the symbols have no relation to one another. The Nazi swastika (swas-tik-a) is black and turned on a 45-degree angle. This is different from the Hindu Swastika that is not turned on an angle and is typically made out of gold or is colored red. The Nazi swastika has been in use since the 1930s while the Hindu Swastika use has been documented as early as 500 B.C.!! However, like many other elements of Indian culture, the Swastik was stolen by white supremacists to erase our existence and culture and replace it with their own ideology. My job on the Michigan League Board of Governors is to serve as an adviser to the director of the League and promote the heritage of the building. With this responsibility in mind, I think it would be a great shame to remove the window. While I understand the pain and violence that has been perpetuated under similar symbols, I urge University leadership to stop the stigmatization of the Hindu symbol
SADHANA RAMASESHADRI/Daily
by keeping the pane up alongside labels with explanations of all the religious symbols in the Blagdon Room and the significance of the room as a whole. It’s important that students on this campus understand the symbol has a huge cultural significance and positive meaning
that represents a good proportion of students on this campus. It is not fair to those like myself that hold this symbol sacred to have it stolen away from us once again. Let us be represented on this campus and have it be an educational experience for all others.
Why I don’t feel American, Unpaid internships in MI even though I’m Puerto Rican ZAINAB BHINDARWALA Senior MiC Editor
NATALIA SANCHEZ MiC Columnist
Here’s the thing about identities and labels: in some instances, they’re placed upon your shoulders even if you have a hard time relating to them. It’s not anyone’s fault; it’s just how society works nowadays. When you remotely resemble or align with a certain group, that label and identity is painted bright red on your forehead because the idea of a “middle ground” (of being a hybrid of sorts, a melting pot of different identities that combine to form another different and unique one) is still not entirely accepted as an actual identity. Let me explain a little more. The other day, I was studying in the aptly labeled “Sky Lounge” of my apartment building. I have a pair of noise-canceling headphones I like to wear while I work, so I can focus better and drown out unwanted distractions. Unfortunately, after wearing them for a while they start hurting my ears, so I take them off from time to time. During one of these breaks, I accidentally overheard a conversation between two girls a few feet away from me. One of the girls was talking about how, even though her entire family is from the Philippines, she doesn’t feel comfortable identifying as such. She’s lived her entire life in the United States, only speaks English, never visited the Philippines and her parents never taught her about the culture. In essence, she just feels American, but everyone calls her Filipino because of her roots and because of her looks. Is that right? Is that wrong? Should she accept she’s both or that she’s only one? It’s a very complicated topic
that hasn’t been discussed as much as it should. I don’t think I know what the correct answer is, but I do understand where she’s coming from, in a way, because I feel the same. At first glance, I look American. I’ve got white, slightly tanned skin, and I speak English perfectly. Back home people confuse me for a “gringa” (Spanish slang for mainland American) all the time.
It irritates me to no end having to say, “No, no, I’m Puerto Rican, not American,” which is absurd because ... I’m both
And I hate it, completely despise it. It irritates me to no end having to say, “No, no, I’m Puerto Rican, not American,” which is kind of absurd because in reality I’m both. Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States; I have an American passport; I am American, right? But I’m an American who was born in Puerto Rico. So why the discomfort? Why shouldn’t I just accept it? Because, unlike the girl I mentioned above, I grew up and still live in Puerto Rico. My first language is Spanish; my music is reguetón, salsa y merengue; my sport is soccer, not football; my national anthem is “La Borinqueña”; and my flag has one single, bright, shining
star in it. Because I grew up in a place that many mainland Americans are unaware of — that many don’t even realize is actually national, and not classified as international. Because I’ve been asked if I need sponsorship for a work visa, if I have a student visa; because, even though it has a spot in Congress, Puerto Rico doesn’t have a voice or a vote. Because I saw how the United States treated Puerto Rico after hurricanes Maria and Irma; because I witnessed how the media failed to account for the actual death toll of the hurricanes until a year after the disaster; how they completely stopped reporting on the state of the island a little less than a week after the storms had struck; how the president of the United States (and of Puerto Rico — it’s a colony of the United States, therefore under the same governing body) threw paper towels in an absurd attempt to aid the islanders after the disasters. Why should I feel American if all that I have witnessed recently and for my entire life is how terribly the United States has treated Puerto Rico? Are my feelings right? Are they unjustifiable? Are they wrong? I’m not going to pretend that I know what the correct answer is because I honestly don’t. I just hope that you finish reading this and are willing to speak up more on the idea surrounding the identities people are born into and the ones they align with, because in some cases, they’re different. Given all the conversations and discussions that have surfaced in the past two years or so around the topic of immigrants and immigration, it should be taken into consideration.
This summer, LSA senior Zainab Bhindarwala interned at a congresswoman’s office and an advocacy-based legal nonprofit. How did you hear about your internships? I found both of my internships on Handshake. However, after submitting my application to the congresswoman’s office, I didn’t hear from them for a few weeks. I decided to “bump” my email in their inbox, and the internship coordinator replied to my follow-up saying he “likes my style” and wants to set up an interview. Lesson learned: If you know you want an internship, don’t be afraid to let them know you’re still interested! Finding interns isn’t every organization’s first priority, so if you don’t bug them about your application, you could lose a really great opportunity. What made you want to apply? I knew I wanted to have a meaningful internship experience this summer, but I didn’t want to go back to D.C. My motivation behind applying for the internship with the Congresswoman was to have a more “political” experience. I had a little bit of exposure to nonprofits already and I knew I needed to learn more about different sectors, especially since I want to be employed a year from now. My motivation for applying to the nonprofit was because I thought it was the perfect type of organization for me to work in post-graduation. I didn’t realize it when I applied, but their Michigan office is actually in my hometown and the congresswoman’s district office wasn’t too far away either, so it was easy for me to do both internships. What are your favorite
memories from your experience? I didn’t intend on having two internships this summer – I really just wanted one. However, after accepting the position at the nonprofit, I was told they only wanted interns to come in two days a week. A couple days later I got a call from the congresswoman’s office and it seemed like fate for my top two internships to line up so perfectly. I worked three days a week at the congresswoman’s
I realized that some of the elitist culture in social justice spaces on college campuses remains in the workforce district office, and two days a week at the nonprofit. I even got a scholarship from U of M for my internship with the congresswoman, so things ended up working out pretty well. My favorite memory from my summer internships is probably the connections I made with the other interns. This summer, the congresswoman had 14 interns! There were so many of us in the office and at times it got a little crowded, but I loved getting to know everyone and learning about what brought each of us there and where we intended to go in the future. We were all at different stages in our lives – some of us were in college, one intern was in law school and some were in high school! I loved talking to the younger interns about my college experiences, and offering a little bit of mentorship on what college is like. What is the culture like
where you interned? The office culture at both of my internships was pretty laid-back. I expected the congresswoman’s office to be much more strict, but since it was a district office and the congresswoman was in D.C. most of the time anyway, people were pretty relaxed and interns were given plenty of time to get to know each other and collaborate on projects. It wasn’t the competitive and networking-oriented environment that I experienced in D.C., and it was a nice change. The culture at the nonprofit was a huge surprise. It was perhaps even more laid-back than at the congresswoman’s office, and yet I was still always sitting on the edge of my seat. I realized that some of the elitist culture in social justice spaces on college campuses still remains in the workforce. The nonprofit does incredible work, and that’s what made me want to intern there in the first place, but the behind-the-scenes intern experience was a little different than what they posted on social media. Any advice for prospective interns interested in public service? When you’re working in an unpaid internship, it’s important to remember that while you want to maintain a professional attitude, you don’t owe the organization anything more than that. If you’re being asked to do work that’s outside of the internship that you applied for, speak up. If you are unhappy with the way you are being treated or uncomfortable with the workplace environment, bring up your concerns with your supervisor. If they aren’t responsive, then know that you don’t owe them your time. They aren’t paying you, and if interning there is doing you more harm than good, you shouldn’t feel obligated to stay.
Being an intern in Washington, D.C. as an Asian American ASHLEY TJHUNG Managing MiC Editor
Public Policy senior Ashley Tjhung interned at Vital Voices Global Partnership, a global women’s empowerment organization, in Washington, D.C. last summer. While in D.C., she was also a Public Service Scholar at the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a pipeline of Asian American, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in public service. As a CAPAL scholar, she received a $3,000 scholarship, professional development opportunities and completed a
Community Action Project with members of her cohort. How did you hear about your internship? I found a posting for Vital Voices on the University of Michigan Handshake site. Handshake is … a lot and it can be easy to be overwhelmed by all the postings. However, I found it useful to find positions at organizations I wasn’t aware of before searching. For CAPAL, I was referred by the lovely Areeba Haider (former MiC senior editor). She had previously also been a CAPAL scholar and recommended the program as a great way for AANHPIs to afford to work at an unpaid internship. What made you want to apply?
As a public policy major, I knew I wanted to be in D.C. for the summer, but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I applied to Vital Voices on a whim and luckily, I got it! For CAPAL, I knew I needed to find funding to afford D.C. and unfortunately, the Ford School does not offer great internship funds for undergrads. I also was interested in learning more about what issues and organizing AANHPIs were doing in D.C. and thought CAPAL would be a great way to meet peers and mentors. What are your favorite memories from your experience? During my internship, Sophie Otiende, one of the women in the Vital Voices network, came to speak with the staff members.
She heads an organization that advocates against the trafficking of women and girls in Kenya. One of their initiatives included training journalists about how to report on trafficking and to empower survivors to claim their narratives. While the program functions in a different context, it was amazing to hear how similar the principles of that program are to Michigan in Color. Her parting wisdom to us was that women, particularly women of color, need to write ourselves into history, because if we don’t, no one will. It is my hope that Michigan in Color is one of those platforms that ensures women of color’s contributions are not forgotten. What is the culture like where you interned?
As an intern, I appreciated the work culture at Vital Voices. The people that work there are incredibly passionate about the work that they were doing and that showed. Furthermore, the staff were highly conscious of trying to make the internship experience valuable for us. We had brown bags every week with different members of the staff to learn more about their jobs, how they got there and also some professional development opportunities. I was also impressed by the culture at CAPAL. They had a great mentorship program where I met truly amazing AANHPIs who wanted to help others succeed. Furthermore, I loved my cohort and our program lead!
Any advice for prospective interns interested in public service? The D.C. public service field is highly competitive. It was often hard for me to feel like I had a place there, especially as an Asian American. Luckily, through CAPAL, I met so many AANHPI mentors and peers who helped me figure out what I want to do in public service and were willing to make my next steps easier. Networking can feel really icky at first, but focus on making real connections with people instead of angling for a job posting. I really recommend getting involved in an affinity organization like CAPAL which makes finding mentors much easier.
Opinion
4A — Monday, December 3, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
HANK MINOR | COLUMN
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FROM THE DAILY
C
What will you do?
limate change will have incredibly damaging effects if we don’t take action against it, and soon. A new federal report released last week contradicts President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on climate change and emphasizes the economic downfalls it will cause our country in the near future. A focus on Trump’s denial, while important, ultimately distracts from the urgency of the issue, irresponsibly turning an effort to highlight the truth into political ammunition that fuels partisanship.
Climate change, like many other policy points, has unnecessarily become a partisan issue. The national assessment was released just one month after a report requested by the United Nations, both of which explain how a likely temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next 20 years will result in severe damage to coastal livelihoods, industries and ecosystems. Global warming, an issue that concerns more than one political party and more than one country, poses a vital question: How do we protect scientific data from political influence? The National Climate Assessment fulfills a 1990 congressional mandate that promoted research toward our understanding and inevitable response to climate change. The assessment warns that as a country, we’ll need to either mitigate or adapt to environmental changes, as rising temperatures will impede economic growth and extensively harm American infrastructure, agriculture and energy production. Money seemingly goes where policy tells it to, and policy does what the administration says. Trump reportedly does not call himself a believer of climate change, which, politically speaking, means it deserves no place in his national budget. If money isn’t going toward cleaning up the environment, then it goes other places, like the $210 million already spent sending troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. According to the U.N., if the same emphasis were placed on efforts toward reducing carbon emissions, further warming in the next few decades would likely be less than 0.5 degrees Celsius. Trump’s lack of policy implementation does not interfere with individual actions recommended by the U.S. and U.N. reports. As long as climate change is a partisan issue, the future of our planet will remain in the hands of whoever is elected president. Yet, our climate belongs to each of us individually and does not discriminate on partisanship.
The New York Times reports the most recent election obstructs efforts toward carbon taxes and national budget proposals, but recognizes the divisive nature of climate partisanship is faltering. In southern Florida, where rising sea levels are causing considerable
The choices you make should be made with environmental protection in mind damage, a Republican lost his seat to a Democrat for not going far enough on environmental issues. Both policy-based and individual actions are necessary to mitigate the disastrous effects of climate change. Just as we should take steps to promote sustainability and environmental health in our everyday lives, we should also advocate for policy measures and representatives that prioritize comprehensive climate policy grounded in science, evidence and facts. It is clear the effects of climate change are here. While hurricanes and forest fires are natural phenomena, Camp Fire and Hurricanes Maria, Michael and Florence were so destructive because of climate change. The ways in which climate change and sustainably-oriented climate policy have been co-opted by partisan groups minimizes the gravity of the crisis we face. Climate change should not be a partisan issue; its effects surely won’t be. At the end of the day, worsening natural disasters will uproot, displace, and harm Republicans and Democrats alike. In the face of ignorance and apathy from the Oval Office and other offices, we must continue to act. There are plenty of individual ways to make a difference: take advantage of public
transportation, eat less meat compose, and of course reduce, reuse, recycle. Identify those politicians who deny climate change, reject science-based fact and sell out to corporate interest groups. Hold accountable all those who continue to mortgage the future of our planet and our health in favor of quarterly reports and bottom lines. In name and action, be an environmentalist! It is in your best interest and in the best interest of those you love. It is easy to listen to today’s environmental discourse and become disheartened and discouraged; there is still so much to be done. Climate change will affect all of us — it is time we start acting like it. Being an environmentalist can no longer be a choice. If we want to ensure a safe future everyone must fully embrace what it means to be an environmentalist and realize that identity through our actions. We’re a nascent population that is going to have to deal with the realworld consequences of climate change, so be cognizant when making real world decisions. But this isn’t just about recycling boxes. Soon, we’ll all earn salaries as we go out into the workforce and we’ll be faced with many important decisions like what car to buy, where to work and what companies to invest in. The point is, the choices you make are important, and should be made with environmental protection in mind. Climate change is a monumental challenge, it may not seem like one individual can create change, but if every individual promoted environmentalist ideals in their actions, we would soon see a ripple effect of change. Your contribution isn’t futile; coupled with thousands, even millions of other individuals, your everyday contributions will make a difference. Despite an administration that readily rejects climate change and obstructs climate policy, it is our duty, as environmentalists, and it all starts with your decisions. So what will you do tomorrow?
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. JOIN OUR EDITORIAL BOARD Our Editorial Board meets Mondays and Wednesdays 7:15-8:45 PM at our newsroom at 420 Maynard Street. All are welcome to come discuss national, state and campus affairs.
A
The appeal of universal programs
ny mention of universal social programs inevitably devolves into discussion of their exorbitant cost and the undesirability of making programs available to people who don’t need them. In 2015, former State Secretary Hillary Clinton somewhat notoriously said, “Now, I’m a little different from those who say free college for everybody. I am not in favor of making college free for Donald Trump’s kids.” This phrasing has become the central argument against universal programs by liberals: Why would the left want to extend taxpayer funded college, health care, family leave or debt relief to “Donald Trump’s kids”—that is, the wealthy? Many articles and columns on the topic seem to miss the overall point behind universal programs, choosing to evaluate them on purely economic grounds. Overall, a means tested debt-free college program like Clinton suggested would be more cost effective, and wouldn’t waste resources on people who are generally capable of shouldering their burdens alone. The reason left wing politicians advocate big programs, though, is because they’re simple to understand and usually quite popular. Take Obamacare, for example. After its passage, most people will still get health insurance through their employers, but not everyone — thus, you can buy your own plan from the private market on a public exchange. There’s an individual mandate, so you’ll pay an extra tax come April if you fail to sign up for coverage. Not everyone can afford these new plans, though, even with the price reducing measures, so you can request subsidies through a separate process. Additionally, if you’re under 26, you can use your parents’ insurance — as long as they have a plan that qualifies under the new standard, though. Contrast this with Medicare
for All system. Everyone knows what Medicare is — health insurance — and most people who use it are satisfied. Maybe this is bad for public discourse: Bulky means-tested bills like Obamacare are either incomprehensible or can be ripped apart, despite their potential advantages. Maybe we lose something important when a large portion of Americans choose not to spend their free time poring over the latest news from Capitol Hill, but that’s the reality we’re faced with.
Where’s the utility in reminding people that their demand is impractical? Furthermore, the fundamental desire behind Obamacare and Medicare for All are the same: People want health care, and they want it to be affordable. When columnists and commentators lament the ignorance of the public (or Millennials, or liberals, or conservatives) they’re pretending people actually care about the individual facets of a bill rather than its overall effect. Where’s the utility in reminding people that some specific manifestation of their demand is impractical? Maybe it’s useful as a way to combat the surface-level appeal of big, expensive policies — people support Medicare for All, but telling them it could cost upwards of $30 trillion for America in federal spending, might dampen that enthusiasm. Matt Bruenig or other Medicarefor-All proponents will dispute the idea that such an expensive program isn’t as expensive as the status quo; around and around it goes. For most people, though, this sort of thing isn’t useful. Economic models and
“viability” estimates (i.e., the likelihood of legislation passing) are only useful as ways to validate preexisting political inclinations. Obviously, most people would tell you that they form their beliefs only after researching in great detail — some of them might actually do the research, combing through newspapers and academic journals for the best possible options. Be that as it may, these people are rare — and despite their efforts, they’re likely to find their preexisting ideology the most factually viable. Politicians — especially those on the left — use big policies to overcome this. Untangling support for the moral argument “everyone deserves health care” using economics is a lot more difficult than building that belief in the first place. Given this, I find it mystifying when national columnists use their platform to argue against the little details of policy, like David Leonhardt’s recent argument against universal student debt forgiveness. Yes, upper middle-class students have a lot of debt (and don’t really need help paying it off ). The reason debt forgiveness is popular, though, was never its economic efficiency. It’s easy to say people should just pay more attention to the news, instead of responding to easily digestible policy slogans (“Medicare for All,” “universally free college,” “cancel student debt”) but admonishing the public is worse than useless — it actively makes people dislike you. Anyone with a platform who’s inclined to argue against broad, undiscerning programs should focus on why people want them in the first place, instead of the minutiae of individual proposals.
Hank Minor can be reached at hminor@umich.edu.
ADITHYA SANJAY | COLUMN
W
YouTube and millenial conservatism
e all know that feeling. You decide you have some extra time on your hands and you immediately reach for your phone. And though you originally intended to only watch the highlights of yesterday’s football game, 45 minutes later you end up in the “weird” parts of YouTube, taking in videos you never meant to watch. For many, this might mean something along the lines of “Dave Rubin Calmly Destroys a Crazed Hyper-Victim,” a video that has racked up more than 10 million views on YouTube. For some reason it seems more and more difficult to find an inner satisfaction from watching such content. This particular phenomenon of sorts has led to an unmistakable rise in conservatism on YouTube. Led by polemicists, comedians and thinkers such as Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder and Michael J. Knowles, this conservative wave has surprisingly stained the backend of YouTube red. Channels such as PragerU (1.8 million YouTube subscribers), Steven Crowder (over 3 million subscribers) and The Daily Wire (over 1 million subscribers) serve as a testament to this growth. That’s not to mention individual videos such as “Ben Shapiro DESTROYS Transgenderism and Pro-Abortion Arguments” and “FEMINIST & SJW OWNED COMPILATION 2017 #2 (Destroyed Edition)” raking up 3.9 million and 4.4 million views respectively. And these channels are growing too. Stats show Steven Crowder’s channel has increased its monthly views from 2.2 million in January 2016 to over 40 million today. We’re seeing this increasingly conservative wave in the millennial population, of which, according to a study by the Case Foundation, more than 50 percent of millenial constituents identify as conservative, compared with 43 percent identifying as liberal, a marked difference from years past. Could it be that YouTube accounts for some of this trend?
First of all, much of the appeal of conservatism on YouTube stems from the picture that most conservatives paint of the left. The left is always portrayed as intolerant and fragile (i.e., calling them snowflakes). We see that all the time with videos focusing on so-called social justice warriors who appear entitled and act increasingly on emotion rather than a logical basis. There are obviously very intelligent people
Conservative thinkers exploit gaps in logic and advance their viepoint on the left, but by focusing on these extremes, conservative thinkers are capable of easily exploiting gaps in logic and advancing their viewpoint. Possibly more effective is the portrayal of conservative ideology as a university-styled collection of courses. This is seen with the popularity of Prager University and its five-minute-long educational videos. The website literally portrays the “university” as a way “to get smarter”, boasting over 1.7 million views. Regardless, its tidbits have become hugely popular and have been quietly influencing people with easily digestible facts. Takes against feminism and the gender wage gap, and for gun rights and school choice are largely prevalent among its collection and have been very successful in attracting attention and viewership. These conservatives are generally smart people. Heck, Shapiro is a University of California, Los Angeles and Harvard Law School graduate. Dinesh D’Souza is a Dartmouth University alum. To all these people wondering why a lot
of these conservatives’ bases are increasingly uneducated, it’s because of the credibility these conservatives draw to their names. It’s very easy for someone to say, “Hey, well I don’t know. But that guy went to Harvard Law so he must be right.” The irony of this lies in the fact that most of these right-wing thinkers actually advocate against this line of thought. They constantly push for individuality in thinking; Shapiro has repeatedly denounced the argument that a call for one’s credibility or experience automatically justifies one’s thinking as fact. But nevertheless, much of the populace still seemingly falls for this trap. That’s not to mention that most of these speakers are also just simply great debaters. They know when and where to call out logical fallacies and moments of ad hominem, and are capable of staying true to one single premise. When people like these go up against everyday students, it’s very easy for them to seem like they have the more intelligent and rational way of thought. And perhaps it is simply this approach — of presenting such views through debate — that makes it easier to bring people over to their side. Rather than just lecture on ideology and why it is good policy, showing through debate that it is seemingly better than the other perspective is perhaps more potent as a persuasive technique. If those on the left want to turn around YouTube’s red wave, the only way would be to showcase why their ideas are superior. People like Cenk Uygur and The Young Turks have started this countermovement. It just hasn’t grown to the level of influence that the right has seemingly developed. Adithya Sanjay can be reached at asanjay@umich.edu
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
DAILY WORLD MUSIC COLUMN
Franco Battiato is an overshadowed pop hero SAYAN GHOSH
Daily World Music Columnist
Leave it to the Italians to produce some of the kitschiest yet, dare I say it, classiest pop music ever made. In my opinion, music in general peaked in the era of new wave, whose Anglophone faces such as Elvis Costello and the Talking Heads were brilliant, but overshadowed by an Italian named Franco Battiato. Battiato’s 1981 album La Voce del Padrone was a return to pop for the artist who had been on an experimental streak for nearly a decade. Thankfully, it was a return to his strengths, including an innate genius when it comes to creating hooks and an infectious playfulness similar to that of the aforementioned Costello and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. It departs from much of the popular music of the previous decades in Italy, which (although a guilty pleasure of mine) exhausted all the frontiers of crooners singing over overtly melodramatic orchestral accompaniments. La Voce del Padrone is not the familiar
collection of sappy love songs, but one filled with a healthy dose of equal parts irony and whimsy. “Bandiera Bianca” (“White Flag”), the album’s most popular track, is a dizzying mix of references and a healthy dose
Pop can be as innovative and unique as any form of music out there of cynicism. He starts off by referencing Bob Dylan before transitioning to old Italian poetry and even German philosopher Theodor Adorno. Battiato’s voice is nowhere near conventionally pleasing. It lacks both technical quality and the rough edge and expressiveness of most of the genre’s singers. Instead, it is rather wavery and
nasal, yet it somehow works with its earnestness and selfassuredness. Battiato’s unconventional voice is a perfect accompaniment to the synth-heavy, but simple instrumentation. However, tracks like “Gli Uccelli” also feature gorgeous orchestral backings. Battiato often double tracks his own vocals, which offsets his limitations rather well. Other standout tracks include “Centro di Gravità Permanente” and “Cuccurucucù.” The latter is inspired by a Mexican standard that has been covered by artists for decades including Joan Baez and Caetano Veloso. He uses the refrain, but fills his verses with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones references from “With A Little Help From My Friends” to “Ruby Tuesday.” Hell, it even takes from the Iliad. La Voce Del Padrone could be every poptimist’s first and last piece of evidence to convince the naysayers that pop can be as innovative and unique as any form of music out there. Running at just over half an hour, it is an easy, impecably produced and ridiculously fun listen.
Monday, December 3, 2018 — 5A
FILM REVIEW
LIONSGATE
Newest nonsensical ‘Robin Hood’ hates Robin Hood JEREMIAH VANDERHELM Daily Arts Writer
There’s nothing the newest iteration of “Robin Hood” — a film which dares to ask, “What if England’s most enduring folk hero was one Four Loko short of a dudebro?” — hates more than Robin Hood (Taron Egerton, “Billionaire Boys Club”) himself,
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ACROSS 1 “Agreed!” 5 Rose from a chair 10 Free ticket 14 Sicilian resort city 15 Houston baseballer 16 Salon coloring 17 Passenger train’s suitcase carrier 19 “Otello” solo 20 Single-celled creature 21 “Platoon” setting, briefly 23 Texter’s soul mate 24 Former Yankee manager Joe 25 Turned down an invitation 28 Victorian, for one 29 Puerto Rico, to the U.S. 31 Harlem Renaissance author Zora __ Hurston 32 Hissing sound 33 Jets or Sharks, in “West Side Story” 35 Filled completely 36 Guy acting more maturely 39 Some corporate jets 42 Japan is in it 43 Actress Ryan 46 Prenatal test, for short 47 U. of Maryland athlete 49 Affirmative vote 50 Cross between a Boston terrier or boxer and a beagle 53 In one’s stomach 55 French summer 56 Pub pint filler 57 America’s has 100 seats 58 Euros replaced them in Italy 60 Carriage outings 63 Tied, as a game 64 Continental divide? 65 Jazzman Allison 66 Cincinnati team 67 Golfer’s “pitching” iron 68 Art Deco icon
DOWN 1 Arguments with teams 2 Captivates 3 Some woolen sweaters 4 Bar beer 5 Story spanning generations 6 Mao __-tung 7 Like stocks not sold on an exch. 8 Sumatran ape 9 Hip-hop headgear 10 “Everychild. onevoice” org. 11 Everglades transport 12 Nasal cold symptom 13 Supplied with personnel 18 Assist with a heist 22 Brainy bunch 25 Sonia of “Moon Over Parador” 26 Che Guevara’s first name 27 Campus bigwig 30 It’s often broken at breakfast 34 “Peer Gynt Suite” composer
36 Naval hoosegow 37 Sicily, to Sicilians 38 Scratch or dent 39 Shipping department gizmo 40 Like tearjerkers 41 Made irate 43 Fighter with a cape 44 Exam that involves reading letters
45 Rochester brewery or its river 48 Jury member 51 Curved macaroni shape 52 A trey beats it 54 Cartoon genre 57 “Auld Lang __” 59 “Star Trek” rank: Abbr. 61 H.S. equivalency exam 62 Prank
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or rather, the preconceived idea of Robin Hood you’ve been carrying around with you since the foxstarring Disney film introduced you to the character. Everything about this film is geared to impress one idea upon you: This is not your father’s Robin Hood. The opening narration all but says that out loud in between groanworthy clichés like, “Forget everything you know.” This is a Robin Hood who doesn’t go by Robin Hood until the very end of the movie, more a superhero than a common thief. It’s a Robin Hood who uses a bow and arrow like John Wick uses a pistol, who seduces Marian — not a maid in this version, but a thief played by Eve Hewson (“Bridge of Spies”) — by the end of their first scene together and banters with Jamie Foxx (“Baby Driver”) like the two have known each other for years instead of days. This Robin Hood
Playlist to battle the sad start to an early winter Senior Arts Editor
12/03/18
title character. On top of the unintelligible editing and nonsensical set design, the film is simply ugly on every level. The costumes are so noticeably awful that the best that can be said about them is that none of the armor features nipples. The cinematography fares no better, with one shot during a dialogue scene bafflingly focusing on the ear of the speaker and a late-film chase scene rendered with effects worthy of an early 2000s made-for-TV movie. The story might be uneven and the characters sketched just enough to become annoying — there’s a forced love triangle between Robin, Will Scarlet (Jamie Dornan, “A Private War”) and Marian that I simply don’t have the resolve to recount — but it’s the visuals that ultimately make “Robin Hood” nearly unwatchable. Then there’s the ending, which tries with all the nuance of a toddler throwing a temper tantrum to set up a sequel, because if there’s one thing this sort of bad movie is always sure of, it’s that its own Marvel-style cinematic universe is one cliffhanger away. In its own way, that really puts into focus what went wrong with “Robin Hood.” This was never about telling a story that could accurately capture the legend of its lead. It was about using a recognizable public domain property to jumpstart a franchise that would be hip and cool and down with the kids. Based on how badly “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” tried and failed at doing that same thing just last year, I can only wish the makers of “Robin Hood” a half-hearted “good luck with that.”
MUSIC PLAYLIST
DOMINIC POLSINELLI
12/03/18
is basically Batman, and that might have been cool if everything about the film didn’t speak to a complete uninterest in telling the story at hand. From beginning to end, it’s clear the last thing “Robin Hood” wants to be is a Robin Hood movie set in medieval England. During an early Crusade sequence, in which arrows fly with the speed, strength and frequency of a bullet fired from an assault rifle, it’s clear it wants to be a war movie set in the contemporary Middle East. The Nottingham set design features the kind of massive industrial mines and inexplicable jets of fire and showers of sparks that recall bad steampunk movies. During the hand-to-hand scenes, it somewhat resembles an “Arkham” game, with free-flowing combat that could have worked if it weren’t cut to the point of incomprehensibility and shot in sludgy slow-motion that Zack Snyder would call “a little much.” Yet for all the hoods it wears, the one thing “Robin Hood” never feels like is a Robin Hood movie. Sure, Taron Egerton might be playing a character named Robin, but it’s just his character from “Kingsman” awkwardly crowbarred into a 12th-century story. The problem isn’t just that it doesn’t in any way resemble the legend, though — if the finished product was in any way acceptable, it may have offered an opportunity for growth in how stories about the character are told — it’s that, apart from the performances by Foxx and Ben Mendelson (“Ready Player One”), the creative decisions made were the wrong ones regardless of the
Unless you are social media avoidant, you’ve probably noticed that The 1975 have finally released their long awaited A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships, another banal, inflated attempt at aesthetically goth indie-rock. It’s tragic, really, because The 1975 have written some incredible songs that drown in filler like “Love It If We Made It,” a desperate track that seeks to shed light on the absurd resilience that pulls us through the crushingly fast-paced world we live in. Frankly, it really is that good. And this is how I feel about winter — there’s beauty to be found in the filler of the seemingly endless monotone cold. Music truly is often seasonal, and while I love getting down to “Cut to the Feeling” at almost any given moment, it’s undeniably best enjoyed driving with all the windows down on a warm summer evening than huddled in three blankets. So, I’ve compiled a few songs to get us all through what is often considered the bleakest season; whether you
want to get your mind off the cold or embrace the gray that has befallen us is entirely up to you. Once snow first starts hitting the ground, my brain instinctively craves the detachment of Seahaven’s Winter Forever, whose opening track “Goodnight” sends shivers up the spine in the same way a sharp winter breeze would. If we’re being honest, the entire album is (obviously) perfect for when it feels like warmth will never return, but total submission to the cold has never been my style. Other standouts include “It’s Over,” “Understanding” and “Honeybee” when you want to revel in nostalgia for some sunlight. Yaeji’s self-titled debut EP features one of her most criminally overlooked tracks “Feel It Out,” overshadowed by the domineering popularity of “raingurl.” “Feel It Out” embraces empty spaces, unafraid to create space in its sonic landscape. Yaeji’s minimalism reigns here, her synth oscillates in and out, sometimes entirely absent and other times dominating the melody. Her monotone is one of detachment, perfect for dissociating on early
morning walks to class or work when the cold is at its worst. But winter is certainly not a time for eternal sadness: The end of the semester is in sight, time with family finally becomes a reality and we can mentally reset in preparation for the new year. Although every following year seems to be at least as awful as the last, optimism is essential to pull through. The new Kim Petras single “Feeling of Falling” (featuring Cheat Codes) is a wonderful techno-pop fusion, her sugary vocals elevating above the stagnant quiet of an overcast world covered in snow. Sometimes you need to dance some warmth into your bones, and few artists are better equipped to get you moving than Kim Petras. There’s no use pretending that winter is easy in the Midwest. With overwhelming amounts of snow and minimal sunlight, positivity must be derived elsewhere. I hope this playlist offers some comfort to those who suffer the most from this time, or at least gives some perspective into battling or embracing the season with music. Listen to the playlist online at www.michigandaily.com.
Arts
6A — Monday, December 3, 2018
COMMUNITY CULTURE
The Orpheus Singers show a mastery of choral music ZACHARY W.S. WAARALA Daily Arts Writer
Jardín de amores, jardín de amores, Castigo liviano pudean merecer los amadores. These words, projected unto me by some of the finest vocal chords at the University, have been ringing in my ears for some days now. Translated into English, the phrase means, “Gardens of love, gardens of love, those who love deserve only a slight penalty.” The piece, “Al tribunal de tu pecho vengo a pedirele Clemencia,” is from a 1967 set of songs called “Indianas” composed by Carlos Guastavino. Despite the language barrier and age of the piece, The Orpheus Singers were able to draw from the late Guastavino and, with their voices, create an impact on their audience. That is certainly something special. This past Thursday, The Orpheus Singers, an ensemble with the School of Music, Theatre & Dance at the University, performed their second and final concert of the semester. The Orpheus Singers consist of graduate and undergraduate music majors in voice, choral music education, organ, piano, composition and harp, all of whom are conducted by Dr. Eugene Rogers’s graduate studio of Master of Music and
Doctor of Musical Arts choral conductors. This performance was called “The Poet Speaks of Love,” as the concert’s repertoire was chosen for each piece’s poetic description of love, ranging from playful and adoring to devoted, enduring and unrequited. More than that, the performance included pieces from a wide selection of cultures and lingual origins. Director Dr. Eugene Rogers writes, “(t)he program, The Poet Speaks of Love, features a variety of music styles stemming from the diverse cultural background of the selected composers.” Rogers included pieces extracted from choirs and conductors in America, Argentina, the British Isles, England, Canada, France and Brazil. Rogers also included works from composers both male and female, authors of varying ethnic backgrounds. It was clear that Rogers and his fellowship of conductors took care to truly explore the various perspectives of love in the world. This care made the validity and dedication of the group’s work visible, which has not gone unappreciated. “The Poet Speaks of Love” was exhilarating, yet haunting. Each piece carried an explicit tone as given by its categorized heading — playful and
adoring, passionate, devoted and enduring or unrequited — but each piece also held a more softly-spoken air of chanciness, precariousness. Conducted by Eric D. Reyes with soprano Adriana Tam, “Nocture” from “Five Short Choral Works” by Adolphus Hailstork is written with a playful f low, inviting a lover to enjoy some of the world’s beauties. And yet the world’s beauties are presented as “the insects with their countless array of sounds,” “the black grass rustling,” “the suns f loating (in the sky), each a fiery universe,” “the broad expanse” that is the night sky. All of these images are, to the writer, some of the finer qualities of the universe. But it is not difficult to see the underlying tone of darkness in the described beauty. The Orpheus Singers, so it seemed to me, picked up on the distinct tone, and presented Hailstork’s piece with the underlying grim mood. It was as though each performer knew that love, poetic as it may be, is not always light and certain. It is always a joy to watch fellow students of the University pursue their interests, and it is even more enjoyable when these students can prescribe a unique message as The Orpheus Singers have done in their final concert of the semester.
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example of this quality. While initially jarring, the sequences turn intentionally cartoonish the longer one watches, showcasing ridiculously bright blood and limbs that seem more like the appendages of a doll than those of a human. He is perhaps best known for his cult classic “Suspiria,” which, in the context of his evolution as a director, is a brilliant experiment in toying with the line between reality and fantasy. There are moments during the experience that not only ask one to question Argento’s reality, but their own as well. The lighting in “Suspiria” in particular is one of its most indelible aspects. Much of the film happens in the confines of a German dance academy, and every hallway is permeated with a ghostly red quality, whether by strange painted hues or some inexplicable source of crimson light. In one tension-filled scene, all the lights of the academy shut off, leaving us in temporary blackness only to give way to a new, pale night-vision-like perspective. The characters in the film can’t see this new light, lending the film the ability to bend and distort our perspective. By deftly intertwining the physical with the metaphysical, he allows viewers to interpret the film through a distinctly individual lens. Director Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me By Your Name”) even recreated the movie with his own
specific interpretation. His 2018 remake of “Suspiria” showcases the variety of messages the original can impress onto its audience. He reinterpreted an admittedly simple story into something far more nuanced and political. Whether this choice was the right one is questionable, but it doesn’t matter either. It was inarguably Guadagnino’s own choice, a confident decision inspired by the ingenuity of his predecessor. That transition — the creativity of one filmmaker igniting that of another — speaks to the importance of films like Argento’s “Suspiria.” There’s also something to be said about Argento’s fixation on artistically talented protagonists. Whether through the mystic dancing of Susie from “Suspiria,” the author of a serial killer novel that inspires a real-life copycat in “Tenebre” or a jazzy piano-playerturned-murder-investigator in “Deep Red,” Argento relishes in the opportunity to connect the boldness of art with mortal danger. We’ve noticed a similar pattern even in Damien Chazelle, whose films “La La Land” and “Whiplash” depict the selfcorroding nature of musicians entrenched in their craft. While the two filmmakers clearly diverge in their subject material beyond this comparison, it is worth noting the tendency for directors in pursuit of artistic excellence to leak that excellence into their own characters. On the topic of music, it is
impossible to even discuss Argento without any mention of his frequent collaborators, the Italian progressive rock band Goblin. The group’s auditory additions to his films are as disquieting and dreamy as the images they overlay. Goblin wrote twinkling, pulsating and at times operatic riffs that are somehow catchy and creepy at the same time. Their ability to seamlessly switch time signatures grants their scores an offsetting and incessant quality. Even a week after finishing “Deep Red,” I found it impossible to get the groovy soundtrack — or the film — out of my head. An undermentioned and truly special effect of Argento’s signature subjectivity is this: His films can be as artsy or as uncomplicated as you want them to be. If you have the capacity to explore the various enigmas he posits, his heady symbolism and the significance behind his deceitful camerawork, those options are readily available. If all you want is to enjoy his movies for the twist-riddled, adventurous mysteries they are at face value, no one’s stopping you either. It’s easy to write off Argento as an artsy filmmaker purely for the horror-obsessed, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. His films are for anyone and everyone to see. At worst, they are exactly what you want out of them, and at best, they are deeply revelatory masterpieces that have elevated my understanding of cinema itself.
TV REVIEW
FILM NOTEBOOK
The visual glory of Dario Argento’s stylish horror ANISH TAMHANEY Daily Arts Writer
Here are two things that seldom go together: horror and beauty. It seems like the very last consideration many of us have when turning on a scary movie is the potential for visual splendor or cinematic style. And most of the time, our expectations are right. Horror movies are largely defined by a crudeness, an uncomfortable manipulation of our sensibilities. They aren’t made to amaze us. They’re made to make us scream. That’s not to say, however, that style and scares can’t coexist. In fact, they can come together
with overwhelming synergy when placed in the right hands, and have done just that in some of the most memorable horror movie moments. Think about the terrifying simplicity of Kubrick’s tracking shots of the tricycle in “The Shining.” The razor-sharp editing and piercing strings of the now-legendary shower scene from “Psycho.” Heck, even the uncannily ominous atmosphere that Jordan Peele musters leading up to the final act of “Get Out” is a testament to the value of artful horror. But if there’s any filmmaker who so consummately embodies stylish horror, it has to be Dario Argento. The Italian director
made his best work in the ’70s and ’80s, and his sheer artistic control over these films renders them inimitable and profoundly subjective. His stories are often a blend of mystery, thriller and horror, striking a balance between the brutally tactile and the disconnectedly ethereal. Argento’s specific brand of horror does not sacrifice scares for style, or vice versa. Not only are the two features equally baked into the DNA of his filmmaking, but they are inseparable from one another. His films are probably most recognizable by their affinity for gore and their unique depiction of the human body. His murder scenes are a prime
NETFLIX
Polish thriller ‘1983’ falls victim to American tropes SAMANTHA DELLA FERA Daily Arts Writer
Television is running out of tactics. With tropes like the nagging wife and goofy husband pairing or the funloving gang of friends falling f lat on viewers who expect more, showrunners are forced to look for another common
“1983” Netflix Episodes 1- 2
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thread to string together their shows with. It appears that they’ve found one in the form of reimagining history. And it’s working: Amazon’s “The Man in the High Castle,” which looks at a world in which, after World War II, the Axis powers emerged victorious, was recently renewed for its fourth season. This plot device asks: You know that thing that happened a while ago that seems like a pretty big deal? Well, what if that thing ... didn’t happen? Now, a new Polish-language thriller from Netf lix, “1983,” is hoping to find success in its alternate reality. It takes place in an alternate world where terrorists attacked Poland in 1983, suppressing the Solidarity movement and subsequently Poland’s liberation from the Soviet Union. In this realm, the Iron Curtain never fell, and Poland has sustained a rather peaceful existence until a new resistance movement begins to materialize in 2003.
The main storyline follows Anatol Janow (Robert Wieckiewicz, “Blinded by the Lights”) a steely detective well past his heyday as a high-profile investigator and Kajeton Skowron (Maciej Musial, “Rodzinka.pl”), a naive young lawyer. The pair are each investigating a mystery of their own, but they are brought together to uncover the conspiracy that hast kept Poland under dystopian reign for so long. Dystopian markers are prevalent throughout every scene of “1983.” The aesthetic is gray and dreary; the characters appear weathered and anxious. Everything from the title of the show to the dialogue is a heavy-handed reference to George Orwell’s foundational novel “1984.” Poland’s government is known as “The Party,” which is split into various “ministries.” There are even multiple tooobvious-to-miss shots of the book just in case you really weren’t picking up what the show was putting down. Despite the dystopian backstory, “1983” thrives more as a mystery than an alternative reality story. Change up a couple details and this true-crime show may as well take place in New York City with Mariska Hargitay leading the investigation. It is a gripping detective story, and that is what makes it worth watching. The idea of Poland under Soviet control is second thought, playing into a lazy and reckless trope that forges an image of totalitarianism for entertainment as dictatorships rage on in the real world. There is no joy in imagining
what life would be like if the bad guys won. Whether it’s “1983” or “The Man in the High Castle,” the answer is pretty clear to that what-if scenario. If the bad guys won,
“1983” is an interesting detective story within a tired context, falling victim to the privilege of being able to imagine “what if”
life would be — and stay with me here — pretty damn bad. Why imagine a society still ruled by the Nazis when there are real-life Nazis in a world where the good guys did win? Why thrust a free nation into a falsified dystopian state when there are countries living that as their true reality? “1983” is an interesting detective story within a tired context, falling victim to the privilege of being able to imagine “what if.”
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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | December 3, 2018
Rivalry losses
Michigan fell to Michigan State on Friday then lost in a shootout to the Spartans on Saturday night.
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Crowd pleasers
Crisler Center was rocking last week for the Wolverines’ games against North Carolina and Purdue, and for good reason.
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SportsMonday
2B — December 3, 2018
S
eventy dollars. That’s what some students paid to watch the men’s basketball team play Purdue on Saturday night. Seventy bucks and you’re LANEY allowed to wait BYLER outside for hours before the game, only to get in and cram your way into a corner of a sold-out Crisler Center, stretching from the floor all the way to the top of the second bowl. Or, if you’re lucky — and really, really dedicated to waiting outside in the rain — you might get a spot in the student section bleachers that run behind the benches. Of course, that price did more than just get students a seat in the student section. It gave them the chance to watch the Michigan men’s basketball team grind out a top-20 win over the Boilermakers, a staple powerhouse team in the Big Ten. Even on Wednesday, 40 bucks not only secured students a seat for the ‘Maize Out,’ but also a chance to see Michigan exact revenge over a North Carolina team that blew the Wolverines out last year. Michigan put on a show en route to an 84-67 win over the 11th-ranked team in the country. Which, just like in Purdue’s game, featured a sold-out crowd. Two back-to-back sellout games at this time last year wasn’t even close to an option for the Wolverines. In its first four home games this season (excluding Northwood’s exhibition), Michigan has drawn total crowd of 47,878 people — last year, in the same time span, it was 37,473. That change in numbers could be attributed to a lot of different things. Maybe, it’s a result of the novelty in opponents the Wolverines have been hosting. This season’s schedule has seen two ranked visitors step on the court
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Worth the price of admission
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
The Michigan basketball student section has been packed for the Wolverines’ last two games, and they have been rewarded with two blowout wins over North Carolina and Purdue.
in the Boilermakers and the Tar Heels, while last year, the highestprofile home matchup Michigan had in the same four-game time span was with an unranked Central Michigan team. It seems pretty obvious, though, that a difference of more than 10,000 people probably has to deal with more than just an uptick in scheduling. Maybe it has something to do with an undefeated 6-0 run to enter last week’s matchups with two ranked teams? Maybe it has to do with a redemption battle that resulted in a win over a team that chased the Wolverines out of the national
championship last year? Or maybe people are paying attention to a team they think deserves the attention after a Final Four appearance less than a year prior? Maybe one. Maybe all of the above. Regardless of the reason, momentum is rolling. It’s felt in Crisler, spurring sellout crowds with fanatic eruptions in instances like when redshirt junior Charles Matthews threw down a dunk against the Tar Heels to secure a 14-point lead. It’s in the arena, that’s for sure — but it’s also on the mind of the team.
“This energy from our (student section) has been fantastic. Thanks to every student for rooting for us,” said Michigan coach John Beilein in a tweet on Saturday after the win over North Carolina. “We hear you! Hope you are having fun!” The Wolverines are riding that energy, too. Currently sitting at No. 7 in the AP Poll — and likely to move up after Saturday’s 76-57 win over Purdue — Michigan is embodying the mentality of a national contender, riding the nation’s top-ranked defense in adjusted efficiency to an 8-0 start of the season backed by junior guard Zavier Simpson and redshirt
junior forward Charles Matthews. Last year, that adopted defensive identity took the team all the way to the Final Four. But this year, that defensive identity has been present from the start, enabling the Wolverines’ unbeaten stretch. That identity will stick with Michigan on Tuesday night, when it loses the home advantage to a midweek game at Northwestern. “(Michigan) can beat you in the nineties, I think they can beat you in the sixties, and I think they can do it against quality people,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter. “So it just depends on how they’re
flowing.” There’s no doubt the Wolverines are on a roll. Eight games with multiple wins over ranked teams means evident structure, and that’s not based on a home-crowd advantage, either. But that doesn’t matter to the students. Seventy bucks might be steep, but this is a team worth paying for, as evidenced by its two most recent blowout wins. So don’t expect big-game tickets to get cheaper anytime soon. Byler can be reached by email at dbyler@umich.edu or on Twitter @laneybyler
Wolverines swept over ‘M’ beats Purdue, 76-57, behind hot shooting weekend by Spartans HOCKEY
JACOB SHAMES Daily Sports Writer
JORGE CAZARES Daily Sports Writer
Losing to your rival always stings. But for the No. 14 Michigan hockey team (6-6-3 overall, 2-3-1-2 Big Ten), this one had to sting a little more. In a game that was largely dominated by the Wolverines, they failed to capitalize on many scoring opportunities despite outshooting Michigan State (6-7-1 overall, 2-0-1-1 Big Ten), 40-19, and ultimately losing in a shootout after a 1-1 draw. TheWolverinesareusedtoplaying fast — they utilize the quickness on their roster to create opportunities in transition. On Saturday, they had a difficult time creating good scoring opportunities as Michigan State continually dropped back on defense, which clogged the ice and prevented transition opportunities. Both sides, though, created a couple early scoring opportunities in the first period, but the chances were few and far between in what Michigan coach Mel Pearson described as an “ugly game.” At the end of the opening period, Michigan had nine shots on goal compared to six for the Spartans. Junior defenseman Nick Boka eventually opened up the scoring on one of those early opportunities. It came just over eight minutes into the first period on the power play. Boka fired a one-timer from the left slot on a pass that navigated through traffic in front of the crease from sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes who was set up in the right faceoff circle. The shot fired past Michigan State goaltender Drew DeRidder for Boka’s first goal of the season and gave the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. Michigan looked to have all of the momentum early on in the second period, as the Spartans were unable to create any scoring chances through the first five minutes. That momentum was halted by a penalty for checking from behind on freshman defender Nick Blankenburg 5:23 into the period. About 30 seconds into the power play for Michigan State, an attempted clearance deep in the defensive
zone from sophomore forward Josh Norris found a wide open forward Taro Hirose at the point. He skated forward into the slot and fired past freshman goaltender Strauss Mann to knot the score at one. The Wolverines looked in control for the majority of the period and generated plenty of scoring opportunities as a result. Perhaps none better than on the power play with 5:42 remaining. The top defensive pairing for Michigan along with the top forward line retained possession for the entire power play but were unable to capitalize. The shots finished 20-11 in favor of the Wolverines, but the score remained 1-1 heading into the second intermission. In the third period, play was much more balanced in terms of scoring opportunities. Both Michigan and Michigan State had plenty of chances, including two power plays for the Wolverines and three for the Spartans. But the defenses remained stingy, jumping on loose pucks in front of the net and doing everything they could to prevent either side from getting an edge. And for the fourth time in the last five games, the Wolverines went into overtime. The first overtime period featured plenty of scoring chances for Michigan but its inability to score continued. Michigan State did not record a single shot in the first overtime period. More of the same ensued for three-on-three play. Michigan State The winner of the game would be determined in a penalty shootout. Norris opened up the shootout but had his shot saved, as he failed to lift the puck above DeRidder’s left pad. It took until the fourth skater for the winner to emerge. Spartan forward Brennan Sanford slowly skated up from center ice, taking a wide angle. He skated across the slot from Mann’s left to right side and fired the puck above the goaltender’s left shoulder.
Read the full story online at MichiganDaily.com
Remember when Michigan scored 119 points combined against Norfolk State and Holy Cross, shooting 20 percent from downtown? That was just three weeks ago. It certainly didn’t feel that recent Saturday against Purdue. In a dizzying first 10 minutes of basketball, the seventh-ranked Wolverines (8-0 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) hit six of their first seven 3-pointers to take a 31-16 lead, setting the nets, and Crisler Center, ablaze. That early stretch of dominance was all Michigan needed, as it ran away with a 76-57 win over the 19th-ranked Boilermakers (5-3, 0-1) in its first Big Ten game of the season. The dominance started in earnest two minutes into the game. Sophomore guard Jordan Poole took a Charles Matthews pass on the right wing, stepped into his shot and drained a wideopen three. Matthews, a redshirt junior wing, hit one of his own on the next possession, and two minutes after that, Poole took a couple jab-steps and confidently drilled a trey right in the face of 7-foot-3 center Matt Haarms to give the Wolverines a 16-7 lead. “If I hit one, I definitely feel like I’m hot,” Poole said. “But then I hit another one and I’m like, ‘Alright, well, I’m definitely extremely hot right now, let me try to get up another one.’ ” The Boilermakers’ switchhappy defense was no match for Michigan in the early going. With 12:40 to play in the first half, junior point guard Zavier Simpson drove past Haarms for an easy layup, and kicked out of drives to find Poole and Matthews for wide-open 3-pointers. “They switched everything we did,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “So the best thing when you get in those situations, is get downhill when their big guy steps out to guard, get downhill. And we used the alleys really to get penetration and find other people.” A possession after Matthews’
ANNIE KLUS/Daily
Junior center Jon Teske scored 15 points and hit two 3-pointers in Michigan’s win over Purdue on Saturday.
trey, junior center Jon Teske provided the hammer blow to cap off the initial outburst, catching Matthews’ over-the-shoulder lob and thundering down an alleyoop on the Boilermakers’ Ryan Cline. As the Wolverines made it rain, Purdue could only manage to stay afloat. Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Carsen Edwards — averaging 25.3 points per game heading into the contest — scored 19 but had to fight for everything against the fierce defense of Simpson, making just seven of 21 mostly challenging looks. “Carsen got his a little bit, but he was, I think 1-of-5 from three, and he was averaging like five or six,” Teske said. “And Cline had three in the first half, and I think Charles wore him down in the second half. It just starts with (assistant coach Luke Yaklich), and it trickles down to Charles and (Simpson) and the whole team just kind of follows them.” Purdue hung somewhat within reach, though, and continued to
chip away at the lead throughout the game. Michigan suffered through a five-minute scoring drought midway through the second half, and with 6:55 to play, Boilermaker guard Aaron Wheeler’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to 62-50. The Wolverines needed a response, and a response they got. Appropriately enough for an afternoon where seemingly everyone was on fire, Teske — 1-for-10 from deep coming into Saturday — hit two free throws and then a pickand-pop three, his second of the game, to push the lead back to 17. “It was ready to go the other way,” Beilein said. “If they had gotten it lower than that it would have been tough, because we were not able to score the ball. So I think probably getting those stops when they got it to 12, and then … Jon made the two foul shots and then hit a three, that probably was (the turning point) because five minutes to go, a 12point lead against those guys is nothing.” Twenty-three seconds later,
“Alright, well, I’m definitely extremely hot right now.”
Poole canned his fifth trey, which just about put the contest to bed. “We’re just confident,” Poole said. “We practice in-game situation threes and we run our plays and we know how the looks that we’re going to get. ... Being able to knock down those shots from the ‘1’ to the ‘5’ is definitely huge for us.” Poole had the hot hand from the start, scoring 21 points and drilling all five of his attempts from outside. Matthews (nine points), Teske (17), and freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis (14) chipped in with three, two and two, respectively, while Simpson ran the offense efficiently once again with seven assists to only one turnover. As a team, Michigan was 13 for 26 from 3-point range. “They can beat you in the nineties, I think they can beat you in the sixties, and I think they can do it against quality people,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter. “So it just depends on how they’re flowing.” On Saturday, the Wolverines were flowing as well as they’ve done all season. That meant trouble for the Boilermakers — and with a Michigan offense that’s finally catching up to its defense, it means trouble for the rest of the Big Ten.
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
December 3, 2018 — 3B
Skjodt, Michigan stun No. 12 Pittsburgh to clinch Sweet Sixteen berth DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
Carly Skjodt saw her storied career flash before her eyes on Saturday night. Michigan’s unanimous AllBig Ten First Team selection was held to just two kills on 20 attempts in the Wolverines’ first-set loss against 12th-seeded Pittsburgh (30-2 overall, 17-1 ACC). Labeling Skjodt’s opening set performance as out of character would be an understatement. The Panthers came out with a well-crafted defensive gameplan devoted to hindering Skjodt, who averages the second-most kills per set in the Big Ten with 4.20. Unseeded Michigan (24-9 overall, 11-9 Big Ten) scrambled to find other options, and nobody took the reigns. Pittsburgh kept Skjodt bottled up for a set, but Michigan coach Mark Rosen knew it wouldn’t last. Why? “Because she’s Carly,” Rosen said with a chuckle. “She’s such an experienced player and she’s such a fighter. She’s our go-to kid for a reason. When she struggled in the first set, I wasn’t worried about it because I knew she was going to find a way to get it going.” Following the first-set loss, Skjodt exploded for 18 kills and five blocks over the next four sets while guiding the Wolverines to a 19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 21-25, 15-9 upset victory in front of a hostile crowd of 2,405 at Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center in the NCAA Tournament round of 32. “I thought she needed to take a little more of an aggressive approach to it,” Rosen said. “Carly’s default is to be very controlled and to try not to make
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior outside hitter Carly Skjodt accumulated 18 kills and five blocks in the last four sets of Michigan’s win over Pittsburgh in the NCAA Tournament.
errors. Sometimes we have to challenge her to really go after it a little bit more, and I thought she answered that really well after the first set.” Rather than caving in, Skjodt answered the call. She elevated her game to the next level, and her seven kills in the second frame — one of which ignited a threepoint scoring run to give Michigan a permanent lead at 22-19 — showed just how dominant she is at her peak. When the Wolverines’ lead was trimmed to 22-21 two points later, junior setter MacKenzi Welsh turned to none other that Skjodt. Like clockwork, she blasted a ball through the block
“She’s such an experienced player and she’s such a fighter.”
to give Michigan its first set point. The Panthers knew it was coming. The Wolverines knew it was coming. Everyone in the Petersen Center bleachers knew it was coming. Pittsburgh positioned a daunting double block of two AllACC First Team selections — 6-foot-3 Layne Van Buskirk and 6-foot-1 Nika Markovic — on the outside pin, but Skjodt still found a way to produce a point when she was needed most. “That was a turning point,” Rosen said. “They were frustrated. You could just see it — they had three or four miscommunications and their
passing started to break down. We knew the pressure was on them as the host team and the higher seed.” When Michigan smelled blood in the water, it struck. The Wolverines raced out to an 8-3 lead in the third frame behind a fivepoint service run by sophomore defensive specialist Natalie Smith. Pittsburgh coach Dan Fisher, who was crowned ACC Coach of the Year last week, called a timeout to compose his Panthers, but nothing could stop Michigan’s freight train of an offense from clicking. Coming out of the timeout, Welsh
“We knew the pressure was on them as the host team.”
continued to pilot an efficient offense, and the Wolverines registered a staggering .480 attack percentage en route to a convincing 25-17 win in the third frame. With its season hanging in the balance, Pittsburgh made a major change to its system in the fourth set. Fisher opted to use a 6-2 — a system that features two setters who take turns running the offense depending on which one is in the back row at a given moment — by adding an additional setter to the Panthers’ initial offensive scheme. By doing so, Fisher gave his team an extra attacker on the right pin at all times.
The adjustment caught Michigan off guard — the insertion of a sixth attacker in Pittsburgh’s rotation called for major changes in the Wolverines’ blocking scheme. Setters Kylee Levers and Kamalani Akeo seized an opportunity to revive a stagnant offense in the Panthers’ new system. The tandem recorded 24 and 28 assists, respectively, and navigated Pittsburgh to a .275 attack percentage — a figure which comfortably trumped Michigan’s .163 clip. The Panthers fended off a late slew of kills from Skjodt and freshman outside hitter Paige Jones to take the fourth frame, 25-21, and force a decisive fifth set as the crowd came to its feet in a standing ovation. 24 points later, the crowd rose once again. This time, they bolted for the exits in disbelief. The only sound in Petersen Center was the shouts of Michigan’s enthralling celebration after its 15-9 fifthset statement sent them to the Sweet Sixteen. The Wolverines’ dominance — highlighted by a season-altering 9-0 run that put them up 11-3 — was on full display throughout the set as they thrashed Pittsburgh by 363 attack percentage points and amassed seven of the their 12 total blocks. “One thing we talk about in the fifth set is being the aggressive team,” Rosen said. “It’s like a sprint. You can’t start slow or passively. You need to get after it, and I thought the blocking showed up and we served really well.” Led by Skjodt’s relentless will to win, Michigan won the sprint by a landslide — stunning the ACC champions in the process. And why? Because she’s Carly.
“It’s like a sprint. You can’t start slow or passively.”
Wolverines beat WMU, CMU, EMU in Quad Meet Polina Shchennikova
helping ‘M’ as a coach ABBY SNYDER For the Daily
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior Maggie O’Hara received a 9.825 for her bar routine in Michigan’s exhibition win over Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Easter Michigan.
MOLLY SHEA For the Daily
Freshman gymnast Abby Brenner stood at the start of the vault runway, saluted the judges and took off toward the table. In her debut for the Wolverines, Brenner executed her Yurchenko one-and-a-half with ease. She earned not only the highest score of the rotation, but the highest score of the entire competition on vault, a 9.875. The Michigan women’s gymnastics team led the competition after a strong opening rotation on vault in a quad exhibition meet against Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan. Rotation by rotation, the Wolverines extended their lead to win by 3.125 points, finishing the meet with a final score of 195.125. The exhibition meet offered Michigan its first opportunity of the season to perform its routines in front of judges and a crowd. “We train and train and train
in the gym and athletes get into a comfort zone,” said Michigan coach Bev Plocki. “And this is clearly not in a comfort zone for them. There’s a lot of things to get used to and adjust to. The landing surfaces in training are a little softer and more forgiving, but these are harder.” At times, the Wolverines struggled. Sophomore Lauren Farley fell in the middle of her first release move on bars during the second rotation. Due to strong performances by the remainder of the lineup, her score was dropped, and the Wolverines stood ahead of the second-place Chippewas by just .625 of a point. Mistakes followed Michigan to the balance beam. The third rotation was marked by wobbles and balance checks and was the lowest-scoring rotation of
the evening for the Wolverines. Junior Lexi Funk led off on beam, and freshman Natalie Wojcik anchored it. Both preformed consistent routines and earned the two highest scores on the event. Michigan closed the meet on floor exercise. Both Wojcik and Brenner performed successful, high-scoring routines to end their debut meet for the Wolverines. Wojcik won an event title on both bars and floor, as well as the all around title with a score of 39.225. “Our freshmen were great today,” said senior Emma McLean. “I’m so proud of them. Their training in the gym every day is paying off, and I’m excited to see what they can do this year.” In addition to strong performances by the two
“Their training in the gym every day is paying off.”
freshmen in the lineup, Michigan found consistency in other gymnasts. Junior Maggie O’Hara received a 9.825 for her bar routine after a near stick on her double layout dismount. Senior Olivia Karas, who was sidelined halfway through the season last year due to an Achilles tendon rupture, had a strong first meet back competing in three of the four rotations for the Wolverines. Her scores on vault and bars were second only to teammates Brenner and Wojcik. Michigan hopes to improve these performances further, as the Wolverines don’t have their first scored competition until Jan. 4 at the Cancun Classic, another quad meet. “We like to take what we can learn from here and apply that to practice the next month,” said McLean. “So that when we really start, we come out of the gate strong versus today which was putting it together for the first time and seeing where we’re at.”
Shock. Disbelief. Crushing disappointment. Then-sophomore gymnast Polina Shchennikova was flooded with all of these emotions in April when doctors told her that her injuries meant she would never be able to compete again. “This sport was my life. It was my passion,” Shchennikova said. “And to have it end the way it did was definitely very hard —it was heartbreaking.” Shchennikova was left wanting to help her team in any way she could. So when she was offered a role with the Michigan women’s gymnastics team as a student assistant coach, she took the job — and ran with it. Since taking on the role, Shchennikova has been helping the Wolverines with choreography and music for their floor routines. She has also been assisting with coaching efforts for the uneven bars, on which she was a “worldclass athlete,” according to Michigan coach Bev Plocki. “She has done a fabulous job for us,” Plocki said. “She’s been really valuable.” When working with athletes on floor routines, Shchennikova tries to tailor each element of the performance to the specific gymnast, focusing on how the gymnast’s body moves,
how the music can tie in to a particular sequence and how the performance comes together as a whole to make the routines more personal. This attention to detail has brought new life and energy to the floor routines. “She knows what style we like for dancing, and that’s really important because we’re able to get into it a lot more,” said junior gymnast Lexi Funk. The improved floor routines have already made a difference in Michigan’s scores in competitions. In their victory in an exhibition meet against Eastern, Western and Central Michigan on Sunday, the floor competition was the Wolverines’ second-strongest event of the day, with the six gymnasts who competed in the event totaling 49.025 points. Working with her former teammates as a coach and watching them all perform while not competing herself has been a difficult transition for Shchennikova, but coaching and choreographing has been a valuable experience. “It’s never easy coming back to something that you love so much that was taken away from you,” Shchennikova said. “But when I got the opportunity to choreograph floor routines here, that was the most uplifting thing I could do. Since I couldn’t do gymnastics, this was the next best thing.”
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Polina Shchennikova has thrived as an assistant coach for Michigan.
SportsMonday
4 — December 3, 2018
MEN’S BASKETBALL
3-point shooting keys ‘M’ in victory THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer
Just three weeks ago, when the Michigan basketball team beat Holy Cross in the second game of the season, the win carried a solemn air. It took the Wolverines to 2-0 but, for the second time in five days, they had shot less than 25 percent from deep. Michigan’s defense meant it could survive its shooting woes, but for a program whose offensive identity has revolved around the 3-pointer under coach John Beilein, making just nine of its 45 3-point tries was a problem. “If you look at our numbers in practice and everything, it’s just—it’s not happening,” Beilein said at the time. Six games later, the Wolverines look like a legitimate national title contender. Their defense continues to be the main reason for that — they lead the country in adjusted defensive efficiency and have held two top-11 offenses under 70 points in the past four days. But Michigan’s offense is starting to pull its weight, and it has its 3-point shooting to thank. The Wolverines — buoyed by a combined 24-of48 effort from three — looked like an offensive machine at points in this week’s wins over
North Carolina and Purdue, finding open looks with ease and nailing contested threes when they had to. “It’s all about our passing really, that we’re seeing each other,” Beilein said after a 13-of-26 3-point performance against the Boilermakers. “The ball stuck a couple of times today, but other than that, if we can just keep moving the ball and get live action, somebody’s gonna come open. Somebody’s gonna make a mistake and leave one of our guys.” Before the season, whenever Beilein was asked who would step up after Michigan lost its top three 3-point shooters from last season, he defaulted to sophomore guard Jordan Poole. But Poole opened the season by making just one of his first 10 attempts from three, and his struggles seemed to infiltrate the offense as a whole. Now, the Wolverines have found the balance to survive when Poole struggles, as he did in the first half against the Tar Heels. But when Poole makes his threes, the full firepower of Michigan’s offense is on display. That was the case Saturday afternoon against Purdue, as Poole went 5-of-5 in a 21-point performance. “I’ve worked so hard in the gym,” Poole said. “Me and
(assistant) coach (DeAndre Haynes) alway find ways that I can get my shots. They’re gonna fall eventually, you know what I’m saying?” Added Boilermakers coach Matt Painter: “You can’t let Jordan Poole get five good looks.” That showing on Saturday forced Purdue to keep an eye on Poole throughout the contest, allowing redshirt junior forward Charles Matthews and junior center Jon Teske to go a combined 5-of-8 from three. When the Boilermakers held the Wolverines without a field goal for over nine minutes in the second half, it was Teske who broke the drought with a pick-and-pop three. “We got guys like Jon and ( junior point guard Zavier Simpson) and (sophomore forward) Isaiah (Livers) staying after practice to shoot threes because we know that it’s a huge part of our game,” Poole said. “So being able to knock down those shots from the ‘1’ to the ‘5’ is definitely huge for us.” On Saturday, that same effect worked in reverse. One possession after Teske’s three, he got the ball at the top of the arc and looked to shoot. Recognizing the threat, two defenders closed in on Teske, leaving Poole wide open to his left. Teske found Poole, and just like that, Michigan had shut the door on Purdue’s comeback hopes and restored its lead to 20. “I’m not gonna force anything,” Teske said. “I was gonna try to shoot that third one, but Carsen (Edwards) was right there so I kicked it to (Poole), I know (Poole is) a better shooter than me.” As the Wolverines’ perfect start has proven, they can win with defense. This morning, Beilein woke up, f lipped his calendar to December and ref lected on what he called a “pretty good” November. If Saturday’s 3-point shooting is any indication, December could be even better.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Jordan Poole and finding a good shot ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer
The dorm rooms at LaLumiere School are uniform. Pale. Dry. The exact same. So one day, coming off a national championship win, a young Jordan Poole turned to his roommate, future top-five NBA Draft pick Jaren Jackson Jr., with an idea in mind. “Yo, Jaren, this room — it looks weak,” Poole recalled saying. “Let’s try something else. Let’s try something new.” “Well, what are you trying to do?” he remembered Jackson asking. “I don’t know, let’s just start moving stuff around. And whatever we come up with, we come up with.” The beds got moved to the far wall, next to each other — a desk in the middle. Their TVs moved next to each other, as did the refrigerators, with chairs more conveniently placed. They took out some of the furniture they didn’t like. “It was basically like one big game of Tetris or something,” Jackson recalled in a phone interview. That’s Poole’s personality, too, rolled up into one story. He’s excitable, bordering on reckless at times, but everything he does helps a whole lot more than it hurts. That setup was better, allowing more space for more people. It is like his basketball game. When Poole finds a balance between reckless and aggressive, he shines. Which brings us to Saturday on Michigan’s first possession of the second half, when Poole looked up, ball in his hands, and saw Purdue’s Matt Haarms squared up on him. The sophomore guard jabstepped. He started a drive, then crossed over, leaving the Boilermakers’ 7-foot-3 big man a step behind. And then he spotted junior guard Zavier Simpson under the net — the paint otherwise vacated — and he whipped a one-handed pass for an uncontested layup. It was a small f lash, just
another easy bucket in a game filled with them for both Poole and the Wolverines. As Michigan dominated Purdue, 76-57, Poole dropped 21 points, a season high, on 8-of-9 shooting from the field, making all five of his shots from beyond the arc — a performance as notable for the shots he didn’t take as it was for those he did. A year ago, Poole doesn’t make that pass to Simpson. He doesn’t pass out of a potential stepback 3-pointer earlier on in the game with Carsen Edwards recovering to contest either. He didn’t all last year, and often got pulled as a result. He has learned which shots to take and which to pass up. Games like Saturday’s — efficient, and lethally effective — are the result. “(He has) gradually learned, less is more,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “And he can get better shots. Guys like that that can get their own shots, have a lot of confidence, gotta realize, ‘I’ll take less shots but I’ll score more points.’ That usually is pretty motivating to people.” Beilein is more willing to let Poole play through his mistakes now. The sophomore got called for a carry early in the second half against Purdue. Then, on the ensuing defensive possession, he forced a miss from the Boilermakers’
Evan Boudreaux, scrambling to contest a player with a three-inch height advantage at the rim. Poole himself cited a turnover against Purdue where the coach said nothing to him, knowing he could play through it. He did, drawing a charge. As for shooting, Poole struggled at the start of the season. He made one of his first 10 attempts from 3-point range. He’s now made nine of his last 10 — and, saving for one towards the end of a blowout win over North Carolina that went in, none have fallen under the label of reckless. Any mistakes he was making in that department seem well behind him. Asked about any shift in his shot selection and how it might have happened, Poole took a long pause. ”I couldn’t tell you, bro. I don’t know,” Poole said. “When I shoot and coach (Beilein) don’t yell at me for saying it’s a bad shot. I feel like in practice I hit tough shots and I hit shots a lot of the time. When coach is able to see that I can hit those shots on a consistent basis, he lets me shoot them in the game.” Beilein is letting him shoot, and Poole is providing the reward. And like one big game of Tetris, his game is falling into place.
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Jordan Poole has shown growth in his shot selection this season.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Michigan suffers second-straight defeat at the hands of Marquette CONNOR BRENNAN Daily Sports Writer
At the five-minute mark of the first quarter, No. 21 Marquette led 13-12. A frenetic pace and litany of turnovers characterized the opening minutes for both teams. But from that point on, it seemed as if only one team was running, and the other was committing the turnovers. The Golden Eagles dominated, hitting a trio of three-pointers — two of them in transition — to eventually open up a 10-point lead at the end of the first. The rest of the game featured much of the same as Marquette (6-1) dispatched Michigan (5-3) easily by a score of 85-74. The eleven-point margin was deceiving, though. “I think they did whatever they wanted to do,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “They made an incredible amount of 3-point shots, and they were tremendous off the bounce. Just really, really difficult for us to defend. We couldn’t get stops.” Though the Wolverines’ defense was nowhere to be found for long stretches of the first half, it was largely because they didn’t have time to set up in the half court. Between long defensive rebounds, quick outlets and turnovers, the Golden Eagles looked to exploit Michigan in transition. Marquette hit eight 3-pointers en route to a 52-point output in the first half — more than the Wolverines had given up to Mount St. Mary’s and Western Michigan over the course of 40 minutes. As a result of the Golden
Eagles’ ability to shred Michigan’s defense, the inexperienced Wolverines forced the issue on their end. Quick shots and hasty possessions only served to exacerbate their defensive issues though. “We started taking quick shots which resulted in poor transition defense because they were so quick,” Barnes Arico said. “They were able to get easy baskets and drive and kicks off of our quick shots. I think we have to realize we have to be a little more disciplined in those situations. We need to use shot clock and make them run shot clock.” Michigan struggled to find a rhythm for most of the game. Senior guard Nicole Munger poured in 12 points, as did freshman forward Naz Hillmon. But other than that, the Wolverine starters were largely ineffective offensively. Star senior forward Hallie Thome once again struggled to assert herself in the paint. In comparison, all of Marquette’s starters scored in double digits. Senior Erika Davenport led the way for them with 21 points on 9-11 shooting. “I thought their toughness and their hustle was tremendous,” Barnes Arico said. “We talked about it a little bit, but they really got after us and I thought we would be better because we had a major size advantage. It was a little surprising that they came after us as aggressively as they did and we didn’t respond to it.”
Despite a poor overall performance, Michigan clawed its way back in the fourth quarter thanks in large part to the play of its bench. Sophomore guard Priscilla Smeenge, as well as freshmen Ariel Young and Emily Kiser particularly impressed. They faced a 26-point deficit at the beginning of the fourth quarter and turned it into just an 11-point defeat. “I think that group — that group of freshmen that we have,” Barnes Arico said. “You know you add Priscilla to that mix. They’re very coachable. They’re very open-minded. They want to do whatever they can do to help our team be successful. And I think they showed that tonight. They shared the basketball, they made extra passes.” The game may have ended on a positive note, but the defeat is now the Wolverines’ third in the last four games — granted they have all been to ranked opponents. Now, coming off that difficult non-conference slate, Michigan should be able to regroup a bit with three midmajor opponents before Big Ten season gets underway at the end of December. “We threw ourselves to the wolves a little bit,” Barnes Arico said. “But hopefully it’s eye-opening where we are and where we need to be, and what we need to do to get to where we need to be. That’s our goal. It will be nice to get to work and get to practice.”
“We threw ourselves to the wolves a little bit.”