ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
ACADEMICS
What’s in a name? Near East Studies, SAC rebrand CARTER FOX/Daily
Departments respond to student and employer confusion, outdated ideologies
Representative Joe Kennedy III speaks on current issues and voter turnout at the Michigan League Wednesday morning.
Rep. Joe Kennedy rallies with state Democrats to turn out student vote College Democrats bring Stabenow, Dingell, and more in advance of midterms MAEVE O’BRIEN Daily Staff Reporter
Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy III joined Michigan Reps. Debbie Dingell and Dan Kildee, congressional
candidate Gretchen Driskell and University of Michigan Board of Regents candidate Paul Brown for an event Wednesday co-hosted by the University’s chapter of College Democrats. The special guests discussed important issues for young voters, voter turnout in the midterm elections and the
direction of the Democratic party. College Democrats Chair Kellie Lounds, a Public Policy senior, began organizing the event a few weeks ago when she heard Kennedy would be in Michigan doing events on the west side of the state. She contacted Stabenow’s team, and the event
began to gain momentum. “Obviously Congressman Joe Kennedy is a super exciting person to have — not someone we see around a lot,” Lounds said. “We’re always excited to see Debbie Stabenow and Debbie Dingell, but when you get someone from out See DEMS, Page 3A
ANDREW HIYAMA Daily News Editor
When LSA senior Sophia Georginis interviewed for a summer job at Comedy Central last year, then studying screen arts and cultures at the University of Michigan, she was asked was to define her major. Georginis explained she studied film, television and media and ended up getting the job, but realized her department’s name presented a significant obstacle to employment. “Screen arts and cultures to a lot of employers didn’t really mean much because it was a bunch of words strung together that didn’t mean a lot to people
in the industry,” Georginis said. “If they didn’t really know what we were studying, in a pool of thousands and thousands of kids, it was just difficult to be like, ‘Yes, this is film, television and media,’ if they look at your major and they don’t even know what it is.” However, on Sept. 1, the department changed its name after 14 years. Georginis, along with all other formerlycalled screen arts and cultures students, became Film, Television, and Media majors. Georginis said she was pleased with the change. “The new name change makes a lot of sense because it’s just so forward,” she said. “I See SAC, Page 2A
Former juvenile lifer turned paralegal University Panel talks announces details carceral education experience creativity
ADMINISTRATION
CAMPUS LIFE
initiatives in Detroit
Sanders spent 42-year sentence giving legal assistance, calls for campus involvement
Revived partnership series prompts city residents’ reflections on resources
More than 70 University of Michigan students and faculty members attended an interview Wednesday featuring former juvenile lifer Edward Sanders in a lecture titled “From Prison to Paralegal.” The Information Alliance for Community Development and the School of Information jointly hosted the event, which explored Sanders’ experience in prison and efforts to obtain an education, as well as his reintroduction into a technologically-focused society. Sanders was 17 years old when he was convicted with accessory to murder and imprisoned in 1975. As the lecture, he expressed his regret for what happened that day and explained how it changed his life forever. “I made a mistake when I was
SAYALI AMIN
Daily Staff Reporter
In this past week, the University of Michigan has announced several new initiatives centered in Detroit. Of these initiatives are a partnership with Harvard University to address the opioid crisis and the P-20 Partnership with Marygrove College to improve educational institutions. The P-20 Partnership implements a teacher residency, which allows teachers to work in rotations similar those of physicians, and a “cradle-to-career” pathway for students beginning as early as kindergarten. In the past year, the University also finalized the purchase of the remainder of the Horace H. Rackham Education Memorial Building in Detroit, which has been used previously for multiple projects and classes. James Holloway, vice provost of Global Engagement and Interdisciplinary Academic Affairs, said Detroit, as an important urban area, presents opportunities for faculty and staff. He also said there are several questions that arise when approaching a project in Detroit. “How do opportunities in Detroit align with our mission to develop generalizable knowledge and to educate a new generation?” Holloway said. “How do we do that in partnership and in ways building capacity and realizing opportunities for the various communities of Detroit?” American culture Associate See DETROIT, Page 3A
GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter
17 years old and I recognize that someone lost their life. I didn’t pull the trigger, but I was there,” he said. “There’s no snapping my finger and getting them to come back. I know what death means.” After spending 42 years in prison, Sanders was released on July 6, 2017. Upon entry to prison, he described his education level was at approximately third grade, which was one of the reasons he was so motivated to spend time trying to earn an undergraduate degree. “Most of my time in prison was spent in four places: in the yard running, the inmates’ library, the school or Islamic services,” he said. He faced several challenges getting an education as a result of the prison institution structure. Because he received a life sentence, he was not prioritized for the provided
educational opportunities. He could only attend on the basis that another inmate would decide not to pursue education. “Every time that I made an effort to go to school, it was a challenge,” Sanders said. “I would have to wait to see if someone that intended to go didn’t go. And if they decided not to go, it was my fortune.” While he was in prison, Sanders received his associate’s degree from Jackson College in paralegal studies, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Spring Arbor University in behavioral science. Sanders then joined a group called the Lifer Law program, where he worked with other inmates, mostly veterans, to study legal texts and pay for attorneys to come lecture. The program also gave inmates resources to go to trial, even when discouraged by their attorneys.
Sanders said being able to use and benefit from this education was significant. Though he gained 40 years of paralegal experience, the likelihood of a career or even an entry-level job in the field of law is slim for former felons. “There’s no looking for a career, and that reality hurt. So I began to do what other inmates did before me, which is assisting my fellow inmates,” he said. Sanders highlighted prison institutional barriers to obtaining education, such as severe limitations on technology access. The prison in which he was incarcerated had ban on typewriters — they were considered a threat to security. Later, offline computers were provided to participate in legal research, but he explained the system was still inefficient. “There is an institutional bias See PARALEGAL, Page 3A
RUCHITA IYER/Daily
Paralegal Edward Sanders, who spent forty-two years in prison, discusses the importance of digital technology access and literacy skills for incarcerated individuals in North Quad Wednesday morning.
For more stories and coverage, visit
michigandaily.com
INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 139 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
in response to unrest
“Night and Day” born from directors’ political struggle under far-right ELIZABETH LAWRENCE Daily Staff Reporter
Polish President Andrzej Duda and U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting wasn’t the only conference between the two countries this week. University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance hosted a panel discussing the joint production playwright Charles Mee’s “Day and Night” with Polish institutions AST National Academy of Theatre Arts, Kraków and Warsaw-based Adam Mickiewicz Institute. The Wednesday evening panel included directors Malcolm Tulip, a Music, Theatre & Dance assistant professor, and Dominika Knapik, a Polish actress, dancer and choreographer, as well as the designers and members of the Polish and American cast. Germanic languages and literature Visiting Scholar Teresa Kovacs moderated the discussion, first giving the background of “Night and Day.” The play premiered in 2014 and is actually two separate plays that can be performed together or apart. “Like all of Mee’s plays, ‘Night and Day’ are not psychological, narrative-based dramas,” Kovacs said. “We can think of them as a collage because he uses different materials: paintings, he refers to performances and even Youtube clips.” Tulip chose Night and Day See PANEL, Page 3A
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS...........................5
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7
News
2 — Thursday, September 20, 2018
TUESDAY: By Design
MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers
WEDNESDAY: This Week in History
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
THURSDAY: Twitter Talk
FRIDAY: Behind the Story
Michigan Alumni @michiganalumni
All About Ann Arbor @allaboutA2
Neil @braincelltwo
WELCOME WEDNESDAYS ARE BACK!
@DarrenCriss just ended his @TheEmmys acceptance speech with” “Go Blue!” Amazing. @UMich @ umichsmtd
Bitches are rlly in college and STILL don’t know not to reply all on email chains... heathens! NoANIMALS!
sam @chaosamplified
Nick Huizenga @HickNuizenga
olivia @olivia_bushh
There’s not a McDonald’s, Wendy’s, or Taco Bell within walking distance of central campus
The fact that’s there three Jimmy John’s on campus seems a bit excessive to me
Cars that honk at pedestrians?? Bro you are smack in the middle of a college campus we don’t give a FUCK
@UMich students can join us at the Alumni Center for free bagels and coffee.
W O LV E R I N E O F T H E W E E K Now that the Union’s closed, where do you go to spend your Blue Bucks?
“I go to that place in the the League... Maizie’s. That place is so good. Maizie’s slays. Also, it just looks looks nice with all that marble. LSA Sophomore Ben Sliwinski
420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com
ALEXA ST. JOHN
NATHAN GUPTA
Editor in Chief 734-418-4115 ext. 1251 alexastj@michigandaily.com
Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 nathankg@michigandaily.com
NEWS TIPS
news@michigandaily.com
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR tothedaily@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com
PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
ARTS SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com
arts@michigandaily.com
NEWSROOM
SPORTS SECTION
734-418-4115 opt. 3
sports@michigandaily.com
CORRECTIONS
ADVERTISING
corrections@michigandaily.com
dailydisplay@gmail.com
Editorial Staff DAYTON HARE Managing Editor
haredayt@michigandaily.com
RIYAH BASHA and SOPHIE SHERRY
Managing News Editor news@michigandaily.com Senior News Editors: Andrew Hiyama, Carly Ryan, Kaela Theut, Matt Harmon, Maya Goldman Assistant News Editors: Jordyn Baker, Remy Farkas, Riley Langefeld, Elizabeth Lawrence, Rachel Leung, Molly Norris, Maeve O’Brien, Shannon Ors, Amara Shaikh, Katherina Sourine
CARTER FOX/Daily
ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY and ASHLEY ZHANG
Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com Senior Opinion Editors: Tara Jayaram, Joel Danilewitz, Jeremy Kaplan, Ben Charlson, Magdalena Mihaylova
SAC From Page 1A think that’s the thing –– there’s no need to make the name fancy if it just gets to what it’s talking about. What we are studying is film, television and media, so might as well call it that.” According to a press release from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the SAC name was initially adopted to be adaptable to the changing technologies of the industry. Department Chair Yeidy Rivero, however, heard many stories similar to Georginis’s from students, parents and alumni. “Students didn’t know how to
MR. BEAN
find the department. Parents of students didn’t know what their children were studying. Donors — many of them from Hollywood — didn’t know what ‘screen arts and culture’ meant,” Rivero said in the release. “I look forward to the day when students find the department not by chance, but because they came to Michigan deliberately to study in the Department of Film, Television, and Media.” Rivero expressed her excitement for the name change in the release. “Finally their employees will know what they studied!” she exclaimed. “‘Screen Arts and Culture’ — it’s, like, what?” Business and LSA sophomore Andrew Armstrong, an FTVM
puzzle by sudokusyndication.com
major, agreed the new name better encompasses what the major actually involves and said attracting more students was likely part of the department’s reasoning. “The real reason I think they changed the name was just so that they could try and get more people into it, because I think a lot of people are most interested in television than, say, film, or more interested in digital media,” he said. “People are more likely to sign up for a major if it’s very explicit, like history, English, mechanical engineering. You hear that and you know exactly what you’re getting into. Screen arts and culture is a little more vague.” While the Film, Television, and Media Department has changed its name only once, other departments are on their third, or –– in the case of the formallycalled Department of Near Eastern Studies, now the Department of Middle East Studies –– their sixth designation. The department effectively began in 1889 under Carl William Belser, an assistant professor of “Oriental Languages” who taught Hebrew, Assyrian and Arabic. Since then, the department has been known as the Department of Semitic Studies, the Department of Oriental Languages and Literatures, the Department of Near Eastern Studies, the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, and now the Department of Middle East Studies. As with previous changes, this most recent change is in keeping with the parlance of a large majority of students and faculty. In a departmental press release
this month, Department Chair Gottfried Hagen noted how few people still use the term Near East. “‘Near East’ for a long time was used for the same region, in contradistinction to a Middle East and a Far East, denoting South and East Asia, respectively, but with changing perspectives, Near and Middle East came to mean more or less the same, and today, as a quick Google search will show, Near East is becoming obsolete,” Hagen wrote. “No name is perfect. ‘Middle East’ still smacks of Eurocentrism, for instance. But are we ready for ‘Department of West Asian, Southeast European, Caucasian, Iranian, and North African Studies’?” Public Policy junior Nadia Hakim is minoring in Middle East studies and agreed changing the name will probably reduce confusion both for those studying it and those who are not. “I kind of had an idea (of what Near East meant) but it was kind of this weird gray area, like, what is Near East referring to?” Hakim asked. “Whereas because we use Middle East more, it’s more concrete. I think the Middle East as a term also can be problematic, but I think it makes more sense. ‘I’m doing the minor in the Middle East.’ It just makes more sense.” However, Hakim said, the name was nothing more than a tagline to her studies. “I think the name itself is not the biggest thing that could change,” she said. “For me, it’s more content of classes, how they’re approaching the Middle East, what type of framework they’re applying to classes and stuff like that. The name itself, I think, is just a reflection of how we don’t really use the term Near East more than anything.”
MIKE PERSAK and LANEY BYLER
Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com Senior Sports Editors: Mark Calcagno, Robert Hefter, Max Marcovitch, Paige Voeffray, Ethan Wolfe Assistant Sports Editors: Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Tien Le, Anna Marcus, Ethan Sears, Jacob Shames
DANIELLE YACOBSON and MADELEINE GAUDIN Managing Arts Editors
arts@michigandaily.com
Senior Arts Editors: Becky Portman, Sam Rosenberg, Arya Naidu, Dominic Polsinelli Arts Beat Editors: Jack Brandon, Fallon Gates, Shima Sadaghiyani, Tess Garcia, Sofia Lynch
ROSEANNE CHAO and CASEY TIN Managing Design Editors
design@michigandaily.com
Senior Design Editor: Jack Silberman
ALEXIS RANKIN and KATELYN MULCAHY Managing Photo Editors
photo@michigandaily.com
Senior Photo Editors: Amelia Cacchione, Emma Richter, Evan Aaron Assistant Photo Editors: Alice Liu, Darby Stipe, Max Kuang, Ryan McLoughlin, Alec Cohen
BRIAN KUANG
Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford, Jennifer Meer
FINN STORER and ELISE LAARMAN Managing Copy Editors
copydesk@michigandaily.com
Senior Copy Editors: Emily Stillman and Allie Bopp
BOB LESSER and JORDAN WOLFF
Managing Online Editors lesserrc@michigandaily.com Senior Web Developers: Patricia Huang, Abna Panda, Hassaan Ali Wattoo, Rebecca Tung
video@michigandaily.com Senior Video Editors: Abe Lofy, Robby Weinbaum, Jillian Drzinski, Danielle Kim
JASON ROWLAND and ASHLEY TJHUNG Michigan in Color Editors
michiganincolor@michigandaily.com
Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Zainab Bhindarwala, Christian Paneda, Nisa Khan, Na’kia Channey Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Angelo McKoy, Kareem Shunnar, Maya Mokh, Priya Judge, Efe Osagie
KAYLA WATERMAN
Managing Social Media Editor
Business Staff ADRIANNA KUSMIERCZYK CAMERON COANE
Creative Director
DEANA ZHU
Sales Manager
Special Projects Manager
JEFFREY ZHANG
MARIO DRESAJ
ALEC SPELLER
ROHIT IYER
Local Accounts Manager Marketing Consulting Manager
Brand Manager
Business Development Manager
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid.
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
PANEL From Page 1A because it was something on which he could collaborate with Knapik and Polish acting students. Collaboration made sense, Tulip explained, because of their shared artistic views, in addition to the political unrest under conservative administrations. “These more-to-the-right administrations … seemed to be a common bond,” Tulip said. “We had artistic things in common, we had political struggles in common.” Music, Theatre & Dance professor Vince Mountain, one of the designers of the play, discussed the performance’s visual aspects and explained how a combination of visuals, movement and sound are used to make the play come alive.
Knowing that this was a dance theater piece also meant displaying your body and using that as a means of storytelling He noted his appreciation of the unrefined, messy nature of Mee’s plays. “(Mee) talks about on his website … he likes things that aren’t neat,” Mountain said. “He says I want things to crash into each other and be messy and be unresolved, and I do find a lot of mainstream theater is a little bit too neat. Personally, in my own work, I like things that are messy and crash into each other and so the opportunity to do this is really great because you do one thing, and other people contribute.” Kovacs prompted the cast members to speak about their experience working on a play
with a unique, movementbased style. Music, Theatre & Dance junior Amanda Kuo was one of the actors who responded, touching on the freedom and vulnerability using her body to convey a message. “Knowing that this was a dance theater piece also meant displaying your body and using that as a means of storytelling and putting an emphasis on that,” Kuo said. “It’s slightly liberating, but also puts you in a vulnerable place because it’s your body, it’s your whole self, not just the text. So in that way, this process has pushed us to stop thinking and just start doing, and trusting each other and creating images.” Knapik explained how she pushed the actors to explore their movements, giving them room to improvise and create, but at the same time making sure they were testing themselves. “It’s not addressing what people are dancing but what is really moving them,” Knapik said. “Addressing what kind of motion they have inside. Really I’m trying to make it in a very specific rhythm that can be challenging also for them. It’s something between being super strict and giving freedom to the creativity.” This creativity and improvisation really appealed to Music, Theatre & Dance senior Kathleen Taylor, who spoke about her appreciation of the play not adhering to one single statement. “It’s been really fascinating for me to be able to work on this piece that is sort of messy and is not necessarily making any one particular statement other than that every decision we make is political, everything we’re putting out into the world at least I believe during this time has inherent political value,” Taylor said. Music, Theatre & Dance junior Daniel Flick said attending the play would be a valuable experience for every potential audience member. “I don’t think there’s a specific audience I would want to see this,” Flick said. “I think everyone can take something away from it and I think it will challenge everyone’s beliefs in a certain way to a certain extent.”
Washtenaw County Commissioners will consider first salary raise since 2013 vote Elected officials to vote on new bill proposing 70 percent salary raise to bring average wage to $27,056/year RIYAH BASHA
Managing News Editor
The Ways and Means committee of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners discussed a salary raise Wednesday night. The nine elected officials currently make an average of $15,911 per year—under the new proposal, these wages could rise to $27,056 over the next two years. Though The Daily could not confirm whether the measure was voted on Wednesday night, the proposed salaries would represent close to a 70 percent increase.The measure seeks to pay the commissioners— who serve in their capacities part-time—45 percent of the median income in Washtenaw County. County Board Chairman Andy LaBarre (D) told MLive he expects the raises to pass with most of the board’s support.
“This is certainly a job where, if you’re looking to do it right, it can come to a halftime commitment, sometimes even more if you’re in leadership,” he said. “But right now, the wage we pay I think sort of produces a board that either has folks who are no longer in the workforce, folks who are maybe students or have a non-traditional setup, or some folks, if they have full-time jobs, they either have to have a lot of f lexibility in those jobs or they’re not able to do as much as other commissioners.” The average wage for county commissioners in the state of Michigan is currently $18,700. The board last made headlines for unanimuously adopting a racial equity policy earlier this month. The salary measures will go before the entire board for confirmation on Oct. 3.
DEMS From Page 1A of state it can be a real motivator for people to come out that don’t normally because it’s so unique.” Stabenow, who is up for reelection in November, opened the event by stressing the importance of voting in the midterm election. Among other prominent issues this year, she highlighted clean water, universal health care, net neutrality, college debt alleviation and Great Lake protections. “You understand what’s at stake,” Stabenow said. “We are at a point in time where literally everything we care about is on the ballot.” She also acknowledged the historically lackluster turnout rates across the state and stressed this election needs to be a turning point for Michigan. “Michigan traditionally, unfortunately, has the distinction of being the state with the lowest turnout in non-presidential years,” Stabenow said. “Think about that. This year, we have to change that.”
DETROIT From Page 1A Professor Kristin Hass is currently teaching a course on Detroit and finds the increased programs and initiatives in Detroit exciting. “We have a lot to learn from the history of the city and the people of the city,” Hass said. “I wouldn’t want to over-promise on the impact, (but) everybody aspires to have a positive impact on the city.” Holloway said the goal for initiatives and programs is for the University and the city to mutually benefit. To further the productivity of programs, Holloway said local support is important. The University has 300 projects grounded in and around Detroit. “In order to accomplish our goals in relation to research and education, we have to do that with local support and local partners. We want to realize the reciprocal benefit, working with local partners. The dialogue is important.” Underlying the University’s new ventures in Detroit is its pre-existing relationship with the city — or at times, a lack thereof. The University was founded in Detroit in 1817, but departed for Ann Arbor two decades later. In the last half-century, city residents have lived through post-industrial decline,
PARALEGAL From Page 1A that’s built into corrections,” he said. “Even though it’s called corrections, there is a bias to keep you illiterate, to keep you at a remedial level, and it takes a village to get former inmates back into society.” When Sanders was released, he was helped by several University of Michigan and Wayne State University social work interns as well as his sisters to get a state identification card and health insurance, in addition to completing other re-entry regulatory steps. He claimed one of his proudest accomplishments since prison was registering and later voting for gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed. “This is very important for you guys: Determine your own fate, and don’t do it just after the primary, do it so you aren’t left with someone that somebody else picked for you,” he said. “The same day I got out of prison, being there for almost 43 years, first thing I did was register to vote. And I went with Abdul.” Sanders’ transition back into society was a difficult one, especially in terms of finding work. He was hired at McDonald’s after a successful interview, when his status as a former felon wasn’t mentioned until the end. He hopes to contribute to the field of social work or law in the future. Sanders mentioned Gov. Rick
Thursday, September 20, 2018 — 3
In both the 2014 and 2010 midterm elections, however, voter turnout in Michigan was above the national averages of 37.8 and 36.3 percent, respectively. Voter turnout rates for the 2018 primary rose from 2014 levels, however, indicating turnout may increase come November. Kennedy began his segment by asking the audience members to shout out what issues they cared about the most. He collected a long list of issues –– climate change, access and affordability of higher education, a woman’s right to choose, gun control, universal health care, immigration, racial inequality –– and had audience members raise hands to vote their personal top three issues. He then shared some statistics about today’s economy and the financial hurdles millennials face. According to Kennedy, millennials have to work 4,500 hours of a minimum wage job to afford a college degree, whereas baby boomers only had to work 300 hours. Additionally, Kennedy said, 20 percent of the economy is now essentially a contract or gig economy, so the protections that came with secure employment
bankruptcy and population loss — and some members of the campus community question the motives behind the University’s partnerships. “There was a point at which my recommendation was that we pull out of Detroit altogether — that we didn’t really mean it,” former professor Martha Jones told The Daily last summer. “Now that was more of a provocation, but it’s not so far-fetched. That would be in keeping with one vision of who we are. As an institution, we’re very late in coming to Detroit... we weren’t sure if we wanted to be a university that just happened to be in southeastern Michigan. A few years ago, I wound up doing a survey of all the programs in Detroit emanating from Ann Arbor, and there are scores of them. But after itemizing them, they didn’t really have one coherent mission or vision.” In a similar vein, University alum Stephen Wallace criticized common research approaches to Detroit. Wallace, a Detroit native, sparked debate at a Ford School policy talk two years ago wherein a Detroit deputy mayor called the city a policy “laboratory.” “I found that referring to Detroit as a laboratory for public policy experiments (was) very offensive because you’re dealing with people’s real lives,” Wallace pointed out. “I am very fortunate to come out of my neighborhood
Snyder’s ban on the checkbox designating former felons on job applications as an institutional step in the right direction. Sanders received help from the Unviersity’s Information Alliance for Community Development, which he said was essential to gaining fluency in digital work applications and general technological skills. Rackham student Ihudiya Ogburu researches digital literacy in the School of Information, and described the effort of this organization and why she felt compelled to spearhead the program. “I’m interested in understanding how returning citizens or people who were formerly incarcerated use technology in general, and how they go about looking for jobs in this digital society,” she said. “We just finished interviewing last week, it’s on Sundays from 2:00 to 5:00 pm, and we want to further recruit volunteers.” Graduate student Yixian Zhou explained her interest in the transitionary period between incarceration and returning to society brought her to the lecture. “The reason why I came here is that I’m curious about this topic — there are a few topics about how when people came from prison, and how people transition and adapt into normal life. This is a completely different life than in prison. I’m curious about that, and also how people handle mental health issues and change their thoughts and conceptions to adapt to society.”
are gone. He also shared about half of millennials have zero savings. Kennedy used these facts as a motivator for young voters to be engaged and decide on policies that will benefit their futures and ease financial anxieties. “I promise you, you will decide this election, period,” Kennedy said. “You’ll decide it because you vote, or you’ll decide it because you don’t … You guys have a chance to actually send a message to every single politician and aspiring politician about the direction of the nation that we see today.” Kildee, Dingell, Driskell and Brown also talked about the importance of youth voter engagement in the midterms. Kildee discussed Flint, Michigan, which lies in his congressional district, as an example of failed government leadership. “What happened in Flint was not a storm, it wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t some unforeseen, unpreventable disaster,” Kildee said. “It was the predictable result of a philosophy of government that says those kids (from Flint) come last, and the people at the top – the wealthy, the powerful – are the folks who are going to
and go to one of the best schools in the world, but I had a lot of opportunities that some people don’t have and to refer to their lives and their futures as experiments … is a very slippery slope. It causes you to view the city and the people in it as something less than human. University alum Michael Chrzan is a native of Detroit and now teaches math to Detroit high school students. He said when the programs are well developed, they can be valuable to the community. “I’m a fan of large institutions doing work like this if it’s done in conscious ways, where there’s clear thought given on the impact on the community,” Chrzan said. “One of the big critiques I’ve heard of Michigan, especially the School of Ed, is that the work they do, they almost are using students as guinea pigs. It’s a fine line between research.” He also stressed the University does try and balance research with understanding the students. The P-20 Partnership is a program that Chrzan thinks is needed, emphasizing the idea of a teacher residency would be useful. “The teacher residency was an idea they were trying to pilot when I was in a teaching intern program,” Chrzan said. “I was really excited to hear about that, we really need it in the profession.” According to Holloway, the University operates under three principles when meeting with
get the resources that could have guaranteed clean water for these kids.” Dingell, along with several of the other speakers, brought attention to the Big Ten Voting Challenge, a competition among the 14 Big Ten universities to get the highest student turnout rate on campus for the midterm elections. LSA sophomore Marni Balamut attended the event in preparation for voting in the midterm election. “Obviously with the midterms it’s so important to be voting and especially as young people, the policies of this presidency affects us so much,” Balamut said. “To be able to hear Congressmen and people really representing us talk to us as real people and telling us important issues and stuff from their experience is important.” After the event, Lounds said she was happy with the student turnout, as well as the quality of speakers she was able to secure. “We have such a force of Democratic power in the southeast side of the state,” Lounds said. “It’s awesome to get them all together and see what we can really do together.”
communities for dialogue: recognition, respect and equitable partnership. “When we engage with a partner in Detroit, they’re giving us their time and their support, and we need to respect that,” Holloway said. Hass agreed the University should approach Detroit with respect. “I emphasize approaching the whole thing with humility,” Hass said. “Detroit as a city and the people of the city are not anybody’s laboratory. I think the presence of the University could be a wonderful thing.” Chrzan mentioned growing up in east Detroit, he didn’t hear much from the University. Even today, he said the University might want to consider which regions they focus on and invest in. “There are a lot of investments being made in northwest and western regions that I’m not hearing about in eastside neighborhoods, which gets into the crisis of ‘New Detroit,’” Chrzan said. “If the University isn’t careful they could wind up exacerbating things like that.” As for the new space in the Rackham Memorial Building, Holloway said the University could use the new area for classrooms and community dialogue. “The purchase of the Rackham Building is part of a statement really from the University that we think we have a long-term engagement with Detroit.”
Opinion
4 — Thursday, September 20, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ELIAS KHOURY | COLUMN
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com
ALEXA ST. JOHN Editor in Chief
ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY AND ASHLEY ZHANG
DAYTON HARE Managing Editor
Editorial Page Editors
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Emma Chang Ben Charlson Joel Danilewitz Samantha Goldstein Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram Jeremy Kaplan Lucas Maiman Magdalena Mihaylova Ellery Rosenzweig Jason Rowland
Anu Roy-Chaudhury Alex Satola Ali Safawi Ashley Zhang Sam Weinberger
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
ERIK NESLER | COLUMN
The Accountable Capitalism Act could go further
A
little over a month ago, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduced the Accountable Capitalism Act to Congress. The introduction of the bill made tidal waves in the media after she described its purpose in an eye-opening Op-Ed published by the Wall Street Journal. Warren used the Op-Ed to write about the stark wealth inequality throughout the United States. She claims (rightly so) the private sector has directly caused and perpetuated this inequality by always acting to maximize shareholder returns — an idea made famous by conservative economist Milton Friedman in the 1970s. This idea that companies exist solely to maximize shareholder returns has had drastic effects on the broader economy. Warren includes in her piece that between 2007 and 2016, U.S. corporations dedicated 93 percent of their earnings to shareholders. This transfer of wealth further exacerbates economic inequity when you consider that the wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. households own the vast majority (84 percent) of American-held shares. In addition, Warren writes real wages have not realized relative increases since this ideology took hold in the late 20th century. Companies have chosen to dedicate less and less of their earnings to their employees through pay raises — instead choosing to distribute wealth to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks. Warren, fed up with this unjust state of affairs, devised a solution. Corporations with more than $1 billion in annual revenue would be required to get a federal corporate charter in addition to having a corporate charter in the state where the entity is incorporated. The new charter would require directors to consider the interests of all major corporate stakeholders when making major strategic decisions. Directors would be allowed to choose alternatives (without fear of litigation) that can potentially destroy value — like choosing to allocate earnings toward expanding employee benefits or toward some philanthropic venture. She also wants employees to elect at least 40 percent of
a company’s directors. This would certainly give employees, a stakeholder group that have been historically marginalized and forgotten, a stronger voice in the decision-making process companies must go through. Warren’s proposed alterations to the way companies conduct themselves would make them more similar to B Corporations. B Corporations are for-profit companies that are “legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.” Businesses can act with itheir conscience without fear of repercussions from their shareholders.
It’s clear that businesses can pursue profit while positively impacting society One of the most famous B Corporations is Warby Parker, the eyeglass-maker that donates a pair of glasses to those in need with every purchase and maintains carbon-neutral production and distribution activities. Warby Parker’s co-founder Neil Blumenthal told James Surowiecki of The New Yorker, “We wanted to build a business that could make profits. But we also wanted to build a business that did good in the world.” Blumenthal continued, “Your ability to have an impact on a large scale is just greater in the for-profit world, and that’s chiefly because of the capital and the talent available to you.” Considering Warby Parker’s immense success in the past couple of years, it’s clear that businesses can pursue profit while positively impacting society. As Blumenthal put it, the private sector (as opposed to the public sector) has the capacity and potential to be a force for good in our economy. As I read through Warren’s Op-Ed and learned more about B Corporations, I couldn’t help but think of “A World of Three Zeros” by Muhammad
Yunus — a book that I read this summer. Yunus, like Warren, is concerned with the increasing wealth concentration. He writes on its risk to society as a whole: “(wealth concentration) threatens human progress, social cohesion, human rights, and democracy.” As the wealth gap grows, dissatisfaction among society inevitably deepens. Yunus agrees with Warren that capitalism — specifically the idea that companies must maximize shareholder value — has led to the wealth disparity experienced throughout the world. He devises a different solution, however. Yunus proposes entrepreneurs create social businesses — non-dividend companies dedicated to solving human problems. His book discusses the various businesses he’s started that provide goods or services which benefit those most in need. He writes extensively about Grameen Bank, the bank he founded to provide micro loans (loans usually less than $100) to impoverished villagers in Bangladesh. Social businesses are unique because directors can operate and make strategic decisions without the burden of being required to maximize shareholder wealth. Investors who provide capital to entrepreneurs starting these businesses are able to get back their initial investments (with a given rate of return accounting for the time value of money), but nothing more. Any profits generated by the business are kept within the firm — either given to employees or used to expand the firm’s reach. Yunus’ social business concept may seem farfetched and radical now, but the idea could (and should) be commonplace in the future. The private sector should be able to produce handsome profits without making the rich richer. While Warren’s Accountable Capitalism Act is a step in the right direction, I believe the private sector should take more drastic action (ideally on their own) toward remedying the devastating wealth gap in today’s society.
EMILY CONSIDINE | CONTACT EMILY AT EMCONSID@UMICH.EDU
Erik Nesler can be reached at egnesler@umich.edu.
O
n Sept. 14, incumbent Andrew Cuomo defeated progressive challenger and Emmy awardwinning actress Cynthia Nixon in the New York gubernatorial Democratic primary election, garnering nearly two-thirds of the total vote. This was by no means a shocking result. The RealClearPolitics polling average projected Cuomo to win by 38.5 percent — his actual margin of victory was about 31.2 percent. Despite Nixon technically exceeding expectations, a Cuomo victory unfortunately seemed from the outset like a foregone conclusion. Nixon’s loss was portrayed as a huge blow to the progressive movement in the mainstream media — and they’re not entirely wrong. Of course, she ran to win and that did not happen. However, to assert her candidacy was totally in vain because of this reality is to fail to understand the extent of her impact and political footprint. The same night of Nixon’s election loss, six progressive candidates were able to topple Independent Democratic Conference incumbents in New York state Senate primaries. These corporatist, out-oftouch, so-called “Democrats” were given a wake-up call and a taste of where the base is at these days. They are tired of Republican-lite. The progressives won because people want real, substantive, positive change. They also won because of Nixon. Though she was not able to secure victory in her race, she served as the f lagbearer for progressivism in New York this primary season. In doing so, she was able to change the state’s political landscape. Her inf luence is largely to thank for these state Senate victories. Nixon, giving a celebrity platform to this policy set, helped to double voter turnout. It also served as the extra push needed to carry down-ballot progressives to victory. Also, in what became dubbed the “Cynthia Effect,” she was able to persuade Cuomo to adopt elements of her platform that
Not all is lost he previously opposed. Seeing the immense energ y Nixon was raising among base members, Cuomo saw no choice but to try to steal her cadence in order to maintain stamina. For example, despite standing firmly against it during his entire political career, Cuomo came out in favor of legalizing marijuana this election cycle — a position held not just by Nixon but also by about twothirds of all Americans. Criminal justice reform
The progressives won because people want real, substantive, positive change was one of the focus points of Nixon’s campaign. Her platform included ending cash bail, solitary confinement and the prosecution of children as adults. In response, Cuomo announced a plan of his own to restore voting rights to parolees. Though Cuomo doesn’t go nearly as far as she does, Nixon’s bold policy proposals did, in fact, pull Cuomo leftward. By being principled and steadfast, Nixon forced Cuomo to meet her in the middle. Keep doing this and what is now referred to as “the insurgency” will become the new mainstream. We saw similar thing instances occur with Abdul El-Sayed’s Michigan gubernatorial campaign. Though he was unable to clinch the Democratic nomination, his candidacy still had an effect insofar as moving the party leftward. In response to the energy stirred up by El-Sayed’s campaign, Gretchen Whitmer, the establishment candidate and eventual nominee, chose solid progressive Garlin Gilchrist II as her running mate. Let us not mince words: Had El-Sayed not run, this pick would not have happened.
El-Sayed was also extremely popular with young people. His campaign had a huge presence on college campuses throughout the state. He successfully mobilized the next generation of voters and was able to introduce a traditionally apathetic age group into the political process. There are countless other examples of “failed” progressive campaigns that nonetheless had a positive impact on the race as a whole. There are also now countless examples of progressive wins — New York House candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Michigan House candidate Rashida Tlaib and Flordia gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum are just a handful that come to mind. These wins should not come as a surprise. Simply put, progressive ideas are popular. For example, 70 percent of Americans support Medicare for all and 66 percent support raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. This is populism in the truest sense of the word. Losing is never easy, but progressives need to come to grips with the fact that they are not the establishment. Though they have made fantastic strides over the past few years, this is still a movement in the building phase. Failures and obstacles are inevitable, but any progressive run for office, regardless of electoral success, is an act of moving the Democratic Party in the right direction — away from corporatism and toward fulfilling the will of the masses. The point in all of this is to say to progressives that, if you are considering running for office, do it. While electoral success is clearly the intended goal, do not let the thought of losing discourage you. To run, regardless of the outcome, is to do the movement, and more importantly the country, an immense service. to do the movement, and more importantly the country, an immense service.
Elias Khoury can be reached at ekhoury@umich.edu.
HANNAH HARSHE | COLUMN
I
The case for vegan pumpkin spice
always try to write of a syrup, which supposedly my column with the makes it heavier, like a utmost composure and mouthful of pumpkin pie. This sauce contains professionalism, condensed skim but today I just milk, meaning can’t do that. It’s even if a dairy-free late September, customer asks for we’re approaching a pumpkin spice week four of college latte with soy milk football season, the instead of dairy trees are bound to milk, the drink start shedding their will still contain leaves any moment in the sauce. now. If you can’t HANNAH dairy Essentially, it’s guess it already, I HARSHE impossible for a want a pumpkin spice latte! What’s the point of fall if customer to order a dairy-free version of this drink. you can’t have a PSL? In 2003, when the drink To summarize the above rant: Starbucks, bring vegan debuted, the dairy ingredient pumpkin spice lattes to the may not have posed a problem. United States. Please. I’m However, in the past 15 years, our culture has changed begging you. For those of you who choose drastically. The overall dairy market was to spend your time focusing on alternatives more substantive global issues, estimated at about $7.4 billion I’ll give you the rundown. in 2016 and is projected to In early 2003, a small team extend to about $14.4 billion gathered in the Starbucks by 2022, increasing at a “Liquid Lab” sampling forkfuls compound annual growth rate of pumpkin pie and sips of of 11.7 percent. In addition, espresso. In that fateful room, sales of total conventional the Pumpkin Spice Latte was f luid milk products decreased born, the drink that has come 6.2 percent from 2016 to 2017, to embody crisp leaves, cozy and estimated sales of total organic f luid milk products sweaters and all things fall. Part of the perfection of decreased 5.6 percent from this recipe, however, was the a year earlier. Basically, the pumpkin spice sauce. Most market is begging for milk Starbucks f lavored lattes, such alternatives. To understand just how as vanilla lattes and caramel macchiatos, involve a syrup. milk-averse our culture is These syrups are completely becoming, look at the nondairy-free, so most drinks at dair y ice cream industr y. Starbucks can easily be made When I stopped consuming vegan by swapping out the dair y in 2015, I was harddairy milk for almond milk, pressed to f ind ice cream to soy milk or coconut milk. eat. I could f ind dair y-free Even their mochas and hot sorbet prett y easily, and chocolates can be made vegan certain health brands carried products that using this method! This has dair y-free made Starbucks a popular were called “ice cream” but destination for vegans and tasted certainly didn’t like dairy intolerant customers for it. That was about it. Today, I’m amazed by how large a long time. However, the pumpkin the market has g rown. I can spice latte uses a sauce instead walk into Meijer and f ind
almost ever y ice cream brand in the store has at least a few f lavors that don’t contain dair y. Likewise, most ice cream parlors in downtown Ann Arbor and even in the small towns I’ve visited carr y some non-dair y options. Most importantly, it tastes like ice cream. My friends who still consume dair y (though they are becoming rarer and rarer) admit they can’t taste the difference bet ween dair y ice cream and non-dair y ice cream. In 2013, someone started a petition called “Please Make The Pumpkin Spice Latte Vegan.” This petition, which is now closed, has 11,631 supporters. Five years ago, before the vegan craze hit our culture, there was a clear demand for vegan pumpkin spice lattes. Prog ress is being made, let’s be clear. This year Starbucks announced vegan pumpkin spice lattes would be made available across several European countries. This is g reat news, but I have t wo major problems with it. The f irst problem is I don’t live in Europe. The second problem is North America is projected has the fastest g rowing nondair y market. Why is Europe the go-to location to launch vegan pumpkin spice lattes? This fall, I have t wo wishes. The f irst is for the Universit y of Michigan to beat Ohio State Universit y, and the second is to enjoy a Pumpkin Spice Latte. One of these goals should be easily attainable if the right people decide they want to make it happen. To the team at the Starbucks Liquid Lab: Are you listening? Hannah Harshe can be reached at hharshe@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Thursday, September 20, 2018 — 5
BOOKS NOTEBOOK
Modern day feminist on being ‘The Second Sex’ today TESSA ROSE For the Daily
I have always considered myself a well-versed feminist. I have read Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” and Kate Millett’s “Sexual Politics.” I point out toxic masculinity when I see fit, empower women as my go-to hobby and, the cherry on top, I am a Women’s Studies major. But no feminist text or practice could prepare my modern-day feminist brain for Simone De Beauvoir’s “The Second Sex”: A psychoanalytic-existential hybrid that evaluates every angle of the female experience and humanity’s placement of women in relation to men. Beauvoir’s feminist prose doesn’t just “go off,” it goes in — into the depths of the reader’s hard drive to rewire our preconceived notions of marriage, sex, menstruation and so forth. “The Second Sex” is the feminist encyclopedia that encompasses psychology, philosophy, biology, literature, law, traditions and ethics. On a surface level Beauvoir’s standout progressive proposals, like her praise of open sexual relationships as the key to free love, may seem extreme to readers; however, Beauvoir may be playing with deeper psychological and social truths that many are not ready to admit because it’s not always easy. It’s not always easy to understand that marriage may be an oppressive institution that diminishes love or that women are confined to inferiority and men superiority. On the other Today I see physical signs of
progress for women as they march through the streets equipped with signs demanding their liberation, computers across campus are adorned with “GRL PWR” stickers. And yet, women today are largely underrepresented, underpaid and without equal rights or authority to that of men. Beauvoir’s reasoning for this is as follows: “women have never formed an autonomous and closed society; they are integrated into the group governed by males, where they occupy a subordinate position.” Through man’s work and achievement he can progress further into the world while a “woman’s own successes are in contradiction with her femininity.” Women can bind together to create a “counter-universe” but they still cannot avoid the masculine universe by which they are forced to frame it. Beauvoir describes this as the paradox of the female situation: “Women belong both to the male world and to a sphere in which this world is challenged; enclosed in this sphere involved in the male world, they cannot peacefully establish themselves anywhere.” And these spheres grow tighter and tighter within marginalized groups of women based on sexual orientation, race or otherwise. Beauvoir describes the feminist urgency to eradicate the patriarchy as “halfway between revolt and slavery.” We see the light at the end of the tunnel to women’s liberation but we lack the means to get there because we are the Other. Men today may include women and call us their “peer” but only as long as we remain “inessential,” as Beauvoir writes. For centuries women have been marginalized, silenced and othered by the masculine code society abides by.
And yet, as a woman of today, I am still othered. I am othered as soon as I step out into the world and am hit with the starving eyes of men or even worse derogatory “catcalls” that single me out in the street, making me aware that I am different. I become an object of desire. I am othered when I am told to cross my legs or cover my shoulders, while the boy sitting next to me in lecture spreads his legs wide apart without assessment of his body from the outside world. I am othered when people anticipate my future as a mother or wife based on my gender instead of future employer or goalsetter. And as much as I feel I am othered as a woman today, my oppression doesn’t compare or even reflect that of women with different socioeconomic and/or racial status who are significantly more marginalized by society than myself. On marriage and motherhood Beauvoir casts off marriage as a mechanism that ruins love through the boredom of habituality, essentially diminishing the female’s individualized and free self. Beauvoir argues that because married women feel a deep sense of unfulfillment from her secondary place in public and private spheres she desperately turns toward motherhood to fill the abyss that is herself. The mother becomes devoted, enslaved by her vocation to the child only to be devastated when the child denies her throughout maturation. In Beauvoir’s words, “Maternity is a strange compromise of narcissism, altruism, dream, sincerity, bad faith, devotion and cynicism.” These ideals of Beauvoir’s are most critiqued as absurd
TV REVIEW
and outdated, but I find them to be brilliantly audacious and interrogative. I recognize my mother’s irrational outbursts of anger, affection and bitterness as results of my deviation from her overbearing grips. I cannot berate motherhood or marriage for other women, but we should scrutinize the idea that motherhood, and the roles we attach with it, are natural for women. On the housewife It may seem outdated when Beauvoir addresses the oppression of the housewife as so many women today are receiving educations equal or greater to that of men and dispensing themselves throughout the workforce. Yet, there remains a significant gap between men and women partaking in household affairs. Polls reveal that working men overwhelmingly desire full time jobs while women with the
highest earning potential preferred part time work by a 51 to 19 percent margin. In 1985 it was surveyed that only 10 percent of women said that husbands should turn down good employment in another city so the wife could continue working. In 2014 a study on Harvard Business School graduates found that 40 percent of Gen X and boomer women said their spouse’s careers took precedence over theirs, and 70 percent of the men studied agreed. These studies reveal that women still hold the importance of their husband’s career above their own, and work at significantly lower rates to ensure time is retained for home centered duties. Despite how many hours a woman dedicates to her job, when she comes home, the majority of housekeeping and childcare are largely placed on the woman’s shoulders. This is a routine we may witness countless times in our life:
Our mothers come home from work straight into the kitchen to clean and cook, while our fathers hang to the side letting gendered roles excuse their incompetence. This is not meant to say whether being a mother or housewife is good or bad, but rather to challenge and critique the way gendered roles influence women’s inferior place in society. The economic and social inequality that favors privileged people isolate women on an island of inferiority that becomes an obstacle of her essence. A woman must first overcome the fact that she is a woman before she can move about in the world as a free agent. According to Beauvoir, “she needs to expand a greater moral effort than the male to choose the path of independence.” In bed, in kitchens, in workplaces: the woman still remains the Other, the secondary. Where and when can she be first and the only?
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
MUSIC REVIEW
‘Norm Macdonald Has a ‘Venice Bitch’ is a sweet Show’ but someone should Southern Calif. expanse take it away JACK BRANDON Daily Film Editor
SAMANTHA DELLA FERA Daily Arts Writer
It has been some time since the name Norm Macdonald was relevant in the world of comedy. The veteran comic left “Saturday Night Live” in 1999 and since then has shown up on various
“Norm Macdonald Has a Show” Series Premiere Netflix talk shows and specials hosted by more contemporary comics. In 2014, Macdonald unsuccessfully campaigned to be Craig Ferguson’s successor on “The Late Late Show.” Macdonald was once a prominent face in comedy, thought of as one of the great SNL cast members and perhaps the best “Weekend Update” host of all time. Now, he’s trying to reclaim that fame, with the sad attempt at relevance that is Netflix’s “Norm Macdonald Has a Show.” “Norm Macdonald Has a Show” seeks to offer a laid-back alternative to the politicized, scripted talk
shows that dominate airwaves. Each show starts with guests, including David Spade, Drew Barrymore and David Letterman, who are guided on set by staff and seated next to Macdonald. There is no monologue, no opening music, no sense of preparedness; guests come to offer career anecdotes and shoot the breeze with a seasoned comic. This lack of preparation might be intentional, perhaps meant to add an endearing element to the otherwise dry show. Instead, it makes for an incredibly uncomfortable half an hour, leaving the viewers, guests and even Macdonald confused at what it is they are watching and taking part in. There are multiple lulls throughout the show, where neither Macdonald nor his guest quite know what to say. At one point in the premiere episode, David Spade asks Macdonald if he wants him to come back next week. It’s meant as a joke, but Spade’s recognition of the feeling of incompleteness isn’t far off. The deconstructed nature of the show falls flat, and feels more like an unfinished production that was rushed to air. It doesn’t help that just a week before the show was released on Netflix, Macdonald gave a controversial interview in which he
discussed the downfall of two of his friends, Louis C.K. and Roseanne Barr. Macdonald was quoted saying that the victims of Barr and C.K.’s actions and words “didn’t have to go through” the shame and backlash the performers did. His attempt to apologize on “The Howard Stern Show” just made matters worse, as he claimed that to lack sympathy for sexual assault victims, one would have to “have Down’s Syndrome.” These horrific comments cast a shadow over an already lackluster show, but they embody the essence of Macdonald’s routine. “Norm Macdonald Has a Show” has the aura of a group of lonely dads sitting in a basement, drinking a couple beers and wondering where the good ol’ days went. It’s not funny enough to make up for the visible lack of preparation nor is it innovative enough to make up for the apparent lack of care. Macdonald and Netflix may be trying to conjure comedic nostalgia with the former SNL cast member’s return to center stage, but there is a reason the world of comedy has moved on from Norm Macdonald. One can only wish he would stop making attempts to claw his way back in.
NETFLIX
For half a decade, Lana Del Rey has been working on a fully realized fantasy for her listeners. The extravagance and excess ambition of Born to Die fed directly into the selfishness and moodiness of Ultraviolence, which led to the simultaneously sedated and anxious Honeymoon. 2017’s Lust for Life felt like a clear
“Venice Bitch” Lana Del Rey Polydor departure from the iterative sadgirl personas Del Rey donned every year or two. A smile and a few deliberate, happy (by her standards) songs were all it took. What Lust for Life really meant, though, was that Del Rey had fulfilled some sort of deep creative niche for herself. There was no longer a need to languish in that dangerous living-fast-anddying-pretty feeling that defined some of her classics: “Ride,” “West Coast,” “Florida Kilos” and “Honeymoon,” for example. Instead, Del Rey cultivated an inner strength and purpose. Songs like “High by the Beach” exemplify
the cool self-assuredness that has developed, while “Love” and new track “Mariners Apartment Complex” demonstrate her willingness to share her strength. Del Rey recently announced her fifth major-label record Norman Fucking Rockwell, due out in 2019, and monolithic new single “Venice Bitch” pushes Del Rey’s evolution even further forward. “Venice Bitch” opens with verses that have become increasingly abbreviated as Del Rey’s lyrical language has evolved: “Fear fun, fear love, / Fresh out of fucks, forever.” It’s a couplet that is almost comic in its alliteration and semi-serious usage of “fresh out of fucks.” The words wouldn’t make sense coming from the mouth of anyone else. The rest of the first few minutes feel like a traditional Lana love song, as she begs “Oh God, miss you on my lips” and “One dream, one life, one lover,” but the song patiently opens into a 9’36’’ expanse of pining and cooing for love. An anxious, warbling synth steals the melody from the fingerpicked guitar in the beginning, followed by guitar and drum feedback, until Del Rey asserts herself over the track once more, repeating “Crimson and clover, honey” and “Over and over, honey.” The short lines are not only a reference to the 1968 song “Crimson and Clover” by
Tommy James and the Shondells, but also another demonstration of Del Rey’s ability to weave the perfect cultural reference into
Del Rey knows exactly what she’s doing — and that she isn’t doing it for anybody but herself
her work. Over the years, Del Rey has created an impressive musical vocabulary, at once vintage and totally her own, that has commanded the attention of millions for a few years. “Venice Bitch” is an absolute flex of a single that proves that Del Rey knows exactly what she’s doing — and that she isn’t doing it for anybody but herself.
POLYDOR
Arts
6 — Thursday, September 20, 2018
COMMUNITY CULTURE COLUMN
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
Separating the The unstanning of Nicki Minaj artists and the artform CHRISTIAN KENNEDY Daily Arts Writer
SAMMY SUSSMAN
Community Culture Columnist
This summer, I attended a summer composition program with a friend. When we first got our private lessons schedules, I texted my friend to ask if she was excited to study with the guest faculty in attendance that summer. I was not intimately familiar with all their work but some quick Wikipedia research had shown me that they were all quite accomplished. My friend texted me to say that she was concerned. The world of student composers is small and the world of female composers significantly smaller — my friend had heard that one of the faculty members is “bad with female students,” making them feel uncomfortable. “Be careful around him,” my friend had been warned. I wish I could say this fear was unfounded, that my friend was being overly cautious. I wish I could say that this behavior wouldn’t have been noticeable in my extremely limited interactions with the faculty member. But this behavior was apparent throughout the program, as the faculty member treated the female composers and performers with sudden bouts of condescension and thinlyveiled contempt. To me, at least, this faculty member was obviously incredibly prejudiced. To the other students, however, “something was amiss,” something that was probably linked to the faculty member’s eccentric, creative personality type. My friend, too, was not particularly disturbed by the issue, at least not to the degree that I was. She heard these rumors second-hand, and even then she had not heard of any specific instance of inappropriate behaviour. While I was obsessed with these rumors, I could not prove that this particular faculty member was part of this problem. Ever since this experience, I have become obsessed with the prejudice that seems to be inherent to classical music. I grew up in New York, studying composition in New York City and participating in what I thought was a progressive and openminded cultural scene. I’d worked with many female composition teachers in my life, unfortunately a rarity even in today’s world. I had always considered myself to be aware of the diversity problem in classical music. I believed in the diversification of the canon. I believed in anonymous applications and diversity and inclusion initiatives. But in hindsight, I had never done anything to challenge the larger culture that made these initiatives necessary. In my blindness, I had contributed to the problem even as I told myself that I believed in the solution. This experience brought past issues that I had dismissed back to the surface. What about the allegations of a relationship between a student and a composition teacher that I had heard about? What about the multiple allegations involving another composition teacher that I knew to be credible and that I knew had not resulted in any substantial action? And perhaps most frighteningly, what about the lack of diversity that surrounds me every day as I head to class or attend a concert? Why was I only now rethinking my responses to these incidents? Though I may be particularly ignorant, I would like to think that my failure to recognize the privileges I benefit from is quite common. Classical music, after all, is one of America’s least diverse art forms. Approximately 80 percent of American orchestras are conducted by men. Only one woman (Marin Alsop) conducts one of America’s top professional orchestras. And only 1.8 percent of orchestral
musicians are Black. The more that I researched, the more that I learned that I was participating in an art form that had spent hundreds of years systemically oppressing women and people of color. It is an art form that those in power have referred to as “high art,” a term seeped in condescension and hierarchical dominance. It’s an artificial standard that has been used by the powerful to dismiss all other forms of music as “lesser” music, “popular” music (as though this was somehow a bad thing), “vernacular” music. Had I been participating in the perpetuation of this culturally repressive system? By consuming classical music, had I been aiding in this continued system of dominance? Was my attendance at a concert a part of this problem? Should I stop attending concerts or listening to classical music? I’ve been thinking about this for a month and yet I am still no closer to finding the answer to these questions. I can say that I have started obsessively researching organizations’ previous programming before attending concerts. I have been attending more concerts by and listening to more works by women and people of color. Though many of these rumors will probably never affect me directly, I’ve learned to consider them anyway. If I find them to be credible or at least believable, I’ve realized that I have to share them with others — not only because it is important for the good of others but because I cannot live with myself if I truly believed that I hadn’t done anything to stop people such as the faculty member I met over summer. But as I’ve done this, I’ve learned to be realistic in my understanding of my own role in the classical music world. Just as no one person is the source of these problems, no one person can be the solution. Despite my desires to speak of myself as part of the solution, I’ve learned to be realistic and honest. Yes, I am aware of these problems. And yes, I believe that I am doing something to fix them. But I cannot deny that I was unaware of the severity of these problems until this summer. And I cannot claim that I have done anything particularly noteworthy to address these problems in the classical music community. While I would like to think of myself as part of the solution, I’ve learned that I cannot do so — that I must avoid the complacency that this would afford me. Lastly, I’ve been thinking a lot about the question of separating the art from the artist. This is a debate that I am sure that we are all familiar with. A more interesting question, in my view, is the separation between the artists and the artform. Should classical music be dismissed for its resistance to the increasing diversity we see throughout virtually all other facets of American art? Critics have spoken for years of classical music as a dying art form becoming less and less relevant to contemporary American culture — should we let it die? Ultimately, I believe that we can separate the artists and the artform. I am reminded of Missy Mazzioli’s quote recently in her interview with The New York Times. “This music belongs to everybody,” she said, “and everybody has their own way in.” Rather than changing an artform from the outside, it’s important to change it from the inside — to actively challenge those individuals and practices that discriminate. It is time for those of us that have benefited from or been indifferent to classical music’s discriminatory practices to note and challenge these practices. We must do all we can to ensure that this music does belong to everybody and that everybody can find their way in.
I don’t remember when I began stanning Nicki Minaj. However, I do remember memorizing her verse off Trey Songz’s “Bottoms Up” in middle school. Not far from when I ran on the treadmill in my parents’ basement with “Superbass” coming through my headphones — the girl I had a crush on at the time loved it so I wanted to seem with it. I can picture an old high school friend running, jumping and singing to “Starships” at a student council conference. After getting my license sophomore year, I would visit my sister at Grand Valley State (about a two-hour drive from my parents’) and on one trip I came across “Va Va Voom” — another Pink Friday: Reloaded-era song — which has a flow to its booming chorus that gives the impression it has been heard before. Not that it is unoriginal, but that its emotive, infectious sound is one that we shouldn’t be without. In my head, it’s the B-side to “Pound the Alarm,” which I recall playing at my junioryear homecoming. I asked my date, “What song is this?” and she was appalled that I didn’t know. Either way we had our first kiss that night on the sweaty, stanky public school cafeteria dancefloor. “Roman’s Revenge” left me comfortable using the word “cunt,” to my mother’s dissatisfaction. But it was in 2014, with “Anaconda” and The Pinkprint, that my relationship to Minaj’s music became less perfunctory and more proactive. Everyone remembers the music video so I don’t need to go into detail, but the combination of the verses’ sharp and slick delivery and the unapologetic love for having a fat ass was a pivotal moment in pop culture and hip hop. It’s an era that feels both historical and present, as Nicki Minaj has ridden The Pinkprint’s success (in terms of critical response, sales and singles) for nearly four years, having released her follow-up album Queen last month, if you hadn’t heard. Stanning is time-consuming, especially depending on who you stan. Stanning a punk-rock band like The Wonder Years as my friend Dominic has done for years, requires time and endurance to keep up with constant touring. Stanning Britney Spears, as my old roommate does, requires the exhaustive task of maintaining her relevance without falling back completely on her 2000-2010 success. Stanning is continuous, evolutionary. It creates a community: The Beyhive, The Navy, Swifties, Directioners … you get the idea. A key distinction to be made is the incompatibility of stanning a problematic fave, which is where my devotion to Minaj began to crumble. I saw her tour in support of The Pinkprint the summer of 2015 and was so disappointed. A slew of aspects including flow, choreography, vocal performance and setlist choices left the show with an uneven energy that contradicted the woman at its center. Still, I teared up as she professed personal history in tour and album opener “All Things Go.” This may have been a case of excessive expectation on my part and my inner devotion to Minaj dwindled slightly, as I figured I most likely wouldn’t go see her live again. The price-to-payout ratio just didn’t seem there. Fast-forward to Oct. 2016. I stan Beyoncé, and because I’m not fake, I have a Tidal account. Sorry not sorry, but I can’t risk being even a minute late to whatever the Queen B is up to. Nonetheless, Tidal has a handful of other cool features, including artist-made playlists, exclusive interviews, album-films and live streams/ recordings of Tidal charity shows and Budweiser’s Made in America Festival, headlined by Beyoncé in 2015, Rihanna in 2016 and Nicki in 2018. Tidal’s annual charity show in Brooklyn offers quick sets from a stacked lineup of artists and, in 2016, Minaj sold me on her performing abilities during her 20-some-odd-minute set as she barreled through verses from “Roman’s Revenge,” “Monster,” “Down in the DM,” the “Pinkprint Freestyle,” “Chi-Raq” and “Only,” among others. With minimal back
tracks, her MC skills were frontand-center, delivering her bars with equal parts ease and attitude. Furthermore, the transitions between tracks kept the energy going and the crowd on their toes. At this point my stanhood was back in full swing, just in time for the rapper to litter the following year with spotlight-stealing guest spots on tracks from Gucci Mane, Lil Uzi, A$AP Ferg, Future, Fergie, Katy Perry and more. Following her feature on “Make Love” by Gucci (which dropped just in time for my Mardi Gras trip to New Orleans), Remy Ma released “ShEther,” which displayed the bars and bravado of Nicki’s TidalX performance over the course of six minutes, all the while accusing the rapper of plastic surgery, signing a 360, supporting her pedophile brother and doing cocaine. Nicki came back with her “Three Pack from Paris,” in which “No Frauds” was positioned as her response, but with time-consuming features from Drake and Lil Wayne, it felt less like a headshot and more like a flex. As 2017 passed, Remy faded again and Nicki remained prevalent by way of her features. Features that largely distracted from the fact we were going on year three without a proper Pinkprint follow-up. There were rumblings, there were teases and with each passing season, the stakes seemed higher and higher. The sense of drag, in my experience, was only outmatched by the waiting period for Frank Ocean’s Blonde and every Beyoncé project ever since 2013’s surprise, eponymous album. Finally, Nicki announces Queen via her twitter, slated for a Jun. release, which was quickly pushed back to Aug. (I assume this was due to a tip from Camp Carter that Everything is Love was coming that week). It was within those two months my devotion, amongst others, started to dissipate. Something I believe Nicki herself can feel. I mean, she tweeted about #Queen every day between the first release date and the actual one and still only grabbed the number two spot, and we all know how she feels about that. This palpable sense of insecurity permeates through Minaj’s twitter, maybe due to natural mid-career crisis tingz, or a response to the threat of Cardi B, who is one of the few women rappers to find lasting popularity in a post-Pink Friday rap landscape. Her presence, amplified by Queen Radio on Apple Music, comes off as someone who is yelling the loudest to cover up the fact they don’t have much to say. She has stated the majority of Queen was recorded the week of its release and my initial response to that was, “Ooff it sounds like it.” It’s a dense record at 19 tracks, with more than a few skips. It hardly sounds as if it has been four years in the making, or helmed by a lyricist/rapper of Minaj’s caliber. It fails to dive as deep as Pinkprint cuts, “All Things Go,” “The Crying Game” or “Buy a Heart.” Nonetheless, while it lacks overall quality and substance, Queen does have moments of hip-hop gold. “Barbie Dreams,” “LLC,” “Good Form” and “Miami” represent the actualization of Minaj’s constant flexing on the record. But a lot of the time, stanhood isn’t solely based on one’s music, which explains the existence of Britney Spears or Katy Perry stans in the year 2018. Stanning comes from a sense of connection to an artist and their work, and it is sustained over time by the intra-fandom community and culture. As an artist grows, so does their brand, music and space in popular culture. Miley Cyrus is probably the most clear-cut example of artistic transition and the subsequent regrouping of a fan base to continue the practice of stanning, if one chooses to do so. Miley’s Bangerz era was fun, and I stanned the fuck out of it, but that foundation began to crack as she tone policed Minaj in an interview and continued to show ignorance in place of openness and understanding. Then she went country, and I jumped ship, as did many. Can you name a song off Younger other than “Malibu”? Yeah, me neither. The unravelling of my “barb” status concretely began when Minaj shamed sex workers after releasing “Rich Sex,” (a bop) on
which she says, “If you know your pussy worth a benz truck.” Such comments stem from common misunderstandings regarding agency and empowerment, especially in regard to sex work. It’s perhaps this same misunderstanding that led Minaj to collaborate with 6ix9ine, a soundcloud rapper and convicted sex offender. Furthermore, she added the collab to a deluxe version of Queen to increase numbers, released a music video for the track and bragged about fighting MTV to allow him to perform alongside her. You know you’re in deep when MTV is like, “nah too risky for us.” He pleaded guilty to using a child (a 13-year-old) in a sexual performance after the girl’s mother pressed charges following his admitted uploading of child pornography to social media. Contextualized, the cartoon video for the track leaves an even more bitter taste in my mouth. He has mitigated responsibility by claiming he, himself was a “child” when the recording took place and Minaj evades the serious issues at stake, simply vouching for him personally and leaving it at that. He was set to open for the U.S. dates of the NickiHndrxxx tour, which has now been cancelled. Minaj’s camp can claim “production issues” all they want, but simply told, it wasn’t selling. I know because I spend a bit of freetime on Ticketmaster, considering and fantasizing about shows I can and can’t afford to go to. And if it’s not selling when the album comes out, I doubt it will sell better next year. I wonder what percentage of would-be attendees decided to skip as to not support a confirmed, confessed abuser. Prior to their collaboration and announcement of openers, I was playing it by ear; you know, seeing if I have the money the day of and if so, amazing, if not, it’s OK. But once she hitched her wagon to his, the decision was made for me. It’s understandable why Nicki Minaj is quick with her shield and even quicker to return fire: She has been in hip hop for over a decade, dodging shots of sexism and double standards for years all the while breaking up the boy’s club to a degree her predecessors didn’t. Nonetheless, she was able to do so because of those who came before her: Lil Kim, Remy Ma, Missy Elliot, Lauryn Hill, etc. all paved the way just as Nicki has carved a smoother path for Cardi B. It’s this legacy, though, that Minaj seems least interested in as she tears down women around her in order to maintain a sense or appearance of legitimate superiority. She did so recently by
recalling Lady Gaga’s collaboration with confirmed abuser R. Kelly in order to mute criticism over her 6ix9ine feature; however, she failed to recognize how Gaga axed the song’s video and released another version with Christina Aguilera instead of Kelly to pull attention. This isn’t to say Gaga is blameless, but she recognized a mistake and took actions to remove an abuser from the spotlight. All of this occured prior to the mainstreaming of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, so one might expect Nicki to have a more enlightened response instead of bringing the abuser on stage at Made In America festival and then stepping off the stage to give him a solo song. Made in America was the final straw that broke this barbz’s back. The set lacked the energy and presence of TidalX 2016, and it included solo songs from Ferg and Uzi in addition to the abuser all in under an hour (short as hell for a headlining slot). Hardly Queen tingz, if you ask me. Finally, her response to Cardi’s shoe toss was equally disappointing. On Queen Radio, she complains of her embarrassment in front of the “upper echelon” (read: Cardi is hood, if you didn’t know), but even worse than the classist rhetoric she has engaged in is her invocation of postpartum depression as reason for the scuffle. Cardi has been open about post-birth struggles, which led her to cancel her opening spot on Bruno Mars’s 24k Magic Tour, even going as far to share a meme video with the caption, “This is how postpartum got me.” Nicki went off about how hard and common postpartum depression is, even giving out the phone number for a helpline, but the entire monologue was less so a PSA than it is a shielded shot, using Cardi’s honesty and postbirth experience to discount her feelings, reducing them to one instance. Effectively Minaj negates any wrongdoing by offering PPD as a scapegoat to engaging in a real conversation about herself, all the while discounting the experiences, emotions and actions of any new mothers, especially those suffering from postpartum depression. They can speak for themselves, as can Cardi, as can sex workers; I want to hear Nicki talk about Nicki. But just as with survivors of sexual abuse and critics, Minaj has shut out much of her public, only getting a #2 and a cancelled tour in the process. One day, I hope to stan again, but until I feel connection rather than confusion toward Minaj, I’ll be streaming the skipless Invasion of Privacy. Oh, and “Good Form,” a problematic favorite.
Release Date: Thursday, September 20, 2018
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Have a sudden inspiration? 5 Embryonic membranes 10 “Good going!” 14 Ancient Andean 15 Fully committed 16 Cries at the Home Run Derby 17 Norwegian coastal horse? 19 Agitated state 20 Ring leader? 21 Parenthesis, e.g. 22 Dún Laoghaire’s land 23 Largest division of Islam 24 Excellent joke? 26 Alpine transport 28 2010 sci-fi sequel subtitled “Legacy” 29 Grassy stretches 32 Map line 35 “A Doll’s House” playwright 38 “The Martian” has none 39 Where a sensei teaches how to slalom? 41 Stat for Chris Sale 42 Pronunciation symbol 44 PBS science series 45 Small racer 46 Barbershop part 48 McGregor who plays two roles on TV’s “Fargo” 50 “We sure fell for that one, Jack,” e.g.? 54 Jungle vine 58 Big star 59 Lincoln Ctr. site 60 PBS science series 61 Brit’s floor covering 62 Was yanked offstage ... or what four puzzle answers did, in a way 64 Fuss 65 Dvorák’s “Rusalka,” for one 66 Instead
33 Brouhaha 49 Cosmetic 34 Matthew Arnold’s additive “__ Beach” 50 Rejects suddenly 36 Be off 51 Jerk 37 Bryce Harper, for 52 Mr. Magoo, for now one 39 Ornamental band 53 Santa’s reindeer, DOWN 40 Talk e.g. 1 They’re kept 43 Belgian language 55 Whac-__ under wraps related to French 56 Rope loop 2 Pear variety 45 Deli snacks 57 FAQ part 3 Contempt 47 Ra, in ancient 60 Scorch 4 Raises Egypt 63 Amount past due? 5 Guitarist’s gadget 6 “Aladdin” prince 7 __ nerve ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 8 Petrol unit 9 Vehicle with caterpillar treads 10 Often-cosmetic procedure 11 View from Corfu 12 Sound from a tree 13 Competitor of Helena 18 Small amount 24 Abdomen neighbor 25 Chamber music group 27 Storied craft 29 “__ Miz” 30 “You get the idea” letters 31 Light hair color 09/20/18 67 Scandinavian name meaning “cliff” 68 Block 69 Sunflower edible
By Paul Coulter ©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/20/18
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
I
t’s a sweltering September Tuesday in Ann Arbor, the kind of day where the heat just seems to slow down the pace of life itself. Students JACOB stroll down SHAMES State Street in t-shirts, shorts and sandals on their way to class, trying to soak in as much summer as they can. Hockey sticks, heavy sweaters and ice rinks are surely the last thing on their minds. But even inside Yost Ice Arena, where the Michigan hockey team runs through an afternoon practice 18 days before the start of its season, you can sense that same mood. There’s an air of calm and ease, if not necessarily tranquility — this is hockey, after all. An air of normalcy, if you will. Mel Pearson projects this same air. The Wolverines’ second-year coach displayed an even demeanor throughout his first year at the helm, through blowouts, nail-biters, joy and heartbreak alike. On this afternoon, it doesn’t appear as if anything’s changed. Pearson walks into the Yost media room, greets a group of reporters, takes a seat and says the same two words he used to start so many press conferences and interviews last year. “Fire away.” *** Of course, nothing about Michigan’s 2017-18 season was normal. The Wolverines won 13 games in Red Berenson’s final season. They ended up doubling that total only one year later. The Big Ten’s coaches picked them to finish ahead of only Michigan State. They placed third in the conference. They hadn’t made a Frozen Four since 2011. In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, with the third-youngest team in the nation, Michigan came within six seconds of playing for a
national title. But Pearson and his team had almost no time to savor this unexpected success. Dexter Dancs, Cooper Marody and Tony Calderone — the high-scoring “DMC” line — broke up just days after the semifinal loss to Notre Dame. Calderone and Dancs graduated, and Marody signed with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, foregoing his last year of college eligibility. And so began a tumultuous offseason, even for Michigan hockey standards. Junior defenseman Joseph Cecconi had a career season, with five goals and 22 assists as part of the Wolverines’ top defensive pairing. The Dallas Stars, who drafted him three years ago, wanted in on this success and pushed hard to sign him. But Cecconi had unfinished business. He wanted to finish his degree. He didn’t want to, in his words, “let down” his class. And he wanted to win a national championship. In April, shortly after he decided to stay for his senior year, his teammates named him captain for 2018-19. “Once we found out that he was going to stay, it was pretty obvious,” Pearson said. “ … We thought if we had a leadership group, we can do that early, especially when we had our spring workouts in May and June. We thought it’d be good to have that in place if we could.” Cecconi’s decision brought some stability. But uncertainty still loomed, and important pieces were still moving. In May, top recruit Oliver Wahlstrom committed to Boston College over Michigan. In June, prized prospect Bode Wilde decommitted from the Wolverines. Later in the summer, the possibility of Jack Hughes — the projected No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft — leaving the United States National Team Development Program early to play at Michigan fizzled out. And on June 22, Quinn Hughes was drafted seventh overall in
Sports
Thursday, September 20, 2018 — 7
Back to normal
the NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks. For the Wolverines, a nervous month ensued, all eyes fixated on whether the electrifying defenseman, who scored 29 points as a freshman, would return for his sophomore season. A month later, Hughes gave the answer Michigan fans wanted to hear: He was staying in Ann Arbor. “My heart’s obviously still at Michigan,” Hughes told MGoBlue. com on July 28. “… When I look back at my season last year, I had a great year. But I didn’t win a national championship. So, that’s my goal next year, and anything less than that would be disappointing.” A roller-coaster season had been followed by a roller-coaster offseason. But with Hughes’ choice, the makeup of the current roster was finally settled. Pearson’s second season could proceed. *** Pearson is seemingly always even-keeled, but he states he is more “at ease” than he was at this time last season. He speaks in a measured, conversational tone, never showing any signs that he’s not as relaxed as he says he is. He knows his team didn’t escape the offseason unscathed. The “DMC” line accounted for 34 percent of the Wolverines’ scoring a season ago. But the attrition doesn’t worry him. He anticipates a breakout year from sophomore Josh Norris. He’s excited about junior Jake Slaker taking another step forward, thrilled at the prospect of having junior Will Lockwood for a full season, ready to see how brothers Nick and Michael Pastujov can build off their strong finish last year. He can’t wait to see what Luke Morgan, a transfer from Lake Superior State who sat out last season, can do in a real game. He has high hopes for the 10-man freshmen class joining the team. And he has Hughes — perhaps the best returning player in college hockey. “I don’t think scoring’s going to be a big issue on this team,” Pearson said. “We’re going to score goals, we’ll just see where they come
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Michigan coach Mel Pearson feels more comfortable heading into his second season at the helm of the Wolverines.
from.” It’s understandable why Pearson is more comfortable now. Last year was one of transition, but this year, Pearson is familiar with his team, and his team is familiar with him. His plan, his system and his expectations are all in place. “We know (players’) weaknesses and the areas we had to push them and prod them to get better,” Pearson said Tuesday. “And they’ve done that, they’ve made a commitment to get better this summer, almost to a man. I think we’re in the best shape I can remember a team being in physically.” When Pearson took the job at Michigan, he heavily invoked history. He compared the program to a prized family car that he had inherited. He called his role that of a “gatekeeper,” protecting the legacy that past great coaches Vic Heyliger, Al Renfrew and Red Berenson had created. He took the reins after the Wolverines’ worst season in 30 years and led them back to national relevance in only one season. He and his team emphatically declared that Michigan hockey was back. And the expectations that come with that are back, too.
Recently, Pearson had a conversation with Michigan basketball coach John Beilein. Among the things they discussed was the similar situation their respective programs are in. As Pearson noted, both teams went on unexpected, underdog runs last year, and both teams lost key talent afterwards — Moritz Wagner’s early departure mirroring Marody’s jump to the pros. “We talked about it — what’s the message? How do you handle that?” Pearson said. “Going from maybe being underdogs or no one’s talking about you, to now you’re one of those teams that people might pick to finish near the top of the conference.” Pearson and Beilein will talk again soon to share their thoughts. Figuring out how to handle the increased pressure is an ongoing process. But the expectations themselves, and what they imply, are just what Pearson wants. “Those are the expectations that you want at Michigan,” Pearson said. “That’s why you come here as a player — to win championships. … But having said that, again, it’s the process. You have to go through the things, make sure you’re taking
care of all the little things and the championships will take care of themselves.” Expectations are a funny thing. Fans, media and other observers have one set of expectations, but a team often has another. “Last year, the expectations were to win a national championship,” Cecconi said. “And they’re going to be the same this year.” For a player, it’s an understandable sentiment — why play if you don’t believe you can win the ultimate prize? But for anyone else, it’s a bold expectation, one that not even the most optimistic supporter would have believed in last season. This year, however, things have changed. Maybe the Wolverines won’t return to the Frozen Four this year. But there is a foundation on top of which Pearson can go about adding to the program’s legacy. That air of calm emanating throughout Yost Ice Arena? It’s not an illusion. For Michigan, things are back to normal. Shames can be reached at jacosham@umich.edu or on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
‘M’ welcomes 10 freshmen for 2018-19 season Safeties still learning to play smart and fast FOOTBALL
LANEY BYLER
Managing Sports Editor
Less than a year ago, Nick Blankenburg was sitting on 42 points through 57 games — 16 goals and 26 assists as a defenseman of the Okotoks Oilers from the Alberta Junior Hockey League. The 19-year old went on to rack up six goals and six assists in 15 playoff games, which named him to the AJHL South All-Rookie Team. As impressive as that is, the blue-liner has seen crazier offensive outputs before. In high school, Blankenburg racked up 147 points through 83 games in a three-year span, one of which featured a state championship title in 2016. For Michigan, this bodes well — Blankenburg is just one of 10 freshmen, all of which come with a wide variety of accolades and talents between them. Those 10 newcomers are in an adjustment mode, trying to figure out the transition between where they’ve been and where they are now. For some, the process started last year — in the following months after Blankenburg committed to the Wolverines in the midst of his AJHL season, he started to scope out the team’s playing
style and watched them battle their way to a Frozen Four berth that was one goal away from a championship run. “Coming in as a defenseman, I really looked more at the plays that Michigan’s (defensemen) were making and even other teams too,” Blankenburg said. “Kind of compare myself and see where I would fit in with the team at that next level. “…Those guys are all fast players and they like moving the puck up the ice quick, and I know (sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes) likes playing that offensive style. I kind of try to play that offensive style as well, but I have to be reliable on defense as well. So, it’s kind of nice to see these older guys and what they’re doing and learn from them too.” This season, Blankenburg is one of three additions to the blue line, including Jake Gingell — a two-season defensemen for the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL with a plus-30 regularseason rating — and Jack Summers, who split the past two seasons between the USHL’s Tri-City Storm and the NAHL’s Springfield Jr. Blues. Aside from the three defensemen, the Wolverines have gained five forwards and
two goaltenders, including Strauss Mann from the USHL’s Fargo Force, the Clark Cup winners. And although most have extensive previous playing experience, the ten new additions have spent the last few weeks adjusting to the intensity of collegiate hockey. “They were a little nervous the first week,” Pearson said on Tuesday afternoon. “You could sense that, you could see that, a little jumpy with the puck, not quite sure on some things, being kind — I call it being kind to the other players — but we want them to compete. We want them to come in here and force guys to play hard, force people to earn their position. There’s no entitlement here, we’ve told them that that we need them to come in and play and play a vital role on our team. “I think every week you can see the confidence grow in them, and that nervousness has sort of subsided now and they’re just being themselves. They’re playing. They’re hockey players, and they’re good hockey players, and they have to understand that and just come out and do what they’re good at and try to get better every day.” One of the biggest factors in getting the freshmen acclimated
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Sophomore forward Josh Norris has helped to acclimate the 10 new freshmen on Michigan’s roster this offseason.
has been the returners. Now a three-person class after the departure of forward Cooper Marody to the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL last season, the senior trio of defensemen Joseph Cecconi, Nicholas Boka and forward Brendan Warren are heavily outnumbered by the newcomers. Along with them, the juniors and sophomores have had to step up to help the freshmen adjust. Whether it’s pointing a freshman in the right direction to find a class building or working on systems in practice, the entire team has been a part of the adjustment period. One of those team members, sophomore forward Josh Norris, has tried to embody that as best possible. “It’s my second year here and I’ve taken on more of a leadership role here,” Norris said. “I think, just for the freshmen, relating to them personally, there’s a lot of ups and downs your first year and you can get frustrated with things easily and take it the wrong way, and maybe be led down the wrong path. I know they’re gonna struggle at points, that’s just the nature of it, so just trying to help them with that and if they need anything I’m here for them.” Added Blankenburg: “Off the ice, any question that I’ve had — whether it’s where the Chemistry building is or where anything is, they’ve been nice so far. Boka let me and another freshman this summer borrow his moped so that was a huge help for us. All the guys have been great, I sit next to Boka, he helps me out a lot with any questions I have. It’s just all the guys, not even just the seniors, everyone’s been helping us on and off the ice that they’ve been so helpful.” Despite all of the stats and a quick acclimation period, Michigan is once again looking at a lopsided roster with a lot of fresh faces and few senior leaders. But, as they showed last season, the Wolverines like to blow expectations out of the water — and with all of the young talent, they just might be able to do that again.
MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor
It’s hard to look at the Michigan football team’s defense and find a weak spot. If you had to choose one, though, it might be the Wolverines’ safeties. That isn’t necessarily an insult, but a statement on just how strong Michigan’s defense is. Still, safeties have committed the most easily identifiable mistakes through three games this season. First, against Notre Dame, there was junior Josh Metellus’ targeting call that got him kicked out just minutes into the game. Some didn’t view it as a penalty, but the call was made nonetheless, and it forced sophomore Brad Hawkins into the game. Moments later, Hawkins was beaten on a jump ball in the endzone, as the Fighting Irish went up 14-0 en route to a 24-17 win. Then, last week against SMU, the Mustangs scored their first touchdown when Hawkins and junior cornerback David Long had some miscommunication and left a wide receiver running all alone down the sideline for a 50-yard score. “Inconsistent,” said safeties and special teams coach Chris Partridge of his unit’s play. “… There’s always room for improvement. But I thought when we were good, we were really, really good. You know, we had some mistakes in the first game. We cleaned them up and played really good in the second game and then, you know, played pretty good in the third game overall. If you took four or five plays out of each of those starters, just alignment and stuff, they would have graded really high — over a 90. But those four or five plays were in there, and we’ve gotta clean that stuff up.”
As Partridge implied, it isn’t all doom and gloom. Metellus was called for a pass interference penalty late in the second half against SMU. Then he made up for it in a big way, securing a pick-six as time expired in the first half to shift the momentum of the game entirely. Senior Tyree Kinnel, one of the defensive captains, has been solid too, and Hawkins has been a pleasant surprise. All three have played aggressively, flying downhill to make plays in run support when needed. That aggressiveness is a catch-22, though. It has led to the targeting and pass interference penalties that have plagued the group. It’s something Partridge says they are going to have to learn to play with, because he’s not going to tell them to play timidly. “We’re gonna be aggressive, and we’re always gonna be aggressive,” Partridge said. “But we need to understand when we need to be aggressive … when do we lay off, when do we be aggressive because it’s on the field of play and when do we don’t.” Ultimately, the safeties are a talented group of players. Their ability is clear in spurts throughout each game. And they’re an experienced group, too. Both Kinnel and Metellus were starters last season. So maybe it’s just early-season jitters, but for the defense to reach its potential, it will need the safeties to tighten things up. “It’s just, these guys are going 100 miles per hour,” Partridge said, “And sometimes it’s the 30th or 40th play and they’re going hard, they’re a little tired, and they’re so locked in, you’ve just gotta teach them that in a split second, you’ve gotta be able to react and know the situation that’s coming.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, September 20, 2018 — 8
In wake of injuries, Jay Harbaugh expresses confidence in running backs ETHAN WOLFE Daily Sports Writer
After the game against Western Michigan, junior running back Chris Evans said the running lanes created by Michigan’s offensive line were so big you could drive a car through them. Against SMU, you could hardly fit a bicycle most of the day. The Wolverines rushed the ball 41 times for 197 yards against the Mustangs. On paper, those numbers are solid. But 11 of those carries and 109 of those yards came in two garbage-time drives, while the rest — which produced a measly 2.9 yards-percarry average — came within a two-possession game. Starting running back Karan Higdon was fully dressed for Saturday’s contest, but ultimately
sat out due to an undisclosed injury. Instead, it was the No. 2 back Evans who handled ballcarrying responsibilities, and he proved to be less than stellar compared to the ground show — 308 yards — from a game ago as he struggled in short-yardage situations. After a 35-yard run late, Evans came up limping, grabbing his hamstring. Originally, Evans’ apparent injury cast doubt on both Higdon and Evans’ availability against Nebraska this weekend. “Karan was a game-time decision, didn’t feel like he could go. Chris, we’ll see what his situation is exactly, whether it’s a strain or a cramp,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh on Monday. “We’ll see (for next week).” But on Wednesday, running backs coach Jay Harbaugh cleared the air and anticipates
both to see the field. “That’s what we expect,” Jay said. “Karan has practiced fully, and Chris has practiced fully for what we expect him to do. (Chris had) been going, it’s just maybe not the same amount. He did a little bit yesterday, and we’re building up as we go as he comes off that tweak.” Even without the two on the field, Jay expressed satisfaction in the depth of his unit and their play on Saturday. That depth includes sophomore fullback Ben Mason, and third and fourth-string running backs Tru Wilson and O’Maury Samuels. Mason vultured a
goal-line touchdown for the first score of the game, Wilson toted the ball 11 times for 53 yards and a late-game touchdown, while Samuels gashed an 18-yard run on that same drive. Wilson has been a hot topic to start the season. The former walkon also had six carries for 54 yards against the Broncos, and has proved to be a viable backfield option in pass protection. “He’s approached everything with pretty remarkable consistency, fixing mistakes, improving techniques, playing with great effort and physicality,” Jay said. “… Whenever you challenge him
“He’s a tough guy, got some wrestling background.”
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Junior running back Chris Evans suffered an injury against SMU but is expected to play against Nebraska, according to running backs coach Jay Harbaugh.
with something to improve on and an area to grow, inevitably you see it show up. If you do that over months or years, the results are gonna be pretty good and everyone’s gonna see that now. “He’s a tough guy, got some wrestling background. He’s got a family of boys, roughhouse quite a bit, so certainly fearless to his benefit on the field.” That hard-nosed sentiment was expressed again with Mason, as Jay praised his “smash everything attitude.” The Wolverines have had success with a power-running style this season, but this approach has also been criticized amid sustained concern about the offensive line’s ability to open holes through the middle. This uncertainty has placed an unusually public amount of emphasis on the running backs’ pass protection abilities. With
Mason’s desire to “bludgeon people and do it really fast,” according to Jay, his role is defined. As for the others, it’s an innate instinct that still appears to be a work in progress in the simplified offensive playbook. “Because we do a little less schematically, we’re probably more proficient across the board,” Jay said. “There’s some trust there. They build rapport with the o-line in terms of understanding how a look is gonna be blocked up and a little of what to expect — ‘Okay, I see this defensive line in this look. I expect the ball to go in this place or that place.’ A level of trust that builds in that regard, because we have a little more consistency in scheme.” In Big Ten play, the order is taller. But with apparent depth in the running back room, the coaching staff can rest easy.