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ADMINISTRATION

Disclosure policy may discourage applicants Rule mandating staff reveal any felony charges draws criticism, concern

KARTIKEYA SUNDARAM/Daily Julie J. Park, associate professor of education at the University of Maryland, presents a lecture at the Research & Scholarship Seminar Series: Affirmative Action, Asian Americans, and the Harvard Case at Rackham Auditorium Wednesday afternoon.

Professor examines implications of Harvard discrimination lawsuit

Lawyer advised school during trial to determine if admissions process violated civil rights NIKKI KIM

Daily Staff Reporter

On Wednesday afternoon, around 100 students gathered in Rackham auditorium to listen to Julie Park, associate professor at the University of Maryland and author of “Race on Campus: Debunking Myths with Data,” discuss the implications behind Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the lawsuit against Harvard University to determine if the college violated the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against Asian Americans through their college admissions process. Park was the consulting expert for the trial, serving as defense for Harvard. Her talk comes amidst recent

controversy surrounding the college admissions bribery scandals in schools like University of Southern California, Georgetown University, Yale University and Stanford University. The talk was part of a larger seminar series by the National Center for Institutional Diversity, aiming to invite scholars who promote academic understanding of both historical and contemporary issues about race, oppression, power and how they occur on campus. Park’s choice to come to the University of Michigan was in part driven by her personal connection to it. She explained that she was inspired by the early 2000s University of Michigan lawsuits and decided to pursue

what is now her current academic path. Her research on the relationship between affirmative action and Asian Americans works to question and debunk the myths surrounding Asian Americans through statistical data. “We need to think about how we fit into this broader landscape, what our stories are and how they might be used or exploited by other if we don’t take ownership of our own stories,” Park said. She referenced one of the earlier college admissions lawsuits: the second Abigail Fisher case. In 2016, Abigail Fisher was one of the plaintiffs challenging University of Texas in a case investigating admissions discrimination based on skin color.

After the first Fisher case, Edward Blum, president of SFFA and the man leading the initiative to eliminate all race-conscious admissions, developed a website called harvardnotfair.org. After four failed cases where the plaintiffs were all white with B-average grades, the anti-affirmative action movement changed their strategic course to focus on Asian Americans with exceptional grades. According to Park, Asian Americans make more sympathetic plaintiffs than white students with mediocre grades. “There were a lot of Black and Latinx applicants with better grades who didn’t get in,” Park said. See LAWSUIT, Page 3

EMMA STEIN

Daily Staff Reporter

Jay Bochert earned both his master’s deg ree and PhD in sociolog y from the Universit y of Michigan and worked as a g raduate student instructor. He also spent seven years in prison before attending the Universit y. Bochert is a researcher and quantitative analyst at the Drug Policy Alliance, a co-founder of the Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Net work and an assistant professor of sociolog y at the John Jay School of Criminal Justice. Bochert continued by discussing the powerf ul symbolic nature of the policy which will require Universit y employees to disclose felony allegations. Bochert examined how, while the felony disclosure policy itself does not impact admissions, the message the policy sends could prevent qualif ied people from applying. He also noted that the Universit y is an inf luential school and it could lead other universities

to implement similar policies. “Aside from the people who decide not to even apply or decide that they are never going to make it into a school,” Bochert said. “And there are lots of people who just g ive up like that, there are going to be loads of people who are going to be affected by the symbolic nature of this change.” Bochert g raduated in 2016 and received many national and school-specif ic awards, including the Emerg ing Diversit y Scholar award from the National Center for Institutional Diversit y, the Mellon American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation Completion Fellowship Doctoral Candidate Research Grant, the Rackham Merit Fellow and, most recently, a certif icate of recog nition for research mentoring. Bochert said despite all he accomplished on campus, the new felony disclosure policy sends a message the Universit y does not value those with a criminal backg round. See FELONY, Page 3

‘U’ Muslim community reacts after Dialogue Journalist, shooter scare interrupts vigil son discuss addresses active Police response to reported threats disrupted commemoration of mass shooting CAMPUS LIFE

racism in healthcare

Discussion focuses on racial discrimination faced by new mothers ANGELINA LITTLE For The Daily

The 29th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Health Sciences Lecture and Community Dialogue commenced this Wednesday at the University of Michigan School of Nursing. Entitled “Disparities Dialogue on Maternal Health and Care: Being a Black Woman Giving Birth in the U.S.: A Maternal Health Crisis,” the event focused on inequity in maternal healthcare. Approximately 100 people attended the event, including students, who made up a majority of the attendees, as well as faculty, staff, alums and community members. The discussion was part of a series of held by the Martin Luther King Jr. Health Sciences Program with the purpose of improving equity in healthcare. Dr. Lenette Jones, assistant professor at the School of Nursing and one of the organizers of the event, said she hoped the conversation would provide a space for students to think critically with experts. “I think for all the MLK events we had this year, we really had in mind the students,” Jones said.

GOVERNMENT

MELANIE TAYLOR Daily Staff Reporter

Students awoke Friday morning to news of mass shootings in two mosques in New Zealand, killing 50. The next day, during a vigil to commemorate the lives lost in New Zealand, police officers ran into the crowd urging people to flee the Diag, where the vigil was being held. Shortly after, the University issued an emergency alert telling students to “run, hide, fight”, alleging that an active shooter was on campus. Though the situation was eventually resolved and confirmed to be a false alarm, many students spent over two hours in hiding from what they believed to be a lethal threat.

When Public Policy senior Zoha Qureshi, vice president of external affairs for the Muslim Students’ Association, first heard about the attacks in New Zealand, she felt “numb.” She did not want to read the stories or see the video circling the Internet. She suppressed the news and went to sleep, hoping it was not true. It was not until the next morning that Qureshi was forced to confront the reality of the tragedy. “That’s when I started to feel like, ‘Oh my god. No. I can’t believe this is happening,’’” Qureshi said. News of New Zealand shootings affected Qureshi more than any other story in what she sees as a constant influx of tragic news and gun violence plaguing her newsfeed.

According to Qureshi, this attack was more personal than the others. “I just remember every time a mass shooting happens, I always worry like, ‘Oh my God. What will I do if it hits a community close to home?’” Qureshi said. “Every mass shooting is a terrible situation, right, but I was always just hoping it would of course never happen again but then never enter a mosque or never affect a community that’s close to me, but then it did.” LSA junior Silan Fadlallah, student coordinator for the Islamophobia Working Group, echoed Qureshi’s sentiments. Fadlallah could not wrap her mind around how someone could be so hateful in the face of her community’s

DESIGN BY SHERRY CHEN

See HEALTH , Page 3

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peace and hospitality. “It really did get to me, and I did get emotional at one point because even though I’m not a super, super practicing Muslim, I do definitely consider myself spiritually Muslim,” Fadlallah said. “It was just difficult for me to really challenge myself to process the fact that Islamophobia is so, so real.” After some initial grieving, both Qureshi and Fadlallah sprung into action to console the University Muslim community, also awash in fear and shock. Muslim Student Association organized a DPSS security presence for their upcoming Jumu’ah service, the same Friday prayer that had been disrupted by the attacks in New Zealand. See SCARE , Page 3

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INDEX

struggle to get asylum

Knight-Wallace fellow shares his experience of mistreatment, threats JULIA JOHNSTON For The Daily

Wednesday evening the International House Ann Arbor hosted “Asylum Journey: 10 Years in the Immigration System,” featuring Knight-Wallace Fellow Emilio Gutiérrez Soto and his son, Oscar Gutiérrez Soto, who spoke on their experiences immigrating to the United States from Mexico. The event was organized by the University of Michigan Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice and Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights (WICIR). Gutiérrez Soto, speaking through a translator, recounted his experience facing persecution by the government as a journalist in Mexico. After facing surveillance and the destruction of his home by the military in Mexico, he entered the United States with his son in 2008. Since immigrating, the Gutiérrez Sotos have been detained in ICE facilities twice, most recently for eight months in 2017. His application for asylum was recently denied, and his attorney filed an appeal to the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals. See ASYLUM , Page 3

NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 SPORTS......................6

SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............5 ARTS...................7

News

2 — Thursday, March 21, 2019

MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers

TUESDAY: By Design

WEDNESDAY: This Week in History

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THURSDAY: Twitter Talk

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tom @fvcktomm

You know, losses are tough, but it’s a journey and you’ve got to embrace it and improve through it.

it’s been two years since I decided to attend UMich,,, it has also been a year since I got voted out of survivor michigan so like is today a good or bad anniversary???

I hate when people abbreviate the University of Michigan as “umich” It’s U of M man

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Tom Brady has 6 @Tre2Shifty

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Sheesh. The gratitude is overflowing y’all. I’m just so grateful to be here @UMich just keeps setting me up for greatness over and over and over and over again. The resources, fam.

Okay who’s tryna pay my tuition to @UMich .. Thank you it means a lot.

nobody: J.K.Rowling: ron weasley was conceived in the MLB

After losing the Big Ten Tournament championship game, @umichbball is moving forward and happy to have a No. 2 seed for #MarchMadness

W O LV E R I N E O F T H E W E E K When you’re stressed with finals and midterms, how do you cope? How do you strike a balance between both work and fun? “The first thing I do is make a written schedule that organizes what to do each day, just so I make sure I finish everything I need to do. I also like studying with friends and studying ahead of time so that way it’s a more fun and relaxed time instead of really stressful... I also love my sorority, like I only get to see the girls on the weekends but we’ve grown so close and I know I always have them to go out with or to learn on for support—so that makes the week worth it.”

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care in response to three relationships between the of racism, and we don’t think articles that were recom- providers and the patients about our own internal biasmended reading before the that were described,” Loder es and how we react to peoevent: Why America’s Black said. “Often concerns were ple who don’t look like us,” “Students as future leaders Mothers and Babies Are in a tossed aside or obvious Fladger said. “We all have bi— whether they’re in health- Life-or-Death Crisis, Amer- medical problems or vital ases — it doesn’t matter what care professions or not — we ica is Failing its Black Moth- sign abnormalities were ig- color you are, where you’re really wanted them to criti- ers and What States Aren’t nored, and that ’s a result of from, how you speak — we all cally think about some of the Doing to Save New Mothers’ implicit bias or racism, and have internal biases that we issues that we’re facing in the Lives. I think that ’s something first have to address before world in general and what Charisse Marie Loder, a that we need to address in we try to fix any problem that you would do about it.” clinical lecturer at Michigan our training and work on our nation is currently facThe dialogue began with Medicine, summarized the reducing that as much as ing.” an expert panel that included discrimination Black women possible.” After the second group of nurses, obstetrician-gyne- face in health care due to imFollowing the first panel, panelists spoke and respondcologists, professors and re- plicit racism. attendees split into groups ed to questions, attendees searchers interested in the “All of the readings that surrounding facilitators seat- again broke into groups and topic. were assigned today re- ed around the room and re- discussed the new topics The panelists discussed ally focus on issues such sponded to the ideas put forth that had come up. Followwhat they believe to be as poor prenatal care, poor by the panelists. Students ing the final discussions, Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ the key issues facing Black access to care, and what and alumni from a variety of each panelist gave a closing women in prenatal health- really disturbs me is the disciplines within medicine remark reflecting on the diashared their responses and logue overall and urging that proposed ideas regarding attendees continue the conhow to fight inequity. versations and advocate for Kinesiology senior Bri- women. anna Kennedy said she was Dr. Lisa Kane Low, associinvited to the event after at- ate professor at the School of EASY tending a previous Martin Nursing, said the conversaLuther King Jr. symposium tion inspired her. and was interested in the “There can be spaces and topic because she is study- time where you start to get ing both athletic training discouraged and you start to and Afroamerican and Afri- get cynical, and this is the can studies. kind of space that inspires “It is a bridging gap be- you not to go to that ugly tween my major and mi- place but to be inspired and nor in a way, with race and move forward,” Low said. “I health, so it’s an interesting look forward to many of you event to come to,” Kennedy being the leaders that help said. us get past the errors of our The second group of pan- ways and help us move forelists then shared their own ward.” thoughts on issues of racism The event was sponsored in healthcare. by the University of Michigan Jessica Fladger, a certified Schools of Nursing, Dentistnurse midwife, stressed the ry, Kinesiology, Public Health importance of healthcare and Social Work, College of providers acknowledging Pharmacy, Michigan Meditheir own internal biases. cine and Michigan Institute “I think the problem in for Clinical and Health Reour society is when we think search. about racism we think about PASSIONFRUIT puzzle by sudokusyndication.com © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. Read more at the Ku Klux Klan, we think about obvious implications MichiganDaily.com

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ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Ann Arbor, Michigan

michigandaily.com

ADMINISTRATION

Disclosure policy may discourage applicants Rule mandating staff reveal any felony charges draws criticism, concern

Professor examines implications of Harvard discrimination lawsuit

Lawyer advised school during trial to determine if admissions process violated civil rights NIKKI KIM

Daily Staff Reporter

EMMA STEIN

Daily Staff Reporter

events we had this year, we really had in mind the students,” Jones said. “Students as future leaders — whether they’re in healthcare professions or not — we really wanted them to critically think about some of the issues that we’re facing in the world in general and what you would do about it.” The dialogue began with an expert panel that included nurses, obstetriciangynecologists, professors and researchers interested in the topic. The panelists discussed what they believe to be the key issues facing Black women in prenatal healthcare in response to three articles that were recommended reading before the event: Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis, America is Failing its Black Mothers and What States Aren’t Doing to Save New Mothers’ Lives. Charisse Marie Loder, a clinical lecturer at Michigan Medicine, summarized the discrimination Black women face in health care due to implicit racism. See FELONY, Page 3

racism in healthcare

Discussion focuses on racial discrimination faced by new mothers ANGELINA LITTLE For The Daily

GOVERNMENT

MELANIE TAYLOR Daily Staff Reporter

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See HEALTH , Page 3

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INDEX

struggle to get asylum

Knight-Wallace fellow shares his experience of mistreatment, threats JULIA JOHNSTON For The Daily

NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 SPORTS......................6

SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............5 ARTS...................7

Opinion

4 — Thursday, March 21, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

CHAND RAJENDRA-NICOLUCCI | COLUMN

Project Green Light’s end doesn’t justify the means Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

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FROM THE DAILY

The University’s emergency response system needs improvement

his past Saturday, there was a false alarm during which University of Michigan students were alerted about an active shooter situation in Mason Hall, leaving them confused, fearful and traumatized. This occurred at the same time as a vigil on the Diag for the victims of the recent attacks on two New Zealand mosques, where more than 50 people were killed. The Michigan Daily Editorial Board would like to specifically express our support for the Muslim community during this time, many of whom were disproportionately affected by this scare, and offer a statement of solidarity with the community.

Our University was deeply affected by the traumatizing event of having a believed shooter on campus. While this was thankfully proven to be a false alarm, the stress, fear and harm inf licted on students remains tangibly real and potent. One of the fundamental reasons that this stress has been so pervasive lies with the University’s inadequate response to the alarm – particularly in its unclear and sporadic communication with students before and after the incident. This past weekend’s events were an alarming wake up call. We as an Editorial Board urge the University to take this opportunity to implement concrete change to their active shooter preparedness and procedure, in collaboration with student organizations to create the most effective protocol possible. After an emergency, students look toward the University for leadership and g uidance on how to effectively move forward. We implore the University to create a space for open dialog ue for students to directly express their concerns about the current active shooter protocol as well as suggest amendments to the way the University handles emergency situations. This could be a town hall, among other options. This will give the University the opportunity to hear from and acknowledge how different communities — specifically underrepresented communities like the Muslim community and people with disabilities — are affected, and allow these different experiences to inform the resulting policy. One of the most glaring issues to come from the incident was the University’s alert system. The system failed to notif y all students of the alarm, either at all or in a timely manner, which is unacceptable considering that the immediate safety of the entire community was at risk. Students reported receiving information from their parents before getting any notification from the University or from social media. The University’s first alert regarding the

unconfirmed reports of an active shooter went out at 5:06 p.m., though many had been receiving texts and calls from fellow students and loved ones for about 30 minutes beforehand. When the alert finally came, not all students received it through practical and immediate channels such as text message or push notification. The University should not only work to deliver these messages in a more timely fashion, but also make it mandatory for students to opt into the emergency text system, which is currently optional and accessible for students to sign up to through Wolverine Access.

The system failed to notify all students of the alarm, either at all or in a timely manner It is also important for the University to reevaluate the type of information they are disseminating in these alerts, and focus on providing accurate, detailed and clear information. One of the first messages from the University simply said “run, hide, fight” — the University’s current active shooter protocol sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security. While this protocol may be useful, in an emergency situation it does not adequately provide students with useful direction. Furthermore, it fails to account for specifics of the situation. Additionally, the “run, hide, fight” protocol is something that needs to be addressed and retaught beyond the video shown at orientation. Many students, faculty and staff are unaware of what exactly this protocol entails, which is problematic due to its importance. Potential solutions to this problem could be creating a simulation to be shown at more reg ular intervals, either during syllabus week or through mandatory seminars in the mold of “Relationship Remix” and “Change it Up.”

Expanded-upon instruction about “run, hide, fight” could include situations that are personalized to our specific institution, perhaps including buildingby-building protocols — especially those that are frequently attended by students and therefore more vulnerable to potential emergency situations. This information could also be featured on course syllabi in a similar way that the sexual assault and CAPS policies are described, giving students specific information based on the building and room. It is crucial that the University discuss which of their channels of information is most reliable so that students and the community at large are able to turn to a credible source immediately. If such a channel is not yet established then it is the University’s duty to create a clear source for reliable updates. We also encourage the University to collaborate with The Michigan Daily as a trusted campus news organization and resource, as we can serve as a direct pipeline of reliable and immediate information. We acknowledge the mistakes we made on Saturday, and to prevent anymore the University should work with us to provide accurate updates in the event of an emergency. Due to the lack of clear communication via emergency alerts, vag ue vocabulary and instructions and no single, clear source for updates, students turned to police scanners and firsthand accounts about what was happening. This aided in the spread of confusion and panic. We are incredibly fortunate that the alert on Saturday was a false alarm, but this event must be viewed as a learning opportunity for the University to improve its emergency protocols. It is imperative that students, faculty and staff have a clearer understanding of what to do and where to receive information in these types of situations. Saturday proved there is an urgent need to improve University policy and protocol, as these procedures are essential to our campus safety.

SUBMIT TO SURVIVORS SPEAK The Opinion section has created a space in The Michigan Daily for first-person accounts of sexual assault and its corresponding personal, academic and legal implications. Submission information can be found at https://tinyurl.com/survivorsspeak2019.

ig Brother? Or a breakthrough in crime fighting? Detroit has joined the growing list of cities turning to surveillance cameras as a tactic in their efforts to reduce crime. Project Green Light allows businesses to pay a fee to have surveillance cameras stream directly into city police facilities. Police monitor the footage, aiming to catch crime in real-time as well as using it to track down and arrest suspects. The program has been touted by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan as a major factor in the city’s recent crime reduction. He has used that momentum to push for a major expansion of Project Green Light, which includes integrating traffic cameras as well as schools with the 500 businesses currently providing surveillance footage. Duggan has also entertained making the program mandatory for businesses open at 10 p.m. Does Project Green Light actually reduce crime? It’s unclear. City officials say yes, pointing to a number of statistics including crime falling by 11 percent at Green Light locations from 2016 to 2017 (the city as a whole saw a 7 percent decrease in crime over the same time period). However, no robust study has been done comparing crime at Green Light and non-Green Light locations, and critics, such as Eric Williams of the ACLU, say the data presented by city officials is anecdotal. Furthermore, similar projects in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington D.C. have seen benefits diminish as the programs expanded. London, often cited as the most surveilled city in the world, has seen no significant

reduction in crime since the largescale rollout of its camera system. The trend towards surveillance as a crime-fighting strategy isn’t confined to government. A number of startups have arisen claiming to provide protection for homeowners with “smart” video doorbells. One of the largest such companies, Ring, was recently acquired by Amazon for $1 billion. However, just as with city-wide studies, the effectiveness of home video doorbells is unclear, with some studies finding that areas with Ring doorbells saw increased crime compared to similar areas without them. If surveillance programs do work, it’s only when they are implemented in a small, targeted way according to Eric Piza, an associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. When programs become too big, studies have shown residents begin to believe police are not consistently monitoring the cameras. So, by expanding Project Green Light, Detroit may eliminate any positive effects of the program. Putting its effects on crime aside, what does increased surveillance mean for people’s privacy and civil liberties? Nothing good. Project Green Light’s combination of traffic cameras and business footage potentially opens the door for tracking citizens across the city. As people travel, inevitably passing businesses and traffic lights, police will amass data that could allow them to connect the dots on an individual’s movement with relative ease. China is already doing this, using a vast network of cameras to track Xinjiang residents.

Additionally, the use of facial recognition software to identify persons of interest could lead to misidentifications with potentially serious consequences — like when an FBI examiner using facial recognition technology incorrectly identified a bank robber. The ACLU tested Amazon’s facial recognition software, Rekognition (currently in use by a number of police departments), on members of Congress and found it matched 28 of them — disproportionately people of color — to criminal mugshots. This finding which begs the question: Should a tool which perpetuates biases already plaguing the criminal justice system be used by it? Detroit’s push to expand Project Green Light is in stark contrast to the ambiguity surrounding its effects. Millions of dollars in taxpayer money have been allocated to the program along with the typical $4,000 fee each business pays to install cameras. That’s money that could be spent on strategies that are proven to reduce crime such as community policing and better lighting, not to mention employment, housing, education and recreation programs. Instead of treating the root causes of crime, city officials are pouring money into an unproven quick-fix that opens the door for privacy and civil liberty abuses. Preventing crime should be about lifting people up, not targeting them with a dubious surveillance program whose effects are likely inconsequential. Chand Rajendra-Nicolucci can be reached at chandrn@umich.edu.

ASHLEY SCHNAAR | OP-ED

y 4 p.m., more than 200 of us arrived at the University of Michigan Diag for a vigil to mourn the lives of those lost in New Zealand, organized by the Islamophobia Working Group. At about 4:35 p.m., 20 terrified people called 911 from Mason Hall, reporting the sound of gunshots. At 4:43 p.m., I sent my loved ones a text message that read, “I’m okay I love you.” The truth is I was not ok. I was not safe. And I didn’t know if this would be the last thing they would ever hear from me. My day started off better than most. I attended the Women’s March with my mom and friends and then arrived at the vigil shortly after to support the Ann Arbor Muslim community. It was supposed to be a day that would uplift and unite us. At the vigil, a student beautifully chanted a verse from the Quran, the names of the victims were spoken aloud and another student began reading a poem. Suddenly I heard a man’s voice shouting in the distance, I turned my head back toward the noise but saw nothing and turned back to face the poet. I could not hear what he said or see the crowd behind me from where I was standing in the front. Seconds later his voice was echoed by screams and cries and people all around me were running for their lives. It was all a blur. It happened so slowly and so quickly at the same time. Over the past year and a half, in light of the news of mass shootings in this country and abroad, I have woken up with night terrors where I am in a lockdown more times than I can count. But my nightmares did not prepare me for this. I found myself lying on the cement of the Diag. It felt like I was drowning in the sea of people and I didn’t have the strength to get up or the ability to see the surface. I heard two voices, who I would later find out were my friends, telling me I needed to stand up. It sounded like when you’re sleeping and someone is talking to you and you can’t tell if it is in your dream or real life. I somehow managed to pull myself up; I probably wouldn’t have been able to if it were not for the encouraging voices. I remembered that it was safest to run as far away as possible from the shooter, but I didn’t have the strength to keep running. It felt like I was running in slow motion. In delirium, I reached for

False alarm the nearest door handle and ran inside. I later found out that it was the Hatcher Graduate Library. I don’t even remember how I found the staircase that led to “the stacks,” bookshelves of archived materials and locked office doors. There was no room to hide in, no door to lock. In the active shooter situations I had been trained for, there was a dark classroom with entrances that could be barricaded and people huddled in a corner whimpering quietly. This was far from my experience. Here I was in an all-concrete area with nothing to hide behind or block doors with. Fluorescent lights shined above us and daylight streamed through the windows. We were not “in hiding” because there was nowhere to hide. I saw the number four on a door and assumed I was on the fourth floor of the building. I did not feel like I was in lockdown, nothing felt secure or protected. Twenty minutes later, messages came through our phones that read “Active shooter in Mason Hall. Run, hide, fight.” Mason Hall was the building next to us. We had run long ago. We were not able to hide here. And we had nothing with which to fight. Helpless. I was with about 10 others. Two happened to be my friends, even though we had been separated in the crowd, and the rest were strangers. A couple of them organized and spoke at the vigil. The oldest among us proposed we all sit in a circle, hold hands, and just breathe. My hands were clasped so tightly with the people next to me, my knuckles must have been white. Over the next hour and a half, we all received text messages and calls from worried friends and family. Between Twitter, text messages and listening to the police scanner on our phones, countless rumors spread rapidly. We heard mixed reports, including “the shooter is in the library right now,” “they have caught two shooters and are looking for a third,” “the suspect is heading towards Brown Jug” and others. It was impossible to know what was true, as we received no concrete information from the University’s emergency alerts. After nearly an hour of pacing, waiting and worrying, some other students found our group. They suggested we try to get to a higher floor, as we were only on the first floor – which was news to me. After finally getting to the top floor, we heard loud footsteps and a man’s voice shouting something,

so we bolted back down the spiral staircase in a parade of terror (this was likely a police officer but we, of course, assumed it was a shooter). We remained at the bottom of the staircase for the last 15 minutes, all 40 of us at that point, while a series of announcements started coming on the intercom. A woman’s voice projected throughout the building that the library was safe and there were police here because the fire alarm had been triggered, though we never heard it go off. The next announcement reported that it was safe outside and we could choose whether to leave or not. The final one said that the police declared everyone must vacate the building so they could clear it. We did not know whether to trust the voice overhead. These announcements spread to social media and I received texts from worried friends saying that what the woman was saying contradicted police orders. When we finally got the “all clear” message, we cautiously got up to exit the staircase. The emergency alarm went off as we opened the exterior door. Some hesitated, while others said to keep going. Once outside in the brisk, open air, there was a police officer positioned between us and the road. He wore a bulletproof vest and dark sunglasses. The officer sharply motioned for us to stop walking toward him and to go in a different direction. Bright red and blue lights lining the Diag faded behind us. We continued to walk home, unsure if we were safe yet. Local news declared that the active shooter was a false alarm caused by popping balloons, assumed to be gunshots, prompting police to tell the crowd at the vigil to run. I received many texts from relieved friends and family to the effect of “at least it wasn’t real,” completely invalidating my lived experience. When I got home I peeled off my muddy jeans to reveal two badly bruised and scraped knees. I feel grateful for the condition of my knees. Grateful for these knees that sting with each step I take back into normalcy. I am grateful for them because they prove, to others and myself, that I survived a very real active shooter experience. That for an hour and a half I did not know if I would make it to see today.

Ashley Schnaar is a first-year graduate student at the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work. She can be reached at schashle@umich.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Arts

Thursday, March 21, 2019 — 5

DAILY COMMUNITY CULTURE COLUMN

TV NOTEBOOK

The power of music

YOUTUBE

Emma Chamberlain: Can a YouTuber be an ‘It Girl’? ALLY OWENS Daily TV Editor

Until I installed an Apple TV, I was never into YouTube. Sure, every now and then, I turned to the platform to find an obscure song or clip of celebrity fights, but I was nowhere near familiar enough to recognize its burgeoning class of celebrity vloggers and personalities. Speaking candidly, I had no desire to. Although these YouTubers were known, in my snobbish fame-traditionalist eyes, they were not real celebrities. It wasn’t until I learned that the same YouTubers I had written off as low-brow were not only amassing legions of fans, but also raking in millions of dollars that I began to feel ... behind the times. Is this how people who doubted the rise of the automobile felt? As a self-anointed pop culture connoisseur, this was unfamiliar territory. Normally, I am ahead of the tide or right on the money in predicting the rise of celebrities. I soon realized I could only track star-making along the pathways I was already familiar with: A reality show, a popular song, a breakout role in a successful movie, a promotion from recurring cast to main cast, a move from the center, human interest section of People Magazine to the cover, etc. Now, with celebrities materializing seemingly out of thin air, my proven theories couldn’t be applied the same way. I had no algorithm to explain the rise of a Vine star, or even more difficult, a former “Dance Moms” star. What was a David Dobrik? A Tana Mongeau? A Shane Dawson? A James Charles? A Hannah Meloche? As much as I wanted to immerse myself in the culture of my contemporaries, I was too late. Alas, YouTube culture had already taken off without me. There were already eras I had not experienced, longstanding beefs I didn’t have enough context to pick a side on. I could never catch up. It was as bad as downloading Twitter post-2014. But then ... I met friends who were not puzzled by the Internet, and my whole world changed. Through my YouTubesavvy friends, I received a crash course in the platform’s teenage subculture (Disclaimer: I am just a 19-year-old that is bad with technology, I am not a 45-yearold Breitbart employee). It did not take long for me to associate the no-filter, lowquality, high stakes drama of vlogger world with the age of early reality television — before the interfering hand of networks and producers left even the juiciest shows feeling scripted and f lat. The world of YouTube provided a perfect hate-watching substitute, and I was hooked. Within a few months, I was able to detect that, like Hollywood, this world also came with clear hierarchies of clout and resultant power dynamics. I knew that A-list

star David Dobrik and his “Vlog Squad” doing a video with everyone’s favorite fraud, Olivia Jade — a former C-lister — meant her comeup was drawing nigh. Falling star James Charles beginning a collaboration squad with consistent fan favorites, the Dolan Twins, meant that he was trying to salvage whatever is left of his waning popularity. Most importantly, I was able to correctly infer that the undisputed queen of teenage YouTube is Emma Chamberlain. If the 17-year-old’s name is unfamiliar to you, you are not alone. However, as I learned the hard way, it would be naive to write off her presence simply because she is most popular with teenagers too edgy to like “Riverdale.” The scope of her inf luence in YouTube culture is evidenced in widespread attempts of wannabe vloggers to imitate everything about her — from her unique editing style, to her dry sense of humor and of course, her unmistakable style. Chamberlain could be considered responsible for popularizing the Urban Outfitters “aesthetic” (teddy jacket, mom jeans, scrunchie, messy ponytail) for the younger population of Generation Z. She is rumored to be one-half of a power couple with other massively popular YouTuber, Ethan Dolan. Every vlogger wants to collaborate with her, few are able to. Despite my usual aversion towards anyone revered by eighth graders, I found myself to be endeared and entertained by Chamberlain’s videos. She’s charming. She’s effortlessly cool. She’s real. It soon became clear that I was bearing witness to the rise of a new “It” girl. Yet, I had to question: How “It” could she truly be if she did not attain fame by traditional means? She was not an actress, not a model, not a singer, not an heiress and not the spawn of someone already famous. Could she ever garner the respect of the high brow that is intrinsic to “It” girl status? Would the day ever come when Anna Wintour gives Emma Chamberlain her seal of approval? Of all the potential moments to experience an epiphany, it seems right that I experienced mine during Chamberlain’s awkward collaboration with none other than the laughing stock/overlord of the internet, Jojo Siwa. In the midst of an uncomfortable Jojo-themed makeover, in her signature self-deprecating manner, Chamberlain makes the joke that, in her comically oversized Jojo brand bow, she could definitely see herself being on the cover of Vogue. And although purely a joke in Emma’s eyes, when my friends and I paused the video on the doctored Vogue cover Emma inserted into the video, I could not help but see the fake cover as a premonition. A Vogue cover pretty much is the “golden ticket” to status. My friend said it best: “Give it five years.” Initially, I had my doubts

about the reality of her ascent to “It” girl status from YouTube — would enough people know who she is to concretely bestow her with this title? When you yourself are immersed in only YouTube for a while, it is easy to lose sight the scale of a YouTuber’s fame relative to established celebrity culture. The biggest YouTuber will still be smaller than the biggest name in Hollywood. To put things in perspective, consider the fact that while Emma has over seven million subscribers, she still does not have a Wikipedia page — many adults’ mental prerequisite for “real” fame. Adults are still, in many ways, gatekeepers to who can be considered a bona fide celebrity. Unlike the stars in the Nickelodeon and Disney machine, Emma does not have to bow to management and participate in synergymotivated daytime talk show appearances wherein her name and image is dispered to a middle-aged audience. The possibility of the hypothetical Emma Chamberlain Vogue cover began to feel all the more real when I considered the fact that Chamberlain already has begun to capitalize on her inf luence with a successful clothing line inspired by her own looks. From there, the possibilities for her rise are limitless. Will she continue on the path of couture a la Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen? Will she expand her vlogs into a larger lifestyle brand? With print journalism clinging onto relevancy, it is not far-fetched to predict that some struggling Conde Nast publication will bring her aboard in a titleless “creative” position in order to nab the younger generation of readers. Emma Chamberlain will be the face that legitimizes YouTube celebrity. It’s only a matter of time before her brand evolves from trendy teen to chic street style, and that dear reader, is when you can send me a letter confirming that I told you so. It is important to remember that one does not necessarily need to be mainstream to reach “It” status. In fact, mainstream recognizability could even be considered detrimental. It makes said star “safe.” True “It” girls have always retained an aura of cutting-edge alternativity that distinguishes them from “America’s Sweethearts” — the more palatable of the women we place on pedestals. Chamberlain’s avoidance of network and corporation control has given her an edge that the network girls cannot compete with: She can curse, she can talk about sex, she can be seen publicly with no makeup, etc. There are no consequences. Even without the assistance of a larger brand, she has been able to inf luence an entire sub-generation. She is her own management. I must question, in a few years, when Emma makes her inevitable rise to the top, will her victory signal entry into a new era of celebrity where YouTubers have a legitimate seat at the table?

Nadia Boulanger, the famous 20th-century Parisian music pedagogue, was once asked how she determined if she would accept a potential student into her studio. At this point, she was the most famous music composition instructor in the world, and students were flocking to her home in hopes of studying with her. She explained that she asks every student if they could imagine living without music. She would only accept those into her studio who could not live without music — she wanted people willing to dedicate their lives to it. While an undergraduate music student here at the University, I have had many professors speak to me about this mystical power of music. I’ve been told of the power of music to bring people together, to allow them to overcome their prejudices and understand each other on a more human level. I’ve heard the stories of sick people cured by music, of armies on the brink of war brought together through music. But though I have frequently heard of this power, I’ve never understood it myself. I love music — both creating it and listening to it — and I can think of nothing that I would rather spend the rest of my life doing. But I’ve also always believed that I could live without it. Though it is beautiful, it is not essential. Music, after all, is a form of entertainment. It can be incredibly moving and immensely powerful, but it is tangibly meaningless; vibrating air columns provoking sympathetic vibrations in our inner ear canal. It has no ability to substantially change the world around us; it can only change the world we hold inside us. So as I’ve often asked myself, could I live without music? The events of this past weekend forced me to reconsider this question and the answer that I’ve long held to it. It is not a question of biology, I now understand, but a question of humanity. Boulanger is not asking if I could sustain my own

life without music, but rather if I would lose some of my humanity if I lost music. To explain how I reached this conclusion, I first must relate my experience of the active shooter alert from this past Saturday. I play bass in the Jazz Trombone Ensemble and the Jazz Trombone Quintet. We had a concert on Saturday between 4:45 and 5:15 — right in the middle of the crisis. The concert was in the Moore Building up on North Campus,

SAMMY SUSSMAN far away from the scene of the alleged crisis. In the minutes before we walked on stage, a few members of the Trombone Ensemble began receiving messages from friends about people running from the Diag. (Others had no idea what was going on, and they would not learn what was going on until after we performed.) At first, those of us that were aware of the situation struggled with whether we should tell our bandmates and our professor. But the University’s official alert about this had not come out yet — we had no indication that the University considered this threat to be legitimate. As I made eye-contact with a friend shortly before we both went on stage, I could tell that he had also gotten messages about what was going on. We were both scared, concerned and horrified. Should we continue to go on stage at this point? Was it appropriate for us to continue making music in the face of this potential tragedy? I wavered a bit, unsure whether I could possibly

continue to perform in the face of this potential tragedy. My friend, however, took a minute to gather himself before striding confidently onto the stage. After five or 10 more seconds of indecision, I realized that I had to go out and perform as well. This was no longer a performance for class credit or performance experience. This concert was a means of expressing my thoughts in a manner that words would not allow — the only means I knew of to express how I felt about this alert. For the first time in my life, I understood the incredible power of music. At the same time, I understood why music was so vital to my life, why there was absolutely no means by which I could ever live without music. In this moment, the abstract power of music was not a weakness; it was a virtue. I was reminded of Leonard Bernstein’s famous quote on the role of music in troubling times. “This will be our reply to violence: To make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” I had always interpreted this quote to be an idealistic act of defiance. Making music was a means of proving to those who committed violence that they had not “won” — they had not scared musicians from continuing to make music and share with others. But I now understand that this quote is not about defiance. It is about the awesome power of music. It is about the power to create connections between people. It is about the power to express in sound what cannot be expressed in words. And it is about the power to affect people’s emotions, to connect with them, share complex emotions with them and luxuriate in the beauty of this connection. This is the power of music that all my professors have spoken about. This is the power that I never understood. And this is the power that Boulanger was asking her students about — the power that she believed we could not live without.

MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW: ‘SALLY WALKER’

DEF JAM

Iggy Azalea’s long and illustrious career has been plagued by accusations of cultural appropriation as well as a perceived lack of artistic talent. These accusations are both very true, and she continues to prove them correct in her recently released video for her single “Sally Walker.” To summarize the video, it depicts Azalea rapping and generally looking good at the funeral of a woman — presumably one of her haters she discusses in the song — who was hit by a car. This video, much like Azalea’s entire discography, is a simulacrum of Southern Black hip-hop culture bordering on caricature — a three-minute, eight-second span devoid of any originality or meaning. The video does not do much to reassure viewers

that Azalea has learned from her past lack of consideration to the space she occupies as a white person within the hip-hop community, even after being admonished by both Q-Tip and Talib Kweli

Sally Walker Iggy Azalea EMPIRE

for her f lippant responses to valid concerns. Instead, she continues with her long-time strategy of creating ersatz, disrespectful garbage. You have to respect her dedication. The song itself is bland

and uninspiring, sounding less like a piece of artistic expression and more like the miserable output of a machine learning algorithm fed the last few years of chart-topping Southern hip hop. The lyrical focus of “Sally Walker” is on how great she is, a promise she has been making and failing to deliver for almost half a decade. I will give her credit where it is due — she is a competent thief. However, the studied nature of her imitation almost makes her cultural biting more egregious. Outside of a careful re-creation, she doesn’t really have much to bring to the table, and this video proves that.

— Jonah Mendelson, Daily Arts Writer

Arts

6 — Thursday, March 21, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

FILM NOTEBOOK

Writer Doreen O’Brien’s ‘easy, unconscious grace’ JULIANNA MORANO Daily Arts Writer

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Going undercover: ‘The Godfather’’s cultural hold ANISH TAMHANEY Daily Arts Writer

How many Italian words do you know? If you’re like me, the total probably caps out at a stunning two: “ciao” and “rigatoni.” But you might know another without even thinking about it: “Consigliere.” It’s a term that we are so intimately familiar with, it appears in political and financial headlines with healthy regularity. Consigliere, of course, refers to the second highest position in an organization, a murky backroom advisor of sorts. And the reason we are all so familiar with the term is one film: “The Godfather.” There are several more Godfatherisms, pieces of the film’s narrative language that we have naturally embedded into the American lexicon. These lingual appendages are a testament to the influence that “The Godfather” has on our vocabulary, as pervasive as they are persistent. Among my favorite Godfatherisms is “going to the mattresses,” a tactic of mafia soldiers to prepare for factional wars by stuffing dozens of mattresses in a single apartment like a military base. The phrase now refers to a ramping up of political tensions, the pregnant stretch just before a cutthroat conflict. Inarguably though, the most iconic Godfatherism is the concept of Fredo. Fredo is the eldest, weakest and most naive of the sons of the Corleone family, but he lives on in the way we discuss any trio and its weakest link. So much has been said about the sprawling epic of Vito Corleone and his mafia powerhouse that it

would be pointless to heap more praise for Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece on the mountain of it that has accumulated over the past 47 years. Instead, much like I did for my first installment of this series with “The Departed,” I’ll be taking a thorough look at several characters in the film to decipher what they signify about culture and its intersection with organized crime. Beyond the Godfatherisms that have employed themselves in political and business dialogue, the key players in the film have become avatars for a shared yet conflicted sense of American identity. While both “The Departed” and “The Godfather” anatomize organized crime in morally ambiguous ways, the relationship they have to each other regarding ethnicity is certainly worth considering. “The Departed” is primarily and proudly comprised of Irish characters, but in “The Godfather,” the few Irish characters stick out like sore thumbs among the Sicilians around them. Among the most fascinating aspects of what “The Godfather” has to say about cultural shift manifests in Vito’s sons Michael and Sonny. The story subtly employs these two characters as vehicles to tell a far larger narrative about American values after World War II, and each time I return to the film, their arcs have a renewed weight. There is something gravely profound about Michael’s transition from an adorned World War II veteran to the Don of the Corleone crime family. When he first greets his relatives after returning from the war during his sister Connie’s wedding, he is a shining, humble hero. His

smile is bright, his military suit is decorated lavishly with medals, and his arrival is a delight within the ongoing celebration. Michael’s reception largely mirrors society’s adoration of the American war hero in the late ‘40s. The tragedy is that his turn to the criminal underworld is catalyzed by the simple act of protecting his father in a derelict hospital. After a corrupt Irish captain, McCluskey, strikes him across the face on the night of his father’s abandonment, Michael realizes — much like the post-war society did — that the institutions he had clung to and believed in were corrupt and unjust. This sudden loss of faith in the government that he had once fought for shakes his entire worldview and disposition. The film considers this idea in its very first scene, when Vito actually reprimands a friend, Amerigo Bonasera, for seeking justice in courts rather than the Corleone family. But McCluskey’s brutal hook across Michael’s jaw represents the violent realization of distrust in the government by the film’s initially pristine war hero. Michael’s descent into a world of corruption mirrors a broader shift in proud American stories about cowboys and soldiers to a darker acceptance of crime and moral confusion. Naturally, this crumbling of moral superiority parallels the rise of counterculture in the ’60s, the uproar of political descent that rattled American discourse like nothing else had.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

SINGLE REVIEW: ‘BITCH (TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE)’

“It sounds like hope is kind of a risk that you take?” I asked. “That’s exactly what I said at the talk,” she answered. I was seated across from Detroit-based writer and teacher at the College for Creative Studies Dorene O’Brien, speaking with her about the themes of her latest release, a collection of fiction called “What It Might Feel Like to Hope.” She continued, “I think that a lot of us suppress hope to defray disappointment,” adding that “We have to accept that failure is going to be a common thing and not let it destroy any inkling of hope.” If I had to describe O’Brien in three words, I’d borrow from one of the most stunning moments of “What It Might Feel Like to Hope.” In it, Jack and Braelynn, a couple approaching an impasse in their relationship, take a road trip to symbolically test whether they will make it. During a spontaneous stop at a candy factory, they gaze upon the conveyor belts of sweets below. A young boy who is also touring the factory unthinkingly reaches up and takes Jack’s hand, who is caught off guard by the “easy, unconscious grace” of the boy’s unquestioning expectation that his real parent would be there to catch his hand. Having had the pleasure of both reading and meeting O’Brien, I’ve witnessed her own easy, unconscious grace, penning stories that hum with a delicate hope and emitting a gentle aura that corroborates her work. Honoring the influence of other writers on her current work, O’Brien mentioned Andrea Barrett, explaining, “(Barrett) introduced me to the idea of quietly educating people in my writing. My favorite stories are the ones where I learn something I didn’t expect to learn.” O’Brien sees something more, however, in the task of the writer, something that resides in her rich, lively dialogue and her ability to channel distinct voices. I delighted at this prioritization of character’s voices in every story, and when I asked O’Brien about it, she relayed an anecdote: “Every

creative writing workshop I teach, the first day of class, I ask students if they hear voices in their head, and I joke that half of them raise their hands, and the other half drops the class.” Then, answering her own question, O’Brien added, “Most of my stories start with my characters talking to me. I think of someone and they start talking … It’s my job,” she continued, “to write these stories and channel the voices that come through me.” When she said that, I could not help but think of Arundhati Roy’s meditation on the duties of a storyteller: “Writers imagine that they cull stories from the world. I’m beginning to believe that vanity makes them think so. That it’s actually the other way around. Stories cull writers from the world … They commission us. They insist on being told.” As O’Brien indicates in the anecdote above, teaching is also part of her professional endeavors. And I could tell she’s a teacher from the way she would answer my questions, from the way she would take them seriously, answer them methodically and even thank me for them. “I love talking to people about this,” she told me, “hearing the things that you’re saying. You may think I know all these things, and I don’t … You’re giving me a lot of insights that I didn’t consciously set out to do.” In her stories, too, she invests in mutual learning in the form of intergenerational relationships, harvesting them as sites of growth for both generations involved. “We don’t live in generational bubbles. I think it’s so important that generations feed off one another — they learn from one another,” she began. “I’ve been writing for more than 30 years, and I’m still learning. I’m still growing. I think it’s a long, long apprenticeship. Any writer who says, ‘… I’m a full-blown writer,’ I think that’s a little arrogant because it’s an evolving practice … How can you say I’m a writer and I learned everything I’ve got to learn if the field is just constantly evolving?” More than anything, it is impossible not to see how carefully O’Brien regards her position as a writer, how she

Classifieds

does not take any of her power or talent for granted. In fact, while speaking with O’Brien, I finally got the chance to ask a question that nags me every time an author kills off a character in what seems like vain and what feels like emotional manipulation of the reader. I asked for her thoughts on what a writer, for lack of a better word, owes not only their readers but also their characters. In response, she discussed at length one of the stories in the collection called “turn of the wind,” in which the main character, an aging crystallographer, tries to make connections and do meaningful work as Alzheimer’s seizes his memories. O’Brien discussed her difficulties with honoring that character: “Where I did him a great disservice was, he had Alzheimer’s, so … very conveniently, when I needed him to forget something, he would just forget. But then, when I needed him to be lucid, he would be lucid. And I realized that he is just a prop in my plot,” she admitted. O’Brien then relayed how she redressed this treatment of her character: “I had to do a lot of research on Alzheimer’s. That’s what he deserved. That’s what my character deserved. And that’s what my readers deserved as well. Because I’m the one saying I want to quietly educate readers, and I’m misleading them.” In this instance and virtually every other one that gave O’Brien the chance to speak about her characters, she spoke about them as though they are her neighbors, her old friends. People that trust her, and people whose trust she would not dare squander. She treated me in a similar, heartening way: Like I’m a real person who wants to talk to her and not just a journalist with a recording device. I have a hunch she regards her students in the same way: Like they are real people in the desks before her with valuable stories to learn to tell. In her writing but in our conversation, too, Dorene O’Brien quietly educated me on what it means to be a writer and on what it means to cull stories from the world. It was a privilege to have culled hers, here.

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Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

CAPITOL RECORDS

It’s a loaded word, and heel, proclaiming, “It takes a lyrical cleverness, boasting a catchy hook and a chorus lots of us have been called it bitch to know a bitch.” — in good contexts and bad. It’s a masterful move to that sounds jubilant, fun Lennon Stella inverts, twists affirm your own position and just the right amount of and wields it on expert levels and put down your horrible gloating. It’s Ariana Grandewith her new single “BITCH boyfriend in the fell swoop of style pop, too even-handed to (takes one to know one).” a single world, but that’s what be a rant, vocally melodic in a Along with her sister Stella does. It’s a concept she way that elevates Stella miles Maisy, Stella is one-half of returns to time and time above the level of the man she’s addressing. the musical duo She’s in touch Lennon & Maisy, but the past with the betrayal and hurt that she couple of years BITCH (takes one to know one) feels, but also have seen her with her own refocusing on her Lennon Stella own solo projects. authority and Capitol Records Her newest ability to dictate the relationship single opens she’s in. The with a boyfriend real triumph in jokingly calling his girlfriend the song is that these emotions the derogatory word, forcing her into a again — most notably in the all come through on equal position of weakness: “You bridge lyric, “You should levels, each one validated sent me down the river to hear the way you talk to me.” and accounted for. see if I would f loat away.” She’s literally making him But she doesn’t f loat away: hear it. But “BITCH (takes — Laura Dzubay, Daily She speaks the word aloud in one to know one)” is a headthe chorus and turns it on its turning song even beyond its Arts Writer

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DOWN 1 “That’s enough, thanks” 2 Columbus’ world 3 Be of use to 4 Ready to be recorded 5 Use one’s eyes 6 Estevez of “The Breakfast Club” 7 Breaking point 8 Service status 9 Metric wts. 10 Treatment for 17-Across 11 *Pry 12 Novelist’s starting point 13 Slugger Sammy 18 Tolling place 22 Karachi’s country: Abbr. 24 “Locked Up” rapper 25 Iwo __ 27 Drop down 28 Lines in the sand, perhaps 29 Hi-__ image 30 First name in tea 31 *Doggie bag item

32 Host of the 1950s’ “Your Show of Shows” 35 Drop off 36 Keep-on connection 37 Cal. neighbor 39 Sisterhood name in a 2002 film 42 Mideast tunics 45 “The Spanish Tragedy” dramatist

46 “I guess it’s fine” 47 Genealogy chart 50 Largest UAE city 51 Fuming 52 Like some casks 53 Downhill runners 54 Fingered 55 Art class subject 56 Birthplace of seven presidents 59 Oil additive brand 60 Org. with Vikings

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Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Thursday, March 21, 2019 — 7

A preview of the 2019 Michigan Baseball team

Big Ten Breakdown AIDAN WOUTAS Daily Sports Writer

In recent years, the Michigan baseball team has seen both highs and lows. Even with a record of 111-59 over the past three years, only two of those wins came in postseason games. Last season, despite a thrilling 20-game win streak, the Wolverines were eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament with only one victory and failed to clinch an NCAA Tournament spot. This inability to break through in the past, however, has motivated this year’s team to strive toward making a deep run in the postseason. With improved offensive strength and an ideal combination of youth and experience, expectations are high. And as of now No. 23 Michigan is the only ranked team in the conference. The Daily takes a look at the other teams in the Big Ten and those who could potentially pose a threat to the Wolverines. Minnesota (5-13) After their euphoric 2018 season, the Golden Gophers placed first in the 2019 Big Ten preseason poll of conference coaches. Last year the team posted a 44-15 record, winning the Big Ten Tournament and advancing to NCAA Super Regionals. Despite those achievements, however, Minnesota has had a rocky start to its season, and it remains to be seen whether the Golden Gophers can reclaim last year’s magic. Player to watch: Sophomore Outfielder/ Right-hander Max Meyer Meyer competed for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team last summer, bringing his strengths as a two-way player. He boasts a .333 batting average and an equally strong 1.17 ERA so far. Illinois (14-3) Illinois has had a strong start to its season and has high expectations after making it to the semifinals in the Big Ten Tournament, just missing the NCAA Tournament field as the second team out. While they are reckoning with the loss of Big Ten Player of the Year Bren Spillane as well as reliable closer Joey Gerber, the future looks promising

with a D1Baseball.com Top 25-ranked recruiting class. Keep an eye on the Fighting Illini. Player to watch: Freshman Righthander Aidan Maldonado Maldonado — ranked the No. 4 newcomer in the Big Ten by Baseball America and drafted in the 38th round of the 2018 MLB draft by the Milwaukee Brewers — promises to deliver an impact on the mound but has yet to be heavily utilized by the team, with only eight innings pitched in five games. Iowa (10-7) The Hawkeyes, who were on the NCAA Tournament bubble last year, lost their top four hitters in the offseason. The team has endured significant losses since its 2017 run to NCAA Regionals, with only three offensive starters remaining from two years ago. The overhauled team has exhibited some strengths which were on display in its two wins against California State Northridge –– who bested the Wolverines during their swing through California earlier this month. But with so many key offensive players missing, Iowa will find it difficult to replicate what it’s done in the past. Player to watch: Junior Right-hander Grant Judkins Judkins, with a 1.52 ERA, has had a strong season so far and was key in the Hawkeyes’ doubleheader victories over Cal State, even demonstrating an ability to contribute at the plate with a two-run double to win the second game. Penn State (13-3) The Nittany Lions posted an abysmal 15-34 record last season and an even worse Big Ten record. Their relatively strong start this year has thus been a pleasant surprise for a team almost completely excluded from preseason prognostications. The offseason saw a lot of turnover and the team has added seven freshmen, a sophomore and four upperclassmen transfers to the lineup, who the coaching staff hopes will shift things in another direction. Despite its strong start, resetting a team can be a long process, and Penn State likely poses little threat to the conference heavyweights. Player to watch: Junior second baseman Gavin Homer

Homer, a transfer from Kellogg Community College and part of the team’s attempt to reinvigorate its offense, hit a .386 batting average last season and promises to add more offensive efficiency to the lineup. Indiana (12-8) The Hoosiers have only missed out on one NCAA Tournament berth over the six years since their College World Series appearance in 2013 and have been a consistent regional presence in the conference. Their performance so far this season –– the first under new manager Jeff Mercer –– however, has been anything but consistent. In the first 15 games of the season, Indiana had difficulty producing consistent pitching or hitting. Strikeouts also plagued the offense. Junior outfielder Matt Gorski was the only hitter making significant contributions. Players to watch: Junior Outfielder Matt Gorski and Senior Right-hander Pauly Milto Gorski, a Big Ten preseason honored player, has been moved into the leadoff spot thanks to his team-leading .329 batting average. Pauly Milto, meanwhile, has established himself as the team’s leading pitcher, and the team enters its first conference series against Iowa coming of a five-game win streak. Don’t count them out just yet. Nebraska (7-7) After the Cornhuskers earned their first Big Ten title in 2017, their 2018 season with a 24-28 record was a disappointment stemming from injury problems within the pitching staff as well as offensive inconsistency. Having lost its two leading hitters, Chad Luensmann and Connor Curry, Nebraska will have to find a way to fill gaps in its offense. The Cornhuskers’ mixed record thus far indicates this will be a challenge. Player to watch: Freshman Infielder/ Right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach Nebraska is fortunate to have Schwellenbach — who turned down an opportunity to join the Cleveland Indians after being drafted in the 34th round. He has the team’s second highest batting average so far this year at .333.

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A question of offensive consistency KENT SCHWARTZ Daily Sports Writer

At the start of the season, Michigan coach Erik Bakich had a feeling. “I do like this group,” Bakich said. “I think this group has a lot of potential. On paper, at least, the pieces are there to have a special, magical type of season.” Now, the No. 23 Michigan baseball team is validating that feeling. It has quality pitching and elite defense. A cohesive team chemistry and the drive to prove itself. It’s only missing one thing — a consistent offense. Starting off the year in Florida, the bats looked red-hot, averaging nine runs per game over the threegame series, leaving Binghamton in the dust. The next week, The Wolverines’ bats showed the first signs of slowing down — averaging just over five runs per game as they rode their impressive pitching to comfortable victories. In California, the problems were aired out for the whole country to see. Junior infielder Jordan Brewer and junior outfielder Jordan Nwogu were tied with Michigan’s highest batting average at just .285. The team eked out an average of just over three runs per game against the team’s toughest competition all year — USC, Oklahoma State and then No. 2 UCLA. Beyond hitting, the Wolverines’ other offensive weaknesses were exposed. In the Dodgertown Classic, five times Michigan’s baserunners were caught stealing or put out. The team’s aggressive mindset was being pushed too far, it had crossed the fine line of positive mistakes it was treading earlier in the season — aggressive defensive plays and forcing opposition to make tough choices — to bad mistakes.

“We had a lot of outs on the bases from this trip,” Bakich said. “Whether it be caught stealing or pick-offs, those are very costly mistakes against really good teams. We can get away with it against lesser teams, you can’t get away with it against UCLA, USC, Oklahoma State, some of these west coast teams that are playing outside all year long” The Wolverines’ 3-4 run over Spring Break sent them tumbling down most rankings. The only poll that kept them in the top 25 was Baseball America, dropping them to No. 23. “All of the games were close because of our pitching and our defense in the losses,” Bakich said. “That’s how we’re built, and we are not even close to firing on all cylinders offensively.” Bakich predicted an offensive storm following the trip, but not even the most optimistic fan could have predicted the onslaught to come on Michigan’s five-game homestand. With 50 runs, the Wolverines blew past their two opponents — Manhattan and Western Michigan. But Michigan’s ability to score against struggling teams isn’t a question. The question is if it can keep a productive offense throughout the season against good teams — the same question that was asked last year. After an awful start to 2018, the Wolverines went on a 20-game win streak that ended shortly before the postseason. Their offense couldn’t show up — only averaging two runs over the last six games — and they crashed out of the Big Ten Tournament after two games. Bakich, though, has a feeling this year is different. “It feels like a championship team,” Bakich said. First, they’ll need to prove it.

From Henry to Thomas to Kerr: Breaking down the 2019 Michigan baseball roster AVI RAJENDRA-NICOLUCCI Daily Sports Writer

The 2018 season for Michigan baseball was a roller-coaster. After losing 11 players to the MLB draft, many freshmen and inexperienced players were thrown into important roles. After a 4-11 start last season, the Wolverines followed by going on a 20-game win-streak. After accomplishing such a great achievement, Michigan subsequently crashed — a disappointing Big Ten Tournament and a poor finish for the regular season resulted in the Wolverines getting left out of the College World Series. This season couldn’t be more different. Michigan coach Erik Bakich and this team entered the season with high expectations — and so far they seem to be on track. The experience gained by those young and untested players has already paid dividends as they have led the Wolverines to a 14-4 record. Michigan has used only two newcomers extensively in its lineup thus far. Junior outfielder Jordan Brewer who transferred in 2018 after two seasons at Lincoln Trail Community College (Illinois) and freshman righthander Willie Weiss. Brewer has been a consistent starter all season while

Weiss has seen opportunities in a relief role. The Wolverines’ defense and pitching were expected to be their strengths this season and have been as advertised with a team ERA of just 2.56 and a team fielding percentage of .974. But their hitting has also been impressive. Michigan has put up five or more runs in 11 of its first 18 games. As a team, the Wolverines average over seven runs per game and have a healthy batting average at .281. The Daily breaks down the team position-by-position: Pitchers Someone with two first names is usually subject to a plethora of jokes. But junior Tommy Henry’s season has been no joke. The left-handed ace has been dealing this season. His 0.51 ERA and a 5-0 record puts him atop the team and the Big Ten in both categories. He leads the team in innings pitched, has the fewest walks, earned runs and batting average. Henry has a strong supporting cast of starters in junior right-hander Karl Kauffman and sophomore right-hander Jeff Criswell. Kauffman would be the headliner if not for the outstanding performance of Henry. Kauffman has an ERA of 1.06 and a 4-1 record. He holds his opponents to a batting average of .164. Criswell rounds out the rotation with a 3.51 ERA. Criswell has

seen a major step up in his role after pitching in relief last season. The loss of sophomore left-hander Ben Dragani to season ending Tommy John surgery seems to have pushed Criswell into a larger role. Catchers Sophomore Joe Donovan grabbed the starting position in the offseason and hasn’t looked back. Donovan has been a steady presence behind the plate thus far. His defensive prowess with a .993 fielding percentage and his vocal leadership have made Donovan a key player for Michigan. Freshman Casey Buckley and redshirt sophomore Harrison Salter are the primary reserves for Donovan. Combined, they’ve played in 12 games and started four. Unlike last season, catcher is a known quantity and should continue to be a strength for the Wolverines. First Base Junior Jordan Brewer was a bit of an unknown coming into the season. Bakich raved about his athleticism, but Brewer’s batting has been the highlight of this season. Against Manhattan, Brewer had the bases loaded with two outs and an 0-2 count. He crushed the ball into left field for a grand slam adding to his collection of highlights this season. He has started all 18 games and has the third best batting average on the team at .368. But, Brewer is more than just a slugger. His fielding

percentage is an incredible .986. At first base, Michigan is solid both defensively and offensively so don’t expect many opportunities for the reserve players. Second Base Last season, senior Ako Thomas suffered a wrist injury derailing a promising junior campaign. This season, he is looking to reach the AllBig Ten First Team form he enjoyed in his sophomore season. Thomas looks healthy again and, while his early season batting average is lower than last season, he has plenty of time to rectify those issues. Thomas’ defense has been top-notch again this season with a fielding percentage of .982. Additionally, his base-running skills are something that the Wolverines will look to utilize. Over his sophomore and junior seasons Thomas stole 38 bases — an impressive tally considering his junior season was shortened due to the aforementioned injury. Thomas has split time this season with senior Blake Nelson. Nelson brings an added element of batting with an impressive .452 average in 11 games this season. But, the added power comes with a tradeoff as Nelson has accrued six errors this season compared to Thomas’ one. Shortstop Sophomore Jack Blomgren has retained his starting position from last season. Blomgren appears to have made a significant jump since then,

batting at .339 as compared to .216 last season. Blomgren already has 13 RBI this season compared to last season’s tally of 18 in less than half of the games. Blomgren’s fielding has improved vastly as well, with just one error this season. Third Base Senior Jimmy Kerr is the veteran leader of this team. Kerr returns as starter this season and, while his batting has not been exceptional, his defense appears to have improved since last season. Kerr has built on his fielding percentage from last season, going from .893 to .923. Kerr is a steady presence on both the field and in the dugout. His teammates have a lot of respect for the player who embodies Michigan baseball. Kerr’s father and grandfather played at Michigan as well. Kerr has started every game this season. Outfield After starting the past two seasons in left field, redshirt senior Miles Lewis has been shifted over to right field. Lewis has been a solid hitter this season at .292 — a marked improvement over .230 last season. His two home runs this season nearly equal last season’s total of three. Lewis has once again been a pillar of Michigan’s defense with a 1.000 fielding percentage.

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Ruchita Iyer / Daily

Sports

8A — Thursday, March 21, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FIRST PITCH

MICHIGAN MEN: Jimmy Kerr and three generations of Michigan baseball ABBY SNYDER

Daily Sports Writer

Every player on the Michigan baseball team has a mantra. Something they repeat to themselves before every game, every at-bat, every pitch. Something to get them in the right mindset . For most players, it’s actionbased. Attack. Right now. Pound it. Not Jimmy Kerr. His mantra is three letters: J. D. J. J for John, his grandfather, who played baseball for Michigan in the 60s. D for Derek, his father, who did the same 20 years later. And J for Jimmy. He wears their initials on his glove, and he has them on his bat. Every game. Every at-bat. Every pitch. J. D. J. “We talk all the time about how we’re standing on the shoulders of great men. It’s something we really value a lot as a program,” Jimmy said. “This is just my own little piece of that, to have my dad and my grandpa with me at all times.” The Kerrs are a Michigan family. There’s Jimmy, who’s now a senior in the school of engineering. Derek met his wife, Carolyn — Jimmy’s mom — when they were graduate students at the Ross School of Business in the early nineties. John also met his wife, Sharon, here when they were students. In 1962, John won a College World Series as a starting pitcher with Team 96. In 1983 and 1984, Derek went to the College World Series twice as a catcher with Teams 117 and 118. Now, in 2019, Jimmy starts at third base as a captain for Team 153. Though the Kerrs’ Michigan tradition doesn’t start with John — his parents also met here — he was the first in the family to compete for Michigan baseball. As a starting pitcher with the Wolverines from 1960-62, John was a key part of a commanding Michigan pitching staff that helped the Wolverines dominate the Big Ten. More than fifty years later, he still remembers how his “nasty” changeup screwball stif led batter after batter. “Sophomore Kerr registered his fifth straight win without a defeat and stymied the Spartan batsmen by never allowing a runner to reach second base,” the Daily reported in 1962.

“The capable starter kept the ball low and around the plate most of the afternoon, causing the majority of men he faced to hit bounders to the infield.” Michigan wouldn’t have gotten to the College World Series without John. In the regional final, he pitched both ends of a doubleheader against Illinois and Western Michigan. He threw 313 pitches and won both games to send the Wolverines to Omaha, where they defeated Santa Clara 5-4 in 15 innings. “(Playing for Michigan) was a great experience — one of the best of my life,” John said. “It brings back such wonderful memories.” Derek was the next of the Kerrs to don a Michigan uniform. After hearing stories from his dad’s years playing with the Wolverines, Derek knew it was a program — and a tradition — he wanted to be a part of. “I grew up bleeding blue,” he said. “It was always a goal of mine to come here and play at the U of M.” He walked onto the team as a catcher in 1982 and earned a varsity letter in three of his four years with the team. The Wolverines went to the College World Series his freshman and sophomore years and came close his junior and senior years. Though Derek did not play much, his four years playing baseball at Michigan were still full of meaning for him. He played on teams with sports agent Casey Close and future Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, who won the World Series in 1990 with the Reds. Despite his minimal playing time, coming to Michigan and continuing his family’s legacy both on and off the field was a meaningful experience. “It’s the best academic and athletic institution in the country,” Derek said. “I never thought of going anywhere else for college.” Growing up in a house with such strong family ties to the Michigan tradition, there was never any question for Jimmy about where he wanted to go to college. After spending his fall Saturdays watching the Wolverines with his father, Jimmy had no doubt that he one day wanted to put on the block M for himself. “It was always my dream, as a baseball player, to come here and play for Michigan,” he said. “Especially having my family around — my parents make it to most games, and my

grandparents have lived thirty minutes away for the last four years, so they’re always here — just being able to represent them while they’re in the stands means everything to me.” But as meaningful as it is for the Kerrs to have Jimmy play for Michigan, it was important to everyone that the program was the right choice for more reasons than just tradition. The family baseball lineage alone could not be the sole reason behind Jimmy’s choice. Any such concerns were alleviated the minute Jimmy stepped on campus for his recruiting trip. The Kerrs were all impressed with the culture Michigan coach Bakich has created, building not only great athletes but great men. “It’s special for us as a family for him to have the opportunity to play there. Coach Bakich gave him the opportunity to be a part of the team, and we appreciate that and everything else Coach Bakich has done for him so much,” Derek said. “It means so much to us — the person he’s become playing with such a special group of players and playing under such a special group of coaches. “It’s one thing to be good athletes, but it’s another thing to develop this group of 35 kids into the people that they are and the people that they’re going to be when they’re done with athletics.” Though his playing time was limited through his first three seasons at Michigan, Jimmy had plenty of bright spots. He hit .375 with a .531 on-base percentage over 14 games as a freshman and had a .412 slugging percentage and a .964 fielding percentage as a sophomore. As a junior, he knocked out his first home run of the season in a clutch moment to help seal a series win over Rutgers. But as a senior, Jimmy has stepped into a larger role with the team, starting every game this season. Since settling into a role in the lower middle of Michigan’s batting order, he has 14 hits, three of which were home runs, and 13 RBI on the season so far. “He’s hitting the ball with a lot of juice in the bat,” Bakich said. “It’s really good to see.” But for a program that prides itself so much on its history, Jimmy represents more than his offensive production and his defensive statistics. He embodies the tradition and the history that the Michigan baseball program is steeped in. “To have a guy like that on

our team, he’s just such a great inspiration and role model to all the other guys,” Bakich said. “It’s so easy how much it means to him. It’s so much more than most.” When it faced Manhattan on Mar. 17, Michigan brought out its throwback uniforms. To honor the 1962 team, the Wolverines wore the jerseys that team wore when they won the College World Series, giving Jimmy a chance to wear the same jersey as his grandfather did. “Coach pulled up the picture of the championship team in our meeting today. We hadn’t seen the jerseys before today. When he pulled one out of his bag, it looked almost exactly the same (as the ones the 1962 team wore),” Jimmy said. “It was just so cool to be able to wear his jersey.” For many, the jerseys were simply a tribute to Michigan teams of years past. For Jimmy and John, they were a symbolic connector, bridging the generations of Kerrs to put on the maize and blue. “It’s been a fabulous experience to see (Derek) play there and then to see Jimmy play there,” John said. “It’s hard to describe. It’s obviously one of the highlights of my life. I’m glad they had the same experience that I did because it was such a valuable, lifechanging experience.”

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