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Tuesday, April 2, 2019

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University researchers examine how data science can interpret music James Kibbie, Daniel Forger study organ playing by those with varying melodic skillsets

City Council focuses on 2 A housing affordability Student organizations like College Democrats, Climate Action movement attend meeting RACHEL LEUNG Daily Staff Reporter

At Monday’s session of the Ann Arbor City Council, several student organizations, including the University of Michigan’s chapter of College Democrats, the Climate Action Movement and Roosevelt Institute, as well Ann Arbor residents, spoke to urge city councilmembers to support a resolution to direct funds to address affordable housing, climate action and pedestrian safety. The county levied a new tax that started in December to provide for county mental health and county sheriff’s services. However, a quarter of the proceeds have been returned to several cities that fund their own police departments to be used at their discretion. Ann Arbor is set to receive $2.2 million from the partial rebate. This resolution would direct the returns from the countywide millage to address affordable housing, climate action and pedestrian safety. The resolution was sponsored by Mayor Chris Taylor and Councilmember Kathy Griswold, D-Ward 2, and passed 6-4, with Councilmembers Jane Lumm, I-Ward 2, Jack Eaton, D-Ward 4, Ali Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, and Jeff Hayner, D-Ward 1, voting no. The resolution mirrors Taylor’s 40-40-20 policy, a plan that pledged 40 percent of funds for

SARAH KUNKEL/Daily Music, Theatre & Dance junior Joseph Mutone performs a Bach Trio Sonata at the Understanding How the Brain Processes Music Presentation in Hill Auditorium Monday.

MELANIE TAYLOR Daily Staff Reporter

On Monday afternoon, students and professors from the University of Michigan Data Science for Music Challenge Initiative conducted live research in Hill Auditorium during a musical performance and informational presentation before nearly 200 community members. James Kibbie, chair of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance Organ Department, and Daniel Forger, professor of mathematics, received a grant from the Michigan Institute for Data Science to collaborate on the analysis of organ playing by those with varying levels of music education. “(Forger) and I have a big grant from MIDAS to study the big data science applications to specifically the Bach Trio Sonatas,” Kibbie said. “And we

are looking at a number of things, but especially how data can reveal issues of performance and, as Danny (Forger) says, ‘What makes one sublime and another ordinary.’” Kibbie said they chose to analyze the organ because it may be easily analyzed given only one note is played in each of the three keyboards at a time. “The right hand is controlling one melody line, the left hand another and the pedal a third,” Kibbie said. “They are totally independent, but every detail matters so there’s no room for faking.” Music, Theatre & Dance graduate student Sarah Simko, research assistant on the project, told the crowd about the rich history of the Frieze Memorial Organ housed in Hill Auditorium, which was used for the event’s performances. Dating back to 1894, parts of the organ are older

than Hill Auditorium and were moved there upon the building’s construction. “I always say that the organ is part history, part engineering and part actually being able to pick up your fingers and put them back down,” Simko said. As it exists now, there are 7,599 pipes hidden behind the walls of Hill, which produce the music when someone plays the keyboards electronically attached to them. Simko said it is this capacity of the Frieze Memorial Organ that makes it an optimal instrument for their research. “Professor Forger is the first person who figured out you can take this mechanism which already exists and actually use it for analytical purposes,” Simko said. In addition to finding an optimal instrument, Kibbie and Forger also had to determine a good piece of music to analyze.

Kibbie explained to the audience how they decided on Bach’s sonatas because they were originally used as a teaching tool for Bach’s eldest son and have continued to be used in music education programs for centuries since. Until Bach, trio sonatas were often written for three distinct instruments played by three individual musicians. “Johann Sebastian Bach was the first composer to realize how beautifully this texture adapts to being played by one person on the organ,” Kibbie said. Forger cited Bach as a fundamental baseline for an emerging study into the “grammar” of music. There are thousands of chord progressions possible on the organ of which Bach only uses about 11 percent, Forger’s research suggests. See SMTD, Page 3

CAMPUS LIFE

VP Harper MSA hosts night of performances to speaks on kick off Islamic Engagement week admissions, Coffee shop-style event included dance, music, poetry by Muslim creatives CSG results MICHAEL ZHANG

Discussions also touch on sexual misconduct, false shooter incident RACHEL CUNNINGHAM, MADELINE MCLAUGHLIN & CALLIE TEITELBAUM Daily News Editor & Daily Staff Reporters

Daily Staff Reporter

On Monday evening, about 75 students attended Muslim Creatives Collect hosted by the University of Michigan’s Muslim Students’ Association at the Kerrytown Concert House. The program marked the beginning of the Islamic Engagement Week, which is a week-long

The Michigan Daily recently sat down with E. Royster Harper, vice president for student life at the University of Michigan, to discuss the aftermath of the false shooter incident, the newly elected president and vice president of Central Student Government, the recent college admissions scandal and more. The Michigan Daily: After the false alarm of the active shooter incident, many students have cited their confusion and worries about the University’s ability to communicate during emergency situations in a timely manner. What is your advice for students and how do you respond to these concerns? Harper: First, get off of the police scanner. Listening to the police scanner and thinking that everything that goes across the scanner is correct will only make it worse. See HARPER, Page 3

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initiative aimed at highlighting the narratives, history and culture of Muslims. About 75 students and other members of the Ann Arbor community were at the event. The event consisted of performances involving music, poetry and dance as well as a panel discussing the current and future status of Muslim creatives in the country.

Along with the Muslims Creatives Collect event, the Islamic Engagement Week will also include a Muslims in Astronomy event Tuesday night, a Meet a Muslim event on Wednesday and a Muslims in the Arts event Friday afternoon. Rackham student Bedar Noor participated as part of a step performance during the event. He spoke about his appreciation

for step and the way in which it has allowed him to express himself. “Step is a great way to show that you can join an organization that is rooted in different cultures and histories and I wanted to show to everyone that there is a different medium to express yourself,” Noor said. See MSA, Page 3

affordable housing, 40 percent for climate action and 20 percent for pedestrian safety. At the beginning of the meeting, the Student Advisory Council presented their annual report, which made recommendations regarding several issues impacting the student community. SAC advises local government and institutions on issues impacting all students of Ann Arbor. The SAC was formed in 2017 and consists of two undergraduate students appointed by the Central Student Government, two graduate students, two students from local high schools and a city councilmember liaison. Though their report did not specifically address the millage allocation resolution, they touched on many similar themes. SAC Chair and Engineering junior Kenji Yeoh said the group focused on two key issues: campus safety and housing affordability. SAC urged councilmembers to continue to allocate funds for affordable housing and to create more affordable housing units. “The student population continues to grow, putting a strain on the housing system in Ann Arbor,” Yeoh said. “There has not been enough progress on creating more affordable housing units.”

See CITY , Page 3

CAMPUS LIFE

Advocates talk IsraeliPalestinian controversy South African activists critique BDS movement in conversation about apartheid LIAT WEINSTEIN Daily Staff Reporter

On Monday evening, South African activists and educators Klaas Mokgomole and Mmamalema Molepo spoke to a group of more than 30 students in the Ross School of Business about the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its relation to the apartheid government in South Africa. The event was co-hosted by Africans for Peace, an organization that writes about global affairs from an African perspective, in addition to Hillel, Chabad and Stand With Us, a proIsrael student organization. The discussion, which attracted a predominantly white and Jewish audience, focused on Mokgomole and Molepo’s experiences visiting Israel after becoming involved with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as university students in South Africa.

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

See CONTROVERSY, Page 3

LSA sophomore Fareah Fysudeen performs a poem at the Muslim Creatives Collect at the Kerrytown Concert House Monday evening.

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corrections@michigandaily.com SARAH KUNKEL/Daily Law student at the University of Witwatersrand discusses the similarities and differences between the struggles of Apartheid South Africa and the Israeli Palestinian Conflict.

Editorial Staff FINNTAN STORER Managing Editor

SACUA discusses institutional culture, new policy regarding faculty-student relationships Provost Phlilbert notes Fall 2019 budget is uncertain until state approprations and tutition increases are known EMMA STEIN

Philbert began his of art history at U-M Flint, the general understanding, meeting with SACUA by agreed with Malek and though I haven’t been able thanking them for their work said she would like to see to find it written anywhere, a culture shift in terms of that if we add 1 percent in The Senate Advisory throughout the semester. Committee on University SACUA member Sami prioritizing and promoting fees, that comes off tuition, so it is a zero-sum game.” Affairs met on Monday with Malek, professor of internal ethics as a primary goal. After Philbert left, SACUA “I think one thing that Provost Martin Philbert and medicine, said SACUA and discussed the importance the administration should to me strikes me regarding discussed the new Standard Guide policy of institutional diversity, try to improve institutional culture is I would like to Practice faculty-student tuition and the new policy culture among faculty and see the University — and regarding regarding faculty-student not just focus on policy this requires participation relationships. Lippert said from administrators, the SACUA agrees with the changes. relationships. Incoming SACUA members “You know, a lot of what regents, faculty, students, intention of the policy, to Elena Gallo, associate we’ve done here at SACUA staff — really become more increase the ease of the professor of astronomy, and really centers on not the focused on the integrity and reporting process, but the Sara Ahbel-Rappe, professor common daily routine, but ethics of how we treat each lang uage of the policy itself of Greek and Latin, attended rather the accesses and other. And I don’t really, I’ve is vag ue and has potentially the meeting but are unable the discretions and the worked with the University harmful loopholes. “The issue is that this to vote until they officially punishment and whatnot,” of Michigan for a while, I become members on May 1. Malek said. “But the issue do see us trying to work policy has ambig uities that SACUA chair Neil Marsh, of sort of culture, this place towards those goals, but I can actually lead to harm professor of chemistry, said and how we can all make it don’t really see it as a stated to students and faculty in the ways in which it could focus.” elections for chair and vice more collegial and better.” Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ SACUA member Sarah In response to a question be applied,” Lippert said. chair of SACUA will take place at next week’s meeting. Lippert, associate professor about the budget for the fall “... In order for the policy to 2019 semester, Philbert work perfectly and not harm said the administration people through misuse, we is not sure about state have to have perfect HR appropriations or tuition systems, we have to have increases yet. He said perfect general counsel, tuition is the largest and we have to have perfect EASY most stable component of administrators. And what the budget, but the market we’ve seen is we don’t have is not very elastic, and perfect systems.” Ahbel-Rappe said SACUA they have to balance the needs of the school with is dedicated to the safety and the needs of students and security of all community members, and that should families. He said if programs be made clear throughout such as the Go Blue any statements they release Guarantee began covering regarding the policy. “We should be very clear fees outside of tuition, the payment for that would that SACUA is concerned come from other families’ to do whatever we can to protect our students tuition. “So, one of the one of the and people in positions underlying principles to of less power from sexual Ahbel-Rappe our budget making is long- predation,” term sustainability, and said. “I don’t think that we long-term sustainability should just say you have not just for us internally, problems with this policy but in terms of adding a and not emphasize that we degree of predictability for are committed to the wellfamilies who will pay their being of the people on all tuition,” Philbert said. accounts.” THE END puzzle by sudokusyndication.com “We also operate under © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. Daily Staff Reporter

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com What do you hope to come from their administration and how do you plan to work with them to achieve their goals? Harper: Typically, what I do is I meet with the new administration and usually the old administration, so Daniel (Greene) and Izzy (Baer), will come. They will talk a bit about what it is they want to accomplish and during the course of that conversation I will be thinking about, given what they want to accomplish, who is it that they need to be connected to. We go through a kind of orientation so they know which areas of the University are responsible for the items they’re concerned for or an agenda item they might want to have … I try not to come into a new student body presidency with something in mind I need them to do. My goal is to help them understand what it is or how it is I can help them achieve their goals because they have a sense of what they want to accomplish. They have to represent all students, not some, but all. I try to remind them this is not an elevation of you. All of us sit in the seats we sit in to help advance the mission of the University. If you’ve been elected, you’ve been elected by the student body, and so your work becomes to represent them, not to advance a personal agenda. … I want to honor what they believe needs to happen, and then my job is to help them accomplish it.

HARPER From Page 1 I would offer students one source when we’re in a situation like that and that’s the Division of Public Safety and Security. I think what President Schlissel outlined beautifully in his email letter is get the (Michigan) app … My other advice would be to pay attention. This idea of earphones on, walking around, being oblivious is probably not wise. I think the good news is we got a real practice run. We learned a lot of things about our system. Some people learned about what dead zones are like for their phones, that they didn’t sign up (for emergency alerts), that they didn’t have the app. Some people were listening to the (police) scanner and thought everything it reported was real. You can see how all of that adds to the confusion. I think what I’ve heard Director Washington (Executive Director of DPSS) say the source is the Department of Public Safety and Security ... We learned a lot of things we are going to get better at. For that, I’m appreciative. I think now we just have to benefit from the things we’ve learned. TMD: A new Central Student Government president and vice president, LSA sophomore Ben Gerstein and LSA junior Isabelle Blanchard, were recently elected.

SMTD From Page 1 He said this indicates there are presumably rules as to which progressions are aesthetically pleasing to listeners and which our intuition tells us should be avoided in composition. “There is some sort of an interesting structure to this,” Forger said. “Right now, we’re trying to figure out what is that structure.” Forger explained the primary goal of their project is to determine the psychological or neurological basis for patterns in the practice and performance of the sonatas that are not prescribed by the composer. Kibbie said it is these nuances that make music interesting. “The Trio Sonatas are notorious for this unpredictability of performance,” Kibbie said. “What Bach wrote on the music score is not everything that’s needed for a complete, successful artistic performance.” Kibbie, Forger and their student assistants represent one of the four teams participating in MIDASfunded Data Science of Music

Challenge Initiative research this school year. Kibbie said it is wonderful to have received an opportunity from the University to engage in unique, interdisciplinary research between the fields of math and music. “Musicians are sometimes skeptical of math analysis and data analysis because so much of what we do is intuitive, and I hope particularly the musicians will come away with an understanding that data science can support our creativity and our intuition and challenge it,” Kibbie said. University alum Kevin Flannagan studied data analysis and music in conjunction as an undergraduate. He returned to campus to see the presentation. Flannagan told The Daily after the event that he sees many similarities between the studies of math and music. “They’re both things that kind of reward focused effort and people who are sort of willing to spend a lot of time sitting alone working on something, so I think the skills that you need are the same for both,” Flannagan said. Kibbie said the University provides the unique context

CONTROVERSY From Page 1 Mokgomole was an active member of the BDS student g roup at the Universit y of Witwatersrand. Molepo never officially joined the movement as a student at the Universit y of Cape Town, but still believed Israel was an apartheid state. Both activists are no longer affiliated with the movement and said they now think BDS lied to them about the state of discrimination in Israel. “Israel is still where Palestinians live,” Molepo said. “Israel is still where a lot of Palestinians go to school. Israel is still where a lot of Palestinians get their food from. Israel is still where a lot of Palestinians get their water from. Gaza gets their electricit y from Israel and the one thing you never hear is that whenever the ‘right to return’ marches happen, people actually burn down the power stations in Gaza. So it becomes a thing where people lose power and the Israeli Defense Forces has to go and fix that.” Mokgomole also said he was struck by the differences between Israel and apartheid South Africa, since he was often told that Israel was an apartheid state. After getting expelled from his universit y for antagonizing Jewish students, Mokgomole began to educate himself about Israeli societ y. He said when he visited Israel for the first time and asked an

TMD: The recent college admissions scandal regarding celebrities and top business executives bribing colleges into admitting their children has raised many concerns about the transparency of admissions processes and from students and parents. What would you say to students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds who feel they might be disadvantaged in terms of opportunities when compared to wealthier students? Harper: I don’t think the issue on the table is wealth, to be quite frank. I think the issue on the table is character and integrity. And if a person lacks character or integrity, that can be the case whether you’re poor or rich. So, I want to be careful that we don’t paint this as a wealth—the money created an opportunity for people who didn’t have any integrity or character to do something that was wrong. We have plenty of wealthy people, and poor people, with lots of integrity, and would not use their resources that way no matter what. … This isn’t about wealth. Wealth and money were the tools, this was really about character and the degree to which you have integrity and you are honest. … This is a place that honors hard work, this is a place that looks holistically, so getting into Michigan just on your GPA and just on your test scores is not enough. And so, I think focusing

on who you are and doing your very best and making the case, is what I would say. Getting distracted by people who are dishonest, you and I can’t fix that in someone. What we can do is not be dishonest with ourselves, to not cheat. TMD: Emilio Gutiérrez Soto, a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University, is scheduled to be deported after he was denied asylum. Also, an event occurred Monday, March 25 detailing efforts the University has taken on to help undocumented. How do you try to help undocumented or asylumseeking students get the resources they need while also following state and federal law? Harper: So, we do have Robert Sellers, our chief diversity officer, designated a staff member, Hector Galvan, to work with documented and undocumented students. We have a website that has resources there for the students. Our student legal services have lawyers — they are available to help students. And so, I think those kinds of resources that the law allows us to provide, we provide. … Sometimes students are afraid; they aren’t afraid necessarily because they may be able to be on campus but their parents are undocumented and so they worry about what the implications will be for their parents. Some students actually came to speak at the Board of Regents meeting to ask us to take a

most conducive to this type of interdisciplinary research. “We have the best of both worlds,” Kibbie said. “We operate as a small, elite conservatory but embedded in this first-class research institution, so our students have the resources of the full University while we also have the focus study of music or theater and dance.” Kibbie said the team intends to continue with and expand their research. The University is in the process of developing new technology to get more pure and detailed data. “This is just the first phase,” Kibbie said. “The really exciting thing is that the School of Music, Theatre & Dance is raising funds now to commission a major new studio organ that is going to have groundbreaking data interface … It will be the first organ in the world that will allow data collection in a much more nuanced way that is possible here.” Kibbie said he is extremely proud of the work this research is accomplishing at the forefront of its field.

Israeli airport employee for the “Blacks-only bathroom,” he was surprised to receive a silent stare in response. “I told him, ‘Look, I’m from South Africa and I was told that Israel is an apartheid state,’” Mokgomole said. “During the South African apartheid, Blacks and whites were not allowed to use the same bathrooms. Blacks and whites were not allowed to use the same buses, the same schools, a number of things. So I’m in Israel, and I was told Israel is an apartheid state, and in an apartheid state I don’t want to be arrested for using the wrong bathrooms. He said ‘No, no, no, we don’t have that here. You can use any bathroom if you identif y your gender and use the right bathroom for your gender.” Echoing Mokgomole’s arg ument, Molepo noted how the four racially-based social classes that existed during the South African apartheid created a societ y built on discrimination that explicitly denied Black people their rights to education and employment. Molepo said even though he doesn’t ag ree with all of the Israeli government’s policies, he can’t classif y it as an apartheid country because he doesn’t see the same kind of overt racism. “Within the whites and the Blacks, you find that people weren’t allowed in the same bathrooms, the same buses, the same benches,” Molepo said. “Let’s say if my mother had to raise (a white boy), when they get to a park, she would

Tuesday, April 2, 2019 — 3

have to sit on the f loor and he would have to sit on the bench, because she’s not allowed to sit on the same bench as me no matter how close they are, no matter what. I find none of that in Israel.” LSA senior Robert Weinbaum, a member of the Universit y’s chapter of Stand With Us, invited the two activists to campus. He said he hoped the discussion would allow students to reach their own conclusions about whether Israel should be called an apartheid state or not. “Being at an event on campus and especially in an academic setting, Israel being described as an apartheid state is an adjective, it is very matter-offact,” Weinbaum said. “I never really found a place where that was discussion — what does that really mean? In what ways is it an apartheid state? I felt like it was important to create an environment where that kind of conversation could be held and really critically look at Israel and compare it to apartheid South Africa.” LSA senior Emily Olin, who attended the conversation, studied at the Universit y of Cape Town last semester and noted how prevalent anti-Israel sentiment was at the universit y. After seeing the BDS movement on the Cape Town campus, Olin said it was interesting to hear from South Africans with an alternate perspective. “When we were at the Universit y of Cape Town, we were there for Israeli boycott week, and I have pictures

look at our policies and procedures around in-state and out-of-state and make sure that we aren’t disadvantaging students who actually have to work a little bit and go to school a little bit, work a little bit and go to school a little bit. … Some of our wealthy parents have given us money to be able to provide support for undocumented students. So I think having the resources available, having someone you can talk with, making sure that we honor students’ privacy rights, which we would always do, making sure there is a way for students to find out what the resources are and to take advantage of them, meeting with students if they have this concern. I think those are the kinds of things we try to do as an institution to make this place work. TMD: After a Dec. 10 article in The Daily revealed 40 years’ worth of sexual misconduct allegations against SMTD professor Stephen Shipps, Shipps retired Feb. 28. How do you hope the University can better help students with the reporting process when there are allegations against faculty members? Harper: I think you’ve seen the University take actions strengthening this romantic relationship policy. I hope or think you’ve seen that the University is very clear that it’s not going to be tolerated … So, I think we

MSA From Page 1 Noor a lso spoke about his admiration for t he pa nel, say ing it touched on a number of impor ta nt topics. “I love t he pa nel,” Noor sa id. “ Rea lly being able to show not just t hat (t he pa nelists) a re a r tists but why t hey beca me a r tists is rea lly a g reat t hing a nd rea lly is eye-opening. A lot of t he times, you t hink t hat it ’s just STEM, but t here’s ot her t hings t hat you ca n do too, especia lly if you have t hat creativ it y.” During t he pa nel discussion, LSA sophomore Ba sil A lsubee spoke about his v iews on t he state of Muslim a r tists in t he U. S. A lsubee expressed appreciation for t he oppor t unit y to spea k on t he pa nel in a n inter v iew w it h The Da ily follow ing t he event. “I’ve just been rea lly looking for a plat form to spea k to t he Muslim

communit y, which is my ow n communit y, about t he work t hat I do a nd a r t a nd cult ure a nd media of Isla m a s it per ta ins to t he Muslim communit y,” A lsubee sa id. A lsubee told The Da ily t he pa nel members’ idea s complemented each ot her. “ We t hink about a lot of simila r t hings, but I t hink we f ill each ot her ’s gaps,” A lsubee sa id. “I wa s rea lly st r uck by t he insight f ul processing of a r t a nd media t hat t hey ’ve had — t heir ow n experiences, bot h t he simila rities a nd dif ferences.” A lsubee a lso expressed his persona l interest in Isla mic histor y a nd desire to go to ot her events in t he Isla mic Engagement Week. “I rea lly wa nt to go to t he under-represented perspectives (event),” he sa id. “I’ve become interested in t he topic a s someone who st udies histor y. I’m rea lly interested in historica l silences a nd t hings t hat a re just genera lly dif f icult to

on my phone of the defaced Israeli f lag,” Olin said. “My parents were visiting and I brought them up to campus and I was like, ‘Look, this is kind of crazy.’ I thought (this talk) was really interesting from the perspective of a nonoutsider who has experienced apartheid, real apartheid, not studied about it, not read about it — their families have experienced it. I think it was a very valuable perspective.” Even though Molepo and Mokgomole stressed the differences between South African apartheid and the Israeli-Palestinian conf lict, they said peace should be reached through negotiation just as apartheid was ended through election. Molepo said a two-state solution that preserves Israeli independence should be the goal of these discussions. “We need to understand that Israel has a right to exist,” Molepo said. “BDS sometimes comes with a narrative that says, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’ So what does that say then for the Israeli child? What does that say for the people that were born in that period? Does that mean they’re nonexistent people? It’s something that we always need to be conscious of — the fact that these are people’s lives we’re speaking about at the end of the day.”

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Opinion

4 — Tuesday, April 2, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

DANA PIERANGELI | COLUMN

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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.

MILES STEPHENSON | COLUMN

Social media’s oversized issues

ocial media has evolved constantly show that we are not drastically during my adding our own bias, which I fully admit is left, is more lifetime. Since left-leaning.” That said, originating with the Dorsey also admitted social networking Twitter is so liberal platform Six Degrees that conservative in 1997, a primitive employees “don’t feel Myspace, it has grown safe to express their in both influence and opinions.” Recently, on dynamism. After the podcast “The Joe solidifying its roots Rogan Experience,” with the recognizable independent journalist Facebook in 2004, the MILES Tim Pool squared off following iterations STEPHENSON against Dorsey and of Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat pushed boundaries Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s global lead in social media’s format and style. for legal, policy and trust and safety, In middle school, I experienced on issues of alleged censorship the popularization of influencers: and lack of transparency. One of teams of disciplined curators Pool’s recurring questions was whose accounts wield the why the platform was treating attention of millions and inform users differently for their political their concepts of language, dress, leanings. When Dorsey and memes, social behaviors, politics Gadde assured they only manage and more. These influencers behaviors on their platform and not brought about an age of editing opinions, Pool gave evidence of the and analyzing on the photo- contrary. Pool offered as evidence the sharing service Instagram, and further linked the platform to overwhelming number of Twitter commercial agendas through suspensions for right-leaning advertising. In 2016, we witnessed users combined with the lack social media play an influential of punishments for users on the role in presidential elections political left. Pool listed numerous with Twitter, the microblogging renowned commenters on the right service practically monopolizing spectrum like Milo Yiannopoulos, the global political discourse Gavin McInnes and Alex Jones between pundits, commenters, candidates and everyday Americans. Social media is often criticized for its edited and filtered representations of people’s lives. These “highlight reels” are designed to technologically monetize users’ egos with a currency of validation. The Guardian’s article “Logged off: meet the teens who refuse to use social media” explores a Gen-Z backlash to the social pressures who have been banned completely of Instagram and Facebook, from the platform for their tweet while Psychology Today’s article content that was either deemed “Does Using Social Media Make “hate speech” or “didn’t conform You Lonely?” and The New to Twitter standards.” Pool then York Times’ piece “In Search of contrasted this with several Lost Screen Time” examine the shocking posts by left-leaning participants that went unpunished. symptomatic issues. What social media platforms Antifa, a militant opposition to are criticized for less frequently fascism and other forms of extreme is the control they exercise over right-wing ideology, published our interactions in worldwide tweets with a “list of 1,600 ICE alongside photos, discourse and their misuse of employees our personal information. These locations, and job titles,” some of platforms have a responsibility which have still yet to be deleted to try to connect people from all at the time of this podcast despite around the world. The owners their qualification as doxxing. Comedian and actress Kathy and moderators of these platforms must be held accountable for Griffin first posed in a photograph censorship and the control and holding a mockup of President backdoor trading of our personal Donald Trump’s severed head data – if social media is to remain and more recently called for the doxxing of the Covington High a force for good . It is estimated that today School students, saying, “Name nearly one-third of the planet these kids. I want NAMES. uses social media platforms to Shame them.” Griffin suffered connect beyond languages to no punishment or suspension dissimilar parts of the world. because of her actions. Pool Social media, in this sense, serves also cited a Twitter user that as a spyglass that illuminates tweeted three times calling for different ways of doing things. the killing of the Covington High This technology is impacting lives School students and again faced more than previously imagined no suspension or ban. Users possible, and some have begun proposing the beheading of the to investigate what these social president or the burning alive of media platforms are doing with children suffered no sanctions, while those who promoted certain this new responsibility. Twitter has recently come right-leaning positions, such as under fire for the process with refusing to refer to transgender which it arbitrates the banning users by their correct pronouns, of tweets. Some say it is an issue were routinely suspended. Pool of political bias. Others find fault asked Dorsey, “Why does it always with the fact that these decisions feel like your policies are going one to censor the free expressions of direction politically? Twitter is others in a global arena are made slowly gaining… too much control not by elected officials in our from your personal ideology based government, but by a corporation, on what you’ve researched, what and more specifically, by an you think is right, over American unelected, often politically discourse.” Pool argues that Twitter’s biased individual employee. In an interview with CNN’s Brian rule controlling how users refer Stelter, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to transgender people with risk of stated, “I think we need to suspension is evidence of Twitter

These platforms have a responsibility to try to connect people from all around the world

using ideologically driven policies. Even if you agree with the rule, you might be able to see that it necessarily takes a stance on the issue of free speech, a stance that many conservative users of the platform disagree with. But where are the roots of this control? Pool argues that, because Twitter doesn’t follow the United States’ legal behaviors toward free speech and instead opts for a Constitutionally unrecognized hate speech regulation to curb harassment, it often comes down to an individual Twitter employee sitting at a screen and deciding if a post is allowed or not. This seems arbitrary, considering the conscious and unconscious bias from Twitter staff and other Silicon Valley personnel that might unfairly tilt the dialogue in one direction. U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., recently sued Twitter for $250 million for their alleged “shadow banning” of conservative users, as well as an alleged personal smear campaign. Again, politics aside, it’s important to note the control these platforms have over the expressions of free-thinking users. Similar to Twitter’s issue of political censorship, Facebook has recently faced criticism for the inappropriate handling of its users’ personal information, with Zuckerberg testifying before Congress on the subject of data privacy. In December of last year, The New York Times reported that Facebook has been giving users’ personal data to tech giants like Amazon, Netflix, Spotify and Microsoft. Netflix and Spotify, video-on-demand and music giants respectively, were given access to read Facebook users’ private messages, while tech giants Microsoft and Amazon were given lists of Facebook users’ friends and contact information. While Zuckerberg was quick to argue that all Facebook users agree to a “Terms of Use” allowing such sale of personal and private information, these agreements imply compensation and verge on the Orwellian. Netflix and Spotify now have the ability to strip-mine all kinds of personal information from Facebook users’ private conversations, such as your plans to move to a new neighborhood, your salary, the status of your relationship with your spouse and even your best-kept secrets. It’s then up to the individual to trust a global corporation with the proper application of his or her highly sensitive information. The Wall Street Journal’s article “Can a Facebook Post Make Your Insurance Cost More?” examines a potential future where posting pictures of a rock-climbing jaunt or alcoholic indulgence could impact your life-insurance premiums. These stories perfectly articulate the risk and burden that these platforms place on its users by collecting their personal information. Privacy and free expression on the internet are on the line because of the actions of Facebook and Twitter. They don’t need to go much further to blur the freedoms of everyday Americans. Next time you log on to Twitter or Facebook, ask yourself, “What information about myself am I giving up by participating here and what will they allow me to say?”

Miles Stephenson can be reached at mvsteph@umich.edu.

New Zealand could teach us a thing or two

ew Zealand’s largest mass shooting took place at two mosques, the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Center, in Christchurch, killing 50 people and injuring another 50 on the Muslim holy day, Friday, March 15. Before the shooting took place, the suspect released a document detailing far-right, nationalistic views targeting Muslims and immigrants. After this gruesome event, Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, immediately sprang into action. She banned all military-style semi-automatic guns and assault rifles and has created a government buyback system to get rid of those already in circulation, which will cost the government between $100 and $200 million in New Zealand dollars. Though the total number of banned guns is unknown, of the 1.5 million guns in circulation, more than 13,500 are now banned. Owners are expected to turn those guns in and will be reimbursed. If they do not comply, they could receive up to three years in prison. And this is just the first step. Most citizens are in complete agreement about the necessity for this action, including gun owners. John Overand told NPR the new gun laws are a “good idea.” He went on: “I’m a farmer and I’ve got guns, but just for pests and things like that. But semi-automatics aren’t what you use for shooting pests, they’re for killing people.” Even those in the gun industry are taking action. Some gun sellers took all weapons off the shelf the day of attack and stopped selling high capacity magazines. A manager of a rifle range shut down his gun club to show respect for the victims. People all around the world are praising New Zealand’s quick and effective action. Rebecca

Peters, an activist who lead gun law reforms in Australia in the 1990s, said: “It’s been the fastest response ever by a government after a tragedy.” U.S. Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez, D-N.Y., tweeted: “This is what leadership looks like,” reminding others that Sandy Hook took place six years ago and the United States still does not have universal background checks. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., challenged the U.S. to follow in New Zealand’s footsteps, saying, “This is what real action to stop gun violence looks like.”

When a national tragedy occurs, a government is supposed to take action And yet, little change has been enacted here in the United States, where gun violence has been a much more widespread issue. The U.S. has experienced 162 mass shootings since 1966, according to The Washington Post. They’ve taken place everywhere from schools to movie theaters, killing everyone from children to the elderly. Afterward, the nation is outraged for a couple months, sometimes a little longer. We cry for change but are ignored. Soon the cries begin to die out due to inaction. Then the cycle is repeated over and over again. Thankfully, we’ve recently been granted a ban on bump stocks, and the Supreme Court seems set on keeping that ban in place, rejecting the second bid to end the ban in three days. This action is a step in the right direction, but it’s not

enough. We don’t have national bans on assault weapons, only restrictions in a few states. We don’t have universal background checks. We don’t have enough forms of protection against what is supposed to protect us. New Zealand is not burdened by the Second Amendment like the United States. In New Zealand, owning a gun is considered “a privilege and not a right,” as Stuart Nash, New Zealand police minister, said. They also don’t have to deal with a powerful National Rifle Association pushing back on any safety initiatives. Dana Loesch, a spokeswoman for the NRA, wrote on Twitter, “The US isn’t NZ. While they do not have an inalienable right to bear arms and to self-defense, we do.” While this is a true statement, it does not give us the excuse to be irresponsible with our rights. Maybe it’s not possible to take as dramatic forms of action as New Zealand did, or to pass it as fast, but that doesn’t give the U.S. an excuse to do nothing. When a national tragedy occurs, a government is supposed to take action. A government is supposed to take care of its citizens, not allow its citizens to be slaughtered time and time again while it stands idly by. A government is supposed to act. That is exactly what New Zealand did and why they are being praised for their actions by others who recognize its importance. They have responded to tragedy with quick and effective action – and we should do the same. How many more? How many more shootings will it take for the U.S. to wake up and take action? One hundred and sixtythree? Two hundred? Because we know what New Zealand’s answer is. Zero.

Dana Pierangeli can be reached at dmpier@umich.edu.

TIMOTHY SPURLIN | COLUMN

‘U’ severely lacks transparency and accoutability on climate action

students and the n Friday, March 15 and some 3,000 students subsequent sit-in emphasizes the commitment from the students at our University of university have Michigan and high to climate justice. schools in the Ann Back in November, Arbor area gathered many students and on the Diag as a faculty applauded part of the Global Schlissel as he Climate Strike. The announced he strike was inspired would put together by Swedish teenager commission on Greta Thunberg, TIMOTHY acarbon neutrality. now nominated for SPURLIN Today, we are a Nobel Peace Prize, asking he make and was a coordinated effort simply process transparent by students internationally to the walk out of classes and demand and commit to serious and action on climate change. effective deadlines. I reached out to participants In Ann Arbor, the rally was followed by a march around in the strike and peaceful campus, with its final stop at protests for comments on how the Fleming Administration they view the situation. LSA Building where protesters senior Olivia Perfetti, one of the sat for a peaceful sit-in. 10 students arrested following Organizers of the strike had a the sit-in, is the policy chair list of demands for University for 2018-19 for Students for President Mark Schlissel, Clean Energy, a cosponsor of but understood he would the Washtenaw Climate Strike. be unable to immediately In an email interview with commit to a blanket list of The Daily, Perfetti commented demands. The protesters’ what went through her mind primary goal was to create when she heard the University a dialog ue with Schlissel, call the police. “I want to emphasize how where he would agree to a public meeting in order to reasonable our request was: a discuss the University’s role one-hour public meeting with in combating climate change President Schlissel moderated openly. The sit-in lasted seven by a student. This meeting was and a half hours. However, it necessary because previous meetings have all taken place did not go according to plan. Instead of talking with behind closed doors, been off the students or agreeing to the record, had moderators a public meeting at a later who filtered questions or date, administrators, and excluded discussion about the eventually police, asked Central Power Plant (CPP) students to leave. When expansion and divestment they refused to move and from fossil fuels. We agreed to demanded their voices be leave on this condition and felt heard, administrators called sure that our request would the police and 10 students be granted because it was so were arrested for trespassing, straightforward.” She continued: “What including two minors from possible reason could President local high schools. The handling of Schlissel have for refusing? I these peaceful protesters personally was certain that he highlights the consistent would agree rather than have lack of transparency and so many young people arrested. accountability from the Clearly, I was wrong. I probably administration on its should have been nervous commitment to acting on when the arrests started.” Perfetti continued, outlining climate change. The turnout of the strike how she ended up feeling shows how important this calm: “First, being with other issue is to the local community organizers gave me a strong

sense of solidarity: This is the power of collective action. And second, the unreasonableness of President Schlissel’s refusal strengthened my conviction to stay. I had no doubt that we were in the right, so I had no trouble standing my ground.” Naina Agrawal-Hardin, a 16-year-old student at Washtenaw International High School, was a lead organizer for the Washtenaw County Climate Strike and speaker at the event. She said in an interview that due to travel plans, she was unable to attend the sit-in, but kept in constant communication with the participants. “When we found out that police were being called, I was amazed at how calm everyone stayed. It portrayed how much they were willing to sacrifice for this cause. I know people were scared, but to me, from the outside, it almost seemed like their resolve strengthened, and it was clear that they weren’t going to give up.” The events of March 15 should be a wake-up call to everyone sitting on the sidelines about climate action. Students like Perfetti and Agrawal-Hardin are an inspiration to the rest of us to stand up for what we believe and not to compromise on what is right. The University’s decision to avoid and def lect accountability is a travesty and it needs to do a better job communicating with students. It is unacceptable that Schlissel continues on without any direct interaction with stakeholders in the community. The University claims it is committed to fighting climate change and going carbon neutral, yet refuses to set clearly defined and easily measurable goals for this endeavor. But this cannot be the case forever. The people have spoken, and the time to act decisively on climate change is now. Timothy Spurlin can be reached at timrspur@umich.edu.

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Tuesday, April 2, 2019 — 5

FESTIVAL COVERAGE

SIX PACK FILMS

VERENA LOOSER AND MELINA WEISSENBORN

Ann Arbor Film Festival: Some shorts and features Given my relatively vanilla cinematic taste to begin with, both the short film “Landscape of Absence” and feature film “<3” pushed my personal definition of art and proved a bit challenging to digest. Though I can’t say that either film left me wanting more, both exposed me to an unfamiliar genre and made for an interesting (to say the least) hour and a half. “Landscape of Absence” can best be described as a thoughtprovoking immersion into a compilation of dialogue-less moments of iconic women in cinema. The film expertly utilizes a split screen to parallel the facial expressions and movements of a woman in one screen to the similar expressions or movements of the woman in the other. For instance, we watch Sigourney Weaver looking surprised in one of the “Alien” films, while simultaneously observing Frances McDormand’s face plastered with an almost identical expression in “Fargo.” Despite these parallels, for the majority of the film, most of the clips are seemingly unrelated and we find ourselves unsure of the connections between the women shown. The visual component is the most captivating part of the film, but sound is emphasized more subtly. Interspersed snippets of simple, yet un-contextualized phrases like “where are we” are thrown in, but there is no actual dialogue. In the final moments of the film, a black title screen finally reveals the common thread we have been searching for over the past 10 minutes, projecting the message that none of the scenes selected “feature protagonists communicating

with each other.” This minimal use of speaking, both in the overhead audio and in the clips from within the various movies shown, leads to the overall, cleverly demonstrated point that females on screen are not given enough of a voice. Though a relevant criticism of on-screen gender biases, I couldn’t help but feel bothered by the lack of actresses of color depicted. Of the approximate 15 to 20 scenes with a white actress, there were no more than three with a Black actress. This illuminates the troubling reality that even within the noble cause of female representation, there is

Landscape of Absence & <3 The Michigan Theater

underrepresentation. A complete change of pace from “Landscape of Absence,” if you couldn’t already infer from the title structure, “<3,” refuses to adhere to any form of convention. Boldly and explicitly exploring the intersection between the self, the digital world and drugs, this is a film that will make your eyes pop and your ears ring like you’re listening to a late 2000s Kesha hit. Pill-popper, rapper and unfiltered millennial LNZ is like no other protagonist, if you can even call her a protagonist at all. She exists as more of a persona in a music video than anything else, swearing left

and right in her electric, angerfueled raps and accompanied by a trio of three practically incapacitated and prop-like men, who are later revealed to be her intended assassins (if this sounds weird and doesn’t really make sense, that’s because it was and it really doesn’t). You could say that the plot of the film is for LNZ to confront who is trying to kill her, but that would give the misleading impression that this film follows any sort of direction at all. LNZ’s purpose as a character is not for audiences to connect to or understand. She is messy, debilitated by pills and completely unreliable. But perhaps that is the point of the film, to show the psychological power of hard drugs through LNZ’s unhinged nature and inhuman behaviors. She basically lives in two different worlds (literally, there are scenes with her f lying around in a recliner in outer space). Though difficult to definitely conclude from the chaotic and drug-infused aura that hangs over the entirety of the movie, there are seemingly two types of scenes in the film. On the one, there are moments from LNZ’s perspective, shot through a first-person, shaky camera. Then there are scenes where the audience is watching LNZ as they would a character in a video game, noticing the three <3s in the corner of the screen that represent her “lives.” Both portrayals of LNZ shape her into more of a thing than a human being and feed into the overall digitized vibe that surrounds the film. It’s a mindbender in itself to try to distinguish how to feel after seeing this film. In the strangest way possible, the wide range of camera

movements and perspectives, moody lighting and colors and interspersed animated elements somehow come together to create a final product that is undeniably artistic. That said, this film is a lot to take in one sitting. Ultimately, it’s an uncomfortable and borderline psychologically violating sensory overload that dumps a lot of drugs, heavy rap and obscenity into our laps and unfairly expects us to have a clue of what to do with it.

— Samantha Nelson, Daily Arts Writer “Phantom Ride Phantom,” an experimental Austrian short film that preceded my feature presentation at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, was a f lashing, pulsating collage of nature. Completely devoid of dialogue, characters or narrative, the short f lipped endlessly between an initial image of railroad tracks and random woodlands with assaulting editing, a creepy synth score, and the obscure sound of a train trundling along its path. The experience was far more jarring than enjoyable, but there was something to be gained from the visceral interrogation into how humans control and are controlled by our environment. If “Phantom Ride Phantom” offers any clear takeaway, it’s that our manipulation of the natural world is inherently destructive to the environment, and ultimately, to ourselves. After the pointed imagery of the short film faded, the documentary “Caballerango”

began. The film, directed by Juan Pablo González (“Las Nubes”) examines the emotional state and daily life of a small rural Mexican town after a beloved horse wrangler, Nando, tragically takes his own life. While “Caballerango” moves slowly, surveying the man’s parents, siblings and coworkers, the film’s truth emerges profoundly toward its conclusion. The simplicity of the camerawork, whether it be a long take of a farmer driving his pickup, a shot of two men eating that perfectly captures the shadows across their faces, or an entire scene from the

Phantom Ride Phantom & Caballerango The Michigan Theater

windowsill of a kitchen, is an intimate exploration the nuances of daily life in this town with striking intimacy. The director often chooses to juxtapose people in their natural state against landscapes of remarkably golden fields and hills. Despite not keeping the camera directly on his subjects, González expertly telegraphs their energy, adoration and grief. Some of the family members’ testimony was genuinely heartbreaking. The way that the Nando’s brother described his mother’s reaction to seeing her son’s suicide was not only a painfully detailed account, but one that made me feel as though

I knew this family. For an instant, all of that grief seemed to swell in my mind with the same intensity as it appeared on the brother’s visage. The discussion of the horse wrangler’s passing broadened to an understanding that death is simply a part of life for many members of the town. Death hangs over the film like a shadow, in images of chickens being slaughtered and prepared to eat, and in bleary, heatwaves that cross freshly harvested cornfields. The longer I watched, the more this insistence of mortality subsumed the film’s message. And yet, González turned this dark quality into something beautiful. Beyond the tragedy at the film’s heart, the director ultimately depicts death not as an obstacle that must swallowed away, but instead a hallowed event through which one finds a sense of peace. This particular wisdom is etched upon nearly every face in the film, as a common understanding of the townspeople. The themes of “Phantom” and “Caballerango” started to converge. They both speak powerful truths about the freedom and limits of human control, in a physical, survivalist sense, but in the context of personal relationships. While the choice to pair the two films together was initially unclear, their thematic and visual overlap is fascinating to consider. — Anish Tamhaney, Daily Arts Writer

ALBUM REVIEW

Let’s get it on: ‘You’re The Man’ reintroduces Gaye MADELEINE GANNON Daily Arts Writer

In preparation to write this review and at a loss for how to tackle the insurmountable legacy of Marvin Gaye, I did what anyone would do: I called my father. I called my father and I asked him, “What do you think about Marvin Gaye?” In response, he immediately sent me a Spotify link to the classic “Got To Give It Up (Part 1),” and told me: “This is the stuff. Be careful. It’s like mainlining heroin.” Well, as much as it pains any child to admit it, my father’s not wrong. In fact, this may be the one and only exception where I have the guts to say, he’s really, really right. Marvin Gaye’s music is a lot of things. He was (and still is) “The Prince of Motown,” a master of soul, R&B, with touches of jazz and the sing-song of the crooners, like Gaye’s idol Sam Cooke. His legacy has been formed by his battle with his inner demons,

his revolutionary and socially conscious music and his confidence to break barriers, to break rules. But to try and describe the depth of Gaye’s music-making through a list of things, of facts, would be a dishonor to his legacy. Words can’t (and won’t) ever properly capture the magic that is Marvin Gaye. To listen to Marvin Gaye’s music is to

You’re the Man Marvin Gaye MOTOWN

have what I can only describe as a spiritual awakening. However, even though words may be insufficient to capture the essence of Marvin Gaye’s music, this writer feels

obligated to try. If only to entertain the possibility that the reader will see, hear and feel these words somewhere deep, go home and go listen to Marvin Gaye. First and foremost, to listen to Marvin Gaye sing is the closest thing to true and pure happiness one can find on this Earth. Sure, there are a lot of good things in life: Cake is good. Love is good, too. Yeah, financial or social success is okay, I guess. But Marvin Gaye? Marvin Gaye is life itself. To listen to Marvin Gaye’s music is to be torn between sinking into bonedeep relaxation or jumping up and dancing until your feet fall off and keep on dancing without you. To listen to Marvin Gaye is to face the agony of thinking, “Wait, there are people who walk this Earth who have never listened to Marvin Gaye?” and know the answer is yes. Marvin Gaye’s posthumous album You’re The Man is all this and much more. In honor of what would’ve been

MOTOWN

Marvin Gaye’s 80th birthday, MOTOWN has released a compilation of what were considered to be “lost” songs. The album, at its inception, was meant to be a follow up to Gaye’s beloved album, What’s Going On, but was ultimately never released due to clashes with the label and lackluster reception of a preliminary release of the title song. Gaye was never afraid to push boundaries or showcase his vulnerabilities — the release of this album after all this time is a testament to Gaye’s legacy of deep, honest and emotional music-making. The album features a few remixes by producer Salaam Remi — songs that are good, but with little to offer in alternative to the original versions. Then again, when it comes to Marvin Gaye, it’s nearly impossible to improve upon what is already a

masterwork of musical genius. And overall, the album itself isn’t daring or shocking. There are no pretentious attempts by the label to pretend that You’re The Man is anything but what is it: Marvin Gaye. One should not sit down to this album expecting radical experimentation. Rather, the album is like warmly greeting an old friend who’s been gone far too long. For the long-time fan, it’s like feeling warm sunshine after a long, hard winter. For the newcomers, it’s a treasure-chest discovery of small proportions, with lasting impact. Once one has been introduced to Gaye’s brand of chill vibes and soulful optimism, it’s impossible to go back. What is most striking about the album, however, is not the discovery of these hidden songs, nor the enjoyment of

hearing dearly-missed friend, idol and artist sing once more. No, what is most striking about You’re The Man is how different it is from the music of today. When sitting outside on the streets of Ann Arbor, lavishing in the brief glimpse of spring and listening to Marvin Gaye, one word came to mind: happy. Because no matter how serious, insightful or vulnerable Gaye’s music can be, there is always a light, comforting touch in accompaniment. It is refreshing to listen to this timeless music made by a man who saw the world for what it was — good and bad — and sought to capture the vital truths of life within his music. In the monotony of modern music, and the crush of endless expectation and obligation, one impression still lingers: how wonderful it is to welcome Marvin Gaye home, if for the last time.

Arts

6 —Tuesday, April 2, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

TV REVIEW

ALBUM REVIEW

NETFLIX

DRAG CITY

‘On My Block’ charms all Segall pours heart into throughout season two album ‘Deforming Lobes’ SOPHIA YOON For The Daily

“On My Block,” Netflix’s most binge-watched show of 2018, is back with its second season, a return that can only be described as a charming portrayal of young-minded teens facing reallife problems. The show selfactualizes into the framework of the show it was supposed to be in the first season — a show about soul-searching high school freshmen that struggle with childhood trauma, external pressures to act a certain way and now, how to handle all that Rollerworld loot that Jamal (Brett Gray, “Chicago P.D.”) discovered in the first season. The new season picks up a few months after the aggravatingly nervewracking cliffhanger of the first season, and viewers were finally given the chance to find out the fate of our beloved Ruby (Jason Genao, “Logan”) and Olivia (Ronni Hawk, “S.W.A.T.”). Despite the first season finale’s downer ending, the show never neglects its lighthearted nature and its refreshingly comedic view on topics that are not always supposed to be funny. It’s hilariously relevant, especially in the scene where Ruby comes back to school and all of his peers want to take selfies with his scarred bullet wound. The show switches smoothly

between serious political issues that come with being stuck in a bad neighborhood and ridiculous drama that all high schoolers inevitably experience at some point in their life. The biggest improvement is that the characters find deeper realms of dimensionality than they had in their first season, especially as they go through the stages of grief from losing their new friend Olivia from gang violence. Monse (Sierra Capri, debut) interacts with the woman who she suspects is her biological mother, Cesar (Diego Tinoco, “Teen Wolf”) struggles

On My Block Season 2 Netflix through rejection from his brother and the constant threat of homelessness and Jamal deals with the repercussions of having a cursed fortune on his hands. Although every character sees some semblance of development in the new season, it is Ruby and Jazmine (Jessica Marie Garcia, “How to Get Away with Murder”) who are able to show the most depth. Ruby suffers through anxiety and PTSD episodes from facing a neardeath experience, and we are finally able to see Jazmine’s full three-dimensionality when Ruby visits her home and sees what makes her the way she is.

We also get to see new character dynamics that we didn’t get in the first season. The most amusing of them all was Jamal and Cesar, who are forced to stay together when Cesar has nowhere else to go. Jamal’s energetic nervousness contrasted against Cesar’s cool kid attitude makes for an entertaining few episodes and brings the ride-or-die crew closer together than ever before. While nobody can resist the addictive charm of the crew’s energy, at times the high school drama feels a bit too timely and predictable. If the showrunners could focus on diversifying the complexity of the teen drama to match the creativity of the primary storylines, then the show has a good chance of running for at least another few seasons. Despite this, it is appreciated that this show experiments with new kinds of twists and turns that don’t consist of the typical “small quiet town faces big mysterious murder” narrative. The second season fills in the gaps between the characters and their struggles that were present throughout the first season, and viewers can only hope that Netflix sees that obvious potential that the show offers and hits the “renewal” button until their hands go numb. After the chilling way season one ended, we desperately need it.

LAURA DZUBAY Daily Arts Writer

Ty Segall’s new album begins with four words, so soft and so quickly interrupted that they’re easy to miss: “Ladies and gentlemen, the—” That’s it. Then, there are the guitars. It’s quite the hook, and “Warm Hands” is an almost impossible song to turn off, once you’re sucked into it. The lyrics tell an enthralling story — “He said he wanted to talk to me / ‘Come here, let me take you home’ / My hands, they feel warm / My car can run” — and the guitars are so pressing, they evoke the feeling of, yes, getting into a car with somebody else driving, and then realizing too late what you’ve signed on for once you’re hurtling down the freeway at 100 miles an hour. It’s hard to know what to expect from an artist like Segall. In a little over a decade of music-making, the California multi-instrumentalist has flexed his muscles in several entirely different directions, from the early lo-fi garage rock of early albums like the first Ty Segall and Goodbye Bread to the intentionally freeform explorations of his most recent record-length effort, last year’s Freedom’s Goblin. He’s proven himself to be among the most prolific artists currently making music, putting out practically an album a year, and occasionally even more.

His newest record, Deforming Lobes, is a live album recorded last year at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles. It features songs plucked from all corners of Segall’s musical repertoire, from 2010’s Melted to his second selftitled album, released in 2017. Segall’s approach to the live album seems to focus on one aspect while discarding any elements he deems unnecessary, including the fuzzy applause and cheering that artists usually leave in at the end of each track (to the effect of feeling like you’re at the concert), as well as any songs that wouldn’t have benefited the record.

Deforming Lobes Ty Segall Drag City

Namely, Segall — already no stranger to long or unusual track lengths — capitalizes on the ways in which live tracks can expand and grow beyond their original span. The closing track, “Love Fuzz,” features perhaps one of the best examples of this, a prolonged section of chiming that evokes alien abduction and grows sharper and sharper as it dwindles, coaxing the listener into near-hypnosis before finally exploding back into the static and intense instrumentation that kicked off the meat of the track initially. The crowning element of the

album’s character has to be the Freedom Band, made up of Mikal Cronin (bass), Charles Moothart (drums), Emmett Kelly (guitar) and Ben Boye (piano). Guitars don’t sing like this everywhere. The album is only eight tracks long, making for a very tightly packed 35 minutes, so it’s hard to pick standouts knowing that we’re already experiencing the cream of the crop. But “Warm Hands,” the opening track and the longest one on the album at almost 10 minutes, practically demands that the listener give the other seven songs a listen, too. “Cherry Red” features an instrumental section that threatens to blow its own top off. One almost wonders whether the applause and shouts of the audience members were done away with because they simply would have added too much extreme dimension to an album already bursting with it. The album is all about reining in chaos into something distilled and singularly creative. Each track is a live performance at a show, and yet the recordings are largely honed back to the music itself, to the point that at times the album sounds like a more frenetic version of a studio effort (in a good way). The music itself sounds purposeful, yet totally unbridled, infused with a sense of prehistoric rock that comes back and back to us throughout the ages, surfacing over and over again in new ways.

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Deconstructing writing JENNA BARLAGE Daily Arts Writer

Release Date: Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

FOR RENT

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 “I’m clever” chuckle 4 Take a broom to 9 Rapscallion 14 Pretty __ picture 15 Main artery 16 __ roll: student’s achievement 17 Hawk, in the military sense 19 Get the best of 20 In the buff 21 Local residents, to local college students 23 Draw sap from, as a maple 25 “I haven’t the foggiest” 27 Grooming process 30 Formula __: auto racing class 31 Casino convenience 32 Cacophonous 34 Prescription items 38 Canapé garnish 39 Competition 41 Snap or split veggie 42 “Casino” co-star Joe 44 Ease up 45 Toy with, cat-style 46 Microbrewery product 48 Studios for artists 50 Materials for babies’ rugs 54 Paper size: Abbr. 55 Consumed amounts 56 Reverb in a chamber 59 Centipede game company 60 Drambuie and Scotch cocktail 65 Closer to being harvested 66 Month before febrero 67 Get it 68 “Alien” director Ridley __ 69 Eggs purchase 70 Juan’s “that” DOWN 1 Goldie with a Golden Globe

2 Founder of Edom 3 *Tough period in life 4 Brazilian map word 5 Hit the jackpot 6 Bit of energy 7 Strasbourg summer 8 Second section 9 *Grade school presentation 10 Come back (with) 11 Naysayers 12 Web surfing tool 13 Narrative writing 18 Event with courses 22 War on Poverty org. 24 *Slim-fitting Dior creation 25 Singer Turner’s memoir 26 *Nuclear treaty subject 27 Camper’s cover 28 Plains native 29 Excessively 33 Irish poet who wrote “Easter, 1916”

35 Caps, and a hint to the answers to starred clues 36 Drive or reverse 37 Toothed tools 40 Fr. holy woman 43 Moulin Rouge, notably 47 Squeeze (out) 49 Cross-country southern hwy. 50 Some are compulsive

51 Shenanigan 52 Philippines peak: Abbr. 53 Looks flushed 57 Hurries, old-style 58 Bread spread 61 2018 National Toy Hall of Fame inductee 62 “__ who?” 63 Antonio’s three 64 That, old-style

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Throughout my time at college, my perception of what “good” writing is has changed immensely. Before college, writing was a hobby. I enjoyed the simple act of writing; it was natural to me. I wasn’t holding myself to any standard or abiding by any rules. My writing was a full expression of myself, uninfluenced by “great” literature or renowned writers or publication guidelines. I was sometimes praised for my writing and encouraged to formally pursue writing in my education. I eventually did decide to formally pursue writing, and have been doing so for the past three years. I’ve taken many workshop classes at the University of Michigan as well as New York University. I’ve attended countless writing conferences, readings and events. I’ve written a number of essay collections that I still can’t believe I finished. I’ve won some awards and have come close to winning others. Somehow, though, I feel like less of a writer than I was at 17. My experience with writing sometimes feels surreal, even though I haven’t, by any terms, “made it” as a writer. I began as a girl with a journal in her nightstand drawer, and now, somehow, I’m here. I’ve heard accomplished writers speak and I have worked closely with many of them. I’ve learned what to write and when, how to get published and where. I’ve written and edited and re-written and re-edited pieces. I’ve completed this cycle so many times that some of my work doesn’t even feel like mine. I’ve learned so much about writing that sometimes

I forget how to write; I’m paralyzed by the thought of flow and tone and recognition, which I’ve internalized as the singular pillar of artistic accomplishment. I’ve lost touch with myself as an artist in the pressure to be a “good” writer by the implicit standards of literary achievement — standards that, after many nights of frustration, agony and subsequent soul-searching, I’ve decided are illusory on the premise of their elitism. Literary knowledge, allusions and inclusion in highbrow social groups — Fitzgerald, Capote, Didion – have played a role in shaping these standards, while living in complete isolation and selling your soul to the craft of writing (in conjunction with illicit substances) has, too — Hemingway, Salinger, Thoreau. In other words, the road to literary success has been defined, and, to most, is unavailable. *** On Thursdays, I go to Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson. I facilitate a creative writing workshop with three other members of the Prison Creative Arts Project for incarcerated men. We push the tables in the classroom together and sit in a circle. We play games, do writing exercises and share our pieces with each other. For every piece shared comes a round of poetry snapping and warm smiles, compassionate head shakes or intelligent feedback, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. Before I’d gone to Cotton, when I’d told my friends and family about the workshop I’d be facilitating, they’d assured me that I’d teach the men a lot. They knew that I knew how to write — I’d been doing it forever, and I’d studied the craft

extensively. But I was never under the impression that I had anything to teach these men. In fact, I knew I’d be the one learning. I was right in knowing that I didn’t have anything to offer the men, aside from giving them the space to express themselves. What I didn’t anticipate, though, was the amount of wisdom and passion and knowledge that they have shown me. It’s one thing to learn from something, but it’s another to have it change you — which is what the men at Cotton did. In that classroom, I’ve encountered the most powerful writing I’ve read. These men have faced nearly insurmountable adversity. They’ve experienced enough pain for 10 lifetimes. They’ve been robbed of resources that I, and many of my peers, have had access to our whole lives. And they’re the best artists I’ve ever met. The men at Cotton have stripped the art of writing down to its essence. Its essence is not elite — it’s not knowledge or culture or even recognition. It’s genuineness. Their writing is magnetic, organic. Through their authenticity, these men have inspired me to become who I am, both as a writer and as a person. Because of them, what I’ve been taught about what writing is supposed to be is unraveling. The best writers are the ones who are fully themselves. Because of them, I’ve decided to forget what I know and become the writer I was at 17. Because of them, I’ve realized that the best art is often not celebrated, because it’s raw, messy and imperfect. The best writing doesn’t adhere to a standard or yearn for recognition — it only exists in its purest form, despite whether or not it’s loved.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Sports

Tuesday, April 2, 2019 — 7

Through adversity, Michigan fights back Wolverines finish 10th WOMEN’S GOLF

TIEN LE

Daily Sports Writer

Before the last day of the meet began, the Michigan men’s swimming team gathered together as it always has. Team meetings weren’t uncommon, but after three days of adversity and underwhelming results, there was more weight to this one. Instead of sulking in the negativity that came easily following a 17th-place result after the third day, the Wolverines chose to focus on something else — better days. The players took turns going around and talking about their two best moments from the year. “I think everyone realized how tough we had practiced,” said junior Felix Auböck. “And how fast we had gone all year, and we can’t be really confident in our performance, and we just have to let our expectations go and focus on the present.” With clearer minds and downto-earth expectations, Michigan turned around its performance on the final day, jumping four spots to end the NCAA Championships in 13th place. “It was definitely a difficult race since the results of the previous days didn’t go down as we expected,” Auböck said. “So in the last day, I think the team brought it around really well.” Auböck was a large contributor to the Wolverines’ change in fortune. Previously, the junior missed winning the 1,650-yard freestyle by seconds. He spent the last two years finishing as the runner-up each time. This year, he looked to change that.

CHRIS SULLIVAN For The Daily

CAMERON HUNT/Daily

Junior Felix Auböck was a second from an NCAA record for the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 14:23.09 seconds.

His path to first had more obstacles than just in the water, however. One of the restaurants the team had gone to left a bad taste in the players’ mouths — and stomach. Auböck was one of the multiple swimmers affected by food poisoning. Despite not being in peak condition, he took to the water. “What a great swim by Felix,” said Michigan coach Mike Bottom. “Again, he overcame at the beginning of the meet, that we seemed to run into at one of the local restaurants, but he came through it and he won in flying colors which is pretty amazing.” Auböck finished with a time of 14:23.09, a second from breaking the NCAA record for the 1,650-yard freestyle. He did so by playing it smart. A lot of the competitors in the lanes across from him shared similar personal records, and so he gameplanned around that. For roughly the first 500 yards, he wanted to be within striking distance relative to

(Auböck) came through it and he won in flying colors.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

‘M’ takes rivalry match

the other swimmers. After he judged his position there, he took off, getting inspiration from his preliminary runs. “I knew I had to stay with the pack the first third of the race,” Auböck said. “And then after, I do my own thing.” Another swimmer to add to Michigan’s short list of achievements from the weekend was Miles Smachlo. Smachlo sat out for six months of the season due to surgery on his legs. He couldn’t even practice until just before the Big Ten Championships at the beginning of March. With less than a month to return to form, Smachlo made the most of his opportunities. “Just amazing to see Miles getting third (place),” Auböck said. “He then gets thrown into NCAA, and that was just amazing, I think that was a big turnaround for us during the meet.” On a day that little went right — day three — one of the highlights was Smachlo’s 100yard butterfly. Finishing third with a time of 44.84, he tried to rally the Wolverines to not give in after a disappointing day. “Again, he battled, he battled back from surgery, he got the

coolest scars on deck on his legs, but he looks mean anyways when he stands up,” Bottom said. “And that’s an exciting place to be and to do it for the team when we needed a turnaround last night, and if you look at the video on the race, how he tried to put all the swim back onto the team and really encouraged them to keep moving forward.” Juniors Charlie Swanson and Tommy Cope added to Michigan’s stronger performance Saturday, placing 10th and 11th, respectively, in the 200-yard breaststroke. Cope narrowly missed the cutoff for the finals with a time of 1:52.91, a mere .01 seconds off qualifying. Sophomore Richard Vargas added to the three All-American finishes the Wolverines had, finishing fourth in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:12.21. “We started not that well at all,” Auböck said. “We definitely wanted to be somewhere else after the first two days, but then like this meet is a four-day meet so we need to go there and give us enough opportunity to score. And I think everybody took those opportunities those last two days and we turned it around, and I think we ended up with a pretty decent result.”

The Michigan women’s golf team entered the Bryan National Collegiate this weekend determined to change the course of its season. With just one victory to their name this season, the Wolverines looked to flip the script at the Bryan Park Golf Course in Greensboro, N.C. and gain momentum in preparation for postseason play starting in late April. “We were feeling good coming into the event,” said Michigan coach Jan Dowling. “Our expectations were to shoot the lowest scores we can every day and seeing where that puts us.” The Bryan National Collegiate has been notorious over its 22-year history for its poor weather. This weekend, however, the climate and course conditions were unusually pleasant, perhaps a fateful sign that Michigan would rise to the top of the leaderboard with the regular season winding down. That was not the case. On Friday, the Wolverines began the tournament by shooting 11 shots over par to score an overall score of 299, placing the team in ninth place out of 17 teams after round one. Freshman Sophia Trombetta led Michigan by posting a 73, tying for 16th on the individual leaderboard. The Wolverines also received reinforcement from freshman Ashley Lau and junior Hannah Ghelfi, who both shot at 74. “(Lau) was consistent all week and she gave herself a lot of chances to make birdie and hit a lot of good putts,” Dowling said. “As a freshman, she’s just one of most even-keeled and mature players I’ve coached.” During the second round of

the tournament, Michigan fell further down the leaderboard, shooting five shots worse than it had on Friday. Lau scored another 74, yet the Wolverines now stood in 11th place after 36 holes. Although the team had fallen 47 strokes behind the leading No. 13 Wake Forest entering the final round, Michigan maintained its confidence, intensity, and will to win. “Our spirits were good because there was a lot of confidence that was being built,” Dowling said. “And there were a lot of good stretches from our players and we were excited to come into today.” The Wolverines internalized that mentality and rebounded to score a 298, their best overall score of the weekend. Lau ended the tournament with Michigan’s lowest individual score, tying for 21st place. After staying in the middle of the pack throughout the weekend, the Wolverines ultimately settled for 10th place in the tournament. “It’s a big picture goal for us to be going into every tournament that we play in competing to win,” Dowling said. “At the same time, we can also make strong statements whether we’re in 12th place or seventh place or sixth place. You can always move up the leaderboard. There’s always an opportunity to move up and that matters a lot in golf.” After coming away emptyhanded from the weekend, the team now turns its attention to the Lady Buckeye Invitational in Columbus and looks to build confidence heading into the Big Ten Championships. “We’ve got a lot of good ammunition to use, particularly from this week,” Dowling said. “Continuing to get better, that’s our expectation.”

Johns Hopkins hands Michigan fifth-straight loss OWEN SWANSON

SHIRA ZISHOLTZ Daily Sports Writer

From the stands, a strong cry came out: “GO!!!!” Unanimously, Michigan faithful responded, “BLUE!!!!” Again, the chant rang. The packed arena, reduced to standing-room-only during the doubles matches, erupted into applause as the final serve came from Ohio State. All eyes were on the No. 2 doubles pair Giulia Pairone and Anca Craciun as they delivered the emphatic slam that secured the doubles point for Michigan. A fight to the finish, the duo embraced as they were approached by the rest of their team. The Michigan Varsity Tennis Center was raucous, resilient and absolutely electric, perfectly mirroring the performance of the Wolverines. Senior Brienne Minor had only one word to describe the atmosphere: “Unbelievable.” The Wolverines (11-4 overall, 7-0 Big Ten) defeated the 19th-ranked Buckeyes (15-2, 4-1), 4-1 to extend their win streak to six matches. Along with the exhilarating performance from the No. 2 pairing, Pairone and Craciun, the Wolverines secured their first point with a dominant 6-3 victory from senior duo Minor and Kate Fahey. Nothing came easy for Michigan on Sunday. Taking the momentum from the doubles win and using the cheers from the crowd, the Wolverines rallied through their singles matches to come out victorious. “(Ohio State is) fighting, too, and competing, and it’s, you know, who’s going to be toughest and want it a little bit

more,” said Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein. “And in the pressured moments, I think we did a good job today. That’s the difference.” Junior Chiara Lommer put Michigan on the brink of a match victory behind a 6-4, 7-5 win. With both sets constantly in ties, Lommer eventually overpowered Ohio State’s Shiori Fukuda for a statement Wolverine point. Both Pairone and Minor took their first sets by considerable margins — 6-4 and 6-2, respectively — and then came back from a 5-2 deficit in their second sets to carry them to victory. As Pairone sent the ball back over the net and the Buckeye return went straight into it, she screamed and celebrated. With her win, she gave Michigan the final point to seal its victory. “In tennis, there are always ups and downs,” Pairone said. “So during the downs, you need to stay always positive. I was 5-2 down in the second set and (Michigan assistant head coach) Teryn (AshleyFitch) is always telling me ‘Stay positive and keep doing what you’re doing.’ I was doing the right things but I couldn’t finish the points, so I kept believing in myself and kept doing the same things, and in the end, it turned out very well.” Aside from pure skill and energetic coaches, who do the Wolverines have to credit for their victories? The crowd. “I think with a big crowd like this, I even told Kate during our doubles match, ‘the crowd was so electric right now,’ ” Minor said. “It’s pumping me up and getting me so hyped and that gives us positive energy.”

(The crowd is) pumping me up and getting me so hyped.

Daily Sports Writer

Overcoming a two-quarter scoring drought is hard enough in any circumstance. Against one of the premier lacrosse programs in the NCAA, it’s nearly impossible. The Michigan men’s lacrosse team (3-6 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) learned this lesson the hard way over the weekend when it faced No. 18 Johns Hopkins (4-4, 1-0). A 10-0 run by the Blue Jays spanning the second and third quarters proved too much to come back from for the Wolverines, who lost by a final score of 14-8. Playing against his alma mater and former coach Dave Pietramala, Michigan coach Kevin Conry got the Wolverines ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily off to a promising start. Decker Curran was one of the few bright spots for the Michigan men’s lacrosse team in its loss to Johns Hopkins. Following the Blue Jays’ opening faceoff win, it took Michigan convert only 21 percent of the 7-5 advantage into the half. The participated in a limited capacity, only a minute and 20 seconds to time. Blue Jays were well within reach, taking two shots and scoring “You don’t expect to have that but six unanswered goals in the the game’s final goal to keep his regain possession and find junior midfielder Avery Meyers an much laundry thrown,” Conry third quarter, two of which came 33-game point streak alive. His open look. Thirty seconds after said. “This is the Big Ten, where as a result of penalties, ensured health status remains day-to-day, Meyers rang his shot off the post, physical lacrosse is supposed to Michigan couldn’t mount a according to Conry. Despite displaying admirable Decker Curran, who began the be played. I’m surprised by the comeback. One of the defensive effort in a role entrusted to game only nine points short of amount of penalties we’ve had the 100 mark for his career, put … But, in Big Ten lacrosse, you adjustments the Wolverines him only as a result of injuries, the Wolverines in the lead. cannot have that made for Johns Goonan finished 6-for-22 on the mental Hopkins was day, taking all but one draw for Johns Hopkins erased the many switching to a the Wolverines. As Michigan’s deficit less than a minute later, lapses or lapses in zone defense faceoff woes continue, it will before Michigan’s fifth-year discipline.” that would force be difficult to hinge any hope Despite senior defenseman Peter Hollen more outside on injured faceoff-men junior faults, committed his first of two their shots. The Matt Dellacroce and sophomore penalties on the day. The Blue the Wolverines coaching staff Connor Cronin, who have been Jays scored almost immediately found themselves believed this out for the majority of the past to take the lead. Undisciplined up two goals at play without the ball was a theme the end of the scheme played four games. “We’ve got what we’ve got,” quarter. better to their of the game for the Wolverines, first scored goaltender’s skill Conry said. “You can’t argue with as they committed nine penalties Curran set, according how hard Finn Goonan is playing on the day, four of which led to his second of the to senior and what he’s given us. The Johns Hopkins goals while on the game with four and a half minutes remaining goaltender Gunner Garn. Garn numbers don’t reflect, I think, man advantage. sophomore attackman made 15 saves against the Blue the possessions, in terms of the “We’re scrapping, because of and our deficiencies at the faceoff and Kevin Mack dodged left from Jays in his first career start, amount of times we were able our injury situation, (because) behind the net and scored with but the plan backfired at times to ride the ball back. Between we need possessions,” Conry a defender in his face to build when not executed properly by Finn, our wings, and our attack we’re actually getting extra said. “When you give them back the advantage. On the other Michigan’s defenders. “It (the zone defense) was a possessions.” all of those extra bonuses, you’re end, strong, physical plays from No matter how many extra already at a disadvantage and junior defenseman Finn Goonan silly mistake by us,” Conry said. then you’re giving a good, slick and senior defenseman Nick “It was a silly mistake by us. You possessions the Wolverines were offense time.” DeCaprio ensured Michigan give a good team silly mistakes, able to generate, though, it wasn’t enough. A rash of mental lapses they take advantage.” Coming into the game, finished the quarter in the lead. One of the game’s few bright on defense and undisciplined Michigan was one of the The Wolverines clung to best teams in the country at the lead for most of the second spots was the return of senior penalties ultimately made it preventing goals while down a quarter despite not scoring, midfielder Brent Noseworthy too difficult for Michigan to player, ranking eighth nationally but Johns Hopkins scored four from injury. Wearing a brace overcome not scoring for the and allowing opponents to unanswered goals late to take a on his right knee, Noseworthy game’s middle 30 minutes.

Physical lacrosse is supposed to be played.

Sports

8 — Tuesday, April 2, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

From backup to cleanup hitter, Pitching, defense key to ‘M’ success Sobczak finds her stride at first DANIEL DASH

Daily Sports Writer

When the Michigan softball team opened its season in Tampa, Fla., Alex Sobczak’s name wasn’t on the starting lineup card. Instead, the senior utility player lost a competition for the Wolverines’ everyday first baseman role to sophomore infielder Taylor Bump back in February. Sobczak saw limited action as a pinch hitter throughout the opening weekend, but Michigan coach Carol Hutchins ultimately kept her out of the starting lineup until the team’s fourth game. For the first two weeks of the season, the first baseman job was a race between two players who didn’t have much experience on the right side of the infield. In Sobczak’s case, her 63 previous starts had primarily come at catcher and third base. When Hutchins first proposed the idea of shifting her to first base in the preseason, Sobczak embraced the challenge. “When I first got an opportunity to play at first (base), I just felt like I wanted to give more to the team,” Sobczak said. “At times, I haven’t had that same outlook of being a badass, so to speak, and really owning it. “It’s really fun to get to play different positions in college. I’ve really enjoyed it, but (first base) is definitely very different. It’s a different role. As a third baseman, I remember having to be super aggressive with everything, but first base is more about being there for your teammates and making sure you pick them up and you’re ready for them.”

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Senior Alex Sobczak won the starting first baseman job from Taylor Bump.

It wasn’t until the third week of the season when Sobczak began to establish the upper hand over Bump. During the week of Feb. 22, Sobczak won the job for good with a pair of singles against then-No. 9 Louisiana State and Memphis. When Sobczak took over permanently, her batting average sat at a lackluster .125. Today, her .385 clip is the 11th-best in the Big Ten. She’s been locked in at the plate during the Wolverines’ current 11-game win streak, racking up 15 hits in 29 at-bats during this stretch — good for a batting average of .517. And that’s no small sample size, considering she has a total of 65 at-bats on the season. In Michigan’s series sweep of Rutgers last weekend, Sobczak racked up six hits in nine at-bats, including three home runs, nine RBI and five runs scored. On Monday, she was named Big Ten Player of the Week for her efforts. She is the second Wolverine to earn the honor this season, joining freshman left fielder Lexie Blair. As Michigan enters the heart of its conference schedule, Sobczak’s .708 slugging percentage and .535

(Sobczak has) gotten it done for us (on defense).

on-base percentage are both teamhighs. Her 1.243 OPS is the highest the program has seen since Sierra Romero notched a 1.460 OPS en route to National Player of the Year honors in 2016. To Sobczak, it’s just her way of contributing. “I definitely don’t have the speed that Lexie (Blair) does, so I have to find a different role,” Sobczak joked. “Being cleanup hitter, it’s awesome being able to score your teammates, and I think that’s one of the best feelings.” Hutchins knew Sobczak would produce at the plate, but she didn’t expect her defense to emerge as a strong suit. For the Wolverines, Sobczak’s stellar .992 fielding percentage is the cherry on top of the sundae. “She’s gotten it done for us (on defense),” Hutchins said. “She’s out there because of her bat, but she gets it done. She’s certainly helped her infield out when they haven’t made good throws. … She’s playing hard for her team and she’s having fun.” After spending most of the opening weekend in the dugout, Sobczak is now a staple in the heart of Michigan’s batting order and one of its most reliable fielders. At this point, the possibility of a starting lineup card without her name penciled in seems preposterous.

Michigan ventures into new waters

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

The Michigan rowing team’s 1V8 boat sprinted towards the end for a photo finish win on Saturday morning.

TIEN LE

Daily Sports Writer

BELLEVILLE — Faster. Faster. It was the last 500 meters of the 1V8 race, and the No. 9 Michigan rowing team found its first varsity eight boat trailing behind No. 5 Yale’s. But what was once a fourseat gap had narrowed to just inches. Faster. Faster. Sophomore Charlotte Powers urged freshman Jessica Schoonbee to increase the pace. As the rhythm setter, it was up to Schoonbee to execute the orders of her coxswain and lead the pace for the Wolverines. Before, Michigan’s attempts to close the distance had been unsuccessful, as the Bulldogs simply fended off the pushes each time. But in the last stretch of the race, the gap drew smaller and smaller as the Wolverines’ stroke rate grew faster and faster. Faster. Stop. The sprint to the finish created a photo finish. Taking a chance, the Wolverines ventured into new waters, and the gamble paid off. They finished the race in 6:35.32, a mere .77 seconds faster than Yale. The game plan for Michigan was to stay composed and stay true to itself, the first 1,500. Don’t let the other team’s boat affect you, and don’t let up. And if that holds up, see where the other

boat is and respond accordingly. Only, when the Wolverines looked over to Yale’s line at the last 500 meters, they knew they needed more than just composure to win. Sprinting is not something they practice often — Saturday was the first day they did so all year. So before the race, the 1V8 got the approval from Michigan coach Mark Rothstein to use one solid, decisive move — sprinting. And after rowing from behind since the start, the boat decided to implement the newly acquired move. The Wolverines closed out the race, rowing at 42 strokes per minute. “I mean, we were down the whole race,” Powers said. “And we as a boat, at the 500, decided we were just going to stop them from moving up any more and hold then we kind of just inched into them.” All aspects of the boat executed in the clutch. The pressure came from the Bulldogs, but Michigan didn’t bite, instead, heeding the advice from Powers and following through. “We did a great job executing today,” said senior Kathryn Grotto. “But I think continuing to stay internal and not focusing on what other boats are doing and just rowing our own race to make sure that we’re putting ourselves in the best position to finish the piece.

“And our stroke (Schoonbee) is a freshman. It was her first weekend. Absolutely killed it. Every time a coxswain would say something, she just executed. And she did it, and she took the rate up.” Schoonbee, in her weekend debut, highlighted a unified effort to set an aggressive pace for the Wolverines. Following suit, the rest of the varsity boats succeeded to win their respective races. The 2V8, contrary to the first varsity eight, took an early lead from the start. Starts were something the team had been practicing in the past week. It paid dividends when Yale proceeded to bite into the fourseat lead. However, toward the last stretch of the race, the Bulldogs relinquished pressure and Michigan won with an openwater lead, tallying 6:57.22. The 1V4 and 2V4 boats finished equally as dominant, recording a 7:50.29 and 8:01.86, respectively. Both created open-water leads that they didn’t give up, similarly to the second varsity eight boat. The weekend sweep was denied, however, by the novice boats who failed to close the race, finishing 7:28.93 to Yale’s 7:25.50. Despite the failures of the novice boats, Michigan will chalk up the weekend as a success, nearly sweeping both days of the regatta.

EVAN AARON/Daily

The Michigan baseball team’s defense will be key in upcoming matchups against Minnesota and Ohio State.

AIDAN WOUTAS Daily Sports Writer

Consistency is key. But in its absence, balance can prove just as important. Despite its ability to dominate, the Michigan baseball team’s offense has struggled with consistency — evident in last season’s early end after a promising 20-game win streak, as well as its sporadic performances against mid-major opponents this year. In light of this, Michigan’s pitching and defense have been essential in holding opponents to few runs and securing wins even when the offense can’t pull through. With big-name matchups coming up against offensivelystrong Minnesota and Ohio State over the next two weeks, this dynamic could prove quite helpful. The defense’s utility was on display in last Wednesday’s lowscoring doubleheader wins (1-0 and 2-0) against San Jose State. While the offense couldn’t always produce, solid performances such as sophomore left-hander Angelo Smith’s pitching during the second game and the quick fielding that forced several 1-2-3 innings

during the first game ensured that the Spartans never capitalized on Michigan’s difficulty at the plate. Over the weekend against Michigan State, the defense even balanced itself out as the Wolverines’ fielding strengths bailed out some difficulties in pitching. When junior righthander Karl Kauffman and freshman left-hand reliever Walker Cleveland, frustrated by the persistent rain, allowed several runs and walks, clutch fielding — such as Jordan Brewer’s double play in the second inning that stifled the Spartans’ scoring opportunity — ensured the margin never narrowed beyond comfort. Indeed, even with efforts to create a more balanced squad, Michigan fundamentally remains a defensive team. “We’re built on pitching and defense,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “We’ve had good defense when we needed to and when we didn’t have much going on offensively.” With so much reliance on defense, it can get ugly when things don’t go the Wolverines’ way — especially against strong opponents. A disappointing sweep at the hands of No. 17 Texas

Tech two weekends ago saw the Wolverines stuck in the low singles in terms of runs while the Red Raiders scored many more and capitalized on numerous errors. “We couldn’t hold (Texas Tech) down with our bullpen,” Bakich said after the difficult series last month. “They hit against us like they knew every pitch that was coming. “… What stood out is that we were right there with them for about half of each game. But they were able to separate thanks to some costly mistakes of ours.” When the team’s offensive and defensive strengths combine, the Wolverines can be dominant: They scored 23 runs against Manhattan, 12 over Western Michigan and 16 runs against Michigan State over the weekend. Of course, a strong offense is equally as, if not more, important on the diamond than defense. But they do complement one another, and Michigan stands to benefit from continued investment in a clutch defense that can step in and save the day against tough opponents. Minnesota and Ohio State will be far more formidable if they don’t.