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CAMPUS LIFE
Knight-Wallace fellow discusses life as journalist in Afghanistan New York Times reporter Jawad Sukhanyar presents on experiences writing in war zone BARBARA COLLINS Daily Staff Reporter
KARTIK SUNDARAM/Daily Students and community members participate in a rally against sexual violence at the Take Back the Night rally and march at the in downtown Ann Arbor Wednesday evening.
Take Back the Night organized 41st march, rally against sexual assault
University Students Against Rape, community members recognize , celebrate survivors MELANIE TAYLOR & STELLA HACKETT Daily Staff Reporter & For The Daily
Wednesday evening, students and community members gathered in the Michigan League for the 41st annual Take Back the Night Ann Arbor. Campus representatives from University of Michigan’s University Students
Against Rape, in cooperation with community leaders from Standing Tough Against Rape Society, organized the rally, march and vigil to recognize and celebrate the stories of sexual assault survivors. Public Policy senior Nicole Kozlowski, University Students Against Rape senior student leader, hoped to encourage a conversation about sexual assault prevention and recov-
Victor Lieberman spoke on politics, international relations as election nears ISOBEL GRANT
Daily Staff Reporter
On Wednesday evening, Hillel’s Israel Leadership, Engagement, Advocacy & Dialogue student group invited Professor Victor Lieberman to host a lecture in Hillel’s auditorium to discuss Israeli-Palestinian relations. Lieberman drew largely on the curriculum of his course, titled The History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, during his discussion, which was planned in preparation for the upcoming Israeli election next week. Lieberman’s lecture provided an in-depth background of the historical conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. His outline of Israeli and Palestinian politics spread across many facets of the issue, from an analysis of Palestinian popular opinion and Israel’s political spectrum to a discussion of the differences and similarities between the groups. He provided the audience with a list of the key parties and organizations involved to familiarize the audience with the political situation in the two nations. See POLITICS , Page 3
Students Against Rape senior student leader, discussed the welcoming space they hope to create with the event. “Whoever you are or whatever your story or background is … this is a place where you can come and be believed, and be heard, and that there are people out there who care about you, and you are never alone in this fight,” Schouman said. See RALLY, Page 3
MSA, ISA hosts “Meet a Muslim” event MESA hosts in Mason Hall to engage in conversation dialogue on Students opened dialogue to discuss religious, cultural differences on campus
CAMPUS LIFE
Professor talks IsraeliPalestinian relationship
ery. “First and foremost, we’re here to raise awareness about sexual violence not only on college campuses, but in our community,” Kozlowski said. “So I think just being able to recognize that it is a problem and it is a problem that everyone can work on and fix, that is the overall message.” Information senior Stephanie Schouman, also a University
Jawad Sukhanyar, a University of Michigan Knight-Wallace journalism fellow, presented on his experiences as both a civilian and reporter in Afghanistan in “Warzone Reporting: Experiences of a Journalist in Afghanistan” at the International House Ann Arbor. The event was co-sponsored by the Center for South Asian Studies and the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies. Sukhanyar is an Afghan reporter for The New York Times based in his home country. Working for The New York Times since 2011, Sukhanyar is the longest-serving reporter in The Times’ Kabul Bureau, covering women’s issues and human rights in Afghanistan. Knight-Wallace Fellow Stephen Ssenkaaba introduced Sukhanyar and explained the prestigious Knight-Wallace fellowship. “The Knight-Wallace journalism fellowship recognizes
accomplished journalists committed to the future of journalism,” Ssenkaaba said. “(The journalists) deepen knowledge, develop new ideas, learn new skills and address challenges facing journalism today.” Sukhanyar began his presentation by explaining why he decided to pursue journalism. He reflected on the assassination of Afghan politician Ahmad Shah Massoud on Sept. 9, 2001, explaining he was terrified of the possibility of the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan. Sukhanyar described the climate of Afghanistan after the assassination as “the darkest days of Afghanistan.” “When we heard about this we were shocked, we didn’t know what to do,” Sukhanyar said. “I asked my family, my brother, ‘What’s coming next for us? What are we going to do?’” Currently, the majority of Afghanistan is controlled by the Taliban. Sukhanyar expressed concern for the continuation of the war in Afghanistan. See JOURNALIST, Page 3
CAMPUS LIFE
ATTICUS RAASCH Daily Staff Reporter
Offering donuts, candy and engaging conversations, the University of Michigan’s Islamic Society of Ahl-ul-Bayt, along with the Muslim Students’ Association, hosted a “Meet a Muslim” table in Mason Hall Wednesday to open dialogue between Muslim and non-Muslim students on campus. The event is part of a series of events hosted by ISA during their Muslim Engagement week. According to Syed Rizvi, ISA president and LSA junior, the event was designed to allow nonMuslim students as well as Muslim students of different sects to
engage in conversations to better understand different student perspectives on campus. “We want to spread awareness about what Islam is, and an opportunity with a non-Muslim to talk with a Muslim and get familiar with Muslims,” Rizvi said. “By doing that, people will feel more comfortable with each other, but also for other Muslims to meet other types of Muslims like Sunnis and Shias can meet one another. It’s pretty fun meeting new people, people are actually talking and learning more about us.” ISA advisor and LSA senior Shabber Syed said conversations about student differences do not always happen on campus and
are necessary to recognize and give voices to smaller communities. “I feel like sometimes we don’t have the conversations we should be having to essentially empower some of the communities we have,” Syed said. “I feel like this is a good way to have people come up and talk to us, not only to decrease ignorance but increase knowledge and empower Muslims and feel like we are here and people actually want to talk to us about what makes us different. You can come talk to us about anything you want, not necessarily to normalize us only but again just to let people know its ok to come ask us questions.” Another ISA advisor, Fatima
Haidar, said practicing these interactions with students from different backgrounds and cultures is key to developing comfortable discussion. “It can go both ways, it can be either really great or really not. I used to avoid having these conversations but I think when you become more comfortable with your identity in a space where your identity stands out i feel like it becomes easier to have those conversations because you begin to know how to navigate it even if the other person doesn’t.” LSA freshman Noelle Seward visited the table and said hearing different perspectives helps combat stereotypes about different students. See MEET , Page 3
RUCHITA IYER/Daily University alum Fatima Haider speaks to students the Muslim Student Association and University of Michigan Islamic Society of Ahlubayt Meet a Muslim table at Mason Hall Wednesday afternoon.
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Vol. CXXVIII, No. 98 ©2019 The Michigan Daily
masculinity in Arab life
Panelists discuss how Arab identities interact in traditional gender roles EMMA RUBERG Daily Staff Reporter
On Wednesday night, about 25 students gathered in the School of Education for an event held by Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs as part of Arab Heritage Month. The event centered around Arab masculinity and mental health. It was hosted by Robbie Abdelhoq, a program manager for the Office of Student Conflict Resolution, and Jad Elharake, a program lead at the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Abdelhoq began by discussing the context surrounding the event. “We are having this conversation in the #MeToo era, in the era in which the conversation around sexual assault, sexual harassment, behavior of men, the complicity of men. This is the backdrop to this conversation,” he said. Before beginning the formal presentation, he explained what he hoped attendees would take away from the conversation. See MASCULINITY , Page 3
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LSA SG hosts mental health discussion “Health Experiences and Expressions Speak-Out” talks anxiety, depression BEN ROSENFELD
setting. expressing themselves without understanding that you don’t necessarily need to fit a certain LSA student government any fear of judgment.” representative Natalie Suh, an During the open discussion position to be able to use the On Wednesday night, LSA freshman, explained the portion of the event, one resources — just if you need LSA student government goal of the Speak-Out was to student explained the tendency help, we’re here.” In addition to volunteers held an event titled “Health provide an opportunity for open for professors to take physical Experiences and Expressions conversation between students, health issues more seriously from SAPAC, Carol Tucker, Speak-Out” at the School of in order to normalize struggles than mental health issues with a Wolverine Wellness health Education, facilitating an open with anxiety and mental health. regards to students’ academic educator, participated in the “We wanted to host this needs. Later, another attendee discussion, informing students discussion of the physical and mental health struggles event to destigmatize talking explained the difficulty in about the numerous resources students face over the course of about mental health,” Suh expressing depression and the University provides to students. Tucker talked about their college careers. said. “So whatever spectrum anxiety to family members. During the discussion, you’re on, whatever you fall LSA freshman Madison Burt her work with students seeking students shared their under, we want everybody to shared a personal story about help related to physical and Sudoku Syndication coping with problems of mental mental health problems. experiences with physical be comfortable talking abouthttp://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ “People come to me with all and mental health in a college it, and to be comfortable health in a collegiate setting. Burt told The Daily after the kinds of things, anywhere from event that the small setting procrastination, to dealing with of the Speak-Out and the something going on in your receptiveness of participants family, to wanting to exercise encouraged her to share her more, the whole gambit,” Tucker said. “You can talk about own experiences with others. MEDIUM “It was really cool to be anything, and we have wellness able to do that,” Burt said. coaches, not only at UHS and “Definitely being able to get Wolverine Wellness but also some things off my chest and other places around campus.” Among the other resources, hear about some different resources and really just Tucker referenced was the understand that everybody Well-being page developed by goes through it, was definitely University Health Services last year, located on each University a nice way to end the day.” Burt was also one of two of Michigan student’s Canvas Sexual Assault Prevention site. “The Well-being site on and Awareness Center representatives present at the Canvas developed out of a Speak-Out. She said a central widespread recognition that goal of events held by SAPAC students wanted to have and LSA Student Government at-their-fingertips access to such as the Speak-Out is to (mental health) resources,” help students understand Tucker said. “It was a student they can approach University suggestion that it lived on resources with any range of Canvas. We worked with a wide variety of people, the Wolverine concerns. “It’s not just sexual Support Network, CSG, CAPS, harassment necessarily,” Burt lots of other places.” said regarding SAPAC’s scope. © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. FOUR puzzle by sudokusyndication.com “Stalking, they take care of Read more at things like that too, or just bad MichiganDaily.com relationships in general. So Daily Staff Reporter
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M I C H I G A N D A I LY A L U M N I TA L K JOURNALIST From Page 1
ALEC COHEN/Daily Former Michigan Daily Editorial Page Editor Mark Dillen discusses his career in journalism and the foreign services in an alumni talk held in the Paul Brentlinger Conference Room of the Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building Wednesday.
MASCULINITY From Page 1 “What I hope you will leave with today is what is my obligation to helping change to helping this situation that we’re in,” Abdelhoq said. “And also you helping to understand in a healthy way what masculinity means.” The first topic centered around how masculinity has typically been portrayed. They explained academic writing on masculinity has often been written by and for white men and why this is problematic when discussing Arab masculinity. “That conversation really transitions and does a shift when it comes to Arab men, and this is also true for other men of color,” Elharake said. “Even as I think about myself, I was born in Lebanon and immigrated here when I was seven. Masculinity looks very different in Lebanon.” Abdelhoq and Elharake then began discussing social constructions of masculinity and how they influence men’s behavior. They described three categories: hegemonic masculinity, the traditional stereotype of masculinity, complicit masculinity, where men receive the benefits of masculinity, and marginalized masculinity, where men are given power based on their gender while being marginalized in other ways. Abdelhoq said he believed many men fit into the category of complicit masculinity. He said though they aren’t directly
RALLY From Page 1 alone in this fight,” Schouman said. LSA senior Sabrina Angel volunteers for University Students Against Rape and became involved with the group after coming to TBTN her freshman year. “I’m a survivor myself, so this has really been an organization which helped me kind of come to terms with my story and really be able to support others who had the same kind of experience I had,” Angel said. “It means a lot to me that I get to support other people, especially because I didn’t feel like I had a support system until I came to Take Back the Night.” Angel said she appreciates the refreshing positivity of TBTN. “This event is not really about sadness or dwelling on experiences of the past,” Angel said. “We’re here to support the growth that survivors have achieved.” TBTN is a national organization that started when Californian sex workers decided to protest their working conditions. Kozlowski explained the tradition as being purposefully radical and disruptive. “It’s going into the streets, being like, ‘We’re out here. We’re loud. We’re going into
perpetuating inequality, they are still receiving the benefits of their masculinity. “My sense is that a lot of men fall into this category,” he said. “A lot of men don’t fit into all the characteristics or all the defining factors of what hegemonic masculinity looks like, but also don’t challenge how they were socialized.” Abdelhoq also explained many men of color are often unwilling to stand up for women when discussing issues of gender. “A lot of times (for) men of color, this discussion of community will hinge on their marginalized identity,” Abdelhoq said. “They will really go to bat for people when it comes to issues of race, and then fall deadly silent when it comes to issues of sexism.” The event then transitioned to how stereotypes of masculinity are formed at a young age. The presenters put a list of phrases up on the screen that men commonly hear and asked the men in the audience to raise their hands if they had ever received the comment. When asked about the phrase “man up,” every man in the audience raised their hand. They also discussed how traditional notions of masculinity are perpetuated by “groupthink.” They explained that though it’s commonly assumed that men act masculine for women, the opposite is true; men often act masculine around men to be accepted. Abdelhoq and Elharake explained how Arab identity interacts with both masculinity and femininity, offering examples of traditional gender roles in Arab families.
“We see this even thinking about our roles in our families — who cooks, who cleans, who eats where?” Elharake asked. “At least in my experience, often Arab men are allowed to go out past a certain time and often Arab women have to be back by six or seven.” Abdelhoq pointed out this inequality has been made clear, especially as progress is made towards equality. “There has been an uptick in the need to reinforce traditional values,” Adelhoq said. “Men’s knee jerk response has been to re-establish traditional boundaries that perhaps some movement has been made on.” The event concluded with interactive exercises. The first asked the audience to choose which of two men better fit the mold of traditional masculinity — those chosen included Russian President Vladimir Putin, rapper Meek Mill and Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. The audience was also prompted to guess what percentage of men surveyed reported being uncomfortable when the terms “bitch” and “slut” were used in reference to women. Though audience members guessed five and 12 percent, the answer was revealed to be 81. When asked how one could help challenge negative effects of masculinity, both Abdelhoq and Elharake provided input. “Have the courage to say something when and if it comes up,” Abdelhoq said. “I think inherently and intuitively you’re going to know this when it happens, it’s having the courage to say something about it.”
Elharake offered similar advice for students, both for those who identify as Arab men and those who do not. “We think about spaces that we’re in — small classrooms and large ones — a lot of comments are really thrown out that promote or encourage this toxic masculinity and behavior,” he said. “And obviously I’m looking at it through a larger lens, realize how that impacts everyone, those who are men, and women, and outside those binary genders as well. It’s really important to recognize masculinity has an impact on everyone.” Business graduate student Rajiv Khattar attended the event, and in an interview with The Daily after the event he commented on the importance of understanding intersectionality when discussing masculinity. “When we just look at masculinity there’s a lot we could talk about,” Khattar said. “Then we talk about the Arab identity, there’s a lot we could talk about. Then we add mental health. It’s understanding all these individual identities take on a slightly different f lavor with the other ones is important.” When explaining why he came to the event Khattar discussed the lack of visibility this topic receives. “I thought it was an interesting event,” Khattar said. “The intersection of masculinity and mental health from a person of color lens isn’t exactly something we see a lot.”
the streets. We’re taking back the night,’” Kozlowski said. Kozlowski said TBTN Ann Arbor is unique because it exists at an intersection between campus and community activism. Community organizer Pam Swider, director of STARS, first became involved with TBTN Ann Arbor 11 years ago. “I am a survivor myself, and I wanted to do something to give back,” Swider said. “When I was going through therapy, Take Back the Night was important to me so I always kind of imagined participating.” Swider believes TBTN Ann Arbor is strengthened by the constant presence of certain community members which complements the transient nature of student leaders as they periodically graduate and move away. “I think it’s important to see that the community cares and that they can come together to help,” Swider said. This year’s TBTN event was “Uplifting Voices.” Organizers made an effort over the years to showcase intersectionality in the event. Swider said this year, TBTN’s theme attempts to reflect an increased sense of inclusion. “We want to recognize that we can’t know everything, but we want to celebrate everyone,” Kozlowski said. Schouman said she hopes efforts to combat sexual assault
will expand as the variety of those identities which are actively welcomed into spaces such as TBTN increases. “We’re trying to have an air of inclusivity,” Schouman said. “...It’s obviously not a just a women’s issue, it’s obviously not just a white person’s issue, like bringing everybody into that space.” Schouman discussed the power the march has to spread its message throughout the community. “People will stare at you but there’s also people that will applaud you going by,” Schouman said. “If they find out that this is what it’s for, they might get angry, or they might be like ‘Oh I didn’t know this was something we had in Ann Arbor’ and like it can spark that sort of interest … It’s definitely about causing a disturbance to start a conversation.” The event’s keynote speaker was Internet performer, poet and actor Kevin Kantor. Kantor shared their experience as a queer victim of sexual assault. Kantor appreciated how TBTN Ann Arbor made a special effort to recognize the stories of non-female sexual assault survivors. “This is what I like,” Kantor said. “This is the unity.” Kantor encouraged survivors to be “selfish” in their recovery and said people are more than their survivorship.
“You deserve joy,” Kantor said. “You deserve your rage. Get to work.” Throughout the night, speakers echoed a repeated call to action. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recorded a video for the rally to be played in her absence, in which she encouraged attendees to also “get to work.” LSA freshman Chloe Carlson attended the event as an ally with sisters from the University’s feminist sorority, Zeta Omega Eta. She said there is still a lot of work to be done through the feminist movement. “I feel like it’s gotten better, then it’s gotten worse,” Carlson said. Schouman also emphasized the importance of involving as many people as possible in the cause. “Whether you have a story, or not, whether you’ve told your story before, or you haven’t, or if you’re even just an ally just to be here and to celebrate survivors and taking a stand against sexual assault...we’re glad that you’re here,” Schouman said. Engineering junior Rosie Van Alsburg, also a member of Zeta Omega Eta, hopes she and her sisters’ presence will show survivors they have support on campus. “I hope just being here will let survivors know that we’re here for them,” Van Alsburg said.
“It has been 18 years since the war began … there is no end to this war,” Sukhanyar said. “What is going on? You don’t see any sign of victory.” Sukhanyar also addressed problems regarding security in Afghanistan. He said the lack of training in Afghan security forces causes the country to suffer from external danger. “The security is not improving, it’s reversing,” Sukhanyar said. “You don’t see any improvement on the ground. Afghan security forces lack resources, they’re not as professional as international forces … that means life is harder, it’s more dangerous for us, for the civilians.” While reporting for the The New York Times in Afghanistan, Sukhanyar interviewed a man later featured in The Times’ video “Injured and Abandoned in Afghanistan.” The video features a former Afghan police officer who lost his leg, and his struggle to survive on the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan. Sukhanyar said he first got into contact with the man after he noticed him begging for money in the street while driving home. He said he approached the man for several consecutive days to ask about what he was doing before revealing he was a reporter and requesting an interview. According to Sukhanyar, the man joined the police academy in which American troops were involved. While training in southeastern Afghanistan, a bomb detonated on the man, resulting in him and two of his colleagues suffering severe injuries. As result, the men were unable to continue to work as officers. After this happened, the man’s family, including his wife and two children, disowned him. “This young Afghan was trained by the Americans, fought in this war, and finally this is what his life is,” Sukhanyar said. “He’s living on the streets of Kabul, and he’s (begging) during the evening
MEET From Page 1 “I think it’s a really good way to share your culture with people because there are a lot of things people don’t know and people just assume things,” Seward said. “It was interesting, I like to hear from other people’s perspectives because so many people just make assumptions about others. According to Haidar, helping attendees feel comfortable asking questions was critical to creating productive dialogue. “I’ve already engaged in some good conversations,” Haidar said. “I try to break the ice by starting off with questions that may seem ridiculous but i’ve gotten like oh are you bald, and I tell them no, or do you shower with that on, like no. I feel like it cracks the ice because once you start with the dumbest questions it goes on from there.” According to Business senior Mohammad Shaikh, the series of events was previously titled their Islamic Awareness week, Shaikh said the change came from their desire to have more hands-on and engaging conversations with the
POLITICS From Page 1 By examining the intentions of Israeli and Palestinian groups, both past and present, Lieberman engaged in a conversation with attendees, contemplating the future of negotiations between the two nations. “From the 1990s to about 2014, the two-state solution was the official goal of the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, the PA,” Lieberman said. “Today most commentators agree that the twostate solution is on life support, if it’s not dead completely. So what’s next? How do Israelis and Palestinians see the future, and what do they say they want? In each case, what’s the mix between rational thinking and irrational impulse?” Lieberman later expressed some doubt that Israeli and Palestinian groups will reach an agreement regarding the ongoing land dispute between the two nations, which
when it’s dark because he doesn’t want to be seen by his friends and by people that knew him.” Sukhanyar also highlighted another reporting experience where he interviewed a man whose young son was shot pointblank by the Taliban. “When I was talking to this man, who himself was a warrior during the Soviet division of Afghanistan, he told me that it’s very painful to lose his son,” Sukhanyar said. “It’s very, very horrible to lose his son … it was very moving and emotional for me.” While discussing the future of Afghanistan, Sukhanyar said he does not know what is coming. After he completes his Knight-Wallace fellowship at the University, Sukhanyar said he plans to move back to Afghanistan, despite the current corruption in the country. “I was hoping to go back to my country, to live in my country, even though I know it’s not going to be as fun as I expect.,” Sunhanyar said. “... I know living here would be much, much better for me, for my kids, they would have a good future, but I don’t want to close the door for other Afghans who are working there. They might get an opportunity to come to programs like the one I came and get a job.” Bruce Martin, executive director of International House Ann Arbor, commented on the importance of both telling and listening to stories. He said he thought it was important for Americans to hear stories such as Sukhanyar’s because what the United States does in other countries has a direct impact on their lives. “I always like to say to people, we’re all about stories, and everybody has a story,” Martin said. “Everybody also has a right to tell those stories in their own voice and listen to others’ stories. What they do with that information is up to them, but stories can be powerful motivators, impact lives and shape responses.”
Muslim community on campus. “Beyond just raising awareness — while that is important — we’re trying to get people to actually not just be aware of what Islam is but actually engage with it,” Shaikh said. “In the past it was called Islamic Awareness Week, but we intentionally changed it to engagement week so people can engage with Muslims and their contributions to society at large.” Syed said he hopes the engaging conversations will continue outside the conversations had at the table. “I feel like usually these kind of events are very successful, but the problem is after they happen it kind of just goes back to normal, people don’t ask questions anymore,” Syed said. “What’s’ actually really unfortunate sometimes is I feel like other Muslims don’t actually ask other Muslims, by different denominations, they sometimes don’t ask questions that they should be. I feel like those are conversations we need to start having more on campus, especially to be more inclusive like we try to promote here at the University of Michigan.”
provoked a broad spectrum of reactions from audience members. LSA freshman Henry Wolle shared his own interpretation of Lieberman’s words to The Daily after the event, as well as some thoughts about the issue. “I take it that this professor imagines the state of affairs as locked in one way and his understanding is both sides can’t come to a real reconciliation,” Wolle said. “So, that’s sort of where he bases his speculation. That’s my understanding of his presentation… I agree with the frozen-ness that he presented, and I recognize that from the conversations that I’ve had with people.” Following the lecture portion of the event, Lieberman opened up the floor for attendees to share their own thoughts, ideas and questions. Orr Viznitser, a Jewish Agency Israel Fellow, added to the conversation by sharing her personal beliefs and experiences as an Israel native.
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Opinion
4 — Wednesday, April 4, 2019
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AARON BAKER | COLUMN
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KRYSTAL HUR | COLUMN
Hold Uncle Joe accountable
F
ormer Vice President Joe Biden is without a doubt one of the most beloved political fig ures in the Democratic Party. He’s so likeable that even Republicans respect him — he was known to be good friends with former Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., before his passing — and he has consistently stayed at the top of the Democratic presidential primary polls. People don’t just love Joe Biden. They idolize him as “Uncle Joe”: patron of ice cream, man of the people and forever partner-in-crime to President Barack Obama. Until recently, I was one of these people. However, in the wake of the recent news surrounding his behavior towards former Nevada state legislator Lucy Flores — as well as his response to her article — I’m reminded of why idolizing public fig ures is incredibly dangerous. On March 29, Flores published a piece in The Cut titled “An Awkward Kiss Changed How I Saw Joe Biden.” In it, she sets the scene in which the awkward kiss happened: it’s 2014, and Joe Biden is attending a political event in Nevada to help Democratic candidates like Flores in the g ubernatorial election. She then details the moment Biden invaded her personal space, writing, “I felt him get closer to me from behind… He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head.” She then goes on to explain, “as a young Latina in politics, I had gotten used to feeling like an outsider in rooms dominated by white men… he made me feel uneasy, gross and confused. The vicepresident of the United States of America had just touched me in an intimate way reserved for close friends, family or romantic partners — and I felt powerless to do anything about it.” Flores’s incident is only one in a long list of moments when Biden has touched women inappropriately. The New York Post recently published a slideshow of other times he’s touched women and young girls. In one photo, he’s seen placing the same “big slow kiss” on the niece of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at a Capitol Hill event. In others, he’s captured kissing women on the lips, grabbing them around the waist, hugging them from behind and more. A representative for Biden responded to Flores’s article, stating: “Vice President Biden believes that Ms. Flores has every right to share her own
recollection and ref lections, and that it is a change for better in our society that she has the opportunity to do so. He respects Ms. Flores as a strong and independent voice in our politics and wishes her only the best.” Biden then responded directly to Flores article a couple of days later, stating, “In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once — never — did I believe I acted inappropriately… I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.” According to his statement, Biden didn’t mean to make Flores uncomfortable, and his actions were simply supposed to offer comfort and camaraderie. This is probably true, given that he always touched women in plain sight, and the media always made light of his actions in the past. Some of the other women whom he touched might have even welcomed his actions. Some were probably moved that the vice president of the United States showed his affection so openly and loved him even more for it. None of that matters. Bottom line, men, especially ones who hold as much power as Biden, should not touch women without consent. He may not be “grabbing them by the pussy” or condemning Flores’s account as part of the “#MeToo witch hunt,” but he still needs to be held accountable for his actions because he acted without the women’s consent and elicited the same feelings of helplessness and violation that come with being sexually assaulted. Flores is not arg uing that his actions discount all of the great things he’s done for the United States. Yet, many people are choosing to stand by Biden and believe he is simply a victim of a woman overreacting to some wellintentioned affection. Others are angry President Donald Trump’s assault survivors are receiving no coverage while Flores’s article continues to gain traction, and are urging Biden to run for president despite the allegations against him. Herein lies the crux of the problem. People idolize Biden
not only for his personality, but because many believe he is the Democratic candidate with the greatest chance of beating Trump. Maybe Biden does have a creepy habit of touching women — but he’s still better than Trump. And isn’t it unfair that he’s getting steamrolled by the news for simply kissing a woman on the head while Trump gets to sit in the Oval Office after several women have accused him of sexually assaulting them, with the most recent allegation coming out in February? However, discounting Flores’s account won’t give justice to other sexual assault survivors. In fact, if Democrats don’t hold Biden accountable for his actions in the fear it’ll hurt his chances at presidency, then they are part of the same problem they condemn Trump supporters of having. I idolized Joe Biden. I believed with certainty that he could win the 2020 election and anticipated the moment he would announce his candidacy. However, given his responses to Flores’s account — both of which skirt around actually apologizing or admitting to wrongdoing — as well as his ardent supporters, who seem largely incapable of holding him accountable for his actions — not unlike Trump’s supporters — I wonder if his supporters will continue to turn a blind eye to his mistakes should he become president. It’s incredibly difficult to criticize someone who I grew up with as my vice president and respect so much for handling every situation with grace and kindness. But Biden has failed to handle this situation with either of those qualities, and while I am saddened by it, it is my duty as both his supporter and a decent human being to hold him accountable. I hope he personally apologizes to Flores and they’re both able to receive closure from this situation. I hope Biden uses this moment to prove he is the advocate for women he claims to be and is willing to own up to his faults, even if it may damage his image. Idolization is dangerous, and we must not forget that even the most respectable public figures are not perfect. A crucial part of supporting someone is holding them responsible when they engage in problematic behavior, no matter how difficult that may be. Even if that person is your beloved Uncle Joe. Krystal Hur can be reached at kryshur@umich.edu.
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The battle for Israel’s soul
n April 9, Israel will have elections for the premiership. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s current prime minister, will be Israel’s longest serving prime minister if re-elected. Netanyahu has long used demagogic tactics to get votes. Under investigation for corruption, he demonizes Israel’s press and legal system. In a previous election, he demonized Israeli Arabs by telling voters that Israeli Arabs were “heading to the polling stations in droves” to vote. Then there was the nation-state bill, which endorsesd settlement construction, and, most recently, a bizarre Trumpian social media feud with an Israeli actress in which Netanyahu declared that Israel was not a state for all its citizens, but rather only its Jewish citizens. Netanyahu has undoubtedly pushed his party, the LikudNational Liberal Movement, further to the right. This is most clear in his decision to form a coalition with Otzma Yehudit (“Jewish Power”), an extremist and openly racist party. The Israeli Supreme Court has barred Jewish Power candidates from running for prime minister due to their incitements of racism, but that hasn’t stopped Netanyahu from forming a coalition with them. Likud had previously denied Jewish Power’s strain of vitriolic politics from its coalition. Yitzhak Shamir, a Likudnik and former prime minister, rejected Meir Kahane, the extremist ideological predecessor to Jewish Power, by refusing to form a coalition with him and by condemning him. Netanyahu’s biggest opponent is Benny Gantz, who formed the Blue and White Party, a centrist challenger to Netanyahu’s Likud Party. Gantz is a former high ranking general, whom many see as quintessentially Israeli. Raised on a kibbutz and a decorated former chief of staff in the Israel Defense Forces, Gantz may be the kryptonite to Netanyahu’s enduring grip on Israel’s political leadership. Electing Blue and White into the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) and Gantz into the prime minister’s seat would at worst mean an extension of the status quo, at best, the type of ingenuity and leadership Israel witnessed with Yitzhak Rabin as prime minister. Rabin initiated the greatest peace initiative in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which produced the Oslo accords. Both possibilities are far superior to the prospect of
Netanyahu’s racism, populism and illiberalism being reaffirmed and strengthened. As an American Jew, Israel can be an unnecessarily tricky subject. The discourse surrounding Israel is dominated by extremes. On one hand, there is the position that Israel can do nothing wrong. On the other, that Israel is to blame entirely for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and even broader instability in the Middle East. Supporting Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for Jews is not mutually exclusive with supporting the individual and collective rights and wellbeing of Palestinians. By supporting a two-state solution, it is possible to support both Jews and Palestinians. In a perfect world a one-state solution would be ideal, where the land serves as a homeland for both Israelis and Palestinians under one state. There is nothing innate that prevents Jews and Arabs or Jews and Muslims from living among each other. Jews lived in the Arab world for centuries, facing far less persecution than in Christian Europe for most of history. Maimonides, arguably the most important rabbi in Jewish history, left Spain to escape the inquisition and went to the Ottoman empire, where Arab Muslim rationalists influenced his rabbinical thought, thus influencing Judaism. And in America, Jews and Arabs live side by side. No cultural, racial, religious or ethnic identity is predisposed with animus toward another. These identities are constructed over the complex course of history. Unfortunately, this course can include the development of some resented “other” which strengthens the internal bonds of the identity’s in-group dynamic. Both sides of the conflict have legitimate grievances. Israelis have the 1967 war, when the dictator of Egypt swore to drive the Jews to the sea in service of Pan-Arabism. There were decades of PLO terrorism, the intifada suicide bombings, followed by Hamas terrorism today. Israelis would also point to the peace deals the Israeli government has made in the last 20 years that the Palestinian leadership has rejected. Palestinians in the West Bank have experienced half a century of occupation, checkpoints and resultant humiliation and abuse. They live with the fear of arrest and the presence of soldiers intruding in their daily lives and extremist settlers harassing
them as the settlers seek to create an expansionist greater-Israel. Palestinians in Gaza have meager living conditions maintained by an Israeli blockade and the specter of Israeli airstrikes that devastate Gaza’s infrastructure and have deadly consequences. And for all Palestinians there is the memory of 1948, what they call the “Great Catastrophe” and Israelis call the “War of Independence.” Picking a side to assign total moral culpability is the wrong approach. Neither side is a monolith collectively responsible for the actions of each member of their group. But in the dynamics of the conflict, Jews against Palestinians, both have done wrong over the last 100 years. Continuing to bicker over who is worse stymies real momentum to change the status quo. Given the intensity and length of the conflict, it is hard to envision how the two populations could live together peacefully in the near future, nonetheless create a cohesive national identity. Integrating the two populations would be a long, messy process likely mired by violence and what political scientists call “spoilers,” where extremists seek to undermine reconciliation between two groups in a conflict. A single state would probably devolve into a civil war type situation, in which either Israel would reassert military dominance or substantial third party intervention would need to assuage the violence between Israelis and Palestinians. A two-state solution is thus the favorable solution for the near future. Israelis and Palestinians need to negotiate borders that can accommodate both groups. Israel has significantly more power and thus bears more responsibility to initiate negotiations and a deal. But these same power dynamics mean the Palestinian leadership needs a greater willingness to compromise. Since the Oslo accords, Palestinian leaders in the West Bank have not dropped the demand for the right of return to Israel proper, essentially meaning that they only support a one-state solution. And in Gaza, Hamas calls for the destruction of Israel and the death of Jews globally.
Read more at MichiganDaily. Aaron Baker can be reached at aaronbak@umich.edu.
ANONYMOUS | SURVIVORS SPEAK
Things do get better Editor’s note: The author’s up with him; he broke up name was omitted to protect with me. I didn’t understand why until I learned through their identity. therapy that he is a sexual someone who y story is probably narcissist, different than uses sexual abuse to control many of the someone’s behavior. This helped me to stories you’ll read here. I what had was sexually abused by my understand (now ex) boyfriend during happened to me, why it was so my freshman year of college, difficult to get out even when repeatedly. The abuse the abuse kept getting worse started slowly and subtly and why he broke up with me. at first; pushing me to go He was betting that he would farther than I wanted, saying be able to continue to control “please.” And gradually me without us being in an over time he became more official relationship, but him demanding and even violent breaking up with me also before descending into frank gave me an out. Even after disregard for my consent or the break up, he still tried to lack thereof. Once when I control me, but thankfully as asked him to stop, he said school started up, I was in he couldn’t because I was closer contact with friends “too sexy” and therefore he and less in contact with him. In some ways I feel couldn’t help himself. After that, I didn’t feel comfortable g uilty even sharing this, with my naked body and for knowing that most others a period of time would wear who experienced assault swimsuits to shower. It got vehemently did not consent, I sometimes had to the point where I knew I but couldn’t say “no” because if consented to intercourse I did, he wouldn’t care and with my boyfriend. But I having him blatantly ignore also faced my perpetrator my pleas to stop hurt more over and over again while than going along with what loving and caring for him. he wanted. I used to think Sometimes I feel like I should I was weak for not putting have left him earlier, that I up more of a fight, but I’ve should have known better. realized it was a form of self- My friends and family’s preservation and may have disapproval for him and the saved me from something subsequent isolation made me feel I couldn’t be honest worse. He was smart enough to about what was happening not leave marks and to avoid with anyone who cared about triggering the usual “red me and only made it more f lags” we’re warned about difficult to escape my abusive for abusers like being overly relationship. In the aftermath, I possessive or jealous. The with symptoms truth is, I didn’t escape in the dealt night to a domestic violence that would likely qualif y Posttraumatic Stress shelter or triumphantly break as
M
Disorder. I had recurrent nightmares about the assaults and would scan my surroundings for him on campus and plan escape routes. My relationship with him had lasted a little over a year and there were reminders of him all over campus. He even started working at two of the same jobs I did after we broke up. It felt like I couldn’t escape. I had panic attacks, trouble concentrating at school, became depressed and even suicidal. Seeing him on campus would make my heart pound in my chest and make me feel like I needed to vomit — my mind would race about how to get away. It took a lot to reclaim my life and sense of self. I went to therapy and started on antidepressants. I explored reporting him to the police, but was told offthe-record by an officer that a jury would find it difficult to convict him for assault when there were times it was consensual. It’s been over seven years since I escaped that relationship. It has been a long road and it has not always been easy, but here’s what I will say: I am not destroyed. I am capable of and worthy of healthy relationships. I can love and be loved. Things do get better.
This piece is in the Survivors Speak series, which seeks to share the varied, first-person experiences of survivors of sexual assault. If you are a survivor and would like to submit to the series, please email tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, April 4, 2019 — 5
TV SPECIAL
TV SPECIAL
NBC
ABC
The situation of comedies: A little less syndication: comparing then and now lowering the frequency itcoms are as American as television can get: They display our signature appreciation for tightknit circles and the eerie feeling that although time is pushing onwards, you keep reaching the same equilibrium. In their take on “time,” Daily Arts Writers, Maxwell Schwarz and Sophia Yoon tackle recent changes to the sitcom form over time, particularly the recent popularization of single-camera comedies. While Sophia emphasizes the ’90s versus ’00s sitcom debate, Maxwell analyzes further to decipher how changes in camera style and humor ultimately reflects the changing tastes of audiences. If you grew up sometime within the past four decades, chances are you fall under one of three categories: ’90s sitcom watcher, ’00s sitcom watcher or the kid who had to resort to watching reruns of “Judge Judy” as a result of having strict parents. In the past, I was stuck in the third category, yet despite my exclusion, the genre of situation comedy never ceased its evolution. Situation comedies are shows that revolve around the same recurring characters played by the same actors in a shared environment. Over the course of their 30-minute run-times, weekly conflicts are resolved cleanly, bringing the show back to its natural equilibrium. Traditional sitcoms are either filmed in front of a live studio audience or use laugh tracks, but this format has been challenged as the genre changed over time. The constant debate on what era of sitcom reigns over the others will never find a resolution — it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Let me explain why. The great majority of ’90s sitcom fans will cite classics like “Friends,” “Seinfeld” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” as the best the genre has to offer. They can probably recite lines and sing along to the theme songs with ease. The same goes for 2000s sitcom watchers with shows like “The Office,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “Parks and Recreation.” There’s definitely some crossover in style between these eras and their TV shows, but, over time, sitcoms have adapted other genres and transformed themselves into a modernized new normal, making any new or currently running sitcoms with a live audience or laugh track structure seem outdated and often tacky. For instance, sitcoms still consist of a group of recurring characters in the same environment, but depending on where the environment is and how the show is shot makes all the difference in how the show’s plot is set up. House-based sitcoms will most likely be about the nuclear family and domestic living, workplacebased sitcoms will vary more but follow along with the lines of the struggles of each workplace industry, and so on and so forth. An extremely familiar and renowned style of sitcom is the mockumentary, which existed long before in movies like “This is Spinal Tap,” but was popularized with shows like “The Office” and “Modern Family.” Its divergence from the multi-camera, live
studio audience is pretty evident, and the mockumentary sitcom’s development is merely a branch off of the classic format — nothing more, nothing less. Think about it. In mockumentaries, we never see the audience, but it’s presumed when the characters are interviewed by the “camera crews” following them. In “The Office,” they explicitly mention the release of the documentary, and we are even able to see a cameraman in the later seasons (which is an entirely different rabbit hole we can’t get into right now). In shows like “Modern Family” and “Parks and Recreation,” the characters make eye contact with the camera and have interviews, but nobody really mentions why they’re being recorded. Nevertheless, they’re aware the audience is there.
a long time. But if you compare “I Love Lucy” to something like “The Office,” you might have trouble equating them. We might call them the same genre, but their forms are very different. They reflect the era in which they were made — which only begs the question, where does it go from here? When you think of a sitcom, you probably imagine a very particular kind of standard. A multi-camera set up with regular locations and the almighty laugh track. This form has persisted for decades now, with classic staples like “Friends,” “Seinfeld,” and “Cheers.” But these are the sitcoms of old. Our modern sitcoms are single-camera shows, they move freely between locations and are devoid of laugh tracks. The camera snaps between characters with rapid-fire dialogue and subtle jokes. Shows like “30 Rock,” “Parks and Recreation” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” do not look like standard sitcoms. They almost look like low-budget independent films with their low lighting, dark humor and shaking cameras. The modern shows that follow the more traditional form also seem to get an awful lot of flack. Consider “The Big Bang Theory.” If you look that show up on Google, followed by the word “sucks,” you’ll get an astounding amount of results. Or, how about “Two and a Half Men”? How often do you hear about that show? If the ubiquity of white girls with “I love ‘The Office’” in their Tinder bios is any indication, then our generation clearly favors the single-cam approach. It seems like the evolution of the sitcom is a kind of devolution, where the fewer the cameras and the more open the world onscreen is, the better it is for audiences. However, this shift makes it difficult to predict how the form is supposed to progress from here. The multicamera, laugh track standard has been around for decades, and with the relatively new invention of the single-camera sitcom, the genre shows no signs of departing soon from our TV guides. I think it’s worth considering what the laugh track actually does, and perhaps, it will elucidate the causes for its decline in popularity. It doesn’t just cue viewers into the joke. It creates a sense of community, a collectivity that just isn’t present in single-cam sitcoms. If you think about it, single-cam shows are kind of lonely. Under what circumstances did you last watch “Parks and Rec”? Alone, in your bed, with the lights off? Do we really think laugh tracks make us feel stupid, or are we just more lonely that we used to be? Maybe this trend of single-camera shows won’t last. Maybe it’ll fizzle out soon. Or maybe it’ll get to the point where the only way we can connect with a show is by making the camera a character — including us in the situations, letting us live somehow with the characters, like a distorted concoction of VR and meta-television. I guess the answer isn’t so much how sitcoms will change, but how sitcoms will interact with the overarching feelings we project onto them.
If you think about it, single-cam shows are kind of lonely. Under what circumstances did you last watch “Parks & Rec”? Alone, in your bed, with the lights off?
Somewhat similarly, ’90s sitcoms never address the audience directly, but scripts and jokes are tailor-made to fit between audience responses. The environment is nothing like the sleek, cinematic atmosphere of most modern sitcoms. But to its credit, live studio audiences and laugh tracks create the perfect environment to heighten reactions for whatever might be going on in the show’s plotline. Depending on your preferences, hearing audience reactions might be like nails on a chalkboard, but I’ve found that some people just can’t follow quick-witted humor when there’s not an audience telling you when to laugh. I’m not here to judge, but I will always reserve a little side-eye for people who try and compare the different but equally iconic forms of ’90s sitcoms and ’00s sitcoms. Each come with their own factor of nostalgia, which makes it even more impossible to objectively compare these distant relatives. So don’t. Take them as they are for what they are — funny shows with loveable characters and quick resolution. —Sophia Yoon, Daily Arts Writer
Sitcoms are a timeless television staple. From 1946’s “Pinwright’s Progress” to the comedy powerhouse that was “I Love Lucy,” to television’s current comedy darling “Master of None,” sitcoms have been been around for
—Maxwell Schwarz, Daily Arts Writer
For our discussion of time, Senior Arts Editor Samantha Della Fera and Daily TV Editor Ally Owens discuss the beast that is syndication, the cryogenic tank of television. Through looking at the process behind syndication itself, they are better able to theorize what privileges certain shows to last the test of time, while others are forgotten forever. We’ve all seen the memes. Insert clip of someone jumping in slow-motion; insert trite caption related to being startled awake by the unmistakable horns of War’s “Low Rider” signaling the commencement of the 4:30 a.m. “George Lopez.” If you understand the joke within this meme, then there’s a good chance you’ve had some sort of contact with syndicated television. SYNDICATION: It’s the reason why Matthew Perry has been able to stave off a middle-class existence despite not appearing in anything of note for over a decade, why Jerry Seinfeld is nearly a billionaire and why, to this day, I hold nothing but an irrational resentment towards the actor who played Carl Winslow on “Family Matters.” Using industry terms, when a television show is syndicated, it has been specifically selected and purchased by a television network separate from the channel that originally aired the program. The show then runs on this new network at random times of the day, normally in the gaps between daytime and primetime or during the graveyard shift before the infomercials begin. Using layman’s terms, the entire process is a bit like the afterlife depicted in “Coco”: Those that are popular enough to be remembered get access to the afterlife syndication provides, and those that are not … well … have you ever heard of “Small Wonder”? By the book, it seems like a pretty simple process, but when I took a step back and compared the endless amount of television shows produced over the years with the oligarchy of shows that dominate various networks’ syndication rotations, I had to wonder what made these shows so special. Was there someone out there really pushing for “The Big Bang Theory” to run simultaneously on six different networks at 7 p.m. on a Wednesday night? What prioritizes shows like this over “Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23?” Just why was I forced to spend my childhood pretending Dave Coulier was funny on “Full House,” when Alanis Morissette worked so hard to inform the country that he was a mondo douche? The first clue that I received on my hunt for answers was a concept called the “100-episode” rule. The 100-episode rule decrees that television shows must have over 100 episodes in their original series run to have a better shot at being purchased for syndication. Think about it: A show like “American
Dad!” with over 256 episodes spanning 15 seasons is better suited for the basic cable midafternoon programming lull than something like “Freaks and Geeks” with only 18 episodes to its name. If TBS chose the latter over the former for syndication, almost weekly, the same episodes would air in sequential order. Take this from someone who has spent many summers parked in front of the TV during this block — repetition of the same episodes is enough to drive someone to madness. Or worse, reading a book! In realizing this, it becomes very clear that the key to syndication lies in how the show was received — not by fans — by network executives during its original run. Big, bloated shows like “Friends” are selected for syndication because they easily have more than 100 episodes to its history, but then this presents
With the exception of “Scrubs” and maybe “The Nanny,” some of the best shows are those that are left alone. This isn’t a snobbish declaration that I know what’s better for TV more than the “common man,” it’s actually quite the opposite. Most of the shows cancelled or ignored before they get their chance to make it big are fan and critic favorites — it’s the corporations that don’t like them. Take “Arrested Development,” for example. Seasons one through three of the show were wildly popular among critics, yet it was cancelled due to low viewership (partly due to low publicity, as the show was slapped with a lawsuit in its first season). Yet, today “Arrested Development” has a cult following. This example of cancellation despite high critical acclaim is not exclusive to “Arrested Development.” Just look at two more recent examples: “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “One Day at a Time.” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” was cancelled after five popular seasons to make room for “Bob’s Burgers” and “Thursday Night Football,” two programs that FOX wanted to prioritize. Yet, the cancellation caused universal outrage and, in an unprecedented move, NBC snatched up the show barely a day later. “One Day at a Time” hasn’t been so lucky. At risk of sounding like a tin-hatter, it’s interesting that shows like “Brooklyn NineNine” and “One Day at a Time,” two shows praised for their diversity, were not given the time and effort to properly succeed. Much like “Arrested Development,” “One Day at a Time” received high critical praise and a cult following, yet that still wasn’t enough to save it. The effects of cable syndication has seeped into streaming services, as just months before Netflix cancelled “One Day at a Time,” they spent thousands to keep “Friends” on the platform. Apparently people need to watch Ross and Rachel fight for one more time and a group of white twentysomethings drinking coffee more than they care to watch a diverse family go through real issues with grace and humor. But, that’s none of my business. Does syndication prevent new shows from succeeding? No — well, not exactly. What it does is force outdated casts and humor on to audiences. People love “The Office” and “Friends,” and that’s fine, but watching these shows over and over cause them to crave material just like them, and networks want to feed that craving. Critics and audiences are telling TV companies what they want — they just aren’t listening. As hit shows like “Broad City,” “Jane the Virgin, “Veep” and “Game of Thrones” end this year, what is lining up to take their place? Society has been through enough, another repeat of “Friends” just won’t cut it anymore.
People love “The Office” and “Friends,” and that’s fine, but watching these shows over and over cause them to crave material just like them, and networks want to feed that craving.
the question of what factors were at play to ensure that it continued to get renewed during the 1990s? It is easy to draw the line between length and syndication when comparing “Friends” to “Pushing Daisies,” but not as clear when you compare to two titans such as “Friends” to “NYPD Blue.” Why is one seen so much for frequently than the other? — Ally Owens, Daily TV Editor
Syndication is not always a bad thing; I discovered some of my favorite shows (“Scrubs” binge anyone?) through their repeated airings far after the last episode premiered live. But syndication has become much like an annoying public policy class — some people take up way too much airtime, with little or nothing to say. We’ve all seen the “pivot” episode of “Friends” far too many times to find it funny anymore, and I can recite entire episodes of “Law and Order: SVU” from 2003 better than I can recite the “Star-Spangled Banner.” These shows have survived the test of time, infiltrating laptop stickers and Instagram bios with jokes and quotes that should’ve died in 2004. They’ve been dug up time and time again, but what about the shows who weren’t given enough time? The ones who were laid to rest forever? The ones not deemed good enough in their first runs, catapulting them into obscurity for the rest of eternity?
— Samantha Della Fera, Senior Arts Editor
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48 Surprised 40 Went carefully 3 “By yesterday!” ACROSS greeting (over) 4 Sleeps it off 1 “High” places? WORK ON MACKINAC Island 49 They’re not on 5 Flag down 42 Nickname of 5 Physician, 9 Caller ID? the same page golfer Sergio ideally This Summer – Make lifelong 14 El __, Texas 50 Religious scholar García, who 6 Commercial word friends. 15 Actor Idris who 51 Premiere turned pro at with Seltzer The Island House Hotel and Ryba’s plays Heimdall in 52 Simple tie age 19 7 “Oh, suuure” “Thor” films 53 Where Achilles 8 Cut with a beam 43 Shakers’ Fudge Shops are seeking help in all 16 Mozart wrote a lot 9 Cruel was dipped for relatives? areas: Front Desk, Bell Staff, Wait of them invincibility 46 “Mom” actor 10 Papillon, e.g. Staff, Sales Clerks, Kitchen, Baristas. 17 Dungeness 54 Org. operating Corddry 11 Deer sir delicacies full-body 47 Treats, as a 12 Dole (out) Dorm Housing, bonus, and discount‑ 19 Omni rival scanners sprain 13 Ballpark fig. ed meals. (906) 847‑7196. 20 One reviewing 18 Influence challenges www.theislandhouse.com ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 21 Ballpark 22 Fish eggs opinions, at times 23 Brooding genre 24 One-__ chance 24 One who’s got 25 Incessantly you covered 26 “When the moon 32 Pig’s sniffer hits your eye” 33 Weep for feeling 34 See 27-Down 27 With 34-Across, 35 Sch. near the Sally Field film KRANZELBINDER GABRIELE PRODUCTIONS U.S.-Mexico 28 More adorable border 29 Make blank 36 Law school EFFICIENCY ‑ 1 & 2 Bdrm Apt 30 Piercing site, subject perhaps Fall 2019/20. Rents range $875 ‑ 37 Put on the cloud, 31 Scottish center? say $1850 most include heat and water. 32 Sci-fi navigator 38 Writer Deighton Showings scheduled M‑F 10‑3 36 Specifically 39 “It Wasn’t All Velvet” memoirist 37 Float fixer 39 Place with a 40 Asks 734‑996‑1991 bird’s-eye view 04/04/19 41 One seen in a Hanes catalog 44 Aromatic necklace 45 “How We Do (Party)” British presented. Admittedly, I found “How We Live” is a myriad singer Rita __ 46 Predictable work ELISE GODFRYD myself doing this at times. I of moments just like this. In ... and, in a way, Daily Arts Writer struggled to connect to and understanding that the people what the other three longest invest myself in people I’ve captured in these videos were answers are? Many people, myself never met, many of whom are once alive, with thoughts and 54 Implied STUDENT SUMMER STORAGE 55 Chain used by just like our own, we included, are fascinated by long gone. However, there’s Closest tofeelings campus, Indoor, Clean, many contractors come love them. Deutsch home videos. They evoke a another, far more interesting 56 Courtroom pro Safe Reserve nowtoat annarborstorage. 57 Take testimony challenges film sense of comfort and wonder. way to engage with thecom or (734) 663‑0690 us to practice our from 58 Depend They make us consider how that I found myself embracing own empathy, to try our best 59 “The Antmuch and the we and the people we by the end of it. You can either to care about people and places Grasshopper” storytellerlove have changed. In “how we view the faces and places we will never know ourselves. 60 Philosophies Despite being an active live — messages to the family,” shown on-screen as people 61 Fort SSW of Louisvillethe final feature film screened you never knew and places you participant in it, I often
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find myself criticizing my generation’s relationship with technology www.michigandaily.com 04/04/19 and its devotion Deutsch explores to broadcasting the beauty of all aspects of life home videos on social media. as an art form After seeing “how with remarkable we live,” my view compassion. has been altered. Deutsch begins As a result of the film by asking breakthroughs his audience to The Michigan Theater in technology, suspend their we’ve been given disbelief. He Kranzelbinder Gabriele Productions the wholly unique says, “Imagine ability to capture we are sitting at our experiences home, the screen is set up, the projector ready the person behind the camera, with our phones and share with others with and we start watching home someone who sees what they’re them movies together.” He then filming as something worth unprecedented ease. And even though the majority of us will proceeds to present the capturing. In a particularly striking almost inevitably be forgotten footage, found through film archives across the globe, of a piece of film from the 1950s, by history, documenting the select few families that come a man on a ship films his wife parts of our lives that best from different backgrounds, overlooking the New York City represent who we were and nationalities and time periods, skyline as they prepare to leave what we felt is our closest all the while commenting on for Greece, their homeland. chance to becoming immortal. She is beautiful and she seems Perhaps one day a filmmaker the specifics of their lives. “how we live” doesn’t seize happy, but that’s about all from the future will want to you. It doesn’t demand that you that can be inferred from the resurrect us from the past and pay attention to it. It doesn’t footage alone. However, when show the world how we lived. aspire to entertain. Because you consider the image from By acting as documentarians of this, it’s very easy to detach the perspective of a husband of our lives now, we can give yourself from the images being in love, everything changes. them the chance. at last weekend’s 57th Ann
DOWN Arbor Film Festival, Austrian 1 Shelter gp. 2 Big namedirector in By Kevin Salat Gustav Tombstone ©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
have never been, or you can try to adopt the perspective of
how we live — messages to the family
SINGLE REVIEW: ‘DOWNHILL LULLABY’
MAITREYI ANANTHARAMAN Daily Arts Writer
After a long break, “Game of Thrones” will return to HBO in a few weeks for its final season. The first four episodes will clock in at 54, 58, 60 and 70 minutes, respectively. The final two are slated at 80 minutes each. “It’s a spectacle,” the chairman of HBO told Variety in January. “The guys have done six movies. The reaction I had while watching them was, ‘I’m watching a movie.’ ” The slight wrinkle in this compliment was that the guys in question — that is, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss — had already said at a panel years before that they saw their series not as a television show, and not as a collection of movies, but rather as one grand 73-hour movie. This sort of thinking has suddenly become very en vogue among the prestige TV creative class. Television that aspires to the long, cinematic and amorphous is now considered nothing less than a hallmark of genius. And freed from the traditional mindset of the medium, with the gates of cinema in sight, what’s to stop episodes of television from creeping slowly past the hour mark and toward 90-minute territory? The appeal of the streaming age is that it has made obsolete the less savory constraints of television. A show no longer
needs to be 22 or 45 minutes because there’s nothing necessarily scheduled to come before or after it; it exists in its own space. Scripts and scenes don’t have to be timed for act breaks anymore because there are no ads. No advertisements means no advertisers, and thus no need for creators to hew to the plots and characters and premises that conventional wisdom dictates will win over the most viewers. In many ways,
“Fix You” by Coldplay on “The Newsroom.” Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. There is — believe it or not — value in constraint and discipline. Maybe in theory there are circumstances in which it’s appropriate for an episode to run 70 minutes long, but if “Mad Men” could lay bare the show’s central relationship in one utterly perfect 48-minute episode, if “The Good Place” can upend its entire plot and sprinkle in some eschatological ruminations in 22 minutes every week, I’m having a difficult time imagining what exactly those circumstances are. There has always been a lot of handwringing in the art world about the relationship between content and form. Are they distinct elements? Is the message inextricable from the messenger? There are no easy answers here, except that when you’re making television, both of them are very important. Cable and streaming shows these days deal in profound ideas and metaphors, and when done well, they are moving and beautiful and impossible not to appreciate. But when the pacing is sluggish, when the scenes feel a slog, when you are angrily checking your watch and wondering why HBO spends so much money on CGIing dragons and not, say, on one editor, the profundity is all for naught. I love TV that challenges, that experiments and subverts. More importantly, though, I love TV that ends.
There has always been a lot of handwringing in the art world about the relationship between content and form.
this is a good thing — without these developments, we don’t end up with “Orange is the New Black” or “Shrill” or “BoJack Horseman.” It is a kind of radical conceit: art for art’s sake. Art that doesn’t have to mold itself to network contours. Art made just because it can be made. And artistic freedom is great, sure. But with great power comes great responsibility. For every Dalí painting there is an “Episode I: Phantom Menace.” For every Mahler symphony, a (shudder) montage set to
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After a nearly six-year hiatus, Sky Ferreira has returned with the new single “Downhill Lullaby” from a forthcoming untitled studio album. This time, she has forsaken her typical synthy production and uptempo rhythm in favor of haunting strings and a dark, rolling bass line. It is a downbeat and atmospheric track that toes the line between being a slow burner and being a dirge, almost redolent of Lana Del Rey — a far cry from the grungy electropop of Night Time, My Time. The highlight of the song is the surreal, swelling string arrangement, performed
by Danish violinist Nils Gröndahl. The song was co-produced by the “Twin Peaks” music
Downhill Lullaby Sky Ferreira Capitol Records
supervisor Dean Hurley, which is fitting given its Lynchian, “out-of-time” feeling and foreboding tone (Ferreira cameoed in “Twin Peaks: The Return” a year
ago). It is not a pop song — it’s not exactly hummable, and it’s certainly not catchy. It feels as though it would be best listened to late at night at a point in your life when everything feels wrong. It is pleasant as a one-off, but an album full of “Downhill Lullaby”style tracks would quickly turn into a slog. Luckily, Ferreira has stated that the rest of her upcoming project will be more poppy — but it remains to be seen whether it will be as bold.
— Jonah Mendelson, Daily Arts Writer
ACROSS 1 “High” places? 5 Flag down 9 Caller ID? 14 El __, Texas 15 Actor Idris who plays Heimdall in “Thor” films 16 Mozart wrote a lot of them 17 Dungeness delicacies 19 Omni rival 20 One reviewing challenges 22 Fish eggs 23 Brooding genre 24 One who’s got you covered 32 Pig’s sniffer 33 Weep for 34 See 27-Down 35 Sch. near the U.S.-Mexico border 36 Law school subject 37 Put on the cloud, say 38 Writer Deighton 39 “It Wasn’t All Velvet” memoirist 40 Asks 41 One seen in a Hanes catalog 44 Aromatic necklace 45 “How We Do (Party)” British singer Rita __ 46 Predictable work ... and, in a way, what the other three longest answers are? 54 Implied 55 Chain used by many contractors 56 Courtroom pro 57 Take testimony from 58 Depend 59 “The Ant and the Grasshopper” storyteller 60 Philosophies 61 Fort SSW of Louisville DOWN 1 Shelter gp. 2 Big name in Tombstone
3 “By yesterday!” 4 Sleeps it off 5 Physician, ideally 6 Commercial word with Seltzer 7 “Oh, suuure” 8 Cut with a beam 9 Cruel 10 Papillon, e.g. 11 Deer sir 12 Dole (out) 13 Ballpark fig. 18 Influence 21 Ballpark opinions, at times 24 One-__ chance 25 Incessantly 26 “When the moon hits your eye” feeling 27 With 34-Across, Sally Field film 28 More adorable 29 Make blank 30 Piercing site, perhaps 31 Scottish center? 32 Sci-fi navigator 36 Specifically 37 Float fixer 39 Place with a bird’s-eye view
40 Went carefully (over) 42 Nickname of golfer Sergio García, who turned pro at age 19 43 Shakers’ relatives? 46 “Mom” actor Corddry 47 Treats, as a sprain
48 Surprised greeting 49 They’re not on the same page 50 Religious scholar 51 Premiere 52 Simple tie 53 Where Achilles was dipped for invincibility 54 Org. operating full-body scanners
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Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, April 4, 2019 — 7
At end of season, Poole carries weight of unfulfilled expectations THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer
As Jordan Poole sat by his locker on the eve of Michigan’s NCAA Tournament opener against Montana two weeks ago, the questions flowed toward the sophomore forward. They always do, positive or negative. This time — three days removed from Poole not speaking with media after his 3-for-11 performance in the Wolverines’ Big Ten Tournament title game loss to Michigan State — they were negative, ranging from his shot selection down the stretch against the Spartans to his mood amid a season filled with personal ups and downs. Eventually, Poole had enough. “We lost five games,” he said. “What have we lost, five or six? It felt like all hell broke loose, right? Won 28 games? Welcome to college basketball. Think about that. Won 28 games, lost six and it feels like the world’s about to fall down.” This is who Poole is — at least outwardly. He’s carefree and habitually rejects anything negative, or so his persona will tell you. But two days before Poole’s dismissive answers filled that locker room in Des Moines, Iowa, Jim Gosz, his high school coach at Rufus King in Milwaukee, sang a different tune. “He’s pissed off,” Gosz told The Daily. “It’s a scary thought, too, because when he’s pissed off,
he delivers down the stretch.” Within the Michigan team, though, there was a prepackaged dismissal of any mention of Poole’s struggles. When a reporter asked John Beilein about his frustration with Poole against Michigan State — the Michigan coach had spent Sunday afternoon in Chicago shaking his head and slamming the floor with each ill-advised shot — his response was denial. “You or I? I never said I wasn’t pleased with his plays,” Beilein said. “… If you’re mind readers, you’re mind readers.” Ignas Brazdeikis, too, claimed ignorance when asked about Poole’s struggles. Isaiah Livers, typically an open book, dismissed it as something “that’s gonna come with the game of basketball.” And at the time, Michigan could ignore Poole’s struggles, despite a preseason in which Beilein pegged him as its sole elite shooter, pinning him with the expectations of replacing its three best deep threats. He had shot just 30 percent from three over the final two months of Big Ten play as the Wolverines squandered regular-season and tournament Big Ten titles while losing all three meetings with Michigan State. But none of that really matters if you deliver in March, a lesson that Poole, built on the legend of one immortalized shot against Houston last postseason, knows better than anyone. “He has such a short-term memory, where whatever
You can’t change the fact that we won 17 games in a row.
You or I? I never said I wasn’t pleased with his plays.
NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
Sophomore guard Jordan Poole struggled to maintain consistency this season, despite occasionally meeting high expectations placed on him in the fall.
happened in the last game, he’s gonna correct it this game,” Gosz said on Mar. 4. “That’s why I can’t wait to see what they do, cause I think Michigan’s gonna be a tough out. … I have them to win it.” For two games, Gosz’ prediction came to fruition, as Poole left Des Moines with 29 points in two games, helping send Michigan to consecutive double-digit wins and its third-straight Sweet Sixteen. Then came Thursday night in Anaheim. Poole, in 31 minutes, finished
with just eight points. None of his three 3-pointers fell and the Wolverines were sent packing with a 63-44 loss to Texas Tech, just 30 miles from the building where they cut down the West Regional nets a year ago. After the game, his everpresent smile was locked shut, eyes red with the receipts of recently-dried tears as he tried to purvey his signature optimism. “Obviously in this current moment, we lost and we definitely still want to be playing,” Poole said. “But you can’t change the
We lost and we definitely still want to be playing.
fact that we won 17 games in a row or had a top-two defense in the country or won 30 games in the season. There’s so much to look back at stuff like that.” Livers confirmed that his postgame message to Poole would be one of a proud friend. Poole, Livers said, had played a good season, fixing the defensive issues that had kept him off the floor in his freshman year. But when the cameras turned off and the media departed, Livers’ message was
no consolation. As the last of the reporters trickled out of Michigan’s locker room, assistant coach DeAndre Haynes — done with his media responsibility — made his way over to Poole. Haynes, the Wolverines’ go-to players coach, appeared to offer up a few words of support. But Poole, head wrapped in one last March Madness towel and eyes buried in Haynes’ shoulder, had no need for words. His trademark optimism, pervasive to the last possible moment, was gone, replaced by the tears of unfilled expectations.
That’s gonna come with the game of basketball.
Rockets bottled Wolverines extend winning streak to six, dominate Toledo, 8-2, in tune-up for series against Minnesota this weekend ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer
Wednesday’s matchup against Toledo was supposed to be a tune-up for the Michigan baseball team as they head into a big weekend series against Minnesota. That’s exactly what it was. Behind strong a defensive performance and consistently solid pitching out of the bullpen, the Wolverines rolled past the Rockets to a comfortable 8-2 victory. “I thought all the pitchers that got in there today did fine,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “We played good defense, and we got some timely hits. We were able to put the pressure on them with some stolen bases. We created some scoring opportunities. Overall, it wasn’t our best day, but we’ll certainly take it.” The game stayed close through the first three innings, but Michigan got on the board first in the bottom of the second. Redshirt senior left fielder Miles Lewis reached on a single to left field, and eventually came home on a single from sophomore shortstop Jack Blomgren. Toledo answered with a run of its own in the top of the third inning. John Servello reached first on a leadoff single, and after staying alive on a throwing error from senior second baseman Ako Thomas and taking third on a sacrifice bunt from Trace Hatfield, he scored on an RBI groundout from Darryn Davis. The Wolverines were unshaken, though. Freshman left-hander Walker Cleveland ended the inning on the next batter he faced, and sophomore catcher Joe Donovan homered to lead off the bottom of the third inning, putting Michigan back on top. Cleveland then retired the side in the top of the fourth as the Wolverines’ defense faultlessly backed him up.
“I just trust my pitchers to get me ground balls,” Blomgren said. “I just try to make the plays most of the time, try to limit my errors as much as possible, and thank my pitchers for giving me ground balls.” In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Wolverines broke the game open. After Michigan loaded the bases, Brewer scored on a wild pitch. Senior first baseman Jimmy Kerr and Blomgren each notched RBI, scoring Lewis and senior third baseman Blake Nelson, respectively. The Rockets showed some fight in the top of the fifth, putting two runners on base off a pair of singles from Servello and Chris Meyers, but redshirt freshman right-hander Walker Cleveland calmly got the Wolverines out of the inning without any additional damage. “We did have some good momentum plays on defense,” Bakich said. “It’s just ball security. We’ve been talking a lot about ball security, playing fast, accurate catch and just taking care of the baseball.” In the bottom of the fifth, Michigan held onto its momentum. After singling to right and stealing second, sophomore designated hitter Jordan Nwogu scored on a base hit from Brewer, who then stole second and scored on a wild pitch. After three straight walks, right-hander Kyle Bischoff hit Blomgren to score Lewis, bringing the score to 8-1. Toledo took advantage when redshirt freshman righthander Isaiah Paige struggled in the bottom of the sixth as Davis singled, advancing on a passed ball by Donovan before scoring off a single
from second baseman Riley Campbell. But the Wolverines ended the inning as sophomore left-hander Angelo Smith struck out two Rocket batters and forced a third to ground out. After a virtual offensive take-off in the middle of the game, both teams settled down in the last third of the game; the last three innings were scoreless. The Wolverines will now look ahead to their weekend series against Minnesota, likely their toughest competition in the Big Ten, and one of the more difficult matchups of their season. “It’ll be a big challenge for us,” Bakich said. “Against a great team like Minnesota, it’s going to come down to pitching, defense and timely hitting, so the team that plays the best is going to come away with the series this weekend.”
I thought all the pitchers that got in there today did fine.
KENT SCHWARTZ Daily Sports Writer
Jeff Criswell’s attempt at a spotless night was over in the first inning. With one out, Toledo’s Brad Boss managed to squeeze a single through the right side of the infield. Then, as the Rockets’ Chris Meyers swung six inches below junior right-hander Criswell’s high fastball, Boss beat catcher Joe Donovan’s throw to second base by mere milliseconds. The defense’s busy first inning would set the tone for the rest of Wednesday evening as a carousel of Michigan pitchers took the mound against Toledo. For Criswell, his pitches ranged from unhittable to Little League — in the second inning, he allowed a single and a walk to put two runners on with no outs. After a quick strikeout
and a groundout, he walked the Rockets’ nine-hole hitter Thomas Eitniear to load the bases, only to come back and entice Boss to swing past a bullet of a fastball. Criswell — a weekend starter who missed a game last Sunday against Michigan State after it was suspended — was pulled after two innings. His replacement was freshman lefthander Walker Cleveland, who promptly let up a single. An error by senior second baseman Ako Thomas on a fielder’s choice would extend the inning, allowing a sacrifice bunt and a ground out to push Toledo’s John Servello from second base to home, scoring an unearned run — the Rockets’ first run of the game. The next inning was smooth sailing for Cleveland with one strikeout and two first-pitch groundouts, closing his two-
We had some momentum plays on defense.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Freshman left-hander Walker Cleveland spelled Jeff Criswell after two innings in Wednesday’s 8-2 win over Toledo.
inning term as president of the mound. Now, it was freshman right-hander Isaiah Paige’s opportunity to give the defense some work. “We had some momentum plays on defense, some ball security plays,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “We’ve been talking about ball security, playing fast, accurate catch and just taking care of the baseball.” The first batter, Servello, punched a clear, clean single to left-center field. Facing the next batter, Paige gave sophomore shortstop Jack Blomgren an opportunity to make a web gem-esque play, but despite Blomgren’s best efforts, Meyers beat the throw. Fortunately for Paige, his next gift to the defense was accepted wholeheartedly — a clean 5-4-3 double play ended the threatening inning. “Our pitchers do a really good job of attacking the strike zone and keeping our defense engaged as defenders and make those plays,” Bakich said. “It’s always nice when we can make the web gem plays or turn a double play, it turns the momentum for ourselves offensively the next inning.” Continuing to follow the rule of two, Paige returned for the sixth inning. Allowing a leadoff single just past a diving senior third baseman Blake Nelson and following it up with a passed ball to advance Toledo’s Darryn Davis, putting him in perfect position to score off the next single. Only when junior righthander Jack Weisenburger came into the game did the defense have the opportunity to breathe in a one-two-three top of the seventh. It was clear today that Michigan’s defense was hard to break, no matter how much it bent. There were 15 groundouts and just two fly-outs, holding the Rockets to two runs. While none of the pitchers on Wednesday threw gems, the defense stepped up and had a gem of its own.
Sports
8 — Thursday, April 4, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Notebook: Harbaugh details spring depth chart, updates on injuries ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor
About five minutes into his press conference Wednesday morning, Jim Harbaugh was asked about Ben VanSumeran. Questions about younger guys — in this case, a sophomore running back who appeared in four games last season, narrowly avoiding a redshirt — are what spring pressers are for. Hype builds and, most often, recedes by the time the season gets underway. The media tries to figure out the depth chart, and who’s playing where. In the case of Michigan football under Harbaugh, the operative word in that sentence has been tries. Harbaugh is famously secretive, rarely forthcoming. He dismisses questions about injuries. When an outlet tried to file a Freedom of Information Request to figure out the most basic of things: the roster, before the 2017 season, it was stonewalled. A depth chart has long been considered out of the question. Let alone as a response to a question that didn’t ask for it. “I would call it a hybrid in the sense that a tailback can also be an H-back,” Harbaugh said of VanSumeran’s position. “But he is definitely cemented in the running back rotation as well.” Then he kept going. “Right now Tru Wilson is the starter (at running back). Julian Garrett’s backing up or — Ben VanSumeren’s the backup tailback right now, second team, then Julian. Nick Capatina is a person who tried out who’s in school here and tried out and looks like he’s making the team. “Christian Turner is—I think we’ll have Christian back either this Sunday or by the following Friday practice, so Christian should make it back for four or five practices. He had a soft tissue, hamstring, early on in practice, like day two. But he’s
progressing well. “Hassan Haskins has also been limited this spring. He has a prior meniscus that’s—trying to get through what he can in spring ball, and so far it’s been a couple practices. May make it back for some practices toward the end but I think he’s gonna need a procedure when spring football practice is over. Zach Charbonnet is coming along really well. He had an existing injury coming out of high school that was fixed when he got here in January. Not going to be able to do any spring ball this session but he’ll be back and will do fine.” Got that? Good, because it wasn’t the end. By the end, Harbaugh had noted Lucas Andrighetto’s ACL tear, as well as the sophomore’s achievements in his high school championship game. Andrighetto, mind you, played zero games last year, and likely wouldn’t this year even if healthy. By the end, Harbaugh had been talking for 10 minutes straight, touching on seven different positional groups and giving a verbal depth chart for each of them. Offensive line No surprises here. The Wolverines return four starters — Jon Runyan Jr., Ben Bredeson, Cesar Ruiz and Michael Onwenu, from left to right — and according to Harbaugh, they will remain the starters. At right tackle, where Michigan is looking for a replacement for the graduated Juwann Bushell-Beatty, Harbaugh said junior Andrew Stueber and sophomore Jalen Mayfield are “neck and neck.” Still, for a unit that was a constant source of questions last year, this is a welcome calm. “We’ve got the guys all around and one of the things that we really have is an offensive line that can drive our offense,” said offensive coordinator Josh Gattis on Mar. 22. “I would
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh gave updates on the Wolverines’ depth chart and various injuries during his press conference on Wednesday morning.
say that’s the strength of our offense right now.” Wide receiver If the offensive line looks every bit as expected, the receiving corps is the complete opposite. Harbaugh named early enrollee Mike Sainristil, junior Oliver Martin and redshirt sophomore Tarik Black as the current starters. That comes with some injury caveats — junior Nico Collins, the Wolverines’ leading receiver last season, is rehabbing from surgery, per Harbaugh, and progressing well. Things may not be quite as good for Donovan Peoples-Jones. The junior is dealing with
We really have ... an offensive line that can drive our offense.
Wolverines crush Toledo, 24-3
KARTIK SUNDARAM/Daily
Senior first baseman Alex Sobczak helped spark Michigan to a 19-0 lead over Toledo, a game it eventually won 24-3.
LILY FRIEDMAN Daily Sports Writer
Early in the first inning, senior first baseman Alex Sobczak hit a line drive single to right field to move senior second baseman Faith Canfield to home plate. And the runs kept coming. With 13 walks and 12 hits for the No. 23 Michigan softball team, the Wolverines shredded Toledo on Wednesday, 24-3, running through the batting order almost four times in the first two innings alone to win by run rule. By the end of the second inning, several walks with bases loaded resulted in more runs than hits and a 19-0 lead for Michigan. Starting the game with a big first inning, the Wolverines ran through the batting order, with four walks contributing to six runs on the inning. But Michigan’s avalanche of runs didn’t take shape until, up 2-0 off a walk that forced senior outfielder Natalie Peters home, junior Haley Hoogenraad hit a ground ball to third base. The Rockets’ third baseman tossed the ball to the catcher, who dropped it, allowing Sobczak to slide home on the error, along with senior Mackenzie Nemitz. A line drive hit by
senior Faith Canfield also increased the score to 6-0. “We took advantage of 23 free bases,” said Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. “You can score six runs in the first inning and not score again, so it doesn’t necessarily carry over, but as you have runs on the board, your hitters can be a little more loose and confident and not feel that pressure and get tight, so you see some of that.” But the day’s real highlight was the second inning. After freshman Lexie Blair hit a fly ball for the inning’s first out and Sobczak slammed a double into center field, Toledo’s pitcher walked Nemitz, foreshadowing the end of the inning. Though junior Haley Hoogenraad hit a line drive for two RBI, the Wolverines’ next six runs all came in on walks or players hit by pitches with bases loaded. During the onslaught, Hutchins started putting in bench players, and freshman catcher Hannah Carson stepped to the plate. For her first home run as a Wolverine, Carson blasted a grand slam to right-center field to empty the loaded bases and move the lead to 19-0. As she rounded
a soft-tissue groin injury, according to Harbaugh, that’s lingering longer than the program anticipated. Harbaugh grouped PeoplesJones in with defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour as having, “more serious injuries than we previously thought,” saying they could potentially miss game-time. It does, however, seem that Sainristil’s chances of getting on the field are very much real. “He has a level of quickness, change of direction, speed,” Harbaugh said. “Been really eye-opening and really good for the team.” Defensive line With Dwumfour’s injury
the bases, Hutchins threw an M&M at her. “I didn’t know at first because it was a low line drive, but then when I saw it go out I was just super excited because I’d never hit a grand slam before,” Carson said. “It was really exciting.” Even after that monster inning, Michigan’s power didn’t diminish. For her first college home run, freshman infielder Gianna Carosone hit a flyout. Hits by Hoogenraad and Carson brought the score after the third inning to 24-0. And the defense thrived as well as the offense. Before leaving the game after the third inning, freshman righthander Alex Storako allowed no hits. After the bench took over the infield, Michigan allowed three runs and scored none in the fourth inning, but the win nonetheless remained a blowout. “I told them to come back tomorrow and be ready for a hard practice because I like confidence, but you don’t want to get soft,” Hutchins said. “I love home runs, but it’s just fun that everybody but (sophomore left-hander Meghan Beaubien) got in that game and held their own and did well.”
potentially lasting into the season, 3-technique becomes a question in need of an answer. For now, Harbaugh is turning to junior Donovan Jeter, who he says, “appears hellbent on being the starting defensive tackle,” though Ben Mason has gotten in the mix as well. The rest of the front four — Aidan Hutchinson, Carlo Kemp and Kwity Paye — seem fairly set, though there is some fluctuation amongst the backups. In addition to Mason, Harbaugh named Mazi Smith, Luiji Vilain, Julius Welschof, Taylor Upshaw and Gabe Newburg as players competing for time. Notes • Harbaugh named the current quarterback depth chart last week: Shea Patterson, Dylan McCaffrey and Joe Milton, and it remains unchanged. • Unsurprisingly, Sean
McKeon and Nick Eubanks are the current starters at tight end. • Right now, Josh Uche, Devin Gil and Josh Ross lead the two-deep at Sam, Will and Mike linebackers, respectively. • Quinn Nordin and Jake Moody, who took the starting kicking job at the end of last season, are in a tight competition for the role this season. • Peoples-Jones and Dwumfour are the only injuries deemed serious by Harbaugh. Cornerback Lavert Hill is currently rehabbing from a procedure, Harbaugh said, but may be able to make it back for some of spring ball. • With Hill out, Vince Gray is starting at corner alongside Ambry Thomas, with Brad Hawkins at nickel. Harbaugh also named Josh Metellus and J’Marick Woods as the two starting safeties.