ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
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New Multicultural Center location inspired by Black activism on campus After six years, the new Trotter building will open Thursday on State St.
SMTD to add transparent doors amid misconduct Dean announces all rooms will include clear panels after professor sexual assualt allegation SAMMY SUSSMAN Daily Staff Reporter
LANE KIZZIAH/Daily
ZAYNA SYED & ATTICUS RAASCH Daily Staff Reporters
In the fall of 2013, the Black Student Union e-board sat in a room in Palmer Commons to discuss the possibility of a new hashtag. They hoped the hashtag, #BBUM — or, Being Black at the University of Michigan — would create an opportunity for Black students at the University to share their experiences on campus. Little did the e-board know, the hashtag would lead to a movement that six years later resulted in the relocation of the Trotter Multicultural Center. #BBUM went viral and gained traction from national media. Following the tradition of past Black activist movements on
campus, the e-board created a list of demands and announced them at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally in 2014. Their seven demands included requests for increased representation and affordability on campus. The third demand on the list was to move the Trotter Center, once a 15-minute walk from the Diag, to Central Campus. This demand was the only one administrators agreed to meet in its entirety at the time, though they have since met the sixth demand of increased exposure to documents in the Bentley Historical Library. This Thursday, after six years, the new Trotter Multicultural Center will open its new location on State Street, a 20,000-square-foot facility across from the Diag. The
space will include lounges, quiet study and student organization space, reflection rooms and a multipurpose room that can fit up to 300 people. According to an article in the University Record from 2016, the funding for the new $10 million Trotter Multicultural Center came entirely from investment proceeds and gifts. In an email sent to The Daily, Julio Cardona, director of the Trotter Center, said the opening of the new Trotter Center marks a historic moment for multiculturalism and inclusion on campus. “This is a historic time for the Trotter Multicultural Center,” Cardona wrote. “The new location of the building on State Street
is an important indicator of the commitment of the University to increase accessibility to the center. As a supportive home and environment committed to social justice and diversity, the Trotter Multicultural Center will continue to serve as a space that promotes an inclusive campus climate.” According to a timeline on the Trotter Center website, various discussions were held between student groups as well as Trotter Center officials to get input on the planning process for the new building, including town halls and several meetings with groups such as the Black Student Union, MultiEthnic Student Affairs and more. See TROTTER, Page 3
In an email to staff and faculty in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance sent out on Feb. 14 by SMTD dean David Gier, the school announced it will be replacing all faculty, staff, practice room and instrument storage doors to include transparent panels. The change has not been announced publicly, but according to the email it is due to a “heightened climate … surrounding sexual misconduct prevention.” Gier’s email explained the specifications of the doors, which will be installed over the summer. They will be “...consistent in size, completely transparent, wide enough to support broad room visibility, and low enough to support wheelchair height visibility.” Gier explained they come after “a review of our buildings … in partnership with the Office of the Provost,” Dean Gier wrote. “We have come together unified in the opinion that in order to foster a community ethos around occupant safety and the prevention of sexual misconduct, we must alter our physical spaces.” These changes come on the heels of the publication of multiple sexual misconduct allegations against former SMTD professor Stephen Shipps and
ADMINISTRATION
GEO voices Mark Conger wins Golden Apple Award, concern for discusses nature of infinity in life new felony Professor gives lecture on mathematics and his personal life after winning teaching prize policy at ‘U’ JULIA JOHNSTON
The union, students orgs explain the pratice could target minorities on campus EMMA STEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
Rackham student David Helps, a member of the Graduate Employees’ Organization, is heading up a working group in collaboration with other student organizations on campus on the new felony disclosure policy. The policy, which requires the immediate disclosure of all felony charges and convictions for all University of Michigan employees, does not apply to those protected by a union. Even though the policy does not apply to union members, Helps said he has other roles at the University that are impacted by the policy and GEO has an obligation to advocate for the entire student body. “I have other capacities at the University, including as a research assistant, that are impacted by this,” Helps said.
Daily Staff Reporter
Mark Conger, a lecturer in the LSA Comprehensive Studies Program, received the Golden Apple Award and gave a lecture on Monday in Rackham Auditorium. His lecture, titled “The Local, the Global, and the Nature of Infinity,” discussed the relationship between the
See GEO, Page 3
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number infinity and his personal life. The Golden Apple Award is a student-selected award given to professors on campus to recognize those who demonstrate exceptional teaching abilities. More nominations were received this year than ever before, with close to 1,000 submissions, making it the most competitive
yet. Students nominate professors using a Google form circulated throughout campus groups by the event coordinators. Education junior Kyle Riebock, president of the Golden Apple Committee, said Conger received many heartfelt nominations. “Not only did Mr. Conger have the quantity (of nominations), but he also really did have the
quality, which is something that is not as common with the nominations that we see,” Riebock said. “I would say almost 90 percent of his nominations had paragraphs about why he’s such an amazing teacher, and so it was a no-brainer at that point that he deserves the award.”
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professor David Daniels. In both instances, further investigation into the situation has brought administrative responses to these allegations into question. In the case of Daniels, SMTD awarded Daniels’s tenure in May 2018 despite being made aware of misconduct allegations against him as early as March 2018. In the case of Shipps, an email regarding an allegation of “statutory rape” to the theninterim dean of SMTD went unanswered for more than a year. In an email to The Daily, Mark Clague, SMTD associate dean for academic and student affairs, spoke of the administration’s response to heightened concerns around sexual misconduct. “We believe the update to SMTD studio and office doors increases transparency within the SMTD community both literally and symbolically,” Clague wrote. “Literally it makes the activities in what have historically been limitedview or unviewable spaces more public. Symbolically it sends an important message to our community and beyond that everyone deserves an environment that is safe and in which they can comfortably and confidently accomplish the artistic work that is our educational mission.” See SMTD , Page 3
ANN ARBOR
Ackerman admits to receiving DUI in Jan. Councilmember given lesser punishment after 0.2 blood alcohol content BEN ROSENFELD Daily Staff Reporter
Following a Jan. 2 drunken driving arrest in Novi, Mich., Ann Arbor City Councilmember Zachary Ackerman, D-Ward 3, was sentenced in February to a year of probation and five days of community service. Despite the January arrest, Ackerman did not disclose his arrest to City Council and the public until he released a statement to the council on April 1. After being found with a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent, Ackerman was originally charged under Michigan’s “Super Drunk Law,” for which drivers with a BAC over 0.17 percent face extended punishments, even for a first time offense. However, after pleading no contest and accepting the sentence in late January, Ackerman’s charge was reduced to a year’s probation.
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily Professor Mark Conger presents a lecture titled “The Local, the Global, and the Nature of Infinity” after receiving the Golden Apple Award in recognition of his outstanding commitment to his students at Rackham Auditorium Monday.
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PILOT hosts Dream Day for Detroit high school students, concluding Dreams2Reality program Student organization for underrepresented communities ends year-long mentorship with local children BARBARA COLLINS
to serve underrepresented faculty and talked to a school. They literally would communities and aid those panel of University students have never worked with students in their transition regarding their experiences anyone who is passionate about the things they are. Dreams2Reality, a program to college,” Jakupovic said. on campus. Jakupovic said the main Building a community for for metro Detroit high school “PILOT’s programs focus students sponsored by on leadership development goal of the program is to aid them that will help them their options, PILOT, concluded their year- for students in these the students as they apply to broaden whether it’s college or not.” long program Monday with communities, and PILOT college. Zeinab Alghanem is a high Dream Day, a day-long event does this through various school sophomore at Fordson which includes in the University of Michigan projects, High School in Dearborn. Dreams2Reality.” School of Education. Through her participation D2R, a sub-committee PILOT is a studentin D2R and Dream Day, led organization with a of PILOT, consists of four Alghanem said she now is goal to develop leadership workshops in Detroit considering applying to skills and encourage throughout the year that the University of Michigan campus engagement discuss social justice-related and is interested in either within underrepresented topics with high school philosophy, psycholog y or communities. freshmen and sophomores. journalism. She said she LSA sophomore Una Approximately 25 high plans to go to law school and Jakupovic is a member of school students participated continue to work in social PILOT and co-led D2R this in Dream Day this year. “We hope that this program justice. year. Jakupovic explained Throughout the day, the “The most important the premise of the program. students went on a tour inspires these students to Sudoku Syndication was to be pursue higher education and (takeaway) “PILOT is an organization of the campus, conversed http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ founded with the mission with University staff and to know that despite being vulnerable and that there’s from underrepresented and empowerment and strength being vulnerable,” marginalized communities, in they do have a support Alghanem said. “… This was system and resources at a really great opportunity for this University and other us to network and have the colleges as well to support opportunity of questioning MEDIUM them in their transition to ourselves and striving to know that we can do better.” college,” Jakupovic said. The event also discussed D2R Project Coordinator Giovanna Bautista, LSA the Big House Program, additional program sophomore, said she became an involved with PILOT after sponsored by PILOT, aims seeing the community to help high school seniors it created. She said the apply to college. Jakupovic program cultivates an said her participation in environment for leadership the Big House Program development in which she confirmed her decision to join PILOT upon arriving to feels comfortable. “We hope to promote the University. “The Big House Program their post-secondary education, first of all,” focuses on aiding students underrepresented Bautista said. “Though from in the we know that college isn’t communities process and for everybody, and we application don’t necessarily say, ‘Oh, the transition to college,” go to college,’ it’s more Jakupovic said. “… Upon broadening their options. going to the University, I For them to know that wanted to give back to those there is a community here same communities and help for them especially — a other students as I received DIAMONDS puzzle by sudokusyndication.com lot of them seek a lot of that same help from PILOT © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. support that they wouldn’t during my senior year.” find otherwise in their high Daily Staff Reporter
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SMTD From Page 1 In an interview with The Daily, LSA freshman Andrew Gerace suggested that while this was an important step to address concerns over sexual misconduct, more should be done by SMTD to address this issue. “I think it will help students feel more comfortable. And that’s an important step to take,” Gerace said. “But I think what the music school needs to grapple with is the gray, squishy areas.” Gerace also expressed surprise at how this policy was being implemented thus far. Despite being a member of the Jazz Lab Ensemble, he said he had heard nothing about this policy from
TROTTER From Page 1 2016 LSA graduate Arnold Reed, who was president of BSU during the #BBUM movement, said the opening of the new Trotter Center exemplifies the power and reach of students’ voice on campus. However, he cautioned that it may be too early to understand what the development of the new center means in terms of the University’s responsiveness to Black students’ needs. “It shows that students coming together are extremely powerful and so if you come together and unite, you never know what’s going to happen,” Reed said. “... I think it shows that the administration, they pledged the money, they got this thing built, and it’s right on State Street. So I think that they are responsive to student needs, but like I said again, that was something that came after years and years of activism. We’ll see what it means. It could be too early to tell, we’ll have to see how the building is used, who’s using it, for what purposes. If it fulfills its mission of Trotter Multicultural Center, I think that’s the biggest thing.” LSA sophomore Thomas Vance, the Seba on BSU’s e-board, said the best metric to use when measuring the University’s responsiveness is if they have met the demands, or are
GEO From Page 1
“And many people within GEO hold such positions, so in addition to being GSIs (graduate student instructors), they might have other paid positions that are affected by this … you know, all of us as GSIs as GSSAs, as graduate students taking courses, are part of a broader U of M community. And it’s important for us to show solidarity invested in creating an equitable, safe and inclusive University community.” The working group is a collaboration between GEO and other student organizations, including UMich Behind Bars and the Carceral State Project. While the working group is still in its founding stages, Helps said the goals of the group are to amplify what work is already being done, to draw more attention to the policy and to foster an environment for productive dialogue about the effects of the policy and others like it. The felony disclosure policy has garnered a lot of criticism from different groups on campus. Some say it violates due process and disproportionately targets minority communities through flaws in the criminal justice system. The Carceral State Project released an open letter to the University on the policy, and it currently has 1,867 signatures. In addition, the University administration has been criticized by the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs for not asking for their input on the policy before its implementation. Helps echoed these concerns and said the University has other policies regarding people who have a criminal history that is not made public. He said the University should be moving towards banning the box and stopping background checks rather than implementing
News
Tuesday, April 9, 2019 — 3
faculty or students around SMTD. “I am baffled by the fact that the music school continues to try and talk about transparency, and even with a policy that is literally trying to augment physical transparency, they’re still going behind the students’ backs,” Gerace said. Besides this new door policy, SMTD has taken multiple steps recently to address sexual misconduct concerns. They announced the formation of a Faculty and Staff Allies Network (FASAN) intended to change campus culture by improving communication and transparency regarding sexual misconduct and gender bias. “The Faculty and Staff Allies Network … is a volunteer effort by SMTD faculty and staff to discuss and address issues across SMTD
concerning sexual misconduct, equality, and safety. To date, it has supported dialogue, faculty and staff training efforts,” Clague wrote. “We expect FASAN to continue into next academic year and beyond. Its efforts are vital for the SMTD community.” As part of this effort, SMTD also held a panel discussion in midNovember featuring University administrators around sexual misconduct. In late-February, the school held another event around sexual misconduct. Yet despite pledges at these events of increased transparency between students and faculty, Gerace expressed surprise that SMTD administrators had not announced these changes being planned SMTD buildings. “I think the dialogue needs to be continuous,” Gerace said.
“After that panel we were told we would be informed about steps that would be taken regarding this issue, but here we go, learning from hearsay, instead of getting direct messaging from the University. … it’s connecting back to letting students know what’s going on, recognizing mistakes are made in both the way this was handled, in the way the situation was allowed to occur, recognizing the fact that situations have occurred, not just that this is ‘heightened awareness around sexual assault.’ ” The Daily spoke with a current SMTD faculty member about this change. They requested anonymity in order to speak candidly about the new policy without fear of profession repercussions. “My priority is that our students feel safe,” the faculty member
said. “If having a larger window in the door of our studios helps our students feel more safe, I believe we should spare no expense.” The faculty member noted that while SMTD has seen many public allegations recently of sexual misconduct, these concerns are not unique to the University of Michigan. “It does feel a little bit to me like an optics reactions to the accusations that we have seen at our school,” the faculty member said. “And my hope is that what this does is sparks a larger conversation across the country because this bad behavior is not exclusive to the University of Michigan, by any means. And my hope is that we can have more broad actions in academia with regards to what systems are in place that enable bad
behavior.” Clague also wrote of the changes that need to take place both at the University and in the larger performing arts community as it works to address heightened concerns around sexual misconduct. “It’s also important to note that the changes needed at SMTD and in the performing arts industry as a whole will not be solved by any one action or person. It will take a commitment from everyone,” Clague wrote. “At SMTD, we see all faculty, staff and students as vital and necessary partners to make our community stronger and safer. We need everyone’s help to address issues of sexual justice with courage and action.”
attempting to meet them. “Having our records in the Bentley and more transparency around conversations that were happening during Black Action Movements, that’s a plus, and the new Trotter on State Street is also a plus,” Vance said. “But things like trying to increase Black recruitment and retention … are pretty damning, and very telling, because they reflect this possible resource disparity, or possible lack of attention to the needs of Black students.” Vance said he can’t say definitively whether the University has met the needs of Black students on campus. “While student organizations are doing what they can to advocate for the community that they represent, at some point that all needs to come from the University, and I’m not sure if there’s a solid answer as to if are they are meeting the needs (of Black students),” Vance said. Reed said he was surprised the new center was built so soon. “When you’re a group of students and you’re trying to make change, you definitely expect the University to listen to you, to have some dialogue,” Reed said. “But then, for the change where it’s multiple millions of dollars and involves breaking ground and building a new building … In my wildest dreams and expectations, I still don’t know if I necessarily imagined the new building being built so quickly. I
knew this was the type of demand where I wouldn’t necessarily be on campus to see it through to fruition, but I didn’t think it would happen within 10 years.” 2018 LSA graduate Haleemah Aqel, program coordinator at the Program on Intergroup Relations and an activist in the Arab-American community, toured Trotter with her office and noticed a collage dedicated to the #BBUM movement. Aqel said that those who enter the building can “automatically understand” the history of the history of the BBUM movement, as well as other activist movements featured on separate walls. Aqel said she appreciated #BBUM’s important role in securing a centralized location for Trotter. She also noted how Arab-American activism, such as the #WeExist and #UMDivest campaigns, was not featured on the walls, although she said this may be updated in the coming years. “I think one of the things they were trying to push is that activism will always grow on this campus, so we want to adjust our walls to reflect the history,” Aqel said. “I was kind of surprised that #UMDivest wasn’t on there, or #WeExist, but at the same time I recognize how #BBUM was really the big push to have this space over here on State Street.” Cardena said the images adorning
the walls are current through October 2017 and the center intends to update the graphics on a regular basis. “To address potential concern over inclusion of images from #WeExist or #UMDivest, there will be opportunities as materials from those important student movements as well others are chronicled by the Bentley Historical Library and are available to us to include in future wall graphic iterations in the Sankofa Lounge,” Cardena said. LSA junior Dim Mang, incoming co-chair for the United Asian American Organizations, said the new location will make it easier for new students to attend events and participate in the activities offered by Trotter. “I’m really excited just to be able to walk a couple of minutes to new Trotter, instead of having to go all the way down South U,” Mang said. “I think that when you have a centralized location, more people are bound to show up because you can just see the building. Even people who aren’t in those communities are able to show up to events.” Aqel said the new location may attract students who would not usually visit the center. “I think it will be interesting, one, to see who goes into the space,” Aqel said. “Because the Trotter on Washtenaw, it was always just people of color. But now that you
have this Trotter on State Street, I’m wondering if more white students will go into the space, how inclusive it’ll be. I think so long as students recognize the history of the space and why the space moved to State Street, I think it’s fine. But I also see this space being for students of color and students who have worked effortlessly within different activism movements on this campus.” Aqel said she appreciated the thought put into the space. As a student, she worked toward increasing the number of reflection rooms on campus, which many Muslim students use to pray. When Aqel toured Trotter with the IGR office, she was happy to find a reflection room, along with a station for wudu, which Muslim students use to wash themselves before prayer. “It’s small, there could be more, but it’s something, because there isn’t anything on this campus, or other campuses in general, that have something like that,” Aqel said. “So I was just like, ‘Wow.’ And I was going with the rest of my coworkers, and they were just really happy to see my reaction, because we had been working so hard to create more reflection spaces, and then Trotter really spent a lot of time thinking about what Muslim students would need, or other students who would be using this space.” LSA sophomore Ronnie Alvarez,
co-director of La Casa, said he appreciates how Trotter prioritized student needs. “They have specific rooms that cannot be reserved at all by offices, so it’s just for students,” Alvarez said. “And they also always prioritize us — student events — over any other reservations. The director of Trotter, he let a lot of the cultural student orgs know, ‘Yo, this is a space for you, and as soon as the Trotter opening week begins, we want to include all of you.’” The opening will be followed by the Trotter Grand Extravaganza — two weeks of events to celebrate the new space. Vance said the Extravaganza seeks to remind students that Trotter is not just a study space, but a space with a hardfought, unique history. “One of the things we were concerned about is, well, we don’t want Trotter to just become a new study space,” Vance said. “The history of it, and how hard organizations have had to work for it, we didn’t want that history to be lost by students thinking it was just another study space, which is why we engaged in intentional programming to make sure that, at least during the grand opening, it’s not used as a study space, but rather used as a place that these organizations can get together and have a place for their communities.”
policies like the felony disclosure policy. “In addition to the most recent policy, the University also has a number of policies, many (of ) which are not public, that prevent people with criminal convictions or felony convictions or felony charges from attending the University and working for the University,” Helps said. “It’s my hope, personally, to see them actually align the set of policies that exist at the University more with the best practices of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Education and what many other universities are doing.” Helps said he hopes the University administration will become more transparent and make all policies regarding the criminal justice system available to the public. He feels policy should be rescinded and replaced with a new one that does not further criminalize those with a criminal history. “We know what policies would actually address sexual harassment and sexual assault, and this policy isn’t that, you know,” Helps said. “So, my hope is that we would be able to have the University first make those policies publicly available, because many of them are not, and then begin to address those policies and make them much more in line with what the general trend amongst employers and institutions of higher learning is.” University President Mark Schlissel addressed the policy at the University’s Board of Regents meeting on March 28. He said the policy was created with the intention of keeping the campus safe. He noted the University has been doing background checks during the application process for six years and this policy does not mean an employee who disclosed a felony charge or conviction would face consequences. “University leaders believe that information about a faculty or staff member’s criminal activity helps us maintain a
safe community,” Schlissel said. “We’ve been obtaining such information on most new employees by way of a preemployment background check since 2013. The new policy requires disclosure of current felony charges and convictions by current employees. To be absolutely clear: History of a felony conviction does not automatically prevent an applicant from working at the University, nor would it necessarily result in a current employee losing their job.” Schlissel then cited an example of a situation when the policy would be useful. He addressed aspects of the controversy surrounding the policy and stated the University will review the cases closely to assure it does not have a stronger impact on minority groups. “Knowing about a serious criminal charge allows the University to take timely action in instances where there could be a significant risk of harm in the workplace,” Schlissel said. “For instance, if a staff member who works with or near children is being prosecuted for or is being convicted of felony assault of a child, a disclosure would allow us to remove the individual from that environment. We will carefully monitor the results of this new policy to make sure it does not have disproportionate effects on specific subsets of our community.” LSA junior Hannah Agnew, a student organizer with UMich Behind Bars, said despite what the University says about this policy, it will inherently impact minority populations more significantly due to the nature of the criminal justice system. “Inevitably, even if the University is saying that they’re not going to target people of color or low-income status, that is what the carceral state does in the way that it functions,” Agnew said. “Inevitably, people that have convictions are people of color or low-income communities, those are the communities that tend to
be over policed and surveilled, so, inevitably it is those people and those groups that the University is going to deter through this policy and target. There is no way to really separate those communities from this policy because they’re the ones that disproportionately have prior convictions and records.” GEO President Emily Gauld, a Rackham student, said GEO is a union that advocates for all University students to make the University the most conducive environment for higher education. Gauld discussed how GEO decided to get involved regardless of the policy’s impact on members of the union because it does impact graduate students not part of GEO and other members of the University community due to the disproportionate effects the criminal justice system has on people of color and those of lower socioeconomic status. “We recognize that the policy has a lot of reasons, a lot of concerns, that kind of revolve around the existing biases in the criminal justice system and the implications that a policy like this could have for not only our members but the broader University community,” Gauld said. “And we are really dedicated to finding a solution that would avoid putting an unwanted or unnecessary extra barrier for graduate student workers that are already facing a difficult system, so we recognize the problems with it.” Gauld said while GEO understands why the University administration created this policy, they also believe there is a more effective way for the University to achieve its goal. “We also recognize that our members and many others have said that they recognize that there are reasons that the University might create a policy like this and we’re also interested, you know,” Gauld said. “We want to acknowledge those reasons but also find a better solution for what exactly it is the University’s
trying to achieve and we don’t feel like this policy is the best means to do that.” Helps discussed the importance of collaborating with other organizations on campus through this working group. He said the felony disclosure policy impacts everyone on campus and claimed the University did not ask for any input from the expert faculty and staff or students who would be affected by it. “We are the flagship public university in the state, and so this is an opportunity to overcome all sorts of silos that we end up in, and to actually points to a way in which this policy, which was, you know, totally arbitrarily and un-transparently, undemocratically, and very quietly forced through,” Helps said. “This is the type of policy that affects all of us in that it’s an opportunity to think about what we have in common as people who play different roles within the University but who are all, nonetheless, affected by this policy that’s being forced upon us without any of our input in telling the University what policies would actually make us feel safe.” Gauld said GEO has an obligation to advocate for the well-being of all graduate employees at the University of Michigan. She said having multiple student groups come together to pressure the University to rescind the policy magnifies the strength of their voices. “I think that it’s important for all of the student groups to get involved because it’s very much the reason that organizations like GEO and other student groups exist because we have a better chance of having a voice when we all voice that together, when we come together,” Gauld said. “So I think that, especially GEO as a labor union, has a responsibility for us to stand up for our members who might be facing unnecessary discrimination in the workplace because of a policy like this.”
DUI From Page 1 According to Sergeant Kevin Gilmore, a Novi police detective, police brought in Ackerman around 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 2 after he got in an accident in stop-and-go traffic. “He rear ended someone near Beck (Road) and 10 Mile,” Gilmore said. “The officer got there and noticed that Mr. Ackerman’s eyes were bloodshot and glossy and he had slurred speech. Talking to him, he had the odor of intoxicants coming from his vehicle and from his person.” Gilmore also explained that while Ackerman’s actions were reckless and dangerous, such arrests are made relatively frequently in law enforcement. “It was nothing out of the ordinary in our line of work — a car accident where someone ended up being intoxicated, we arrested him, held him, released him the next morning,” Gilmore said. In the weeks following the arrest, however, Ackerman neglected to inform his constituents and fellow Ann Arbor councilmembers, only disclosing information to fellow councilmembers on March 27, followed by an April 1 City Council statement. “This happened nearly three months ago,” Ackerman said in the statement to City Council. “I did not disclose any of this to anyone at this table until this past Wednesday. I recognize, that as public officials, we walk a fine line between what should and should not be private. I considered this a private part of my life because these events were a wake-up call. They were a wake-up call that I had a serious, and now diagnosed health issue — Severe Alcohol Dependence.”
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Opinion
4 — Tuesday, April 9, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ABBIE BERRINGER | COLUMN
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FROM THE DAILY
I
“Leaders and the Best?” Prove it.
n recent weeks, there has been a surge in student activism surrounding the University of Michigan’s policies and commitments on climate action and carbon neutrality. In October, University President Mark Schlissel announced the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality, with a directive to create a plan for the University to go carbon neutral. However, the move has been met with frustration from students on campus who feel the commission lacks the strength, transparency and experience to enact effective change.
These frustrations culminated in a seven-hour sit-in at the Fleming Administration Building following the March 15 Global Strike for Climate, after which, at the sit-in, 10 students were arrested for trespassing. Student organizations on campus, such as Climate Actio366.n Movement, Students for Clean Energy and others, have continued to pressure the administration and Schlissel to commit to more aggressive goals for carbon neutrality as well as to increase engagement with the student body. We applaud the climate activism taking place on campus, especially as the institutional processes Schlissel implements further our mistrust of the University administration. There is historical precedent for our apprehension of University climate action. In 2015, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Committee released a report detailing how the University can meet its sustainability goals, but most recommendations have been ignored by the University’s Board of Regents. Both the 2015 commission and the current commission are toothless simply because they are merely recommendations. The only way to ensure action is a binding commitment. But our skepticism is not just based on the past. The current administration and commission have not earned our trust. We are suspicious of the commission because it does not have appropriate representation. Corporate executives from DTE and Consumers Energy each have full voting rights on the commission — the same number of votes as the entire student body. For us, this represents a serious conflict of interest because, as our primary energy provider, DTE stands to profit from the University’s continued dependence on fossil fuels. We understand DTE and Consumers Energy need to be a part of the conversation because they have expertise in transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables, but they do not need to be voting members. It would be more reasonable for them to serve in an advisory role instead. Furthermore, while there are two corporate executives on the commission, there are no faculty representatives for environmental justice despite many experts on the issue from the School for Environment and Sustainability. We are also suspicious of the commission because Schlissel is not harnessing the advice of experts to make the right decisions about the University’s carbon footprint. The primary way Schlissel has done this is by stopping the commission from discussing two of the essential components of carbon neutrality: the expansion of the Central Power Plant and the University endowment investment in fossil fuels. Though the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change made clear that the world needs to cut global carbon emissions in half by 2030 in order to avoid catastrophic effects of greater than 1.5 degrees Celsius warming, the University has ignored this urgent report, opting instead to start construction on an $80 million expansion of the Central Power Plant. The University claims that
expanding our natural gas profile will reduce emissions via energy efficiency, but in reality this decision will bind us to fossil fuels for years to come. The expansion ignores the latest science that questions that reasoning, as methane leaks are a significant externality of natural gas production. Methane has a higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide, making it unclear if the CPP expansion will help the University get to carbon neutrality. The commission should be allowed to recommend that the University halt the CPP expansion. Furthermore, the commission should also be empowered to recommend that the University divest from fossil fuels. Though the University does not advertise how much of its endowment is invested in natural resources such as fossil fuels, numbers from the 2017 Report of Investments put the total investment in natural resources at $925 million. The University should consider its investments in fossil fuels as part of its carbon footprint. Consequently, Schlissel should empower the commission to talk about the endowment’s role in the climate crisis. In fact, recent trends show investment in renewables can yield high returns as the renewable sector is outpacing traditional fossil fuels. The University has shown reluctance toward acting in the best interest for the community at large. For example, in 2000, when the University divested from tobacco companies, the final vote from the Board of Regents was four in favor, two abstentions and one against, despite tobacco representing less than .25 percent of the endowment’s investments. The only other example of the University divesting was in 1988 due to apartheid in South Africa. Other than those examples, the University has largely avoided engaging in dialogue surrounding divestment, including the climate fight. In order to create more effective change, the University should include more than just one student on the commission and in the planning and development of a more environmentally-conscious campus. The University has consistently denied requests for a commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030, even though student support has been rapidly increasing. One way to integrate the student body into its decision-making process would be to give students more powerful voting rights on a committee that has a central role in working alongside the University to combat carbon emissions. The student group would need to be diverse and have a deep understanding of environmental justice, since marginalized communities around the world are disproportionately impacted by climate change. The University needs to serve its students, and the only way to do that is for the student body to be at the forefront of this fight. Students have repeatedly asked the University to take real climate action, and the University should listen and act accordingly. The threat of climate change is dire and the University’s actions do not reflect its urgency and severity.
In expanding the CPP, failing to commit to carbon neutrality and expanding our investments in fossil fuels, the University is failing to be a leader on clean energy. The University has branded itself as an institution dedicated to solving global problems; students flock here to learn the skills necessary to change the world. When the administration works against the values and goals of the students, when the Board of Regents ignores the University’s own research on climate change and when students peacefully protesting are arrested rather than heard, prospective applicants notice. The University can still be one of the leaders in the climate movement. By taking steps to prevent further harm to the environment, the University can rebrand itself as an institution committed to sustainability. We recognize that transitioning to true carbon neutrality by 2030 will be a challenge, but in our eyes, the University has a moral imperative to lead. The University can and should be a leader. Considering we are one of Michigan’s largest employers, we have a significant carbon footprint. However, this also means we have the greatest potential to reduce such residual impacts. Moreover, those who have felt and will feel the impacts of climate change first — marginalized communities around the world — are less able to address the crisis than we are. We have the power to lead because our endowment, at nearly $12 billion, is one of the biggest in the nation, and just added a record $5 billion. If the University, a public research institution accountable to its stakeholders, cannot meet the objectives set out by the IPCC, no one can. We want to express our feelings of mistrust toward Schlissel as it pertains to his and the administration’s handling of climate policies based on historical evidence of mishandling, avoiding and lagging behind on climate issues. Despite his attractive, promising rhetoric surrounding climate change and the commission, little has been done or is known about how the University plans to take the lead and enact a just transition to true carbon neutrality. Not only are we behind other schools in committing to carbon neutrality, we are lagging on one of the most serious global issues of our time and the future. We demand the University become more transparent in their plans by giving students more power in the internal committee or more access to open, unfiltered conversations. We must be proactive in creating true, effective changes that will not only brand the University as a progressive and bold campus, but as one that acts with a moral interest in mind rather than profit. Furthermore, we call on student activists to sustain the energy that they’ve exhibited recently via protesting, organizing and demanding serious action. If we continue with this movement, and if the University decides to invest in its students’ future, we can actually make a difference for generations to come.
What is tolerance?
A
ccording to the MerriamWebster Dictionary, the number one definition of tolerance is: “the capacity to endure pain or hardship,” followed by “a sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own.” Yet, when I hear the word “tolerance” thrown around on our campus, it rarely feels like we are talking about the textbook definition of tolerance at all. In fact, it often seems that when someone is asking you to tolerate their opinions these days, they are telling you to affirm them. As a conservative, when I respectfully disagree on issues such as abortion, gun rights, universal health care or free higher education, I am often told that my opinions are invalid, insensitive or bigoted. On a college campus as liberal as the University of Michigan, with 90 percent of voters at campus polling places voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and a university president who openly applauded this while condemning students who may have voted for Donald Trump, it seems that disagreeing on such contentious issues is simply unacceptable. While I have come in contact with this sort of problem many times on campus, a bright and shining example occurred just the other day when I volunteered to help table at an informative prolife event on the Diag sponsored by Students for Life and co-sponsored by Young Americans for Freedom and the Network of Enlightened Women. While standing at the table and engaging in thoughtful debate with someone who disagreed with us, a female student walked up to us and simply said, “What’s up, c**ts?” After this initial exchange, she continued to stand there while refusing to engage with us, before asking another student if he’d “like to get away from these motherfuckers?” before eventually storming off, flipping us off and yelling, “Fuck you!” One would hope that this sort of experience is a rarity. One would also hope this individual represents a minority of collegeaged youth seemingly incapable of defending their ideologies with logic and intellect, who resort to petty insults and profanity. But this sort of interaction is actually not that rare at all. It seems that the mentality of the modern leftist movement — that their ideas are all together infallible — has led to a stark entitlement that they should never have to be challenged, and when they are, the challenges are automatically illegitimate. For example, as a political science student I have heard from other
students in my classes that there “is not room for people like me in America anymore,” “small town conservatives don’t want our intelligence,” “conservatives have small minds,” “most white people are racist” and “conservatives hate women.” Additionally, in my four years at the University, only one of my professors has openly identified as right of center and most of my professors have either openly identified as liberal or made clearly liberal statements in class. This problem is only compounded by the “safe space” mentality that has gripped so many college campuses to date and allowed young liberals to think they deserve to be “shielded” and “protected” from opposing opinions by their university, which means the University affirms that this sentiment is true. From my experience, the political left on this campus does not try to be tolerant of my political beliefs. They don’t feel that they need to listen to the reasoning for my beliefs or respect my culture and values. They don’t have to be tolerant of my notion of small government, the sanctity of life at conception or my interpretation of the Second Amendment. In fact, they get to call me names, yell, protest, and use the common scapegoats of “ists” and “isms” to dismiss legitimate intellectual conversation. They don’t have to engage in debate with contentious political speakers on the other side of the political spectrum, either. They wish to shut them down, be shielded from them by safe spaces and deny their rights to free speech. When conservative speaker Ben Shapiro came to campus on March 12, for instance, counter protesters met to organize a protest that goals included distracting from Shapiro’s message by “diverging attendees’ attention through live entertainment.” Comments by members in attendance included people calling him a “right-wing bigot.” At the event, Shapiro explicitly said that anyone who disagreed could come to the front of the line for questions, as he does at every event, and yet there was not one question challenging any of his beliefs. Even though as a conservative, I agreed with much of what he was saying, I don’t agree with all of his opinions and I was disappointed that he did not face any intellectual challenges at a supposedly esteemed, intellectual campus. While certain levels of extremism must certainly be condemned, like arguments for racial supremacy, this piece speaks to the alarming number of people on the left who are labeling almost all
views contradictory to their own as intolerable. They say the right “hates women” when we push back against abortion, without hearing the complex moral, biological, as well as philosophical reasoning behind why many conservatives are prolife. Furthermore, if the left truly believes these accusations to be true, then shutting them down with logic and intellectual debate should be no problem at all. At the very least, they could use the opportunities to do so to prove to their base, and those who are on the fence, why their ideas are superior. They can’t do any of these things if all they wish to do is shutdown any debate at all. As a graduating senior, I hope that in the future my conservative classmates feel more open to state their political ideology in classes and therefore have more opportunities to debate peers on the other side of the aisle. That is why I challenge the left movement on this campus. If they truly think their solutions will work, if they truly feel we conservatives are misguided, they should use intellectual debate among peers, professors and speakers on opposite sides of the aisle to actually defend their ideas instead of using catchphrases and profanity to try and shut us down. I challenge them to rise to the occasion of true tolerance, which isn’t forcing someone to affirm your beliefs, but accepting that in a free democratic society, the marketplace of ideas allows us to disagree. When they say, “love trumps hate” I challenge them to mean it and to ask themselves if they truly believe that conservatives really represent “hate.” This doesn’t mean they can’t vehemently disagree as we vehemently disagree with them. Rather, it simply means coming to the intellectual table with a level of respect worthy of such a prestigious institution of learning. It means coming to a place where the opportunities to bring in speakers, host debates and engage in ideas that cover the full spectrum of American politics are virtually endless. My fear is that the left has truly gone so far as to believe the average conservative doesn’t deserve as much. My hope as a conservative on this campus is that with intellectual debate, the left will realize that we are not all racist, sexist or bigoted. I hope that people on both sides of the aisle will be able to challenge their own biases and assumptions in a way that benefits campus political life and discourse.
Abbie Berringer can be reached at abbierbe@umich.edu.
ANIK JOSHI | COLUMN
I
Why we should pay college athletes
n case you were living under can wear (with occasionally a rock, these past weekends disastrous results), or through had a number of college more blatantly unethical means, such as not allowing basketball games. students to enter I could not watch into likeness-based all of them, but the endorsement deals or ones I watched were even admit that they action packed and play college sports. enjoyable – and they And what do students weren’t just enjoyable get in exchange for for those of you who enabling showers can’t stand Duke. Per of gold for their USA Today, the four colleges, coaches and coaches (Bruce Pearl, ANIK conferences? Free Tom Izzo, Chris Beard JOSHI Wi-Fi. One need not and Tony Bennett) who made it to the Final Four be a scholar of deals to see that it took home a combined $1 million is an inordinately raw one and it is in bonuses alone. The four of something decent people should them still make gobs of money want addressed for the sake of even without bonuses factored fairness. There are several ways to go in — Virginia’s coach makes a total of about $4.15 million, about addressing this – from Auburn’s coach had a salary of paying athletes directly, allowing $2.6 million for the 2018-2019 them to enter into likenessseason Michigan State’s coach based endorsement deals or made $3.7 million for the 2018- giving them a share of revenues. 2019 season, and Texas Tech’s Athletes deserve to make coach made $2.8 million for the money on top of their athletic 2018-2019 season. The players, scholarships for a number of who I assume are the reason reasons. Usually the hours that we watch these games, made a are put in are comparable to a total of zero dollars in bonuses, full-time job (40 hours a week) which combines with their and as a result, it can become lucrative zero dollars during the more difficult to have spending season as well as their lucrative money. Secondly, they should endorsement deals (which also be allowed to sign endorsement net them zero dollars) for a grand deals with whatever brands they total of zero dollars. Quite a choose and should absolutely be free to license their likeness difference, isn’t it? In fiscal year 2017, the NCAA — there is no good reason that made over a billion dollars per the league should be able to their financial reports. Colleges profit off athletes if the athletes cannot. Lastly, also make boatloads of money themselves off of their players, whether athletes generate a lot of money it be through ways that are for their institutions. There are ostensibly ethical, like licensing some people who disagree with and deciding what shoes players paying athletes because they
receive scholarships, but I believe this is mistaken. While they do get scholarships, that funding is not remotely equivalent to the amount of money they generate for the NCAA. From SBNation, the back of the napkin math goes like this: The NCAA got $857 million for the broadcast rights to this tournament (from Turner Broadcasting, if you were wondering) and there are 68 teams each with 13 scholarship spots for a total of 884 scholarship players and, while no one knows the exact value of a scholarship, it could probably be pegged from $30,000 on the low end to $50,000 on the high end. Multiplying the number of scholarships by the high value of a scholarship (and assuming high end costs), one gets $44.2 million in total scholarship money given to NCAA players. Five percent of $857 million is $43.75 million. The total compensation from schools to players is just over five percent of the money the NCAA gets from the broadcast licensing of this tournament. One need not be a Marxist to think that this distribution is skewed unfairly. Coaches, conferences and schools are all pivotal parts of the game. However, at the end of the day, we tune in to see the players, and it is time that they get something commensurate with the wealth they create for those above them. They have been geese laying golden eggs for far too long and deserve equitable treatment. Anik Joshi can be reached at anikj@umich.edu
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, April 9, 2019 — 5
ALBUM REVIEW
TV REVIEW
EPIC RECORDS
CBS
Sara Bareilles comes back Peele’s ‘Twilight Zone’ with ‘Amidst the Chaos’ forgets source material KAITLYN FOX Daily Arts Writer
After fleeing to the Broadway scene for six years, Sara Bareilles is finally back with her new album, Amidst the Chaos. Filled with themes of love, feminism and politics, Bareilles has certainly made up for the lost time and has given fans an in-depth look to what she’s been thinking about during her time in the theatre scene. In stark contrast to her previous albums that include pop anthems such as “Love Song” and “Brave,” Amidst the Chaos is richer in both sound and lyrics, a concrete representation of the ways Bareilles has grown to be more confident and vulnerable in her work. It’s no question that this was Bareilles’s intent; she teamed up with producer T Bone Burnett, who is famous for his organic approach to music production and focus on American roots in order to produce a very real, raw-sounding album. From soft piano and guitar riffs to untouched vocal inaccuracies, Bareilles embraces messiness and clings to confidence. Although Amidst the Chaos doesn’t incorporate much of the musical theatre style fans were anticipating, Bareilles still strayed from her
traditional pop sounds and opted for a gentler, jazz approach. Moreover, she unapologetically allows her lyrics to be politically and emotionally driven. From breakup songs addressed to the Obamas to ballads about her own personal encounters with love, Bareilles doesn’t hesitate to testify to a broad array of themes for the sake of her
Amidst the Chaos Sara Bareilles Epic Records
own self-discovery. The most blatant difference between Bareilles’s new album and any of her previous work is her prominent devotion to political campaigns. Released earlier this year before, “Armor” is an undoubtedly feminist anthem. Its lyrics confidently expose the patriarchy with lines such as “Blind men only set the world on fire.” Although lyrically it lies in the same realm as her empowerment
anthem “Brave,” Bareilles has given fans the same feminist fire with a more down-to-earth sound. Bareilles even offers some words of consolation to immigrants in “A Safe Place to Land,” where she encourages travelers to “Be the light in the dark of this danger.” Despite the ways she has incorporated ideas that fans haven’t seen in any of her previous works, Bareilles has also made sure to stay true to her roots by including some of her traditional love songs. Her heart-felt ode to a deadbeat lover, “Poetry By Dead Men,” provides a taste of the traditional “Bareilles style” fans have grown to appreciate. What’s most notable about the album is the way it both empowers and heals. Bareilles makes it known this album was intended to mend broken feelings and experiences she hasn’t had the opportunity to share in her previous work and hopes others can share in that healing. Now that Bareilles has distinguished herself in both the theatre and pop spheres, she has definitely taken the liberty of toying with new sounds and opening up more in her music. Bareilles’s ambition suggests this is just the beginning of a new era. There’s no doubt that she will continue to amaze us with her drive to keep growing in her music and career.
FILM REVIEW
NEON PRODUCTIONS
Korine loses the vision in ambitious ‘Beach Bum’ ANISH TAMHANEY Daily Arts Writer
There’s only one thing worse than a bad comedy: a pretentious one. “The Beach Bum” is a bland, frustrating film that tries to be both hilarious and deep, yet fails to accomplish either. Written and directed by Harmony Korine (“Spring Breakers”) and starring Matthew McConaughey (“Serenity”) in a role tailormade for him, the movie is a hollow joyride of drugs and excess in the Florida Keys. The most accurate microcosm for the movie’s grandiose emptiness is the image of
McConaughey’s Moondog, a perfectly grisled, dashingly hysterical, fanny-pack-strapped, flip-up-sunglass-donning, sexcrazed stoner, leaning back in his rickety boat while clacking away on a typewriter. “The Beach Bum” animates the notion of late-night dorm-room philosophy — barely-coherent, juvenile ideas inflated into gobsmacking revelations — to tell a meandering, dry story of a man at odds with “civilization,” a vague, ubiquitous term that stands in for the film’s villain. After a family tragedy forces the retired writer to finish his latest project in order to retain all his stunning wealth, he roams Florida in a hazy search
for the meaning of life. The plot sounds corny when phrased this way, but the worst part of the movie is that it thinks it’s so much more than it is. Occasional solid editing and admittedly impressive visuals can’t cover up one simple fact: It’s a dumb idea for movie. Another unaware summation of the film’s pompousness is a scene in which Moondog reads aloud one of his new poems at an academic ceremony. The poem is frankly terrible — a lewd anecdote about bestiality written during an acid trip — and the audience erupts in raucous applause. This is what Korine so desperately wants from the audience of
MAITREYIANANTHARAMAN Daily Arts Writer
A classic episode of “The Twilight Zone” follows a bookish, bespectacled bank teller so desperate for an escape from his demanding wife and wicked boss that he’s delighted when a nuclear explosion obliterates everyone on Earth but him. Finally he has “time enough at last” to read, uninterrupted. Amid the postapocalyptic rubble, he happens upon the ruins of the public library and giddily sorts tomes of Shakespeare, Shelley and Shaw into neat little piles to pore through this month and the next month and the one after that. Just as he settles in with a hardcover, though, he slips, his glasses break and he is rendered virtually blind. “It’s not fair! It’s not fair!” the man is left whimpering, surrounded by books he’ll never get to read. If you were to reboot the story in 2019, it might go a little something like this: Everyone is very excited to see how a buzzy auteur reimagines a beloved sci-fi anthology franchise, but in a cruel twist of fate, nobody can watch the show because it is only available on the risibly obscure streaming service CBS All Access. For what it’s worth, CBS has tried admirably to make the subscription service worth it, stocking the network’s complete back catalogs and some streaming originals — a deliciously gonzo spinoff of “The Good Wife” and a new “Star Trek” show — behind the paywall. But unless you are the rare TV watcher with a predilection for old episodes of “JAG,” the consumer surplus
calculation doesn’t really justify the purchase. That means some genuinely good shows on the site will have very small audiences. And very large potential audiences probably won’t get to watch them (It’s not fair! It’s not fair!) One of these shows is now Jordan Peele’s (“Us”) uneven, stylish reboot of “The Twilight Zone,” which first aired on CBS from 1959 to 1964, and has actually been revived twice before (both times to middling reviews). Peele’s version differs conspicuously from the original created by Rod Serling: The episode runtimes are longer, the signature black-and-white motif
The Twilight Zone
his own film, an enthusiastic appraisal of crude writing. But the most pretentious moment in the whole film is a slow motion, semi-biblical montage of homeless junkies throwing furniture in a lavish pool set to a crisp orchestra. The scene is so ridiculous and overblown that I physically cringed in response. To be fair, when the film stopped worrying about its overbearing ideas, it almost worked. “The Beach Bum” has its funny moments, including a shark attack scene that had me doubled over with laughter, but for the majority of the time I was not grinning. I was just waiting for the mess to be over. By the time the film ended in a thunderous explosion, I felt like I had missed a birthday. Despite a brisk runtime of 95 minutes, “The Beach Bum” felt like an eternity, hopping from drugfueled episode to drug-fueled episode without a concrete
Episodes 1 & 2 CBS All Access Thursdays
eschewed for luscious production design that just betrays menacing undertones. The episodes are also rooted in a very different present. In the second episode, “Nightmare at 30,000 Feet,” it is not a Muppetlike gremlin that warns a flight passenger of an imminent crash as in the original, but instead a prophetic podcast. But not everything of the original “The Twilight Zone” is lost. Still intact are the ominous Faustian bargains, the contrapassos that would raise an eyebrow from Dante, the
narrative. Despite Moondog’s largely lethargic character arc, McConaughey was thoroughly entertaining and perfect for the role. His unique drawl and graceful charisma are ideal for the seedy ease of Moondog. It never feels like he’s performing,
The Beach Bum State Theatre Neon Productions
just exuding the maturely ironic aspect of his charm that comes through in every role of his. And yet, none of the film’s other characters are even a
staunch commitment to poetic justice that is equal parts amusing and agonizing. Peele steps into Serling’s narrator role and does it effortlessly. It’s only when he opens his mouth that you’ll wish he had been a bit more involved — Peele neither writes nor directs the show (though he is an executive producer), and its insipid script is practically screaming for a more inventive hand. Serling’s original was pithy — sometimes funny, usually chilling, often didactic. And though Peele clearly understands “The Twilight Zone” and its manifest politics, the new version has forsaken what made the show work the first time around: A tight half-hour time-slot meant the twists came so quickly, the repercussive punchlines so unexpectedly, that you couldn’t quite decipher a given episode until it had ended, and you were basking in its lasting impression. The pacing here is assuredly off — the first episode, “The Comedian” is nearly a full hour long, but the thrill of the story wears off well before it ends. Maybe this is inevitable when an old classic is recalibrated for the prestige TV age. (Fortunately, the show’s portraits of modern anxieties dare to go beyond the reflexive technophobia of “Black Mirror.”) But a show’s new home on a streaming service should ostensibly free it, not limit it. “The Twilight Zone” is, as the show’s opening credits famously declare, a middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. This reboot treads a far less exciting middle ground: not untethered from convention, but intractably lost, chasing after a purpose that shouldn’t be so difficult to articulate.
little bit interesting. Both Isla Fisher (“Tag”) and Snoop Dogg (“Law & Order: SVU”) have secondary roles, but are ultimately purposeless vehicles for Moondog’s development. Another music icon in the cast was Jimmy Buffett, playing himself. Somehow, the idea of Jimmy Buffett partying with washed-up stoners on the west coast of Florida was one of the most realistic aspects of the movie. “The Beach Bum” is the most agonizing kind of movie to watch. I didn’t totally hate it, but I would have enjoyed my experience more if it had been unambiguously atrocious. Instead, the film is the product of one pretentious writer writing about another pretentious writer and is about as impactful as a 3 a.m. dorm room philosophy discussion.
Arts
6 — Tuesday, April 9, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
GRAPHIC CONTENT SERIES MUSIC NOTEBOOK
COURTESY OF CASSANDRA MANSUETTI
YOUTUBE
Anime music finds a home Surreal illustrated worlds in computer game ‘Osu’ with Michael DeForge DYLAN YONO Daily Arts Writer
Rhythm games are a unique product of the video game world that combines music with gameplay. If you’ve ever played “Dance Dance Revolution” or “Guitar Hero,” you know the intense satisfaction of correctly dancing or playing an instrument to a sequence of notes on the screen. For being no good at them, I have always been addicted to that satisfaction; countless hours have been spent attempting to master the music (on medium difficulty at best). In 2014, I found my calling. Imagine “Guitar Hero” but on the computer, and you had to click notes that showed up on the screen. That’s the essence of “Osu,” a game that challenges your rhythm and handeye coordination. Each track you play is called a “beatmap.” Talented beatmappers and other dedicated community members work to provide quality beatmaps that rhythm masters play to perfection, competing for points and a higher position on the leaderboards. “Osu” is still affectionately called an “obscure rhythm game” by its community, but has grown to 14 million registered players in its 12-year lifespan. It’s not so obscure anymore, but still nowhere close to the popularity of “Just Dance.” Part of that is the challenge — it has an enormously high skill ceiling — but
much of that might be attributed to the “Osu” community’s music of choice. The “Osu” competitive community is built on thousands of beatmaps to songs that I collectively call “anime music.” Anime music consists of opening and ending themes to popular anime series, visual novels, JRPGs and other media connected to anime. I myself found “Osu” at the tail end of my middle school anime phase, attracted to both the challenge and the cute, enigmatic vocals — enigmatic for an English speaker, at least. I never got sick of those songs, spending countless hours mastering beatmaps deep into the night, thrilled to finally find a rhythm game I was good at. I want to write that “at first glance, ‘Osu’ seems like a normal rhythm game,” but it’s crystal clear right away that it’s not an ordinary rhythm game. The game is deeply entrenched in anime culture and it wants you to know it. The name itself is a Japanese word (pronounced like “oss”) an expression tied to Japanese martial arts (i.e. karate). The game has a pink-haired anime girl for a mascot. For a time, one of the default beatmaps was “Tear Rain” by cYsmix, an electro-pop song with Japanese vocals that comes from “Touhou Project,” a Japanese bullet-hell shoot-em-up game. The default songs have since changed to be more culturallyneutral electronic cuts, but the
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vast majority of ranked, playable beatmaps are anime music. The game’s ties to anime culture are so strong that it almost seems like they’re inseparable — like “Osu” could not be played over a song that wasn’t at least tangentially connected to anime culture. It actually takes a closer look to see that “Osu” has no features limiting it to anime music. There’s nothing stopping the community from making beatmaps for American pop music, or any other genre of music that lends itself to a rhythm game. So how did “Osu” end up becoming a haven for anime music? Some might guess that “Osu” is a Japanese game marketed in its own country, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s actually developed in Australia, and Japan is only the sixth-most popular country for “Osu” players — America holds the number-one spot. Part of it is in the aforementioned branding: The game is clearly marketed towards a target audience of anime fans and Japanese culture enthusiasts (which are nearly synonymous at this point in the Western world). “Osu” takes a lot of stamina, so songs on the shorter end tend to be more popular. Most anime openings and endings are cut to 90 seconds, perfect for the competitive player.
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Release Date: Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
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Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 “Star Wars” warrior 5 Treaded winter vehicle 11 “Proven,” in proofs 14 Laptop brand that sounds like a top tennis player 15 Pays homage to 16 Prefix with corn or cycle 17 *Employee insurance coverage, briefly 19 It may be bruised 20 Blight-stricken tree 21 Deceived 22 Lo __: noodle dish 23 Church officers 25 “Valley of the Dolls” author Jacqueline 27 Animal that can learn sign language 28 Parting site in Exodus 30 “Who’s there?” response 33 Rank above maj. 36 Makes an effort 37 Small store 38 Serious no-no 40 Poet Pound 41 Be under the weather 42 11 p.m. personality 44 Mentalist’s “gift” 45 Installs, as a minister 47 Sound like an ass 49 Blu-ray buy 50 Quick breaths 54 “To reiterate ... ” 57 Like sunsetsilhouetted scenery 59 Golfer’s goal 60 *Unmanned aerial attack 62 From __ Z 63 Shrek’s kiss made Fiona one for good 64 Hint of the future 65 Home in the woods 66 Treating kindly 67 Sunset direction
DOWN 1 Ranted (at) 2 French school 3 Skin care prefix 4 Annoy 5 Sacred place 6 Carrots, for snowmen 7 Like one’s prized music collection, perhaps 8 Small water birds 9 Big name in canned meat 10 Baking soda amt. 11 *Hotel bed choice 12 Amtrak employees 13 “My Heart Will Go On” singer Celine 18 Flee to wed 22 Mexican mother 24 Sleep in a bag, maybe 26 Gig component 29 “Pronto” letters 30 Japanese golf great Aoki 31 Hardly the best 32 *Persist despite difficulty 33 Sounds like a crow 34 Docs who deliver
35 Bausch partner 38 On a scale of one to __ 39 Sculler’s need 42 “Please don’t bite me!” 43 Persistently worry 46 Symbolic Egyptian snake, which includes the start of a hint to the answers to starred clues
48 Peter of Peter, Paul & Mary 51 Snail trail 52 Colorado’s __ Peak 53 Cardiologist’s implant 54 Apple tablet 55 Jason’s ship 56 Lawn mower brand 57 Take a load off 58 Exxon, formerly 61 Homer’s neighbor
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CASSANDRA MANSUETTI Senior Arts Editor
Making a single comic strip, however simple the strip may be, is a painstaking process. I learned this in fifth grade, doodling comics in my workbooks and spending way too much time trying to get my characters (Kirby rip-offs and an OC named Bob, who was essentially an oval with Ls for legs and an isosceles triangle of a nose) just right. Now take one of those single comic strips — say about four panels — multiply it by over 400 and distribute it daily. It takes commitment, dedication and an extremely sharp drawing hand to pull off something like that, which is exactly what Canadian cartoonist Michael DeForge did with his latest work, “Leaving Richard’s Valley.” “Leaving Richard’s Valley” takes place in this bizarro and bleak version of Toronto, one where animals can talk to humans. Groups of animals and humans form, and most of them turn out to be cults. The titular character, Richard, is one such cult leader. With his band of racoons, spiders, frogs and college classmates, he lives on a section of land in a public park he claims as his “Valley.” City officials can’t be bothered enough to throw them out. The multiple intertwining plots are thrown into motion when a group of four animals are kicked out of Richard’s Valley for trying to save their sick friend with what Richard deems as unpurified water. As per most daily comics, hijinks ensue and lessons are learned. However, “Leaving Richard’s Valley” is unlike most daily comics. DeForge’s mode of distributing his comic was via Instagram — all 475 pages that constitute the recently released print collection can also be found on your phone @richardsvalley. While I’ve seen other Instagram artists that have attempted drawing (mostly) daily comics for however long a time (@tommysiegel and @ nathanwpylestrangeplanet come to mind), they lack the overarching themes and stories that DeForge brings to life, facets that bring to mind the best of “Peanuts” and “Calvin and Hobbes.” I recently had a chance to interview Michael DeForge over email about social media, solitude and his new graphic novel, among other things. DeForge will make a stop in Ann Arbor at the Vault of Midnight on April 13 for his international book tour promoting “Leaving Richard’s Valley.” Check out his words below, and perhaps get a chance to hear some different words in person later this week. The Michigan Daily: You’ve been in the comics scene for quite some time now, not only traditional print comics, but also online ventures and even TV animation. How did you first get into the world of comics, and how would you ref lect on your career so far after multiple years in the
business? Michael DeForge: I’ve been drawing comics since high school, but things really changed when Anne Koyama (of Koyama Press) first noticed my what I was doing. She took a big risk publishing someone so completely untested. In general, I owe a lot to people taking those sorts of chances on me. That was certainly the case with my job in animation, where I was invited to audition for a design position despite not having any formal training in the field. I feel very fortunate and I’m very grateful. TMD: I’ve never been to Toronto — never been to Canada, in fact — but I definitely got a real sense of the city through the comic, even though “Leaving Richard’s Valley” presents a more fantastical world. How would you describe your approach to this, blending elements of fantasy with more gritty realism? DeForge: I wanted to make the environment seem very “lived in,” so I added a lot of both real and imagined bits of Toronto history to the book. Hopefully, spending so much time hashing out those details helped make it feel like a real city. It was important that the characters be tethered to a specific place and time. TMD: “Leaving Richard’s Valley” was originally distributed via Instagram, with you posting one comic a day for over a year. How do you feel about social media having become this new home for comics and illustrators, particularly Instagram and Twitter? Are there differences to the varying social media platforms that makes one an ideal choice for hosting a comic? DeForge: I’ve always posted my artwork online, so sharing work that way has been pretty natural for me. There are aspects to Twitter and Instagram I dislike — I particularly hate having our livelihoods be so wrapped up with corporations who don’t care about us in the slightest, and I miss the days when online platforms were a little more personal and customizable — but I also understand this is the primary way people follow me. I don’t actually think either website’s format is that ideal for hosting a comic, to be honest, but I feel sort of stuck with both for the time being. TMD: The mood of “Leaving Richard’s Valley” is definitely a somber one, especially highlighted by the color scheme (or lack thereof ). Could you explain the stylistic choices behind the comic, particularly the black-and-white artwork? DeForge: I like switching between color and black-andwhite projects so that I don’t get too bored with any one style. I think the look of the comic really came together once I fig ured out the collage elements and the photocopied textures. I wanted to make the city feel cluttered, rather than just being generally and
vag uely “dirty.” It’s a very specific type of noise and mess I was trying to evoke. TMD: Reading “Leaving Richard’s Valley” reminded me slightly of Larry Marder’s “Beanworld,” a comic I randomly happened upon as a preteen, although it seemed the connection existed mostly in my mind. What were your personal biggest inspirations and inf luences for the creation of the comic? DeForge: Ha, I loved “Beanworld” as a kid! Berkeley Breathed’s “Bloom County” was a big inf luence on this comic, as well as on my last strip, “Sticks Angelica, Folk Hero.” I liked how it covered this broad community of characters so lovingly, and how f leshed out the setting felt. There’s obviously a “humans talking to animals” thing that’s present in my work a lot. I barely understood most of the jokes as a kid, since a lot of them were fairly topical, but I ate it up any way. TMD: I’ve read that you worked on “Adventure Time,” which I’m sure amounted to something like a dream job. What role did you play in the making of the show? Would you ever want to helm an animated TV series of your own? DeForge: I was the props and effects designer, but I ended up doing other things as well — character design, storyboarding, concept art, title cards, whatever. The concept art I was able to contribute to a few episodes is some of the work I’m proudest of from my time there. “Youth in Decline” publisher Ryan Sands and I were developing a show called “Mall Nation” for Cartoon Network that they ended up passing on. It was about the student body of an elementary school getting indefinitely locked inside an abandoned shopping mall, who are forced to build this new, anarchic society for themselves. It would have been fun to work on if it got off the ground, but the pitching process was exhausting and ultimately pretty heartbreaking, so it’s not something I’d be all that eager to jump into again unless I really had the right idea for it. I like being focused on comics. TMD: How does it feel embarking on an international book tour to promote “Leaving Richard’s Valley”? DeForge: Drawing comics can be solitary work, so having the opportunity to travel and talk to readers on tours is real nice. It’s certainly not something I expected I’d ever be able to do when I was first starting out. TMD: What’s next for Michael DeForge? DeForge: I have a shorter comic coming out from Koyama Press in the fall called “Stunt.” Aside from that, I’m just chipping away at stories that probably won’t be published for another two years or so.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, April 9, 2019 — 7
Wolverines growing in mistakes ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer
At the halfway point of its season, the No. 24 Michigan baseball team (22-8) is heating up at exactly the right time. It’s returned to the rankings. It took four of its first five Big Ten games and eight of its last 10 contests, a stretch that included a 1-0 pitchers’ duel victory against San Jose State, a 16-2 rout of Michigan State and a gritty come-from-behind series win over Minnesota last weekend. After a tough California swing where they saw their first four losses of the season and an even tougher trip to Texas — where they were swept by No. 11 Texas Tech — the Wolverines are learning from their past mistakes. Against the Red Raiders on March 21, it was the defense that had issues. Michigan gave up six hits and committed two errors, leading to six unearned Texas Tech runs in the fifth inning alone. The Red Raiders added another run in the bottom of the seventh on an error from
sophomore catcher Joe Donovan and tacked on three more in the bottom of the eighth inning to take the game, 11-2. But since that trip, Michigan’s defense has been one of its strongest assets. The Wolverines’ average fielding percentage is .971, and their aggressive-mistakes mindset has resulted in some impressive plays, including several barehanders from sophomore shortstop Jack Blomgren and senior second baseman Ako Thomas. They turned three inning-ending double plays in Sunday’s 8-0 trouncing of Minnesota alone. “To be able to minimize (Minnesota’s) opportunities was a huge storyline this weekend,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “It’s really just playing good defense. That’s something that helps us have a good day.” In the Dodgertown Classic, it was the offense that could not produce. After a triumphant 7-5 win over then-No. 2 UCLA on March 8, the lineup could not find a rhythm for the Wolverines as USC’s pitchers stifled their bats and Oklahoma State got
clutch hits when Michigan could not. Now, though, the Wolverines’ clutch hitting has helped them to more than a few victories. In their Big Ten opener against the Spartans, they scored the winning runs off two fifthinning doubles to break the game open. And in Saturday’s game against Minnesota, Michigan clinched the win on a two-out, two-run double from Thomas in the bottom of the seventh. Overall, heading into a midweek series against a strong Indiana State team and an away weekend series against archrival Ohio State, Michigan seems to be peaking just when it needs to be. The ghosts of baseball games past have yet to return to haunt the Wolverines, and if Michigan can continue to grow from past mistakes, the team is looking increasingly tough to beat. “The challenge is just to get better, to play our best baseball,” Bakich said. “I have total faith in our players. If we just come with that mentality of competing and effort and energy, and if we bring that from the first pitch, I think we’ll be in great shape.”
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Sophomore shortstop Jack Blomgren made several impressive plays in the field during Michigan’s weekend series.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
The Michigan rowing team took down three ACC opponents in this past weekend’s regatta on Lake Monticello, Va.
Rowing sweeps weekend regatta MEGAN CHAPELLE Daily Sports Writer
Over the weekend, the Michigan rowing team was dominant. Michigan was so dominant, in fact, that none of its boats lost a race. The sixth-ranked Wolverines swept three ACC opponents — including two ranked teams — on Lake Monticello in Virginia. Michigan dispatched No. 10 Virginia during morning races and defeated No. 17 Syracuse along with Duke during the afternoon session of racing. The wins provided a promising start to the spring season. “Any time you can win races against really good programs like we raced today, that’s a good thing,” said Michigan coach Mark Rothstein. “We were pleased to be able to come away with some really good victories, and we’re excited to get faster, grow and improve.” Both varsity eight boats
contributed to the weekend’s highlights. The first varsity eight beat Virginia by 7.3 seconds with a time of 6:30.5, then came back and topped Syracuse by 4.3 seconds and Duke in the afternoon, timing 6:26.5. The second varsity eight boat also won both its races, although they were much closer than the first eight’s. After quickly beating the Cavaliers in 6:36.0 by 4.7 seconds, the Wolverines inched ahead of the Blue Devils in the afternoon race in 6:35.3, by a mere eight-tenths of a second. Additionally, the first varsity four continued undefeated as it won by more than 10 seconds in the morning (7:18.6) and more than seven seconds in the
afternoon (7:24.2). The second varsity four also won both its races, with a close finish in 7:23.6 by 4.2 seconds and a comfortable win in 7:33.4 by 11.8 seconds. The third varsity four won by relaxed margins as well, including the biggest win of the day — a 19.0-second victory against Virginia in 7:29.2. “Top to bottom all the boats really had bright spots,” Rothstein said. “They all showed some things that needed to be improved. “We’re in a good spot, but the biggest thing that we are seeing right now is these athletes are excited to get back to practice. Regardless of times, regardless of race results, they want to get back to work and keep getting faster. That’s exciting to see.”
Top to bottom, all the boats really had bright spots.
‘M’ men’s tennis splits weekend Schalet shows poise in comebacks CHRIS SULLIVAN For The Daily
The doubles point proved to be the make-or-break factor for the No. 20 Michigan men’s tennis team in its weekend split. On Friday, winning the doubles point set the tone early for a 5-2 win over Northwestern. But on Saturday, a doubles loss foreshadowed a 4-2 defeat to No. 15 Illinois. “The doubles point is so big and we need to play better,” said Michigan coach Adam Steinberg. “For us, we should take much more pride in our doubles. Our record in doubles should be better than it is.” On Friday, the team clinched two out of the three doubles matches after impressive performances from the duos of freshman Andrew Fenty and senior Myles Schalet, and junior Connor Johnston and freshman Patrick Maloney. With the crucial doubles point under its belt, Michigan proceeded to win four of six matches in the singles round. Sophomore Mattias Siimar impressed with a 6-2, 6-3 straight-set outing over Northwestern’s Antonioni Fasano to propel the Wolverines to a win on Friday. The second half of the home series against Illinois on Sunday was a different story. The team of Fenty and Schalet, along with the team of sophomore Harrison Brown and Siimar dropped the first two matches, leaving the third unfinished and handing Illinois the doubles victory. Steinberg felt that his squad did not execute well on first serve, an important aspect of doubles because it enables a team to hold serve most of the time during a match. Though the team trailed from the start, the competition was still close late. Michigan trailed by one point with a chance to tie and potentially win with Fenty and Johnston left to play. Johnston would ultimately fall to Illinois’ Keenan Mayo in a close third set, clinching a 4-2 victory for the Illini. Illinois players stormed the court in joy, while
the Wolverines looked on with noticeable disappointment. “We just had leads everywhere. We threw them away up a set and a break at six, up a set and break at two,” Steinberg said. “We have to finish those.” Siimar, Johnston and senior Gabe Tishman all held leads during their matches, but all eventually lost in three sets. It was a pattern that Steinberg felt derived from a mid-match mentality — a misguided one. “I think they think about winning and that they don’t focus on the plan ahead, the task,” Steinberg said. “They get so resultsoriented when they’re ahead. It’s just the wrong thinking.” Despite a disappointing afternoon, Michigan had strong showings from Schalet and Maloney, the team’s only two players to win in the singles round. Schalet’s day was particularly impressive, as he led a valiant comeback from down three games to win the first set and eventually the match in straight sets 7-5, 7-6 (5). Steinberg said that he believed it was one of his better wins of
the season, considering the deficit Schalet overcame. Maloney also had a short, yet impressive, outing, beating his opponent 6-3, 6-2. “He’s doing unbelievable,” Steinberg said. “You know, when you lose a doubles point you don’t want to go down 2-0, you want to get it one all, and he got us on the board so that was great for him.” Still, Steinberg demonstrated some frustration with how his team started and finished the match. “We do a great job when we’re down, but we don’t do a great job when we’re up,” Steinberg said. “It’s just glaring, it happens a lot to us. So we need to find a way to finish more.” Schalet agreed with his coach and mentioned that changing the trajectory of their season starts with how the Wolverines train. “When we play sets in practice and really make it like a match, not just going through the motions, it takes a lot of focus,” Schalet said. “When you are playing a good team like Illinois, they’re going to really fight when they’re down.”
JACK KINGSLEY Daily Sports Writer
Coming into Sunday, Myles Schalet had not lost a doubles match since the end of February. Playing with freshman Andrew Fenty, the team leader in both singles and doubles wins, the duo was expected to set the stage for the Wolverines with a win over No. 15 Illinois. Instead, Schalet and Fenty were the first to lose their match, giving up an early 3-2 lead to lose, 6-4. It wasn’t their best tennis, and the rest of the team followed suit, with poor doubles play by No. 20 Michigan (13-6 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) giving the Fighting Illini (13-6, 7-0) an early lead from which the Wolverines were never able to come back. This made winning singles matches all the more important.
But Schalet still looked sluggish at the beginning of his match and quickly fell behind, 2-5, in the first set. While some would have let a doubles loss and an early deficit get to their head and hurt their play for the rest of the match, Schalet is no stranger to these situations. Friday against Northwestern, he lost the first set and faced a match point down 3-5 in the second set and came back to win. Sunday’s match ended in a similar fashion for Schalet. He went on to win the last five games of the first set and won the second set in a tiebreak to give Michigan its second and final singles point. “I trust myself, and I always keep fighting and competing,” Schalet said. “I’m just trying to take care of my service game and get early leads when they
I trust myself and I always keep fighting and competing.
are serving so I can get myself an opportunity to break.” Schalet used the support of his teammates to get back into his match — and eventually win it. When he was down and noticeably upset with his play, his teammates continued to encourage him. Once Schalet turned it around and took the lead, the rest of the team rallied around him, and he did the same for them. While the Wolverines ended up losing, seeing their captain come back motivated them. Freshman Patrick Maloney, who was the only other player to win a match, played with a similar intensity. “One of the ways I’m always able to get back is because of the way we play as a team,” Schalet said. “My teammates are always there, and we’re playing together. I’m not playing by myself out there, so that helps a lot.” But while Schalet was able to bail himself out by improving his play as the match went on, he said he wanted to start matches playing his strongest tennis.
I can’t rely on me coming back every time.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Senior Myles Schalet clinched victories against both Northwestern and Illinois over the weekend as the Michigan men’s tennis team split matches.
“I have to get better at starting matches better,” Schalet said. “I can’t rely on me coming back every time because a better player is just going to get on me.” Added Michigan coach Adam Steinberg: “I think he needs to focus a little better through the match, but when he gets down he gives everything” While Schalet was not playing at his best early on in matches this weekend, his ability to fight and his drive helped him put losses behind him and lead the team by doing what he does best — winning points.
Sports
8 — Tuesday, April 9, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Softball Surge With a rejuvenated offense, Michigan continues to dominate Big Ten play, extending its win streak to 15 games LILY FRIEDMAN Daily Sports Writer
The stadium was silent. There were three balls, two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Indiana clung to a narrow 6-5 lead. Senior designated player Mackenzie Nemitz stood at the plate, one pitch away from a comeback win or a letdown loss to end a long series against Indiana. One crack of a bat and the game ended. Wrapping up the weekend sweep over a strong Hoosiers team, the senior swatted a double into right field, and the stadium erupted. “We had to get it done,” said senior first baseman Alex Sobczak. “There’s nothing else to it. The scoreboard read that they were two ahead and we had to get it done to get people around.” Going into the bottom of the seventh inning, Michigan had trailed for the first time in 14 games since starting the home season at Alumni Field. The Wolverines faced a two-run deficit with three outs to solve it. And the senior class lead the charge. Down by two runs with an early out on sophomore Natalia Rodriguez’s popup to center field, senior second baseman Faith Canfield entered the batter’s box. In her three previous at-bats Sunday against No. 3 right-hander Emily Goodin, Canfield didn’t tally a hit. But she needed one in the seventh inning, and she got it. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Canfield hit a home run to center field that shrunk the gap to one run. Now down 7-6, senior outfielder Natalie Peters hit a double to keep the Wolverines’ hopes alive before Goodin intentionally walked Sobczak, who had hit a home run against the pitcher earlier in the contest.
And then Nemitz stepped up. She hadn’t reached base since her first-inning triple off a fielding error. She hadn’t hit her best all weekend, doing little to maintain her designated player spot. But Nemitz knew she needed to produce. “I was shaking so hard, but I was honestly so in the zone that I didn’t even know how many runs we needed,” Nemtiz said. “It was mostly about keeping my mind clear. Nothing was really going on besides, ‘You’re going to get it done.’ ” Five pitches later, she did just that. All eyes turned to Nemitz as she lifted her bat, pulled it back and watched the pitch sail. And then she knocked it. The anticipatory stadium shifted to jubilation. Peters and Sobczak sprinted forward, and the disappointment of Michigan’s looming loss was
replaced with elation. “I got to second and was sitting on the base like ‘Okay I’m not getting out’ and then I see Alex hit home plate and I looked up and we won,” Nemitz said. “From behind, you’ve got to just get it done.” Nemitz’s cap to the senior-led comeback inning signified their role all season leading the team offensively. “This game is the best game I’ve ever been a part of,” Sobczak said. “After I hit home, there’s no better feeling. It’s such a high.” It was quite an inning and an even better way for the seniors to end the tumultuous game collectively. “It’s just awesome to see all of the hard work pay off in one little inning,” Nemitz said. “That was just a team win. Alex came to me and hugged me and I was just like ‘I did that for you.’ ”
LILY FRIEDMAN Daily Sports Writer
Up 4-2 in the third inning of Sunday’s slate against Indiana, the Michigan softball team entered a lull. Sophomore lefthander Meghan Beaubien took over for freshman right-hander Alex Storako in the circle, and the Hoosiers started to score. With two consecutive batters reaching base for Indiana, a player hit by a pitch and a walk, the Wolverines scrambled. The result wasn’t pretty. A triple sank Michigan into a deficit, one that was worsened by freshman Lexie Blair’s fielding error in right field. Michigan coach Carol Hutchins had one main piece of advice for Beaubien. “(Beaubien) didn’t have good energy,” Hutchins said. “I said,
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Senior first baseman Alex Sobczak hit a home run in Sunday’s win over Indiana, continuing a resurgent season.
‘Our team is feeding off you right now,’ and it’s our team’s job to pick her up, but she also just needed to have better energy.” With a tough first two games against Indiana on Friday and Saturday, Beaubien had already pitched 10 innings heading into the Sunday series finale. But more so than the fatigue, her attitude in the circle guided her play — and subsequently her team’s. “She’s fit and she has the ability,” Hutchins said Saturday. “I didn’t think she was throwing nearly like she did yesterday and I don’t think it’s a fatigue thing. I think it’s a mindset.” Beaubien finished the inning — and threw three more scoreless ones after — but that fourth inning meant more than a slip-up. Sunday’s game wasn’t the first when the Wolverines let a few bad plays spiral and affect the entire team’s attitude for innings. They’ve said that repeatedly, and they’re not wrong. The team attitude can trigger energy slips that cause poor innings. But that’s sports. Just as momentum can affect a team negatively, it can also help break a string of bad plays and facilitate a last-minute comeback. And Sunday, it did just that for Michigan. Down 6-5 after her teammates’ timely hits earlier in the inning, senior designated player Mackenzie Nemitz walked out of the dugout with
her teammates cheering at her back. Five pitches later, she smashed a walk-off double into center field and ended the series on a high. Something changed from the fourth inning to Nemitz’s at-bat, and it wasn’t talent coming from the dugout. “We were all one heartbeat,” Hutchins said. “Every kid in that dugout was on point and that’s how you win big, because you’re playing for a lot more than just today.” Added senior first baseman Alex Sobczak: “I went in to those pitches and was on the line and ready for her to make a mistake …There’s no better feeling.” So what changed for Michigan? Nemitz attributed her success to a heightened sense of focus. Hutchins has pointed in the past to momentum and following up on teammates’ success. Sobczak said sheer discipline makes mental acuity a necessity in situations like that. Regardless of why the Wolverines could shift their mentality, Michigan made the adjustment, and going into conference road games and a series against Ohio State, the Wolverines may need to flip the switch again. “We really needed to keep ourselves in the game, and (Beaubien) found a way to do it,” Hutchins said. “Every inning, we can win these games. I really credit the kids in the dugout for keeping the energ y up.”
I went in to those pitches... ready for her to make a mistake.
Wolverines take first loss of season Players, coaches adjusting to WOMEN’S LACROSSE
TEDDY GUTKIN Daily Sports Writer
In a battle of the Big Ten’s two undefeated titans, one team was bound to leave College Park with its first loss of the season on Saturday night. When the No. 7 Michigan women’s lacrosse team (3-1 Big Ten, 13-0 overall) left town, Maryland stood alone atop the conference. The Wolverines fell 14-3 to the second-ranked Terrapins (4-0, 14-0), dropping their first game of the season and snapping a 15-game winning streak dating back to last year’s campaign. Sophomore midfielder Maggie Kane rifled a shot from the left side of the net to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead 33 seconds in, and for 10 minutes it appeared that Hannah
Nielsen’s squad was on its way to a potential upset, routinely disrupting Maryland’s offensive rhythm early while senior goalie Mira Shane made a series of saves up close. Just five minutes later, though, Michigan found itself in a 3-1 hole after the Terrapins tacked on three goals in five minutes. After a media timeout, the scoring blitz only continued, as Maryland found the back of the net five more times in the next two minutes and thirty seconds, dashing the Wolverines’ hopes of continuing their 13-game winning streak. “We were starved of the ball a bit,” Nielsen said. “(We) couldn’t win too many draw controls tonight. We were playing a little bit sensitive and playing on our heels a little bit.”
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The Terrapins’ scoring run was keyed by Michigan penalties. With the game still in reach, the Wolverines committed two fouls and picked up a yellow card to give Maryland three free position opportunities. While the Terrapins only converted one of these chances, they retained possession in their zone and convert twice on easy scoring tries en route to an 8-1 halftime edge. The Michigan offense also struggled to take care of the ball, failing to get a shot attempt for over five minutes during Maryland’s lengthy scoring run. As the game wore on, it began to appear as if the Wolverines were not prepared for its road tilt against one of the nation’s biggest powerhouses. While they have answered many challenges on its way to a 13-0 start, this one proved too daunting. “(Maryland is) a very skilled team top to bottom, and we knew we had to come in here and play our very best to beat them,” Nielsen said. “The effort was there and we fought hard till the end but we didn’t make the most of our opportunities.” In the second half, the Wolverines played with a different type of fire, gaining more offensive opportunities. Molly Garrett answered a Maryland snipe with a goal of her own to cut the lead to 9-2, but that would be as close as Michigan would get for the rest of the contest. It had two free position chances early in the second half, but were unable to convert and chip away at the Terrapins’ lead. “We needed to bury them,” Nielsen said, “but we’ll go back to work, get a little better on them, and hopefully we’ll improve for our next game.” While Nadine Stewart netted a goal to cut the score to 12-3, it proved to be too little too late, as Maryland coasted until the final whistle with a 14-3 victory and sole possession of the Big Ten’s top spot.
Josh Gattis’ new style of offense ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer
In his meetings with the offense, Josh Gattis preaches a simple strategy: Just play football. “Basic things you would wanna do,” said junior Ben Mason. “Make a block downfield that could open up a touchdown or lower your shoulder to get that extra yard. Knowing the situation. Just different things like that, he’s really made that come to life in our offense.” Much has been made of the new style Gattis is bringing to the Michigan football team — from the trendy hashtag “#SpeedinSpace” to talks of a no-huddle offense. But those pieces aren’t going to fall into place immediately, and one of the main emphases in spring ball has been getting the players up to speed on the new system. That includes not just the spread concepts Gattis, the newly-minted offensive coordinator, has promised, but smaller things like making basic plays and developing instincts. And while most of the emphasis has been on how the new style impacts the quarterbacks and receivers — who, by all indications, will become much more involved under Gattis — it’s an adjustment for everyone on offense. Without huddles, it’s up to the players to know concepts like the back of their hands and to have a greater awareness of everyone on the field and their jobs. “We’re looking to the sidelines trying to figure out what we’ve got,” said senior running back Tru Wilson. “It’s a lot of memorization. … You’ve gotta know the pass concepts. Now we don’t have tags telling us what we’ve gotta do. We gotta know what the receivers are doing and where we fit in,
what our depth is. We’ve also gotta know our protection so we also gotta know what our linemen are doing, our footwork and everything — everything was so crucial.” Pieces of Gattis’ system are things the Wolverines have done before, but as the spring season has progressed, they’ve gotten further along in knowing not just what his concepts are, but the way he thinks and the way he attacks. Now, everyone has more to do and more to learn. According to running backs coach Jay Harbaugh, guys who used to be buried on the depth chart have been able to learn quicker than they did in the old West Coast offense run by Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and former passing game coordinator Pep Hamilton — and have put themselves in a better position because of it. But for players entrenched in that old system, it’s adapt or get left behind. There’s a lot that’s new, but this isn’t a team to shy away from a challenge. “I knew it was coming and I was excited for it,” Wilson said. “And I think everybody has that same mindset, willing to learn,
open-mindedness and we’re seeing it come to fruition on the field with the offense working against the defense, and it’s really exciting to see.” On the field, anyone thinking the offense will have a complete upheaval will be disappointed. Jay Harbaugh noted that the Wolverines are still a runfirst team and that the actual runs they’re doing aren’t much different from before. But there, too, Gattis has presented things Michigan was doing before, plus more. There’s a new emphasis on getting the running backs involved in the passing game with screens and playing at a quicker tempo. For the offensive line, meanwhile, things haven’t been much different — at least not according to senior guard Michael Onwenu, who maintained that his role was still, “Blocking the, whatever pass or play, or whatever.” But he, too, recognizes that things are different with the Wolverines now, and he, too, has embraced it. “It’s cool and whatnot,” Onwenu said. “Change is inevitable, so you’re comfortable with anything.”
EVAN AARON/Daily
Junior running back Tru Wilson currently sits atop the depth chart.