Thursday, May 30, 2019
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
inside
Academics talk collaboration in higher education
NEWS
Boba
Students reflect on popularity of boba drinks with new stores
Town Hall examines integration strategies for STEM, arts at ‘U’
>> SEE PAGE 2
OPINION
OLIVIA SCOTT
Authoritarianism
Daily Staff Reporter
Zack Blumberg writes about the insidious rise of subtle authoritarianism >> SEE PAGE 5
ARTS
New Tyler album Heartbreak makes a monster out of Tyler, the Creator on “IGOR” >> SEE PAGE 6
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
Heritage
Samuel So creates a 44-page zine for APIA Heritage Month called SAMPLR
>> SEE PAGE 9
SPORTS
Women’s tennis Seniors Kate Fahey and Brienne Minor’s improbable run in the NCAA Doubles Championship >> SEE PAGE 10
INDEX Vol. CXXVIII, No. 111 © 2019 The Michigan Daily
NEWS .................................... 2 OPINION ............................... 4 ARTS....................................... 6 MiC......................................... 9 SPORTS................................ 10
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Federal court reaffirms Ross overstated property value Court of Appeals upholds Tax Court ruling on charitable tax deduction ALEX HARRING
Summer Managing News Editor
On Friday morning, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the judgement in a case involving alleged tax evasion by Stephen M. Ross, University of Michigan alum and benefactor for whom the Ross School of Business and Stephen M. Ross Academic Center are named. Ross and business partners are accused of overstating the value of property donated to the University in a charitable tax deduction by the Internal Revenue Service. In the case, the billionaire and real estate developer, along with a group of business associates, donated property — a Southern California building which housed
a data center — to the University to fulfill a gift. The University then resold the property for almost $2 million in cash to satisfy the gift requirement, and the $2 million eventually grew to $5 million. Though the property was appraised in 2017 for $3.4 million, Ross and his affiliates claimed a charitable tax deduction of $33 million, meaning they claimed the property was worth nearly $30 million more than its real value. The IRS uncovered this claim and has since imposed a 40% penalty for underpayment of tax — a penalty upheld by the Court of Appeals. The University has contended its innocence in this situation. In 2017, University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the University was not found at fault, and he said Friday afternoon the University has no change in comment. “During the course of this case, which dates back more than a decade, neither the Internal Revenue Service nor the U.S. Tax
Court found any fault with the university’s receipt or handling of this donation from Stephen Ross,” Fitzgerald wrote. “University officials were called as potential witnesses, but in June 2015 were released prior to testifying, as the parties determined that university officials had nothing to add to the case.” Fitzgerald affirmed the transaction of the property was reviewed by tax experts and legal counsel. Ronald Katz, Ross’ former tax accountant, and Harold Levine, a lawyer who helped with the donation, were charged with felony obstruction and tax evasion respectively, though both cases are unrelated to Ross’ current legal situation. Ross and his partners, listed under RERI Holdings, faced their latest loss in the case Friday when the Court of Appeals upheld the prior judgement of the Tax Court.
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On Tuesday morning, about 70 people gathered in the Michigan League for “Branches from the Same Tree: A U-M Town Hall on the Integration of Arts, Humanities, and STEMM.” The event focused on discussing how to best work towards a more integrative environment between the different academic communities on campus. The campus-wide town hall was hosted by the University of Michigan President’s Office, Provost’s Office, ArtsEngine and Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities in partnership with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Rebecca Cunningham, associate vice president for research and health sciences, opened the event by introducing the challenges integration can help tackle. Tom Rudin, director of the board on higher education and workforce at the National Academies for Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, held a demonstration where attendees had Monopoly money representing University funding. Participants put the mock money into a basket of their choice representing possible funding recipients. Most of the attendees put their mock money in baskets about increasing interdisciplinary collaboration, setting the tone for an event focused on innovative ways to integrate the arts and humanities with STEMM. When the floor opened for questions, many people voiced opinions on different aspects of the exercise. Some expressed time and space are resources just as valuable as money. Marvin Parnes, interim executive director of the alliance for the arts in research universities, brought up a point about integration that became a main theme over the duration of the event.
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2 NEWS
Thursday, May 30, 2019 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SMTD alum show support of LEO Students, alum express solidarity with lecturers facing course load cuts JIALIN ZHANG
Daily Staff Reporter
Approximently 50 University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni have sent videos to the SMTD administration, voicing their support for the Lecturers’ Employee Organization and their non-tenure faculty members. This comes after LEO accused the SMTD of unjustifiably cutting course loads from two nontenure faculty members after the ratification of a new contract between LEO and the University. The new contract was ratified in July 2018. It included salary increases, improved health Sudoku Syndication benefits and job security for nearly 1,700 non-tenure track
faculty across the University’s three campuses. Controversy emerged when SMTD administration notified Missy Beck, lecturer of dance, that a course she has taught for nine years would be taken over by a tenured faculty member. In the email, Anita Gonzalez, interim chair of the Department of Dance, told Beck her course load was being cut to avoid paying her the salary increase outlined in her new contract. “Because of the large increase in LEO salaries the administration would like to move as many LEO courses as possible to tenure track faculty,” Gonzalez wrote. SMTD has since then denied such claims and stated the course load changes were results of a review of its entire instructional workforce, including all tenured, tenure-track and clinical faculty, lecturers and graduate student instructors.
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ALEC COHEN/Daily
Boba shops join crowded A2 pool Chatime, CoCo open on Central, North Campuses
“I feel like the lines would’ve been even longer if more people actually came in person,” You said. “I know a lot of my friends bought like 20 at a time for other people.” This demand for bubble tea in CLAIRE HAO Summer News Editor Ann Arbor may reflect the drink’s growing popularity around the http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ On Wednesday morning during country. Invented in Taiwan in finals week, LSA junior Theresa the 1980’s, the original bubble tea Pham traveled to North Campus drink combines tea and milk with around 9 a.m. Pham was going to chewy tapioca pearls, from which the third day of CoCo Fresh Tea & “bubble” tea gets its name. As Juice’s soft opening — almost two the drink has evolved, becoming hours before the store opened its available in an assortment of fruity flavors and with a variety doors. “I think why most people tried of topping options — like grass it or waited so long in line was jelly, red beans and egg pudding to see if it was really worth the to name a few — boba has spread hype,” Pham said. “For the most beyond Asia. Brought to the United States by part, I think most people can Taiwanese immigrants, bubble agree it was.” CoCo and Chatime, two tea first got its footing on the West Taiwan-based chains specializing Coast, where it has become “an in a popular drink known as integral part of Asian-American “bubble tea” or “boba,” opened in culture in Los Angeles” and other Ann Arbor in late April. Chatime, coastal cities. In recent years, opened downtown on Maynard the bubble tea market has grown Street, and CoCo, located on significantly: Chatime sells over North Campus on Plymouth 100 million cups of boba a year, Road, join Sweeting and Bubble and CoCo has more than 3,500 Island on South University stores worldwide. From 2017 Avenue, bringing the number of to 2023, the global bubble tea bubble tea shops in Ann Arbor up market is forecasted to expand at a compound annual growth rate to four. Since opening, both CoCo and of 7.4 percent. “Each location will surely find Chatime have attracted lines with over a two-hour waiting periods some pre-existing bubble tea throughout their respective fans, and plenty of people eager opening weeks. According to to try something new,” Uri Bram Business senior Connie You, wrote in a Quartz article. these lines don’t represent Read more at michigandaily.com everyone who is interested in the drinks.
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Thursday, May 30, 2019 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS 3
Second annual Flower Day City defers takes place in Kerrytown installation of solar panels on fire station
Visitors enjoy family activities, art and flowers for sale at Sunday market CLAIRE HAO
Summer News Editor
Despite light drizzle throughout the day, hundreds of local residents and visitors to Ann Arbor visited Kerrytown for the second annual Flower Day. Sponsored by the Sunday Artisan Market and the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, the event featured a variety of flower selections and artisan wares for sale as well as food trucks, kids arts and crafts and face painting. The Sunday Artisan Market is a weekly arts and crafts market open April through December. The artisans at the market make all the products they sell, according to the Manager of the Sunday Artisan Market, Deb Dursi. Flower Day is the only day of the year where the Artisan Market combines with the Farmers Market. This collaboration attracts customers who may not usually frequent the Artisans Market, explained Shanita Richards, owner of Motor City Spreads, a gourmet jam and jelly business. “These vendors sell beautiful things, but you wouldn’t know it unless they had a market to go to,” Richards said. “It’s nice because you get all the peo-
ple that normally buy flowers, they get to come and see what the Sunday Market has to offer. It’s one of those treasures that people don’t often realize is here.” Ann Arbor resident Samantha Daly said she likes coming to the Artisans Market with her family. “We enjoy coming down and walking around,” Daly said. “There’s a variety of different vendors and there’s always things for the kids too.” Rackham student Linda Gong said her brother and his girlfriend were visiting Ann Arbor, so she brought them to the Artisans Market as part of showing them around the city. “I like how it is a great collection of local vendors with a variety of goods,” Gong said. “The f lowers are really pretty. Even though it’s raining, it’s been really nice.” Lynn Mullin, a visitor to Ann Arbor from Pennsylvania, said she noticed the Artisans Market is a community. “Even as I was walking through, I saw people who were greeting each other, vendors who knew their clients,” Mullin said. “I feel like it shows how artistic the community is; how ecologically-minded the community is.”
Dursi explained the Artisan Market was founded in 1991 by artisans who had trouble getting spaces at the Farmers Market. Since 2006, the Artisans Market has been separate from the city of Ann Arbor. Self-governed and self-run, the member artisans elect their own board and hire their own manager. “It’s a good group of people, very much a team,” Dursi said. “They look out for each other. It’s very unique in that it’s like a family.” Several vendors echoed Dursi’s sentiments, including Diane Sheffrey, owner of Baubles, a glass and fiber art business. “The Artisans Market is a nice, comfortable venue,” Sheffrey said. “It’s one of my favorite places to sell because the vendors become like family.” Richards explained she is new to the area and decided to become a vendor at the Artisans Market to have a “family” in the same spot every week. According to Daren Otis — president of the Artisans Market and owner of Lightweight Travel Totes, a totes and purses business — the Market’s affordable artisan fee attracts both longtime and amateur vendors.
“For a new person … we’re a place where they can get started and learn the ropes and learn from other vendors,” Otis said. “We help each other.” Otis has been selling at the Artisans Market almost since it began. Compared to art shows, Otis explained the Artisans Market helps her build stronger relationships with her customers. “I like the fact that I can develop a customer base because I’m here every week,” Otis said. “People who like my product come back, and they bring their friends. … It’s really gratifying.” Dursi expressed she was pleased with Flower Day’s turnout, both from vendors and the local community. “The crowd is really strong today, and that, to me, is really indicative of a positive community response,” Dursi said. “We have more vendors this year than last year for Flower Day, which tells me they did well enough last year to come back and give it another go.” Sheffrey said the Artisans Market is a significant downtown attraction. “It brings a lot of people downtown,” she said. “There’s a vibrancy to it.”
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Student organization led efforts to move station toward ‘net-zero energy’ MELANIE TAYLOR Summer News Editor
The city of Ann Arbor, in partnership with the University of Michigan’s Students for Clean Energy group, are in the process of planning a volunteer-led installation of solar panels on Ann Arbor’s Fire Station Six. The installation, previously scheduled for May 27, has been tentatively pushed back to mid-June or July. Engineering senior Grant Dukus, director of research and development for Students for Clean Energy, said the project team is working through the “nitty-gritty details” and anticipates the installation will be very soon. Dukus said Students for Clean Energy turned to Ann Arbor with the idea for the installation, having experienced trouble getting the University to commit to a similar project. “We found that it is very tough for these projects to get done in a timely manner on campus just because of all of the hoops you have to jump through,” Dukus said. Missy Stults, sustainability and innovations manager for the city of Ann Arbor, said the city is working with its legal department to confirm safety precautions and financial considerations of the installation. Stults said these finalizations should take time. “I’m not so focused on the actual installation date as I am on making it right, and we can replicate it, because
that’s the most important thing,” Stults said. “So, if we do this really well, and people are comfortable with it, it means the next one will be faster.” Stults said there was a large learning curve with the fire station solar installation because it is the first project of its kind undertaken by the new Department of Sustainability, which is only about 10 months old. Housed by the city administrator’s office — the executive office of the city — Stults said the Department of Sustainability’s existence proves Ann Arbor’s commitment to environmentalism. “What’s really significant about the creation of the office is that it really formalized and drew attention to the importance of the priority the city has around sustainability,” Stults said. LSA senior Taylor Lind, research and development team chair for Students for Clean Energy, said she believes Ann Arbor does an exceptional job of encouraging sustainable practices. “They have a fairly thorough climate action plan in process, and I believe that they are going through a lot of different planning to meet those goals. So, I think they are definitely in the right place and have a lot more progress made than other cities in the state, and I’d say even in the country,” Lind said.
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4 OPINION
Thursday, May 30, 2019 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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SAMANTHA DELLA FERA | COLUMN
M
Abortion will never go away, so let’s talk about it
y first exposure to abortion was the ’80s movie “Dirty Dancing” — not a health class or a Sunday in church, but a movie. If you’ve seen it you know the scene. If not, one of the characters finds out she’s pregnant. A few scenes and exchanges of cash later, she is found sick in her bed from some sort of infection from a “back-alley doctor.” The word “abortion” is never stated; it is simply implied. I didn’t even fully grasp what had happened to the girl until I watched it years later as a teen who could finally put the pieces of the puzzle together. “Dirty Dancing” is set in 1963 — 10 years before the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade legalized abortion — when back-alley abortions like this were the norm in states where the procedure was illegal. Fast forward to 2019, nearly 50 years after Roe v. Wade: Conservative states have launched an orchestrated attack on abortion, making it a felony, banning it after a fetal heartbeat is detected (usually around six weeks, before most women even know they’re pregnant) and even leaving out exceptions for rape or incest. With a conservative lean on the Supreme Court, these restrictive laws are looking to put Roe v. Wade back on the table and ultimately overturn it. I’m not writing to explain why overturning the legalization of abortion would be disastrous for anyone with a uterus — bodily autonomy and freedom from government-mandated pregnancies should not even be a question. Yet here we are, on the brink of a return to coat hanger abortions and telling 51 percent of the U.S. population that their choice doesn’t matter. But I
want to talk about pop culture. Pop culture is often an individual’s first exposure to varying ideas. Whether it’s a song, show, movie or play, pop culture allows someone to look outside the bubble they live in and into a world they have not yet seen. Prior to and following “Dirty Dancing,” abortion has been a plot line or topic addressed in a multitude of movies and TV shows alike. Despite this exposure, abortion is still a taboo word, inciting heated debate wherever it is brought up. Yet, dancing around the concept of abortion — why people choose it, how it makes them feel, who gets them — does no good for the discussion of it. Abortion is treated like a dirty word, not a medical procedure that about one quarter of women will undergo. To improve the conversation about abortion, we must normalize it to show, through widely consumed media, that abortion is not just its myths and falsifications. Perhaps the first radical portrayal of abortion was broadcasted in 1972 on the CBS show “Maude” starring Bea Arthur (“Golden Girls”). After discovering she’s pregnant, Maude talks with her husband and they decide they do not want to raise a child at their age. In New York where Maude lives, abortion is legal, so she gets the procedure; thus inciting over 7,000 letters of protest to CBS. For its time period, the way abortion was depicted in “Maude” was revolutionary. It features an honest discussion with a partner and reasoning for the choice, all done a year before abortion was nationally legal. More modern media like “Juno” and “Knocked Up,” show abortion as the option only “bad people” choose.
Obviously, I cannot force all media creators to cast abortion in a pro-choice light, but for those who have or want to — like the makers of “Scandal,” “Girls,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Jane the Virgin” and others — they should at least do it right. And that’s not to say those shows haven’t. They’ve shown abortion casually, as a difficult choice, surgically, medically, as a single woman, as a married woman and more. This is what abortion is, in reality, and that can be expanded. Some of the most popular shows in America are medical and family shows; shows that have the potential to actually make an impact and start a conversation. And they can do even more. They can show more low-income women getting abortions, as this is the main demographic; or show a devoutly religious person getting an abortion — as many do — and highlight that religion should not inhibit choice; or don’t make abortion into such a tragedy, because taking control of your body is not tragic and most women feel relief after an abortion; or show how men benefit from abortion, because that seems to be necessary when trying to get people to care about something; or even better, maybe the people of the United States can create comprehensive sex education for students to prevent these unwanted pregnancies and talk about abortion loudly instead of in hushed whispers. It shouldn’t be up to “Dirty Dancing” to teach kids about abortion, and it shouldn’t be up to the government to decide if you can get one. Samantha Della Fera can be reached at samdf@umich.edu.
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Thursday, May 30, 2019 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ZACK BLUMBERG | COLUMN
ANNE ELSE | COLUMN
S
Consious consumerism
ustainability goes further than typical policies and eco-structures learned about in environment classes; it is applicable to many facets of life. Recently, people have been examining a newer model for living sustainably: shopping consciously and understanding the impact that fast fashion has on the world. Fast fashion is commonly defined as clothing that is cheaply and quickly made in order to meet the demands of buyers as well as the rotating cycle of trends. Due to the unstoppable market for popular clothing and styles, businesses like Forever 21 and H&M produce vast quantities of new clothes every month. The fast fashion industry needs to work on conscious alternatives to their production, or else consumers will need to avoid these models altogether in order to help the planet. So how does this affect our ecosystem? Typical consumers tend to buy an item that they like one moment and then discard it due to rapidly changing style trends. There are several methods to get rid of clothing; some eco-conscious ways are to donate to a thrift store, swap with friends or give to local shelters or charities. The most detrimental way to get rid of old clothes would be to directly throw them away, as they would then be sent straight to a landfill. In the U.S. alone, there are about 11 million tons of clothing thrown away every year. From this, the clothes that are cheaply made are contributing to heavy chemical seepage from dyes and fabrics into water systems and soil around the world. Furthermore, most fabrics take a long time to break down in a landfill and will release chemicals into the air. Paying attention to the kinds of clothes you own is important. Take a look at the labels — are they composed of synthetic fabrics? If bought from a fast fashion retailer, the chances are the clothing items are made of some sort of blend of acrylic and synthetic materials. Through every laundry wash, microfibers fall off clothing and are washed into the water system. Their small size allows them to get through water treatment centers and into bodies of water. This is just another way cheap clothing is affecting natural environments. The flow of microfibers into bodies of water can even directly affect humans. Reports are revealing that plastic microfibers are reaching fish that are processed for grocery stores and consumption, meaning people are eating plastics stemming from our laundry. To fix this issue, individuals can either choose to buy fewer synthetic materials or purchase a special filter for washing
OPINION 5
machines that filters out microfibers. Hopefully we can begin to improve water quality and the quality of what humans consume in the long run. There are fortunately several alternatives to all of these fast fashion failings. The direct alternative would be to purchase items from sustainable clothing brands. Some well-known and trusted sustainable brands to look out for are Everlane, Pact and Veja which specializes in low-impact, sustainably-made sneakers. These eco-friendly brands are on the rise and cater to a wide variety of customers and styles. Look out for companies that market the fact they have transparent business models, sustainable materials and fair employment. These types of business are helping to recreate the fashion world into a place where working conditions are healthy and products are made consciously with a small carbon footprint. Some brands use quality materials in their products, while others build their brand on reusing and revamping recycled fabric. Companies may even solely rely on deadstock fabric, which is fabric that has been left-over from large textile mills or factories. This deadstock fabric is then reused in new garments instead of simply being thrown away. All of these creative approaches to sustainable fashion are thoughtful and eco-friendly sources for clothing. If individuals begin to primarily support corporations that use sustainable processes, then, hopefully, the rest of the market will shift toward prioritizing these values. Of course, the price for quality garments and business is typically much steeper than shopping at a fast fashion retailer. This economic standpoint is what makes fast fashion so appealing, especially for younger consumers who do not want to spend all of their money on clothing. If the higher prices of sustainable fashion deter you, there are ways to shop consciously on a budget. The best option for this is thrifting. Thrift stores are present in almost every town across the country. They bring in local donations and resell them for low prices, and most thrift stores carry clothing for everyone. Thrifting is a clear way to shop consciously because the money does not go directly to fast fashion retailers. It is funneled into a charitable organization that capitalizes on the values of recycling and reusing. Stop in at your local thrift shop and see what gems you can find.
Read more at michigandaily.com Anne Else can be reached at aelse@umich.edu
A
Authoritarianism, rebranded for the 21st century
uthoritarianism is a term that, historically, has evoked images of violent oppression and chaotic military coups, and with good reason. From Stalin’s Soviet gulags to Augusto Pinochet’s militaristic takeover of the Chilean government, authoritarians have traditionally used violence, power and strength to forcefully secure power and, subsequently, to silence dissenters and maintain a firm grip on this power. While these types of brutal regimes still exist today in places such as North Korea, they are less common than they once were. In place of the traditional authoritarian regime, the 21st century has seen the rise of a less extreme, but more sophisticated, style of subtle authoritarianism. Often dubbed “illiberal democracies,” these regimes take hold in democratic countries and rely on coercion, corruption and the rage of the electorate to gnaw away at the liberties and freedoms that are essential for a functioning democracy. Using this softer approach, leaders in theoretically democratic countries such as Turkey and Hungary have been able to push their respective nations towards authoritarianism, without the violence traditionally associated with it. In their quest towards authoritarianism, most illiberal democracies follow a relatively similar path. First, most rely on a central figure — usually a charismatic speaker — who declares that there is a fundamental problem in the country which they alone can fix, while whipping up rage among voters. In 1999, an upstart politician in Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was jailed for four months after publicly reading a nationalist, Islamthemed poem. Two years later, Erdogan founded his Islamist AK Parti on the values of Turkish nationalism and devotion to Islam, and by 2003 the AK had a majority in Parliament. In Hungary, Viktor Orban’s rise was quite similar. His Fidesz Party came into power in 2010, with a similar focus on nationalism and the “Hungarian” people. “I love Hungary, I love Hungarians, and I prefer Hungarian interests to global financial capital, or Jewish capital, if you like,” said one Fidesz parliament member in 2009, explaining the views that propelled Orban into office. However, being elected is just the beginning. What separates wannabe-authoritarians from
principled democratic leaders is their devotion to systematically dismantling institutions which protect democracy and limit their power. Within the government offices, this usually entails replacing qualified bureaucrats, who will stand up for democratic principles, with loyalists who will rubberstamp whatever the leader asks for. Beyond that, it also includes making legal changes to expand the leader’s power. In 2017, a highly controversial public referendum orchestrated by Erdogan allowed unstamped ballots to be counted as valid, expanding his powers massively. The referendum gave Erdogan the ability to directly appoint top officials, intervene in the country’s legal system and declare a state of emergency. In Hungary, Orban set out to enact a similar set of power-con-
In their quest towards authoritarianism, most illiberal democracies follow a relatively similar path centrating reforms. After Fidesz’s 2010 parliamentary victory, Orban immediately gerrymandered districts to increase his vote share going forward. Since then, he has expanded Hungary’s highest court in order to pack it with loyalist judges, fired civil servants in order to replace them with Fidesz loyalists and installed partisan supporters into crucial roles such as election overseers. In tandem with this, another crucial feature of illiberal democracy is a shift towards authoritarian public oversight. This includes using various tactics to censor the press, demonize dissenters and ensure it is essentially impossible to lose power through democratic channels. For Erdogan, who has held power as Prime Minister since 2003, creating laws to silence dissenting voices in the press has been an essential component of maintaining power. As part of his campaign for total control over the press, Erdogan has jailed 319 journalists and shut down 189 media outlets. If stifling the media isn’t enough to ensure complete control, sometimes illiberal democrats decide to simply not accept
democratic outcomes — something Erdogan has done. After a stuttering Turkish economy propelled an opposition candidate into the Istanbul mayoral office earlier this year (this was particularly painful for Erdogan, who traditionally has had a strong base of support in Istanbul), Erdogan eventually ordered a recount. He cited vote-counting irregularities, yet the case for this being legitimate is beyond flimsy. Orban has followed suit with attacks on independent media outlets and democratic channels in Hungary. By 2017, it was estimated that 90 percent of Hungarian media outlets were controlled either by the government itself or by Fidesz supporters. Orban accomplished this by using his governmental powers to pressure independent news organizations into selling their companies, primarily through financial and bureaucratic coercion — withholding advertising dollars, threatening to approve mergers that would hurt them, etc. Electorally, Fidesz has gone as far as creating fake opposition parties in order to splinter support among their opponents and retain power. While these countries may not utilize the same overt, militaristic tactics that many 20th century authoritarian governments used, that does not make their end goals any less dangerous. In tandem with their repressive policies, illiberal democracies are also careful to cultivate the appearance of — at least moderate — fairness. For instance, Erdogan’s aforementioned 2017 presidential powers referendum didn’t pass with 90 percent of the vote, as often happens in authoritarian regimes, but instead a mere 53 percent. This is exactly what makes illiberal democracies so hard to push back against: Theoretically, it is possible an opposition party could win elections in either Turkey or Hungary, even if it clearly won’t happen. Furthermore, this movement has been empowered by a global expansion of illiberal democracy with varying levels of success by state. However, as long as prominent global leaders like President Donald Trump say “People have a lot of respect for this prime minister (Orban),” it’s exceedingly unlikely that the powers of illiberal democracy will be effectively reigned in. Zack Blumberg can be reached at zblumber@umich.edu
6 ARTS
Thursday, May 30, 2019 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FILM REVIEW
ALBUM REVIEW
‘Booksmart,’ best kind of bonkers
GETTY IMAGES
‘IGOR’ signals a new era ANISH TAMHANEY Daily Arts Writer
Tyler, the Creator’s sixth fulllength album, IGOR, is both a natural step into his constantly evolving identity and marks a creative equilibrium for the avant garde hip-hop artist. In terms of Tyler’s eclectic discography, IGOR is probably most similar to Flower Boy, but to call it a continuation of Flower Boy’s jazzy weightlessness would be misleading. Where Flower Boy is zany and bright, IGOR holds back, rueful at its happiest. The album, at its darkly tranquil core, traverses the gradual process of accepting existential uncertainty. Many of Tyler’s albums act like operating tables for specific anxieties, unafraid to bloody the scalpel in the procedure. WOLF is the consummate example of this tendency, exploring the self-consuming angst of fatherly absence. With IGOR, coming to peace with himself doesn’t mean these anxieties will cease for Tyler, but rather that his ability to overcome them is improving. The first track, “IGOR’S THEME,” is nothing more than a tone-setter for the rest of the album, following a simple, compelling synth riff played over energetic drums. But for the remainder of IGOR, the anxiety that Tyler places under his unique microscope involves falling in and out of love. “EARFQUAKE,” the song that kicks off this journey, is one of
Tyler’s catchiest ever, recalling the pleasantly swaying chords of “Boredom” with a more poignant edge (and without the infectious summeriness of Rex Orange County). It easily stands as one of the album’s highlights, even if it’s not the most ambitious of Tyler’s works to date. The sense of haunting inevitability Tyler lays out in “EARFQUAKE” with the line “’Cause
IGOR Tyler, the Creator A Boy Is A Gun (Columbia Records)
when it all comes crashing down I’ll need you” persists throughout the album. In the song “RUNNING OUT OF TIME,” Tyler develops a tension between substance and style. Despite describing the quickly crumbling facade of a relationship, the beat is mystical, spacey and relatively slower than the rest of the album. The effect of this contradiction conveys a hopeless longing, a futile wish to slow time and alter the imminent. One of the most fascinating aspects of IGOR is how different the album sounds based on one’s surroundings. The first few times
I listened to it, I devoted all of my focus to the listen, usually sitting down. However, the experience of driving while playing IGOR revealed an entirely new facet of the album. Engaging myself in a soothingly systematic activity like driving shed light on just how evenly paced and naturally composed the album is. It tells a simple story, but one that fluctuates seamlessly through dynamic musical styles. Much of this effect lies in Tyler’s typical genre-hopping. The pulsating, arpeggiated outro of “GONE, GONE / THANK YOU” gracefully melts into the sludgy, cracking tones of “I DON’T LOVE YOU ANYMORE.” This penultimate track gives way to the explicitly bluesy finale of the album, “ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?” It’s one of Tyler, the Creator’s best songs, not because of its clarity in message but rather the lack thereof. Are our once-lovers still friends? That’s a likely yes. But are the ghosts of their romance really gone? That’s a far more compelling question, so Tyler knowingly keeps it ambiguous, with deceivingly harmonious chords and an all-too-bright melody. IGOR is a robust, fascinating addition to the eccentric, selfmythologizing canon of Tyler, the Creator. While it certainly bounds forward in his maturity as an artist, it lacks the edge that he so unapologetically embodied. This transition shouldn’t be a disappointment; it doesn’t take away from the piercing power of his discography. Better yet, Tyler has seemingly arrived at this pensive, nuanced stage of his persona on his own terms.
ish, nothing she does makes any sense. Lourd is hot in the superARYA NAIDU natural way that makes her seem Managing Arts Editor like she can do absolutely anything, and Gigi operates under that same “Booksmart” is a glorious cel- power. She’s a crazy queen conebration of the joys that come with coction of a character, somehow being a teenage dirt bag. It’s also elevating all those traits to create a Olivia Wilde’s (“Life Itself”) direc- caricature that’s entirely her own. Fast but never rushed and torial debut. It’s also so, so good. Amy (Kaitlyn Dever, “Them That unexpected but never overdone, Follow”) and Molly (Beanie Feld- “Booksmart” assertively cusps stein, “Lady Bird”) are high school every coming-of-age trope it abides seniors who devoted all their ener- by. The class burnout isn’t going gy to getting into stellar colleges. to college; he’s working at Google. They had no fun and at the bitter The wannabe fuckboy drives a car end of the school year, they real- painted in flames, and he wants to ize that all the kids who did have build airplanes and produce musifun got into the same schools. They cals. The resident hunk can clock make it their mission to finally go to your Hogwarts house over a nera party that night, and what ensues vous round of beer pong. Swoon. The film itself is the most sincere is beautiful. The odyssey of adolesskateboards are cent stupidity. sexy and the conAmy and Molfetti falls slowly. ly’s friendship is Booksmart When my heart the bedrock of Annapurna Pictures broke, Amy was the whole film, underwater, and which is why State Theatre, GQT when it burst, “Booksmart” Quality 16, Ann Molly was hallumanages to mean Arbor 20 + IMAX cinating a musical something, instead number. There’s of falling into the enough whimsy to high-school-romp wade through the wasteland. The kind of unboundtwo are involuntarily high in the suburban grass ed optimism that’s specifically when Molly starts undermining reserved for high schoolers makhow intensely she’s pining and Amy ing fools of themselves. But it’s all not-so-gently tells her to shut up. serious, you know? High schoolers Without hesitation, Amy says that are dreamy, but they’re also very if a certain boy is who Molly wants intense. They feel everything — then that certain boy is who she every unrequited love and missed deserves. Duh. Their love for each opportunity alike. With a gorgeous other is effortless, and that’s what ease, Wilde found a way to weave in makes it so honest. This movie the heartache with the hope. It feels disrespectful to say I’m shows women at their very best, doing dumb shit for each other proud of Olivia Wilde because she because they know it’s needed and is Olivia Wilde and I am dust, but I feel so much pride for this film that because they want to. All of these characters are clever I had absolutely nothing to do with. in the stupid way that only high This is a female-driven comedy school seniors can be, and they’re that is always progressive but never all really sweet, even when they’re tries too hard to be. It is so normal being assholes. There’s lust and love because of how confidently it just and even some loathing, but there is keeps going. This movie knows never malice. They’ve got none of what it’s worth, and it never settles Ferris Bueller’s irresponsibility, but for jokes that aren’t good enough or characters that are mean for the they’re all just as big of shitheads. Speaking of shitheads, all hail sake of being sharp. Gigi (Billie Lourd, “Billionaire Boys Club”). She rolls in to Leikeli47’s Read more at michigandaily.com “Money,” and, from start to fin-
Thursday, May 30, 2019 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FILM REVIEW
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‘Autonomy’ neglects the stakes of self-driving cars MIRIAM FRANCISCO Daily Arts Writer
After ten days of festivities, the eighth annual Cinetopia Film Festival concluded May 19 at the Michigan Theater with a screening of “Autonomy,” a documentary about self-driving cars. The film, which was directed by Alex Horwitz (“Hamilton’s America”) and had originally aired at SXSW, explores the future of autonomous vehicles by tracing the history of cars and driving. While the film shies away from rigorous analysis of some of the more fundamental issues surrounding self-driving cars, “Autonomy” is an entertaining (if blatantly biased) introduction to autonomous vehicles. “Autonomy” opens with Malcolm Gladwell describing his vintage BMW in adoring detail. It’s “the most beautiful thing I own,” he says, and the car certainly is lovely — baby blue, elegant but not impractical. Even for those whose cars are not pieces of impeccable German engineering, many people have some sort of emotional entanglement with their vehicle. “Autonomy” carefully outlines this relationship, inviting historians and experts to tell the story of how cars drifted from commodities of convenience to symbols
of freedom, adventure and selfsufficiency. The movie deems cars embodiments of the desire to be masters of our own destiny, a proposal that’s spot-on. Beyond its practical uses, the car has become a co-conspirator, a dare to strike out on the road. “You got a fast car / I want a ticket to anywhere / Maybe we make a deal / Maybe together we can get somewhere,” sings Tracy
Autonomy Michigan Theater
Chapman on “Fast Car,” and the whole song is full of longing, the car promising both escape and security. On “Highway Patrolman,” Bruce Springsteen breaks your heart describing a police officer who lets his brother escape to Canada. How? There’s a car chase, and a memory of brotherly love: “Well I chased him through them county roads / Till a sign said ‘Canadian border five miles from here’ / I pulled over the side of the highway and watched his tail lights disappear.” In other words, it’s never just a car.
What would it mean to change all this? That’s the question “Autonomy” strives to answer, surveying the legal, safety and social concerns that might arise if we hand the keys to our machines over to the machines. The film is at its best when it allows philosophers and industry professionals to weigh in on the morality of transferring the responsibilities of a driver to a machine. There’s a lot of interesting territory to cover, and “Autonomy” is engrossing. But I’m more interested in all the things “Autonomy” leaves out. “Autonomy,” which was produced by Car and Driver Magazine, feels in some ways like an extended piece of propaganda from a director who isn’t fully ready to trot out the party line. The party line isn’t that selfdriving cars will be a safe and inevitable aspect of our collective future — it’s that cars will be, in one form or another. They might look and operate differently, but autonomous vehicles are still designed as commodities to be bought and owned by individuals. “Autonomy” is focused on delineating the glamour and danger of cars, and it makes a captivating case for the role cars have, will and should play in our daily lives. However, it never stops to ask why we’re committing our innovative energy to
rethinking personal vehicles. Malcolm Gladwell, who is vocal about his reservations, mentions the application of self-driving features to public transportation, but this remains a largely untouched topic. “Autonomy” explains that for self-driving cars to operate at optimum safety and efficiency, autonomous vehicles would need to be nearly ubiquitous. Imagine this: There would be no need for stop signs, since your car would be able to sense a pedestrian or another vehicle and adjust accordingly. Cars could drive inches apart, and the frantic dance of merging onto a freeway or into a different lane would be soothed into a science. You could watch a movie on your commute, or send your kids to school in the family car without having to drop them off. “Autonomy” illustrates just how appealing this would be, but what the movie makes less explicit is that this future would require a cultural and material revolution — one that would be radical in scale but conservative in ideology. In 2017, there were 276.1 million cars in the United States alone, and all of them would need to be phased out or converted to realize this transformation. Of course, the automotive industry is investing in self-driving technology — this could be their biggest opportunity for sales since cars were invented! Maybe I’m being cynical, but regardless, I struggle to imagine the efficacy of such a fundamental remaking of transportation when the goal is limited to accident- and stressfree driving. These are worthy aims, but it would be a grave mistake to pursue them without simultaneously considering the impact of cars on the environment. “Autonomy” shows self-driving cars could mean a large reduction in crashes and pedestrian casualties. This is a wonderful possibility, but it’s an objective that shouldn’t be pursued uncritically. Car crashes are much more immediate and visible than
ARTS 7
fatalities from climate change, but both are equally deserving of consideration by automobile engineers. Autonomous vehicles might initially reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially if the cars are electric. But unless they operate on a schema outside traditional, individual car ownership, the effects are unlikely to be drastic enough (or fast enough) to offset climate change. In Southeast Michigan, it’s nearly heretical to suggest that cars shouldn’t be a linchpin of American life. I understand this: My grandfather worked in a Ford factory, and my mom still has two Ford-emblazoned forks that he took home from the cafeteria at work. The Ford Company’s pension plan kept my grandmother comfortable until she died. I own a car, and I like having one. “Autonomy” is right: The automobile industry is monumentally important to individuals and to the American imagination and economy, especially in Michigan. However, climate change will also impact the economy, in ways that automated cars do not fully account for. Though the film offers exhaustive coverage of other aspects of self-driving cars, “Autonomy” doesn’t delve into the details of possible environmental benefits or damages. The Intelligent Transportation Society of America projects a twoto four-percent decrease in oil consumption from autonomous vehicles, and there are a number of projects showing autonomous technologies can help reduce emissions. This is good, but it’s not good enough, especially given the emissions that would be produced during manufacturing. Though “Autonomy” tries to sidestep the issue by ignoring it altogether, the choice to stay silent about climate change simply confirms the extent to which carbon neutrality is not a primary goal of autonomous vehicles. Given the revolutionary nature of self-driving cars, we should be demanding something more emancipatory.
In Southeast Michigan, it’s nearly heretical to suggest that cars shouldn’t be a linchpin of American life.
8 ARTS
Thursday, May 30, 2019 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
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Release Date: Thursday, May 30, 2019
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
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SAMANTHA CANTIE
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Hairy swinger 4 Blue semiprecious stone 11 Vainglory 14 “Blue Bloods” actor Selleck 15 Joint Chiefs member 16 Bubbly title 17 Dreamed of a career in politics 20 Mythical hunter 21 Considerable stretches 22 Thames academy 23 Old Opry network 24 Nice picnic spot? 25 Burn soothers 26 Took part in a revival 29 Hit one out, in baseball parlance 30 Atomic number of nitrogen 31 TV commentator Navarro 32 Fort Collins sch. 34 Cone producer 35 “Amscray!” 38 Singer Lopez 40 Name on a “Little Women” book jacket 42 “We can’t win!” and “It’s useless!” 45 “Something to Talk About” singer 46 Low-quality 47 Mining supply 48 Subject of the documentary “Blackfish” 49 __-g 50 Terra __ 52 New father’s task, maybe ... and what the three other longest puzzle answers have in common? 55 Luv 56 Candy bowl holder’s rule on Halloween 57 __ generis 58 Short albums, for short 59 “Afterwards ... ” 60 Word before cow, dog or lion
DOWN 1 Somewhat 2 Physics particle 3 Spanish stuffed pastry 4 Taj Mahal city 5 Zombiepocalypse start? 6 Like a zombie 7 Snappy comebacks 8 Japanese show set in a kitchen 9 New Mexico resort 10 Pixie 11 Publishing house hiree 12 Start admitting both men and women 13 Fodder for soothsayers 18 Navel variety 19 Pen denizen 24 Soft drink choices 25 Last Olds models 26 Dustin Johnson’s org. 27 Confidential 28 More wicked 33 Still wrapped
35 Garganta of “Femforce” comics, e.g. 36 “No kidding?” 37 Road gunk 38 Saturn’s largest moon 39 “It’s not coming to me” 41 “High five!” 42 Drive-in server 43 Puerto __: San Juan natives
44 “Camptown Races” refrain syllables 45 Valium maker 49 “A People’s History of the United States” writer Howard 50 “High Hopes” lyricist 51 China setting 53 Small Indian state 54 Puck’s place
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STATE OF MICHIGAN PROBATE COURT COUNTY OF WASHTENAW PUBLICATION OF NOTICE OF HEARING FILE NO. 19-942-NC In the matter of the name change of Robert Michael Mansuetti TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS including: whose address(es) is/are unknown and whose interest in the matter may be barred or affected by the following:
Clairo and Elio: A side-by-side take
05/30/19
TAKE NOTICE: A hearing will be held on July 10, 2019 at 1:30 PM at the Washtenaw County Trial Court before Judge Conlin, P56333 for the following purpose: the name change of Robert Michael Mansuetti to Cassandra Dawn Mansuetti. Date: May 30, 2019 Robert Michael Mansuetti (petitioner) 411 E. Washington Street, Apt. 509B-1 Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (248) 504-8314
Clairo, Clairo, Clairo. You know what that sounds like? Elio, Elio, Elio (from the final scene of “Call Me By Your Name”). Yes, this might be dramatic, but allow me to force this comparison for just one moment, because listening to Clairo’s new single “Bags” (in anticipation of her debut album Immunity, due Aug. 2) launched me immediately into the heart-wrenching headspace of the following quote from Andre Aciman’s “Call Me By Your Name” (CMBYN): “If he knew. If he only knew that I was giving him every chance to put two and two together and come up with a bigger number than infinity.” Clairo’s new single “Bags” embodies this push and pull of summertime feelings, caught in a space between opposite magnetic forces where holding back affection sucks, but speaking out about it sucks equally as much, if not more. Clairo’s dainty voice, the summertime release, and her staple ability to be hazy (but not in the way that makes you think of overcast skies), launched me right into the green and yellow hues of “CMBYN.” With her fragile vocals, the scratchiness from switching between guitar strings and an overall sense of lingering, she cultivates the subsistence of entanglement. She creates this first-person point of view that feels so similar to Elio with lyrics: “I can’t read you, but if you want, the pleasure’s all mine. Can you see me using everything to hold back?” Also strikingly similar to Elio is the tangibility of her personal development in being open about her sexuality, writing about one of the first girls she knew she was attracted to. In an interview with VICE, Clairo discusses coming out a year ago and the authenticity that comes with “Bags” in it being the first single she has
released that allowed her to make music that feels personal. The single starts with a brief, ill-defined, ping-pong static that is quickly replaced with a consistent drum pattern, pushing the listener through the whole song in a pleasantly subdued manner. She not only captures the art of holding back, but wanting to savor, asking questions of how to enjoy something completely while still displaying restraint. The repetition of the lines “Walking out the door with your bags,” and “know you’d make fun of me” perfectly echoes the thoughts that run through your mind on a soap box, when you’re so damn attracted to someone but just can’t say anything. To bring this stretched-out analogy to full fruition, Clairo follows suit behind the likes of Tyler, the Creator and Kevin Abstract in referencing “CMBYN” with the lyrics: “All these little games, you can call me by the name I gave you yesterday.” Clario has hit the final form of Soundcloud bedroom pop. She’s shed her first- and secondstage attacks of the homemade sound with amped-up production (enlisting the help of co-producer Rostam Batmanglij), yet the signature daintiness of her voice, the soft aesthetic of her creative direction and, perhaps, her baby face, keep the listener inside the ethos of bedroom pop. This evolution is phenomenal to witness, because she holds onto what created the magnetic pull toward her in the first place, but then launches into a more mature sound, opening up about her sexuality and bottled-up emotions. The most important comparison I can make between Clairo and Elio comes from the line after which the song is titled: “Walking out the door with your bags.” For both Clairo and Elio, a lover leaves and never comes back. But, it’s in those pangs of emotion you feel when wrapped up in entanglement that are absolutely critical to your development and understanding of your sexuality — and that’s why the story of unfulfilled love is being told in the first place.
Thursday May 30, 2019 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MICHIGAN IN COLOR 9
SAMPLR: APIA heritage month 2019 zine SAMUEL SO
Summer MiC Managing Editor
Styles, narratives, culture, music. This is SAMPLR magazine, snippets of content in different creative realms that showcase the beauty of Asians. We strive to cultivate a creative space that best represent individuals in the panAsian community and their intersectional identities.
In this issue, we want to start off this magazine by setting the tone with chic portrait photography and fashion trends, having Asians in Diaspora recreate those trendy looks. We then get more personal with narratives and cultures in
We strive to uplift voices of Asians in Diaspora.
later sections of the magazine. We strive to uplift voices of Asians in Diaspora. However, this magazine is by no means perfect. With very limited resources, there is only so much we can showcase thru SAMPLR and it can be difficult
to perfectly depict the diverse representations and uplift all the underrepresented voices in the community. We hope this is the start to a positive change! Special thanks to my friends who contributed and helped me out on this personal project! Happy Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month!
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Nothing wrong about speaking my own language SUNGMIN CHO MiC Columnist
Last January, a professor from Duke University sent emails to her Chinese international students, asking them to not speak Chinese and “commit using English 100% of the time.” She stated that several faculty members are searching for students who had been speaking in Chinese in public spaces. In the emails, she also stated that they were “very loud,” and that the students are not taking the chance to learn English seriously, thus missing professional opportunities. It was that professor in specific who got media attention, but it should not be forgotten that she was a messenger for many other faculty members who thought the same way. I found this incident especially relatable, as I once had been concerning if I was seen as so-called “FOB.” Short for ‘fresh off the boat,’
it is a slang referring to immigrants who have yet to abandon their culture and language and assimilate into the society in the diaspora. Personally, as an international student, I am not a big fan of my country of origin. My early experiences with living in a heteronormative atmosphere where antiquated cultural practices such as the Confucian hierarchy and authoritative patriarchy are still abided by have strain had strained my identity as a Korean. This is why I initially wanted to erase Korean aspects of me and fit into the so-called “American” culture. However, as soon as I realized that this “American” thing was selective exclusion and hostile to certain foreign cultures after all. People like to seek excuses to target minorities. They bring up superficial words to deny
their racist undertones. The faculty members brought up “noise” and volume to justify their selective hostility against these students. Even though many international students like me and those at Duke decide to pursue a higher education that primarily teaches in English, it does not necessarily mean that we are willing to give up our native language and freedom of expression. Living in a country that preaches heavily on basic civil liberties, it should be up to the individual to decide which language they would like to speak. This incident seems to suggest otherwise. While I am condemning the professor who wrote the email in particular instead of the people who primarily warned the Chinese students, her decision to uphold her colleagues’ words and ways of
People like to seek excuses to target minorities
conveying them was inevitable of criticism. She does not recognize how problematic and offensive it is to specify a certain language as loud and rude. Living under institutions where systemic oppressions are so prevalent, incidents like this doesn’t surprise me. No one problematizes the English language itself when domestic students, especially white and privileged students, speaking loudly in “proper” English. This reminds me of a similar incident several years ago when one student publicly complained about Asian students being loud in libraries. They are just unmannered students, not unmannered “Asian” students. This is all hate speech targeting the non-Western languages and cultures. One thing I still do appreciate is that the professor has reassured me that there’s nothing wrong about an international student speaking native languages, and I will do so even more publicly without any doubt.
10 SPORTS
Thursday, May 30, 2019 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan women’s tennis falls in NCAA Singles Tournament Michigan women’s tennis team makes up for poor singles showing with a deep doubles tournament run SHIRA ZISHOLTZ Daily Sports Writer
For the first time in Michigan history, three Wolverines were going to Orlando to compete in the NCAA Singles Tournament. However, with the three girls all ranked top-50 in the country, none of them made a serious run in the tournament. Seniors Kate Fahey and Brienne Minor, who also teamed up in the doubles tournament, made their third appearance in the NCAA singles tournament, while junior Chiara Lommer made her debut. Fahey was the No. 3 seed for the singles tournament, the highest seeding a Michigan player had ever earned. Her tournament performance, however, was quite uncharacteristic. Fahey, on a
record-breaking winning streak, fell short to North Carolina’s Sara Daavettila on Monday. She dropped a three-set match to bring an end to her incredible singles career. Fahey is Michigan’s alltime leader in singles wins (132) and winning percentage (.815) after a 38-6 senior season. She lost, 6-3, in the first set, but broke serve to start the second before holding off two break points in her next service game. She then kept the distance the rest of the way, wrapping up a 6-4 win in the second set to even the match.
The third set, briefly interrupted due to heat caution, went back and forth until Fahey lost four straight games, eliminating her from the tournament. Minor returned to the singles tournament for the first time since winning the 2017 NCAA singles title. She defeated No. 48-ranked Olivia Hauger of California, 6-1, 6-4, to advance past the first round. It was all Minor in the first set as she raced out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back in the 6-1 first-set win. But she found herself in a 4-1 hole in the second
“Everyone is super good in that tournament.”
before stringing together five consecutive games to pull out the victory. The next round, Minor battled a hard-fought match, but ultimately fell to Illinois’ Asuka Kawai, ending her singles career at Michigan. Lommer notched the first upset of Monday, defeating No. 4-ranked Ingrid Gamarra Martins from South Carolina. Lommer had a timely break in the first set, going up 4-3. Riding the momentum from there, she came away with a 6-3 first-set win. She then battled out the second set to win it, 6-3, as well. “Everyone is super good in that tournament,” Lommer said. “I knew that whoever I was going to play in the first round was going to be a tough match. I was pretty
excited to see how I was going to compare — you know, she plays (No.) 1 for a top SEC team, so I just wanted to see how I would level up against her. Honestly, I felt pretty good.” Though she lost in the next round to Hawaii’s Petra Melounova, 6-4, 6-1, Lommer is optimistic for her final year and her career ahead. “I think that I’m definitely ready for the challenge,” Lommer said. “I’m going to work on some areas of my game to make sure I’m totally ready for the transition. I’m excited. Of course I’m nervous, like, it’s always a big deal to try and play higher, but I’m definitely more excited than nervous. It’s a great opportunity and can hopefully transition to playing after school.”
Michigan finishes runner-up in National Championship run SHIRA ZISHOLTZ Daily Sports Writer
When you think about fairytale endings to a doubles career, this is just about as close as you can get. Michigan senior duo Kate Fahey and Brienne Minor played their first and last NCAA doubles tournament together this past weekend, and, against all odds, finished second in the nation. Going into the tournament unranked and being seeded to play some extremely tough pairs, Fahey and Minor were just along for the ride. “We came into the tournament unseeded, so I thought we came in there without any pressure,” Minor said. “I don’t think anyone expected anything from us, so we kind of came in relaxed. We were just having fun on the court, especially being seniors, it was our last tournament together. We went out there and had fun and played to our strengths and did what we do best.” Added Fahey: “(Minor) and I didn’t even know if we were going to get in. I mean, it was kind of on the fence, so we were just happy to get into the tournament. It’s a really huge tournament with the best players in the country, so we were really happy we got the last opportunity to play with each other. And I think we
really just went one match at a time. We didn’t look forward, we didn’t look through anyone. We knew each match was going to be tough, and we really took care of it in each match.” In their first tournament game, Fahey and Minor came away with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Virginia’s 17th-ranked Meghan Kelley and Sofia Munera to advance the round of 16. The Wolverine pair went up a break at 2-1 and that was all it needed to take a first set win, 6-1. Michigan grabbed an early 2-0 lead before Virginia evened the match at two. Fahey held her next time back at the service line, with another Wolverine break to follow for a 4-2 lead. With the momentum in its favor, Michigan won the final two games to take a 6-2 lead. The Wolverines broke the Cavaliers in the final game, winning a deuce point to send Michigan to the second round. The next round featured a matchup with 11th-ranked Elysia Bolton and Jada Hart of UCLA. Michigan took an early lead, then came through on two deuce points for a strong 4-2 advantage. Fahey and Minor got another break and then served out the set in the ensuing game for a 6-2 first-set win. In the second set, the points went back and forth, allowing the Bruins to tie at three. The Wolverines then grabbed two break points on UCLA’s
serve in the ninth game of that set. Tied at 5-4 with the opportunity to serve, the Bruins were able to break the Wolverines in the next game, tying the set at 5. The second set was sent into a tiebreaker. It was all Michigan in the breaker as the Wolverines won the first two points. That was all the distance Fahey and Minor needed to take a 7-2 win. The victory made Fahey and Minor the first Michigan duo to advance to the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament in program history. By advancing to the quarterfinals, Fahey and Minor solidified All-American doubles honors. Down to the round of eight, Fahey and Minor faced Georgia’s No. 28 Katarina Jokic and Lourdes Carle. The first set featured three breaks of serve to start before Michigan held at love for a 3-1 lead. Both teams held serve the next time back before the Wolverines dominated off the deuce point of the Bulldogs’ serve for a big 5-2 advantage. Michigan served out the set in the next game and secured a 6-2 win. The second set started just like the first one did — the teams exchanged breaks to start. Georgia quickly capitalized for an early 3-1 lead. The Wolverines got the break right back, winning the deuce point on the Bulldogs’ next service game to get the ball back on their side, winning the
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Seniors Brienne Minor (left) and Kate Fahey (right) finished second in the nation.
point and tying at three. Georgia held on its serve and then broke Michigan on the deuce point to take a 5-3 lead. The Bulldogs won the next game to take the second set and send the match to a 10-point tiebreaker third set. The Wolverines gained control early in the breaker set, grabbing a 5-2 lead. Michigan held four match points following a 9-5 advantage, but Georgia answered back with three straight points to close the gap to just a point at 9-8. Michigan came through on the next point to wrap up a 10-8 win for the match.
Down to the Final Four, Minor and Fahey punched their ticket to the national championship match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 3 Ingrid Gamarra Martins and Mia Horvit of South Carolina. The Wolverines raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first set and never looked back. The Gamecocks got on the board at 3-1, which ignited a run of four straight holds between the two teams. But Michigan came away with the final three points to win, 6-2.
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SPORTS 11
Michigan loses to Nebraska, ending Big Ten Tournament run KENT SCHWARTZ Daily Sports Writer
There were two games and two stories Saturday for the No. 2 seed Michigan baseball team. The Wolverines were fighting for their lives for the third day in a row after an opening day loss to Ohio State put them in the backdraw, where they walkedoff against No. 3 seed Illinois and beat No. 6 seed Maryland to set up a semifinal game with No. 5 seed Nebraska. The Wolverines overwhelmingly won the first game, 18-8, but lost the second of the doubleheader, 7-3, therefore getting eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament. But to get to the nightcap, Michigan had to come up with an early morning victory. And it was seemingly the only team awake as the Wolverines scored seven runs in the first inning and never looked
back during the easy victory. At night, though, the Wolverines didn’t race to an early lead. Sophomore left-hander Angelo Smith was cool under pressure for the first eight outs of the game, breezing past batters with wellplaced sliders. But with two outs in the third, the Cornhuskers sandwiched a walk with two infield hits to load the bases before a single passed senior third baseman Blake Nelson for the first two runs of the game. Michigan halved the lead in the bottom of the inning, though, off of sophomore center fielder Jesse Franklin’s RBI single. The fifth inning gave Nebraska one more run, when sophomore catcher Joe Donovan threw over second base to move Nebraska third baseman Angelo Altavilla from first to third with two outs. The next batter, Michigan native and Cornhuskers’ shortstop Spencer Schwellenbach, lifted
a pitch to left field for his third RBI of the game, putting the Cornhuskers up 3-1. The response was immediate from the Wolverines. Three straight singles loaded the bases and sophomore shortstop Jack Blomgren moved a runner in after being hit by a pitch. Senior first baseman Jimmy Kerr launched a 370-foot sacrifice fly to even the game 3-3, but two straight outs left runners on base, and an opportunity to grab their first lead of the game disappeared. Nebraska scored twice the very next inning behind four walks to go up 5-3 in the sixth. Senior righthander Ben Keizer throwing the first two before allowing a double gave the Cornhuskers the lead and freshman right-hander Willie Weiss came on in relief, only to throw two more walks and give up yet another run. The deficit grew as Michigan’s
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Sophomore center fielderJesse Franklin drove in a run in Saturday night’s 7-3 loss.
offense disappeared and walks continued to plague its pitchers. Ending the night with 13 walks, the Wolverine bullpen had been worn down by five games in four days and were lucky to only lose by 4 — Nebraska left 16 runners on base. Smith could only go 4.2
innings, and once he was gone, no one could adequately fill his shoes. In the morning, Michigan showed it can outplay any team in the conference with ease. But at night, the Wolverines proved they can beat themselves as easily as they can beat others.
A season in review and what’s up next for Michigan softball DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
Last Monday, James Madison upset the Michigan softball team on its own field to punch a ticket to the Super Regional. After the handshake line, the Wolverines walked off the field for one final time, heads hanging low. For all an outright Big Ten regular season championship and conference tournament title are worth, Michigan felt as though it fell short. In February, Michigan dipped below .500 at least six games into a season for the first time in nearly two decades. It posted an 0-4 record against ranked opponents, resulting in a brief exclusion from the national poll — a rarity for coach Carol Hutchins’ storied program. When the Wolverines returned to Ann Arbor for their first home game, they won 33 of their next 34 games. That streak set the stage for Michigan to host the NCAA Regional, where its season came to a screeching halt. The Daily examines the Wolverines’ top performers, notable moments and underclassmen set to take on an increased role in 2020: Co-MVPs: Freshman outfielder Lexie Blair and senior second baseman Faith Canfield This one’s too close to call. Blair and Canfield were the driving forces
behind this offense all season long. They each tallied 78 hits, finishing with respective batting averages of .406 and .404. Blair led the team with 54 RBI, while Canfield’s teamhigh .482 on-base percentage gave Michigan a consistent leadoff spark. Blair and Canfield both finished either first or second on the team in batting average, on-base plus slugging, doubles, total bases and slugging percentage. Numbers aside, this season gave Canfield a chance to pass the torch to the program’s next offensive cornerstone. As a freshman, Canfield studied 2016 National Player of the Year Sierra Romero during her senior campaign. In 2019, learning from Canfield — a two-time All-American — gave Blair a similar luxury. Honorable mention: Sophomore left-hander Meghan Beaubien Beaubien posted a 30-6 record while notching a 1.87 ERA and 229 strikeouts en route to her second first-team All-Big Ten selection. Breakout player: Senior first baseman Alex Sobczak When Michigan began its season, Alex Sobczak’s name wasn’t on the starting lineup card. She lost a competition for the Wolverines’ everyday first baseman role in February, only to see limited action
as a pinch hitter throughout the opening weekend. But when she got her chance, she seized it. Sobczak turned in a breakout senior season, posting a .336 batting average — 78 points higher than her previous careerhigh of .258 — and 42 RBI en route to second team All-Big Ten honors and an All-Big Ten Defensive Team selection. Her 10 home runs were tied for most on the team and she only trailed Blair in RBIs. Sobczak drew a team-high 27 walks, giving her an on-base percentage of .470 that finished second to Canfield’s. More importantly, she came into her own as a leader and proved to be a key cog in Michigan’s Big Ten success. Honorable mention: Senior designated player Mackenzie Nemitz After recording just seven at-bats in her first three years and overcoming a torn ACL, Nemitz batted .288 and drove in 31 runs as a senior. High point: Michigan defeats Minnesota in Big Ten Tournament championship Before the Bloomington skies opened up, Michigan — which hadn’t won a Big Ten Tournament title since 2015 — held a 3-0 sixthinning lead against three-time defending champion Minnesota.
Knowing they needed a win to host an NCAA Regional, the Wolverines looked locked in. Then the downpour began. Following a 22-minute rain delay, the teams took the field for the two most important innings of their postseason resume. The Golden Gophers stormed back, beginning the bottom of the sixth frame with a leadoff homer before tacking on another run with a sacrifice fly. Entering the seventh, Michigan found itself clinging to a one-run advantage. After walking Minnesota’s ninth batter on a full count, freshman right-hander Alex Storako induced a trio of fly outs to seal the 3-2 victory. With that, the Wolverines clinched their 10th conference tournament title in program history. Low point: James Madison eliminates Michigan at Ann Arbor regional Entering the final day of the NCAA Regional, the Wolverines needed only one win to advance. In the other dugout, James Madison needed to force and sweep a doubleheader to survive. On an afternoon brimming with potential, Michigan struggled mightily at the plate. For the second straight day, Dukes’ ace Megan Good — a finalist for the 2019 National Player of the Year award — shut
down the Wolverines’ offense. In 26 total innings against Good, Michigan managed just two runs. Good prevented 23 baserunners from scoring, holding Blair and Canfield to a combined 3-for-23 in the process. To the dismay of the Wolverine faithful at Alumni Field, James Madison ultimately punched its ticket to the Super Regional while Michigan became the nation’s only seeded team that failed to advance. Who’s next in line? Familiarize yourself with the names Lou Allan, Hannah Carson, Taylor Bump and Morgan Overaitis. This quartet of underclassmen played sparingly in 2019, but showed impressive potential when given the chance. Allan, Carson and Overaitis were each tabbed top-25 prospects in FloSoftball’s recruiting rankings. Bump, meanwhile, has played three different infield positions and showed flashes of elite defense since arriving as 2017’s No. 64 recruit. Carson figures to slide into the starting backstop role following senior catcher Katie Alexander’s graduation, while Allan and Bump are candidates to replace Sobczak and Nemitz at first base and designated player. Overaitis could assume the starting second baseman duties with Canfield’s career in the books, but may also see playing time on the left side of the infield.
12 SPORTS Report: Luke Yaklich to accept assistant coaching position at Texas Thursday, May 30, 2019 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor
Luke Yaklich built up Michigan from a defensive liability to a defensive powerhouse. Now, he’ll try to work that same magic at Texas. Shortly after coach John Beilein left Michigan to become the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Yaklich, too, will leave after accepting a position as an assistant coach of the Longhorns, per a report from CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. A call to Yaklich went unreturned and a Michigan spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Yaklich also interviewed for the Wolverines’ head coaching job on May 17, but was not offered the position. Instead, the job went to former player Juwan
Howard — known as a defensive guru during his time as an assistant with the NBA’s Miami Heat. Beilein was primarily an offensive coach, necessitating the presence of someone like Yaklich to serve as a defensive coordinator of sorts. The same isn’t necessarily true of Howard. Losing Yaklich hurts in more ways than one. He was a teacher at his core, and his specialty was getting even the biggest skeptics to care about defense. When he got buy-in at Michigan, the defense turned around in just one season. Having two defensive stalwarts in guard Zavier Simpson and center Jon Teske still in tow, and a new coach in Howard who has defense as his calling card, may prevent too big of a defensive drop-off, but a ripple effect could come in other
ways. When a head coach leaves in the offseason — especially in mid-May — it’s often the first domino that can lead to assistants subsequently finding new positions, as Yaklich did, and often causes a string of decommits and transfers who realize that the program no longer looks like the one they originally committed to. Yaklich was a strong recruiter who formed bonds with many of his players, and some could decide that without Yaklich, they’d rather be elsewhere. Yaklich was originally hired from Illinois State prior to the 2017 season. With him, the Wolverines finished their seasons ranked third and second, respectively, in adjusted defensive efficiency, according
KATELYN MUCALHY/Daily
Michigan assistant Luke Yaklich accepted an assistant coach position at Texas.
to KenPom. In 10 previous seasons under Beilein, they had never finished better than 37th. Reports have stated that Howard is looking for an experienced assistant to round
out the first-time head coach’s staff. But replacing Yaklich will be a mammoth task and now, the clock is ticking for Howard to do just that.
How Juwan Howard secured Cole Bajema’s recommitment THEO MACKIE Daily Sports Editor
The past week has been, as Shane Bajema puts it, quite simply “a blur.” But at the end of it all, Cole Bajema — Shane’s son and a 2019 four-star wing — recommitted to the Wolverines on Friday night, 11 days after John Beilein left Michigan to become the Cleveland Cavaliers’ head coach. With the decision to recommit, Bajema currently stands as new coach Juwan Howard’s only commitment in the 2019 class, making him a critical piece of Michigan’s puzzle for 2019 and beyond. “The departure of Coach Beilein came as a big surprise,” Bajema tweeted Friday night. “Given coach Beilein recruited me, I am sad to see him go but fully support him in his new venture at the Cavaliers. I cannot thank the entire Michigan basketball staff enough for their support. “Having patiently waited for Michigan to name its new head coach, I am very excited Juwan Howard is the new head coach. I believe he will uphold the great culture, that is Michigan basketball. I know there’s a lot of speculation out there but I am ALL IN for coach Howard
and ready to report in June! Go Blue!” The decision to recommit, though, wasn’t always so simple. Bajema has been committed to Michigan since Aug. 14 of last year, but the original commitment came to Beilein, who Shane described as having done “a great job of preparing Cole for the entire college experience.” But after 11 days of calls from Beilein and Howard, as well as athletic director Warde Manuel and the Wolverines’ assistant coaches, Bajema felt confident that the program he will be entering next season is the same one he committed to nearly a year ago. Bajema did not respoond to a text from The Daily Saturday morning. He has yet to make any public comment outside of Twitter since Beilein announced his departure. “The key factor in Cole coming to the University of Michigan was really a coaching compatibility decision at a great university,” Shane told The Daily. “Then, when that transition goes off and you wonder what’s gonna be next, it’s all about relationships and trust and continuity with the next coach. … But I think they made a great decision in choosing another person to carry out the legacy, of what is more
than just Beilein’s legacy, but the Michigan legacy.” Critically, Howard was not the only one to reach out to Bajema after his hiring. Amidst the blurred f lurry of conversations with those inside the program, Shane doesn’t remember exactly when the first call came, but he knows it came from Manuel. And as Manuel talked, Shane’s confidence in Michigan came rushing back. Going into the call, he wasn’t familiar with Howard as a person, but he quickly felt Manuel made a “great decision,” continuing the legacy and culture that Beilein built. Shortly thereafter, Howard, too, reached out, confirming his interest in Cole as a key player in the transition from Beilein to the future. “Juwan and (Cole) had a conversation and basically agreed that Cole’s his first real recruit in his college coaching career,” Shane said. “The baton, basically, handed from Beilein to Juwan in recruitment of Cole and that’s what really put Cole over the edge and reassured that he could become Juwan’s guy too. “… It was genuine, it was real, it wasn’t this recruiting talk. (Howard) is genuinely ecstatic to be the coach. And he seemed
genuinely pumped to have Cole.” And when Beilein called, telling the Bajemas that “Juwan’s gonna be a great guy,” and calling it “a perfect fit,” the comfort level only grew. Then, Friday afternoon, the final boost came when Howard announced that Jon Sanderson would be staying on as the Wolverines’ strength and conditioning coach. Sanderson and Shane have developed a close relationship throughout the recruiting process, as he has become one of Cole’s key recruiters. And though Cole’s workouts
with Sanderson haven’t begun yet, his personal trainer back home is a friend of Sanderson’s and has helped him add 22 pounds over the past seven months. “As a future mentor of players and our son, Cole, I can not say more good things about (Sanderson),” Shane said. “Could you ask for a more ideal person to train Cole’s physical body in the future?” Starting a few weeks from now, when Cole reports to Ann Arbor for Michigan’s summer bridge program, Sanderson will be doing just that. Officially.
Courtesy of Getty Images
Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard retained incoming recruit Cole Bajema.