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Wednesday, September 18, 2019

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statement Scholar of Islam examines struggles Recruitment of Malcolm X , Martin Luther King changes lead

Lecture by Omar Suleiman details fight for justice during Civil Rights era

to new housing complications Later fraternity, sorority recruitment causes housing confusion on campus KATHERINA SOURINE & CLAIRE HAO Daily Staff Reporters

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily Iman Omar Suleiman, a Muslim activist and professor of Islamic Studies at Southern Methodist University, speaks at the Muslim Students’ Association’s lecture, “Malcolm & Martin: Intersecting Visions of Justice,” at Rackham auditorium Tuesday evening.

LIAT WEINSTEIN Daily Staff Reporter

Imam Omar Suleiman, a Muslim activist and adjunct professor of Islamic Studies at Southern Methodist University, spoke to a crowded Rackham Auditorium Tuesday evening in a talk entitled “Malcolm & Martin: Intersecting Visions of Justice.” His lecture touched on the challenging legacies of the

two Civil Rights Movement’s leaders and the ways in which their histories are sometimes distorted to fit a common narrative. The talk was hosted by the University of Michigan’s Muslim Students’ Association and included a post-lecture panel featuring associate professor of American Culture Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, and associate professor of Afroamerican and African

Studies Stephen Ward. While Suleiman’s lecture remained rooted in the history of the civil rights movement and the dueling philosophies of Malcolm X’s, as well as Martin Luther King Jr.’s, he also discussed topics such as imperialism, the importance of religion and the demands of modern-day activism. Suleiman urged the audience to challenge themselves by not seeing the men’s legacies

simply through the rigid lens of “violence” and “nonviolence,” but instead as complex ideologies that are still being interpreted and studied. He said a photo from Martin Luther King Jr.’s and Malcolm X’s first and only meeting on Capitol Hill in 1964 still “haunts” Americans because it represents a futile hope that compromise between these two leaders would one day prevail, though it never did. See ACTIVIST, Page 3A

For many students affiliated with Fraternity and Sorority Life across the U.S, a defining part of their experience is living in their chapter’s house. Many sororities even require members to live in their house for one year. However, with the University of Michigan’s decision to transition to winter recruitment this school year, many freshmen intending to join — and current members with obligations to fill their chapter’s house each year — are facing uncertainties about their housing situation for next year. Starting fall 2019, students must have completed at least 12 credits at the University and be in good academic and behavioral standing to participate in fraternity or sorority recruitment, meaning

Policy talk Forum addresses efforts to combat highlights influence of big money in politics basics of Activist discusses campaign to abolish corporate constitutional rights Medicare ANN ARBOR

ALYSSA MCMURTRY Daily News Editor

Ann Arbor District Library hosts event on health care for elderly community MELANIE TAYLOR Daily Staff Reporter

A group of Medicare stakeholders met at the Ann Arbor District Library Tuesday night to hear financial consultant Jae Oh, a University of Michigan alum, speak about his book “Maximize Your Medicare: Understanding Medicare, Protecting Your Health, and Minimizing Costs.” Oh walked attendees through the process of selecting a plan with Medicare and answered their individual health insurance questions. Oh began by outlining common misconceptions regarding healthcare, one of which explained how he got involved in the field of study. He said people often conflate health insurance and healthcare, looking to doctors for advice on insurance policies when they deal with a completely different subject matter. “Healthcare is the most confusing combination of your relationship with your doctor and hospital, your employer, insurance companies, politics,” Oh said. Health insurance is a financial contract addressing cost, Oh said. He likened health insurance to a long-term investment, much like stocks and bonds. See MEDICARE, Page 3A

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At Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, Ann Arbor residents gathered to hear a presentation on business corporations’ influence on democracy. The even was titled “We the People vs. Corporate Rule: It’s Up to Us” and was hosted by the Ann Arbor Friends Peace and Social Concerns Committee, Move to Amend and the Huron Valley Democratic Socialists of America. The

venue featured Move to Amend’s Outreach Director Greg Coleridge, as well as three community activists. Move to Amend is an organization committed to building a movement that will lead to the passing of their 28th Amendment. The organization’s proposed bill would end corporate constitutional rights and make clear that money is not speech. Coleridge started his talk with the idea that, though it

may seem corporations are the only influence on the U.S. democracy, it does not always have to be this way. He used a quotation from meditation teacher and author Sally Kempton, when speaking about how much of the battle is in peoples’ minds. “It’s hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head,” Coleridge said. “What Kempton was trying to get at is the dominant culture that defines today in our society … has so conditioned us into

thinking that, when it comes to bringing about change, that’s sort of the arena that we can operate within.” Coleridge went through the extensive history of democracy in the U.S., highlighting the fact the country was originally meant to benefit white, male property owners. According to him, corporations have earned more rights than people as the country has progressed. See MONEY, Page 3A

ASHA LEWIS/Daily Greg Coleridge, outreach director of Move to Amend, speaks about the national movement to pass a 28th amendment concerning the involvement of corporations in American government at the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting House Tuesday evening.

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incoming freshmen are unable to join the organizations during their first semester on campus. The University made the decision to transition recruitment to the winter last March as part of the University’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plan for first-year students. following previous Interfraternity Council suspension of all social activities for two months following several cases of alcohol abuse, as well as multiple hazing and sexual assault allegations. Only freshmen are guaranteed on-campus housing by the University, leaving the majority of upperclassmen to live off-campus. The increasing number of students struggling to find affordable housing close to campus has made the housing search more competitive, often pushing students to sign leases by October or November for the following year.

See RECRUITMENT, Page 3A

RESEARCH

‘U’ fails PETA’s welfare criteria Advocacy organization ranks school among ‘worst’ institutions for its animal testing ABBY TAKAS

Daily Staff Reporter

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued a press release last week naming the University of Michigan as one of the “worst” universities for animal testing. PETA’s “Failed Tests: Campus Cruelty Report” investigated hundreds of universities across the country and ranked them as “bad,” “worse” and “worst.” PETA ranked U-M as one of the 93 schools categorized as “worst,” a distinction given to only about 14 percent of the 657 collges investigated. The scores were determined by a point system from three categories, which included the number of animals from regulated species held in a school’s labs and the level of funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as the number and severity of USDA violations. Under the federal Animal Welfare Act, only specific animals are required to be inventoried, while others, such as mice, rats and other small animals, are not. See PETA, Page 3A

NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 CLASSIFIEDS................6

SUDOKU.....................2 ARTS...................5 SPORTS.................7

News

2A — Wednesday, September 18, 2019

MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers

TUESDAY: By Design

WEDNESDAY: This Week in History

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THURSDAY: Twitter Talk

FRIDAY: Behind the Story

Court allows intervention in suits September 18, 2000 Two minority advocate groups will be allowed to serve as co-defendants in the admissions lawsuits facing two University schools as a result of a decision handed down by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati last month. The decision will delay the two lawsuits that are challenging the admissions processes of the University’s Law School and College of Literature, Science and the Arts until next summer. Miranda Massie, lead counsel for the defendants intervening in the suit facing the Law School, said the introduction of co-defendants is a significant victory. “The attack on affirmative action can only prevail if the truth is not let

into the courtroom,” Massie said. “We are elated. It is a historic turning point.” The LSA suit is scheduled to begin some time next July or August, with the Law School case set to start Aug. 28, 2000. The cases originally were scheduled to go to trial this fall. The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Individual Rights filed the lawsuits in 1997 on behalf of three white applicants, contending that using race as a factor in admissions is unfair. LSA applicants Jennifer Gratz and Patrick Hamacher and Law School applicant Barbara Grutter claim they were unfairly denied admission, contending that less-qualified minority applicants were admitted. The court’s decision allowing the inclusion of intervening defendants

marks the first time minority advocates will be permitted to have their interests directly addressed in an affirmative action case. University Deputy General Counsel Liz Barry said trials were pushed back to allow the intervening defendants time to become fully acquainted with the cases. “We welcome the intervenors because their point-of-view is relevant and important to the debate,” Barry said. “Clearly, they need time to adequately prepare.” Barry said in order for the intervenors to be included, they had to prove that they had a legal interest in the cases and that they would not be adequately represented by the two parties already involved. The decision, which came more than a year after separate district

judges denied previous requests for intervention, allows about 60 high school and undergraduate students to defend their interests in both the LSA and the Law School cases, respectively. Godfrey Dillard, lead counsel for the intervening coalition in the LSA case, which is backed by several national and local organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union, said the decision allows the real work to begin. “Certainly we are happy with the decision, but it is a small step,” he said. “It opens the door for us to play a full and equal role in the case.” Dillard said the attorneys representing the intervening

defendants will now be allowed to interact with the judge in chambers and file motions. As defendants, the coalitions have the same rights as the University and the plaintiffs. “We have not been intimately involved” before the decision, Dillard said, adding that the coalition has had to view the case as an observer and now needs to review information and cross examine witnesses. Terry Pell. senior legal counsel for CIR, said the introduction of intervening defendants into the cases will not substantially affect the fundamental issue being challenged in the lawsuits - the constitutionality of race in college admissions. “Adding those issues will not subtract from the issue that is at the table,” Pell said.

In the interest of preventing further delay, Pell said CIR will not appeal the court’s ruling. “We want to move forward,” he said. Former U.S. President and University alum Gerald Ford supports the fight to preserve affirmative action. He wrote an opinion piece for the Aug. 8 edition of The New York Times backing the University’s defense of its admissions policies. Ford wrote that an affirmative action “ban would scuttle Michigan’s current system one that takes into account nearly a dozen elements race, economic standing, geographic origin, athletic and artistic achievement among them - to create the finest educational environment for all students.”

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ASHA LEWIS/Daily Indo-American graduate students perform Bharatanatyam dances as part of the Rasa festival, an India-themed multi-arts festival at the Ann Arbor District Library Tuesday evening.

DEI renovates three lounges in honor of marginalized students on campus

Space celebrates activist Cesar Chavez, caters to Latinx community at U-M EMMA STEIN

Daily Staff Reporter

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and University Housing hosted a grand reopening of the Cesar Chavez, Vicky Barner and Cousins Active Multi Ethnic Organization (CAMEO) multicultural lounges on Tuesday. Each lounge featured three speakers, and the Chavez event in Mosher-Jordan Hall drew in a crowd of around 50 students. Diversity and Inclusion Director Amanda McLittle said the remodeling is part of a DEI initiative to renovate all multicultural lounges by 2021 in honor of the Trotter Center’s anniversary. She explained housing manages 18 multicultural spaces; 16 of which are multicultural

VIRGO SEASON

lounges. In 2015, the University made a commitment to renovate all 16 of the lounges by 2021. The even celebrated the lounges which were renovated over the summer. McLittle emphasized the importance of multicultural lounges, saying they provide a welcoming environment for minorities on campus. “A multicultural lounge really celebrates different identities on campus and is meant to be a safe space for students of marginalized identities,” McLittle said. “So, the programming that happens in these lounges will focus on multicultural issues and topics.” The first speaker, Senior Associate Director of University Housing Amir Baghdadchi, explained the lounge is dedicated to Chavez

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because he empowered people to become activists. “This celebrates the bold life of Cesar Chavez, right there, all around us, who fought for the rights of farm laborers,” Baghdadchi said. “But he did so much more than that. In being a champion of the rights of farmworkers, he became an icon of social change. He created a model, and his message fundamentally won empowerment. What that means is he showed us what happens when ordinary people who don’t feel powerful, who don’t identify as powerful, who aren’t powerful; if they get together and organize, if they focus their effort on one thing, then incredible change can happen.” Baghdadchi also highlighted how all the words on the walls around the lounge are in Spanish with an English translation on the bottom, instead of the other way around. Baghdadchi said it helps emphasize the Latino community is the priority within the lounge. “Spanish comes first,” Baghdadchi said. “When you see that, you think, ‘Brilliant idea,’ but it’s not an obvious one, and that is an idea that came from La Casa. They said, ‘No, this should be a space on campus where Latino heritage comes first,’ and we made that happen.” Public Health junior Ronnie Alvarez, lead director of La Casa, reflected on his journey in an interview with The Daily. He said he participated in workshops as a freshman where he felt welcome as a new student on campus and was inspired to become an activist. “I know, personally

reflecting on my experience with this lounge, my freshman year I was part of the ALMA program, which is a welcome program for incoming Latino students, and our final reflection was actually in that lounge,” Alvarez said. “And it was very empowering because it was the end of the program, and that’s where we transition into becoming students at the University. And from there, there was a very empowering speech where they inspired the Latino community to be activists on campus.” Alvarez said it means a lot to him to see the new renovations and to have a place where the Latino community can come and feel safe. He also noted the University incorporated students’ ideas when designing the renovations. “I think they’re really nice,” Alvarez said. “Especially seeing how the lounge looked beforehand: the color scheme, the pictures, the figures. It all looks great. My favorite part about it is a lot of the community members in La Casa actually helped, the whole thing was very inclusive in terms of the planning process for designing this.” He also emphasized the importance of having a physical space for marginalized communities on campus where they feel welcome. “I think multicultural lounges are one of the most tangible ways to show that certain communities are welcome on campus,” Alvarez said. “So, this is a physical space for you to feel welcome and represented. Also, DEI does a great job of that with these spaces. Even though I think there’s a lot of progress to be made, this is definitely a step in the right direction.”

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PETA From Page 1A Therefore, violations in the treatment of the aforementioned animals are not required to be included in a school’s annual report to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. PETA used the amount of funding each school received from the NIH to estimate the budget of each laboratory and predict how many undocumented small animals the laboratory uses to experiment on. The University of Michigan received approximately $552 million in funding from the NIH in 2018. The University reported zero violations in 2018, but PETA claims the ranking is valid through their independent investigation and the records they obtained from an unidentified source. “Records obtained by PETA reveal numerous incidents of neglect and incompetence in the university’s laboratories.” Laboratories at the University are primarily investigated internally, therefore it is difficult to determine the validity of PETA’s claims without knowing exactly how their records were obtained. In the statement, PETA explained their findings regarding the University’s treatment of the animals used for testing. “Painful tumors in mice weren’t adequately monitored and were allowed to develop past protocol limits, several mice died of dehydration when a water system malfunctioned and no one noticed, and numerous mice and rats died after experimenters failed to follow procedures used to prevent contamination during experimental surgeries,” the statement reads. “Living mice and rats were found in coolers after workers failed to ensure that the animals were

RECRUITMENT From Page 1A doesn’t know if she should search for housing now or to wait until after the recruitment process is over next semester. “I’ve heard a lot of kids sign their leases first semester, so it worries me about like what if I drop (recruitment)?” Ceritano said. “Then it’s a concern for me to find a house to live in. But if I don’t (drop), it doesn’t really matter, because you live in your sorority house your sophomore year. It’s all just a bit concerning.” Ceritano said she hasn’t heard anything from the Panhellenic Association, individual sororities, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life or University Housing regarding what she should do. “No one has given any advice or anything,” Ceritano said. “I feel like it’d be good to have some advice on how to handle this from the housing office or maybe people who do leases. I don’t really know how to find it.” LSA freshman Margaret Barber said she’s excited to begin the recruitment process at the University and would like to live in a sorority house. Barber said she intends to have a backup plan, but she’s not rushing into any big decisions. “I’m taking the time to adjust to everything, but I was thinking of trying to come up with a backup plan when my friends who aren’t rushing start researching (housing),” Barber said. “I could also research with them some possibilities if rush doesn’t work out. Right now, I don’t have any idea.” Similar to Ceritano, Barber said many of her friends who plan to take part in recruitment don’t know what they will do yet. However, she claimed there’s been talk of a safety net for students who may, for any reason, drop out of the recruitment process or who do not get a bid from a sorority or fraternity. “It’s kind of up in the air,” Barber said. “But we had a bay-area Michigan send-off thing, and there were school housing coordinators talking to us, and one said that they would help us out if you plan on rushing and it doesn’t work out, that there’d still be housing available.” In a statement to The Daily, Nicole Banks, assistant dean of Students and interim director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said the University’s office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has engaged with stakeholders inside and outside the University in anticipation

Wednesday, September 18, 2019 — 3A dead before discarding their bodies.” In regard to PETA’s allegations against the University, Mary Masson, director of public relations at Michigan Medicine, wrote in an email interview with The Daily the concerns were remedied. “These issues were corrected immediately upon discovery by our animal care team,” Masson wrote. “In the interest of full transparency, the U-M also self-reported each event to the National Institute of Health’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) and our accrediting body, AAALAC International. Both OLAW and AAALAC reviewed these matters and found that U-M took all necessary steps to self-report and correct these isolated incidents.” Additionally, PETA advocates for alternatives to animal testing, such as human tissue and cell-based research methods as well as computer simulations, claiming these methods provide equally applicable results. “NIH has noted that 95% of all drugs that are shown to be safe and effective in animal tests fail in human trials because they don’t work or are dangerous,” PETA wrote in their report. Jim Newman, director of strategic communications for Americans for Medical Progress, wrote in a statement to The Daily animal testing is both ethical and necessary. “Groups like PETA frequently claim that animal studies are no longer necessary,” Newman wrote. “This is simply not true. No alternative including tissue samples, organs-on-a-chip or computer models can mimic a living, breathing organism. Nor can any alternative fully mimic the countless diseases that can impact humans and animals. By suggesting otherwise, animal rights groups are ignoring

basic facts and logic. More importantly, making these claims endangers public health because doing so causes well-meaning people to reject a crucial scientific method that saves both human and animal lives.” At the University, students have the opportunity to work in laboratories that perform animal testing. Students are required to go through numerous online and in-person trainings before they are permitted to participate in these laboratories. Johanna Buschhaus, Engineering Ph.D. candidate, has been working in laboratories at the University since she was a sophomore in high school and has been doing cancer research for four years involving mice and rats. “My experience has been super positive,” Buschhaus said. “I have my own animals, so it’s really important to me that the animals I work with are never going to be hurting.” Buschhaus also explained for the past year in her laboratory, they have had a veterinary resident also working to identify ways to improve the treatment of the animals. For example, once a tumor is discovered in a mouse, they are required to examine that mouse three times a week. Ultimately, in the press release, PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo called students at U-M to action. “Students live and work on university campuses for years without knowing that animals are being neglected, burned, poisoned, crippled, blinded, and tormented in a host of other ways right under their noses,” Guillermo said. “As the school year begins, PETA is asking caring University of Michigan students to speak out against the abuse of sensitive, sentient beings in their midst.”

of this shift. Banks explained there is a team of staff, students and representatives dedicated to finding housing for students interested in recruitment, all in collaboration with University Housing. “After extensive research and review of multiple years of data, the team concluded that there is ample availability of housing well into the winter semester,” Banks wrote. “The Dean of Students office will also provide support to students searching for housing and FSL is teaming up with the First Year Experience and the Beyond the Diag program to promote information about taking time to sign your lease, among other opportunities.” FSL advised students against signing a lease preemptively. “If a student is interested in joining a fraternity or sorority with a housing requirement, they should wait to sign a lease until after recruitment has ended,” Banks wrote. Despite this advice, LSA junior Michael Smith, vice president of the fraternity Delta Tau Delta, explained most students usually sign their leases by November because available housing during the winter semester is typically limited, expensive or far from campus. If current freshmen decide to

sign leases in the fall semester, Smith explained winter recruitment can cause problems for fraternities and sororities on campus that have come to rely on sophomore tenants to fill their chapter’s house. “The following year runs into complications because we can’t just have an empty house,” Smith said. “So, we have to have people living there more years than they were expecting, as juniors or seniors which has become uncustomary at Michigan, or we just have a severe lack of tenants.” According to Smith, the Delta Tau Delta house is owned by a board of alumni that maintains the property. Without enough occupants in the house the chapter’s future could be jeopardized, Smith said. “Without a sufficient number of tenants, they don’t have the money to maintain the property,” Smith said. “Ultimately, that could result in our chapter losing its national charter, and just ceasing to exist on campus, because we’re not financially viable anymore.” Interfraternity Council President and LSA junior Nick Wasik did not respond to requests for comment by time of publication. Panhellenic Association President and LSA senior Taylor Fegan declined to comment.

Opinion

4A — Wednesday, September 18, 2019

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MAX STEINBAUM | COLUMN

What Uncle Sam could learn from Johnny Canuck

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FROM THE DAILY

Urge talks for peace, not politics

ast week, President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that peace talks with the Taliban were “dead,” putting a halt to nearly a year of conversations between the United States and the insurgent terrorist group. The proclamation came right after Trump revealed plans to have a secret meeting with Taliban leaders at the historic Camp David. The president claimed he ended these talks after the Taliban admitted to their role in an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed at least 11 people, including one U.S. service member. This attack alone, he said, was enough to indicate that Taliban leaders do not “have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway.”

However, this attack is far from the first indication that the Taliban has continued hostilities during negotiations. In fact, negotiations continued amid a spike in killings of both Afghan civilians and U.S. soldiers by the Taliban. Many of these have been substantially more deadly than the suicide attack in Kabul last week, suggesting that this event served more as an excuse than a reason to end negotiations. The sudden end of peace talks came with surprise as the U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, stated an agreement had been reached that was waiting to be finalized by Trump. This abrupt reversal casts doubt on the Trump administration’s motives for coming to the negotiation table in the first place. The hypothetical agreement allows Trump to fulfill a longstanding campaign promise to bring an end to the war in Afghanistan, satisfying his voter base as the 2020 election looms around the corner. Moreover, canceling negotiations last week — two days before the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks — allowed the administration to demonstrate a superficial willingness to “stand up” against the Taliban and paint the insurgents as the true obstacle to peace. Peace talks with the Taliban are one example of Trump exploiting political issues to maintain relevance, further his image and establish his legacy. Trump’s choice to announce an end to previously secret negotiations through a social media platform not only cheapens the issue but turns it into an open spectacle. Drawing attention and a following to his administration by dramatizing

political decisions reflects a strategy that Trump has used repeatedly during the U.S.North Korea summit and the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump follows a legacy of presidents who use political negotiations for personal gain and as a ploy, ultimately impeding the improvement of U.S. foreign policy. As part of a generation that grew up with the 18-year long conflict in Afghanistan, seeing yet another president use the promise of peace as a political gambit is frustrating. In 2003, President George W. Bush’s Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced an end to “major-combat,” even as NATO added 65,000 troops to the wartorn country. Later, President Barack Obama promised to withdraw all troops by 2014, but instead left nearly 100,000 American soldiers in Afghanistan at the end of that year. As a longtime critic of the war in Afghanistan, Trump had said that his “original instinct was to pull out.” In fact, in February of 2019, American diplomats sat down with Taliban officials to begin one of the final rounds of negotiation. In the end, Trump’s cancellation of peace talks possibly lost him a rare opportunity to put an end to a conflict that continues to kill both U.S. troops and innocent civilians. War is complex, and simply withdrawing our troops overnight without considering the ramifications would be irresponsible and potentially disastrous to the Afghan government, now that the Taliban controls about 14.5 percent of the country’s territories (this excludes those territories currently contested). However, Afghanistan’s

unstable government has long been the justification to prolong this conflict. President Bush stated in 2005 that the purpose of the war was to “help ensure Afghanistan’s longterm security, democracy, and prosperity.” Yet, over a decade later, the Afghan democracy remains weak, flawed and corrupt. While the U.S. has long claimed to be a bearer of peace and democracy, much of Afghanistan political instability is a result of the Taliban’s influence and the continued occupation by the United States. Trump argues that simply leaving and giving the Taliban free reign would be a dramatic abdication of responsibility. However, if the U.S. should continue to act as a beacon of democracy, there needs to be substantive discussion about how the U.S. can rectify its past and current foreign policy decisions in Afghanistan. Actions like those made by Trump this past week do not accomplish this end. Moreover, the peace talks thus far have excluded the Afghan government. We recognize that the conflict in Afghanistan is complex, and our call to action requires a genuine commitment to peace. An essential first step to reviving peace talks is a re-evaluation of U.S. foreign policy decisions made in Afghanistan for the past 20 years. Simply coming to the table is not enough, and it is imperative for all parties to not only be included in the talks, but also be truly committed to ending the conflict to protect the lives of both U.S. troops and Afghan civilians. Hence, the Trump administration must prioritize the peace process rather than use it to for political capital and media attention.

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t’s 2:15 p.m. on a Tuesday in May, and most of Canada’s federal legislators have taken their seats in the House of Commons chamber. Geoff Regan, a member of Parliament for West Halifax, dressed in the barrister robes of the Speaker of the House of Commons, rises from his stately speaker chair at the end of the aisle dividing the governing Liberal Party from the minority opposition. “Oral questions,” Regan pronounces, before repeating himself in French. He yields the floor to Andrew Scheer, the leader of the Conservative Party and the Question Period is underway. The controversy of the day is a scandal involving Mark Norman, a former vice admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy. Norman, of the Canadian military, was charged with a breach of trust in March 2019 for allegedly leaking sensitive information about a shipbuilding contract. For months, the Conservatives have accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration of unjustly assailing Norman for the leak, and even of political interference as Norman’s case developed. Scheer stands and looks across the aisle at Trudeau. “The prime minister has finally decided to answer some questions on the Mark Norman affair,” Scheer says with a smile. “He’s had plenty of time to rehearse the script and memorize the lines. What I’d like to know is ... why the government went through such efforts to prevent the truth from coming out.” Scheer’s riled Conservative colleagues rise and applaud. Trudeau, who had been staring Scheer down during his diatribe, buttons his black blazer and prepares to speak. The prime minister then stands and, beginning his response, a chorus of Conservative heckling nearly drowns him out. These raucous showdowns are a near-daily occurrence in Ottawa, and are even a cornerstone feature of Canadian democracy. But such a debate 700 miles south between Democrats and Republicans — much less U.S. House Speaker Pelosi and President Donald Trump — is almost unimaginable. A cause of this difference, of course, is the respective structures of the American and Canadian governments. Canada’s parliamentary system comes from the Westminster model that evolved in London, under which

the leading party in the House of Commons — the equivalent to our House of Representatives — selects a member of its ranks to serve as prime minister. In this way, a parliamentary system intertwines executive and legislative functions, making the country’s head of government more responsible to the legislative branch. Under the United States’s presidential system, the executive and legislative branches are independent by design. A presidential system has its merits, such as the right of a country’s constituents to vote directly for the chief executive — an ability not afforded by a parliamentary system. A glaring drawback, however, is that our legislative branch is far less able to readily hold the president accountable. The U.S. president is not required to listen and respond to the accusations of a hostile Congress. So why would he? In fact, the president only enters Congress once a year for the prepared State of the Union address and never responds to the questions and concerns of representatives. The consequences of having no forum for debate between the president and legislators include having less ways to hold America’s chief executive accountable to Congress and fewer observable interactions between our president and lawmakers. It’s a stark contrast to the Canadian Parliament, where the prime minister’s presence at Question Period is an expectation, and where Trudeau has been slammed for a poor attendance record in the past — which evidently means appearing a scant once or twice a week. It must be acknowledged, of course, that little legislative progress is actually made during Question Period. It’s more of a circuitous shouting match than anything productive, concedes Canadian news magazine Macleans’s Aaron Wherry, but it’s still “an essentially wonderful thing. Each afternoon, the government of the day must face the criticism and scrutiny of its nearest rivals in an open and only barely restrained public forum.” If nothing else, Question Period forces Canada’s leaders to engage each other on a daily basis, and its broadcast provides the Canadian public with constant insight into the political affairs of the day. From my frequent summer

visits to the public balcony above the Commons floor, “QP,” as my Canadian colleagues called it, seemed to be evidence of a robust and healthy democracy. I regretted that there was no American analogue, and more so that such an easily-implemented practice will likely never become a feature of our democracy. As it turns out, the idea of Congress hosting the president and cabinet members in a QP-style forum has historical precedent. “At various times,” details Matthew Glassman of the Congressional Research Service, “proposals have been offered by American scholars and public officials to increase the formal contact between the executive branch and Members of Congress.” Even as recently as 2009, then-candidate for president Sen. John McCain stated he would “ask Congress to grant me the privilege of coming before both Houses to take questions and address criticism, much the same as the prime minister of Great Britain appears regularly before the House of Commons.” It is high time we revisit the question of Question Period. In March 2019, a Quinnipiac poll found that 65 percent of Americans feel Trump is not honest. Such a condemnation of our current president’s integrity, it seems, translates to a public desire for more executive accountability. In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville praised American democracy and its “matchless Constitution.” We have long adhered to notions of American exceptionalism as articulated by de Tocqueville, forged by an enduring trust in the governmental system created by the Founding Fathers. This faith, while well-placed, has made Americans reluctant to introduce changes to our democracy — and, too often, we irresponsibly regard revision as unnecessary. In reality, we must be willing to borrow effective ideas in response to modern concerns. After all, while de Tocqueville considered America exceptional, he also did not believe it was beyond reproach. “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation,” de Tocqueville wrote, “but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” Max Steinbaum can be reached at maxst@umich.edu.

MORGAN RONDINELLI | OP-ED

Michigan Medicine is one of the best, and can do better

his July, the Michigan Medicine hospitals were ranked first in the state of Michigan and 11th in the country by U.S. News and World Report. As a recent University of Michigan graduate, this makes me incredibly proud. We call ourselves the Leaders and the Best, and it seems others continue to recognize our excellence on many fronts as well. However, these rankings also make me frustrated. If Michigan has one of the best hospital systems in the country, then why was my most recent experience at the hospital spending 22 hours in a chair while in a psychological crisis? As an incredibly stressed-out undergraduate at the University and a resident of Ann Arbor until 2018, I was a frequent face at Psychiatric Emergency Services, almost always because of suicidal ideation. This specialty program behind the emergency room is meant to provide mental health crisis evaluations, treatment recommendations and screening for inpatient hospitalization. I’ve written before, in an effort to put a face to a psychiatric patient and reduce stigma, about how these countless PES visits and two hospitalizations helped stabilize my mental health. What I have written less about are some of the negative experiences that went along with being a patient. To say I spent 22 hours in PES while already suicidal is not an exaggeration. I spent it sitting in an uncomfortable chair and had little contact with health professionals after the initial few hours of evaluation. The lights were constantly on, I was getting next to no sleep, and I was listening to House Hunters play on repeat until I felt so numb, I began begging to go home. This is not a unique experience. I’ve met and heard from countless others who spent similar spans of time, or longer — sometimes days — waiting in PES for a bed on a

local inpatient unit, of which there is a nation-wide shortage. Doctors first and foremost take an oath to do no harm. How was this not harming my already fragile mental state? I could similarly talk of the time I was sent home from an inpatient stay with few resources besides a safety plan that I compliantly filled out without much else of a choice. I expressed with terror to my discharging nurse that I shouldn’t be sent home, only to almost attempt to take my life and end up back at PES a few hours later.

Michigan Medicine received national rankings ... in every single department classified, except psychiatry Let me make this clear: I place little blame for my experiences on the doctors, nurses, social workers and other staff I interacted with at Michigan Medicine. They couldn’t conjure up more inpatient beds or create a more restful space in the PES waiting room. They were doing their best with the system, resources and training that existed. I do believe that their intentions were good, and at least most of them wanted the best for me. My point is that if Michigan is going to continue to lead as one of the best hospitals in the country, we need to lead in putting more resources into expanding and improving the quality of psychiatric services, and these changes need to be a priority. We need to expand and put beds in PES, so patients are not spending days waiting in a chair. We need to increase the number of inpatient psychiatric beds available, both statewide and nationally. We need to fortify discharge planning and resources, particularly for patients frequently going to PES, so

others aren’t leaving feeling as lost as I did many times. Michigan Medicine received national rankings (or high performing recognition for Rehabilitation) from U.S. World and News Report in every single department classified, except psychiatry. Michigan is eighth in urology, eighth in ophthalmology, 10th in pulmonology and lung surgery, 13th in cardiology and heart surgery, 15th in geriatrics and the list goes on to include every other department compared. However, psychiatry is “not ranked” on a national level. That is a disgrace to our well-known name on a national and worldwide stage. The Michigan Medicine website states that “this is the 27th consecutive year that Michigan Medicine has been nationally recognized for strong acrossthe-board performance.” Jeffrey Desmond, chief medical officer of Michigan Medicine, was quoted as saying, “Our priorities are providing the safest and highest quality of care to all our patients.” I can’t help but feel that a key field of medicine and a vulnerable sub-population of patients is missing or being forgotten in these statements. At the end of the day, I am still a huge Michigan fan. I wear maize and blue with pride, cheer on the Wolverines on game days and look forward to visiting Ann Arbor again soon. I’m grateful for my time as a student there, though it was also filled with pain and difficult mental health issues. Importantly, I am doing much better now mentally, in part because of the staff I interacted with through Michigan Medicine. I love my alma mater, dearly, yet it’s because of this love that I want Michigan to do better. Morgan Rondinelli is a University alum in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She is currently serving with AmeriCorps as a Mental Health First Aid Instructor.

Arts

5A — Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FESTIVAL COVERAGE

The bubbles, bangs and beats of this year’s Riot Fest CLARA SCOTT Senior Arts Editor

Contrary to popular belief, punks are some of the nicest people one could ever meet. This was at least true of those I found at this year’s iteration of Riot Fest in Chicago, as we celebrated the festival’s 15th anniversary with more diluted light beer than should exist and a whole lot of confetti. The first day of any festival is always slightly shaky at first — someone is looking out for something to go wrong, a band not to show up or the obligatory ferris wheel to shut down mid-cycle. But at Riot, nothing of the sort happened. Instead, a horde of people dressed in faded black jeans descended on Chicago’s Douglas Park to badly dance the night away together, screaming lyrics into the darkness as the city slept. The first act I stumbled upon that day was the Philadelphia rock outfit Thin Lips, who, incidentally, I had already seen this year in Ann Arbor. I had completely forgotten they were playing at the festival and had to check the lineup to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating from dehydration. But no, it was them ― and they were incredible. Vocalist Chrissy Tashjian held the audience captive with her soulful renditions of songs both old and new, showcasing the group’s new album Chosen Family while remembering their earlier work as well. The crowd was a cheerful mix of people laughing and dancing in the afternoon sun. As Tashjian yelled “This one’s for the homos!” they erupted into applause. It was a delightful reminder of the acceptance and happiness that comes with much of the punk scene — for those who have found their own chosen family in the arms of the music they love and the people who come with it. Their set was predictably stellar, and the entire audience was jumping up and down by the time it came to an end. I couldn’t have imagined a more fantastic start to a fantastic day. From Thin Lips, myself and my lovely companion (and best friend from high school) Kendall walked to another stage, where we could hear the thumps of a pop bass line reverberating into the crowd. Following this catchy melody, we found Caroline Rose performing with everything she had in her, jumping across the stage in an all-red athletic getup, complete with headband. Both Rose and her backing band were some of the most

frenetic performers I’ve ever seen, harnessing the energy of their excited crowd to create an environment of fun and frenzy. She sang most of her newest album Loner and threw in some well-loved oldies along the way. For a relatively new addition to the indie-pop-rock scene, the songwriter is remarkably self-aware of her own brand. She knows who her audience is, but most impressively, Rose really knows who she is. It’s a great thing to see from a young musician, and it shows in every song she writes. After dancing like a maniac to Rose’s set while carrying a five-pound camera, I was absolutely pooped. So we sat on the seemingly never-ending green grass of Douglas Park’s grounds, watching people go by. This was not

If places like Coachella and Lollapalooza are where the beautiful people get together, Riot Fest has been a place for misfits and punks alike for 15 very loud years

Coachella, in any way — the biggest fashion statement I saw was someone wearing fishnets over their pants — but it was somehow better because of that. The aesthetic was not the point, after all, despite the common theme of black and red clothing across the festivalgoers. It was completely about the music, and enjoying it with everyone there. If places like Coachella and Lollapalooza are where the beautiful people get together, Riot Fest has been a place for misfits and punks alike for 15 very loud years. The dilly-dallying eventually came to a close, and I ran to get some prime photos of The Get Up Kids’ set. Every member of the band (including

bassist Rob Pope, who I am still mad at for leaving Spoon) was on the top of their game, even so many years into playing together. They were a perfect mid-day experience to begin the second wind of the festival’s first day. Sure, the set was exciting, loud, the perfect place to lightly mosh without worrying if you would break your leg. But it was also evidence of The Get Up Kids’ time on the scene — they maintained the original stick-it-to-theman essence of their early work while getting even better at performing, creating a fun atmosphere that was grounded in real, tangible skills. Standing near the stage, I couldn’t help but slow-clap as their set came to an end. The highlight of the day, the piece-de-resistance of Riot Fest’s illustrious history, was when The Flaming Lips took the stage. After being on my feet all day, I was wary of how much I would be able to participate in the technicolor dreamscape of their performance, but who was I kidding. As soon as frontman Wayne Coyne took the stage, clad in a pure white suit and trademark halo of gray hair, it was like someone had gently tased me. I couldn’t stop smiling, to the point where my friend asked me if I was alright. The Lips (or Flips, as affectionate fans call them) were a force of nature, and the perfect ending to the first day of the festival. Between cannons of confetti, a giant blow-up robot and every band member wearing some sort of rainbow garb, everyone around me was having the time of their life. At one point, Coyne zipped himself into a plastic bubble and was thrust into the audience in a futuristic crowd-surf. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The group played the entirety of their 2002 magnum opus Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots with the flair and intensity as if they had just released it. In addition to these songs, Coyne took a moment to remember indie legend Daniel Johnston by singing his most pure, strikingly true song “True Love Will Find You In The End.” By the end of it, tears were streaming down my face. The admiration and love in the frontman’s rendition was that of someone who had lost a close friend, and everyone in the audience could feel it. The set continued in a similar fashion, until the very last song. From hundreds of people away, it felt like they were singing to every person there individually, celebrating the night and everyone who had gathered there one by one. If there’s anything Riot Fest is perfect for, it’s that — that you can find people just like you, no matter how weird you are.

ALBUM REVIEW

‘III’ proves strong & sweet MADELEINE VIRGINIA GANNON Daily Arts Writer

“Glor ia , you c rawle d up on you r c ro s s/ Glor ia , you m ade u s sit a nd wat ch ,” si ng The Lu m i ne er s , weav i ng t he t r a g ic , a l l t o o -hu m a n t a le of a f a m i ly who lo s t t hei r love d one s t o add ic t ion . Gr it t y, aut hent ic , v u l nera ble — t h at ’s The Lu m i ne er s ’s new a lbu m , I I I, i n a nut shel l . Hold i ng on t o t he f a m i l ia r fol k s y f la i r of t hei r ea rl ier mu sic , I I I wou ld app ea r not h i ng t o o sp e c ia l . It ’s t he u nderly i ng t hem at ic d i s c u s sion of t he d a rker side of hu m a n v u l ner a bi l it y t h at add s t he “ wow f ac t or ” t o t he a lbu m . A s t a rk cont ra s t t o t he ba nd’s che er f u l f i r s t h it , “ H i-Ho,” I I I welcome s a more m at u re, more hone s t ver sion of The Lu m i ne er s . D r aw i ng f rom t hei r p er s on a l ex p er ience, t he ba nd ex plore s not on ly how add ic t ion h a r m s t he i nd iv idu a l , but more s o how add ic t ion de s t roy s t he col le c t ive. The a lbu m i s s t r uc t u re d i n t h re e pa r t s , w it h t h re e s ong s p er pa r t (a nd a n adde d t h re e b onu s s ong s). B efore t he mu sic even b eg i n s , t he re c u r rence of t he nu mb er t h re e a l ready s t e eps t he a lbu m i n s y mb ol i sm , d raw i ng f rom rel ig iou s con not at ion s , t o t he t h re e s t a g e s of l i fe, a b eg i n n i ng , m idd le a nd end . The prog re s sion of each t r ack bu i ld s of f t he prev iou s one, br a nch i ng t h roug h a f a m i ly m a r re d by add ic t ion . The brokendow n s t r uc t u re helps t o emph a si ze t he s e core t heme s . A dd ic t ion i s l i ke a n i n fe c t ion , spread i ng f rom p er s on t o p er s on , love d one t o love d one, u nt i l t he ent i re world i s lo s t i n t he h a ze. Pa r t one of t he re cord fol low s t wo women who s t r ug g le w it h add ic t ion . The f i r s t s ong , “ D on n a ,” ex plore s t he a rchet y p e of t he mot her. A mot her i s s ome one who c a re s for ot her s , who i s a pi l la r of t he f a m i ly. Yet , t he role s of mot her a nd ch i ld a re s w it che d i n t h i s c a s e. “ Hold my h a nd now, t i me t o / G o t o b e d , it ’s way t o o lat e,” The Lu m i ne er s si ng a s D on n a’s add ic t ion d r a f t s her i nt o t he role of t he ch i ld , a nd her u n n a me d ch i ld b e come s t he c a reg iver. “Glor ia” a l s o ex plore s t he wa r p e d relat ion sh ip b et we en pa rent a nd ch i ld u nder t he weig ht of add ic t ion , t he ver s e s s u ng by t he ch i ld a nd t he chor u s s u ng by t he mot her, Glor ia . Glor ia si ng s “ D id you k now me when I wa s

you ng er t hen?/ I cou ld t a ke t he whole world t hen ,” emph a si z i ng how add ic t ion c a n s t ea l away a n ident it y, a l i fe. Yet , de spit e t he t ra g e dy of pa r t one — wh ich c apt u re s t he de s cent i nt o add ic t ion’s s t or my wat er s — t he cla s sic h ig h- ener g y fe el of The Lu m i ne er s si mu lt a ne ou sly upl i f t s t he s ong , adde d a va g ue s en s e of hop e. Pa r t t wo a nd t h re e cont i nue t o bu i ld on t he re s t of t he a lbu m’s t heme s , emph a si z i ng e sp e c ia l ly how add ic t ion i s of t en c ycl ic a l i n n at u re, mov i ng t h roug h g enerat ion s . The s ong “Ji m my Spa rk s ” convey s t h i s t he b e s t , spi n n i ng a t a le of a f at her who f a l l s t o g a mbl i ng i n order t o c a re for h i s s on . Th roug hout t he s ong , t he f at her adv i s e s h i s s on t h at “ It ’s u s or t hem ,” ig nor i ng t he helple s s i n f avor of helpi ng on ly h i m s el f . Yet , by t he s ong ’s f i n a l not e s , t he f u l l c i rcle come s t o a clo s e, w it h t he s on d r iv i ng pa s t h i s homele s s , p en n i le s s f at her b eg g i ng by t he road , e choi ng “ ’Cau s e it ’s u s or t hem/ ‘Cau s e it ’s me or h i m .” At t he end of t he d ay, The Lu m i ne er s ’ I I I f i nd s it s g reat e s t s t reng t h i n it s releva nce. At a t i me when t he opioid c r i si s s t i l l rava g e s A mer ic a , e - c ig a ret t e s d a ng erou sly b e ckon t he you ng a nd d r ug s cont i nue t o rem a i n a n i nev it a ble pa r t of g row i ng up A mer ic a n , t h i s sp ot l ig ht on t he complex it ie s a nd endu r i ng p oi s on of add ic t ion i s v it a l . L i s t en t o I I I, f i r s t for it s aut hent ic , cla s sic fol k s ong s a nd bra nd of ch a r m , s e cond for t he le s s on it c a n t each u s — a le s s on lea r ne d never t o o ea rly a nd never t o o lat e.

III The Lumineers Dualtone Music Group

ALEXIS RANKIN / DAILY

COURTESY OF CLARA SCOTT

MIDWESTERN COLUMN

Problem: I’m from Ohio MAXWELL SCHWARZ

Daily Midwestern Columnist

I’ve spent a ver y small portion — albeit, the more blunderous part — of my life living in Ohio. (Please don’t punish me for that, the economy is hard.) When I was 16, I was with my father on the drive to school, listening to the early-morning talk radio prog ram. They announced the “Thanksg iving Miser y Index” in the news seg ment. The major news was that Ohio had been deemed the absolute worst state in which to spend Thanksg iving. This news was hilarious beyond measure. My dad and I cried from laughter. And then we stopped laughing. Because we realized where we were spending Thanksg iving that year: Ohio. This ultimately begs the question. Why do we despise Ohio? I am prepared to say something that may automatically revoke my Michigan residency: Ohio’s kind of not that bad. Listen, Ohio is certainly not good. But there are some (read: not many) lovely things in Ohio. Columbus is a genuinely nice cit y, with lots of wonderf ul sights; German Village is particularly prett y. Hocking Hills State Park and Cuyahoga Valley National Park are t wo truly beautif ul instances of the Midwest’s most stunning natural splendor. The falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park are f ull of such radiance and g randeur that I ref use to take them for g ranted. If nothing else, Ohio has at least produced a decent amount of corn ( but, little known fact, they actually produce more soybeans). Ohio is responsible for an absurd number of things. Rock ‘n’ roll f inds its roots with Cleveland — where the Hall of Fame sits — because of disc jockey Alan Freed. It also has the Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Some notable Americans have called Ohio home, like Thomas Edison, f ilmmaker Steven Spielberg and the King of Flavortown, Guy Fieri. Ohio has produced at least six presidents. Even the Wright brothers were from Ohio, allowing Ohio to adopt the slogan “the Birthplace of Aviation” for their license

plates. 21 astronauts have come from Ohio. Although, I think those t wo last facts just go to show the leng ths people will go to get out of Ohio: At least 21 people have went to space because Ohio is that bad. The true animosit y with Ohio can be found in its absolute irrelevance to the rest of the countr y. For all the g reat things Ohio has g iven us, the state is not spectacular. It’s hardly even notable. Its g reatest offense is its intense mediocrit y. For the most part, it doesn’t matter, aside from strangely being a swing-state in presidential elections. It seems most people are conf used on where Ohio even is. Lots of people get Ohio mixed up with Iowa, much to the dismay of Iowans. It’s a prett y average place, for the most part, with an unusual amount of tornado sirens and intensely hot summers. It touches the g rossest of the Great Lakes, and isn’t really East or West geog raphically. Outside of the Appalachian part of the state, it’s fairly f lat. Ohio simply is. Yet, we hate it. It’s easily the most despised state in the Midwest. That’s saying something because Indiana is also part of the Midwest. And I don’t feel bad for hating Ohio. Cedar Point isn’t even that cool. The only thing you really need to know about Ohio is that Hell is real, and while most people think it’s in Michigan, it’s actually in Ohio.

The true animosity with Ohio can be found in its absolute irrelevance to the rest of the country

Arts

6A — Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW

FILM REVIEW

Reinventing admiration ‘The Goldfinch’ disappoints at our very own UMMA ELISE GODFRYD Daily Arts Writer

ALIX CURNOW Daily Arts Writer

A s soon as you enter t he UMM A’s “Copies a nd Invention In East A sia” exhibit, you a re g reeted by a quote f rom Japa nese litera r y critic, Hideo Kobayashi: “Copy ing is t he mot her of creation. It is t he only a nd t r ue mot her.” Of tentimes, t he impor ta nce of orig ina lit y hovers over t he conscience of a ny creator. A s creators, we ca n’t bea r to imag ine t he emba rrassment we would face if we were exposed for stea ling a not her ’s idea. We feel proud when a n idea t hat we deem orig ina l f loats into our minds. However, af ter at tending a conversation led by Kev in Ca rr, A ssociate Professor of Japa nese A r t Histor y at t he Universit y a nd specia list of Buddhist a r t, I wa lked away w it h a dif ferent perspective on orig ina lit y. This exhibit is focused on copy ing. Where I had orig ina lly t hought of it as a cheap mea ns of creating a r t, I now recog nize it to be a tool for passing dow n t raditions. In Buddhism specif ica lly, t he act of producing copies holds a specia l mea ning. According to t he UMM A’s website, “From simply reciting a nd rew riting Buddha’s teachings to creating multiple images of sacred Buddhist f ig ures, objects a nd texts, or t he commissioning of one million pagodas, copy ing ser ved to increase ka rmic merit, g ua ra nteeing a bet ter af terlife a nd event ua lly leading to enlightenment.” Our tour g uide, Kev in Ca rr, was not hing shor t of fa ntastic. His knowledge was expa nsive; he was able to a nswer a ll of t he audiences questions w it h ease a nd poise. His light hea r ted sense of humor a nd ent husiastic spea king voice made his presentation a ll t he more enjoyable. It was t r uly a pleasure to be able to lea rn f rom him. However, t he event didn’t seem to be ma rketable to t he st udents. The t wo

Where I had originally thought of it as a cheap means of creating art, I now recognize it to be a tool for passing down traditions

Similar to the Buddhist missionaries spreading the ideas of the Buddha, the copying of art becomes an act of imaginative interpretation that serves as the foundation for many cultural traditions

f riends I went w it h a nd I were t he youngest in at tenda nce by about 20 yea rs. A mong t he a r tifacts discussed were t he Pagodas. A pagoda is a tiered tower w it h multiple eaves. The pagodas on display at t he UMM A were less t ha n a foot ta ll. Pagodas were t raditiona lly built as st upa in a ncient India a nd f ur t her developed in East A sia. They were built to have a relig ious f unction, most commonly Buddhist, a nd were used during worship. The mass production of t he pagoda made it a popula r tool t hat has ca rried on t hrough generations. The pagodas ser ve to a mplif y Buddha’s presence in homes across t he world. Ca rr mentioned t hat it was popula rized during t he eight h cent ur y, a nd t he museum showed exa mples f rom t he 20t h cent ur y as well as t he 21st cent ur y. The exa mples of pagodas f rom t he 21st cent ur y were being made w it h a 3D printer right in f ront of our eyes. This highlighted t he overa ll t heme of t he exhibit: t he impor ta nce of copy ing a nd multiplication. It was a lso ver y interesting to w it ness t he mass production of t he pagodas being dow n in person. It made t he histor y we were discussing seem a ll t he more rea l. It is because of t he copy ing of pagodas t hat t he towers a re still used as tools of worship today. Simila r to t he Buddhist missiona ries spreading t he ideas of t he Buddha, t he copy ing of a r t becomes a n act of imag inative interpretation t hat ser ves as t he foundation for ma ny cult ura l t raditions. Feat uring more t ha n one hundred objects spa nning f rom a ncient to contempora r y times, t he work curated at t he UMM A a llowed me to ref lect on t he creativ it y t hat lies w it hin copy ing. Not only would I recommend t his exhibit to a nyone interested in lea rning more about East A sia n cult ure but I’d recommend it to a ny creator looking for t he va lue in creations t hat a ren’t orig ina l.

I’m always somewhat war y whenever I learn that a novel I’ve read is to be adapted to the screen, especially when the novel in question is one I hold ver y close to my heart. I always believed that “The Goldf inch,” Donna Tartt’s brilliant and incredibly popular 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, was too introspective a tale to visualize, too contained within its protagonist’s head to tell through any medium other than prose. How does one possibly do justice to a 700+-page book that spans decades and continents, within the duration of a single feature f ilm? “The Goldf inch” movie is proof that you can’t. Or, at least, director John Crowley (“Brooklyn”) couldn’t. Though the f ilm stays faithf ul to the events of the novel, in the process it strips the book of precisely what made all 771 pages of it worth reading in the f irst place — complex character relationships, a captivating, sympathetic narrative voice and, perhaps most importantly, a stor y so immense, so unforgettable it might just be one of the 21st centur y’s g reat coming-of-age odysseys. “The Goldf inch” is the stor y of Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker whose life is torn apart af ter he loses his mom in an art museum explosion. Theo emerges from the wreckage with the orig inal copy of Carel Fabritius’s “The Goldf inch.” From then on, the plot carries Theo from New York to Las Vegas to Amsterdam, where he meets new people who alter the course of his life. Yet, despite all of his movement, ever y thing always comes back to this painting, this little bird, both Theo’s g reatest burden and g reatest treasure, a reminder of both his crime and the last time he saw his mother. Theo’s love for his mother and struggle to recover from her loss is unquestionably the heart of the novel, the thing that keeps it beating on, the thing that motivates ever y single thing Theo does. And the painting is the manifestation of that feeling. Even when the painting is not at the forefront of the stor y, it is always, always there. The movie appears to have forgotten this. In fact, it hardly feels like the painting and all it

The Goldfinch The State Theatre Warner Bros. Pictures

represents is present at all. The movie touches on ever y thing that happens af ter the explosion, but fails to adequately emphasize the lasting power of Theo’s g rief, which in many ways is a central point of the stor y. Young Theo, played by Oakes Fegley (“Pete’s Dragon”), does the best he can, but the script simply doesn’t g ive him enough room to properly emote. The parts of the f ilm led by Ansel Elgort (“Baby Driver”) as an older Theo are sig nif icantly weaker in expressing the character’s ang uish, largely because of the script’s heav y reliance on cringeworthy exposition, where the movie literally tells us how Theo feels, instead of showing it as a visual medium should. If any thing could have saved “The Goldf inch,” it would have been its cast. Led by Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman (“Boy Erased”), Sarah Paulson (“American Crime Stor y”) and Jeffrey Wright (“ West world”), the performances at the ver y least should have been excellent. Yet, no one shines — whether due to the weakness of the script or the actors I still can’t tell. Certain performances, particularly Finn Wolf hard (“It”) as Boris and Luke Wilson as Theo’s dad (“The Royal Tenenbaums”) are laughable. “The Goldf inch” is a disappointment in ever y respect, both as an adaptation and a standalone f ilm. Its director has turned a richly moving epic into a glorif ied Lifetime made-for-TV movie. My advice? Skip the f ilm and read the book instead.

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW

Release Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Starbucks orders, casually 6 Carnival staples 11 Chance 15 Perform better than 16 Scandal-plagued energy company 17 Witness’ promise 18 #1 hit for Jerry Lee Lewis 21 Squealed on the bad guys 22 Oscar winner Kazan 23 Lemonlike fruit 24 Grocery chain with a red-andwhite logo 26 Like the Ninja Turtles 28 #1 hit for the Beach Boys 33 Vornado product 34 Landscaping tree 35 Peter was the first one 37 Application 38 Federal retirement org. 39 Couple of million? 42 Farm food 43 Justice __ Bader Ginsburg 45 Get going 48 Have bills 49 #1 hit for Johnny Rivers 53 “Let’s get together” 54 Best-liked, briefly 55 Kite carrier 58 Italy’s Villa d’__ 60 One of 12 on a die 64 #1 hit for Jim Croce 67 Brit’s kitchen floor 68 Abates 69 Threw in 70 Dispatch, as a dragon 71 Oboist’s supply 72 Hired thugs DOWN 1 Easy runs 2 General feeling 3 Dodge Viper engine 4 Slowly, in music 5 Drunkard 6 Genuine 7 Undecided

8 Advice giver on SiriusXM Radio 9 Canon camera named for a dawn goddess 10 Winter vehicle on treads 11 Convertible type 12 Tiny margin of victory 13 Another, in España 14 “__ what?” 19 One of a pair of cartoon slackers 20 It’s over in France 25 National econ. stats 27 Grow fond of 28 Go from E to F? 29 __ a customer 30 “Soon” 31 Emphatic word of refusal 32 What salmon do upstream 33 Stole from a coat store? 36 __ contact 40 River through Dublin 41 Span. miss 44 Neighborhood pal, in slang

46 Attorney general under Ronald Reagan 47 Blows one’s stack 50 Mohammad __ Pahlavi: last shah of Iran 51 Farm contraption 52 Engage in to excess 55 OPEC units 56 Mass transit option

57 Barry Humphries alter ego Dame __ 59 Mix, as salad 61 Extinct bird 62 __ Stacy: Spider-Man love interest 63 They might be loose or tight 65 Ka __: southernmost Big Island point 66 Purse

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

09/18/19

‘Amadeus’ brings classical to Hill ZACHARY M.S. WAARALA Daily Arts Writer

Th is pa st Su nday a f ter noon , H ill Auditor iu m hosted a sold- out show i ng of “A madeus” w it h live musica l accompa n i ment f rom t he Det roit Sy mphony Orchest ra a nd t he Un iversit y Musica l Societ y ’s Chora l Un ion . “A madeus,” t he 1984 f il m di rec ted by M iloš For ma n st a r r i ng Tom Hu lce a s Wolfg a ng A madeus Moza r t a nd F. Mu r ray Abra ha m a s A nton io Sa lier i, recou nt s t he i nterest i ng life of Moza r t a nd h is complex relat ion sh ip w it h A nton io Sa lier i. There wa s a nost a lg ic excitement present a s I wa ited i n li ne, hea r i ng mu mu rs of “ I haven’t seen it si nce it wa s i n t heaters” a nd “ You’re goi ng to rea lly enjoy it .” On ly, t h is nost a lg ia wa s u n fa m ilia r to me; I had not seen t he f il m pr ior to t h is u n ique show i ng, but it wou ld fa il to i nter fere w it h t he ex per ience. A f ter a br ief word f rom U MS president Mat t hew Va n Besien on t he releva nce a nd i n f luence of t he f il m i n musica l societ y, t he f il m beg a n w it h t he Det roit Sy mphony Orchest ra a nd t he U MS Chora l Un ion play i ng a long to t he f il m . I wa s u n su re if t he sou ndt rack wa s accu rate to t he or ig i na l f il m or if t he Det roit Sy mphony Orchest ra or it s Music Di rec tor Lau reate, Leona rd Slat k i n , had put a n i ndiv idua list ic spi n on t he score. Provoked by cu r iosit y, I spoke w it h a n audience member by t he na me of A lexa nd r ia who had seen t he f il m i n t he pa st . She told me t hat t he score wa s exac t ly t he sa me a s t he or ig i na l sou ndt rack f rom 1984. I lea r ned t hat t he Det roit Sy mphony Orchest ra ha s per for med shows li ke t h is i n t he pa st at t he Un iversit y, w it h one of t hei r most recent bei ng t he live per for ma nce of t he sou ndt rack to “20 01: Space Odyssey ” i n Sept . 2018. I not iced t hat despite my sit t i ng ver y close to t he orchest ra , I wa s more focused on t he f il m t ha n t he musica l per for ma nce, wh ich is perhaps t he goa l of such a n event . A s such , t he work f rom DSO a nd t he U MS Chora l Un ion wa s seconda r y to t he f il m it self, t houg h I a m cu r ious if my fellow audience members who had seen

t he f il m i n t he pa st felt si m ila rly or not . Even so, t he live musica l accompa n i ment made t he f il m come to life. The orchest ra a nd choi rs fell i nto per fec t sy nch ron izat ion w it h t he f il m , i n a sea m less t ra n sit ion f rom on-screen to rea l-world t hat I had never ex per ienced. A s t he f il m prog ressed, it wa s i nterest i ng to hea r t he audience of H ill Auditor iu m er upt w it h laug hter a m id a contempora r y, cla ssica l score. There were ad m it tedly some n iche cla ssica l music jokes t hat went over my head. I enjoyed t he f il m , a lt houg h it felt a s if I had i n f ilt rated a cu lt ish meet i ng of “A madeus” fa n s. The most poig na nt a spec t of t he n ig ht ca me du r i ng t he end credit s. A s t he screen faded to black , t he orchest ra beg a n t he piece of music t hat accompa n ies t he rolli ng credit s, but no one i n t he audience got up to leave. We a ll sat st ill, w it h ou r at tent ion completely focused on t he orchest ra for t he f i rst t i me of t he n ig ht , t a k i ng i n t hei r g ra nd f i na le of sor t s a s t hey closed out t he life a nd leg ac y of Moza r t .

The orchestra and choirs fell into perfect synchronization with the film, in a seamless transition from on-screen to real-world that I had never experienced

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, September 18, 2019 — 7A

Wolverines maul Grizzlies

Buoyed by possession, Michigan tops Oakland, 2-0, to move above .500 on the season BRENDAN ROOSE Daily Sports Writer

In the 11th minute of the Michigan men’s soccer team’s match against Oakland, spectators saw graduate transfer forward Nebojsa Popovic fire a shot at Golden Grizzlies goalkeeper Sullivan Lauderdale. They saw senior forward Jack Hallahan bury the rebound in the back of the net, and they saw him run off celebrating. But the most important part of the play came before that. Faced with a charging defender along the sideline, junior forward Umar Farouk Osman made a quick stutter-step that put his opponent on skates, creating space for a cross to Popovic to set up the goal. The Wolverines’ (3-2-1) ability to maintain possession under pressure was vital to their 2-0 win against Oakland (3-2-1) at the U-M Soccer Stadium on Tuesday. In the first half, Michigan’s ball-hawking attack forced the Grizzlies into mistakes and opened up passing lanes for the Wolverines. “I thought we were real positive, I thought the forwards

were really lively early on,” said Michigan coach Chaka Daley. “And that caused their back four some problems.” Those problems on the Oakland back line showed themselves again minutes after Hallahan’s goal. Catching the Grizzlies’ defenders out of position, senior defender Abdou Samake lobbed a perfectly placed ball up the middle to Popovic, forcing Lauderdale out of goal to challenge the Wolverine forward. Popovic struck the ball off one bounce, cheekily floating it over the keeper into the goal. “If you can get the second balls and turn and face the game, Daley said, “ … we can always be a little bit dangerous.” Once again, it was Michigan’s patience that created a scoring opportunity. Instead of forcing a pass through traffic that could lead to a turnover, the Wolverines’ midfielders cycled the ball around and waited for their opponents to slip up.

“The two central guys were really good,” Daley said. “(Sophomore midfielder Kevin Buca) picked up a lot of passes and (junior midfielder Marc Ybarra) dictated the tempo of the game, and I thought those things helped us stay on the front foot.” In the second half, Samake anchored a Michigan defense that completely stifled Oakland’s attack. When the focus shifted from creating offensive opportunities to controlling the game defensively, he and junior defender Jackson Ragen stepped up and used their physical presence to keep the ball away from the Grizzlies’ attackers. “I think our fullbacks do a really good job getting balls to feet,” Daley said. “They balance each other really well. Both are really physically tough, physically strong, high-level competitors … and they’ve been excellent.”

I thought the forwards were really lively early on.

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Graduate transfer forward Nebojsa Popovic scored against his former team, helping Michigan to a win.

JACK WHITTEN For the Daily

Belief. It’s a word Michigan men’s soccer coach Chaka Daley used a lot after the Wolverines’ (3-2-1) 2-0 victory over Oakland (3-2-1) on Tuesday night. More specifically, Daley wanted to take that belief away from the Golden Grizzlies. His squad had plenty of their own. The latter was evident from the opening touches of the first half. Led by senior forward Jack Hallahan, Michigan created turnovers and forced early attacks into its front third. Just a few minutes into the match, Hallahan found the back of the net — only to have it wiped off the board due to a foul off the ball. Close calls like this have been all too familiar for Hallahan this season; he leads the conference in shots, but had yet to score. “The post is like my best friend,” Hallahan said of his scoring dry spell. In the 11th minute, the Wolverines were able to force more shots on target and finally capitalize. Hallahan found the ball at his feet after a shot by graduate transfer forward Nebosja Popovic was deflected by Oakland goalkeeper Sullivan Lauderdale, and he finally broke the drought. But when asked about what he did best, Hallahan was quick to acknowledge his achievements on the other side of the ball. “Everyone expects me to do stuff in the attack and it’ll come, but tonight, I didn’t let anyone down defensively,” Hallahan said. Just a few minutes later, Popovic, the former Golden Grizzly, streaked downfield. Upon receiving a well-played through ball from senior defender Abdou Samake, he snuck the ball over Lauderdale from just outside the box on only one touch. Popovic said his goal

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Forward Jack Hallahan scored one of Michigan’s goals against Oakland.

and the game’s final outcome “confirmed (he) made the right decision” in choosing to come to Michigan after being recruited by the school on several occasions. The Golden Grizzlies’ fastpaced and aggressive play proved to all in attendance that they were down, but not out. They played a lot of balls into the air in hopes of forcing some chances on goal, but the Wolverines’ back four worked as a unit and didn’t let balls get over their heads. Thanks to their efforts, senior goalkeeper Andrew Verdi only had to attend to two shots on target. The second half proved that a game against Michigan’s in-state counterparts would be far from a tune-up before Big Ten play. The Golden Grizzlies made several crucial adjustments to stay competitive and give themselves every chance to score. They played with three in the back, allowing their supplemented front to force extended stays deep in Wolverine territory. They favored a ground attack over playing balls in the air because Michigan had been so effective in forcing turnovers and otherwise

interrupting Oakland’s first half aerial exchanges. Aware of the dangers of this revamped attack, Daley could be heard exhorting his forwards to hustle on defense. A bevy of Golden Grizzly substitutions with a baker’s dozen or so minutes remaining confirmed their commitment to attacking with fresh legs until the final whistle. In some ways, according to Daley, that means the Wolverines failed. “We were trying to get a third (goal) first,” Daley mused. “Can we end the game, or can we end their belief?” The answer on Tuesday was no. Instead, Michigan had to “see the game out and manage the game to the end.” That meant neutralizing the playmaking impact of Golden Grizzly junior midfielder Noah Jensen, according to Daley. And in the last 10 minutes, his men succeeded in doing just that. After watching the Wolverines build their lead in the first 15 minutes and protect it in the last 75, Michigan fans can be assured that there is much to believe in for the upcoming campaign.

Tonight, I didn’t let anyone down defensively.

Michigan thrives at Inverness Club ‘M’ starts slow under Zach Barlow ROHAN KUMAR Daily Sports Writer

To anyone deep in the golf world, Inverness Club is more than just a course. Located in Toledo, Ohio, the historic club has hosted some of the sport’s most prestigious events, including four U.S. Opens, a pair of PGA Championships and the U.S. Amateur. And Monday and Tuesday, women collegiate golfers walked the fairways during the Glass City Invitational. Among the pack was the Michigan women’s golf team, which shot 10-over par for a second-place finish in its first competition of the season. Florida got in the clubhouse four strokes better than the Wolverines to best the 13-team field. “It’s a great start to our season,” said Michigan coach Jan Dowling. “It was pretty special to be playing at such a historic venue as Inverness.” Sophomore Sophia Trombetta, freshman Hailey Borja and senior Hannah Ghelfi were Michigan’s three keys to success, finishing third, tied for fourth and tied for ninth, respectively. Sophomore Ashley Lau and junior Ashley Kim also started for the team and finished 37th and 40th, respectively. “Our returners worked hard and we have a strong freshman

class,” Dowling said. “The group of nine of them are really pushing each other to be better. Our hard work is already starting to pay off.” Distance is a critical aspect of Trombetta’s game. This week, her length off the tee helped turn short holes into scoring opportunities by providing wedge shots into many of the greens. “She’s a really good wedge player,” Dowling said. “She had wedges in her hand a lot and just took advantage of it.” Trombetta sat in sixth after Monday’s opening two rounds at oneover par. She carded a 71 on Tuesday, though, to jump three spots on the leaderboard. Her jump fueled the team’s movement from fourth place on Monday to runner-up. Meanwhile, Borja excelled in the first event of her collegiate career. She led the team on the first day, with a 143 (71-72) after 36 holes, at third overall. “It’s a nice start to her collegiate career,” Dowling said. “She’s a really solid ball-striker — doesn’t miss many fairways, doesn’t miss many greens.”

Dowling had seen Borja compete in person prior to Monday while recruiting her, but this was her first time watching up close, and Dowling enjoyed the new perspective. The freshman’s steadiness stood out to the coach, and she was also pleased that Borja was in contention to win her first event. “She’s got a very mature process of how to hit golf shots,” Dowling said. “She seems like she’s a veteran out there already. Nothing seems to faze her at all.” When playing a landmark course like Inverness, rewriting history is a tall task — there are too many major Sundays to compete with. Yet Michigan still made the most out of the outing. This tournament marked the Wolverines’ best finish since the 2016-17 season. Dowling hopes to use this performance as a building block for the rest of the season. “It shows a lot of the talent this team has and what they’re capable of,” Dowling said. “We got in contention to win a golf tournament, and it was just a really great experience for our team.”

(Trombetta) just had wedges in her hand a lot.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Sophomore Sophia Trombetta finished third in the Glass City Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.

LILY ISRAEL For the Daily

There were many firsts this weekend for the Michigan men’s golf team. First tournament of the season. First tournament for a first-year head coach. With pre-match jitters and undeniable growing pains under the direction of Zach Barlow, the Wolverines looked to break out of a threeyear rut and again become a competitive team. But there’s no denying the struggles Michigan faced in the Windon Memorial Tournament in Illinois on Monday and Tuesday. Ultimately finishing 13 out of 14 teams, the Wolverines recognize their potential and are working on ways of harnessing a “refuse to lose” mindset to be a competitive team this year. Michigan came out of the gates strong in each of the three rounds, but settled into a lull in the middle of each. Once the Wolverines started digressing, they couldn’t stop the bleeding. Barlow, hired just four months ago, points to the new season and coaching staff as a part of the problem. “We showed stretches of what our potential could be, but we couldn’t sustain that throughout the entire tournament,” Barlow said. “The sky’s the limit for these guys.” Barlow’s experience from the well-established Illinois golf team will surely aid him in this process. Over the past decade, he was both an assistant coach and player for the Illini. As an assistant coach Barlow helped the team win five consecutive Big Ten titles, three NCAA regional championships and advance to five straight NCAA finals. Last season, he was a finalist for the Assistant Coach of the Year award. While their lulls lingered in the rounds longer than desired, the Wolverines’ driving was a highlight for the tournament.

FILE PHOTO/Daily

The Michigan men’s golf team struggled at the Windon Memorial Tournament.

Senior and top scorer for the tournament Brent Ito hit almost 70 percent of fairways. His solid driving skills helped him secure an overall score of one-under par, as he birdied a short par five on the 17th hole. While the driving was a strength, Michigan’s Achilles heel for the tournament was its short game. Both Ito and Barlow think this tournament was ref lective of the team’s overall performance both early in this season and last year. Their biggest point of emphasis going forward will be consistency. “They are as talented as any team I’ve coached,” Barlow said. “I just think today and this week was a microcosm of what they have been struggling with in the past.” This season is more personal for Ito, as he is five months into recovering from an ankle injury. On Monday, he played 36 holes, a feat challenging for anyone. Ito admits it’s always tough to walk 36 holes. However, after undergoing rehad for his injury over the past five months, he was only able to compete in one tournament this summer. Ito looks forward to the challenges his senior year

holds with a new coaching staff and weighing the possibility of turning pro after graduation. He wants it to be a learning experience. “Hopefully (the new coaching staff ) will be a breath of fresh air,” Ito said. “Practices already feel different. It’s more team oriented. He makes practice about finishing a job as a team rather than necessarily getting your two and a half hours of work in.” As a senior, Ito has turned his focus to what comes next. His ultimate goal is continuing to play after graduation. “I want to take this last year as an assessment of where I’m at,” Ito said. If he continues to play as well as he did at the Windon Memorial, there’s no stopping Ito from turning professional shortly after graduation. Once the Wolverines and coaching staff gets over the hump of the getting-to-knowyou stage, Barlow is certain Michigan will find great success. “My goal is to get to know each one of these guys down to their core,” Barlow said. “Figure out what makes them tick. We will be a much better team and I will be a much better coach once that happens.”

My goal is to get to know each one of these guys.

Sports

8A — Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Patterson looks to make a statement Healthy Jeter aims to boost defense ETHAN SEARS

THEO MACKIE

When Jim Harbaugh strode to the podium on Monday, he carried the demeanor of a man focused only on what was ahead of him, unwilling to admit distraction. Harbaugh was asked about the offensive struggles, about where his team had improved over the bye week and where it needed to improve further. He was asked about ball security and the challenges of playing Wisconsin, and none of this would be notable if it didn’t carry a certain air to it — a connotation that Michigan would be in an uphill battle on Saturday. Then things got more direct, with a reporter asking about the feeling of being a Vegas underdog. Harbaugh barely gave a cursory stare. “That’s irrelevant,” he said. So, a day later when the normally soft-spoken senior quarterback Shea Patterson took his turn, it was unsurprising when he, too, fell back on platitudes in the face of those same questions. But after 10 minutes of being lobbed questions connoting a challenge, giving little benefit of the doubt to what Patterson was saying about the offense letting loose, maybe his patience wore a bit thin. He was asked how close the Wolverines are to showing the world what they’ve seen in practice — an offense that can fire on all cylinders. “Uh, what is it?” Patterson asked in response. “Three-and-ahalf, four days?” Indeed, from Tuesday night when Patterson spoke, it was four until gameday. “Yeah, we’re gonna go out there and make a statement,” Patterson said. “Simple as that.” And despite the obvious hedge — winning on the road at Wisconsin, a top-15 team in a venue the Wolverines haven’t walked out of with a victory since 2001 would be a statement unto itself — everyone knows it isn’t that simple.

Don Brown let out a sigh and a trailing “you know” before pausing. Standing in the Schembechler Hall lobby last week, he had just been asked for his assessment of his defense through two weeks. The indecision in his initial reaction continued throughout his answer as he shuffled between positives and negatives, resistant to any grand declarations. The evidence for each came naturally. In its first two games, every regulation touchdown that Michigan’s first-team defense allowed came off a turnover. And yet, the Wolverines were 50th in Division I with 21 points per game allowed despite not facing a Power Five team. All of that, though, was before the bye week. “We haven’t been playing the best football we can play,” said senior safety Josh Metellus. “And we know that we’ve got guys in this building whose potential is way up here. We’re not reaching that.” A bye week, of course, isn’t some magic cure. Wisconsin had one of its own and was off a start in which it outscored opposition, 110-0. Still, it’s an opportunity for

Managing Sports Editor

Daily Sports Editor

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily

Quarterback Shea Patterson is confident in Michigan’s chances Saturday.

A statement would be following up on what we heard all spring and summer about this offense. It would mean going in and showing everyone what this unit — a senior quarterback with three NFL-caliber receivers, should Donovan Peoples-Jones return, a top-50 recruit at running back and an offensive line chock full of returning starters — can do when it’s rolling and when its coordinator doesn’t get gun-shy. Patterson is, literally and figuratively, often a quiet figure with recorders thrust into his face. That does not mean he lacks confidence. He hasn’t since fifth grade, when his dad coached him. “It was a little rough at first,” Patterson said. Yet here he is. “I’m very confident and that comes with the guys around me,” Patterson said. “How can you not have confidence in yourself when you have our O-Line and unbelievable targets outside and a hell of a defense behind you?” It’s a good question, and really the only answer is to point to the last two weeks. The offense turned the ball over, unable to hold onto it. The defense gave up points when it got put in bad situations. Even when they kept

the ball, the Wolverines played with timidity and struggled to move the chains. Michigan nearly lost to an unranked Army team at home. Do that against Wisconsin and the Wolverines won’t walk out so lucky. Patterson knows that, and so does everyone else in Schembechler Hall. “We haven’t been playing the best football we can play and we know that,” said senior safety Josh Metellus. “We got guys in this building who, potential, like way up here. We’re not reaching that.” The only news there is that Michigan is publicly acknowledging what everyone can see. Make the kind of statement Patterson talked about and the conversation will quickly turn back to where it was two weeks ago, all about Big Ten titles and College Football Playoff berths. As many questions surround the Wolverines now, narratives change fast. Statements aren’t made in the quiet comfort of your own practice facility. “I’m done talking about it,” Patterson said at the end of his session Tuesday, walking away from the group of reporters. It’s time to show it.

We haven’t been playing the best football we can play.

Michigan to look itself in the mirror and diagnose what went wrong in its underwhelming start. The Wolverines will hold most of that diagnosis close to their chest until Saturday, but junior defensive tackle Donovan Jeter’s return to full health is one piece of the puzzle that can’t be hidden. “Donovan’s a really aggressive player,” said junior defensive tackle Ben Mason. “He adds a lot. Big guy, comes off the ball hard. So it should a good add for us this week.” After missing the opener against Middle Tennessee State, Jeter returned against Army in week two, but was limited to a few snaps. It stood in direct contrast to the expectations that bubbled for him throughout the spring, when he was one of Michigan’s most hyped players. For months, this was supposed to be Jeter’s breakout after two years of sitting behind a deep defensive line that graduated both starters last offseason. “You get tired of sitting on the bench,” Jeter said Tuesday, reflecting on those two years. But instead of a breakthrough, Jeter got hurt. Meanwhile, Mason struggled and senior Michael Dwumfour played one snap before getting sidelined with an injury of his own.

“It was frustrating cause I obviously want to be out there helping the team,” Jeter said. “But luckily it was just one week, nothing too severe. It could’ve been worse, I missed my freshman year with something a lot worse. It was frustrating, but at the end of the day, it was only one week.” The resulting adjustment had a domino effect down Michigan’s defense. Sophomore defensive end Aidan Hutchinson moved to tackle beside Carlo Kemp, while senior linebacker Josh Uche had to move into an every-down role on the front four. Against MTSU and Army, that speed-heavy look mostly worked. But Wisconsin wins games in the trenches, by pounding the ball up the middle with All-American running back Jonathan Taylor. Metellus wants to come back to Ann Arbor on Sunday and say, “This team is playing the best football right now. This team is reaching strides. This team is moving up better than we were the past couple weeks. This team is really doing something that we’re capable of.” To make that a reality, the Wolverines will need to stop Taylor. They’ll need to make good on two weeks of post-Army adjustments. And, most likely, they’ll need Jeter.

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily

Junior defensive lineman Donovan Jeter is fully healthy ahead of Michigan’s matchup with Wisconsin.

Mel Pearson calls for rules changes ahead of Big Ten coaches’ meeting BAILEY JOHNSON Daily Sports Writer

It looked like an ordinary, runof-the-mill practice. The entire Michigan hockey team was on the ice working through drills and skating the occasional sprint, while the three goaltenders rotated in and out of the nets at each end. But there was one major difference that made for an atypical day at Yost Ice Arena last Wednesday. Instead of being down on the ice coaching, Mel Pearson and his staff were forced to sit in the stands and watch. According to Big Ten rules, teams must have two days off per week before the official start of their season. But on those days off, coaches can make the ice available for any player who would like to get extra reps in. “(The rule is) to try and help student athletes and take some of the burden off of them as far as the practice out of season and whatnot,” Pearson said Sept. 11. “But if you ask our guys (on days) like today, would they rather be out there with coaches or just out there (doing) their own thing? “They’re hockey players. A couple of them are gonna be multi-million-dollar athletes. They’re training. It’s why they’re here. That’s what they want to do.” Pearson isn’t normally one to voice his frustrations with rules or officiating, but at a meeting of the Big Ten hockey coaches on Wednesday, Pearson hopes they’ll get the ball rolling on a conversation about potential changes. It’s clear there are a few hot-button issues Pearson feels strongly about, including being allowed to add a third full-time assistant coach. When asked about the issue of a third coach, Pearson answered quickly and decisively, stating his answer before the question was fully posed. “Yes,” Pearson said. “Absolutely.” The Wolverines have 28 players and just three full-time coaches — Pearson, associate

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Michigan coach Mel Pearson called for multiple rule changes, including additional practice time and the ability to add a third full-time assistant coach, similar to other Big Ten revenue sports.

head coach Bill Muckalt and assistant coach Kris Mayotte. For perspective, Michigan basketball has 15 players and four full-time coaches, and Michigan football has 11 coaches for 85 scholarship players and a number of walk-ons. While other college sports have the option of recruiting during their offseason, hockey season runs the same portion of the year at every level of the sport, forcing Pearson and his staff to balance being at Michigan with being out on the road recruiting. Pearson spent 23 years with the Wolverines under Red Berenson, and he said for most road trips, only Berenson and one assistant would travel with the team while the other assistant

went out on recruiting trips. There have been conversations about advocating for an additional coach, but the Division II and III schools with Division I hockey programs tend to put a stop to such talks. While schools like Michigan and other Power Five teams can afford another salary, the smaller schools with more limited resources are more resistant to additional staff. “We’re not as unified and as organized as some of the other coaches’ associations, and that’s where (the decision) has to come

from,” Pearson said. “I know softball and baseball are trying to get another third coach right now. We definitely need one.” Other rules also frustrate Pearson, such as the NCAAmandated extra 14 days that must be taken off during the school year. Because Michigan starts school after Labor Day and begins second semester early in January, the Wolverines have to take their extra days off in-season or much closer to the season than Pearson would like. “Some programs, it doesn’t

They’re training. It’s why they’re here.

affect,” Pearson said Monday. “But for us, because of our academic calendar, it really affects our program, taking the extra 14 days off. I’d like to see that change.” Part of Pearson’s displeasure comes from the fact that the rules vary by conference, with few rules about days off and the like shared across college hockey. The off-day that required him to sit and watch practice from the stands is mandated by the Big Ten, but schools like Ferris State, which the Wolverines will face at the Great Lakes Invitational, only have to take one day off per week. “You’re already behind,” Pearson said Sept. 11. “Every week you lose a day.” On Wednesday, the Big Ten

hockey head coaches and sport administrators from each school will meet to discuss some of the issues facing the sport. While Pearson is hopeful they’ll start a conversation for some rule changes, both within the conference and across the sport, he has a cynical attitude about it after nearly 40 years in coaching. “When you get 60 schools voting on something — I know that the way it’s structured is that Division I schools are the only ones supposed to vote on Division I issues — but with hockey, it’s weird,” Pearson said. “A lot of times we don’t get things passed, even though we’re in a Power Five conference. We should have power. We don’t have any power. It’s one of the most frustrating parts.”

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T H E M I C H I G A N DA I LY | S E P T E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 9

The Michigan difference... in career paths PHOTO BY DANYEL THARAKAN

2B Wednesday, September 18, 2019 // The Statement

statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | S E P T E M B E R 1 8 , 2019

Managing Statement Editor Andrea Pérez Balderrama

Editor in Chief Maya Goldman

Deputy Editors Matthew Harmon Shannon Ors

Copy Editor Silas Lee

Associate Editor Eli Rallo

Photo Editor Danyel Tharakan

The I in Athlete ad, I’m sorry I never told you I was quitting soccer. The goals that we built together never fully manifested, and it was too hard for me to tell you in person. Our lifelong father-son puzzle has fallen short here, at the University of Michigan. I did not know it then, but looking back now I understand how proud you must have been to see that goal posted above my bed: “play professional soccer.” Without your sacrifices, I would not be close to where I’m at today. There’s so much I’ve wanted to tell you over the years, but words are always harder to find in the moment. I hope this letter shows you all you’ve done for me, and all that is left for me to find on my own. But mostly, that soccer will always be ours. I like to think soccer was my profound connection to the world, an arbitrary love that derived out of some deterministic fate, a secret language between the ball and my feet. From the beginning there was this subtle art in which the ball freely flowed on the field. I loved the sound of the grass parting, leaving a line as I passed the ball to your feet and you smiled. I was a child blissfully at play. This “love” was the centripetal force that kept our family so close. Tethered to your grandiose passion for the sport, I was destined to keep playing, no matter what. My first memory of soccer evades me, but perhaps you can recall. Did the game choose me or did I choose it? The feeling of being with the ball became so innate as the years moved on that the question soon eluded me. The game became a chance to escape my mind, and my identity slowly merged itself to it — the first thing that looked like love. In eighth grade, when I was asked to pen a letter to my future self, I responded passionately in a way that made you proud. I was genuinely sure of who I wanted to be. I wrote, in my block/bubble hybrid handwriting, about the only thing I knew — I wanted to be a professional soccer player. And yet, as a 12-year-old, my goals were not entirely my own. Standing in a mirror, I always saw you pointing back at me. Coming from a privileged community, the world wasn’t leaping out of its shoes to show me my naïveté, so soccer became the lens through which I learned, and you were almost always the teacher.

Designers Liz Bigham Kate Glad

Managing Editor Finntan Storer

BY LUCAS ROSENDALL, STATEMENT COLUMNIST

Each lesson I learned, on and off the pitch, always aligned with our soccer goals. In the summers, that meant hours at the field with a repetition of shots, 12 balls for each corner, left and right, each passing round marked by the word “again.” In the winters, the echoes of the racquetball walls were conditioned faintly into my ears with each pass. The sound of the last rolled into the next, until a constant white noise appeared. What started as play became a routine of practice and repetition. With each touch, pass and shot, we built together the foundation of our relationship. If I wasn’t playing for the love of the game, I certainly was doing it to be loved by you. As I grew, the expectations of the game grew more immense. My anxiety and the constant criticism I faced blended together to create a meticulous form of perfectionism. Even after bright performances, you were always fixing my mistakes, constantly honing and molding me like a fine craftsman. I know you were hard on me for a reason, so I was equally hard on myself. I wanted nothing more than to prove you wrong. I knocked the ball against the wall for hours in the backyard, constantly hearing your voice, until I finally internalized it as my own. Accordingly, one mistake in game would sometimes haunt me for the rest of the match. Without knowing it, we both had created a paradoxical loop. My greatest assets — practice and perfection — also became my downfall. Still, I always wanted more, to prove to you that I was everything but a quitter. When the inner workings of chance and geometric luck combined with hours of sweaty shirts and fancy footwork, we had finally done it, Dad. I walked around Ann Arbor with you and Mom in a dreamlike state. My whole life had been for this moment. You put your arms around my shoulders as we walked out of the Michigan Athletics office, freshly signed to the University of Michigan. I can’t remember if you said you were proud of me, but I could feel your warm presence. As I walked out of the locker room and into my dreams, I lightly tapped the words “WIN FOR MICHIGAN.” Standing in front of the crowds with jittery hands, I took a deep breath and looked for your familiar face. With a slight nod of your head, the years of

COURTESY OF LUCAS ROSENDALL

preparation raced through my mind. Nobody knew how I was standing there, but you. Two years treaded on and problems are destined to arise when the sole basis of your identity is built on performance. When I did not play well, I excluded myself from any validation. My idea of self-worth became thin, reduced to something that my coaches could fiddle with. Off the pitch, I always felt the need for approval, which I was no longer getting from soccer — a never-ending act, constantly appeasing others as I had done my whole life. Simultaneously, the game no longer seemed like my own, a version manipulated for far too long to fit the views of how others perceived I should play. College athletics, built around structure, rationale and winning, had bullied out the formlessness and freedom I had found at any early age. My creative dance with the ball came with instructions on how and when to do it. At times, I still felt like that child at play, smiling effortlessly, unburdened by what the game had become. I hoped that when I found anxiety and insecurities while playing, that child would empower me to play with passion. I hoped he would help me dictate every move and mistake as I purely played for the love of the game. But, by

my senior year, the expectations of those around me had rotted away that part of the game. Soon, I felt as if I was playing for everyone but myself. One should never pursue their craft with popularity as the sole purpose, and yet, most of our creative outlets are monetized and marketed based on their transactional value. With soccer, my form of creativity became battered and bruised beneath the demands of winning. My soul was sick and tired of soccer’s solid shell. The soft elements of play that I first found with you were now broken and brittle. Hardness and strength had left a steel bridge, with no room for water to flow. I know we never reached our final goal, but in my 17 years of playing, I don’t think we should end on a negative note. Society often looks at athletes as one-dimensional, but each sport comes with its own sociological, psychological and cultural characteristics. For me, in my highly subjective biases, soccer is not just a game, but an art and philosophy. At its pinnacle, it reaches for an aesthetic dimension, utilizing dance and movement of the body through space. I learned throughout my years playing that a sense of honor and duty comes from competition, forcing me to search the limits and potentials of my mind and body.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019 // The Statement 3B 3B

Understanding the border crisis: Fascism in America?

BY MARTINA VILLALOBOS, STATEMENT COLUMNIST

ournalist Micheal Herr once wrote, “It took the war to teach it, that you were as responsible for everything you saw as you were for everything you did.” This quote first appeared in Herr’s book “Dispatches” published in 1977, where he described his experiences in Vietnam as a correspondent for Esquire Magazine. I am not writing about the Vietnam war, not even about a book about the war. I am writing about this quote and how it came back to me years later while I was living in Germany. was born in Chile but spent the majority of my life living in several cities across the United States. I believe that my yearning to find a place to call home has propelled me to explore other parts of the world. I have no connections to Europe, but I spent the last five years of my life learning French and German. So, like many 20-year-olds who are privileged enough to lack serious adult responsibilities do, I jumped at the idea of traveling abroad. During my third year of my college, on a half-baked plan, a depleted bank account and two semesters of German, I found myself committing to studying abroad for seven months in Berlin and Munich. From the beginning of my German career, I was told by my eclectic professor that, as a student of the German language, I was responsible not only for learning all four cases of the German language, but the history of Germany as well. This history would be centered on the rise of fascism in Europe and, in particular, the role of Nazi Germany in the 20th century. As soon as I touched down in Germany, the war was inescapable. I couldn’t walk down the street without seeing some memorial dedicated to the war. Even Frau Dette, my landlord in Berlin, who lived the precarities of post-World War II Germany, carried the war in her soul. But this living memory of the war, in the people and on the streets, wasn’t always part of German culture. It took a generation of Germans, those whose parents were alive during the war — demanding to know the truth of their families and their country — to make this collective consciousness possible. Those who fall more towards the left on the political spectrum argue that, regardless of the history classes, it isn’t enough. They argue that the recent backlash against refugees in Germany is in part due to the heritage of the war. As someone who has always had a certain fascination for history — in particular family histories — I wanted to hear the stories that missed my textbooks. So, I asked.

I first met Noah in a literature seminar titled “Literature and Exile.” We were partnered up for a presentation, and I made sure to introduce myself. After class, we walked off campus towards a patch of green to get to know each other. With the wind blowing through the trees and the sun shining, no one could have suspected the heaviness of conversation we had on that bench. Noah was born and raised in Germany. I remember we started talking about his family and the war and, somehow, over the course of our conversation the personal turned political. Given all the tension in Germany regarding refugees and other world events, I asked if people had felt they overcame the war. He looked at me and without blinking he replied, “A country can never overcome its history.” f the five classes I took at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, only one was about the Nazi regime and included a day trip to a concentration camp in the syllabus. I visited Dachau at the end of June, during the height of the coverage of the Mexican-American border crisis. I remember walking around the eerie grounds, seeing the dust in the air and listening to the guide talk about the rise of fascism in Germany. Despite being so far away from my friends and family, both physically and culturally, I couldn’t help but think about the state of the United States. My mind started to draw connections between images of children in cages and the German concentration camps. his year alone, I have had three different phone numbers belonging to three different countries. Sometimes the feeling of disorientation seems to be the only consistent thing in my life. This lack of consistency seems to be mirrored in the politics of today. I know that the United States, an America under President Donald Trump may seem to many like a joke made in bad taste. But I don’t think this administration is a mockery of politics. I believe it is the overt and violent exhaustion of liberal democracy in crisis. The past three years have been, for many, an emotionally exhausting and politically confusing time. Americans have been whipped back and forth between policies that continue to polarize the political landscape. While illegal immigration has been a hot topic for several presidencies, the current situation at the Southern border is attracting more attention than ever. The images of children in cages, masses of immigrants lined up behind barbed wire

and the drowned bodies of Óscar Alberto Martínez and his 23-month-old daughter Angie Valeria have been circulating since April of last year. I am now struggling to grasp the contemporary landscape of America as it unfolds before my very eyes. The detention centers are being compared to concentration camps, and these statements have been met with enormous backlash from both sides of the political spectrum. People are afraid that drawing a connection between detention centers and concentration camps diminishes the atrocities that occurred under Nazi Germany. Others argue that the gravity of the situation at the Southern border demands an examination of this severity. In the wake of this debate, I see the aperture for a new discussion regarding democracy and extremism. Society would like to use a simple checklist to determine if what is happening counts as facism. Some political scientists would likely argue that because Trump is not actively promoting the dismantling of the American democracy, his administration therefore cannot be considered fascist. But I think that if we hide behind this rigid definition of fascism, then we will never confront the brutality of what is happening. I think these detention centers, in a very visceral way, are injecting the framework of war into daily life. They are promoting fascist rhetoric by creating hierarchies of affirmation and conformity. We look at each other wondering first what it is that differentiates us, and if we pass this test then we seek to find what unites us. Detention centers manifest an “us versus them”

narrative reinforcing our fear of the other. Those placed inside the detention center are outside the community and, therefore, are not afforded the same rights of citizens. To me, detention centers, like concentration camps before them, become a void where any type of violation of rights becomes the rule. Placed outside a larger community those held in detention centers are labeled as outsiders, stripped of rights and vulnerable to all kinds of abuse. We can get lost in a debate of definition. However, if we spend all our time and energy discussing if fascism is back or if we need a new term, then the atrocities on the border will continue happening. If people resign themselves to fear of the other, as fostered by a fascist-like rhetoric, all acts of violence and hate will be excused. What will come, when those children who spent months in cages grow up and tell their stories? We may not be at the border, but we have all seen the images. We are responsible. We may not be keeping children in cages, but we are watching silently. Just like Herr said, we are responsible for everything we see just as much as everything we did (or did not do). Whether or not there is a consensus regarding fascism in the United States, everyone is responsible for what is happening at the U.S.-Mexico border. This crisis will become another chapter in an already complicated history of the United States, and, like Noah said on that park bench, a country doesn’t forget its history — history doesn’t disappear like bodies that drown in the Rio Grande.

ILLUSTRATION BY LAUREN KUZEE

4B Wednesday, September 18, 2019 // The Statement

Wednesday, September 18, 2019 // The Statement 5B

The Michigan

in career paths

difference ...

BY FRANCES SMITH, STATEMENT CONTRIBUTOR

he subway screeched to a stop at Sixth Avenue and I stepped onto the muggy platform. Walking up the stairs, the skyscraper sentinels of New York City loomed over me. The sidewalk of the “Avenue of the Americas” was crowded with urbanites — talented, successful individuals who were “making it” in the Big Apple. Surrounded by these veteran New Yorkers in their suits and pencil skirts, I could almost pretend I was one of them. Even after memorizing the subway map and avoiding tourist traps, I felt out of place. I was the Midwestern girl in the big city, but instead of falling in love with it, my insecurities simmered. It wasn’t that I was lost or on my own, but that everyone seemed so professional and self-assured, incapable of making a wrong decision. ike 17,149 other University of Michigan students, I’m in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. While the college offers 90 majors and sub majors, a mix of sciences and liberal arts, I am pursuing a Bachelor of Arts as an English major with two minors in history and political science. I had never questioned my academic choices until I scrolled through the countless job postings on Handshake and saw the missing check mark indicating that my major did not match the “employer’s preferences.” When will I stop having to defend my major? When will I stop second guessing what I’m passionate about? What, exactly, can I do with a liberal arts degree from LSA after I graduate? The University of Michigan started with LSA in 1817, and the original college has since remained the largest of the 19 colleges on campus. The LSA website boasts an “employed or continuing education” rate of 96 percent, accompanied by an interactive graphic titled “What Will You Do with

an LSA Degree.” Like colorful spokes of a bicycle wheel, the English Literature career path spans a wide breadth of disciplines — including Medicine/ Health, Technology and Engineering. However, the University Career Center depicts a slightly different post-graduation narrative. Every year the Career Center publishes a First Destination Profile, outlining the employment statistics of the most recent graduating class. According to them, only 89.8 percent of LSA graduates are employed or continuing their education. Another survey question asks students whether they think their new job has “clear career potential.” This felt very open-ended to me and difficult to answer, especially if a student hasn’t even started working yet. When I asked UCC Senior Associate Director Terri LaMarco to explain what qualifies as “clear potential” she responded, “We do not define that … so, that could be defined differently by the person completing the survey. Which is fine with us because what we’re after is, ‘Are you satisfied with the position that you have?’” The survey indicated only 60.5 percent of LSA respondent’s jobs have clear potential. In an email after our interview, LaMarco showed that the survey for the First Destination Survey has an average response rate of 32 percent and is issued three times a year in December, May and August to account for the varying student graduation and job recruitment timelines. “The response rate is low, and that’s also pretty common for surveys like this. But we’re at a percent that does make it generalizable... A lot of data suggests that liberal arts students are more likely to be employed three to six months after graduation” LaMarco said. Perhaps sensing my panic as I began the allimportant job search, LSA published this on

PHOTOS BY DANYEL THARAKAN

their website, “LSA has offered generations of students broad and deep programs of study and … has provided a foundation for successful lives and meaningful careers. Today, this transformative approach … attract(s) growing numbers of students who recognize the value of a liberal arts education.” Is it the intrinsic nature of liberal arts degree that enables English majors to become engineers or environmental science majors to be CEOs? Or is it a sheer force of will to prove our place in the increasingly professional world of work? niversity alum Erika Shevchek graduated in December 2018 with an English degree. After not being admitted to graduate school, she decided to stay in Ann Arbor for the summer and work three jobs while applying for writing jobs. “I’ve always wanted to be a writer, I know that sounds really cliché,” Shevchek said. Despite graduating a semester early, Shevchek was the last of her friends to “figure it out.” “I was never upset that I chose English,” she said. “I don’t think me being an English major lowered my chances of getting a job, which everyone believes, but I don’t think that’s true.” Shevchek still plans on going to graduate school eventually, but for now she’s excited to start an editorial assistant internship in Philadelphia while also working in a restaurant to “pay the bills.” When we talked, her first day of work was the following Tuesday. “I’m excited not to work a 9-6 job and have a salary and go to bed at 9:30,” she said. “It’s this idea that you think you have to do the right thing at 22, and you have this pressure from your family, and you have to make the salary. Dude, you don’t at all. This is your one time in your life you are so free. You can literally work wherever, you can move wherever,

you can do whatever. It doesn’t matter what I do at 22, because as long as I have some form of income and a story to tell, that can make me a writer.” Shevchek was the only other English alum I talked with. Immediately, I felt a sense of camaraderie — that we were “in this together.” She unapologetically embraced her major and her choices, never wavering in her decision to choose liberal arts and work as a waitress. I listened to her story with admiration and clung to her parting words of advice. “Do what you want, live your life,” she said. “You’re going to be 21 when you graduate? Oh my god, dude, you got the whole world in your hands. If it’s meant to work, it’ll work.” niversity alum Pat Ray received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science through LSA in 2018. He now works for Domino’s Pizza Corporate Team in their I.T. department. “Yeah, it’s kinda funny, a lot of people, when I say I work at Domino’s, they’re like ‘Aw stick with it, man,’” Ray said. Logically, I know it’s the company and not the major, but I couldn’t help but compare this comment to the ones I receive when I tell people I’m an English major. “What are you going to do with that, live in your parents’ basement?” I guess even computer science majors can’t escape the stigma of a liberal arts school. At his side gig, however, Ray leads a very different life than the one at work. When he’s not at the office, he can be found splitting his time playing in five different bands and running a concert booking company out of his bedroom. Because he received a degree through LSA, Ray had to fulfill the 30-credit distribution requirement, including courses in humanities, math and quantitative reasoning. Ray largely credits these classes for giving him the skills he needed to

navigate life after college. “I was able to use some of the stuff I learned in creative writing to help with writing songs. It’s been nice having math and statistics to help with finances, too,” Ray said. Ray seems to have embraced his diverging career paths. In explained how he guilts his boss and co-workers into going to shows. When I asked him about cutting back on his I.T. career and focusing more on music, it felt like I struck a chord. “That’s something I’d like to do; I’ve thought about it a lot. I want to, at some point, maybe in a year or two, save up some money from work, take a year off and focus on the booking group and my band,” he said. While talking with Ray, I couldn’t help but feel envious. A directly applicable job right after graduation and a money-making hobby on the side? It sounded ideal to me. I asked Ray if he ever imagined himself doing what he is doing now. “It’s definitely what I wanted to do. I think I’m kinda surprised with myself, that I’ve been able to pull it off,” he replied. Can that be attributed to personal skills like organization, time management or even luck? Or can liberal arts take the credit — preparing Ray with a broad range of classes and topics from EECS 281 to “Video Game Music.” Ray’s path after college is reflected in his final bits of advice to me. “I’d say work hard and don’t be afraid to take chances. … Prove that you’re a hard worker, and trust in what you’re doing, and don’t be afraid to take a risk,” Ray said. oth Shevchek and Ray used the University Career Center while they were at Michigan, with varying degrees of success. At career fairs, Shevchek confessed she felt out of place as a liberal arts major, while Ray learned about

his current I.T. role by meeting with a Domino’s recruiter at one. UCC Director Kerin Borland, sat down with me for an interview and offered a different perspective on undergraduate majors. “The major is a field of study; the person is the one who’s going to be doing the job,” Borland said. There is no unmarketable major; there might be some unmarketable people, but most times that’s correctable.” Before I talked with Borland, I had a chip on my shoulder. I badly wanted her to confirm my notion that liberal arts majors have a more diverse skill sets than other pre-professional majors like engineering or nursing. Instead, she corrected my prejudices. “See, we don’t think like that. There are skills that are going to be transferable to a professional setting that are gotten through every academic experience,” Borland said. “The type of skill may be different, but each academic discipline is going to provide transferable skills.” When I told her my goal of securing a job before Christmas break, she cautioned me against setting a deadline. “Don’t put that pressure on yourself,” Borland said. “We’re not looking for the perfect job, we’re looking for a really great opportunity that capitalizes on existing interests and skills and allows for growth to be a stepping stone to the next great opportunity. That’s how careers are built — one great opportunity after another.” The LSA Opportunity Hub is another source for internship and career advice. Created specifically for LSA students, the Hub aims to work with students throughout their time in undergrad. Kierra Trotter, director of student engagement at the Hub, talked me through her perspective on liberal arts. See MICHIGAN, Page 6B

Wednesday, September 18, 2019 // The Statement

From Page 5B Trotter feels that liberal arts is truly an education, not training. “If someone is looking for a broader education that is not going to prepare them just for one particular job, but prepare them for a lifetime of multiple careers, then an LSA degree really can be a way for someone to go,” she said. During our interview, Trotter was careful not to downplay the other colleges on campus. She said she’s always surprised to see what students do with their major after they graduate, in a good way. “The degree that you’re getting here, regardless of the major, sets you up to be able to exercise so many different skills and areas of knowledge,” Trotter said. I unloaded all my worries and anxiety about finding a job after I graduate. “Sometimes half the battle … is to figure out what is it that you want,” she said. ylan Lange, however, knew exactly what he wanted. Graduating in 2019 with a BBA from the Ross Business School and a minor in global media studies, Lange did not follow the traditional Ross recruiting route. After graduation, Lange moved to Los Angeles and spent two-and-a-half months applying for jobs before landing a role as an assistant to a talent agent at Paradigm Talent Agency. Over those 75 days, Lange interviewed at five of the seven major agencies, and with each rejection he found himself wondering if he had made a mistake. “There were definitely times where I was like, ‘Yeah, totally, let’s go down a different route. If I wanna get back to this down the road then I will.’ It was something I was thinking about, for sure,” Lange said. “Well, it sounds like you’re happy with what you’re doing now,” I said. “Are you?” “I’m glad you asked,” he said. “No, I’m so not happy with what I’m doing.” Think scheduling meetings, answering phones and getting yelled at every day by a very intense boss. Lange went on to explain that in Hollywood “everyone starts out as an assistant, unless your uncle is George Clooney.” To me, the idea of moving across the country without a job or place to stay sounds terrifying. The instability! And to hate your job after months of searching and years of education feels like some sort of sick joke. But maybe that’s what people think when I tell them I’m an English major. Or maybe it reminds them of their first job after graduating. “I think (with) any job, and especially entry-level, you’re gonna have great things that you’re excited about, and you’re going to have things you’re not

excited about, things you’re gonna have to work harder on,” Lange said. Lange’s advice was refreshingly simple: “Stay positive. At the end of the day, it’s just a job. If you don’t find the perfect job for your first job, you’re gonna find a job that you love eventually. Whatever you do, make it a step forward for you in some way.” t the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, Louise Jackson, associate director of the Alumni Career Program, Louise Jackson, oversees the career program available to the more than 600,000 living alumni. “We try to serve all our alumni as much as we can, as well as in concert with our colleagues on campus,” says Jackson. Jackson stated in an email that there are over 100,000 members of the University Alumni Association. Despite the push for membership, the career programs are open to any University graduate. “Our job seekers are typically underemployed, unemployed,” Jackson wrote. “They’re, in many cases, under significant financial restraint. As a result of that, we have made the very intentional decision to make all of our programs available to all alumni, with only one or two member benefits.” One program the association provides is a virtual Career Change program that guides alumni through identifying strengths and skills, defining their ideal career, finding new career possibilities and creating an action plan. This program also serves as a metric for measuring how often alumni are changing the course of their careers. “We have seen, as a result of that program, that our alumni are pivoting careers earlier than they were in the past,” Jackson said. “(Millenials and Gen Z) are only in jobs for 2-3 years versus the typical ‘old-school’ where you’re at a job for 10-15 yrs.” Jackson attributes this change to a shift in employee expectations. “There’s less of a focus on loyalty for the specific employer and less dependence on the employer for determining the career path,” she said. “A lot of alumni and individuals are realizing that … they’re the people who have to create their future. As such, they’re not depending on their employer to provide that career development.” niversity alum John Wang is still searching for his passion. Wang graduated in 2003 with a triple major in Philosophy, Biopsychology and Cognitive Science, and Mathematical Physics. The summer after graduation, he took car mechanic courses at Washtenaw Community

by saying he uses his Washtenaw Community College car mechanic training more than anything else. His parting words to me were peppered with “I don’t knows” and long pauses. He joked that he probably wasn’t the best person to be giving career advice, but I disagree. “Life is long,” he said. “If you’re happy, great; if not, take risks. Who cares if it’s related to your major or not?” n a way, I’m comforted by these stories. Even more reassuring is the beautiful block ‘M’ soon to be stamped on my diploma — a symbol that represents my work ethic and the universal gold standard of all University graduates. Yet, as with many of my peers, the question of what life holds after I throw my graduation cap remains unanswered. York. QINM attracts 10,000 people every When I set out to answer this Saturday and celebrates the cultural question, I was searching for validation. diversity of New York and Queens with I wanted to know that deciding on a independent vendors selling food, art liberal arts degree was the right choice. and merchandise along with small-scale Now, I recognize my bias as an English performances. major — it was my own self-doubt that Given his employment history, I asked if he thinks he’ll stick with Queens Night Market. “I have no idea. I’ve been telling everyone every year, halfjokingly, that, ‘This is my last year. I can’t do it anymore.’” This fall will mark made me desperate to prove liberal arts the end of Queen Night Market’s fifth was worthy of respect. season. “There’s always this question in After talking to the alumni, not one the back of my head which is ‘What am I of them voiced regret about pursuing a gonna do when I grow up,’ and I realize liberal arts degree from the University. All of them admitted to doubting themselves or feeling lost at one point or another. But is that particular to the experience of a liberal arts major, or is it just being human? When I I’m nearly forty now,” Wang said. think back to all those New Yorkers, I wondered aloud if Philosophy, radiating confidence, I have to believe Biopsychology and Cognitive Science, there’s some part of them that questions and Mathematical Physics have any use their path. That “making it” in NYC isn’t in his day-to-day life. He laughed and perfectly linear. said maybe in some abstract way, but “to be quite frank, I’ve forgotten to how to do 99 percent of what I was doing in theoretical mathematical physics.” He followed up College and later moved to Texas. He made money gambling online, playing pool and going door-to-door selling water. In 2005, he enrolled at Yale Law School and graduated with a dual degree in law and business. He confessed to me, “To be frank, I’m not a very great student in some ways. I really hate classes.” After working at a prestigious law firm in Manhattan for a couple of years, Wang quit to run a marathon in Paris. Fast forward through a couple of failed start-ups and business partnerships to today, Wang now operates Queens International Night Market in New

“Yet, as with many of my peers,

the question of what life holds

after I throw my graduation cap

remains unanswered.”

7B Wednesday, 18,2019 2019////The The Statement 7B Wednesday,September January 16, Statement

Getting it off my chest

hen I was 16 years old, I read an article about Modern Family star Ariel Winter’s breast reduction surgery, which took her from a size 32F to a 34D. “It’s amazing to finally feel right,” she said in an interview with Glamour. “This is how I was supposed to be.” Two years later, I sat on my boyfriend’s bed, my arms defensively crossed over my own 30F chest, realizing that I didn’t feel right at all. “Are you still planning on getting that breast reduction? I thought about it when I saw how bad the stretch marks are,” he asked, gesturing to my naked chest. “Maybe,” I swallowed the word carefully as though it could break. Instead of reveling in an intimate moment, he was pointing out the ugly marks on my breasts — my biggest insecurity. Were his words from moments before — calling me sexy — all pretend? I pressed two thin arms over my heavy chest as my face grew red and I fought the urge to cry. I wished he’d never look at me again. He didn’t realize how deep his words cut, they burned inside of me for weeks. He was 19, older than me, and the first person who felt entitled to have an opinion on my body. We were the definition of “it’s complicated” and the on and off state of our relationship made my potential breast reduction surgery something I didn’t want to discuss with him. His words made me sink into his navy-blue sheets in humiliation. My body— a feminine, imperfect thing — was worth nothing to him but a dig at its imperfections. I felt like I was nothing beyond my boobs. After that, I knew I’d have the surgery. A size 30F bra on a 5-foot-3 frame, I wanted to live unrestricted by the attributes disrupting my every day — both physically and emotionally. I needed for someone, anyone, to see past them. When I first met that boyfriend, I believed he wanted to be with me past my chest. Yet he was still surprised when I told him I wanted a breast reduction. Like so many of my peers and acquaintances, he wondered why a young girl with a small frame would want to erase her breasts — something other people pay to have enlarged. Despite how he treated me, I had a weak spot for his humor and dark brown eyes. They’d won me over instantly — but 6 months later, I was desperately struggling to become the person he wanted, not realizing this was unattainable. Between the internal struggle with my physical appearance and the yo-yo of our toxic relationship, I worried I was nothing but a body. At 18, I became an expert at hiding my breasts and feelings — in life and social

BY ELI RALLO, STATEMENT COLUMNIST

ILLUSTRATION BY MAGGIE HUANG

media. On Instagram, I refrained from posting anything revealing. I wanted my life to appear untroubled and light as air. As I struggled with my body, I hid behind feigned smiles and a facade of confidence. With a Big Ten college education, sorority sisters and an older boyfriend, I made myself look like I was happy. If you vaguely knew me through images on your phone screen, you never would’ve known that I couldn’t get dressed in the morning because of the internal battle I was fighting. Immediately following our breakup we reunited in a vicious cycle. The constant push and pull of our relationship had me in a fragile emotional state. I dreaded waking up because I dreaded getting dressed. I couldn’t run, because wearing two sports bras left bloody marks on my skin. I couldn’t go to the beach because bathing suits just didn’t fit. Shopping — from searching for prom dresses to trying to find a shirt to fit me — became a nightmare I avoided. My friends and my boyfriend simply did not understand. But on social media, I could be instantly desired, liked and affirmed without struggle. After he mentioned the stretch marks, I posted a picture of myself at a football game in September, still tan from summer, smiling. It was the first time I used Instagram as a ploy to make believe my sadness away. I didn’t even realize what I was doing until after the photo

uploaded and I watched it gather likes from my screen. In the photo, I didn’t look like a girl who despised her body and felt like a stranger in her skin. The warm glow of the screen hit my face and I felt elated. I could imagine him, looking at the picture and falling in love with me, instantly regretting his harsh words. Whenever I was insecure about the body that subjected me to sexualization, or remembered I had stretch marks and imperfections that made me unlovable, I posted something and pretended to feel OK. My profile seemed untroubled — there was no room for mental illness or melancholia. It was my drug. Snap, scroll, post, affirm, feeling refreshed as I was bathed in the affection of digital hearts. I was more than huge boobs — I was worth commenting on. On May 4, 2017 I had the six-hour surgery, making the choice to change my life. My mother and father waited, full of support and excitement in the lobby, and when I woke up and opened my eyes, my mother and I both burst into tears. I will forever be indebted to her for advocating for me during the process of insurance coverage and recovery. I felt freed from the oppression my chest had caused, but it still hadn’t been enough to free my mind. There was still weight there. The relationship had ended in April, yet I hadn’t stopped obsessively monitoring

if he’d viewed or liked my Instagram page, or whether I was worth a number of likes or comments. Even at a new and improved size 32B, 7 pounds lifted off me, I had stretch marks. I lacked the confidence I needed to end my reliance on social media as a faulty crutch for self-love. I craved the affirmation that I received with each post; I wanted to prove that I was more than a body. What I didn’t realize? It wasn’t the world’s love I was after; it was my own. When I recovered, I put on a tank top. I was giddy in the way it fell gracefully over my new boobs. Though I still donned a clunky surgical bra and rows of deep red scars, I felt beautiful. My mom took a picture of me in sweatpants and the top, my face still puffy from the anesthesia with no makeup. I considered deleting the photograph. There was nothing exceptional or envy-worthy about it. But it wasn’t faux affirmation I was after by posting it. It wasn’t meant for an ex-boyfriend to see and call to profess his love. I didn’t spend hours selecting a filter or thinking up captions. I just hit post, and as I watched the photo upload, I recognized my right to choose. Just like with the surgery, I could navigate my own path because I’d never lose a battle about my own happiness. I put down my phone, wrapped my arms around my chest and exhaled — everything finally felt right.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019 // The Statement

BY ALEC COHEN

VISUAL STATEMENT NORTHERN MICHIGAN I WAS AMAZED BY THE BEAUTY AND SIMPLICITY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO THE STATE THAN THE UPBEAT CITY LIFE OF ANN ARBOR. “I A

M LU CK Y TO C AL

MI CH

IG A NM Y HO ME”