ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Buzz, in memory: ‘Something magical’
Prison Creative Arts Project founder, beloved professor passes away at 80 ELIZABETH LAWRENCE Managing News Editor
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily Jenae Green, a representative of the political cable network C-SPAN, gives students a tour of the network’s interactive bus while parked in front of Rackham Graduate School Monday morning.
C-SPAN bus arrives at U-M on high-tech educational tour Mobile classroom engages with voters, elected officials in battleground states SONIA LEE
Daily Staff Reporter
Political cable network C-SPAN stopped outside Rackham Graduate School as part of its educational bus tour Monday. The high-tech bus acted as a mobile classroom and has been on tour since 1993 to engage with voters and elected officials. C-SPAN marketing representative Jenae Green said the bus is stopping in various cities in Michigan and several
other Midwest states for its battleground states tour in preparation for the upcoming 2020 presidential election. “Michigan plays a huge role in the election, it always does,” Green said. “We wanted to make sure that we come by the University of Michigan to engage with students, professors and just talk about politics, and in an unbiased way — an unfiltered way of letting you see what’s happening, and the candidates that are running what’s going on in government.
And then just finding out more ways to stay informed.” Green said what separates C-SPAN from most other news outlets is its unbiased and nonpartisan reporting on government affairs, since it was created by the cable industry as a public service. C-SPAN receives no funding from the government. “We can truly make sure that we keep our coverage unbiased, nonpartisan, because we don’t have to lean one way or the other,” Green said. “In the way
that we show news, we don’t ever have a panel discussing what’s going on behind them … so the viewers at home can make it their own informed decision.” Doug Hemmig, a C-SPAN community relations representative who’s traveling with the bus, said the bus acts as both a classroom and a studio with 11 large-screen tablets, a smart board for classroom teaching, a photo station and a TV production studio for programming. See CSPAN, Page 3
When Ari Paul, a University of Michigan alum, met his aunt’s husband William “Buzz” Alexander as a teenager, he recognized how special Alexander was right away. “Meeting him for the first time, you could tell he was someone of incredible experience and had an endless love of people,” Ari said. Janie Paul, Alexander’s wife and a School of Art & Design professor, met her husband in 1992 at the Blue Mountain Center, a community of writers and artists upstate New York. They became inseparable, she said. “He just exuded a feeling of interest in other people,” Janie said. “The first thing I noticed was that he was a great listener.” The English professor and creator of the Prison Creative Arts Project passed away at his home in Ann Arbor on Sept. 19. He died of complications from frontal temporal degeneration at the age of 80, Janie said. Alexander was born in Chicago and raised in Wilmette, Illinois. He received his undergraduate
GOVERNMENT
SAFE Act A2 judge permits FOIA requests of to impact private conversations with officials cannabis Community reacts to ruling releasing public-private communications companies
Businesses, students reflect on potential of new federal bills to help dispensaries financially PARNIA MAZHAR Daily Staff Reporter
The House of Representatives passed the Secure And Fair Enforcement Banking Act on Sept. 25, to protect and facilitate relationships for banking organizations looking to work with legitimate cannabis businesses. After struggling with maintaining relationships with banks for years, Ann Arbor cannabis dispensaries believe the bill could drastically benefit business and destigmatize the cannabis industry as a whole. The main purpose of the bill is to prevent federal banking regulators from “penalizing a depository institution for providing banking services” to cannabis companies for the sole reason that these businesses handle cannabis. Specifically, these regulators are prohibited from taking adverse action on a loan made to these businesses, discriminating banks and credit unions for collecting or processing payments for these businesses and ending or limiting the dispensary’s insurance, among other restrictions. The bill must now be passed by the Senate and signed by the President of the United States in order to be enacted into law. See SAFE, Page 3
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MELANIE TAYLOR Daily Staff Reporters
Washtenaw County’s Judge Carol Kuhnke ruled Wednesday to allow residents access to records of communication between private citizens and city officials under the Freedom of Information Act. In doing so, Kuhnke ruled in favor of Ann Arbor resident Luis Vazquez whose April FOIA requested, among other things, any interaction between city
councilmembers and Ann Arbor resident Pat Lesko over email, texting or social media direct messaging since Jan. 1, 2019. Vazquez said his interest was piqued through a personal distrust of Lesko. Lesko has been named by many as an active participant in Ann Arbor politics, even running for mayor almost a decade ago. Vazquez called her “Machiavellian” and said she often wrote or spoke poorly about her adversaries in the media. “I was just curious as to how
things were going to be with a new majority on council, which she obviously helped to elect,” Vazquez said. He and others also pointed out the frequency with which Lesko requests FOIAs herself. “Those who want to find out information about everybody else should be prepared to reveal information about themselves,” Vazquez said. Vazquez’s FOIA also asked for communication between resident Tom Stulberg and attorney Tom
Wieder with any public official over the same period, as well as communication between council members Anne Bannister, Jeff Hayner, Jack Eaton, Kathy Griswold and Elizabeth Nelson who, according to Vazquez, constitute a new majority in the city council whose views and actions stand in contrast to his own interests and shared the political support of Lesko, Stulberg and Weider.
See FOIA, Page 3
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Vol. CXXIX, No. 2 ©2019 The Michigan Daily
degree from Harvard University in 1960 and returned as an instructor in 1967. While there, he joined the Anti-Vietnam War movement, putting him on the path of social justice advocacy. He moved to Ann Arbor to teach at the University of Michigan in 1971, where he taught until 2017. He led many activist movements on campus, including “The Committee for Human Rights in Latin America.” He also pioneered anti-racist activites among University faculty, co-founding the Concerned Faculty organization in 1987. His push to require English majors to take classes about literature written by women and people of color led to the creation of the LSA Race and Ethnicity requirement, according to Janie. “I’ll always remember Buzz for the soft-spoken pedagogical and political radicalism that allowed him to bridge generation gaps,” wrote English professor Alan Wald in an email to the department. “His success as a classroom teacher and pioneer in the development of new courses could send one into envy meltdown.” See BUZZ, Page 2
ACADEMICS
Schlissel joins talk on vaping, parking
11 SACUA members discuss curbing U-M e-cigarette use, online voting for Assembly BEN ROSENFELD Daily Staff Reporter
Eleven SACUA board members held their weekly meeting Monday afternoon in the Fleming Administration Building, addressing issues facing the University of Michigan faculty and student body. University President Mark Schlissel was in attendance for the first half hour of the session, speaking on issues of curbing vape use and improving parking at the University. Schlissel said the issue of vaping has been on his radar for several years, and administrators have, on several occasions, considered crafting a ban on tobacco products on campus. “A year or two ago, Preeti Malani, who’s our Chief Health Officer from the health system who has this advisory role to me, said, ‘You know, Mark, we should really consider making the campus not just no smoking, but tobacco free,’” Schlissel said. “And by common usage, vaping falls under tobacco, be that as it may.” See SACUA, Page 3
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 CLASSIFIEDS................6
SUDOKU.....................2 ARTS...................5 SPORTS.................7
News
2 — Tuesday, October 1, 2019
MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers
TUESDAY: By Design
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WEDNESDAY: This Week in History
THURSDAY: Twitter Talk
FRIDAY: Behind the Story
Michigan’s Global CO2 Initiative On April 11th of this year, the University of Michigan’s Global CO2 Initiative met for the first time, hosting a two-day workshop on developing CO2-based products. The initiative aims to create solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create carbon negative technologies, while gauging public interest in the new technologies. Some of the solutions include:
Carbon into Materials:
Carbon Negative, Dollar Positive:
U-M scientists are developing ways to convert carbon into Polyurethene and Polycarbonate materials.
The central goal of the initiative is to create solutions that boost the economy without harming the environment.
Carbon into Fuels and Chemicals:
Carbon into Concrete: Technologies are being created to use carbon to create cement, asphalt, and super hardwood for construction purposes.
U-M researchers are working to convert excess carbon into micro and macro-algae fuels.
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go back to like, ‘What’s your part inside prisons as people, not as looked up to Buzz. Senior News Editors: Sayali Amin, Rachel Cunningham, Remy Farkas, Leah Graham, Amara Shaikh “I think for most of us who in this? What’s your place? How mere problems to be swept under Assistant News Editors: Barbara Collins, Julia Fanzeres, Claire Hao, Alex the rug or perpetrators of crime,” worked with him, not only was he a do you contribute to it or dismantle Harring, Angelina Little, Madeline McLaughlin, Ben Rosenfeld, Emma Stein, mentor and a positive example, but this?’” Palma said. “He was always Mayesky said. Zayna Syed, Liat Weinstein One of PCAP’s most notable he was really kind of like a spiritual asking us to personalize the Alexander began working with JOEL DANILEWITZ and MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA prisoners in the state of Michigan programs is the Annual Exhibition example,” Hartnett said. “I mean, political really, and it was really Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com in 1990, according to PCAP’s tribute of Art by Michigan Prisoners, all of us wanted to be more like uncomfortable many times, and Senior Opinion Editors: Emily Considine, Krystal Hur, Ethan Kessler, Miles students would be upset or crying on their website. He conducted which Janie and Alexander Buzz.” Stephenson, Erin White Through PCAP and his classes, sometimes, but from, like, a very his first theater workshop at the created in 1996. Ari said he vividly MAX MARCOVITCH and ETHAN SEARS Florence Crane Correctional remembers his uncle driving to Alexander inspired thousands of vulnerable and safe space.” Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com David Enders, a freelance Facility, which led him to create his numerous prisons in Michigan over students. Mayesky was one of those Senior Sports Editors: Anna Marcus, Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Mark Calcagno, Theo Mackie, Tien Le Theater and Social Change class, spring break to collect prisoners’ students, and said many alumni journalist, said he recalled moments Assistant Sports Editors: Bailey Johnson, Bennett Bramson, Connor Brennan, have been emailing about how in Alexander’s class where students Janie said. This became PCAP, a art. Jacob Kopnick, Jorge Cazares, Rian Ratnavale “Buzz would get in a pickup Alexander forever changed their had powerful realizations about program which brings volunteers ARYA NAIDU and VERITY STURM themselves and the privileges they from the University into prisons truck on his week off, and he would lives. Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com “Many of us have been writing had. to lead art education workshops, drive to correctional facilities all Senior Arts Editors: Clara Scott, Emma Chang, Cassandra Mansuetti, Sam “I remember more students kind including creative writing, theater, around Michigan, this huge state and talking about how Buzz Della Fera, Trina Pal Arts Beat Editors: John Decker, Sayan Ghosh, Mike Watkins, Ally Owens, in the middle of February in the changed the course of our lives, and of having these ‘aha’ moments, painting and more. Stephen Satarino, Izzy Hasslund, Margaret Sheridan Today, PCAP has an expansive coldest darkest time of the year, how we would not be the people we in Buzz’s courses than, like, any reach, with volunteers entering when he could have very easily are today or doing the work that we other professor I had at Michigan,” ROSEANNE CHAO and JACK SILBERMAN Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com 27 adult correctional facilities, gone south to someplace warm, do if it weren’t for his teaching, if it Enders said. Senior Design Editor: Sherry Chen Alexander inspired Emily several youth facilities, the Forensic could kick back and relax,” Ari weren’t for his example, if it weren’t Psychiatric Center and a public said. “He could have read books, for the questions he asked us,” Harris, who works at the Ella ALEXIS RANKIN and ALEC COHEN Baker Center for Human Rights housing community each year. The he could have done anything. But Mayesky said. Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com Sara Falls, a high school in California, to pursue a career in program grew from Alexander’s this was his calling, and he sort of Senior Photo Editors: Alexandria Pompei, Natalie Stephens, Alice Liu, Allison Engkvist, Danyel Tharakan determination to give incarcerated had this feeling that because these English teacher in California, took criminal justice and prison reform. Assistant Photo Editors: Miles Macklin, Keemya Esmael, Madeline Hinkley, “PCAP and Buzz and his ability people the opportunity to learn, people are behind bars, if he didn’t Alexander’s “What is Literature?” Ryan McLoughlin and “Theater and Social Change” to see what I was capable of has PCAP Associate Director Vanessa do this, no one else would.” Mayesky said. Stephen Hartnett, editor of classes at the University, the latter pushed me to spend my life to get ANDREA PÉREZ BALDERRAMA Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com “Buzz was really bringing up “Challenging the Prison-Industrial involving improvisational theater people free,” Harris said. “It’s really this issue and demanding that Complex: Activism, Arts and in prisons. Alexander’s readings the most profound work, and I am Deputy Editors: Matthew Harmon, Shannon Ors so lucky that my path intersected and discussions on prison justicehttp://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ people talk about it and think about Educational Alternatives,” said http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ Sudoku Syndication SILAS LEE and EMILY STILLMAN Sudoku Syndication it, and really think about the people people in the prison education field got her thinking more deeply about with him and has given me a deep Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com how the education system can level of meaning.” Senior Copy Editors: Dominick Sokotoff, Olivia Sedlacek, Reece Meyhoefer Alexander’s efforts weren’t only create a pipeline to prison, CASEY TIN and HASSAAN ALI WATTOO eventually compelling her to meant for student growth, however. Managing Online Editors webteam@michigandaily.com Through his workshops, he uplifted become a teacher herself. Senior Web Developers: Jonathon Liu, Abha Panda, Ryan Siu, David Talbot, Samantha Cohen “He started to get me to thousands of Michigan prisoners. think about what it means to Danny Valentine, an artist who ELI SIDER HARDbe a teacher,” Falls said. “This worked with Janie and Alexander MEDIUM Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com Senior Video Editors: Ryan O’Connor, Joseph Sim is my 20th year teaching, and while still in prison, said Alexander I don’t think I’d be a teacher if saved his life. NA’KIA CHANNEY and CARLY RYAN Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com When Alexander entered it wasn’t for him. It’s my life’s Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Samuel So, Ana Maria work, and I feel deeply called Valentine’s life, he was serving out Sanchez-Castillo, Efe Osagie, Danyel Tharakan to it, because it’s about finding a 30-year sentence and could not Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Harnoor Singh, Nada Eldawy, Maya the power in young people and afford an attorney, Valentine said. Mokh “I had made plans to kill myself,” helping them to use their voices CATHERINE NOUHAN and helping them feel powerful Valentine said. “I was going to Managing Podcast Editor in themselves to make change.” make my move when they called MADALASA CHAUDHARI and HANNAH MESKIN Managing Social Media Editors Melissa Palma, director of the evening meal. But they passed Senior Social Media Editor: Allie Phillips curriculum and instruction out mail right before evening chow. at Network Charter School I got this letter from this guy called in Oregon, became deeply Buzz Alexander.” Alexander wrote that he’d heard involved with PCAP for MOLLY WU Creative Director six years while getting her Valentine was an artist, and asked ZELJKO KOSPIC RYAN KELLY teaching certificate at the if he wanted to participate in an art Special Projects Manager Sales Manager University. She had taken a show he was putting on. Valentine ANITA MICHAUD ROBERT WAGMAN class with Alexander her senior said he participated in the art show Brand Manager Marketing Consulting Manager year, where she said Alexander for 20 years, each year giving him asked students to consider their an incentive to stay alive, as well place in a system with a prison- as giving him an income. When The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during industrial complex. Palma said he eventually got out of prison, the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is Alexander brought him to his home though this was uncomfortable, © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the HAVE PHLEGM HOPE puzzle by sudokusyndication.com it was important in pushing and fed him blueberry pancakes. Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription students to learn. rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. “He would always make it See BUZZ, Page 3 Generate and solveGenerate Sudoku, and Super Sudoku and Super Godoku puzzles at Godoku sudokusyndication.com! solve Sudoku, Sudoku and puzzles at sudokusyndication.com!
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SAFE From Page 1 Though marijuana has been legalized in one form or another in 47 states and Washington D.C., it is not legal at the federal level. Thus, many depository institutions have been reluctant to engage in business with the cannabis industry for fear of getting penalized by the federal government. This has prevented many marijuana businesses, including those in Ann Arbor, from having strong relationships with banks. For instance, Om of Medicine, a cannabis provisioning center in Ann Arbor, has gone through 10 bank accounts in its 10 years of operation, according to Lisa Conine, Om Community Outreach Coordinator. “As you can imagine, that’s pretty stressful for business,” Conine said. “Essentially, it’s on the banks for how they want to handle cannabis businesses, and as of right now, because they don’t have any federal protection, they don’t really want to deal with cannabis businesses because it puts them at risk.” Conine said a lot of the banks have a system that is triggered if something they deem out of the ordinary occurs, such as a large cash deposit. Based on their own discretion, these banks can then decide to freeze the account of a marijuana business and then eventually close the account altogether. “A lot of times, we don’t really even know the bank’s process until it’s already happened, and every bank might have a different thing that triggers it, so it’s really like a guessing game,” Conine said. “So, it’s super inconvenient and obviously a huge issue when that just randomly happens, and then things like rent and electricity that any business has to pay, we struggle to do if, all of a sudden, our account shuts down and all those automatic payments are trying to be taken out.” Conine said if the SAFE Banking Act were to pass through Congress, Om would feel much more financially secure when conducting business. “So, for us, the most instant benefit of the bill would be if we had a bank account that we didn’t have to worry about shutting down, and we could process everything through and act like any other business and not have to worry,” Conine said. Another obstacle Om has faced
FOIA From Page 1 Lesko did not respond to multiple requests for an interview, and Stulberg directed The Daily to Weider. Kuhnke’s office declined to comment for this story. In response to the FOIA, Lesko, Stulberg and Weider sued to stop their records’ disclosure. Kuhnke stated in her ruling that because the messages in question concerned city business, they therefore constituted part of the public record and could be subject to FOIA. However, Weider said he believed it was more complicated. Weider said he
BUZZ From Page 2 For the last three years of Alexander’s illness, Valentine became his fulltime caretaker. Valentine said it was an honor to help Alexander, after the compassion Alexander had shown him. “He fought for the underdog, he fought for the people that couldn’t fight for themselves, the people that didn’t get justice,” Valentine said. “There was something magical about him.” Renardo A. Bowles, who is studying to be a social worker in Detroit, participated in Alexander’s drama and creative writing workshops while still in prison. Bowles said Alexander is the reason he decided to continue his education when he got out of prison in 2013. “He gave me a different perspective and he impacted my life by wanting me to
due to its adverse relations with banks is difficulty in trying to provide donations. Om supports local Ann Arbor nonprofits, and several times after donating checks to these organizations, a bank has shut down Om’s account without the business’s knowledge and before the nonprofit could process the donation. Om then has to explain the situation to the nonprofits and create a new way to transfer the money, making the process unnecessarily complicated, according to Conine. The difficulties these businesses experience with depository institutions also result in a lack of ability for the companies to take credit cards, debit cards and checks from patients. Thus, patients and customers must pay with cash when going to most cannabis businesses. Nationwide, the knowledge of marijuana businesses solely using cash has resulted in a fear and increased likelihood of theft and robbery. For instance, TotaLeaf Inc, a cannabis manufacturing company in Sacramento, California, had $80,000 worth of product and cash stolen from its warehouse this past year. In addition, on Aug. 28, there was an armed robbery at a marijuana social club in Genesee Township, Michigan. State Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, expressed in a tweet the security issues of these marijuana dispensaries handling business in cash and the importance of shifting to other payment methods. “It is not safe to walk around with duffel bags full of cash – but that’s what’s happening right now,” Dingell wrote. “Marijuana is already legal in many states. Now let’s make it safe for legitimate marijuana businesses to use banks like other legitimate businesses.” Another difficult aspect of only being able to conduct business in cash is the negative stigma that often results from it. According to Conine, solely using cash makes many people feel like they are operating in the illicit market. Many patients already come into the dispensary with a negative perception associated with cannabis, and having them carry and pay large sums of money adds to this mindset. “So really being able to normalize it and make it just like any other purchase that they make anywhere else is something subtle but can have a big impact on the subconscious in the way that people can start to dismantle that
thought citizens should have the right to raise an issue with their public officials without fear that their neighbors may FOIA those communications and use it against them. “There’s no reason that citizens can’t have confidential communications with people to the government,” Weider said. “In fact, there are good reasons why they should. … It could keep people from actually communicating with their own counsel people.” Weider also said that according to his understanding of FOIA, the city does not have to release the records of communication between private citizens and public officials — they are allowed to do so, but the act does not compel that action.
continue with education,” Bowles said. “Right now, I’m working with a lot of troubled youth, I’m working with the same people who have been in the same situation I was in … that, right there, inspired me to do more of that of giving back. That’s what he exemplified.” Darryl Woods, whose prison sentence was commuted by former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder last year, also felt Alexander’s inf luence through his PCAP workshops. Woods said a creative writing workshop improved his writing skills and helped him earn his GED. He also recalled Buzz’s ability to bring prisoners of different identities together, which was a rare occurrence according to Woods. “He brought us all together, we all came together to create,” Woods said. “That was a magical thing, that was a powerful thing to do inside the prison.” In spite of his work
News stigma and the shame that might be associated with cannabis use,” she said. “Especially when they’re trying to heal an illness, you don’t want to be using something and feel like you’re a criminal doing it; that’s not helpful when you’re trying to get better.” If the bill were to pass and these cannabis businesses are able to build stronger relationships with depository institutions, patients would not only benefit, but the industry would as well, Conine said. At the moment, according to Conine, the system makes it difficult for small marijuana businesses looking to enter the market. “It’s an issue for small businesses because, if they’re not able to work with banks in a traditional way, then they can’t access normal business loans,” Conine said. “So, the access to capital is really important for people to succeed in the industry, so a lot of people, if they don’t have access to investors, they’re kind of counted out already.” According to Eric TerBush, LSA senior and product manager and staff reporter at Benzinga Cannabis, the growth of the cannabis industry has been curtailed by the lack of protections currently present for depository institutions. “I think the ability for the industry to mature is stifled by the inability to bank,” TerBush said. “An important clause within the SAFE Banking Act includes insurance protections as well as banking protections which can be interpreted as opening the doors to institutional investment, which is very much needed in an industry that’s incredibly cash-strapped and in constant demand for (external) financing.” Conine described the value passing the bill would have on the industry as a whole and how it could increase the likelihood of other cannabis-related legislation getting passed as well. “This is so important,” Conine said. “The whole movement is really looking at this banking issue as the first domino that needs to fall. If we can get this passed through Congress, then there’s so much more of a chance for other bills to pass because the conversation will be fresh, it’ll be live in everybody’s minds on the Hill and it’s a low hanging fruit. It’s not controversial at all, we’re just asking for these already existing businesses to be able to use a bank account.”
Weider said he and the others brought the suit against this FOIA hoping the judge would point this out in her ruling, but it was never referenced by Kuhnke. “I don’t think any of the three of us really care very much about the substance that’s going to be damaging or embarrassing,” Weider said. “It’s just a matter of principle.” City Attorney Stephen Postema has previously stated the city of Ann Arbor is compelled by statute to fulfill FOIAs of the nature of that filed by Vazquez. Griswold and Nelson each said they believe the judge ruled correctly and the records of their communication with private citizens is applicable to FOIA regulation.
delving into serious, systemic problems, Alexander had a silly side too, Janie said. Laughing, she told a story of Buzz entering a theater workshop dressed up as a woman. “He wore stockings, and high heels and a wig. And he was six-foot-four. And when he walked on stage, the women in the audience just collapsed with laughter,” Janie said. He loved hiking, biking and reading, Janie said. Woods said he would miss Alexander’s “infectious” laugh and smile. Other people interviewed for the story chuckled about his f lyaway hair. Everyone felt his legacy would live on. Valentine said he’s hoping someone else in the community with Buzz’s magic appears. “I just hope somebody else can carry the light the way he did,” Valentine said. “I mean, every once in awhile someone comes along, but we need people like that in our in our society and in our culture.”
SACUA From Page 1 However, according to Schlissel, the scientific data has been insufficient for the University to introduce any campus-wide ban. “What I was concerned about is there is not great data about the health effects of vaping,” Schlissel said. “If you have the stuff laced with CBD or something, then that’s a different beast, but commercial vaping things, it could be a pathway to addiction, but it’s also a prescribed treatment to get people off cigarettes.” Vaping has become a particularly pertinent issue to University students after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer banned sales of f lavored e-cigarettes in early September. The new ban attempts to limit underage kids’ access to Juuls and other devices that are seen as a gateway to cigarettes and tobacco products. Earlier this month, the Trump administration enforced a similar policy, cracking down on e-cigarette companies marketing to children. Schlissel said the University would not make a similar mandate due to problems with the enforceability of a potential ban of nicotine products on campus.
Commerical vaping things, it could be a pathway to addiction, but it’s also a prescribed treatment to get people off cigarettes. “These things are so tiny and discreet that it’s very hard to enforce a ban,” Schlissel said. “Who’s going to be the vaping police? And in your class, do you want to
“I don’t want to be having secret conversations with anyone,” Griswold said. Mayor Christopher Taylor said FOIA should function as a “window into the workings of government.” He said he does not get offended when people FOIA his records and others who wish to influence governmental proceedings should be prepared for the same scrutiny. “It’s the right of every person to make such a request,” Taylor said. However, Griswold and Nelson each voiced a concern that FOIA rules may be becoming more out of touch as technology evolves. Nelson noted that people who are not as active in Ann Arbor politics may not know how to take advantage of FOIA
CSPAN From Page 1 At the University in particular, C-SPAN wanted to engage with students and firsttime voters to help them learn more about the government, elections and U.S. history, Hemming said. “In the classroom, we bring 12 to 15 students on for a 15-minute presentation talking about our video library, which has over 250,000 hours of content, adding to it every day,” Hemming said. “So, they walk away with a new resource they can use inside and outside the classroom, not only as a first-time voter, but to learn about government, American history and civics.” Green added that, with its onboard studio, C-SPAN can film live tapings and interviews to be aired in its programming. “We are doing 30-second
Tuesday, October 1, 2019 — 3 spend your time scanning every person and saying ‘Is that a piece of candy you’re popping in your mouth or are you taking a puff on some electronic device?’ And if you make these rules that aren’t enforceable, it kind of decreases respect for the law.” Schlissel also referenced efforts to improve parking and transportation for U-M health center patients and nursing staff unable to make appointments due to parking. Schlissel said the University has proposed several projects which would make parking and transportation to North Campus easier. “There’s a construction project for a thousand spots of parking right next to the Wall Street garage which is three minutes from the health system, so that will be very helpful,” Schlissel said. Another possible proposed solution was a new shuttle that runs on its own path separate from the roadways that would decrease commute time. Schlissel said this project is still in the works, but could begin to be developed within the next few years. “We’re working, but not ready for public consumption, on a highvolume, high-speed connector, that will go from Central Campus, right in front of the health system, up to the North Campus and onto the NCRC,” Schlissel said. “It would have a high enough capacity and a reg ular enough frequency that it would help a lot.” Schlissel said this proposal was crafted in response to frequent congestion and slowmoving traffic on Fuller Street, leading to North Campus. This traffic largely affects University faculty who make the commute, either in their own car or via Blue Bus, to North Campus every day. Another point of discussion for board members was the use of electronic voting for the Senate Assembly, a method that members say has been adopted by multiple other universities.
Ivo Dinov, SACUA board member and bioinformatics professor, wrote the report on introducing electronic voting to Senate Assembly, and said using this technolog y to gauge support for certain policies can eliminate complications involved with voting in person. “If you only insist on having people that meet the minimum critical requirement, that 100 people — Senate members, show up to vote — is this a better situation than having everybody have a chance to vote even if they did not hear the arg ument?” Dinov said. “So it’s one of those things where you have to be careful because a lot of people travel, and they’re just not going to be here. So, having the opportunity
capabilities. “For people who want to be informed, who want to be involved, we need to make it easier for them to understand how our government is working,” Nelson said. Nelson also raised concerns regarding how this ruling will affect communication obtained through FOIA which revolve around campaigning, not governing. Griswold, likewise, indicated the only outcome she predicts this ruling will render will be an uptick in FOIAs coming election season. The records have not yet been released and will remain sealed so as to allow the plaintiffs the opportunity to continue their case in the Michigan State Court of Appeals. Weider told The
Daily he and the others will not be continuing with the case. Vazquez promised to publish the records as soon as they are made available to him. However, Vazquez admitted he does not believe there to be any inflammatory information included in the documents obtained through FOIA. He too believes primarily in defending the principle of his position: the preservation of transparency. “I’m not expecting any smoking guns or anything because if you look through the documents that were given to me, they’re all pretty tame,” Vazquez said. “But for Lesko, Stulberg and Weider to stand in the way of full disclosure tells me and many people they’ve got something to hide.”
interviews asking the question: ‘What’s an issue that you want the candidates to address in 2020?’” she said. “So, what’s important to you. We air these on C-SPAN almost like commercials highlighting the University of Michigan students and staff here and the state of Michigan as a whole.” Robert Krasny, a University professor of mathematics and a C-SPAN viewer, was excited to interact with the bus after hearing it was on campus. He agreed with Green, saying C-SPAN is an important public service. “They say it right on the bus, it’s your unfiltered view of the government,” Krasny said. “The great thing about C-SPAN is that they’re balanced. They have call-in programs, for example. People can call in and give their opinion about the events that are going on. One phone
Having the opportunity to vote asynchronously is a huge plus.
to vote asynchronously is a huge plus.” Director of U-M’s Faculty Senate Office, MaryJo Banasik, spoke with a Senate Assembly member at the University of Minnesota, who claimed that electronic voting has streamlined the process of making faculty decisions. Banasik said ideally the University would purchase software such as Qualtrics or Simply Voting to expedite the voting process. “They actually use it [Simply Voting] if they cannot get a quorum,” Banasik said. “So, they have a deliberative meeting in person first to discuss the issues and the next meeting they hold the vote in person, and if they don’t have enough people to make the quorum for that vote, then they turn to electronic voting.”
number is for Democrats, one phone number is for Republicans, and the third phone number is for independents and they really get very balanced, round point of view of the whole population.” LSA senior Pamela Sobze had heard of C-SPAN, but wanted to interact with the bus to learn more about them. Sobze said C-SPAN could help college students engage more with politics and the government through interactive events like its bus tour. “Young people, a lot of them do follow politics, but a lot of them don’t,” she said. “It’s hard to balance it with school, so I think this is a good way to get people exposed to it. And if there are things they don’t know, like I didn’t know a lot of the minor details, it’s fun to learn about why certain events are so important and why things get so much coverage.”
Opinion
4 — Tuesday, October 1, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ALLISON PUJOL | COLUMN
U.S. complicity in Bahrain’s human rights abuses
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NOAH ENTE | COLUMN
E
A time for unity in Israel
arlier this month, followers of Israeli politics bore witness to the second round of national elections in 2019, the culmination of an unprecedented display of political theater. In a close contest, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fell short to his challenger, former Lt. General Benny Gantz, the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff from 2011 to 2015, in a race that was intended to finally determine who would win control of the government. However, the election took a strange turn, and despite Netanyahu garnering fewer votes and therefore fewer seats for his party in the Knesset — Israel’s parliament — he has been granted the first chance to form the new government by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. If Netanyahu succeeds, he will continue to serve as Prime Minister with the potential for a full, four-year term. This is the life in the complex Israeli political system. In the election, the two main candidates carried a significant share of Israeli votes, with Netanyahu’s Likud and Gantz’s Blue and White party earning 31 and 33 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, respectively. While Netanyahu and his leading opponent predictably became heads of the Knesset’s two largest individual parties, Netanyahu will face difficulties in creating a governing coalition of 61 or more Members of Knesset, or MKs. Netanyahu’s main challenges stem from a set of corruption charges that range from alleged offers of interference in the Israeli media in order to boost positive coverage of himself in a prominent newspaper to providing tax benefits and other special privileges to friends. Ever since February, when Netanyahu-appointed Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit recommended that the prime minister be indicted, he has faced many repercussions in his reelection campaigns. Perhaps most directly, other politicians have expressed resistance to joining a Netanyahu-led coalition if he will be on trial during a future term. The most significant of such proclamations came from Gantz and his party’s co-leader, former journalist Yair Lapid, both of whom promised not to enter a Netanyahu coalition, even before April’s elections that saw Likud originally emerge with the most seats. Though Gantz’s party shares many policy positions with Likud, they were determined to appear as a true alternative to the prime minister throughout the election cycle. However, additional political factors have played a role in the Knesset’s opposition toward joining Netanyahu.
For Netanyahu, his history of appeasing former ultraorthodox coalition partners has carried major consequences. The most recent cycle of elections began in late 2018, when longtime Netanyahu ally and former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman withdrew his party from the already fragile coalition of 61 MKs. In his decision not to join Netanyahu’s government after the April elections, Lieberman cited Netanyahu’s willingness to allow exemptions from otherwise mandatory military conscription for ultra-orthodox 18 year-olds. Exemptions for Israel’s most religious Jews, who claim that their youths cannot serve due to a variety of supposed justifications from Jewish tradition, have irritated much of Israeli society for quite some time.
A unity model would be best equipped to give Israelis what they truly want
Lieberman seized his opportunity to create desired policy change and send the prime minister a clear warning. With Lieberman’s right-wing party winning eight seats and refusing to join in a coalition led by his former colleague, he has made Netanyahu’s path back to his old office even more difficult. His firmness in his position, along with the many other roadblocks that Netanyahu has faced, are likely to make his attempts to form a government extremely difficult, if not impossible altogether. Even as Rivlin has decided to give Netanyahu an opportunity to form a government, Lieberman has instead pushed for a “unity government” of Likud, Blue and White, and his party, yielding a strong 72-seat coalition. Under this model, Netanyahu and Gantz would split a four-year term in the prime minister’s office. Varying forms of unity governments have been established in Israel before, but only once in its history has such a direct powersharing model been reached. In 1984, Yitzhak Shamir’s Likud partnered with Shimon Peres’s Alignment party to form an 85-seat coalition, with each holding the premiership for two years. The government remained intact for its full term, and showed that leaders with competing philosophies can unite, serve and forestall
the frustrations of further elections and instability. While this form of a coalition would not completely please the Israeli electorate, given the current circumstances, it appears to be the best, most realistic option available. A rotating unity arrangement would give Netanyahu a chance to either quietly finish his career as prime minister and possibly retire with a plea deal if found guilty, or time to fight the case being built against him while Gantz takes his turn as prime minister. Gantz would get a chance to prove himself as a competent political leader and give Israelis a fresh face and personality in the nation’s highest office. Supporters of each major party could find satisfaction from a government with little policy disagreement within its ranks. It would prevent Netanyahu from going through the near futile effort of trying to form an effective government that would be acceptable to his base and to most of the country. It would also stop him from calling a vote for another round of elections, just as he did in May after April’s results presented him with a difficult road to the premiership. Outside the Knesset, most Israelis would likely be relieved that ultra-orthodox parties would no longer be part of a governing bloc. A majority of Israel’s citizens disagree with the Haredi parties on questions about public transportation over the Sabbath and ultraorthodox exemption from military service. Perhaps most of all, Israelis would hope to avoid a third round of elections in one year. The first two have been unusual enough. In a country with so many competing demographics and agendas, it would be impossible for Israel’s government to satisfy all its people’s desires. However, when weighing the choices available to the newlyelected Knesset, it becomes clear that a unity model would be best equipped to give Israelis what they truly want: a strong government committed to ensuring freedom and security, and markedly less bound by unpopular religious constraints from inflexible politicians. Though partisans may complain of their failure to achieve a complete victory, those who care most about the prosperity of Israel and the wishes of its civilians can look to this potential government not as a last resort, but as an opportunity. At this point, such an outcome appears unlikely, but for a significantly divided Israeli society, a measure of unity — just in time for the Jewish new year — may go a long way. Noah Ente can be reached at noahente@umich.edu.
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.
W
hile the United States has stated its commitment to the advancement of human rights abroad for decades, the historical record often indicates otherwise. Nearly a year ago, the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia (which is widely believed to be the result of a Saudi-led operation) sparked plenty of political conversation about the United States’s foreign policy relationships with human rights violators. In particular, much has been written about the United States’s desire to continue providing military technology to Saudi Arabia in the wake of Saudi Arabian intervention in Yemen. The Saudi-led effort in Yemen has resulted in the bombing of schoolbuses and hospitals as well as the deaths of thousands of civilians, and the conflict has been prolonged by U.S. weapons funneling into Middle Eastern countries. While there is a limited ceasefire as of less than a week ago, the road to peace still looks long. The war has led to widespread famine and disease outbreaks, and the attacks have displaced many Yemen civilians. However, little attention has been paid to another country that the United States continues to arm despite horrendous human rights abuses: Bahrain. Much like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain is also arming belligerents in the Yemen civil war and using U.S. weapons to fight in the conflict. And much like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain’s domestic human rights record is anything but positive. The suppression of protests and free speech in Bahrain is a relatively new political development. During the Middle East’s wave of popular movements in the spring of 2011, protests for democratic reform in Bahrain were quickly crushed by the Bahrain Defense Forces (along with some Saudi Arabian intervention assistance) in a way that has proven to be efficient as well as brutal. Since the end of protests in Bahrain, thousands of demonstrators have been jailed and tortured. In the past two years, Bahrain’s
government has embarked on an extensive campaign to crack down on political opposition. Alongside the recent increase in imprisonment of citizens for tweeting about abuse, Shi’a clerics have also been targeted and stripped of their nationality. The United States is not the only country that has funded Bahrain’s human rights abuses. In 2018, a report from The Guardian alleged the British government was funding the torture and executions of dissidents in Bahrain. Human rights organizations have accused the British government
The economic benefits of arms sales are underwhelming for the United States of being opaque about the purpose of the U.K.’s foreign aid toward Bahrain, and a spokesman from the British Foreign Office admitted as much. While many suggest the United States should cease its current military and economic support for Bahrain’s campaign against protesters and dissidents, it would also be beneficial to stipulate future U.S. aid on ensuring that Bahrain take steps toward comprehensive human rights reform. Shortly before leaving office, President Barack Obama had conditioned the sale of fighter jets to Bahrain on a set of “reform benchmarks” to address human rights abuses; Bahrain’s government ultimately refused to comply with Obama’s request with the confidence that the U.S. government would eventually cave and complete the sale anyways. Sure enough, President Donald Trump’s administration
has been more than eager to complete the sale despite “the Bahrainis taking even more steps backward … including the dissolution of yet another peaceful opposition party, restoring arrest powers to a domestic intelligence agency and legalizing the use of military courts for civilians,” according to the Forum on Arms Trade. Rachel Stohl, a senior associate at the Stimson Center, argues that the Trump administration’s decision to lift the ban is indicative of the United States’s global arms sales strategy: “prioritization of short-term strategic objectives over long-term democratic governance.” Trump’s administration and its proponents — much like the U.K.’s government — have argued that arms sales to Bahrain actually promote regional stability by allowing the United States to monitor Iran. While it’s true that U.S. arms sales allow the United States a geostrategic position in the region, that position is inherently destabilizing. Even the economic benefits of arms sales are underwhelming for the United States, as Trump has outsourced the United States’s production of the arms it sells. This, in turn, has minimized the number of U.S. jobs created by arms exports from the United States. In short, the United States’s decision to continue arms sales to Bahrain is exacerbating the crisis in Yemen as well as aiding a government that prioritizes political power over the lives of its own citizens. Absent pressure from the United States, weapon sales to Bahrain can only further entrench the authority and ability of Bahrain’s government to oppress its citizens. The United States should cease current arms sales to Bahrain and agree to resume sales only if Bahrain shows marked improvement in its treatment of citizens. Allison Pujol can be reached at ampmich@umich.edu.
MAX STEINBAUM | COLUMN
B
Grand Old Polarization
y mid-April 2016, the U.S. presidential election was starting to take shape. Candidate Donald Trump, having won the Republican primary race, held a commanding lead over a field that had been whittled down to himself, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was cruising to her expected coronation as the Democratic nominee. As the primary races solidified and public attention turned to November, America became gripped by a campaign season that bitterly divided the nation and gave way to the most hostile presidential election in recent memory. Americans were at each other’s throats. A mid-April Pew poll found that 45 percent of Republicans considered the Democratic Party a threat to America’s well-being; 41 percent of Democrats felt the same about Republicans. The findings were telling of a deepening fault line between the two parties. Washington Post writer Aaron Blake said of the poll: “Believing it is a threat to your country...probably connotes something approaching an active hatred.” But that poll was taken prior to the explosion of Nov. 8, 2016, without knowledge of the impact Trump’s election and presidency would have on political polarization. A Pew poll from July 2019 found that 85 percent of Americans feel the political debate in the country has become more negative and less respectful, and over half of Americans point their fingers at the president for this. These findings are also revealing: If things were bad in 2016, America’s profound divisions are not healing. Americans’ perception of increasing political polarization is not imagined — it’s also rooted in a congressional reality. While America has experienced a steadily widening partisan gap since World War II, congressional polarization has seen a marked increase in the past decade. As a 2016 Washington Post article conveys, Congress is ideologically partisan to a degree not witnessed since Reconstruction. Take it straight from the elephant’s mouth. Then Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.
— who retired from politics last year as something of a Republican renegade — spoke to how partisanship overrides better judgement in an Oct. 2018 interview with 60 Minutes. In the interview, Flake said that there was “not a chance” he would have supported an FBI investigation into the allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh “if he had planned to run for re-election.” Calls to investigate Kavanaugh, which reached a fever pitch last September, came almost exclusively from Democratic House members. When pressed as to why he wouldn’t have supported an investigation, Flake lamented that rampant partisanship has prevented crossparty cooperation, lassoing wouldbe-free-thinkers back to the party line. “There’s no value in reaching across the aisle,” Flake said. “There’s no currency for that anymore. There’s no incentive.” Flake’s commentary reflects an upsetting congressional rule: When your moral convictions would guide you otherwise, ignore them and act in the interest of your party. Going against your party is a sin in the relentlessly zero-sum game of congressional hardball. While partisanship isn’t a new actor on the American political stage, today’s seemingly hopeless polarization of Congress and the American public is also unique. If partisan divisions haven’t always been so fanatical, what is responsible for the feverish polarization we’re experiencing today? The best explanation is found in the rightward and leftward drifts of the two parties, which have left much more ideological real estate between them. While the leftward drift of the Democratic Party is evident in the rhetoric of its presidential hopefuls, the Republican Party has, in my view, become decidedly more conservative than the Democrats have liberal in the past decade. The GOP’s bolt to the right can be seen in the ideological makeup of the party’s supporters. Per The New York Times, while nearly a quarter of Republican voters were selfdescribed “moderates” in 2018, that contingent has shrunk to 16 percent
within the past year. Additionally, the Evangelical base — an especially conservative demographic — grew from 26 percent to 32 percent in that time frame. The Republican Party has also continued to promote increasingly unpopular policy positions on increasingly important issues. According to a 2019 U.S. News & World Report article, 89 percent of Americans support expanded background checks for gun purchases, and 62 percent favor a wholesale ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons. The majority of the GOP hasn’t budged in its opposition to gun control. Pew found in Oct. 2018 that 60 percent of Americans believe ensuring health care coverage is a government responsibility. The GOP hasn’t budged in its opposition to health care reform. The same can be said for issues like abortion. While it seems as though Americans’ priorities and opinions are shifting, the Republican Party is stagnant. It is not the responsibility of the Republican Party, of course, to change its platform in response to changes in public opinion. If a Republican feels that their party no longer advocates for their interests, they don’t have to vote Republican; the same is true for a moderate Democrat who may not favor tbei party’s leftward drift. But, in addition to being poor electoral strategy, the GOP’s reluctance to entertain policy evolution as national opinion changes only entrenches outdated and unwanted positions in our country’s political discourse. The Republican Party defines itself as conservative, but conservatism isn’t defined by aversion to change. Conservatism in the theoretical sense — a sense once employed by the Republican Party — champions prudent, measured progress. Until the Republican Party returns to the conservative principles it ostensibly cherishes, Americans will have to indefinitely tolerate our sorry state of politics: grand old polarization, courtesy of the Grand Old Party.
Max Steinbaum can be reached at maxst@umich.edu.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, October 1, 2019 — 5
TV REVIEW
‘The Good Place’ returns strong, but notably short JUSTIN POLLACK For the Daily
Welcome. Everything is fine. I wish I could say that with any sort of confidence, but those four words inevitably mean our favorite characters are embarking on another insane and unworldly adventure. At the same time, it also means we only have twelve episodes left of creator Michael Schur’s dystopian afterlife comedy, “The Good Place,” that has defied sitcom traditions by reinventing itself over the course of its three-year run. Although I was late to discover this innovative and outlandish comedy — I only discovered the show as I was in dire need of something to download for my plane ride last winter break — I am truly blessed to step on The Trans-Eternal Railway for one final experiment.
The Good Place Season 4 Premiere NBC Thursdays @ 9 p.m.
The premiere episode of the fourth and final season opens up similarly to each of its predecessors with all of the characters facing an uncertain future and delaying their entry to The Bad Place. Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell, “Veronica Mars”), the former dirtbag from Arizona, begins her improbable quest advocating for more reasonable standards for acceptance into The Good Place with the argument that it is possible for humans to change after their lives on Earth end, just as she has done. This time around, however, Eleanor will have to do it without the help of her soulmate, Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper, “Jack Ryan”). When Judge Jen (Maya Rudoplh, “Big Mouth”) agrees to allow the original architect Michael (Ted Danson, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) to conduct this experiment, the catch is that the new test humans will be chosen by
The Bad Place. One of the test humans, the neuroscientist Simone (Kirby Howell-Baptiste, “Into the Dark”), is a former love interest of Chidi. With the future of the human after-life on the line, Chidi gets his memory wiped out of fear that he will ruin the experiment through his interactions with Simone. Much of this episode is about the emotional toll felt by Eleanor, who is acting as the architect and thus is not able to achieve eternal happiness in a place where everyone else gets just that. After Simone struggles to adjust to the afterlife, as she believes she is in a coma and disrupts the neighborhood, Michael suggests they “activate” Chidi. Eleanor is quick to deny this plan out of fear that Chidi and Simone may light a spark but eventually agrees. Afterall, the fate of the human afterlife hangs in the balance of Eleanor. For the previous two seasons, fans were treated to hour-long double-episode premieres which helped to establish the season’s new plot. Whether due to programming conflicts or some other circumstance that I am unaware of, we are only treated to one 30-minute program block. The end of the episode leaves us with a cliffhanger, which is directly connected to my point that this episode was missing something … another part! The episode next week is titled “Part 2,” which means there is more set-up to be done before Eleanor and her gang establish what the tone of this final season will be. This is the problem with serialized comedies on network television: With only 22 minutes of programming time to work with, what is the balance between telling us enough information to stay excited and curious and get us to watch again next week, while also satisfying our needs for plot development? Although the premiere is successful and I am thrilled to watch this show again on a week-to-week basis, the delay in airing “Part 2” makes the experience less fulfilling compared to previous season premieres. This is probably due to the complex nature of the show. The only times we hear Tahani (Jameela Jamil, “How to Build a Girl”) speak are when she is name-dropping a celebrity she knew on Earth, and Jason (Manny Jacinto, “Bad Times at El Royale”) seems to only be focused on his kinda-relationship with Janet (D’Arcy Carden, “Barry”). For those who are on the edge of committing to watch the season, this episode neither raises nor answers enough questions. All this being said, I am sure next week will feature these missing elements.
NBC
LITERATURE COLUMN
FÉLICIA ATKINSON
Emily Yang: Lost in the world of Félicia Atkinson EMILY YANG
Daily Literature Columnist
It feels inaccurate somehow to call Félicia Atkinson a polymath, even though she has established herself fairly equally as a sculptor, poet and electronic musician. Her several disciplines feel less like different worlds that she enters and more like parts of a continuous whole, the workingout of a single rhizomic idea. I’m interested in how polymaths think: They are less beholden to the expectations of any single art form, and can think laterally and even pack up and walk out of the frame if need be. I notice that Atkinson’s music has the quality of her art, and, vice versa, a generative dreaminess both domestic and oceanic. Her art is generally largescale, atmospheric and somewhat unsettling while using familiar referents and materials. She works a lot with colorful fabric and with arrangements of household objects (vases, books, old televisions, crystals, fruit) on gallery floors. There’s a playful quality to it that is counterbalanced with a sense of restraint and focus. In artist statements, she seeks unconventional analogies that make a kind of intuitive sense, often conceptually linking the body to her sculptural and sonic materials. One documented piece on her website is described as “a feminist hymn composed as a pyramidal structure, referring in the same time to the A-frame houses, the yoga position of the triangle, the first letter of the roman alphabet and the feminine sex.” Her music has a similar quality of ghostly serendipity, of something deep within the subconscious suddenly being brought to the surface. Even by the standards of ambient music, Atkinson’s work is unusually enveloping, almost claustrophobic. Her 2018 album “The Flower And The Vessel” is a lovely assemblage of Rhodes, resonant metal sounds, indeterminately placed field recordings and Atkinson’s own voice, often whispering or
TV REVIEW
‘Modern Family’ grows up SOPHIA YOON Daily Arts Writer
The thing about shows that run for over five seasons is that the cast and crew are oftentimes tied to that project for that duration of their life. Kids become adults, adults get older and people change tremendously. “Modern Family” is no exception. It’s been a decade since it first aired, and if you can imagine how much your own life has changed in this time, then you can certainly imagine how this portrait of three families in modern day has adapted to how times have changed. Although I was nine years old when “Modern Family” first started, I picked it up at a random time some years later and haven’t been able to leave it since. The show follows three diverse families as they learn how to navigate in the cruel world that is modern society. The variety of personality in each episode makes it easy to find at least one character to relate to and one you’d rather be. Unless you have the luxury of time, don’t binge it from the very beginning; instead, opt for a few seasons before the finale. You’ll be able to catch up quickly and share the same bittersweet feeling that devoted viewers will inevitably feel when the show comes to its end. The first episode of the final season picks up right where the last season left off, with the birth of Haley’s (Sarah Hyland, “The Wedding Year”) twins. The infants won’t stop crying, and the instant chaos is both familiar, hilarious and soothing. Our favorite families are back, and with the witty quips it’s easy to tell that 11 seasons in, production and cast know exactly what they are doing. The episode is particularly heart-warming, as we get to see the duality of Haley’s irresponsible nature merge with her new experience as a mother. Toward the end, she accidentally locks herself out of the house and ends up climbing the roof and into the window with swiftness, like she used to do as a teenager
when she had to sneak back into the house late at night. Simultaneously, Cam (Eric Stonestreet, “The Secret Life of Pets 2”) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Pete the Cat”) are back at their house holding a meeting with the at-risk kids at Cam’s high school, where he’s the vice principal. Cam accuses the kids of stealing his tacky clown statue, and boy, are the jokes fresh. In a world where it’s easy to get canceled for risky jokes (albeit, sometimes rightfully so), the show pushes the edge and maintains its comedy skillfully. He makes quick hits at the kids’ “at-risk” status, and in “Modern Family” fashion, they never linger too long on a joke. Spoiler alert: It was all a ploy enacted by Cam to get Mitchell to confess to throwing the clown statue away.
Modern Family Season 11 Premiere ABC Wednesdays @ 9 p.m.
Even with around 11 main cast members to follow throughout the seasons, and with only half an hour to tell a story, the show never feels rushed. And while it’s a real shame that network television is losing a gem like this, I can’t help but feel happy in this bittersweet beginning that the show is quitting on their own terms and not because of the dreaded sitcom downward spiral. With 117 awards, there’s no doubt that the show has had a successful run up to this point, and it’s understandable that they want to end on a good note. Despite each episode’s chaos, everything is running like a well-oiled machine and there’s no doubt that the show will continue and end with dignity and warmth.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
In artist statements, she seeks unconventional analogies that make a kind of intuitive sense, often conceptually linking the body to her sculptural and sonic materials
quietly murmuring fragments of text — she has saidshe uses whispering in her music because “whispering is a way to get inside your ear.” She is, to a lesser extent, a writer whose work with language lives in a similarly beguiling space. A friend recently got a copy of her 2014 book “Improvising Sculpture As Delayed Fictions,” which I assumed to be a theory-heavy international-art-English book about her sculpture but turned out to be something enticing, decidedly literary and difficult to compare to anything. The first thing you might notice about this book is how self-contained of an object it is. The unadorned, aggressively green cover gives almost no information about the book, and there is no author bio or explanation of purpose to be found anywhere. Even the opening few pages lack the usual copyright and publisher information (which is at the end), instead immediately immersing the reader in its strange textual world. The book could be called poetry by default, but it varies so much that any genre designation could be partially correct but would be leaving something crucial out. There are moments where the text, which is splayed all over the page in a semi-Concrete fashion, resembles a collage-like collection of appropriated texts.
One page simply has nouns scattered all over the page: “The Book / The Painting / The Concept / The Secret Desire / The Freedom.” There are also more cohesive segments that describe a scene or a character, or tell self-contained, surreal fables: A rich, spoiled girl is “wrecking her twenties in a desperate dance,” a piece of scribbled-on paper is turned into a ready-made and displayed in the apartment of a wealthy woman, whose daughter unwittingly brings home the boy who scribbles on it years later. Characters occasionally recur, occasional development seems to begin happening before it’s cut off abruptly like a closed browser window. The most consistently recurring mode in “Improvising Sculpture” is Atkinson’s whimsical narration of the thoughts objects might have, interspersed with often nonspecific dialogue between humans. More frequently, though, the text of the book takes on an amorphous character, like something overheard, fragments from the middle of something. We are not let in on the joke here, but everything is halfway recognizable. “A painting of a tree. / How can one be a tree… / Can you feel the tree? / How can a painting be. How can such a thing be? I don’t understand the material process of art. How something from one’s mind can be transferred to paint and then to an idea? Do you believe in ghosts?” The language comes close to theorizing or describing and then dissolves into refusal. Words are occasionally in different typefaces seemingly without explanation, the arrangement of words on the page is either in bracing blocks of continuous language or in pointillistic fragments. All this is also interspersed with black-and-white photographs of Atkinson’s art, and it’s tempting to think that this work simply resembles that awkward younger brother of literature and criticism, the Art Book, a kind of writing peripheral to both art and literature. But because these black-and-white photographs are so unrelated to the body text, and because it’s too hard to tell what one is looking at most of the time, they begin to resemble visual analogues to the beguiling work. There’s an analogy to be made between the oddly indeterminate text and the images that are shorn of their usual mechanism for conveying something, especially considering that Atkinson’s art is so reliant on the nuances of color and texture. To that end, the language Atkinson uses isn’t exactly poetic, not quite beautiful or even really very stylish. Her sentences are short, declarative, signage-like. She frequently sounds like she is speaking only because she is fed up. At one point in the text she apologizes for her many typos by saying she isn’t a native speaker, but these mistakes feel deliberate to me. Her incorrect grammar gives the language of “Improvising Sculpture” a dreamlike quality. “First comes the dreams and later the words.” “She is in her early thirties, feels younger than what? Older than some other things, too.” She intersperses the text frequently with imperatively gentle statements: “lay down,” “roll roll roll for me,” “please.” There’s a tense balance, familiar to me from her music, between hard, impenetrable texture and affectionate sensuality, and especially in her more descriptive moments. “It’s June all of a sudden, it’s warm and / and spring feels from here like a shy little sister in the woods… It’s hard to concentrate because she is also listening to William’s conversation with Paul and Maria, low level words melting in the saturated music.” Moments like this remind me of other writers pushing against the narrative necessities of prose — William Carlos Williams, Olga Tokarczuk, Jenny Offill, Mary Ruefle. Her interest in writing these sections seems to be similar to some of those writers, in that her aim is essentially to document the texture of her life, the patterns of thought an artist as brilliant and active as Atkinson goes through in juxtaposition with life. “Improvising Sculpture” feels like a dreamy cousin to fiction, almost. What emerges after reading the book is a feeling of being placed inside of an experience, being placed inside of a life.
Arts
6 — Tuesday, October 1, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MUSIC REVIEW
Simpson sets world on fire in ‘SOUND AND FURY’ JIM WILSON
Daily Arts Writer
Rock ‘n’ roll doesn’t seem too far from country music. They share mostly the same roots, but for some reason, it feels like the two shouldn’t commingle. Rock is jagged around the edges, marked by guitars crunching against crashing drums. Country is smooth and soft, telling stories of a spurned lover and what could have been. Occasionally, rockers make the transition from rock and roll to country, namely Darius Rucker and Steven Tyler, but seldom, if ever, is the transition from country to rock ‘n’ roll made successfully. With his new album SOUND & FURY, however, Sturgill Simpson looks to change that. Hazy, psychedelic country subverter Sturgill Simpson has always toyed with the idea of rock music. He even covered Nirvana’s “In Bloom” to dazzling results. There, he pulled “In Bloom” into his reverb-drenched, psych-country world, transforming the iconic grunge track into something uniquely his own. With SOUND & FURY, he does the opposite. Simpson pushes himself into the world of rock ‘n’ roll, taking artifacts from his previous work along for the journey. SOUND & FURY may be Simpson’s first fullfledged attempt at rock music, but you wouldn’t guess it. It sounds like he’s been honing his rock skills for years. He takes signature haze and replaces it with smoke. That is to say, where his music used to transcend, it now slices and cuts. This is the kind of music made for ripping down a western highway in the early hours of the morning. It’s slick, it’s greasy and, most importantly, it’s fresh. Lead single “Sing Along” is the perfect introduction to this new era in Simpson’s career. Deliriously distorted guitars are accompanied by beefy bass guitar and warbling synthesizers, providing the postapocalyptic backtrack that Simpson’s vocals need as he bellows lines “Compromise is made out of peace / But history’s made out of violence / After the war of the world’s has ceased / All that’s left is deafening silence.” Simpson maintains his signature vocal twang, but instead of stretching his words as he used to do, he cuts them in half, wasting no time to say what he needs to say.
FILM NOTEBOOK
What’s most impressive about SOUND & FURY is Simpson’s ability to maintain consistency between all of his releases. He continues to drop knowledge like on his previous releases, but now he’s twisting it to a darker reality. On “Make Art Not Friends,” he warns, “it’s getting hard to find a good friend / So close the door behind you / Before anyone come in / Nobody writes, and nobody calls / Nobody bother, cause I’m over it all.” This is not the Sturgill Simpson of yore: This a totally new man, one that is suspect of the newly-realized fame he has achieved. This wariness is a just fit for the strung-out, apocalyptic feel of this album. It all culminates with “Mercury in Retrograde,” a steamy, synth-
SOUND AND FURY Sturgull Simpson Elektra Records FOCUS FEATURES
driven song that ruminates on fame and all the bullshit that goes with it. It’s one of the more “country rock” songs on the album in terms of sound, with a full string section and twangy, distorted guitars, but that’s a good thing. It’s softer vibe nicely contrasts searing lyrics like “Living the dreams makes a man wanna scream” and “Oh, the road to Hell is paved with cruel intention / If it’s not nuclear war, it’s gonna be divine intervention.” If anything, Sturgill Simpson’s experimentation on SOUND & FURY shows that he’s fully capable of making any kind of music he wants, something that the country overlords in Nashville did not take kindly to upon the release of his second and third albums. This release is a big, fat middle finger to the country music industry. If they don’t want to accept Simpson, that’s fine. He doesn’t want them to anyways. If the rest of the country scene doesn’t want him, that’s fine, too, because on SOUND & FURY, Simpson does rock ‘n’ roll as good as or even better than he does country music.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Silver screen sountracking with ‘Lost in Translation’ ELISE GODFRYD Daily Arts Writer
“Lost in Translation” is a movie about loneliness, the pitfalls of introversion and the secret (but widely held belief ) that it’s impossible to be fully understood by or profoundly connected to someone else. This mutual disillusionment with human relationships turns out to be precisely what allows the film’s leads, Bob (Bill Murray, “Rushmore”) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson, “Under the Skin”), to bond and, ultimately, experience the kind of togetherness they once thought was unattainable. Given the subject matter of the film, it’s hard to conceive how its soundtrack could possibly belong to it. The music — mainly shoegaze songs that found their home in the late ’80s-early ’90s alternative scene — is noisy and thunderous and totally uninhibited. In other words, it’s exactly what the characters — shy and secretive and insecure — aren’t. Perhaps the music serves to express what the characters can’t bear to. So much of “Lost in Translation” is about disguise and the artifices we use to hide our genuine selves, doing things not because we want to but because we think it’s what we’re supposed to do. Bob, an accomplished actor, is filming whiskey commercials in Tokyo when he’d rather be performing in plays. Charlotte is in the middle of an unfulfilling marriage, without any sense of purpose in her personal life or work. They both let themselves be carried along by life instead of taking control of it. They have become strangers to themselves, people who live not with passion but with timidity. On the contrary, the soundtrack is anything
BOOKS NOTEBOOK
Revisiting du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’ and its satiny, sultry horror story SARAH SALMAN Daily Arts Writer
Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca” invites readers into the world of Manderly, an estate that’s like a juicy, red apple with a brilliant shine on the outside, but rot within. “Rebecca” seduces, satisfies and scintillates its readers. It opens with: “I dreamt I went to Manderly again.” I read “Rebecca” for the first time the summer between my freshman and sophomore year in high school. I was stuck in a limbo state, alternating between the consistency and comfort of young-adult romances and the daunting classics. My English teacher suggested “Rebecca.” “I think you’d like it,” was all that she offered. And I did. On the surface, it checks everything off my list: Romance, Gothic, sardonic heroes, mystery and horror. In my naivety, I read it for its romance, crossing my fingers for our nameless narrator and aloof hero to get their happilyever-after. Fast-forward seven years. The sinister atmosphere of “Rebecca” still holds me captive. To faithfully summarize Rebecca would be a feat in and of itself. Strictly speaking, “Rebecca” is about our nameless heroine. She retrospectively speaks about her brief period spent at Manderly starting with her interaction with Maxim de Winter, the man of the manor. Described as insipid and unsophisticated, our narrator falls deeply and irrevocably in love with Mr. de Winter, eagerly accepting to be
his wife and to hold the proverbial reigns of Manderly. In their whirlwind love-story, we’re offered one very important detail: Maxim de Winter’s previous wife, Rebecca, died in a horrible accident. Unlike traditional romances, the proposal occurs within the first few chapters of the novel instead of the end; in fact, the readers only get bits and crumbs of Mrs. and Mr. de Winter’s love story. The relationship at the
COURTESY OF EMMA CHANG
forefront is between Mrs. de Winter and Rebecca. Rebecca haunts each page. It’s an iteration of Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca. Where our narrator is mousy, Rebecca was regal. From a handkerchief that smells of azaleas to her loyal companion, Mrs. Danvers, Rebecca is imprinted into the very walls of Manderly. Yes, “Rebecca” isn’t simply a romance.
It’s a twisty, mind-bending novel that psychologically questions our understanding of the entire narrative. As our narrator gets engulfed by Rebecca’s shadows, we begin to question her reliability. How much of the information she shares is accurate? How much of it is a projection of her desires? “Rebecca” is slippery — it simultaneously embraces and criticizes the decadent imagery of social class. We’re poisoned by the sickenly sweet air of old bloodlines, invaluable materials and sheer decadence. We watch our narrator’s trajectory from a fresh, doe-eyed schoolgirl to a character preoccupied with image. And still, Rebecca is there, reminding our narrator that she’ll never be good enough. After all, there is no substitute for Rebecca. Despite having read “Rebecca” before, the ending still shocks me. I remember zooming past the last quarter wondering how I could have possibly missed all the clues last time. Daphne du Maurier is a master of spellbinding literature. I recently ventured into her shorter works, particularly “Don’t Look Back,” and was struck by the chilling prose and equally terrifying ending. Because of “Don’t Look Back,” my walks back to my apartment at night are accompanied with a sense of unease. I wanted to see if “Rebecca” had that tangible element of horror that I glossed over in my teenage years. It did. Since its publication in 1938, “Rebecca” has remained a bestseller. It’s a hauntingly provocative novel that at once touches, critiques and weaves a slow-burn mysterious narrative. It has been, and always will be, one of my favorite books.
but timid. It is loud and chaotic and beautiful precisely because it is ugly. It’s a glorious explosion of honest, unobstructed emotion. It challenges our impulse to hide from each other and from ourselves, like in the song “Sometimes,” when Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine sings, “you can’t hide from the way I feel.” The music says what Bob and Charlotte can’t find the words to tell each other, while hardly using any words at all. It is pure noise, noise you can feel from the very bottom of your heart, noise that demands to be listened to at the absolute loudest volume possible. Many things in this movie are, as the title might suggest, lost in translation. Bob and Charlotte’s inability to speak or understand Japanese gives them a sense of alienation from the culture they are surrounded by. Both characters struggle to faithfully express their thoughts and feelings to other people, even the people they are married to. But the title of the film also seems to be a reflection on the act of filmmaking itself. Something about the story being portrayed and the experience of being there to film it is lost when it is viewed just as a movie. Director Sofia Coppola seems fully conscious of this, and it’s probably why she chose to make Bob’s parting words to Charlotte unintelligible to viewers. While there’s been much speculation about what exactlyhe whispered into her ear, we’ll probably never know for sure. Yet, when I watch Scarlett Johansson’s face as she gazes out on the streets of Tokyo in the film’s final sequence, set to The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey,” I feel as though I understand what she’s feeling in that moment in response to Bob’s words. And it’s all because of that song, which tells me more about her emotions than any words ever could. The music requires no translation, and because it’s there, nothing is really lost.
Release Date: Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Fisherman’s __: waterfront district in San Francisco 6 Police HQ alerts 10 Sushi bar sauce 13 Swiss mathematician 14 Soft palate dangler 15 “t,” in “btw” 16 Golf tournament won by Shane Lowry in 2019 18 Cavity-fighting org. 19 “Easy Rider” actor 21 eharmony profile part 24 Entry point 25 With 31-Across, “The Aviator” Oscar nominee 26 Maxim 28 Pequod crew 31 See 25-Across 32 Tidy (up) 34 Stocking experts, and what 16-, 19-, 51- and 57-Across literally are 38 Give as a task 39 Office notice 42 Govt. drug bust, perhaps 45 Post-workout refresher 47 __ mater 48 TriBeCa neighbor 50 “__ Blinded Me With Science”: 1983 hit 51 Baltimore-based medical school 56 “Sands of __ Jima”: 1949 film 57 “Fingers crossed!” 61 Country star McGraw 62 Gas brand BP relaunched in 2017 63 Less prevalent 64 Had chips, say 65 Fail to notice 66 Washington, e.g. DOWN 1 Spider’s creation 2 “Ben-__”
3 Baba in a cave 4 No longer working: Abbr. 5 Curly-haired “Peanuts” character 6 To have, in Paris 7 Baby seals 8 “Yuck!” 9 Twins infielder Miguel 10 Rice, in Chinese cuisine 11 “My goodness!” 12 Hankers (for) 14 “Hmm ... not likely” 17 Winter flakes 20 Capital of Sicily 21 Fluffy wrap 22 “__ be darned!” 23 Vegas calculation 27 Like most of northern Africa 28 Little songbird 29 Drillmaster’s syllable 30 Opening day pitcher, typically 32 Icy road worry 33 Cribbage piece 35 Mama bear, in Seville
36 Omega preceder 37 Puts a Singer to work 40 “Not really a fan” 41 Mined metal 42 Sizzling Tex-Mex fare 43 Fail epically 44 Shout from the foyer 45 __ Tzu: toy dog 46 Advanced student’s course
48 Contractor’s parameters 49 “Yeah, and ... ?” 52 Fancy pillowcase 53 Prefix with sphere 54 Gold medals, to Spaniards 55 Quarrel 58 Nest egg acronym 59 “Nothing but __”: “Swish!” 60 College sr.’s test
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
By C.C. Burnikel ©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
10/01/19
10/01/19
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, October 1, 2019 — 7
Meet Nebojsa Popovic, Michigan’s newest star ‘M’ competes in preview NICHOLAS STOLL For The Daily
The Michigan men’s soccer team has a new player this season who is lighting up opposing defenses. His name is Nebojsa Popovic. The forward is a graduate transfer from Oakland University spending his last year of eligibility in Ann Arbor. Since stepping on campus, he’s made an immediate impact, notching five goals and three assists in eight games. The sports management program and overall academics at Michigan were paramount in his decision to play for the Wolverines. “What I was looking for was to go to a school that had a higher education standard,” Popovic said, “and Michigan was the best school.” So far, he’s happy with his choice, enjoying the University and its students — debating which is his favorite. “The campus and the facilities are beautiful, it’s either that or the people,” Popovic said. “I got to meet a kid who wrestles for the Serbian national team, and he just qualified for the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020. To me, that’s crazy. I can’t believe he’s in my class.” On the pitch, he’s loving the team and the game. “I haven’t enjoyed my soccer this much in, I can’t remember,” Popovic said in a team video. “I think this is the most fun I’ve had in a very long time.” The graduate student attributes his enjoyment to his teammates and their talent. “I’m around guys who are just as good as me, if not better, and I think that makes a big difference. You always want to be in those kind of situations because then you’re going to grow as a soccer player and you’re going to get to learn from them, and it’s going to just
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
The Michigan cross country team went to the Buckeye Preview last weekend.
SPENCER RAINES For The Daily
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Graduate transfer Nebojsa Popovic has given a spark to Michigan’s attack since coming over from Oakland.
make me better overall, and that’s just enjoyable.” Popovic has connected with his teammates quickly, and fans watching the team can see the chemistry between the men up top. But he believes the team is far from its peak. “As we’re getting to know each other more and getting to know what we each like,” Popovic said. “I think that it is going to get better because then the communication aspect comes into it.” That may be a troubling prospect for opposing goalkeepers, with Popovic’s offensive ability emerging as a top weapon for the Wolverines. With 9 matches still on the schedule, Popovic is on track to finish the season with 10 goals and six assists — staggering numbers for any forward, and collegiate career highs for Popovic.
Recognized for his combined two goals and one assist against Rutgers and Oakland, Popovic was awarded the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. It was the first of the season given out by the Big Ten — an impressive accolade to jumpstart his season. But the forward felt differently about the praise. “I mean I think it’s great, but that doesn’t come without my teammates,” Popovic said. “I think that’s just a testament to how well we’re playing together and I think if we keep that up, a lot of us will be getting those kind of awards ... Soccer is not an individual sport at all. If the team doesn’t do well none of us will flourish individually” Still, while he appreciates the early accolades, Popovic only has one thing on his mind. “I just want to win, that’s all I care about,” Popovic said.
I think this is the most fun I’ve had in a very long time.
“I don’t care how we win. I don’t care if I score or assist or make a run that’s off the ball to create space for us to score... I think that’s the biggest thing for us right now, just to figure out how we can beat every opponent we play.” Michigan is currently 3-2-3 on the season and 0-0-2 in Big Ten play. Despite a tough schedule ahead, Popovic has confidence in the team’s ability and knows what it needs to do. “Just keep doing more of the same thing, getting the right preparation in before games, and then following the coach’s gameplans to a T,” Popovic said. “I think we still have a lot of potential that’s not yet fulfilled, so I think it’s only going to get better from here to be honest.” Why does he feel that way? To Popovic, it’s simple. And it’s his favorite part about the team. “The way we play,” Popovic said, “I love that style of play... I love to be a part of something like that, if we can keep that up, I’m just going to keep having more and more fun.”
The Michigan men’s and women’s cross country teams faced off against some of the best teams in the Big Ten on Saturday at the Buckeye Preview. The women won their meet — out of 12 teams — with a score of 41 points, while the men tied for second out of eight, with Grand Valley State with 69 points, losing only to Penn State. Just a week after freshman Erika VanderLende came in fourth place at the John McNichols invite, youth was once again the focal point for the Wolverines. VanderLende won her first 6,000meter race — the first time the women have raced that distance this season — with a time of 20:17. Improving on her fourth-place finish at John McNichols last weekend. “Erika was outstanding again, against a good crew of people in her first 6K ever, ” said Michigan women’s coach Mike McGuire. The rest of the Michigan women had a strong outing as well. Junior Kathryn House came in sixth for the Wolverines at 20:55, followed by junior Maddy Trevisan in ninth, junior Micaela DeGenero in 11th, and junior Jena Metwalli in fourteenth. “Jenna Metwalli and Micaela DeGenero had outstanding races,” McGuire said. “We were solid throughout.” Winning shouldn’t come as a surprise for the Wolverines’ women. They’ve won the Big Ten
three consecutive seasons and are expected to keep their title this season. The men’s team is looking to replicate the success of the women as they try and improve upon their fourth-place finish at the Big Ten meet last season. But for now, they remain a step behind. Juniors Jacob Branch and Jacob Lee led the Michigan men, finishing in third and fourth place, respectively. Branch had the second-fastest time through the third and fifth kilometers of the race. They both finished strong as well, as Lee recorded the secondfastest time over the final three kilometers and Branch had the third fastest time. Branch and Lee were followed by sophomore Dominic Dimambro in 20th, freshman James Gedris in 26th, and freshman Colton Yesney who rounded out Michigan’s top five in 29th. The Michigan men’s team held back its top lineup on Saturday — junior Isaac Harding, sophomore Christian Hubaker, and AllAmerican junior Jack Aho — and instead opted to go with a younger group. Looking ahead, the women don’t race again until Oct. 19 at prenationals. McGuire said they’re going to use this time to ramp up training, but to also make sure they properly space out workouts. As the women move into this training block, the men are already prepping for a short turnaround as they race at Notre Dame on Friday. This will be a good opportunity for the men to find their stride before the end of the regular season.
Wolverines fall to NW Similar but different, York is no Quinn Hughes FIELD HOCKEY
TIEN LE
JACK WHITTEN For The Daily
To say Sunday’s field hockey game between Michigan and Northwestern had humble origins would be an understatement. Passes skidded across the Evanston turf, still wet from two days of rain, and past the outstretched sticks of their targets. Possession deep in enemy territory was incredibly rare. Shots on goal were nonexistent. But when the dust cleared, after 60 minutes of regulation and 20 of sudden-death overtime, followed by a penalty shootout that extended into sudden death, No. 7 Northwestern (10-2 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) edged out No. 9 Michigan (6-3, 1-1), 1-0 on Sunday. After the dreary defensive gridlock that was the first quarter, the game began to open up for both squads. Buoyed by a group of forwards with elite stick technique and ball security, as well as legs that refused to turn into jelly, the Wildcats became dangerous in transition at a moment’s notice. The coast to coast capabilities of Northwestern forward Bente Baekers, among others, meant that the Wolverines’ back three had their work cut out for them. That’s not to say Michigan didn’t do its own damage on offense. The Wolverines worked as a unit to gain an edge in time of possession and spent significant portions of the game with numbers in Wildcat territory. Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz thought the team’s success stemmed from “(focusing) on basics to keep possession and making good decisions around the ball.” As regulation expired and teams shrunk from eleven to seven players, per the rules of overtime, common sense would have it that Northwestern and its talented group of attackers would have an advantage.
“(They) play really fast,” said senior midfielder Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort. “On defense (we tried to) get to the ball first.” Michigan’s aggressiveness in only playing two at the back put the Wildcats on the ropes in the first overtime period. Led by senior midfielder Fay Keijer, junior midfielder Kayla Reed, and Lacort, the Wolverines tacked on four shots on target in the first golden goal session alone. Northwestern appeared to find their offensive footing in the second half of overtime, controlling possession thanks to their aforementioned ability to change fields on even the smallest of turnover opportunities. But when overtime was over, neither unit had landed a decisive punch. In the penalty shootout, four Wolverines and four Wildcats scored. The lone Michigan miss, originally a score by Fernandez Lacort, was wiped away because of a goalkeeper obstruction foul confirmed by video referral. With a chance to win for Northwestern on the 10th stroke of the penalty session, Wildcat Kayla Blas had the ball knocked away by sophomore goalkeeper Anna Speiker at the last moment. Then it was onto sudden death, in which video referrals would haunt the Wolverines in a fatal way. Saar de Breij opened the scoring for Northwestern. Needing a goal to stay in the contest, Michigan sophomore Kathryn Peterson made junior Wildcat goalkeeper Florien Marcussen miss and appeared to score well within the eight allotted seconds. But when Northwestern asked for a replay review, the goal was negated after it was determined that the ball struck Peterson’s foot. After a long sigh, Lacort talked about some positives she and the team will take away from Sunday. “I think we really had them,” she said. “We didn’t get the win, so it hurts, but I think today we got a little bit better.”
Daily Sports Editor
One hand carried his stick. The other rose to his lips, motioning outward in a big, exaggerated wave as he glided to a stop in the corner of the rink. Cam York had skated down the ice at Yost Ice Arena — empty to all except the Michigan hockey team and a few spectators. The team was practicing a continuous twoon-zero drill, and the freshman defenseman received the puck at the blue line. Skating toward the goaltender, he shot the puck and found the back of the net. And then came the celebration — the blow of an unmistakable kiss to a nonexistent crowd. COURTESY OF RENA LAVERTY/USA HOCKEY PHOTOS He pretended to bathe in the Freshman defenseman Cam York has an offensive-minded skillset but with subtle differences to Quinn Hughes’ game. limelight before continuing to practice. watching today, and he’s so positioning in ways York defensively,” Martin said. “I’m playing on him in practice right But make no mistake. Where smooth. He’s got a really good doesn’t. “Yorkie’s a little different now. And we were working there was emptiness, there stick. I think Yorkie set the allwill soon be a crowd, shouting time record (at the USNTDP) as though,” Pearson said. “I don’t really well together on the blue and cheering in response to his far as points. There’s a reason think he’s as — I don’t want to line.” say high-risk, that’s not the York’s role is to support, and celebration. After all, people for that.” His ability to create on right way to put it, but (not) not spearhead the offense. had done the very same a year “I think the main thing that before for Quinn Hughes — offense is one of his strong looking to get up the ice as the player York is expected to suits, and subsequently, people much. Cam will join, but he’s (differentiates them) is Quinn was more the skater,” Pearson replace. expected him to fill the role not leading.” Hughes would dominate said. “And where York’s more, And it’s hard to not compare left by Hughes. But there are the puck and lead the offense. ‘Well, I’m going to give you that the two. They were both highly- differences in their approach. Players and pass even if it’s a short pass I’m touted defenseman who were Whereas coaches alike going to give it to you.’ ” products of the U.S. National Hughes would knew that, And even though he’s pitted Team Development Program. be a puck-centric leading them to to take on the responsibilities They were both first-round top-tier skater, pair him with that Hughes once held, Pearson picks, and they were both preferring to someone who thinks it will take time for similar-framed offensive- bring the puck minded players that everyone through the knew the way York to transition into that Hughes liked spot. After all, Hughes was a pointed to as difference makers. zones himself, to play and second-year defenseman with But despite their similarities, York likes to cover for his collegiate experience under his Cam York is no Quinn Hughes. pass the puck displacement — belt. But Martin doesn’t see it “I don’t think there has to be around in givea player who was that way. type this big ‘Oh, Cam and Quinn’ and-go “For him, I don’t think he more defensivething,” said senior defenseman fashion and then Luke Martin. “Because they’re push forward without the puck. minded and didn’t like to push has to be focused on replacing different players.” “Cam will pass and follow up up. And as a result of his far-up anyone,” Martin said. “I think Cam York, in his final year ice,” Pearson said. “Cam’s not positioning, Hughes’ defense you know, he’s a great player, with USNTDP, set the record afraid to just move it up and was spotty, ending the season and he does things really well. for amount of points tallied by a then join the rush but Quinn with a plus/minus of negative- And I think he needs to continue defenseman with 65 points. His liked to have it on his stick, two despite leading the team in to do those really well, for us. points. “But I think for him, just, you skill set includes his vision and maybe leading the rush.” On the other hand, York has know, not really listening to any passing abilities, but his shot is And the different styles of also at an elite level. bringing the puck forward the option to sit at the blue line of this outside noise.” It’s not the outside noise he’s “Cam? … He is,” said furthers their differences as and watch the play develop. It Michigan coach Mel Pearson players. prevents him from jeopardizing trying to hear, but the noise when asked if York was a As a result of carrying the his positioning as someone who inside of Yost. And with every goal scored and kiss blown, it’ll pass-first defenseman. “But puck through the zone, Hughes doesn’t push with the puck. his defensive “Cam is really strong come. he can score too. Like I’m just jeopardizes
He’s just so smooth. He’s got a really good stick.
Sports
8 — Tuesday, October 1, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OL looks to carry improvement Run game proves vital for identity ETHAN SEARS
THEO MACKIE Daily Sports Editor
As Michigan’s offense entered the season with sky-high expectations, every conversation was rooted in one assumption: The Wolverines would have a steady, reliable offensive line. It was built into the widespread confidence in Shea Patterson’s growth and was the foundation behind the lack of concern in a run game that lost its top two ballcarriers. And the assumption made sense. Everyone except redshirt freshman right tackle Jalen Mayfield was a returning starter. Senior Ben Bredeson was a preseason All-American at left guard. Jon Runyan, Cesar Ruiz and Michael Onwenu had all blossomed into steady presences over the second half of 2018, earning varying All-Big Ten honors. Then Runyan missed the first two games with a hand injury, creating instability in a unit that was supposed to be anything but. The result wasn’t pretty. The Wolverines struggled to pass protect against two overmatched defensive lines in Middle Tennessee State and Army. Against Wisconsin, the unit finally burst. Shea Patterson rarely had time to look past his first read, and the running backs couldn’t find running lanes in a 35-14 loss. It forced Jim Harbaugh into an assessment he couldn’t have dreamt of three weeks earlier. “Offensive line, we talked about that being an experienced group,” Harbaugh said. “They gotta play good, they gotta hustle and they gotta protect the quarterback and they gotta play physical in both areas, in pass protection and the run game. It’s our job to get them to do that. We’ve got backs that need holes. We expect our offensive line to move people and that didn’t happen this past game.” So as Michigan prepared to
Managing Sports Editor
RUCHITA IYER/Daily
Guard Ben Bredeson called Iowa a measuring stick for Michigan’s offensive line.
move beyond Wisconsin and salvage the rest of its season, physicality and hustle were heavy focuses in practice in the lead up to Saturday’s win over Rutgers. “We had a good week last week from a physicality standpoint,” Bredeson said. “I thought we really upped that from the week before against Wisconsin.” But the Wolverines’ struggles went beyond that. An offensive line whose reputation was predicated on familiarity couldn’t get out of its own way, mixing presnap penalties with holding calls and missed assignments. “Just trying to make sure we get all our calls situated, trying to stay out of third-and-long situations,” Bredeson said of the focuses in practice after the Wisconsin game. “If we can get some yards on first and second down, then we won’t have to be in such obvious passing situations and that helps our protection a lot. Just working with (Ruiz) and getting the communication from all the positions on the line, letting everybody know where things need to be, where to slide, where we’re IDing things.” The result was an offensive line performance that finally lived up to expectations. Patterson was still brought down for one official “sack,” but it came on a scramble out of bounds, just short of the line of scrimmage. Pressure, in the traditional
sense, was virtually non-existent. And for a team that was never supposed to worry about its offensive line, that’s a promising sign, even against Rutgers. “I thought the pass pro improved a lot,” Bredeson said. “We were able to make some big in-game adjustments in the middle of the drive, which was something that we were really happy to see. And we had some small mistakes, came together, corrected it and were able to keep moving with no issues.” Added Harbaugh: “That’s some of the things that we’ve been seeing in practice for a couple months now. And it was good to see that in the game.” Now, the question becomes whether Michigan can replicate that performance against Iowa. When a reporter described the Hawkeyes as a “measuring stick” for the Wolverines’ growth since Wisconsin, Bredeson said, “You hit it right on the head.” That, of course, can go two ways. Replicating its performance in Madison would be a death blow to Michigan’s season goals. But right now, that’s not what this offensive line is thinking about. “Going against a strong defense like (Iowa) — I thought we had a good offensive week this past week,” Bredeson said. “And just carrying that on and getting to that next step would be huge for us.”
The football theory of establishing the run has been long disproven. There’s no correlation between running the ball early and winning games, no matter how many coaches or players insist otherwise. And there’s no statistical reason to particularly care about establishing the run. But stats aren’t everything. And for Michigan, it’s about something more than finding a statistical correlation to winning. All last week, in the wake of Wisconsin manhandling the Wolverines, we heard about how Michigan wanted to be more physical. How when the Wolverines lost that, rushing for just 40 yards on 19 tries against the Badgers, they lost their identity. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Michigan came out running against Rutgers, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it did so successfully. “It’s important,” said senior guard Ben Bredeson. “You gotta establish the run, like you said, to (set up) our passes. Thought we did a good job with that, thought we ran the ball well on Saturday.” The Wolverines scampered for 141 yards on the ground, their
highest mark since the opener against Middle Tennessee, as their offense found a coherent rhythm for the first time all year. The runs set up Josh Gattis’ option game, and senior quarterback Shea Patterson looked comfortable making reads in the new offense for the first time. Unlike in week two against Army, when freshman Zach Charbonnet carried the ball 33 times, Michigan kept its rotation mixed. That’s in part due to a lingering injury to Charbonnet, who had just five carries, but Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh indicated that a committee setup could be here to stay. “I liked the fact that you can split it up, maybe 20, 20, 20, maybe a few for a fourth guy,” Harbaugh said. “But Zach played really well. Christian Turner played really well in this game, had some really fine runs. And Hassan Haskins really played well.” That fourth guy, presumably, would be Tru Wilson, who returned from a broken hand with four carries for 13 yards. Wilson said Monday he played with a pad on his hand, but it didn’t affect him. Even against Rutgers in a relatively successful game on the ground, the numbers weren’t completely there. Michigan averaged just 3.4 yards per carry,
and even with the caveats of garbage time, sacks and a lot of carries in the red zone, that number should raise eyebrows. That’s where, to buy that the Wolverines found the success they were looking for on the ground, you need to buy that it was as much about the mentality as the bottomline number. “I think we just got in a rhythm early and like I said, this offense gets in a rhythm, you can see the big plays that we can create,” Bredeson said. “That’s something we were able to do and we kept rolling with it.” Certainly, that much is true. A healthier Charbonnet will presumably make the stats look better. But like everything in Saturday’s 52-0 win, 3.4 yards per carry comes with the asterisk of being against Rutgers, arguably the worst team in the Power Five. Iowa, a team that’s giving up just 78.5 yards on the ground per game, will provide a stiffer test this Saturday. Don’t expect Michigan to stray away from its principles. “Being a Michigan running back, it’s really important (to establish the run) because throughout the years, you see that they’re just a punishing running team,” Wilson said. “Just building an identity of being a physical team.”
KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Freshman running back Zach Charbonnet was limited against the Scarlet Knights due to a lingering injury.
Amid criticism, D-Line bounces back THEO MACKIE Daily Sports Editor
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A week ago, Michigan’s defensive line — so vaunted a year ago — left Madison among the most beleaguered units on a team that faced criticism at every position. The criticism centered on the run game, in which the Wolverines allowed 359 yards and five touchdowns. Hidden behind those eye-popping numbers, Michigan’s pass rush also struggled, finishing with only one sack and allowing Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan ample time to throw all game en route to a 13-for-16 performance. “(Wisconsin) controlled the game,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said after the game. “With the running game, it was easy to see that and make the big plays as well, so (running back Jonathan Taylor) was impressive.” Any bounceback the Wolverines provided against Rutgers was always going to be shrouded in the caveat of the opponent. While Wisconsin features one of the nation’s best offensive lines, Rutgers was overmatched by Michigan’s athleticism. Still, dominating Rutgers beats the alternative. Early on, it looked as if the easiest remaining game on Michigan’s schedule might not be as simple as promised. Quarterback Artur Sitkowski completed five straight passes, taking Rutgers into the red zone as Michigan’s defense unexpectedly found itself on the ropes on its second possession of the day. As Sitkowski rolled out on fourth-and-5 from the Wolverines’ 8-yard line, there was a sense that the play carried a greater importance than seven meaningless points in what would soon become a blowout. This was Michigan’s chance to put a week of talk about bouncing back to the test. So when sophomore defensive end Aidan Hutchinson stopped Sitkowski at the line
KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Kwity Paye was part of a much-improved defensive line against Rutgers.
of scrimmage, the Wolverines’ defense reacted accordingly. “It was great,” said sophomore linebacker Cam McGrone. “You always bring your best on those fourth downs when they try to disrespect you and say that they can get this first down and get in the end zone so it was really good to get that. We needed that.” For the rest of the day, Rutgers’ offense reverted to what was expected of it. All 10 of the Scarlet Knights’ remaining drives ended in their own territory. Just three featured first-down conversions. Though Michigan’s pass rush finished with just one more sack than it did against Wisconsin, its constant pressure was obvious throughout. After looking at ease during points in the first quarter, Sitkowski rarely had time to look beyond his first read, forcing incompletions and dump-offs when Rutgers needed chunk plays. “Man, the pressure they got, they made it easy on the secondary and the linebackers,” McGrone said. “It was just great from them and helped us ... cause they couldn’t throw it anywhere, they had no time.” The run defense also rebounded, limiting the Scarlet Knights to 46 yards on 29 attempts. Their biggest run of the day went for just six yards — a touch below Wisconsin’s average of 6.3 per carry last week. “That’s a position group that was really challenged
during the week — the inside players, the nose, the threetechniques,” Harbaugh said. “And I thought that group really responded well.” And yes, the biggest reason for that response was the opponent. McGrone even admitted to needing to replicate Saturday’s performance next week, “against a better team” in No. 14 Iowa. One difference that will carry over to Iowa is the presence of senior defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour. While Dwumfour sat for most of the first three games, a hodgepodge of players playing out of position failed to make up his production beside Carlo Kemp, leaving gaping holes in the middle of Michigan’s defense. In his return to significant playing time, the difference was instantly notable. “Mike had a huge impact,” said junior defensive end Kwity Paye. “Mike’s one of our best pass rushers so to have him in there on our stunts, to be able to pressure the quarterback was huge. So I’m happy he’s back.” Where Michigan’s performance on the defensive line against Iowa next week falls on the vast spectrum between its showings against Wisconsin and Rutgers remains to be seen. But against the Scarlet Knights, the Wolverines did all they could, quieting criticism for at least one week. “We got that goose egg on the board,” McGrone said. “And that’s what we needed.”