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Friday, October 11, 2019

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Clinton talks foreign policy, impeachment

Former U.S. Secretary of State, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee reflects on international conflict BEN ROSENFELD, KATHERINA SOURINE, JULIA FANZERES & LIAT WEINSTEIN Daily Staff Reporters

Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, spoke at Rackham Auditorium Thursday afternoon to an audience of more than 1,000 students and community members, including U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and Michigan state Rep. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor. Clinton has spent decades in public service, serving as first lady from 1993 to 2001, U.S. senator from 2001 to 2009 and secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 under the ALEC COHEN/Daily Obama administration. After a Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks on current political events and related policy issues at Rackham Auditorium Thursday afternoon. presidential campaign loss in 2016, Clinton still has a large Clinton, Turkey’s membership political inf luence. in NATO could help ease Michael S. Barr, dean of the Ford School of Public Policy, diplomatic negotiations. “There are ways of working moderated the talk, and the on really thorny — what are subsequent student Q&A called wicked — problems,” session was the inaugural event of the University of Michigan’s Clinton said. “But they take thought and deliberation Weiser Diplomacy Center’s and diplomacy. Yes, we have lecture series on diplomacy and the common bond of NATO foreign affairs. During the talk, membership, we could have Clinton answered questions about global affairs, her career used that, and now we have a situation with all kinds of experience and her opinions on consequences, both predictable contemporary foreign policy and unintended.” issues. Referring specifically to Clinton began by discussing the changing role of NATO, Clinton acknowledged the existence of problems multinational institutions in within international and shaping international affairs, domestic institutions, but emphasizing the need to work with allies and rely on emphasized the importance of ALEC COHEN/Daily maintaining and using them for institutions such as the North LSA student Tiahna Pantovich interacts with supporters of President Donald Trump outside Hillary Clinton’s event in Rackham the public good. Clinton noted Atlantic Treaty Organization. Auditorium Thursday afternoon. the work of various leaders In evaluating when to use different modes of diplomacy, President Donald Trump’s from northern Syria, clearing operation against U.S.-allied during a post-World War II she referenced the example of recent withdrawal of troops the way for a Turkish military Kurdish forces. According to period of international order;

leaders who upheld standards of peace and democracy. In the face of interests that want to disrupt faith in these institutions, she emphasized standing by this institutions while trying to reform them. “There is also a concerted effort to undermine our faith in these international institutions. There is a real effort by some to try to create dislocation and disruption,” Clinton said. “We should be standing up for the success of the last 75 years, not throwing it on the trash heap of history. We need to engage now in a new process of trying to restore and renew and, where necessary, reform and replace institutions that are not serving us well.” Public Policy junior Nick Silk was one of a select group of students who attended a talk with Clinton before the main event, during which students were able to ask questions of Clinton about developing leadership skills for careers in public policy. Silk was impressed by Clinton’s personal experience working in diplomacy. Silk said Clinton’s advice and remarks to public policy students fit in with the Public Policy School’s mission of developing leaders who make a positive difference in the world. “The school’s theme of leadership is making a positive impact upon others,” Silk said. “So she really honed in on that aspect of using empathy to build relationships with other people, and also building trust with other people, relying on others and, at the same time, kind of cultivating this culture that’s responsive to other people, and building teams rather than being divisive.” See CLINTON, Page 3

Japanese artist Mari Katayama Students Protestors frustrated discusses life with disabilities face final TRANSPORTATION

by busing detours

Alternate bus routes cause campus transit passengers to complain CLAIRE HAO

Daily Staff Reporter

The University of Michigan Campus Bus System, run by the Office of Logistics, Transportation & Parking, announced a series of detours on Monday. Effective on Wednesday, the detours affect the routes of the Bursley-Baits, Northwood, Commuter North, Commuter South, Crisler Express, Diag-toDiag, Med Express, North-East Shuttle, Northwood Express and Oxford Shuttle lines. From Oct. 11 to Oct. 19, additional detours will be implemented for the Wall Street-NIB and Wall Street Express lines. According to the announcement, all bus routes will return to normal by Nov. 18. According to Lisa Solomon, planning and communications manager for LTP, the detours are due to a variety of utility work and construction projects surrounding campus. “For the detours, our transit team is working to keep the routes as much on time as possible,” Solomon said. See BUSES, Page 3

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CLIMATE

Speaker addresses developmental condition, using her body to create art LILY GOODING For The Daily

Japanese artist Mari Katayama came to the Michigan Theater Thursday evening as part of the Penny Stamps Speaker Series to discuss living with her disabilities and the art they have inspired. This event was one of the many

scheduled for Disability Community Month at the University of Michigan. About 500 students and Ann Arbor residents attended to listen to Katayama open up about the thought process behind her most provocative pieces. Before the discussion, Natsu Oyobe, the curator of Katayama’s exhibit at the UMMA, introduced

Katayama and gave a background of her work. Katayama was born with a developmental condition and had both her legs amputated at nine years old. She has had a long artistic career in multimedia that started when she was a teenager. Her first solo exhibition in the United States is coming to UMMA later this month. “Mari started making art

to fill the deep gap between her own understanding of self and society,” Oyobe said. “She explores her identity by objectifying her body through art.” Katayama explored these ideas further during her talk by giving her own perspective through translator Megumi Segawa.

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INDEX

Demonstrators arrested during climate strike last spring head to court ALEX HARRING Daily Staff Reporter

See ARTIST, Page 3

KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily Japanese artist Mari Katayama speaks about her art and her process of creating art with her own body at the Penny Stamps Speaker Series at the Michigan Theater Thursday evening.

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pretrial for trespassing

The final pretrial for a lawsuit against eight climate demonstrators charged with trespassing on University of Michigan property took place Thursday morning in the Washtenaw County Courthouse. The demonstrators were arrested in March after a climate-focused sit-in at University President Mark Schlissel’s office, which followed the Washtenaw County Climate Strike on the same day. The demonstrators’ chief demand at the sit-in was a onehour meeting with Schlissel and other members of the administration to discuss the University’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality. A group of demonstrators refused to leave until the University addressed their demands, which resulted in the arrests of 10 individuals on charges of trespassing — two of whom were minors, though the prosecutor’s office is only charging people over 18. See TRIAL, Page 3

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News

2 — Friday, October 11, 2019

MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers

TUESDAY: By Design

WEDNESDAY: This Week in History

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THURSDAY: Twitter Talk

FRIDAY: Behind the Story

B EHIND THE STORY Every Friday, one Daily staffer will give a behind the scenes look at one of this week’s stories. This week, LSA senior Julia Fanzeres discussed covering a protest of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who visited campus on Thursday to give a lecture at Rackham Auditorium. “It was really frustrating because the demonstrator was cooperating with us and wanted to have her voice heard, but the DPSS officer interjected and advised her not to speak to us. It delegitimized the role of journalists in covering protests, and it diminished the quality of our coverage because we were able to get that demonstrator’s perspectives.”

Julia Fanzeres, Daily Staff Reporter

ALEC COHEN/Daily

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“

I always say that I feel like a freshman here on campus, because I obviously don’t know the campus as well and stuff like that, but sometimes being in these classes with all these freshmen, you just kind of feel like you’re out of place. You come here to Michigan for more opportunities, but I feel like I’m being set back more than pushed forward sometimes.”

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Zoe Garden, LSA junior, discussing her experience as a transfer student at the University

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Researchers look at lives of squirrels, forage for information in series of studies

FINNTAN STORER

‘U’ scientists gather data on behavior of campus wildlife, animals in Yukon

JOEL DANILEWITZ and MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA

JENNA SITEMAN For The Daily

College students go nuts for squirrels, but at the University of Michigan researchers have taken an interest as well. U-M is one of several schools participating in a research project called the Kluane Red Squirrel Project. Ben Dantzer, an assistant professor of Psychology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University, leads the research project based in Yukon, Canada. The study has been going on for 30 years, making it the longest running research project of its kind and focuses on North American Sudoku Syndication red squirrels. The goal of the project is to learn what allows

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Senior News Editors: Sayali Amin, Rachel Cunningham, Remy Farkas, Leah Graham, Amara Shaikh Assistant News Editors: Barbara Collins, Julia Fanzeres, Claire Hao, Alex Harring, Angelina Little, Madeline McLaughlin, Ben Rosenfeld, Emma Stein, Zayna Syed, Liat Weinstein Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com Senior Opinion Editors: Emily Considine, Krystal Hur, Ethan Kessler, Miles Stephenson, Erin White

happen in nature where they Arboretum’s website, Devits MAX MARCOVITCH and ETHAN SEARS are experiencing fluctuations said she hopes to uncover Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com in their environments and what traits help our squirrels Senior Sports Editors: Anna Marcus, Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Mark Calcagno, Theo Mackie, Tien Le that’s going to impact those — formally known as Fox Assistant Sports Editors: Bailey Johnson, Bennett Bramson, Connor Brennan, Squirrels — survive in this things.” Jacob Kopnick, Jorge Cazares, Rian Ratnavale The team is also able to environment, as well as other ARYA NAIDU and VERITY STURM learn more about the impacts cities and urban environments. Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com of climate change by observing She’s also recording data on Senior Arts Editors: Clara Scott, Emma Chang, Cassandra Mansuetti, Sam how the changing conditions health factors, for example, Della Fera, Trina Pal Arts Beat Editors: John Decker, Sayan Ghosh, Mike Watkins, Ally Owens, affect the squirrels, Dantzer observing each squirrel for Stephen Satarino, Izzy Hasslund, Margaret Sheridan wounds, parasites, mange and said. ROSEANNE CHAO and JACK SILBERMAN “They give us an idea of other conditions. Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com “We’re trying to understand how animals will respond Senior Design Editor: Sherry Chen to global and environmental what allows the species to ALEC COHEN and ALEXIS RANKIN changes in terms of reductions cope with different levels of Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com in winter severity, changes urbanization,” Devitz said in Senior Photo Editors: Alexandria Pompei, Natalie Stephens, Alice Liu, Allison in precipitation patterns, the interview. “We focus on Engkvist, Danyel Tharakan warming pattern, things personality traits to see if a Assistant Photo Editors: Miles Macklin, Keemya Esmael, Madeline Hinkley, like that,” Dantzer said. “So particular behavior is present Ryan McLoughlin if we’re able to study these across the study sites.” ANDREA PÉREZ BALDERRAMA Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com Devitz did not respond to types of questions of how they Deputy Editors: Matthew Harmon, Shannon Ors interview request from The adapt to changes in global an http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ SILAS LEE and EMILY STILLMAN climate, then that can help us Michigan Daily. Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com LSA senior Sanjana Ramesh to understand better things Senior Copy Editors: Dominick Sokotoff, Olivia Sedlacek, Reece Meyhoefer about how other animals said she loves the campus CASEY TIN and HASSAAN ALI WATTOO might adapt to changing squirrels and did some digging Managing Online Editors webteam@michigandaily.com into what the ear tags were climates.” Senior Web Developers: Jonathon Liu, Abha Panda, Rohan Prashant, Samantha Cohen Dantzer expressed when she noticed them. “I just really like the his excitement about ELI SIDER HARD Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com Ramesh said. another squirrel research squirrels,” Senior Video Editors: Joseph Sim, Ryan O’Connor project being conducted “There’s this whole meme NA’KIA CHANNEY and CARLY RYAN right on campus. This is going around on the internet Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com led by Rackham student about how our campus’s Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Samuel So, Ana Maria Charlotte Devits, who is squirrels are the best, and I Sanchez-Castillo, Efe Osagie, Danyel Tharakan Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Harnoor Singh, Nada Eldawy, Maya researching the effects can definitely conform to that. Mokh that an urban environment I think that the whole part of CATHERINE NOUHAN has on the survival of the squirrel tags was just new Managing Podcast Editor wildlife. Devits’s thesis and I’m really curious.” MADALASA CHAUDHARI and HANNAH MESKIN Ramesh said that, as a project aims to discover Managing Social Media Editors how an urban environment senior, she had never seen Senior Social Media Editor: Allie Phillips such as Ann Arbor affects squirrels with ear tags on the behavior of wildlife. campus. “I just thought it was Devits tags squirrels, which allows researchers interesting, and I wanted to MOLLY WU to track the squirrels know why,” Ramesh said. “I do Creative Director and maintain personal know that other animals are ZELJKO KOSPIC RYAN KELLY Special Projects Manager Sales Manager information about each tagged, so I wanted to know. I figured it was a research one. ANITA MICHAUD ROBERT WAGMAN Brand Manager Marketing Consulting Manager The squirrels are tagged thing because that’s usually in the Nichols Arboretum, what it is … Thankfully, it but they eventually make was research and they’re not The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during their way to the Diag and trying to kill our squirrels. I the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is other parts of campus. In was really scared they were available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long puzzle by sudokusyndication.com an interview posted to trying to kill our squirrels.” subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription the Matthaei Botanical rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. Gardens & at sudokusyndication.com! Nichols See SQUIRRELS, Page 3 Generate and solve Sudoku, Super Sudoku and Godoku puzzles an animal to be successful in survival and reproduction over generations. Dantzer said his research allows scientists to know more about how an animal’s early life affects its adulthood traits and behaviors, which can often be applied to human topics as well. “We know that these things may occur in rats and mice in laboratory environments,” Danzter said. “It may occur in humans but we can’t do experiments on humans for obvious reasons, and then lab mice have a lot of artifacts where the environment is constant: they have constant food, they’re comfortable, they are fat and happy, literally. In wild animals, you can kind of study whether those things

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Panel examines downfalls of transitional justice process Speakers discuss truth commission, reconciliation efforts JASMIN LEE

Daily Staff Reporter

Guest speakers from South Africa, Colombia and Michigan State University discussed transitional justice in their communities on Thursday afternoon in Weill Hall. About 65 students attended the event, titled “Critical Engagement with Transitional Justice: Perspectives from Africa and Latin America.” The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the African Studies Center, the Donia Human Rights Center and the Ford School of Public Policy sponsored the event. Yazier Henry, lecturer of public policy in the Public Policy School, moderated the event. Henry and the speakers had met previously at a conference in Berlin, and this was the first time they had reunited since that encounter. Henry said transitional justice — how countries address large-scale human rights abuses — played a role in his decision to become a lecturer at the Public Policy School. “From the engagement — past, present, future — in the context of societies building peace, that the things through this promise of what (it means to have) greater democracy, what it means to have greater social justice,

SQUIRRELS From Page 1 LSA senior Molly Mearn, an executive board member for the Squirrel Club, said she thought the research was great, as long as it did not pose a threat to the safety of the squirrels. “If there’s a valid scientific motivation to the tagging, and the tagging is done in a way that minimizes harm to the squirrels, I think it’s not too bad,” Mearns said. “But if there isn’t really a benefit to it and it harms the squirrels, then I don’t see a reason for it. I think, compared to previous years, there are slightly fewer squirrels around campus and in the Diag in particular, so I’m not sure if there is a population control issue right now.

CLINTON From Page 1 Later in the conversation, Clinton weighed in on current impeachment proceedings against Trump, describing the role of Ukraine’s “growing pains” to modernize their economy and stabilize politically. She explained how Ukraine is in a difficult position, needing to deter Russian aggression while relying on U.S. aid. She believes the impeachment proceedings are justified but must be thorough. “The whole Ukrainian scandal in the midst of the impeachment inquiry, in and of itself, is troubling because of what it shows about abuse of power and the use of threats and extortion by the President of the United States,” she said. “Withholding military aid that they so desperately need to defend themselves. So, it’s a scandal, it’s an absolutely inappropriate scandal and it should trigger an impeachment inquiry.” Sen. Gary Peters is the only Michigan Democrat not to have voiced support for impeachment investigations. Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., announced her support for beginning proceedings in July. In a statement, Peters echoed concerns for national security. Clinton also shared her

what it means to have human rights systems as accepted,” Henry said. Henry asked the panelists about their experiences with transitional justice. Within the idea of transitional justice, much of the conversation surrounded the Truth and Reconciliation Committee that formed in South Africa after the end of Apartheid. The Truth and Reconciliation Committee was created for victims of Apartheid to express their grievances toward the victimizers in order to receive justice for the crimes committed under the regime. When Henry asked the speakers about the disappointments they had with transitional justice in their own countries, panelist Litheko Modisane of South Africa spoke to the f laws of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. “Now the South African case is quite complex, because on the one hand, the truth, whatever you may call that truth, it was exposed during the TRC,” Modisane said. “There are other larger questions that still remain. For instance, part of the mechanism of the TRC was that there will be reparations for the victims of violence and human rights abuses. However, to this day, that has not really happened.” Castillejo-Cuellar, who is a

professor at the Universidad de los Andes, went to graduate school in Colombia and published “Memories and Violence: Problems and Debates in a Global Perspective,” a book about memory and displacement in an international context. His initial research was about the effects of violence in Colombia. Panelist Alejandro Castillejo-Cuellar discussed how his work in Colombia inspired his first book and research interests. “As an anthropologist, I was interested in fieldwork, and try to understand how actual people reconstruct the world with a world that is broken by violence,” Castillejo-Cuellar said. Rackham student Tim Berke said he found it interesting to hear about the role of colonialism in restorative justice. “I think hearing some of the questions from the group and the response from some of those was really interesting and to think about restorative justice, in a sense, and about colonialism,” Berke said. “And how that applies really opened my mind up to what that can imply and how far back we think about transitional justice and restorative justice.”

Additionally, I haven’t really noticed any aggression from squirrels, so I hope that isn’t part of the concern.” In terms of work being done to ensure the safety of the squirrels, Dantzer said wild animal researchers must follow a set of rules that govern how invasive tagging can be. The rules state that a tag or monitor can be no more than 5 percent of the animal’s body weight. He and Devits adhere to this strictly. He said that a great deal of research has been conducted on how squirrels are affected by being tagged and collared, and so far, no studies have indicated any sort of negative outcomes from human intervention. Dantzer said he has big plans for the future of squirrel research, as he plans to

hopefully use microchips to track squirrels’ heart rates and brain activity in order to determine sleep patterns. This information will hopefully give scientists insight into why humans and animals need sleep in order to survive. However, Dantzer said he is hesitant to do this now, as he would not want to introduce a more invasive tracking device that would negatively impact the campus squirrels. “We’re not yet going to do these implants in the squirrels (on campus), and part of it is because I think that, for most people, each day the only wildlife they ever interact with is these squirrels, and that’s a very valuable thing for us to have because it maintains some sense of awareness of nature,” Dantzer said.

personal views on U.S. policy in the Middle East, ref lecting on the role of former President Barack Obama’s administration in the Syrian war. According to Clinton, current international relations could lead to a possible ISIS resurgence, and the multitude of national interests complicate the path toward a diplomatic solution. “This is going to be a difficult period, and it requires intense, intelligent diplomacy. And right now, we have very little of that,” Clinton said. The event was not without controversy. Half a dozen demonstrators, voicing support for Trump, protested outside of Rackham during Clinton’s talk. The protestors held signs reading “TRUMP 2020” and wore “Make America Great Again” hats as a crowd of counter-protestors surrounded them. One of the protestors, who chose to remain nameless, stated she was protesting in order to show support for President Trump. “I was supporting my president, didn’t you see that?” the protester said. “I support my president all the time.” About 50 students and community members urged the protestors to leave campus and yelled they were not “on the right side of history.” LSA sophomore Tiahna Pantovich took part in the counter-protest, calling out to the protestors holding

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era of social media and Photoshop. Katayama said she views her body as a material in her art. “Maybe because I don’t consider these images as myself,” Katayama said. “I’m objectifying my own body and using it as a material. … I’m actually not accepting the way I am, my daughter loves my body, but to me, I still pursue a perfect body.” Art & Design freshman Nehema Kariuki attended the event and enjoyed seeing the artist behind the work, which she said she does not get to experience often. “In a lot of artists’ art, you see the art but you don’t see the artists themselves — you don’t see who they are, you don’t see their emotion,” Kariuki said. “It’s nice seeing her in her work and her emotion tied into it.”

Opinion

4 — Friday, October 11, 2019

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FROM THE DAILY

In solidarity with Hong Kong

n the past five months, Hong Kong has been rocked by intense anti-government protests against the Communist Party of China’s encroachment on its sovereignty and democracy. These protests experienced their most extreme levels of violence thus far in the days surrounding the 70th anniversary of the Communist Party of China on Oct. 1. The initial impetus for the protests in their current form was the decision by Carrie Lam, chief executive of Hong Kong, to push forward a bill allowing for the extradition of fugitives to mainland China. Since their inception, the protests have become increasingly violent with as many as eight suicides linked to them. Additionally, 18-yearold student protester Tsang Chi-kin was shot in the chest by a police officer at close range on the same day, further compounding the protesters’ fervor. The extradition bill that first sparked the protests was introduced in April 2019. It allowed for criminal suspects to be extradited to China under certain circumstances. Critics of the bill stated that it would expose residents of Hong Kong to unfair trials and potential violence at the hands of the Chinese government. Other criticisms include fears that China would further increase its inf luence over Hong Kong and potentially begin to target journalists. These hostilities towards the bill are what first led to the protests, which became much more pressing in June. The protests have become increasingly violent, with more instances of the Hong Kong police force firing tear gas at protesters and deploying water cannons. In return, protesters have lit fires and thrown petrol bombs and bricks. As of Sept. 30, 48 people had been admitted for medical treatment as a result of protest violence. Despite the obvious chaos and violence characterizing these protests, the protesters involved have maintained their momentum. The extradition bill that prompted the initial protests was withdrawn in early September. Protesters remain steadfast with their other demands oriented toward broader democracy and greater suffrage, demanding an independent probe into force used by police, amnesty for arrested protesters, a halt to the categorization of the protests as riots and the implementation of universal suffrage. Many of the protesters, the majority of whom are young adults, have taken to social media to declare that the withdrawal of the extradition bill is simply not enough to bring an end to the protests. The chaos and violence have not deterred demonstrators from their cause. Instead, many have doubled down, refusing to give in to the pressures and tactics employed by mainland China. Most recently, this includes the widespread refusal to comply with an emergency law banning face masks during protests. During the Oct. 6 protests against this ban, almost all demonstrators covered their faces, chanting “Hong Kong, resist!” as they marched through the streets in clear defiance of the laws employed to control them. Along with the use of social media, these young activists have employed several

nontraditional methods in constructing the protests. First of all, the movement is largely decentralized and without a clear leader. Earlier protests, such as the Umbrella Movement of 2014, were based on the concept of occupying essential areas of the city for several months. In contrast, the current protests have adopted the slogan of “Be Water.” Originally a reference to a quote by famous Hong Kong actor Bruce Lee, demonstrators have co-opted this saying as a call for agility and adaptability within the movement. As opposed to a fixed occupation, these protests are much more mobile. Marches often do not have a fixed route, rallies may abruptly turn to marches and small groups of protesters may break off from others and carry out smaller, targeted occupations of government buildings. Moreover, these protests are essentially leaderless. While this is partly because of the harsh prosecution of the leaders of past movements, the absence of a leader also allows more equal collaboration among protesters on internet forums. Those involved in the protest say this method allows more equal participation within the movement while also encouraging the type of participatory democracy that they are ultimately fighting for.

China is continually encroaching on Hong Kong’s democracy Hong Kong has enjoyed a “one country, two systems” style of government for over two decades. This notion, indicating that Hong Kong is a part of China while maintaining its own political system, is essential to Hong Kong’s identity. As a Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy through its own independent legal structures and police force, while Beijing is merely responsible for the region’s diplomatic relations and national defense. This unique status grants Hongkongers an independence and freedom they hold dear, yet many have expressed concerns for the arrangement’s upcoming expiration in 2047. As this deadline approaches, China is continually encroaching on Hong Kong’s democracy. In the past few years, owners of banned bookstores have disappeared mysteriously and lawmakers have been disqualified from

running in elections due to their support for Hong Kong independence. In 2014, the Umbrella Revolution emerged in response to a series of restrictive and reactionary electoral reforms proposed by the Chinese legislative. Even though the movement concluded without resolving any political disputes, it was a warning for China’s determination to suppress democratic voices and generated awareness for the importance of dissent in resisting authoritarian measures. The most wellknown leaders of the movement, Joshua Wang, Nathan Law and Alex Chow, were even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018, to recognize their efforts to promote peace and freedom. Similarly, the ongoing student-led protests, keeping in the spirit of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, are also fighting for Hong Kong’s right to democracy and autonomy. As students with ample access to democracy, it is imperative that we take note of the determination of our counterparts in Hong Kong and fully participate in our own democratic processes. Such participation can include supporting the Hong Kong protests while also registering to vote in our own upcoming elections and creating systems to facilitate increased voter turnout. Though the spirit of the protesters has remained fierce for the past few months, it is hard to say whether their struggle will yield the desired results. The failures of previous campaigns, the silence of Chinese state press and the indifference of international leaders may foretell a bleak future for the Hong Kong protests. However, this does not render the protesters’ attempts futile or reduce the significance of these movements. Rather, it conveys the importance of defiance in the face of oppression and makes the protesters more honorable in their endeavors to defend their own democracy. Protester Hazel Chan, 18, told the BBC that she was “not sure how many more chances we’ll get to fight for freedom,” and while she did not think their actions will have a huge impact on the government, she said she believes their actions are worthwhile in gaining international attention. As Hong Kong’s political tides gradually shift from liberal to authoritarian, these protests leave much room for contemplation about our own situation and the decay of democracy in the United States. Nevertheless, by standing with Hongkongers today, we are standing with all of those who were oppressed in history and, perhaps, even ourselves in the future.

Let them eat ramen!

hurriedly typed out the last lines of my essay and logged out of the computer. The printer grumbled along with my stomach as it spat out sheets of paper. My Mac had died on me the day before, so I was trapped in a dark computer lab completing an assignment. It wasn’t due until the next day, but I had to finish it before I went home for the night and made dinner; something I desperately needed as the f luorescent lights shocked my hungry brain. I shoved my things into my backpack and rushed to the faulty stapler, which crushed its only staple into my title page. I rubbed my now aching head as I searched for my professor’s office in the labyrinth of hallways known as the East Quad basement. I tossed my papers under her door and made a beeline for the exit. At the top of the stairs, a line of chattering freshmen and sophomores waited to get their Mcards swiped as the staff began serving dinner in the dining hall. I would have joined them if I hadn’t opted out of the school’s insanely expensive meal plan when I moved into my own apartment. My mouth watered at the smell of deep-fried something that filled the air. Ten minutes later, I finally made it to my apartment and popped three ibuprofen in my mouth to soothe my hunger-induced migraine before having pizza rolls for dinner — the first thing I had eaten since 10 a.m. While going hungry like

this is rare for me, for many students it’s the norm. The skyrocketing price of attending college, paired with more socioeconomically diverse student bodies, has made student hunger a growing issue.

Colleges, and four-year universities in particular should provide all of their students with free meal plans

In fact, in 2016, nearly half of all college students reported going hungry at least once in the past month. The scale of the problem prompted Michigan’s own Sen. Debbie Stabenow and presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to request that Congress investigate the issue. The Government Accountability Office found that more than 30 percent of students are at significant risk of consistently going hungry. This may only be the tip of the iceberg, however, as the issue is severely understudied. Often food insecurity most severely affects those who are already struggling the most. Students who are low

income, first-generation or have children often find themselves having to work many hours or, as in my mother’s case, multiple jobs to put food on the table. This severely inhibits their ability to succeed in school and decreases their likelihood of graduating. Universities have used food pantries to Band-Aid the issue, but they fall short of finding a solution. With the endowments of the 10 richest schools equaling a whopping $155.6 billion, we deserve more than BandAids. Colleges, and four-year universities in particular, should provide all of their students with free meal plans. Even those who aren’t parents or low-income students shouldn’t have to pay upwards of $50,000 in tuition costs and still wonder where they’re getting lunch. No student — whether they be a single mother trying to feed her child or a sorority girl cramming for an exam in the Shapiro Undergraduate Library — should go hungry while the University of Michigan plays with more than $7 billion. As $1 billion go toward the construction of new projects and even $10,000-a-day private jet excursions on occasion, myself and many other students must continue to plan our days around when, or if, they should eat. Riley Dehr can be reached at rdehr@umich.edu.

DIVYA GUMUDAVELLY | COLUMN

Redefining privilege

he concept of white in entertainment or live their privilege was first entire lives without being contextualized in subject to police brutality, this definition Peggy McIntosh’s can be grossly 1988 article, “White ignorant of the Privilege: Unpacking racialized origins the Invisible of oppression. Knapsack,” which Everyone has the pioneered putting the right to equal pay, social construction the right to bodily of privilege in autonomy, the right the theoretical to a presumption frameworks of of innocence power, gender, race, DIVYA and the right to class and sexuality. GUMUDAVELLY police protection Highlighting the advantages associated with her regardless of their identity. identity as a white, cisgender, Terming these selective rights able-bodied American woman, as privileges takes away from McIntosh demonstrated that what McIntosh argued all there are invisible forces that along: That our understanding condition society to believe of entitlement itself stems from in and behave according to a legacy of racism. So, rather a particular status quo — we than addressing these social work to create and sustain a phenomena as privilege, we community that is meant to should ask why others act upon serve only a subset of the diverse the same claim. Framing inequalities in the population. Per her article, white privilege is evidenced in context of rights rather than the satisfaction of being widely privileges is the first step in represented in the mainstream achieving large scale systemic media, freedom from racial change, a position McIntosh profiling and selective opposes. As it pertains to entitlements that surely are not white privilege, for instance, transferrable to all. This notion is a white woman subject to that privilege — namely, white the same privileges as a white privilege — is an unconscious man? How does this label threat to diversity has since apply to the different strata socioeconomic status? taken a strong foothold across of all sociopolitical movements The discourse of privilege in the United States, with creates intangible, abstract politicians promising to dichotomies that offer no recognize it, industries leverage for systemic change designating diversity offices and unnecessarily pits minority to acknowledge it and schools groups against each other and designing curricula to teach it. everyone else. Our energ y as These interpretations and individuals and as a collective relative understandings, whole should instead focus on however, do little to inspire a productive understanding of rights certain groups lack action. Subsequently, McIntosh’s and how we can even out the version of white privilege has playing field so all can achieve primarily been interpreted as those rights. After all, most highlighting issues of cosmetics of the rights that we consider and inconvenience. Hence, privileges today are a result of white privilege has become a systematically depriving other new buzzword to be casually populations of those rights. tossed in political discourse, Addressing these will have a a definitive answer to layered greater impact in the long run, issues. Considering how white one that stems beyond making individuals find representation others contemplate and feel

guilty for what they have. Dialogues around privilege tend to establish a pretentious hierarchy, as well. In a recent study analyzing the privilege and reception of white women and women of color within the Peace Corps, the crux of the argument is based on how privileges between the two groups vary, and which group is able to better identify with and assist underrepresented communities. The study concluded that white women are awarded a certain degree of “male” privilege, thus making them less capable of connecting with other communities simply because of their race and nationality. By focusing on which group of women has more privilege, the study does not properly demonstrate how we can overcome those differences and stand with other populations, regardless of the intersections of identity. Surely, there are many privileges that are beyond basic fundamental rights. For example, the privilege of being taken seriously in a conversation, of being screened in a job application because of gender or race and so on. These, among others, are the undeserved benefits of having certain life experiences, not entities that every subgroup is inherently g uaranteed. We should be conscious of these privileges, and in turn, act upon them by recognizing how much space we take up and fostering a drive to eradicate unfair advantages. Beyond these, however, the distinction between unfair privileges and basic rights has been blurred to the point where advocacy is doing little to serve the most vulnerable. Hence, we need to use our privileges to create a world of more equitable rights. Divya Gumudavelly can be reached at gumudadi@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.

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Friday, October 11, 2019 — 5

ENTERTAINMENT COLUMN

TV REVIEW

Showdown: Entertainment versus Communist Party IAN HARRIS

Daily Entertainment Columnist

NETFLIX

‘Big Mouth’ returns strong ANYA SOLLER For The Daily

“Big Mouth” is back and more cringe-inducing than ever. The raunchy Netflix cartoon series returns strong in its third season with its signature disgusting-yetheartwarming humor and charm. Following a group of pubescent seventh graders, “Big Mouth” explores the inherent humiliation and horror of the American middle school. This season’s premiere picks up directly after the events of the show’s Valentine’s Day special with Andrew Glouberman (John Mulaney, “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse”) returning to school after attacking one of his classmates because of a rejection from his ex-girlfriend, Missy (Jenny Slate, “Obvious Child). This embarrassing and surprisingly violent outburst has left Andrew an outcast at his school and, because of a viral video of the incident, a popular online livestreamer. As Andrew struggles to learn how to redeem himself, an accident in woodshop leaves him unintentionally maimed by another boy who lost focus staring at a female classmate’s revealing tank top. The girls are then issued a restrictive dress code to avoid “distracting” the boys any further. In protest, Jessi (Jessi Klein, “Inside Amy Schumer”) and the rest of Bridgeton Middle’s female students stage an impromptu “Slut Walk” with their most provocative clothing and demand the boys be held accountable for their actions, despite their teachers’s assertions that “boys are animals.” After a brief uniform policy is enforced, the girls win their right to dress however they want and teach the boys a lesson on self-control and toxic masculinity. While the episode ends on a victorious note, it’s worth noting a disturbing subplot that finds Andrew delving into the world of incels. As Andrew siphons his anger toward the girls at school into his online rants, he catches the attention of a “Men for Equality” group that invites him to one of their meetings. Upon arriving, Andrew finds the club is actually full of white male supremacists whose neo-Nazi views shock the Jewish teenager into fleeing from both the meeting and his own journey toward a similar mindset. Andrew confides in his best friend, Nick (Nick Kroll, “The Addams Family”) that “I don’t want to have hate in my heart” and begins

making amends to his fellow students. Andrew and the other boys have learned, through a series of musical numbers and cartoon hijinks, that maybe the girls they go to school with don’t exist just to be stared at. “Big Mouth” as a whole can be summed up in one line Jessi delivers in the premiere. When faced with the confusing standards women face and difficulties men have understanding that struggle, she says “I think it might just be this long conversation we all have to keep having!” This unfortunately frustrating sentiment voices the truth that, though there might not be an easy or right way to approach discourses on gender and sexuality, it’s worth trying your best. However admirable this message is, the Season 3 premiere abandons the show’s more cynical elements and opts for a resolution so hopeful it feels almost ridiculous, and not in the fun kind of way the show usually excels in. While the harassment the girls receive from their teachers, parents and peers is as accurate as it is hard to watch, the storybook ending of Jessi and company securing a feminist victory in their community just isn’t how these situations usually play out.

Big Mouth Season 3 Premiere Netflix Because the show’s target audience is undoubtedly adults and not the age group depicted in the series, there feels like a disconnect between an honest portrayal of middle school life and storylines that will comfort their audience of more liberal young people. A group of seventh graders successfully rejecting extremism or sympathetically listening to each other’s feelings, at best, seems wildly optimistic and, at worst, pandering. “Big Mouth” may be looking at America’s future through rose-colored and X-rated glasses, but even with its idealistic opening, the show remains hilarious, insightful and beautifully crude. Here’s hoping the changes at Bridgeton Middle are felt in the real world too. For a dirty cartoon, it certainly knows how hard it is to grow up.

In the past 10 days, the NBA has become embroiled in a PR war with the Chinese government, video game developer Blizzard banned a player for showing solidarity with the people of Hong Kong and South Park was erased from existence within the digital walls of China. In an increasingly connected world of global entertainment, is it fair for consumers to judge companies for kowtowing to the demands of governments that they don’t support? How far should entertainment conglomerates go in order to get into the Chinese marketplace? Is there a line at which consumers and corporations alike should say enough is enough? Most American citizens probably didn’t grow up thinking much about Hong Kong or the socio-political ramifications of its “one country — two systems” relationship with mainland China. I know I didn’t. It wasn’t something that was taught in school, it wasn’t a part of world history that was treated as significant for American students. The euro-centric view through which world politics and history are taught has been expounded upon to death in other places, so I won’t waste time re-hashing it here. What I will say is that even up to today I never thought much of the situation in Hong Kong besides “bad things are happening there” until a former co-worker of mine from summer camp posted on our old staff Facebook page. A Hong Kong native, he expressed his fear about what was happening in his country and reached out asking for prayers, help and a promise that we would help him raise awareness of what was happening. This column is my way of doing that. Over the weekend, Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey tweeted an image that said “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.” Though the tweet was soon deleted, it has created an uproar in both China and the United States. Chinese broadcasters soon announced they would drop Rockets pre-season games from their channels, the NBA commissioner f lipf lopped back and forth over what to say in response, and a consensus of social outrage has emerged from Americans upset that one of their nations most popular sports leagues would bend to the whims of what is essentially a country in thrall to a dictator. Blizzard, the company behind games like “World of Warcraft,” banned a player for publicly supporting Hong Kong protestors and was met with a wave of

COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW

A new take on ‘Sensibility’

FILM NOTEBOOK

SAMMY SUSSMAN Daily Arts Writer

VICE FILMS

‘Girl Walks Home Alone’ and our culture of fear ELISE GODFRYD Daily Arts Writer

For countless women, there aren’t many things in everyday life scarier than walking home alone at night. Fear of the dark and the evil that lurks there is built into us from the moment we become conscious of what it really means to be a woman. “Night” is synonymous with violence, assault, crimes that go undetected, the menacing power of the uninhibited male gaze. We are constantly bombarded by news stories of horrific sexual violence, usually carried out during the night, simply because there are less people to witness it and less light to illuminate it. Perhaps the scariest thing of all, though, is that we’ve been taught to think that all of this is normal, that outside at night is simply not a place where we are welcome. We build our days around our commutes, making sure that we won’t have to walk home, alone, in the dark. Because this is the world we live in, there’s something profoundly and oddly inspiring about “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” Ana Lily Amirpour’s 2014 Persian-language vampire western film, whose nameless protagonist is a woman (Sheila Vand, “Argo”) who walks the night streets of the fictional and aptly-named Bad City not in fear, but in strength. Though she murders many, using her beauty to lure men closer to her only to take their lives with her poisonous fangs, I can’t help but admire her. She is, after all, the only person truly willing to defend the women she lives among. She patrols the

#BoycotBlizzard pronouncements across the internet. South Park responded to being banned in China by continuing to mock the Chinese government. Which of these responses was the right one? While many have come out against the NBA for attempting to protect their business interests in China over their employees’s right to free speech, few have batted an eye at the ways in which Disney and other media conglomerates have sought to appease the Chinese government and marketplace over the past few years. For years rumors have abounded that the reason why there hasn’t yet been an LGBTQ+ character introduced in a mainline Marvel or Star Wars movie is because Disney is afraid of how such a character would be perceived in China. This year the Chinese box office is expected to outstrip the USA as the largest film market in the world. Movies that bomb in America are now counting on making up that money overseas, particularly in China. But the Chinese government over the past two decades has slowly tightened the noose on freedom of expression, meaning that for domestic entertainment products to successfully export themselves they must also censor themselves in the process. This is a country that banned Winnie the Pooh because there were memes f loating around of the President of the Communist Party that looked sorta like Winnie the Pooh. This is what the NBA is dealing with. Is it right to let a country that is violently putting down protests in Hong Kong every single weekend dictate the terms upon which American entertainment should be made? Money drives everything in this country and has for a long time. To demand that Disney or the NBA or Blizzard not do business in China would accomplish almost nothing. Apple, Nike, Adidas and dozens of other countries also rely on the Chinese market for huge portions of their revenue. They aren’t just going to stop selling products in every country with policies Americans don’t agree with. But more can be done to prevent their own employees’ freedoms being rolled over in the process. The Rockets GM should be able to tweet his feelings about a totalitarian government that is actively harming its own citizens and he should not be punished for doing so. If we can’t protect that much, if we can’t protect our own freedoms of speech from countries and groups that would seek to silence us, then it doesn’t matter what happens politically in these fifty states because we’ll have already lost where it counts.

streets like a police officer, looking out for violent altercations and later punishing the culprits. She stalks these men and makes them know how it feels to be a woman at night. She makes them afraid to hurt another woman again. Women are afraid of men, men are afraid of women. Does this have to be the case? How do we possibly trust each other while carrying all of this fear? “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” hints at the possibility of transcending this mutual fear in order to achieve true intimacy. In the film’s best scene, the nameless vampire and a man she’s come to know (Arash Marandi, “Under the Shadow”) share a moment of real vulnerability. She lifts his head to expose his neck and he lets her, unaware of her true nature. She’s just about to sink her teeth into him until at last she decides to rest her head on his chest and listen to his heart beat instead. Rather than take his life, she spares it and listens to it beat inside of him with adoration. She is afraid of how much she likes him, amazed by how close she can be to someone without killing them. “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” doesn’t have the answers to my questions. I’m not sure anyone does. But it does bring our suspicions and our fears about our world and about each other closer to the surface, unearthing them from the recesses of our mind where we keep the thoughts we aren’t supposed to have but have nonetheless. It reminds us of just how much there is to be afraid of and just how hard it is to fully trust another person, whether we care to admit it or not.

As I entered the Arthur Miller Theater for the Department of Theatre & Drama’s production of “Sense and Sensibility,” I’ll admit that I was skeptical. Could a Jane Austen novel really be adapted for the stage? Could this reserved book from 1811 really be adapted into a modern theatrical work? By the end of the second scene, however, the production had alleviated my fears. As the audience was seated, the cast walked onto the stage in various stages of partial dress. As they donned their formal dresses and tied their ties, the audience was treated to casual, conversational 19th-century British English. After this setting was established, it was just as quickly discarded — modern pop music blared from the speakers, and the cast danced around the stage. This juxtaposition was jarring at first, and I was laughing at the production (as opposed to with the production) at the beginning of this dance number. But once I suspended my disbelief and bought into this premise, the play was remarkably consistent in not venturing beyond it. Though it took a little while, I was soon fully entrenched in this historical British society full of contemporary humorous interjections. Director Priscilla Lindsay’s successful juxtaposition between plot and humor was mirrored by the inherent juxtaposition between (what I assume to be) historically accurate costumes and jarringly modern sets; men in morning dress and women in fancy gowns sitting in front of empty window frames and wooden chairs on wheels. In perhaps my favorite moment of the whole show, a table covered in a white sheet, turned on its shorter side, became an upright bed in which characters slept. Much of the humor in the show came from The Gossips, a group of actors that comment on the action on stage without taking part in it. This humor was physical at times and more sophisticated at others. I never thought I’d see humans acting as horses and dogs in the middle of a Jane

Austen story, but somehow it succeeded. They managed to interject contemporary humor and a modern perspective throughout. The central plot, on the other hand, was a little harder to stomach. While this adaptation did much to address some basic problems resulting in the transition from novel to stage, some shortcomings were still present, including the circuitous, flowery nature of speech and plot at the time, the relative passivity of the female characters and the shallowness of their relationships. In the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that I was not particularly familiar with this novel before I saw the play. I’d imagine that the experience was quite different for those who knew what to expect. But as a relatively unsuspecting audience member, I found it hard, at times, to connect with the characters and their desires. Though the humor was incredibly entertaining, as were the beginning and closing portions of each act, I found myself wishing for a little more concision in some of the middle numbers. This is no fault of the cast — they did much to enliven this sections and give emotional gravitas to situations in which little textual emotion was to be found — but I think it was a clear, if relatively minor, flaw in the adaptation. That being said, I couldn’t have been more impressed with the cast. Their British accents were more than convincing, as were their 19th century mannerisms. And though I wouldn’t think I’d be able to relate much to these seemingly antiquated figures, I found myself moved by their struggles and touched by their resolutions. Even as I was rooting for the female characters to have more agency in rejecting marriage as their only source of happiness, I was admittedly touched when they managed to find love in these relationships. All in all, it was a funny, thought-provoking take on a historically dated story, an unexpectedly entertaining modernization of a seminal piece of British literature. And it was a testament to the talent of those in the Department of Theatre & Drama that they were able to take this adaptation and make it entertaining.

PETER SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY

Arts

6 — Friday, October 11, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

MUSIC REVIEW

The true Danny Brown in ‘uknowwhatimsayin¿’

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

rapping, and that’s a beautiful thing because he’s damn good at it. Danny comes out the gates swinging with Vince Carter is 42 years old and has been in the “Change Up,” a murky track highlighted by pulsing NBA mainstay since 1998. (For those of you keeping drum breaks and multiple guitar licks. It would be track at home, that’s 21 going on 22 seasons, an all- a subdued song for a lot of rappers, but for him, it’s time league record.) He’s an old man still making really subdued. It doesn’t matter though, because he waves in a young man’s game. Carter has perfectly still raps his ass off, spitting ominous, jarring things transitioned from his high-flying acrobatic style of like, “They thought I was gone, back from the grave play, defined by insane slam dunks, to a mentor and / Mind of a master, blood of a slave” and “Lord, have a sharpshooter. He’s 20th on the all-time scoring mercy, pray for me / Need to calm down, so pass me list, sixth on the all-time three-point field goals weed / Got me stressed out, situation looking bleak made list and fifth on the all-time games played list / Time’s runnin out, how’d my days turn to weeks?” (1,477 games and still Despite the going!). bleak opener, Here’s another fun uknowhatimsayin¿ fact: Danny Brown is 38 might be Danny Brown’s years old and has only most vibrant sounding been in the rap scene album yet. The beats are since 2010, when he absolutely wild, the most Danny Brown released his first solo prominent example album The Hybrid (for being the JPEGMAFIAWarp Records those of you keeping produced “3 Tearz.” The track at home, that’s a track is a modern take mere nine years. As a on boom-bap, defined by reference, Schoolboy organ blasts, fat drums Q, age 32 and Danny’s friend and collaborator, has and strange bursts of abstract noise. The production been signed to TDE since 2009). He’s an old man throughout is a blast, to say the least. who has only recently started making serious waves Most importantly, Danny is having fun on this in today’s rap game. However, in that brief time, he’s album, making it a joy to listen to, and at 33 minutes released a critically-lauded and fan-adored mixtape in length, it begs for repeat listens. His rapping is XXX, a commercially and critically successful loose, but he’s always in control, never straying album Old and a critical darling and experimental far from each beat’s pocket. uknowhatimsayin¿ is strung-out rap masterpiece Atrocity Exhibition. filled with little tidbits, including a quick shout out Somehow, Danny Brown continues to make some to Pat Benatar and a reference to Elvis Presley’s of the most inventive music of any mainstream artist supposed death on the toilet. It’s the first album in today. He’s constantly changing aspects of his sound his discography in which listeners don’t have to be and selecting beats that would make other rappers worried about Danny’s well-being; he just sounds wince. Yet, for some reason, he decided to go back like he’s in good health and good spirits. to basics with his latest release uknowhatimsayin¿. Despite his turn away from experimentalism, That is, he’s going back to his basics. uknowhatimsayin¿ has cemented Danny Brown’s On uknowhatimsayin¿, Danny Brown finds status as a legendary figure in hip hop. He’s himself doing what he does best: rapping. Gone making the music he wants to make, and he’s not (mostly) is the yelp of a voice that he’s known for, compromising his artistic vision for the sake of and in its place is a new, low register growl. Gone commercial success. This album marks a new era too are the challenging, abstract Paul White beats in Danny’s life. He’s making music that accurately that have defined Brown’s music for the past few represents who he is, and he should. As he says in years. Paul White is still around as Danny’s main “Best Life,” “‘Cause ain’t no next life, so now I’m producer, but he gets some help from the likes tryna live my best life / I’m livin’ my best life,” and of Flying Lotus, Standing on the Corner and the uknowhatimsayin¿ is a good representation of that. legendary Q-Tip, who also serves as the album’s executive producer. He’s rapping for the sake of JIM WILSON

Daily Arts Writer

DEAD OCEANS

I’m tryna ‘Be the Cowboy’ DIANA YASSIN Daily Arts Writer

I hummed to Mitski long before I knew who she was. Puberty 2 fit my experience better than most clothes did following my personal Puberty 1, but the album evaded my attention until I was 19. I would’ve been brilliantly exposed had I still watched Cartoon Network’s “Adventure Time” as a high school junior — what an introduction it would’ve been, watching none other than Marceline the Vampire Queen serenade me with “Francis Forever.” Yet, “Your Best American Girl” somehow didn’t approach me until two years later, laying on my dorm room bed, fixated on the ceiling two feet above me and on my fleeting teenhood’s boundless spell of unrequited love. How fitting the timing was, the music soundtracking an era just as awkward. This wasn’t the case with Be the Cowboy. At the tail end of summer 2018, I felt my world rev up with potential as I sunk into a sense of comfort I hadn’t felt before, the fear and trepidation of not belonging slipping from my anxieties. I’d be a sophomore and an adjusted 20-year-old in a matter of time (or at least I convinced myself of the latter). I found my niche on campus and my passion. And Be the Cowboy explored love the way neither Mitski nor I had ever before. It’s personal but distant, builds over itself in manifold ways but slips away like a gasp. It coats over our existence in a seamless ether we reduce to experiences. And Be the Cowboy explores this in gestures both grand and minute. This is felt from the introduction, with “Geyser” buzzing like a subdued cathedral organ. This continues into the first verse, scattered with twinkling piano keys that hum as Mitski croons “You’re my number one / You’re the one I want / And I’ve turned down / Every hand that has beckoned me to come.” She sings in abstracts, reducing love to an essence that simmers in the chorus as she proclaims “Though I’m a geyser / Feel it bubbling from below.” It aches and crescendos in an undeniable desire to an undisclosed love, one only conveyed by Mitski in interviews. “I will be whatever it needs me to be. I will do whatever it needs me to do in order for me to continue to be able to make music,” Mitski revealed in an interview with NPR. But that’s not obvious, it’s not even subtly present within the album. This is the magic of Be the Cowboy, where every subject is navigated through raw emotion and feeling. The lyrics are jumbled up in heady metaphors and abstractions that play over sheer, meticulous instruments that sparkle, crescendo and buzz at the very tinge of emotional intensity. It’s this vague potency that makes the songs applicable to any situation yet direct enough to pinpoint specific,

unique ones for every individual. I tune in to this album frequently, but especially when I lose track of my motivation. For me at least, passion and a willingness to explore are reflections of what we love and how we uncover them. Be the Cowboy evokes these feelings in unwavering confidence and insight. It blurs out universal experiences under a wistful, omniscient lens that envelop feelings from a particular place of significance. “Pink in the Night” renders unrequited love as a person staring at someone else’s back, unraveling into the turmoil of longing for a past relationship one of the other parties has already moved on from. “Two Slow Dancers,” on the other hand, finds two lovers intertwined, revisiting the scent of a school gymnasium and their fleeting youth under the guide of elegant, plinking synths. There’s an insecurity to these feelings most artists fail to capture in their work, and rightfully so — it’s easy to come off as self-loathing and pathetic. However, it never feels this way with Mitski. Her loneliness, the companion to her overarching subject of love, pleads for company and latches onto interests that have long evaded Mitski’s life. But they never run trite, nor strive for sympathy. Rather, these songs connect with people to foster a sense of companionship, reassuring listeners of whatever plight they may experience. At 20, I can confidently say I’m no longer enraptured by the insecurities that defined my adolescence; my body feels comfortable to me and I no longer chase after interests that don’t “beckon me” the way music does for Mitski. Rather, I find my entanglements in the way I connect with what I love and what it means to me. I experience burnout often when I write, find it hard to strike up a conversation with the people I love on occasion or lose track of why I’m going into teaching. These predicaments cast the spell of loneliness I now know in these early moments of adulthood; it’s easy to allow them to cast you off as other or incapable of achieving what you desire. This is the thread that weaves Be the Cowboy as it dog-ears landmark experiences and feelings like moments in a wornout novel. Every statement, feeling and confession pours out seamlessly but under the guise of a sonic precision throughout this labyrinthine narrative of love. This is why Mitski’s Be the Cowboy succeeds; it encapsulates Mitski’s relationship with music in not only its progression from her previous effort but the capacity to communicate the tribulations Mitski endured to produce it. She highlights this in the absurdity of diffidence and the fruitless clinging to the past, how they fester into unsatisfactory stagnation. This album assures me of the transience of my problems, the capacity to love and survive in the never-ending desire to pursue the things I love.

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis DOWN 1 Floral art 2 French-speaking African country 3 __ Domingo 4 Author 5 Braz. neighbor 6 D.C. athlete 7 Small step 8 Louisiana Purchase negotiator who later became president 9 Utterly enrapt with 10 Castrated equine 11 Send a short message 14 Vague quantity 15 Torus-shaped food 16 Nation since 1948 17 Deal 21 Sci-fi classic set on an arid world 22 Gridiron maneuver 23 GPS datum 27 Hush money payer 30 Cratchit kid

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FILM NOTEBOOK

Release Date: Friday, October 11, 2019

ACROSS 1 Long-term astronaut’s home: Abbr. 4 Old TWA competitor 9 FBI figure 12 Mauna __ 13 Sister of Terpsichore 14 “But, as he was ambitious, I __ him” : Brutus 15 Vermont alma mater of Alan Arkin and Peter Dinklage 18 Provides with an alarm code, perhaps 19 Timeworn phrase 20 Judicial prohibition 24 Party nudge 25 “Bambi” doe 26 Andy is her nephew 28 Boomer? 29 Coin of the realm 31 Disco era adjective 32 Robert of “The Sopranos” 33 “Got it” 36 Infant’s place in Hyde Park 39 “MythBusters” target 44 Gloaming, in verse 45 NAPA store item 47 Green span 48 Bothers, as one’s conscience 50 Ali, per Ali 52 Perch in a lullaby 54 Fuming 55 ’50s-’70s carrier with a Pittsburgh hub 59 Genre with hardboiled characters 60 Greet the day 61 Encumber, with “down” 62 Letters replacing a list 63 Assistance, with “a” ... and literal assistance in solving the four longest answers 64 Small amount of work

uknowwhatimsayin¿

31 Salon supply 34 Large word on a mall sign 35 Involve 36 Compound with five carbon atoms 37 Parking in back 38 Like a sleeping baby 40 “Notorious” court initials 41 Franklin’s wife

42 Financial planning target 43 Teen gossip fodder 45 It’s inevitable 46 Without a key 49 Very, in Vienna 51 Erie or Huron, but not Superior 53 Ritual heap 56 2008 bailout co. 57 Ames sch. 58 House fig.

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10/11/19

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ will never die JUSTIN POLLACK For The Daily

Whenever I bring up “Grey’s Anatomy” in conversation, the response is always cynical: “That show is still on?” But if people stopped dismissing the show simply because it’s in its 16th season, they would see the impressive and creative work that has emerged and persisted since Shonda Rhimes created the show in 2005. Although Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo, “Station 19”), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers, “Someone You Know”), Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson, “General Hospital”) and Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr., “The Conners”) are the only four characters from the pilot that are still on the show today, considering the current state of network television where 13 episode seasons are now the norm, “Grey’s” is still going strong. It boasts 25 episodes in its past season and is already renewed for a 17th season. Beginning in 2005, “Grey’s” aired as a mid-season replacement and was an immediate hit with the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographics and led its closest competition by over seven million. Although ratings have been up and down throughout its run, there was a resurgence entering Season 12 — the show’s first without fan favorite, Derek Shepard (Patrick Dempsey, “Hudson & Rex”). This resurgence proved that faithful viewers, mostly women under 35, were not done with “Grey’s” yet. “Grey’s” is a case study in how younger audiences’s discovery of a show through streaming platforms can ultimately revive its popularity. My experience was no different — I was far too young to watch the show when it first came out. An initial look at same-day ratings from Season 12 show a decrease from prior years, but a quick examination of multiplatform numbers which include DVR and streaming services show an increase in viewership. In Season 13, “Grey’s” was the highest-rated drama on television. For some people, this show has been apart of their routine for over a decade. There is familiarity that cannot be replicated. People may not be watching live television like they used to but they are still watching the programming, just at their convenience rather than the networks’s. I began watching “Grey’s” week-to-week in its 11th season when I was in high school and found it to be one of the only shows that can get me to do my laundry. I don’t need to give it my undivided attention, but I can still understand what is happening.

From “Will & Grace,” “Roseanne” and “Norman Lear’s Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” revivals happen because people still want this familiarity. In the same way, “Grey’s” has that same sort of feeling without the leaving-and-coming-back part. So stop dismissing it as garbage — there is a reason, perhaps even more than a singular one, why ABC hasn’t hung up its scrubs quite yet. With each new season, “Grey’s” has continually reinvented itself. The Season 15 finale found Chief Bailey firing Grey, Karev and Webber — the four remaining original cast members — and consequently opened up a whole new world of stories to tell in Season 16 and beyond. Karev has been hired to be Chief of Pac-North to turn around the worst hospital in Seattle, and takes Webber with him. So to those that question why “Grey’s” is still on the air, my best guess is that you haven’t taken the time to see the kind of show that it truly is. Not only has “Grey’s” broken the record for longest running medical drama, but it has outlived one spin-off and has a second one in its third season. In total, there is a universe that consists of 472 episodes worth of “Grey’s Anatomy.” Let that sink in. Committing to any new show is a daunting task, and that’s without taking into account the 20,768 minutes it would take for someone to watch every episode in the Grey’s Anatomy Universe. “Grey’s Anatomy” has survived a Writer’s Strike, casting changes and technological evolution. 344 episodes later, it is still only the beginning.

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Sports

Friday, October 11, 2019 — 7

‘M’ set for tight series with Clarkson For Dwumfour, this may be the start BAILEY JOHNSON Daily Sports Writer

Mel Pearson is quick to point out that when this weekend’s series was scheduled, no one knew what Michigan and Clarkson’s respective hockey teams would look like by the time the games were played. So, the fact that the Wolverines’ home opener is against the No. 11 team in the country isn’t intentional. But Pearson is embracing it as an opportunity to test what his team is made of right off the bat. “It’s obviously a tough assignment for the first weekend, but a great opportunity for us, too,” Pearson said. “We’re at home. I like where our team’s at. We get to play a good opponent. It’s a good measuring stick. We’ll find where we are. Nobody’s going to win a national championship the first weekend or qualify to the tournament, but these are big games in the big scheme of things, especially down the road.” The two programs come into the series in very different places. Clarkson went 26-11-2 last season, won the ECAC tournament and lost in overtime to Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Michigan, on the other hand, entered last season ranked No. 4 in the country, and then proceeded to fall on its face and win just 13 games. And after that disappointing finish last season, Pearson welcomes a chance to make a statement in the first weekend of the season. But it won’t be easy. The Golden Knights return the vast majority of their scoring from last year, losing just two players who finished top 10 on the team in points. Their defense allowed the fourth-fewest goals in the nation, conceding just 78 goals on the season. Kris Mayotte, who Michigan hired from Providence in the offseason, has some experience with Clarkson, as the two teams were frequent non-conference

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily

Sophomore Nolan Moyle roomed with Clarkson’s Josh Dunne from 2016-18.

opponents. He knows what the Wolverines are in for. “In my career, I’ve seen that school a lot,” Mayotte said Tuesday. “I know it’s always a big challenge. They are an older, structured type of team. I think that’ll be a great challenge for our guys and something that, as a staff and as a team, we’re excited for.” Part of the challenge for Michigan will be maximizing its opportunities to score. The Golden Knights are known for their defense, and the Wolverines will need to take advantage of the chances they get — particularly on the power play. Early in the year, when teams are still figuring out how to maximize their personnel, special teams can be a deciding factor. Last year, special teams was key for Michigan in a ranked nonconference matchup with thenNo. 19 Western Michigan — the Wolverines won the Friday game, 6-5, and went 3-of-7 on the power play while holding the Broncos to only one power-play goal in six opportunities. This weekend, Pearson expects special teams to be no less important than it was then. “We have to make sure that we’re disciplined,” Pearson said. “We have to make sure that we take advantage of the opportunities that are presented on the power play. We’re going to try to take it to them a little bit with our speed and aggressiveness. If we draw penalties, that’s great, but you

have to make sure you can follow through and convert on the power plays.” While Michigan and the Golden Knights have met only once before — in 2017, when the Wolverines won 3-0 on the road — two players bring an element of familiarity to the matchup. Sophomore forward Nolan Moyle and Clarkson forward Josh Dunne spent two years on the same junior team, the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers and even lived together during that time. In their second season, Dunne centered the line that Moyle played on all year. That season, Dunne finished second on the team with 48 points and Moyle finished third with 45. Each is excited to see his friend, but it’s clear that the competition will be intense on the ice. “It’s obviously going to be a little different seeing him in another color,” Moyle said. “But down there on the ice, he’s the opponent. Gotta work hard against him. Not going to take it easy.” Added Dunne: “I’m always looking forward to seeing him, and we’re both competitive so we love the competition between each other. We’re both excited for this weekend.” In Pearson’s view, playing against a friend always adds an extra level of competitive drive. And in this series, which both Pearson and Mayotte expect to be closely contested, that extra level of motivation may help Michigan come away with at least one win.

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour is growing into an impact player for the Wolverines.

ARIA GERSON

Daily Sports Editor

After a win over Iowa, Michael Dwumfour texted his defensive coordinator. “Coach, I jumped some gaps,” he said, according to Don Brown. “It won’t happen again.” That’s just how Dwumfour is. The redshirt junior defensive tackle is always hungry for improvement, even after demolishing his opponent the way he did against the Hawkeyes, when he mauled Iowa’s vaunted offensive line in a game Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh called a “defensive masterpiece.” Aiding his effort, Dwumfour has an impressive set of athletic abilities, especially for a 282pound defensive lineman. Brown doesn’t want to admit where he was when he saw a video of Dwumfour running a slant route, but he will admit his reaction: a little smile creeped across his face. Still, after spending much of the spring dealing with a torn plantar fascia and then getting injured again one play into the season, it hasn’t all been easy for Dwumfour. “It was tough,” Dwumfour said Tuesday night, a maize towel still draped around his neck from

the practice he’s finally healthy enough to participate in. “ … But I’m back now, so I forgot about that.” It had to have been frustrating for Dwumfour to sit on the sideline as the defensive line got pushed around in a loss at Wisconsin, with the Badgers picking on Michigan’s lack of size. Converted fullback Ben Mason, drastically undersized, was forced to start at threetechnique with Dwumfour out, and his inexperience there was on full display. Harbaugh called out the entire defensive line in front of the team after that loss, telling them they had to play better. That unit has stepped up, with Dwumfour’s return the following week against Rutgers aiding that growth. “Mike’s a great player,” said fifth-year senior offensive tackle Jon Runyan. “He’s really active with his hands, really quick twitch. Really hard to block in practice sometimes, that’s for sure. Seeing him back and healthy, I know he’s been struggling a lot, especially throughout the summer as well and going to the fall, it’s hard to see that guy sitting on the sidelines, sitting in the training room, battling through all these injuries he’s got, but I’m happy

for him, that he’s back out there.” Dwumfour especially excels in stopping the run game — a vital piece of the Wolverines’ game plan against Iowa. Now, the next step for Dwumfour is getting more involved in the passing game, highlighted by Brown’s explosive and tough-tomaster blitz packages. With so much time missed, Dwumfour hasn’t been able to condition as much, but once he’s had a little more time back, Brown hopes to utilize him more in those looks and make the pass rush even more fearsome than it already is. “The thing that Mike brings to the table is the ability to come out of his stance, 100 miles an hour,” Brown said. “… He’s athletic and again for him, he hasn’t played a whole heck of a lot of football lately around here. So now he’s going through another practice week, a chance to kind of sink your teeth into the game plan, sink your teeth into your stance, your footwork, your techniques, your fundamentals, your eyes, all those things.” Dwumfour called it a blessing to be back on the field the past two weeks. But if his texts to Brown are any indication, he’s not taking any of it for granted — and in Brown’s eyes, it only goes up from here.

Young guns New faces buoy Wolverines past tough Detroit defense as Michigan takes 1-0 victory behind Derick Broche’s winner ARTHUR POTTER For The Daily

As the minutes ticked further and further down in Wednesday night’s match, the Michigan men’s soccer team’s intensity was gradually building. After being knotted at zero with Detroit Mercy after nearly 75 minutes of action, the Wolverines were in desperate need of a big play to restore order on the pitch. That play came with 16 minutes to go in the second half, as sophomore forward Derick Broche connected on a cross from freshman midfielder Harry Pithers to give Michigan (6-2-3 overall, 2-0-2 Big Ten) the lone goal en route to a 1-0 win over the Titans (3-7-1 overall, 0-2-1 Horizon League). Players exchanged chest bumps, and Broche was mobbed by his teammates in the corner of the field. For the Wolverines, who had struggled mightily throughout most of the match, Broche’s diving header came with an overwhelming sense of relief. “It was definitely frustrating,” Broche said. “They’re a drop back team, and to finally get that breakthrough, it gave us all the life back in the game. So, yeah, it was amazing for the team.” Michigan entered the game expecting to cruise to an easy victory, but its lackadaisical approach in the early going played right into the hands of the scrappy Titans. Throughout the game, Detroit Mercy gained a competitive edge by exerting its physicality and getting under the skin of the Wolverines. While Michigan dominated possession, the Titans managed to keep things close with their chippy play and stingy defense. They certainly succeeded in getting reactions out of the Wolverines as well, drawing 13 fouls including a yellow card from junior midfielder Carlos

Tellez. In the early goings Michigan wasn’t matching Detroit Mercy’s intensity according to senior goalkeeper Andrew Verdi. He quickly became so fed up with the effort of the team that his exasperated voice could be heard throughout the stadium. “I saw that a lot of people maybe weren’t giving the energy in the game that they typically bring,” Verdi said. “So I was trying to lift that up. I think sometimes you’re gonna have to get on your teammates and try to get the best out of them. I’ll do as I expect somebody to do to me if I wasn’t playing the way I wanted to.” While Verdi may have been disappointed with the effort at some points, the win did give him his fourth straight cleansheet. “It feels great,” Verdi said.

“Four straight shutouts is something that’s pretty rare. I think me and the defense take great pride in that. It’s a reflection on the whole team.” Michigan managed to keep its shut-out streak alive without two key starters, junior defender Joel Harrison and junior forward Umar Farouk Osman. Coach Chaka Daley decided to rest both ahead of Sunday’s match against No.4 Indiana — though Harrison was forced to sub in for the final ten minutes due to an injury to senior defender Abdou Samake. In their stead, Pithers and fellow freshmen Carter Payne and Christian Pulselli saw a sharp increase in their playing time. “A lot of new faces in this kind of local derby type atmosphere or game, and I thought they stood up well and fought hard,” Daley said. “And we got a

BRENDAN ROOSE Daily Sports Writer

It was a slugfest. At halftime of the Michigan men’s soccer team’s match against Detroit Mercy (3-7-1 overall, 0-2-1 Horizon), the Wolverines (6-2-3 overall, 2-0-2 Big Ten) had only registered one shot on goal in the scoreless tie. The Titans’ defense was suffocating Michigan, dropping almost everyone back to ensure they always had numbers on the defensive side. Normally, in situations like these, the Wolverines would look to their main playmakers for offense — All-American senior forward Jack Hallahan or graduate transfer forward Nebojsa Popovic, both of whom have started every match. Instead, the big play came from true freshman midfielder Harry Pithers. Facing pressure on the right sideline from a Detroit

defender, he lobbed a masterfully placed cross to sophomore forward Derick Broche, who buried a header for the game’s lone goal. The assist was Pithers’ first point of his college career. Still, Michigan’s 1-0 victory on Wednesday did not come easy, thanks to the Titans’ solid defense. Their conservative approach ceded time of possession to the Wolverines, but it allowed almost no space for their attackers to work with. Especially in the first half, the Detroit defenders filled the box and clogged up passing lanes, keeping Michigan from landing many quality shots and forcing offensive mistakes. “We made a few tactical

mistakes,” said Michigan coach Chaka Daley. “ … Mistakes happen. We strive for perfection, but there’s always an error that can happen.” The Titans kept up their defensive approach early in the second half, holding the Wolverines to only one shot in the first 25 minutes of the half. Even Michigan’s usual stars struggled to make plays — Hallahan failed to register a shot in the second half before he was subbed out in the 66th minute. Detroit’s excellent defense also showed itself on corners, as the Wolverines failed to convert on any of their 10 corner opportunities. But as time ticked on, the talent gap became apparent, as Michigan managed to get behind the Titans’ back line, eventually culminating in Broche’s 74th-minute goal. “I think it was an early cross,” Broche said. “Most of the time early in the game, we took a little too long, and they got a chance to get players back, but this time we got a good cross early from Harry Pithers, and luckily I was at the end of it.” Though they only scored the one goal, the Wolverines’ offense was much more active late in the second half, tallying four shots in the final 20 minutes of the match. This was partially due to Detroit adopting a more aggressive approach to try and even out the score, but Michigan’s passing was still visibly smoother and cleaner in the closing minutes. Pithers, Broche and junior midfielder Carlos Tellez — who has only started one match this season — were all central to the Wolverines’ attack late in the match. “We just needed a little bit of quality on service,” Daley said. “Because we were in the final third a lot in the second half.” A little bit of quality on service is exactly what Pithers delivered.

We strive for perfection, but there’s always an error.

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Freshman midfielder Harry Pithers found Derick Broche for the game-winning goal in the 74th minute on Wednesday night as Michigan topped Detroit-Mercy, 1-0.

Sports

8 — Friday, October 11, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Preview: What to watch for as Michigan takes on Illinois this Saturday THEO MACKIE Daily Sports Editor

As noon approaches Saturday afternoon, you’ll likely find yourself in front a TV. You won’t quite know why, with Oklahoma-Texas just a few channels away, but you’ll be tuned into No. 16 Michigan’s trip to Illinois. The Fighting Illini haven’t eclipsed .500 since 2007 and carry a three-game losing streak that began with a 34-31 indignity against Eastern Michigan nearly a month ago. Tickets for their season finale are currently going for $8 on StubHub, if you need a sense of the fanbase’s current enthusiasm. Their one ostensible hope at the beginning of the season, former Michigan quarterback Brandon Peters, is questionable with an upper-body injury. And yet, football season is 12 games, so you’ll be watching anyway, eager to see whether the Wolverines win by 20 or 30. And when you do, you’ll want something to keep your interest after Michigan goes up multiple scores. The Daily breaks down what to watch for: Michigan’s quarterback play On the first play of Michigan’s third drive against Iowa last weekend, Shea Patterson dropped back and unleashed a deep bomb. Fifty-one yards downfield, Nico Collins beat his defender on a post route, catching the ball in stride and taking the Wolverines into the red zone for a second consecutive drive. That was with 10:30 left in the first half. For the rest of the game, Patterson completed just 12 of 20 passes for 94 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception. The result was the worst passer rating of his Michigan career, continuing a season in which he’s down in nearly every statistical category — except interceptions. Then, Tuesday evening, Patterson came out and said he’s content with his play and that the

Wolverines’ offense — averaging 7.2 fewer points per game than last season — is “right where we want to be,” citing discrepancies between the practice and game products. Saturday against Illinois, Michigan will have its next opportunity to translate that product. There’s a limit, of course, to how much the Wolverines can show against a team that ranks 98th in passing yards per attempt allowed. Two weeks ago against Rutgers, Patterson had his best game of the season, seemingly turning a corner before struggling against Iowa. Still, Saturday is another chance to show his ability to perform in Josh Gattis’ offense and build momentum going into next week’s trip to No. 10 Penn State. The running game’s effectiveness Early in Michigan’s win over Iowa, the Wolverines’ offense found consistent success thanks to a healthy run game. When freshman running back Zach Charbonnet punched into the end zone to give Michigan a 10-0 lead, he had five carries for 27 yards and looked good doing it. Pregame talk over an even carry split between Charbonnet, sophomore Hassan Haskins and sophomore Christian Turner had dissolved into Charbonnet’s day and it was working. Three hours later, a look down at the stat sheet revealed the Wolverines had just 3.6 yards per carry. The scariest part is that’s their highest average since finishing with 5.2 in the season opener against Middle Tennessee State. Michigan’s yards per carry in the four games since: 2.4, 2.1, 3.4, 3.6. “I feel like in the run game, explosive plays just come down to hand placement,” said fifth-year senior left tackle Jon Runyan. “Whether it’s by a guard keeping his block or myself or (right tackle Jalen Mayfield) keeping our head

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily

Senior quarterback Shea Patterson had the worst passer rating of his Michigan career against Iowa last week, though the Wolverines won, 10-3.

inside the defender or where best we can find a seam.” Against Illinois, the Wolverines won’t need an efficient ground game to stroll to an easy win. But this is their last chance before back-to-back games against Penn State and No. 9 Notre Dame to show they can be productive on the ground and make life a little easier for Patterson. How Michigan’s run defense holds up against Reggie Corbin On the other side, Illinois has had no such struggles with its yards per carry. One of its few bright spots over the past two seasons has been fifth-year senior running back Reggie Corbin. In his first year as the Illini’s starting running back a year ago, Corbin burst onto the scene with an incredible 8.5 yards per carry in a nine-touchdown season. He hasn’t quite reached those levels

this season, but still has 6.6 yards per carry and two 130-yard games. Last weekend, when Michigan held Iowa to one yard on 30 carries (66 yards excluding sacks), it was hailed as a bounce-back performance for a unit that was heavily criticized after giving up 359 rushing yards to Wisconsin in a 35-14 loss. The difference, though, is Iowa — despite running a similar offense to the Badgers’ — doesn’t have a running back like Jonathan Taylor. That’s not to say Corbin is Taylor — no one in the Big Ten is. But with redshirt junior defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour in his second game back from injury, this is a prime opportunity for Michigan’s run defense to show that its improvement is real. Can Dax Hill continue strong performances? Through three games, Daxton

Hill — Michigan’s prized fivestar freshman safety — was conspicuously absent from the Wolverines’ secondary. Two weeks ago, against Rutgers, an injury to junior J’Marick Woods gave Hill his first shot at significant playing time. He remained behind senior Josh Metellus and junior Brad Hawkins at safety, but the injury allowed Hill to slot in when either needed a play off. Now, Hill has moved to the top of the depth chart at nickel, according to Jim Harbaugh. Against Iowa, he played the role well beyond a typical freshman’s capabilities, notably breaking up a fourth-down pass attempt on a crossing route as the Hawkeyes drove into Michigan territory late in the second half with a chance to tie. “He had six tackles, he showed

up on the statline and taking steps, taking strides like everyone expected him to,” Harbaugh said. “I think it’s been a very good progression, seeing improvement from him each week.” With Woods now in his second week back from injury, continued strong performances from Hill would likely indicate he’s moved into third on the safety depth chart in addition to his top spot at nickel. Score prediction Despite Michigan’s recent offensive struggles, it’s hard to see the Wolverines losing to a team that’s lost three straight games to unranked opposition. Michigan will be good enough on both sides of the ball to avoid raising any eyebrows while also failing to placate any of the chief concerns looming over this team. Michigan, 34-14

How the ‘M’ defense bounced back Joe Milton waiting for his chance ETHAN SEARS

MAX MARCOVITCH

Two-and-a-half weeks ago, Josh Metellus sat expressionless behind a podium in Madison. The senior safety had just played four of the most embarrassing quarters of his career, helpless as Wisconsin beat up Michigan for 35 points and 359 yards on the ground. A defense that had faced another round of losing its best talent to the NFL was seemingly at its breaking point. “I think we pride ourselves on being the best defense in college football,” Metellus said that day. “And these last couple weeks, we haven’t shown that.” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh knew as much. In the days after that game, with the whole team watching and the whole room still feeling the sting of the loss, he called out the defensive line — the group the Badgers physically exposed. Harbaugh wasn’t angry, at least not outwardly. The message was simple: Step it up. “He just challenged us as football players, as competitors,” said redshirt junior defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour. “Just challenged us in a great way.” To get called out as a competitor by Harbaugh, a man who often views everything as a competition, is no small deal. This, remember, is a coach who tried to beat his players in running up a nearby hill at San Diego. He’s someone who, upon arriving at Michigan, instituted competition into every nook and cranny of the program — four-hour practices and a “submarine” during fall camp, practically cutting off contact with the outside world. For any issues you could point to with Harbaugh, it’s hard to believe any of his teams ever struggled to fight. Certainly not at Michigan. Unsurprisingly, these issues didn’t last. In the run-up to that Wisconsin game, Brown talked about the relief of playing a more conventional team after facing Army’s triple-option and

Joe Milton wore a band on his wrist when he faced the media after the 2018 Spring Game — the 6-foot-5 quarterback peering down on a semicircle of reporters gathered nearby. “Just be you,” the wristband read. It complemented regular reminders in his phone connoting the same message. “I’m just being me,” he explained. “That’s why I have these wristbands. I’m just being me, regardless. Competition, as well. We all just compete. Having fun.” The life of a backup quarterback demands that kind of selfreflection, coupled with a steadfast belief that one well-timed opportunity could change the course of your career. Joe Milton’s chance is as close as it’s ever been these days, having meandered his way up the depth chart by equal parts fortune and persistence. Redshirt sophomore Dylan McCaffery has yet to return from his concussion suffered against Wisconsin, and as such, Milton has inherited more reps, both in practice and game. He completed three of four passes in an appearance against Rutgers, tallying 59 passing yards and two total touchdowns (one rushing). A brief stint, sure, but an undeniably encouraging one. “It felt great, you know, just getting the opportunity to show what I have and show what I can do for the team,” he said Tuesday. “It just felt great.” Milton’s merits are visibly obvious — an NFL frame, an arm capable of chucking the football 85 yards, enough mobility to trouble defenses. He contemplated taking up baseball in the past and believes he could step onto a mound and throw 93 miles per hour on the dot. His receivers in high school, left with dislocated fingers, surely wouldn’t question it. The raw talent has always been there. It’s what made him a consensus top-10 quarterback in the 2018 recruiting class. Still, the shortcomings in his arsenal have always been just as evident. Milton has never

Managing Sports Editor

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Defensive coordinator Don Brown’s unit has improved in the last two weeks.

a 10-personnel-heavy Middle Tennessee. At the time, it came off as brash confidence. And in the wake of the loss, it seemed like that confidence was fleeting. Now, after two more games against relatively conventional opponents, with Brown’s defense ranked second in SP+, it seems he simply jumped the gun by a week or so. Brown has been coaching football since 1977, and he’s spent most of that time as a defensive coordinator. He has a routine down to a science. He starts preparing for a given team about two weeks in advance. He doesn’t like focusing on one team before he’s played another, but it’s a necessity of his job. As part of that, he spends a chunk of Sundays and Mondays drawing out about 250 practice cards for the scout team — by hand. It helps him learn the opposing scheme and how to beat it. “Nobody else draws,” Brown said. “... It’s a quirk.” It’s a safe assumption to say the disparity between cards detailing Wisconsin’s, Rutgers’ and Iowa’s offenses were next to nothing compared to what Michigan dealt with for its first three opponents. And it doesn’t hurt that the defensive line — in particular, Dwumfour — has gotten healthier and more confident. A group that got pushed off the ball every time the Badgers handed it off turned Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley into a speed bag, peppering him to the tune of eight sacks. The

Hawkeyes finished Saturday’s game with a single rushing yard. Defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and Kwity Paye, tasked with the impossible job of replacing Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary, look like stars in the making. “He is unbelievable,” Brown said of Hutchinson. As for Paye? “He is the best spread run defender I’ve ever seen. “Why do I say that? Cause you can’t fool him. Zone read, close out the zone, chase the quarterback from the inside out. Check mark. “Bluff? Now, that puller comes back and instead of him trying to kick you out, he bypasses you. Breaks go on, chase the quarterback from the inside out. Check mark. He can do all those things like that. It’s uncanny.” It’s one thing for Michigan to perform at a high level. It’s entirely another to do it against Iowa, and another still to do it in the way the Wolverines did. Dominating the entire game so clearly that a coach who, two weeks earlier, called out the line’s competitiveness in front of the team, decided to go conservative with the offense late so the defense could win it the game. That doesn’t mean there aren’t still questions to answer and better competition coming. But for now, Michigan is right back where it wants to be. One of the best defenses in college football.

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily

Redshirt freshman quarterback Joe Milton has worked on his accuracy.

completed more than 50 percent of his passes in a single season, dating back to his freshman year of high school. His 35-to-19 touchdownto-interception ratio in high school, while far from disastrous, falls well short of the requisite production for a top-flight recruit. There were never any illusions that he would be a guy who could produce right away. As such, his development has taken place largely away from the public eye, confined inside the insulated walls of Schembechler Hall. What is said publicly, then, must be taken at face-value. For now, whether by sincerity or necessity, the reviews are positive. “He’s worked on (accuracy),” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said two weeks ago. “There’s different ball flights, different appropriate throws. Not everything is a line drive fastball. There’s gotta be a lot of elevation ... to make a catchable ball for a runner. Joe’s responded and is really working on it. It’s not an easy thing to do.” Milton believes all that’s standing in his way is opportunity. He came to school keenly aware of the need to improve accuracy, a process he deemed “pretty hard” due to his natural arm strength, but one he’s worked tirelessly at. When he came to campus, Harbaugh told him to stop watching the ball and keep his focus on the receivers. That, he says, has guided his maturation as a passer rather than a thrower, a crucial distinction any quarterback can elucidate. “I noticed that (I’d improved my touch) when my coaches started getting fired up,” Milton said. “They started jumping when I put

the ball out there. That’s how I know I improve. I know for myself when I got better, then the ball just dropped. I kind of just stopped looking at the ball in the air so that I know when it’s going to land or when it’s not going to land.” Added Harbaugh, who has seen dozens of quarterbacks develop in his time: “We can all think of quarterbacks throughout the history of football that never did be able to get, to understand throwing with touch or throwing with the fastball when needed the appropriate throw for the appropriate down. But he’s working really hard at it, and it’s coming along really well. Definitely has a lot of arm talent. “It’s really important to him, which is a must.” Milton’s true moment of reckoning will likely arrive in the spring and fall camp to come, when the starting job will re-open with senior Shea Patterson gone and Harbaugh will inevitably declare open competition. Soon thereafter, a true meritocracy will yield a verdict — and, ultimately, deduce whether this developmental project was successful. When asked in the spring what needed improvement, Milton said, “moving my feet quicker and just thinking faster.” Both issues, he posited, that would be hammered out with increased reps. He believes that’s now happened, that he’s ready if called upon. “Everything else is fine,” Milton said. “That’s pretty much what I need to improve is my touch. I got that done, now I’m just executing plays.” Executing plays. And waiting.