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Incarcerated individuals face additional risks as coronavirus pandemic progresses Correctional facilities are often unable to meet recommendations for containing outreak JENNA SITEMAN Daily Staff Reporter
While many Americans are following the urging of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 outbreak, those in prisons are often unable to comply with this recommendation. Nora Krinitsky, interim director of the Prison Creative Arts Project and director of the University of Michigan Carceral State Project, said one of the reasons the risk of contracting COVID-19 is so great for incarcerated individuals is due to their close quarters. Krinitsky cited an example of overcrowding in the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti, which is the only women’s correctional facility in the state of Michigan. The facility currently houses more than 2,200 women but was built to house a capacity of only 1,100 inmates. “If people are within proximity with one another and have the virus, the spread of it goes up exponentially,” Krinitsky said. “That is what people inside are facing because they cannot successfully socially distance (from) one another. So that means that we could see people become
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infected and ill, potentially almost wholesale, within a prison very quickly, meaning in a number of days.” Krinitsky said many people develop underlying conditions while incarcerated due to the stressful environment and commonly inadequate health care. These conditions have been cited by the CDC to increase one’s chance of contracting the virus and could make fighting it off much more difficult.
“Healthcare in prisons is sometimes difficult to access and sometimes non-existent,” Krinitsky said. “It’s already the case that people who are inside or people who come home from prison often have really acute medical conditions or chronic conditions that they’re dealing with that have either been caused by their incarceration or exacerbated by their incarceration.” Chris Gautz, Michigan Department of Corrections spokesperson, said the MDC is
taking drastic precautions to reduce the likelihood of the spread of the virus inside their facilities. Gautz spoke of precautions for social distancing, such as reducing General Educational Development and substance abuse class sizes and reducing the number of inmates in the dining hall during meal times. As of March 30, 80 currently incarcerated people have tested positive in Michigan. “We are reducing the class sizes that we have for different GED
Students talk impact of social distancing
Shifting to online classes, new CDC guidelines affect mental health, productivity JASMIN LEE & VARSHA VEDAPUDI Daily Staff Reporters
LSA sophomore Sree Anumolu thought staying in her apartment in Ann Arbor after classes were moved online would be fun. However, as more of her friends started to leave, she decided to return home as well. Anumolu has obsessivecompulsive disorder, which she said can affect her productivity and well-being. She told The Daily having a community and staying busy with school helps her to manage OCD triggers, but social distancing prevents her from using socializing as a coping mechanism. “My OCD has been really bad for the past two years, but this year started getting a lot better because I just talked to my friends
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about it and just tried to actively forget about it,” Anumolu said. “Trying to get out of the habits and being with people helped a lot. I remember compared to freshman year, I became much more social this year because I just knew that having a strong circle was what I
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needed to get out of it. For classes, I made sure I kept myself busy because if I keep myself busy, those thoughts don’t come to me.” Music, Theatre & Dance freshman Payal Parida said she saw her friends on campus every day and the lack of social
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interaction has been the hardest part about leaving campus. “I had my friends, we would spend 24/7 together,” Parida said. “I would not go a day without seeing them and they were pretty much like my second family. So having that be completely cut off like, so abrupt, was extremely hard. You realize how important social interaction is and as a human being, isolation is so difficult, at least for me.” Christine Asidao, associate director of community engagement and outreach for Counseling and Psychological Services, and Todd Sevig, director of CAPS, told The Daily in an email how CAPS is offering virtual and phone appointments to those experiencing anxiety due to social distancing. See MENTAL HEALTH, Page 3
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classes, substance abuse, other types of cognitive programming that we do every day,” Gautz said. “Typically less than 10 individuals in those classes, and we’re having them sit further apart while they’re in the class. We’re doing the same thing for our chow hall so when they go out to eat meals, instead of having an entire housing unit go out to eat together, which could be anywhere from 80 to 160 people at a time, we’re doing half of that amount.” See INCARCERATED, Page 3
CAMPUS LIFE
U-M Dance Marathon raises $280K Virtual event aids C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital CLAIRE HAO & IZZI NGUYEN
Daily News Editor & For The Daily
Despite being unable to host the event in-person due to the coronavirus outbreak, VictorThon attendees danced their way virtually to raising a preliminary sum of more than $280,000 for the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital over the weekend. VictorThon has been the culminating event for Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan since the organization was first established on campus 23 years ago. See DMUM, Page 3
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K-12 closures, switch to online learning throughout state causes changes in teaching curriculum, in-person classroom internships ALEC COHEN
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The closure of all K-12 public schools in Michigan has left School of Education students — who were in the middle of their student-teaching or in-classroom internships — using alternative methods to complete these requirements. Shortly after all K-12 public schools in the state were closed due to the threat of COVID19 on March 12, the Michigan Department of Education announced that universities can now waive a portion of the required hours if they feel the student has met the expectations of the state and school. Dean Elizabeth Moje said the School of Education was in constant contact with MDE as the outbreak developed. She said they have written confirmation from MDE that students will be able to receive the certification remotely. Moje said Education students achieve the set amount of required hours needed for certification prior to student teaching. However, the school has students receive additional hours to be better prepared for their teaching career. “I’m confident that although we all believe that the best education is direct face-to-face, clinical practice with children, (MDE) will support us as we work to provide the very best alternatives for our interns and student teachers,” Moje said. In the first year of the two-year School of Education program, students serve as teaching interns two days a week for four to five hours a day. Students complete this internship, which is referred to as their practicum, for two semesters before serving as student-teachers in their final semester before graduating.
This certification process is part of the Educator Preparation Program. Though students will still achieve the required number of hours, some Education students are concerned that their ability to advance through the program will be impacted as many are trying to achieve both a primary and secondary endorsement. An endorsement area is a specific area, such as English or Chemistry, that teachers are certified to teach. For students receiving an endorsement in two areas, they require additional time to complete the credits. Education junior Alexa Moore said she was worried about achieving her secondary endorsement in a world lang uage because she cannot travel abroad due to the current restrictions. Moore said there are very limited offerings for online alternatives during the spring and summer semesters. She said she is worried about graduating on time. “I think a lot of the world lang uage people are in that same boat where they’re trying to fig ure out how to complete their endorsement during the summer so then they can be on track for graduation and it just doesn’t seem possible,” Moore said. Moore was in the middle of completing her practicum — the internship that precedes studentteaching — at the second of her three assigned locations before the University moved to online classes. While many studentteachers are still working to create lesson plans and teach their students remotely, the work is different for juniors who are completing their practicum. Moore said her work was based around reading, analyzing articles and writing essays. Similarly, Education junior Kayla Chinitz said it is difficult to
complete the practicum remotely, as face-to-face interaction with students is the most beneficial way to learn. Currently, Chinitz is writing essays as an alternative method to complete the course. “One of my assignments was on summative versus formative assignments and writing a 500word essay on that doesn’t quite feel the same as being in the classroom,” Chinitz said. Education senior Lauren Robisch, who is student-teaching at Pioneer High School, said while she is sad she will not be able to complete her studentteaching in person, she said she thinks this abrupt change is providing a learning experience in preparing for the unexpected. “It’s kind of given me a lot of f lexibility and thinking about what I need as a first-year teacher and what would happen if I was the one teaching right now in this circumstance,” Robisch said. “I don’t think any of us were ready for (classes) to end, especially the way that ended. But it’s not over. That’s the one thing that I think we all need to recognize and look at.” Moje echoed Robisch’s statement, noting that while completing practicum and student-teaching online is not ideal, teachers across the country are all in the same situation. She said this is a learning opportunity for Education students to think about their future practice as teachers. “We believe in the power of face-to-face clinical practice, so this is not our first choice,” Moje said. “But we are doing our very best work to ensure that our interns and student teachers are getting the preparation they need.” Reporter Alec Cohen can be reached at cohenale@umich.edu
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INCARCERATED From Page 1 In addition to these social distancing practices, anyone entering the prison is screened with a questionnaire upon entrance. This screening has questions about recent travel, exposure to anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or shown symptoms and whether they themselves are experiencing any symptoms. Each individual has their temperature checked and, if normal, is then allowed into the facility for work. On March 23, a person in custody of the MDOC was confirmed to have contracted the virus; this was the first instance of COVID-19 of a currently incarcerated person in MI. Gautz said the state’s protocol for what will be done if an incarcerated person tests positive for COVID19 includes transferring them to Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center, a state-run medical facility for inmates. “First of all, obviously isolation, putting a mask on that individual,
MENTAL HEALTH From Page 1 In addition to tele-counseling, the organization put together a Mental Health Care Package to encourage students to find creative ways to fight boredom. “We are trying to reframe ‘social distancing’ to ‘physical distancing,’” Asidao said. “We want students to stay connected socially, albeit virtually, because that is crucial to maintaining and improving our mental health.” Engineering freshman Nishanth Reddy said though the setup of his classes has been mostly the same other than being online, he misses the social interaction of being on campus. “Not walking to class, talking to my friends in-person (and) studying with them in the library are things I miss, for sure,” Reddy said. Productive spaces, such as libraries, are also not options for students to study without
DMUM From Page 1 During the event, attendees typically stand on their feet and dance for 24 hours continuously. Each year, VictorThon raises awareness and hundreds of thousands of dollars for pediatric rehabilitation services at C.S. Mott and Beaumont Children’s Hospital. The event connects University students with DMUM families, therapists from DMUM programs and other members of the Ann Arbor community. LSA senior Sydney Jose, executive director of DMUM, said she and her executive team started planning the virtual event about two weeks ago after deciding they wanted to host VictorThon no matter what. “The idea that VictorThon could be canceled was heartbreaking, to say the least, because that’s really what we’ve been working up
News
Tuesday, March 31, 2020 — 3
and then making sure that staff who are going to be dealing with that individual also have the proper personal protective equipment,” Gautz said. “Then we would make a determination on whether or not we could continue to house them in isolation at their facility, or if we would transport them in an MDOC ambulance to a health center in Jackson … We would only make that type of movement if the person was far away from Jackson.” On Monday, a person in custody of the MDOC was confirmed to have contracted the virus. Gautz said an incarcerated male previously housed at the Kinross Correctional Facility in Chippewa County was sent to a local hospital on March 11. He was treated for an underlying medical condition that was not COVID-19. Medical staff monitored him for a week and did not feel that he needed to be tested for the novel coronavirus. Gautz said the man was transferred on March 17 to a different hospital in the Northern Lower Michigan region, where he was placed on a floor where they
were treating community members suspected of having the virus. Gautz said the MDOC is unsure of how the individual contracted the virus, but they did not send him to the hospital with any symptoms of COVID-19. “We can’t say that he definitely got it at that hospital, but all we know was that we didn’t send him to the hospital because we thought he had symptoms,” Gautz said. “He was at the hospital and he was around other people who were under suspicion of having it and then he tested positive.” Gautz said the man has been at the same hospital since March 17 and will be transferred to the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center as soon as hospital officials deem him stable. He will be put into an isolation chamber with a negative pressure system to limit any spread of the virus to other individuals working and being housed at this facility. Gautz said other precautions such as masks and gowns are ready at the location. Krinitsky said releasing older people from prisons would alleviate
a great deal of the population at risk, but that greater acts must be made to protect prisoners inside the facilities. “The first step would be to release people from prison,” Krinitsky said. “That is the only step that would be truly effective in stopping the spread of the virus and protecting people’s health. The American Friends Service Committee circulated a letter in which they lay out very clearly why this is an important step to take, to release elderly prisoners and people who are medically vulnerable.” Despite what has been done so far by the MDOC, Krinitsky said she feels more must be accomplished to salvage people’s health. “The truth is, we know on the outside (of prison) that all people, regardless of your age or medical status, are vulnerable,” Krinitsky said. “So truly I know the MDOC has taken the steps of going into quarantine and doing special cleaning of prisons, but these are really half-measures.” Katharine Boasberg, PCAP member and LSA sophomore, shared her feelings on the
isolation techniques performed inside correctional facilities. She discussed problems that could result from using isolation wards for medical reasons, due to their normal usage as a punitive measure. “Solitary confinement and isolation has historically been used as a tactic to further distort and destroy the psyche of many people who are incarcerated,” Boasberg said. “Having governmentmandated isolation already worsens the psyche of being physically isolated (from society, and this) couples with the fear that on the inside, you’re incapable of socially isolating because you’re in such an intense group environment.” Krinitsky said isolation can be destructive in a normal situation, current crisis climate aside. She said vulnerability in prisons is not highly rewarded, so individuals may be hesitant to share their symptoms with staff.
distractions. Engineering freshman Zachary Goldston said he preferred the basement of the Duderstadt Library. Goldston said there is an adjustment to doing work since returning home. “I was able to focus best when I had my own space in the Duderstadt Library in the basement. I was able to focus for hours, get some really good studying in, get my homework done and even some side projects for clubs and stuff done as well,” Goldston said. “Being at home is definitely a transition from where I’m used to just sleeping and relaxing … I try to make myself study in other places around my house so that I don’t feel like I’m cooped up all the time.” To occupy her time, LSA freshman Xinyi Wang talks to members of the Taekwondo club, a student organization she is a part of. Wang is from Shanghai, China and stayed in the dorms for two weeks after classes went online, returning home recently. She said
she experienced all of her friends leaving campus until she was the only one left. Through all of this, Wang said the Taekwondo club is continuing to stay social through individual activities and that has helped her with the adjustment to campus. “We have a 14-day challenge that people can just do every day,” Wang said. “It’s hard to keep up with the challenge a lot, but it gives me a feeling that I’m still able to hang out with my friends. It just feels good.” Wang is also part of the Residential College and said her professors have been supportive throughout the whole housing process. “All the RC teachers have their phone number and emails available in case anyone wanted to contact them,” Wang said. “This just makes me feel really warm and I know that these teachers really care about us and how we really feel.” The RC is making efforts to
make students feel like they are still in East Quad from their own homes. RC students have set up a GroupMe chat called “RC Love” where they send memes and pictures to cheer people up. They also started the “Quaranzine” — a Google folder where students can submit writing and multimedia content — and Virtual Greene Lounge meeting through Zoom. Esha Biswas, student affairs coordinator of RC, said the RC started these initiatives to help the students cope through hard times. “We just want students to feel like even though they are not physically in East Quad, we want to still have that sense of community that East Quad gives us,” Biswas said. “It’s hard to go from being in a community where you’re in the same building with your friends and you have classes in the same building and office hours with faculty and you have academic services and advising appointments all in
the same building … To go from that to being completely isolated from your RC network, to being scattered all across the country and all across the world.” Anumolu said she wants people to remember they are not alone in feeling down during strange times. She said finding resources to cope through social distancing will help people get through this time with a positive experience. “I just want you or anybody else to know that, especially people that are suffering through addiction — things that only become worse through isolation — I want them to know that they’re not alone and that this was just very unwanted,” Anumolu said. “No one saw this coming. We should all try to do the best we can to make sure we don’t relapse … But I just want them to know to continue staying strong.” Daily Staff Reporters Jasmin Lee and Varsha Vedapudi can be reached at itsshlee@umich.edu and varshakv@umich.edu
towards all year,” Jose said. “Our first reaction as soon as we found out that we probably wouldn’t be able to have it in-person was that this is a really important event to us, our community, to our cause, to our families and not doing something was just not really an option.” According to Jose, DMUM’s technology crew helped them set up a live stream while board members collaborated to record content before leaving Ann Arbor. The group also asked all of their original participants, such as local therapists and student groups, to send in videos or other digital representations of their work. Jose said DMUM was able to recreate most of its original schedule of events in a digital format. “Pretty much all of (the planning) was done digitally, with all of our leadership team on phone calls and Zoom calls,”
Jose said. “It was definitely a whirlwind, it was a team effort. I don’t know if any of us knew exactly what it was going to look like until it happened, but (we are) definitely very, very proud of it.” LSA senior Tosin Adeyemi, dancer captain for Alpha Epsilon Delta, said she knew she wanted to be a part of DMUM before she even came to the University and has been an active member since her freshman year. She added that VictorThon gave her the opportunity to grow closer with her team members and create lasting friendships within the DMUM community over the years. She said this year’s VictorThon was all the more important to her since it was her last as a student at the University. “It’s really about supporting kids and giving them opportunities to do sports and
social clubs and just things that I might have taken for granted in my own childhood,” Adeyemi said. LSA junior Max Sharin, financial management co-chair of DMUM, echoed that same sense of pride as he expressed his admiration for his team and everything they have accomplished in the last two weeks. “It’s been really incredible for me to see our leadership body rally behind the move to online,” Max said. “I feel that a lot of people say that you can see what an organization or what an individual is like when they have to work under pressure and I feel that really came out in these past two weeks when we all worked together.” Jose said one unexpected positive realization from the shift to digital is that it has increased alumni engagement.
She said she thinks this is because the digital version was more accessible and more engaging to those who wanted to attend and couldn’t be in Ann Arbor, compared to the usual in-person event. Though they were unable to conduct their event in-person, Jose said she is proud of her team and the experience they were able to create. “Obviously it’s bittersweet, knowing that our whole leadership team has been working up to the traditional in-person event all year, so there was definitely some heartbreak of knowing that that hard work wasn’t going to come to fruition,” Jose said. “But, people pivoted really quickly, and we were really happy with how it turned out.” Daily News Editor Claire Hao can be reached at cmhao@umich. edu. Contributor Izzi Nguyen can be reached at nguyenis@umich.edu
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Balancing COVID-19, livelihood and the economy
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Bringing boxing to college
n Feb. 2, two heavyweight titans met up for what some described as the most anticipated boxing match in 20 years. My personal excitement for this fight was driven by an interest in boxing that began with following the Andy Ruiz-Anthony Joshua fight this past summer. Boxing had grown on me after the initial shock of watching a shorter, heavier fighter like Ruiz hang with the physical specimen Joshua and knock him down to the canvas. After watching numerous videos breaking down their fight, I realized that boxing is much more than two brutes giving and receiving bloody blows to each other’s faces. The sport is nearly artistic, and the best fighters use rhythm in their movements, swaying side-to-side while bouncing on their toes. The combination of punches are a free-form, creative expression of the individual throwing them, and the varying styles can produce spectacular back-and-forth battles. Boxing quickly became without a doubt the most fascinating sport in my eyes, and I spent time watching old Muhammad Ali footage, the man who coined the phrase, “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” The idea of dedicating a life completely to one purpose and sharpening one’s physical, mental and spiritual form to achieve it is something appealing — particularly to a young, futuredriven college student like myself. The ultimate beauty of the sport, however, is the antithesis of this complex and involved preparation: The primitive act of sending the man standing across from you down to the canvas. The merging of the sport as it is today, with its modern-day top fighters representing our time and culture, with an archaic practice and craft is what makes boxing entertaining but not brutal or savage. A rematch between Ruiz and Joshua occurred a few months later, during which Joshua was able to, through tactical but somewhat passive boxing, reclaim his belts and avenge his loss. This reestablished him as one of three big names in heavyweight boxing — the other two being Tyson Fury, a British boxer of Irish heritage known for his savage trash talk and awkward but brilliant style of fighting, and Deontay Wilder, a raw fighter out of Alabama who has what many consider to be the most powerful punch in all of boxing. After a roller coaster of a fight in December 2018, during which Fury
got up following a brutal right-hand, left-hook combo from Wilder in the 12th round, the final result was a controversial draw. A rematch was announced this February and I could hardly wait, watching interviews and training footage months before in preparation. As the fight approached, I couldn’t help but experience a slight feeling of loss in not having anyone to talk about my excitement with. The boxing fandom is a niche crowd, and finding someone well-versed in the sport is not likely to happen on campus unless one goes to a bar on fight night or spars on the heavy bag at their local gym. I knew there was no shortage of sports enthusiasts at the University of Michigan, as evidenced by the historic turnouts at football games despite adverse weather and the soldout student section at U-M basketball games. With combat sports on the rise as Ultimate Fighting Championship and Mixed Martial Arts popularity surges, I was surprised that it was so difficult to find people that gravitated toward boxing. In my mind boxing is more technical than sports like football or basketball, as there are more restrictive rules that make the competition less of a free-for-all and place more emphasis on tact. As I contemplated how alone I was in my passion for boxing in my social circle, I thought of how the boxing industry exposes itself to the outside and sporting worlds. As a sports fan myself, prior to hearing about Joshua-Ruiz by happenstance, I had lived my life with no clue about any happenings in the fight world. If one flips to ESPN and watches SportsCenter, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, tennis and even golf are often discussed among pundits and in news stories. Comparatively speaking, one is much less likely to hear about boxing in a general forum of sports commentators, especially outside of a select few names. The pay-per-view model is ultimately to blame for this, as fights like FuryWilder cost between $60 and $100 to watch, a price only a committed fan would be willing to pay. After sparking some curiosity in my friends, we decided to watch Fury-Wilder II in a bar on campus. Upon arriving at Buffalo Wild Wings, the only place we figured would definitely be carrying the fight, we were met with a sign on the front door reading “We are not showing Fury-Wilder,” and thus were forced
to drive to their Boardwalk Drive location off-campus. Even as a fan, this was a difficult thing to commit to for the entire Saturday night. Pay-per-view is causing a large demographic of college students to miss out on what this incredible sport has to offer. Of course, the top boxers benefit from the current system. Floyd Mayweather is perhaps the ultimate manifestation of the benefits of raking in views. He became the highest-paid athlete of the 2010s by making $915 million from his fights, including the 2017 match against Conor McGregor, which had a reported 4.3 million buys. Ultimately, greediness on the part of these athletes has historically caused the biggest fights to happen much later than they should. Mayweather’s “fight of the century” against Manny Pacquiao happened when he was 38 years old and Pacquiao was 36 years old, both of them over the hill in their careers. However, the recent flurry of heavyweight fights between top contenders indicates a positive trend on this front. Getting more eyes on the sport is not a matter of getting people to open up to it, but rather putting it more clearly in front of them. Giving context to the fights with an introduction to the fighters and their story arcs would make boxing much more entertaining to a casual fan, and could provide a catalyst to rope viewers in. After that, all it requires is one good fight to pique someone’s interest and get them hooked. This will happen when boxers are put on par with other athletes in their exposure in the media to the general sporting public. Broadcasting companies will only be incentivized to give them this coverage when they can show these matches themselves on their networks. The pay-per-view model should be eliminated entirely, even if it may result in slightly less revenue for boxers and promoters. Even subscription-based services, which are currently on the rise, should not be the primary model for big fights. Outsiders to the sport will not have any incentive to spend money to watch.
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Arjun Lama can be reached at arjunl@umich.edu.
s the United States is swept off its feet by the spread of the coronavirus, many questions have gone unanswered. A great deal of stress has accumulated over when society will go back to normal, and it seems that the topic of the coronavirus lurks in the background of every conversation I have: It’s completely unavoidable. There is nothing else to talk about, as COVID-19 has brought the world as we know it to a halt. We must remain in our homes and twiddle our thumbs, hoping for a positive headline on CNN or an inflection in the anchor’s voice that might denote a fleeting sense that hope exists. Businesses fear that they’ll shutter while hospitals are understaffed and underprepared. Students vacate universities, parents stay home from work and people in their 60s and beyond worry for their livelihood. This pandemic has grabbed us by the shirt collar and asked for our lunch money. How will we respond? Many speculate that the disruption to the economy caused by the disease will induce harsh, depression-level economic conditions regarding job loss and deficit increase. We’re living through an unprecedented era; never has time stood still quite as it does now. The economy and the general livelihood of people is in decline. Gas prices fall as more employers send their workers home with promises of partial payment plans and families putter around their homes stress eating and doing puzzles, waiting for the day when we wake up from the nightmare that we’re living in. Businesses are just as uncertain as citizens as to how long this situation will last, and the stress of it largely lies on the timeline of the disease’s restrictions on society. How long will people be out of work, and how are we going to make it through all of this? With all of the economic and personal travel restrictions being implemented around the country, life has shut down in America. The question emerging is imperative to answer: What degree of the spreading of the disease should we allow when the livelihood of people and the economy are at stake? The public needs to know more about the disease, that much is certain, but at what point do we reopen the world? If we’re waiting for the total number of new cases to reach zero or for the growth rate to plateau then we could be in for the long haul. This shelterin-place situation in your home — with seemingly every industry and aspect of your everyday life at the mercy of the coronavirus — can’t go on forever. At some point, the conversation needs to be about what degree of the disease existing can be tolerated so as to not ruin people’s
lives and the economic condition of the world. I am not a pessimist; I don’t believe this to be an apocalypse. I think the world was deeply unready for something of this magnitude. The coronavirus is a test of the world’s ability to react and take proactive measures against a viral outbreak that many countries flunked, as the U.S. and Europe didn’t close their borders soon enough to stop the spread of the disease. I believe that things will return to normal soon, that the disease will plateau and that our lives will resume. These times are unprecedented, so what I’m really curious to see is what society will look like after this is said and done. Will 100,000 people gather for a football game again without batting an eye? With something as drastic as this, with everyone witnessing the closing of society and experiencing the isolation it has caused, who knows if we will ever get this out of the back of our minds. Many lessons can be learned from this pandemic. First, a government must take swift and decisive action to protect the health of its citizens. Countries waited too long to ban international travel, and that allowed the disease to spread like wildfire, as travelers brought it back home and exposed it to new areas completely. Second, threats involving the health and livelihood of citizens should always be taken seriously. I fear that arrogance may have compelled the current U.S. administration to underestimate the magnitude or impact of this disease early on. Third, the medical field needs to be able to mobilize faster against an outbreak. Hospitals that are filling up with patients are understaffed and low on equipment, so there needs to be some sort of rapid development in medical infrastructure and production in order to keep up with disease. Such funding could come from a federal relief package. Whether that be converting factories to produce necessary goods and PPE or building new hospitals, these developments ought to be subsidized or otherwise incentivized by the government. The coronavirus will undoubtedly leave its mark on the population but what is important is how we handle the situation. We need to balance people’s livelihoods, the economy and public health in just the right way in order to avoid ruin, and it’s time to start having that conversation.
ANNA GETZINGER | GETZINGA@UMICH.EDU
Shad Jeffrey II can be reached at shadj@umich.edu.
Arts
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Tuesday, March 31, 2020 — 5
ALBUM REVIEW
Sufjan releases captivating collab with stepdad Lowell Aporia is a departure from Stevens’s previous records. The closest comparison would be 2001’s Daily Arts Writer Enjoy Your Rabbit, which blends experimental Sufjan Stevens is one of the most fascinating electronics with organic instrumentation. Aporia artists working today. His life story contributes takes Stevens’s familiar natural orchestration to one part of this enthrallment (an aspect and throws it out the window in favor of a true that most fans are particularly attuned to). He electronic sound. For the most part, the album consistently addresses personal experiences in is heavily influenced by new age music (though his work, whether it’s through direct storytelling I wouldn’t call it a new age record, because it or atmospheric anecdotes about the places he’s takes inspiration from ambient music). Aporia lived. Even more really can’t be called intriguing is his anything other than position within the an electronic album. music industry and Artists like Steve Roach broader pop culture. and Oneohtrix Point Stevens has been Never (particularly able to hold true to in his earlier work) his ambitions while appear to have had Sufjan Stevens & Lowell Brams maintaining an image major influences on the Asthmatic Kitty Records in the mainstream. texture and structure of This is the man the music. The biggest who collaborated surprise on the record, on an experimental however, is the relative composition about the lack of singing. We don’t planets in the same year that he was nominated hear Stevens’s voice until 18 songs deep into the for an Oscar. Most fans know him only as an indie album. With all this said, Aporia is not a complete folk artist who dips his toes into alternative and departure for Stevens, as a lot of his melodic electronic textures (his 2010 album The Age of tendencies are still very much present. The tools Adz probably being the best known example). and sounds used to achieve melodic structure are In reality, he is just as much an experimentalist what’s new. as he is a folk artist. With new album Aporia, A large reason for this is Brams, who has been he works alongside Asthmatic Kitty Records making experimental electronic music since the co-founder Lowell Brams to make this distinction ’80s. His experience really shows on this record. abundantly clear. He clearly constructs the atmospheric side of the DREW GADBOIS
Aporia
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record, which provides the perfect foundation for Stevens to build up more dynamic sounds. Brams maintains a level of restraint in the music that indicates an unparalleled degree of maturity. In a way, he acts as a guide for Stevens’s more ambitious ideas. This type of mentorship role isn’t all that surprising when you realize that Brams is Stevens’s stepfather. Yes, this is the same Lowell referenced in Stevens’s critically acclaimed 2015 album Carrie and Lowell. The two actually founded their record label Asthmatic Kitty together back in 1998. In fact, it wouldn’t be that far-fetched to imagine that Brams was the one who got Stevens into experimental electronic music in the first place — just another reason why their chemistry is so captivating on Aporia.
There are many who would argue that context should not affect how we think about music, but it’s instances like this that suggest the contrary. Knowledge of the relationship between Stevens and Lowell adds an intimate, beautiful harmony to the listening experience. Throughout Aporia, one gets a sense of their dynamic. Neither of them are simply going through the motions. There is a deep love for the sound that they are crafting, which adds a level of emotion that is often missing from electronic records. In a day and age when collaborations have become highly commercialized, Aporia is a breath of fresh air from the sterility of the industry method, demonstrating the power of an authentic collaboration.
FILM NOTEBOOK
Why movie musicals never seem to hit the right notes KARI ANDERSON Daily Arts Writer
In 2013, at the end of a family trip to Europe, my family had the chance to watch “Mamma Mia!” in London’s West End (the Broadway of England). Watching a group of talented actors dance across the stage while singing ABBA’s greatest hits was a great way to cap off what had already been an amazing trip. A few days after returning home, my family sat down to watch the 2008 film adaptation for the first time, still high off of the incredible performance we had seen in London less than a week prior. After the live performance we had just seen, it was disappointing — to say the least. Though this experience was more memorable given that we had just seen the show live, this was not the first time I’d been disappointed by a movie musical. It was consistent with something I’ve noticed: As a musical transitions from the stage to the screen, the material loses its magic. I should clarify that I’m not talking about animated musicals or musicals that are specifically made for movies, or movies that have been adapted into musicals (such as “Mean Girls,” “Amélie” and “Beetlejuice,” to name a few). Instead, I want to talk specifically about the mistakes that are made during the transition to the screen.
NBC UNIVERSAL
Creating movies based on musicals has historically served as a way to capitalize on the commercial success of the theater by dispensing it to a larger, more widespread audience. That way, you don’t have to go to New York to see a Broadway play, but can instead watch a facsimile of it from the comfort of your own living room. In the case of “Mamma Mia!,” the show has been touring internationally since 1999, so it makes sense that they used that momentum to adapt it into a film (and a sequel, but I’m not even going to touch on that). The problem, though, with stageto-screen musicals is that there is so much that can go wrong in the adaptation process. The first mistake that movie musicals always make is their casting choices. Attempts to take advantage of the buzz that comes from casting big-name actors usually leads to a major pitfall: They can’t sing. Take “Mamma Mia!” as an example, a film so chock-full of famous actors that it has eight cast members with abovetitle billing, but few that can sing well. Pierce Brosnan (“Die Another Day”) with his cringeworthy crooning is probably the worst offender; his time portraying James Bond in the late ’90s did nothing to prepare him for singing ABBA songs, and he even took home a Razzie for worst supporting actor. Another example of this is the 2012 adaptation of “Les Misérables,” which
featured a very talented cast and proudly boasted the “unique” trait of having their actors sing live during filming, but was occasionally spoiled by shoddy vocal performances. Most old movie musicals, such as the 1961 adaptation of “West Side Story,” avoided poor performances entirely by dubbing in vocal performers for their stars, but made the musical experience less authentic in the process. One of the biggest differences between film and theater is the possibilities. Theater productions are limited in terms of physical space, economic means and the constraints of time, whereas film can travel between locations or create elaborate dream sequences with relative ease. This distinction can ruin the effects that theater musicals carefully design and implement. A good example of this is the recent and well-criticized adaptation of “Cats.” I never saw “Cats,” partially because of the negative press and partially because when I asked my friend about the film, the word he used to describe it was “terrifying.” Even as a musical, “Cats” is a bit hard to swallow, with the confusing storyline, strange music and the presence of anthropomorphic cats dancing across the stage. When you put it on screen, it transitions from captivatingly strange into just plain weird. One of the few things that makes “Cats” work as a musical is that the costumes are designed not to look like actual cats, but instead something else entirely. In order to demonstrate the technological prowess of modern technology, the film chose to use CGI instead of costumes, but by making the cats more “realistic” they just made them more bizarre. The biggest issue, however, from the transition to the screen is losing the magic of the theater. This is harder to explain, but there is something special about live performances that puts you in another world, where bursting into spontaneous song and coordinated dance seems normal. As soon as you put that on screen, the musical shifts from playful ostentation to something a bit more uncomfortable. In film form, background singers and dancers feel awkward and out of place. Ballads in particular look strange because the actors are just standing there, singing to
themselves or another actor rather than singing to the audience, as they would in the theater. In other words, a lot of what is missing is the audience, a key part of a live performance, and film adaptations must try to recreate this experience while being limited by a true fourth wall. That said, some movie musicals are incredibly effective. “Singin’ in the Rain,” for example, is one of my favorite movies and one of the best-ever movie musicals. The combination of expertly choreographed dancing, catchy music and an incredibly talented cast make it an effortlessly charming and timeless film. “The Sound of Music” is one that made the transition from stage to screen skillfully, aided mainly by Julie Andrews (“Mary Poppins”), whose film career was preceded by an exemplary career on Broadway. “Hairspray,” the 1988 film that was adapted into a Tony Award-winning musical, was adapted back to film as a very successful movie musical. The 2007 adaptation does everything that “Mamma Mia!” could not, finding big-name actors (Queen Latifah! Christopher Walken! Post“HSM” Zac Efron!) that could put up excellent performances and still carry a tune, and ways to help the transitions into song feel natural. There is no such thing as a perfect movie musical, and there are few excellent ones. A lot of a musical film’s quality will depend on the casting, which should find a balance between actors that will bring talent to the film and those that will bring attention. Part of it depends on the material that they are given, but even then things might not fall into place if the direction or production is shaky. But there is no denying that movie musicals are always entertaining, even if they aren’t excellent. There is always a charm that goes along with losing yourself in flashy dancing or seeing a familiar face burst into song (or try to). You can bet that when the “In the Heights” adaptation and the “West Side Story” remake come out later this year, the theaters will be full of people excited to see their favorite musicals come to life in a new way on the screen. And you can bet that I’ll be in the audience, probably trying hard not to sing along.
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Multimedia
Tuesday, March 31, 2020 — 6
Learning to live with intent through West African dance
PHOTO ESSAY
PAULINE RAJSKI Staff Photographer
As crowds of students rush from one class to the next, eat in dining halls in the next building, and run hard on treadmills only several feet away, a unique form of energy is unleashed in Studio B of the dance building. As a freshman, I had no idea the dance building had existed until I signed up for West African Dance this semester with Imani Ma’at AnkhmenRa Amen and Marwan Amen-Ra. The first thing that Imani emphasized to our class was the connection between our dancing and the music. Before this class, I had very little experience dancing to live music. The moment class starts and Marwain begins beating on the drum, the classroom is transformed. We were quickly taught of the power of ase. It was described as an energy, a frequency, a spiritual connection of sorts. It is that moment when you are thinking of someone just for them to call you seconds later. In class, the idea of unity and connections between individuals is emphasized daily. It makes it difficult to believe that hatred and violence can exist when we are embraced in so much kindness, joy, and passion. We start each practice by honoring our greatest muscle - the heart. As the warm energy created by the friction in our hands is transferred back into our hearts, we are reminded of the importance of remaining present. This space allows us to do just that. We are completely immersed in ourselves. I become aware of every joint, muscle, and blood flow within my body. Energy appears to course through me without end. Imani reminds us that we all have something to be grateful for each day. I am a skeptic, I will admit it. I want to believe in the energy around me, the concept of a rites of passage, and that our ancestors exist to protect and guide us. However, I am also an engineer. Throughout my life I have had an internal conflict between my passion for science and mathematics and my spirituality. Yet, Imani made a strong point. All energy is conserved. It is never created. There is an energy that exists beyond our limp corpses. Once we become aware of it, we stop existing and we begin living. As we dance, Imani constantly asks us what our intentions are. In life, everything we do should have a purpose. When we start living with intention, we grow happier. This can occur in the smallest of forms, such as when we pick out cereal for breakfast. When we start living with intent, we gain a deeper sense of ourselves and our energy. Through this class, I have learned a small fraction of the rich culture in Western Africa. Dances including Kuku, Soli, Sunu, and Sinte. The history of people is embedded into the moves we practice in class. The most amazing part of the class is the atmosphere that is cultivated. I know every time I enter Dance Studio B I am not judged. All of my worries fly out the window as I let my body flow freely. This class continues to teach me something new each week. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join. Each class ends through the honoring of the drum as is tradition in West African dance. This class has been my favorite one taken at the University of Michigan. I highly recommend every person experience this class at least once during their studies here.
Marwan Amen-Ra leads the tempo of our dance with the sounds of his drum.
Imani Ma’at AnkhmenRa Amen dances happily with her students.
Dylan Sivin embraces all of herself through dance.
We end our class by honoring the drums out of respect.
7 — Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Sports
McCaffrey v. Milton
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With Michigan set for quarterback competition, The Daily breaks down the tape on both contenders
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Redshirt junior quarterback Dylan McCaffrey works well in Josh Gattis’s read-heavy offense.
THEO MACKIE
Managing Sports Editor
Around Michigan football, this year’s mid-offseason lull carries a different feel than the past two. For one, 2018 and 2019 both had a spring season, giving the Wolverines 15 practices to answer questions slightly less pressing than “Will we play the season?” But there was also an entrenched starter at quarterback, even if Jim Harbaugh wouldn’t admit it. Now, with Shea Patterson graduated, there’s a gaping hole in the middle of a Michigan offense that returns many of its surrounding playmakers. At the center of the competition to fill that void are redshirt junior Dylan McCaffrey and redshirt sophomore Joe Milton. While McCaffrey possesses an extra year of experience and three times as many pass attempts in relief of Patterson — despite missing time in both the past two seasons due to injury — Milton’s generational arm talent gives him a tantalizing ceiling that Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis will attempt to harness in 2020. But without a spring season to separate the two, all we have is the tape, consisting of 35 pass attempts and 23 rush attempts for McCaffrey, and 11 pass attempts and 12 rush attempts for Milton. The Daily went back and analyzed each player’s play in 2019, focusing on McCaffrey in this piece. McCaffrey operates excellently in Gattis’s readheavy offense This was evident from the first snap of McCaffrey’s season — a 10-yard carry against Middle Tennessee State. (He was in as a receiver a few drives earlier, but one can only assume Gattis has burned that page of his playbook.) McCaffrey’s speed has been widely recited as his biggest advantage over Patterson, but Patterson was plenty mobile when he got the ball in space. His biggest problem was an inability to make the correct reads on the zone reads that
make up the bulk of Gattis’s run game — especially during the first half of the season, when he was hampered by an oblique injury. In 2019, that wasn’t a problem for McCaffrey. He repeatedly made the correct reads in the run game, whether on speed options or zone reads, helping himself to 67 yards on 13 carries on the season while also opening up lanes for Michigan’s running backs by keeping defenses honest. Here, McCaffrey keeps his eyes on the defense as Ben VanSumeren comes to take the handoff. He sees the weakside linebacker collapsing in to defend the handoff and moves his eyes toward the weakside defensive end. When McCaffrey is at his mesh point, he sees the defensive end take a shuffle step inside. That’s all McCaffrey needs to see to realize that he has a walk-in touchdown if he pulls the ball and takes it himself. McCaffrey’s ability to make the most of the options provided by Gattis’s offense isn’t limited to the running game. On this run-pass option later in the same game, he sees the middle linebacker and strong-side linebacker both pinching in before the mesh point, leaving Ronnie Bell in one-on-one coverage on a slant route over the middle. McCaffrey overthrows Bell, but forces the defensive back into a tough position by making the right read. This gives Bell the chance to draw a defensive holding penalty and get the first down. He’s susceptible to zeroing in and missing open receivers While McCaffrey had excellent decision-making on zone reads and RPOs, he occasionally struggled to find open receivers, instead zeroing in on covered ones. On more than a few occasions, this led to him failing to convert on opportunities for significant yardage. McCaffrey, though, has escaped the worst implications of questionable decision-making. In his two
years at Michigan, he has yet to throw an interception on 35 pass attempts. But with significantly more — and higher-leverage — opportunities in store in 2020, he’ll have to work on going through his reads to outdo Patterson’s stellar 2.12 interception percentage over the past two seasons. Here, McCaffrey is lucky to avoid a red-zone interception. The primary read on the play is tight end Sean McKeon on a crossing route off playaction. Against one-deep man coverage, this route would normally be difficult to defend, especially after both outside linebackers initially pinch in off the play action. But McCaffrey zeroes in on McKeon early, allowing the weak-side outside linebacker to drop into the path of McKeon’s route and nearly come away with the interception. While that play did come in the fifth and final game McCaffrey threw a pass in, this is an area in which he improved throughout the season. Earlier in the same drive against Maryland, McCaffrey helped the Wolverines get into fieldgoal range with this excellent play to convert on third down. Facing a third-and-10 from the Maryland 43, McCaffrey knows he needs a first down here to keep the drive alive. With Mike Sainristil, Bell and Erick All running deep routes beyond the first-down marker, McCaffrey goes through his progressions. But rather than forcing a dangerous throw into one of them, he instead finds Tarik Black open on the crossing route, after locking his eyes in on McKeon for a split-second — long enough to freeze the middle linebacker, giving Black the separation he needs to pick up the first down. This is the type of play McCaffrey didn’t make as often as he would have liked early in the 2019 season, but it’s an area that will be critical to his success in 2020 as he aims to make the most of Michigan’s returning weapons.
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ALEC COHEN/Daily
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton has arm talent, but must work on his accuracy and touch.
ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor
Joe Milton is not a subtle quarterback. He stands 6-foot-5 and dominates the room, the talent evident from his frame. He said two years ago — before ever stepping on the field at Michigan — that he once threw a football 85 yards, and it felt believable. The phrase “arm talent” was made to describe someone of his ilk. Then there is the rest of the package. Milton’s completion percentage didn’t rise above 50 throughout his time in high school. He throws with so much zip that it’s a problem — he said in the fall that his receivers would leave the field with dislocated fingers in high school. Nearly every time his name is mentioned, it is said that he needs to work on touch and accuracy. Those two things generally don’t threaten to derail the career of someone with as much talent as Milton before he even starts a game, but it remains to be seen whether they will prevent him from reaching his ceiling. “There’s different ball flights, different appropriate throws,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said last season. “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.” All of this adds up to Milton being perhaps Michigan’s most interesting player in a pivotal offseason where it’s unclear when the next practice will be conducted. He’ll have the chance to compete with redshirt junior Dylan McCaffrey for the starting job, but comes in as the underdog, as McCaffrey has an extra year of experience and has been ahead of Milton on the depth chart for the last two seasons. The lack of spring practice, too, favors the safer option — which is decidedly McCaffrey.
Still, Milton’s ceiling makes it impossible to count him out. The Daily went back and analyzed each player’s 2019 season, focusing on Milton in this piece. What we’ve seen is better than what we’ve heard We haven’t seen much. Milton has 11 passing attempts and 12 rushing attempts over eight games in two years of college. Two of his three spring games have been canceled — one for weather and this year’s over COVID-19 concerns — and the one in which he played was more an open practice than an actual game. Anything we extrapolate from Milton’s tape should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, it’s easy to hear about Milton’s accuracy issues, then conjure up an image of Christian Hackenberglite, players on the sideline ducking for cover because the throws are so wild. Though no one with Michigan has ever spoken negatively about Milton in public, praise usually comes in a guarded tone when asked about him. Milton’s own availabilities have the same tone — it’s about what he’s working on more than what he’s done. The operative tense is the future, the allure is possibility. When asked how he’d improved at the Citrus Bowl, Milton said, “Touch, not throwing the ball too hard at people. And putting it over the top so people can go get it instead of just throwing it and watching people run full speed.” In game reps, though, we’ve seen him display that touch. When Milton got in during garbage time of Michigan’s win over Rutgers, he piloted a touchdown drive with deft control. Here, he stands in the pocket, sees Giles Jackson come open on a corner route and lofts one right into his path. In last year’s spring game, he made what’s probably the best throw we’ve seen from him at Michigan. With
Erick All darting down the sideline with a defender draped on him, Milton is forced to throw into a tight window of space, navigating the defender, All and the boundary. He drops it perfectly into that window, finding a spot where only All can catch it, with no worries about getting his feet down inbounds. These are the kinds of throws that make Milton’s ceiling worth talking about. Not many college quarterbacks can do things like that. Fewer still can do it consistently, and based off both the limited reps we’ve seen and everything that’s been said about Milton, he isn’t in that category yet. He’s not a developed product As far as Milton’s chances of starting in the fall go, rendering the above statement false is the most important thing he can do. Michigan, despite a relative lack of hype, is a team that can win 10 or more games in 2020 if it gets steady quarterback play. The Wolverines are deep at skill positions, they’re in year two of Josh Gattis’ offense and have the offensive line depth to withstand turnover. Starting someone with as much variability as Milton is a pretty serious risk. That’s not just a commentary on accuracy. In this play from last year’s spring game, Milton’s pocket presence isn’t up to snuff. Because of the camera angle, we can’t tell if any of his receivers are open, but this is a spot where Milton needs to sense the pressure and get out of the pocket. Instead, he seems not to notice the pocket collapsing as linebacker Jordan Glasgow drives offensive lineman Chuck Filiaga into him. But the accuracy remains a problem. In the spring game, Milton badly overthrew open receivers twice, both times preventing a potential explosive play.
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Sports Isaiah Livers to test NBA Draft waters with ‘open book’ mindset
8 — Tuesday, March 31, 2020
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
On the heels of a season that saw Isaiah Livers earn an AllBig Ten honorable mention selection, the junior forward announced he will enter his name into the NBA Draft on Monday. While Livers didn’t announce the decision until Monday, he told reporters on a teleconference that he made up his mind before the season even began. He will not hire an agent at this time, and instead will “seek advice from multiple individuals,” leaving open the option of returning to school, according to a Michigan spokesperson. NCAA rules allow him to retain his eligibility if he chooses, provided he terminates the relationship with any agent he may encounter during the process. Additionally, he is permitted to return to the Wolverines if he participates in the NBA combine and goes undrafted. “Following the cancellation of the season, my family and our coaching staff have had several discussions on my
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future as a basketball player,” Livers said in a statement. “After much reflection and prayer, I have decided to enter my name into the 2020 NBA Draft and start the full evaluation process. The University of Michigan has done so much for me and helped me get to a position where I might be able to reach my goal of playing professional basketball.” Livers was tied as the team’s leading scorer this past season, averaging 12.9 points on 45 percent shooting across 31.5 minutes per game. He missed 10 games due to injury, but emerged as the Wolverines’ offensive focal point when healthy in November and February. At this point, he has yet to make a final decision on whether he will return for his senior season. “I want to keep both doors open,” Livers said in a teleconference Monday. “I want the door to keep my name in the draft or the door to keep my eligibility. I definitely want the option to keep my eligibility because if things don’t work out, and
say I need another year of school, I don’t have a problem with it. It’s successful either way because I could get my education and my diploma and then declare for the draft next year, or if they like what they see right now, I can keep my name in the draft. It’s good to have two options.” Livers made a point of emphasizing that he is not leaning one way or another, referring to himself as an “open book.” He feels he’d fit in well alongside the Wolverines’ fourth-ranked incoming recruiting class if he remains in college, though it’s fair to wonder how such additions, coupled with the potential return of muchimproved freshman wing Franz Wagner, would clash with his own catch-and-shoot prowess. With an uncertain couple of weeks on deck, Livers plans to lean on Michigan coach Juwan Howard, who played 19 seasons in the NBA. “Coach Howard, being the guy he is, he’s not trying to kick me out of here or trap me here,” Livers said. “He’s more about, ‘What’s the best
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Junior forward Isaiah Livers declared for the NBA Draft, but will retain eligibility for his senior year.
opportunity for me?’ That was one of the first phone calls we’ve ever had between me and him, when he first took the job. He was always going to put me in the best opportunity for me to be the best person I can be to get to my dreams that I want to get to. Definitely more of him being the mentor factor, not only my coach. “… (Howard) knows how the NBA works. He’ll know if I’m prepared or not by the feedback that he’ll get.
I’m taking his feedback 100 percent.” With the NBA season currently suspended, however, questions about the draft process itself remain unanswered. Without the chance to showcase his game in the NCAA Tournament, Livers would benefit from a chance to boost his stock at the combine or individual team workouts leading up to June, but it’s unclear whether that will be possible amid the
COVID-19 pandemic. So far, he’s contacted former teammates Jordan Poole, Charles Matthews and Ignas Brazdeikis to discuss the process. Despite the uncertainty, his decision to test the waters will at minimum allow him to get feedback from coaches and scouts at the next level. For now, whether or not he decides to pull the trigger on making the jump to that level remains to be seen.
Breaking down Michigan hockey’s incoming freshman class BAILEY JOHNSON Daily Sports Editor
When Mel Pearson was hired after Red Berenson’s retirement three years ago, the Michigan hockey program was in a transitional state. Recruiting in hockey happens years in advance of when players show up on campus, so as Berenson headed toward retirement, recruits became more and more cautious about committing to the Wolverines. In Pearson’s first year, the freshman class included Quinn Hughes and Josh Norris, both of whom were first-round NHL draft picks and have gone on to successful professional careers — but that was the exception, not the norm. In the fall of 2018, Pearson brought in a 10-player class, but not one of them was an NHL draft choice. There was some talent in the group and most of them have found success at Michigan, but the class was a bit of a question mark coming in. This past fall, Pearson’s reputation for high-level recruiting started to come to fruition. He brought in two first-round NHL draft picks in Cam York and Johnny Beecher, along with Nick Granowicz, who scored seven goals in year one. The other members of the class — Eric Ciccolini and Keaton Pehrson — should be key contributors in the coming years. Now, the Wolverines’ incoming class for the 2020-
21 season is one of the best in college hockey. “If you go down the list of players we have coming in, we’re really excited about this group,” Pearson said. “(We) feel they’re really gonna fit in and plug some of the holes we lost by losing nine pretty good seniors. And we’re gonna need that. We’re gonna need those guys to come in and contribute right away.” The Daily breaks down some of the key pieces of the class and the biggest names to know going forward. Forwards Thomas Bordeleau (U.S. National Team Development Program) Michigan’s senior class contributed 37.8 percent of its offense last year, so, needless to say, there are some serious holes to fill up front in the coming year. Bordeleau led the NTDP in scoring with 16 goals and 30 assists for a total of 46 points in 47 games and projects as a late first or early second pick in the 2020 draft. He’s played center for the NTDP, but at 5-foot-9, he’s a little small to play center in the Big Ten — especially on a team loaded with talent down the middle — so he may slide to the wing for the Wolverines. Brendan Brisson (Chicago Steel, USHL) Brisson’s Chicago Steel team was essentially a superteam in the USHL, so take his numbers with a grain of salt, but he’s clearly got some offensive talent. He finished second in the USHL
in scoring with 59 points in 45 games. Brisson’s performance this year, particularly at the World Junior A Challenge, has put him solidly in the first round in most mock drafts. As the Wolverines lost more than a third of their offense, his scoring touch will be called upon right away when he hits the ice in the fall. Kent Johnson (Trail Smoke Eaters, BCHL) Johnson has spent the last two years playing underage in junior hockey. Because he doesn’t turn 18 until October, he is not draft-eligible in 2020 but is projected as a top-5 or top-10 pick in the 2021 draft. Though he’s a year or two younger than most of the BCHL players, Johnson put up 101 points — 41 goals and 60 assists — through 52 games to win the BCHL scoring title by a full 30 points. The BCHL is known as an offensive
league, but just below two points per game is still close to unheard of. Once again, with the offense Michigan lost, the Wolverines will look to Johnson’s scoring ability to fill the gaps. Philippe Lapointe (Trail Smoke Eaters, BCHL) Lapointe missed the beginning of Trail’s season with an injury and still put up 55 points in 36 games once he returned — good for second in the BCHL in points per game. Again, the BCHL is an offensive league, so his numbers may be a bit inflated from both that and playing on Johnson’s wing, but he looks like a solid third-line winger with a decent amount of offensive upside. Lapointe is also one of the older players in the class at 20, and that additional game experience is valuable when making the leap to college hockey.
Defensemen Owen Power (Chicago Steel, USHL) Like Johnson, Power is coming to Michigan in his draft year after two seasons of junior hockey. And like Johnson, Power is currently projecting as a top-10 — if not top-5 — pick in the 2021 draft. He led USHL defensemen in scoring with 40 points in 45 games, and at 6-foot5 is an imposing presence on the blueline. With Luke Martin and Griffin Luce both graduating, the Wolverines only have one defenseman — Pehrson — above 6-foot, so Power’s size, in addition to his elite-level skill, makes him even more important for Michigan. Jacob Truscott (U.S. NTDP) While Power is the model of a modern two-way defenseman that can both
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Michigan coach Mel Pearson will bring in one of the best recruiting classes in college hockey in the fall.
drive play and sit back and defend, Truscott is more known for his defensive game. He can contribute a fair amount offensively — his 21 points in 47 games ranked second on the NTDP for defensemen — but his defensive mindset will be key as he joins a young group of blueliners. The Wolverines are losing two stay-at-home blueliners in Martin and Luce, so the addition of Truscott is important for a group that’s mostly made up of puck movers. Goaltender Erik Portillo (Dubuque Fighting Saints, USHL) Portillo was the thirdround pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft and was a member of Sweden’s team at the 2020 World Juniors. For Dubuque, he finished fourth in the USHL in save percentage at .915 and had the secondbest goals against average at 2.11 goals per game. He’s tall — standing 6-foot-6 — and fits the physical model of a modern NHL netminder. Michigan found its goaltender this season in sophomore Strauss Mann, who finished second in the nation in save percentage at .939 and had the sixth-best goals against average at 1.85 goals per game. Both markers set single-season records for the Wolverines. But he won’t be around forever, and adding Portillo two years behind him in the pipeline sets Michigan up for continued success in net.