2021-09-08

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Wednesday, September 8, 2021

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ADMINISTRATION

Lecturers’ union extends contract with University

If LEO votes to strike, likely won’t be before Sept. 15 LILY GOODING & VANESSA KIEFER Daily News Editor & Daily Staff Reporter

FILE PHOTO/Daily Jordan Acker, U-M Board of Regents Chair, discussed the COVID-19 response with The Daily this past week. (Note: This photo was taken before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2018)

Regents Chair Jordan Acker talks U-M COVID-19 response

In interview with The Daily, Board official shares goals for the upcoming year JULIA FORREST Daily Staff Reporter

The Michigan Daily sat down with the Regent Jordan Acker (D), chair of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, to discuss the University’s plans for addressing COVID-19 concerns, the new Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX office, the expansion of the Go Blue Guarantee, climate change initiatives, Ron Weiser and more. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. The Daily cannot independently

verify Acker’s comments on documented cases of classroom transmission at the University of Michigan. The Michigan Daily: What is your response to the University of Michigan faculty signing petitions this week requesting stronger COVID-19 protections for the fall semester? How do you plan to address concerns surrounding COVID-19 guidelines? Jordan Acker: Well, I think that one of the things that we’ve done really well is keep everyone safe in the classroom, whether it’s

vaccine requirements, masking requirements. We still haven’t had a single documented case of classroom transmission. All the public health experts suggest that our current path forward is the right one to balance that in-person experience that we can only have in Michigan, with a mask in a classroom, with the safety of our staff, with the safety of our faculty, with the safety of our students. The best way to get there is to make sure that everyone is vaccinated. We’re getting there — the students are doing a great job, the faculty is getting there, the

staff is getting there. But we need to be there to make sure that we’re protecting everybody. TMD: How do you believe the creation of the Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX office to replace the Office of Institutional Equity will place a greater emphasis on supporting prevention and reporting efforts? And are there any other initiatives or policies you support that you’d like to see implemented this year addressing prevention and reporting efforts? See ACKER, Page 3

The lecturers’ union, if they vote to strike, likely will not do so until next week. The University of Michigan Lecturers’ Employee Organization, the union representing non-tenure track faculty, has reached an agreement with the University’s administration Tuesday to extend their current contract to Sept. 15. “Given LEO’s commitment to secure a contract and our hope that the mediation and bargaining this week will be fruitful, the Union has proposed a contract extension until September 15th,” LEO President Kirsten Herold said in a statement to The Michigan Daily. “The Employer has agreed and we will continue to engage in the bargaining process.” The extension will allow negotiations between the University’s and LEO’s lawyers over contract terms to resume through Sept. 15. It follows weeks of negotiations after the organization gave the University an ultimatum to negotiate a new contract by Sept. 8. University spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald confirmed LEO reached out to extend their contract and the University agreed. According to Fitzgerald, LEO and the University met with the state mediator Tuesday and have another session scheduled for

Thursday. LEO and the University also scheduled a bargaining session for this upcoming Friday. “From the University’s perspective we’re prepared to continue bargaining as often as needed to get a settlement,” Fitzgerald said. “We would take this indication from LEO of extending the contract another week as a positive sign in the negotiation process.” When the lecturers’ contract ends on Sept. 15, the LEO members will no longer have to abide by the collective bargaining agreement and can vote to strike. If LEO does choose to go on strike following the Sept. 15 deadline, it will still violate rules from the state of Michigan prohibiting public employees from going on strike. Last fall, the Graduate Employees’ Organization’s members elected to strike after their contract negotiations with the University failed. This resulted in a procession of protests and rallies across campus as well as cancellation of many Graduate Student Instructortaught classes throughout the strike’s progression. The University sued GEO in response, on the grounds that both the Public Employment Relations Act and GEO’s collective bargaining agreement prohibited the strike.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

ACADEMICS

CAMPUS LIFE

Many excited for more connection but nervous about delta variant

Over 800 organizations vied for attention amid COVID concerns

Students reflect on the first week of in-person classes EVAN DELORENZO Daily Staff Reporter

After two and a half semesters of virtual learning and social distancing, many students said they were excited to return to a semblance of normalcy yet still nervous about the delta variant as they headed back to the classroom this past week. With 91% of this semester’s classes now in person, many students told The Michigan Daily they were relieved to make the transition from Zoom calls to lecture halls. Between awkward breakout rooms and all-too-real Zoom fatigue, some students particularly felt the absence of one-on-one connections that once defined in-person instruction, LSA senior Alex Meyer said. “We were lacking face-to-face contact (during virtual learning),” Meyer said. “It’s harder to build relationships with classmates and professors over Zoom.” Looking back on the past year and a half, LSA junior Regan Monnett found that the challenges of virtual learning made this week’s return to the classroom all the more memorable. “The past year makes me appreciate the classroom in person much more,” Monnett said. “It also helps me remember to be patient with everyone because everyone’s adapting as everything goes along.” As eager as students are to be back in the classroom, concerns over the looming threat of the delta variant still linger among both the student body and faculty. COVID19 cases have risen in Michigan to nearly double their September 2020 numbers. “I’m definitely nervous about how

things are and have been in terms of COVID,” Monnett said. “Some of the buildings have been very busy so far, which is nerve-wracking.” Just as flexibility and resilience were key to navigating the last three semesters, the past week has already tested students’ ability to adjust in a period of unfamiliarity, Meyer said. “Even just my habits of taking notes, it’s harder to get back into it now as opposed to before. It’s a lot harder to pay attention,” Meyer said. Many students said they felt nervous in anticipation of this week’s in-person classes. This was especially true for LSA junior Brianna Evans, who transferred to the University this past year. “I was really nervous because I hadn’t learned in person in a while and because I’ve never been here before,” Evans said. “I was anxious about finding classes, but so far, it’s been okay.” Now that Kinesiology junior Peter Grobel — who transferred to the University his sophomore year — is able to experience in-person classes for the first time, he said he is excited to finally learn what it means to be a Wolverine. “I hope to get the full Michigan experience, having all clubs and all classes in person,” Grobel said. “It’s just nice to have everything up to full speed, albeit (with) masks and some restrictions.” Students fill every classroom, residence hall and library, reviving the once-desolate campus he experienced during his first year at the University, Grobel said. “Campus is definitely much more lively compared to last year when it was completely empty,” Grobel said. “There would be two people at the bus stop, and now you see lines of freshmen going and going. Campus

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is alive again.” This spirited atmosphere has welcomed many new faces to campus. Countless times over the past week, Art & Design freshman Mari Kamidoi said they witnessed campus-wide kindness firsthand. “My first impression of Michigan was that everyone’s really friendly,” Kamidoi said. “I haven’t met a single unfriendly person.” Uncertainty remains a defining theme of the 2021 school year, with many students unsure of what the fall semester will ultimately look like. While grateful for in-person instruction, Meyer anticipates a return to online learning in the coming months. “Most of my labs are using a mixed format now with a whole section built around virtual learning,” Meyer said. “I’m sort of expecting that we can see a return to virtual classroom classes come mid-semester, so I’m keeping my expectations low.” Hundreds of University faculty and Graduate Student Instructors have signed a petition calling for greater COVID-19 planning and safety precautions, citing the rising threat of the delta variant and its potential to infect vaccinated people. In an email to faculty Sept. 2 — which some faculty said they found insufficient — University President Mark Schlissel and Provost Susan Collins said classrooms are the “safest place” to be this semester in response to the faculty and GSI’s demands for more detailed COVID19 guidelines. For the time being, however, students are making the most of in-person instruction as they continue to tackle school in the age of COVID-19.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Club fair Festifall returns in-person bigger than ever RONI KANE & KAITLYN LUCKOFF Daily Staff Reporters

The brass Block ‘M’ in the center of the Diag is usually clear of footprints, with students sharply changing their trajectory to safely avoid trodding upon it and tempting academic fate. However, during Festifall on Sept. 1 and 2, the sidewalks throughout the Diag and Ingalls Mall were so packed with U-M community members that numerous individuals walked over the infamous ‘M’ to navigate the large crowd. After operating as a completely virtual experience last September, Festifall — an annual campus involvement fair showcasing over 800 U-M programs and organizations — returned in-person over a three-day period for the fall 2021 semester. At the outdoor event, U-M students perused many of the clubs, honors societies, academic certification programs, project teams and social and professional organizations available at the University of Michigan. Heather Guenther, communications director for the U-M Division of Student Life, wrote in an email to The Michigan Daily that the number of students involved in student organizations significantly decreased over the 2020-2021 academic year. As a result, this year’s Festifall was the biggest yet, with a recordbreaking number of organizations attempting to recruit new members and rebuild after a year of mostly virtual activities. “More student organizations applied at the last minute compared to previous years,” Guenther wrote. “Given the notable transition

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INDEX

for many organizations, 812 organizations participated this year, more than 200 more compared to previous in-person events.” The Daily spoke with several Festifall participants, a majority of whom agreed the in-person event made it easier to connect with different vendors than in a virtual setting. In particular, many said they were more likely to attend the event this year because they could simply follow the crowd from table to table and did not have to worry about “Zoom Anxiety” when speaking with an organization. Engineering sophomore Gordy Gwilt attended Festifall online last year and was representing the student organization he joined, Michigan Mock Trial, at their booth on the Diag on Sept. 1. Gwilt said navigating Festifall online last year was somewhat overwhelming since it was time-consuming to collect information about different organizations. “Last year with it being online, it was kind of hard to just walk around and see random clubs,” Gwilt said. “You kind of had to know what you wanted (to join) going in.” Some student organizations took advantage of the in-person format by putting on eye-catching demonstrations for the crowd. Notably, members of the cheer team donning bright yellow shirts spread out across the Diag on Sept. 1 and ran through a series of short routines for onlookers. Information senior Benjamin Millunchick, a member of the cheer team, spoke with interested students as they stopped to watch the performance. Having experienced Festifall previously in both in-person and online formats,

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Millunchick said the cheer team benefits from being able to perform for attendees and explain their competitive schedule. Millunchick said that after a year of socially distant coursework and extracurriculars, the size and energy of the crowd might inspire students to join new organizations and meet new friends. “I forgot how many people go to school here,” Millunchick said. Despite — and because of — the energy surrounding the event, not everyone felt comfortable with the size of the crowd. In an attempt to adapt Festifall to concerns surrounding COVID19, the University chose to spread the event out over three days, as opposed to one. Aug. 31’s activities were held in the Grove on North Campus in an attempt to de-densify the Central Campus events, and all organization tables were spaced 6-feet apart. Because the University does not require masks outdoors, the majority of attendees were unmasked. Even without a specific requirement, LSA sophomore Tara Yu elected to keep her mask on. Yu told The Daily being in close contact with so many unmasked people made her feel uncomfortable. Yu said she appreciated that the event was outdoors, but suggested it might be even safer if everyone was wearing masks. “I didn’t imagine that there would be so many people here (at Festifall),” Yu said. “Right now, with the delta variant going on, it might be better for everyone to wear a mask.”

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2 — Wednesday, September 8, 2021

News

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ADMINISTRATION

Schlissel, Strickman discuss new Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX Office ECRT replaces the oft-criticized Office of Institutional Equity

CALDER LEWIS & GEORGE WEYKAMP Daily News Editor & Daily Staff Reporter

University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel and Tamiko Strickman, director of the new Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX Office, sat down with The Michigan Daily on Sept. 2 to discuss updates to the University’s mechanisms for investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and other crimes. The interview began with Schlissel and Strickman giving opening remarks regarding the status of the new ECRT office, followed by an interview with The Daily. This article has been condensed and edited for clarity. You can read part one of the interview, which discusses past controversies with OIE and lawsuits against Strickman from her time at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, on our website at michigandaily.com. Mark Schlissel: For us to really change and improve, we’ve got to look at three categories of things: the structures we use around our issues of misconduct, the actual policies and our culture. We’ve been announcing policy changes, like the policy about relationships between supervisors and supervisees. Along with those policies, the ECRT is a structure that allows us to do many things. We really want to be a place where every member of our community feels respected, safe and supported. We’re working hard on a new antiretaliation policy, and that’ll come out in the coming months. We also are committed to education and prevention so that we can prevent (misconduct) to begin with. We hope all these things, when you put them together, really put us on a path to be amongst the best universities when it comes to sexual misconduct. The Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX Office is central to these efforts. We took the Office

of Institutional Equity apart and rebuilt a new organization, covering the functions of the old OIE but in a different way — one that’s designed to provide better support, more outreach, better education and integrate prevention efforts along with our other investigatory efforts. Tamiko Strickman: It’s a really exciting time right now. Shortly after the announcement in July, we were able to post the positions for the equity specialists, who are a critical change for the ECRT. You’re familiar with the critique of OIE-type offices, that oftentimes the initial contact feels cold and intimidating when it’s from an investigator. Survivors aren’t prepared sometimes for that outreach, and these equity specialists will serve as what I like to call a soft outreach, or a buffer between the survivor and the initial meeting with the investigator. Once that survivor makes a decision on the most appropriate and comfortable path for themselves, the equity specialists will work alongside the investigator to continue providing that support for both parties who are involved in an investigation. So when somebody says, “This has just been an emotional time for me, I have an exam coming up and I really need a modification,” it would be the equity specialists that would help to facilitate that. We will start our final interviews in the coming weeks and engage some of our campus partners to help make those decisions. We are very close to finalizing the position for an outcomes officer. That will be a critical position as well to ensure that these cases are completed, and if there are recommended steps or sanctions, that they are followed through upon. The third position that we are hoping to post next week will be the Director of Prevention Education Assistance and Resources. And we’ll start to build out all of the prevention

and education efforts, working very closely with SAPAC (Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center), collaborating with our faculty research expert partners, partnering and continuing working with the Center for Research on Learning & Teaching. MS: Tami and I now work directly together, so this will come to me to make sure that it has the full attention of the campus and the resources it needs to be successful. The Michigan Daily: In July, it was announced that ECRT will oversee a new department of Prevention, Education Assistance and Resources (PEAR) that aims to develop and distribute materials on sexual assault prevention and support. Under the new department, PEAR would also institute a liaison program that would “designate a member of each department to be a point of contact for any information or resources regarding sexual misconduct and discrimination.” How will said department members be selected, and what will they be trained to do with the information they receive? TS: One of the ways that we’re starting to get some information on these liaisons are people who are interested in the cause. For example, when ECRT goes in and does a training program in a particular unit, I will have particular people reach out to say, “Look, I’m really interested in this subject matter and any opportunities for partnership.” I’m a big believer that people are most receptive to messaging through their peers and their colleagues. The training will be through ECRT in the beginning to talk about things like if somebody comes to you and asks a question about reporting, here’s a bullet point list of talking points. So it would be an ongoing training. We would build it out more robustly as the program develops more and more. TMD: In the past, OIE has

investigated less than 10% of reported allegations due in part to some allegations falling “outside the scope of University policy,” according to a 2017-2018 OIE report. Under the ECRT, do you plan to expand the scope of University policy to investigate a greater percentage of allegations? What constitutes an allegation to be “outside the scope of University policy”? TS: A lot of factors come into play, because oftentimes somebody may say “I don’t want an investigation, I’d like to be able to drop out of this course right now because somebody is in that course who makes me feel uncomfortable, but I don’t need an investigation, I’m just looking to withdraw with no penalty or adverse impact to my academic record.” A lot of times people will say, “I’m looking for some alternative form of resolution,” perhaps student-to-student, so we go over to the OSCR (Office of Student Conflict Resolution) office, sit down with the experts there and come to some type of agreement. So we continue to address every civil rights allegation or report that comes into our office; there are just a menu of ways to handle it and we try to take into account what that person is requesting. MS: There are some reports that we don’t have jurisdiction over, like somebody who’s a member of our community but is complaining about someone who has nothing to do with the University at all. Other instances where there’s a complaint about troublesome behavior, but it doesn’t qualify as being harassment or violation of civil rights, it’s just a complaint. So there are lots of reasons, but the goal is to investigate and have a good resolution of every complaint that comes forward, and sometimes it’s through an investigation. Other times it’s through these other mechanisms that Tami mentioned.

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Students gather for Festifall on the Diag Sept. 2.

FESTIFALL From Page 1 Many of the participating organizations also tried to reduce the amount of close contact between attendees by asking them to scan QR codes to access information and signup forms rather than handing out large paper f lyers. Guenther wrote the amount of paper waste left behind at the end of this year’s event was “notably less” than it was at previous in-person Festifalls. LSA senior Sara Trumza said her organization, the Multicultural Association of Pre-Health Students, posted QR codes linking to their social media accounts to limit paper waste and touchpoints. “We thought with COVID it

would be a lot easier for people to just use their phone to scan the QR code and then they would have access to our Instagram page,” Trumza said. “It is just a one-stop for everything that we have, just in case students don’t feel comfortable touching anything.” Apart from student organizations, several local businesses set up tables in a closed-off section of North University Avenue to pass out free gifts and showcase their merchandise. Josh Lee, the program manager for student development at the Center for Campus Involvement, helped organize Festifall and wrote in an email to The Daily that vendors first participated in Festifall in 2019 but were not present in 2020 due to the

virtual format. “The big change this year was placing Vendors on North University,” Lee wrote. “Community vendors are another great pathway to get students connected to the greater A2 community, and we felt that the partnership was important and warranted continuing this year.” In her email to The Daily, Guenther wrote that funds collected from vendor participation helped to offset the operating costs associated with Festifall, reducing the cost to $30 this year for student organizations to secure a table. U-M alum Rishi Narayan, founder of local business Underground Printing, said this is his company’s first time participating in Festifall. “We just want to meet our

customers, maybe meet some new customers and hand out some free stuff,” Narayan said. Another local business, Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea, attended Festifall with a different goal in mind. Though they were handing out free cold brew samples to students, Megan Paddock, the manager of the Sweetwaters at the Michigan Union, said her main objective was to hire new student baristas. “We’re hoping that this is going to be a good hiring event and giving students the opportunity to find a job that is flexible with their schedules, and that’s also fun,” Paddock said. Daily Staff Reporters Roni Kane and Kaitlyn Luckoff can be reached at ronikane@umich.edu and kluckoff@umich.edu.

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News

Wednesday, September 8, 2021 — 3

ADMINISTRATION

CAMPUS LIFE

‘U’ leaders defend COVID-19 policies after faculty pushback

Bus routes adjusted after long waits, overcrowding issues

Schlissel: Classroom ‘the safest place to be on campus’ CALDER LEWIS & JASMIN LEE Daily News Editors

University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel and Provost Susan Collins defended fall semester COVID-19 guidelines in a Sept. 2 email to concerned faculty, stating that “perhaps the safest place to be on campus this fall will be in the classroom.” “Stellar rates of vaccination, paired with an indoor facecovering requirement for all, make the classroom a very safe learning environment for instructors and students,” Schlissel and Collins wrote. The message Sept. 2 was sent in response to an Aug. 26 faculty petition asking the University administration to provide more stringent COVID-19 guidelines for the fall semester. More than 740 instructors signed the petition, which requested more flexibility for instructors to teach remotely, mandatory testing for all members of the campus community, six feet of social distancing between people and a mandatory 14-quarantine period for vaccinated close contacts of positive cases. In response, Schlissel and Collins wrote that multiple prevention strategies — such as indoor face mask requirements, increased air ventilation and the ResponsiBlue app — are part of a layered approach to mitigating COVID-19 spread. Course instruction methods have been evaluated by individual schools and colleges within the University, according to Schlissel and Collins, and those units have control over the amount of in-person, hybrid and online classes that are offered.

ACKER From Page 1 JA: The process that went into creating the ECRT was one of the initiatives that I really worked hard on as the vice chair of the board with Regent Ilitch to get done last year as part of a holistic approach toward making sure that our campus was safer — not just prior to any sort of misconduct happening on the education side, but also making sure that we support survivors afterward. We have a lot of work to do still on this. One of the things that I mentioned in my remarks at our last Regents meeting, and that I still strongly support, is the creation of an ethics and compliance office. I think we need it — most AAU (Association of American Universities) schools have it already. The fact that we don’t is, frankly, a glaring hole in our regime of preventing misconduct of any kind. And as we see some of the things that happened in the past, especially involving Martin Philbert, this sort of office would have gone a

In terms of individual COVID-19 concerns for instructors, Schlissel and Collins wrote that faculty should contact Work Connections, the University’s disability management program, to report their personal disability or medical conditions. But a group of faculty calling themselves “community advocates” wrote in an email to fellow petitioning faculty Sept. 3 that the University was still not providing the autonomy to make decisions based on their risk assessments. “We are also disappointed that we have again been directed to Work Connections, a unit that has rejected numerous requests by instructors with serious preexisting conditions, compromised immunity, and other risk factors, or who have family members with various vulnerabilities (including children too young to be vaccinated),” the faculty group wrote. 92% of students and 90% of faculty are fully vaccinated, and Schlissel and Collins wrote that information on students who are unvaccinated in classes would be shared when and if the indoor face covering policy is lifted. Schlissel and Collins wrote they believe there are enough COVID-19 mitigation policies in place to safely conduct in-person classes. “Living and working through a pandemic is unsettling,” Schlissel and Collins wrote. “It’s unpredictable and, yes, it involves an unavoidable level of risk. As an institution, we believe we have taken all appropriate measures to mitigate that risk for you, your faculty colleagues, your students and the staff members.” Schlissel and Collins wrote that everything involves a level of risk

long way toward making sure that didn’t happen. So that would be the biggest initiative. But I think there’s still more work to do. I think the cultural journey is going to be very important. And I think we still have to keep looking at our peer institutions, seeing what they’re doing, and making sure that we follow the path of best practices amongst our public and private peer institutions. TMD: How do you think the expansion of the Go Blue Guarantee free tuition program to the University of Michigan’s Flint and Dearborn campuses this year will ensure more academic opportunity for lower-income students within the University of Michigan system? JA: It’s a big step. I think that first and foremost, adding our Dearborn and Flint campuses was crucial to providing the promise of the Go Blue Guarantee. But it’s just a start. One of the things that we need to think about is where experts are (aware of) when it comes to students who come from low-income backgrounds is making sure that we’re not just talking about free tuition. We’re

that has to be balanced against the importance of other tasks. “We all recognize the risk of auto crashes, yet most of us accept that risk by driving to campus each day to teach, serve others, or help patients heal,” Schlissel and Collins wrote. The “community advocates” took issue with the comparison to driving, saying that faculty are not forced to drive to work the same way they are being pushed to go back to in-person teaching. The faculty group also wrote that Schlissel and Collins’ message did not address most of their critiques of existing procedures. They said in-person teaching without taking the measures outlined in their petition is a risk to faculty. “Many of the policies in place strike us as an alpha variant response to a delta variant world,” the faculty group wrote. Schlissel and Collins’ statement on classrooms being the “safest place on campus” also received negative feedback from the faculty group, which said there is no documentation of classrooms being safe from COVID-19 transmission. “We are dismayed by President Schlissel’s repetition of the assertion that classrooms are ‘perhaps the safest place to be on campus this fall,’ which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been documented,” the faculty group wrote. “We are disappointed that President Schlissel has not provided detailed information on our classroom environments, such as the percentage of students in our classes who are vaccinated.” Daily News Editor Calder Lewis can be reached at calderll@umich. edu. Daily News Editor Jasmin Lee can be reached at itsshlee@umich. edu.

not just talking about the cost of education, although that’s a very important part, but we need to make sure that we raise our graduation rates. Frankly, some of the things that we need to work on most are raising our graduation rates in Flint and Dearborn. It’s one thing to get into school and to start school and to have free tuition there. But the most important thing is to leave those campuses or our Ann Arbor campus with a degree. Our graduation rates in Ann Arbor are pretty high, and in Flint and Dearborn, they need to get higher. When we talk about as a board where we’re spending money and on what services, making sure that we raise our graduation rate is crucial. Yes, affordability is the number one challenge, but we also don’t want anybody graduating with any sort of student debt and not having the degree that will allow them to pay it off. We need to do more to raise those graduation rates, period.

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Student frustration brings back pre-pandemic lines

EMILY TAMULEWICZ/Daily The Bursley-Baits and Northwood routes have been reinstated after widespread student frustration.

LIAT WEINSTEIN & KRISTINA ZHENG

Managing News Editor & Daily News Editor

Starting Sept. 7, the University of Michigan will restore bus routes used prior to the pandemic following increasing concern from students during the first week of the fall 2021 semester. The Sept. 2 announcement of the updated routes come after students reported long wait times and overcrowding on buses, with some noting that lines at the CCTC stretched back to the School of Dentistry. Some students said they had to walk to North Campus to be on time for class, while others said they were concerned about contracting COVID-19 on a crowded bus. The Bursley-Baits and Northwood bus routes that ran between North and Central Campus before the pandemic will be returning, according to the announcement. The reinstated Bursley-Baits route will run from 7:15 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. on weekdays and from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Saturdays

and Sundays. Rides are expected to run at 15-minute frequencies, according to the announcement. Northwood will return to use from 7:15 a.m. to 1:55 a.m. on weekdays and from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Rides are expected to run at 20-minute frequencies. The Oxford Shuttle will return to operation on weekends from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at 15-minute intervals. New route information will be updated on the Logistics, Transportation & Parking website early next week, though the new routes will not be available on the Magic Bus app, according to the announcement. These updated routes will run in place of the Bursley-Baits and Northwood loops that were part of the “hub-and-spoke” system developed by Transit Services and faculty from the College of Engineering last school year. The “hub-and-spoke” model was created to provide more frequent trips between North Campus’s Pierpont Commons and the Central Campus Transit Center as well as to reduce time spent in the bus per ride in light of COVID19. It offers two shorter “spoke”

routes: the Bursley-Baits loop and the Stadium-Diag loop. In an email to The Michigan Daily the day before the announcement of reinstated routes, University spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen attributed the long wait times to a “serious labor shortage” affecting Transit Services as they adjust to serving more students on campus. “One area where we have been hit the hardest is in the recruitment of temporary and student drivers,” Broekhuizen wrote on Sept. 1. Sept. 2’s announcement also specifies safety and preventative measures, including a face mask requirement, installment of moveable shields between passengers and drivers, and increased air circulation through open windows. Drivers are also encouraged to keep doors open at stops for increased ventilation, and cleaning protocols for frequently used surfaces will remain in place. Daily News Editor Kristina Zheng can be reached at krizheng@ umich.edu. Managing News Editor Liat Weinstein can be reached at weinsl@umich.edu.

4 — Wednesday, September 8, 2021

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Wednesday, September 8, 2021 — 5

Sandra Oh is the “fucker in charge” in Netflix’s ‘The Chair’ ELIZABETH YOON Managing Arts Editor

Sandra Oh in a frumpy coat with her wonderfully curly hair puffed up is Hollywood catnip. I don’t know why Oh can never have a well-fitted trench, but she’s legally prohibited. The more functional and disheveled the coat, the better. The industry trend holds true as Sandra Oh dons a lovely Lands’ End toggle wool jacket in “The Chair,” a comedy-drama set at a fictional Ivy League school. Debilitatingly funny and touching, “The Chair” essentializes higher education: overworked teacher’s assistants, anxious students, professors in crisis, the politics of tenure. The show lovingly documents the current state of academia through the story of one recently promoted department chair. Ji-Yoon (Sandra Oh, “Grey’s Anatomy”) enters as the English department is in decline. Enrollment is down, and the department’s aging professors can’t relate to or retain students. Gifted a desk plate that is endearingly inscribed with “fucker in charge of you fucking fucks,” Ji-Yoon is

tasked with whipping the department into shape. However, Ji-Yoon is first and foremost an educator, and not equipped to spar with administration politically. When upper management demands she get three older professors to resign, Ji-Yoon scrambles to modernize the professors’ syllabi. But her efforts lead to more confusion and unhappy peers. At home, Ji-Yoon lives alone with her adopted daughter Juju (Everly Carganilla, “Yes Day”). Scenes with Juju anchor the series and provide a much-needed relief from wood-paneled offices. But the domestic scenes do more than contrast the elite, academic setting. Instead, home scenes substantiate the show’s ultimate thesis about being overwhelmed. Through interweaving the personal and the professional, “The Chair” understands Ji-Yoon as a multifaceted individual: a busy mother, a daughter, an employee and a friend. Ji-Yoon often has to drop her daughter off at her elderly Korean father’s house. The interplay between Juju, Ji-Yoon and her grandfather Habi (Ji-Yong Lee, “Righteous Ties”) is absolutely fantastic and wholesome. Some of the funniest and most touching moments feature Juju, hilarious and frighteningly self-composed,

contrasted with Habi and his constant bewilderment. Habi easily makes the list of top five television grandparents. Characters like Juju and Habi justify The Atlantic heralding “The Chair” as “Netflix’s best drama in years.” But in the end, overcommitted and spread too thin, Ji-Yoon finds herself constantly unprepared to show up in a satisfactory way for the people she cares about. And that’s the show. “The Chair” is about professional disappointment: negotiating wins and losses, taking responsibility for thoughtlessness. But unlike other workplace TV shows that glorify the grind and hard work, “The Chair” presents a startlingly simple solution to the impossible Gordian knot of professional obligation and personal responsibility: quit. No one person has all the hours in the day to be a leader, an attentive mother, a good friend and a teacher. Throughout the series, no matter how much harder Ji-Yoon tries, and despite her brilliance and her willingness to compromise, the reality is that Ji-Yoon is unhappy trying to fulfill her obligations. The show’s thesis is bolstered by its lucid understanding of academia’s contradictions. One might adore the cold snap of winter and trekking across a quad

This image is from the official trailer for “The Chair,” produced by Netflix.

immersed in literature, but no gamely exploration of Chaucer with a passionate professor can paste over students’ keen awareness of how wrong and broken the world is. The show resists the urge to make ivory tower politics seem absurd or the result of “snowflake undergrads” in need of “reality checks.” How relevant is an English degree when the California state forests are burning? How can college campuses serve as both a vanguard

of liberalism and theoretical thought while simultaneously being capitalist institutions that invest in Big Oil? The conflicts Ji-Yoon faces are all outgrowths of the turbulent present and higher education’s contradictions. “The Chair” doesn’t reconcile or directly respond to these questions, but instead validates them as queries. In a true collegiate fashion, the show says: “Great question, does anyone else have thoughts?”

‘Stephanie Addison Rae is the latest victim of the rom-com genre’s Dinkins: On Love gambling addiction in ‘He’s All That’ EMMA CHANG Daily Arts Writer

“He’s All That” is a meta-exploration of what it means to be and stay famous. Though the film is almost an exact replica of the ’90s classic “She’s All That,” it fails to romanticize the teen experience in the same way. The modern update of the film stars TikTok personality Addison Rae (“Spy Cat”) as Padgett Sawyer, this century’s Zack Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr., “ScoobyDoo”). She’s a Southern Californiabased teen influencer whose social status is in peril when she loses her cool

on Instagram Live after walking in on her cheating boyfriend. She loses her sponsorship, watches her follower count plummet and decides that the only logical solution is to bet that she can make a certified “dork” named Cameron Kweller (Tanner Buchanan, “Chance”), the next prom king. It’s a classic story with a classic solution and, inevitably, Padgett and Cameron develop feelings for each other. The antics that bring Padgett and her pet project together are sweet — they scoop poop together, reveal inane secrets (like how Padgett’s mom is a nurse or that Cameron likes to take pictures) and do all the things teens do

This image is from the official trailer for “He’s All That,” distributed by Netflix.

when falling in love in an hour and a half on our computer screens. While “He’s All That” is not a story for the ages, Rae is a surprisingly good actress, offering a level of sincerity and emotion that we don’t often see in the TikTok videos the star is famous for. Predictably, this film is interesting only to the extent that it can be compared to the original. For instance, the fact that a social media landscape even exists in “He’s All That” drastically changes the dynamics of the plot. The stakes are arguably higher for Padgett than they were for Zack. While Zack’s reputation as cool guy du jour in the original is under the watchful eye of maybe three thousand people, four if we’re being generous, Padgett’s fall from glory is seen by between eight hundred thousand and nine hundred thousand people and a critical corporate representative. “The bet,” for Zack, is a way to get his mind off the blonde who broke his heart. For Padgett, it’s the difference between securing her college tuition or drowning in student debt. No matter how funny it is that they made Cameron a horse-boy instead of a falafel-slinger, Netflix can’t just let a movie be a movie. The streaming company’s favorite thing to do is make sure its characters have a moral awakening — “He’s All That” is no different. The issue here, however, is that there is simply no way to make a movie starring influencers without inadvertently insulting the very

thing that got them the part in the first place. Early in their friendship, Cameron criticizes Padgett’s need to document everything in her life, allowing Netflix to eventually drive home the tired message that what we see on social media is not the full picture. While this lesson is positive enough, it’s marred by the fact that Addison Rae is an influencer herself and on a much larger scale than her character. She has no credits to her name beyond “A-list TikToker” and “Kourtney Kardashian’s friend.” She boasts 83.5 million followers on TikTok and close to 40 million on Instagram. What’s more, Rae was at the center of a social media cheating scandal with YouTuber Bryce Hall that had people taking sides and making catchy hashtags in the same way they did for Padgett after her messy public breakup. But though these similarities make it hard to take Netflix’s high-minded scheming seriously, Addison Rae is a different story. As one of her first forays into a more “traditional” Hollywood career, “He’s All That” establishes the TikToker as a viable option for other films in the future, bringing with her a stable following for which studio executives will probably salivate. So, while I doubt many of us have plans to watch this film as religiously as the original, I also won’t be surprised if Addison Rae becomes a Netflix cast staple.

Sally Rooney’s ‘Beautiful World, Where Are You’ is required reading JULIAN WRAY Daily Arts Writer

It’s nine on Sunday morning, and Eileen is going to mass with Simon. They’ve known each other for a very long time — since they were teenagers. They’ve shared a romantic interlude in Paris, only to part for years after. They’ve woken up in bed together this morning. It’s both a notable and unexciting event, the sort that Eileen, nearing 30, clings to. The moment happens in her head more than in reality, in her heart. She watches this man she’s loved for some time now sing his praises to someone he’s never met, joined by the chorus of believers. She watches him pray. He kisses her on the cheek, and they say goodbye. In an email to her friend Alice, Eileen wonders, “Do I resent him for liking the concept of God more than he likes me?” Alice is far from her friends in Dublin. She’s chosen to rent a house in the Irish countryside after a stint in a psychiatric hospital. She’s not working. She’s not writing a new novel, which is what she usually does in these private spaces far from the world. She has plenty of money, no car, no interest in resuming her old life in the city. Soon she meets a man named Felix and brings him along on a publicity tour in Rome for her last novel. They sleep in separate bedrooms for the first few nights. In an email to Eileen, Alice asks, “But what would it be like to form a relationship with no preordained shape of any kind? Just to pour the water out and let it fall. I suppose it would take no shape, and run off in all directions.”

“Beautiful World, Where Are You,” the third novel by acclaimed Irish author Sally Rooney, is not “Normal People.” For Alice and Eileen, years have passed since the clarity and confusion of youthful romance. They believe themselves to be passed that stage of thrilling uncertainty. They’re in their late 20s; life should be happening by now, settled in some way, meaningful in some way. It’s not. Is the meaning still to come, or has the moment passed? That touch of adolescent excitement, which Rooney played to perfection in “Normal People,” is used sparingly in “Beautiful World.” Alice and Eileen debate whether they should be thrilled by their lives, but they don’t often feel thrilled. In their email correspondence, which runs through the spine of the novel, they discuss looming topics in distant regard to

themselves — the bleak hum of capitalism; the tepid reality of one’s career; the goesboth-ways struggle of friendship and love. These are not new topics for Rooney, but they’re renewed, reworked for characters settling into the dire prospect that life lasts longer than 20 or so years. But the spirit of Rooney’s unintrusive narration is as stunning as ever: “Driving back that night, the crescent moon lopsided and golden like a lifted saucer of champagne, the top buttons of her blouse were undone, she put her hand inside, touching her breastbone, they were talking about children, she had never wanted any before, but lately she wondered…” It doesn’t matter which character this is — you know them at once. You know where they are, what they want, what they think they want.

Design by Madison Grosvenor

Rooney is unmatched in her style, in the immersive draw of her prose. She doesn’t use quotation marks. She doesn’t stunt a lucid clause by binding it to a full sentence. In “Normal People,” this feeling of presence sometimes became a grotesque thing, a stunning intensity. How many conflicts could have been resolved if Marianne and Connell chose to speak their minds? But in “Beautiful World,” we are less often challenged to criticize than to concord in silence. These lives are not so simple, so young, so defined by the question of whether to speak or not to speak. Simon and Eileen’s connection is not new, it’s known: “And their phone calls, the messages they wrote to one another, their jealousies, the years of looks, suppressed smiles, their dictionary of little touches … This much was in their eyes and passed between them.” And here we are with another story about knowing someone, being known by someone. We find ourselves once more treading in that deep water, only now we’re further from the shore: “I just want everything to be like it was, Eileen said. And for us to be young again and live near each other, and nothing to be different. Alice was smiling sadly. But if things are different, can we still be friends? she asked … Crescent moon hanging low over the dark water. Tide returning now with a faint repeating rush over the sand. Another place, another time.” Readers will be initially disappointed to hear that Rooney hasn’t written another “Normal People.” She’s written something better: an honest account of the motion of life, the march forward, the dissolution of pride and self-assurance.

and Data’ shows AI as it should be MATTHEW EGGERS Daily Arts Writer

I was obsessed with the true and false binary for a very brief period in the summer of 2019. These binary statements meant everything when coding my research on a computer-generated analysis of Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics (I know that’s a little too theatre kid, but bear with me). Knowing how to categorize words in a productive way felt impossible without using something so strict as a true-andfalse parameter. Coding is not easy, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence. In a world of tech secrecy, using a binary doesn’t cut it. Binaries don’t work on complex modern problems. There is a spectrum of solutions needed to give AI the chance to shine. With restrictive AI practices, there is a world of gray that is hard to clear out. However, “Stephanie Dinkins: On Love and Data” is anything but just gray. It’s neon yellow, deep violet and a spectrum of what AI is here and now. At the School of Art & Design Stamps Gallery downtown, “Stephanie Dinkins: On Love and Data,” curated by Gallery Director Srimoyee Mitra, celebrates Dinkins’s manifesto of “Afro-now-ism”: an active statement for what art and tech should be against systemic oppression. Mitra pulls from Dinkins’s most recent works to create a place where visitors can experience AI that fosters community and generational storytelling. One of the most technically complex exhibits comes in the form of a dialogue. “Conversations with Bina48: Fragments 7, 6, 5, 2” is the recorded in-person, face-to-face interaction between Stephanie Dinkins and advanced social robot Bina48 (short for “Breakthrough Intelligence via Neural Architecture”). The four clips of conversations last about a minute each — yet, as you listen, you can hear the repetitive nature of AI emulating personal thought. They touch on love, life and Bina herself, who is perhaps the only robot who is a Black woman. Bina speaks with complex, long sets of statements. She circles around a point, shading it into existence rather than painting it all at once. If not for the stark image of Dinkins and Bina’s faces inches from touching, I might not have felt the intimate nature of their connection. Their proximity was magnetic, seeing the subtlety of Dinkins compared to the more simulated nature of Bina’s delivery. This piece, like most in the exhibit, is in that exciting space of ongoing: not quite final, everchanging. The nature of AI makes projects hard to complete — how can they be finished, when AI is evolving every second? Changing, adapting and radicalizing new ways to dismantle and connect; if anything, this constant growth gives the collection a sense of unity. Everything’s in action. Sensors, speakers and AI harmonize to create a holistic image of technology that electrifies. “Secret Garden” is the culmination of this action. An immersive installation of projectors and speakers illustrates three generations of Black women’s power and their stories. The use of space and projection breathes life into the space. A woman is seen ducking to the sides of a corner, and the projected background is composed of flora that highlights the space the women hold together. It perfectly embodies the women’s stories — stories of resilience and power in the face of generational inequality. Binaries are stupid. When it comes time to create content, whether coded or not, I shouldn’t depend on something so limited. It’s time to think about how tech can bring power to communities that have often been hurt by coding practices. “Stephanie Dinkins: On Love and Data” shows how and what AI should be. Open at the Stamps Gallery until Oct. 23, it is worth seeing Dinkins in a league of her own.

Arts

6 — Wednesday, September 8, 2021

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Six reads for the back-to-school season LILLY PEARCE, ELIZABETH YOON, MEERA KUMAR, TATE LAFRENIER Daily Book Review Writers & Editors

With the return of school comes heavy books, dense nonfiction and endless essays. To balance the hefty academic reading, the Daily’s Book Review writers have compiled a list of six must-reads for the back-toschool season. Some are summer releases that might’ve slipped under your radar, while others have been on your to-read list for years. These books are exciting, sharp and fast-paced: From celebrity memoirs to gruesome thrillers, the recommendations are perfect to combat the incoming fall semester fatigue and keep you reading for pleasure. — Lilly Pearce, Daily Book Review Editor ‘A Deadly Education’ by Naomi Novik Wonderfully funny and sharp, Novik’s novel is a post-Harry Potter fantasy response to “what if (insert all-powerful, big bad villain type here) grew up in a loving hippie household” and then went to a dangerous wizard school. The concept is ridiculous, but the novel works because it doesn’t take itself too seriously; at the same time, Novik’s novel is more than an experimental Harry Potter clone. “A Deadly Education” boasts a compelling cast of characters and brilliant world-building, and reveals Novik’s deep understanding of fantasy conventions. Some pop culture familiarity will help readers catch some of the more tongue-in-cheek references, but the novel’s charm holds even without it. — Elizabeth Yoon, Managing Arts Editor ‘Interior Chinatown’ by Charles Yu An intellectual successor to Viet Thanh Nguyen’s “The Sympathizer,” “Interior Chinatown” prods at what it means to pass through life unseen, reduced to tropes and epitaphs. Yu’s main character is an actor playing “Generic Asian Man,” but he aspires to be “Kung-Fu Guy.” Each epitaph and character comes with a predetermined plot and role. Primarily dialogue and formatted as a script, the novel delves into all the hot topics in Asian-American discourse: marginalization, the perpetual foreigner syndrome, the fetishization of Asian women. However, what sets the

novel apart is its keen understanding of internalized racism and the bounds of selfrationalization. — Elizabeth Yoon, Managing Arts Editor ‘Greenlights’ by Matthew McConaughey Matthew McConaughey’s “Greenlights” captures both the dramatic exhilaration of a celebrity memoir and the sincerity of a philosophical work of nonfiction. He reflects on his 50 years of life, starting with the tale of his family and his boyhood growing up in Texas. It’s fastpaced, hilarious and authentic all at once. McConaughey’s humor is perhaps the book’s greatest captivator — the audiobook does the book greater justice with McConaughey’s spontaneous laughter and gasps, making the book an experience rather than a simple read. His easy Southern accent provides an additional layer of warmth to his genuineness which wraps the reader in an intimate recollection of his past: memories from his first gigs, travels to rivers he swam in, dreams and rites of passages he failed and fulfilled. It’s the kind of book you read twice: First, to laugh and listen; second, to learn. — Lilly Pearce, Daily Book Review Editor ‘One Last Stop’ by Casey McQuiston The New York Times best-selling author Casey McQuiston’s “One Last Stop” is a contemporary queer romance set in New York with an interesting twist. It begins with August, a 20-something transfer student, fleeing her mother and her obsession with her brother’s cold case. August is a self-proclaimed loner but finds it difficult to fight her solitary tendencies when she starts to fall for the girl on the train, Jane Su. The problem is that Jane can’t get off the subway, nor can she remember how long she’s been on it. With the help of her roommates, August tries to solve the mystery and help Jane — but it might mean that saving her means they’ll never see each other again. McQuiston does a wonderful job balancing the fantastical elements of unsolved mysteries with the realistic sentiments of romance and friendship, making “One Last Stop” a must-read. — Lilly Pearce, Daily Book Review Editor

Design by Megan Young

‘Goodbye, Again: Essays, Reflections, and Illustrations’ by Jonny Sun Throughout Sun’s debut essay collection, plants pop up repeatedly: Their resilience is described in “Cactus,” their struggle for stimulation is detailed in “Pothos” and their sensitive nature is profiled in “Air Plant.” In “Succulent,” Sun writes, “Never water a succulent to try to get it to grow faster. It will not grow faster. You will drown its roots and the roots will rot and then the plant will die.” It’s a line I’ve been thinking of often. Plants often represent the self, and this essay collection is no exception. Sun describes his previous struggles with self-preservation while describing plants with care. Ultimately, “Goodbye, Again” sneaks up on you. It doesn’t make any large promises, and maybe that’s part of its charm. Sun reflects on the mundane, offering up a carefully-guarded piece of himself. Don’t tear through the book like I did (the first time); Sun’s labor of love deserves to be savored in tender, comforting chunks.

In “Peperomia,” Sun writes of a rebirth: “Over time, with a little bit of watering a few times a week, a tiny sprout grew, with two tiny, fragile leaves reaching up. And now something else is growing, a new plant, in the same spot as my first plant. Like some sort of rebirth.” “Goodbye, Again” is Sun’s unmissable transition into an essayist. — Meera Kumar, Daily Arts Writer ‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn I’m not sure if I read Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” the way it was intended to be read. Don’t get me wrong, I love the concept of the death of the author — in fact, one of my favorite aspects of literature is its allowance for observers to take away meanings that are radically different from the author’s intentions. But I’ve read some interviews by Flynn, and the themes I pulled from the novel were clearly not intentional on her part. Yet that’s what makes “Gone Girl” so exhilarating for me. This psychological thriller follows Nick

‘Annette’ is an audacious, chaotic, mesmerizing tragedy

Release Date: Wednesday, September 8, 2021

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Dunne, a suspect in the disappearance and presumed murder of his wife, Amy. Without spoiling anything, there comes a point in the novel when you’re clearly supposed to feel bad for Nick — many people I’ve talked to can vouch for this — but I never did. But, in all honesty, this made the novel all the more captivating, because it was so fleshed out that it took on a life of its own, independent of Flynn’s imagination. Flynn’s ability to write complex and morally dubious characters and build tension by contrasting Nick and Amy’s perspectives resulted in an explosive novel I finished in one sitting. And, in spite of how delightfully tangled the characters’ schemes and webs become, Flynn manages to craft the perfect ending, so uniquely hopeless yet appropriate that it reminds me of masterpieces such as Jean-Paul Sartre’s play “No Exit.” Needless to say, my experience reading this novel will stay with me for a long time. — Tate LaFrenier, Daily Arts Writer

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WHISPER WHISPER “Classic yellow.”

“Game day!”

09/08/21

MITCHEL GREEN Daily Arts Writer

“Annette” tries to throw the audience off from the outset. Over a blank screen, a voice tells the audience that noise of any kind, including breathing, will not be tolerated during the film. This transitions right into the opening number, asking the audience for permission to start the film while introducing the main characters. It’s an opening that will either have you immediately hooked or rolling your eyes and looking for the exits. The film is not afraid to take bold risks, and once it has you in its grasp, it refuses to let go. “Annette” follows the marriage of comedian Henry McHenry (Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”) and opera singer Ann Defrasnoux (Marion Cotillard, “Inception”). These professions perfectly convey the film’s tone with the combination of the sadistic, dark comedy of a shock comedian and the big, emotional melodrama of an opera singer. The couple has a child named Annette, portrayed by a wooden puppet, the center of tension between Henry and Ann. By making Annette a puppet, the filmmakers avoid gambling on the performance of a child actor, while enhancing the themes of Henry’s control in all domains of life. Director Leos Carax (“Holy Motors”) bombards the audience with unexpected twists, yet almost none of them would work without the completely committed central performances of Driver and Cotillard. It doesn’t matter what kind of ridiculous nonsense Carax asks them to do in a given scene; both actors are fully on board and give everything they have to get earn the emotional investment of viewers. Driver delivers one of the best performances of his

already illustrious career as he compels you to be on the side of a truly despicable man. The physicality of his performance, aided by his tall frame and full use of his remarkable skill as an actor, captivates the audience. During the scenes where Henry is performing stand-up, Driver expertly navigates the conf lict with both the crowds at his shows and himself, and he perfectly portrays the character losing his mind. As expected from a f ilm that swings for the fences almost ever y second of its 141-minute runtime, some choices strike out. The songs are surprisingly weak for a musical, and while they work f ine within the context of the f ilm, they aren’t going to be stuck in your head for weeks af ter hearing them. The film also drags on a bit in the second half. A new plot development at the midpoint means it takes time to ramp up a new conf lict, killing the film’s existing momentum. Once the new tension between Henry and his daughter is developed, “Annette” once again becomes entirely engrossing, but the tedium may lose viewers who weren’t totally sold by the film from the start. “Annette” has been a polarizing film since it opened the Cannes Film Festival back in July, which isn’t unexpected given the outlandish choices the film makes. However, these are exactly the kinds of films that make the medium so wonderful. It’s a film that doesn’t play it safe and isn’t concerned about crashing and burning. It’s a film that, if enough people were to see it, should spark fascinating discussions for months, if not years. Not all of it works, but “Annette” is one of the best films of the year so far precisely because not all of it works. It makes for a far more interesting and invigorating experience than something that aims lower and succeeds.

Michigan in Color

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, September 8, 2021 — 7

when will I be enough and cuándo no me da miedo cuando sales KATHERINA ANDRADE-OZAETTA Assistant MiC Editor I. “Why I Write” II. “Selfish” III. “Ghost”

I imagine many people feel this way during transitional periods of their life. I was really driven by these emotions when writing this collection because I wanted to finally confront it. I wanted to understand the times where I felt like I could not compare to someone else or that I wasn’t worth fighting for.

IV. “But You Made Me This Way”

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II. Selfish

V. “An Empty House” VI. “Of Family”

I. Why I Write Writing has always been my way of coping with the world around me. When I feel something, I pull up my Notes application and write as much as I can manage coherently. But, I have kept these writings to myself. In my published writing, I have always limited myself to comfortable topics, which often means other people’s experiences and feelings. I want to challenge that. In fear of people actually knowing my opinions, I have always kept them to myself. This is ironic because I usually admire authors whose work is rooted in authenticity and honesty, so I have decided to try to honor that in my work moving forward. The first step was to approach my writing from a vulnerable standpoint. I wanted to write about the experiences this past year that had made me the most uncomfortable and still felt raw. It was important for me to write about these situations because it allowed me to confront them and explore new topics. The second step was to incorporate my Notes. In the following poems and stories, there are fragments of Notes from where I drew inspiration. I was influenced to start incorporating some of these raw thoughts into my work when I read Catherine Lacey for a class. Though she is not my favorite author, I am really impressed by the raw emotion she captures in her work. During quarantine, I was also inspired by a book I read, “Normal People” by Sally Rooney. In the book, her descriptions of intimacy between the two main characters made me consider how I can portray intimacy inspired by my previous relationships. These two authors really grounded me on the journey I went on in my writing and provided me inspiration when I was severely lacking some. This work aims at capturing my emotional state during a weird period of my life. In the past year, I found myself dealing with feelings of inadequacy in both my romantic life and my family life. Not only did I not feel like I am enough for other people, but I didn’t feel enough for myself.

ARIES

There’s a fresh start for your mental health this week, and events in your love life look bright and cheerful too – lots to enjoy.

TAURUS

Stepping out of your comfort zone brings you abundance and new opportunities, and as Venus heads into your love zone, romance is sure to beckon.

i kissed my world and i told him “love me” forgetting our lovers or children what i want is to be held by my world i know if I can’t have what I want i want it more i climb, struggle, fight i reach my understanding world and squeeze him ***

III. Ghost A hand presses against my thigh Begging- to go higher Calloused hands tell me a story last year December, when she broke your heart Even though you gave everything you were still Fighting till your knuckles bled but soon you were forgotten Gone for a while but I was still painfully aware of you Hearts pounding, your breathing a rough staccato “I want you,” you say Just barely a stutter Kiss me, Kiss me Love me, Love me Me, Not her, never her Open your eyes Please see me Quiet except for the rustle of clothes Regret, so heavy, screaming at you She’s here There, filling the space between Us, Veiled in each murmur, each touch, each kiss Where you picture your X, leaving me thinking Yearning to be enough Zelotypia- excessive jealous

Design by Jessica Chiu

Dark figures shadows orange embers There’s intimacy in that You force my palm against the heat One finger at a time, you mold me in your image Where is the intimacy in that? In creating a monster out of a woman You molded me in your violent image And cursed the burns inflicted In creating a phoenix out of a woman Gray tendrils overcome the sky And embrace the burns inflicted The match is burnt and I*** V. An Empty House

IV. ButYou Made Me This Way The match is burning and I can’t stop it Orange embers paint shadowy figures of the dark Gray tendrils fight to rise against the sky You caress my palm against the heat

This house is not their home. Rats eat at the peeling walls, paint primer opens on its side, the wind pushes the solution to slowly cover the half-written plans as the bucket is almost empty

Father is tall, a formidable figure that lacks fear and affection, but whenever he talks about his own father, there is a certain kindness to his voice that he lacks when speaking to his three children. The eldest, Hermana, listens attentively. Her gangly limbs hang disproportionately to one another, having hit that awkward period of growth where she is in constant flux. She repeatsw her father’s Spanish in her head, rolling the words around, willing them to make sense.

This house is our home. Wallpaper lovingly placed against paint primer, a bucket of paint, which acts as a stool as our son writes the plans for his room that was once empty

PISCES

YOUR WEEKLY

There’s excitement around the New Moon in your love zone, but you’re also on the lookout for synchronistic signs from the cosmos this week.

AQUARIUS

WHISPER

Self-development vibes are excellent this week, and Mars gives you the impetus you needed to get past a trauma, fear or phobia.

GEMINI

CAPRICORN Keep an open mind this week as your viewpoints and opinions are challenged. In love, there could be a surprise encounter.

“Jingle-jingle-jongle.”

CANCER Karmic links strengthen between you and your partner if you’re in love; with Venus heading into your dating zone, this is a good week to be single too.

SAGITTARIUS Lots of work to do this week, as the New Moon shines from your career zone; you’ll also be joyfully busy with a community project.

“I collect Legos.”

LEO

VIRGO

This week’s New Moon brings abundance and prosperity while loving family links make all your hard work worthwhile.

The Virgo New Moon boosts your confidence, while Venus and Jupiter conspire to boost your income – what a lovely week!

Vivid color encompasses the darkened landscape. Green sways, fighting to stand strong against the wind. A gentle rustle whispers among the plants that create the softest sound. In the mountains, there is no light pollution, no smog, no noise. There is nothing except for this and the soft breaths of a family gazing up.The dark blue sea in the sky is endless, where little islands shine in a kaleidoscope of light. Once the eye has adjusted to the dark, four figures become distinct. “This was the same place your grandfather decided to leave the island. He saw the stars and knew there was a life for his future beyond this pueblo. La familia regalaron todo a él. Y él regaló su vida por nosotros.”

“Al dusty!”

The New Moon in your family zone is very encouraging – this is a great week to move on from family dramas and into much more positive territory.

VI. Of Family

This house is not a home. Walls peeling, a bucket of paint primer left to its own devices, half-written plans scattered across the floor drift with the wind from the half-open window and it’s all empty

This house is no longer a home. Vines grow with its age, covering rat eaten wallpaper, the floor decorated with rat prints and paint and yellowing halfwritten plans that don’t make it look empty

***

***

LIBRA This looks set to be a relaxing, enjoyable, laid-back week, but do be careful not to go crazy with lavish spending plans.

SCORPIO Friendships are highly significant this week, and you may be called upon to lead in your tribe.

Read your weekly horoscopes from astrology.tv

“Dad, what does regalo mean?” Her face burns, flooding with shame. She should know this. “His family gave him their entire savings. Every single one of them sacrificed what they had earned for him to build a future for everyone. Abuelito had to take their gift and leave them for the future. He didn’t stop when he missed his home. He didn’t stop when home missed him. He didn’t stop when his father died. He stopped once he succeeded. He ran back home to what was left of his family and gave them the future he had fought for.”

Tears swell in her eyes as she inhales. Chiquita is spellbound by the colors around her. Stark red and gold lay flush against the grey concrete. Bodies thrash against the music, which is primarily bass and conversations that turn into a roar. “It’s beautiful,” she whispers to herself. She’s seeing double as the colors begin to blur into one another. She lays down on the floor. Cool metal presses against her back. There are stars in the industrial ceiling, ones only she can see. She makes out the constellations, reaching out to touch one. From Hermano 1:39 AM: What r u doing? We talked about this NO more If she just took another hit, then she could get there, to abuelito’s stars. 1:50 AM: U are wasting ur life away Burning in her throat, she attempts to get off the club floor. “Great party,” a man in a grey mask says as he passes. She thinks she says thanks before everything grew too hazy and 2:00 AM: This is what ur going to do with what abuelito left u – The light from his Klipsk personal office unit, purchased from IKEA, one in rows and rows of offices. Pain radiates between each knuckle, a familiar feeling of fatigue roots itself within him. Hermano stares at the door, wondering if it is time to go home. His grandfather, in the photo, stares back at him from his desk.

“Papi, he hit me!”

“Why don’t you work harder,” his grandfather’s brown eyes, so similar to his own, mock him. “When I was your age, I had immigrated here with a family of four and worked till the skin on my hands se rompieron y tu quieres ir ahora?” His grandfather’s voice manifested from his own imagination.

The littlest one, Chiquita, clutches her arm in pain, a big tear trickling down her cheek. She shoves the slightly taller boy beside her. Hermano yelps, echoing across the green. Their father continues to look at the stars.

“I’m trying,” he responds into the empty air. It would never be enough. The sacrifices that he makes will never be equivalent to his grandfather’s. Despite his hands’ protest, the brother continues to work into the long night.

–

–

She is no longer an imbalance of limbs. As years pass, the awkwardness of Hermana’s youth shaped itself into a reflection of her grandmother. She sees her grandmother’s hair in the mirror as she brushes out her own thick, curly hair into flat, black terrain. This was her first day of graduate school, another step on her path to her own individual success. On her own. Not on the back of her grandfather’s legacy but of her own work. Of her own effort. She reminds herself of this as she walks into her first classroom. Especially when she tells her students a fake last name, denying her family in the process. The same feeling she had on that starry night blossoms fiercely within her, flushing her face with shame.

They never have nights like this anymore. Green encompassed the landscape; the “Variegata” had taken over all the available garden space in Abuelito’s house. On the hill, his home stands far away from the light of the town. The air is different up here. Clean. The siblings exhale. Identical brown eyes search one another for relief. Reuniting is never a simple reflex; sentences start and are left unfinished. Pauses are a near constant. But, despite the difficulty, side by side, they could exist. No thoughts of accomplishment, of work, of legacy, only the warmth of being embraced by family, of acceptance.

Thump

Senior MiC Editor Katherina Andrade–Ozaetta can be reached at kjao@umich.edu.

Opinion

8 — Wednesday, September 8, 2021

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It’s the end of the world as we know it. How could we feel fine? ANDREW GERACE Opinion Columnist *** Author’s Note: This article should be read with R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” playing in headphones. If that song is not available, Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” is an author-approved substitute. hile it’s been a terrible year and a half for almost everything, it’s been a great time for R.E.M.’s 1987 hit single “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” The song has steadily crept back into our playlists, radio stations and general psyche during the past two years. Growing up, I used to listen to the song frequently and found its satirical, nihilistic tone to be quite comforting. In the aftermath of 9/11, living through the 2008 economic crash and the beginning of regular school shootings, it’s clear our generation was dealt a tough hand at a young age, a fact that has heavily shaped our lives. American stability has never been a comfort we could enjoy — even before the COVID-19 pandemic — and is certainly not something I foresee us enjoying in the near future. As I’ve recently been listening to the song, the end of the chorus has stuck out to me. For those unfamiliar, the chorus: It’s the end of the world as we know it, It’s the end of the world as we know it, It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. The last time I listened to the song, that line in the chorus “and I feel fine” hit me like a sack of bricks. In many ways, it does feel like the world is ending, certainly as we know it. And I most certainly do not feel fine! How do we individually process issues that so greatly affect the collective? From the ongoing pandemic to reports of the devastating effects of climate change; to the societal upheaval and fracturing we’ve witnessed from the steps of the Capitol Building to our own living rooms, it seems like the world is falling out from under us. I

W

think these feelings of grief, despair, sadness and anger are natural, and we should accept and feel them when they arrive. However, we should not let them stifle our other emotions. I’ve found a few strategies that have helped me process living through this series of unfortunate events we find ourselves in; strategies that both allow me to be involved in creating solutions while also taking care of my mental health. Going forward, I urge you to consider these strategies for yourself or to at least begin to engage with some of these topics. First and foremost, creating an intentional consumption, and lack thereof, of media surrounding overwhelming topics has been key in preventing me from spiraling when addressing such topics. Finding time to hold space for stillness or taking a step back from certain topics is crucial in preventing a given issue from becoming overwhelming. When things become overwhelming they can become all-consuming, where one may feel hyper-fixated or unable to focus or act upon anything else. Alternatively, they can become compartmentalized, where one refuses to engage with a topic to prevent further emotions when addressing it. Both these responses prevent us from feeling the natural range of human emotions that should accompany our lives and perspectives on these topics. A simple way to hold time for yourself is to segment time in your day to engage with a certain topic, like climate change or politics, therefore allowing you to engage with these critical issues thoughtfully. This provides you with space during the rest of the day to focus on other things, knowing you have addressed or will address those areas of concern. This promotes healthy reflection, action and engagement with these overwhelming topics. Other ways to help include adding filters to Instagram and Twitter accounts to limit the amount you consume regarding a certain topic while on the apps. Unexpected engagements with depressing articles can be incredibly demoralizing without producing any positive engagement or action.

Another strategy I’ve found, and one that is especially possible at the beginning of the school year, is to get involved with on-campus initiatives that can create local impact regarding topics of concern. While the doom and gloom surrounding a host of issues sometimes feel hopeless, getting involved on campus to make a local impact is incredibly important both for creating change and helping us feel the spectrum of feelings that accommodate our current situation. Being involved on campus in the work on topics like climate justice, racial justice, economic equality or sustainable living creates a sense of hope and purpose towards addressing those topics while simultaneously actually helping make change around them. So many wonderful groups exist on campus that are doing the work to engage and combat many of these seemingly insurmountable problems. A final strategy is to just do something else, anything else. I often found these doomsday-like topics (that are frankly our reality for the foreseeable future) could quite literally push me into a corner. Feeling trapped and hopeless, I spent much more time thinking about all the things I could and should be doing than doing any of it. While we try to ‘what-if’ ourselves to death on a host of topics in an unhealthy and unproductive manner, finding something that works to combat these overwhelming feelings is imperative to preserving our mental health and working to fight these tough topics. Go on a walk, have an impromptu dance party, call your grandma. Don’t think, just break the ice. At the end of the day, we’re all navigating what R.E.M. would describe as “the end of the world as we know it.” While we live through it, work our best to fight against it and ultimately see where current times lead us, we shouldn’t always feel fine. The “end of the world as we know it” can be quite daunting, scary and bleak — we should embrace this reality with authenticity and care. As we do so, let’s do our best to laugh, smile, cry, love, grieve, work, rest and take care of ourselves along the way.

COVID-19 hurt our social skills — it’s time to bounce back SAM WOITESHEK Opinion Columnist

A

s far as I can remember, I’ve always enjoyed interacting and conversing with other people. Peers and mentors would tell me I had a “dynamic personality” that would help me later on in life. This must be a positive quality, I assumed, and I refused to give my social ability any more thought than that. In winter 2020, I elected to attend the University of Michigan. I immediately figured meeting people would be one of the easiest, most enjoyable aspects of freshman year. I was coming off the adrenaline high that was my senior year of high school, reassuring and providing me with newfound social confidence. Then everything changed. COVID-19 hit. Cases went up. Dorms shut down. One year later, I blinked and realized I had spent the entirety of my first year in college at the same desk, looking at the same view of my subdivision, as I had done for the past 12 years.

The hardest part was not seeing anyone for eight months. I woke up, got a glimpse of my classmates in a pixelated box, ate food, did homework and went to bed. If I had elected to go to campus in-person, perhaps this would not have been the case. I will never know. When I started my job this past summer on the staff of a local golf course, I quickly realized my new, once-unfathomable reality: I hadn’t socialized with anyone in eight months, let alone 14 soon-tobe coworkers. Once I grasped the situation, the social rust began to show. It’s almost like I forgot how to do the very thing that helped me get to where I am today: talk. The first month or so at the golf course was rough. Talking to golfers, colleagues and the like, I stuttered, slurred words or — worst of all — would zone out in the middle of a one-on-one conversation. I began to stick to company lines instead of improvising original material. No golfer enjoys being fed the same three sentences from everyone on staff, but somehow that was all I could muster. I was completely lost. What the heck is going on?, I thought to myself. Am

Congress is weakening the National Environmental Policy Act. That’s good for the environment. JULIAN BARNARD Opinion Senior Editor

BRITTANY BOWMAN

Editorial Page Editors

I okay? Frustrated and dumbfounded, I searched for answers. Chris Segrin, a scientist at the University of Arizona with an emphasis in interpersonal relationships, claims that “social skills are like athletic skills. If you don’t practice them for a long time, they atrophy.” Okay, I thought, but why does it still feel like it’s only me navigating this intrapersonal uncertainty? It turns out I wasn’t alone. According to a study conducted by Harvard University’s School of Education, 61% of young adults ages 18-25 reported “miserable degrees of loneliness” during the pandemic. In all honesty, my post-quarantine social sluggishness was not only common, it was perfectly normal. *** I’ve never given much thought to the introvert-extrovert debate, because I believe most people are a healthy blend of both. After the past year and a half, however, I’m wondering if we’ve all become introverts, with some of us trying to claw our way back to extroversion again.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

I

t is a wonderful month for infrastructure! On Aug. 10 this year, the U.S. Senate passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Along with $39 billion for public transit and $65 billion for broadband, this bill would also streamline the federal environmental impact assessment process. This included codifying a Trump-era executive order intended to speed up certain federal projects, as well as amending how the federal government applies the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA is the most influential piece of federal environmental policy in recent history. Former President Richard Nixon signed the NEPA into law in early 1970. Originally a piece of legislation meant to protect the environment, it has been perverted by proponents of a “not in my back yard” or NIMBY ideology to do the opposite. The actual text of the law is benign, merely requiring that federal agencies assess the environmental impacts of any projects that are undertaken by the government or that need a federal permit. Unfortunately, in the 50 years since the law’s enactment, the implementation of the act has spiraled into a web of obstruction and lawsuits that shocks many European regulators and planners alike.

While environmental groups like Earthjustice and the NRDC have criticized the move to streamline NEPA, this was absolutely the right decision. Current applications of environmental regulations are in and of themselves environmentally harmful, as they are often the cause of the death, extreme delay and extreme cost for the sorts of projects that we need most desperately, such as highdensity housing or public transit. Is it hyperbolic of me to say that an environmental protection law is harming the environment? A little, but let’s look at the facts. The United States is one of the most expensive countries to build infrastructure. According to the Niskanen Center, the average environmental impact statement takes around 4.5 years to complete. Regularly over 1,000 pages, these documents cost development entities, both in the public and private sectors, billions of dollars in delays. Running on average around 600 pages, these documents have to be thorough because they are subjected to an odious legal gauntlet from homeowners associations and other aggrieved parties. But what does that mean in terms of how much extra cold hard cash is spent on projects? As Vox journalist Jerusalem Desmas reported, a recent New York City Second Avenue subway expansion project cost taxpayers $2.6 billion per mile. San

Francisco’s Central Subway Project took $920 million, and the Los Angeles Metro’s D Line spent a cool $800 million per mile. A very similar project in Copenhagen? Practically free at $323 million per mile. In Italy and Spain, these types of projects can be as cheap as $160 million per mile. It is not out of the question to say that with European centralization of transportation authorities, we could get as much as 10 times the bang for our buck compared to the present day. This obstruction is deadly. Every public transit project delayed is another pedestrian killed by a motorist. Every day delayed is another thousand tons of carbon spit into the atmosphere by bulky SUVs and pickups. So yes, of course, we should pay attention to the environmental impact of action. But, we should also consider the environmental cost of inaction: the cost of continuing in our carcentric, human-unfriendly method of development, continuing even when the laws of both capitalism and human nature tell us that we need to change. The NEPA is still a largely beneficial bill, requiring the government to be deliberate in the actions they take and how they affect the environment.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Dismantle white veganism, but don’t reject veganism altogether MARY ROLFES Opinion Columnist

L

ast November saw the continuation of a local tradition in Rochester, N.Y., where hundreds of women adorned the grave of Susan B. Anthony with their “I Voted” stickers. The act is a nod to the role she played in earning women the right to vote. But the tradition glosses over a major problem with the history of the women’s suffrage movement: It was done almost entirely for the benefit of white women. Anthony was willing to denigrate Black men to advance white women’s suffrage. Her contemporary Elizabeth Cady Stanton was explicitly racist, and both women left the work of Black activists out of their narrative of early feminism. The prioritization of white women at the expense of people of color dominated mainstream feminism during the 20th century and still does today. This branch of advocacy has become a distinct form of “feminism” known as white feminism, and has been rightly criticized and called out. However, I’m not writing today to call out Anthony or Stanton or to critique white feminism (although you should definitely spend time reading pieces that do). Rather, I’m using the feminist movement’s struggle with white feminism as a framework of comparison for another advocacy movement that’s struggling severely with pervasive whiteness in its mainstream: veganism. That very word may have made you cringe. Vegans aren’t winning any popularity contests anytime soon, and lots of stereotypes surround the movement, one of them being that of whiteness. Perhaps the image conjured in your mind when you think of a vegan is a white person decked out in Lululemon and nonleather Birkenstocks toting a Whole Foods bag filled with cashews and quinoa. Maybe, more negatively, you also thought of this person speaking down to others and demanding that everyone go vegan regardless of circumstance, while also refusing to acknowledge the privileges that allow them to have choice in their diets. The prevalence of whiteness in mainstream veganism has made many want to reject the ideas of veganism entirely, claiming it’s a “gateway to white supremacy” or that it’s intrinsically racist, ableist and classist. White veganism is so damaging that many are outright dismissing a movement and philosophy which seeks to end the suffering and exploitation of billions of animals each year and which has “as far as is possible and practicable” built into its definition. The relationship between veganism and white veganism is very

similar to that between feminism and white feminism. Both movements have been and still are progressing through the work of people of color — work that has often gone unnoticed or uncredited. The white version of both movements is fundamentally opposed to the true goals of each movement, serving only white and often middle-class people at the expense of others, helping them benefit from oppressive systems rather than dismantling those systems entirely. White people who appropriate each movement refuse to acknowledge their own privileges and the constrained circumstances and choices others face that may limit their activism, contrasting with the intersectional approach both movements should be pursuing. However, there is a dissimilarity between feminism and veganism in how their white counterparts have impacted their perception as a whole. While many acknowledge white feminism is a problem and it needs to be stopped, they still believe the fundamental purposes of feminism — to advance gender equity and human rights — are legitimate, and that feminism is still valid and important. But when it comes to veganism, its white form has given people license to dismiss it entirely. While this is frustrating, it’s partially on us; vegans have not done enough to quarantine or reject whiteness from veganism. However, I also think veganism’s detractors should genuinely reflect on their criticisms of veganism and evaluate if they may be motivated by their discomfort with veganism’s implications and goals.

can’t follow any vegans who are white, but make sure the white vegans you choose to support aren’t perpetuating white veganism and that your understanding of veganism is also informed by voices of color. Similarly, call out animal rights organizations that perpetuate the image of veganism as a “white thing” and demand they make space for diversity in veganism. And this definitely doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be or become vegan or advocate for veganism if you’re white — I’m writing this as a white vegan. But you must make an effort to be educated on and cognizant of how pervasive whiteness is in mainstream veganism, in order to avoid perpetuating white veganism and to ensure your advocacy is intersectional. This also entails rejecting plant-based capitalism and acknowledging that we will never end the oppression of humans and animals under an economic system based on exploitation. In the poignant and revolutionary words of Audre Lorde, “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” This is true whether we’re talking about sexism and the patriarchy or speciesism and animal oppression. White veganism is a problem. If vegan advocacy wants to end the oppression and advance the rights of animals, it needs to distinguish white veganism from veganism as a whole and reject it, much like many feminists have done with white feminism. Veganism has a problem with racism, but we can isolate and remove this appropriation of the movement and work to uphold intersectional veganism in a way that benefits all humans and animals.

Design by Melissa Lee

On our end, vegans must root out whiteness from our practice and advocacy on both the individual and systemic levels. Unfollow and stop supporting influencers that perpetuate white veganism, such as sisters Ellen Fisher and Hannah McNeely or the somewhat infamous Freelee the Banana Girl, and make room in your feed for vegans of color like Jenné Claiborne, Joanne Molinaro and Nisha Vora, among many others. This doesn’t mean you

As for non-vegans who still believe veganism should be rejected entirely due to mainstream prioritization of whiteness: Would you reject feminism entirely on the same grounds? If not, you may need to reconsider whether it’s really white veganism preventing you from supporting veganism, or if you’re unable to confront the reality and magnitude of animal exploitation at this time. But if you ever decide you are ready, veganism will have space for you, no matter who you are.

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, September 8, 2021 — 9

After shaky start, pass defense settles in against Western Michigan BRENDAN ROOSE

Daily Sports Editor

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

Michigan junior quarterback Cade McNamara ran the offense the way it was meant to be run Saturday.

In season opener, McNamara performs as hoped JARED GREENSPAN

Daily Sports Editor

The last time Cade McNamara took the field in Michigan Stadium, little went according to plan. Facing Penn State in his first collegiate start last November, McNamara finished just 12-of25 through the air for 91 yards before leaving the game early with a shoulder injury. Unable to muster any offense, Michigan slogged through a 10-point loss. Saturday told a different story. In the Wolverines’ 2021 season-opener, McNamara flourished, going 9-of-11 with 136 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns, leading Michigan to a 47-14 victory. By the time he departed with 5:48 minutes left in the third quarter, the Wolverines had a comfortable 26-point lead with McNamara having engineered four touchdown drives. “He moves our team,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said after the game. “All the drives he’s been in — we score points when he’s out there.” Entering the season, some anticipated a quarterback competition would unfold between McNamara, prized 5-star freshman J.J. McCarthy and Texas Tech transfer Alan Bowman. Instead, the Michigan coaching staff handed the reins to McNamara without much of a contest. One game in, the returns are undeniably positive. McNamara’s performance against the Broncos was not flawless, but growing pains are to be expected from a first-time full-time starting quarterback.

A pair of McNamara’s passes were batted down at the line of scrimmage, perhaps a product of poor pass protection; on a separate series, McNamara missed a wide-open Roman Wilson for a would-be touchdown, instead electing to dump the ball off in the flat. After the game, McNamara noted that the offense had one communication mishap which he took fault for. For now, Michigan has no choice but to ride out McNamara’s learning curve. The miscues are certainly palatable when accompanied by the consistent production that McNamara provided on Saturday. From the onset, McNamara appeared comfortable. On Michigan’s first drive, the Wolverines set the game’s tone, steamrolling their way 75 yards down the field in 3:51 minutes. McNamara completed his only two pass attempts, ran the offense with tempo and helped complete a fourth down conversion. As the Wolverines continue to place an emphasis on the run game — which multiple players have labeled as the team’s offensive identity — McNamara’s opportunities to sling the ball downfield may be limited. Yet, when called to do so against Western Michigan, he executed with precision, a trait that plagued his predecessor, Joe Milton. Early in the second quarter, McNamara dropped in a beautiful pass down the sideline for senior receiver Ronnie Bell, who made a tremendous catch that was called back due to a dubious offensive pass interference call. On the very next possession, McNamara found Bell

again, floating in a perfectly placed spiral that Bell took the distance for a 76-yard touchdown. “They were showing us a few different things that we were expecting,” McNamara said. “I was able to recognize it and was able to see the 1-on-1 with Ronnie. He made a great route, and all I had to do was put it out front for him.” McNamara makes it sound simple, but for a Michigan offense hoping to assert itself in the running game, he may not be asked to do much more. In the second half, McNamara attempted just two passes on two total drives. Still, one of those drives resulted in a touchdown following a 74-yard jet sweep to sophomore receiver A.J. Henning. If McNamara can continue to complete passes like the one to Bell on a consistent basis, Michigan would appear to be in good hands. “I think whatever the gameplan sees fit will determine our run-to-pass ratio,” McNamara said. “I don’t mind — I thought the calling today was perfect. We got the job done. Running the ball a little bit more, I don’t mind that, it makes my job a little bit easier.” McNamara’s difficulty is only amplified from this point forward. A primetime matchup against No. 20 Washington on Saturday, Sept. 11, and with Bell’s status suddenly precarious following a right leg injury, he may be without his mostdependable option for the long haul. But for one game, at least, McNamara gave the Wolverines all they could have asked for.

At first, it looked as if nothing had changed. On Western Michigan’s first drive against the Michigan football team on Saturday, it had no trouble picking apart defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald’s “new-look” defense. On the first play, a receiver found himself open on a crossing route but dropped the open pass. Moments later, senior cornerback Gemon Green — the team’s strongest corner in 2020 — got beat overthe-top for a 28-yard gain. As the Wolverines continued to struggle in coverage, the Broncos easily marched down the field and quickly evened the score at seven. But somewhere en route to Michigan’s 47-14 thumping of Western Michigan, those problems dissipated. As if spurred by the possibility that significant struggles could derail the entire season, the Wolverines’ defensive backs glued themselves to opposing wideouts and paralyzed the Broncos’ initially lively passing game. Those seven points on the first drive ended up as their only non-garbage-time points of the game. “I thought (Macdonald) did a great job mixing the coverages,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. “Right before the second half, (he) started going to more of a two-high shell as we were stopping the run and playing more coverage, which made their quarterback hold the ball a little bit longer, and

we were able to apply some pressure.” Those adjustments made an immediate impact. After forfeiting 89 yards and 8-for-12 passing in the first quarter, Michigan held Western Michigan to just one completion for no gain on six attempts in the second quarter. In total, the Wolverines allowed 11 completions for 102 yards in the final three quarters. Central to that improvement was junior Daxton Hill, who played mostly as a nickel corner after starting as a deep safety last season. Playing closer to the line of scrimmage, Hill was more regularly involved in the pass defense and used his athleticism not just to disrupt passes that went his way, but also to disguise coverages and confuse Broncos quarterback Kaleb Eleby. Even when he looked beat, Hill managed to make plays, such as late in the third quarter when he dove to break up a pass over the middle near midfield. “That position makes a big difference for us in the back seven,” senior cornerback Vincent Gray said. “Because his disguises and what he does with his disguise plays a big role in the quarterback’s checks. … Whether he’s blitzing or whether he’s not blitzing, the coverage he’s playing or not playing, they’re pretty much looking at him to see what we’re in, so him moving around and giving him different looks is really good for us in the back seven.” The defensive front, too, played a major role in Michi-

gan’s improved pass defense. After struggling to get enough push early on, the Wolverines’ blitzers — led by senior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and junior defensive lineman Mazi Smith — wore down the offensive line and put more pressure on Eleby as the game wore on. Ultimately, that effort was highlighted by a third quarter strip sack from Hutchinson. There were, of course, still some shaky moments. On Western Michigan’s last drive of the first half, Gray found himself beat over the top by Broncos receiver Jaylen Hall. Hall ended up dropping the pass, but the play still demonstrated how, even when Michigan drops into zone, opposing offenses will find ways to get the one-on-one matchups they want. Regardless of the scheme, the cornerbacks still need to be able to run with receivers, and if they can’t, the problems of 2020 will persist. Still, the Wolverines’ staff seems to recognize that. The willingness to adjust after those first quarter struggles marks a departure from the defenses of years past. A win over Western Michigan only says so much about the team’s overall improvement, but any remaining questions will almost certainly be answered next week against Washington. “We haven’t done anything yet,” Gray said. “We can improve a lot. We made a lot of mistakes that probably will go unnoticed.” Added Hutchinson: “We haven’t done a damn thing.”

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

Michigan junior defensive back Daxton Hill used his athleticism to impact the passing game.

Blake Corum shows his dynamic abilities in first game of season BRENDAN ROOSE

Daily Sports Editor

As the offseason dwindled down and the predictions for the 2021 season started to pour in, it didn’t take long for the comparisons to start.

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Blake Corum — the Michigan football team’s athletic 5-foot-8 sophomore running back — bore a strikingly similar figure to Mike Hart, the legendary 5-foot-9 former rusher who returned this season as the Wolverines’ running backs coach. Writers, of course, happily pointed out that similarity.

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Hart, though, was quick to dismiss the narrative. “He works a lot harder,” Hart said on Aug. 19. “… He’s a lot faster than me, a lot quicker than me. If I was that fast, I’d probably still be in the NFL.” One of the main questions facing the Michigan offense entering the season was how it would divide up carries within its talented, albeit shallow, running-backs room. Would it rely on senior Hassan Haskins — the program’s most experienced runner and the leading rusher in 2020 — as a de facto workhorse back or use the Hart-like talents of Corum and elite athleticism of freshman Donovan Edwards for a more dynamic rushing attack? Saturday’s 47-14 win over Western Michigan began to answer that question. Corum’s performance — which featured 111 rushing yards on 14 attempts, two receptions for 22 yards, two total touchdowns and an electrifying 79-yard kick return — showed just how effective he can be when used properly. When placed alongside Haskins’s 70 yards on 13 carries, it highlighted the coaching staff’s intent to use the two backs as virtual co-starters. Even more, it showed that Corum deserved his place in that one-two punch. “Both (are) standout players,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters Monday. “We’ve been saying they’re both the starting running back. Said we were gonna lean on them and ride them. That’s the plan.”

For Corum, that step into a starting job marks an upgrade from last season, where Haskins more than doubled Corum’s workload and production. Many of the play designs were similar to last year — lots of swing routes, runs around the edge and plays designed to get the ball into space — but Corum’s role in the offense visibly grew in that first game. In that starting role, he flourished. The stats communicate that Corum had a strong game, but they don’t even tell the full story. They don’t show how, on his swing-pass touchdown, Corum waited for junior wide receiver Mike Sainristil’s block before bursting into the gap. Nor do they say how — on his 30-yard rushing touchdown later

on — he knew exactly where to cut back to find the most space. The film doesn’t just display a sophomore back with some exciting athleticism; it tells the story of a smart player gaining more confidence in his abilities with every rush. “I feel like I was more patient today,” Corum said Saturday. “But when you’re playing, you can’t really tell how patient you actually are. I feel like I took what I did in the offseason and applied it today.” That doesn’t take anything away from Haskins, either. Much of the discrepancy in yardage between the two backs can be attributed to how they were used. In three different scenarios, Haskins was

brought in on third-and-one to pick up the first down. Although one of those plays resulted in a 22-yard touchdown run, the use of Haskins in third-and-short situations demonstrates how the coaches see him more as a short-yardage back because of his physicality. Corum’s only third-down runs, conversely, came on third-and-five and thirdand-15. “(Haskins), he’s a strong dude,” Corum said. “It’s hard to tackle him, so he might run through you. Me, I’m more of a finesse guy, so I might make you fall. With a one-two punch with both of us that can make people miss at the second level, it’s hard to stop that. “It’s kind of like thunder and lightning.”

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

Michigan sophomore running back Blake Corum ran for 111 yards against Western Michigan.

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10 — Wednesday, September 8, 2021

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

SportsWednesday: With return of fans, the Big House is back My Saturday started at 6:43 a.m. — a time I usually consider to be the middle of the night — to music blasting outside my door. It’s a familiar feeling but jarring nonetheless to be woken up by the first notes of Mo Bamba or Shipping Up to Boston. It’s LANE a sensation I KIZZIAH haven’t had in almost two years. While I tried to muster the strength to get out of bed, I sat listening to the sounds outside my window — the yells, the ‘Go Blues’ and music from wake-ups in houses just like my own — and waited for the sun to come up. It was game day in Ann Arbor. By 10:00 in the morning, almost every porch on my street was dotted with tailgaters, and stray cans of Keystone sprinkled the sidewalk. As I walked around, the hallmarks of gameday started coming back to me

Engineering senior Christian Marciano said. “I’ve been having a great time. It feels a little lowkey though.” While Marciano felt the tailgates were less full than normal, it felt like business as usual to me. I walked by countless yards of boys playing beer die to the tune of songs I remember from tailgates past. By 11:30, my roommate was dragging me down Packard St., paranoid we were going to miss the pregame James Earl Jones video. I let her run ahead without me because I wanted to take my time. The walk down State Street to Hoover might be my favorite part of gameday. I love seeing the fans on the side of the road with their tents, full flatscreen TVs set up inside; the carts set up on the sidewalk selling food or water; everyone walking to the same endpoint. After arriving at the stadium, I met Ross junior Prat Bhola while I was standing in line. While some people were anxious to get inside, he was savoring the whole experience, line and all.

2018 home-opener when I was a freshman, also against Western Michigan. I’d spent the morning walking around Ann Arbor with no sense of direction or purpose, surrounded by people I barely knew, looking for tailgates. I fell in love with the music, the dancing, the energy; it was everything I was hoping college would be. I hadn’t grown up as a Michigan fan — or much of a college football fan at all — but walking into the Big House the first time took my breath away. It’s hard to describe exactly what happens at that moment when you see the band and then you’re walking into the student section and the fight song starts and then, oh look, there’s that kid from your math class that you really don’t know but now, for some reason, you feel like you absolutely have to go say hi. It feels as though you’re overwhelmed by everything that Michigan is. LSA freshman Henry Shaver had been waiting for that moment from the minute he stepped on campus.

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

Michigan fans enjoyed their first game back in Michigan Stadium on Saturday.

with a feeling almost like nostalgia. After the past year, the atmosphere simultaneously felt familiar and brand new. “The tailgate’s been great,”

“It’s electric,” Bhola said. Electric is a great word to describe walking into the Big House. The first time I’d ever gone to Michigan Stadium was the

He watched his older brother James, also a Michigan student, attend tailgates and games for years, but nothing could adequately prepare him for what it was like.

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

Michigan fans watched the Wolverines beat Western Michigan 47-14 on Saturday.

“I thought I had an idea (of what it was like), but I was pretty surprised when I got here,” Shaver said. “… There’s definitely a lot more people out here than I thought.” When I walked into the stadium on Saturday, I felt a similar rush, but it wasn’t exactly the same. In some ways, it was even more exciting. After almost two years away, not one of the 109,295 people in attendance was taking that moment for granted. “Walking into the stadium, just being there for the first time in over a year, it was actually just an amazing experience,” junior Jack Mooney said. “The crowd, everyone was just so happy to be there. The experience was probably my favorite game day yet. It’s a big part of my college experience and it was definitely missing from my experience last year.” But being in a crowd that large now means something different than it did two years ago. Even though I’m vaccinated, I didn’t feel 100% confident being in that large of a group. Michigan announced in March that the stadium would have fans, long before the delta variant threatened to reverse our progress. Despite the rising number of COVID-19 cases, masks were encouraged but not required in the stadium and very

few students wore them, something Marciano found to be contradictory. “It’s stupid because I’m in class with 12 people and then I’m about to be in a stadium with 110,000 people and it kind of makes no sense (that the COVID-19 restrictions are so different),” Marciano said. Currently, 92% of students have reported their vaccination with the school, but preliminary data showed 102 new positive cases within the school community last week. To put that number in perspective, the highest number of positive cases on campus was 410 last October. It will be another couple of weeks before we’re able to determine whether the game brings that number any higher. Still, the students I talked to weren’t concerned about the possibility of infection, and I see where they are coming from. Looking out at a crowd of over 100,000, it’s easy to forget that we’re still in the middle of a devastating pandemic. Even though COVID-19 hasn’t disappeared, the students I talked to found it refreshing to experience “normalcy,” even if it was just for a few hours. Mooney is a lifelong Michigan fan, but last season he felt like his heart wasn’t in it. Part of that could be the Wolverines’ dismal 2-4

record, but mostly it was being stuck at home, relegated to watching from the couch. “I think it’s more or less just being in the stadium where you’re with 100,000 people who all have the same exact interest to you,” Mooney said. “It’s very rare in life where you’re in a place that every person around you has the exact same goal. I feel like people are very divided on a lot of different issues nowadays. I think sports in general — and especially Michigan football — is something we can all come together and just support at once, and it’s just such a really special experience to be part of that.” Mooney left the game after Mr. Brightside was played — a song that’s become a cult favorite for Michigan fans over the past several years — and watched the rest of the game from home. For him, the game itself can be watched at home, but Mr. Brightside is a can’t-miss. It’s the traditions that define the experience. Thirty years from now, I won’t remember that the score was 47-14. I won’t remember the Wolverines’ emphasis on the run game. I probably won’t even remember that they were playing Western Michigan. What I will remember is that this was game day in Ann Arbor.

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Transition offense keys win over DePaul MATTHEW CHANG

Daily Sports Writer

One aspect of soccer that is often overlooked is moments of transition. These are the few seconds following a change in possession. They are often the time when the ball is the easiest to win back and hardest to keep. They can also be when a defense is most vulnerable because their players are set up to attack, not defend. People tend to focus on what happens near the goals, as finishing and goalkeeping ultimately decide the final score. However, winning the transition moments consistently is how a team can dominate the game. The No. 24 Michigan women’s soccer team did just that in its 1-0 victory over DePaul on Sunday. “It’s something that we have to work on every day within training, so when it comes to the game we’re able to execute,” Michigan coach Jennifer Klein said. “I think it’s a mentality, it’s a work rate that really puts us in a position to do that.”

After any of their own turnovers, the Wolverines consistently won the ball back within a few passes. When they didn’t, they ensured that they recovered their defensive shape quickly enough to avoid dangerous counterattacks. Fifth-year senior midfielder Sarah Stratigakis recovered the ball multiple times, chasing down the Blue Demons and taking back possession for Michigan. Senior defender Janiece Joyner was also crucial to this process, particularly in stopping counterattacks. Any time DePaul tried to use its forwards as a quick outlet, Joyner was there to either intercept the pass or slow down the attack enough to give her teammates time to recover. “It’s something that we practice,” Joyner said. “Our coach really trains us to win the ball back quickly and win possession.” Winning the defensive side of transition helped the Wolverines keep a clean sheet, while the offensive moments won them the game. Joyner was also crucial on that side of the ball. After winning the

ball defensively, she constantly found the first pass to keep the ball and start attacks. “One of our goals is to connect the first pass once we get it back,” Joyner said. “If we are able to go we want to go quickly and create chances, but if not, we are totally comfortable with just holding it and swinging it around the back and waiting for the right time to go.” Quick counterattacks led to some of the Wolverines’ best chances and, most importantly, the goal. The breakthrough came following a DePaul turnover in the midfield, followed by a quick pass down the wing before the ball eventually found its way to a wide-open fifthyear senior midfielder Nicki Hernandez at the back post to score. In the end, winning the game came down to winning the transitional seconds and translating practice sequences into the game. “We build those moments into training,” Klein said. “There were sequences where we won it, we had players in right positions and we had players running, and I’m happy that we’re getting there.”

Wednesday, September 8, 2021 — 11

Adaptation leads to victory over Blue Devils on Sunday CONNOR EAREGOOD

Daily Sports Writer

Fifth-year senior midfielder Sarah Stratigakis felt the pressure as she trapped a pass in a sea of DePaul defenders. Not wanting to give up a prime scoring opportunity, she made a short pass to senior midfielder Raleigh Loughman at the top of the penalty arc. The Blue Demons moved up, charging toward the ball but forgetting about fifth-year senior midfielder Nicki Hernandez near the left corner of the goal area. A quick pass to Loughman opened up an angle to hit Hernandez as she willed her pass around the defense. Hernandez took two touches before firing the ball safely into the bottom right corner, breaking Michigan’s goalless streak in its 155th minute. The Wolverines’ aggressive play — shown by Hernandez’s goal — persisted on both sides of the ball to propel No. 24 Michigan (5-1) to a 1-0 victory over DePaul (2-3) on Sunday. The Blue Demons couldn’t adapt to the Wolverines’ pressure, and they were outshot 27-5. But Michigan wasn’t always in total control. After sophomore forward Sammi Woods got early chances to start the game, the midfield forced many passes leaving the Wolverines’ defensive half. DePaul earned quick shots from

these errors. As a result, Michigan switched up its strategy, focusing on shorter range passes between defenders and the midfield that it then carried up the side of the field. The Blue Demons didn’t adjust, and the Wolverines generated shot after shot. “Sometimes at the start of the game you’ve gotta get into it and you’ve gotta settle in,” Michigan coach Jennifer Klein said. “I think what’s good about them is they don’t get rattled in that moment … They got into a rhythm and were able to find the spaces.” Energy punctuated the Wolverines’ game plan, and they utilized 19 different players throughout the game. Relentlessly attacking the ball led to countless chances for Michigan, and that eventually led to the game’s only goal in the 34th minute. “I really like that we have such a talented group of players,” senior defender Janiece Joyner said. “We’re able to rotate a lot of people.” Woods played a large role in that energy, chasing the ball and keeping DePaul from settling in. She took three shots at the beginning of the second half, but the Blue Devils cleared the ball out of their zone to end her attack. “(Woods) was threatening in some good areas,” Klein said. “ (She) had some good interchange with different players, and so I think that

movement really put her in some great positions … she’s right there knocking at the door.” The Wolverines looked strong, but their problems converting ample shots into goals in Friday’s loss against Southern California continued against DePaul. They forced Blue Demons goalkeeper Mollie Eriksson to make tough saves, but couldn’t find the back of the net. It looked like Michigan would score a second goal in the 56th minute when Stratigakis shot the ball high above Eriksson. A hollow clang rattled through the stadium as the ball bounced straight down off the crossbar. The Wolverines thought the ball went in, but the officials did not review it. Outside of offense, Michigan’s back line stood tall. Junior defender Jayde Riviere and Joyner cleared any DePaul attempts. Much of this came from closing on any Blue Demon attacker with the ball. Forwards tried to pass back to midfielders and reset plays, but they never settled into the tight area the defense gave them. Michigan thoroughly beat DePaul, but still struggled to turn lopsided offensive chances into multiple tallies on the scoreboard. The Wolverines’ biggest question — how to capitalize on huge shot disparities — remained unanswered.

JEREMY WEINE/Daily

Michigan defender Janiece Joyner initiated multiple deadly counterattacks in its game against DePaul

‘M’ finishes third in Island Resort Intercollegiate NICK MOEN

Daily Sports Writer

Three months after its last competitive match, the Michigan men’s golf team returned to the course this weekend. And after the hiatus, the rust showed. The Wolverines finished 3rd in the Island Resort Intercollegiate, their first tournament of the season. With a final score of 880, course management and a poor short game ultimately led Michigan to an underwhelming final placement, losing to Michigan State and Central Florida. The Wolverines opened the tournament scoring a group 290, led by a career-best 69 from sophomore Will Anderson. Senior Patrick Sullivan finished his first round with an even 72 par and matched it in the second round. Michigan collectively recorded a 285 in round two, led by junior Pier Francesco De Col and Sullivan’s 72. De Col ended the day with a team-best 143.

With a few individual standouts, Michigan showed the potential to challenge for a top-two finish the next day. What came next surprised the Wolverines. “The first day was fairly windy,” Michigan coach Zach Barlow said. “I thought we did pretty well. Monday was much cooler and the course was set up much longer. From day one to day two, there was quite a difference in the course length and that caught us off guard.” Michigan entered day two with Anderson dominating once again. Tallying a 74, his score proved to be the Wolverines’ best. De Col and Sullivan followed his lead, both scoring a 78 and ending with a 221 and 222, respectively. In the final round of the tournament, freshman Yuqi Liu recorded a 71, ultimately making up for the team’s errors throughout the match. “(Liu) is just getting his feet wet in the collegiate scene,” Barlow said. “He’ll play a big part moving forward.”

The new recruits continued to show their value as freshman Hunter Thomson ended the weekend in 39th place, scoring a 69 in the second round and ending the tournament with a total of 228. A highly-rated player, Thomson showed why his future is bright in Ann Arbor. “Sky’s the limit for (Thomson),” Barlow said. “It’s different when there’s added pressure playing as a team. There’s a lot of pressure but his second round held us together. Showing the team and bouncing back is a big deal.” Michigan now has a threeweek break before heading to Yale for the Macdonald Cup. The Wolverines will have time to work on reading course conditions, adjusting to weather and executing close to the pin. “This was a step forward in that we got in that final group,” Barlow said. “It’s a big deal. What we learned today we will use later on in the year … The more time we’re in that situation, the better we’ll be.”

FILE PHOTO/Daily Michigan men’s golf placed third in the Island Resort Intercollegiate.

JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily Michigan sophomore attacker Sammi Woods created several chances against DePaul.

Halftime adjustments key win for Wolverines on Labor Day MARK PATRICK

Daily Sports Writer

Monday, the Michigan men’s soccer team hosted Loyola University Chicago. The Wolverines rallied in the second half, overcoming a halftime deficit to win 2-1, their first home win of the season. The first half was largely dominated by the Ramblers. They struck first, 11 minutes into the game. Midfielder Oscar Dueso sent a long pass to forward John Gates, who beat three Michigan defenders to put it in the goal. While Loyola got going offensively, its defense held the Wolverines to only two shots. Their defensive scheme forced Michigan to take shots from the corners instead of getting quality chances in front. In the middle of the first half, junior forward Evan Rasmussen sent a pass toward the box where junior forward Moshtaba Al-Hasnawi was wide open, but the timing of the pass was off, and the chance was lost. These

mistakes plagued the Wolverines as the offense sputtered in the first half. “I think for us it is important that we are aggressive and unselfish,” Michigan coach Chaka Daley said. “I think those are the two things that we want to remind the players about.” After the intermission, the Wolverines came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. Michigan matched its first half shot count in the first two minutes of the second half. Accurate passes led to longer possessions and scoring opportunities. Fifth-year senior midfielder Marc Ybarra drew a penalty kick and scored to tie the game at one. “At halftime, we talked about being aggressive in our mindset and how we play,” Daley said. “The second half was very frantic for their back three and as a result, they made a couple mistakes. Fortunately, we took advantage of those mistakes.” Michigan held Loyola nearly shotless in the second half, with the Ramblers lone opportunity

coming in the 64th minute. The Loyola attacker found himself one-on-one with the goalie, but freshman goalkeeper Hayden Evans came up with a big save to keep the game tied. Four minutes later, the Wolverines capitalized on an opportunity of their own. Michigan had good movement in front of the opposing net, leading to a goal from junior forward Inaki Rodriguez on a pass from freshman defender Jason Buckner, giving the Wolverines a 2-1 lead. For the rest of the second half, Michigan played aggressive defense and kept the Ramblers outside of the offensive zone. All in all, the Wolverines held on for the win, but left something to be desired. “We created mistakes for Loyola late in the game and stole a goal,” Daley said. “We are now creating them in the run of play, so now we can put together a full performance. We are gonna have to start (putting together full performances) as our games get more challenging, certainly when the Big Ten slate starts.”

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily Michigan junior forward Inaki Rodriguez scored the game-winning goal against Duke on Monday.

12 — Wednesday, September 8, 2021

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