2021-11-17

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Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Public Policy students walk out of class to protest admission of master’s student found guilty of Title IX violations Group of students call on Ford School administration to take action on behalf of survivors GEORGE WEYKAMP Daily Staff Reporter

JEREMY WEINE/Daily Isabelle Brourman, a U-M alum and survivor of sexual assault by former lecturer Bruce Conforth, addresses people gathered at a sexual assault survivors forum in the Michigan League Saturday, Nov. 13.

UMich sexual assault survivors of Conforth, Anderson speak at panel Panelists talk University’s culture of assault, policy changes needed going forward CALDER LEWIS & KRISTINA ZHENG Daily News Editors

At a sexual assault survivors’ forum on Nov. 13, Maya Crosman, a 2016 University of Michigan alum and survivor of former U-M lecturer Bruce Conforth, questioned the University’s investigation process into Conforth, who retired without any punishment in 2017.

“I cannot be sure what happened at (the Office of Institutional Equity) when Conforth was allowed to retire with his reputation intact, but it is clear that justice was not given to the brave women who reported him and the brave women who were still getting

abused by him,” Crosman said.

Crosman was one of six survivors who spoke during the first portion of the forum at the Michigan League, titled “Survivors Speak Up Against U-M’s Pattern Of Enabling Sexual Abuse.” The event, hosted amid heightened community focus on sexual misconduct because of the allegations against late University athletic doctor Robert Anderson, addressed the University’s mishandling of sexual misconduct on campus and discussed policy changes to prevent future abuse.

Isabelle Brourman, a 2015 University alum and survivor of Conforth, and U-M professor Rebekah Modrak organized the forum with help from Crosman and Katherine McMahan,

a 2008 University alum and survivor of Conforth and Cassie McQuater, a University alum and Conforth survivor.

Conforth, a lecturer at the University from 2001-2017, was accused of using his popularity among the student body to abuse and threaten multiple female students.

Brourman said the purpose of Nov. 13’s panel was to share the stories and research from survivors of sexual abuse at the University.

“There have been enough of these stories for us to know that it’s not just something that falls through the cracks,” Brourman said. “It’s not a single report that was ignored, and it’s rather a routine pattern of complainants who’ve come forward

ADMINISTRATION

Schlissel on Anderson survivor protesters: “I do appreciate Mr. Vaughn” UMich President does not plan to speak directly to those outside his house CALDER LEWIS & ELISSA WELLE & JUSTIN O’BEIRNE Daily News Editor & Daily Staff Reporters

The Michigan Daily sat down with University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel Thursday to discuss the ongoing protest of former athletic doctor Robert Anderson survivors outside his house and the recent 40% growth of the University’s endowment. Read part two of the interview for Schlissel’s thoughts on the Bright Sheng controversy and University employees who remain unvaccinated. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

The Michigan Daily: Jon Vaughn and other survivors of late University doctor Robert Anderson’s sexual abuse have been camped outside your house day and night for over a month. They say you haven’t spoken with them yet, and that they are committed to remaining there for 100 days or until you and the regents speak with them. Why haven’t you gone to speak with them?

Mark Schlissel: I want to reiterate that I do appreciate Mr. Vaughn. He’s a passionate advocate for something that’s really important. I admire him for the courage of stepping up and speaking out about what he went through. But as I said at the last board meeting, the regents and I are listening in many different ways.

We’ve heard directly from folks who sign up to speak in public and at our meetings, and when they do that they’re speaking not just to us, but to the assembled media, so it gets really quite wide coverage. We’ve heard directly from many Anderson survivors. We read media reports, we

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get other direct messages from the survivors, and I want to reiterate how important it is as we work to update and improve our sexual misconduct policies and practices and we try to continue to make campus safer, that the experiences and the opinions of survivors of all different types — because survivors aren’t monolithic, you know, many of them have different opinions from one another — that all of our policies are vetted and discussed with the survivor community, and we promise to continue to do that.

We’re continuing to meet in mediation with attorneys hired by the Anderson survivors, including Mr. Vaughn and his attorney, and will continue to heed the judge’s advice not to discuss the process of mediation outside of these mediation sessions. I really know Mr. Vaughn is interested in sharing his story — he’s been doing it quite widely. I’ve been listening to him and other survivors, and perhaps where we don’t agree is how that listening should occur. But rest assured, we are listening.

I can’t provide an update on the mediation. The University remains apologetic, sincerely, for what the survivors went through, and we want to treat them well. The mediation, as I said, is confidential, but we are very anxious to come to a good, fair closure. And all the while we continue to implement new policies and processes and procedures, all aimed at making the campus safer.

We’re a long way from where we need to be, and everybody needs to contribute. Mr. Vaughn is contributing, the survivors of what happened 30 years ago are contributing, as well as the survivors of today. So we’re committed to doing this together and getting it right.

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TMD: You said that you think that you and some of the survivors might disagree on how the listening should occur. Can you expand on that and what you think that disagreement might be?

MS: So, for example, I’ve been invited to attend an open forum up in the Michigan League this weekend. A panel of survivors, as well as an attorney representing some of the survivors, and media will be there. My concern is if I sit in a forum like that, I become the story rather than the survivors becoming the story, and they really deserve to tell the story without the hoopla of the president being called out continuously.

Fortunately, the organizers of that forum are live streaming it on YouTube, so I can watch it here in the president’s house without disrupting the proceedings by being there.

Others may disagree, but that’s my choice as the best way to get input from that forum without disrupting the forum in a way that might diminish the ability of the survivors to tell their stories.

TMD: What has it been like for you to have this camp outside your house? How has it affected your dayto-day life?

MS: Probably under Mr. Vaughn’s influence, this group of survivors and supporters have been enormously respectful, despite how aggrieved they feel and how passionate they are. They have made their points known — there are placards up and there’s a bulletin board where people can sign and the like, and there have been some demonstration-type protests with chanting and the like — but that said, I do not feel mistreated.

See SCHLISSEL, Page 2

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and a pattern of being ignored, their information being taken and being filed away.”

McMahan shared that she was abused by Conforth in 2007 while attending a blues concert. McMahan was the first known complainant against Conforth.

“He waited for me outside the bathroom, he grabbed me and tried to get me to go home with him,” McMahan said. “It finally took me pushing him away and going back to the table to get away from him.”

McMahan first reported her story to the University in 2008, which led to the University giving him a “last chance agreement.”

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Content warning: descriptions of sexual assault More than 50 students in the Ford School of Public Policy walked out of their classes and marched through the halls of Weill Hall on Nov. 12 in protest against the admission of a Public Policy and Social Work master’s student who was found guilty of Title IX violations related to sexual assault by his undergraduate university, Eastern Mennonite University.

In a Nov. 10 email addressed to Public Policy master’s students, an individual named as Ryan Decker — who The Michigan Daily was unable to verify the identity of — expressed his dismay that a current Public Policy graduate student had been granted admission to the Master of Public Policy and Master of Social Work programs at the University after committing sexual assault.

The Daily obtained a copy of Decker’s email. Because the student hasn’t been criminally convicted and is not a public figure, The Daily is not publishing the student’s name.

“I am horrified to learn that (name omitted) has been granted admittance to the prestigious Masters of Social Work and Masters of Public Policy programs at the University of Michigan, given his history of sexual assault,” Decker wrote. “It’s baffling- how was someone who was found guilty of violating Title IX at another university allowed into these programs?”

The protesters have created a list of three demands: the immediate removal of the particular graduate student’s ability to come to campus, transparency on the University’s admission process and for communication from Ford as they address the situation, and for Ford to create safe spaces for survivors of sexual misconduct.

In addition to Nov. 12’s protest, the demonstrators initially said they planned to continue to boycott their classes and picket outside of Ford every day from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. until the demands are met. However, they stopped their picket midday Nov. 15 after some in Ford raised concerns that the protest could create an uncomfortable or triggering atmosphere for survivors walking to class, according to messages reviewed by The Daily.

The protest comes amid intense focus on the issue of sexual misconduct on campus recently because of the more than 2,000 allegations against former University athletic doctor Robert Anderson, which may be the most sexual abuse accusations against a single person in U.S. history.

Other recent occurrences of sexual misconduct at the University include allegations against Computer Science in Engineering professors Walter Lasecki and Jason Mars and the upcoming trial of former interim CSE chair Peter Chen. In addition, former provost Martin Philbert retired in June of last year after being placed on leave due to allegations of sexual misconduct, and SMTD professor Stephen Shipps retired in 2019 after 40 years of sexual misconduct allegations were brought against him. Former SMTD professor David Daniels, former LSA lecturer Bruce Conforth and English professor Douglas Trevor have also been accused of sexual misconduct.

Following Decker’s email, Public Policy Dean Michael Barr wrote in an email to all Ford students Nov. 10 night that addressed “sexual assault in broad terms.”

“I know it will be frustrating to some of you, but for confidentiality reasons I am not able to comment about the particular case raised or the student mentioned in the email,” Barr wrote.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

NEWS

Jonathan Vaughn to run for U-M Board of Regents in 2022 Anderson survivor has been camping outside of Schlissel’s house since Oct. 8 LIAT WEINSTEIN

Managing News Editor

Jonathan Vaughn intends to run for the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents in 2022, he announced at a U-M sexual assault survivors forum on Nov. 13.

Vaughn is a former Michigan football player and a survivor of late athletic doctor Robert Anderson.

Since Oct. 8, he has been leading numerous other survivors in camping outside of University President Mark Schlissel’s house to protest the University’s handling of sexual assault allegations against Anderson.

“I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: President Schlissel is a puppet, and the puppet masters are the Board of Regents,” Vaughn said on Nov. 13.

“Far too long now, 50 some odd years, this culture of rape, sexual abuse and cover-up has become a syndicate. It’s become a syndicate not only with the faculty being afraid of reporting or supporting — because there’s this one faculty member who told me it’s career suicide — it’s also a syndicate that the brands that support this University and some of the media that support this University say those things like, ‘We can’t continue to cover the largest sexual abuse and rape cover-up in the history of sports, because for the most part it’s just two Black men speaking up about something that happened 30 years ago or a wrestler who couldn’t keep his scholarship.’ Those are the things that we’ve heard.”

“Well, I’m here to tell you this today: the Board of Regents is a publicly voted on position, and today I want to announce that I’m going to run,” Vaughn continued. “And there are seats that are available in 2023, 2025, 2027, 2029.”

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IN DEX

Katherine White (D) and Michael Behm (D) are the two regents up for re-election in 2022. Regent Ron Weiser (R) has said he is also an Anderson survivor.

The University’s Office of Public Affairs declined to comment.

The forum, held by six survivors of sexual assault at the Michigan League on Nov. 13, also featured panelists such as Anderson survivor and former Michigan wrestler Tad DeLuca, survivors of former U-M lecturer Bruce Conforth and attorney Sarah Prescott, who represents eight survivors of former Provost Martin Philbert.

Vaughn has said he will remain outside Schlissel’s house for 100 days or until Schlissel and the regents

Michigan Daily on Nov. 11, Schlissel said he has been listening to Vaughn and the other survivors but chooses not to directly approach them.

“The way I’ve chosen to listen to members of the survivors’ community doesn’t include stopping by the front of the house and listening to a group of folks in tents,” Schlissel said. “But rest assured that myself and the regents are listening to not just Mr. Vaughn and the others who are out there, but the broader community.”

Schlissel announced on Oct. 5 that he will be resigning from the presidency in June 2023, leaving his post two years earlier than planned.

Schlissel’s generous exit package has stirred backlash from across the

GABBY CERITANO/Daily On Sept. 23, 2021, a crowd gathered an hour prior to the first in-person Board of Regents meeting since the pandemic. Jonathan Vaughn, among others, gathered to protest the University’s handling of allegations of sexual abuse against late University athletic doctor Robert Anderson.

speak with him and other Anderson survivors directly. While Schlissel has indirectly spoken to survivors at Board of Regents meetings and expressed his support in media interviews, he has not spoken to them directly or acknowledged their presence directly since they have been camping outside of his home.

In an interview with The

Vol. CXXX, No. 59 ©2021 The Michigan Daily

University community.

The University president reports to the Board of Regents. If Vaughn were to win in 2022, he’d start in January 2023 and be Schlissel’s superior for six months.

Managing News Editor Liat Weinstein can be reached at weinsl@ umich.edu. Daily Staff Reporter Daniel Muenz contributed to reporting.

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News

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CAMPUS LIFE

Six-year-old donates rare Mastodon tooth to Michigan Museum of Paleontology Julian Gagnon found fossil while hiking in Rochester Hills, Mich.

VANESSA KIEFER Daily Staff Reporter

BECCA MAHON/Daily Prairie View A&M President Ruth Simmons was chosen as the Winter 2021 Commencement speaker.

HBCU president Ruth Simmons named Winter 2021 Commencement speaker Former Brown University president was first Black person to lead an Ivy League institution KATE WEILAND Daily Staff Reporter

Ruth Simmons, president of Prairie View A&M University, a historically Black university in Houston, Texas, will be the main speaker at the Winter 2021 Commencement on Dec. 19.

Simmons is also recommended for an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, if approved by the Board of Regents.

Simmons became the first African-American president of an Ivy League institution when she took the role as the 18th president of Brown University in 2001. She is also an advocate for social justice and equal opportunity in education. Simmons graduated summa cum laude from Dillard University in 1967 and was a member of the Fulbright Scholars Program.

Simmons also earned a Master of Arts degree in 1970 and a Ph.D. in 1973, both from Harvard University.

When Simmons left Brown in 2012, she publicly announced that she was retiring from leading colleges. Yet five years later, she took on the job of president of Prairie View A&M in an interim president role, which later became permanent. Simmons told the Texas Tribune in 2017 that students’ “determination, their commitment to try to better themselves” convinced her to keep the job past the interim period.

Simmons worked in numerous roles at the University of Southern California and Spelman College from 1979-1991. She was also vice provost at Princeton University Simmons from 1992-1995. Simmons served as the president of Smith College from 1995 to 2000 and launched the firSst engineering program at an

SCHLISSEL From Page 1 I feel like Mr. Vaughn and others who are camped outside are not disrupting my ability to come and go from the house. I have guests at the house where I do the University’s business quite often — that’s why I live on campus.

That hasn’t been disrupted. So I want to really shout them out for the respectful way that they’re persistently advocating their cause, and that’s the way change happens. I understand the passion, and I respect the high level of character with which they’re propagating their protest.

TMD: The protesters have said you enter and leave your house through the side door, and have not directly

American women’s college.

During her tenure at Brown, which lasted from 2001 to 2012, Simmons created a program to expand faculty and increase financial support and resources for students. She also worked on initiatives to increase education around the school’s historic relationship to slavery, an issue that is personal to Simmons, who is the great-granddaughter of slaves.

Brown was the first school in the country to make public its role in perpetuating and profiting off slavery, with a comprehensive report published in 2006.

Simmons is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the American Philosophical Society and the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the boards of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and The Holdsworth Center. She is also the recipient of the United Negro College Fund President’s Award, the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal, the Foreign Policy Association Medal, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and Harvard University’s Centennial Medal.

E Hill De Loney, a leader in communitybased research and advocate for public health in Black communities, Cleve Moler, founder of the mathematical software company MathWorks and Kathy Anne Perkins, theater scholar and lighting designer, were also recommended for honorary degrees and will be awarded at the commencement if granted approval from the Board.

The Board will vote to approve these degrees on Dec. 9.

Daily Staffer Reporter Kate Weiland can be reached at kmwblue@umich.edu

acknowledged their presence in person.

Why do you always leave out of the side entrance of your house? Even if you won’t have a conversation with the survivor protesters, could you physically acknowledge their presence?

MS: Well, obviously I just did, because I told you the nature of their character and actually complimented them, but the way I’ve chosen to listen to members of the survivors’ community doesn’t include stopping by the front of the house and listening to a group of folks in tents. But rest assured that myself and the regents are listening to not just Mr. Vaughn and the others who are out there, but the broader community. I get emails all the time, and we’ll continue to listen throughout the process.

Six-year-old Julian Gagnon was rewarded for his discovery and donation of a rare mastodon tooth to the University of Michigan’s Museum of Paleontology, according to a Michigan Radio article published in October.

Gagnon, who discovered the tooth while taking a hike with his family in Rochester Hills, Mich., received a behind-thescenes look at the University’s Ann Arbor Research Museums Center and the paleontologists’ labs as a thank you for his donation.

Gagnon first noticed the fossil when he walked near a creek at Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve. Michigan Radio reported that Gagnon was initially interested in a bright spot in the water, and did not know what he had found.

“I walked over there and I saw this cool rock, and I kind of picked it up and looked at it,” Gagnon told Michigan Radio. “I didn’t know if it was a rock or if it was a dinosaur tooth.”

His family urged him to take it home, where they researched Michigan’s native prehistoric creatures and decided to contact the paleontologists at the University. Dr. Adam Rountrey, a Research Museum collection manager and 3D specialist at the Museum of Paleontology, told The Daily that after identifying the mastodon tooth from Gagnon’s email, the University sent a team of paleontologists to Dinosaur Hill to search for additional material with Gagnon and his family.

Rountrey said he was impressed that Gagnon found the tooth under such difficult conditions.

“The water in the stream there, Paint Creek, I believe it’s called, it was fairly deep and running pretty quickly,” Rountrey said. “So it was hard to see the bottom when we were sort of searching around the area where he had found the tooth. I think he was really lucky to have found it under the water like that.”

Rountrey said they did not find any further signs of fossils during their search and that the Mastodon tooth is the first vertebrate fossil the museum has received from Dinosaur Hill. He said after Gagnon agreed to donate the tooth to the museum, they invited him to take a behind the scenes tour of the research museum center to see where the fossil collections are stored.

“So we gave him a tour here, he donated the tooth, and we’ve agreed to produce a 3D model of it,” Rountrey said. “And (we also produced) a couple of 3D prints to get back to Julian and for the Nature Preserve to have for their interpretive programs.”

Gagnon, who liked the idea of becoming an archeologist when he was older, told Michigan Radio about his experience giving the University ownership of a certified fossil.

“I signed my name like two times on a very special piece of paper with a very special pen,” Gagnon said.

LSA sophomore Oona Woodbury said she has grown more interested in paleontology since taking the Earth 103 minicourse called “Dinosaurs and Other Failures” and heard about the Mastodon tooth during class. She said she wishes she would have begun searching for fossils when she was younger and hopes that Gagnon’s story will inspire people to explore their geologic environments.

“I hope it makes people think about where our scientific knowledge comes from,” Woodbury said. “We do kind of, in paleontology at least, rely on things being donated to the public to be able to study them and to advance our scientific learning …

And it’s so cool that this kid got this great experience, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg of this whole topic.”

Daily Staff Reporter Vanessa Kiefer can be reached at vkiefer@ umich.edu.

TMD: In terms of physically avoiding the protesters, this protest has garnered significant regional and even national media attention. How do you think that your physical avoidance of the protesters reflects on the University?

MS: I don’t have more to say. I explained the rationale for how I’m engaging and how I’m learning about the experiences of not just Mr. Vaughn, but the many others who have been impacted by Dr. Anderson, and then all the other episodes of misconduct that have occurred through the years at the University.

TMD: You said the mediation is confidential. At this time, I’m curious to know if there’s a specific protocol in place that prohibits you from speaking to survivors?

MS: I’m not an attorney, but the judge-ordered behaviors have to do with the mediation and aspects of relevance to the mediation.

TMD: Is the 4.5% disbursement rate of the endowment up for reconsideration given the recent 40% growth of the endowment?

MS: The endowment is actually what makes us different from most large public universities. This year we’re taking $404 million out of the endowment. Compare that to the $330 million we got from the state of Michigan — we’re getting more out of the endowment. That amount grows every year, and it’ll grow even faster because of this spectacular year the endowment had.

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Arts

Wednesday, November 17, 2021 — 3

How did we come to this?

A review of ‘Wild Party Content warning: abuse, sexual assault The first time I saw University of Michigan alum Andrew Lippa’s “The Wild Party” was when I was a freshman in high school. It was a time when I loved literally every single musical I listened to on Spotify, but still, this production excited me.

It was my first time going to a theatre that wasn’t housed in my school or dedicated to national tours.

It felt like I was watching “real” theatre.

I loved every moment of it. I remember the show so vividly. It explored how abuse and addiction affect each other, and how adult themes can be explored in theatre. As I left the theatre, it felt like I was stepping into adulthood, as being able to watch a story of abuse without being talked down to felt validating as a young person.

I don’t feel like that anymore. “Wild Party” isn’t a story that validates me. I didn’t realize that until weeks after sitting in the Mendelssohn Theatre on Oct. 16, watching University Production’s “The Wild Party.”

This is a critique of the story, of the characters and nothing else. I have nothing short of praise for the actors and technicians working on “Wild Party.” Their

we are robbed of her individual story as it exists outside of her relationship with men? Queenie as a character has so much more internally to explore rather than the relationships she has with her partner Burrs and new lover Mr. Black.

Still, we watch these two men speak for her. She is sexually assaulted in the first 10 minutes of the show, only for the script to use the event as a catalyst for a wild party.

Queenie uses the party as a way to escape the trauma she experienced, but the script avoids the assault in favor of focusing on the love triangle between Queenie, Burrs and Mr. Black instead.

How much agency can a character have in deciding to throw a party? Not enough to make up for two and a half hours of men talking over her. Calling her a “child,” a “whore,” a “slut,” a “bitch,” all culminating in her supposedly “poor and virginal” nature, a paradox Lippa is unable to speak appropriately on.

Why does virginity need to be a plot point in Queenie’s story?

Why does a chorus need to sing over a depiction of assault?

Why are theatres outside of Broadway so opposed to the idea of updating scripts?

Why do licensing agencies, schools, directors, producers, everyone that controls theatre hate the idea of changing words that have rotted with time?

work made the production vibrate with a pandemic’s worth of energy waiting to be released.

This is a critique of Andrew Lippa, a U-M alum, and his lack of awareness and inability to update a problematic script.

The story of “Wild Party” was not conceived by Lippa. Adapted from the longform poem of the same name by Joseph Moncure March, “Wild Party” represents the superfluous freedom of living in the 1920s. (How free were the ’20s when only white men were allowed to vote?)

The musical carries a lack of awareness in the way it represents its protagonist, Queenie. Queenie is a woman who has lived as a vaudeville dancer, enjoying herself through sex. That is the length of Queenie’s textual personality. Instead, the script focuses on the way she looks, describing her with lyrics such as “her face was a tinted mask of snow,” “her legs were built to drive men mad” and even “she liked her lovers violent.” Lippa establishes Queenie as a figurehead of sexual promiscuity. Yet, nothing else of Queenie’s personality or history is explored besides her sexuality. Instead, Lippa limits what Queenie can be as a protagonist, letting the focus fall to Queenie’s abuser: Burrs.

We never hear about the complexity of their relationship besides understanding that it is abusive. How am I supposed to understand Queenie as a woman when

Why did the University production not change its language for the show? Why rely on a misogynistic script? Why leave the d slur? Why have Mr. Black murder Burrs instead of Queenie? Why? Why does a man have to save the day? Why, why, why?

These are rhetorical questions; they don’t need an answer because the answer is clear to everyone except Lippa.

I feel guilty having watched this musical twice, enabling Lippa to profit off of a script that does so much harm and so little good.

I loved “Wild Party” in high school because it allowed me to see explicit themes in theatre for the first time. Now, I don’t need to see abuse for the sake of feeling validated at my age. I’ve come to understand that explicit themes that warrant trigger warnings must be offered alongside artistic justification.

Shrouded in layers of misogyny, “Wild Party’s” truth comes from the perspective of a privileged white man. This is not satire. I find “Wild Party” to be an escapist pipe dream for Lippa to indulge his deeply harmful desires.

Somewhere along the line, Lippa lost Queenie as a protagonist, shifting her to be a fixture to validate the male-centric themes that make the musical easier to write but so much worse to watch. “Wild Party” needs to be better. And so does Lippa.

MATTHEW EGGERS Daily Arts Writer

Design by Kristina Miesel

Social Media 101: How (and why) to fix your algorithm MADDIE AGNE Daily Arts Writer

Two years ago, I embarked on a crusade: I removed every social media application from my phone save for Snapchat and YouTube. I got rid of TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest — all in an effort to improve my mental health and mitigate my growing phone addiction. During the pandemic, I would cyclically download and delete these apps, a bit like a toxic relationship. Of course, I still have full access to some sites like Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr on my laptop, so I haven’t totally removed myself from the proverbial grid.

The interactions I was still having with social media, either on my computer or on my occasional “cheat days,” were still negatively affecting my mental health. I continued to fall prey to the comparison and isolation that pervade social media, and after some time of quietly dealing with these repercussions, my crusade was clocked by a realization. My issues weren’t coming from the social media sites themselves, but from the content I was seeing on them. My Instagram and TikTok feeds were a personal hellhole of unachievable beauty standards, upsetting news, even more upsetting memes and users flaunting lifestyles I could only hope to afford.

All of this is to say that Instagram, Tumblr and TikTok are not inherently bad or bad for you, but their algorithms, or how these apps decided what content I would and wouldn’t see, were bad. Or, more accurately, I had trained the algorithm badly. So my crusade changed. I was no longer removing these apps from my life altogether. Rather, I began asking myself, how do I make social media serve me? What I discovered through various guides and videos was that it is entirely possible to train my algorithm to show me content that improves my time online — bands and shows that I like, people that represent me and actually good memes.

So after almost a year and a half of experimenting, I can proudly present four steps on how to change your social media algorithm, and what this change can do for you.

1. Budget your likes, follows and comments We’ll start easy with the foundational step of this process — not every single post that comes across your feed or messages deserves your digital currency. I know, I know, it’s tempting to like every Instagram post or YouTube video that you click on, whether out of habit or a sense of obligation, but this is one of the most damaging things you can do in the quest for the perfect algorithm. For example, I couldn’t understand

why I kept seeing deep-fried TikToks (which I, respectfully, hate) on my For You Page, until I realized that it was because my roommate kept sending me them and I kept liking them.

So I stopped liking and interacting with them entirely. You can’t always stop people from sending you posts you may not love on social media, but you can mitigate how much you interact with that content. By freely giving likes and follows to anything and everything, your algorithm is more likely to continue showing you that same anything and everything, rather than curating itself thoughtfully and positively.

2. Interact with things you’re passionate about My Instagram Explore page used to be a messy hodgepodge of anything I paid attention to beyond a click or a view — hence budgeting those likes and shares! Memes or news, models or cooking, you name it. It was there, and so was I. So, just as I began to turn away from giving a like to anything I opened, I started furiously liking only the content I really loved. Any Florence + The Machine post on my Instagram Explore page? Like. A “Downton Abbey” scene on my TikTok For You page?

Comment. Whatever the equivalents are for you, start interacting with them when you see them on your feed! The more you do that, the more your social media algorithm will figure out what topics you’re actually interested in and start making your feed something you actually want to view and interact with.

3. Follow people who represent you Social media, for the longest time, fed into my own lack of self-confidence. Everywhere I turned I was met with Victoria’s Secret models and Paris runways and that began to destroy me. I don’t say that to slander these women — I say it to highlight the difficulty of growing up as an imperfect young woman in a social media landscape obsessed with being perfect. Still, I was the one interacting with impossible beauty standards, so one day I purged my social media of people who didn’t represent me. I turned to following and liking mid-sized women, writers, body positivity activists, musicians and anyone who I saw myself in. Maybe for you, this means following more people of color, individuals with disabilities or members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Soon, though, your feed could saturated with people and accounts that reflect you and inspire you to be the best achievable version of yourself possible. There’s a way to escape that unachievable version of beauty and happiness, and all it takes is a reorientation of who you allow to grace your social media.

4. Stop hate-following Why do you still follow that girl from high school whose life choices you simply reject?

Seriously, why? Don’t tell me, I know the answer because I did it too — and still do, if I’m totally honest.

I am Sisyphus and hate-following is my boulder.

Why do we do it? Why keep following people whose Snapchat stories leave you red in the face and with a sour taste in your mouth? For the drama, mostly. Getting angry over what someone posts is like a hit of adrenaline, but despite that fleeting high, it is unhealthy. We are left with an overload of negativity invading our mental health that can have tangible effects on our real life, such as increased anger or obsession with others’ lives.

How do you think I feel after watching thatgirl-from-high-school’s Instagram story? Not any better about myself, I can tell you that.

Unfollow the people you know you can’t stand — I’ll do it if you do — and, if you still crave a bit of drama, vent to a roommate or watch “Riverdale.” That’s what I do. *** It’s no secret that social media can have negative effects on mental health — we’ve known this for a long time. Social media sites are “designed to be addictive and are associated with anxiety, depression, and even physical ailments,” and can instigate jealousy toward others or a crippling sense of FOMO — “Fear of Missing Out” for those of you who missed the memo. It is difficult to express, personally, how growing up in the social media age was damaging to my perception of self and the outside world, and I know I’m not alone in feeling this.

However, half this battle is what we consume on social media, not just the consumption itself. I understand that, and because it would be foolish of me to suggest that we all delete all of our social media all at once, I want others to understand this as well. Today we are all so deeply invested in our online presence, and considering we spent over two hours on social media every day in 2020, I don’t see this investment losing traction. If we’re going to continue to live in the virtual landscape, why shouldn’t we make it as comfortable and safe as possible? It takes time and honestly a lot of concentrated effort to create a welcoming and positive digital environment for oneself, but that time and effort are more than worth it in the long run.

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Design by Lindsay Farb

‘Eternals’: A beautiful, rare Marvel flick, equally awkward and audacious JACOB LUSK

Daily Arts Writer

“Eternals” was always bound to be weird.

First and foremost, the Eternals are the brainchild of Jack Kirby, the oft-neglected creative engine of Marvel, renowned and cherished for his creativity and wacky artistry. For reference, the visual designs of “Doctor Strange” and “Thor: Ragnarok” are heavy with the fruits of his labor.

It’s also got a truly gonzo, behemoth cast that throws together a dozen names from disparate corners of the acting world, including the likes of Angelina Jolie (“Come Away”) and Kumail Nanjiani (“The Lovebirds”) — that’s right, Angelina and Kumail, co-stars.

Perhaps most bafflingly, it’s helmed by director Chloé Zhao. Yes, the Zhao who just won Best Picture for “Nomadland,” a quiet indie film about the woes of a transient working class in post-recession rural America.

“Eternals” was always bound to be weird, most of all for a Marvel movie.

And woefully, wonderfully, it is. There’s on-location shooting, with natural lighting and limited green screen! There’s absolutely no character from any other Marvel movie present! And … there’s sex! Chaste, tame, downright boring sex, but sexy sex times all the same!

The film is of biblical, operatic scale — opening with a title crawl, the film throws out colored and capitalized

words to describe a Marvelized creation myth that will be the first of many moments of exposition. The Eternals, a race of immortal, preternaturally beautiful space gods, are sent to Earth by the Celestials, another race of space gods (these ones giant and not at all attractive), to safeguard humanity from the predatory Deviants — stringy space beasts that look like wolves and lizards and wolf-lizards and have the grimy, prismatic sheen of oil on water.

Their one rule: Only punch something if it’s a Deviant. Otherwise, sit back and watch as humanity develops across the millennia. The fall of Tenochtitlan? Not their problem. The dropping of nuclear bombs on Japan?

Not the mission. Thanos snapping his fingers and murdering literally half of everything? That’s chump change — trust in the Celestials.

After thousands of years, a Deviant finally arrives in London and tries to bite off the head of Gemma Chan (“Let Them All Talk”). Bam — the film begins, time to get the band back together.

“Eternals” is a janiform creature: Each strength is matched by an imperfect foil, producing a film composed of conjoined blessings and curses left and right.

For one, there is a whole lot of talking. Zhao’s strength is quiet character dramas, and this sensitivity and focus on the tender and the personal is absolutely present in “Eternals.” Characters quip and squabble and break up and make up, communicating with

each other clearly and without reservation. Sometimes this ventures into the cardinal sin of a visual medium — telling rather than showing, a crime Zhao rarely commits in her filmography. “Eternals” exposits like no other, frequently punctuating the film with awkward flashbacks that themselves are mostly the characters standing in a circle hashing it out, grinding the pace to a yawning halt.

It doesn’t help that the characters are thinly-drawn and weirdly poor acting abounds. With 10 Eternals and a few other supporting players, there is precious little screen-time to go around. Chan, who receives the lion’s share of minutes in her role as Sersi, a people-lover with powers of transmutation, struggles to emote in more than one way. Richard Madden (“1917”) does well as a brooding Superman clone but lacks any and all chemistry with Chan, with whom his Ikaris is supposed to be hopelessly in love. Don Lee (“Start-Up”) is fun to watch as Gilgamesh, a bruiser who fantastically bitch-slaps monsters with galore, but often fumbles the delivery of his lines.

Lia McHugh (“Songbird”) barks her dialogue as ever-adolescent illusionist Sprite. Jolie as the mentally ill war goddess Thena; a gloriously buff Nanjiani as Kingo, a Bollywood movie star with finger guns; Lauren Ridloff (“The Sound of Metal”) as a super-speedy Makkari; Barry Keoghan (“The Green Knight”) as the jerkishly moralistic mind-controller Druig; Brian Tyree Henry (“The Woman in the Window”)

as Phastos, a really good engineer that can make magic blueprints; and Salma Hayek (“The Roads Not Taken”) as Ajak, the healer and motherly matriarch of the team — are all charming and wonderful in their own ways, but have pitifully little to do.

If you got tired reading through that exhaustive gallery, well — yeah.

This lethargizing focus on feelings means that, despite most characters being more or less one-note, the film is completely character-driven — it’s all about people forming convictions and acting accordingly, never beholden to the plot. Everyone has a personal ethos, and it’s a delight watching them realize them in ways that run counter to what one has come to expect from Marvel fare.

“Eternals” still has some of the usual stakes and tropes of a Marvel movie — the world is ending (oh no!) and characters are wont to shout nonsense like forming a “uni-mind” and trying to stave off the “mad weary” (which is actually spelled “mahd wy’ry,” because of course it is). The CGI baddies are bland and boring and perhaps the biggest disappointment of the film, making little sense and acting in baffling, ultimately impotent ways.

Where “Eternals” begins to shine as maybe something special is in the locus of conflict. It’s not really about beating up some bad guy. These threats exist, but the dilemma isn’t external, it’s entirely internal — not a question of will our heroes save the day, but should our heroes save the

This image is from the official trailer for “Eternals,” distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

day, how should they save the day. It’s ponderous, contemplative — what’s worth more, one life now or ten lives later? Which is nobler, loyalty to a cause or loyalty to those you love?

In some ways, “Eternals” is selfreflexive of the superhero genre as a whole. The Eternals grapple with the questions the audience often has looking in — why do super-powered folk primarily use their gifts to punch stuff?

Can’t they — shouldn’t they — do more?

The irony is not lost when Nanjiani’s Kingo, who endeavors to filmically document the Eternals’ adventures, shouts, “We need action scenes,” as he blasts monsters in the face with lethal and admittedly thrilling precision.

“Eternals,” is a thorny, philosophically rich, audacious sci-fi epic. Its greatest irony is that it’s overlong while all the while feeling unfinished — if

only there were a little more development here, a few more minutes there.

But within that ill-constructed chassis is a bounty. Under Zhao’s direction, it’s beautifully shot, the visual effects are beautifully rendered and by some miracle, it sidesteps the cacophony of Chrises and populates itself with faces and bodies that reflect the world we live in. It struggles under its own weight, but it does not crash. Flawed but meaty and, above all, interesting — a singular entry in the MCU. The fact of the matter is that comic book movies and blockbusters at large are the most dominant genre on the planet, with a death knell nowhere in sight. “Eternals” takes big, ambitious swings. They may not land quite right, but if more blockbusters go the route of “Eternals,” cinema will be all the better for it.

Michigan in Color

4 — Wednesday, November 17, 2021

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The power of the five senses MEGHAN DODABALLAPUR MiC Columnist

Forgetting the self KARIS CLARK MiC Columnist

Limitations are broken. Barriers and boundaries fade away. And in a euphoric and ephemeral instance, we advance into an ethereal plane of existence. It’s like a spell that quells any fear and anxiety. In the midst of the collective art-making experience — whether it be the synchronous rhythm of a dance, the communal harmonies of a choir or the cooperative unison of an improv troupe — each elicit a certain kind of forgetting of the self, which in turn, allow us to transcend our very being. Today, the self, as a transcendent spiritual entity, remains widely ignored as we stay stuck in the clutches of a capitalist society.

Indeed, on the stage of late-stage capitalism, the theatrics of performance from the professional to the interpersonal are characterized by that of individualism. In other words, the essence of capitalism — with its fixation on commodity fetishism and persistence on privatized property and resources — robs us of cultivating a collective experience of daily living founded on artful expression, spiritual sustainment and a dismantling of dominant hierarchies of oppression.

Even in creative fields in which collective art-making is paramount to prosperity, our penchant for individualistic modes of thought and action still persists. The professionaliza-

tion, specialization and commercialization of arts entertainment industries under capitalism promote a culture of elitism and competition, rather than collaboration between artists. The sanctity of the art-making process is neglected in pursuit of profit. Artists become brands and market themselves accordingly. A hyper-fixation on appearance and aesthetics emerges, eschewing any authentic content creation. Yet this corrupted creative climate is only a mere symptom of a major systemic problem. Under capitalist hegemony, societal institutions, especially universities, play a massive role in maintaining our individualistic personas.

Our entire higher-education experience is highly individualized. Under intense duress, we’re pressed to put our energy into earning good grades and passing classes for our own self-benefit rather than gaining intellectual insight for the good of humanity. In group projects, our main concern is always our own good marks. We’re career-focused on ourselves rather than collectively focused on our society.

And at this school, especially, making money is our main goal. We maintain a facade of favoring equity and striving for liberation, while simultaneously striving to live lavishly in service to oppressive corporatized systems, and see no problem with this whatsoever. Many of us might espouse anti-capitalist agendas or say we hold socialist sympathies but how often does that translate into our real labor practices and lifestyles? We may justify our journeys

Design by Janice Lin

into the corrupt corporate substratum, claiming that “we’re working to make change within the system,” but how often is this truly the case? How often do we delude ourselves under the impression that we’re working towards a collective good while in reality channeling most of our energy and efforts towards our own individualistic material gain? How long must those most affected by the blood-thirsty, super-exploiting extravagances of imperialism wait while we “work within the system?”

Operating within these oppressive systems not only has harsh material consequences, but yields dire, direct impacts in the metaphysical realm as well. Our current grind culture creates a spiritual deficiency with such efficiency that many of us don’t even bother to construct any form of relationship with divinity or that which is beyond our own sensory experience.

In today’s time, we’ve forgone the act of caring for and cultivating our own souls and instead choose to embark on an endless search for sustainment in material possessions.

In order to free ourselves from the shackles of our self-centered chains, we must cultivate what Christian author Timothy Keller deems as “self-forgetfulness.” In this forgetting of the self, we exemplify the true essence of “gospel humility,” which, as Keller claims, “is not thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.”

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An ode to Animal Crossing ANCHAL MALH MiC Columnist

The home screen of my Nintendo Switch lights up with the words “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” spread out across the screen.

In the background, I can see my villagers Cherry, Punchy and Leopold running across the main plaza as the theme song for the game plays. All of my other villagers are somewhere fishing, running or in their homes creating a DIY recipe that I will soon have for myself.

When we were sent home from college in March 2020, I felt as if I had no control over what was happening in school or my personal life. As someone who believes I have the power to determine the outcome of situations, I struggled because my schedule was thrown into the wind. Everything was changing, including how my classes were taught and where I was living.

I no longer lived in a residence hall with my friends, woke up at an hour that could be considered “morning” and had all three meals of the day in a dining hall. Instead, my new schedule consisted of me waking up at noon and having my first meal for the day at 2 p.m. All of a sudden, I had all the free time in the world. At first, this was exciting because it felt like a never-ending spring break. I woke up every day, watched “The Great British Baking Show” and tried to replicate the recipes I’d see. However, after about three weeks of failed pastry attempts, I

was over it. I would finish my online classes, try to make chocolate chip banana bread, fail and go back to my room to continue watching “The Great British Baking Show.” Every day began to feel mundane, and I knew I needed a change in routine to spice things up.

I contemplated playing video games at the end of March 2020, but was quick to dismiss the idea because it was something I was discouraged from doing in my childhood. Since I was the youngest sibling and the only girl, my parents would restrict how much time I spent playing video games. I’m sure they believed gaming was something only boys could do because of how gory and violent the games my brothers played were. Also, during my childhood, I never took interest in video games because I was only exposed to first-player shooting games and was under the impression that violence was a major component of any video game.

I never owned a Nintendo Switch and didn’t even know it was a console until the pandemic hit. After moving in with my boyfriend and seeing his Nintendo Switch setup, I became interested and wanted to explore new games.

My only exposure to Animal Crossing in passing was through “Pocket Camp,” a variation of the original “Animal Crossing” that can be downloaded on your phone. He suggested I play “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” and after watching the trailer I was captivated by the idea of whisking myself to my very own island getaway.

When I played Animal Crossing for the first time, I felt I had finally found peace. The game’s journey started off with being greeted

by Tom Nook, the infamous raccoon who would soon take all of my bells (the game’s currency). Once there, as the only human character on the island, I met other animal villagers who accompanied me on my journey. From there, I was able to build my deserted island into a paradise, where my new shops and businesses were able to grow.

“Animal Crossing” is a very relaxing yet complex video game because it is based in realtime. Therefore, the time of day will influence the fish you get, the shrubs that bud, when your trees have fruit and whether you can go shopping. You have to play long enough to unlock certain aspects of the game that allow you to change the layout of your island.

Playing “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” helped me find my foot in the gaming world. I discovered a game that served as a way to help ease my anxiety about what the world looked like and provide me with a sense of control.

Now, I still play “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” and have expanded to play “Pikmin 3 Deluxe” and “Stardew Valley.” However, I always go back to Animal Crossing because of the vibrant trees, the cute animals and the endless peace I find when stargazing on my island.

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Y O U R W E E K LY

Scan this QR code to see your full horoscope!

by A n d y N a k a m u r a The full moon shines upon you! The lunar eclipse and full moon in your first house of self mean that you may undergo a great transformation. Change can be quite intimidating, but this moon phase promises a lot of prosperity and happiness as you grow into your most authentic self.

When the moon becomes full in your second house of material desires, your finances may be at the forefront of your mind. Now is not the time to spend frivolously as you may experience sudden income changes.

However, new work opportunities may present themselves, so keep your eyes open.

The full moon in your eighth house of mysteries reveals the secrets you’ve hidden yourself to avoid having to make difficult decisions. Air signs such as Libra often avoid their emotions, and Libras especially want to project a balanced and put-together image. However, it is time for you to examine your relationship with intimacy and finances.

Full moons and eclipses are always especially impactful for Cancerians since the moon is your ruling planet. This week, the full moon occurs in your 11th house of community, placing great emphasis on your friendships.

The moon becomes full in your 10th house of career ambitions. Your work life may face a major change, relieving you of your current responsibilities and re-routing your course on a newer and possibly more fulfilling career path.

The lunar eclipse occurs in your seventh house of partnerships, indicating a radical shift in your platonic and romantic relationships.

You may suddenly let go of old feelings or quickly develop new ones. While tensions may arise, there will also be many opportunities to deepen your relationships as well.

With the full moon in your fifth house of creation, you may experience a shift in passion for your creative projects. Perhaps you’ve lost the inspiration for a project you’ve been working on for a long time.

Eclipses lead to sudden changes, and this can be very disorienting and stressful, but once you let go of projects you no longer feel connected to, you can find new inspiration.

The lunar eclipse occurs in your 12th house of endings.

You may be going through a really difficult emotional and personal change right now. Even though Geminis are often characterized by their energetic nature, it’s important to take time to slow down and relax. Check in with and don’t overexert yourself.

The lunar eclipse in your fourth house of home and family points to internal struggles relating to your personal life. You may be processing difficult memories or struggling to deal with family issues. Aquarians often avoid emotion, but confronting your feelings head-on will allow you to move forward with your life.

The lunar eclipse occurs in your ninth house of philosophy. You don’t always prioritize your desires, Virgo. Synthesizing your productive nature and your own wishes, you should pursue your intellectual interests — not just the subjects that are most “productive” or conventional.

The sun finally shines upon you! With the sun in your sign and your first house of self-identity, now is your time to explore your deepest passions and meet new people. This is also a great time to step back and analyze your overarching vision of your dream life. Think about your aspirations and then work toward them.

In elementary school, I learned about the five senses: sight, touch, hearing, smell and taste. I would be lying if I said I actively sit around and think about how these senses make up my personal reality. In fact, I have taken these senses for granted for a long time.

I wake up every day to my blaring alarm knowing that I will open my eyes to see my messy room. I make a note to myself to clean it and it inevitably gets lost underneath papers on my desk. I grab my phone and feel the slippery glass screen that’s covered in my fingerprints because I never remember to clean it. My second alarm painfully blares the ringtone that I’ve grown to hate while I quickly enter my passcode. I reluctantly get out of bed and pop a hazelnut K-Cup in the Keurig, and the brewing coffee aroma fills the kitchen. After adding creamer, I take a sip and purse my lips together.

I always end up making it too sweet.

I go about my day knowing that my reality is presented to me through these senses, even if I don’t actively think about it. But lately, my five senses have been acting differently. They now serve as a reminder of past moments in my life — moments that I long for.

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ight I aimlessly scroll through TikTok when I catch a glimpse of the time. It’s 8:00 at night and I’ve done nearly none of my homework that’s due in the next two days. I’ll wake up early and start tomorrow, I think to myself. I slip my feet into my pink house shoes that are tucked under my bed and walk toward the closet to pick out my outfit for tomorrow. My eyes scan through jackets, sweaters and my long sleeves until I see it — the one striped short-sleeved button-up shirt that I “borrowed” from my dad.

I know I should see this shirt and think of my dad, but I don’t. My mind races back to 2018, when Thatha, my grandfather, was given a plain, light blue button-down shirt from a family member. He looked at it and let out a quiet sigh.

While the other family members were talking, he turned to me and told me with a small smile that he has a closet full of shirts that look exactly like the one he was just given. I laughed and he said that he can show me the short-sleeved button-up shirt that he wore to my parents’ wedding nearly 25 years ago. According to him, it looked just like the one he just got. Before I could ask him to show me, my auntie asked Thatha a question, and the short-sleeved shirt conversation shifted into a discussion about what the plan would be for tomorrow. The moment slipped away from us.

Now I stare at my one borrowed striped button-up, short-sleeved shirt and think of him.

Did he have one just like the one that I have too?

I grab it from my closet, deciding I’ll wear it tomorrow.

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ouch My friends and I pile into the back of a Toyota Camry and set out towards the Salvation Army just down the street. The car ride is short and filled with potholes, laughs and quiet music playing under our loud voices. Once there, we walk in eagerly. None of us are looking for any clothing item in particular, but this is our favorite pastime in our suburban hometown.

As soon as we walk in, the sound of plastic hangers clanging against each other fills the room. My friends and I split apart and contribute to this noise as we look through clothes. I head towards the women’s section and feel the clothes, pushing aside the ones that I’m not interested in. I swipe through fuzzy corduroy pants, a smooth satin dress, pilling cotton shorts and a rough sequined skirt. My hands freeze for a second and then scramble back to find the skirt that I so brainlessly just pushed away. Once I find it, I delicately run my fingers over the fabric. The seams on the edge of the skirt are splitting, indicating its age. The threads poking out from the stitches are so soft, they slip out of my fingers. The pink sequins are rough and scratchy to the touch. The skirt’s thick cotton is exposed in the areas where the sequins have fallen off.

It doesn’t make sense, but I expect to pull out a lehenga. There’s no reason why a jeweled lehenga would be sold in a thrift store in my predominantly white hometown, but my fingers assume while my brain catches up. I briefly think about how my auntie used to laugh at me for being too picky when we were shopping for lehengas for my brother’s Munji, a religious thread ceremony. I wonder the next time I will have an occasion to wear a lehenga. I would have been at my cousin’s wedding if it wasn’t for school and COVID-19, I think to myself. I push the thought out of my head, trying to convince myself that a scratchy sequined shirt shouldn’t make me miss itchy lehengas and the way my auntie used to poke fun at me for my particular taste. I spend the rest of my time roaming around the thrift store waiting for my friends to finish, unable to forget the skirt and my family that I haven’t seen in years.

H The full moon and lunar eclipse in your third house of communication may stimulate your social life. You may suddenly encounter new opportunities to meet new people. Try to be open to trying new things, because they may lead to new connections. When the sun moves into Sagittarius and your 10th house of career ambitions, your work takes a much more central focus in your life.

a man laughing behind me. His laugh is so loud, it echoes in the nearly empty grocery store. The pitch is low and full, but it feels slightly forced — as if someone had told him he had to laugh on-command. I drop the spinach and whip my head around to the direction of the sound. A middle-aged white man in jeans and a jacket is headed towards the check-out. He is telling another man about his day, and they both smile through their masks. I slowly turn my head back around and grab the spinach I’d dropped.

I try not to be disappointed with the person who laughed. I just expected the man behind the laugh to be my dad. There is no reason that my dad would be in my college city’s grocery store at night, I tell myself. Still though, I thought I would turn around to see my dad dressed in his work clothes on a work call. I thought the laugh that I’d heard was his “work laugh,” the type of forceful laugh that used to fill my childhood home early in the morning during the summers. His real laugh is silent, but his work laugh booms. I wonder if he’s on a call at home, if he’s been working too much.

earing I step out of my car into the parking lot of Meijer on Ann Arbor-Saline Road. My fingers go numb in the frigid weather as I pull my phone out of my jacket pocket. 11:30 p.m., it reads. I only have a few things to pick up, but I quickly walk inside knowing that they might close a little before midnight.

I head toward the bundles of browning spinach. All of the good ones have been picked through earlier in the day. This is the price to pay for grocery shopping at night on a weekday.

As I dig through the bunches of spinach, I hear

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mell The elevator opens to the fourth floor of Bursley Residence Hall. My shoes click as I walk down the empty hallway. I reach into the bottom of my backpack in search of my housing card. Once I find it, I swipe my card and swing the door open. As soon as it opens, the scent of jaji (jasmine) floods into the hallway. I stand in the hallway stunned. The smell is subtle, yet familiar. It’s sweet and floral, but not overwhelming. Once I finally walk into the dorm, I expect to see flowers; but instead, my roommate tells me she’s bought a new candle — it smells exactly like jaji.

The scent takes me back to Gandhi Bazaar.

Amma holds my hand as we walk the packed streets of Bangalore, her hometown. She walks with purpose towards a stand in the corner of an intersection. I follow her, trying not to get lost in the sea of people. She slows down and looks at me, smiling in anticipation of my excitement. We are in front of a stand that is filled with flower petals weaved on thread. The flowers hang from the tops of the stand and lay on the table. Women sit on the ground carefully weaving the flower petals onto the thread. The aroma of jaji is so strong that it momentarily dulls the smell of pollution from the cars. Amma lets me pick out jaji for both her and myself. She carefully tucks it in my hair, which still smells of jaji days after I take it out.

But for now, I set my backpack down near my desk that is scattered with notebooks and pens. I sleep and dream of the next time I will be able to go to India and put jaji in my hair.

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aste After finishing our meal at an Indian restaurant in my hometown of Rochester Hills, my parents and I place an order for Madras coffee. I am chugging my water in an attempt to get rid of the lingering spicy flavor in my mouth when the three cups of coffee come to our table. In the States, Indian food and coffee usually taste different compared to what we consume in India. I can never put my finger on what it is, but something just feels off. Still though, I hold the small metal tumbler that is hot to the touch and take a sip. My tongue burns in the process.

The hot coffee goes down smoothly and leaves a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. The frothed milk on the top of the coffee tastes creamy but isn’t overwhelming. It’s sweet but not sugary. Upon my first sip, I don’t just taste the coffee — I get a taste of familiarity as well.

For the first time, coffee in the States tastes exactly like the coffee my relatives would make for me when I visit India. I take another sip and think back to the times where my siblings and I would joke that our family is the only family that would offer you coffee before you even brush your teeth. Thatha and Ajji would make us coffee first thing in the morning when we were jetlagged. We would sit in silence as we waited for the coffee to kick in. When Amma woke up, she would ask her parents why they would give her 12-year-old daughter coffee, but I would take a few sips anyway, refusing to let our coffee mornings be taken away. *** These moments of nostalgia from the five senses crept up on me when I least expected and reminded me of the memories that I hold closest to me. I took the senses for granted because I got in the routine of expecting things to be what they appear to be and nothing more — coffee as just a warm drink or a sequined skirt as a niche thrift find. It was in these unsuspecting moments that my preconceived idea of the senses became something entirely greater — reminders of my past. I didn’t realize the power of the five senses until their conclusions came first, and my logic came second. Once we recognize the duality between the senses’ simplicity and power, we open ourselves up to a new appreciation for the things that we once marked as routine.

Opinion

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, November 17, 2021 — 5

Dear President Schlissel, talk to Jon. ANDREW GERACE Opinion Columnist

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AAPS has a problem. The solution is raising pay for substitute teachers.

ALEX YEE Opinion Columnist

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he Ann Arbor Public Schools district is in trouble. Within the past few weeks, AAPS has canceled in-person school three times. On Oct. 22, three schools went remote. Five days later, it was one school. The most recent closure, on Nov. 1, affected every school in the district.

Naturally, parents were upset.

For working parents, the need to find emergency child care is an exceptional burden. AAPS discontinued their before and afterschool care program this year, and the cost of private childcare has risen dramatically as providers attempt to recoup losses from the pandemic.

Following the announcement about the Nov. 1 closure, parents took to Twitter and an AAPS school board meeting to voice their discontent. Many parents proposed solutions, such as raising substitute teachers’ pay, or opening cafeterias and gymnasiums up for group study halls if individual classrooms could not be staffed. Others raised concerns about teacher burnout, while still others took the time to contrast the empathetic messaging from their student’s principal with an email from Superintendent Jeanice K. Swift, which they considered glib.

In a recent Daily article, LSA junior and AAPS parent Patrick Gallagher criticized the school board for not coming up with a plan to prevent the possibility of a staff shortage. He pointed to low wages for teachers and support staff as the primary factor driving the shortage, emphasizing that the pandemic is no longer new and that the administration should have been aware of the precarious hiring situation before the school year started.

To gather additional comment on the closures, I reached out to lecturer Adam Stevenson. Stevenson

is a lecturer of economics at the University, a parent of two children in AAPS and also teaches a class on the economics of education.

When asked about his reactions to the closures as a parent, Stevenson groaned. He did not enjoy telling his middle schooler at 9:40 p.m. on Oct. 21 — while saying good night to her — that she would not be going to school in the morning. Her reaction to the news: a plaintive “I’m not going to see my friends!”

Stevenson distinguished the difference between the systemic issues facing teachers and the acute problems facing AAPS. Systemically, he argues “it’s definitely true that hiring is becoming difficult across many industries — most industries — and so wages are rising more rapidly than they have been, which makes it easier for people to quit a current job and opt-in to another job instead. And so to win that bidding war for workers, wages are going up, and by and large schools can’t do that because wages are determined by teacher union negotiations.” However, he asserted that he finds it “very difficult to believe that’s a particular explanation for what’s going on right now,” specifically in AAPS. In short, hiring enough full-time teachers is not the problem. Then what is?

Teacher absences. According to the school board’s data, the fill rate for staff absences oscillated between 51-65% throughout October. If teachers called out sick, or for any other reason, the district could not find an adequate number of substitutes to replace them. Without enough staff per student, guaranteeing safety became a concern, and closures became necessary. According to Stevenson, “the extent that the COVID crisis can explain (the absences) is that people who would’ve done substitutions are either unwilling to work under sort of risky circumstances or they’re getting better bids from someone else.”

At the Oct. 27 school board meeting, that exact sentiment was raised by Amanda Bergren, a former teacher who often substituted while pursuing her teaching degree. She commented that the pay for substitute teachers — about $100/day — is exactly the same as it was when she was a substitute twenty years ago. She urged the board to raise the pay, adding that she would consider teaching again if the price for giving up her time were not so low.

Talking with Stevenson helped me establish a couple of key points about the closures. First, raising teacher pay is a non-starter, and more importantly, not the likely culprit behind the closures. Salaries cannot be legally raised until next December, when the current labor contract expires.

Teachers should be paid more — but that is a decades-long problem that cannot be resolved overnight. Second, the immediate issue for the district is recruiting more substitutes, and unfortunately, the district will likely fail to attract enough of them without a dramatic increase in pay.

So, if raising teacher pay is not an option, and hiring enough substitutes is unlikely, how can AAPS prevent further closures?

Increase the pay for substitutes.

AAPS took a step in this direction by raising the wage from $130 to $150 on Mondays and Fridays, the days with the most absences. But that is not enough.

An extra $20 might incentivize a middle schooler to mow their neighbor’s lawn, but it certainly would not motivate a working adult to dedicate their day to monitoring a classroom, especially when other jobs pay better. I should know. I worked in an after-school care facility my senior year of high school for $8.25/hr. Children are a joy in general, but not after they’ve jammed a tiara on your head or insulted the kind of car you drive. (A 2011 Chevy Malibu is not lame.)

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Celebrating community at Michigan RUSHABH SHAH Opinion Columnist

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oliday season is well underway and although many might argue it’s only just begun, for over a billion people around the world it peaked last week, on Nov. 4. Before any Thanksgiving turkeys or Karamu feasts were served, before any dreidels were spun or carols were sung, people lit hundreds of thousands of candles to honor a festival of lights.

There exists no Halloween hangover arduous enough and no Dia de Los Muertos celebration tiring enough to prevent this annual commemoration of the victory of good over evil from captivating all those that choose to celebrate it. Rooted deep in Indian mythology, an everlasting symbol of the strength that lies in togetherness, kindness and respect for one’s values and beliefs, it isn’t just a festival, but an emotion shared by a subcontinent that holds 1.4 billion people and a community that houses even more.

So, let me take this opportunity to wish you a very happy belated Diwali.

I am one of the many Indians studying at the University of Michigan.

As I prepared to leave the city and country I had lived in for the first 19 years of my life and come to Ann Arbor, I was warned of the most commonly cited side effects of being in Ann Arbor, aside from cold weather: non-home food, the lack of native Indian speakers and homesickness. For the most part, I can proudly say that that’s one virus I have avoided in my three months away from home.

All of that changed when I was woken up on the morning of Nov.

4 by a phone call from halfway across the world. It was the evening of Diwali and my brother, parents and approximately 100 other people whom I call family were all gathered in one place celebrating the biggest festival of the year. Yup, that homesickness I mentioned… hit me like a shovel. It’s not like there weren’t any Diwali parties or celebrations on campus, but there was something special about the way my family did it that made me feel, for the first time, like I genuinely missed being home.

The importance Indian culture places on the community has never evaded me. It’s something I am extremely proud of, and I’m sure others are as well. I was brought up with the constant reminder that what we have is difficult to find anywhere else, an idea that was further drilled into me as I prepared for the next step in my journey: my four years in Ann Arbor and at Michigan. I had been warned by many that it would not be as easy as it had been back home to find my own community, and as Diwali approached, I couldn’t shrug off the nagging feeling that they might have been correct. Admitting that to myself was disappointing because all everybody had to say about Michigan was that it isn’t just a school, it’s a family. That was the very reason I chose to come here.

Alas, I spent most of Diwali doing what I’d do on any other Thursday. The day just passed me by, but there was one thing to look forward to: the pooja.

Pooja is that part of the Diwali festivities where one prays to god and distributes sweets to all those in the household. My friend, Shrey Sehgal, had graciously decided to host a Diwali pooja at his house and at 8 p.m. that day, I found

myself in what was the closest thing to home I could have imagined. I watched as Shrey and his roommates, almost all of whom have no connection to India or Indian culture and no real obligation to participate in these traditions, sang along to the hymns, followed all the customs and even listened intently as Shrey and I explained the history behind the festival.

On my way home, I walked past the block “M” on the diag and was pleasantly surprised to see it lit up in honor of Diwali. I quickly took a picture and put it up on my Instagram. As I scrolled through the never-ending wave of Instagram stories, I came across Saanika Kulkarni’s. It was a picture of five plates of food she cooked herself. The captain read: “An honour treating my friends to diwali food.” I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. Less than two hours ago I was lamenting my first Diwali away from home, and I hadn’t even given it a chance.

I had been so grateful all my life for whatmycommunityhadgivenmethat I thought being part of a community could only mean one thing. So much so that I didn’t recognize the one I am part of right now even though it was right in front of me. Yes, nothing I have at this university will be like it is back home, but it can still be one hell of a community. Shrey’s pooja, Saanika’s dinner and a Diwali-themed Diag reminded me that this place is full of passionate people that are not only accepting of but open to those who want to express themselves. A place where people care enough to respect each other’s background and interests is a place where I belong.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

ear President Schlissel, If you’re reading this message, walk outside your door and talk to Jonathan Vaughn. In case, President Schlissel, you don’t know who that is, you may want to check out the student, local, statewide and national press coverage that his courageous statement has attracted. He is one of more than 2,000 students and athletes who survived the abuse of Dr. Robert Anderson, and he would like to talk to you. Now that you must know who Jonathan Vaughn is, walk outside your door and speak to him.

If you’re still reading at this point, President Schlissel, and not outside talking to Jonathan Vaughn, then I have to imagine there must be some problem preventing you from talking to him. Let’s brainstorm some solutions.

Maybe you’ve been looking for Jon all over campus but can’t find him to speak with him! Finding your way around campus, especially with changing bus routes, can always be tricky. Thankfully, he’s right outside your house! If you’re still having trouble finding him, send me an email about directions, and I’d be happy to walk you the 10 steps out your door to the sidewalk.

If you’re still reading, President Schlissel, then it must not be a problem of directions. Maybe you’re staying inside because you’re worried about catching COVID-19? A reasonable fear, given that we are living in an ongoing pandemic. If you are staying inside because you’re concerned about catching COVID-19, don’t you think it’s a little hypocritical that you aren’t giving faculty the same

opportunity? You provided a ringing endorsement of “Work Connections” in the face of faculty members telling you the current process is a failed system. While I can’t cure hypocrisy, I can say that it does breed discontent.

Studies have shown outdoor, masked and vaccinated meetings have incredibly low chances of COVID-19 transmission. Put on a mask, walk outside your door and talk to Jon. If you’ve gotten this far, President Schlissel, then it must not be directions or a COVID-19 worry that’s stopping you. Perhaps you’ve lost your voice and are worried Jon won’t be able to hear you if you go outside to speak with him. I know my voice would undoubtedly be hoarse if I spent even half the time making empty promises of accountability and transparency as you do. To your credit, it is astounding you found the words to keep your job scandal, after scandal, after scandal, after scandal, after scandal; we’ve all been waiting for years for the other shoe to drop.

If your voice is sore from all of the platitudes, as someone who works with singers as part of my degree in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, I suggest warm water with honey and lemon, a humidifier for your bedroom and vocal rest. Drink some tea, walk outside your door and talk to Jon. If you’ve made it here, President Schlissel, then it must not be directions, COVID-19 or a sore voice that’s preventing you from doing, quite literally, the bare minimum for these survivors. Perhaps your schedule is too busy; maybe you’ve penciled in too much time to think about how you’re going to spend your early removal package! If that’s how much a failed presidency costs, I can’t even imagine how much we’ll have to

spend on a successful one. But look, I get it, especially at this point in the year, things just pile up. I’d suggest budgeting time a little differently; why don’t you take some of the time you spend ignoring the Faculty Senate and use it to talk to Jon? Make some free time, walk outside your door and speak to Jon. If you’ve read this far, President Schlissel, I can’t say it is looking good for you. I would like to think I’m an intelligent guy, but truthfully, I’m running out of solutions for you.

Suppose it’s not about directions, COVID-19, losing your voice or a packed schedule. In that case, the only remaining problem I can think of is that you’re a selfish, cowardly embarrassment to the University of Michigan. We’re supposed to be the “Leaders and Best” around here, remember? If you can’t muster up the courage to go outside your house and talk to someone who is far braver than you, then you don’t deserve to be the head of this University.

Being the “Leaders and Best” is not a passive description of who we are, but a higher calling we are charged to pursue in all we do; if we don’t have that in the highest office, what are we as an institution? If you can’t do this one small act that would make a large impact in the lives of these survivors, and survivors of other scandals under your tenure, then I suggest you close this article, gather your personal belongings and resign immediately instead of in June 2023 as planned.

Make sure you sneak out the backdoor so you don’t risk bumping into a real “Leader and Best.”

If you feel, President Schlissel, that none of these possible problems address your neglect of Jonathan Vaughn, feel free to reach out. I’m sure we can think of something.

Travis Scott, Kyrie Irving and other celebrities — don’t evade personal responsibility SAM WOITESHEK Opinion Columnist

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like concerts, as I’m sure most people do. They’re fun, they’re impulsive and, if done well, they keep you coming back. The rush of adrenaline one gets from watching their favorite artist roam the stage alongside thousands of other screaming fans is pure dopamine.

That said, I’ve only been to a handful of them, so I won’t necessarily say I’m an expert.

However, I don’t enjoy live music where the crowd is totally, or perhaps mostly, uncontrolled. I really wouldn’t enjoy it when an ambulance shows up and the artist continues to perform.

Personally, I would feel guilty about attending a concert, especially when I read the news the next day that eight people passed — the number has since risen to nine.

I understand that Travis Scott, a multimillionaire and masterclass entertainer, did not intend the crowd at the Astroworld Festival to start trampling each other, let alone for people to die. However, he is not totally innocent either. When 50,000 people are clamoring to get close to a stage, what do you think is going to happen?

Hindsight is 20/20, sure. Yet, for some reason, the Houston police chief felt strongly enough to enter

Scott’s trailer before the show to convey concerns about the size and energy of the crowd, likely because Scott is known for making crowds rowdy. Shockingly (not really), the rapper didn’t listen. A sold-out festival of hype-fueled fanatics sounded cool beforehand, I agree. But when there is a potential safety issue, the implications grow much larger than new marketing material or a fun memory. Now, his negligence has resulted in a slew of lawsuits.

I could even look past all this if Scott stopped his show. But he didn’t and, internally, we all know he wouldn’t anyway. Don’t kill the vibe, they all say. Scott loves to open his songs with “It’s Lit!” Sorry, Travis, but there is no disguising the optics on this one. You can’t evade the negatives of the situation or the downfalls of your judgement. You have to face the music and acknowledge that you are culpable, at least to some extent.

Kyrie Irving denied himself the vaccine. Not just any common flu shot you could get at Walgreens, however, but rather the one prospective chance at immunity from a pandemic that has claimed the lives of millions. Who is Kyrie Irving, you might ask? He plays professional basketball for the Brooklyn Nets. Oh, and he signed a four-year, $136 million-dollar contract to do so. Times must be tough.

He lives in New York City, a

metropolitanareathatjustsohappened to impose a vaccine mandate. While the National Basketball Association doesn’t have one, the vast majority of players have decided to get vaccinated anyway. If 95% of players in the league can be poked by a needle, so can Irving. Nevertheless, he claims it is “his choice” and has no plans to get it anytime soon.

He is right: Ultimately, no organization or administration can force immunizations. However, it’s his job — he can’t cash in on his payday without his 4×3 white piece of paper from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, at a certain point, how much is his absence costing the organization? There’s quite a good possibility that fans from all over New York and, to a lesser extent, the country, are coming to see him play. They shell out hundreds for the experience, only to arrive and he’s not there. That can’t reflect positively on the Nets. No player is more important than the team, and there are many other point guards who would gladly replace him.

Each of these celebrities is in the wrong, there is no doubt. But the real question remains: Why did they each take the actions they did? It would seem that the solutions here are simple: stop the show and get the vaccine.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Is it morally responsible to allow the proliferation of liquor stores on campus?

ALEXIS HANCZ Opinion Columnist

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iquor stores thrive in a college environment like Ann Arbor.

Sporting events and consistent partying throughout the school year make it a prime place for a booming alcohol economy, representing a portion of the state of Michigan’s $123.8 million in gross liquor sales as of March 2020. But there is a clear asymmetry between college alcohol culture’s profitability and the community’s interests in the mental and physical health of its students.

Central Campus offers a host of liquor stores: State Street Liquor, Champions Party Store, Campus Corner and Blue Front Ann Arbor, to name a few (all located on some of the most frequented streets on Central Campus). Although clearly in demand, is it morally permissible to sell so much alcohol so close to designated learning spaces and student housing?

These liquor stores’ proximity to student hubs reveal that the University

of Michigan’s commitment to alcohol moderation education such as “Stay in the Blue” only puts a Band-Aid over the pervasiveness of college drinking culture. It is obvious that these stores are designed to sell to not only the adults that come to enjoy athletic events each weekend and of-age students, but also potentially to the underage students that are excited to party two, three and even four to five nights a week.

The truth is, college drinking culture is ingrained into the economic fabric of Ann Arbor as well as college campuses across the United States, and this is done through institutionalized social norms bonding drinking with celebrations and social connection, something that students desperately crave after a year and a half in a pandemic.

Football, basketball, hockey, fraternities and sororities, the end of midterms, holidays and more are all celebrations that are intrinsically bound to copious consumption of alcohol. Even parents’ weekend is often an opportunity to hit the beer bong with mom or dad, which can

further normalize students’ drinking behavior.

Some may argue that college drinking culture is far too widespread to attempt to reduce it by restricting alcohol sales within a certain radius of central campus.

However, the belief that “that’s just the way it is” does not justify the moral implications of literally placing alcohol in front of underaged students. The U.S., even amongst its growing educated population, is plagued by alcoholism. College students are far from exempt.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that 33 percent of college students who drank alcohol in the past month admit to binge drinking, or consuming 4 to 5 drinks per occasion for women and men respectively.

The high rate of overconsumption is not without systemic cause. Alcohol is a social institution enabled by economic landscaping and social norms. Specifically, alcohol is a university institution.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

6 — Wednesday, November 17, 2021

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

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Gaslight, gatekeep: How “girlboss” went from aspirational to insulting ABBY SNYDER

Statement Correspondent

The first time I can remember considering my career was browsing through the games on Barbie.com.

I was 5, maybe 6, squished into a chair with my best friend during a playdate. We pecked at the keyboard with pointer fingers still sticky from snack time, until a glimmering pink screen asked us the fateful question: Which Barbie do you want to be?

We had myriad options to choose from: Hairdresser Barbie, Fashion Designer Barbie, Sports Barbie, Makeup Artist Barbie, Doctor Barbie, Salesgirl Barbie, Lifeguard Barbie, Schoolgirl Barbie — the list went on. And these days, that list is even longer; Barbie’s become a writer, an astronaut, a small business owner and president, among other things.

In some ways, the breadth of her career choices is empowering. This toy, a staple that many girls have looked up to for generations, is telling them that they can have any career they aspire to. At the same time, Barbie is offering them education on what some of those options can be. That’s a really noble, and important, message.

But it’s also Barbie.

Despite all of the aspirational messaging, she’s still a plastic, stylishly-dressed, perfectlycoiffed standard we’re telling girls to live up to. Even if Barbie is no longer always white, blonde, blue-eyed and stick-thin (which she still is the majority of the time), her main appeal continues to lie in dressing her up and playing with her hair. Her main draw is still her looks.

And somewhere beneath it all, even with the countless impressive careers she’s had over the years, Barbie is what she always has been: superficial. Making her a pediatrician or salon owner or athlete won’t cover up the fact that her “progress” feels a little, well, fake.

The new Barbie is what some might call a girlboss.

“Girlboss” is defined as “to make something or someone appear as a feminist idol or inspiration for profit, despite the numerous flaws of the person.” The term was coined

by Sophia Amoruso, founder of the fast fashion website Nasty Gal, who wrote a 2014 autobiography titled #GIRLBOSS. Amoruso’s literal rags-to-riches storyline was inspiring, and she gained a massive following with many young professionals looking up to her. That is, until Nasty Gal filed for bankruptcy protection

in 2015, citing “toxic” workplace culture and leadership issues.

After the fallout of the ordeal, the term slowly became a less aspirational mindset and more of a backhanded compliment. My editor, whom I would characterize as “take-no-shit, badass bitch,” admitted that being called “girlboss” makes her uncomfortable and that she takes it as more of an insult. The girlboss went from an example of ambition and hustle to a personification of tokenism and unhealthy attitudes. University of Michigan Rackham student Megan Kelly, who studies sociology with a focus on gender and work explained how this developed to me over Zoom.

“There’s just a broader sort of idea of, what are the consequences of saying that the way that omen should succeed at work, is to do more, the sort of the ‘lean in’ type of thing,” Kelly said. “Part of what’s important about that is that it’s not just individuals. It’s built into the way we structure jobs, the way we think about work in the United States, and therefore encouraging people to sort of invest themselves more is essentially saying that the way to succeed is to put more into that system and it doesn’t really do anything to address the root causes. That’s problematic because no matter how hard you lean in, that’s not going to fix those systemic inequalities.”

The girlboss essentially became the early-2000s postfeminist caricature of the career woman. You know the type: the queen of the stilettoheeled walk-and-talk, she’s working 24/7 (she’s the glue holding the office

together), constantly cradles her phone between her shoulder and her ear so she can multitask and has a stylish designer wardrobe far beyond what her salary could realistically buy. She’s probably played by Katherine Heigl, and there is a very strong chance that, at some point in the movie, she falls in love with (a) her boss, or (b) a man she meets because of the job she’s always at. And just like that, with a wave of her ever-present PalmPilot or BlackBerry and a click of her sky-high, sexy-but-still-professional heels, the girlboss fixed everything that was wrong with our workplace culture. The girlboss gets her career and her happy ending.

She didn’t need feminism anymore. All the progress has been made.

In part, the girlboss became that because the goal we gave her was impossible. (Unattainable goals for women? Groundbreaking.) We wanted the girlboss to fix everything that was wrong in our workplaces: the competitiveness, the workaholism, the fraternity-style sexist collegiality, the racism. The girlboss was supposed to represent the change in the workplace, but more than that, she was supposed to bring that change to the workplace.

Instead, she was right at home there within all of these workaholic, toxic patriarchal structures, and we couldn’t forgive her for it. Instead of changing the system, the girlboss just took on those traditional leadership roles and claimed the problem had been solved by the nature of her being there. But, by deeming her “girlboss” instead of just “boss,” we kept her separate, somehow othered, in the workplace world that she’d become a part of.

“It gets wrapped up with her being a woman in a position of authority,” Kelly said. “(Girlboss is) an attempt to reconcile femininity and being like, ‘Yes, I can fulfill our cultural ideals of femininity, and at the same

Artist on the guillotine MARY ROLFES

Statement Correspondent

Now that Halloween has passed and the holiday season encroaches upon us, my anticipation for a relatively new “holiday” tradition has begun.

Like many other Spotify users, early November is when I begin both eagerly awaiting and bracing myself for Spotify’s 2021 Wrapped. Launched by the music streaming giant in 2015 and originally called “Year in Music,” Spotify Wrapped gives listeners a summary of their streaming habits over the past year. And social media sharing is integral to Wrapped’s marketing model, since Spotify provides graphics about listening stats which can be added to Instagram stories or shared on Twitter.

This social aspect is why some users, including myself, may feel a slight sense of dread as the New Year approaches: What embarrassing realities might Spotify expose about my music taste? I didn’t listen to that many “Glee” songs this year, did I? What about all those late-night study sessions spent singing along to Broadway show tunes? Or, for those of us who pride ourselves on our “alternative” tastes, could we be surprised to find Wrapped reveals our listening habits to be a bit, well, basic?

It’s possible that a few cringe-worthy tracks will end up in my Wrapped playlist. But the musical shame I’m most bracing myself for this Wrapped season is not a question, but instead a certainty: the English rock band the Smiths will definitely repeat as my most-played artist of the year.

My shame about the Smiths has nothing to do with concerns about having cheesy, basic or “bad” taste. They’re considered one of the most influential bands of the 1980s and British music website “NME” ranks their album The Queen is Dead as the greatest album ever. Beyond their sound, they were subversive and anti-establishment during an especially conservative era in British politics, utilizing their influence to challenge then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The working title for The Queen is Dead, in fact, was Margaret on the Guillotine. More personally, as someone who has at times felt isolated by my convictions about animal exploitation, their 1985 track Meat is Murder is a frequent comfort, and one of the only animal rights songs I’ve found to be a pleasant and powerful listen rather than overly self-congratulatory.

Clearly, the Smiths were an important and highcaliber band, both musically and politically. So if it’s not embarrassing taste I’m concerned about, what exactly is my issue with the Smiths topping my Spotify Wrapped once again this year?

It boils down to one name, a name that has probably already invaded the mind of anyone familiar with the Smiths: Morrissey.

Stephen Morrissey, mononymously referred to

by his last name, served as the Smiths frontman and is responsible for the lyrics that have resonated with so many from the 1980s through today. This includes those on “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” which Morrissey wrote to poke fun at the music media for overanalyzing everything he said. In recent years, however, “Bigmouth” has become an apt characterization of Morrissey. And I’d wager pretty much every Smiths fan desperately wishes he would just shut up.

Unfortunately, his big mouth strikes again and again. For example, during a performance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in 2019, Morrissey wore a “For Britain” badge, solidifying his support for the far-right political party founded by anti-Islamic activist Anne Marie Waters. (Even former right-wing politician Nigel Farage, known as Mr. Brexit, has characterized her supporters as “Nazis and racists.”) He has made disparaging comments about British politicians of color, characterized Chinese people as a “subspecies” and claimed everyone “prefers their own race.” And during the #MeToo movement, Morrissey victimblamed the survivors of Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein.

The Guardian writer Tim Jonze argues that evidence of Morrissey’s violent views were there in the 1980s, such as his distaste for “Black modern music.” Still, his takes are jarring and almost absurd to anyone familiar with his lyrics or personal life. Morrissey is the son of Irish immigrants.

He is also a product of Manchester, arguably the prototypical “working-class” city. He wrote lines such as “I am human and I need to be loved / just like everybody else does.” He embraced sexual and gender ambiguity; for example, he often performed with a bunch of gladiolus flowers, a stereotypically feminine object, hanging out of his back pocket.

More than anything, his lyrics were often dedicated to feeling unheard and uncared for by the world.

How could somebody who seemed to stand for so many of the right things, to be an advocate for the marginalized, turn out to be so wrong and misguided?

Perhaps there isn’t an answer to that question.

But for any Smiths fan that finds themselves as vehemently opposed to Morrissey as I do (which should be every Smiths fan), there’s a more important question to ask ourselves: Well, what am I meant to do now?

This question is not unique to fans of the Smiths.

It’s difficult to completely avoid the works of every controversial creator, especially since they exist within all forms of content. Maybe John Lennon or Michael Jackson will feature in your Spotify Wrapped. Maybe Woody Allen or Quentin Tarantino directed one of your favorite films.

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time, I can have a powerful position at work.

I can combine those two things successfully.’

Yeah, when you criticize that term, of course, you’re kind of suggesting that those two things are not compatible in some way. But I also think that there are reasons to think based on our culture that those two things are already not viewed as compatible.”

Even in the spaces created by, and theoretically for, girlbosses, the problems remain, proving that the change promised by the girlboss was surface-level at best and negligent at worst. Nasty Gal had a toxic environment. Reformation and Glossier (girlboss-founded clothing and makeup lines, respectively) had thinly disguised but ever-present racism. Those brands are still thriving (at least for now), whether it’s because of their vocal commitment to change and accountability in the wake of these stories, or because of their widespread popularity.

Interestingly, though, the viral fashion blog Man Repeller folded after former employees called out their ex-(girl)boss for performative activism; it likely won’t be the last company, female-founded or otherwise, to shutter under increased scrutiny for these issues.

These cases made one thing clear, though: The girlboss didn’t change the system. She was a product of its benevolence, and as a result, she became a part of the system. We found the chance she affected insufficient, as we realized that not only was she a part of the broken system, but also that she wasn’t as representative of us as we thought (or hoped) she was.

She was white, cis-gendered, straight and very often wealthy, and eventually, the actions of many so-called (even sometimes self-titled) girlbosses reminded us that her gender identity alone did not ensure she would fight for change that would include everyone.

“It’s possible for a woman to be both a feminist and to be racist,” Kelly said. “It is possible for people to be working towards something that feels liberatory for them as a white woman, and for those things to not actually represent or perhaps even be harmful to women who are not white, and so it could be that they’re just completely blinkered to the fact that the feminist ideals that they are advocating for represent their own experience as white women.”

In the end, the girlboss went from iconic to ironic. Maybe

that’s just a product of our culture, because these days, we’re making everything ironic, even (maybe especially) things that started out sincerely. Or it could be a generational gap: girlboss was a millennial ideal, but a Gen Z insult. So while millennials may think of it as a compliment, Gen Z-ers are taken aback by its less-than-shiny implications. But for ever-increasing numbers of us, girlboss falls somewhere on the spectrum between backhanded compliment and outright insult.

And let’s not lose sight of the fact that in this use of the term, we’re still denigrating ambitious women in the professional space. I don’t mean that the problematic examples this article discusses should be forgiven because they’re women, nor do I mean to minimize their very real shortcomings. But by using “girlboss” as an insult, are we implying that it’s degrading to be compared to career-driven women?

Are we implying that that’s a bad thing for a woman to be? There’s something off-putting about insulting someone by comparing them to career-driven women, like we still see ambition as a bad thing for a woman to have.

“The question is, can we criticize the parts of the individual’s actions that are problematic without criticizing her as without, without also criticizing her for being a woman who is ambitious in her career and has pursued certain goals?” Kelly said.

Ultimately, there are so many complexities lurking beneath the pale-pink, boldface-type package of the #girlboss. It’s a tangled web she’s been woven into, and it’s unclear whether unraveling it is even possible or desirable. The girlboss has come to represent so much toxicity, but we still want — we still need — the change she claimed to champion and represent. But how do we get there without becoming something of her ourselves? It seems to be yet another impossible task set by the patriarchy, now in the looming shadow of our past problems.

In the face of this seemingly perpetual conundrum, I’d like to hold onto a little of that girlboss optimism. Don’t get me wrong — she was unhealthily committed to her job, to outdated, harmful power structures and ideals and her empowerment was often exclusionary.

I don’t endorse any of that. But at the same time, the girlboss was so sure she could make a difference, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t envy her in that regard. In the end, the girlboss isn’t the answer to the problem (in some ways, she even helped perpetuate it). But maybe, somewhere in her story, there’s a lesson to be learned on how to solve it.

Confronting the bear in the woods SARAH STOLAR

Statement Correspondent

My favorite high school French teacher, Madame Orlowsky, began each school year by telling her students a story. She told us to close our eyes and picture ourselves within the narrative she was about to tell.

The tale went like this: You are out campinginthemiddleofthewoodswhenyou hear a rustle of branches nearby. Suddenly, a huge bear enters the clearing with two cubs following in her footsteps. She immediately sets her eyes on you, recognizing a threat to the safety of her children. The bear gets visibly more aggressive as her protective instincts activate.

Possible plans of action flood through your head, common dilemmas of fight-orflight: Are you going to freeze up in fear?

Should you run away?

Ultimately, you decide to stand your ground. You stand up, put your hands on your hips, and tell the bear, “I’m no threat to you, and you don’t scare me.” You make it clear that you have established a temporary space for yourself, and though you don’t mean her or her cubs any harm, you are not going to pack up your trip because of a single brush-up with danger. You remain confident despite any distress you might feel. The bear recognizes your self-assuredness and her aggression subsides. She walks to the edge of the clearing, her children in tow, and disappears back into the woods.

The metaphor in Madame Orlowsky’s story was clear. Her fictitious tale highlighted how challenges are unpredictable and inevitable. They force you to reflect, to assess your situation and determine how you will endure it. If you approach the circumstances with conviction, rather than weighing yourself down with panic, your problems may just walk away.

By beginning her classes each year with this story — even before cracking open a single page of a French textbook — our teacher encouraged an atmosphere of fortitude and positivity in the classroom. I recognized the significance of her narrative upon hearing it for the first time.

I would not learn the depth of its real-life applicability until much later. *** Gathered in a clearing, me, my parents and the rest of our hiking group began walking single-file onto the path, folding us into a world of towering pines. The Alaskan

wilderness seemed incredibly alive, the rushing of the river and singing of birds — the constant soundtrack of our day at Katmai National Park and Preserve. As we walked, we talked about the exciting prospect of seeing some of the most thrilling wildlife in North America: the grizzly bears.

My brother’s baseball team was participating in several tournaments throughout Alaska. My parents, wanting to both explore the legendary Alaskan landscape and escape from the endless baseball games, brought me on a day trip to the remote national park. We’d been to Alaska over a decade before, but on our second trip, my mother made a visit to Katmai a priority. It was almost guaranteed that you would see at least a handful of large grizzly bears gathered at the river that ran through the park. The trails from the rangers’ lodge led you right to the Brooks River, where you could see bears catching live salmon jumping out from the waterfalls. The prospect of witnessing this feat of nature astounded me; it seemed like a scene out of “Brother Bear” rather than a real-life possibility.

My head was filled with a mix of anticipation, elation and nervousness.

Our group had just finished our bear safety training in which park rangers simultaneously emphasized the magnificence of the animals as well as the necessity of extreme caution. We were in their home, and one stupid human action could result in alarming consequences for all.

I was at the front of our small procession, looking up at the canopies while keeping my eyes peeled for unexpected animals.

I breathed in the fresh air, reveling in the remoteness for a moment when my peace was disrupted by a panicked shout of “Get off the path!”

I looked back, hearing another round of “Get off the path!” from a few others before I registered that my parents were flinging themselves into the surrounding woods adjacent to the trail. My mind processed what my body did not immediately register: There was a bear, running full speed, coming directly at me. If I didn’t move, it would plow right through me.

I followed my parents’ lead and jumped to the side and hurdled into the woods and over a fallen tree milliseconds before I was trampled by the racing bear. The creature was so close that if I had reached out my hand, I would have been able to stroke its thick brown fur. The safety course warned

us not to make sudden movements because they startle the animals. But in this case, moving rapidly out of the way was the only way to prevent any serious bodily harm.

I took in the people standing within the trees around me, still not believing what just transpired. We all seemed to be wondering the same thing: What was the bear running from?

We got our answer seconds later as another bear came charging in. It slowed down, coming to a stop directly in front of me, less than 20 feet away. Cantering in close behind it were two cubs, following their mother as she ran off the previous young male bear who came too close to her offspring.

We remained silent, not believing that this had happened less than five minutes into our Katmai adventure. The mother proceeded to take in her surroundings, her glance settling on the people crowded into the trees.

The rangers advised us to give the bears a wide berth of 50 feet and to move aside if we saw them walking on the trail, granting them the path for their own foot travel. I had quickly broken this first rule — I was definitely less than 50 feet away. But, abiding by the rangers’ instructions, we all moved deeper into the woods, slowly giving her the pathwhilekeepinganeyeonhermovements.

She remained there for several moments, staring back at us. For the moment, I simply absorbed the bear family’s beauty and the wildness of the moment.

After no more than 30 seconds, she and her children continued on their way, now rid of the foolish male that had threatened her family.

I don’t think Madame Orlowsky ever expected me to experience a real-life manifestation of her metaphor. Upon reflecting on my encounter, I now see that I didn’t run away, freeze or stand up to the bear like she had outlined in her narrative.

Instead, I took a literal step back, observed the bear and respected her dominance within the woods.

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Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, November 17, 2021 — 7

SportsWednesday: This isn’t 1997. But it is something.

In 1997, The Daily football beat predicted that Michigan would finish the season 7-5.

They predicted the Wolverines would lose to Northwestern, Minnesota and Wisconsin and finish fourth in the Big Ten with an appearance in a meaningless bowl game.

And then Michigan went to Penn State.

It went into the early-November game undefeated, but questions LANE remained about how good the team actually KIZZIAH was: Was it a classic Michigan ‘just enough to stay competitive in the Big Ten’ good or were fans looking at a trip to Pasadena?

By halftime, those questions were answered. The Wolverines turned what was supposed to be a competitive grudge-match into a 24-0 slashing in the first two quarters.

“That’s the moment where I was like, ‘Wow, they could do this. This could happen,’ ” former Daily football writer Nick Cotsonika told The Daily. “And Bo Schembechler was so fired up. He was in the press box (because of his role in the athletic department). … And he just looked at me, facing me. He grabbed both my shoulders, shook me and then walked away. Not a word. Just grabbed me, shook me and walked away. There was this feeling like

‘Oh my god, right? What is going on?’ ” After the game, with a final score of 34-8, Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno said that Michigan had “as much right to be voted No. 1 as any team in the country.”

That week, the Wolverines jumped from No. 4 to No. 1, a position they held onto through the remainder of their undefeated season and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

This year, our football beat predicted Michigan would end 8-4. They thought the Wolverines’ worst losses would be against Indiana, Northwestern and Maryland, and they’d finish fourth in the Big Ten East with a trip to the Las Vegas Bowl. They really wanted to go to Las Vegas.

And then Michigan went to Penn State.

The 21-17 game was much closer to what Cotsonika expected the 1997 game to be — a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire battle — and maybe even more competitive than the Wolverines were expecting coming into it on Saturday. After methodically clawing their way to an eight-point lead by the start of the fourth quarter, the Wolverines found themselves tied, 14-14, with less than eight minutes to play.

Michigan had been there before. Two weeks ago, the Wolverines blew a 16-point lead in a top 10 road game in East Lansing.

They fumbled a 17-17 tie against the Spartans at home last season. And blew a seven-point lead against Ohio State in 2017. And an eight-

point lead in Iowa City in 2016. And then a 10-point lead over the Buckeyes two weeks later. And a six-point lead over No. 7 Michigan State the year before that.

The idea that Harbaugh can’t win on the road has been beaten to death so many times that it feels more like an immutable fact than a cliché. But, with four minutes left on the clock, Erick All took the first step to rewriting that narrative.

On 2nd-and-10 in what would become the last scoring drive of the game, junior quarterback Cade McNamara found All on a crossing route. The junior tight end cut up the field, outrunning two Penn State defenders en route to the end zone.

“I want to give Michigan a bunch of credit, obviously a really good football team that we battled for four quarters,” Nittany Lions coach James Franklin told reporters on Saturday. “… (Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo), you can make the argument maybe the best combination of two D-ends of the country.”

It wasn’t a watershed moment that’s going to lead to a national title. I’d be hard-pressed to find an argument comparing Hutchinson to Charles Woodson, Michigan already has one loss with another likely on the horizon and — potentially most crucially — college football is a totally different landscape than it was in the late 1990s.

But the Wolverines are still returning to Ann Arbor with higher stakes, gone of

GABBY CERITANO/Daily After a win at Penn State, the parallels between Michigan’s 1997 and 2021 seasons are clear.

the biggest road wins of Harbaugh’s tenure and status as at least a semi-serious playoff contender. Pending a Michigan State loss in Columbus next weekend and a Michigan win in College Park, the Wolverines’ game against Ohio State after Thanksgiving will be a de facto Big Ten East title bout. But, regardless of what happens down the line, this win carries weight.

With a lot to prove coming off of a historically-low 2-4 season, Harbaugh showed not only can he win on the road, but, more importantly, his team can come through with a high-pressure, fourth quarter win late in the season.

A win like Saturday validates athletic director Warde Manuel’s decision to bring Harbaugh back. And it shows that all the changes his

program’s gone through since last year have proven it’s moving in the right direction.

This might not be the year Harbaugh beats the Buckeyes, but he could come pretty damn close. Only one of Michigan’s past six contests against the Buckeyes have been decided by less than a touchdown. Win or lose, the Wolverines could be looking at their first trip to the Rose Bowl since 2007. Win or lose, this season could be the turning point that thrusts Harbaugh’s program into the upper echelon of college football.

“We’re not mediocre,” safety Marcus Ray said of his team after the 1997 Penn State win.

“And we’re not done yet.”

Twenty-four years later, neither are these Wolverines.

Penn State outlasts Michigan’s volleyball team in spirited 3-1 contest IAN PAYNE For The Daily

Friday evening, No. 15 Penn State (18-7 overall, 11-4 Big Ten) came out victorious over the Michigan volleyball team (14-10, 7-8). The Nittany Lions beat the Wolverines 3-1 for the second time this season in a competitive contest in which Michigan refused to go down quietly.

Penn State played aggressively and remained in control for almost the entire night. However, a large and energetic crowd came out to support the Wolverines for their Pink Game, feuling the home side’s resolve. Despite being down at least five points at some point in

each set, the Wolverines showed impressive spirit. They fought their way back to a level score late in three separate sets.

Penn State seemingly had the first set secured when it took a 22-15 lead, but the Wolverines steeled themselves and proceeded to go on an 8-1 run to tie the set at 23. This caused Penn State to take a timeout. The Nittany Lions managed to pull themselves together during that timeout and took the set, 26-24.

The second set was a similar story, but this time Michigan won out. Aftering falling behind 11-20, the Wolverines went on another impressive run, this time 10-1, to tie the set. Then, after a back and forth, a service ace from junior

opposite May Pertofsky put it away for Michigan 25-23, drawing the game even at a set apiece.

The third set was much more balanced throughout. The Wolverines hung with Penn State, even taking an 18-17 lead. But, the Nittany Lions rallied from there to take the set 25-19.

After its third set victory, Penn State capitalized on the momentum and slowly pulled away from Michigan over the fourth set, building a five point 21-16 lead. However, as they had done all night, the Wolverines rallied.

Pushing within two points, it seemed they had a chance to finish the comeback. But the Nittany Lions managed to finish them off.

Penn State challenged the final

play of the match, leading to an overturned Wolverine block error and the Nittany Lions winning the day.

“I thought we played well, we just weren’t quite steady enough,” Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. “Penn State was a little more consistent in the pass game, a little more consistent attacking wise… that’s part of the game and we’ve got to get better at that, but overall I thought we played well.”

As the season progresses, players like outside hitter Jess Mruzik have grown. A sophomore, she led the Wolverine offense on Friday and as players like her gain more experience, those tight lateset situations will turn more in Michigan’s favor.

JENNA HICKEY/Daily For the second time this season, the Wolverines fell to Penn State in four-set fashion.

Familiar struggles doom Wolverines’ season in NCAA Tournament loss DAVID WOELKERS Daily Sports Writer

This was supposed to be a season of destiny for the Michigan field hockey team.

Coming off a season in which it swept the Big Ten and earned the national runner-up, the Wolverines entered the 2021 season expecting greatness. That expectation was made even greater due to the circumstances, with the season coming 20 years after Michigan’s lone national championship and the NCAA finals being hosted in Ann Arbor.

The season seemed almost perfectly designed to have a fairytale ending. Instead, it ended more like

“We just couldn’t get it done.”

It didn’t start out this way. Early and decisive wins against North Carolina — which has won the last three national championships — and then top-15 Wake Forest cemented the Wolverines at the top of the NFHCA Coaches Poll.

Even more impressive were the omissions in those games; three of Michigan’s top players, including senior midfielder Sofia Southam, were away on national duty. Once they returned to the team, it was all engines go.

In their first five games after the return of the national team players, the Wolverines outscored their opponents 33-4. This, in a sport in which three goals is considered an offensive flurry. Though later

Wolverines earning a litany of corner opportunities, but not converting.

And, ultimately, Michigan’s opponents finding a brief window of opportunity to put the game away.

“The kids are resilient, we had our chances, and we just couldn’t convert them.” Pankratz said.

Of their five losses, only one Wolverine loss — their 1-0 Big Ten Tournament final loss against Rutgers — was put away in the first half. The others saw Michigan lead or keep the game tied late, but ultimately have a win slip through its fingers, either in the fourth quarter, overtime or shootout.

“I hope everyone remembers how this feels,” fifth year back Halle O’Neill said. “I hope they come back next season with a vengeance.”

Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine New York State/American Program

Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine

niversity Sackler School Medicine The School of Medicine-New York State/of American Program NewSackler York State/American Program offers an outstanding four year medical school curriculum, taught in degree. The York Program the is chartered English, leading to theofM.D. The Sackler School Medicine-New State/ Americanby Program of the University of the State of New York and is accredited Regents offers an outstanding four year medical school curriculum, taught in by the Stateleading of Israel.

English, to the M.D. degree. The Program is chartered by the of the University of the of New York and is accredited by Regents Students do their clerkships and State electives in the hospitals in Israel, the the State of Israel.

U.S. and Canada. One of these hospitals, Sheba Medical Center, was selected magazine as one ofinthe 10 hospitals around Studentsby do Newsweek their clerkships and electives thetop hospitals in Israel, the the world.

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chool of Medicine-New York State/ American Program anding four year medical school curriculum, taught in bydegree.

Newsweekinmagazine as one of the top 10 around Graduates participate Resident Matching Program and the National Program chartered The ishospitals by the to the selected M.D. the world. return to the United States for their residency training. Since its University of participate the inState of York and is accredited by commencement completed 1976, overNational 2,000New alumni have their Graduates in the Resident Matching Program and residency training at the most distinguished hospitals in the United a nightmare. After a string of latereturn to the United States for their residency training. Since its ael. and Canada.

States season losses, the Wolverines walked commencement in 1976, over 2,000 alumni have completed their

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily Harvard upset the Michigan field hockey team in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals this weekend.

residency training at the most distinguished in the United www.sacklerschool.org provides extensivehospitals information about Sackler Canada.

States and SOM. For further information, e-mail sacklermed@sacklermed.org

away from the 2021 season short of their lofty goals.

Sunday’s game against Harvard ultimately proved the final straw.

Despite finishing with a lead in shots, and putting the pressure hard on the Crimson in the fourth quarter, it was ultimately Harvard that prevailed with the shootout victory.

“It’s not easy to lose a game like this,” Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said.

eir clerkships and electives in the hospitals in Israel, the www.sacklerschool.org provides extensive information about Sackler da. One SOM. Sheba of these Applications for hospitals, the Class ofe-mail 2026 are available Medical on our website Center, was For further information, sacklermed@sacklermed.org wsweekApplications magazine as one of the top 10 hospitals around for the Class of 2026 are available on our website

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games saw much tighter results, including a double overtime against Northwestern, Michigan continued to win games, and entered a showdown against No. 2 Iowa as the top-ranked team with a 11-0 record.

Against the Hawkeyes, cracks started to form in the Wolverines’ play that would become crevices as the season moved on: Michigan dominating possession and peppering the opponent with shots, but not enough finding the cage; the

Save for O’Neill and fifth-year back Emma Tamer, the Wolverines plan to return the rest of their starting lineup, in large part to the NCAA’s COVID-19 eligibility relief.

Given that, it’s unlikely the bitter end of this year’s season will be forgotten any time soon.

“It’s been nip-and-tuck between this season’s ending and last’s,” Pankratz said. “We’re gonna enter next season with the same high expectations we’ve had all this year.”

Sports

8 — Wednesday, November 17, 2021

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wolverines’ experience shows in its 3-0 victory over Bowling Green who has been here before — because they have.

All 11 of the Wolverines’ starters were members For The Daily of the 2019 team that suffered a crushing overtime loss in the Big Ten Championship When the Michigan women’s soccer team and made it to the third round of the NCAA took the field against Bowling Green on Friday, Tournament. And it is precisely the experience its starting lineup had only one thing that it that they carry with them that propels them to victory. noticeably lacked: “To have that experience is unbelievable,” Underclassmen.

Of the Wolverines’ 11 starters, three were said Michigan coach Jennifer Klein. “It’s so juniors, four were seniors and another four were valuable to have players that know what to either graduate students or fifth-year seniors. expect. They’re not going to get rattled under And from the way Michigan dominated the pressure or when dealing with adversity.”

This Michigan team isn’t one that gets Falcons en route to a 3-0 victory, it’s clear that nervous, or at least it doesn’t play like it, this leadership is central to the team’s success.

Every facet of the Wolverines’ lineup is something that came through in Friday’s game. anchored by experience. On offense, Michigan Defensively, the Wolverines didn’t stutter. They was led by senior midfielder Meredith didn’t make unnecessary passes, they didn’t Haakenson and fifth-year midfielder Nicki cough up the ball in dangerous situations and Hernandez. Defensively, senior Sydney any time the Falcons approached the net, they Shepherd and junior Jade Riviere stymied didn’t shy away from making tackles in their the Falcons. Even in the net Michigan had own penalty box — because they have been there experience with fifth-year senior and four-year before.

“Their composure has been great,” said Klein, starter Hillary Beall posting a clean sheet. speaking of the defense. “They start our play for us, and they did a very, very good job tonight.”

Offensively, the experience and confidence of the Wolverines was equally apparent. On all three of their goals, the Wolverines played meticulously and with patience.

When Haakenson opened the scoring in the 18th minute, it was the result of three straight crosses into the Falcons box off of a corner.

When Hernandez stormed down the left side of the field and into a one-on-one situation with Bowling Green’s goalkeeper in the 59th EMMA MATI/Daily minute, she took the time to cut to The Michigan women’s soccer team has no shortage of experithe left at the last moment before ence, which could fuel a deep NCAA Tournament run. firing the ball into the top-left From the game’s opening kickoff, the result corner of the net.

The Wolverines play with the confidence and never looked in doubt. Not only did the Wolverines outshoot, out-muscle and outscore the Falcons in composure of veterans, and this makes every what would be a physical opening to the NCAA player on their team better — underclassmen Tournament, they flat out out-played them as included. In the 77th minute, Haakenson would well. Michigan was the aggressor throughout the once again take the time to create a better entire game. Offensively, it dominated possession, opportunity for her team, and it once again playing the vast majority of the game in Bowling resulted in a goal, this time for sophomore Green’s territory and constantly threatening to forward Kacey Lawrence’s third goal of the put the ball in the back of the net. Defensively they season.

With Michigan’s 3-0 victory, it keeps its title were stifling, holding the Falcons to five shots, hopes alive. As the Wolverines continue their none of which were on target.

The poise that the Wolverines played with tournament run, experience will be necessary.

Shepherd explained it best: on Friday stems from experience, and that “We’ve gone through this before, we know experience is part of what separates this team from past iterations of itself. They play like a team what it’s like.”

CHARLIE PAPPALARDO

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily With a game saving fourth quarter touchdown, Erick All and Cade McNamara proved that Michigan does have playmakers.

In crucial moments, Michigan finds its playmakers BRENDAN ROOSE Daily Sports Editor

STATE COLLEGE — The inevitability had set in.

After leading by eight points for more than a full quarter of play, the No. 6 Michigan football team found itself trailing.

Moments earlier, Penn State had taken a three-point lead after a strip sack from defensive end Arnold Ebiketie led to a field goal. One drive before that, the Nittany Lions had converted on three fourth downs as part of a 15-play, 53-yard touchdown drive that tied the game.

As junior quarterback Cade McNamara trotted onto the field for a comeback attempt with just under six minutes remaining, echoes of the Wolverines’ loss to Michigan State two weeks prior reverberated through Beaver Stadium.

Michigan — especially Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan — couldn’t do it. It didn’t have the playmakers to pull out a comeback win on the road.

And yet, it did.

Six plays into perhaps the Wolverines’ season-defining drive, McNamara connected with junior tight end Erick All on a crossing route. As All cut up the field for what would become a 47-yard, gamewinning touchdown reception, one thing became abundantly clear: This Michigan does have the playmakers.

Despite the Wolverines’ struggles to put the game away throughout the second half, they made big plays — on both sides

of the ball — when they most desperately needed them. In those situations where the Michigan teams of the last six years would have folded under pressure, the Wolverines found the ability to make game-changing plays.

“I think we got the most talent in the Big Ten,” senior edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson said. “Guys who stepped up this game and made a play.”

On the offensive side of the ball, McNamara was that playmaker. Regardless of any occasional missteps — he failed to connect on a few deep balls throughout the game — he made the right decisions and threw accurate balls when the offense needed him to.

That was true even before the gamewinning touchdown pass. Early in the second quarter, after the Wolverines failed to convert a single first down on their initial two drives, McNamara orchestrated a 15-play, 90-yard drive that consumed 7:30 minutes of game clock. Seventy-eight of those yards — including a 21-yard dart to sophomore receiver Roman Wilson for the touchdown — came through the air.

“He threw the ball before I was even looking,” Wilson said. “That was probably the best ball I’ve seen — I mean, he throws a lot of good passes — but at least that I’ve caught from him. I mean, that was beautiful.”

On defense, too, Michigan’s playmakers stepped up when they were needed most.

On Penn State’s opening possession, after a pair of runs from quarterback Sean Clifford and a successful fake punt put the Nittany Lions in prime scoring position,

Hutchinson and freshman linebacker Junior Colson sacked Clifford to force a field goal. It was the defense’s third sack on that drive alone.

In moments where the Wolverines’ offense continued to sputter, the defense continued to make plays. Hutchinson ended Penn State’s third drive with a strip sack; junior edge rusher David Ojabo did the same on the final possession of the first half. After McNamara’s fourth quarter fumble gave the Nittany Lions the ball at Michigan’s 16, fifth-year safety Brad Hawkins put a hit on Clifford that forced another field goal.

The defense rarely gave Clifford the time to make plays of his own. When the dust settled, the Wolverines had tallied seven sacks.

“It gives us confidence,” McNamara said. “It makes us want to do well for them even more. We know it’s our job to go down the field and score points, but when they give us that extra momentum, it just gives us more confidence to go do it even more.”

That playmaking on both sides reflects a message that Michigan has preached all year: complementary football. Time and again this season, the defense has picked up the offense in moments where it has struggled. In most scenarios, the offense has been there to do the same for the defense.

It’s been visible throughout the season.

It was most visible in Saturday’s game. It was even visible after the postgame press conference, when Hutchinson expressed his faith in McNamara as the two stood up to leave: “That’s my quarterback!”

Why Jim Harbaugh sees ‘championship qualities’ in his Michigan team DANIEL DASH

Daily Sports Editor

Sitting in the visiting media room at Beaver Stadium following the Michigan football team’s comeback, Jim Harbaugh was asked about the Wolverines’ performance in familiar territory.

Saturday had the makings of a textbook example of a game Michigan would lose in years past. Hell, even in weeks past. The sixth-ranked Wolverines blew an eight-point lead over Penn State midway through the fourth quarter and found themselves trailing less than a minute later. But instead of wilting the way Michigan did under similar duress in East Lansing two weeks prior when the Wolverines blew a 16-point second-

half lead, they responded with a gamewinning knockout blow on the next drive.

In doing so, they showed just how far they’ve come. More importantly, Saturday’s outcome revealed something important about Michigan’s makeup.

“This is a great win,” Harbaugh said on Saturday. “No doubt this team is full of all the championship qualities in guys, in football players. They were born to do this. They approach it like, ‘We’re born for these kinds of days.

Let’s go have at it.’ ” Asked about his team’s championship qualities again on Monday afternoon, Harbaugh doubled down: “I do believe they have those traits,” Harbaugh said. “I think they’re developing them. I know

when I’m there on the sidelines, just the togetherness that our football team has. They’re for each other, and I’m sure it probably comes through on the TV, at least (for) people that watch the game. They saw the same thing coming through the TV: the excitement our team has and the togetherness.”

That wasn’t the case against Michigan State, but Michigan used its loss to the Spartans as a learning experience. The Wolverines met for a players-only meeting 48 hours after returning from East Lansing, determined to prevent similar downfalls in the future.

Michigan’s 12-player leadership council, which is responsible for communication between the team and coaches, called the meeting. All season long, it has allowed certain players to

emerge as prominent voices within Schembechler Hall.

“We have a lot of great leaders,” senior linebacker Michael Barrett said Monday. “We have a lot of guys trying to win. We have a lot of guys trying to win. We have a lot of guys that like to play together, and just like (Harbaugh) said, that togetherness and having all those guys coming together, buying in and locking into it, that’s a championship team to me.”

Since Harbaugh’s winter staff overhaul, the program has become increasingly player-driven by design.

According to Barrett, players made a pact during January workouts to hold each other accountable this season.

Last year’s frustrating 2-4 campaign taught players there’s a big difference between saying they’re buying in and actually buying in.

“You can feel it, just with all the new changes,” Barrett said. “Everybody’s coming together. I feel like a lot of guys feel like it’s a brotherhood. It’s a little different than it has been before.”

Regardless of age or position, the Wolverines agreed to take a new approach this season. So far, the results are showing. Michigan could control its own destiny atop the Big Ten standings by Thanksgiving, though a looming showdown against No. 3 Ohio State still stands between the Wolverines and Harbaugh’s first trip to the conference title game in Indianapolis — let alone a College Football Playoff berth.

But with both still on the table, Michigan plans to ride its selfproclaimed “championship qualities” as far as it will take them. “(We have) our ability to handle

Wolverines’ top line carries offensive weight Brisson — a duo that had struggled to create 5-on-5 chances. Instead, Daily Sports Writer Brisson took the ice with sophomore forwards Kent Johnson and Matty In old EA Sports NHL games, every Beniers. The trio combined for six roster included a “hero line” that you out of the Wolverines’ 11 goals on the could use in close games or in tough weekend against the Nittany Lions. road environments. Each team’s best Most teams can’t afford to put their players would all take the ice together, best shooter with their best facilitator and you could wreak havoc by ripping and hottest hand. They might send shot after shot on goal. them out on a power play, but throwing Against Penn State last weekend, them into a 5-on-5 situation puts all the No. 1 Michigan hockey team the offensive eggs in one proverbial played with a hero line of its own. basket. If they can’t get the job done, Michigan coach Mel Pearson the offense is out of luck.

But the Wolverines aren’t like broke up sophomore forwards Thomas Bordeleau and Brendan most teams. With depth scorers like Bordeleau, junior forward Johnny Beecher and freshman forward Mackie Samoskevich — all valuable NHL prospects — the Wolverines can afford to concentrate their offense on one line.

The on-ice product looks astonishing, with slick tape-to-tape passing that utilizes all players on the ice. It’s TESS CROWLEY/Daily like a big game of keepaway, and Michigan’s Michigan’s offense hinges on the ability for its got the puck. A sheer ‘hero line’ to create goals.

CONNOR EAREGOOD

abundance of scoring options permits that movement, and teams like Penn State can’t just choose to shut down one shooter.

“It’s pretty easy to play with guys like that because they get open well,” Beniers said. “You don’t really have to ever call for pucks because they know you’re there.

They’ll just pass it to you.”

Despite the trio’s success last week, the Wolverines need to ensure they can find opportunities four lines deep. Teams with experienced, skilled forwards like Notre Dame and Minnesota will find the right aggressive backcheckers on the ice to shut down one good line.

That’s something that Western Michigan exploited, stymieing the Beniers-Johnson-Brisson unit when they played together on the man advantage. The Wolverines scored once on 11 power plays over the series, losing the first game and barely squeaking out an overtime win at Lawson Arena. If those three struggle to score, it can be game over for the offense.

Shutting down that line bodes well for other teams, but the added attention opens up chances for other players to score. As a result of Penn State’s defensive mistakes — which

came from shadowing the top line all series — Beecher tallied a goal and an assist this past weekend.The Wolverines are a deep team, and Pearson knows someone in their ranks can step up and feed the scoresheet.

“I like to run a team where you have 12 guys that can score,” Pearson said. “There’s really not a bottom six or top six even though numbers might indicate there is.”

It’s risky to frontload an offense, but as long as they’re scoring, it all works out. Sending out JohnsonBeniers-Brisson worked against Penn State, and there’s little reason to break up their chemistry if that success continues. They’re scoring and backchecking hard, and that’s something opponents have to pay attention to.

“I’m not saying no one can shut us down,” Beniers said. “But I think it’d be really difficult.”

Michigan showed what its top dogs can do when they play together, proving it can kill opponents with a brutal offensive onslaught. In close games down the road, the Wolverines will likely find themselves needing a goal.

When that time comes, Michigan doesn’t need to make its own hero line. It’s already on the ice.

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

After preventing a comeback win at Penn State, the Wolverines believe they have what it takes to compete for a championship

adversity, and we definitely have enough talent,” junior quarterback Cade McNamara said. “I think overall, our mentality as a team has shifted.

This team is ready to finish this season, and by the end of it, we should be competing for a championship if we do what we’re supposed to do.”