Issuu

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Former music professor sentenced to prison for sex crimes

Stephen Shipps receives five years after guilty verdict on exploitation of a minor SAMMY SUSSMAN Daily Staff Reporter

In the mid-1980s, a North Carolina School of the Arts student took a brave step that affected the rest of her high school career: she met with Robert Hickok, the school’s dean, to report that Stephen Shipps, her violin teacher, had attempted to kiss her during her lesson. The student requested anonymity, citing professional concerns. As in The Michigan Daily’s previous reporting about Shipps’s alleged harassment and abuse, she will be referred to as Meghan. In a Dec. 2018 interview with The Daily, the student remembered Hickok’s response. “(Shipps is) a very affectionate man: ‘Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand it?’” Meghan recalled Hickok saying. (Hickok is deceased; two students attending the school at the time corroborated that they were aware of Meghan’s allegation.) A few years later, in the summer of 1989, another faculty member became aware of allegations of Shipps’s abuse. By that time, Shipps had left the North Carolina School of the Arts;he was scheduled to begin teaching at the University of Michigan in the fall. In a Dec. 2018 interview with The Daily, an Ann Arbor musician with extensive ties to the School of Music, Theatre & Dance community alleged that she spoke with a Music, Theatre & Dance School professor about the rumors of sexual misconduct that had followed Shipps to the University of Michigan. This musician also requested anonymity, citing professional concerns. “I heard this guy is a scumbag,” the musician told the professor, adding some details about the aforementioned sexual misconduct allegations.

This past Thursday, Shipps was sentenced to five years in prison for repeatedly transporting a minor across state lines in 2002 while committing sexual misconduct against her. This sentencing came over three years after a Michigan Daily investigation uncovered numerous previously undisclosed allegations of sexual harassment, misconduct and assault against Shipps at the University of Michigan, the North Carolina School of the Arts and the University of NebraskaOmaha. In 1995, according to reporting from The News & Observer, administrators at the North Carolina School of the Arts were made aware of eight complaints against Shipps. It is unclear if Meghan’s allegation comprised one of these reports. It is also unclear if the school communicated these complaints to the University of Michigan. In 2017, a former student of Shipps’s emailed the then-interim dean of the Music, Theatre & Dance School to report her experience of alleged statutory rape while studying with Shipps in the late 1970s at the University of NebraskaOmaha. At the time of this email, Shipps was a tenured professor of music, the chair of strings and the director of a youth music program through the Music, Theatre & Dance School. He had previously served as the school’s associate dean. The former student that emailed the dean requested anonymity, citing professional concerns. As in The Daily’s previous reporting about Shipps’s alleged harassment and abuse, she will be referred to as Jane. “Stephen Shipps raped me when I was sixteen,” Jane wrote in her email to the interim dean. “Over the years, I’ve heard stories similar to mine regarding Mr. Shipps.”

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Public Policy Dean Michael Barr nominated to Federal Reserve Board of Governors If confirmed, will serve as Vice Chair for Supervision, oversee banks’ compliance with capital regulations KATE WEILAND & ELI FRIEDMAN Daily News Editor Daily Staff Reporter

President Joe Biden announced he would nominate Michael Barr, dean of the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, as Vice Chair for Supervision of the Federal Reserve Friday morning. If confirmed, Barr would be one of seven members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. If appointed, Barr will propose monetary policy to the board and oversee national banks to ensure they are meeting capital requirements. Barr worked in several roles at the Treasury and State Departments during the Clinton administration

and served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under the Obama administration. He also contributed to the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which changed financial regulations to reduce the economic impact of the 2008 Great Recession. Barr’s selection comes after Biden’s first nominee, Sarah Bloom Raskin, failed to secure the Senate majority needed for her confirmation. Raskin submitted a letter to President Biden on March 15 requesting her nomination be withdrawn after Sen. Joe Manchin,D-W.Va.,

michigandaily.com

UMich R.A. finds Black History Month bulletin board vandalized, raises concerns over racism and housing Incident draws hundreds of campus community reactions on social media, DPSS: declines to comment on whether vandalism will be treated as a hate crime

Design by Reid Graham

NIRALI PATEL Daily Staff Reporter

On April 9, LSA senior Solomon Lucy, a resident adviser at Mary Markley Residence Hall, posted an Instagram video showing the bulletin board hanging in his hall vandalized with several papers torn down. Lucy’s board had featured posters celebrating Black History Month and Women’s History Month with photos of prominent Black women in history alongside a photo of himself as an introduction for his residents. When Lucy walked by the bulletin at 3 a.m. on Friday, April 8, the board was destroyed and several of the photos were missing.

“No Black RA, student, faculty member, etc should EVER feel unsafe and targeted on this campus,” Lucy wrote in the caption of his Instagram post. “Although this truly breaks my heart, I am DETERMINED to bring more awareness to the situation & fight for change for the betterment of future Black wolverines & Black RAs to come.” Lucy also posted the video to Twitter on April 9. Faculty, students and various campus organizations shared photos and thoughts in the comments section of Lucy’s post to express their support. Rackham student Mario Gaviria responded to Lucy’s tweet, criticizing

MESA hosts Arab Heritage Month closing ceremony, celebrating stories and culture Students gather at Trotter Multicultural Center to engage in workshops, live shows SAMANTHA RICH Daily Staff Reporter

The Arab Heritage Month Closing Ceremony took place at the Trotter Multicultural Center Thursday night. Hosted by the office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs (MESA), the event concluded a month of Arab cultural festivities featuring workshops, performances and guest speakers. The ceremony began with Arabic food and people

gathering around tables. MESA Program Manager Jesús Galvan greeted students and families as they walked into Trotter Center. Taubman freshman Lynn Samman, the event coordinator for the closing ceremony, began by thanking MESA and the Arab Student Association for their support in empowering the Arab community on campus. She then recognized each of the Arab Heritage Month committee members, thanking them for their work in putting on

various events throughout the past month. “We would like to recognize all our committee members for all their hard work,” Samman said. “Starting with the programming committee, then the marketing committee, and the finance committee, and special thank you to our manager and coordinators.” Arab Heritage Month takes place in April every year and celebrates Arab heritage and culture, paying tribute to the contributions

of over 3.7 million Arab Americans in the United States. It wasn’t until 2017 that the Arab America Foundation began a national initiative to coordinate all states under National Arab American Heritage Month. In 2019, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., introduced a resolution to Congress to proclaim April as National Arab American Heritage Month.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

the University’s lack of support for marginalized communities on campus. “@UMich !?!?” Gaviria wrote. “Y’all need to actually do something concrete bc all these ‘diversity committees’ and ‘diversity trainings’ don’t accomplish anything other than providing the illusion that y’all actually care — when in reality you don’t. This is unacceptable.” Following the incident, Lucy posted multiple signs in his hallway calling attention to this vandalism incident targeting students of Color at the University of Michigan. The three flyers called out the “ignorance,” “privilege” and “racism,” saying each “is very much real and … very much lives in this hall.” Shortly after Lucy posted these

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month concludes with black-tie Acapella, dance performances highlighted at University of Michigan Museum of Art ASHNA MEHRA Daily Staff Reporter

The Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs (MESA) hosted a black-tie gala to close out this year’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AA&PI) Heritage Month Wednesday night. Students, faculty and community members gathered at the University of Michigan Museum of Art for a festive night celebrating AA&PI culture and history. The theme of this year’s celebration, “Are You Listening? Oral Histories and Storytelling from AA&PI Communities,” was introduced at a virtual opening ceremony March 17. LSA sophomore

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 ARTS...................4 STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Aarushi Ganguly, a member of this event’s planning committee, spoke about the significance of the theme at the March 17 opening ceremony. “AA&PI populations have long been characterized as silent, which is a result of being washed over by imperialism, monolithic stereotypes and white supremacy,” Ganguly said. “This Heritage Month, we hope to call attention to the vast diversity within these communities. We will create space for individuals both in and outside of the AA&PI community to learn, reflect and grow.” Read more at MichiganDaily.com

MIC......................8 OPINION...................9 SPORTS .....................11

News

2 — Wednesday, April 20, 2022

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

PHOTO

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com

JASMIN LEE

AARON SANTILLI

Editor-in-Chief eic@michigandaily.com

Business Manager business@michigandaily.com

NEWS TIPS

tipline@michigandaily.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR tothedaily@michigandaily.com

EDITORIAL PAGE

opinion@michigandaily.com

ARTS SECTION

PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION

arts@michigandaily.com

photo@michigandaily.com

SPORTS SECTION

NEWSROOM

sports@michigandaily.com

news@michigandaily.com

CORRECTIONS

corrections@michigandaily.com

ADVERTISING

wmg-contact@umich.edu

Editorial Staff PAIGE HODDER SELENA SUN/Daily A Michigan student organization performs in That Brown Show, a collection of Indian classical music and dance, at the Michigan Theater April 16.

Managing Editor

phodder@umich.edu

AYA SALIM

Digital Managing Editor

ayasalim@umich.edu

ANN ARBOR

Downtown Ann Arbor District Library installs free Narcan vending machine

Home of New Vision leads effort to support individuals with substance abuse disorders RILEY HODDER Daily Staff Reporter

A new vending machine now stands outside the Ann Arbor District Library that dispenses free Narcan, the brand-name version of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, according to an April 1 tweet from AADL Director Eli Neiburger. The vending machine was installed by Home of New Vision, an organization devoted to supporting those with substance abuse issues. According to Rackham student Derek Frasure, policy director for Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) at the University of Michigan, the vending machine supplies resources that could be vital in saving someone’s life. “(The vending machine) is something that can mitigate that tide of deaths, which has currently outpaced car accidents for common fatalities,” Frasure said. Lieutenant Mike Scherba of the Ann Arbor Police Department (AAPD) said that in 2021, the AAPD received a total of 68 calls recorded in their system as drug overdoses in Ann Arbor, which

averages out to about one call per week. While all AAPD officers and supervisors are required to carry naloxone, Scherba said the vending machine has the potential to create faster distribution of the drug to those experiencing an overdose. “Provided that the person has the ability to administer (naloxone) properly, I think the potential, at least, is there for faster administration,” Scherba said. Public Policy graduate student Alyshia Dyer is a former law enforcement officer for the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office and a member of SSDP. Dyer said she has responded to many previous 911 calls involving an overdose and expressed how critical naloxone is in overdose situations. “The times that I’ve used naloxone, it really felt like you were saving someone’s life, because it wasn’t looking good before that,” Dyer said. “It showed me how important it was to make naloxone readily available.” Dyer also said quick administration of naloxone was integral to ensuring the recovery of the person overdosing, and that by making naloxone readily available,

the community was saving lives. “I have done research on opioid response in Michigan, and basically, making naloxone widely available is one of the best public health initiatives that you can do to save people’s lives,” Dyer said. Though the vending machine can provide quicker access to naloxone, Scherba said the primary concern with its installment is that it could create a false sense of security among those experiencing substance abuse. “(People who are witnessing an overdose) may not call for help as soon as they could or would have otherwise, which could potentially put the user at risk,” Scherba said. However, Brianna Dobbs, Recovery Opioid Overdose Team coordinator for Home of New Vision and coordinator for the vending machine project, expressed that the vending machine will help beyond just saving lives. “Having (the vending machine) in such a public place will raise awareness, reduce barriers and increase access to a life-saving medication,” Dobbs said. Dobbs added that Home of New Vision is trying to decrease

the stigma around naloxone, as it is not just to be given to those experiencing substance abuse. Dobbs emphasized naloxone can also be used in cases when prescribed medication is inadvertently misadministered. She said every household should have naloxone in their first aid kit. “People can have an opioid overdose because they took too much of a prescription medication, they read the bottle wrong or a small child gets into someone’s medication,” Dobbs said. As for the future, Home of New Vision hopes to expand the vending machines to other libraries in Washtenaw County. Dobbs said they are trying to expand these vending machines to the areas in Washtenaw County that experience the most overdoses. The organization told The Daily that their priority is challenging the stigma around drug overdoses, and there is still more to do. “I think there’s so much that can be done,” Dobbs said. “I think the starting point is to provide empathy and passion and support for people.” Daily Staff Reporter Riley Hodder can be reached at rehodder@umich. edu.

BUSINESS

Local businesses prepare for first fully inperson UMich commencement since 2019

Restaurants, companies say they expect higher demands, will increase staffing in coming weeks MATTHEW SHANBOM Daily Staff Reporter

Spring commencement is one of the busiest times of the year in Ann Arbor as large crowds visit town to celebrate with the year’s graduating class. For the past two years, commencement has looked a little different: the commencement was canceled in 2020 and was closed to guests in 2021. This year, however, there will be two commencement ceremonies, one for the class of 2022 on April 30 and a special “Comeback Ceremony” for the class of 2020 on May 7. Ann Arbor businesses typically rely on spring commencement as a way to drive in large amounts of traffic before students leave and foot traffic slows down. The cancellation of the 2020 commencement ceremony and the pared-down 2021 commencement ceremony to graduates has put a strain on Ann Arbor businesses already trying to stay afloat. For businesses like Ashley’s Bar & Grill on State Street, graduation leads to an increase in turnout. Ashley’s owner Jeff More said he expects a steady increase as individual schools and colleges within the University of Michigan have their own commencement ceremonies. “It’s not just the Saturday commencement,” More said. “There’s

different colleges. So they’re utilizing Hill Auditorium for an awful lot for different college commencements as well. (Ashley’s Bar & Grill) being right across from (Hill Auditorium) we see so much (business) throughout the week.” Lauren Bloom, owner of Bløm Meadworks, a local mead and cider company located on Fourth Ave, said her business does not typically surge after commencement. Rather, restaurants and other food or drink related businesses in the city become the main attraction as families celebrate with a meal. “We see kind of an overall general increase in business, but it doesn’t end up being this huge surge,” Bloom said. “What we’ve found in the past is that the real spike in business tends to mostly hit restaurants in Ann Arbor because most people are looking to go out with their family, get a meal and sit down for a while.” Lisa Bee, co-founder of Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea, which has seven locations throughout Ann Arbor, said quick service businesses are expecting demand to increase around commencement for a quick bite to eat or drink. “It’s a mix of both (taking out and dining) in and then if it’s a nice day, they usually want to walk around … but if (it is not a nice day), then they’ll come in and sit down,” Bee said. “So we definitely see

a lot more of the seats filled. Especially if it’s a nice day, then they’re sitting outside and this year, we’re going to have the street area closed off so the patio seating will be a lot bigger. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Ann Arbor expanded permits for patio seating, the city closed specific streets on the weekends during the pandemic to allow for increased outdoor seating. The city is continuing the program this summer after citizens spoke out in support of al fresco dining. More said he plans to reopen Ashley’s patio once the weather improves. “During (the winter of 2021), we kept our little bit of outdoor seating, like six tables, open all last winter,” More said. “And we had a lot of 50 degree days on a Saturday and, you’d turn the heaters on and every table would be full all day long, even though we’re otherwise shut down.” While Bløm does not usually receive large surges of business at commencement, Bloom said she is overstaffing her restaurant for the weekend to prepare for more customers. “We usually ask one or two extra staff members to come on for the weekend,” Bloom said. “That usually tends to be a good balance of being prepared and making sure that we can see people quickly and serve people quickly.” LSA freshman Daniel Silva works at

Bert’s Cafe inside the Shapiro Library. Silva said he has been asked to pick up more shifts during the graduation season. This additional demand for shifts is not solely a result of graduation. Throughout the pandemic, businesses have reported having a harder time finding workers. For businesses with fewer workers, there is additional strain on workers. Silva said this extra demand is even more stressful for full-time students. “I have the pressure of, ‘Oh, we need a shift covered,’” Silva said. “It’s just worse because you want to catch up, do your work, study for that exam, but also, you don’t want to let down your coworkers that you get so close with, and you become actual friends with.” Preparation for graduation goes beyond simply adding more staff, however. Bee said Sweetwaters is also adding additional merchandise and menu items to prepare for the influx of customers. “We’ll bring in more desserts, more treat items, celebratory items,” Bee said. “Students who are graduating usually want to take something with them. And because we’ve been in Ann Arbor for such a long time, and there’s multiple locations in Ann Arbor, they usually want to take a little piece with them whether it’s like a Sweetwaters t-shirt, or something like that.”

DOMINIC COLETTI and KRISTINA ZHENG Managing News Editors

news@michigandaily.com

Senior News Editors: George Weykamp, Kaitlyn Luckoff, Kate Weiland, Nadir Al-Saidi, Roni Kane, Shannon Stocking Investigative Editors: Julian Wray, Vanessa Kiefer

JULIAN BARNARD and SHUBHUM ‘SHUBS’ GIROTI

Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com Senior Opinion Editors: Brandon Cowit, Quin Zapoli, Siddharth Parmar, Olivia Mouradian, Jess D’Agostino

JARED GREENSPAN and NICK STOLL

Managing Sports Editors sports@michigandaily.com Senior Sports Editors: Aidan Woutas, Josh Taubman, Brendan Roose, Jack Kingsley, Jacob Cohen, Abby Snyder

LILLIAN PEARCE and SABRIYA IMAMI

Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com Senior Arts Editors: Emilia Ferranti, Mik Deitz, Katrina Stebbins, Sarah Rahman, Fia Kaminski Arts Beat Editors: Emmy Snyder, Jacob Lusk, Kai Bartol, Laine Brotherton, Matthew Eggers, Meera Kumar

ERIN SHI and SOPHIE GRAND

Managing Design Editors Senior Layout Editor: Ellie Orlanski

design@michigandaily.com

GRACE BEAL and TESS CROWLEY

Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com Senior Photo Editors: Julia Schachinger, Jeremy Weine, Kate Hua, Emma Mati, Anna Fuder Assistant Photo Editors: Dominick Sokotoff, Jenna Hickey, Lila Turner, Julianne Yoon, Becca Mahon

GRACE TUCKER

Managing Statement Editor Deputy Editors: Taylor Schott, Julia Maloney Associate Editor: Lilly Dickman

statement@michigandaily.com

CAROLINE ATKINSON and ETHAN PATRICK

Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com Senior Copy Editors: Melissa Kurpiers, Ella Krumerman, Alex Stamell, Lizzie MacAdam, Olivia Bradish, Dana Elobaid, Audey Ruhana

DORA GUO and ERIC LAU

Managing Online Editors webteam@michigandaily.com Project Managers: Zach Breger, Simran Pujji, Christina Tan, Aasher Akhlaque, Der-Yu Meng, Salik Aslam

HANNAH ELLIOTT and JULIA RAGUCKAS Managing Video Editors Senior Video Editor: Jordan Shefman

video@michigandaily.com

ELIYA IMTIAZ and JESSICA KWON

Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Yasmine Slimani, Maya Kadouh, Anchal Malh, Safura Syed

DOUG MCCLURE and MAX ROSENZWEIG

Managing Podcast Editors podeditors@michigandaily.com Senior Podcast Editors: Sofia Terenzio, Isaac Mintz

EVAN DELORENZO and ZOE STORER

Managing Social Media Editors socialmedia@michigandaily.com Senior Social Media Editors: Christian Juliano, Justin O’Beirne, Martina Zacker, Jillian Sacksner, Mishal Charania, Mae Veidlinger, Kirti Aplash, Jacob Cohen

ANDY NAKAMURA and RIPLEY NEWMAN

Chairs of Culture, Training, and Inclusion accessandinclusion@michigandaily.com

Business Staff IRENE CHUNG Creative Director

KATIE

Sales Manager

The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is publishing weekly on Wednesdays for the Winter 2022 semester by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. If you would like a current copy of the paper mailed to you, please visit store. pub.umich.edu/michigan-daily-buy-this-edition to place your order.

News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, April 20, 2022 — 3

CAMPUS LIFE

‘You’re not alone’: SAPAC hosts 37th annual survivor speak-out session

Annual event hosted at Michigan Union, attendees participate in ‘Metamorphosis’ theme SAMANTHA RICH Daily Staff Reporter

Content Warning: This article contains mentions of sexual assault. The University of Michigan’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center’s (SAPAC) 37th annual survivor speakout began with a moment of silence Sunday night. About 70 U-M community members came together at the Michigan Union’s Pendleton Room to share and listen to stories from sexual assault survivors. The crowd fell quiet as attendees paid respect to those impacted by sexual assault but were unable to attend the speak-out. The theme of this year’s event was “Metamorphosis.” In the spirit of the theme, attendees were invited to write anonymous positive messages and affirmations for survivors on butterfly-shaped sticky notes and attach them to a poster. “Thank you for sharing,” one note read. “You are so brave and I believe you.” All the lights in the Pendleton Room were dim, but the space was aglow with

fairy lights and glow sticks held by each of the guests, who waved them in support of each speaker instead of applauding. Speakers shared poems, affirmations and stories addressing their experiences with intimate partner violence, sexual assault, stalking and the long-term impacts of sexual violence on mental health. Anonymous submissions were also read aloud by SAPAC volunteers. To protect the privacy of the speakers and at the request of event organizers, The Michigan Daily will not be publishing any quotes shared at the event. In an interview with The Daily, LSA senior Thiany Riddihough, co-coordinator of SAPAC’s Survivor Empowerment and Ally Support program (SEAS), said it was important to allow survivors to participate in any way they felt comfortable. “I think the real significance of this event is allowing survivors to come and be in a space where they don’t have to share,” Riddihough

said. “They’re not required to do anything, but they can sit with people in the community they know that feel love for them, feel empathy for them, and where they can feel comfortable to share their story if they want.” Multiple attendees addressed the emotional trauma that accompanies experiences of sexual violence. They described feelings of isolation, anger, shame and grief, as well as struggles with mental illness. LSA senior Zoe Lainis, cocoordinator of SEAS, told The Daily that creating a safe space on campus for survivors to verbalize their stories is more important than ever. “It’s just to know you’re not alone … on this campus,” Lainis said. “We’ve had a lot of issues at this University with sexual assault, and so (the speak-out) reinforces that you are supported.”

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Design by Kate Shen

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

CAMPUS LIFE

Sikh Student Association celebrates Vaisakhi night with traditional dinner, martial art performances

Community gathers at Trotter Center commemorating the Sikhism faith SEJAL PATIL Daily Staff Reporter

The Sikh Student Association (SSA) hosted around 100 University of Michigan students and community members Sunday evening in the William Monroe Trotter Multicultural Center to celebrate Vaisakhi, a Sikh holiday. The event was co-sponsored by the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs (MESA), and individuals of all religious identities were encouraged to attend. The Sikh faith is a monotheistic religion, meaning that followers of Sikhism only worship one God. Equality among all of God’s creations regardless of race or social standing and the freedom to choose and practice religion freely are core beliefs in the Sikh faith. Sikh music filled the room

throughout Sunday’s event, and attendees were treated to a traditional Sikh dinner. The menu included cha, mango lassi, samosas, paneer and Gulab Jamun, a solid milk-based dessert. LSA senior Ramneet Chauhan, SSA co-chair, said Vaisakhi is a multifaceted event for her student organization. She said Vaisakhi is both religiously and culturally significant for those who identify as Sikh. “For Punjabis, this event is a Harvest festival, and for Sikhs, it is the birth of the Khalsa, which is a festival set by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699,” Ramneet Chauhan said. “Basically, we are celebrating both the religious side and the cultural sides for this event.” The SSA members gave a presentation to the audience about the Sikh religion throughout history and into the present day. Sikhism is currently the fifth-largest

religion in the world, with about 25 million followers worldwide. Sikhism centers around the idea of oneness within humanity, equality for all and Seva — the act of selfless service and helping others without personal gain. LSA sophomore Gurleen Chauhan, who will be co-chair of the SSA board next year, shared an informational presentation about the holiday. Every year on April 13 or 14, Vaisakhi commemorates Sikhism becoming a recognized faith, Gurleen Chauhan said. During the first Vaisakhi festival, Guru Gobind Singh challenged any Sikh to give his life for their faith. Five men went with him, and when they returned, they were made immortal by the Guru’s baptism ceremony, Gurleen Chauhan said.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Arts

4 — Wednesday, April 20, 2022

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

One does not simply ‘write’ Lord of the Rings fanfiction MADDIE AGNE Daily Arts Writer

WHEN I WAS approximately 13 years old I wrote a “The Lord of the Rings” fanfiction. It never got past three chapters, mostly encompassing the moment Merry and Pippin are captured by Orcs until the rest of the Fellowship find them after The Battle of Isengard. It also never saw the light of day, and now collects dust in a 42 page document on my computer titled “Old Stories” that makes me sick to my stomach every time I open it. And I’m sure the Tolkien Estate would like it to stay there. When I logged onto Twitter on March 7 and saw #Tolkien trending, I enthusiastically clicked the hashtag, hoping for updates on Amazon Prime’s upcoming “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” What I got was far less desirable: “The Estate sure would like to make Tolkien irrelevant to contemporary creative and consumer culture” read one tweet. “Tolkien estate once again in their grima wormtongue era” read another. There were hundreds more like this — statements blatantly calling out the Tolkien Estate’s (who oversees the rights to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien) stance on fanwork surrounding “The Lord of the Rings” franchise, which had been reworded and brought back to

light with the website’s relaunch. Almost every tweet I saw had a screenshot or link to the Tolkien Estate’s FAQs attached. On fanfiction, they stated, “You cannot copy any part of Tolkien’s writing or images, nor can you create materials which refer to the characters, stories, places, events or other elements contained in any of Tolkien’s works.” The language of the FAQs is a little disturbing — I’ve written a lot of fanfiction in my day and, as a young teenager, did a lot of research around the legality of fanwork just in case my writing got me into any trouble. In all of that time, I have never seen an author or estate crack down so severely on fanwork, and it is baffling that the Tolkien Estate, the manager of arguably one of the most successful literature and film franchises of all time, would want so badly to prevent its fans from participating in the universe that it protects. The Tolkien Estate has a long history of this sort of behavior. In the 2015 version of their FAQs, the question of writing stories set in Middle-earth was posed. The Tolkien Estate’s response was, “The short answer is most definitely NO!” The 2007 version similarly stated, “The simple answer is NO.” Both answers go on to state that, while tempting, the publication of fanfiction about Tolkien’s works is not allowed nor will the Tolkien Estate

ever allow it on legal grounds. The Daily reached out to the Tolkien Estate for comment on their policies, but they did not respond. The truth is that the legality of fanfiction is complicated. Very complicated. Fanfiction is technically a derivative work, so copyright holders are allowed to sue fanfiction writers on the basis of copyright infringement. The copyright holder just needs proof that the writer copied or used the copyrighted work in their fanfiction. This is where fair use comes in: Just as fanfiction is a derivative work, it can also, in some cases, be defended under fair use as a transformative work. If a piece of fanfiction follows the original work too closely, seeks commercial profit or impacts the market of the original work, fair use is less likely to be a strong legal argument. However, if a work moves far enough away from the original and does not profit off of its publication, the argument strengthens. The legality of fanfiction is still murky and, even now, is widely subjective and often considered on a case-by-case basis. Interestingly enough, the Tolkien Estate has yet to take any formal legal action against fans producing Tolkien-inspired writing. There are a few factors to consider when discussing the Estate’s stance on fanfiction, and their failure to make good on those claims. For one, the Tolkien

Estate simply is not the law. So long as your work does not violate the laws I outlined above — and the countless other copyright laws I probably don’t know about — then the Tolkien Estate cannot stop you from writing all the Legolas fanfiction your heart desires. Second, takedown notices proffered by the Estate do not constitute lawsuits. Simply put, the Tolkien Estate can’t do much about fanfiction despite their proselytizing. And even if they did attempt legal action against fanfiction writers, the Tolkien Estate would be alienating a massive chunk of its audience. On Wattpad, searching “Lord of the Rings” yields around 30,000 results, and “The Hobbit” on AO3 shows 40,046 works. To remove that massive amount of material from the internet is to remove the expansiveness of Tolkien’s worlds and works, and it would only signal to fans that they are not wanted by the Tolkien Estate. See, fanfiction goes beyond all the complicated legal jargon — it is a crucial element of modern fandom. Fanfiction provides both readers and writers with several experiences that traditional publication and literature companies cannot. It operates as a space in which authors can personalize their favorite content, experiment with diversity and identity in fictional worlds, hone written skills and engage in a collaborative part of the

‘As It Was’ marks a new era for Harry Styles GIGI CIULLA

Daily Arts Writer

HARRY STYLES HAS begun releasing singles from his upcoming third album, Harry’s House, starting with an upbeat, ’80s inspired song, “As It Was.” The song is an obvious step forward for Styles in terms of experimenting with a new sound and digging deeper with his song lyrics. The words are melancholic and introspective, disguised by a synthy instrumental somewhat reminiscent of a-ha’s “Take On Me.” “As It Was” broke records within the early hours of its release, becoming Spotify’s most-streamed single in one day; the music video has already amassed almost 50 million views in just over

a week. As Styles steps out of his Fine Line era, he seems to step into an in-between space. “As It Was” is a story of loneliness, of feeling stuck between the past and the future. He’s running around in circles, something quite literally shown in the music video as he and his partner rotate in a circle, not meeting each other in the middle until he is all alone by the end. Styles acknowledges topics he hasn’t taken on in his music before, such as directly addressing his somewhat strained relationship with his father in the lyrics “Your daddy lives by himself, he just wants to know that you’re well.” While Styles has frequently discussed the feeling of being lonely in older tracks like “From The Dining Table,” this is the first time we’ve seen him give direct ref-

erences to his personal life, and it feels like he is taking a step towards creating music that truly reflects his inner feelings. Styles is certainly no stranger to using sounds inspired by older music and other artists, with this song taking inspiration from the ’80s to create something hauntingly beautiful. The poppy and bouncy instrumental perfectly counteracts the sadness and longing of the lyrics, creating a song that people will sing along to without even realizing what they’re saying, à la “Hey Ya.” This combination perfectly fits Styles’s public perception of just being a heartthrob with a good voice, so much so that fans will ignore his pleading in the lyrics of “As It Was.” It’s a strong track, hopefully suggesting a new and exciting direction for Harry’s House.

internet. The beauty of fanfiction is that it is subject to the whims of fans who wish to explore their favorite worlds. It allows for critical engagement and communal imagination about what could happen in a text, and it encourages readers to delve into the stories that inspire them to write. Creating fanfiction does not require money or even much experience — it only requires a pinch of courage and a good deal of imagination. J. R. R. Tolkien left behind a world that has only grown with the times and has been passed down through generations to land at this exact moment when it is easier than ever for writers to engage with their favorite texts and share their work. I argue that the Tolkien anthology has only flourished and become more well-worn and well-crafted with the advent of fanfiction, and it seems foolish that the Tolkien Estate would actively desire to cut off a medium that has helped make the modern Lord of the Rings fandom what it is. Of course, I am not a member of the Tolkien family, nor do I have any claim to “The Lord of the Rings” beyond making my roommates watch the movies with me, but I find it disheartening that the estate would seek to destroy meticulously-crafted fanwork that functions as a love letter to Tolkien’s universe.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Emily Henry’s newest romance is the dream for all ‘Book Lovers’

Cover art for “Book Lovers” owned by Penguin Random House

AVA SEAMAN

Daily Arts Writer

SUDOKU

puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

Release Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Nail tech’s layers 6 Open mic night host 11 Automated Twitter user 14 Fire in the belly 15 Take one’s sweet time 16 Dedicated lines 17 Top that! 19 Prefix with binary 20 Fair 21 Consider 22 Kabocha or pumpkin, e.g. 24 Make-up artist? 26 Mike who voices Shrek 28 David Ortiz’s 1,768, briefly 30 Beat that! 34 Park fixture for two 36 SoFi Stadium player 37 Half and half 38 Caroline du Sud, e.g. 39 Like some angles 41 Intestinal fortitude 42 __ on the side of caution 43 Soon-to-be grads 44 Realm entered through a wardrobe 46 Strike that! 50 Miami-__ County 51 “Count me out” 52 Wee 54 Test versions 56 Farm skyscraper 58 Hairstyle for Nina Simone 62 “Kinda” 63 Take that! 66 Hoover, for one 67 Come about 68 Like a foggy trail path 69 Four-time WNBA champion Bird 70 Divulge 71 Fine partner DOWN 1 Cornfield calls 2 Cookie that has a lychee flavor in China 3 States further 4 Slate of chores 5 __ Lanka

6 Trimming tools 7 Nutmeg spice 8 Chewy chowder chunk 9 Animal on Idaho’s state seal 10 Application that may help reduce crow’s-feet 11 Game show climax, often 12 Garbage feature 13 Mind, as a bar 18 Doc intended to prevent leaks 23 Windy City airport code 25 Ariana Grande’s “God __ Woman” 27 Gulf of Aden republic 28 Evoking the past 29 “Just wait a bit more!” 31 Tie for roasting 32 Remove, as a ribbon 33 Painted Desert landform 34 Leak out slowly 35 Stinging insects 40 Regimen with Workouts of the Day

41 Ambiguous point 45 Podcast interrupters 47 Org. regulating pesticides 48 Mischief-maker 49 Freestyle skier Gu who won two gold medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics

53 Where to wear a metti 54 Auction actions 55 Old Testament twin 57 “In that case ... ” 59 Terrarium plant 60 Bust 61 “__-dokey!” 64 Foundry delivery 65 Place to retire

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

04/20/22 04/13/22

04/20/22

WHISPER WHISPER “Why did my professor make last possible day?”

“Happy last week of class!”

BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS are like the main character of a movie saying “my life is so not a movie” — they’re oddly selfaware and reassuring. You meet characters who also love the musty smell of libraries and appreciate the rush of purchasing a new book. Emily Henry’s newest contemporary romance “Book Lovers” is exactly what its title suggests — it’s a book about book lovers talking about books like it’s their job (hint: it is). At the beginning of the story, Nora Stephens meets Charlie Lastra, and the two don’t exactly hit it off. She’s a no-nonsense literary agent and he’s a brooding book editor, but their potential working relationship immediately turns sour the moment Charlie says he isn’t interested in editing Nora’s favorite client’s book, “Once in a Lifetime.” Much to Charlie’s dismay, the book becomes a bestseller two years later. When Nora’s younger and very pregnant sister, Libby, convinces her to take a muchneeded girls’ trip, the two travel to the small town of Sunshine Falls, the setting of “Once in a Lifetime,” for a month. Inspired by the book, Libby comes up with a vacation bucket list to ensure the two have their own life-changing small-town adventure. Nora’s plan to lie low and enjoy her vacation is ruined when she bumps into Charlie — again and again. As if Sunshine Falls wasn’t small enough, they are thrown together to work on her client’s new book, but Nora can’t ignore the biggest plot twist yet: she and Charlie actually work well together. Just as Nora and Charlie grapple with their connection in a new setting, they begin to wonder if their relationship will survive back home in New York. Does what happens in a small town stay in a small town? It should come to the surprise of no one that “Book Lovers” was considered one of the most anticipated books of 2022 by pretty much everybody, myself included. As the New York Times bestselling author of young adult and adult romance novels, Emily Henry is

the queen of fun and emotional summer reads, and “Book Lovers” is no exception. “Book Lovers” is an ode to the Miranda Priestlys and Meredith Blakes of the world. You know, the Ice Queens and career-driven women we love to hate in pop culture. Nora fits this archetype: At work, she’s known as the Shark, and she hasn’t cried in 10 years. However, instead of villainizing her, Henry gives us a well-crafted and sympathetic character. Nora is incredibly sarcastic, which makes her first-person narrative enjoyable and her millennial-esque quirks (a.k.a. being obsessed with her Peloton) not that annoying. Nora knows she’s not the heroine of her own story — she’s successful but overly committed to her job, and she puts the needs of others, specifically Libby and her clients, before her own. She usually dates workaholic guys just like her, until it inevitably doesn’t work out and those exes go on to marry Nora’s complete opposites. But that all changes when Nora gets to know Charlie. Nora and Charlie understand each other because they’re both competitive within the literary world and they’re both New York City people until they die. The trickiest part about incorporating the “rivals-tolovers” trope is the transition from the characters hating each other’s guts to enjoying the other’s presence, but Henry’s execution is seamless. The animosity between Nora and Charlie quickly fades, but the chemistry and impeccable banter is constant throughout the story. You can’t help but say “Oh my god” after every single scene involving Nora and Charlie. From the start, their connection is obvious; but as the story progresses, their romance f lourishes. Filled with scenes of intimacy (in every sense of the word), their romance is inspired. Charlie is always quick to remind Nora that he wants her to have everything she’s ever dreamed of. It’s such a simple-sounding notion, yet I can’t help but wonder if that is what we can only hope for in our romantic pursuits.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, April 20, 2022 — 5

Meet Annie Rauwerda, the U-M student behind Depths of Wikipedia LAINE BROTHERTON Digital Culture Beat Editor

MAYBE YOU’VE SCROLLED through your timeline on your favorite social media app and come across a post about odd Canadian traditions, animal-shaped breads or ancient Sumerian jokes — but did you know that the creator of these posts could’ve been in your discussion section? In April 2020, then-LSA sophomore Annie Rauwerda was in the same place as many Wolverines: stuck at home, bored and chronically online. From the corner of Ann Street and Glen Avenue, Rauwerda started her “quarantine project” and posted for the first time on her new Instagram account @depthsofwikipedia. Flash forward to now, and that same account has upwards of 800,000 followers split across Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Since that first post, the essentials of the account have remained the same: Rauwerda curates snippets from the crowdsourced Wikipedia — whether they’re silly, weird, outrageous or all of the above — and shares them with the world. Rauwerda’s post about recursive islands and lakes includes the phrases “islands in

lakes on islands in lakes” and “lakes on islands in lakes on islands.” There’s also Diego the tortoise, whose Wikipedia page boasts that “Diego has been said to have ‘had so much sex he saved his species.’” My personal favorite is her spotlight on Hanlon’s razor, the old adage stating “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” I think about that one a lot. Her success has been think-pieced into the next dimension: The New York Times calls it an “entry point to internet culture,” Mashable praises Depths of Wikipedia for its bizarre trivia lessons and Vice describes its significance among Gen Z with fancy words like “post-irony” and “meta-irony.” Rauwerda sells merchandise too (with the proceeds going to Wikipedia), hosts a Depths of Wikipedia Discord channel and regularly interacts with her ever-growing community of Wiki-lovers. But none of that is what we’re here for. It’s finally time to address one glaring truth: Rauwerda is a U-M Neuroscience major, one whose celebrity seems largely unknown among the student body. The Michigan Daily is adding to Rauwerda’s long roster of interviews to glean a sense of what it’s like to get your degree in Ann Arbor while navigating much bigger

things. The interview has been edited for clarity and context. The Michigan Daily: How do you explain Depths of Wikipedia to someone who hasn’t heard of it? Annie Rauwerda: If I just need to say something quick, I would probably just call it a meme page. I don’t think it’s really memes, though — I’m not adding text to images. So if people ask for an actual explanation, I say it’s Wikipedia screenshots I find funny or interesting. Sometimes I feel like people that are older don’t get it — they don’t seem to understand the whole gimmick account concept. TMD: You must get a lot of direct messages and suggestions for what to post. How do you sort through them all? AR: I get a lot of DMs lately. It used to be very manageable; I used to either post every Wikipedia page that someone submitted, or give a very thoughtful response on why I wasn’t going to. But now I don’t. I make an effort to read at least every message, but sometimes I can’t even do that. When I post a lot of stories and I start getting story responses, then it gets to be a lot. It’s so nice because all these people are usually sending really sweet and thoughtful things. I definitely try to acknowledge them, maybe like the message, but unfor-

tunately, I just don’t have enough time and diligence to send something heartfelt back to everyone. The majority of DMs are probably people saying, “Oh, you should definitely post about this,” and you would not believe how many repeats there are. At this point, I’ve posted something like 700 different things, and so many of the things people submit are things that I’ve already posted. But then other times people will send things that are really interesting, and sometimes I’ll be like “Oh, I gotta save that for later.” TMD: You’re very accessible and approachable despite having almost a million followers. I see a lot of accounts that are similar in popularity, but they don’t have regular communication with their followers like you do. How do you keep up with that? AR: The 800,000 of them have so much to tell me that would improve the account, and also give me ideas for writing. I’ll kind of subtly try to get inspiration and ask questions like, “what’s a fun website you’ve seen lately” or something. I’m a part-time student right now taking nine credits, so that helps too. I think of Depths of Wikipedia as my social life in some ways. When I go on Instagram live, that’s just me being like, “Oh, haha! I’ll go

talk to this piece of glass that feels like my friends.” I think it’s very fun. Also, people are so nice to me; I know some people on the internet have really toxic experiences, but I think probably only one in 10,000 interactions I have aren’t positive. TMD: In a lot of your interviews, you mention editing for Wikipedia. Can you explain how that works? If I wanted to edit for Wikipedia, how would I do it? AR: Overall, the process is very easy. First, you would make an account, and then press the little pencil icon on an article. There are some pages for more controversial issues, like the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine or abortion, that are often vandalized. For those pages, you would have to have an account for a certain amount of time and have made a certain number of good edits before you’re allowed to edit them. I think that a lot of new editors will go in feeling unsure of what to edit, because that’s what I felt at first; I fixed one typo at a time and felt like there was nothing else to do. In reality, though, there’s so many pages that are just kind of “meh.” Right now, a lot of obscure pages are just really poorly written or have outdated sources,

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Why I can’t (and won’t) shut up about season 2 of ‘Bridgerton’ SWARA RAMASWAMY Daily Arts Writer

WHEN THE FIRST season of “Bridgerton” came out, I refused to watch it. To me, it seemed like another romantic period drama that would try and fail to live up to “Pride and Prejudice.” After the initial hype died down, I forgot about it. Until, of course, the second season was released. The first things I saw were the stills — and my jaw dropped. For the first time, I was seeing true South Asian representation in a period piece. I saw images of Kate (Simone Ashley, “Sex Education”) and Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran, “Alex Rider”) decked out in some of the most beautiful outfits I had ever seen. The colors complimented them wonderfully, and the jewelry was a subtle yet meaningful nod to the characters’ Indian heritage. Seeing Edwina Sharma wearing her jhumka (classic bellshaped earrings) was enough to propel me to hit play on the series. In case you haven’t succumbed to the whirlwind hype that is the second season of “Bridgerton,” here’s a basic rundown: Viscount Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey, “Broadchurch”), eldest of the eight Bridgerton siblings and heir to the estate, has decided he will finally settle down and marry. Adamant on keeping love out of his marriage and simply seeking a suitable bride, Anthony sets his sights on the diamond of the season: Miss Edwina

Sharma, who has arrived from India with her older sister Kate and mother, Mary (Shelley Conn, “Good Omens”). Kate proves to be a formidable obstacle in Anthony’s courtship of her sister, but it soon becomes clear that the Kate and Anthony have a closer bond than either of them could have imag-

but I can’t stress how true it is. Think about the South Asian representation in most shows and movies. How are we characterized? Weird. Nerdy. Awkward. Ugly. While most of us can agree that we’ve happily left the “Baljeet” and “Ravi” stereotypes behind, it hasn’t necessarily gotten much bet-

ined. The “enemies to lovers” trope is no doubt perfectly executed, and it’s something that viewers (including myself ) have been absolutely eating up. But it wasn’t the story that made this season so great to me. It was the representation. I know the phrase “representation is important” has been thrown around often recently,

ter. Shows like “Never Have I Ever” and “The Sex Lives of College Girls” have South Asian girls at the forefront yet somehow still manage to play into those damaging stereotypes. Exhibit A: Bela’s comment in “The Sex Lives of College Girls” about how she used to be an “Indian loser with sweaty armpits, cystic acne and glasses,” but medically fixing all of that made her “normal.”

Design by Grace Aretakis

I’m sorry, does “normalcy” not include the Indian part? And don’t even get me started on the general unlikeability of Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, “Turning Red”) in “Never Have I Ever.” “Bridgerton” blazed a new path for good South Asian representation. The Sharmas are Indian through and through, but that’s not all they are. Their ethnicity is an asset, not a liability. Their culture was embraced in the most graceful way possible. The first words out of Kate Sharma’s mouth in the entire season are “Oh baap re,” a Hindi phrase roughly translated to “oh my god.” It only gets better from there. As a South Indian myself, I have always referred to my mom and dad as “Amma” and “Appa” — something I used to feel uncomfortable doing in elementary school growing up with peers who used the more familiar English terms. So it goes without saying that I couldn’t help but smile when Kate referred to her parents as “Amma” and “Appa.” When I watched Kate apply oil to her younger sister’s hair, I know I don’t just speak for myself when I say that I thought about my own mother and grandmother lovingly doing the same for me. Every time Edwina affectionately calls Kate “Didi” (‘elder sister’ in Hindi) or Kate calls Edwina “Bon” (‘sister’ in Bengali), viewers are reminded of who these characters are at their core and where their love for each other comes from. It was certainly the little things, like the instrumental version of the

Bollywood song “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham” playing in the background of the Sharmas’ pre-wedding haldi ceremony that made me and my roommates smile ear to ear. Looking back now, however, I can pinpoint with much more accuracy the deeper reason I enjoyed the representation in “Bridgerton.” In not addressing the stereotypes that have previously surrounded Indian characters in media, Shonda Rhimes actually did address them. Kate and Edwina’s beauty was never seen as surprising. Their culture was never odd or exotic. Their Indian accents were realistic and charming. Neither of them were beautiful “for an Indian girl” — a phrase I have heard far too many times. They were simply beautiful and deserving of the same passionate love that everyone else was. When Anthony called Kate by her full, ethnic name, my heart absolutely melted. In calling her “Kathani Sharma,” Anthony acknowledged who Kate was, and showed her that he loved every part of her. Did “Bridgerton” make me miss my Amma’s oil head massages? Yes. Did it have me contemplating how to wear jhumka with every outfit? Also yes. But as I sit here writing this piece while listening to the instrumental “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham,” I realize that it did so much more for me and for every South Asian girl that was left breathless after this season. It showed me that people like me have a place everywhere, that everyone deserves a “Kanthony” type of love.

Student Filmmakers: Cassidy Caulkins, Victoria Huang and Monica Iyer ERIN EVANS

Daily Arts Writer

The Daily Arts film beat offers insightful analysis of films of all genres. Nevertheless, there has been a lack of attention given to the many talented and passionate filmmakers who surround us here, at the University of Michigan. I started this series to highlight their work, their unique visions of film and the obstacles they face as student filmmakers. “LET’S IMPROV.” “YOU just start talking and I’ll type.” This is what LSA seniors Cassidy Caulkins and Monica Iyer do when the words aren’t flowing. Sometimes a real exchange between them will generate better dialogue than thinking about it could. Even the dialogue that the screenwriting pair don’t find through speaking is often tested this way, each taking the role of a character and seeing if the lines they’ve written work. They write together, sometimes taking turns to type, in coffee shops around the U-M campus or in one of their bedrooms in the apartment they share with six roommates. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Caulkins described their writing process of meeting for several-hour sessions to draft and edit their scripts. “There has been a time or two when it might be a later night and it might involve some wine,” she said. “Not every time, but that is a part of the process.” Since summer 2021, Caulkins and Iyer have collaborated to write a pilot for a sitcom titled “More Than a Degree” and a short film, “Disparate.” They have joined forces with other students to take their words to the screen, among them “Disparate”’s co-producer and Ross senior Victoria Huang, who was also present for the interview. Of the three, only Caulkins is a film major. Involved in theatre costume design in high school, she tried to transition to costuming for film upon reaching college, but was faced with the disappointment

that most student film productions don’t focus much on costumes. She has since become more open to other parts of film production, “opening my perspective on what I would enjoy” — but costuming will always be considered in her own projects. “You can tell a lot about a character by (what they wear),” she said. Iyer is a biopsychology major, but she took up acting in college and joined writing forces with Caulkins to take the advice to write her own material. Her excitement over their projects is infectious. She keeps a running list of funny things that happen in her and Caulkins’s apartment for use in future “More Than a Degree” episodes and, with post-college plans that veer away from the film world, regularly mentions how sad it is that this might be the last time they work together. And then there is Huang, who is studying business with a global media studies minor and appears to be the organized one. She has found her place in the arts as a coordinator, not filming or acting, but bringing people together where their visions can become something real. She worked as head of costuming at her high school theatre company and as a production assistant for Musket, the University’s student acting organization, her sophomore year, where Iyer was also an actor. She is the first to admit that her business classes lack the creativity she craves, which she has tried to find in these film productions. From disparate backgrounds, the three have found each other from chance friendships founded on this shared need for a creative outlet and love of film, despite the different forms it takes for each. All seniors with vastly different paths ahead of them, their time as a filmmaking trio is short — a momentary merging of inspiration and creativity. Their year of working together began at the end of the summer when Caulkins and Iyer wrote the pilot for “More Than a Degree,” inspired by their own house: five friends live together, close-knit but not without their differences, and drama

and hilarity ensue. Iyer compares it to “New Girl,” but rather than centering on a quirky and awkward 31-year-old, it aims to capture “that transition from college to post-graduate life.” They asked Huang to join them as producer and began casting and crew calls in September for the pilot episode about a birthday party gone wrong, which quickly overtook their semesters with long days of shooting nearly every weekend through November. Their goal to finish the episode by February has not been realized. At the time of the interview, it was nearly April and Huang had just received the rough cut from their editor. As they entered their final semester of college, Caulkins and Iyer’s regular meetings to discuss their pilot morphed into meetings about the possibility of a new project: one final film together before graduation. With little time, the planning of this film, now “Disparate,” was shaped by its limitations: What story could they tell effectively in 10 minutes, with a small cast and which they could feasibly complete in a single semester? The script for the story of two high school friends entering college and discovering they are no longer compatible was still going through final revisions at the time of the interview, even as they planned to start shooting the following weekend. Huang joined them again as co-producer, Caulkins is directing and Iyer is co-producing and acting as one of the main two roles. The group’s stories typically reach for relatability with their audience and are often influenced, if not inspired by personal experiences. Of “Disparate,” Caulkins said, “I couldn’t say (the experience is) universal,” but by the end of high school, many friends “realize they’re going in separate directions.” Their director of photography, LSA sophomore Adela Papiez, as well as many people who auditioned, told them they experienced this, which encouraged them to believe they were creating something that could touch many viewers.

Besides Caulkins, Iyer, Huang and Papiez, their crew includes sound operator (“slash anything else we need,” Iyer laughed) and LSA senior Jacob Gutting, actor and SMTD junior Olivia Sinnott and Caulkins’s mother, who is playing the “adult” the film requires. It is more difficult to find people for the crew, according to Huang, so they kept their numbers small and worked with members of the crew from “More Than a Degree.” Iyer believes the number of student productions happening this semester is partly responsible for the lack of available people interested in joining a film crew — they are already part of different films. Finding people for the cast was easier. Huang

“They could deliver exactly what we were looking for within the first couple lines we gave them,” she said, but then wouldn’t do anything different with the performance, which lead to material they didn’t want to use. During auditions for “Disparate,” they asked actors to change their performance in some way, even if it wasn’t in a way they planned to ask for during production, “just to see that they can exercise that muscle and are willing to try something new,” said Caulkins. Besides this ability, they looked, of course, to see which actors reflected the characters in a believable way and brought the necessary emotion to their auditions.

Design by Tamara Turner

emailed their casting call to various University listservs, including that of the Film, Television and Media department. Casting was easier in some ways, as many people auditioned. On the other hand, while the crew had already bonded from their previous production, the actors posed the difficulty of choosing a stranger with whom they could work well. According to Caulkins, they learned when casting their TV pilot how important it is for actors to be able to take direction well.

They chose Sinnott to star opposite Iyer in part because of her ability to hold the “duality” of the character she played, who is meant to be “bubbly and nonchalant” at first, but becomes more emotional toward the end of the film. They held auditions for both leading roles, despite knowing Iyer would be cast in one of them, before ultimately deciding she had to be a specific character.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Wednesday, April 20, 2022 —6

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

STATEMENT An ode to musical non-music majors CAITLIN LYNCH

Statement Correspondent

The sweet, warm scent of pollen is not the only thing that fills the air on campus during April. Along with its arrival comes end-of-schoolyear stress, fears over what to do after the semester ends and the dreaded backpacking season. After reflecting on the fall semester during course selection, I realized that I felt empty from a lack of music in my life. While I enjoyed the one-credit chamber music class I was taking and felt grateful for the opportunity to play my clarinet with others even just one day a week, I missed the threeplus hours I would spend on music each day in high school. It felt like my desire to have more music in my life was seeping out of me. My fingers would tap restlessly, longing for the repetition of practicing a challenging run on the clarinet over and over again. I missed being immersed in a single four-beat measure, playing the scale it was based in, switching up the rhythm and trying to trick myself into making a mistake — until the pads of my fingers knew only the right motion. I missed the pulsating feeling in my lower lip after a long practice session, a reminder that I’m alive and I get to create. While I had no intentions of pursuing a major or minor in music, I felt empty without having several hours of music in my day. After feeling like part of my identity was missing, I joined the University Band and an a cappella group second semester, and found others who share the same sentiment. Indeed, there are many students in different colleges across campus who dedicate much of their time to music — who feel that it is such an intrinsic part of their identity they cannot let go of — but who’ve

decided against majoring in it. Some of these people grew up always being around music, while others stepped into their musical pursuits when they were drawn in by the welcoming community. I spoke with students who connected their craft with their studies of technology and politics, and who have found a bit of home in the music scene at the University of Michigan. *** Freshman Michael West is a member of the Marching Band, the Basketball Band and the University Band, and he plays the trombone and euphonium — all while being a computer science major in the College of Engineering. In terms of comparing the amount of time he spends on school versus his music extracurriculars, he explained, “Last semester when marching band was happening, I’d say it was probably 50:50, with the time load of marching band compared with … the homework for the coding class I was in.” “I’d say right now, because I’m a freshman and my schedule is basically just core engineering classes that aren’t CS specific, I’m spending more time doing music,” West said. For students like West, their passion for music and their nonmusic major are not isolated, but rather, they complement each other. They bridge the gap between their studies and the music that is intrinsic to their identity. “My Engineering 100 section is called Music Signal Processing. Our final project is to build a music app based off of what we’ve learned in the class. And it’s all about like learning the physics and the coding behind music,” West explained. West told me about research currently being conducted at the University that connects the fields of music and engineering

with machine learning models that create computer-generated chorales: “Basically you give a computer … a bunch of chorales, and in that case it would spit out its own chorale in that style. It learns the rules and patterns by itself and tries to recreate that or something similar.” Claire Arp, an LSA sophomore majoring in economics with an intended minor in Native American studies, plays several dozen instruments as an auxiliary percussionist and a guitarist. At the beginning of our conversation, Arp proudly showed me her recent purchase. “It is a Squier Stratocaster.” She held up a shiny electric guitar, turning it so I could see the instrument from all angles. “It’s very pretty … if I was given the choice to save it or my own life, I would have to think about it for a little bit.” Arp, whose main interests are political advocacy and policy, also found little dissonance between her musical passion and her nonmusic major. She noted the parallels in how she approaches her study of music and of politics, and the similarities between the fields. “The way that I have learned how to do music is mostly through finding some type of music that I really enjoy, some song or album or artist that I really like, and just absorbing that and figuring out what they are doing in particular. And that is what I started doing with politics — I’m finding political figures and advocates and commentators that I like ... and kind of absorbing how they do things,” Arp said. These kinds of modeling, intense observation skills and desire to pull things apart and find meaning, works across disciplines. In my own statistics class, I’ve noticed that the process of

writing code for a graph is just like working through a fast run on the clarinet. When I’m coding a graph, I start by cleaning the data, adding rudimentary labels to my variables and filtering out the ones I don’t want, along with any responses where the answer was “N/A.” Once the data set is cleaned, I write \n in my labs() command to give myself a symmetrical title, use stat_smooth() to make the graph less noisy and change my colors to make it as visually pleasing and easy to interpret as possible. I work through the same steps when practicing the clarinet: I first have to go through the basic motions of learning the notes and counting out the rhythm so that I can play it cleanly. But then it’s on to smaller elements. I have to make sure that the frenetic movement of my fingers does not get sloppy and allow for a listener to hear the metal keys hitting the wood joints. And I make sure that I don’t change my embouchure and air speed as I meander above and below the register. Just like I might experiment with geom_ violin or geom_bar commands to see how my data looks on different types of graphs, I try out alternate fingerings that give me a smoother sound. It is the practice of focusing on these small elements that makes all the difference. Fitting in When I came to campus, I quickly became aware of the stereotypes surrounding each major — of what it meant to be a business major or an engineer, a math major or a musical-theater student. When thinking about what to study, I considered the associations people have with each major and whether I fit into them. A fun and notably accurate example of these characterizations is found on the Instagram meme account @cccb_umich. The page

Design by Ruby Lewis Page Design by Sarah Chung

takes characters from “Peppa Pig,” “Mean Girls,” “Monsters University” and “Sesame Street” and assigns them to a major that fits their personality and overall vibe. I enjoy scrolling through these posts and seeing if I or the people I know are similar to these characters. After all, Peppa is undeniably film, Janis Ian is clearly sociology and of course, Big Bird, with his curiosity and big smile, is environmental science. But beyond these light-hearted categorizations of students based on their interests are harmful preconceptions. Trying to encompass all of the personalities and layered interests of people in each major into one archetype can make people feel that the major isn’t for them. But majors and the labels they come with don’t necessarily box people in. For some people, the opposite is true. Quinn Newman, a sophomore majoring in RC drama and film, television and media (FTVM) and minoring in music, explained that their music and theater-oriented majors gave them an opportunity to lean into their full identity. “The performing arts are definitely a very safe space for people who are queer and nonbinary like me … I think when I started theater and music I had no idea what being gay or nonbinary was, I was that young and I did not have that sort of education. But you

know, the (theater) community … does tend to gear towards a lot of people in the LGBTQ community, so it’s definitely a place that I feel like really allowed to be myself,” they said. They spoke about a recent production in which the structure of the roles allowed them to perform as their authentic self. “As someone who is nonbinary, it’s definitely been a great opportunity here to play roles that aren’t necessarily specifically gendered ... Recently I played Love in the RC Players production of ‘Everybody,’ and I think almost every character in that show has no gender, because they are all concepts like friendship and kinship and love and death so, it was such a great and versatile play to do because anybody could have been cast in any role. And I think it was really great to play love as myself rather than as a prewritten version of love,” Newman said. A validating connection between oneself and art can form in all sorts of spheres, regardless of whether or not you happen to be majoring in that genre of art. Arp, for example, highlighted the connection between her identity as a trans woman to hyperpop, a modern style of music. She described hyperpop as “the modern autotune track type of

pathologizing of women. Female expression of anger has historically been linked with hysteria, forcing angry women into mental institutions or undermining their concerns. If you think that that was a long time ago and is no longer prevalent now, might I point out that women who express their anger now are still labeled as “crazy bitches.” Which, again, undermines the valid thoughts and feelings that push women toward anger. Soraya Chemlay, author of “Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger,” claims that girls are rarely taught to be angry, which rings true to my experience. I can’t recall my parents ever talking about anger. Sadness, yes, happiness, of course, but never anger. As Chemaly also claims, women are often pushed to find out how to express anger through watching other people. But how does one do that? My mom was never one to get angry, and neither were my grandmas, my aunts, my female cousins. I watched TV, and only the female characters I was supposed to dislike (the Regina Georges and the Cruella de Vils) ever showed anger, and when they did they were labeled as a “bitch” or “crazy.” All this points toward a clash between traditional ideas of how women should act and how we should be expressing our anger. Women experience anger, no doubt about it, and yet we’re usually not taught how to express it. The only ways in which women are taught to be angry are through the media, which encourages women to express their anger in unhealthy ways. What might this all culminate in? A feeling in most women that we can’t be angry, that anger isn’t meant for us, that even if we do feel it, we must hide it, shove it back down our throats, even when it’s choking us. It seems like the modern feminist movement has decided it’s time for the Heimlich. Anger as Revolutionary When women are told that they can’t be angry, being angry becomes a revolutionary act in and of itself. That is why 21st-century feminism

chooses to recognize anger as one of its most valuable weapons. There’s something liberating in doing something we’ve been told to suppress, to freely express our emotions to their fullest potential. I think that’s why so many women like myself find comfort in angry media. I snap for the poet standing on stage, shouting about her life experiences. I’ve dug through the internet to find better, more accurate representations of female anger. I watch these women and live vicariously through their anger. I express my own anger by watching, by listening to them. You might do that too, and that’s alright. Chemaly, a prominent feminist author, pointed out in an interview that anger is just another human emotion, and that it doesn’t have to be negative unless we make it so. When people turn anger into real violence, or express it negatively, anger pushes us back. But when people express their anger in healthy ways, through art, it can become a powerful tool for expression and change. I think feminism might be doing that for women. By providing women a space to be angry, the movement might just help liberate them, or at least make them feel better. I know that when I’m angry and upset, if I listen to that “feminist rage” playlist, or I listen to that angry poetry, I feel better. I feel seen. I feel like I can brave the world, like I’m finally coughing up the thing that’s been keeping me from breathing. Maybe you can do that, too. Next time you have a bad day, let yourself be angry. Next time you feel like you’ve been wronged, be angry. Don’t let anyone take those feelings away from you. Feel what you feel and turn it into something useful. Write a poem. Draw a picture. Fall onto your bed and scream into your pillow. Whatever you do, just make sure you’re doing one thing: being angry. Anger is a powerful thing, and so are you.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Women are angry: Here’s why RILEY HODDER

Statement Correspondent

Design by Leilani Baylis-Washington Page Design by Sarah Chung

You open up Spotify and start to type “feminist” into the search bar. Four letters in, and the first two playlists that pop up are “feminist rage” and “angry feminist music.” You watch on live television as Lady Gaga says, “I don’t believe in the glorification of murder. I do believe in the empowerment of women.” You scroll through YouTube, listening to feminist poetry, and notice that nearly every woman either starts yelling or describes scenes of violence in her writing. Halsey does it at the New York Women’s March. You watch a woman scale the Statue of Liberty on TV to protest the separation of immigrant families. If you’re like me, you may see these things and begin to notice a trend. The women and feminists you see on TV and online are often portrayed as angry, especially when fighting against their oppression. Mainstream media has fashioned our 21st-century feminist to be synonymous with the dreaded “angry woman” trope. But if you’re like me, you may also

begin to see how feminism is often linked with anger, and how rage is may actually be pushing the movement forward. The origins behind women’s relationship with anger are tricky. Oftentimes, women are told that anger and its subsequent expressions are “unladylike,” while their male counterparts are applauded and praised for it. It seems like anger is a source of power for men, when for me, as a woman, I’ve always felt it as a weakness: It’s something I shouldn’t be feeling, something I should be hiding, something that’s never gotten me anywhere. Once, I got a little heated in a fight with a friend, and turned around and found that my friends were saying I was acting “crazy.” I tried arguing with a group of boys my age, once, about an issue I was passionate about. When I started to get mad, they just started to laugh. I’m not the only one who feels this way. In her song “The Man,” Taylor Swift adds a melody to this phenomenon when she says, “it’s okay if you’re mad” (only if you’re a man). Rebecca Traister,

author of “Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger,” said in an interview with C-SPAN that while anger is a driving force for male politicians, it often hinders female politicians. Traister points out that the media will often harp on women in power (the Hillary Clintons and Michelle Obamas) for not smiling or being mildly impolite. Studies have shown that when men show anger, they’re applauded for it. When women do it, they’re shamed, shunned and avoided. It’s suggested that, during their competing presidential campaigns, Donald Trump was allowed to be as angry as he wanted, but the moment Hillary Clinton slipped up, she was crucified. And yet, anger remains a core part of the modern feminist movement. In the second wave of American feminism, female activism was characterized as “angry” and “unladylike,” and that carried on throughout the other three waves of feminism. And yet, the movement grew to be even more angry in response. Women led protests for reproductive rights and the Equal Rights Amendment. It was likely in this early rage that women found their power — it was harder to ignore them when they were mad. That anger still exists now. Since the ’80s, expressions of feminism and female empowerment in media are often tied to anger, and sometimes the utmost culmination of anger: violence. Lady Gaga’s quote says enough — sometimes, violence in movies serves as the primary expression of female rage and is an empowering force for female characters. Think of the plotlines in “Gone Girl”, “Kill Bill” or “Promising Young Woman” —

their anger is the narrative arc. So why is feminism so inextricably linked to anger? I’ve dabbled in poetry, and I’ve found that most of my poems find their way to an angry place. I’ve also found that these pieces are some of the hardest for me to share. Why? Because I don’t want to be seen as angry? Because society has taught me that anger isn’t for me, because it’s not attractive? And yet I still get angry. In fact, I get angry a lot. I listen to angry music, write angry poetry, I scream and cry in the mirror. And you know what? I’ve found that anger is liberating. I feel as if I have been told all my life that anger is not for me — so reclaiming those feelings I have been told not to have has not only made me feel better, it has made me feel human. That’s why I think feminism is angry. Because feminism is about change, but it’s also about making women feel better. And guess what — anger does that. The Anger-Cry When I get angry, I cry. And that sucks. Crying when you’re angry is a perfectly reasonable response to an emotional situation. Tears are supposed to relieve emotions when you become overwhelmed by them, and anger is not excluded from that. And yet, crying when you’re angry is one of the hardest things to experience because you’re effectively undermining yourself. In my experience, crying isn’t perceived as an expression of anger — it’s an expression of weakness, of sadness, of vulnerability, which isn’t exactly how you always want to be perceived when you’re mad. And then you get mad at yourself because you’re crying, and because you’re mad at yourself, you start crying even harder. It can be a vicious cycle. But how else would I express my anger? By yelling, screaming? I’ve never felt confident in that form of expression — but why? Why do traditional forms of anger feel so foreign to me? The most I can gather is because at the origins of women’s relationship with anger is the systemic mistreatment and

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, April 20, 2022 — 7

STATEMENT Kerrytown versus South Campus: Home is where the vibe is

Design byTamara Turner // Page Design by Sarah Chung

DRAKE GEORGE

Statement Correspondent

I first encountered the Kerrytown neighborhood when I came to Ann Arbor for freshman orientation in July of 2018. My partner had driven me up to Michigan, and we found a current student to stay with for the night. The house was a mustard color with large curvy windows, as if it were inspired by a funhouse. It had a huge attic and was shaped like no other home I’d ever seen. Many of the rooms looked like they were closets or huge study spaces renovated into bedrooms. Our room for the night had a twin sized bed with hundreds of theatre posters lining on the wall. We had to squish together in that bed so as not to fall off, and the Ann Arbor air was muggy — we immediately wet the bed with our sweat, but it was kind of fun. It was a little adventure —

coming to a new town and staying in an eclectic house, in an odd little room. In the morning, I stepped outside onto the porch to take a deep breath of the Michigan air. A college student on a bike flew past while a girl in a co-op across the street was swinging on a swing. I found the scene exhilarating: seeing so much commotion in one neighborhood. The people who surrounded me at that moment seemed grounded, and that they might take me in and give me a cup of tea. They seemed like the kind of people who would take me to Burning Man and help me home if I found myself in a K-Hole. Although the connection was immediate, I had no idea that Kerrytown would be my home for the next three years of my college career. As a theatre major myself, it was natural to live in a house with other theatre majors for my sophomore

year of college. The entire theatre department seemed to live in Kerrytown, and thus my residence began. We moved into the big artsy house that I had always longed for: there was a huge attic and a very spacious basement, perfect for playing beer pong or setting up a little lounge area. My friends and I lived it up in our little residential neighborhood. Bands played at houses on the weekend, people used chalk to draw on the street and yard sales with blaring music frequented our lawns. It was a happy, wonderful environment, and it barely ever registered with me that I could be living elsewhere, that there was an entire other region of campus with its own distinct culture. I came to South Campus for the

CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF

2022

You’re going places!

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

You might just be surprised: Locking my phone away for three days

To celebrate your achievements, UMCU has special rates available for graduating students. Rates as low as:

Design by Serena Shen // Page Design by Sarah Chung

VALERIJA MALASHEVICH Statement Columnist

I hate my phone. I hate that I can’t resist looking at it every time it beeps, and I hate how the empty seconds of my life are filled with screen time. I’m not doing anything worthwhile on it — just cluelessly scrolling through digital voids that are meaningless to me. When I’m on my phone, I miss out on everything important, I think. So in the midst of my anti-phone spite, my roommate and I devised a plan to put our phones away, all day. From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., we agreed we couldn’t have them on our person. That meant no Apple Watch, no music on the way to class and absolutely no way to tune out the rest of the world. I already carry a virtually bare-bones phone on me anyway: my Snapchat best friends list is empty, my Facebook has long been deactivated, Twitter is gone and my daily screen time hovers around the three or four hour mark. Still, I can’t seem to shake its grasp, or the way I cling to it when an ad interrupts my movie, or my instilled reliance on Google-knowing. One morning, I placed my phone into a cranny in my bedroom and I headed off to my classes. It was, initially, less than pleasant. The walk to my first class was boring, but I realized that I paid more attention to my surroundings (and even enjoyed them more) when I didn’t have an AirPod blaring in my ear. Uninvited noises became hard to ignore, as drills hammered into the ground down State Street and I became more attuned to the flux of cars swirling around me. Yet, I was blissfully aware of the more mundane things we often take for granted, like the synchronized melodies of birds in the Diag and the chalk sidewalk doodles that sprang up overnight.

My 11:30 a.m. class came and went generally unaffected, mostly because I still insist on taking paper notes. Around 1 p.m. I headed off to the Modern Languages Building to meet with my friend before our psychology exam. Uh-oh. Once I shut my laptop, I had no way of constantly updating my friend on where I was, nor could she track my location through Find My iPhone. Instead, I puttered around the MLB for what seemed like five or so minutes, and then hesitantly pulled out my iPad to send a text. It was wonky and inconvenient — my thumbs struggling to stretch across the oversized screen. But, alas, the job was done and I found her. I returned home by sunset, and my evening was spent lazing on the couch with an open textbook next to me. Yet, I felt anxious at the thought of the clock striking nine — I didn’t want my phone, did I? I know I didn’t need it, at least not then and there. My work for the day had been completed, my eyelids were struggling to hold their weight and I felt no pressing urge to invite a technological nuisance back into my life. In the absence of instant gratification, I instead spent a whole day immersed in my own reality. No more worrying about unwanted emails showing up at an

unfriendly moment, or checking the time every two minutes on my way to class as I fret showing up late. I was in control of everything, from what I felt to what I focused on. It was intoxicating but it was short-lived, and I felt like I had failed to test the boundaries of my limits: naturally, I extended my experiment by three more days. (Officially) Day 1 9:02 a.m. Just arrived at my first class of the day, and when I go to open Canvas, I get prompted to send a Duo notification. Great. That’s fine, I didn’t need to access Canvas anyway. 9:56 a.m. Walking across the Diag with no headphones is f**king weird. Voter registration people please don’t come up to me, I am busy dissociating. 12:35 p.m. I heard a ring so I picked up my phone and it was actually a really important phone call about my apartment. Please don’t hate me, I put it away right after — I swear. 2:13 p.m. So no one was gonna tell me it’s literally pouring outside? It’s a good thing I carry my umbrella any

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

1.49% APR

on Auto Loans New to UMCU*

8.00% APR

Personal “My Choice” Loan Special

Send us an email at UMCU@UMCU.ORG with the subject line, “2022 Grad” to learn more about these exclusive offers or visit UMCU.ORG. NOT A MEMBER? JOIN TODAY AT UMCU.ORG. Insured by NCUA Special rates valid for one year from date of graduation from an accredited university. Subject to credit approval. Additional limitations, terms and conditions apply, and are subject to change without notice. *Rates as low as 1.49% APR. Actual rate based on creditworthiness.

Michigan in Color

8 — Wednesday, April 20, 2022

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The greatest love story KATHERINA ANDRADE OZAETTA MiC Assistant Editor

I’ve been thinking a lot lately on what constitutes a friend. The qualifiers and the levels all associated with it. What distinguishes someone as a true friend versus someone you spend time with? An issue I had in the past (and still suffer from) is failure to define, creating the boundaries between different categories of friendship. I consider myself close with a lot of people, but am I actually? How many can I consider a true friend, a partner, a protector of my own interests who hold me in the same regard as I hold them? My friend Eliya sent me a TikTok the other day that featured a quote about female friendship — that it is a ferocious, ugly, messy, emotional creature we are never taught to train. My first reaction was to laugh, because it’s never that deep. Friendships are simple. Easy. It’s romantic love that’s the complicated kind. But the quote has rattled in my head as I’ve been studying abroad, separate from the people I call home. Sometimes I forget where my best friends begin and where I end. Their friends are my friends. My belongings are their belongings. Their house is my house. The lines are blurry to nonexistent at times. No topic is out of bounds. We consume each other’s emotions. We

ruminate over situations, strategizing and theorizing in our imaginary situation rooms. We tell each other our secrets. Our shame. Our burdens. Our pain. Do you remember last winter when I held you in my arms after you told that boy you

“Media is saturated with love stories. Countless books, podcasts, movies, TV series and more are all decdicated to the pursuit of love and keeping it.”

loved him? I do. The light reflecting off your tears, which I had never seen from you before. The tremble in your voice as you described his rejection. But it’s not just the difficult parts that we share. We also cheer for each other. Praise one

another for putting ourselves out there. Uplift one another when we feel we might have fallen short. And although you were shaking, I could not stop thinking how strong you are — for taking that risk, for being vulnerable. I am proud of you; I know you’re proud of me too. I could hear it in your voice months later, in the summer, miles away from one another as you cheered me on for going on my first New York City date. We give and give and take and take and take. I am a hopeless romantic. From the media I consume to the stories I write about, romantic love has always been paramount. It’s not like it’s hard to obsess over it. Media is saturated with love stories. Countless books, podcasts, movies, TV series and more are all dedicated to the pursuit of love and keeping it. My favorite TV show used to be “Sex and the City.” For months, I watched religiously as Carrie chainsmoked her way around New York City. You would often join me on the couch of our house, holding Socratic seminars on Carrie’s shenanigans. Would you have gotten back together with Big? How could anyone break up with Steve? Why do you like Aiden? Despite the hours we spent discussing the show, we still managed to miss the point entirely. The men came and went, treated like minor comedic blips, but the core four — Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte — remained, brunching and bickering as usual. That’s the true

Design by Tamara Turner

love story of the show. Despite whatever happened romantically, fans knew as long as those friendships were there (ignoring the reboot), everything would be fine. So do all great love stories have to be romantic then? It’s seemingly reinforced that romantic love is the only love worthy of writing an entire album over or book on. But not for me anymore. The friends that I’ve made, they’re my big college love story. Not one of those random fuck boys I keep tripping and falling over for. When I look back on this season of my life, I won’t think of these minor comedic blips.

I won’t think of the people I just happened to spend time with. I’ll think about you. I’ll think about the hours we spent on the phone, screaming at each other for fucking up once again. I’ll think about the aimless walks, where we don’t have the slightest clue of where we are going. I’ll think about the viewing parties, joking about Wattpad. I’ll think about the time we spent growing and building together. It’s messy, ugly, beautiful and everything in between. In the longest most convoluted way, I wrote this just to say I miss you. I love you. I’ll see you soon.

i love being a slut KAILANA DEJOIE MiC Columnist

Author’s Note: I would like to clarify my terminology out of respect for the gender non-conforming community. When I say “men” I am specifically referring to cisgender men. When I say “women” — I am referring to cisgender women, the only identity I can meaningfully speak on. I think it’s important to make these distinctions because gender identity is incredibly fluid and we do not live in a binary world. We cannot keep enforcing such barriers in the language we use, which is why it is necessary to clarify what one means when they speak so generally. It is oppressive by nature to not acknowledge the existence of identities that do not fit into the conventional binary. My first sexual revelation as a woman happened during my sophomore year of high school when I stopped wearing bras. It was terrifying. I was a flat-chested “skinny” girl with chicken legs and everyone around me growing up always made sure I knew that. I was bullied in middle school for my body being under the standard “healthy” weight and the

last thing I wanted was for my unflattering legacy to continue into high school. To wear the bra or to not wear the bra: it was a decision that I went back and forth on at least 1,000 times and eventually culminated in a splitsecond action before I left for school that morning. When I finally arrived, I took all my layers off from being in the harsh Chicago winter months. I was just a young girl with a black and white cubic patterned dress. Exposed for the world to see. Except I didn’t want to be seen. I was afraid people would notice that my chest looked a bit flatter than normal. I went about my day going to first period, then to second and so on. No one said a word. It felt good. Maybe it wasn’t as noticeable as I had thought. Maybe I had nothing to be ashamed of. I had quickly evolved from being afraid to let my natural shape show to making a point for it to. Only one week after I stopped wearing bras, I was already so much more confident in my body — in myself. I started wearing shirts where it was more clear that I wasn’t wearing a bra — nothing too crazy — just a fitted blouse of sorts. One day while I was in the cafeteria with my friends,

a guidance counselor approached me and said, “Your nipples are protruding.” I did not have the slightest clue

responded, “No, that means they are projecting out,” to which I, once again, said, “Thank you.”

life where I was trying to embrace my natural form and I assumed that a woman in a higher position would

Design by Rita Sayegh

about what her comment meant, but I assumed it was a positive comment so I said plainly, “Thank you.” She

I truly was not trying to be funny — I genuinely took that as a compliment because I was in a period of my

support that. I was sorely mistaken. She told me to put on a jacket or I would be removed from the premises. So I grabbed my jacket, stood up and walked myself out. The counselor followed and I was met with three security guards and my principal — who was a woman. She explained to me that their policy was meant to protect me from predatory men. I explained that it isn’t my job to conform to safeguard myself. She said — and I remember this quite explicitly — “If you were to go in front of a judge for being raped, you would be held at fault because you enticed them.” I cannot make this up. I wish I was. An administrator working in an institution dedicated to learning told me this. I couldn’t believe it. It was humiliating. This was the first time I had been criminalized for my body by an authoritative figure. It would not be the last. This was the beginning of a tumultuous road ahead where I would have to fight for the right to autonomy over myself. The fact that a fellow woman, one whom I was supposed to look up to, said such vile things to me demonstrates how deeply rooted the patriarchy is in all of us — men and women alike. The patriarchy can be defined as a society in which “men hold the positions of power and have more privilege: head of the family unit, leaders of social groups, boss in the workplace, and heads of government. In patriarchy, there is also a hierarchy among the men.” To be clear, the patriarchy is harmful to men and interrupts their growth as human beings as well. Make no mistake, I am not saying women are at fault for the suffering we experience. But I am saying that all of us reinforce the patriarchal pressures in our lives without even realizing it. The patriarchy shows its face everywhere you go. It’s just a matter of recognizing it. See, that’s the thing about men — when you call them a misogynist, they immediately get defensive because they think you’re accusing them of some kind of hate crime. Sometimes this is true, but it doesn’t take the most extreme level of hatred toward women for men to have misogynistic tendencies. Furthermore, if you are a man, you are upholding the patriarchy simply

by existing. The privilege you hold as a man does not go away just because you acknowledge the strife of women. You still hold the obligation to always be cognizant of how the space you take up impacts the women around you. There is nothing you can do to rid yourself of your male privilege, but rather, you can use it to uplift the women around you. Even if you think you are a particularly progressive man, remembering to check your privilege is of the utmost importance. To the men reading this: You hold power over women in the job market and take away opportunities from them. You are more likely to be heard in group conversations and suppress the voices of women. You are more likely to be taken seriously at the doctor’s office and therefore have, on average, gotten more efficient and effective medical treatment. Most importantly: your willingness to believe this phenomenon does not change the fact that you experience it. The reality of the situation is that you inadvertently benefit from the suppressive injustice that women endure. There is virtually nothing you can do to escape that. Does that mean there is nothing you should do to be a decent human being to the women in your life? Absolutely not. You should always be striving for an awareness of the privilege you hold. We are constantly living in fear of being victimized — the least you could do is walk through the world with an acknowledgment of that. If you are now thinking to yourself that women are strong, independent beings who can conquer anything — you’re not wrong, but you’re missing the point. That type of circular reasoning places the responsibility on the woman to halt her oppression while ignoring the fact that much of her torment is out of her control. I cannot begin to explain how little grasp we have over the patriarchal forces in our lives and how absolutely soul-crushing it is to know that my existence will always be defined by a man. No matter how radical I try to be, no matter how many “social rules” I break, I will always be subject to the patriarchy. We live in a man’s world. We have generationally formed a society where men are at the forefront and women are in the background. Can you blame me for feeling so powerless? At the end of the day, women are in this fight alone. I do not care how progressive a man you consider yourself — you are still a misogynist or have misogynistic tendencies. To illustrate this, let’s take a look at a common misconception of the dating scene: the friend zone. If you declare you’re in “the friend zone” with a woman whom you just met — that’s misogynistic. You are categorizing your relationship with a woman on whether or not you are successful in your pursuit to seduce her. This deduction misplaces the blame onto women for exercising their right to say no. It devalues a woman’s feelings in a relationship because it implies that a woman owes that man something in return for his supposed kindness. It is an explanation used by insecure men to project the responsibility onto women when they are rejected. It reinforces the objectification of women when you assume that being kind to a woman

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Opinion

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

JULIAN BARNARD AND SHUBHUM GIROTI

JASMIN LEE Editor in Chief

Opinion Columnist

Managing Editor

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Julian Barnard Zack Blumberg Emily Considine Brandon Cowit Jess D’Agostino Ben Davis Andrew Gerace

Shubhum Giroti Min Soo Kim Jessie Mitchell Zoe Phillips Mary Rolfes Nikhil Sharma Sophia Lehrbaum

Joel Weiner Erin White Devon Hesano Rushabh Shah Alex Yee Anna Trupiano Jack Tumpowsky

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of The Daily’s Editorial Board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

Say Gay

GISELLE MILLS Opinion Columnist

n March 8, 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a House Bill 1557, known as both the “Parental Rights in Education” and the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. In February, President Joe Biden called the bill “hateful.” The “Don’t Say Gay” title comes from some of the bill’s key passages, prohibiting “classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.” The bill itself is further reaching than just LGBTQ+ issues, impacting the health needs of students. Parents are able to opt their children out of counseling and health services, and if students receive any type of health service from school, parents will be notified. Between the “Don’t Say Gay” and the health services portion of the bill, the access students will have to help outside of their parents is worrying, to say the least. Deciding to exclude words like “gay” or “homosexuality” from a classroom will not stop a person from being Queer; it only makes them think that they are alone. According to the Trevor Project, a nonprofit dedicated to suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ kids, “LGBTQ youth who learned about LGBTQ issues or people in classes at school had 23% lower odds of reporting a suicide attempt in the past 12 months.” While it is not the first bill of its kind to be written, it is unlikely to be the last. House Bill 800 in Tennessee asserts, “textbooks and instructional materials and supplemental instructional materials that promote, normalize, support, or address controversial social issues, such as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender (LGBT) lifestyles are inappropriate” and “the promotion of LGBT issues and lifestyles in public schools offends a significant portion of students, parents, and Tennessee residents with Christian values.” Tennessee’s bill is not vaguely limited to kindergarten through third grade

like Florida’s; it covers all public K-12 classrooms. Opponents of Tennesse’s bill question the implication of words like “normalize” and “address” — what about the Queer educators? Will pictures of spouses be removed from their classroom desks? What about the students with Queer parents? Are both parents allowed to enter the classroom for parent-teacher conferences? (The question of books and educational material will continue to be argued, particularly with the banning of specific books related to LGBTQ+ issues and racial inequality in the United States). Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill affecting not only what is said in the classroom but outside is chilling. Students like Will Larkins, a junior in high school from Winter Park, Florida, are worried. Larkins published an opinion essay in The New York Times on March 12, explaining the positive influence that an understanding teacher had, writing, “Education made me hate myself less.” Larkins and their friend Maddi Zornek led a walkout of more than 500 students on the day of the signing. Other protests have taken place since, notably those including Disney employees. The fight for LGBTQ+ rights does not seem to be over, especially as other states follow in Florida’s footsteps. Earlier this month, Alabama passed legislation banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors and threatening those who attempt to provide such cares with prison time. They also passed a similar, though more severe, K-12 “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would force students to use the bathroom and locker room of their sex assigned at birth. Alabama’s legislation would ban classroom instruction concerning gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through fifth grade, further than Florida’s K-3 bill. Medical groups, like the American Medical Association, are in great opposition to Alabama’s bill. Last year, the organization sent a letter to the National Governors Association describing the detrimental effects and risks of banning gender-affirming care

Climate extremism is unproductive — let’s focus on real solutions NIKHIL SHARMA

PAIGE HODDER

Editorial Page Editors

Wednesday, April 20, 2022 — 9

for trans youth. In the letter, the AMA expressed specific concern for the higher risks of suicide and mental health disorders due to stress for transgender minors, and stated, “Studies suggest that improved body satisfaction and self-esteem following the receipt of gender-affirming care can have tragic health consequences, both mental and physical … Studies also demonstrate dramatic reductions in suicide attempts, as well as decreased rates of depression and anxiety.” Parents are often not licensed healthcare professionals, nor are they the primary educators for kids K-12. The bill is vague, and its interpretation has the capability to hurt not only the students but teachers. Between the ages of six to 18, children spend seven to eight hours, five days a week in a place that they expect will support them in their growth and development (and allow them to use the bathroom where they are most comfortable). Their social lives often primarily exist within the walls of these schools, as do the teachers and counselors they confide in. How can a bill that excludes help from every source other than a parent be truly supportive for a growing kid or teen? What does that mean for parents, who may work most of the day and cannot give the kind of support that their child deserves due to their time and circumstances of their home? Upon learning about LGBTQ+ issues, some kids have big “ah-ha” moments. Sometimes, they have known it their whole life. Removing language about these topics will not stop children from being Queer, nor does including the language make the students automatically Queer. It will not suddenly make them reach out to their parents, either. The “Don’t Say Gay” bill merely removes the resources students rely on in turbulent times of their lives, when they are trying to figure themselves out, and hope that people accept them the way they are. Hate has no place in the classroom, and removing the conversation surrounding it will not solve the issues these parents and lawmakers are concerned about — it will merely silence them.

ver the past few decades, climate change has become a major national political issue, finding its place at the center of the Democratic agenda. Despite widespread support among Democrats and the country as a whole for solving the issue, very little comprehensive legislation has been signed. Instead, solutions have come in the form of grandiose proposals, unbinding pledges and local programs with little impact. These policies have accomplished too little and have ultimately led to greater partisan divides that will undoubtedly hamper support for future solutions. If Democrats truly hope to solve the climate crisis before it’s too late, they must immediately reevaluate their policy platforms and find more reasonable solutions that can quickly gain national support. It’s impossible to discuss climate policy in the Democratic Party without considering the Green New Deal, the landmark legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., that would fundamentally alter our economy. Her plan calls for aggressively transitioning to net zero emissions by 2030, rapidly phasing out gas vehicles and weatherizing all buildings in the country to make them resistant to extreme weather. Beyond the climate proposals in the bill, Ocasio-Cortez advocates for guaranteed jobs for Americans, Medicare for All and a litany of other liberal wish list items. While the individual proposals of the bill are popular, the overall cost is estimated to be $16 trillion, a figure that would saddle future generations with insurmountable debt and likely cause severe long-term economic decline. Though the Green New Deal carries an unreasonable price tag, more realistic solutions also face tremendous challenges. The idea of a carbon tax, popular among economists, would in theory account for the negative externalities that carbon emissions cause, but in practice would accomplish little more than hurting the U.S. economy relative to global competitors. Carbon taxes can be levied on both producers, through emissions taxes, and consumers, through taxes on carbon-intensive products. If levied on producers, we would need to implement a tax internationally in order to avoid directly harming American producers without affecting other nations. This seems unlikely to occur, and an American carbon tax might instead cause oil production to shift toward Russia and the Middle East, with overall global supply remaining unshaken. If instead the tax was levied on consumers, it would likely have minimal effects, as consumer demand for gasoline is relatively inelastic and typically remains steady regardless of price. Further, as shown by the visceral responses that have accompanied recent price hikes at the pump, a carbon tax would be

Design by Leilani Baylis-Washington

politically unpopular and quickly branded as a de facto tax against working Americans. Among the existing solutions already implemented by states, some of the most prevalent include electric vehicle subsidies, solar credits and weatherization assistance. While nobody would argue that these programs present a comprehensive climate solution, evidence suggests that they may even do more harm than good for the environment. Because electric vehicles aren’t bound to the same energy efficiency standards as gas cars and most electricity is rooted in fossil fuels, the net social impact of government subsidies on electric vehicles has been found to be negative $742, showing that these subsidies have a net negative impact. While over the long-term we will eventually need to move toward electrification, we are not yet at a stage where electric products produce net emissions benefits. Solar credits, another good idea in theory, in actuality have an impact highly concentrated on wealthy families who could’ve already afforded to purchase solar to lower their energy costs. This diminishes the effects of solar credits that could instead go to poorer families less likely to invest in solar as a costsaving measure. In addition, since solar credits aren’t correlated with the amount of energy ultimately generated from panels, subsidy spending in areas whose climate is unfit for year-round solar use negatively impacts the overall effectiveness of the program. Finally, weatherization assistance, which is targeted at low-income families, actually has a social benefit of 9.5% less than its social cost because of the small carbon footprint that lowincome households produce. With many proposed and existing solutions being either ineffective or unrealistic, we will have to look elsewhere for support in fighting climate change. While unpopular, perhaps the solution that best protects our economy while combating global warming would be to maintain the use of natural gas in the short run, while developing a network of nuclear plants to support long-term energy production. Natural gas has played a major role over the past several years in accelerating the shift away from coal and other fossil fuels, and concurrently reducing greenhouse

gas emissions. Though an ideal solution to the climate crisis would see an immediate shift toward renewable energy sources, the infrastructure to support this transition is severely lacking, and thus any premature attempt to do so could cause energy shortages. While natural gas still does emit greenhouse gasses, it has a lower carbon footprints than other fossil fuels and remains a critical component of our short-term energy supply. Any attempt to restrict its use could cause energy price spikes that could have crippling economic impacts. While natural gas may be our best bet in the short run, nuclear power is likely the most effective longterm solution. Compared to nuclear plants, wind farms require 360 times as much land area and solar facilities require 75 times the land area to produce the same amount of energy, making both unsustainable instruments for powering the country. Furthermore, wind and solar energy are both reliant on seasonal factors that would lead to an unreliable grid, whereas nuclear power can operate year-round. Most concerns around nuclear power center around the danger of a nuclear meltdown, but nuclear power is in fact one of the safest energy sources, with exceedingly low death rates from accidents compared to other power sources. The United States is already producing 19% of its electricity from just 97 reactors, so investing heavily in nuclear power would allow us to power the entire country with existing technology. Since the time frame we have to solve the climate crisis is so narrow, we don’t have the luxury of waiting for efficiency boosts in renewable power sources. Instead, we need to quickly invest in solutions that have a proven track record of success. If the Democrats hope to pass meaningful climate legislation, they would be well served to redirect their energy from untenable plans that expend valuable political capital to more realistic solutions that transition to clean energy without risking energy shortages. With support for nuclear power and natural gas among conservatives, Democrats will have an easier time passing impactful legislation if they focus on those areas. While doing so would certainly not solve the entire crisis, it would finally be the tangible step in the right direction that we have been missing.

Environmentally-friendly ways to die SOPHIA LEHRBAUM Opinion Columnist

he secular American burial is in desperate need of diversification. It’s a little absurd that my only option after death seems to be sending my family shopping for a cushioned casket that properly “captures my essence,” only for it to be lowered into the ground to decompose and never be seen again by the living and entirely unbeknownst to my dead, impartial body. Frankly, this is far from how I would like to be laid to rest. As a self-proclaimed environmentalist, I was disappointed to find out that the traditional funeral process is not only expensive for grieving families but is also incredibly taxing on our environment. The embalming process, traditionally employed to prevent bodies from decaying before the “viewing” service in funerals, uses a toxic concoction of chemicals — including formaldehyde, menthol, phenol and glycerin — for preservation. An estimated 800,000 gallons of formaldehyde are buried along with the bodies

that harbor it, posing an acute health risk for anyone who is exposed to its carcinogenic fumes. Even the wood used in the construction of caskets and coffins is equivalent to roughly 4 million acres of forest, a dire figure in the face of mass deforestation. Even worse, cemeteries across the United States take up approximately 140,000 acres of land that require mass amounts of water and fertilizer to maintain, which could be alternatively used for housing or other productive lands. Suppose cremation is any better? Think again. According to National Geographic, just one cremation “produces an average of 534.6 pounds of carbon dioxide,” and a year’s worth of cremations releases an estimated 360,000 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, which is enough energy to power about 70,000 homes for a year. Cremation also releases a slew of carcinogenic chemicals into our air, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury and sulfur dioxide, which are toxic to both humans and the environment. This is not to say traditional or religious burials that employ these

methods should be discredited or fundamentally changed. Rather, people should be presented with a variety of options of what to do with their bodies postmortem if traditional burial practices do not speak to their values or morals. After all, one size certainly does not fit all — why should death be any different? If traditional secular funerals aren’t for you, or if you want to leave the most minimal environmental impact after you die, here are a few alternative, green burial methods. One company, Coeio, has innovated what they coined as an “infinity burial suit,” which is woven with threads infused with infinity mushroom spores. These mushrooms were specifically bred to efficiently compost human flesh. The superpower of these mushrooms, mycoremediation, is a fungal process that absorbs and purifies toxins found in human bodies that would otherwise seep into and contaminate the environment. While the thought of being eaten by mushrooms may seem unsettling, I think that fungi repurposing my corpse into nutrients that will fertilize and cultivate the earth sounds like

a whimsical, environmentallyconscious dream death. Another practice, the sky burial, has been performed by Tibetan Buddhists for thousands of years. After death, a Burial Master cuts the deceased body into pieces and brings it to a selected site at a high elevation. Vultures, who congregate at these elevations, then eat the body, a tradition that Tibetan Buddhists believe allows for the soul to travel to the heavens and wait for the next reincarnation. While these sites have become more limited in recent years, sky burials are highly sustainable and nourish local carnivorous bird populations. With essentially no carbon footprint, this green burial is an example of how people have been using more sustainable burial practices for many years. Have an affinity for marine life and the ocean? Look no further. The Reef Ball Foundation has innovated what they call Reef Balls, which are made of special marine-grade concrete with a “pearl” center composed of the cremated remains of loved ones. Though cremation isn’t great for the environment as previously mentioned, these Reef Balls can

be adorned by the family with concrete imprints and marine and environmentally-friendly sea glass and shells before being placed on the ocean floor in “Eternal Reefs” – cemeteries made of Reef Balls. “Designed to replicate the natural substrata that Mother Nature uses for her reef development,” Reef Balls’ perfectly neutral concrete pH invites a variety of marine organisms, including fish, microorganisms, oysters and coral, to propagate and reside within. Essentially, your memorial after death can be an opportunity to facilitate the survival and balance of marine life. A newer prototype, created by the company Capsula Mundi, is an egg-shaped, biodegradable pod that corpses would be placed in posthumously. Before death, the person selects a tree to be planted atop their pod after burial, allowing the body to nourish a piece of nature that will grow into a profound symbol of everlasting life. Instead of cemeteries filled with cement and faded gravestones, Capsula Mundi hopes to create flourishing sacred forests where families

may visit and care for their loved ones who have been eternalized in nature. Not only is the ground burial a more environmental, historic practice, but the trees that grow will further replenish diminished forests while cleaning the air through photosynthesis. Spiritually and literally, this practice allows for the body to exist immortally as repurposed forms of nature. What we decide to do with ourselves postmortem should not be a limited or generic choice, especially with the cultural, religious and spiritual significance of death. Instead, we should be encouraged to pursue our own unique paths of posthumous eternalization and provided with options to express our uniqueness and values after our lives have ended. For those of us who are secular or want to leave a minimal environmental impact, we should have the knowledge necessary to embrace the alternative options to traditional burials. As a contrast to the darkness and industrial nature of traditional burials, it is beautiful to visualize our bodies being reintroduced into the cycle of life in nature, which will carry us long after our passage.

Opinion

10 — Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Breaking the stigma around “help” LINDSEY SPENCER Opinion Columnist

veryone needs it, but no one wants to ask for it. “Help” has become a sort of dirty word, implying weakness and neediness, that we can’t handle our problems on our own. Using the word “help” has come to mean that you have given in to the obstacles plaguing your life and that you don’t have the strength to carry on by yourself. These implications are commonplace, and they are not only false, but harmful. I will openly admit that I absolutely hate asking for help. Ever since I was a kid, I hated bothering my parents with problems with school or peers and was vehemently opposed to asking my teachers for assistance on homework assignments. I always had good grades and big groups of unproblematic friends, so when I did struggle, I didn’t want to bother any of the adults in my life with seemingly tiny problems — I had never needed the help before, and didn’t want to start asking then. As I have aged, I have realized that asking for help is the most important thing someone can do for themselves. Whether it be for your physical, mental or academic health, getting words of advice or affirmation from an outside source can make all the difference. It may be hard or even embarrassing to ask for help, but when we get into the habit of understanding its benefits, help becomes the greatest word one can use in their vocabulary. The pandemic has shown many of us that asking for help is vital when we feel alone or when we feel like we need to talk to someone. In a study by the American Psychological Association, it was found that referrals received by psychologists doubled (from 37% to 62%) from 2020 to 2021, and that 68% of psychologists reported an increase in the number of individuals on their waitlists. Amid a time of such

uncertainty, the frequency of people requesting help for anxiety and depression has increased, as has the number of people taking advantage of mental health resources such as telehealth and in-person counseling. The pandemic has made people realize they can’t be alone with their thoughts, and that asking for help from professionals is the best way to get their problems off their chests and their minds on the road to wellness and balance. Still, though, requesting help carries a societal weight. The British Psychology Society found that two types of stigmas exist as it relates to seeking psychological help: public stigma and self stigma. A “public stigma” is external, a collection of stereotypes about mental health and therapy imposed by those around us. Public opinion holds a heavy weight on our perspective on seeking help, and when there is judgment from the public, we find ourselves avoiding counseling because of the negative markers being applied to us. A “self stigma” is internal, assigning ourselves labels based on our state of mental health, claiming we are worthless or “unacceptable” and undeserving of help. “Public” and “self” stigmas go hand in hand, and when we hear the stigmas being voiced by those around us, we tend to apply them to ourselves because of social influences, especially those concerning mental health. The stigmas that both society and ourselves have assigned to mental health and counseling are what have made “help” such a dirty word. Stigmas around mental health exist everywhere, from the television we consume, to the dialogues of the people we surround ourselves with. These stereotypes lack understanding about the subject of mental wellness, making those who have internal struggles or need help seem “inhuman” in the eyes of society. The way we speak to one another makes a difference in our perception of mental health as well.

For example, telling someone to “just get over” their struggle with mental illness does much more harm than good. Words like these make struggles seem small and easily surmountable, and to a person already lacking motivation, they can be more debilitating. The interactions we have with others and the media often influence how we look at ourselves. In the case of mental health — an area where sufferers already struggle with self-image — stereotypes and dismissive comments only make getting healthy harder. If we fail to break the stigma around the word “help,” we ignore the increasingly more pertinent necessity of getting ourselves assistance in times of need. Despite what society may tell us, it’s not weird or wrong to get help — it’s probably one of the most insightful and courageous things we can do for ourselves. Breaking the stigma means having real discussions about mental health, using empathetic language rather than judgemental tones and empowering those in our lives who struggle or have taken steps to get help. The most important thing, though, is to avoid self stigmas — we cannot apply society’s untrue labels to ourselves and we must remain confident that the decision to ask for help is something personal and meaningful to ourselves and our livelihoods. Each one of us should be able to openly admit that we need help, whether it be for problems we face with school or for internalized struggles with mental health. No one should be mocked or marginalized because they have sought out therapy, and no one should be bullied about making an initial request for a listening ear and helping hand in times of hardship. To be our better selves, we have to break the stigma around “help” and accept the fact that some obstacles are too tough to overcome on our own. Sometimes we need support, and that isn’t bad —it’s healthy, and monumentally brave.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Office Rush Hours

Design by Maddy Leja, Opinion Cartoonist

The Supreme Court has been compromised by politics — so why not elect justices? QUIN ZAPOLI

Senior Opinion Editor

few weeks ago, United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said that debate over increasing the number of U.S. Supreme Court seats might “compromise” or “chip away at the respect” of the institution by politicizing what should be an impartial body. Less than two weeks later, it was revealed that Thomas’s wife, Virginia, had urged thenWhite House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. In the past few years, the Supreme Court and its members have become shrouded in controversy, due not only to the judges themselves but the circumstances surrounding their appointment. Ironically, Thomas made his comments about protecting the court from politics at an event for the foundation of former Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. In 2016, Hatch took a leading role in blocking the confirmation of Merrick Garland, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat. Hatch and his Republican colleagues, who controlled the Senate at the time, argued that by keeping the seat empty, voters would have an opportunity to influence the court’s composition through the 2016 presidential election. Garland went on to be appointed attorney general last year by President Biden. The Senate confirmed him with a 70-30 vote, demonstrating that a significant number of Republicans

approve of his qualifications at least for that role. In 2017, President Donald Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch, a staunch conservative, to fill the seat Democrats intended for Garland. Gorsuch was approved by a 54-45 vote only after Republicans abolished the filibuster for Supreme Court confirmations. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who voted against Gorsuch, recently admitted that his decision to vote against the “eminently qualified” nominee furthered partisan animosity over judicial appointments. Years later, the swift — not to mention hypocritical — appointment and confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett made it clear that Republicans cared little about voter input. They were instead looking for an opportunity to keep conservative control of the Supreme Court. It was during the confirmation of Barrett that some prominent Democrats — including Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, N.Y., began publicly considering expanding the Supreme Court. While Barrett and Gorsuch are controversial because their seats are considered “stolen,” controversy around Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh is centered on the men themselves. In addition to his wife’s political activities, Thomas’s confirmation hearing is infamous because of Anita Hill, who accused Thomas of sexual harassment and was, in return, grilled by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. One of those members was Orrin Hatch, who suggested some of her charges were inspired by “The Exorcist.” More

recent allegations against Brett Kavanaugh from Christine Blasey Ford offer a clear parallel. On top of increasingly prevalent issues with their own Supreme Court appointees, Republicans have stepped up attacks on judges nominated by Democrats. Republican Senators aggressively questioned Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s sentencing record on those convicted of child sexual abuse — ignoring the reasons for Jackson’s rulings in order to bring about damaging headlines. Sen. Tom Cotton, Ark., went as far as suggesting that Jackson would have defended Nazis in court. In his comments in Utah, Thomas worried about the future of the Supreme Court. This isn’t about the future, though — the Supreme Court has been compromised by politics. Republicans have ignored serious character flaws in the cases of Thomas and Kavanaugh, selectively prevented confirmation hearings to capture Barrett and Gorsuch’s seats and stepped up character assassination toward Democratic appointees. Democrats’ not entirely unjustified anger towards four associate justices isn’t going anywhere. Neither is Republicans’ willingness to aggressively capture Court seats. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has said a Republicancontrolled Senate would not have considered Jackson. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., said it is “highly unlikely” a Republican Senate would consider a Biden Supreme Court nominee in 2024.

rights declarations and bills that have been applied to the context of motherhood. One I find particularly important, which stems from human rights arguments, is that “everyone is their own person from the moment of birth.” This means that both mother and baby should be treated with dignity and respect. On a related note, everyone has the right to equitable health care free from discrimination, a right that is ensured by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One hundred ninety-three countries have agreed to abide by these rights, including the United States. This means that everyone in the United States is guaranteed these human rights, and the rights derived from them. Prioritization of this particular right is especially important for Black mothers, as they experience medical racism that significantly harms their health, as well as the health of their babies. For women of Color, the risks this causes at each stage of childbirth, including labor, delivery and postpartum, are elevated. This right also means that women have the same protections under the law

while pregnant as they do when not. In other words, you cannot be discriminated against for the listed reasons, including for being pregnant. According to the Maternal Health Task Force at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, “(e)very woman has the right to information, informed consent and refusal and respect for her choices and preferences.” This applies to all reproductive health choices, including childbirth. Education on these rights could directly impact the health of both mothers and their children. Currently, the statistics surrounding childbirth are not encouraging. The United States’s maternal mortality rate is almost double that of other developed countries, such as Canada, with 17 in 100,000 American mothers dying from childbirth — a distressingly high number. The infant mortality rate is worse, with over 500 in 100,000 infants dying, and this rate is even higher among Southern states.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

A rejuvenated discourse on reproductive freedom

AMY EDMUNDS Opinion Columnist

he term “reproductive rights” has sparked arguably one of the biggest political controversies of the last few years. Yes, I’m talking about the a-word: abortion. There are plenty of articles and opinions going around about this specific right — whether it is one, whether it isn’t — but there’s not nearly enough discussion of the other reproductive rights you are entitled to. Those able to bear children are entitled to certain reproductive rights and, like any other kind of right, they should know them and exercise them. While I will mostly direct my language towards “women,” as these rights are socially associated with “women’s” rights, note that these rights extend toward anyone who might be or is carrying a child, regardless of their gender identity. I encourage you to take a look at the full list of rights, which can be found here. Many of these reproductive rights are variations of human

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

SportsMonday: An imperfect, bittersweet goodbye

Wednesday, April 20, 2022 — 11

SportsMonday: All I ever wanted

Courtesy of Kent Schwartz KENT SCHWARTZ

Daily Sports Writer

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily LANE KIZZIAH

Daily Sports Writer

Today, I went to my last meeting at The Michigan Daily, which has me thinking a lot about my first. It was the fall of freshman year, and I went to The Daily’s mass meeting planning to join the news section or maybe arts. Growing up, I wasn’t exactly a sports fanatic. I went to high school in downtown Chicago where we didn’t have a football team. I’d never been to a professional basketball game, and I really only went to Cubs games for the hotdogs. But the sports section lured me in. There were probably 20 guys sitting around a desk that was covered in a seemingly random assortment of crap — tons of discarded sheets of paper, a toy Transformer, an empty fishbowl. The bulletin boards were covered with old press passes, notes and edited stories that had accumulated over the years. They said they were the most fun section, and that was all I needed to hear. When I signed up, I thought The Daily would be a fun little extracurricular. I had no way of anticipating all of the different things it would mean to me over the course of four years. But at times, I didn’t think I would spend four years on the section. I didn’t love Michigan when I first got here and even contemplated transferring. It was the sports section that made me fall in love with this school. There’s something about The Daily —not just the work of it, but the people, the culture, the physical space —

that makes you feel like you have a purpose. At times, it’s been my biggest source of pride. It’s been the home base I raced to after my last class, a place I refused to leave until 2 am when games of euchre had run their course and 50-cent Cokes had lost their appeal. At other times, it’s been the source of hair-tugging, fist-balling, snot-nosing frustration. But even those times don’t seem so bad now that I’m saying goodbye. As a Sports Writer, beat member and, finally, Managing Sports Editor, The Daily has taken up different amounts of my time and consciousness, each of which has made me into the person I am today in different ways. I have loved and cherished each one of these roles, but none have made as big of a difference in my life as the weeks following that first meeting. The weeks that made me stay at Michigan. I’ve tried to pinpoint what it was that originally drew me into the Daily, but there was no single factor. It’s a blur of 2 am sledding trips, walks to softball games, jumps in the river, a sense of confidence and a passion for something I knew I was good at. And every softball game I covered and every latenight Denny’s run I went on made me feel like I was part of something bigger, something important. My co-MSE, Kent, has had to remind me that we’re never going to be satisfied with what we say in these final columns. There’s no word that encompasses the feeling of complete commitment, complete acceptance, complete love that I’ve found here. Any attempt I make at summarizing this experience will be, at best, an inaccurate

approximation. At worst, it’ll be really fucking cheesy. But anyone who’s ever been on the sports section will know the feeling I’m talking about. It’s in all of that seemingly random crap covering the sports desk. It’s in NYPD runs and chair monkey games and road trip stories that aren’t funny to anyone outside of the section because they just wouldn’t get it. And, as anyone who’s graduated could probably tell you, it’s really hard to give that feeling up. Last fall, I was interviewing Daily sports alumni, and I asked what it was like to go back to the newsroom after you graduate: “Some of my best memories in college were made because of The Michigan Daily and you step into it and you kind of get echoes of those memories,” someone told me. “You look over to the design desk or the statement desk and you see the people who you cared about and you loved when you were there yourself, but then you blink and you realize that the person who’s sitting there isn’t the person your mind imagined was sitting there — it’s someone completely different, making their own memories. It’s bittersweet.” Today, at my last meeting, I finally understood what he was talking about. I looked around at all of the new people that had joined the section since my tenure ended in December, talking about all of the inside jokes and funny stories that had happened this semester. And it was bittersweet. It isn’t my section anymore. It’ll keep growing and changing and evolving long after I’m gone. But it’ll always be there for the next freshman who walks in and decides to make it their own.

There was a moment, just over two years ago, that I think will be burned into my memory forever. With COVID-19 shutting down the University and the world, the newsroom played host to an emergency last night of production. A fear of the unknown hung over the room, nervous and sad energy filled everyone. The night marched on, and one by one people left the newsroom — but not the sports section. I remember standing on the tile floor next to the conference room and looking back at the sports desk. I remember seeing Lane laugh as she talked with Lily. I remember Jared, Nick, Spencer and Brandon all doing stupid things. I remember Ethan standing next to me, on the verge of crying for probably the eighth time that night. I remember saying something to him along the lines of, “This won’t go away. This’ll be back. We’ll be back.” Ethan never made it back for a night of production in the newsroom. *** The Michigan Daily was never about journalism for me. It wasn’t the culmination of a life-long passion for Michigan sports or a step on the way to my dream of becoming a journalist. It wasn’t supposed to make me a talented sports reporter. Instead, I joined because my freshman seminar teacher had us read a men’s soccer article from The Daily in class. Lost and scared in Ann Arbor, I struggled to find friends or a place of belonging. Then we read that article in class and I thought to myself, “I like sports and I like writing, hopefully they take just anyone.” Thankfully, they did. That’s why I joined. Why I stayed is because of Mike and Laney and so many other people who made it the place to be. Talking about sports, telling stories, playing touch football and euchre, laughing and forgetting about the problems that swirled around us, they made this big university small. The place and the people are what The Daily is to me. The place and the people are everything to

The Daily. The newsroom is where I met my roommates and some of my best friends. It’s where I went when I was happy and where I went when I was sad. When I was failing classes and the possibility of a future seemed ludicrous, the newsroom remained a steadying force. Its soft roof, the posters, the items hiding in the corner, a ketchup packet on the light, a broken Transformers toy, a woven basket, ping pong paddles, random playing cards strewn across the desk, an Indiana mini bat, a maize t-shirt from a State News game past, napkins and forks, Steve Pikiell’s head, pens and so many more items litter the background of my favorite memories. The newsroom had, over the course of 18-odd months, become the constant in my life. Become the source of my life. Then, on that depressing March night, it was taken away. Over the next two years, I changed a lot. The Daily changed a lot. The sports section changed a lot, despite our best efforts. Zoom bonding and Pictionary became standard-issue ways to stay connected, but we all know it wasn’t the same. The words I told Ethan on the last night of production came back to haunt me, eating away at my every waking moment. The sports section wasn’t even close to what it had been before. We were barely surviving. *** I can’t properly convey to you what this place and community mean to me. Emotions are not my strong suit — anyone who’s had more than a three second interaction with me will tell you that — but The Daily is the epicenter of my college experience. It’s the only reason I’ve cried in college, all three times. It made me angry, frustrated, ashamed, disappointed and just plain sad more times than I could count. It showed me how to grow up and how to deal with problems. It did what this esteemed University often failed to do and taught me. It gave me my happiest moments. It’s a place I’m forever indebted to. This past fall, when we finally returned to the newsroom and I walked up the stairs to this fantastic place and took in the empty

shell of the sports desk, a broad smile stretched across my face. When the sophomores and other writers I hadn’t seen in person for months walked into the newsroom, I couldn’t have been happier. I was home and hopefully they would be too. Months passed, and still things weren’t the same as before. They wouldn’t be while I was one of their editors. But things were better. The sports section wasn’t, as I feared, dying. The reasons I joined, the reasons I wanted to invest so much time and effort into this section started popping up and working their way out from the shadows. Four months after my tenure ended, I walked into the newsroom to put my penultimate article through edits. I didn’t know the names of half the faces clustered around the sports desk; they were a bunch of freshmen and sophomores who joined in the winter, after my editor tenure ended. As I went through edits, I listened to snippets of conversation and watched people buzz around to share stories and laugh. I bugged some people about a feature for women’s gymnastics and enjoyed some hijinks. I’d never felt more at peace. A book had replaced the ketchup packet, the transformer was hidden somewhere and the desk was still too clean. But everything I’d wanted for two years was there on that night. The memories I’d formed as a freshman and sophomore rushed back. The fear and doubt and worry that lived in my mind disappeared in an instant. On our final night of production this year, I’m going to stand in the same spot I did two years ago. I’m going to look back and see a freshman on sports do something stupid and have their friends — who are also on sports — laugh at them. I’m going to see people try to give edits as chaos unfolds around them. I’m going to watch, in real time, as someone forms the same bond with this place that I have. I’m going to see something I will never see again, and it will be a long time before I feel that happy.

Big moments lift Michigan to 2-1 weekend against Maryland JOEY GOODSIR

Daily Sports Writer

As fifth-year third baseman Taylor Bump stepped into the batter’s box on Friday, it was clear a breakthrough was necessary. In extra innings, bleeding only one run would result in another conference loss. So the No. 22 Michigan softball team could not afford to strand runners in scoring posi-

tion. For the Wolverines (26-13 overall, 6-6 Big Ten), Bump’s sacrifice reach sparked a series-defining offensive shift that pushed them to 2-1 on their roadtrip against Maryland (22-18, 8-4). While it’s easier to picture a breakthrough coming in the form of a powerful swing, Bump seized on her alternative strengths. She laid down a bunt a few feet in front of home plate, allowing graduate

second baseman Melina Livingston to slide into home — ultimately the game-deciding run in a 5-3 win. “As a big power hitter, people don’t necessarily expect a lot of bunts to come off my bat, but I love bunting,” Bump said. “I think it’s something that is often put on the backburner a little bit … but I live for those moments. The opportunity to have a suicide squeeze moment — that’s huge.” As the imperfect record suggests,

Michigan didn’t go without paying the price beforehand. The Wolverines suffered a 5-1 loss to the Terrapins on Thursday after stranding 10 runners. “Sometimes players end up trying to get hits as opposed to just tough through an at-bat and make solid contact,” Michigan associate head coach Bonnie Tholl said. “I think that was the mental adjustment that we made (Friday), where we were able to rally through some

of those tough at-bats with two outs.” After Friday’s game-winning bunt it was an entirely different story, and this was reflected as much in the circle as at the plate. Maryland’s scoring that earned its sole win came from a two-run homer in the first inning and a rally in the fifth that ended senior righthander Alex Storako’s weekend. On Friday, fifth-year left-hander Meghan Beaubien weathered the

storm. Beaubien entered the sixth inning with the bases loaded and gave up only one hit. While the Terrapins tied the game, she held Maryland scoreless the rest of the way. Then, Beaubien’s pitching on Saturday proved much less stressful.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Michigan pitching lives up to potential in sweep of Michigan State JOSEPH ZAIN RODGER

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan baseball team has found the zone. In an up and down year, three straight games of consistent pitching have been a difficult feat. The pitchers showed flashes of potential all year. But against Michigan State, they finally put it all together. The Wolverines (20-15 overall,

6-3 Big Ten) dominated on Saturday and Sunday, winning 8-2 and 6-3 respectively, to complete a threegame weekend sweep of the Spartans (13-19, 2-7). The pitching staff showed its top form in what could be a turning point for the remainder of the season. “I think it’s just the thing our staff needed,” sophomore righthander Chase Allen said. “ … We got a bunch of great dudes with great work and work ethic and a great

pitching coach leading us … so I just think it was a matter of time and now we’re finally seeing it.” But for the pitchers to feast, first the offense had to establish itself. Going into Saturday, the Michigan bats remained hot from their 18-run slugfest on Friday. With two outs and two men on in the first inning, junior designated hitter Tito Flores sparked the hot start with a two-RBI double over the second baseman’s head. Min-

utes later, senior first baseman Jack Van Remortel mashed a two-run double of his own to establish a 5-0 lead before Michigan State even reached the plate. After the hot start, junior righthander Cam Weston didn’t give the Spartans any breathing room. Containing their hitters in a 1-2-3 inning, Weston made quick work in one of the Wolverines’ most complete innings of the year. Weston’s dominance continued

through seven innings, as he tied his season-high with nine strikeouts and allowed just two runs. In relief, junior left-hander Jacob Denner cruised through the final batters, sealing the 8-2 victory. On Sunday, Allen notched the third dominant start of the weekend, throwing five scoreless innings and allowing just two hits. As a unit, Michigan’s starters had one of their best weekends of the season. Sophomore left-hander

Connor O’Halloran, Weston and Allen combined for 21 strikeouts and conceded just four runs in 18 innings. “We’ve taken the punches, we’ve been knocked down and we’ve just played in so many different kinds of games,” Michigan coach Erik Bakich said.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

FELL SHORT

SPORTSWEDNESDAY

Not enough: Michigan’s season ends at NCAA National Semifinal

TAYLOR DANIELS

a 9.9125, which was followed by junior Sierra Brooks’ 9.900 and junior Gabby Wilson’s 9.9125. The 49.425 team score on floor exercise — the third best floor score at NCAA Nationals in team history — gave the Wolverines momentum heading into the second rotation, but Michigan led the pack by only a slim 0.0125, with Auburn, Florida and Missouri trailing behind. The Wolverines followed that up with a solid performance in its first-ranked vault, including three 9.8875s from sophomore Reyna Guggino, Wojcik, and Wilson. Brooks was the highest scorer for the Wolverines in the event with a 9.900, and Michigan was cheering louder than they had all season with every landing.

Daily Sports Writer we knew we had “And after that, a lot of to —make up, and ORTground WORTH, Texas The No. 3 Michigan women’s it wasgymnastics improbable team entered that we were the NCAA National Semifinal as the going be able Raleigh Regional to Champion and a to do it.”

favorite to advance to the final. There were high expectations for the Wolverines, who have rightfully earned high praise all season. They won the Big Ten Championship and the Regional Championship, building momentum and setting themselves up for success Thursday night. But those past successes could not guarantee a return trip to the National Final. A strong start faded into the Wolverines’ (26-5 overall) lowest score of the season at 196.2875 and a last-place finish. No. 2 Florida (29-0-1) won the meet, 197.9750-197.8375-197.200, with No. 7 Auburn (22-8-1) also advancing to the final with a second-place finish. Meanwhile, No. 11 Missouri’s (14-7) season also came to a close with a third place finish. “We picked a bad day to have a bad day,” Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. Despite the end result, Michigan started off strong with a solid performance on its top-ranked floor exercise. Senior Abby Brenner kicked off the rotation with an electrifying 9.8625-point performance, and it seemed like Michigan was off to another historic night out of the gate. Senior Abby Heiskell followed Brenner’s routine with a 9.900, complete with stuck landings and beautiful flips throughout her 90 seconds. Heiskell ended by pointing at the sky, and then leaped into her traditional double fist-pumps while running back to her teammates. That success continued as senior Natalie Wojcik stuck the landing on her first tumbling pass, a key ingredient to some of her top scores on the event this season. Wojcik’s stellar routine earned her

That looked like a momentary lapse at first, and sophomore Naomi Morrison’s 9.8875 seemed to get the Wolverines back in that zone. The volume increased from the players’ corral and the Michigan faithful as Brooks’ 9.950 and Wojcik’s 9.925 brought the total of 9.9-plus scores for the Wolverines to three. But still, it turned out to be not enough. In the anchor position, freshman Jacey Vore over-rotated on her last handstand, was forced to dismount too close to the tall bar and fell to the mat. The resulting 8.975 forced Michigan to count Brenner’s 9.000, dropping Michigan 0.6375 behind secondplace Florida. “(The counted fall on bars) gave up probably 0.9000,” Plocki said. “And after that, we knew we had a lot of ground to make up, and it was improbable that we were going to be able to do it.”

“And after that, we knew we had a lot of ground to make up, and it was improbable that we were going to be able to do it.” Despite the best efforts of the But even with those high scores, the overall 49.4250 on the event was not good Wolverines, the margin was too much enough to keep Michigan in first place headed into the final rotation. On beam, the nerves settled in, and Michigan headed into the third rotation. better on the floor exercise from Suni suffered two more falls, though those Schachinger/Daily | Design by Sophie Grand were less consequential. Lee and Derrian Gobourne to overtakeJulia Facing those steep odds — and in Michigan for first place. Halfway through the competition, all four teams were the final routines of their collegiate within 0.500 of each other, indicating that careers — Heiskell and Wojcik shined. Heiskell’s 9.900 was her second highest it would be a tight finish no matter what. In order to stay competitive headed into of the season, and Wojcik’s beautiful the final rotation on the balance beam — 9.8625 elicited resounding cheers and its worst event — Michigan had to hit three applause from even the most vocal opponent fans. 9.9s or better on the uneven bars. “I’m incredibly proud of the culture Heiskell nailed her leadoff routine with excellent pivots and handstands that we have in our program,” Plocki throughout. Her stuck landing earned said. “After 33 years, last year and this her a 9.9125, giving the Wolverines a solid year they have been some of the most start on the event. It seemed like Michigan amazing athletes I’ve ever coached, not just athletically but personally.” could get the job done. Following up a historic National But then, Brenner fell in the second slot of the rotation, earning a mere 9.000. That Championship last season, Michigan put pressure on the next competitors to held the No. 1 ranking for eight weeks. earn scores that would keep Michigan in They were consistent all year long and a competitive position to advance to the only had one meet — bar on Thursday night — scoring below 197.000. National Final. Even when the outcome looked grim, “I had hoped that (our) consistency would be a benefit to us today,” Plocki said. the Wolverines stood tall. But in the “But sometimes all it takes is one little end, their efforts weren’t enough to thing to derail you from that sort of zone, repeat last season’s historic success. and sometimes it’s just not your day.”

Julia Schachinger/Daily | Design by Sophie Grand