2023-04-19

The Michigan Daily sat down with Martino Harmon, vice president for Student Life, to discuss student activism following international crises, how to find community at the University of Michigan with increasing enrollment numbers, the ongoing Graduate Employees’ Organization strike, sustainability initiatives and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 2.0.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Campus activism and experiences

The Michigan Daily: How has Student Life responded to international crises, such as the war in Ukraine and the earthquake in Turkey, that are important to the U-M campus community this semester?

Martino Harmon: So many tragedies happen in the world and in our country, so it’s good when the University community — students, faculty and staff who are concerned about these issues and how they impact members of our community — can come together. Specifically within Student Life, the Dean of Students Office serves as the point unit for support. They regularly run a list of students who may be from an affected area, and then they conduct specific outreach to those students. Outreach usually comes in the form of sensitivity toward what happened and how that event may have affected students, and then pointing them towards support that could be in the form of Counseling and Psychological Services, Wolverine Wellness or other more specific services.

TMD: With the Graduate Employees’ Organization currently on strike, how do you balance your

commitment to the student body with your responsibilities to U-M administration during times of tension as the VP of student life?

MH: For myself and all members of the administration, our primary concern is for the success of all of our students. We want students to have a positive experience, even through this difficult and challenging time.

It’s difficult because the GEO strike is a labor negotiation that involves students, but it’s important for us to make sure that we can continue operations as much as possible, although this is very disruptive. We want to make sure our undergraduate students receive the services through Student Life and that Academic Affairs is focused on continuing the classroom experience and the academic experience. Our position is that the best way to resolve this issue is at the bargaining table — that’s where the issues have to be resolved. Student Life’s role is not to be at the bargaining table, but our role is to support all of our students.

TMD: As the University continues to accept more freshmen and build more housing to accommodate students, how does Student Life plan to make all students feel involved in a large and growing community?

MH: The really beautiful part about the University of Michigan is we are a large and comprehensive institution and students have a lot of different opportunities to make connections and to get involved — there are really no limits to what students can experience. But we also work very diligently to make the community feel smaller, to help students make those connections during the welcome period. It’s really several weeks of different activities like Festifall, the UMix events in the Michigan Union or events that may be held by student organizations that we host through our Center for Campus Involvement that make a difference. In reference to housing, we actually are planning

to build more housing, not just because of the growth of the firstyear class of students, but to have more beds for students who want to continue to live with us beyond their first year. Research shows that living on campus, whether it’s your first year or even your second year, is very beneficial to students making connections, to overall student development and just to student support in general.

Student health and safety

TMD: How is Student Life accommodating students who feel unsafe on campus and how do you believe the University can prioritize the health and safety of these students following the tragic shooting at Michigan State University?

MH: The shooting at MSU

is really such a tragic situation that really touched many people in the community on a personal level. We’ve had too many of these incidents of mass shootings across the country, but this one was really close to home. In Student Life, our first reaction was to find ways to communicate to students that we were certainly there for them in terms of support — whether it be through CAPS, Wolverine Wellness or all of our departments — in formal ways, but also in informal ways. Also, we launched a series of communications that went to students, and also communications to parents and family members, to let them know that support is available. We included links to the Division of Public Safety and Security and some of the measures that they were taking

to keep the campus safe because people need to feel supportive, but they also need to feel safe. We also launched a teletherapy program, which we piloted in the fall — it’s called Uwill. This program provides counseling services through virtual services from counselors across the country, which provides an option for students in addition to CAPS counseling and Wolverine Wellness.

Sustainability and DEI

TMD: In light of the University recently meeting two of its 2025 sustainability goals, how is the University planning to adapt their goals to keep pushing forward?

MH: Moving forward, the new dorm on Elbel field will have a dining center that uses GeoExchange heating and cooling, and also all electric cooking equipment. Within

the building, we’re planning for a lot of solar installations as well. Student Life has taken a more formal role in supporting Student Sustainability Coalition, through providing staff support and also budgetary support. I’ve been able to go to a few of their events — I went to the Farm Stand and also Harvest Fest, and also their leadership summit. Supporting that organization is really critical because it’s tied to our mission of directly supporting students. We also work closely with Graham Sustainability Institute as well as the Office of Campus Sustainability. We’re not just sort of off on our own; we’re partnering with other units within the University to reach our sustainability goals.

End the Cycle, a student organization at the University of Michigan working toward improving equity in Michigan schools, raised over $5,000 during the winter semester to completely pay off student lunch debt at Carpenter and Allen Elementary Schools in Ann Arbor.

End the Cycle was founded at the University in 2020 to address inequality in Ann Arbor schools, with the city being one of the most economically segregated in the nation. The organization provides virtual supplemental tutoring services to elementary students and organizes various committee projects.

LSA senior Rija Awan is the co-founder and current president of End the Cycle. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Awan said the organization was originally founded to address the impact of homelessness on students, though they have since expanded to helping underserved students from a greater variety of backgrounds.

“The original goal was to bridge the gap in educational disparity for students facing homelessness in Ann Arbor,” Awan said. “We’ve expanded to online tutoring for underserved students and

then these committee projects … It’s a very community-engaged organization.”

End The Cycle has a committee centered around food insecurity, which is chaired by LSA sophomore Elizabeth White and led by LSA junior Zubaida Azeeza. In an interview with The Daily, Azeeza said they saw providing funds for school lunches as a step toward achieving educational equity within the district.

“We saw a TikTok, actually, about other schools paying off lunch debts and we thought that would be a great idea,” Azeeza said. “We know that food insecurity goes hand-in-hand with educational instability, and by making sure that a student has food, they’re less likely to drop out.”

Azeeza said she believes lunch debt can not only affect the students who cannot afford lunch, but can also lower the quality of educational resources at these schools if the school district has to cut into its budget to cover the accumulated debt.

“Students who aren’t part of the free and reduced lunch program can accumulate debt and the debt still has to be paid,” Azeeza said. “The school has to address it in some way, and that can cut into educational resources.

On an intricately-patterned mat in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan lay dozens of instruments: Tibetan singing bowls, gongs and chimes, as well as hammers of all shapes and sizes. As eight U-M students laid down in Shavasana — a resting yoga pose — practitioners Julie Kouyate and Roberta Maxwell from Sacred Sound Journey aimed to send the entire room into another world.

The experience was a sound bath — a meditative experience where participants are surrounded, or ‘bathed’ in, sound waves. The event was a part of a healing circle experience hosted by Roe v. Rape Friday evening for sexual assault survivors on campus. Aside from the sound bath, women’s rights activist Jan BenDor and Washtenaw County Treasurer Catherine McClary were invited to talk about the history of Michigan state legislature concerning sexual violence.

Andrew Panter, co-president of Roe v. Rape, said the organization decided to host the healing circle in addition to their usual forms of activism, such as rallies, to help survivors on campus in a more personal way.

“It really fits into our mission of helping support survivors on campus,” Panter said. “This is one of the most direct ways we can do it. Typically we do activism and advocacy, but this is a way to be more inward.”

In the 1970s, BenDor and McClary founded the Women’s Crisis Center in Ann Arbor, a nonprofit counseling service that used to provide telephone support to women who were experiencing sexual violence. Though the center closed in 1990, it was one of the first groups to collect data and conduct research about sexual violence in the country.

“We set up a hotline and we started responding to calls,” BenDor said. “At the same time we went all over the (University of Michigan) campus and tacked up a survey to find out who had been a victim and asked them because we were doing research (and) at that time there was no data.”

Today, there are 1,580 crisis centers around the country for sexual assault victims. According to the National Institute of Justice, the rape reporting increased from 1992 to 2000 and more survivors, rather than third parties, are doing the reporting now.

Through hearing from survivors and pioneering research in this field, BenDor and McClary aimed to change the narrative that rape is just about sex. They said they sought to show the public that rape is a matter of power and control.

“Everybody blamed the woman and everybody assumed that rape and sexual assault was just a matter of sex,” BenDor said. “It wasn’t until

we started working on (the research), that we finally got across the point that sexual assault is about power and is about control. And it has next to nothing to do with anything you want to refer to as sex or sexual needs.”

BenDor and McClary said they also brought law students from around the state together with Michgian state legislators to draft major legal reform that expanded the definition of a sexual assault victim. It was signed into law by then-Michigan governor William Milliken in August 1974.

“We made a major structural change in the whole area of law; it wasn’t just rape in the traditional sense,” BenDor said. “We just covered every form of sexual assault in this law. We also covered every possible victim, male or female. Amazingly, it passed in four months from the time we introduced it.”

Andrew Yang, a Public Health graduate student, said he believes that BenDor and McClary’s efforts are

significant because it can be difficult for sexual violence survivors to heal from their trauma. He also said he believes sexual violence is a problem that needs to addressed on a legal level.

“(Sexual violence) is an external thing that affected them, so it has to be treated externally too,” Yang said. Kouyate said survivors of trauma often suffer from feeling like they are not in control and may experience feelings of insecurity.

“A lot of times when we have a traumatic experience what happens is, we don’t feel safe in our bodies and we feel like we’re guarding our experiences,” Kouyate said. “So, you don’t even feel like you have control over it. You’ll find the dangers: anything that smells similar to something that was unsafe, any colors that are associated with something that was unsafe.”

Korean Governor Kim Dong Yeon speaks on democracy

UMich hosts Korean Governor Kim Dong Yeon to present annual Sang-Yong Nam lecture on democracy

Kim Dong Yeon, the governor of the Gyeonggi province — the largest province in South Korea — presented the 11th annual Sang-Yong Nam lecture on democracy at the University of Michigan Museum of Art Monday afternoon. About 100 students and Ann Arbor community members attended the event, which was hosted by the Nam Center for Korean Studies along with the Ford School of Public Policy.

Kim earned his doctorate from the School of Public Policy in 1993 and has served as a Korean government official since 2014. After serving as the Minister of Economy and Finance and the Deputy Prime Minister of the country, Kim took office as governor on July 1, 2022.

The event is also where the SangYong Nam Award is presented, which annually grants $3,000 to a graduating senior or a recent graduate of the Korean Studies program. Nam Sang-Yong, the namesake of the Center for Korean Studies, was the department’s largest benefactor, having donated more than $4 million to the program.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily at the lecture, LSA junior Jinny Kim said it was a special event because it commemorated Nam and his contributions to the department.

“I think this event is really big because it’s the one time that the Nam family comes out to celebrate (since) their father’s passing and also just what he has done for our center,” Jinny Kim said.

LSA senior Olivia Daniel was

announced as this year’s recipient of the Sang-Yong Nam Award. LSA

Dean Anne Curzan presented the award.

“The Nam Center shares Elder Nam’s commitment to create important connections across campus and around the world,” Curzan said.

In her acceptance speech, Daniel spoke about how the center facilitated her interest in Korean studies and culture.

“I immersed myself in Korean culture through Nam Center events, studied abroad at Yonsei University and presented at academic conferences devoted entirely to Korean studies,” Daniel said. “I am so grateful that I have been

able to contribute to this vibrant community.”

Following the award presentation, Kim Dong Yeon began his lecture, with some parts given in Korean and other parts in English. Korean literature professor Ryu Youngju served as a translator for the Korean portions of Kim’s lecture. Kim began the lecture by discussing his experiences as a Korean student studying in the United States at the University of Michigan. He said he hoped to provide other students from all socioeconomic backgrounds in his country with the same opportunity. Kim recalled visiting a group of middle school students who felt as though financial limitations

prevented them from studying overseas.

“I asked myself, ‘Okay, I’ve given them hope, but would they be able to realize their hope if they have a dream?’ ” Kim said. “The so-called spoon metaphor — being born with a silver, golden spoon in your mouth — is increasingly characterizing Korean society.” Kim spoke about the “After You” Program, which he created during his tenure as the president of Ajou University in the Gyeonggi province. He said the program was intended to provide funding for students who want to study abroad, but might not be able to afford to do so.

Ann Arbor businesses implement returnable take out program

Ann Arbor business owners discuss participating in zero-waste takeout program for two years

Samuel McMullen told The Michigan Daily he believes the reusable container program has mostly been successful in reducing waste and promoting sustainability.

For the past two years, the Ann Arbor-based nonprofit Live Zero Waste has been on a mission to promote sustainability through its returnable container program for zero-waste takeout. The program allows customers to order carry-out from participating restaurants in reusable containers instead of disposable packaging.

After use, customers can return the containers to participating businesses where the containers are then cleaned and reused.

Founded in 2015 by brothersister duo and U-M alums Samuel and Lydia McMullen, Live Zero Waste provides information and resources to those interested in adopting a zero-waste lifestyle.

After Ann Arbor’s Office of Sustainability and Innovations developed a plan for a pilot program, Live Zero Waste started running the reusable container program in February 2021. The returnable containers program also contributes to Ann Arbor’s A2ZERO plan to reach communitywide carbon neutrality by 2030.

“I think this is a really exciting project,” McMullen said. “I think for a lot of people … this will be the beginning of a conversation and the start of a road to larger discussions (about sustainability).”

A recent study conducted by U-M researchers found that if even a small percentage of customers make extra car trips to return their reusable containers, the program could contribute more greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere than single-use containers. Because Ann Arbor is a walkable city, with 15% of employees walking to work on a daily basis, Samuel McMullen said he still believes the program may function well without creating additional emissions.

“(We have) a handful of restaurants that are super committed, and a handful of customers that are super committed to doing (the returnable containers program), which is great,” McMullen said. “It’s a really good start and … it’s proof of concept for certain things.”

Businesses currently participating in the program include Zingerman’s Deli, Ginger Deli, El Harissa and Cinnaholic. Samuel McMullen said the returnable container program offers consumers a tangible way to reduce their carbon footprint.

“One of the places we see a lot of waste come up is in food packaging, and typically takeout packaging,” McMullen said. “The program started at a handful of restaurants and continues to operate at a handful of restaurants with no fee for the service to the restaurants (and) no fee to the consumers.”

Live Zero Waste recently partnered with the Environmental Consulting Organization at the University of Michigan, which has been helping with marketing and outreach efforts. LSA sophomore Gavin Lichtenberg, a project manager at ECO-UM, told The Daily he was excited to work with Live Zero Waste because it aligns with his organization’s mission.

“Generally, we work with sustainably-oriented organizations whose pillars surround sustainability and we work to improve their operations,” Lichtenberg said. “In that same

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vein, we work with different organizations who are looking to transition into more sustainable practices.”

Yusef Houamed, manager and co-founder of El Harissa, told The Daily he was excited to participate in the program, especially as the restaurant continues to bounce back from primarily serving takeout during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During the pandemic, we, — and most other restaurants — had to double down on our most wasteful practices,” Houamed said. “We pivoted to exclusively takeout until just recently, and so the amount of containers and single-use plastics we were using skyrocketed … So it was just kind of serendipitous that (Live Zero Waste) reached out to us; I jumped at the opportunity. Now, for the past two years, we’ve been working on making this a real thing, a citywide thing.”

Evelyn Patrell-Fazio, head of business management and sustainable development at Ginger Deli, told The Daily she believes Ann Arbor is an ideal site to pilot the program.

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Former Minister of Economy and Finance and former Deputy Prime Minister Dong-yeon Kim talks about his life and public service in an event called “Merry Revolt: A Proposal for Twenty-First Century Korea” at the Umma Monday night.

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Democratic

For the first time since 1984, the state of Michigan’s House, Senate and governorship are all controlled by Democrats following the 2022 midterm elections. In January 2023, lawmakers laid out their

Repealing Michigan’s rightto-work law

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a repeal to of Michigan’s right-to-work law on March 24, reversing a bill that had previously allowed unionized employees to opt out of paying union fees and dues. House Bill 4005 was introduced to the legislature by state Rep. Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, and Senate Bills 5 and 34 were introduced by state Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, on Jan. 12. These bills repealed various aspects of the right-to-work legislation, originally passed by a Republican-controlled legislature and signed in 2012 by former Gov. Rick Snyder.

The 2012 bill, known as the “Freedom to Work” law, amended the Labor Mediation Act, which controls the private sector, and the Public Employment Relations Act, which applies to the public sector to end required union fees and dues.

The 2012 bill also prohibited agreements between labor unions and employers that require all employees to provide a certain degree of aid to the union as a prerequisite for employment.

When Whitmer’s signed of the repeal, Michigan became the first state in 58 years to repeal a right-to-work law — the last time being in 1965 when Indiana reversed its right-towork law, which remained in place until it was reinstated by a Republican-controlled state government in 2012.

Some proposed right-towork laws have received backlash in other states for its potential to lower wages for union workers. In 2017, a Republican-majority legislature in Missouri attempted to pass a rightto-work law, prompting labor unions in the state to gather signatures for a public referendum on the proposal in which Missouri voters struck down the law before it could go into effect.

In contrast with the disapproval for right-towork in Missouri, a recent poll conducted in Michigan by Target Point Consulting indicated popular support for a right-to-work law in the state. Among the participants of the poll, 58% of voters are in favor while only 29% oppose it. Within the population of people who voted for Whitmer in 2022, 46% are in favor of the right-to-work law and 40% percent oppose it.

The decision to repeal Michigan’s right-to-work law will only affect private-sector employees. The 2018 Supreme Court case Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees asserted that no public sector employee could be forced to pay union dues to support nonpolitical union activities like collective bargaining.

Michigan Republicans have argued the repeal will be a major blow to the state’s ability to attract business investment, saying companies will be disincentivized to bring their business to a state where their employees could lose their jobs for not paying union fees.

On the other hand, advocates for the repeal note that laborers in states with rightto-work laws often earn lower wages on average, regardless of union status. Advocates also argue there tend to be lowerquality health and retirement benefits in states with right-towork laws in place.

plans and priorities for this Democratic trifecta, including protecting civil and reproductive rights, lowering costs for Michigan families, protecting the environment and building out the state’s infrastructure. One hundred days in, The Michigan Daily’s Government beat is highlighting major policy proposals and changes that have been spearheaded by Democratic lawmakers in the state so far.

Repealing the read-or-flunk provision of Michigan’s Read by Grade Three requirement Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a law repealing the “read-or-flunk” provision of Michigan’s Read by Grade Three law March 24, which sets statewide reading comprehension standards for public school students. The “read-or-flunk” provision of the legislation had required students to repeat third grade if they did not meet established reading benchmarks by the end of the year. The bill repealing this aspect of the law, Senate Bill 12,

was introduced by state Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, on Jan. 12. Enacted by former Gov. Rick Snyder, the “read-or-flunk” requirement remains controversial. While supporters argue the provision was an important tool, especially in the wake of learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic, opponents point to negative mental health effects and racial bias as fundamental flaws in the program. A 2022 report from the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative documented these racial disparities in retention rates, finding that Black students were

held back at 2.4 times the rate of white students in the 2021-22 school year.

In a press release following the repeal, Polehanki said she believes this change will allow for more flexibility in educational decision-making.

“Parents and schools should be trusted to make decisions about grade retention—the state shouldn’t massflunk third graders without parent input based on one test,” Polehanki said. “It’s a great day for educational freedom for Michigan’s parents and students.”

In the same press release, state Rep.

Nate Shannon, D-Sterling Heights, said he hopes the funds previously used to enforce the “read-or-flunk” provision will be reallocated to more equitable and effective educational practices.

“Rather than being reactive, let’s be proactive in our approach to kids and literacy,” Shannon said. “We could use the resources that are spent on retaining students and put that towards more literacy coaches, reading intervention specialists and provide afterschool and summer school programs to address the issue.”

Introducing safe storage, background check and red flag laws into the Michigan legislature

In the wake of the February mass shooting at Michigan State University, which left three students dead and five others injured, and an ongoing gun violence crisis across the country, the state legislature has begun the process of tightening the state’s firearms laws. The state Senate passed three bills on March 16 that addressed gun safety by implementing safe-storage laws, red-flag laws and universal background checks in the state. The safe storage and background check bills have been passed by the House and Senate, and the red flag law has been passed by the Senate. According to a recent Impact Research study, the bills are supported by 73% of Michigan voters. Each of the three bills addresses different issues in Michigan.

Repealing Michigan’s retirement tax

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed House Bill 4001 into law March 7, repealing the state’s retirement tax.

The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Angela Witwer, D-Delta Township, and amended the state’s Income Tax Act to phase out the tax on pensions and equalize retirement subtractions for public and private pensions.

In a press release after signing the

Expanding the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include protections for gender identity and sexual orientation

Senate Bill 4 was introduced by state Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, on Jan. 12 to amend the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, expanding its protections to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Whitmer signed the amendment into law on March 16.

Since its passage in 1977, the ELCRA has served to protect Michigan residents from discrimination based on their religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status and marital status.

The expanded protections codify a 2022 Michigan Supreme Court decision, for which Whitmer wrote an amicus brief, ruling that ELCRA applied to gender identity and sexual orientation.

The new provision specifically prohibits firing, evicting or otherwise discriminating against another person based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

law, Whitmer said this change will allow families in the state to spend more money on essential items.

“Getting this done will help people pay the bills, put food on the table and afford essentials like groceries and school supplies,” Whitmer said. “I will continue to work with our legislative partners to build on this progress, grow our economy and lower costs for every Michigander.”

The retirement tax was initially

and still is that every citizen has the right to be protected under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act,” Larsen said.

Critics of the bill argue its implementation interferes with certain religious freedoms, while simultaneously creating an elevated level of legal protection, or a “super-right,” for individuals in the LGBTQ+ community. This critique, in part, is a response to the legislature’s rejection of another proposed amendment to ELCRA from Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, which would have adopted protections for “religious orientation.” The original wording of the ELCRA enumerates religion as a protected right.

Another amendment to ELCRA was proposed in the Senate by state Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, on Feb. 21. This amendment, known as the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act, would add expanding protections against racial discrimination under the ELCRA to include certain hairstyles and textures, such as locks, twists and braids.

enacted under former Gov. Rick Snyder in 2011 and applied a 4.25% income tax on pensions. The repeal of the tax is a part of Whitmer’s Lower MI Cost plan first announced in her 2023 State of the State Address. According to the press release, this change is estimated to save 500,000 Michigan households an average of $1,000 annually.

In the same press release, Witwer said she has been working toward

Officially repealing Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law an official repeal of Michigan’s 1931 law criminalizing all abortions except to save a pregnant person’s life. Though the passage of Proposal 3 in the November 2022 midterm elections enacted a constitutional amendment to protect abortion access statewide, it did not officially repeal the law. This bill, initially introduced by state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, completely removes the original law from the Michigan penal code.

The Michigan legislature passed the bill on March 8. In a press release following the passage of the bill in the legislature, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel praised the repeal and said it reflects the beliefs and values of Michiganders.

this repeal throughout her time in office and was excited to see it accomplished.

“I’ve held office in the House for three terms, and each term, I introduced a bill to repeal the retirement tax: I’m so happy for Michiganders that we finally got it across the finish line,” Witwer said. “I’m grateful that members on both sides of the aisle could come together, set aside our differences, and do the right thing for our state.”

access to abortion in Michigan.

“Last year Michiganders made it clear that they want abortion to remain safe and legal,” Pohutsky said. “While there is still much work to be done to ensure abortion is accessible to everyone in our state, repealing the 1931 criminal abortion ban once and for all is the first step in that process, and one I am grateful is complete as of today,”

One of the bills would require gun owners to store firearms in locked containers if there is a reasonable belief that a minor may be present. It also lays out additional penalties for individuals who do not secure their firearms if a minor gains access and shoots another person.

The bill was drafted in response to the 2021 shooting at Oxford High School, in which the 15-year-old perpetrator used a gun that was bought for him by his father — and was not secured in the home — to commit gun violence resulting in the death of three students. Eight states including Massachusetts and Connecticut, in addition to the District of Columbia already have safe storage laws in place. Fifteen states have laws that hold the owner of a gun liable for any violence or accidents that a minor perpetrates with that weapon.

Another bill would establish universal background checks for gun purchases. Michigan law currently does not require individuals to obtain a license or complete a background check to obtain a rifle or shotgun, provided the sale is between private individuals. To purchase a rifle or shotgun from a firearms dealer, in accordance with federal law, a background check must be conducted. Michigan does require a license and background check for all handgun purchases, including sales between private individuals. This bill, however, would close this loophole, establishing a licensure and background check process for all gun sales — including rifles and shotguns.

Former state Rep. Melvin Larsen, R-Macomb, co-sponsor of the original ELCRA along with former state Rep. Daisy Elliott, D-Detroit, attended the signing event in Lansing on March 16.

Larsen spoke in support of the act’s expansion, noting the original sentiment of ELCRA was to protect each and every citizen.

“If you go back to the original Civil Rights Act, between (Elliott) and myself, the original intent was

This is not the first time such legislation has been proposed, both in Michigan and at the federal level. In 2022, a federal version of the CROWN Act passed successfully through the U.S. House of Representatives with bipartisan support, though it did not make it through the U.S. Senate. Should the legislation be approved, Michigan would become one of 14 states safeguarding against hairbased discrimination.

“Today’s repeal of this antiquated law is a victory for millions of Michigan residents who, like myself, value bodily integrity and personal freedom,” Nessel said. “I am grateful that our legislators are listening to the will of the voters who passed Proposition 3 this past fall with overwhelming support.”

Following the leaked draft of the decision overturning Roe v. Wade in May 2022, Whitmer took a number of actions to protect access to abortion statewide, including filing a lawsuit resulting in a preliminary injunction blocking the 1931 law from taking effect. Following the passage of Proposal 3, Whitmer signed an executive order to enforce the amendment through state government agencies. In the same press release, Whitmer said repealing the ban will also serve to retain and attract people to Michigan.

“Today, we are coming together to repeal the extreme 1931 law banning abortion without exceptions for rape or incest and criminalizing nurses and doctors for doing their jobs,” Whitmer said. “Standing up for people’s fundamental freedoms is the right thing to do and it’s also just good economics. By getting this done, we will help attract talent and business investment too.” Expanding

taxpayer in the state. The federal Earned Income Tax Credit for Working Families program lowers the amount of taxes owed by eligible families — or U.S. citizens who are currently working and earn below a certain income level, based on the number of dependents. Families eligible for the federal EITC program can also receive Michigan’s EITC if they are residents of the state. Previously, eligible families received an additional 6% of the federal amount from the state of

Whitmer signed the bill into law April 5. In a press release after the signing, Pohutsky said repealing the 1931 ban is a critical piece of protecting

Michigan. With the expansion, they will now receive 30% of that amount, on top of the federal contribution.

While the exact amount of the tax credit varies based on income and household size, the expansion of the Michigan EITC program is expected to provide an average refund of $3,150 to 700,000 families across the state. This could impact almost 1 million children, or half of the kids in Michigan. EITC programs have been shown to reduce poverty and improve

health outcomes, especially among children. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated that the federal EITC program was responsible for keeping 5.6 million people out of poverty in 2018 — half of them children. There is also evidence that EITC programs can increase economic activity and add jobs. Expansion of the tax credit program received bipartisan support in Michigan and was championed by many business and community organizations.

The final gun safety bill would establish Extreme Risk Protection Orders, often called red-flag laws, in Michigan. ERPOs, which exist in 19 states and in D.C., allow judges to temporarily remove firearms from the possession of individuals who are considered to pose a significant risk of harm to themself or others. Under red flag laws, if law enforcement confiscates a weapon for this reason, the individual is also prevented from purchasing any additional firearms until the order expires. The time frame for that emergency restriction varies from state to state, from days to up to a year in some cases.

In order for an ERPO to be issued, a state resident must petition the court and provide information as to why they believe that the subject’s continued firearm possession would pose a risk. The amount of time this process takes can vary, but emergency orders can be granted by an on-call judge after hours in some states.

What

lawmakers have done with their trifecta in the first 100 days

The Michigan Daily’s Government beat is highlighting the major policy proposals Democratic lawmakers have spearheaded for Michigan so far

ALUM DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily

SAMANTHA

‘A Good Person’ will renew your sense of hope

As a firm believer in the power of cinema, I’m used to walking out of movie theaters with a sense of awe. I am not used to movies reviving my soul from the brink of despair. The trauma of the characters depicted in “A Good Person” brought me to that brink, but its inspiring heart pulled me all the way back to an optimism I’ve never before experienced. Director Zach Braff (“Garden State”) depicts Allison’s (Florence Pugh, “Midsommar”) struggles with addiction, agency and redemption all through such a hopeful lens that it’s difficult not to see the world through that lens long after the movie has ended.

We’re first introduced to Allison, nicknamed “Allie,” at her best. She’s engaged to the love of her life, Nathan (Chinaza Uche, “Nigerian Prince”), and surrounded by incredible friends. There’s a magnetic quality about her, like she’s always been the life of the party and knows it. All of that comes crashing down while she and her soon-to-be sister-in-law Molly (Nichelle Hines, “Hollywood Cycle”) are driving to a wedding dress fitting. Allie pulls out her phone to check the map and, in that split second, a construction vehicle barrels right into them. The accident leaves Allie wounded, but Molly is killed in the crash. Nearly a year later, she’s moved back in with her eccentric mother Diane (Molly Shannon, “Superstar”) and remains unable to come to terms with her trauma and guilt. She’s become a shell of her former self, floating from day to day on a never-ending supply of the opiates she’s become addicted to in hopes of numbing the pain.

The film’s portrayal of

addiction is brutally honest without veering into harsh judgment. The drugs help numb Allie’s pain, but they also inflict a whole new kind of torment. This year of guiltily falling into addiction has warped her into someone unrecognizable, from her toopale skin to her disheveled appearance. Despite the visible negative effects of the drugs, Allie is too dependent on them to give them up on her own. When every doctor refuses to refill her prescription, her mother decides to take matters into her own hands by flushing Allie’s remaining stash. This sequence is brilliantly shot in one long, shaky take as the camera follows their frantic forms into the bathroom while they struggle over the orange pill bottle. It fully immerses the audience in the desperate chaos of the moment before leaving them reeling with a close-up shot of Allie’s tearstained face watching the pills go down the drain.

With her old supply gone, Allie immediately goes searching for more. The next scene shows her riding her bike all the way to the pharmacy to try and refill her prescription. This is one of the most memorable shots because it sets a tone similar to that of a coming-of-age film. An overly-optimistic song and wide camera that captures the bright sunshine overhead frames Allie as a tragic hero with a lot to learn about the world. Her character is made so compelling by these light, airy arrangements that it’s easy to keep rooting for her, even when she blackmails an old friend with connections and later resorts to begging former high school classmates for drugs. The lengths she goes to in her desperation to satiate her addiction finally push her to admit, while crying in her mother’s arms, that she can’t beat her addiction alone. Pugh’s phenomenal

performance, from her signature frown to the subtext of swirling emotions she imbues into her character, makes Allie’s heartbreak palpable, which only adds to the audience’s sympathy for her.

The moment Allie finally asks for help feels like a triumph. It’s only the first step toward recovery, but it’s monumental. She joins an Alcoholics Anonymous group in search of support from others who have struggled with addiction and beaten it. Coincidentally, it is the same group her ex-fiance’s father Daniel (Morgan Freeman, “Seven”) attends. Allie is convinced that this is just an unfortunate coincidence, but Daniel says it must be fate. This is another moment where the film’s optimistic

tone takes hold, affirming that the universe provides opportunities for healing while still leaving the choice up to the individual. The two choose to stay in contact. Allie still insists she isn’t at fault for the accident that took Daniel’s daughter from him, and it’s painful for the both of them. She goes to group meetings high, unable to face reality without her pills. Each time Allie gets high, the camera loses focus as the world begins to blur. Often, a septic green hue will overtake the screen, nodding toward the gangrenous toxicity of the substance’s effect on her. In her desensitized state, Allie’s thoughts are too hazy to dwell on the pain she’s in or the pain she’s caused. But until she comes to terms with the damage she’s done, Daniel

and his granddaughter Ryan (Celeste O’Connor, “Freaky”) will keep waiting for closure that will never come. Their pain continues while Allie seeks to ignore hers. Seeing the perspectives of both Allie in her addiction and the people outside of it whom she has hurt humanizes Allie in a way that doesn’t simultaneously villainize her. The film comes at a time when Allie’s story is all too common. In 2022, over 10.1 million people misused prescription opioids and over 1.6 million were diagnosed with an opioid use disorder. Stories of hope for recovery like this are vital to those in a seemingly hopeless situation.

When she hurts Daniel and Ryan once again, Allie finally realizes she needs to take responsibility for herself. After a tumultuous road to

recovery, she comes out the other side with the life she’s rebuilt. Rather than staying stuck in the past, she chooses to move forward and take life one day at a time. The movie’s messages surrounding recovery from addiction are especially important because, as her sponsor Simone (Zoe Lister-Jones, “How It Ends”) tells her, “some beat it and some are dead.” This line expresses how truly detrimental this spiral into addiction is. It isn’t just about escape; it’s recovery or death. “A Good Person” takes an honest look at addiction and affirms that no matter how desolate life may feel, it’s never too late to start over. It’s an incredible testament to the resilience of the human spirit sure to leave you with a renewed passion for the “precious gift of life.”

Fall Out Boy shoots for the stars but falls

JENNA JAEHNIG Daily Arts Editor

Ah nepotism. Defined by Merriam Webster as “favoritism (as in appointment to a job) based on kinship,” nepotism and online discussion of “nepobabies” (children of celebrities) has certainly increased as of late. Personally, I lost my mind when I found out Gracie Abrams is JJ Abrams’s daughter. And I guess our obsession with nepotism has finally reached Netflix as they released a new office-comedy “Unstable” starring real-life father and nepo-baby son, Rob Lowe (“The Outsiders”) and John Owen Lowe (“Holiday in the Wild”), as fictional father and nepo-baby son Ellis and Jackson Dragon, respectively.

Ellis Dragon is an eccentric biotech genius and CEO who has gone off the rails since the death of his wife and is facing threats of removal from his company’s board.

To put him back on the right track, the company’s CFO (and arguably the best character), Anna (Sian Clifford, “Fleabag”), wrangles Jackson from New York to come back and help his father while also repairing their relationship.

Jackson constantly feels that his father is trying to make him in his image and doesn’t feel supported in who he is, while Ellis just wants to help his son be the best that he can be.

For all “Unstable” tries to be witty and heartwarming, it comes up just short at both. Now, comedy is subjective, and some kinds of humor just don’t land for everybody. Many fans have taken to Twitter to express their love for this show and would go as far as saying it was hilarious. I chuckled at times, but it certainly was no “Modern Family” or “New Girl.” “Unstable” did have many unique bits (my favorite was easily the whole invisibility cloak schtick), the plot took some funny turns, most notably a kidnapping-turnedfriendship, and the dialogue was also quick and had witty banter

at times, but it wasn’t anything special. The jokes felt overused, especially an ongoing bit about two twins on the company’s board whose “humor” was just them being incredibly annoying and, frankly, dumb in the least charming way.

However, where “Unstable” really fell short was in its failure to deliver on the fatherson relationship. More than anything, the basis of Ellis and Jackson’s problems felt like simple miscommunication, and the whole “estranged relationship” part of the plot was pretty much resolved by the end of the second episode.

I was hoping to see some family therapy and a real discussion of how the death impacted Ellis and Jackson, but the most emotional scene we get is when Jackson breaks down in tears over the last jar of peanut butter that his mom made. She almost isn’t even referenced beyond that point, even though there is still so much baggage left to be unpacked.

Both Ellis and Jackson reference how she helped serve as a bridge between them, so some flashbacks or recalls of conversations or advice she had for them would’ve given both characters so much more depth and would’ve added a powerful dimension to the show.

After repairing the father-son relationship so quickly, the series shifts focus to the new dynamics of Jackson working at his father’s company and the relationships

between different characters in the office. This isn’t necessarily bad — in fact, a lot of these relationships were well-developed and enjoyable to watch — but by comparison, it diminished the emphasis on Ellis and Jackson’s relationship.

While Ellis and Jackson weren’t bad or single-dimensional characters (they certainly did have stable characterization and were consistently themselves), the side characters were still the stars of the show. Anna maintained a solid character with a strong and standoffish, yet loving demeanor and an impeccably dry sense of humor. Her banter with Ellis, Jackson and many of the other employees at the company made up most of my favorite scenes. I also appreciated the relationship between Ellis and Anna and how it was never made into a remotely romantic one. It’s nice to see sheer platonic love and just that.

Ultimately, “Unstable” tried and failed to balance humor with depth. At times, the show felt like it was created just for Rob Lowe and his son to act together, but at least they were father and nepo-baby son in the show too, and I can appreciate the humor in that. “Unstable” is a good show for some decently okay humor, and the bizarre plot lines and relationships developed between characters are enjoyable to watch. Keep your standards low and your appreciation for nepotism high, and you might just like it.

on ‘So Much (for) Stardust’

The career of Fall Out Boy is a long and storied one, but it is popularly agreed to have fallen off after their last album MANIA. Excessive experimentation and pop elements soured their emo/ punk/rock following, and the band largely went silent for four years, lost to the annals of emo history. So when the first track on So Much (for) Stardust — “Love From The Other Side” — follows London Metropolitan Orchestra’s minute-long piano-toorchestra-symphonic-rock intro with frontman Patrick Stump’s characteristically soulful lament, “We were a hammer to the state of David / We were a painting you could never frame and / You were the sunshine of my lifetime” The band seems keenly aware of their place in that history. They don’t dwell, however. As the constant drumbeat and guitar plucking drive the song forward, the band builds and layers into the title chorus and their mission statement: “Sending my love from the other side of the apocalypse!”

Whether the apocalypse they refer to is MANIA’s fallout or our more recent brushes with the end-times, love is what persists. Everything cuts out except for those nowisolated piano notes. As in the intro, the orchestra begins to swell in as Stump sings about this painful yet fulfilling relationship with a lover or with music: “I saw you in a bright clear field, hurricane heat in my head / The kind of pain you feel to get good in the end, good in the end.” The drums come back in, starting as cymbal taps crash into a drumroll as Stump repeats,

then rejects, a mantra of the music industry: “Inscribed like stone and faded by the rain: ‘Give up what you love / Give up what you love before it does you in.’”

Stardust tells an apocalyptic love story as both the band’s traditional emo tales of heartbreak but also to honor and advance their own career.

Returning to their Folie à Deux producer Neal Avron, it only takes the instrumental intros — varying from five to 30 seconds — of each song to determine the depth of the album’s variation, like the aforementioned orchestral introduction to the album, deep synths starting off “Heartbreak Feels so Good,” more ambient traditionallyemo instrumentation established in “Fake Out,” Joe Trohman’s grungier guitar riff ringing in “Flu Game” and the funky preface of “What a Time To Be Alive.” Some of these intros also pair tracks together: Andy Hurley’s percussive presentations of “Heaven, Iowa” and “The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years),”

Pete Wentz’s basslines with Hurley’s drum bangs bringing in “Hold Me Like a Grudge” and “So Good Right Now,” strings sending off “I Am My Own Muse” and the finale track “So Much (For) Stardust.” There’s also two spoken-word tracks, one sampling Ethan Hawke (“Training Day”) and the other performed by Wentz — Folie à Deux being the last time he performed such a track.

However, this artistic evolution and the almostautoerotic esteeming clash with each other. It’s evident that Stump’s singing, Wentz’s lyrics and the band’s performance are being pushed as hard as they can, but the end product still leaves something to be desired.

There are occasional bright spots that shine in Stardust, but “Love From the Other Side” is a high point that warrants the most analysis because the rest of the tracks rehash similar themes draped in the band’s usual theatrical poetry. They’re somehow too varied to feel cohesive yet too repetitive to feel dynamic. Fall Out Boy understands this contradiction, however, stemming from the album’s own title. So Much (for) Stardust is a simultaneous declaration and dismissal of wonder, or as Wentz terms it, “their dialectical record.” Stardust and star power — these things birth and elevate us, but star power will one day run out and to stardust we will return, whether it’s existence, amour or emo. I wanted to love this album. I spent the past months relistening to every album and EP the band has ever released, discovering new tracks and reliving secondary school nostalgia. But sometimes, love alone can’t elevate the artistic value of an album — rosetinted lenses are nice until you want to see the world back in full color. Still, through the band’s lamentations on love and loss framed through the apocalypse and their temporary emo end, it’s clear that they maintain their fondness for the fans. After “So Much (For) Stardust” reprises lyrics from “Love From the Other Side,” the album ends with the cry: “So we thought we had it all, thought we had it all.” This return isn’t perfect, but it might be a good revival for better things to come, though I still prefer “Grenade Jumper” for the band’s appreciative anthem. We know this is belated, but hey Fall Out Boy — we love you back.

‘Unstable’ is nepotism on nepotism with an average display of wit

a bit short

SAARTHAK JOHRI Digital Culture Beat Editor

On April 19, the Michigan Theater’s largest auditorium will show a film mixing magical realism and romance, starring two University of Michigan students in a multi-universal story of small connections that wind up meaning everything.

The film, titled “Oeuvre, Unfinished,” is the product of years of work from Business graduate student Madeline Sun Woo Kim, who graduated the University in December 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Film, Television and Media.

In fall 2020, the University sent students home from Thanksgiving through the end of the semester to finish classes on Zoom. Kim returned to her family’s home in San Jose, Calif. She planned a trip to Korea for Winter Break and, per pandemic guidelines, had to quarantine for two weeks before traveling. During those two weeks of bored isolation, Kim brainstormed scripts she could write.

“That’s where everything started,” Kim said in an interview with The Michigan Daily. “At the time, I was thinking about the importance of human connection and how much people take for granted — at least I’ve taken for granted — before COVID. Like these small encounters and small conversations that can happen between two strangers anywhere, like in a museum or in a coffee shop.”

“Oeuvre, Unfinished” features scenes in both these locations. The title refers to a painting of a field of flowers which art student Anna (Music, Theatre & Dance senior Alyssa Melani) and chef Leo (Music, Theatre & Dance

Madeline Sun Woo Kim on paintings, vintage dresses and her first film premiere

senior Atticus Olivet) are both inexplicably drawn to. Anna visits the painting every day in its art museum. The two meet during one of these visits — in this universe, anyway.

Kim started writing a screenplay and fantasized about shooting the film in Seoul, where she was quarantining, or New York City, a place with many potential art museums. But it wasn’t until January 2022, after she graduated, that Kim sat down to finish the script. She wrote through January and February and showed the script to her friends, who encouraged her to produce it.

“That motivated me too,” Kim said in an interview with The Michigan Daily. She had never made an independent film, though she worked as an assistant director, editor and supervising editor for three different upper-level U-M production classes, in which students form a team to shoot and produce a student-written TV pilot or feature film. While in these classes, Kim had little time for her own projects.

In her final semester, she was part of a production class for a pilot called “Weaksiders.” This is where she met U-M alum Sydney Spaw, one of the directors, and Music, Theatre & Dance senior Timmy Thompson, a producer. Thompson asked Kim, who had been supervising editor for “Weaksiders,” to edit a web series he was making. The two became close working on these projects, and when finding people to help her with “Oeuvre, Unfinished,” Kim asked both Spaw to co-produce and Thompson to be an associate producer. She reached out to the “Weaksiders” directors of photography, U-M alum Nick Ferraina Nick Ferraina (LSA class of 2022) and LSA senior Kevin Lazzaro and recruited people via

SUDOKU

email through the Film, Television, and Media Department.

Kim sent out a casting call for actors as well, and spoke about her thoughts at the time. She said, “(I thought) no one would really audition since it’s not for a class credit or anything … it’s just an independent film.”

She said she was surprised by the number of auditions, a number she couldn’t remember exactly, but was somewhere in the range of 15-19.

Kim held auditions anywhere she could, from a collection of classrooms in North Quad and the Modern Languages Building, to the study area in her apartment.

The actors read from the sides Kim prepared — the moment Anna asks Leo if he thinks there’s a reason they met and similar transitional scenes where the dynamic between the actors was most important. Kim read Leo’s lines for the potential Annas and Anna’s for prospective

Leos. She looked for people she could imagine together — these characters needed to believably fall in love in six different universes. She also sought an Anna who she says, “I saw at least a little bit of myself in.”

On the first day of auditions, Melani and Olivet auditioned. Kim usually asked actors to read just one of the prepared scenes, but “both of them were just so good. I wanted to hear more, so I asked them to do all the sides,” Kim said. After the week of auditions, Olivet and Melani still stuck in her head.

Kim still needed the painting that would bring them together. From the beginning, she had wanted to write “something with paintings.” Anna loves the painting, but she senses that it is missing something. In the first alternative universe, we find out the missing piece was her — this universe is set in the 1800s, where

Leo is an artist painting a version of the canvas from the art gallery with Anna in it. An impressive painting was essential to the film. While writing the script, moving between Ann Arbor and San Jose, Kim considered who she could ask to paint it.

“I thought about asking (Art and Design) students,” she said, “but … this would be a really long process.” She wanted a 28” by 22” oil painting, and “(oil paint) like, never dries,” Kim laughed. “You have to repaint, repaint.”

Instead, she looked for artists in her neighborhood in San Jose and found HooSSo Art Studio, a prep school for high school students considering studying art in college. The studio owner and teacher was a man named Jong Min Lim.

Kim asked if Lim could do three paintings for her: the original painting from the art gallery, titled “Oeuvre, Unfinished”; a similar painting to hang in Leo’s restaurant, which he shows Anna because it reminds him of the first painting and a painting of a ring, which Leo brings as a gift for Anna only to find that she already wears an identical ring.

“(Lim) told me that he’d never gotten that kind of request before because he usually teaches students, and he doesn’t really do any freelance painting,” Kim said.

During our interview — which took place, per Kim’s suggestion, in a multimedia room in the Duderstadt Center on North Campus — Kim turned to one of the desktop computers and pulled up pictures of the paintings. The painting of the field, now in a thick gold frame, drew my eye down a path through soft, impressionistic yellow flowers. The second painting featured an expanse of similar, purple flowers. The ring painting was more realistic, the lines of the dark green gem at the front cleanly cut. Little rainbows seem to reflect from the surrounding crystals.

University of Michigan Museum of Art was Kim’s first choice.

“For obvious reasons, they wouldn’t let me take down their painting and hang up mine,” Kim said. She shot B-roll around the museum, but then had to find an alternative — a place that looked enough like an UMMA exhibition room.

“I think I visited almost ten locations within campus to find a place that could look like a museum,” Kim said. It had to have white walls and no “weird floors; it couldn’t be carpet or anything.”

The gallery in the Duderstadt didn’t meet these standards — not to mention that the walls were the wrong material. She thought she could find a classroom with plain white walls and looked in the Walgreen Drama Center and the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, as well as an art studio a 15-minute drive away, but each location had its pitfall.

Her perfect gallery, with no fabric walls or carpeted floors, was WSG Gallery in downtown Ann Arbor. The owners let Kim’s crew take down, rearrange and hang up their own paintings.

With one painting housed, Kim had to find the restaurant where the second would hang and where Leo worked at the film’s start. The crew found the Chop House, a highend steakhouse down Main Street already decorated with paintings. Kim’s would fit in perfectly, but she expected they wouldn’t let the crew shoot there or would at least demand a high fee. She was pleasantly surprised when they were told they could be there for free if they came before business hours. Kim just had to get in touch with the manager to confirm the shoot days.

puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

“I had to ask him to paint the girl separately,” Kim said. When they shot the scene in the universe where Leo finished the painting, they carefully taped the painting of Anna to the canvas with artist tape. The other expensive, unsurewhere-to-find-it prop was the Victorian dress Anna was meant to wear in the second universe. Where could Kim find a dress suitable for the 1800s setting? She planned a day to scour the thrift stores of San Francisco in search of old dresses in a dark green to match the ring. She left early in the morning — if a 19th century dress had been put out on a thrift store floor, she would get to it before someone else. Several thrift stores in, she found a deep green dress with puffed shoulders, tapered sleeves and ruffles sidelining the buttons down the front.

It was perfect, but, Kim said, “It took up a lot of our production budget.”

So did the hard drive she left the room to retrieve in order to show me scenes from the film. Kim described it as “reliable.” I would have said formidable. The hard drive was the size of a brick. The University doesn’t technically allow students to borrow their film equipment for non-University projects, but Kim convinced someone within the FTVM department to lend lights and, for a week, two Black Magic cameras. Thompson had a camera they used for most of the other scenes.

The most important shooting location was the art museum. The

“And he was never there,” Kim said. She got an email from the other employees, but the manager was unresponsive. She started going to the steakhouse every day, trying to catch the manager in person. She asked if he was there, and the employees told her, “No, but he’ll be back tomorrow.”

She returned the next day, and they told her, “He’s out right now, but he’ll be back tomorrow.”

Her persistence paid off eventually, and Kim confirmed the crew’s permission to shoot at the restaurant with the “very very nice, just very busy” manager.

The art gallery and restaurant are part of only the first of the film’s six universes. Kim showed me the scene in which Anna and Leo meet before the camera zooms into the painting, emerging in an art studio in the 1800s. The transition from one universe to the next and then up to Anna in her Victorian gown was one of the most difficult to shoot. In the end, Kim had them shoot the scene backward and reversed it in post-production.

“I told (Olivet) to paint backward,” Kim said. “That part doesn’t have any dialogue, thank God.”

Kim’s background as an editor influenced her directorial decisions on set and helped her in Zoom meetings with the directors of photography to make shot lists. In the third universe, a high school Anna and Leo meet in the greenhouse. They filmed this scene — one of the crew’s favorites — in the Matthaei Botanical Gardens. This was one of the most fun scenes to shoot, Kim said as she found it in the timeline on Premiere Pro.

“thinking about… breakfast”

“When it’s obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action.”

ERIN EVANS Senior Arts Editor

Courtesy of Madeline Sun Woo Kim

Screens don’t fight back

JAMES JOHNSTON Daily Arts Writer

A couple of years ago, my friends decided to start getting into “League of Legends.” If that doesn’t make you throw up in your mouth a little bit, it should. I held out for about a month, refusing to join them. Eventually, the frustration of being excluded from conversations because of game communications taking priority over everything else got to me. I became the worst possible thing you could ever live to see yourself becoming: a “League” player. On top of having no experience with the MOBA game genre and my friends’ lacking attempts to explain the game to me, the most frustrating part of the experience was dealing with the game’s toxic community. Having played my fair share of online multiplayer games, I was no stranger to toxicity in video games by this point in time, but there’s a reason “League” has a reputation for it. I had a fantastic time getting spam-pinged and flamed by random, seething teammates for every single decision I made that went wrong, while the enemy team gloated about their victory like they were the hottest thing since sliced bread. The one thing they could come together to agree on by the end of each game, however, was that I was absolute trash — the gum on the bottom of their shoe. To be honest, it was a beautiful kind of truce to see in such a demoralizing moment. And it’s not like they were wrong. I’m Iron — the lowest-ranked group in the game — so they might just be on to something.

So, what’s up? Did I write this article solely to rant about how I got my feelings hurt on the internet? That would be pretty funny, but no. I wanted to figure out just what it is exactly that makes online gaming such a toxic environment. I mean seriously, there are plenty of clips on the web of sweat-encrusted men with anger issues smashing their keyboards to dust, but when you’re playing Uno with friends, they’re not tearing the deck to shreds because you hit them with a Draw 4. It’s a combination of game mechanics, competitive environments and beginnerunfriendly learning curves that cultivate a specific “gamer” identity. In a way, frustration and rage serve as an embarrassing gateway to gaming.

So, is it competition? I was never really much of the competitive type — never got good enough at anything to be. Trust me, the most competition you would find on my junior varsity soccer bench was who could annoy the coach the most. But when I would watch or hear stories from my friends in higher levels of sports, it was entirely

different. Audience members whipped up into a school-spirit frenzy would shout insults and taunts from the crowd, equally as anonymous as if they were concealed behind a username and a screen. Seeing brief fights erupt among opponents, pushing, shoving and throwing sloppy punches would always activate the neurons in my stupid, caveman brain. All that was missing was someone shouting, “Worldstar!” As adrenaline is coursing through players’ veins during the fast-paced, back-andforth games, you can feel the testosterone emanating from the field. Video games, in contrast, are less physically intense. When you’re sitting in a chair, actions are simulated with the press of a button, yet you’re still feeling the blood pumping after clutching up a round — it creates a weird emotional and physical dissonance. Yet the intensity and aggression are still there. This aggression may be a result of the lens of masculinity in a competitive context. Men are stereotyped to be dominant in any position that allows it to be possible. Climbing the corporate ladder, participating in romantic and sexual exploits and playing sports are all different environments, but they all offer an opportunity for men to prove their dominance over other men. Gaming also has a pretty serious sexism problem, and it’s a fair assumption that this — in combination with sexual misconduct — is the result of the hypercompetitive masculine ideal that has been pushed so hard in our current society. Anger is not exclusively a male trait, and the rage that can come from the cocktail of inferiority at the game itself and the taunts of opponents is a universal

experience. However, I believe this response is more amplified for men, who may be responding to a subconscious thought that to lose is to be emasculated. The times I have faced my most humiliating defeats are times I have felt serious disdain toward myself for being weak, for not being a man — getting significantly worse grades on high school assessments and letting in 20 goals in my first and last chance to be a goalie, to name a few. Defeat is no longer simply an outcome, no longer a learning experience, but rather a source of shame as a man.

Once players in both the digital and physical worlds start developing an audience, conduct quickly shifts. Most conflicts between professionals can be chalked up to banter, and the expectations of sportsmanship are more strict. Of course, how sportsmanship is defined varies widely with which sport you’re talking about, but the respect is universal. In both professional sports and esports, if there is a wide gap in skill between competitors, then the expression of dominance doesn’t extend past the play of the game itself. I think we can all agree that it’s generally frowned upon for a pro to mock their opponent about the results of their match, especially if it’s directly afterward.

Games can be frustrating and contain competitive aspects but still have a relatively tame or even welcoming community. Dark Souls, a franchise well known for its refusal to coddle newcomers, is a good example of this. The Souls series is mainly a single-player experience but has multiplayer PvP options. The PvP portion of the game, while mostly an additive part of the experience, has a thriving community behind

it, especially since it adds a new dimension to the game. Players with different builds, combat toolkits and strategies at their disposal will provide a more nuanced fight than a boss who is designed to be beaten. There is a huge emphasis on respecting your opponents in Dark Souls PvP and ensuring that everyone has a fun and fair experience, with various unspoken rules to follow so you don’t end up completely outclassing your opponent or frustrating them with strategies that would be considered dishonorable. This Reddit post provides a comprehensive guide to the etiquette behind Dark Souls PvP that has been agreed upon by a large portion of the game’s dedicated player base. I believe there are two things that have made this game free of toxicity: the first is that the game’s genre and competitive nature both promote slowerpaced combat and attract a more serious, dedicated crowd. The second is that you can’t verbally communicate with other players; the most you can do is perform a gesture from the game’s fairly limited selection. All of the verbal communication is saved for after the fact, in forums and discussions in person, when all of the competitive tension has long since dissipated. Compare that to a game like “Clash Royale,” which is also a game involving one-on-one competition and no options for direct verbal communication within the match. However, “Clash Royale” is a real-time strategy game that is much more fast-paced and much more casual due to it being a mobile game. There is much less expected etiquette between players — it’s pretty much guaranteed that when you lose, you’ll hear

that iconic laughing emote: the boisterous and arrogant “hee hee hee ha!” that lives in my head rent-free. While it’s impossible not to laugh at the goofy nature of these interactions, it’s a decent counterexample that lack of communication does not stop toxicity. A famous example of mocking your opponent — teabagging — is simple: repeated crouching up and down, no words required. The gesture was popularized through the Halo games, and its influence is seen in every game with a crouching mechanic.

Maybe — due to the nature of interactions through a screen — we are doomed to destructive clashes of online personas where egos are inflated and our pride is that much more fragile. Screens don’t fight back, after all. A screen won’t puff out its chest and take a swing at you for jabbing at its insecurities. When a screen hits you with derision that leaves you reeling, you can take your time to methodically craft your response, no quick wit required. You can even ask other people to do it for you, like Sneako did. It’s no secret that the anonymity of the internet brings out the worst in us. Hate accounts very rarely broadcast their names when they want to slam the object of their disdain. 4chan, an online forum that has created a culture of referring to users as “anon,” has some of the vilest, hateful content you’ll find on the internet, simply for the joy of being contrarian and baiting reactions out of others. Even something seemingly harmless, like a password, can be an example of people online indulging in their ugliest bits in the shadows. The Wikipedia page for the 10,000 most common passwords is sprinkled with edgy words and phrases — anything

from “fuckme” and “bigdick” to literal slurs. It’s a disappointing window into who people are when they think nobody is watching. It’s hard to imagine not feeling shame at having to remind yourself of your shallow immaturity every time you type in a slur as a password.

When I was in my pre-teen years and would make usernames my 11-year-old self thought were absolutely hilarious, like “justaname666” for my Snapchat, I thought I was setting myself apart from the rest. “The devil’s number attached to such a casual name will really make those uppity god-fearing oldheads clutch their pearls!” he thought to himself. I thought I was contributing to some identity for myself when my real self was too early to be developed into anything worth considering. But pre-teen me started to fade as I grew into who I am today, and it was apparent that these attempts to be edgy were easy to see as desperate. It did me no favors, and the moment I learned I could change it, I did it in a heartbeat.

The part that disappoints me the most about the passwords, though, is that you don’t think about your password when you type it in. It becomes mindnumbing repetition — a set of movements, mechanical and automatic, that are as unconscious as breathing and blinking. The shame I felt from having to tell a new Snapchat contact my username is no longer present, that feeling of humiliation pounded into my head over and over again is lost when a password is reduced to a pattern of button presses. I think toxicity in video games and digital interactions as a whole reflects this behavior. Completely dropping any facades of politeness and immediately going for each other’s throats has been repeated so many times that it’s like emotional muscle memory. In many online spaces, hostility has become the path of least resistance, and it takes effort to be patient and respectful.

Then again, I could just be overly sensitive. I’m not the type of person who has thick skin. Maybe I just need to touch some grass; rude behavior is hardly exclusive to the digital world. Plus, who even writes an article to analyze how they got their feelings hurt on the internet? I’m hardly providing an objective view here, but when speaking on such an emotionally charged topic, it’s difficult to stay completely objective, especially when it’s a topic I’m so familiar with. People’s digital personas are irrationally hostile sometimes, and that’s not up for debate. Whatever the case may be, if we do end up encountering each other through the screen, I hope you try to choose to be kind. I’ll try too.

The ‘Little Women’ Project: ‘Little Women’ of the future (part 5)

To quote Benjamin Franklin, “nothing is certain in life except death and taxes.” After this endeavor, I’d suggest an addition to that phrase. I think that nothing is certain in life except death, taxes and “Little Women” adaptations. For as long as film has been a viable storytelling medium, people have felt the need to make these movies. I can’t imagine that changing in the near future. So what might we want from future adaptations? Where does the story go from here?

The beauty of adaptation is that there’s no way to know what form the story will take in the future. I’m excited to be surprised. But I’d be especially thrilled if a film adaptation managed to get Beth’s character right. She’s consistently overlooked in “Little Women” films. It makes sense — why waste precious screen time on the shy sister who’s going to die anyway? But for her death to feel as devastating as it is for the March family, her life needs to be fleshed out. In the books, whole chapters are dedicated to her obsession with the piano and her carefully cared-for doll collection. I’d love for a film to

allow her to be a fully realized human. Meg is also often left in the margins of film adaptations. It would be lovely to see her given more care on screen.

Laurie is also often misrepresented. He’s an American who was born in Italy to an Italian mother, which was fairly unheard of at the time, especially in higher-class society. It would be interesting to see his identity as an outsider factor more significantly into his character.

I’d also love an adaptation to acknowledge that “Little Women” is a novel about war. The American Civil War alters the Marchs’ daily lives significantly. It would be interesting to see a “Little Women” that could be legitimately classified as a war movie.

So What?

I was hoping to come out of this endeavor with a satisfying, digestible takeaway.

I wanted to figure out what made “Little Women” so enduring, and I assumed there would be some sort of straightforward answer. Maybe we still care about the story because Jo is such a compelling character or because the novel focuses on sister relationships in a way not many stories do. There are a lot of simple explanations for the relevance

of “Little Women.”

My personal takeaway was a lot more complicated and melodramatic. I am convinced that “Little Women” remains compelling simply because we are humans, and it is a story about humans.

Alcott’s novel was immensely popular when it was released in 1868 because it was relatable.

It’s a story about family, grief, love and growing up. These are things every human experiences. By extension, these

are themes that most people want to see in the stories they consume.

The movie adaptations of “Little Women” have all been lucky enough to be of at least decent quality. This means that they all conveyed the core universal themes that made the story initially compelling and popular.

When people sat down to watch the latest adaptation in 2019, they were watching a wellmade story about grief, growing

up and sisters. Everyone liked it because we’re still human — just like Alcott was in 1868, and readers were in 1901, and moviegoers were in 1933.

Any story that was compelling to humans at one point in history can still be compelling today. It just needs to be told in the correct way. Every “Little Women” film has been told in a manner that is compelling to its contemporary audience, resulting in almost two centuries of humans who care

Courtesy of Lola D’Onofrio

immensely about the March sisters.

The “Little Women” story has reminded me that time is irrelevant to our innate humanness. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest watching every single film adaptation, but it might be worth your time to choose at least one. “Little Women” serves as a brilliant reminder that humans have always had minds, dreams and hopes — all of which we can still connect with today.

Design by Haylee Bohm

LOLA D’ONOFRIO Daily Arts Writer

The Journal of Psychiatric Research asserts that 2.82% of 18 to 29 year olds have a skin picking disorder, which makes

The gory, less greedy, Midas touch

skin picking most prevalent among college-age students. By my count, as someone with a skin picking disorder, I’m about one in 35. That’s maybe someone in your first-year writing class. Or your two hour computer science lab. Or someone in line

with you at Ricks. Or at least, someone 20 feet from you on your Commuter North ride. Skin picking disorders aren’t uncommon, they’re usually just hidden. For example, Lindsay Gellman, reporting for the New York Times, followed Deborah

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Hoffman, a Texas woman who picks at her back, an affliction she was able to hide from her husband for 21 years. In fact, one of the most common places to pick at skin is behind the ear: another perfect place for concealment. Unfortunately, my scabs and scars and wounds and welts aren’t in a concealable place on my body because I pick at my fingertips.

Skin picking disorders are part of a collection of bodyfocused repetitive behaviors. BFRBs are, most generally: repetitive self-grooming behaviors that can and often do lead to physical damage and social impairment. Just some examples of BFRBs include hair pulling, cheek or nail biting, and skin picking.

The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology investigated BFRBs’ relationship with the COVID19 pandemic and concluded that 67.2% of people with a BFRB experienced increased symptoms over the course of the pandemic. What I wish the Academy of Dermatology had investigated instead was the number of people whose BFRBs’ origins lie amidst the pandemic. Based on anecdotal evidence found in Reddit threads and FaceBook support groups, I think the pandemic jumpstarted a significant amount of BFRBs — including mine.

There are two avenues from which skin picking disorders can originate: obsessive compulsive disorder and boredom. For me, it began with boredom. My go-to coping response in the face of boredom has become picking and peeling at my fingers and quite unnervingly, I usually don’t notice until my fingers are raw and bloody. During the pandemic, I had the privilege of being extremely bored. I was not an essential worker surrounded by the virus, nor was I on the frontlines combatting the virus in emergency rooms; instead, I was sitting at home, developing a (so-far) unconquerable skin picking disorder.

In public, I keep my hands in my pockets or folded slyly under my armpits. I don’t want people to see my fingers, which they would if my hands were out in the open. They are perpetually scabbed, red or bleeding — so much so that people notice in passing. I carry around silicone thimbles, hoping to scratch them instead of tearing up my skin. I struggle to hold pencils because sometimes the stylus must rest on an open wound. I can’t do the dishes without gloves because the soapy hot

water stings. And man oh man do my fingers hurt. All the time.

***

King Midas’ story is tragic, and niche-ly similar to mine. The myth of King Midas begins in Ancient Greece, where he ruled over Phrygia (modern-day Turkey). He was a kind, gentle leader with only two flaws: He was foolish — the coded mythological word for dumb — and, he loved gold … to a fault.

One day, King Midas, true to his character, invited an injured, starved satyr into his castle for refuge. Lucky (or, soon to be unlucky) for him, this satyr was a mentor to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and pleasure. Dionysus, in turn, granted King Midas a wish. Foolishly, as was his nature, he wished that everything he touched would turn to gold.

Maybe it was greed, maybe it was fated or maybe King Midas was just plain witless — because this wish, he would soon find out, was a curse. At a feast celebrating himself, Midas would discover that the food he touched turned to gold. He couldn’t eat. He grew scared, eventually falling to his knees and begging for a hug from his daughter. She too turned to gold.

The most poignant aspect of this myth is that King Midas had no escape. He could never heal. His affliction was so immediate and so severe that he had no choice but to watch the world he loved turn to gold. In this way, I am a derivation of King Midas. Everything is at my fingertips, but my fingertips are damaged. In an almost repulsive way, in a way that prompts unwarranted comments from my professors, in a way that people belittle me for, and mostly in a way that scares people. The world in my grasp, until it sees my fingertips.

***

My fingers have gotten me into real trouble before. The first thing I remember from when I got into my car crash were my tears; fear-driven tears, searing tears, the kind that make the whole world stop and order you to feel each one as they come. When I tried to dial 911, my fingers, I remember, were healed. But with every battle won, there seems to be another to conquer. This time instead of bleeding, sore fingers, it became fingers marred with scar tissue. I had gone through the cycle of picking and then healing too many times to count on my perpetually blood-stained fingers. When you pick at scabs or at scarred skin, it grows back — stronger: Scar tissue becomes an inevitable condition of

healing — a poetic evolutionary trait — but also a troubling one. For example, scar tissue often causes problems with repeated heart surgeries, c-section recovery and, apparently, skinpicking disorders. The reason I said I was trying to call 911 — not that I did call 911 — is because my thumbs wouldn’t register on my phone’s screen because of the scarring. Me and my face soaked with prickling, searing tears were helpless. Scar tissue was my body’s final attempt to stop me from hurting myself. A fresh, thick layer of skin which fails to conduct electricity enough for me to hit the nine. Or the one. Or the one.

***

I think a reader’s natural response by now is something along the lines of if it’s gotten you into danger before, and it hurts and it renders living in the world so difficult, then why don’t you stop? I think the answer lies within my very human relationship with pleasure and pain.

Neuroanatomy would point out the obvious: Pain and pleasure originate from the same place: the amygdala. Just as you can’t scratch your scalp without incidentally messing up your hair, you can’t activate pain neurons without lighting up the pleasure neurons, too. The neural circuitry of the way humans perceive pain and pleasure can, in some cases like mine, confuse the recognition of the two, so I don’t even realize it hurts until the blood is flowing.

*** There are 19 steep steps, worn from use, leading into my apartment. The path is narrow, and I often feel compelled to push against the time-yellowed walls, hoping to somehow spare myself the imminent suffocation the stairway threatens.

Being awoken by a fear-driven scream is a remarkable sort of haunting. The change in mental state is severe: a benign lack of thought to a malignant brace for attack. But this scream, emitted from one of my roommates, was fueled by the sight of blood. I had Rorschach-ed the path’s wall with blood — King Midas style.

After I managed to brush the event under the rug, and sent all of my roommates back to bed, I sat on stair number 16 and let my tears burn my face. One day, I will win — I will end this skin picking disaster. Until then, I think I just need some grace — someone to assure me that everything I touch won’t wear my Midas red.

Design by Grace Filbin

Restructuring my ambition & other beginnings

If you had asked me what I wanted most in life just one year ago, I would have buoyantly responded with: a book deal and a successful writing career. As my aptitude for setting professional goals stretches back even further — a circled “1500” signaling my goal SAT score, a nine-page recount of a leadership development conference I went to when I was 17 and a crisply flattened picture of me and my mom after we toured Vanderbilt are among the many artifacts of my high school journal. Preoccupied by the stress of standardized tests and classwork, the purple ink in that journal is the mark of a person dominated by an almost entirely different set of standards and values from the person I am now.

In the years since, as my anxiety has escalated, many of my professional goals have been drowned out by the cacophony of my own thoughts. Success, in my mind, used to take the shape of a degree from a university many people perceive to be “great” and a job that people perceive to be equally as “great.” Now, success takes the shape of my hands — steady, unflinching from anxiety — and a mind that hasn’t worried itself sick wandering to the “Worst Case Scenario.” I’ve watched my world fold in on itself, watched the measurable goals that once constituted my life’s meaning dissolve like unstirred honey at

the bottom of a teacup: sticky, too concentrated to be useful. While I used to think of my life in years, I now think of it in days — if not hours. Within the last year, the scale of my life shrunk as my anxiety grew, completely shifting the standards I hold myself to: What I want most in life now is, most prominently, to be at peace with myself, followed by people to love and be loved by and financial stability.

Although my anxious thought patterns were the most pervasive this last summer and fall semester, these patterns are still very much muscle memory. Catastrophizing that phone call with a friend that was a few minutes too short is now second nature; impulsively playing mental reruns of daily interactions and overthinking fleeting moments of eye contact are now habits.

In the throes of my anxiety, the last thing I was thinking about was a future career, or a new club to join. And now, as I live alongside the remnants of that anxiety, I struggle to look beyond what’s currently in front of me. Recursive and overpowering, my anxious thought patterns dizzy me. They extend beyond the point of attempting to make plans for a future that seems so abstract. Because the more I think, the less my thoughts make sense; and the less my thoughts make sense, the more I think. At the height of my anxiety, all I wanted was control over myself and my thoughts — which is why I so incessantly relied on these familiar, albeit destructive, patterns. I believed

that if I played back these moments enough times I could eventually rewrite them. It was a cruel iteration of the very human craving for comfort by way of habits and familiarity.

It’s no secret that humans are creatures of habit, and, as a selfproclaimed organized, type-A person, I’ve always prided myself on maintaining a specific brand of habits: prioritizing school

even at the cost of my sleep or wellbeing, filling out my planner months in advance, never leaving my bed unmade. However, my anxious mind preyed on my affinity for structure and turned it on its head. In my most anxious months, there was no place that felt as safe to wander as the well-worn paths of the same “Worst Case Scenarios” I had played out in my head hundreds

of times before. While I knew that my shaking hands and these nightmares that had become my perennial bedtime stories were not sustainable, I didn’t know how to break the cycle I was in.

Although many articles on coping with anxiety suggest a formal, or at the very least concerted, effort to analyze your thought patterns and/or use stress management techniques, I did not

Design by Pheobe Unwin

feel like I had the space to take a step back and think about why my mind was going the places it was.

Instead, over the next several months, I began noticing parts of daily interactions that made me grateful — not just anxious — to be experiencing the day I was experiencing. This wasn’t even a choice I remember actively

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Overconsumption is coming for real life, too

too caught up with whatever was on my phone, on my computer or lingering in my mind to deeply experience what was around me. Now, I’m convinced that it is, in fact, possible.

Overconsumption isn’t just for the tangible. The same logic that demands we constantly pursue newness is pushing us to live shallow, disengaged lives. It makes no difference if you experience something deeply, all that matters is that you experience it. Overconsumption is coming for real life, too.

***

consumerism. Nevertheless, BookTok’s incessant pressure to finish more and more titles suggests it’s not just about owning an excessive amount of books. Reading becomes a means to an end, devoid of any critical analysis or enjoyment.

I spent this year’s Spring Break in Utah with a group of 11 other University of Michigan students, most of whom I hadn’t met before. We embarked on a trip with the Michigan Backpacking Club, and had been paired together based on our preferred spring break destination and daily hiking distance. The plan was to spend a week driving through the southern part of the state, following good weather, and to enjoy as much time in the backcountry as possible.

In backpacking communities, there are certain “iconic” hikes that convey a level of status and expertise: climbing the steep granite crest of Half Dome in Yosemite, summiting Mount St. Helens, descending 6,000 feet into the bottom of the Grand Canyon and coming back up again. We were in Zion National Park, in part, to complete one of those iconic hikes. More than half of my group had no real hiking or backpacking experience, but this trip was about to establish our place among “serious backpackers”: we were going to complete Angels Landing.

On paper, Angels Landing is a

deceptively short, 5.4 mile hike that covers a modest 1,488 feet of elevation gain. For the last half mile, however, hikers cross over a narrow rock formation that’s just a few feet wide in certain spots. Metal chains have been drilled into the rock to support hikers in segments that are too steep to complete unassisted. One wrong move, one misplaced step or moment of hesitation, and you’ll fall nearly 5,000 feet into the red canyon below.

Angels Landing started out as a loose suggestion: Wouldn’t it be fun to do it if we were going to Zion anyway? But for some members of my backpacking group, it became an obsession. Individuals in my group with improper equipment (crampons are strongly recommended in icy conditions) insisted on attempting the trek anyway, and attempts to dissuade them from putting themselves in the way of undue danger turned into a screaming match. One person even admitted that they had only signed up to make the 30-hour drive to southern Utah with the backpacking club to hike Angels Landing.

In the end, most of my group — myself included — did complete the hike. It was stunning and strenuous and everything

everyone had described it as. It would be untrue to say that it didn’t live up to the hype. But I felt a strange disconnection between Angels Landing as a physical place and embodied experience and Angels Landing as an ideal.

I began to suspect there was something deeper to the way certain hikes and outdoor experiences convey status — that for some people, it really wasn’t about enjoying nature, but about something else entirely. This thought lingered in the back of my mind throughout the trip. Again and again, comments would come up that made me return to this: We should hit all five National Parks in Utah just to say we did it, we can just go to the visitor centers.

I don’t want to spend three days in Capitol Reef National Park; no one has ever heard of that.

Why were we so obsessed with having certain experiences and how had their subjective value in our collective imagined warped my experience on my trip? There was an unspoken agreement that we would rather visit certain highprofile attractions in a superficial way — stopping at the visitor center, checking out the scenic overlook and then leaving — than spend more time hiking less iconic

spots. Was the visitor center at Bryce Canyon really worth more than three days of backpacking in Capitol Reef?

Overconsumption has been written about extensively. Overconsumption of new, trendy and low-cost clothes is fueling the fast fashion industry, which contributes to climate change and the exploitation of low-paid garment workers in the Global South. Overconsumption of social media is divorcing people from real life and contributing to a crisis of loneliness and isolation, especially for teens. Overconsumption contributes to a deep, psychological unhappiness where more is the ultimate goal — and where there is no longer any pleasure in enjoying the everyday or familiar.

Notably, critiques of overconsumption have almost exclusively focused on physical goods. This is unsurprising — it’s easy to cite how overconsumption contributes to hoarding, excessive shopping hauls and social media companies’ mandate to get people to spend more and more time online. But is it possible to “overconsume” experiences?

I used to think it was impossible. In fact, I constantly worried I was disengaging from real life,

Once I started thinking about overconsuming experiences, I began to see it everywhere. The most egregious example was BookTok. BookTok is an influential corner of TikTok dedicated to reading and reviewing books. I am, admittedly, not a regular viewer of BookTok content, mostly because I don’t like to read Young Adult novels anymore (despite being marketed towards teens, the genre has taken a hold on chronically online 20-somethings). But more importantly, I had an aversion to the community’s obsession with their “read counts” — how many books they had read in a given week, month or year.

I admit that this may seem like a hollow critique — the point of books is, after all, to read them. On BookTok, however, read counts are the ultimate indicator of status. Creators will boast about completing 100 books in a year. Not only is this reading volume unrealistic for the average person, it’s hardly aspirational. To meet these lofty reading goals, creators offer their viewers tips on how to finish novels faster, such as listening to audiobooks at double speed. Here, the novel functions more like a Zoom lecture that a reader just needs to get through than something to be engaged with and enjoyed. Other tricks that these influencers tout include skimming long passages of text and opting for shorter texts like novellas or graphic novels. The imperative is clear: read a book so you check another item off your to-read list, not because you’re actually interested in the text.

Of course, there’s an element of traditional, commodity-based overconsumption to BookTok.

Novels are primarily a tangible good, and literary influence has made substantive critiques of how literary communities encourage

Overconsumption is, at its core, about making yourself palatable and interpretable to others. Reallife overconsumption is largely driven by self-presentation. If someone tells you they read five books last year, it certainly tells you something about them. But if they say they read 100 books last year, or even 30, it’s a clear signal of who they are. That person is a reader, embodying a particular aesthetic that comes with the title. Other facts about that person are irrelevant, because reader provides a neat rubric through which they can become legible.

In an essay for Bustle, author Stephanie Danler describes her foray into BookTok. Danler, who’s novel “Sweetbitter” was popular among reading accounts on Instagram, joined TikTok to stay up-to-date with literary trends, but found that the app was more about successfully performing aesthetics than actual content.

“On it, you can’t just show a book by Clarice Lispector,” Danler writes. “The successful accounts performed being a ‘woman who reads Clarice Lispector.’ ”

The same is true of outdoor communities. Visiting one national park is a weak signal of someone’s identity. Overconsumption, however, provides a neat way to translate a narrow set of experiences into a fully formed idea of a person. In my mind, I can picture the kind of person who visits all five national parks in Utah. The line “I’ve hiked Angel’s Landing and Half Dome and Mount Saint Helens” makes it immediately clear to me who someone is. If they’re a woman, they’re probably a “granola girl” or if they’re a guy, they’re probably a “dirtbag” — a brand of outdoorsman who “is committed to a given (usually extreme) lifestyle to the point of abandoning employment and other societal norms in order to pursue said lifestyle.” It’s less about what particular archetype someone embodies, but more that living that archetype allows everything about them to fall into place.

HALEY JOHNSON Statement Correspondent

Design by Grace Filbin

This past weekend, over 100 community members on and off campus had the opportunity to attend Michigan in Color’s second exhibit of static and performance art –– a tradition that is becoming a highlight for artists and art lovers on campus. While named differently than last semester’s “Open MiC Night,” this year’s show –– donned the “MiC Arts Expo” –– once again brought artists of Color together in a space meant for anyone and everyone to enjoy.

As attendees started gathering in the event space at Cahoots Cafe, they were given the opportunity to see stunning static art including tapestries, prints, fashion pieces and MiC’s very own Black Hair Series. After days of gloomy weather, the sun radiated through the skylights and the excitement of spring reverberated through the audience. The seats filled up quickly and within minutes of the show starting the room was filled to the brim.

As everyone started to settle in, School of Information sophomore and MiC photographer Akash Dewan and former MiC Managing Editor Eliya Imtiaz opened up the show. Imtiaz said she was grateful for having this space again, as she and Dewan had the original idea of founding Open MiC Night in the fall.

Michigan in Color host bi-annual Art Expo

The show started off with a classical Indian music performance by Sikander Choudhary, an LSA freshman and queer Desi musician trained in Hindustani classical music. The opening performance was followed by various other musical performances, each one carrying its own cultural and unique purpose. After a series of vocal performances, “Karis Clark and Co.” refreshed the audience with a fusion of improv, comedy and rap.

As the intermission came around, the audience was once again given the opportunity to view the static art and grab coffee from the cafe. Art and Design sophomore Sonia Xiang, one of the static artists, expressed being grateful for a space to talk about her own art while also hearing from other artists.

“I really enjoyed the event and liked that I could have conversations and meet so many new people in this space,” Xiang said. Among the three pieces, Xiang displayed a fashion garment on a mannequin titled “Interwoven, 2023”. In the description of the piece, Xiang wrote, “This is an ongoing piece that I created in an exploration of collection, memory and identity by taking objects and scraps that were once important in my past and using it to create something unrecognizably new from foundations of past memories.” Static artists accompanied their pieces with vivid descriptions of their goals as artists

and often discussed how their identities were at the forefront of their art..

After the intermission, the show resumed with Pluot, a Japanese rock band from Ann Arbor. Band singer Echo Bennett, an Engineering sophomore, introduced the band and remarked on how their band has a reputation for “blowing things up.” Their performance was an exciting change of pace for the audience and an enjoyable musical experience. In an interview with band leader and guitarist Takahito Mori, an LSA junior, Mori said he was appreciative of the opportunity to play in a more intimate setting.

“This wasn’t our usual thing since we’re usually somewhere where we make a bunch of noise but it felt very supportive and the cheers were really great. I could tell that everyone was here just

JAMES SCARBOROUGH MiC Columnist

On July 13, 2019, Halle Bailey was announced as Ariel in the live-action retelling of “The Little Mermaid”. For many, this was cause for celebration. Black Twitter met the announcement with a sea of unbridled support. Fans of the alternative sister duo, Chloe x Halle, rejoiced. For we know, Halle has a voice that a certain sea witch couldn’t help but be envious of. Wide-eyed Black girls uttering “Mommy, she looks just like me” starred in an adorable array of viral clips.

Unfortunately, not all of the reception was positive. Angry groups of dissenters have taken to critiquing every aspect of the casting from complaints surrounding the brightness of Halle’s hair to her darker skin tone. My personal favorite baseless critique is that

fingers yanked me into your waltz so fast I lost count

One, two, three

One, two, three

We floated delicately around each

to enjoy art and for no other purpose,” Mori said.

Toward the end of the show Business junior Roman Rhone, who performed last semester, came for another performance on the steel drums. At the end of his performance, Rhone said he was surprised that so many people came out to support the arts, which was followed by audience laughter.

“This turnout is really great — I’m surprised these many people enjoy art,” Rhone said.

The show ended with Dewan giving his final remarks speaking about his own experience.

“Being in creator spheres I long for communities like this, for rooms packed full of people that appreciate art and artists of Color,” Dewan said. “It genuinely feels like a safe space, while that word is thrown around a lot this is the first time I have actually

felt it.”

The MiC Art Expo is a distinctive campus event for artists of Color to have a space of appreciation and for the public to see a dynamic gathering of students and Ann Arbor residents. We were thrilled to continue provid-

In defense of “Black Ariel”

“scientifically” a Black mermaid wouldn’t make any sense. Allegedly, mermaids would have no access to sunlight and couldn’t develop melanin … Analyzing the scientific realism of a being that’s half human, half fish, and capable of breathing underwater is a job that not even Bill Nye is qualified for. Everyone has appointed themselves a jaded film critic and made a 23-year-old Black woman their sole target. Recently, the film’s second trailer garnered over three million dislikes on YouTube in the span of a few weeks. A #NotMyAriel campaign also surfaced on Twitter. Under this hashtag, you can find Halle being the target of racial slurs and countless insults regarding her physical appearance. Some users are even going as far as to edit white skin and blue eyes onto images of Halle as Ariel. While all critiques aren’t this drastic, a common complaint circulating has to do with Holly-

wood making a habit of “Blackwashing” white characters.

Those who oppose a “Black Ariel” claim that the white characters they grew up with are being erased. A small, but vocal, pond of gingers are even upset that their redhead representation has been stolen, coining this phenomenon: “gingercide.”

Be astronomically for real.

The idea that representation is being taken from white audiences is ridiculous. If white people are seeking to see themselves in the form of a Disney Princess, they still have an array of porcelain sopranos to choose from. Look no further than Snow White, Cinderella or modern figures such as Rapunzel and Anna (oh look redheads, you got another one!). Better yet, if you want your original white and fiery-haired Ariel, she is available to you at any point in time via Disney+ for only $7.99 per month.

Another common complaint is that whitewashing is never acceptable in the reverse. “Why can’t white actors play characters of color?” Well, they already have … There is large historical precedent in support of whitewashing. White creatives have cast white performers in “racially diverse” roles and perpetrated harm through caricatures of ethnic experiences for over a century.

Minstrel shows were the first uniquely American live theater productions. In the early 19th century, white actors donning black face, exaggerated red lips and coarse wigs performed stage plays riddled with various rac-

Design by Haylee Bohn

other breaths bated not quite touching I twirled on my toes it was dizzying

A thousand jittery butterflies enveloped me in their sweet embrace

I cursed when the clouds darkened

You didn’t mind much (you welcomed the cool wind)

I minded too much (I missed the way the sun made your hair glow)

The real tragedy was when the sky unleashed her pouring wrath

Do you remember how quickly we tumbled down that yellow cobblestone street? My right foot slipped on wet stone

You grabbed my hand without looking as if your instincts were wired to catch me when I inevitably fall before you

I flicked damp hair off your cheek

Your palm found home on the nape of my neck and when our lips met

ist stereotypes. Decades later, actor Mickey Rooney played Mr. Yunioshi in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. Mr. Yunioshi is an Asian man with artificial slanted eyes and an exaggerated accent. Mickey Rooney is a blue-eyed white man. More modern examples of this American staple include Gerard Butler (a white man) playing an Egyptian deity in “Gods of Egypt”, and Scarlett Johansson (a white woman) cosplaying as Asian for “Ghost in the Shell’s” two-hour run-time.

Whitewashing is a cancer that has pervaded performance arts for years. Not only does this rob minorities of the chance to see themselves on screen, it steals agency from performers of Color, bars them from telling their own stories and refuses them access to an inequitable film industry. If anything, with casting choices like Halle Bailey, Hollywood is only beginning to make up for lost time. These shifts in casting are only a small step in healing decade-old wounds and adding diversity to projects created in less progressive eras. Whitewashing has the exact opposite impact and only works to strip away the representation marginalized demographics have had to fight tooth and nail for.

Whitewashing also tends to interfere with the believability of narratives. Typically, the ethnicities of characters of Color are essential to their storylines. The Louisiana Bayou backdrop, central voodoo elements, and soulful blues music in “The Princess and the Frog” don’t work with a white

What she knows

you laughed into my mouth

It was funny

How the rain stopped soon after Almost as if its only purpose was to urge your hand to grab mine

My touch was static charged volts with violent desires

I drew back to contain the sparks

You cried out and placed my hand on your heart

You thought the electricity would bring you back to life

But you never blinked when I failed to thread the needle every stitch incomplete The water spills past the dam, still Did you want me to drown?

When our legs were entangled and my curls splayed across your pillowcase my battle scars disguised themselves as marks of your affection Purple and blue and yellow On my neck chest

stomach in between my thighs

I didn’t know

I was a masochist

I would bite your skin

aching to show you I, too, could play your games

The white handkerchief taunted

protagonist. A white man being the king of Wakanda, an uncolonized African nation, wouldn’t make sense in any context. Contrarily, “The Little Mermaid” is a relatively untethered coming-ofage story, focusing on a fictional creature with zero mention of race. There is no vocal demographic of mermaids that will be audibly offended if they are “inaccurately” represented. Ariel is a blank slate. Rebelling against your parents or wanting to explore the world are not uniquely white experiences. If white children and white gingers could see themselves in a mermaid, they should have no problem relating to a black woman.

The beauty of an adaptation is the opportunity to retell a classic story with a modern audience in mind. On paper, Black Ariel just makes sense. For starters, the original film’s soundtrack has very obvious Caribbean influences. The musical number, “Under the Sea” was composed with a blend of calypso Trinidadian music and reggae sonics. “Kiss the Girl” even goes as far as sampling Harry Belafonte’s song “Jamaica Farewell.” The story itself also becomes more nuanced with the addition of a Black protagonist. Ariel feels like an outsider in her world and longs to be part of a larger society that refuses to accept people like her — this clearly parallels the reality of many Black Americans navigating this country. There is always an underlying feeling of discomfort or invalidity associated with holding marginalized identities. It is

me I used it to wipe the blood trickling down my chin

I would let myself burn

if that’s what you wanted

Rub me into your wounds My ashes could be your salve

ing a space that we created last semester and we hope to keep doing so every semester moving forward. We would like to thank all the artists, attendees and performers that took the time to be in this space and we look forward to seeing you again!

difficult to truly feel a part of a world that was built through your oppression. Narratively, a Black woman begging to be seen in a land that ignores her existence is infinitely more powerful than a girl who merely wants to travel and trade her fins for legs. A Black child getting her voice stolen by a villainess white woman also takes on a deeper meaning with this reimagining. It’s no secret that Black music, style and aesthetics are frequently colonized by white people, and appropriated for their benefit. Am I reading too deeply into a story containing a magical belting octopus and a six-packed sea god? Possibly, but I’m not claiming these were intentional choices, just that they’re interesting to analyze and have the potential to bring new life into an old project.

There is no better fit for bringing Ariel to life than Halle Bailey, the exceptionally talented singer, actress and Black woman. Halle Bailey does not deserve internet trolls and heated controversy. Halle Bailey deserves a relentless wave of “thank you”s. Thank you for ushering a lead Black heroine into the living rooms of countless Black children. Thank you for acting as a symbol for youth that are constantly forced to question their beauty and value. Thank you for letting the Black kids with starter locs or plaits reaching down their backs know that they too can be royalty. Thank you to #OurAriel for telling every Black girl in America that she can be anything she wants to be, even a princess and a mermaid.

But if we were so vicious together

Why does the wind scream in my ears and push my body backward so I stumble into your arms once again?

What does mother earth know that I don’t?

DHEEKSHA KRISHNAN MiC Columnist

Nolan Lopez/MiC

SHANIA BAWEJA MiC Assistant Editor

Akash Dewan/MiC

Op-Ed: Bee Campus Certification is not enough

The University of Michigan recently announced that it has received Bee Campus Certification from Bee Campus USA, which recognized our campus for establishing pollinator habitats, creating nest sites and reducing pesticides. While these are laudable achievements, the fact remains: We need to do more.

The prospects for insect life, and by extension our wellbeing, are bleak. Traditionally composing half of all animal biomass — the total mass of a population, reflecting the importance it has in the ecosystem — insects have seen a precipitous decline, with the total biomass of insects collapsing at a rate of 2.5% every single year over the last 25 to 30 years. The causes of their collapse are clear: habitat loss, herbicides, invasive species and of course climate change. While as a campus we may not have power to stop the corporations burning fossil fuels responsible for climate change, we can make a difference in the first three. Our next steps are clear: maintain our grounds without the use of synthetic herbicides, convert unused lawns into green spaces and reintroduce native plants.

The benefits are straightforward. By no longer poisoning the ground with synthetic herbicides, mycorrhizal fungi can return to the soil and sustain plant growth by providing mineral nutrients and hydration. Native plants allow native pollinators to compete with generalist European honeybees that could otherwise diminish their population to the point of local extinction. Through the cultivation of native gardens and pesticide-free lawns throughout campus, we fight habitat fragmentation, allowing for the

Debates on the Diag

populations of native insects. Not only can these insects now play their ecological role throughout campus, but these populations will also have better long-term prospects when they are able to migrate between spaces of natural habitat.

So why haven’t we done more? As the president of the Entomology Club and a fellow with Re:wild Your Campus, I have worked to establish organic plots of land on campus. Time and time again, two issues were raised: funding and image. The grounds team and sustainability office have expressed enthusiasm about these solutions and are already experimenting with organic methods like compost tea applications and organic products, but a larger campus-wide transition will require a signature from higherups. In order to save biodiversity on campus, the University needs to set aside money for the initial costs of transitioning to an organic campus. At this, the University hesitates: Is it worth the startup cost? What will current students, alumni and potential students think when the manicured lawn is no longer a desert of grass?

Perceptions are changing; students want to see change to campus. This academic year, the Entomology Club conducted an online survey of 105 people distributed on campus, with 98 student respondents. Out of our 105 respondents, 90 (85.7%) responded that they supported zero usage of synthetic herbicides on campus. When asked how they would feel if it meant that “certain grounds on campus would look less green and neat for a while,” we found that 87% of respondents still supported stopping synthetic herbicide use as “a necessary process.” An additional 11% said they would support organic groundskeeping, though they hope the appearance change would not last long. Finally, we found that a remarkable 60% of

volunteer on campus weeding days.

Other campuses are already ahead of us. Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Texas, Austin and others have already taken the steps necessary to make their campus synthetic herbicide free. Most similar to us, UC Berkeley successfully transitioned 95% of their campus to organically managed land over the course of only five years. As a result, the microorganisms in the soil increased twentytwo fold. Students driving this change at UC Berkeley created a national organization, Re:wild Your Campus, to encourage other schools to also go organic. Most importantly, research conducted there found that investing in a compost tea brewer yielded a $100,000 yearly benefit to the soil. Harvard similarly reported that use of the organic clippings as compost saved the University an annual $10,000 for 5,000 acres of land.

This isn’t to say our grounds team is not trying. In a recent meeting, we discussed a trial of an organic product they will be using on the Diag. They are open to alternatives and have already implemented some best practices like soil testing and the application of nutrientrich compost teas. But, like many campuses, our grounds department is underfunded and asked to maintain a vast campus to a world-class standard.

With support from the student body and enthusiasm from grounds, it is time that we make the leap to organic land care. In transitioning to organic land care, our campus can become Green Grounds certified, a firstof-its-kind certification that goes above and beyond chemical reduction to ensure the campus is taking steps to promote biodiversity and ecological health. We cannot fall further behind. We are the leaders and best and it’s time we acted like it: It’s time to change how we think

Build Garrett’s Space

Halpert, the founders of Garrett’s Space, said they didn’t expect to face this kind of opposition to their project.

In January of this year, a local nonprofit organization by the name of Garrett’s Space got $4 million in federal funding to build a new center focused on suicide prevention. A relatively new institution, Garrett’s Space has been offering professionally facilitated, weekly support groups for young adults for the past two years. After the announcement that Garrett’s Space was under contract for a 76-acre parcel of land in Superior Township, neighbors in the Fleming Ridge subdivision mounted an organized opposition campaign to stop the center, citing concerns about zoning and the center being “quite literally in (their) backyards.”

Garrett’s Space is hardly the first institution or development of any shape or size to face “neighborhood opposition.” A well-documented phenomenon, the idea of neighborhood opposition is most frequently seen in local debates about housing policy. Evidence has shown that the empowerment of neighborhood opposition raises costs and contributes to the housing crisis.

The opposition to Garrett’s Space is deeply unserious and is a clear example of not-in-my-backyard tendencies. The neighbors’ claims that this center will damage their quality of life are not based in reality and are another instance of when “community input” should be disregarded in favor of the actual execution of community benefits and goals.

In an interview with The

“We had no idea that we would be facing this type of organized … hostile … opposition,” Scott Halpert said.

Scott and Julie founded Garrett’s Space after realizing there were no care options to help their son Garrett when he was struggling.

“This is a new way of creating wrap-around holistic supports that … really just is common sense and we think it will make a huge difference,” Julie Halpert explained.

Scott and Julie told The Daily that they’re not the only ones who support their idea to build a residential center for youth severely struggling with mental health. Scott said their supporters include leading experts from all over the state, from the University of Michigan and St. Joseph Hospital, as well as the Washtenaw County Health Department and other community mental health services.

The Halperts said that much of the opposition to Garrett’s Space has refused to meet with them. In February, they sent out a letter explaining their intentions, and the immediate response of the neighbors was to go to the local Superior Township government to find ways to stop them.

Scott and Julie have answers to a lot of the complaints lodged by their neighbors.

“We are going to have very stringent screening procedures,” Julie said.

Scott added that they will not serve as a replacement for a psychiatric emergency room

“We have to be careful that they’re a threat to themselves,” Scott said, speaking about young people who may come to Garrett’s Space for treatment, “but they’re not a threat to others.”

The Superior Township property they have proposed to build Garrett’s Space on is in a prime location, and Scott and Julie recognize this.

“We just never thought it was possible, honestly, to find such a perfect place,” Julie said, “(one) that’s secluded … accessible and in a perfect location.”

Their board of directors wasn’t approving of sites further away in western Washtenaw County.

“Importantly, it’s close to the more populated areas of our county,” Scott said. “So it’s more accessible to more people.”

Julie added that it is significantly easier to get to this location than a more rural location.

The opposition to Garrett’s Space isn’t a novel phenomenon. People have been opposing change in their communities for as long as communities have been a thing, even when those projects have a clear neighborhood benefit. For example, community opposition is slowing down our ability as a nation to fight climate change. A law called the National Environmental Policy Act is the main culprit here. Originally designed to ensure accountability for disasters like oil spills, NEPA gives anyone the ability to sue an entity for reasons related to the environment, whether genuine or not. Currently, of all the projects under NEPA review, only 15% are fossil fuel projects, while 42% are related to clean energy.

ABDULRAHMAN ATEYA Opinion Columnist

Design by Haylee Bohm

JACK BRADY Opinion Columnist

Isat in the Michigan Union one snowy Wednesday morning, looking out on the picket line. After months of unproductive talks with the University of Michigan, the Graduate Employees’ Organization finally gave up on negotiations in favor of a strike. You’ve probably heard union members chanting as you walk down State Street: “No contract, no grades!” or “What’s disgusting? Union busting!” You may have even been accosted on your way to class.

Demanding a roughly 60% pay increase, reforms to campus security and a variety of other socially oriented policy changes, GEO is asking for too much, and they are unlikely to get all of it. But they’ve already accomplished part of their goal: We see them, and we know their value. As I sat in my comfy chair in

Opinion

America is on strike. Here’s what it means

the well-heated Union lounge, I scrutinized the graduate students marching outside. They shivered in the cold, turned their shoulders to the wind, but never lessened in vigor or quit their slogans. They showed admirable determination, although my awe disappeared when they stopped me on my way to lecture to explain their platform. I was running late.

While GEO’s strike is certainly the closest to home, it is not the only example of growing worker frustration in America.

In California last month, teachers and service employees for the Los Angeles Unified School District chose to cancel their classes and suspend school maintenance in pursuit of higher wages. The two participating unions eventually achieved their aim, with the drastic step bringing their discontent into the national spotlight. At several Michigan Starbucks sites, disgruntled baristas have walked away from their coffee presses and picked up picket

signs, joining over 100 other stores across the country.

Their outrage is genuine and requires our understanding. Profits and compassion are not mutually exclusive, and people in power should stop treating them as such. Last year, Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz opted to shut down a New York location moving toward a union. And to clear up any remaining confusion about why his employees were upset, he said the company was “assaulted in many ways by the threat of unionization.”

But it’s not just the C-suite that has lost touch with common people. With a potentially disastrous rail strike looming last December, the Biden administration signed legislation preventing freight union members from walking off the job. Scranton Joe, a supposed union man, sided with corporate and kept supply lines open. But what about the workers? They didn’t get the paid sick leave they were bargaining for, and

their anger will not disappear anytime soon.

Negligence in Washington and on Wall Street has real consequences. We will feel them soon if nothing changes. My message to Biden, Congress, Shultz and everyone else who needs to hear this: Stop treating everyone who can’t write you a check like they’re invisible. They’re not. They make the country work. This doesn’t mean giving in to unreasonable demands. It means listening and showing genuine care for those further down the economic ladder. It means giving workers your ear, not a strong arm.

Let the protests in France be our warning of what happens when elite indifference goes too far. French President Emmanuel Macron drove a widely unpopular pension reform bill through Parliament without a vote, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. Discussing the controversial measure in an interview, Macron placed his hands under the table to

remove the luxury watch he was wearing, further widening the chasm between himself and the working class. He bypassed the legislative body meant to represent his people. Now his people are lighting buildings on fire.

If we want to avoid suffering the same fate as France, our political and financial leaders cannot behave with the same pomposity. Vulgar displays of riches spread quickly on social media. The only thing that spreads quicker is the backlash. This dangerous dichotomy combined with a larger wealth gap than at any other point in modern U.S. history seriously raises the risk of unrest.

This country has always had significant financial inequality, but never before has it been so noticeable. To the millions of Americans barely able to pay the bills, the countless images of CEOs and politicians on yachts and private jets represent an American Dream they haven’t shared in. And now, with

several of the world’s richest men funding their own trips to space, there literally exists a world of difference between the prosperity of the rich and the strife of the poor. Capitalism cannot survive such dissonance. The strikes sweeping the nation have shown us where workers are at. The apathetic responses from the elite show us their detachment. But capitalism remains the best existing financial system, and it has created more growth than any other alternative. The costs of a societal breakdown like we’re seeing in France would hurt everyone.

The wealthy must reconnect with the rest of the country — and fast. Show the skeptics and the struggling what capitalism can do. Let workers unionize, and don’t look at it as a threat. Look at it as an opportunity to hear what the vast majority of Americans are saying, and show them that the free market works for more than just the one percent.

Op-Ed: President Ono, is there a place for people with disabilities at UMich?

“Dear All: I apologize, but I’m feeling under the weather today.

I am canceling our committee meeting scheduled for this afternoon. I’ll follow up later today by email.”

On their way home, they bumped into a co-worker, also an administrator.

They rested their head on their desk. Outside, the chirping birds, the longer days and the budding trees were signs of hope and optimism for most of the University of Michigan community, but for our colleague, springtime was a recurring trigger of clinical depression.

A full professor, they had made their way through the ranks of the academy battling bouts of a debilitating depression, which once even landed them in the hospital. Despite their struggle with mental illness, they were a respected scholar in their field with numerous teaching and service awards.

Today, their depression had become too heavy for them to work. Only one thing prevented them from leaving campus and taking refuge in the darkness of their bedroom. They eventually managed to write the dreaded email:

“I just saw your email. Under the weather, eh? You look great to me. Got a cold or something?”

Our colleague didn’t want to be prodded any further. They just wanted to get home. They had not disclosed their depression to their department.

“I’m just a little unwell today.”

Not breaking eye contact, the administrator said, tersely, “Well, I hope you feel better.”

They couldn’t tell whether the hint of sarcasm in the administrator’s voice was real or imagined, another microaggression or the product of their imagination. They chalked it up to the latter, but they would never know for sure.

The colleague in this story, like us, is one of many faculty and staff on this campus who identify as disabled or with disabilities. We experience daily microaggressions,

offensive remarks, constant challenges with accessibility, a lack of guidance to navigate the disability accommodation process and a general lack of support within an ableist, individualistic campus culture.

Our colleague’s clinical depression qualifies as a disability and is protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, unlike programs for students, the University has no effective structure on campus to support faculty and staff. Worse, the University often relies on obscure procedures to deny faculty and staff the accommodations they need without possible recourse. The result is an inequitable accommodation process. Those with invisible disabilities have a greater burden of proof to show the University, and the pervasive racial and gender biases that endure in the medical establishment, and parts of U-M administration make the process all the more difficult to navigate.

In addition to the problems with formal procedures, some facets of our cultural climate are just plain unwelcoming.

During the COVID-19

pandemic, the University relaxed rules on masking while our immunocompromised colleagues risked their wellbeing to teach in person. Then came the rule forbidding us from requiring masking in our classrooms. We are still in a pandemic. U-M health policies threaten the health and wellbeing of all members of the community, especially people with disabilities. We chose to work and would like to continue working for the University in a climate that is inclusive and supportive. Moving forward, we expect a workplace that embraces disability: not one that grudgingly complies with the ADA, but exceeds its standards. As productive and successful members of this University, we believe disability culture has a place and a role here at the University.

Aligned with ethnic, gender and racial justice, disability justice requires intentional cultural transformation on campus. We seek a path forward through building community, confronting structural barriers and creating a transparent accommodations process for staff and faculty.

Hammocks

We suggest expanding the LSA’s Disability Navigators Pilot Program, a successful pilot program that promotes disability justice and supports employees with disabilities across all sectors on campus through a lens of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We enthusiastically support converting DEI 1.0 rhetoric into DEI 2.0 actions and implementation plans that are radically equitable, inclusive and meaningful. We support building upon the recommendations of the Student Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Board, a committee that was organized within the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. One such recommendation we fervently support is the establishment of a Disability Culture Center at the University. Additionally, we would like to see an active critique to address ableist language in the Standard Practices Guides, training requirements for unit administrators and a reevaluation of profoundly ableist U-M policies.

Working in partnership with Disability Culture at

the University of Michigan, we formed the Disability Justice Network to provide support and foster a discussion forum for staff and faculty and cultivate change on campus. Initially funded by the University’s ADVANCE Program, the Disability Justice Network seeks to broaden its network of allies to include administrators, faculty and staff. Anyone wishing to be a part of the conversation can join the Disability Justice Network MCommunity listserv here: disabilityjustice@umich.edu.

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed over 30 years ago, paving the way for people with disabilities to become protected members of the workforce, the campus disability community, like other marginalized groups, has not been fully recognized and valued within our larger academic community. We extend to all U-M administrators, and especially University President Santa Ono, an open invitation to explore how we might transform U-M policies and practices that fully support people with disabilities.

EMMANUELLE MARQUIS, REMI YERGEAU, ROBERT ADAMS, VIVIAN CHEUNG & ANN JEFFERS Opinion Contributors

Cartoon by Cassidy Brimer

Don’t cross the picket line

LinkedIn is the worst form of social media: Here’s why

TATE MOYER Opinion Columnist

Icurrently have more than 900 connections on LinkedIn. Realistically, I probably only know about 200 of them. On a weekly basis, my inbox is inundated with emails urging me to accept “invitations to connect” with strangers and to explore the profiles of our mutual connections — and I hate it.

In comparison to other social media platforms, LinkedIn masks its toxicity under a guise of “professionalism” and “executive development.” An article published by The Guardian accurately describes the ordeal as “a giant, living, breathing resume, complete with bad formatting, plasticised optimism and synthetic relationships.” It weaponizes productivity, trapping its users in an endless cycle of networking. And with more than 300,000 job applications submitted on the platform every hour, LinkedIn’s propagation of this serial professionalism appears to be far from slowing down.

Similar to other social media sites, LinkedIn hinges upon branding and self-promotion. The platform leverages the same damaging tendencies of self-comparison, but through the misleading rhetoric of professional development and career advancement. It offers substantial opportunities for users to inflate their credentials and present an exaggerated or misleading image of their qualifications. A recent study found that more than one-third

Design by AJ Nieto

of LinkedIn users fabricate certain details in their profiles. These falsified details can prove especially damaging to the mental state of users, perpetuating feelings of imposter syndrome and complacency. The site’s resulting domain emerges as a warped professional hierarchy, where profile connections and skills function as points to keep score. This overwhelming user experience is not uncommon for the average university student. With more than 199 million members and counting, the United States currently ranks as the country with the highest number of LinkedIn users. More than 59.1% of LinkedIn’s user base is composed of people ranging in age from their mid-20s to early30s, particularly recent college graduates. A common affliction for this age bracket is career uncertainty, which makes them even more vulnerable to selfdoubt and insecurity.

“I probably spend around three to five hours on the app per week,” said Andrew Van Baal, an LSA sophomore studying Environmental Science. “Scrolling through the endless feed of achievements definitely creates a bit of imposter syndrome.”

Recent studies have revealed nearly half of LinkedIn’s users as prone to these feelings of negativity, evidence that the effects of the app’s toxic hustle culture is experienced by the bulk of users. Despite these sentiments, however, many individuals feel that LinkedIn is harder to ‘quit’ than traditional social media. With nearly 85% of jobs currently

being filled through networking, LinkedIn’s web of connectivity is getting progressively harder to escape.

This perceived necessity of LinkedIn as a “job search assist” has become the gold standard of the app’s interface, trapping users in an endless scroll under the veil of professional development.

Correspondingly, LinkedIn’s revenue increased by 26.2% in 2022, currently resting at a cool $14.5 billion. The platform’s reliance on monetizing user data and leveraging connections to generate profits results in a direct commodification of interpersonal relationships. Ads and sponsored content are also designed to match users’ job aspirations, causing even the pursuit of career ambitions to be exploited as an opportunity for profit.

However, as is the case with most social media, the problem does not lie exclusively in the app’s interface itself, but also in the way users engage with it. Platforms like LinkedIn have blurred the boundaries between professional and personal domains, guilting individuals into engaging in business relations outside of the office for fear of “falling behind.”

Consequently, the daily use of work-related apps like LinkedIn is eclipsing what we consider as leisure time. The statistics corroborate this reality, with threequarters of Americans reporting symptoms of burnout in their jobs.

Currently, the United States has one of the longest workweeks in the world. Job unhappiness among the American working class is also currently at an all time high.

Read

Rethinking college rankings: Why they don’t tell the whole story

This year, Ivy League universities received a whopping 311,948 applications. Of that overwhelming number, only 21,168 lucky students received a decision letter starting with “Congratulations!” This shouldn’t come as a surprise. With acceptance rates ranging from 3% to 8%, the odds aren’t exactly in your favor. The “Ivies,” as they’re commonly known, have always had a certain reputation.

Although the term “Ivy League” wasn’t introduced until the 1950s, people have long recognized these eight institutions as some of the most sought-after programs in the world. As the title of Ivy League is synonymous with topnotch academics and unmatched prestige, it’s obvious why many students share a dream of receiving an acceptance letter. But are these schools prided because they actually are the “best” or because their names have a certain

ring to them?

It’s no secret that getting into an Ivy League school takes more than a stellar academic record. For those who truly want a chance at admission, the process is a highcost, high-stress gauntlet. A New York Times study found that 38 American universities, including five Ivies, have more students from the top 1% of earners than from the bottom 60%, showing that if you want to make it to a “top” university you have to pay to play.

The 2019 admissions year revealed a, now well-known, conspiracy code-named “Operation Varsity Blues” where investigations found the parents of 33 college applicants guilty of bribing their kids’ way into top universities, including several of the Ivy League schools. When people are willing to take such extreme measures to secure their kids a college acceptance letter, it begs a question: Is going to an Ivy League college really that much better? The obvious answer is of course. Ivy League schools offer top academic programs

coupled with extensive alumni networks. Yet, so do tons of other public universities, one being the University of Michigan. The thing that the Ivy League schools are offering that other universities aren’t is the honor attached to their name, maintaining superiority in title only.

Unlike many other applicants, the University’s elite athletic program wasn’t a huge factor in my decision to apply. While I’ve always played sports and regularly attended my high school’s sporting events, I had never been particularly involved in college sports. But from the moment I walked into the Big House for the first time, I was hooked. Although the term “Ivy League” did originate as the title for a D1 NCAA athletic conference, nobody does sports quite like the Big Ten or the SEC. Seeing the streets of Ann Arbor flooded with maize and blue on game day is a tradition unlike any other and football isn’t the only sport worthy of mention. If you haven’t attended a hockey game at Yost Ice Arena, it might shock

you to know there is often a line of students eagerly waiting outside the arena doors over an hour before puck drop. With a lot of U-M sports being highly competitive, it leads the way to a highly involved student fanbase, something that you tend to see less of at Ivy League schools.

But if it is academics you’re after, again, an Ivy League school might not be your best bet. U.S. News — the gold standard for college rankings — recently found the University of Chicago’s Booth Business School to be the best business school in the nation, ranked over both UPenn’s Wharton and Harvard’s business program. This is not to discredit the Ivy League schools in any way but simply to illustrate that there are other programs comparable to them in terms of academic rigor and excellence. Although admissions may be more selective, upon entrance, academic standards and class difficulty aren’t all that different from other programs. It’s not uncommon to see Ivy League graduates holding high positions in American society — for instance,

seven of the nine members of the Supreme Court attended undergrad at one of the Ivies. However, it’s not because they were taught any differently from the students at other universities.

With that said, there is an argument to be made for attending a university in your state. The cost of out-of-state tuition can range anywhere from double to even triple that of your in-state school. And while you might be expected to make more by graduating from any Ivy, that money isn’t guaranteed — the money you’ll owe in student loans is. If you can receive a relatively similar education but at a significantly reduced cost, why wouldn’t you? It’s understandable to want a fresh start or to want a change of scenery, but if you have an in-state school comparable to the one you’re applying to out of state — again, take the University of Michigan, for example — surely you can put up with the harsh winters for a few more years.

In the end, the prestige associated with Ivy Leagues isn’t going away anytime soon and

they’ll most likely maintain their elite status for many years to come. However, we can change the way that we view other seemingly “lesser” programs. According to the U.S. Department of Education, “a college degree is the surest way to economic strength and stability,” but which university signs your degree is less important than simply having a diploma. So why not look at the four years we spend as undergraduates as a time to enjoy the community that we are a part of rather than viewing it simply as a means of jump-starting our careers?

Those who are accepted into the Ivy League schools might appear to be the “winners” in the college admissions competition, but they definitely don’t have it all. They’ll never get the thrill of rushing the field after their football team beats The Ohio State University in one of sports’ biggest rivalries and they’re missing out on some of the best parts of college that an Ivy League ticket can’t deliver.

and Flint

Noted education author and activist James Murphy argued in a recent op-ed for the Chronicle of Higher Education, “You can’t drive social mobility if you don’t enroll poor people.”

The University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus enrolls half of the proportion of Pelleligible students — that is, lowerincome students — compared to the regional campuses in Dearborn and Flint. In fact, U-M Dearborn, where 44% of students are Pell-eligible, is one of the most successful in the nation at promoting economic mobility. Despite representing significantly more low-income students, the University’s central administration significantly underinvests in U-M Dearborn and U-M Flint students. In fact, U-M Ann Arbor students are provided almost four times the resources as U-M Dearborn and U-M Flint students.

Austerity at U-M Flint and U-M Dearborn prevents the University from realizing a positive vision

of inclusion by institutionalizing class and race inequalities. Like individuals, organizations can engage in behavior that has racist, classist or discriminatory impact. Organizations can, inadvertently or sometimes deliberately, adopt policies, budgets and rules that systematically disadvantage people of some backgrounds relative to others.

U-M Ann Arbor campus leaders have a responsibility to monitor their policies and rules to make certain that they do not have discriminatory impacts. This work has yet to be accomplished. If the administration chooses not to do so, our democratically elected Board of Regents must step up.

Yet, the regents have taken no action to suggest they understand the profoundly discriminatory nature of the current model. U-M Dearborn and U-M Flint enroll proportionally more workingclass students, first-generation students and students of Color than U-M Ann Arbor. And despite the profound efficacy of a college education for low-income students, the University’s recent review of its diversity, equity and inclusion audit, DEI 1.0, failed to mention students from regional campuses.

Leadership will say that each campus has its own plan. But like everything else, DEI at U-M Dearborn and U-M Flint is underfunded and under constant strain. It seems like the central administration thinks of us as one university when they are touting their diversity statistics in a recent affirmative action amicus brief, but excludes the highly diverse regional student bodies in DEI outreach, programming, benchmarking and reporting.

Through a budget model that under-resources low-income students, the University enables inequity and is failing at its espoused DEI mission. It is undermining its responsibility as a state-founded and funded institution, creating a culture that is hypocritical and imperiling the University’s ethos of inclusivity.

This system of inequitable funding has also imposed a regime of permanent austerity on the Dearborn and Flint campuses. Liberal arts classes and programs that fulfill an essential part of the University’s mission are cut. University President Santa Ono has said that an education without the liberal arts is “a danger to humanity.” And yet, these cuts reduce such vitally important

educational options for students, perpetuating a vicious circle of declining enrollment, falling revenues and further rounds of cuts. The U-M Flint and U-M Dearborn have been closing their liberal arts-centered programs — notably, Africana Studies at U-M Flint — and shrinking others, preventing students from majoring in these disciplines. Closing programs, cutting classes required for majors and reducing the number of times that classes are available reduces student enrollment. Enrollment at the Flint campus has been falling for some years now, reinforcing a vicious circle of austerity. If you don’t build it, they won’t come.

Why is austerity across campuses not more equally shared if equity is a U-M value? The truth is that austerity is imposed by policy, not a lack of resources. Every year, the University generates a large enough surplus of income through operating expenses to easily provide U-M Flint and U-M Dearborn with the extra resources they need without cuts to U-M Ann Arbor programs. An equitable budget might include $15 million per campus per year to pay for the full-

fledged U-M Ann Arbor version of the Go Blue Guarantee for U-M Dearborn and U-M Flint students, and leave substantial sums on both campuses to pay for student support programs and needed improvements in faculty and staff compensation. This $30 million could come from surplus revenue and would not need to come out of the U-M Ann Arbor General Fund budget.

There are other ways in which that money might be distributed more evenly. To give some sense of orders of magnitude, $30 million would be just 1.2% of U-M Ann Arbor’s 2022-23 General Fund expenditures. Living up to its DEI principles, central administration should make such changes in its next budget and commit to these transfers of funds unless and until increases in other revenue streams make such transfers unnecessary — that is, if equity is achieved when U-M Dearborn and U-M Flint students are no longer subject to austerity.

This budget would also make up for the Ann Arbor campus’s current practice of admitting half of its students from out of state. A growing population of outof-state students compromises the campus’s mission as a

state university. However, the underfunded Dearborn and Flint campuses could pick up the slack, bolstering the University’s value to the state. They run on shoestrings in constant crisis mode even as their student bodies support the diversity that the central administration allegedly values. How is the current culture not discriminatory?

When talking about DEI 1.0, Ono said, “Institutions have to be committed to continuous, positive momentum. It’s important for me to show I’m behind DEI 1.0 to make sure when we embark on DEI 2.0 as an institution, we do so with even more vigor, determination and support.”

We agree with Ono. Diversity, equity and inclusion at the University should be vigorous, determined and supported. But moving forward, DEI initiatives should include revitalized resources for U-M Dearborn and U-M Flint students. Self-imposed austerity on the University’s regional campuses is stressful for its students, faculty and staff, making teaching and learning more difficult and degrees harder to pursue and enjoy. Without a new budget model, authentic DEI is not possible.

LIZ ROHAN, DAILLE HELD & ANDREW THOMPSON Opinion

UNHITTABLE

Lauren Derkowski’s ascent continues with back-to-back no-hitters

ders.

best I can for the team.”

When Lauren Derkowski threw a no-hitter in the Michigan softball team’s win against Purdue on Friday it wasn’t all that shocking. Amid the sophomore right-hander’s breakout season and continual progression, she seemed certain to throw a no-no at some point.

But with a second no-hitter on Saturday, Derkowski proved that she had evolved into a truly elite pitcher.

After pitching just 44.2 innings last year, Derkowski entered this year with an unknown ceiling. Although she flashed potential with a 2.19 ERA and 43 strikeouts, no one knew what she could do with the training wheels removed.

“She’s somebody who was last year kind of waiting in the wings,” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said. “And what she

did all summer is she really improved her game. She went through a pitching school and made some adjustments with her mechanics and really more than anything just made some adjustments with her competitiveness. And I think that’s what we’ve seen.”

Her mechanical improvements have been clear all season. Her one-two punch has overpowered hitters with the fastball and perplexed them with the changeup. But with a middling offense, even small mistakes by Derkowski have resulted in losses. With each loss, however, the competitor in Derkowski looks to improve her craft and do whatever it takes to win games. This weekend was no different.

“I just had a lot of fun out there,” Derkowski said. “Not even thinking about (the nohitter), just being in the moment and enjoying it and doing the

As the Wolverines’ offense struggled to get rolling on Friday, scoring only two runs through five innings, Derkowski’s shutout kept it afloat. And after her teammates were finally able to extend the lead to 4-0,

capped off the no-hitter with six strikeouts in the final two innings and 13 total on the day. Derkowski pumped her fist in celebration of the win, as her teammates swarmed her in jubilation of her momentous performance.

She goes in there everyday and practices her butt off and really, really, really goes in there and competes and it shows when we go out there and play other teams.”

she only became more dominant in securing the win.

In the final at bat of the game, Boilermakers catcher Hailey Hayes only watched as Derkowski’s changeup laced the outside corner and

“Oh, my goodness, that girl fires me up,” graduate first baseman Melina Livingston said. “She’s awesome. I mean, anytime she steps on the mound, we know we’re gonna get the absolute best out of her.

With the 13-strikeout nohitter, Michigan witnessed Derkowski’s best continue to get even better. And that improvement has been noticeable on the stat sheet. Her 1.66 ERA and 170 strikeouts are both second best in the Big Ten, and her case for conference pitcher of the year grows every time she steps into the circle. But after Michigan dropped a disappointing game two — the program’s third loss to Purdue since 1999 — Derkowski remained committed to winning the series. And stepping back into the circle for the series finale, she was the same relentless competitor as in game one. With the offense struggling yet again, the game was undeniably on her shoul-

But embracing every opportunity to allow her team to win, Derkowski continued to pitch at the high level she did in game one — proving that level to not be a rare ceiling, but a step in her development. She started with three strikeouts in the first two innings, and never looked back.

And in a fitting ending to her weekend, she fanned the final batter to complete back-to-back no-hitters.

“She was exceptional all weekend,” Tholl said. “She was a competitor. She’s the reason we (had) those victories. She held hitters at bay and was just an absolute warrior in the circle this weekend.”

She wanted to win and her competitive nature drove her back-to-back no-hitters — just as it has driven her ascent to new heights all season. An ascent that has yet to find its ceiling.

With a second no-hitter on Saturday, Derkowski proved that she had evolved into a truly elite pitcher.

SportsMonday: Hello, goodbye

tion, I still have it (if not more).

was out of the question.

It’s important to say “hello” before you can say “goodbye.”

My friends and I like to go back and look at our introductory emails we sent before becoming Daily Sports Writers. Mostly, they make us laugh, reading through the awkward, all-too-formal interactions. But they also hold fragments of the people we once were and, for better or worse, fragments of a person we’d never become.

Here’s mine:

from: Nicholas Stoll nkstoll@ umich.edu to: Ethan Sears searseth@ umich.edu, Max Marcovitch maxmarco@umich.edu

date: Aug 28, 2019, 3:49 PM

subject: Sports Reporter

Hello, my name is Nicholas Stoll, I’m an incoming freshman this year, and I’m interested in covering sports for The Michigan Daily. I’m going in as an English major, and I’m interested in pursuing journalism as a career in the future.

I know the site says that there is no actual application, but I feel it’s important to mention that I’ve played many sports in the past and that I am a hard-worker.

Please send any important information, such as meeting times and locations, my way.

I’m looking forward to hearing back from you.

Thank you for your time, Nicholas Stoll

For those who know me, you probably already found some things in that email that are amusing. First off, I go by “Nick,” yet somehow my formal introduction and my unwillingness to correct anyone through the first few sports meetings have led to the “Nicholas Stoll” byline that I’ve stuck with for four years. Not to mention, I’m graduating in a few weeks with a business degree, just three English classes on my transcript and no journalism career in my future.

Then there’s the obvious that — beyond any touch-football experience — my sports history has no bearing on my success here.

Before stepping foot into 420 Maynard, those are the things I thought were important. But after four years, I know how off-base I was. Still, there are important things to take from this email.

The person that responded to me, he’s one of my best friends. The sports section I joined, it gave me a home with even more friends to cherish. The excitement I had to write for this sec-

This is where I started my journey at The Daily. My starting point is different from yours, and yours different from every other. But this is where my story began. This was my “hello.”

***

The first event I covered was a Michigan men’s soccer game. I was brimming with excitement but still too awkward to show it.

So, on my solo elevator ride down from the press box, I snapped a quick selfie to send to my mom — glasses, braces and credential all prominently on display.

I carried that excitement with me into State News practices, picking up more stories, meeting my best friends in the world and falling in love with the newsroom. The Michigan Daily was where I laughed, smiled, cried, yelled, cheered and laughed some more.

The newsroom was my home.

Until, of course, it wasn’t. COVID-19 kicked us out and barred the doors shut. The TVs remained off. The decks of cards stayed in their packets. The newsroom continued to be empty.

That summer, I clung on to what I had left of The Daily, running for Summer Managing Sports Editor (MSE). And while we did what we could — and I appreciated every Zoom call and text with that year’s summer staff — it just wasn’t the same. It didn’t feel like The Daily.

As summer turned into fall, and fall into winter, the excitement within me that previously poured over slowly faded. I wasn’t motivated to do a beat, to write at all, really. And as I sat at home, The Daily stopped being home.

I contemplated quitting — not entirely, but taking a definite step back. I planned to stay on as an editor, but I felt that I was done writing. I didn’t want to let go of everyone just yet, but I had a foot squarely out the door.

However, I wasn’t just about to quit on The Daily, I was about to quit on myself.

My mental state was as bad as I could remember. I didn’t have faith in my work, my worth or anything else for that matter. I was just going through the motions, and anything else felt like too much to take on. A beat

Then Ethan, the same MSE and best friend that replied to my email, called me.

“You’re doing a beat.”

It wasn’t a question.

“You’re too good of a writer. You need to be on a beat. You’re doing softball.”

Then Kent — the MSE at the time, my former co-Summer MSE and my future roommate — called. He echoed more of the same.

Neither of them knew how much I needed that call — how much I needed that push. That push put me back on track. Covering a softball game in-person was the happiest I had been in a while. I loved my beatmates, and I remembered why The Daily was special. Like an overfilled pitcher, my excitement was pouring out all over again.

Thinking back on it, I can’t believe I almost walked away. I almost said “goodbye” far too early.

***

Honestly, it still feels too early to say “goodbye.”

In many ways, The Daily sports section is my home.

Every day I wake up and head downstairs to find The Daily sports section in my living room. The people I eat with, live with and share a house with are people I met on The Daily. As MSE, I spent more time in the newsroom than anywhere else, fully living and breathing 420 Maynard.

I made it my personal mission to make sure everyone else who walked in the doors felt the same. I wanted them to come in and fall in love like I did, and — unlike me — never want to leave. I wasn’t always successful. Some people walked away, and each time I still wondered what I could’ve done to stop it — what call, what text, what words I could have said to keep them here.

I’ve accepted that I may never know what I could have or should have done. Instead, I like to look around the room and see the smiles of the people I know who stayed. Recently, I’ve been seeing new smiles that I don’t recognize, filling me with joy and reminding me of the bittersweet reality that my time has passed.

Hopefully, they’ve found their home, too.

If they have, they’ll find it just as hard to say “goodbye” as I do right now. So instead, I’ll leave The Michigan Daily with this:

Thank you for your time,

Nicholas Stoll

SportsMonday:

Looking back on a list

JARED GREENSPAN Daily Sports Writer

I’ve had a file on my laptop since the first semester of my freshman year. I’ve been waiting to open it again until now. See, college moves fast — way too fast — and I was lucky enough to recognize that pretty early on. I wanted a way to remember everything, beyond mere photos and fables. A diary wouldn’t work, because I had tried that before and lacked the dedication to see it through. Ditto for a journal.

But on Dec. 11, 2019, I needed a solution. I had just experienced my first last night of production at The Daily. I hung out at 420 Maynard well into the early morning, eating NYPD and playing chair monkey. At some point, I wandered back to my dorm at Alice Lloyd, feeling happy and probably a bit tipsy, too.

The clock begged me to go to bed, but something about that felt wrong. I didn’t want to lose the magic of that night; I had to do something, anything, to keep it alive. So I opened the “Sticky Notes” app on my laptop and started jotting down my favorite memories of that semester, specifically those tied to The Daily. Soon enough, I had formed a pretty comprehensive list.

I can’t remember the last time that I’ve looked at the list. Sometimes I even forget that it exists. But as I struggled writing this piece — because there are few things that I dislike more than talking about myself — the list became an all-consuming thought. It was time to read it again.

When I went to open it, a weird thing happened. My heart started beating fast. My hands grew clammy. My mind raced. And as I sat on my living room couch, I became oddly emotional.

My final last night of production looms on Tuesday, so it was a full circle moment as I reflected on my first. I wondered what mattered to me at the time, as an 18-year-old first semester freshman. What moments were most formative in developing my love for The Daily? I suddenly needed to know.

I opened the file and smiled. Here’s what I wrote about:

I wrote about playing a game of euchre with Kopnick; about walking to buy drinks with Ethan; about transcribing quotes for Max. I wrote about elections, where I sat next to Connor and earned the distinction of “most likely to pass out on the bathroom floor.” I wrote about getting a phone call to go to Denny’s and filming the livestream for State News; about following Daniel and Teddy onto the floor at Crisler Center for a volleyball match. I wrote about wandering into The Daily to watch LSU-Georgia on an innocuous Saturday night, only to find out that Lane, Lily, Ethan and Ben were there, too.

All of these moments may seem rather trivial, and maybe they are. But this is what The Daily is all about — those random, spontaneous memories that spawn out of nowhere yet last for a lifetime. You cling to those innocent walks to grab dinner and the random invitations to go sledding because they made you feel valued; they showed you that there’s a group of people on this vast, intimidating college campus that genuinely care about you. And that’s the best feeling that you can ever ask for. In the time between then and

now, I’ve accomplished more at The Daily than I ever thought to be possible. Some people knew what they wanted to get out of The Daily when they came in, writing carefully-crafted emails ahead of time to the Managing Sports Editors. That wasn’t me — I wandered my way to a table at Festifall and showed up to my first sports meeting too early, as I didn’t know the door code and everyone was still at a State News practice. Talk about apropos. But I found a home pretty quickly. I liked writing and I liked sports, and that formula wound up taking me pretty far. I was lucky enough to be on a beat each year, and three of the teams that I covered won a Big Ten Championship. That allowed me to cover March Madness and consecutive College Football Playoff games; it enabled me to write the game story for Michigan’s triumphant win over Ohio State in 2021. I traveled to Florida and Arizona and Texas, crisscrossing the country as a “job.”

But I think it’s fitting that the list doesn’t include any mention of my writing or any of the games that I covered. It’s all about the memories that I made with the people I’ve since come to love and the places we’ve all been together.

I didn’t note any of the features that I wrote or the games that I covered. Yes, those are incredible, unforgettable moments that I’m so fortunate to have experienced. And yes, at its core, The Daily functions as a newspaper. But as I finish off my 260th and final story here, I can say that The Daily is so much more than the work we produce.

So maybe on Tuesday night — or more accurately, Wednesday morning — I’ll sit down in front of my laptop, happy and tipsy, and make another list. Odds are, it will look pretty similar to the first.

Thinking back on it, I can’t believe I almost walked away. I almost said “goodbye” far too early.

You cling to those innocent walks to grab dinner and the random invitations to go sledding because they made you feel valued.

Photo courtesy of Jared Greenspan

Photo courtesy of Nicholas Stoll

Michigan’s consistency at bat leads to 2-1 outing against Purdue

TASMIA JAMIL Daily Sports Writer

When the Michigan softball team places runners on base, it tends to primarily rely on opposing defensive lapses and sacrifice outs to bring them home. But against Purdue over the weekend, it combined that offensive identity with its hitting prowess, tallying 21 total hits in the series to capitalize on scoring opportunities.

While the Wolverines (22-16 overall, 8-5 Big Ten) fell short of a sweep on the verge of a late comeback in the second game of the series on Saturday, the offensive rhythm led to comfortable bookend wins in a 2-1 showing against the Boilermakers (19-24, 3-11).

Opening the series on Friday, Michigan pressured Purdue’s defense early. Facing a full count in the first inning, graduate center fielder Lexie Blair slotted the ball toward center field for a double. A fielding error on the play allowed Blair to use her speed, sliding in to steal third base before a sacrifice groundout brought her home. In the following inning, graduate

BASEBALL

first baseman Melina Livingston belted one over the center field wall to give the Wolverines a 2-0 lead.

“We scored in the first two innings that we played, so that’s always good to get some momentum going,” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said. “They don’t feel the burden of having to score constantly. They know that their teammates were able to come up and put things in play, and that’s contagious.”

With an early lead and sophomore right-hander Lauren Derkowski controlling the game from the circle, the Wolverines looked to build on the momentum. They continued to tally hits and scoring opportunities, but couldn’t capitalize. Finally, in the sixth inning, graduate right fielder Ellie Mataya’s home run broke the game wide open for Michigan.

The Wolverines, feeding off of the offensive rhythm, quickly loaded the bases. In a position where they have struggled most of the season — often leaving runners stranded — this time, they capitalized on the opportunity.

Utilizing a passed ball to bring

the runner home, they extended the lead, 4-0. While the run capped off Michigan’s scoring production on Friday, its aggressive at bats — finding gaps to consistently slot the ball to and maximizing on the Boilermakers’ defensive lapses for extra bases — created a

Michigan drops two of three games in wild weekend series at Rutgers

JOSHUA BROWN

Daily Sports Writer

When junior left-hander Connor O’Halloran gave up four runs before recording a single out in Friday’s series opener at Rutgers, it was clear that the Michigan baseball team was in for a hectic weekend.

After massive momentum swings like a weather delay, Michigan coach Tracy Smith being ejected and 43 combined runs, O’Halloran’s rough start proved to be the beginning of the chaos.

This left the Wolverines (1916 overall, 7-5 Big Ten) with a 1-2 weekend record against the Scarlet Knights (20-16, 4-5) while yet again searching to find their top-end form in conference play.

O’Halloran’s rough first inning on Friday forced Smith’s hand early. He made a risky choice to effectively concede the game in favor of keeping O’Halloran available for Sunday. Compounding that decision was his reluctance to burn his team’s top relievers in a game that started looking like a lost cause.

“I don’t like saying ‘concede it’ because we’re still trying to win after that,” Smith said. “But the factors were, in at least my interpretation of, ‘Hey, maybe he doesn’t have his best stuff right now. Let’s (pull him from the game) right now when

the pitch count’s down (and) he can bounce back.’ ”

This gamble ultimately paid off. While the Wolverines were shut out in a 13-0 loss on Friday night, Smith deliberately put the weaker relievers of his thin pitching staff on the mound to keep the best ones fresh.

O’Halloran then came back on Sunday morning in the resumption of the weather-suspended game from Saturday to pitch six relief innings, only giving up two more runs to earn the win. But

O’Halloran was only in the position for a win because of the resilient hitting that brought Michigan back from an early 6-0 deficit on Saturday.

It was pivotal for the Wolverines to knot the game up at six in the top of the fourth inning before the weather suspension, as they were reeling off two poor starts from their aces to start the weekend.

After chipping away with three runs in the third inning, a home run by senior second baseman Ted Burton leveled the score.

“Just sticking to the process, just staying with it, knowing that we can do it and just a lot of big at bats from a lot of guys on the team,” graduate first baseman Jack Van Remortel said. “(Burton) hit that home run, that was huge for us. So guys just sticking with it, playing as a team and trusting it.”

And in Sunday’s resumption, it was Van Remortel’s own clutch hitting that brought Michigan all the way back for their lone win of the series.

With the game tied at eight in the eighth inning, an RBI single

by Van Remortel gave the Wolverines a lead they never relinquished. He added two more insurance runs in the ninth with a two-RBI single, his third hit of the game, to stretch the advantage to the final score of 13-8.

Coming off the suspended game win, Michigan was wellpositioned for the second game of the quasi-doubleheader thanks to Smith’s decision to withhold his best relievers after yanking O’Halloran following the first inning on Friday. The Wolverines had their top three relievers available in senior right-hander Noah Rennard, freshman right-hander Mitch Voit and senior left-hander Jacob Denner.

“We felt like we were in pretty good shape going into the third game because we had (Rennard), Denner and Voit all available, and everybody else in the pen,” Smith said. “But we just didn’t do a real good job offensively. … Not happy that we didn’t take the series because I felt like we were in a pretty good position even after the blowout on Friday.”

While the hitting also floundered early, as Michigan missed prime opportunities with runners in scoring position, Rennard’s unraveling in the fourth proved costly for the Wolverines’ hopes of a series win in their 6-3 loss. Rennard gave up five runs in his 3.2 innings pitched, with four in that fatal fourth inning.

Fittingly punctuating the mayhem of the series, Smith was tossed in the sixth inning of Sunday’s second game for arguing a close play at first involving senior right fielder Joey Velazquez, heading off in a golf cart with his backpack in hand.

In a hectic series, Michigan found itself leaving the Garden State digging around in the dirt for its identity once again.

coherent offensive rhythm. That rhythm remained in the Wolverines’ favor as they tallied seven hits to compliment Derkowski’s first career no-hitter and ultimately secure a 4-0 win.

In the second game of the series on Saturday, though, the offensive momentum seemed to

disappear. Michigan attempted to drop the ball into the outfield but instead landed the ball in the Boilermakers’ gloves every time.

“We were trying to do too much, not really just letting things happen,” Livingston said. “Once we started to settle in, trying to get people more relaxed in the box … letting things happen just sticking to a process.”

With a shaky performance from junior right-hander Jessica LeBeau in the previous innings — hitting four batters with pitches and allowing the runner to score on a wild pitch — Purdue took an early 3-0 lead.

The Wolverines’ bats finally came alive in the fourth inning as sophomore left fielder Ellie Sieler recorded a double for their first hit of the game. And from there on, Michigan returned to its Friday form. A double from junior catcher Keke Tholl to right field resulted in an RBI double in the sixth inning, bringing the score to 3-2. But it was too little too late as the Wolverines took a game two loss.

Heading into the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday, Michigan picked up where it left

MARIA DECKMANN/Daily

off in the sixth inning of the first game. After scoring on a throw, senior third baseman Audrey LeClair hit a triple before coming home on an RBI single in the fifth inning.

“Audrey is a gamer,” Livingston said. “She’s a high energy player, so when we get her at high energy, the team can really feed off of that.”

The offense did exactly that. With two outs in the fifth inning, Keke’s triple for an RBI double, followed by a fielding error that brought her home, extended the Wolverines’ lead to 5-0. While Michigan didn’t score for the rest of the game, it tallied hits in backto-back innings to maintain the offensive flow and pressure the Boilermakers’ defense on its way to the series-clinching victory.

Whether it was power hits or smart base running, the Wolverines found multiple ways to score throughout the weekend, taking advantage of the opportunities presented to them by Purdue’s defense. Regardless of the loss in the second game, Michigan demonstrated its ability to find consistency at bat — something it has struggled to find all season long.

Michigan falls just short, finishes second at NCAA Championship

IAN PRCHLIK

Daily Sports Writer

In the narrow landscape of NCAA men’s gymnastics, one program sits atop the throne. Stanford has dominated the past four years, winning national championships in 2019, 2021 and 2022. The lone year without a Cardinal championship was 2020, canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Saturday, the No. 2 Michigan men’s gymnastics team (22-9 overall) had the opportunity to change that narrative at the NCAA Championships Meet — but ultimately fell short.

Despite setting a new season record with a total team score of 419.889, the Wolverines fell just short of Stanford, as the Cardinal won yet another national championship. Stanford maintained its seat atop the sport, and Michigan settled for second fiddle to the Cardinal’s 422.458 points.

“I’m super proud of our freshmen,” Michigan coach Yuan Xiao said. “Fred Richard, and also Landen (Blixt) are two guys that give the team so much confidence.”

The freshmen rightly earned Xiao’s praise as Richard was the hero for Michigan. He won individual titles in parallel bars and high bars to boost him to the allaround title.

While Richard, became a three-event national champion, fellow freshman Blixt and senior Adam Wooten paced the Wolverines’ floor routine, both scored 14.233s which pushed Michigan ahead

of Oklahoma for second place. Richard lost the execution-score tiebreaker to Kleuber in his floor routine, an impressive 14.800, but remained pleased with his performance.

“When you compete for the team and you succeed, everybody feels like they succeeded,” Richard said. “It’s a whole different feeling.”

Michigan’s success during the first day of the meet as they set their then-season-record score of 413.992 to advance to day two for a shot at the finals.

“I think a lot of things went well on day one, we just knew we had to qualify … and we did that,” Senior Adam Wooten said. “A lot of day one was conserving our energy and keeping our minds right.”

The calm and positive energy put forth by the senior leader was evident in the Wolverine’s day two performance, when they set another team record en route to their runner-up finish.

“Once we got to day two, one thing we did well was to stay loose, stay calm, and roll with the punches as they came,” Wooten said. “That really helped us

minimize mistakes and react pretty well when we did have the couple mistakes that we had.”

The most minor of mistakes remained between the Wolverines and the national championship. A sub-par routine from Richard on the pommel horse and a trio of falls on Michigan’s high-bar routine were the difference. However, Michigan’s program is building something that Xiao is excited about.

“Last year we were 10 points behind the number one team which is Stanford,” Xiao said. “This year we closed the gap to one or two points. It was a big gap that we closed.”

Growth and progress will remain imperative for Xiao’s program, which is looking to return to the success it found in back-to-back national championships in 2013 and 2014 when Xiao was an assistant coach. “We’re working hard and are happy with where we are at,” Xiao said. “So in the next two years, we can bring the trophy back to Michigan.”

For now though, second place will have to do.

Fred Richard wins parallel bars, high bar, all-around NCAA titles

When the Michigan men’s gymnastic team won its third straight regular season Big Ten title on March 18, freshman Fred Richard wasn’t in the building.

In fact, he wasn’t even in the country. Richard was in Germany competing for Team USA as the Wolverines squared off against Illinois for the conference title. On Saturday, Michigan once again faced the Fighting Illini with hardware on the line. This time, Richard was in the lineup — and he made an impact.

In his first NCAA Championship, Richard won the parallel bars, high bar and all-around titles.

“College meets, energy wise, (are) just a whole different experience,” Richard said. “It’s so fun.”

Richard has been dominant all season. The true freshman was crowned the Big Ten all-around champion just a couple weeks

prior, named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and owns the top score among Wolverines in three of the six events. Coming into the NCAA Championship, Richard was fresh off dominating performances in the NCAA Nationals Qualifier and the Big Ten Championship.

After a career best on the floor, Richard stared down the pommel horse. Michigan ranks in the top four in the country in each event except pommel, where it is only eighth. Richard has been one of the Wolverines’ best performers in the event; his services were badly needed if Michigan looked to claim a national championship. He scored a 12.83. It was the lowest score among his teammates and third lowest of the event.

“I didn’t know if I’d still win the (all-around) after the pommel,” Richard said.

But Richard bounced back strong. Despite his freshman status, Richard’s presence is mature. He has taken on a difficult role in his freshman year and, despite missing

part of it competing overseas right before, led the Wolverines to a 20th Big Ten Championship.

“It’s not an easy job to be the all-around,” Michigan coach Yuan Xiao said.

And with the absence of last year’s all-around, senior Paul Juda, in 2023, Richard has had to step up into this already-difficult role in the shadow of a Nissen-Emery award recipient.

At the root of this maturity is Richard’s routine, which borders on professional. The freshman doesn’t let vices get in the way of his performance on the floor and is clear about his intention to put gymnastics first.

“Some guys think their training is only the three hours, four hours that they’re in the gym but then they (start) eating bad food, not sleeping as well, partying,” Richard

said. “… While (I’m) in college, still maintaining everything towards getting better at the sport, I think that mentality is what separates me.”

It was on Saturday, April 15, where that separation was evident. Despite an all-time low score in the pommel, Richard scored back to back 14.6s on the rings and vault.

As he jumped up to the chalk-laden parallel bars, Michigan sat precariously in third; it had bounced back well in rings, but a low pommel score still rang softly in its ears.

Richard eased the noise with a meet-high 15.000 on the parallel bars. The freshman had brought his team back into the top two, solidified his position at the top of the all-around charts and earned himself an NCAA championship for the event. As Fred Richard’s feet hit the mat for a final time, he had secured his second and third titles. His high bar routine anchored the Wolverines event, and while Richard’s 14.433 topped the meet, it wasn’t enough

to vault Michigan past Stanford.

“I just felt super proud,” Richard said. “All five of us on our high bar rotation did amazing.”

Richard’s high bar performance is not only indicative of his ability to make in-meet adjustments, but to redeem himself from previous meets’ mistakes. Friday, in NCAA Qualifiers, he had fallen on high bar. Saturday, he was the high bar champion.

“(The high bar score) is like a redemption moment,” Richard said.

The freshman ended with a score of 85.998, clearing his nearest competitor by more than two points. Despite an uncharacteristic pommel horse, Richard became the 14th Michigan gymnast to be crowned the all-around champion, and third to take home three championships in one night.

Despite a late, valiant push, the Wolverines finished second overall behind Stanford on Saturday. But freshman Fred Richard is a national champion.

MEN’S GYMNASTICS

MEN’S GYMNASTICS

JENNA HICKEY/Daily

EMILY ALBERTS/Daily

LUCAS SZENTGYORGYI Daily Sports Writer

LILA TURNER/Daily

The

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