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ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Wednesday, September 11, 2013
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University ranks 28th in latest nat’l report U.S. News and World Report ranks ‘U’ fourth among public schools By JENIFER CALFAS Daily Staff Reporter
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LSA junior Kenyon Calhoun attempts to block LSA sophomore Jarreau Boyer’s layup during a pick-up basketball game at the Palmer Field Tuesday evening.
STATE GOVERNMENT
Ed. funding next for House State legislators to address K-12 curriculum, roads By BEN ATLAS Daily Staff Reporter
Now that the Medicaid expansion bill has passed and is ready for approval from Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, the Michigan state House of
Representatives has turned its focus to a litany of other issues, including education and transportation. On Tuesday, the House began its first full legislative week following the summer break. With the budget for fiscal year 2014 set to take effect on Oct. 1, the body will have to decide quickly on how to proceed with the K-12 Common Core State Standards in math and language arts, which
have already been adopted in 45 states. The standards were drafted by the National Federation of Governors. The Michigan legislature formally adopted the standards in 2010, but implementation is yet to occur. In the spring, the House passed a budget amendment sponsored by state Rep. Tom McMillin (R–Rochester Hills) that withheld funding to the Michigan Department of Education for
the purpose of applying the standards. “The amendment went in because people wanted the opportunity to study it further, so in order to get enough votes to pass a budget, we hit the stop button (on Common Core),” said House speaker pro tempore John Walsh (R–Livonia), who supports adoption of the standards. House minority leader Tim See FUNDING, Page 7A
Just days after the Michigan football team moved up the ranks of The Associated Press’s NCAA football rankings, the University has also jumped up in the latest national college standings. The U.S. News and World Report ranked the University 28th overall in its national rankings, one spot higher than last year. The report, released Tuesday, again ranked the University of Michigan as the fourth-best public university, behind the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Los Angeles; and the University of Virginia. In the past, the University has ranked consistently in the top 30 nationally, coming back from a five-year streak of dropping in the rankings from 2007 to 2011. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said rankings are only
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
IN REMEMBRANCE
SNRE student remembered for joyful spirit, enthusiam Doctoral student dies over weekend from undiagnosed neurological issues By SAM GRINGLAS Daily Staff Reporter
A memorial service will be held Wednesday for Courtney Wilson, a doctoral student in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, who died Monday after a series of neurological problems over the weekend. SNRE faculty and students will gather in the Dana Building’s Ford Commons to reflect upon and celebrate Wilson’s life between noon and 1 p.m. Wilson, who completed her master’s degree at SNRE, had
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 78 LO: 50
been studying the use of satellite images to analyze paved surfaces in Southeast Michigan. She was one of six students in her class of Ph.D. students. In an interview Tuesday, SNRE dean Marie Lynn Miranda said Wilson had a joyful spirit, an incredible work ethic and was especially interested in the ways human activity affects lands and ecosystems. In an e-mail sent to SNRE faculty and students Tuesday, Miranda noted Wilson, “not surprisingly,” was an organ donor. Honoring her dedication to the life sciences, Wilson’s parents have agreed to an autopsy that they hope will advance medical knowledge since Wilson’s condition occurred suddenly and has yet to be diagnosed. “This entire situation is diffiSee STUDENT, Page 7A
one piece students should consider before deciding which college or university to attend. Ultimately, one student’s perfect school differs from another’s, making it impossible to base perspectives on a higher institution solely by its rank. Fitzgerald added that the University strives to offer the best education possible for students without much regard to the rankings. “Our commitment is to the academic experience and to the academic excellence and to the education of our students,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s the number one priority.” The U.S. News and World Report also ranked schools in individual categories. The University’s Ross School of Business tied for second with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Berkeley for the best undergraduate business programs, improving from its third spot last year. The school recently received half of the historic $200 million donation from its namesake Stephen Ross, who said he hopes his gift will make it “the best business school in the country.” The College of Engineering’s See REPORT, Page 7A
CSG fails to confirm new leader for commission After heated debate and closed session, Proppe issues new application VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
By BRANDON SHAW
Business graduate student Santiago Gomez studies in the Winter Garden at the Business School Tuesday.
Ross creates grad program for non-business students Masters program to focus on business fundamentals By PAULA FRIEDRICH Daily Staff Reporter
The Ross School of Business is rolling out a new graduate program for students without
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a business background. The 10-month Master of Management program’s application is closed to graduates with a business degree, aimed instead at students in fields such as engineering or the arts who desire more business skills in an increasingly competitive job market. Program officials cite an ever-growing demand for a
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diverse set of skills and the importance of business as a global factor as the impetus behind the program. “It would be applicable, I think, for practically anything you would want to do later in life,” said Damian Beil, the program’s faculty director and an associate professor.. The program focuses priSee ROSS, Page 7A
Vol. CXXIII, No. 128 ©2013 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
Daily Staff Reporter
A heated debate took place in the Central Student Government chambers Tuesday night, as members of the Voice Your Vote commission voiced their concerns about the proposed nomination of LSA sophomore Samantha Audia as the organization’s next chair. On Aug. 15, CSG President Michael Proppe issued an executive order to reinstate the VYV commission for the 2013-14 academic year. Although the commission was initially excluded from the 23 executive commissions structured by Proppe and See CSG, Page 7A
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News
2A — Wednesday, September 11, 2013
MONDAY: This Week in History
TUESDAY: Professor Profile
WEDNESDAY: In Other Ivory Towers
THURSDAY: Alumni Profiles
Students work to pass amnesty bill seek medical attention, while the Student Regent bill looks to add two student representatives on that university’s Board of Regents. Rae and Novotny tried to push the bills this summer, but have encountered setbacks in working with state legislators. UCLA wide receiver killed in traffic accident University of California, Los Angeles wide receiver Nick Pasquale was fatally struck by a Mercedes sedan on Camino de los Mares at
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1:27 a.m. Sunday, The Daily Bruin reported. The driver stopped immediately and called the police. There was no evidence of drugs or alcohol, and the driver was not arrested at the scene. A candlelit vigil was held at Pasquale’s high school football field Sunday night for friends and family. Bruins coach Jim Mora spoke to the crowd about Pasquale’s time playing for him. “He was loved,” said Mora.
Tech sale
WHERE: 1000 block of McIntyre WHEN: Monday at about 2 p.m. WHAT: A subject was walking by the Community Center when someone from a passing vehicle tossed a cup of water at her. The vehicle was black and the subject was not injured, University policy reported.
WHERE: Central Campus area WHEN: Monday at about 9:15 p.m. WHAT: A student reported unwanted contact from a known subject, University police reported. Multiple officers asked the subject to cease following the student. He was later arrested and jailed for stalking.
WHAT: The Computer Showcase will host a sale with special prices on laptops, tablets, software and accessories. The sale will run through Sept. 13. WHO: Information and Technology Services WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union and Pierpont Commons
Broken up
Take a flyer?
WHERE: 700 South University WHEN: Monday at about 9:45 p.m. WHAT: A vehicle’s rear window was shattered during a traffic stop, University Police reported. The driver said there was no apparent reason for someone to smash her window.
WHERE: 500th block of Church St. WHEN: Monday at about 10:30 a.m. WHAT: University police received a report of an unknown female soliciting near East Hall. Officers were unable to locate her, University police reported.
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LSA junior Allison Moody tries to beat the heat on Tuesday by reading in the shade near the Law Quad.
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THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
Spanish lunch break WHAT: Join other Spanish enthusiasts for lunch and conversation. People all levels of proficiency are welcome to attend. WHO: School of Nursing WHEN: 12 p.m. WHERE: Nick’s Cafe, 300 N. Ingalls Building
Harmon exhibit Med SchoolWHAT: The famed #98 interview prep jersey of Michigan football legend Tom Harmon will be “unretired” for a exhibit of his life here in Ann Arbor. A collection of artifacts includes photos, documents and other materials. Harmon was Michigan’s first Heisman winner. WHO: Bentley Historical Library WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: Bentley Historical Library
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Two University of Wisconsin-Madison students are pushing to pass bills in the Wisconsin state Assembly and Senate, The Daily Cardinal reported Monday. The students, Morgan Rae, Associated Students of Madison legislative-affairs chair, and Kaitlyn Novotny, ASM vice chair, initiated the Responsible Action bill and the Student Regent bill, respectively. The Responsible Action bill aims to create medical-amnesty legislation in cases of underage drinking that lessen penalties for intoxicated minors who
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A new study by the World Health Organization shows women over 50 years old are living on average 3.5 years longer over the last two decades, The New York Times reports. Most of the gains were made by women in wealthier nations.
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The Statement explores campus perception of 9/11 and changes in the Army ROTC program 12 years after the attacks. >> FOR MORE, SEE THE STATEMENT, INSIDE
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President Barack Obama has signalled for Congress to push back its vote on military intervention in Syria following the Assad regime’s willingness to turn over its chemical-weapon stockpile.
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Federal officials to ‘crush’ six tons of ivory in October U.S. seeks to eliminate $10billion illegal industry
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President Barack Obama addresses the nation in a live televised speech from the East Room of the White House.
Obama delays Syria vote, remains ‘ready to respond’ Pres. says Assad threatens national security, violates international law WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said in a nationally televised address Tuesday night that recent diplomatic steps offer “the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons” inside Syria without the use of force, but he also insisted the U.S. military will keep the pressure on President Bashar Assad “and be ready to respond” if other measures fail. Speaking from the East Room of the White House, Obama said he had asked congressional leaders to postpone a vote on legislation he has been seeking to authorize the use of military force against Syria. Acknowledging the weariness the nation feels after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama said, “America is not the world’s policeman.” And yet, he added, “When with modest effort and risk we can stop children from being gassed to death and thereby make our own children safer over the long run, I believe we
should act. That’s what makes America different. That’s what makes us exceptional.” “Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security, are at stake in Syria,” he declared. The speech capped a frenzied 10-day stretch of events that began when he unexpectedly announced he was stepping back from a threatened military strike and first asking Congress to pass legislation authorizing the use of force against Assad. With public opinion polls consistently showing widespread opposition to American military intervention, the White House has struggled mightily to generate support among lawmakers — liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans alike — who have expressed fears of involvement in yet another war in the Middle East and have questioned whether U.S. national security interests were at stake in Syria. Obama had trouble, as well, building international support for a military attack designed to degrade Assad’s military. Suddenly, though, events took another unexpected turn this week. First Russia and then Syria reacted positively to a seemingly off-hand remark from Secretary of State John Kerry indicating that the crisis could be defused
if Damascus agreed to put its chemical weapons under international control. The president said he was sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday, and he added, “I will continue my own discussion” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the same time, he said the United States and its allies would work with Russia and China to present a resolution to the United Nations Security Council “requiring Assad to give up his chemical weapons and to ultimately destroy them under international control.” In a speech that lasted 16 minutes, Obama recounted the events of the deadly chemical weapons attack on Aug. 21 that the United States blames on Assad. “When dictators commit atrocities, they depend upon the world to look the other way until these horrifying pictures fade from memory. But these things happened. The facts cannot be denied,” he said. The president said firmly that Assad’s alleged attack was “not only a violation of international law, it’s also a danger to our security.”
DENVER (AP) — Federal wildlife officials plan to crush more than 6 tons of ivory in Denver as part of a new push by the United States to combat illegal wildlife trafficking worldwide. The ivory that is being stored in a warehouse near Denver was seized around the country in an effort to block imports of tusks from elephants that have been slaughtered for their ivory. The seized items include large balls of ivory delicately carved in layers and whole tusks that have been sculpted into pagodas and scenes from daily life. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said publicly crushing the expensive smuggled tusks and carvings is part of an effort to put an end to what has become a $10 billion illegal industry. Steve Oberholtzer, the agency’s Denver-based special agent in charge, is lining up rock-grinders to pulverize the ivory in October. Governments cooperating with the efforts to stem the
slaughter of elephants already have destroyed some of the ivory seized from poachers, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Monday at a White House forum where the initiative was launched. “The U.S. supports these actions, and we want to make sure we are doing the same,” Jewell said. President Barack Obama issued an order July 1 to fight the killing of protected wildlife, stop the trafficking, and reduce demand for illegal rhino horns and ivory. Members of a newly created advisory council sketched a broad approach of enlisting governments, companies and nonprofits worldwide, the Denver Post reported Tuesday (http://tinyurl.com/pzmcz9g). U.S. officials said they will also give $10 million to help fight poaching in Africa and will try to persuade Asian governments to outlaw trinkets and other products made from elephant ivory. Tactics being considered include using technology to monitor elephants, a social media campaign in China to stigmatize the industry, and cooperation with companies such as eBay to curb commerce. The National Wildlife Property Repository at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National
Wildlife Refuge in Colorado holds smuggled wildlife parts seized at seaports, border crossings and airports nationwide. Other items seized include leopard and tiger heads, bear claws and crocodile boots. Much of the ivory no longer fits on shelves. Piles of tusks and boxes full of bracelets and decorations clutter the floor. Forklifts are used to clear pathways between heavy pallets of the plunder. Some tusks are from young elephants, representing generations lost because elephants cannot reproduce until age 25, and poachers usually kill elephants before sawing off their tusks. U.S. authorities are prohibited from selling seized items but have debated whether destroying them is the best approach. Ivory selloffs in 2008 and 2010 supported by the 178-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna proved controversial. Even if U.S. officials could sell seized ivory, some say it would not make a dent in illegal market demand. Grinding up all ivory in October “will make more room in our warehouse,” repository supervisor Bernadette Atencio said, but she fears it will fill again soon.
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Report finds rape culture in Asia
NEWS BRIEFS DETROIT
Government sells another $811 million in GM stock The government is getting closer to selling all of its General Motors Co. stock. The Treasury Department said in its August report to Congress that it sold $811 million worth of GM common stock last month. The report dated Tuesday says the government has recovered about $35.4 billion of the $49.5 billion bailout it gave the Detroit automaker. That means taxpayers are still $14.1 billion in the hole. The Treasury says the price per share of stock sold in July and August will be revealed at a later date.
WASHINGTON
Richest 1 percent earn biggest share since 1920 The gulf between the richest 1 percent and the rest of America is the widest it’s been since the Roaring ‘20s. The very wealthiest Americans earned more than 19 percent of the country’s household income last year — their biggest share since 1928, the year before the stock market crash. And the top 10 percent captured a record 48.2 percent of total earnings last year. U.S. income inequality has been growing for almost three decades. And it grew again last year, according to an analysis of Internal Revenue Service figures dating to 1913 by economists at the University of California, Berkeley, the Paris School of Economics and Oxford University. One of them, Berkeley’s Emmanuel Saez, said the incomes of the richest Americans surged last year in part because they cashed in stock holdings to avoid higher capital gains taxes that took effect in January.
WASHINGTON
U.S. says eight more countries join statement on Syria The White House says eight more countries have signed a statement blaming Syrian President Bashar Assad (bah-SHAR’ AH’-sahd) for a chemical weapons attack and calling for a strong international response. The additions announced Tuesday bring the total number of supportive countries to 33, up from 25 on Monday. The statement was released last week at the close of an economic summit in Russia. It had 11 original signers, including the United States. The latest countries to sign are Georgia, Guatemala, Kuwait, Malta, Montenegro, Panama, Poland and Portugal.
KINSHASA, Congo
‘Significant progress’ in Congo, M23 talks The Congolese government and a rebel group that is ensconced in the hills above one of the country’s largest cities have made progress in talks organized by neighboring nations, according to a statement issued Tuesday. “Significant progress has been made in the dialogue,” said the statement from the Office of the Facilitator of the International Conference of the Great Lakes, which is hosting the mediation effort in the capital of neighboring Uganda. Late last month, Congolese troops exchanged heavy fire with the M23 rebels, who occupy positions just outside the strategic eastern city of Goma. Aided by U.N. forces who pounded rebel positions with combat helicopters the Congolese were able to reclaim several areas that had been occupied by the M23, until the rebels unexpectedly declared a cease-fire, saying they wanted to resume talks. —Compiled from Daily wire reports
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 — 3A
In some parts of region, offenders felt ‘sexual entitlement’
Susan Walsh/AP Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt), left, accompanied by the committee’s ranking Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, asks a question, on Capitol Hill in Washington,Tuesday.
Feds seek legitimacy for marjiuana financial sector Banks currently wary to serve lawful marijuana-related businesses WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department and federal banking regulators will help clear the way for financial institutions to transact business with the legitimate marijuana industry without fear of prosecution, Deputy Attorney General James Cole told Congress on Tuesday. The issue has taken on greater urgency now that Colorado and Washington have become the first states to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Currently, processing money from marijuana sales puts federally insured banks at risk of drug racketeering charges. Because of the threat of criminal prosecution, financial institutions often refuse to let marijuana-related businesses open accounts. The problem occurs in states that have laws permitting medical use of marijuana. In 1996, California voters made their state the first to allow medical use, and 19 more states and the District of Columbia have enacted similar laws. In an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Cole said the absence of banking services is one that “we need to deal with” and that
“we’re working on it.” The congressional hearing was the first since the administration announced a new, more permissive enforcement policy. On Aug. 29, the Justice Department said it won’t try to stop Colorado and Washington state from legalizing recreational marijuana use as long as they implement strong enforcement systems. Marijuana is an illegal drug under federal law. At the hearing that highlighted the conflict between state and federal law on marijuana, Cole told the committee that “there are no perfect solutions here. ... We’re at the point we’re trying to find the best of the imperfect solutions before us.” Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said that as a result of the banking constraints, legitimate marijuana businesses are operating on a cash-only basis and “that’s a prescription for problems, tax evasion” and other criminal activity. Cole agreed and said there is a public safety component to the problem because the cash-only business can result in the presence of guns. In 2011, American Express announced it would no longer handle medical marijuanarelated transactions because of fear of federal prosecution. A month later, Cole gave banks an explicit directive on medical marijuana that stated: “Those who engage in transactions involving the proceeds of such
activity may also be in violation of federal money laundering statutes and other federal financing laws.” Leahy, who spent eight years as a prosecutor early in his career, said the Justice Department should focus on prosecuting violent crime and should respect the votes in Colorado and Washington to legalize small amounts of marijuana for personal and medical use. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the committee’s top Republican and co-chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, said the Justice Department is “giving the green light” to an industry bent on breaking federal law. Grassley said that Colorado has seen a sharp uptick in diversion of marijuana from Colorado to other states and increased use among minors. “I understand the skepticism that you come to it with,” Cole told Grassley. “We have reserved, quite explicitly, the right to go in” and challenge the regulatory programs of Colorado and Washington. Grassley asked what the Justice Department plans to do to protect states like Iowa from marijuana being diverted from states like Colorado. Cole responded, “If it’s being exported from Colorado to Iowa and we find out about it, we will prosecute.” With the door to legalization open in two states, others could follow.
Google loses federal appeals case for invading online privacy Data collected through unprotected networks ruled as ‘Wi-Spy’ SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A federal appeals court said Google wrongly collected people’s personal correspondence and online activities through their Wi-Fi systems as it drove down their streets with car cameras shooting photos for its Street View mapping project. The ruling that the practice violates wiretap laws sends a warning to other companies seeking to suck up vast amounts of data from unencrypted Wi-Fi signals. “The payload data transmitted over unencrypted Wi-Fi networks that was captured by Google included emails, usernames, passwords, images, and documents,” wrote the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco in a report released Tuesday Google had argued that their activities were exempt from the wiretap law because data transmitted over a Wi-Fi network is a “radio communication” and is “readily accessible to the public.” Not so, wrote the judges, agreeing with an earlier federal judge’s ruling. “Even if it is commonplace for members of the general public to connect to a neighbor’s unencrypted Wi-Fi network, members of the general public do not typically mistakenly intercept, store, and decode data transmitted by other devices on the network,” they said.
Google’s Street View cars can be spotted with pole mounted cameras on their roofs, photographing along roadways the world over. The photos then show up on Google’s popular Street View map option, where viewers can virtually scroll along a street past homes, cars and shops, all captured in photographs. But unbeknownst to passersby, those cameras weren’t just making photos. They were also collecting detailed information transmitted over Wi-Fi networks they passed through. Privacy experts and industry watchers said this was the first time an appeals court has ruled that it’s illegal for a company to sniff out and collect private information from the Wi-Fi networks that provide Internet service to people at home. Google is also the first publically known company to try. “This appeals court decision is a tremendous victory for privacy rights. It means Google can’t suck up private communications from people’s Wi-Fi networks and claim their WiSpying was exempt from federal wiretap laws,” said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project director. “Because Google’s Wi-Spy activity was so extensive, the potential damages could amount to billions of dollars.” Marc Rotenberg, executive director of Electronic Privacy Information Center, called it “a landmark decision for Internet privacy.” “The court made clear that the federal privacy law applies to residential Wi-Fi networks,” he said. “Users should be protected
when a company tries to capture data that travels between their laptop and their printer in their home.” A Google spokesperson said Tuesday that attorneys for the Internet giant are “disappointed in the 9th Circuit’s decision and are considering our next steps.” Attorney Elizabeth Cabraser, representing a class action of plaintiffs who say their privacy was invaded by Google said Tuesday they look forward to resuming their case now that a federal appeals court has ruled in their favor. Google has apologized for the snooping, which it says took place between 2008 and March 2010. It promised to stop collecting the data and said the practice, conducted in more than 30 countries, was inadvertent but not illegal. Earlier this year Google settled a 37-state lawsuit for $7 million after attorney generals sued over what they said was an invasion of privacy for the data collection. The practice was discovered by a German data protection commissioner in 2010. A few months later, Google co-founder Sergey Brin told conference goers the firm had made a mistake. “In short, let me just say that we screwed up,” he said at the time. Google says it has disabled the equipment that was collecting the data, and agreed to destroy the information as soon as possible. The company is currently obliged to hold it, unused, because of ongoing litigation.
LONDON (AP) — About one in four men in some parts of Asia admitted raping a woman, according to the first large studies of rape and sexual violence. About one in 10 admitted raping a woman who was not their partner. International researchers said their startling finding should change perceptions about how common violence against women is and prompt major campaigns to prevent it. Still, the results were based on a survey of only six Asian countries and the authors said it was uncertain what rates were like elsewhere in the region and beyond. They said engrained sexist attitudes contributed, but that other factors like poverty or being emotionally and physically abused as children were major risk factors for men’s violent behavior. A previous report from the World Health Organization found one-third of women worldwide say they have been victims of domestic or sexual violence. “It’s clear violence against women is far more widespread in the general population than we thought,” said Rachel Jewkes of South Africa’s Medical Research Council, who led the two studies. The research was paid for by several United Nations agencies and Australia, Britain, Norway and Sweden. The papers were published online Tuesday in the journal, Lancet Global Health. In the new research, male interviewers surveyed more than 10,000 men in Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea. The word “rape” was not used in the questions, but the men were asked if they had ever forced a woman to have sex when she wasn’t willing or if they had ever
forced sex on someone who was too drunk or drugged to consent. In most places, scientists concluded between 6 to 8 percent of men raped a woman who wasn’t their partner. When they included wives and girlfriends, the figures were mostly between 30 to 57 percent. The lowest rates were in Bangladesh and Indonesia and the highest were in Papa New Guinea. Previous studies of rape have been done in South Africa, where nearly 40 percent of men are believed to have raped a woman. Of those who acknowledged forcing a woman to have sex, more than 70 percent of men said it was because of “sexual entitlement.” Nearly 60 percent said they were bored or wanted to have fun while about 40 percent said it was because they were angry or wanted to punish the woman. Only about half of the men said they felt guilty and 23 percent had been imprisoned for a rape. “The problem is shocking but anyplace we have looked, we see partner violence, victimization and sexual violence,” said Michele Decker, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who co-wrote an accompanying commentary. “Rape doesn’t just involve someone with a gun to a woman’s head,” she said. “People tend to think of rape as something someone else would do.” “It’s not enough to focus on services for women,” said Charlotte Watts, head of the Gender, Violence and Health Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who was not part of the study. She said some programs in Africa based on challenging traditional ideas of masculinity are proving successful. “It may be that the culture where they grew up condones violence, but it’s not impossible to change that,” she said.
New MSU drone to boost crop yield Drone to act as diagnostic tool on fields EAST LANSING (AP) — A drone has joined the vehicle fleet at Michigan State University, which is using the pilotless airplane to find ways to help farmers increase their yields through better use of fertilizer and water. The National Science Foundation is financing the research. The East Lansing school says the information that the drone gathers also will help reduce the environmental effect of nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions. The university says the drone “measures how crops react to stress, such as drought, nutrients deficiency or pests.” It says the plane can document a field’s status “down to centimeters.” With the detailed knowledge, farmers can quickly spot problem areas and address them with a precise response, Bruno Basso, an ecosystem scientist at Michigan State, said in a statement. “When you have a cut and need disinfectant, you don’t dive into a pool of medicine; you apply
it only where you need it and in the quantity that is strictly necessary,” said Basso, who also works at Michigan State’s Kellogg Biological Station. “Rather than covering the entire field with fertilizer, it can be applied exactly where it’s needed. We basically try to do the right thing, at right place, at the right time.” The drone has three censors — a high-resolution radiometer, a thermal camera to monitor plant temperature and hydration, and a laser scanner. Basso said the drone “is like an X-ray. Before we can diagnose the problem, we need to collect as many details as possible.” The sensor data can be plugged into the System Approach for Land-Use Sustainability model. Known as SALUS, the crop tool forecasts crop, soil, water, and nutrient conditions in the climate of the present and the future, the university said. It also can be used to evaluate crop rotations, planting dates, irrigation and fertilizer use and project crop yields and their effect on the land. “It’s based on actual need, not on tradition, not on history or a plan recommended by someone else,” Basso said. “It’s what plants need now and is the ultimate in sustainability.”
Opinion
4A — Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com MELANIE KRUVELIS ANDREW WEINER EDITOR IN CHIEF
and ADRIENNE ROBERTS
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
MATT SLOVIN MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
FROM THE DAILY
New search, no students
Students must pressure administration for a voice in big decisions
I
n 2002 — the last time a search for a new University president occurred — the Presidential Search Committee consisted of 10 faculty members, one student, an alumnus and four other stakeholders. With University President Mary Sue Coleman stepping down in July 2014, the University embarks on a new search headed up by the Board of Regents along with eight faculty members working to choose her successor — without a single student on the committee. While the committee has invited students to participate in various forums over the next few months, at least one seat should have been reserved for a student on the committee. At the very least, students deserve an explanation for the changes in policy during this presidential search. Matt Nolan, the former Michigan Student Assembly president — now called Central Student Government — who held one of the two student seats in the former committee, said that the inability to reach a fair compromise for student input this time around deserves an explanation. “Whether you agree with the regents’ decision or not, I do think it is a fair question to ask the regents why it is different this time. Explaining that rationale could go a long way.” Nolan is correct; the student body does deserve an explanation. Students should have a tangible voice in this process. The University recognized this in 2002. However, this year, eight seats have been given to regents and eight to high-level staff. Since the regents have decided to change the makeup of the committee substantially from the previous search, it should be far from controversial or groundbreaking that another seat be given to students. This lack of input is just one instance of the administration making important decisions that greatly affect students without consulting the student body. The recent controversial change to a general-admission policy to the Big House for football games was done similarly,
without input from the Central Student Government. The move is tremendously unpopular with students, and a petition on the CSG website garnered 2,600 signatures within 12 hours. Along with planning forums for student involvement, the committee is also accepting public nominations for president at the email UMich.President@russellreynolds.com. While students should participate through these avenues, it’s clear these initiatives are an empty gesture to appease students and does not give them their due. Having been denied a seat in the committee, students must seek other ways of making their voice heard. The public forum dates have now been announced for the search committee, the first of which is to be held at the Ann Arbor campus on Sept. 17. At the forums, students must express disappointment at not being given adequate representation along with voicing their opinion. The president is vital to a school, and students must care about the selection. Now it’s up to students to pressure the administration and vocalize their concerns so the next time around, students will be given the voice they should always be guaranteed.
BRAD FINGEROOT | VIEWPOINT
Change the objective As Congress and the country observe the unfolding events in Syria, Americans must understand the United States’s role in the world. Our nation is a bastion of freedom, one with a history of promoting the cause of liberty and self-government both at home and abroad. Lest we ever forget, America is a safer place when the world is rid of tyrants and despots. With this in mind, we must also have the clear understanding that for American action to justly occur, it must have the direct interests of the United States and its allies at the forefront. Every foreign policy decision by the United States has a butterfly effect, one that changes the geopolitical landscape all across the world. This idea highlights the significance of the inexcusable misstep President Barack Obama made by using the same semantic terminology — “red line” — when discussing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons and Iran’s development of nuclear arms. In standing idly by when we know to a very high degree of certainty that Assad’s forces used sarin gas, we are sending the signal to Iran that a “red line” is nothing more than a bluff. The conundrum for the United States, beyond the national fatigue pertaining to military intervention efforts, is that regardless of who prevails, we will be faced with a hostile government in Syria. Under Assad, Syria is a terrorist state, one linked and subordinate to Iran and its Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. If Assad is toppled, however, the chances of moderate leadership appear dim. There are more than 1,200 rebel groups in Syria, and Secretary of State John Kerry estimates that one in four of the rebels are radical jihadists. But while the radical elements of the resistance may be few in numbers, groups such as al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaida associate, are far better organized, armed and trained than their moderate counterparts. If Assad is toppled, it’s possible, therefore, that the new regime will be led by extremists from groups with direct ties to al-Qaida. Chemical weapons in the hands of either Assad’s regime or the al-Qaida-associated rebels present a clear and urgent threat to the United States. By either diplomatic means —
working with Russia and the United Nations Security Council, or military means, the United States must ensure that chemical weapons are out of Syria and destroyed. With sarin gas in the hands of groups hostile to America, Israel and our allies across the globe, we do not have the luxury to be complacent. If these weapons remain in circulation, we are leaving ourselves vulnerable to the next attack being far closer to home. The thought of a sarin gas attack in the streets of Jerusalem, the New York subway system or our nation’s capital is far too horrible to contemplate, but a salivating idea to those who wish to endanger our freedom and disrupt our way of life. The idea of a diplomatic solution that meets the vital national security interests of the United States is certainly preferable to committing military resources to Syria. While it’s too early to tell how serious this possibility is to becoming a reality, leaders on both sides of the partisan aisle and in the international community appear little more than cautiously hopeful. There is significant distance that both Russia and Assad must move, in terms of documentation and certification that the weapons are removed, in order to gain American and international consensus. In the event that diplomatic negotiations fail, Obama is requesting Congress give him the authorization to launch an air assault against Syria in response to Assad’s use of chemical weapons. His stated objective has not been to destroy the chemical weapons, but to punish the regime for its actions. I would firmly urge members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to reject this proposal. Punitive action in Syria, strengthening al-Nusra Front and the dangerous rebels’ position, does not serve the interests or the security of the American people. Instead, I believe the president and Congress should agree on a resolution with the sole military objective of destroying the chemical weapons that present a clear danger to the United States and our allies. Our leaders have the responsibility to take decisive action and meet the challenge of ensuring a safer America. Brad Fingeroot is a Business sophomore.
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
I pledge no allegiance
ast week, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts heard arguments from a pair of atheist parents who wish to strike the phrase “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance recited in the state, insisting BARRY that it ostracizes BELMONT children like their own from a patriotic process. They claim that it is their children’s right to participate in all forms of the state’s democracy and they shouldn’t be excluded simply for lacking a certain religious belief. While the plaintiffs in the case claim that only the “under God” portion of the pledge shouldn’t be there, I contend that the whole thing has no business being recited by anyone. There are many good arguments against reciting the pledge in schools, including the fact that making children — who are unable to consent to anything — swear an oath to their country every day is quasi-tyrannical, borderline creepy and wholly mind-numbing. There are even those in favor of the notion but against the recitation, arguing that if you want to make something mean as little as possible you should make children recite it every day for 13 years. But even beyond those arguments, the pledge itself makes no sense. Let’s just start at the beginning: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands.” Flag, United States, Republic. First of all, I owe no allegiance to a flag. A flag, being little more than
a piece of cloth with some color on it, has little sway over who I am or what I do. I outgrew the period of my life where the color of my clothing mattered — in high school, I reckon — and now my relationship with clothes is purely functional. Only insofar as a flag tells me which way the wind blows do I have any cause to raise one. Secondly, I owe no allegiance to the United States of America. Mostly because I have no idea what’s required in order to do so in this context. Loyalty, fidelity, obedience — what do any of these even mean in relation to a country? Is this allegiance to the government that runs it, to the people that live in it, or to the boundaries that enclose it? To what and to whom am I swearing this faithfulness? And in what ways am I to be faithful, to be obedient, or to be loyal? In what ways am I to manifest this allegiance? By agreement, by assent, by assurance? I cannot assure the borders, I cannot assent to all the actions of the people and I cannot agree to the government. Thirdly, I owe no allegiance to the republic. So that we are on the same page, I take a republic here to mean something along the lines of “a state whose power/control is held by citizens and their elected representatives” or in President Abraham Lincoln’s shorthand “of, by, for the people.” I owe nothing here because the republic will take my allegiance even without asking me. In practically all situations where the republic is concerned, consent is assumed rather than
solicited. Your taxes are withheld, your rights will be handed down and you can’t vote “no” to the process. Honest Abe’s propositional government of prepositional phrases means that I’m culpable whether I want to be or not. The next bit — “one nation under God” — is the section that Massachusetts parents have taken issue with, as do many other atheists and all sorts of religious people living in this country who do not subscribe to the Abrahamic God. How this line makes no sense is self-explanatory: It is simply incorrect. To make matters worse, this nation of people is posited to be “indivisible,” likely for poetic flair. Of course we are divisible. The nation is divisible right down to every person it claims and then some. We’re all individuals with individual hopes and drives. We must be divisible if human rights are to mean anything: Human rights rest on the assumption that people mean something in and of themselves. If we were truly indivisible, then the part that matters most — “liberty and justice for all” — would be utterly incoherent. People can be free and justice is only justice if it is for all. I would only pledge my allegiance to this. I pledge no allegiance to any flag or to any nation. I do pledge my allegiance to my fellow human beings and to the pursuit of liberty and justice for each and every one of them.
Justice is only justice if it is for all.
— Barry Belmont can be reached at belmont@umich.edu.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, Eli Cahan, Eric Ferguson, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Maura Levine, Patrick Maillet, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Jasmine McNenny, Harsha Nahata, Adrienne Roberts, Paul Sherman, Sarah Skaluba, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe
W
Crossing party lines
hile barbecuing with some buddies on a mild August evening not long ago, I found myself discussing the National Security Agency. “Why should we care about governmentsanctioned internet surveillance?” my friend asked. JAKE “It’s not like you OFFENHARTZ or I have anything to hide.” It was a good question, a difficult question, but one that I felt missed the point entirely. And so, about three or four beers deep, I launched head-first into an anti-NSA tangent — one that was admittedly less original opinion and more a regurgitation of what I had seen others in “my camp” repeat all summer. What I said — what I believe — is that the government’s bulk data collection of innocent citizens is not only immoral, it’s un-American. Each and every one of us has a right to privacy, and voluntarily forfeiting that right by handing out our personal information to sites such as Facebook is far different than allowing unregulated supervision by shadowy agencies of the government. As we attempt to reconcile our long-held ideas of justice with the expansive new world of the web, our generation carries a responsibility to oversee this negotiation. By idly standing by as the government implements massive data-mining programs such as PRISM, we’re allowing a precedent to be set that will almost certainly be abused in the future. As my rant came to a close, I awaited the unanimous chorus of support from my five friends at the table. We all read “1984” in high school and lean pretty far to the left
on the political spectrum, so surely we would see eye-to-eye on this issue of basic personal freedom. Yet, to my great discouragement, the approval never came. Instead, the six of us spent the next 30 minutes bickering over the very points I thought we’d all agree on. In the wake of whistleblower Edward Snowden’s revelations of the NSA’s dragnet surveillance programs, I suspect this same rant has derailed countless otherwise pleasant summer barbecues. In truth, it’s a debate that most of the world has wrestled with since 9/11: What freedoms are we willing to give up in the name of security? What makes this debate unlike most others is that the opposing sides aren’t separated by conventional party lines. In my head, I was railing against the construction of an Orwellian surveillance state, but — to those within earshot — it sounded a lot like overused conservative vitriol: baseless claims of “un-Americanism,” less-than-rousing calls to deregulate Big Government and hyperbolic dread of a slippery slope. The uncurbed growth of the NSA will have huge implications for the future of our country. I strongly believe in a lot of things though, so I’m willing to entertain the idea that I could be totally wrong. What may be more important, however, is what the current discourse on national security reflects about partisanship. Is this an example of unregulated government that conservatives will surely take exception to, or is it the same excessive use of the Patriot Act that so many liberals criticized President Bush for only a few years ago?
The answer to that question depends on your personal beliefs. But perhaps more urgently, does the question matter at all? I suspect there was a time when party identification wasn’t a rigid identity, when government think tanks and vote-garnering cue-givers didn’t dictate the views of those who can’t find the time to stay perpetually informed. I also suspect that the intense polarization of our country isn’t only a consequence of excessively partisan rhetoric, but a cause of it. To put it in less abstract terms, Republican Sen. Rand Paul is so intent on illegalizing abortion and keeping gays out of the military that the notion of agreeing with him about anything is completely foreign to me — this despite the fact that his push for NSA reform and transparency is one that I wholeheartedly agree with. Call me narrowminded, quixotic or in need of some Republican friends — spoiler, I’m all three of these things — but holding a stance that may align more with the Tea Party than President Barack Obama seems almost traitorous. As I find myself more at odds with Obama by the day, this feeling of arbitrary loyalty to the oftendisappointing Democratic Party is a major cause for concern. Somewhere amid my fervent distaste for the GOP, I managed to forget that every issue doesn’t fit snugly on one side of a political binary. The problem isn’t that I couldn’t reach a consensus with those who share my liberal vantage point. The problem is that it doesn’t happen more often.
Every issue doesn’t fit on one side of a political binary.
— Jake Offenhartz can be reached at jakeoff@umich.edu
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and viewpoints. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while viewpoints should be 550-850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
EVENT PREVIEW
Mark to showcase work in ‘U’ series Award-winning photographer exhibits cultural snapshots By TEHREEM SAJJAD Daily Arts Writer
As a part of its regular speaker series, the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design is hosting a lecture this week by Penny W. one of the most respected and Stamps influential Distinguished contemporary Speaker photographers, Mary Series: Mary Ellen Mark. Ellen Mark Through her artwork, books Thursday and edito- at 5 p.m. rial magazine work, Mark has Michigan Theater gained world- Free wide visibility. For the past four decades, Mark has traveled extensively around the world to capture moments that portray a high degree of humanism. Her snapshots of human and cultural
diversity are considered exemplars in the field of documentary photography. “She has an incredibly long and successful career,” said Chrisstina Hamilton, the director of the lecture series. “The work that she has been doing lately — she was commissioned by the pharmaceutical company Novartis — is very interesting. She was commissioned by the company to go to the seven sites in the world that have the worst incidents of malaria and to document the situation.” A few of Mark’s awards include the Cornell Capa Award, the Infinity Award for Journalism and the Photographer of the Year Award from the Friends of Photography. Her work, including photo essays and portraits, has been published in magazines such as the “New York Time Magazine,” “LIFE,” “Vanity Fair” and “Rolling Stone.” Additionally, Mark has also executed photographed advertising campaigns for Barnes and Noble, Keds, Eileen Fisher, as well as British Levis. Some of Mark’s most notable works include her portrayals of
Mother Teresa, Indian circuses and brothels in Bombay. One of the most common aspects of Mark’s photography is her interest in people, especially those who occupy the fringes of society and whose stories might otherwise never be told if not through the lens of a camera. A few pivotal themes seen consistently in Mark’s collection include such societal concerns as homelessness, drug addiction, mental illness and teenage pregnancy. Mark’s images convince their audience of their depth because, instead of observing from the outside, Mark attempts to perceive her subjects’ environment from within. By becoming an integrating part of their world, Mark is able to grasp the inner realms of her subjects’ life. As a photographer for over 40 years, Mark has perfected her craft. She’s traveled all over the world, including India, Turkey and Africa, to capture the most miniature and simple aspects of peoples’ lives. As part of her lecture, Mark will provide her audience with an overview of her work and also discuss her project with Novartis.
FILM NOTEBOOK
FILM REVIEW
MILLENIUM
“Yeah, we’re thinking of naming it North East”
Poor writing terrifies in horror-comedy ‘Hell’ By MAYANK MATHUR Daily Arts Writer
“Hell Baby” tells the story of an expectant couple, Jack and Vanessa, played by Rob Corddry (“Hot Tub Time D Machine”) and Leslie Hell Baby Bibb (“Zoo Keeper”), who At State moves into a Millennium haunted fixerupper in New Orleans to set up their new home. Shockingly, the couple is tormented by a demonic presence that seeks to use them to its own end.
DISNEY
“This cricket will help me get lucky.”
Revisit of ‘Mulan’ reveals real-life lessons By ANNA SADOKSKAYA Senior Arts Editor
There were so many options to choose from: thrillers, scifi classics, new arrivals, a few TV shows … so, I went for the obvious choice and clicked “animated movies” on my Air France-provided touch-screen TV. Moving right past “The Croods,” “Epic” and “Monsters University,” I wildly clicked on “Mulan,” giving the woman in front of me a swift concussion. Disney is great. Nothing brings on the nostalgia more than old-school Disney fairytale movies. They got some things wrong, but what they managed to do was create a world where “a dream that you wish will come true.” I could not be stopped. A greater force willed me to watch this movie, in my neardelirious state of sleep deprivation. I wanted to believe in a world where a simple Chinese girl could become the greatest warrior in China. I wanted to believe in a world where ancestors and spirits helped their living descendants. I also wanted to sing along to “Reflection.” There’s no excuse for not watching “Mulan,” but if it’s been a while, the premise is this: Mulan’s father is called to war against the Huns (they’ve simply scaled the Great Wall of China and are on a killing spree),
except his knee is weak and he can’t possibly survive, so Mulan, the girl who will never make a perfect bride according to her matchmaker, dons her father’s armor and rides off to take his place. With a few bumps along the road (she was revealed to be female and almost dies because of how disgraceful it is), Mulan almost single-handedly stops the Huns and saves the Emperor and all of China. The Emperor bows to her. He gives her the sword of Shan Yu, leader of the Hun invasion. A personal medallion, from the Emperor’s neck, is handed to her. If not for any other reason, this is enough to make Mulan the coolest chick and bravest Disney princess
All best romances start as bromances, right? ever. There are plenty of reasons to love the movie: It teaches kids to be fierce, to love selflessly, go after their dreams — to believe that men and women are equal, and girls can do whatever boys
can. But after revisiting the Disney classic for the first time in a few years, I realized “Mulan” was incredibly smart for something else: Respect. From the first time Mulan encounters Li Shang (her eventual love interest and commanding officer), their relationship is established on the grounds of respect and trust. No other Disney princess romance starts this way: Snow White is kissed by a prince she hardly knows, and it’s instant true love. Prince Eric finds a half-naked Ariel, and is what, seduced by her wit? She doesn’t even speak. Mulan and Li Shang take the entire movie to get to know each other, to build admiration and reliance in each other, and only at the end is a romantic motive even hinted at. They don’t even kiss! But it feels more believable. Not each courtship needs to last as long as war, and not each romance needs to begin so slowly your love interest thinks of you as a dude. But something a little longer than a first glance would be great. “Mulan” shows the reality of worrying about social pressures, family expectations, gender inequality and the difficulties of climbing a 50-foot pole. She has the guts, the glory and she doesn’t even do anything crazy for “true love” or the “guy of her dreams.”
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 — 5A
Does Netflix have a category titled ‘Movies No One Sees’? The movie challenges the audience’s notion of how acceptable a bad movie can be. Do you sit back, relax and give the movie credit where it’s due by accepting its idiotic brand of humor? Or do you launch into a tirade about how ridiculously
WE HAVE A LOT OF FEELS. FOLLOW THEM ON TWITTER. @michdailyarts
silly the movie is by nitpicking every little detail and ripping it to shreds? Whatever perspective you choose to look through, the path ahead is clearly forked and you can look forward to either being whole-heartedly repulsed or entertained. However, the most difficult thing about viewing this particular movie is that it’s neither here nor there. It provides the lowest brand of lowbrow comedy in a shameless fashion while remaining mundane. Simply put, the movie never commits to its ridiculousness. The jokes are stale, the thrills are cheap and the plot drags on and on, making you question the purpose of a horror-comedy that’s neither funny nor scary. The writer-director duo of Robert Ben Garrat and Thomas Lennon (creators of “Reno 911”) are to blame for the film’s failure as any form of entertainment. The writing is downright lazy — it’s not as if there is an attempt at comedy or horror that for some reason doesn’t come off — there’s just no attempt whatsoever. Characters are forced into extremely predictable scenarios that loop throughout the film. It’s almost as if the writers hope that a scene which didn’t work the first time will magically force the audience to erupt into laughter if they repeat it again and again. However, what’s most
disturbing about the writing is the fact female nudity is needlessly injected in a bid to spice things up and used with such liberation that it sickens. It’s the ultimate sign of a movie which doesn’t know where to go and will use just about anything to elicit any response from its audience. The performances are striking in a unique way, since they’re not as bad as the writing, the plot or any other aspect of the movie. Garrat and Lennon grace the screen and provide welcome comedic relief as Vatican priests who are sent to cure the house and its occupants of the demon’s presence. Keegan Michael Kelley (TV’s “MADtv”) stands out as the couple’s neighbor, popping up unexpectedly throughout in inconvenient situations, thereby providing the few genuine moments of laughter. There’s not much more to be said about “Hell Baby”; the film is brazen in its stupidity and revels in its disgusting brand of comedy while never lending to the horrific brand of its genre. Films are often judged on their ability to deliver on their promise. This film promises to be at least mildly entertaining while providing a few jumpy moments. However, it turns out to be a dud. The mindless drivel of the script drown out the film’s few — and far between — moments of genuine comedy.
Arts
6A — Wednesday, September 11, 2013
FINE ARTS NOTEBOOK
Embrace campus arts opportunities Discover what performance art is like at the ‘U’ By REBECCA GODWIN Daily Arts Writer
When freshmen arrive at the University, they usually have a pretty good idea of a lot of the goings-on that happen all over campus. They know about the football games, the parties and the various restaurants and shops. But most freshmen lack any knowledge when it comes to all the arts events offered on and off campus, which is unfortunate because there are so many other exciting events to participate in. When I first arrived at Michigan, I was in the same position. I knew I wanted to participate in and go to arts events and, after some digging, I found so many great outlets of expression that it would be a crime not to share some of my discoveries. First off, the University Musical Society brings performers from all over the country, and some international, to Hill and Rackham auditoriums. The performances range from singers to dancers and, several times throughout the year, UMS offers trips to Michigan Theater to watch live broadcasted plays from London’s National Theatre. Tickets can be a bit pricey if you wish to sit close to the stage, but if you’re perfectly content sitting
toward the back, then prices fit nicely into any student’s budget. The School of Music, Theatre & Dance offers a wide variety of arts-related events throughout the year. There are numerous concerts, featuring soloists and ensembles, in a variety of musical styles; the Department of Musical Theatre stages two main performances a year and the Department of Theatre & Drama puts on five major productions each year. All these performances are offered to students at very discounted rates. If you don’t have enough money to purchase tickets on a regular basis, there are plenty of free arts opportunities to choose from. The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is open to everyone for free Tuesdays through Sundays. The museum has works by artists like Picasso, Monet and Rembrandt.
What venue will fit your menu? The Ark, a music club on Main Street, brings in a variety of music acts each month, and while some of them have a small price, several performances each month are completely free of charge. If you’re interested in participating in the arts, several
organizations on campus are set up specifically for students, by students. Basement Arts performs several student-written plays each semester and holds open auditions for people all over campus. And even if you don’t make it into the cast, every performance is completely free, which means there are multiple viewing opportunities for every student. Michigan Union Shows, Koeds, Too (MUSKET) is another student organization that puts on one Broadway musical each semester. Everything within the production is student-run, so if you don’t want to be on stage, there are dozens of opportunities to choose from backstage. The tickets are quite cheap and are worth the price if you really enjoy theater. One of the best-kept secrets on campus, though, is the Passports to the Arts, which can be picked up every couple of weeks in the Literature, Science and Arts building. The passports, vouchers for various arts events, are not widely known, but each one offers very generous discounts on a small selection of arts events happening on campus. Using the passport last year, I was able to go to several productions for free and several others at a very low price. With all the opportunities on campus to explore, there is really no reason why a person interested in the arts shouldn’t be able to find numerous interesting events to attend.
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Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
VIDEO GAME NOTEBOOK
NINTENDO
“No, my name is not Zelda.”
Escaping responsibilty with ‘Smash Bros.’ By KATIE STEEN Daily Music Editor
It was that time of the summer, when everyone began frantically trekking off to some mountain range or frantically road tripping off to some city or frantically lying on beach towels overlooking Lake Michigan. Yes, I too go into end-of-summer panic mode, but instead of wasting my time doing things “outside,” in the fresh air and sunshine, you can find me in the room of our house colloquially known as “the messy room,”
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ACROSS 1 Chiang Mai native 5 Dance moves 10 Cheerful 14 Mint, e.g. 15 Ira Gershwin contribution 16 Indiana neighbor 17 Palindromic fashion mag 18 More aloof 19 “Walking in Memphis” singer Cohn 20 Accommodating work hours 23 Large amount 24 “O Sole __” 25 Harper’s __ 28 Chewie’s shipmate 29 Béchamel base 31 Monopoly deed abbr. 32 Market research panel 36 Laundry cycle 37 Fairway boundary 38 Part of i.e. 39 Biblical prophet 40 “Yikes!” 41 Frito-Lay is its title sponsor 43 Mark of Zorro 44 Action on eBay 45 USN rank 46 Acquirer of more than 1,000 patents 48 It includes mayo 49 SUV part: Abbr. 52 Culinary combination 56 Roger Rabbit or Bugs Bunny 58 Heart of Paris? 59 Old Norse poetry collection 60 Bring in 61 Rockne of Notre Dame fame 62 Look slyly 63 Multitude 64 “Bullitt” director Peter 65 Company that manufactures the starts of 20-, 32-, 41- and 52Across
3 “Over the Rainbow” composer 4 Wild mountain goat 5 Deli worker’s chore 6 Danish astronomer Brahe 7 Toledo’s lake 8 Mottled 9 Prepare for surgery 10 Lefty in Cooperstown 11 Small Asian pooch bred as a watchdog 12 Balloon filler 13 Medical nickname 21 Big success 22 Lenient 26 Miller’s “__ From the Bridge” 27 Kidney-related 28 “Les Misérables” author 29 Derby prize 30 Ways of escape 32 Succumbed to stage fright 33 Wondered aloud? 34 Babylonian writing system
35 Senate majority leader since 2007 36 Weeps convulsively 39 Capital west of Haiphong 41 Hard to please 42 Grants permanent status to, as a professor 44 A.L. East team 47 Golf-friendly forecast
48 Like the accent in “entrée” 49 Wedding memento 50 Rear-__ 51 Found out 53 Chaplin’s last wife 54 Neither masc. nor fem. 55 Narcissist’s love 56 Darjeeling, e.g. 57 Scull propeller
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the one where I have to hike over boxes of textbooks I didn’t sell and garbage bags of winter clothes I never unpacked. But, after a bit of rummaging, I find it — I always do: my Nintendo 64. For the final fleeting days of summer, I ventured no farther than my sunroom, where I silently panic while playing Super Smash Bros. until I have to pee or eat something. I return, sit down, and whisper, “Because it’s still summer, goddamnit,” hover the hand over Kirby, and click “Start.” The truth was, I didn’t really want to do this — it’s just that I really had no control over the matter. You think I wanted to spend the last flickering hours of sunlight hovered over a wonky N64 controller? Sure, I could have just done something “in real life,” but gas money’s expensive and campsites have bears or at least mosquitoes and, dammit, the N64 is just sitting right there in the middle of the floor (where I left it in a frustrated stupor after losing to Jigglypuff, of all fucking characters). Yes, the truth was, just as I control the characters with two thumbs that are asking for a repetitive strain injury, the characters … controlled me! Like a character who has miraculously gotten hold of The Hammer — that powerful, beautiful tool of destruction — I was out of control, running around in a frenzy for 7.5 seconds to destroy anything that stood in my path (it’s not a perfect metaphor, but you know what I mean).
Sitting around all day is fun when you get to be Link. And I was becoming physically and mentally injured. Let’s start with the butt. It was sore. Probably flatter, too. The couch cushions in my sunroom are
hard and unforgiving. My eyes were inflamed, screaming and bloodshot, two sticky balls dried up from staring at that screen for hours. My back was bugging me, my hands were sweaty (they always get sweaty when I play Master Hand — it doesn’t hurt, but it’s gross). And of course, there are the thumbs — especially the left one. Can that thing just callous already? When I finally managed to power off the console and crawl into bed, it still wasn’t over. When I would close my eyes, I heard cries of “Pika, pikaa!” and “Falcon punch!” in my dreams, and when I would wake up, my thumbs would be frantically pressing imaginary buttons, trying to recharge Samus’s Power Beam or Donkey Kong’s Giant Punch. The battle was endless, and I don’t even know why. Why was I devoting those sacred final days of summer to a video game that came out in 1999, with characters whom I know almost nothing about? I don’t really get what the “deal” is with Samus — I only know that, damnit, she’s a feminist inspiration. I still do not understand what makes Luigi “better” than Mario (a rumor started by jealous Luigi fans — that’s all it is). And I only recently found out that that little pink thing that flops around saying “Goldeen” in a pleasant voice is not a piece of talking bacon, but is, in fact, a fish! Who knew? And yet, almost every break from school — summer, winter, spring, even fall break — I pull out the N64 and play this decrepit video game. I really always have a lot of other stuff I should be doing, but I think I’ve figured out why I cling to my console in defiance, denying that it’s been three hours since I’ve left this couch cushion. I am affirming that I am still on a break — that I still can waste my time in an absolutely unproductive and mindless manner, and it’s still OK, because this is what people do on a break. We relax, sit around ‘til our butts hurt and try not to think about the impending days of work and responsibility ahead.
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
REPORT From Page 1A
FUNDING From Page 1A
undergraduate program ranked seventh for the second year in a row, behind MIT, Berkeley and Stanford University, among others. The U.S. News and World Report’s methodology for determining rankings centers on two main points: each university’s official mission and an evaluation of up to 16 indicators of academic excellence, including an assessment of the administrators at each institution, student retention rates, alumni donations and financial resources. Though the publication draws from a number of sources to compile the rankings, experts question the reliability of such measurements. The U.S. News and World Report also measures the amount of money spent on each individual student to calculate the quality of a university’s degree. Fitzgerald said the University does not believe spending more money per student necessarily corresponds with better academic quality. “It actually penalizes institutions like Michigan, where we’ve been able to find more efficient ways to deliver services and still maintain the highest possible quality of education,” Fitzgerald said. Earlier this year, U.S. News World and Report ranked 99 of the University’s graduate programs in the top 10, placing it in the top five for all public and private universities in the nation. The School of Social Work’s graduate program was ranked the best of its kind in the country.
Greimel (D–Auburn Hills) expressed concern that the amendment could delay important decisions for school districts statewide, such as what textbooks to buy and how to proceed with the curriculum. Despite this potential roadblock, bipartisan support remains for the standards as well as optimism that the amendment will be reversed before the budget deadline. Greimel and Walsh believe a resolution to move forward with the standards will be passed this month. Walsh, the second-ranking House Republican, said opponents of the Common Core fear it might create some sort of formalized national curriculum imposed by the federal government. He said he is confident that, as members learn more about the standards, their fears will be dispelled and they can move forward with the bill, which is expected to come out of committee and onto the House floor either this week or next. The condition of the state’s roads is another issue that legislative leaders and Snyder hope to resolve before the budget deadline. Despite broad support for fixing roads among both legislators and citizens, there has been little consensus over how such a measure would be paid for.
CSG From Page 1A Vice President Bobby Dishell, an increased assembly interest in the commission’s existence prompted its creation. In an e-mail obtained by The Michigan Daily dated Aug. 7, Audia expressed her interest in the commission and her willingness to address any queries with regards to the commission. While she was not an active member of the commission in the prior year, her e-mail suggested that her future affiliation with the commission was determined before the commission was publicly created eight days later.
“I truly believe that VYV serves as an essential component to the CSG commissions,” Audia wrote. “I would be more than happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability!” Four previous members of the group — which encourages civic participation on campus — addressed the assembly, arguing that Audia is not qualified to be chair of the commission due to her lack of prior experience on the board. The members also said that they weren’t made aware of the position’s vacancy. In response, CSG president Michael Proppe told members of the assembly that he sent out applications via e-mail to a listserv of CSG representatives in
According to Walsh, the House was able to allocate more funds for road repair in the upcoming fiscal year due to an unexpected revenue increase. However, the increase is not substantial enough to fund future projects. Walsh said trying to find new revenue streams to cover what he believes is “billiondollar-a-year under-spending” on the state’s part for roads is very difficult. “It’s not just a Republican or Democratic issue,” Walsh said. “Our citizens are taxweary, and we’ve got to come up with a proposal that makes them feel comfortable that the money will go to (improving) roads and nothing else and won’t come at the cost of education.” If the legislature were to raise taxes in order to pay for road improvement, Walsh said one circulating suggestion is to remove the state’s sales tax on gas, since that revenue does not go towards roads. Gas-tax revenue, however, is allocated to the state’s education budget, and any dramatic reduction there would be met with widespread opposition. While Greimel is pleased with the bipartisan approach to both the Common Core and road improvement issues, he and House Democrats would still like to see more increases in higher-education spending and would like to fight for more progressive tax policies for the middle class and working poor. As the $49.5-billion
early August in an effort to fill the position. Todd Flynn, the previous chair of the Voice Your Vote commission, said he was concerned with the proposed nomination of Audia. “We’re not here to babysit people … to raise someone in Voice Your Vote,” Todd Flynn said. “If you want continuity, we’d have the same chair we had last year.” Proppe also accused Flynn of running the commission outside the oversight of the CSG constitution, noting that group was intending to hold internal nominations for its next chair. Flynn responded that the commission has its own constitution, but Proppe corrected him in noting
budget for fiscal year 2014 currently stands, K-12 education will see a 3-percent increase in funding. However, Greimel said he’s not confident that such measures will pass while his party is in the minority. Walsh acknowledged that while the parties do hold very different views in areas such as labor, spending and civil liberties, the House does operate on a very bipartisan basis — he approximates that over 90 percent of the bills that come out of the legislature pass in a bipartisan fashion. “By and large and at a great rate, much of our work is done on a bipartisan basis,” he said. “People just don’t talk about it.” Meanwhile, one issue that neither leader mentioned was the bankruptcy and pension crisis in Detroit. Walsh said the House is letting the situation play out at the municipal level in bankruptcy court. When judge comes closer to rendering a an opinion, there will be some level of activity by the House, he said, noting that any action the legislature could take now would be premature. “There’s nothing for the legislature under our Constitution to do at the present time,” he said. “We’d be out in front of (emergency financial manager) Kevyn Orr, and the governor and for that matter the bankruptcy court if we began trying to legislate some solution to the issue.”
that it falls under CSG’s constitution. Responding to remarks by members of the group, Audia said she feels she’s capable of being chair. “I want to inform you that I do not need a babysitter,” she said. “(I’m) not coming in here to undermine Todd’s authority; I want to reiterate that I hope to lead this commission.” Following the comments, the assembly went into closed session for about 35 minutes. When the commission returned to an open session, Assembly speaker Andy Modell said Proppe had withdrawn his nomination of Audia, and that a formal application process for the position would begin Wednesday.
Mayor to be silent at 9/11 event No political speeches allowed at Bloomberg’s last ceremony as mayor NEW YORK (AP) — When this year’s Sept. 11 anniversary ceremony unfolds at ground zero, the mayor who has helped orchestrate the observances from their start will be watching for his last time in office. And saying nothing. Over his years as mayor and chairman of the National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum, Michael Bloomberg has sometimes tangled with victims’ relatives, religious leaders and other elected officials over an event steeped in symbolism and emotion. But his administration has largely succeeded at its goal of keeping the commemoration centered on the attacks’ victims and their families and relatively free of political image-making. In that spirit, no politicians — including the mayor — were allowed to speak last year or will be this year. Memorial organizers expect to take primary responsibility for the ceremony next year and say they plan to continue concentrating the event on victims’ loved ones, even as the forth-
coming museum creates a new, broader framework for remembering 9/11. “As things evolve in the future, the focus on the remembrance is going to stay sacrosanct,” memorial President Joe Daniels says. At Wednesday’s ceremony on the 2-year-old memorial plaza, relatives will again read the names of the nearly 3,000 people who died when hijacked jets crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pa. Readers also will recite the 1993 trade center bombing victims’ names. At the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, where Wednesday’s ceremony will include bell-ringing and wreathlaying, officials gathered Tuesday to mark the start of construction on a visitor center. The Pentagon plans a Wednesday morning ceremony for victims’ relatives and survivors of the attacks, with wreath-laying and remarks from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other officials, and an afternoon observance for Pentagon workers. Deciding how to mark the anniversary of the worst terror strike in U.S. history was a sensitive task for Bloomberg and other leaders in the months after the attacks, perhaps especially for
the then-new mayor. Officials were planning a memorial service for thousands of families from 90 countries, while also setting a tone for how the public would commemorate 9/11. “That was the challenge that we faced, and it was an enormous one,” recalls Jonathan Greenspun, who then was part of Bloomberg’s community affairs unit and now is a political consultant. “There was a recognition, by the mayor, that the ceremony had to transcend typical memorial services and the politics that are sometimes associated with them.” Officials fielded about 4,500 suggestions — including a Broadway parade honoring rescue workers and a one-minute blackout of all Manhattan — before crafting a plan centered on reading names at ground zero. “Our intent is to have a day of observances that are simple and powerful,” Bloomberg said as he and then-Gov. George Pataki announced the plans in 2002. For years, the ceremonies did include politicians reading names and texts, and Bloomberg made remarks that over the years touched on Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 London subway bombings and the Biblical King David’s grief at the death of his son Absolom, among other topics. Bloomberg’s role hasn’t always
been comfortable, especially for a mayor whose brisk, pragmatic personality and early criticisms of the memorial struck some victims’ relatives as insensitive. When the ceremony was shifted to nearby Zuccotti Park in 2007 because of rebuilding at the trade center site, some victims’ relatives threatened to boycott the occasion. The lead-up to the 10th anniversary brought pressure to invite more political figures and to include clergy in the ceremony. And when Bloomberg mentioned the idea of ending the namereading the next year, some of the relatives were aghast. By next year’s anniversary, Bloomberg will be out of office, and the museum is expected to be open beneath the memorial plaza. While the memorial honors those killed, the museum is intended to present a broader picture of 9/11, including the experiences of survivors and first responders. But the organizers expect they “will always keep the focus on the families on the anniversary,” Daniels said. “We see ourselves as carrying on a legacy.” That focus was clear as relatives gathered last September on the tree-laden plaza, with a smaller crowd than in some prior years.
MASS MEETINGS THURSDAY, SEPT. 12
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Wednesday, September 11, 2013 — 7A
STUDENT From Page 1A cult beyond measure,” Miranda wrote. “The SNRE community is devastated.” Miranda said the death of a student is one of “the most painful things for the entire community.” Moving forward, the dean said she’ll try to highlight the strength of the SNRE community — one Wilson passionately helped to build — as students and faculty deal with the loss of a colleague and friend. She said many members of the community have already been telling stories, sharing anecdotes
ROSS From Page 1A marily on the fundamentals of business and leadership. Courses emphasizing business essentials such as marketing and finance will make up the basis of the curriculum, and students may choose two electives to personalize their degree. Beil said students will take part in workshops outside of class. “(The workshops will include) leadership modules to train them about understanding themselves as leaders, and understanding how to lead themselves and what that entails, and then understanding how they can use that knowledge to lead other people in their career as well,” he said. According to Mark Garrett, the program’s managing director, the degree’s course load is tough, as students push through 30.75 credits in a relatively short period of time. The program is based on a
and remembering their positive interactions with Wilson. She also encouraged students and faculty to seek additional resources if needed, such as speaking with a counselor at Counseling and Psychological Services, which is located on the third floor of the Michigan Union. Miranda said Wilson’s death serves as a reminder to value the importance of open lines of communication, both in times of tragedy and in the everyday functioning of a school. “Life is exquisitely fragile,” Miranda wrote in her email. “Call everyone you love and tell them so.”
cohort model, meaning students go through classes and workshops together in groups. “A cohort is really going to be important for them to develop their own network — a support system,” he said. Garrett said workshops with the Career Services Program at the Business School will train Master of Management students in interview skills, résumé writing and the “30-second Elevator Pitch.” Applicants to the program will be required to submit GRE or GMAT scores, two letters of recommendation, a résumé, transcript and two essays. There are three different deadlines for applications, which will be reviewed within two weeks after each round. Garrett said officials are not sure how many students will make up the program’s first year. He said the quality and diversity of the admitted students will be more important than hitting a specific number for the first cohort.
Russians sit on Cyprus bank board after bailout Six seats are part of agreement with intl’ creditors NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Shareholders of Cyprus’ largest bank on Tuesday elected six Russians to sit on its new, 16-member board of directors, a consequence of the country’s bailout agreement with international creditors. The vote puts more foreign nationals on the board of the Bank of Cyprus than ever before. The fact that they are all Russians — one of whom, Vladimir Strzhalkovskiy, was elected by other board members as vice chairman — reflects the large stake they had in Cyprus’ banking system. Russians kept billions in Cypriot bank accounts because of benefits such as low taxes and high interest rates, helping to swell the size of the financial sector at its peak to eight times the country’s entire economy. Cyprus turned for help to its euro area partners and the International Monetary Fund in June, 2012, to rescue its Greeceexposed banks and to stave off bankruptcy. But Cyprus’ creditors sought a fundamental restructuring of the country’s financial system which they saw as unsustainable. According to the terms of Cyprus’ rescue deal it agreed in March, depositors with over 100,000 euros in the Bank of Cyprus, and the second-largest lender Laiki, were forced to take huge losses on their savings in order for the country to qualify for a 10 billion euro ($13.2 billion) loan. Money from the deposit grab — or ‘haircut’ — was used to replenish Bank of Cyprus’ capital buffers, while Laiki ceased
to operate and large chunks of it were absorbed by the larger lender. The haircut sapped trust in Cypriot banks, prompting authorities to impose restrictions on money transfers and withdrawals to prevent a run. Many restrictions have since been relaxed, but off icials say it may take many months before they’re f ully lif ted. Some 47.5 percent of uninsured deposits in the Bank of Cyprus were converted into shares, turning large Russian depositors into big shareholders requiring representation on the board. The Russian board members include Igor Lojevsky, who has worked at both the World Bank and Germany’s Deutsche Bank. The board also elected Cypriot Christis Hassapis as its chairman. Some 3.500 shareholders attended the banks’ annual general meeting either in person or by proxy, representing 53.6 percent of the total share capital. The meeting was a tumultuous affair as several old shareholders — who saw almost all of the value of their shares slashed under the bailout’s conditions — loudly opposed the proceedings because they hadn’t received the banks’ post-bailout financial results. Some stormed out of the meeting, saying that they were being asked to legitimize “illegal” decisions made without their consent. The new board replaces an interim one which had been tasked with stabilizing the bank in the bailout’s aftermath and starting to downsize it after absorbing Laiki’s operations. The bank still faces significant challenges, including how to deal with non-performing loans and restoring trust.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Michigan looking elsewhere after Gallon’s big performance
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 — 8A
Freshman Bucklin leads ‘M’ to 5-0 start By RYAN KRASNOO Daily Sports Writer
By LIZ VUKELICH Daily Sports Editor
Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison says he’s not a betting man, nor an expert on wide receivers. But if he did gamble, he’d put all his money on Michigan whenever fifth-year senior wide reciever Jeremy Gallon is on the field. And just because NOTEBOOK he’s mostly concerned with what happens on the other side of the ball doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate the game Gallon had against Notre Dame. “That guy, he’s as tough as there is,” Mattison said. “He just comes to work every day, does everything you ask, has a smile on his face. He’s Michigan. I’ve got so much respect for him, it’s unbelievable.” But as much as Saturday night was Gallon’s game, offensive coordinator Al Borges is more concerned with making sure the rest of the receiving corps is capable of having the same kind of big night. It’s undeniable that Gallon and redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner seemed to share a brain last weekend. But other receivers need to have that same chemistry with Gardner too. During the early days of their Michigan careers, Gardner, Gallon and senior Drew Dileo — who caught a touchdown pass on Saturday — spent hours practicing with each other as backups. That dynamic was briefly disrupted last season when Gardner was used as receiver, but Dileo said the chemistry picked right back up again when Gardner’s position was cemented at quarterback. So, when Gardner starts to scramble during a game — which doesn’t come as a surprise to Gallon and Dileo anymore — they
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Fifth-year senior wide receiver Jeremy Gallon had 184 receiving yards and three touchdowns against Notre Dame.
instinctively know where he’s going to be. “It’s being around Devin,” Dileo said. “Devin scrambling, you’ve seen him in practice for a couple years. What you see on Saturday is what we see on Tuesday, Wednesday (and) Thursday. It’s not like he goes in the game and decides to scramble.” I DREAM OF JAKE RYAN: Mattison lies awake at night, smiling from the scene that continuously plays out in his mind. In the scenario, redshirt junior linebacker Jake Ryan has completely recovered from his torn anterior cruciate ligament, and Mattison smiles to the media as he makes the announcement that Ryan is ready to start the upcoming game in his usual position at strongside linebacker. Then, Mattison snaps out of the fantasy and has to remind himself that Ryan is still in recovery. But that doesn’t stop him from
gushing whenever Ryan’s name is brought up. “Jake Ryan is beautiful,” Mattison said. “Every time I see Jake Ryan, I smile. We won’t play him early, but he’s working extremely hard. When the doctors say he’s ready, he’ll be ready.” Whenever the date of Ryan’s return arrives — his timetable is mid-October — Mattison still isn’t quite sure how he’ll fit into the position now that junior Brennen Beyer and fifth-year senior Cam Gordon have started to make a name for themselves by rotating at SAM. “Brennen and Cam are doing a nice job,” Mattison said. “A lot of other people would have said, ‘How are they going do this?’ But no, those two guys, they’re playing really good football. It’s their position. We just have to see what happens from there.” A YOUTHFUL ‘D’: So much of Michigan’s matchup with the
Fighting Irish was focused on how the interior line stood up next to the likes of Notre Dame’s big boys opposite the ball. But that’s completely ignoring how the Wolverines’ own defense fared against the Fighting Irish’s veteran offensive line. Mattison noted that the the biggest issue was the technique of the front four and the performance of the pass rush, but that inexperience was the biggest factor. They had trouble pressuring quarterback Tommy Rees and didn’t register any sacks. Upon reviewing game tape, the coach noted just three upperclassmen were on the field for Michigan, with the rest being freshmen or sophomores. “(Youth is) not an excuse, because you don’t need to make an excuse,” he said. “Our game plan was not to sell the farm a lot. We didn’t want to put our secondary in a position where a big play could get us.”
For many first-year college athletes, old habits die hard. But for the Michigan women’s soccer team’s standout freshman goalkeeper, Taylor Bucklin, the only habit that has followed her to Ann Arbor is winning. In addition to her 5-0 record as the Wolverines’ starting netminder, the Greenwich, Conn., native was recently named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week after she made three saves and earned a shutout in Michigan’s 2-0 win over No. 22 Pepperdine on Sept. 6. “(Bucklin’s) maturity is impressive,” said senior cocaptain Shelina Zadorsky, who plays in front of Bucklin as part of a back four that has allowed just three goals in five games. “To have such an important role as a freshman, she has such a positive attitude. She’s a good shot stopper, and she’s able to communicate well to keep the defense in check while also managing her duties.” Commanding a veteran back line, especially one accustomed to playing in front of 2012 second-team All-American and Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year Haley Kopmeyer, is no small task. There should be errors. There should be breakdowns in communication. There should be a drop off as an 18-year-old takes the reigns. But so far, there have only been positive results. The amount of preparation and adjustments that go into organizing a defense is staggering. It’s an operation that despite constant tinkering can still feel at times like an exercise in futility. Kinks could take multiple games or even a full season to work out, which makes the expedited and seamless transition from Kopmeyer to Bucklin
all the more impressive. “We’ve been very organized, very focused and really playing the way you’d want a defense to play in front of a goalkeeper,” said Michigan coach Greg Ryan. “Taylor has made a couple great saves inside our box and has shown that she can come up with a big save when we need her to.” Entering this season, Ryan had anticipated Bucklin would start, but insisted that she has done everything to earn the starting job. Bucklin has gone above and beyond justifying her role five games into the campaign, and Michigan will rely heavily on the freshman once Big Ten play begins Sept. 22, after a match against Detroit on Thursday and the first away contest at Butler on Sunday. In a conference riddled with talent, the Big Ten schedule will test the young goalkeeper in ways she hasn’t yet experienced and will likely put her in scenarios where her play and decision-making will swing the result one way or the other. A certain learning curve is to be expected, but with a top10 national ranking looming, there’s little room for error. “It’s a lot of pressure, but I just envision myself making the saves,” Bucklin said. “Our seniors really deserve to win the Big Ten this year. Penn State has won the past 15 championships, so it would be awesome to send our seniors out with a win.” Bucklin’s lofty expectations are hardly uncommon for an incoming freshman, but watching her patrol the Michigan goal, barking orders to her back four and cutting down angles with a deceptive ferocity lends credibility to her sentiments, which seem to be taken less with a grain of salt and more with an air of confidence and belief. Some habits are just worth sticking with.
“... She can come up with a big save when we need her to.”
PAUL SHERMAN /Daily
Redshirt freshman offensive guard Kyle Kalis is one of three inexperienced interior offensive lineman who performed in a big way against Notre Dame last weekend.
Kalis learning on the fly By MATT SLOVIN Managing Editor
Redshirt freshman guard Kyle Kalis said Tuesday that the Michigan football team’s coaching staff has preached that the Notre Dame game can dictate how the season will go. The Fighting Irish presented, quite possibly, the toughest front seven the inexperienced interior of the Wolverines’ offensive line will face all season. If that is indeed the case, the adjustment for Kalis and redshirt sophomore offensive linemen Jack Miller and Graham Glasgow will only get easier. So far this season, all three have benefited greatly from the experience brought by the outside of the line. Fifth-year seniors Michael Schofield and Taylor Lewan are big reasons why the offense has allowed only one sack of redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner through the first two weeks. That’s not to say the line is functioning at its fullest capability, though. Kalis stressed the importance of creating holes for fifth-year senior running back
Fitzgerald Toussaint, saying they haven’t done a good enough job of it yet. “Taylor and (offensive line coach Darrell Funk) preach moving guys off the ball,” Kalis said. “Push them from point ‘A’ to point ‘B.’ We’ve got to put it on our backs and on our shoulders to get (Toussaint) going.” But Lewan especially, as the group’s leader, has had an effect on the younger linemen. During the Notre Dame game, he gathered the other four around him during a timeout. “Look around for a second,” Kalis remembers Lewan saying. “Take this all in. You’re playing at Michigan.” This weekend, and into Tuesday’s practice, Kalis got some motivation from another source — one he admires even more than Lewan. Former NFL star Steve Hutchinson, a seven-time Pro Bowler, was in town, along with numerous other program alumni for the Under the Lights II game, and Kalis made sure he got the opportunity to pick the brain of one of his heroes of the position. “Steve actually came up to me
(during practice) and pulled me aside,” Kalis said. “I’m like, ‘Oh my god, this is Steve Hutchinson talking to me!’ “Getting coached up from a guy like that … it was a great experience hearing from a guy who might be the greatest guard of all time.” Hutchinson dished out mostly technical advice to a “shaking” Kalis, encouraging him to keep his chin up and his backside down. But Hutchinson also made himself available on the sidelines at the Big House on Saturday for more motivational chats. He also said he became “obsessed” with Hutchinson after seeing him on the episode Big Ten Network’s “Big Ten’s Greatest Games” that featured a game against Northwestern from the early 2000s. Kalis also downloaded film of Hutchinson and decided to try and emulate the way he plays. “Hearing from a different voice, especially a guy like that — I listened very intently to what he said,” Kalis said. “It’s just different.” Kalis cherished the opportunity to receive a bit of one-onone coaching from a Michigan
offensive line legend, but that doesn’t mean a magic switch has been flipped that will allow him and the other two interior linemen to overcome the learning curve. That, Kalis said, is a natural progression that comes only from game experience. It certainly doesn’t come from just two wins in which they worked together, however big one of them might have been. It might not even come from half of a season of building cohesion. “I slightly improved,” Kalis said of his change from Week 1 to Week 2. “I didn’t make any great gains. But having that first game under my belt, I went into the second game feeling a lot more comfortable.”
COME TO A MASS MEETING THURSDAY SEPT. 12 SUNDAY SEPT. 15 TUESDAY SEPT. 17 THURSDAY SEPT. 19 WE LIKE YOU ALREADY
PATRICK BARRON/Daily
Freshman goalie Taylor Bucklin shut out Pepperdine last week in a win.
statement SEP TEMBER 11 , 2013
twelve years later
2B Wednesday, September 11, 2013 // The Statement
online comments
issue 9/4/13
the science of it all: smell ya later
Making a Movement: How a small group of students united behind a fringe issue and changed University policy “What was really incredible about this was that such a strong movement happened among members of an elite group (UM students) who were working hard to make it easier for other people to join that group. Most of the students in this movement had nothing to gain personally from its success, but they fought on behalf of others. So now can UM students fit for others and for themselves, and fight the rising tide of tuition?” – USER: Cerebrallyyours Correction: In “Conversations: How has student activism changed at the University?” the article misstated Prof. Stephen Ward’s title at the University. He is an associate professor, not an assistant professor.
Join the
!
Come to our Mass Meetings! Thursday, September 12 at 7:30 P.M. Sunday, September 15 at 7:30 P.M. Tuesday, September 17 at 7:30 P.M. Thursday, September 19 at 7:30 P.M. All meetings are in our newsroom at 420 Maynard Street, behind Betsy Barbour and Newberry Residence Halls.
THE
statement
Magazine Editor: Haley Goldberg Deputy Editor: Paige Pearcy Design Editor: Alicia Kovalcheck
Photo Editor: Teresa Mathew Illustrator: Megan Mulholland Editor in Chief: Andrew Weiner
Managing Editor: Matthew Slovin Copy Editor:
Picture this: You’re walking down a busy street in a city filled with loud noises and stimulating sights. You pass a small bakery and catch a whiff of the most recent batch of cookies. A chill runs down your spine. You wince. Your mind flashes back to that time when you were six, learning to bake cookies with your grandma and accidentally burned your hand. Your hand became vibrantly red, blistered and it was painful for a week. Your mood converts from bliss to melancholy. Until this moment, you hadn’t thought about that in years, decades even. And all this came from a smell? “How weird!” you think. But no, it’s not weird: It’s neuroscience. Okay, so maybe this didn’t happen to you. Maybe you didn’t ever burn your hand or even learn to bake cookies — a true crime — but the idea that a smell can trigger memories, both good and bad, is true. It’s called the Proustian Effect named after Marcel Proust, a French writer who was the first to write about the effect, albeit not scientifically, but as an observation in his novel “In Search of Lost Time.” Unlike the other senses which pass through the thalamus — a relay station for movement and sensory information in the brain —
before moving to the cerebral cortex for processing, smells transmit directly to the olfactory bulb, without interruption. In fact, a smell has been proven more likely to trigger emotional memories than a sight or a sound because of its direct entrance to the brain. The olfactory bulb is located close to both the amygdala — the area of the brain where emotion and emotional memory is processed — and the hippocampus — the area of the brain connected with more general memory.
“The memories associated with emotions and smells are likely to be unexpected and less focused, more nostalgic.” The close proximity of these regions with the site of processing the smell stimulus provides the link of smells with memory. Likewise, it explains why the memories associated with smell are of the emotional type rather than the episodic type, which involve particular details. This goes into a more complicated idea associated with the smell memories: They are completely involuntary. When one actively tries to remember things, they focus on details, on the elements they want to remember — they’re selective. You wouldn’t
Tom McBrien
actively try to remember that time your dog died or when you saw a car accident. However, when one focuses on details, they don’t focus on the feelings they are feeling. For example, you’re trying to remember what your professor is saying in class. When you recall that moment, you remember the words, but you don’t remember that you were depressed from getting a less than satisfactory grade on that paper you just were handed back. Details and emotions are stored in two different areas of the brain. Thus the memories associated with emotions and smells are likely to be unexpected and less focused, more nostalgic. The things you didn’t want to remember but are encoded in your brain anyway. This is why when you smell a man walking by wearing the same cologne as your ex you may be filled with sadness, or when you smell a flower, it could trigger your happy memories of Hawaii.
THE
Josephine Adams Jennie Coleman
by paige pearcy
No. 485:
It’s OK to sit next to football players in class and pretend you’re on the team, the team, the team.
No. 486:
Keep calm and wear a poncho, flip flops, scarf and shorts: the motto of September weather.
rules
No. 487:
Yes, walking to and from Pizza House in workout clothes will fool your neighbors.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 // The Statement 3B
statement on the street: What is 9/11’s place in society today?
“
on the record
“There is no place in the world like the University of Michigan — anywhere.”
– DARREN CRISS, University alum and “Glee” star, firing up the crowd at Friday’s “Maize Out. Lights On.” pep rally on the Diag.
PHOTOS BY TERESA MATHEW
“I think it’s still lingering around a little more than a lot of us would think it would. Especially since our conflicts are still in the Middle East today, even 12 years (later). I just think we still think about it a lot, and it’s still kind of lingering over our heads everyday.”
“In today’s society, I see it as just a really sad moment in our history. I feel like we could do more about remembering it instead of just a moment of silence, but it’s just a sad time.”
Matt Grubish, Engineering sophomore
Sheena Bahroloomi, LSA freshman
“It has its place as a memory and it’s obviously touching, and it touches me. But, it’s more of a reminder and really a warning to society of what happens when people hate ... It is a past event, and we have to learn from history as opposed to repeating it.”
“We cannot constantly expect people of color to ‘educate’ their white peers. Besides exhausting them, this burden reinforces a problematic power dynamic where students of color are expected to be at the service of their white counterparts.” – ZEINAB KHALILL, Daily opinion columnist, on safe spaces at the University.
”
“I still get recognized most places I go.”
– LLOYD BRADY, a.k.a. Michigan-Flint graduate student David Kazmierski, on being famous for looking like a mix of Tom Brady and the “Dumb and Dumber” character Lloyd Christmas.
Grant Mercer, LSA freshman
trending #ShadysBack #Zimmerman #NYFW
KENNY DORSET VIA YOUTUBE
Before debuting a sneak peek of his new music video during halftime of the Michigan-Notre Dame game, Eminem gave what could be the most uncomfortable interview ever on ESPN. A face has never looked so blank.
AP PHOTO/Marcio Jose
Keeping up with the competition, Apple released not one but two new iPhones – the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C. The 5S comes equipped with a fingerprint identity sensor to serve as your password to unlock your phone, and the $99 5C comes in five colors. Cue the queues at the Apple store!
#RussiaSyriaObama #iPhone5C #VanGoghsLegit #SerenaNadal #MileyWrecksIt
AP PHOTO/Peter Dejong
A painting stored in an attic was determined to be an authentic painting by Van Gogh by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, according to the Wall Street Journal. The painting was considered fake for the past 10 years.
Miley got us talking yet again when she debuted her new video for “Wrecking Ball,” wearing little more than, well, a wrecking ball. Anyone else concerned that, was, um, a bit uncomfortable to ride that thing naked? MILEY CYRUS/”Wrecking Ball”
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Wednesday, September 11, 2013 // The Statement
The Statement
RECTIFIED
DESIGN BY ALICIA KOVALCHECK
By Jennifer Calfas
Photo courtesy of Captain Albert Park from his tour in Afghanistan
C
aptain Albert Park kept a quote in the back of his head while deployed in Afghanistan in 2007. The quote — said by Captain Ronald Speirs, a World War II veteran played by Matthew Settle in the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” — motivated him while completing his duty as a U.S. soldier. “We’re all scared. You hid in that ditch because you think there’s still hope. But Blithe, the only hope you have is to accept the fact that you’re already dead. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function. Without mercy. Without compassion. Without remorse. All war depends on it.” In 2006, Park — who was commissioned at California State University, Fullerton in 2005 — served as the headquarters commandant
for a joint international post in Iraq. He spent most of his time maintaining logistics and ensuring operations ran smoothly and without violent interactions. When he was sent to Afghanistan in 2007, however, he began to see bloodshed first hand. Stationed in Jalalabad, Afghanistan — the future base of “Operation Geronimo,” which ended with Osama bin Laden’s death in 2011 — Park’s daily patrols to villages brought frequent encounters with the enemy, the anticoalition militia (ACM) otherwise known as the Taliban. Park hoped to transfer to a different post. The attacks he experienced, which could occur daily, involved firearms and rockets. Park described the daily action as “exhilarating,” though “definitely scary.” “If it’s my time, it’s my time; I just let that be what I operated off, because if you’re scared,
you can’t operate,” Park said. “Every time that you go out on patrol, you hope that you come back alive. You just take it day by day. You can’t really think about the future.” After completing his work in Afghanistan in 2008, Park was deployed to Haiti in 2010 to provide humanitarian care after the 2010 earthquake and sent to Iraq, again, in 2011. Park then had a choice to make: his next assignment. From a list of 72 possible locations for his next chapter, one stood out as Park’s first choice: the operations and executive officer and assistant professor for the University’s Reserve Officer Training Core program.
The aftermath On Saturday, September 15, 2001, a football game was scheduled. The Big House was filled
to the brim, but the atmosphere was quite different than a normal game. Senior Vice Provost Lester Monts remembers the Army ROTC cadets and midshipmen raising the flag at the game while the national anthem played, eliciting an out-of-character noiseless response from the audience. “When the colors came out of the tunnel, there was almost complete silence in the stadium,” Monts said. “I never heard the national anthem sung with such gusto as I heard on that particular day … And that’s just a description of their patriotism and appreciation for what the military does for them and alike.” Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the enrollment in the University’s ROTC program has increased — with 555 total members in 2001 growing to 898 in 2013. While enrollment comes in peaks and valleys, its
membership flourishes with above 800 total members enrolled each year since 2010. Established in 1917, following the implementation of the National Defense Act of 1916, the ROTC program has commissioned almost 500,000 officers since enrollment records were documented starting 1920. The United States Army Cadet Command determines the curriculum for the Army ROTC programs at universities nationwide. While many of the programs, training exercises and classes have remained similar to or the same as before 9/11, current members participate in the program with more of a focus on effectively using first aid and identifying the enemy. Operations Officer Wayne Doyle, who has worked at the University since the late 1990s, said he noticed the shift in the program’s curriculum to better prepare for finding nonstate actors — like the Taliban — that aren’t uniformed and easily identifiable in a crowd, compared to the large unit formations the U.S. military has traditionally faced. “How can you fight them without causing civil damage at the same time?” Doyle said. “It takes a different mindset to do that than when I grew up in the Army.” The goal is to create tactics that cause as little harm to civilian populations as possible, according to Doyle. To pursue this objective, the Raiders team — an extracurricular club that 40 cadets, including some from Michigan State University — completed a mock night raid similar to the one performed by the United States Navy SEALs that killed Osama bin Laden. The club completes different exercises each year, but the objective is to allow cadets the opportunity to execute a realistic Army operation on their own. In this exercise, planned and led by University cadets, they simulated calling in for air fire, surveillance and wore night vision goggles, among other tactics, to complete the exercise. According to Lieutenant Colonel Allana Bryant, professor of military science and the lead member of the cadre (or staff ) advising the program, the reenactment represents one of multiple large training events. Within her past two years involved in the program, Bryant said it has expanded to new heights, and will grow this year with their participation in the Army Ten-Miler — a race that aims to build Army spirit and maintain fitness goals — in Washington, D.C. with two cadet teams and one cadre team. As for former ROTC graduates who now serve in Iraq, Doyle said the program prepared them well for the combat and day-to-day life while deployed. “From time to time I’ll have lieutenants write back to me from Iraq telling me this was some of the best preparation they ever got for combat in Iraq,” Doyle said. “That was good to hear, because we are teaching useful things that do apply later on.” Bryant attended the U.S. Military Academy herself and was deployed to Germany, Kuwait, Haiti and around the country prior to coming to Ann Arbor. As a student at West Point Military Academy, Bryant and her classmates had access to tangible necessities for the military,
like helicopters and shooting ranges. The University program differs, however, from the United States Military Academies with members also experiencing a more traditional university lifestyle. With this campus life, a University cadet’s ability to cope with more freedom could be a cadet’s downfall, or his or hers ascent to a disciplined attitude, Bryant said.
Learning to serve When Engineering senior Matthew Blanchard heard about the 9/11 attacks he was in fourth grade. His teachers kept the news a secret to maintain a calm environment and continued with the usual activities for the day, but the atmosphere was still tense. Later, when Blanchard returned home from school that day, he watched the news as it played clips of the Twin Towers collapsing. After visiting the World Trade Center a month prior, he was unable to fully grasp the gravity of the situation, just like many other Americans. Though he made the decision to join ROTC only a few weeks before college began,
freshman and sophomore year — canoeing along the Huron River — and last year riding a Black Hawk above campus, this year was different. Living in close quarters at Fort Custard, the battalion thrived — allowing seniors to show incoming freshmen the ropes, as well as teaching them one of the most important emotional aspects of ROTC: finding your purpose. “If you give people purpose, they’ll take to it a lot better and bond a lot better,” Blanchard said. “This five-day orientation was absolute gold for our program.” Blanchard wasn’t the only one pleased with the event. Doyle, Bryant and Park, all among the ROTC cadre, lauded the orientation as a success. But it wasn’t just the bonding and prepping for the year that elicited satisfaction: It was the seniors’ ability to lead the team more tactfully and passionately than ever before. The class, according to Doyle, firmly commands the cadets, resulting in them garnering more power and control within the program. “They took it upon themselves, it’s a really neat thing to watch,” Doyle said, adding that Blanchard “has it in his mind that it’s his bat-
“ I learned to grow very passionate
about serving my country, serving other people, serving the greater cause that is something greater than you and me. ” — Captain Albert Park
Blanchard attended camps as a child with plans to attend the U.S. Military Academy, influenced by his dad who served in the military himself. Now, 12 years later, Blanchard serves as the University’s Army ROTC cadet battalion commander, the highest position available for a cadet in the program. This summer, Blanchard attended the five-week Leadership Development Assessment Course at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Wash. — a mandatory program that commission cadets participate in after their junior year — with other rising seniors in the program. There, Blanchard received a rating of Excellent — the highest possible — in addition to the coveted Recond badge, an additional honor for top-performing cadets. Upon returning to campus, Blanchard helped lead the ROTC program’s first five-day-long orientation in late August at Fort Custard in Battle Creek, Mich. Blanchard described the few days as the “best experience” he’s had in ROTC. The orientation gave 96 ROTC members — 42 of whom are new to the program — an opportunity to bond and progress as a unit. Compared to brief bonding stints his
talion, and he is going to run it.” While usually the level of bonding and integration with the freshmen and transfers takes months to master, Bryant said the orientation reached that level within a few days, resulting in an impressive class of new and old members for the start of the year. Like Bryant, within a matter of five days, Park saw immense improvements among the battalion, especially with those who have never been exposed to the military.
“It’s so gratifying and extraordinary to see their progress just in a matter of five days — hell, just in a matter of three days,” Park said. “This is all because of the efforts, not only of us the cadre, but the seniors. They’ve been in that program for two to four years, and they are just regurgitating everything they’ve learned into these cadets. It’s an amazing feat to see, actually.”
A change in respect Since 9/11, Monts has noticed a newfound appreciation for ROTC members amongst the campus community. Compared to a largely unsupportive campus during the Vietnam War
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— where campus visitors often harassed veterans and ROTC members — they are now not only welcomed, but also celebrated. “It definitely changed here on campus,” Monts said. “I think that really changed after 9/11, and I heard from cadets and midshipmen that they’re often stopped by people and had people expressed their thanks for what they do for the country.” On multiple occasions, Ann Arbor residents have paid for Doyle and Bryant’s meals and greeted them with countless thanks and appreciation. “It’s a difficult life,” Bryant said of her career. “It’s a life where you sacrifice from your own personal goals and dreams sometimes for the sake of something else. The fact that we weren’t recognized or even in a negative light, like it was in Vietnam, that was much more difficult, so I’m very happy about the current state of our culture.” For the soldiers, cadets, cadre and veterans, individual progress and growth is not the only measure of success — the goal is progress as a nation. When asked to explain his purpose for joining ROTC, Blanchard paused. After explaining his leadership tactics while training the freshmen at orientation, he thought about his answer, eventually uttering each word of it naturally. “I want to progress myself as much as I can and become as good quality of a leader as I can,” Blanchard said. “The military setting, for me, has worked very well: I like the discipline and the ability to make myself as good as a person as I could possibly be. It will have somewhere down the road some kind of positive impact.” While Blanchard is unsure of his future in the military after his six years of service following graduation, he understands the rewards he has received from training in such a high-stress, disciplined environment. No matter if he serves until retirement, or goes into engineering, his leadership skills have forever changed. For Park, the future is uncertain as well. He has two years left serving on cadre for the University’s program, and then he plans to return to active service. While Park originally joined the military to follow an 800-year-old family tradition of service in the Korean military and, now, the American military, his purpose to serve has shifted. Being commissioned to protect the country inspired a new purpose for Park: laying the foundation for the military’s future, and protecting the ones that he loves from future dangers. “There was obviously something that had to be done from the attacks on 9/11,” Park said. “What really compels me to work and stay happy in my work is to make sure I did the most I could do to rectify the inequity; do my part so that other people didn’t have to. I get deployed to keep my friends and family safe from subsequent attacks on American soil. So that took a huge grasp on my heart, actually. I learned to grow very passionate about serving my country, serving other people, serving the greater cause that is something greater than you and me.”
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Wednesday, September 11, 2013 // The Statement
9/11 changed...
Mackenzie Conway, Social Work student
Steven Hsieh, LSA junior
Giriyja Nair, LSA freshman
Amere Horton, LSA and School of Music, Theater & Dance sophomore
Mitchell Aftalion, Business sophomore
Piyush Goyal, LSA sophomore
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 // The Statement
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LDAC in 1,000 Words by Matthew Blanchard
F
or every cadet in Army ROTC, the acronym “LDAC” is something ominous. It represents fear, expectation, anxiety and the unique feeling of proving one’s self. Pronounced “eldahk,” it stands for Leadership Development and Assessment Course — a nationwide camp that sees thousands of future Army Officers every year. The course lasts 29 days, and is housed at Fort Lewis near Seattle, Wash. The purpose of LDAC is to serve as a culminating training event and evaluation period for any cadet wishing to earn a commission in the United States Army. I’ve participated in Army ROTC since my freshman year at the University. Our program stresses a strong emphasis on training us to perform well at LDAC. Why? Because our overall performance at LDAC says a lot about us. It speaks to how we handle stress, how much we have learned, how well we work with others, and whether or not we can handle military environments. It’s a military and life test, and we get a career-changing grade. Our evaluations are part of our overall packet which determine our branch — Infantry, Engineer, Aviation, Military Intelligence, etc. — and duty station. LDAC is broken into three phases: garrison, assembly area and patrol base. Garrison is spent sleeping in dorm-like buildings. The assembly area and patrol base phases are spent in large tents with periodic restless nights in the woods. Since LDAC is about evaluating cadets ability to lead, our leadership positions change every day. While in leadership, our every move is critiqued. When my evaluation day came in garrison, I approached it with high energy. I was highly motivated, ready to wake everyone up, fully prepared for our day’s training, and ready to “valiantly” lead my peers. In truth — though I did not know it at the time — I was leading
in appearance, not actuality. It was too soon to understand the needs of my squad, and my motivation developed as a result of my assessment. When I strutted into Captain Brooker’s office to receive my evaluation, I fully anticipated an “E” for “excellent.” Minutes later, I left confused and disappointed: “S” for “satisfactory.” Surely the system was broken. Surely I deserved an “E”, and the captain did not know what he was talking about. However,
it was later that same night that I learned something about my own leadership. A member of my squad told me a cadet, James, was outside crying on the steps. When I went outside to talk to him, he told me he had lost his medical qualification for Aviation and maybe even the Army as a whole. “How crushing,” I remember thinking. This kid’s dream of being in the military is being threatened, and here I am getting angsty over an “S” rating. Something became apparent to me that night. I could choose to focus on myself and my own desire for success, or I could seek to help those who needed a calm and comforting voice. Helping my peers through LDAC was a vow to which I became truly committed after that moment. That night after talking with James, I left him with a note: “If you want to make God
laugh, make plans. You’ll make it through.” With my renewed attitude firmly in hand, LDAC seemed quite a bit easier. My goals no longer circumvented my ego, but something much more important. My notions about leadership were challenged, and I am a better person for it. But, in order to better paint a picture of LDAC, it’s better to look at all cadets as a whole, rather than one cadet alone. Transitioning out of garrison, our regi-
The living conditions during marksmanship, obstacle course, hand-grenade-assault course, first aid, squad tactics and patrolling did not much improve the tempo. It took strong, interpersonal control to not act on the frustration and discomfort, to suppress lashing out, talking back, or being hurtful to one another. Not everyone broke down, but at some point many cadets became toxic to working as a team — yelling and de-railing exercises. While fixated on our own discomfort and pain, it’s difficult to remember those around us and the purpose behind our training. The emotionally resilient cadets were able to ignore their own ailments and care for their buddies instead. LDAC teaches two powerful lessons: First, we learn about our own leadership style and how we change under stress. We learn that being genuine and taking care of each other is the most fulfilling of feelings. Second, that people really change. In the absence of sleep, quality food and vanity, people lose sight of the big picture. These are rare lessons; ones only experience can teach. LDAC is anticipation and expectation. It is four hours, silent, laying in a bush looking down the sights of an M16. LDAC is ignoring the ILLUSTRATION BY MEGAN MULHOLLAND mosquitos and heavy eyement moved out of luxury and into the lids. LDAC is learning about oneself. LDAC woods. Next stop: Land Navigation. Four is seeing what people can become, both posinights of unsheltered sleep — no buildings tive and negative. But, most importantly, or tents — were accompanied by busy days in LDAC is an opportunity to see who we are the hot sun. Physical stress met psychologi- at our limits. It is a great, tough and worthcal wear and tear, and so began the process while opportunity, and not one I would trade of emotional decay. The once optimistic felt for any other experience. their resolve smoldering beneath them. Pain On the bus ride back from patrolling, from chaffing, a lack of proper hydration, someone burst out singing Taylor Swift. freeze-dried food and poor sleeping condi- Everyone joined in, and we realized it was tions started to break the locks, and demons over. We had overcome a life test together started showing their ugly heads. and we knew each other during the highs Our food came in the form of Meals Ready and lows. Each of us had grown as indito Eat. They are freeze-dried packages con- viduals, but nothing felt better than coming taining snacks, entrees and deserts, but lack- together — unified and collectively stronger. ing the flavor and texture we take for granted at home. Proper politicking ensured a good- Matthew Blanchard is an Engineering senior tasting MRE, thus moist towelettes and Skit- and the University’s Army ROTC cadet tles became a valid currency. battalion commander.
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Wednesday, September 11, 2013 // The Statement
W H AT R E P R E S E N T S M I C H I G A N T O Y O U ?
“Like everyone else I’m really busy in my profession, and I can’t afford to be late because I’m setting an example for my students and staff. I live, breathe, succeed and fail by what’s in here” — Lieutenant Colonel Allana Bryant
“A carabiner is a metaphor for my time at Michigan because it speaks to the idea of limits. Michigan has pushed me beyond what I thought I could achieve, learn and feel. It has pushed me down a path of becoming a self-aware, more acute leader — traits that will allow me to be a better officer for those entrusted to my judgement” — Matthew Blanchard, Engineering Senior and Army ROTC cadet battalion commander
“This (a mirror bearing the words ‘To teach is to touch a life forever’) was given to me with a letter by a former student who told me she wanted to thank me for teaching her what a beautiful person she was. I keep it with me as a reminder to always do my best for my students” — Operations Officer Wayne Doyle
“Aside from joining the Army, M-Run is the best organization I’ve ever joined. You’re with like-minded people; people who like to run and have fun” — Captain Albert Park
Photos by Teresa Mathew