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RESEARCH
Researchers find link between slut-shaming, finances
NEWS
Policy conference Annual Mackinac Island Policy Conference focuses on Detroit’s future >> SEE PAGE 2
NEWS
ACLU lawsuit 300 couples file suit, once again bringing debate to state courts
Study of female freshmen indicates chasm between social classes
>> SEE PAGE 6
OPINION
Social sciences From the Daily: Congress must recognize importance of social science research >> SEE PAGE 4
ARTS
New fairytale Disney’s “Maleficent” fails to reinvent genre, but mostly fulfills expectations >> SEE PAGE 9
ABBY KIRN /Daily
Director John Sayles cuts a ribbon made of film at the opening of an exhibit for his films during the John Sayles Symposium at Hatcher Library Wednesday.
Acclaimed indie filmmaker donates work to ‘U’ archives Symposium celebrates donation, discusses films’ racial and gender themes By HILLARY CRAWFORD
SPORTS
Men’s basketball Junior Caris LeVert could be back by early August from foot surgery >> SEE PAGE 12
INDEX Vol. CXXIV, No. 109 | © 2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS .................................... 2 OPINION ...............................4 ARTS ......................................6 CLASSIFIEDS.........................8 CROSSWORD........................8 SPORTS.................................10
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Daily Staff Reporter
A ribbon-cutting on Wednesday was lacking in a ribbon. Independent filmmaker John Sayles snipped a 35-millimeter film strip as he officially introduced his collections to the Hatcher Graduate Library’s American Film Mavericks at Michigan collection. Since his directorial debut in 1979 with Return of the Secaucus 7, Sayles has directed 17 additional films. Go For Sisters, which had a budget of $1.2 million and was shot in just 19 days, will be shown at this year’s Cinetopia Film Festival. Several of his films has reached universal acclaim, such as The Secret of Roan Inish from
1994 and 1983’s Baby It’s You. The library hosted a symposium titled “Declarations of Independence: John Sayles as Author, Auteur, Founding Father,” which lasted for the duration of Wednesday afternoon. Various Screen Arts & Cultures professors and administrators spoke at the event, separated into segments discussing Sayles as a screenwriter and author, the themes of gender and race in his films and the changing landscape of American independent cinema. SAC Prof. Jim Burnstein, also a screenwriter, played a part in opening the ceremony with an account of Sayles’ identity and beginnings as a writer. Sayles began his career as an author; his works include four novels, two collections of short stories and numerous screenplays — the best of which he claims have unfortunately never been produced. “John Sayles is the Godfather of the American independent film,” Burnstein said.
Sayles said although it is harder today to raise money for independent film and sustain a career, it allows him to tell the stories he wants to tell as an auteur. “When I’m writing a movie for somebody else, I’m an employee,” Sayles said. “There are people who don’t raise their money independently and who make their own movies—they’re a lot more successful than I am and they also don’t get to do everything they want.” Sayles came to this realization early on in his career when he began writing novels that allowed him to sculpt his own world, narratives and characters. Sayles has since translated this creativity to the screen but plans to write at least one more novel, which will most likely be based on one of his screenplays that are not yet produced to be films. Currently, Sayles writes screenplays for TV and features by other directors to raise money See FILM, Page 3
By CAROLYN GEARIG Daily Staff Reporter
In Fall 2004, 55 women moved into a floor of a dormitory at a large public Midwestern university. Only 53 were students. The other two were Sociology Prof. Elizabeth Armstrong and then-graduate student Laura Hamilton, now teaching sociology at the University of California-Merced. The most surprising findings centered on the intersection between affluence and who was slut-shamed — that is, who was made guilty for their sexual activity. Although Armstrong said all of the girls “slut-shamed” equally, poorer girls were shamed by wealthier girls for their sexual behavior. Although wealthier girls had more hookups than the other girls, poorer women felt that they could not get away with this behavior without being shamed. Hamilton and Armstrong spent five years studying the attitudes, habits and daily routines of the girls on their floor. They spent extensive time with the women during their first year and interviewed them annually from sophomore year to post-graduation. Their findings concluded with a book published in April 2013, “Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality”, and a study published in Social See SLUT-SHAMING, Page 3