2017-03-09

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Ann Arbor, Michigan

b-side The Daily Arts writers looked into the ways art is being utilized by local artists and organizations to benefit communities

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ART as a

SOCIALGESTURE

Students work to navigate costs of tuition, look to ‘U’ for assistance

Close to 75 percent of students think tuition is too high, struggle to secure adequate aid KEVIN BIGLIN

Daily Staff Reporter

A survey conducted by The Michigan Daily last month found 74 percent of student respondents at the University of Michigan think tuition is too high, and 54 percent believe the University doesn’t give out enough scholarship money.

LSA junior Kim Truong, a second-generation immigrant and first-generation college student, said despite receiving a full needbased scholarship, she believes tuition at the University is too high.

“From my perspective, I think it’s very high-priced,” Truong said.

“Although, I have the privilege of a full-ride scholarship — a needbased scholarship — which covers my tuition and housing, (without it) I definitely wouldn’t have been able to bear the costs at all. I think

(the University) should start looking at structural changes to their policies. They’re doing well in the grand scheme of things, but they should try to fix these issues.”

Rising Tuition Last June, the Board of Regents approved a 3.9-percent tuition increase for in-state students and a 4.4-percent increase for out-ofstate students for the fiscal year of 2017. This translates to in-state students paying $546 more per year and out-of-state students to paying $1,934 more per year.

At that time, several regents opposed the tuition increase, as they believed it failed to address the overarching issue of rising higher-education costs. One vocal critic at the time was Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R), who said the increase in financial aid did not offset the overall rising cost of higher education.

“Whether it comes from the University of Michigan’s general

GRANT HARDY/Daily

fund or from the government, more financial aid does not solve the underlying problem of rising college costs,” she said. “It only makes the University of Michigan less affordable, especially for middle-class students and their families, who are least likely to qualify for financial aid.”

Pamela Fowler, executive director of the Office of Financial Aid, said there is a proportionate amount of aid given to students, but recognized it does not cover the cost of books, housing and other expenses.

“In the 20 years I have been here, for every chance there was an increase in tuition students on financial aid got an increase in their need-based grant equal

to the increase in tuition,” Fowler said. “So they were held harmless on the tuition increase. Now that doesn’t mean they were held harmless on everything else — you have to pay for books, housing and you have other expenses.”

Last school year, the University also gave out the most financial aid in the state of Michigan, totaling $907,915,059 for the 2015-16 school year, according to the Office of Financial Aid allaid chart Fowler provided. More specifically, $32,033,083 of it was need-based, $20,173,919 was merit-based and $15,691,139 was loans.

“We give out more financial aid than anybody in the state, probably more than anybody in

the Midwest,” Fowler said. “But I can’t make it free for everybody.”

Truong, who is also on the executive board of the First Generation College Student Group, noted tuition could be cheaper if students were not required to pay for services not all use, like intramural building renovations, which cost students $130 a year.

“Little things like that add up,” Truong said. “It’s the difference between having the service available for you, and you not going to it because you don’t want to pay for it.”

Fowler said despite increasing what students have to pay, many of the smaller costs are necessary for giving students the services

and resources they want.

“This is what students want,” Fowler said. “And now somebody who couldn’t pay for tuition in the first place now has to pay an extra $130 because this is what students want. So you have to think about these things. When you expect more and demand more, someone has to pay for it.”

Sociology Prof. Dwight Lang, who also advises the First Generation Student Group, doesn’t expect tuition to go down in the future without a resurgence in the economy and higher taxes to support education.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Local Women’s Day protest draws over New office Botanical to provide one hundred in support of female rights Gardens

ACADEMICS

CITY

increased aid options

Students, community members partake in International Women’s Strike

In first month, Office of National Scholarships, Fellowships successful

More than 100 people marched Wednesday afternoon through downtown Ann Arbor as part of the International Women’s Strike, one of many demonstrations occurring throughout the day locally and nationwide. The strike encouraged women to take the day off from work and buy only from female- or minority-owned businesses.

Though similar in nature, the International Women’s Strike is not affiliated with the “A Day Without a Woman” event, which was organized by the Women’s March on Washington.

Liz Ratzloff, an organizer of the strike in Ann Arbor, spoke about the need for sustained activism, stating the current political moment was an ideal time to create new activists.

“The Women’s March was a pretty incredible event,” she said.

“Millions of people marched around the country and around the world, so this has been a great opportunity to have sustained involvement and to not just have that be a one-time event. There are a ton of people who are getting involved, who haven’t ever been involved in activism or felt a strong need to resist in the past, and this is just another opportunity for that.”

Though the Women’s March, an activist group that grew out of the worldwide marches protesting President Trump’s inauguration,

EMILY MIILLER Daily Staff Reporter

On Feb. 1, the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships opened as a centralized office to provide information and advising on application processes for all University of Michigan students interested in postgraduate fellowship opportunities.

The office’s staff now provides information about opportunities such as the Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, the Truman Scholarship for graduate studies with a public service focus and the Marshall Scholarship for graduate studies in the United Kingdom.

The staff will also provide advising through the application process, including putting students in contact with faculty who have won these scholarships in the past.

ONSF Director Henry Dyson said this office is a resource many of the University’s peer institutions already provide their students.

“This is something that most other universities have, and we didn’t have a central office that was doing it,” he said. “We had at that time as many as 10 different offices that were doing different See OFFICE, Page 2A

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ANDREW HIYAMA Daily Staff Reporter

received flak for being exclusionary of trans women, the International Women’s Strike explicitly included trans women in its platform.

Ratzloff lauded the inclusion of the International Women’s Strike, emphasizing it was just as important to advocate on issues that she wasn’t personally affected by.

“First of all, trans women are women,” she said. “And trans women also experience an increased rate of violence and discrimination, and part of solidarity is standing up for issues that affect all of us. Injustice somewhere is an injustice everywhere.”

LSA junior Lakyrra Magee said every movement struggles with inclusion, and she criticized the signs and attire of some protesters

in attendance.

“When I was first invited to speak at this event, I was hesitant,” Magee said. “As a queer Black woman, it is easy to end up being the diversity ticket for white activism. While we see an attempt with inclusivity in the platform, popular slogans and rhetoric express the severe need for better understanding of how we fight for all women. Your pussy hats are not inclusive to all women.”

Rackham student Rachel Miller, a member of the Graduate Employees’ Organization, spoke about the importance of unionization, specifically referencing the University President Mark Schlissel’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plan and the fact that all of the work necessary for the plan’s success is voluntary. GEO is

currently bargaining a new contract with the University.

“One of the key components of our platform, something our membership has demanded and created, is University support and compensation for diversity labor, the kind of work that has long been unrecognized and undervalued, and ends up falling on the shoulders of those it is intended to benefit,” she said.

After several other women spoke to the crowd at Liberty Plaza, organizers led a march through downtown with chants of “No justice, no peace,” and “the people united can never be divided,” momentarily blocking traffic on some streets. Ann Arbor Police Department officers were also present, directing both traffic and protesters away from each other.

hosts talk about cull

Meeting analyzes effects of latest Ann Arbor deer cull, research behind it NIKOLA JAKSIC Daily Staff Reporter

Close to 40 people filed into the Matthaei Botanical Gardens Auditorium Wednesday evening for a presentation on the effects deer have had on the parks of Ann Arbor, and in turn, the deer cull’s impact on local populations. The talk was hosted by Wild Ones, an organization aiming to protect native species of plants and animals.

The deer cull has been a controversial topic in Ann Arbor, with calls for the University of Michigan to cease its support of the cull, and for the city to stop funding the program entirely.

Presenter Jacqueline Courteau, a professional biologist who has studied the local environment for the past 20 years, acknowledged the program comes with considerable emotional baggage, and proceeded to outline policy and management implications from her research.

ANDREW HIYAMA, DAILY STAFF REPORTER/Daily

More than 100 people march through downtown Ann Arbor Wednesday afternoon to participate in the International Women’s Strike.

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INDEX

Vol. CXXVII, No. 41 ©2016 The Michigan Daily

NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7

News

2A — Thursday, March 9, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

ON THE DAILY: ”WHY I AM A FEMINIST” “This was the only reason I left my house today,” said LSA senior Brittany Boyle as she stopped at a table in Mason Hall to write what it means to be a feminist, an annual event sponsored by Lean In to coincide with International Women’s Day. Engineering junior Sonia Thosar, a member of the Lean In core team that hosted the event, described the organization as a group devoted to forging gender equality on campus.

“Lean In is an organization dedicated to gender parity and gender equality, so it’s not necessarily just female-oriented; it has to do with equality of gender,” she said.

Thosar explained the purpose of the table in Mason Hall was to raise awareness for what it means to be a feminist by having passersby write on whiteboards that had the prompt “I am a feminist because …,” and then posting on social media to spread the message.

“We put this event on to

destigmatize the word ‘feminist’ and going from the table, Thosar said, multifaceted, and it means a lot to a to show you can take ownership of allowing the club’s message to spread lot of different people, and it’s not a that word regardless of if you’re a boy through campus. bad word,” Thosar said. or a girl or what you identify as, and to “We take the pictures and Read more at show what the word means to you to put them on social media to send MichiganDaily.com the entire campus,” Thosar said. the message that feminism is very LSA freshman Deepthi Devireddy, also a member of an engagement team for Lean In, noted how much of a success the event was, specifically noting the men who stopped at the table.

“I think it’s really cool that we get a lot of guys coming to this as well, because I know Lean In is a primarily female organization, so it’s cool to have a lot of guys coming and feeling proud of saying that they are a feminist and giving really good reasons as to why they are,” Devireddy said.

JOHN YAEGER/Daily LSA freshman Erin Kiessling uses chalk to advertise Impact Dance’s upcoming recital on the Diag on There was a constant Wednesday. flow of people coming and

Michigan Rec Sports @UMichRecSports If you’re at the CCRB...no you didn’t just fall asleep while working out...it is really dark here...the power just went out

DA N C E IT O UT

brandon @bcsm1994 Was gonna spend some time outside but decided to work in computer lab. Power went out at school. The universe is being p straightforward tbh

CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Detroit Bankruptcy and Its Economic Future

The Art and Science of Healing Symposium

Chinese Caligraphy Demonstration

WHAT: Day one of this two-day convention will feature keynotes and sessions on medicine and healing techniques from ancient civilizations and cultures WHO: Department of Classical Studies WHEN: 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

WHERE: Hatcher Graduate Library, Room 100

WHAT: Learn the history and the basics of brush and ink caligraphy with Xiwen Sheng, Chinese associate director of the Confucius Institute WHO: Michigan Medicine’s Gifts of Arts WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: University Hospital Main Lobby, Floor 1

WHAT: Detroit Free Press editor Stephen Henderson will talk about his award-winning work and Detroit’s financial outlook WHO: University of Michigan Retirees Association WHEN: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

WHERE: Wyndham Gardens Conference Center

Ghostly Labor in the Levantine Prism of Jacqueline Kahanoff

From Protestor to “Terrorist”

Research on the ISIS Frontline and with alQueda Affiliates

WHAT: This lecture and discussion will address how and why devoted actors for ISIS sacrifice their lives for the organization’s values WHO: International Policy Center WHEN: 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

WHERE: Weill Hall, Room 1120

WHAT: Author Amr Kamal will discuss the 1951 novel “Jacob’s Ladder” and how the Levantine culture arose in the Middle East WHO: Department of Romance Languages and Literatures WHEN: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

WHERE: Modern Languages Building, Room 2011

OFFICE From Page 1A pieces of what my colleagues at other universities would have in a centralized system.”

He said the previous, decentralized system could be confusing for students and was part of the motivation for the creation of a centralized website and office.

“It used to be before we had a centralized office that you almost had to know what you were looking for before you could go hunt for it,” Dyson said.

ONSF is housed in LSA, and there will still be some scholarship opportunities coordinated by other departments, like the International Institute continuing to advise applications for Fulbright Fellowships. However, Dyson said the aim is to guide students in all colleges at the University in their pursuit of postgraduate scholarships and fellowships.

“We want to provide this as an LSA service to students, to the whole university and have our services be open and welcoming to all of those students,” he said.

CRY ME A NILE RIVER.

LSA senior Amalia GomezRexrode, who was awarded a Truman Scholarship in 2016, wrote in an email interview how advisers played a vital role in her application.

“When planning on applying for the Truman Scholarship, I consistently met with Dr. Dyson who helped me every step of the way — he was instrumental in allowing me to put forth the best application possible,” she wrote.

Michigan alum Layne Vandenberg, recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and a scholarship to complete a master’s degree at the Yenching Academy in Beijing in 2015, also voiced the importance of advising in the application process. She initially disregarded the Yenching Scholarship and only applied because of encouragement from Dyson, her adviser.

“I saw and immediately deleted the email and thought, OK, this is for people who specialize in China, people who speak Chinese,” she said. “And I had never studied China at all. Not even a little bit.

So I saw it and deleted it. And then Henry sent it to me again and was like, ‘Hey, did you see this?’ … He said, ‘I think you should just apply.

puzzle by sudokusyndication.com

WHAT: Investigative journalist Will Potter will address the FBI’s deeming of social rights activists as domestic terrorists and his experience in the field WHO: Department of Communication Studies WHEN: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

WHERE: Michigan League, Vandenberg Room

I think that you would probably be a good candidate.’ ” Vandenberg, after completing her master’s degree and Ph.D. in international studies, hopes to pursue a degree in sports governance. She said she felt Dyson’s help was a key component to her success with these experiences, with his focused suggestions of opportunities based on her interests as well as help through the process.

“I think I was competitive for some of these fellowships because I had people like Henry talking to me about my application and because I had the opportunity for a sounding board … he put this in front of me, and without him doing that, I wouldn’t be here.”

She said ONSF will reach a wider variety of students at the University and will allow more students to participate in programs similar to hers.

“This is going to be a great resource for students and I wish I had had it,” she said. “In a way I did, because I had Henry, but now other people are going to know who to go to and how to get that information. I think a lot more Michigan students are going to be able to do things like this.”

Dyson said in addition to informing more students about these different scholarships, he hopes more University students will also receive those scholarships. He said the University tends to perform well with some opportunities, like the Fulbright Fellowship, but lags in others, such as the Truman Scholarship and the Marshall Scholarship.

“Of course I’m competitive,” Dyson said. “I want to win.

I want my students to win.

There’s nothing happier than, you know, getting that excited phone call from a student who just found out that she’s got a full scholarship to Cambridge.

It’s a wonderful experience.

And then to celebrate that with the University to say this is a win for you. So, yeah, I definitely want to close the gap, I’ve got that competitive streak as well.”

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Kelly Martinek @kelly_martinek

Film Screening of “Cities of Sleep”

WHAT: The film focuses on India’s homeless and the constant struggle to find a place to sleep for the night. Director Shaunak Sen will host a discussion after the film WHO: Center for South Asian Studies WHEN: 4 p.m to 6 p.m.

WHERE: School of Social Work, Room 1644

#adaywithoutawoman and the power goes out in the @umich buildings. coincidence?

U-M College of LSA @umichLSA

Sensing Place: Habit Change in the Connected Present WHAT: The relationship between technology and how humans operate in social groups will be discussed in this lecture WHO: Department of American Culture WHEN: 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

WHERE: North Quad, Room 2435

THIS tweet prescheduled for #InternationalWomensDay by a woman who was missed at work today.

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Michigan in Color

Thursday, March 9, 2017 — 3A

Pay Students for Diversity Labor THE MULTICULTURAL LEADERSHIP COUNCIL We are a coalition of organizations committed to transforming the University of Michigan campus climate through policy change. We believe that the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategic planning initiative will fail without financial investments into the infrastructure for DEI work: The current policy of expecting free labor from marginalized people undermines the integrity of the entire DEI campus enterprise.

Since the DEI strategic plans were released last fall, the University has repeatedly declared its aspirations for a truly diverse, equitable and inclusive campus environment.

However, a recent decision by the University conf licts with this vision.

In December 2016, the Graduate Employees’

We call on the University to meaningfully integrate DEI labor into the structure of our institution Organization, the labor union representing Graduate Student Instructors and Graduate Student Staff Assistants, put forth a proposal to the University to create paid DEI positions for graduate students within each school unit. As part of negotiations for its labor contract, GEO proposed hiring at least one DEI GSSA per school unit at a 20-hours-a-week appointment, with additional positions at larger schools such as LSA and Engineering. These

GSSA roles would substantially increase the capacity of each school unit to implement their DEI plans, and officially place value on the diversity labor and expertise contributed by graduate students. Moreover, GSSA positions dedicated to DEI work would lift much of the labor burden off of students, faculty and staff who have historically done this work on a voluntary basis. Paid GSSA positions would make it possible for the University to be proactive on campus climate issues, rather than reactive, and institutionalize DEI labor as core to campus operations.

In February, the University rejected that proposal. As part of negotiation proceedings between GEO and Academic Human Resources, HR f latly rejected GEO’s proposal to fund GSSA positions for DEI labor in each campus unit.

This concerns undergraduate students, graduate students, staff and faculty alike. It sends a message to our communities that the University does not place a high value on DEI labor if it is unwilling to pay for it.

Recent campus events ranging from racist and anti-Semitic emails to white supremacist f liers have made it abundantly clear that now more than ever the University needs to take proactive measures and ensure that each school unit has the capacity to respond to acts of hate efficiently and effectively.

Without paid DEI positions as part of the University infrastructure, school units will continue to struggle when responding to such incidents as they arise.

We call on the University to meaningfully integrate DEI labor into the structure of our institution by hiring and paying students to support the implementation of DEI plans.

We specifically declare our endorsement of GEO’s proposal to create paid DEI graduate student staff positions. In doing so, we join the more than 900 students, faculty and staff who have signed a petition in support of the proposal. Several of our

Don’t Forget About Flint CHRIS CROWDER

Michigan in Color Contributor

Don’t forget about Flint.

People there still don’t have clean water.

I’m from Flint, lucky to have my water untainted and saddened by the hundreds of homes ruined, people poisoned and voices unheard.

We must never forget about Flint. The aftereffects of lead poisoning will continue to harm and haunt many for the years to come. May we learn from this negligence and work and speak so something like this will never happen again.

The following is a poem I wrote a year ago when the coverage of the crisis was just beginning:

Water That Has To Boil I hold in my hand a map that pinpoints every area where lead is in the water Just yesterday I said that we, that y’all weren’t going to keel over That’s what the governor said too But Rick Snyder knew that it was a possibility in a different kind of way That we, that y’all were going to die People die here all the time, we’re desensitized to what comes as a shock to another town’s news I say “we” because I’m a Flintstone too, I say “y’all”

because my water isn’t tainted and because I use my cousin’s death by getting shot, my grandmother’s old address, my father’s high school alma mater, my familiarity to the city and its danger as sorry examples of street cred I end my envelopes: Flint, Michigan 48532 But I’m in the middle of Flint and Flint Township, smudged a block in between the two There is a f law in this thinking Do I not live in Flint because I don’t live where the crime is mostly concentrated?

Flint Township isn’t at all sunshine and rainbows, but Flint isn’t just eclipses and gunshots We’re nearly one and the same, we share a name, families, histories, stories It’s we, y’all I look at the map once again Damn, I am literally a block away from having my water look like piss and shit What if my parents were potentially going to buy a house a minute more east?

But when the water plant made blueprints, this is where they stopped A block away from my house Once I cross Ballenger, the water turns to a broth It’s alphabet soup, the names we forget in the Rolling Stone columns that put the scope on lives that have been demolished The last time I was at a soup kitchen, I saw what I thought were polar opposites A one-legged man in a wheelchair followed by a man in a three-piece suit with a

organizations have previously described the need for fair compensation for diversity labor and the importance of investing in human resources in order to address inequalities in the distribution of diversity labor on campus. There is clear and broad support for the

GEO’s proposal promotes social equity by lifting the diversity labor burden creation of paid DEI positions.

Hiring GSSAs across school units would substantially increase staff capacity to implement DEI strategic plans.

Most campus units have formed working groups and committees to begin the work of developing and implementing such plans.

These advisory committees serve an important role in overseeing progress, but they are not equipped to carry out the day-to-day tasks involved in actual implementation. Those who serve on the committees do so voluntarily, and on top of their existing job duties, academic workload or both.

Meetings held once a month or once a semester are not enough to promote systemic change within any campus unit. These facts coupled with the high turnover rate most committees experience, as students and faculty move on to serve other needs, can make DEI committees ineffective.

Expecting school units to adhere to aggressive implementation timelines in the absence of paid staff dedicated to doing this work is both unrealistic and unsustainable. By hiring graduate students to support implementation activities, GEO’s proposal addresses the widespread capacity issues faced by diversity initiatives across campus.

Creating paid DEI positions

Rolex on his wrist But they were one and the same; they both were hungry and wanted company Sometimes it’s nice to listen to voices Or have yours listened to A boy no older than 8 steps up He isn’t even tall enough to see over the counter But he directs us to fill plates for his three younger siblings like a seasoned parent And I talk to them afterward — “I don’t have a dad” “I’m hungry” One screams and yells in a tantrum That’s what’s happening right now Flintstones protest and babies kick and scream, scared of water that’s their Kryptonite We get a response of, “I’m sorry this happened” Later he says, “I’m sorry” Well I’m not sorry, but how the **** are you still in office, Snyder?

I was about to address you as Mr., but I have no respect for you My face twisted at the mention of your name since the moment your laws cut my mom and her friends’ pay because they’re teachers You claim you’re one tough nerd But let’s try one weak negligent Every time you open your mouth with your American f lag lapel on your jacket, The North Side f lies real ones upside down at half-mast How do you smile?

How can you smile with cameras f lashing when you knew of this months ago?

And did nothing How could you send water to state employees in the city at the same time and now claim, Oh, yeah, that was for the public too!

But it wasn’t just the smug smiling governor

would also harness valuable student expertise that has yet to be utilized through formal mechanisms. Students at the University have been successfully organizing around issues of race, gender and class for a long time. Leaders from across our organizations are routinely tapped as “on-the-ground” experts by administrators and asked to engage in diversity labor because of their knowledge of power dynamics and systems of oppression as they apply to University settings. In fact, many school-specific DEI plans tout the successes of student-led DEI efforts as their own. However, these students have largely engaged in diversity labor through informal channels, providing their recommendations on an unpaid basis to school officials who have limited expertise on issues related to race and inequality. Deans and chairs overwhelmingly hail from socially privileged groups and have not been tested on their qualifications to implement DEI plans effectively. Their lack of both lived and professional experience in this domain means that they rely heavily on students to engage in diversity labor for them. By screening and hiring for the most qualified applicants, GEO’s DEI GSSA proposal would create official, recognized roles dedicated to diversity labor. Graduate students with DEI expertise are uniquely positioned to assist with the effective implementation of strategic plans, because they know how to effectively engage with and gather information from students, faculty and staff constituencies, including those from marginalized communities.

Most importantly, GEO’s proposal promotes social equity by lifting the diversity labor burden off of minority and underrepresented faculty, students, and staff who engage in this work on an unpaid basis. DEI work continues to fall disproportionately on

people of color, women, LGBTQ people, and religious/cultural minorities. Because this work is almost always voluntary, it means that folks from marginalized backgrounds end up assuming the costs themselves.

Scholars have documented the ways that diversity labor diverts attention away from activities that promote professional success and harms the mental wellbeing of women and minorities.

When engagement with DEI initiatives is strictly voluntary, this reproduces the very inequalities they are supposed to eliminate. Students from marginalized backgrounds are especially vulnerable to this type of labor exploitation from the University.

People engaging in diversity labor must be adequately compensated and protected from potential retaliation by those in positions of power. It is not enough to hire individuals as hourly employees and pay them at minimum wage. DEI work is intense and difficult work because topics like race and gender can be seen as controversial. The challenging nature of the work mandates

union protection to guard against retaliation and ensure an independent procedure for resolving grievances. No one engaging in diversity work should be subject to negative professional or personal consequences for doing so. By incorporating DEI GSSAs into the graduate employee union, GEO confers the same benefits and protections owed to graduate student laborers who keep this university running.

At its core, diversity work is a labor issue. Unpaid labor should be a concern to everyone in our community, particularly because it disproportionately affects people who are now under attack by hate groups here in Michigan and across the nation. Until our concerns about how diversity labor is uncompensated and unfairly distributed are addressed, statements from University administrators about the importance of DEI work will continue to ring hollow. Join us in telling University of Michigan that Diversity Labor is Not for Free. Sign the petition at www.tinyurl.com/geodei and tell your communities what is at stake.

Keith Creagh and the Department of Environmental Quality covered up proof of astronomical amounts of lead Susan Hedman scoffed at a House memo that would’ve sent in the cavalry before the cavalry was needed The emergency manager, Darnell Earley, put his name that should live in infamy on the dotted line to save a mere $5 million What are the damages now, Darnell?

And this was after an incompetent city council voted 7-1 in 2013 to switch back to Detroit water A council that includes my dad’s drunken DUI childhood neighbor made a better decision than people who went to school for political science Get this, political science: The lead levels has been found as high as 104 ppb The federal maximum is 15 I saw Mr. Walling, the former mayor, praying in the chapel an hour before service every Sunday

and neighborhoods are cell blocks Homes are literally worth nothing because it’s illegal to sell them and who wants to move here now?

But residents still received f liers of babies smiling in a bathtub, telling parents that it was OK to bathe their children in water that didn’t look like water Again, a covertness to reveal the truth and a smile Remember Ronald McDonald The only thing people can do now to help is to send plastic water bottles to a food desert where some are forced to desert to fast food The damage has been done and this just adds to the multitude of problems When I read my local paper, it’s not just the water that has to boil The heat on our faces evaporates tears There’s always a shoulder to cry on Like murder, it’s somehow become commonplace to leave a sleeve soaking wet

pipes and the near year until everything is relatively back to normal But this isn’t just something you can put a blanket over like the blatant statements putting down this city The half-life of lead is still alive in bloodstreams Traumatic experiences for human beings cannot be forgotten overnight Children who already have low IQs will have scores that continue to tumble And the impact of stupidity will reign for years to come From a stupid governor and his staff To a sadly stupid kid who will make a bad choice Because think about it, at least one of these children harmed will take a life People don’t just die from the water poisoning They die from guns and cars and knives too Which will be held by those who were told that the water was safe to drink That’s what happened to my cousin over a decade ago

Kids in the inner city have sleeves that are holy Their community is set up to fail and it takes more than sheer will-power to have the power Outsiders hear you’re from here and give you a look of disgust I’ll never forget the raised heads and closed mouths disconnecting a sigh when I say my hometown’s name Flint — like it’s the Lord’s name in vain It makes you feel like less of a person on top of the experiment you’ve been treated like The pride of being born and raised fades — a hometown burden

At the same hospital I was born in, they’ll give children teddy bears The media put a two-year-old on the cover of Time This isn’t the press we wanted, nor deserved We hate that the story told about Flint is a negative one In what was once an oasis, we don’t look for water We look for Pb and THMs Holding on to hope and asking why to fathers and Father I don’t know where everybody is or how my extended family is doing So I just hold this map Outside a city near death On its last breath But it’ll take two more, then three

And what about the city as a whole?

This would not happen in a majority white / aff luent city Think of the steps taken there just to water the tulips and lilies And this majority-Black population lives in what looks like a third-world country Ailing, dying from diseases nobody has ever heard of before Legionnaires I once wrote about the rise of the city, but we’ve been sent into a Hell Back to looking semiapocalyptic My subdivision is getting darker so my mom won’t go to the Kroger around the corner alone anymore The town is now more inescapable than it was before

I think a lot of people forgot Like people will forget They’ll forget about Flint like always and they’ll forget the decades it’ll take to replace

We won’t suffocate We won’t die of thirst

Opinion

4A — Thursday, March 9, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

NICHOLAS TOMAINO | COLUMN

Jump into the foxhole and become relevant

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LAUREN SCHANDEVEL | COLUMN

The things I do for Trump

W

ith Republicans preparation for your visit, make now at the helm of sure you eat, drink lots of fluids both the legislative and take some ibuprofen. If you’re and executive branches, the last fortunate enough to have reliable couple of months have transportation, you been riddled with should secure a ride uncertainty over the to and from the clinic, future of women’s because you will not health care. From the feel like driving when return of the global gag you’re done. rule to the attempted When you arrive, reinforcement of the endure the wait until Hyde Amendment, the they call your name. new administration If you’re as lucky as I has flippantly dealt was, the lobby will be LAUREN blow after blow against playing reruns of “The SCHANDEVEL Fresh Prince of Belpro-choice policies on an international scale.

Air,” and occasionally someone However, it wasn’t until in the room will rap along to the Congress voted to repeal the theme song. Did I mention you Affordable Care Act and threw should probably have insurance? legislative stones at Planned Yeah, both the device and the Parenthood’s federal funding that procedure can cost up to $1,000, I finally realized the gravity of this which is why many women forgo it political turbulence: If the GOP has as an option. its way with women’s health care, I Once you’re inside, the doctor could lose access to birth control will evaluate you. Have you had altogether. It is for this reason — unprotected sex in the last month? and, frankly, because there are When was your last period? Do you very few painful, long-lasting usually have a heavy flow or a light procedures I would not withstand one? Are you allergic to iodine? to keep the Paul Ryans of the world Then, they’ll do a pregnancy from playing my reproductive test just to be safe, as being organs like a GameCube controller pregnant with an IUD is bad — that I finally decided, after news bears. This entails the wrestling with the idea for months, always glamorous act of pissing in to get an IUD. a cup, so that’s where those fluids For those of you who are not will come in handy. super well-versed in the fascinating Finally, once all of the world of birth control methods, formalities are out of the way, an intrauterine device is a tiny, the doctor will perform the T-shaped piece of plastic that you procedure. First, they’ll check insert into the uterus to prevent your uterine alignment (I was pregnancy. There are two types informed that I have a tiny cervix, of IUDs: copper and hormonal. to which I bewilderedly replied, While I got the copper one, both “Thank you”). Then, they’ll insert work by thickening the mucus in a large speculum into your vagina your cervix to prevent sperm from to keep everything, uh, out of the reaching the egg, and they can last way. Lastly, they’ll put the IUD up to 12 years (or three presidential in place. A slight pinch. A wave terms) with more than 99-percent of terrible cramps. A few seconds effectiveness. When you’re ready pass. Another wave of terrible to start a family, you simply ask cramps. All done. your doctor to remove it and BAM: You’ll walk out of that clinic instant fertility. feeling like someone kicked you I won’t sugarcoat it: The in the uterus, and you’ll probably procedure itself is excruciating, have to deal with cramps and but it only lasts a couple of spotting for about a week or so minutes. You can get it done at if all goes well and there are no a gynecologist or at your local infections. Women who cannot Planned Parenthood (where I afford to take time off work to rest opted to get mine). Let me walk will have to find a way to distract you through my experience so you themselves from feeling as though can get a sense of what to expect they’re giving birth to a set of if you ever decide to follow suit, knives — but, hey, that’s just the keeping in mind potential barriers price of reproductive freedom. some women might encounter in Believe it or not, I’m not the their pursuit of bodily autonomy. only one who jumped at the To begin, you should probably chance to insert a foreign object carve out a few hours in your day into my uterus as a frantic and and schedule an appointment. final attempt at bodily autonomy.

For women with children or full- Since the election, the demand time jobs, this is enough of an for these suckers has increased by impediment to make the entire 900 percent as women everywhere process nearly impossible. In are scrambling to protect the last

“

shreds of their right to choose in the Trump administration.

Sure, months ago, I could have carefully weighed my birthcontrol options to figure out which was best-suited for my body and my lifestyle. If I couldn’t remember to take the pill every day, I could switch to NuvaRing. If I didn’t like the shot, I could try a cervical cap.

Now, however, there is a greater sense of urgency. I feel like I can’t choose something I would need to replace or refill every few weeks because the possibility that my insurance may not cover the cost or that my health-care provider may not even exist in a few weeks will always linger in the back of my mind. If Republicans make good on their threats to roll back reproductive-health coverage or defund Planned Parenthood, I’m totally screwed.

And my concerns pale in comparison to the effect these legislative hits will have on lowincome women, who make up 80 percent of Planned Parenthood’s clientele. Studies show that unintended pregnancies occur disproportionately in communities with high concentrations of poverty, and this can be traced directly to disparities in contraceptive access and use. What are these women supposed to do when lawmakers roll back access to birth control and government services at the same time? Where will they turn when they are unable to provide for families they were stripped of the right to plan themselves? What then?

The Trump administration has it completely backward if it believes that cutting reproductive-health care will accomplish anything other than endangering the lives of millions of women. After all, these services are difficult enough to obtain without Republican lawmakers introducing their skewed notions of justice into them. We should instead be working to increase birth-control accessibility and affordability so women like me don’t have to take drastic measures to ensure they’ll be protected.

IUDs should be a choice, not a last resort; and though I can rest easy knowing that I’ll probably be safe if lawmakers decide to turn back the clock 50 years on women’s health care, many other women can’t. In the land of the free, if we have to undergo a painful, inconvenient and expensive procedure to ensure we won’t be fucked over by stringent legislation, how free are we, really?

Lauren Schandevel can be reached at schandla@umich.edu.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

We fight for education. For health.

For justice. For every girl. Every woman. Everywhere. We fight for our future. Because none of us can move forward if half of us are held back.

”

— An open letter published yesterday by the global campaign CHIME FOR CHANGE, signed by artists such as Beyoncé, Madonna, Coldplay and John Legend.

“I

t ain’t what you know many others on the left remind that gets you into me of Smitty (Luke Bracey), trouble. It’s what you Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) know for sure that just ain’t so.” – and Captain Glover (Sam Mark Twain Worthington.) They After arriving home each were certain that for Spring Break just Desmond Doss was a short two weeks a coward, but it just ago, my parents and wasn’t so.

I watched the movie Desmond Doss “Hacksaw Ridge,” was a young enlistee based on a true story in the army who was of U.S. Army corporal, ridiculed, beaten and Desmond Doss, who nearly court-martialed saved 75 people in the for his conviction that battle of Okinawa. Each NICHOLAS he not use a firearm year my parents aspire TOMAINO during the war. His to watch all the Oscarvalues originated from nominated movies before the his Seventh-day Adventist religious awards ceremony, and this was the beliefs. Despite little doubt of his final one on the list. Serendipity cowardice and liability by his fellow is a beautiful thing, as the movie soldiers, history reveals that he climaxed in a scene that affirmed was awarded the Medal of Honor the relevance of Twain’s prescient for service above and beyond quote — with particular pertinence the call of duty during the battle to current political discord. of Okinawa. In one scene, Doss The left’s appetite for spends the night in a foxhole with persistently disparaging and Smitty, a squad mate who was the obstructing incendiary storytelling first to call him a coward. was no more revealed last week Only after Doss shares the than when Senate Minority Leader history behind his aversion to Chuck Schumer immediately called holding a weapon does Smitty for Attorney General Jeff Sessions apologize for doubting his courage, to resign for an answer he provided and the two make amends. Smitty during his confirmation hearing. dies that night but Doss rescues However, the objections to more than 70 injured soldiers Sessions’s Russian contacts are including Sergeant Howell, who completely unfounded. In his had been most abusive to him confirmation hearing, Sessions during basic training. Near the answered a limited question end of the movie, Captain Glover, regarding whether or not the who had been one of Doss’s Trump campaign had any contact staunchest critics, tells him that with Russian officials. While it the men had been inspired by his has been revealed Sessions did miraculous efforts and that they meet with Russian officials, he refused to launch their next attack did not perjure himself. Sessions without him. Glover himself admits met in his capacity as a senator, to Doss that he had never been so not on behalf of or as an agent of wrong about a person before, and the Trump campaign. While this asks for forgiveness. distinction seems quite clear, many Prior to acknowledging this, high-ranking Democrats, Schumer however, Glover and the entire included, have disregarded the squad had been very misguided. context of the meeting and his Their interpretation of Doss had answer. Schumer seemed to smell been incorrect. The current political blood, posing the opportunity for an frenzy in which breaking stories easy political attack that cared little — by virtue of their messenger and about trying to fully understand the the messenger’s certainty — seem limited disclosure. to become authentic, informative I was not surprised by Schumer’s and fact-based may also prove unwillingness, or perhaps inability misguided! Seeing in “Hacksaw to understand the situation, Ridge” the destructiveness of an recalling his response to Trump’s “it’s what you know that just call for unity, immigration reform ain’t so” attitude illuminates the and infrastructure spending perilous consequence of the left’s during his address to Congress: narrow optics and unwillingness “(It) was one of the most anti- to seek first to understand Trump immigrant speeches that we and his surrogates. heard any president ever give.”

Twain’s quote references the It might be said that Democratic basis for the nonfictional prejudice, leaders understand Sessions, but bias and arrogance expressed by simply don’t care one way or the Doss’s squad mates in “Hacksaw other if their resistance is purely Ridge.” This same bias, partisanship calculated and political. and arrogance fuels persistent What is so troubling — and why intimation by the left that Trump I appreciated “Hacksaw Ridge” himself, or his surrogates, colluded — is that Schumer, Pelosi and with the Russians to influence the

COREY DULIN | COLUMN

T

results of the presidential election.

Calls for a special prosecutor rest solely on the presumption that there is evidence out there and that it’ll take a neutral, nonpartisan party to reveal it. However, not a single fact has been provided by the left to support its claims.

Of course, it’s hard to prove a negative, and as a result, the stories will continue as long as an appetite to destroy Trump’s agenda continues.

Trump, in fact, has been extremely consistent in delivering exactly what he promised. There has been no bait-and-switch. The man will not change — even to a fault. He has built a team of experts on his cabinet that will mitigate his weaknesses.

Trump’s call for unity during his recent address to Congress invites folks such as Schumer and Pelosi to become part of the team.

He understands that a strong team requires maximizing the benefit of different perspectives. Yet, blinding bias seems to restrict their capacity to lay aside differences and engage in fruitful dialogue.

Reciprocity, in this case, requires that naysayers give something — that they participate. They appear only to want to take by persistently aiming to discredit, destroy and delegitimize. Schumer’s call for a Sessions resignation and Pelosi’s call for a Trump impeachment are akin to Captain Glover’s call for a Doss court martial. This rush to judgment is scandalous in its own right. It is force-feeding a narrative derived from a fear of change, at the very least. Peggy Noonan, in a recent article titled “Washington Still Reels From the Quake of 2016” recommends: “The ground beneath Washington’s feet shifted. People here need to get over their shock and start recognizing the new lay of the land.”

I submit that the numerous stories that abound in the current political reality are just that: stories.

And in response, alternative stories emerge. Ultimately, none are necessarily right or wrong, but, when discussed together, the sum results in a dialogue, and perhaps — at the end of this process — a modicum of mutual understanding develops. Of course, allowing this dialogue to occur may deprive Schumer and his colleagues an opportunity for more stinging sound bites, but we all might be more informed by the process, without a rush to judgment.

As I think about it, both Schumer and Pelosi might consider becoming more relevant by jumping into the foxhole with President Trump.

Nicholas Tomaino can be reached at ntomaino@umich.edu.

Canterbury tales

he last two weeks of class thirties or forties. People wore before Spring Break were everything from sweatpants to rough; it seemed like berets and oxfords. There were midterms and projects popped Black people, white people and Asian up one after another. After my people. I didn’t feel any pressure to midterms were over, I be a certain way, and I needed something to didn’t feel out of place. distract me from the That was one of the drop my grades were few times in college going to take and put me I didn’t act excited, into a positive mindset though I actually was. for Spring Break.

I didn’t have to pretend I saw the posters like I liked the music that for events at the was playing. I wasn’t Canterbury House bored, or annoyed, called “A Night For Us: and I didn’t want to be COREY Colorful Soul” around anywhere else.

DULIN campus. They showed Despite this, I wasn’t artwork of a woman with a massive as comfortable as I would have liked afro with the words “live music” to be. I wished I could be like one and “poetry readings” above her. I woman I saw there. She was on the had always wanted to go, but I never other side of the room, smiling and could because of an upcoming test dancing to the rhythm. It was like or homework. Since my midterms she was in her own world; she only were behind me, there was nothing looked straight ahead at the band stopping me. One of my friends, and paid attention to the music. also searching for a distraction from She reminded me of the friend I the horror known as exam season, was with; I even joked, “That’s you wanted to go too, so we met up and in the future.” My friend is the type walked over to the Canterbury of person who will start playing House together. reggaeton on Spotify in an empty We could hear the music from dorm lounge and force people across the street. After looking both passing by to dance with her. While ways, we ran across East Huron we were at the Canterbury House, toward the Canterbury House. We she tried to get me to dance but I came in and walked into the room wanted to stick with what most of where jazz was playing. There was the other people in the room were a good number of people, but not doing, so I just tapped my foot along so many that you couldn’t move with the music. I leaned against the around or felt claustrophobic, and wall because I didn’t want to attract everyone was standing up listening attention or stick out as one of the to the music — no one was staring at few people dancing. their phone or drunkenly teetering When there were only a few from side to side. people left in the audience, a girl As I looked around the room, came up and started to sing “On I noticed how eclectic the group & On” by Erykah Badu. Listening around me was. Most of the people to her sing reminded me of when looked like young college students, I was young; instead of being but there were also people in their nervous, unsure and on the brink of

adulthood, I was a kid in my mom’s car listening to the R&B station. I was the type of person who would try to start a “Soul Train” line and run to an empty dance floor at a wedding. I wasn’t afraid of having fun or looking silly and I didn’t care who saw me.

By this time, all the people left in the audience were dancing.

It would be weird to be the only one standing still, so I started to dance. I had fun earlier, but I had so much more fun once I actually started dancing — when I did what I wanted instead of trying to blend in. It would’ve been a good idea to do it sooner. I could have, but it felt like something wouldn’t let me.

I know that just going along with what a group does is silly, but it can be difficult to do something different or new. We’re told to “be ourselves” but conditioned to fit in so that we make friends or avoid being a target for bullies. This process erodes our willingness to express ourselves freely. We’re afraid of being labeled “weird” so we become restricted to a constant state of fear and struggle to fully enjoy ourselves or be comfortable when we could be judged.

To free ourselves of these restrictions, the answer may be to constantly do things we expect to be embarrassing and act like we don’t care. But for me, this is easier said than done. When I force myself (or am forced by my friend) to do something I know will make me feel awkward, I usually have to give myself a pep talk or pretend I’m Beyoncé to remind myself to be less insecure.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com Corey Dulin can be reached at cydulin@umich.edu.

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Thursday, March 9, 2017 — 5A

Betsa reaches new heights as senior Wolverines trying WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

to keep perspective about postseason future coming up

‘M’ awaits NCAA Tournament fate in Monday’s selection show after falling last week in Big Ten quarterfinals NATHANIEL CLARK Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan women’s basketball team accomplished a number of notable feats this season. The Wolverines have tied their record for wins in a single season with 22 and finished third in the Big Ten for just the fourth time in school history. They should also earn their seventh NCAA Tournament bid and second under coach Kim Barnes Arico. On paper, this year has been a major success for the Wolverines.

But the way the regular season progressed also left Michigan disappointed.

Three weeks ago, the Wolverines were No. 20 in the AP poll and projected to be a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

After losing four of its final five games — including two to rival Michigan State — Michigan has fallen to a No. 10 seed in most bracket projections.

Despite the poor finish, the Wolverines insist that they are capable of appreciating the larger picture of the season.

“You’re starting to see teams with the big names, and you start seeing 20 wins, 21 wins, and then you realize, ‘Hey, Michigan has 22,’ ” said Michigan assistant coach Megan Duffy on WTKA radio.

“It’s hard in the day-to-day grind of it to take a step back and see the big picture of what you’ve done this year. One thing Coach (Barnes) Arico has been great about this year is trying to seize the moment, appreciate the win and don’t get too high or too low.”

Perspective and patience are two qualities Michigan will need abundantly over the next several days. Since the Wolverines lost 74-64 to the Spartans in the Big Ten quarterfinals, they do not have any more scheduled games.

Michigan has to wait until the selection show Monday to learn its postseason fate.

Yet, plans have already been made for that day, regardless of what happens.

“We’ll get the team together and just kind of celebrate,” Duffy said. “It’s a neat evening for women’s basketball.”

The Wolverines have proven during the season that they are capable of responding to adversity. Following each of its first five defeats, Michigan retaliated with a victory in the next contest. All but one of those wins came by at least 20 points.

This time, though, responding positively will take more work. After not losing back-to-back games prior to Feb. 17, the Wolverines have now suffered consecutive setbacks twice.

Should Michigan earn a tournament bid as expected, it will have to go for a bounce-back win as an underdog in the NCAA Tournament.

To help with the process of turning things around, Michigan brought in help from a fellow basketball coach. “(Men’s basketball coach John) Beilein came into our office,” Duffy said. “He said, ‘You can’t let something like this dictate your season. And even going forward with your kids into the tournament, it’s

a clean slate.’ They look to us and how we’re going to react in a lot of ways. And we’ve talked about not getting too upset or disappointed, just using it in a positive way. Let’s fix some things. Let’s get back to the basics.”

Another challenge for this team in seeing the bigger picture is the fact that none of the current Wolverines have ever participated in an NCAA Tournament game, as Michigan’s last appearance came in 2013. Barnes Arico’s staff, though, has plenty of experience in the Big Dance.

“I told them, even as simple as, when you watch games on TV, watch how teams show emotion,” Duffy said.

“Watch how they’re so fired up for each other.

Watch Derrick Walton right now as a senior. Those are the type of things that if you just seep some of that in, you’re going to see some positive results.”

One Wolverine who has a series of positive results has been junior guard Katelynn Flaherty, who scored 618 points this year and was a consensus selection to the All-Big Ten First Team. Still, Flaherty admitted that sometimes it’s hard to take a step back and see the larger picture.

“Sometimes I get so caught up in the little things,” Flaherty said. “Coming here, I used to be stressed out by everything you could imagine. (Barnes Arico and Duffy) have helped me enjoy being here and enjoy playing for this university.”

Duffy echoed Flaherty’s sentiments, and offered a reason for Flaherty’s anxiety.

“She comes in sometimes and is like, ‘Coach, I did really bad!’ ” Duffy said. “I’m like, ‘Girl, you had 20 points and six assists,’ or something. But they’re always looking at something that might not be what we’re looking at and striving for perfection. As a coaching staff, we have to say ‘Maybe you had some moments where you weren’t that great.

But other times, you were really good and you have to still build off of that.’ ” Whether or not Michigan can follow Duffy’s advice, building on the positives of the season while keeping the recent struggles in proper perspective, will go a long way in determining if the Wolverines — should they earn a bid — can pull an upset in the NCAA Tournament and notch their program-record 23rd win this season.

“We’ll get the team together and just kind of celebrate.”

BY THE NUMBERS Michigan Women’s Basketball

10

Michigan’s NCAA Tournament seed according to ESPN.com, which has the Wolverines as one of the last four in

8

Michigan’s seed according to College Sports Madness, which has the Wolverines in Baylor’s pod

10

Michigan’s seed according to RealTimeRPI, which has the Wolverines in Oregon State’s pod

MAX MARCOVITCH Daily Sports Writer

It seems unlikely that a pitcher with over 546 career innings, 789 strikeouts and a career earned-run average below two entering her senior season could make a big improvement.

But in the early season, Michigan right-hander Megan Betsa has done just that — looking to stamp her legacy as one of the greatest pitchers in Michigan history with an improbable breakout senior season.

With 19 games in the books — and notably having faced some of the strongest opposition she will face all year, with five starts against ranked opponents already — Betsa is heading toward career bests across the board. Her ERA, 1.69, would be a career best, as would the 350-plus strikeouts she is on pace for.

The low ERA and high strikeout total, though, are nothing new for the pitcher, as she’s been productive in those areas her entire career.

Coming off a fall season in which she did not pitch due to lingering injuries, Michigan’s ace did not rest on her laurels, setting out to lower her walk total and pitch count in order to allow her to throw more innings.

So far, the improvements have been evident.

Her 27 walks through 66 innings put her on pace for the lowest output since her freshman year, when she threw just 130 innings total. Betsa’s strikeout-to-walk ratio now sits at 4.26, a number that would exceed her career-best by a full strikeout (3.20 in 2015).

“We talked a little bit this past trip about not trying to nitpick the corners so much, and just spin the ball over the plate,” Betsa said. “Because as long as it’s spinning it’s still gonna move and they’ll still have a tough time hitting it. So not trying to be so perfect on the corners.”

Perhaps the most notable development with Betsa, however, is the optimism about her durability going forward.

MARINA ROSS/Daily

Senior right-hander Megan Betsa has found a way to become even more dominant after resting during the fall season.

Taking off time in the fall, she and Michigan coach Carol Hutchins believed, would be the best way to assure her health for the postseason.

In a sport whose postseason can be controlled by one pitcher throwing virtually every game, Betsa will be the Wolverines’ most valuable weapon as they head deeper into the season. And by all accounts, that rest period has served its purpose.

“I don’t feel as fatigued as I did, per se, last year at this time,” Betsa said. “So I think

that’s something positive to keep in mind. All those pitches I didn’t throw in the fall, I still have them to throw now.”

And Michigan will need every single one of those pitches.

With the offense struggling mightily in recent weeks, Betsa has been responsible for leading the team through some of its struggles.

Against No. 20 Arizona State on March 2, Betsa had to nurse a 1-0 lead for the majority of the game.

The lack of run support didn’t faze her, as she carried the Wolverines

“I don’t feel as fatigued as I did last year at this time.”

Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Thursday, March 9, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com

SUMMER EMPLOYMENT

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Fish feature 5 Sporty sunroof 9 Impressionist’s métier 14 Mount between Pelion and Olympus 15 Bat mitzvah dance 16 “__ Theme”: “Doctor Zhivago” song 17 Done in a comprehensive plan?

20 Primed 21 Duffers’ dreams 22 Gamer’s game face 23 Criticize harshly 24 Emailed a dupe to 25 Darth, before he turned to the Dark Side 28 Postgrad challenge 32 Quarrel 33 Pit-__: heart sound 34 Target of annual shots 35 Tied up in a government program?

39 Useful Scrabble tile 40 Fairy tale heavy 41 Suez Canal ship 42 IBM’s chessplaying computer 45 To a greater degree 46 Singer India.__ 47 Word with candy or sugar 48 Book with tablets 51 Candle holder 52 The White Stripes, e.g.

55 Out in a classic sports car?

58 Veil material 59 Bolivia neighbor 60 “It follows that ... ” 61 Lid woes 62 Intervene, with “in” 63 Some game

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Sports

6A — Thursday, March 9, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan opens Big Ten Tournament against Illinois After splitting two regular-season meetings, Wolverines take on Fighting Illini at noon Thursday in Washington, D.C. BRANDON CARNEY Daily Sports Writer

At West Virginia in 2005, John Beilein faced nearly the same situation he faces today.

After finishing the regular season Michigan 18-9, the vs. Illinois Mountaineers headed to Matchup: Michigan Madison 20-11; Illinois Square Garden 18-13 as the Big East When: Tournament’s Thursday No. 8 seed in 12 P.M. need of a victory or two to feel Where: Verizon Center secure about their chances TV/Radio: of making BTN the NCAA Tournament.

West Virginia ended up doing more than picking up the wins it needed. After beating Providence in the first round, the Mountaineers followed that performance up by establishing and maintaining a 22-point halftime lead to take down the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Boston College. Beilein’s team then carried that momentum into the next day’s matchup against Villanova, where West Virginia escaped with a two-point win and was suddenly 40 minutes away from a Big East title.

The Mountaineers dropped the conference championship game to Syracuse, but their run to the final instilled a newfound confidence in Beilein’s squad that carried over to the Big Dance.

There, West Virginia first squeaked past Creighton at the buzzer in the first round, then upset No. 2 seed Wake Forest in double overtime and worked magic again to get past Texas Tech and into the Elite Eight.

The Mountaineers finally folded just short of the Final Four, when they blew a 20-point lead against

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Michigan coach John Beilein’s team has been the No. 8 seed in each of the past three Big Ten Tournaments. This year, the Wolverines’ first opponent is Illinois.

Louisville and lost in overtime.

Just three weeks earlier, Beilein didn’t even know if his team was going to have the chance to play on college basketball’s biggest stage. But as it all unfolded, West Virginia became the main attraction of that year’s tournament.

And that’s the moment when Beilein first witnessed the magic of March.

“That series of events taught me anything can happen,” Beilein said. “We were just trying to make the NCAA Tournament, and the next thing you know, we’re ahead 16 points on Louisville in the first half (of the Elite Eight), and don’t go to the Final Four. It was a great testimony of kids realizing, if you

believe, anything can happen.”

Twelve seasons and seven NCAA Tournament appearances later, Beilein finds himself facing a very similar situation with Michigan.

The Wolverines enter the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 8 seed, and while many believe Michigan to be in the field of 68, a win or two will certainly lock in a spot on Selection Sunday.

Based on the parity across the league throughout the regular season, this year’s edition of

the Big Ten Tournament could be as wide open as ever. If the Wolverines can discover the same edge Beilein’s West Virginia team found, they could be the most dangerous team in the tournament.

“We’re trying to sell to them the magic that can happen in a run,” Beilein said. “It’s the best feeling.

Something about the spring air and that the end of the season is near but you’re playing good basketball.

You’re more excited to see your teammates. What a time March

“What a time March can be if you’re still playing.”

can be if you’re still playing.”

While Michigan’s goal and expectation is a championship, the Wolverines are focused on keeping their vision narrow and not overlooking what’s on the immediate horizon. Heading into the tournament, that challenge will come in the form of Illinois, a team Michigan saw twice in the regular season.

One of the Wolverines’ biggest obstacles will be their travel schedule. After their team plane slid off the runway in a take-off accident during a power outage Wednesday, they will now leave Ann Arbor for Washington at 6 a.m. Thursday, just six hours before tip-off.

At the Verizon Center, a rubber

match awaits them. Michigan and Illinois split two regular-season meetings, with each winning at home with the last meeting coming early in the conference season Jan. 21. In basketball time, that’s almost an eternity ago.

The “white-collar” comment Illinois center Maverick Morgan made following the first matchup has lost its sting, and both teams have developed new looks on both ends.

“The fact that we’ve played them twice, we know each other a little better,” Beilein said. “If you watch our last five games, their last five games, there are some similarities. But both teams have really evolved.”

Being that both teams are familiar with each other and know what’s at stake, Beilein kept his prediction of what to expect in the Verizon Center simple: “Whoever makes shots and defends the best is going to win.”

But for Michigan, it may not be that easy. The hardest part of any tournament run is managing the game-to-game needs and ultimate goals. The Wolverines will have to establish that approach Thursday when they take on the Fighting Illini.

“We end practice everyday talking about being champions,” Beilein said. “We wanted to be champions of the (2K Classic). We were. We wanted to be (Big Ten) regular-season champions. But about two weeks ago, that wasn’t a possibility. Now there’s another one. That would be really special to spend those days there in D.C., to see the groundswell of support we have and win this thing.”

“But that’s the way you have to go into it now. Not with the idea that we just need to get another win. That’s part of it. I think they’re old enough to understand, ‘Let’s focus on this one game at a time, but the real prize is to win this championship.’ ”

Seniors prepare for home finale Wolverines to take 6 a.m. flight to Washington; noon tip-off still on

MEN’S BASKETBALL

MIKE PERSAK

Daily Sports Editor

Team plane slid off runway during power outage at Willow Run on Wednesday; no significant injuries to passengers MICHIGAN DAILY STAFF The Michigan men’s basketball team’s trip to the Big Ten Tournament in Washington, D.C., was jeopardized Wednesday when the team plane slid off the runway during takeoff at Willow Run Airport. The program confirmed in a statement that there were no significant injuries.

The team immediately got off the plane and spent the evening searching for an alternate travel plan. Around 10:30 Wednesday night, the program’s official Twitter account announced its new schedule: The Wolverines will now meet at Crisler at 6 a.m. Thursday, take a bus to Metro Airport, depart at 7:30, arrive in Washington at 8:45 and take a bus straight to the Verizon Center for a noon tipoff against Illinois.

The schedule is a difficult way to start the tournament.

If Michigan beats the Fighting Illini after a draining trip, it will play a well-rested Purdue team Friday at noon in the quarterfinals. Earlier Wednesday evening, a Big Ten official said that the conference would wait to see Michigan’s new itinerary to make a decision about changing the game time. The other three second-round games are on the schedule for the rest of the day at the Verizon Center.

The Daily confirmed Wednesday night that the airport tower suffered a power outage — gusty winds affected the Ann Arbor area all day — but that the third-party dispatch still cleared for departure.

“After attempting to take off in high winds, takeoff was aborted and, after strong

braking, the plane slide off (sic) runway,” a team spokesman said in a statement. “The plane sustained extensive damage but everyone on board was safely evacuated and is safe.”

Erica Donerson, manager of media relations of Wayne County Airport Authority, also confirmed and gave specifics about the incident in an email statement.

“Shortly before 3 p.m. today, a charter flight aborted takeoff at Willow Run Airport and went off the end of Runway 23L,” Donerson wrote. “The Airport Authority Public Safety and Operations teams responded.

There were no injuries to the seven crew members and 109 passengers, including members of the University of Michigan men’s basketball team.

The MD83 was operated by Ameristar Charters. As a result of this incident, Willow Run Airport remains closed at this time.”

At that time, in an interview with WXYZ-TV, Michigan coach John Beilein expressed in an interview his belief that flying Thursday is the right idea.

“Right now, I think the best decision is to wait until tomorrow and just get up early and go,” Beilein said. “I do not think it’s wise, with this wind, with our players where they are right now, our students, our staff, our cheerleaders, our band, probably not a good idea to go up again today.”

Several of the players, coaches, staff and other passengers tweeted positive

notes afterward.

Recovering mentally and physically in time for the game, meanwhile, is a different story.

“It puts so much in perspective right now that everybody’s safe,” Beilein told WXYZ-TV. “We have a few people banged up a little bit, a few cuts, a few bruises, but other than that, everybody’s healthy, and it could have been much worse. The way the flight attendants, the pilots, the student-athletes, the students, the staff, conducted themselves was incredible. We were off that plane, going down those chutes, getting up on the wings, getting out of there.

In a minute, it seemed like everybody got off that plane.”

According to other reports, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are still investigating the wreck, including some of the team’s gear that is still on board. The coaches and players returned to Crisler Center after the accident and will now be pressed to make it to Washington before tip-off.

Still, those inside the program are grateful the damage was not worse.

“It’s only an airplane that was destroyed,” Beilein said. “No lives were destroyed in that. We gotta put things in perspective, and that game tomorrow has still a lot of meaning, but certainly our kids will look at it a lot differently, look at life a lot differently, after what we just experienced.”

“It puts so much in perspective right now that everybody’s safe.”

A lot has changed since the seniors on the Michigan hockey team arrived in Ann Arbor before the start of the 2013-14 season. The Wolverines entered that year ranked No. 10 in the country, and though their 22-year NCAA Tournament streak had ended the year before, the nine freshmen who entered had aspirations of adding to the storied history of the program.

Now, after three of their classmates moved on to the NHL, just six seniors remain. And with this weekend marking the last regular-season games of the season, forwards Evan Allen, Alex Kile, Max Shuart, defensemen Nolan De Jong and Kevin Lohan and goaltender Zach Nagelvoort are facing their final opportunities to play at Yost Ice Arena.

“It’s exciting in a weird way,” Nagelvoort said. “I don’t really know the right word for it. It’s exciting that we have a chance to play Penn State … I think that’s really the focus in the room: playing Penn State on the weekend, not necessarily the Senior Night aspect of it. We’ll experience that after the game on Saturday. It’s not like a leadinginto-the-game kind of thing.

“I know I love playing here at Yost, so I’m going to just enjoy my last two times playing here. I’m sure I’ll be a mess after the game, but we’ll see when I get there.”

As Nagelvoort says, Michigan isn’t emphasizing Senior Night heavily at all. Instead, the Wolverines’ focus is on winning the games remaining and trying to rally some momentum before playing in the Big Ten Tournament.

“We don’t do much,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson.

“We do (Senior Night) after the game, where some teams have a hurried presentation before the game, and we don’t do that. … We don’t make a big deal of it in the locker room as coaches. We’ve tried it in the past, and it doesn’t work. It doesn’t seem to relate. It relates more to the game.”

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Zach Nagelvoort plays the final home games of an eventful career this weekend.

Things haven’t been easy for this particular senior class.

Barring an unlikely win in the Big Ten Tournament, it will be just the third class in the last 26 seasons to participate in only one NCAA Tournament collectively.

Add that to the departure of three of their classmates — JT Compher, Tyler Motte and Michael Downing — before this season, and the six-some has seen its fair share of struggles.

But with all of that, they say it has just made them closer as a group.

“With those three guys signing in the offseason, it only made us, as a class, come closer,” Kile said. “… It’s going to be different next year, and it’s going to be hard to move on, but hopefully this last couple weeks of hockey can be memorable with those guys. And as we graduate and go (down) different paths, I definitely imagine all six of us keeping in touch.”

Added Allen: “The six of us

remaining here, we all live in the same house or right next door to each other. We hang out every single night and every day. So we became really close. I mean, we do everything together. … It’s been really fun, and I’m going to miss it a lot.”

This season alone has been trying enough for the Wolverines and their seniors, as they are on track to have the program’s worst record in 30 years. But the individual players are used to dealing with tough situations.

After all, when this season is over, their legacy may be their ability to fight through difficult times to make contributions on the ice.

“The one thing that’s happened to every one of them, they’ve all run into adversity,” Berenson said. “On the ice, they’ve all had trouble finding their way at one time or another. … And yet now they’re all contributing players, and they’re all graduating, and I’m glad they are.”

B

The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | Thursday, March 9, 2017

ART as a

SOCIAL GESTURE

Design By Jacob Bergen

the b-side

2B — Thursday, March 9, 2017

COURTESY OF SPHINX ORGANIZATION

Approaching its 20th anniversary, Sphinx Organization takes stock Executive Director of organization aimed at increasing numbers of Black and Latino classical string musicians reflects on past success and current climate DANIEL HENSEL Daily Film Editor

Clayton Penrose-Whitmore was 12-years-old the first time he made the trek to Detroit to compete in the Sphinx Competition.

The Evanston, Ill. native, now 23, had heard about the annual strings competition — open to African-American and Latino players — from his violin instructor. Attending the Sphinx Competition served as a subtle revelation: PenroseWhitmore, who had become accustomed to being the only Black violin player among his peers, was now surrounded by people who looked like him and shared similar experiences. “[There] was an unspoken

Clayton PenroseWhitmore was 12-years-old the first time he made the trek to Detroit to compete in the Sphinx Competition.

understanding throughout the competition of community,” said Penrose-Whitmore in a phone interview. Nearly a decade after his Sphinx experience, he emerged from the 2014 competition with a second place prize in the Senior Division.

Annelle Gregory, like Penrose-Whitmore, first heard about Sphinx when she was 12 or 13, through a family friend.

Now, she’s 21. Over the years she came closer and closer to nabbing the top prize, until this year, when she was named champion.

“It was very rewarding for me to be named the winner this year,” she wrote in an email, “having been through every other placement in the competition previously.”

The Sphinx Organization, which runs the competition, is a Detroit-based organization dedicated to increasing the diversity of top-tier string players across the country. The inaugural competition was held in 1998, but the organization, the brainchild of Aaron Dworkin, then a student in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance (where he is now the dean), began earlier. Dworkin noticed

an acute lack of diversity in the upper echelons of classical music performance — which would deter young minorities from taking up classical music — and decided to address it.

Afa Dworkin, now the Executive Director of the Sphinx Organization, first learned about Sphinx through Aaron, her then classmate.

“We spoke at length about why he felt something like this was necessary at the time,” she revealed over the phone, “and while it seemed laudable at the beginning, and while it seemed like a wonderful idea, there was nothing like actually meeting the first cohort of musicians and just recognizing the depth of talent and of need that was out there.”

Dworkin joined Sphinx in 1999 as the organization’s first intern, working on the programmatic team, developing the curriculum, scholarships, partnerships and the programs around the competition. The experience was illuminating.

“At the same time when I was recognizing how much talent there is in the pool of the musicians that are working,” she said. “I realized how little opportunity there is and how much work there is in order to connect the talent with the resources that are out there.”

When the Sphinx Competition began, Blacks and Latinos each comprised less than 1.5 percent of the talent in the top tiers of classical orchestra performance. Now, thanks in large part to Sphinx and programs for which it has served as inspiration and catalyst, that number is up to 4.6 percent. But, Dworkin said, the inaugural competition revealed that the problems underlying the lack of diversity in the most

The Sphinx Organization is a Detroit-based organization dedicated to increasing the diversity of toptier string players across the country

prestigious orchestras ran deep. Students need to start playing at a very young age, and when schools only begin to teach music to 12-year-olds

or 13-year-olds, they’ve already passed a critical point.

Danielle Belen, who won the 2008 Competition and has gone on to serve on the competition’s jury and teach some of Sphinx’s programs, agrees. She considers herself lucky because her parents believed music was

Sphinx quickly began to develop preparatory programs for students after school and a “boot camp” over the summer

a critical component of early education. But she admits that her experience is not universal.

“Most parents are not geared that way,” she said. It is here where Sphinx can fill in the gap. Sphinx has been stitching classical music into the lives of African-American and Latino students at an earlier and earlier age where public schools are lacking.

Sphinx quickly began to develop preparatory programs for students after school and a “boot camp” over the summer.

The programs combined access and education so that playing classical music was achievable to all students. Costs, too, were not lost on Sphinx, which has built numerous scholarships and grants over the decades and has awarded about $2.5 million to date.

Belen has been on the receiving end of Sphinx’s help. After her win, Belen was invited to perform with various orchestras, including the Cleveland Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony and the Boston Pops, among others.

“It was a whirlwind of a year,” she said in the phone interview.

Belen has also won two different awards, amounting to $55,000, which she used to fund scholarships at a summer festival she started.

One of Sphinx’s larger mechanisms for financial support is the MPower Artist Grant, which is open to alumni of various Sphinx programs.

The average award is $25,000, according to Sphinx’s website.

After her win, Belen began to focus on education, building connections and teaching at the Colburn School in Los Angeles,

then in the Violin Department at the University of Michigan.

“Sphinx has always been there, always along the way, providing support,” she said.

Sphinx’s commitment to networking within the classical music community, an everimportant role in the field, is manifested in a more recent development, Sphinx Connect — “our epicenter for artists and leaders in diversity,” Dworkin said — which helps players network to find openings in a field notorious for its competition for opportunities.

At the center of Sphinx Connect is a yearly convention for musicians. This past year, over 500 people attended from across the world. Sphinx Connect continues throughout the year by hosting webinars, contributing to a mentor network that serves as a “true conduit” for rising musicians to an industry increasingly attuned to the necessity of inclusion.

The Sphinx Organization also runs a litany of educational programs. One is Sphinx Overture, which provides free introductory lessons to Detroit and Flint students. The Sphinx Performance Academy is a fullscholarship summer program

The Sphinx Organization also runs a litany of educational programs for solo instrumentalists to hone their craft. Not to be limited by geography, Classical Connections assists teachers in incorporating classical music into classrooms across the country.

As the Sphinx Competition approaches its 20th birthday, Dworkin looked back at the organization’s progress.

“There’s been a transformative impact,” she said, not only indicated by the experiences of musicians the organization has affected. “But also the field being so much more responsive and connected” to the organization’s work. When orchestras and institutions try to confront their own lack of diversity, Sphinx often serves as an exemplary model.

Sphinx’s direct impact is also substantial. There are over 600 alumni of the organization and two million people are reached each year through live and broadcast audiences.

Not to mention, Sphinx’s extraordinary musical achievements amount to the

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com final word in a skeptic’s debate over whether exceptional talent existed in enough Latino and African-American players to justify the program. That doubt, abundantly disproven at this point, had cast a shadow over Sphinx as it began, but by now concerns have largely dissipated. “[Sphinx participants] have proven that inclusion does not mean any sacrifice on the excellent front … it can exist in tandem and be celebrated,” Dworkin said.

Belen agreed. When she performed with the Sphinx Virtuosi, an orchestra comprised of competition alumni, she noted, “There are absolutely no excuses or special standards” because of the orchestra’s racial makeup. On the contrary, she said, “[there’s] an incredibly high level of musicianship.”

For Belen, Sphinx’s 20th year represents a critical juncture in the organization’s success.

“As an educator, I am seeing that there are young people who have now grown up in a world where there has always been a Sphinx Organization,” she said.

Progress in the field is slow, she admits, because players start early but only reach the pinnacles much later, perhaps 15 or 20 years in the future.

“We’re seeing an entire

“Sphinx has opened up minds to the fact that musicians of color can not only play classical music, but that we can be extremely successful at it”

new generation of kids being inf luenced by this,” Belen said. All this progress amounts to a major change in the classical music community’s demographics.

“You want to look at musicians on stage that ref lect the musicians of the community,” Belen added.

“That’s the goal and it’s a long process because it has to start deep down, with little kids, and giving opportunities.”

Gregory named that demographic change as a particularly important development.

“Sphinx has opened up minds to the fact that musicians of color can not only play classical music, but that we can be extremely successful at it,” she wrote, Still, there’s work to be done.

Dworkin noticed a persistent and acute lack of diversity that remains in America’s academic music circles — conservatories and music schools. To take diversity seriously, she said, these institutions must go beyond supporting Sphinx; they need to follow its lead. For Dworkin, a lack of diversity is an existential crisis for classical music. Without making sure top tier classical musicians

ref lect the population as a whole, “our field stands to feel and become irrelevant and therefore suffer and eventually become extinct,” she said.

Gregory finds meaning in the music she plays not just through the notes, but the context — playing with friends.

“Performing [the Sibelius Violin Concerto, the required repertoire for the 2017 finals]

“It felt more like a family reunion than a competition. It was great”

with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra was a wonderful experience that I will always remember,” she wrote, “not just because I won but because I know many of the members on a first-name basis and it was like giving a concert with my friends.”

Like Gregory, PenroseWhitmore’s history with the Sphinx Competition has been shaped by the relationships he’s developed over the years. He was surprised the first time he participated in the competition.

“It felt more like a family reunion than a competition.

It was great,” he said. Music competitions of the sort are typically extra competitive, leaving little room for bonding and socializing. But Sphinx was different.

“I made a lot of friends that I still have. It was just a great vibe over all,” Clayton said.

Belen shared a similar experience at her first competition. “It didn’t feel like a competition,” she said.

“It felt like a family.” They call it “la Sphinx familia,” Belen said, and it’s clear why. The Sphinx Competition extends far beyond the competition itself. Scholarships, master classes and concerts are open to a larger swath of competitors than the elite few who advance to the final rounds. In the mean time, competitors learn about collaboration and work with each other in creative situations.

Experience as pedagogy reigns supreme as competitors bask in a diverse classical music cornucopia.

As Penrose-Whitmore grew up, Sphinx’s magic didn’t fade.

“A lot of times over the years I’ve gone back to the Sphinx Competition to participate in the orchestra, or compete again, and honestly I look forward to just going back,” he said, “not to compete but just to see everyone, see the old friends that I’ve made, and really have that sense of community there.”

La Sphinx familia extends beyond pleasantries at the competition. Belen said many Sphinx alumni’s careers have progressed with Sphinx very much in the background or foreground. Opportunities have been opened and connections have been made through the organization’s work.

And for some, Sphinx has provided much more than musical opportunities. The first violinist and the violist of the Catalyst Quartet, an ensemble of Sphinx Competition alumni, are getting married.

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN WRITING FOR ARTS? Email arts@michigandaily.com for an application. Questions / concerns? Don’t hesitate to reach out.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

the b-side

Thursday, March 9, 2017 — 3B

SECONDARY

COURTESY OF TEDX UOFM

TEDx and the pursuit of meaningful social change Amongst the hope and optimism of the annual UofM TEDx conference, reflections on meaning and change in a time of crisis DAYTON HARE Senior Arts Editor

About a year ago, on a beautiful morning, I sat outside on a deck. In my hand I had a mug of coffee, and as I sat I was enjoying the way the light wind tugged at my hair and snatched little rising lines of steam from the coffee. The birds chirped from the treeline in the distance. Across from me, my father reclined in a chair.

We were discussing gardens: What plants we would want, why, where they would go — he wanted flowers, I vegetables.

He wanted for the beauty; I wanted for the use. “It’s odd,” he said. “You of all people, an artist, I would think would appreciate things independent from their use.”

And, innocuous as that comment is, it touched upon one of my central anxieties: What is the use of doing art in a fractured world? *** By nature I am a rather pessimistic person. As long as I can remember, I have viewed the chance of success (no matter what the subject) with wary eyes. Whenever the clouds part to reveal a glorious sunburst, I squint and wonder what pitfall I’m missing. I have faith in very little other than the inevitability of decay.

Paradoxically, I also get swept up by broad, romantic ideas about the possibility of a utopian future; I’m occasionally overcome with grandiose visions of total equilibrium and ample bounties, perfect worlds wrought with human hands, all of which I think is — theoretically — attainable. It just won’t happen. In essence, I believe that Elysium exists but that we’ll never reach it.

Enter TED talks: It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the entire concept is supremely uncomfortable to me. I simply don’t know what to think of it.

On the one hand, having a place to share ideas and visions for a better world with the general public kindles an enticing spark of hope within my mind, a hope that we might yet do something to save ourselves and our planet from oblivion — at least for a little while longer. On the other, I sometimes wonder if TED isn’t just a collection of self-congratulatory pseudointellectual liberal types who commend themselves for doing little more than acknowledging that the world has problems (which, granted, is probably an unnecessarily acerbic and notwholly-accurate critique, but there it is). I sometimes wonder if it’s not a great example of the sort of elite liberal smugness that has been so discussed over the past year. These two conflicting conceptions of TED have been in competition more or less since the first time I saw some lectures posted online years ago. When I first came to the University, the annual

conference hosted on campus reawakened these ideas.

When I first conceived of writing about the University of Michigan TEDx conference, I envisioned something like this: I would walk into the conference, notebook in hand, wry smile suspended on my face, keenly observing the swirl of bodies flowing in currents around me, picking up snippets of enthusiastic conversation as I occasionally scribbled down some witty observation. I would sit quietly in the audience listening half-attentively to the lectures, making intermittent notes of insightful comments I would tuck away for later use.

At the end of the presentations I would clap dutifully, pack up my things and go home. A week later I would have produced a commentary on my experience that would be simultaneously thought-provoking and funny, filled with clever observations, dry wit and telling anecdotes. I would be David Foster Wallace on a cruise ship, Hunter S. Thompson writing an obituary.

That was one year ago. A lot has happened in the world since then, and the inclination of my thoughts has turned dark concurrent with public events.

I want us to do something to improve our world or mitigate the fallout from recent events, but more and more it seems as if our efforts yield nothing but an elongated death spiral. So, inevitably this article is going to end up very different from what I might have written even just a few months ago.

What is the use of doing art in a fractured world?

In the past few weeks, I’ve sat down to write it maybe a dozen times, but each time I’ve found my ideas are haunted by the spectre of everything that’s been going on. By now I’ve just accepted that.

I brought the notebook at least.

This year’s TEDx Conference (at this point it’s worth point out that the University conferences are TEDx events, which means that they are organized independently from TED Conferences, LLC) was about a month ago now, and it was the first time I had attended an event of that sort.

The conference was held at the Power Center on Fletcher Street, which is probably familiar to most Ann Arborites as that imposing concrete building with an abundance of windows and vaguely modernist architectural aesthetic. The first thing I noticed when I entered the building was the excited, high-decibel chatter bouncing around the concrete walls. The second thing was the large, firetruck red “TED” sign / sculpture, just in case there was any confusion about

what was going on. People posed dramatically with this, capturing a piece of visual memorabilia with a little tap of their thumb.

The festivities surrounding TED began long before the first talk was given. In the lobby, tables and stands were assembled in a manner that vaguely resembled the air of a scaled-down, less weird carnival — imagine the energy without the strangeness.

Refreshments were provided, courtesy of Avalon Pastries and RoosRoast Coffee. A heat-sensitive video camera displayed a real-time image of passers-by in vivid, psychedelic color. Along one wall was something called a “Dream Line,” where people would write an aspiration on a notecard before hanging it from a line already weighed down by dozens of other notecards, little pithy phrases like “turn compassion into action” or the standard-fare AmericanDream-style “get a job with a six-figure salary.” Not really my kind of thing, but after several friendly proddings by an eager-looking volunteer in a red TED shirt, I scribbled something down and left it. My favorite feature by far was the stand run by Literati, which contained a selection of books picked out by the featured speakers — there were even a few titles that are on my own to-read list. The atmosphere of the whole thing was that of optimistic pageantry.

The talks began after the audience — all 1,300 people — finished filing into the auditorium of the Power Center. After the usual we’repleased-welcome-you standard introduction stuff, the first speaker strode onto the stage.

The ASL interpreter stood poised at the edge of the platform, waiting for speech.

Koen Vanmechelen looks like a storm. His dark eyes and wild, graying hair perfectly embody the image of the pioneering artist — which is good, because that’s what he is. A close-up image of a chicken flashed onto the projection screen. The Belgian spoke.

“This is not a chicken,” he said. I honestly didn’t expect that.

Vanmechelen went on to discuss his years-long conceptual art project, the Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, explaining in imperfect but intelligent English the ways in which he tries to unify our diverse world through his art, which is a “metaphor.”

Through the breeding of various types of chickens, he works to show the diversity and interdependence of humanity with itself and the natural world. Strange as it sounds, at the end of his presentation (which was punctuated by little “you know(s),” a habitual exclamation that seemed to both thrown-away placeholder and genuinely inquisitive, gently emphatic plea), I felt I See TEDX, Page 4B

COURTESY OF ALEXA BORROMEO

ARTIST

IN

PROFILE

‘U’ alum Alexa Borromeo lets identity shine in work Independent artist stresses diversity and voice in her pursuits MARIA ROBINS-SOMERVILLE

Daily Arts Writer

The website of 2016 Penny Stamps graduate, multimedia artist and community activist Alexa Borromeo reads, “HOUSTON MADE. NOT AFRAID” in big, white block letters against an abstract backdrop that suggests fast horizontal movements across the screen, maybe taken from a train or or a fast-moving car.

“Houston has almost everything to do with why I do what I do … it’s a very culturally and racially diverse city,” said Borromeo in a phone interview.

Growing up in such a diverse community allowed for her to see race in a much less divisive way, leading to a certain culture shock upon her arrival to the University at the salient disparity between white people and people of color.

For example, a video installation titled “stay out of the sun: a colonized consciousness” presents the artist’s body as it exists within the post-colonial sphere and how the pressures of and assimilation bear down upon it. The artist bares her nude

“Houston has almost everything to do with why I do what I do … it’s a very culturally and racially diverse city”

body in a public video and photo installation in which she engages in rituals such as placing clothespins on the bridge of her nose and covering her skin in white paint.

Borromeo’s work consists of mainly photography, video and public art; all highly narrative in form — sharing her own stories as well as the stories of others in ways that challenge the status quo.

Much of the art reveals urban backdrops. A woman in a towel

moves down a sidewalk as a bus teeters a little too close to the curb, obscuring her from view momentarily. A child sits on his caregiver’s lap on a subway in black and white, staring straight into the camera. A Chicago construction worker peers up at his coworker from inside a pothole.

Borromeo highlighted the importance of her Houston, TX upbringing in creating socially-engaged art.

While in high school, Borromeo identified the opportunity to connect interest in both community action and art.

“I saw the opportunity to bridge the two: my desire to help others and my desire to create art,” she said.

One project Borromeo created was a film in which young adults ref lect on early memories of when they first became aware of how their social identities made them somehow “different,” the face of each speaker obscured by a childhood photo.

At the University of Michigan, Borromeo became involved in multiple pursuits that sought to explore the ways in which art could be used to strengthen communities and spark social change. She served as the Senior Opinion Video Editor at The Michigan Daily in 2014-15 and became involved with the Black and Asian Coalition on Campus.

Although Borromeo knew early on that she wanted to create socially-engaged art, she recognized her own process of self-exploration and returning to her own roots and identities as crucial steps in developing an activist/artist persona. During her senior year, Borromeo returned to Houston to examine her roots, collecting sound material from her past that culminated in a video installation at the Duderstadt Center.

“It was a good way to get me in the mode to really create more socially-engaged art because I had some stuff I needed to express individually first,” Borromeo said.

She also spoke to her own identities as a Filipina and a person of color as they affect her process and artistic interest.

“Being Filipina, which is a colonized culture and a very Americanized culture, sometimes Filipinos have a somewhat relatable quality to them because we’re so

Americanized so sometimes Filipinos can fit into a lot of different ethnic groups easily,” she said.

She also identified challenges of reconciling the sometimes traditional or conservative limitations of

At the University of Michigan, Borromeo became involved in multiple pursuits that sought to explore the ways in which art could be used to strengthen communities

Filipina culture as it brushes up against the sometimes provocative or explicit nature of her art. She identified admiration for other Filipina artists for venturing into that territory, despite societal expectations or norms.

“It’s hard as a Filipina woman and artist to publicize the it the way I want to publicize it sometimes. That’s still something I’m navigating,” she added.

Such acute observance and passion for combatting structural racism and other injustices, inspires almost all of Borromeo’s work.

She became involved with a program in 2014 called Summer Youth Dialogues, in which she facilitated dialogues on race and ethnicity — an involvement that almost seemed to foreshadow the work she does currently.

Borromeo divides her days between Detroit and Ypsilanti.

In Detroit she works with Focus: HOPE, a nonprofit organization in collaboration with AmeriCorps and Public Allies that seeks to put in place See ARTIST, Page 4B

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4B — Thursday, March 9, 2017

ARTIST From Page 3B local leadership to empower communities in a sustainable way. She works with Youth Development in the Community Arts Department where she coordinates photography programming for 5th to 8th grade students in Detroit where they take field trips and learn to use DSLR cameras, hoping to cultivate passion and skills that may help students find educational and employment opportunities as they mature.

Her outreach also involves starting art clubs at schools where funding or access to the arts may be limited.

“I’ve gotten what I’ve learned through college and through art school and now I’m giving it back to the community,” Borromeo said.

From Borromeo’s studio in Ypsilanti she works on other independent and collaborative art projects. She was recently featured in the “Vagina Show” in Detroit, an exhibition centered around intersectionality, or the way social identities interact and open up space for multidimensional dialogue about various systems of oppression and discrimination. Borromeo is also involved in the curating of an anti-Trump show in Detroit.

Additionally, she collaborates with community activists groups in Detroit, like Detroit Independent Freedom

TEDX From Page 3B had both enjoyed and learned from it — though I had been expecting this, as it isn’t the first time I have encountered Vanmechelen’s work, and have a CCP poster to prove it.

Most of the remaining speakers capably presented their ideas, though at a month’s remove I would have difficulty telling you what they all spoke on without my notes. I won’t touch on everyone here (and soon enough you’ll be able to watch the talks yourself online), but I will mention a few moments which I feel are pertinent to my point. The artist Sophia Brueckner, now an Art and Design assistant professor, perhaps indirectly addressed the principal concern at the heart of this piece: The place of optimism.

“Critical optimism” was the way she described her approach (in her case, to the potential impact of new technologies), a midway between “pure optimism” and “everything is terrible.” And perhaps that is the most healthy way to view things. But for myself, I fear that far too often optimism takes the place of action, that our dissatisfaction with the world can be sated through a simple, cheery belief that things will all work out — the problem lies in that, like trying to sate a physical hunger with pure glucose, this solution essentially has no substance.

One of my principal issues with TED, I suppose, is that it gives a smattering of anodyne verbal offerings while rarely translating words into tangible gains. Its audiences are full of essentially well-

Schools, a movement that offers supplementary weekend education by volunteer teachers to aid those Detroit Public Schools students who struggle. She is also a member of the Detroiters’ Resistance to Trump and

From Borromeo’s studio in Ypsilanti she works on other independent and collaborative art projects

DMJ studio, a group of women artists who use art to tell stories of those who live in Detroit and bring art to non-traditional spaces and neighborhoods.

However, the project that seems to be most ref lective of Borromeo’s artistic journey is one which seeks to provide a cultural exchange between Houston and Detroit. She co-founded a show in Houston last year called “Art to Art” that showcased the fashion, hip-hop and art of local artists, and she hopes to foster a cultural exchange between the two

meaning people who more than likely will never do anything about the very real problems discussed (and I do not exclude myself from this group; and of course there are obviously others in any given TED audience who I would exclude, but here I speak generally).

Most of the remaining speakers capably presented their ideas, though at a month’s remove I would have difficulty telling you what they all spoke on without my notes

The conference’s theme was “Dreamer’s and Disrupters,” and my concern is that the former perhaps overbore the latter to an unhealthy degree.

While a TED conference indulges in the dopamine rush of what seems to me an extreme, often irrational optimism, I’m unable to overcome the feeling that the whole of our civilization is careening towards some grisly wreck.

The tragedy is greater

cities, ideally having people from Detroit visit Houston and vice versa.

Borromeo highlights interdisciplinary and intersectionality at the heart of her work. Such a multidimensional approach is clear in the work of the artists and activists she admires. She spoke of Antonio Cosme, who weaves his public and street art with community organizing, and of Adrian Piper, who Borromeo said was, “basically everything I want to be ever,” expressing admiration for Piper’s strength as an artist, philosopher and her exploration and expression of what it means to be a light-skinned black woman.

Borromeo views art as a way of educating, informing and inspiring those who may not otherwise have the access to such knowledge, touching on the universal quality of what she does.

She suggested that art was maybe more “digestible” to some than say, reading a newspaper.

“It’s a very special situation to be an artist, especially during this time because not everyone has the capacity to read the newspaper, maybe not everyone knows how to read.

But art — but everyone kind of understands imagery — understands what a sound is, understands what movement is and so it can strike people in an emotional way that’s very different than just cut-anddry stuff. I think artists just have a very strong role to play, especially in just empowering other people.”

because I feel that this wreck is probably avertable if we simple managed to rouse ourselves to action.

But maybe it’s not, and maybe all that will be left one day of this pleasant little jaunt around the park of liberal democracy are the steel skeletons that were once our cities, skyscraper tombstones whistling in the wind. Oh well. Of course, this is probably a hyperbolic thing to wonder — I do that sometimes. But I’m not the first to think it, and I won’t be the last, and someday one of us is bound to be right.

The inadequacy of mere talk turned out to be perhaps my biggest takeaway from the conference, but this isn’t to say that the feeling is merited equally by all the presenters. Many of the speakers do engage in exactly the sort of concrete, tangible altering of the world that I’m advocating.

Scott Matzka has become an ALS advocate. Erika Newman is trying to cure cancer. Abdul El-Sayed is the Health Commissioner for the city of Detroit — a few days after the talk the 32-year-old announced his candidacy for governor.

All of these people do real work to improve the world. But one of the things they all have in common is they strive to use science to address material issues. For the artists of the conference, the impact they can have was far less obvious, and far more abstract — all of which raises the much larger question of art’s role in changing the world. In what ways, in the light of all the wrong that exists, can what we do as artists be ultimately meaningful?

I don’t have the answer. But what I do know is this: We have to believe art means something. The alternative is negation and despair.

INTERESTED IN WRITING FOR ARTS? Email arts@michigdandaily.com for an application.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

in this series, three daily arts writers in varying states of mind do the same activity and write about it.

Werner Herzog’s ‘On Death Row’ Oh my god, why is my spell check correcting into French. Moving on. For posterity: I feel very strange. Sort of tingly, really. Ah, it is begining now. Dramatic string music and a pan shot of a prison table with Bibles. This surely portents much. Werner Hertzog is talking now, and I have to listen. He has such a grave, dramatic voice — I am bound to heed to it. The death-row inmate seems like such a congenial fellow, until he starts talking about, like, the fact that he was convicted of tripple homicide. “How familiar are you with the details of the execution?” Herzog to DRI — jesus christ Werner, you don’t go gently do you? “Could that be more American?” asked Tess about the last meal of a hamburger and fries, “much like the death penalty” thought I. (To be read with thick Bavarian accent): “God, this is really depressing. Why does this exist (re: the death penalty)?” (Also, see “Get it Right: Privatize Executions” by Michigan’s own Arthur Miller.) “His cheeks are really hollow” says the Style editor. “No shit,” says someone in the back of my cerebrum. It is interesting that the inmate’s most vivid descriptions are about food. Why is someone vacuming right now? “Yeah I see your point” The concept of being led to death on a timeline is excruciating to me. To see the specter of death land on your bedside, to measure each second until that great abyss of unknowability is perhaps the most terrifiying thing after the abyss in the first place “This guy is still on death row” says buzzed. “This show was five years ago” “Is his name Frank?” says Tess “Hank says” buzzed. “What is going on with this family” Herzog after learning the man’s son is charged with kidnapping. (update, he was later aquitted) Tbh I should stop just quoting things I hear. A journalist is now describing the staggering wounded walk of a murder victim. This really is a downer. There was just a minute of silence on the episode. very effecrive use of abscene “I don’t have a problem with the death penalty” says TV journalist. “fuck journalists” says a not-TV journalist This inmate just made a reference to medieval history. Templars “Skinner tends to get lost in obscure historical tales” Herzog This is probably too long now. I’ll stop. He has a very distictive nervous laugh — Daily Arts Writer

so like i’m shitfaced rn and i came into this apartment expecting a dandy ol good time (:^]) but the second we popped this on, shit got reeaaaaaaal — i went into this situation thinking it’ll be some regular BBB but, and perhaps it’s because i am (again) fairly shitfaced, i feel like a level and candor is appropriate for what the fuck we’re watching rn. wenrer herzog’s thick and distinct german accent has been haunting most of my night as he pries into the nitty gritty details of the squalor death row inmates face. this man, hank, just ruminated over how he went through a last meal and his last rites and prepared for his eventual death until a judge issued him a stay on his case 20 minutes before his execution ?? wtf ?? this was a terrible idea wow “are you high?” “i think so” “are you drunk” “yeah but i don’t wanna be” “this shit got me fucked up guys” we binged episodes of chef’s table to feel better oops :^) — Daily Arts Writer

Who is this narrator? What is the accent? I’m so scared. The way he said “firing squad” just made me want to cry. Eerie. The death penalty beds. I’m going to cry. This man, Hank, has been on death row for 17 years and he’s still cracking jokes. I’m just going to leave this here: So many things that the police does are illegal. Hank looks so tired. His arms are chubby but his cheeks are hollow. Still terrified of this narrator’s tone; it is CHILLING. Here’s Hank’s story: This man was accused of triple homicide of his girlfriend and her two children. Though he denies the crime to this day, he was sentenced to death row. With 20 minutes of his execution, in the “death house,” Hank said his last goodbyes, and then he was saved. “The only thing was that they didn’t kill me.” He was pardoned by the Supreme Court just moments before his schedule execution. Now, Hank is back on death row. His holding cell is five steps away from the gurney. Nothing about this is right. They feed these inmates around the clock. “Time really has no meaning in here.” Nobody washes the prison windows; inmates can’t receive a clear view of the outside world, neither literally nor figuratively. I cannot go into detail here without breaking down, and I have no relation to the issue of death row aside from watching this show right now. I feel sick. Outsiders are not allowed to view the inner areas of death row housing. Hank describes them as a house of “human bondage and human suffering. A bad place.” Interesting take: A chef at death row commissioned to cook people’s last-ever meals.

Can you imagine? Cooking meals for criminals awaiting a planned execution. How anyone eats just minutes before their certain death is beyond my comprehension. Hank is smart. I feel nauseous and I haven’t seen any blood.

— TESS GARCIA

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Thursday, March 9, 2017 — 5B

ORGANIZATION PROFILE COURTESY OF CANTERBURY HOUSE

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

A Night For Us: Love & PWR BTTM, Against Me! activism at Canterbury Arbor’s own Canterbury House fashions itself as an & more fight for LGBT art Ann earnest refuge and community for University music students FATHER/DAUGHTER RECORDS

Created by and starring two Detroit natives, Comedy Central’s newest sitcom puts the Motor City on display in all its comedic glory DOMINIC POLSINELLI Daily Arts Writer

Music, above all other forms of art, has a uniquely communal quality to its consumption.

In its innate ability to bring communities together, music is a powerful force of social cohesion, naturally bringing rise to activism in the artists and fans alike.

From anti-fascism in early punk to powerful racial themes in hip-hop, music has long been one of the most socially active

Music, above all other forms of art, has a uniquely communal quality to its consumption

forms of art. Lately, there’s been a prominent increase in LGBT activism in today’s popular music scene.

Across multiple genres, the LGBT community has received increased representation in today’s musicians: Prominent LGBT artists include Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace, who has become a powerful transgender figurehead in punk rock, PWR BTTM, with their raw, catchy lyricism and unabashedly queer aesthetic and Julien Baker reconciling her identity with her upbringing in Memphis.

This outspoken support for the LGBT community is largely provided by smaller, indie artists — those with the dedicated community of fans who supply the means of making real change at the ground level.

With their rise in popularity, PWR BTTM in particular has begun to bring together the LGBT and ally community alike, writing music through an LGBT lens that can be enjoyed by people of many different identities. It’s an incredibly humanizing experience to watch the queerness of an artist develop increasing recognition and influence on music’s mainstream.

Recently, PWR BTTM dropped the first two singles from their forthcoming record Pageant, the first of which — bright, pop-y “Big Beautiful Day” — addresses the people whose judgment of others is (obviously) unmerited. On the chorus, the band sings, “Curse every one of you who tells me that I cannot be who I want / Ain’t no fucking way you’ll fuck up my big beautiful day” — a

line so infectiously defiant I grinned to myself the first time I heard it.

PWR BTTM has even been directly combating homophobia on tour. Barely a week after the presidential election, antiLGBT protesters picketed their show in Jackson, Mississippi — to which Ben Hopkins, one half of the duo, tweeted, “this is happening at the show tn. I am completely unafraid; I am sad for them,” and included a photo of himself giving the group a middle finger. The band’s courageous representation of their own identities continues to permeate the attitudes of their fans, placing themselves at the forefront of LGBT activism in music today.

On a tour last year, Modern Baseball — consisting entirely of straight white men — released a statement adressing their demand that every venue they play supply gender inclusive restrooms and included a hotline for fans to call to report incidences of harassment or discrimination at the shows, a safety net for fans originally implemented by Speedy Ortiz to wide acclaim.

Now, more than ever, artists are showing their dedication to combating the increasing likelihood that those within the LGBT community will face very real repression in today’s

It’s these strong, empowering statements and actions from artiststhat continues the positive changes in social attitudes within and toward the LGBT community

America, and Modern Baseball is setting the example for allies showing their support.

Laura Jane Grace has been shattering social barriers since the inception of Against Me! in the ’90s with its progressive anarcho-punk themes. Coming out as transgender in 2012, Grace continues to shatter barriers for the LGBT community. With 2014’s Transgender Dysphoria

Blues, arguably one of the most important activist records in recent memory, she gave the world an emotional glimpse at being a transgender musician.

Expanding on her story, she also released her stunning memoir “Tranny” last year, detailing her early experiences with gender dysphoria and the struggles that come with it. In spiteful backlash of the transphobic Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act passed in North Carolina, Grace gleefully lit her birth certificate (containing her birth name “Tom Gables”) on fire

Music is becoming an outlet for LGBT artists and fans to express and exist

during their show in the state.

The band also donated show proceeds to LGBT charities, which many other artists such as Father John Misty and La Dispute did in early 2016 for their performances in the state.

This past December I saw Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band perform with Pinegrove and Petal, who announced that they would be collecting donations for the Ruth Ellis Center, a home for LGBT youth in Detroit. Accepting anything from cash to clothes, the artists used their voice and power to bring like-minded individuals into one space in order to bring about real, local change.

Mid set, addressing America’s changing post-election social state, queer artist Petal stated: “Keep being yourself because existing is a form of resistance,” to eruptive applause. It’s these strong, empowering statements and actions from artists, whether their music is queertinted or not, that continues the positive changes in social attitudes within and toward the LGBT community.

Music, at its core, is an art form that embodies emotional expression.

When these emotions are used to make a change, impressively potent activism is formed. At the roots of popular music, devoted fan bases are rising up and coming together to implement this positive change, creating spaces at shows that are safe for people of all identities to come and enjoy the art that emboldens them to be themselves. Music is becoming an outlet for LGBT artists and fans to express and exist, and it’s a force that shows no signs of stopping.

INTERESTED IN WRITING FOR ARTS? Email arts@michigdandaily.com for an application.

NATALIE ZAK

Managing Arts Editor

There’s a small episcopal church that resides on East Huron Street that few remark upon when passing it. It goes unnoticed for the most part, its plain demeanor disguising itself within the rows and rows of college residences. But this church, strangely enough, has a been a home for generations of students passing through the University of Michigan, where jazz students and regional bands alike have gathered to perform, celebrate, study and — most importantly — eat.

Canterbury House has seen the likes of Neil Young and Janis Joplin grace its interior since its inception over fifty years ago, and today features musical series highlighting artists from within the university and beyond. But according to School of Music, Theatre & Dance sophomore Alexis Lombre, something was still

Canterbury House has seen the likes of Neil Young and Janis Joplin grace its interior

missing from Canterbury and from the University as a whole at the beginning of the year: community. A community for artists of color and a community to break down the academic barriers of SMTD — this is what Lombre strived to create, and what she has only started to this year.

“Each program within the school is kind of segregated; actors hang with actors; jazz musicians hang with the jazz musicians; vocalists spend time with vocalists,” Lombre said in a phone interview. “I wanted a space where we could bring everyone together; you could throw some creative writers in there, just have some people of color who just like the arts, and have a community.”

But to create this community, she had to start somewhere.

After the chaplain of the episcopal center offered up the space to Lombre this past fall, she took advantage of it and put on the first “A Night for Us: Colorful Soul.” For the first two months, however, participation was sparse.

She paid for expenses out of pocket and negotiated student performances through her own means.

And then it took off. Come November, participation doubled and from the Lombre’s desire for a community for artists of color at the University sprang the group Artists of Color in Ann Arbor. Both a way to receive money and bolster the impact of the series, this group has only begun to foster the

much needed support network between artists of color at the University, a community Lombre found noticeably absent her freshman year.

“It’s a different type of attitude that I’d like to see here in Ann Arbor, a place where people really have a place for artists of color to hangout and for people of color to just be themselves,” Lombre said. “Because there are a lot of initiatives that are kind of … stocky. There’s a room with lighting that’s awkward because it still feels like I’m in school, and nobody wants that.

Nobody actually wants to hang out at school. You want to go out somewhere.”

But the music is only one part of the soul. The food is the other, vital part.

“That’s why we always have soul food there; soul food just brings a different type of attitude instead of having plates of cheese and crackers and shrimp cocktails,” she said.

It’s this transformation from stocky to soulful, tense to chill that creates the unique atmosphere of Lombre’s series. Community, especially a welcoming one, invites a kind of electric relaxation between friends and strangers alike. Which is Lombre’s goal ultimately — to foster an environment that supports artists and people of color through music, food and groove.

“I think this event is a very organic and authentic way for people who haven’t experienced culture of people of color to really experience it within their own comfort zone,” Lombre continued.

And in its most fundamental sense, Lombre’s series champions simultaneous activism and celebration. It is meant to inspire and facilitate a molding of divisions on our campus and others. Because even though this event is young, a sprouting bud among the many campaigns and initiatives to arise on campus since the election, it is also boundless with Lombre at its stern.

“I am not the type of person who wants to keep anything small,” Lombre said. “I’m a dreamer, and I would love to see it grow. Eventually one of my dreams is to have it as a campus college tour where different campuses get ‘A Night for Us.’” It’s an ambitious plan, but one with potential. Campus has its divisions, as do many others, but this community is one step in the right direction towards healing them. While her vision for this community is one rooted in celebration and support for artists and people of color on campus, it is also meant to heal.

“The way I want to bring the political (divisions) together is not in a harsh, protesting type of way because there’s a lot of people doing that. My way is to basically invite everyone into your home and treat them really well to help them realize that people of color are welcoming,” Lombre added. “We should just care about each other, and that will change things.”

And Lombre, along with her fellow students helping to

grow the community, is caring.

Artists of Color in Ann Arbor — the organization that both sprung from this series and allows it to subsist — has grown since its inception in November.

Partnering with the art and social justice organization Redefine, areas of Greek Life and several other organizations, ACAA supports the series, but the series is only the beginning.

“At the bare minimum, at the least by the time I graduate, folks of color and artists of color will know that they have a home at the University of Michigan.

That’s the bare minimum,” Lombre said.

But the bare minimum is just that — bare. A community and a series like this has room to grow and the power to actively change the social climate on campus, a climate born more from fear of the unfamiliar than from anything else. Because, as

“It’s a different type of attitude that I’d like to see here in Ann Arbor, a place where people really have a place for artists of color to hangout and for people of color to just be themselves”

Lombre explained, the idea for this series was born from anger and frustration. But this anger and negativity transformed itself into a positive, lifeaffirming event.

So consider this a call for art as well as a call for community.

To the creators, the artists, the people of color who have something to proclaim and proclaim proudly, this community is here for you.

“I’m open to musicians, I’m open to a group of actors who want to do monologues,” Lombre said. “I’m open to poets, spoken word people. I’m open to any type of art — producers, if you want to do a DJ set, I don’t care. Anybody.”

The next “A Night for Us: Colorful Soul” will be taking place Thursday, March 30 from 7 to 10 p.m. at Canterbury House, located at 721 E Huron Street. Come for the music, stay for the mac ‘n’ cheese and peach cobbler. It’s a place to celebrate, groove and to meet people and hear stories that are worthy of our unworthy ears.

Arts

6B — Thursday, March 9, 2017

TV INTERVIEW

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FILM REVIEW

AMAZON STUDIOS

‘Not Your Negro’ brings The Fight of Their Lives: Baldwin’s words to life Toboni on ‘Trans Youth’ HBO

Within the span of five years, three great men were murdered For the Daily for fighting in the name of civil rights, equality and justice.

James Baldwin, novelist and First was Medgar Evers, then playwright, tells the story of it was Malcolm X, then Martin Black men in America with a Luther King Jr. The world voice of wisdom, lost three great sorrow and leaders, but James “I Am Not Your mourning.

Baldwin lost three Negro” Baldwin’s dear friends. In memoir is the film, Baldwin Amazon Studios a touching, recalls the details Michigan Theater personal account and memories of combating the of discovering ever-prevalent the news of the racism in the United States while assassinations. He was on paying due tribute to his friends, vacation when he found out Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and about Medgar over the radio, he Martin Luther King Jr., who died was out to dinner when he found trying to end it. out about Malcolm, he was in From Baldwin’s poetic prose L.A. when he got the call about to Samuel L. Jackson’s calming, Martin. Baldwin’s losses are hushed narration (Though the what inspired him to write the actor usually prefers a forceful famed manuscript and they drive yell, as evidenced by Marvel’s the film forward.

Nick Fury, “Snakes on a Plane” “I Am Not Your Negro” and “Pulp Fiction”), Raoul manages to seamlessly weave Peck’s (“Murder in Pacot”) together found and real footage documentary version of the into a clear and stunning author’s unfinished manuscript, portrayal of Baldwin’s work.

“Remember This House,” is Even Baldwin’s plentiful a meaningful homage to the references to Hollywood unpublished masterpiece. blockbusters like “Guess Who’s More than just depicting a life, Coming to Dinner” and “Dance, the film depicts a struggle — the Fools, Dance” are incorporated struggle of the African American with skill and artistry. The community in America and collage of images compiled into the struggle of the people who the film takes Baldwin’s words fought to end that struggle. and turns them into the perfect REBECCA PORTMAN

VICE News Correspondent Gianna Toboni talks experiences with families of transgender youth and difficulties of transition EMILY BICE

Daily Arts Writer

“These people are no different from any of us. It would be impossible for anyone not to develop a connection to these families if they spent some time with them.”

This is VICE News Correspondent Gianna Toboni.

In a recent interview with The Michigan Daily, Toboni shared her experiences from creating the documentary episode, “Trans Youth” for VICE on HBO. The 30-minute piece follows transgender youth across America, all in different stages of their medical transition. It’s raw, real and asks viewers to do a lot more than simply watch. “Trans Youth” asks its viewers to think about a group of children and parents who are in the fight of their life.

The “fight of their life” is not something to be taken metaphorically.

The documentary begins in Pearland, Texas, with fiveyear-old Kai Shappley. Kai is a transgender child in one of the most conservative, right-wing school districts in America.

After spending some time at home with Kai and her mother, Kimberly, the episode follows Kimberly to the Pearland local school board meeting. She stands before her community members and leaders, and makes the case for Kai’s right to use the bathroom of her choosing: “I am a mom of a little girl that I would like to see live,” Kimberly said in the episode.

“I am a mom of a little girl who has a 41% suicide rate.

That is a very real thing. Please understand. I’m not fighting about bathrooms. I am fighting about her life.”

A lack of support from the community is crystal clear.

The school superintendent left the room halfway through Kimberly’s speech. At this point, it would be easy to spend the rest of the episode exploring in the politics of transgender laws — but that’s not what “Trans Youth” does, and it’s a stronger episode for it.

The fight for Kai’s life runs much deeper than conservative politics, and not just for Kai — for all transgender youth, to live in a body with which he or she does not identify is excruciating. So painful, in fact, that for those who can’t remedy what they feel, suicide is the only option.

It is this fight — the fight to transition medically — that “Trans Youth” highlights. “[The episode’s creators] made a decision to focus on the medical transition because (they) felt like that’s what other media companies hadn’t focused on,” Toboni said.

Bathroom laws are all anyone hears about — but those laws hardly scratch the surface of

what it means for a transgender youth to transition. The medical process of transitioning is relatively unexplored.

“I have never done a story where I can talk to the experts and they don’t know the answer,” Toboni said.

This uncharted territory, though scary, has not deterred children intent on making the transition. Toboni interviewed eight-year-old Max O’Brien as he went through the process of receiving hormone blockers.

The blockers aren’t permanent, but undergoing cross-hormone therapy is. Max and his parents have a few years before they have to make that decision.

“These people are no different from any of us. It would be impossible for anyone not to develop a connection to these families if they spent some time with them”

With no long-term data backing these medical treatments up, no one can know for sure what these medical treatments will mean 10 years down the road.

The episode does an excellent job of exploring what this uncertainty means for transgender youth and their families. Intimate interviews put viewers directly in the homes, backyards and hospital rooms of these people, giving outsiders a perspective on an issue which is foreign to them.

Uncertainty about the longterms effects isn’t the only issue with the medical transition process. It’s expensive. Very expensive. Toboni estimated that a hormone blocker costs between $750 and $800 per month. So, the transition is, per Toboni, “completely prohibitive if insurance is not covering it.”

In the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle many benefits of the Affordable Care Act, families of transgender youth are in a state of limbo. As a viewer watching interviews filmed prior to the executive order, a major question raised is how things have changed since. Toboni and her crew have stayed in touch since the

election.

“There’s no other way to put it, they’re devastated,” Toboni said. “They don’t know how this is going to affect their health insurance, whether they’re going to be able to continue transitioning.”

The episode features men and women at each stage of their transition — from pre-medical, like Kai, to surgical, like 18-yearold Charlotte. Charlotte has lived at the Waltham House — a group home in Boston for LGBT youth — since she was 14, after her mother threatened her life for wanting to be a woman. For someone like Charlotte, made to feel like she “had no place in this world,” the opportunity to surgically transition is lifealtering. It allows her to feel comfortable in her own skin.

Without the assistance of health insurance, however, this might not be possible. Those unaffected cannot fully imagine the emotional toll it takes.

15-year-old Steevie Geagan offers a glimpse.

“You have no idea how hard it is, waking up and not really connecting with what’s there,” Geagan said in the episode. “To prolong the treatment process, would be dreadful.”

By highlighting the medical transition, the documentary is better equipped to capture the emotional fight America’s transgender youth face daily.

The biggest take-away is that this issue is about more than politics. It’s people’s lives. To highlight the medical process and present it to a large audience creates discussion that may not have been present before.

“Trans Youth” showcases people who are fighting for their right to be happy.

“I think that’s the reason we do this work. To help educate people and help those influencers, policy makers, civilians go on into their communities and act in a way that they feel is appropriate,” Toboni said, reflecting on the episode’s potential to inspire viewers. “That’s the first step in creating change.”

Those in Ann Arbor who are eager to make change don’t have to look far. The University of Michigan’s Spectrum Center offers programs, academic services and a comprehensive list of LGBT student organizations.

Residential group homes like the Waltham House exist nationwide.

Though they live in an almost constant state of uncertainty and turmoil, Toboni admired that the transgender youth will not be deterred.

“They’re still going to protest, they’re still connecting with their community and they’re continuing to fight,” she said.

“Trans Youth” is available to stream for free on YouTube through March 18th courtesy of HBO.

narration for events both past and present.

The historical footage of Baldwin is representative of his personality, adding his own voice and mannerisms to the film.

The audience finds him on “The Dick Cavett Show” flicking the ash from his cigarette, speaking eloquently in the hallowed halls of Cambridge, riding in the passenger seat through his native Harlem, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis Jr., Harry Belafonte and Charlton Heston.

In addition to providing a portrait of Baldwin during his lifetime, the film showcases a variety of footage and photographs illustrating a still evident racial divide within American society. From riots in the streets of Ferguson to police brutality in Los Angeles, the film intertwines Baldwin’s memories of the disturbing past with today’s disturbing present. Raoul Peck has compiled an impressive arsenal of found footage that tells a story in and of itself; it is only a fitting that it sings so beautifully in duet with Baldwin’s work.

“I Am Not Your Negro” is an innovative and simply excellent documentary that gives voice to the genius of James Baldwin, while addressing race in America from a perspective both old and new.

INFECTIOUS MUSIC

MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW alt-J is a band long recognized for its music videos. My first-ever introduction to the band was when a friend recommended me not their music, but to their music video for “Breezeblocks” and try to figure out what was going on. The band hasn’t been afraid to get strange with their videos over the past few years, and that holds true with this week’s “3WW,” an imaginative virtual translation of the pain of denied love.

The video opens in darkness, and then shades of golden-brown light begin filtering into view in the form of geometric shapes. At the same time, a single wandering guitar guides us into the soft percussive rhythm that soon becomes the backbone of the song. The sound is endlessly soft and exploratory, and it evokes waking up in the morning or stepping into the light out of a dark room.

Equally intriguing are the

corresponding images. The rapidly flashing shapes from the very beginning set the tone for the rest of the video, which looks like it takes its animation from some computer program or video game.

“3WW” alt-J Infectious Music The constant flashing and switching between images makes it hard to discern any concrete plot, but the images themselves still suggest distinct feelings and senses of meaning. Many of the images recur — a man walking into a room to meet another person, a pinkish shape floating upward into a near-cloudless sky, a field of grass with a single tree beginning to bloom — and convey a sense of continuation, of nature taking on meaning in an unnatural world.

The succession of images repeats several times in the same order, and for all the hope that comes across in the bright landscapes, like a beautiful dock and a road through green fields, the song definitely carries a strong element of sadness, of hope lost. The figure walking alone toward the person in the room never reaches them; the series always ends with the final note of an object or figure, lying dead in the middle of a road. I took this as an indication of the futility of the speaker’s love, but the video is constructed in a way that lends itself to personal interpretations, rather than a clear narrative. No matter the interpretation, though, “3WW” is a beautiful example of how a music video doesn’t need a plot or even a live cast of people in order to convey something deep, meaningful and complete.

— LAURA DZUBAY