2017-09-06

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Free Speech in the Ivory Tower

Students weigh in on the debate over free speech and its place on a college campus.

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DACA DECISION SPARKS ANGER “...in the best interests of our country, and in keeping with the obligations of my office, the Department of Homeland Security will begin an orderly transition and wind-down of DACA, one that provides minimum disruption.” -President Donald Trump

CAMPUS LIFE

ADMINISTRATION

Students, Ann Arbor residents rally against executive decision

University administrators respond to concerns, stand in solidarity

AMARA SHAIKH

ANDREW HIYAMA

Chants denouncing the repeal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals filled the streets of Ann Arbor during BAMN’s Emergency Rally to Defend DACA early Tuesday evening. The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights By Any Means Necessary organized the protest as a result of President Donald Trump’s recent decision to rescind the DACA policy.

BAMN’s list of demands included defending DACA, turning Ann Arbor into a sanctuary city and taking action to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and deportations. The event began with a rally explaining BAMN’s objectives in the Diag, followed by a march around campus.

Protesters included Ann Arbor community members and University of Michigan students from various backgrounds.

A portion of their f lyer read, “This is the time to make our schools, campuses, cities and all of Michigan a real sanctuary for immigrants, by coming out in mass numbers to defeat Trump’s attack on DACA, stop his deportations and demand that Trump resign or be removed BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.” Kate Stenvig, an organizer for BAMN, explained how similar strategies have created change and why it was crucial to continue protesting.

“We think that right now is our moment to pull out all of the stops to build a movement to defend DACA, to stop the policy of deportation and to get rid of Trump now,” she said. “I think that the fact that Trump did not think that he could get away with getting rid of DACA today but gave a 6-month window for Congress to act is a real credit to the movement and that so many of the people who have DACA are leaders.”

Stenvig also discussed how she saw the DACA repeal as an act of desperation on the Trump administration’s part.

“I think that we can definitely defend DACA and force Trump to resign or get removed because this is a disgusting, scandalous overreach on his part,” Stenvig said. “It’s also his next desperate attempt to show his racist base that he can deport a lot of people, but in reality, because of the movement in the last year, he’s been able to deport less people than Obama.”

The DACA policy was put into place during the Obama administration in 2012.

William Lopez, a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Social Work, noted many undocumented immigrants and their families were betting against the possibility of a rescission when they made the choice to register for DACA. “Two, four, six years ago, whenever folks applied, they were thinking, ‘If I give the government this information, will it be dangerous for my family?’,” he said. “And we, as advocates and those with citizen privilege, of course encouraged them to do so, believing it would be safe to do so, and now we find ourselves in this position of wondering, is it safe?”

Currently, there are almost 800,000 people in the United States with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, and some are students at the University of Michigan. Many at the University are now worried Immigrations and Customs Enforcement will begin targeting students once their status expires.

Laura Sanders, co-founder of the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights and a lecturer at the School of Social Work, said she, too, wasn’t optimistic about any legislation Congress would pass regarding the program.

“The ball is in Congress’s court to act, but they haven’t acted in the past in a very positive way, which is what initiated the DACA executive order by Obama in the first place,” she said.

The Trump administration announced Tuesday morning it was ending DACA, the Obama-era immigration policy that provided a renewable, two-year deferral from deportation and work permit eligibility to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as minors.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions stated Tuesday the program “is being rescinded,” but the administration will provide a six-month window in which it will continue to renew the DACA status of individuals whose status is about to expire, meaning individuals will begin to lose their protected status permanently on March 5, 2018. President Donald Trump said Congress should use the window to come up with an additional plan.

“I have a great heart for these folks we’re talking about,” he said. “A great love for them — and people think in terms of children, but they’re really young adults. I have a love for these people and hopefully now Congress will be able to help them and do it properly.”

Khaalid Walls, communications director of ICE for the Northeastern Region, which includes Michigan, said current ICE policy was to generally avoid sensitive areas like schools.

“Current ICE policy directs See RESPONSE, Page 3A

Daily Staff Reporter

See STUDENTS, Page 2A

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Daily Staff Reporter

MICHELLE PHILLIPS/Daily

Trump decision to end DACA faces major backlash from Michigan politicians COLIN BERESFORD Daily Staff Reporter

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was founded under former President Barack Obama in 2012, Tuesday morning. In a written statement, Trump called the program unconstitutional, calling for “an orderly transition and wind-down of DACA, one that provides minimum disruption.”

Trump also acknowledged that the six-month delay will allow

Congress to address the issue before the change takes effect.

Current DACA beneficiaries receive renewable two-year work permits through the Department of Homeland Security.

Under Trump’s order, DHS will stop accepting applications; however, applications that have already been submitted will be processed, and those with current permits will be allowed to work until their permits expire.

On campus, undocumented students fear for their futures.

William Lopez, a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Social

Work, studies how communities respond to ICE raids. Lopez said that once DACA is eliminated, it is not clear what will happen to the information of the beneficiaries of DACA. “On the one hand, very practically, we are worried about how a number of our students who are funded will continue to be funded when they don’t have social security numbers anymore,” Lopez said. “So how are they going to remain in school, mostly in graduate school, when they don’t have social security numbers, when their funding may be tied to something that needs a social

security number?”

Once the program ends, the current and past beneficiaries of DACA will be vulnerable, as they have entrusted their information to the government in order to benefit from the program.

“At the time of application, many folks are worried, ‘Well what is going to happen with this information if DACA doesn’t stay around?’,” Lopez said. “So in six months, we will know, or at least have a sense of what the central government is going to do with that information. At that time, if not before, there will be See BACKLASH, Page 3A

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

ANN ARBOR

A2 City Council passes resolution against Trump’s immigration ban ISHI MORI

Daily Staff Reporter

City Council passed a resolution Tuesday taking a stand against the Trump administration’s controversial travel ban.

Trump issued his first executive order in January, forbidding citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days, stopping resettlement of refugees for 120 days and indefinitely suspending resettlement of Syrian refugees. The ban, which came into effect immediately after its announcement, resulted in disorder and fierce protests at airports across the country.

The local resolution specifically authorized listing Ann Arbor as a supporting municipality in an amicus brief to be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court from the State of Hawaii and Ismail Elshikh v. Donald J. Trump, et al., which will determine the constitutionality of the president’s executive order.

Councilmember Jack Eaton (D–Ward 4) praised the resolution, as it will allow Ann Arbor to take a stand against the travel ban at no cost. He noted Ann Arbor’s unique position as a college town and the city’s tradition of welcoming talented individuals from all over the world.

“We want our residents … to feel comfortable to come in from anywhere in the world,” Eaton said. “Having a threat such as this travel ban really does significant harm to our town.”

Following two federal court decisions that blocked the ban, the Trump administration released a second version of the order that eliminated its most controversial parts. For example, provisions in the initial executive order like giving preference to religious minorities (widely interpreted to mean Christians) once the resettlement program resumed gave reason for critics to call the order a “Muslim ban.”

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

First CSG meeting of year proclaims solidarity with students JORDYN BAKER Daily Staff Reporter

Tuesday evening, Central Student Government hosted their first meeting of the school year under new administration, with LSA senior Anushka Sarkar as president. Despite the brief interruption of a fire alarm in the Michigan Union, the meeting continued, focusing on welcoming members back to campus.

A major focal point of the meeting involved the Trump administration’s announcement this morning of the dissolution of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Under the new policy, those who have a status that will expire in the next six months can have their permits renewed. During these six months, Congress has the responsibility to decide whether these policies will move forward and if those protected under DACA will officially lose their status.

Community member Kate Stenvig, member of the University’s chapter of By All Means Necessary, addressed her concerns to CSG following a rally

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INDEX

in the Diag and march around campus earlier in the afternoon.

She stated that she hopes, in the coming weeks, to bring forward a resolution in support of DACA. “This is a real overreach of Trump to try to do this,” she said.

“It’s also a really desperate act because basically all that he has promised is a lot of deportation.”

Sarkar also voiced the importance of CSG taking a stand against this act from the Trump administration. Earlier in the day, CSG posted a status on Facebook informing those currently reliant on the program of their options to secure permit renewal.

“CSG has for the last couple of years and will continue to this year stand by DACAmented and undocumented students,” she said. “DACAmented students are an important part of our community.”

Sarkar also discussed the recent racist writing found on the Rock and detailed CSG’s goal of responding to these sorts of incidents in meaningful ways.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Vol. CXXVII, No. 83 ©2017 The Michigan Daily

NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................5 ARTS......................6

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

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2A — Wednesday, September 6, 2017

W O LV E R I N E O F T H E W E E K Every Wednesday, the Michigan Daily will be asking a University faculty member, staff member or student what the University bicentennial means to them.

“It feels like a momentous time to join the University...I will be learning about the last 200 years starting today. I came from D.C. when I got this job, and I certainly noticed a deep love of Michigan that is in many, many, many places. I wouldn’t be able to say what’s new at the University because it’s all new to me, but there is certainly a lot of excitement. I teach early American History so it’s an exciting opportunity to come here to talk about the history of Michigan and the University being a part of that history for a long time — ­ a lot longer time than other Universities.”

Scott Larsen, first year lecturer in American Culture EMMA RICHTER/Daily

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CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Possession, pop-up exhibition

Waiting for the Extraordinary

WHAT: An exhibition of Ann Arbor artist Jaye Schlesinger’s small oil paintings depicting the few items she kept after disposing of many through an act of minimalism and personal well-being.

WHO: Institute for the Humanities WHEN: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

WHERE: 202 S. Thayer

WHAT: An architecturally scaled installation displaying a single room with different plastic sculptures and using 3D imaging technology.

WHO: Institute for the Humanities WHEN: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

WHERE: 202 S. Thayer

Guest Master Class

Job Positions with Insight Venture Partners

WHAT: Jeremy Epp. principal timpanist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, will present a lecture and discussion with SMTD. WHO: School of Music, Theatre, and Dance WHEN: 4:45 p.m.

WHERE: Earl V. Moore Building - Hankinson Rehearsal Hall

WHAT: Learn about Venture Capital/Private Equity as well as summer internship opporunities with Insight Venture Partners.

WHO: University Career Center WHEN: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

WHERE: LSA Building, room 2001

Express advising with CGIS and Newman

State of the Department Address

WHAT: Speak with CGIS advisors about programs, applications, scholarships, financial aid, and more through walk in appointments.

WHO: CGIS WHEN: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

WHERE: Weiser Hall - Suite 200

WHAT: Brad Orr, Physics Department Chair, will givr am address on new research and updates within the Physics Department.

WHO: Department of Physics WHEN: 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

WHERE: West Hall, room 340

engIN 2017

CEN at BBA Meet the Clubs

WHAT: New first year and transfer students in Michigan Engineering are invited for dinner, social events, and to hear from Dean Gallimore.

WHO: Michigan Engineering WHEN:6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: The Grove

WHAT: Visit the University’s chapter of China Entrepeneur Network, a global entrepeneurial organization across 3 continents, at this year’s Bachelor of Business Meet the Clubs.

WHO: China Entrepeneur Network WHEN: 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Ross School of Business Winter Garden

STUDENTS From Page 1A

Michigan Sports @michigansports Michigan is #8 in this week’s Coaches Poll #GoBlue

anastasia @anastasiapac I used to care what I looked like for the first day of classes but today as long as I make on time I’ll b happy

many benefits from DACA, away who she is because she for me it’s my driver’s license, basically grew up here, and social security and so much just deporting her to another 420 Maynard St. more. Trump’s removal of the country that she doesn’t know Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 It offered undocumented DACA program is absolutely is wrong.” www.michigandaily.com immigrants who came to insane, and it really doesn’t Perez worries the repeal will the United States as minors make sense because there are create an atmosphere of fear EMMA KINERY NATHAN GUPTA the opportunity to receive so many students benefitting for many DACA students, and Editor in Chief Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1251 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 deferred action from from the program.” cause them to become afraid kineryem@michigandaily.com nathankg@michigandaily.com deportation and eligibility for LSA freshman Michelle to stand up for themselves a renewable, two-year work Alvarez echoed Perez’s because of the threat of permit. To qualify, applicants statement and discussed how deportation. must have all lived in the the policy has helped many “Because of the DACA NEWS TIPS ARTS SECTION PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION news@michigandaily.com arts@michigandaily.com photo@michigandaily.com United States before the age people in her own life. repeal, many students won’t of 16, not having any felonies “Although I’m not a DACA feel as powerful; they will LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SPORTS SECTION NEWSROOM or serious misdemeanors and student, I have a lot of family go back into hiding, and they tothedaily@michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com 734-418-4115 opt. 3 living continuously in the and friends that benefitted a won’t speak up for what they EDITORIAL PAGE ADVERTISING CORRECTIONS United States since July 15, lot from DACA,” Alvarez said. believe,” Perez said. opinion@michigandaily.com dailydisplay@gmail.com corrections@michigandaily.com 2007.

“I just want to support my Though the repeal has One of these individuals is friends and family because it’s caused distress for many LSA freshman Sandra Perez. very important for them to stay people, both Perez and Stenvig Perez grew up in the United and study.” are hopeful that the BAMN AMELIA CACCHIONE and EMMA RICHTER States and discussed DACA’s Alvarez acknowledged that rally and other actions from Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com importance not only in her life the United States is the only the University community will Senior Photo Editors: Zoey Holmstrom, Evan Aaron, Alexis Rankin but also in the lives of others. home that many of the DACA protect the students who are REBECCA LERNER Assistant Photo Editors: Claire Meingast, Emilie Farrugia, Sinduja Managing Editor rebler@michigandaily.com Kilaru, Sam Mousigian, Marina Ross “It really has no effect on recipients know. affected. other people besides DACA “I strongly disagree with “I’m hoping that the ALEXA ST.JOHN LARA MOEHLMAN students, but it’s great to what Trump is doing,” Alvarez University goes against Managing News Editor alexastj@michigandaily.com Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com advocate for them,” Perez said. “Some of the DACA Trump,” Perez said. “I feel Senior News Editors: Riyah Basha, Tim Cohn, Lydia Murray, Deputy Statement Editor: Brian Kuang, Yoshiko Iwai Nisa Khan, Sophie Sherry said. “For myself, being a students came here when they like the U of M community Assistant News Editors: Jordyn Baker, Colin Beresford, Rhea DACA student, I feel that were young. I have a friend can empower its students and Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ Cheeti, Maya Goldman, Matt Harmon, Andrew Hiyama, Jen ELIZABETH DOKAS and TAYLOR GRANDINETTI it really empowers me and who came to the U.S. at the include its diverse components.

Meer, Ishi Mori, Carly Ryan, Kaela Theut Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com other students. There are so age of one, so it’s like taking They can just try to help the ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY and Senior Copy Editors: Marisa Frey, Ibrahim Rasheed students feel at home, feel REBECCA TARNOPOL Editorial Page Editors opinioneditors@michigandaily.com like it’s safe, and feel like DYLAN LAWTON and BOB LESSER Senior Opinion Editors: Caitlin Heenan, Jeremy Kaplan, Max you can come here and find Managing Online Editor lesserrc@michigandaily.com Lubell, Madeline Nowicki, Stephanie Trierweiler Senior Web Developers: Erik Forkin, Jordan Wolff comfort. For me especially, BETELHEM ASHAME and KEVIN SANTO I feel like if the University ABE LOFY EASY Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com said, ‘We welcome you,’ then Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com Senior Sports Editors: Laney Byler, Mike Persak, Orion Sang, Senior Video Editors: Gilly Yerrington, Matt Nolan, Aarthi I’d feel like, ‘Hey, I want to Max Marcovich, Ethan Wolfe, Chris Crowder Janakiraman, Emily Wolfe go to U of M and I want to Assistant Sports Editors: Rob Hefter, Avi Sholkoff, Matthew Kennedy, Paige Voeffray, Mark Calcagno, Jacob Shames stay here.’ I want them to JASON ROWLAND and ASHLEY TJHUNG Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com make me feel included and ANAY KATYAL and NATALIE ZAK Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Christian Paneda, Tanya not make me feel alienated.”

Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com Madhani, Neel Swamy, Adam Brodnax, Areeba Haider, Halimat Olaniyan, Sivanthy Visanthan Stenvig is also impressed Senior Arts Editors: Dayton Hare, Nabeel Chollanpat, Madeline Gaudin, Carly Snider with the amount of support Arts Beat Editors: Caroline Filips, Danielle Yacobson, Danny ELLIE HOMANT the movement has received Hensel, Erika Shevchek, Matt Gallatin Managing Social Media Editor and is confident people will Senior Social Media Editors: Carolyn Watson, Molly Force MICHELLE PHILLIPS and AVA WEINER continue to remain united.

Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com “We’ve already seen a Senior Design Editors: Alex Leav, Carly Berger, Christine Lee huge outpouring of support, even on the first day,” Stenvig said. “People are really CAYLIN WATERS Brand Manager outraged about this, and I think what we especially EMILY RICHNER CLAIRE BUTZ Sales Manager Business Development Manager want to communicate is that JUEUI HONG JULIA SELSKY we are really strong and that Special Projects Manager Local Accounts Manager we can see this isn’t the end CAROLINE GOLD SANJANA PANDIT of DACA and that we have to Media Consulting Manager Production Manager respond to this as this is our moment to come out strong The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the and keep marching until University OF Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $225 and year long subscriptions are $250. University affiliates are subject to a puzzle by sudokusyndication.com NO SWEAT. we get rid of Trump and his reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a policies.” member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press.

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BACKLASH From Page 1A time for us at the University to decide how we’re willing to and how we’re going to protect that information.”

Lopez emphasized that since the program’s inception, there has not been any official government action to end it until now. “In prior political moments, this was just illogical to attack because it was just political suicide,” Lopez said. “It looks bad. But that’s not the moments we’re in anymore.”

Several universities and colleges across the state offer in-state tuition to undocumented students regardless of DACA status, including the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Grand Valley State University and several others.

In a statement released Sunday, University President Mark Schlissel reaffirmed his commitment to protecting all students regardless of immigration status.

“At the University of Michigan, we will continue to assess the consequences of any changes to DACA and keep our community informed,” Schlissel wrote. “I also want all students to know that I view their opportunity to study here as both the right thing to do and in our nation’s best interest.”

The Trump administration defended the move as a fair way to end the program by allowing some leeway for the transition and time for Congress to pass related legislation.

In his statement, Trump said his emphasis on immigration reform has not changed.

“Our enforcement priorities remain unchanged,” Trump wrote. “We are focused on criminals, security threats, recent border-crossers, visa overstays, and repeat violators.”

There are no current plans for DHS to share the personal information provided by DACA recipients with immigration enforcement agencies. In his statement, Trump “advised

the Department of Homeland Security that DACA recipients are not enforcement priorities unless they are criminals, are involved in criminal activity, or are members of a gang.”

Both Republicans and Democrats have voiced opposition to ending DACA. Speaker Paul Ryan (R–Wis.) and other Republican leaders urged Trump not to end the program, according to the Washington Post.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D– Mich.) denounced the move to end the program in a press release, saying that Congress should react to Trump’s action.

“These young people were brought here through no fault of their own,” Dingell wrote.

“America is their home and DACA has allowed them to become hardworking, contributing members of our society – offering their talents to the workforce and paying taxes that go toward improving our health care, infrastructure and other critical services.”

In Michigan alone, over 6,600 undocumented immigrants have received protection under DACA, and over 840,000 undocumented immigrants have received protection in the United States, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Following the announcement that Trump was ending DACA, Gov. Rick Snyder (R) issued a press release, which criticized the decision and emphasized the important role immigrants play in the United States.

“Many are working toward success under the existing DACA, and for the certainty of their future Congress should act quickly to authorize and clarify their status,” the press release read.

“In Michigan we will continue to honor everyone’s journey who has become part of our family of 10 million people, and remain the most welcoming state in the nation for immigrants and dreamers seeking prosperity, a home and a community that is accepting of their family and their desire to succeed in America.”

In an emailed statement, the College Democrats at the University of Michigan voiced opposition to the move by Trump and voiced support for DACA recipients.

“President Trump’s decision to terminate DACA is an act of cruel and unambiguous xenophobia,” the email read. “We stand with DREAMers and their right to live, work, and learn in this country.”

The College Republicans at the University of Michigan did not respond to requests for comment at the time of this article’s publication.

In March, the Daily interviewed several undocumented students to get a glimpse into their lives at the University of Michigan. While none of these students responded to the Daily’s request for comment at this time, many expressed fear over the potential end of DACA at the time of their interview.

One LSA student, who asked to be anonymous given their immigration status, said they were afraid for their family as well as themselves.

“Every morning you wake up, like not knowing, especially now, knowing whether or not my parents will get in trouble at work or something, especially now given that there have been a couple ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids in east Michigan,” they said. “That’s always been kind of scary. It’s one of those things where you still are always worried whether you come home or you get a call saying this happened. You never know.”

Another undocumented Rackham student, who also asked to remain anonymous, said the end of DACA puts an extreme logistical strain on the lives of DACA recipients.

“If DACA gets taken away, that again puts us in a situation where we can’t work, we can’t drive, we can’t board a plane, we don’t have any way to identify ourselves so think of anything that you have that is tied to your ID, like going out and opening a bank account or buying liquor or tobacco,” they said.

RESPONSE From Page 1A agency personnel to avoid conducting enforcement activities at sensitive locations unless they have prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official or in the event of exigent circumstances,” he said. “The locations specified in the guidance include schools, places of worship and hospitals.”

According to the Frequently Asked Questions page of the Department of Homeland Security’s website, DACA individuals’ information would not be “proactively provided” to ICE, “unless the requestor meets the criteria for the issuance of a Notice To Appear or a referral to ICE under the criteria set forth in (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’) Notice to Appear guidance.”

“This policy, which may be modified, superseded, or rescinded at any time without notice, is not intended to, does not, and may not be relied upon to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by law by any party in any administrative, civil, or criminal matter,” the page states.

Susan Reed, managing attorney for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, said in an interview with Michigan Radio people should still expect an increase in deportations as a result of the change.

“We heard Secretary Sessions say that upon termination of the program, people with DACA would not be priorities for deportation,” she said. “Which sounds meaningful, but then he said that if at any point they encounter an immigration officer, they would be issued a notice to appear in immigration court. So I would interpret that as meaning there aren’t any immediate plans to, say, take the DACA file and go knock on everyone’s door.”

Already, ICE activity is relatively high throughout

Washtenaw County and southeastern Michigan. WICIR operates an “urgent responder” telephone line for people who need immediate assistance with immigration issues, and it has received over 800 calls in the past nine years, according to Sanders.

“Half of them have involved detainment or deportation of at least one adult, and we know that hundreds of children have lost their primary parent,” she said.

“We also know that thousands of children have lost a providing adult.”

The reason for the high level of activity, she explained, was the proximity of the Canadian border.

“A lot of people think of immigration enforcement as happening down on the southern border, but we’re within 100 miles of the northern border, and we have very robust immigration and customs enforcement teams,” she said. “All of them have quotas that they are supposed to meet of people who they are supposed to detain and deport.”

In an email to students Tuesday night, University President Mark Schlissel criticized the Trump administration’s decision, saying the University was working with other institutions and organizations to pursue legislation allowing the program to continue.

“We are deeply disappointed in today’s announcement that the administration will end DACA, the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program,” he wrote. “We want to assure everyone in the University of Michigan family that we are working to understand all of the implications of this change, the timelines we face, and how members of our community may be affected.”

University spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen said the University would do what they could legally to protect students’ identities.

“The University would not proactively share non-directory student information with ICE or

other immigration enforcement officials, unless required to do so by public records laws, a lawful subpoena or warrant or judicial order,” she said.

Lopez noted it was additionally important that the University have policies in place backing their statements.

“We don’t just come to our department because we are going to be kind and use a particular set of words to make you feel welcome — this is certainly important — but we also want policies in place that defend people should they be pursued by immigration enforcement on our campus,” he said. “One conversation that needs to happen is, to what extent is campus law enforcement going to be involved in these events?”

Although it is not yet clear what orders the federal government may make regarding enforcement of the rescission, Diane Brown, spokeswoman for the University’s Division of Public Safety and Security, said the University would continue following current policy.

“DPSS will follow an existing practice of not asking students (or others) for immigration status. The exception will be for people who commit crimes and are being processed,” she wrote in an email to the Daily. “Our protocols also do not include partnering with ICE, though of course we will adhere to any lawful orders.”

In a Facebook post Tuesday night, Central Student Government President Anushka Sarkar, LSA senior, and Vice President Nadine Jawad, Public Policy senior, issued a statement to students with DACA status, giving them instructions on how to apply for renewal if they were eligible.

“To undocumented and DACAmented students in the Michigan community: we stand in solidarity with you and we will fight alongside you to protect your right to an inclusive and safe education at the University of Michigan,” the post read.

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EVAN SIRLS | COLUMN

T

Social media anxiety

o a lot of people, not having social media is extremely off-putting.

As counterintuitive as it seems, being unable to stalk someone online is a source of unease. It’s a truly fascinating phenomenon of today’s society that I’ve only recently started to appreciate due to the creation of my own Facebook profile. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago I was talking to my roommate from freshman year — I roomed blind — when he confessed his surprise that I turned out to be so “sane, chill, cool, etc.,” considering that he couldn’t find me online prior to rooming together. For him, this was a “red f lag” and led to countless amusing theories about my personality.

Having been on social media for about a year and half now, I see his point. There is something a little unsettling about searching for someone and not being able to find any information about them.

Though the main reason I joined Facebook was for practicality — joining groups, creating and discovering events and organizations, networking, etc. — you grow used to the convenience of being able to familiarize yourself with someone before actually meeting them. In a world where privacy is no longer the norm, straying from that norm may lead people to assume that you are odd, antisocial, unpopular or all three. After all, why would someone not utilize the available tools to keep in touch with friends and stalk them whenever they want?

Well, I can think of a few reasons.

As you may have already guessed, when entering college, my online presence was nonexistent. In fact, the subject of my college essays detailed my animosity towards social media and subsequent hesitancy to participate. Back in those days, I referred to platforms such as Facebook and Instagram as “digital pseudo-realities” and “fencedin pastures” from which my friends couldn’t escape. It baff led me how they could waste hours looking at pictures of peers’ vacations to exotic destinations interlaced with superficial inspirational quotes and pleas for attention.

In the moments of weakness in which I would sneak a peek

at one of my friend’s news feeds, it was like seeing the world from a different perspective.

I was suddenly integrated in everyone’s life. As fascinating as this was, I immediately caught myself comparing my life to those of others. How was it that within such a short span of time I could go from being perfectly content with my life to doubting my own existence? Looking at photos of friends’ ridiculous accomplishments or of their yachting trips off the coast of Capri — which they never seem to be shy about sharing — is a shortcut to depression.

Some may feel that this is an exaggeration on my part. However, according to

When it comes to having an online presence, I truly believe that less is more. numerous studies conducted over the years, extensive social media use has been linked to negative effects on mood and well-being. In fact, according to a study recently published by the American Psychiatric Association, those who are heavily involved with social media are more than three times more likely to develop depression and anxiety than those who are minimally involved.

I’m not a psychologist, but I would guess that this anxiety stems from spending too much time admiring others’ lives, rather than living a life of one’s own. Whenever people go to a concert, go to their friend’s house, eat dinner, brush their teeth, take a crap, etc., phones are out almost all the time so that the whole occasion can be documented. People care more about their friends knowing that they were at an event than being engaged in the event themselves.

Social Media Today stated that the average person spends about two hours a day on social media. Over a lifetime, that is equivalent to five years and four months. And for what? In five years and four months you can climb Mount

Everest 32 times or run over 10,000 marathons. Instead, many wonder whether Kylie’s lips are fake or brood over a friend’s study abroad in Paris.

However, I must admit that since joining social media, I have developed a better understanding of why people spend so much time on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and other platforms.

As depreciative as it is, there’s something addicting and entertaining about looking at memes, people’s opinions on current events and photos of friends. Most of all, I’ve found that social media is the perfect tool for avoiding social interaction and awkward situations. Don’t feel like talking to anyone around you before lecture because you’re antisocial? Perfect, just browse Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat to appear busy.

Unfortunately, it seems that everyone under the age of 30 uses this strategy just about anytime and anywhere.

It saddens me that I’ve succumbed to some of the behaviors that were once topics of admonishment in my college admissions essays.

While I try to limit myself, I waste considerable amounts of time looking at a screen.

And it’s only on an extremely rare occasion that I’ll say to myself, “Boy, am I glad that I checked my news feed!”

Usually, I’ll exit social media with indifference, jealousy, a dwindling will to survive or annoyance at something someone said.

Though social media has made my life remarkably more convenient — and for that reason alone I would not delete it — it has done absolutely no good in terms of emotional well-being. I still use social media a miniscule amount compared to most, but my goal is to reduce this amount even further. When it comes to having an online presence, I truly believe that less is more.

Therefore, when I’m getting ready to stalk someone and can’t find them on Facebook or Instagram, I will not automatically assume that they are odd. Instead, I will look at them with admiration for doing something that I have lost the strength to do myself.

Evan Sirls can be reached at esirls@umich.edu

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The new face of racism

I

’ve built up a tolerance confirmed that no one in the to tragedy and disaster. ACLU has the personal goal of Watching the news often defending Nazis. The position leaves me feeling sick, the ACLU took with something stuck in — defending my throat and eyes that neo-Nazis — is are close to watering, not new: The but I somehow get past organization it and with a faster defended a group recovery each time. of neo-Nazis But Charlottesville that planned made me sick and tired a march in like I haven’t been in a Skokie, Illinois, while. The images from a town with COREY the protests disgust many Holocaust DULIN me. Until I saw college survivors. kids holding tiki torches and Rowland explained that this marching alongside Nazis, I defense was difficult for had hoped obvious racism was members of the ACLU to take a game less populated by people part in, but they took this my own age. position in the hope that it Seeing young people march would protect the free speech to defend hate left me angry of civil rights groups. If that and disappointed, but knowing group of neo-Nazis received a the American Civil Liberties permit or permission to protest, Union defended their right to it goes against precedent if march confused me. I could a civil rights group hopes to not understand how a group march peacefully but is denied that is a prominent voice for the that right. Learning this forced resistance defended one of its me to take a more realistic view biggest opponents. The group that of the ACLU; like the law, the sent lawyers to airports to defend ACLU has a lot of gray area. those affected by President I understand their argument, Donald Trump’s travel ban now but I can’t bring myself to stands by white supremacists? accept it because what I saw was That’s not what I expected. wrong. It is wrong to scream I, like many other people, slurs, it is wrong to use hateful have focused so much on speech to target minorities and the ACLU’s defense of it is wrong to carry guns, knives marginalized groups and and makeshift weapons to became enamored with certain intimidate and attack unarmed groups they defend that I didn’t protestors. However, there’s look back and pay attention to no law against slurs. There’s everyone they have defended. no law against hateful rhetoric Listening to “Smashing the and there’s no ban on weapons Confederacy in the streets and at a protest. People will say on the screen” on the podcast what they want, and there will “Politically Re-Active” helped be arguments and controversy, me come to terms with what but there should never be the ACLU did. violence. No one should fear In the episode, Lee Rowland, that they’ll be attacked for an ACLU Senior Staff Attorney, speaking out against a group’s

beliefs, especially not in the United States. I know the ACLU focuses on ensuring that, but the way they sometimes try to do that makes me cringe.

I’m tired of seeing new poster children for racism and other forms of hate, but I don’t expect the campaign to end anytime soon. The fact of the matter is that hateful speech and words against it are protected by the First Amendment. But in terms of morality, it is obvious which is greater. No one knows when the collective moral compass of our country will work — it was broken to begin with.

But hopefully, despite living in a place where civil liberty advocacy groups are forced to defend those who want to threaten the community, the United States can go in a better direction. However, this depends on the work of everyone. One or a few organizations cannot be tasked with this, and we know that we can’t leave this in the hands of President Donald Trump. I think a piece of me looked at organizations like the ACLU and thought that they were the ones with power. Their spokesperson is the one on the news, and they are the most able to inf luence society.

But I realized that we have power. We don’t have a team of lawyers, but we have options. We can contact our representatives and work to educate ourselves by learning from each other. That is how we begin to see change, by taking action and working to fight ignorance.

Corey Dulin can be reached at cydulin@umich.edu

BEN BUGAJSKI | OP-ED

I

I’m not gay, I’m normal

identify as a man who loves men; however, I’ve recently been hesitant to adopt the identity of “gay.” If you think about the average gay man, what archetype pops up? For me, it’s an attractive jock wearing revealing underwear, maybe posing with other equally attractive jock friends. Even if he’s not a jock, there are lots of other types of gay men that you could think of. The twink is lean, smooth and hairless; they go great with each other or more muscly types. Of course, the drag queen is campy and fun, or campy and mean, or campy and… you get the idea.

And finally, there’s me. I don’t fit any of those boxes of what a gay man should be, and, frankly, I don’t want to. I don’t want to be forced to go to the gym to get the perfect ass or be a catty bitch to establish dominance. I don’t want to conform, because I’m just getting comfortable with who I am.

Recently, when I asked friends familiar with the nuances of gay men which type I fell under, the response was unexpected: “You’re just… normal.”

Now this isn’t a problem, per se, but the implication of the statement is that I’m no longer gay; if I were, wouldn’t I neatly or at least messily fit into one of the “normal types” of gay men? Wouldn’t I be a “normal twink” or a “normal jock?”

What is a “normal gay?” What is “normal?”

I think that one can be a type and still be “normal;” however, I’m “normal” and I’m not a type — apparently not culturally “normal gay.” The identity of “normal” seems to sometimes override the identity of gay: I’m a man who loves men, but since I’m not a “normal gay,” I’m instead just “normal.” The ultimate question is, why is there this selective disconnect between being “normal” and being gay?

I believe the answer boils down to the exclusivity of the typology of gay men. Whenever you make a type, you make an in group and an out group. By definition, if you’re not in the in group, you’re in the out group.

The problem with this is that

the spectrum of in groups is selective, and overwhelmingly selectively white.

People have argued that gay men are super shallow when it comes to being fat, femme, transgender, disabled… the list goes on. If you’re not a “proper” body type you’re already facing an uphill battle to be considered attractive, as a “normal jock” or “normal twink.” This is not to say that Asian men can’t be jocks; however, it does mean that an Asian jock will be seen as less masculine, less desirable than a white jock simply because of their race. You can rinse and repeat for all marginalized identities: they’re inferior to the (white) hegemonic, dominant identity.

Furthermore, just as Asian jocks are seen as inferior to white jocks because their race feminizes them, this lends Asian twinks extra credence.

The problem with this, besides clear fetishization, is that these standards are all determined by the dominant group in the gay community: white men. What this ultimately boils down to is that all marginalized people will never be able to truly reach in-group status (even if Kim Chi from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has a fabulous critique of it all).

White gay men, therefore, generally dominate in all of these groups. If you fit, you can pick your poison as to which type you’d like because they’re all communities in which you’ll find people who look just like you, which cannot be said for gay men in a racial or other social minority. There are always exceptions; however, go to Pride Night at Necto Nightclub any Friday and take a peek at the racial demographics.

White gay men are seen as the “typical” gay man and “typical” LGBTQ person, so we have the power to represent the rest of the communities.

It’s such a shame that we’ve decided to use our privilege to bolster ourselves and put our political needs first at the expense of everyone else, both in terms of the selectivity of the types of gay men and in terms of political sway.

White men have corrupted LGBT Pride from a symbol of empowered solidarity and celebration of sexual difference to a vehicle that transmits a false sense of unity in the LGBT communities. In other words, our whiteness, maleness and overall gender conformity bequeathed us the mic under the assumption that we would speak for everyone and we have consistently abused that privilege. Pride has become a hollow symbol that only represents white gay men’s voices, not all colors of the rainbow as we like to think.

It’s for these reasons that I hesitate to identify as gay. As a white man, that term has a lot of baggage from which I would like to dissociate. I’d rather be a normal guy who likes guys.

A “normal guy” — but not a “normal gay.”

A “normal gay” accepts the conflation of the terms “LGBT community” with “gay community,” which erases identities and orients the broader queer community toward strictly male concerns.

A “normal gay” conforms to and reproduces the toxic masculinity that elevated their position in the LGBT food chain, perpetuating sexism, racism and all other social hierarchies. A “normal gay,” in other words, puts themselves first and holds back the rest of the LGBT community.

I challenge white gay men of any and all types to get over our racist, sexist, cissexist, hateful demons. Society and socialization in our corrupted gay circles have taught to be this way. It’s not our fault; however, it is still our responsibility to recognize your shortcomings and fight them. It is only by embracing the LBTQ of LGBTQ that we can make Pride what it was meant to be: a way to build an inclusive queer community, to use our privileges as white men to elevate unheard voices and to celebrate our community of differences in all their forms.

Who knows? Maybe that will make the inherently white “normal gay” palatable again.

Ben Bugajski is an LSA senior

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

ALBUM REVIEW

Wednesday, September 6, 2017 — 5A

FILM REVIEW

DFA James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem singing his little heart out

LCD returns with otherwordly ‘american dream’ New ‘Patti Cake$’ gets LCD Soundsystem’s first album since their reunion doesn’t by on heart and hip hop disappoint with Murphy contemplating love, loss and age

Fox Searchlight

“Patti Cake$” is an underdog story at heart

MADELEINE GAUDIN Senior Arts Editor

The greatest tragedy, it would seem, is to waste your youth. To fail to live with urgency, to stay home, sober, alone. I, in the middle of my youth, feel the tug of expectation acutely, the push to model my life on the pictures of youth I see in movies and hear in pop songs.

James Murphy, whose youth was behind him before he ever made music with a band called LCD Soundsystem, calls those pictures of youth what they are: lies. But lies he still finds himself falling for.

Time — and its inextricable relationship with age — is at the heart of american dream, LCD Soundsystem’s first album since their calculated 2011 “break-up.” Murphy, now 47, wades through the debris of middle age — lost love, dead friends, unactualized dreams— on an album that is at once textbook LCD Soundsystem and something completely new.

Both LCD Soundsystem and the world they make music in are different beasts than they were when the band bid us all farewell for the first time in 2011. And to those who are caught up in the betrayal of a band they love getting back together I say: So what? I’d want to hear the complaints if this album felt like a rushed postscript. But it doesn’t. With american dream, LCD Soundsystem doesn’t want to rewrite their past, but rather make sense of their present.

Sometimes, the only way you can make sense of a world on the brink of collapse is to make art about it. Sometimes, that means getting the band back together.

Seven years later, we’re still dealing with the manic, meticulous brain of the singular, ineffable James Murphy. “tonite,” the album’s third single and centerpiece, is sonically the most reminiscent of the band’s earlier albums.

With its synthy, repetitive beat and cheeky yet earnest lyrics, it’s peak LCD Soundsystem.

But, like the rest of the album,

it’s more vulnerable and darker that american dream inhabits than we’ve ever seen them. a space far above the earth.

Ever anxious, Murphy is And for the most part, the increasingly self-aware. As album stays there, hovering much as he laments the modern high in the sky, until the long world, he calls himself out comedown at the end of “black for that — “Oh good gracious screen” f loats it back down. / I sound like my mom,” he With its pared down poetry quips. And, who exactly is and repetitive word choice, “oh he addressing when he sings: baby” is lyrically classic James “You’re missing a party that Murphy. But it starts the album you’ll never get over / You hate in a more melancholic place the idea that you’re wasting than we’ve seen him really your youth”? It feels like he’s go before. While american talking to me and dream rides also to himself. an emotional Because, like rollercoaster its creators, from anger to american dream grief to brief refuses to be moments of joy, LCD any one thing. melancholy is the It’s art rock and real emotional Soundsystem disco-punk and backbone. electronica. It’s There’s sadness DFA post-swan song. in the sting of It’s a rebirth lines like: “I must that’s obsessed with death, admit: I miss the laughing / But a beginning comprised of a not so much you” from “how series of endings. do you sleep?” a song about Murphy is, as he describes Murphy’s falling out with himself in the song, “the former friend and business hobbled veteran of the disk partner. shop inquisition.” He’s a And, halfway through reminder of some bygone era 2017, what is more bitterly when manic music fandom melancholic than the American took up physical space. On the Dream? And specifically the album, he clings to the vestiges one Murphy paints on the of something else millennials album’s titular track. Murphy allegedly killed. But he doesn’t is old, a little tired, but still seem to blame the younger performing a type of youth generation for their murderous rooted in the disappearing evolution of the industry. culture of the early 2000’s New That being York rock scene in which the said, american band was born and nurtured. dream has a Murphy pokes fun at failed weight to it revolutions, his own age and that other LCD the unbearable weight of the Soundsystem modern world. It’s heavy, but albums don’t. buoyed by a sparkling synthy The cultural sound and airy vocals, and the and musical faintest spark of hope. references feel Such goes much of the like eulogies album. Darkness sounds like for a time and light and sadness sounds like a sound that something akin to joy. It’s doesn’t quite Murphy doing what he does exist anymore. best — ten or twelve things at And Murphy’s once — both in production (his major sonic credits on the album include inf luences producer, writer, vocals, — Lou Reed, guitar, synth, bass guitar, David Bowie, drums, bongos, glockenspiel Leonard Cohen and mixing to name a few) and — have all died substance. in the years And it’s this ability to do since the band’s so much with so little that last album. On makes Murphy’s music so the album’s powerful. His music makes me final track, feel known, seen, understood, “black screen,” despite our circumstantial Murphy differences.

I feel old eulogizes sometimes, although I know I Bowie and am not — too old to be young laments his own inability and too young to be old. I feel to pinpoint his late friend’s confused and left out and left location in the cosmos, the behind by a world that seems “black screen” of outer space. to be spiraling out of control.

Bowie is all over american american dream transcends dream. Murphy creates an delineations of age or race or otherworldly sound similar to gender because what it gets at, that of the “Berlin Trilogy.” above all else, is the fact that, “oh baby,” the album’s opener, at the end of the day, we’re all f loats dreamy and hazy, just stuck moving forward in signaling from its first notes time.

Murphy is old, a little tired, but still performing a type of youth rooted in the disappearing culture of the early 2000’s New York rock scene in which the band was born and nurtured

american dream

The film chronicles the story of a poor, struggling Patti and her efforts to become a hip hop star despite her roots JEREMIAH VANDERHELM Daily Arts Writer

It’s probably safe to say that “Patti Cake$” won’t be the most original movie anyone sees this year. It owes far too much of its story, themes and characters to “8 Mile” and other similar underdog stories for that to be true. It also won’t win any awards for unpredictability.

From scene one, the ending and the path the script will take there are plainly obvious.

What sets “Patti Cake$” apart from other movies of its type is its heart and just how genuine it feels. It’s a movie where it’s impossible not to feel for and root for its atypical cast of aspiring rap artists. It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but the movie is every bit as earnest as its unceasingly lovable leads.

The main story follows Patti Dombrowski (Danielle MacDonald, “Every Secret Thing”), a plussized white woman living in New Jersey who dreams of becoming a rapper. Between dealing with her overbearing, alcoholic mother (Bridget Everett, “Trainwreck”) and caring for her wheelchair-bound grandmother (Cathy Moriarty, “The Double”), she writes her own music and plans to record it with her best friend, Jheri

(Siddharth Dhanajay in his the movie are built around feature debut), in the hopes of the music, whether it’s the escaping her impoverished life. first recording session where Again, the lifeblood of Patti, Jheri and Patti’s scene“Patti Cake$” is the main cast. stealing grandmother team MacDonald is endearing from up with reclusive anarchist the start as Patti (known by Basterd (Mamadou Athie, the moniker “The Get Down”) “Killa P”), a produce their “Patti Cake$” to character with first track “PBNJ” Michigan Theater big dreams and or the emotional, the guts to reach energetic finale.

Fox Searchlight for them, even The film may well Pictures as everything be worth seeing around her seems for the soundtrack to be telling her alone. to stop. Like the best underdog Unfortunately, without the performances, MacDonald music it occasionally feels like layers the optimism with an the movie lacks a backbone or underlying tragedy, and Patti is glue to hold the whole thing more realistic – and therefore together. The editing loses its relatable – for it. It’s Everett, sense of rhythm, particularly however, who ends up being during overcut dialogue scenes, the highlight as and the cinematography — Patti’s mother, which trades in psychedelic Barb, who rap video imagery at the once shared best of times — tends to go her daughter’s for the increasingly popular dream of making “Moonlight” look. Many scenes it big in the are shot in handheld, shallow music industry. focus close-ups in an attempt Playing Barb to mimic the gorgeous, Oscarwith a mixture nominated cinematography of of brokenness, last year’s Best Picture winner, cruelty and real but as in many other movies, love, Everett it’s more distracting here creates a than anything else. It’s hard character whose to feel for what’s happening relationship with onscreen when there are times her daughter you can barely tell what you’re may rank as supposed to be looking at. one of the best Still, “Patti Cake$” is and ultimately charming enough — both on rewarding of its the basis of its leads and its kind this year. music — that it should be seen.

As is befitting It is a movie that has been done a movie that is, at least in before and will undoubtedly part, a musical, the songs be done again, but what are fantastic. If nothing else, problems it has are more than audiences should walk away outweighed by the care and from “Patti Cake$” with an love that went into crafting appreciation for just what a this particular story. Other talented rapper MacDonald underdog movies should take is. All of the best scenes of note.

Unfortunately, without the music it occasionally feels like the movie lacks a backbone or glue to hold the whole thing together

“PUSH ME TO THE EDGE. ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD. - LIL UZI VERT” SAL DIGIOIA E-mail arts@michigandaily.com for information on applying.

6A — Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

the first glimpse to see how Granduciel had progressed over the three years since Lost in the Dream. The band’s best qualities — crackling guitar solos, heavy synths and lyrics evoking a sense of longing — were all in top form. Although dense and long, “Thinking of a Place” is one of the band’s most conventional rock songs with one of the best guitar solos in recent memory. The song embodies the imagery of a self ref lective road trip through the American countryside (truth be told, most of their music embodies this cliché).

The War on Drugs packs the most weight into “Strangest Thing,” which became an instant classic among their stacked catalog. The song breaks down halfway into an explosion of synths and a guitar solo, each instrument complementing the other as if they’re part of a world class symphony. Following this is “Knocked Down,” a ballad, rare for the band, that favors piano over guitar. It’s their most stripped down and resembles “Suffering,” though it ultimately fails to dethrone its Lost in the Dream counterpart.

Unlike past records, A Deeper Understanding departs

ALBUM REVIEW

The War on Drugs return with another stunner

ATLANTIC RECORDS

from a more atmospheric sound in favor of more conventional rock qualities. The closest Granduciel gets to this ambient style is on the closing track, “You Don’t Have to Go.” But even here, its light, ethereal

A Deeper Understanding isn’t necessarily a better album than Lost in the Dream, but it doesn’t have to be

feeling is achieved without sacrificing a straightforward structure, using harmonicas and real instruments to create such a lush sound. Its nearly seven minute length feels much shorter — at no point do their songs drag and feel longer than a more traditional three-and-a-

half minute pop song.

The closest they get to producing another “Red Eyes,” the most successful single from Lost in the Dream, is “Holding On.” It opens with a fast paced synth hook, then leads into piercing guitars. Every aspect about it, from the vocals to the catchy Springsteen-esque chimes, makes for an accessible jam that, if maybe a minute or two shorter, could very well be a smash hit. But it’s “Nothing to Find,” an exhilarating heater of a song, that sticks out as the most vibrant. Essentially, this is the song a dad would play to pump up his son before a Little League baseball game.

A Deeper Understanding isn’t necessarily a better album than Lost in the Dream, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s one more milestone for Granduciel in his attempt to make meaning of the world around him. He has managed to gain popularity making music that is by no means the most popular style of today, a testament to his masterful musicianship. In times of joy and times of misery, The War on Drugs once again delivers an album to cope with the emotions we can’t ignore, the feelings of falling in and out of love and the harrowing selfdoubt we face.

BOOK REVIEW

War on Drugs make sense It’s impossible not to fall of the world on new album in love with “Consolation” War on Drugs’ latest album shows the band’s move from heavy reliance on influences to more natural and meaningful WILL STEWART Daily Arts Writer

Authenticity is more important than originality.

Yet, we value the latter more and lampoon music that sounds obviously derivative of other artists. Ripping someone off is pathetic — something that can be a hefty lawsuit — but incorporating elements of other artists is the driving force behind artistic progression.

Nothing is every purely authentic: The War on Drugs, a band that wears its inf luences on its sleeve, embraces this wholeheartedly.

Especially at the beginning of careers, most great bands sound like someone else before they fully grow into their distinct sound.

Radiohead initially had a pretty straightforward britpop style before OK Computer shattered everyone’s expectations of rock music. Pink Floyd emerged in

the late ’60s as just another pulsating synths and guitar Psychedelic Rock band oozing hooks layered with effects has with whimsicality and dripping become a unique trademark with LSD before releasing in contemporary music. With prog-rock masterpieces Meddle their fourth album, A Deeper and The Dark Side Understanding, of the Moon. The The War on Drugs has War on Drugs began as one big proven that A Deeper love letter to Bob they’re capable Understanding of producing Dylan, and since then, everyone is authentic The War on Drugs quick to point this work without Atlantic Records out, along with the restraint similarities to of sounding Bruce Springsteen completely and other ’80s heartland original. rockers.

In 2014, Lost in the By now, the comparisons Dream shocked thousands have grown old.

Even and became, arguably, the though Adam Granduciel, most beloved rock album of the band’s frontman and the year. Granduciel takes creative powerhouse, doesn’t listeners from the bleakest shy away from allowing his depths of depression and inf luences to shine through, no heartbreak — songs like contemporary musician sounds “Under the Pressure” and anything like them, not even “Disappearing” — to the his past collaborator Kurt Vile. relieving feeling after Granduciel’s combination of conquering your crushing anxiety — like the freeing melodies of “Eyes to the Wind” and the energetic optimism of “Burning.”

Every emotion tied to heartbreak is present.

It’s a breakup album that questions love and the pain it causes, and what it means to grow as a person.

A Deeper Understanding, a deceiving name, sees Granduciel still looking for answers to these questions in his pursuit of self growth. Despite a plethora of success following Lost in the Dream — signing onto Atlantic Records, entering a relationship with Krysten Ritter (“Jessica Jones”) and deserved critical acclaim — Granduciel is still struggling to resolve his own pitfalls and anxieties. “I’ve been through it / I always have paranoia that I would not last” Granduciel sings on the opening track “Up All Night,” a jittery yet upbeat song that progressively builds layer upon layer of drums and synths. It’s clear from the beginning that A Deeper Understanding is by no means a resolution album where Granduciel cures himself of the same feelings of loneliness evident on Lost in the Dream.

The band released five singles anticipating the album’s release, and with each one, it became clear the album wouldn’t disappoint.

“Thinking of a Place,” a sprawling 11-minute epic released earlier in April for Record Store Day, was

Ford’s recent novel explores the intricacies of love in a challenging environment with a bittersweet, if quick, end back to the woman she once was. He constantly avoids the Daily Arts Writer memories of his childhood and keeps his family secrets hidden from his grown up daughters.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a The story jumps from book that had everything I was Ernest’s tumultuous albeit looking for and more until I adventurous past to his read Jamie Ford’s newest novel dragging and difficult present, “Love and Other Consolation creating a relationship Prizes.” I laughed, I cried, I between the two worlds, as hoped for it to never end and Ernest’s family, and he himself, I circled some of the most discover who he really is. endearing paragraphs in red The story of Ernest’s ink so many times that I nearly childhood is interesting put a tear in the page. and historical, feeling just Ford’s story enough like an follows Ernest anachronism Young, a 12 year “Love and Other that 1909 should. old half-Chinese The culture Consolation boy entranced by of the brothel, Prizes” the 1909 World’s matched with the Fair in Seattle. descriptions of Jamie Ford After surviving a their progressive September 12th, terrifying month and cultural on an immigrant outside world 2017 ship from Asia, fits the time Ernest lives as a period perfectly. charity student at a boarding The detail included in the school where the treatment is descriptions of the house and nearly as harsh as on the ship. the lifestyle of the brothel is The opportunity to attend the magically compelling in a way fair seems nothing short of a that makes the book impossible dream, until he realizes that he to put down. is the prize and will be raff led The early 1900s juxtaposes off as a servant to the highest with the early 1960s in the most bidder at the fair. Ernest is wonderful way, making for a raff led off to the madam of a comfortable switch between high class brothel where his time periods. It is between life changes forever when he these two time periods that meets the precocious young the reader can understand daughter of the madam — the Ernest as not just a character fiery scullery maid, Fahn. For in a book, but as the imaginary manifestation of real struggles and issues that many people can relate to.

The story is told in prose that spends generous time describing the setting and characters, making both seem incredibly real. The reader falls just as in love with the two strong female characters as Ernest does, is incredibly entranced by the bossy Madam and her swirl of anxiety and depression and becomes charmed by the brothel’s kind and witty piano player. There is something endearing about being placed in the heart of Ernest’s struggle in the beginning of the story, sailing to America right beside him and falling in love right when the first time in his life, Ernest he does. feels as though he has a family, The novel is truly an and has found himself a real exceptional piece of fiction. home. There is an immediate It’s a family story that largely sense of comfort between the surrounds the nature of love; residents of the brothel and however, it is also dangerous, Ernest thus making him feel promiscuous, sweet, naive incredibly comfortable. and intelligent. All of these Fifty years later, in the dark things at once make for an shadow of the second World’s intoxicating yet pleasant Fair, Ernest struggles to bring literary cocktail. his ailing wife, who is suffering My only wish was that it was from dementia and illness, longer. I could have lingered in ELI RALLO

It’s a family story that largely surrounds the nature of love; however, it is also dangerous, promiscuous, sweet, naive and intelligent

PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE Jamie Ford, the author of “Love and Other Consolation Prizes”

the streets of Seattle below a large looming Ferris Wheel, in the kitchen with Fahn or in a restaurant booth with Ernest’s wife for much longer than I did

The reader falls just as in love with the two strong female characters as Ernest does, and is incredibly entranced by the bossy Madam and her swirl of anxiety and depression

in the pages I held in my hands.

Ultimately, it inspired me to read more of Ford’s work and to invest in more Asian-American literature about the lives of Asian Americans. I only hope people gravitate toward this paperback in the future, and fall in love with it as quickly as I did.

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, September 6, 2017 — 7A

Peoples-Jones fearless at punt returner Michigan moves up to FOOTBALL

No. 8 in AP rankings

ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor

As far as freshman debuts go, Donovan Peoples-Jones’ was fairly impressive.

The first-year receiver started at punt returner for Michigan, returning five punts for 40 yards in his team’s 33-17 victory over Florida. And while the total yardage may not seem like much, that was in part due to Florida’s special team coverage and the efforts of Johnny Townsend, who averaged 54.7 yards per punt with excellent hang time.

Nonetheless, Peoples-Jones displayed the athleticism that made him such a highlytouted prospect out of high school. He fielded every punt he saw, never calling for a fair catch despite Florida’s special teamers barrelling down upon him. Each time he touched the ball, he was seemingly one or two broken tackles away from breaking a long return.

The freshman, though, was much more measured about his performance.

“I think I played okay,” Peoples-Jones said Tuesday.

“There’s always room for improvement, and with this team, the amount of talent that we have, I think the sky’s the limit.”

His head coach offered praise following the game — with one caveat.

“Donovan Peoples-Jones (was) very good on the punt return,” said Jim Harbaugh.

“Gotta get that ball a little tighter, better ball security.”

Peoples-Jones agreed. In his mind, “ball security equals job security.” That won’t affect how he decides to return punts, though. He sees his responsibility as giving the offense good field position, and if that means risking a big hit to field a punt, so be it.

“As a punt returner, you’ve

TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was impressed with the freshman’s wide receiver’s performance in his first career game.

got to kind of be relentless and fearless back there,” PeoplesJones said. “Anything that I can do for this team to help them win, I’m going to do it.”

While Peoples-Jones said that he was “really excited” for the opportunity to return punts, it’s likely he’s hoping for more snaps at receiver after arriving on campus as the nation’s top-ranked recruit at the position and the crown jewel of Michigan’s 2017 recruiting class.

There doesn’t appear to be any consternation from Peoples-Jones on the lack of receiving targets, though. The coaches have a plan for him, and he trusts that plan.

Peoples-Jones — who

enrolled early — has also had the benefit of help from an unexpected source: redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight.

The two were roommates in fall camp, and the veteran starting quarterback appears to have taken the freshman under his wing.

“It was great chemistry,” Peoples-Jones said. “... Every night we were together talking, just learning (about) the type of person (Speight) is. Him meeting me, just being around each other, helped a lot.

“He’s a great person. He’s one of my newer friends, and I like him a lot. … It can benefit me a lot. Questions that I might not be comfortable with asking

“You’ve got to ... be relentless and fearless back there.”

the coaches, things that he knows that the coaches don’t know I can ask him, or we can have a connection there.”

While freshman receivers have typically had difficulty making an impact at Michigan — Mario Manningham set the record for most receiving yards with a relatively modest 433yard campaign his freshman year — Peoples-Jones does appear well-equipped to pick up the mental aspects of the game.

After all, it can’t be much harder than his class load.

“In the spring, I had a wide load of classes — calculus and physics — so it’s not much more than that,” Peoples-Jones said.

For now, there isn’t much calculus to do when he’s on the field. Peoples-Jones was blunt when asked about what was going through his mind while taking his first punt.

“I wanted to score,” PeoplesJones said.

Kemp embracing backup role on D-line TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

Michigan redshirt sophomore defensive end Carlo Kemp comes from a “tough-love” kind of family. One of his uncles, Chuck Pagano, is the head coach for the Indianapolis Colts, and his other uncle, John Pagano, is a defensive assistant for the Oakland Raiders.

Football f lows deep in the Pagano family blood — and the Kemp family by extension — and when asked about the best advice he has ever received from his two uncles, Kemp laughed.

“They said they would not draft me,” Kemp chuckled. “I’m always working to hopefully change their minds one day.”

That day may not arrive just yet, but after redshirting his first year at Michigan, Kemp is confident he’s making strides in his game. Kemp arrived as an early enrollee prior to his freshman year and has now had over a year under his belt of lifting and learning how to play in Michigan’s defense.

He also has had the opportunity to go through spring practice twice, and feels that it has been very beneficial in boosting his overall technique and approach to the game, both mentally and physically.

Last year, Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown admitted that he would’ve traded away Kemp for as little as two used footballs, but a lot has changed since then.

“Getting those two spring (camps) in for me really helped because that’s a lot of learning and a lot of coaching,” Kemp said. “Getting that second camp in leading up to Florida was really beneficial for my personal growth.”

Now working his way into the starting lineup is one of Kemp’s main goals. But with such a stacked defensive line, he understands that his ability to provide relief for the starters is just as important.

Kemp is fully embracing his role backing up sophomore defensive end Rashan Gary, one of Michigan’s standout

defensive players this year.

“Depth is big for us,” Kemp said. “You want to make sure that when the starters come out, they feel confident that the person that’s going in behind them is going to succeed and do what we’re supposed to do on the field. For me, I know that when Rashan comes out, I want him to feel like he can go and get his breather.

“That way, when he goes back in, he can do what we all know that he can do at the highest level, without being exhausted because he has to play the whole game.”

In Kemp’s eyes, Gary has developed into a leader on the defensive line. Gary, the former top-ranked recruit in the nation for his class, was credited with two tackles and a quarterback hurry against Florida.

Whenever Gary

makes a play, whether it is in practice or in the game, Kemp is watching.

Kemp’s admiration for him goes beyond Gary’s physical talent and includes his knowledge of the game.

“Personally I look up to him a lot because he knows a lot about the game,” Kemp said. “If you wouldn’t take his coaching or watch what he does when he’s in, it would be pointless.

I’m always watching him, and he’s always got really good advice for me.

I just try to follow his example.”

Now that Gary’s starting on the D-line, Kemp will have plenty of opportunities to watch his teammate. Kemp subbed in for Gary on a handful of plays against Florida last weekend — enough to earn his first career tackle.

Kemp has been able to work his way into a stacked defensive line rotation, despite playing with a broken hand.

During a scrum with redshirt junior offensive lineman Juwann Bushell-Beatty, Kemp got his hand caught in BushellBeatty’s shoulder pads on a pass rush. Kemp came out of the play with a broken hand in the first week of fall camp, but it didn’t stop him from playing.

He wore a big “club” cast, as he described it, that covered his entire right hand. He has since been upgraded to a cast that allows him to move his fingers around.

“I used to have the club,” Kemp said. “I just had a left hand, but now with my fingers I can grab stuff now.

“Grab stuff… grab people... grab whatever.”

His two NFL coaches-foruncles surely wouldn’t let him use a broken hand as an excuse, and Kemp won’t let it derail his efforts on the D-line either.

After a dominant 33-17 win over then-No. 17 Florida last weekend, the Michigan football team jumped into the top-10 rankings this week.

The Wolverines (1-0) came in at No. 8 in both the AP Top 25 and the Coaches’ Poll.

Michigan moved up three spots from its position at No. 11.

The last time the Wolverines were ranked in the top 10 was prior to the 2016 Orange Bowl in Miami.

At the time, they were ranked No. 6, but lost to the 11th-ranked Seminoles, 33-32.

Saturday, the Wolverines’ young and relentless defense held the Gators to just 11 rushing yards, while Michigan’s offense was boosted by fifth-year senior running back Ty Isaac (114 rushing yards, 11 carries) and redshirt sophomore kicker Quinn Nordin (four made field goals).

With the uninspiring performance, Florida dropped down to 22nd and 24th in the AP rankings and Coaches’ Poll, respectfully.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh lauded sophomore linebacker Devin Bush (seven tackles, two sacks) on Monday for his impressive outing against the Gators. Bush, along with the other defensive players, kept both of Florida’s offense in check.

Michigan’s upcoming

opponent, Cincinnati, defeated Austin Peay (Clarksville, Tenn.) by a score of 26-14 in its opener. Still, the Bearcats aren’t expected to impose nearly as much of a threat as Florida, as the Wolverines are a 34-point favorite in the matchup.

National outlook The Wolverines jumped ahead of Big Ten foe Wisconsin (1-0), which stayed put at No. 9 after crushing Utah State, 59-10. The Big Ten now has four teams in the AP top-10 — No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Penn State are the others — the most of any conference.

Michigan jumped into the top 10 after Florida State (0-1) suffered a 24-7 loss against top-ranked Alabama. The now 10th-ranked Seminoles suffered a much more significant loss though, when quarterback Deondre Francois went down with a seasonending injury.

The Crimson Tide have their sights set on returning to the College Football Playoff after losing to Clemson in the championship game last season.

Despite a handful of marquee opening-weekend matchups, the second week of college football isn’t short of excitement. Four top25 matchups will be played this weekend. No. 3 Clemson hosts No. 13 Auburn, No. 6 Southern California hosts No. 14 Stanford and No. 15 Georgia visits No. 24 Notre Dame.

The Big Ten now has four teams in the AP top-10

Join the Sports Section of the Daily

Send us an email at sportseditors@ michigandaily.com

“Getting that second camp ... was really beneficial.”

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Redshirt sophomore defensive end Carlo Kemp has learned a lot about Michigan’s defense by backing up Rashan Gary.

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8A — Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

New formation a success in first trial against the Gators KEVIN SANTO

Managing Sports Editor

On Saturday against thenNo. 17 Florida, Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown showcased yet another wrinkle to his blitz-heav y defense.

The new scheme incorporated a 3-3-5 stack, which, as redshirt junior defensive end Chase Winovich explained, involved moving the eighth-ranked Wolverines’ SAM linebacker to defensive end. In doing so, Michigan had the f lexibility to add a linebacker to the box while putting a VIPER on the field as well.

Winovich added that the new formation allows the linebackers to blitz while deceiving opposing quarterbacks with the g uise of

BY THE NUMBERS Michigan’s New 3-3-5 Defense

181 Yards allowed in the air

11

Yards allowed on the ground

6 Sacks registered

3

Total points given up

their standard 4-3. And if the Gators’ offensive performance was any indication, the Wolverines weren’t easy to fig ure out.

“When we unveiled it, I think they were just like, ‘Oh, crap, how do we adjust to this?’ ” Winovich said Saturday night. “We had so many plays early on (in the) first half, Coach Brown said we have so many plays we haven’t even done yet, and we’re having a lot of success. And he said, let’s keep pushing.”

According to senior linebacker Noah Furbush, the inception of the new scheme all began during spring practices, as Brown was rotating a collection of players at different positions in an attempt to try to maximize everyone’s streng ths.

And as it turned out, Furbush’s streng ths were maximized at the SAM position of the new 3-3-5 stack.

“I think it’s a lot of the same things I do at SAM,” Furbush said. “A lot of the principles carry over. But it’s definitely a new thing, it’s different having your hand in the dirt than just two feet on the ground.”

Orig inally, though, Michigan never intended to anchor its defense around the stack in its season opener.

But with the success the formation yielded, there was no reason for Brown to deviate from it.

After all, the Wolverine defense recovered three fumbles — including one for a touchdown — while applying enough pocket pressure that Florida managed to register just 181 yards in the air.

Perhaps most relevant of all, though, is that the new formation held the Gators to just 11 yards on the ground.

By the end of the day, the Wolverines had registered six sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Senior linebacker Noah Furbush and the Wolverines have benefited from the implementation of a new 3-3-5 defensive formation, as demonstrated against Florida.

“The defense, the way they played, it was the best since I’ve been here coaching, that I’ve seen our defense run to the football,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.

“Holes opened up and they closed. Pursuit.

Nobody on the ground.

Everybody (was) getting up running, making the tackle.”

As it turns out, one of those fumbles was the icing on the cake for Furbush and the Wolverines during the debut of their new defense.

With just over 90 seconds left in Saturday’s game, after Michigan had already chased

Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks, Malik Zaire took the snap on 2nd and 18 in his own end zone. But Winovich burst through the line, forcing a fumble that Furbush promptly covered up for a touchdown, putting a nail in the Gators’ coffin.

“Don Brown had an excellent game plan,” Harbaugh said. “(He) worked one style of offense with the first quarterback that was in there. When they went to Malik Zaire, it changed. More read option and adapted the scheme.

“Our players knew it. They

“A lot of the principles carry over. But it’s definitely a new thing.”

knew what they had with the one, and they knew what they had with the next. They were on it. Very happy. We were a confident unit, really well-coached defensive unit.

We thought we were going to be good, and we were good.

We’ll continue to build. I was really pleased with the way they ran to the ball.”

And while the Gators will be glad Michigan’s new-look unit is in the rearview mirror, there may be no one happier than the Wolverines’ own offensive unit. For the first time in a calendar year, they finally got

to play someone else.

“We’ve seen it for so long now that — to me it’s more personnel, just because we’ve got a lot of g uys that do a lot of things really well,” said fifth-year senior running back Ty Isaac on Monday. “I know when we first started seeing it, it was giving us fits, just because it’s hard to tell what’s coming from where.

“It turns into playing spots instead of body type. They’ve done a really good job of keeping (the) offense, at least us, off balance and obviously it worked against Florida.”

“They’ve done a really good job of keeping (the) offense, at least us, off balance.”

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Wednesday, September 6, 2017 // The Statement

statement T H E M I C H I G A N DA I LY | S E P T E M B E R 6, 2017

Managaing Statement Editor: Lara Moehlman

Editor in Chief: Emma Kinery

Deputy Editors: Yoshiko Iwai Brian Kuang

Design Staff: Michelle Phillips

Copy Editors: Elizabeth Dokas Taylor Grandinetti

Managing Editor: Rebecca Lerner

Photo Editor: Alexis Rankin

Empath in the Wild: The Sorry Rug

BY REGAN DET WILER, COLUMNIST

B

oth my father and mother have been working in Republican politics my entire life, but my political leanings fall pretty far to the left, due to a nebulous conglomeration of incidental factors. The contrast between the reddish hue of my family environments and the blueish one of my educational and extrafamilial social environments, along with, I think, my experiences having separated parents, have taught me to see both sides of things — or else suffer alienation from those dearest to me.

I spent eight years of my childhood attending a teeny tiny Montessori school, where the curriculum was as much academic as it was interpersonal. The Montessori approach to teaching and learning is loosely structured and individualized to each student. This, paired with my school’s fairly extensive financial aid program, meant that I was in classrooms with kids of different abilities, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and varying financial backgrounds as well.

In the classroom, I was socialized from a young age to see others not through these filters, but instead to see them as the multidimensional human beings they are. I didn’t have homework when I went there, and each time I had a disagreement with one of my peers, we had to sit across from each other on the “sorry rug,” accept one another’s apologies, and hand each other fake yellow roses.

There is an underlying message I learned from being surrounded for so much of my childhood by people who are different from me in more obvious and culturally determined ways than, say, another uppermiddle class white girl who lives in the suburbs. It’s a message of empathy. And since then, I’ve practiced and developed this skill so I can empathize with a wide variety of people, including my mostly affluent, mostly white, mostly conservative family members, and also my friends, family, acquaintances and strangers who are none of those things.

Empathy is a semi-social act.

It begins by placing myself in the company of others, physically or virtually, say, via the internet, then thinking about it in solitude. Then my empathetic practice can (but doesn’t have to) influence my actions toward other people.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it’s “the power of projecting one’s personality

into (and so fully comprehending) the object of contemplation.” So, empathy is a contemplative act, not dissimilar to some forms of meditation. Of course, the empath’s understanding of someone else’s point of view is subjective — More on this later.

And like meditation, empathizing takes practice.

A hundred small empathetic thought-feelings for people who hold perspectives varying in magnitude of difference from my own can allow me to empathize with someone who holds a drastically different perspective — or even someone who hates me.

Throughout my life, I practiced empathy not only for people who are different from me in all of the ways my Montessori classmates were, but also for my close family members to whom, because of my educational and social environments, I had grown dissimilar.

In the intensely polarized sociopolitical environment of the 2016 presidential election, my tendencies as an empath had me lost. How can I see close friends with immigrant parents cry on the phone with their parents when the results of the election became clear, then turn to face my father, who voted red this time around?

Inner tensions like this one, the result of witnessing and coming to understand my friends’ and family members’ drastically different personal experiences, have challenged me to contemplate the bounds of empathy. There have been times when I’ve come to understand so deeply why someone might vote for Trump that my thoughts have sounded similar to those of an apologist. Because of the slippery slope from empathizing to making (un)ethical

compromises, I’ve questioned whether continuing to develop my empathetic practice is a morally sustainable endeavor. After sustained reflection and numerous conversations with people of varying backgrounds, I’ve come to an understanding that, if practiced carefully, empathy is actually a necessity.

I’ve come to find similarities between how people talk about empathy and how people talk about beauty.

I think empathy is beautiful, and as Elaine Scarry writes in, On Beauty and Being Just, beholding a beautiful thing can help to further justice in the world.

When one perceives something to be beautiful, it is because the object of beauty makes sense to its beholder. When I empathize with someone, their perspective feels valid to me; it makes sense to me, even if only for a brief period of time. According to Scarry, beauty is fleeting, but for a moment it gives the beholder a sense of conviction.

At the same time, perceiving a beautiful thing also confronts me with my own capacity to make errors in judgment. Something I didn’t think was beautiful before appears beautiful to me now. Something that appeared beautiful before falls out of sense to me, pales in comparison to another more truly beautiful thing I behold.

Beauty prompts a search for that which is more beautiful. “It comes to us,” Scarry writes, “with no work of our own; then leaves us prepared to undergo a giant labor”. Beauty is a starting place for education, she argues. And if empathy is beautiful, then it, too, prompts a search for that which is more true, which makes more sense to me.

But if I’m constantly searching for things that make more sense to me, one can argue it follows that eventually the most DESIGN BY REGAN DETWILER beautiful thing will be my own perspective. But this is an erroneous counterargument. The more I practice empathy, the stretchier my empathetic imagination becomes.

Empathy and reason converge when I understand the perspectives of oppressors but ultimately take the side of the oppressed.

If empathy is beautiful, I argue experiencing empathy is sacred — Something that has no precedent in my imaginative memory, something that puts me in awe, something that prompts me to consider my errors in judging this beauty, and something that ultimately acts as a vital force.

Wednesday, September 6, 2017 // The Statement

Soundtracking: A frat party, were it directed by Wes Anderson BY MAT T HARMON, DAILY STAFF REPORTER Wes Anderson never saw the beauty of elevated surfaces until now.

While we all see the grimy, loud and humid basement of a fraternity palace, Wes sees poetry in motion. Crystal Palace flows into a line of Dixie cups like a fresh water fountain in Rome. Hawaiian shirts and basketball jerseys float past a large, Insta-famous American flag with the grace and elegance of a bull in a china shop that’s drunk off Natty Lite and fragile masculinity. The sweat and heat of the dance floor knock you into a state of reverie.

But if I’m being honest, “Closer” for the 87th time and early 2000s throwbacks do not fit into Wes Anderson’s filmmaking checklist.

Swap out the current fraternity DJ rotation with matching outfits from the ’70s, pastel lighting and tunes from every decade except the one we’re in now — that’s the recipe.

I’ve sat at home and in many theaters watching Wes’s quirky, symmetrical set designs and smooth camera work for years now, but the music he lays underneath his scenes is the punctuation mark of his films. It guides the emotion and often exposes hidden truths. So who can stop Wes from turning the hallmark of the University of Michigan’s Welcome Week into a carefully orchestrated Anderson classic through a killer soundtrack? No one, that’s who.

Enter: Matt, 19, slim build (more lanky than slim, but this is my column so I can afford to boost my ego a little).

As I walk past three Greek letters and into the mansion, pushing past huge, bouncers the color of traffic cones, a jacked fella in a Knicks jersey sits in the living room. He looks me dead in the eyes as he strums his first, out-of-tune chord.

A Frat Brother Covering a Top 40 Hit on His Acoustic Guitar If Wes can get away with recording a Seu Jorge cover of David Bowie in Portuguese for “The Life Aquatic,” why can’t Newest Pledge Ben or Chad

or Whatever perform Post Malone’s here.” Loneliness ensues.

“Congratulations” for a crowd of two or “Whiskey River” — Willie Nelson three people in line for the bathroom?

Poor dude. He just wanted to treat this He’s clearly the most talented in the woman to a lovely burrito buffet and have room. He can even do Quavo’s part, so some harmless fun. Who is she to reject you know he’s cultured. him like that?

Anyway, Wes would want an authentic As he wanders toward the bar, ready sound for the opening of his pièce de to drown his sorrows, Willie Nelson’s résistance. Even though the original is a country twang fades in. A honky-tonk little too recent for his tastes, the cover is instrumental marks this man’s lowest in such a poor key and the brother’s vocal point, a truly inspiring soundtracking range is almost nonexistent. Thus, a new choice by Wes. A scene chock-full of breed of soundtrack is born. resentment and male pride, Willie’s plea Well done, Wes. You always one-up to not “let her memory torture me” really yourself. hits home for the movie patron. A real My eyes slowly readjust to the dim tear-jerker, if you ask me. basement. My shoes stick to the floor as The heartbroken bro grabs a handle if it were still-wet cement. The camera of Kamchatka for himself. If you had pans to show a sea of bobbing heads, some looked at him, you would have guessed higher than others on platforms forming the bottle was filled with water. He waves. Love is in the air — battery-acid- lies on the ground, perfectly lit in front flavored vodka-induced love for sure, but of the aforementioned American flag, love nonetheless. symbolizing his true conservative roots “Let’s Spend the Night Together” — (nice touch, Wes). Tunnel vision starts to The Rolling Stones or David Bowie, take grip him as a subtle vignette effect fades your pick. onscreen. Blacking out is inevitable at If you want a British Invasion rocking this point. and rolling undertone or if you’re going “Death’s Black Train Is Coming” — for a glam rock vibe, “Let’s Spend the Rev. J. M. Gates Night Together” goes perfectly with the “I want to sing a song and while I sing, back-and-forth cycle of modern collegiate I want every sinner in the house to come romance. A passionate, love-infused to the angel’s seat and bow…” bond that rivals the sanctity of marriage, A minor callback to his work on dancing at a frat party is the pinnacle “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Wes selects an display of affection we have here. Wes’s a cappella gospel tune to signal the lens glides over the multitude of couples collective mission of the people left PHOTO COURTSEY OF SYLVANA GROSSat in slow motion this party: with Bowie or blacking out.

Mick’s heavy-handed vocals moving us He masterfully turns a Lord’s song along with him. His attention to detail about preparing for the Devil to catch focuses on one couple and how invested sinners into a completely new song the dude is in this modern waltz and about preparing for off-brand cranberry how completely uninterested his female juice mixed with vodka to catch sinners. counterpart is in the whole ordeal, her Beautiful, as always. Gates’ preaching eyes darting back and forth, looking for a fails to reach the mob as students crowd way out. the bar. A flustered new pledge attempts “Now I need you more than ever….” to quench these intoxicated requests for The elegantly concerned woman vodka shots and chaser. As the inebriated breaks away, rejecting the sleeveless-T- run around him, the camera locks him clad bro’s poignant offer to “get out of into place, directly in the center of the

3B

frame. Another breathtaking shot for the books.

Just then, the reverend’s sermon is interrupted by the two words no one wants to hear coming from behind the bar. The last two words you hear before you dive into mass hysteria. Two words worse than “the horror” coming from Conrad’s pen: “We’re dry!”

“Symphony No. 6 in D Major, Op. 60, B. 112, III. Scherzo: Presto” — Antonín Dvořák Boom. A massive orchestra hits the crowd as couples break and everyone in the room makes a mad dash for alcohol. Wes’s montage speeds up the inebriated while keeping the guardians of the elixir stationary and stoic. As the camera moves behind the bar, looking out on the horde, we see clean-cut guys trying to barter with the bartenders for their “secret stash” of Kamchatka.

Their failed attempts sync with the dark violin crescendos. The night can’t be over. It’s only 2 a.m. If you thought you could get through a Wes Anderson film without an orchestral selection, you’d better think otherwise. Dvořák’s drama marks the climax of our Greek cinematic experience.

The lights turn on. The DJ leaves his heavily-coveted post. Somehow, the room looks even worse when well-lit as opposed to brooding and dark. As the frat troopers file out one by one, a crackly acoustic guitar fades in.

“Dink’s Song” — Dave Van Ronk “Fare thee well, oh honey, fare thee well…”

A sentimental departure to say the least. There will never be a party like this again until next week’s “Beach Bums Blackout Banger.” Van Ronk supplies the music for the final shot of the humble frat abode exterior and for the following credits. ’Tis bittersweet but we shall all meet again at the huge rager in the sky or awkwardly in Angell for Tuesday lecture.

DESIGN BY MICHELLE PHILLIPS

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Wednesday, September 6, 2017 // The Statement

Wednesday, September 6, 2017 // The Statement

Free Speech in the Ivory Tower b y J e r e m y K a p l a n , Daily Editorial Board Member I“College students testify: Free speech under assault on campuses” from Fox News, and “War on campus: The escalating battle over college free speech” from CNN. These hysterical headlines fuel the widespread perception that millennial Americans on college campuses are becoming increasingly hostile toward free speech — at the alarm of their parents. Yet what campus activists and student government leaders actually want from their administrators is frequently overlooked as conflicts and media storms escalate. Increasingly, coverage of these conflicts has placed rhetoric over policy, leaving what students actually want out of the debate.

While these leaders and activists aren’t the ones shaping final University of Michigan policy, their voices are felt across campus, and will likely shape the coming generation’s perception of the issue. This alarm has also reached Michigan’s state legislature. State senator Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton) introduced legislation in May to strengthen free speech policies in public universities and colleges. If passed, the bill would require that public schools to permit all speak-

ers on campus.

Recent events have certainly given the public reason for alarm. In February, a planned speech at the University of California at Berkeley by former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos was canceled after large protests turned violent.

The alt-right internet personality is famous for harassing a transgender student by name at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, among other provocations. A professor at Middlebury College was injured in March after protesters attacked her for escorting controversial speaker Charles Murray, who has been associated with quasi-social-Darwinist views, as they tried to leave the event. And Michigan State University recently denied a request to host an event of white supremacist Richard Spencer’s National Policy Institute — a key organizer of the deadly August white nationalist march in Charlottesville.

While these incidents tend to draw the most derision from conservatives, the divide over speech is also generational. Forty percent of millennials believe the government should be

able to restrict speech offensive to minorities, while only 27 percent of those ages 35 to 50 and just 24 percent of those between 51 and 69 hold the same view, a 2015 Pew Research Center poll found. That this is a generational divide and not simply a political one has implications for the future of the debate. This isn’t an issue that will get lost in the 24-hour news cycle — it is here to stay, particularly for young people.

As such, this debate has increasingly impacted the campus climate. In April of 2016, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg received a hostile reaction from some students at the University’s commencement when he labeled “safe spaces” dangerous because they create a “false impression that we can insulate ourselves from those who hold different views” in his keynote speech. Last September, a debate at the Michigan League organized by the Michigan Political Union — a nonpartisan student forum for political debate — discussing whether or not the Black Lives Matter movement was “harmful to racial relations in the United States” was disrupted by hundreds of protesters claim-

File Photo/Daily Social work student Lawrielle West leads protestors in a Black Lives Matter march from the Diag to the Michigan League, where an MPU debate was being held on September 27, 2016.

ing the event trivialized the lives of African American students.

Underlying this contemporary debate is a fundamental conflict: How can universities ensure a welcoming campus environment for all while guaranteeing a free exchange of ideas?

If a university’s mission is to create an inclusive environment conducive to providing an education for all, how should it approach the expression of free speech that may place students in danger?

More practically, can some forms of speech truly be objectively unacceptable and therefore worthy of restriction on a college campus? If so, who should be making those necessarily objective decisions? University administrators? A sizable portion of a campus’ community?

The University of Michigan, as a public university with the legal obligation as a public institution to protect free speech as described in the First Amendment, has guidelines that state it must do all within its power to protect community members’ or invited speakers’ rights to speak freely and to protect those who wish to listen or communicate with speakers.

Other universities have announced modifications to their policies to deal with changing tides. Texas A&M University announced only recognized student organizations would be able to rent space to host speakers on campus, after a private Texan rented space Spencer in December.

If the University decides that changes to University policy on free speech and expression are warranted given recent events, the views of activists and members of student government will play a major role in their success. These leaders play an important role in determining the campus climate on any given issue, so the views they hold should be accessible as the University navigates these waters. ***** To CSG President Anushka Sarkar, an LSA senior, the administration has the right to limit what speakers should be permitted on campus, taking student safety and reception from the University community into account. Sarkar believes some forms of hateful speech do not provide educational purposes for students; specifically singling out white supremacists.

“There’s a strong distinction between having John McCain speak at the University of Michigan versus having Richard Spencer speak at the University of Michigan,” she said. “There is constructive benefit of engaging someone who has had a long career in policy and advocacy work in views that oppose, perhaps your own. But having Richard Spencer who is a neo-Nazi, portrayed as someone whose views oppose your own is not going far enough. I do think there is a line between what is acceptable to engage with

and what is not.”

For Sarkar and many of her peers, the University community at large has a right to determine who gets to speak.

“If there is a small cohort of students on campus who believe that Richard Spencer should be allowed to campus and speak about his views, when those views threaten the very values and safety of students on campus, there are things of higher importance that need to be prioritized, such as the values and safety of students,” Sarkar said. “The speakers that have been rejected or shut down by the student body have been in diametric opposition to our university’s values and the safety and security of students.”

But some campus activists feel otherwise.

LSA senior Grant Strobl, the national chairman of Young Americans for Freedom, an organization dedicated to promoting conservative ideals on college campuses across the country, finds the policy to be sufficient in theory, but a failure in practice. Strobl gained national prominence when he protested the University’s decision to allow students to specify pronouns in Wolverine Access by making his own “His Majesty.” From Strobl’s perspective, the University has failed to fully enforce its own guidelines; notably, during the contentious September 2016 MPU Black Lives Matter debate.

“They basically took over the entire event,” Strobl said of protesters. “The University in that situation does have an obligation to ensure that the original event goes as planned, and to

How can universities ensure a welcoming campus environment for all while guaranteeing a free exchange of ideas? remove those protesters; they didn’t enforce their own policy.”

According to University spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald, the University has a high bar for when to intervene in protests, and has not done so in recent memory. In the case of the Michigan Political Union debate, Fitzgerald said University police were on hand, but did not intervene.

Strobl additionally believes the University must ensure it is protecting all speakers’ rights, entirely independent of what their ideas.

“If the University prides itself on being a limited public forum where students can host speakers, they have to protect speakers and the event in a viewpoint neutral manner,” Strobl said.

“They just absolutely have to. Otherwise we go down on the slippery slope of just banning people we disagree with.”

Strobl believes the threat of violence in the community should never be grounds for the University to cancel a speaker, claiming protesting a speaker with the intent to cancel an event interferes with the speaker’s right to free speech.

University policy states that protesters may not interfere with a speaker’s ability to freely express

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File Photo/Daily English journalist Milo Yiannopoulos speaks on issues of feminism and sexism in a debate against freelance journalist Julie Bindel at the Michigan League Ballroom on February 23, 2016.

their thoughts, or an audience’s attempt to comprehend them, but are free to protest outside an event.

Strobl’s arguments were echoed by Nicholas Fadanelli, president of LSA Student Government, who also stated that protests should not be used to silence speech some find objectionable.

“Individuals can protest and show their dissatisfaction, their disapproval or their plain condemnation of what a speaker might be saying,” Fadanelli said. “But not to the point where you have a rule of mob situation where events can be shut down kind of on whim.”

But Fadanelli cautioned his position, adding that inciting violence — including displaying symbols associated with genocide — shouldn’t necessarily be protected.

Vikrant Garg, a Public Health student and organizer for the Students4Justice activist group, sees the continued toleration of hate as problematic on campus. He believes students should have the right to take matters into their own hand to not tolerate someone they consider hateful.

“There’s a huge disconnect I think from a lot of people not understanding that when you tolerate something that is inherently violent to a lot of people in its language, (and) in its history, it’s going to then continue to be violent against those people, and then it’s going to escalate that violence,” Garg said. “If what someone is saying is really horrible, then I think that they (students) should be shutting it down. And if in effect that person can no longer be heard by the people that came to listen to them, then good for them.”

However, Garg still feels that the University is responsible for condemning hate speech.

“A community makes it known when something isn’t necessarily welcome, and a university should follow suit and condemn something when the community has condemned something,” Garg said.

The American Civil Liberties Union, among

other civil rights organizations, have raised concerns about universities taking increasingly restrictive policies on free speech. The distinction between “hate speech” and other forms of “allowable” speech being pushed for by some campus voices is a specific point of contention, as there is no concrete definition of “hate speech” in American case law that can legally be curtailed; although such a distinction exists in many European legal systems.

“When we grant the government the power to suppress controversial ideas,” the ACLU website reads, “we are all subject to censorship by the state.”

If the University, with the power of the state, gets to decide which speech is worth preventing to maintain the safety of students, it will need some framework to make that decision in an accountable and democratic fashion, and in a manner that would not undermine its mission as a place for the free exchange of ideas.

University President Mark Schlissel issued a call to students to consider their roles in addressing hateful speech during his address at New Student Convocation on Friday.

“Will you take the risk to speak out if your classmates are targeted?” Schlissel asked the freshmen.

“Will you reject a purposefully hateful speaker on campus by protesting, by instead seeking productive dialogue, or by simply ignoring them?” ****** Among students, the clashing visions of free speech were on full display this past spring when resolutions were introduced in both Central Student Government and LSA Student Government, calling upon each body to take a firm stand in defense of individuals’ rights to express opinions even in the face of adverse reactions from elements of the community. A LSA Student Government resolution — calling upon the LSA Student Government to release a statement in support of free speech on campus — passed unanimously in April. However, after much debate, a similar resolution introduced in CSG failed

in a 31-to-5 vote, with two abstentions.

The author of the resolution, now-University alum Deion Kathawa, felt that the characterization of the resolution as contentious was an insult to the idea of free expression itself, further alleging the resolution faced procedural opposition from many CSG leaders.

“My resolution was smeared as ‘contentious.’

With respect, I resent this characterization,” Kathawa wrote in The Michigan Review, a conservative campus paper. “That there is not broad agreement that free speech ought to be a universally beloved value serves only to show how coarsened our shared political life has become, how politicized even our university — and universities across the country — has become.”

Sarkar defended the result of the CSG vote, arguing the resolution was redundant, as she believed free speech has adequate protections on campus already and that additional reaffirmations were not necessary for advancing the body’s interests, although she opened the door to considering a similar resolution in the future, as contexts change.

“The majority of representatives did not feel that the principles of free speech at UMich were at risk, nor did they feel that the right to freedom of expression was at risk,” Sarkar said.

Fadanelli chalked up the different results primarily to the individuals who introduced the resolutions in both bodies, and their backgrounds on the issue.

The resolution that came before LSA Student Government was introduced by sponsors known by the assembly to hold political views across the political spectrum, which helped convince the body of its merits.

So far, the debates on this issue have largely been confined to college campuses, periodically spilling into the national consciousness; drawing media attention and political fire. However, as millennials increasingly enter the workforce and broader society, the footprint of their views on free speech will likely impact the national conversation in more consequential ways.

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Wednesday, September 6, 2017 // The Statement

Home

by Brian Kuang, Deputy Statement Editor

M

y mother would often express a desire to move to the West Coast when she retired.

In Seattle, or perhaps San Francisco, the winters are milder, the cities livelier and there are more native Chinese speakers for her than in our Detroit suburb. To her, Michigan winters are too long, the suburban sprawl of southeast Michigan too quiet and the options for quality Chinese food too limiting.

These places beckoned to her because they resembled — culturally and

Sure, Michigan was tucked in the “provincial” Midwest, but there was also an incredible Midwestern charm that I now realized I had taked for granted my entire life.

physically — where she had grown up: A bustling city nestled in Southern China.

Growing up, this love of one’s childhood home was alien to me. I had lived in Canton, Michigan for the

entirety of my formative years. Before leaving

for college, I had only moved once; when I was two years old, to a house in an adjacent subdivision that was also in Canton.

Tucked on the westernmost edge of the Detroit suburbs, Canton Township primarily consists of subdivisions constructed within a five-year window beginning in the late 1990s; each house is seemingly plucked from the same catalog of a dozen or so designs. A grid of roads connects the vast low-density residential expanses to a few strip malls and big-box retailers, interspersed with the occasional public green space.

Because such a large portion of the population consists of transplants who followed the late-90s building boom, it lacks the social cohesion that one could expect in a small country village. Meanwhile, the low population density of the suburb also means that the area lacks the benefits of a large city.

The cohesion is further stunted by the fact that most of the working population evacuates to offices and factories beyond the township limits every day.

For one-third of the

year, the weather hangs between summer and winter; too warm for snow, yet cold enough to chill off any

leaves from the trees or green from the grass.

To the credit of the community, Canton was — and continues to be — far from a “bad” town, and it is a town that I owe much of my comfortable and privileged upbringing to. Crime is sparse, the public schools are filled with opportunities and the front lawns are well mown. Yet to my younger self, this suburban perfection felt more like suburban monotony. Michigan, as a whole, seemed to be in a perpetual state of melancholic decline: Detroit and the automotive industry a shell of their former selves, people and jobs being two of our most auspicious exports.

Around age 10, I vowed that I would leave Michigan as soon as I was old enough. I had come to understand there was a more colorful world beyond the Midwest; presumably free from long winters and boredom.

However, when the time came to choose a college, I deferred my quest to escape the Mitten for at least four more years to come to Ann Arbor.

I had momentarily allowed myself to be mesmerized by Ann Arbor: by the city, the University of Michigan’s programs

resented to me everything Canton was not.

But while I was charmed by the beaches, colorful neighborhoods and palm trees of south Florida, a subtle nostalgia for what had been the classic fixtures of a childhood summer in Michigan crept on my conscience.

There would be no weekend trips this summer up to the lakeshore in Traverse City where I could hike the Sleeping Bear Dunes and polish Petoskey stones from the frigid, clear lake water.

I would be absent for my hometown’s “Liberty Festival” and firework display, always conspicuously held two weeks before the actual Fourth of July.

Whenever I men-

and DESIGN BY MICHELLE PHILLIPS school’s programs and in-state tuition long enough to put down my enrollment deposit — despite its location, a 25-minute drive from the town I so vowed tioned to leave behind. my At the tail-end of my hometown sophomore year of col- — to co-worklege, I received an offer ers, locals and Lyft to intern in Miami, and drivers — three of the my choice seemed natural most common responses enough. This was my first were remarks about how opportunity to live outside the state was cold, provinof Michigan on my own for cial and supposedly on the more than the length of a decline. My use of the term vacation, and Miami rep- “pop” also drew curious

looks.

“Detroit — everyone’s trying to leave there,” one Lyft driver quipped during an otherwise pleasant drive.

While I perfectly understood these perceptions — after all, I had held many of these sentiments at one point or another — such a characterization didn’t do justice to my childhood home or the people I had grown up with.

Sure, Michigan was tucked in the “provincial” Midwest, but there was also an indescribable Midwestern charm that I now realized I had taken for granted my entire life.

Carpool parents treated me as a part of their own family; I bit into an orchardpicked Red Delicious in the crisp October air and got lost in the miles of winding wooded trails across the state. All of this had become part of me, and I couldn’t simply forsake it once I graduated.

When I was recently talking to my mother about possible places to retire, I casually raised the possibility of getting a house in Ann Arbor along the Huron River, or perhaps even a lake house in Traverse City.

“Why on Earth would I do that, Brian?” she replied.

I chuckled softly to myself. How could I expect her to understand? After all, she hadn’t grown up here.

Wednesday, September 6 // The Statement

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If at first you try

by Michelle Phillips, Managing Design Editor

W

hen I was younger, I played every sport you would expect a young kid to. From swimming to tennis to dance to softball, I had all the bases covered. I was never the best at any of them, but these activities made me happy. When I graduated from fifth grade, I found myself becoming more interested in the performing arts than sports. I was in every school play and won several state titles in prose debate competitions: a piece of dramatic interpretation performed in eight minutes.

Performing allowed me to take a break from reality, to transform myself into different characters, many of which I had nothing in common with. Many of the characters I played in high school were drug addicts, schizophrenics and girls with no ambition (see: Frenchie from “Grease”). These opportunities allowed me to become something I would never be, and I loved that.

Many of my teachers asked me if I was going to continue theater in college, and I always had the same reply: “I hope so.”

Eager about what was to come in my final year of

high school theater, I was convinced I would pursue performing arts in college.

When senior year rolled around and I auditioned for the fall musical, I was devastated when I saw the cast list. I was in the chorus and only had one line.

Performing allowed me to take a break from reaily, to transform myself into different characters Just the year before I was the lead. I was crushed, upset that I’d lose the community that gave me a stage to grow both physically and mentally.

My senior year of high school was tough. I had smart classmates to compete with to get into the most competitive schools, and I knew my test scores were not as good as those of my peers, which took a toll on my confidence. I

stopped eating, my hair started falling out and my relationships with my friends suffered.

Overwhelmed by the fact that I had no control over my future, I instead controlled what I could: my diet. I became very weak, growing fatigued during simple day-today activities. I wasn’t restricting myself because I wanted to lose weight — in fact I was so anxious that I didn’t even think I was restricting myself. I wasn’t eating because how could I when I woke up each morning unsure if I would fail another AP Calculus exam? Or get rejected from another school?

Looking back, I’m embarrassed by these negative thoughts. They consumed my consciousness, tugging at my mental and physical well-being, and I didn’t even realize it.

Flash forward a year and I’m sitting in a lecture hall at one of the best public universities in the country. I started taking medication for my anxiety, eating real food again and doing yoga. I’d tried yoga in high school, but eventually dropped it because of my busy schedule.

I quickly found that yoga was the escape from reali-

ty — even if just for an hour a day— that I was missing since I’d left theater.

Don’t get me wrong, yoga is a physically demanding activity, but I took comfort in the fact that, unlike cycling or CrossFit, I didn’t feel like I was being ordered to do anything I didn’t want to do. All my teachers made it very clear that you should only perform poses that serve your own unique body. I had never heard that before, and the acceptance I felt coming to yoga every day helped me to overcome a lot of my mental hardships that were still unresolved.

I finally felt in control.

After becoming a regular yogi, there was still one pose that I just could not get right: Chaturanga Dandasana. Practiced in almost every yoga class, it serves to reset your body and begin a new sequence of poses or “flows.” Lots of instructors call it a “yoga pushup,” and I learned that it is, indeed, a yoga pushup.

From the moment I was introduced to the correct alignment of the pose, I told myself I’d never be able to do it. I’d never even done a regular pushup before.

Doubt ran through my mind every time the

instructor called the pose — and I didn’t realize how much this anxiety was limiting my practice. Yoga

I started because I needed to make peace with myself. I needed to learn that sometimes I fall down and that’s okay. helps you experience different postures, although they might be challenging to hold, training you to deal with the negativity that floods your mind the moment you doubt your capabilities.

I knew that I wouldn’t nail this pose on my first try. Lots of yoga poses take months, even years, to master. I started slow and with the help of my teachers made minor adjustments to my alignment so that I could start to push my physical edge.

Often, I felt like quitting just because I didn’t succeed the first time. Or, in other words, letting my anxieties paralyze me.

But through my dedication to yoga I’ve learned the challenges that may have seemed impossible might actually be within my reach. It’s all about opening the heart, mind, body and soul, coming up into upward dog, lifting my heart to the world. I feel satisfaction by simply doing it, but also relief that I didn’t give up — didn’t let the little doubts and anxieties control me.

I didn’t start yoga because I needed to work out, I started because I needed to make peace with myself. I needed to learn that sometimes I fall down and that’s okay.

I know this sounds cliché, but I have come to learn in these past two years that I’m more capable than I’d ever thought I was.

I have found my new stage, and performing on it makes me feel better inside and out. I no longer need someone to give me the lead. I can perform all that I am capable of in a space that allows all beings to be happy, peaceful and free.

DESIGN BY MICHELLE PHILLIPS

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Wednesday, September 6, 2017 // The Statement

V I S UA L STAT E M E NT:

SUMMER IN REVIEW

People ride penny-farthings during a Fourth of July parade in Plymouth, Michigan. (Max Kuang/Daily)

An abandoned steel factory in Beijing.

(Brian Kosasih/Daily)

The Chihuly Glass Museum in Seattle showcases the famous glassblower’s work with a view of the nearby Space Needle. (Samuel Mousigian/Daily)

A woman poses with Larry Bell’s outdoor sculpture “Pacific Red 11” outside the Whitney Mueseum of American Art in July. (Amelia Cacchione/Daily)

Niagara Falls captured from the United States side of the Niagara River.

(Alexis Rankin/Daily)

The sun sets over the cliffs of Oia, Santorini, also known as ”sunset city.” (Evan Aaron/Daily)

Bomb craters still carve out space in the ground of a previous German battery site. (Emma Richter/Daily)

Climbers wait on the summit of Mt. Boarah in Idaho during the total solar eclipse on August 21. (Robert Buechler/Daily)