2017-11-22

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Crazy man

His teammates say he has a few screws loose. They’re not entirely wrong. But without the madness, Chase Winovich wouldn’t be what he has become today.

statement

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T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | N OV E M B E R 2 2 , 2017

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

CSG Pres. signs off on #UMDivest resolution

Sarkar wrote in an attached statement the resolution was a reasonable request CHUN SO/Daily

Students and faculty voice their opposition to Richard Spencer’s request to speak on campus at the Regents meeting in the Union Tuesday.

University Board of Regents address Richard Spencer request in meeting

If the University is able to ensure a safe setting for the event, Spencer will be allowed RIYAH BASHA & ANDREW HIYAMA Daily News Editor & Daily Staff Reporter

The University of Michigan has agreed to proceed with white supremacist Richard Spencer’s request to speak on campus if the University is able to ensure a safe

setting for the event. University President Mark Schlissel announced the University will begin deliberations with Spencer’s team regarding time, place and nature of the event after convening an emergency Board of Regents’ meeting Tuesday night.

“We only today have finalized plans for how we will proceed on Richard Spencer’s request

to speak on the University of Michigan campus,” Schlissel said.

University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the University has not determined a timeline for negotiations. In a tweet following Schlissel’s announcement, Kyle Bristow — an attorney for Cameron Padgett, the University of Georgia student submitting requests for Spencer — tweeted

his deadline for the University’s final response has been extended to Dec. 8, at penalty of a lawsuit.

After refusing to allow Spencer on campus earlier this year, Michigan State University officials are currently engaged in a legal mediation with Bristow.

Fitzgerald said Bristow’s ultimatum will have no effect on See REGENTS, Page 3A

ALEXA ST. JOHN & JORDYN BAKER

Managing News Editor & Daily Staff Reporter

University of Michigan Central Student Government President Anushka Sarkar, an LSA senior, signed the assembly’s resolution AR 7-019 that calls for the University to investigate possible divestment from companies that violate Palestinian human rights.

In a secret ballot vote last Wednesday morningat CSG’s meeting, the #UMDivest movement passed for the first time on the University’s Ann Arbor campus with 23 votes

in favor, 17 votes against and 5 abstentions. The resolution’s passage, and the tumultuous history of the #UM Divest movement, has sparked action from students on both sides of the issue. Last Wednesday’s decision has since further divided the campus.

In a statement released Tuesday night, Sarkar expanded on her personal beliefs that the University should not invest in companies allegedly endangering the lives of Palestinians.

“I believe the intent of this resolution is to elevate a marginalized community’s voice, voices that have been muffled and diluted, year after year,” Sarkar wrote. “I believe the students who See RESOLUTION, Page 3A

A look into adminstrative responses Failure ‘U’ attends to protect and climate in Midwestern colleges UN climate

GOVERNMENT

LGBTQ+ rights in MI

MI AG was called upon to define sex and gender identity in early September CARLY RYAN

Daily Staff Reporter

LGBTQ+ Michiganders may not be protected from discrimination under the Michigan Constitution, a gap in civil rights now fervently trying to be patched.

Under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, discrimination based on sex is prohibited.

However, the definition of sex under this statute has never fully been fleshed out. Because of this, Equality Michigan, a LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, asked the Michigan Civil Rights Commission to issue a ruling on the definition back in September.

Though it was set to make a ruling broadening the definition to explicitly include gender identity and sexual orientation, the CRC voted to table it and requested the Attorney General’s opinion. Eli Savit, a University of Michigan law professor and legal aide in the efforts, said he believes Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette — a current Michigan gubernatorial candidate— abused his power to prevent this from happening.

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RESEARCH

Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern, Indiana, faced similar issues as U-M JENNIFER MEER Daily News Editor

The University of Michigan has seen countless acts of hate targeted against people of color and other marginalized communities in recent years.

The University administration has responded to such acts in a variety of ways. In October 2016, the University launched its five-year Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategic plan to foster a welcoming and inclusive campus. However, the plan has been criticized for failing to put a stop to racist attacks.

These issues are not unique to the University of Michigan.

Across the country, university administrations and campus communities have struggled to address issues of diversity, acts of hate and negative campus climates.

This article is part two of a series in which The Michigan Daily looks at colleges similar to the University of Michigan on the issue of reacting in a tense campus climate. As the University administration and students face their own numerous bias incidents, The Daily will look at other schools to compare and contrast incidents, administration response and student activism, whether it is a difference in religion, culture, politics or policies. This article will feature schools from the Midwestern region including University of Wisconsin-

Madison, Northwestern University and Indiana University.

There is a theory that prominent, progressive schools are targets for bias incidents — the University of Michigan among them, as Washtenaw is a blue county in a newly turned red state. In an earlier interview with The Daily, University President Mark Schlissel said there might not be a way to mitigate the target on the University’s back.

“I think that part of being a prominent university, taking clear positions on things, having large numbers of very successful graduates out there in the world, being on TV all the time, being in the media all the time means that

what happens here gets noticed,” he said. “That’s the sort of other side of this double-edged sword of being famous and prominent.”

According to enrollment data from University of WisconsinMadison’s Office of the Registrar, approximately 2.9 percent of its student population is African American as of fall 2017. Kevin Helmkamp, the assistant vice provost and associate dean of students at UW, explained how the demographics of the state lead to this.

“I think every institution is the same in these regards, I think every institution is different as well with that,” he said. “We all have our thing with that. I think Michigan … (has) a broader

number of cities and communities with a strong African American population than what Wisconsin does, which really is kind of Milwaukee. You have to look at Milwaukee Public Schools and issues that exist there, that’s all part of our dynamic.”

Though Donald Trump won Wisconsin in the 2016 election, 71.4 percent of voters in Dane County, where UW is located, voted for former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

According to the 2016 U.S. Census Bureau, the state of Wisconsin has a 6.7 percent Hispanic or Latino population, a 6.6 percent Black or African American population and a 2.8 See RESPONSE, Page 2A

ENROLLMENT DIVERSITY DATA OVERALL ENROLLMENT OF 2017

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

THE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION PROGRAM

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY INCLUSIVE NORTHWESTERN

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN OUR WISCONSIN

INDIANA UNIVERSITY ENROLLMENT DATA

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Vol. CXXVII, No. 35 ©2017 The Michigan Daily

conference in Germany

As part of the Climate Blue organization, 12 University students went JENNIFER MEER Daily News Editor

Twelve students from the University of Michigan’s Climate Blue organization just returned to campus after attending the 2017 United Nations Climate Change Conference earlier this month in Bonn, Germany. This year marked the 23rd meeting of the Conference of Parties, held under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; the UNFCCC is an international treaty that was signed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 to mark the beginning of international cooperation in addressing climate change.

This year, the UNFCCC’s 197 parties came together to discuss the implementation of the Paris agreement. The agreement, which was designed during COP21 in 2015, aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb the global temperature rise. However, in June 2017, President Donald Trump announced the United States would withdraw from the agreement in an effort to preserve jobs.

The Climate Blue student group, which discusses climate policy across southeast Michigan, began See CONFERENCE, Page 3A

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

SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS...................1C

News

2A — Wednesday, November 22, 2017

RESPONSE From Page 1A percent Asian population.

Helmkamp said he also believes that with schools such as the University of Michigan, UW and even the University of California, Berkeley — which have large student populations and differences in diversity across the student body — there are efforts to bring a lot of communities together; he noted though he expects attempts to build community, there are also case-by-case scenarios that need to be considered given differences among people.

“In (the University of Michigan’s) case (there are) probably some conversations along the lines of, ‘We’re all Wolverines,’ and trying to build that sort of community with thousands of students, some of whom are extroverts, some of whom are introverts, some of whom are rural, some of whom are urban, racial differences, orientation differences, international students — it’s quite a little experiment,” he said. “Each challenge is different.”

Proactive and reactive measures According to Helmkamp, UW takes a variety of proactive measures against bias incidents, with the intent of fostering a better campus community.

The most significant effort, he explained, is the Our Wisconsin

program, which has just completed its second year. It consists of several workshops that feature structured dialogue and activities, according to its website.

“The focus is on incoming new students residing in university residence halls, which here at Madison is about 95 percent of the incoming freshman class,” he said.

“It is essentially an ‘understand yourself and the broader community, the roles of identity’ (program). It’s a communitybuilding program, we build it around the various housing floor communities.”

Earlier this month, the school hosted its 19th annual diversity forum, which consists of notable speakers and breakout sessions, through which attendees can learn about inclusion, microaggressions and a variety of other topics. “(The forum) is a campus-wide coming together, reviewing a lot of the efforts of the previous year,” he said.

On the reactive end, Helmkamp explained there are several other efforts used for bias incidents.

Among them, he explained, are the student conduct code and administrative reports and criminal reports.

He explained the university has a bias reporting system similar to the University of Michigan’s, but has been handling bias reporting in a more formal way since fall 2011.

“Over the last year, we’ve kind of upped our game with this

where we now have an up-todate, accessible log of the all the incidents that are reported to us,” he said. “Last February we hired a full-time staff member to act as our bias response and advocacy coordinator, and she responds to the reports that come in. We respond individually to all reports.

We offer support to individuals.”

He explained UW addresses and tries to reach resolutions in situations where it is able to identify all of the parties and people, and these people are willing to come together to work things out.

Instances that involve potential criminal activity, he explained, are referred to the UW-Madison Police Department. If it is a potential violation of the student conduct code, it is referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.

“Interestingly enough, and I don’t know how this would slot in with other institutions, this past spring semester, we received just over 90 bias reports for, I believe it was, 72 separate incidents,” he said. “Of those incidents, only two of them were referred on for either (the) conduct (process) or law enforcement action. The great bulk of what we see is really incidents between two people, whether it’s microaggressions or any number of things, but they tend to be more interpersonal as opposed to conduct or criminal.”

Helmkamp also explained UW does not identify any incident as a

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

“hate crime.”

“In our world of student affairs here at Madison we kind of look at it and say, we don’t do crime,” he said. “If the police think it’s a hate crime, we will let them label it. Even in our processes, we don’t have categories for people to say, ‘This was a hate crime.’ In fact, we really talk a whole lot more about bias incidents than we do about hate. We keep open the idea that some of the incidents could certainly elevate to where it really is hate-motivated, but we really focus a whole lot more on those things that so frequently happen between two people that have more of a bias flavor to it.”

The University of Michigan does declare “hate crimes” on campus. It describes them, using the U.S. Department of Justice’s definition, as crimes or threats motivated by an offender’s bias against a certain social identity.

In such incidents, Helmkamp explained, the bias advocacy and response coordinator might get involved, sit with the individuals and work through receptions, issues and concerns. He explained the great majority of the university’s bias response efforts are about improving the campus community from an education perspective, much more than a punitive perspective.

Comparatively, according to 2017 enrollment data from Indiana University, 4.4 percent of the student body is African American, See RESPONSE, Page 3A

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Conyers accused of blacklisting, sexually harassing employees

420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com

Buzzfeed News reports Rep. Conyers paid $27,000 settlement in secret JORDYN BAKER Daily Staff Reporter

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich, has been accused of secretly making a $27,000 settlement for a sexual harassment claim by an employee in 2015, according to a BuzzFeed News report. In the article, BuzzFeed reported they have received affidavits from four former congressional employees who claim they had seen Conyers making sexual advances toward female employees.

The report states that while three of these affidavits have been notarized, all four come from documents within a complaint reporting Conyers had “made sexual advances to female staff that included requests for sex acts, contacting and transporting other women with whom they believed Conyers was having affairs,

caressing their hands sexually, and rubbing their legs and backs in public.”

The documents also include details of the 2015 dismissal complaint settlement, a process which the alleged victim described to BuzzFeed News as one that provided her no other choice but to keep her accusations a secret and accept the settlement offer.

“I was basically blackballed.

There was nowhere I could go,” she told BuzzFeed News.

Other representatives have spoken out against Conyers, calling the reports deeply troubling, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. These allegations follow a series of other accusations against prominent figures in politics and other realms including Sen. Al Franken, Harvey Weinstein and former CBS news anchor Charlie

Rose.

Later, Conyers confirmed he reached a financial settlement with the staffer who brought a case against him for sexual harassment but emphasized he did not admit to guilt in the case.

“I expressly and vehemently denied the allegations made against me, and continue to do so,” Conyers said in a statement. “My office resolved the allegations — with an express denial of liability — to save all involved from the rigors of protracted litigation. That should not be lost in the narrative.”

Engineering sophomore Lincoln Merrill, press correspondent for the University of Michigan’s chapter of College Republicans, stated that while he finds the allegations alarming, immediate repercussions for the accused perpetrators may not be entirely visible.

“The number of allegations that have come out in the past month is ridiculous. It’s an interesting note that on both sides of the aisle there’s been so many allegations recently,” Merrill said. “I don’t think it’s going to change anything visibly but I think it will change people’s attitudes towards government.”

In a statement to The Daily, Public Policy junior Lauren Schandevel, communications director for the University of Michigan’s chapter of College Democrats, highlighted the importance of looking at such issues in a nonpartisan manner, and said the organization will be continuing to monitor the outcomes of this case.

“The reports are troubling and we will be watching intently over the next few weeks to see how this unfolds,” she wrote. “Charges of sexual misconduct are extremely serious and should be condemned regardless of the perpetrator’s political leanings.”

As we head into Thanksgiving break, I wonder if @DrMarkSchlissel and other @UMich officials will show thanks to graduate students by publicly opposing the #gradstudenttax, which will bankrupt most of us and force us to leave the university ...

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The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid.

News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

RESPONSE From Page 2A 5.6 percent is Hispanic or Latino, 5.4 percent is Asian, and 66.3 percent is white. According to the 2016 U.S. Census Bureau, the state of Indiana has a 9.7 percent Black or African American population, a 6.8 percent Hispanic or Latino population, a 2.2 percent Asian population and a 79.6 percent white population.

Additionally, though Trump won the state of Indiana in the 2016 election, 59.3 percent of voters in Monroe County, where IU is located, voted for Clinton.

In an email to The Daily, April Toler, a news and media specialist at Indiana University, provided a statement from the Nasser H. Paydar, the university’s chancellor, regarding bias incidents. “(Indiana University) is committed to providing forums for the free expression and exchange of ideas, including those we may not condone. Even when we vehemently disagree, we must strive to do so with mutual respect and civility,” the statement reads. “Open dialogue is central to academic freedom and our educational mission. The university abhors all forms of racism, bigotry and discrimination, including discrimination based on religious beliefs or political views.”

Stella Shaffer, a transgender woman, graduated from IU in spring 2017. She described IU’s campus climate as complicated but “polite.” As a result, she said a lot of people end up saying nothing.

REGENTS From Page 1A the University’s decisions.

Schlissel outlined three components of his decision: The University can impose restrictions on the circumstances of the event based on the First Amendment, but not content; denying the request would attract more public attention to Spencer; and protecting free speech is key in maintaining a democratic society.

Schlissel and University spokespeople emphasized repeatedly student safety is the administrators’ priority. Close to 75 students at the meeting jeered the officials, holding up signs and yelling.

Though the Board could not act in an official capacity on Schlissel’s action, many weighed in. University Regent Denise

CONFERENCE From Page 1A

as a blog created by a delegation of University community members who attended COP15 in 2009.

Today it reaches graduate students, professors and business people, among others who focus on different areas of study across the country.

The organization continues to send a delegation, comprised of students and faculty, to the conference each year. The conference itself primarily consists of negotiations among parties and side events, which serve as platforms for “observer organizations” — like the Climate Blue delegation — who don’t speak in formal negotiations, according to the UNFCCC website.

Side event participants can engage with parties and other attendees to network and share ideas.

Rackham student Matt Irish, who is studying for master’s degrees in Applied Climate Science and Electrical Engineering, attended this year’s conference as well as COP21. He explained at COP21 there was a lot of fanfare and excitement as national leaders came together to sign the Paris agreement; however, he said after the signing there was still work to be done. “(During COP21), the leaders came the first week actually to kind of say, ‘Hey, we’re here signing off on it, now make it happen,’” he said.

“There was some real stuff that needed to get done but because they had that sort of front-loaded thing, the idea was that those national leaders put their name on it and they

“I think a lot of people are supportive and don’t know how to actually engage with that,” she said.

She said she thinks people who are hostile toward trans people and the LGBTQ community don’t necessarily want to say anything because they don’t want to be labeled as bigots.

“I feel like what happens is — with this culture of silence — I was walking through a campus where people actively either stared at me when they thought I wasn’t looking or actively tried to avoid eye contact or engaging with me in any sort of meaningful way,” she said.

In a later email, Shaffer explained, IU has taken some measures to make the campus more welcoming for LGBTQ students. Specifically, they’ve opened an LGBTQ housing space that she said she assumes would be friendly to transgender students and their housing needs.

“As new buildings are being built, they’re also doing a pretty good job of adding in some gender neutral bathroom spaces, which, of course, impact trans people enormously,” she wrote.

“Not only do plenty of binary trans people not feel comfortable using the bathroom sometimes, but a binary bathroom system completely excludes non-binary folks.”

She also spoke on IU’s approval of an update to the undergraduate curriculum that includes a social justice component — something she is very pleased with. It would require students to take a certain number of classes pertaining to race and ethnicity or gender and sexuality.

Though Shaffer wrote she was

not fully aware of the details, she explained IU had been slow to implement the new classes.

“As far as I’m aware, the administration specifically has been dragging its feet for a few years on implementing this new policy, despite the fact that it was introduced and approved by the most powerful and influential board of IU faculty on campus,” she wrote.

Lindsay Ewell is a senior at Northwestern University’s School of Communication. In an email, Ewell wrote certain groups feel marginalized on the Northwestern campus; however, she noted an emphasis on academic performance.

“The NU campus climate is very isolated, in part because of the pressure to perform well academically,” she wrote. “Some POC groups are close knit because of a mutual appreciation for NU’s struggles, but there’s still a clear differentiation between groups. I can certainly say that a lot of POCs and POC groups feel marginalized on campus.”

According to 2016 enrollment data for the class of 2020 at Northwestern, 8.5 percent of the student population is Black or African American, 13.6 percent is Hispanic or Latino, 20 percent is Asian and 46 percent is white.

Comparatively, according to the 2016 U.S. Census Bureau, the state of Illinois has a 14.7 percent Black or African American population, a 17 percent Hispanic or Latino population, a 5.5 percent Asian population and a 61.7 percent white population.

Ilitch (D) was the only regent to contend the president’s decision.

“Unfortunately, I do not agree with the University of Michigan administration,” she said. “While I am a staunch proponent of the First Amendment, and stand firmly in support of our constitution, I remain very concerned that it is unsafe to allow him to speak at the University of Michigan.

Violence follows him wherever he goes.”

During public comments, every speaker — and many more students speaking out of turn during the meeting — argued Spencer’s appearance on campus is an inherent threat to safety.

Nursing graduate student Vidhya Aravind noted the proximity and strength of white supremacist groups near the University, saying an event with Spencer on campus would undoubtedly attract them.

“There’s nothing to be

learned from his viewpoint, nor can we learn anything from challenging it,” she said. “This dehumanization validates and affirms the views of hate groups like Identity Evropa, who has a base of organization within a half hour of the University.

Bringing him will embolden local white supremacists to continue to violent protesting, and will risk physical violence or murder.”

Rackham student Brittney Williams pointed out the ways in which Spencer’s views were an attack on her identity as a Black, bisexual woman — referencing his beliefs that Black people do not deserve to exist. Williams noted it was important for the Board to consider the gravity of allowing Spencer into a place many students considered their home.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

had it done … since we just really wanted to agree, that was mainly all that happened. There were some really important parts of the text that were extremely vague that were left to be figured out later. This year was when that actually had to happen.”

This year at COP23, Irish explained, leaders and representatives were charged with “writing the rulebook” to implement what they agreed upon in Paris. He explained COP23 was an exciting opportunity to substantiate some of the more abstract concepts in the Paris agreement.

Pertinent to the conference, Irish explained, was whether the United States would be involved in certain parts at all, given Trump’s announcement.

“What I was most excited about, personally from this last week, was that it seems to me that … in the past it was everyone waiting — is the U.S. going to play? Is the U.S. in? The question was, what’s going to happen to the world if the U.S. is in or not?” he said. “And now, because the Paris agreement has been signed and we’re kind of past it, I feel like … the questions is more, what’s going to happen to the U.S. if the U.S. isn’t in?”

Rackham student Samantha Basile is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering. She is the director of the Climate Blue, and attended this year’s conference.

Basile explained the official United States delegation was really only present in name. She said the other nations had already agreed to work without them.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Basile herself spent a lot of time in negotiations, and said it was interesting to see how all of the nations’ voices come together to agree on certain steps that need to be taken. She said such agreements are sometimes taken for granted.

“We assume that things aren’t moving fast enough and we get very frustrated as students, especially because we see, we just have so much energy and we want things to move forward,” she said. “So it was a little frustrating to see things get kicked down the road, but at the same time, they’re keeping everyone on board and keeping everyone under a consensus vote system so it’s pretty amazing that they get anything done.”

Environment and Sustainability graduate student Chris Karounos is pursuing his master’s degree in Environmental Informatics and Conservation Ecology. He said going into the conference he underestimated the “goodwill” of everyone involved in negotiations.

“It seemed like everyone had their hearts in the right place and it really needed to be that way because you’re in a room of at least 50 different upper-level delegates that were representing an entire country, and they all had to agree on something,” he said.

Karounos said it was rewarding to be a “fly on the wall” in the negotiation process.

“We’re really serving a purpose by being there as students,” he said. “(Initially), I thought it was kind of a fluff thing, but the U.N. really wants it to be a transparent process.”

Environment and Sustainability graduate student Tyler Fitch

Wednesday, November 22, 2017 — 3A

advocate for the investigation of companies in which the University of Michigan is invested that are tied to the violation of Palestinian human rights do so because they believe in advocating for what is just. I believe the authors and advocates of this resolution do not intend to target Jewish people, and I do not believe that criticism of Israel is inherently anti-Semitic.”

Sarkar outlined three specific points in her statement: First, she wrote she does not believe the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions Movement is completely distinct from advocacy for divestment; second, Sarkar said the refusal to allow Prof. Victor Lieberman to speak at last week’s meeting has since activated uncontextualized dialogue about the issue; and third, Sarkar wrote there is a necessity to address the fact that disagreement does not mean silencing.

“Ultimately, the spirit of this resolution is to elevate the voices of students who believe in protecting Palestinian human rights,” Sarkar wrote. “The spirit of the resolution embodies the University of Michigan’s mission statement — to challenge the present — and the University’s vision statement, which specifically says that we must dedicate ourselves to responsible stewardship of financial resources.”

Sarkar ended her letter noting she finds the assembly’s request to be reasonable.

“It is time for this issue to be elevated to the Board of Regents, regardless of the decision that it chooses to make on this question; in coming years, I am hopeful that the advocacy around this issue will continue to grow inclusively under the framework of communitybuilding and finding common ground,” Sarkar wrote.

On Monday evening, the University of Michigan chapter of SAFE met with E. Royster Harper, vice president for Student Life, and Laura Blake Jones, dean of students, for a dialogue and conversation.

Approximately 20 students were in attendance to discuss relevant campus climate and safety concerns, as well as the recently passed #UMDivestresolution.

The resolution passed for the first time in the University’s Ann Arbor campus history last Tuesday, and the results have been met with intense emotions across campus.

In an interview with the Daily, Harper explained her own thoughts on the resolution, and stated administration would be continuing their policies in making investment decisions based on financial reasonings.

Harper also mentioned efforts from the administration in keeping targeted communities safe.

“We have Jewish students that

are worried about their safety; we have Muslim and Arab students that are worried about their safety,” Harper said. “So we have a pretty active Department of Public Safety right now trying to be attuned to and mindful of this, and this conversation in the context of a national conversation.”

The administrators present at Monday’s dialogue declined to comment on specificities of the event. The Daily did not attend the meeting due to the personal nature of the event, but spoke to several student attendees afterwards.

LSA senior Andrea Sahouri attended the dialogue, and stated one of the most important aspects of the conversation was the way it exposed students to University officials that are open to hearing concerns, specifically for those students who may be feeling the administration is not intimately connected to conversation among the student body.

“I think the most important part of the meeting as a whole was letting the students of SAFE, and the community that SAFE brings together, letting them know that administration is available to them,” she said. “Throughout my whole college career I never felt comfortable to contact administration because I didn’t know that they were there for us.”

LSA senior Haleemah Aqel echoed similar sentiments towards the administrations’ presence, but also spoke of the unbiased nature under which the administrators confirmed they will be taking action.

“The thing that they emphasized is they obviously can’t take sides, which is obviously understandable, but just showing that if we ever need... to go to them or talk to them about anything that they’re there for us as students,” she said.

Another main point of discussion was safety concerns among students following #UMDivest.

While parts of the resolution were addressed, the conversation mostly focused on overall concerns of the students present, with administration reiterating the importance of students standing up for their own beliefs and not letting others take away this voice.

“At the end of the day they left us with the message that people are never going to agree with you all the time,” Sahouri said. “Sometimes you just have to really keep fighting for what you believe in and then focus your efforts on continuing that fight rather than focusing your efforts on people who are trying to bring you down.”

Students in opposition to the resolution were present at the dialogue, according to Sahouri.

These students were not asked to leave the room, as Sahouri stated the SAFE members are open to others listening to their concerns.

While some students, according to Sahouri, feel discouraged the

administration cannot take any immediate tangible action in solving marginalization on campus, she highlighted the opportunity to speak with administration was helpful, and she hopes such dialogues will continue in the future so as to affirm the University’s presence in hearing student concerns.

“I just thought it was cathartic to speak with someone who’s not in your own community about how you’re feeling,” Sahouri said. “It just feels like you’re finally being listened to.”

Outside of CSG, students in other organizations such as the Black Student Union and Latinx Alliance for Community Action, Support and Advocacy have supported the #UMDivest resolution.

This comes in contrast to a statement released by University of Michigan Hillel on Tuesday, in which members expressed their disagreement with the resolution.

Joshua Blum, chair of Hillel’s Governing Board and an LSA senior, sent the statement along with several other members of the board.

“While there is a diversity of thought toward Israel within our community, many students were united in feeling hurt by the rhetoric used to address the one Jewish State and our community,” the statement reads. “AntiSemitism manifests itself in many different ways. Some forms of anti-Semitism are more obvious such as Nazi marches, painted swastikas, and alt-Right chants.

Contemporary anti-Semitism takes the form of subtle remarks, micro-aggressions, and reinforcing negative stereotypes of the Jewish community. We saw many of these injustices in Tuesday night’s meeting.”

The statement also touched on the denial of Lieberman’s presence calling it “silencing”.

“When Jewish representatives spoke about their experiences with anti-Semitism and antiIsrael rhetoric, their concerns were dismissed,” the statement from Hillel reads. “Proponents of Divestment held up ‘silencing’ signs each time they heard a statement they disagreed with. The hypocrisy of silencing others while claiming to be silenced themselves, is antithetical to Michigan’s value of the free exchange of ideas.

All students’ perspectives and identities are valid and should not be selectively silenced.”

The University has yet to release any action with regard to the resolution’s passing, but University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald noted last Thursday that the University’s investment portfolio must be diversified to best assist the University in its overall educational missions.

explained the dynamic among conference attendees operates much like a bureaucratic power structure.

He said a lot of the negotiations are closed to non-party entities and he said most delegates tend to keep to themselves. However, he said there are a lot of open discussions fostered by the side events.

Some student delegations work directly with countries, taking notes for them and helping them navigate their schedules. The Climate Blue delegation, Basile explained, worked specifically with the United Nations Secretariat, which allowed them to interact with the formal process.

Rackham student Cesar Luis Barraza Botet, an international student from Colombia, said he approached the Colombian delegation.

Barraza Botet said the groups discussed specific topics or articles in the Paris Agreement in the plenary sessions. One article, he explained, discusses technology mechanisms, which requires the development of mitigation and adaptation technologies as well as the ability to transfer them from developed countries to developing countries.

“It was amazing to me how they had to agree on every single word that was going into these rulebook documents,” he said.

In terms of side events, Rackham student Emily Gargulinski — who is pursuing a master’s degree in the Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering department — said they took place in what is called the Bonn Zone. The zone comprised country pavilions — spaces in which

each country could exhibit their culture and display their climate change initiatives. The exhibitions comprised of small booths that displayed new technology and initiatives. There were also meeting rooms that held side events on topics such as nuclear power and sustainable cities.

One key component of the delegation’s COP experience is the Climate Blue blog. Through their blogs, members can reflect on conference highlights.

“We tried to set it up as a system where everyone could be involved, but hopefully wouldn’t be overwhelmed, because we knew the negotiations would be overwhelming in itself,” Basile said. “Everyone participated on the Twitter, on our social media, and then our requirement was either before, during or after COP, you would write one blog kind of reflecting on a certain topic. We didn’t want it to just be like a diary entry, we wanted it to have a little more of a perspective behind it.”

In his blog, Fitch discussed the We Are Still In movement, which comprises cities, companies and universities that support action to implement the Paris agreement despite Trump’s intent to withdraw.

According to Fitch, there was a series of events related to this movement at the conference.

Additionally, in October, Climate Blue and Michigan and The Climate Crisis wrote a letter to University President Mark Schlissel asking him to sign the We Are Still In pledge on behalf of the University, which he did.

“I think the conference was sort

of a, ‘What is the next step for We Are Still In?’ And frankly I don’t think they know yet, but the idea is that … the We Are Still In folks are going to keep abreast of these negotiations and continue to make climate action happen in the United States,” he said. “(The University of) Michigan is a part of that which means it’s all the more relevant for us.”

Irish explained though the United States government did not have a climate pavilion of its own at the conference this year, there was a We Are Still In pavilion area that became the United States’ de facto location and was bigger than past federal pavilions.

“The idea is just telling the rest of the world that we have federalism in the United States — the federal government doesn’t get to call the shots on everything so in a very real sense the U.S. is ‘still in,’” he said.

Noting that the United States plays a large role in mitigating climate change, Irish also explained the rest of the world has responsibilities as well. He explained the bottom-up approach to reducing emissions outlined in the Paris agreement, which allows each country to bring their own emission reduction proposal to the table, and to which all parties agreed.

“The good thing is it finally helped all the countries build trust together to actually want to do something and try to make this virtuous cycle, but the bad thing is there is absolutely no guarantee that we’re actually going to meet our goals,” he said.

RESOLUTION From Page 1A

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Opinion

4A — Wednesday, November 22, 2017

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FROM THE DAILY

O

A bad tax plan overall

n Nov. 16, the House of Representatives passed their version of a tax bill. The bill aims to overhaul many Obama-era tax legislations, including the Obamacare health care mandate aimed at reducing overall health care costs, in order to facilitate tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. Furthermore, the bill hurts those in higher education by implementing higher taxes on students.

This tax bill is incredibly detrimental to students, the general U.S. population and the economy, and we urge the Senate to revise it entirely.

Particularly troubling for students, the GOP tax bill greatly undervalues education. For one, student loan repayment will no longer be tax deductible. Currently, 44 million borrowers owe $1.3 trillion in student loan debt in the U.S. As such, this legislation would make a college education much more unaffordable for the average American.

Graduate education takes a much bigger hit. Under the Section 117 (d)(5) of the House tax plan, graduate school tuition waivers will be considered taxable income, rendering an already meager income unlivable.

Given most graduate students receive funding primarily through teaching or research assistantships, taxing these waivers as income may make pursuing graduate education financially difficult for students, particularly students of lower socioeconomic status.

This legislation relies on a misunderstanding of what a graduate level education actually is. Graduate students do not get paid for sitting in classrooms all day; rather, teaching and contributing to research serve as indispensable parts of the graduate education.

This work is notoriously timedemanding and deserving of compensation. As such, the United States’s research productivity — particularly

in the sciences — will likely take a big hit, because it isn’t unreasonable for prospective graduate students, who conduct much of the research done in the U.S., to look abroad for their graduate degrees or forgo earning one altogether.

The economic justifications for the GOP tax plan ref lect a f lawed knowledge of the efficacy of economic policies.

The tax plan will add anywhere between $1.5 trillion and $1.7 trillion to the deficit and, while many senators argue the added economic activity will make up for the increase, most economists disagree.

This, in conjunction with the prioritization of corporations in the plan, illustrates Republicans’ continued adherence to the concept of trickle-down economics.

Their support of this economic idealogy signifies a disregard for the popular consensus in the economic community of the fallacies of the success of these policies.

Nevertheless, even if we assumed that trickle-down economics were a viable solution, the tax plan is still f lawed. The writers of the bill justify treating graduate school tuition waivers as taxable income by saying it is non-spendable and will therefore not contribute to increasing economic activity.

However, higher enrollment costs will likely cause graduate

EMILY WOLFE | CONTACT EMILY AT ELWOLFE@UMICH.EDU

school enrollment rates to fall, stalling any potential for trickle down before it can even begin, as fewer people overall will have degrees that will give them more money to spend in the economy.

Additionally, this tax bill fails people outside of higher educational contexts.

The reduction in corporate tax rates will prioritize the needs of large corporate interests over the needs of the most vulnerable, including students and people of lower socioeconomic status.

Everyday workers will see less economic activity, and will be subject to higher costs in many areas.

For example, teachers and medical professionals will no longer be able to write off expenses for supplies and other expenses they incur at work. Furthermore, the removal of the Individual Health Insurance Mandate, a part of Obamacare, would likely lead to higher insurance prices across the board. This plan will strip Americans of needed health care coverage while funneling savings to the wealthiest corporate interests.

This is a bad tax plan overall and works against our country’s ideals. We urge the Senate to change these to protect not only the interests of graduate students, but also of the general American population.

Editor’s note: The writer’s name has been changed to protect their identity. ast year, I was sitting in class and out of nowhere our graduate student instructor started talking about a case where football players sexually assaulted a female student at a Texas university. As I sat digesting what I was hearing, I could feel my face get hot, my heartbeat quicken. I could feel my eyes start to water. I knew I was about to cry but I held it in. Finally, we broke into small group discussions and I excused myself to go to the bathroom.

I had barely stepped into the hallway when I began to sob uncontrollably. My brain was simultaneously numb and overstimulated with a thousand different thoughts, and they were overwhelming me to the point that I had no idea what to do with myself. So, I paced. In those few moments, all of what had happened to me freshman year was made worse by the fact I had become visibly upset in public and in front of my peers.

To make matters worse, in an effort to hide my distress from my peers, I now had to try to conceal my meltdown from strangers in the hallway. I was trying to do the impossible: shut down memories that had a habit of reemerging up like the moles in that Whack-A-Mole game — erratically, suddenly and in the worst moments.

A few moments later, my GSI stepped out of the classroom to find me. For a little while, we sat together on the stairs silently.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“I’m so, so sorry.”

That was all she could say. I could tell she knew what had made me so upset, but because of her obligation as a GSI to report sexual violence, she didn’t say much more. And I thank her for that.

After some time, she had to go back to class before other students could wonder why she had disappeared for so long. I stayed put in the hallway.

She came back a little later with the belongings I’d left behind. She was kind and caring.

I am grateful every day that I had

L

a GSI as understanding as she was. But in that moment, I felt like a bug under a microscope — like every move I made was being watched.

When I finally started to head home, I walked at lightning speed to avoid human interaction at all costs. I had a meeting in less than an hour, but there was no way I was going to make it. Not in one piece, at least. So, after sending a vague and potentially alarming email to my professor, I crawled into bed. That’s where I stayed for a better part of the afternoon, feeling uncontrollably upset, as if what happened three years ago had happened yesterday. *** My freshman year, I got a boy’s number at a party. A few months later, I went to his house.

I hadn’t put everything together as I made my way over, but when I stepped into his room, I almost immediately started feeling scared and uneasy. I realized what was about to happen. But he was bigger in size, intimidatingly so. I didn’t know anyone in his house, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to figure out how to get home. I was trapped. So that’s where I stayed. Trapped.

This night turned my world completely upside down. For a while, I was almost always on edge, always looking around me to make sure he wasn’t there.

I was startled by people who resembled him; I would begin to breath heavily, my face would get hot, my throat would constrict.

I would hear my heartbeat in my ears. Now it’s gotten a little easier, but I still shudder when something reminds me of what happened or when a random thought of that night intrudes my headspace. And there are still moments when I think I’ve seen him and I panic.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” one of my friends said to me one day after I could have sworn I saw him on the street. I smiled awkwardly.

“I’ve just had a day,” I told her.

The summer between my freshman and sophomore years was the hardest. I had only told one person about what happened, and, more than anything, I hated myself. I felt stupid and ashamed that I’d been in that situation, because I felt responsible. To this day, I still

often question whether I could have done something differently.

That summer, I was very quiet and I stayed in bed a lot.

There were times when I just felt overcome with sadness. I looked sad, too, and my mom would ask me if everything was alright. It wasn’t, but I told her it was. She and I are best friends, and I could tell she knew something was wrong, but just the thought of telling her sends me into a panic. *** I can never be 100 percent sure what would have changed had I known beforehand what we were going to talk about that day in my discussion. But I do know I was not prepared. As a result, I couldn’t participate in the conversation. We should never shy away from talking about sexual assault because it’s important, but it’s equally important to give survivors the tools to allow them to comfortably talk about these things. Just a simple email or a note in the syllabus when a class is talking about a topic that could elicit a very emotional reaction would help immensely.

So, no. I don’t want trigger warnings so I can skip out on class. They aren’t so I can shelter myself. I’m not asking that we water down these important conversations to accommodate survivors. Trigger warnings would allow me to participate in these tough discussions with my peers because I would know what to expect.

When I found myself in this situation last semester, I had no time to stop for a moment and breathe. It was all hitting me like a train that I couldn’t stop. I was glued to the tracks and couldn’t step off. So, the next time you question the importance of trigger warnings or roll your eyes because you think that it’s politically correct culture “back at it again,” think about if you were me. What would you want?

Alexis is an LSA senior.

This is the fifth piece in the Survivors Speak series, which seeks to share the varied, first-person experiences of survivors of sexual assault.

ELLERY ROSENZWEIG | COLUMN

A

The team, the team, the team

s all new years begin, resolutions are created.

So, as the fall semester approached this year, a few friends and I made a resolution to be more physically active this semester. Whether it was to walk more, bike, run or attend cycling and yoga classes, we planned to encourage each other to see this resolution through.

With the intention to be a more active human, when I heard the news that my housemates were deciding to form an intramural soccer team in the non-competitive league, I jumped at the chance to join. The last time I played soccer was in sixth grade when everyone made the team. I didn’t make the team the following year in seventh grade because I kept tripping over my feet during the scrimmage game in tryouts. This would be a great shot for my second try where I could be active and put myself outside of my comfort zone.

I have never called myself an athlete, but I have always tried my best because I love being a part of a team. Arriving at our first game, I could feel butterflies in my stomach walking toward the field of players. My team of housemates began warming up and passing the ball back and forth with skill and finesse. I was shocked by their abilities, energy and talent. I soon realized that most have played soccer competitively and our team of competitors shared these characteristics as well.

In general, competitive sports have an ability to bond people.

People could have nothing in common, but with a ball and a net, individuals from drastically different lives can share a common goal wanting their team to win. To me, framing sports in this light makes athleticism sound

quite beautiful. And there I see the greatness in this team camaraderie and lessons individuals can learn from group cooperation. But this doesn’t mean competitive sports are for everyone.

The game began and I was on the sidelines, anxiously hoping there was some way I didn’t have to sub for someone who was in. But with time, one of my teammates wanted some time to rest, and I tied up my borrowed cleats and ran in. My time on the field was a blur. My heart beat out of my chest as I ran up and down the field. I think I may have made contact with the ball once or twice. When the half was over, I was happy to go back on the sidelines.

When the game ended, I honestly felt traumatized by this small experience. I know that may sound dramatic. Looking around at my smiling teammates who gained so much joy from their time on the field, I reflected on my own feelings of panic and anxiety.

At this point, I knew this wasn’t the right activity for me.

I spent the next week after the game hoping there was a way I didn’t have to play again.

Luckily enough, I found myself with a horrible ingrown toenail from wearing borrowed cleats that were just too tight. With this strong excuse, I knew I would be able to sit out and not play. Sharing this news with my teammates, I felt a rush of embarrassment.

I felt like I failed myself and the team. I didn’t want to leave my team at a disadvantage, but I knew playing again would only make me feel worse.

Normally, I find I’m a grouporiented thinker, but in this case, I found that I needed to do what was best for myself. And I think overall this was better for the team. I still showed up to our games and

drove a car full of teammates to the field. I even had a friend fill in for me and play very last minute.

This way, I wasn’t putting myself in a situation that made me feel too uncomfortable because in that space one cannot grow.

In an effort to try new things and be active, I ended up feeling embarrassed and ashamed. I don’t think this feeling is necessary to be an active, social person. Since this event, I have been throwing myself into non-competitive physical activities like yoga and bike rides. Here I can still hold up my resolution and do it on my own terms.

It is important to remember we all have different skills that we bring into our group and team dynamics. I have found myself in similar settings in course group projects as well. A group relies on the strength of its individuals who are there for each other.

In my projects where my group members cared for and valued each others’ ideas, skills and time, the group performed better and had better outcomes. If everyone makes an effort to think about the group first, the group will have a good outcome.

This indicates that we are only as strong as the strength of the individuals who make up our groups and teams. When we form this trust with our group members, we must do this with ourselves as well. When we know everyone is looking out for one another, the team trusts that you will take the time and energy for self-care. These group dynamics are complex, but with folks who care, it can truly make an impact for everyone involved.

Ellery Rosenzweig can be reached at erosenz@umich.edu.

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

ALBUM REVIEW

Wednesday, November 22, 2017 — 5A

COMMUNITY PROFILE

RCA/SONY Two years ago he told us that Buffalo revived his career and that’s the most that city’s done

‘Oblivion’ is the comeback Multi-purposing venues: none of us asked T-Pain for The new release finds T-Pain trying, failing to reinvent himself The Pink Seat Project is both aware & entertaining This past week’s performance by the Friars

JONAH MENDELSON Daily Arts Writer

Louis Menand, a staff writer for the New Yorker, postulated “The Iron Law of Stardom,” which states that a star can only coincide with the zeitgeist for three years before the world moves on. Someone needs to frame that article and give it to T-Pain, because his latest album, Oblivion, released last Thursday, Nov. 17, feels like the efforts of a man struggling in vain to swim against a current that’s leaving him behind.

T-Pain, the former charttopper, now finds himself making lukewarm dancehall pop numbers (“No Rush”) and half hearted trap anthems.

How did it come to this?

I’m making this album sound worse than it really is

The answer is that T-Pain is trying to be two artists at once on Oblivion — he is trying to

keep up with what is currently popular while retaining his signature style, but the end result is a work that feels aimless and devoid of artistic meaning. In attempting to be both a trapper and a poppy R&B singer, he stretches himself much too thin, leading to an album that comes off as half-assed and derivative.

I’m making this album sound worse than it really is.

It’s actually not half bad; “Your Friend” and “Second Chance (Don’t Back Down),” for example, are both enjoyable if not spectacular. In fact, there is nothing inherently “bad” about most of this album, as many of the songs are energetic, catchy and utterly inoffensive. T-Pain’s vocals are as fun as ever, and there is no denying that he has a knack for catchy melodies. The problem is that Oblivion just doesn’t have the same magic that T-Pain had from ’06 to ’08, when he was perfect for his time and place, and it feels like a hollow imitation as a result.

A few particular low points: “That Comeback” is an attempted pop anthem that lacks any form of charisma and is quite possibly the worst track T-Pain has ever released.

Don’t listen to it. “Goal Line” is an attempt at an industrial trap sound that falls f lat on its face from the get-go, not helped by

an uninspiring feature from Blac Youngsta.

In his article Menand claims two exceptions to his threeyear rule: If stars reinvent themselves, as the Beatles and

Oblivion T-Pain RCA / Sony Kanye West have done, they may be able to be at one with the zeitgeist for an additional three years. It is too late for T-Pain to go down this path; he is too far removed from the cutting edge. The other exception is that stars can have a three-year “revival,” where an artist experiences a resurgence borne of mass nostalgia, which may yet happen for Pain, but likely not as a result of this new release.

This wave of nostalgia is the force by which we could conceivably see T-Pain restored to cultural relevancy, a society of millennials wishing to return to the idyllic days of halcyon youth through the crooning king of AutoTune. Until then, he would do well to not try to catch up with a cultural milieu that has passed him by, and instead embrace the style that made him so inf luential in the first place.

FILM NOTEBOOK

A24 Colin Farrell is a national treasure

A look at Lanthimos and the division over his films How one director’s filmography has created divisiveness in viewers SOPHIA WHITE Daily Arts Writer

I’m mainly writing this because I can’t figure out if I like Yorgos Lanthimos’s films and I have a feeling I’m not alone in this sentiment. Some think he’s pretentious, some think he’s a

visionary and a genius, some think he’s downright crooked and disturbed — and some are probably in the middle like me.

“Dogtooth” (2009), “The Lobster” (2015) and the newly released “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” all follow a similar, authentically and distinguishably Lanthimosian aesthetic of a

bizarre dystopia. “Dogtooth,” a film in the director’s native Greek, traces a controlling father who locks his children on their house grounds and brainwashes them. “The Lobster” gives its characters 45 days to find a mate and, if they do not succeed, they are turned into the animals of their choice — a bleak survival of

ALEX SUPPAN Daily Arts Writer

What can a seat do?

“When people first walk in, they see the pink seat, the immediate reaction is ‘what is that?’”

It can spark a question.

“He was crying when he saw this pink seat.”

It can provoke a reaction.

A seat can be more than a place to sit and watch a performance. It can have philanthropic powers.

In the seventh grade, College of Engineering Senior Adam Lassman had a realization when he saw an advertisement featuring Ted Williams’s red seat at Fenway.

“It signifies that a feat was accomplished,” (the longest homerun hit in Fenway), Lassman said in an interview with the Michigan Daily, “and I remember thinking ‘That’s one seat, and that’s a sea of seats ... One seat could make an impact.’”

When he earned a service fellowship during his senior year of high school, Lassman capitalized on the visual and fiscal powers of a seat by creating the Pink Seat Project, “a non-profit organization that works to establish pink seats in entertainment venues, and all the ticket sales from those seats go to local breast cancer organizations.”

In the entertainment industry, venues are rented out by the people putting on the production, and thus the aesthetics of the space are up to their discretion. With permission from the producers, The Pink Seat Project temporarily installs pink seats at entertainment venues for specific performances.

During the span of the The Pink Seat Project’s inaugural year, Lassman installed nine pink seats in his local area of Needham, Massachusetts. The organization was born again at the University during the second semester of Lassman’s sophomore year, after joining Pi Sigma Epsilon, a

the fittest. And in his latest film, “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” a surgeon is forced to choose the fate of his children’s lives through the psychological mind control of the son of a patient who died during his operation. It’s the ultimate vendetta.

Lanthimos’s directorial vision and overall view of the world is undeniably twisted and dark. He attempts to critique the complex themes that we face as humans: the conditioning one’s upbringing forces on the individual, the competition to find a compatible partner and procreate and the hunt for revenge. In a way, his stories trace, thematically, the stories of his predecessors of the Ancient Greek classics, as they all explore the primal nature of humans. The title of “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” itself is even based on the Greek myth of Iphigenia who is sacrificed

COURTESY OF CARLY YASHINKSY

consulting fraternity on campus.

Since its introduction at the University, pink seats have been installed at performances for MUSKET, the Friars, 58 Greene, and an impromptu comedy show organized by a group of friends.

For this upcoming winter semester, the organization has established a partnership with Big Ticket Productions.

Students in entertainment organizations on campus have been eager and excited to support Lassman’s Pink Seat Project at their own performances. “It’s students talking with students,” said Carly Yashinsky, LSA Senior and consulting director for the Pink Seat Project.

“The person who recorded the PSE promotional video … she was in her own a capella group and she had a performance that Friday.” So Lassman asked, “‘Can I get a pink seat there?’”

“One of my friends is in a stand up comedy club … so I put one pink seat there.”

The Pink Seat’s reach throughout Lassman’s time as a University student has extended beyond this campus. “I studied abroad in Australia,” Lassman said. “One day … I walked past the theatre department.” He went inside, looked for a manager and was eventually directed to another building where he met a student in charge of ticket sales. Lassman gave his pitch, the student was on board and that weekend, three pink seats were installed at a student performance of “Romeo and Juliet” at the University of New South Wales.

The Pink Seat Project is expanding in the U.S., too. Students at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a high school student in Miami are seeking to install pink seats at performances in their local areas.

The Pink Seat’s success has been due in large part to the receptivity of the arts community with whom

they create partnerships. Lassman began playing the trumpet when he was young, and at his quartet performances he was exposed to people who seemed to “generally enjoy being surrounded by people.”

Lassman he said he knew when starting his organization that “a community like that would be most receptive to an idea like this.”

The arts community is also the Pink Seat’s target audience. Equally as important as its mission to fundraise is its dual purpose to raise awareness about the importance of these procedures. A cure for breast cancer is in the spotlight of the breast cancer conversation, and so the importance of early detection is often overshadowed.

A pink seat in a venue is a visual cue. It is an effective tool for awareness because it doesn’t explain its meaning, it sparks a question. Audience members can find the answer in their programs, and it’s Lassman’s hope that “it sparks them to do a little bit more digging.”

For some, it can spark more than a question or newfound awareness, it can spark a reaction and a connection. A MUSKET alumnus was the occupant of a pink seat at the group’s performance of ‘Big Fish’ in 2016. 45 years earlier, after a dress rehearsal for his performance of ‘My Fair Lady’ in 1971, he went to the hospital with some fellow cast members and sang a rendition of ‘Wouldn’t it Be Loverly’ to his mother. She was sick from breast cancer and nodded off when they finished the song.

“He can come back and see MUSKET supporting breast cancer,” Lassman said. “It brought him to tears.”

A seat is more than a place to sit, and it serves more than a philanthropic purpose. The Pink Seat creates a culture of care that relies on, and can strengthen, the connectedness of the community of those that enjoy arts, theatre, music and entertainment.

by her father, Agamemnon, who killed a sacred deer and then must therefore murder his daughter for retribution from the gods. An ode to his roots, perhaps, his vision is evidently imbued with an influence from an iconic historical period when the instincts of violence and vengeance were esteemed.

Probably what has made Lanthimos such a provocative director is his reliance on visceral elements and reactions that many claim to be outrageous and disturbing. His movies are weird; they don’t quite fit into one specific genre and the frequent violence he features can at times seem arbitrary. He relies on disorienting the audience as a device to reveal the greater truths about his films, like in “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” when the characters speak in a robotic, monotone speech that distances

them from reality or when, in “Dogtooth,” the brainwashed kids are taught misnomers by their parents (like the word “telephone” to replace the word “salt”) to comment on how truth and knowledge are subjective and how one’s environment determines everything. This deliberate disorientation enters the audience into an uncomfortable position which can be overwhelming and unsettling, which is likely his intention.

“The Killing of a Sacred Deer” received the best screenplay award at Cannes. Though, like all of his films, critics and fans alike are bound to have polarizing views on the film. Some detest his work and some thrive off seeing what he’s going to release next, but despite this divide, his films are damn entertaining and worth a view.

Arts

6A — Wednesday, November 22, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK

ARTIST PROFILE

A talk with Chris Bernardi The persistence & focus on Pixar’s upcoming ‘Coco’ on negativity in the arts Bernardi discussed his new project & work as an animator BECKY PORTMAN Daily Arts Writer

On Wednesday night, Nov. 15, Pixar set supervisor, Chris Bernardi (“Inside Out”) spoke to a nearly full house of students interested in animation and film. In his presentation, Bernardi explained his role as set supervisor on his latest project, Pixar’s “Coco” (in theaters Nov. 22) and debuted footage from animation tests and preliminary drawings.

“Coco” follows the young Miguel on the Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). Miguel is a passionate musician and looks to his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz for inspiration, but his family has banned music from their lives since a tragic event from their past. “Coco” is about family and heritage and chasing your dreams. Yet, “Coco” is not your typical Pixar fairytale, it combines a rich cultural history and with deftness and creativity, constructs two worlds of epic proportions.

As set supervisor, Bernardi’s team was in charge of creating the universe of “Coco.” Every cobblestone, every building, every tree was sketched, modeled and animated by Bernardi’s team. The film started as a nugget of idea by director Lee Unkrich (“Toy Story 3”) in

2011 as a fascination with the Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos, and after multiple trips to Mexico, extensive research, full-time consultants and years of work “Coco” was born. Bernardi emphasized the importance of research in the film, from the food to the movement of the skeletons to the detailed ofrendas (altars built for dead relatives).

Bernardi said he did not know much about the holiday before the film, “We have no similar holiday here in America.”

Since immersing himself in the culture and the holiday he emphasized the beauty of “the idea of remembering your ancestors.”

“At the end of the film there is an ofrenda and my grandparents are up there,” he said. Along with his grandparents are photographs of other lost relatives.

“We tried to do it with a light touch,” Bernardi added, “it is not a sad thing, it’s the idea that people come back to us. We remember the things that they loved. The idea of spending some time to think about them is the wonderful sentiment.”

Bernardi highlighted some of the challenges his team faced like the scale of the double universe in the film and the loose movement of the skeleton’s vertebrae.

Additionally, most of the film takes place at night, which meant

the animators needed to provide artificial light for every scene at night. Also, the team is getting used to new rendering program with pathfinding technology that the company acquired for “Finding Dory.”

When asked about his journey to a career in animation he explained, “when I started there wasn’t even a field, I took a long path to Pixar, it takes a while.”

He got interested in electronic music in college and from there he discovered animation.

Bernardi said the leap from music to animation was not as big a jump as one might think. He explained that music is texture for the ears while animation is texture for the eyes. He started his animation adventure in 2000 as shading technical director for “Finding Nemo.” Since “Nemo,” Bernardi has worked on such Academy Award-winning films as “WALL-E,” “Toy Story 3” and “Inside Out.” Bernardi had some advice for all the young animators out there: “Work hard.”

“I did a lot of awful animation,” he added without shame. “They started off bad and I got better and better, keep hammering at it.”

It took Bernardi ten years and a ton of hard work to end up in animation “I wish there was a magic bullet but sometimes it’s just hard work,” he said.

TV NOTEBOOK

NBC We will jump off the roof, land on the cardboard boxes and kick flip

Streaming & ‘The Office’ How the immediacy of Netflix let’s us tap into TV obsession OLIVIA ASIMAKIS Daily Arts Writer

The week before “High School Musical” aired on Disney Channel was probably one of the most exciting weeks of the summer before 7th grade. It’s all any one of my middle school friends could talk about. My sister and I camped out in front of our old-fashioned box TV for an hour before with snacks so we wouldn’t miss it.

In fact, the idea of missing it was absolutely traumatic.

Now, for the most part, I don’t have to wait a week to watch one of my favorite programs. I can get it instantly by logging into one account, taking approximately 11 seconds. Netflix. Xfinity on Demand. Hulu. You name it. I want it, I have it. No wait, no hassle.

And this ease has shaped the way consumers watch and enjoy TV. “The Office” aired on NBC in 2004 and has now become one of the most watched programs on Netflix. I can watch it whenever I want. That mindless action of turning it on whenever I open my Netflix account is the reason I have seen every episode more than five times. While there are many great, new exciting tv shows out there to watch, none of them hold onto my heart quite like “The Office” does.

“The Office” follows the lives of ordinary office workers in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The manager of the office, Michael Scott (Steven Carell, “Last Flag Flying”), is the biggest dope

you’ve ever met, saying and doing unimaginable things, yet making me laugh appropriately. Michael’s loyal yet conniving number two, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson, “Thom Pain”), is a strange pariah with a bizarre lifestyle, like living as a beet farmer on the side.

Additionally, the Jim Halpert (John Krasinski, “Detroit”) and Pam Beesley (Jenna Fischer, “The Guest Book”) evolution never fails to make me tear up. (Soft, I know).

Steve Carell can successfully record cringe worthy moments, like having to tell a bunch of high schoolers he can’t pay for their college when he promised to or when he gets up at Jim and Pam’s wedding to make a toast about consensual sex. These moments leave me with pain and second-hand embarrassment. I’m impressed Carell could get through half of those scenes. Michael’s character is also noticeably and undebatably pathetic. He has no family of his own, and his own mother shits on him. Yet, his love for his employees is heartwarming but also kind of sad and creepy.

The dynamic of Jim and Dwight’s friendship/rivalry constantly feeds the witty humor of the show. Jim plays ingenious tricks on Dwight, like putting his stapler in jello or conditioning him to ask for a mint when he rings a bell. I’ve seen this scene in so many of my psychology classes, so hey, the show is educational, too.

Sometimes his schemes are more elaborate. For example, he sends Dwight faxes from “Dwight’s future self” and Dwight believes it.

Or one time he destroyed Dwight’s hotel room and pretended to be dead. Jim’s child like personality juxtaposed to Dwight’s stern seriousness makes the pair an irreplaceable duo.

The light, playful humor riddled in “The Office” makes it enjoyable for any audience, well, as long as you like to laugh. My sister and I have “The Office” marathons whenever I come home for breaks. It’s filled with awkward yet hilarious situations that have become the tail-end of jokes between my sister and myself. The show itself isn’t the reason why I’m so attached, but the sentimental value it has of reminding me of my sister amplifies my love for it.

Jim and Dwight’s frenemy relationship isn’t the only famous interaction in the show — Jim and Pam. Pam is engaged to a monster of a boyfriend, yet has her best friend, so obviously in love with her, watching it all happen.

Jim pines over Pam, giving her a sentimental teapot for Christmas, a scene so staple in the show that I have seen it been as a gift in real life out of mimicry. Jim finally tells Pam his feelings, but she rejects him which probably made not just me, but everyone else watching want to give her a roundhouse kick to the jaw. It was probably one of the most frustrating scenes in the show, but thankfully, it all worked out for the better.

Jim and Pam fall in love, get

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

How the tortured artist aesthetic can be detrimental for young artists SAMMY SUSSMAN For the Daily

This past week, I viewed a presentation of “artist’s books” by former Stamps School of Art & Design students here at the University. An “artist’s book” is a piece of art meant to resemble and / or be consumed as a book. In this case, they were supposed to be representative of the creative process. One of the books was an elaborate drawing of a tall mountain and a lake, presumably representing the insurmountable challenge and inevitable fall of the creative process.

Another depicted string being attached to a brain, which is (what I assume to be) a depiction of creative thoughts being pulled out of the artist’s head.

While some of these books were more cheerful than others, they all explored the fear and anxieties that are part of the creative process –– none of these artists chose to take a positive view. As a casual observer of these works, I was stunned by the negative feelings that the creative process brings to these artists and the complex, ambiguous ways in which the artists tried to convey these feelings.

The same could be said of many of the compositions that were premiered this past weekend at the Midwest Composers Symposium, an allday event on Saturday featuring music from composers studying at the University of Iowa, the University of Indiana, the University of Cincinnati and the University of Michigan. Most of the pieces at this event as well were sad and depressing, with unnecessary dissonances giving everything a melancholy feel. In particular, almost all the chamber music that was

premiered during the event was atonal almost to a fault — the composers were obviously working extremely hard to sound complicated and modern.

Unlike many modern Serialist composers, these pieces were devoid of anything even remotely implying consonance. They were so complicated that they were incomprehensible.

While complex art can be interesting and engaging, this propensity toward complexity among students can stunt artistic growth. As Pablo Picasso once said, “Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like

Classical music has moved in the past 30 years away from an avantgarde dominated marketplace

an artist.” Without a complete understanding of of the forms and stylistic normalities that are being broken to make art seem complex, these young artists lack a basic understanding of their art forms.

At the Midwestern Composer’s Forum, for example, a quick glance at someone’s score showed that they lacked a proper understanding of meter and beaming — their inability to properly beam their eighth notes broke through their complex polyrhythmic facade and ruined what was an otherwise extremely sophisticated-looking score. Enharmonic spellings

Classifieds

also gave way to pseudosophistication with E-sharps and B-sharps replacing F-naturals and C-naturals all over the page.

This obsession with complexity was also apparent among the event attendees: Pieces were repeatedly praised for their “interesting soundscapes” and uses of “extended techniques” instead of being praised for their emotional landscapes or artistic value.

Now this does not mean that all art by young composers is complex, or that complex art is bad. But the tendency for complex art among academic institutions and young artists can be bad, particularly considering the multifaceted nature of modern art. Classical music, in particular, has moved in the past thirty years away from an avant-garde dominated marketplace. Thanks to the work of minimalists, postminimalists, spectralists and neo-romantics, composers no longer need to compose within the serialist or post-tonal harmonic languages.

While some institutions have been able to breach this stylistic gap, many seem to resist this change. Ironic as it may seem, the last frontier for the minimalists to confront is where they began: Educational institutions and young artists. These institutions and the young artists that occupy them remain the last steadfast defenders of this complex aesthetic movement and all it stood for. To the detriment of their artistic growth, these artists remain committed to this pseudo-sophistication and all it stands for. Though it is hard to understand and hard to consume, complex art is compelling, but it is time for a new artistic movement to replace the old and for a new artistic standard to replace the complexity that currently reigns.

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

FOR RENT

RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Minty Derby drink 6 Shopping extravaganza 11 ABC show for early risers, briefly 14 “Ditto,” more formally 15 “Can’t win ’em all” 16 Conniving “2001” computer 17 Copperfield’s field 18 Last one in, so they say 20 Complain 22 __ extra cost 23 Banged shut 27 Cover the spread?

28 More unsure 29 Bad thing to end on 32 Feels lousy 33 Casual “You game?”

34 Serious carelessness, in tort law 41 Westminster landmark 42 Indifferent responses 43 Place at the very bottom 47 Letter-shaped shoe fastener 49 Tablet download 50 Becomes depleted 51 “Tickle Me” toy 52 Tries one’s hand (at) 55 Trait of one given to obscenities 57 Held the deed to 62 Dawn goddess 63 Naturally lit lobbies 64 Connect with 65 Apt. divisions 66 Oyster bead 67 Reaction to the starts of the five longest puzzle answers DOWN 1 Traffic snarl 2 Mex. neighbor 3 Fall behind 4 Old U.K. record label

5 Hand raiser’s cry 6 Fathered 7 Devious scheme 8 Campus cadets’ org.

9 Bk. before Job 10 Summer on the Seine 11 “In the __”: Elvis hit 12 Refrigerator art holder 13 Climate Reality Project chairman 19 Indian flatbread 21 Bible transl., e.g.

23 Party loot 24 Den 25 Guthrie of folk 26 __ Piggy 27 Rock climber’s handhold 29 “Full House” actor 30 Like a child without siblings 31 Start of a cycle?

33 Woven traps 35 Polio vaccine pioneer 36 Kevin Durant’s org.

37 CPR specialists 38 Geek 39 Sear

40 Award for athletes 43 Sailor’s jacket 44 Flowering 45 Half a rhyming “easy to do” phrase 46 Menthol cigarette brand 47 Harbor helper 48 Highfalutin 50 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby

52 Table d’__: fixed menu 53 Mystical glow 54 Cookbook verb 56 “The Amazing Race” prop 58 LPGA golfer Michelle 59 Japanese tech company 60 And more: Abbr.

61 [Facepalm]

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11/22/17

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KISSMYPOLITICAL.COM

statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | N OV E M B E R 2 2 , 2017

A home, not a house A l o o k a t A n n A r b o r ’s h i s to r i c co - o p s

2B

Wednesday, November 22, 2017 // The Statement

statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | N OV E M B E R 2 2 , 2017

Managaing Statement Editor: Lara Moehlman

Editor in Chief: Emma Kinery

Managing Editor: Rebecca Lerner

Deputy Editors: Yoshiko Iwai Brian Kuang

Design Staff: Michelle Phillips Hannah Myers Emily Hardie Erin Tolar Emily Koffsky

Copy Editors: Elizabeth Dokas Taylor Grandinetti

Photo Editor: Alexis Rankin

Copy that: What’s in a name?

BY SO JUNG KIM, DAILY COPY EDITOR

A

ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH MYERS

mong the unending items we factcheck, spell-check, grammarcheck and style-check at the mighty copy desk are the names of University of Michigan officials, guest speakers, Ann Arbor residents and students. Names are easy. It takes a simple Google, LinkedIn or MCommunity search to make sure we publish people’s names correctly. The Daily’s coverage at its core is about the people who fill this campus, city and state through their actions, opinions and — more explicitly — their quotes.

My job is to check such names.

But every so often, typos and mix-ups compromise the correct identification of our subjects.

When you introduce yourself, you start by saying your name. Names last longer and ref lect more of your identity than titles do.

One of my first middle school English assignments was to learn the origin stories of my name. That night I dove into the deeper meanings behind my names using Google and the fount of wisdom that is my mom.

My given middle name is Madeline, a hopeful moniker bestowed upon me by my mother who wanted to give me an out and an option for an easier life with an English name. Yes, I was named after Ludwig Bemelmans’s small, rambunctious redhead Parisian schoolgirl who needed an appendectomy. And yes, I own several hardcover volumes of the books.

After an evening of light research and questioning, I discovered that “So Jung” roughly means “foundation light,” and “Madeline” means “tall tower.” As a cheeky sixth-grader, I thought it ingenious to combine both meanings into one: lighthouse. Since completing that homework assignment, I have loved my name. Secretly, I hope it’s a self-

fulfilling prophesy.

However, I firmly believe that living and trying to work with a Korean name in this diverse American society should not be as bothersome as it is. Most second-generation children of Asian immigrants have an American first name followed by an Asian middle name. Mine reverses the norm.

S-o space capital-J-u-n-g. Two words with no dash. I find it eternally frustrating that my driver’s license, voting record and Scantron test bubbles cannot ref lect this fact.

I have tried embracing “Madeline.”

During sophomore year of high school, I was sick of teachers, substitutes and coaches mispronouncing my name so I introduced myself as “Maddie.” The experiment only lasted one year.

My mom and I discuss the tradeoffs of authenticity, convenience, identity and assimilation nearly every time I come home from school. But I am stubborn. Could it be true that hiring managers or internship coordinators have passed me over because my résumé seems foreign? I naively pray that racism is just a conspiracy.

When strangers, friends or professionals decide that “So” or “Kim” suffice for their ease, I try to correct them politely, but internally I question if they respect me.

Since coming to college, simplicity and endearment have chipped away at my stubbornness. When I order food, I use my initials “SJ” or “SJK,” and many peers across campus affectionately shorten my two-syllable name to “Soj.” To everyone who interacts with other people — so, everyone — please take 10 seconds to make sure you spell someone’s name right. I know they will appreciate it.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017 // The Statement

3B

Empath in the wild: Graduating

R

ecently, a panicky feeling has been lingering in the back of my mind.

I’m entering the last semester of my undergraduate education, and I don’t know what I want to do when that’s over.

I, at the very least, know what city I want to be in, but I don’t have housing secured and I don’t have a job secured. I’ve become disenchanted with my major, English — that’s to say, I’ve become disenchanted with literary criticism — and I don’t know if I want to “be a writer” and what that might look like if I did.

I’m working through big questions like: What does it mean to be an artist?

What does that look like for me, outside of school?

How can I balance my own creative endeavors with engaging with my community? How will I sustain myself? Do I want to make a living off my writing, or do I want writing to be something I do outside of work?

What will I do if I don’t write? What is my social responsibility in this political climate? These questions roll into one another and if I spend too long thinking about any one question, specifically, I drive myself crazy because I come up with so many more questions.

So, last weekend I was celebrating my 22nd birthday: I went out to a nice dinner on Friday and had friends over to celebrate later that night. On Saturday, it was really sunny and my boyfriend and I went out to brunch, then took a long walk through the park and made enchiladas for dinner. It was a fantastic weekend — I was surrounded by delicious food, people I love and a healthy dose of sunshine before the winter hit.

But later that night, my friend and I were hanging out and I just sort of burst into tears.

All the questions I’ve been thinking about all semester poured out of me in a general frustration and panic about what I was going to do and whether anything I did mattered in the grand scheme of things, after I graduated from college.

I was expecting, from my friend sitting on the other end of the couch from me, some assurance

BY REGAN DETWILER, COLUMNIST that I would figure it out, and that I was a really determined person who could do whatever I wanted to. I wanted my friend to be there with me, wallowing in this frustration about not liking my major and not knowing what was the best thing to do after I graduate — I wanted to hear from someone else how hard it is to go out

more than OK for me.

I also received a healthy reminder that, in comparison to so many others who live in the United States — people who want to go to college but haven’t had the opportunity, people who immigrated here from another, non-Englishspeaking country, people of color and people with disabilities — I’m going to be fine. As an upper-middle-class white woman with lots of friends and family close by, I have a lot going for me.

My friend also reminded me that — although this point is smaller in scale than the ones previously mentioned — I was in the middle of my birthday weekend. I had so much to be thankful for and yet these individualistic, and kind of self-centered questions, were preventing me from inhabiting the present moment, which had so much to offer.

While I think there’s room for my individual frustrations about the uncertain nature of my life after graduation, it’s also extremely important to maintain perspective.

Being stuck in my head prevented me from seeing myself as part of a larger population of people in this country — and ultimately the whole world — who don’t have the same kinds of opportunities and advantages.

Being in my head, preoccupied by these individualistic questions, kept me from looking outside myself to the extent that I wasn’t seeing all the amazing things ILLUSTRATION BY AMELIA CACCHIONE happening around me. If I can’t fully appreciate a celebratory into the world. weekend like my birthday, then how could I go But this is not the feedback I received. At about empathizing with others on a real level? first, I wondered why I wasn’t hearing more To a certain extent, I think the environment on affirmation. It was only after some of my tears campus facilitates selfish thinking like this. I dried, after I released almost all my frustrations, became so future-oriented and so self-centered that my friend started speaking. leading up to that night that I couldn’t look Basically, what he told me is that I would be outside myself. fine and I needed to stop wallowing. Barring Since that weekend, I began seeing myself anything extreme happening, I’m going to as one part of a much larger whole. Instead of graduate from the University of Michigan with dwelling on how uncertain my future is, I’ve a degree, lots of friends and a strong support taken concrete steps to appreciate what I have system in my family that will support me if I in the present: I’ve been doing yoga almost every need help. I’m white, and I’m a native English day and reaching out to friends I haven’t talked speaker. Because of the kind of country we live to in a while, since I’ve been too busy trying to in, all of these things mean, collectively, that force myself to “figure things out.” Moving past I’m going to be fine. Sure, maybe I won’t have my frustrations about my uncertain future is the most fulfilling job ever right out of college. definitely a process, but I can say I already feel Sure, I may feel a little lost for a while. But in the much better and much more balanced than I did grand scheme of things, life is likely going to be a week and a half ago.

4B

Wednesday, November 22, 2017 // The Statement

Wednesday, November 22, 2017 // The Statement

A home, not a house A l o o k a t A n n A r b o r ’s h i s to r i c co - o p s

by Lara Moehlman, Managing Statement Editor

H

ot air wafts from the oven in the kitchen of Linder Cooperative House, which looks semi-industrial with steel gray appliances. A hooded stove and two picnic benches tucked under a wooden table back into the far right corner of a chipping, bright orange wall. My Chemical Romance’s “Teenagers” has been playing at full volume, on loop. It’s almost 7 p.m. and the Linder House co-chefs prepare dinner for the co-op’s 20 residents.

Recent alum Shannon Stone takes a pair of Speedo goggles dangling from a nail in the wall above us and pulls them over her eyes before continuing with the onions.

Her movements are methodical and efficient. She knows where everything is because each cabinet, each drawer and each refrigerator shelf is clearly labeled with masking tape and a black Sharpie: utensils, plates, bulk foods, bulk vegetarian foods. She cooks dinner for the same 20 people three times a week.

Inter-Cooperative Council.

For Stone, living in a co-op wasn’t as much of a choice as it was a necessity.

“I couldn’t afford to live anywhere else,” she said, explaining her $600 monthly rent couldn’t be matched by any housing on or off the University of Michigan’s campus.

To be clear, that $600 covers not only her room but also her food and, in some cases, even her toiletries. GUFF, short for Generally Unrestricted Free Food, is a term used throughout the Inter-Cooperative Council for communal items. At Linder, there is a box of GUFF clothing filled with used T-shirts, coats and pants, a GUFF pantry and refrigerator stocked with both weekly groceries and bulkstored meats, nonperishables and frozen vegetables. The house’s four bathrooms hold crates full of GUFF shampoos, conditioners and soaps. If she doesn’t go out to eat for the month, $600 is Shannon’s cost of living. *****

Linder House was officially incorporated and bought by the ICC in 1989, though the house itself was built in 1894 and previously housed several other communities, including Phi Chi fraternity and the Keystone Club — a teen division of the Boys & Girls Clubs.

The house is named after Benjamin Linder, an engineer from Seattle who traveled in 1987 to rural northern Nicaragua to build hydroelectric dams for a public works organization to bring electricity to underprivileged communities.

While working in Nicaragua, he was assassinated by an anti-Communist rebel group known as the Contras, which at the time received significant funding from the United States government. A mural painted over a bright orange wall in the house’s living room shows Linder himself working on a dam as rebel forces dressed in black litter the jungle around him.

It’s clear Linder’s legacy of social justice and activism lives on in the house

Alexis Rankin/Daily

today. Flyers display everything from LGBT rights activism to support of the Black Lives Matter movement. In late 2016, several Linder residents traveled to Standing Rock, N.D., to participate in the protest of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

A strong tradition of socialist values also permeates Linder.

Once or twice a month, residents convene to vote on house policy and other matters. Each resident holds one vote and, together, they determine the month’s food budget, how many vegetarian meals they will eat, when to plan the next party and even which newspapers to buy subscriptions for. The meetings also serve as a time for open communication and house conf lict resolution. Last year, the house voted on designated spaces in which members can be nude. The kitchen was ruled off limits.

Monthly rent at luxury high rises start at $900 and might create the illusion that houses and smaller buildings around them will experience less demand and therefore offer lower rent, but a study commissioned by the Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development in January 2015 shows that’s not true. At an October town hall meeting for members of both the University’s Central Student Government and Ann Arbor City Council, Teresa Gillotti, the Washtenaw County housing and infrastructure manager, said 56 percent of tenants in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti pay 30 percent or more of their income on rent. Because the University guarantees housing only for first-year students, many are consequently pushed farther and farther from their academic buildings in search of affordable housing. ***** The first Cooperative House in Ann Arbor was established by graduate students in the University’s Student Socialist Club during the Great Depression.

Filling a single house on East Ann Street in Kerrytown, members kept their living expenses at $2 per week by jointly buying the property and communally sharing housework. The house was run by democratic meetings, in which each member had an equal say in house affairs. In the following eight decades, the co-op system has grown to include 16 houses on both Central and North Campuses.

The formal Inter-Cooperative Coun-

cil, which currently maintains the system’s 16 houses, was established in 1937 and was run by a board of directors comprised of representatives from each existing house. In 1951, the system, which was previously entirely student-run, voted on a referendum to hire a full-time executive secretary to carry out accounting and the supervision of purchasing along with carrying out board instructions.

The current ICC functions as a nonprofit and has since grown to a staff office of around ten adult professionals.

Michigan House, a bright blue house on North State Street, was purchased by the ICC in 1947, and has been a mainstay within the system for decades. House meeting minutes contain notes of a canceled meeting the day President John Kennedy was shot. Currently, Michigan House is jointly run with Minnie’s cooperative House, a bright purple monstrosity visible from the window directly to its right. Residents of both houses eat together (in Michigan House) and attend house meetings together as a result.

According to the Michigan House Preamble and Constitution, Minnie’s was once a boarding house run by a woman named Minnie Wallace, who ran away with a nudist taxi driver. The house was purchased by the ICC in 1970 and painted Dauphine Purple — Minnie’s favorite color.

Situated at the angular intersection of Hill Street and Washtenaw Avenue across from the Rock, Luther House traces its history to the radical activism and counterculture that persisted on college campuses from the 1960s through the 1970s.

The house was home to the “White Panther Party” — an anti-racist political collective parallel to the Black Panther Party — and its founder John Sinclair, who would go on to be manager of the rock

High-rise apartments in Ann Arbor.

band MC5.

Yet in addition to its rich history, Luther House at its core is a home and community for its current residents. Any given day you’ll find residents sitting on the porch, and the house is famous four its annual massive Halloween party featuring a local Ann Arbor band.

LSA sophomore Melissa Newman signed a lease in Luther House after her other housing plans fell through lastminute. She was familiar with the co-op system because her brother lived inMinnie’s Co-Op Housing a co-op at Michigan State University, and she thought it might be a fun alternative to independent living. Throughout this past semester, she’s additionally come to appreciate the comforting transition from dorm life the ICC offers from dorm life.

“A dorm is a nice transition from living at home to sort of living alone, because you don’t have to deal with food, you don’t have to deal with a lot of budgeting,” Newman said. “So from living in the dorms to doing everything on your own, I think that’s a really big jump, and the co-op is a good in-between.”

Though she admits sometimes fulfilling her inflexible chore hours seems inconvenient, she concedes the cooperative system is most likely more efficient than independent living in the long run.

“I do think it probably ends up being that you do less work or an equal amount of work you would do anyway,” Newman said.

“Because if you have your own house, you’re cleaning the kitchen and making all these meals and that’s really time-consuming, whereas here all that stuff is done for you.

And when you do a task it’s just more focused.

Instead of it being ‘I have to clean the entire house,’ it’s ‘I have to clean the kitchen on Wednesday.’ ” Ultimately, Newman praised the system’s priority of affordability in the city’s competitive housing market.

“The ICC is really great in that their priority is keeping rent low and being that option for students,” she said.

Today, the organization’s socialist roots are visible in its continued student self-government and ownership.

Unlike in his past jobs in nonprofit management, Nick Coquillard, the general manager of the ICC, is not directly in charge.

“I’m basically a very glorified adviser,” he said. “The best part of my gig is that I get to work with so many leaders in the houses that get to be the leaders who run the co-ops.”

A framed drawing that reads “I love my co-op” sits behind his desk.

Coquillard added that the ICC experiences some pressure from newer, more expensive housing options in Ann Arbor each year to update the mostly outdated technology, appliances and furniture found in each of its Alexis Rankin/Daily houses — renovations that the ICC must take into consideration rather slowly in an effort

5B

Alexis Rankin/Daily

to curb rising member fees.

“We’re always facing the cost and the effort and the time of maintaining our homes while staying affordable,” he said. But though he said the speed of cooperation inherent in a purely democratic system could be slow, he said he loves his job.

“It’s amazing — the group of students and people that are in charge of this. They really care and they really want to further the cooperative movement. It’s just a really fun place to work.” ***** Back at Linder House, Stone rolls chunks of pink, raw turkey meat into sizable balls and places them on an oven tray. When the meat is cooked, she pulls a rope from an oldfashioned bell that hangs from the counter.

Promptly, about 11 or 12 Linder residents fill the small kitchen and neatly fill their plates before sitting down at the picnic-style benches. The wall behind the table holds shelves with small crates with index-card names on them — each contains an individual resident’s “non-GUFF” food items.

She said though joining a co-op was a financial necessity for her, over time it’s become so much more than that. She now considers cooperative living her favorite part of college, as it has provided her with a greater sense of community. She made her best friends living and working in different co-ops, and said she can’t imagine her college years without the constancy of coming home each night for house dinners.

“There’s an emotional significance I attach to this house that I don’t think many college students can say they have about any particular place,” Stone said before sitting down to dinner. “It’s more than just a house. It’s a home.”

6B

Wednesday, November 22, 2017 // The Statement

Personal Statement: No more pretzels

by Anna Polumbo-Levy, Editorial Page Editor

“

Why even drink coffee if you’re gonna just have decaf?” I could probably buy my own coffee shop with the number of times someone has asked me.

“I like the taste but I don’t want to get addicted and then start to need the caffeine,” I would reply. Then it’d start a discussion about how they don’t taste the same. (Sorry, guys, even after having f lirted with drinking coffee for almost half a year, I still taste no difference.)

Besides, I’m really much more of a tea person. But all tangents aside, the rationale for my seemingly backward coffee-drinking habits was simple: Drink one cup of cheap, decaf coffee when I

to eliminate gluten and sugar from your diet. Some low-sugar fruits are OK, but in moderation.” (Read: no more than halfcup of low-sugar fruits per day.)

At this point, I was already intolerant to dairy products and, more recently, eggs, so this was the icing on top of a really burnt, dry cake. So, even though I saw it would be a challenging road ahead, because I’m one of those people who trusts health professionals, I let her send me on my way with a recipe book of dairyfree, egg-free, sugar-free, gluten-free, air-free (I’m just kidding) meals to cook.

Fast forward three weeks or so: I’m sitting in the newsroom of The Michigan Daily, munching on a salad from Au Bon

with the dreaded question “What was I going to eat?”

And because my eating habits became so messed up, I would snack on whatever fit the diet, and in large quantities — bags of popcorn, corn tortilla chips — because my meals weren’t satisfying enough. Then I quickly got sick of those foods, too.

Breakfast used to be my favorite meal of the day, but without toast and after being told I should “stay away” from gluten-free bread — “Who knows what preservatives they have in there!” — I had lost my favorite meal. I hated thinking about food.

This semester, I cracked. I started getting hungrier and unhappier. Because

in my entire life. I love Starbursts, but I’d always had them only once in a while, and they were a special treat I looked forward to.

But as I sat down with my fifth pack of Starbursts that week, I realized the only reason it was eating more sugar than I normally do was because of the unreasonable restrictions of my new diet I wasn’t used to. While the nutritionist may have been right to tell me I’d been having too many family-sized bags of pretzels, asking someone to eliminate something entirely is a tall order. Some may be able to do that fairly easily, but everyone is different and, for people like me, extreme restriction manifests itself

ILLUSTRATION BY AMELIA CACCHIONE crave the taste of it (coffee connoisseurs, don’t @ me) and that, in turn, would leave me satisfied for at least a month or two.

I thought allowing myself to have a little when I was really craving it would be just enough to satiate my hankering but not so much as to turn me into a regular coffee drinker.

Cue junior-year second semester. I was sluggish and tired, and the nausea and stomachaches I’d always had, but chosen to ignore, were now almost daily occurrences and were worse than ever.

My mom suggested I see a nutritionist.

After I described my symptoms to her, the nutritionist seemed to immediately understand what was going on.

“I think you have a candida infection,” she told me. “Essentially, there is yeast buildup in your bloodstream. So, you need

Pain. It was the southwest chicken salad (hold the tortilla strips). It was the first real meal I’d had all day, and the second time that week I’d had this salad.

Almost immediately after starting the diet, I went back to school. It was my first semester as co-editorial page editor — a job that consumed at least 20 hours of every week — and four classes that had multiple assignments due every week as well as a mountain of reading for each lecture. (Thank you, sociology and Spanish majors.)

Just like any other busy college student, I had no time to spend hours in the kitchen preparing alternative meals.

So, instead, I spent it obsessing, worrying about what I was eating. I started eating less and less, until I was only having one whole meal a day to avoid having to deal

I hadn’t been allowed to eat so many things, I started eating more sugary treats and junk food than I’ve ever in my life. I started eating way more of the basic foods I’d loved but had been told to stay away from.

I began to lie awake at night, thinking about how bad I’d been at keeping with the diet and whether the pack of Starbursts I’d had was making my infection worse.

This, in turn, made my sleep worse and my eating habits kept spiraling downward. If I was already giving up on this diet, what was another gluten-filled sandwich or pack of sugary fruit snacks?

One day, though, as I went to The Daily’s vending machine and saw I was about to take the last Starbursts pack (sorry, Michelle), I realized I’d eaten more Starbursts that week than I’d had

as a stressor in an already stressful life.

I could likely achieve the same goals of getting better sleep, warding off infection and leading an overall healthier lifestyle — if I just practiced limiting these foods in moderation. I knew my body best.

Now, I’m still not a coffee drinker. But it’s not because I forced myself to cut it out completely. I simply let myself indulge in a cup now and then, enjoying the f lavors when I want to. Though I realize it’s not always feasible to practice moderation — as some people with allergies or severe intolerances have to abide by strict diets — I implore us us as doctors, nutritionists and a society to work moderation into our discourse and health care programs to recognize that people are different and what works for one does not work for another.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017 // The Statement

7B

The picture stays in the kid: Lives I didn’t quite live

by Daniel Hensel, Daily Film Editor

I

was never much of a teenager. It’s not as if I wasn’t a student; it was that I was absent so much — literally away from Northbrook, at debate tournaments once or twice a month, over the weekends — that I never felt as if I was really a member of my community. After all, when you spend your weekends in San Francisco and Dallas and Washington, D.C., Northbrook just seems kind of lame.

That’s the story I’ll tell myself to explain my (perhaps purposefully) spotty memory of high school engagements. Oh sure, I hazily recall the two dances I attended, many of my high school a cappella group’s performances and I unfortunately remember the may weekends not spent at debate tournaments literally, but living vicariously through refreshing the debate wiki pages to see what teams were reading in rounds.

Between the travel, the social absentia and, to put it mildly, the social ineptitude, my high school years feel barely sketched in. There were classes and there was debate … and not much else. That’s where movies have helped.

I wasn’t much of a filmwatcher in high school (coincidentally, I discovered Netflix streaming roughly a half hour after my last debate round ever), so much of my experience with the cinematic high school arrived post facto, a bit too late for any sort of groundbreaking behavioral adjustments. But these films

helped not only fill in the gaps of my experience, but understand the struggles I faced and contextualize my high school years in the fabric of our collective cinematic projections.

That sounds like a load of

top of the aforementioned raunchy romp) a delicate tale of male friendship and separation anxiety. I don’t miss high school too much, but I miss my friends, I miss the evenings we spent driving down to Evanston

with over 12 or 13 years will just disappear is quite sad.

Last year’s “The Edge of Seventeen” and this year’s “Lady Bird” tell similar stories from different perspectives. “The Edge of Seventeen” follows Nadine,

ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH MYERS

gobbledygook, but hear me out. Films, especially those over the past ten years or so, have by measure been pretty kind to teenagers.

That is, they seem truly respectful of their views and of their behaviors.

No one in these films is perfect, but no one in life is.

They have their faults, and so do we.

I watched “Superbad” in my junior year of college, expecting a raunchy romp but was delighted to find (on

or up to Highland Park for ice cream or barbeque.

When the older students in choir and debate graduated, I missed them too, uncertain of what how our groups would fare without them. At the start of Terry Zwigoff’s “Ghost World,” Enid and Rebecca note how sad it is that they’ll never see one of their classmates again. It’s not as if they’re all friends or anything, but the notion that a person whom you spend every day

who ignores the funny and nerdy Erwin while she crushes on Nick, the sort of moody and enigmatic “bad boy.” Meanwhile, Nadine quarrels with her mother, develops a sort of offspringlike relationship with one of her teachers, and drifts away from her brother and her friend, Krista, after the two start dating. “The Edge of Seventeen” contained for me many familiar beats of high school — especially Erwin, whom, to my

pleasure, I saw as a standin for myself.

“Lady Bird,” which is playing in the Michigan Theater currently and is easily the best movie of the year as of yet, also tells a story of a high school student, Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, whose relationship with her mother is the central focus of the film. Lady Bird’s mother is still trying to figure out parenting, and, in one telling scene, seems to avoid telling Lady Bird that she likes her. In school, Lady Bird discovers her love for theater and starts to date one boy (Danny … huh), then she turns to a more popular crush, Kyle, and drifts away from her friend, Julie.

Nadine and Lady Bird are both deeply flawed people.

We may begin with sympathy at the start, but by the end, we start to side more with their mothers and friends.

The films are comforting because they allow me to fill in the gaps of what I’ve missed in high school — “Lady Bird” especially is a wonderful distillation of senior year — and they let me know that, honestly, I may have been a terrible person then and, at this point, it may be better to just let go.

And yet, both are still uplifting and engender some perhaps misguided nostalgia for my days at Glenbrook North. That’s the power of movies: to stir emotions beyond the rational, to supplement our own lives with curated stories, often with a point, in the hopes of imparting some wisdom on our forever-malleable minds. I received the message.

8B

Wednesday, November 21, 2017 // The Statement

V I S UA L STAT E M E NT

COFFEE SHOPS OF ANN ARBOR Photos by John Yaeger

Ann Arbor, like every other quintessential college town, has an abundance of coffee shops. From the well-known chains like Starbucks to more local varieties, choosing the right coffee shop to study at or catch up with friends can be a daunting task. As someone who usually frequents the same coffee shop on campus, I wanted to branch out and explore what makes each unique. Additionally, I wanted to capture the ambience of each coffee shop and explore why students pick one over the other. From Mighty Good Coffee on South University and Washtenaw to Lab on East Liberty, every store offers a unique take on serving coffee. While students in each had their own likes and dislikes about them, LSA sophomore Sharon Szabo at Espresso Royale on State Street put it best saying, “Coffee is coffee ... it’s really about where you can find a table!”

Students study at Mighty Good Coffee on South University Avenue.

Students share one of the many communal tables at Starbucks on South University Avenue.

Baristas put pastries on display at Lab on East Liberty Street.

The Roasting Plant has become a popular student study spot since opening early this fall.

The interior of Mighty Good Coffee on South University Avenue.

Students review coursework over coffee at Espresso Royale on State Street.

NOVEMBER 25, 2017: OHIO STATE

EVAN AARON / DAILY

2017 Schedule

The Michigan football team is coming off a loss to the fifthranked Badgers, and another quarterback — redshirt freshman Brandon Peters — went down in Madison. Now the Wolverines are faced with a “one-game season” against the ninth-ranked Buckeyes, and they are looking to reverse the history of what has been a lopsided rivlary through the last 10 years.

Betelhem Ashame, Ted Janes, Orion Sang, Kevin Santo

3 4 6 7 8

TABLE OF CONTENTS Noah Furbush has carved out a role on the field. His plans off of it are even bigger.

Chase Winovich is crazy, and he doesn’t deny it. After all, it’s part of what helped him become Michigan’s starting defensive end.

Khalid Hill has a final opportunity to beat Ohio State. He doesn’t want to miss it.

The Daily highlights what you can watch for as the Wolverines prepare for Ohio State.

The Daily breaks down each phase of ‘The Game.’

Florida (Sept. 2): ***Jaws theme song***

Penn State (Oct. 21): Michigan should get an assist for Barkley’s Heisman.

Cincinnati (Sept. 9): The Bearcats are the only team from Ohio that almost won last week.

Rutgers (Oct. 28): If you’re reading this from the hot tub in the student section at Rutgers, you should go to the doctor.

Air Force (Sept. 16): Air Force was my safety school. (But really thank you for your service.)

Minnesota (Nov. 5): PJ.. Fleck-Harbaugh is the next Mayweather-McGregor.

Purdue (Sept. 23): Jeff Brohm probably had better facilities at Western Kentucky.

Maryland (Nov. 11): You don’t live in D.C., stop saying that.

Michigan State (Oct. 7): The Michigan Daily has beaten the State News 13 years in a row.

Wisconsin (Nov. 18): I brought my tent to Camp Randall and was wildly disappointed.

Indiana (Oct. 14): Hoosier? I barely know her.

Ohio State (Nov. 25): We finally found someone who loves college more than Asher Roth: tenth-year senior J.T. Barrett.

STAFF PICKS The Daily football writers pick against the spread to predict scores around college football in the 2017 football season.

Laney Byler,

No. 2 Penn State (+6.5) at No. 6 Ohio State

Orion Sang

Ted Janes

Betelhem Ashame Alabama

Auburn

Daily Sports Editor, our favorite person

Kevin Santo Alabama

Alabama

Alabama

No. 3 Georgia (-14) at Florida

Miami

Pittsburgh

Miami

Miami

Miami

No.4 TCU (-6.5) at No. 25 Iowa State

Clemson

Clemson

South Carolina

South Carolina

Clemson

No. 5 Wisconsin (-26.5) at Illinois

Oklahoma

West Virginia

Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Georgia Tech (+14) at No. 7 Clemson

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin

No. 8 Miami (-20) at North Carolina

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Georgia

Georgia

Georgia

No. 14 NC State (+7.5) at No. 9 Notre Dame

Stanford

Stanford

Stanford

Stanford

Stanford

Texas Tech (+20) at No. 10 Oklahoma

Ohio State

Ohio State

Ohio State

Ohio State

Ohio State

No. 11 Ok State (-7.5) at No. 22 West Virginia

Penn State

Maryland

Penn State

Penn State

Penn State

UCLA (+18) at No. 12 Washington

TCU

Baylor

TCU

TCU

TCU

Duke (+15.5) at No. 13 Virginia Tech

Washington

Washington

Washington

Washington State

Washington

No. 15 Washington State (-3) at Arizona

Mississippi State

Ole Miss

Mississippi State

Mississippi State

Mississippi State

No. 16 Michigan State (-2.5) at Northwestern

UCF

South Florida

UCF

UCF

UCF

Houston (+11) at No. 17 South Florida

Michigan State

Rutgers

Michigan State

Michigan State

Michigan State

Austin Peay at No. 18 Central Florida

LSU

Texas A&M

LSU

LSU

Texas A&M

No. 20 Stanford (-21.5) at Oregon State

Kansas

Kansas

Kansas

Kansas

Oklahoma State

No. 21 USC (-3.5) at Arizona State

Memphis

East Carolina

Memphis

Memphis

Memphis

Tulane (+11) at No. 24 Memphis

Northwestern

Illinois

Northwestern

Northwestern

Northwestern

Rutgers (+24) at Michigan

Boise State

Fresno State

Boise State

Boise State

Boise State

2C

Indiana (+4.5) at Maryland

Virginia Tech

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech

Minnesota (+7) at Iowa

Iowa

Nebraska

Iowa

Iowa

Iowa

Nebraska (+5.5) at Purdue

Purdue

Purdue

Indiana

Purdue

Purdue

Utah (-3) at Oregon

Florida

Florida State

Florida

Florida

Florida State

California (+3.5) at Colorado

Louisville

Kentucky

Louisville

Louisville

Louisville

Tennessee (+3.5) at Kentucky

Boston College

Syracuse

Boston College

Syracuse

Boston College

Texas (-8.5) at Baylor

Wake Forest

Wake Forest

Wake Forest

Duke

Wake Forest

FootballSaturday, November 25, 2017

Furbush different from most players The redshirt junior linebacker is finishing up a degree in aerospace engineering ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor

Noah Furbush understands this rivalry better than most.

After all, he’s been on both sides.

A native of Kenton, Ohio, the redshirt junior linebacker has three family members who attended Ohio State. Naturally, a young Furbush grew up cheering for the Buckeyes.

Then the dominoes began falling.

His older brother attended the University of MichiganFlint to study physical therapy.

Then Michigan reached out to Furbush himself, who received its overtures with an open mind.

Furbush liked the proximity of the school — he’s half an hour away from his brother, a doctor in Milford, and two hours away from his family. He liked the school itself, too. So he picked the Wolverines, and now the rivalry has become all the more interesting for him.

“It was kind of fun to transition,” Furbush said, “and be different than everyone else back home.”

But playing for Michigan isn’t the only thing that sets him apart from everyone else.

Furbush is finishing up a degree in aerospace engineering this fall. Next year, he’ll begin a master’s program in space engineering.

If that sounds far out there, that’s because it is.

“There’s a million different things that I could do,” Furbush said, “and to be honest, I’m kind of glad that I’m doing this extra year of space engineering. (It) gives me an extra year to figure it out.”

What are some of those things?

To start, Furbush could become a pilot. He was introduced to flying and pilot training only one year ago, and said Tuesday that it “really had a huge impact” on him. He still carries a childhood fantasy of growing up to be a fighter pilot, flying in the military

or even becoming an astronaut.

If flying doesn’t work out, Furbush has plenty of other options. SpaceX, the aerospace company started by Elon Musk that hopes to commercialize space travel and eventually colonize other planets, could be a landing spot. NASA, the more conventional leader in the field of space exploration, is another.

Furbush is open to non-space options, too. He spent the past summer in Costa Rica applying his engineering skills to sustainable farming. He visited a solar farm, a geothermal plant, hydroelectric dam and rocket company that specializes in building electricpropulsion engines.

He also spent time with a soil scientist who used spectral analysis with unmanned aerial vehicles to assess agricultural resource use — what Furbush dubbed ‘remote sensing.’

It was kind of fun to ... be different than everyone else back home

That’s where his background in aerospace engineering came in handy.

“What this guy is doing is he’s using these UAVs and he uses this multi-spectral camera to look down at these plots of land,” Furbush explained. “And with that, he can look at chlorophyll content in leaves, he can look at water dispersion along a plot of land. … It’s really kind of a growing field.”

Furbush admitted that from a personal standpoint, he’s “very interested” in sustainability and combating climate change. Part of that stems from his time abroad.

“I was really introduced to a lot of new things,” he said.

“I’d always believe that this is important, but I had never experienced anything like that firsthand. We got to go around and got to see so many different, interesting, cool things.”

Furbush returned from Costa

Rica with more to shoulder this fall. His schedule is heavier than it has been during past seasons.

He sought the assistance of an advisor to make sure he was still on track to graduate on time.

The classroom isn’t the only place Furbush has taken on more responsibility, either. He has earned more time on the field as the third linebacker employed in Michigan’s 3-3-5 defense, tallying 26 tackles and two tackles for loss through 11 games played.

Furbush, though, doesn’t think any of this makes him special, saying that he just tries “really hard” at everything.

“I think it’s just all about mentality,” Furbush said.

“I wouldn’t consider myself exponentially smarter than the next person.”

Of course, most people would disagree.

I wouldn’t consider myself expotentially smarter than the next person

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Redshirt junior linebacker Noah Furbush grew up cheering for the Buckeyes as a native of Kenton, Ohio, but he chose to join Michigan partially because his older brother attended the University of Michigan-Flint.

TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com

3

The madness that made Winovich People call Chase Winovich crazy. They say he has screws loose. And frankly, he doesn’t care.

KEVIN SANTO

Managing Sports Editor

Chase Winovich doesn’t forget things easily.

He still remembers the Ohio State fan who “shot the double bird” at him last year. He still remembers his omission from the Under Armour All-America Game.

He still remembers the scout team, the position change and every other slight, in part, because all of that has made him who he is.

Perhaps it’s those recollections that draw his teammates to say the redshirt junior has a few screws loose, that he’s different. Frankly, they’re not entirely wrong.

Winovich himself will admit that he’s “just that right amount of crazy.”

Ask him about Conor McGregor. He’ll say he would love to just “be boys with him.”

Ask him about how he approaches each day. He’ll compare himself to a lion needing to be faster than gazelles.

Ask him about this team’s identity.

He’ll reference a Steven Spielberg documentary to make the point that Michigan, regardless of its youth, can defy expectations.

But the path he has taken to become the Wolverines’ starting defensive end required craziness, obsession or whatever you want to call it.

So let’s do away with the illusion of normalcy. Chase Winovich is different.

He is crazy. *** It surfaced at his 10th birthday party.

Winovich was hosting a double-elimination checkers tournament at his house, eventually matching up with

his friend, David Stover.

There were no seeds, but if there were, Stover would have been up there. As Winovich says, Stover was a bright kid that was in the gifted program.

Winovich lost and promptly ran upstairs, crying, pleading for his dad to beat David in the next round. Even then, losing was a shock to his pride.

“I was like, ‘You have to beat him so that I can play him again in the loser’s bracket,’ ” Winovich recalls. “In my head I’m thinking like, ‘How can I win?’ And I thought to myself, ‘Beating him twice in

the championship will be a tough task, but I know if I can get him in the loser’s bracket, where I’m at, I can beat him again.’ ” Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened.

Winovich’s dad beat David.

Then Winovich beat him himself, jumpstarting a run to a 10-year-old checkers tournament title.

Winovich admits that, for Stover, the experience was “probably just irrelevant.”

But not for Winovich. He calls his competitiveness a curse and a gift. Asked for an example of such away from a football stadium, the

When you hate to lose and want to win that much, it creates anxiety in a sense.

checkers tournament is the first thing that comes to mind.

“When you hate to lose and you want to win that much, it creates anxiety in a sense,” Winovich says. “It’s like, you want it more than anything you’ve ever wanted in every situation.”

And there’s a lot that Winovich wanted. *** For what it’s worth, Bill Cherpak doesn’t think Chase Winovich is crazy.

But Cherpak knows his do-it-all standout doesn’t care what anybody thinks of him. As Winovich’s former coach at Thomas Jefferson High School in Jefferson Hills, Pa., he saw that every day.

As a junior, Winovich would ruin offensive practices on the scout team defense. As a senior, he asked to be on the kickoff team.

EVAN AARON/Daily

Redshirt junior defensive end Chase Winovich spent two years trying to carve out his role with the Wolverines, but eventually he found his home as Michigan’s starting defensive end.

4C

FootballSaturday, November 25, 2017

He saw it off the field too — in a dance contest of all places.

In December of his senior year, Winovich participated in Thomas Jefferson’s fifth annual “Dancing With the Athletes” — an event in which all proceeds were donated to the Four Diamonds Fund, a nonprofit that supports families with children who have cancer.

As Cherpak recalls, Winovich was “busting his ass” with his partner to prepare for a disco rendition “like Saturday Night Fever.”

The work paid off. To Cherpak’s best recollection, Winovich won.

It was just a few months prior that he won a different type of battle, too.

Winovich’s older brother played quarterback, and he idolized him. So, as Cherpak recalls, Winovich always wanted a shot to line up under center.

“And we’re like, ‘Listen, you’re not a quarterback.

You’re actually horrible at it.’ ” Qualified or not, Winovich was eventually granted his wish, despite mechanics that left something to be desired.

“He thought he could throw,” Cherpak said. “He really wasn’t that good. He thought he could. It would seriously be the ugliest form.”

When all was said and done, though, Winovich’s mechanics didn’t really matter. Entering his senior year at Thomas Jefferson, Winovich split snaps under center. Then he won the starting job.

There were games in which he’d carry the ball 25 times, and throw once or twice. Form aside, Winovich was a leader, and he got the job done.

“That was him,” Cherpak said. “He would, like, will himself to do it even though he wasn’t skilled at being a quarterback. ... He just made plays. He just got it done.

Whatever he had to do, he was finding a way to get it

worm, the Nae Nae or any celebration he could conceive after a big play during practice his freshman year.

Michigan went 5-7 that year. Brady Hoke eventually asked him to stop. The antics were dialed back.

As you can gather by now, though, there was no turning off Winovich’s motor.

That motor brought Winovich to blast music on the way to practice with Thompson, when his friend wasn’t feeling up to the grind.

He’d tell Thompson that it was his big day, that he was the next Tom Brady — ready to climb out of the cellar of the depth chart.

And eventually, that motor landed him back in the defensive line room after Harbaugh’s first season.

“Yeah, I was ecstatic,” Winovich said. “It was my coming home party. Like LeBron James had going from Miami to Cleveland, I had mine going from tight end to defense.”

Added Thompson: “He was just really excited and said, ‘I think I was made for this position. My name is Chase. My name is not Block or Catch. I think I was made

to play on defense.’ ” And if 2017 has been any indication, Winovich was right. *** Drive four miles east on Washtenaw Avenue from Schembechler Hall, and you will arrive at Randazzo Dance Studio.

If Winovich truly doesn’t care what people think of him, taking ballet classes in the offseason was a pretty good way to show it.

He went to the studio last spring, while still taking classes, and talked with Sarah Randazzo, the studio’s director.

He asked for recommendations, and went through an evaluation.

Soon after, he was paired with Audrey Launius for oneon-one instruction. Once a week for about three months, Winovich was in the studio.

He started with basic balletbar work, before moving on to pliés, tendus and degages.

Like most things Winovich does, he was good at it, and good simply wasn’t good enough.

“He picked it up very quickly, but he also asked the right kinds of questions,”

I was ecstatic.

It was my coming home party.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Chase Winovich, now a starter, has paved his way to a legitimate chance of making it in the NFL, as he is second in the Big Ten in tackles for loss.

done.”

That wouldn’t be the last time Winovich willed something into being. *** When Matt Thompson first met Chase Winovich, Nick Volk had a prediction for him.

“The day I met Chase,” Thompson recalls, “(Volk) said that Chase was gonna be an All-American one day.”

Winovich came to Ann Arbor to play SAM in Brady Hoke’s defensive scheme, was asked to play tight end upon Jim Harbaugh’s arrival, hurt his PCL in the ensuing Spring Game and pulled his hamstring during the first week of camp.

He found himself as the sixth or seventhstring tight end.

Ask Winovich if he was any good at the position, and he’ll preface his answer by saying that he may be more confident in his abilities than others. Then he’ll tell you he could have been decent.

Ask former scout team quarterback Matt Thompson, and he’ll say that — despite all the time Winovich spent studying the concepts and catching balls outside of

practice — they both knew tight end wasn’t the right position for him.

Thompson was also Chase’s former roommate, so he knows that Winovich never said so out loud. Instead, he reverted to the part of him that made losing a checkers match so unbearable.

“The way Chase’s brain is hardwired is that he will literally run through a wall for anybody,” Thompson said.

“And I guess I would just try to make sure to emphasize to him that the position move was for the best of the team and that it’s a phenomenal opportunity for you to shock the world, because nobody had high expectations for him at the position. That type of thing excites him.”

Winovich didn’t get to shock the world, at least not at tight end.

He was reserved to special teams and — for the second straight year — scout team responsibilities.

It was in those practices that Winovich came across a safety who didn’t take as much pride in the scout team as he did. To Winovich, winning on the scout team meant making the offense better “at all

costs,” especially when the offense was sputtering in 2014. Eventually, the issue came to a head. Winovich told him that he was never going to make it here, because he didn’t want it bad enough. He wasn’t wrong. The safety didn’t make it.

There were other instances like that too. A punter criticized Winovich for missing a tackle in a scrimmage. Winovich told

him to worry about punting.

In short, people took exception to the competitiveness he calls a gift and a curse.

“They got pissed at me everyday,” Winovich said.

“I was just going so hard.

Sometimes I was just being a schmuck, like I’d celebrate after I got a sack.”

Fifth-year senior center Patrick Kugler remembers those celebrations well.

Winovich would do the

See WINOVICH, Page 6C

They got pissed at me everyday.

I was just going so hard.

EVAN AARON/Daily

Chase Winovich boasts a competitiveness that he calls a blessing and a curse, and his first memory of such is a checkers tournament that he hosted.

TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com

5C

WINOVICH From Page 5 Launius said. “(He asked) a lot of questions about the mobility of the movement that a beginner student wouldn’t even have the conception of asking.”

Having taught at the studio for the past 10 years, Launius never once saw a football player walk through its doors. But as she put it, teaching Winovich was “a treat.”

Though they joked about it, there was never a recital in the cards for Michigan’s 6-foot-3, 253-pound defensive lineman.

“He was like, ‘Yeah I could get up there, you just show me the stuff, we’ll work on it and I could get up there,’ ” Launius said. “And I think we joked about whether or not he’d have to wear a tutu, and he’s like, ‘I’m not sure about that but we’ll see.’ ” As Launius explained, the ballet lessons allowed Winovich to focus on external rotation muscles — helping him to quickly shift weight, and teaching him to control his body when it was caught in odd positions.

For all the affinity Winovich had for being a quick study, though, there was one thing he never was good at: musicality.

Launius would tell her pupil the steps they were going to do, and turn on a piece of music. The music, no matter what it was, didn’t matter.

“He would do the steps to his own rhythm,” Launius said. “He would do it really well, but he would never do it with the music, so it didn’t really matter if there was music or not.”

And perhaps there’s no better metaphor for this journey than just that. Chase Winovich, in a ballet studio of all places, disregarded the music. He moved to his own. *** During his junior year of high school, Winovich was approached with a question.

Do you want to play in the NFL? The inquiry came from then-Florida State defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri.

Winovich said yes, but isn’t shy in now admitting it wasn’t even on his radar. He was roughly three months removed from getting his first college offer.

He had just switched positions during the season, and was still “trying to make it” in high school.

It was a self-admitted time of uncertainty.

6

The NFL was never Winovich’s first dream. He didn’t give much thought to his plans after college at all. At least in part, that changed when he visited Michigan in April and stayed with former linebacker Jake Ryan. They showed him highlights of himself and Ryan side by side, and Winovich knew Ryan was a good student as well.

As Winovich put it, making that sort of impact at the college level was “all I wanted to do.”

Now, he’s done that and more.

Winovich has one more year of eligibility, but the NFL beckons.

Harbaugh has equated him to J.J. Watt. Hyperboles aside, he is second in the Big Ten in tackles for loss and fifth in sacks.

And all the hype comes only one year after his defensive homecoming.

Last season, Winovich says, was about vindicating himself and embracing the process that got him here. He admits that the NFL was an afterthought even a few months ago. But the reality is finally settling in.

“That was kind of the big thing last year, but this year I think maybe the focus has shifted,” he says. “I went to my buddy and I said, ‘Man this is crazy. I’m actually gonna make it.’ ” So we’re back to that word.

Crazy, the term most commonly used to describe Chase Winovich.

It’s hard not to almost laugh at it.

Because when you ask him what his teammates mean when they say “Chase is Chase,” even he can’t tell you.

When you ask him why he dressed as himself for Halloween, he’ll say his mom told him the worst thing you can be in life is someone else.

And when you ask him about his current role, he’ll tell you a story about shekels from the Bible that his friend Macy shared with him at Perry’s Burgers in Ohio.

Above anything, though, ask Chase Winovich if it’s flattering that his teammates say he has a screw loose. He’ll refer you again to McGregor, saying you need to be at least slightly crazy toward your craft. Then he’ll give you another quote, one that seems to cut to the core of his being.

“The people that are crazy enough to believe they can change the world are the ones that usually do it,” Winovich says.

Maybe not the world. His world though? Yeah, he’s already done that.

FootballSaturday, November 25, 2017

Hill reflects on final career game ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor

Khalid Hill cried during Michigan’s final home game last year.

At that point, he didn’t know if he’d declare for the NFL Draft or return for his final season at Michigan.

A presentation — with fittingly emotional music — put together by photographer David Turnley on the big screen didn’t help matters, either.

But Hill came back. Now the fifth-year senior fullback is staring, with 100 percent certainty, at what will be his last game at Michigan Stadium. His mom, brother, high school coach and close friend Desmond King will all be in attendance. There’s a sense of finality that wasn’t quite there last year, even when all families of fourth and fifthyear players went through a pregame ceremony.

The stakes are higher, too.

Last year’s senior day game was against Indiana. This year’s is against the team that everyone comes to Ann Arbor to play against.

“We need it as a team. We need it as a program,” Hill said.

“We haven’t beaten Ohio State in a long time.”

Hill has already noticed a difference in the team’s preparation this week. He called Tuesday one of the best practices “we’ve had in a long time.”

“We were flying around, getting after it,” Hill said. “Guys are putting forth their best effort to help us win, so we’ve got to go out and get this win.”

Hill has had time to be retrospective, as well. He told reporters that he believes his decision to return for one more year worked out.

“I did what I could to help the team,” Hill said. “I put my best effort out there on the field, so I think I accomplished everything I needed to accomplish.”

He also admitted that Saturday’s game will be used “a lot” to gauge how much this young team grew throughout the year. “... Some of these guys are playing as freshmen, and they’ve got to go through the growing pains to get to where they want to be,” Hill said. “I think that who we are in this last game will show that, even though this team

is young, they still can be a great team — and will be a great team down the line.”

While there certainly have been growing pains, 8-3 is still a lot better than where Michigan was just three years ago at the end of Brady Hoke’s tenure.

Hill said Tuesday that “nothing was worse” than enduring that 5-7 season, especially with him injured and watching from the sidelines.

“For us to be doing what we are doing, it goes to show that we’re trying to turn a program around and get back to the Michigan way.”

Of course, getting back to the Michigan way entails beating its most-hated rival. And that’s something Hill probably doesn’t need to spend a lot of time thinking over.

“It’d be something special,” Hill said. “Something that hasn’t been accomplished in a long time. To be a part of that team who does it is something big. So we’re just putting forth as much effort as we can to get this win.”

To be a part of that team who does it is something big

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Fifth-year senior fullback Khalid Hill has been pleased with the results of his decision to come back for one more season.

What to Watch For: No. 8 Ohio State The Wolverines have much to gain and the Buckeyes have much to lose BETELHEM ASHAME Managing Sports Editor

It may only be one game, but its implications are anything but ordinary.

And it isn’t just because it’s ‘The Game.’ A Big Ten championship berth may not be on the line, but for the Michigan football team (5-3 Big Ten, 8-3 overall), a date with No. 8 Ohio State (7-1, 9-2) could change the perception of its 2017 season.

With a win, the Wolverines would finish the reg ular season with a 9-3 record, which would be respectable — maybe even celebrated — considering their streng th of schedule and mass of injuries. With a loss, Michigan would drop to 8-4 — its worst record in three years under coach Jim Harbaugh — and lose any sign of marked progress from the past two seasons.

Here’s what to watch for when the Wolverines face the Buckeyes on Saturday: How will Michigan respond to O’Korn under center again?

After three weeks with Brandon Peters as the signal caller, the Wolverines developed a solid rhythm with the redshirt freshman. His injury has brought that f low to a swift conclusion.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday that Peters had been placed in concussion protocol, but there is no clear indication that he will be cleared to suit up. In recent weeks, Harbaugh has also teased a possible return from quarterback Wilton Speight, but the redshirt junior is still practicing without contact so that prospect seems unlikely.

That leaves fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn.

When he makes his return to the starting lineup, Michigan will have to make adjustments. He played for the first time since his benching in relief against Wisconsin, and the results left much to be desired. He finished 2-for-8 with a measly 19 yards in just over a quarter on the field.

The Wolverines will need much better from him in order to stand a chance against Ohio State.

Can the Wolverines’ run game return to its dominant ways?

In recent weeks, Michigan’s offense has also been sparked by a surge from its running backs unit. Between junior Karan Higdon, sophomore Chris Evans and fifth-year senior Ty Isaac, each rusher has enjoyed assertive performances.

First, it was the duo of Higdon and Isaac who gained over 100 yards apiece against Rutgers. Then, it was the pair of Evans and Higdon, who both almost hit 200 yards against Minnesota. And when it was up to Evans to do it on his own — after injuries to Higdon and Isaac — he was still almost able to reach 100 yards against Maryland.

But against the Badgers — the top-ranked rushing defense

in the nation — the Wolverines didn’t fare so well. They gained just 58 yards on 37 carries, a stark contrast from their earlier ways. Ohio State isn’t far off, as it is ranked No. 12 in rushing defense with an average of 114 yards allowed per game and 3.16 yards allowed per play.

With O’Korn still working his way back into the rotation, Michigan will need to rely on its ground game, which means the Wolverines can’t afford to slip up in that regard again.

Can the Wolverines’ defense stop a trio of talented rushers?

Michigan’s defense is no stranger to facing talented rushers. But while it took on the challenges of Penn State’s Saquon Barkley and Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor on two separate occasions, Michigan was torched by both, as Barkley gained 108 yards and Taylor gained 132.

Now, the Wolverines will

have to brace themselves for Ohio State’s three-headed monster of running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber and quarterback J.T. Barrett all at once.

Dobbins leads the pack, averaging 99 yards per game and scoring six total touchdowns.

Weber drops off in yards with an average of 60.6, but has reached the end zone the most with 12 scores. Barrett, on top of his impressive passing abilities, averages 55 yards per game and has scored eight rushing touchdowns.

Michigan’s rushing defense, which used to be the best unit in the country, has fallen back to No. 15. The Wolverines will have their hands full Saturday.

Can Michigan break the streak?

It may be the biggest game of their season, but the Wolverines haven’t been able to find success in recent years. In the past 13 years, Michigan has

won ‘The Game’ only once.

The last time the Wolverines topped the Buckeyes was in 2011, when Michigan pulled out a 40-34 win in Ann Arbor. None of the current Wolverines have ever beaten Ohio State.

They acknowledged that shortcoming on Monday, as Michigan has a bev y of fifthyear seniors who have yet to secure an elusive win over its biggest rivals. One of them, senior defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, has said that this is a “one-game season” for the Wolverines because of how much they want this victory.

Whether or not they can pull it off is an entirely different question.

For in-game updates

Follow @Kevin_M_Santo, @tedjanes7, @orion_sang and @betelhem_ashame on Twitter during Saturday’s game.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Fifth-year senior defensive tackle Maurice Hurst only has one more chance to beat the Buckeyes on Saturday, as is the case for many of his fellow Wolverines.

TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com

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Breakdown: Michigan vs. No. 8 Ohio State TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

It’s that one week of the year that Michigan fans look forward to most, even if it’s the one week of the last five years they’ve tried most to forget.

The Michigan football team (5-3 Big Ten, 8-3 overall) meets No. 8 Ohio State (7-1, 9-2) for the rivalry’s 114th game this Saturday in Ann Arbor.

The Wolverines have a season to salvage, and the Buckeyes have hopes for the College Football Playoff.

The Daily breaks down this year’s rivalry matchup.

Michigan pass offense vs.

Ohio State pass defense Without redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Peters, the starting duties fall back on fifth-year senior John O’Korn.

O’Korn’s mid-season stretch of games showed little promise, though, as he completed just 50.6 percent of his passes and averaged just 140.7 yards through his three full starts.

The Wolverines’ receivers — with the exception of freshman Donovan Peoples-Jones — have been all but absent since the original starting quarterback,

redshirt junior Wilton Speight, suffered an injury against Purdue in September. Sophomore tight end Sean McKeon and redshirt sophomore tight end Zach Gentry were two of Peters’ favorite targets.

The Buckeyes’ secondary, while still a top-20 pass defense, might be Ohio State’s one weak link. It has allowed an average of 177 receiving yards per game.

Regardless, the Buckeyes’ defensive line has an opportunity to tear up the Wolverines’ pass protection. The line has tallied 2.6 sacks per game, and might be able to increase that count against Michigan.

If the Buckeyes can get through to the Wolverines’ quarterback, they will surely hinder an already out-of-rhythm offense.

Ohio State’s only Big Ten loss came when Iowa passed for 226 yards and five touchdowns, but it’s difficult to imagine Michigan stringing together a performance like that.

Edge: Ohio State Michigan rush offense vs.

Ohio State rush defense The Wolverines have to hope that junior running back Karan Higdon and sophomore running back Chris Evans can contribute

more than they did against Wisconsin. Last week, the pair combined for just 45 yards.

In the three games before, Evans and Higdon averaged a combined 263 yards and 2.6 touchdowns per game.

The Wolverines will need that level of production, but they might not have a shot to reach it.

Ohio State has the tendency to get into high-scoring shootouts, but most of its opponents’ points are coming in the air.

The Buckeyes have allowed just nine rushing touchdowns this season, and they managed to hold one of the Big Ten’s best running backs, Penn State’s Saquon Barkley, to just 44 yards when the two teams met in October.

Edge: Ohio State Ohio State pass offense vs.

Michigan pass defense This will be the most pivotal matchup to watch.

Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett averages 245 passing yards per game. Michigan’s pass defense, however, allows just 144.

Michigan also gets an extra boost with the return of sophomore cornerback Lavert Hill, who suffered a concussion two weeks ago against Maryland.

Hill and sophomore cornerback

David Long will both be imperative to shutting down the Buckeye’s top receivers — Parris Campbell and K.J. Hill.

Urban Meyer has plenty more receiving weapons than Campbell and Hill, though. Ten different Buckeyes have receiving touchdowns this year, led by receiver Johnnie Dixon, who has 10 of his own.

Potentially Ohio State’s most dangerous offensive weapon will actually be tight end Marcus Bough. At 6-foot-5, Bough has all the characteristics of someone that could trouble the Wolverines’ pass defense. Michigan struggled immensely against Penn State’s 6-foot-6 tight end Mike Gesicki because the Wolverines don’t have the physical size to match up.

Edge: Ohio State Ohio State rush offense vs.

Michigan rush defense This critical matchup offers a menu full of young talent. Michigan’s two fastest linebackers, sophomores Devin Bush and Khaleke Hudson, will have to chase down Ohio State’s top two running backs, freshman J.K. Dobbins and sophomore Mike Weber.

Dobbins is having a stellar

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines have an opportunity to spoil Ohio State’s season Saturday while also salvaging their own to some degree.

8

FootballSaturday, November 25, 2017

freshman season with 1,069 rushing yards and six touchdowns, and he is also followed by Barrett, who has 689 yards.

Michigan’s defensive line, though, should be up for the challenge.

Fifth-year senior tackle Maurice Hurst and sophomore end Rashan Gary are two of the Big Ten’s best D-linemen, and they will make it difficult for Ohio State to open up any gaps inside.

And when Dobbins, Barrett and Weber try to run around them, Bush and Hudson will follow in pursuit.

Edge: Michigan Special teams Michigan redshirt freshman kicker Quinn Nordin finally hit a field goal after missing three attempts in the previous four games.

He converted a 39-yard field goal against the Badgers and lit up in excitement. Assuming Nordin’s rough patch is over and done, he could be crucial again if Michigan struggles in the red zone.

The Wolverines’ freshman punter Brad Robbins has strengths and weaknesses to note. While Robbins, an Ohio native himself, averages just around 40 yards per punt, he forces returners to make faircatch calls often with how long of a hang time he manages.

Neither Ohio State nor Michigan has a kick return touchdown this year, but the Wolverines do have one punt return for a score all the way back in September.

Both teams haven’t had any major contributions from their special teams this year.

Edge: Push Intangibles Ohio State has a lot on the line.

The Buckeyes would surely be out of the playoff picture with a third loss, even though they are already moving on to the conference championship game.

Michigan, on the other hand, doesn’t have much going for it outside of pride. Having already lost the three biggest games of their season, it’s tough to see the Wolverines pulling out this last one.

Edge: Ohio State Prediction: Ohio State 24, Michigan 7