2018-01-24

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Ann Arbor, Michigan

michigandaily.com

statement

Mondays, meatless no more Inside MDining’s quest for sustainability, and the end of Meatless Mondays.

T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | JA N UA RY 24 , 201 8

» Page 1B

COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

Students say planned free speech event not enough ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

University must give Richard Spencer date options for speech by end of January

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder gives his final State of the State address at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing Tuesday.

Snyder highlights job growth, talks political unity during State of State

Governor reflects on seven years in office in speech to joint legislative session RILEY LANGEFELD Daily Staff Reporter

Gov. Rick Snyder delivered his eighth and final State of the State address to a joint session of the Michigan legislature Tuesday night.

Prominent members of the Michigan state

government, as well as scores of bureaucrats, law enforcement officials and journalists attended the address.

The address was broadly ref lective of Snyder’s tenure as governor as he focused heavily on economic policy.

He noted the state economy has grown since he took office

and highlighted job growth as a particular strength for the state. He credited tax cuts enacted during his tenure for business success statewide.

“We, as a government, don’t create the jobs,” Snyder said.

“We create the environment for success.”

Snyder praised several

lawmakers and government officials for their work during the speech, including Amarjeet Sohi, Canadian Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, who has worked extensively with the Michigan government on planning the creation of the Gordie Howe See STATE, Page 2A

SHANNON ORS

Daily Staff Reporter

The duality of the First Amendment as a powerful political weapon for both marginalized groups and their oppressors presented itself as a reality this past semester.

The ongoing negotiation between the University of Michigan administration and white supremacist Richard Spencer regarding Spencer’s request to speak at the University, as well as planned University events in response to the speech, has roused divided opinions on campus.

While the University has not reached an official

agreement with Spencer on when and where he will speak, University President Mark Schlissel sent a statement on Jan. 5 welcoming the University community back to campus and announcing the administration’s commitment to providing a forum to discuss the challenge of balancing free speech while maintaining an inclusive community.

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion published the scheduled programming on their website for the series titled “Speech and Inclusion: Recognizing Conf lict and Building Tools for Engagement.” The events See SPEECH, Page 3A

Detroit Congressman Dan Kildee talks CSG talks Panel talks increasing urban development in Flint and Detroit kneeling in

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

voter turn out in 2018 Executives launch new campus housing affordability guide DANIELLE PASEKOFF Daily Staff Reporter

The University of Michigan’s Central Student Government convened Tuesday evening to discuss proposals to ensure the transparency of CSG, as well as help to fund university-wide career-building events for students.

The meeting concluded with the passing of three resolutions, including the enactment of CSG’s winter 2018 budget, training to combat modern-day antiSemitism, and further revision of the election code.

The assembly hosted a guest speaker to promote increased student voter participation and turnout. Rackham student Alton Worthington in the Political Science Department, introduced members to Turn Up Turnout, a student group that aims to teach students at Michigan about the importance of voting in midterm and local elections. Worthington, the secretary of Turn Up Turnout, presented statistics to members, including the fact that less than half of students on campus vote in local elections.

Worthington encouraged CSG to partake in a four-phase plan that See VOTE, Page 3A

GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

CAMPUS LIFE

Kildee said using economic models to fix urban areas does not put people first LEAH GRAHAM Daily Staff Reporter

CARLY RYAN

Daily News Editor

Cities like Detroit and Flint have two options: Crisis or creative thinking. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, and John Gallagher, a business writer for the Detroit Free Press, hope for the latter.

Speaking to about 50 people at the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work Tuesday night, Kildee and Gallagher discussed civic revitalization efforts in a lecture, titled “How Place Matters: Perspectives on the Future of Urban Development in Detroit and Flint.” The talk focused on “shrinking cities,” metro areas in the Northeast and Midwest that were once industrial hubs but now suffer from population loss and economic decline.

“In the Michigan of the past, you turn 18, you walk down the street to the factory and you have a job for life,” Gallagher said. “That’s been gone for a long time. There’s no one solution like there used to be, where the automotive industry solves all our problems. Now you need better education, better public transit, better policy.”

Kildee, a Flint native who represents Michigan’s 5th congressional district, recently founded The Future of America’s Cities and Towns,

an initiative aimed at tackling issues facing older, industrial communities. He said it will call for a national strategy to address those issues.

“When I first got to Congress, I thought if I really worked hard, I would get maybe to be one of the many voices working on behalf of cities,” he said. “I got there and I realized I was at the front of the line. It really was not a subject that was being

discussed much. That’s part of the problem generally.”

Flint used to be known as the birthplace of General Motors, and boomed into a company town where nearly everyone was in some way connected to the automotive industry. In its heyday, Flint was known as a hub for secure, good paying jobs.

But after General Motors moved plants and jobs overseas,

the city’s tax base fell. Many blame GM for the city’s poverty — poverty that has opened the doors to issues like the Flint water crisis. Kildee said Flint is now forced to act as though it is bankrupt.

Nearly three years after lead contamination was discovered in Flint’s water supply in 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency announced See URBAN, Page 3A

BRIAN AUSTIN KOSASIH/Daily

Congressman Dan Kildee speaks about the progress of urban development in Detroit and Flint at the School of Social Work Tuesday.

For more stories and coverage, visit

michigandaily.com

INDEX

Vol. CXXVII, No. 61 ©2018 The Michigan Daily

athletics as patriotism

The Highstakes Culture Lecture series brings new perspectives to debates REMY FARKAS

Daily Staff Reporter

University of Michigan humanities scholars convened Tuesday evening to analyze and discuss the political implications of professional football players kneeling during the national anthem. The High Stakes Culture lecture series of the Institute for the Humanities and the Humanities Collaboratory seeks to bring new perspectives to current cultural debates.

Angela Dillard, associate dean for undergraduate education and professor of Afroamerican and African studies, hosted the panel and worked to engage the audience in a discussion of what kneeling during a football game truly means.

This has been a big topic of conversation on both the national stage and in the University and Ann Arbor communities. In 2016, professional football player Colin Kaepernick made the decision to kneel during the national anthem at a football game to protest the oppression of people of color and issues of police brutality in their communities. At the University, See KNEELING, Page 3A

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

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

News

2A — Wednesday, January 24, 2018

MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers

TUESDAY:

By Design

WEDNESDAY: This Week in History

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FRIDAY: Behind the Story

THURSDAY: Twitter Talk

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY: GROUP PROTESTS ‘U’ RAPE POLICY Jan 22, 1985

By Stacy Shonk Daily Staff Reporter Thirty students and Ann Arbor residents staged a sit-in at University Vice President for Student Services Henry Johnson’s office yesterday to protest remarks he made about rape in this month’s issue of Metropolitan Detroit Magazine.

In an article entitled “Silent Crime,” Johnson said the University downplays reports of rape on campus because it could hurt freshman enrollment.

“WE’RE NOT here to blame you for the problem of rape on campus,” said LSA junior Maureen Fitzsimmons to Johnson. “We’re here because we want to help ourselves, and

we need your cooperation.”

The group entered Johnson’s office at 9 a.m. yesterday morning and stayed until 5 p.m.

Once inside, the protesters met with Johnson and presented their demands for dealing with sexual assaults on campus.

“I WAS raped twice on campus, and I had nowhere to go,” said one woman as she stared at Johnson.

“Sometimes I feel like a neurotic, paranoid woman who goes around talking about things people don’t want to hear,” said Anne Ryan, a graduate student, “but I know hundreds of other women ... who are afraid to walk on campus.”

Johnson defended his remarks saying they were taken out of context. He called the story “deplorable journalism,”

but said talking about it wouldn’t solve the problem.

Johnson handed out copies of a letter he sent to the magazine.

“WE TAKE strong exception to the very biased ‘Silent Crime’ article in your January issue,” the letter read. “To say that U-M administrators are lax in dealing with sex offenses is simply not true.”

One of the problems in implementing rape prevention programs, Johnson said, is that two-thirds of students live in off-campus housing which is outside University security jurisdiction.

One protester suggested that the reason the administration does not perceive the magnitude of the rape issue is because they lack accurate statistics.

ONLY TWO first-degree rapes were reported directly to University security last

year. Only rapes committed against students on campus are reported according to Walt Stevens, director of security.

One of the protester’s demands focused on the lack of adequate security patrols on campus. A large security staff protects University buildings, but only four guards patrol outside, according to Stevens.

Other demands included better lighting of residential areas, more rapid repair of existing lighting fixtures, and an outdoor emergency phone system.

WHILE the group talked about the problem with Johnson, one member made a list of his promises on a chalkboard in the conference room.

The list said, “Vice President

We’re not here to blame you for the problem of rape on campus.

Henry Johnson will: • make a comprehensive list of services within the University.

• look at Michigan

ON THE DAILY: BABIES ON A PLANE When Dr. Sij Hemal, a University of Michigan alum, boarded a plane on Dec. 17 in Paris headed to New York, he planned to watch the thriller “Side Effects” while sipping a glass of champagne before dozing off.

But Hemal was unable to indulge in his plan due to an unexpected request from the flight attendant asking if any doctors were on board.

Hemal is a second-year urology resident at Cleveland Clinic’s Glickman Urological

and Kidney Institute who received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan before attending the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

A reflection of his “Leaders and the Best” roots, Hemal offered his assistance and soon discovered passenger Toyin Ogundipe had gone into labor 35,000 feet up in the air off the southern coast of Greenland.

Ogundipe’s delivery was the eighth delivery of his career.

“She was complaining of

back pain,” Hemal told CNN. “At first, I thought it might be kidney stones, but after she told me she was pregnant, I knew she was going into labor.”

The crew considered making an emergency landing two hours outside the route at the U.S. military base in the Azores Islands, but ultimately the plane continued onward toward JFK International Airport.

Ogundipe was moved to first class and Hemal handled the delivery from start to finish with the assistance of crew

members. An hour and a half later the plane had one extra passenger with the birth of Ogundipe’s son named Jake.

Ogundipe recounted how Hemal made her feel safe and applauded his efforts in an article published by The Cleveland Clinic.

“They did everything a doctor or midwife would have done if I was in the labor room in the hospital,” Ogundipe said.

“Even better, if you ask me.”

State University, Ohio State University, and Cornell University as possible models to improve Michigan’s programs.

• find a dedicated phone line for women to share experiences and incidences common to women.

• explore possibility of free self-defense courses in dorms and other locations.

• access to Computing Centers for women.

• review all literature in Student Services to insure that it treats violence against women as a community problem and not a problem restricted to women.”

The long-term goals of the organization include a crisis center which deals with sexual harassment of all types.

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

ALEXA ST. JOHN

NATHAN GUPTA

Editor in Chief 734-418-4115 ext. 1251 alexastj@michigandaily.com

Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 nathankg@michigandaily.com

NEWS TIPS

news@michigandaily.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR tothedaily@michigandaily.com

EDITORIAL PAGE

opinion@michigandaily.com

ARTS SECTION

PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION

arts@michigandaily.com

photo@michigandaily.com

SPORTS SECTION

NEWSROOM

sports@michigandaily.com

734-418-4115 opt. 3

ADVERTISING

CORRECTIONS

dailydisplay@gmail.com

corrections@michigandaily.com

STATE From Page 1A International Bridge and was present at the address. The bridge, to be completed in 2022, will connect Detroit with Windsor, Ontario.

Snyder also brief ly spoke about the opioid crisis in Michigan, commending a popular program that allows addicts to approach law enforcement officers for rehabilitation resources without fear of arrest or prosecution. He also noted that the state’s prison population has fallen below 40,000 for the first time since 1993.

While he mostly focused on the successes of the state under his stewardship, Snyder conceded that changes lawmakers made to the state recycling program were one of the biggest failures of his administration.

Throughout the speech, Snyder offered several critiques of contemporary political culture. As a fiscal conservative, he criticized those who advocate for unfunded tax cuts. This may

SUH-DOE-KUH

have been a veiled rebuke of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Republicans’ signature federal legislative achievement during the last year. The bill, which was signed into law by President Trump on Dec. 22, is projected to add $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

However, Snyder was likely referring to the tax cut currently being enacted by the state legislature, where both chambers overrode his veto six days ago. Though he was attempting to keep the state budget balanced, state Republicans showed a united front, passing the further cut unanimously in the state Senate and with a sizeable majority in the state House — much to the chagrin of fiscal conservatives like Snyder.

“Being fiscally responsible is more than just balancing budgets,” Snyder said. “It’s not thinking about us today, but our children and future generations.”

State Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, voted against the tax cut and the override but said he empathized with his Republican colleagues.

He opposed the cut primarily because he wants to see

puzzle by sudokusyndication.com

increase in state funding for public education.

“I had to balance that with the need for good quality public education for everyone in the state, which I think is a great benefit to working class Michiganders,” Rabhi said.

State Rep. Lee Chatfield, R-Cheboygan, the Speaker Pro Tempore of the Michigan House, expressed faith in Gov. Snyder and the work of the Republican Conference during his tenure.

“I think Governor Snyder did an excellent job detailing the growth and comeback our state has had over the last seven years,” Chatfield said.

“He’s really charted a nice path for us. Moving forward, our focus needs to be on improving skilled trades and making sure that we have a skilled workforce ready to take jobs that are available in our state.”

The speech was not so well received by Michigan Democrats. Rabhi felt the governor’s characterization of the state’s well being was inaccurate and that his optimistic tone was misplaced.

“I think that the governor painted a very rosy picture of the state of affairs in Michigan,” Rabhi said.

“I would argue that the state has so much more that it needs to do, and we have unfortunately gone backward in some key areas.”

Rabhi specifically criticized Snyder’s policies relating to road and water infrastructure, the Flint water crisis and providing internet and other key services to Michigan residents, among other policy areas.

In his view, the state’s economic growth over the last seven years has come at a significant cost; public funding has been cut in a number of areas.

Snyder spent little time on policy details during the speech, preferring to focus on big-picture ref lections and accomplishments.

One of the unifying themes of his address was family. He used the word to describe an ideal political world, where each member is willing

to work cooperatively with the others and avoid hardline partisanship. To this end, Snyder also criticized politicians nationwide for engaging in ruthless and unproductive partisan

Editorial Staff DAYTON HARE Managing Editor

haredayt@michigandaily.com

RIYAH BASHA and SOPHIE SHERRY

Managing News Editor news@michigandaily.com Senior News Editors: Andrew Hiyama, Carly Ryan, Kaela Theut, Matt Harmon, Maya Goldman Assistant News Editors: Jordyn Baker, Remy Farkas, Riley Langefeld, Elizabeth Lawrence, Rachel Leung, Molly Norris, Maeve O’Brien, Shannon Ors, Amara Shaikh, Katherina Sourine

ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY and ASHLEY ZHANG

I believe the greatest threat to the future of our nation is ourselves ... If we can’t get along with ourselves, how can we be great? If you hear someone running for political office talk about ‘fighting,’ the red lights should start flashing.

Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com Senior Opinion Editors: Elena Hubbell, Emily Huhman, Jeremy Kaplan, Tara Jayaram, Ellery Rosenzweig

MIKE PERSAK and ORION SANG

Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com Senior Sports Editors: Laney Byler, Mark Calcagno, Robert Hefter, Max Marcovitch, Paige Voeffray, Ethan Wolfe Assistant Sports Editors: Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Tien Le, Anna Marcus, Ethan Sears, Jacob Shames

DANIELLE YACOBSON and MADELEINE GAUDIN Managing Arts Editors

arts@michigandaily.com

Senior Arts Editors: Becky Portman, Sam Rosenberg, Arya Naidu, Dominic Polsinelli Arts Beat Editors: Shima Sadaghiyami, Jack Brandon, Fallon Gates, Asif Becher, Sofia Lynch, Tess Garcia

ROSEANNE CHAO and CASEY TIN

Managing Design Editors

design@michigandaily.com

ALEXIS RANKIN and KATELYN MULCAHY Managing Photo Editors

photo@michigandaily.com

Senior Photo Editors: Amelia Cacchione, Emma Richter, Evan Aaron Assistant Photo Editors: Claire Meingast, Sam Mousigian, Aaron Baker, Ryan McLoughlin, Alec Cohen

BRIAN KUANG

Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford, Jennifer Meer, Rebecca Tarnopol

FINN STORER and ELISE LAARMAN Managing Copy Editors

copydesk@michigandaily.com

Senior Copy Editors: Emily Stillman and Allie Bopp

BOB LESSER and JORDAN WOLFF

Managing Online Editors lesserrc@michigandaily.com Senior Web Developers: Patricia Huang, Abna Panda, Hassaan Ali Wattoo, Rebecca Tung

IAN HARRIS

Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com Senior Video Editors: Abe Lofy, Robby Weinbaum, Jillian Drzinski, Danielle Kim

JASON ROWLAND and ASHLEY TJHUNG Michigan in Color Editors

michiganincolor@michigandaily.com

Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Zainab Bhindarwala, Christian Paneda, Nisa Khan, Na’kia Channey Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Angelo McKoy, Kareem Shunnar, Maya Mokh, Priya Judge, Efe Osagie

competition.

“I believe the greatest threat to the future of our nation is ourselves ... If we can’t get along with ourselves, how can we be great?” Snyder said. “If you hear someone running for political office talk about ‘fighting,’ the red lights should start f lashing. Who are we fighting? Ourselves.”

ANNA HARITOS and KAYLA WATERMAN Managing Social Media Editors

Business Staff EMILY RICHNER Sales Manager

DEANA ZHU and JEFFREY ZHANG

CLAIRE BUTZ

Business Development Manager

JULIA SELSKY

Sales Manager

Local Accounts Manager

CAROLINE GOLD

SANJANA PANDIT

Media Consulting Manager

Production Manager

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

VOTE From Page 1A

NASSER SENTENCING

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily Larry Nasser is escorted to his seat during his sentencing hearing in the Ingham County Courthouse in Lansing Tuesday.

SPEECH From Page 1A are slated to begin in February and continue throughout the winter semester. The DEI office has organized these events in collaboration with the Office of the President, The National Center for Institutional Diversity, the Office of Student Life, The Alumni Association, Wallace House and the Office of Academic Innovation. There are also plans to broaden the organizations involved and expand the schedule throughout the semester.

Thus far, the scheduled events include several virtual teach-outs hosted online by the Office of Academic Innovation, one teach-in, lectures from New York Times columnist Bret Stephens and NPR host Joshua Johnson, as well as a panel discussion featuring higher education leaders.

Mike Morland, marketing and communications manager for the DEI office, explained the goals behind these planned events and what the University ultimately hopes for the series to achieve.

“The series is aiming to recognize the differing views on speech and inclusion, so to explore the views that play out in politics, in culture, higher education and many other parts

URBAN From Page 1A it would award a $100 million emergency grant to the state to fund infrastructure repairs. When Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in 2013, philanthropic donations saved the city-owned art collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts while a $195 million legislative package from Lansing helped minimize pension cuts for retirees. Kildee believes state and federal government should play a more proactive role when it comes to maintaining shrinking cities in the Rust Belt.

“Flint is the ultimate case study,” Kildee said. “Here’s a frightening thought: there are dozens — if not more — cities that are one mistake, one miscalculation, one error away from going to the same place Flint was in with the water crisis.

They’re just barely hanging on.

We can’t let those places get there.”

Kildee and Gallagher emphasized the importance of public policy in ensuring a successful future for aging industrial centers.

“The narrative that you hear that cities like Detroit and Pittsburgh and Leipzig and Turin are coming back, that is to some extent true, but we are in the very early stages of this,” Gallagher said. “We need to provide some better political balance, so that cities are not left out on their own.”

Gallagher pointed to limited public services, an increasingly poor population and holes in the

of our lives,” Morland said.

“So by engaging in productive conversations with individuals that have varying views and perspectives, we are hoping our community will be able to come away from this series with a deeper understanding of issues like these that are very complicated and a better understanding of one another.”

While the DEI office has alluded to more programming in the future, the initial lineup of events has elicited frustration among students and faculty concerned with the administration’s choice to anchor discussion in free speech and inclusion.

Michigan Mellon Fellow Austin McCoy believes the free speech and inclusion series does not adequately rebuke Spencer’s racial dogma. To McCoy, the series suggests the University is employing the canon of free speech as a “Trojan horse” to avoid addressing Spencer’s white supremacist philosophies candidly.

“It would be better if there were actual conversations about the resurgence of white supremacists or white nationalist politics and what that means for political culture, but also having a frank conversation about the intentions of people like Richard Spencer,” McCoy said.

The belief that the administration is defaulting

social safety net as symptoms of Detroit and Flint’s difficulties coping with the boom and bust of the automotive industry. He also acknowledged the value of community development groups like Midtown Detroit Inc. and the Southwest Detroit Business Association, with the stipulation that these organizations need more help from city hall.

Gallagher also discussed Detroit’s downtown area. While it is currently being lauded for its recent growth, the downtown area alone doesn’t paint a full economic picture. He said in reality, there are two different Detroits.

“Downtown is doing great and the neighborhoods are doing terribly,” Gallagher said. “There are still two-thirds of the city who are still awaiting any kind of good stuff.”

These portions of the city require major help, and luckily, he said through community development groups and philanthropy, some of this help is being offered. From the Detroit Institute of Arts to the Eastern Market to the Cobo Center, he said taking things from the city government’s hands and into the hands of non-profit management.

“I think philanthropy has played a huge role in Detroit …

Entrepreneurship is beginning to play a role.”

But for all of the help being offered, Gallagher said an eye must be kept on gentrification.

While modernization and aesthetics have been important to the growth of the downtown area, he said policymakers must be wary of kicking out the citizens who have “stuck it out”

on a backbone of free speech and inclusion as opposed to challenging the white supremacist beliefs espoused by Spencer, is a criticism echoed across campus.

In an email interview, History lecturer Anne Berg explained her own concerns regarding the message ascribed to the word “inclusion.” Berg noted it is unclear whether the use of the word inclusion implies the inclusion of minorities or expands to mean the inclusion of neo-Nazis.

According to Berg, this ambiguous use of the word undermines the integrity of the University’s DEI efforts.

“The choice to label the series ‘Free Speech and Inclusion’ is not only complicit with the framing imposed by rightwing agitators, but also risks to undermine the important efforts to make our campus a more equitable place where we confront white supremacy head on and don’t just throw around empty, sanitized language that allows us to celebrate an increasingly hollow-sounding concept of ‘inclusion,’” she said.

The notion of uniting the collective voice of a higher education population to yield change is an idea whose birthplace is quite present on the Diag at the University of Michigan. Within the cradle of progressive Ann Arbor, the University’s history is

through economic hardship. He said the best way to do this is through inclusion of affordable housing.

“In the large scope, we really hope for new interest in investment … But we need to work against that new investment pushing out the people who were left behind and who tend to be more poor.”

Another effective tool in combating blight is the land bank. The Detroit Land Bank Authority oversees about 95,000 properties and has demolished nearly 13,000 blighted homes since May 2014.

When Kildee served as Genesee County Treasurer, he helped establish Michigan’s first land bank, a public authority for acquiring and repurposing vacant and distressed properties.

He said the consequences of such dilapidation hit the people who live there hardest.

“It’s not just about the aesthetic of the community kids grow up in,” Kildee said.

“Their lives are forever changed growing up in a poor place like that, and that’s a result of policy choices that we’ve made. This idea that somehow it’s OK that there’s 50 American cities that have lost half of their population in the last few decades and are really struggling to just stay above water, that that’s OK is a morally bankrupt thought.”

The School of Social Work’s Learning Community on Poverty and Inequality presented the talk, which also constituted the first class session of the minicourse Poverty and Place: Case Studies of Detroit and Flint. Social Work student Lindsay Hall, who was in the

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 — 3A

chronicled with displays of students and faculty defending the values of the institution.

This touchstone of the University has not been forgotten by those students and faculty who are unsatisfied with the University’s response in the “Free Speech and Inclusion Series.” The fact that the Free Speech and Inclusion series is the first formal announcement of programming sponsored by the administration to address the tensions that became grounded last semester has also left students and faculty questioning the intentions behind the series.

Berg explained how the framing of the University’s response thus far to Spencer lends itself to a critical examination of possible external inf luences.

“Having the series on ‘Speech and Inclusion’ now strikes me as a rather pathetic attempt to provide retroactive justification for letting lawyers and the pocket books of existing or potential donors dictate the university’s response to the resurgence of white supremacists in the public sphere rather than listening to the voices of a concerned campus community and to historically informed scholarly arguments against downplaying the violent threat inherent in white supremacist platforms,” Berg said.

audience, noted that intersecting factors like location, available resources and demographics can influence urban development, but said funding is particularly important.

“Ultimately it really goes back to the money, where the money is and who the money goes to,” she said. “Public policy really defines those terms. Policies that pay attention to the nuances of a city and level the playing field for cities like Flint and Detroit and put them on an even starting block with the more affluent suburbs can make a real difference.”

Erica Davenport, who works in a southwest Detroit school and also attended the talk, said though she’s only lived in Detroit for a year, she has amounted large frustrations towards the way money is allocated. Still, she said Kildee’s knowledge gave her important perspective.

“I get pretty skeptical about things,” Davenport said. “His perspective from Flint gave behind the scenes reality to how we can make change in schools.”

Throughout the talk, Kildee repeatedly highlighted the imperative to maintain older metropolitan communities.

“Cities matter,” Kildee said.

“Cities are more important.

Creativity, innovation and ingenuity happen where people live and work in proximity to one another. One of the essential functions of government is to sustain those places in the ebb and flow of economic changes because we know those places are going to be important to us again. Right now we don’t believe that. These are throw away places.”

urges students to register to vote and ultimately show up on Election Day. Organizations that can reach a larger student population, such as CSG, will help to increase overall turnout in student voters. While working with the Big Ten Voting Challenge, which incentivizes students who register to vote, Turn Up Turnout has a clear mission for their organization.

“We need to encourage students to recognize that civic engagement, when it comes to voting, is an important part of their participation in society,” Worthington said.

“Students can use their voice, not just on campus.”

Following the guest speaker, CSG President Anushka Sarkar, an LSA senior, announced the beginning of a collaboration with other student leaders to plan a unity rally in February before Spring Break. This event is planned to counter the efforts being made to allow Richard Spencer to speak on Michigan’s campus, which has been a topic of much debate since October.

McCoy similarly called for the University to be clearer when designing programming in response to the violent rhetoric ingrained in Spencer’s agenda.

“The University seems to be more concerned about protecting itself from any sort of legal harm than it does with actually issuing a very sharp and critical stance that acknowledges what they are trying to do politically,” McCoy said.

In a similar manner, in an earlier interview with the Daily, Art & Design freshman Betsy Stubb ref lected on the need for more transparency between students and administration regarding Spencer’s impending speech.

“I knew very little information about Richard Spencer’s appearance because administration has been keeping students in the dark,” she said. “I think the best way we can combat the hate and violence that Spencer spreads is for all of us to rally together and show that racism and bigotry are not acceptable at U of M. We need to help foster an environment where students of all races, religions and sexualities feel safe and protected, because under the current administration this is not the case.”

However, the DEI office has emphasized the series will not

KNEELING From Page 1A Public Health graduate student Dana Greene also knelt in the Diag last semester to protest anti-Black racism, and a month later, several Ann Arbor city councilmembers knelt during the pledge of allegience at a council meeting in solidiarity with people of color.

“We are living in a moment in which culture is high stakes and we as humanists can help understand these human ways,” Dillard said.

The panelists each introduced how their field of study aligns with the topic of kneeling during the national anthem. The patriotism ensued from sports allows sports, especially football, to transcend the world of sports into the world of politics.

Kristin Hass, associate professor in the Department of American Culture, who specializes in war, war memorials and soldiers, discussed the importance of United States military power and its relationship to patriotism.

“Nations are produced by culture,” Hass said. “Nations are the primary social organization for the 20th and 21st century and part of the 19th century. Almost always that culture is connected to soldiers and to sacrifice and to grief.”

Hass discussed how symbols of patriotism transform during times of instability, specifically instability of race. She referenced the role of the military as a form of patriotism. Since the Vietnam War, military service has been strictly volunteer-based. This change has led the government to find strategies to enhance patriotism in America in other ways.

CSG Vice President Nadine Jawad, a Public Policy senior, addressed the finalizing of the campus affordability guide, in which she emphasized the guide’s importance to students and other Big Ten universities’ hopes to replicate the guide.

“I think this is a really useful resource because it’s on our campus,” Jawad said. “Schools reached out and said (the guide) was incredible.”

A resolution was proposed to help fund the Career Center’s “Suit Up” event, particularly transportation from campus to JCPenney at Briarwood Mall.

JCPenney partnered with the University to offer up to a 70 percent discount on professional wear for students.

With the event’s success in October, plans to host another “Suit Up” event in February are underway.

Public Health senior Lloyd Lyons presented the resolution to the assembly and highlighted the event’s benefits to students who may be seeking job or internship opportunities.

“As career fair time is coming up, this is going to be a huge event for students to get some clothing,” Lyons said.

be the only action taken by the administration to tackle the threats last semester posed to the University’s values.

“This isn’t designed to be the singular answer to it. It is part of that larger complex of the challenges we face as a community,” Morland said.

Yet, those involved in the #StopSpencer coalition believe the University’s track record when addressing the pending Spencer visit warrants the need for the movement to continue to pressure the administration.

LSA senior Hoai An Pham is an organizer in the #StopSpencer coalition and described in an email interview how the administration has missed opportunities to frame the Spencer visit in a manner that recognizes the fears of marginalized groups on campus.

“We would like the University to acknowledge the ways in which it has been complicit in propagating white supremacy and racism, starting with their lack of qualifications to host a series on free speech when they are allowing a white supremacist to come to campus to endanger our community and take away the free speech and fundamental human rights of marginalized people,” Pham wrote.

“The United States government and the Department of Defense has been working very hard trying to find different strategy to change ways the people of the United States feel about war,” Hass said.

“Since 2012, the Department of Defense has spent at least $10 million on paying teams to do specific on-field demonstrations of patriotism.”

In a discussion on the link between athletics and patriotism, Associate Professor of Musicology Mark Clague analyzed the foundations of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Following its creation by Francis Scott Key, the anthem was first played at a baseball game in 1862.

“Professional sports had figured out that attaching themselves to patriotism was good for business,” Clague said. “(NFL Commissioner) promised (Truman) that they would play “The Star-Spangled Banner” at every game forward.”

Matthew Countryman, associate professor in the Department of History and Department of American Culture, discussed how President Trump vocalized the issue of kneeling during the national anthem. He referenced the athletic and political intersection seen in athletes throughout history including Jesse Owens and Muhammad Ali. “Trump is, if nothing else, a brilliant vocalizer of a set of political concerns. I want to suggest here that he saw it as a political advantage to intervene to give voice to one source of the resentment,” Countryman said.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Opinion

4A — Wednesday, January 24, 2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA | COLUMN

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

ALEXA ST. JOHN Editor in Chief

DAYTON HARE

ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY AND ASHLEY ZHANG

Managing Editor

Editorial Page Editors

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Carolyn Ayaub Megan Burns Samantha Goldstein Emily Huhman Jeremy Kaplan Sarah Khan

Max Lubell Lucas Maiman Madeline Nowicki Anna Polumbo-Levy Jason Rowland Anu Roy-Chaudhury

Ali Safawi Sarah Salman Kevin Sweitzer Rebecca Tarnopol Stephanie Trierweiler Ashley Zhang

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board.

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

FROM THE DAILY

CSG should pursue compensation for all student leaders

C

entral Student Government President Anushka Sarkar, an LSA senior, concluded the Fall 2017 semester by vetoing resolution A.R. 7-026, which would have called for the use of University of Michigan funding to monetarily compensate members of CSG for their work. While this veto means CSG cannot further pursue the specific resolution, Sarkar has said that she is continuing to reach out to University bodies such as the Office of Student Life to seek an alternative solution to compensate members.

Given the high amount of time CSG representatives dedicate toward serving their student constituents, the desire for compensation is legitimate.

However, monetary compensation for CSG members, whether through University funding or a tuition waiver, is not equitable to the leaders of thousands of other student organizations who invest equally significant time into their organizations. Sponsored Student Organizations are barred from paying their members due to University regulations on the allocation of student organization funding. This, despite the fact that for students who need to take a job while in school, uncompensated extracurricular leadership may put valuable opportunities out of reach.

While CSG may exist outside SSO policy — it relies primarily on a student fee of $9.19 per semester for its $800,000 annual budget — it should not view itself as more valuable to the University and its leaders more deserving of compensation than others.

Directing public funds into financial compensation for the CSG executive board would, therefore, place a greater financial burden on all students, with an inequitable benefit for only CSG. As the LSA Student Government noted in a statement against the CSG proposal, “The opinion of the body (CSG) is … that involvement in CSG is more important than any of the other 1,400 plus student organizations on campus.”

CSG’s unique role as the representative body of the entire campus does bolster the argument for member compensation.

However, CSG’s current makeup falls short of accurately ref lecting the University’s student body with 24.5 percent of the 2016 entering class coming from households that make $250,000 or more annually. According to the Central Student Government

Demographic Report, approximately 37.2 percent of CSG members come from households that bring in $250,000 or more annually.

This socioeconomic disparity between CSG and the University as a whole ref lects the barriers to membership confronted by students of low

The lack of participation in elections undermines CSG’s legitimacy as a body deserving of outsized compensation socioeconomic status.

Although financial compensation is meant to increase accessibility for students of lesser means, we are concerned that Sarkar has suggested modifying the proposal to only compensate executive board members.

Here, the proposal falls short in its mission to increase CSG’s accessibility to students whose participation may have previously been financially impossible by only providing compensation for a select number of students. Seeing as the majority of the executive board is comprised of nonelected students, there is also no guarantee that monetary compensation will not further exacerbate this barrier by serving as a vehicle for nepotism, promoting students with similar backgrounds as existing representatives.

In addition, the lack of participation in elections undermines CSG’s legitimacy as a body deserving of outsized compensation. Only 17.9 percent of students voted in the 2017 CSG election, ref lecting low mobilization on the part of the student body. This is not to say that CSG does not work in the

best interests of students, but rather that most students may not be wholly aware of CSG and its important duties.

Members could perhaps attempt to better fund the Leadership Engagement Scholarship, a program created

by CSG last year in an effort to compensate student leaders for unpaid hours involved with their extracurricular commitments. This would give all students, regardless of financial need, the ability to become more involved without emphasizing the value of any one organization over another. While previous efforts by CSG to fund the scholarship through a $5 increase to student fees aroused opposition, we would hope that the discussions of funding mechanisms for CSG compensation could easily be extended to scholarship funding.

Clearly, better outlets for extra funds are not impossible to find.

Other initiatives for addressing the executive board’s concerns exist such as academic credit compensation. Even though newer members of CSG are able to partake while taking full course loads, executive members often take on minimal credit commitments due to the longer hours needed for their positions.

Similar credit compensation options exist for internship and research programs, and we can see how CSG experiences could provide similar educational opportunities.

We understand the reasoning and motivations behind CSG’s most recent efforts to secure compensation for t heir time, ef for t a nd dedication. However, t he issues t hat may a rise f rom moneta r y compensation, a nd, f ur t her, compensation for only t he executive boa rd, would place unequa l va lue on CSG a s a st udent orga nization compa red to t he hundreds of ot her st udent g roups a nd leaders on ca mpus.

CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds.

Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.

JOIN OUR EDITORIAL BOARD Our Editorial Board meets Mondays and Wednesdays 7:15-8:45 PM at our newsroom at 420 Maynard Street. All are welcome to come discuss national, state and campus affairs.

O

The need for a younger voting age

n the morning of Nov. 9, school, classes like AP History 2016, my high school was rushed students through facts, drowned in grief. Teachers so students focused more on hugged distraught memorization than students, classes actually learning were canceled and an about politics. In fact, atmosphere of defeat in 2010 one-third of filled the hallways. high school seniors Donald Trump was to don’t understand be the next President of the basics of how the the United States, and my American government small liberal high school functions, the effect of was in mourning. media on politics and In contrast with how international MAGDALENA many of my peers, I was politics affect the U.S. MIHAYLOVA furious. I didn’t feel I remember that as a sadness, but rather anger at the 16-year-old, I felt outraged at certain hopelessness of the situation. I was political decisions, but my passion 17, on the brink of actual political was misguided. I had political influence, and yet I could not truly stances that were aggressive but voice my opinion. Yes, I could make uncited. It wasn’t until my freshman an impact through protest, writing year of college when I received Facebook posts and encouraging in-depth schooling on these issues, classroom discourse, but I could that suddenly, I found nuance and not physically sign a ballot. Young direction in my ideals. people need to be allowed to vote If the voting age is lowered, earlier, and we deserve to have schools will have to discard surfaceinfluence in a political world that level history lessons and implement affects us directly. dynamic, relevant coursework.

In the United States, the voting This will likely spark interest, and age is 18. This is rarely questioned, more students will go to the polls. as most people are in agreement It’s like any learned skill: The earlier that anyone younger than 18 is one starts playing an instrument or too immature and uninformed to speaking a language, the more likely actually vote consciously. They they are to stick with it, be good at argue that 16-year-olds are naive it and love it. High school political and distracted; that they are curriculum simply needs to become more concerned with high school more complex; after this, the dramas than foreign policy or responsibility will lay in the hands of healthcare initiatives. the youth.

This, however, is a great This lack of trust of the youth’s misconception. In fact, through my political potential is not only own experience, I know that young discouraging but unfair. What people are politically conscious is decided in elections greatly and eager to influence change. The impacts millennials. For example, issue arises in their motivation to the 2016 election determined vote. Millennials are known to have which president would hold office low voter turnout rates; about 50 for the next four years; it happens percent of eligible youth, ages 18-29, that those four years constitute my voted in the 2016 election. This is an undergraduate education. Donald increase from the 2012 election, in Trump’s presidency will directly which 45 percent of millennials impact me as a college student; that voted. However, these low rates is, he will make decisions regarding do not directly translate into education that will affect my life, but indifference. This is a product of I have no say in it. their education and the stigmas It is unjust that people on the around youth voters. cusp of adulthood cannot have a Firstly, voting is not seen as a say in the laws and leadership that privilege anymore but rather a will influence their lives. My high bland assignment that takes time, school, whose student body was effort and can be confusing. Low devastated after Trump’s election, voter turnout can be credited to became active in campaigning for misinformed youth. There is little candidates; ninth graders would taught in schools that inspire attend Bernie Sanders rallies and students to exercise their right. I a group of sophomores started made the observation that in high a Young Democrats club. This is

not just an Ann Arbor liberalist phenomenon; it demonstrates that young people care about their future and will do whatever they can to influence it. For example, in Portland, Oregon, hundreds of students from more than three different schools marched to Portland City Hall in anti-Trump protests, and there have been many more nationwide demonstrations led by adolescents regarding a variety of political issues. These are simple, yet crucial examples of participation young people have in politics and how it is unfair that they cannot apply their sentiments to voting.

Additionally, young people feel like their voice, or vote, is insignificant. “One vote is never going to be the difference,” LSA freshman Arturo Perez stated dejectedly. “Elections aren’t decided by one vote.”

This mentality is dangerous, as it discourages youth from voting: Why should they make the effort to register, drive to the polls, wait in line, etc., if what they say isn’t heard?

It’s not that millennials are lazy, they just don’t understand the importance of their voice. The process of registering to vote, especially if they are away for college, can appear tedious and after no reward. This misconception is dangerous and can be quelled through inspiring education; if these students feel they have a responsibility, if the nation entrusts them, they will combat this “laziness” and voter turnout will skyrocket.

Former Chilean President Salvador Allende once said: “Ser joven y no ser revolucionario es una contradicción hasta biológica.” In English, this translatees to: “To be young and not a revolutionary is a biological contradiction.” These words, however aggressive, hold an important message. Young people are arguably the most influential members of society, and politics affect us greatly. If we lower the voting age, the youth will realize their power and utilize it. Millennial voter turnout will increase, political consciousness will expand and we will gain access to the brainpower of a sometimes hidden, but always stirring, subset of our nation: the youth.

Maggie Mihaylova can be reached at mmihaylo@umich.edu.

RISHABH KEWALRAMANI | COLUMN

“

Don’t do it Oprah

Can we please watch anything else?” I implored my mother as I sat down for my after-school snack while secretly hoping she wouldn’t acquiesce to my demand. My bus dropped me off every day just in time for “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to come on at 4:00 p.m., and I had grown very fond of the woman who seemed to ooze charisma even through the TV screen. Oprah became a part of our families; she was our mom, sister, daughter and aunt all at the same time. She reminded us of this infectious personality with her monumental and empowering speech last week at the Golden Globe Awards.

Seemingly instantaneously after the speech started, an all-toofamiliar call to action resurfaced: “Oprah for president.”

I understand the appeal. I really do. In many ways she is the opposite of President Trump so many of us crave; she is soft when he is abrasive, generous where he is stingy and likable while he’s laughable. However, I cannot in good conscience endorse her for president.

Her candidacy would fundamentally lessen what it means to be president of this great country. It is a slap in the face to so many who dedicate their lives to just have the chance to be in a position to lift up a nation. What does it say to John McCain, a war hero and lifetime civil servant, if Oprah wins and he didn’t? What does it say if we elect the second person in a row with no political experience or related educational background (a vast majority of presidents since the beginning of the 20th century have law degrees or advanced degrees in business and economics)? In a time where we wouldn’t hire an electrician in our homes without thoroughly reading their reviews and making sure they have the requisite training, it seems absolutely insane that we would be willing to

give the hardest job on the planet without any record of how they would act in such an environment.

This past week, I learned about electoral politics in the developing world, the weaknesses of different times of autocracies and even the legal responsibilities of the president. As I sat in these classes and heard my peers discuss checks to presidential power, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to the proposition of Oprah for president.

Just by being an upperclassmen majoring in political science, we probably have more of a baseline of knowledge for the job than Oprah does. Having interned for various campaigns and political organizations, I have seen countless people who have foregone more lucrative career paths to start on a path of public service. Oprah didn’t do that. You don’t become a billionaire by sacrificing your life to public service. There is a very real difference between being a good person and being a good public servant.

We don’t need Oprah. If you want a candidate with a record of taking on gender issues, especially sexual assault, see Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D—N.Y. She has had a history of advocating for women’s rights, especially combating sexual harassment. Gillibrand got her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth in Asian Studies and went to law school at UCLA. In her career, she has worked as special counsel to Andrew Cuomo, then— U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development—and served as a member of the House of Representatives. She is eminently more qualified than Oprah Winfrey and deserves your vote.

If a minority woman who has broken down barriers her whole life is more your speed, look no further than Senator Kamala Harris, D—Calif. Harris, a senator from California, is the second African American woman in the Senate and first Indian American.

She received her bachelor’s in political science and economics from Howard University and her law degree from Hastings College.

Furthermore, the senator has worked as a district attorney and as California’s attorney general. She is also richly deserving of your vote.

That right there is the crux of the issue — as soon as you pit Oprah against any qualified politician who has committed their life to serving, she should never stand a chance. Yet, a recent poll of a possible Democratic primary has her handily beating Gillibrand and Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. in a hypothetical one-on-one matchups. So, it’s up to Oprah to do what’s best for our country and come out and definitively say she’s not running.

Oprah, we all love you.

Your humanitarian work is unparalleled, and your impact as a role model can never be forgotten. I’m not even saying you would be a bad president — you have shown your ability and intellect time and time again.

However, this isn’t about you.

This is about the office of the President of the United States.

This is about having enough respect for that office to say that not just anybody can do the job.

This is about reaffirming the fact that to be president, you actually need to know what you are doing.

Selfishly, this is about me. This is about me waking up at 8:30 a.m. and learning about autocracies and then campaigning in the evenings because I hope to one day be the President of the United States and be in the position to lift up a nation. Oprah, please don’t do it because I want to one day run for office in a country where we still recognize the work and sacrifices it takes to have that unparalleled responsibility.

Rishabh Kewalramani can be reached at rkew@umich.edu.

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

DAILY ENTERTAINMENT COLUMN

SUNDANCE REVIEW

The Power of Podcasts

SUNDANCE

‘Leave No Trace’ marks Granik’s narrative return DANIEL HENSEL Daily Arts Writer

Parent-child relationships are often difficult to portray on film, simply because, well, most of us are pretty familiar with our own. “Lady Bird” was successful for so many reasons, but chief among them was the delicate rapport between Lady Bird and her mother, drawn so completely that calling one’s mother after watching the film became something of a phenomenon. On the other side of the coin, one of last year’s worst films, “The Book of Henry,” featured a super-duper strange mother-child relationship (amid a slew of other errors) that forcibly removed any viewer from empathizing with any character.

Count “Leave No Trace,” the latest film from Debra Granik and her first narrative film since “Winter’s Bone,” in the former camp. Set against the lush green pinewood forests of Oregon and Washington, “Leave No Trace” is a patient and heart-wrenching tale of father and daughter living off the grid, in the wilderness and on the run from authorities that wish to incarcerate them in ordinary

Wednesday, January 24, 2018— 5A

domesticity. Ben Foster (“Hell or High Water”), sporting a nearly shaved head and a full beard, plays Will, who lives with his daughter, Tom (Thomasin McKenzie, “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”), in the liminal space of society — in a tent in the public lands of Portland, and, since Will is a veteran with PTSD, on the margins of public consciousness.

“Leave No Trace” finds a satisfying middle ground between gritty, which could describe “Winter’s Bone” and certainly what audiences had been expecting of the film, and cartoonish, which is now how the similarly themed “Captain Fantastic” will be understood. Will and Tom are capital-r Real, with a relationship that is something like lightning in a bottle. That the two sitting quietly together, wordlessly in each other’s company, is compelling cinema is a testament to Granik’s ability to create carefully constructed characters and drama. The screenplay by Granik and frequent collaborator Anne Rosellini (“Stray Dog”), adapted from the novel “My Abandonment” by Peter Rock, uses a simple functionalism to slowly drip details about Will’s past and create tension that feels both

natural and enthralling.

Will and Tom, on the run, provide larger symbolism for the greater veteran experience. We know little of Will’s past, only that he is a veteran, he involves himself in an illicit drug market among other vets and he has, on at least one occasion, a PTSD-induced nightmare involving an airplane, weaved into the film only sonically.

Later, we see a newspaper headline that further resolves the mystery, but there’s still much left that’s uncertain. And yet, that’s all we really need to know to understand Will. In Portland, he and Tom are crushed by the churning gears of bureaucratic machination. In the wilderness, they’re free.

Foster deserves recognition, but McKenzie, with a stoic face and a weary slight monotone, steals the show. She is truly excellent as Tom, who is independent-minded yet empathetic, conscious of her father’s place in the world, and her own as well. She lights up the screen with a measured confidence that can take years to develop. The film’s score, with its eerie violins that soar and scrape above ambient whisperings, create a tension that somehow feels at peace with itself.

Granik is back.

ALBUM REVIEW

to make the walk go by faster, especially in the winter. I can get my political fix from “Pod Save America,” a left-leaning political podcast hosted by former Obama speechwriters, wallow in my grief over the latest Michigan football season with the writers from Mgoblog on the “The MgoPodcast” or geek out over movies by listening to “Total Geekall” and “How Did this Get Made?” I’ve found there’s a podcast for every opportunity.

Need to clean your bedroom or do laundry? Listen to a podcast. Have some mindless math homework to do? Listen to a podcast. Unlike music, you don’t have to worry about fumbling around with your phone in the cold weather to change the song or the playlist or the album. Put your hour-long podcast on and you’re good for the entire day.

There’s an easy friendliness to podcasting lends itself well to today’s diversified and increasingly niche entertainment market.

There are “Game of Thrones” podcasts for people who have

only read the books. There are podcasts about other podcasts.

Podcasting is like listening in on a conversation between a group of friends talking exclusively about a subject you know you will enjoy.

That’s part of what makes podcasts work. The distance between the listener and the podcasters feels very small. Anyone could start a podcast really. This semester, The Daily is expanding our repertoire of podcasts to focus on culture, news and student life in Ann Arbor.

Many of the most popular podcasts today are ones that were started by a couple of friends who just liked to talk about history, or football, or movies, or painting, or bowling or whatever. That’s the genius of podcasts. There is literally something for everyone.

I don’t have time to watch TV. I struggle to get to the movies to see everything I want to. I still haven’t seen “Call Me By Your Name,” “The Shape of Water” or “Lady Bird” and am therefore a disgrace to the Arts section. It’s a good thing “Game of Thrones” always airs in the summer, because my Sunday nights are always filled with meetings. I don’t have time to watch as many things as I want to. What I do have time for is podcasts. I have time for podcasts because podcasts don’t require my time. I can listen to them while making myself breakfast or while I’m taking a shower. On long car drives or airplane rides or while going to the gym, podcasts are the ultimate media for multitasking.

There’s a low barrier for entry.

Most podcasts are easy to jump right into, no matter how many years they’ve been running. The power of podcasts is that of an incredibly versatile medium, one that, while still in its infancy, has already become one of the most prolific forms of entertainment on the planet. For me, as for many others, podcasts have become a regular part of our everyday lives.

And yes, every Monday, I still listen to MuggleCast. Always.

like a lost diary or a book of they began.

All in all, Ruins is a journey poems. Equally impressive is their ability to render emotions lived step-by-step. In the space simply and eloquently. Lines of 40 minutes, the Söderbergs like, “Send me a postcard / glide between dread, selfWhen you get to where you’re examination, honesty, loss going / Send me a line / To and the wrong sides of love, everything you’ve left behind,” the sides that make you wake coupled with yearningly up feeling burnt. They’re beautiful vocal deliveries natural and self-conscious at from the Söderbergs are both the same time, with lines like, deceptively simple and utterly “Goodbye never seems finished / Just like these heartbreaking. songs that I write,” Lyrics aside, from the evenRuins is also paced yet anxious beautiful in a First Aid Kit “Distant Star.” Each musical sense.

Columbia Records song feels like a In “Fireworks,” clear and isolated you can hear the sisters shift, all building exploring every syllable with toward a conclusion that in voices that sound made for a way feels twofold. There’s each other. “My Wild Sweet the rage, blame and regret Love” espouses a dreaminess mixed together in “Hem of to match its own lyrics. One Her Dress,” the understated track, which of the album’s highlights is its penultimate cohesion between lyrics and includes lines that are literally melody. “To Live a Life” and snarled and shouted. It fades “Distant Star” both walk you out into clapping, lending itself through seamless, singular to the live feel of the album — transformations; you can which is quickly ditched in the literally hear it, in the melody final song, “Nothing Has to and in the lyrics, how the Be True.” A confessional with speaker is finishing the song glowing lines like, “You can in a different place from where tell yourself so many things /

And nothing has to be true,” it ultimately slams to black with an abrupt ending that sounds like an aux cord being pulled away.

“Now I feel so far away / From the person I once was,” the sisters sing during these final few minutes. And so do we: The album is a complete journey from start to finish, in an almost tangible sense. But the peak is the second track, “It’s a Shame,” which sails effortlessly between a verse that makes you want to roll down your windows and sing, and a chorus that makes you want to open yourself up and cry. In a way, this is a perfect example of what the entire album is really doing. First Aid Kit are opening themselves up to you and inviting you to open yourself back, showing you firsthand what you have to lose and how you will survive losing it, what you have to gain and how you will win it. They invite you to unloose yourself, starting at the heart and working outwards. And you don’t have to, but there are so many beautiful things waiting there for you to see if you do.

Podcasts are the world’s most underrated form of entertainment.

Originating in the mid-2000s after the debut of the original iPod, podcasts have slowly grown to become a dominant form of audio entertainment, with everything from TV recaps to political punditry to gardening. Unlike movies or TV shows, podcasts can be listened to on the go, and unlike radio, you don’t have to tune in at a specific time to listen to your favorite host. While podcasts have become popular, they have yet to achieve the level of critical and commercial success of TV, movies and music.

My personal experience with podcasts dates back to the summer of 2007. As many of you might remember, that was the summer that “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was released in bookstores. Being the savvy nineyear-old pop culture expert that I was, I was of course completely obsessed. My family took a lot of road trips up to my grandparents’ place in northern Michigan that summer, and my dad decided to do a search for “Harry Potter” on iTunes in order to keep me entertained during the rides. What he found was a podcast called “MuggleCast: The #1 Harry Potter Podcast,” and the rest is history. I spent the entire summer listening to episodes of MuggleCast on the family iPod, and I never stopped.

There’s something personal about podcasts, something that approaches the level of intimacy a viewer might have experienced in the past from a radio host or a network broadcaster they particularly liked. Podcasts are niche radio. To the nine-year-old obsessed with Hogwarts, and the parents tired of hearing about it from their kid, the idea of a show where they talked about “Harry Potter” for an hour every single week was mind-blowing.

MuggleCast was my first experience with podcasts, but

it was far from my last. Today, I listen to almost a dozen different podcasts on a regular basis. While many of my friends struggle to keep up with all of their favorite TV shows in college, I easily breeze through dozens of podcast episodes a month. I live in a house off campus, which is about a 15-20 minute walk from the diag.

Podcasts are a wonderful way

IAN HARRIS

Ruins

COLUMBIA RECORDS

First Aid Kit’s sophomore, ‘Ruins’ is fresh, haunting LAURA DZUBAY Daily Arts Writer

Folk music has always been tied to place. Depending on where you look in history, you can attach the word “folk” to Celtic traditions in Scotland and Ireland, early recordings from the mountains of Appalachia or the songs and spirituals passed down from days of slavery in the South, to name only a few.

While this might seem like it would splinter the genre, it is in fact one of its most unifying qualities: The idea that by using a few instruments and writing what they feel, people can bring a sense of community into their music, no matter where they are.

In Ruins, First Aid Kit carries on a tradition already established by some of the greatest folk artists out there: They extend the genre beyond place by rooting themselves within the music itself. Their brand of folk music isn’t tied to a specific place or people; it’s a feeling, an honesty, that they carry with them wherever

they go. Sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg hail from Sweden, but over the course of Ruins, they refrain from tying themselves to one place: climbing mountains in “Ruins,” standing on a Chicago beach in “Fireworks.” Sometimes it feels like they’re leading you through the sweeping deserts of California, while other songs, notably “Postcard,” sound like they could have come straight out of some intimate venue in Nashville.

Closing your eyes, you can almost feel the warmth; you can almost see the piano keys under the dusky starlight and the silhouetted heads of the people around you.

Part of what earns First Aid Kit this brand of universality is their shrewd attention to lyricism. One thing you can say definitively about this band is that they understand how to make folk smart. Rather than falling prey to the looping phrases and overused tropes that are often the trademarks of mediocre folk (relying too heavily on the listener’s sentimentality), they continue

to strike a successful balance between visual scenes and personal confessions.

The complete package comes across

6A — Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

TV REVIEW

A Night Over the Rainbow ISABEL FRYE

Daily Arts Writer

HBO

‘High Maintenance’ blows smoke on the competition aesthetically radiant world, replete with sharp, insightful and Senior Arts Editor entertaining vignettes of people from all different backgrounds.

The stoner comedy isn’t always Because every episode introduces considered to have intelligent, new characters, most of whom are cohesive storytelling. It’s loosely unknown actors (save for a few), structured, the characters are “High Maintenance” excels at high all the time (the main source capturing the multidimensionality of the humor) and more often than of contemporary society better not, there are scenes of ridiculous than most TV shows currently on slapstick, kooky psychedelic air.

While the first season was trips and ironic melodrama. But when contextualized in a more focused more on the lifestyles timely, socially relevant setting, of New York City potheads, the the stoner comedy can actually second season explores the role of weed as a coping be an enlightening mechanism in commentary on the Trump era. how a person’s need In the wonderful for weed informs season opener their neuroses.

HBO “Globo,” The Guy HBO’s criminally and his girlfriend underrated Season 2 premiere Beth (Yael Stone, series “High Fridays at 11 p.m.

“Orange is the New Maintenance” has Black”) awaken to already taken that news of a horrible step — and then unnamed tragedy — the details some.

Ben Sinclair (“Home Again”) are kept vague, but their reactions and Katja Blichfeld (“30 Rock”) mirror the national devastation co-created, co-wrote and felt the day after Trump’s election. co-directed “High Maintenance” Instead of depicting the people as a Vimeo web series back in affected by Trump’s imminent 2012. Though the show has grown presidency, “Globo” focuses on tremendously since its humble the marginal experiences of The origins, the premise has remained Guy’s unaffected clientele: A the same: A nameless Brooklyn body-insecure man is pressured weed dealer, known simply as to go to the gym, a woman and The Guy (played by Sinclair), two dudes engage in a threesome delivers pot to a variety of clients. at a hotel and a burned-out Latino Its anthology format gives us a restaurant worker takes the lateglimpse into the private lives of night subway. Conversations The Guy’s regular buyers, who about the tragedy are peppered range from the ordinary to the throughout “Globo,” and The Guy appears briefly in each subplot, eccentric.

“High Maintenance” may share but it’s the episode’s theme of some the formulaic qualities that modern dread that ties everything define other cannabis-tinged together. The mere averageness of farces, but it’s no “Pineapple each character and how they move Express” or “Cheech and Chong”; through the world draw attention it’s something much, much to the weight of their ongoing better. Sinclair and Blichfeld’s angst, and weed, as a result, helps humanistic approach to the stoner them get through the day.

The second season also comedy redefines the subgenre entirely. The two have crafted benefits from the addition of a deceptively meticulous and creative voices behind the scenes.

SAM ROSENBERG

“High Maintenance”

While Sinclair and Blichfeld’s dual collaboration was enough to build “High Maintenance” to what it is, the expansion of a writer’s room and a new director (Shaka King, “Newlyweeds”) help cultivate fresh perspectives on weed culture. The third episode, “Namaste,” illustrates the challenges of class divides through the idealistic aspirations of a struggling realtor attempting to find a new home of her own (Danielle Brooks, “Master of None”) and a disillusioned couple moving from a co-op to a polished apartment. The fifth episode, “Scromple,” lets us know more about the personal life of The Guy, as it reveals a deeper, quieter pain buried underneath his generally nonchalant demeanor.

The Guy’s subtle suffering in this particular episode is made only more devastating by Sinclair’s understated performance.

Granted, “High Maintenance” may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Most stories end without any closure, often abruptly transitioning right to the next set of characters — think Richard Linklater’s “Slacker” but with more marijuana. Most episodes don’t have a typical conflict/ resolution setup, instead showcasing the randomness of everyday life, either through poignant incidental situations (a drag queen and an exiled Orthodox Jew cross paths in the standout “Derech”) or hilariously strange coincidences (a pet snake slithers into two unrelated storylines in the amusing “Fagin”).

But even if its unconventional, unpredictable plotting isn’t tailormade for mainstream audiences, “High Maintenance” is still such a fascinating, magnetic watch.

It’s a show that feels very in the moment, striking a unique balance between universality and specificity through the everyday experiences of flawed, weedloving people.

SUNDANCE REVIEW

Sundance: ‘Juliet, Naked’ DANNY HENSEL Daily Arts Writer

“Juliet, Naked,” the latest effort from producer Judd Apatow (“The Big Sick”) and director Jesse Peretz (“Our Idiot Brother”), isn’t nearly a failure because of what the movie does, but because of what it doesn’t do. With a great pedigree — Apatow, original book

by Nick Hornby and screenplay by masters Tamara Jenkins (“The Savages”), Phil Alden Robinson (“Field of Dreams”) and Jim Taylor (“Sideways”) — it’s a disappointment that “Juliet, Naked” falls as flat as it does.

Annie (Rose Byrne, “Spy”) is angered by her long-term boyfriend’s obsession with American rocker Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke, “Maudie”).

Tucker, with the melancholy of Elliott Smith and the sort of broken timbre of Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, is all Duncan (Chris O’Dowd, “Loving Vincent”) can talk about.

He has a room — nay, a shrine — devoted to his collection of Crowe memorabilia, and runs a website dedicated to curating his fandom through his investigative stitching of Tucker’s life. Duncan hides

away in his lair after he discovers a disc of demos previously thought to never exist. This draws Annie to a breaking point, and she does the unthinkable, leaving a scathing comment on his review tearing her boyfriend to pieces. Crowe, miraculously, reads the comment, and in his nigh depressed state, writes to her that she was deadon in her criticism. They develop an online romance until Crowe comes to London after his daughter goes into labor.

For a movie that tries to examine the parameters of relationships — parent-child, partner-partner, artist-fan, sister-sister — “Juliet, Naked” surprisingly finds its strength in its individuals, and decidedly not in the interplay and exchanges between a pair.

While Byrne, wresting the leading role from O’Dowd, and Hawke, endearing in his own way, bring vibrancy to their respective roles, their chemistry never feels quite truthful. It’s not that they’re acting in two separate movies; it’s that, in relying on the plot alone to forge their connection, they neglected to do it themselves.

The same can be said about the relationship between Byrne and O’Dowd, the central focus

of the film in its first half. Annie and Duncan have been partners for a long time, enough to have discussed children, but they can hardly stand one another.

There’s a lack of genuine love and care for one another that makes the pairing seem like a doomed relationship, even considering the external tension between the two on Tucker Crowe’s musical ability.

The film just never quite makes a convincing case that we should care.

Ultimately, “Juliet, Naked” tries to do too much in too little time. Rather than luxuriate in the ideas it sets out to discuss, like celebrity, spousal infidelity and parenthood, Peretz’s film splashes water before getting out of the shallow end. On top of the trite and overdone film sequences, the lack of focus makes almost every emotional beat a miss. The film is occasionally funny, especially in scenes that involve Annie’s flamboyantly flirtatious sister Rose (Lily Brazier, “People Just Do Nothing”) or the screwball madness between Crowe, Duncan and Annie. Sadly, only a few punch lines land. When the lucky few do, they reveal the dearth of humor in the film.

What do you hope to find in a room? How do you want to use this space? Whether it be engaging in a one-on-one performance, simply witnessing others partake or staying for one rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” all is welcome as FK Alexander takes over the STAMPS gallery with her performance of “(I Could Go on Singing) Over the Rainbow” starting this Friday, Jan. 26.

The space will be open to everyone and every experience.

Alexander argues that one reaction is just as valuable as another.

“Whatever people’s responses are, I hope they know that they are equal and that they are all welcome,” said Alexander in an interview with The Daily. “Some people want to stay there forever and some people turn out after 10 minutes and they’re just like, ‘she’s just doing that one song.’”

The performance consists of multiple renditions of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” backed my the Okishima Tourist Association playing noise music out of small, mysterious, Oz-esque boxes.

“They’re playing a kind of lull of noise; It’s not totally chaotic noise, it’s very carefully crafted,” Alexander said. Not only does it add background to the performance, but it also complicates the song.

“It brings out a tension in the song, and the song is also bringing about a tension in that soundscape that’s happening.”

“There is not a story. There is not a beginning, a middle and an end. It’s this. It’s one thing,” Alexander explained. But while the performance itself is not a story, the audience creates a story on the spot. Each individual narrative may differ vastly, but it is the collective narrative that creates the story as a whole.

While the idea of an entire performance consisting of just one song may initially seem a bit daunting, it is in the repetition, the

connection and the experience in which individuals will find meaning. Through repetition, Alexander strives to experience what Judy Garland may have experienced over the course of her life.

“For everyone who heard Judy sing it in a concert, that was the one and only time she was going to sing it for them,” Alexander explained. For each and every repetition to be for someone and to be more than just one of many:

“(I Could Go on Singing) Over the Rainbow” Friday, Jan. 26 — Saturday, Feb. 3 The Stamps Gallery $12 Student, $30 Adult

That honesty and sincerity were fundamental aspects that inspired this show.

“The sacrifice which Judy made for other people to have this moment, where maybe they felt like they were over the rainbow, was just devastatingly poignant and beautiful to me.” In an attempt to reveal this beautiful sacrifice, Alexander’s performance ventures to give more people an over the rainbow moment.

There are so many ways that we try to make others understand, but too often it feels incommunicable.

There is only so much that words can do, and at a certain point they lose any sort of power at all.

Alexander argued that words can even block the way to pure understanding.

“As much as words can really allow people to understand what you are trying to say, they can also really alienate people as well,” Alexander said But then, art steps in. Pathways

Classifieds

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

RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, January 24, 2018

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

ACROSS 1 Filet mignon source 5 __ price 11 Ran together 15 Actress Paquin of Netflix’s “Alias Grace” 16 Tremble 17 Slick 18 Team first managed by Casey Stengel 19 Volcanic archipelago state 20 Eyelid bump 21 Fast clip around the racetrack 24 Internet subdivision 25 Feathered layer 26 USPS assignment 29 Eagerly took in 30 Flutist of Greek myth 33 Romanov rulers 35 Classic shoe polish brand 39 Surmounting 40 Fast clip from the pitcher’s mound 45 “Field of Dreams” setting 46 Lowered the grade of 47 Take potshots 49 Simple survey answer 50 Poetry Muse 55 Own, to Burns 56 Craven of horror 59 Mental haze 60 Fast clip down the slopes 65 “Toodles!”

67 Evening gettogether 68 One-named Deco artist 69 Curved paths 70 There for the __: easy to get 71 Plug-in vehicle, briefly 72 Chinese toy 73 Comes down hard?

74 Dines DOWN 1 Greek letter whose lowercase indicates wavelength

2 Developer’s unit 3 Early enough 4 Bahamian capital 5 Pale as a ghost 6 __-Pei: wrinkly dog 7 Fuzzy fruit 8 “Ghostbusters” director Reitman 9 Secretariat utterance?

10 Complaint 11 Anjou kin 12 Intelligentsia 13 English cathedral town 14 Easter egg dip 22 A bit buzzed 23 Aardvark snack 27 Bouncy gait 28 Best Game or Best Play 30 Christmas candle scent 31 Fit to be tied 32 Super stars?

34 Plant pouch 36 Put out of sight 37 “I’m game” 38 Newcastle Brown brew 40 Wolfgang Puck creation 41 New Rochelle college

42 Twice-baked bread 43 Hit with a laser 44 “Awake and Sing!” playwright 48 Farm mom 51 “Slumdog Millionaire” money 52 Brief summary 53 Line dance step 54 Military instructions

to communication open as art, and performance give people an experience, or a “sensation,” which permits understanding.

Alexander uses the power of performance to communicate her own, and Judy Garland’s, experiences with her audience.

Alexander is far from lacking in experience. Stemming from her recovery, her performance has less to do with the unimaginable hardships and everything to do with the fight back. Through Judy’s experience, Alexander realized that the “struggle is beautiful,” and that “the fight against the parts of yourself that are saying ‘you can’t do this,’ that is actually just as beautiful as success.”

“What Judy really spoke about a lot was that this struggle towards a happy ending was life, that was the thing. Over the rainbow doesn’t exist,” Alexander said, “but maybe there are moments in our lives when we feel it, when you do get a little bit over the rainbow moment, but you can’t live there, you can’t live in Oz.” Honest, selfless and empowering, FK Alexander’s performance opens the door for the audience to reflect and learn by experience. Promoting connection and communication through her performance, there will be something to take away for every individual, even if it is just knowing whether you want to be there at all. In a world where both communication and acceptance can feel impossible, spending an hour where those things thrive makes it hard to turn away.

Perseverance is a struggle that we all face, but the beauty in continuing on is sometimes hard to see. It is from Judy Garland that FK Alexander found her way to recovery, and it is from FK Alexander that the audience will find inspiration to keep going through whatever may stand in their way.

“Can’t go on, can’t go on, but you’ll go,” Alexander said. “If you just keep going then it will get better; it will get better tomorrow even.”

57 Bridge seats 58 Scandinavian toast 59 Surfboard stabilizers 61 Got up 62 “Just do it” brand 63 Niagara Falls source 64 Penny 65 Ballplayer’s hat 66 Choler

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

THERE’S A CROSSWORD ON THIS PAGE.

DO IT.

01/24/18

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

By Roland Huget ©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

01/24/18

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 — 7A

Simmons continues to earn trust, playing time ETHAN WOLFE Daily Sports Editor

Coming into the year, the departure of Derrick Walton Jr. was perhaps the most painful roster hit for the Michigan men’s basketball team.

Jaaron Simmons was supposed to make it hurt a little bit less.

The former Mid-American conference star was coming off a season in which he averaged 15.9 points, 6.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game for Ohio — Walton-esque numbers. Landing an experienced graduate transfer in Simmons was another example of coach John Beilein’s keen, seldom-praised recruiting eye.

Because of his polished body of work, Simmons was the early front-runner for the Wolverines’ starting point guard spot. In addition to Simmons’ past production, the 2016-17 season inspired little confidence that then-freshman point guard Zavier Simpson could shoulder extra responsibility.

But fast forward nine months since Simmons’ announcement, and it looks like an experiment gone wrong. His current statline

of 1.4 points, 1.4 assists and 0.7 boards is beyond falling off a cliff.

It’s hitting rock bottom. Until recently, he sat behind Simpson and freshman Eli Brooks.

Being relegated to the role of the backup’s backup wasn’t a shock, even to the casual observer.

Simmons looked uncomfortable, either with sloppy ball-handling or an inability to create a shot for himself, a skill that was on display with the Bobcats.

After registering 10.9 minutes a game through the first eight games, that number dipped further to 6.2 in the next 11 contests, five of which he didn’t play in. Coach’s decision.

“We had different rules (than Ohio) that he wasn’t picking up as quickly,” Beilein said Sunday. “… He’s handled it like a champion. I told his parents they should be so proud of how he’s handled it. He gave up a lot to come here to play on the big stage. It hasn’t worked

out so far.”

Against Maryland on Jan. 15, though, it appeared that Simmons had turned a corner. With 2:47 remaining in the first half, down 14 points in Michigan’s worst first-half performance to date, Beilein subbed Simmons in. At the time, Beilein’s decision was a head-scratcher — did he have a good week of practice? Was there an injury to Brooks or Simpson? Either way, it worked.

Simmons capably piloted a 6-2 run, narrowing the halftime deficit to 10, and scored his first field goal — a buzzerbeating layup — since Nov. 29 at North Carolina.

The choice became clearer.

“We needed Eli to get his confidence back,” Beilein said. “… Where Jaaron, we put him on the scout team, he did some really good things. We just made that flip. Eli watched the game a little bit and we let Jaaron go.

“He’s given us some things.

He’s playing better defense.”

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Fifth-year senior guard Jaaron Simmons has earned more playing time recently after a tough start to his season.

He’s given us some things. He’s playing better defense.”

In Michigan’s following two games, Simmons’ numbers were hardly showy — most wouldn’t bat an eye at a combined six points and two rebounds in a twogame span — but they display a previously unseen progression in his game. He has assumed the No. 2 role over Brooks as the first point guard off the bench against Nebraska and Rutgers.

In Sunday’s contest versus the Scarlet Knights, Simmons shot the ball four times in eight minutes, tying a season high, while Brooks didn’t see the floor.

It’s what regaining confidence looks like after the toughest stretch of his college career.

“Even though he didn’t make his shots, all of them looked good,” said junior forward Moritz Wagner. “I told him to keep shooting, it looked great.

Jaaron’s a really good player, he averaged like 18 points last year. I never averaged that many points.

We all know he can hoop. I’ve been very impressed with the way he’s handling adversity this year. That’s the sign of a great teammate and he doesn’t care about any person or agenda. He just plays.”

Added Beilein: “I think down the stretch, if he makes a couple 3s (against Rutgers) that he makes in practice, I think we’re talking about him a lot more right now, and we will.”

It remains to be seen whether Simmons’ trajectory will continue to trend upward. If it does, it’s a change that the Wolverines would welcome with open arms. Simpson is not the starting point guard that Walton was — an offensive lynchpin playing 35 minutes a game. Simpson averages just 21.7 minutes per game. Having a guy who can come in when Simpson struggles could allow the Wolverines to make some noise come March.

A confident Jaaron Simmons can be that guy.

MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Seniors lead Michigan over OSU and Va. Tech JODI YIP

For the Daily

With less than a month left until the Big Ten Championships, the tri-meet victory over No. 16 Ohio State and No. 19 Virginia Tech this weekend was a solid start for the Michigan men’s swimming and diving team.

The meet — held Saturday at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus — turned out to be a battle until the last minute.

The seventh-ranked Wolverines defeated the Buckeyes (157-143) and the Hokies (196-104) for a first-place victory in the second meet of the year.

The competition against Ohio State came down to the wire.

Michigan and the Buckeyes were tied at 75 points halfway through the meet. Though Ohio State inched ahead after the half with a victory in the 100yard freestyle, the Wolverines swam with urgency, eventually clinching the victory with the help of six consecutive individual event wins.

The upperclassmen made significant contributions en route to the victory on Saturday.

“We were led by our seniors,” said Michigan coach Mike Bottom. “There’s no doubt they were the leaders. Evan White, PJ Ransford, Tristan Sanders and Paul Powers all led us in different ways.”

White placed first in three events including the 100-yard (47.07) and 200-yard butterfly (1:45.11). White also touched first in the 200-yard IM with a

time of 1:48.10. With the help of Ransford in the long-distance events, Powers in freestyle and Sanders in backstroke, the Wolverines were able to tally valuable points to secure the team’s win.

Additionally, sophomores Jacob Montague, Jeremy Babinet, Tommy Cope and Charlie Swanson came out victorious in the breaststroke events. Montague, Babinet and Swanson touched 1-2-3 in the 100-yard breaststroke and Cope, Montague, Swanson and Babinet touched 1-2-4-5, respectively in the 200-yard breaststroke.

As for the diving unit, freshman Ross Todd competed in Saturday’s meet after sitting out the Indiana meet last week due to an injury.

Todd placed third, the highest among Michigan competitors.

“The team was tired but we came down and worked hard this week,” Bottom said. “We came off a dual meet with Indiana and got right back in to work. They still got up and raced hard.”

Though Michigan battled hard this weekend and pulled out a well-earned win, Bottom believes there are several things that can be improved upon before the Big Ten Championships next month.

“Today was preparation for the Big Ten,” Bottom said. “I hope everyone continues to get better. In around seven to eight swims, we got out touched by less than 3/10ths (of a second).

Those are the things we have to be tougher on. Make sure the last five meters are Michigan territory.”

“The team was tired but we came down and worked hard.”

After Lockwood’s injury, new second line emerges to propel Michigan’s offense Norris and Slaker swapped positions following winter break, in addition to acclimating to their new line.

Norris, who played alongside freshman defenseman Quinn Hughes and Lockwood in the World Juniors, returned to find he would no longer be playing center, but instead on the wing. In Norris’ absence, Slaker assumed the role of center for the Great Lakes Invitational and handled the shift with grace.

Pearson decided to let it stick.

“Jake was doing pretty well there,” Pearson said. “So when Josh came back, knowing he had played wing a little bit in the World Junior, we decided to try that, and slide him in there and see how it was.

First game back at Notre Dame, (Norris) scored. … With Josh I think it’s important that he has some versatility.”

And this would be the first of many times Norris found the net since reuniting with the Wolverines. The freshman has scored four goals over the last five games, including two multi-point showings over that stretch.

But according to Norris, these accolades have much more to do with his line than they do with his individual performance.

“I think we’ve found some really good chemistry the last couple games, and we’ve been hunting the puck on the forecheck,” Norris said. “All three of us can skate, so I think

“I think we’ve found some really good chemistry.”

EVAN AARON/Daily

Freshman forward Josh Norris is a member of Michigan’s recently-tweaked — and productive — second line.

ANNA MARCUS Daily Sports Writer

Fans didn’t even have a chance to get comfortable at Yost Ice Arena before the Michigan hockey team found Penn State’s net Saturday night. Thanks to a crisp pass from junior Brendan Warren as he raced down the left side, freshman Josh Norris got a perfect set up for a textbook one-timer just 26 seconds into the game.

The goal was generated with apparent ease, characteristic of linemates who are well-adjusted to sharing shifts and are familiar with each other’s positioning on the ice. However, for this line, it had just been a matter of weeks together.

Warren and Norris, in addition to sophomore Jake Slaker, played as a unit for the first time two weekends ago, comprising the Wolverines’ second line in the Minnesota series.

In light of Will Lockwood’s shoulder injury at the World Junior Championships — taking the sophomore forward out of commission for likely the remainder of the season — tweaks to Michigan’s second line were inevitable. What

wasn’t a given, though, was the smoothness of their transition.

“We haven’t even really talked about Will, within the team, that we don’t have him,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson after practice on Tuesday. “That someone has to step up, they all understand that. I think that certain players take advantage of opportunities. … and I think (Warren, Norris and Slaker) have.”

And not only did each of the three individually step up to fill the void, but they also clicked as a unit.

In the series with the Golden Gophers, this second line was responsible for half of Michigan’s offensive production. Warren supplied two goals in the first game, and then — just a minute into the second game — was set up by Norris to light the lamp for the third time that weekend. Norris got on the scoreboard as well, burying the puck on a manadvantage off a feed from Slaker.

Against the Nittany Lions the following weekend, the line showed its initial performance was no f luke. Collectively, the trio accounted for three of the weekend’s seven goals, including half the goals in

Friday night’s shutout.

Pearson attributes this to natural chemistry and each line member’s versatility.

“They play off of each other,” Pearson said. “They have some speed, there’s some chemistry.

We talk about chemistry all of the time, you can’t force it, it just has to sort of occur naturally.

And it’s occurring.

“Brendan has some physicality to him, I know Josh does and Slakes does too. Slakes moves the puck, you can see the passing, they’ve been fun to watch. They’ve got a little bit of everything. … I think they’re all a little more versatile (than the top line).”

While it’s hard to make a direct analogy to the top upperclassmen line of seniors Dexter Dancs and Tony Calderone and junior Cooper Marody — who went on a ten-game stretch providing 42.6 percent of Michigan’s total points earlier in the season — that doesn’t mean similarities are non-existent.

This new second line has been instrumental to the Wolverines’ recent dominance, and is a sign that Michigan is building offensive depth.

And the line is versatile, too.

we’ve been playing to our strengths.”

Slaker echoed this sentiment, adding how the trio’s stylistic similarities have helped the line find success.

“We were not shy of playing in the corner,” he said. “We can all do the same thing. We like to skate, we like to grind on the corners if we have to, but also if the puck is on our stick in the slot we know how to usually find the back of the net.”

And yet, as extensive as the line’s accomplishments have been the past two weekends, this was a mere four outings.

This leaves plenty of room for the line to make tweaks and build chemistry as Michigan enters the final month of regular season play.

“They haven’t had a lot of time together,” Pearson said. “So I only think they will continue to get better, which I am excited and encouraged about.”

Sports

8A — Wednesday, January 24,2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

‘M’ dominates in 74-48 win over MSU

F

Achilles heel no longer?

ebruary 5, 2015.

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Senior guard Katelynn Flaherty was on fire in the first half and finished with 26 points in Michigan’s 26-point win.

ETHAN SEARS

Daily Sports Writer

The game tipped off at 7:00. It was over by 7:10.

It took just over five minutes of game time for the No. 16 Michigan women’s basketball team (7-2 Big Ten, 18-4 overall) to build up an 18-4 first quarter lead over Michigan State (4-4, 14-7). The Spartans never came back, or came close to doing so, as the Wolverines cruised to a 74-48 win.

Ironically, things started tenuously, as junior guard Nicole Munger turned the ball over after Michigan State trapped a pick-androll on the game’s first possession, leading to a transition layup. The next time down, when the Spartans pulled the same trick against senior guard Katelynn Flaherty, she nearly lost her dribble as well.

But she found it, along with junior center Hallie Thome for a layup.

By the time the Spartans scored again, Flaherty had scored six points and notched a second assist.

She rained fire early on, hitting two 3-pointers off screens, then finding freshman forward Hailey Brown under the basket when the entire Michigan State defense gravitated to Flaherty in transition.

In the first half alone, Flaherty created 22 points — 12 of her own doing and 10 off assists. By the end of the game, that number was

up to 41, through 26 points and 10 assists, over half of the Wolverines’ 74 points.

“She got away from us a couple times, but, I mean, she gets an open look, it’s down,” said Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant. “I don’t care if she’s playing Michigan State, Ohio State — it doesn’t matter. That kid is a great, great shooter.”

No matter the question, Flaherty was the answer. When the Spartans drew within 10 at the start of the second half — the only time all game in which a comeback seemed within reach — she hit a 3-pointer, drew a foul in transition (hitting both free throws), assisted a Munger triple, then drained a running transition hook shot along with the ensuing free throw.

A 36-26 lead ballooned to 47-31.

Whatever hope Michigan State had died. The rest of the contest was a mere formality.

“Going into this game, we knew that they send all of their players to the offensive glass,” Flaherty said. “So we knew we could run in transition. They’re a bigger team, a slower team compared to us, so I think we really took advantage of that.”

The win marked Michigan’s fifth in a row, a streak that now includes wins over both the Wolverines’ rivals. In a year that will be defined by whether or not Michigan continues on its

current path to make the NCAA Tournament, the Wolverines are galvanized by the scars of being left out last season.

“We got robbed last year, not getting to the NCAA Tournament,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “And they have been on a mission since that announcement at March Madness. And we went on to win the WNIT Championship, but they didn’t even stop working after that win. They came back this year hungrier than ever...all of our returners have something to prove. They have a chip on their shoulder. “...It doesn’t ever end. I think it’s a constant reminder, because the people that came before them never got to experience it.

So (graduate assistant) Danielle Williams and Siera Thompson, who were seniors for us last year, they’ll never get that back. So it is a pain, like it’s a gut-wrenching pain that will never go away. And I think this year’s team is on a mission for all Michigan players, that this is for you.”

Tuesday was a rivalry victory, yes, and one against a program Michigan had gone 3-8 against during Barnes Arico’s tenure coming into tonight.

But it was also one step closer to avenge last season’s “robbing,” and that’s how the Wolverines will remember it.

That was the last time the Michigan women’s basketball team defeated HUNTER Michigan State.

In SHARF four straight matchups, Kim Barnes Arico came up empty-handed against the Spartans.

That was the case until Tuesday, when the Wolverines routed Michigan State, 74 to 48.

“This win is important to our university,” Barnes Arico said.

“It’s important to our players in our program. It’s important to our state. I mean, it’s just important.”

Part of the job description when coaching at Michigan is how you fair against Michigan State and Ohio State. Up until this season, those matchups were an Achilles heel for Barnes Arico.

And for the first time in her career, these rivalry matchups are going the right way for Barnes Arico. At least they appear to be, as the Wolverines have now won their last two matchups against the two schools.

Prior to Tuesday, the sixth year coach posted a 3-8 record against her rivals from East Lansing. And her record against the Buckeyes is only slightly better at 3-6, boasting a combined .300 winning percentage.

Despite being the program’s alltime winningest coach, rivalry matchups are a glaring weakness for Barnes Arico, as 21 percent of her total career losses have come at the hands of the Spartans and Ohio State. Given the magnitude of these matchups, these loses must sting particularly bad.

“This is a game that is circled on the schedule. Every year,” Barnes Arico said. “My first year here, we had five seniors on that

team. They taught me what it meant, what this rivalry truly meant. And how important it was to beat State. (The seniors) have been incredible continuing to teach our program what that really means.”

But when considering all factors, Barnes Arico’s previous lack of success against rival schools should only be taken into consideration in part.

Unfortunately for her, Michigan’s two biggest rivals have consistently been among the best teams in the country, notching seven combined NCAA Tournament appearances in the five seasons of Barnes Arico tenure. The two teams have also each been Big Ten champions in that timespan.

And while Barnes Arico’s numbers aren’t by any means good, compared to her predecessors, they aren’t bad.

She has three of the Wolverines 12 all-time wins against the Buckeyes. She also now possesses four of Michigan’s five wins over the Spartans since the 2003-04 season.

While the past six seasons shouldn’t be forgotten, this is the year to start judging Barnes Arico against her rivals. Her team is currently ranked 16th in the country and has appeared

in the rankings every week this season. This is the year Barnes Arico should challenge her rivals.

And she has.

This year, the Wolverines are 2-1 against the two schools, with their lone loss coming in overtime to then-No. 8 Ohio State on January 7th.

Some may say it’s a fluke and point to the 2014-15 season, where Michigan went 2-0 against the Spartans and 1-1 against the Buckeyes. They may then note that the Wolverines proceeded to go 1-4 against Michigan State in the following years. And they might also say that this is the worst Spartan team in years and had multiple injured players on Tuesday.

And they’re right – somewhat.

Yes, for Michigan to qualify for the NCAA Tournament and become a staple in the national rankings, it has to continue to beat quality teams like Michigan State and Ohio State. They can’t be satisfied with these victories.

It has to perform well at the Big Ten Tournament and make its first NCAA tournament in five years.

But Thursday showed Barnes Arico and the Wolverines are on the trajectory of figuring out their Achilles heel.

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico has beaten both rivals this year.

Best moments are still ahead for new lacrosse coach, Hannah Nielsen KATIE CONKLIN Daily Sports Writer

It started with tennis and a t-shirt.

Hannah Nielsen grew up playing all sorts of sports in Adelaide, Australia. It wasn’t until she was 11 years old, though, that she even heard of lacrosse.

“I actually played tennis with a girl who had a lacrosse t-shirt on, and I had no idea what the sport was,” Nielsen said. “She said I should come out and try it. I picked up a stick and never looked back.”

Nielsen quickly grew to love the toughness of the game. She loved playing in the heat of summer and in the dead of winter. She loved the running and the physicality. She loved playing in the mud.

By seventh grade, Nielsen was sold. Lacrosse would be her sport.

Today, Nielsen finds herself weeks way from her first game as the second-ever Michigan women’s lacrosse coach.

Joining the Brighton Lacrosse Club, Nielsen started her journey where other lacrosse greats began, including Loyola University Maryland women’s lacrosse coach Jen Adams.

Adams won the first ever Tewaaraton Award — the Heisman of collegiate lacrosse — in 2001 after her senior season at Maryland. There, Adams won four national championships and finished off her collegiate career with a perfect 23-0 season.

Nielsen wanted to follow suit.

“I remember at the time watching a highlight video of an Australian girl playing at Maryland and just thought, ‘That’s what I want to do,’ ” Nielsen said.

“Pretty much from there through high school, I set my sights on getting to college.”

Five years later, Nielsen found herself at Northwestern. Though she always dreamed of becoming a Terrapin like Adams, Nielsen believed the Wildcats would be the team to beat.

Not only did Nielsen want to be a champion, but she wanted to be a champion in her own right. At Northwestern, she could pave her own path.

“Northwestern had just won

its first national championship,” Nielsen said. “I could tell that the program was destined for great things, and had success in their future. It’s something that I felt I should be a part of, and at the end of the day I wanted to do something new. To do something that no other Australian had done.”

And that she did.

Nielsen graduated Northwestern with a perfect senior season like Adams. She bested Adams with not one, but two Tewaaraton Awards in both her junior and senior years.

She is the Wildcats’ all-time leader in points (398) and assists (224), and finished off her collegiate career with a 21-7 triumph over North Carolina for a fourth and final national championship. Nielsen

remembers the win as her favorite on-field moment at Northwestern.

“It was icing on top of an incredible season,” she said.

Nielsen’s dominance on the lacrosse field didn’t stop there, though. In fact, it didn’t even begin there.

Before landing in Chicago, and before playing a single collegiate match, Nielsen was already a world champion.

Out of the 10 Women’s Lacrosse World Cups held since its inaugural year in 1982, the United States has won eight.

In 2005, Nielsen and the rest of the Australian National Team beat out the Americans on their home turf in the gold-medal match, 14-7. She was just 17 years old.

This past summer, at 29, Nielsen competed in her fourth World

“It was icing on top of an incredible season.”

Cup in England, and was selected to the 12 player All-World Team alongside four of her teammates, one being Adams.

“For me, there’s nothing better than playing for my country,” Nielsen said. “Getting to represent Australia — for anyone, representing your own country — I don’t think there’s anything better.”

Nielsen’s stellar career as a player has translated well into her quickly progressing coaching career.

Before earning her first position as a head coach at Michigan this past summer, Nielsen was an assistant coach at her alma mater. Previously, she was on the coaching staff at Penn State and Towson, and helped start the women’s lacrosse program at Colorado in 2014 — the same year

Michigan’s program began.

Ironically enough, the Wolverines open up their 2018 season against the Buffaloes in Jacksonville, Fla. on February 9th.

“It’s going to be kind of a crazy experience,” Nielsen said. “I’ve fortunately coached against them before, so it won’t be my first time.

They still hold a very special place in my heart.”

This meeting will be Michigan’s third encounter with the Buffalos.

The Wolverines dropped their first battle in a 14-13 double overtime thriller back in 2015.

Colorado widened the gap the following year, dominating in an 11-4 showing.

Four seasons in, the Buffalos boast a .640 win percentage while Michigan sits at .290. Perhaps it was Nielsen that influenced Colorado’s quick progression.

“For me, there’s nothing better than playing for my country.”

MAX KUANG/Daily

The Michigan women’s lacrosse team will have a new coach this year in Hannah Nielsen, perhaps the best collegiate player of all time.

Either way, the matchup is shaping up to be a good one.

“The head coach is a very good friend of mine,” Nielsen said. “Both of us are very, very competitive, so we’re both going to want to win.”

And despite losing 14 seniors to graduation last season — most of whom were four-year starters — Nielsen thinks her team can win.

She believe the Wolverines have athleticism on their side.

Michigan’s current coaching staff prides itself on being able to teach the game. If the players are athletic and have the will to win, Nielsen believes they will do just that.

“If I were to pick someone who’s got that killer instinct and athleticism over someone who’s got finesse and skill, I’m definitely going for that athleticism,” Nielsen said. “We like toughness. We like gritty players who aren’t afraid to do the dirty work that goes unnoticed.”

Luckily for Nielsen, the previous women’s lacrosse coach, Jennifer Ulehla, felt similarly. She recruited athletes and believed specific skills and lacrosse IQ could be taught.

So far, Nielsen says it s all coming together.

From day one back in September through the end of fall ball, Nielsen has seen improvements all over the field. The Wolverines are beginning to click.

“The best moment so far was our last practice of the fall,“ Nielsen said. “To sit back as a coaching staff and see where we’ve come from and where we were at that point was really satisfying.”

And where will Michigan be in May when the season wraps up?”

“Hopefully in a better place than where we started,“ Nielsen said. “I hope that we’ve progressed as a team and that we’ve got a strong belief in all of our values and our culture. Hopefully we’ve got some wins on the board, as well.”

Nielsen has had what one would call a storied career in the lacrosse world. Coming to Michigan, however, is not the end of the story. Coaching is simply her latest chapter.

“Honestly,” Nielsen said, “the best moments are still to come.”

statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | JA N UA RY 24 , 201 8

Mondays, meatless no more M D i n i ng ’s q ue s t for s u s t a i n a bi l it y

2B

Wednesday, January 24, 2018// The Statement

statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | JA N UA RY 24 , 201 8

Managing Statement Editor: Brian Kuang

Photo Editor: Amelia Cacchione

Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford Jennifer Meer Rebecca Tarnopol

Editor in Chief: Alexa St. John

Copy Editors: Elise Laarman Finntan Storer

Managing Editor: Dayton Hare

Critical Questions: Political correctness

BY ISHI MORI, COLUMNIST

P

resident Donald Trump unexpectedly set off a political firestorm when he allegedly used a vulgar term to describe places like Haiti and Africa during a debate on immigration. The response was swift, with the president’s critics lambasting him for racism while his allies tried to frame it as something else, like White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders did last week.

“Look, no one here is going to pretend like the president is always politically correct. He isn’t. I think that’s one of the reasons the American people love him,” Sanders said. “One of the reasons that he won and is sitting in the Oval Office today is he isn’t a scripted robot. He tells things like they are sometimes, and sometimes he does use tough language.”

I would find it regretful if the President of the United States actually used the term; anyone with a conscience would call it racist. However, when vulgar language

becomes an issue of political correctness rather than an issue of racism, it enters a muddy field.

It reminded me of a quote that I’ve kept near and dear to my heart from my days as a rookie reporter. At a multiculturalism and diversity panel hosted by a student feminist organization I covered freshman year, the host asked the panelists to define “political correctness.” What came out, I believe, was something that is often overlooked; that political correctness, at its core, is about respecting the other person and not protecting one’s own image.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people are more concentrated about being called racist, being called sexist or giving off a bad image than they are about really hurting somebody,” the panelist said.

In this “s***hole” controversy, the debate is whether Trump’s view could be discredited on the basis of his racist remarks (he did say he wanted more immigrants from Norway, after all), or

A protestor interrupts Charles Murray’s talk at Palmer Commons on October 11, 2017.

whether liberals are overreacting to a president who slipped up while trying to tackle a thorny and complex issue that not even Democrats want to take head on.

In the wider world, we must ask whether political correctness really stifles free speech and how we can discern between controversial ideas and outright bigotry.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines political correctness as “language that seems intended to give the least amount of offense, especially when describing groups identified by external markers such as race, gender, culture, or sexual orientation.”

The word has its roots in MarxistLeninist vocabulary, but its modern sense originates from philosopher Allan Bloom’s 1987 book “The Closing of the American Mind.” In it, Bloom criticized universities for what he perceived as sacrificing open debate and discussion to not offend certain groups. Political correctness joined the lexicon of the greater Culture Wars throughout the 90s, wherein conservatives attacked liberals and higher education for what they saw the other side’s growing intolerance toward controversial ideas.

There have been numerous instances Bloom would point to as proof of his argument. A speaker was disinvited at Syracuse University for the outrage they may spark, or a class at Reed College became dysfunctional over claims that the content was racist. At the University of Michigan, controversial social scientist Charles Murray was interrupted by protesters who found his theory on the correlation between race and I.Q. repugnant.

Pundits from the left Alec Cohen/Daily and right have argued

against actions performed by college students like these essentially exclude those who are deemed as offensive from campus discourse. The direct and confrontational attitude of these protesters, as well as their refusal to compromise, have made them a favorite target of conservative pundits who point to them as proof that liberal student protesters are wielding political correctness as a weapon against opposing ideas.

But this isn’t what it’s supposed to be. Political correctness is meant to enable civil discourse in an increasingly multicultural society. Even the right benefits from their own form of political correctness – think religious freedom, “freedom fries,” “blue lives matter” and the like. If political correctness seems like something that stifles free speech, that means there are people abusing the word to their own advantage.

Nitpicking apart what your ideological enemies say and calling it oppression is not a way to start a conversation; it’s a bad way to persuade anyone except those who are already on your side. We must also learn to accept honest mistakes; I can tell you it’s not only white people who ask me where I’m “actually” from. As the philosopher Karl Popper said about accepting extreme arguments for political correctness: “If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them,” Popper wrote in his book “The Open Society and its Enemies.”

So yes, there are legitimate ways to debate immigration in this country, and being tough is certainly an option. But Trump must recognize the humanity in the people he is going to affect, and calling entire countries “s***holes” is not a great start.

Ultimately, political correctness is about recognizing the weight your words carry in regard to history and institutions. But if our leaders can’t find the issue in the racist, colonialist and paternalistic attitudes inherent in “s***hole” and defend it on live television, maybe there’s a problem.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 // The Statement

3B

Let’s Bitch About It: Football is boring and overrated

BY LYDIA MURRAY, COLUMNIST

P

icture the ideal game day: Sunny, warm, but not too hot. O’Korn is not slated to play and the renowned University of Michigan team is ranked and ready to win. Thousands of fans f lock to Ann Arbor, while college kids prepare for a day of revelry.

Now picture the game day reality: The weather sucks (it’s either too hot or too cold), our team is pretty average at this point, the streets are overcrowded and everything is sticky and smells like beer.

Before I start, I will admit I am a hypocrite on this matter. Over the past three football seasons, I have bought season tickets, attended tailgates and on occasion even made it to the actual game. However, I have decided to stop supporting what can only be described as the worst sport and let my true opinions out.

There are many issues I have with football, some of which are hard to dispute (like the physical implications for players), and others that many of you will blame on my lack of understanding of the game.

“You’re just a stupid girl who doesn’t get the culture of the True American Sport! Bah!” — some angry white man commenting on my article, probably.

Which, in many ways, is not wrong.

I know very little about the rules of football and fill in stereotypes about my gender in that regard, but that does not mean my opinions on football are not valid.

It’s dangerous I probably won’t be the first or the smartest person to tell you that football is incredibly dangerous for its players. Study after study detail the high risk of brain damage associated with the sport, especially among young players.

Yet for some reason, we still worship the sport. Football is still cool. The popular show Friday Night Lights (which I personally hated, but that’s another issue) literally had a main character paralyzed, but people still loved the program and the sport.

Mind-boggling!

On campus, we worship football players and consistently encourage them to risk serious injury in the name of our entertainment. I’m sure gladiator fights were also sort of fun to watch if you got into it, but that doesn’t mean it should be condoned in a modern society. (Also, it should be noted that in the National Football League the majority of players are Black while the majority of viewers are white, so there

are major systemic imbalances in who bears the costs of football.)

On this point, it is difficult to play devil’s advocate and argue against me that football is actually safe, but if you are looking for a fight, do not despair.

It’s boring I understand why sports are fun. I love the passion people have for their teams, the cheers and the taunts.

Personally, the Blues Brother dance after the third quarter is one of my favorite traditions at the University.

However, this does not mean football should be the outlet of our enthusiasm for athletics.

I went to a basketball game for the first time this semester and, wow — what a good time! You still get to do the cheers (and the dance), but you don’t have to spend four hours outdoors.

Why does a football game have to take four hours? That is way too long in my opinion, and there’s too much downtime, with actual play time amounting to a mere 11 minutes total on average. Other sports like basketball, hockey and soccer have more constant action, making them much more interesting than football.

Also why the heck is Michigan football outdoors? Why do people want to brave the elements for four whole hours? This year alone, Michigan football attendees suffered from sunburn, pouring rain and freezing temperatures. I will admit that the Mr. Brightside moment in the rain looked like good fun, but does three minutes of iconic music make up for four hours of shivering? I would say no.

It’s overrated While I was not a great football attendee (though I had season tickets, I only made it to three games, two of which I left before the first quarter), I managed to make it to most tailgates.

Each game day I would wake up excited but consistently end up disappointed.

Again, why do they have to be outdoors? What do you do if it rains?

(Apparently put up tarps or just let yourself get wet but personally, ew?

Why would I want to do that?) The other half of the time it’s freezing cold, and you have to either wear tons of layers and cover up your bomb outfit or simply give up on being warm for the day and risk hypothermia. On the f lip side, there are days when it is extremely hot and you end up sweaty, sunburnt and dangerously dehydrated.

Even if the weather is perfect, tailgates tend to be a net negative. Sure, the few hours you spend dancing can be a lot of fun, but the weird hours and

Coach Jim Harbaugh is disappointed.

postgame hangover make it generally unpleasant. For noon games, you have to wake up earlier than I do for my classes and pretend to be happy about it. Then following a day of tailgating and watching the game (for those of you who make it there and watch the whole thing), you eventually arrive home feeling like shit and just wanting some food and a long nap.

Additionally, the post-game nap is a very tricky thing to manage. Depending on the time of the game, it can really mess up your whole day. If you sleep

File Photo/Daily

too long, you could end up waking up at a time you would normally go to bed.

Or you may wake up at a somewhat normal hour but still be hungover and have no energy to do anything else that day.

Despite the disruption and the general unpleasantness, we still commit to this tradition almost every other weekend in the fall, all for a sport that really isn’t worth the attention.

Perhaps we should take notes from other countries and obsess over the true football: soccer.

4B

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 // The Statement

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 // The Statement

Mondays, meatless no more MDining’s quest for sustainability

by Will Stewart, Daily Arts Writer

E

ven when I still ate meat, I loved Meatless Monday.

Saying this is much like a middle school student who openly admits to enjoying school. For one day, the University of Michigan’s East Quad Residence Hall’s dining hall removed meat from the premises and served all vegetarian and vegan dishes. Given the challenge, the menu renounced its standard meat-and-potato options and served dishes like falafel pitas and vegan pot pie.

Unfortunately, I’m probably alone in saying that. Most of my peers would do anything to avoid Meatless Monday.

Even my friends who lived in East Quad would forgo convenience and trudge through rain or snow to South Quad Residence Hall’s dining hall. On the other days of the week, East Quad was almost always packed to capacity, forcing students to awkwardly share tables with strangers. But this f lock of carnivores migrating away every Monday guaranteed a barren dining hall filled with a glut of seating options.

In recent years, the University as a whole has struggled to meet its own

Campus Farm.

goals to reduce both waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Using measurements in 2006 as the baseline, the goal was to reduce waste by 40 percent, to 7,900 tons. Not only has it failed to do so, but it has moved in the opposite direction: In 2016, waste totaled 14,100 tons, nearly 1,000 more than 2006. And although the University has made more progress reducing greenhouse gases, it is still 132,000 metric tons short of its goal.

Nevertheless, there was little transparency when MDining silently abandoned Meatless Monday this past fall, causing great confusion that a quick Google search couldn’t fix. I thought, perhaps, the meat-eaters student lobby grew too strong to be ignored — that, or Tyson Foods donated $100 million to the School for Environment and Sustainability to fund a sustainable food program given that MDining exclusively serves chicken. Granted, I’m definitely the only person on campus who spends their free time thinking about potential Meatless Monday conspiracy theories.

The reality is more straightforward: Meatless Monday was always about sus-

tainability, and MDining felt there were more effective measures to promote this rather than getting rid of meat in one dining hall only to have students migrate to meat-serving locations. So, in fall 2017 and without fanfare, Sustainable Monday took over campus-wide. t’s possible that student backlash won MDining over. In a column published by The Daily in 2015 — titled “Meatless Mondays of indoctrination” — Ashley Austin wrote Meatless Monday eliminated students’ freedom to choose whether or not to eat meat.

“The notion in itself that students’ access to meat should be limited oversteps a previously established boundary,” she wrote.

This sent a strong message to the University community: Students don’t like having meat taken away, and they will be heard. Despite my affinity for Meatless Monday, some of the criticism was warranted. There were days when the menus included all of the typical meat dishes, but with f limsy fake-meat swapped in.

Elliott Rains, marketing coordinator of MDining, and Keith Soster, director of Student Engagement of MDining, denied Meatless Monday had been a f lop, stating that the new initiative seeks to be more impactful.

“I think one of the biggest pushbacks we got with Meatless Monday was that we were taking something away from people,” Rains said. “Reintroducing meat in some capacity on a Monday makes it more accessible to people … And if you can eat something that’s healthy and good for you one day of the week, then maybe that will build positive behaviors.”

To me, this seemed like a peculiar justification. Livestock contributes to 14.5 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, more than automobiles. Cutting back on meat altogether is one of the most effective ways to mitigate climate change and promote sustainability. If serving meat is unsustainable, then why, in fostering sustainability, would you choose to do so?

Yet, Soster believes MDining is playing its part in reducing waste and not Prashanth Panicker/Daily contributing to the upward trend.

All dining halls implement 100 per-

I

cent pre-consumer composting, which takes the remains of unused foods, like carrot peels and watermelon rinds, and allows them to decompose naturally.

To complement this, MDining began using compostable food packaging in all its facilities. Even though one-third of campus-wide waste is food, this also includes units outside of the dining halls, like office kitchens, according to Soster.

“We’re the biggest department in student life and one of the biggest ones on campus,” Soster said. “We have not only a responsibility to lead, but to give great examples … If we model the behavior, we’re hoping that others will follow.” he pinnacle of MDining’s sustainability efforts, which expand beyond Mondays, lies just seven miles northeast of Central Campus.

Starting in fall 2017, MDining began buying food from the Campus Farm and using it in dining halls. This is a clear step toward fulfilling Planet Blue’s sometimes-vague goal of creating a more sustainable campus. Since the farm received its Good Agricultural Practices certificate, it has sold 8,500 pounds of food to MDining in one semester alone, according to LSA junior Connor Kippe, Business and Projects Manager of the Campus Farm.

When I visited the Campus Farm earlier this January, it was hard to imagine sprawling tomato plants and other lush summertime vegetables growing — a thick layer of snow and sub-zero temperatures didn’t quite set the scene.

Regardless, they grow cold weatherfriendly spinach and kale during the winter months. In the fall, they store squash, beets and other root vegetables to continue selling in the offseason.

Kippe began working for the Campus Farm about a year ago. He works with nine other students on the farm who serve different roles curated to their own specific interests.

Kippe’s interest in the farm grew after taking classes about the impact of food on the environment and people, which inspired him to begin volunteering prior to his first day on the job. Regarding the switch from Meatless Mondays to Sustainable Mondays, Kippe said there was a slightly heated response from vegan

T

students at the University.

“I am for whatever is pragmatic,” Kippe, a vegetarian himself, added. “If doing sustainable Monday everywhere at most of the cafes reduces the amount of meat (consumption) more so than doing just meatless Monday, then I’m a fan of it.”

Kippe also serves as a student ambassador for Planet Blue. I worried Planet Blue was the University’s mechanism of greenwashing; ploys that appear to promote sustainability without actually doing so. Despite the University’s lukewarm improvement with regard to sustainability, Kippe maintains Planet Blue is much more than a mere buzzword to promote sustainability.

“It’s easy to make that claim that Planet Blue is only greenwashing because lots of the things Planet Blue does are behind the scenes, so it doesn’t appear that they’re doing things even when they are,” he said. “The University’s actually trying to move in different areas. Though, it’s having different success at different things.”

As for the farm’s future, Kippe predicts it will continue to grow in the upcoming years, potentially doubling in size.

“I also see us doing more educational work, more vocational work — this has given me a lot of experience for things that I can go and do and change in the future in the environmental field,” Kippe said. “And for my coworkers, it has as well.”

According to Kippe, more important than the farm itself is the culture it breeds.

“We’re creating people who are more able to make that change and more … we’re both increasing the amount of people in that work and also how good they are at doing it,” he said.

Inside one of the main greenhouse units, containers with microgreens — the equivalent of green gold due to their high value — are lined up side-by-side.

30 volunteers accompany me, all helping plant and grow products like the microgreens.

LSA freshman Kellee Byard is one of these frequent volunteers.

“I really like meeting the new people that volunteer here because we’re all like-minded — we all like working with plants, the outdoors and getting our hands dirty,” Byard said. “I’ve done harvesting, we do the planting… (and) helping with maintenance. It’s all fun work in my opinion.”

She said what makes her time spent at the farm most fulfilling is the impact she sees, and eats, on campus.

“Sometimes in the dining hall, I’ll see a certain fruit or veggie … that I know we had worked with — harvesting spinach, for example,” she said. “Seeing that in the dining halls is super cool, and knowing not having to get it imported

from somewhere far away … You’re helping the environment in the sense that it’s local, it’s something done by students here at Michigan.”

Annually, 300 to 400 others like Byard volunteer at the farm. Friends of the Campus Farm, a student-run organization, organizes the volunteers independently.

Campus Farm Manager Jeremy Moghtader said there has recently been more student engagement on the farm, he believes is due to the collaboration with MDining.

“I’ve been impressed that U-M and MDining is sourcing almost now 17.8 percent sustainable and local product into the halls,” he said. “These folks are taking whole beets, roasting them and slicing them to put on the salad bar.

That kind of culinary care for taking the locally grown beet and preparing it like that shows a real passion and dedication towards sustainability and towards delicious food.”

Moghtader highlighted the multifaceted effects of food and said it is relevant in everyday life.

“Food sits at this nexus of all of these really important environmental and social issues, whether it’s public health, the economy, climate change, biodiversity … All of those things are really impacted by the food system,” Moghtader said.

As for the future of sustainability on campus, he is optimistic; he views the farm as an educational opportunity and source of inspiration for all.

“Having students be hopeful about this farm and sustainability on campus I think is knowing that people can engage and learn about the food system,” he said. “They can engage in it meaningfully… (not) just learn about it in the classroom but learn about it in a way that allows them to contribute directly to the institution’s sustainability.” bout 9 percent of Americans adults are vegetarian, according to Pew Research.

The vegetarian population at the University is also small, but nonetheless passionate. LSA senior Aaron Brodke leads the Michigan Animal Respect Society (MARS), which creates a community for vegetarians on campus.

Without speaking on behalf of everyone in MARS, Brodke explained his organization’s views toward the change from Meatless Monday.

“Since the change happened from one dining hall to the entire group of dining halls at the University, this could potentially be a big opportunity that MARS would support because it continues the sustainability message around food, which for the first few years were really just centered around one dining hall,” Brodke said.

For MARS, it’s a mixed bag — it supports the wide scope of Sustainable

A

Campus Farm.

Monday, while questioning the lack of transparency on the decision to ax its meatless predecessor.

“Right now there may not be as much clarity around what the university, or MDining, means around Sustainable Mondays, so there is some backlash from members that may feel that it is somewhat regressive by adding animal products back to the menus,” Brodke said. “Once definitions become more clear, it could present a good opportunity for more sustainable food systems change at the University of Michigan.”

LSA junior Jacalyn Webster has been a vegan for four years. Although she is still relatively new to the University, this change from a meatless to less-meat standard perplexed her.

“If you’re going to call something sustainable, and still serve meat, they should be saying why meat is not a sustainable option,” Webster said. “If they’re still going to put it out, use that as an educational opportunity to inform people of what they’re eating.”

As for the switch to sourcing locally grown food from the Campus Farm, Webster viewed this as a feat.

“The closer your food is to home, the more sustainable and environmentally friendly that is.” t first, MDining’s decision to ditch my beloved Meatless Monday was unsettling.

In an age where greenwashing is so pertinent, I worried this was nothing more than a PR campaign. Calling it “Sustainable” Monday, while still serving meat, is like driving a gas guzzling truck that happens to be a hybrid

A

5B

Prashanth Panicker/Daily

— it’s clearly still fuel inefficient, but at least it’s labeled “eco-friendly.”

However, it’s clear this isn’t entirely the case. Despite these negative trends throughout the University, MDining is playing its part in improving the health of ecosystems and communities, one of Planet Blue’s goals created in 2011.

After my beloved dog Charlie passed away, I started feeling guilt anytime I ate meat. It was conf licting to be so heartbroken by the death of a dog, yet happily eat a bacon cheeseburger. Eventually, this guilt overcame me: I ditched meat altogether in September 2016.

Honoring Charlie’s spirit wasn’t the only factor that led to this change.

My older brother and best friend — both longtime vegetarians — had been encouraging me for months to experiment with a meatless diet. Although admittedly lame, the biggest source of inspiration came from trying to impress a girl I had a crush on with our “shared life choices.”

Since then, what has kept me from reverting back to my omnivorous ways is the meat industry’s devastating contributions to climate change. I can now put my guilty conscience to ease; at the very least, I feel less guilty about sometimes taking showers that last a few minutes too long.

I’ll do my part in preserving humankind’s longevity. Being vegetarian is by no means a get-out-of-jail-free card. I can’t then drive a Hummer and leave lights unnecessarily on all day. But it definitely helps.

And, it pays respect to my late, dear friend (Rest in peace, Charlie).

6B

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 // The Statement

King of the Road

BY ANDREW HIYAMA, DAILY NEWS EDITOR

W

e hadn’t made it to the first stop sign before my mom made me do something not fun.

“Stop! Go back and put your helmet on.”

Fine. I went back into the garage, got my helmet –– which was just a normal bike helmet, and not even one of the cool skater helmets –– and put it on.

Now blissfully free from interruptions, my family and I continued on our bike ride, and got about twice as far before I was interrupted by an protruding tree branch. I f lipped completely over my handlebars and landed squarely on my now-helmeted head.

For that I say, “Thanks, Mom.” Fast forward 10 years and, because I am ungrateful swine, I never wear my helmet –– for which I say, “Sorry, Mom! (And dad).”

Since coming to college, biking has turned from something I did occasionally on weekends with my family or as part of clandestine midnight outings into how I get anywhere and everywhere. And the recklessness has not been tempered; the wipeouts have only become more frequent.

Some of them are attributable purely to my own stupidity. One night, when I got hungry at 2 a.m., as one tends to get, I made the logical choice of going to Jimmy John’s: a relatively healthy, very appetizing and very open restaurant! Being 2 a.m., the roads were completely clear, making it a perfect time to fig ure out just how fast I could get my bike to turn.

Slaloming between potholes, feeling perfectly confident, I quickly found out –– and in a swift, sweeping motion was on the pavement with little birds f lying in circles around my head.

Luckily, the roads were completely clear.

Other times are less pure stupidity and more stupid obstinacy. It was the first day of the winter semester last year, but I’d be damned if I let the weather force me to waste 17 minutes of my valuable time walking to class instead of biking. The road conditions weren’t ideal for my thin, tractionless tires, but they were good enough.

Biking cut the 17-minute stretch between my house and the MLB to five, so needless to say, I was feeling

rather good about myself as I rolled up to my 10 a.m. Spanish class.

Just one more curb to go.

The curb ramp, however, had just a little too much snow packed on it, and my self-satisfaction turned into shame, disg ust and annoyance at the dozens of students who had decided to walk to their 10 a.m. classes at the MLB and were now concerned if I, now on the ground instead of on my bike, was OK. “Haha, I’m fine. I’m fine.”

Stop looking at me!

And then –– and then, there are the rare times which are a combination of stupidity, obstinacy and neglect.

After subjecting my bike to years of highly reg ular use, it has beg un to deteriorate; tape peels off, screws come loose, that sort of thing, nothing that can’t be fixed at a bicycle repair shop. In September, though, the seat began wobbling, which is never something you want, and sometimes the wobbling got quite vicious. I found a reliable, albeit temporary, solution in just twisting the screw underneath the seat tight, either with my hands or with an Allen wrench. It would only take a few hours or days and the seat would start wobbling again.

A temporary solution was more than good enough for me, though.

One night, I was coming home from a long and unproductive three hours at the library, the studious student that I am. The seat was barely wobbling, and so I felt it was safe to ride with no hands (a talent I hadn’t developed until coming to college) as I was approaching my house.

Just one more curb to go.

This curb ramped up at a particularly steep angle. I had always used some caution when biking over it in the past, and would stand up on the pedals, butt hovering above the seat, both hands on the handlebars.

Maybe this time, though, I should do it sitting down, no hands. To prove wrong all who had doubted me.

Though you’ve probably g uessed by now, what happened next was actually a little more exciting than a standard wipeout. The bearings holding the seat in place, as I found out a couple of weeks later at the bike repair shop, had rusted out quite a bit. And so, when I took that curb all seat and no hands, I put a lot of pressure on those poor little bearings. Eschewing any

regard for my well-being, the seat detached itself from the rest of the bike and f lew backward, taking me with it. Already having gone several weeks failing to repair the seat, I went a couple more completely missing one, forced to ride standing up, both hands on the handlebars at all times.

A fitting punishment.

And, because symmetry is life’s idea of humor, this year Mother Nature made it so all the New Year’s snow had melted and refrozen over every sidewalk on campus for the winter semester’s first Monday. One year had passed since my most shameful fall.

The f lashbacks I got from going up curbs had subsided almost completely.

Mother Nature thought she could cow me into submission. It was time to let old things die.

At least that time I wasn’t in front of the MLB. I got up and back on my bike before anyone was within talking distance.

All of this is to say, I g uess, that I will never learn my lesson! I will keep biking to class every day, and I will not go any slower, haters. And I won’t wipe out ever again.

Andrew riding his bike in 1999.

Maybe it’s okay that I don’t wear a helmet, since I’m so hardheaded about biking already. And maybe this isn’t the case, but part of what biking is to me is my imagination that every other biker is just as hardheaded. I do feel superior to you, in case you were wondering, walkers. My bike goes 10 times faster than you, and is greener and more mobile than a car or moped.

I could be compensating. Again, maybe it’s just my f lawed perception, but bikers –– especially those who bike through the winter –– are kind of a class of social outcasts. Like walking is just normal, and biking is “extra.”

Let me know if you know what I’m talking about, reader.

All of that, whether it’s going on in my head or not, just adds to the camaraderie I feel with other bikers –– especially those who bike through the winter. And so I hope my children, when I have them, want me to teach them to ride a bike, and that biking again becomes something I do occasionally on weekends with my family. Don’t worry –– I’ll make them wear helmets.

Courtesy of Andrew Hiyama

Wednesday, January 24, 2018// The Statement

7B

Popping the Freshman Bubble

BY RACHEL CUNNINGHAM, DAILY STAFF REPORTER

V

aledictorian. Editor-in-chief.

Vice President. President. AP Scholar. Lead Role. Part-time job and God knows what else. This describes high school me, like it does for many of us on campus.

I had it all together in high school.

I put effort into everything I involved myself in, certainly, but I always received what I wanted: an A in a class, a raise, a well-done project or an emotional boost. As long as I tried, I achieved my desired perfection. I did not know my high school had been on the list of the worst performing schools in Michigan until I graduated, but even if I had, I doubt that would have scared my younger self when preparing for my transition to college.

I came to Michigan knowing I would be challenged by thousands of great minds, many my age. I felt ready, and was excited whenever I thought about my new “Victors 2021” identity — especially inserting the hashtag into my Twitter and Instagram bios. I thought I knew what I was getting into, and felt extremely ready. “It won’t be that bad,” I believed.

I quickly realized that I didn’t know what I was doing.

I was challenged beyond what I felt my brain capacity allowed academically, mentally and emotionally.

Mentally and physically, I experienced complete drainage.

And to make things worse, I believed I was the only freshman who felt this way.

My sanity felt as though it had been stretched so thin, like how a rubber band loses its elasticity each time you use it, until eventually it just snaps.

Everyone else seemed to have their academic and social lives together; good grades, friend groups, club acceptances and everything else I couldn’t attain. While my consistent lack of self-confidence didn’t aid in these frustrations I experienced, I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong. I kept my nose in my books while maintaining the balance of seeing friends, writing for The Daily and attending a party when I could. I tried to get enough sleep

because I cannot function without my eight hours. I checked every detail of my resume as I sent it to clubs or companies. I did everything everyone else was doing, and perhaps even more.

Yet, I was struggling to get where I wanted while everyone else seemingly zoomed past me.

“Why am I struggling even when I

put so much time into everything I do?

Why was I even accepted here?”

Many nights, I cried into my pillow with these recurring thoughts. I couldn’t understand why I felt I was doing so horribly. I felt I was learning more in a semester than I felt I had learned in four years of high school.

Yet, when the time came around, I became lucky if I earned an average

grade, even though I had prepared more than many people I knew. My peers went to me asking for help with course material, yet they earned higher grades than I did. No matter what I did, I was not enough.

But, with this, my soul still felt lost. I worked my ass off but wasn’t rewarded like I was in high school. I read my textbooks, went to class and

that I wanted to drop out. I wasn’t good enough for Michigan. I put my academics first yet seemed like I always finished last. I believed I had failed myself. Others had everything they could ever want, and I was struggling to make it through.

However, after sobbing to three friends about my stress when they rushed to my room because they saw my face soaked with tears in the hall, I realized that many students felt like I did.

They were also exhausted, lost and confused. They experienced insecurity about their academic readiness, and began to blame themselves for it, similarly to me. Even those who I perceived to “have it all” here at Michigan, came forward to me that they felt opposite of the image they tried to portray.

I suddenly didn’t feel alone or susceptible to self-blame.

I also ref lected on the positive experiences of my first semester. Football games, study sessions that involved more laughing than studying, numerous Grilledcheezerie macaroni sandwiches (I think some of the drivers know me by name), meeting amazing new friends, sledding with laundry baskets, having a squirrel in my dorm, midnight walks through Nichols Arboretum, getting lost on North Campus while walking back from buying Little Caesars and other nights that I can’t talk about in this article continue to be some of many wonderful memories.

Through just one semester, I learned an important lesson: If I’m putting in my best effort, then the result that comes out of this is all I can do, and that’s okay.

We can’t expect ourselves to perform more than we are capable of. We will not be ILLUSTRATION BY BETSY STUBBS able to solve complex math office hours, participated and studied. problems when we haven’t learned I put the time into my academic how to solve basic problems. We relationship with school. All of this won’t be able to accomplish goals if occurring while I slipped further we are not capable of accomplishing into the cracks of lacking self-worth them yet. It took me 18 years to learn and confusion of whether I belonged this, but thank God I finally did. This at this school. I loved Michigan but experience saved my sanity. thought Michigan didn’t love me.

My freshman bubble had been I remember telling my mom in popped, but with it came a healthier many tearful phone conversations and happier me.

8B

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 // The Statement

V I S UA L STAT E M E NT:

NICHOLS ARBORETUM Photos by Alexis Rankin

When we think about sustainability, we imagine the spaces we want to preserve.

For over 100 years, Nichols Arboretum has been treasured by the campus community.