2018-09-25

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Students, city activists protest Kavanaugh Court appointment

Law School faculty, students push for increased sensitivity, survivor support amidst sexual assault allegations against SCOTUS nominee

ALICE LIU/Daily

The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigration Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) protests the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court on the Diag Monday.

KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter

Amid national uproar following multiple allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, students and faculty at the University of Michigan campus are protesting and finding ways to discuss the issue, how it pertains to campus climate and its relevance in national discourse.

After first

sending several anonymous tips to U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, came out publicly in September with details regarding Kavanaugh’s alleged attempt of sexual assault when the two of them were high school students.

Kavanaugh allegedly pinned Ford to a bed, groped her and when she resisted and tried to scream, he put his hand over her mouth. Ford has provided notes telling the same story from a couple’s therapy session in 2012, as well as individual therapy

in 2013 and results from a polygraph test she passed in which she detailed the incident.

In a statement released through the White House last Monday, Kavanaugh denied the accusation and claimed no memory of this incident or Ford herself.

“This is a completely false allegation,” Kavanaugh said. “I have never done anything like what the accuser describes — to her or to anyone. Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation

ADMINISTRATION

Future of OIE investigations remains unclear after filings published in case

Daily Staff Reporters

University President Mark Schlissel sat down with The Daily Monday morning to talk about recent developments on sexual misconduct training and investigations at the University of Michigan, voting laws in Michigan, recommendations to change the current Regent investment protocols and more.

Sexual Misconduct Data and Sixth Circuit Court Ruling The

recent Sexual Misconduct Report from the Office for Institutional Equity, released in early September, shows an increase in reported cases of sexual misconduct, even while the number of case investigations dropped.

Schlissel said he interprets the number as a sign that the rate of reporting is increasing, and credited the #MeToo movement and broader societal change for increased willingness to report.

“In general, it’s actually a good thing that the number of incidents reported is going up,” Schlissel said.

“The incidence of this conduct is intolerably high, but the

frequency of reporting is far lower. So, it’s a good thing, and I think it’s a product of some of the educational campaigns we’re doing on campus but also heightened sensitivity and awareness of misconduct in the broader society.”

Schlissel said there are several reasons for the reduced number of investigations. He noted the University doesn’t have jurisdiction in cases that don’t involve students or faculty at the University — in which case a report is filed and the case is referred to the Ann Arbor Police Department — and said complainants sometimes choose not to pursue investigations into reported misconduct.

“We’re going to continue to try to get everyone who feels as if they’ve been treated inappropriately to step forward and ask for help,” Schlissel said. “And then we’ll work with them to figure out the See SCHLISSEL, Page 2 MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily

University President Mark Schlissel discusses the Office for Institutional Equity’s yearly sexual misconduct report during an interview with the Daily at the Fleming Building Monday morning.

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lack of a police report and time passed from the alleged assault.

In response, Twitter saw a surge of tweets with the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport, detailing the shame and difficulty people had faced in reporting their own sexual assault.

LSA senior Sarah SaksFithian, a volunteer at Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, emphasized the difficulty for survivors of sexual assault to overcome trauma amid media and the internet opinion that criticizes victims for not coming forward sooner.

According to Saks-Fithian, victims begin to feel their experience is invalid. More locally, she underscored the importance of organizations on campus such as the Peer-led Support Group program through SAPAC, which supports and advocates for survivors of sexual assault.

“I think that the Kavanaugh case affects survivors on campus as most highly publicized scandals involving sexual violence impact survivors, See KAVANAUGH, Page 3

STUDENT LIFE

Schlissel: New ruling may deter reporting of sexual misconduct SAYALI AMIN & RILEY LANGEFELD

until she identified herself yesterday.”

Deborah Ramirez, a woman who attended Yale University with Kavanaugh, came forward yesterday with her own allegationsagainst Kavanaugh.

Democratic lawmakers are calling for a more in-depth investigation of the allegations set forth by Ford. President Donald Trump also weighed in on the issue, emphasizing Kavanaugh’s “impeccable reputation” and his doubt in the allegation because of the

Polish LGBT activist discusses similarities within Poland and U.S. University’s Donia Human Rights Center hosts prominent human rights lawyer and journalist

ACADEMICS

SACUA endorses Big Ten Voting Challenge Faculty also criticize OIE proceedings and professor boycott of Israel study trip ANDREW HIYAMA Daily News Editor

MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily

Krzysztof Smiszek, a Polish human rights lawyer and managing editor of The Anti-Discrimination Law Review, speaks about LGBTQ rights in Poland at Weiser Hall Monday afternoon.

CATHERINE NOUHAN Daily Staff Reporter

Krzysztof Smiszek, a Polish human rights lawyer, activist, and managing editor of The AntiDiscrimination Law Review, spoke Monday at Weiser Hall to University of Michigan students and faculty about the obstacles and successes with modern LGBTQ rights

For more stories and coverage, visit

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in Poland. Smiszek’s lecture was broken up into four key parts: the legal system of Poland, the lack of transgender rights, how the European Union inf luences Poland’s laws and the future of LGBTQ rights.

Smiszek spoke to the legal system of Poland being particularly difficult to crack through, and how he and his team of lawyers See POLAND, Page 3

The University of Michigan Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs convened Monday to vote on endorsing the Big Ten Voting Challenge and discuss updates to the external review of the University’s sexual misconduct policies with University President Mark Schlissel. Members also debated the controversy surrounding a University professor who rescinded a letter of recommendation for political reasons for a student applying to study abroad in See SACUA, Page 3

INDEX

Vol. CXXVII, No.142 ©2018 The Michigan Daily

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

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

News

2 — Tuesday, September 25, 2018

TUESDAY:

By Design

MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers

WEDNESDAY: This Week in History

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THURSDAY: Twitter Talk

FRIDAY: Behind the Story

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SCHLISSEL From Page 1 best way forward with the goal of reducing this to as low a level as possible, if not zero.”

Schlissel also spoke about the recent ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stating, in cases of sexual misconduct, universities must give the accused student or an attorney an opportunity to cross-examine the accuser in a hearing. Court filings obtained by the Detroit Free Press show the University argued for a third party mediator, but the extent to which misconduct investigations will change remains unclear. “(The University) is no longer contesting whether the investigative model they have used to date is sufficient, and understand that they must provide students in Title IX cases with a live hearing including cross-examination,” the filing reads.

Schlissel expressed his concern about the ruling and stated the University is working to accommodate complainants as well as possible.

“We are concerned that a procedure that requires a person who is bringing a complaint to confront the person who they think is responsible for an act of misconduct may really have a very difficult effect on people’s willingness to step forward and seek help and bring a complaint,” Schlissel said. “So, we’re looking for ways that will allow us to satisfy the requirements of the court ruling, to allow some kind of hearing, but to do it in a way that is as sensitive as possible to all of the parties who are involved in the complaint.”

Schlissel stated the University is approaching the court to ask for clarification and find out if other proposed crossexamination methods will legally fit with the ruling.

Investment Considerations Last August, the University announced the University’s Sudoku Syndication Board of Regents will

consider moving investment decisions currently in the public board meetings to the investment offices after a recommendation from an independent review by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

According to Schlissel, this is only a suggestion that the board will consider, not an actual action item that will be implemented.

These suggestions come after months of reporting, originally published in the Detroit Free Press, claiming the University has invested up to $4 billion of its $11 billion endowment into the global properties of the largest University donors including real estate developer Stephen Ross, investor Sandy Robertson and businessman Sam Zell. The Free Press also reported Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R) accepted campaign funds from donors who receive investments from the University.

Schlissel and University statements have denied these claims.

In an effort to clarify the role of the Investment Advisory Committee, Schlissel said the committee would use its financial background to help the University make better investment decisions in the future.

“They’re largely alums … who are leaders in all different sectors of the investment work,” Schlissel said. “We discuss what we think future trends are in different types of investments. We don’t discuss specific investments …

These are volunteers and the expertise they bring to the table is just enormously valuable, so we need to model our future budget and to do that, we need good predictions of how much money the endowment is going to earn and this group helps us think about what reasonable expectations are.

It’s remarkable service by volunteer alumni basically.”

Currently, the board hears and approves specific investments in the monthly meetings and suggests regents

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be removed from voting due everything I’ve accomplished to conflicts of interest. In the since I’ve been here,” Schlissel proposed revision to meeting said. agenda, the board would vote on For out-of-state-students, broad investment decisions and Schlissel said the University allow private committees to act meets the federallyon these recommendations and calculated financial need, make investments themselves. based on the FAFSA. He said Schlissel said this the University would like to change, proposed by help more students attend but PricewaterhouseCoopers and will prioritize in-state families not guaranteed to be enacted, with programs like the Go Blue would bring the University up to Guarantee. speed with common investment “I would love to be able to practices at other institutions. do corresponding things for “(PricewaterhouseCoopers other populations of people, said) other universities like but our first responsibility as a us, the boards of regents or the Michigan public university is to boards of trustees don’t vote the members of our community on individual investments,” here in the state,” Schlissel said.

Schlissel said. “The level of Schlissel said other public professional expertise that it universities are following takes to figure out whether the University’s example and a particular investment is a expanding financial aid budgets good one is really complicated. and programs to make college We hire professionals in our more affordable. investment office to do that “Ohio has copied us, Illinois is so that was a suggestion made copying us, and I think that’s a by the PWC people and we’ll wonderful thing,” Schlissel said. consider it … The PWC folks Michigan Voting Laws pointed out that we’re an The University of Michigan outlier and they don’t know of and Michigan State University’s other universities that vote on chapters of College Democrats individual investments on the recently filed a lawsuit against Board.” the Michigan Secretary of In regard to the image of State over what they see as moving a public decision to a unnecessarily restrictive state private committee, Schlissel voting laws, bringing renewed claimed it wouldn’t affect attention on campus to voting the University’s openness on accessibility. investment decisions.

Schlissel was instrumental “We currently provide in starting the Big Ten Voting a report every year on the Challenge, an initiative aimed University’s investments and at increasing voter registration that’s all public and that’s a and turnout at Big Ten schools. normal practice,” Schlissel After hearing the idea, originally said. “It wouldn’t be a change proposed for just the University in transparency because these of Michigan, Schlissel wrote things are already reported on the other 13 Big Ten university an annual basis.” presidents and proposed a Financial Aid Programs contest for the greatest increase According to the Office in the percentage of registered of Financial Aid, the voters and the biggest campus University cost of attendance for turnout. The others responded in-state students is $30,298 positively and began the and $64,386 for out-of-state initiative. students. When discussing Schlissel expects campus other leading institutions like turnout to be much higher than New York University’s medical in previous elections and lauded school covering tuition for all the recent public focus on voting of its students and Stanford at the University.

University covering tuition “Anything that makes it more http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ for all students whose income difficult to exercise the right is below $125,000, Schlissel to vote — I think you have to focused on Michigan’s be enormously careful about,” prominent aid program Schlissel said. “And what — the Go Blue Guarantee. we’re trying to do is encourage The Go Blue Guarantee all Michigan students to get covers tuition for in-state registered, whether it’s here students whose income in the state or their home state is below $65,000. — and to vote. … I’m really Schlissel said this is a big optimistic that the turnout is accomplishment for a public going to be much greater than university. it has been in recent elections “We are, as far as I know, because of all the focus on this. the first public university It’s much better to participate ever to make a guarantee of in the process than to complain four years of free tuition and about elections.” fees for half of the families Schlissel also addressed the in the state of Michigan,” possibility of not holding classes Schlissel said. on Election Day, as mentioned Schlissel added by CSG President Daniel Greene universities like Stanford at the board meeting last University or Harvard week. In the short term, the University that have the administration has asked financial capacity to grant faculty to be mindful of the date more aid is beneficial for and try not to schedule exams or their students. For the events on that date.

University of Michigan, on Schlissel has also discussed the other hand, he said the canceling classes on Election Go Blue Guarantee does Day and making up the lost class good work. time by shortening Fall Break “What Michigan has by one day, an idea that has done (with the Go Blue seen a mixed reception among Guarantee), to me, it’s the thing I’m proudest out of See SCHLISSEL, Page 3

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

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SACUA From Page 1 Israel.

The Big Ten Voting Challenge began as part of a University initiative to increase student turnout, and is now a competition between the 14 Big Ten schools to achieve the highest turnout rate in the 2018 midterm elections.

After a protracted discussion, the committee approved the endorsement resolution. Some SACUA members, however, expressed concerns that endorsing the challenge, which has been endorsed by all 19 schools and colleges within the University, would send an unduly partisan message.

While SACUA member Bill Schultz, a professor of engineering, agreed with SACUA chair Neil Marsh that the endorsement “seems pretty uncontroversial,” Schultz said it wouldn’t be taken that way by everyone.

“One of our major parties would like to encourage students to vote and one would like to discourage students from voting in their own way,” Schultz said. “I just don’t know that this couldn’t be another slight thing that is going to raise eyebrows if we support this.

I think we should, but I think

SCHLISSEL From Page 2 students.

Detroit and the University Last week the University announced a partnership with Harvard University and the city of Detroit to create programs to combat the opioid crisis, improve economic mobility and provide educational opportunities at Marygrove College in Detroit for students and teachers. The University also recently acquired the remainder of the Horace H. Rackham Education Memorial Building in Midtown.

With these recent announcements, Schlissel said the University plans for a higher profile involvement in Detroit.

“I’m trying to find ways for all the different research and teaching programs that touch Detroit to synergize with one another, to know about each other, and to take advantage of one another’s expertise and contacts,” Schlissel said.

In navigating the communities within Detroit, Schlissel said it’s important to have partners in the community and to communicate with them.

“The worst thing in the whole world is to come in, do a research program, and leave,” Schlissel said. “There you’re really taking advantage of people. What the best research and teaching does is it identifies great partners in the community, works together to define what the important problems are that need to be studied or addressed and then collaborates on their solution.”

Schlissel added the thought process behind collaborating with Harvard for the new program in Detroit was to utilize their data science and economists and pair them with Michigan’s expertise of the city itself.

Future Plans In announcements and focuses for this semester, Schlissel said he would save large announcements for his leadership conference coming up in a few weeks.

However, he did mention the University will be looking at sustainability and involving the arts in other areas of campus.

The focus on environmental sustainability comes after members of the University of Michigan Climate Action Movement spoke during public comment at last week’s board meeting. Members stressed the University’s place as a leading figure in reducing carbon emissions. The group pushed the University to go carbon neutral by 2035 and carbon negative by 2040.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

it isn’t as non-partisan as we would like it to be. I think this is relatively uncontroversial, but it will be viewed as a political act, I think, by many political views.”

The University frequenty draws ire from conservative bodies for its historically left-leaning politics: after President Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 general election, University president Mark Schlissel faced criticism for comments that seemed to disparage the election outcome.

SACUA Vice Chair Joy Beatty, an associate professor of management studies at U-M Dearborn, expressed her disappointment that U-M Dearborn could not be included in the voting challenge since it was not technically a part of the Big Ten conference.

Beatty also said despite members’ views on whether or not the endorsement was controversial, the issue could be avoided by voting not to endorse.

“The thing about not endorsing it is no one’s going to know we’re not endorsing it –– except for people who read The (Michigan) Daily,” Beatty said.

The assembly then shifted to discussion of sexual misconduct policies in relation to faculty and staff.

In February, the University announced it would hire an unnamed outside firm to conduct a review of its sexual misconduct policies and the Office for Institutional Equity, which processes all complaints related to sexual misconduct within the University. The review is to be divided into two phases: one as a review of just the University’s written policies on sexual misconduct, and a second to evaluate examples of how those policies are carried out. Schlissel said at the meeting the reviewer did not “have any final comments to share,” but shared he expects the review would be complete by the end of the fall semester.

SACUA member Sami Malek, a professor of internal medicine, emphasized the degree to which faculty were unhappy with the current state of operations within the OIE. “This is very important that we have somebody looking at it,” Malek said. “There’s a lot of disappointed people in the process.”

Last winter, The Daily reported on “The Whisper Network,” a crowdsourced database of sexual harassment and assault in higher education — incidents reported by and involving University faculty appeared more than a dozen

KAVANAUGH From Page 1 and that they can be very triggering and disruptive to survivors’ healing,” SaksFithian said. “Trauma tends to hover close to the surface, and it can be very triggering when survivors are bombarded by stimuli related to their experiences. As a survivor myself, I know that I become more emotionally vulnerable when I‘m continually exposed to stories of sexual violence, especially in such highly publicized cases like Kavanaugh’s because there’s really no way to avoid it.”

Saks-Fithian also highlighted how issues in society are reflected in the University campus community, and public figures should be held to higher moral standards of behavior.

Saks-Fithian made the distinction between limiting Kavanaugh’s career opportunities and ruining his life.

“The Kavanaugh case is extremely relevant for our campus community and for the world because it involves someone trying to join the highest echelons of legal power that exist in our country,” she explained. “I find it interesting that people are focusing on the impact these allegations may have on Kavanaugh’s career without taking into account the impact the assault

POLAND From Page 1 are working to legalize civil unions.

“Since 2003, there were eight attempts to introduce civil unions,” Smiszek. “So far, we are one of the last European Union countries without any legislation of this kind.

Poland is also another country without any protection against homophobic, transphobic hate speech and hate crime, which has been condemned many times by the council of Europe.”

Smiszek noted similarities between Poland and the U.S.’s struggle for LGBTQ rights. He brought up a Polish Supreme Court case known as the “printer case” that bears resemblance to the well-known Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commision in which a same-sex couple sued a Colorado baker for refusing to make a wedding cake. The main difference between the cases, however, was that the Polish Supreme Court said that sexual orientation, race or gender could not be the

times.

“One thing to consider when looking at these cases is in any academic relationship there is a power dynamic,” Rackham student Nicole Bedera commented on the cases.

“That’s exactly why the people who have sexually harassed the same people for years have been able to get away with it.

The decision to conduct an external review of the University’s policies and procedures came shortly after revelations in the case of Larry Nassar, a doctor at Michigan State University.

Nassar assaulted students and patients under the guise of medical treatments over the span of three decades and was aided by other MSU employees who failed to follow through on student reports of misconduct

by Nassar and, in some cases, actively suppressed the reports.

While Schlissel acknowledged that since he had come into his role as president, there had been “a small number of individual cases” involving faculty misconduct, he said there was no valid comparison to the Nassar case.

“I don’t know how to categorize this as a ‘big’ problem, and to use the Nassar example, I thoroughly reject,” Schlissel said. “That person was

Tuesday, September 25, 2018 — 3

committing sexual misconduct for 30 years. So, although we aspire to have every case done as perfectly as we can, to me there’s no analogy between a consistent handful of cases that come through OIE that faculty regrettably feel are unfairly run, and 30 years of sexual assault.”

Finally SACUA addressed the case of Prof. John CheneyLippold, who rescinded a letter of recommendation for a student’s study abroad application after learning the program took place in Israel; Cheney-Lippold is engaged in an academic boycott of the country. Shortly after news of the professor’s action became public, the University released a statement expressing disappointment in the professor’s decision, and Schlissel spoke against the boycott at last week’s Board of Regents meeting.

“It is disappointing that a faculty member would allow their personal political beliefs to limit the support they are willing to otherwise provide for our students,” the statement read. “We will engage our faculty colleagues in deep discussions to clarify how the expression of our shared values plays out in support of all students.”

Expressing his desire to

hear the “candid thoughts” of SACUA members, Schlissel moved the meeting into closed session. Following the meeting, Marsh released a statement from SACUA on the practice of writing students letters of reference, saying they wished “to draw the University community’s attention” to the American Association of University Professors’ Statement of Professional Ethics.

“As teachers, professors encourage the free pursuit of learning in their students,” the AAUP’s statement reads. “They hold before them the best scholarly and ethical standards of their discipline. Professors demonstrate respect for students as individuals and adhere to their proper roles as intellectual guides and counselors. Professors make every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to ensure that their evaluations of students ref lect each student’s true merit. They respect the confidential nature of the relationship between professor and student. They avoid any exploitation, harassment, or discriminatory treatment of students. They acknowledge significant academic or scholarly assistance from them. They protect their academic freedom.”

has had on the survivor. The impact of sexual violence is not limited to memories of the experience(s). The violation of bodily autonomy, agency and independence have consequences that are often widespread and long-lasting and can and often do completely alter the survivor’s life.”

This situation has made some question the legitimacy of the Supreme Court nominations process, a conflict stemming in part from Republicans’ blocking of former President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland as a replacement for former Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Republicans refused to hold any hearings on Garland’s nomination and successfully appointed and confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017 under the Trump administration.

In addition, Kavanaugh’s confirmation would make him the second sitting Supreme Court justice, including Justice Clarence Thomas, accused of sexual misconduct.

Michigan Law Professor Richard Primus weighed in on the issue, describing the implications of this case and how it relates to the hearings regarding the accusations against Thomas by attorney Anita Hill.

“The Kavanaugh confirmation hearings are turning out to be potentially the most explosive and damaging confirmation hearings in the

history of the Supreme Court.

Many people are drawing parallels to the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991,” Primus wrote in an email to The Daily. “But in 1991, there was a much higher degree of trust and cooperation between the rival political parties in Congress, and in 1991 the President who nominated the candidate was not himself famous for bragging about committing sexual assaults.”

Primus explained the importance of accountability within the Supreme Court in order to preserve its status as an institution that exercises fair judicial proceedings.

“It’s a mistake to think that the Supreme Court is permanently and automatically a respected institution whose rulings the other branches are willing to respect,” he wrote.

“It took the Court a hundred years after the Constitution was ratified to accumulate the capital necessary to exercise judicial review of federal legislation on a regular basis.

In large part because of the stonewall of Merrick Garland, the Court’s stature was already wobbling before the current sexual assault allegations came out. If things go badly now, the Court might face a rough future.”

Primus emphasized the importance of sensitivity regarding the issue because of its wide-reaching impacts on all women who have experienced

sexual assault.

“No matter what happens to the Court, the process is taking a serious toll on many women who have been victims of sexual violence and who are finding the intense public discussion of the current allegations particularly difficult,” he wrote. “Very few of us have direct contact with the confirmation process, but probably all of us have contact with someone who is having a hard time because of the way current events intersect with her personal experience. We should be thoughtful about being sensitive to that reality as events unfold.”

The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary, also known as BAMN, held a protest on the Diag Monday afternoon calling for the removal of Trump from office and the subsequent defeat of Kavanaugh’s nomination.

Kate Stenvig, a national organizer with BAMN and chair of BAMN’s U-M chapter, explained the mission of the protest.

“We believe Christine Ford, and now Deborah Ramirez,” Stenvig said. “The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh now to the Supreme Court is a real threat to democracy, and to the rights of women, and because Trump has chosen Kavanaugh because of his longstanding position that a sitting president should be above the law. I think it’s

been clear from the beginning that Trump’s whole platform and his whole support base is fundamentally based on misogyny, immigrant bashing and racism.”

Stenvig described Trump and Kavanaugh as unfit for their government positions, citing the separation of migrant children from their families, which became a topic of national discussion this summer.

“Trump has proven to be the abuser-in-chief: his promotion of sexual assault and predation of women, the fact that he has committed massive crimes against humanity by already using national security as the premise for separating children from their families and putting children in cages, while denying immigrants the basic right of applying for asylum which is their legal right,” she said.

“Nobody, neither Trump nor Kavanaugh, who are abusers, should be in the position to be able to make decisions over our lives.”

Rackham student Kate Napier protested alongside BAMN and explained she felt the accusations against Kavanaugh automatically disqualified him from the Supreme Court.

“Brett Kavanaugh is not fit to serve on the highest court in the land,” Napier said. “Someone who has committed an act of violence against a woman cannot be given power to make decisions about women’s lives.”

basis for refusal of services, whereas American courts place a much larger emphasis on freedom of religionl.

Smiszek said coming to the University helps to promote the exchange of ideas within international legal systems, and helps him identify areas of improvement in Poland’s activism.

“I’m a human rights lecturer and academic, but at the same time, I’m an LGBT activist and lawyer litigating different pieces on LGBT discrimination,” he said in an interview with The Daily.

“I think it’s important to present this perspective to American colleagues. I get to learn whether the U.S. is behind the equality agenda or not. Exchanging experiences and thoughts about where is the place of LGBT rights in the American or Polish legal system is important. I am here to learn from the American perspective, and I am astonished at what the LGBT community has achieved in this country in the last 40-50 years.”

Sociology Professor Kiyoteru Tsutsui, director of the Donia Human Rights Center, said their center

brings in speakers based on the desires of the students.

“I teach a course on human rights, and in that class and outside of the classroom I sense and I hear our students having questions about what is going on in the world,” Tsutsui said. “They want to learn about human rights’ standards in the world, the various laws- international and domestic. So we are here to provide that information because we have a lot of people on campus and outside campus who have great expertise on human rights issues, politics, and law.”

While many of the people in attendance were professors, LSA freshman Jagienka Timek, a Polish student, was one of many students who came to the lecture. Timek said she tries to keep up with news from her home country, but didn’t feel like she knew a lot about LGBTQ issues.

“My parents are from Poland, and I am strongly Polish,” Simek said. “I like to stay up to date with the current political climate in Poland, and LGBT rights, it hasn’t been in the mainstream in news outlets necessarily.

Going to Poland every

summer, and seeing the referendums, seeing people on the streets, demonstrating, it makes a personal impact on me. There are no protections against discrimination or hate crimes, and that was crazy to me.”

The event also drew people from outside the University community. Kasia Kietlinska, an English and Rhetoric professor at Oakland University, said she was excited when she saw the event because of her immersion in Polish culture.

“I’m Polish and live in Ann Arbor –– I follow everything,”Kietlinska said. “I’m addicted to reading Polish publications. It just seemed incredibly perceptive.

He really knows his stuff. And just noticing how LGBT rights have progressed, from being not being not very popular for the center to right parties, to then becoming accepted by these relatively conservative groups of people, even in the mainstream.”

At the end of the lecture, Śmiszek emphasized there are great strides being made in the LGBTQ community, and there has been a vast increase in participation in public

demonstrations and events.

“In 1998, the Pride Festival brought together only three people with their faces covered –– three brave activists,” Smiszek said.“And twenty years later, there were almost 80,000 people marching on Warsaw streets.” Śmiszek also mentioned the election of Anna Grodzka was the first openly transgender member of parliament in Poland, and these achievements give hope to the future of the movement. In contrast, the United States has never had an openly transgender member of Congress. Smiszek said he hopes students will continue to fight for the progression of LGBTQ rights here in America as well.

“You have to talk to others,” Smiszek said. “It is a challenge to speak to those who are hostile. But, you have to believe in your fight and not give up. It took 20 years in Poland, and it started with extremely brave people who started this discussion around LGBT rights. And now, I would say you have a blossoming of LGBT infrastructure and activism.”

Opinion

4 — Tuesday, September 25, 2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

JOEL DANILEWITZ | OP-ED

Am I allowed to listen to love songs anymore?

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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.

ALI SAFAWI | COLUMN

T

Let’s talk about pot

his November, Michiganders will be able to vote on Proposal 1, which would legalize the possession, consumption and sale of marijuana for recreational purposes. In a recent survey from The Detroit News, 56 percent of likely voters supported Proposal 1 and 36 percent opposed it, with only 6 percent undecided. Even opponents of legalization expect it to pass by a wide margin as voters, especially young voters, will be motivated to the polls by the spectacle of legalization. This is probably why the Republican Party in Lansing tried (and failed) to legalize marijuana in an effort to keep Proposal 1 off the ballot and tamp down on voter turnout in an election year that is looking increasingly bad for the GOP. Recreational use of marijuana has been legalized in nine states and Washington, D.C. Thirteen other states and many of Michigan’s largest cities — including Ann Arbor, Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing — have decriminalized, but not legalized, recreational marijuana.

Decriminalization means that someone caught with small amounts of marijuana will face a civil penalty, such as a fine, instead of criminal charges.

Medical marijuana is also legal in Michigan, provided a person has one of 22 health conditions the state government has approved to qualify for treatment with medical marijuana, including autism, chronic pain and cancer. People with one of these conditions can apply for a state medical marijuana ID card.

While legalization and/or decriminalization of marijuana is a step forward in undoing the tangled mess that was the war on drugs, the hysteric anti-drug mindset of former Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan still influences drug policy at the federal level.

When Michigan votes to legalize recreational marijuana on Nov. 6, pot will still sit alongside heroin as a Schedule 1 controlled substance in the Drug Enforcement Agency’s eyes. In states like Colorado, where recreational marijuana is already legal, the mismatch between state and federal statutes means that while a person may be able to sell marijuana freely, they cannot open a bank account for their business.

Comedian John Oliver does a great segment on this topic that I encourage everyone to watch.

But, I am not a legal columnist. With the legalization of recreational marijuana use in Michigan seeming inevitable, it’s high time we have a real discussion about the public health solutions and challenges posed by marijuana.

The properties of marijuana come from naturally-occurring chemicals in the plant that interact with the endocannabinoid system. The ECS is a system of cellular receptors in the nervous system that normally bind the neurotransmitters AEA and 2-AG. The chemicals in marijuana are similar enough in structure to AEA and 2-AG to bind to the ECS receptors and activate the system which plays a role in appetite, pain, memory and mood. The two most well-known chemicals in marijuana are THC, the psychoactive ingredient, and CBD though there are many more.

Marijuana has been touted to possess all sorts of health benefits, chief among them as a non-opioid treatment for chronic pain.

Michigan is in the jaws of a massive opioid epidemic and marijuana is often mentioned in discourses about solutions. Theoretically, opioids and cannabinoids (the class of chemicals in marijuana) treat chronic pain in much the same way. While cannabinoids stimulate the ECS, opioids stimulate the body’s mu-opioid receptors. Both lead to changes in perception of the chronic pain. They do not treat the underlying cause of the pain (e.g. inflammation or damaged nerves). The key appeal of cannabinoids over opioids is that no one has died of an overdose on marijuana while thousands have overdosed on Oxycontin and other opioids. Despite this benefit and fairly solid evidence that cannabinoids can treat chronic pain, U.S. health care providers still prefer to prescribe opioids — a barrier that must be addressed if marijuana is to ever be widely used as an opioid alternative.

Marijuana has been shown to have other concrete health benefits, such as reducing vomiting in cancer patients and improving food intake in HIV-positive patients. However, there are also a fair number of fantastical claims out there about what pot can cure. Marijuana and its non-psychoactive cousin, hemp, have been shrouded in an aura of mysticism that leads some people to believe it can cure

JILLIAN LI | CONTACT JILLIAN AT LIJILLI@UMICH.EDU

complex diseases such as cancer.

The unfortunate truth is there is no evidence that marijuana cures or slows the course of cancer.

Health care providers, hospital and public health organizations in Michigan would do well to educate people about the reality of what marijuana can and cannot do, otherwise, we could see patients forgoing proper medical treatment and instead trying to smoke themselves, or their kids, healthy.

Speaking of smoking, let me bust one of the most common marijuana myths out there: Smoking pot is not harmless.

While not as addictive as opioids, about 10 percent of chronic marijuana smokers will develop a dependence, with a higher likelihood of dependence the younger you are. Just like other substances, stopping marijuana can cause withdrawal that while not deadly, can make it hard for someone to quit if they want to.

Smoking any burning plant matter, be it marijuana, tobacco or even lettuce, exposes a person to nasty chemicals produced by the burning process. Regular marijuana use is also linked to heart and lung problems as well as at least one type of cancer.

None of this is to say that recreational marijuana should remain illegal, just that there is a need for widespread education about the risks of use when Michiganders gain far greater access to marijuana. Like alcohol and tobacco, marijuana will be tightly regulated under Proposal 1 which should put minds at ease.

Proposal 1 is by no means perfect. It does not erase marijuana convictions of people, especially people of color, who have predominantly been incarcerated under the old war on drugs policies. That is the next step.

When Proposal 1 passes by a hefty margin, which I think it will, it will also send a message to Congress to act to end the federal prohibition on marijuana.

The war on drugs was based on hysteria and racism, not public health concerns. Now that we are crawling out of this failed era, it is time we treat marijuana the way it should be: as a drug with real potential to benefit people’s lives, but also with some real risks that need to be properly mitigated.

Ali Safawi can be reached at asafawi@umich.edu.

W

hen my parents started feeding me music, they treated love songs like alcohol. Little tastes from their cups — sips of wine, accosting them if they guzzle down more beer than they’re allowed. And never any hard alcohol, because who gives a 10-year-old a shot of vodka?

They played love songs that were fluffy and light, interspersed on mixed CDs that rotated in the car stereos on rides lasting no more than 10 or 15 minutes. One of the first was Bobby Vinton’s version of “Sealed With a Kiss,” a beachy tune about counting down summer’s end with letters between two lovers, each one “sealed with a kiss.” I can picture my mom driving the car and smiling warmly — her eyes closing for a tender moment at the red light as she sang along with Vinton.

Like a small kid’s tongue dipping into red wine, the song contained enough flavor of love to keep me wondering about the vast sweetness I could only experience when I was older, with the bitter aftertaste — the “cold, lonely summer” Vinton alludes to.

Through the succeeding years, my iPod was mostly pop songs and Broadway show tunes. The playlists on my iPod Nano were a flurry of jittery mid-2000s Britney Spears and Lady Gaga — easy enough to dance to, so the lyrical content was rendered as meaningless syllables.

When I was 13, however, my piano teacher gave me the shot of musical vodka. As I struggled to write my own songs, she suggested seeking inspiration in Joni Mitchell’s records.

Her recommendation was “A Case of You,” a song about the determination Joni had to stay standing while taking swigs of her lover — like a case of wine — until she finished the bottle.

It was too strong for this 13-year-old, being so potent with a longing that went deeper than any Bobby Vinton rendition. The song’s parent album, Blue, ran 10 songs long and sifted

“

through every strain of heartbreak, insecurity and loneliness. If “A Case of You” was a shot, then Blue was a handle of liquor.

Yet, as though my taste buds weren’t ready, the meaning of each song was clear, but the heart of her words still proved illusory. Love was something that a 13-year-old was bound to feel only for his family, and even so, that kind of love was an entirely different beast. Still, I went through artists known to inspire and who have been inspired (which could include almost every singersongwriter of the years following Blue) by Mitchell. I found Laura Nyro and dusted off her strongest bottle, the album New York Tendaberry.

Like Mitchell’s voice, Nyro’s was acrobatic, yet struck by the emotional paralysis of heartbreak. Her mood shifted from yearning anxiety to resigned fate. In the opening track, “You Don’t Love Me When I Cry,” she confronts her lover for only distancing himself when she is at her weakest. I couldn’t understand why her voice was pulling at me so hard.

As I grew older, I felt disingenuous every time I let the words diffuse into my blood.

I had never been in love. For years, I had feigned attraction to the opposite gender, fabricating love more than most people my age did, even with their seventh or eighthgrade “boyfriend.” After I came out, love songs only distilled attraction and emotion more than before.

Love songs increasingly bog down my playlists, with heavy-hitters like D’Angelo’s ostensibly gentle profession of desire, “Really Love.”

I thought I could transcribe the emotion into the bedroom of some guy I was hooking up with, putting on music in the background to make what D’Angelo was singing more palpable.

Instead, it feels like every time I accompany a Grindr hookup with one of my playlists, I just sully the meaning rather than connect with it.

I’ve never been in a relationship — let alone felt love — and haven’t seen the prospects line up on the horizon.

Suddenly, the notes of each love song have unraveled into questions of my own inability to find love.

They choke my capacity to connect by acting as reminders that I deceive myself when I try to feel, when I try to connect. I’ve failed in trying, and what was once a connection built on curiosity and longing is now just a sad, sputtering attempt at knowing what it means to be lovelorn.

As I’ve expanded my taste, I can connect with artists on different levels. I listen to Princess Nokia’s “Bart Simpson” and empathize with her experience as an outsider in school while still comprehending the vast contrasts in our lives. But, love songs continue to hinder the way I internalize music. The more my sex life becomes a smattering of empty kisses with strangers, the less I feel permitted to listen to songs that used to intoxicate my senses. Maybe the dizzying effect it once had on me is now too vertiginous, provoking a sense of guilt and self-pity for reasons I can’t fully grasp. I’ve become woozy — chugging like the college kid I am — lapping up the music as a substitute for the real thing and letting it pool up in the bowels of my mind. In the process, I think I’ve frustrated my sense for natural, real love.

I started shifting toward sinking myself into songs about being alone, like Mitski’s “Nobody,” a swelling indie-rock song about asking for nothing but meaningful, loving company.

But, as indulgent as works like that are, they just lead me in the direction of wanting the same thing the artist wants. And then I listen to another love song, knowing I shouldn’t be allowed.

Joel Danilewitz is a Seniot Opinion Editor and can be reached at joeldan@ umich.edu.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

The vast majority of the time I spent in high school was studying or focused on sports and being a good friend to the boys and the girls that I was friends with.

— Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in an interview with Fox News in response to allegations of sexual assault

ANAMARIA CUZA | COLUMN

”

What might mess up midterm elections

T

here was something inherently cringeworthy in reading about 11-yearolds hacking into the database of Florida’s election website, not because the midterm elections are suddenly under the threat of middleschoolers, and not because hacking the 2018 midterm seems to be child’s play. Rather, it was the feeling that following the coverage of DefCon Voting Machine Hacking Village, a workshop at an annual security conference, the public was left with nothing more than the knowledge that democracy is literally in the hands of Russian hackers, and that there are some very brilliant 11-yearold kids out there.

Add some smart hackers, dilute an issue until left only with its sensationalist side, skip all the boring parts in the process of solving it, and you get technology coverage. Tech coverage seems to resemble an ad infinitum repetition of these steps, with tech companies, non-profits and hackathons following suit and framing their problems and solutions emphasizing the new and shiny. The organizers of DefCon described the environment the kids used for election websites as “exact clones.”

The press decided to use the same language: “Exact clones.” After the conference, the organizers cut down on their claims, changing the term to simply “clones.” When the National Association of Secretaries of State issued a press release complaining that the “environment in no way replicates state election systems,” Jake Braun, one of the organizers, replied that they were “fucking idiots” for not seeing that “a nation-state is literally hacking our democracy.”

Later on, a report revealed students were only working with look-alikes of election websites, with specific vulnerabilities added for the event and the participants coached on finding them. Still, Braun’s aggressive response is understandable: He wasn’t actually fighting for the legitimacy of his voting machines. He was fighting for getting the necessary media coverage to make the public aware of election cybersecurity issues.

Instead, in the process, the core of these issues and their possible solutions got lost in hundreds of words on terrifying Russian hackers and brilliant middle-school hackers.

In response, ProPublica released an article on a completely overlooked key piece in election security: email system vulnerability. The twofactor verification process is a way of logging in that not only requires a username and a password, but also something only the user has (i.e. a unique code on their phone). This type of logging in is so widely used that even we, as college students, can use it to log into our university accounts. But, it is also one of the things that one-third of the counties overseeing toss-up congressional elections don’t have access to.

Internet-connected systems are just as vulnerable to hacking as voting machines, but email is such a mundane thing that it would be hard to find its place in an article talking about hackers undermining or saving democracy.

Throwing around the words “cybersecurity” and “hackers” instinctively brings to mind coders trying to solve an encryption.

Cybersecurity, though, should not be regarded as solely a technology

challenge. Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs developed a checklist for managing cyber risks during political campaigns, but you probably won’t see that too often in the news. Having a report released on cyber risk mostly dealing with the “human element” in cybersecurity doesn’t seem to add anything new or shiny to tech coverage. Still, cyber risks mostly show up because we are human.

Because some of the most common passwords people use are “123456” and “password.” Because we put our passwords into spear-phishing emails. Because we will sometimes share our passwords with the people we work with.

The way these conferences and journalists frame election cybersecurity and tech in general affects the perception graduates will have on their future tech jobs.

We want jobs where we can work on these supposedly “new” issues and solve them with “shiny” codes and brilliant hackers. That’s why so many of us will want to work for Google, Facebook and all the other companies that dominate the press coverage of technology. In the meantime, political campaigns are getting hacked because there was no training in identifying a phishing email. In the meantime, counties are struggling to hire the people capable of dealing with all the emerging cyber risks, and people are probably hanging around DefCon, hacking supposed “election websites.”

Anamaria Cuza can be reached at anacuza@umich.edu.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Arts

TV REVIEW

FACEBOOK WATCH

‘Sorry For Your Loss’ is good enough for what it is ALLY OWENS For the Daily

You know the old platitude that someone is (insert compliment) for a (typically disparaged group)? To get an accurate review of Facebook

“Sorry For Your Loss” Series Premiere Facebook Watch Tuesday @ 9 p.m.

Watch’s newest offering, “Sorry For Your Loss,” I’m going to have to dust it off. So yes, “Sorry For Your Loss” is good. For a Facebook Watch show. “Sorry for Your Loss” boasts a thoughtprovoking premise not easily compared with others currently on television.

In the wake of her husband Matt’s (Mamoudou Athie, “The Front Runner”) sudden death, young widow Leigh (Elizabeth Olson, “Ingrid Goes West”) must cope with long-standing family drama, the expectation from others to just be OK again and the realization that she may not have known as much about Matt as she previously conceived.

Ironically, what makes the show so original is part of the reason why it fell so flat — it’s as almost as though they had HBO-level ideas with a Freeform-level action plan.

Despite the strong premise, the show does not elaborate from there. By the episode’s conclusion, I had no strong connection to any of the characters. Frankly, none felt engaging or likable. This very well could have been because Leigh is depicted as a barre class instructor who chooses to yell into a microphone to teach a

class of 12 or because the mom reminded me of every difficult white woman I’ve ever seen in a Michael’s Craft Store.

This fault was only highlighted more by the raw realism of the general premise.

Characters either felt incomplete, like Leigh’s sister Jules (Kelly Marie Tran, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”), or inconsistent, like Leigh herself.

Jules’s alcoholism is given as much depth as a kiddie pool; the chance to delve into her internal conflict of committing to her recovery while her life is not in a perfect vacuum was squandered in favor of her simply saying that she’s “better now.”

Moments like Leigh’s blow up at her grief group were unfounded. It’s understandable that the point was to show her unraveling, but the tone of the dialogue in the scene felt out of place. It was too comedic.

Yes, dramedies are a thing, but an indication of a good one is a consistency in tone that “Sorry For Your Loss” lacks. Most importantly, I simply cannot place the trajectory of where this show will take us for multiple seasons. This show does not seem to have the entertainment value to carry an audience for years; it would fit into a miniseries or even a film format much more comfortably.

After all, the exploration of loss and the process of grieving is definitely the show at its strongest. Rather than flatly mentioning through dialogue how happy Leigh and Matt were before his passing, the writers took a page from “This Is Us” with the inclusion of flashbacks.

These flashbacks ensure that Matt is an actualized character, rather than just a tombstone that we have to feel sorrow for with every mention. Viewers are able to see their relationship, and make assumptions about its strengths and weaknesses for themselves instead of only hearing about it from Leigh’s

perspective — a shrewd choice as a large fraction of the show is based around the holes in Leigh

This show does not seem to have the entertainment value to carry an audience for years

and Matt’s marriage.

The flashbacks are also used skillfully to illustrate the show’s central point: just how little we care about loss or death unless we are directly affected by it.

There is a poignant moment midway through the episode where viewers flashback to predeath Leigh answering an advice column question about loss. She breezily answers that “it’s not the end of the world.” We then flash back to modern day, where Leigh’s world is evidently over.

Viewers are forced to wrangle with the question, “why are we so uncomfortable with discussions of death?” I even internalized for a moment if this is why the show didn’t seem to initially pique my interest.

“Sorry For Your Loss” currently is the crown jewel of Facebook Watch, but on a pseudo-network that boasts the likes of “Ball in the Family” and the Degrassi-knock off “Five Points,” clearly it does not take a tremendous amount of entertainment value to become its standout.

Daily Arts Writer

Kid-friendly horror movies are often looked at with

“The House with a Clock in Its Walls” Ann Arbor 20 + IMAX, Goodrich Quality 16 Universal Pictures

suspicion, but it’s a genre I believe is important. I’m not

Walls,” an adaptation of the 1973 book of the same name

by John Bellairs. Directed by torture porn king Eli Roth (“Death Wish”), of all people, it follows 10-year-old Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro, “Daddy’s Home 2”), who moves in with his eccentric uncle Jonathan (Jack Black, “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot”) after the deaths of his parents and learns his uncle is a warlock searching for a sinister clock left in the wall of his home by its evil previous owner.

Together with Jonathan and his uncle’s neighbor, a powerful witch named Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett, “Ocean’s 8”), Lewis must uncover his own potential as a warlock and find

apart. If you’ve ever taken a screenwriting class, you’ve been told that if you’re having a problem with your third act, you’re actually having a problem with your second.

This is usually correct; the idea is that you spend your first two acts setting up pins that your third act will knock down. If we were to extend the bowling metaphor, Eli Roth spends the first 80 minutes of “The House with a Clock in Its Walls” setting up his pins, then spends the last 25 minutes of his movie urinating on them.

Strong characterization is replaced by garish, godawful CGI. Clever dialogue is replaced by f latly delivered clunkers like, “Come with us to the turret. It is a special turret.”

Atmosphere and an almost Spielbergian sense of wonder — “The House with a Clock in Its Walls” was produced

by Amblin Entertainment, Spielberg’s production company — falls away, leaving

sight gags that wouldn’t be out of place in a “Minions” movie.

For a story that champions embracing what makes you stand out, to see it fall prey to the same tropes that plague most kids movies and start condescending to its audience is disheartening.

There’s not much left by the end of “The House with a Clock in Its Walls” that can be said to be untouched by this, including its status as what could have been a good example of kid-friendly horror.

It’s tarnished by what feels like a studio’s idea of “what kids are into these days,” and this is coming from someone who is usually very hesitant to call “studio interference” on anything. What could have been a formative experience for some of the kids in the theater ends by regarding them as worthy of little more than a shrug, and so it received the same from many of them as the credits rolled.

ALBUM REVIEW

BROCKHAMPTON’s latest is a creative mess JONAH MENDELSON Daily Arts Writer

BROCKHAMPTON, the boy band at the intersection of internet hip-hop nerds and hip indie teenagers, have released their first project of the calendar year: iridescence. This project follows an immensely prolific 2017, during which they released three projects and ascended to minor stardom.

The clear strength of this

BROCKHAMPTON

‘House’ builds kid-horror goodwill then falls apart saying you should traumatize your child by sitting them down and turning on “Hereditary,” but a movie that isn’t afraid to get creepy or have real stakes can offer formative experiences and valuable lessons to young audiences, teaching them not to stigmatize negative emotions like fear — a familiar notion for those familiar with Pixar’s “Inside Out” — because sometimes things have to get scary in order for there to be a happy ending. Movies like “Coraline,” “ParaNorman” and even the original “Ghostbusters” all attest to this in different ways.

With that philosophy in mind, I was excited for the latest entry in the genre, “The House with a Clock in Its

the clock before it brings about the end of the world.

For two-thirds of “The House with a Clock in Its Walls,” I was onboard. The characters and their personalities were welldrawn, and they were brought to life with a set of lively performances from the entire cast, especially the adults.

Jack Black and Cate Blanchett don’t seem like the most obvious pairing in theory, but on screen, their chemistry and friendly sniping back and forth quickly steals the show. Best of all, it’s genuinely unsettling and doesn’t always talk down to its target demographic. It has its failings, yes, mostly a set of unfunny fart jokes and jump scares — the fart jokes of horror — but there’s also foreboding production design and a mythology that Roth uses to build atmosphere and tell kids to embrace what makes them weird.

Then, as it enters its home stretch, everything falls

iridescence

FILM REVIEW

JEREMIAH VANDERHELM

Tuesday, September 25, 2018 — 5

RCA Records

album lies within the production and the arrangement. A welldone motif in the production is the contrast between organic and industrial: swelling, earthy strings juxtaposed with distorted kicks and dissonant synths, elegant piano parts undercut with frantic synthetic drum breaks, beautiful vocals lines bathed in artificial effects and vocoders; the strength of the production is found in the transient moments at the intersection of the natural and manmade. Some moments, such as the transition between “NEW ORLEANS” and “THUG LIFE,” are truly inspired. The album is overflowing with ideas, yet some of the strengths at times become flaws: the recklessness, the business, the bipolar swings in mood and energy. What makes the production so creative also threatens to throw iridescence into disarray and chaos.

Disappointingly, the vocalists are far less charismatic than any of their previous projects; there are no real quotables, and the lyrics, by leaning towards the introspective, sacrifice the irreverent humor and charisma of the Saturation trilogy.

Part of BROCKHAMPTON’s appeal was that how much fun they were having shone through their work; that particular quality feels muted on this album. Joba has always been hit or miss, particularly when rapping, but it is on iridescence that this becomes

painfully clear, as he has to pick up some of the slack left by Ameer Vann’s forced departure. He sets the tone for the album with a wince-inducingly corny verse on “NEW ORLEANS.” Worth noting is that his hits are still there, his part on “J’OUVERT” being one of the most memorable moments on the project. Matt Champion’s presence on the album is muted: He seems to appear less often than any other vocalist except for Bearface, and when he does it’s often forgettable.

While BROCKHAMPTON is clearly continuing to grow and develop on iridescence, some of their clichés are becoming tiresome. The autotuned falsettos are starting to become old, and most of their slow songs still use the production as a crutch for weak songwriting and uninspired harmonic structures, giving off an impression not unlike expensive ornaments on a plastic tree. What played a great role in the band’s explosion in popularity was their ability to sound unlike anyone else on the scene. But after saturating the market with four full-length projects in a little over a year, they don’t possess that same freshness.

Still, there are some great cuts: “WHERE THE CASH AT” is maybe the eeriest song off the album, a pulsing industrial beat laid over with rapidfire heavily-filtered Merlyn and Matt Champion verses, the final product having the not-unpleasant effect of boring into your head.

“WEIGHT” is excellent, sonically dynamic and emotionally complex. The sappy string section and swelling chorus that open it up threaten to turn the song mawkish, but the band manages to avoid that particular pitfall, instead creating a piece that is spectral and moving. “DISTRICT” is an upbeat distorted track that locks into a neurotic groove, while the vocalists all come through with some of their best work on the album. The beat cools off in an outro containing an Isaac Brock-influenced guitar part and some robotic vocal overlays. The transition from “J’OUVERT” to “HONEY” is probably the best executed concept on iridescence (it’s a shame that the robotic

hook on the latter track falls so flat). “SAN MARCOS” is “slow BROCKHAMPTON” done right — too often they fall into blandness when they attempt these sensitive songs, but something about this track feels much more purposeful and structured.

It’s only on iridescence that they’ve succeeded at forcing their disparate styles to coexist peacefully

BROCKHAMPTON’s greatest triumph on iridescence is their newfound ability to weave together their aggressive and sensitive sides. The Saturation trilogy would segregate these soft, introspective works into interludes and outros while the high-energy cuts took center stage. They hinted at a growing cohesiveness on Saturation III with the mid-tempo, moody “BLEACH.” It’s only on iridescence that they’ve succeeded at forcing their disparate styles to coexist peacefully.

If you’re a big BROCKHAMPTON fan, you will either love or hate this album — if you’re into the funky, catchy songs like “GOLD” and “SWEET,” there might not be much for you on this project. If you loved aggressive cuts like “HEAT” and others of its ilk, or if you found yourself drawn to reflective, heavily-produced songs like “BLEACH,” iridescence is deserving of a close listen.

RCA RECORDS

Arts

6 — Tuesday, September 25, 2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW

HEALTH AND WELLNESS COLUMN

Navigating life through NBA’s best dunks JOEY SCHUMAN

Daily Health & Wellness Columnist

I didn’t believe in superheroes until LeBron James came along, because — aside from recently bolstering his bid for induction into the All-Time Human Hall of Fame — LeBron James is really good at basketball. He gains a cult-like following because he does things like effortlessly dunking on Kevin Garnett to remind us that he is, indeed, a superior being. With mouths agape and one Kevin Harlan assisting our comprehension of the insanity with his “with no regard for human life” call, we feel empowered, because it happened. A human did that.

So, surely, there’s an alternate universe where we can do it, too.

Caught on the other end of that display was Kevin Garnett. Future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett. Which is funny, because we’ve all been Kevin Garnett.

I’ve been Kevin Garnett. A lot. Just this past month I’ve been yammed on, over and over, by strangers and familiar faces with a tenacity unseen since 2008 bedroom Nerf Hoop showdowns. It stinks.

It also makes the response (the counter-attack) all that much sweeter. Because, to live a high-flying existence, you should — you need — to dunk on folks.

Hold your own dunk contest, participated in by you, judged by you, and announced by you. Visualize your own posterization. Think it into existence. Win emotionally over your arena. Where to start? Some inspiration: DUNK: Zach LaVine, New York City, 2015 Metaphorically suitable for: rewarding job offer, growth period, impending come-up

We begin not with an in-your-face jam but with a smooth maneuver. LaVine’s dunk is marked by grace, his 6’5” figure unforcefully gliding its way through the air. Worth noting is the innovation in spite of his late entry into dunk lineage; yearly complaints of a stale, worn-out dunking canon have forced each year’s crop of dunkers to get more creative with their performances. This, however, remains fresh. We see this then as mental motivation for life adaptation and positive self-evolution. When you want to remain graceful amidst any sort of adversity, be Zach LaVine. Go behind the back and look beautiful doing so.

Now you see me, now you don’t.

Look what I can do with me.

DUNK: Julius Erving, Philadelphia, 1983 Metaphorically suitable for: reunions, tough conversations, wholesome closure This “rock-the-baby” dunk is just ridiculous. It took place in a real-live game with other people who are also 6’7,” and also have biceps the size of my head, and oh my shit, the disrespect. It’s legendary. Dr. J’s blunt force is complemented by a baby, his baby, and you, too, can carry your baby so triumphantly. Whether that baby is a relationship you’d like to maintain, or a connection you want to reestablish (or bring to a peaceful end), dunk with it, or all over it. The slam speaks for itself; it’s the most effective way to show that you know your worth.

DUNK: Vince Carter, Oakland, 2000 Metaphorically suitable for: getting in their business, staying in their business, a proverbial middle finger The best part about this jam is that, as Vince Carter was preparing for the contest, he thought, at some point, “What if I just jump so damn high

I can hang my damn elbow in the basket for a while?”

He then he did exactly that, and, save for the reactionary gasps of astonishment, we instantly felt like an inferior breed upon watching it. This is disrespect of the highest order, and we should take notes. Go higher, high enough even so you can laugh down on those still abiding by the laws of gravity. Be petty enough to hang on the basket for a while and make jaws drop in awe of unfuckwithability.

DUNK: Michael Jordan, Chicago, 1988 Metaphorically suitable for: unequivocal personal triumph When MJ flew through another galaxy (a full 15.09 feet in the air, to be precise) en route to NBA legend, it wasn’t his seemingly impossible airtime that was most important, nor was it the fact that he did so in front of 18,000 adoring hometown Chicago fans. Rather, it was Jordan’s tongue wag that made the real statement. The wag teases silent defiance, as if he was internally laughing about his upcoming stunt on the world.

So take a full-court running start like Mike, especially if it means you’re flying 15 feet over fools. Wag some tongue and warn them that you now run the league — er, their world — and will control everything they love for the next 10 years.

Heartless is good and heartless is healthy.

That being said, you won’t automatically be Michael, because no one wins life upon first launch from the free throw line. You’ll likely be LeBron’s Kevin Garnett first, and that’s OK. Just remember: When you finally get your Vince-hey-justhold-my-balls-for-a-quick-sec Carter moment and dunk the entire country of France all the way back to 1789, Garnett will be there to cheer you on.

Release Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2018

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

ACROSS 1 The one here 5 Group of cronies 9 Natural wound protection 13 Discard 14 Prohibited activity 15 “What a shame!”

16 Player getting paid 18 Sound from a snout 19 Counsel 20 “Am I the only one?”

22 Move stealthily 23 “Wait just a minute!”

26 “Told you” 27 Rogers Centre city 29 Oil field sight 30 Cartographer’s dot, maybe 31 Food truck snack 32 Unfulfilled campaign pledge ... and a hint to what 16-, 23-, 46and 53-Across all contain 37 James of “The Godfather” 38 Herbert Hoover, by birth 39 O’Hare’s airport code 40 Great pains 43 Bobs and waves 46 Docking aids 48 “Rashomon” director Kurosawa 50 Christmas door decoration 51 Health facility 52 Tech sch. grad 53 Closet accessory 56 “Start __”: Rolling Stones hit 57 Mandel of “America’s Got Talent” 58 Melody 59 Coffee servers 60 “If I may intrude ... ” 61 Founded, as a co.

DOWN 1 QB-to-receiver six-pointer 2 Running track obstacle

3 Apple videoediting app 4 Madrid’s country 5 128 fl. oz.

6 Grandpa Simpson 7 Vague idea 8 Charges toward 9 Apt Shakespearean rhyme for “truth” 10 Fire-breathing monsters 11 “Interview With the Vampire” novelist 12 __ choy: stir-fry veggie 14 With 37-Down, what corn is on 17 “For shame!”

21 Skater Midori 23 Little songbird 24 Color of some Hello Kitty products 25 Self-esteem 28 Fútbol cheer 30 Charged particle 31 Altoids container 32 Saloonkeeper

33 Trooper’s speedchecking device 34 Versailles rulers, once 35 Have bills to pay 36 Indian spice blend 37 See 14-Down 40 Finder’s cry 41 “Fooled you!”

42 Overeager student’s cry 43 Thingamajig

44 Set in the right direction 45 Like some cows and vows 47 Maryland team, briefly 49 “Roots” role Kunta __ 51 Rebel Guevara 52 Big bird from Down Under 54 Stunned state 55 Comical Conway

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

By C.C. Burnikel ©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

09/25/18

09/25/18

FLICKR

Ariel Waldman explores space hacking at Theater ERIKA SHEVCHEK Daily Arts Writer

An artist, an author, a NASA advisor and a creative founder, Ariel Waldman is a prime example of the unexpected.

Although she has no formal science background, she chased her admiration and curiosity for space exploration, which soon lead her to send a spontaneous email to NASA. Now, Waldman — with a degree in graphic design — has launched her creative mind into the world of NASA, where she advises the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program and founded a plethora of interactive science platforms.

Being the fulcrum between science and art, Waldman will be speaking about her ingenious work this Thursday at the Michigan Theater.

According to Spacehack. org, Waldman’s work involves space hacking, where her mission is “to make science and space exploration disruptively accessible.” While many nonscientific users used to dream of having access to space data, information and explorations, Waldman now makes that dream a reality.

“I remember early on having a desire to apply design, and the creativity that comes with design, towards a much broader range of things,” Waldman said in an interview with The Daily. Some of her most popular multiuser science platforms include Spacehack, Seahack and Space Hack Day, where she is the global director. Space Hack Day, she explained, “is a two-day-all-night event where anyone excited about making weird, silly or serious things with science comes together in the same physical space to see what they can prototype within 24 consecutive hours.”

With her background in design and her passion for science, Waldman is the glue between these two important societal mediums.

“Design has a huge amount of power in the world that is often underestimated for how much it affects how people do things and why they do things,” she said. “Being trained as a designer is really being trained in communication and how to

be an effective translator.”

Due to her education in artistic design, Waldman has a “voracious appetite to apply design and creative thinking”

Penny Stamps Speaker Series presents Ariel Waldman’s ‘Unexpected Space Exploration’ Sept. 27, 2018 @ 5:10 p.m.

Michigan Theater Free

to the world of science and other mediums. As a means of understanding and engaging, she brings community together to not only explore for themselves, but also to help benefit professional space research and exploration. Many of these projects stem from Space Hack Day that eventually

By creating a world of “what ifs,” neither she nor her participants need to know where their imaginations are going to lead

lead to “real, tangible breakthroughs.”

In her Ted Talk, Waldman describes one of these beneficial

projects where a participant of Space Hack Day designed “The Beard Detector,” a device that would detect when he would need to shave by using a USB microscope, a few codes and an open computer vision library.

Later, a particle physicist saw this design and created a research program that would be used to detect cosmic rays in a cloud chamber. It is powerful projects like these that allow Waldman’s work to inspire an everyday, non-scientific user, and gives them the opportunity to make a difference in progressing science research and space exploration.

“It’s both breaking down their personal goals that they’ve built up and working on breaking down the walls that society puts up for them,” she said. “It’s trying to break those down from both sides.”

Society tends to keep art and science on either side of a spectrum, creating a facade that they are opposite and impermeable crafts. By letting people access scientific data and use their imagination, however, Waldman brings a community of innovative and progressive people together, synthesizing the powers of our left and right brains.

“I like infusing serendipity into science and space exploration, and for me, getting that chance to work at NASA was never something I knew I could do. I think it’s still something that I need to pay off to other people,” she said.

Waldman said she never expected her degree to lead her into a place like NASA. Nonetheless, she lives her life on the line of what is possible and what is deemed impossible. By creating a world of “what ifs,” neither she nor her participants need to know where their imaginations are going to lead.

The lack of expectation seems to be a highlight of Waldman’s work and a key aspect to her life as well.

“I think the greatest aspect of my work is knowing that the door is open for them (users) to play around in other disciplines.

And for that, it can be either life changing or not life changing at all. But knowing they can walk through that door whenever they want is the most important thing for me.”

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Sports

Tuesday, September 25, 2018 — 7

Rashan Gary sharpening his leadership skills in his junior season MIKE PERSAK

Managing Sports Editor

Rashan Gary could have argued with his coaches on Saturday when they opted to hold him out for the second half of the No. 14 Michigan football team’s blowout win against Nebraska.

Part of the reason for Gary’s rest could have been a possible shoulder injury he suffered in the first half. The trainers were around him for a while, and it looked like they were tending to Gary’s shoulder, but Gary smiled and shrugged it off as a problem with his pads at Monday’s media availability. It wasn’t the most convincing deflection, but he showed no sign of an ailment Monday, so there’s no reason to doubt that he could have played if needed.

Still, with the score already out of hand, Gary had to fight his competitive nature that was telling him to argue his way back into the game, and take an uncharacteristic backseat to let younger players get some action.

“You know, it’s the bigger picture,” Gary said. “Me sitting back, and, you know, me not taking those reps, I was actually happy, because I got a chance, you know, to help (freshman defensive end Aidan Hutchinson) with what he’s seeing in the game, helping (sophomore defensive end Kwity Paye) see what he’s seeing in the game. You know, just hyping them up. Getting hype with them.

Letting them know, like, ‘While you’re on the field, this is yours.

And anything you want you can go get.’ And it was fun.

“Yeah, of course, as a competitor, I want to be on the field every play, every snap. But, it’s the bigger picture.”

He is an unquestioned leader

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Junior defensive end Rashan Gary has become a player that Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh can point to as an example of how hard work and dedication can help a player become elite.

on a defense with a ton of experience. From the preseason until now, stories have been told about Gary taking Hutchinson under his wing — Gary admitted he tells Hutchinson he is better than Gary was as a freshman.

That’s saying a lot, because Gary was the consensus No. 1 recruit in his class, and the MVP of the 2016 Under Armour All-America Bowl.

“... I can see it, like, just progress over time.”

He’s developed into a dominant player on the defensive line, and Saturday was his best game of the season so far — he had a season-high two tackles for loss, including a sack in a little less than one half of play.

“His preparation during the week, his intensity during practice, everything,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, “sets a great example for the rest of the players on the team. If you want to be, ‘I want to play like Rashan Gary. How do I go about that?’ Study Rashan. See how he approaches his workouts, his practice, you know, meetings, and

you’re gonna see it at the highest level.

“It’s a great position to be in as a coach to say, ‘Okay, look at your best player. Look how he prepares.’ ” Some of that work ethic and leadership ability has surely come from observations Gary has made of the players before him. He played alongside Maurice Hurst for the past two seasons, and was in Hutchinson’s position when Taco Charlton and Chris Wormley were the starting defensive ends.

Hurst, Charlton and Wormley are all in the NFL now.

But junior cornerback Lavert

Hill came in with Gary and knew him from the start. He says Gary’s leadership qualities have progressed, sure, but were even present back in his freshman season.

“He always had it, like, as soon as he came in,” said junior cornerback Lavert Hill. “So him just getting older and getting more mature, I can see it, like, just progress over time.”

Whether Gary’s example has elevated the play of his teammates is something that can probably never be confirmed.

Michigan’s defense is very good and extremely deep — it held

Nebraska to 132 yards all game, and many reserves got solid playing time.

What is a sure thing is that Gary’s presence on the field obviously helps the Wolverines — after all, he’s a future early-round draft pick.

And if Gary’s words on Hutchinson replacing him for Saturday’s second half are to be believed, Gary is content to see his teammates make plays while he’s out.

“That’s my brother, I want to see him shine,” Gary said. “If I shine, we all shine, and vice versa.”

‘M’ falls to Minnesota, Wolverines’ pressure isn’t enough vs. Gophers 1-0, in double overtime WOMEN’S SOCCER

CONNOR BRENNAN Daily Sports Writer

If you blinked, you may have missed it. Out of nothing, Minnesota senior April Bockin received the ball at the edge of the box, took a few touches and rifled a shot into the far corner.

Michigan players fell to their knees in disappointment. For the second time in four games, the Wolverines had lost in double overtime, 1-0.

The Wolverines’ previous loss came at the hands of another Big Ten rival — Indiana — just ten days ago.

Senior forward Reilly Martin and sophomore midfielder Sarah Stratigakis had given Michigan an early 2-0 lead, only to see it disappear in the last five minutes of the game.

The Hoosiers pushed the game into overtime with two quick goals and then finished their comeback operation just three minutes before the final whistle.

On Sunday, as the Golden Gophers rejoiced following their sudden death goal, Michigan coach Jennifer Klein was left pondering the unfortunate trend that seems to be developing for the Wolverines.

“You’re going to face games like that where it’s just not — everything’s not clicking, and you’re just gonna have to find a way to get a result,” Klein said. “We didn’t do that against Indiana and we failed to do it again today. We can’t check out in those moments.

We have to be dialed in and ready to go. Those moments are championship moments and we have to be better in those.”

Michigan may not have been firing on all cylinders,

but throughout regulation and overtime, it was the one creating the better scoring opportunities.

Sophomore forward Nicki Hernandez was a consistent threat to the Minnesota defense, chasing balls into the box and testing the goalkeeper. Stratigakis was also creating chances both with her passes and long shots from outside the box. Despite this, the Wolverines couldn’t apply the finishing touch.

Until the final play, Michigan had kept it relatively tight at the back, too. In fact, sophomore Wolverine goalkeeper Hillary Beall didn’t have to record a save until the second overtime period.

And yet, this seemingly advantageous combination of offensive and defensive control led to nothing.

At the end of regulation, the game was still scoreless.

The Gophers proceeded to pull out the victory in double overtime, breaking Michigan hearts.

Although the score lines of the two games may have been very different, the storylines weren’t. Both games saw the Wolverines dominate early before crumbling in late game situations. Whether that’s down to inexperienced youth, or just a lapses in concentration, Michigan’s inability to seal the deal has cost it two pivotal Big Ten results.

“I think we just needed to be smarter in certain situations,” Klein said. “Not put ourselves in areas where we gave the ball away, when we could have simply just kept it. But overall, I don’t think fatigue was a big factor today, we just made some bad mistakes, and lost our focus unfortunately.”

“... we just made some bad mistakes and lost our focus...”

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Sophomore midfielder Katie Stratigakis nearly got the game-winning assist against Minnesota, but the shot rung off the post, and Michigan lost in overtime.

BAILEY JOHNSON Daily Sports Writer

It only took one good shot.

After 14 minutes of overtime with only one previous shot, Minnesota’s April Bockin stepped into the top right corner of the box and fired a game-winning strike that beat the Wolverines’ sophomore goalkeeper Hillary Beall to the top left corner of the net.

The Gophers (2-1-1 Big Ten, 6-4-1 overall) streamed onto the field to celebrate, and the Michigan women’s soccer team (2-2, 6-5) was left to figure out what went wrong, as it fell, 1-0, in double overtime.

After a back and forth first half with no real scoring chances, the Wolverines changed their offensive scheme in the second half and began to put pressure on Minnesota.

Sloppy passing throughout the first period held Michigan to six shots, with just two on target. For the second half,

Michigan coach Jennifer Klein used two holding midfielders to increase passing efficiency.

“I felt that that (switch) gave us a little bit of some better balance and allowed for us to find the ball a bit better,” Klein said. “We created some better movement up top.”

For the majority of the second half — particularly from the 70th minute on — the Wolverines put consistent pressure on the Gophers’ defense. Redshirt junior midfielder Katie Foug had an open chance near the box but just missed on the pass. Moments later, freshman midfielder Meredith Haakenson received a cross from senior midfielder Abby Kastroll and fired a shot that went just wide of the net.

With every close pass, every time a Michigan player chased down a loose ball near the net, every shot that just missed, the crowd at U-M Soccer Stadium grew louder. The anticipatory energ y was palpable, and it

almost seemed that a goal was inevitable for the Wolverines.

But as time ticked towards the 90th minute and regulation ended with the score still deadlocked, it became clear that the Michigan pressure may not be enough.

Open scoring chances were repeatedly blocked by the Minnesota defense, shots were saved by the Gophers’ goalkeeper Maddie Nielsen and the 90th minute came and went — and the score remained 0-0.

The Wolverines remained tough in overtime, matching Minnesota’s physicality blow for blow. The game was highlighted by hard hits and tough tackles, as is somewhat expected from a Big Ten matchup.

“Every game is gonna be a physical battle,” Klein said. “I felt as if in some moments we were unfortunate to not get some calls our way, but that’s the nature of the game. We have to learn to push through

that and make our necessary adjustments to give ourselves a chance.”

Seven minutes into the first overtime, Michigan had what may have been its best scoring chance of the game. Senior forward Reilly Martin passed a corner kick to sophomore midfielder Sarah Stratigakis, who sent the ball to the top of the box for freshman midfielder Raleigh Loughman.

Loughman’s shot bounced off the goalpost, and the Wolverines’ scoring chance — their only shot in either overtime period — was over.

Minutes later, in the second overtime, after all the crowd’s anticipation and hope for a Michigan goal, it only took one strike from the Gophers to send the crowd home disappointed.

“We can’t check out in those moments,” Klein said. “We have to be dialed in and ready to go. Those moments are championship moments and we have to be better in those.”

Sports

8 — Tuesday, September 25, 2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan dominates, settles for tie against PSU VOLLEYBALL Wolverines lose against Nebraska, defeat Iowa TIEN LE

Daily Sports Writer

CARTER FOX/Daily

Michigan coach Chaka Daley believes his team’s lack of focus in the opening minutes may have cost the Wolverines in their tie against Penn State on Friday.

THEO MACKIE

Daily Sports Writer

Two minutes is rarely enough time to determine the better team in a soccer match. Sometimes, though, it’s enough to impact the result.

Unfortunately for the Michigan men’s soccer team (1-0-1 Big Ten, 5-1-1 overall), Friday night was one of those times, as it drew Penn State 1-1.

Just 130 seconds into the game, it fell a goal behind when the Nittany Lions’ Christian Sload collected a pass near the penalty spot, turned and fired past the Wolverines’ sophomore goalkeeper Henry Mashburn.

“It did catch us off guard but that shouldn’t be happening,” Mashburn said.

Added Michigan coach Chaka Daley: “Those mistakes and that focus in the first couple of minutes might have been the difference in getting three points or one point.”

The Wolverines, though, quickly

settled into the game, dominating the rest of regulation.

Just two minutes after the goal, sophomore forward Jack Hallahan put Michigan on the front foot by taking the ball in midfield and beating a few defenders on his way into the Penn State box, although his eventual cross inched too close to goalkeeper Josh Levine.

Though it didn’t lead to anything, that burst of energy was foreshadowing of things to come for the Wolverines.

Over the next 65 minutes, Hallahan was the their best player, penetrating the Nittany Lions’ defense from the right wing all night.

“I’m smart enough to know that when someone’s playing well, let’s make sure to get it to him,” Daley said.

“One day it’s Umar (Farouk Osman), the next day it’s (Hallahan), one day it’s (Mohammed) Zakyi.”

On Friday, it was Hallahan. And

finally, after spending the evening whipping in crosses that couldn’t find a man or shots that just missed the target, he was the one who broke through for Michigan in the 70th minute.

He cut onto his left foot and put a dangerous cross into the penalty box, where it deflected off a Penn State defender and into the net.

“We put them under a ton of pressure and I think at some point, something’s gotta give,” Daley said.

“And I thought we just continued to press and press and put stuff in on tip of the goalkeeper and something had to give and we found one. We’ll take it any way we get it.”

Four minutes earlier, though, came the biggest of a string of missed chances for the Wolverines that could have turned into goals.

Hallahan was at the center of Michigan’s attack again, as he broke down the right wing before cutting a pass back to senior forward Noah Kleedtke, whose shot was kick-

saved by Levine from close range.

When asked if any missed chances stood out to him, Hallahan pinpointed that play.

“Noah Kleedtke’s where I’ve gone down the line and cut it back and their keeper’s got a foot on it,” Hallahan said. “It’s just margins at that point.”

Ultimately, that inability to convert chances doomed the Wolverines. With 12 minutes left in regulation, senior defender Marcello Borges found senior midfielder Ivo Cerda six yards out but Cerda couldn’t put it on target.

That ended up being Michigan’s last major chance as Penn State rebounded in a balanced overtime period, and for all their dominance, Daley and the Wolverines had to settle for a draw.

“We’re disappointed because that (opening goal) was maybe the difference for us,” Daley said. “… But fortunately, we got one point. And at the end of the day, that’s important.”

Michigan coach Mark Rosen called this weekend’s experience a new dynamic for the team.

He was referring to the beginning of Big Ten play, of course, but in many more ways than one, the seventeenth-ranked Wolverines volleyball team had to face a new dynamic — losing — as it dropped its first match of the season against No. 3 Nebraska before bouncing back to beat Iowa.

“I thought we played okay at times, but we didn’t play at the level that we needed to to be successful,” Rosen said. “That was the first loss for us, how’s the team going to respond? How are they going to be able to come back from that?

“We don’t know because we haven’t done it all year.”

Despite the set count saying otherwise, as Michigan fell in four sets to the Cornhuskers, the game was close-knit, with both teams encountering ways to exploit one another’s weaknesses.

Though for the Wolverines, their weaknesses were an open book — and Nebraska read it.

While tough serving will throw any team off, Michigan’s passing dove in quality due to taking the brunt of bad first touches, and in turn, the offense as a whole struggled. The Cornhuskers were, as Rosen emphasized, “huge,” and against a mismatch physically, mediocre passes won’t get the job done.

In many cases where one team is more dominant sizewise, it is counterable with pinpoint passing.

There are ways to work around a stable block if the spiker has flexible spiking options once in the air — which falls upon the setter to make happen. And there was no question that Nebraska was bigger and more physical.

But by taking away junior setter Mackenzi Welsh’s typically

accurate-passes through aggressive serving, the Cornhuskers disrupted the Wolverines’ balanced offense so that it could only muster a .135 attack average to a .314 of their own — a game-defining differential.

They essentially made it so Michigan had no choice but to hit where and when they wanted to and made the offense predictable.

When you face someone more physical, someone who forces you out of your game plan and has all the adjustments to counter what you are good at, there’s little you can do.

But the Wolverines found a way to keep the match against the thirdbest team in the nation competitive, and it is every bit a testament to their tenacity. But that alone just wasn’t enough. Nebraska had the edge in every statistical category and came out on top accordingly.

The real worry for this Michigan team was how it would respond to the loss, something it had avoided all year. There are many routes a team can go after the first loss, but the Wolverines took one that Rosen thought of as a nice job in bouncing back.

In a nearly-equivalent statistical game, Michigan found a way to tip the balance through standout performances from its outside hitters. Junior Sydney Wetterstrom hit a career-high 21 kills, while senior Carly Skjodt and freshman Paige Jones added 18 and 14 kills, respectively.

Those players proved to be a difference maker in an up-anddown match.

“It was a good, balanced match,” Rosen said. “They were good.

We were good. And it was really back-and-forth, and the first set was really tight, and I thought we competed really well in those last few points to finish it out...”

Read the full story at www.michigandaily.com

With real tests still on the horizon, offensive line showing improvement MAX MARCOVITCH Daily Sports Editor

Junior defensive end Rashan Gary has noticed a trend with the opposing offensive line in practice.

If Gary and his crew of AllAmerica-level defensive line talent win a rep, the offensive g roup wants another. “ ‘Let me get that rep back,’ ” Gary recalls hearing. “ ‘We’ll do it again.’ ” Added Gary: “Iron sharpens iron.”

It’s part of a broader attitude Gary and much of the team have started realizing: the offensive line is confident and only gaining confidence each week.

“We’ve been saying it all year,” said junior g uard Ben Bredeson, “that we’ve all gotten a lot better.”

Bredeson isn’t wrong; they have been saying it all year.

Some — those in the media included — just haven’t been willing to listen. Last week, senior tackle Juwann BushellBeatt y pushed back against fans who judge offensive line play without understanding its nuance.

“The public doesn’t really understand the innerworkings of how things go on in here. I think there were mistakes, and when there’s mistakes — and there’s always — everyone wants to point fingers and there are things that happened,” he said. “It’s football.

I understand, regardless of what happens, O-Line is going to take blame for whatever.”

In week one, that criticism was defeaning, after the offensive line took the brunt of the heat for a 24-17 loss against Notre Dame. The Wolverines averaged just 1.8 yards-per-rush in that game, and managed to score 10

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Junior guard Ben Bredeson believes that the offensive line is still improving with teams like Wisconsin, Michigan State and Penn State on the horizon.

offensive points.

In the three games since, Michigan has averaged over 278 yards rushing and 50 points per game. And after being sacked three times (and pressured countless more) in the opener against the Fighting Irish, junior quarterback Shea Patterson has been sacked just three times in the three games since.

You might say it’s unfair to judge the offensive line against three inferior opponents.

Bushell-Beatt y and other offensive linemen might say it was just as unfair to judge them after one game, the season-opener.

It works both ways, which

“... O-line is going to take blame for whatever.”

is why the g roup up front doesn’t get too bogged down in outside perception.

“We don’t have any stats to go with the work that we do, but just seeing it on film,” Bredeson said.

“If you’re an O-Lineman, you understand, you can see what you’re doing well, what you’re not doing well.”

While increased repitition among the starting unit — Bushell-Beatt y, Bredeson, sophomore Cesar Ruiz, junior Michael Onwenu and fifth-year senior Jon Runyan — has players and coaches encouraged, much of the optimism regarding the offensive line has to do with those working behind the

starters.

In Saturday’s 56-10 annhiliation of Nebraska, 10 reserve offensive linemen saw game action, including promising freshmen tackles James Hudson and Jalen Mayfield.

The duo — often g rouped together for convenience — has been coming along well, even sniffing potential starting roles. It seems both will be starters at Michigan, whether that’s one week or one year from now. Last week, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said each was taking roughly 25 percent of the reps with the first-team offense.

Bredeson has seen sig nificant potential with

“James (Hudson) is an outstandingly athletic kid.”

both, in practice and limited game action.

“James (Hudson) is an outstandingly athletic kid.

Once he cleans up some technique things and gets his consistency down, it’s scary how far that kid could go,” Bredeson said.

“Measurables, you can’t really measure it, but you can see it every single day when he’s making prog ress. And he’s made a ton of prog ress. If you watched film from this spring all the way to now, it’s night and day.

“Jalen (Mayfield) made huge strides, coming in, especially as a freshman. It was a big learning curve, but I think we’re past that now

with him. Really happy with him.”

As any offensive lineman will tell you, though, there’s tremendous intangible value in the development of cohesion. When asked where the unit as a whole has improved most, Bredeson pointed to communication.

“I felt like we didn’t talk enough early weeks, especially in the Notre Dame game,” Bredeson said. “Now, we’re not only communicating, we’re over-communicating.

Things are going really well for us on the line. Once we’re able to talk through the looks and see what we have, that gives Cesar the full picture of what’s going on; he can make all the adjustments.”

And as all the other pieces seem to fall into place, as an All-Big Ten caliber quarterback starts to come into his own, as a young receiving corps continues to blossom, as the g roup of tight ends round out what’s nearing a complete offense, the offensive line seems to be the final piece to the puzzle.

It’s certainly no g uarantee the malig ned g roup ever gets to an above-average level against other top-end Big Ten teams — it seems nobody will know until the mid-season matchups against Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan State.

But Bredeson, the de facto leader of the offensive line, is confident his unit will excel, even if those on the outside are still scarred from week one.

“I think we’ve matured a lot, more than you should in three games,” Bredeson said. “The way normal teams mature through the season, I think we’re past where we should be on paper. I think that’s going to pay dividends later on.”

“Jalen (Mayfield) made huge strides.”