2019-02-04

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Monday, Febrary 4, 2019

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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In too deep

Michigan drops second game of season at Iowa, 74-59, exposing lack of frontcourt depth in the process.

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ANN ARBOR

City awards grant to Ann Arbor school solar program The $15,000 will fund the implementation of the STEAM project for sustainability MAX KUANG/Daily

Lavora Barnes makes a speech after being elected as chair of the Michigan Democratic Party at the Michigan Democratic Party Convention at Cobo Center Saturday.

Michigan Democratic Party holds annual convention in Detroit Local politicians gather to choose leadership, discuss strategy for upcoming year ALYSSA MCMURTRY Daily Staff Reporter

The Michigan Democratic Party held its annual convention Saturday at the Cobo Center in Detroit.

Politicians from across the state, regional and federal governments emphasized unity while laying the groundwork for 2020.

The state’s top Democratic office holders gave speeches, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II and Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Gilchrist highlighted the necessity of building a foundation for successful organizing in the coming year.

“The work of organizing is an everyday, an eternal enterprise,”

Gilchrist said. “I need every one of you to keep organizing as well. I don’t think we have enough voters in Michigan. We have 10 million people in Michigan and more of them need to vote. You know how we make that happen? We make that happen by starting right now.”

Attendees included delegates from a variety of districts across the

state. In the morning, congressional districts and interest groups hosted caucuses - a meeting of supporters dedicated to a specific political movement - including the Progressive Caucus, the LGBT & A Caucus and the Environmental Caucus.

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BARBARA COLLINS Daily Staff Reporter

On Feb. 1, the city of Ann Arbor awarded a $15,000 Sustaining Ann Arbor Together grant to A2 STEAM at Northside Elementary School. The school will use the grant to fund the implementation of a solar curriculum for students in kindergarten through eighth grade to support educational efforts about clean energy and its use.

During the 2017-2018 school year, students at A2 STEAM began fundraising for the installation of 60 solar panels at the school and created the Solar at STEAM Project. Now that they have raised enough money to install the solar panels, the school wants to use the SA2T grant to educate students on solar power through

a comprehensive, project-based curriculum.

Jean Wilson, an A2 STEAM at Northside science teacher, pursued the grant. With a self-proclaimed passion for sustainability, Wilson said she hopes the grant will help educate her students about the effects of climate change and make a positive impact on the Ann Arbor community.

“I’m hoping that we create a sustainability mindset where kids are really thinking about their use.

It’s hard to ask people to conserve when they’re not already thinking about how much they use, and it’s hard for that to be the first step,” Wilson said.

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WWII ‘Big House’ airplane at center of Students Whitmer celebrate search for clues from military history addresses

CAMPUS LIFE

culture of Malaysia

10th annual Malaysian Cultural Night presents play, examines identity LIAT WEINSTEIN Daily Staff Reporter

More than 200 students and community members filled the Mendelssohn Theatre Friday night in celebration of the 10th annual Malaysian Cultural Night and the Lunar New Year. The performance, which was put on by the Malaysian Students Association (MiMSA), highlighted the unique struggles Malaysians of different ethnicities faced during the British colonial period, which began in the early 1500s and lasted until Malaysia became independent in 1957.

The event opened with a dance to the Malay song “Dikir Puteri” and culminated in a play by MiMSA members. The play followed the lives of three characters from three different ethnic groups — Malaysian, Indian and Chinese — to show how immigration and animosity toward those viewed as “other” impact a person’s sense of belonging.

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GOVERNMENT

Ypsilanti museum leads hunt for information about bomber called the Michigan MELANIE TAYLOR Daily Staff Reporter

A picture is all that is left of the Michigan, a World War II B-24 bomber plane with the University of Michigan’s iconic football stadium painted on its nose.

Ray Hunter, chairman of the Yankee Air Museum’s board of directors, explained the museum’s initiative to unearth information regarding the aircraft. The museum is located in Willow Run Airport in Belleville, Mich.

“We’ve had photos at the Yankee Air Museum of this aircraft for a lot of years,” Hunter said. “And we tried several years ago to find out if we could ever find anybody who flew on the airplane or was a crew member or worked on it in some way.”

The museum came up short, unable to unearth the history of the Michigan.

Hunter and the Yankee Air Museum are seeking a story about the Michigan in an attempt to compile more World War II history for future generations of ROTC cadets to learn from.

“Next year is the 75th anniversary of the cessation of World War II,” Hunter said.

“Most of the crew members on World War II aircrafts are 90-something. It’s unlikely that we’ll find a crew member, but we might find one of their families. That’s what we’re

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really looking for.”

The Yankee Air Museum is invested in preserving first hand accounts of American military history. Hunter said that they often host veterans of every discipline, each with tales of their own lives to share.

“They all have tremendous stories to tell,” Hunter said.

Hunter said the University is rich with stories, many of

which intertwine with those of the Air Force and American military.

“We know that at least one or many more of the people on the Michigan served in World War II,” Hunter said. “But beyond that, thousands of University of Michigan students served in World War II.” Like many of its kind, the plane was melted down for its metal following the end of the

war.

“It’s kind of ironic because during World War II, a lot of families were asked to donate their pots and pans so they could be turned into airplanes,” Hunter said. “Then after the war, airplanes were melted down and turned back into pots and pans.”

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

cold snap readiness

Following historic lows, governor discusses state’s extreme weather response BEN ROSENFELD Daily Staff Reporter

Following record low temperatures and a Consumers Energy alert to lower thermostats on Wednesday and Thursday, thousands of Michigan residents faced possible harm due to lack of heating and other necessary resources.

The emergency alert came after a fire broke out at the utility’s Consumers Ray Natural Gas Compressor Station in Macomb County on Wednesday morning.

As a result, the company urged customers to reduce their natural gas usage to conserve energy.

On Thursday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer held a press conference with members of her cabinet, addressing the people of Michigan about her administration’s multilateral response to the problems faced during the past week.

Representatives from the National Weather Service, Department of Transportation and Michigan state troopers attended the meeting.

CHRISTINE JEGARL /Daily

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INDEX

Vol. CXXVIII, No. 66 ©2019 The Michigan Daily

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

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News

2A — Monday, Febrary 4, 2019

MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers

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Editorial Staff MAX KUANG/Daily Visiting the historic Fox Theatre, located in downtown Detroit, before the Michigan Democratic Party Convention Saturday morning.

Activist Yavilah McCoy gives talk at Hillel about identity, social justice Educator shares personal experiences of interplay of religion and race and trains on diversity, equity and inclusion. She also founded Ayecha, a nonprofit organization that advocates for Jewish people of color and provides support for Jewish and multiracial families.

McCoy spoke at Hillel in 2017 and is a member of the leadership and steering committee for the Women’s March.

McCoy focused on the interplay between different aspects of her identity at the discussion Friday.

“I’m an African-American, Jewish woman, and I’ve lived for many years saying I’m unapologetic about my identity,” McCoy said. “So

freedom, the idea of liberalism is always in front of me.”

Students gathered in the main lounge of Hillel after a Educator and activist dinner with McCoy. McCoy Yavilah McCoy joined began the talk by teaching them Michigan Hillel for a Shabbat a song in the Jewish gospel, dinner on Friday to talk about singing “Shabbat Shalom” social activism and the role and having attendees respond Judaism plays in activism. singing the same words.

The event, “Courageous McCoy said people sing Conversation Towards Equity and Empowerment for All because it brings courage.

Students,” was one of a series of She said activists often sing and chant in marches to bring events that took place Feb. 1-3 about more courage. with McCoy as Hillel’s Scholar in Residence for the weekend.

McCoy explained the four levels of courage: personal, McCoy is the CEO of interpersonal, system or Dimensions Educational Counseling, Inc., a nonprofit institutional and cultural. led by women and Jewish Through examples of leaders Sudoku Syndication people of color which consults showing courage, she said oftentimes acts of courage transcend all four levels. The examples she provided included the gymnasts who spoke out against Larry Nassar and HARD Starbucks closing stores to provide racial bias training to employees.

McCoy pointed out that in both cases, those acting with courage faced several risks.

“What’s at stake around having courage?” she asked. “It’s not just about you and me. There’s huge losses that can come as a result of a lack of courage.”

The conversation transitioned into small group discussions, where McCoy had attendees break into pairs to analyze a Jewish religious text. The discussion style was in the chavruta form, a traditional rabbinic approach where pairs of © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only.

FROZEN HANDS. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com students examine and debate Jewish texts.

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An overarching concept of chavruta is that no single JACK BRANDON and ARYA NAIDU person ever has a full Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com understanding of any idea.

Senior Arts Editors: Clara Scott, Emma Chang, Rob Mansuetti, Sam Della Fera, Using the text, attendees Trina Pal discussed which characters Arts Beat Editors: Verity Sturm, Sayan Ghosh, Mike Watkins, Ally Owens, Stephen Satarino, Izzy Hasslund, Margaret Sheridan in stories were perpetrators of violence and which were ROSEANNE CHAO and JACK SILBERMAN Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com targets, bystanders and allies.

Senior Design Editor: Willa Hua LSA senior Ali Rosenblatt has heard McCoy speak three ALEXIS RANKIN and ALEC COHEN Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com times and was part of the Senior Photo Editors: Alexandria Pompei, Natalie Stephens, Alice Liu, Annie Klusendorf student committee at Hillel Assistant Photo Editors: Katelyn Mulcahy, Miles Macklin, Emma Richter, Hannah who organized the talk. One Siegel, Allison Engkvist of her key takeaways from ANDREA PÉREZ BALDERRAMA the discussion was the idea of Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com people playing different roles in Deputy Editors: Matthew Harmon, Shannon Ors social justice situations and the MADELINE TURNER and MIRIAM FRANCISCO importance of joining together Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com with other communities to http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ Senior Copy Editors: Sadia Jiban, Olivia Sedlacek, Reece Meyhoefer address social justice issues.

“At any one time, we’re not CASEY TIN and HASSAAN ALI WATTOO Managing Online Editors webteam@michigandaily.com just the perpetrator, target or Senior Web Developers: Jonathon Liu, Abha Panda, Ryan Siu, David Talbot, bystander,” Rosenblatt said.

Samantha Cohen “It’s something I recognized NOAH TAPPEN and want to bring more into the Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com Jewish community. How do we Senior Video Editors: Jillian Drzinski, Aarthi Janakiraman get students to talk more about CARLY RYAN and NA’KIA CHANNEY issues affecting non-Jewish Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com communities and not just the Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Samuel So, Ana Maria Jewish community? And how Sanchez-Castillo, Efe Osagie, Danyel Tharakan can we work together with Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Grace Cho, Harnoor Singh, Nada Eldawy, Maya Mokh these communities?”

When debriefing as a group, CATHERINE NOUHAN and JOHN FABIAN attendees pointed out people Managing Podcast Editors could play multiple roles in CARRINGTON TUBMAN and MADALASA CHAUDHARI conflicts, often not realizing Managing Social Media Editors they could be a perpetrator and an ally at the same time. McCoy agreed and said leadership requires courage to make the right choices in defending ADRIANNA KUSMIERCZYK personal beliefs, especially if Creative Director CAMERON COANE ZELJKO KOSPIC it means going against cultural Sales Manager Special Projects Manager norms. McCoy said this was ROBERT WAGMAN ANITA MICHAUD especially relevant today in Marketing Consulting Manager Brand Manager a world she believes is led by leaders oppressing those with less power.

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Michigan in Color

Monday, February 4, 2018— 3A

An Arab bazaar Tiger Mom: Deconstructed REEM ABURUKBA MiC Columnist

Dearborn is like an Arab Bazaar, filled with people from all walks of life. There are people from Yemen, Iraq, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and more. However, every bazaar has its issues. Sometimes, the customers fight and the vendors don’t get along. Ultimately, this leads to the bazaar falling apart. Dearborn is like this because of the prejudice that clouds our eyes and judgment.

We get along well enough, but there are underlying tensions straining our relationships with one another.

I believe this to be the single most important issue in my community because it leaves us divided and vulnerable. As a community filled with minorities, we must unite, set aside our differences, and learn to love our fellow community members. In this case, education is the solution and great equalizer for our people.

There are ethnic clashes between the Lebanese, Yemenis, and Iraqis, and I have yet to understand why.

Our cultures differ slightly, but that does not stop the dirty looks that these groups continue to give one another. These looks can stop once we educate ourselves on current events. We can look at a news broadcast and view the immensity that one’s hateful actions has on the people they encounter. Hate crimes and vengefulness consume the souls of our fellow human beings.

Wars encompass the Middle East, and that leaves me wondering: Does Dearborn really want to be as divided as our origin countries? In America, where we have just barely started out, we cannot afford to be

divided. Education teaches us that unification between people leads to an era of peace, economic growth, and overall prosperity. We need only look towards the future and not the past. Education encourages innovation and new ideas, something Dearborn needs to flourish.

Education is a vehicle for change because all throughout my educational career I have learned and witnessed the consequences of prejudice. It ignites genocide, injustice, and senseless actions that harm innocent people. However, this hate-filled seed can only be planted if people do not have faith and trust in one another. Faith and trust seem doable in Dearborn because everyone is everyone’s long-lost cousin, but at this point, our ethnicities don’t mix, we look down on our Detroit neighbors and we argue over what is halal or haram. Education would remedy this issue in many ways.

Speaking from personal experience, learning alongside people that are different from me makes me see that we are all humans with different exteriors. Intellectual conversations and debates stimulate our minds and form a sense of camaraderie between us. We learn to not grow up to become Hitler’s Germany or Reconstruction Era America. Rather, we aim to be a community fighting for one another’s rights and equality like the 1960’s Civil Rights era.

Dearborn is a safe haven for us Middle Easterns, but we must welcome everyone into our community no matter their race, ethnicity, or religion. By educating ourselves with the past, we can embrace our differences in the future.

JAKIN ZHANG MiC Columnist

I was miserable. Hot, sweaty, feverish, and just about ready to cry.

And I did.

“Do you think I could just sit out of class today?” I croaked, feeling the cold sweat squirm down the base of my neck.

“If you really feel so bad, why don’t you just go to the nurse and then go home for the day?”

My gym instructor’s eyebrows were raised in a condescending arch as she stared at me with an airy disdain.

“I--I can’t…” I said in a vague manner. “I have to stay at school for the day.”

By some extraordinary capacity, my teacher’s eyebrows bunched up even higher than they were before. Short, stout, and wary-looking, she cast her eyes downwards on me with a tiring suspicion.

“Is it because your mom is a tiger mom?”

I paused my sniveling. Where did that come from?

“Like does your mom not let you come home from school because you need to be present in order to learn and get good grades and all? You know?”

This time it was my eyebrows performing supernatural physical feats.

“No. She’s not.” I said flatly.

I didn’t bother furthering my plea to sit out anymore. I got up, changed into my uniform, and in a hazy exhaustion, completed the physical activities with the

rest of my classmates.

Years later, I find myself wondering whether she was right. Was my mom a tiger mom?

How angry would my parents have been if they found out that I had left school on account of being “sick”? I remember the reason I insisted on staying at school for the rest of the day: my rebellious teenager pride and fear of embarrassment.

I hadn’t listened to my mom when she insisted that wearing my new, Black Friday “discounted”, semi-sheer long sleeve from Hollister amidst the negative wind chill ravaging the outdoors that winter was going to get me sick. And for that, I had felt too foolish and ashamed to go home.

Now, that wasn’t the first time I had been asked “casually” about my parents’ parenting style. To my fourteen-year old self, the phrase “tiger mom” was nothing new. Neither was hearing about how I must be naturally smart, secretly eating dog for dinner or aspiring to become a doctor one day. What was new to me that day in gym class was that the conversation came from an adult figure. For the first, but most definitely not last, time in my life, a fully grown individual dropped racially-charged questions on me.

So, today I want to deconstruct the “tiger mom.”

What it means, what it doesn’t mean, and what it means to me.

A tiger mom is known to be aggressive. Overbearing.

Unreasonably strict.

She

New Latinx student magazine creates a revolutionary place in history for itself NA’KIA CHANNEY & ANA MARIA SÁNCHEZCASTILLO

Managing MiC Editor and Senior MiC Editor

Founded on the mission for Latinx students to reclaim, uplift and properly represent the Latinx community, Latinidad is a new magazine that is forging its ways among the intersection of creative expression and social justice.

LSA seniors Jacqueline Delgado and Daniel Lopez developed the vision of Latinidad after searching through the University’ archives for Latinx representation and initiative. While Delgado and Lopez knew that Latinx students have contributed immensely to crafting the legacy of the University of Michigan, they also knew that evidence of these efforts were not as largely celebrated or recognized.

Most of these efforts were rooted in the Raza Art and Media Collective in 1974, a publication founded to spotlight and archive Latinx art through various mediums. This was especially revolutionary as it came about in a

particularly harsh political climate and when Latinx voices were largely silenced in the Midwest.

The journal only published four issues from 1976-1977, but Latinidad has decided to pick up the initiative in molding a space for Latinx students to preserve

and culminate their experiences.

Latinidad released their first issue, “On the Border of Humanity,” in December 2018.

This issue reloved around individual connections to humanizing immigration, the experiences as diverse as the vastness of Latin America. The magazine featured an expansive range of mediums, including poetry, personal narratives, art pieces, vignettes and photos.

Latinidad prides itself on its collaborative process, which prioritizes all contributor’s voices in deciding each issue’s key theme.

Engineering senior Natalia Madrigal Martinez is an artist whose work is featured in Latinidad. In Latinidad, her contribution is in the form of a captivating painting, which she gave the title “La Frontera” to highlight the hypocrisies of the political conflict regarding the US-Mexico border.

When asked about the inspiration behind her piece, she said, “I was born in Mexico. I felt like I had to paint the division between our two countries because originally, this was all one land. The Mexicas and the Aztecs controlled this land called Azland.

sucking border,” Martinez said.

LSA sophomore Ana María Sánchez-Castillo offered a reflection of her featured piece, “Prophetic Peregrination.” In addition to her position as an editor at The Daily, Latinidad is one of her primary outlets for selfexpression and creativity.

“To me Latiniada means community and the concept of supporting each other and supporting each other’s’ dreams and ambitions through that Photo courtesy of the author support and through this That was Mexican territory support, we can accomplish things until the mid 1800s. So, I wanted in a system that wasn’t designed to paint the broad difference for us,” Sanchez-Castillo said. between how Mexico and the US After a critically received before, these free lands,where first launch, Latinidad released indigenous people were able to their second issue in January, roam and appreciate nature. “Cultivacion: Cultivating our Now, it’s just this ugly, gross, soul- Humanity,” revolving around the

is pictured hovering above her daughter, controlling the tempo for little Jenny’s piano practice session. She is imagined micromanaging the kids of the household, stowing away all electronics and monitoring homework time.

She is envisioned restricting her children from hanging out with their friends and attending social events. She is no fun. She is too harsh. She is, in essence, a Chinese woman.

So let me tell you a little bit about my mom. Her name is Zhuping, but she sometimes goes by Virginia. She has the sweetest smile, with these soft laugh lines that can tell any onlooker how much love she has in her life. She has brown eyes that twinkle in her joys and baby moles that decorate her face. She is beautiful, kind, and most important of all, strong.

Don’t get me wrong though.

She can also be aggressive. If I ever find myself in a verbal argument with her, I know that my best choice is to stay silent because my mom can talk my ear off for ages. She can be overbearing too. Sometimes she brings up so many questions, to-do’s, things to give me, or articles of clothing to make me wear, that it makes my head want to explode. And at times, she can be oddly strict. Can I open this chocolate cake from Trader Joe’s? No. Not unless I get an explicit go-ahead. But I know that all of these are because my mom has a loving heart. It’s hard to understand sometimes, but with time and

The dark problem with the Dark Army in Mr. Robot ELIZABETH HO MiC Columnist

Photo courtesy of the author

distinct experiences within the Latinx identity with future plans to release a third edition.

Founder Jacqueline Delgado had nothing but gratitude and high energy to offer as she elaborated on the outpour of community support.

“I feel really proud. I’m at the forefront of a big moment happening,” Delgado said.

Latinidad, by its very existence, is a revolutionary platform. Past initiatives to highlight Latinx involvement have struggled due to lack of institutional support. However, Latinidad is the accumulation of generations worth of student, faculty and community efforts to archive, preserve and uplift the diverse representations of Latinx identities. Combined with intentional intellectual, creative and community investment, it is clear that Latinidad is set for a path of success and flourishing.

Latinidad is steadily building its prominence, and the momentum will not be stopping anytime soon. Currently, content is bring primarily produced electronically with hopes to see every issue have a print release. Latinidad will continue their efforts with an event titled “Latinx Journey in College” on March 22. Anyone interested in reading the issues of Latinidad can do so on their website.

perspective, I have grown to know how amazing of a person she really is. Every now and then, she yells at me without end so that I can be the best version of myself, so that I can be the responsible, young woman she raised me to be. She asks me over and over if I want this, or if I need to do this, or if I would please wear this so I won’t get sick, and I know she hovers so often because she cares about me. She tells me not to eat the cake because she’s actually saving it for someone else, a family she’s going to visit over the weekend. She has a heart of gold. It manifests itself in different ways -- it manifests itself in tiger mom ways, but they’re all really just a testimony to how deep the love, care, and generosity she has for others, including her children, go.

But what parent is not aggressive, overbearing, or strict to a certain degree? Parents take care of their children with a ferocious love, just like a tiger does with her cubs. Just like any actual tiger mom.

My mom is a tiger. She is a tiger because she is fierce.

She is a tiger because she has never quit teaching me this lifelong lesson of strength, independence, power, and resilience. She is a tiger because she encourages me to defy, to push back against the world, and to stand up for my own being. This is what a tiger mom really is. This is my tiger mom.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

(Fair warning: I’ll be including spoilers for previous seasons of Mr. Robot from here on out.)

With the fourth season of Mr. Robot coming up, I wanted to take a critical look at how it’s done with representation. In many ways, Mr. Robot has been uncommonly good at portraying diverse characters.

The protagonist Elliot Alderson (played by Egyptian-American actor Rami Malek) comes from a multiracial family and navigates mental illness through psychiatric means. Even Elliot’s ragtag team of anarchist hackers – aptly named “fsociety” – is a racially diverse group. However, the show also has its failings, one of which its portrayal of Chinese characters.

In order to engineer an economic revolution, fsociety joins forces with the Dark Army, a group of hackers hailing from China. The leader of the Dark Army is whiterose (played

by B.D. Wong), a transgender woman who remains closeted, choosing to publicly present herself as Zhang, the male Chinese Minister of Defense.

Whiterose’s righthand man is named Grant (played by Grant Chang), and he is always by her side, with the exception of when he is doing her bidding. Grant and whiterose also share a romantic relationship that complements their professional relationship.

And that’s where the problems start.

Professionally, though he is her subordinate, she treats him with respect, even inquiring after his opinion about how to proceed, whether it is as the leader of the Dark Army or as Minister Zhang.

Romantically, the atmosphere is a far cry from this mutual respect.

She dominates him entirely. Though she does feel for him, their power dynamic even within the context of the personal relationship appears to be radically uneven.

As assistant to the chief of the Dark Army, Grant’s status is visually evident: his ever-present business suits and the expensive cars and bodyguards that follow him everywhere. Yet Grant is emasculated heavily, especially in his last conversation with Irving (played by Bobby Cannavale) in the final episode of season three.

Though a long-time fixer for the Dark Army, Irving decides to

suddenly quit. Grant confronts him, but Irving shuts him down by saying, “Tell me something.

She still making her spontaneous overtures? She make you taste her yet? Remember, doll face, I was you years ago. And I’ve already done my time. I think she’ll be good with me.”

From this, we can tell that Grant is only whiterose’s latest fancy. All of his supposed power seems to stems from his close relationship and association with whiterose, not his own merits. Worse yet, whiterose’s advances have clearly not all been consensual or at least, at some point, ceased to be so in Irving’s case. This portrays her as a predator who turns subordinates into her playthings in exchange for promotions: a classic case of sexual harassment in the workplace.

So what does all this have to do with Grant and whiterose’s status as Chinese characters?

The Chinese have long been accused of “deviant” sexuality, in no small part due to the history of exoticism surrounding them. In 19th century America, Chinese men were ousted from the physical fields, and the law only allowed them to take on work in areas that had traditionally been considered feminine, such as laundry. Through their employment, they blurred gender lines, with the predictable result of coming to be considered less masculine than other men.

Chinese men are stereotyped as submissives in relationships – which is also one of two common stereotypes that has been applied to Chinese women, especially in media.

The other stereotype of Chinese women is as aggressive, dominant women with mysterious sexual charms. They’re considered to be controlling and sly, so much so, that this stereotype has earned the name of “Dragon Lady”. In her relationship with Grant, whiterose epitomizes this stereotype with her domineering behavior. While the Dragon Lady can also positively represent Chinese women as assertive and independent, in this case, it only further emasculates Chinese men.

Despite this, I’m looking forward to seeing what Mr. Robot brings for its final season. Hopefully, in terms of the Dark Army and its Chinese characters, it’ll be a departure from outmoded stereotypes.

Opinion

4A — Monday, February 4, 2019

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AMBIKA SINHA | COLUMN

A Who’s Who on the Democratic Primary Race

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NOAH ENTE | COLUMN

T

Out of a tragic story, an inspiring reality

his past November, Israel faced an unfortunate and oftrepeated event as the country was hit by a barrage of attacks

by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The majority were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, but many also hit Israeli towns and cities close to Gaza, including the port city of Ashkelon. After one attack, one person in the city was killed: A 48-year-old man named Mahmoud Abu Asabeh who lived in a small town on the West Bank.

Abu Asabeh, a man who had called for an end to the violence, was in Israel on a work permit and died after a rocket hit his apartment. Israeli firefighters searched the building and evacuated others, but he wasn’t found until an hour later and succumbed to his injuries. Now, according to The Times of Israel, his family is now suing the state of Israel and its rescue services for 10 million New Israeli shekels, the equivalent of $2.7 million, claiming negligence and seeking reparations from the government.

On platforms from the United Nations to college campuses, Israel has been accused of implementing an unequal treatment of its minority citizens and, more broadly, those who are not Jewish. Yet in this short and sad story — which remains largely not covered by many media outlets — important truths about the Jewish state become apparent to those following the event.

Developments in this story have revealed the remarkable fact that the Israeli judicial system — often accused by critics for discriminating against Israel’s minorities — allows Palestinian Arabs to sue Israel in a court of law. Neither the terror victim nor his family held Israeli citizenship or residency, apart from his approved work permit for temporary stay in Ashkelon, and yet they were allowed a legal privilege that could have otherwise been reserved for Israelis. Furthermore, if the case continues to move through the courts, it may be heard by many Arab judges of Christian and Muslim faith in the Israeli circuit, including George Karra, an Arab justice on the Supreme Court of Israel. This reality is a stark contrast to the widespread claims of mistreatment of Arabs in Israeli courts, and the insistence of groups such as the Palestinian Authority that, because Israel is a Jewish nation, it is institutionally racist or discriminatory toward its minority Arab population.

The Times of Israel also reported that the Jewish Agency for Israel, an organization that was created for the support of Israeli and world Jewry, has pledged to financially aid Abu Asabeh’s family through their Fund for Victims of Terror. The fund is intended for use by all

Israeli citizens, regardless of religious or ethnic background.

This action is even more substantial because the Jewish Agency will be using these resources to not only come to the aid of a Muslim family, but a family that lives in the West Bank. Yet the terror attack happened in Israel, and thus this Jewish-Israeli organization was on hand to assist. A deed such as this speaks volumes to the efforts of Israel — not only by its government, but its society — to pursue fairness and justice in their dealings. If Israel really did not care about its non-Jewish citizens, residents or even temporary workers, the Jewish Agency would not extend itself in this manner to help a Palestinian family in need.

Nevertheless, many in politics, journalism and academia still continue to perpetuate the myth that Israel is an apartheid state that is only concerned with the fortunes of Jewish citizens, and regard Arabs as second-class citizens.

In Michigan alone, the charge has been levied across all parts of society, from newly-elected U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib to professors at the University of Michigan. They claim that because of the disputed Israeli presence in the West Bank, and because Israel has designated themselves as a distinctly Jewish state, those who are not Jewish face a disadvantage. However, every detail of this ongoing case proves these claims to be falsehoods. After a rocket attack

by Gazan-Palestinians, a family of Muslim Arabs, citizens under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, received the same legal rights and relief privileges as Israeli citizens, both Jewish and of other backgrounds.

They will be supported by an organization founded to support the welfare of Jewish people and the Jewish state, but is clearly committed to upholding the equality that makes Israel unique.

When one takes an honest look at the region, it is immediately apparent that Israel is the only country in the Middle East with a tolerant and equal society for minorities.

A December 2017 study by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel found Israeli-Arabs had the highest life expectancy among Arab populations from all countries in the Muslim world, at 79 years (though this is low compared to the Jewish population at 82.7 years and the OECD average of 81.6 years). In addition, Israel is one of just a handful of countries in the region in which the Christian population is growing. In surrounding states, the outlook for ethnic and religious minorities is bleak at best. Christians in Eg ypt and Syria have faced persecution for years now, as extremists and the tyrannical regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad have caused their rights to be

reduced and civilians to be killed. In contrast, Israel is a refuge in which Jews, Muslims and Christians all enjoy civil and religious liberties on a scale of equality not seen elsewhere in the Middle East.

Unfortunately, this approach to equality — and the commitment to all citizens — is not shared by the leadership of the Palestinian Authority.

President Mahmoud Abbas has expressed repeatedly that he does not want “a single Israeli — civilian or soldier” in a potential future Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, making his disdain for them known. In addition, according to Times of Israel , “No senior Fatah or PA officials attended the burial service” for Abu Asabeh in November, but a month prior when it was suspected that Israeli settlers killed a Palestinian, many of these officials “took part” in the funeral. Since Abu Asabeh’s death could not be blamed on Israel, to Fatah, there was apparently no need to pay its respects to its grieving citizens.

In these statements and actions from Palestinian leadership, both an intolerance toward others and a stunning lack of empathy run prevalent.

In Israel, a multi-religious Arab minority — which comprises just over 20 percent of the population — is given full rights and liberty. In the West Bank, Jews are given an ultimatum: If a Palestinian state is created, leave or risk your freedom and lives.

Those who seek justice and fairness in politics and reporting must acknowledge Israel’s efforts and success in creating a bastion of liberal democracy in a Middle East filled with extremism and rife with persecution. The story of Mahmoud Abu Asabeh and his family — though heartwrenching to its core — is a reminder of what makes the Jewish state worth defending for anyone who truly cares about the advancement of humanity around the globe.

Israel provides and prioritizes civil rights in a region that has been historically and presently devoid of leadership that cares about democratic values.

Even while under siege from a barrage of rockets and terrorist attacks, Israel provides an opportunity for people like the Abu Asabeh family to hold Israeli government and rescue services accountable in a court of law for accused negligence and untimeliness. Herein lies just one reason why Israel is inspiring and worth defending.

Supporting its well-being and existence is in the moral and strategic interest of the United States and all those who work towards the cause of freedom worldwide.

Noah Ente can be reached at noahente@umich.edu

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W

hile it may be hard to presidency. Nevertheless, young believe we have just Democrats like myself often barely made it past see Harris as a public servant two complete years unaffiliated with the of the Donald Trump stench of politics. She presidency, Democrats has already electrified are desperately trying her voting base. to find a candidate Andrew Yang: who will boot “The “The Outsider” — I Orange” out of the know what you’re White House. Here’s thinking — the last my take on some of the time a business owner key players within the wanted to run for office AMBIKA Democratic Party that we all thought it was a SINHA have shown interest in joke, only to realize our the job: worst nightmare had Elizabeth Warren: “The Rank come true when Donald Trump and File” — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, was elected president. Yang is a D-Mass., has built up an esteemed former tech CEO based in New career in the Senate over her past York City who founded Venture two terms. She frequently appears for America. While he may not be in national news as a face of the the most conventional candidate, Democratic party in the Senate and his platform has certainly set him has not let her esteem stop her from apart with his proposed “Freedom butting heads with the president Dividend” that would provide all on several occasions. Her recent people ages 18 to 64 with a universal DNA test for her Native American basic income of $1000 per month. heritage has shed a negative light While many may not deem Yang as on the senator, her competence a viable candidate, he has received as well as her commitment to recognition, as Obama named him liberal causes. If Warren were to as the presidential ambassador for win the nomination, she might entrepreneurship in 2015. Yang be the most liberal candidate for continues to gain more traction, the party since 1972. While her and maybe the breadth of his future looks promising, Warren promises will prove beneficial. may fall victim to something I call When Trump first announced his the “Hillary Clinton effect.” This run for presidency, he was polling term refers to politicians who have at 5 percent, and was less popular very little connection with their than Republican candidates Jeb constituencies and are not relatable, Bush, Ben Carson and Marco thus decreasing their voter base. Rubio. Perhaps Yang can pull off a While Warren may be competent Trump-esque victory by adopting for the job, are Democrats willing extreme ideologies to draw voters to nominate somebody who may to him? not fit the newly shifted definition John Delaney: “The of “electability”? After all, the end Pragmatist” — Rep. John Delaney, game for the Democrats is to push D-Md., was one of the first people the president out of his seat. to announce his candidacy for Kamala Harris: “The presidency, and has already been Frontrunner” — Sen. Kamala gaining ground in states like Iowa.

Harris, D-Calif., is often seen as Though Delaney is not a household the best bet for this race. As seen name like Warren or Harris, he in her work as California’s attorney has already outlined some basic general and as a California senator, platform ideas that center around Harris has always been very vocal a moderate, bipartisan approach to on matters such as immigration, politics. Delaney’s entire campaign and has recently voiced support centers around his pragmatic for Medicare for All. Harris’s approach to politics and his goal appointment to the Senate Judiciary of unifying the divided nation.

Committee has bolstered her image Delaney’s call to unity is shown and given her the platform to speak through his time in Congress, as out against people like Supreme he has been known to work with Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. both Republicans and Democrats.

Harris’s campaign has run off of a On average, Delaney votes with staunch call to truth and therefore Trump about 34 percent of serves as a foil to the cloud of the time, which is higher than obscurity associated with the the combined percentage that Trump presidency. While she has Harris and Warren vote with the been regarded as a second Obama, president. While Democrats are Harris still has much to prove to eager to prove they are not bought the people of color who felt ignored by super PACs, it is important to by the Obama administration and note Delaney is the sixth richest especially targeted in the Trump member of Congress and is a

former CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. Delaney’s realistic approach to politics may not be the best tactic for Democratic voters, who tend to be activists with rather extreme views. Both parties have unified their supporters through a common hate for their opposition.

Can Delaney’s message unify an increasingly extreme party?

Julián Castro: “The Newbie” — Julián Castro was the former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development during Obama’s second term and was the youngest member of his cabinet. Castro’s message is rooted in a direct contrast to the xenophobic message Trump has preached to the American people.

Castro entered the national stage as the keynote speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, and was even a prospective running mate for Hillary Clinton in 2016. At a youthful 44, the secretary has already accomplished a great deal by serving on the San Antonio City Council at age 26 and mayor of San Antonio at age 30. His affiliation with Obama and his vigor have proven to be an asset to the relatively discouraged Democratic voters.

I know all of this can be exciting. However, with so many competent candidates, we must keep in mind that the percentage of eligible voters among Democrats who vote in primary elections is 14.4 percent. The next time you vote, you have to keep general electability in mind. We are no longer in the era where simply “being fit for the job” is enough to get you to the presidency — some may argue general competence is not even required to get the Oval Office, based on the way these past two years have gone. However, this race is more about just unseating Trump. It is about bringing back the ideals of acceptance, diplomacy and competency to this great nation. The current state of our union is one destitute of motivated leadership. Out of the people who have made their case in this past month, the only person I see capable of reinvigorating this country with hope and efficacy is Harris. So when primary election season comes around, and you are one of the 14.4 percent of eligible Democratic voters voting, ask yourself — who can make the most of the United States? When all things are considered, I am sure your answer will bring you closer to Harris.

Ambika Sinha can be reached at ambikavs@umich.edu.

ADITHYA SANJAY | COLUMN

Did the government shutdown actually do anything to slow down the economy?

F

or 35 days, the U.S. government remained shut down, marking the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The world was seemingly reduced to a gridlock between President Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D. Calif., as both parties struggled to come to an agreement over how much money should be allotted towards border security in the federal budget. The event dominated the news — headlining broadcasts almost daily. And just when it seemed that the U.S. political system had reached its untimely demise, the president surprised the world by signing a continuing resolution that reopened the government temporarily. But while news reports were quick to report the “devastating effects of the government shutdown,” how much of an impact did it really have on the U.S. economy?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been on somewhat of a tear so far this year, reporting gains of nearly 2,000 points so far in the month of January. As many big-name corporations have released positive results from the past quarter, many investors are optimistic about the market. More than that, the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to go easy on interest rates resulted in a huge upside in the market, with the Dow jumping over 300 points in response to the news.

This seems very contradictory, however, with many reports showing a massive reduction of consumer confidence as a result of the shutdown, with the said metric at its lowest level since July 2017. Not to mention, shouldn’t the 800,000 workers that were

furloughed as a result of the shutdown have some impact on the economy? Or what about the $3 billion of deadweight loss that will never be recovered?

For starters, we must understand what causes a stock – or the market as a whole – to go up or down. Things like better or lower-than-expected earnings can cause a stock price to fluctuate, as can (as previously mentioned) a change in interest rates. But stocks also respond to political and social factors that have the potential to affect the market in the long run.

It is worth mentioning that the stock market isn’t the same thing as the economy. In many cases, it is a very good measure of how the economy is doing, but its short-run fluctuations don’t really tell us as much as its trends in the long run do. Nevertheless, the market often does act as a delayed reaction to different economic trends. For example, only when a company reports its earnings for the past quarter (or forecasts their earnings close to the end of the quarter) will the price of the stock react to the information. It’s almost never an instant response.

When the government finally reopened last weekend, a lot of people expected some sort of an increase in stock prices, as the economy was seen to have a more certain future. Instead, “the markets couldn’t care less” with the S&P 500 climbing 0.8 percent and the Dow up 1 percent the afternoon Trump made the announcement, due more so to the Fed’s decisions on interest rates than due to the shutdown.

The recent activity in the U.S.’s trade talks with China and the aforementioned decisions made

by the Fed seemed to be viewed as far more important than the shutdown. And this has been true in the past, with the stock markets historically not really reacting to shutdowns.

Part of this has to due with how commonplace a shutdown is. In fact, since 1976 there have been 18 shutdowns. The other part is that it really doesn’t have an impact on the economy — at least for now. While there may have been a lot of government workers without jobs, traders were more concerned about earnings season, and how each company fared in the last quarter. This is not to say that there were not personal economic losses to these furloughed workers, with many unable to make due diligence on rent and loan payments. That said, while 800,000 individual workers do seem like quite a lot, their welfare does little to impact the economy as a whole — at least for the length of time the shutdown occurred. Perhaps the inefficiencies would have piled up had the shutdown persisted for longer.

Nevertheless, when the U.S. is operating on a $20 trillion economy, a $3 billion loss is very trivial. We’ll have to wait and see to what extent this is true until the end of the current quarter, when companies report whether they matched up to expectations.

But for now, it seems that the economy is going to keep chugging along, with little care that the government was shutdown for more than a month.

Adithya Sanjay can be reached at asanjay@umich.edu.

Arts

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FILM REVIEW

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

The slight, gorgeous end to ‘Train Your Dragon’ trio JEREMIAH VANDERHELM Daily Arts Writer

Of all the memorable moments to come out of DreamWorks’s near-perfect original “How to Train Your Dragon,” the one most likely to jump to someone’s mind at the mention of the film is the flying sequence. In all of twenty-first century animation, there have been few scenes that managed to match the majesty of those first moments when Hiccup (Jay Baruchel, “Man Seeking Woman”) first climbed atop Toothless and soared through the air, skimming the water, whooping with the sort of contagious joy that classic movie moments are made of.

The storytelling, the score, the Deakins-inspired visual — it all came together for a moment of complete moviemaking synergy.

The miracle of “The Hidden

World” is that it might actually is in how they’re rendered mostly surpass that magical original in close-ups allowing for a couple flight. As the inhabitants of the different things. Obviously it’s dragon-friendly utopia Berk easier to appreciate how stateflee from an armada of dragon of-the-art the animation is at a hunters, we watch as Toothless closer distance — you can actually begins a courtship with a female see the reflection of other people variant of his species: the “Light Fury” to his “Nightfury.”

To call these scenes beautiful or gorgeous or any of the descriptors I Ann Arbor 20+ IMAX usually attach to artistic styles Universal Pictures would be a severe understatement.

I’d rank them near “Fantasia” in terms of how in the characters’ eyes, which perfectly they tell a story with is a level of detail so insane that nothing but visuals and John some live-action films can’t Powell’s (“Solo: A Star Wars even match. More importantly, though, it allows the characters Story”) unbelievable score.

Part of the key to their strength to speak for themselves, even

‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’

Monday, February 4, 2019 — 5A

effectively mute ones like Toothless and the Light Fury.

Matt Reeves took advantage of a similar idea in “War for the Planet of the Apes” — if the effects are good enough and the character is expressive enough, a simple close-up can tell us exactly what they’re feeling without having to use a single word of dialogue. The result isn’t just something that’s aesthetically pleasing to look at; it’s a much more intimate feeling relationship than we’re used to seeing in an animated film. Even “WALL-E” made use of limited dialogue in its love story.

The rest of the film is fine, even if it occasionally struggles to match those epic heights.

Hiccup’s arc sees him having to confront the reality that his time with Toothless might be coming to the end, and while that’s certainly an emotional way to close out the trilogy, it’s never given enough time to develop, especially because the third act begins and moves from the midpoint of the story to the climax to the resolution so quickly it’s hard to digest any of it. It’s strange to say, especially as someone usually hasty to criticize movies for overstaying their welcome, but if “The Hidden World” was even just five to ten minutes longer, it would allow for more development for Hiccup and his struggle without sacrificing any of the time we spend with Toothless and the Light Fury.

It’s the conclusion of a critically acclaimed trilogy, DreamWorks!

Treat yourself!

Yet, even this is born partially of a desire to spend more time in this world: the world of Berk, the world of its people, the world of dragons. Over three movies — and several TV series I admittedly haven’t watched — DreamWorks has developed a stupendous cast of characters brought to life in bold stories with animation that never ceases to be striking, and “The Hidden World” stands as a resolutely solid ending. It’s an achievement, and I think I can safely say that the “How to Train Your Dragon” trilogy will be one that parents and children will watch together for years to come.

When they do, I hope they cherish their time in Berk as dearly as I have.

VIDEO GAME REVIEW

‘God of War’ is an accomplishment of a video game ELI LUSTIG

Daily Arts Writer

Playing “God of War” makes me feel as if The Game Awards were established for the sole purpose of awarding it Game of the Year. That’s how good this game is. Despite 2018 being a very strong year for video games, “God of War” clearly stood out from the pack, primarily because it achieved the lofty goal that all art aspires to: provoking a conversation, which couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time.

In a world where definitions of masculinity are a contentious issue, “God of War” delivers a sophisticated take on topics of masculinity and fatherhood by shifting the franchise-defining protagonist Kratos, from the hyper-masculine brute of the previous games to a conflicted father determined to protect and train his young son, Arteus.

Throughout the game, this thematic change is best expressed when Kratos teaches his son about the cruel world they live in. Despite seeming harsh on the surface, these moments have an inner tenderness revealing the true purpose a father fulfills in a son’s life. Set in the backdrop of Norse mythology, Kratos and Artreus embark on a quest to fulfill the dying wish of their recently deceased wife and mother, respectively. This epic journey takes the player through the nine realms of Yggdrasil where the pair encounter monsters, giants, elves and gods.

Each character in the game, particularly Kratos and Atreus, is exquisitely written. At every line of dialogue, I consistently found myself hoping that Kratos

would show Arteus just a sliver of affection, only to realize that I was missing the point. “God of War” wants the player to think Kratos is a bad father. The player’s unapproving perception combined with the actual threats Kratos faces are metaphors for the unrealistic pressures, both mentally and physically, that men face today. Like most men, Kratos does care, however, when being hunted by giants and gods it doesn’t come out in the nicest way.

Another shift that “God of War” benefits from is its reworked gameplay — replacing the previous 3D, isometric view with a third person perspective standard in most current actionadventure games. The combat makes use of a cleaver toggle system that allows the player to fight in their own style. Enemies can be taken down from afar with Kratos’ recallable weapon, the “Levithan Axe,” or challenged up close. With each unlocked move, Kratos begins to feel almost divine. However, these supernatural abilities never make Kratos too powerful, as enemies also evolve in interesting and puzzling ways. Though minor enemies can be fun, the pinnacle of “God of War” is its boss fights.

These adrenaline-inducing encounters against deities and colossal beasts are packed with so much ethereal movement, I truly felt like I was amongst the gods.

Having played every game nominated, “God of War” stands far above the rest. It wasn’t the grandest or flashiest game of 2018, but it was the most artistic.

I can’t think of a more deserving winner of 2018’s Game of the Year than the incomparable “God of War.”

MUSIC REVIEW

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Release Date: Monday, February 4, 2019

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

SUMMER EMPLOYMENT

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Gather in a pile 6 City transport 9 Assume the role of 14 Dashed in the direction of 15 Fireplace remnants 16 Baseball’s home __ 17 Military decoration 18 China : cha :: U.S. : __ 19 Resistance member 20 Misdeed exculpation 23 Garden product word 26 Lyricist Gershwin 27 Ages and ages 28 Word after photo or black 29 Done tidily and without stress 33 Skillful 34 Early riser?

35 Wyatt of the Old West 39 Bedouin abode 40 Takes out the sloop 42 Classic cookie 43 Mediocre 44 Suffix with alp 45 Models for some Adam and Eve art 46 Precisely 50 Texter’s “I believe” 53 Louis XIV, par exemple 54 Badminton partition 55 Originally called 56 Exercise mantra 60 Minotaur’s island 61 Overtime cause, in sports 62 Seashore 66 Brother of Moses 67 Right-angled pipe shape 68 Came to a conclusion 69 Slope 70 Prefix with -lexic 71 Gives medicine to DOWN 1 Pitcher’s asset 2 West of “My Little Chickadee”

3 Plus 4 Ollie’s partner 5 Single singer 6 WWII Philippine battleground 7 Manipulative sort 8 Causing disgrace 9 Cooks’ protective wear 10 Sheet music symbol 11 Forbidden 12 Consumed eagerly 13 Disposes of on eBay 21 60-min. periods 22 Subjects, usually, in grammar class 23 Bitty biters 24 Show with horses and bulls 25 Warning signs 30 Model Kate married to Justin Verlander 31 Willow twig 32 South Korea’s capital 36 Elizabeth of cosmetics 37 Creator of yummy “pieces”

38 Entourage 40 Do what he says or you lose 41 Made sacred, as with oil 45 Observed 47 “Murder on the __ Express” 48 Marx co-author 49 Cultural funding org.

50 Machu Picchu builders 51 Point of a fable

52 Wagner work 57 Huge amount, as of homework 58 Slick, like a garage floor 59 Forbidden thing, and what each of four long answers is?

63 Spots on television 64 Understand 65 NFL scores

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02/04/19

‘Better Oblivion,’ open for business, counsel

writing together after first meeting a few years ago, Senior Arts Editor and eventually realized that those songs needed a home bigger than their Phoebe Bridgers and own respective projects to Conor Oberst are twin flourish. And thus, Better souls in the music industry.

Oblivion Community Oberst, an emo-indie-folkCenter was born. rock legend and former Oberst and Bridgers have frontman of celebrated collaborated before, on band Bright Eyes, has Bridgers’s heart-wrenching been writing confessional, ballad “Would You Rather” straight-to-the-core from her debut music since LP, and the his beginnings pairing was nearly 20 years momentary ago. Bridgers’s lightning. Both first studio musicians have album, Stranger Better Oblivion Community Center a spectacular in the Alps, was knack for released in 2017.

Dead Oceans writing music But despite their that doesn’t beat generational around the bush differences, the duo seem to operate on the into one musical voice, in any way, shape or form. same creative frequency. separate from each of them Instead, each lyric and turn In the first promotional individually, Better Oblivion of phrase digs its heels into pictures for their new group Community Center is an the listener’s emotional Better Oblivion Community album that allows Bridgers psyche, dredging up the Center, they seem more and Oberst to do the feelings and memories that comfortable with each opposite. The record is an most of us try to forget. It’s other than even a brother interesting mix of the folk- crying-in-the-bathroom sensibilities music, walking-home-inand sister may be. Though confessional Bridgers has been a devoted that both artists are known the-dark music, squintingfan of Oberst since she was a for and a frenetic, inventive in-the-morning-sun music, teenager, their partnership rock edge that takes the goodbye-kiss music. is equal, an intertwined listener by happy surprise effort to tell the narratives on songs like “Dylan Read more at that exist between both Thomas” and “Exception MichiganDaily.com of them as truthfully as to the Rule.” They started CLARA SCOTT

HEY. 02/04/19

DEAD OCEANS

possible.

Better Oblivion Community Center is Bridgers’s second group effort in the last year after 2018’s boygenius, a similarly self-titled record by the silver-haired songwriter and other folk-nouveau standouts Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus as boygenius.

Where boygenius allowed the three artists to merge

‘Better Oblivion Community Center’

Arts

6A — Monday, February 4, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

CULTURE NOTEBOOK

GEORGIA O’KEEFEE

The teachings of Georgia O’Keeffe, body and flower ROLLING STONE

An escape of justice: Who is culpable for R. Kelly?

DYLAN YONO For The Daily

We’ve known for decades now that R. Kelly is an abuser, a child molester and a sexual predator.

How has it continued for so long?

Megastar R. Kelly has long been revered as the king of R&B, at times being one of the world’s bestselling recording artists. He has millions upon millions of record sales, platinum hits from “Bump n’ Grind” in 1994 to “I’m a Flirt” in 2007 and collaborations with the biggest names in the industry, including Jay-Z and Lady Gaga. He also jump-started the career of the late Aaliyah, among other proteges.

Few artists are as accomplished as Kelly.

However, Kelly’s story is not a glamorous one: He was born and raised in the projects in Chicago, grew up without a father figure and was molested in his home.

He earned his fame through pure talent and dedication to his craft.

When he skyrocketed to superstardom, Kelly was a hero to the Black community, especially in his hometown. Songs like “I Believe I Can Fly” and “I’m Your Angel” were played in churches, choirs, graduations and weddings.

Disturbingly, though, over the last three decades numerous women have come forward accusing Kelly of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Earlier this month, several victims, former associates and even family members of Kelly’s made their voices heard in the Lifetime docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly.”

Survivors described their lives with Kelly in gruesome detail.

Several of the victims’ loved ones explained how Kelly lured the women in, often with promises of help in the music industry, only to manipulate them into dropping all contact with friends and family and dedicating themselves solely to Kelly.

I watched the docuseries to learn more about the accusations.

As I watched, a pattern of the victims quickly emerged: their age. Most met Kelly between 15 and 17, though he has been known to prey on older women if they seemed open to his manipulation.

Suddenly, the nickname “Pied Piper of R&B” (in reference to the German folklore figure who lured children away with music) seems eerily fitting. Writing and producing an album titled Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number is just prophetic.

In a society where Black women’s voices are constantly swept under the rug, it’s no surprise that Kelly’s stardom continued to be enabled by labels, collaborators and fans—no matter how many young victims he left in his wake.

Decades of abuse The abuse dates back to the late ’80s and early ’90s, even before R. Kelly’s rise to fame. In the early days after launching his musical career, Kelly would reportedly lurk outside his alma mater, Kenwood High School, looking for young girls to bring back to the studio with him and begin a sexual relationship. (Today, even as recent as the last few years, rumors cite

Kelly as lurking around Chicago in a blacked out Mercedes, slinking around high school parking lots and basketball games with his entourage.)

In 1994, at 27 years old, Kelly illegally married his 15-yearold protege and collaborator Aaliyah. Their marriage was annulled shortly after. In 2002, the infamous “pee tape” surfaced, allegedly showing Kelly having sex with (and urinating on) a 14-yearold girl. In 2008, after several delays, Kelly finally went to court.

The woman identified on the tape refused to testify, and a jury acquitted him of all charges.

In the years before and in years to come, many women who had a relationship with Kelly as a teenager filed lawsuits against him.

Nearly all of them were settled out of court, sometimes for six-figure sums of money.

In 2017, veteran music journalist Jim DeRogatis broke the story of Kelly’s alleged sex cult. In the article, family members describe how their daughters have been manipulated into staying with Kelly. Former members of Kelly’s inner circle allege that Kelly controls “every aspect of (the victims’) lives: dictating what they eat, how they dress, when they bathe, when they sleep and how they engage in sexual encounters that he records.” A social media campaign, “#MuteRKelly,” followed the allegations.

For years, a horrifying case has been built against Kelly. The evidence has continued to pile up: victim testimonies, audio recordings, text conversations and lawsuits. The average person is numb by now: You could tell me anything about Kelly and I’d probably find it plausible.

We’ve heard so many stories that headlines like “R. Kelly Is Being Accused Of Sexually Abusing And Possibly Impregnating His 14-Year-Old Cousin” are met with a “yeah, probably,” by most. And yet, R. Kelly has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.

The unspoken subject Few artists and collaborators would speak up about the allegations against R. Kelly, despite overwhelming evidence of sexual abuse.

Amid all the clamor against Kelly between the sex tape and trial in the 2000s, the music industry failed to take action.

Chocolate Factory came out in 2003, a year into the sex tape scandal, and went triple platinum.

Many young women were staunch defenders of Kelly, with entourages showing up to his trial to express support. Artists continued to make records with him, and distributors continued to profit off of his stardom.

Last year, Spotify removed Kelly’s tracks (among other artists who faced allegations of misconduct) from official playlists while keeping the music available for streaming. An industry uproar over censorship and targeting black artists caused Spotify to walk back on their “hateful conduct” policy a few weeks later.

Dream Hampton, executive producer of “Surviving R. Kelly,” struggled to get the support and

testimony of recording artists who worked with Kelly. The only celebrity willing to speak up for the docuseries was John Legend.

When asked about celebrity involvement in an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Hampton said: “When it comes to celebrities, It was incredibly difficult to get people who had collaborated (artistically) with Kelly to come forward. We asked Lady Gaga.

We asked Erykah Badu. We asked Celine Dion. We asked Jay-Z. We asked Dave Chappelle. (They’re) people who have been critical of him. That makes John Legend even more of a hero for me.”

Since the release of the docuseries, celebrities have been racing to disavow R. Kelly and express regret for supporting him.

Two weeks later, he was dropped by his label, RCA. Universal Music Group quietly did the same last spring, though they still hold his money-printing back catalog of hits.

Why did everyone wait until now? After all, the music industry has known about Kelly’s true nature since the ’90s. But even the sex tape scandal was not enough to end his career.

At the heart of the industry’s guilt is money over morals.

Only now has Kelly faded from relevance enough for the industry to flip on him. Even though we’re finally seeing a change in attitude towards Kelly, when it comes to accountability, the industry remains silent. Everyone will speak up to say “I don’t support R. Kelly.” But who would speak up to apologize to the victims?

Who would speak up to say, “I knew about and enabled R. Kelly’s behavior, and I’m sorry for not speaking up?” If he was still making platinum hits today, would we even be having this conversation?

Should we “drop” R. Kelly?

When I first started hearing about the allegations against R. Kelly two years ago, I didn’t hesitate to believe them, but I pushed them to the back of my head. You would have to pry “Ignition (Remix)” from my cold, dead hands.

I know now that ignoring those thoughts was no different from supporting Kelly.

Watching “Surviving R. Kelly” made me conscious of my own apathy. The tearful recollections of Kelly’s survivors shook me to my core. Entire families have been destroyed by Kelly’s actions.

His cult-like operation runs at an enormous scale, with layers of mental abuse that border on brainwashing. Kelly’s precautions to protect himself and his image are nefarious, painting him as a sociopath with a god complex.

How did I continue to enjoy Kelly’s music for so long, without sparing a thought for his victims?

At one point in the docuseries, a clinical psychologist describes a phenomenon in which people tend to minimize the wrongdoings of others who have done good by them in the past.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

JENNA BARLAGE Daily Arts Writer

When I was eight, I asked my parents what a tampon was.

My memory of this moment is shockingly fresh in my mind: I stand in the threshold between our family room and our kitchen, my socked feet on the wood floor.

I’m almost sure that tampons are used to stop you from peeing your pants, but I want to make sure of it. My heart is beating when I ask (practically blurt) the question I’d been too scared to ask for years.

My parents look at each other for a moment, baffled. Then, they start to laugh. I’m confused.

“You’ll find out in a few years,” my mom says. They turn back to the TV, shaking their heads.

I stand there for a moment.

I’m shocked at myself, but I’m something else too. Ashamed.

Why did I ask that? I vowed to never talk about tampons again.

After sex ed in fifth grade, I still don’t exactly know what a tampon is. The girls from the other class file into our classroom as the boys file into theirs. Our teacher was a woman, and the boys’ a man. Our teacher puts an old VHS tape into our dusty classroom TV set and sits behind her desk, averting her eyes. The movie is from the 1980s and, to say the least, uninformative.

When the movie ends, someone raises their hand and asks, “What’s a period?”

Our teacher says, “It’s something every woman goes through.”

“Oh.” On the playground, a boy

asks me if we learned what masturbation was. I say no. He says it’s probably only for boys. I believe this until I’m 15.

The day I get my first period, I’m home from school. I’d been puking all day. I’d never felt that pain in my stomach, a raw pain, a combination of sharp and dull.

I think it’s the flu, until I pull down my pants. The blood looks different from normal blood.

I sit on the toilet and cry. My hands shake as I call my mom.

“Please buy me pads,” I say.

We don’t talk about my period again until I’m in college.

It’s my first year of high school. My friends and I talk about if you should shave “down there.” The unanimous answer is yes, and you should also shave everywhere else.

Boys will think you’re gross if you don’t.

You also shouldn’t smell bad.

You should use the scented soap from Victoria’s Secret, we say.

You know the joke, “What smells like fish? Close your legs!”

And you should only wear lace underwear.

Boys won’t touch you if you don’t.

And don’t let your panty lines show through your pants.

You should also use pads.

Using a tampon is basically losing your virginity.

Boys don’t want to have sex with loose girls.

Never mind pH balance and period comfort and sexual agency. We know all there is to know about our bodies because the boys teach us what we should look like and smell like

and feel like. We’re pretty girls and our bodies are for them.

I didn’t know who Georgia O’Keeffe was until my freshman year of college. Her painting “Black Iris” appeared on a PowerPoint slide.

“Her paintings seem to allude to female genitalia,” my professor says.

“That’s totally a vagina,” my friend whispers to me, hand cupped to her ear, leaning over in her chair.

“Black Iris” was the first piece of vaginal art I’d seen by a woman. By men, I’d seen it all: portraits and paintings of women by men, poems, novels, songs about women by men.

The female body as seen by men. Men had claimed women, had claimed the vagina. “Black Iris” shattered that claim. The masculine vagina suddenly became replaced by the feminine one, the right one, the one I owned. I liked this version better. In fact, I loved it.

O’Keeffe became something of an icon to me, the standard of the radical, raw embrace of femininity that I wanted as a part of myself. Hers is one of the only quotes I think about every day: “I said to myself, I have things in my head that are not like what anyone has taught me — shapes and ideas so near to me — so natural to my way of being and thinking that it hasn’t occurred to me to put them down. I decided to start anew, to strip away what I had been taught.”

Here is my unlearning of what I’ve been taught: My female body is mine. And it is beautiful.

BOOK REVIEW

Narrating disease in ‘The Collected Schizophrenias’ MIRIAM FRANCISCO Daily Arts Writer

“I tell myself that if I must live with a slippery mind, I want to know how to tether it too,” Esmé Weijun Wang writes in the final sentence of “The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays.” In her first non-fiction work, Wang sets out to articulate the capricious, harrowing whims of her mental illness by situating them in the personal and aggregate histories of schizophrenia. The result is a selection of stories from Wang’s life, each one informed by a thorough analysis of the laws, policies, norms, desires and realities that shape the experiences of those living with the pathology that makes up what Wang calls “the collected schizophrenias.”

These essays interrogate and explain various facets of mental illness, chronicling the histories of schizophrenia while simultaneously unrolling a map of Wang’s life.

Wang describes schizophrenia as a narrative disease, an affliction whose progression can be mapped through the evolution of a protagonist. In this case, the protagonist is different iterations of Wang herself: as a child, in college, after being expelled from Yale, living in San Francisco. The text moves through years of transformations and diagnoses, each of which offers partial, contorted answers to the fundamental queries of the book and of her life. In every essay, the same themes arise: Is there

some inner self that lies beyond the reaches of mental illness, a consciousness that disease makes invisible but leaves intact? What does wellness look and feel like?

How does the production of art change the answers to these questions?

Wang is also the author of a novel, “The Border of Paradise,” which was released in 2016. She earned an MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan in 2010 and attended both Yale and Stanford for undergrad. Wang readily presents this information to the reader, carefully describing the ways she

‘The Collected Schizophrenias’ Esmé Weijun Wang Graywolf Press Feb. 5, 2019

has wielded her biography as a defense — for herself and to others — against the real and stereotyped instability that is associated with schizophrenia.

Wang characterizes schizophrenia as the engineer of a precariously fluid reality, one whose skewed boundaries and deteriorating infinities eliminate the distinction between phantasms and the exterior world. Within this distortion, the senses no longer situate a person inside the certainty that accompanies an objective knowledge of the world.

For example, Wang’s mental illness sometimes manifests as a dissolving of the partition between what is interior and what is exterior. As she describes in “Reality, On-screen,” this can make watching movies and reading fiction harrowing. The warped reality of worlds similar to our own can trigger psychosis.

Writers are tasked with creating accurate or alternate realities, so this aspect of schizophrenia is particularly complex for Wang.

Wang was cycled through a series of diagnoses before her doctors settled on schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type. Her mental illness is resistant to treatment, and while one of the final essays of the book is about the current state of her treatment (she has not had delusions or hallucinations in four years), there is a palpable tenuousness with which Wang imparts this information. As Wang explains, schizophrenia is a unpredictable illness, one whose trajectory and manifestations are often unclear.

Wang’s capacity to externalize self-knowledge is one of the great satisfactions of reading “The Collected Schizophrenias.” She is as good at illustrating her interior self as she is at interrogating the simplifications and false narratives inherent in memoir.

This often appears as self-directed compassion, a quality that permeates the whole book.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

SPORTSMONDAY The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | February 4, 2019

MICH 59 IOWA 74

afoul Foul trouble exposes lack of depth as U-M drops second game of the year

INSIDE SPORTSMONDAY SHOOTING STRUGGLES CONTINUE AGAINST IOWA’S ZONE See Page 2B

Design by Jack Silberman Annie Klus / Daily

ran

SportsMonday

2B — February 4, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

SportsMonday Column: Michigan has a depth problem Jon Teske picked up his second foul with 11:42 left in the first half of Michigan’s game against Iowa on Friday.

The Hawkeyes were up 12-11 after the ensuing free throws, and that’s when redshirt sophomore center Austin Davis subbed in for MIKE the junior center. The PERSAK Wolverines went on a 6-0 run immediately afterward.

If that had been the beginning of a trend for Michigan men’s basketball team, the Wolverines would still have one loss, a game clear of anyone else in the Big Ten standings.

But that momentum didn’t

continue.

Three minutes later, Iowa ripped off a 13-0 run to go up eight. Two minutes after that, the lead grew to 14, and at the end of the half, Michigan trailed by 13.

Teske had played only one minute, and a mixture of Davis, freshman forward Brandon Johns, sophomore forward Isaiah Livers and even freshman center Colin Castleton — who had played a total of 18 minutes all year — struggled mightily either to contain the Hawkeyes’ size on defense or contribute offensively.

“We hoped it would be better, but this was a bad one to not have (Teske),” said Michigan coach John Beilein.

“Because he does so many different things. … We do not have this plethora of bigs coming in behind him that

have his experience. “… I can’t say we weren’t ready for it. It’s happened a few times, but the opponent hasn’t been this strong when it did happen.”

Of course, the game’s outcome can’t simply be boiled down to insufficiencies at one position.

But the lack of a backup for Teske speaks to a larger problem for the Wolverines.

Michigan has just six players that score more than seven points per game.

The next best is sophomore guard Eli Brooks, who averages 2.9 points per game, hardly a trustworthy offensive option.

So when the Wolverines

run into foul trouble or cold shooting nights — or if someone in the rotation gets hurt at some point throughout the year — it could present a great deal of trouble.

That manifested Friday, when Teske, Livers, freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis and sophomore guard Jordan Poole were all called for two fouls in the first half. Brazdeikis, Poole and junior guard Zavier Simpson were the only players to score for Michigan in that first half. So when two of those three were out, the Wolverines turned to some unlikely sources.

Three freshmen — Castleton,

We do not have this plethora of bigs coming in behind (Teske).

guard David DeJulius and guard Adrien Nunez — got their first meaningful minutes of their careers late in the first 20 minutes of Friday’s game.

They were not nearly enough, as made evident by the score at halftime.

And as it turned out, the rest of the offense wasn’t enough for the rest of the night either.

“Basketball game’s a game full of runs,” Simpson said.

“They’re gonna make runs, we’re gonna make runs.

They just happened to make a big run. Salute to Iowa.”

To be clear, Michigan’s depth issues are not a death sentence by any means. Beilein-coached teams are notorious for fouling less than other teams. And the Wolverines’ six main contributors have proven they can play a ton of minutes, which helps mask some of the problems.

But the issue comes with a team like Iowa. The Hawkeyes rotated several competent big men onto the court and went after Teske, and it worked, because while the backups at all positions struggle to score for Michigan, Teske’s importance is twofold. Teske’s backups not only lack his offensive ability, but they don’t bring the defensive versatility he possesses.

So Iowa’s formula worked like a charm, and while it isn’t one that all teams in the country can employ when the competition gets stiffer, that weakness could come back to bite the Wolverines when it

matters most.

Michigan’s two late-season games against Michigan State could be for the Big Ten Championship. The Spartans will undoubtedly run big men Nick Ward and Xavier Tillman at Teske when they meet on Feb. 24. If the Wolverines match up with the likes of Tennessee, Duke or Gonzaga in March, all of those teams have size to spare, too.

And now that the book is out on Michigan and how to stop them, there are two ways this thing could go.

The first is that Beilein transforms his weaknesses into strengths once again.

Last year, defenses that switched ball screens gave the Wolverines fits, but by the end of the season, Michigan was feasting on teams that did just that.

Maybe this season, Davis, Johns or Brooks will find their respective grooves and turn their offense into the buzzsaw everyone witnessed against North Carolina and Villanova.

Or maybe the Wolverines’ lack of depth is their fatal f law. Maybe what happened Friday was less a mirage and more a preview of what’s to come.

Maybe we’ll look back on Friday night and remember when Iowa found the end of a proverbial thread and the rest of Michigan’s season began to unravel.

It’s happened a few times ... the opponent hasn’t been as strong.

They just happened to make a big run.

Salute to Iowa.

ANNIE KLUS/Daily

Michigan coach John Beilein must find a solution to the Wolverines’ depth problem if they are to reach their potential when the NCAA Tournament comes.

Michigan falls to Iowa, 74-59, as lack of big-man depth exposed THEO MACKIE

Daily Sports Writer

IOWA CITY — Last year, before the start of the Big Ten Tournament in New York City, Iowa video coordinator Courtney Eldridge pulled the Hawkeyes’ sophomore class aside. In their two seasons at Iowa, he realized, the group had yet to notch a signature win. The next day, they came a point away from doing so in an overtime loss to Michigan. Instead, they fell just short, marking a familiarly disappointing end to a 14-19 season.

Friday night against the same opponent, that signature win finally arrived, as Iowa (17-5 overall, 6-5 Big Ten) took down the fifth-ranked Wolverines, 74-59.

The game took a sour turn for Michigan (20-2, 9-2) just 1:19 after tipoff, when junior center Jon Teske picked up his first foul, forcing John Beilein to call for Isaiah Livers off the bench. It only took 31 seconds before the sophomore forward committed a foul of his own. Less than a minute later, he too made his way to the bench after another foul under the basket.

Freshman forward Brandon Johns held his own until the under-12 media timeout, when Teske re-entered with the game knotted at 11. Six seconds later, Iowa forward Tyler Cook charged at Teske, attempting to throw a dunk over him. The ball rattled off the back of the rim, but more importantly, Teske was whistled for his second foul, sending him to the bench for the remainder of the half.

“One of our game plans, as always, was try to get their big in foul trouble,” said Iowa forward Luka Garza. “So we did a really good job of that. Me, Tyler (Cook), Ryan (Kriener), we all had a focus on that. We attacked them inside, just to try to get them out of there.

And it worked for us.”

Six minutes later, Nicholas Baer caught the ball in transition, squaring up from the top of the arc as the crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena rose to its feet. Seconds later, the ball splashed through

the net, blowing the roof off the building and completing a 21-2 run that gave Iowa a 14-point lead it would never relinquish.

“Basketball game’s a game full of runs,” said junior guard Zavier Simpson. “They’re gonna make runs, we’re gonna make runs.

They just happened to make a big run. Salute to Iowa.”

The run came on the back of a dominant inside performance from Iowa in Teske’s absence, as five of its seven field goals during the stretch came in the paint. With Johns and redshirt sophomore forward Austin Davis manning the ‘5’ for nearly the entire remainder of the half, the Hawkeyes went into halftime with a 22-6 advantage in the paint and 22-10 on the boards.

“It’s not the same presence of the room (without Teske),” Kreiner said. “Michigan gets really aggressive denying things.

And if they’re denying things, you gotta drive the ball. … And if Teske’s not there to rotate over, it’s a lot easier to finish.”

The second half was a more even affair, but each Michigan threat was quickly snuffed out by an Iowa response — especially

on the defensive end, where the Hawkeyes’ mix of zone, man-toman and full-court press forced the Wolverines into a 8-for-33 performance from three.

Michigan, though, was able use a 16-6 run to cut the deficit to five midway through the second half, relying on Teske’s interior presence to get back into the game.

Then, with 9:08 to play and a chance to silence the CarverHawkeye crowd, sophomore Jordan Poole pump faked, slid to his left and fired off a three that would have pulled the Wolverines within four. It clanged off the front of the rim and into the hands of Iowa forward Luka Garza.

Seconds later, Garza popped a 3-pointer from the right wing.

Unlike Poole’s, his caught nothing but net.

From there, the final eight minutes were an obligatory procession toward the final buzzer sounding and a mass of black-andgold clad students descending on the court. As students mobbed the team, the arena speakers began to blast Queen’s Another One Bites The Dust.

Only for the Hawkeyes, this win was one of a kind.

ETHAN SEARS

Managing Sports Editor

IOWA CITY — First came Isaiah Livers. It was 81 seconds into Friday’s game, and junior center Jon Teske had picked up a foul. John Beilein, in turn, went to the sophomore, his most reliable backup center option to date.

Less than two minutes later, after Livers picked up a foul of his own, it was Brandon Johns’ turn. Five minutes after that, with Michigan looking sluggish, Beilein went back to Teske.

In just six seconds, he got whistled for his second foul, and that’s when things went from bad to worse.

“You don’t have a 7-(foot)-1, 260(pound) guy standing in the paint,” Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp would say two hours later. “Obviously they have (Austin) Davis that comes in off the bench, but he’s not Teske.”

Davis was in just five minutes, a span over which the Hawkeyes attacked him, then attacked him some more — finding repeated success. But he wasn’t the only person that faltered while Teske sat.

So did Livers, and Johns, and

Colin Castleton.

Get Jon Teske in foul trouble, it turns out, is how you get the Wolverines to file off the court, heads hung low, backs turned to a sea of students flowing from their seats to the court. Iowa 74, Michigan 59 was the reason for their jubilation and Teske — or the lack thereof — was the reason for the score.

Without him, the Hawkeyes feasted, turning a defense that came into Iowa City ranked first in the nation into one befitting of a Beilein team of old. They scored 22 times in the paint in the first 20 minutes, grabbing 26 rebounds to Michigan’s 12. For 19 of those minutes, Teske sat on the bench, watching the margin climb, and with 2:26 to go in the half, Beilein proverbially threw up his hands and sent Castleton onto the floor.

The freshman checked in with the Wolverines down 13 — getting outplayed front to back — and the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd hungering for more. It was his first meaningful action of the season, in a far-from-ideal scenario for a freshman still adapting to the college game.

The reason why it happened,

ANNIE KLUS/Daily

Junior center Jon Teske played just one minute in the first half after getting into foul trouble, leading to Michigan’s defensive struggles in a loss at Iowa.

seemingly, had more to do with everybody else.

“We needed something,” Beilein said. “The guys that come off the bench have to understand there’s a certain speed you need to play with, effort you need to play with. When they don’t do that, we’ve got to go further down the bench.”

It’s easy to forget Jon Teske when he’s merely a cog in the system. The Hawkeyes came into Friday with a goal of getting him into foul trouble, and forcing him to sit. They did just that — and with him gone, the entire machine fell apart.

In that first half, Michigan coughed up 1.24 points per possession, fouling more often than it hit a field goal. Two weeks ago, Wisconsin stymied the Wolverines’ offense by junking it up. On Friday, Iowa scored at will by forcing its biggest piece to sit and watch.

Teske played 11 minutes and 55 seconds in the second half before fouling out, and was a plus-3 over 13 minutes of action in a game Michigan lost by 15. The value of a player is easiest to quantify once he’s gone.

“The way Michigan plays defense is they’re really aggressive on ball-screens, and they drag them a lot,” said Iowa’s Ryan Kriener. “So that means he has to be the man in recovery. If you can either drive him or all bigger guys have trouble with — if you jump, jump into him, in that direction, bringing your arms down. “... I can’t commend Jon Teske enough, because I know how overlooked he is. But knowing the game, that dude’s the key to their defense. They’re one of the best defensive teams in the country. I 100 percent believe that he’s the key to that.”

This isn’t about Jon Teske, but the lack of a viable option behind him. On Thursday, Beilein was asked about the backup center spot and kept saying the same thing he has for over a month. Whether Davis or Johns is the first big off the bench depends on matchup, and how practice has been going.

On Friday, asked if the loss shed any light on the situation, he was a bit more direct.

“We can’t find a backup ‘5,’ ” Beilein said. “That would be the conclusion.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

WRESTLING

‘M’ suffers first defeat LILY FRIEDMAN Daily Sports Writer

An undefeated record under a new head coach. Kanen Storr’s arrival after two years at Iowa State. Freshman Mason Parris’ rise after starting the fall redshirted. Michigan wrestling has had quite a season.

After last week’s dramatic 19-17 upset win over No. 2 Ohio State, the Wolverines, moving up to a No. 4 ranking, seemed unstoppable — a force to challenge the best in college wrestling. But the Wolverines had yet to face No. 1 Penn State.

The No. 4 Michigan wrestling team (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) lost to No. 1 Penn State (10-0, 6-0 Big Ten), 25-11, Friday, dropping its first meet of the season. The Wolverines lead the team score after five matches but dropped the subsequent five.

To start the match on a high note at 125 pounds, sophomore Drew Mattin outmaneuvered his opponent, building up riding time and winning the match, 6-0, for Michigan. Redshirt junior Stevan Micic, ranked first in the country at 133 pounds, also added to the success, trouncing the Nittany Lions’ Scott Stossel, 20-5, in a technical fall. The bonus points from Micic’s win, as well as fifth-year senior Malik Amine’s 7-5 win in the 149-pound division, gave the Wolverines an 11-3 lead to start the match, an impressive margin considering Penn State’s prowess in rankings.

Despite the early lead, though, redshirt juniors Logan Massa and Myles Amine both dropped close matches to No. 1 wrestlers in the 165 and 174-pound weight classes, respectively. While the losses set Michigan back in the team score, the momentum from Massa’s overtime matchup against the Nittany Lions’ No. 1 ranked Vincenzo Joseph, gave the Wolverines strong momentum.

“It was really a razor-thin margin in that dual meet despite the score,” said Michigan coach Sean Bormet. “We recognize that Penn State has an excellent team and we knew that we were going to be wrestling in front of a sell-out crowd at the Bryce Jordan Center, and our guys were excited to push forward.”

Trailing 11-12 after seven matches, Michigan did just that.

Stepping to the mat after seven weeks off with an undisclosed industry, redshirt freshman Jelani Embree battled with the Nittany Lions’ Shakur Rasheed, ranked seventh, in the 184pound division. Though he ended up losing the match 5-3, Bormet pointed to Jelani’s tough performance against a strong competitor as a testament to the team’s grit in their first loss of the season.

“I don’t think it will affect their morale,” Bormet said.

“They expected to win those matches, and there were opportunities we had to win those matches.”

In some matches, Michigan left those opportunities unused.

Penn State secured a victory when top-ranked Bo Nickal pinned redshirt junior Jackson Striggow at 197 pounds. Already dominant with fast offense and multiple near pins, Nickal forced Striggow’s shoulders to the mat, earning six team points and a fall. Penn State continued the dominance to the end, finishing the meet with a 19-8 major decision win over freshman heavyweight Mason Parris, a breakout star since his debut Jan. 3.

Despite landslide losses to end the meet, the Wolverines see the loss as a strong effort to build on going into the postseason.

“We’ve gotta continue to dig a little deeper and press forward,” Bormet said. “We’ve got six weeks to improve and get where we want to be in March.”

SportsMonday

Wolverines take down Badgers, 76-70 ROHAN KUMAR Daily Sports Writer

After its game against Iowa was moved a day back due to weather, the Michigan women’s basketball team had less than 48 hours to prepare for Wisconsin.

That proved to be enough time, as the Wolverines (14-9 overall, 5-6 Big Ten) defeated the Badgers (11-12, 2-9), 76-70, Sunday afternoon in Madison despite a slow start.

Just over a minute into the game, while handling the ball in the left corner, sophomore guard Deja Church lost her footing and hit the ground. It didn’t end up as anything serious, but she still sat out for the next five and a half minutes. The Wolverines adjusted by putting junior forward Akienreh Johnson on the court.

Michigan fed the ball to senior center Hallie Thome quite

Daily Sports Writer

With the outcome of the meet in her hands, senior Olivia Karas stood in the corner of the floor with one hand on her hip and the other covering her face.

Her Madonna-inspired routine brought the crowd at Crisler Center to its feet. Her teammates rushed the floor to hug her, and parents in the stands screamed and clapped.

The score flashed — a 9.950 — and the No. 10 Michigan women’s gymnastics team (6-2 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) had defeated No. 13 Nebraska (3-1, 2-0) 196.500-195.700.

Despite winning the meet, the Wolverines had their share of struggles.

Stuck landings eluded Michigan on the vault. Just two gymnasts, freshman Abby Brenner and Karas, earned scores at or above a 9.800. The Wolverines scored a 48.775 on the first rotation, and trailed the Cornhuskers by .175.

“We did really nice, big, pretty vaults with two-tenth hops on the landings,” said Michigan coach Bev Plocki.

“We have got to fix (the landings).”

In her anchoring spot on vault, freshman Natalie Wojcik launched herself into the air and, for the first time this season, landed with her bottom-side on the mat. Her score was a 9.325.

Stepping up to the uneven bars after her first fall, Wojcik was composed and confident.

When it came time for her dismount, she released the bar, flipped twice in the air and stuck the landing. The judges awarded her a 9.925, the highest score of the night on bars.

“She learned a lot from tonight,” Plocki said. “She learned you can put the past in the past. That’s what college gymnastics is.”

Falls followed the Wolverines to their other rotations, where junior Lexi Funk fell off the beam and stumbled on one of her tumbling passes during floor. These mistakes forced the other gymnasts in the lineup to score big on their routines. In addition to Karas’ performance, Wojcik, Brenner and senior Emma McLean

frequently early on. This paid off, as she led the team in the first half with eight points. Besides Thome’s success, though, the Wolverines’ offense looked unconvincing in the opening frame. Regardless, they led, 17-14, heading into the second quarter and never gave up the lead.

The start of the second quarter was more upbeat for Michigan, as the team went on a 6-0 run.

First, freshman guard Amy Dilk found Thome down low, who converted a reverse layup. Next, Dilk missed a layup, but freshman forward Naz Hillmon was nearby for the putback. And then Church showed off her finishing touch while attacking the basket with authority, to give her team a 23-14 lead.

Then came the drought.

Over two and a half minutes went by with neither team scoring.

Things picked up again for both

sides after the media timeout with less than five minutes to go in the half, and the Wolverines maintained the upper-hand at the break, with a 32-22 advantage.

Hillmon led Michigan in scoring with 20 points. She made a big impact during the third quarter with back-to-back three-point plays to give her team momentum.

Her success was sparked by Dilk, who finished with eight assists. “(Dilk) was incredible — hard to take off the court,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico to WTKA. “Just really saw Naz, was able to get her the ball. Just a tremendous job. She’s a really special player for us.”

Michigan’s lead from the first half was enough to keep it out of real trouble, but there were some scares.

The Wolverines’ margin reached 16 points in the fourth quarter. But Wisconsin countered

with a 8-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits. Thome — who was playing with four fouls — notched a layup to end the run, but the Badgers kept fighting and made it a six-point game.

Thome soon converted another basket, and then senior guard Nicole Munger drained a 3-pointer from the top to give her team a nine-point lead that pretty much settled things. Wisconsin tallied a few desperation buckets in the last minute to shrink the deficit, but it wouldn’t matter.

“For her to be able to come in the game and do that was just really incredible,” Barnes Arico said of Thome. “ … When the game is on the line, it’s nice to be able to go to your seniors and really count on them.”

This win well-served Michigan’s confidence, as it’s the team’s first conference win on the road and second win in a row.

MILES MACKLIN/Daily

Freshman forward Naz Hillmon scored a team-high 20 points Sunday’s win over Wisconsin, her fifth game in the last six in which she has scored at least 16 points.

Michigan gymnastics flips for win MOLLY SHEA

February 4, 2019 — 3B

combined to earn the four highest scores on floor of the meet.

Sophomore Anne Maxim debuted in the lineup for the Wolverines and swung her way to a 9.825 on bars. She also performed an exhibition vault, flipping over the table and sticking her landing to receive a 9.825.

“I’m super excited and proud of her,” Plocki said. “She’s what I call a meet baby. She steps it up, she’s that person who gets better with the meet adrenaline. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she sees more spots in more lineups.”

Michigan’s performance may not have been what it was hoping for, but the mistakes made will allow the team to grow and improve as the season progresses.

“We got better and better throughout the meet,” Plocki said. “I’m really thrilled with how they all did. We still have so much room for improvement, but this whole year we’ve been choosing to look at the good side of things, and we’re gonna choose to look at the things that we learned that will help us down the road.”

In victory over Nebraska, Wojcik leads way in exacting revenge

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Freshman Natalie Wojcik scored meet-highs with 9.925 on the uneven bars and 9.875 on the beam.

SOPHIA JASKOSKI Daily Sports Writer

Natalie Wojcik took the first fall of the night as the freshman tried to land her vault routine and took the breath out of Crisler Center right with her.

It’s not easy being the first competitor to miss the mark in a competitive Big Ten meet against 13th-ranked Nebraska (3-2, 2-1 Big Ten).

There was a lot at stake. “(Wojcik) was obsessing about what she did wrong,” said Michigan coach Bev Plocki.

The team had to secure a win against Nebraska after losing last year. Given the circumstances, Wojcik’s reaction was understandable.

Wojcik’s breakout season has drawn a lot of praise, prompting even greater expectations.

“That’s the thing that you risk when you come out as a freshman and you’re the

superstar like that right out the gate,” Plocki said. “People think that you’re not human.

(The mistake) does not matter, what matters is the next three events.”

After falling behind at the end of the first rotation, 48.77748.950, the Wolverines and Wojcik took to the uneven bars at the advice of Plocki.

The mistake does not matter, what matters is the next three events.

Wojcik soared and stuck her landing this time, earning the highest score of 9.925. Then she did it again on the beam, leading the others with 9.875 points. She almost did it a third time during her fiery floor routine, bested by only .05 points by senior Olivia Karas.

Entering the last event, Michigan was now ahead, 147.200-146.975, thanks in large part to Wojcik’s rebound.

A fall for junior Lexi Funk on the floor routine put the

(Wojcik) was obsessing about what she did wrong.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Senior Olivia Karas scored a 9.950 with a Madonna-inspired routine in Michigan’s win over Nebraska on Sunday.

Cornhuskers back in the lead and after staying neck and neck, a fall from Nebraska’s Sierra Hassel meant that a stellar floor performance from Karas could nab the victory for the Wolverines.

This time last year, Karas could not have been in a more different position. Suffering a season-ending Achilles injury against Maryland forced her to spend the rest of her junior season watching from the sidelines in a wheelchair as her team ceded to Nebraska.

Her resulting 9.950 score — meaning that one judge awarded her a perfect 10 — was a personal victory as much as a team accomplishment, as the Wolverines stayed undefeated in Big Ten play, 196.500-195.700.

“I haven’t done a full floor routine on this floor yet, the one I got hurt on,” Karas said. “(Winning the meet) was a very emotional moment.”

Whether it be a fall in the first event or a season-ending injury, Michigan showed the perseverance to embrace adversity and overcome obstacles to pull off a memorable win.

SportsMonday

4B — February 4, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Loss to Iowa puts Michigan’s offensive struggles on full display JACOB SHAMES Daily Sports Editor

Colin Castleton rose up and released a 3-pointer. The ball arced through the air before coming to an unsightly halt, lodging itself in the crook between the backboard and rim.

You’d be hard-pressed to script a more apt ending for the Michigan men’s basketball team’s 74-59 loss to Iowa on Friday night. The Wolverines went 9-for-28 for the field in the first half and were barely better in the second, shooting 32.3 percent and scoring 0.81 points per possession against the Big Ten’s worst defense in adjusted efficiency.

For Michigan, the game was thrown into chaos at the start. With both junior center Jon Teske and sophomore forward Isaiah Livers in foul trouble, the Wolverines sputtered, and the Hawkeyes ran off a 21-2 firsthalf run.

Michigan never recovered from the resulting 13-point halftime deficit.

But its second loss can only partly be explained by foul trouble. For 40 minutes, the Wolverines couldn’t hit a shot.

“Especially in the second half and even in the first half, we were just missing,” said freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis. “I felt like there were some not-so-good shots that we took that were tough to make, but then there was also a lot of great shots that we didn’t make.”

Iowa’s defense is by no means its biggest strength — it’s 96th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. But

not all bad defenses are created equal. The Hawkeyes are one of just two teams in the Big Ten that play a significant amount of zone defense, a tactic which requires a different set of rules to crack.

To beat a zone defense, a team must move in order to get quality shots. Then it needs to knock them down. Michigan was unable to do either.

“We had to take a lot of threes at the end,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “We didn’t get many good looks. They were really honest, and then sometimes we didn’t position ourselves or have the patience to get good looks.”

The Wolverines missed many of the good looks they did get. With nine minutes left and a chance to cut Iowa’s lead to four, sophomore guard Jordan Poole pumpfaked into an open three from straight on. It bounced off the front rim.

But too often Michigan stagnated, content to fire long 3-pointers over the zone instead of taking the time to pick it apart. Late in the game, down 67-56, junior guard Zavier Simpson — a 27 percent 3-point shooter — missed a 24-footer with 22 seconds left on the shot clock.

Hawkeye forward Tyler Cook grabbed the rebound, but Brazdeikis poked it loose.

Instead of setting up a play, Brazdeikis passed to Livers, who took a contested wing three with his feet not yet set.

Clank.

The Wolverines took 33 threes Friday. They made eight.

“We have this habit of playing at the NBA 3-point line, playing really deep, and

... Even in the first half, we were just missing.

ANNIE KLUS/Daily

Sophomore guard Jordan Poole scored 16 points on just 3-of-9 shooting from 3-point range as Michigan’s offense struggled for stretches in a loss at Iowa

shooting NBA threes when we could possibly shoot college threes,” Beilein said. “If you guys have any secret on how to break it, I’d like your help. We can’t get guys to move against the zone.”

This was always a losable game for Michigan. On top of all the usual aphorisms about winning on the road in the Big Ten, Iowa’s offense ranks 10th in the country. And while the Hawkeyes’ defense is usually poor, the length and size of their zone can frustrate a team unfamiliar with it.

“It bothers everybody,” Beilein said. “You don’t see it

a lot, and then they go down and they’re really good in their zone. Their length in their zone is really good, and they just do some things in their zone and they made it tough for us.”

Still, the Wolverines went on the road and held a high-powered offense to an acceptable 1.02 points per possession. Zone or not, foul trouble or not, Carver-Hawkeye Arena or not, they had their chances to win.

If not for one area of minor importance: They couldn’t score.

Over its last five games, Michigan is scoring just 61.2

points per game on 37-percent shooting and has fallen to ninth in the Big Ten in scoring.

It’s hard to pinpoint the main culprit, either — most of the Wolverines’ usual contributors are putting up stat lines vaguely similar — but lower than — their season totals. The drop in efficiency has been a teamwide phenomenon.

“We just have ups and downs throughout the season,” Simpson said. “We just have to fix them.”

The lack of one discernable issue makes those downs that much harder to fix. Before the season, Michigan’s hopes

rested on an elite defense and getting just enough from an offense with few established playmakers or shooters. But all of that was said before the Wolverines started out 20-2 and rocketed past all of those expectations.

Michigan’s offense has fallen to 42nd in adjusted efficiency.

Fourteen of the past 17 national champions ranked 15th or higher, and the worst titlewinning offense during that span was 39th.

If the Wolverines are to reach the upside their defense provides, they will, at some point, need to score the ball.

Same story, different weekend In need of a sweep at Minnesota to boost their NCAA Tournament hopes, the Wolverines split their fourth straight series TIEN LE

Daily Sports Writer

MINNEAPOLIS — Mel Pearson preached disciplined throughout the week. After Friday’s game against Minnesota, the Michigan coach preached it even more.

“We have to stay out the penalty box,” Pearson said after Friday’s 4-2 win over the Golden Gophers.

“Most of our penalties were not saving goals. They were all down in the far end, in our offensive zone, so we have to clean that up.”

Despite the emphasis on clean play, the Michigan hockey team failed to execute, and it cost them in a 4-3 loss to Minnesota on Saturday.

Momentum had been building for both sides. The opening 10 minutes of the game were defined by dangerous opportunities that ended inches short from breaking the scoring ice for either team.

That was, until Tyler Nanne found the back of the net for the Golden Gophers following a onetimer at the top of the zone. The shot went stick-side, and junior goaltender Hayden Lavigne couldn’t slide over to stop the shot from flying past his padding.

And just like that, the momentum that had been mounting for both ends shifted in favor of Minnesota. Breakaways and odd-man rushes that had plagued Michigan before seemed all the more threatening.

The Wolverines failed to sway the momentum shift even with their man-advantage on the power play. Senior defenseman Nicholas Boka received the puck in the offensive zone, but turned it over trying to get a pass off.

Chasing down the breakaway, he committed a penalty in turn to stop Minnesota’s odd-man rush from turning into a goal. The highly-potent Golden Gopher power play, however, made Boka pay, as Rem Pitlick converted the man-advantage to widen the lead to two.

Michigan received an opportunity to strike back nearing the period’s end as Minnesota’s Nathan Burke committed a penalty, and the Golden Gophers

sent too many players on the ice.

The five-on-three advantage was the Wolverines’ second of the series, but just like the first opportunity Friday, the five-onthree ended without a goal.

In contrast, as the final power play from the first period — which bled into the start of the second period — ended, Minnesota took the puck, and Tyler Sheehy scored a goal off a full-rink push.

“We didn’t start on time. We didn’t show up,” Pearson said. “You could just tell that they were gonna — by the comments of their coach that they were gonna compete harder. We knew that.”

Pearson, behind the bench, pointed to freshman goaltender Strauss Mann and then to the goalpost, signifying a change in goaltenders.

Following the switch in netminders, it seemed as if the Wolverines found their spark.

Scoring three consecutive goals, they answered the slow start with a mid-game bang.

Junior forward Jake Slaker received the puck from Quinn Hughes.

The sophomore defenseman curled toward the right faceoff circle and immediately yelled for the puck. Slaker found Hughes and as the latter collected the puck at his stick, he fired a shot that rang in with 3:28 to go in the second.

“We were getting pretty frustrated,” Slaker said. “We were getting some pretty good chances, but we knew weren’t playing our game. Quinn made a nice play to me, dropped it, and luckily I hit him back and he finished it and I think that kind of sparked the bench, showing that was still so much time in the game and that we still had a game to get back into it.”

Moments later, Slaker, again, collected the puck and pushed down the ice and into the offensive zone. He passed the puck off to sophomore Michael Pastujov. The forward garnered the puck and put it in the net.

And then, less than two minutes later, Pastujov found the net again, this time off of a rebound from Slaker’s shot, tying the game at 3.

The period had saw two major

penalties from both teams, though neither could convert. In spite of the fact that Michigan had a near-two minute five-on-three advantage, none of the chances generated were enough to stop the power-play goal drought.

“I think we’re getting good opportunities,” Slaker said. “I think it’s one of those things where you can say what you want but pucks just aren’t going in for us right now. We’re getting the shots, we’re getting the looks, it’s maybe a few things we can tighten up.

The third period saw Minnesota capitalize on the man-advantage.

Six minutes into the period, sophomore Jack Becker tripped Golden Gopher skater, leading to a penalty. Tommy Novak converted a shot that rocketed past Mann, giving Minnesota a 4-3 lead.

“Just took too many penalties and the last one caught us,” Pearson said. “It’s no secret. Eight power play goals for them now in three games, you have to learn. You gotta learn. They’re not learning.”

With less than two minutes to go, Nanne was called for a slashing penalty. The Wolverines had already pulled their goaltender for an empty-net situation, but the penalty allowed them one last push with a six-on-four advantage.

Similar to the early two-man advantage, Michigan failed to convert the opportunities given, and when the horn sounded, it reaped the woes of the Golden Gophers converting theirs.

BAILEY JOHNSON Daily Sports Writer

MINNEAPOLIS — Across the first 10 games of the season, Michigan’s power play scored 15 goals. In the ensuing 17 games, the Wolverines tallied just five goals on the man advantage.

This weekend against Minnesota, the Michigan hockey team had 12 opportunities on the power play, including three with a two-man advantage. But in the 27 minutes the Wolverines spent with an extra man — or two — across the two games, they failed to convert a single time.

While Michigan was struggling to find success on the power play, the Golden Gophers converted on four of their 11 chances with an extra man. The Wolverines’ penalty kill held strong in some moments, particularly in Friday night’s win, but the following day, it was the penalty-killing unit that allowed Minnesota’s gamewinning goal.

“It was a special teams weekend,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson. “We were 0-forwhatever and they were 3-forwhatever and that’s the story.

That’s the headline, that’s the story of the game. That’s it.”

Michigan knew coming into the series that the Golden Gophers’ power play was highly efficient — it entered the weekend converting at a 30-percent clip in Big Ten play.

And despite Pearson’s repeated messages about the importance of staying out of the penalty box, the Wolverines were whistled for 13 penalties over the course of the weekend. Freshman forward Dakota Raabe was called for four in the second period alone on Saturday night — one of which resulted in him being ejected from the game and a five-minute power play for Minnesota.

As soon as the five-minute major penalty was announced, the crowd seemed to be waiting for the Golden Gophers to score a goal. It felt all-but-inevitable.

But Michigan’s penalty kill remained composed and methodically eliminated the extended man advantage. In the third period, though, it broke down and allowed the Golden Gophers to score the gamewinner.

“We talked about it that we couldn’t take penalties and it ended up killing us at the end,” Pearson said. “Just took too many penalties and the last one caught us. It’s no secret. Eight power play goals for them now in three games, you have to learn. …

They’re not learning. Gotta put guys in the lineup who are gonna learn and do their job.”

The Wolverines got another chance after allowing that goal to Minnesota’s power play, but as it did throughout the series, Michigan’s power play couldn’t convert when it had a chance.

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily

Sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes picked up an assist as Michigan lost to Minnesota, 4-3, on Saturday.

With just over a minute left, Gopher defenseman Tyler Nanne was sent to the penalty box for slashing. The Wolverines trailed by one goal, and the power play — their seventh of the game — offered an opportunity to send the game to overtime.

Pearson pulled freshman goaltender Strauss Mann for an extra attacker seconds before the penalty was called and opted to leave him on the bench so his team could have a two-man advantage.

It almost worked.

Junior forward Nick Pastujov got a look at a wide-open net as goaltender Mat Robson slid out of position, leaving the right side of the net free. But Pastujov’s shot went just wide and Minnesota was able to clear the puck down the ice, ending Michigan’s final scoring chance of the game.

“We had our chances,” Pearson said. “Pastujov at the end there, pass comes right through the crease, backdoor, and we whiff on it. We were just a little off.

We were just a little off tonight, and you can’t be just a little off or else you’re not gonna win in this league.”

Pastujov’s wide shot was just one in a line of near-misses for the Wolverines on the man advantage over the weekend. Michigan created opportunities with the man advantage — it just struggled to finish them.

“I think we had some chances,” said sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes on Saturday. “I know I could’ve scored at least three in that second period, so I think sometimes it just doesn’t click for you. Obviously, that’s what’s going on right now.”

But the Wolverines’ power play has had difficulty since December — it didn’t just find trouble in this one series. The issues for Michigan on the power play run deeper than just having things not click.

And with just seven regularseason games left, with the Wolverines in a tenuous position for the postseason, time is of the essence for the power play to turn things around.