2019-09-24

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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CSG fights extra costs of materials for courses

Community members gather to discuss new marijuana bills

City Council hosts special session regarding expansion of recreational drug use

Student government pursues initatives to combat campus affordability issues PARNIA MAZHAR Daily Staff Reporter

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily Planning Manager Brett Lenart shares the legalization of marijuanaa at a special City Council work session Monday night.

BARBARA COLLINS Daily Staff Reporter

Ann Arbor city officials discussed two ordinances that would expand the number of recreational marijuana facilities in the city in a special City Council work session Monday night. Approximately 25 citizens attended the session.

At last week’s meeting, councilmembers gave initial approval to the ordinances that would allow temporary permits for events with onsite marijuana

sale and consumption. They are expected to be approved in October, right before the state will begin accepting applications for recreational marijuana licenses from businesses on Nov. 1.

The work session began with a presentation on the new ordinances. Planning Manager Brett Lenart explained recent legal history regarding the legalization of marijuana, including the 2008 Michigan Medical Marijuana Act and the 2018 Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act. “The city obviously has a more

unique history with marijuana than a lot of other communities, both in the state of Michigan and throughout the country,” Lenart said. “A history of involvement in Hash Bash, activist groups who were pretty agressive in some eyes at the time, municipal regulation for governing marijuana in the community. And more recently, that history has evolved from a series of legal statutes and acts.”

Lenart explained the proposed land use regulations for recreational marijuana. He said many of the recommended changes

included removing “medical” from previously established terms.

Additionally, Lenart addressed the amendment to implement a designated marijuana consumption facility, where adults 21 and older would be able to both buy and consume marijuana inside the place of purchase. These facilities would be allowed in commercial districts and have to be located 1,000 feet from schools.

Lenart also discussed the creation of marijuana retailers and marijuana microbusinesses.

See MARIJUANA, Page 3

On top of tuition, students at the University of Michigan pay hundreds of dollars in mandatory fees in each of their courses for textbooks, online homework and other supplies. With all of these extra fees students are expected to pay, Central Student Government is pursuing initiatives to make attending the University more affordable for students. Some of these initiatives include making homework more accessible and looking into hiring specialists who could help reduce costs of class materials.

Certain schools on campus require students to spend an additional amount of money on supplies and materials for their classes. According to the Office of the Registrar, for instance, materials for 100 and 200-level courses in the School of Art & Design can cost up to $250 per course. Courses in the LSA department of Film, Television, and Media, as well as courses in the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, can also require

BUSINESS

Joe’s Pizza LSA Dean discusses research, joins other value of a liberal arts education pizzerias Anne Curzan sits down with The Daily to talk vision for the College downtown New establishment brings competition for area businesses HANNAH MACKAY Daily Staff Reporter

Joe’s Pizza, an authentic New York City establishment, recently opened its first location outside of the five boroughs on South University Avenue. Joining the slew of pizza places in town, Joe’s aims to provide a new kind of slice and experience without usurping existing pizzerias.

While Ann Arbor may seem like an odd choice for Joe’s first out-of-state site, partner and manager Peter Levin revealed the motivations behind the big move.

“My business partner Ian and I both went to U of M, we’ve been friends ever since,” Levin said. “We were like, if we’re going to expand Joe’s lets do it in Ann Arbor. There’s such a great market here, we have the obvious ties to Ann Arbor and we felt it would be a really great fit.”

Situated in a prime location for maximum foot traffic, just across from the engineering arch, Levin said there was extensive planning behind their new venture.

“We wanted to open an iconic location, we plan to be here for a really long time, and we wanted a location that kids will remember after school into the years, and we felt that this was it,” he said.

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BARBARA COLLINS & ALEX HARRING Daily Staff Reporters

The Academics Beat at The Michigan Daily recently sat down with the new LSA Dean Anne Curzan for an interview to discuss her vision for the college and its many programs.

The Michigan Daily: What are your goals as dean of LSA? Anne Curzan: I’d start by saying LSA is a remarkable place filled with inspiring people,

and it’s such an honor for me at this moment in my career to get the chance to try to ensure that this can continue to be a place where everyone can do their best work. That’s faculty and staff and students, both graduate and undergraduate. That everybody can thrive here. In terms of my broader goals, I’m committed to maintaining our excellence — first in research and teaching, that’s core to our mission. Also core to our mission is our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

That is something that we will continue to work very hard on.

(I’m) committed to advocating for the value of the liberal arts in terms of our teaching and the education that we provide and our research mission.

Then, how we contribute to the public good. It’s a public institution, and we do really important work for the public good. We’ll stay very focused on that. Another one of my goals, as I said, is really to ensure that everyone can thrive here.

That means staying focused on purposeful inclusion and equity and access for everyone. It also, for me, means staying focused on purpose. I’m a big believer that if you are focused on the work that matters, on the work that gives you purpose, wherever you are, it leads to fulfilling happy lives …

I also will be staying focused on well-being, that’s very important to me for everyone in the community..

See LSA, Page 3

ALEC COHEN/Daily LSA Dean Anne Curzan discusses her long-term goals in an interview The Daily in the LSA Building Friday morning.

Follow The Daily on Instagram, @michigandaily

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INDEX

Vol. CXXVIII, No. 139 ©2019 The Michigan Daily

students pay several hundred dollars for supplies.

Taubman sophomore Olivia Howard expressed her concern regarding the large amounts of money Taubman students have to spend on materials for class, especially considering the lack of communication from certain professors about these costs.

“We may not have to get books, but supplies for model building, drafting and computer software are incredibly pricey and a necessity for the class,” Howard said. “I guess it’s part of the major, but it can be a pain to get supplies at random intervals throughout the semester, especially when it’s not mentioned that we need them upfront. So students have a hard time budgeting for them.”

LSA junior Shira Baron, who is also pursuing a dual degree in the Art & Design School, spoke about her disappointment with the financial obligation for students in these schools.

“It’s disheartening for students because it adds an additional financial hurdle and reinforces just how expensive this school already is,” Baron said.

See AFFORDABILITY, Page 3

GOVERNMENT

Christian law firm works on Tenn case

Local lawyers litigate case involving refugee Medicaid, states’ rights BEN ROSENFELD Daily Staff Reporter

An Ann Arbor-based public interest law firm, the Thomas More Law Center, along with Caledonia-based Bursch Law PLLC, has been representing the state of Tennessee’s general assembly in a case opposing the federal government’s refugee resettlement efforts since 2016.

Tennessee, much like other states around the country, has received an influx of refugees in the last decade, averaging around 1,000 refugees per year, largely from conflict-ridden areas such as Iraq and Sudan.

In 2017, the state legislature refused to provide funds for Medicaid for settled asylumseekers and sued the federal government.

After Tennessee’s attorney general declined to litigate the case on behalf of the Republicanheld general assembly, TMLC, a self-identified Christian, conservative law firm, took up the case.

In July, the Sixth Circuit Court denied Tennessee’s case on the basis of standing. In other words, the plaintiffs had not suffered any measurable damages from the refugee resettlement program.

See TMLC, Page 3

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RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily The University Philharmonia Orchestra performs Beethoven’s lighthearted Second Symphony at a concert in Hill Auditorium Monday evening.

Editorial Staff FINNTAN STORER Managing Editor

Nessel announces election fraud charges Michigan Attorney General accuses Southfield employee of falsifying returns, forgery of public record, misconduct in November 2018, according to a Monday press conference

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Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com Senior News Editors: Sayali Amin, Rachel Cunningham, Remy Farkas, Leah Graham, Amara Shaikh Assistant News Editors: Barbara Collins, Julia Fanzeres, Claire Hao, Alex Harring, Angelina Little, Madeline McLaughlin, Ben Rosenfeld, Emma Stein, Zayna Syed, Liat Weinstein

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including Election Law of any degree of election – Falsifying Returns, fraud, she also underscored MAX MARCOVITCH and ETHAN SEARS Forgery of a Public Record, that no election results Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com Misconduct in Office had been inf luenced or In a press conference Senior Sports Editors: Anna Marcus, Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Mark Calcagno, Theo Mackie, Tien Le and three counts of using jeopardized by Hawkins’ Monday afternoon, Assistant Sports Editors: Bailey Johnson, Bennett Bramson, Connor Brennan, a computer to commit alleged actions.

Michigan Attorney Jacob Kopnick, Jorge Cazares, Rian Ratnavale “I want to be clear,” a crime. Hawkins was General Dana Nessel and ARYA NAIDU and VERITY STURM summoned to court this she said. “The allegations Secretary of State Jocelyn Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com the Southfield morning, and appeared in that Benson announced six Senior Arts Editors: Clara Scott, Emma Chang, Cassandra Mansuetti, Sam falsified official front of Judge Michelle clerk charges filed against Della Fera, Trina Pal Arts Beat Editors: John Decker, Sayan Ghosh, Mike Watkins, Ally Owens, Friedman Appel of the 45th election records did not Southfield City Clerk Stephen Satarino, Izzy Hasslund, Margaret Sheridan District for a preliminary alter the outcome of any Sherikia L. Hawkins on election. There were no hearing. allegations of election ROSEANNE CHAO and JACK SILBERMAN Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com While Nessel would races that were won or fraud.

Senior Design Editor: Sherry Chen not go into the details lost as a result and there According to Nessel, of the alleged crime, she were no voters who were the Office of the Attorney ALEXIS RANKIN and ALEC COHEN explained the allegations disenfranchised.”

General was notified Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com Neither Nessel nor involved Hawkins of discrepancies in the Senior Photo Editors: Alexandria Pompei, Natalie Stephens, Alice Liu, Allison Engkvist, Danyel Tharakan would speak making unauthorized and Benson Southfield voter count Assistant Photo Editors: Miles Macklin, Keemya Esmael, Madeline Hinkley, inaccurate changes to a to the motivations for several days ago by the Ryan McLoughlin list of absentee voters who Hawkins’ alleged crime.

Oakland County Clerk’s explained that voted in an election last Benson office, after efforts were ANDREA PÉREZ BALDERRAMA Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com while Hawkins’ actions made to certify Southfield’s year. absentee ballots from Following Nessel’s are being investigated, Deputy Editors: Matthew Harmon, Shannon Ors Southfield City Clerk’s statement, Secretary of the the November 2018 Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ SILAS LEE and EMILY STILLMAN State Jocelyn Benson office will work jointly election. Nessel’s office Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com spoke to the response with the attorney general’s Senior Copy Editors: Dominick Sokotoff, Olivia Sedlacek, Reece Meyhoefer made by the Attorney office to administer local CASEY TIN and HASSAAN ALI WATTOO General and Secretary elections coming up in Managing Online Editors webteam@michigandaily.com of State’s offices, as November.

Senior Web Developers: Jonathon Liu, Abha Panda, Ryan Siu, David Talbot, Samantha Cohen According to Benson, the well as the severity of investigation carried out the alleged crime.

ELI SIDER MEDIUM HARD “The events that by both her and Nessel’s Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com Senior Video Editors: Ryan O’Connor, Joseph Sim confirms bring us here today departments are rare,” Benson said. Michigan’s commitment to NA’KIA CHANNEY and CARLY RYAN Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com “They involve actions free and fair elections.

Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Samuel So, Ana Maria “What today’s by a public official Sanchez-Castillo, Efe Osagie, Danyel Tharakan also entrusted with the announcement Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Harnoor Singh, Nada Eldawy, Maya administration of underscores is that in Mokh elections, and they Michigan, our elections CATHERINE NOUHAN recognize that our are secure,” she said.

Managing Podcast Editor elections, as the “It’s important to note MADALASA CHAUDHARI and HANNAH MESKIN Managing Social Media Editors when there are Attorney General that Senior Social Media Editor: Allie Phillips emphasized, are allegations of misconduct, the foundation of we act swiftly to ensure our democracy. All they are addressed and of us stand here justice is served, and in MOLLY WU Creative Director before you today to fact it is because of our ZELJKO KOSPIC RYAN KELLY indicate that there vigorous series of checks Special Projects Manager Sales Manager will be no tolerance and balances, including a ANITA MICHAUD ROBERT WAGMAN for any actions very detailed 14-day postBrand Manager Marketing Consulting Manager that undermine election canvas process to confirm that foundation, designed anywhere, anytime, election results in every The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during by any person or precinct that we uncovered the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is this potential misconduct.” official.” sudokusolver.com.For Forpersonal personal use only. ©©sudokusolver.com. use only. available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the HAVE SUDOKU HOPE MADNESS puzzle by sudokusyndication.com While Benson Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription emphasized the rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. detrimental effects Generateand andsolve solveSudoku, Sudoku,Super SuperSudoku Sudokuand andGodoku Godokupuzzles puzzlesatatsudokusyndication.com! sudokusyndication.com!

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subsequently worked with the department’s Public Integrity Unit to verify the crimes and determine what charges should be made.

“Overall, our public integrity unit ensures that any public official or law enforcement officer who commits a crime in the state of Michigan, regardless of position, standing, or party affiliation, is held accountable,” Nessel said.

“Protecting our democracy is not a partisan issue, and our goal is to restore the public’s interest in honest government and the integrity of public officials at all levels of our government.”

Nessel says her office ultimately filed six charges against Hawkins,

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

TMLC From Page 1 As Judge S. Thomas Anderson of the Sixth Circuit put it, Tennessee’s damages were “speculative,” and only contingent upon the state not adhering to federal statute.

“They just basically said, ‘Well, the general assembly does not have a right to bring the lawsuit in the first place,’” Richard Thompson, TMLC’s president and chief counsel, said in an interview with The Daily.

In early September, TMLC filed a petition for a rehearing by the Sixth Circuit, calling their verdict “painfully at odds” with the Supreme Court precedent.

Thompson said his organization saw the federal government’s requirement of the state to afford refugees Medicaid as an infringement on Tennessee’s right to spend revenue in a way it sees fit.

John Bursch, the former Michigan solicitor general and founder of Bursch Law PLLC., delivered the argument on behalf of the plaintiffs in July. In addition to crafting TMLC’s case, Bursch is currently preparing for a separate argument in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, defending a Michigan funeral home in a case regarding transgender employment discrimination.

Bursch said TMLC’s petition is based on the 10th Amendment precedent that grants the states any powers not expressly given to the federal government.

“The petition for rehearing en banc asks whether a state legislature has the ability to bring a lawsuit to challenge an action by the federal government that interferes with the legislature’s authority,” Bursch said in an email interview Friday. “Here, the federal government has compelled the State of Tennessee to pay for a program from which Tennessee has withdrawn.”

TMLC’s case has generated controversy from immigrants’ rights advocates in the area.

Law student Kerry Martin, an immigration representative at the Michigan Immigration and Labor Law Association, says Tennessee’s

LSA From Page 1 TMD: What are you most looking forward to in this new position?

AC: There isn’t one answer to that question. I think one of the things I’m really looking forward to is trying to make sure that people understand the value of a liberal arts education and the life possibilities that that brings up as well as the impact of the research that we do in LSA. That research has an impact on some of the world’s biggest problems, from climate change and sustainability, to mass incarceration, to the digital world in which we now live, to race relations. The work we do matters for those questions and the education we provide is preparing students for that world and allowing students to be a part of that research mission, and that to me is one of the really exciting things.

I’m excited to connect with students. LSA — we have over 17,000 undergraduates, we have over 2,500 grad students.

I have been a teacher for over 20 years. I love spending time with students. I feel deeply lucky that I have committed my life to spending time with young people and with students … What we need to do is to be talking with students because my sense, and this is from years and years of conversations with students, is that our priorities are aligned and to think about how we partner given that we have aligned priorities on many, many things.

I’m excited to think about think about some possibly changes in undergraduate education. I co-chaired a task force for the provost that was called the Future of Undergraduate Education at the University of Michigan in the Third Century … It was a remarkable committee, and we spent over a year and a half working on this project and came up with some very exciting ideas for ways forward in thinking about undergraduate education.

One of the last things I’d say is I’m excited to stay focused on

News

use of the 10th Amendment as a basis to nullify an order from the federal government is invalid.

“There’s a lot of ways the federal government can use its power to affect what the states do,” Martin said. “They’re definitely not independent entities. But there are some areas where if the federal government coerces or commandeers state power, quote unquote, then that comes into violation.”

LSA senior Ayah Kutmah, co-president of the Michigan Refugee Assistance Program, said helping refugees resettle benefits the states they moved to in the long run.

“It’s actually in their best interest that they do,” Kutmah said. “Now, these refugees are able to actually integrate into society and become able bodied working individuals who contribute back to society. Obviously, you’re not able to do that without any state sponsorship, especially medically when it comes to health care.”

While the Tennessee case has brought TMLC increased public attention, the group has litigated dozens of cases, notably representing several New Jersey residents who opposed the construction of a mosque and Muslim community center in Bernards, N.J. The organization is a nonprofit and received $1.6 million in private donations last year.

Also central in the creation of the organization was Tom Monaghan, Domino’s Pizza founder and former Detroit Tigers owner, who has been involved in various other Christian-based ventures, including the foundation of Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida, and even a Florida town based in Catholic values, currently under development.

“Most of our cases deal outside the state of Michigan, they’re mostly in federal courts, although we’re located in Ann Arbor township at the Domino’s Farms complex,” Thompson said. “We do get involved in a lot of, I would say, controversial cultural issues.”

TMLC is not Ann Arbor’s only self-identified Judeo-Christianinterest law firm — the local American Freedom Law Center

made headlines earlier this year for being placed on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s annual “hate map” of American organizations classified as hate groups.

Thompson is familiar with the organization, and said the group’s co-founder, Michigan lawyer Robert Muise, was formerly a senior trial counsel at TMLC for 12 years, before founding the AFLC with lawyer David Yerushalmi.

Kutmah said she was not entirely surprised to hear of conservative Christian law firms based in Ann Arbor.

“A lot of people might think and say, ‘Oh, Ann Arbor is liberal bubble in the Midwest,’ or something like that but these bubbles are not uniform,” Kutmah said. “There’s always going to be actors or organizations or things that might display an interest in or lobby for things that are against what the general people (support)... I don’t think it’s necessarily just because we associate a state or a city as having one type of ideology that everyone in there is uniform.”

In its role representing Tennessee, TMLC’s legal argument takes issue with more than overuse of federal power. The Tennessee lawsuit refers to the Refugee Resettlement Act of 1980, a law that was crafted to create a uniform system for admitting refugees into the United States.

At the time, many immigrants from South Asia and the Soviet Union were seeking asylum, and the new policy would allow one refugee to resettle in an area for every 4,000 Americans.

TMLC labels the bill as an unconstitutional abuse of power, allowing the federal government to commandeer funds for resettlement from the states.

Michigan Immigration and Labor Law Association’s Martin noted that other lawsuits have argued about the federal government’s right to withhold funding, including the 1987 case of South Dakota v. Dole, where the court upheld the federal government’s ability to block funds for a state’s highway construction and maintenance if the state would not raise the drinking age to 21. Martin says a similar precedent for federal spending power was set several years ago, and involved the

passage of the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare.

According to Martin, this precedent makes it difficult for Tennessee to build a viable case on the basis of the 10th Amendment.

“Absolutely the government can use its Medicaid spending to require that states receiving federal Medicaid funds pass those funds on to resettled refugees,” Martin said.

But for all of Tennessee’s opposition to Medicaid expenditures, the state stands to lose far more by not complying, Martin said. Should the state not provide Medicaid to resettled refugees, a March 2018 ruling from the federal court in Jackson, Tennessee estimated it could lose up to $7 billion annually in federal health care funds.

“They listed in their lawsuit, this is their big complaint, the state of Tennessee: that we have to pay $20 million towards refugee Medicaid expenses in addition to some other expenses like, God forbid, interpreters in the public schools,” Martin said. “$20 million. This is a state with a massive budget.”

Additionally, Martin argues in the wake of the Resettlement Act, Tennessee had few or no objections to taking in asylum seekers, often from Eastern Europe or the Soviet Union. He says this fact alone hints that Tennessee and TMLC’s fervent opposition to the inflow of refugees is based on more than just paying for their Medicaid expenses.

“You’ve lived with this law until, what, the year 2017?” Martin said. “37 years. And now you’re saying this is a commandeering of your funds?”

Kutmah said prejudice often plays a role in some of the rhetoric used to describe refugees.

“For humanitarian reasons, I think it’s morally atrocious that you’re closing a door on a threatened group of people,” Kutmah said. “... (Refugees) are what make these communities vibrant, provide the jobs that are needed. Again, like you have the added cultural heritage and diversity, which always increase the economic and cultural strength of any city or state.”

innovation, on making sure we get the chance to explore new questions both big and small, that students are going to be involved in asking those questions, and that we never lose sight of the fact that as we do rigorous, challenging research, there is joy in that. We should talk about the joy of discovery and the play of it. Sometimes the best questions come out of play with ideas, and those are words that I like to use when we talk about the mission of this place.

TMD: You recently hosted a pop-up event to introduce yourself to students. Deans often have less contact with students than professors or other University staff members. How do you envision your relationship with students in this role?

AC: I will continue to spend a lot of time with students.

Students are the heartbeat of this place, and they have been an inspiration to me throughout my career. They have made me a better teacher, they have shaped my research and I learn from students. I’m a linguist and I track how the language changes. As linguists will often say, young people are the movers and shakers of language change, so I actually feel very lucky to get to hang out with the movers and shakers of language change.

I will get back into the classroom to some extent in the next few years because the energy of that space is irreplaceable, so I will find ways — they’ll be more limited — but ways to be in the classroom, and I’ve been meeting with student leaders already to talk about what student groups are doing and to figure out where can we partner, where are our missions aligned and starting those conversations early. I would welcome any and all student leaders who want to meet with me to contact me, because I love meeting with students and I want to start those conversations early.

TMD: Before taking this role, you previously served as the Associate Dean of Humanities.

How do you plan to bring this background into LSA’s widereaching scope?

AC: I spent four years as the Associate Dean of Humanities,

and one of the real joys as someone who’s curious, of being in the dean’s office, was getting to understand the scope of the college beyond my own department and beyond the humanities. So I’m the associate dean for humanities, but I’m sitting in the room discussing the entire scope of the college: the humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences, all of undergraduate education.

That started to give me a sense of the scope of this place. I loved thinking about the different methods people are using, the different kinds of research people are doing, different ways to think about impact. As you move across the college the impact of our scholarship looks different.

One of my jobs was to make sure that people could understand the importance of the humanities, why the humanities matter both for people’s education and why our research matters, and now I feel like I have this really exciting opportunity to broaden the scope of that and say now my job is to explain why the liberal arts matter and how that kind of education and how the research across the breadth of what we do matters.

TMD: Last semester, The Daily reported on the trend of a declining number of history majors. Nationally, it is considered a time when the liberal arts in general is at a crossroads. What do you envision for the future of LSA? How do you plan to engage students in the many areas of study housed within LSA? AC: I want students to see LSA as a place where they can explore fields and questions that they had no idea that they could explore. I say that in part out of my own experience. I started college as a math major. I really like math, I had been good at math. I took the intensive firstyear math course. I also liked learning languages, so my first year in college I took a linguistics course … My sophomore year, I took a course on the history of the English language and I just fell in love. I didn’t even know that I wanted to know the answers to those questions, and I want to know the answers to all

of those questions.

I want LSA students to feel like they get to explore and find the questions that they get excited about because that’s how we get the best education, is suddenly, we’re just curious, and this is work that matters to us, where we think, ‘I can make a difference here. I have things to say here. I want to get involved with research in this area,’ so that is certainly my goal for students.

TMD: What do you believe LSA’s strengths and weaknesses are?

AC: When I look at LSA, the things I am deeply impressed with are the breadth and depth of (its) excellence. That is unusual. It is unusual even in our peer institutions. We continue to invest across the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities because we believe that they’re all important to a rich liberal arts education …

Another thing I am impressed with is we are a top-ranked research institution that cares deeply about undergraduate teaching, and that matters to me. All our faculty are teaching undergraduates and (are) committed to that part of being at Michigan.

I’m also really proud of our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. This is something where we’ve done a lot of really important work. There’s more work to do and we’re committed to continuing to do that in a thoughtful, sustained, committed way … We’ll continue to do work around helping students connect their liberal arts education to where they want to go next. That, to me, is one of the really exciting things we’re working on …

Another place where we’ll continue to do work is thinking about well-being, and that’s for all members of our community so that this can be a place where people feel like they can do their best work. Here, I’ll think particularly about students. We hear from students the pressure and stress and anxiety they are experiencing is getting in the way of learning.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Tuesday, September 24, 2019 — 3

AFFORDABILITY From Page 1 For certain students receiving financial aid, the University provides allowances for mandatory additional course materials. Art & Design students in need of this monetary aid receive $939, and Taubman students receive $708, while all other undergraduate students receive $524 per semester.

Though the University provides monetary compensation for those students who qualify for the aid, students who do not meet the requirements for the necessary amount must pay for the supplies themselves.

CSG Vice President Isabelle Blanchard, LSA senior, said CSG is making affordability on campus a priority this year. She also discussed open-source programs, which are publically accessible programs for students.

“If we could get the whole University to switch to free, open-source programs, then they won’t have to pay for these out of financial aid, and maybe then they can use that financial aid money to support more students in general,” Blanchard said. “They won’t have to pay as much for these supply allowances.”

Other courses on campus — especially in STEM fields — have extra registration fees for digital learning systems on which students are expected to complete homework and quizzes. According to Blanchard, the homework access code for one of her physics courses cost $70.

“I feel like the University should work harder to provide these resources or at least look into options that are more affordable … just so that it’s not all coming from the students directly,” Blanchard said.

“I do think while some students can afford them, it’s definitely a barrier to entry. It can kind of scare people away from doing certain programs, or you can just easily fall behind too if you can’t buy it right away at the beginning of the semester.”

Some of her other courses on campus that use programs that require students to pay to access homework make homework optional, Blanchard said. However, they give extra points for students

MARIJUANA From Page 1 A limit of 28 of each facility would be allowed in Ann Arbor, adding up to a total of 84 recreational marijuana retailers that would each cost $5,000.

A 10 percent renewable energy requirement would also be required in each facility.

Lenart said this requirement would help alleviate the energy demand recreational marijuana businesses often require.

“A lot of communities that are further ahead in the revolution of marijuana law and business facilities have had significant challenges with energy consumption and demand,” Lenart said. “We believe that this is a reasonable step towards trying to mitigate some of those factors.”

Following Lenart, Kristen Larcom, senior assistant aity attorney, explained amendments to permit ordinances to council members. Larcom said the city plans to enact very minimal changes.

“What we have tried to do is make as few changes as we need to and just incorporate adult use marijuana into the framework we already have for medical marijuana,” Larcom said.

Deputy City Attorney Kevin McDonald then covered the permit application process.

He said the city would choose applications for recreational marijuana businesses that would be in best compliance with the state’s laws.

“If the state received more applications than the city is allowing, it really turns to the city to make the decision as to which applications it is supposed to actually issue,” McDonald said.

“It’s supposed to be a somewhat objective procedure so that we can very quickly come up with the applications that should rise to the top of the pack.”

Applications will be scored on four 25-point categories: past performance and experience in the community, business plan and state compliance, location and community interest. Those that score best on this grading scale will be granted permits until the

who choose to complete it.

“In one of my courses, they had a program that you could choose to pay for if you wanted to get those extra points in your grade, but then if you don’t want to pay for that or you can’t afford it, then that’s not fair,” Blanchard said. “You’re not getting those points that other students could get.”

In an attempt to help reduce these additional costs for students who do not qualify for an allowance provided by the University, CSG has been pursuing several different initiatives, according to CSG President Ben Gerstein.

Gerstein suggested some steps that need to be taken include direct communication with departments to better understand why there is an added fee, and whether the programs in question offer a value that is interchangeable a different program that is less expensive.

Additionally, he recommended trying to figure out what solutions can be worked on with professors and programs to limit costs.

Specifically, CSG is working to expand its Academic Affairs Task Force, a project dedicated toward reducing barriers, especially financial ones, to students’ academic success.

“I welcome students to get involved in the Academic Affairs Task Force,” Gerstein said. “It’s open to any student who wants to get involved, and so, if students are interested in how to improve this — because it’s a very real problem — we want to hear their stories and their voices and make sure that their perspectives are heard in the policies that we pursue and in the changes that we aim to make.”

The additional costs for materials and online programs are different for each course and each department.

CSG is suggesting the University hire specialists who would be able to consult the departments and provide a more cost-effective alternative to the current programs and methods these courses use.

According to Blanchard, certain professors were concerned about the monetary feasibility of hiring these specialists.

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threshold is met.

Jane Lumm, I-Ward 2, expressed concern regarding the new ordinances. She said she felt the process to approve permits is being rushed to come into effect at the same time the state begins to accept applications for commercial recreational marijuana facilities Nov. 1.

“This is a really big deal,” Lumm said.

“Recreational marijuana is obviously coming, and we’re setting regulations that determine how many facilities there can be, where they can be located, how they can operate.”

Lumm advised studying what Boulder, Colo., and other similar communities have done to monitor marijuana, such as creating a marijuana advisory board. She said she will be asking for a temporary opt-out when the ordinance comes around for a second reading.

“We work for the residents, and I’m concerned about the real impacts on them and our community,” Lumm said. “I’m more concerned about that then perceived messages.”

Ali Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, said he takes a different position on the ordinances than Lumm. He said he believes the council is listening to community members and approving the ordinances will be an economic benefit to Ann Arbor.

“This is something that has been talked about in our community, in our state and in our country for a very long time,” Ramlawi said. “I think we are doing our diligence.”

The council members also discussed concerns with regulations on smoking marijuana outside. Julie Grand, D-Ward 3, questioned the current laws in place regarding smoking marijuana outside, and Jeff Hayner, D-Ward 1, asked about how this regulation would be implemented.

Hayner also supported the idea of a marijuana advisory board. As a member of the liquor advisory committee, he said a similar board for recreational marijuana businesses would be a great aspect to add to the ordinances.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Opinion

4 — Tuesday, September 24, 2019

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ALANNA BERGER | COLUMN

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ZACK BLUMBERG | COLUMN

Justin Trudeau fights his biggest enemy: his own image

O

Unfortunately for Trudeau, his n Dec. 7, 2015, Justin Trudeau stood in front of strong personal image is actually the Canadian Parliament at the heart of his struggles.

In many ways, and delivered his Trudeau’s image has first speech as Prime actually been too Minister of Canada. effective, ultimately For Trudeau, the sky hindering him seemed to be the limit: once real political At the young age of concerns are present.

43, he had helped the While Trudeau’s Liberal Party win brand represents back the government ambitious ideas for the first time in and liberal values, nearly a decade, come ZACK government politics, into office with an impressive 63 percent BLUMBERG gridlock and electoral concerns have often approval rating and promised ambitious government forced him to deviate from his reforms, including more stated goals, most likely leaving transparency and accountability. progressive Canadian voters However, fast-forward to frustrated and disappointed. today, and things look radically different for Trudeau. In a political system where incumbent prime ministers are strong favorites, Trudeau finds himself struggling.

His Liberals are neck-and-neck with the rival Conservative Party, and his approval rating has dropped into the 20s. As with most political issues, there is no single component of Trudeau’s government to blame.

Instead, Trudeau’s struggles can be attributed to a multitude of factors, most importantly his inability to live up to his self-created political brand, Trudeau’s failure to live up to combined with his vacillating his own political hype has been positions on climate change.

To begin, it is important apparent in his environmental to acknowledge that while policies. Throughout his tenure Trudeau’s government is as prime minister, Trudeau obviously far from perfect, it has laid out ambitious and farhas still accomplished a great reaching plans for fighting deal in certain areas. One of climate change, and he received Trudeau’s campaign pledges worldwide attention for his was to create a gender-balanced proactive role in the negotiation cabinet comprised of 15 men of the Paris climate accord. After and 15 women, a promise he President Trump pulled the U.S. ultimately followed through out of the Paris climate accord with. Additionally, while his in 2017, Trudeau even issued a environmental record is far from thinly-veiled rebuke, saying, “for perfect, he has still shown some our part, Canada will continue to effort to improve environmental fight for the global plan that has a realistic chance of countering policy.

Outside of pure politics, it. We have a responsibility to Trudeau has also been future generations and we will enormously effective at crafting uphold it.”

However, in contrast with his his personal image, something which plays to his strengths. stated goals, Trudeau’s actual Similar to former President environmental measures have Barack Obama in the U.S., been subdued and disappointing.

Trudeau worked hard to brand The most glaring example of himself as a liberal politician this came in spring 2018, when for the modern era: hip, cool Trudeau’s government decided to and charismatic, with a strong nationalize the Trans Mountain social media presence and a Pipeline for $4.5 billion CSD focus on political values held by to ensure it was expanded. young people, like diversity and The pipeline, originally built environmentalism. For Trudeau, in the 1950s, carries oil from this branding was enormously tar sands in northern Alberta effective. His aforementioned to Canada’s west coast, and is gender-balanced ministerial seen by liberals as an inhibitor cabinet, his Bhangra-dancing of Canada’s efforts to become a and sari-wearing when he visited leader in renewable energy and India and his consistent presence environmental activism. Despite at Canadian Pride festivals those issues, and protests from are just some examples of how First Nations groups over the well he’s marketed himself as a potential concern of oil spills on their land, Trudeau went charismatic liberal figure.

Additionally, America’s ahead with the purchase. election of Donald Trump Though Trudeau’s (somewhat in 2016 turned Trudeau into convoluted) explanation for something of a liberal icon, with nationalizing the pipeline is that his good looks, sharp dressing if Canada can produce more oil, and eloquent speeches making it can make more money and him a natural foil to America’s therefore invest more heavily in renewables, it is also likely president.

In many ways, Trudeau’s image has actually been too effective

a political move. The pipeline provides a number of jobs in Alberta, a place where Trudeau is historically quite unpopular but would like to garner more support. Just last week, Trudeau skipped a ministerial debate to hold the second rally of his 2019 campaign in Edmonton.

Unfortunately for Trudeau, issues like his environmental policies and his mishandling of the SNC-Lavalin scandal, which ended with the resignation of one of his government ministers, have emboldened a swath of leftist voters who believe he is not sufficiently dedicated to his stated goals. Both of Canada’s other influential leftist parties, the New Democratic Party (polling around 13 percent for the upcoming election) and the Green Party (polling around 10 percent) have released statements demanding the Canadian government take a more aggressive position in the fight against climate change.

The NDP even called Trudeau out by name over his proposed carbon tax reforms, saying in an April 2019 press release, “Unfortunately, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have failed to bring the provinces together in support of a federal carbon tax. At the same time, they are asking everyday Canadians to do more, while practically eliminating the carbon tax for some of our biggest polluters.”

Ultimately, Trudeau’s problem is not that he’s been a bad prime minister. Instead, his issue is actually that he branded himself too effectively, creating hype around ambitious proposals which he was ultimately unable to follow through on. Thanks to this predicament, Trudeau has faced attacks from the right (he is still a Liberal PM, after all) and left, with many liberal voters feeling disenchanted with Trudeau’s inability to implement his lofty goals.

Trudeau’s image crisis has been compounded in recent days by a series of revelations about his usage of blackface in his younger years, something which points to a similar problem, but on a larger scale: While carefully working to portray himself in one way, Trudeau has covered up or failed to take responsibility for actions which go against his self-created brand. In regard to his incidents with blackface, they undercut his strong rhetoric on racial equality and call into question his devotion to looking good versus taking action, much the way his environmental rhetoric has been undercut by his policies in that sphere.

Ultimately, while Trudeau is still the narrow favorite in Canada’s upcoming election, he finds himself in a radically different position than he did four years ago, with an onerous tenure as prime minister shattering the golden boy persona he had so carefully cultivated in years prior.

Zack Blumberg can be reached at zblumber@umich.edu.

CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.

E

Keep mental illness out of your criticism

arlier this month, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., found herself under criticism for laughing and responding “well said” to a voter’s question in which they referred to President Donald Trump’s actions as “mentally retarded.” Harris has since apologized, stating that she had not heard these specific comments and “that word and others like it aren’t acceptable. Ever.” Despite the apology, this moment reveals a larger societal issue at hand: the widespread use of terms relating to mental illness to discredit an opponent or to otherwise put others down.

In their criticisms of Trump, many of his detractors have levied accusations of mental illness against him. The left-leaning political website Vox referred to him as “crazy” in a headline, while sports and political commentator Keith Olbermann has referred to the president as a “psychopath” on Twitter. Some have even gone as far as to diagnose him with different psychological disorders, including narcissistic personality disorder and dementia. These comments continue to be made, despite the absence of any legitimate medical diagnosis made public by the Trump administration.

Criticism directed towards an individual’s actions on the basis of a mental illness is not unfounded.

Indeed, Trump has engaged in many questionable, damaging and puzzling behaviors. However, unsubstantiated claims of mental illness are harmful to greater society as a whole. Regardless of how one feels about the president and his actions, allegations of mental illness and uninformed “diagnoses” of different disorders perpetuate the stigma of those living with legitimate mental illnesses. The use of terms like “crazy,” “insane” or “psychopath” to discredit someone’s professional capacities perpetuate the idea that people with mental illnesses are incompetent, dangerous, unstable

or weak. This stigma is ubiquitous in American society. When typically well-respected figures such as politicians or journalists levy mental illness accusations to discredit an opponent, the stigma is just enabled to spread farther and become more deeply ingrained. Out of fear of being labeled as crazy, some mentally ill Americans do not seek treatment for their disorders. This trend goes on to worsen the suffering and persistence of symptoms associated with mental health.

Whenever a critic calls upon a mental diagnosis to invalidate President Trump’s actions, they are perpetuating the stigma that those with mental illnesses are individuals less capable of leading productive lives and are a threat to society. In fact, Dr. Allen Francis, the former head of Duke University’s Psychiatry Department, appeared on CNN to denounce the misuse of psychological terms as criticisms of behavior. He said that the combination of accusations of mental illness and politics can have dire consequences for the general public, mainly because it stigmatizes the mentally ill, who are often “well-behaved, well-mannered, and good people.” Moreover, he stated that “lumping the mentally ill with Trump is a terrible insult to the mentally ill and they have enough problems and stigma as it is.” In their efforts to criticize political strategies and policies they do not agree with, these individuals are unintentionally targeting the millions of Americans living with a mental illness.

The pejorative use of mental illnesses and terms associated with them extends far beyond the Trump administration. American psychiatrists are governed by The Goldwater Rule, barring them from providing their opinion on the mental state of individuals they have not personally evaluated under their own medical care. The rule itself stems from a 1964 libel suit

by Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., against a magazine. The magazine

had printed an opinion compiled by more than 1,000 psychiatrists stating that Senator Goldwater was mentally unfit for office. Though this particular case is over 50 years old, the American Psychiatric Association maintains it is still relevant today. This practice is not in place solely to avoid lawsuits.

Psychiatrists worry that frequent unsubstantiated claims of mental illness without any physical evidence will undermine their profession, making clients with legitimate diagnoses of mental disorders less likely to trust them for medical treatment. The cavalier usage of medical terms pertaining to mental illness cheapens the daily struggle faced by the mentally ill and in turn delegitimizes the treatment process. By doing so, patients who already deal with the often isolating effects of mental illness furthermore feel as though they have no resources to help them deal with such issues.

Beyond the realm of politics, the colloquial use of mental illness in vocabulary continues to have harmful effects. Many psychological disorders have entered the common vernacular as nouns to describe different unusual behaviors or idiosyncrasies in individuals.

Instances such as referring to a propensity for neatness as “OCD,” changes in demeanor as “bipolar” or an occasional inability to concentrate as “ADHD” are very common. While it is unlikely that people use these terms to intentionally diminish the very real symptoms of mental illness, language is integral to shaping how we understand the world. Whether it is high-profile politicians seemingly condoning the use of slurs against people with disabilities, criticisms of the president or simple everyday conversation, using mental illnesses in a casual manner hurts everyone, most importantly those struggling with such disorders themselves.

Alanna Berger can be reached at balanna@umich.edu.

BRITTANY BOWMAN | COLUMN

I

Stop salivating your genetic privacy away

was first exposed to the concept of genetic testing companies in a Biology 172 lecture my freshman year. The professor at that time stated, “This was one of the things I fear most about revolutionary genetic technology.”

Since the late 2000s, 23andMe has emerged in a brand new field of accessible genetic testing. Individuals can simply buy a $99 ancestry kit or $199 ancestry and health kit from the company’s website, deposit their saliva into a vial, send it in and wait for the results. The company can then look at thousands of microscopic regions of your DNA or sites in your genome. At first, this was for discovering quirky traits that indicated you were genetically predisposed to have flat feet, hair photobleaching, motion sickness, a unibrow, etc. There isn’t any inherent issue with this, but this phase of interest did not last long because there is much more intriguing information to extract from your DNA. 23andMe soon began including purchasable packages that would allow the consumer to know if they were a carrier of certain potentially life-changing traits. The “Health Predisposition report,” found on 23andMe’s website, includes results for the BRCA1/BRCA2 gene, Celiac Disease, late-onset Alzheimer’s, Type II diabetes and more. The genomic regions up for analytics are often telltale signs of the impending onset of metabolic diseases or increased risks for breast cancer, among hundreds of other examples.

However, any product that is intended by the company as a way of preventing or diagnosing a disease needs to be deemed safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration. So when 23andMe shifted their marketing ploy closer to diagnoses and individual health knowledge, the FDA stepped in.

In July 2012, the company finally began the process of obtaining clearance from the FDA to sell the kit they had been selling since 2007.

Fast forward another six years to Oct. 31, 2018, when the FDA finally “authorize(d) first direct-toconsumer test for detecting genetic variants that may be associated with medication metabolism.” The FDA recognized that consumers were increasingly interested in using genetic information to help make decisions about their health care, but they also pushed that these tests needed to be designed in a way that

still heavily encouraged consumers to seek out medical care by a licensed physician or health care provider and to confirm problematic test results using clinical pharmacogenetic testing.

However, the FDA is missing the point. The purchasable options 23andMe provides are not primarily intended to be utilized as medical devices, which was the FDA’s cause of concern. The kits offered are façades for an immense gathering of personal information that is taking place directly under the noses of those who participate. Doesn’t sound like a big deal? Perhaps collecting the DNA of thousands of consumers, analyzing their genomes and learning what traits and diseases they are disposed to is not particularly scary. The problem arises when this information is stored within the company’s databases permanently.

Once this information is gathered, it could potentially be made available to pharmaceutical companies, insurance brokers, employers or family members. Your genetic information could be used against you and is just another step towards the total infringement of privacy.

Think about huge search engines like Google. The amount of information stored within their databases exceeds numbers comprehensible to a normal human being. Every search query entered into the Google search engine is stored, right along with the individually identifiable information oozing from everyone’s laptops and networks. This massive store of data has undoubtedly become Google’s best asset over time. Patrick Chung, a board member of 23andMe, stated, “Once you have the data, (the company) does actually become the Google of personalized health care.”

Eerily analogous to Google’s growth, Chung also mentions that “the long game here is not to make money selling kits, although the kits are essential to get the base level data,” the goal of 23andMe is to create and sustain mass data-gathering operations.

There are many pros and cons to a database full of millions of human genomes. Co-founder of 23andMe Anne Wojcicki stated, “I want 25 million people. Once you get 25 million people, there’s just a huge power of what types of discoveries you can make. Big data is going to make us all healthier.”

When you think about hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and

even the government, genetic information on a monumentally accessible scale is very likely to be an excessively valuable commodity. Of course, you consent to give your genetic information away. You buy the kit, deposit your spit in the vial and mail it in for analysis. Maybe you read the privacy policies, stating that they implement measures to ensure confidentiality and integrity of 23andMe data and they do not share customer data with any public databases. Specifically, 23andMe states they “will not sell, lease, or rent your individual-level information to any third party without your explicit consent.”

Revisiting the Google analogy, we’ve all heard 23andMe’s pledge before. In the online world of storing personal information, companies that strive to obtain individually identifying data do not deeply care about consent, whether it be explicit or implicit. While the FDA focuses on whether or not the kits produced by 23andMe are safe, they fail to address the issue looming over all of our heads: What are they doing with all the data?

Think about your relatives: There is probably one aunt, uncle, cousin or grandparent who has sent in their vial of spit. Even if you haven’t, the company on the receiving end has valuable genetic information about you through the participation of blood relatives.

You never consented to handing over your genomic information.

You may be heavily uncomfortable with that idea. Things could be discovered that you didn’t want to know and this knowledge could add vast amounts of anxiety to your life. Someone could eventually use this data against you: insurance companies could deny you for a preexisting health condition, same with employers. Surprisingly, 23andMe’s terms of service even states if you are “asked by an insurance company whether you have learned Genetic Information about health conditions and you do not disclose this to them, this may be considered to be fraud.”

Ironically enough, they also include that “Genetic Information you share with others could be used against your interests. You should be careful about sharing your genetic information with others.”

Except for them, naturally.

Brittany Bowman can be reached at babowman@umich.edu.

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Tuesday, September 24, 2019 — 5

FILM REVIEW

HUMOR COLUMN

CLUSTERFEST

FOCUS FEATURES

‘Downton Abbey’ movie is No offense, offense taken generous gift to fanbase BECKY PORTMAN

Daily Humor Columnist

ELYSE GODFRYD Daily Arts Writer

I love “Downton Abbey.” I love its world, its characters, its Britishness, the elegance and feel of the time and culture that it resurrects from the past. “Downton,” as both a television show and a film, is a program that asks you, with the utmost politeness and chivalry, to suspend your disbelief and give in to its fantasy. If you are willing to give in, the experience of watching “Downton Abbey” is beyond rewarding. Its world is one I feel very safe in — even though the characters certainly have their struggles, many of them hilariously melodramatic, they always manage to surmount them. It’s an incredibly comforting show to watch.

However, “Downton Abbey” isn’t interested in realism. It is the ultimate form of escapism, and we all desire and deserve an escape from reality from time to time.

Given all of this, how am I supposed to review the “Downton Abbey” movie based on merit alone, without letting my personal love and affection for the series taint my impression of it? The more I think about it, the more I realize I don’t need to.

It wouldn’t make sense. The “Downton” movie was made for its fans, for the people who watched the show and have grown to know and adore its characters. I, with total subjectivity, love this movie.

“Downton Abbey” transitions seamlessly from television to film, picking up in 1927, not long after the events of the series finale. The marketing for the film focuses on the King and Queen’s visit to the Downton estate, and how the presence of royalty

in the house affects both the Crawley family and the Downton staff alike. While this royal visit does occupy a significant portion of the film’s plot, it’s really just an excuse for us to spend more time with the characters we love, to see how they have

Downton Abbey Michigan Theater Perfect World Pictures, Carnival Films

continued to grow and change after the end of the series. The film feels like another, more expensive episode of the TV show, in the best way possible.

We see Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery, “Godless”) finally settled with her husband (Matthew Goode, “The Crown”) and a new baby. We see our favorite chauffeur Tom Branson (Allen Leech, “Bohemian Rhapsody”) find love again in an unexpected place.

We see husband and wife duo Carson (Jim Carter, “The Golden Compass”) and Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan, “Lovejoy”) grapple with the uncertainty of Downton Abbey’s future.

Given the wholesome, crowd-pleasing nature of “Downton Abbey,” it’s hardly a spoiler to reveal that everyone in the film gets a happy ending, even the butler Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier, “The Ritual”), a character I went from wholeheartedly hating to admiring by the end of the series. This isn’t realistic, of course. However, “Downton Abbey” isn’t interested in realism. It is the ultimate form of escapism, and we all desire and deserve an escape from reality from time to time. To know that there’s a world, whether it be fictional or not, where everyone ends up where they’re supposed to be with the people they’re supposed to be with has meant a lot to me, and “Downton,” both the show and the film, has generously given me a world like that to escape to. Even if real life doesn’t work out as perfectly as “Downton Abbey” does, there’s nothing wrong with donning 1920s period attire and playing pretend just for a little while.

Almost as quickly as he was announced as a new cast member, comedian Shane Gillis was promptly fired from Saturday Night Live ahead of the show’s 45th season premiere. Gillis was sacked from the historic sketch variety show for using homophopic, racist and overall offensive language as recently as this May. Let me point out first and foremost that I am troubled that the firing of a bigot like Gillis has taken the spotlight away from the first (FIRST!) Chinese-American performer in the show’s history: the immensely talented Bowen Yang. So before you read my tirade against the racist tendencies of “no offense” comedy and the white comedy boys who inhabit the controversial and toxic space known as stand-up comedy — please watch this sketch starring Emma Stone that Bowen wrote with my favorite shape, Julio Torres, and give him the credit and spotlight he deserves.

In the most non-apologetic way possible, Gillis went to Twitter to non-apologize with this nonapology: I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries.

I sometimes miss... I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said. What a hunk of bologna. Gillis is not “pushing boundaries” with his comedy or his unoriginal statement. He is saying “no offense.”

We live in an era of “no offense” comedy.

In other words, offensive language and slurs shrugged off as a joke. In the Trump Era, this kind of bully comedy has taken hold of the public and kept them in their grasp with promises of fighting political correctness and “pushing boundaries.” So, tell me, what about archaic biases and chauvinist chimings is “pushing boundaries?”

What is so cutting edge about antiquated slurs?

What in the hell is funny about picking on the vulnerable for the sake of one’s ego? Why are we defending bullies for the sake of bad comedy?

Some former SNL cast members chimed in on the show’s firing of Gillis. Rob Schneider came to Gillis’s defense on Twitter saying: I am sorry that you had the misfortune of being a cast member during this era of cultural unforgiveness where comedic misfires are subject to the intolerable inquisition of those who never risked bombing on stage themselves. Schneider, in defending Gillis with the language of a Trump campaign, places himself alongside the Prejudice Protectors of comedy, the Racist Rangers of humor. How many

male comedians have to swear that their comedy is not offensive rather, inventive, contemporary or transgressive? If you have to tell people it’s not racist/homophobic/transphobic/anti-semitic/ sexist, it probably is.

On the other hand (and cementing my love for him even further), Bill Hader commented on Gillis in the most Bill Hader way possible. In a red-carpet interview at Sunday’s Emmy’s awards, the now two-time Emmy winner, and former SNL cast member was asked about Gillis’s firing. At first, Hader responded with a simple no comment, “No, I have no thoughts on that,” but quickly followed with, “I feel like you shouldn’t want to

In the Trump Era, this kind of bully comedy has taken hold of the public and kept them in their grasp with promises of fighting political correctedness and “pushing boundaries”

hurt anyone’s feelings … I’m never interested in upsetting anybody.” Hader exemplifies the good in comedy. He made a comedy about an assassin — now that is boundary-pushing.

Yes, comedy has always been a craft that requires telling something new. Of course, humor thrives on fresh perspectives and unique observations. Certainly, free speech is everyone’s God-given right. But don’t you damn forget that making others feel inadequate or hated to get a cheap chuckle is unacceptable. Using dried up prejudices and calling it boundary-pushing is wrong. Making excuses for bullies and handing them a microphone, a job at SNL, an awards show, a gun or an oval office is no laughing matter.

TV REVIEW

‘American Horror Story: 1984’ is a gross time-turner MAXWELL SCHWARZ Daily Arts Writer

What begins as an almost-threesome ends quickly in a cabin full of dead children, each missing an ear.

This is the gory commencement of “American Horror Story: 1984,” the ninth installment in the long-running horror anthology series. True to its name, this season pays homage to the genre’s roots by harkening back to ’80s camp slashers like “Friday the 13th.” While it does borrow heavily from the Jason movies, that doesn’t make the show any less enjoyable.

The show follows five friends from an aerobics class in 1984. After one of them — Brooke (Emma Roberts, “Scream Queens”) — has a close encounter with real-life serial killer, the “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez (Zach Villa, “Destroyer”), she joins the rest of the group as they become camp counselors at Camp

“1984” is not incredibly original, but that’s part of its charm. The episode embraces and utilizes the tropes of classic horror with such panache and mirth that it becomes vividly bracing.

Redwood. The camp had been closed down in 1970, due to the grisly murder from the opening scene, but has been reopened by one of the survivors. Each mile closer to camp gets creepier and creepier, as a strange hitchhiker is picked up and a mechanic tells the group they’re going to die. Then, of course, the camp killer escapes an asylum.

If any of these plot points sound familiar, they’re absolutely supposed to. “1984” is not incredibly original, but that’s part of its charm. The episode embraces and utilizes the tropes of classic horror with such panache and mirth that it becomes vividly bracing. In fact, the whole episode is appealing. The blood is bright red and the show’s intro features roller skates, leg warmers and staticky, VHS-style video.

The show goes to great lengths to commit itself as completely as it can to capture the ’80s, and the effort pays off. The outfits, the voluminous hair, the cars and even the 1984 Olympics are weaved into the narrative seamlessly, allowing the show to emit an effortless, neon-tinged ambience.

The dialogue is not particularly stellar — and neither is the acting — but the show is so engaging and glamorous that it easily makes up for it. It doesn’t hurt that the soundtrack is good, but a little overhwelming at times. Rockwell’s synth-funk classic, “Somebody’s Watching Me,” sets the mood disturbingly well as the gang heads to camp. The buzzing, synthesized ambience makes the show moody and brooding.

Occasionally, I wish the show would allow viewers the opportunity to be scared without music that cues them into it.

Be aware, this show is horrifyingly gory. Just as the show does not spare on aesthetic, it puts equal effort into ensuring there are copious amounts of blood.

Eye-stabbings, literal body-crushings and hangings all make guest appearances as the characters are slowly introduced to torment. Not to give too much away, but a particular scene involving a suspended

car is particularly gruesome. It isn’t that the show is particularly scary, but it certainly isn’t for those with weak stomachs.

The thing that has consistently made “American Horror Story” wonderful is the fresh batch of horror and tense storylines that get thought up each season. However, after “Asylum,” the show’s second installment, it became far too invested in itself, took itself too seriously and used cheap, disgusting horrors to disguise its lack of an interesting plot. “Coven” introduced a famed serial killer and slave-torturer whose appalling crimes were recreated with a disturbing amount of detail, while “Hotel” featured an unusual amount of excessive and unexplained torture.

Fortunately, “1984” does away with the unnecessary melodrama and vulgarity. The conventional plot, overt homages and ridiculous gore work well in the show’s favor. “1984” has easily made “American Horror Story” fun again. It’s very aware of what it is, and exploits that

to the fullest. “American Horror Story” is still trying to shock you. Only this time, the show has figured it out how to, and it means to have fun with it.o shock you.

Only this time, the show has figured it out how to, and it means to have fun with it.

American Horror Story: 1984 Season 9 Premiere FX Wednesdays at 10 p.m.

FX

Arts

6 — Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK

BOOK REVIEW

SHEILA BURNETT

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

Exploring old-fashioned Did Deborah Levy just love through ballet & salsa publish her idea journal A few weeks ago I slid into a sticky leather booth in Espresso Royale. It was almost 8 p.m., and my energy levels for the day were nearing critical condition, but I’d rallied for this one last meeting. Amidst a sea of subsequent smalltalk, I met someone who said he liked to dance. Salsa dance, specifically, but I went ahead and shared that I was a ballet dancer in hopes of forming a connection.

I wanted to keep going and tell him that I’ve actually always wanted to learn salsa, but he cut me off. He raised his nose and told me that ballet was boring and stiff. That it was only for old people, that his chosen form of movement was far superior.

Stunned, I laughed. I explained that I didn’t think I was old, but I definitely enjoyed ballet.

Plus, I stretch enough not to be stiff. He shook his head. Salsa is romantic, he said. And then, through the ebb and f low of conversation, our group found a different subject.

I don’t recount this story out of existential bitterness. The same way the Super Bowl will always garner critics, ballet will never resonate with everyone. However, my new acquaintance’s final comment — that salsa is romantic with the implication that ballet is not — stuck with me.

When I came home that night and opened my computer, an unfinished video of the balcony pas de deux (a ballet couple’s dance) from Kenneth MacMillan’s “Romeo and Juliet” started to load in an open YouTube tab. The intimate music of Sergei Prokofiev’s score filled my living room, and I thought again about that comment.

After all, what does it mean to make a movement romantic?

Through a Google Search I found a different video, this one of a couple dancing salsa on the streets of Miami. Through the shaky hand of an iPhone camera, a man and a woman shared three minutes of casual happiness set to the background of a city completely oblivious to the dance’s occurrence. Cars passed and pedestrians Release Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2019

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

ACROSS 1 Octopus octet 5 Read electronically 9 Stand in for 14 Painful joint inflammation 15 “What’ll ya __?”

16 Legendary crooner Mel 17 Prefix meaning “all” 18 From the start 19 Utter nonsense 20 Seeking an Olympic victory 23 Beach toy for a windy day 24 Information technology giant 25 “Norwegian Dances” composer 28 Road curves 30 More than a few 31 Come into view 33 Hosp. diagnostic procedure 36 Hardly ever 39 Jamaican music 40 “Big Little Lies” actress Meryl 41 Frenzied way to run 42 Smelting waste 43 Like good pie crusts 44 Field & __ Magazine 47 Beach toy 49 Zwieback, e.g.

55 Celebrate boisterously 56 Urge on 57 220-by-198-foot plot of land, e.g.

58 Farsi speaker 59 To be, in Tours 60 Not that 61 Animal skins 62 Auctioneer’s cry after the starts of 20-, 36- and 49-Across 63 Enjoy some tub time

DOWN 1 Visibly awed 2 CBS Sports NFL analyst Tony 3 Tax-free govt. bond 4 Disapproving look 5 Elevator passage

6 Kayak-like boat 7 State unequivocally 8 Former House leader Gingrich 9 Conference-goer 10 Welsh herding dogs 11 Small music ensembles 12 In a plentiful way 13 Plants-to-be 21 Booking on a band’s tour 22 Stuck (on) 25 Scientifically engineered crops, e.g., briefly 26 __ and file 27 Ancient Cuzco dweller 28 Spanish newborns 29 Author __ Stanley Gardner 31 Bury 32 “Veronica __”: teen drama starring Kristen Bell 33 NYC cultural center 34 Chess piece involved in castling

35 Like many a stained shirt pocket 37 Tel Aviv residents 38 Ones habitually hanging out in retail complexes 42 A step above “meh” 43 White lie 44 Remove paint from 45 Shakespearean contraction

46 Primary competitor 47 Oyster gem 48 Tacked on 50 Brings to maturity 51 Zither-like Japanese instrument 52 Canyon feedback 53 Opera song for one 54 Newsroom station

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

By Robert Fisher ©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

09/24/19

09/24/19

https://www.michigandaily.com/join-us

For The Daily

wandered as the dancers’s f leet footwork dissolved into the street’s ongoing bustle. The haphazardness of it all created an intimacy that gave way to an idyllic romance. I could see what my acquaintance was talking about.

I’d expect myself to struggle when comparing this to “Romeo and Juliet.” After all, the pas de deux clip I watched came from the Royal Ballet, one of the most elite companies in the world.

Their theater, the Royal Opera House, literally has a box reserved for the Queen herself. With the exception of her, the live audience pays hundreds of dollars for their tickets and iPhone cameras are strictly prohibited. No aspect goes unplanned or unperfected, and yet when I watch the dance unfold my heart fills with the same sense of intimate spontaneity as the salsa street dancing from before.

Romeo and Juliet are only 14, both suffering from an all-too-familiar sense of juvenile confusion. Neither of them know what they want and both of them live life with an underlying nervousness for upcoming adulthood. When they find each other, their young hearts shift to focus solely on one another. Through their love, they find a drive far more mature than their years. The pas de deux on Juliet’s balcony is a manifestation of that new focus.

Within the performance, I feel those moments of desire alongside the young couple: Juliet’s beaming chest, Romeo’s outstretched hands, their luxurious makeout session and weightless, slow motion lifts and turns.

It’s a spectacle of teenage melodrama and through its display the planning melts away.

Suddenly, I see a casual meetup on the streets of Italy. It’s two people — two kids — intensely focused on enjoying each other while an entire city continues to pass by.

I can’t help but wonder what my acquaintance would think if he peeled back the technique to see this side of ballet. Whether onstage at the Royal Opera House or on an unnamed sidewalk in Florida, I still find that intangible sense of effortlessness dictated through non-vocalized movement. They might both be romantic, but above all they’re both human.

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ZOE PHILLIPS

JULIANNA MORANO Daily Arts Writer

As soon as I had turned the last page of Deborah Levy’s “The Man Who Saw Everything,” I set the book down and opened up my laptop: I had a lot of research ahead of me. It wasn’t to fill any gaps in my knowledge of the book’s historical, behindthe-iron-curtain context, or to learn more about the Beatles’ photo shoot on Abbey Road, around which the book awkwardly pivots; it was in hopes of making any sense at all of the 200 pages I had just read. I needed to find out if there was a coherent storyline I somehow completely missed, if there were any real characters aside from the protagonist, what the themes were (if any) and so on.

Before I got much further, though, I had to pause and ask myself: Is this something I should have to do? Is the book that requires wholesale outsourcing of reading comprehension even worth trying to understand? I realized that if I was still in the dark after reading the thing cover to cover, perhaps I was always meant to be.

“The Man Who Saw Everything” is a chronically frustrating read. It is the experience of walking up to a storyteller whose confidence has drawn a crowd, but who is several paces into their story by the time you get there and unwilling to restart for you, so the best you can do is stick along for the ride — were this uncomfortable experience rendered in print and drawn out to span hundreds of pages. Here is the information you would encounter as you approach: The year is 1988, and Saul Adler is a historian who specializes in the psychology of male tyrants. He has been granted the privilege of travel to East Berlin for his research, and for his host family’s daughter Luna, he and his photographer girlfriend Jennifer Moreau have planned an elaborate thank you: A recreation of the album art from Abbey Road

life Walter Müller, is absorbed by Levy’s quest to figure out what the book’s about, sparing nothing for narrative momentum or climax.

I think this energy drain helps explain why, so often, Levy’s writing registers as lazy, as unmet potential. One of the strategies with which she tries to cohere her disparate themes is to repeat buzz words and sequences of dialogue. Rather than adding anything to the narrative, however, these have the effect of infantilizing the reader, like those not-so-subtle hints from your teacher that a pop quiz is in store, and that the topic will be

The Man Who Saw Everything Deborah Levy Bloomsbury Publishing Oct. 15, 2019

the word they keep dramatically emphasizing. For instance, early on, Jennifer makes an observation about her photography that lingers on Saul’s mind: That a “spectre is inside every photograph she developed.” Rather than exploring that concept in subsequent pages, Moreau undermines her own attempt at exploring a thematic question, opting instead to apply the word “spectre” exasperatingly to everything else Saul contemplates, from his father’s death to the distinct scent of Jennifer’s perfume. It is as though Levy fears her readers’ inattention to the point where as long as we remember one word, she’d be content.

I don’t universally condemn the novelist who creates and leaves gaps for their audience to fill.

Often, those gaps enact a fruitful contract between

The novelist who doesn’t trust their readers enough to tell them anything beyond a meandering list of themes they want to touch on isn’t writing a novel at all; they’re publishing their idea journal and tricking their audience into doing all the work of finishing their thoughts.

for the Beatles fanatic Luna Müller is, lone Saul taking place of John, Paul, Goerge and Ringo. But Saul gets clipped by a car when he’s traversing the famous crosswalk, and it all quite lite spins out of control from that (early) point onward.

Granted, Levy did try to make the book that ensues about something. That “something” ranges from the art of photography to surveillance, to history, to memory, to masculinity, to sexuality, to family, to marriage, to parenthood — and while it is as tiring to compose that list as it likely is to read it, sadly, the book reads the same way. Worse yet, by encountering these subjects through the eyes of Levy’s unreliable, underdeveloped and almost unstoried narrator Saul Adler, the gulfs between these subjects are widened rather than creatively bridged. All the energy of the novel, which might have been directed toward Saul’s compellingly fraught relationships with his father and brother, or with the East German love of his

writer and reader, promising that meaning can be co-created rather than in one party or the other’s death grip. But the novelist who doesn’t trust their readers enough to tell them anything beyond a meandering list of themes they want to touch on isn’t writing a novel at all; they’re publishing their idea journal and tricking their audience into doing all the work of finishing their thoughts. Deborah Levy is one such novelist, but she got away with it (and was rewarded for it: See this year’s Booker longlist).

What is the bare minimum you expect from your storytellers? Simply one coherent storyline?

Or are you more picky, demanding character development or even thematic development of some sort? Would you ask for trust? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with claiming these values, or with requiring more from writers who don’t meet those standards. Ms. Levy, I expect more.

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Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Tuesday, September 24, 2019 — 7

Michigan flexes forward depth through four lines TIEN LE

Daily Sports Editor

Running a finger down the Michigan hockey team’s lineups, next to the majority of the players’ names will be the letter “F” — indicating their position, forward. Of the 27 players on the roster, 17 are forwards. Among the forwards, there’s a mix of returnees, rookies, even a graduate transfer.

Questions will arise about chemistry, experience or defensive capabilities. But the ability to score answers itself.

“Can he score?

Yes. Can he?

Yes, yes, yes, yes.”

Looking up and down the lineups, Mel Pearson expresses the utmost confidence.

“We have four lines,” Pearson said. “Four lines, that can play against anybody. Four lines who can score, and I really like that. I think that’s going to be the strength of our team, are our forwards.”

From the previous year, the only forwards to depart from the program were Josh Norris, who left to join the Ottawa Senators, and Brendan Warren, who left due to graduation.

However, their contributions were limited. Norris was injured halfway through the season in World Juniors, cutting his season short with 19 points in 17 games. Warren only tallied three points over the course of the year.

“You take out Josh, and when you look at it, he only played half a year for us,” Pearson said.

“And then, Brendan Warren, and that’s really it. We’ve added some real good depth there.

And it’s going to be hard to fill out our lineup every night up front.”

The team moved on from both players quickly, replacing Norris with then-junior Nick Pastujov on the top line for

half a year. Replacement for Warren’s production will be easy to come by.

“You can take one guy and plugging other one, another player in and I don’t think you’re going to see a big drop off or any real change,” Pearson said.

On the flip side, 13 players return — responsible for 180 points from the previous season.

In addition, Michigan added freshmen draftees Johnny Beecher and Eric Ciccolini as well as graduate transfer Jacob Hayhurst.

The problem went from who would replace the missing production to who all will step out on ice.

It’s the plethora of choices that Pearson thinks is beneficial for the team. Having too many talented forwards can only muster higher competition in practice. There are only 12 slots, not including the extra

skater. So, a maximum of 13 forwards can be dressed for any one game, meaning there will be forwards forced to sit that can make an impact.

“But that’s what you want,” Pearson said. “You want these tough decisions.

“It’s going to be some really good players not playing, not dressing, let alone not playing and just not dressing.”

Senior defenseman Luke Martin shares the same sentiment as Pearson. The competition for the forward spots, he thinks, brings excitement in the rink each and every practice. All the players, having to defend against them in practice, are capable of winning a spot in his eyes.

“Right down the line,” Martin said. “It’s going to be tight. And it’s just going to make, like I said, it’s gonna make practice that much better.”

Just watch us, hopefully, roll over teams with four lines.

The strength of having four lines is invaluable. Whereas some teams will focus on having two strong “top lines” and stack the remaining lines with situational players, Pearson believes the course of action that best benefits the Wolverines is to have all four lines be capable of scoring, and that Michigan has the personnel to make that happen.

No checking lines. No energy line. Just four lines that can play and score.

And four strong lines allows for wear-and-tear action. As Pearson points out, especially in professional hockey, the top six forwards will form two lines that strike after the third and fourth lines put pressure on the other team. The Wolverines believe they have four lines capable of keeping the pressure on for 60 minutes, which will result in higher-scoring games.

“I think we have four lines that not a lot of teams are going to be able to keep up with in a match, game in and game out,” Pastujov said. “ ... Just watch us, hopefully, roll over teams with four lines.”

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Senior forward Nick Pastujov replaced Josh Norris midway through last season after Norris suffered an injury.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

‘M’ takes fourth place SPENCER RAINES For The Daily

The Michigan women’s cross country team came to the John McNichols Invitational with a chance to prove it belonged amongst the nation’s elite. Led by freshman sensation Erika VanderLende — the number one freshman in the country according to FloTrack — the Wolverines showed they are close to it by placing fourth against a 21-team field that included three other top-10 teams.

This wasn’t just any earlyseason race, however. The course at Indiana State is the site of the 2019 NCAA Championships for the 19th consecutive season, though this race was just 5,000 meters, 1,000 meters shorter than the championship race.

Michigan was also without a few key runners.

Last year’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Ann Forsyth, ran unattached along with freshman Amber Gall. As for sophomore Jessi Larson, who was a member of last year’s topfour finishing squad at NCAA’s, status is more complicated.

“It’s 50/50 if we have her for the championship part of the season, ” said Michigan coach Mike McGuire.

VanderLende had a standout performance for the Wolverines on Saturday, coming in fourth overall, behind only an NCAA champion Werner and two other seniors. As a Michigan high school record holder in the two mile and No. 1 nationally for that event in 2019 at Rockford, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that VanderLende is already competing at such a

high level. The race saw her go with the lead group from the gun and never fall off to the chase pack. Her time of 16:40.1 is also the fastest time by a Michigan runner at this course, eclipsing the previous mark set

by Katie McGregor back in 1998 by over 20 seconds.

“She did a nice job moving up through the third and fourth kilometer,” McGuire said.

“Really happy with how she ran. ” VanderLende wasn’t the only Michigan runner to finish near the top, though. Seven other Michigan runners finished in the top 35, two greater than any other team at the meet. As the Wolverines’ biggest strength coming into this season was their depth, Saturday proved just that. Juniors Kathryn House and Maddy Trevisan came in second and third for the team, respectively, and behind them was a group of five Michigan runners within nine places of each other.

“We did a nice job packing, ” McGuire said. “We’d like to and we feel we can move that pack up closer to our third runner.”

Though the Wolverines felt good about their performances, they didn’t pull anything unexpected and beat any teams they weren’t supposed to. They came in fourth behind the other three nationally-ranked schools present at the meet, and if they want to be one of the teams to beat, they’re going to need to beat those types of teams.

“We were solid, but at the same time we are capable of getting better, ” McGuire said.

“If we sure some things up, we can be a contending team going forward.”

We can be a contending team going forward.

Revenge

Four days after heartbreaker at Notre Dame, Wolverines beat Fighting Irish in four sets, 25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 25-16 DANIEL DASH

Daily Sports Writer

Just four days after falling short in a five-set thriller against Notre Dame, the Michigan volleyball team had something to prove against the Fighting Irish on Sunday afternoon.

Powered by sophomore outside hitter Paige Jones’ third consecutive double-double, the Wolverines (7-3) finished their non-conference slate on a high note, exacting revenge on Notre Dame, 25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 25-16, in the second half of the homeand-home series.

Michigan raced out to an early lead, winning seven of the match’s first nine points.

Freshman opposite May Pertofsky exposed holes within the Fighting Irish’s (7-3) serve receive with a pair of aces, forcing Notre Dame into an early timeout. The middle stages of the set were relatively even, with the teams splitting the next 26 points coming out of the timeout.

Neither side was able to string together more than two in a row until the Fighting Irish scored four unanswered points to tie the frame at 23.

With the opening set on the line, senior setter MacKenzi Welsh took control of a broken play. Notre Dame’s outside hitter tried to roll a ball over her block, but Welsh sent the ball to the back corner on the first contact.

It landed just out of the reach of a diving libero, giving the Wolverines the only set point they needed.

Michigan has been relatively inconsistent with the first contact throughout the early stages of the season, so Welsh has grown accustomed to getting creative. When poor passing puts the Wolverines out of system, their senior floor captain kept them in the rally.

“It’s a lot of running around sometimes,” Welsh said.

“Consistently, if people are working hard defensively then it’s me working twice as hard to

make sure that we’re putting the next ball up and making the play better. Just trying to get hitters in the best position possible while also fighting for the people who hit the first touch.

“That’s the most important thing in our gym — defense and fighting all the way through the rally.”

Michigan’s emphasis on defense carried over into the second set, particularly in the front row. The Wolverines posted nine team blocks for the match, with five different players recording multiple block assists.

Fifth-year senior middle blocker Cori Crocker tallied a season-high six blocks and chipped in four kills. Even when she wasn’t sending balls back, her touches at the net slowed most swings down before they reached the back row.

“Sometimes (Crocker) tries to be too big,” Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. “ … She plays big and sometimes she needs to play a little more controlled and not always so big. I thought tonight she did that really well.

“Their offense is very patterned in what they do. I thought our blockers did a good job of picking up their pattern and then being very efficient against it.”

When it came time to finish the sweep, however, the Fighting Irish fought back. They came out of the locker room with a refined approach that emphasized tactical serves at different distances in an effort to move the Wolverines’ passers off their line. It kept the unit offguard, thus making the back row less aggressive in anticipation.

Michigan’s serve receive failed to adjust and its offense suffered as a result. Without a consistent foundation to work from, Welsh spent most of the set scrambling. The Wolverines’ third-set hitting percentage was capped at just .100, their lowest mark of the match by over 175 percentage points.

They committed eight errors, a

stark contrast to the nine total mistakes they made in the three other sets combined.

But in the fourth frame, Michigan returned the favor when it mattered most. The Wolverines used a six-point run midway through the set to put the match out of reach, holding Notre Dame to a hitting percentage of -.088 — just its second negative efficiency rating in a set this season.

Fittingly, Crocker’s sixth block set up Michigan’s first match point. The Fighting Irish were held to a hitting percentage of just .117 for the match — a 74-point improvement from the mid-week matchup for the Wolverines. Rosen spoke highly of his team’s defense during Wednesday’s loss in South Bend, but noticed one key difference in his team’s blocking in Sunday’s rematch.

“Tonight, we got (blocks) on the stat sheet,” Rosen said. “We blocked them to the point where they really weren’t coverable as much.”

TEDDY GUTKIN Daily Sports Writer

In the first set of Sunday’s match against Notre Dame, May Pertofsky stepped up to the line to serve and quickly earned Michigan a point to go up 5-2 on a service ace.

On the next play, the freshman opposite hitter would once again secure a service ace, forcing the Fighting Irish (7-3) to call a timeout and giving the Michigan volleyball team (7-3) early momentum in a game that it was in a breezy 3-1 victory.

Pertofsky, who has become a major contributor for the Wolverines in the early stages of their season, has arguably been the team’s best server, notching 13 service aces thus far this season.

She tied her career high on Sunday with four total service aces, adding two more in the match’s second set. Despite her prowess on the service line, Michigan coach Mark Rosen believes that she still hasn’t hit her full potential in that facet of the game.

“Her serve is definitely a really

fun work in progress,” Rosen said.

“It’s getting better and better, and when it’s on, it’s nasty.”

Added Pertofsky: “I’ve been in practice working on getting my serve more consistent, harder, and I’m still working on it.”

Despite her prowess on serves, Pertofsky was perhaps most effective in the front row, blocking five shots and notching five assists.

Her ability to disrupt shots allowed the Wolverines to extend rallies against the Fighting Irish all match long, many of which they won thanks to Pertofsky’s set ups.

“I thought she was great tonight,” Rosen said. “She’s learning how to be a very consistent player, and for the most part this year she’s been that.”

In the second set, Pertofsky came up to serve with the game tied early at three. She ripped one into the left corner, scoring her third ace. After a Notre Dame error, Pertofsky once again scored a service ace, giving Michigan a 6-3 edge and momentum that it would carry to a 25-15 victory — the most lopsided win of the match.

“I just went back there and said, ‘We really need this momentum right now and just come out as hard as we can,’ ” Pertofsky said. “I was like ‘I’m just gonna go after it,’ so I served as hard as I could and I felt the connection was really good.”

In the fourth set, Pertofsky once again came up big for the Wolverines. With a seven-point lead, she netted a kill on a spike off a pass from senior setter MacKenzi Welsh. On the next play, she blocked a ball right in front of the net and gave Michigan a 24-15 lead on its way to a 25-16 victory to close the match.

After finishing the match with 17.5 points to lead the team, Pertofsky should continue to be a force for the Wolverines as they head into their conference slate.

Even though he knows there’s still room to improve, Rosen couldn’t be happier with his freshman’s stellar outing.

“Tonight was a great match for her,” Rosen said. “And it was a great match against a really great opponent.”

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Freshman opposite hitter May Pertofsky has notched 13 service aces thus far this season, including four against Notre Dame in Michigan’s win on Sunday.

Sports

8 — Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Four parting thoughts from Michigan’s disastrous loss at Wisconsin MAX MARCOVITCH Managing Sports Editor

Michigan went into Saturday’s game against Wisconsin aiming to make a statement. Well, mission accomplished.

Instead of a statement of affirmation — that this program could win a game in a tough environment, against a team of equal or better talent — the Wolverines confirmed the opposite.

Now forced to pick up the pieces from a 35-14 drubbing in Madison, Michigan has to re-evaluate and re-calibrate. In doing so, it left plenty to digest about a season suddenly teetering on the brink. Here are four parting thoughts on a seasonaltering weekend and the peril it puts this season in.

So much for offensive balance After the game Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was asked what he wanted this team’s offensive identity to be. He didn’t dare utter the phrase that is quickly descending into meme territory.

You know the one. “Quickness in open areas,” or something of that ilk. Hard to remember at this point. His answer, though nondescript, spoke to one of this team’s many flaws.

“To be able to run the ball, to be able to throw the ball,” Harbaugh said. “Both equally effective and efficient.”

Through three weeks, Harbaugh’s offense — ahem, sorry, Josh Gattis’ offense — has been neither balanced nor efficient.

Saturday against Wisconsin, that play-calling tilted heavily toward the passing attack by a margin of 42-19. Last week against Army, the Wolverines ran the ball 45 times and threw it 31 times.

Through three weeks, Michigan is averaging 3.49 yards per carry. From a group that was supposed to be anchored by an experienced, sturdy offensive line and a promising young running back, balance should

be an attainable necessity. And yet, both Harbaugh and the players lamented the disparity on Saturday. “(The running game is) one thing we ran away from and I wish we would’ve stayed with it,” said senior tight end Nick Eubanks after the game.

Making strict judgments off the run/pass ratios can be misleading; play-calling is often dictated by game context, and Michigan has allowed a touchdown on the opening drive of all three games this season. That can throw any plan for a loop.

But for an offense that continues to strive for balance, among other things, it’s doing little to actually dictate game context instead of lay victim to it.

A different kind of quarterback quandry As Saturday’s first half progressed, the murmurs became

rumblings, rumblings became primal screams.

The calls for junior quarterback Dylan McCaffrey stemmed more for a desperate clamor for change of any kind.

Senior quarterback Shea Patterson continued to display carelessness in terms of ball security. He missed open reads and open receivers. In the third quarter, whether via injury or ineptitude, he was replaced by McCaffrey — only to come back in when McCaffrey exited with a concussion. Asked to assess their play, Harbaugh declined to go into specifics.

“Shea was being evaluated at halftime, and then we put Dylan in to start the second half,” he said after the game. “Dylan, he’s got a concussion.”

It’s easy to funnel any offensive frustrations to one place, and by default, the quarterback is often

the victim of that. Patterson has played poorly through three weeks, and the quarterback play is problematic. Solving those issues cannot, and will not, turn a floundering offense into a thriving one on its own. Those two things can be, and are, true.

In the short term, there’s little discussion to be had. McCaffrey is potentially recovering from his concussion; Patterson will be under center next week against Rutgers.

In the long term, if these issues persist from Patterson, it will become harder to ignore the validity of those frantic pleas from fans.

Keep it simple, stupid Let’s start with the facts.

Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black and Nico Collins have 33 combined targets through three weeks. That trio, the most talented Michigan has had in

quite some time, has 19 combined catches for 313 yards in that span.

Saturday, they had one combined catch through three quarters, until all three made plays in garbage time to reiterate the following point: Michigan’s misuse of its three best playmakers has been inexplicable and inexcusable.

It’s an abject failure of coaching.

Period.

They have the potential to spearhead the best receiving corps in the Big Ten. Instead, they haven’t been given a chance.

Eubanks was asked after the game about their involvement (or lack thereof) in the offense this season. He expressed faith in the staff to figure it out.

“We all see it on film. And I believe the coaches will see it as well,” Eubanks said. “And we’ll go from there in terms of who needs to get the ball and moving

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

The Michigan football team has a bevy of problems to deal with and questions to answer after Saturday’s 35-14 loss to the Badgers in Madison.

through the offense.”

As this offense searches frantically for its identity, it would seem prudent to start with its best players. As the saying goes, “keep it simple, stupid.”

Michigan’s defense has an identity crisis of its own It was hard to tell where this defense stood after two weeks.

It had allowed 21 points against a meager Middle Tennessee State, but the offense set it up for failure. Same for the showing against Army, in which it held the Black Knights to their lowest rushing yardage total since 2015.

The institutional framework, it seemed, had carried over.

The defense was not the source for concern. While the offense overcame the speedbumps of its transition, the defense could help tread water.

“We finally can play Michigan defense, where we can go back and run our stuff that we run all preseason and all spring practice,” Brown said last week.

“Quite frankly, I’ve been writing Wisconsin cards (and) I’m kind of: ‘Whew, whew.’ I can whip ‘em out like that, because it’s all the stuff our guys know and are comfortable with, and we’ll jump in it at a high level without question.”

So much for that.

The Badgers rampaged their way to 354 rushing yards.

Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan completed 13 of 16 passes, and with comparative ease.

And it wasn’t just that they ran through the Michigan defense, but how. There were no schematic mysteries, no notable gameplan mishaps. This was one team telling its opponent what it planned to do, then shoving it right at them anyway.

For the Wolverines, these are problems that aren’t going away.

The personnel isn’t changing.

The coaching staff isn’t changing.

Three weeks in, all Michigan’s cards are on the table.

And it certainly appears Brown was bluffing.

Harbaugh shoulders blame, looks Wolverines hoping to rebound to correct physicality and hustle ARIA GERSON

Daily Sports Editor

ETHAN SEARS

Managing Sports Editor

You saw it, and so did Jim Harbaugh.

There’s no extra level of analysis needed, no added layers of expertise necessary. Michigan got rocked on Saturday.

Now it has to deal with the fallout.

“Watching the film it was pretty obvious to everybody that was watching in the entire football world, from A to Z, it wasn’t good,” Harbaugh said. “It wasn’t good enough. Not acceptable.”

It wasn’t one area that proved decisive in Wisconsin’s 35-14 win. It was all of them. Coaching.

Physicality. Effort.

On Monday, Harbaugh stood at the podium with the demeanor of a man ready for introspection.

The scene bore all the makings of a normal press conference: Harbaugh standing there in a sweatshirt and khakis with his hands folded, speaking with as much of a filter as he can muster and giving short responses to injury questions. Rarely, though, has the Michigan coach been as direct as he was Monday afternoon.

He took responsibility, and so did the players. He said, repeatedly, that the performance wasn’t acceptable, and that it starts with him. He said the effort wasn’t there on Saturday, giving the requisite cliches about believing in his team, with the caveat that, in all areas, things must improve — no excuses and no way around it.

“We didn’t play physical enough,” Harbaugh said.

“We were out-hustled. I take responsibility for that. In any ways that we were out-schemed, I take responsibility for that.

It’s my job to make sure we are completely sound, in all offenses and defenses that we’re running.”

There are no shortage of areas to improve, but Harbaugh turned the focus to the trenches, on both sides of the ball. Wisconsin outran Michigan by a margin

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh took the blame for Saturday’s loss.

of over 300 yards on Saturday.

The Badgers overwhelmed the Wolverines with size in the run game, breaking open holes for Jonathan Taylor. The subsequent scoring forced Michigan to throw the ball on offense. After the game and on Monday, offensive players talked about how jarring it was to have passed 42 times, “which is something I haven’t seen at Michigan since I’ve been here,” fifth-year senior tackle Jon Runyan Jr. said.

Strictly speaking, he’s incorrect. In 2015, Runyan’s freshman year, Michigan hit that mark three times and it did so in the 2018 Outback Bowl as well. But his answer speaks to something greater.

Despite Josh Gattis’ promises of a vertical passing game, this group still wants its identity to be rooted on the ground. On Saturday, it lost that.

“They took us out of our game that we wanted to play,” Runyan said. “That’s something we’re really not used to, with throwing that many times in a game.”

It doesn’t help that senior quarterback Shea Patterson seemed to be playing through an injury Saturday — Harbaugh said Saturday that he was evaluated at halftime — and was constantly dodging pressure, as Wisconsin racked up two sacks and seven hurries.

Patterson proved his mettle last year, when he threw for 2,600 yards and had as good a season

as any Michigan quarterback has in the last decade. But against Wisconsin, he alternated between running for his life and looking lost.

“We have to do a better job of protecting the quarterback,” Harbaugh said. “Have to give him time to make throws, make reads.

Do what he’s capable of doing, he’s a very good player.”

On Saturday, tight end Nick Eubanks said that the offense dwelled on their early errors, in particular Ben Mason’s fumble near the goal-line. Harbaugh didn’t reject the premise outright on Monday, but he refused to take it as an excuse.

If that bled into effort, it’s correctable, but also as indicting as anything Michigan did on Saturday.

“Effort’s something that can’t be coached it’s kind of a personal business decision you make,” Runyan said. “... Looking back on the film, not trying to call out anyone, but I feel like there were some plays where the effort could’ve been better.

“I think along with effort comes execution. Guys aren’t going to trot on the field being like, ‘I’m probably only going to give 60% of effort this play.’ No one’s thinking that. They were able to exploit those matchups and get to where they wanted to get.”

Acknowledging those errors is the first step. Now it’s on Harbaugh and Michigan to correct them.

word. The Wolverines have shown little cohesion so far, and they’ve struggled to handle in-game adversity. There are multiple areas that need fixing, from run blocking to turnovers to defensive line play. But there’s now plenty of the bad stuff on film for Michigan to learn from. The trick now is to stay mentally strong enough to not get discouraged.

“I’m kinda looking at this loss as a learning moment,” said fifth-year senior offensive lineman Jon Runyan. “I’ve had some hard losses here, this one is early on in the season.

It’s against a Big Ten West opponent. Everything we want is still ahead of us.

“We can’t lose another game.

It’s tough losing a game in the Big Ten already, but we’ve got everything ahead of us. Can’t dwell on this too much or we’re not gonna be moving forward.”

Runyan noted how the Badgers were able to dictate

what the Wolverines did offensively, forcing them to throw the ball way more than they were comfortable with.

Against the Scarlet Knights, the first item on Runyan’s agenda is to force Rutgers’ defense to react to Michigan’s offense, rather than the other way around.

But after the Wolverines are done with their film study, there’s no reason to dwell on Wisconsin anymore. If there’s any hope of still reaching the goals they constantly speak of, they’ll have to keep that game in the past and just keep moving forward.

“It was a bad day for Michigan,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. “And I don’t want that to turn into two losses, don’t let one loss turn into two. ... This week (is) the most important. Win the next game, come back to work and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Jordan Glasgow remembers his first tough loss at Michigan — the infamous “trouble with the snap” play that doomed the Wolverines against Michigan State his freshman year. But they didn’t let it stick with them, winning their next four games — including three on the road — before losing to Ohio State to finish 9-3. Michigan capped it all off with a win in the Citrus Bowl.

Last year, the Wolverines did something similar, dropping their opener at Notre Dame before ripping off a 10-game winning streak to finish 10-2 with a loss to the Buckeyes and a berth in the Peach Bowl.

Neither of those things guarantee that Michigan will do the same this year. After all, the Wolverines looked much worse against Wisconsin on Saturday than they did in their previous early-season losses. But Michigan players still remember that they’ve rebounded before, and going forward, the only thing left to do is believe they can do it again.

“There have been a lot of tough losses since I’ve been here and I don’t think we’ve let any of those losses really define us,” said fifth-year senior linebacker Jordan Glasgow. “ … I feel like we can go on to be a successful team and we can improve going forward.”

The Wolverines pointed out again and again Monday that all their goals are still ahead of them. Every Big Ten East winner since division realignment in 2014 has had at least one loss, and losing to a West team like Wisconsin means that it could still hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against other East foes. And Michigan will enter the easiest part of its schedule: home games with Rutgers and No. 14 Iowa and a road trip to Illinois.

Those games could provide a ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily good opportunity to get back on track, but could is the operative Jordan Glasgow is drawing on past losses in his response to Saturday’s.