2020-01-21 by The Michigan Daily

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Tuesday, January 21, 2020

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Angela Davis discusses Susan Rice shares experience prison reform, civil rights as woman of color in politics

Prominent activist featured as MLK keynote speaker JASMIN LEE

Daily Staff Reporter

“It is important for us to learn how to pay tribute to those whose names we don’t necessarily know,” activist and Martin Luther King Jr. symposium keynote speaker Angela Davis said in her lecture Monday morning at Hill Auditorium. “And to recognize that the agents of history are not so much the leaders and the spokespeople but rather the masses of people who develop a collective imagination regarding the possibility of a new future.” Hill Auditorium was filled to capacity for Davis, a prominent activist, author and distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives (OAMI), among other University of Michigan departments, sponsored The Martin Luther King Jr. symposium. The theme of the symposium was “The (Mis)Education of US.” Davis has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, Syracuse University, Vassar College, Stanford University and others. Davis is also the author of novels

such as “Are Prisons Obsolete?” and a collection of essays called “The Meaning of Freedom.” Davis was once on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten MostWanted Fugitives list and a registered member of the Communist Party for over 30 years. She was also involved with the Black Panther Party and feminist movements. The anticipated turnout was accounted for by overflow rooms in the Michigan League and Hatcher Auditorium. Robert M. Sellers, vice provost for Equity and

Former UN ambassador gives insight on Benghazi, Iran

Permanent Representative in the United Nations from 2009 to 2013 Daily Staff Reporter in the Obama administration. In commemoration of Martin The event was a collaboration Luther King Jr. Day, Susan between the MLK Jr. Symposium Rice, former United Nations and the Weiser Diplomacy Center. Michael S. Barr, dean Ambassador and former National of the Public Policy School and Security Advisor, recalled her favorite quote by Dr. King: “The a former colleague of Rice, arc of the moral universe is long, moderated the conversation and the student Q&A session. but it bends towards justice.” During the talk, Rice discussed The quote was woven along the edges of the Oval Office carpet at her foreign policy decisions, the the beginning of 2012 Benghazi scandal and the challenges she faced as a woman the Obama of color. Rice began by discussing the title of her new book, “Tough Love: My Story of the See DAVIS, Page 3 Things Worth Fighting For.” Rice credited tough love as an aspect of leadership that has encompassed her personal and professional life. “Tough love means loving fiercely but not uncritically. It means that when you care deeply about somebody,” Rice said. “You care enough to give them your unvarnished truth. And do it from the vantage point of someone who has their best interests at heart. (It’s) how I’ve tried to serve our country. I love this country passionately, but I believe we have and do and will make mistakes. And we need to acknowledge them and learn from them.” See RICE, Page 3A RYAN LITTLE/Daily, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, ALEC COHEN/Daily AND DESIGN BY MICHELLE FAN and CHRISTINE JEGARL JULIA FANZERES

Inclusion, and University President Mark Schissel provided opening remarks before Davis took the stage. See DAVIS, Page 3A

Administration. Ambassador Rice said the quote was the guiding principle of her life in public service. “Nobody is going to do the hard bending, if not you and me,” Rice said. On Monday afternoon, hundreds of students and community members including Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., filled Annenberg Auditorium and dozens packed into overflow rooms in the Ford School of Public Policy to hear Rice. Rice has spent decades in public service, most recently serving as the U.S. National Security Advisor from 2013 to 2017 and U.S.

Event talks Cheryl Brown Henderson explores deafness, Brown vs. Board of Education stigma of Daughter of lead plaintiff talks lasting legacy of Supreme Court case using ASL CAMPUS LIFE

CALDER LEWIS

Daily Staff Reporter

Joseph C. Hill gives presentation in sign language, emphasizes intersections of race NAVYA GUPTA

Daily Staff Reporter

Joseph C. Hill, professor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, spoke on the stigma surrounding sign language and the discrimination that follows on Friday evening. The University of Michigan Linguistics Department hosted the event, drawing an audience of about 200 students and professors. The talk, titled “Black, Deaf and Disabled: Navigating the Institutional, Ideological and Linguistic Barriers with Intersectional Identities in the United States,” was presented by Hill in American Sign Language, with a translator communicating the talk to audience members who do not know ASL. Hill spoke about research that confirmed a variation in Black and White American Sign Language and the need to increase the number of Black deaf students in ASL classes. He also commented on a lack of awareness on what makes Black ASL unique. “We need interpreting and deaf education to understand how they connect with the Black deaf community because this is a part of American history as well,” Hill said. See LINGUISTICS, Page 3A

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Activist Cheryl Brown Henderson delivered a lecture on the legacy of landmark desegregation Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education before hundreds of people in the Michigan League Ballroom Monday afternoon. The talk was part of the University of Michigan’s Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium. Brown Henderson is the daughter of lead plaintiff Oliver Brown in Brown v. Board of Education and founding

president of The Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research. The foundation aims to uphold the decision made in Brown v. Board and provides scholarships to minority students. She said Brown v. Board’s legal and cultural impact is huge in this country, and continues to protect key rights. “Brown represents the need to have this country live up to its constitutional principles and its founding documents and all of the things you know were not originally intended for us,” Brown Henderson

said. “Brown v. Board basically defended the sovereign power of all of us in this room as U.S. citizens not to have our rights arbitrarily restricted by state and local governments.” Brown Henderson tied her experiences as a teacher to the Symposium’s theme, “The (Mis)Education of US.” The theme aims to address how minority groups and their experiences are often sidelined, and how this can lead to bias and discrimination. “We don’t understand the importance of teachers,” Brown Henderson said. “Teachers are the bedrock, and

you cannot build a skyscraper without bedrock. If you take the teachers out of the mix, it would be utter chaos.” Rackham student Naitnaphit Limlamai told The Daily after the event that she agreed with Brown Henderson from her vantage point as a high school English teacher for 13 years. “They do these studies where everyone loves the school in their district, but overall they think the schools are awful in the United States,” Limlamai said. “How is that possible if everyone thinks their school district is awesome? See BROWN , Page 3A

CITY

Residents protest against deer cull

FAAWN organizes demonstration in opposition of killing wildlife in Ann Arbor GABRIEL BOUDAGH For The Daily

Around 10 Friends of Ann Arbor Wildlife in Nature members protested the city’s fifth annual deer cull on Saturday afternoon along Washtenaw Avenue. The controversial deer cull is a city-organized program meant to control the deer overpopulation through sharpshooting and sterilization. FAAWN members also protested against the beginning of last year’s deer cull. Despite freezing temperatures and icy conditions, FAAWN member Terry Abrams said he held signs for an hour to raise awareness of the deer cull and their opposition to it. “We’re here for a number of reasons,” Abrams said. “We oppose the killing of wildlife in the city. We think it’s morally wrong to kill the deer. We also think it is a waste of taxpayer money.” Abrams said he believes the city of Ann Arbor misused metrics and statistical data in calculating the deer population, which he claimed led to a renewal of the sharpshooter contract.

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily Cheryl Brown Henderson, daughter of Reverend Oliver L. Brown, one of the 12 parents who filed a suit against the Board of Education, speaks at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium about the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education at the Michigan League Ballroom Moday afternoon.

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Expert explains role of social class on emigration policy in India Center for South Asian Studies hosts Rina Agarwala as part of lecture series ARJUN THAKKAR Daily Staff Reporter

Rina Agarwala, associate professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University discussed the history of Indian emigration at Weiser Hall on Friday afternoon. The Center for South Asian Studies hosted the event as part of a series on the history of emigration and how social class has shaped India’s emigration policy since its independence in 1947. Approximately 15 people attended the presentation titled “Managing Migrants: Class and Emigration from India,” on Monday afternoon. Agarwala centered her talk on how Indian emigrants affect the country’s economic and political development as well as how the country enacts policy to encourage emigration in particular social classes. Director of CSAS Leela Fernandes explained how the Center plans its events a year in advance, including Agarwala’s presentation. “We solicit suggestions from the whole faculty, all the affiliates, and then we make a list, discuss them and then some of it depends on speaker availability,” Fernandes said. “We have a couple of very different backgrounds and we usually try to be representative of different disciplines from history to anthropology and sociology.” Agarwala explained her

RICE From Page 1A She said she achieved many high-profile positions relatively young. This caused a unique set of problems, particularly when learning to lead teams with coworkers and subordinates who were decades older than her. She noted that women and people of

focus on the relationship between emigrants and the country they leave rather than the relationship between immigrants and the country they enter. She described the common narratives the media and academia use to depict immigration as a danger to a country and emigration as an attempt to secure a better future. “When we talk about international migration, by far the biggest focus of scholars and media is on receiving countries,” Agarwala said. “In contrast to the picture we see in receiving countries, where it’s a point of tension and a f lashpoint, in sending countries, emigration, which is sending the migrants out, is often depicted as a pathway to hope, development, prosperity and a legitimate global position.” According to Agarwala, India is the largest emigrantsending country in the world, with approximately 15.6 million emigrants living abroad. She explained many of these emigrants provide what she characterized as low-skilled labor in the Middle East while some are emigrants with higher education degrees who often enter Western countries. Though Agarwala said the country’s emigrants send a low amount of Foreign Direct Investments — business investments within a country that come from foreign

color have to make sure to work twice as hard, especially in these positions. “(You’ve got to be) hardworking and prepared. You know, you can’t mail it in,” Rice said. “You’ve gotta be as good as you possibly can be and take the time to be maximally prepared. I think that’s important for women and for people of color because you’re not going to be cut any slack.

residents — she emphasized that they remain important to the country by sending about $72 billion in remittances, which are finances sent to an individual’s family or community. These remittances primarily come from Indian workers in the Middle East and reportedly account for about 4 percent of the country’s GDP. Agarwala framed her talk around what she characterized as a puzzle in the history of Indian emigration policy. She said despite the remittances from low-skill emigrants, the country has historically restricted low-skilled emigrants while encouraging high-skilled emigrants. “If investment into emigration is a function of national economic development, why would the Indian state be investing so much in its high-skilled migrants abroad when they are gaining so very little from them in economic terms?” Agarwala said. “And similarly, in terms of the low-skilled migrants, when (India is) gaining so much from them, why are they not investing (in) or recognizing them more as the Philippines does or Mexico has?” Agarwala said after India’s independence, the country justified its explicit restrictions on low-skill emigration as a means of protecting them. Emigration policy shifted, according to

You’re not going to necessarily get a second chance to make a first impression.” Rice was also candid when sharing the obstacles she faced as a young woman of color serving with predominantly white, male diplomats. She acknowledged that it was incredibly difficult to lead a team when many of them believed she didn’t deserve the job.

Agarwala, when the oil boom in the Middle East began in the 1970s. The greater demand for labor caused the government to gradually allow for greater low-skilled emigration. India began to expand social welfare and government agencies in the 1970s and early 1980s to help support lowskill emigration, Agarwala explained. However, additional restrictions remained, she said. The government claimed they were in place to protect vulnerable groups of workers, including restrictions on women emigrating from the country. Agarwala said ultimately, India sought to present itself as a source of workers who emigrate across the world. “In order to protect India’s national image in the world, government officials … have projected low-skilled immigration as a result of India’s advanced, efficient and modern political society,” Agarwala said. “India posits itself as a sending country of high quality labor at the tertiary level, but also at the low-skill level.” LSA senior Shreya Chandra attended the event for her South Asian diaspora course and said she believed the talk was thought-provoking. “I never really thought about, like as she was saying, the emigrant side of it, so that was really interesting to hear about,” Chandra said.

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Business Staff “When I got to the State Department at 32, I was an African-American woman who just had a baby, a breastfeeding mother,” Rice said. “And so figuring out in that context, you know, how to lead and manage teams when, frankly, many of them thought I didn’t deserve to be in a job I was in, was a real challenge.” See RICE, Page 3A

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DAVIS From Page 1A Jeryne Fish, Business graduate student and student-athlete, introduced Davis by talking about Davis’ life as an activist and how that has affected her work. The Guild, a poetry collective, kicked off the event with a skit and poem about highlighting narratives often overlooked in American classrooms. Guild member Candace Jackson, Rackham student, told The Daily the message of the performance was to show different perspectives in history that have been sugarcoated. “A lot of the events that happened throughout the Civil Rights Movement and beyond with indigenous people are usually sugarcoated, they’re not usually the truth,” Jackson said. “They’re typically skewed to favor the dominant, white, upper-class perspective. So we’re just trying to shed light on that perspective.” Davis was welcomed onto the stage with a standing ovation. She started her speech speaking about King, mentioning the fact that King spoke at the University in 1962. She noted having seen King, Rosa Parks and Malcolm X in her youth, adding that elementary students even asked her if she had met Harriet Tubman. In her talk, Davis emphasized celebrating King’s birthday as a symbol of achievement after the struggle for Black freedom. “With MLK Day, not only do we celebrate the spirit of a Civil Rights Movement, but also the fact that the declaration of King’s birthday as an official holiday,” Davis said. “Because this is the outcome of a

BROWN From Page 1A So it’s not just about valuing teachers but it’s also about supporting them.” Brown Henderson emphasized the ongoing inequalities in American education, citing the contemporary charter school and voucher movements. She also said the wellknown Supreme Court announcement from Brown v. Board, “in the field of public education, separate but equal

LINGUISTICS From Page 1A

“Also, people see Black Deaf ASL and recognize it, but they don’t necessarily understand what makes it and how exactly it is different and unique from the other language variations that are out there.” Hill also commented on the myth that American Sign Language is universally understood. “A lot of people here think that oh, American Sign Language must be universal,” Hill said. “No, it’s not. Gestures and movements might be, but the actual features of the language are not.” Hill discussed intersectionality as it applies to sign language, adding that different identities impact

very long struggle.” Sellers recognized that the land the University campus resides on belonged to indigenous people. Davis said other universities she’s spoken at have not made that same acknowledgement. Davis also discussed the role indigenous people played in helping the Black struggle for freedom, referencing slave rebellions in South Carolina and Hispaniola. “In each of those uprisings, African people were assisted by indigenous people,” Davis said. “You can not accurately narrate the history of the Black struggle for freedom without taking into account the pivotal role that the indigenous people played in that struggle.” LSA freshman Clara Paz Núñez-Regueiro said she felt it was important that Davis acknowledged the connection between the struggles of indigenous people and Black people. “One of the things that really stood out to me, especially as a woman of indigenous descent, is the fact that she spoke about the solidarity between Black and indigenous people and how our struggle for liberation and for equality is so much more than that,” Núñez-Regueiro said. “It’s so intertwined and intrinsically connected, and that was incredible. I feel so cleansed after seeing that.” One of Davis’ passions is prison reform, as she spent 18 months in jail and on trial during the 1970s. She touched on the issues of the prison system and how companies are making profits from deportations and building larger prisons. Davis shared an example

News of how the company G4S is making a profit from the prison system and deportation services. “One of the largest corporations in the world, G4S, is self-identified as the world’s leading global integrated, security company … G4S has owned for-profit prisons all over the country and all over the world,” Davis said. “Most of its custodial, education services, immigration and border services and its rehabilitation services … are services for profit.” Davis spoke about abolishing the prison system, linking it to the system of slavery. “Abolition is not simply about abolishing the institution of the prison as a discrete institution,” Davis said. “It is not enough to focus on abolition in the narrow sense and this we learned as lessons from the so-called abolition of slavery.” LSA freshman Binta Wilson told The Daily Davis’ words on incarceration changed her perspective on the government’s role within the prison system. “I resonated with (her talk) because it just changed my viewpoint on a lot of things in the government, in the country as a whole and other countries,” Wilson said. “She basically alluded that the prison system was like modernday slavery and that is true. I do believe that and that touched me.” Davis also emphasized that many progressive achievements get universalized, implying more change than what actually occurred. She used women gaining the right to vote as an example — this historic achievement only granted white women the vote. “This is the year 2020,” Davis said. “What significant centennial

anniversary are we observing this year? … White women got the vote in 1920. That is what we should acknowledge, and that is very important, and I applaud that. But all women did not get the vote in 1920. Black women did not legally acquire the right to vote until 1965, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act.” In her ending remarks, Davis also discussed respecting those who identify with the LGTBQ+ movement and their contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. “Feminism is important not simply to acknowledge that women are affected by the prison system, (but) trans people and gender nonconforming people,” Davis said. LSA freshman Will McClelland told The Daily Davis’ words about the LGBTQ community meant a lot to him because of his personal experiences. “What really stuck out to me was near the end when she started talking about trans and nonbinary people, just because that’s an issue especially close to home for me,” McClean said. “It’s really important to see a lot of these issues interconnected. I think she really emphasized how all of these social problems that we have are so firmly entrenched and the connections going between all of it, and I think a lot of that does fall under the capitalist institutions.” LSA freshman Mahnoor Imran said she admired how Davis spoke about multiple issues to show the audience how they are all interconnected.

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RICE From Page 2A Rice said her motivation to write her memoir stemmed from the accusations during and after the attack on two United States government facilities in Benghazi in 2012, which she acknowledges as a pivotal moment in her life. She detailed making the decision to go on national television in place of then-Secretary Clinton, who had turned down the offer, and how she inadvertently gave false information due to incorrect intelligence. “I (went on) the Sunday shows and I used the information that had been provided to me by our intelligence community,” Rice said. “The talking points … conveyed our current best knowledge of what had happened, and I stuck to them faithfully.” Rice then detailed that after her appearances on national television, the intelligence community released a public statement that the information they had given to public officials, including Rice, contained inaccuracies. “After all the investigations and reviews of the information, the talking points I used turned out to be wrong in one critical respect, there was no demonstration outside our diplomatic compound in Benghazi,” Rice said. “But the other aspects, over time, ended up holding up.” In the aftermath of the scandal, Rice said she was attacked by several Congressmen

who criticized her competence and intelligence. These continued attacks after the 2012 election led her to remove herself from consideration as Secretary of State for President Obama’s second term. “I was thinking about the President’s second term agenda; the things he had on his plate to do,” Rice said. “Even if I was likely to be confirmed … it would have been a long, ugly, costly battle that would have distracted from what we needed to get done. And so I made the judgment that I should withdraw my name.” Yet Rice was also frustrated by mischaracterizations from both sides of the media. She said she remembers either being characterized as a liar and villain or on the other extreme, a hero. She said as a public servant representing the United States, speaking on behalf of the country and the President, she could not speak on her own behalf. “Part of why I wanted to write ‘Tough Love’ was not only to share what I have learned through my family, my growing up, and my service in government. But also to do what my father had always taught us which is: ‘define yourself for yourself,’” Rice said. Rice’s advice appealed to students who found it refreshing to hear about leadership experiences in a candid manner. Public Policy senior Lillie Heyman said Rice’s call to action was particularly impactful.

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has no place,” was not the most important aspect of the decision. “The part of the opinion I believe he should’ve announced says that education is the most important act of state and local governments, and that no child can expect to succeed in life without the benefits of an education and that education is the foundation of citizenship and should on an equal measure,” Brown Henderson said. “Maybe we wouldn’t still be fighting, 66 years later, over who has a right to a world-

class education.” LSA freshman Taylor Johnson said she appreciated the historical significance of Brown Henderson’s visit to the University and said it put her own experience on campus in perspective. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to have someone who lived during that time where people like me struggled to get an education that was deemed adequate,” Johnson said. “I feel like for students of color it’s a really big thing to take your education seriously since

these people had to get taunted basically every single day while trying to go to these schools that were newly integrated.” At the end of her presentation, Brown Henderson called the audience to action, encouraging everyone to vote if they want to see a more equitable education system. “It’s up to us to speak out, especially at the ballot box,” Brown Henderson said. “Being a United States citizen is not a spectator sport. It’s not something you can just sit

idly by and observe. You have to be engaged, you have to participate.” Following the event, LSA senior Nando Felton told The Daily Brown Henderson’s lecture inspired him as he starts a nonprofit organization in the education sector and hopes to work in education policy. “In the grand scheme of things, we have to put people in office that make positive change, we have to make sure that the administration makes the change, and even the person that ends up in

the White House has to make that change,” Felton said. “That’s the kind of work and the footsteps I want to follow to make sure I can be in a position to make change.” Brown Henderson closed her talk with a message of unity. “Often times I think our biggest challenge with respect to race and diversity, multicultural issues and issues of gender, is a perception gap,” she said. “If you sit down over a cup of coffee, that perception soon melts away.”

differences in language. “You have to consider the intersectionality of individuals as a factor for language variation,” Hill said. “Often it’s not just one identity but several that come into play and you don’t even have to pick a primary or prioritize any one of those languages.” Hill said audism, a form of discrimination against deaf people, affects the daily lives of those with hearing loss. “It is a type of marginalization or oppression,” Hill said. “It means things like no closed captioning, or when I show up there is no interpreter. It impacts your earning potential and your educational opportunities, as well.” Hill said some parents of deaf children are advised against teaching their children sign language due to the stigma against it. He spoke

about how this impacts deaf children’s growth and essential development. “When they’re not being taught sign language, it’s language deprivation,” Hill said. “It is connected with their health, it is their social connection, it is their comprehensive development that is being impacted.” During his lecture, Hill showed the audience a video addressing the opinions of older and younger generations in regards to differences between Black and White ASL. Hill highlighted the contrast between the viewpoints of the two generations. “You’ll see the elder group talking about their language and they do notice the differences between White and Black ASL,” Hill said. “But there’s no pride in their language, whereas the younger group sees it as a connection to their culture or

their identity and their social group. The older group seemed to have a more minor view of their own language whereas the younger group is more positive.” Rackham student Kate Sherwood said it is essential for people to realize the differences between Black and White ASL to avoid the misconception that Black ASL doesn’t exist. “If you don’t acknowledge the difference in White ASL and Black ASL, you’re going to assume that White ASL is the only thing there is, which is false,” Sherwood said. “It would also result in a lot of marginalization of Black ASL speakers.” Rackham student Rachel Weissler agreed about the importance of recognizing the variations in forms of ASL.

DEER From Page 1A

garden plants. However, FAAWN member Marianne Lembfeld said it is the city’s construction efforts that have given the deer no choice but to come farther inside the city and eat some at some of the gardens. “It is morally wrong to sharpshoot animals who came to this city,” Lembfeld said. “There is so much construction going on at the outskirts of Ann Arbor, where the deer used to live. Where should they go?” Abrams said gardeners should be taught effective ways to maintain a beneficial environment for both gardeners and deer. “There are methods of doing that, as there are plants that deer like and plants that deer don’t like,” Abrams said. “There’s fencing that they can employ in their gardens.” Abrams said FAAWN members have been attending public city meetings to describe their frustrations about the deer cull. “There are a lot of people in the city who actually enjoy seeing deer,” Abrams stated. “So (city officials) they’re saying they’re going to address a problem because of the deer, but they’re not addressing the enjoyment that residents of Ann Arbor have by seeing the deer.” Ann Arbor resident Bernie Banet expressed his confusion about why deer culling is a topic of contention. “Some of us are completely baffled at why 150 deer in Ann Arbor get all the attention from some of the animal protection groups and they say nothing about thousands of deer. It’s very strange,” Banet said. “They may have some reason for focusing on Ann Arbor, but it’s not part of a consistent ethical stance or a political opposition to hunting. It’s just a weird Ann Arbor thing.” Christopher Dick, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan, previously told The Daily he thinks the cull is necessary to keep the deer population in check and protect the local ecosystem. “They basically eat away at the forest understory, so there’s no regeneration of the forest,” Dick said.

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“The city is not using metrics to determine how many deer there are in the city or how successful the program of killing deer for the last few years has been,” Abrams said. “So they keep renewing the (White Buffalo Inc. sharpshooter) contract.” Other members of FAAWN, such as Cathy Shafer, agreed with Abrams, saying she believes the city of Ann Arbor hasn’t progressed in reducing the deer population by conducting this deer cull. “It doesn’t seem to –– according to (city officials) –– have improved the situation they’re concerned about,” Shafer said. “It isn’t going anywhere, so I think it is a waste of (taxpayer) money.” One reason the deer cull began was in response to city officials receiving complaints that deer were eating

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Opinion

4A — Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

EVAN STERN | COLUMN

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

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Editorial Page Editors

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Alanna Berger Brittany Bowman Zack Blumberg Emily Considine Cheryn Hong

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Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of The Daily’s Editorial Board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

ISABELLE SCHINDLER | COLUMN

The need for congressional term limits

few weeks ago, I was scrolling through Twitter when I came across an article talking about the 84 current members of Congress who were also serving during President Clinton’s impeachment hearings. The Clinton impeachment took place in 1998, over two decades ago, before many University of Michigan students — myself included — were born. The fact that there are over 80 members serving today who have been in Congress longer than our lifetimes is absurd. That is why we need to work to implement term limits for our members of Congress. Currently, there are no term limits on how long a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate can serve. This leads to many members of Congress having extremely long tenures. Proponents of term limits argue that term limits will help bring new ideas to the table, encourage people to vote and lead to less gridlock in Washington. This is all grounded in the theory that one of the main issues in Washington today is aging lawmakers who have been in Congress for decades and subsequently have a monopoly on power. It is not hard to see validity in this point. Incumbent lawmakers do have many advantages, such as increased name recognition and successful campaign experience. This makes it difficult for other candidates to challenge them, whether through a primary challenge or in the general election. A 2018 analysis of incumbency reelection found sitting lawmakers being reelected over 80 percent of the time in all the local, state and

federal races surveyed across the United States. Even if new members make it into Congress, much of the power lies in the hands of the leadership, who are mostly career politicians with long tenures in Congress. This can prevent new lawmakers from making an impact, which in turn may send a message to voters that their vote doesn’t matter because their representative cannot accomplish anything. Therefore, many people argue that the best way to overcome this problem is through the passage of term limits, which will lead to new blood and an influx of unique ideas. Opponents of term limits argue that it is crucial to gain expertise and become knowledgeable on important issues — something that can only come with experience. Therefore, opponents argue that term limits will force out effective lawmakers. This won’t be a problem, given how much of the policy and constituent work is done by the staff, not the representatives themselves. My opinions about term limits are influenced by the experiences I have had working in politics. This past summer, I interned for my member of Congress in his district office. While working there, I learned about an aspect of Congressional work that is often forgotten: constituent casework. Every day, the staff at the Congressman’s office would work tirelessly to help constituents on issues ranging from immigration to social security to the postal service. The people working in the office had countless years of

experience and knew the laws and the processes inside and out. It is these government workers who are in the trenches on a daily basis working to help constituents. These are people with years of experience navigating the complicated bureaucratic system. I would hope that these dedicated and crucially important employees often retain their position, even if a new member is elected. This helps to assuage fears about term limits leading to a lack of experience, because experienced staff will still be in place. In order to help further alleviate the concerns of detractors, we should institute term limits that are long enough to allow for representatives to have enough time to complete meaningful work without serving for multiple decades. A good limit would be six terms, or 12 years, for the House and two terms, or 12 years, for the Senate. 12 years is a reasonable amount of time for members to accomplish a sufficient amount while still allowing an influx of new ideas and the ability for diverse voices to be heard. Many politicians on both sides of the aisle, from Republican senators to Democratic presidential candidates, have called for term limits of this exact length. Change and progress help to make us grow stronger. By putting in place reasonable term limits, we can help to transform Congress into a more fair and effective legislative body. Isabelle Schindler can be reached at ischind@umich.edu.

ANNA GETZINGER | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT GETZINGA@UMICH.EDU

We need to promote tougher border security

n a bold policy move taking place in the final days of 2019, New Jersey lawmakers approved legislation that would permit undocumented immigrants in the state to secure drivers’ licenses. Signed shortly after by Gov. Phil Murphy, New Jersey has now joined several other states, including New York and California, who have already begun offering licenses to millions of undocumented immigrants across the country. With the proposal dominated by Democratic support, advocates emphasize the safer driving conditions that the practice generates for undocumented immigrants and all motorists in general. Fewer unlicensed drivers mean better roads for everybody. Many conservatives have grumbled about this news, but there’s nothing wrong with policies that make our roads and highways safer. Officials in New Jersey are serving their constituencies and confronting the concerning flood of undocumented immigration into our nation. These states aren’t to blame for our immigration problem. These states are responding to the problem. In the end, these policy moves point to the steady stream of undocumented immigration that made them necessary in the first place. People who aren’t taking the correct steps to live in The United States are flocking here in great numbers. According to figures published by the Pew Research Center, the number of undocumented immigrants across the U.S. has steadily risen since 1990 until about 2010, after which it has more or less remained constant, if not fallen. However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data proves this

problem is still rampant, indicating that hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants are still apprehended every year at our borders. In 2017, about 300,000 individuals were detained at the southwestern border, lower than previous years but still far too large. States like Wyoming are home to less than 600,000 people in their entirety. Undocumented immigrants are not bad people. They are individuals from all different backgrounds who want a better shot at a safe and secure life. They want their children to have better lives and they want to be part of our great nation. Unfortunately, when they fail to take the necessary steps to lawfully enter the U.S. and instead become undocumented, immigrants not only endanger themselves and others, but they also pose a dangerous risk to our security, economy and society. Large-scale undocumented immigration is unacceptable because it carries so many risks. Allowing undocumented immigration to occur is a direct assault on the well-being of the migrants themselves, not to mention the potential danger for American citizens. According to an ABC News report published about a year ago, hundreds of immigrants die trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border every year. Many others, according to the Department of Homeland Security, have been rescued by authorities from deadly situations. Far beyond this, undocumented immigration poses a serious threat to national security, something that has a profound effect on us all. How can anybody be comfortable with letting people into our nation that we know nothing about? While we don’t know a good deal

about many U.S. citizens, we have an obligation to get to know those who originate from other locations before welcoming them to our country. According to the Heritage Foundation, a think-tank based in Washington, D.C., non-citizens made up 64 percent of all federal arrests in 2018 despite comprising only 7 percent of the national population (although this may be due to their undocumentated status instead of further crimes committed on American soil). In Texas, a large border state, the Foundation noted that undocumented immigrants accounted for nearly 70 percent of the state’s prison population over roughly the last decade. In the same timeframe, undocumented immigrants have been charged with almost 500,000 criminal offenses, including assaults, homicides and kidnappings. Besides this, undocumented immigrants have also been connected to extensive drug and human trafficking that have taken a great toll on border communities. “The fact that our border can be penetrated so easily leaves us vulnerable to national security threats and has resulted in an influx of criminal activity, especially as it relates to narcotics and human trafficking,” according to Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark. “It is a serious crisis in need of a serious legislative solution.” In addition to the horrific human trafficking situation that has unfolded at our borders, drug trafficking especially has endangered and destroyed countless lives in U.S. communities, throwing deadly illegal substances into every corner of our nation.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com Evan Stern can be reached at erstern@umich.edu.

MARY ROLFES | COLUMN

Finding a sharper solution to the anti-vaccine movement

ary Poppins said it best — sometimes “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” The saying refers to the general idea that accomplishing something unpleasant is more doable by manufacturing a bit of fun, but it can be seen quite literally in the world of medicine. We inject all sorts of sweetness into unpleasant tasks, especially those for children, such as adding fruity flavoring to cough syrups, shaping vitamins like cartoon characters and rewarding them with a piece of candy for good behavior at a doctor’s appointment. Administering shots is much more difficult to sweeten; not much can be done about the fact that the needle is going to pinch. Still, many doctors and nurses try their best, by making shots into a fun game or by promising a special bandage after. Ensuring proper medical care is necessary to support individuals in leading their best lives and to produce a healthier population, but sometimes this care can be uncomfortable, frightening and downright painful. Many medical practitioners and institutions emphasize compassion, understanding and a little bit of sweetness to support their patients through difficult procedures. Unfortunately, this principle does seem to have its limits, especially when a medical issue becomes highly publicized. At present, the societal response to the hot button issue of the anti-vaccine movement has been overwhelmingly bitter. It’s understandable why it’s difficult to take a saccharine approach to such a scary issue. Many believe the anti-vaccine movement will leave a large population vulnerable to illnesses with horrifying side effects which ravaged entire societies just decades ago. As such, the fear and rhetoric surrounding anti-vaccination are somewhat out of proportion to the actual scale of decreasing vaccinations. According to a 2017 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vaccination rates remain relatively stable and high. Still, the same report does note that the proportion of children receiving no vaccines by 24 months of age has increased, albeit slightly and gradually. This small increase matters, however; the decline in vaccinations is often credited as causing a “global resurgence” of preventable diseases, inhibiting the goal of eradication. Measles is an especially notable example — although it

was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, it has recently made an infamous comeback. The year 2019 saw the highest number of reported cases since 1992, totaling 1,241 as of September 5. The prospect of measles and other debilitating and deadly diseases returning to the U.S. is certainly terrifying, so the vitriolic reaction to the anti-vaccine movement seems only natural. The term “anti-vaxxer” has become pejorative, often grouped with the same type of “stupid” as flatearthers and climate change deniers. Unfortunately, this vilification is unlikely to sway those hesitant about vaccination to the positive side. In fact, a hateful response only serves to deepen divides, allowing the anti-vaccine movement to create a narrative of persecution. With the anti-vaccine sentiment taking a continually deeper hold in the U.S., it is imperative to reassess how we are approaching this movement, and shifting the basis of our policies and discussions to understanding and compassion. For one, skepticism of vaccination is often treated as ignorance and stupidity. But many people have personal and cultural histories with the institution of medicine that lead to understandable hesitation and mistrust, which may include the prospect of vaccination. Furthermore, the concept of vaccination is certainly not intuitive. The narrative of illness prevention is largely based on avoiding germs, so the idea of having germs inserted into one’s body seems directly in opposition. Beyond active or inactive viral cultures, many other ingredients that compose vaccines do not merely seem scary — we have been warned to avoid them, notably formaldehyde and mercury-containing thimerosal. Of course, vaccines have been well established as scientifically and medically safe. But a mere statement of safety accompanied by absolute authority instead of understandable evidence can be intimidating and isolating rather than convincing. Skepticism is largely treated as irrational and unreasonable, but this black-and-white response is incredibly invalidating and frustrating. Instead, patients should be treated as rational, capable of having reasonable concerns and discussions about the evidence behind vaccine safety. Reason is a far more effective response than resentment. It is also important to acknowledge the emotions which

accompany vaccination. These emotions may contribute to irrational thinking, but mitigating irrational responses are not always accomplished by outright ignoring such feelings. Often, the decision against vaccination is made by parents on behalf of their children, and many vaccines are scheduled for the first couple of months of life. Parents are tasked with the heavy responsibility of caring for this delicate, fragile new person, so it’s understandable that protective instincts may kick in at the thought of several massive needles containing viral cultures being injected into them. YouTuber Unnatural Vegan summarizes this well, noting her own emotional response to her child’s vaccination — while her “rational” side knows vaccines are safe and necessary, her emotions did cause a moment of hesitation. For a new parent who doesn’t understand vaccination and has never seen the diseases they prevent, such emotions may cause an even more influential response. Instead of invalidating this emotional response, the focus should instead be on increasing understanding of the technology and the importance of vaccination. Validate protective parental instincts, and channel them into protecting children from preventable and potentially deadly diseases. Instead of operating with absolute authority, treat parents as autonomous decisionmakers in their children’s health, supported by medicine rather than ruled by it. Clearly, the bitter approach to the anti-vaccine is not the most effective one. Maybe it’s time to try employing a bit of sweetness instead. Maybe it’s a spoonful of compassion — rather than hatred — that we should utilize in the effort to quell the influence of the anti-vaccine movement. Vaccines absolutely are a revolutionary, priceless public health technology that should be embraced and utilized by as many people as possible. Creating a more positive attitude toward vaccination will not be accomplished by fighting fire with fire — or by reacting to ambivalence with bitterness. Finding a smarter approach to this prickly subject is not just crucial for the health outcomes of individuals — it is a public health imperative. Mary Rolfes can be reached at morolfes@umich.edu.

Arts

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Tuesday, January 21, 2020 — 5A

DAILY LITERATURE COLUMN

TV REVIEW

Declarative and knotty, all at once: On Joan Murray EMILY YANG

Daily Literature Columnist

NETFLIX

‘Sex Education’ Season 2: the show that 2020 needs ANYA SOLLER Daily Arts Writer

A confused teenage girl sighs, “I think I might be broken.” Dr. Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson, “The X-Files”) replies, “Sex doesn’t make us whole. So how could you be broken?” Though Dr. Milburn is speaking to one of the many students at Moordale Secondary School who comes to ask her advice, she’s really talking to you. This therapy session isn’t just for the sake of fiction. The message is clear and it’s meant for the viewing audience. In the second season of Netf lix’s “Sex Education,” sixteen-year-old Otis (Asa Butterfield, “The Space Between Us”) reopens his ‘sex advice clinic’ at his high school with his best friends Eric (Ncuti Gatwa, “Stonemouth”) and Maeve (Emma Mackey, “Badger Lane”). Business is booming, as an outbreak of chlamydia-based hysteria has wreaked havoc on the student population of Moordale. Despite the business’ success, Otis’ personal life is in shambles: Now dating classmate Ola (Patricia Allison, “Moving On”), Otis learns that his mother, Dr. Milburn, also happens to be dating Ola’s father. Realizing the poor sexed curriculum is the culprit behind the community’s descent into chaos, the board hires Dr. Milburn to interview the student body in hopes of revising lessons to actually

answer their most pressing questions. These first few episodes of the season capture what makes “Sex Education” so remarkable — sexuality has been ignored for so long by so many institutions that a whole town goes mad. In a high school that needs not one, but two relationship therapists, the deep-seated cultural issues surrounding sex are

Sex Education Season 2, Ep. 1-4 Netflix Now Streaming

more present than ever. Every student that consults Otis or Dr. Milburn considers them a godsend, and with the school’s limited curriculum, it’s not hard to see why. “Sex Education” takes place in a slightly fantastical midway between America and Britain and represents the most potent aspects of each

country’s pop culture. A wide variety of races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, religions, abilities and lifestyles are represented and united by their collective lack of representation in education and public awareness. Students struggle with unwanted pregnancies, confusion over sexual orientation, personal trauma and all the complex emotions that accompany the universal experience of growing up in 2020. Despite addressing mature topics and including explicit love scenes, “Sex Education” may be the most wholesome show on TV right now. Based entirely on the idea that talking about your problems will help you feel better, the show has become therapeutic for not only its characters but its audience as well. The conf licts of the story are resolved with honesty, empathy and clear communication. In a culture that emphasizes silence and shame in matters of sexuality, the refreshing notion that kindness and understanding can make a difference feels groundbreaking. Of all the advice given in “Sex Education,” none of it is meant solely for the high school students or their clueless parents and teachers. Every second of the show is crafted to teach its audience that they’re okay. No one is truly abnormal. No one is truly broken. Sexuality is nothing to be afraid or ashamed of, and “Sex Education” is begging you to realize it. This education is for you, so you better take some good notes.

I think I heard about Joan Murray via an article in The New Yorker by Dan Chiasson. What jumped out at me was a poem short enough for him to quote in full: Three mountains high, O you are a deep and marvelous blue. It was with my palms That I rounded out your slopes; There was an easy calmness, An irrelevant ease that touched me And I stretched my arms and smoothed Three mountains high. I rarely remember in detail anything I read on the internet, but this poem stuck with me: it has a sort of slant symmetry to it, an incantatory quality, a mysterious momentum. I love that the word “irrelevant” is used instead of “irreverent,” and I love that calmness is modified with “easy.” The poem’s design is small even as its scale expands so that the speaker can hold mountains in her arms. It expanded in my mind after I read it, acquired a prismatic quality. I found a collection of her poems shortly after that. She had a short, strange life. She was born in 1917 and died before her 25th birthday, leaving behind a body of work largely incomplete and fragmentary. Toward the end of her wayward, largely selfdirected education, Murray took a few classes in poetry from Auden at The New School and sought out his feedback. Before then, she had studied acting and dance, but it was her encounter with Auden that prompted her to focus on poetry and to produce most of her extant written work. Her mother blamed her death (from the heart condition she had since youth) on Auden, who had prompted her compositional mania. Grant Code, the editor who prepared her poems for posthumous publication, described her papers as “a confusion: pages of prose mixed with pages of verse and scarcely two pages of anything together that belonged together.” Her poetry existed at the time of her death in a stage of complete disarray, as it was largely all still in the process of being written and edited. The exuberance of this brief period of composition is palpable in the writing. There’s an unschooled sincerity, an absence of being weighed down by what came before her. It feels like she is perpetually stumbling on her own ability to send sparks flying. Her poetry finds unexpected connections between

images, juxtapositions that have a mysterious, incantatory energy. It’s unsparingly sharp, with little connective tissue, jumping from vague impressions to deep feeling and back again. The strength of her images insists on meaning that must be disentangled from the surface texture, which is often grammatically ambiguous and sparsely punctuated. Take this untitled poem, which opens as follows: Instinct and sleep you are two passages that converge Two faces that stare and reflect back one vision The sea and the night both stir their profound surge Each shouldering the boundary of their prison. A man who has raised the inhibited line of off horizon Will stretch his thought to the beach where two converge. The poem begins by setting up an opposition that wanders into a metaphor and runs with it, then introduces an inexplicable character, creating convolutions in its structures of meaning that aren’t entirely clear on the surface. It’s also possible that this first stanza is just the product of a wandering mind — the image of the sea simply letting sleep reverberate through it. She has this way of remaining declarative and knotty all at once, delivering ambiguities emphatically. She writes with themes in mind, though, themes that become more apparent the more one reads her. Her repository of images is more schematic than it appears at first, tending toward the Classic and pastoral. She frequently uses the image of small, insular groups of people, marriage, heady admiration and longing (which can bring Sappho to mind — she gets a mention in the poem “Ascetic: Time Misplaced”). She finds in water (especially the ocean) a metaphor for instinct and indeterminacy. The sea appears as a kind of Dionysian force, symbolizing intuition and sensuality alongside the immateriality and uncertainty of the mind. Just as frequently, the built environment stands in for human agency and ambition and all we want to accomplish in the world. These two opposing poles are frequently played off each other. In one of her only titled poems, “The Builder,” “the young of the people” insist that “it is the action of water that is the nearest thing to man.” They are rejoined to remain at their task — “We’re building towers of Babel that will crumble down before dawn.” The striking fourth stanza of the builder recounts an intense desire: “If there is sea I want

First Aid Kit’s ‘Strange Beauty’: grief put to words MADELEINE GANNON Daily Arts Writer

“David died yesterday.” This is the opening declaration of First Aid Kit’s single “Strange Beauty.” Whispered in soft, lilting undertones, as if a word spoken too harshly will break it, the opening of the song lulls the listener into hypnosis. The world keeps turning, the song keeps playing and First Aid Kit keeps singing. Then the dam breaks and reality crashes through –– “It’s left me gasping at the wheel.” One question lingers in the turbulence: “Oh, how can I explain the colossal loss I feel?” A line that hangs all at once heavy as a stone and light as a feather, suspended perpetually in the intangible cavern of song. It is only in the second verse that reality sets in –– Death has finally come to call. A parallel to the numbing shock of mourning, First Aid Kit’s “Strange Beauty” is a heartbreaking, morbid tribute to loss. The mysterious “David” whom First Aid Kit mourns in “Strange Beauty” and “Random Rules” is late musician David Berman, who passed away in August of 2019. “I think a lot of people were as

shocked as I was upon hearing the news of David Berman’s passing,” Klara Söderberg, one of the Söderberg sisters, noted in a public statement. “It didn’t seem real. It left me completely devastated. So I wrote the song ‘Strange Beauty’ to try to make sense of my feelings.” There is something that rings fresh and raw in the crooning of First Aid Kit’s songs; something that, months later, still wears that stain of mourning. The two-track release functions as its own call and response. “Random Rules,” a cover from Berman’s band Silver Jews, is honest and vulnerable, a tribute to Berman’s memory. Where “Random Rules” looks for comfort in the past, “Strange Beauty” tackles the bleakness of the present and future. While each song can stand comfortably on its own, it feels like a betrayal to indulge in the grief of “Strange Beauty” in divorce with the heartfelt celebration of “Random Rules.” “In 1984, I was hospitalized for approaching perfection,” First Aid Kit echoes in the opening lines of “Random Rules.” There is something painful, aching, in the chorus of “Strange Beauty”: “And when you are gone, the world it moves on / But it’s lost its strange beauty,” for the absence

of Bernam’s self-proclaimed “perfection” has dulled the colors of the world –– at least, in the eyes of First Aid Kit. But why do I feel the urge to return to the grim, rainy day of “Strange Beauty”? In part, it is the lingering resonance of grief, mourning and infantile blindness that permeates the song, and which strikes the heart so thoroughly. It is hard to forget the aching rhetoric of the Söderberg sisters. More so, it is the lack of acknowledgement for the track’s novelty that drives me to write about this single. The coverage of First Aid Kit’s tribute has been unforgivably shallow, concise and breezed over. In its coverage, “Strange Beauty” simply nods to an artist of obscurity, David Bernam; a quiet affirmation that First Aid Kit remains relevant and active in their music making, that they have not faded into the swirling pot of unknown names and inconsequential bands. “Strange Beauty,” however, is more than Bernam, more than First Aid Kit and more than any throw-away filler piece to meet a deadline. “Strange Beauty” is grief put to words –– a miraculous feat, when grief so often loss robs us of our speech, cruelly infantilizing its victims with the crippling isolation of heartbreak. First Aid Kit offers

to pack it up in my arms / And let the blue globe of all that water fill in my mouth / Rill up my head, my chest, burst out of the sullen seed of my loin.” The built environment is a central concern of hers more generally. Buildings are the product of the mind that change their meaning by being lived in, a canny metaphor for cultural production and the weight of history. She has multiple poems that use an architect as a sort of archetypal figure. She frequently imagines her architect as “unemployed,” dreaming about possibility without being able to act. To me, this misses according with Ayn Rand if only because she devotes pages and pages of poetry to the lives of workers. She has poems that examine the builders who enact the designs of architects and devotes special attention to the small country houses she saw in Vermont. More anecdotally, Farnoosh Fathi, in her introduction to the 2017 NYRB edition of her poems, quotes her as once selfdescribing as a “labor-unionist or communist” Joan of Arc, which is the kind of image that would sound ridiculous from anyone else but just about fits her. She makes a convincing mystic and has the same fervor. Like Joan of Arc, Murray has a kind of lowercase “q” queerness about her, intimations that never really rise to the surface. She describes husbands hypothetically in her pastoral poems, but her own devotions, both in poetry and prose, are to other women. She has two poems, “Ego Alter Ego” and “On Dit!” that recount extended gazes on women, the former close by the sea (again), and the latter during a candlelit night. Fathi opens her selection of Murray’s correspondance with a jaw-dropping letter to the novelist Helen Anderson that opens with something that feels like erotic worship. “Dear Helen, I am held speechless in the hands of some spirit indefinite and prostrate. Oh, believe me, the nights slip an endless chain of thought to where the curve of your body and the subtle uplift of the neck and head are pillowed, and I may only dream that perhaps there is a traced loveliness that is your thought, lingering for a moment in the vacuum of a moment’s shadow or a moment’s life.” It’s possible that she means this in what is ultimately a chaste way, but it’s also undeniable that this breathless sentence speaks for itself.

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Arts

6A — Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW

FILM REVIEW

G. Love & Special Sauce pull off R&B at The Ark STEPHANIE GURALNICK Daily Arts Writer

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

‘Dolittle’ has little to offer SABRIYA IMAMI Daily Arts Writer

Robert Downey Jr. (“Avengers: Endgame”) has had many successful movies over the years, despite personal difficulties that have arisen over the course of his career. Movies that he’s starred in, like “Iron Man,” “Zodiac” and “Chaplin,” are legendary pieces of work. Unfortunately, “Dolittle,” in which he plays the titular character, is not one of those stellar films that will go down in history. Downey himself isn’t particularly at fault for the movie’s flaws, with the exception of his accent that I, and everyone with whom I saw this film, could not place. Viewers have complained about the use of CGI and the differences between this rendition of Dr. Dolittle’s story and its predecessors, but the real problem with the film is the plot itself. The plot is extraordinarily predictable. Nearly all children’s movies are predictable of course, and typically I don’t mind because something usually makes up for it. Sometimes it’s songs that take my mind off the predictability or incredible

animation that captures my attention. However, this film didn’t have anything to make up for its lackluster plot. John Dolittle is an animal doctor who loses his wife, cuts himself off from the human world, finds himself tasked with saving the queen, uses the help of a human boy and reconnects with his lost empathetic side ... end of

Doolittle GQT Quality 16 Universal Pictures

story. You recognize the villains the second they appear on screen. You can tell that Stubbins (Harry Collett, “Dunkirk”), the boy Dolittle tries to push away, will be an important addition to the story from the moment Dolittle realizes he doesn’t want to be a hunter.

You know that all the animals who cling to Dolittle for help will achieve some semblance of independence and confidence from the first scene in which they appear. There are no plot twists to keep you on the edge of your seat or even a single moment of real suspense. The fact that it’s a kid’s movie isn’t an excuse for a cut and dry story that leaves you unsatisfied and wanting more. The few good moments of the film, mostly humorous remarks from Plimpton the ostrich (Kumail Nanjiani, “The Big Sick”) and Kevin the squirrel (Craig Robinson, “This is the End”), while admittedly funny, were not enough to keep the movie afloat. There were too many poor scenes and moments that outnumbered the good few — with Dolittle extracting obstructions from a dragon’s intestines as probably the lowest, and most disturbing, part of the film. As much as I wanted to like this film and its all-star cast, I just couldn’t. While I’m sure kids who don’t look for much in movies beside some funny animals and colorful scenes will enjoy the film, most others probably won’t. It’s safe to say “Dolittle” is a movie that you can wait to watch on TV one day when you have nothing else to do, and maybe not even then.

brimming with energy that could only be the result of his classic New Orleans hip-hop and youthful innovation. I was not prepared for what would happen when G. Love and his Special Sauce crew (featuring Garrett “G. Love” Dutton on main vocals, guitar, and harmonica, James “Jimi Jazz” Prescott on the bass and Jeffrey “Houseman” Clemens on the drums) rolled onstage in three different iterations of pink, black and white blazers. G. Love walked onto the stage with the subdued confidence of a seasoned performer. In contrast to Shamarr Allen’s energetic entrance and introduction, G. Love and Special Sauce slid into their first number as smoothly

The Ark, home to nationally acclaimed folk and acoustic music, harbored an unusual guest on Tuesday, Jan. 14: G. Love and Special Sauce, an old school R&B group known for their laid-back and tastefully sloppy tunes. Instead of mandolins or acoustic guitars, the stage was filled with four different electric guitars, drums, electric basses, a tiny horn (I swear) and a slick harmonica. I felt like a bit of an interloper as I settled in amid a crowd that seemed to be entirely composed of people ten to fifteen years older than me. The opener for G. Love — Shamarr Allen and the UnderDawgs — was insanely delightful. Allen blew onto the stage with vivacity, charm and openness. He and his band (featuring Allen on trumpet and vocals, Floyd Gray on the drums, Dan Cardillo on the guitar and Marius Tilton on the bass) exuded a casual, personable feel that made the listener feel like they were somewhere as intimate as a house concert. Allen played with good humor; at one point, he even asked for the house lights to come up so that he could see the audience dancing and dance with them. While Allen’s vocals as one slips their hand into worked well in service of his a glove. This cool entrance conversational and humorous was met with an immediate lyrics, the highlight of the standing ovation from the night was his horn playing. audience, and most of us didn’t His horn solos ranged from sit down after this initial the thundering largeness greeting. G. Love’s confident, of an elephant’s cry to the energetic lyrics popped off intricate fluidity of the path of the stage and into the ears of a bumblebee. It felt like horn willing listeners, particularly playing was Allen’s way of “Shake Your Hair” from his rising above the restrictions of new album. His rapport with the human voice and expressing the audience was that of a tired the essence of each song. After but giving star. He swayed over Syndicationshaking the hands the audience, Allen’s set, the room was Sudoku

G. Love and Special Sauce slid into their first number as smoothly as one slips their hand into a glove

of as many people as he could and trying to give everyone a bit of his genuine gratitude. His voice seemed tired and a bit strained (as this was the middle of his tour), and because much of G. Love’s musicality rests in his snappy lyrics, my inability to hear them clearly muddled the quality of the performance. His energy was a bit low, but the audience never faltered in their support of him. The most extraordinary part of the concert, however, came when G. Love and Shamarr Allen came together for a rendition of Hall and Oates’ “I Can’t Go For That” and a collaborative version of Allen’s “Weekend Dance.” Allen’s newcomer energy mixed with G. Love’s complete ease blended with the audience’s support to create something incredible: a living time capsule. I looked onstage and saw two men truly in awe of the other’s musical talent — respect from Allen and excitement from G. Love. The two balanced each other out splendidly, portraying a successful mentorship that went beyond their friendship. When looking around during this finale, I was filled with a sense of warmth and ease. An audience divided by generational differences was dancing ridiculously and blended seamlessly into one unified group of people. G. Love beamed onstage and I got the sense of him passing the baton of a genre he loves so dearly to Allen. As this thought danced into my head, I remembered something Allen said as he closed out his set: “A lot of people ask me what genre my music is. Is it funk, R&B, soul or jazz? There’s so much in there. Well, I like to call it ‘bridge music’ because it bridges all kinds of music together. It bridges people http://sudokusy together.”

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Release Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2020

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56 Throat dangler 57 Remains unsettled, as a payment 58 Dec. holiday 59 Two-time NBA MVP Malone known as “The Mailman” 61 Whirlpool 62 Dominoes piece 63 Smallest bills 65 Part of an ellipsis

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Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com

Alexis Rankin / Daily | Design by Jack Silberman

GAME 1: MICH 6, PSU 0 GAME 2: MICH 4, PSU 4 (20T, WIN)

VAN WYHE LEADS MICHIGAN TO DOUBLE OT WIN OVER NO. 6 PENN STATE, ‘M’ TAKES 5 OF 6 POINTS ON THE WEEKEND BAILEY JOHNSON Daily Sports Editor UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Jacob Hayhurst slid into the slot and waited. The graduate transfer forward saw sophomore forward Nolan Moyle with the puck, and he knew he was wide open for a shot on net. Moyle sent a pass up to Hayhurst, who didn’t hesitate as he released a shot that cleanly beat Penn State goaltender Oskar Autio. Hayhurst’s goal — his third of the season, and just his second at even strength — tied Saturday’s game at three goals apiece in the third period. As soon as the puck hit the back of the net and the goal lamp lit up, he turned toward Michigan’s bench, kicked his leg in the air and emphatically pumped his fists twice. It was a celebration that reflected the exorcism of some demons that have plagued Hayhurst this year. He’s caught the post numerous times in recent weeks — and Michigan coach Mel Pear-

son picked him up as a transfer because of his offensive ability. But Saturday night, he found the back of the net on the way to a 4-4 tie and the extra Big Ten point in double overtime for the Wolverines (10-11-3 overall, 5-7-21 Big Ten) over No. 6 Penn State (16-7-1, 8-5-1-0). “He makes things happen,” Pearson said. “He makes the players around him better. Plays on the right side of the puck. Good for him to get rewarded tonight. He’s a grad senior. We expected more. … Sometimes I guess it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” Added Hayhurst: “It was really nice when you’re kind of battling back the entire game. To finally bring it back to even and get a little momentum with the team, I think it was awesome. I think that helped lead us to a victory in the end.” And while Hayhurst exorcised his offensive demons, the Wolverines exorcised some of their own. They got into

a 2-0 hole early in the second period and looked to be completely without momentum. Then slowly, they climbed back into contention. “Tonight, when it was 2-0, a lot of things were not going our way, and I think it was really important to stay within it,” Pearson said. “One shot. We talked about, ‘We’re one shot. We’re one shot away from getting back in the game.’ ” A goal from Moyle made it 2-1 barely a minute after the Nittany Lions made it 2-0. Freshman forward Nick Granowicz made it 2-2 before the second period was over. Penn State came back to take the lead late in the period, but Michigan kept pressuring. Hayhurst tied things up six minutes into the third, and Granowicz tallied his second of the night to give the Wolverines a 4-3 lead just a few minutes later. Michigan spent the rest of the third period shutting Penn State down to preserve the lead.

Then Nittany Lions pulled Autio for an extra attacker with two minutes left, and everything changed. Forward Evan Barratt fired a shot that beat sophomore goaltender Strauss Mann with just 1:22 left to play to tie the game and send it to overtime. “The only disappointing thing, though, tonight, was we had the lead,” Pearson said. “We had the lead and they scored the extra-man goal.” But with 12 seconds left in three-onthree double overtime, sophomore forward Garrett Van Wyhe found the puck on his stick with no one in front of him. His wrister flipped up over Autio’s shoulder, and while the rest of the building went silent, there was an explosion on Michigan’s bench. The goal exorcised the demons of close but not quite, of being right there and just missing. The roar was somehow almost louder than the whole Penn State crowd put together. It was the roar of a team, finally putting it all together.

All of a sudden, Michigan has become the kind of team that can go play road series at ranked teams two weekends in a row and take 11 of the 12 possible points. All of a sudden, the Wolverines have put themselves back in the conversation for home ice in the Big Ten tournament. Their early struggles keep them out of the NCAA Tournament conversation, at least for an at-large bid. A Big Ten Tournament title and an autobid is a long way away at this point, but it’s starting to seem possible in a way it didn’t in November. “We had a lot of breaks go against us, but now we’re finding ways to win games. Earlier we were finding a way to lose games,” Pearson said. “This team has really come together, and that’s exciting to see. “As a coach, it’s almost to the point where you just let them go and stay out of the way, because they’re pulling the train right now.”

SportsTuesday

2B — January 21, 2020

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Bakich, Hutchins and the challenge of sustaining success

he couch is taken, so Carol Hutchins pulls an ottoman out from under a table. Practice ran long, so she’s running late. There is little time for small talk. “What can I do for you?” she asks. She is here, in a team meeting room at ETHAN the Donald SEARS R. Shepherd Softball Center, to talk about program-building, a subject on which Hutchins is one of the foremost experts in America. She’s the all-time winningest softball coach in Division I, with 21 Big Ten regular season titles, 12 Women’s College World Series appearances and a national title to her name. Thirty-five years into her reign, Hutchins is Michigan softball, and Michigan softball is her. One day prior to this conversation with Hutchins, Tim Corbin ran late, too. A meeting with his athletic director. He missed the first phone call from The Daily and apologized. Corbin coaches baseball at Vanderbilt, where he won his second College World Series title last June, beating Michigan in three games. Before Corbin got to Nashville in 2003, the Commodores had last been to the College World Series in 1980. They are now the perennial power in college baseball. Corbin, too, is a programbuilder. The two have that in common, along with proximity to Bakich. Hutchins works right by him — the baseball and softball programs share the Wilpon complex at Michigan — and Corbin was his boss for seven seasons at Vanderbilt. This

matters because Bakich is on the cusp. Not a clichéd, startof-the-season on the cusp. Past that. The breakthrough — last season’s out-of-nowhere ride to Omaha, to the College World Series, to the final, to the last game — is now in the rearview mirror. It’s about sustainability now. What happens after you catch lightning in a bottle? “I think maintaining consistency is very, very difficult,” Corbin said. “And it’s a continuing education. No one has that figured out.” Michigan must now deal with all the same obstacles — roster turnover, a biting cold, a schedule that sees the Wolverines go on the road for the first month of the season — with the added weight of expec-

tation. Collegiate Baseball ranked the Wolverines 10th in its preseason poll, Baseball America ranked them eighth and D1Baseball had them at 13th. News outlets will devote resources to covering them. They will be on television. Bakich will be pulled in every direction, all of them away from his program and his family. On the first day of fall practice leading into the 2006 season, coming off a national title in 2005, Hutchins was told she had to go to the state

capitol in Lansing. The team was scheduled to meet the governor. She didn’t understand. They’d already been to the White House. “But I couldn’t tell the president of the University no,” she said. “So off we — we had to miss practice.” She’s still miffed. “You feel it everywhere,” Corbin said. “You feel it from a responsibility standpoint. I know Erik felt it. I’m sure his year was unlike any other year you felt on Earth. “I’m sure when you get to the College World Series and you get to the final game, all

I know Erik felt it. I’m sure his year was unlike any other.

of the sudden you’ve gotten smarter and you’ve got more knowing and you’re more, in some people’s eyes, more an authoritarian on certain things. ‘Let’s get this guy to speak. They just went to the College World Series, let’s hear from him.’ And not that you are (different), you’re still the same person, but there’s an expectation level of what you know and how you can present and what you do.” There are some perks to success, too. Bakich told reporters after the College World Series that he was eager to discuss potential facilities upgrades with athletic director Warde Manuel. It’s easier to have those discussions once you’ve proven you’re worth the investment. The roster returns much,

though not all, of its core. They can take last year’s experience with them into this season (and so can the coaching staff ). As a program, people won’t dismiss Michigan simply because of the cold weather. Doors will open in recruiting. None of those rules are ironclad. The slope of an upward trajectory is usually not linear. But? “You can walk in the living room and say, ‘This is a program you can have a chance to go to the World Series,’ ” Hutchins said. After Hutchins’ first Women’s College World Series in 1995, Michigan made it for the next three years in a row, and seven of the next 10, culminating in Samantha Findlay’s goahead 10th-inning home run against UCLA to give the Wolverines a national title. Hutchins started to notice then that her schedule was getting tighter. Speaking engagements and glad-handing. “Distractions,” she says now. “... Best word I ever learned: No.” Fifteen years into being a known commodity, Hutchins knows her energy is limited. Once January hits, she rarely says yes. Corbin thinks of these engagements in terms of how it can help his program. If it can’t, he’ll pass. “But there’s a part of you, too, that wants to get yourself out there so people are attracted to you and your program,” Corbin said. “And that takes time.” As for Bakich? His philosophy on the subject is unclear. He couldn’t be interviewed for this story, though Michigan baseball’s prep work starts in full next week. He’s been on a speaking circuit.

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Sears can be reached at searseth@ umich.edu or on Twitter @ethan_sears.

Michigan coach Erik Backich took the Wolverines to their first College World Series since 1984 last season, and now must find a way to sustain success.

Simpson gets to second on assist list ‘M’ looking to replace star duo JACOB COHEN

Daily Sports Writer

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

Senior guard Zavier Simpson moved into second on Michigan’s all-time assist list on Friday night at Iowa.

DANIEL DASH

Daily Sports Writer

IOWA CITY — Zavier Simpson crossed midcourt and whipped a pass from the top of the key to the corner, as he’s done countless times before. With the Michigan men’s basketball team trailing by six with 13 minutes to play at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the senior point guard found an open Eli Brooks on the other end of his missile. The junior guard checked his feet before pulling up and draining the three, giving Simpson career assist No. 576. With it, he passed Rumeal Robinson (1988-90) for secondmost in program history. When junior walk-on forward C.J. Baird was asked about Simpson’s ascension through Michigan’s record book on Thursday, he didn’t even know the number. It’s gotten that high. Now in his third year playing alongside Simpson, Baird has grown accustomed to exactly this. “That speaks to (Simpson’s) feel for the game and understanding of his teammates,” Baird said. “ … He knows what we’re going to do

before we do it.” Simpson entered Friday night’s game leading the nation with 142 assists — over 30 more than the next highest total. He’s on pace for a hair over 275 assists, which would break the program’s single-season record of 260. Trey Burke set that record in 2012-13 en route to claiming Naismith College Player of the Year honors. With Simpson, though, it boils down to preparation. “Most times when I walk in, (Simpson) is doing some sort of workout,” Baird said. “ … What he does is he works on a lot of game situations and stuff like that in his workouts. It’s working out with a purpose, working out smart, as we like to say. … He’s working on stuff he will see in a game and stuff he has seen in the past so he can hone his craft.” When Simpson first began his climb on Michigan’s assists list, the likes of Moritz Wagner, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Duncan Robinson were on the receiving end of his passes. Since taking over the starting point guard role halfway through his sophomore year, he’s proved capable of creating passing

angles under almost any set of circumstances. To first-year coach Juwan Howard, that value can’t be overstated. “He’s one of the best players in the country and one of the best point guards there is,” Howard said Thursday. “He’s a smart, crafty guard who knows how to take advantage of a defense. He’s great at reading ball screens, he’s great at reading coverages overall. He wants to make the right play to put us in a position to score. “There are times he makes mistakes like any player, but I’m just so happy he’s playing for us. I knew before I took the job that I was getting a point guard who’s one of the best point guards in NCAA basketball.” With Robinson now in the rearview mirror, Simpson trails only Gary Grant (731) in career assists — a record set in 1988. Should Michigan play 20 more games this season — a number that hinges on the Wolverines’ postseason fate — it’d take about about eight assists per game to dethrone Grant. And if anyone is up for the challenge, it’s the player Howard so often refers to as his “Tom Brady.”

Kate Fahey sits atop the Michigan women’s tennis alltime wins list. Brienne Minor follows closely behind at spot No. 7. Minor is the only Wolverine in team history to be a four-time ITA All-American, while Fahey owns an impressive three All-America honors. Each player has a set of accomplishments that reads like a phone book, and they earned them simultaneously. The duo even paired up to reach the 2019 NCAA Doubles National Championship. But now, both are gone. Recognizing that Fahey and Minor are no longer with the program, Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein doesn’t hide her feelings. “I’m still crying,” Bernstein said. “It’s rough.” But no authority can grant Fahey or Minor an additional year of eligibility, so what comes next? “You need people to step up,” Bernstein answered. Thankfully for Bernstein and the No. 14 Wolverines, both new and returning players inspired confidence that they will be able to fill the

void left by Fahey and Minor with impressive performances against No. 22 Ohio State, No. 25 Tennessee and Texas Christian in the non-scored Michigan Invitational this past weekend. “You hope your seniors become the leaders and your strongest players,” Bernstein said. No. 26 senior Giulia Pairone appeared poised to do just that on Sunday as she defeated TCU junior Stevie Kennedy in three sets (5-7, 6-2, 6-0). Pairone admitted that she was trying to force too many shots early on, but she took over the match as it moved to the second set and improved until she looked dominant in the third set. “I don’t think she played her best in the first set,” Bernstein said. “But that level at the end of the third set was unbelievable, actually. “She is, I think, one of the best players in college tennis if she can hold that level.” And while the current class of seniors are the most logical replacements for players like Fahey and Minor, Bernstein also underscores the importance of contributions from underclassmen in such an effort.

That task will fall in part to freshman Nicole Hammond, who went 1-1 on the weekend against more experienced competition. In doing so, she showed an ability to play at a high level and earned praise from her coach. “I think she’s going to play a lot,” Bernstein said. “She’s very good when she’s good, she plays at a really high level, and I’m looking for her to contribute a lot and have a big impact.” Bernstein has very similar expectations for Hammond’s fellow freshman, No. 85 Andrea Cerdan. The ability to have these expectations for the freshmen illustrates the general outlook for the team heading into the regular season. Kate Fahey and Brienne Minor each established a legacy of excellence during their time in Ann Arbor. But, after watching her team perform well in its last nonscored event before the season officially starts, Bernstein believes that her current players can develop and establish their own legacy. After all, she says, “Kate and Bri weren’t always Kate and Bri.”

FILE PHOTO/Daily

The Michigan women’s tennis team must replace Brienne Minor and Kate Fahey, two of its best players in 2019.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

SportsTuesday

‘I think she was with me tonight’

January 21, 2020 — 3B

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS

On late mother’s birthday, Nick Granowicz nets two key goals in 4-4 tie MOLLY SHEA

Wolverines vault to tight win over Illinois

Daily Sports Writer

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Mel Pearson stopped midway through his answer. He bounced his foot on the press conference stage a few times. Then he blinked hard. He had just been asked about freshman forward Nick Granowicz, and his performance in Saturday night’s game. “He’s been really good,” Pearson said. “He’s been really good on the road.” Just moments earlier, Granowicz had skated off the ice after an incredible performance. He was responsible for two of Michigan’s four goals in a comefrom-behind 4-4 tie with Penn State that saw Garrett Van Wyhe give the Wolverines an extra point with a double-overtime winner. But that was only part of what had Pearson feeling so sentimental. The other half was Granowicz’s late mother, Valerie. Saturday night would have been her 53rd birthday. And the number 71 embroidered on the back and arms of Granowicz’s jersey is a tribute to her and his father, Dennis. Valerie’s birth year is 1967 and Dennis’ is 1971. Granowicz’s number is combination of the two years, the seven from his mother and the one from his father. This summer, Valerie passed away. And coping with that loss, on top of starting college was difficult for Granowicz. He had responsibilities to take care of at home, like Dennis and his sister. So when he arrived on campus in the fall, he wasn’t in quite as good of shape as his teammates. Granowicz knew it, but he wasn’t discouraged. Instead, he used it as a source of motivation. He poured in extra hours working and training. He stayed focused, and most importantly — he stayed positive.

NICK MOEN

Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Freshman forward Nick Granowicz scored twice against Penn State on Saturday, helping Michigan to a 4-4 tie.

“I’m a strong believer that everything stems from hard work,” Granowicz said. “I just wanted to be prepared for my opportunities and for when the coaching staff felt comfortable putting me in. Basically just working on my game, working hard and preparing. Hoping it would pay off, it’s going good so far.” In the very beginning of the season, his opportunities to make an impact were limited. His hard work wasn’t being rewarded. That’s why the path to his performance Saturday night was anything but linear. Granowicz didn’t even crack a lineup until Nov. 2 against Ohio State. He never saw consistent minutes. He played in one game of every weekend series except against New Hampshire, where he sat out both nights. And along the way, there were setbacks — like the game against Wisconsin. Granowicz took a penalty in the final five minutes of the game for roughing. The Badgers converted on the power play opportunity to cut the Wolverines’ lead. His penalty

ultimately didn’t end up costing his team the game, but Pearson didn’t play him the remaining minutes once he left the box. But again, rather than looking at the negative side, Granowicz took that moment as a learning opportunity. His emotions needed to be managed. That game Pearson realized something too. Granowicz deserved more opportunities. The coaches weren’t playing him enough. Last weekend, that changed. Against then-No. 14 Notre Dame, he showed exactly the types of big plays he’s capable of making. Granowicz proved himself. He also netted his first career goal when a puck deflected off his head in the Wolverines’ 3-0 victory. But Saturday night at Pegula Ice Arena, his performance meant something bigger. Granowicz’s first goal of the game came from a deflection off his body. He’d seen freshman forward Johnny Beecher cutting towards the crease and remembered a piece of advice he’d been given — if you want

to score goals, go to the net. So Granowicz crashed towards the net and when the play was over, the hard work paid off for him. He’d tied the game. “I’ve been getting a lot of opportunities,” Granowicz said. “I just wanted to capitalize on those. Score some goals. Help the team out. Help them win.” But he wasn’t satisfied, he still hadn’t scored a goal with his stick. Almost 20 minutes later, Granowicz accomplished that feat. He was positioned on the right side of the crease when the puck made its way to him. Without hesitation and as though he’d done it a million times before, Granowicz sent a quick release into the back of the net. He lifted one leg off the ice, waved his stick in the air and skated toward the Michigan bench in celebration. This time, he’d given his team the lead. “It was very special,” Granowicz said. “It was obviously my mom’s birthday, God bless her heart. I think she was with me tonight. It’s more motivation to have a good game tonight and win. It was so big.”

Swarms of Illini-orange filled the bleachers next to sophomore Abby Heiskell as she swung between uneven bars. Suspended in the air, she twisted gracefully on the bar. Heiskell set the standard scoring a 9.875, winning her first collegiate event. As the event went on, the crowd fell quiet as the No. 16 Wolverines (3-0-0 overall, 1-0-0 Big Ten) defeated No. 13 Illinois (4-1-0 overall, 0-1-0 Big Ten), 196.700-195.650, Saturday at Huff Hall. The meet started off on a high for Michigan. Switching between bars, Heiskell showed focus and dedication throughout. But, it all came down to the finish as she ended with a double backflip and a perfect landing. Her teammates flooded the mat, congratulating Heiskell for the achievement. The Wolverines ended with a 49.225 on uneven bars, and Heiskell was the top scorer. Next, Michigan rotated to the vault. Freshman Nicoletta Koulos led the order. Making her freshman debut, she scored a 9.775. “I think Nicoletta Koulos is going to be a young woman who is going to continue to grow into her role in this team,” Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. “She has a lot in the tank. For her first time out on vault floor, I thought she did really well. I expect continued growth.” Sophomore Natalie Wojcik and freshman Sierra Brooks both followed with scores of 9.850. Freshman Gabby Wilson ended the rotation with a score of 9.875 and finished on top for the second week in a row. Twirling through the air and landing precisely, the

Wolverines rushed towards Wilson as the Fighting Illini turned their backs in the midst of Michigan’s domination. The Wolverines’ vault score ended up as a 49.175. “The events we did really well on we want to try to replicate,” Plocki said. “The events that we needed to improve on we want to improve. We weren’t quite as sharp on vault. We were far better on beam and floor.” When it came to the floor lineup, Brooks finished with a 9.900 — the highest score of the day. The five other Wolverines performed well enough for them to end with a final score of 49.175. Afterwards, Brooks was at it again, scoring a 9.900 on the beam, while senior Lexi Funk followed with another 9.900. Michigan finished beam with a score of 49.125. With their final round of the meet completed, the Wolverines looked to the scoreboard. They’d earned a final score of 196.700 and gathered arm in arm in celebration. “We want to have fun,” Plocki said. “We want to lock in. Our focus is on us. We want to continue to improve from one meet to the next.” During her 30-year career at Michigan, Plocki has won 24 Big Ten titles, holds the record for most Big Ten titles by any coach in any sport and has created a powerhouse at Michigan that attracts the best female gymnasts across the country. Her expectations are only heightened as the years go on. To Plocki, titles are not only an expectation, but a necessity. “We’ve always had the expectation to win the Big Ten and making it from regionals to nationals,” Plocki said. “The goal is trying to be in the NCAA finals at the end of the year.”

Free throws spur Nebraska past ‘M’ Wolverines go 2-2 in UCSB Invite JOSH TAUBMAN For The Daily

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily

Junior forward Hailey Brown made two clutch threes before fouling out in Michigan’s loss at Nebraska on Sunday.

KENT SCHWARTZ Daily Sports Writer

Somehow, some way, the Michigan women’s basketball team could still win. Senior forward Hailey Brown had made two improbable 3-pointers in a row, in the face of a defender, to claw the Wolverines back within three, with possession and eight seconds left. Freshman guard Maddie Nolan took the inbound, finding sophomore forward Naz Hillmon with her back to the basket. Hillmon pump-faked a couple times, the play busted, before dishing it out to sophomore Danielle Rauch. Rauch, the seconds dwindling, gave it to sophomore forward Emily Kiser — her shot, awkward from the start, a mile wide. Nolan gathered it under the basket, though, sprinting to the corner and sent one last prayer up as the buzzer sounded. It wasn’t answered, and the Wolverines (12-6 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) fell to Nebraska (14-4, 4-3) on Sunday, 74-71. The Cornhuskers stormed back from a 13-point deficit early in the third quarter, attacking the 3-point line and the free throw line, two patterns that became clear on their first possession when senior Hannah Whitish watched her 3-pointer bounce

around the rim and fall down. Whitish didn’t slow down, shooting 6-for-8 from three and giving Michigan’s defense nightmares. Yet, unlike in previous games when an opposing hooter caught fire from long, the Wolverines answered with Brown, who shot 83.3 percent from three. Nolan, Rauch and Kiser each added their own and Michigan shot over 50 percent from beyond the arc. The Wolverines had no answer for Nebraska at the line, who cashed in — shooting 20-for-24 from the charity stripe. “I feel like things didn’t go our way,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “I don’t know if that was an officiating thing or what, but we couldn’t get a call down the stretch and it seemed like they got the whistles down the stretch. They got to the free throw line both in the third and fourth quarter, which was a really different swing than in the first half. “(The calls) took us out of what we were doing and changed the momentum. They seemed to be more of the aggressor in the second half.” Worn down by fouls, sophomore guard Amy Dilk left the game with five fouls late in the fourth quarter after landing on a Nebraska player late in the shot clock. Brown, after making two

clutch threes, used her final foul to save time on the clock. The Wolverines were forced to go to their bench for big points, and for the most part it contributed. After senior forward Kayla Robbins suffered a non-contact knee injury just over a minute into the game, Rauch came in to replace her — playing a season high 31 minutes. Nolan, coming on late in with eight seconds left in the first quarter nailed a buzzerbeater 3-pointer, going on to play 15 minutes throughout the game. To start the second quarter, senior guard Akienreh Johnson was the only starter on the court. In five minutes, freshman center Izabel Varejão scored eight points and Michigan maintained a solid lead. A weakness for the team to start Big Ten play showed it wasn’t one. “I thought they were great, I thought Danielle Rauch was outstanding,” Barnes Arico said. “She did a really good job, Maddie Nolan gave us some good minutes for sure. Our bench is definitely going to have to step up and really help us with having Kayla out.” But as the clock wound down and the Wolverines needed a clutch shot, their starters weren’t there to provide one. Their experience sat on the bench, watching.

It was a chance to measure up with some of the nation’s toughest competition as the No. 7 Michigan water polo team (2-2) kicked off its season in the UCSB Invitational over the weekend. The Wolverines captured victories over No. 22 Cal State Northridge (2-2) and No. 11 UC Santa Barbara (3-2), but suffered tough losses to No. 4 California (3-2) and No. 5 UC Irvine (2-0). “I think this was a great gauge for us,” Michigan coach Marcelo Leonardi said. “It’s one of the toughest first weekends I think we’ve played since I’ve been here at Michigan.” Despite the 2-2 finish, the Wolverines gained valuable experience from the tournament. Leonardi said one of his concerns going in was “the amount of youth” they had on the team. His worries were eased as freshman utility player Anne Rankin scored four goals and had three assists and sophomore attacker Ava Morrant poured in seven goals over the course of the weekend. The strongest showing from Michigan came in a losing effort to the Golden Bears. The Wolverines came out of the gate hot and held a 5-2 lead at

the half. California rallied back with three unanswered goals to tie it in the third quarter. In a back and forth final frame, Michigan surrendered the game-winning goal with just seconds remaining to lose, 8-7. Despite the heartbreaking loss, the Wolverines came away from the game feeling good about their performance. “It’s a good confidence booster that we’re able to be that close with the top four the first weekend of the season,” senior goalie Heidi Ritner said. “Especially when you’re young, you gotta learn how to lose close games,” Leonardi said. He believes his team can grow from the loss to one of the nation’s best teams. The growth was already apparent in the final game of the weekend against the Gouchos. The Wolverines won, 9-7, in a game they controlled from the start. “The momentum carried over to the Santa Barbara game,” Leonardi said. “We had a great start and we kind of learned how (to) finish.” A standout offensive performance came from junior attacker Maddie O’Reilly, who had six goals and five assists in the tournament. After a slow start, she turned it up as the games went on and closed out

the final game with three goals against UC Santa Barbara. “She got hot at the right situation,” Leonardi said. “She hit some pretty clutch shots.” On the other side of the ball, Ritner was solid defending the goal, accruing seven steals. She also helped secure the win against the Gauchos with two penalty shot saves. Leonardi liked what he saw from the captain — not just from her play — but from her leadership. “(She was) not only making saves, but just being a presence (from) the cage, being vocal,” Leonardi said. Ritner was proud of Michigan’s achievements and felt good about the future of the team. “I think that this is the strongest we’ve ever been this early in the season,” she said. The Wolverines are oozing confidence after holding their own against some of the best water polo teams on the West Coast. Michigan has lofty goals for the season and the key to success may not be their performance in the pool, but their mentality moving forward. “I feel that if we set some expectations like reaching a final four,” Leonardi said. “(Then) I think that’s in our wheelhouse.”

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Michigan coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi was encouraged by the Wolverines’ performance at the UCSB Invitational.

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4B — January 21, 2020

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In Wagner’s eyes, slump boils down to emotion

Brooks’ career-high a bright spot in loss

DANIEL DASH

CONNOR BRENNAN

IOWA CITY — To Franz Wagner, the most pressing issue for the Michigan men’s basketball team is simple. It isn’t hapless interior defense, nor is it a winless road record. You can cross the team’s lack of free throws off the list, too. Really, it doesn’t have anything to do with the physical demands of college basketball. Leaning against the wall of a narrow corridor in Carver-Hawkeye Arena after the Wolverines’ third loss in four games, the freshman wing put it bluntly. “I think (emotion) is something that we need, something that we lost during the course of the season,” Wagner said. “We need to show more emotion, just within the team (to) show emotion and show that we’re motivated; and that we’re not just playing out there, we’re playing to win the game.” On Friday night, Iowa City became the latest Big Ten destination Michigan left empty-handed. After beating Iowa by double-digits in December, the Wolverines saw a seven-point lead slip away as the Hawkeyes closed the game on a 25-11 run over the final ten minutes. When the dust settled, Michigan was staring at a 90-83 loss. Throughout the second half, Wagner did his best to will his team across the finish line. He scored 13 second-half points and added three rebounds — both team-highs. Much of his game is rooted in emotion, which he didn’t shy away from against Iowa. “When we play, we talk about not just competing, but play to win,” Wagner said. “When somebody says something on the court from the other team, don’t step back. Hold your ground, maybe say something back. “I think that’s part of the game. You’re confident in yourself, you’re trying to win and you’re trying to stand up for your team.” And on Friday night, there were moments when Michigan did exactly that. When coach Juwan Howard was hit with a technical foul, the Wolverines responded with a 14-2 run.

IOWA CITY — There weren’t many positives for the Michigan men’s basketball team following its 90-83 loss to Iowa. The play of Eli Brooks was one of them. The junior guard scored a careerhigh 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting — a noticeable improvement from the last three Big Ten games where he averaged 5 points and shot 30-percent from the field. After senior point guard Zavier Simpson exited the game with two fouls at the 11:10 mark of the first half, the Hawkeyes opened up a sizable lead. Brooks almost single-handedly spearheaded the Wolverines’ resurgence right before halftime. With his team teetering on the brink of near-disaster, Brooks hit consecutive pull-up jumpers to cut his team’s deficit back down to single digits. In the second half, Brooks continued to shoot the ball well. Off feeds from Simpson, Brooks knocked down two monumental 3-pointers that kept Michigan well within striking distance. Both times, in typical Eli Brooks fashion, instead of fueling the Iowa fans’ fire, Brooks simply turned around and jogged back on defense expressionless. The prowess he showed beyond the arc early in the season gave opponents ample reason to sell out defensively and run him off of his spots — especially catch-andshoot opportunities off Simpson’s penetration. On Friday, in addition to hitting a few open shots, he showed his ability to create off the dribble, too. “I think just shooting the shots in practice,” Brooks said. “Getting familiar shooting them at game speed. Now that people have scouted us, you’re not getting the same open shots. You have to shoot in different ways and create your shot in different ways. So I try to help my shot in practice.”

Daily Sports Writer

We talk about not just competing, but play to win. During that run, there was an instance when Michigan’s fastbreak drive was stopped at the elbow. Trailing behind the ball-handler, though, was Wagner. Just when it looked like the breakaway was dead, he caught the ball on the left wing and let it fly from behind the arc before Iowa could set up its defense. He began celebrating even before it went in. Now, the task at hand revolves around finding ways to apply that confidence to the whole team for an entire game. “You can see when you look at the film that during a couple stretches, we had everyone involved,” Wagner said. “Everybody (was) super motivated and just locked in. When you’re passionate about the game, that’s when emotion comes out like that.” That kind of emotion is exactly what the Wolverines have struggled to sustain for long stretches this season. The last time they did, they knocked off North Carolina and now-No. 1 Gonzaga on back-to-back afternoons at the Battle 4 Atlantis in November. “When you look at the Bahamas, how we played there, you can see we played (with) great togetherness, people picking each other up,” Wagner said. “I think we need to get back to that. … That’s part of our process right now.” Michigan, which has now lost all five of its true road games, hasn’t found ways to capture the lightning in a bottle in enemy territory. In three of their four conference road losses, the Wolverines have trailed by fewer than five points with under three minutes to play. As the sense of urgency grows, the energy Michigan so badly craves becomes most elusive. And as a result, Friday night’s game can be defined by the amount of time the Wolverines spent searching for that emotion — not the amount of time they spent playing with it.

Daily Sports Writer

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

Iowa center Luka Garza scored 33 points in Iowa’s win Friday, making him the latest big man to expose Michigan’s’ interior defense.

post alone

Garza scores 33 as Iowa beats Michigan, 90-83 JACOB KOPNICK Daily Sports Editor

IOWA CITY — In a slugfest complete with an eyebrow-raising foul differential, a litany of 3-point shots and the back-and-forth action one hopes for when buying a basketball ticket, Michigan came up just short. Despite their most valiant efforts, the Wolverines (11-6 overall, 2-4 Big Ten), dogged by foul trouble to key players in the post, fell just shy of completing one of the most improbable comebacks the team has seen this season, 90-83, at Iowa on Friday. The Hawkeyes (13-6, 4-3) were just a little more efficient in the matchup. In the post. From beyond the 3-point arc. Distributing the ball. Add on an astounding 23-13 foul difference, sending Iowa to the line to shoot 30 free throws, and you have a pretty great recipe for a victory. And when the Hawkeyes needed the big plays, they got them, walking away with a home victory. Michigan coach Juwan Howard was livid at the prospect of his guys getting whistled for seemingly every movement under the basket. So much so that the first-year coach got called for a technical in the second half, his second of the year. “Yes, yes, it is,” Howard answered when asked whether the foul differential was frustrating. “That was a big reason why I got a tech, because I was very upset. Unfortunately, I gave two points at the free throw line, so I can add to the free throws.” Prior to any emotive outbursts from Howard, at the onset, Michigan started hot from the floor just to see

Iowa respond by screaming to life on its home court. If you’re a Michigan basketball fan, and you’re thinking of recent matchups against teams in black and yellow, you probably put money on one man putting up big numbers — Hawkeyes center Luka Garza. And the big man did not disappoint. After dropping 44 points in round one of this prizefight, Garza followed that up by notching 33 on Friday. This time, 11 of those would come from the free-throw line. Iowa found production from all over its roster, getting the crowd involved early and leaving scorch marks behind the 3-point line. But Michigan would not go quietly into that goodnight. With senior guard Zavier Simpson in foul trouble early, the Wolverines knew they were going to have to find offense from more unconventional places. The backcourt duo would go on a hot shooting stretch to keep the Wolverines in the game. Finishing the first half with 14 and eight points, respectively, the pair closed out the first 20 minutes strong — closing out the half with a floater from David DeJulius at the buzzer. In the second half, Michigan got in foul trouble. Bad. The Wolverines saw their available personnel dwindle down as the Hawkeyes kept receiving foul call after foul call — most called on defenders bodying up Garza. Not to be deterred, Michigan showed resilience on offense and drilled shot after shot to stay in the game and even took the lead with 12 minutes remaining in the second half. Yet again, when facing the evergrowing foul deficit, Brooks stepped

up in the second half, finishing the affair with a team-high 25 points and a much-needed performance following a multi-game shooting slump. In short, he was the heart of the offense. “Eli played really well,” senior center Austin Davis said. “He did a lot of really great things for us tonight, and he really gave us a boost, and I’m really glad to see that from him.” This time, Brooks was accompanied by freshman forward Franz Wagner, who poured in 18 points of his own and frequently acted as the emotional core of the team. In the middle of the second half, Wagner filled that role with pride when he got a lucky bounce on a 3-point shot to put the Wolverines up by six. The freshman was fiery as he shot down the sideline, taunting the Iowa faithful. “I think that’s something that we need that we kind of lost during the course of the season,” Wagner said. “We need to show more emotion and within the team show emotion, show that we’re motivated … I think we did a good job with that, better than the last couple games.” From there, the match was an offensive duel. To slow down the lights-out Wolverine offense, the Hawkeyes needed a few key plays of their own. And boy did they get them, capped off by a 25-11 Iowa run to end the game with Garza and guard C.J. Fredrick hitting big shots. The Hawkeyes got the big plays when it needed them. Michigan did not. The lead seemed insurmountable in the waning moments, and Michigan left still searching for its first Big Ten road win.

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

Freshman forward Franz Wagner pleaded for Michigan to show more on-court emotion in the wake of its loss to Iowa on Friday.

I have to commend (Brooks) for staying positive. While Brooks’ offensive production has dipped recently, his overall play has still been solid. Throughout his scoring drought, Michigan coach Juwan Howard has continued to praise his defense and leadership. “Usually if you have a guy who doesn’t make shots, they forget about playing defense on the other end because they get so frustrated,” Howard said. “He’s shown that he’s dependable. So, I’m very happy with Eli. He’s one of our leaders and I’m proud of his performance.” Brooks added: “If the offense isn’t working, I try to impact the game in another way. So I just try to facilitate and play defense.” Brooks’ struggles recently have seemingly put a target on his back. On top of the pressure he’s already placed on himself, the opinions of the fans and media have become much more vociferous lately — something Howard believes is unwarranted. “He’s been working extremely hard throughout the season,” Howard said. “At times, I know he’s been getting a lot of media attention and a lot of negative press. Unfortunately, at times some of it has been disrespectful I would say and its been unfair. At the end of the day, I have to commend him for staying positive, keeping the mental toughness and trying to find answers.” That attention is something Brooks tries to avoid when possible. His mentality: keep your head down and ignore the noise. “I try not to have any contact with that but obviously you’re going to have contact with it,” Brooks said. “I just try to follow people that are positive and motivators. I think surrounding yourself with people like that goes a long way. “Obviously, you have to realize that not everyone on social media knows what they’re talking about. I’m here for a reason.”