2020-03-16

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Monday, March 16, 2020

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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FILE PHOTO/Daily Students continue to go to bars and parties at night despite numerous warnings from University of Michigan officials and public health authorities.

‘A selfish thing to do’: Students attend house parties, go to bars against recommendations CDC urges people to avoid large events with more than 50 attendees in efforts to slow spread of virus CLAIRE HAO & CALDER LEWIS

Daily News Editor & Daily Staff Reporter

Despite numerous warnings from University of Michigan officials and public health authorities, some students still attended parties and went out to bars in the nights following the University’s decision to move classes online on Wednesday and in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday.

In response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, President

Donald Trump declared a national state of emergency Friday morning.

The United States currently has more than 1,600 positive cases of the virus, including 33 in Michigan as of Sunday morning — with four in Washtenaw County, one of which was confirmed in the student apartment building Vic Village on Friday afternoon.

The official University Twitter account emphasized the importance of minimizing social gatherings in celebrating St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday night.

“Gathering socially in dense groups is not safe,” the tweet reads. “Please

avoid large groups and confined spaces this weekend and in celebrating #StPatricksDay. We can lead by being responsible. #GoBlue!”

On Wednesday night, the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council, two groups overseeing many fraternities and sororities on-campus, suspended all social events, including those meant for St. Patrick’s Day, in light of the coronavirus outbreak. According to a statement shared with The Daily, these cancellations are due to the size of social events and the concern of disease transmission.

LSA sophomore Sameer Matta, a member of the fraternity Alpha Tau Omega, said he agrees with the councils’ decision to cancel social events for the semester.

“Sure, it’s a letdown at first, because (St. Patrick’s Day) is an event we all look forward to, especially people in Greek life,” Matta said. “But at the end of the day, it’s definitely much more important that we take initiative so the virus doesn’t spread anymore.

And having a party would be a very prominent social gathering, so I think shutting it down was definitely the right thing to do.”

COVID-19 case confirmed at Vic Village Resident of student apartment building on South University tests positive for virus CLAIRE HAO

Daily News Editor

A confirmed case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) at the Vic Village-North student apartment building on Central Campus was announced by the leasing office in an email to residents Friday afternoon. It is the first case to be discovered at either student on-campus or offcampus housing at the University of Michigan, though it remains unclear if the individual is a student.

In the email, the leasing office reminded students of guidelines and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control on minimizing exposure and spread of the virus.

“Now that we have a confirmed case, the guidelines and

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recommendations from the CDC relating to the coronavirus are even more pertinent,” the email reads.

Earlier Friday afternoon, University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel announced a University-affiliated individual

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had tested positive for COVID-19.

According to the announcement, the individual is self-isolating in Ann Arbor. It is unclear whether that case is the same as the one confirmed in Vic Village.

In its email to residents, Vic Village said it has contracted

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a third-party cleaning service to perform a deep cleaning of the building on Friday night.

The usual cleaning service will also enhance its “normal daily cleaning protocol.” The Vic Village leasing office did not reply to request for comment in time for publication.

On Friday morning, President Donald Trump declared the coronavirus outbreak a national emergency. There are currently 25 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Michigan as of Friday night, including three in Washtenaw County.

In a video posted online Friday, Jimena Loveluck, health officer at the Washtenaw County Public Health Department, discussed the status of the outbreak.

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INDEX

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On his Twitter, Regent Jordan Acker (D) also encouraged students to avoid going to bars. In an interview with The Daily, Acker said he understands the disappointment students may feel regarding the cancellation of festivities. However, he emphasized the seriousness of the coronavirus situation.

“As someone who not that long ago would’ve longed to spend St. Patrick’s Day at Skeeps or Rick’s, I know that’s what students want to do right now,” Acker said.

See SOCIALIZING, Page 2

HEALTH

Students respond to COVID-19 University’s response to outbreak questioned KRISTINA ZHENG Daily Staff Reporter

The University of Michigan announced the decision to cancel in-person classes three days after students returned from Spring Break, initiating a wave of uncertainty and concern.

On March 5, four days before classes resumed from Spring Break, University President Mark Schlissel and Chief Health Officer Preeti Malani sent an email to the University community addressing COVID-19 precautions and recommendations the University planned to implement.

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DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily Ann Arbor residents stock up on groceries from Meijer in preparation for the following weeks of the coronavirus pandemic.

Central Student Government meetings to be held virtually CSG reallocates executive budget to emergency support services ALEX HARRING Daily News Editor

The University of Michigan Central Student Government’s executive branch has transitioned its funds to support emergency resources within the University.

While the weekly CSG Assembly meetings will now take place virtually, all future CSG executive programs and events have been canceled, according to a statement from President Ben Gerstein posted on social media Friday.

The announcement comes two days after University President Mark Schlissel announced classes will be held online beginning Monday due to the threat of COVID19. On Friday, Schlissel encouraged all students who are able to leave campus and return home.

In his post, Gerstein recognized the mixed emotions students may feel about the University’s decision.

“Sometimes things come to an unexpected end,” Gerstein wrote. “As evidenced by this week, our lives can suddenly change and we are forced to adapt to unfamiliar situations. I know these last few days have brought significant uncertainty, anxiety, sadness, and fear to the University community.

In times like these, we should not forget the strength our community possesses even if we are physically isolated from each other.”

In Gerstein’s Facebook post, he said the Executive Team has reallocated its budget to provide

$10,000 to the Maize and Blue Cupboard, a food pantry based out of Betsy Barbour Residence Hall for students, and $10,000 to the Dean of Students’ Student Emergency Fund, which is available for students facing unusual situations or hardships with a one-time monetary assistance of up to $500.

After noting the budget changes, Gerstein thanked the student body for allowing him to serve as president.

He noted CSG’s work to ensure financial access and privacy for students seeking testing for sexually transmitted diseases or infections and its passage of a resolution calling for Big Ten schools to freeze fossil fuel investments, as well as the organization’s support for increasing mental health resources on campus and renewing a scholarship to mitigate monetary barriers to leadership.

“It has been an honor to be a partner in so many important movements driven by students on

our campus,” Gerstein said. “There are endless other accomplishments and moments of progress I could name—and none of these would have been possible without the many students, organizations, and friends who contributed to these efforts.”

The CSG debate, originally scheduled for Wednesday evening, has been canceled. Spring elections for the executive branch and Assembly are still expected to take place online March 25-26.

Gerstein thanked the University community for the opportunity to help make changes to improve student life on campus. He said his work will continue until a new administration is elected.

“The list of individuals to thank is too extensive, but to everyone in CSG, and all students on campus who spend their hours, days, and weeks fighting for others: thank you for showing me what it looks like to strive for better, both as a leader and as a human being,” Gerstein

wrote. “This unexpected closing to my term as CSG President is bittersweet.

Thus far, this has been the greatest personal honor of my life, and I am forever grateful to those who trusted me with this responsibility. Although many of us might not be physically on campus, this work does not stop. I will continue supporting students through this challenging time until the next administration takes office.”

He also reminded students of the importance of keeping love and justice as central components of the University community.

“To close, I’m constantly inspired by the late Reinhold Niebuhr’s quote: ‘Love is the motive, justice is the instrument,’” Gerstein wrote. “We are—and can always be —a community of love at Michigan, and one that diligently works towards justice.”

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APARTMENT From Page 1 “The first cases of COVID19 in Washtenaw County have been confirmed,” Loveluck said.

“These individuals remain isolated and have been working closely with the health department to identify close contacts and other lower-risk contacts so they can be notified, quarantined and alert to the possibility of symptoms.”

COVID-19 symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may appear two to 14 days after exposure.

The virus is thought to spread through the respiratory droplets of those infected, so maintaining a distance of at least six feet between individuals is recommended.

SOCIALIZING From Page 1 “But the reality is, even if students themselves may not get really sick, some will, and even more could be carriers of this disease … and pass it along to people who are immunocompromised, their parents, their grandparents. So even if they don’t feel the effects, gathering in these spaces, we’ve seen is one of the biggest ways this disease is spread.”

On Saturday night, Engineering student Adam Scott went to Rick’s American Cafe to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Scott said he thinks the low risk of serious illness for young people who contract COVID-19 contributes to students coming to bars against public health recommendations.

“Clearly this is probably a bad idea, but I think most people don’t care because it’s a very selfish attitude,” Scott said. “They don’t think they’re going to get sick and they really don’t care how it affects others.”

Rick’s management did not respond to The Daily’s request for comment in time for publication.

COVID-19 is considered highly contagious and thought to be spread via infected respiratory droplets.

Therefore, the Centers for Disease Control recommends keeping at least six feet of distance between individuals.

The CDC also encourages social distancing, in which people avoid large social gatherings. By implementing these preventative techniques, national, state and local governments hope to avoid an influx of patients at health care facilities, a phenomenon that has crippled other countries, such as Italy, in their ability to contain and treat the disease.

STUDENTS From Page 1 The email included details regarding relaxing documentation requirements and grade penalties for students missing class, as well as selfisolation tips, illness prevention and campus preparation.

Public Health senior Josie Lee, president of Curis Public Health Advocacy, said she was concerned with the initial response the University issued to students returning from Spring Break.

News

Monday, March 16, 2020 — 3

To prevent spreading the virus, the CDC recommends individuals wash their hands frequently and avoid touching their faces, advice that Loveluck reiterated. Those who are sick should stay home and wear a facemask. Unless caring for someone who is sick, CDC recommends against wearing a face mask if you are not sick.

On Tuesday night, Whitmer announced the first two confirmed cases in Michigan and declared a state of emergency.

In response, the University canceled classes for two days on Wednesday afternoon and is moving to online classes starting Monday, March 16 until the end of the semester.

All spring and summer study abroad programs have been called off, and the University has begun recalling all students

currently abroad.

Spring Commencement was also canceled.

Both the University and state government have implemented rules to encourage social distancing.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order banning all events with more than 250 people in Michigan until April 5 on Friday morning. The University has banned all events with more than 100 people, though Schlissel emphasized in his email on Friday that all social gatherings in large groups should be avoided.

“We strongly encourage you to limit interactions in groups this weekend and in celebrating St. Patrick’s Day,” Schlissel wrote. “Reducing the density of people in physical spaces will help to prevent the spread

of disease not just within our community but for society at large. Even in small groups, we strongly recommend practicing social distancing.”

Additionally, the city of Ann Arbor canceled all citypermitted events expecting 50 or more people on Thursday afternoon.

In his email Friday afternoon, Schlissel encouraged all students who are able to return home to do so. For students who stay on campus, University residence halls and dining halls will remain open.

Other institutions in the state, including Michigan State University, Washtenaw Community College, Central Michigan University and Wayne State University, have also transitioned to online-only classes.

Additionally, on Thursday afternoon, Whitmer ordered the closure of all Michigan K-12 schools until April 5.

To help those in need of aid during the rapidly-evolving coronavirus outbreak, a group of students and organizers have gathered resources of community-sourced options for housing, food, health care, transport, emotional support and more.

Local businesses have also moved to help people whose lives have been disrupted by the outbreak. Starting on Monday, TeaHaus will also be handing out free boxed lunches to schoolaged children at their sister location on 211 E. Ann Street.

Daily News Editor Claire Hao can be reached at cmhao@umich. edu.

On Sunday evening, the CDC also recommended the cancellation or postponement of events bringing crowds of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks.

Faye Mendelson, Michigan Medicine employee and University alum, also went out to Rick’s Saturday night to reunite with old classmates. Mendolson told The Daily she thought her personal health risk of going to a bar was low.

“I feel like people should take it seriously and they should be safe,” Mendelson said. “They should take it as if it’s not just going to affect them, but it’s going to affect the people around them and the people that they’re close to, either family, friends of family or so forth. But at the same time, I don’t feel like we should completely close ourselves off from the world. Just be smart about it.”

To prevent the spread of the virus, the University and other colleges in the state and across the nation have transitioned to online classes for the remainder of the semester. Multiple emails Friday and Saturday from University President Mark Schlissel, other administrators and University offices have urged students to leave campus if they are able to do so. All University spring and study abroad programs have been canceled and the University is recalling students currently abroad.

All University events expecting more than 100 people have been banned, leading to the cancellation of Spring Commencement, the NCAA tournament and all spring and winter sporting competitions, among other events. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has banned all events larger than 250, while the City of Ann Arbor has canceled all events expecting more than 50.

For LSA senior Caelen Caspers, Rick’s and other bars hold emotional

significance as places where friends have always met and enjoyed themselves.

However, she stayed away from what she described as huge crowds at Rick’s, especially earlier in the week, when she said many students saw canceled classes as an opportunity to party.

“There’s a person at Vic Village who has (COVID-19), and I didn’t go to Rick’s on Thursday, but I guarantee they did,” Caspers said. “I hope they didn’t, but if they did, how do you not infect people in that proximity?”

The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office has also prohibited all events larger than 250 and discouraged events larger than 100. It recommends canceling gatherings larger than 10 if there is someone with higher risk of severe illness involved. Failure to follow the order could be subject to a misdemeanor, resulting in up to 90 days in jail and/or a $200 fine.

At a press conference on Sunday afternoon, Attorney General Dana Nessel said bars and restaurants could face a state-mandated shutdown or lose their liquor license if they do not comply with Whitmer’s order. She particularly referred to businesses having St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

“We’re hoping that no one has to be cited,” Nessel said. “Most proprietors in the industry are good actors and want to ensure the safety of their patrons and employees,” Nessel said. “But in the event there are some bad apples, we are prepared to enforce the law.”

Along with going to popular local bars, many students held their own large gatherings. Several houses near Central Campus hosted parties during the day on Saturday.

LSA sophomore Faye Polasek did not go to any parties or bars herself, but said she saw numerous house parties while driving down Hill Street during the day

on Saturday.

“I passed tons of people in St. Patrick’s Day gear — like the whole darty getup,” Polasek said. “At basically every corner, people were walking places along the strip of Hill from Packard to South Forest. And then on my street where I live on South Forest, I saw multiple large house parties of people on the porches and the lawns, making me think there’s probably lots of people in the house as well. Same thing — all green for St Patrick’s Day.” Polasek also noted she saw people visit other local bars such as Good Time Charley’s and The Brown Jug over the past week.

However, other students are emphasizing the importance of adhering to public health recommendations. On Friday, LSA junior Carolyn Chen posted one of several memes in the UMich Memes for Wolverteens Facebook group directed at students who were partying. Her post, with a picture of “hard to swallow pills” and a caption saying “your social life and (fear of missing out) is not worth risking the lives of other people,” has almost 1000 likes.

Chen said she made the post because she was disappointed seeing many of her friends and others on social media go to bars and host large parties.

“A few days ago, I’ve just been seeing a lot of my friends and all over social media, people going out to clubs, parties, hanging out with their friends, selfies of everyone being really close together, not the six feet apart of social distancing,” Chen said.

Chen said she finds it frustrating that even students who are aware of the public health rationale of affecting vulnerable populations choose to go out.

“It’s such a privilege to be young and to not have to care whether or not you

get impacted by the virus because you think you’re going to be fine,” Chen said. “It’s funny to me, I see people post ‘Flatten the curve’ on their story, and then they’ll literally be at Rick’s that night, and I’m just like ‘what?’”

Chen said she sympathizes with senior students, who have had their time left in college with their friends cut short. However, Chen said the coronavirus pandemic is too serious to ignore.

“I sympathize with the seniors, I’m not invalidating how sad it must be,” Chen said. “But I’m saying it’s even sadder to lose a loved one or lose your own life, and that is what is at stake here.”

Chen hypothesized that students may not be taking public health guidelines seriously because Michigan’s COVID-19 cases were so recent. However, she still said she thinks large social gatherings, such as big house parties and crowded bars, are unacceptable.

“To me, I think it’s a really, really selfish thing to do,” Chen said. “I get that it’s scary and that people don’t want to change the way they live, but sometimes you need to change the way you live in order to protect or help the rights of other people. And the right to live is definitely a right.”

The Centers for Disease Control recommends people wash their hands often and avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth.

Symptoms of coronavirus include fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Anyone who believes they have been exposed to COVID-19 should call their health care providers or the nearest hospital.

Daily News Editor Claire Hao can be reached at cmhao@umich.edu. Daily Staff Reporter Calder Lewis can be reached at calderll@umich.edu.

“(From) studying public health, we see that we can save a lot more money if we’re preventative than if we’re reactionary,” Lee said. “I’m kind of surprised, I felt like knowing that this was happening in the U.S., and knowing the potential that Spring Break could have in bringing the virus to Michigan, I’m surprised that the University didn’t take better-standardized protocol or tell their faculty how they could prepare — maybe even making them have plans with how they could move their courses online.”

Public Health senior Emily Benedict shared similar sentiments.

She worried about the spread of COVID-19 following Spring Break, considering many students traveled to areas affected by the virus.

“In my mind, it’s very unlikely that no one came back from spring without an outbreak in their system,” Benedict said. “I just feel like having classes those few days potentially allowed for it to spread. I feel like maybe over spring break there should have been more preparation and discussion knowing people are going to be coming back from areas that may have had the virus.”

On Friday afternoon, a case of

COVID-19 was confirmed in student apartment building Vic Village-North on Central Campus through an email sent to residents by the leasing office.

Upon return from Spring Break, Lee said she felt her classes were not affected by the precautionary measures the University recommended in the email. She noted the limited actions her classes took and the potential for students to not follow self-isolation protocols.

“I think the warnings from the school, just the emails that we got from the provost, the deans of our schools or the president — it was something

that I wonder if it was enough,” Lee said. “When I was going to my classes, some of my classes didn’t even entirely mention how they were going to handle the situation, or they didn’t even discuss it, and I feel like some of the people in those areas might not have self-isolated, and there might not have been proper protocols, so I feel like the warning the school gave to the students might have not been as explanatory, or telling, of why it was important.”

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Michigan in Color

Monday, March 16, 2020 — 4

The Power of the Black Vote KAYLA THOMAS MiC Staff Blogger

There isn’t much that hasn’t already been said about the power of voting. In a society in which many aspects of our livelihoods aren’t controlled by us, it is important that we at least have a say on who is allowed to lead our nation. As citizens of the U.S., we aren’t necessarily given the chance to determine the future of healthcare policy or the allocation of public school funding. Casting our vote is the only way we can ensure that our interests are taken into consideration when decisions are being made that directly affect our lives. While the importance of voting needs to be constantly reiterated, it is a topic that is heavily discussed. What deserves more attention is the power of the Black vote specifically.

As the current election cycle continues to unfold, the ability of 13% of the population to control the results of the Democratic presidential campaigns has become increasingly clear. In recent months,

both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have experienced devastating lows and unexpected highs in the polls, and four candidates — Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg, Mike Bloomberg, and Kamala Harris have ended their campaigns. All of these phenomena have at least one common denominator—they were influenced by how these candidates were perceived by Black voters. For the bulk of 2019, and even some of 2020, Biden’s kryptonite was young Black voters. His stance on bussing, his revealed lack of support for Anita Hill in her sexual assault case against Clarence Thomas, and his blaming of Black mothers for the racial achievement gap caused a rocky foundation for his campaign.

However, the South Carolina polls, which are made up largely of Black voters, revived Biden’s chances in the same way they devastated Buttigieg and Steyer’s. And as for Kamala Harris, her questionable stances on issues that are most pertinent to Black voters, as well as her perceived lack of authenticity when it came to her comments on racial justice, led to her slowed momentum and decreased

availability of funds. In the past six months, the ability of the Black vote to be either the kiss of death or the source of life for any given campaign has become increasingly clear. There is no denying the power of the black vote.

The only thing left to happen is for the people with this power to take advantage of it. Historically, this hasn’t been seen as a viable option. This country’s track record of disenfranchisement and discriminatory voting practices has, understandably, stolen our community’s sense of hope.

However, as contradictory as this may seem, utilizing this system is the only way to stop it from abusing us. Voting in people who represent us and our values is one of the best things we can do to create a system that works more for our benefit.

Even as the Democratic primaries come to a close, this message remains important. It is one that extends to every political office that we are able to vote on, from the local level to the national level. There is power in the Black vote, and it needs to be harnessed.

Now More Than Ever CAMILLE MOORE MiC Blogger

I became hip to Noname’s Book Club this past summer. Noname, a rapper and organizer from Chicago, started a book club to uplift voices of color by highlighting two books each month for online and in person community members to read.

February was the first time I was able to read along. I choose to read a collection of poems by Morgan Parker called “Magical Negro”.

I’ve always loved to read books, especially work written by Black people but poetry is a whole other realm for me. I feel as if some poems go over my head and I have to read over and over until I force meaning out of it. I felt that way about some of the poems in “Magical Negro” but the majority of them I could relate on

a level I didn’t realize would connect with me, especially pertaining to my experiences as a Black woman.

One poem in particular titled “Now More Than Ever” really struck a chord with me. Parker writes about the way in which people use the saying, “now more than ever” to talk about social issues and politics. This phrase has been utilized so regularly by the privileged after 2016. They say, “Now more than ever, it is important that we stand together to fight against hate” or “Now more than ever, we have to uplift the most marginalized,” and so on. I’m tired of hearing this bullshit.

So many people have obliviously walked through the world thinking things were getting better, more tolerant, and accepting. Clinging so dearly onto the Obama presidency and the legalization of gay marriage while turning a blind eye on the

increases of deportations, leadpoisoned water in Flint, MI, and the lack of administrative change

Images (above and below) from Daniela Lugo, MiC Senior Creative Content Editor

being done to stop police violence towards Black citizens. Activists of color, especially Black activists and

organizers have been saying these things for decades.

The Black Maternal Health Crisis: The Beginning of An End MICHAELA MINNIS MiC Columnist

On March 10, five states held their primaries (Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Washington), while North Dakota held their Democratic caucuses.

As a first time voter, I made sure to plan out when I was going to stand in line to exercise my right to vote — after attending the Bernie Sanders’ rally on Sunday, I felt even more empowered to let my voice be heard on that day because I had faith in my peers to “fight for someone that they didn’t know”.

But in this spirit of excitement to vote, I couldn’t help but think about what my vote meant today; a topic which was on my mind heavily

this election cycle was in regards to what is being done to address the current Black maternal health crisis (while also thinking about access to quality healthcare services that include family planning and reproductive health). Some past potential Democratic presidential candidates such as Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and Kirsten Gillibrand have introduced legislation to address this issue.

Numbers do not lie: Black women are three to four times more likely to die during childbirth from pregnancyrelated complications than white women; the United States has some of the worst maternal mortality rates in the developed world. And Black women are twice as likely to lose an infant to premature death.

Further, the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention reports that 60% of the 24.6 deaths per 1,000 live births are preventable. These figures have also been adjusted for education and income. Maternal mortality disproportionately affects Black women and should not be taken at face-value — racial health disparities and patient-doctor trust are some of the main factors that contribute to this crisis. The pain Black women may report to their healthcare providers may not be taken seriously or downplayed.

Most importantly, the structural systems of racism Black women have to navigate daily in the workplace and public spaces can take a toll on their physical health.

Luckily, a group of legislators acted on this racial health disparity and made history today.

The Black Maternal Health Caucus was created in the United States Congress by Reps. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill) and Alma Adams (D-N.C.) back in April of 2019 to address this crisis; the caucus has grown to hold 75 members. And today these members made history for the future of Black maternal health through the introduction of nine bills to the U.S. House of Representatives - the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2020. This Act is a set of comprehensive bills that “aims to fill gaps in existing legislation to improve the health outcomes for Black moms who are dying at three to four more times the rate of their White counterparts.”

The goal of these bills center on the care of Black mothers, so that they receive “comprehensive, and

culturally-competent care”; Reps.

Underwood expressed at a press conference that the Black maternal health crisis is a national priority.

A summary of what the legislation entails can be found on Reps. Lauren Underwood’s website.

Black maternal health is an issue that will have to continue to be addressed in all levels of government as well as in classroom settings centered around Public Health, Policy, Psychology, Women’s Studies and many other disciplines to stir up healthy dialogue. In the meantime, hopefully the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act 2020 will bring real change to how healthcare is provided and create safe spaces in the healthcare industry for Black mothers.

Opinion

5 — Monday, March 16, 2020

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

SHAD JEFFREY II | 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

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE Editor in Chief

EMILY CONSIDINE AND MILES STEPHENSON

ERIN WHITE Managing Editor

Editorial Page Editors

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Alanna Berger Zack Blumberg Brittany Bowman Emily Considine Jess D’Agostino

Jenny Gurung Cheryn Hong Krystal Hur Ethan Kessler Zoe Phillips Mary Rolfes

Michael Russo Timothy Spurlin Miles Stephenson Joel Weiner Erin White

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.

JENNY GURUNG | COLUMN

I

Trump’s response to pandemic is far from reassuring

n the past two months, novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused an outbreak of mild to severe respiratory disease in over 144 locations worldwide, including the United States. On Jan. 30, coronavirus was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Since then, the virus has reached pandemic proportions with over 125,000 reported cases and 4,600 deaths.

It is impossible to be completely prepared for public health emergencies like this.

Admitting to this, though, is the first step to executing a quick and effective response.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has focused on developing and distributing test kits, providing epidemic response guidance and monitoring the virus. It has emphasized the importance of the federal government’s key role as a communicator between state and local partners, public health institutions and health departments.

In response to the coronavirus, the U.S. administration has instead provided potentially misleading information that contradicts many public health institutions and experts.

President Donald Trump’s constant downplay of the pandemic has failed to reassure Americans (and raises criticism for his public communication of the crisis). During an interview with Fox News, Trump said, “Now, this is just my hunch, but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people … personally, I would say, the number (death rate) is way under 1 percent.”

In contrast, WHO estimates a death rate of 3.4 percent based on the number of deaths and people who have been tested.

Public health experts have noted that due to a lack of information about the virus, incomplete testing and reporting the crude death rate remains unknown.

Trump’s history of distrust in scientific evidence and subsequent condemnation of the media questions the credibility of his “hunch.”

Last week, Trump put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the U.S.’s response to the coronavirus. Pence announced that any American could get tested for coronavirus with health insurance coverage. He stated there would be 2,500 test kits available with the capacity to test one million individuals and an additional one million tests would be manufactured in the coming week. In reality, only certain public health labs have the resources to accommodate the initial testing demand after delays in test manufacturing.

These labs have administered fewer than 100 tests a day, amounting to significantly less than the one million predicted.

With the rapid increase in virus cases, especially in densely

President Donald Trump’s constant downplay of the pandemic has failed to reassure Americans. populated states like California and New York, testing demand has heightened. Public health labs all around the country not only lack the resources but also the capacity to conduct testing.

In addition, in early February, Trump eliminated the global health unit of the National Security Council and instead proposed various programs and budget cuts because he believed the unit was not necessary.

Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, commented on this by saying, “You build a fire department ahead of time.

You don’t wait for a fire. There is an underappreciation for the amount of time and resources required to build a prepared system.” It is, in fact, almost impossible to reassemble an institutional unit such as this during an ongoing crisis. The result: The U.S. is not

prepared for this pandemic.

Pence’s empty promises of preparedness and the misrepresentation of the U.S.’s response capabilities reflects a lack of experience in responding to public health emergencies and his poor public health record as former Indiana governor. Pence’s role in this response is more akin to “a political damage control” for Trump than a public health emergency response.

The administration’s poor communication both among health institutions and to the public has resulted in the hindrance of U.S. response efforts.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading infectious disease public health expert who led U.S. response to SARS, HIV, MERS and other outbreaks, has been correcting Trump’s recent assessment of the crisis. He believes that “... the public needs solid, understandable medical information, especially during crises.” When responding to an emergency such as this, federal governments need to be: “... encouraging calm, providing key information and leading an assertive response.”

While Trump has stressed that Americans should “remain calm,” his communication and response to this crisis have not provided any reassurance to the public. In fact, the administration’s lack of transparency in terms of making informed decisions and communicating to the public has impeded our response to this crisis. Public health experts like Fauci should be the spokespeople during epidemics. They understand that what needs to happen is a public health response, not a political cleanup effort. What’s important to Americans, like you and me, is faith in our administration in their ability to promise and deliver. It is a necessity that our representatives must have, especially during times of crisis.

Jenny Gurung can be reached at jennygrg@umich.edu.

T

Are we ready for a socialist reality?

housands of students, myself included, flocked to the Diag on Sunday, March 8 to witness and participate in the campaign rally of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Attendees were urged to rush to the polls to support Sanders in Tuesday’s Michigan primary in his attempt to be nominated as the Democratic Party’s candidate, the candidate to run against President Donald Trump in the general election.

Sanders, and his preceding speakers at the rally, had a common set of beliefs and all called for free — or at least heavily subsidized — housing, health care and college education. These ideals are commonly characterized as socialist in nature as they involve the nationalization and substantial takeover of what are chiefly private industries.

As a result, one could consider Sanders and his supporters to be “socialist.”

The generation of my parents, and anyone who lived during the “socialist experiment” that was the Soviet Union, may have a different perspective on the hopefulness of Sanders’s campaign.

While the ideals Sanders speaks about are utilitarian, the world has already witnessed the messy collapse of such a system and how the implementation of state socialism failed to provide the quality of life it promised in Eastern Europe. The world’s experience with socialism left a bad taste in their mouths.

I can only speak from my experience as an American growing up in the conservative state of Indiana, but the words “communism” and “socialism” were associated with treason. To doubt the status quo, or to even be curious about different modes of political governance or economic regulation, was un-American — and frankly wrong.

The generations that came before mine lived through socialism and saw its pitfalls, human rights violations and authoritarian nature. Whether they recognized the Soviet Union’s idealistic aims, or whether they now recognize that the United States is in a more technological, economical and ethical advantageous position than the

Soviet Union was at its onset, they saw a failed experiment and the devastation of millions of repressed people. That undoubtedly shapes their view and their optimism for such ideals.

The political, economic and technological climate of modern America is vastly different than the post-World War II Soviet Union satellite states, but the experience of witnessing the failure of socialism has been enough to dissuade older generations from considering Sanders’ ideals. Socialism (and by extension socialist ideals) is considered to be “post-capitalist” in that its implementation requires a highly developed and technologically advanced market economy to then subsequently nationalize. We are currently living in such a society, with increasing levels of automation to work for the benefit of the people and with the amount of compiled wealth among the nation’s top one percent.

A new generation of socialists, or so-called “democratic socialists,” may have been born, but America isn’t ready for a president like Sanders yet.

He is ahead of his time, but the role he is playing in opening people’s minds and creating a sense of hope and urgency for a political revolution is not to be undersold — his contribution is invaluable. The population isn’t ready for such dramatic change yet, but it will be interesting to observe the political trends of the generations to come and to see just how left American politics lean as my generation transitions toward being middle-aged. The saying goes that people get more conservative as they age, that the burning liberalism and anarchical view of the status quo fade as the years tack on, so the socialist reality may never come to fruition if the generation whom Sanders largely appeals to doesn’t stay the course.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com Shad Jeffrey II can be reached at shadj@umich.edu.

KRISTEN MOORE | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Addressing the difficult reputation of STEM courses

T

hank you for the Feb. 18 article headlined “Students opt to take math classes outside of the University” in which you describe some of the issues with STEM and mathematics courses at the University and the complex set of considerations students navigate in deciding whether to take required courses at the University or to transfer credit from other institutions. We are acutely aware of the financial pressures that your article highlight, and sympathetic with the goal of lessening one’s course load during the regular term.

However, we are concerned that none of the individuals you quoted in the article have first-hand knowledge of the courses about which they were speaking. It is difficult for your reporting to be factual when all of the reasons students give for taking mathematics courses at other institutions, save the concerns of cost or course load, are based on hearsay. Students may hear that “Michigan math is just the worst,” especially when this is printed in your article, but if your goal as a newspaper and reporter is to be factual and objective, you should have some support for the assertion beyond unsubstantiated claims from students who have never actually taken the courses in question.

We agree that there is room for improvement in the instruction in all units at the University, which includes mathematics.

At the same time, however, the Department of Mathematics works hard to ensure that our students learn as much as possible in our courses. There are many aspects of our program that are recognized nationally as being best practices in mathematics instruction. Moreover, we are currently working with the University’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching and the College of Literature, Science & the Arts to improve the assessment in our introductory courses and the support that we provide our instructors. At the end of the day, our goal is for students to learn mathematics at a deep and fundamental level. Learning at this level is not easy, but we believe that goal is the core of the University’s mission as an elite academic institution. We believe that Michigan students can succeed at this level, and that rising to the challenge is the best preparation to gain the knowledge and tools to ensure their success when they graduate and take on the challenges of the world.

Kristen Moore is Associate Chair for Education in the Department of Mathematics and can be reached at ksmoore@umich.edu.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Arts

Monday, March 16, 2020 — 6

BOOK REVIEW

Turbulence between twins in Bennett’s ‘Vanishing Act’

estrangement is devastating for both sisters, and each is left feeling like they are missing a part Daily Arts Writer of themselves. It’s as if there is a magical bond connecting them to each other, and no matter Identical twins are one of nature’s most where they go, they still feel the presence of their fascinating wonders. Two offspring, born of the far away other half. Bennett carefully explores same pregnancy, who look exactly alike; one the effects that Stella’s choice to pass over has on can’t help but compare one sibling to the other. their sisterly bond and beautifully captures the To scientists, twins offer a unique research essence of what it means to be a twin. opportunity that is too good to pass up, and they The chance meeting of the Vignes twins’ have therefore been an integral component to daughters strayed dangerously close to being too researching the effects of nature versus nurture. far-fetched, but their unembellished and rocky In one famous yet ethically questionable study, acquaintance ended up being a remarkably three twins who were separated at birth were interesting addition to the novel. Jude (Desiree’s studied to explore how deeply their similarities daughter) and Kennedy (Stella’s daughter) could ran when each sibling was raised in a completely not have turned out more different; Jude, whose different environment. skin is “black as tar,” grows up dealing with Brit Bennett’s upcoming novel “The racism, Kennedy, blonde and fair, is raised with Vanishing Half” offers a new take on the study the privilege of whiteness, Jude is thoughtful of twins, using twin characters to explore and studious, Kennedy is dramatic and lazy. It is the controversial topic of racial passing. The hard to believe these two girls, each the absolute novel follows Stella and Desiree, the identical antithesis of the other, originate from identical Vignes twins, a twins. This divide once inseparable just uncovers how pair who ultimately different the lives chooses to live in that the Vignes two completely twins choose for different worlds. themselves are.

As 16-year-olds, These differences Brit Bennett the twins are translate into Riverhead Books able to escape the the lives of restrictive confines their daughters, Jun. 2, 2020 of their tiny shaping the “colorstruck” Black unfolding paths community called of the next Mallard and make their own way in the world. generation. Stella and Desiree’s daughters have However, while Desiree ultimately returns to to face the confusion of their split identities, one her birthplace, Stella chooses to “pass over” and half of the family being white, the other Black. live her life as a white woman. Stella cuts off all Kennedy asks her boyfriend, “Would you love ties to her previous life, and takes measures to me ... if I weren’t white?” Jude faces hatred and ensure that no one in her new life has any idea racial prejudice for being a different skin tone of her past life as a Black woman. Years later, than her mother. Stella’s choice to pass over has chance brings together the daughters of the consequences far beyond the scope of her own estranged twin sisters. The result is a breath- life. Bennett explores the subtle effects of Stella’s taking generational family story that tackles the choice in a carefully measured and deliberate charged topic of racial passing in America. manner.

Reading “The Vanishing Half” is like a breath Found on countless booklists for most of fresh air. Bennett’s writing style immediately anticipated new releases in 2020,“The Vanishing catches the eye: straightforward and to the Half” lives up to the hype. It is clear from the very point, yet incredibly insightful and saturated first chapter that author Brit Bennett created with emotion. The characters are real, raw a masterpiece. Bennett weaves together the and relatable, and it is so easy to become lost stories of the Vignes twins and their daughters in the twins’ respective worlds. Bennett takes with extraordinary attention to detail, creating great care to shape the Vignes sisters into an emotionally satisfying novel that leaves the three dimensional characters, and as the novel reader with a subtly new perspective. “The unfolds, the characters come to life. While Vanishing Half” is a page turner to the very Stella is timid and proper, Desiree is restless and end, and transcends genres with elements impulsive. Desiree is flighty like a bird, Stella of romance, mystery, history, crime and pragmatic and realistic with a mathematician’s heartbreak. Brit Bennett is a young, up-andmind. They are perfect foils to each other, like coming American author, and “The Vanishing two sides of a coin. Their differences complete Half” promises to be her breakthrough novel to each other. As Bennett beautifully puts it, the launch her into the realm of literary recognition.

Vignes twins were like “two bodies poured This will be one of the best books of the year, no into one, each pulling it her own way.” Their doubt about it.

TV NOTEBOOK

EMMA DOETTLING

The Vanishing Half

SIGNATURE VIEWS

NETFLIX

‘BoJack’ breathes new life into world of adult cartoons JOSHUA THOMAS Daily Arts Writer

I have a complicated relationship with the world of animation. I was raised in the caring arms of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. As a kid I would come home from school, crash on the couch and watch episodes of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” “Regular Show,” “Adventure Time” … the list goes on and on. When I got older, I started wading my way into the more mature side of animation. I found myself strangely attracted to staples of American “adult animation,” i.e.

“Family Guy,” “The Simpsons,” etc.

But even as I matured further, it seemed like these shows had not. With “The Simpsons” now airing its 31st season, my point becomes increasingly clear. While real people learn a lesson once, Homer (Dan Castellenata, “Family Guy”) has to relearn a new job, and how to be a good father episode after episode. Too much of a good thing isn’t just a bad thing — it’s a boring thing. It’s an unimaginative thing.

American media moguls have a mantra: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If something is making money, why end it? Even if it’s exhausted everything it’s needed to say and more. What worked in the ’90s ought to work in the ’20s, right?

Needless to say, I became disillusioned and disappointed with the art of adult cartoons. I became sick of shows that were decent at first, but overstayed their welcome. It’s hard to enjoy a show when you know the events of the episode have little to no impact on the overarching plot of the show. It becomes terrifying to imagine that these characters, trapped in their tiny worlds, will live forever in cycles of eternal recurrence. Their desires, actions and choices will be exploited for a solid 19 to 25 minutes, then flushed down the memory hole. Watching an old episode or two of these shows could be fun, but large doses of the newer episodes could be lethal. I lost my faith in adult animation, that is, until I met a one unhinged horse and his anthropomorphic pals.

At first, “BoJack Horseman” didn’t feel all too different from other adult cartoon staples. The animation style is broadly similar. The world and the people who inhabit it are sometimes whimsical and vacuous. But where “BoJack Horseman” deviates from the norm is its obsession with consequence. The brilliance of “BoJack” is its depiction of characters dealing

with the fallout of their actions or desires, particularly when these consequences are not just contained to one episode, but follow the characters for the remainder of the season. This makes for substantially more entertaining and more meaningful television.

I am shocked at how well “BoJack Horseman” was able to illustrate consequence while remaining true to its episodic format. For example, in the season one episode, “Our A-Story is A ‘D’ Story,” BoJack (Will Arnett, “Arrested Development”) steals the “D” from the famous Hollywood sign for his crush, Diane (Alison Brie, “GLOW”). For the rest of the series, Hollywood is referred to as “Hollywoo” to reflect this change.

That’s a smaller and more charming detail, but it sets the tone of realistic repercussions for the rest of the show. Other more serious consequences still plague BoJack as well as other characters.

However, when something is not resolved, these choices are purposeful in supporting the central themes of “BoJack Horseman.”

In addition to consequence, another way “BoJack Horseman” sets itself apart from its genre is its sense of maturity.

Around season four, I was worried the show would turn into the next “Spongebob Squarepants”: A never-ending series of antics with no progress or remaining novelty. To my surprise (and relief), the show recently ended with season six. Not only was the show’s final season emotional and realistic, it felt deserved. It felt like the journey we embarked on for six whole seasons was coming to a definite end. The thread is cut, the curtains close. The final episode ends in a simple scene where BoJack and Diane look up at the stars, and yet I felt no desire to see more. In fact, I wanted to go back and rewatch old episodes. I couldn’t imagine a moment where I felt like this watching “The Simpsons” or “Family Guy.” “BoJack Horseman” is a prime example of what adult cartoons should strive to be like.

Needless to say, “BoJack Horseman” is the exception, not the norm. Luckily for us though, it seems like other shows within the genre are taking more and more cues from our addled horse friend. The latest season of Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” was surprisingly consequential compared to its previous ones. In all, the end of “BoJack Horseman” is a new beginning for the world of adult cartoons. It’s a world with consequence, finality and most of all, meaning.

I lost my faith in adult animation, that is, until I met one unhinged horse and his anthropomorphic pals.

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FILM REVIEW

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

‘The Hunt’ is just another thriller, despite what the president claims ANDREW WARRICK Daily Arts Writer

The most famous review of “The Hunt” comes from the 45th president of the United States. The man formerly known as Donald Drumpf tweeted that “The Hunt” was made “to inflame and cause chaos. They (the filmmakers) create their own violence, and then try to blame others.

They are the true Racists, and are very bad for our country!”

The 45th president wasn’t the only person to weigh in. Much has been said about “The Hunt,” most of which came before its release. The buzz concerned the plot, which consists of “liberal elites” sport hunting radical conservatives, dubbed “Deplorables,” at a manor in Vermont.

Now, this reviewer is no President of the United States, but I do know a bit about movies — enough to

determine that “The Hunt” isn’t inflammatory, racist or harmful to Americans. Real dangers, like

Movies aren’t meant to be picked apart by political demagogues.

They’re meant to be watched, and hopefully enjoyed, by individuals.

shootings and viral infections, easily combatable by gun control and test

kits respectively, probably should be higher on this President’s priority list than exploitation cinema, but that’s neither here nor there. Now, back to “The Hunt.”

The movie was originally supposed to be released in September 2019, but was pulled in the wake of the Dayton and El Paso shootings, and moved to Mar. 14 of this year (ironically perhaps an even worse time to release the movie, but who could have known).

The release date switch was both spurred by and accompanied with controversy, from both sides of the political aisle. Be it because of its perceived “glorification of violence,” or depiction of deplorable hunting, many deemed “The Hunt” “a movie that should never have been made.”

However, others lamented the movie’s delay, with one pundit calling it “left-wing political correctness… getting out of control.” Everyone had something to complain about, yet no

Monday, March 16, 2020 — 7

one had even seen the movie. live up to. Don’t presidents and TV Like with “Joker,” so much news anchors have better things to had been predicted, analyzed and do than lament the perceived politics determined about “The Hunt” before of an action movie? The conservative its release that it was always destined pundits couldn’t get over the term to fall short of every hyperbolic claim “Deplorable,” even though it is only lobbed its way. used once or twice in the entire movie.

First of all, it’s not hate speech. Keep in mind, these people are fine “The Hunt” takes aim at everyone, with hurling “snowflake” at most reflecting current politics through liberal pleas for decency. a fun-house mirror that inflates the worst qualities of both sides Movies aren’t meant to be picked of the political aisle. The liberals apart by political demagogues. are arrogant, touchy “holier than They’re meant to be watched, and thou” CEOs of huge companies. The hopefully enjoyed, by individuals. It’s conservatives are racist, homophobic past time to move past the outrage and trophy hunters. While “The machine — turning cinema into an Hunt” is undoubtedly satirical, it does ideological battleground does nothing not try to solve America’s problems — but cloud the movies themselves. If its politics are too exaggerated to be people watch a movie before arguing sincere, leaving the viewer to make about it, everyone will be better off as their own conclusions. They’re also the films can actually stand on their incredibly funny. One highlight is own. when one of the elites shoots someone That’s not to say that cinema and leans in, exclaiming, “For the shouldn’t engage with contemporary record, climate change is real!” issues or be debated for doing so.

Political flourishes aside, though, However, if any movie that includes “The Hunt” is really just a well-done politics is going to become a flashpoint thriller. There’s a fascinating swap of societal rage before it is even of protagonists at the start, where released, studios may eventually start it seems that every character is avoiding them entirely which, in the expendable, as well as a few cool fight age of masterpieces like “Get Out” scenes. Betty Gilpin (“Killing Eve”) is and “The Invisible Man,” would be great too. It’s basically “Black Mirror” something truly deplorable. meets “Inglourious Basterds,” a hyperviolent, imaginative and satirical thrill ride which doesn’t take itself too seriously. Still, this feels like somewhat of an anticlimax. Was all the arguing really about something this harmless?

Ann Arbor 20 + IMAX, Quality 16 It’s high time movies Universal Pictures stopped becoming hotbeds of controversy for no reason. All the hand-wringing creates unreasonable extremes that the movies involved rarely

The Hunt

COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW

Rifkind discusses her bio of Hollywood hero of Holocaust CAROLINE ATKINSON Daily Arts Writer

Last Tuesday evening, book critic Donna Rifkind spoke to a modest audience in the sun-soaked coffee shop above Literati bookstore.

Rifkind’s reviews have appeared frequently in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Book Review and Washington Post. However, earlier this week she presented her own first book, entitled, “The Sun and Her Stars: Salka Viertel and Hitler’s Exiles in the Golden Age of Hollywood.”

This biography follows the untold true story of Salka Viertel (the “sun”), the Austrian-born actress and screenwriter who opened her door in Santa Monica to countless European actors, composers, scientists and artists (the “stars”) after they were forced out of Hitler’s Germany.

Weaving in facts about the life of her “sun,” Rifkind spent the evening at Literati describing her writing process for the book. She grew up in Los Angeles in a selfdescribed bookish house with

somewhat mysterious eastern European grandparents. Naming the Beach Boys and Disneyland as examples, she explained how everything at the time of her adolescence was new; California was thought of as a “cultural wasteland” in comparison to the artistic and relatively diverse East Coast. After a decade of living on the “superior” East Coast, Rifkind returned to California, and it was then that she came across Salka Viertel’s name.

Viertel was famous for being one of the best-connected women in Hollywood’s Golden Age. One of her welldocumented friendships was with Greta Garbo, who was one of the most famous actresses of the 1920s and ’30s. Salka was married to Berthold Viertel, a famous Viennese filmmaker.

The list goes on and on. When researching this interesting yet forgotten woman, Rifkind realized

that Viertel could be found almost exclusively in the footnotes of more famous actors’ books. She decided

her book, Rifkind made it clear that Viertel was an exceptional woman.

She invited exiled strangers into an international community of struggling yet immensely talented artists. Viertel herself was also a screenwriter and an actor, classically trained in Europe and fluent in eight languages. At the time, women had a lot influence, but no actual formal power in the film industry; Viertel used this influence to act as a connector between the German emigrants and Hollywood.

Rifkind also explained some of the background necessary to understand just how impactful Viertel’s actions were at the time. While there was an abundance of new and innovative technology in Los Angeles and the film industry seemed to be progressing by leaps and bounds in technique, there was a relative shortage of real creativity.

As the artists who had been

This biography follows the untold true story of Salka Viertel (the “sun”), the Austrian-born actress and screenwriter who opened her door in Santa Monica to countless European actors, composers, scientists and artists (the “stars”) after they were forced out of Hitler’s Germany.

she would have to write Viertel’s biography herself.

In her discussion of the subject of

greatly successful in Germany began to arrive in California, they needed help, both financially and linguistically. Viertel used her connections and experience in both the film industry and in Europe to become a sort of “cultural broker.” She opened up her home, connected struggling artists with filmmakers in need of content, acting as a translator and liaison.

Rifkind said Viertel “softened the boundaries between high culture and commerce in Hollywood.” She went on further to say that a lot of the famous stories coming out of Hollywood from that time period “had their genesis in Salka’s living room.”

In her research, she came across German playwright and poet, Bertolt Brecht, who was one of the many exiled artists during the Third Reich. With the chaos and uncertainty in the world during the lives of the people in this book, Brecht is perhaps most famous for this quote: “In the dark times will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.” This is the clear and simple message of Rifkind’s piece.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Sports

Monday, March 16, 2020 — 8

Maddie Nolan’s long road back

JACK KINGSLEY Daily Sports Writer

It was just an ordinary play.

Maddie Nolan, playing for her AAU team in mid-July after her junior year of high school, went up for a layup. But the result was anything but ordinary.

On the way up, Maddie made contact with a defender, causing her to land awkwardly on her left leg. She immediately went down in pain, the possibility of an ACL tear running through her mind.

Maddie’s mother, Kris, viewing the play from the stands, saw it a little differently. Her first thought was an ankle injury, possibly a sprain.

Something not too serious. But when she saw that Maddie couldn’t get up on her own, couldn’t put any weight on her leg, she knew it was worse.

Much worse.

The Nolans immediately got in their car and drove seven hours from Kansas City to Zionsville, Indiana — their hometown —fearing the worst.

Maddie’s uncle, a doctor, helped her get an MRI immediately when they got back.

The initial diagnosis was a torn popliteus tendon, which would keep Maddie out six to eight weeks. It was definitely a setback, but she was relieved. She would still be able to play her senior season of high school.

But because it was such an uncommon injury, doctors continued to re-evaluate it. And when they did, they found that Maddie was missing a chunk of cartilage in her knee — a microfracture — which could keep her out anywhere between six and 18 months, depending on the procedure.

“I cried,” Maddie said. “You miss your senior season. You miss playing with all the kids you’ve grown up with. It was really tough.”

Added Kris: “(It was) like somebody had sucker punched me right in the stomach. … Just knowing that she wouldn’t be able to play her senior year, because she loved her high school teammates so much, was probably even more heartbreaking.” *** From a young age, Kris and Henry — Maddie’s father — knew that Maddie was driven.

When she was five, she played on a co-ed youth soccer team. She was never afraid to take down the boys and do whatever it took to score.

“She was a pretty intense little kid,” Kris said.

But she was always destined to play basketball. Both her parents coached high school basketball and Kris played at New Mexico State, where she graduated as the all-time leading scorer. Dinners were filled with conversations about plays and days were filled either in the gym or watching basketball on TV. Kris knew that Maddie could be something special since sixth grade, but it wasn’t until eighth grade Maddie started to put the work in.

Zionsville hadn’t been a powerhouse in girls basketball for a long time — it was long since Kris played there and set the all-time scoring record. When Maddie was in eighth grade, the team won just four games. But Maddie wanted to change that.

“Maddie’s class came in and they were told, ‘Oh, you guys will never amount to anything. Nobody wants to

come to girls games,’ ” Kris said. “And Maddie and her teammates, her class, are just like ‘OK, watch us.’ ” Maddie knew freshman year would be a challenge. For the first time in her life, she was playing against players four years older than her, who were bigger and stronger. But Maddie saw the potential the team had and knew her class could change the reputation of Zionsville girls basketball. She spent hours in the gym after practices putting up shots. On Sundays, she took Henry’s key to the school and shot for hours on end.

Maddie earned a starting spot her freshman year and led Zionsville to its first section title in 20 years. Her sophomore year, Zionsville won the section again.

By the time her junior year came around, the college offers started coming in. Maddie had interest from many power conference schools, including Michigan. Her dream of playing at one looked like it would become a reality.

All the while, Maddie was playing the best basketball of her life. She averaged 21.5 points per game and broke Kris’s Zionsville all-time scoring record as it made a run to the state championship game. Maddie was named to the Indiana all-state team. Her basketball career looked as promising as ever.

But then came that dreaded July day. *** When Maddie heard the six to 18 month timetable, her first thought was, “Six months and I’m playing again.”

She counted out the days. Six months would allow her to return for her final regular season high school game. There was no doubt in her mind she would be back for that game. But those six months were difficult.

The phone stopped ringing.

Schools stopped showing interest.

Maddie didn’t have many options left, and committed to Miami (OH).

She wouldn’t get to play at a power conference school.

“She wanted to be on the big stage,” Kris said. “That was her goal, and when she got hurt, there were just a handful of schools that stuck with her.

So seeing that dream, at that time, was not going to be realized was hard.

“We just kept saying, ‘Look, you still get to play basketball. There are a lot of kids who don’t and who won’t be able to come back from something like this or get a worse diagnosis than you had.’ ” Maddie started physical therapy a month after her surgery, but she couldn’t do much — she would still be on crutches for another month. In her first few sessions, she was extremely limited.

“For the first couple times I would literally sit on a table, do heel slides, trying to see how far I could bring up my leg, just kind of flexing my quad, getting those muscles back,” Maddie said “So it was very limited.”

All she wanted to do was get back to playing basketball, but for the first few months of her rehab she had to essentially re-learn how to use her leg. But once she was allowed to put weight on it and stop using crutches — about two-and-a-half months after her surgery — the road back became a little bit clearer. Maddie started seeing a sport-specific trainer to begin

basketball activities, in addition to her physical therapist.

Once she got back to basketball, as limited as it was, Maddie was more motivated than ever to make it back in six months. When her high school season started, and for the first time ever she had to watch from the bench, it grew even more. There was no doubt in her mind she would play another high school game.

And when that doctor’s appointment finally came, exactly six months after her surgery, Maddie finally heard the words she had waited so long to hear. She was cleared to play basketball again.

A couple days later, midway through the first quarter of Zionsville’s final regular season game, Maddie checked in. She didn’t play much. She limped a lot. She was nowhere near the dominant player she had been her junior year. But Maddie was just happy to be back.

“The smile on her face when she went into the game midway through the first quarter, that smile could light up a dark room,” Kris said.

Adrenaline got Maddie through that first game. But for Kris, it was the most stressed she had ever been watching from the sidelines.

“I could hardly watch that game,” Kris said. “Every time she fell down, or drove to the basket, I’m covering my eyes. It was nerve racking.”

Maddie played in four more games her senior year, feeling pain and limping in every one. Getting to finish out her high school career on the court was worth it, and Maddie was excited to get the chance to truly return to full strength at Miami (OH).

But in April, a coaching change at Miami allowed Maddie to re-open her recruitment. And when she did, her dream of playing at a power conference school came back as Michigan re-entered the fold. While Maddie wanted to commit, she was concerned that when she got to campus her knee wouldn’t be fully healed and she wouldn’t be able to play at that level.

“She was still rehabbing and still working on strength,” Kris said. “And (Michigan coach) Kim (Barnes Arico) just believed in her. Kim had seen her, knew what she was capable of doing.”

Maddie committed to Michigan in May. Before she got to Ann Arbor, Maddie was selected to play on the Indiana All-Star team in June — her first game action in three months.

In that time, her knee hadn’t gotten much better. She still felt pain. She still limped.

“Obviously I was playing,” Nolan said. “But I didn’t feel like it was the same.”

So when Maddie arrived in Ann Arbor weeks later, there were concerns as to whether she would ever be able to contribute at the college level. She couldn’t practice fully from the start. She didn’t do all of the workouts and running, and sometimes she didn’t practice at all if her knee was hurting too much.

To alleviate the pain and stabilize her knee when she played, the training staff gave Maddie a bulky knee brace, which added about an inch on the side of her leg. She had to learn how to run with the brace on and how to dribble without dribbling off the brace.

Despite all the obstacles, Maddie

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily

Maddie Nolan recovered from an injury that could have kept her out as long as 18 months.

got to work. When she didn’t practice, she biked or ran on an Ultra-G treadmill. After practice, she worked to strengthen her leg. Her thigh grew so much over the summer that she had to get a new knee brace.

“I got a lot more muscular, which I think helped with the pounding not as much,” Maddie said. “It’s more muscle around my leg so it doesn’t hurt as much when I step.”

Even though Maddie saw major improvement over the summer, by the time the season started she was still behind the rest of the team. Early in the season, she played sparingly, typically only in blowouts.

But as the season progressed, Maddie showed more and more in practice, and she impressed. By the time senior forward Kayla Robbins suffered a season-ending torn ACL on Jan. 19, Maddie had earned enough trust from the coaching staff to take some of her minutes.

“She was kind of behind everyone just because she wasn’t out there, and we didn’t really have an opportunity to see her game and see what she was capable of doing,” Barnes Arico said.

“But it was funny because then when she started to get out there, little by little I’m like, ‘Golly, Maddie’s doing a good job. Golly, Maddie’s doing a good job.’ And it was quiet. It was a quiet way about her that she continued to impress.

“She just always seems to be in the right place. She doesn’t get sped up. For a young kid, for a freshman, her understanding of the game is incredible. She handles pressure well.”

And when starting sophomore guard Danielle Rauch broke her hand in practice the day before a Feb. 6 game against Purdue, it was Maddie who Barnes Arico called upon to fill her spot.

But when Maddie told her parents earlier that day she might be starting, they didn’t really believe it. They were headed to the airport, about to get on a plane to El Paso for Kris’s college reunion.

And when they got off the plane an hour before the game started and saw that it was true, that Maddie really was starting, everything else they had planned had to wait.

“I’ve got my phone pulled up, we’ve got it ready to go,” Kris said. “So we’re

watching the game on the drive to Las Cruces, New Mexico, and then we check into the hotel and I’m like, ‘We can’t eat or anything until we watch this.’ ” Maddie played 29 minutes that game and scored two points. For her first few starts, that was the norm — she wasn’t an offensive focal point. But over time, Maddie gained confidence, and made more and more of an impact.

Like in a Feb. 27 win against Penn State, when she hit two consecutive 3-pointers to put the game out of reach. Or against Nebraska in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, when she scored five points in two minutes to break a tie and give Michigan a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Or the next day against No. 11 Northwestern, when her 10 second-half points led the Wolverines to their biggest victory of the season.

“She’s become an offensive threat,” junior forward Hailey Brown said after the Northwestern game. “You have to guard her. She can take it off the bounce, she kind of does everything. … She’s a large defensive presence as well. She’s definitely a strength in our team and opponents have to guard her.”

Maddie may never regain the same speed or explosiveness that she had before. She still has to wear the bulky brace. She has to go through intensive preparation before each game just to be able to play, including cutting off 80 percent of the blood flow to her leg and doing leg presses to strengthen it.

But to Maddie, it’s all worth it.

She may never be the most talented player on the team. She may never get back to her pre-injury form. But it’s becoming harder and harder to see a future for Michigan in which she isn’t a key asset.

And if you told her that less than two years ago, she would feel lucky.

“When she takes time to reflect on what her journey has been, I think she’s just very thankful for the opportunities that she’s been given,” Kris said. “... It just amazes me what she’s done. When Dr. Miller told her an ACL tear would have been better — you hear that and you’re like, ‘What did you just say?’ — than to have this injury.

“It’s a chip on her shoulder. That’s how she rolls.”

Sports

9 — Monday, March 16, 2020

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

For Wolverines, a long wild year holds promise for 2021 KENT SCHWARTZ Daily Sports Writer

Adjacent Stadium Boulevard, outside of Crisler Center, there’s a billboard.

During the day it’s merely a roadside distraction. Its rotating images about Michigan are only given attention when drivers sit still, stuck at the red light between Stadium and Main.

At night, its hundreds of LED panels stand alone as a source of light for the meager commuters driving past to look to, one of the only roadside attractions they’ll pass.

Most of the frames it shows are harmless: a plea for a passerby to buy football tickets, a lab photo with a declaration of being the best public school in the nation. There’s nothing someone looking at it would think twice about, until it reaches the photo of Jon Teske and Naz Hillmon framing the words “This week in Michigan basketball.”

This week in Michigan basketball is depressing. COVID-19 has forced the NCAA and Michigan to stop all athletic events for the rest of the year. There’s not much else to it, other than depressing.

Seniors won’t see their season off the way they want to. Neither will coaches or fans or other players.

It brings a finality to the season that no one wanted, forcing us to ref lect on an almost-done women’s basketball team far before anyone ever wanted.

Who knew that when a reporter asked Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico about ref lecting on the season, “Now that it was over,” after its semifinal loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament, the season actually was over? And Barnes Arico’s gentle nudge at the end of her answer that the season was not over — there was the NCAA Tournament after all — proved to be wrong.

“This was a special group,” Barnes Arico said last Saturday. “It’s a special year. It’s kind of a bummer to end on a loss, but I think we put ourselves in a position with this tournament and with our schedule all season long to be an NCAA Tournament team.”

This year in Michigan women’s basketball was a rollercoaster, and it’s easy to look at the bad parts. The loss of superfan Chuck Raab on the day of the season opener, a fourth-quarter collapse

against a weak Notre Dame team, Kayla Robbins’s ACL tear, blowout losses at home to Maryland and Indiana — a myriad of times to look back on and ponder, “If only.”

This season was long and grueling, with few payoffs for the Wolverines. An overtime victory over a Syracuse team on the program’s first-ever appearance on ESPN, sweeping Michigan State for the first time in years, a 15-point win over then-No. 18 Iowa on Pink Day — yet the biggest payoffs have, perhaps, a lot more to do with the future than with this year.

Freshman guard Maddie Nolan, after riding the bench for the first three months of the season, became a starter due to Danielle Rauch’s injury and literally stole the show in Indianapolis. Freshman center Izabel Varejão developed throughout the season to where, at the end, her potential was obvious: With Naz Hillmon, she will be unstoppable.

And then there are the two that you forget are sophomores, Hillmon and point guard Amy Dilk. Hillmon last week, amid the bombardment of depressing sporting news, was named one of five finalists for the best power forwards in the country.

Her dominance became commonplace, to the point where no one blinked when she had a double-double by the third quarter.

Dilk, meanwhile, struggled with turnovers to start the year, but as the season progressed, the ball grew closer and closer to her hip until the pair were inseparable. She also became a scorer and distributor and figured out how to balance those two things.

While those futures are known, senior guard Akienreh Johnson’s is not. The team has applied for her to gain another year of eligibility, retroactively, after her freshman year was cut short with an ACL injury.

And now, with practices cancelled and a dead campus, she has to wait, not knowing if she’ll get that extra year — or when.

She’ll have to wait while that billboard outside Crisler Center will keep changing, rotating through its eight pictures as fewer and fewer people drive past it, blinking along as the country shuts down.

That billboard will be normal, promising normal, promising a next year for Michigan. One that will be more stable, with an ending.

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico expected her team to get an NCAA Tournament bid this year.

MILES MACKLIN/Daily

The Michigan baseball team showed promise in the 15 games it played before the season’s cancellation.

In 15 games, ‘M’ showed what next year could hold

Last Wednesday night, I sat in front of a microphone and predicted that the Michigan baseball team would end its season at the College World Series.

Less than 24 hours later, the take was rendered freezing cold; the NCAA and Big Ten canceled all competition for the remainder of the spring sports season in JACK response to the COVID- WHITTEN 19 pandemic. Now, not even the best team would be Omaha bound, let alone the 8-7 Wolverines. “(We haven’t) played a cupcake schedule like a lot of teams have done,” Michigan coach Erik Bakich said. “... We’ve played all (NCAA) Regional-caliber teams.”

True. Pepperdine, the Wolverines’ final foe of the campaign and to whom they lost two of three, slashed a gaudy .301/.390/.441 as a team. Connecticut starting pitcher Nick Krauth tossed 10 2/3 innings against the Wolverines, earning two wins and allowing just one earned run.

But other high-performing teams and players didn’t stop the Wolverines from taking three of four in their opening weekend of play in Arizona, winning an away series against Cal Poly or avoiding sweeps against the Huskies and Waves. At the end of the day, the greatest roadblock to Michigan’s success was Michigan itself.

Offensively, the Wolverines were great at piggybacking off the success of teammates, but often unable to get the ball rolling.

“I think the problem is that we didn’t use (my leadoff homer) to gain momentum, and we struggled the rest of the game to string quality at bats together,” Nwogu said after losing the last of three games to the Huskies, 9-2. “I think sporadically we put together some good at-bats but not enough to plate runs and that was the problem.”

That was painfully evident in power outage defeats, and sometimes held true even in victory. In a 5-0 win at California, Michigan was stymied from posting crooked numbers despite working against the Golden Bears’ bullpen for eight innings.

But when the f loodgates opened, they gaped, and that was a cause for optimism. Against Cal Poly in Arizona, the Wolverines used two three-run innings — sending the entire order to bat in the first — to put up an eight-spot that lasted despite a catastrophe in the bullpen.

A near-constant shuff le of the lineup and relievers didn’t help maintain this

success.

“We haven’t had the same lineup twice which always leads to inconsistencies,” Bakich said after last weekend’s Pepperdine series. “But in the early part of the year you just have to experiment to find your best nine and we still don’t know.

We are still trying to figure that out.”

Bakich had just begun to figure that out.

A step in the right direction was moving junior shortstop Jack Blomgren from second to third in the order; Blomgren responded by reaching base 16 times in the ensuing eight-game span.

“I think it was just to split up the right handers,” Bakich said. “We want Jack up in the first inning, but I don’t think there was any strategy behind it other than sandwiching a left-hander between him and Nwogu.”

By playing 31 of his 36 guys in the season’s first and only month, rather than sticking with nearly exclusively veterans, Bakich had a lot of similar decisions to make. And at season’s end, a core group of starters was starting to emerge.

Freshman outfielder Clark Elliott was becoming a fixture in right field, freshman Ted Burton and sophomore Cam Hart formed a yin and yang at third base and freshman Jimmy Obertop began to take over the first-base job. Redshirt freshman left-hander Steven Hajjar and junior righthander Blake Beers were the rotation’s rookies, but each pitched to lower ERAs than ace junior right-hander Jeff Criswell.

With junior outfielder Jesse Franklin and projected closer, sophomore righthander Willie Weiss, winding down rehab on their injuries — along with a more solidified group of starters — the Wolverines could have reached a perfect storm against significantly weaker competition.

The bright spot is that everyone on the roster who would like to return will be able to do so for the 2021 season, thanks to eligibility relief for spring athletes.

With all the pieces able to return, Bakich can continue to assemble the puzzle of the starters on which he was nearing completion this year.

“The number one goal every year is to add as much value as we possibly can to an already storied program,” Bakich said at the team media day. “So last year going into it we wanted page 153 in the Michigan history book to be bookmarked for all time, and it’s the same goal this year.”

That goal, of course, is no longer attainable.

The value from team 154, though, may not come with a trophy, but with a group that showed the capability to power Michigan to Omaha come summer 2021.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Multimedia

Monday, March 16, 2020 - 10

PHOTO ESSAY

My second home underwater JULIA SCHACHINGER Daily Staff Photographer

Bonaire is a small island off the coast of Venezuela that is a part of the Netherlands and home to dozens of ethnic backgrounds.

It holds a special place in my heart, as I have been there every single year since I was 9 months old. This spring break trip was my 19th time on the island. Every time that I return, the ocean and the people capture my heart all over again.

Most people visit Bonaire for scuba diving or windsurfing. The windy west side of the island provides perfect waves for windsurfers, while the sheltered east side is where all of the dive sites are located.

There are 86 dive sites on Bonaire, all on the eastern side of the island.

My parents first visited Bonaire for scuba diving in the 90s. I learned to dive in Bonaire as soon as I was old enough,and have been certified for 9 years. I have been on approximately 150 dives in Bonaire over the years. Before I even learned how to snorkel, I would lay on a raft with a small

plastic viewing hole and watch my parents scuba dive below me as my grandparents were with me on the surface. Bonaire is where I first discovered my love for wildlife, and photography. I was mesmerized with the whole other world that was beneath the surface of the ocean, and I still get that same feeling jumping into the water this trip.

After watching my dad take underwater photos for years, I wanted nothing more than to try it. I got my first camera, waterproof up to 20 feet, when I was 7.

I was truly enamored with underwater photography back then, and I still am today.

It’s interesting to think how I actually learned how to photograph underwater, not on land. Underwater photography presents a lot more challenges than taking photos on land and requires a different skill set.

In the coral reefs there is an abundance of marine life. There is a large variety of fish species as well as other interesting creatures. In the shallows there are often rays and sea turtles passing by. Every dive has something interesting to see.

Bonaire’s main industry is tourism, however they also produce and export sea salt. It is strange to be driving along the coast, and suddenly see white mountains of salt, that almost look like snow.

Bonaire is also a leading destination for sustainable tourism. All divers must pay a marine park fee to help fund reef restoration.

There are many restoration projects happening all over the island. Visiting divers can even take a coral restoration course and help with the maintenance of some of the projects. The coral reefs are diminishing due to many stressors including rising ocean temperatures, and increasingly common

JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily

severe storms. Common restoration projects are coral nurseries and tying up sponges with fishing line until they re-establish.

On land, Bonaire is very well known for their flamingos. The island is one of few breeding locations in the Caribbean, and the birds are protected on the island. Flamingos have become a mascot for Bonaire, tributes to them found all over the island. Flamingos are born with grey feathers that turn pink due to the shrimp and algae in their diet.

Bonaire holds such a special place in my heart, it is where I first discovered my love for nature and photography, which are two very big parts of my life.