2022-01-19

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SCHLISSEL FIRED UMich President dismissed at closed-door Regents meeting due to “inappropriate relationship” with subordinate

GEORGE WEYKAMP Daily News Editor

University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel has been fired effective immediately following an internal investigation revealing Schlissel’s inappropriate behavior with a subordinate at the University, according to a Saturday press release from the Board of Regents.

The decision was made at a closed-door Board meeting Saturday morning without a public vote after the board hired a third party investigator to determine whether or not Schlissel’s actions as president had violated the University’s supervisor relationship policy.

“It is with great disappointment that we announce that the University of Michigan Board of Regents has removed Dr. Mark Schlissel as President of the University of Michigan, effective immediately,” the Regents wrote in a Saturday press release.

The policy, which was introduced in July 2021, states that “a Supervisor may not, implicitly or explicitly, initiate or attempt to initiate an Intimate Relationship with a Supervisee over whom they exercise supervisory authority,” and was implemented in July 2021 following allegations former Provost Martin Philbert had used his position to coerce women into sexual relationships.

The firing comes after an anonymous complaint submitted on Dec. 8. revealed Schlissel had been in an inappropriate

relationship with a University employee.

A subsequent investigation was performed which found he had used his University email account to inappropriately communicate with said employee.

Schlissel’s existing contract contained a morals clause which stated his behavior as President “be consistent with promoting the dignity, reputation, and academic excellence of the University.”

The regents also released a letter transmitted to Schlissel informing him of his termination Saturday after the vote. In it, the regents outlined their justification for firing him, citing messages sent from his University email to a subordinate. Because the regents fired Schlissel for cause, he will no longer receive the golden parachute he and the regents negotiated when he announced he would resign in 2023.

Schlissel had previously provoked the regents’ ire for failing to to communicate with the board regarding the Detroit Center for Innovation.

Talks broke down between donor Stephen M. Ross and Dan Gilbert, who owned the site.

An anonymous administration official who spoke to the Detroit Free Press said the regents felt Schlissel left them in the dark as negotiations faltered.

In October, Schlissel announced that he would be stepping down from the job in June 2023, a year earlier than planned. The Detroit Free Press at the time categorized his stepping down early as a deal between the

members of the board who were satisfied and dissatisfied with his performance.

The decision was announced Saturday night. A press release from the University announced president emerita Mary Sue Coleman will serve as interim president. Coleman served as president from 2002 until 2014.

In a statement posted to the Board of Regents website, Coleman wrote she was sad to learn of the allegations against Schlissel but was honored to once again be leading the University.

“While saddened by the circumstances, I am honored to be asked to again serve the University of Michigan,” Coleman wrote. “When I left the U-M campus at the end of my presidency in 2014, I said serving this great university was the most rewarding experience of my professional life. I’m happy to serve again in this important interim role.”

The University hired the private law firm Jenner & Block to continue the investigation into Schlissel’s behavior. According to the Detroit Free Press, the firm is also investigating whether Schlissel misused University funds to support his relationship with the unnamed subordinate.

In an email obtained by the Michigan Daily addressed to LSA employees Saturday night, LSA Dean Anne Curzan wrote she would be meeting with fellow deans and senior leaders tomorrow and will communicate additional updates in the coming days.

Curzan wrote Schlissel’s firing reinforced to need for

ADMINISTRATION

‘It’s a long time coming:’ U-M students rally in front of presidential residence Over 100 community members gather outside South University home following ‘U’ leader’s termination

MARTHA LEWAND, MATTHEW SHANBOM, & ANNA FIFELSKI Daily Staff Reporters LSA freshman Jack Thompson was one of the first students to arrive outside of former University President Mark Schlissel’s residence after news broke that he had been fired by the Board of Regents on Saturday.

With a saxophone in hand, he satirically played George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” and the classic Big House anthem “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers as fellow protesters gradually gathered and cheered around him.

“I live in East Quad, and my friends and I were sitting in a lounge and I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if we stopped by and brought an instrument?’ And we’ve kind of amassed a bit of a group here,” Thompson said.

Over 100 students gathered outside the President’s House on Saturday evening following the report of Schlissel’s termination by the Board of Regents earlier this afternoon.

Schlissel was fired for engaging

in an “inappropriate relationship” with a subordinate at the University as early as Sept. 2019. In Dec. 2021, an anonymous complaint was filed which led to an internal investigation into Schlissel’s behavior.

The investigation revealed inappropriate emails sent from Schlissel’s U-M email account to the subordinate, referred to as Individual 1. Schlissel’s emails contained an article related to sexual fantasies, details of travelling to California and Paris with Individual 1 as well as other inappropriate comments related to their relationship.

“It’s recently been revealed that (Schlissel) had an affair with a staff member, and that’s not really a good thing when you’re the president of one of the biggest schools in the country,” Thompson said.

“Kind of makes a mockery of our name. So I’d like to return the favor a little bit.”

As Thompson continued to play into the night, more students joined in and began chanting “Show your face!” and “Mark, are you home?” at the only window with its blinds half open on his house. Cars driving by frequently honked as students cheered in return

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survivor of the late Doctor Robert Anderson who has been camped outside of Schlissel’s house for nearly 100 days in protest of the University’s handling of sexual misconduct tweeted Schlissel’s firing would help create a safer campus.

“This news is fuel for my mission: the safety & protection of the students of this university,” Vaughn wrote. “After 99 days of being ignored in front of former

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President Mark Schlissel’s home, the regents finally made 1 good choice. But there must be many more if U-M is to be fully accountable.”

Daily Staff Reporter Michal Ruprecht and Daily News Editor Roni Kane contributed reporting.

Daily News Editor George Weykamp can be reached at gweykamp@umich.edu

NEWS

Emails, texts released between University head, anonymous employee in internal investigation

118-page document details improper messages dating back to September 2019

as Mr. Brightside and Pump it Up filled the background.

One protester held a “Can I have a private briefing?” sign in reference to one of the emails Schlissel sent to the subordinate.

“I love performing and it’s a really good chance to kind of get a crowd out here,” Thompson said. “I feel terrible for his family.

I can’t believe that he actually did something in such a high position of power. I mean, that’s simply an abuse of power.

And that’s something that I don’t think any of the students in Michigan would stand for.”

The last time the Board of Regents dismissed a president was in 1863, when former University President Henry Philip Tappan was dismissed due to “difficulties with the regents on matters both of policy and personality,” according to the Bentley Historical Library.

LSA sophomore Neil Peterson came to Schlissel’s house with fellow Residential College students who brought instruments.

Peterson brought his trumpet to have a “celebration.”

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sexual misconduct prevention on campus.

“As I process this news, it only strengthens my commitment to continuing the work we have been undertaking in the college, with the wise, researchinformed guidance of the Preventing Sexual Harassment Working Group,” Curzan wrote.

“It is essential.”

Jonathan Vaughn, former University football and notable

GEORGE WEYKAMP & ANNA FIFELSKI Daily News Editor, Daily Staff Reporter Emails from former University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel were released in a 118-page document Saturday evening, detailing inappropriate communication with a subordinate at the University.

The emails were revealed as part of an internal investigation into Schlissel’s behavior, ultimately leading to his firing.

The investigation revealed a series of communication between Schlissel and an unnamed subordinate, identified in the emails as “Individual 1,” which disclosed multiple emails between the two dating back to Sept. 2019 in which Schlissel sent the employee an article by the New Yorker entitled “Sexual Fantasies of Everyday New Yorkers.” In that email, Schlissel told the employee the article was “just for fun.”

The emails also detail several trips Schlissel and the employee went on together, including one to California and another to Europe.

The emails also include receipts for dinner and movie reservations.

The regents also released a letter sent to Schissel outlining the causes for his termination

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of employment, including exchanging inappropriate emails with Individual 1 using his official U-M account.

In one exchange on July 1, 2021, Individual 1 wrote to Schlissel saying that her “heart hurts,” to which Schlissel responded with “i know. mine too.” Schlissel also wrote to the individual that “this is my fault,” that he is “in pain too” and that he still wishes he “were strong enough to find a way.”

Schlissel also responded to Individual 1’s official U-M email address on Jan. 9, 2021 with “Love it when you say that.” Schlissel made a similar remark on April 25, 2020, according to the regents’ letter.

The regents cite another instance on Nov. 4, 2021, in which Schlissel was scheduled to attend a U-M basketball game as part of his official duties as president.

On that day, Schlissel wrote to Individual 1 saying that “the only reason I agreed to go was to go with you. there is a conspiracy against me.”

According to the regents, Schlissel was not able to sit next to Individual 1, prompting his “disappointment.”

On Dec. 3, 2021, Schlissel also wrote Individual 1 about the Big Ten Championship “President’s Suite briefing Info,” to which he said “You can give me a private briefing.”

The emails also detail

INDEX

various gifts Schlissel sent to Individual 1, including a matching set of gifts and U-M facemasks for both of them.

The emails also reveal Schlissel and Individual 1 took several trips together, including one to India. The trip connected through Paris, prompting an exchange between Individual 1 and Schlissel about a hypothetical situation in the city if their flight were canceled, writing “What if we miss our connection and get stuck in Paris…” It is unclear if this trip was for University business or personal reasons.

Schlissel and the employee also exchanged texts over iMessage, which were also included in the document.

“I am looking forward to seeing you later. That thought will get me through (sic) day,” Schlissel texted Individual 1 on June 30, 2021.

The emails come after the University updated it’s sexual misconduct policy in Sept. 2021, which included more concrete definitions of misconduct, clarifications on ways to report misconduct and outlines for procedures in addressing sexual and genderbased misconduct allegations.

Schlissel’s term was filled with instances of sexual misconduct investigations among University faculty and staff, including former Provost Martin Philbert, who was the second-in-command

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below Schlissel.

In Nov. 2020, the University reached a settlement with eight women who were sexually assaulted

by Philbert, who had a history of sexually harassing female employees and having sexual relationships in university offices.

The settlement came after an investigation conducted by WilmerHale, which found “significant evidence” that Philbert violated the University’s sexual misconduct policy.

In addition to the Philbert case, more than 950 survivors have come forward alleging thousands of instances of sexual misconduct in what may be the most instances of misconduct by a single person in U.S. history.

Anderson survivor and former U-M football player Jonathan Vaughn is running for the Board of Regents, with his campaign speaking against Schlissel’s response to victims. He has been camping outside of President Schlissel’s house since Oct. 8, protesting the president’s lack of response to his and other survivors’ demands.

Daily Staff Reporters Anna Fifelski and George Weykamp umich.edu and gweykamp@ umich.edu, Daily News Editor Kate Weiland and Managing News Editors Dominic Coletti and Kristina Zheng contributed reporting.

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News

2 — Wednesday, January 19, 2022

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MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. SYMPOSIUM CAMPUS LIFE

Circle of Unity focus on community, faith in Diag celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day Songs, poems shared at Michigan Community Scholars Program Gathering

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MADISON KRAFT Daily Staff Reporter At the foot of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, two microphones were set up. A group of students congregated around a small table, serving themselves hot chocolate, while clusters of families and students began to arrive.

For the past 16 years, the Michigan Community Scholars Program has honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the namesake holiday with their Circle of Unity celebration. The event returned in person this year, following last year’s virtual installment.

The program began with a performance from Michigan natives Joe Reilly and Julie Beutel, who sang a series of songs, including Reilly’s own song entitled ‘The Circle.’ Attendees formed a large circle and were encouraged to participate in a sing-along to tunes inspiring action and uplifting marginalized groups.

William Alt, MCSP Community Engagement Coordinator said the event was very much student-led.

Many of the performances featured students, including a rendition of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran’s “Everything Has Changed,” which was performed

by Blue Records, a recording group at the University of Michigan.

LSA sophomore Sarah Oguntomilade followed this performance with a reading of her poem, “Enemies to Lovers,” which explores the dual-edged nature of

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history and how the reprehensible actions of the past inform the present day.

“Terribly horrible events have created terribly beautiful realities, and because of that, nothing is black and white, everything is in the grey,” Oguntomilade said.

“Through this lense, I share the story of my life and how I’ve gotten to this point, all while using the metaphor of enemies to lovers, my favorite literary genre.”

Oguntomilade also read another original poem called “My Name Is,” which Oguntomilade said highlights her own life journey with faith and how faith connects with Dr. King’s advocacy. “‘My Name Is’ also describes my life and my story, however this time through the lense of faith,”

Ogutomilade said. “I recognize that the faith that brought great pain in the past is the same faith that drove Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his activism and his peace movements.”

LSA sophomore Leilani Fonseca then spoke briefly about the impact she has been able to create as a peer mentor through MCSP. “It is through communities like (MCSP) that I feel like my dreams will soon be a reality,” Fonseca said. “The idea that I will one day be able to give back and support my community in the way they have supported (me) will always bring warmth to my heart.”

As the event came to a close, Reilly and Beutel performed more songs. Papers with QR codes were handed out, directing attendees to

information about the Freedom to Vote Act and providing phone numbers to the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as a template for those interested in writing letters to members of Congress about the Freedom to Vote Act. Alt also said the focus of the event was to acknowledge Dr. King’s life as well as a way for the community to come together.

“We always try to stress here in MCSP that you have a place here,” Alt said. “Dr. King’s message of the Beloved Community, this idea that everybody has a right to participate, that everybody has a right and a place to belong in this community.”

Daily Staff Reporter Madison Kraft can be reached at madimk@ umich.edu.

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CAMPUS LIFE

Memorial keynote lecture discusses importance of policy change, voting rights

Maria de Lourdes Hinojosa Ojeda, Dr. Rashad Richey talk MLK’s life and legacy CARLY BRECHNER Daily Staff Reporter The University of Michigan Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium memorial keynote lecture Monday featured speakers Maria de Lourdes Hinojosa Ojeda and Dr. Rashad Richey. The virtual keynote was one of many events held as a part of the 2022 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium titled “This Is America.”

Organized by the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, the Symposium has been an annual event since 1986. This year, the events were originally scheduled to take place in person at Hill Auditorium, but were moved

to a virtual format due to rising COVID-19 cases.

Keynote speaker Richey –– a professor, political analyst and Emmy-nominated broadcaster –– discussed the transformation and palatability of Rev. Dr. King’s ideas, as well as how he was perceived by the public.

“We have cherry picked what we would like Dr. King to be,” Richey said. “Dr. King was called radical. They called him a communist.

They said he was a socialist. The same people who called him that were simply adversarial to a policy change in America.”

Richey also emphasized the importance of understanding the difference between equality and equity.

“This issue of equality versus equity has been front and center in many conversations in this country. I think some people have intentionally mischaracterized the two,” Richey said. “Dr. King talked about something called genuine equality as opposed to equality as it relates to mobility, to the Civil Rights Bill that allows you to go places. He said ‘we need genuine equality.’

That was his way of saying equity.”

Hinojosa, multimedia journalist and author, spoke regarding the significance of both owning and sharing one’s history and story while connecting her messages to the life and lessons of Dr. King.

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CAMPUS LIFE

Author Steve Pemberton on impact of racial tensions, fight for justice Speaker explores the lighthouse effect, finding a collective humanity

MARLEE SACKSNER Daily Staff Reporter Steve Pemberton – author, business leader and motivational speaker – spoke to over 200 members of the University of Michigan community Monday over Zoom for the University’s “This is America” Martin Luther King Jr. symposium. Pemberton centered the discussion on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his life story, his own personal life and the lighthouse effect. This effect references a lighthouse as someone who shows up in your life and has a significant impact.

The symposium was organized by the MLK Committee, sponsors, the University library and the School of Information.

Dean of Libraries James Hilton thanked the committee for their efforts in creating this

symposium and described the kind of speakers the committee chooses each year. The speakers are intended to honor MLK’s life and these speakers range from motivational speakers to book authors to environmentalists.

“Every year the committee does a phenomenal job of finding amazing speakers,” Hilton said.

“Speakers who provoke us, speakers who push us to think about the roles that discrimination, bias and structural racism play in our society and in our own lives.”

Hilton also used this time to introduce Pemberton and explain why he was chosen to speak at the event. He acknowledged Pemberton’s business accomplishments, awards and philanthropy work.

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NEWS

Dr. King symposium features professor Lakesha Butler on health inequities Event highlights disparities in healthcare, higher education in America SEJAL PATIL Daily Staff Reporter

The University of Michigan College of Pharmacy and MLK Health Sciences Committee organized a lecture entitled “This is America: Confronting Health Inequities … Writing Prescriptions for Change” to honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This was the first of a complete symposium featuring future events on Medical Apartheid and Racial Disparities in Pain Management.

The lecture was delivered by Lakesha Butler, a clinical professor of pharmacy practice and the director of diversity, equity and inclusion at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) School of Pharmacy. She discussed the importance of disrupting and dismantling inequities and injustices in healthcare and higher education.

As a national speaker on the topics of antiracism, diversity, equity

and inclusion, Butler began her presentation discussing the different versions of America that exist in society.

“There are two Americas. One is beautiful where millions have food and material, culture and education for their minds. They have freedom and human dignity,” Butler said. “But there is another America that has a daily ugliness. Millions are forced to live in distressed housing conditions.

Unemployment is a reality in this lonely island of poverty. This causes bitterness, anguish and angst.”

Event host Cherie Dotson, student affairs program manager for Student Recruitment & Outreach at the U-M College of Pharmacy, opened the lecture with remarks and a performance by Committed of the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

“We are so excited to host this event for everyone and wanted to extend a special thanks to the U-M

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News XOXO, The PNM Princess: the rise of anonymous social media during the UMich sorority rush cycle

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Popular online platform Yik Yak becomes hotspot for Greek life commentary during recruitment season

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CARLIN PENDELL Daily Staff Reporter

In August 2021, “the Yak was back.” Popular anonymous social media platform Yik Yak reappeared in the Apple App Store after being shut down in 2017 due to concerns about cyberbullying and a rapidly declining user base. When Yik Yak returned, college students across the country flocked back to the application, and students at the University of Michigan were no exception.

Compared to other popular social media applications such

as Instagram or TikTok, Yik Yak is unique in the way it emphasizes a connection with local communities, only displaying posts within a five-mile radius of the user. Yik Yak’s biggest distinction, however, is that its users remain anonymous. Users can “upvote” or “downvote” anonymous “yaks,” with the most popular content appearing on the “Hot” page. Additionally, in the updated app, posts with five or more downvotes are removed from the platform altogether.

While yaks typically concern a multitude of topics, content posted within the vicinity of the

University has focused on the ongoing sorority recruitment process since Jan. 5, the day of potential new member (PNM) orientation. Some of the most popular yaks during the week of Jan. 9 include “this sorority process is very humbling,” and “sororities have hired the FBI to downvote and delete any posts criticizing them.”

Among the numerous sorority recruitment yaks is one recurring name — The PNM Princess.

Described by many students as the “Gossip Girl” or “Radio Rebel” of sorority recruitment, The PNM Princess has a Reddit account she has been using to

post somewhat confrontational statements about the Michigan sorority recruitment process and her individual desire — or lack thereof — to join each house.

The Princess’s blog-style Reddit posts, entitled “The PNM Diaries,” have quickly dominated the “Hot” page on Yik Yak, prompting anonymous responses such as, “Pnm princess better be typing fast I’m so excited for the (tea),” and “PNM PRINCESS I NEED U TO POST BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP.” In a Jan. 13 Reddit post ranking the sorority houses at the University, the Princess took

Wednesday, January 19, 2022 — 3 a shot at “popular” sororities, claiming she was not sharing her personal opinions of the houses but rather ranking them according to the “values” they displayed in each round of rush thus far.

“I’d like to preface this with a simple warning — this isn’t about *true* rankings,” the Princess wrote. “Obviously despite their racism, homophobia, fatphobia, and other general shittiness, the “top” sororities will remain at the “top.” Funny how the most hated people on campus still maintain their “popularity.” But hey, we’ve all seen Mean Girls; we know how this works.”

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, the PNM Princess revealed she is a freshman, but does not want her name published at this time. She told The Daily her original goal for “The PNM Diaries” was to have a way to organize her honest thoughts about the rush process.

“Well, to be honest, it kind of was a way for me to write down my thoughts and opinions of each house (and) at first it just sort of helped me sort out my own thoughts,” the Princess said. “And then I (realized) I hear way too much about what the sororities are thinking, but you never hear the other side of the story,” the Princess said.

“We never hear what it’s like to be a PNM.” The Princess said PNMs often feel as though they lack a voice during sorority recruitment because they are under constant pressure to “perform” well for each sorority. The Princess said if she were not anonymous, she would have been dropped from every sorority for publicly sharing her unadulterated thoughts about the different organizations.

“So, really PNMs cannot be honest on a public platform… because every house would instantly drop you,” the Princess said. “I don’t think that I would have been capable of telling my story if it weren’t for being anonymous.

When asked if she ever plans to reveal her identity, the PNM Princess was doubtful, saying sharing that information would isolate her from whichever

sorority she ends up joining.

“This is actually a secret that I don’t really intend on ever telling anybody,” the Princess said.

“There are a select few people who I seriously trust to know my true identity and honestly, regardless of how close I will become with my future (sorority) sisters, I doubt I will ever tell anybody else because it’s not worth becoming a social pariah.”

However, many members of “the herd,” as YikYak’s denizens are known, have criticized the Princess’s posts, including “can’t wait for one of the (computer science) majors to leak pnm princess’s IP address,” and “can’t wait to hear the pnm princess after she gets dropped from all the top houses.”

LSA sophomore Alexander Manthous said the focus on sorority recruitment on Yik Yak is unrelatable and tiresome.

“I’ve definitely seen a ton of sorority yik yaks, and honestly those … bore me to death,” Manthous said. “I can’t relate to them. (The posts) talk about specific things and specific sororities and I just feel like I don’t understand what they’re referring to.”

LSA senior Hayley Sanders, the vice president of recruitment at Sigma Delta Tau, said she appreciated the posts from The PNM Princess.

“I was pleasantly surprised with what (The PNM Princess) said about philanthropy and our DEI speech,” Sanders said. “We worked so hard to make sure we were saying exactly what we wanted to say. And we’ve been getting amazing feedback regardless of what the Princess says. So I don’t have any complaints at all.”

Still, Sanders cautioned PNMs to avoid pursuing sororities based on reputation or social rank according to online forums.

“As hard as it is to separate yourself from (what the Princess writes), you will be so much happier when you like being (a member) of a sorority,” Sanders said.

Daily Staff Reporter Carlin Pendell can be reached at cpendell@umich.edu.

Proposed legislation will allow Anderson survivors to sue the University

Bills to provide a 30-day window to file lawsuit outside of the statute of limitations, remove use the defense of government immunity IRENA LI

Daily Staff Reporter

Trigger warning: Mentions of sexual assault On Jan. 4, State Senator Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) announced plans to introduce legislation that would aid victims of former University of Michigan athletic doctor Robert Anderson in pursuing legal action against the University.

These bills would provide Anderson survivors with a 30-day window to sue the University for its role in the abuse outside of the statute of limitations.

The legislation would also remove the University’s ability to use the defense of government immunity.

In a Jan. 4 press release, Barrett emphasized Michigan lawmakers’ responsibility to take action against sexual abuse.

“As lawmakers, we have a moral duty to update our laws to protect survivors and provide them with legal recourse against institutions that enable abusers, even when those institutions are agents of the government,” Barrett said. “The university has not denied these tragic events happened, therefore, we are obliged to provide a path forward to justice for the victims.”

White Law PLLC, a law firm located in Okemos, Michigan, represented over 160 victims of former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar and currently represents dozens of Anderson survivors. Alexander Rusek, a senior associate attorney with White Law PLLC, said in an interview with The Daily that Barrett’s proposed legislation would provide an opportunity for survivors to pursue legal action decades later. “(These bills) will give survivors of Dr. Anderson the opportunity to bring their case in the court because many times in Michigan, our statute of limitations limits survivors from bringing lawsuits only because of how long ago the abuse happened,” Rusek said. “The science and research shows us that survivors, in general, of childhood sexual abuse don’t come forward — if they ever do — until approximately age 48 to 52 … (T)hese bills (would) allow survivors to have access to justice going forward … (and) remove the statute of limitations.”

Nassar survivor Grace French founded The Army of Survivors, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the systemic sexual abuse of athletes and protecting victims by creating a system that holds perpetrators accountable. The Army of Survivors works to create and allocate supportive resources for survivors of sexual violence, according to their website. French said Barrett’s legislation would be a great step forward in helping survivors find justice.

“I think the legislation is a win for survivors and it’s really giving access for these survivors to come forward and … get the justice that they deserve,” French said. “This is definitely not the end of what we hope to do in the future for survivors in Michigan, because there’s so many more people that we want to make sure that have access to justice, but it’s a really good step in that direction.”

Julia Schettenhelm, LSA junior and Communications Director for the University of Michigan’s chapter of College Democrats, wrote in an email to The Daily that College Democrats approve of the legislator’s efforts to support survivors.

“We stand with the Anderson survivors and continue to support the Hail to the Victims movement,” Schettenhelm wrote. “As such, we agree that offering this kind of support to survivors is the right thing to do.”

In an email to The Daily, Margaret Beste, LSA senior and vice chair of College Republicans at the University of Michigan, said they also support the legislation.

“Legislation that supports survivors of sexual abuse, assualt, and harrassment, especially in navigating the emotional and material challenges of the judicial system, is a wholly worthwhile pursuit,” Beste wrote. “The presently outlined pieces of the proposal, including a 30-day window for survivors to file suit against the University and the removal of procedural obstacles, appear to be sensible and meaningful steps to help survivors obtain justice.

We look forward to learning more about the phrasing and implementation of the details outlined in the proposal and how we might help move the legislation forward.”

Rusek weighed in on the importance of this legislation to people with a wide range of backgrounds and political affiliations.

“I think that it’s important that people know that… – no matter what your background or political affiliations – this is legislation that everyone can get behind,” Rusek said. “Bipartisan effort is really powerful and sends a message to the enablers and perpetrators of sexual abuse in the state that we’re not going to stand for it anymore. And (they’re) going to be held accountable for it.”

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

BECCA MAHON/Daily

Arts

4 — Wednesday, January 19, 2022

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

‘Cobra Kai’ season four goes above and beyond in fulfilling its premise

‘Mouth to Mouth’ needs to resuscitation

AIDAN HARRIS

ISABELLA KASSA

Daily Arts Writer

Prior to the release of the first season of “Cobra Kai” in 2018, fans of the original “Karate Kid” had played around with the idea that Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka, “The Man in the Silo”), long known as an antagonist, was in fact the tragic hero of the film. “How I Met Your Mother” brought the sentiment into the national pop culture conversation when Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris, “A Series of Unfortunate Events”) endorsed the stance.

When the first episode of “Cobra Kai” reintroduced middle-aged Johnny as a co-protagonist, perhaps even more focal to the story than Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio, “Kevin Can Wait”), the intended hero of “The Karate Kid,” it felt natural. Since its inception, “Cobra Kai” has sought to blur the line between good guys and bad guys and instead treat each of its characters as authentic, flawed individuals.

Now in its fourth season, “Cobra Kai” has mastered this formula, leading to one of the most bingeable and entertaining seasons of television in recent memory.

Season four picks up right where season three left off; Johnny and Daniel have joined forces to create a unified dojo to rival Johnny’s sinister and manipulative former sensei, John Kreese (Martin Kove, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), and his Cobra Kai dojo. The stakes are high with a bet in place between Daniel and Johnny and Kreese: If one of Daniel’s or Johnny’s students wins the All-Valley Karate Tournament, Kreese will quit teaching karate for good, and vice-versa. Throughout the season, Johnny and Daniel struggle

Daily Arts Writer

This image is from the official trailer for “Cobra Kai,” distributed by Netflix.

to reconcile their opposite styles of karate, based on offense and defense respectively. This difference of opinion is exacerbated

by Johnny’s abrasive nature and Daniel’s my-way-or-the-highway attitude.

Meanwhile, the students — Miguel (Xolo Maridueña, “Cleopatra in Space”), Johnny’s star pupil and surrogate son, Sam (Mary Mouser, “Gates of Darkness”), Daniel’s student and daughter, Robby (Tanner Buchanan, “He’s All That”), Cobra Kai’s best fighter and Johnny’s estranged son and Tory (Peyton List, “Light as a Feather”), a self-reliant and resentful girl who Kreese takes under his wing — struggle with their identities. While these are the series’ main characters, season four features a hefty amount of notable supporting characters, including Kenny Payne (Dallas Young, “The Big Show Show”), a good-hearted eighth-grader who turns to Cobra Kai after dealing with incessant bullying and Terry Silver (Thom-

as Ian Griffith, “The Pirate’s Curse”), Kreese’s diabolical partner in “The Karate Kid Part III.” The writers impressively balance the arcs of each of its numerous characters. With the season clocking in at approximately five hours long, there isn’t a second to spare in getting every character to their final destination by the end of episode ten. In every scene, characters push one another to the next step of their development. However, none of the prominent characters are there solely as a vehicle for another. Each one has their own valid aspirations, fears and goals. No matter how seemingly evil or unlikeable a character is, they all have genuine intentions that we understand.

Even if we don’t want them to achieve their specific visions of success, we are still rooting for them to end up in the best place possible.

Therefore, dilemmas arise when the interests of characters are at direct odds with one another, each plotline intersecting in a

neat pretzel. The show cleverly uses our desire for each character to come out on top to keep us engaged and pressing play on the next episode. As inevitable complications arise, driving characters further apart, we can’t help but keep watching to see how everything resolves.

Many fans watch “Cobra Kai” for the badass fighting scenes, 80’s nostalgia or goofy humor.

These are definitely all great aspects of the show. Even so, the heartbeat of the show is its nuanced approach to the characters. There is no simple ending where the heroes overcome the villains. In a show without the concept of heroes and villains, the only happy ending is one in which every character finds peace.

Needless to say, season four of “Cobra Kai” leaves us on the edge of our seats, waiting for that glorious moment to arrive in future seasons.

Daily Arts Writer Aidan Harris can be reached at harrisai@ umich.edu.

Antoine Wilson’s “Mouth to Mouth” is a storytelling triumph.

Published in early January, this novel is intentional, focused and expertly delivered. Wilson captures the reader’s attention from the beginning and holds it all the way to the end. “Mouth to Mouth” lies somewhere in between a fable and traditional literary fiction but pushes past the limits of both genres to create something that leaves the reader questioning their own morality.

Essentially, “Mouth to Mouth” is a story within a story. The novel opens with our narrator in JFK Airport, waiting to board his flight. By chance, he hears the name of Jeff Cook, encountering an old acquaintance from UCLA who happens to be boarding the same plane. In the narrator’s own words, “We hadn’t been friends, exactly, barely acquaintances, but Jeff was one of those minor players from the past who claimed for himself an outsize role in my memories.” After their shared flight was delayed, Jeff and our narrator decide to get a drink while waiting. Through their conversations, Jeff steers the discussion towards talking about near-death experiences, eventually telling our narrator, “I ended up in close proximity to one once.

Not long after college, in fact, a year or so later. I was, through no planning or forethought on my part, responsible for saving a man’s life.”

This “near-death experience” came to Jeff while on an early morning beach walk to clear his head. Coming off the heels of an intense breakup, Jeff was seeking clarity on his expedition. While there, Jeff comes across a man

floating face down in the ocean.

Jeff quickly decides he would rather not be a bystander to another man’s death and pulls the stranger out of the water and uses mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to save his life. Once the lifeguards come, Jeff is quickly pushed aside to allow the medics to care for the stranger. Jeff is obviously shaken up from this experience, especially after already being in a fragile emotional state from the breakup; in the week that follows, Jeff finds himself borderline obsessed with discovering the identity of this man, going back to the site of the event and talking to the lifeguards who helped save the stranger. This event turns out to be the catalyst for what comes next in Jeff’s story.

After getting the swimmer’s name — Francis Arsenault — and address from the lifeguard, Jeff’s curiosity grows, leading him to drive to Francis’s house.

Jeff finds that the address the lifeguard gave was for a house Francis was building. Without a Francis sighting as he had hoped, Jeff decides to look him up online and finds out Francis works as an art gallery owner. Jeff then begins to purposely put himself in positions to cross paths with Francis, hoping the man will recognize him. Without giving too much away, Jeff entrenches himself deeply into Francis’s life, beginning with getting a job as a receptionist at Francis’s gallery. Jeff’s story only grows more warped and complex, eventually leading to an unexpected final twist. Wilson’s masterful plot development is one of the main reasons “Mouth to Mouth” is such a strong novel.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

How ‘Bungo Stray Dogs’ introduces literature classics to fans worldwide

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Release Date: Wednesday, January 12, 2022 Release Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2022

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By David Poole 01/19/22 “WandaVision” (c)2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

By Craig Stowe ©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

WHISPER WHISPER

01/12/22

Daily Arts Writer

Initially published in 2014, “Bungo Stray Dogs” is an ongoing manga series following Nakajima Atsushi, a homeless orphan in Japan. After getting kicked out of yet another orphanage and on the brink of starvation, he accidentally stops the suicide of Detective Osamu Dazai. Upon learning that Atsushi can transform into a white tiger, Dazai recruits him into the Armed Detective Agency (ADA), a team of people with similar supernatural abilities.

Finally part of a family, Atsushi and the rest of the ADA use their abilities to fight crime around Yokohama and meet other shapeshifters in the process.

That’s just a little background.

However, this article will not be focusing on the story itself, nor the characters. What’s special about “Bungo Stray Dogs” is the characters’ names, as most, if not all, characters are named after famous authors and poets. The abilities of the characters usually correspond with the literary styles or works of the person they are named after. Even the manga’s title, “Bungo Stray Dogs,” incorporates literature: The word “bungo” translates to “literary” in English.

By referencing these various literary figures and works, “Bungo Stray Dogs” exposes its fans, specifically those from the West, to works of literature and authors they may never have heard of otherwise. Many of the main characters are named after Japanese authors and poets, so most western audience members may have trouble recognizing their names and influences.

However, the series also introduces characters named after more well-known western figures: Edgar Allan Poe, Francis Fitzgerald and H.P. Lovecraft, for example. Once fans recognized that the characters were named after authors, they were quickly inspired to look into their various works. This sparked a popular trend on TikTok in which fans bought the works of referenced authors. Many of these books

have been integrated into fandom conversations. Author names are not the only literary reference within “Bungo Stray Dogs,” as some of its characters are based on figures from these novels or even the novels’ authors themselves. In this way, reading the works of the authors can help shed light on both the manga and its characters.

Many online phenomena have come about due to fans of the series becoming more familiar with the authors that characters are named after. For example, some fans have created entire blogs — such as Japanese Literature and Bungo Stray Dog Tumblr Blog and BSD Die Hard Fan Tumblr Blog — connecting Japanese literature to the show, documenting old photos of authors and detailing notable encounters that authors have had with each other. The two blogs above are actually the ones I used to learn more about the authors referenced in BSD as well as the series as a whole. These blogs made it a lot easier to find information about the authors and their works because it was all centralized in one place.

For me, finding new books to read is often difficult because I am very picky and the process of looking is too strenuous. Often I just give up, but having access to blogs like these or to TikTok creators that talk about the books has made that process of choosing my next book a lot easier. The overall influence of social media, specifically TikTok, is what introduced me to this manga series and, in turn, to many works of classic literature I was newly inspired to read. My introduction to these works is mainly attributed to fans of the series who go out of their way to create content about it in the form of art, edits, blogs or even analyses. Apart from fan creations, the show also motivated fans to read the literary works of authors both new and old.

There are even living authors, such as Japanese mystery writers Yukito Ayatsuji and Natsuhiko Kyogoku, who are seeing benefits from references in BSD. Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, January 19, 2022 — 5

Do good movie musicals even exist?

ERIN EVANS

Daily Arts Writer

Several months ago, my answer seemed to be “no.”

After witnessing the catastrophic failure of “Dear Evan Hansen” — a film which I hated, adapted from a musical I liked (or at least used to like. It’s difficult to listen to Ben Platt since seeing the movie) — I began to wonder whether a musical could go from stage to screen without being ruined in the process. Thinking about others I had seen, I realized with some unease that every one I came up with had disappointed me

to believe that the stage is a setting other than a stage (excepting, of course, musicals where the stage is canonical). We accept this just as we accept that the story is being told through song.

It’s not the same case with movies. Or at least, this acceptance isn’t as easy or automatic. In “Dear Evan Hansen,” when high school student Evan (Ben Platt, “Pitch Perfect 2”) starts quietly singing at the dinner table in response to a question he is asked, it feels wrong, especially when the other characters continue to speak normally. It seems less like he is delivering the story through song and more like he is actually singing his side of the conversation to these

Design by Madison Grosvenor

somehow. “Evita” awkwardly fits songs and story together in a way that detracts from any power the film could have had.

“Les Misérables” adds songs not from the original soundtrack. Both “Les Mis” and “The Phantom of the Opera” suffer from suboptimal singing (“Les Mis” being the far worse offender).

These movie musicals feel like they aren’t meant to be movies. But they also aren’t meant to be musicals. They are unable to maintain what made them work as musicals while justifying their existence as films. It was the adaptation from one form to the other where they struggled, specifically when it came to suspension of disbelief.

If a movie is going to be a musical, this is something it must contend with. On stage, we don’t think twice when the characters start singing. We have already decided

people in their dining room. Much of the suspension of disbelief is lost in the film because Evan sings so much more than the rest of the cast.

Despite all his singing, there never seems to be a reason why. In musicals, when characters start singing in situations where people wouldn’t normally sing, it is usually because they are expressing something where words aren’t sufficient. They are moved to song, so to speak. But in the film, Evan appears to just decide to sing all of his thoughts, and when the other characters rarely sing about their arguably more complicated feelings, it becomes harder to accept this.

The songs themselves often don’t move the story forward because they lack movement in a literal sense. The characters stand or sit in a single place while singing or move in a way not conducive to the song’s intend-

ed effect; for example, the original impact of “If I Could Tell Her,” an alleged love song, is lost as we watch Evan awkwardly stalk Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever, “Booksmart”) around her kitchen island like a serial killer.

I was given hope for movie musicals after seeing Steven Spielberg’s (“Ready Player One”) “West Side Story” last week.

Unlike in “Dear Evan Hansen,” the singing in “West Side Story” doesn’t feel jarring.

Everyone sings, for a start, and when they do so, it moves the story forward. When Anita (Ariana DeBose, “Hamilton”), joined by an ensemble, sings “America,” we understand not only her struggles and hopes as a Puerto Rican immigrant, but the community of similar people living in Manhattan.

The film also makes use of choreography — absent in all but one song in “Dear Evan Hansen” — letting the audience know that they are not meant to take what is happening literally.

When Tony (Ansel Elgort, “Baby Driver”) and Maria (Rachel Zegler, debut) sing “Tonight,” the impression is that words would not have been enough to express how much they mean to each other. The song acts to persuade the audience that they are falling in love despite having just met.

The musical element, the theatricality, the importance of music as something characters are moved to do when speaking will not suffice, is preserved in this movie. In “Dear Evan Hansen,” song simply replaces dialogue when Evan wants it to. “Dear Evan Hansen” brings singing to the screen.

“West Side Story” brings a musical there.

This idea of bringing the theatrical element of musicals to the screen has led to the success, or partial success, of other movie musicals as well, at least as far as suspension of disbelief. “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Cabaret” are set in an opera house and (as the title suggests) a cabaret, respectively, where singing is a canonical part of the story. This makes it more natural for characters to break into song even when they are no longer in a scenario where they normally would. “Chicago” makes use of this as well, having most of the musical numbers take place on an imagined stage meant both to show how aspiring celebrity Roxie (Renée Zellweger, “Bridget Jones’s Baby”) imagines her life as a series of stage acts and to comment on the immoral workings of the justice system and its relation to the press.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

‘Emily in Paris’ season two has improved ‘un petit peu’ HANNAH CARAPELLOTTI Daily Arts Writer

I’ll be the first to admit it: “Emily in Paris” is one of my favorite TV shows. Ever since the first season dropped on Netflix in October of 2020, I was hooked. Lily Collins (“Tolkien”), gorgeous shots of France, a fun romance? Sign me up. I finished the first season’s ten episodes in record time and sat around waiting eagerly for season two — which dropped right as the University of Michigan went on break for the holidays when I’d have plenty of time to binge it. The show has improved in a lot of ways, but the second season reinforced some flaws as well.

“Emily in Paris,” from “Sex and the City” creator Darren Star, quickly became some of Netflix’s most-watched content, though not all of the attention was positive. Critics and viewers alike hated the countless clichés and stereotypes of the French. That didn’t change much in season two, as Emily’s Instagram influencer status became even more far-fetched.

While going viral can happen to anyone at any time, the level at which it happens to Emily is unrealistic (something which users on TikTok are quick to make fun of).

One of the biggest — and most exciting — differences between the two seasons is that when Emily is not around, the French characters actually speak French! Who would have thought?

Emily’s sad attempts to practice her French continue to be a running joke in the first half of the season. In one episode, she tries to write Camille (Camille Razat, “The Accusation”), the rich Parisian who befriends Emily at the start of season one, a letter in French as an apology, but when read aloud it makes absolutely no sense.

The show finally gave more attention to minor characters like Mindy (Ashley Park, “Girls5Eva”), Julien (Samuel Arnold, “Antony and Cleopatra”) and Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, “Call My Agent!”). Madeline (Kate Walsh, “Grey’s Anatomy”), Emily’s boss in Chicago, has a much larger role in the second half of this season as well. After a surprise arrival at Savoir, the French marketing company Emily works for, Madeline uncovers a few business practices that the American workplace would consider unethical. She

tries taking control of the French offices and conforming them to the style of her Chicago firm, only to have Sylvie quit and open her own firm, with her employees and their highest-paying clients in tow.

Seeing Sylvie and the others walk away was satisfying, even though, for that moment in time, Emily’s job seemed up in the air.

One of the biggest areas where the season fell flat was in the romance department. Season one left off with a cliffhanger: Emily spent the night with Gabriel (Lucas Bravo, “Smart Ass”) before he leaves Paris for good, only to find out the next morning that he’s staying. Emily then got a text from Camille, her friend — and Gabriel’s ex-girlfriend (hence the need for a letter of apology). Much of the promotion for season two played into that “will they/won’t they” romance, only for it to appear exclusively at the very beginning and very end. Emily doesn’t want to sacrifice her friendship with Camille in order to date Gabriel so she tries to stay away, only increasing the sexual tension that made their relationship so enjoyable the first time around. But after Camille finds out that they slept together, she stops speaking to both of them, and Emily suddenly moves on to Alfie (Lucien Laviscount, “Katy Keene”), the handsome Brit in her French class. The chemistry between Emily and Alfie felt forced and was nothing compared to that between her and Gabriel. Emily’s relationship with Alfie felt like a poor excuse to let Emily keep speaking English without feeling guilty, too.

Even worse, Camille’s treatment of Emily is completely swept under the rug.

Her reaction to finding out about Emily and Gabriel is justifiable, but she does a complete 180 with Emily and gets her to enter a “no dating Gabriel” pact only to take him back herself. There’s no explanation as to why Camille goes behind Emily’s back like this (beyond Camille’s mother cryptically suggesting it), and after Emily discovers they have gotten back together, there isn’t any kind of confrontation. Season two ends on a similar cliffhanger to season one: Emily’s future with Gabriel is up in the air, and this time she’s the one who might not be staying in Paris.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Messiness in PTA movies, and why it works in ‘Licorice Pizza’ ANISH TAMHANEY Daily Arts Writer

If you’ve seen the trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s (“Inherent Vice”) latest film “Licorice Pizza,” you probably remember a brief snippet: two people laying nearly shoulder-to-shoulder on a waterbed, faces turned towards each other, silhouetted hands almost touching. It’s a cute, sappy little thing.

But in the movie, that scene abruptly ends with the girl falling asleep and the boy trying to grope her breast before changing his mind.

I interpreted the moment as simply a reflection of his childishness, his horniness. It wasn’t until I was talking about the film with my girlfriend, days after we’d seen it, that I questioned this.

“What if she was faking being asleep?” she asked me. “Like a test?”

I wanted to say no, to simplify the scene into a transgression of a teenage boy, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure. That lack of certainty of the extent to which the two are aware of each other, testing each other, is the driving force of “Licorice Pizza.”

The truth of their relationship, and of “Licorice Pizza” at large, is complicated sometimes.

Like many of the best Anderson films, the plot is nothing more than two infinitely interesting characters colliding, finding themselves unable to stay away from one another and seeing what happens.

This formula (or lack thereof) is responsible for the tautly romantic, intoxicating atmosphere of “Phantom Thread” and the wandering ambiguity of “The Master.”

In “Licorice Pizza,” it plays out in episodes of ’70s tropes woven together by the odd companionship between 15-year-old hustler Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman, debut) and in-her-twenties-andstill-figuring-shit-out Alana Kane (Alana Haim, of the rock trio HAIM).

Their relationship is definitely romantic despite their gap in age and life experience, but is no less

challenging than other Anderson pairs.

The two are mutually unsure of their place in each other’s lives but simultaneously feel more recognized together than they do anywhere else in the world.

It’s precisely in these kinds of odd, undefined relationships where the writer-director Anderson thrives; where his indifference toward cliché gives his characters an unmistakable realism.

One of the fascinating parts of Gary and Alana’s relationship is the way its ambiguity makes it more, rather than less, palpable to their friends and families.

Anderson is adamant about peripheral characters asking Gary if he is dating Alana and vice versa. Their confused hesitation in responding embodies the

tions instead, like in the mirror along the wall of a restaurant’s dining area in a pivotal ending scene. This moment is one of the highlights of her performance, the conversation happening on either side of her forcing her to take in shocking information, while the shot only lets us see a dim, muted version of her expression.

The characters themselves are messy too, an indication of the era and the instability of growing up. The way the film includes the anti-Asian racism, particularly pervasive in its era, paints its characters with gritty, sometimes uncomfortable depth. Much has

The image is from the official trailer for “Licorice Pizza,” distributed by MGM.

kind of tension that gives “Licorice Pizza” constant forward momentum, even as the plot (often hilariously) meanders.

The film certainly has its laughs — particularly an episode at prolific producer Jon Peters’s house that exists simply for Bradley Cooper (“A Star is Born”) to clown around in a little mullet.

Yet the film is more effective as a study of two young people coming to terms with themselves through each other’s eyes than it is as a ’70s LA hangout flick.

What I can’t stop thinking about, even days after my viewing, is the minutiae of Gary and Alana’s behavior towards each other, how their mutual attraction catalyzes just as much frustration.

It becomes hard not to adore how messy the film feels. Gone are Anderson’s signature frame-withina-frame shots: his use of doors, windows and other physical constraints of his sets to naturally zoom in on a scene. Everything here feels hazier, less concrete.

Alana is often shot in reflec-

been written about Jerry Frick (John Michael Higgins, “Pitch Perfect”), the white owner of a Japanese restaurant, breaking into a gross caricature of an Asian accent in multiple scenes. I wish similar attention was paid to the more important characters’ racist actions too — Gary completely mistakes Frick’s second wife Kimiko (Megumi Anjo) for his first wife, Mioko (Yumi Mizui), Alana literally bows to Kimiko and Gary’s mom writes a rather questionable marketing description of this restaurant, referring to the waitresses as “dolls.”

There’s something honest in this messiness. Anderson wants us to soak in all the details of the time and place in which he grew up, to depict people as who they were rather than who an audience might want them to be.

Honesty penetrates “Licorice Read more at MichiganDaily.com

6 — Wednesday, January 19, 2022 Illustrations by Priya Gangi and Tamara Turner Page Design by Sarah Chung and Paige Hodder

STATEMENT

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The Sex Lives Of College Girls And Also Dani So lately I’ve been thinking about sex; or rather, thinking about why I don’t think about sex. I started watching “Criminal Minds” for the plot, but stayed through all 15 seasons for actor Matthew Gray Gubler.

By all accounts, he is my celebrity crush and current phone lockscreen, yet I don’t think he’s “sexy.” In fact, I’ve never thought about anyone as being “sexy.”

It wasn’t until recently that I gave much thought about the distinction between being “very attractive” and “sexy.” Perhaps that is just how I am, frank and slightly unbothered. Over the past year it has become one of my personal projects, trying to put a finger on why my experiences with sexuality have been so different from many girls my age.

Because it has come to my attention that there could be an actual, biological reason.

This all started in my junior year of high school during a shift at Hungry Howies Pizza. My co-worker Abby, older by just a few years, was standing on the pizza line with me, prompting the first conversation about sexual orientation that I ever had.

“Dani, who are you attracted to?”

DANI CANAN

Statement Correspondent

The orders were slow, so conversation was plenty.

“Like, at work?” I began to get anxious about potential embarrassment. The answer was definitely ‘nobody.’

“No, I mean girls or boys,” Abby said, half chuckling as she leaned over to grab some pepperoni. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want, but I decided to start asking people ever since I found out Nick was gay. Like, if he didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t have known.”

Nick delivered the pizzas. I also didn’t know he was gay.

It wasn’t the first time I pondered this question and, eyebrows furrowed, I always gave it serious consideration.

I thought about women. I thought about Zendaya. I thought about men. I thought about Matthew Gray Gubler.

“I’m pretty sure I just like guys, but I haven’t ever kissed anyone, and how do you really know until you’re in that situation?” I felt happy with that answer, but then the conversation ended with something I will never forget: “You know Dani, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were asexual.”

To this day I still have no idea what prompted her to say that, but I can’t get it out of my head. What I do understand now is that people tend to know before they know.

Biology wise, prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, the single celled and multicelled, have been reproducing asexually since before I

was born, which is an understatement.

Mitosis is likely the most basic form of asexual replicating. A cell makes copy after copy after copy after copy after copy of the personal information in the nucleus, and it then pinches apart in order to clone itself. Look, I even made this educational diagram to demonstrate: Cells don’t need to worry about a sexual orientation before “doing the deed” because no partner is required.

Also because cells don’t think about things. This makes sense for cells, which are constantly trying to make as many of themselves as possible in

the quickest amount of time while expending the least amount of energy.

This splitting mechanism is meant for survival for the species in the case of prokaryotes like bacteria.

The first time I looked up the definition of ‘asexual,’ I put my phone in private browsing mode –– if that’s any indication of how I felt about acting on my own reasonable curiosity. Youtube videos popped up along with blogs, unofficial LGBTQIA+ education sites and a

wealth of personal testimonies. I spent a lot of nights scrolling through the comments under asexual content, a space where real people relayed their experiences in mini slices of life. It would be 1:13 a.m. for me in my small town summer, fireflies weaving in slow motion through the leafy branches outside my window, and I’d glow in apprehensive pulses along with them while reading every new anecdote –– real people’s real words.

(The word “real” deserves a pause to grant the full weight that the word carries with it. Realness is tangibility, grazing the receptors that allow the body feeling, leaving a tickling trail down one’s arm. What you see on a piece of paper, r-e-a-l, is so much more than what the occipital lobe receives. The urgency of the meaning it contains is the heaviness of the physicality of any existing person, place, thing or idea. To be really, really real is to be pulled out of the brain and shocked into the middle of a freeway during a midnight storm, clothes instantly sopping down to the socks, horns and engines demonstrating the doppler effect 100 times over in quick succession, cars crashing past on polar opposite paths with enough force to whip your head in around in perfect 180º motion, momentum spinning the rest of your body in suit. And anyway, I think the word itself has been used so much that people tend to lose the feeling of what it really means. Hang on. I might be part of the problem.)

I want to feel real in this way, to feel real with somebody in this way.

Naturally, reading through the experiences of others inspired me to reexamine some of my own. I used to make up fake crushes in elementary school, giving me something to giggle about with my friends at sleepovers. I never felt like I needed to shave my legs for any reason, and I wore whatever the hell I wanted without thinking about how it would make other people (boys) see me. I have a tendency to be initially oblivious to the connotations of “Netflix and chill,” calling a teacher a “silver fox,” or saying things like “I like sucking on nuts” (I was eating a bag of almonds, ok?). Perhaps most notably, all through middle and high school I repeated the same motto: “I just don’t see the point in dating anyone. No one actually knows what love is at our age anyway, and it won’t likely make it past senior year, so why even bother?”

The evidence began piling up, and the slightly bewildering part was how neatly pieces were fitting together.

Youtube videos and comment sections also lead me to research the different types of attraction, which may seem like an obvious concept, but you’d be surprised what you can discover about yourself when these feelings are all defined and separated out. I loved reading about types of attraction in the same way I love taking Buzzfeed quizzes about which kind of soup I am, which is to say this framework is a good facilitator of self reflection and self understanding. Not every source has the same categories, but there are six that show up often:

intellectual attraction, emotional attraction, aesthetic attraction, sensual attraction, romantic attraction, and finally, sexual attraction. If someone falls on the spectrum of asexuality, they would experience sexual attraction least of all. As far as I can tell, I experience all of them except for sexual attraction. *** Intellectual attraction is a magnetic draw toward the mind of someone else — a desire to hold a microscope to the way they think by engaging in discussion. Every person contains an entire ecosystem of thoughts that almost no one sees, therefore appreciating the complexity of each and every one of a person’s musings is an imperative. This want goes both ways, for if there’s an infinity in one there’s an infinity in the other, and this endeavor is more important than the body. Dodge, parry, contemplate. Two dance together in a fencing match of cerebral pursuit.

“I love you and your mind.”

To return back to biology for a moment, I’d like to zoom out from mitosis and consider more of what eukaryotic organisms can do.

Through fragmentation, a starfish can break off one of its legs and eventually it will develop into a completely new starfish clone. Worms can do this, too, with just one segment of their body.

Plants like succulents accomplish a similar feat through propagation.

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‘Fear and Loathing’

in 2022’s America

VALERIJA MALASHEVICH Statement Columnist

Almost 17 years ago today, the renowned journalist Hunter S. Thompson, author of the classic novel “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” shot himself in the head in his Colorado home. Following years of struggle with crippling health issues and bouts of depression, Thompson’s outlook on life dwindled over the years as he watched the era of counterculture and revolutionary upheaval fade from the American horizon, now taken over by mindless consumerism and romanticized atavism for the “good old days.” The passionate idealism that once dominated the youthful landscape of the United States — the pleas to “Make Love Not War” and the cries for political equality and freedom — had faded before Thompson’s very eyes, resulting in a dim reality that he was grossly critical of.

Despite his dwindling optimism for a better future, Thompson, in his attempt to admonish the people that fed into this disillusioned society, had accidentally spearheaded a journalistic revolution that had the potential to beguile readers worldwide. His work reads like a lullaby for proliferant romantics, but cuts sharp and deep where it needs to.

Through his writing, Thompson revolutionized the idea of “gonzo journalism,” a type of nonfiction narrative that becomes so altered by the speaker’s subjective interpretation that it becomes a different beast entirely. Placing more emphasis on the narrator rather than the events at hand, gonzo journalism allowed Thompson to insert his opinionated (and sometimes cynical) views on life into his writing — and fundamentally altered the structure of cultural

criticism pieces. While there is much to be said about Thompson and his profound contributions to postmodern literature, the bulk of his eloquent anthropological critique is featured in his most infamous novel, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” — one that allowed the reader to peer inside the mind of a pessimistic idealist and watch his world unravel.

Thompson, you see, started off as a small-time journalist, publishing pieces in various magazines and journals until Sports Illustrated asked him to cover a motorcycle race in Las Vegas, Nevada. Doped up on marijuana, ether, speed and anything else he carried around in his “briefcase of narcotics,” Thompson instead presented an almost 3,000-word long ‘gonzo’ piece that was immediately rejected by Sports Illustrated.

The Rolling Stone magazine, however, believed in Thompson’s limitless potential and sent him back to Vegas to cover the District Attorney’s anti-narcotics convention.

The cumulative result of Thompson’s composition was a belligerently stimulating yet philosophically ravishing novel titled “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” later made into a film starring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro, and becoming a cult classic among the fan community, myself included.

I will admit — I had watched the movie long before I had ever considered picking up the book, but the film began to feel like a drug, drawing me in further and further until I couldn’t resist reading Thompson’s writing firsthand. The narrative, in both formats, is just as unintelligible and meaningless as one might predict, but the beauty, for me, lies in the revelations of Thompson’s

didactic monologues and finally feeling the irascibility that he felt. Just like most viewers, I did not exactly comprehend the plot correctly the first time around. But, like a good painting, Thompson’s works must be studied under a microscope, where the beauty is not found in the sum of the parts, but the parts themselves.

The novel is a roman à clef of Thompson’s own adventures, a fictional piece that features real events and real people with fake names.

Narrated in the first person, the reader closely follows Raoul Duke (Hunter Thompson’s transplant within the novel) and his Samoan lawyer, Dr. Gonzo, as they wreak havoc in Las Vegas and on the people around them, all while ingesting almost-lethal levels of LSD, adrenochrome and other narcotics. Mentally and physically strung up by the free-spirited period of the 60s, Duke hopelessly tries to keep the era alive with virtually no success.

Toward the end of the novel, Duke finds himself reflecting on the bygone era of counterculture, remarking how foolish those “pathetically eager acid freaks” were for thinking they could buy peace and understanding for three bucks a hit.

To the unlearned bookworm, “Fear and Loathing” reads like a usurpation of modern values, a 300page long hallucinogenic trip that promotes nothing but drug abuse and ceaseless hedonism. But to the trained eye, Thompson’s novel is a much more harrowing piece that mourns as much as it celebrates. It illustrates a glistening utopia that was once just out of our reach; the new reality of our America has faded to some kind of mangled beast, a distorted present where no one cares about anything or anyone — a reality that Thompson

couldn’t live with.

Whenever I pick up “Fear and Loathing,” I am ultimately entranced

by Thompson’s manipulation of perception and his immersive reality.

There is an intangible component of his writing that adapts and molds to the reader, urging change from within. Perhaps it lights that spark in the rebellious part of my soul, one that (I hope) exists in all of us. As the recently passed novelist Joan Didion once wrote, “our favorite people and our favorite stories become so not by an inherent virtue, but because they illustrate something deep in the grain, something unadmitted.” Didion, much like Thompson, was also somewhat of a “counter-journalist,” intent on critiquing the socio-cultural aspects of current America through emphasis on racial and sociological components.

Attracting a strictly dichotomous crowd of either blind haters or intrigued admirers, Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing” comments on a hopeless time much like our own. An era plagued by Nixon, the Vietnam war, and the resurgent energy crisis, the ’70s turned its back to all the good the pioneers of the decade before it had hoped to achieve; the dream that figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Che Guevara and Cesar Chavez once held that dwindled to a soft flame and then went out. Thompson watched the backbone of America degrade to an unimaginable state, a complete 180 from the period that boasted peace and perseverance.

By the turn of the new millennia, the energy and excitement that had once snowballed into a potential current for change had been shattered into smithereens, resulting in a conservative, winner-takes-all-and-

leaves-none-to-rot individualism that swept the 2000s. Social Darwinism became the new collectivism, and the ultimate badge one could wear would illustrate how many hours of your life you had devoted to capitalist crusades and covert cupidity.

Wall Street. 9/11. War on Terror.

Thompson fell further into his depression, remarking that 67 was too decrepit of an age to live to, 17 years past the ultimate prime. He shot himself in the head in the dull month of February, while on the phone with his wife. Although he didn’t live long enough to see the days of the 2008 recession, or the weekly school shootings, or the deplorable Trump era, Thompson had predicted it all.

The 2020’s. The time is our own.

Our Nixon is Trump, our cigarette crisis is the Juul epidemic, our country still hates immigrants but loves gerrymandering, and our ambition is still fruitless.

Still, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Following the events of the COVID19 pandemic, our nation has witnessed another rise in counterculturalism and revolutionary idealism. Our generation is hungry for something more, something independent, something radical. In a time when college students can no longer dream of owning a house, funding their own education, or attaining a retirement fund, the rise of counterculture greets us once again.

When I entered elementary school, I was told that I would be able to reap all the sweet fruits of life if only I would work hard toward my goals and maintain self-discipline. It was a mirage, I think. Because today, I am standing in the middle of a moral desert, gripping on to those empty

promises that were once whispered in my ears. The fact of the matter is, many of us have nothing to show for our subordination to societal standards.

I am an immigrant, so college was never an option for me — it was a necessity. Yet, the degree I am earning now might be unable to support me in the way I originally intended it to. I am a woman, so having control of my own reproductive and bodily rights is of utmost importance to me. Yet, I read about Roe v. Wade potentially being overturned every week. Our generation follows the comedown of a gilded tragedy, rewards once promised but never bestowed — but don’t think we haven’t noticed.

Young people across the nation have, once again, become outspoken about the things they care about most: economic inequality, police brutality, women’s rights and proliferating racism. Perhaps as a reaction to the desolate reality our parents had to live through, our generation has cyclically reached another era of sweeping change — and the pressing urge to realize what our predecessors could not.

Yes, I think “Fear and Loathing” was intended to be an apprehensive warning for future generations; however, Thompson’s ideology stood for much more than gross antagonism. He spoke of optimism, of riding high and beautiful waves of change, of eloquent absurdism and of his own incapacities. Thompson was one of the pioneers of a new era of postmodernism, literature that attempts to comment on society much more than it tries to emulate it.

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STATEMENT

Wednesday, January 19, 2022 — 7 Illustrations by Sam Turner, Sarah Chung, and Meghana Tummala Page Design by Sarah Chung and Paige Hodder

Click!

This Moment Matters

OSCAR

NOLLETTE-PATULSKI

Statement Columnist

In the past few months, I have developed the habit of instinctually tapping my thumbs against my other fingers, as if I’m pantomiming a crab, or my hand is a pair of tongs grabbing at a piece of air.

I think I adopted this mannerism as an iteration of something my friend Emily does, who got it from my friend Aviva. When they’re excited to see each other, their forearms fold upward and they rotate their hands and wrists with their fingers in a fist, in a celebration of mutual recognition.

When I imitate them, I tap my fingers together, my arm folded upward on itself, with my fingernails pointing to

the sky. The conclusion of the motion is reminiscent of the hand in the chef’s kiss expression.

I’m not exactly sure what put this into my emotive vocabulary other than that it’s fun to pick up expressions from one’s friends. I have noticed myself tapping my fingers together more regularly, usually when something is particularly satisfying or memorable. They pressed each other to grab at the air when I stepped out onto my back porch and saw the white traces of the first snowfall of the season, and they seeked to lift the words off the page when I reached the ending of a short story that shifted my perspective. They picked at the chords of a song that caught me by surprise, and sometimes remembering the way a brick building looks against a blue

sky ten years ago is enough to prompt my fingerprints together. *** When I was ten or eleven, teetering on the fulcrum between elementary school and adolescence, my parents signed my brother and I up for a day camp at our local Humane Society, a national organization of animal shelters. Inspired by our pet cat, Penny, we were to attend the Cat and Bunny Training camp at the Society’s West Michigan branch. Hopes and dreams of converting our cat from a wayward, kitchen-counter-wanderer to a living room star evolved quickly, and we imagined her leaping over couches and ottomans with grace. This would become even more marvelous once we told others that Penny was 13 years old, a feline senior citizen. We would

prove our case against those that called cats untrainable and develop a repertoire of tricks that would be the envy of all.

Our father drove us out to the camp’s location, at the animal shelter tucked in a dull office park near the expressway. We walked up to the brick building under a June blue sky, and checked in at the front desk. My brother and I were sent down the linoleum corridor to the multipurpose room where, upon opening the double doors, we were greeted with the echoing voices of dozens of seven to twelve-year-olds. The counselors, high schoolers simply in need of community service hours, tried to herd all of us into chairs at the long folding tables — but order was not truly restored until the woman in

I’ll bite: Giving into the ‘Twilight’ renaissance HALEY JOHNSON Statement Columnist

I read the “Twilight” Saga out of order so my mom wouldn’t know what I was up to. I was in the sixth grade, a time in my life when if I wanted to access the Internet to pirate a book — or even look up the saga’s correct ordering — I had to sit down at the massive desktop computer in my kitchen before my entire family. Even in the unlikely event that the kitchen was vacant, the constant hum of the computer would surely expose me, alerting someone that I was online.

Not happening. I was left guessing about the characters’ origin stories and relationships before I realized I had skipped an entire book.

Years later, I would learn from mom that she didn’t even own a copy of the first book. Our nextdoor neighbor had fallen victim to Twilight-mania and insisted my mom borrow her copy; a few days later my mom ordered “New Moon” without

even finishing “Twilight.”

I read “New Moon” in the nook between my twin-sized bed and my room’s lavender walls, careful to conceal my reading. After finishing the series (and going back to read “Twilight,” courtesy of my local library), I feigned ignorance to every reference toward the books and acted disinterested at any suggestion that I read them. Simultaneously enthralled and unimpressed, I couldn’t get through the novels fast enough, but was also hesitant to cash in on any of the cultural capital — or lack thereof, depending on who you asked — that came with them. I wanted to say I had read the books everyone was talking about, but didn’t want to endure detracting remarks from critics. “Why would you read that?”

“You know that they’re not any good, right?” Maybe I was in a “not like other girls phase,” where I rejected anything marketed toward women and felt silly for picking the books up in the first place. Maybe I just didn’t

charge of the camp, Ms. Ashley, stepped into the room. Reminiscent of a principal striding into a rowdy school cafeteria, she first decried the noise level but then welcomed us “to the first ever Cat and Bunny training camp!”

Announcing this before the glossy stares of eighty school-age children suddenly made Ms. Ashley aware of the difficulties this first-time effort would entail. Could she really promise these kids the skills to train their cats and rabbits to sit, stay and roll over?

Her admittances of “we’ve never done this before” and “we’ll see how this turns out” certainly did not garner confidence within the crowded room; the high school counselors still dazed with the task of training children to sit and stay themselves. Nevertheless, we

Statement Columnist

fade into pop-culture obscurity.

The merch goes on clearance, the discourse dies down, something else takes its place.

Then came the Twilight Renaissance. A catch-all term for the series reemergence, the Twilight Renaissance was sparked by fan’s creativity and unapologetic love for the saga.

Despite my ambivalence toward the original saga, I was an early convert to the second wave of “Twilight” hysteria. In my midteens, about three years after I read “Twilight,” I was border-line addicted to Tumblr, but felt a weird sense of shame about being on the platform.

I hardly mentioned the hours I spent working on my blog making GIFs, themes and text posts to any of my real-life friends. Tumblr was also where I accidentally discovered that a “Twilight” community was still alive and thriving. I began seeing posts from @keepingupwiththecullens on my dashboard, a blog that bravely asks “what if twilight [sic] were a trashy reality show?” The blog edited the movie cast into Kardashian-style confessionals, perfectly combining the absurdity of the original books and reality TV. It was funny and nostalgic, it breathed life into some of the flatter moments and characters. I was hooked.

Some writers have traced the Twilight Renaissance back to May 2020, when Stephanie Meyer

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I stab my friends MACKENZIE HUBBARD

like “Twilight.”

By 2011, around the time I was reading the books, the “Twilight saga” had sold over 120 million copies and turned into a blockbuster film franchise. It had also received widespread criticism for its portrayal of toxic relationships, religious undertones and appropriation of indigenous culture. In 2009 and 2010 it made the American Library Association’s list of most commonly banned books. Simultaneously loved and hated, the media couldn’t stop talking about “Twilight.”

Young adult fantasy-romance was admittedly not to my usual taste; I was in the middle of a love affair with historical fiction at the time, and basically all I read was “Little House on the Prairie” knock-offs.

I’m not sure if I would’ve picked up the saga if it hadn’t been all around me. I remember classmates wearing “Twilight” merchandise in sixth grade and their impassioned fights over Team Jacob vs Team Edward.

I was eleven, I wasn’t even the franchise’s target demographic. It was nearly impossible to exist in the late 2000’s without absorbing some knowledge of it.

After the media frenzy died down, it seemed like the saga was destined to die the same quiet death most mid2000s young adult novels did. A whole era of teen literature — ranging from major successes like “The Hunger Games” to mediocre variations on stories like “Divergent” — became media empires, immortalized in film and merchandise, only to quietly

would set out to do what we signed up for, and after Ms. Ashley’s not-quiteinspirational speech, the room was split up by table group and we were sent off to the next activity.

Activities at Cat and Bunny Training Camp varied by day, but all were accompanied by the overtones of the noxious smell of animal waste and a chorus of dissonant meows. Near the end of the week, we mainly just pet the bunnies and kittens, and fed them under the burnt-out guidance of program staff.

In the beginning, however, a genuine effort was made to educate and indoctrinate the rabbits and cats on various commands in the English

Few people have seen me quite as messy like the captain of the foil fencing squad has. She’s seen me dissociated at parties after a single shot of vodka, glitter on both of our eyes, making conversation about shared Irish heritage to ground me without even knowing. She’s seen me gasping for air after a bout, telling me to guard my highline to stop getting stabbed in the neck. She’s seen me crying outside of the Sports Colusium, disclosing incidents of sexual harassment.

I joined the fencing team in fall 2019, having never touched a weapon before. By the end of the first practice, sweating more than I ever had in my life in a claustrophobically hot gym, I decided these were my people here on this campus. For somewhere between six and nine hours a week, fencing was my safe place — a place to be angry and stressed, a place to take out aggression and to laugh harder than I had any other time that week. *** There is a certain mindset that you have to tap into the moment you step on the fencing strip. No matter how many touches your opponent gets, no matter how far behind you are, the bout — the three minutes (or five touches) you spend facing an opponent — isn’t over until the referee calls the final touch. In short, you make every touch count. You do not think about the score; you act as if each round is the only round.

It is a mindset that works in two ways. If you are behind in touches, and it seems impossible to win the bout, you don’t give up. You stay concentrated. Your opponent could get overconfident and slip up, leaving the target area open. Likewise, if you are ahead in touches, you can’t get cocky. A single moment could be the difference between having a formidable lead and your opponent

closing the gap.

It also works to keep you grounded in the moment because time seems to move differently on the strip.

Notoriously, there was an Olympic fencing bout with one second left on the clock that continued on for several more minutes. Seconds stretch out, and three minutes feels never ending.

Five points feels impossible. But you can’t think about that. You can only think about the next touch.

I’ve heard the sport described as physical chess. Sometimes it feels like that — planning your attack five steps ahead. Sometimes it feels just like you’re just trying to stay on your feet until the bout is over. *** While every second on the strip counts, club sports as a whole are a different story. Club sports on the University’s campus are often overlooked. As a Big Ten school, really the only sports anyone pays much attention to are varsity sports, mostly football and basketball. Occasionally swimming will get a mention.

Maybe soccer or hockey is noted.

But nowhere on The Michigan Daily website is there a tab for club sports; you have to search for tidbits.

Despite being incredibly competitive, having won the Big Ten title in 2019 and the bronze medal in NCAA championships in the same year, the rowing team only has 4 pages worth of content dedicated to their sport. Most of the other club sports are not mentioned at all. Fencing, which won the USACFC national title in 2019, hasn’t been mentioned by The Michigan Daily since 2006. I’m not bitter.

There are 30 club sports at the University, but I’d be willing to bet the vast majority of students here

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Michigan in Color

8 — Wednesday, January 19, 2022

First-Gen, Low-Income (FGLI): An evolving term GUSTAVO SACRAMENTO MiC Columnist

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The DEI Conundrum: An untold failure of the American left ELIYA IMTIAZ

MiC Managing Editor

I aptly dubbed last fall, my first in-person semester as a University of Michigan transfer student, the semester of learning and unlearning. How do I operate living on my own? What notions do I leave behind in my metro Detroit suburb? Which ideals and values are significant to me, and to what degree?

I unlearned the streets of my childhood hometown. I learned the ins and outs of my little corner on Forest Avenue. Some may argue I unlearned good driving by walking everywhere (I‘d argue against that claim), and some may (correctly) say that I learned the perfect method of defrosting my mom’s food. Beyond getting to know myself and my campus more, I’ve navigated critically unlearning my previous indifference to problematic norms of wokeness — namely current corporate diversity initiatives. Before transferring to the Ross School of Business, I had nothing to do with the sphere of business, so I just pointed and laughed at its disingenuous social awareness from a distance. But once my immersion into the business sphere truly began within my first couple classes of the previous semester at Ross, a disruptive seed was planted into my mind that watered and watered into fully bloomed animosity, growing from distinct phases of being bemused to irked, to ultimately disillusioned.

The tipping point was when a shirt was handed to me in the basement of, ironically, the Trotter Multicultural Center emblazoned with big, bold, maize text that read “I AM DEI.” What’s free is free, so I took the shirt; it’s since become a comfy bedtime staple. I wore it once when my friend was over, and with a mortified stare, she asked, “You’re never going to wear that in public, right?”

She was right. I knew I never would— the words “I AM DEI” immediately rang tone-deaf in a way that I couldn’t quite articulate.

Tokenizing? Hasty? Grandiose?

Performative? The magnitude of my discomfort at the shirt couldn’t be summarized in a few words, but served as a microcosm of my irritation throughout the semester at being inundated with lingo, jargon and pretty-little-nothings

Design by Maya Sheth

about the overused yet undermined phrase “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” always devoid of any real action to address what consistently has perpetuated racist oppression: global hypercapitalism.

It’s undeniable that an education in business would showcase some pitfalls of the modern synthesis of business and wokeness. During the fall semester of my junior year at Ross, students take the highest concentration of required courses in what’s dubbed the Ross Integrative Semester, or RIS. Each year, there are several preselected RIS themes centered on creating business solutions with positive impact, and this fall’s themes were inclusive learning; transparent and inclusive workspaces; and support for physical and mental wellness. Immediately within the first couple weeks of class, there was no question that attempts at an image of social consciousness were sprinkled throughout most, if not all, of my courses — and while they may possibly have been well-intentioned, were rendered ultimately feeble and insufficient.

Common terminology for assignments included phrasing like: “investigate a socially-conscious venture,” “discuss the triple bottom line” and “create a business plan that addresses inclusivity and transparency.” At face value, it seems as though the Ross community is a pioneer of “positive business” — the often discussed, yet infrequently realized utilization of business principles and practices to create solutions mitigating societal ills and promoting the greater good. Delving a little deeper though, this facade is easily broken

by Ross’s lack of any tangible commitment to racial equity. Ross, for

example, is one of the few schools in the University that doesn’t require a Race & Ethnicity course.

Instead, what we do have is a single class period in a required Management & Organization course devoted to (slightly, kinda, not really) discussing Ava DuVernay’s 2016 documentary “13th.” The film touches on a wide breadth of issues related to the U.S.’s historical rac-

ism and oppression of the Black community through the prison system, and how it’s perpetuated by the active role of business interests within the prison-industrial complex. Thus, “13th” can help act as a springboard for a genuine discussion, but our conversation on its content was whittled down to 10 minutes of one class period. This brief discussion, in my experience, largely consisted of participationpoint comments like “I had no idea the system was this bad!” and “it’s just so shocking,” centering their harrowed regret at past ignorance instead of truly unpacking the role that our goals as business students play in societal issues the film presents.

We quickly touched on the role of business in the prison-industrial complex for a couple minutes, and this seemed to pass as proper DEI learning to administrators, faculty and some students.

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Knowing What’s at Stake Epistemology and Criminal Justice Reform

SARAH MOSS

Online Event | Tuesday, January 25, 2022 | 4:00 p.m.

Several years ago as a new student, I was blessed with an “aha” moment in recognizing an extension of my personal identity. For me, the feeling of incorporating terms and labels that I was previously oblivious to, but click immediately upon hearing them, is unparalleled. A series of extensive personal information forms, frequent engagement with an affinity group, or another spontaneous event can lead to reconsidering and discovering terminology that helps us better express the identities that encompass our individual being.

One such identity that isn’t immediately apparent for select individuals, including myself, is their first-generation college student status. First-gens are typically known as students who are the first in their families to attend college. The criteria for some definitions vary according to differences in where one’s parent or guardian received their degree or the level of education obtained, like an associates degree or a bachelor’s degree. The University of Michigan’s official definition of first-generation college student — which coincides with the definition that most colleges have set forth — is a student whose parents did not complete a four-year college degree. On the other hand, low-income college students are generally defined according to Pell Grant status, but similar definitions are also based on assets and institution-specific income thresholds.

First-gen students are likely to give a variety of answers when asked about when they first became cognizant of their status. Some were aware of the delineation of their identities prior to applying to colleges, whereas others were informed in the midst of their higher education journey. FAFSA applications, discussions with parents about the future and a sense of bewilderment in a new environment can all serve as factors that lead to this revelation about how their identity is perceived within institutions.

As I was transferring from my previous university, I was able to form a foundational set of criteria that I expected from my institutions to facilitate a true sense of community for first-generation students. Among other things, I primarily sought a collegiate institution with consistent, dedicated support and outreach towards first-gens. Upon googling “umich first gens,” I found the University of Michigan to be much more robust compared to other schools in terms of first-gen

specific resources, support and recognition. The First-Gen Gateway and the Go Blue Guarantee were several notable markers of the university’s commitment and ongoing progress.

As I became more immersed in the first-gen landscape, one term that sprang up from time to time was FGLI. FGLI stands for “first-generation, lowincome” and is generally pronounced as either “fly,” “figly,” or the letters enunciated individually. FGLI serves as an umbrella term that not only achieves brevity in the context of advocacy and discourse, but also serves as a point of reference for individuals who identify as part of this community. The term itself may seem trivial, but having a qualitative phrase to affiliate with is of paramount importance, especially since first-gen and low-income identities are often left unrecognized or overlooked entirely. Although many, including myself, might take the University’s frequent advertising efforts for granted, the absence of any effort is abysmal and unfortunately the norm at other collegiate institutions. Even a granular “1ST GEN” sticker plastered onto a laptop is a momentous milestone and sign of progress. While the visibility and recognition of FGLI students through the perfunctory use and presence of terms like FGLI, first-gens and low-income makes me feel seen, it is undeniably still a first step.

The adoption of these terms is by no means an indicator that all is well.

The University has made considerable progress in terms of accommodating FGLI students, but there is still room for improvement. Although there are university-wide resources and support, there are only a few schools within the institution that offer tailored FGLI-specific resources. For example, the College of Engineering maintains its own dedicated set of resources for its FGLI students, such as the First Generation Engineers (1st Gen Engin) club. These tailored resources — or the absence of them — can make or break a FGLI student’s experience within their respective school.

Even the existence of the FGLI identifier cannot resolve some discrepancies on its own such as the sparse FGLI representation and involvement in professional and selective organizations. Moreover, some students may choose not to self-identify as FGLI or may feel that other components of their identity are of greater salience to them, leading them to place the FGLI term and resources on their periphery.

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Social Media or Marketplace? A look at Instagram’s Interface UDOKA NWANSI MiC Columnist

While I hate to admit it, checking my Instagram feed has become a subconscious part of my daily routine. From day to day, the content is generally similar — a few photo dumps, posts from my favorite musicians and maybe some funny memes on my friends’ stories. One thing that especially remains consistent is the copious amounts of ads I receive on a daily basis. Every time I open Instagram, I can guarantee there will always be countless products ready to be marketed to me. This feels incredibly far removed from the way Instagram functioned when I first downloaded the app at age 13.

My first encounter with Instagram was in 2014 when I created my account as a middle schooler who simply wanted to share memes and fun photos with friends. At the time, Instagram had minimal functionality; a user could really only post one photo at a time and share them through direct messages. Posting to my feed was a trivial hobby that didn’t take much thought or effort. Just like all social media sites, Instagram has undergone a plethora of significant updates since its initial launch, including an infamous logo change in 2016, and the ability to include multiple photos in a single post in 2018. The most notable change in recent years was an update in late 2020 that rearranged the navigation bar to promote

Instagram’s video feed, Reels, and their shopping page, Shop, in place of the Compose and Activity buttons. While this may just seem like an annoying inconvenience to Instagram users, there are underlying implications about pushing an eerily similar TikTok competitor and a shopping page to the front of the app.

As a company, changing their interface is far more lucrative for Instagram because it nudges users to shop through their app more than ever before. When users buy goods from sellers directly through the app, Instagram takes a 5% commission from every single sale made on their Shop. Meanwhile, Reels have now become one of Instagram’s primary features as a direct response to TikTok’s ever-growing platform. TikTok has roughly a billion monthly users and Reels emerged as Instagram’s attempt to keep users from f leeing their app entirely.

With the navigation bar update, Reels is the centerpiece of the app, with the Shop as its secondary feature. To even make a post, a user must tap a small button in the upper right corner of their feed or profile tabs. Such an interface change doesn’t seem fitting for what Instagram is supposed to be: a photo-sharing app. Complicating the photo-sharing process in such a way implies that posting your photos or videos is just an afterthought compared to all the superf luous new features.

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Yik Yak is back, but where is it going?

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From The Daily: Total e-pivot is not the solution THE MICHIGAN DAILY EDITORIAL BOARD

I

n calendar year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, fatigue is reaching an alltime high. As of Jan. 15, 2022, COVID-19 has claimed more than 850,000 American lives. Every reasonable measure should be enacted to defeat this virus. That said, students cannot be expected to put aside our best interests in fear of COVID-19 spreading in low risk classroom environments. The calls to “e-pivot” in-person classes — though in good faith — are not in the best interest of the student body.

The relative risk to University of Michigan students of serious complications as a result of COVID19 is low and even lower when compared to the devastating toll that remote learning has inflicted on students’ mental health. In-person classes are not the primary method of spreading COVID-19 throughout the U-M community, but they do continue to create meaningful connections between students and add irreplaceable academic experience.

Some measures taken by the University, like the ResponsiBlue mobile app, function more like “hygiene theatre” than an actual method of verifying a person’s health. With the implementation of more regular testing, though, ResponsiBlue could become a much stronger weapon against COVID-19. The Winter 2022 semester should then continue in person as planned, with the added public health measure of mandatory weekly testing for all students taking classes in or living on campus.

College students experienced a mental health crisis during the semesters of online learning last year. A study surveying college students during the 2020 school year found that 71% of respondents felt a higher level of stress and anxiety in response to COVID-19.

Stressors included the physical health of the students and their loved ones, the loss of social interaction and lower academic performance. Most worrying, the study found that 8% of the student sample reported thoughts of suicide, compared with 3-7% in pre-pandemic studies. This disturbing trend is a grim reminder that protecting the mental health of students is just as important as protecting their physical health.

Research has affirmed time and time again that overall, in-person learning is a superior form of education for undergraduate students. In addition to the

aforementioned harmful effects on mental health, studies found that “students in online courses generally get lower grades, are less likely to perform well in followon coursework, and are less likely to graduate than similar students taking in-person classes.” While remote learning may have been a necessary precaution in the prevaccine era, it is not worth reviving the harms of remote learning at a school where 98% of students have received at least the first two doses of the vaccine and are required to receive a booster shot by next month.

Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge the valid fears that students have about in-person learning in a time of massive spread of the disease. There are many reasons for these students to be concerned, be they immunocompromised or those worried about some of the longterm effects of COVID-19 that we are only beginning to understand.

Some professors, this semester, have provided the option of asynchronous participation by utilizing lecture capture software or uploading recorded lectures from a previous semester.

Encouraging more professors to follow suit would allow the majority of students to enjoy in-person instruction without forcing concerned students to make the choice between education and their health. In cases where one course is in a recordable space while another is not, course coordinators should be allowed to upload recorded lectures onto a Canvas page accessible to all students taking that course.

Discussion sections pose a unique problem for students and instructors due to the impracticality of having only a few students attending virtually.

To avoid any complications associated with University-wide accommodations, Services for Students with Disabilities should facilitate agreements between immunocompromised students and their instructors that grant those students greater flexibility and/or necessary accommodations for safe participation. Similar flexibility should be given to students who are unable to attend class because of a positive COVID19 test, close contact notification or anxiety over the pandemic.

The current testing framework only mandates that unvaccinated and exempt students procure a weekly negative test. To maintain in-person instruction, the University needs to update its testing protocol and make regular testing mandatory for the

vaccinated student body as well.

The Feb. 4 booster shot mandate will ensure that community members are better protected against COVID-19 and assuage fears about developing serious complications from contracting the virus.

However, as we know, asymptomatic spread can account for a large portion of community transmission. As such, mandatory, regular testing would be an effective method of preventing unknowingly infected individuals from infecting others. Increased opportunities for asymptomatic testing, through the pre-established Community Sampling and Tracking Program, will be especially crucial to the campus community as they gradually receive booster shots before the Feb. 4 deadline.

Previous testing requirements imposed during the Fall 2020 and Winter 2021 semesters were the University’s first attempts at campus-wide testing. Although financially costly, increasing testing capacity gave administrators a clear picture of the level of transmission on campus and kept community members informed about their health. This semester, MHousing provided two at-home tests to all residents in student housing, but the effectiveness of that strategy depended on students honestly reporting positive test results. There has also been a rising demand for at-home tests around the world, partially fueled by the U.S. government, particularly in response to the Omicron variant.

A framework working towards mandatory weekly testing for everyone who comes on campus is essential for maintaining in-person instruction and limiting unnecessary COVID19 transmission. Furthermore, while it would require increased staff and resources, Universityadministered testing would likely be a more resolute solution given the unreliability of rapid tests and a question mark over the honor code that comes with self-reporting.

Although intentions behind an e-pivot are sound, its consequences could be dire for a student body that is showing visible signs of fatigue when it comes to online learning.

Moreover, if the correct steps are taken and with the cooperation of the University and the community as a whole, the coming semester can still be the most “normal” one of recent times. In its third calendar year, it is more clear than ever before that defeating COVID19 will require everyone, from students to professors to U-M officials, to work toward a common goal.

ANNA TRUPIANO Opinion Columnist

Y

ik Yak, a social media app originally shut down in 2017, was rereleased last summer and has since built up a considerable presence at the University of Michigan.

For those of you unfamiliar with Yik Yak, it allows all users to post anonymously. The catch? Only people within a five mile radius of you can comment on, upvote and downvote your posts. Upvotes and downvotes are similar to a like or dislike on other social media apps.

The distance sensitive feature of the app creates a small bubble of users, and therefore a tight circle for gossip. The creators of the app, Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington, actually intended to create an outlet for college students to gossip about their peers when they first released Yik Yak in 2013.

As you can imagine, the anonymity and close proximity of users created a breeding ground for cyberbullying and threatening messages. In 2014, some users from San Francisco posted Yik Yaks that made fun of students who had been raped. Also in 2014, one user posted a bomb threat, sending a high school in San Clemente, Calif. into lockdown and prompting involvement from law enforcement.

There was even a student at the University of Missouri who was arrested for making violent posts directed at Black people. At the University of Mary Washington,

a student named Grace Mann was murdered shortly after chilling posts were made about the feminist club she was a member of. A Yik Yak user made a post saying they were “gonna tie these feminists to the radiator and grape [sic] them in the mouth.”

A former Yik Yak employee recounts that a majority of the posts she moderated were harmless, but the terrible ones were rattling enough to take a toll on her mental health. The former employee said that at Yik Yak’s headquarters in Atlanta, employees were encouraged not to discuss the disturbing posts. The only action taken in these troubling incidents took the form of a few employees being pulled into a room to quickly debrief. As they would exit the room, they would act as if nothing occurred, encouraging the other employees to continue on with their work and “make the app run.”

Yik Yak did in fact take efforts to rectify these problems by implementing georeferencing, a way of blocking access to the app in certain locations. This allowed them to block students from using the app at 85% of high schools in the United States.

Despite Yik Yak’s improvement efforts, the app quickly gained a controversial reputation. Interest began to decline, with 75% lower usage between 2015 and 2016. Its waning popularity ultimately led to it being taken off of app stores in 2017.

However, on Aug. 16, 2021, the app was relaunched. The app is

now marketed toward people ages seventeen and older. It also emphasizes anti-bullying from the moment you download the app.

Offensive posts can be reported by other users and are automatically removed if they are downvoted enough times. When certain words or emojis are used, the post is automatically removed as well.

Despite these safeguards, the content posted on Yik Yak continues to walk a fine line between crude humor and blatant insensitivity.

Users of the app have figured out ways to work around the words and emojis that cause posts to be automatically removed. Rather than using the words “suicide” or “kill,” users post about “unaliving” themselves or someone else.

Overall, the relaunched version of Yik Yak has not come close to the level of insensitivity that caused its original demise. While many of the posts have been raunchy or petty, there have not been any outstanding issues with violent targets aimed toward any specific individuals.

There have undoubtedly been mean-spirited posts about certain groups, but not with intent to cause harm toward that group. If Yik Yak’s claim to being a strong antibullying platform is true, at the first instance of violence or bullying, I expect they will launch into action to address that issue.

While Yik Yak seems to be doing fine so far, the app as a concept is bound to be problematic. The

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Here’s to new beginnings RUSHABH SHAH Opinion Columnist

2

022. As every new year does, 2022 presents the chance to start fresh.

A little over a month ago, my favorite soccer team, Manchester United, replaced head coach and club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a German manager, a first in the club’s 143year history. A fortnight before Christmas Eve, the Indian cricket team adopted split captaincy for the first time. This was uncharted territory for India, a country that loves cricket. Before the clock struck 12 on Dec. 31, we saw the University of Michigan compete in the College Football Playoff for the first time since the playoff’s creation, generating a new era for a roster and coach its adoring fan base can finally rally behind. As the three teams my life revolves around entered new phases of their journey, I was served a stark reminder that sports is a cut-throat industry. It’s made up of individuals who are under pressure and expected to deliver, on and off the pitch. Hence, they often quickly learn an art that many take years to master: the art of dealing with change.

Change is a phenomenon that many, including myself, find difficult to deal with, but it is one that is often inevitable.

An amygdala hijack refers to a situation where the brain senses danger and immediately orders the body to react in a way that might counteract that danger.

Change is one such trigger that the brain might consider a threat, which is why many people often resist even the smallest of changes; be it getting used to

a new morning coffee shop or traveling halfway across the world to complete your undergraduate studies in a significantly colder and significantly smaller city than the one you grew up in. Everybody has their own reasons for avoiding change, but most of us would also agree that change is not only required, but more often than not, it is beneficial. So, as the new year begins, how can we better equip ourselves to cope with the changes that it will bring?

Emerson Human Capital Consulting, a company that aims to help firms get the most out of their employees, cites Gleicher’s formula as a way to help people deal with change. The formula focuses on the idea of dissatisfaction with the way things currently are, a picture of a better tomorrow and taking the initial steps toward making that vision a reality. A dissatisfaction with the performance of the U-M football team, an image of what Manchester United football club should stand for and making the decision to split the Indian cricket team’s captaincy are all examples of Gleicher’s formula being used by athletic institutions at the highest level, and it’s not difficult to see why. A big part of resisting change is being tied to the past. Why would anybody want to try a new coffee shop if the current one added an extra shot of caramel and threw in a cookie on the house every now and then? Why go through the hassle of adapting to something new when you can keep things the way they are?

Nostalgia is a powerful tool, one that fuels my devotion to the things and people I love. It keeps me connected to them and gives me a reason to keep going. Because of this, when I’m in a situation where greener pastures are within

sight, I hesitate. I’m afraid of an eventuality where I look back and regret. When I flew out of Mumbai — my hometown — and into Ann Arbor for my college experience, I promised myself that I would embrace the change with an open mind. I promised myself that I wouldn’t look back and Dr. Strange my way into alternate realities, trying to imagine what would have happened if I hadn’t left. I’m a pretty dramatic person, and I like to treat my life like it’s one long movie, so I posted a picture on Instagram to mark this moment. Within the post’s comments, I found the people that mattered over the last 19 years. I instantly found comfort in the idea that even though I might not see them or meet with them as often, they’d always be there. Being back home over winter break further solidified that belief. It changed the way I perceive change.

New beginnings are like a messy desktop, with everything from jpegs and tiffs to pdf and docx files. Taking the next step in your journey is like dumping all of those files into one folder, often lazily named “Desktop” or something. It doesn’t mean that the files within are forgotten, and it doesn’t mean that they don’t matter. In fact, they matter a little too much (which is why they aren’t in the trash). They’re in that new folder because if the desktop ever gets too messy again, and it will, everything you’ve been through before will literally be a click of a button away. Not only does that give me the power to face change, but it also makes me excited for it.

The last four months, my first four in Ann Arbor, have shown me the wonders that change can do and make me compelled to say: here’s to 2022.

Let’s not make the same mistake ‘Don’t Look Up’ does; stop politicizing our climate QUIN ZAPOLI

A

Opinion Columnist

dam McKay, the director of childhood classics such as “Step Brothers” and “The Other Guys,” along with more recent, politically-conscious films such as “The Big Short” and “Vice,” has a new movie: “Don’t Look Up.” It’s about a pair of Michigan State University (I know, yuck) astronomers trying to stop a comet from wiping out the human race.

Spoiler alert: The comet represents climate change. “Don’t Look Up” is McKay’s attempt at showing that climate change is an extinctionlevel threat. The film itself, though, represents climate advocates’ continued inability to focus on the crisis without being distracted by other political issues.

The biggest problem with McKay’s newest film, according to critics, is that it isn’t just about

climate change. “Don’t Look Up” features biting criticism of social media-obsessed culture, the greedy military-industrial complex and the hedonism a little fame can bring out in an otherwise humble midwestern professor. It also highlights the unnerving power massive corporations have over our government and our personal lives.

One reviewer calls the film “a blunt instrument in lieu of a sharp razor.”

McKay doesn’t focus on climate change alone; he panders to a suite of progressive priorities.

McKay’s willingness to subdue his message on climate change in favor of broader left-wing activism is not a phenomenon in filmmaking alone. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s, D-N.Y., Green New Deal was denounced by so many in part because it contains a plethora of progressive promises completely unrelated to the staving off of global catastrophe. Guaranteeing

a living wage, universal healthcare and ending discrimination against numerous groups are certainly noble causes, but none of them pose the same existential threat as a warming climate. Furthermore, conservatives’ ideology and constituencies bar them from even considering a bill with so many progressive priorities. That means opponents can stop a bill like the Green New Deal without directly confronting climate science.

Robinson Meyer recently voiced similar criticism of the Build Back Better Act: “What is so frustrating is that the largest disputes over the bill aren’t about climate policy.”

Indeed, the cost of Build Back Better — something Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., are particularly concerned about — is found mainly in the social programs. The climate provisions in the House-passed Build Back Better Act total around

$500 billion, well within the two senators’ preferred $1.75 trillion limit. In fact, Manchin reportedly offered White House negotiators $500 billion to $600 billion in climate spending in his own proposal.

Beyond harming the feasibility of congressional action, lumping climate change advocacy with other liberal priorities politicizes the crisis and the science behind it.

This is something “Don’t Look Up” exemplifies as well. CNN’s Holly Thomas recently penned an article about the film’s tendency to mix science with liberalism in general, calling it a “critical mistake.”

Similarly, when conservatives see climate change programs as a part of a larger liberal package, they see climate change as a part of the Democratic platform, not scientific fact.

Thomas points to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s desire to remain apolitical

early in the COVID-19 pandemic as further proof. As Republican politicians began to label Fauci as partisan, trust in him as an authority on the pandemic shrank.

Similarly, when diligent adherence to COVID-19 restrictions became more associated with Democrats, the science motivating these decisions became less relevant.

The same thing is happening with climate change — it’s seen as just another liberal issue, not an existential threat to people from all political backgrounds.

Climate change doesn’t even have someone like Fauci, a spokesman who has at least tried to remain apolitical. The world’s most prominent climate-change activists are known liberals. Ocasio-Cortez is a vilified progressive. Sir David Attenborough once quipped that the best way to deal with former President Donald Trump was to “shoot him.” Greta Thunberg,

perhaps the best-known climate activist, has done well to avoid party politics. But even she endorsed Biden before the 2020 presidential election.

While those embracing the danger of climate change are so often liberal, it is important to acknowledge the growing number of conservatives acknowledging the problem. Climate change is stated as one of Utah Sen. Mitt Romney’s “greatest fears for the US.” U.S. Rep. John Curtis, also from Utah, started the Conservative Climate Caucus last June — with 55 of his Republican colleagues.

Even Republican voters, young moderates in particular, are open to some government action on climate issues. These are the type of people advocates of environmental action could bring in if they weren’t so

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Omicron is omnipresent

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It’s time to rethink how we regulate Big Tech NIKHIL SHARMA

A

Opinion Columnist

fter the Dot-Com bubble burst in 2000, many individuals feared that the technology sector was primed to lose its global reach following an astounding period of mania. From the ashes of the crash, however, rose companies like Amazon, Google, Twitter and Facebook, far stronger than their predecessors and hellbent on achieving worldwide prominence. Unfortunately, in their rapid rise to power, these companies have generated an endless flow of criticism.

Politicians across the aisle are irate over their monopolistic tendencies, inadequate protection of free speech and murky privacy policies. These concerns have led to several high-profile hearings and the introduction of legislation in Congress, all with the aim of significantly reducing Big Tech’s influence. While this combative approach is understandable, in order to maintain America’s competitive advantage in tech on an international scale, it’s critical that the government shifts its regulatory efforts from haphazard antitrust maneuvers to more constructive approaches that improve the overall health of the technology sector while allowing companies to preserve their core business models.

Though there are many proposed regulatory bills, the most dangerous to innovation is likely the bipartisan Platform

Competition and Opportunity Act introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., which would fundamentally alter the process of mergers and acquisitions for American tech companies. Currently, regulators bear the burden of proving that deals violate antitrust laws. The new legislation seeks to shift the responsibility of demonstrating that transactions maintain market competition to companies instead. This radical change would drastically increase the amount of red tape in the deal-making process and require Big Tech firms to engage in significant legal action for any potential moves. Since acquisitions far outnumber IPOs in startup exits, this disastrous proposal would actually serve to stymie competition in the startup ecosystem by stifling deal flow. By limiting incentives for startups and investors, the legislation threatens to deal a death blow to American innovation.

Most tech startups are unable to achieve profitability independently.

With a low volume of acquisitions, many companies will be unable to take advantage of Big Tech’s resources while building products, and will instead face the threat of bankruptcy.

If Congress is serious about promoting competition with Big Tech, a more impactful area to focus on would be individual and corporate tax codes. Since labor is already incredibly expensive in the

U.S. relative to other nations, American startups inherently face tremendous expenses that make scaling a company challenging.

Reducing corporate tax rates for small businesses in the industry could have an immediate impact on increasing competition by helping the cost structure of early-stage companies.

Studies have shown that a 1% increase in corporate tax is correlated with a 1.8% decrease in new startups and a 3.7% decrease in startup employees, so lowering corporate tax could help stimulate innovation.

Furthermore, by reducing the long-term capital gains rate, more individuals could be incentivized to join and launch companies without the worry of being exorbitantly taxed on their stock options upon acquisitions and IPOs. Beyond modifying their approach to improving competition, regulators also must tweak their plans to preserve free speech and maintain data privacy. Although the need to collect user data in advertisement-based platforms is less than ideal, it’s unrealistic to expect Facebook, Twitter, Google and other companies whose revenue stems from advertising to steer away from data collection. A more fruitful approach would be to collaborate with the tech sector on standardizing the sharing of data collection practices with users. By having specific regulations on informing

users of how their data is being aggregated, individuals will be able to make more informed decisions about which platforms they feel comfortable using.

In the realm of free speech, Congress would be best served by finding a balance between fully repealing Section 230 — the communications law permitting companies to moderate content on their platforms — and allowing censorship and misinformation to prevail. Regulators can explicitly prohibit extremist content from all platforms and place a ban on any direct political discrimination, while still leaving companies enough leeway to moderate and shape the culture of their own platforms.

Now more than ever, it’s important that America not upend the capabilities of its tech industry. With China intending to spend $1.4 trillion by 2025 to make its technology sector globally dominant in 5G, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, we can’t afford to weaken our own ability to compete. Big Tech is certainly not perfect, but with global penetration, Chinese technology companies have the potential to carry out widespread surveillance and data mining under the orders of a government with a death grip on the private sector. If we hope to stand up to China and other countries that threaten our technological prowess in the future, Congress must resist the temptation to blow up Big Tech and instead move towards less

What they don’t tell you about isolation

Design by Maddy Lejas, Opinion Cartoonist

Find your therapy in 2022 JESSICA D’AGOSTINO Opinion Columnist

A

s we enter the new year of 2022, the common practice of New Year’s Resolutions may look a bit different.

Undoubtedly, many will f lock to the g ym or cut carbs or begin writing their Great American Novel in an attempt to start the year off on what they believe to be “the right foot.” However, given the irrefutably overwhelming nature of the past few years, this year I believe the only goal should be to emphasize and prioritize self-care. In 2022, find your therapy.

Anyone who personally knows me knows how open I am about therapy. I’ve never understood the stigma surrounding something so natural, humane and immensely beneficial.

I started talking to a therapist right before my sophomore year of college and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. So many of my friends have also started their own therapeutic journeys and many have been on their’s for years. In the past, therapy was associated with uncontrollable mental illness.

This could not be further from the truth. In reality, there is not one person alive today that would not benefit from essentially having an unbiased third party to talk to.

I encourage you to redefine therapy. Instead of a comfortable couch and a glasses and sweater-clad psychologist scribbling on a notepad, envision a zoom meeting with two cups of coffee and a 45-minute conversation. Put yourself in a position where instead of the outdated, stereotypical dialog ue like “and how does that make you feel?” you are encouraged to view complicated situations with a healthier perspective and to re-establish boundaries with yourself and those around you.

Having said that, therapy is also much more commonplace in today’s day and age. Recognizing that I am extremely fortunate to have parents that are capable of paying for my therapist that is not covered by insurance, it is extremely feasible to find a plethora of equally helpful resources for different monetary demographics.

Online companies like BetterHelp or TalkSpace, among others, offer different payment plans and opportunities to get financial assistance.

Beyond talk therapy, there are so many additional therapeutic practices that can even be completely free.

As the pandemic uncertainty continues, it is also

understandable to stray from an in-person therapy session.

Thankfully, many, if not all, therapists have remote opportunities through virtual formats.

Delving deeper, therapeutic practices come in all shapes and sizes. For me, self-care means much more than the conversations I engage in every once and a while with my therapist. Therapy can and should mean having an effective morning and nighttime routine, listening to music that boosts your serotonin and integrating activities into your life that exist for the sole purpose of making you feel good.

If the pandemic has shown us anything, it is to appreciate the time we have. I mean this not in a morbid, “the clock is ticking ” type way, but instead that we must do our best to honor the mere ability to sip cocktails with friends or read a book in a public café.

Especially at the University of Michigan, I made it a priority to soak in every second spent in The Big House this year and intend on doing the same at every basketball game I attend. As the cliché saying goes: “We never truly appreciate something until it’s gone.”

The inability to enjoy the outside world throughout the rollercoaster ride of COVID19 has been a brutal reminder and an unpleasant wake-up call to take absolutely nothing for granted. Again, therapy does not need to mean this conventional yet antiquated conception of a couch and a legal pad. Therapy is whatever you require to check in with and ensure you are being kind to yourself. Inf luencers and apps alike have reinforced the importance of making goals for the New Year far less focused on loss or gain and instead on the wonderful amalgamation of good and bad right in front of you.

Focus instead on the prospect of human possibility.

Therapy may mean that you must cut some toxicity out of your life or make decisions that seem impossible. But it must be an essential part of everyone’s life, especially as we continue to navigate this turbulent, uncharted territory. I reject the concept that each year is a completely brand new opportunity to sink or swim. That is far too much pressure to put on any person.

Instead, conceptualize 2022 as a coloring book. Each day is a page, and while certain outlined images may be decided for you, you have the opportunity to choose from whatever array of colors is at your disposal and make each day a unique picture. To me, that starts with crushing the stigma and finding whatever therapy means to you.

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Sports

Strong defense leads the way in victory against Maryland MARK PATRICK

Daily Sports Writer

With nine seconds left in the second quarter, a fast break for Maryland had begun to form.

Terrapins forward Angel Reese looked to get a last second layup before the end of the half to trim the deficit. But Michigan senior forward Naz Hillmon was back defensively and made an emphatic left-handed block inside the paint to deny Reese’s shot and keep Maryland from scoring.

The Wolverines’ defense found a rhythm early in its victory against the Terrapins, spurring a 69-49 victory. As such, they forced Maryland into taking difficult shots and were able to force turnovers.

“I thought our lock in and focus on the defensive end was absolutely incredible,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said.

The Terrapins started the game scoring 11 points, shooting 5-of-7 in the first four minutes of the game. It certainly wasn’t the defensive start that Michigan was looking for.

The Wolverines made adjustments early in the game, as they put more of a focus towards defending the paint. This proved successful as after starting 5-of7 from the field, Maryland finished the remainder of the game shooting just 11-of-44.

Michigan put an emphasis on defending the paint, making the Terrapins take a number of outside shots. Maryland was also silenced on the offensive glass, held to zero offensive rebounds in the first quarter and unable to muster second chance points.

The Terrapins offense is predicated around getting rebounds off the glass, as they lead the Big Ten with 15.8 offensive boards per game.

Reese leads the nation in offensive rebounds with 5.4 boards per game, so stopping her was critical to the Wolverines success.

Michigan was able to achieve this as they held her to one offensive rebound in the first half, which came in the final seconds of the second quarter. That was a concerted effort.

“Are we going to be able to rebound the basketball with them because they’ll miss shots, but sometimes they’ll just go get their offensive rebound and be able to put it back in there,” Barnes Arico said.

“Obviously (Maryland’s) one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country as well. So I thought we really did an amazing job on defense and then finishing the play by rebounding.”

The Wolverines made a statement on defense in the second quarter, too, holding the Terrapins to one field goal in the entire quarter on 1-of-9 shooting.

“I just thought we were unbelievable,” Barnes Arico said. “I thought we set the tone. I thought we scrambled for each other. I thought we rebounded. I think our experience and lock in was just tremendous.”

Their strong defense was a result of the ability to force turnovers and put pressure on Maryland’s best offensive player. Reese, coming into the game averaged 18.2 points per game, had zero points in the first half. She shot 0-of-5 and had three turnovers in the first, and ended the game with nine.

Michigan was also able to stop Terrapins guard Ashley Owusu.

Owusu came into this game averaging 16.4 points per game, but was held to four points on 40% shooting.

Wolverines’ senior guard Maddie Nolan was the primary defender against Owusu.

“I think Maddie did a great job setting the tone on Ashlee early

Daily Sports Writer

Fight hard.

That was the Michigan men’s tennis team’s mentality after dropping a sloppy doubles performance to open its first match of the season Sunday against Virginia Tech.

And the Wolverines rebounded in spectacular fashion.

Michigan (1-0 overall) rallied to win five of six singles matches against the Hokies (0-2) to notch its first win of the season, 5-2.

“They just fought their tails off,” Michigan coach Adam Steinberg said. “That was the biggest thing. … They didn’t want to let their teammates down.”

Doubles was unusually tough for the Wolverines, who did not lose the doubles point in their final eight meets last season. The No. 1 team struggled and was trounced by the Hokies; The No.

2 team won a competitive match, but then the No. 3 team was outlasted in a tough fight in which neither side could maintain momentum between games.

Doubles put Michigan in an early hole, but things would change in singles. The Wolverines displayed grit throughout the rest of the day, never staying down, never losing focus.

They were motivated.

“I played in doubles, I didn’t play particularly great,” sophomore Jacob Bickersteth said. “I wanted to do better for my team.

It was my first career doubles match.”

Bickersteth certainly managed to accomplish that by totally dominating his singles outing.

Bickersteth was the first singles winner of the day.

After taking the first five games, he won the No. 3 match in two sets and only lost three games overall. This fast finish

Hughes’s speed devastates Penn State of keep away, Hughes spun left and right as they scrambled for Daily Sports Writer the puck — always a step ahead.

“You can rely on him to get Bill Muckalt has a saying pucks out and make a skilled when Luke Hughes blows by play,” senior forward Nolan Moyle said. “It’s really nice his man: having him back there.”

“Bye bye.”

But Hughes had to get the And on Saturday against Penn State, Michigan’s asso- puck on his stick to make ciate head coach probably those plays, and the Nittany sounded like a broken record. Lions’ physical forecheck made Hughes used his speed to skate that an uphill battle. Hughes all over the Nittany Lions on embraced the contact, using both ends of the ice. In a game his speed to build momentum that saw No. 4 Michigan rally before unleashing it along the from a two-goal deficit, in boards.

That willingness to grind many cases, Hughes’s speed led the Wolverines toward along the boards proved vital to Michigan’s success, especially victory.

“It’s great to see him tak- as it found itself killing penaling steps every day,” sopho- ties often. Normally a defensemore goaltender Erik Portillo man can get trapped in those said. “The last two games here battles, leading to dangerous (Hughes is) really taking a chances for the other team. step and helping the team Hughes’s speed made certain they would be few and far win.”

Fast skating isn’t unusual between.

But for all his defensive sucfor Hughes’s game, but he combined it with the rest cess, Hughes made that speed of his game to devastating matter on offense, relying on effect against Penn State. His his quickness to dodge around positioning never let the Nit- backcheckers. And paired once tany Lions set up on his inside again with sophomore defenshoulder, blocking their path seman Jacob Truscott, Hughes toward center ice and creating saw ample opportunities to races for the puck — races that lean on it.

With Michigan within a favor Hughes.

And that same speed played goal, Hughes found his chance a crucial role in the Wolver- to capitalize. Coming off the ines’ breakouts, combining rush, Hughes wiggled behind his stick skills and elusiveness Penn State’s defense and scored to dodge forecheckers. His before the Nittany Lions could skates never stopped moving, react. Hughes skated so hard he making micro adjustments to didn’t have time to stop before mirror the direction of the crashing into the boards.

“It’s almost like having anothpuck. Then when Penn State made a mistake, those same er forward on the ice back there,” Michigan coach Mel Pearson skates took off in an instant.

With that success exiting said, “He really uses his skating the zone, Michigan relied to his advantage, to create scoron Hughes to command its ing opportunities not only for transition game. Handling himself but his teammates.”

And those scoring opporthe puck with his top hand, Hughes spun around fore- tunities have come all season. checkers with ease as they Hughes’s 22 points are the most tried to pry the puck off his of all freshmen defensemen, stick. Like a miniature game and they’re not just coming off secondary assists and goals through traffic. His elusive speed has created some of the Wolverines’ best goals.

Having quick feet gives Hughes a weapon against physical teams, but it doesn’t matter if he can’t combine it with the rest of his game. Hughes proved he’s got the second step figured ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily out.

CONNOR EAREGOOD

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily Michigan’s stellar defense shut down Maryland’s attack from the first quarter, fueling the victory.

on,” Barnes Arico said. “I think our kids really bought into understanding the personnel, understanding their tendencies, and then scrambling for each other, something that we’ve worked on a lot.”

Nolan’s strong defensive performance forced three turnovers on Owusu. Coming into this game, the Terrapins averaged 11.4 turnovers per game, the fourth fewest in Division 1 women’s basketball.

They had thirteen turnovers in the first half alone.

The turnovers and strong first half defense allowed Michigan to go up 34-19.

In the second half, Maryland continued to struggle shooting the ball, as they shot 2-of-16 in the third. The Wolverines nullified the Terrapins offensive rebounding as they defended the inside of the paint, forcing them to take outside shots. As a result of the outside shots, they were held scoreless for periods of 3:38 and 2:43 in the third quarter.

The most memorable moment

in the third quarter came when the Wolverines had four players defending slightly outside the paint to stop a turnaround layup.

Michigan’s physicality on the play did not allow Maryland to drive inside the paint forcing them to take outside shots. When the Terrapins grabbed an offensive rebound, they shot a driving layup inside the paint. But the shot wasn’t close, and Kiser snatched the rebound.

That sequence summed up Michigan’s dominating defensive performance.

Men’s Tennis dominates singles matches to win home opener 5-2 IAN PAYNE

Wednesday, January 19, 2022 — 11

gave Michigan a much-needed morale boost.

On the heels of Bickersteth’s win, sophomore Nino Ehrenschneider in the No. 6 match and senior Patrick Maloney in the No. 4 match put up strong performances. As the matches progressed the Wolverines’ sideline energy only grew in intensity, and this energy would fuel a strong comeback from sophomore Gavin Young.

“Our energy was obviously way better than (Virginia Tech’s),” Bickersteth said. “I feel like that got Gavin over the hump.”

Young turned it around. He won the second and third sets comfortably to earn Michigan its fourth point to clinch the win.

Even after securing the win, the Wolverines’ fighting spirit continued via junior Ondrej Styler.

The final matchup to finish

was Styler’s battle with Hokie Carlo Donato. After winning the first set, Styler was unable to hold Donato down in the second, leading to a tie breaker. In the third set, Styler seemed to regain the upper hand, but then he slipped and injured his leg.

He got back up and continued playing, but soon after the Michigan trainer forced him to take an injury timeout. And yet he persevered, re-entering and playing out the rest of his match, winning 6-4.

“It’s always nice to come back in singles, it’s a big confidence booster,” Steinberg said. “It was a really good match, it was tight. … It’s hard to win four singles against anybody.”

While the Wolverines did dominate the scoreboard, Virginia Tech gave Michigan a tough challenge throughout the afternoon — a challenge they respond to with grit and spirit.

Michigan needs to find offense beyond its top line, and for that, it should look to its veterans.

Michigan blows past Ohio State, 29-8, in first Big Ten dual of the season CHARLIE PAPPALARDO

Daily Sports Writer

COLUMBUS —When Michigan and Ohio State wrestle, it’s almost always a tight affair.

Last year’s dual between the two teams was decided by a dramatic overtime takedown that gave the Wolverines a narrow one-point victory. Three years ago it was thenfreshman heavyweight Mason Parris whose high-stakes decision victory propelled his team’s comefrom-behind two-point win. Friday night’s dual was different.

It also ended with fireworks from Parris in the form of a first period pin. But this time, less than half of the once raucous Buckeyes’ crowd had stuck around to watch it, and the final score was 29-8.

No. 3 Michigan (5-0 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) didn’t just beat No. 7 Ohio State (5-1, 1-1), it dominated them to the tune of a 21 point difference, winning eight of ten bouts with three victories earning the team bonus points.

Ohio State was billed as the Wolverines’ first real test of the season, and it’s one they passed with flying colors. There was never a moment

in the night where the Buckeyes looked as if they were even threatening to hand Michigan its first loss.

The night’s action started at 125 lbs., where No. 1 ranked former NCAA champion Nick Suriano earned an 11-3 major-decision victory over No. 18 Malik Heinselman that put the Wolverines up 4-0.

The graduate student wrestled at a furious pace the entire bout, and it paid off. He scored takedown after takedown on his opponent. And as Heinselman tired late in the bout, he surrendered a stalling point that put Suriano up by eight, and secured bonus points.

“We started off with a lot of momentum coming off at 125 with Nick Suriano,” graduate student Myles Amine said. “His energy, his intensity, was inspiring and set the tone for the rest of the match.”

At 133 lbs., redshirt freshman Dylan Ragusin bounced back from his loss at Arizona State with a strong showing in his match with Ohio State’s Will Betancourt.

Ragusin sacrificed the usual lowerweight agility antics to wrestle a controlled, pensive style. This worked for Ragusin as he won 14-5, earning a major-decision victory and putting Michigan up 8-0.

JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily Unlike previous matchups, Michigan dominated Ohio State in Columbus.

Graduate student Stevan Micic also bounced back from a loss, this time able to finish his leg attacks to earn a 11-7 victory over No. 21 Dylan D’Emilio at 141 lbs., making the score 11-0 Wolverines.

But two Michigan losses sandwiching a Will Lewan victory left the score 14-8, putting Ohio State a pin away from tying the dual when 174 lb. graduate student Logan Massa took the mat.

In his second dual match of the season, No. 6 Massa faced No. 7 Ethan Smith in what was expected to be the biggest tossup of the night. Two periods in, Massa was down 4-2, but a dominant third period in which Massa tripped, took down and tilted Smith led him to a 10-4 decision victory. As Massa’s hand was raised, boos rained down from the Buckeyes’ crowd, which Massa clearly reveled in, skipping around the mat

with his arms raised before running to the locker room.

Any energy Ohio State had built evaporated and the score was 17-8.

“He overwhelmed the guy in the third period,” Michigan coach Sean Bormet said. “…You could see it in his eyes he was determined, he stayed consistent and was persistent about getting to the leg attacks. Psychologically it was very demoralizing for the opponent and the rest of that lineup. They felt like they were getting a little momentum after 165.”

If Massa’s victory demoralized the Buckeyes, 184 lb. Amine’s overtime win crushed them.

The second-ranked Amine wrestled an incredibly tight, low scoring match against No. 7 ranked Kaleb Romero. Amine and Romero found themselves in scramble after scramble in which each fended off numerous takedowns. In overtime, the intensity was turned to a new level, as each wrestler rolled or spun through what looked to be certain takedowns to keep the match alive.

A minute and a half into the sudden victory period, Amine initiated a third scramble, narrowly avoided Romero’s counter, and slipped through his legs to earn the win-

ning takedown. Romero pounded the mat in frustration and fans streamed to exits, at 20-8, the result was decided.

“Coming into this match tonight I knew Myles wasn’t at his best,” Bormet said. “But he is just a fearless competitor. I know he wanted to have a more dominant victory, but there’s something to be said about being able to win that kind of match when you need to in this kind of environment, and finding a way to get your hand raised. And there aren’t many out there that can do it better than Myles Amine.”

197 lb. graduate student Pat Brucki’s 5-2 win over Gavin Hoffman and Mason Parris’s pin added an exclamation point to the night for the Wolverines. But unlike previous years, their heroics were unnecessary.

As the Wolverines look forward to next Friday’s dual against No. 1 Penn. State they’ll need another dominant performance. Friday’s victory is a strong place to build from.

As Parris recognized: “We’re hoping to build on this win, build on this confidence and keep going the rest of the year.”

S P O R T S W E D N E S D AY

shellacked No. 11 Michigan steamrolls No. 8 Maryland,

69-49

ABBIE TELGENHOF Daily Sports Writer

A

s senior wing Leigha Brown dribbled down the f loor af ter a block from senior forward Naz Hillmon on the other end, Brown looked up. Seeing junior g uard Maddie Nolan ahead of her post up on the 3-point line, Brown f ired a pass to Nolan. Taking the pass and squaring up the basket, Nolan unleashed her f irst 3-pointer of the game — of which seven more would follow.

The No. 11 Michigan women’s basketball team faced off with No. 8 Mar yland Sunday in College Park. Led by a gamehigh 21 points from Nolan, the Wolverines unleashed a beatdown, winning 69-49. The win snapped the Terrapins’ 31-game home winning streak and marked the f irst win in prog ram histor y at College Park.

Early f ull-court defensive pressure from the Terrapins couldn’t stop the Wolverines from scoring. Michigan came out white hot in the f irst quarter, entering the f irst media timeout having gone 6-for-6 from the f loor. The Wolverines looked unfazed against the agg ressive pressure.

Carr ying the team from the outset, Nolan stayed hot from behind the 3-point line for the entire night. In the f irst quarter alone, she went 3-for-3, setting an immediate tone.

More of the squad also contributed from three, with Brown and freshman g uard Laila Phelia nailing early 3-pointers.

The Wolverines ended the f irst shooting 71.4% from three.

“Tonight I feel like we did a lot better (of a) job of capitalizing on and just being able to put up shots at the right times,” Brown said.

With the Terrapins concentrating their defense in the paint against Hillmon, Michigan adjusted, bring ing their offense to the perimeter.

Ending the f irst quarter with 26 points, the Wolverines outscored Mar yland by 10.

“Teams are going to start double and triple teaming Naz (Hillmon),” Nolan said. “And if we can have people that can consistently knock down outside shots that’s going to be a gamechanger for us.”

Against Mar yland, it was.

On the opposite end, Michigan’s defense hedged hard on ball screens, forcing the Terrapins into multiple turnovers and holding them scoreless for the last t wo minutes of the f irst quarter. That narrative continued down the stretch.

Despite the slow start, Mar yland tried to chip away in the second quarter. Speeding up the game, the Terrapins attempted to convert its defensive possessions into quick offensive buckets. But the Wolverines had all the momentum. Michigan held onto its lead, controlling the ball and not allowing the f ull-court press to disrupt their composure.

Dominant 3-point shooting persisted throughout the second quarter, with Nolan leading the charge. She opened the quarter with another 3-pointer from the wing, doubling the Wolverines’ lead. Senior g uard Danielle Rauch also nailed a 3-pointer.

Going into the locker room, Michigan held a comfortable 15 point half time lead, one that would only g row.

The second half largely mirrored the f irst. Nolan continued to dominate from behind the 3-point line, making back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter and another in the fourth. Brown’s driving jumpers in the lane continued to stump Mar yland’s defense. Bring ing another layer of offensive prowess, Phelia and Hillmon also found their g roove in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 and nine points, respectively.

Combined, Nolan and Brown notched 36 points, outscoring the Terrapins themselves for the majorit y of the game.

“Our g uards stepped up and just made play af ter play,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “Leigha Brown is arg uably one of the best if not the best g uards in the countr y, I believe. And Maddie Nolan is one of the best 3-point shooters and I’m happy that the whole world got a chance to see that tonight.”

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