2023-11-01 by The Michigan Daily

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Wednesday, November 1, 2023

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CAMPUS LIFE

Hundreds of UMich students walk out of class to support Palestine

The crowd moved from the Diag to the Ruthven Building as part of a national walkout

Hundreds of U-M students, participating in a national walkout demanding divestment from Israel, gather in the Ruthven Building after marching from the Diag Wednesday.

CHEN LYU Daily Staff Reporter

Hundreds of University of Michigan students walked out of their classrooms and rallied on the Diag Wednesday afternoon in support of Palestine amid the Israel-Hamas war. The walkout, which was organized by Students Allied For Freedom and Equality in collaboration with 25 other organizations, was part of a greater national movement, with thousands of college students from across the country walking out to protest for an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza, Israeli airstrikes in the region and U.S. military support for Israel. The demonstration comes amid the intensifying human cost of war between Israel and Hamas. At least 7,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in

Gaza since the Israeli government declared war on Hamas following their Oct.7 attack on Israel, which killed over 1,000 Israelis. During the walk out, protestors outlined four demands for the U-M administration: divest from companies profiting off human rights violations against Palestinians by Israel; conduct a formal inquiry into anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and Islamophobic biases on campus; support and reaffirm faculty and students vilified for their support for Palestine and make a formal statement defining the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza as an ethnic cleansing campaign aided by the United States. LSA senior Salma Hamamy, co-president of SAFE, spoke at the rally about how she believes the current war has become a massacre against Palestinians. She said she believes the

University is complicit with this violence by collaborating with companies that delivered military equipment for Israel to attack Palestinians. “We, as a multiracial mass movement of student organizers for Palestinian liberation, have the power to change that,” Hamamy said. “By divesting from weapons manufacturers, we would be able to place targeted pressure on weapons manufacturers who formed partnerships with Israel.” Jared Eno, president of the Graduate Employees’ Organization, told the crowd GEO supports Palestine, similar to many other labor unions across the country. Eno said he believes the oppression against Palestinians is so pervasive that many graduate workers don’t feel safe expressing their solidarity with them even on U.S. campuses. “In 2018, one of our members

ADMINISTRATION

LEO contract bargaining starts at kick-off rally

The union has begun negotiating a new three-year contract MILES ANDERSON & BRONWYN JOHNSTON Daily Staff Reporters

Members and supporters of the Lecturers’ Employee Organization gathered in front of Hatcher Graduate Library Friday for a kickoff rally, commemorating the first contract bargaining session between LEO and the University of Michigan that morning. In the coming weeks, LEO’s bargaining team will negotiate with U-M Human Resources team to agree upon a new three-year contract. LEO is seeking higher salaries, increased job security and transparency, and caps on insurance premiums, among other demands. State Rep. Carrie Rheingans, who is a former U-M lecturer, delivered the rally’s opening remarks. Rheingans expressed her support for LEO’s stance in the contract negotiations, emphasizing the importance of solidarity with employees of the University and fair wages for lecturers. “We all know that the more of us there are together, united, the better bargaining we can do,” Rheingans

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said. “It is time for the University to make sure that your contract is secure for you as workers and pays you what you deserve.” Rheingans said she appreciates LEO’s work at the University as part of a broader rise of labor movements and unions across the United States. “You have been doing great work on campus,” Rheingans said. “The labor movement here at the University of Michigan is strong, very strong, and it’s following the strong labor movement in the country.” Members and supporters of LEO then marched together to Palmer Commons, where the first bargaining session took place Friday. The crowd called out various chants, including “Fair share when? Fair share now” and “We teach the lion’s share. U-M admin doesn’t care.” Many carried signs with slogans that included “We’re Worth More” and “Respect the Lecs.” As the crowd gathered outside of Palmer Commons, Nora Krinitsky, Ann Arbor campus co-chair for LEO, read aloud the opening statement she gave earlier that morning at the first bargaining

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session. In her statement, Krinitsky spoke about the vital role lecturers play in both teaching and mentoring students. “Management is going to find out that our proposals reflect that fundamental truth: that lecturers are the bedrock of the educational mission of the University of Michigan,” Krinitsky said. Krinitsky said LEO’s proposals seek to address common difficulties that accompany the lecturer position, including job insecurity. “We all know the harmful effects of precarious employment,” Krinitsky said. “We’ve (experienced) disempowerment, vulnerability and depressed wages. Our contract proposals will address, remedy and prevent those harmful effects from harming other lecturers. We will put across a proposal to improve job security, make the workload more transparent, protect lecturers from harassment, (promote) workplace safety and make sure that lecturers can plan for the future and care for their family. And finally, make sure that lecturers are paid the livable wage that they deserve.” Read more at MichiganDaily.com

declined to write a letter of recommendation for a student who wanted to participate in a study abroad program in Israel,” Eno said. “This worker declined to do so because they were heeding a call from Palestinian civil society organizations for nonviolent actions to pressure Israel to end its oppression of Palestinians. … The (then) president of this University publicly condemned their actions and called them antisemitic.” After the speeches, students marched to the Alexander G. Ruthven Building, where they believed University President Santa Ono was working. The students gathered on the first and second floor, chanting, “Ono, Ono, you can’t hide, you are funding genocide.” During this portion of the rally, Martino Harmon, vice president for student life, and Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones came

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down to the first floor to meet with the student demonstrators. Zaynab Elkolaly, SAFE director of activism, delivered the group’s demands to the two administrators in a speech. Elkolaly then urged the University to address the vilification of faculty members and students who express support for Palestinians. She cited an Oct. 16 incident when a truck displaying unsubstantiated allegations that U-M faculty were in support of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians drove through campus. The Michigan Daily was able to independently confirm the messaging on the truck. “The display reaffirms the fact that faculty are putting themselves in a vulnerable position,” Elkolaly said. “The University is responsible for ensuring the safety of students and faculty, publicly condemning

these dangerous acts of defamation and supporting these underrepresented groups — particularly faculty who are making these informed decisions based on their academic expertise in the topic.” Harmon told demonstrators that a team from the administration would be willing to meet with the protestors on Friday to discuss their demands. He added, however, that he couldn’t promise a direct conversation with Ono or any immediate action from the University. “We could have a group of representatives that can include administrators who can have more detailed discussions about your demands,” Harmon said. “But I can’t control the president’s schedule.” Read more at MichiganDaily.com

ADMINISTRATION

UMich applied for alcohol permits for Crisler and Yost

If approved, the University plans to pilot alcohol sales at select sporting events MARY COREY

Daily Staff Reporter

When University of Michigan fans make their way into the Big House on Football Saturdays, the stadium is filled with laughs, cheers and lots of maize and blue. However, one thing is notably missing from this lively atmosphere: alcohol sales. This past July, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a law allowing sports venues at public universities in Michigan to sell alcohol at sporting events. The Board of Regents unanimously decided at their Oct. 19 meeting to apply for Class C liquor licenses for Yost Ice Arena, the Michigan Stadium and Crisler Center. In addition, the Board voted to first implement alcohol sales at Crisler Center and Yost Ice Arena before moving to Michigan Stadium, allowing time for community feedback before trying out this new policy at the biggest college football stadium in the country. Earlier this month, the University conducted a survey among the U-M community to gauge opinions and concerns about the potential

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INDEX

sale of alcohol at sporting events. As the University moves forward with the application process, The Michigan Daily spoke with campus community members about the potential impact of alcohol sales at U-M sports venues. Engineering senior Jake Skulnik, president of Maize Rage, the official student section for U-M men’s and women’s basketball, told The Daily he thinks there are potential benefits from alcohol sales at U-M sporting events as long as the University implements some restrictions. “Alcohol isn’t something that everyone is using at sporting events, but for people that would like to consume it, I think it is an added benefit as long as it’s sold legally and also making sure that everyone is not ordering past a certain time,” Skulnik said. “Obviously making sure the safety of everyone is maintained is the key priority in all this.” Skulnik added that alcohol sales could help improve the energy levels of fans at sporting events, which he said could even enhance the performance of the team. “I think it could really impact the

environment,” Skulnik said. “People will sometimes be a little bit more energetic in the crowd when they do consume alcohol, which is obviously a benefit on the court when the team is going to need the fans to give them a push.” However, Skulnik said this new policy would not have a huge impact on students at various U-M sports venues, since most of them are underage. “Obviously, with the student section being primarily underage, it’s not going to affect the student section as much,” Skulnik said. “We are just hoping to make sure that we’re keeping the environment at (U-M sports venues) at a top-notch standard.” In an email to The Daily, state Sen. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo, who introduced Senate Bill 427 to allow college sporting venues to obtain liquor licenses, noted that when The Ohio State University announced its stadium-wide beer sales for the 2016 football season, the University Police reported a 65% drop in alcoholrelated incidents.

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News

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Dapper dogs compete for the title of Best Costume in the Pups on the Patio Costume Contest at Grizzly Peak Brewing Company in Ann Arbor Sunday afternoon. GRACE LAHTI/Daily

Grizzly Peak hosts annual “Pups on the Patio” costume contest for dogs Some of Ann Arbor’s cutest canines got together for a night of tricks and dog treats

Ann Arbor’s Grizzly Peak Brewing Company was abuzz with excitement Sunday afternoon as local dogs brought their owners to the restaurant to show off their unique costumes at the annual “Pups on the Patio” halloween party and costume contest. From homemade to store-bought costumes, dogs both big and small showed up dressed in canine couture as hot dogs, pirates and everything in between. Maura Zakem, general manager of Grizzly Peak, told The Michigan Daily that every year the establishment looks forward to the event. She said there are a lot of proud dog owners in Ann Arbor and there’s no better way to celebrate Halloween than by bringing all of the pets together to celebrate in style. “We wanted to make this

place a little more dog friendly, and I think that people who love dogs are so enthusiastic about anything that makes them cuter,” Zakem said. “There’s a ton of Halloween parties for humans, so why not make one for dogs? Get them all in one place.” Zakem judged the competition for the third time this year, though she said the event has been going on for the past eight years. Zakem told The Daily that depending on the weather, Grizzly Peak’s puppy participation varies, though the staff has never been disappointed by the event’s turnout. “Last year the weather was a bit more agreeable, but every year just gets better and better,” Zakem said. “Everyone comes with a different costume and we have a lot of repeat visitors, and we love seeing the same dogs that we remember from previous years.” Ann Arbor community member Sonya Didyk’s dog, a black pug named Mabel, competed in the contest on

Sunday and was officially selected as the winner of this year’s “Pups on the Patio” Tuesday afternoon. Mabel was dressed up as a campfire this year, complete with real, edible marshmallows. Didyk said she made Mabel’s costume herself, which was inspired by one of her favorite summer activities. “We were sitting around the campfire one night … and we said maybe Mabel should be a campfire today,” Didyk said. This was not Mabel’s first rodeo. The black pug is the reigning Pups on the Patio champion, winning last year’s competition as well for the pin cushion costume Didyk made her. Didyk said she dressed up alongside Mabel last year and came to the event in her own human-sized voodoo doll costume. However, the contest isn’t just for seasoned competitors. Ann Arbor local Carolyn Sieger told the Daily she entered her new, 3-month-old puppy, Blake, in the competition for the first

time this year. Dressed as a cow, Sieger said Blake, who is another black pug, would be a fierce competitor. Sieger said she felt optimistic about Blake’s chances even though she had opted for a more practical costume. “We found it at Meijer and it was the only thing with Velcro,” Sieger said. “But he’s got his cuteness going for him.” The panel of judges consisted of the Grizzly Peak staff who were working during the event. According to Zakem, there are not a lot of objective criteria for selecting a winner, but everyone knows that it’s all in good fun and the staff enjoys the process every year. “We all kind of look at the pictures and look for our favorites,” Zakem said. “We definitely take into consideration if someone puts a ton of effort into their costume, but we just like to keep it fun and lighthearted and choose whichever one just makes our hearts melt as the winner.”

ANN ARBOR

Ann Arbor residents celebrated Halloween with annual Trick-or-Treater parade

Community members stopped by local businesses around Main Street for sweet treats

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Witches, pumpkins, superheroes, dinosaurs and ghouls alike paraded through downtown Ann Arbor Sunday afternoon for the city’s annual Trick-or-Treater Parade which starts at Main and William Streets and moves south. Following the short parade, local shops opened their doors to offer candy to those in costume and hosted a variety of activities. Sandra Andrade, executive director of the Main Street Area Association, said the Halloween parade has been around for two decades, though it has evolved over the years. After downtown block closures starting in 2020, the parade expanded from a trick-ortreating event to an official parade in recent years. Andrade said MSAA plans to continue expanding the parade each year, incorporating new businesses and activities into the event. “It’s a free and inclusive event that anybody can get engaged in and included in,” Andrade said. “The businesses get to interact with the community in a fun way.” University of Michigan alum Alicia Talbot attended the parade with her son. Talbot grew up in Ann Arbor and told The Michigan Daily she has observed the parade becoming more inclusive of different types of costumes and diverse identities over time. “I really like that so many of the shops are gender-neutral, costume-neutral and they’re including everybody in here — more languages now,” Talbot said. “We’re a multilingual family, so my son

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MARTINA ZACKER and CHRISTIAN JULIANO Costumed kids and families enjoy the annual Downtown Ann Arbor trick-or-treating event hosted by the Ann Arbor District Library and participating businesses.

was very excited. It wasn’t like that when I was little.” After the costume parade, participants could trick-or-treat at various downtown businesses, picking up free candy, toys and hot drinks from participating shops and restaurants. Some businesses also offered interactive activities for parade participants. Drawing inspiration from Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Addison Foote, owner of One Eleven Salon, created a Willy Wonka-themed world inside the salon, which is located on E Ann Street, right off of Main Street. Foote said he previously organized a Willy Wonka golden ticket scavenger hunt, which took place before the parade and awarded the

winners $250 for each ticket found. Foote said he also participated in the Halloween parade last year and was excited to be able to go all out for this year’s event. “We just put a table out front last year,” Foote said. “And I was like, ‘Oh, let’s maybe do a spooky walkthrough or something for the kids. And then that evolved into ‘Oh, if we’re going to decorate the salon that much, let’s host a Halloween party the day before.’ ” Cherry Republic is another one of the businesses that participated in the parade this year. In an interview with The Daily, Cherry Republic manager Rita Dudek said she appreciates the foot traffic the parade brings into the store, especially as the small business

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continues to recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We just love to see all the kids dress up and have fun,” Dudek said. “It brings people downtown and fills the streets. (With) how much has happened over the years, it’s always nice to have events again and be a part of that.” U-M representatives also handed out candy to paraders Sunday afternoon. Ava Rooney, research technician associate in the Warneken Lab, which researches sociality and human behavior, told The Daily she was at the event to talk with participants about her lab’s research. Read more at MichiganDaily.com

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Creator Spotlight: Dylan Griggs on creating podcast ‘WOE.BEGONE’ and a persona on the internet CECELIA LEDEZMA Daily Arts Writer

Whether you’re into YouTubers from the golden era or a new TikToker who’s pushing the boundaries of creativity and expression, the internet has something for everyone — no matter how small. The Digital Culture writers want to take a moment to reach out and shine even our small spotlight on the people who have created each juicy piece of underrated internet-ainment we have consumed. We hope that we can pay forward just a bit of the goodness they gave to us. This is the story of how Mike Walters (Dylan Griggs, Nine II Midnight) joins a mysterious and violent game and goes searching for the powers that make it possible — he finds them soon enough, but understanding them is another thing entirely. This is a long-form fiction podcast by a Queer author that updates every Wednesday and has new soundtracks every week. This is a mystery horror sciencefiction thriller. This is cutting your left arm off at the shoulder. This is 132 episodes and counting. This is the time travel murder show. This is WOE.BEGONE. With its first episode premiering late November 2020, this serial fiction podcast has just completed its 11th season. During this long run, it joined the Rusty Quill Network, gained additional voice actors and branched off into its sister podcast, The Diary Of Eliza Schultz. At its center is Dylan Griggs: show-runner, creator, lead actor, writer, editor and composer. Near the conclusion of its previous season, I sat down with him to discuss his workflow, inspirations and philosophies. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. The Michigan Daily: Over the course of 10 seasons, the show’s stakes, Mike’s involvement with them and the characters have evolved. How have you envisioned these changes? Did they come as they were happening or have you always had a greater overarching plan? Dylan Griggs: When I started the show, I pictured it being 12 episodes long. After that, I had to envision it because the show grew and I decided I was going to keep doing it every week, forever. Once you realize there’s going to be a 12-episode arc after this 12-episode arc, you have to start establishing what’s going to happen and how big the stakes are. And you have things like “Supernatural” where by the end you’re killing Super Satan and going to Super Hell, so you have to keep a level and you have to understand it. You find ways to raise the stakes in a way that still feels important but doesn’t get cosmic and involve killing God. TMD: Every season kind of has a different theme: season seven introduces a second voice actor (Harlan Guthrie, Malevolent), season 10 has a second podcast within the fiction and this new

season puts us back in Latvia. How do you come up with theming for seasons? DG: Theming helps keep the seasons dynamic and having seasonal arcs makes everything feel like there might not be a payoff about X mystery right now, but by (the season’s finale), you’re going to have a bunch of little things tied up. A lot of people misunderstand my approach because season nine ended on a very harsh moment, so at the end of season 10 they were like, “What’s going to go wrong? How is this all going to unravel for them?” No, they have to get everything — they have to strengthen before more hardship can hit them or else they’d all die. And the rest of the podcast would be silent. And your interview would be like, “So, season 11 is 30 minutes of silence once a week on Wednesdays, what’s that like?” TMD: How do you structure an episode? DG: I’m super into conflict right now, (like) every writer, and I should have been a long time ago. I had this thought while writing (the season 10 premiere): “Wow, I’m considering the things that a normal author always considers.” When I structure an episode now — because of the (Twitch) streams — I’ve been writing the soundtrack first. But if I’m working with people, I have a script done and out on Fridays. TMD: How would you describe your workflow on an episode where you’re working alone? DG: Today I’m thinking about what I want to happen to the characters — then it’s a lot of freewriting. Something that I do when I have a lot of time is I’ll freewrite a script and then put it on one side of my monitor and I’ll rewrite it on the other. Every time I rewrite, my scripts get longer, so that’s why some of the episodes with (the season 10 deuteragonist (Rae Lundberg, The Night Post)) are so long. TMD: How do you grow your podcast as a creator? DG: Now that I’m on the Rusty Quill Network, they run ads and being part of the network is a huge advertisement in itself. (It’s) like having a seat at the cool kids’ table. Other than that, I rely very heavily on word of mouth, especially because I don’t post on Reddit anymore. Once you have a listenership, Reddit is more interested in airing frustrations about you than they are about promoting you or recommending you to others. I’ve been on both sides of this. I was part of the Pacific Northwest Stories subreddit, which is a subreddit for airing grievances about The Black Tapes and TANIS. TMD: Isn’t RABBITS also by Pacific Northwest Stories? DG: Yeah. I listened to RABBITS and talked about it with people as it aired. And I remember thinking, “I have all these cool ideas, I hope they incorporate them,” and then they didn’t, so I put them into a

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podcast called WOE.BEGONE. You can definitely hear that in episode one, it’s me doing some things I wish I had seen in RABBITS and other podcasts, like ars Paradoxica. I love ars Paradoxica but they are so stingy with their time travel, and that was something that I thought about a lot in (WOE. BEGONE’s) early seasons. For my show, we’re not going to do this whole “everything needs to be so careful and we’re gonna get to see such a little corner of it.” No, we’re gonna bust it wide open because that’s what I want, trying to see myself as a listener. TMD: What advice do you have for people interested in this medium or storytelling in general? DG: My advice would be to make things and upload them to the internet, which is something that I’ve been doing for 20 years, really. I was doing it as a little kid, just making things and uploading them to the internet and then getting probably unhelpful feedback. Because when you’re small and no one’s listening to you, the people that do listen are sort of just looking for a comment back on their thing. But you’ve got to make things. There’s an Ira Glass quote (that goes), “All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. … The most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.” My version — the Millennial version — of that is “upload shit to the internet, get in the DMs.” It’s pretty easy to get added to the audio drama DMs. And then your friends name-drop you in the Reddit audio drama of the year poll, and from there, you get picked up by Rusty Quill Network; I’m pretty sure that’s how it is for

everyone. TMD: Speaking of what Glass said about “a story a week,” that’s the exact format you’re doing. DG: Yeah, I didn’t remember that part until I looked it up. (Joking) Quote by Ira Glass: “Make WOE.BEGONE. Just do WOE. BEGONE.” And I did it and it worked. TMD: Regarding the audio drama community and fan interactions, you’re very connected with your audience. You have a Discord you interact with often, post frequently to Patreon and stream on Twitch every Sunday. Has this connection with your listenership affected the way you look at the show? DG: I didn’t realize that wasn’t normal until I was talking to my “handlers” at Rusty Quill Network about how my Patreon does so well, telling them advice they could give other people. And they said, “But you’re not just WOE. BEGONE, you’re Dylan. And your personal brand is very valuable to what you do because of how you interact with your community,” which to me just feels like normal social media stuff. And one thing is it’s incredibly monetizable, and people are leaving money on the table by not doing director’s commentaries because people really want to hear those. I think part of it is some people get burned; they have a bad interaction and shut their Discord down. Every YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers makes a video about why they had to shut their Discord down. I’m not at that level, we’re still years away. That would kill me, I think because that’s the way to talk. But a lot of people aren’t from here, here being the internet. But that’s how I’m wired; I have a show and people want to talk about it. Well, I’m going to talk

about it with them. I definitely want to give people what they want. But also, I’m sure you’ve heard the quote about how if Henry Ford gave people what they wanted, he would have given them faster horses instead of cars. And Henry Ford was a monster, so I feel bad giving him any credit. And so I try to give people cars instead of faster horses. And it’s helpful to know what faster horses look like; I can hop on the Discord server’s “Predictions” thread and look at all the faster horses. And then it’s like, “I know what they want, but what’s good?” And that’s what I’m supposed to be, the person with the taste to know what’s good and interesting, and to give it. Like, I think that’s actually my entire job. TMD: A lot of the magic of audio dramas is their accessibility because their content and creators are easily reachable through the internet. DG: Everything about it is the internet, from the idea that you can gain an audience all the way to “I used a tomato for gore sounds in this episode and I want to talk about it.” I feel I’m even an extreme point on the internet medium version of this, which is possible because we keep calling me a big podcast, but the community isn’t runaway-large. There are 575 people in the Discord right now, which is enough people that if they aren’t all talking to me at once, I can talk to them. And like I said, (Rusty Quill Network) told me that people are buying into the idea of me. There’s a skateboarding and juggling Discord channel because I have disparate hobbies: I play music, I juggle, I speak Russian. It’s very helpful when you’re trying to write a show about diverse characters, but it’s also nice to have people think that my disparate interests

are interesting because they’re filtered through me. People call Mike a self-insert sometimes but everyone gets a healthy dose of self-insert because it’s really, really easy. It’s like, “Oh, I need a thing here” — just put something from your own life directly into it. And that’s true of all the characters. TMD: And it’s also hard to separate you because you’re such a core part of the show. You voice Mike Walters but you also write Mike Walters, score Mike Walters and edit Mike Walters. How do you see collaboration when working with other actors when a lot of the podcast began as a solitary affair? DG: Well, I’m a very DIY guy. If you dig into my music history you’ll find hundreds of songs that I’ve written every part for myself. A lot of that is because I don’t have deadlines to impose on myself, I can make a whole thing and not have to worry about anybody else’s whims or needs. So branching out was very slow. I reached out to Harlan because he made a joke on Twitter about wanting to be a cowboy. And if Harlan’s involved then (David Ault, Shadows at the Door) should be involved because he keeps saying “I want to be on your show.” And it was very slow, getting to work with people that I knew were dependable, and season 10 was only possible because Rae was so willing and able to get things done the way they did. It’s been a lot of figuring out who can do my very difficult schedule and finding people who can understand I’m going to send you a script on Friday, I really need it back by Monday if it’s perfect. If you need notes, I need it back by Sunday. Finding those people has been completely instrumental in fleshing out characters. Read more at MichiganDaily.com

‘Girlfriends’ establishes Emily Zhou as an author to keep on our radar GRACIELA BATLLE CESTERO & CAMILLE NAGY Daily Arts Writers

On Oct. 17, 2023, Emily Zhou’s debut short story collection “Girlfriends” hit bookstore shelves to a reception that, while relatively quiet, has been overwhelmingly positive. That night, Zhou kicked off her book tour in Ann Arbor’s Literati Bookstore with an intimate reading of one of the collection’s short stories, titled “Performance.” The story follows college senior Lara as she navigates interpersonal relationships, sex work and her senior thesis at our very own University of Michigan. Beginning her tour in Ann Arbor makes sense on the part of Zhou and her publishers, seeing as more than half of the stories in “Girlfriends” take place here. “I feel really great about starting my tour in Ann Arbor,” Zhou said in an interview with The Michigan Daily after the event. “I haven’t been back here in two years, (so) it really does feel like it’s come full circle.” Zhou, a U-M alum and former Michigan Daily Arts

writer, discussed how her time here shaped her writing and, consequently, the stories in her collection. Zhou said she started writing after someone told her to apply for The Daily. She said, “I covered music for two years (and) was the Summer Managing Arts Editor. … I think just having the quick turnaround and writing a lot turned me into a writer.” It was during her time as an undergraduate, she said, that she began to work on several of the short stories that would later make it into the book. “Girlfriends” is a collection of seven short stories that individually follow transgender women as they explore the full spectrum of what life has to offer them, from college parties to first sexual experiences to post-graduation crises and everything in between. The stories are especially compelling because they grapple with the challenges of having to discover or rediscover oneself during early adulthood after everyone around you seems to have already found themselves and their respective paths in life. The vibrant, rich collection takes readers from the suburbs of Ann

Arbor to the boroughs of New York City, following a diverse cast of women who, while sharing the identity of being transgender, are entirely singular in their hopes, struggles and experiences. Zhou explained that she didn’t expect the editors of LittlePuss Press to show interest in her stories when she submitted them as a partial manuscript after her friends pushed her to do so. When they did express interest, she felt pressure to meet a high standard, which led to a lot of revising and second-guessing throughout the editing process. At this time, Zhou said, she found she had to start taking herself, and her stories, more seriously. Despite any doubts Zhou felt during the process of refining and publishing her stories, her voice remains clear and strong throughout the collection, in which she brings seven startlingly authentic voices to life. It was easy to forget while reading that these were not real people and experiences. Perhaps one of the many reasons why Zhou’s characters feel so real is because she loosely drew inspiration from some of the

Cover art owned by LittlePuss Press.

people in her own life. “I feel like I did start writing people who are familiar to me,” Zhou explained. “(But) I feel like, a lot of the (time), the characters would just reveal themselves to me through the course of writing. By the end of it, (they’d) become real people.” Regardless of how they came to

be, the protagonists in “Girlfriends” prove Zhou as an emerging expert in the art of character building. The collection is a phenomenal debut. Its digestible and incredibly intimate prose coupled with impressive character development and worldbuilding establish Zhou as an author to look out for. While she may choose to begin every

story with the same premise of transgender (and mostly white) women entering early adulthood, Zhou manages to take each story in a different direction, making every protagonist and the situations they find themselves in feel fresh and unique with each story. This is absolutely a collection worth checking out.

Arts

4 — Wednesday, November 1, 2023

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The Tradwife Trilogy part 1: Tradwives mark the return of the lobotomized 1950s housewife BELA KELLOGG

Daily Arts Contributer

Girlbosses ran so traditional wives, better known as “tradwives,” could walk. Yes, you read that correctly — more than 100 years ago, women fled the home for the workplace so that a group of grown-up “pick me” girls could wash a few dishes in 2023 and prove to men they’re “not like other girls.” Let me explain. If you have been on TikTok in the last six months, you have probably come across at least one video of a blonde woman making sourdough while personifying a confused, retro aesthetic that falls somewhere between the 1950s and “Little House on the Prairie.” That is a tradwife. A TikTok sound that has become popular among tradwives on social media exemplifies just how seamlessly they modulate between different kinds of conservative ideology: At first, tradwife messaging is antifeminist. “We live in a day and age where traditional homemaking has been forgotten,” the TikTok sound starts, “where women are fighting to be in the same positions as men, indoctrinated to focus more on their careers and less on the home.” In the next instant, tradwife ideology becomes Christian fundamentalist: “When God created men and women more than just biologically different, our roles are meant to complement each other, not to compete.” The next ideological shift is marked by traditionalism: “Our husbands are to be the breadwinners as we are to be the breadmakers.” Finally, the ideology swings farthest right in opposition to big government: “Somewhere along the line, ‘feminine’ has been replaced with feminism with the sole purpose of keeping women out of the home, which forces those to rely on the government to teach and raise our children.” This ideological snowball makes it hard to believe this isn’t satire, but I promise, these hyper-conservative convictions are 100% sincere. Across social media, tradwives have built entire platforms around highly-choreographed performances of domesticity. As Kathryn Jezer-Morton from The Cut points out, these performances differ by their efforts to indoctrinate viewers with ideologies versus aesthetics. On TikTok, for example, tradwives are more ideologically driven: They post three-minutelong, selfie-camera monologues explaining how to become one. Instagram tradwives, on the other hand, pay much greater attention to producing the visuals of homemaking, in which talking is displaced by silent displays of cooking and cleaning. By showing homemaking as opposed to merely talking about it, Instagram tradwives almost entirely conceal, or rather distract from, their ideologies with pastoral, homesteading aesthetics. I had encountered Ballerina Farm’s Hannah Neeleman countless times on my Instagram Explore Page before it ever crossed my mind that a mother of

Design by Sara Fang

seven, who rarely ever videotapes herself outside of her Utah farm, was a tradwife. I didn’t think it was possible to make everything from scratch until I watched her knead milk curds into mozzarella, and the best part of it all: She was just making sandwiches (and yes, the bread was sourdough). Evidently, her commitment to this pastoral, farm wife aesthetic is so great, it feels like she’s cheating every time she uses modern kitchen appliances like her yellow KitchenAid. As far as tradwives go, Neeleman is largely unproblematic. In the absence of hashtags, let alone spoken words, the ideologies underlying her traditional lifestyle are relatively inconspicuous. However, when I discovered who she really is — the daughter-inlaw of JetBlue founder David Neeleman who boasts a net worth of $400 million — her silence felt much more like a choice to obscure the perception of her family’s affluence. Neeleman’s exorbitantly wealthy background threatens the authenticity of her rugged, pioneer aesthetic. This is because real homesteaders didn’t have Daddy’s money. In fact, at the outset of the movement, the Homestead Act of 1862 catalyzed what some call “the federal government’s biggest wealth-distribution program ever,” offering 160 acres of free public land not just to white male settlers, but to women and immigrant settlers as well. In 1866 and 1898 respectively, the Homestead Act’s offerings were made available to Black and Asian Americans too. While scholarship shows that this land distribution was still discriminatory in practice, the homestead movement was, by and large, spearheaded by socially and economically marginalized Americans. As a vehicle of socioeconomic mobility, homesteading, in other words, is neither an Instagrammable aesthetic nor

an opportunity for rich people to cosplay poverty. In an article for The Baffler, Vice reporter Gaby Del Valle juxtaposes Neeleman against scholarly accounts of actual pioneer women, who wrote in their diaries about their profound discontent with the life Neeleman seeks to emulate. “I have cooked so much out here in the hot sun and smoke, that I hardly know who I am,” one woman wrote after settling in Kansas with her husband and kids, “and when I look into the little looking glass I ask ‘Can this be me?’ ” Conveniently, the style of Neeleman’s content — shortform, silent cooking tutorials — precludes her from speaking to her audience about these ugly topics. With a limitless pool of funds, Neeleman aestheticizes and thereby promotes a lifestyle that is only made glamorous and desirable because of her wealth. Case in point: her emerald green, cast-iron oven range. In the absence of modern, stainless steel finishes, it looks like it’s been there for 100 years. As it turns out, it’s less than five years old, and it costs $34,500. When it comes to TikTok, tradwives are anything but subtle about their promotion of conservative agendas. If Neeleman personifies the imagefocused, homesteading tradwife, Estee Williams embodies the ideologically-driven, 1950s tradwife. Williams’s content centers on sharing the Christian, anti-feminist, anti-college, submissively feminine beliefs that underpin her calling to the tradwife life. In one of her pinned videos, Williams details her rules for marriage — the highlights of which include never leaving the house after dark by herself, no opposite-sex friendships, Biblically submitting to and serving her husband and styling herself according to her husband’s preferences. One look at the hashtags

Williams uses across her videos will tell you everything you need to know about what kind of audiences she wishes to reach. By using #makewivesgreatagain, Williams makes a less than understated allusion to the former president’s infamous campaign slogan, which has become the linchpin of farright, white nationalist movements across the country. Similarly, #revoltagainstthe modernwrld represents yet another example of Williams’s ultra-conservative outreach. In this case, she references a 1934 book written by Julius Evola, an Italian fascist, who gained a cult-like following in radically right-wing circles during the aftermath of the 2016 election. To writer Morgan Jones, “Being into Evola as opposed to, say, Friedrich Nietzsche or Carl Schmitt is the far-right political theory equivalent of announcing oneself to be ‘not like other girls.’ ” How surprising. Even worse, when I looked up the hashtag on TikTok, I was led to openly antisemitic TikTok pages run by the only two types of conservative men on the internet: an incel, who posted a fan edit of actual red pills, and a Republican boob guy, who posted a meme claiming that self-fulfillment (“holding a sword to the sky while a girl with big boobies clasps my leg”) is only possible by meeting needs that are psychological and basic (“2/1 shoulder to waist ratio”). Dream on. While Williams takes great pains to deny that the tradwife movement is a dog whistle for the far right, her choice of hashtags is evidence that she specifically aims her traditionalist agenda at altright audiences. If you think Williams is bad, Gwen Swinarton, better known as Gwen the Milkmaid, is much worse. Well before the tradwife movement took off in 2022, Swinarton built her platform on a version of herself that’s

diametrically opposed to the person she is today. GwenGwiz, as she called herself, was a prochoice, anti-marriage, lesbian, vegan ASMRist who dabbled in OnlyFans content creation on the side. Across two YouTube channels — one focused on fashion and the other on ASMR — Swinarton built an audience of over 700,000 subscribers in just seven years. In summer of 2020, Swinarton joined the growing movement of influencers who turned to OnlyFans during the COVID-19 pandemic to make rapid financial advancements in their careers. According to an interview with Swinarton from 2020, in just a few months, her income increased from as little as $3,000 per month to over $70,000. Over the next two years, Swinarton stepped back from her YouTube career to focus on OnlyFans, which became her main source of income during this time. Fast forward to the summer of 2022, and Swinarton had hard-launched her interest in homesteading and slow, offgrid living on a new Instagram account, then called “Growing with Gwen.” By the time she returned to YouTube a few months later, she was an entirely new person. Swinarton announced her indefinite hiatus from both OnlyFans and ASMR and her promotion of her new cottagecore aesthetic, which went hand-inhand with her promotion of new right-wing ideologies. This is best exemplified by the TikTok page she created in the same week she returned to YouTube. Gwen the Milkmaid, as she calls herself, or lobotomized GwenGwiz, as I like to think of her, also calls herself a truth-seeking, red-pilled, agenda-2030-weary, anti-feminist, anti-vax, anti-birth control, holistic-living, anti-big government, Big Pharma-opposed, conspiracy theorist, homesteading tradwife. Utter word vomit, I know. Unlike other tradwives,

Swinarton doesn’t merely use tags to target conservative audiences. Her content itself reflects this blatant far-right messaging — the most egregious perhaps being a video titled “LIFE HACKS 2023 EDITION.” The life hacks are as follows: “1. If the government is involved, avoid it; 2. If the government supports it, reject it; 3. If the government says it’s safe, it’s not; 4. If the government says it’s true, it’s false; 5. If the government says you need it, you don’t.” What makes Swinarton’s content so dangerous is her aestheticization of alt-right ideologies. It’s not some unattractive man who’s yelling these conspiracy theories at you so loudly, veins are popping out of his neck à la Alex Jones. Instead, it’s a pretty, blonde white woman espousing these same kinds of beliefs while frolicking through nature in cleavage-baring dresses. In this way, Swinarton isn’t really a tradwife so much as someone who’s appropriating this lifestyle to promote and aestheticize the “crunchy-to-alt-right pipeline.” When I looked back on Swinarton’s abandoned ASMR YouTube channel, I realized her old persona might not be as dead as we think. In the wake of her return to social media at the beginning of 2023, Swinarton explained that her recent disavowal of OnlyFans stemmed from feeling “called by God to speak against (it), to speak against porn in general.” But if Swinarton is really as opposed to OnlyFans as she claims, why hasn’t she deleted her account? In fact, the link to her OnlyFans page is not only active but easily accessible in the description of her ASMR channel. Today, you can still pay $20/month to gain access to all 4,171 of her posts. When Swinarton explained her departure from YouTube to the subscribers of her ASMR channel, she didn’t make a single allusion to homesteading or her recent relationship or conspiracy theories. Instead, Swinarton simply cited her “new business” as the reason why she’s taking a break from ASMR content. The only evidence of such a business is an account tagged in Swinarton’s Instagram bio with fewer than 200 followers, claiming to be a “tallow beauty and home goods store, handcrafted in small batches” that’s “coming soon.” It’s unclear whether the “business” Swinarton was referring to in her video was this store or, conversely, her entirely new persona. If you ask me, I think it’s the latter. Prior to her transformation, Swinarton repeatedly expressed frustration with her stagnating fashion content: “I felt like my content wasn’t nearly as good as the popular girls,” she said in a Q&A, “and it was really getting me down because no matter how hard I tried, it was never keeping up with theirs.” By carving out a space for herself — not in fashion but rather conservative, slice of life content — Swinarton finally made a name for herself. As a result, hundreds of articles from major news outlets across the globe have made her the face of the tradwife movement.

The Chicago International Film Festival: ‘Only the River Flows’ MAYA RUDER Daily Arts Writer

The poster art for Wei Shujun’s “Only the River Flows,” International Feature Competition contestant of the 59th Chicago International Film Festival, is an imitation of Edvard Munch’s The Scream. The film’s protagonist, Detective Ma Zhe (Yilong Zhu, “Lighting Up the Stars”), replaces the figure in the painting. Contrary to a common misinterpretation, The Scream does not portray a man screaming, but a man hearing a scream. The painting is a peek inside the mind of Munch, who checked himself into a mental hospital following its completion. “Only the River Flows” similarly weighs the madness within the world and oneself. A woman is found murdered

along a river in Banpo Town, located in rural China. Zhe leads the investigation, finding that ends are too easily tied up and arrests too easily made. The murders continue as key witnesses are left in the serial killer’s wake, and Zhe finds himself being twisted and squeezed by mysteries that dare not unfurl themselves. Evidence is examined, and theories are discussed on the stage of Banpo Town’s deserted local cinema, where Zhe’s team has relocated for discretion. Desks are crowded in the dimly lit theater, the events in this setting unfolding like a theatrical play. Cleverly framed camera angles, metaphorical art, dark and ominous spaces, sunken eyes and near-constant clouds of cigarette smoke give “Only the River Flows” all it needs to crawl into the audience’s mind and curl up there as a menacing, intoxicatingly stylish question

that begs to be answered. “Only the River Flows” is shot on 16 mm film, with a moody and hazy atmosphere fit for its neonoir mystery. The film relies on traditional camerawork that does not go beyond its utility — there are no unnecessary flourishes that distract from the story or its characters. The surrounding architecture functions as a set built for the theater, doing the heavy lifting in commanding the audience’s eye with limited extravagance and space. One could easily compare the style of this film to Bong Joon-Ho’s tale of two detectives in “Memories of a Murder” or Park Chan-wook’s romantic mystery “Decision to Leave,” but “Only the River Flows” accomplishes something inventive and beautiful in a genre so well-known and adored but not often done right. The film’s quality of

familiarity sets it apart from contemporary filmmaking — it feels and looks like it was filmed decades ago, with camerawork of an understated efficiency and subtle eroticism that is reminiscent of the early film noir style. John Alton’s (“An American in Paris”) work as cinematographer on Joseph H. Lewis’s stunning “The Big Combo” comes to mind. However, as “Only the River Flows” progresses, it becomes clear that solving the mystery that plagues Banpo Town is not the objective of the film, unlike its ancestors in the noir genre. Whether this is a misstep in Shujun’s story is subjective, but the film defies the default expectations of the mystery genre by prioritizing artistry over resolution. Shujun manages a script that is chilling, aching, heartbreaking and, at times,

humorous. It oscillates between moments of gritty reality and bizarre dreamscapes. “Only the River Flows” is a pessimistic tale of life and death, spotlighting the misfortunes of life and the inevitable madness that ensues from not reconciling them. When Zhe and his wife (Chloe Maayan, “Lost in Beijing”) learn that their child is at risk of being born with brain damage, Zhe believes that it would be a mercy to terminate the pregnancy and accuses his wife, who is adamant about raising the child, of not considering the child’s feelings. Zhe’s personal life pairs with his concern for the disorder he wishes to rectify in the world, and that begins to bleed into his mind. The often fruitless nature of homicide detective work represents the noble pursuit of justice that is ineffectual in a world where the truth is unyielding — a world the

audience recognizes. As villagers continue dying and reality grows increasingly enigmatic, Zhe descends deeper into mania. The characters come sharper into focus as doomed individuals, and this picture of fatalism is complete. Fault is found in “Only the River Flows” when its ambiguity becomes tedious in its final few minutes — the audience can’t help but feel like the potential to deliver a grand and thrilling ending has been squandered. Any disappointed audience member is a testament to Shujun’s filmmaking, as he turns a gripping mystery with cascading clues into a study of character and unforgiving life. Shujun’s direction and cinematographer Chengma Zhiyuan’s (“Striding Into the Wind”) work meet in a collision of talent, delivering a picture that is both bleak and divine.

MiC

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, November 1, 2023 — 5

Esperanza inextinguible: The opportunity to give back GAEL GONZALEZ-DELALUZ MiC Columnist

January 27, 2023 Congratulations, Gael! I am pleased to inform you that you have been admitted to the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts class entering fall 2023. We are thrilled to welcome you into a vibrant, lifelong academic community of scholars and alumni who are making a difference everywhere in the world. Once you become a Wolverine, you will always be distinguished by this achievement. I sat in my room staring at the decision letter on my screen in shock. The University of Michigan had been my dream for three years and the acceptance was the crowning achievement of my senior year. All the sleepless nights, endless extracurriculars and crippling imposter syndrome had seemingly paid off. I had the golden ticket, the opportunity to do what my parents could not — get a college degree. Every moment since then in Ann Arbor has been filled with the motivation to be able to make them proud by realizing the career objectives that I’ve had since I was a little kid. However, as we continue progressing through the year, I find myself battling between two worlds: the traditional Mexican environment that I was raised in

and the affluent circles of students at the University. Peers throw around phrases like “back when my dad went here,” “I only spend $50 a week at Frita Batidos and Joe’s” and “my family’s vacation home” — all sentiments that I simply cannot relate to. These things may seem normal to others, but for me represent an unattainable reality I desperately wish I could reach. I wish I didn’t have to concern myself with saving money and could rely entirely on my parents to support me financially. Being a first-generation college student, especially with immigrant parents, means having to navigate being away from home in an unfamiliar environment alone, and getting frustrated with each other when we’re all equally clueless. My parents never dealt with demanding professors and the reasons they left their home are completely different from mine. They look to me for answers that I can’t give them and get mad at me when I tell them I don’t know. Despite these challenges, I can’t help but feel grateful for the opportunity to climb up the social ladder. Students of Color have been led to believe that we shouldn’t share the same sense of belonging in certain spaces that our counterparts have. This piece is a message of hope, encouragement and satisfaction from a freshman with some pretty big shoes to fill. I never truly understood what my parents meant when they would tell

me that being an American is one of the best labels to have in this nation. It is so easy to forget that pursuing higher education is a gift that not everyone can receive. My entire family comes from a small village in rural Oaxaca — a state in southern Mexico with one of the lowest human development index scores, the lowest literacy rate and one of the largest Indigenous populations. The perception of Oaxaca, as a result, is a place of political turmoil where Indigenous peoples have been displaced from their homelands. My parents had aspirations of leaving their town, pursuing a bigshot job in the city and providing themselves and their families with a comfortable lifestyle. My parents were disillusioned by the lack of support available to them from their own parents and the underserved educational system, but sought refuge in the American Dream — an idea open and accessible to anyone who dared to take a giant leap into an unknown world. What came next was decades of intense labor and consistent overtime, but slowly my parents “paid their dues” to give their only child a chance to build a firm foundation in a new country. I have pressured myself to live up to the expectations they have set for me, to not disappoint them and to not let their efforts go to waste. Nevertheless, I don’t back down from the challenge; my fear of not making use of parents’ work turns into a desire to excel.

Design by Emma Sortor

My parents do not see how I am different from any other multigenerational American. “¿Como de que allá eres una ‘persona de color?’ Eres gringo, mijo.” (“What do you mean that over there you’re a ‘person of Color’? You’re American, son.”) The brutal truth is that we can own a blue passport, speak their language, eat their food and go to their schools, but we will never be just like them. In my eyes, however, this isn’t a weakness, but rather the key to being a proponent of true change in our communities. From

a young age, my mother taught me to take pride in my Hispanidad, to make sure that everyone around me knew for certain that I was Mexican and that I was to be treated with the same respect that any white American would get. It’s this upbringing that has always guided my personal view of race relations and the hope that local communities of Color can be catalysts for educational equity within the University. It is up to us to find the resources to succeed in college on our own, but it’s that same

drive that my parents possessed that allows me to go the extra mile in our work. There should be no need for us to overcompensate to get what we deserve, but we do it anyway because we have no other choice. We are more aware of other individuals’ stories and how diverse perspectives can only improve ourselves. We have greater empathy for the people around us because we understand what it’s like to be mistreated. Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Too mean to function: Unmasking the mean girl archetype KARIS RIVERS MiC Columnist

I love Regina George, even though she is arguably the meanest girl in popular culture. She relentlessly bullies other characters, uses mind games to get her way and causes mayhem within the school by releasing

“The Burn Book,” a yearbookesque book that details offensive traits about every girl — including teachers — in the school. I am not alone. Generally, anyone I ask would say that they adored her despite her role as a mean girl. Mean girls like Regina George, Sharpay Evans and Blair Waldorf have become beloved character archetypes

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in popular culture. I wondered why so many of us watch these movies and TV shows and come out of them loving the antagonist. I would guess it’s because these “mean girls” are everything we want to be, but are constantly told not to be. Women are socialized to be submissive and sweet. We are taught to accommodate others,

even when it hurts us, and to always do so with a smile. We are conditioned not to speak and to follow the lead of men. The existence of the assertive mean girl role can be powerful as it counteracts all of these learned behaviors. I can’t help but wonder though, the dangers of this role only appearing in white women and the implications

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tefpmbo WHISPER “Time is gold.”

“It is solved by walking.”

that has on representation for women of Color. The essence of being a woman is being told to suppress and yield. When I speak in class, for example, I feel a need to preface it with an apology as if contributing to a discussion was a crime. When I’m having a bad day, I am told to smile because my mood is less important than their perception of it. So when we see girls like Regina, we see the things we wish we could be and do. They have the confidence to speak without fear of rejection, radiant beauty matched with a charm that draws people in, and an attitude and drive that centers their happiness rather than the approval of others. Regina and other mean girls like them are the opposite of what we’re socialized to become. They are girls who don’t apologize for sharing their thoughts, don’t smile unless they’re actually happy and assert their own power in every space they’re in. I think the issue of the mean girl goes far deeper than idolizing a character. Because of their presence in the media, their attitudes almost become achievable. The behavior is seen and becomes more accepted — at least for white women. For the most part, mean girls are white, sometimes blonde and usually rich; they are able to serve as representations of white women who are confident for a large audience. This leaves women of Color with the short end of the stick. We have the same desires to be vocal and confident, but we’re often left with no representation or representation that perpetuates stereotypes. When women of Color are placed in the mean girl role, our confidence is written as aggression and our drive and ambition are written as selfishness. Characters, more often than not, reinforce the stereotypes we fight so hard to escape. Three clear examples are The Gross Sisters and Dijonay from “The Proud Family” and Santana Lopez from “Glee.” The Gross Sisters have all the confidence and antagonism of a mean girl, but their characterization is fueled by racist stereotypes. Throughout the show, they intimidate other characters by stealing their lunch money and bullying them. Dijonay, while not an antagonist, has flair and assertiveness akin to mean girl characters. Except Dijonay is loud, ghetto and aggressive. She and the Gross Sisters function as living stereotypes and reinforce the idea that Black women, especially dark-skinned Black women, are angry and violent. Santana Lopez has a similar story. In the beginning seasons of the show “Glee,” her character was a bully reduced to stereotypes about Latina

women. Prior to gaining extreme character development, she was reduced to a sassy and mean Latina from “Lima Heights” or “Glee’s” version of “the hood.” These characters relied entirely on very harmful stereotypes that fuel hate and prejudice towards women of Color. This sets a dangerous precedent in our minds of whose assertive character can be perceived positively. Certain girls can embody these traits and they will be celebrated for it, and they will be provided benefits that women of Color can never reap. This allows a subset of women to be passionate and loud while others must play nice to have a say. It reinforces their already existing upper hand in both social and political aspects of life. In the education and employment sectors, assertiveness and honesty are seen as positive and desirable traits. While white women may be celebrated for standing up and being loud, women of Color are demonized for the same actions. For example, Michelle Obama faced intense misogynoir for wearing the “wrong clothes” and assuming an active role as a first lady. The hate she faced — compared to other first ladies like Jackie Kennedy, Jill Biden and even Melania Trump — was enormous and entirely based on race. For women, passion is characterized as being angry and emotional. We are told to calm down, and we are not taken seriously. Our confidence is easily misconstrued as hostility, and it is used against us. So, we must be cautious and docile, we must approach situations with tact and grace lest we go ignored, silenced and neglected. The feminism produced from these mindsets centers white women and uplifts them, but it actively ignores the systems working against women of Color and class as an identity. Situations like these have led me to bite my tongue and hold back in moments that I wish I wouldn’t have. My fear of being viewed as an aggressor has prevented me from giving my all to the point where others’ feelings come above my own discomfort. When a class discussion revolves around sensitive topics, I would rather glue my mouth shut than offend. When an insensitive comment burns my skin, I would rather let it fester than advocate for myself. Even when these topics are integral to my identity and the core of my very being, I would rather stay silent than be perceived as a stereotype. It feels like an itch I’m not allowed to scratch because if I do, I’m falling into a trap I can’t get out of — being labeled an angry Black woman. Read more at MichiganDaily.com

6 — Wednesday, November 1, 2023

STATEMENT

michigandaily.com — The Michigan Daily

In search of my mother’s kitchen: To girl-dinner or not to girl-dinner? SRIMATI GHOSAL

Statement Correspondent One of my most tenuous memories of my late mother is of her propping me up on a stool to reach the counter of her dimly-lit, humid kitchen in my Calcutta home. It is my summer vacation, the temperatures are soaring to well over 100 degrees and my tropical city is reeling under a direct scorching sun while we, mother and daughter, fry potatoes that the family will suffer through at lunch. My potatoes were often burnt. Other times, they remained uncooked and rarely edible. But I was 7, my mother was patient and my family indulgent. Over the years, I have matured as a cook and can now handle almost anything from a quick grilled cheese to an elaborate South Asian Biriyani. My culinary repertoire improved as I travelled the world. Yet, on occasions when I feel homesick (and I do often), I tend to fall back on one of my grandmother’s comfort recipes or my mother’s staples: lentil soup. My mother learned her lentil soup in her travels accompanying my father to the western city of Mumbai. Aamti, as it was locally known, was a Maharashtrian soup that I began eating with a piece of unbuttered toast during my self-important adolescent years. My adolescent years were my intrepid steps into the world — I found friendships that would last a lifetime and some that would not. Either way, I was faltering and finding my footing through much emotional and physical tumult. As school and friends took away our ritual of potatoes, I began missing lunch regularly. My patient mother, in her cotton saree, would be waiting with the Aamti and the toast as I stormed in from school, famished, and wolfed it down every day. That was my sense of security; mother and her Aamti would wait for me even if a boy turned his nose up at me or our team was miserably beaten at the basketball game. But my mother, who traveled with her husband and patiently fed and taught her daughter to cook, could do so simply because that

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was all she did. She had neither the education nor the opportunities I was offered in life. I have none of the time or leisure to cultivate her patience. The most important thing that suffered during my journey into empowerment was my kitchen. For years, throughout college, I survived on what the TikTok trend has now dubbed #GirlDinner. I was working too hard to focus on cooking, and I was always too busy. I never grew out of the selfimportance of my adolescence, but my mother and her Aamti were no longer around to feed me a decent nutritious meal. I drank a coffee with a side of cigarettes for breakfast (yes, it was legal in Calcutta to sell undergraduate kids cigarettes), ate a packet of crisps for lunch and often came home to crash into my unmade bed without dinner at all. Regardless, college was wonderful, it was full of opportunities, the

world was wide open and I was constantly testing my wings. I travelled the country, moved to another one and sat in my classes at Cambridge with glowing pride. As is often the case with flying, one’s roots come undone. Mine did, launching me to a dizzying height where I cast about for a sense of security and a semblance of balance, and I thus found myself back in the kitchen. My mother’s kitchen, I began to realize, was not a symbol of her lack of empowerment, but an expression of her knowledge and artistry. Yes, her time in the kitchen was unpaid labour, it was probably unvalued labour, but those are conversations for another day. It was a labour of love and a labour of great value. I believe planning, cooking and serving a meal is the single most important process that turns a house into a home and places a home within a

community. The recipes, passed down generationally, circulated around the community and beyond, are active agents in transmitting cultural heritage and consolidating social and even national ties, according to anthropologist Arjun Appadurai. Sharing food is also the agent of global exchange. After all, halfway across the globe, away from home, in the great melting pot that is American society in an impersonal residential hall, my first sense of friendship and warmth was a short conversation with my Nigerian friend in our common kitchen. As she directed me to the local grocery stores, another Slavic friend suggested the farmer’s market for fresh produce. When I moved to the U.S. as a graduate student, my first American grocery store was a shock to my system unlike any other cultural shocks I have known. The number

of isles dedicated to refrigerated, ready-to-eat, microwaveable food struck me as an oddity. I watched in wonder as college kids and busy mothers alike stocked their carts with these options. Buying a drink in America, specifically the Big Gulp, was a whole other shock to my sense of portion — the cup looked so huge that it felt like a commitment. In America, people buy drinks and sip them for the rest of the day. Between microwave dinners and sugar spikes from large drinks, it did not seem like Americans enjoyed the same food rituals that I had taken for granted. My first impression of America was a young, energetic nation, eager to spread its eagle wings and conquer the globe but mostly surviving on frozen “mac n’ cheese.” American food habits sharply contrasted my sojourn around South European, Mediterranean and

South Asian cultures — cultures less individualistic and more mellowed, allowing for family dinners and home-cooked meals. Of course, in a globalized world, a home in South Bombay today looks and functions very similar to a Manhattan household, and they resemble much of what happens in a household in Porta Garibaldi, Milan. But by and large, in cultures and geographies that insist on elaborate cooking and hospitality practices, traces of an indolent ritual of enjoying food remain. I started observing students at the University of Michigan, my graduate school and first window into American life. I saw them rushing between classes with a cold sandwich in their hands, and as I began to be invited by faculty to join them for a “working lunch,” a part of me felt rushed. To catch up, I began to partake in the culture. I consumed unhealthy fast food and sugary drinks while staring at a screen at some study corner on campus. “Girl Dinner” was not only a TikTok trend — it became a reality of my collegiate life at Michigan. For those lucky enough to be unfamiliar with the trend, Girl Dinner is the practice of not cooking, of throwing together odds and ends from the refrigerator and pantry to fill a plate and substitute a meal. As with any trend on social media, it took very little for the Girl Dinner to spiral absolutely out of control. Women have been filming themselves having an apple, a cup of yogurt, a hunk of cheese or a packet of chips and calling it “dinner.” It often feels like the most big-citygirl behavior on social media since Carrie Bradshaw declared that her “secret singles behavior” was “eating saltines, topped with grape jelly, standing up in the kitchen while reading a fashion magazine.” Of course, there is the other group of women on social media, those like Julia Roberts in “Eat Pray and Love,” who are giving up lucrative careers and embracing the “country aesthetic” and their spirituality and femininity. As far as I am concerned, I want to have my cake and eat it too!

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STATEMENT

Wednesday, November 1, 2023 — 7

A meditation on backpacking LUCY DEL DEO

Statement Columnist

Sarah Boeke/DAILY

It was a balmy day in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula: the skies were overcast, the wind was whipping off of Lake Superior, and the air was just cold enough to elicit a shiver if you stood still for too long. I teetered at the edge of Log Slide, a sand dune that stood 175 feet over the lakeshore, with my 30-something-pound backpack strapped to my back and waist. The ground might as well have been quicksand — I was convinced my feet were sinking deeper and deeper into the pale sand, dragging me down its vertical face, where I would be unable to climb back up. *** I had decided to sign up to go backpacking over my Fall Break with a group of five other students through the Michigan Backpacking Club; it was an idea that had sounded great at the time, but was starting to feel like a giant mistake as the trip crept closer. I’m not an outdoorsy person. I was born and raised in Manhattan. I feel more at home on the streets of Detroit than in small-town Ann Arbor, despite never having lived there. Bugs give me the heebie-jeebies, and the idea of giving up working plumbing for four whole days terrified me. “Anything for the content,” I told my editors as I griped about the upcoming trip. I had plenty of valid reasons as to why I was anxious about going to the Upper Peninsula: Our trip leader had not communicated any information about the trip or what I needed to buy until the day before we left, I had two pressing midterms the week after and, according to my grandfather, it was quite possible I could get hypothermia and die. But deep down, I was mostly worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up: that I would be “bad at backpacking” — and therefore slow the whole group down. I decided to assuage those feelings the only way I knew how: by planning, and planning and then planning again. I bought a notebook especially for this trip, canary yellow and waterproof, and wrote a packing list. “Warm longsleeve,” one entry reads. “Flashlight?” is crossed out in favor of a headlamp. My grandfather, an illustrious world traveler and backpacker himself, took me to REI to purchase rain pants and dehydrated meals, along with an assortment of other items. Although I had all the required equipment, I still didn’t feel ready. I had no idea what the terrain would be like, whether or not the rain would hold off or if the tent had all the required parts. What if we left the stakes behind? What if someone broke their leg in the middle of the backcountry? What if a bear ate our food? What if I did get hypothermia, turn into an icicle and die on the shores of Lake Superior? The green Osprey backpack that my grandfather’s friend had donated to me sat on the floor of my closet, radiating with all these questions, and none of the answers. At the beginning of our first day, I stared down Log Slide in terror, ready to be absolutely humbled by the sheer stupidity of the choice I had made. But day one was deceptively easy. Although we had to hike 9.4 miles to our campsite for the night, we were primarily on man-made wooden walkways over babbling brooks with sweeping views of Lake Superior and Michigan’s renowned fall foliage to my right. The pack was heavy, yes, and my shoulders and hips were sore at the end of the day, but it was a manageable level of discomfort and there was minimal change in incline. It wasn’t until the last few miles, when we sped up to reach our campsite before sunset, that I somewhat struggled to keep up with the rest of the group. I was fully content with over four hours of putting one foot in front of the other — something I usually find monotonous after 15 minutes on the treadmill. I normally hate being alone with

my thoughts and entrenched in unenjoyable, repetitive actions, but this time, the malaise somehow melted away. Walking through mile after mile of sand dunes, streams and richly colored forest left my mind totally clear, devoid of any worries or even thoughts. I would hum a couple of rounds of “99 bottles of beer on the wall” before inevitably losing count as another glorious view of Caribbean blue water brushed against sandy shores, hundreds of feet below my hiking boots. No thought seemed to stay in my mind for too long, which, at the beginning, truly unnerved me. Think about your exams, I told myself, midway through one hike, only for the idea to go in one ear and out the other. Aren’t you stressed? Why aren’t you stressed? The goblin in my head roared at me as he got swept underneath a riptide of golden leaves and crystal-clear water. Nothing could penetrate the calm I was feeling for longer than a few minutes. We walked in a single file line, mostly without speaking — all the grounding and reassurance I needed was footsteps to follow in and the thuds of the footsteps following mine. Our second day left me feeling not just calm, but euphoric. We hiked a quick 4.5 miles in about two hours, set up camp after eating the staple lunch of trail mix sprinkled onto peanut butter tortillas and then headed down to the shore. Martín, one of the more seasoned backpackers in our group, adjusted my rockskipping technique. After an hour working on my craft, I laid down in the sand and, blissfully happy to be off my feet, fell into what can only be described as a trance. I wasn’t quite asleep, but I also wasn’t quite awake. I could feel the sun breaking through a patch of clouds and warming my knees, but only distantly, as if the feeling had been translated several times before I was able to truly process it. Later, we returned to the lake to watch the sun dip below the edge of Lake Superior, painting the sky a lustrous pink in the process. After huddling around the fire we had built and nourished all evening, we met up with another Michigan Backpacking group and laid down to stargaze. Never in my life have I seen as many stars as I did that night. Moreover, those stars were unlike anything I’d ever seen before — even more gaping and bright than their twinkling representations in planetariums. The Milky Way glowed above us, cutting a wide swath through the pitch-black sky. The night was so deep and dark and the stars so insistent, that I felt like the sky could swallow me whole, drawing me up into its inky maw. The utter lack of light pollution made everything clear: I was so insignificant, I realized, and so was everything I had ever worried about. *** During my freshman year of college, I decided to practice meditation more consistently, mostly because two people who were very important to me at that time were really passionate about it. I had always shied away from meditation — it didn’t come naturally to me, and I hate doing things that I’m bad at. Moreover, I couldn’t really find a way to improve. Focusing on my breathing caused me to hyperventilate, and I would often get stuck on thinking about not thinking; it seemed like an unfulfilling cycle of struggle, with none of that emotional release that everyone was always talking about. In fact, I didn’t really believe that said meditative state actually existed. It seemed like a lie that my friends and family were telling themselves in order to feel like they had some control over their negative emotions. Still, a few times per week, the three of us would hole up in my Bursley Hall dorm room, and we would all meditate. As their minds were wiped blank of worry, I imagined my happy place: a nameless beach somewhere on the East Coast with waves lapping at the sand. If I couldn’t reach blankness, at least I could pretend to be peaceful for a few minutes.

I never quite got hooked in the same way that the two of them did, but ever since my attempt at meditation, I’ve been unable to separate the formation of breath from the structure of ocean waves — the deep curve of oxygen flooding into my diaphragm before reforming into a crest, over and over, the constant ebb and flow and ebb again, curling and unwinding and re-curling for all eternity; the inhale and the exhale and the inhale once more. On the afternoon of the third day, after a 7.5 mile hike, I sat with my feet hanging over the place where Chapel Falls met Lake Superior’s blustery waves. I watched as the two bodies of water clashed, retreated and clashed again, creating ridges in the rock with all the handiwork of a master sculptor. As I listened to the water, my thoughts and feelings seeped out and mixed with the waves in front of me. I was a placid observer, not involved in the process at all. This was when it hit me. This was the emotional release I had been searching for since I began attempting meditation, to no avail, years ago. This was the state that all my friends had talked about finding, this place where nothing could touch you unless you let it — unreachable, unshakable calm. As I watched the waves heave themselves against the spray of the falls, I couldn’t feel my bruised collarbones or the gnawing hunger in my stomach. I could only feel the wind on my face and the water in the air. I could only see waves. I was only my breath. Smash, regroup, smash. Curl, unwind, re-curl. Crest, break, crest. Inhale, exhale and inhale forevermore. It’s not that the hike was always easy, but rather that the calm I had discovered and the blissful peace that came with it didn’t dissipate when it got hard. Even as our routes began to get longer and more difficult; even as the days dragged on and I woke up sore; even as I tripped over a root and went sprawling and even when my blisters reduced me to a hobble, and I slowed the group down to a crawl — the thing I had been most afraid of — I was ecstatic to be there. In fact, when I started crying in a dehydration-induced delusion (as I had promised my editors and photographer I would do at some point on the trip) it was out of laughter. I could not have been happier if I tried. I’m not sure what allowed for this revelation; whether it was the physical exhaustion or the lack of outside communication or the way the waves of Lake Superior seemed to flood into every crevice of my mind. But I do know that I’ve always felt some deeper connection to water. My freshman year journal has an entry detailing how I felt back then (untethered from my own sense of self ), and attributing the feeling to my lack of access to the ocean the summer before. Each day, our group joked about doing a cold plunge, and had I not been forewarned about the dangers of hypothermia, I just might have dunked myself under. I would have let the cold sear the breath right out of my lungs and take with it the last vestiges of anxiety — a pseudobaptism, if you believe in that kind of stuff (I don’t.) As it was, I made sure to scrub my face with handfuls of crisp, ice-cold water whenever I had to leave it. At the end of our final day’s hike, as we dropped our packs at Miners Castle and changed out of our sweaty gear, I felt nothing but bubbly warmth and accomplishment — nothing but that serene clearness whose existence I had doubted for so long. It still doesn’t quite make sense to me — how I could find such peace doing something I was convinced I was going to hate — but as I stared off of Miners Castle’s outlook, a couple hundred feet above Lake Superior’s gray-green waves, I knew I had made the right decision to go backpacking, no matter how crazy the idea had sounded in the first place.

Opinion

8 — Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Not every lecture needs a discussion section

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LARA TINAWI

Opinion Columnist

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

Is Ann Arbor a food desert?

MELECK ELDAHSHOURY/Daily

NICK RUBECK

Opinion Columnist

here’s a lot to eat in Ann Arbor. From restaurants to cafés to a brand-new bodega, it feels like there are always options, even for the picky eaters and vegans among us. There are also supermarkets, such as Kroger, Meijer, Aldi and Trader Joe’s, which are great for stocking up on cheaper groceries — if you’re willing to take the time to get there. Each of these more affordable options are inconveniently located around the outskirts of the city. If you live on campus and need groceries, you’ll have to drive, ride the bus or make a long trek independent of a gas-powered vehicle. The placement of cheap grocery options is a key factor in a community’s overall affordability and accessibility. The term “food desert” is often tossed around to describe places that have little access to many or any affordable options. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Research Atlas highlights low-income areas on the level of individual neighborhoods that are concerningly far from sources of cheap food. Parts of the University of Michigan’s North Campus, Pittsfield Township and Ypsilanti are shaded in as areas of concern. A 2012 study from the nonprofit student organization Student Food Co., concludes that Ann Arbor is a food desert, per USDA standards. Not surprisingly, Black and Latino students in the study were at higher risk of food insecurity. Question answered, right? The city, or at least parts of it, has inadequate options for food other than $12 salads — and is therefore a food desert. Well, not quite. The full answer is, in fact, complicated. The concept of a “food desert” itself is fraught upon closer analysis. To be fair, the phrase works well for putting a succinct name to the very real problem of unequal access to food for disadvantaged communities like those around Ann Arbor. However, its economic definition is fuzzy at best thanks to a lack of consensus on what constitutes accessible, affordable and nutritious food. It might be better suited, then, as a slogan for garnering attention and policy than as a concrete designation. Even so, the desert imagery leads the mind’s eye to a naturally barren stretch of land. This is a problematic characterization of a phenomenon that was spurred by urban planning laws. Euclidean zoning, which arose from a 1926 Supreme Court case, gives states power to designate

certain land uses for certain uses. This is great for separating homes from noxious industrial zones, but it’s less inspiring when it limits a city’s ability to build affordable housing or place a grocer in a suburban neighborhood. The separation between retail and residential zones can make getting to the supermarket unreasonably timeconsuming, especially without a reliable means of motorized transportation. Still, many students can afford the higher cost of on-campus food or make the time to trek out to Kroger. Meanwhile, others rely on hunting for deals or resources like local food banks. What this means is counterintuitive: A food desert (or something like it) can exist within an abundance of food, only for some people more than others. What we choose to call the state of the city’s food, then, speaks less about the presence of food than about the people who eat it. Thankfully, there are pathways that support students, staff and faculty who face food insecurity. Maize & Blue Cupboard is a student- and staff-run program that provides free food, kitchen amenities, household goods and general support for their “shoppers”: anyone with an Mcard. Those not affiliated with the University can also receive emergency food. Headquartered in the basement of the Betsy Barbour Residence Hall, Maize & Blue Cupboard is a combined food pantry, library of things and general support network. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Kelly O’Mara, program manager at Maize & Blue Cupboard, spoke to the gaps in the food system in the campus community. “A lot of people assume that folks that go to (the University of ) Michigan are super affluent and have everything they need,” O’Mara said. “If you’re one of the 30% of students on this campus that are food insecure, you seem kind of hidden.” She went on to report a rise in traffic at Maize & Blue Cupboard, which she ascribed to the end of pandemic-era benefits, rising inflation and an overall increase in precarious economic conditions. Cheap food and transportation doesn’t immediately solve the problem of food insecurity if it’s not locally accessible. Students can use The Ride and Blue Buses for free with their Mcard, which they can take to supermarkets at their convenience. The necessary time and inconvenience to do so cannot be underestimated, however. O’Mara described the barrier of distance in accessing affordable food. “We’re really cut off from real grocery stores, and so the

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cupboard wants to provide that access,” O’Mara said. “Because most students on this campus, if they don’t have a car, are about a 20 minute bus ride to a real grocery store, which is a factor right? If a grocery trip takes you an hour and a half, students don’t always have time for that every week.” Buses in Ann Arbor (and around the country) are notoriously unreliable and tricky to plan around. Wait times make shopping trips harder, less frequent and more expensive. What could be several small stops at a corner store per week becomes a fortnightly or monthly haul spanning miles in a borrowed car or delayed bus. Hunting for the best deals, while a tangible way to decrease food costs, is similarly time consuming and places undue stress on people already dealing with the myriad burdens of being a low-income student. O’Mara spoke to these intersecting issues in terms of household expenses. “I think one of the misses, when we’re looking at food insecurity, is recognizing that people operate with a household budget,” O’Mara explained. “So typically if they’re food insecure, they’re housing insecure, they’re all these other things.” As a student, you probably can’t change the zoning laws in the city of Ann Arbor or resolve every citizen’s financial burdens. You can, however, get involved or make donations to the Maize & Blue Cupboard and other local programs like the Student Food Co. and the University Farm Stand. In volunteering and getting organized, you also show the University that supporting low-income students is an important goal of the campus community — a goal that requires consistent, increasing support. I asked O’Mara what anyone on campus could do to get involved. “We have a saying at the Cupboard: If you don’t need the resource, be the resource,” O’Mara said. “Anyone that wants to help can host a donation drive — we always need donations, especially things we can’t get from our food bank partner like spices, culturally inclusive items, things that really make a big impact to people that shop here.” While Ann Arbor can be a viciously unaffordable place to live, there is hope in communitybuilding programs like Maize & Blue Cupboard. Certain cities will tend to have higher costs of living than others; this is the supply and demand of the market at work. But that doesn’t mean the needs of low-income citizens — especially students working toward their future — should be neglected by that market. The distribution of food, or lack thereof, is a choice we collectively make.

y least favorite part of every semester, without a doubt, has to be scheduling classes. Nothing frustrates me like watching the numbers go down as I fight for the few remaining spots in classes I need to graduate. Undoubtedly, the worst part of this debacle is scheduling corresponding discussion sections, which are often at odd times with limited spots. Of the four discussion sections I’ve had in three semesters, three have been almost entirely fruitless, only providing some attendance points and a cursory review of lecture content. It is frustrating to have to accommodate for these sections to fit an already demanding schedule, knowing they will not ultimately benefit my class performance. Discussions that serve primarily as lecturereview need to be restructured, and some lecturers should consider completely eliminating them. In a blog for undergraduate admissions at the University of Michigan, U-M alum Zane Harding explained discussion sections. “Discussion sections are a great place to sharpen your knowledge and to ask individual questions,” Harding writes. “Discussion sections also give you a second instructor (the GSI) to lean on throughout a course in addition to your primary professor.” Harding provided an example of how Econ 101 discussion sections meet to provide individualized help. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Kinesiology sophomore Gavin Bickner did not agree with the romantic depiction of discussion sections Harding gave. “I didn’t go to Econ 101 discussion sections because they were optional, and I was doing well in the course without them,” Bickner said.

Although optional in Bickner’s case, discussion section attendance policies are not often communicated to students until after they work them into their schedule. Bickner believes that most lectures should not require mandatory discussion sections if they exist primarily as review. “I think that the time reviewing in discussions could be spent in other ways,” Bickner told The Daily. “They can help you if you need help in the class, but they should not be mandatory if you don’t need them.” Lectures can be ineffective by presenting too much information, easily losing students’ attention. Reviewing content in individualized learning sessions can certainly benefit students, especially if the content is being tested in the class. However, some discussions primarily consist of GSIs reading off of lecture slides about the content learned in class. This is the case in Polsci 111, Chem 130, Biology 171, History 322 and a large number of lectures many students have experienced. They’re lecture-review discussion sections, except most students are not paying as much attention the second time because they’ve already heard it. There are instances where students leave lectures with questions, and they are able to get answers in discussions. Do you know where else those questions can be answered? Office hours. Studies have shown that the most effective lecturestyle courses are the ones that employ “active learning,” which is an instructional method that engages students with activities throughout the class period. A meta-analysis done by Scott Freeman and his colleagues studied 225 teaching methods for STEM classes and found that active learning in lectures reduces failure rates and boosts exam scores by nearly 6%. Classes are using discussion sections to simulate active learning outside of lecture, but these lecturereview discussions fail to engage students.

Repeating the same content from the past two Polsci 111 lectures in a shortened PowerPoint was not “active learning” for me. Waiting for my GSI to give me the answers to my Chem 130 weekly quiz had nothing to do with my performance in the class. While some lectures at the University use active learning through iClicker and small group activities, many still do not. Employing more active learning methods throughout lectures would help engage students more, improving their scores and making them more invested in the class. This would help students and eliminate the need for discussion sections that primarily serve as review. Eager and accessible GSIs improve the student experience in many cases. These designated graduate students who are familiar with the class content are often easier to approach than a lecturer, and they provide a wider range of availability where students can receive help. GSIs can be beneficial for lectures, but they do not need to host discussion sections that professors use to incentivize attendance. An alternative would be to keep GSIs and their office hours, but have them host optional discussions that students do not have to reserve a seat in. The primary issue with the lecture-review discussions is having to account for them when scheduling. Professors can offer students extra credit for attending to encourage struggling students to seek individualized help, but they should eliminate scheduling these non-active sections, if they aren’t benefiting many students and are primarily review sessions. Student success is not contingent on mandatory attendance in lectures. If a lecturer is effective in teaching their content and a student is enthusiastic and willing enough to engage with the content, there shouldn’t be a need to incentivize attendance. ReadmoreatMichiganDaily.com

Nextdoor is wreaking havoc in suburbia HAYDEN BUCKFIRE Opinion Columnist

extdoor is the least used app on my phone, relegated to when I am in a state of extreme boredom. In such a state, I go to the app to see what important things are happening (or, more accurately, a lack thereof) around my neighborhood. My neighbors frequently show a propensity for pettiness and foolishness, which makes for some rather good entertainment. Irrespective of its relative silliness, Nextdoor has enabled an irrational fear of crime and general toxicity that violate the very neighborly premise of the app. Nextdoor was launched in 2011 to connect neighbors with each other through the internet and now boasts over 41 million weekly active users. After verifying their location, the app places users into neighborhoods within a general area of their house before showing them posts of those within their proximity. Nextdoor can be categorized as a “hyperlocal” form of social media, as most other social media sites like Instagram and Facebook allow users to communicate with anyone in the world, rather than those in adjacent neighborhoods. Usually, posts on Nextdoor are rather innocuous, like selling a couch or finding a plumber to fix a leak. This is the brand that Nextdoor is attempting to bank on, with their website reading, “Neighbors around the world turn to Nextdoor daily to receive trusted information, give and get help, get things done, and build real-world connections with those nearby — neighbors, businesses, and public services.” Despite this honorable goal, many posts on Nextdoor are far from informative, useful or even civil. Some posts on the app are unintentionally humorous and

make me (and surely others) chuckle: complaints about fireworks on the Fourth of July, neighbors not mowing their lawns frequently enough and Christmas lights going up before Thanksgiving. All, of course, are among the most important issues plaguing suburbia. Besides the clearly ridiculous posts, there are more troubling undercurrents on Nextdoor. For example, no matter how far off-topic, posts can quickly turn into a political argument. Users also tend to fixate on crime, a damaging aspect of the platform. Nextdoor has digitized the so-called “neighborhood watch,” pushing users into an unwarranted state of hysteria and paranoia far more quickly and easily than traditional neighborhood watches ever could. Many of the most interacted-with posts on Nextdoor are related to crime, with frequent reminders and tips about staying safe. Meanwhile, crime has seen a fairly consistent decline in the past three decades. A 2023 study done by researchers at the University of Houston found that Nextdoor users, along with users of similar apps, have an increased perception of crime’s prevalence independent of whether crime was actually increasing in their area. The researchers tie this to the idea of the “availability heuristic” — that humans tend to make judgments based on the information most accessible to them, in this case through social media. Nextdoor, and social media in general, is far from the only form of media that contributes to an irrational perception of crime. TV news media has been historically criticized for dedicating an inordinate amount of coverage to violent crime. There is a common adage in local news media: “If it bleeds, it leads.” This misinformed sentiment

has the capacity to influence local policy. In recent years, pushback against the development of affordable housing within local communities has grown. A frequently cited reason in opposition to affordable housing is worries about crime, exasperated by exaggerated media coverage. Most social media apps enable international discourse — a college student in Ann Arbor is able to interact with both friends and strangers across the globe on Instagram or Facebook. Nextdoor, however, insulates users among smaller, hyperlocal communities. Engaging in a political argument online is much different when it is with someone on another continent than it is with someone down the road — there’s a certain immediacy on Nextdoor where you may run into someone in person the next day. A Vice article published in 2020 detailed how community moderators — dubbed “neighborhood leads” — suppressed support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Nextdoor subsequently apologized and changed its community moderation guidelines to allow such posts. Here lies another problem: Nextdoor’s faulty moderation system. Nextdoor enlists unpaid content moderators within each neighborhood based on their activity. This select, exclusive group of moderators vote on whether to remove posts that violate Nextdoor’s community guidelines. It isn’t hard to imagine how a few like-minded moderators could suppress information or posts in support of issues that they disagree with. This can, in effect, create an echo chamber with the potential to suppress opposing views, driving political polarization. ReadmoreatMichiganDaily.com

Opinion

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, November 1, 2023 — 9

Locking In

Design by Layla Salaheldin

Being a humanitarian shouldn’t have started on Saturday ZHANE YAMIN

Senior Opinion Editor

Content warning: This article contains mentions of violence. ince the Hamas attack on Israel on Saturday, Oct. 7, more than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed and more than 3,000 have been injured. In Gaza and the West Bank, more than 4000 Palestinians have been killed, and the number of injured approaches 10,000. From 2008 — when the United Nations began to collect data on casualties in the region — to 2022, 6,180 Palestinians and 279 Israelis were killed as a result of the on-going conflict. There is no justification for any of these deaths and there should be no moral ambiguity in reprimanding brutal and horrific acts of violence. That being said,

the conversation does not end there. At the University of Michigan, many community members have ties to Israel and Palestine, which makes this conversation intensely personal and difficult to productively have. Op-Eds, social media posts, protests and vigils are emblematic of not only a divided, but an anguished campus. With this in mind, I debated whether I should write about this topic for a while, as it’s not a particularly easy one to do justice. As campus discourse has developed, I — as a Muslim and member of The Michigan Daily — feel responsible to the campus to push conversation in a productive direction. Many people have already spoken out and condemned the recent violence in Israel and Gaza, and I am one of those people. Condemning violence and standing up for human rights,

though, is not something that should have started on Oct. 7. Many celebrities, politicians and notable U-M figures, have been pushed to activism and spoken out against the recent actions of Hamas and in defense of basic human rights. Empathy to those in pain is never wrong, especially when the most recent Hamas attack was the single deadliest day in Israeli history and when the United States has deep ties with the Israeli government. Claiming to defend human rights and only mentioning the Palestinian identity as an afterthought, if at all, is wrong. Influential figures, such as President Joe Biden and University of Michigan President Santa Ono, have spoken out in humanitarian defense of Israel, but have failed to mention the oppression of the Palestinian people — Ono failed to even say the word “Palestine” in his initial statement.

Discourse at all levels has been relatively silent about the effect and influence of Israeli oppression on violence in the region. Thomas Friedman, an opinion columnist at The New York Times, is one such example, attempting to explain Israel’s actions while only mentioning the word “Palestinian” four times. Truly standing for human rights in this conflict means not only condemning Hamas, but recognizing and speaking out against continuous human rights violations by the Israeli government against Palestinians. The recent violence against Israeli civilians should not be perceived as the beginning of a war spurred by militants. Instead, it is the most recent product of a decades-long conflict, a prolonged system of oppression against the Palestinian people and the popular indifference toward that system. It is also a conflict that

any humanitarian should have been deeply concerned about long before Oct. 7. A plethora of non-governmental and humanitarian organizations — including, but not limited to, Amnesty International, the United Nations, Israeli Human rights organization B’Tselem and the Human Rights Watch — have concluded that Israel has committed a range of human rights violations, including upholding a system of apartheid and preventing the free movement of Palestinians, which impedes access to food, water, medical care and a stable economy. These violations have been exacerbated by the recent conflict, such as with the forced evacuation of millions of Palestinians in Gaza, which the World Health Organization labeled a “death sentence for sick and injured.” Many of those evacuating were struck by Israeli airstrikes as they evacuated. These

humanitarian organizations have also spoken out against Hamas, condemning their acts of violence against civilians while pushing to address its root causes. We can speak out against Hamas’ attacks while still acknowledging the Israeli oppression that occurs at a larger scale. Israel has now activated close to the full might of its military — one of the most powerful in the world and which receives more than $3 billion in aid from the U.S. every year — to decimate and siege a 140 square-mile area populated by 2.2 million people, half of whom are children. The only passageway for humanitarian aid to Gaza (where food, fuel, water and electricity are currently being denied) is through the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, which remains largely unusable as a result of Israeli control. Read more at MichiganDaily.com

This Fall, Explore Th e Of The Arts To Shape Power Society More than 100 public

Exhibition Reception & Artist Talk

nov 2

Gabriela Ruiz: Digital Engrams Institute for Humanities Gallery Presented By: Institute for Humanities

events & performanc

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Theater Performance

Art Exhibition

nov 6

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nov 15–18

nov 30–Dec 20

Black History 101 Mobile Museum: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop Trotter Multicultural Center

Chamber Music in the Age of Resistance East Quad Keene Theater Presented By: LSA Residential College

Presented By: Institute for Humanities

Events presented by: UMMA, Ann Arbor District Library, Ann Arbor Summer Festival, U-M Arts Initiative, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series, UMS, and the International Institute Gallery.

Javaad Alipoor: Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World

Bangladeshis in Michigan Shapiro Library Presented By: Barger Leadership Institute

Arthur Miller Theatre Presented By: UMS

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10 — Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

ICE HOCKEY

Daily Sports Editor

The first power play of the No. 6 Michigan hockey team’s clash with Lindenwood, despite being in the Wolverines’ favor, led to a shorthanded Lions goal that kept the game well up for grabs. By the end of the second period, however, Michigan had successfully shifted the narrative by using two special teams goals to take control of the matchup. And it never relinquished that control. In a game in which the evolution of their special teams play facilitated their success, the Wolverines (4-2-1 overall) took care of business against Lindenwood (1-4-2) with a 9-1 victory. “You’re not going to be perfect every minute of every game,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “But I liked the bench energy, how we responded when … we nipped it in the bud early. I liked that we came out going into the third period and finished it.” With two goals from sopho-

more forward Jackson Hallum and junior forward Dylan Duke to open the game, the Wolverines looked like they were cruising early. That is, until what’s become one of their biggest struggles thus far reared its head once again — special teams. On the power play with just under five minutes left in the first period, Michigan failed to consistently connect passes or find an offensive rhythm. Attempting to get something going, senior defenseman Jacob Truscott broke his stick on a shot, leaving him 1-on-1 against Lions forward Caige Sterzer. With Sterzer steamrolling to the net as Truscott backtracked — no stick in hand to defend with — Lindenwood cut its deficit in half, and the Wolverines conceded their first shorthanded goal of the season. “It’s obviously tough getting scored on the power play, like when they did the shorthanded goal, it’s tough,” Hallum said. “But I think we just gotta stick to what works for us.”

Though maybe a one-off situation given the broken stick, the play was still indicative of Michigan’s special teams woes as the Wolverines struggled to create their own quality opportunities on net. Later in the game, however, Michigan flipped the script.

SARAH BOEKE/Daily

ICE HOCKEY

Hallum shows off speed and stickhandling talents in win over Lindenwood ELLIE RICHARD

Daily Sports Writer

The play seemed harmless at first. Senior defenseman Jacob Truscott collected the puck in the neutral zone. He dished it to sophomore forward Jackson Hallum who received it on the left wing. It looked like a routine play — one that normally translates to a routine dump-and-chase that looks to generate offense. Hallum had other plans. Slicing his way into the No. 6 Michigan hockey team’s offensive zone, Hallum used his speed to put his defender on his heels. He then eliminated the defender using a nifty toe-drag maneuver to cut to the center of the ice and spark the high-danger scoring opportunity. The high-danger opportunity became a high-danger strike as Hallum sent the puck blocker-side beating the goaltender, securing the highlight–reel goal late in the second period. The play not only demonstrat-

ed Hallum’s skating capabilities but also highlighted a different element of his game: his stickhandling talents. “Growing up I was not that fast,” Hallum said. “I used to be a really good stick handler, and that was usually my game. Now I’m just trying to use my speed more, and if there’s a chance where I can use my hands I will.” Hallum certainly utilized both of those talents to great success in the Wolverines’ 9-1 win over Lindenwood. Although the Wolverines piled on nine goals by the end of the game, Hallum’s play — including two goals — remained a standout talent, earning him the first star of the game. “Obviously everyone sees his speed,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “I think he takes a lot of pride in being the best version of himself. I think he’s been playing well. He wasn’t too happy with his games last weekend, and he just really took a step so I’m just really happy for him.” Coming into tonight’s game, Hallum had not yet registered a goal this season. He had totaled

SARAH BOEKE/Daily

After a flurry of penalties led to a 4-on-4 situation, graduate defenseman Marshall Warren secured his first goal of the season with a slap shot off the draw. Shortly after, a tap-in from Brindley on the power play — following a five-minute major committed by the Lions — extended Michigan’s

four assists, generated twelve shots on goal and skated past one too many defenders to count through the six games. Nevertheless, none of these efforts culminated in a breakout performance. Friday night’s game against the Lions stood out among the rest. Hallum finally capitalized on his opportunities, and he did so in an emphatic fashion. In addition to his highlight reel goal, Hallum scored a goal off the rush earlier in the night. Mere seconds into the first period, he took the puck in stride off the left wing. He successfully blew past his defender, corralled the puck and ripped it top-shelf to give his team the early 1-0 advantage. While this goal might not have been as flashy as his second one on the night, it played an important role in setting the tone for the game and encouraging his fellow teammates to push the pace of play early on. Hallum’s high-level play reverberated across the ice as his line was one of the strongest of the night, accounting for nearly a third of the team’s eventual goals. And when this line was not scoring goals of their own, they were assisting on a variety of others. “In practice, we’ve been playing really well together,” Hallum said. “T.J. and (Moldenhaur) are so smart. Especially T.J., he just always knows where to be.” Hallum deflected the success of his line to his teammates; however, his impact in tonight’s game shows how he can be a differencemaker for his line and the Michigan hockey team as a whole. Because when Jackson Hallum elevates his game to this level, there is no telling the danger he poses to opposing teams moving forward. Be it speed, stickhandling and everything in between, Hallum’s got plans, and they showed against Lindenwood.

lead to 4-1 Successfully finding their spots and connecting passes, the Wolverines turned around their play on special teams in the second period. In doing so, momentum thoroughly swung in their favor. “I think we needed (those two goals),” Warren said. “Sometimes a team can stay a little bit like they’re pretty optimistic, so it was good to get those two goals and take the lead and play with the lead.” Those two special teams goals lit a fire under Michigan. But the Wolverines still needed to sustain momentum to finish out the game — and that’s exactly what they did. “If you’re always on them, it’s gonna be hard to come back and have another momentum switch,” Hallum said. “The game swings a lot. … But when we just stay on them, momentum is in our favor most of the time and that’s how you win games — just momentum.” A highlight-reel toe drag from Hallum led to his second goal

of the game — Michigan’s fifth — and a back-handed flick from sophomore defenseman Luca Fantilli gave the Wolverines a 6-1 lead heading into the second intermission. With the five-goal advantage, Michigan was firmly in the driver’s seat throughout the final frame. “We still dug in in the third period, we kind of preach just going out there and playing our game and playing hard,” Warren said. “So I think we did a good job of that and scored a few goals in that third, so it’s always nice.” Sophomore forward T.J. Hughes, sophomore defenseman Seamus Casey and sophomore forward Josh Eernisse extended the Wolverines’ lead to 9-1, successfully putting away a game that was decided in the second period. Because although its first period gaffe left it wanting more, Michigan’s special teams turned it around — clinching the momentum that carried the Wolverines to the final buzzer.

ICE HOCKEY

Michigan conquers self-imposed wounds in 10-1 pummeling of Lindenwood REKHA LEONARD

Daily Sports Writer

The No. 6 Michigan hockey team played through adversity on Saturday, but it didn’t come from Lindenwood. The Wolverines (5-2-1 overall) powered through a multitude of self-imposed wounds en route to a 10-1 trouncing of the Lions (1-5-2), earning their first sweep of the season. Battling through a slow start and a penalty-filled second period, Michigan’s woes proved no match for its own dominance. The Wolverines outplayed Lindenwood from the opening puck drop, connecting on passes and controlling the offensive zone, but they couldn’t seem to find the back of the net. Halfway through the first period, though, overlapping penalties on the Lions gifted Michigan a 5-on-3 advantage, and it only took 11 seconds for the Wolverines to seize the opportunity and begin the scoring barrage. “When you get a five-on-three in hockey, it’s not easy to score, but you gotta score,” sophomore forward T.J. Hughes said. “It’s a big momentum change for the team, and we were able to obviously draw two penalties there and capitalize, so that’s huge for us.” Michigan’s top power play unit made Lindenwood pay, scoring twice within the span of two minutes. As each player collected a pass, the Lions shifted their focus, knowing that every member of the Wolverines’ unit possessed a dangerous shot. Hughes earned an assist on both goals by planting himself on the goal line and drawing enough attention to clear a lane for his teammates to shoot. “We’re trying to build some chemistry, making passes quick,” Hughes said. “I feel like everyone’s a threat on the ice to score, so opponents find it hard to read our plays.”

One thing that’s not hard to read about Michigan is its affinity for taking penalties — an effort Lindenwood joined in on throughout the game. Two early penalties in the second period, one on each team, came and went with no goals scored. But immediately after Michigan successfully completed its penalty kill, Lions forward David Gagnon fired a lateral shot from the goal line that bounced off the side post and into the goal to close Michigan’s lead to 2-1. Though Lindenwood encroached, the Wolverines were anything but discouraged. They responded with three goals in the next three minutes. Once the floodgates were opened, there was no denying Michigan’s dominance. The Wolverines proceeded to once again capitalize on the Lions’ mishaps, adding two more goals on a five-minute power play to bring the lead to 7-1. But then, Michigan seemingly got in its own way. Sophomore defenseman Luca Fantilli took a penalty for elbowing, and senior defenseman Jacob Truscott committed the ultimate infraction, taking a five minute major and game misconduct. Playing down a man wasn’t enough to stop sophomore forward Gavin Brindley on the penalty kill, though. He drove into the offensive zone on a shorthanded breakaway and flicked the puck into the net. “(It was) kind of a blur,” Brindley said. “I kind of just picked the pass off and went down, saw the goalie

on the right side and shot on the left.” A minute later, sophomore forwards Frank Nazar and Jackson Hallum created a two-on-one shorthanded breakaway, and Hallum placed the final dagger to increase the lead to 9-1 — matching the score of yesterday’s game after only two periods. “Kudos to the PK,” Hughes said. “They were dynamite again, dynamite all weekend, but just hungry guys to score hungry guys to get to pucks quick. And that’s what happens when you’re quick to pucks and create turnovers, and that’s when you get chances.” With only three total penalties in the third period — out of 16 total in the game — there were less chances to be had. Sophomore forward Dylan Duke found the back of the net halfway through the third, but a high sticking call waived off the goal. Although the Wolverines didn’t need the goal to pad their substantial lead, the play was yet another instance of them inflicting self-imposed harm. But when Michigan did get a final power play opportunity in the final two minutes of the game, it made sure to tack on one more goal to secure the 10-1 victory. With a dominant, seven-goal second period, the Wolverines cruised to victory despite a slow start and excessive penalties. Michigan used its immense talent and skill to cover up its mistakes, rendering any miscues irrelevant by the time the final buzzer sounded.

ELLIE VICE/Daily

ICE HOCKEY

T.J. Hughes showcases consistency, hockey IQ in Saturday win over Lindenwood ANNA MILLER

Daily Sports Writer

Sophomore forward T.J. Hughes has clear favoritism when he shoots the puck, a spot he knows all too well as a center: the faceoff circle. And when he doesn’t shoot, he knows exactly where to be to allow his teammates to score — near the faceoff circle. The No. 6 Michigan hockey team entered Saturday’s matchup against Lindenwood hoping to earn its first sweep of the season. And thanks to Hughes, it did just that. Hughes’ stats speak for themselves thus far this season — six goals and nine assists in just eight games. Against the Lions, he notched five points with two goals and three assists, and he emerged as the first star of the game. His presence was known in all four corners of the sheet by his teammates. But it was not accounted for by his opponents. In the first period, Hughes

grabbed an assist on each of the Wolverines’ goals. One can chalk it up to being in the right place at the right time. Or, one can recognize the patterns by Hughes in both of these plays. Hughes started the first goal sequence with a faceoff win in a Michigan five-on-three power play. Junior forward Dylan Duke proceeded to pick up the puck and pass around the offensive perimeter until the puck met sophomore forward Gavin Brindley. Meanwhile, Hughes backed up onto the edge of the faceoff circle, unmarked by Lindenwood to receive Brindley’s pass. He then passed it back to Brindley, who scored a wrister from the faceoff spot. “In the past couple weeks we’ve gained a lot of chemistry together,” Brindley said. “That’s really important on the power play to keep a group together that has chemistry, so we have to keep riding that out.” This chemistry became clear as Hughes then ran a similar play that gave the Wolverines a two-

goal advantage. Winning another faceoff, he passed the puck backward to Casey and waited for Brindley to pass to him at the net front. He then sent the puck across the cross crease to sophomore forward Rutger McGroarty who shot into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Both of these scenarios showcase a pattern: a faceoff win from Hughes, and his eager placement and readiness to make the perfect pass to his teammates. Hughes continued his consistency in the second period, clinching his third assist of the night and even sandwiching it

ELLIE VICE/Daily

with two goals. Sophomore forward Jackson Hallum received the puck in the Wolverines’ defensive zone, and as he skated it up the left side of the ice, Hughes skated alongside him on the right. After a series of passes, Hughes received a pass from Hallum from the right faceoff circle to his stick waiting in the left and sent a slapshot goal flying past two Lindenwood defenders and its netminder. Then on the power play, Hughes again won a faceoff to catapult the momentum in Michigan’s favor. His teammates then passed again around the perimeter of its offensive half as the Lions anxiously waited for a shot on goal. Hughes received the puck on the goal line and sent a powerful pass to Casey, who skated down the crease and shot the puck into the back of the net. “It’s really nice that (the power play) is coming together,” Hughes said. “We’re trying to build some chemistry, making passes quick, and I feel like everyone is a threat on the ice.”

Hughes then got a powerplay goal of his own that was a mirror image of his previous goal. Instead of driving down the right half, he drove down the left as Casey skated the length of the sheet. A backhanded pass to Duke then found Hughes waiting, one again, in the left faceoff circle. Identical to the first, a slapshot goal reached the net. “I practice (that shot) a lot,” Hughes said. “I like that spot so it was nice that I was able to connect on both. Great passes by (Duke) and (Hallum) … so obviously credit to them and I just had an open net so it was awesome.” Hughes showcased he is nothing if not consistent. He has a pattern to his play, and is an unexpected playmaker by his opponents. From the faceoff dot to the goal line, he is an asset to showcasing his teammates’ skill and clinching assists. And when he takes a shot himself from the left faceoff circle, there is a high chance it is going to meet the back of the net.

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, November 1, 2023 — 11

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The Devil is in the Details: Jen Klein’s empowerment of others

REMI WILLIAMSON & GRACE BEAL Daily Sports Writer & Senior Photo Editor

When Jen Klein came to Ann Arbor, she was picking up the pieces of a broken program that hadn’t seen a Big Ten Tournament title since the last century. Three years into her now six-year

wins record by going 18-4-3 overall. Those crowning accolades of Klein’s revamped program are nothing short of impressive after her start just three years prior in 2018. Klein was deservingly praised for turning around and overhaul-

tenure, she put those pieces back into place. The 2021 season was a big one for the Michigan women’s soccer team with its first Big Ten Tournament win since 1999, a trip to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals and tying the school single-season

Coach’s Coach

While her role as a Big Ten coach brings massive amounts of pressure, Klein never lets that slide onto her staff. She carries the load with grace, patience, tenacity and humor. “She has that pressure but she handles it well,” Michigan strength and conditioning coach Kate Smith told The Michigan Daily. “And she respects all the staff that she works with, which makes things flow very well.” As an assistant coach, Klein won a national championship at her last stomping grounds, USC, at the end of a historic run. Prior to raising that trophy, she spent seven seasons combined at Washington State and UNLV, which included two years at the helm of the Rebels in Vegas. Clearly, Klein came to Ann Arbor with a resume fit to advance the Wolverines’ program. But if you ask Klein, she’s no expert. “I’m not an expert, really, in anything, but finding those experts and bringing them in and utilizing their knowledge, their expertise to help us be the best that we can be,” Klein told The Daily. “And so I think really, creating that value is just showing that they do have value and that they have something to contribute.” Klein may have not handpicked everyone on her staff, as some were grandfathered in, but nonetheless, she is making an effort to uplift them to tackle their distinct expertises and shine on their own. Klein recognizes and encourages everyone’s unique contributions to the program as a whole, because the off the field work is just as important and necessary as the accomplishments they see on the grass. That is a part of the culture of empowerment Klein has created. To step back and trust her staff and players to do what they do best, because there are so many requisite elements for a program to thrive. Whether it is

nutrition, athletic training, What Impacts Excellence (WIE) sessions, strength and conditioning, or any other facet, she understands each part’s contribution to the success of the program. The key to success is a well-functioning organization on all levels, not just the athletes or the head coach, but everyone. And her colleagues acknowledge this constantly, saying Klein makes sure the staff members never feel like they are lower on the totem pole — that they feel valued and worthy, that they feel just as essential to the team as a starting forward. “She empowers us to develop something that will be beneficial to the team, and then she supports us once that’s implemented,” Smith told The Daily. “And it’s allowing us the space to do that and she trusts our expertise. I can write the best program on the planet, if the athletes don’t buy in, which buy-in comes from support from the coaching staff, as well, it doesn’t matter.” With the athletes needing to buy in, they don’t need to search hard for an example of what that looks like. Because Klein has fully bought into the other coaches, which in turn helps the athletes buy into the program. She’s not hands off per se. She asks a lot of questions, but at the end of the day, she knows when her staff are better positioned to handle something instead of her. They’re all putting their chips on Klein, and she hasn’t lost them any money at the tables. In college soccer, the rate of turnover within both coaching staffs and players is high. People graduate, transfer or get offered new positions, but everyone who walks in the door is still family to Klein. It’s not solely about picking the right people who fit together like puzzle pieces, but also helping integrate them once they’re at Michigan. That’s clearly stuck out to

Being both a coach’s coach and a player’s coach creates a well-rounded machine. The buyin is everywhere. The trust and respect ebbs and flows through every level. The individual work it takes is immense, but that doesn’t make Klein shy away. Creating lasting bonds with players and staff and maintaining them goes beyond the job description of a head coach. It’s the job description of a coach that cares, of a coach who takes the role and responsibility outside of the archetypal descrip-

tion, and even beyond the fine print. When Klein arrived at Michigan, her goal was clear: “I came here to build a sustainable, successful program.”

the players. “I also think once she has (assistant coaches) she just takes care of them really well,” senior forward, and Klein’s neighbor, Sammi Woods told The Daily. “By the way she treats them and talks to them.” Part of the way Klein shows her staff how much she cares and values them comes from how she interacts with them, radiating a balance of humor and seriousness in every conversation. During a preseason trip to USC and Pepperdine, the team saw its return flights complicated by an incoming hurricane. The Wolverines were left, quite literally, in the eye of the storm. Yet, as Smith recalled, Klein navigated the travel disaster gracefully. Despite all the complicated moving parts, her fun personality still flew high while balanced with groundedness. If it’s a precarious balancing act to stay focused and serious all the while incorporating fun and humor into the atmosphere, Klein is a world-class gymnast. She’s funny and patient — but that doesn’t hinder her meticulous leadership. In fact, it adds to it. “They always say the devil is in the details, and her attention to detail and her proactiveness around the details allows for the program to flow very well and operate at a very high level,” Smith said. “And those are the things that are easy to miss, and easy to overlook, but make such a large impact on the success of a program.” That proactiveness isn’t just in the small things, it’s at the forefront of her actions. Don’t think too much into the title of “head coach” because if a goal needs moving, a cone needs placing or a ball needs to be picked up, Klein is not above that work or above the rest of her staff. She puts on her cleats at practice just like everyone else, one foot at a time.

ing the Wolverines. But if you ask her how those trophies got there, her emphasis would be on her coaching staff and the players on her squad. Because for Klein, the emphasis is always on others. It’s on her coaches and players. Yes, her job as a Big Ten coach is to create a winning program. But she’s in the business of empowering and teaching others.

Player’s Coach

While the accolades may be important and representative of success, the players are the most important indicator to Klein. “We want to build sustained success,” Klein said. “But we want to do it in a way where they feel confident, they feel empowered.” Trophies and titles represent singular teams, and Klein isn’t focused on anything as an individual entity. She’s not building a team — she’s building a program. And with that, the players are prioritized. If you talk to her players and staff, many of whom have worked and played under other coaches, they all mention that part of her unique coaching philosophy is how she sees every player as a person and a student first. Her top priority is to develop them at the personal level for success, and allow that process to help make them an even better player. And some of that comes from their WIE classroom sessions. “Number one (priority) is to build self love, self acceptance in each kid so they understand what they bring to the table,” Michigan Director of Leadership Development Brian Townsend told The Daily. “This understanding of self awareness, we do a lot of work to get them to understand we’re all going through the same challenges.” WIE sessions help players grow closer to their teammates and work through on-field challenges verbally, building confidence in themselves and their actions. In a team sport that requires 11 people to work in unison, building connections can be the difference between a winning season and a losing one. But most importantly, as Klein has continually emphasized through everything she does, the person comes first. That has helped her create and nurture personal relationships with her players. Beyond WIE sessions, Klein finds ways to bolster those relationships on the pitch, a place where there’s no use in letting your frustration manifest into anything other than adjusting your play. Klein’s composure on the sidelines shows her players that you gain something from every game, molding a shared

mindset that brings her team closer together. She never yells at referees, her demeanor never shifts and her tone of voice never changes. Whether the Wolverines are winning, losing or tied, Klein always remains level headed. Every game, regardless of the outcome, ends with hugs and highfives, good jobs and pep talks. Losing is as much a part of the journey as winning is, and she won’t have her unit thinking anything else. Klein never lets her emotions get the best of her, and by keeping her composure in the highlight reel moments as well as the bloopers, she’s making sure her players’ and staff’s confidence never wanes no matter the score. It’s easy to forget a player’s evening plans or upcoming test. After all, Klein’s job title doesn’t call for that. But it’s not just a title. For Klein, it’s a responsibility to be a coach in facets beyond just the pitch. It’s a responsibility to be supportive of not just successes but also shortcomings off the field. That is what sets Klein apart from other coaches. She’s all in on the students and the people who intertwine to make them players. But maybe teacher would be a more suitable title. “I consider myself more of a teacher than anything else,” Klein said. “I’m a teacher first. And so really approaching it from that space of how do we develop them into the best versions of themselves as people, students and athletes.” But whether she’s teaching, coaching or playing euchre, she’s empowering her players to be the best version of themselves they can be To her, that’s the signifier of success. “She’s extremely involved,” Smith said. “She’s a player’s coach for sure. She knows what’s going on. She jokes around with them and has fun. She deeply cares about the players and their success, both as people and as players.” Klein and her staff have demonstrated their care through a couple of different ways, but mainly oneon-one coffee chats. It’s not necessarily a time to talk about soccer, it can be if you want it, but it’s a time to talk about life and anything else on your mind. Seeing your coaches off the field or out

But what she emphasized was what it takes to create that: Success of the players and coaches who make up the program in whatever they want to do, not just on the

of the weight room helps build and strengthen those bonds. Beyond coffee chats, Klein finds lots of opportunities to connect with her players. So whether it’s sweating it out at scavenger hunts, games of spoon, euchre or coffee chats, Klein is finding ways to relate to them. She’s being a friend rather than a higher up. “I think that really started to just kind of take away the pressure of being in the office or being out in the field and just getting to know them as people,” Klein said.“So it’s just taking down that kind of ‘me over them.’ It’s just us together. And we can have a good relationship, laugh and just get to know each other more on a human level.” So you won’t hear Klein’s players calling her just “coach,” not because they don’t respect or admire her, but because the culture she’s created makes her more than just their coach. “I don’t know, coach seems so formal,” Klein said. “But Jen has just always been what I’ve gone by and just creating that, I think a little bit of a relationship there. There’s still a massive level of respect, even though they don’t call me coach, but just, I guess (it’s a) less formal approach to it all.” She’s Jen to them. She’s a human, a friend, someone they can trust. She teaches through respect, never barking orders. “She just has fun with it. And I think that’s something that brings you joy, but also brings you success,” Woods said.“Like, if you’re not having fun with it, then what are you doing?” That fun, coupled with the respect and trust that Klein has built, has translated to success on the field during her tenure. Players have bought in. They believe the Klein hype and they’ll follow her accordingly. When Woods flashes anger and frustration on the field, Klein taps into their strong-as-steel bond to try to bring back her composure. And regardless of the Wolverines’ less-than ideal season, finishing 7-6-4 and missing the Big Ten Tournament, that demeanor never faulted. The example Klein has set is contagious. The same trust and respect is universal throughout her program, in ups and downs.

field but in their lives. Yes, winning and competing are still an objective, but Klein measures sustainable success differently. Klein strives for those light bulb moments where it clicks in her players. The “aha” moments when it finally all makes sense. That’s her favorite part. Even when tangible on-field success is not reflected, behind the scenes the success of empowerment and growth always remains. And to Jen, that’s her business model.

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

SPORTSWEDNESDAY

The Michigan Daily — 12

SIGN of the TIMES

SportsMonday: Harbaugh’s future doesn’t change Michigan’s present CONNOR EAREGOOD Managing Sports Editor

t’s natural to question the future of Jim Harbaugh in Ann Arbor when he’s getting contract extensions pulled off the negotiating table. Amid an NCAA investigation into sign-stealing scouting violations by Harbaugh’s program, the withdrawn offer creates the image that he might be packing his bags. But don’t watch for moving vans just yet. Because right now, Harbaugh is still the coach of the Wolverines. And whether he’s on the sidelines in future seasons doesn’t change his task at hand: winning a national championship by cashing in on all the talent on this year’s roster. Sure, guarantees about the future feel nice — especially with Harbaugh’s legacy of leaving his future wide open. But that’s not going to happen with at least two scandalous allegations hanging directly over his head. He’s still awaiting the outcome for a Level I violation for allegedly lying to the NCAA about recruiting violations, and the sign-stealing saga has become its own media firestorm. Michigan athletics director Warde Manuel would be smart not to tack on more contract years before those outcomes are resolved. Even so, Harbaugh is currently in the second year of the five-year extension he signed in February 2022. While a new extension might have reassured outsiders, Harbaugh still has three years to go. He’s still the coach today and — unless an unexpected shoe drops — likely will be the rest of the season. The negotiations that Michigan put a pin in were more so about raising his salary to reflect recent success, rather than significantly extending his contract term. For now, any talks of the future are paused until Harbaugh and Michigan sort out the present. But the present day of Michigan football matters more than Harbaugh’s future. In the last year before both the Big Ten and College Football Playoff will expand, his Wolverines are 8-0 and have an inside track to making the playoff for the third year in a row. There’s hardly a glaring hole in the roster with many veteran returners and future NFL Draft picks taking the field. This season probably isn’t his last shot, but it certainly seems like his best. Players themselves know what their goals are this season, and they’re not letting the current sign-stealing scandal distract them. “I wouldn’t say we’re worried,” graduate offensive lineman Trente Jones said Tuesday about the sign-stealing scandal. “It’s more of like, just

another distraction that people come by and try to tarnish what we do. For me specifically. I just try to prepare, get better each day and take us to the next level.” Just because Harbaugh is embroiled in another scandal doesn’t change the direction of his team in this specific season. Whether or not suspensions, fines or vacated wins are coming down the road, any outcome is in the distant future. The current focus is on the weeks of football left to play. So now, the task becomes clear: “I’m just so focused on what we’re doing and building and so is he, that it never really becomes a distraction,” junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy said Monday. “And we never really think of it as anything other than, Coach (Jim) Harbaugh’s got to deal with something new once again. So he does a great job of just keeping us focused on the main thing, which is winning football games.” If anything, scandal can be a motivator. And motivation — true or not — can make all the difference. Look at how Georgia coach Kirby Smart somehow convinced players that people expected the defending national champions to go 7-5. With the NCAA birddogging Harbaugh’s program, he’s got an easy sell to convince his players that the world’s out to get him. For a coach whose players came back for one last ride, there’s a palpable motivating effect. While the future might be blurry with Harbaugh’s extension on hold, it always has been. Don’t forget his NFL dalliances, and certainly not his three-game suspension earlier this year. Just nine weeks ago, Harbaugh’s future was so uncertain that half of the journalists polled in some projections expected Harbaugh to leave this offseason anyway. While none of those voices are negotiating contracts, it goes to show how fickle Harbaugh’s future might be. The extension drama is just another installment in that saga, but it’s a reality that Michigan has already been living in all year. It’s fair to question Harbaugh’s future in Ann Arbor. You’re right to do so considering all the noise surrounding him, and especially the latest reports around his extension. But don’t think that changes what he and Michigan can accomplish this season. Because regardless of who’s coaching in the future, Michigan is a contender in the present. All that matters is if they can live up to that billing.

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