2024-02-07 by The Michigan Daily

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Wednesday, February 7, 2024

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ADMINISTRATION

‘The fight isn’t over’: UMich students take part in silent pro-Palestine demonstration at Senate Assembly

More than 50 students attended the protest to support UMich divestment resolution SNEHA DHANDAPANI AND MILES ANDERSON Daily News Editor and Daily Staff Reporter

More than 50 University of Michigan students filed into the Alexander G. Ruthven Building for a silent protest staged at the Senate Assembly meeting. At this meeting, faculty members voted on resolutions determining their response to the University’s cancellation of the U-M Central Student Government midterm ballot proposal and asking the University to divest from companies with financial ties to Israel. The silent demonstration was organized by Students Allied for Freedom and Equality and the TAHRIR Coalition, a group of more than 60 U-M student organizations, including SAFE, advocating for the University’s divestment from companies with financial ties to Israel. Senate Assembly members voted on two resolutions at the meeting. One condemned the University’s decision to cancel voting on two CSG resolutions regarding the University’s position on the Israel-Hamas war — AR 13-025 and AR 13-026 — after the University determined that an email sent to all U-M students urging them to vote yes on AR 13-025 and no on AR 13-026 violated University policy. The other resolution called on the University to divest from companies that profit from ongoing Israeli military violence. About 10 students waited outside the Ruthven Building because they were banned from entering the building for one year after the Nov. 17 protest at the building, where 40 students were arrested for trespassing. Zaynab Elkolaly, SAFE

GRACE BEAL/Daily Michigan students sign a poster as they celebrate the passing of a proposal which demands the University divest from companies that fund Israel at the Ruthven Building Monday afternoon.

director of activism, stood outside the Ruthven Building during the silent demonstration. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, she said she stayed outside to support other students from afar. “Our peers are inside flooding the room to send our message on our behalf here today at this specific faculty senate,” Elkolaly said. “(It) has a huge pull on administration and an affirmation that they’re calling for divestment would be (a) huge benefit to the cause.” Alex Sepulveda, activism chair for the U-M chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, also waited outside Ruthven due to the ban. In an interview with The Daily before the event,

Sepulveda said he came to support U-M faculty members. “I’m here to join the chorus of people at this campus,” Sepulveda said. “I’d say that we are supporting our faculty as they demand from the University administration that we inquire into the ethicality of our investments…. The Board of Regents has absolutely zero intention of divesting because they’re beholden to corporations — not beholden to students. They have demonstrated absolutely zero intentions to make any sort of legitimate relationship with student organizers here on campus.” At the start of the meeting, attendees who were unable to find a seat were asked to leave

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

CSG passes resolution to investigate the cancellation of votes during fall 2023 elections

the meeting. Public Health senior Rawan Antar waited on the first floor of Ruthven because there wasn’t enough seating in the room. Antan told The Daily she felt frustrated with the lack of accommodations. “We were sitting alongside the (students) on the floor, and they told us that there is only space for as many seats as there were, which was like 200 that were set up,” Antan said. “ … It was filled up by the time I was there.” In an email to The Daily, University spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen said the U-M administration respects student protests and that spaces for protestors opened up as the

meeting progressed. “We have great respect for peaceful demonstrations, which has been an important part of our campus for almost as long as we have existed,” Broekhuizen wrote. “U-M students care about their communities and the world we all live in and they are not shy about advocating for what they believe in. The room hit capacity, but as guests left and spots opened — others were allowed to enter the room.” The first resolution the Senate Assembly voted on condemned the administration’s cancellation of the CSG midterm ballot. The second called on the Board of Regents to divest from companies invested in Israel. The first resolution passed

with 38 in favor, 17 against and 5 abstaining, and the second passed with 37 yes, 15 no and 5 abstaining. In an email to The Daily, Silvia Pedraza, professor of sociology and American culture and Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs member, wrote that she believes the resolution came from faculty members seeing the ongoing violence in Gaza and wanting to take action to end the University’s support for it. . “I believe it came out of the distress faculty feel at seeing so many Palestinians in Gaza killed, their families destroyed, their bodies maimed,” Pedraza wrote. “The faculty really do not know the financial implications of that vote, and that is up to our financial specialists at U of M and the leadership of the University to assess. But the faculty vote indicates they want the leadership of the University not to collaborate with the enormous harm the people in Gaza are enduring.” After hearing that the vote passed, Elkolaly told The Daily she felt excited about the outcome but recognized the importance of continuing to advocate for divestment. “We’re incredibly elated,” Elkolaly said. “We’re glad that the Faculty Senate was able to look beyond the garbage bureaucratic measures that opponents were using to hinder the vote. Of course, the fight isn’t over. The Faculty Senate only has the capacity to make recommendations to the Regents. This resolution being passed does not materially change (the University’s) investments, so the fight is with the Regents. We invite everyone who’d like to see divestment progress to the next level to join us.”

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Student government will look into the decision to cancel the votes on resolutions AR 13-025 and AR 13-026 CLAUDIA MINETTI Daily Staff Reporter

2/05 Correction: The article has been updated to the correct voting results for resolution AR-0432. The University of Michigan Central Student Government met in the Michigan Union Tuesday evening to re-discuss AR 13-042, which calls for an investigation into the cancellation of voting on resolutions AR 13-025 and AR 13-026 during the fall 2023 CSG midterm elections. Communications Committee Chair Alexander Gavulic said he believed the proposal to investigate the University would be detrimental to the relationship between the University and CSG. “When it comes to student governments … we only exist because the University lets us exist, and we only have access to tuition

dollars because they let us,” Gavulic said. “It is essential that we have as good of a relationship with the administration as possible to further other advocacy efforts. And while (the cancellation) feels like a slap in the face, we cannot realistically do anything to investigate the University and even if we do, what are we going to do with its findings?” If the petition did not pass the Student Assembly, it would have been sent to a campus-wide vote in the March election. Gavulic said that while the student body might pass the resolution, he believed the U-M administration would pay more attention ifCSG were to pass the resolution. “And for those who might be thinking, ‘Oh, if Assembly doesn’t pass this tonight, it’s just gonna go to the student body and they will pass it,’ I think there’s a world of difference to administration when they work with us as to whether

JULIANNE YOON/Daily CSG Speaker Jarek Schmanski moderates the CSG meeting at the Michigan Union Tuesday night.

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we pass it and adopt it as the official stance of the Assembly, or the student body does in two months,” Gavulic said. CSG President Meera Herle responded to Gavulic, saying she believes sending the petition to the student body for a vote would draw more attention from the University’s administration. “I think they’ll see us sending this to the student body as a poorly thought-out decision that will drag more attention to (the University’s) mistake,” Herle said. LSA junior Jacob Amspaugh said he believed failure to pass the petition would damage the relationship between CSG and the U-M student body, particularly with those who signed a petition in December to investigate the University’s decision and protect against potential future cancellation of CSG resolutions. The petition surpassed its goal of 1,000 signatures. “Though I understand my fellow representatives’ concerns, I think it’s important that we honor the request of the thousands of students that signed the petition,” Asmpaugh said. “Failing to pass the petition may be harmful to CSG by dissuading students from trusting in CSG. We are supposed to represent the voices of the students, so it’d be a bad look for us not to pass it after so many have put their names on the petition to get it to be considered.” The resolution passed with 22 in favor, 6 against and 1 abstention.

College of Engineering Senior Seta Hagopian performs with Tarps Off at Battle of the Bands at The Blind Pig Friday night.

ARUSHI SANGHI/Daily

NEWS BRIEFS

DPSS responds to firearm threat at Markley Residence Hall

An individual was arrested outside of the hall for possessing a firearm on University property CLAUDIA MINETTI Daily Staff Reporter

A firearm threat was reported at Mary Markley Residence Hall late Thursday evening. Melissa Overton, deputy chief of police for the Division of Public Safety and Security, wrote in a statement to The Michigan Daily that

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an individual who is not affiliated with the University of Michigan was arrested for violating Regents Ordinance – Article X. Article X prohibits the possession of firearms or bladed weapons on University property. The individual was found in possession of a holstered handgun. “On February 1, 2024, at approximately 7:00 p.m., an individual, not affiliated with

the university, with a holstered handgun was arrested in Mary Markley Residence Hall for violating the Regents Ordinance – Article X, Weapons Offense,” Overton wrote. Overton said there is currently no active threat to the U-M community. “There is no threat to the community,” Overton wrote. “The incident is being actively investigated.”

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News

2 — Wednesday, February 7, 2024

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CAMPUS LIFE

Comedian Alex Edelman visits UMich for ‘The Campus Tour’

Edelman offered a free show to about 700 people in Rackham Auditorium EVA BARD

Daily Staff Reporter About 700 University of Michigan students and community members gathered in Rackham Auditorium Wednesday evening to watch Jewish comedian Alex Edelman take the stage. This 75-minute performance, organized by University of Michigan Hillel and co-sponsored by MUSKET, Impro-fessionals and the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, was free to all students and the final performance in a series of three shows on college campuses called “Alex Edelman: The Campus Tour.” The first half of Edelman’s show

included a stand-up routine and touched on a variety of unrelated topics such as his parent’s relationship, Kosher meals and his brief former employment at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Following this act, Edelman took questions from the audience. Members asked questions about Edelman’s rise to fame, his Jewish identity and, more lightly, whether inanimate objects were Jewish or non-Jewish. Edelman said his Jewish identity is central to the storytelling in his stand-up, as he grew up attending a Yeshiva and identifies as Modern Orthodox.

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News

Wednesday, February 7, 2024 — 3

ACADEMICS

Senate Assembly passes resolution on UMich divestment

Members also passed a resolution to condemn the University’s decision to cancel the votes of two ballot initiatives in CSG elections MICHELLE LIAO Daily Staff Reporter

The Senate Assembly met in the Alexander G. Ruthven Building Monday afternoon to discuss the canceled Central Student Government vote from earlier in the academic year and approve a resolution asking the University of Michigan to divest from companies with financial ties to Israel. Outside and inside the building, the TAHRIR coalition organized a silent protest in support of both resolutions. The Faculty Senate voted on the first of two main resolutions awaiting discussion by the committee following a reminder by SACUA chair Tom Braun on the rules of conduct for respectful conversation. The resolution condemned the University’s decision to cancel votes on two of CSG’s ballot initiatives, AR 13-025 and AR 13-026. The ballot initiatives addressed the University’s position on the Israel-Hamas war and were up for a campus-wide vote in the fall 2023 CSG midterm elections. The vote was canceled by the University administration after an email was sent through the University’s targeted email form encouraging U-M students to vote yes on AR 13-025 and no on AR 13-026. The University said the use of the targeted email service violated the University’s Responsible Use of Information

GRACE BEAL/Daily Derek Peterson, U-M History and African Studies Professor, presents a proposal that would demand that the University divest companies that fund Israel at the Ruthven Building Monday afternoon. Resources policy, though it was approved by a U-M administrator before being sent to students. In response, CSG released a press release stating that, while the email was a violation of University policy, the CSG governing documents do not have any rules about interfering with student petitions. The resolution’s sponsor, Derek Peterson, U-M history and African Studies professor, began the discussion by denouncing the University’s cancellation of the vote as an overreach of their power

and a violation of the University’s principles of diversity in thought. “The cancellation of these votes sends an alarming message, in my view, about free speech at this university,” Peterson said. “If students engage in speech which the University deems inappropriate or counterproductive, then the University leadership thinks itself empowered to suppress or censor that speech. This is a dangerous move.” Rebekah Modrak, Art & Design professor, echoed this sentiment,

reminding the committee of Tinker v. Des Moines, a Supreme Court case in which school authorities attempted to ban students from wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. “The 1969 U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, ‘In our system, undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression,’ ” Modrak said. “I support students’ rights to express themselves, and I support this resolution.”

After the discussion, the Assembly voted in favor of the resolution, passing it with 50 votes yes, five no and two abstaining. The Assembly then discussed a second resolution, which called for the University to divest from companies profiting from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. This faculty resolution followed several student protests demanding divestment and is based on past U-M divestments under similar circumstances — most recently, the University divested from companies with financial ties to Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Peterson initiated the discussion with a presentation on recent events in the Israel-Hamas war and how the University contributes to the ongoing violence. Reflecting on the University’s involvement with companies invested in the war, Peterson said he was troubled by the University’s lack of transparency on the subject. “The University has turned down several FOIA requests demanding information about the makeup of the University’s investments to do with Israel,” Peterson said. “And the resolution that this very body passed in early November last year asking for information about the extent of the University’s investment in Israel has gone unanswered, despite the fact that it was acknowledged as received by the Office of the President.” Directly following Peterson’s

introduction, Chief Financial Officer Geoffrey Chatas provided context on the University’s responsibility to its donors to optimize their resources and the Board of Regents’ prior decision not to consider the issue of divestment. “It has been the University’s unwavering policy to shield the endowment from political pressures and to base its investment decisions on financial factors such as risk,” Chatas said. “And just as recently as this last fall, when we were approached to consider the topic at hand, the Board decided to reaffirm that they would not take up the topic of divestment in Israel at this time.” Mark Rosentraub, professor of sport management, voiced his concerns regarding the potentially divisive consequences of passing this resolution. “This will do nothing more than divide this campus further and further,” Rosentraub said. “With the Faculty Senate not proposing anything in a constructive sense about what it’s going to do to try to build a bridge towards peace, what we’ll do is we’ll further divide our campus into those who support one group versus the other. That will continue to tear us apart.” Vilma Mesa, School of Education professor, warned against using the fear of financial repercussions as an excuse to not divest from companies profiting from Israeli military violence.

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ADMINISTRATION

UMich ‘tops off ’ Hadley Family Recreation & Well-Being Center More than 50 members of the University community gathered to celebrate the finalization of the building’s framework

CLAUDIA MINETTI Daily Staff Reporter

About 50 people gathered in the Pendleton Room of the Michigan Union early Friday morning to celebrate the “topping off,” or the placement of the final beam, of the Hadley Family Recreation & WellBeing Center. The ceremony also served as a thank-you to Philip and Nicole Hadley for their $20 million donation towards the facility’s construction. The Hadley Center, which is being constructed on the grounds of the now-demolished Central Campus Recreation Building and is expected to be complete by fall 2025, will feature amenities including indoor pools, rock-climbing walls, cycling studios and cardiovascular and weight-training areas. The ceremony began with opening remarks by Mike Widen, director of recreational sports at the University of Michigan. Widen highlighted new features of the facility and talked about his hopes for increased engagement with the student body in recreational activities, which currently sits at about 70% of students. “This project will help grow those levels of engagement to allow for more students to experience the many benefits that recreation

can provide,” Widen said. “The Hadley Family Recreation & Well-Being Center will not only create additional space for some of the core activities like strength, cardio and gymnasium courts, but it also creates space for new activities, opportunities like rock climbing, recreational swimming, functional training, indoor turf and many others, some of which have never been experienced on our campus. We can’t state enough how important these spaces are to students and how that will help them be at their best while they’re here …” Martino Harmon, the University’s vice president for student life, spoke to attendees about the importance of the student body in the development and design of the Hadley Center, which was inspired by the Hadleys’ daughter’s time at the University. “The Hadley family was inspired to name this facility following the experiences of their children, (who) came here at the University of Michigan,” Harmon said. “The student experience is why we are here today. The student experience is what inspires everything we do here at the University of Michigan.” Philip Hadley said he believes the new facility will be a crucial addition to the U-M campus by providing a space for students to

improve their physical well-being. “You look around this campus and you see all these buildings. They are all teaching the mind.” Hadley said. “There are very few buildings on this campus that are taking care of the body and the mind is useless without a healthy body.” Harmon told The Daily he believes the construction of the Hadley Center will not only help student wellness, but also strengthen community building at the University and in Ann Arbor. “I really believe strongly that not only is this an opportunity to enhance well-being for students — we position it that way — but it’s also an opportunity for community building,” Harmon said. “Any type of recreational facility brings students together. You make friends, you meet people, you go with friends. So it’s not only your physical well-being, but it’s also your social, your psychological (and your) well-being in general.” Following the opning remarks, the ceremony continued with a visit to the construction site of the Hadley Center, where the Hadley family and speakers signed the final concrete beam. Engineering senior Lillian Schnieder, president of Building a Better Michigan, a student organization focused on involving students in the development

BELA FISCHER/Daily Engineering senior Lillian Schneider, president of Building a Better Michigan , speaks at the Hadley Family Recreation & Well-Being Center event Friday morning. process for University unions and recreation centers, attended the event. She told The Daily she sees gyms like the upcoming Hadley Center as a vital place where students can take time away from schoolwork and relax with friends. “It’s just kind of a place for people to work out physically,” Schneider said. “But mentally, I think, students need a spot where they can take a break from the

daily rigor of just going and being a student here and then they can just relax and do whatever with their friends in this building.” In her closing statement to ceremony attendees, Schneider said she believes the new recreational center will be a place for everyone, regardless of what equipment or programming they engage with. “I know the Hadley Family

Center for Recreation & Wellbeing will be an amazing and welcoming place for everyone,” Schneider said. “Whether students come to work out, play IM sports, de-stress with a yoga class, take a dip at the pool … There really is something for everyone. I’m excited to have students come together and benefit physically and emotionally in this space and just take a break from their daily lives.”

RESEARCH

AI algorithm helps detect risks of percutaneous coronary intervention U-M researchers discover a way to use AI to help healthcare providers GILLIAN REYNOLDS Daily Staff Reporter

Researchers at Michigan Medicine have created an artificial intelligence-powered algorithm to help predict the various risk factors that come with percutaneous coronary intervention, a minimally invasive procedure. PCI is used to treat blocked coronary arteries in the heart to help restore blood flow. This tool allows doctors and patients to see the possible outcomes and risks of undergoing PCI. David Hamilton, Michigan Medicine cardiology fellow,

was part of the research team that created the risk prediction algorithm. According to Hamilton, the model helps combine a variety of factors to create the predicted outcome. “(The tool) took into account … who (the patients) were, what they looked like, their blood pressure, what medicines they were on, what kind of diseases they had before they got their stents placed, and then was able to use that machine learning algorithm to take all of that information together,” Hamilton said. PCI is a common procedure but has its risks, such as infection, stroke and bleeding. Hamilton said by using AI technology to analyze data on patient medical

histories, blood type and other risk factors, doctors could predict how patients will respond once they leave the hospital. “Using additional databases and collecting information on what happens to these patients after they leave the hospital is really important,” Hamilton. “Coronary artery disease doesn’t stop when you leave the hospital.” Hamilton said the tool was an easy application for doctors and patients to use, allowing them to weigh the risks of the procedure and make decisions about their care. “It gets back to the heart of it all — why we do what we do — and that’s to help patients,” Hamilton said. “Coming up with

these research tools so that they can also help patients is really important.” Hitinder Gurm, Michigan Medicine interventional cardiologist, worked alongside Hamilton in creating the algorithm. Gurm leads the BMC2 collaborative, which is a group of healthcare providers dedicated to improving the care of cardiovascular patients. “In (BMC2), physicians from different hospitals look at data together, identify opportunities and share best practices (to determine) how we can elevate the quality of care that’s provided,” Gurm said. Gurm voiced the importance of being able to understand

the risks and outcomes of the procedure as well as whether or not another procedure would be needed before going through with the initial PCI. He said that the accuracy of the AI model poses the opportunity for continuing to advance technology to assist in medicine as a whole. “(The AI model) is way better than every model that I’ve known in the field,” Gurm said. “The predictions are just unbelievably good. … Our hope is that researchers and clinicians will test it and then define how it best shapes the treatment for the patient.” Medical School student Karan Desai is a member of the organization AI in Medicine.

AIM focuses on exploring the functions of AI within medicine and how it is being implemented in the health care profession. “AI in medicine presents a lot of ethical and moral questions,” Desai said. “In this case (of PCI), it’s a matter of … weighing those risks and benefits.” Desai said while there is still work to be done with using AI in health care, it opens a new window of possibilities for doctors. “I think (AI) will definitely be positive,” Desai said. “It’s just a matter of regulating it. There’s going to be some trial and error. … We do for sure know it’s going to be a net positive or net good over having (only) human judgment.”

Arts

4 — Wednesday, February 7, 2024

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

THE B-SIDE GRACIELA BATLLE CESTERO Senior Arts Editor

We all consume art. Art is found in the movie you watched last week that conveyed a message so thoughtprovoking it left you thinking for days. It’s found between the worn-out pages and faded ink of a book handed down to you by a loved one that just might become your next favorite novel. It’s found in the dusty corners of our closets, in the nostalgic air of our childhood homes, in our moldy-yetsomehow-cozy college dorm rooms. We are perpetually surrounded by art and lots of different kinds of art at that. And because of this, we have all slowly but surely become a mix of all the different art that speaks to us. We are all, individually, a unique tie-dye of art. My inspiration for the Tie-Dye

B-Side stemmed from my belief that, no matter how oddly they might mix, I am a combination of my favorite romance novel, my dad’s favorite ’80s movie, the most vibrant dress in my mom’s closet, my sister’s endless reggaeton playlist, my best friend’s unbelievable creative skill, my grandma’s near-perfect cooking and so many more pieces of art that have shaped who I am today. Like tie-dye, these pieces of art bleed a little bit into each other but don’t opaque each other entirely. Together, they are a blob of inspiration and creativity that shines so bright in my mind I can’t help but always be thinking about it. This soul-consuming idea begged the question, “What pieces of art make up the tie-dye in your mind?” Thankfully, eight graceful writers filled in the blanks, coloring this question in and trusting me with the tie-dye of art that makes them who they are. How I got this lucky, I’ll never know.

Design by Abby Schreck

My posters as an extension of my identity ROSE IORIO

Daily Arts Writer

Walking into someone’s room is, in many ways, an enlightening and eye-opening experience. Think about the first time you walked into a friend’s dorm and how you were, more likely than not, instantly greeted by posters and other forms of art and expression adorning their walls. The bedroom is an intimate space. Unlike common areas, the bedroom is a locale

completely restricted to its inhabitant and those who the inhabitant deems trustworthy and worthy enough to be afforded even a glimpse into such a personal and private space. The bedroom is where identity can roam free, living in blissful ignorance against judgment. Walk into my bedroom and you will find something a tad abnormal about my choice of decor. None of it is inappropriate or out of the ordinary, but none of it seems to blend together either. Depending on where your eyes focus, your greeter will either

be a poster from Swedish rapper Yung Lean’s Stardust tour, a New York Yankees baseball cap, a copy of Søren Kierkegaard’s existentialist work “Fear and Trembling,” an Italian maritime flag, a copy of Out Magazine’s November 2018 issue featuring electronic music producer SOPHIE on the cover or a poster for season one of HBO’s “The Sopranos.” Some connections here are easy to make, like the Italian flag and my “The Sopranos” poster, but what drawing direct ties between two decorations fails to acknowledge is that no two

objects, which I have chosen to grace my walls with, are more related than any other two. These objects don’t tell stories independent of one another; they form a narrative that tells you who I am, where I come from and what matters to me — and they do this together, not apart. My Yung Lean poster was a gift from a friend who, while walking around Paris, saw the poster attached to a pole and promptly whisked it away for his personal collection, eventually finding its way into my hands and onto my wall. I started listening to

Design by Sara Fang

his music in or around 2016. A friend group I played Counter-Strike with felt that they absolutely had to stream the music video for Yung Lean’s “Kyoto” for me, which I originally thought was an unserious joke song by a similarly jestful artist. In no way could I ever predict a poster for a tour of his would be on my wall in seven years’ time. Other objects tell different stories. The Yankees have occupied a section of my mind for as long as I can remember. There is no start date for my love of the Yankees or for my interest in baseball; rather, it feels like something I was born into and molded by. Baseball originally served as a way for me to bond with my father but it has since turned into a fully-fledged interest of mine that I will carry with me forever, always supporting the team I inherited from my father. To me, baseball represents my childhood, who I am, where I grew up and who I grew up with. My books, of which “Fear and Trembling” is my favorite, tell the story of other passions of mine. I used to want to be a philosophy major. Then I experimented with political science and now I finally decided on history, which is the degree I will graduate with. Søren Kierkegaard was my first literary love. My parents are both high school dropouts, so reading was never emphasized — especially that of existentialist philosophy. I discovered literature at a time in my life when I was struggling to make sense of who I was, what the world around me meant and what my upbringing meant for me. Like many late adolescents, I was confused, conflicted and full of bravado. I found a book I thought

looked interesting while scouring Goodreads and I took a chance. Luckily for me, that book changed my life and blossomed into a wonderful interest that I still hold near and dear to my heart. My Italian flag represents a pretty obvious element of my identity — my heritage. I grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn a neighborhood which, if you know it at all, is probably from John Travolta’s (“Grease”) opening dance scene in “Saturday Night Fever.” Growing up, my favorite food was (and still remains to this day) insalata di polpo — octopus salad. I grew up with “The Sopranos” on loop on our family’s new Vizio TV and with my grandmother and two uncles living directly below us in our two family house. Putting the potential cognitive effects of exposing a developing child to a show rife with violence and sex aside, my heritage and identity permeate through every aspect of my life — from the food I love to the TV and movies I enjoy. Other objects tell you even more elements of my identity. My SOPHIE magazine, a gift from a friend I met at the University of Michigan, is indicative of another part of my identity. I struggled with gender identity for a long time and in SOPHIE’s music I found solace in a transitory period in my life where I desperately needed to feel heard and recognized. Everything in my room comes together to form a narrative — a narrative about who I am, what I value and where I have been. Looking at my wall, everything makes sense to me, and once someone gets to know me, it makes perfect sense to them too.

I realized I didn’t know anything at all. Next to this swings the beautiful, color-blocked vest that my best friend insisted she buy me the summer before high school began. “You were meant to have this,” she repeated over and over. I didn’t have the money for it, so she slid her credit card across the counter, though she didn’t have the money either. Pressed between the vest and my dad’s button-ups are several of my late grandpa’s flannels. Their

slightly mothy smell takes me back to all the times he bounced me on his knee, singing “Yankee-Doodle” until I collapsed into a fit of giggles. A small gold heart I wear around my neck most days was left for me when my grandma Jane passed away. Touching it softly, I’m transported to the radiating warmth of her hugs and how she used to call me Aurora Jane — an affectionate reminder that I was her namesake.

Life in a pile of laundry AURORA SOUSANIS Daily Arts Contributor

My dad stands in front of his closet, flipping through buttondowns and colorful ties. He takes one out, holding it up to his body and turning around. “What about this one?” he asks a 7-year-old me, who sits in a sea of business attire on his bed. “Yes! That one with a gray suit and … pink tie,” I demand, fishing around to pull the items from the depths of my textile ocean. I make him wear pink whenever I can. He smiles, walks the shirt over to complete the outfit, carefully lays it into his suitcase and ruffles my hair. *** Twelve years later, I am walking to class in the same shirt, the delicate white and baby blue stripes cuffed at the sleeves and peeking out through the collar of a navy sweater. I sit down in class, and the girl to my left tells me she likes my shirt. “Thank you — it’s my dad’s,” I tell her, memories flooding to the forefront of my brain. Most of the clothes in my closet aren’t mine. Or at least they didn’t begin that way. As an avid thrifter and borrower, my closet is a collage of past lives and stories, some of which are my own, and many that are not. The white sweater my mom wore on her first date with my dad sits beneath a green long-sleeve sea turtle shirt from my grandma and is folded neatly on top of the brightly colored sweater I thrifted in Chicago with the first girl I ever fell for. The shop clerk forgot to

take the security tag off, which is now always a point of conversation. “No, I didn’t steal it. I promise. I just can’t get it off.” That same girl once decorated her wrists with colorful bracelets at a different store, before sliding a small ring onto my pinky. Its painted beads are now worn and chipped and its delicate elastic is severely frayed, but I refuse to let it go for fear of losing the memory with it. A band of silver stars accompanies the small beads on my hand. It’s one of the rings my dad bought long before the days of suits and business meetings in Europe, back when he was a rising star in Detroit’s rock ‘n’ roll scene. It’s one of the few rings he chose not to throw into the audience during his shows. His constellation rests next to a moonstone from my mom, passed down to me after my highschool graduation, the two creating a night sky on my ring and middle fingers. Maybe the rings I wear now will end up on the fingers of my children or grandchildren someday, mementos of a life that helped start their own. The same summer I was given my mother’s ring, my best friend of 15 years and I hopped the fence at a neighboring high school and laid in the soccer field below, confiding in one another our hopes and fears about the next chapter of our lives. During our ascent, however, the bottom of my flared jeans caught on the top of the fence and ripped a hole from my ankle to my knee. At the time, I grieved the damage, but now I feel something like pride for the tear each time I pull on the worn denim.

A sweater I stole from my younger brother is hidden in a drawer beneath these jeans and still smells faintly of the cologne in which he has recently insisted on drenching himself. Pieces of my dog’s fur are stuck between the threads, evoking memories of her sweet, hairy cuddles and jumps of excitement whenever I come home. A pair of my older brother’s gym shorts are in another drawer. I made them my own several years ago, wearing them as a good luck charm to nearly every basketball

practice leading up to our district’s historical win. Discarded on my beanbag chair from the last time I went out is a shirt I recently swiped from my 15-year-old sister who is growing up too fast for my liking. The shirt, and my sister, remind me of my own life at 15, when I was sure that I already knew everything there was to know, that I was already an adult. Hung in my closet just a few feet away is the delicately embroidered silk shawl I wore on the day I actually entered adulthood, the day

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Arts

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The perfect joys and irritations of a swirling ‘writer brain’ PAULINE KIM Daily Arts Writer

I never thought of myself as a writer. In my senior year of high school, I told my AP Physics 2 teacher that I wanted to study physics in college, and she was thrilled. (I ended up dodging that bullet, sorry Ms. Blackie!) I’ve always been a reader, but I thought I was a reader with a STEM brain. Flash forward to Festifall my freshman year, where I was stuck in the biggest outdoor crowd I’d been in since the pandemic. It was awful, and I carefully extricated myself from the mob before I got to check out any of the clubs. I was aimlessly roaming the less populated edges of the Diag when I came across a folding table with one of those science boards, advertising none other than — you guessed it — The Michigan Daily. I applied to the Arts section on a whim and submitted my application at exactly 11:59 p.m. the night it was due, and the rest is history. I somehow subjected myself to the wonderful art of grinding out an article every couple of weeks for the past three years or so. (Isn’t that just forcing

yourself to write papers all the time? Yes, yes it is.) But jokes aside, a strange thing happened to me when I started to write frequently for The Daily. For one, I discovered that I really like writing. Yes, it’s horrible and takes up way too much brain power, but there’s a certain point where you really get in your flow, and then it’s pure magic. There’s just nothing like it. I was enjoying myself enough that I decided to minor in creative writing. And that’s when the second thing happened: I started to have actual thoughts. You see, the thing about constantly writing personal essays and art reviews is that you have to come up with actual opinions and ideas to write about. If you watch the new Venom movie and exit the theater with a blank stare and an empty brain, you’re kind of screwed. So by sheer necessity, I got better at generating thoughts and insights on the stuff I was watching and reading. Gone were the days when I could read a book without forming a coherent opinion, and there was generally a bit more brain activity happening between my ears. When I started taking creative essay classes, it somehow got worse. I took an advanced personal

essay class where we literally just wrote essays about our lives, and again you have to come up with something to write. My thoughts were constantly integrating all the different stuff that was going on in my life — what I was reading and watching, stuff going on with my friends and even politics. All these ideas were perpetually bubbling up and twisting and moving like the swirling kaleidoscope of colors you see in those see-through washing machines. Too much writing had turned my brain into a washer, essentially. And not one of those quiet, clean, unobtrusive ones. My writer brain was loud, clanking and undeniably obnoxious. It got to the point where, one time during class, I wrote out a whole poem about how annoying and incessant my brain was. I was regularly walking out of class ranting to my friend on the phone about how controversial social and political issues were undermined by strawman fallacies — which I still stand by. But anyway, it was a lot. During this time, I often questioned whether it was preferable to think too much or too little. Thinking too much made me feel a little crazy, but there’s also innate merit to thinking. The way

The Michigan Daily Crossword Puzzle Sunday, February 4, 2024 - Puzzle by Meryn Dziemian

I see it, thinking is what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Animals seem to plod along, receiving life and doing what must be done to continue, well, plodding along. Life just happens to them, and they bear it beautifully. But human beings are distinctly odd in this regard — we have the opportunity to be thoughtful and contextualize our lives. We don’t just receive life; we get to digest it, process it, consider the world from different angles and figure out what kind of life we want to live. Our capacity to think is a faculty that’s gone out of style in recent decades. (Or at least I think it’s decades; but I’ve only been alive for two of them, so don’t quote me on that.) People can blame it on TikTok or capitalism, but I think it’s much simpler than that: Why think when you can watch Netflix? Thinking takes brain power, and it’s much easier to focus on the here and now than to attempt to make sense of a world that often doesn’t make much sense at all. Sometimes thinking about life will leave you sadder than you were before — so why bother?

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Wednesday, February 7, 2024 — 5

Funny women and what they mean to me

Design by Abby Schreck

CONSTANCE MEADE Style Beat Editor

I was born without the ability to speak. I had a hemangioma, a benign collection of blood vessels lodged in my windpipes that blocked my breathing. I spoke sign language for the first four or so years of my life. So, being loud was not something I was familiar with. As a girl especially, I was conditioned to believe that being loud was annoying or bossy. In the fifth grade, I fell in love with laughter. I played the showstealing role of Prince Valiant in my school theater camp’s production of “Mixed Fairy Tales.” I didn’t want to audition for the girl roles because they weren’t nearly as fun to play as boy roles like this one. So, I auditioned for Prince Valiant (a very madeup character), and I booked it. I remember the absolute euphoria that came with standing up on stage and being ridiculous. I remember the unabashed joy that came with each laugh from the audience. I remember realizing that there is nothing I love more than making people laugh. At theater camp the next year, I auditioned for the boy roles once again, chasing that feeling of freedom when I was on stage. I was a really quiet kid, so being a silly prince was the only chance I got to be boisterous, obnoxious and hilarious. But I didn’t book the prince this time. Instead, I was cast as the evil stepmother in Cinderella’s mixed-up fairy tale. That was when I realized that girls’ roles were way f*cking funnier.

Around this time I found the “Saturday Night Live” YouTube channel — and it completely changed my life. I would come home from school and spend an embarrassing amount of time on the family laptop, watching sketch after sketch, mesmerized by the ridiculous characters that appeared on the screen. But what I was most struck by was Kristen Wiig’s (“Ghostbusters”) “surprise lady” character. She made me laugh harder than I had ever laughed before. Wiig has an incredible ability to make every single one of her characters unbelievably relatable, regardless of how ridiculous they are. I saw myself in her “surprise lady” character, in the small, strange mannerisms and quirky outfits. Finding myself in her surprise lady character was so beautiful to me. It showed me that I could be just as strange as her, that it’s okay to not be perfect. That’s when I found myself in a deep rabbit hole of Wiig’s hilarious and deeply human characters such as, “Target lady,” “Gilly,” “Penelope” and her portrayal of Liza Minnelli, just to name a few. In my deep obsession, I also discovered the work of Carol Burnett (“The Carol Burnett Show”), Wanda Sykes (“Monsterin-Law”), Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation”), Rachel Dratch (“Wine Country”), Maya Rudolph (“Bridesmaids”), Melissa McCarthy (“Spy”) and, more recently, Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”), who are all bold, brave and unapologetic.

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The art I love comes from the people I love

Design by Grace Filbin

GABY CUMMINGS Daily Arts Writer

For as long as I can remember, my favorite color has always been orange. It’s not that I’ve ever been particularly fond of the color, but when I was really little I asked my mom what her favorite color was, and that was her answer. I wanted to be like my mom, so I immediately claimed her answer as my own. Over time, I’ve developed a genuine love for the color because of how it connects me to my mom. My interests have developed more independently as I’ve grown up, but the seeds of everything I love — especially related to art — is tethered to the people I love who were kind enough to share something they cared about with me. Best explained in the words of “The Sound of Music,” which became one of my favorite musicals thanks to the best older sister in the world, here are a few of my favorite things: Castles with towers and magical tales When I was little, I wanted to be a princess. I constantly carried around a Cinderella briefcase full of princess and fairy figurines to play with. My

mom read me fairytales and my dad told me about the periods of history those fairytales came from. While I can’t say I still want to be a princess, I still love castles and ancient stories. I’ve never grown out of my love for the stories they shared with me. It’s even more special now because when I get to see castles or read fairy tales again, it feels like a piece of home. ‘Cherry Wine — Live’ … When my sister got her driver’s license, she didn’t want to go anywhere by herself. As the little sister, the responsibility to accompany her fell on me. I was so happy to get to spend so much time with my sister, who I’ve always considered to be the coolest person in the world. We talked about everything under the sun and listened to her favorite songs. When she explained to me how amazing Hozier’s live version of “Cherry Wine” was and played it over the speakers, I immediately added it to all of my playlists. Though it wasn’t really the type of music I listened to at the time, the song has become the reason Hozier has landed in my Spotify Wrapped for the past few years.

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MiC

6 — Wednesday, February 7, 2024

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SARA WONG/MiC

summer songs pt.1 IHAA MOHAN MiC Columnist

haram (if our love is blasphemy) i sit back and press my palm against the cool granite of the school steps the hallways are empty, the nervous bustle from just a few moments ago absent there is hot sun prickling my neck, beads of sweat rolling down my back i shiver

there is an altar here, a small one, just a picture on a stool on a fraying tablecloth sandalwood incense drifts into the heavy air, unbearably perfumed strings of marigolds and coins and pens are littered in front of it all last-minute prayers tendered in desperation (i wonder, idly, which offering is yours) i pick up one of the strings and twist it around my finger so round and round and round she goes

and where she stops nobody knows i hum the bell rings, footsteps thump, i hear them through my fingers waves of people come pouring out the classroom doors all at once, and the brief solitude of silence is interrupted by now-carefree chatter i stand up to look for you but you part the crowd like you always do, and you smile at me and walk up to me and stand way too close so i’ll have to crane my neck to

meet your eyes love is the feeling that grows, that grows— “how was your exam, it was fine i’d studied well, that’s good” i take the string of yellow petals and adorn your earth-coloured wrist, pull it tight with a knot this is sacred, you whisper, almost chidingly faintly, i feel the crowd close in the apples of your cheek rise higher and temptation presents itself but i won’t bite because i want this to last (please last) i know, i let go of your mustard

summer songs pt. 2 IHAA MOHAN MiC Columnist

you braid my hair, i’ll braid yours my hand floats leisurely, cutting through the warm syrup of afternoon air i hold it against the sun and squint at the light peeking through my fingers i bring that same hand down to hold yours, and you smile at me, and it’s a gentler light you are talking about how the smell of oil paint always clings to your clothes as you pull my hand up once again, to

your hair, a silent request i shift a little as you lean into my palm and start weaving your hair into a braid you have to paint a portrait of someone for class, you say, it will be graded have you found a model? no, you think and almost ask me to do it but emotions come out in art too well and affections so apparent can be dangerous can one gaze upon you in the way i do and still stand to not fall in love? i slump forward lazily onto your

shoulder i can smell the paint on your skin my lips are warm against your neck you start when i nip at you playfully and half-heartedly smack my arm i grin and rest my head in your lap instead there is a moment of silence when we face each other - summer days make one bold but the footsteps on the path around the corner are fast-approaching, so we leave it unsaid; i spin around to sit cross-legged in front of you - you move an inch away.

SARA WONG/MiC

My Sunshine KARIS RIVERS MiC Columnist

He is forever ignorant of all the love he holds

Soft songs in the wind will he ever hear my love is there?

memories that I hold dear Deep inside my nephew’s eyes A light graces the earth A joy and blessing within him A precious gem rare in quality He is a newfound beauty

So I write this for him moments burned into my brain and I hope he can learn to see will vanish from his without a thought His name is one I could never forget

that he is the love, the beauty of life, and the promise for tomorrow

I am grateful to experience

and mine is one he will have to learn

Deep in his eyes

and when he grabs my fingers

He will grow

I know he is the sunshine

the thought crosses my mind, is this how it feels?

and find traces of my love scattered in his future

To know all that he offers he’ll never understand

and never know it’s there

On Nov. 24, 2022, I met my nephew for the first time. He was only one year old, still couldn’t talk and ran so fast he bounced off the walls. He is my first and

only nephew, and I adore him. My nephew is a ball of sunshine with rays that peak through his eyes and offer us light in a normally bleak world. Offering light to his father, his mother, his aunts and uncles, and he doesn’t even know it. The extent to which we love him, he doesn’t even see. When I was born, was this how it felt? Did I not see it? How could I? Did my uncles see me and feel their hope was restored? Was every moment spent together engraved in the fabric of their being? Could they never foresee a life where I don’t exist? Did they wonder who I would become when we next met? Did they hope I would learn to love them as fondly as they remember me? Because I do, and I suppose I always will.

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STATEMENT

Wednesday, February 7, 2024 — 7

A humanities kid in a STEM-loving culture ELI TRESE

Statement Columnist I wrote my first book when I was 3 years old. I couldn’t read or write yet, but I had an idea. I told my dad the story and he wrote the words and drew the pictures. Despite its New York Times Best Seller list snub, “Eli and his Scooter” still lives on my desk to remind me of how far back my love for writing goes. Looking back on my early authorship, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I became an English major. Yet, my path to accepting that my passion wasn’t one in one of the highly-esteemed STEM fields was rocky. My peers and I took a placement test in fifth grade that determined the math classes we would take from sixth grade until graduation. This test was a big deal, and all of us 10 year olds knew it. Less than half of us would be placed on an accelerated track — setting us up for success later on — and the rest would be relegated to being one year behind some of their peers. I’m not here to harp on the negative repercussions of labeling students by their ability to perform on tests, but rather to speak on the effects of this pressure as I experienced it. When I was in fifth grade, I essentially skipped math altogether, testing out of the required units to theoretically engage with more appropriate material; but instead of learning advanced algebra, we played sudoku and messed around, like fifth graders do. I was never too concerned about the placement test. To both my parents’ and my own satisfaction, I was placed on the accelerated track — but this wasn’t much of a surprise. I had always placed very highly on testing and could always follow instructions well enough to excel. There was just one problem: I hated math. Ah, yes. The great dilemma. What does one do when they hate the things they excel at? The logical answer would be to stop doing whatever it is you dislike, but I wasn’t yet an adult with a fullydeveloped prefrontal cortex. I was a child receiving heaping praise for my work, and I succumbed to the siren calls of academic validation. So, when asked, I always said my favorite subject was math. As I garnered more and more validation from my teachers for my aptitude in math and science — much more than I was getting for any of my writing — I began to abandon my passion for literature

and storytelling. Perhaps it was because excellence in STEM subjects is easily quantifiable, whereas writing has a much more nuanced rating system. Or perhaps math was simply valued more at my school. Regardless of the reasoning, I found incredible difficulty in separating what I had a passion for and what teachers told me I was gifted at. In the grand scheme of a fifth grader’s social and personal development, the forced conflation of ability and passion was inevitable. The things that I was good at became the things I thought I had a passion for. By the time I reached high school, I had begun to figure out my academic interests. I was a musician, I loved to read, I loved to write and I still hated math. Yet I would tell people I wanted to be an engineer when they asked what I wanted to do in college. My dream career at the time contained nothing of what I loved and a whole lot of what I hated: numbers, problem solving and logic puzzles. I had picked up on the very clear signals our education system had been sending me: STEM was the future, the way to financial security. The forthcoming digital age needed scientists and mathematicians to forge the new technological revolution just beyond the horizon. The arts, on the other hand, were on their way

out. Pursuing a career in them was a mistake, a waste, damning the artist to the inevitability of starving artistry. Fortunately, I dashed my engineering hopes in my sophomore year of high school when I got a C+ in my honors precalculus class. I really shouldn’t have struggled in the class. It was taught by a notoriously easy-going teacher, and the content was much easier than things I had seen in previous classes. But whether my subconscious could no longer bear to continue lying about my feigned love for math, or I simply reached a breaking point in my motivation, I didn’t even try to do well. More often than not, I would come to class without having finished my homework. This, I learned, was not a recipe for success, and it manifested itself in the barely-passing grade that I received. I saw it as a life-altering catastrophe then, but I look back on it now as a wake up call — if I was religious, perhaps, I would say that it was rooted in some sort of divinity — a tell-tale sign that I could no longer gaslight myself into loving something that I hated. My parents had seen the whole process take place. They nurtured the 3 year old who wanted to write a book. They raised the 6 year old who told everyone he had just read his first chapter book on his

own. They also saw the 11 year old who abandoned his love of writing because he thought he was simply better at something else; they saw the kid who lied when he said he liked math. So, instead of getting mad at me for performing poorly in a class, they simply took the opportunity to remind me of my real passion — the passion I had left behind. They sat me down and made sure I understood that my C+ wasn’t going to define who I was, but they also made sure that I understood that I’ve always had a love for writing and literature. After their talk, I retreated upstairs and immediately dug through my desk drawer and found the old, tattered copy of “Eli and his Scooter.” Finally, I remembered. My affection for the arts began to return. I found myself enjoying my English classes more and rekindling my writing skills. I began writing in my free time again, creating poetry, essays and short stories (none of which were very good, but I digress). By the time I began to apply to universities and consider majors, I had already set my sights on an English degree; but I still faltered. There are people throwing out warning signs for prospective humanities-seeking majors on every corner of the internet: the lack of job prospects, the feelings of regret, the sense of uselessness. The

ever-growing notion that a college major’s sole purpose was to set the student up for career success began to slowly seep into my psyche. Maybe they were right; perhaps STEM was the future and the arts and humanities were falling out of favor. “What are you going to major in?” my relatives would ask. “English, probably,” I would say. They’d narrow their eyes and look at me sideways. “What are you going to do with that? Do you want to be a teacher?” This response was a stark contrast to the intrigue and excitement they had shown my majoring-in-computer-science brother just a year prior. I would leave these conversations feeling disrespected and discouraged, worrying that I was wasting my brains by going into the humanities — that I needed to go into STEM to make a real impact, to do something that people will admire me for. Now, two years into my English degree, I thank my younger self for staying true to my passion and finding the courage to pursue it. The current reality of higher education is that it is more about career readiness than it is about forming a well-rounded person. So it makes sense that the majors with the most growth are those with sturdier financial outlooks

Design by Evelyn Mousigian

and career-oriented approaches such as pre-med, computer science, engineering and business. And with the growth of these fields comes the decline of studies like philosophy, English and history. And while college majors can be “popular” and lead to oversaturation of the job market, the trend is fairly clear: you can be a computer scientist or a neurologist, but you can’t be an English-ist. Shooting for a career that sets you up for a clear-cut future is the easy, correct decision for many people, one that promises financial and job security in an unstable world. The stress of not knowing what the future holds is lessened by organized paths to attaining a degree, and the fear of wasting time and money on a degree to simply not put it to use is calmed by the stability of job opportunities in these fields. But while it’s less risky in the short-term, one may run the risk of finding themselves in a career path that they have no passion for, with no escape route. Not all STEM fields are careerready, and not all humanities damn their recipients to failure. In fact, success (financially speaking) is only loosely correlated with a person’s college major. Yet, I have presented the binary of STEM and humanities to be a mutually exclusive duo where the issues with one are the strengths of the other. This isn’t the case. All fields of higher education require taking a risk, but the humanities seem to be deemed more risky than STEM fields, and many students are ushered away from the “risky” degrees despite the alternatives not being the safehaven they’re advertised to be. I know that a degree in English is risky, too. I don’t have a single career I can set my sights on, and I have to trust that my skills will transfer to whatever path I choose. But when my STEM friends and family members ask, “What can you do with an English degree?” I’ll always respond with, “Absolutely anything.” Because a career doesn’t need to be defined by a college major. It’s risky, it’s less stable — but I’m certainly not destined for failure. I’ll take my risk. I’ll resist the gravitational pull of a “careerready” degree. I’ll laugh off looks of admiration my engineering friends get when they say their major, while I just get courteous nods. I’ll ignore the well-intentioned, yet snarky “what are you going to do with an English major?” comments. Because I know what I am. I’m a kid who followed his passion. I’m a humanities kid in a STEM-loving culture.

Helen of Troy and the war on femininity ANNA MCLEAN

Statement Columnist I take my headphones out and feel hot tears forming in my eyes. I notice a lump in my throat that wasn’t there before. Singer-songwriter Maisie Peters’ words echo like a lyrical symphony of ideas and questions that seem too daunting to face head-on: “He stole her youth and promised heaven / the men start wars yet Troy hates Helen.” I hit pause on “History of Man.” I feel like I’m 12 years old again in mid-July, staring into the mirror to see a reflection I hated, and I’m hit with a wave of emotion in the present where I can feel an invisible line tracing my youth to where I stand today. I can remember the way I saw myself as a preteen, and I started to wonder if, perhaps, my own youth was stolen in the name of pleasing men. At 12, braces adorned my mouth, devoid of a smile, and my frizzy hair was adjacent to an unkempt bird’s nest. For most of my adolescence, I sported a pair of Uggs (before they were cool) and a sweatshirt that was baggy enough to conceal the fact that the only bras I owned obviously didn’t fit the body I had grown into over the last few months. I didn’t, in all honesty, look drastically different from the majority of awkward, midpuberty girls in my grade, but everyone is

always harsher on themselves. At the time, I had never had a boyfriend; in fact, I had never come close — I always felt like the ugly duckling and chalked it up to my physical attributes. My forehead is too big, my teeth are crooked and my knees are knobby: These were just a few of the insults I would hurl at myself in attempts to rationalize the fact that I felt physically undesirable. At the age of 10, I had just discovered Musical.ly, which went on to become TikTok. It was the summer of “A day in the life of…” videos. Gorgeous girls who woke up effortlessly beautiful and had even more stunning “morning routines” littered my featured page, and I remember thinking to myself, Why don’t I look like that yet? My friends and I wore tankinis and did amateur makeovers on each other in hopes of pronouncing what beauty we hoped we had hiding underneath minor pimples and uncurled eyelashes. I had not yet discovered a flat iron or an underwire bra, but the weight of the expectation to be beautiful lingered at the tip of my tongue like something I knew I was supposed to achieve, but that I didn’t yet know how to do. If I could make myself look like MyLifeasEva or Loren Gray, whose fame was derived from their beauty, I was certain that I could then be pleasing to men. The problem with my way of thinking throughout my

formative years was that it was not truly my own. I doubt that I would have come to the conclusion that I needed to change the way I looked in order to fit a societal (albeit westernized) standard of beauty if the social media I consumed had not implicitly suggested it. The ideals of beauty that contemporary society and media promote stem from thousands of years of patriarchal domination and its influence on the way women ought to present themselves. Beauty has continuously been praised and admired, and if a woman does not fit the male conceptualization of “prettiness,” her worth in society is diminished. Yet, society deems that if women spend too much time on the way they look, apply too much makeup or wear clothes that show too much or too little, they will be demonized and shamed. The legend of Helen of Troy goes that, in her youth, she was abducted by the Greek hero Theseus for her beauty.The men of her home country, Greece, subsequently went to war to bring her home. However, upon her return, she was scorned for being a catalyst of war and era of mass destruction and death. The story of her abduction is riddled with shame and feminine guilt. I first came across this tale in a class I took my first semester of college: Great Books 191. Circe, Clytemnestra, Lysistrata and Penelope were strewn about my

nightly readings and I poured myself into feminist pieces on the implications of what it meant to be a woman written by a man. This, in turn, catapulted me into a slight obsession with all things Greek mythology, specifically the women in the literature. That’s when I came across Maisie Peters’ song “History of Man.” I started to connect the idea that my obsession with these famous Greek women comes from my own feeling of my youth being pilfered by the expectations of a society that seeks to define women, that seeks to define femininity. Circe, Clytemnestra, Penelope and Lysistrata each play different roles in their respective stories, but the common denominator amongst these characters is their astounding beauty and the power that comes with it. The women in these stories, like Helen, did not create the system in which beauty equals power and influence; the men of their time, and the men even before them, did. The patriarchy has created a dynamic in which for women to yield influence, they must first be desirable. For example, when the presidential election rolls around every four years, in the recent past, female candidates have been dragged across social media and news outlets alike for their looks. Instead of choosing to focus on what these women might hope to achieve in office, society places their value as candidates on their

physical attractiveness instead. Young girls, like my 12-year-old self, look up to larger-than-life content creators on social media platforms for instructions on how to become beautiful, what workout routines to follow and which foods to eat. And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, older women are influenced into buying retinol creams and skin-firming products with the hopes of attaining everlasting, youthful beauty. And of course, there is a difference between feeling pressured into extreme means of maintaining beauty and participating in makeup and skincare because it’s something you love as a hobby or art of sorts. Regardless, it’s not women’s fault for doing what they deem necessary to survive under this set of strict societal standards that dictate how they must present themselves. Even back in the 2010s when social media arguably had not yet hit its peak, female content creators’ comment sections were flooded with male “haters” spewing insults like “cake face,” if they were wearing makeup, “whore,” if they had on revealing clothes, or “whale,” if their body type didn’t fit what was fashionable at the time. These content creators did everything in their power to attain the very structure and idea of beauty forced upon them, yet they continued to be attacked for their efforts. It is not enough for women to simply exist when

there are a million seemingly endless rules we must follow about how we look and dress. The men started the war we fight to uphold our appearance, self-presentation and, therefore, our worth. Like Helen, we are forced into a reality we did not ask for,yet somehow, we are the ones blamed. The patriarchal standard for what “beauty” looks like has defined the way that I grew up. It has stolen my youth, and it will steal the same youth of millions of other girls. Instead of spending hours in front of the mirror teaching myself how to straighten my hair, apply eyeshadow or do a Bulgarian split squat to grow my glutes correctly, I could have been building legos or swimming with my friends in the lake, simply being young. It’s time that we, as a society, redefine beauty, what it means to be beautiful and what it means to be a woman. Women are so much more than our weight, appearance or ability to apply makeup that “suits our undertones.” We are intelligent, kind and strong, and if we teach girls that it is okay to just simply exist, then hopefully we can raise a new generation that will play with legos and go swimming with their friends. Women of all ages should not feel as though they have to look, act or dress a certain way to be accepted by society. And, hopefully, we women will bring about the fall of Troy.

8 — Wednesday, February 7, 2024

STATEMENT

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Laptop stickers, Stanley cups and campus perceptions MOLLY GOLDWASSER Statement Columnist

My friend told me she almost got mauled over Stanley cups during Winter Break. She works at a Target in Auburn Hills. Apparently, the locals drink a lot of water on the go. Yet, Stanley cups, which are large and durable stainless-steel water bottles that come in an assortment of aesthetically-pleasing colors, are reusable, so there is no logical reason why demand for this product is so high. Like many other products, the Stanley cup has evolved beyond its primary function, surpassing its use as a liquids container to become a sign of status. The gigantic water bottles serve as public declarations of health consciousness — a signal to other people who fit the “that-girl,” wellness aesthetic that the bottle owner (or, more accurately, lugger) is one of them. While unfortunate, it is neither new nor surprising that we tie our identities to our material purchases. Students are especially susceptible to losing themselves in 40-ounce bottle investments. Sitting in lecture, giant pastel soldiers line the rows of desks housing what I’m sure is crisplycold water. Ultimately, they are just water bottles, but I’d be remiss to say that I view them as such. Walking on campus and going to lectures, I see hundreds of nameless faces on the heads of people I don’t know, yet I find myself subconsciously evaluating their outfits and accessories. I pass them by and tell myself I now know who they are. The cut of their jeans, the logo on their winter coat, the style of their sneakers and now the brand of their water bottle categorizes these strangers in a split second. And then even worse, with a quick swivel of my eyes, I have decided how I feel about them. My superficiality is truly despicable, and at times humbling, as I’ve realized that my day-to-day attire would not even pass my own judgment That said, the consumerist elements of identity seem to be exacerbated in college. As I study

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on campus, laptop and water bottle stickers catch my eye — personal items plastered with organizations, causes and brands hand selected to advertise the values of their owners. As a freshman, I felt inadequate in this regard. Typing away at their keyboards, everyone seemed to know exactly who they were, what they liked and what they wanted. Not only that, but all their interests and involvements were an aesthetic curation, making it seem, to me, that all their extracurriculars were perfectly matched to their identity and that they earnestly loved what they did. I was impressed by other students’ abilities to define themselves so succinctly through their organizations and extracurriculars. Public Health senior Izzy Simakas has a laptop adorned with earth-toned stickers. There’s a logo from the bookstore she visited with a friend, a sun, quite a few plants, a couple cats and a sticker for the Residential College.

As I sift through these character clues and come up with my notion of who she is, she halts my mental evaluation by saying, “It’s kind of just like a random collection.” “I guess it maybe is about portraying a certain vibe, right? But I’m not sure if I necessarily seek out stickers with that in mind,” Simakas said as she pondered on the choice to adorn her laptop with these distinctive logos, brands and designs. “Two of the stickers are simply gifts from a friend.” Simakas is aware of the presentation component — that there is a vibe to her curation — yet, ultimately, she chooses to decorate with stickers simply because they make her happy to look at. Clearly, I need to tone back my assumption making, but in a world where companies sell images as much as their products, that’s not so easy to do, and even harder to apply subconsciously. Grappling with what to major in, I struggled to find a label that didn’t feel arbitrary. Sure, I could

say I was majoring in computer science or biochemistry, but with only two semesters of college under my belt and three uncertain years left, it felt inauthentic to parade like I had it all figured it out. I saw my major like I saw chunky Filas in high school: I could be tempted to buy them in the moment, but I abstained because I knew I’d be aghast by them in a year. I don’t limit myself to only activities that my future-self would endorse; that is a standard I save for clothing purchases. And I have activities I like to do — run outside, thrift and read — but nothing that I consider to define myself. “My people” are the people I like. The computer science stickers I’ve accumulated will never grace the back of my computer. Their showcase would feel like a lie — a misrepresentation of myself to the world. But what do my laptop and water bottle owe to the world? As a freshman, I flirted with the idea of pursuing chemistry. But I couldn’t be sure it was for me until

I took organic chemistry. There are, from what I can tell, two groups of students who decide to take organic chemistry: pre-med students who have to be there and chemistry enthusiasts who want to be there. Since I chose to take the course and generally enjoyed the content (excluding the physical manifestations of stress that would materialize the week before exams), I couldn’t commiserate with the former group. Yet I didn’t feel fully a part of the other group, either. As I walked back to my dorm from class one day, a friend from lecture asked me what my favorite element was. I didn’t have an answer for him, and I still don’t have a particular affinity for any elements on the periodic table. But on that trek home from class, I learned he’s had his favorite element picked out since he was 5. This was incredibly worrying for me at the time, as I clearly lacked the intrinsic passion my classmates harbored for chemistry. I felt like I didn’t love it enough — certainly

not enough to declare my undying passion with a laptop sticker. However, stickers are not permanent, no matter how much I might cringe at the thought of the ugly scratched-off residue on the back of a laptop. My interests and activities can and will change, regardless of how souldefining they feel in the moment. Furthermore, the most deliberate choices may be indiscernible to public perception. As I was attempting to write one Sunday evening in the League, I couldn’t help but notice a student studying behind me. LSA junior Taylor Stacy was a vision in pink: pink headphones, two pink water bottles (one a Stanley), a pink laptop with pink stickers and a pink pen in her hand. Yet, this aesthetic choice has a deeper meaning than what meets the eye. After watching “Legally Blonde” during a particularly difficult time in her life, Stacy was inspired. “I was like I’m going to do it, I’m going to be the Elle Woods of medicine, and I am going to pull it together. And so it’s just kind of been my thing ever since,” Stacy said as she commented on the story behind her all-pink presence. While pink is a requirement for her laptop stickers, Stacy has dedicated hours to finding stickers that “fit” on shopping sites like RedBubble. “It makes me happy to see it all nice and matching and pink, but I also do not want to put things on there that give people an image of me that is not totally true,” said Stacy. This means stickers repping political causes she truly stands for, the neurotransmitter dopamine, Dolly Parton, Trixie Mattel and, of course, cats. I now view my college experience the way Simakas views her stickers; it is just an amalgamation of classes that I like more than others. I’ve learned to lessen the pressure of defining myself for others’ perception and have been actively trying to do things simply because I enjoy them, instead of worrying about if it is truly my thing or if my characteristics sort me into a specific activity — like writing! My water bottle (a recently purchased HydroFlask) may remain stickerless. But from all the bare Stanley cups I’ve seen on campus, I won’t be alone in this nakedness.

Mini me: Am I epigenetically destined to be my mother? EVELYN BRODEUR Statement Columnist

In the grocery store I stood, freckled and lanky beside my mother. Our cart was stopped mid aisle, parked next to that of another woman — someone I didn’t recognize. She was chatting with my mom about this and that, cold wafting from the nearby freezers surrounding us. I was stubbornly shy, only willing to make eye contact with the bags of frozen fruit carefully arranged in front of me. I glanced upward for a moment, and with a tight-lipped, friendly smile, the woman told me I looked just like my mother. “Mini me,” Ma added, glancing in my direction. I can recall many similar comments being made, especially when I was younger, and it’s funny to think about because now, I don’t find that my mother and I look very similar to each other at all. In retrospect, this woman’s assessment of my appearance may have been related to the fact that she was someone unfamiliar to me, unknowing of my character, unaware of pastimes or some other relevant information that one could comment on in a spontaneous interaction in the freezer aisle. She was, however, aware of my mother, and thus knew me in some way: by association. I suppose it’s simple to connect someone to their parents, an aspect of one’s identity that’s not too hidden. Drawing us together through our looks resembled an attempt to acknowledge our relationship. Maybe, all those years ago, when that lady said “you look just like your mom,” what she meant was, “you and your mom seem close,” or something like that.

I think I grew up feeling comfortable with this connection, reassured that I had a part of me stable enough to be pointed out in conversation, stable because it depended on other people, namely my parents. The possibility that we could have similar appearances shaped the way I viewed myself. Although I adore my mom and am proud of strangers connecting me to her, regardless of how accurate their judgments may be, I’m curious about other ways that I’ve become the person I am — ways that are not attributed directly to the people that raised me. It’s potentially empowering to look into how I may shape myself through my own whims and adventures rather than being only a product of my environment, like a little sheep to what was purportedly always ahead of me. Mannerisms, behaviors and physical appearance — fundamental traits — aren’t always a challenge to link back to their origins; for the most part, I got those from my parents. Other characteristics are harder to trace. The emerging scientific field of epigenetics was something I encountered some time back while slogging through AP Biology. Epigenetics studies genetic changes that occur through stress, relationships and experiences. Many processes can make up these changes, like methylation and acetylation, to name a few, but for brevity’s sake I don’t want to dwell on the scientific vocabulary. As a fairly new science, there is much that is yet to be discovered, but the general idea of epigenetics can be applied to our curiosity about the factors and experiences that make us different from our family, shaping our personality and habits. It’s possible that the decisions we make and the things we do contribute to

who we are genetically and who we’re becoming. So, I’ve started pondering this: If I share enough DNA with my mom for strangers to notice in the grocery store, how much of our similarities in behavior and identity — the things beyond complexion and hair color — am I bound to have? And how much of that destiny will I break? Here, there’s nature versus nurture, as it relates to one’s physiological history of self. It’s not black and white, though, as there are other notable contributors, like behavior and proximity. In the case of a close friendship, for example, after spending almost every waking moment together for years, it’s clear that friends begin to share movements and phrases, even dressing the same. As epigenetics has become more popular, so has the concept of generational trauma, or how some would describe feeling the effects of the traumatic experiences of their ancestors. Symptoms of struggle may persist through the years, imprinting from parents to their children and even their grandchildren after, an ostensibly irrevocable legacy. On that note, I don’t wish to unpack my life’s story — that would be an arduous and fruitless undertaking. But it feels unfair, and it’s frustrating to think that what’s totally out of one’s control, what happened years and generations ago, can have such an impact on our very beings. Certainly, it can be difficult in the extreme to break away from a personal identity you are bound to have. But the science isn’t clear on epigenetics; there’s plenty of skepticism. This was discussed on the Blindboy podcast, which featured Aoife McLysaght, a geneticist and professor at Trinity

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College in Dublin, as a guest. The host asks McLysaght if a “trauma big enough can impact the DNA in your body.” “It doesn’t work that way,” McLysaght replied. The idea of epigenetics is connected to the concept that memories of trauma last in the body with enough permanence to be passed down through generations. However, according to McLysaght, the bodily mechanism required for trauma to be passed on in this way is complicated. McLysaght went on to explain that the genetic material that would be replicated cannot carry memories. Thus, the body wouldn’t necessarily transmit genetic code to a developing embryo that was altered based on parental experience. In terms of epigenetics, a traumatized mother doesn’t necessitate a traumatized baby.

McLysaght added that a history of family trauma, like other experiences, does leave a lasting impact during a child’s development. Reasonably, one can pick up anxiety from being exposed extensively to an anxious person, but it’s simply the aforementioned behavioral learning, not genetics. Our propensity to imitate can simply be a reanimation of past experiences or it can permeate deeper to influence our very sense of self. That’s what lasts. There’s some hope to be found in this idea of behavior, I think. Pain and trauma don’t have to be what roots us. They can be something we grapple with, sure, but with time, with new experiences and efforts, we can change the narrative of generations. I feel like I’ve spent my life picking up little pieces, scattered

about the path I’ve taken and the choices I’ve made, with each person I meet and each place I go building who I am. The way I see it, the relationships I have with others comprise a part of my identity. I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason, and it feels wrong to think that what has become is what was always meant to be — that discredits intent. All things considered, from an only somewhat scientific stance, genetics are less of what defines an identity but rather the starting point from which identities are built. Within the gaps of what is far from an exact science, there arises the potential for people to use genetics as an excuse, blaming genetics for the way they are.

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Opinion

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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.

Are online influencers a good source for health advice? ETHAN BITTNER Opinion Columnist

he online health and fitness industry has grown significantly in the years following the COVID-19 lockdowns. Many took interest in improving their physical health and used the excess down time to create new exercise and eating habits. As a result, more people now turn to social media influencers for guidance on proper health, nutrition and fitness. This trend is expected to continue in the coming decade, as the market value of the online fitness industry was $14.9 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $250.7 billion by 2032. While it is good that more people are making their physical health and fitness a priority, consumers of online health and fitness content must be wary of misinformation and cautious about the sources they take advice from. Failure to do so may cause consumers of online fitness media to misconstrue health with physical fitness and adopt practices that end up harming their long-term health more than helping it. Online dietitians are a popular resource that viewers rely on for accurate diet recommendations backed by science. However, despite being licensed health

care professionals, they, too, must be subject to skepticism. In November 2023, the Federal Trade Commission issued warnings to the American Beverage Association, the Canadian Sugar Institute and 12 licensed dietitians regarding a failure to adequately disclose that influencers were paid to promote the consumption of aspartame and sugary foods. One of the 12 licensed dietitians addressed was Stephanie Grasso, an influencer with 2.2 million followers on TikTok and 263,000 followers on Instagram. The FTC cited concerns surrounding an American Beverage Association-sponsored post in which Grasso discredited the World Health Organization’s information regarding aspartame, saying that their recommendation against high consumption of the artificial sweetener was based on low-quality science. Grasso’s posts, as well as those of the other flagged licensed dietitians, lack transparency about a material connection between the endorser and marketer of the product, which may affect credibility. These posts may include “#ad” or “#PaidPartnership” in the caption, but they often do not indicate who is sponsoring the posts. Some influencers also tend to bury these hashtags deep in the text description of a post, making them not visible to viewers at first glance.

College taught me the flaws of suburbia BRINA GOLUBOVIC

SHANIA BAWEJA AND ABBY SCHRECK

The FTC also issued a warning to dietitian Lindsay Pleskot regarding her lack of disclosure in posts sponsored by the Central States Industrial, a food industry association representing the manufacturers of refined sugar in Canada. Pleskot is a promoter of intuitive eating, encouraging her viewers to achieve their weight loss goals without strict dieting. Her content frequently shows her eating desserts and telling her audience that avoiding sugary foods makes cravings worse and is counteractive to dieting in the long term. The FTC cited her for mocking professionals who recommend a low sugar diet in an Instagram video sponsored by the CSI. The lack of transparency about sponsorships and the misinformation spread by influencer dietitians such as Pleskot and Grasso is likely more widespread than most realize. Ten more influencers were flagged in the FTC’s warnings, and there is no telling how many more are taking payments from the food industry without properly disclosing that information. People looking for credible, healthy diet recommendations ought to carefully examine their sources before acting on the advice they find.

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Wednesday, February 7, 2024 — 9

uring the pandemic, many college students were stuck at home — with me spending my bout of isolation sitting at home in Rochester Hills, a small pocket of Michigan suburbia. Due to the massive amounts of time I spent trapped in my house, I came to the realization of how poorly designed most suburbs are. TikTok was trying to convince me to take “hot girl walks,” but where? My hometown was filled with houses, barely any sidewalks and no stores or businesses within walking distance. That was during my freshman year of college. After arriving on campus my second year, my experience was starkly different. Everything was exciting and easy to navigate. During Winter Break, however, I found myself experiencing the same dread of being stuck in my home as I did during freshman year. I missed my apartment, the local coffee shops and being within walking distance of my best friends. I missed the way I would go to bed and hear students laughing contagiously outside my window and how all my friends were just steps away from me. While college students may be a little too concerned with binge drinking and tasteless fraternity parties, the benefits of college towns are often overlooked. Public transportation manifests itself on most campuses, with students finding themselves either shoved together on a local bus or stuck honking behind them. Nonetheless, the idea of having a way to get around a town or city is what matters. College campuses and towns rely heavily on public transportation, and with roughly 11% of Americans using public transportation daily or weekly, public transportation is of high importance in the

United States. Cities are typically more walkable and accessible than suburbs, an advantage for college students who either can’t drive or bring their cars to campus. Public transportation is both far more efficient than privately-owned vehicles — as more individuals are able to utilize public transportation at a time causing less traffic congestion — and better for the environment. Greater use of public transportation would lower greenhouse gas emissions, which accounts for more than 20% of emissions worldwide. College towns have also had greater voter participation, thanks to accessible voting locations, positive attitudes toward elections on campus and resources for students and locals to come together in larger quantities to vote. Not only has this caused an uprising of overall voter turnout, but also Democratleaning voting tendencies. Students and college educated individuals are more likely to vote Democrat, as evidenced by the most recent presidential election. At the University of Michigan, more than 50% of students voted for President Biden in the 2020 election. Locals and those involved in college communities are more incentivized to take part in politics because of their sense of community. These voting trends are evidence that college towns and campuses are pushing back against gerrymandering that has stolen democratic votes in the past. College towns also spur economic growth. They are considered to be crucial economic drivers for their surrounding towns and cities because they attract spending power, encourage innovation and drive demand. With larger quantities of people in smaller cities and towns, businesses boom. Smaller businesses are given an opportunity to thrive, rather than being thwarted by larger chain corporations. Having local businesses that residents are familiar with

allows both for these businesses to grow and for a better sense of community to be fostered. This feeling of community extends to residents wanting to support local businesses and keep the economy up. This is not to say that college towns are perfect. They are often disliked for their party scenes, and fraternities and sororities often make up a large part of campus life. Families might feel that campuses are unsafe and too loud to live near. Parties, underage drinking and assault are all issues that follow college towns and leave the thought of living near one feel unsafe. Yet, college campuses have been an important part in exemplyfing a better, less suburban way of life for Americans, in upholding local communities. Although it would be impossible to get rid of rural and suburban areas entirely, which is not the goal in any case, learning from the beneficial aspects of college towns is a necessity in order to refresh U.S. infrastructure. Implementing better public transportation is at the heart of aiding other problems, as it lowers costs of transportation and improves road safety and equity. Residents can take advantage of having a way to get to work and run errands, a vital resource for low income individuals and the elderly. Local businesses can rely on residents to make impactful purchases compared to relying on larger chain businesses. Suburbia has a lot to learn from college towns, like convenient set ups and personalized experiences. College towns sustain a way of living that can be beneficial for nearly everyone. These simpler modes of transportation and larger sense of community need to be followed and looked to. After spending my entire life far from thriving in a suburban environment, the thought of returning to an inaccessible environment concerns me. The University of Michigan, and similar campuses, are what suburbia cannot ignore.

From The Daily: Students deserve more than vague free speech principles THE MICHIGAN DAILY EDITORIAL BOARD

n Jan. 16, the University of Michigan Board of Regents approved and adopted a set of “Principles on Diversity of Thought and Freedom of Expression.” The 1 1/2 page document, initially drafted in October, outlines the University’s position on freedom of expression and creating inclusive environments. With questions about the nature of free speech on the rise nationally, the principles were meant to chart a clear path through difficult political terrain. In practice, they were highly rhetorical. The document’s language is intentionally vague, allowing for multiple interpretations. Without clear communication from the administration, the principles are left up to readers’ analysis, which poses a problem for effective policy. The University must engage in good faith with students and make itself more clear as it turns these guidelines into action. The free speech principles were introduced to the student body in an email from University President Santa Ono, who announced the assembly of an initial panel to “recommend ways to put the principles into practice” and a second panel to analyze its successes and failures. There is no specification about the composition of the first panel in the email, but Ono does promise the second panel will include students. As this process unfolds, it’s important to examine the University’s track record on protecting free speech. There are examples of the University living up to its ideals as a public institution. Student demonstrations, including those

by pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups, have been allowed to occur around campus, including right outside of Ono’s house. This can’t be said in other higher education institutions, where Students for Justice for Palestine chapters have been banned outright. In a clear success, the University also formed an institute to research rising antisemitism nationwide. Yet, a series of more recent U-M failures have cast doubt on the University’s intent to uphold free speech. On Nov. 17, 2023, dozens of protesters gathered at the Alexander G. Ruthven Building to call on the University to divest from Israel and protect students from Islamophobia and antiArab sentiment. The entrance to Ruthven — typically open to the public during business hours — was blocked by a heavy police presence. Some students were able to enter the building, staging a sit-in, while others protested outside. Despite it being a peaceful demonstration, several students reported experiencing excessive force from officers. Forty students were arrested on charges of trespassing after failing to comply with a dispersal order, and, as of the publication of this article, the charges against these students have not been dropped. They have also been barred from attending Board of Regents meetings. The Daily’s Editorial Board rejects the massive police presence at Ruthven and condemns any and all excessive use of force by law enforcement. Moreover, we are deeply concerned by the University’s choice to block a public building during regular hours of operation and limit student access to Board of Regents meetings. Allowing charges to be levied against students and limiting access to public forums directly

contradicts the principles U-M leadership seeks to promote. The University must show its dedication to free speech and begin mending its previously antagonistic relationship with pro-Palestine student groups. The charges against student protesters should be dropped and their ability to attend board meetings reinstated. Many student organizations complain that they have inadequate access to the University administration. In an email to The Michigan Daily, Shubh Agrawal, board member of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, explained how the organization would like to see its communication with the University improve. “We would like an open line of communication to administration and the Regents,” Agrawal said. “We don’t want to have to fight and face police repression just to get a meeting. We don’t want to be restricted to talking to the Regents through whatever limited parameters they allow at the meetings.” While free speech does not mean that the University should do everything student organizations demand, it does mean that the University should be willing to listen. So far, it hasn’t been. On Nov. 30, 2023, the University canceled two Central Student Government ballot initiatives related to Israel and Palestine, citing violations of the University’s Responsible Use of Information Resources policy. In addition, the University disallowed all future ballot initiatives concerning the same topic. This unprecedented action, among other things, drew the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which sent a letter to U-M administration arguing that the University was engaged

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in the suppression of student speech. CSG is meant to be an independent institution and should not be impeded by the University. The administration should not be able to cancel ballot initiatives at its discretion. All of these events are backdropped by rising levels of Islamophobia and antisemitism on campus and nationwide. The Jewish Resource Center was vandalized by two studentathletes in August, and in October, a video surfaced on social media depicting a School of Information Advisory Board member verbally assaulting Muslim students. The University has not reprimanded the board member. In order to combat the rising levels of Islamophobia, the University should open a serious inquiry into its presence on campus, similar to the recently opened Raoul Wallenberg Institute. University policy must foster an environment where students can engage respectfully

with each other and with administration. As such, the advisory panel Ono promised to create must have student input and must be accessible. We cannot reasonably be expected to internalize and follow free speech guidelines we had no say in formulating. While student power in creating speech policy does not have to be absolute, the process should be transparent and interactive. Our campus cannot become another cautionary tale about what happens when freedom of speech policies are done wrong. Columbia University suspended their chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine and is now pursuing disciplinary action against students involved in their demonstrations. As the groups continued to protest, two students deployed a chemical weapon called “Skunk” on the demonstrators. Columbia’s vague guidelines made these incursions

possible. At the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, a demonstration supporting the hostages taken by Hamas was violently interrupted when a Jewish student was allegedly punched and his Israeli flag spat on. As a renowned and public institution, the University of Michigan must hold itself to a higher standard. Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of higher education, and if we want a thriving and open campus community, it can’t be suppressed. Choosing to support speech only when it is convenient to the University is counterproductive to the civil dialogue that this institution prides itself on. The new principles say: “When we fall short of these ideals, we vow to learn from our missteps as a community that aspires to be ‘leaders and best.’ ” Lately, the University has been falling short of these ideals. The time to live up to them is now.

Opinion

10 — Wednesday, February 7, 2024

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Countering loneliness with connection and personal agency SARAH ZHANG Opinion Columnist

hen I started my first semester of college this past fall, I knew that building my community from scratch would take time. Once I had finished my last final, I wondered if I would see that one party attendee or those two classmates again, yet I clung to the hope that I would develop genuine friendships with time. After I returned home during Winter Break and reconnected with my high school friends, I acknowledged my loneliness in college for the first time. I chatted with my former debate club members at our usual team brunch spot, and I held a fivehour conversation with a friend at our favorite overpriced boba shop. I was surprised by the ease in our conversations and underlying understanding of

each other’s perspectives from years of growing up together. Reflections of loneliness extend beyond my experience, as 39% of college students reported feeling lonely in the past day. The first semester of college presents its unique challenges. Given their distance from home and nascent ties with peers on campus, college freshmen often hide their struggles from those around them and feel especially disconnected in large group settings. Students’ initial perceived lack of support perpetuates their tendency to conceal their feelings, which makes the process of developing a new support system more difficult. The high percentage of students who report feeling lonely reflect a collective failure by broader society to adequately recognize the issue and provide support. To mitigate the impacts of loneliness, we must fundamentally reframe

how we view it. While people normalize feelings of sadness or anger, we stigmatize loneliness and seek to quash this emotion altogether. In reality, loneliness is a universal feeling. To feel ashamed of loneliness is counterproductive given the inevitability of this emotion. Despite the universality of this feeling, chronic loneliness, similar to prolonged sadness or anger, can lead to dangerous mental and physical health effects. As such, we should reflect on the extent of our loneliness and seek help, through avenues like on-campus support networks or individual counseling, when this feeling interferes with other aspects of our lives. Along with acknowledging the inevitability of this emotion and prevalence of prolonged loneliness, we should also reexamine the causes of this feeling. Beyond a lack of personal connection, a lack of

individual agency is central to loneliness. In other words, loneliness stems from both an inadequate social support and a perceived inability to make personal choices or accomplish individual goals. To address the two-pronged nature of loneliness, we must participate in activities that fulfill a desire for social connection and personal goal. For instance, we can join new clubs or attend an on-campus crafting event with a peer to develop a passion alongside a community. Besides goal-setting, another facet of agency is personal choice. Students should choose to maintain connections with their friends from high school rather than succumb to the purported inevitable narrative of drifting apart. Although some experts argue that social media allows students to maintain friendships from high school and discourages new relationships,

friendships from home and friendships in college are not mutually exclusive. Online interactions, while valuable, cannot substitute for in-person relationships, and vice versa. Preserving relationships with important people from across our lives enhances our personal support systems and maintains our personal agency in choosing who we can depend on. As for strengthening nascent friendships, we should reverse patterns of bottling up emotions and practice vulnerability. In her famous TED Talk, Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, argues that we should authentically talk about our feelings and experiences with each other to foster greater trust. While embracing vulnerability is difficult, we can and should honestly elaborate on our emotions when asked about our day or turn to a friend during hardship instead of remaining

alone. Vulnerability is not a weakness; rather, it brings us closer to each other. By embracing vulnerability, we can initiate discussions surrounding loneliness, reminding ourselves that this feeling is an inevitable one in making friends and that awkwardness during first conversations only reflects our necessary efforts to build community. Through honest discussions about loneliness, we destigmatize the feeling and develop deeper connections within our community. As I reflect on last semester, I am grateful for having developed friendships with hallmates and met supportive people in classes and clubs. Optimistic about this year, I remember to embrace my different friendships: those that remained during my teenage years and those that support me as I grow through the uniquely teenaged struggles and achievements ahead.

College campuses are tickets to achieving a more collectivist culture

societal level. A good example of how collectivism operates on a college level is through our vaccination policies. The willingness to get vaccinated is associated with collectivism because it represents the willingness to put the community above the individual by strengthening herd immunity. At the University of Michigan, in order to be enrolled, we needed the varicella, tetanus, polio, meningococcal A, measles and COVID-19 vaccines. Those who did not get all six needed to submit an attestation and were subjected to additional public health policies mandated by the state. More broadly, the University’s COVID-19 response reflects a collectivist approach to combating the disease. When COVID-19 was at its peak, Americans as a whole isolated themselves less than

other countries, exposing their unwillingness to act on behalf of the collective. The University of Michigan acted quickly with the original outbreak of COVID19; they sent students home in 2020, and implemented a mask mandate for a full in-person return during the 2021-22 school year. The University’s COVID-19 policy contributed to Washtenaw County having the lowest number of COVID-19 deaths in Michigan from 2020 to 2023. Additionally, the way that we learn and study together promotes collectivism. At orientation, U-M administration emphasizes the importance of reaching out for help in order to succeed at this school. Some classes, such as intro-level math classes, have group homework to help classmates work together through difficult problems. STEM classes

have Science Learning Center study groups, which help to parse complicated material and problem solve as a team. In writingintensive classes, peer-reviewing serves to offer perspectives that can make papers the best they can possibly be. Of course, there are people here who prefer to work alone, and they are just as capable as succeeding. Group work can also be annoying because there are people who want to freeload off of others, leaving the work to be distributed unequally. But the University promotes these resources because there is a benefit to working with others: Learning communication, accountability and managing differing perspectives help to develop teamwork skills prevalent in the professional world. Individualism suggests that people are always entitled to put

themselves above others, but that couldn’t be further from the way in which colleges operate. Office hours exist for students to get help. The career and alumni services exist to help students and alumni find internships and jobs. Collectivism helps connect strangers with each other, and college campuses promote the interaction and cooperation between all sorts of different groups across multiple identities. Our housing also helps to promote collectivism. Everybody in the Inter-Cooperative Council “owns” a part of the group by paying shares so long as they are currently living in a house. ICC members also participate collectively in cooking, cleaning and delegating chores. Dorm housing, to a certain extent as well, helps to facilitate collectivism by teaching others how to take care

of common spaces (e.g. cleaning up after yourself in the dining hall, cleaning up after yourself in the communal bathroom, cleaning up after yourself in study rooms and lounges). The main downside to collectivism is that there can be a tendency to emphasize homogeneity. In other words, there can only be “one” way to approach a situation. Individuals may feel the need to conform to the society’s expectations, leading to the suppression of identities and ideas that can help the community progress. When advocating for more collectivist practices, it’s important to make sure we are advocating for the spread of collaboration and empathy, not suppression of individual identity. Additionally, one could argue that individualism does have its benefits. Individualism promotes economic mobility, helps cultivate our own identities beyond a group and helps with emotional expression. However, when we become too immersed in ourselves, we start to lose empathy for others. We also get more lonely. It’s never a good idea to act only in our own interests; our individual desires need to balance with the collective’s desires. Colleges are microcosms of society: We can see what works and what doesn’t on a smaller level. Time and time again, evidence shows that collectivism has kept college campuses thriving. If the United States can start building communities like college campuses do, we would all, collectively, be better off. But just because colleges help to facilitate community building doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t continue our own individual efforts to promote collectivism in all aspects of our lives. Random acts of kindness, such as complimenting a stranger’s outfit or holding the door for one another, are ways that all of us can help build collectivism on a small scale. Now more than ever, humanity’s survival depends on us willing to work for each other, rather than for ourselves.

prepare students for work in the field. From a research paper to a new YouTube channel, you can do almost anything you want and get college credit for it. Simply put, a capstone is a large-scale project of your choosing that you create with the help and support of your peers, professors and all the resources the University can provide. For college students constantly coming up with new ideas, this almost sounds too good to be true. Why then, are capstone projects only found in select departments at the University? Other than the College of Engineering, where 13 of 18 majors have a dedicated capstone course, only a select few U-M programs choose to include them. A handful of other departments do, however, offer their honors students the opportunity to write a thesis. Thesis papers share many similarities with capstone projects. Both are research

intensive and have a similar end goal: to add something new and original to existing work in a particular field. They urge students to critically engage with their work in a way that is interesting to them and to the wider community. However, a thesis is usually more theoretical and takes the form of a structured, academic paper — a major point of difference between the two. Not everyone can produce thousands of words of carefully curated research and analysis on their own, but everybody has an idea they want to turn into reality. The holistic nature of a capstone project also tests if a student has truly internalized the values and teachings of their field. EECS 494, a capstone course titled “Computer Game Design and Development,” tests not just a computer science student’s ability to create a video game, but also their ability to write efficient code

and apply previously learned programming principles. To do that while also coming up with an idea that is new and takes into consideration the current climate of the industry, is a challenging, but enriching, task. In fields such as architecture, art and design, digital media and many others, students tend to spend a large portion of their undergraduate lives curating a body of work to show to potential employers and their future community. A capstone project promises to be the crowning jewel of any portfolio, giving seniors not just that extra push but also the confidence to take their first steps into the industry. With the intensity of undergraduate programs, it is hard to find the time to collaborate with those people outside one’s department; capstones naturally allow students from multiple disciplines to come together.

A film, television and media major could be working on a short documentary about the upcoming presidential election and enlist the help of a political science major. Someone pursuing a minor in writing could rope in a nutrition student from the School of Public Health and a School of Kinesiology student to help with a book on sports and physical health. The combinations are endless. Looking beyond the academic, a capstone project’s unique selling point is its autonomy, coupled with its ability to be an expression of personal identity. In a capstone, you set the goals; you get to work on your own terms, and your teachers will guide you on your way to the finish line. These projects will challenge you to look within and examine your own visions, giving you the opportunity to create something that expresses your own unique identity. A capstone

project has the bandwidth for the creator’s opinion to take center stage. While a thesis might require you to back your arguments using scholarly sources, personal anecdotes and lived experiences — when used correctly —, you can do the same for a capstone. A bachelor’s degree would feel a lot more valuable and rewarding with a tangible piece of work to show for it — something you can proudly say is entirely your creation. Encouraging creative expression and real engagement with content learned in the classroom will vastly improve the college experience, and a capstone is one step in that direction. If there is something — a thought, a message, a story — that you think the world needs to see, a capstone project implores you to put it out there, instead of waiting for somebody else to do it.

LIV FREY

Opinion Columnist

ince the founding of the United States, Americans have long bought into individualism: the idea that the individual outweighs the collective. Individualism’s emphasis on your own rights and feelings are completely embedded in the way our country functions. We are expected to provide for ourselves with little to no help from the federal government. Yet, despite attempts to rise up in the social hierarchy, rampant poverty persists, the job market is slowing down due to employers compensating for over-hiring during COVID-19 and public goods are diminishing at a higher rate than ever before. It’s easy to blame the individual when something negative happens to them. You got laid off? It’s because you weren’t working hard enough. You’re living in poverty? It’s because you aren’t working hard enough. You’re struggling with your adult responsibilities? Maybe you just need to work harder. Yet, when we continue to assume people aren’t doing everything they can to stay afloat, we fail to consider the alternative: Maybe we aren’t failing ourselves. Maybe American society is failing us. This is where collectivism comes into the picture. Unlike individualism, collectivism emphasizes the “general good” over a single individual. When society is not focused on promoting the collective, our living conditions worsen. In order to equitably progress as a society, we need to start embracing collectivism all over the country. Fortunately, collectivist structures can already be found in the United States, with universities being one of them. By examining the way our higher academic institutions help to promote collectivism, we can better understand how to promote collectivism on a large-scale,

RUSHABH SHAH Opinion Columnist

am in my eighth and final semester at the University of Michigan, and I would like to think I have seen it all. I have seen students sit through hours of lectures, going through the motions with no idea why they are there in the first place. It can be painful to watch. However, this past week, as I sat with 20 others in a circle, I saw a spark in their eyes. Why? Because it was time for their capstone project pitch. A capstone project tasks students with applying the knowledge and technical skills they have honed through the course of their program. Not bound by any specific forms or genres, these projects open up a myriad of interdisciplinary possibilities and provide the sort of experience that can

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Every major needs a capstone project

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Sports

Wednesday, February 7, 2024 — 11

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Halftime runs elevate Michigan in win over Penn State

SAM NOVOTNY

Daily Sports Writer

STATE COLLEGE — With one minute remaining in the second quarter, the Michigan women’s basketball team was locked into a stalemate with Penn State. Neither team mounted a significant lead or made a game-changing run in the first 19 minutes, but that changed right before the halftime buzzer sounded. Down two points, sophomore forward Chyra Evans converted on a layup to even the score. The Wolverines followed that immediately by forcing two turnovers and making two buckets in direct succession, with the last falling right before the clock ran out. Michigan’s newfound fourpoint halftime lead was far from insurmountable. But for the first time all game it looked like the Wolverines were ready to push out in front, only momentarily held back by the clock striking zero. “That was big,” Michigan

coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “… They had made a run, and then we made a couple subs … but we made a run before the half and I thought that gave us a little bit of confidence, certainly going into the half.” That boost provided confidence and it shifted the momentum in the Wolverines’ favor. What it didn’t do is guarantee that they would keep pushing out of the second-half gates — they had to ensure that themselves. Riding the momentum that the four-point lead brought, Michigan got the ball first and kept the run going. Graduate guard Lauren Hansen sank one of her three 3-pointers of the night on the initial possession and a 6-0 run became 9-0. Alongside Hansen, graduate guard Elissa Brett and junior guard Jordan Hobbs showcased their range with 3-pointers of their own to culminate in an 11-2 third-quarter-opening run. Just like that, a four-point lead turned into 13, forcing Penn State to call a timeout to reorga-

nize. “We’ve been in a lot of tight games where we just kind of let it go,” Hansen said. “So we knew

Against Rutgers, Michigan’s growing doubt stops it from stopping runs Managing Sports Editor

It’s almost too predictable at this point. The Michigan men’s basketball team hangs with its opponent in the first half, then collapses in the second. Within each of those collapses, there’s a more specific pattern: The Wolverines’ opponent almost always goes on a crushing run, leaving Michigan in the dust. The Wolverines gave up a 14-5 run to Penn State. 17-2 to Illinois. 14-0 to Iowa. 12-0 to Michigan State. And in their loss to Rutgers on Saturday, 18-2 over the final seven minutes. And with each one, a growing sense of doubt settles in any time Michigan’s opponents start to string even a couple baskets together. With each run, it only stacks up further. “I think it’s the doubt when a team makes a run,” Michigan coach Juwan Howard said. “… (We have to) not have that mindset of ‘uh oh, here we go again,’ look around, and if a guy didn’t do his job, point the finger.” But the second that opponents string baskets together and scores become runs, that ‘here we go again’ mindset prevails. It prevailed even against the Scarlet Knights’ 300th-ranked offense in the country, one that the Wolverines should have been able to get a stop against — and did plenty in the first half.

WRESTLING

But instead of taking advantage of a struggling opponent’s biggest weakness, they seemed to forget the fundamentals of basketball. They started to forget to box out, allowing nine offensive rebounds throughout the second half and 10 more total rebounds compared to the first half. They forgot to play together, with four bad-pass turnovers and a shot clock violation over that final 18-2 run. It happened against Rutgers the same way it’s happened all season. The second the lead starts to fall away, they turn from a team into five individual players that looked like they’ve never touched the floor together. It’s gotten so bad that even players watching from home notice how disconnected those on the court are. “I remember (sophomore guard Dug McDaniel), he said one time, he was watching the game at home and said, ‘man, we don’t look together,’ ” sophomore forward Tarris Reed Jr. said. “That stuck with me, that stuck with a lot of us from the team. … Okay, how can we fix that?” Despite knowing about that issue, Michigan had no idea how to fix it again on Saturday — even with McDaniel on the court. When Rutgers’ offense showed some semblance of life, all the Wolverines had was a fear of losing the lead, a doubt in their ability to stop the bleeding. And as a result of that fear, the double-digit run against and the ensuing collapse became a self-fulfilling prophecy. “What stops the bleeding is

Wolverines to change a oncestagnant game into a game in which they were fully in command. And while they hit time-

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MEN’S BASKETBALL

NOAH KINGSLEY

coming out (in the) second half, we wanted to jump on them and push the lead.” It didn’t take long for the

pride,” Howard said. “Pride to have the mindset, and whatever play it is, it has to be one of those where you roll up your sleeves, get your knees dirty. … It became a compound mistake when the ball was not going in offensively, then you get into your thoughts and you forget what to do on the defensive end. “… That’s when the doubt comes in.” At this point, that pride is hard to come by. Losing 10 out of the last 11 games and sitting in last place in the Big Ten are the kinds of things that slowly strip it away. Watching a lead start to slip away against the team in second-to-last place at home only crushes it further. But it’s the doubt that gets the Wolverines to that point. It’s the doubt that prevents them from ever mounting a response to an opposing run, that turns their double-digit halftime leads into yet another loss. When Michigan needed resiliency in the face of adversity on Saturday, the Wolverines instead thought back to all the times that they’ve gone through this before. They thought back to all the times that they couldn’t stop the bleeding, leaving them doubting their ability to stop it this time — even against an opponent that should be the easiest in the Big Ten to stop. And as a result of that doubt, Michigan bled out once again.

ly shots throughout the run, Michigan locked in defensively to earn the chance to seize control on offense. Three of the six scoring possessions over the 17-2 run were preceded by a forced turnover or one-shot trip on defense. This run put the game in the Wolverines’ hands, and from there they didn’t waver. Playing with a lead for the entire rest of the game, the pressure was no longer on to stay in a chess match, but rather to just close out a road win. “The fact that the first couple shots went down, (it) just boosted our confidence,” Hansen said. “And then, from there we kind of took a deep breath, and we were just like, ‘let’s open this thing up.’ ” And Michigan was able to take the game from there. Opening the game up on both sides of the halftime buzzer, big shots and up-to-form defense ensured that the second-quarter run bled into the third, getting the Wolverines out of Happy Valley with a decisive win.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Michigan continues win streak by implementing confidence

some of my past matches so I’m just trying to get back into it. … For The Daily I just had laser focus today, like my mindset was just like comThe No. 5 Michigan’s women’s pete as hard as you can and earn tennis team had one mindset every point, so I think that’s going into its match against No. 11 what got me here today.” Virginia — win at all costs. Being a senior, Brown’s expeWith a combination of agile rience and ability to capitalize reflexes and pressuring defense, and push through adversity the Wolverines (3-1) defeated lead to her singles victory. By the Cavaliers (6-1) in a decisive pushing through the fatigue she 5-2 victory, claiming wins in two not only proved to herself she doubles matches and four could achieve victory, singles matches. but also displayed a Despite a loss from No. drive and desire to win 8 duo senior Kari Miller that veteran leaders Leaving the match satisfied with and senior Jaedan Brown, must possess. Brown’s its accomplishments, Michigan the pairing of graduate mindset and leadership looks to continue building its Anna Ross and sophoskills showed why the more Lily Jones capitalWolverines are a topconfidence. ized on its chemistry. The ranked team. allurement implemented “I’m very proud of by Ross, boosted Jones’ her,” Michigan coach confidence throughout the match wasn’t intentional for Jones, her Ronni Bernstein said. “Comand elevated both of their play. win ultimately propeled the Wol- ing back, she has had a little bit A few powerful aces late in the verines to victory. of struggles, but today was big game by Ross produced a crucial “She was definitely taking for her. I thought she upped break in the match, and the pair control early on,” Jones said. “I her game, she played really well rallied to a 6-3 victory against was able to hit a few middle shots and it was good for her to come Virginia’s Hibah Shaikh and towards the end of the set and it through. … I just like the way Natasha Subhash. Additionally, opened it up for me.” Jaedan competed and her mindthe freshman duo of Reese Miller Brown also turned in a bounce- set in that space does a good and Piper Charney achieved a back victory to secure her first job.” comeback win after being down singles win. Despite being down After leaving the match with 30-love, which propelled Michi- multiple times throughout each a decisive victory, the Wolgan to an early 1-0 match lead. set, Brown’s 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory verines proved that they were And this lead built momentum over Subhash was a display of worthy of their top-five rankearly for the Wolverines, as their heart, confidence and humility. ing. Leaving the match satispair of singles victories and a Cav“Honestly, I just literally want- fied with its accomplishments, aliers win would push the score to ed to win so bad,” said Brown. Michigan looks to continue 3-0. Virginia quickly split the lead “I’ve been struggling recently in building its confidence. NOAH MORALES

in half, though, earning two victories to shift the match to 3-2. With Michigan needing one more victory to seal the win, Jones stepped up in a big way. After dropping a 7-5 decision in the second set, she changed the narrative by winning the last five games in her third set, sealing the victory against Melodie Collard by employing an agile defense to steal and set her own tempo. Although playing defensively

In fiery win, No. 12 Michigan upsets No. 2 Iowa

ANNABELLE YE

Daily Sports Writer

During the last 15 seconds of the 141-pound bout, it felt like the walls of Crisler Center could barely contain the roar of the maize and blue crowd. As the final period clock dwindled down to zero, all eyes were glued on No. 19 freshman Sergio Lemley as he pushed Iowa’s No. 1 Real Woods on his back, securing a major decision upset against the Hawkeye in dramatic fashion. Just like how Lemley made a dent in Woods’ undefeated record, No. 12 Michigan (6-3 overall, 4-2 Big Ten) stunned the wrestling world with its 24-11 victory over the previously untouched No. 2 Iowa (10-1, 5-1). In this shocking dominance, the lowerweights shined, with No. 12 graduate Michael DeAugustino kicking off the Wolverines’ Senior Night celebrations. At 125 pounds, DeAugustino set the tone for the Michigan with his 2-1 overtime victory against No. 5 Drake Ayala. No. 4 redshirt junior Dylan Ragusin swiftly followed suit at 133 pounds with a takedown early in the first period, garnering almost two minutes of riding time and eventually earning a 5-2 decision win to remain undefeated this season. And by the end of Lemley’s fiery match-up, the Wolverines had asserted control. Getting the Crisler crowd on its feet, the win became a

defining moment of the meet. “Sergio Lemley blew the place up tonight,” Michigan coach Sean Bormet said. “… Our lightweights just did a great job of starting us off and building a lot of momentum and setting the tone for the entire team.” And this momentum kept on building with No. 6 graduate Austin Gomez’s 5-1 decision win at 149 pounds, extending his undefeated record since transferring to Michigan mid-season. To further fuel the

fire of the first half, No. 12 graduate Will Lewan kept the crowd on its toes with his overtime decision win against No. 2 Jared Franek in the 157-pound bout — a match that remained tied until the very end and a win that came down to one second of riding time. “The big thing was to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves,” Lewan said. “I knew he’s a tough wrestler. He’s not getting out of position, but he’s

going to take shots.” Following an intermission, the second half of the dual did not ignite the same flames of dominance seen in the first half, with the Hawkeyes claiming three bouts. However, it did show Michigan something equally valuable: a glimpse into its depth. With two of its usual ranked starters missing, two Wolverines who had not seen much dual action had to step up. At 165 pounds, freshman Beau

Mantanona faced No. 6 Michael Caliendo and lost in a 9-4 decision, and at 184 pounds, redshirt junior Joseph Walker wrestled a tight bout but could not break through, ending in a 6-5 defeat. While the two were unable to get their hands raised, the close, neck-to-neck bouts were essential to providing more opportunities for development within the Michigan team. “We’ve built a next man up mentality — guys have to be ready and

RILEY NIEBOER/Daily

have to train hard,” Bormet said. “… For us to have the opportunity to put these guys out there, put them in big matches — NCAA quarter, NCAA semi, NCAA final caliber matches — is just really valuable.” And those losses didn’t hinder the Wolverines’ momentum in the second half, as their experienced lineup still solidified their dominance with a pair of major decision wins. At 174 pounds, No. 3 graduate Shane Griffith’s first period started off stagnant against No. 8 Patrick Kennedy. But once the clock for the second period started, the points came rolling in for Griffth, with back to back takedowns in the third period and almost three minutes of riding time that ended in a 12-1 victory. In similar fashion, No. 6 graduate heavyweight Lucas Davison carried out three takedowns to wrap up the night with an 11-2 win. As the Wolverines near the end of their dual meet stretch, these results against teams like highly-ranked Iowa become crucial in propelling them into tournament season. For Bormet, the triumph over the Hawkeyes confirms a statement his team has heard consistently: “Fierce competition teaches you a lot about where you’re at.” On Friday, Michigan ignited a fire it had not seen much in its previous duals. By fueling the flame throughout the dual, the Wolverines defied expectations against the Hawkeyes.

BUCK THE TREND Wednesday, February 7, 2024

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MICH 4, OSU 2 | MICH 4, OSU 1

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SPORTSWEDNESDAY

Michigan earns first Big Ten sweep with 4-1 victory over Ohio State REKHA LEONARD

Managing Sports Editor

OLUMBUS — For the first time in Big Ten play this season, the No. 12 Michigan hockey team is breaking out the brooms. It wasn’t the flashiest performance the Wolverines have authored this season, but it was one of their most meaningful nonetheless. Sweeps have been hard to come by for Michigan, but against Ohio State, the Wolverines finally triumphed. With a stout defensive effort that translated into offensive opportunities, Michigan (14-93 overall, 7-7-2 Big Ten) bested the Buckeyes (9-15-4, 1-15-2) to complete the elusive series sweep, 4-1. “It’s a very competitive conference, and it’s hard to sweep, especially on the road,” Michigan associate head coach Rob Rassey said. “So we knew what we (were) facing as a challenge going into the

weekend, and I thought our guys showed up, they played hard. It was good to see.” Both teams’ defenses stole the show early, clogging up the middle and aggressively checking. The Wolverines’ penalty kill unit was tested, but it continued the staunch defense down a man, even drawing a penalty of its own a minute into its first kill. “A lot of commitment, a lot of blocked shots,” Rassey said. “The penalty kill is not a glamorous thing to be a part of. It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of sacrifice, and the guys that were on it, they really stepped up.” Although nothing came of the four-on-four opportunity or Michigan’s subsequent abbreviated power play, the Wolverines broke through at even strength shortly thereafter with sophomore forward Josh Eernisse providing the score. Facing two more penalty kills in the first period, Michigan fought to defend its lead. Graduate goaltender Jake Barczewski championed

the cause, making clutch saves as his teammates battled in front of him. And with Barczewski stymying Ohio State at every turn, the Wolverines followed his lead, letting their defensive tactics

Less than 30 seconds after Michigan killed off its third penalty of the first period, sophomore forward T.J. Hughes’ relentless pressure in the defensive zone forced a

When the final buzzer sounded, Michigan left the ice with brooms in tow, having finally swept a Big Ten foe. translate into offense. “I feel like we knew we had to put pressure on their D when they were in the corners,” sophomore forward Rutger McGroarty said. “I feel like we did a good job forechecking and forcing turnovers.”

turnover near the blue line. His subsequent breakaway led to a dominant offensive possession for the Wolverines in which junior defenseman Ethan Edwards put Michigan on the board once again. Heading into the second period

with a 2-0 lead, the Wolverines continued to apply the pressure, successfully keeping Ohio State at bay. They earned their best opportunity of the period with a long stretch in the offensive zone amounting to four successive shots. Even when the Buckeyes spent chunks of time with the puck around Michigan’s net, they didn’t achieve nearly the same quality or quantity of shot attempts. “I think the second period we did a lot of things positive that we wanted to do,” Eernisse said. “And sometimes boring is alright. You don’t need a high scoring period. And so I thought we executed well in the second. We didn’t necessarily find the back of the net, but those shifts build throughout the game. And then I thought it really led into a strong third period to just close it out.” The beginning of the third period didn’t initially seem strong, though, as the Wolverines’ defense finally cracked five minutes in, allowing Ohio State to get on the board. But as quickly as Michigan’s

lead had dwindled, it expanded again just as fast. First, sophomore forward Frank Nazar III carried the puck around the net, perfectly setting up charging McGroarty for the goal. 15 seconds later, Eernisse tallied his second score of the night to give Michigan a 4-1 lead. “There’s going to be momentum swings throughout the game,” Eernisse said. “But I think it was a growth by our team this weekend to push back and overcome. … They had their push. We stopped the momentum, we pushed back and we did a good job closing out each night.” After that flurry of goals, the Wolverines flew through the rest of the game — including another penalty kill — with the taste of a sweep on their lips. They defended their lead with confidence, hardly allowing the Buckeyes to even approach their net. And when the final buzzer sounded, Michigan left the ice with brooms in tow, having finally swept a Big Ten foe.