2024-04-24

‘We

will not stop until we get full divestment’: UMich protesters begin encampment on Diag Encampment comes amid similar pro-Palestine protests on campuses across the country

co-founder of the U-M chapter of JVP, said the protest is intended to be a call to action for the University to divest.

“You’ll see that our universities are funding this genocide both directly and indirectly, funding the larger military-industrial complex, industrial complex and materialism more largely,” Bean said. “We really want to tell them that this is our University.”

at Pierpont Commons, throughout the Michigan Union and inside the Alexander G. Ruthven Building. Monday’s protest was organized by the TAHRIR Coalition, a multicultural coalition of more than 80 pro-Palestine student organizations, including Students Allied For Freedom and Equality and the U-M chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. Recent protests on the U-M campus have followed a similar pattern of pro-Palestine protests at universities across the nation. At Columbia University, more than 100 students were arrested for participating in an encampment on April 18. Similarly, at Yale University, more than 45 student protesters were arrested for trespassing Monday morning. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine held a protest on April 19 in support of the student arrests at Columbia. Both Yale and Columbia hold investments in Israeli companies.

On March 24, more than 100 University of Michigan student protesters interrupted the 101st Annual Honors Convocation in protest of the University’s

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Rackham student Shreya Chowdhary said the encampment on the Diag was inspired by the events at other universities across the country.

concern over how the policy might impact their right to protest on campus. As chants ring from the Central Campus Diag to Pierpont Commons on North Campus, The Michigan Daily spoke with students to understand their thoughts surrounding the U-M administration’s response to student activism.

When the draft policy was released, the U-M campus community was invited to fill out a feedback survey in the University administration’s March 28 email, which was open until April 3.

On April 5, 1,635 U-M faculty, students and staff signed an open letter opposing the University’s

While the campus community has responded to the DAP in both writing and protest, the DAP has received attention from outside organizations as well. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan released a statement April 3 which detailed a letter they sent to University President Santa Ono, asking him either to rescind the policy entirely or make substantial changes to it.

“This encampment is a statement to the University that we will not move until they divest, that we will not allow our endowment to fund the genocide … and it is also an act of solidarity with other student organizers across the country from Columbia, to UNC Chapel Hill to a bunch of other places that are setting up similar solidarity on campus,” Chowdhary said. “So it’s not just this (one event). It is a national movement that we’re participating in to demonstrate that students across the United States are not going to stand for our universities funding genocide and profiteering from genocide.”

In a press release obtained by The Daily, the TAHRIR coalition stated that actions taken by the University in response to student activism, such as trespass warnings, arrests and proposed changes to the University’s freespeech policy, have caused feelings of targeted repression against proPalestine protests. Chowdhary said she hopes University administration comes to speak with the student protesters on the Diag. “We expect the University to come talk to us and negotiate with us,” Chowdhary said. “They’re probably going to try to kick us off. We want to emphasize that people camp on the Diag all the time, so any acts to try to kick us off (show) there’s no other interpretation than it being repression of our right to protest. And we’ve seen that (the administration) has consistently demonstrated that they are willing to take any and all measures to repress pro-Palestine protests, specifically compared to other protests.”

In an interview with The Daily, LSA sophomore Annabel Bean,

As part of a nationwide strike for Gaza on Monday, the TAHRIR Coalition, a multicultural coalition of more than 60 University of Michigan student organizations including Students Allied for Freedom and Equality and Jewish Voice for Peace, organized a strike on the University of Michigan campus. Students refused to go to class, work or spend money with the goal of pressuring the University to divest from companies profiting off of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The strike was purposefully organized on Tax Day to pressure the economy in response to U.S. taxpayer dollars going towards Israeli weaponry. It featured teachins on the Diag and picket lines in front of multiple University buildings from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Picketers chanted, “Join us on the picket line, shut it down for Palestine.”

Throughout the day, the Diag was filled with pro-Palestine organizations offering free food, banners, stickers, pins and screen printings. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, SAFE President Salma Hamamy said the Diag served as a central space for strikers to organize.

“It’s more so to facilitate community space,” Hamamy said. “People will come every two hours to prepare for the next picket line, and then they

will go over to various schools and buildings and picket outside, or inside at certain points as well.”

The strike extended to the Central Student Government as well, with newly inaugurated CSG President Alifa Chowdhury releasing an executive order on April 12 that said they would halt all CSG-related work for the strike and urged community participation. In a press release about the executive order, Chowdhury and CSG Vice President Elias Atkinson urged the campus community to participate in Monday’s strike. “We have released Executive Order 14-001 directing the executive branch to halt all activity and echoing the call for the U-M community, including students, staff, and faculty, to join the strike,” the statement said “On Monday, April 15th, refuse to attend or hold classes, withhold your labor, and instead join organized actions to call for divestment and the liberation of Palestine.”

Chowdhury told The Daily the strike included an array of activities meant to educate and engage campus community members. “We’ve been having teachins about Palestine at the Diag because we’re not against learning — I think that’s a misconception,” Chowdhury said. “We’ve been picketing across campus, North Campus, here. We’ve been screen printing, we’ve been hosting art workshops. We really want it to be an inclusive space and also a learning space. We’re trying to get people more involved and understand what

we’re doing.”

In an interview with The Daily, LSA junior Rachel Sajdak said she was participating in the strike because she felt disappointed in the University’s decision not to divest from companies profiting off Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. “Today I’m refusing to buy anything,” Sajdak said. “I’m refusing to go to class. I’m refusing to do most of the things I would do in my normal day and think about the gratitude I have for being able to conduct my day however I like, because that’s not the case for Palestinians in Gaza. I’m very motivated by our University’s refusal to engage in conversation about divestment and its cowardly actions.”

In an interview with The Daily, Art & Design junior Paulina Perez Balderrama said she had a class, RCHUMS 305: Art & Conflict of the Modern Middle East, that met

in the Diag Monday because of the course’s connection to Palestinian history and art. “I had a class earlier today, but it was counterintuitive not to go because it talks about art and conflict in the modern Middle East,” Perez Balderrama said. “A lot

Early in the morning, while the organizations gathered on the Diag, students gathered at the Art & Architecture Building on North Campus for an event called “Art Disrupt! Art Build @ STAMPS” which served as a space for students to make protest signs and express their frustrations through

CALEB ROSENBBLUM/Daily

Members of the Tahrir coalition set up an encampment on the Diag to protest the University’s investment in Israel Monday morning.

SNEHA DHANDAPANI & MATTHEW SHANBOM

Former Israeli prime minister’s visit to UMich moved online amid pro-Palestine protests

‘Division to Dialogue: Bridging Perspectives in the Middle East’ event made virtual because of safety concerns

Nearly 100 University of Michigan community members gathered outside Rackham Graduate School Sunday afternoon to protest a campus visit from Naftali Bennett, former Israeli prime minister from June 2021 to June 2022 and alternate prime minister from July to November 2022. Bennett was the keynote speaker for an event titled “Division to Dialogue: Bridging Perspectives in the Middle East.”

The event was hosted by Facts on the Ground at Michigan, a U-M student organization founded in November 2023 with the stated goal of combating false information about the IsraelHamas war.

On the day of the event, FOG posted an Instagram statement saying the event would be moved to a virtual livestream due to security concerns.

“We are deeply saddened to announce that given recent safety concerns, our leadership team — in collaboration with the UM Administration and various

security teams — must cancel the public, in-person component of our event,” the statement said. “It is disheartening that rather than engage in dialogue and discourse, some on our campus elect to disrupt, threaten, and ultimately prevent those who seek to learn and engage.”

In an interview with The Michigan Daily after the event, Public Policy senior Max Katz, executive director of FOG, said the event was initially going to proceed in person, but upon reviewing the ticket list before the event, FOG found that 200 of these tickets wore names that listed things like “Unalive Zionists,” “Nazi Zionists” and “Israel Hitler.” Knowing this, FOG then reported this to the University and Bennett’s security detail, which ultimately resulted in the event being moved online. The Daily could not independently confirm the content of the ticket requests.

The U-M Division of Public Safety and Security declined to share further information on the nature of threats, saying they do not release details about securityrelated concerns.

Despite the cancellation of the in-person event, student

Professors

protesters began gathering outside Rackham at 2 p.m., where the event was scheduled to be held. In an interview with The Daily during the protest, LSA senior Salma Hamamy, president of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality and one of the protest organizers, said the protest’s goal was to express frustration with Bennett’s visit to the University.

“We’d hope for the broader community to understand that there’s a lot of grief and pain that comes with (Bennett) being present here,” Hamamy said.

“Whether he’s here in person or virtually or just the idea of him being invited is absurd. It is entirely based on suppression, pushing the Zionist propaganda and narrative under this guise of saying ‘We’re just trying to simulate peace.’”

After the initial protest at Rackham, protesters marched toward the Diag and then moved toward South State Street.

The protest crossed through SpringFest, a festival hosted by MUSIC Matters featuring performances by local bands and student organizations. During a music performance, one protester took the stage, calling on the

audience to take part in Monday’s strike, organized by SAFE and the TAHRIR Coalition, that called on the University to divest from companies profiting from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Protesters then entered Starbucks on State Street, which has been criticized for suing Workers United, the union that represents more than 730 Starbucks workers, for using its name and likeness in a pro-Palestine post on a union social media page. The protesters continued down South State Street and turned left on East Washington Street before returning to Rackham.

At about 5 p.m., the virtual event began with a panel discussion moderated by two members of FOG.

LSA senior Jordana Levine, FOG director of expansion and recruitment, gave remarks at the beginning of the panel emphasizing the event’s purpose and mission.

“We all must understand that this war and the broader Middle Eastern conflict is not solely a Jewish issue, but one that impacts a much larger population of people,” Levine said.

and non LSA students on the Race and Ethnicity requirement

‘There’s not a single field you will encounter postgrad that does not ask you to consider inequities’

The University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts requires students to take one “Race and Ethnicity” course of at least three credits, but this requirement is not University-wide. The LSA requirement was instituted in 1990 under the name “Race or Ethnicity: A College Requirement” before the University changed it to “Race and Ethnicity” in 1995. Other schools such as the Ford School of Public Policy, the School of Public Health and the Ross School of Business have similar requirements. Students applying to the Public Policy School, for example, must complete an R&E course through LSA while students in the Business School must complete an Inclusive Leaders Pathway course to graduate.

To qualify as an R&E course, a class must address and create discussion around the meaning of race, ethnicity and racism; racial and ethnic intolerance and the resulting inequalities; and comparisons of race-based discrimination with religious, socioeconomic and genderbased inequalities.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Karla Mallette, Italian language professor and Department Chair of Middle East Studies, spoke about her R&E course ITALIAN 240: Italian Mafia. Mallette described the course’s transformation to an R&E requirement and how discussions surrounding historical discrimination in the justice system connect with the course content.

“As I was teaching this course, I realized mafia history, the history of organized crime in general, often is R&E history,” Mallette said. “It typically really is people who don’t have access to the legitimate economy or don’t have access to a legitimate justice system, finding workarounds for themselves so they can succeed and can pursue justice on behalf

of themselves or on behalf of their communities.”

Public Policy senior Isabella Tomlinson told The Daily about her experience with the R&E requirement as a prerequisite for the Public Policy School’s application process and said she believes it is an important aspect of students’ education.

“I think it’s incredibly important for every perspective, every discipline, no matter what you’re studying, to try to at least learn, in some fashion, about race and ethnicity, but also just about multiple perspectives,” Tomlinson said. “It creates the base of being able to understand other people, learning about other people, so that maybe something you didn’t know before you’re going to know in the future and be able to take into your work.” Tomlinson said the ideas of R&E courses are ingrained in most Public Policy classes, and that an R&E prerequisite prepares students for policy discussions throughout the rest of their Public Policy School experience, particularly while crafting policy recommendations.

“You’re taking policy classes, and you’re taking (classes) integrated with these concepts for the rest of your career, so if you’re not ready to talk about it then you’re probably not going to be ready to talk about it later,” Tomlinson said.

Stacey Abrams talks democracy at Ford Dean’s Symposium

‘There aren’t enough of us to quit’

The Ford School of Public Policy continued the inaugural Dean’s Symposium Friday with a discussion on democracy, voting rights, diversity, equity and inclusion with Public Policy Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes and political activist Stacey Abrams, among other speaker events. The Friday events followed Thursday’s keynote speakers, panels and discussions regarding issues including child care, climate change, racial justice policy, artificial intelligence and technology, including a discussion with U-M alum Cecilia Muñoz, who served as director of the Domestic Policy Council from 2012 to 1017 and director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs from 2009 to 1012 under former President Barack Obama. Nearly 100 University of Michigan students and community members gathered in Annenberg Auditorium Friday afternoon for Watkins-Hayes’ discussion with Abrams. Abrams served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017 before she won the 2018 Democratic nomination for Georgia governor, becoming the first Black

woman in U.S. history to win a major party gubernatorial nomination. She narrowly lost the election to Brian Kemp, and later accused him of voter suppression. Abrams won the Democratic nomination for governor again in 2022 but again lost to Kemp in the general election.

Abrams has been credited with boosting voter turnout in Georgia, especially during the 2020 presidential election when President Joe Biden narrowly won the state, and in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff elections, when the election of Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff gave Democrats control of the Senate.

After Abrams was introduced to the audience, Watkins-Hayes displayed a virtual message from Johnnetta Cole, the first Black woman to serve as president of Spelman College, a historically Black women’s college. Cole encouraged students to consider themselves the successors in advancing social issues by actively engaging with their passions.

“I urge you to see yourselves as next up, to carry on the movement, for civil rights, for women’s rights, for the rights of LGBTQ (people),”Cole said. “I urge you to carry on the struggle, for (the) attention to disparities that haunt our nation. Whatever issues speak most strongly to you, not only care

about them, do something about them.”

Watkins-Hayes and Abrams began the discussion by reflecting on their experiences as student leaders and alumni of Spelman College. Abrams said activism and mentorship have shaped her career.

“You don’t get to act with impunity,” Abrams said. “Activism has risks — that’s why being still is easier. Part of the challenge, and what we both learned at Spelman, is that being righteous does not make you right. Being an activist does not mean that people are going to validate what you do, and there are consequences. Part of leadership is the ability to accept that consequences will happen and to manage those consequences.”

Abrams also spoke about the struggles of facing electoral defeats and the realities of managing public disagreements, especially while remaining committed to serving her community. Abrams said her upbringing in the South and experiences with racism both shaped her gubernatorial run in 2018.

“I don’t define myself by the outcome,” Abrams said. “I grew up in spaces where my outcomes are not only predetermined; they had laws about them. When I stood for governor in 2018, there were so many people who lauded, ‘She’s the

first Black woman to ever get the nomination in American history.’ It’s 2018. This is ridiculous. That is not a celebratory moment for me. That is a condemnation of systems.” Watkins-Hayes asked Abrams to expand on the importance of democratic norms and democratic culture. Abrams responded by reflecting on her gubernatorial election loss, saying she recognized defeat while refusing to ignore the presence of voter suppression. Abrams also said critically examine critically examining election administration and using democratic tools to hold the system accountable is imperative to safeguarding democracy.

“I violated a democratic norm in 2018, I gave a speech acknowledging that I had not won an election but refusing to countenance the existence of voter suppression,” Abrams said. “In the process, I have been lauded, chastened and vilified. I want to be really clear: : I have never once denied the outcome of an election, but I did say that we have the responsibility to question the administration of elections. We should never be a nation that says you can’t ask questions. We should never be in a position where we cannot use the levers and the tools of our democracy to hold our democracy accountable. That’s how we protect democracy.”

When Watkins-Hayes asked Abrams if she would continue her career in politics, she said she is unsure about her future candidacy, but remains committed to increasing representation for marginalized groups.

“I don’t know for sure what I will run again, but I’m not done with politics,” Abrams said. “(Politics) is an effective tool for policy, and therefore, I refuse to say no to it. I cannot be defined by someone else’s expectations of me or the limitations they would put on me. There aren’t enough of us to quit because the system didn’t change overnight.” Abrams said some of this work toward election transparency has manifested in her work at Fair Count, an organization she founded in 2019 that aims to promote accurate Census reporting and combat the long-term effects of gerrymandering on marginalized communities. “Gerrymandering is when politicians pick their voters, not voters picking their politicians,” Abrams said. “So, I created an organization called Fair Count, which focuses on the Census because gerrymandering begins with the U.S. Census every 10 years. We seem to invade the privacy of others and their communities whose legitimate cynicism and fear convince them not to participate.

A history of rent control in Michigan

The Michigan Daily investigates the history of rent control as Ann Arbor discusses high rental prices

Rent control has a history in Michigan dating all the way back to World War I, but it wasn’t until 1988 that former Gov. James Blanchard signed the ban prohibiting rent control into law. With Ann Arbor facing an affordable housing crisis, The Michigan Daily examined the history of rent control in the state of Michigan.

In 2018, nearly one in six renting households in Michigan were threatened with eviction by their landlords. More recently, in 2023, the National Low Income Housing

Coalition published a study showing that individuals would need to make $45,025 annually to be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Michigan at the monthly fair market rent of $1,126, a value significantly greater than Michigan’s median income of $35,400 as of 2022.

Rent control policies can vary widely in their stringency and handling of issues, such as how to determine who gets to move into available rent-controlled housing.

Economics professor James Hines has taught classes on rent control at the University of Michigan. In an interview with The Daily, Hines explained that rent control can take many forms and have varying effects. “The basic idea is simple to

describe, which is it’s a limit on how much a landlord can charge in rent for a tenant,” Hines said. “There are a lot of complications and every town has different rules. … There are a lot of different forms of rent control.”

Hines also discussed the benefits and drawbacks of rent control for tenants.

“The good part about rent control is that … it does lead to lower prices,” Hines said. “The bad part from the tenant standpoint is it makes it harder to get places to rent, and they may be a little more dilapidated, as a result of the landlord not having incentives to make them really nice.

In an interview with The Daily, Alexa Eisenberg, postdoctoral research fellow at the University’s

“If my bill passes, then municipalities across the state could establish their own local ordinances, for their jurisdictions, of rent control policies,” Rheingans said. “So then it would be up to any municipality to determine what policy would work for their municipality.”

Rheingans is a renter in Ann Arbor and said her personal experience reflects the severity of the city’s affordability issues.

“I’ve been renting here since the year 2000,” Rheingans said. “I am now a middle-aged person.

Poverty Solutions research initiative, said that while Michigan as a whole is suffering from a lack of affordable housing, the problem is particularly evident in Ann Arbor. “We have a very large student population, many of whom are student workers or are unable to work because they’re in school, and they’re struggling a lot with their housing costs,” Eisenberg said. “So this is a very student-specific issue. And then there’s also the fact that there’s an entire community of nonstudents that are impacted greatly by the University of Michigan’s presence and its lack of subsidization for student housing.” State Rep. Carrie Rheingans, D-Ann Arbor, introduced a bill last year to repeal the state’s rent control prohibition. Rheingans met with The Daily to discuss the proposed bill. She said her bill would allow communities within Michigan to make their own rent control policies if they chose to.

I’m a parent, and I’m still renting because I cannot afford to buy in this community.” Rheingans’ bill has been referred to the Committee on Economic Development and Small Business, a subcommittee of the Michigan House of Representatives that deals primarily with economics and business, including housing and rent. Although she does not know how long it will be until the bill is voted on, Rheingans said she remains optimistic because of the demand she believes Michigan residents have for rent control. “Every single legislator has renters in their district who are struggling to survive,” Rheingans said.

Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education authorizes staff

Board also recommends limiting the number of seats for Schools of Choice and authorizes the issuance of notes in anticipation of state school aid

A2 STEAM teacher Jessica Bell asked the Board to consider the implications of staff reductions for students’ educational experiences. “When you cut teachers, you lose students and families,” Bell said. “This leads to diminishing the strength of our district, which leads to more families and teachers leaving, which in turn further diminishes the strength of our district.”

as wages and maintenance — and possible financial scenarios for each budget reduction.

to elect to attend a school different than the one they are districted for, as well as a resolution authorizing the issuance of notes in anticipation of state school aid. The district is facing financial issues that require immediate action, including staff reductions, according to a March 13 letter from interim superintendent Jazz Parks, who is in ongoing negotiations with the AAPS Board for the position of permanent superintendent. Marios Demetriou, former AAPS chief financial officer who was recently asked by Parks to advise the district on their finances, said he recommends reducing the board’s operating budget by $25 million for the 2024-25 school year to rectify financial issues.

The meeting began with public commentary from 143 individuals including teachers, parents, students and community members.

In a report to the board on behalf of the Ann Arbor Education Association, AAEA President Fred Klein asked the Board for more honest and direct communication with teachers. Klein said one step toward more open communication is listening to the advice of the Blue Ribbon Advisory Group, an organization recognizing public and non-public schools for their academic achievements. “Start listening to us,” Klein said. “Listen to the recommendations from the Blue Ribbon team. Listen to what educators will share at the upcoming community forums, and act on those. To this board, you must demand that the district’s budget cycle begin with line items for step increases; for those in the steps, cost of living increases for everyone and relief from our exorbitant out-of-pocket costs for health care.”

In a presentation on the budget, Demetriou spoke about possible methods for reducing the general fund budget — which includes the district budget for personnel and district expenditures such

Demetriou developed five scenarios that could be alternatives to cutting $25 million in one year. These scenarios include attrition only with no other budget reduction, attrition and $15 million reductions, attrition and $20 million reductions, attrition and $25 million reductions over two years, and attrition and $25 million reductions over four years.

According to Demetriou, after the Board submits its financial plan to the state, the state committee will review it within 10 days to determine whether they believe the district is in financial distress.

If the state determines there is financial distress, the Treasury Department could take several options, including appointing an emergency manager or filing bankruptcy. If the state does not determine that AAPS is in financial distress, then the district will likely meet monthly to discuss its budget with the Treasury Department, according to Demetriou.

“It depends on what kind of deficit elimination plan we submit,” Demetriou said. “If they determine there’s no financial distress, then we’ll determine if the state might meet with us once a month or they send somebody from the Treasury or we go to the Treasury every month. We submit our cash flows until they feel comfortable that we are okay.”

The district’s fund balance, or

percent of its budget remaining at the end of the fiscal year, is projected to be 1.96% for 202324, according to Demetriou’s presentation. If the district does not have a positive general fund balance of at least 5% for each of the two most recently completed school fiscal years, AAPS is required to submit its budgetary assumptions to the state.

Demetriou created five-year projections for the five scenarios presented. He recommended a $25 million reduction scenario over the course of a year, saying that with this scenario, the district will have about $11.2 million in fund balance for the 2024-25 year, which brings the fund balance back up to 5% of its revenue. Although this does not meet the Board’s own policy, the district will meet both the requirement and policy from the second year, according to Demetriou.

The other option the board discussed at the meeting was a $25 million reduction scenario over two years, with a reduction of $12.5 million taking place each year. Demetriou said in this scenario, it would take three years for the district to meet the state’s minimum requirement for their fund balance.

“(If we use this scenario), we’ll be at 1.6% at the end of next year,” Demetriou said. “And then in the second year, it’s going to be 4.47%.

The third year is where you’re actually meeting the 5% state requirement.”

Board Treasurer Susan Ward Schmidt said it was important to make a decision based on the presented scenarios quickly considering that AAPS employees have a right to know if they will return post-summer break.

“This waiting right before school’s out to tell people if they’re laid off … I don’t know how people feel about that,” Schmidt said. “We need to right the ship now. It’s hard to make this decision but I’m not sure we’re any better off stretching this out and making teachers and the community wonder what’s going on.”

Trustee Rima Mohammad said the scenario in which AAPS cuts $25 million from its budget over two years gives more time for consideration for everyone.

“When you do it all at once, if it is going to impact student enrollment, if it’s going to impact teachers staying with us, that seems like a bigger shock to the system,” Mohammad said. “Even though it’s not getting us to the goals, at least it gives us time.”

Trustee Ernesto Querijero said although he understands the reasoning behind the proposed $25 million cuts, he wants more information before the board authorizes the layoff of staff.

“I am in communication with our employee groups and the public, and I don’t feel comfortable

giving approval for layoffs,” Querijero said. “The reason why I don’t feel comfortable with that is I want to hear from our union leadership and our community. I just don’t know what the cause and consequences would be and what the benefits would be.”

To quit a culture: ‘The Paper Menagerie’ destiny

I cannot believe there was a time I was convinced I could abandon prawn mee or lo mai gai. I tell people I have never been ashamed of my identity because I am so proud of who I am right now. But it’s a Herculean task to try to unravel the tight ropes I have wrapped over my insecurities and tap into why I wanted to withdraw from my culture in the first place.

I think I have been conditioned to avoid this type of conversation because I feel a level of cringe just as I begin typing out my ethnicity. I am half-white American and halfMalaysian Chinese. A lot of people don’t understand what being Malaysian Chinese means, and I stopped explaining it as “you know, like Michelle Yeoh?” because the amount of people who are unaware of her existence discourages me. Identifying as Malaysian Chinese refers to being ethnically Chinese while living in Malaysia. I always try to make this important locational and cultural distinction, just like anyone with roots in Taiwan or Hong Kong might. Cultural preservation is an active state of mind that requires deliberate effort. One has to persistently identify oneself as a participant in a cultural community;

otherwise, they are suspended to its outskirts. In an undetermined era some time between the end of elementary school and the beginning of middle school (mindset fluctuations are perplexing to measure exactly in time), I made an unspoken agreement with myself to quit my culture. I would never perfectly fit in any clear-cut mold, especially since my family lived in the United States, where molds are already miscellaneous and prone to change, an uncomfortable realization that ignited a desire for conformity to ransack my judgments. My mom never taught me Malay because a lot of the Chinese people

in Malaysia use Mandarin and Cantonese to converse with each other. But I wasn’t completely fluent in either, and the inconvenient gaps in my knowledge frustrated me. Rather than be a shell of a Chinese speaker, I concluded that it was easier to only speak English. When I decided to become monolingual, I pictured a stream of Chinese characters zooming out of my ears, taking every piece of my stored language with them. I was satisfied with this displacement because I thought giving this language up would help me feel less complicated inside. I could just be American, whatever that entailed.

ReadmoreatMichiganDaily.com

After you skate for a while, you become an amphibian of movement. You adapt to the freedom and speed of it all, and the momentum of ice becomes as natural as walking. Sometimes, when I haven’t gotten rink time for a bit, I can feel the physical itch to get back on ice. It’s all I can think about.

Ironically, the first time I stepped on an ice rink, I hated it. My mom — who taught herself how to roller skate in her youth — thought it was about time her kid toughened up via her method of absolutely beefing it a few times. She took me to a public skate session at our local rink. Both of us were in rentals, so my feet hurt like crazy, and about halfway through the session my mom took me to the center of the rink and took away my walker. If I wanted it back, she told me, I had to learn how to skate on my own. I almost cried.

Admittedly, the imposed trauma yielded results. I very quickly learned how to skate. Even though I was thoroughly scarred, my mom signed me up for the basic skill program. I was short for my age and had a surprising jump height for my stature. In a few lessons, I fell in love with the feeling of being on ice. As I approached the end of the basic

skills lineup, a coach suggested to my mom to continue with private lessons. The difference between taking private lessons and basic skills is that when you’re with an individual coach, you’re one of theirs. Your reputation as a skater is your coach’s reputation. As instructors, having competitive students means that they’re capable of pushing their students to win, which attracts more students. This means that coaches are motivated to focus primarily on the students who do well, and when lessons can go for rates up to a dollar an hour, a student needs to ensure the attention of their coach. It’s a terrible environment to grow up in — bruises, cuts and trips to physical therapy were medals of honor proving how hard you had pushed yourself, and as I hit puberty and shot up to an average height (50th percentile baby!), I also dealt with a lot of the standard body image and negative feelings about food that come with performing arts. At the same time, though, the rush of the sport was unlike anything else. To be a figure skater, you have to be some degree of an

Are you missing something?

Do you miss the camaraderie of service, the common bond and easy friendship between all those who have served? Do you feel like you have a good network of resources to address your needs and the needs of veterans you meet?

If you are currently working with fine University programs like SVA and PAVE, and you find they meet your needs, please do stay with them. But if you don’t know about them, or have tried them and found them not quite what you want, then consider joining this informal group. We are a no judgement zone, some of our best members made E-4 more than once, if you know what I mean! We have a statistically large number of Marines, for some reason. : )

Summer Enrichment Program

We offer:

Community service like clearing river obstructions or mentoring in the Washtenaw County Veteran Treatment Court, and more!

Range days and CPL classes (free)

Summer leadership development treks, professional development (resume/LinkedIn, Veteran Success classes about study skills, de-greening, emotional intelligence), and more!

Access to emergency supports like counseling, housing and storage, funding, medical care (all free).

Direct referral to hundreds of statewide services for veterans via the VCAT9 network, screened by Dr. Eric Fretz.

Backyard firepit socials, poker nights, bonfires, river floats, campouts, rucks, game nights, sports watch parties, and more!

If you do your initial screening and attend one event and one class over the summer, you qualify for a $100 stipend! If you need help making rent over the summer without the GI Bill, try our summer jobs program.

Too many more resources to list!

This informal social support group has ZERO ties to the University of Michigan. Most of the members are not students or staff of UM, and many are civilians who support vets, but we want to ensure everyone on campus finds their tribe. Maybe you could join this crew…

You can learn more about Dr. Fretz at www.LinkedIn.com/in/ebfretz

To learn more, contact one of the ambassadors below, they will share details of their experience and you can decide if it sounds like something you’d want to try, then you can come out and we’ll see if you are good fit for the group. This group values honesty, positivity, and inclusion!

Jared Jenkins UG jarjenk@umich.edu

Tyler Eddy GRAD tjeddy@umich.edu

Dom Caputo. UG caputo@umich.edu

Jenn Phillips. UG jennphil@umich.edu

Mike McTaggart Staff mmctagga@umich.edu

“We are not for everybody, but we’ll help anybody!!”

Design by Caroline Guenther

Musings from an ex-STEM girl

In the 17th century, Galileo looked through his telescope and discovered that he was no longer the center of the universe. The sun didn’t orbit the Earth, but the Earth orbited the Sun, as it did Jupiter and all the other planets. Everything everyone had believed for so many years wasn’t true.

I first learned about Galileo on car rides to school where my grandpa taught me and my siblings about the world. He had been a physics teacher for more than 50 years, and he met our childlike curiosity about everything and anything with encouragement and passion. We asked him about the sun; he told us about Galileo. These car rides turned me into a STEM girl. I took every AP and

advanced science class my high school offered, got out of social studies by doubling up on math and believed that one day, I might be an astrophysicist. My universe orbited around these subjects. My other interests — music and art — rested at the edges. When I got to college, I eagerly enrolled in multivariable calculus and thought for sure I would be a math major — or a minor at least. I loved it, and I did well in the class.

At the same time, I was taking my first-year writing seminar, a class where we learned to analyze and write about music. At the end of the semester, my writing professor connected me with a company called AllMusic, an American online music database that provides comprehensive information about songs, musicians and music, including reviews and biographies. They offered me an internship to write features about anything I wanted

as long as it was related to music. For the first time, I felt my love for music could be incorporated into a prospective career. It was so exciting — the feeling of connecting ideas and stories, relating the past to the present, social justice struggles to present-day issues. Music, history and politics — all the subjects that had been on my periphery — intersected under the umbrella of writing, and I was free to explore the world through this new lens. I fell in love. I wanted to be a writer.

In 1633, Galileo was charged with “strong suspicion of heresy” for his discovery. People were scared, terrified to leave — to quit — their previous understanding of the world and their place in it. His book “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems” was banned, and he was sentenced to house arrest. He died in 1642, still under that arrest.

I understand the fear of the Romans and Catholics who persecuted Galileo. Quitting your prevailing understanding of your place in the world involves change and leaving previously held truths behind.

Math and science were the roots of my identity and my worldview. They helped me order my values and life path. But I quit. I traded in my graph paper for a college-ruled notebook, took history instead of math and joined The Michigan Daily’s Arts section. I got an internship at the Detroit Free Press over the summer and took 18 credits of humanities the following semester.

One day last semester, I sat in a coffee shop, my head buried in a book, when a group of boys sat down at the table next to mine to work on their calculus homework. I popped back up from my book for a moment. They laughed together and pointed out each other’s mistakes and celebrated when they understood the problem and found the solution. They were a team, fighting together toward one right answer.

I suddenly became aware of the stark contrast between my recent academic ventures and theirs. I was spending mornings and afternoons hunched over my laptop in desolate library corners, the blue light burning my eyes, as hours ticked by in silence. I realized then, in the coffee shop, that my personal discovery of writing had made my own universe smaller.

In STEM courses, you can turn to almost anyone for help. There is a common struggle and a single solution (at least at the basic levels). How many phone numbers do I have just from my years of asking or being asked for help with math homework?

The humanities and liberal arts can be a lonely endeavor. No matter how much you discuss the work you’re studying or the ideas you have, it is ultimately your thoughts alone that matter. And the time spent refining, revising, editing, tweaking — those are solitary hours.

“Ah come on, Adrian, it’s true. I was nobody. But that don’t matter either, you know? ’Cause I was thinkin’, it really don’t matter if I lose this fight. It really don’t matter if this guy opens my head, either.

’Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody’s ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I’m still standin’, I’m gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren’t just another bum from the neighborhood.” — “Rocky,” 1976

Opening Bell: Round 1 I begin out the back door. The sun is just coming up, and it has taken me forever to convince myself to leave my oh-so-comforting comforter and willingly embrace the chill of another winter morning. And yet, here I am. I walk past the fraternity houses and the sublets with months-old “call here for a lease” signs and into the real Ann Arbor neighborhoods — the ones with yards full of children’s toys and gardens versus pong tables and crushed beer cans. I take a deep breath, and then I am running. It hurts and it’s annoying and it’s wonderful, all at the same time. I have converted my body into an engine, pumping my legs and my arms to step, and step, and step and keep stepping until I have made it another block. It’s not exactly pleasant, but the push and pull of my muscles feels so existentially good that it doesn’t matter. As my breath turns short and labored, each heave of my chest is another affirmation that yes, I can do hard things. For just this moment, I feel powerful. I’m strong, I’m free and I’m alive. It is truly exquisite.

Round 2

One of the best things about “Rocky” is that despite Sylvester Stallone’s performance being universally acclaimed, Rocky’s charm does not come from his suave nature. It’s the exact opposite: Rocky is so un-smooth (rocky, one might say) that it’s almost impossible not to like him. He’s not especially intelligent. He can’t talk to girls. He’s dead broke. In that sense, he’s the truest version of the underdog we have ever seen put to screen.

Round 3

This is the day I run 11 miles. To some, that number is typical; to me, it is absurd. My goal — a half-marathon race coming up in four short weeks — is even more absurd. My body is not the kind that we typically associate with long-distance cardio. I am bigger, I have always been bigger and I probably always will be bigger than the average runner. And yet, I have decided to try to, just to prove to myself that I can. I am slow, but I love to run and the goal has gotten me out of the house more than I ever had before. Before class, after class, in the rain, in the heat, I drag myself out of the house with the same mantra

— I’ve got legs. Why not run?

Round 4

There’s another key aspect that makes “Rocky” so special. The underdog sports film is a genre in and of itself, with a tried-and-true formula for feel-good success. Person/Team A, our hero(es), must go up against the formidable Person/ Team B, well-seasoned and seemingly insurmountable. Team A might start out a little rough, but they eventually reach the pinnacle of their craft. Although it looks shaky until the final minutes, the underdog wins and the film ends on a soaring, climactic note. This is where “Rocky” deviates from the script: Rocky gets better as the film goes on, but hard as he tries to abandon his loser status, fate has other plans. He was never going to take down Creed (Carl Weathers, “Predator”).

Round 5

The next morning, I wake up and can’t walk. My left leg aches and every step feels like a bolt of metal driving itself up my calf. I wait a few days, figuring I’m just sore, then drive to urgent care when nothing improves. It’s a sprain, the doctor says. It needs rest or it will get worse, she says. I limp back to my car and, without even thinking about it, burst into tears in the parking lot. My body, the thing I have worked so hard to come to peace with, has rejected my goals. Maybe, I think, the doubts in the back of my head have been right after all: I simply am not the kind of person who can run a half marathon. All at once, I am 12 again, the starting gun has fired and I’m watching my sixthgrade cross-country teammates pass me by. Maybe it was stupid to try again.

Round 6

While I typically view art through a death of the author–like lens, I also uncritically deviate from my artistic philosophies the minute a piece of media has a good story behind its creation. The underdog status of “Rocky” the film mirrors Rocky the character so closely that it almost seems fictional. Stallone sold his dog to pay the bills while making the movie. The ice skating rink is empty because the production team couldn’t afford to film with people. Rocky’s iconic robe was too big by accident, and instead of wasting the money to buy a new one, Stallone wrote it into the movie. Another large obstacle to the movie’s production was Stallone, an unproven and practically unknown Hollywood player at the time and his insistence on writing and starring in the film. It was only by the grace of “Lords of Flatbush” co-star Henry Winkler, who had achieved breakthrough success as Arthur Fonzarelli on the popular sitcom “Happy Days,” that the script was presented to executives in the first place. Every step of the production seems like another path on the road to catastrophic failure. And yet, “Rocky” rose above its humble origins, becoming the highest-grossing movie of 1976 and winning Best Picture at the 49th Academy Awards.

Round 7 I wasn’t initially inclined to join cross country in middle school; I wasn’t fast or particularly active, and I knew the barrage of teasing I would have to endure as the biggest and slowest girl on the team.

But I had run the gauntlet of childhood extra-curricular activities — soccer, ballet, softball — and quit every one, to my parents’ dismay. Knowing I was expected to do something active, I begrudgingly accepted their suggestion to join the team. In cross country, I reasoned, at least my season would be short and the sport’s individualistic focus meant I wouldn’t let down teammates when I failed. I could spend a few months phoning it in, then get on with my life.

But that didn’t happen. Instead of the begrudging tolerance I had been shown every other activity I tried, in track I found something different: an ally. My coach, who I’ll call Coach K, was a scruffylooking math teacher only a few years out of college. In unbearable heat and snow, this man led his gaggle of 50 or so middle schoolers to jog to a park about a mile away for practice, running alongside us as we went. I figured that his efforts would be focused on the ten or so fastest kids, the ones who could potentially get us a trophy. But Coach K dropped back from the front of the pack, first to the middle, then back and back and back to me, usually significantly behind everyone else. There, we talked. He had this way about him: not an overly friendly, you’redoing-so-great, patronizing tone or a harsh command to push me to get to the runner in front of me.

GRACE

Thru the Keyhole: a bedroom portrait series

over this title or not. Our rooms often grow and evolve with each iteration of ourselves, reflecting each stage of life that we may find ourselves in. Stripping ourselves away from our physical beings leaves nothing else but a soul, yet there still exist vessels through which we convey our story to others — vernacular, clothing apparel and hobbies, to name a few. We encourage you to consider the room as yet another vessel. While it would be reductive to assume that who we are is directly represented by the items that we own, is it not true that our belongings reflect our sense of selves? And similarly, who we are in the space that we choose to ensconce ourselves in at the end of each day? Often, the bedroom takes on the form

of a museum — one that can carry you through the entire history of a person, if you care to pay enough attention. This photo series explores the idea of bedrooms as a museum of the self. Through this project, we sought to examine the relationships between identity and interior design, as well as the ways in which our personal histories are reflected within our physical spaces. Over the course of two months, Akash and I were welcomed into the bedrooms of eight fellow students, interviewing each of them and conducting a photo and video shoot en-

tirely in the enclosure of their bedroom – all while stealing some sick decor inspiration in the process.

Getting an entry-level job is not easy work

Design by Emma Sortor

internship, I should have applied to at least 20, due to how competitive the internship application process is. After all of my rejections, I sat with myself and thought, “Why is getting an internship this hard? It’s not like I’m applying for an entry-level job.” I soon realized that was exactly what I was doing. Why am I essentially applying for an entry-level position before I’ve even finished my undergraduate degree? Before 2010, an undergraduate college degree was the hallmark of job readiness, a step up from the high school diploma of years before. However, as higher education became more accessible and the number of graduates proliferated, the economic, professional-development value of a degree diminished. With nearly 73% of college graduates employed in 2019, it’s evident that possessing a degree no longer guarantees college graduates a job that aligns with their qualifications and aspirations. The class of 2020’s experience further exemplifies this shift, with only half of them securing traditional full-time jobs six months post-graduation. An undergraduate degree is no longer as rare an achievement as receiving a Ph.D. In today’s job market, recent graduates find themselves caught in a paradoxical situation: They’re armed with the credentials required for an entry-level position, yet they lack the years of experience that employers increasingly demand. It’s important to note that the learning done in college degrees has also evolved and become more all-encompassing over time, with the evolution of minors, diverse student bodies and improved educational quality. Despite these achievements, the value of a college degree has shifted. While it may hold increased value for degree consumers, as evidenced by higher tuition costs and improved education quality, the perceived value of a Bachelor of Arts candidate to an employer has declined relative to previous years. This shift underscores the changing landscape of job requirements and highlights

the need for individuals to acquire additional skills and experiences beyond their degree to remain competitive in the job market. For young professionals who do secure entry-level positions, many find themselves disillusioned with their positions, leading to high turnover rates and a phenomenon known in post-COVID-19 times as “The Great Resignation.” Many young professionals find themselves unhappy with their initial roles. This leads to a growth in job hopping, where employees switch employers every few years, rather than the more-permanent practice of tenure-track employment. This trend reflects a broader dissatisfaction among employees with the traditional employer-employee dynamic, characterized by limited growth opportunities, inadequate support and a lack of alignment with career aspirations. Retention rates within college majors further illustrate the transient nature of employment. A study done between 2003 and 2009 by the U.S. Department of Education found that about half of bachelor degree candidates in STEM disciplines leave their majors before completing their degree, a comparable number to humanities and social sciences fields. It’s self-contradictory that a significant amount of prior experience is required for entry-level employment, with about 35% of these jobs requiring at least two or three years of relevant work experience. Recent graduates are unable to secure employment without experience, yet cannot gain experience without employment. The experience dilemma facing new graduates is made worse by the evolving landscape of internships. Once considered a pathway to entry-level positions, internships are now frequently equated with entry-level jobs, further complicating the job search process for graduates. This confusion blurs the line between internships, which traditionally offered learning opportunities and entry-level positions, which typically require some level of prior experience. Searching for an internship is incredibly stressful for students, who find themselves caught in a cycle of intense competition and limited opportunities. As internships become more competitive and coveted, it’s essential for educational institutions and employers to collaborate in providing meaningful opportunities that truly prepare students for the workforce, rather than simply adding another hurdle to their career jour-

Attaining well-being should be simpler

hold little scientific legitimacy.

As I was scrolling through TikTok earlier this week, I was inundated with a variety of nutrition and wellness fads. I saw creators advertising Bloom Nutrition, eating a completely meat-based diet and cooking every single item from scratch. Some advertisements promoted weighted eye masks aimed at reducing headaches and apps for meditation. I couldn’t help but wonder how anyone could keep up with all these evolving health trends.

The current health and wellness industry is a collection of products and practices targeted at realizing the full potential of your well-being. This includes products that are aimed at improving mental health, physical health, fitness, nutrition, mindfulness, appearance and sleep. Yet, most of these products hinge on pseudoscience and are sold on baseless and exaggerated claims that

This market is captivated by trends, worth $4 trillion and growing at an increasingly high rate. Many of these products aren’t necessarily getting better with more innovation either — there are just more of them. The current health and wellness market not only takes advantage of vulnerable groups, but also exacerbates mental and physical health concerns. Unqualified therapists, scam wellness products and fad diets contribute to the inaccessibility of the wellness market. Some of these concerns lie within the emerging mental wellness industry. A recent increase in mental health problems has exacerbated therapists’ workloads, so websites like BetterHelp and Talkspace have popped up to fill that gap with online therapy. Additionally, there is a therapist shortage that makes finding help even harder in the “real world.” The problem with these services, especially BetterHelp, is that they are not providing quality care. Users of the app complain of therapists

acting unprofessionally, arriving late and leaving early, promoting their own books and providing care that is unhelpful or even potentially triggering to clients.

Many of these products aren’t necessarily getting better with more innovation either — there are just more of them. The current health and wellness market not only takes advantage of vulnerable groups, but also exacerbates mental and physical health concerns.

While these apps provide access to therapy that many users need, it’s better to go through a more accredited therapy organization that offers online services, rather than through a problematic platform like BetterHelp. While it’s hard to ensure that the

ney. In industries where training resources are scarce, prioritizing candidates with prior experience may be perceived as a practical necessity rather than an act of bias or exclusion. However, this approach inadvertently perpetuates a cycle of exclusion, particularly for individuals from underprivileged backgrounds or nontraditional educational pathways. While some industries may justify their preference for experienced candidates due to limited training resources, the prevailing trend of prioritizing experience over potential is symptomatic of systemic issues within hiring practices. In today’s competitive job market, companies often prioritize short-term gains over long-term investments in talent development. Rather than investing in robust training and retention programs, many organizations plan for attrition, perpetuating a cycle of instability in the job market. This approach not only hampers the professional growth of recent graduates, but also overlooks the value of fresh and innovative thinking that new talent can bring to the table. To address the paradox of limited opportunities facing recent graduates, concerted efforts must be made to reform hiring practices and foster more inclusivity. Establishing clear feedin programs, bolstering internship initiatives and urging employers to reevaluate their conventional hiring criteria are pivotal steps in this endeavor. Some colleges have even required students to participate in internships before graduation. Additionally, recognizing alternate indicators of potential, such as extracurricular activities and strong work ethic, can pave the way for a more equitable and meritocratic job market. Moreover, investing in mentorship programs, apprenticeships and other initiatives can help bridge the gap between education and employment, providing recent graduates with the skills and support they need to succeed in the workforce. This can strengthen the connection between academia and industry, fostering a more seamless transition from education to employment. The tale of limited opportunities facing today’s graduates is a multifaceted saga, characterized by shifting paradigms and systemic challenges. By acknowledging the inherent biases within hiring practices and advocating for structural reforms, we can strive towards a more equitable and inclusive job market — one where potential triumphs over experience.

Typically, weight loss products are promoted by women who are already skinny, saying that you could look like them if you were to use these products. But, this puts out a dangerous narrative, given the nuances of weight loss.

For example, products like detox tea are advertised as ways to lose weight, strengthen the immune

quality of every single therapist is helpful, smaller in-person and local organizations generally are able to regulate their therapists more because they monitor less of them. Much of the excess of wellness products is a result of media overconsumption. The rise of TikTok Shop and influencer brand promotions has made it so people are hyperaware of the wellness products on the market. When someone sees their favorite influencer advertising a product that they claim to use, viewers want to buy it. This is because people look up to these influencers or want to become influencers themselves. Owning the same products their favorite influencers use is one step closer to being them or being associated with them. These “scientific claims” also prey on people who are experiencing chronic pain and looking for any solution that will fix it. For example, women are more susceptible to the wellness market, and they tend to experience chronic illnesses like headaches and chronic pain at a higher rate than men. These health products are advertised by harping on traditional beauty standards.

system and flush out toxins. But a closer look at the ingredients can tell us otherwise. Not only does this tea not work as a weight loss tool, but it can also even be dangerous to consume as some consumers don’t know that it serves as a mild laxative. The cost of all these products adds up. From fancy detox smoothies to massages, most people cannot afford to live in the modern state of “well-being.” We need to shed our current definition of wellness that requires a sense of opulence and instead focus on the basics, like proper nutrition, exercise, quality sleep and stress-relieving activities. While there are some amazing products on the market, wellness doesn’t need to come with all these pricey bells and whistles. Find an activity and try your best to stick with it. Try out the basics like journaling or meditating. Work with a professional, like a therapist or a nutritionist, if you want to improve wellness further. Wellness is admirable, and with effort, it can also be attainable.

JOVANNA GALLEGOS Opinion Columnist

The University of Michigan’s Central Student Government has traditionally been a voice that operates by and for the will of the student body. In recent years, CSG has undertaken the responsibility of providing funding for student organizations on campus, as well as a number of different discretionary programs.

In previous years, however, they have been failing to do those jobs effectively, for a number of reasons. For one, they haven’t been advocating for students’ best interests.

Additionally, they have been mismanaging the funds that they have appropriated. CSG has stopped being the student voice.

Historically, student government at the University of Michigan has been at the forefront of student issues. Whether it was protesting

We have approached the worst part of the semester too quickly. It’s time to study for finals and pass our classes, all while trying to figure out our schedules for next semester. The University of Michigan may have a convoluted scheduling system, but we can and must learn how to use it to the best of our abilities.

As an English and French and Francophone studies double major, my schedule consists of primarily humanities classes with the occasional social science course sprinkled in. While I enjoy the classes I take, figuring out my schedule is an uphill battle. There is an extremely limited number of French classes each semester, with most of them enrolling no more than 18 students. The issue with having a schedule

the Vietnam War or demanding the University divest from apartheid South Africa, these were core issues that were important to past student bodies. Student government members were at the forefront of these protests. However, this spirit of protest has become diluted. Regardless of any judgment values on the IsraelHamas war and associated protests on campus, the University’s proposed — and now scrapped — Disruptive Activity Policy not only grants vague power over any “disruptive” student protests, but also allows for punitive punishment up to expulsion. If CSG was truly a voice for students, there should have had some intrinsic desire to take a stand against this policy. Instead, by not taking a side, advocacy surrounding the policy has been outsourced to the American Civil Liberties Union and other students. With this outsourcing, CSG has also outsourced the responsibility to advocate for students.

Making the broken scheduling system work for you Opinion

Even before SHUT IT DOWN, CSG was failing students

By allowing this policy to be directed toward those protesting the use of our endowment to invest in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, CSG has been negligent in making it seem like this policy doesn’t have the capability to affect us all. Not only is this inaction bad in that it could allow potentially harmful policies to come into place, but it also does so in a way that makes the issue cause further division on campus.

Another reason highlighting why CSG is failing U-M students is the fact that it has become a bloated institution used for people who want to cosplay as politicians as opposed to advocating for students. Looking at the composition of CSG’s structure exemplifies this. There are more than 20 executive members in CSG. There is a legislature composed of much more than 60 different positions. There is also a judicial branch composed of a Central Student Judiciary that interprets “laws”

from CSG’s constitution. Despite the size of CSG, a smaller committee in the executive branch handles the student organization funding completely. Having dozens of extra positions within CSG’s executive branch, in addition to SOFC, only acts as a way for CSG members to add interesting bullet points to their resumes. Additionally, the legislature acts as a roadblock for no particular reason. Last year, the Student Organization Committee needed some amount of funds to be reappropriated in order to ensure funding was being equitably distributed across student organizations. The process of having to go through formal resolutions and votes in the legislature, instead of simply having a discussion with the executive committee, serves no purpose other than to unnecessarily mimic the legislative process and delay critical funds for student groups. This self-serving nature is no more evident than in what took place in our recent CSG elections. A lawsuit was recently filed against elected presidential and vice presidential candidates of the SHUT IT DOWN ticket on the basis of improper campaigning, despite there being a lack of evidence. MomentUM, one of the three parties who filed the lawsuit, is mostly composed of people already in CSG. Trying to get rid of election results — which were deemed fair and correct — shows that they simply were more interested in having CSG act like a governmental body rather than a student voice. If they actually cared about student voices, it is reasonable to think that they would have realized that the goals of the SHUT IT DOWN campaign resonated more with students than their own, instead of

filled with mostly humanities classes is the competition with students of all majors for those higher-level humanities distribution requirements. By contrast, students taking higher level STEM classes don’t face the same competition, as their courses are more lecture-based and allow for a higher enrollment. This stark, major-driven divide causes even more scheduling woes for humanities students.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA junior JJ Niskar explained how frustrating scheduling can be for him, since he double majors in biomolecular science and French and Francophone studies.

“It’s harder to schedule STEM classes because it’s a lot more rigid the requirements you have to take, and there are a lot more people competing for the same spots,” Niskar said. “But competing for humanities is also hard because they have more limited options. French classes are only at certain times, with

fewer choices, so I always have to start with my French classes and schedule around them.”

When asked if he had scheduling advice for underclassmen, Niskar emphasized the importance of trying to be as prepared as possible.

“Make several schedules and use Atlas,” Niskar said. “Think of multiple classes you want to take because it’s better to have backup options.”

Atlas Schedule Builder is an extremely helpful tool for students when it comes to finding classes and creating potential schedules.

I didn’t know about Atlas until the winter semester of my freshmen year, and I seriously regret the classes I took my first semester because I missed out on Atlas. This website allows you to look up courses that interest you and view data on them, like the median grade for the class, general information and reviews about their professors. Students can also make multiple

schedules and track the availability of different classes through Atlas. It puts all the relevant information you need for scheduling in one place, and mastering this tool is essential for successful scheduling.

On Atlas, you have the ability to create several schedules, but sometimes none of them end up working, despite all your preparation. I remember the terror I experienced one registration period as I watched every single course in my Schedule Builder fill up 10 minutes before my registration time, and I had to create a completely new schedule on the spot.

In an interview with The Daily, LSA senior Daniel Klein spoke on the trials and tribulations of course backpacking — or the process of “shopping” for courses pre-registration — and scheduling.

To prevent course selection from going awry, Klein suggested an additional scheduling resource that students can use.

“Talk to the advisors in your department and go over requirements with them. They can really help you,” Klein said. It’s extremely important to meet with your major’s academic advisor to make sure you are on the right track to graduate on time and with the credits you need. These advisors know their respective department better than you, allowing them to recommend new courses and help you find the best ways to fulfill your requirements.

SportsMonday: Golf for my grandpa

Everybody’s story at The Michigan Daily starts somewhere. Mine started when my grandpa died. Technically, it started back in 2020, when I emailed then-Managing Sports Editor Ethan Sears to join the sports section before anyone had even printed my high school diploma. But besides one odd story about club lacrosse, I didn’t really pick up any events at first. I drifted away, uninterested in a Zoom newsroom where I didn’t feel connected to anyone. But I really immersed myself in The Daily in the winter of my freshman year, when I lost my grandpa to cancer. During one of the worst years of my life, I picked up a golf story, and then I found a family in the newsroom.

Growing up, I was intensely surrounded by golf, even as someone who to this day has never played 18 holes. My grandpa lived and breathed the sport. Walk around my grandparents’ house and you’ll still see clubs and trinkets strewn about. Every time I sit in the utility room to take off my shoes, I come face to face with a giant poster of Tiger Woods. I had my first set of golf clubs before I learned how to string together more than a couple sentences. Golf filled conversations like glue. My grandpa regaled in his tales of weekly outings. Sometimes, he reveled in a personal best. Other times, he watched as I shot old golf balls in the backyard, aiming for the blue spruce tree we planted when I was a toddler, as he hyped up the days he hoped to see me playing golf for my high school. These were pillars of Fridays and Saturdays spent at my grandparents’ house, and I loved every minute of it — even if I hit the side of their sheds more than I hit my target.

All my life, my grandpa was the man I wanted to be when I grew up. He served in the army, then worked 25 years in a General Motors plant to support his family. He could fix anything, and no task was too cumbersome. He also didn’t take shit from anybody, even until the end.

If you’ve ever run into me or seen me around, there’s a good chance I was smiling.

I may not know what you’ve been through today, or this week, or this month, but I know that it never hurts to see a smile. I smile in case you haven’t seen one yet today, and I smile hoping it was one of many.

I love to smile, and my time at The Michigan Daily has afforded me more reasons than ever to do so. It’s connected me with so many people whom I can’t help but smile at when I see them, and it’s given me so many experiences that I can’t help but smile about when I think about them.

Four years and 205 stories ago, I was smiling at the chance to write about sports for the very first time during a time when sports weren’t even happening because of COVID-19. I joined The Daily having no idea what it was about or what I wanted to do here. I just knew I had to do something besides Zoom classes and my older brother Hani mentioned The Daily once over the summer as something a prospective communications major could involve themselves in.

that it’s just a game that we’ve prepared for, not something coming at us out of the blue. I told them to play desperate and act as if you don’t have a fail-safe if things go wrong, a mindset my dad carried as an immigrant from Lebanon with no support system in the U.S. And I told them that I was learning how to smile again, learning how to laugh again, learning how to feel joy again. I told them that tomorrow I want to learn how it feels like to win again.

We won 7-0, and after the game my team presented a commemorative ball that they all signed before the game without me knowing, saying they were so confident we’d pull off the upset that they put their names on a game-winning football to prove it.

That’s a sports story. Sports stories have power. But when I came to Michigan, I left my own sports stories on the back burner. I knew how important they could be though, so I put my all into each and every one I wrote. From a tennis gamer for an early-season match to sidebars in this year’s National Championship in Houston, I took great pride in telling sports stories and writing them for this paper.

So later that week, in our final Friday practice before traveling to Columbus, I told our team everything. One of my favorite parts of being MSE was being able to lead practices with Connor and highfive everyone when they arrived. I smile thinking of all the energy I got to bring and how much enjoyment we all got from it. In my postpractice speech I told the group that we need to be fearless going down to Columbus, that we’re getting their best shot. So I told them about the ball my teammates signed after what I was going through at the time, how we pulled off the upset, all of that.

And when we went down to Columbus and beat The Lantern in a historic revival of our football rivalry between the two papers — an accomplishment every single sports writer should smile at for being a part of — Connor presented me with a football post-game that the entire section signed. That’s a sports story, and one that makes me smile every time I think of it.

Sports stories are the best kind of stories, and you don’t need to play them to be a part of them.

But the real stories of our times at The Daily are rarely the ones we write. I smile thinking of what I’ve written and where I’ve traveled to write them, but I smile more thinking of the people and the impact we’ve had on each other.

I smile thinking of karaoke performances and late nights hanging out in the newsroom. I smile thinking of the trashketball games and NYPD runs, and how new people saw what we have going on and decided to stay.

Being a part of the sports section at The Daily makes every memory associated with it technically a sports story. Whether it’s directly Lantern and State News stories, or a door code reader not working that eventually led to Panera Bread taking lemon cookies off the menu, anything associated with this section is a sports story that makes me smile.

He had already survived two bouts with cancer to that point, so I told him he should get it checked out immediately. He stayed silent. He wasn’t telling me that he was getting surgery or chemo or the other treatments that Michigan Medicine used to beat his previous cancers. He was telling me the end was near. Then he asked me if I wanted him to make me a new set of golf clubs. Of course, I said yes.

Then one cold January day, I walked into my grandparents’ house to visit. I didn’t know what to expect. COVID-19 had kept us all distant, so I was surprised to see my usually strong grandpa stuck in bed. The Louis L’Amour books he used to read were collecting dust. The putting practice mat he used in the winter months hadn’t left the garage. Seeing my grandpa’s life upended, words were hard to come by. So, we talked about golf.

Earlier that week, I had picked up another story for The Daily. With my grandpa so sick, I had a pit in my stomach that I didn’t know how to deal with. I felt alone, especially stuck away from everyone during the pandemic. For some reason — maybe because of the community I found on Daily Sports Zoom calls — I started picking up stories for The Daily. This time, for my fourth ever story, I covered women’s golf.

So I sat there and talked golf with my grandpa. A sophomore named Hailey Borja (now a fifthyear) had smoked the competition in a match against Florida Gulf Coast. I gave grandpa the rundown, and he wondered if she’d be on the LPGA Tour soon. Sitting with my grandpa just to chat, of course we would talk about golf, but we also talked about The Daily. He thought the fact that I was writing about golf was awesome. He was proud that I was out there covering the sport he loved.

Besides some hard goodbyes the day before he died, that was the last real conversation I ever had with my grandpa.

After he died, I needed something to distract myself. I poured my pain into my writing. I poured my soul into The Daily. I started

But golf didn’t take with me. My interests changed. I loved hockey, then basketball. I ran track and field, and I unsuccessfully tried football. As I became a teenager, golf took the back burner and so did spending time with my grandpa. High school golf never happened. You’re asking yourself: How does this relate to The Daily? Well, golf is what got me to commit to covering sports here. During my pandemic-altered freshman year — one where the newsroom was a Zoom call — my college experience started with bad news. Right after my high school graduation, my grandpa and I were driving to go fill out paperwork for a graduation gift he had gotten me. We talked, and I asked him about golf. The pandemic sucked, he explained, because he couldn’t golf with his friends. And then, he talked about his doctor’s appointments: A scan had found an inchlong growth on his pancreas.

picking up even more stories, becoming a de facto swim beat writer covering Olympians like Maggie MacNeil. I ended up on the softball beat, where I met my roommate, co-MSE and best friend Paul Nasr. I covered hockey and football in what felt like a dream come true.

But more than anything, The Daily was what I needed to grieve. It was a community of friends, with people who cared about me like Ethan and Theo, Kent and Lane, Nick and Jared and especially Paul. My beatmates felt like family when I grieved a missing pillar of my own. Once I got to campus, pickup basketball and State News football game practices were my everything. Every time I felt down, when days got tough thinking about my family, I had The Daily to turn to.

I can always count on Paul’s Paulellujah karaoke performances and infectious positivity. Hearing about Taylor’s softball games or Sam’s basketball endeavors or Lindsay’s poor, poor Phillies or John’s painful Devils fandom brings a smile to my face. Jack Glanville’s trademark giggle, Spencer’s silly bits and Jack Conlin’s amazing storytelling turned bad days into some of the best. I met four of my five roommates here, some of the people who have looked out for me the most the past year.

Everything that has come from my time at The Daily has come from how much I miss my grandpa. It’s a pain that surfaces every time I hear about golf, or when I go home and am reminded that he isn’t there. It’s been three years, but it’s still painful every time I remember that he’s gone. All the while, The Daily makes me feel connected to my grandpa in a way that nothing else does. Before this school year, I went back home to stay a week with my grandma before school. Football coverage would have my schedule booked, but I wanted to see her. There was also one more thing I wanted to do:

I broke out my clubs — the ones he made for me before he died.

Lining up from a slightly bare plot of grass where I once learned my god-awful swing, I aimed for that lone blue spruce we once planted, which now towers over me. I spent an hour back there shooting golf balls, trying to capture the spirit of what used to be my rock.

I realized something.

Why do I throw myself at sports coverage? Why do I drop into 420 Maynard when I’m not even working? Why do I love The Daily so much?

Because maybe when I share stories with you, I’m also sharing stories with my grandpa.

I didn’t send an email or really think too much of it, I just filled out a Google Form that I found online and ended up on the email list. I don’t remember what Theo or Ethan’s email said exactly, but I remember it making me smile — little did I know that I’d eventually spend a year as Managing Sports Editor sending emails like that myself and hopefully making people smile every time they read them.

Because at that time, I was simply re-learning how to smile. When my dad passed away in the summer before my senior year of high school, I didn’t think I’d ever smile again, but I knew that I wanted to. His smile filled any room he was in, and I wanted to regain the ability to do so myself.

I don’t remember the first time I smiled after that, but I know I did eventually. I do remember the first time I felt a real thrill of excitement after it though. I was playing a ping pong match with my brother Peter, and with the game on the line I won a thrilling point. Slowly but surely I was rebuilding, but I wouldn’t talk about it much. Looking back at it though, ping pong is an Olympic sport, so that’s a sports story.

I threw myself back into sports as I tried to build back, rejoining lift sessions and helping lead football practices in the following weeks as one of the team captains of that year. The day before our first game of the year, following back-to-back 1-8 seasons and facing a team that hadn’t lost a regular season game in two years, I addressed my father’s passing to the team for the first and only time.

I told them not to be nervous,

The writing and the editing were fun, but I smile thinking how long I took editing people’s stories because I was more interested in talking to everyone and getting to know members of the section than anything else and that often got me distracted. And I smile when I think that after all the sports stories I’ve written and edited, I’ve also been able to add to my own.

Because as I alluded to earlier, I came here and left the past in the past. I could count the amount of times I talked about losing my dad on one hand in college entering my senior year, only talking about it on a rare occasion to a close friend or two. I was living a new life with a heavy heart, carrying what I learned from that to make a positive impact on people by focusing on spreading a level of positivity that I know everyone needs in their lives.

But as we were working through our final week of practices before a high-stakes touch football game with Ohio State’s student newspaper The Lantern, Ian mentioned that he found my high school football highlights and had no idea that I played. He learned that not only did I play, but I dominated. He saw an absolute menace on both sides of the ball, someone with a relentless motor and an uncanny ability to read the game.

So I smile thinking of the friends I’ve made on this section that are like family to me now. I smile thinking about driving from Los Angeles to Houston with John and Connor, or creating a Fresh Coast Offense route tree with Nate, or finding a new State News practice field with Sam. I smile thinking about Lindsay moderating a debate between Jack and I over travel down to Illinois only to have my booking of a smoking room clear the air, or driving to Wisconsin with Abbie on a holiday that left the check-in agent confused. I smile thinking about how I read Jared and Nick’s wonderful SportsMonday goodbye columns this time last year and thought it would be a long long time before I ever had to worry about that. I smile thinking of all these sports stories and many more.

So as sad as I am to think that this is my last story, and that I’m leaving this amazing place, I still can’t help but smile. I see freshmen who joined this year and smile thinking of all the memories they have left to make. I see upperclassmen that will continue fostering a newsroom that creates billions of reasons to smile. I see seniors like me who joined a virtual newsroom during a pandemic and watched it transform into a place of unimaginable excitement. I smile because sports are fun, sports stories are amazing — both the ones we made together and the ones we write about — and I was part of it all. I smile hoping that my smile made you smile too.

PAUL NASR Daily Sports Writer

CONNOR EAREGOOD Daily Sports Writer

/Courtesy of Arushi Sanghi

/Courtesy of Marcelle Nasr

In the Michigan softball team’s wins over Nebraska on Friday and Saturday, the Wolverines left a combined 23 runners on base. Despite scoring a combined 10 runs, they squandered opportunities to score runs.

And in the first two innings of Sunday’s game, it was the same story. Although the struggles didn’t sink Michigan in the first two games, it appeared to be coming back to bite the Wolverines in the series finale.

After knocking on the door but failing to score in the game’s early innings, their offense exploded. Michigan (33-14 overall, 14-3

Big Ten) finally capitalized on its top of the order reaching base to score nine runs in the third and fourth innings. That offensive outburst propelled the Wolverines to a dominant 11-3 run-rule win over Nebraska (2519, 8-6) for the series sweep.

But after those early struggles, the Wolverines turned it on.

In each of the first two innings, the Wolverines were unable to take advantage of two batters reaching base. Junior left fielder Ellie Sieler and sophomore second baseman Indiana Langford recorded back-to-back singles to start the game, but the Cornhuskers proceeded to retire the next three Wolverine hitters, mitigating their threat to score. And it was the same story for the Wolverines in the second. They drew two consecutive one-out walks, putting runners on first and second base for junior shortstop Ella McVey. She floundered, grounding into a double play and thwarting Michigan’s opportunity to jump out to an early lead.

In the third inning, the Wolverines’ offense finally cashed in after Sieler and Langford again got things started. This time around, sophomore third baseman Maddie Erickson ripped a line drive up the middle to bring Sieler home for Michigan’s first run of the afternoon. Freshman right fielder Ella Stephenson kept the Wolverines offense going, sending a fly ball off the center-field wall to score two more for Michigan.

“When you get those first few runners on, it gives confidence to the people behind you to keep swinging and doing their thing,” Sieler said.

And that was just the start for the Wolverines in the frame, as their confidence continued to grow. They capitalized on the Cornhuskers’ miscues to

continue generating their own offense. After Stephenson’s triple, Nebraska first baseman Bella Bacon booted a ground ball, letting Stephenson score from third to put Michigan up 4-0. Freshman center fielder Jenissa Conway proceeded to steal second base and advance to third on a groundout. Then, Cornhuskers’ righthander Kaylin Kinney handed the Wolverines another golden opportunity, which they once again took advantage of. An errant pitch from Kinney reached the backstop, allowing Conway to score easily. Just like that, Michigan led 5-0 — a lead that’s nearly insurmountable when junior right-hander Lauren Derkowski is in the circle for the Wolverines. “We did a great job of squaring balls up, taking walks and getting free bases,” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said. “That

combination created high scores for us.”

In addition to Michigan’s stellar day at the plate, Derkowski recaptured her groove in the circle after a shaky past few starts. She limited Nebraska to just six hits and two walks on the day. And with the cushion the Wolverines’ bats provided, Derkowski didn’t even need her best stuff.

In the fourth inning, Michigan acquired even more insurance runs for Derkowski. Sieler and Langford once again got the Wolverines’ offense going, starting the inning off