CSG debates budget allocation and discusses purpose of SHUT IT DOWN initiative
Tensions rise surrounding student government budget and its distribution
The University of Michigan Central Student Government met over Zoom Tuesday evening to discuss recalls, food assistance at Blue Markets and new DEI initiatives. Tensions between representatives grew when discussing the objectives of the SHUT IT DOWN party regarding the Spring-Summer 2024 budget.
LSA representative Amatullah Hakim, Rackham representative Jared Eno and Nico Juarez, Social Work representative and ethics chair, were recalled due to excessive absences.
LSA representative Maya Akiva was also up for recall but was not recalled with 11 against, 6 in favor and 12 Abstentions.
Teddy Masterson, U-M alum and research technician, discussed to the assembly the importance of passing AR 14-010, a resolution that proposed electronic benefit transaction cash and SNAP benefits be accepted at all Blue Markets on campus.
“I have seen how insane just the costs of food in Ann Arbor, especially from Michigan dining locations is and recently Michigan
dining upgraded their kiosks to accept credit cards,” Masterson said. “So this seems like the perfect shoo-in for us to encourage the university to accept SNAP EBT. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised they’re not doing this already seeing as we’re a public university … we’re literally part of the government and several other universities, as the resolution points out, have done this already.
Resolution AR 14-007, which includes mandatory monthly DEI training for all CSG representatives, passed with 14 in favor, one against and four abstentions. In conjunction with this proposal, U-M alum Tyler Fioritto, former ethics chair of the 12th Assembly, suggested a permanent ex-officio member to guarantee accessibility issues be considered by the assembly.
“You would have somebody there who’s there 24/7 every committee meeting to be able to ensure that accessibility concerns are never out of the conversation,’’ Fioritto said. “And I think this would go a long way not just in terms of what they can actually advocate for and introduce, but in terms of restoring goodwill in the community.”
Engineering alum Shubh Agrawal, party chair for SHUT IT DOWN, spoke on the purpose of the SHUT IT DOWN movement in CSG.
“The University of Michigan is one of those institutions (whose) $6 billion of the endowment are implicated in the genocide or occupation of people of Palestine,” Agrawal said. “And the University of Michigan does not deserve to function as normal while it continues to do those things.”
Resolution AR 14-008 was introduced, allowing interested first-year students to shadow CSG officials in the executive, legislative and judiciary sections to understand the work of student representatives.
During the last meeting on Thursday, June 18, resolution AR 14-005, outlining the Spring Summer 2024 budget, was passed unanimously. On Thursday, June 27, President Alifa Chowdhury vetoed this resolution in an email obtained by The Michigan Daily.
The assembly needed a twothirds majority to overturn the veto to fund initiatives with the Spring Summer budget. With 31 votes total, 20 in favor and 11 against, the veto stands.
Nate Cohen, Finance Committee chair, proposed an appropriation to move $118,832.90 from the general account to the Legislative Discretionary Fund in order to continue payroll and the Student Organization Funding Committee without a specified budget.
During the meeting, Danah Owaida expressed frustration with the lack of progress the assembly has made on resolutions given the high number of recalls and budget disagreements.
“We could work together collectively and get all of the things that we want achieved right now,” Owaida said. “We literally look like a joke, not just in front of the Regents and the president, but in front of the entire student body, because we literally cannot do anything.”
DEI coordinator Julia Odhiambo said she is hesitant to fund student organizations because the organizations historically funded by CSG have not represented her or others in marginalized communities.
“I honestly think that we should reconsider funding organizations because I feel like the main organizations that we fund are athlete organizations and predominantly white,”Odhiambo said. “It’s not really effective for marginalized communities.”
Vice President Elias Atkinson said issues like food insecurity are created by the University driving up prices and raised the concern that CSG cannot truly fix issues caused by the University.
24 hours at the UMich Gaza solidarity encampment
Michigan Daily spends a day on the Diag with student activists
students’ motivation for their advocacy.
MICHIGAN DAILY NEWS STAFF
As of 6 a.m.
Monday, University of Michigan students set up a Gaza solidarity encampment on the Diag, planning to remain until the University meets their demand of divestment from companies profiting off Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The encampment was organized by the TAHRIR Coalition, a student-led coalition of more than 80 organizations including the U-M chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students Allied for Freedom and Equality.
The encampment follows six months of student protests for the University’s divestment, which began with a sit-in at the President’s house in October. Since then, students have continuously organized protests across campus demanding the University divest from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Similar encampments have been set up on college campuses across the country, including at Yale University and at Columbia University, with many students facing arrest and suspension, among other disciplinary actions, for their participation.
The Michigan Daily spent 24 hours on the Diag to document dayto-day operations at the solidarity encampment and understand
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Monday, 4:00 p.m. By
Christina Zhang
At 4:00 p.m., organizers hold a rally calling on the University to divest from companies profiting off of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The rally features four speakers, including SAFE president Salma Hamamy, Murad Idris, associate political science professor and two student activists.
Around a dozen pro-Israel students hold Israeli flags on the northwest corner of the Diag. Police officers from the Division of Public Safety and Security as well as Michigan State Police stand outside of Mason Hall watching the rally, but do not engage with students.
Speakers deliver their remarks from in front of the Hatcher Graduate Library. Hamamy speaks first and says living in the encampment is a way for protesters to call attention to living conditions in Gaza. Since the beginning of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, residents have been subjected to increasingly poor living conditions and food shortages.
“As student organizers, we have sacrificed our time and our sleep,” Hamamy said. “But one thing we tend to not sacrifice very often is our comfort, and
this is allowing us to experience another level of our privilege … to be living here with a roof over our heads, have easy access to bathrooms, food, water, heat. We are stripping ourselves of those right now, and that is entirely pale compared to what the people of Gaza are going through.”
The rally ends at 4:30 p.m. Some attendees leave while others join organizers on the Diag and chant various proPalestinian chants, including “Fund our education, not the occupation,” “Israel bombs, U of M pays, how many kids did you kill today?” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Monday, 5:00 p.m.
By Christina Zhang
By 5:00 p.m., many picketers hold Palestinian flags and signs reading “Michigan Strike for Gaza / No Class No Work No Business As Usual.” Picketers chant for the University to divest as they circle around the Diag, while drummers in the middle of the Diag match the rhythm of the chanting with their drumming. Some of the chants include “Screw your lines, screw your threats, we’ll disrupt ’til you divest,” “We want justice, you say how? End the siege on Gaza now” and “From the valley of the beast, hands off the Middle East.” At 5:38 p.m., an organizer thanks picketers and attendees for showing support for Palestine.
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UMich campus and organizations react to Gaza solidarity encampment removal
Students and faculty react to the University’s decision to remove solidarity encampment
The University of Michigan Gaza solidarity encampment, organized by the TAHRIR Coalition to call for the University to divest from companies profiting from the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza, remained a constant presence on the Diag for nearly a month before the University cleared the site on May 21. The removal of the encampment prompted responses, both positive and negative, from across the U-M campus and the Ann Arbor community.
In an email to The Michigan Daily on the day the encampment was swept, University spokesperson Colleen Mastony said the University values freedom of speech, but decided to clear the encampment due to fire safety concerns raised a few days prior.
“The University of Michigan has always recognized the importance of free speech and
expression, but we also have a duty to protect students, faculty, staff and visitors to our campus,” Mastony wrote. “Following a May 17 inspection by the University fire marshal, who determined that if a fire were to occur, a catastrophic loss of life was likely, and subsequent refusal by camp occupants to remove fire hazards, the University this morning removed the encampment on the Diag, an area that serves as our main quad. The disregard for safety directives was the latest in a series of troubling events centered on the encampment.”
The day after the clearing, members of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, an organization within the TAHRIR Coalition, returned to the Diag to draw chalk outlines of the encampment on the ground. They also released a statement condemning University President Santa Ono’s message to the community, and claimed they were never contacted by a fire marshal about the encampment.
“Let us be clear: Ono and the Regents’ actions show that they are concerned only with the safety of their investments in genocide
and the Israeli occupation of Palestine,” the statement read.
“Their claims about safety were not only disingenuous but included outright lies. Ono cited a purported fire marshal’s inspection to justify the police raid, but the fire marshal never came to the encampment to inspect it or communicate with us, despite repeated requests for them to do so.”
Regent Sarah Hubbard (R) has been vocal in her defense of the University’s commitment to not divest from companies
financially connected to Israel in order to protect the University’s endowment from external political pressures. In response, more than 30 pro-Palestine students and community members demonstrated outside her residence early in the morning on May 15. Protesters laid tents and fake corpses wrapped in bloody sheets on the front lawn, called for divestment and posted demands on the other regents’ doors.
In an interview with The Daily, Hubbard said although
the demonstrations outside the regents’ homes played a role in the University’s decision, the primary reasons for removing the encampment were the fire hazards identified by the fire marshal.
“There are a number of things that played into the encampment removal,” Hubbard said.
“Certainly, showing up at regents’ residences was one small part of it, but the bigger part was that there are serious safety concerns about them there. And really, very recently, the fire marshal had deemed the place unsafe.
Encampment members brought in chicken wire to fortify a fence around the encampment and then also brought in big stacks of plywood. This all creates a serious fire hazard … that would be a big problem (for) getting them out of there and keeping them safe.”
Hubbard also said while she supports the University’s historic relationship with student protests, she believed the encampment had already conveyed its message.
“We needed to move forward and move that along,” Hubbard said. “It’s summer, school’s out.
UMich Regents approve FY25 budget, discuss antisemitism on campus
It’s time to move on. We’ve erred on the side of free speech and allowing the protest to continue. We have a rich history of protest at the University of Michigan and I’m appreciative of that, but at some point, the point has been made and we need to move on. And we reached that point today.”
Despite the sweep of the encampment, the TAHRIR Coalition and other pro-Palestine groups on campus have continued to protest. Hubbard said she knows the issue of divestment will remain important to the campus community, and acknowledged the need for more discussion surrounding the issue.
“We do expect this conversation to continue into the fall,” Hubbard said. “We know that this will continue to be something that a lot of our students and faculty and staff have a lot of passion about. We don’t know what form it will take but certainly broad discussion, diversity of thought; allowing all voices to be heard is something we’re going to continue to focus on into the fall.”
Regents discuss the University’s budget and response to pro-Palestine protests on campus
The University of Michigan Board of Regents met Thursday afternoon in the Alexander G. Ruthven building to approve the 2024-25 University budget; discuss budgeting for Michigan Medicine, the athletic department and the U-M Flint and Dearborn campuses; and hear public commentary regarding Michigan Medicine workers and the University’s use of police force in response to student protests against Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza.
University President Santa Ono opened the meeting by highlighting many of the University’s achievements over the course of the past year,
including the expansion of the Go Blue Guarantee, which will provide 1,554 students with free tuition this year. President Ono, Regent Denise Ilitch (D) and Regent Mark Bernstein (D) all expressed their appreciation for Regent Hubbard’s (R) leadership in her tenure as chair of the board over the past year.
University Provost Laurie McCauley presented the University’s proposed 2025 fiscal year general fund budget at the start of the meeting. McCauley said the budget would address each of the University’s Vision 2034 plan’s impact areas: Life-Changing Education; Human Health and Well-Being; Democracy, Civic and Global Engagement; and Climate Action, Sustainability and Environmental Justice.
“The Fiscal Year ’25 budget takes bold steps toward our
vision while maintaining fiscal discipline, responsible stewardship of our resources and our commitments to excellence, access and affordability,” McCauley said.
McCauley then presented the proposed tuition rates for the 2024-25 academic year. Tuition will increase by 2.9% for in-state undergraduates, which McCauley noted is below the current rate of inflation, and by 4.9% for out-of-state undergraduates. The budget also proposes a 4.9% tuition increase for graduate programs, a 3.9% increase for the University Health Service fee and a 6% increase for housing rates to fund future housing expansions.
Despite the proposed tuition rate increases, McCauley said many students will still receive various forms of financial aid from the University.
“I want to take this opportunity to outline what our sustained attention to affordability and investments in financial aid have attained,” McCauley said. “63% of our resident undergraduates do not pay the sticker price. Their cost to attend the University of Michigan is less, thanks to grants and scholarships. 31% of our undergraduates pay no tuition at all, and the average cost for a family with an income of $120,000 or less is lower than it was a decade ago, after adjusting for inflation.”
The budget includes a 6.3% increase to the central undergraduate budget to continue offsetting the cost of tuition for students receiving need-based aid. The budget will also fund $390 million in financial aid, including $30 million in cost containment.
U-M Flint Interim Chancellor
Donna Fry and U-M Dearborn Chancellor Domenico Grasso each introduced proposed tuition rate increases for their respective campuses. U-M Flint requested a 4.9% increase in undergraduate tuition rates and U-M Dearborn’s budget includes a 4.7% increase for in-state and a 4.9% increase for graduate students.
The 2025 fiscal year budget was approved in a 7 to 1 vote.
Regent Bernstein voted against the proposed budget, criticizing the University’s response to alleged instances of antisemitism on campus. Bernstein cited an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, wherein the department’s Office of Civil Rights investigated 75 cases of alleged harassment or discrimination towards students based on Jewish, Muslim or Palestinian ancestry at the University. The investigation
found that the University failed to address the issues as required by Title VI, which prohibits discrimination based on race and country of origin in institutions receiving federal financial funding.
Bernstein said he would vote against the budget due to his concerns with the University’s ability to address these alleged cases of antisemitism.
“Our many failures during the past academic year have reduced my confidence in our ability to fight the dangerous, deeply rooted culture of antisemitism on our campus going forward,” Bernstein said. “The toxic presence of antisemitism and all forms of bigotry threatens the viability of this institution and causes profound damage to our society.”
The University of Michigan TAHRIR Coalition held a press conference Monday at the First United Methodist Church to discuss ongoing legal and disciplinary actions that have been taken against members of the community who participated in the Gaza solidarity encampment as well as students present at a November demonstration at the Alexander G. Ruthven building.
The Nov. 17 sit-in at Ruthven resulted in the arrest of 40 protesters. Four more protesters were arrested and detained at the Washtenaw County Jail following the sweeping of the Gaza solidarity encampment. Separately, the University has brought disciplinary action against a number of students involved in these demonstrations.
The TAHRIR Coalition claimed that dozens of students have received notice from the University’s Office of Student Conflict Resolution notifying them of potential violations of the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, in some cases resulting in students being banned from campus.
TAHRIR also alleged that these complaints were filed by an outside consultant from Grand River Solutions, who was later
hired by the University, and that, in some cases, these complaints were filed after the six-month deadline, violating two of OSCR’s guidelines.
In an email to The Michigan Daily, University spokesperson Colleen Mastony said the students arrested for trespassing on Nov. 17 are now being held accountable through OSCR, and that no violations of OSCR’s procedures have occurred.
“Students who were arrested for trespassing that day are now part of the Office of Student Conflict Resolution accountability process,” Mastony wrote. “These students are being afforded appropriate due process protections, including but not limited to notice of the allegations against them, the opportunity to be heard and the right to an appeal. The University has not deprived students of these rights.”
Mastony said a staffer from a third party has since been hired by the University to aid in the process of resolving the cases.
“U-M has engaged a third party, Grand River Solutions, to assist in the student accountability process,” Mastony wrote. “A Grand River Solutions staffer is now an employee of the university and will represent U-M in bringing these cases to resolution.”
Mastony also said the six-month deadline for submitting a complaint through OSCR can be overridden
by a resolution coordinator as per the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities.
“According to the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, complaints should be submitted to a resolution coordinator, in writing, within six months after the incident alleged in the complaint,” Mastony wrote. “However a resolution coordinator may waive the sixmonth limitation, which is what happened in this case.”
Rackham student Jared Eno, a TAHRIR member, opened the press conference by condemning the response of University President Santa Ono and the Board of Regents to pro-Palestine demonstrations. Eno said that the administration has failed to engage in conversation with members of the coalition, despite assurances from President Ono and others that they are open to speaking with students.
“At no point have Ono or the Regents met with the TAHRIR Coalition to engage in dialogue,” Eno said. “Instead, they have used any tool that they can find to try and repress and silence us. Their go-to tool has been the police, because the police can and do use violence with impunity.”
Eno also alleged that the University administration has contacted Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in their pursuit to press felony charges against students involved in pro-
Palestine demonstrations on campus.
“We have also learned that the Regents have gone to the Michigan State Attorney General Dana Nessel and has asked her to press charges against people who are protesting U-M’s support for the genocide,” Eno said.
“The complaints state that these students violated two University policies,” Bose said.
“The
is ‘obstructing or disrupting classes, research projects or other activities or programs of the University or obstructing access to
U-M alum Simrun Bose cited apparent disciplinary claims that have been brought on students, including herself, for the Nov. 17 demonstration. Bose said the complaints were not an appropriate response to the events of the protest.
RUBY KLAWANS/Daily
Students march
Michigan Democratic Convention delegates nominate Ilitch, Diggs for UMich Board
Michigan Democratic Convention delegates nominate Ilitch, Diggs for UMich Board of Regents
RUBY KLAWANS/Daily
Members of the Michigan Democratic Party voted Saturday to nominate two candidates for the University of Michigan Board of Regents.
Incumbent University Regent Denise Ilitch and former University Regent Shauna Ryder Diggs received nominations for the Board, defeating Palestinian American civil rights attorney Huwaida Arraf.
The University’s Board of Regents was the only contested nomination at the Michigan Democratic Convention on Saturday. Results were reported at 7 p.m., an hour after the convention was scheduled to end. They showed the Democratic nominees for the Michigan Supreme Court, the State Board of Education and the University’s Board of Regents, among others. Each category had two open seats.
The University’s Board of Regents Ilitch has served on the board since 2008. She previously held positions as the
president of Ilitch Holdings, Inc. and as a member on the board of directors of the NAACP Detroit Branch. As a regent, she has advocated for increasing sexual assault awareness on campus, supported the creation of the Go Blue Guarantee and pushed for the creation of a varsity women’s hockey team.
Diggs is a dermatologist and a U-M alum. She was elected to the Board in 2012 and served until she lost her bid for reelection in 2020. During this time, she also supported the Go Blue Guarantee and opposed raising tuition during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus points for her 2024 campaign include affordable education and carbon neutrality, according to her nominator, Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II. Arraf was not on the ballot when the day began. According to the Detroit Free Press, she decided to seek nomination to be a voice for U-M student activists who have expressed their disapproval of the way the Board has handled protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Arraf needed 500 signatures from party
members to make her eligible for nomination.
Public Health junior Abigail O’Connell said she was nervous about Arraf’s nomination status in an interview with The Michigan Daily.
“I was a little worried, because I (didn’t) know if there (were) 500 people or if we got that many signatures,” O’Connell said. “But OK, as the day has gone on, I’ve become more confident.”
Arraf received enough signatures, but she fell behind in votes based on the convention’s proportional voting system. Under the proportional voting system, votes from each county are weighted according based on a formula that calculates Democratic turnout at the last election in order to account for voter preferences across Michigan.
Diggs received over 2,800 votes and Ilitch received over 2,400, while Araff got just over 2,300.
Arraf’s supporters made up a large portion of the members of the convention, and most of them wore yellow T-shirts with her name.
Michigan takes center stage at DNC
Democrats focus on the crucial swing states at the Democratic National Convention; and Michigan is one of them
the people, those are people that are going to get elected.”
As the 2024 presidential election draws closer, Democrats are turning to a small set of crucial swing states to ensure they keep the presidency and control of the Senate and assume the majority in the House of Representatives. These seven swing states — Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — were at the forefront of Democratic leadership’s minds this week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. At a breakfast for Michigan delegates and politicians held during the convention, state leaders encouraged delegates to keep working to get Democrats elected to local, state and national positions.
Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, highlighted Democrats’ work to reframe themselves as the party of the American workforce. After the UAW went on strike in September 2023 against the Big Three Detroit automakers — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis — Fain and the UAW endorsed President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign and went on to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris after Biden ended his bid. Fain praised the Democratic Party for listening to workers and union members going into the election.“It’s been amazing to watch and help our party find our way back to the moral clarity of standing with the working class,” Fain said. “There’s a billionaire class on one side that serves themselves, and there’s a working class on the other side. Those representatives that serve the working class and look out for
At the convention, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on delegates to be leaders in getting out the vote in November and spoke about Michigan’s importance in the election.
“We are going to roll up our sleeves and make the phone calls and make the contributions and pull people into this moment, get them registered, get them flushed out for Election Day,” Whitmer said. “We hold the key to winning this race in the state of Michigan, and we are going to show the world how to do it, because that’s who we are and what we do.” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., also highlighted the need for Michigan residents to vote in anticipation of the state’s upcoming Senate election, where Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, will face off against former Republican congressman Mike Rogers for the seat currently held by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who is not seeking reelection.
“We are going into the campaign season now,” Peters said. “Let’s face it everybody: Michigan is the center of the political universe. You cannot be president if you do not win Michigan. I will also say, as chair of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, we will not be in the majority in the Senate unless we elect Elissa Slotkin to the United States Senate. She has to win.” In addition to Michigan politicians, nationally recognized political figures attended the Michigan Delegation breakfast. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a Traverse City resident, told delegates that most Americans already agree with Democrats on most important policy positions.
“We are going to win for so many reasons, and one of the most important is the fact that it turns out Americans already agree with us on the issues that matter most,” Buttigieg said.
“We can’t forget that, especially those of us who live in more conservative or rural or swing communities. Sometimes we Democrats fool ourselves into thinking that we don’t have the most popular positions. The reverse is true.”
Beyond speaking at delegation, caucus and council meetings throughout the convention, Michigan leaders were prominently featured in the DNC’s main programming at the United Center. Slotkin primarily spoke about national security, highlighting her background with the CIA.
“I want to talk tonight about national security because the choice in November is stark,” Slotkin said. “Trump wants to take us backwards. He admires dictators a lot. He treats our friends as adversaries and our adversaries as friends. But our vision is based on our values. The values that took us to the shores of Normandy and helped us win the Cold War. We believe America should inspire and lead at home and abroad.”
Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, who came into the public eye after marching with Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020, called for unity across the country’s political divide and said he felt Harris was a president who could deliver.
“We need a leader who will embody what’s affixed to all three sides of my sheriff patrol cars — protect, serve and unify,” Swanson said. “Kamala Harris is that leader.”
MAREY COREY Daily News Editor
AVA CHATLOSH Daily Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor celebrates new solar panel installations during A2Zero Week
New solar panels will provide over 500 kilowatts of power to the city
greater benefits. We project tens of thousands of dollars in savings to the city because of these arrays, and we’re excited to see that part of the coalition and to honor these over the coming years.”
About 35 people gathered at the Ann Arbor Senior Center Monday afternoon for a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the new solar panel installations around Ann Arbor which will provide over 500 kilowatts of solar power. The ceremony was part of Ann Arbor’s fourth annual A2Zero Week, which celebrates the city’s plan towards transitioning the community to carbon neutrality.
A2Zero is a city-wide plan unanimously adopted in 2020 to transition to complete carbon neutrality by 2030. This objective includes transitioning the electrical grid to 100% renewable energy, switching to electric vehicles and appliances, reducing miles traveled in vehicles by 50% and more.
Simi Barr, City of Ann Arbor energy analyst, spoke at the event and said the financial and sustainable impacts of one of the ten solar arrays installed since 2023 were promising.
“Since the activation of solar at the site just a couple weeks ago, over 95% of the electricity used in (the Ann Arbor Senior Center) has been clean and renewable,” Barr said. “We are incredibly excited by the sustainability benefits of this, but also by the operational cost savings that these installations unlock that allows more funds to go towards operating expenses, other energy efficiency projects, and this can really just go on to compound with greater and
Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor (D) thanked U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, who was present at the event, and said her advocacy for Ann Arbor to receive more money than previously allocated from the Biden-Harris American Rescue Plan helped make the installation possible.
“With respect to the funding of this particular (solar) array and many arrays throughout the entire city, as Representative Dingell indicated, this is thanks to the Biden-Harris American Rescue Plan without which none of this would have been possible,” Taylor said. “The city of Ann Arbor saw $11 million dollars (before) … Mrs. Dingell stepped up, and she has again and again for our community. A couple of weeks later, $26.5 million goes in the spreadsheet.”
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Rackham student Claire Briglio compared different solutions to carbon neutrality and spoke on the importance of solar panels in the long run.
“I think (solar is) one of the easier to understand and grasp concepts in terms of getting renewable energy,” Briglio said.
“I think things like geothermal are not as easy to grasp, in terms of different ways to make things more renewable. And then in terms of transportation and EVs, I think those are also really
important because I think people are having a hard time grasping them at the moment because of the high startup costs. But when you get people to understand that in the long term, you’re getting a bigger payoff.”
In an interview with The Daily, Taylor said the city of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan collaborate often on sustainability issues.
“We work with the University of Michigan all the time with respect to how we can accomplish our common goals and accomplishing carbon neutrality is indeed one of our common goals,” Taylor said. “We move forward together. We’re always talking to each other because we both know that this is incredibly important.”
Barr said students can become involved in the push for carbon neutrality in Ann Arbor through multiple opportunities including A2Zero initiatives
“We have a lot of community events where we’re interacting with the community, getting public input, all of which students can be involved in,” Barr said.
“Another way is through our A2Zero Ambassadors program, where we’re working with members of the community that have interest in sustainability and the A2Zero plan, and they go through a multiple-week cohort through our office where they learn about the A2Zero plan, and then get to work on a neighborhood project to actually implement something that moves us toward that carbon neutrality.”
AAPS leadership’s handling of budget crisis met with community opposition
Ann Arbor teachers and community members express disappointment amid decisions about AAPS budget deficit
In March, Jazz Parks, interim superintendent of Ann Arbor Public Schools, announced that there would be a $25-million budget deficit projected for 2024. Last month, the Board of Education voted to approve a plan that would save $20.4 million through large cuts to staff, music programs and elementary-level specials classes. This vote came after several hours of public commentary from teachers, parents and students, who addressed the board, asking them to reject this plan.
Several factors contributed to the budget shortage, including $14 million in state support from last year’s budget that was misallocated to this year’s. Another factor was an increase in staff numbers combined with dropping enrollment levels. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Jeff Gaynor, AAPS Board of Education trustee and secretary, said the increased hiring and decreased enrollment was a result of the pandemic.
“We did a lot of extra hiring in 2015-2017 when we added new programs with the idea that it would attract more students, and that went fine until the
ANN ARBOR
pandemic,” Gaynor said. “During the pandemic and after, we lost about 1,000 students. But the needs in the classroom were great given the conditions of being out of school for so long … people weren’t saying there’s extra people floating around — if anything we didn’t quite have enough. We didn’t want to lay people off during the pandemic because that would be a terrible thing to do to them, and we had (a need) for them.”
Since the announcement, some community members have criticized how the board has addressed the budget deficit.
Stacy Ebron, an AAPS parent and member of the Ann Arbor School Parents Intent on Racial Equity, told The Daily she felt troubled that the budget shortfall was allowed to occur and by the lack of transparency from the board.
“As soon as the $14 million error was found, the public should have been notified,” Ebron said. “It should not have taken several months for this information to become public. I wish that they had had appropriate oversight and auditing practices in place so that we didn’t end up in this position.”
In an interview with The Daily, Daniel Crowley, a Forsythe Middle School teacher, said he felt the board’s decision to enact layoffs before fully explaining
the budget deficit felt rushed and required a more thorough explanation to the public.
“In March, one of these first board meetings, the board tried to rush a vote to approve layoffs before providing any justification or evidence outside of one consultant’s slideshow that mass layoffs would be necessary,” Crowley said. “The board’s first priority upon receiving that information should be not only to demand more information and clarification but then to bring that back to their stakeholders in a way that’s digestible for them.” Since the announcement in March, the board has hosted several meetings and panels open to the public to inform the community about the budget cuts and to receive community input. In an interview with The Daily, one AAPS employee, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of professional retribution, said they believed the district has previously been unclear on what specific resources the budget is being used for.
“We’ve been asking for more transparency because there’s limited information that is put out to the public in terms of where all the (money is) going at any given time,” they said.
EV carshare pilot program drives change in Ann Arbor
New electric vehicle carshare program creates a sustainable option for low-income residents
ARIBA HASSAN Daily Staff Reporter
An electric vehicle carshare program has been launched in Ann Arbor as part of a global effort to revolutionize sustainable transportation practices. The program, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, seeks to increase EV accessibility while also addressing low-income community transportation needs.
The Ann Arbor initiative is housed at Carrot Way apartments and locations in Detroit and Kalamazoo. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Aaron Cooper, executive director of Avalon Housing, the company spearheading the launch, said the project was put into motion by Forth Mobility, a Michiganbased nonprofit organization committed to increasing the accessibility of EV transportation.
“Forth Mobility, which is really the main entity driving this out of the West Coast, wanted to come into Michigan to provide electric car sharing in low-income neighborhoods and communities,” Cooper said. The project aims to reduce carbon emissions and support energy conservation in underserved areas, starting with affordable housing communities. Its pricing is $5 per hour and includes car insurance to minimize financial barriers to clean energy transportation.
Cooper said the goal of Forth Mobility is to reduce the environmental impact of the automotive industry.
“The goal is to bring electric vehicle carshare to reduce carbon emissions and support energy conservation goals in (low-income) neighborhoods,” Cooper said. “It has a great mission to allow lowincome individuals to be able to have access to some of the clean energy technologies that they typically don’t have access to.”
Maggie Calnin, director of Michigan Clean Cities, told The Daily in an interview the company collaborated on a grant proposal to the Department of Energy, which secured funding to replicate Forth’s successful Oregon model in Michigan.
“Our role involves recruiting site hosts, promoting the project and ensuring its smooth operation across the state,” Calnin said. “The EV fits in as one of the lowest zero emission transportation options.”
Calnin, who also frequently utilizes the program, said it allows her to use electric vehicles in a convenient and accessible way.
“I find it useful for me and my family,” Calnin said. “It gives me an ability to have access to a newer electric vehicle that’s reliable, whereas I otherwise wouldn’t be able to use this technology or get where I need to go quite as easily without the carshare program.”
Users can make reservations to utilize the program through the MDO Car Share app or a
phone call to reserve and access vehicles. However, before using, users must pay a $10 application fee and complete a mandatory orientation to ensure drivers are licensed, understand how to operate the vehicles and know their safety measures. Cooper said the program is intended to reach all local communities near cities where the program is active.
“The program is open to the entire community, not just Avalon residents,” Cooper said. “We work with Forth Mobility and Elevate Energy to ensure the vehicles are available for reservation and use, facilitating accessibility … We see (it) as a way that someone could rent this vehicle…to get them
LYRA WILDER Daily Staff Reporter
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EDRA TIMMERMAN Summer News Editor
U-M Researchers receive Javits Award for their research on stroke outcomes in Mexican Americans
UM epidemiology researchers study health disparities in stroke occurrence and recovery in Mexican-Americans
at other health issues as well.
Researchers at the University of Michigan were awarded the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award for their work researching health inequities, specifically related to strokes, in Corpus Christi, Texas. This marks only the second time the Javits Award has been granted to researchers in epidemiology.
The Javits Award is named after Jacob Javits, a United States senator from New York who died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 1986. This disease causes a breakdown of neurons that eventually leads to respiratory failure and fatalities.
U.S. Congress established the award to honor Senator Javits and award grants to neuroscientists in the U.S. The award is presented by the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke.
Lynda Lisabeth, professor of epidemiology and neurology, and Lewis Morgenstern, professor of epidemiology and neurology emergency medicine and neurosurgery, are the lead researchers of the recognized study, known as the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi study.
The BASIC study began in 1999 and has continued over two decades. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Morgenstern said the study’s original objective was to understand health disparities in the Mexican-American population by using the incidence of stroke amongst the population of Corpus Christi as a model. Overtime, the project has looked
“BASIC is fundamentally a health equity study,” Morgenstern said. “We use stroke as a model disease, but we also look at sleep apnea. We’ve looked at dizziness, we have another project in the same community where we look at dementia from causes like Alzheimer’s … we think that a lot of the work that we do kind of transcends different minority populations and speaks to the broader U.S. population.”
Public Health student Chen Chen, who has worked on the BASIC study, wrote in an email to The Daily he feels the study is significant because it allows scientists to understand the physiology of strokes.
“With the inclusion of all non-hispanic white and Mexican American stroke cases aged greater than 45 years, this project enables many studies to understand various aspects of stroke,” Chen wrote. “For example, BASIC provided important data on trends in stroke recurrence and mortality by ethnicity and by sex.”
The initial data revealed the rate at which Mexican-Americans suffer from strokes was much higher compared to their white counterparts. Morgenstern explained how current research has revealed a decrease in these disparities over time.
“Over the course of the study, we’ve seen remarkable reductions in some of the disparities,” Morgenstern said. “There is really no difference now for stroke incidence between Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. The recurrence rates are also very similar, as are deaths following stroke.”
However, Morgenstern and Lisabeth are still seeing inequal-
ities when it comes to stroke recovery. The BASIC study suggests Mexican-Americans are still experiencing worse cognitive and quality of life outcomes as compared to non-Hispanic white Americans. In an interview with The Daily, Lisabeth said one potential factor may be the longterm care received after a stroke, as Mexican-Americans are more likely to complete rehabilitation through outpatient programs or home therapies.
“One of our early findings suggested that Mexican-American stroke survivors were less likely to go to inpatient rehab, which is the most intensive form of rehabilitation,” Lisabeth said. “So we’re trying to understand whether or not that might contribute to some of those differences in outcome, potentially.”
Morgenstern elaborated that this difference in long-term care can also exacerbate population inequalities.
“If children remain at home and care for parents and grandparents, they don’t finish their education,” Morgenstern said. “They have problems with occupational growth and stuff like that. So that tends to perpetuate the socioeconomic status differences between populations.”
With the funding from the Javits Award, Lisabeth and Morgenstern plan to begin the sixth five-year cycle of the study and expand the populations included in their research.
“We’re dipping down to the 35 to 45-year age range,” Lisabeth said. “In our population, but across the United States, there’s been a suggestion that stroke rates are on the rise in younger populations.”
How UMich courses differ between summer and the academic year
Shorter terms, virtual options and smaller class sizes set spring and summer classes apart from the fall and winter
THOMAS GALA-GARZA Daily Staff Reporter
The University of Michigan offers three academic terms during the spring and summer: one 14week term and two seven-week half-terms. These terms offer students opportunities to take additional coursework outside of the academic year. Courses during these terms often have smaller class sizes and fewer sections than fall and winter courses.
Many courses condense the same material from their fullterm counterparts into a halfterm in order to adjust their schedules to fit the spring and summer semesters. Some introductory language courses, such as SPANISH 103, are specifically designed to cover two semesters of content in seven weeks. In addition to teaching more content in less time, instructors often offer these courses in a virtual format, providing an option for students who are not in Ann Arbor during the summer.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, U-M alum Hannah Uebele said she took ENVIRON 244-Art in Nature: Micro to Macro in the spring 2021 term, which covered watercolor painting, a topic she didn’t have the time to study during the fall and winter.
“At first, I felt that I might have some interest in painting, but it would definitely get overshadowed by my responsibilities for other classes,” Uebele said. ”If I was taking (organic chemistry) and watercolors at the same time, you can bet that I would not have done any of my paintings — I’d just want to study for (organic chemistry). It gave me the opportunity to focus on the class a little bit more, even though it was virtual.”
However, Uebele said the short time between the end of winter term and the start of spring term classes may keep students from taking a much needed break after the end of the normal academic year.
“One thing I think people might forget is that the turnover time is very short,” Uebele said.
“You have maybe a four-day weekend between the end of the winter semester and the beginning of the spring semester. That means that right after finals, I was jumping into my new classes. Especially with the virtual classes, it almost felt like exam season did not end and I just kept going.”
Uebele said she decided against taking summer coursework last year because she had accepted a research position.
“I just decided I wouldn’t be able to balance it in the way that I wanted to, especially when it comes to lab time, where you want to spend as much time as you physically can in the lab to get something done,” Uebele said. “You don’t want to spend time running around and dropping your experiments so you can head to class for research. It’s definitely an advantage to not have any classes at the same time.”
Uebele said summer courses present an opportunity for STEM students to balance their science-focused education with more humanities and arts courses.
“(STEM majors) don’t get a chance to appreciate the ‘literature’ and the ‘arts’ part of LSA (during the academic year),” Uebele said. “You really just focus on ‘science.’ I’ve seen a lot of people during the semester just fully shove those other classes to the wayside. I think it’s a bit of a shame, especially as someone who, in high school, really appreciated English class and art class. (Summer courses) are a way to kind of make space for yourself
and give yourself a way to study other things without feeling the same pressures from your STEM classes.”
In an interview with The Daily, Ryan Hendrickson, lecturer and coordinator for first-year French courses, is teaching FRENCH 100 during the spring 2024 semester. The course is only available during the spring term and condenses the content of FRENCH 101 and 102, the introductory French courses, into seven weeks. Hendrickson said one sacrifice instructors make is focusing more on the language itself than French culture.
“We keep a lot of the culture here, but sometimes, we just have less time to devote to some of the conversations around the culture,” Hendrickson said. “One thing we do in a normal academic semester would be having students do a research project on a francophone country or region outside of France to discover more of the French-speaking world. During a shortened semester, with all the extra work and the speed of everything, that’s just not as realistic a project to have students do.” Hendrickson said there are benefits and drawbacks to the course being offered virtually.
“I see some benefits where certain students may not be able to fit this into their schedule otherwise, or they’re able to take it from home rather than staying in Ann Arbor during the spring and summer semesters,” Hendrickson said. “One difficulty is that it’s really easy to get distracted during an online course. Sometimes people are back living with their families, and we see family members walking around. Students might even feel embarrassed speaking French in front of their families for the first time.”
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
OCTOBER
October 4
Men’s soccer faces rival Ohio State in Ann Arbor
October 5-6
The ice hockey team begins its season at home against Minnesota State
October 6
The field hockey team hosts Ohio State at Ocker Field
October 26
The football team squares off against Michigan State for the rivalry’s classic Halloween weekend matchup
DECEMBER
December 7
Big Ten Football Championship game
December 20
Expanded 12-team College Football
FEBRUARY
Mid-February
The softball and baseball teams begin their seasons
MARCH
Early March
Men’s and Women’s basketball head to their respective Big Ten Tournaments
Mid-Late March
Men’s and Women’s NCAA Basketball tournament takes place
APRIL
April 4-6
Women’s basketball final four takes place in Tampa, Fl.
April 5-7
Men’s basketball final four commences in San Antonio, Texas
April 10-12
NCAA ice hockey frozen four begins in St. Louis, Mo.
Michigan Athletics 2024-25 Timeline
AUGUST & SEPTEMBER
August 31
The football team kicks off its 2024 campaign as the reigning national champions at home against Fresno State
September 8
The women’s soccer team takes on Alabama in Ann Arbor
September 27
Michigan’s volleyball team faces in-state rival Michigan State at home
September 28
The men’s soccer team travels to Los Angeles to face off against new conference foe UCLA
NOVEMBER
Early November Women’s basketball begins its season
November 4
The men’s basketball team tips off its season at home against Cleveland State
November 7-10
Both the field hockey and men’s soccer teams compete at their respective Big Ten Tournaments
November 15
The field hockey NCAA Tournament begins
November 30
Michigan football seeks its fourth consecutive win over Ohio State in The Game
JANUARY
January 20
College Football Playoff national championship game takes place in Atlanta, Ga.
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Julianne Yoon/DAILY
Julianne Yoon/DAILY
SportsMonday: Michigan’s tough schedule is a blessing
multiple chances to assert itself among the best teams in the country.
and Maryland last season, and those mistakes won’t fly against the Longhorns and the Ducks.
‘I’m just gonna be me and I can’t change that’: Sherrone Moore bringing his own flavor
INDIANAPOLIS — On
Thursday afternoon, as Michigan coach Sherrone Moore walked up to his podium and prepared to sit down, he looked out at the throng of reporters awaiting him at Big Ten Media Day and quipped: “You guys know Jim’s not coming back right?”
The Michigan football team is the defending national champion, but it’s no longer considered the best college football team in the country.
Checking in at No. 9 in the preseason AP poll released Aug. 12, the Wolverines are the lowest-ranked defending national champions since 2011. Die-hard fans can grumble at the “disrespect,” but considering the offseason turnover, No. 9 might actually be generous.
With expectations low for the reigning national champion, Michigan needs a statement victory to reintroduce itself to the highest tier. In years past, it would have taken months for the Wolverines to make a substantial jump in the polls.
This year, they can do it in Game 2 against No. 4 Texas. They can also do it in Game 9 against No. 3 Oregon and in Game 12 against No. 2 Ohio State.
With multiple tough games to play and a 12-team playoff offering more paths to the postseason, Michigan has
Sure, an unblemished record looks great, but it’s rendered all but useless until there’s a quality win supporting it. Recently, the Wolverines’ entire season has hinged on “The Game,” but their entrance into the postseason doesn’t only depend on beating the Buckeyes anymore. It doesn’t depend on beating any one opponent.
Last season, Michigan may have given the same effort to each game, but in reality, it didn’t have to. It was able to use several regular season games to work out the kinks while still winning with ease.
“I don’t think last year we tried to hold back,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said Aug. 13. “I think we were trying to put everything in 100% every game. There’s no holding back in college football because if you don’t bring it, you’ll get beat.”
While the Wolverines weren’t intentionally holding back, they played far from championship football in some games. Michigan had some rough moments against teams like Bowling Green, Rutgers
The Wolverines don’t have the luxury of starting this season with nine straight unranked opponents, which might result in losses. But if they can pull themselves together enough to win some of their high-stakes games, their strong resume will propel them forward.
“We always talk about the process,” Moore said. “We don’t really try to talk about the prize as much. Just getting better today will lead to more success tomorrow, so that’s all we’re concerned with. We know what the goals are. We know what the aspirations are. I think when you’re at Michigan, you always want to win it all, and that should be our goal every year.”
The prize is the same, but because of the nature of Michigan’s opponents this season, the process has to be different. The Wolverines can’t coast through any part of the season, and they don’t have time for mistakes or a lengthy learning curve. But this shouldn’t be cause for concern.
Moore’s joke landed. The crowd laughed, and Moore himself chuckled, but throughout Thursday, he repeatedly demonstrated that his statement wasn’t completely comedic. In emphasizing his vision for the program and how he plans to build it, Moore painted himself as someone not simply filling big shoes, but making a new footprint. And he’s going about it the only way he knows how — his way.
“I can’t be coach (Harbaugh),” Moore said. “I can’t be Jim Harbaugh and I never will be. So for me, I just go as I go and I’m not gonna change how I am. When I get excited, I’m gonna get excited. When I want to yell ‘smash,’ I’m gonna yell ‘smash.’ When I want us to play violent I’m gonna let our players know. … But when I love them, I love them. And when I feel they need a hug I’m gonna give them a hug. I’m just gonna be me and I can’t change that, I’m not going to change that.”
For Moore and for the Wolverines, the question of who they are without Harbaugh has been pervasive. Harbaugh revamped the program. Harbaugh led the Wolverines to their first national title in decades. And with Harbaugh’s departure, a large portion of the program departed as well. So the
question has been, what of that culture and talent remains?
Thursday, Moore was there to make sure that people know that a lot of what worked will be the same — but it will be with his own, new flavor. For instance in his introduction, Moore pulled from Jim and Jack Harbaugh by reiterating their well known mantra of “enthusiasm unknown to mankind,” but he made sure to add the word “contagious” in front of it. And when asked about it later, he corrected reporters who had dropped his addition of the word. It was “contagious enthusiasm unknown to mankind,” not just “enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”
Within that small tweak of a mantra may lie something deeper about what Moore believes his program to be. It’s his program and his style building on the success of Harbaugh’s. Not simply Harbaugh’s program now being guided by him.
More than simple mantras though, many of the core aspects of Michigan’s program will be similar, simply changed to fit who Moore is. His practices will have music — Harbaugh’s didn’t. He will retain the ‘four pillars’ that Harbaugh and former
defensive coordinator Jesse Minter implemented, but they’ll be in defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s hands now. And when it comes to recruiting, he may not get shirtless and bench press like Harbaugh did, but he’ll retain the focus on, “getting to know these guys inside and out.”
“Coach was his own man, and I’m my own man,” Moore said.
“So we’ll do it that way.”
To the extent that someone can rebuild a team after a national title, Moore has had the opportunity to do just that. He got to pick new coaches, assign coordinators and build his own staff. But while the personnel — and semantics — as well as the philosophy may have changed slightly, one thing was made clear: His expectations are the exact same as they were the year before.
“Team 145 has done a really good job up to this point of taking the necessary steps to being elite and to do all the things that we set out to do,” Moore said in his introduction. “Win the big games, beat our rivals, beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten, go to the College Football Playoff, and win it.”
ANNA FUDERI/Daily
CHARLIE PAPPALARDO Daily Sports Writer
REKHA LEONARD Managing Sports Editor
BELA FISCHER/Daily
Slotting in behind the winningest player in program history and a future third round NFL draft pick, Ernest Hausmann wasn’t often talked about as a key component of last year’s Michigan football team.
The now-junior linebacker had just transferred from Nebraska, and while he did rack up 46 total tackles — good for third-most on the team — throughout all 15 games, the spotlight shone significantly brighter on his talented counterparts, Michael Barrett Jr. and Junior Colson. As such, Hausmann found himself in a reserve role.
With both Barrett and Colson off to the pros, however, this upcoming season presents
a whole new challenge for Hausmann.
“It’s obviously a different role, different expectations with that role,” Hausmann said Sunday. “
… I’m looking forward to it.”
Indeed, expectations for Hausmann this year compared to last are night and day. He was a big portal pick-up, no doubt about it, but Barrett and Colson were both locks to start at linebacker heading into last season. Hausmann was expected to provide depth and support. A year later, he’s now the most experienced and lauded guy in the room.
And as he looks to set himself up for success in this new role, Hausmann is leaning on the lessons he took from past seasons and former leaders.
“Last year was a tremendous year,” Hausmann said.
“Obviously winning the National Championship, but
being able to learn under so many great people, great leadership here at Michigan. …
My mentality coming here to Michigan and just being able to absorb, be a sponge, just absorb any knowledge I can has really prepared me for this year.”
Despite assuming the number three spot after joining the
Wolverines, Hausmann does have some starting experience under his belt. With the Cornhuskers, he appeared in all 12 games and made seven starts, becoming only the fifth true freshman linebacker to start a game for Nebraska in the last 30 seasons. One of those games was
against his future teammates in Ann Arbor. And as it turns out, it was one of his best performances. Although his Cornhuskers lost by 31 points, Hausmann ended the day with a team-high 10 tackles and his first-ever sack.
Of course, starting for Nebraska isn’t exactly the same as starting for the defending national champions. Regardless, the experience should be helpful as Hausmann gears up to take on a significantly larger role for Michigan.
It’s still unclear who might line up next to Hausmann, but fellow junior linebacker and Big Ten transfer Jaishawn Barham brings an impressive resume to the Wolverines. He started all 23 games across two seasons with Maryland, leading all Big Ten freshmen with 58 tackles and earning freshman AllAmerican honors.
“Playing with (Barham), it’s like a sort of switch that flips once you start understanding the defense,” Hausmann said. “It kind of took off in the spring, developed and then towards the end of (the spring), you could finally see it clicking and clicking. Then now, since (fall) camp, each and every day he’s starting to understand more and more and more. It’s very fun to play with him.” While Barham is still adjusting to Michigan’s system, junior linebackers Micah Pollard and Jimmy Rolder and senior Jaydon Hood are a few more players to keep an eye on. For Hausmann, though, he’ll be focusing mostly on himself while also working to step up as a leader within the linebacker room. Because a lot has changed since last season, and now, there’s no one else in front of him.
Donovan Edwards is one of the faces of college football — literally. The Michigan football team’s senior running back’s smile is plastered on the cover of EA Sports College Football 25. But Edwards’ enhanced star status hasn’t changed his mentality. According to him, it’s mostly just meant that he gets asked more questions about his growing fame.
“I’m still going to Chipotle, I don’t DoorDash or anything,”
Edwards said Thursday at Big Ten Media Day. “I still walk in there, say ‘What’s up everybody,’ shoutout all the people in there. It hasn’t changed my life at all besides just more eyes are on me now. Which you have to embrace that, because I have a voice now and people will listen to me.”
The people listening to Edwards the closest are his position mates. Edwards is the number one guy now, but he has plenty of experience as the second and third string. That backup role bothered him at times because he always wanted more — more carries, more catches, more responsibility. He admits his
confidence turned into arrogance at times. But Edwards waited his turn. Now, Edwards is the focal point of the run game. He knows he’ll get plenty of reps and an abundance of time to shine, and he’s making sure his position group is ready to match his energy.
“I look at our running back room as complimentary to all of us,” Edwards said. “I told the guys I want to outwork each and every one of our running backs. I told them, and that was my challenge to see, ‘Are you gonna compete with me?’ Because I’m gonna compete. … And believe
me, they have been competing.”
The friendly competition has paid dividends for graduate Kalel Mullings, who is primed to be the number two back going into the fall. The linebackerturned-running back ran for 222 yards on 36 carries with one touchdown last season, contributing big plays even in limited touches.
“The guy that’s not talked about enough is Kalel Mullins,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said. “He’s gonna be a force. He’s unbelievable. He looks as good as he’s ever had. He’s geared up to have a great year. You watch him last year,
Making
every time he came in, he has an explosive play, a big play, he runs over somebody, makes somebody miss. But it’s hard to take the ball out of Blake Corum’s hands.”
Now, Blake Corum’s hands are no longer an option. It’s likely going to be difficult to take the ball out of Edwards’ hands this year too, but Mullings has proven his abilities. He’s ready to be the new lightning to Edwards’ lightning.
However the distribution of carries shakes out, the Wolverines’ running back room is entering the season with confidence in all of its pieces. With Edwards taking on more responsibility, he’s establishing a collaborative tone.
Although the Wolverines’ new one-two punch from the backfield is seemingly established, the younger backs have earned plenty of attention as well. Sophomore Benjamin Hall in particular showed flashes in his first collegiate season and had a solid showing with an expanded role in Michigan’s spring game. Sophomore Cole Cabana could also be in the mix for some more touches.
sense of Michigan’s roster heading into 2024
Just eight months ago in LucasOil Stadium in Indianapolis, directly following the Michigan football team’s 26-0 thumping of Iowa in the Big Ten Championship, the Wolverines’ stars came out to talk to the media. In a neat line, Jim Harbaugh, J.J. McCarthy, Mike Sainristil and Blake Corum all took questions, laughed, and reveled in their victory.
This Thursday, for the first time since that trip, the Wolverines will be back in Indianapolis with three of their stars and a coach in tow. But this time, the personnel will look completely different. Harbaugh, McCarthy, Sainristil and Corum are all gone, as are dozens of other names of now former Michigan stars.
With thirteen players drafted, six signing undrafted free agent deals and sixteen outgoing transfers, Michigan is a brand new team. Here’s what that new team might look like, position by position.
Quarterback
Toward the end of his tenure, Jim Harbaugh wasn’t shy with the amount of praise he lavished on J.J. McCarthy.
“In a college career there’s been nobody at Michigan better than JJ,” Harbaugh said following the Rose Bowl victory. “I know we talk about it, an amalgamation of quarterbacks. He is that guy.”
But now with “that guy” McCarthy gone, who is the next guy? As of right now, it’s not entirely clear who the frontrunner is. But there are a few familiar faces, and one new face, in the Wolverines’ quarterbacks room who are expected to be contending for that title.
Granted a waiver for a seventh year of eligibility, last year’s backup to McCarthy, Jack Tuttle, is the most veteran of any player vying for the role. Coming to Ann Arbor last year with five years of experience at Indiana and Utah State, Tuttle saw action
in four games and amassed 130 yards through the air on 88% completion while tacking on 35 yards on the ground. Tuttle’s experience, comfort in Michigan’s system and ability to extend plays with his legs are all strengths that he will try to lean on. But right next to Tuttle stands junior Michigan quarterback Alex Orji, the current favorite for the role. Listed at 6’3” and 236 lbs, Orji has consistently been praised by teammates and coaches for his athleticism, with some even going as far as calling him a “physical freak.” And last year, audiences saw glimpses of what that looks like with telegraphed run packages specifically designed for Orji, which debuted to great success against Ohio State and into the postseason. With speed and strength, Orji has shown an ability to grind out yards on broken plays and gives Michigan coach Sherrone Moore the option to draw up packages for a true scrambler. However, how refined Orji’s arm is remains less clear. Thus far, he has attempted only one pass in his collegiate career, and at this year’s spring game, he was volatile, missing some routine throws. If Orji has refined his arm over the summer, he will be almost certain to start, and even if he hasn’t, his speed and strength still give him an edge.
Aside from Orji and Tuttle, senior and junior quarterbacks Davis Warren and Jayden Denegal will also be in the mix, with both showing some promise up to this point in their careers. But both are still limited in the amount of action they have seen. Finally, a new face has officially arrived in Ann Arbor: five-star quarterback Jadyn Davis of North Carolina. Davis comes highly touted and has been enrolled at Michigan since January, but how quickly his talents will materialize on the field remain unknown.
Running back
For much of last season, rising senior running back Donovan
Edwards struggled. But in the National Championship, on the biggest stage, Edwards showed out with two 40+ yard rushing touchdowns. With renewed excitement following that game, Edwards was placed on the cover of the new EA Sports College Football video game heralded as a star. And this season will truly be his year to prove it. With Corum gone, the reins of the Wolverines’ run game will be fully handed to Edwards for the first time since late 2022 when Corum went down with injury. Then, Edwards had an electrifying end to his season with three straight 100+ yard games. This year, he will be looking to find more consistency as a bell-cow back.
Alongside Edwards, senior Kalel Mullings is returning for a fifth year after having gone for 222 yards and a touchdown last year. Mullings proved to be an effective playmaker at moments last year and could well be Edwards’ number two. Additionally, sophomores Cole Cabana and Ben Hall will both likely find themselves with expanded roles.
Offensive Line
For the past three years, the secret sauce powering the Wolverines’ success has been their two time Joe Moore Award winning offensive line. This year however, more than any other position for Michigan, they will have to rebuild. With six departures to the draft and graduation, only one lineman who has started a game in Ann Arbor remains for the Wolverines: Myles Hinton. And with former tight ends coach Grant Newsom now leading the line, a completely new group will be tasked with protecting a yet-to-be-named quarterback. However, there are some names that stand out already. Senior center Greg Crippen appears to be one of those most ready for primetime.
Anchored by Lauren Derkowski, Michigan softball stifles Indiana to win the Big Ten Tournament Championship, 3-1
nament like it owned the place, last year’s Wolverines lost in the first round.
IOWA CITY — For most of the 21st century, Michigan softball owned the Big Ten.
With legendary former coach Carol Hutchins at the helm, the Wolverines dominated the conference for the better part of two decades, claiming the regular season title fifteen times over twenty years. The Wolverines carried a confidence that they earned from years of success — Michigan softball was a winning program, with winning players and the winningest coach.
So it was a jarring change of pace when the changing of the guard occurred, and newly-minted head coach Bonnie Tholl led the Wolverines to the program’s worst conference finish ever and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.
And after years of Michigan strolling into the Big Ten Tour-
On Saturday, in front of the packed stands at Bob Pearl Field, Michigan etched a new chapter into a decades-long legacy of dominance. In a low-scoring, defense-heavy affair, the Wolverines (41-16 overall, 18-5 Big Ten) stymied Indiana’s (40-18, 12-11) bats to win their first Big Ten Championship in five years, 3-1.
Past Michigan teams had a Sierra Romero, an Amanda Chidester, a Hailey Wagner. Those legends of the program could flip a game in the Wolverines’ favor pretty much on their own. They were the nuclei of Michigan’s offenses or defenses, they rose to the occasion when called upon.
This year’s Wolverines have Lauren Derkowski.
“I actually think she had her best outing today,” Tholl said. “ … She was in command of the
strike zone more today than she was on Thursday and Friday. That just tells me that the competitiveness comes out of her and she’s who we need to perform in the circle in our big moments.”
The Wolverines’ ace and junior right-hander thrives in the big moments. There has been no doubt who would lead Michigan all season from the circle, but in this year’s Big Ten Tournament, Derkowski reached another level — she pitched every inning that the Wolverines played in.
And to no one’s surprise, her excellence continued on the conferences’ biggest stage.
Derkowski’s day began with her standard dealing. She forced an easy ground out with an inside fastball, she utilized her lethal changeup to make the Hoosiers’ hitters look foolish and she carved and cut through the strike zone — all in the first inning.
‘That was our coming out party’: For Michigan adaptive track and field, the 2024 Miller Family Open was years in the making
ELI TRESE Daily Sports Writer
The near-unstoppable, universal force of athletic competition finally met its match in 2020. With a global pandemic ravaging communities, even high-level professional leagues came screeching to a halt. But as the preponderance of the sports community sat on the sidelines, a duo of then-freshmen at Michigan were just getting started.
Madeline Gustafson and Cathryn Gray made their way to the tennis courts where a wheelchair tennis practice was set to take place. It was their first semester of college in 2020, and they were searching for some semblance of normalcy in a world turned upside down. And as both athletes have cerebral palsy, a neurological condition that affects movement and coordination, they turned to adaptive sports as an outlet.
But neither Gustafson nor Gray were there to play wheelchair tennis: The duo was at the courts for track and field practice.
As the wheelchair tennis practice commenced, Gustafson and Gray squeezed into the sidelines, doing shuttle steps and running sprints in the limited space they were granted. The situation obviously fell far short of ideal — the 78 feet of a tennis court isn’t conducive for high-level track and field training. But with no access to proper facilities — owned by either the University or the community — the pair of freshmen had to make do.
“It was the first time I’d been exposed to adaptive sports in general,” Gustafson told The Michigan Daily. “And at this point, it was during covid, so even though
there were talks of wheelchair basketball, the only thing that was happening was wheelchair tennis because it was no-contact. … So it was like, ‘Okay, we’ll practice alongside them.’ ”
Yet, seemingly through the cracks of the tennis courts they were practicing on, something began to grow. The determination and passion that Gustafson and Gray — the sole members of the adaptive track and field team at the time — demonstrated as freshmen became the fulcrum of an exponentially-growing adaptive track and field program.
Within months, the program was granted access to the indoor track and field facilities at the University, albeit just a couple of days per week. And in the summer of 2021, the program hired the first head coach for the adaptive track and field team. In just about a year, the team went from just two members practicing on the side of a tennis court to having full weekday access to varsity facilities.
More than four years later, in early 2024, the adaptive track and field team’s numbers had swelled into the double digits. Its growth was staggering, yet there was one more hurdle in front of the program: They still had yet to host an adaptive track and field meet at the University of Michigan.
“One of the burning questions that we’ve been asked over the last four years as we’ve started making our appearance and making our debut on the Para-track and field scene has been, ‘When is the University of Michigan going to host a track and field meet?’ ” Assistant Director of Adaptive Sports and Fitness Erik Robeznieks told The Michigan Daily.
After four years of growing the program and its outreach,
the 2024 Miller Family Open was announced. Named after University of Michigan alum and pioneer in the conjunction of disabilities and sports, Adam Miller, the event was created to be unique and boundary-pushing.
On Saturday, June 29, the storm clouds had come and gone over the varsity track and field stadium in Ann Arbor, and the sun began to peek out from behind the gray. The 2024 Miller Family Open was underway.
“I mean, the energy and the atmosphere of the facility (Saturday) at the outdoor track and field stadium was just electric,” Robeznieks said. “And it was truly amazing having been part of the program myself for the past four years, to see where we’ve come from and to see where we’re going.”
Alongside the University of Michigan athletes, a total of 93 athletes competed in the inaugural event of its kind: Athletes with physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities and able-bodied participants all took to competition — superficially opposed on the surface, but connected by a common goal underneath. While the athletes are competitors on the track and in the field, there is a mutual understanding of the impact of the mere fact that they are competing. As adaptive sports fight to gain traction and recognition on both the national and global scale, the opportunity to compete at a high level isn’t lost on anyone involved.
“This space is too special. This space is too fresh, it’s too new, for us to be competitors, both on and off the pitch, both on and off the court.” Robeznieks said. “There needs to be collaboration.”
SAM GIBSON Daily Sports Writer
ARUSHI SANGHI/Daily
‘You raised our heads’: Lais Najjar’s journey to the Olympics
On May 30, 2024, Lais Najjar got a text from an old coach in Syria.
It read simply:
“Congratulations.”
The text was only one word, but Najjar knew what it meant: He was going to Paris for the Olympics.
“(They) basically didn’t even say anything about the Olympics,” Najjar told The Michigan Daily. “Just ‘congratulations.’ And up until then, we were expecting to hear news about whether or not we made it, so I wasn’t confused. I kind of knew but I didn’t want to celebrate. And then when I talked to my mom and she had the news, I felt like I was on top of the world.”
Najjar had earned a universality spot — a spot made available to countries which are typically underrepresented at the Olympics. After competing in gymnastics internationally under Syria’s flag for years and winning the all-around and the floor at the 2023 Arab Games, the 21-year old was granted a spot to compete in the Olympics, fulfilling a forgotten dream.
“Every kid who watches the Olympics, it’s almost like the beginning of a dream,” Najjar said. “But 10 years after that initial dream, you kind of forget about it, and you start working towards it, and you forget about the dream itself. And that’s what I felt like until I figured out I (was going to) the Olympics, where it’s like, ‘Wow, my childhood dream is here. This is what I’ve been working for. This is why I even started gymnastics.’ And it’s almost like I forgot this was a huge portion of what made me want to do gymnastics.” And Najjar is going to be representing the country that he considers home just as much as the United States.
***
Najjar’s gymnastics story begins with a trip to the emergency room.
“He was just flipping at home, hit his head,” Lais’s father, Maher, told The Daily. “He was just hyperac-
said, ‘Look, let me put him in a sport where he just discharged all that activity.’ And I chose for him gymnastics.”
Lais was born in Chicago, but spent much of his younger years in Syria, where his family is from. With poor economic prospects in Syria, Maher — a pulmonologist — spent those years traveling back-and-forth between Syria and Chicago, spending three weeks in Chicago and then returning to Syria to see his family. When Lais’ oldest sister, Lian, entered high school, Maher moved the family back to the United States where he could better provide for them and where there were more educational opportunities. Shortly after, the Syrian Civil War started, and traveling back and forth to Syria became much more challenging. Maher considers it for-
they did.
“It was great timing,” Maher said. “And then we stayed here. We got stuck here. Not got stuck, actually. Our life continued to be here, right?”
Lais began gymnastics soon after that move and subsequent ER visit. His abundance of talent became evident, and he moved from the beginner class to a competitive team early on. His career took off at Lakeshore Academy in Illinois, where he trained with future Michigan teammate and current housemate, Rithik Puri. Puri first inspired Lais to aim for Michigan. Puri was one of the most talented gymnasts at Lakeshore, constantly in contention for the U.S. team and someone Lais strove to both emulate and beat. Puri’s experience with the
gymnastics program pushed Lais to try as well, which eventually led him to making the team he now captains.
*** In 2016, Lais began to compete internationally for Syria. His family returns to Syria every summer to visit family, despite the difficulties of traveling there. At first, Lais was reluctant to take time away from gymnastics with these visits, but his father found a private coach in Syria which allowed him to continue training while overseas. Part of the difficulty is that sports in Syria are considered hobbies rather than full-time professions. Athletes work regular jobs and train in their off time. Additionally, soccer is the dominant sport in Syria. Men’s gymnastics
that is well supported by the government.
In a country that was recently ravaged by war and in a sport that is not well-known, it was unlikely that Lais would have a path forward to the Olympics. But the Syrian Arab Athletic Federation reached out to Lais to ask if he wanted to compete internationally for Syria. Lais accepted and began traveling around the world for competitions. It became a family affair as Maher served as the team doctor, and his mother, Chirin Chahkhachiro, became the head of the team.
“Very demanding,” Lais’s second older sister, Masa, told The Daily in reference to Lais’s participation in international competitions. “This is something that required a lot of sacrifice,
a lot of international travel, a lot of planning and prep and practice and Lais would oftentimes have to miss out on family milestones or social gatherings — whatever it may be. He really put gymnastics and competing at the forefront of everything that he did. Which, now it’s awesome because it’s paying off, but throughout the years, it didn’t feel that awesome.”
Lais’s career began in the U.S., and he spends most of the year training with fellow American gymnasts like his Michigan teammates Paul Juda and Frederick Richard — gymnasts who are expected to make the U.S. national team for Paris. But Syria holds special meaning for Lais, and as much time as he spends in the U.S., he still considers Syria home.
“My household is Syrian,” Lais said. “We speak Arabic, we practice all the traditions and customs and my parents are very much still more Syrian than American. And I would almost consider myself the same. I am extremely patriotic for Syria. All my family’s there. And if I had the chance to represent them, of course I would.”
Lais represented Syria throughout the years at various international competitions, winning a few medals along the way. But in 2023 at the Arab Games in Oran, Algeria, he broke through. In Syria’s return to the Games for the first time since 2007, Lais won the all-around competition by nine-tenths of a point and the floor competition by one-tenth of a point. He also won the silver medal on high bar and two bronze medals on vault and parallel bars, respectively. And along with three other Syrian men’s gymnasts, he led Syria to the team bronze medal. It was Syria’s best performance in gymnastics in decades. That performance qualified him for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics and gained him enormous recognition back home.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
JENNA HICKEY/Daily
Michigan’s NCAA Tournament run stopped in its tracks by Pepperdine, falling 4-1
A model of consistency, the Michigan women’s tennis team is no stranger to winning. A 21-game win streak, Big Ten Tournament Champions, undefeated record in conference play and No. 3 seed nationally are all things to boast about. But when an NCAA Tournament loss comes, all of those accolades become secondary. And in the NCAA Quarterfinals against No. 6 Pepperdine (21-6) Friday, that’s exactly what happened. In an instant, the Wolverines’ (29-4)
Michigan
to
dominant season came to a close as the Waves washed away their tournament hopes.
“We didn’t play great today,” Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein said. “I don’t know why. We just weren’t great in some spots today. I haven’t seen us lose a match like that in a long time where we just really weren’t in it, from the doubles to the start of singles.”
The Wolverines had been here before, in fact in the same exact spot. Almost a year ago to the day, Michigan fell victim to then-No. 3 Georgia in Lake Nona, Fla., losing 4-0 in a match that was never truly close.
routs
So as the Wolverines walked onto the court Friday in Stillwater, Okla., they knew what the stakes were. Win, and a ticket was punched to the Final Four. Lose, and the season was over. With five of the six players who played in that fateful match against the Bulldogs last year — many of whom are now seniors — back on the court for Michigan against Pepperdine, a repeat of their previous failures wasn’t an option. With a chip on their shoulders and an earlier victory over the Waves this season, it seemed that the Wolverines had an upper hand.
But despite the confidence Michigan walked in with, it was
Penn State 16-4
second consecutive Big Ten Tournament
Almost no one would’ve expected this three weeks ago.
The now-No. 17 Michigan men’s lacrosse team had lost three consecutive games and fallen outside of the top 25 teams in the Inside Lacrosse poll. It was 1-3 against Big Ten opponents and had seen its offensive production dry up after a red-hot start.
But now, those worries have been assuaged. To cap off a fourgame winning streak, the Wolverines retained their crown, winning the Big Ten Tournament in style with a commanding victory over No. 9 Penn State. Michigan (10-6 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) beat the Nittany Lions (11-4, 3-2) 16-4, dominating the game from start to finish to defend their title.
“We had 62% of the possession time,” Michigan head coach Kevin Conry said. “So it was really awesome for us to really value the ball, and (it) gave us a lot of confidence.”
The Wolverines play at their best when they have the ball control to slow down opponents with their passing and open up scoring positions — when they do this, they tend to score a lot of goals. And having so much of the possession allowed them to get into that offensive rhythm. The onslaught began early in the game, as senior midfielder Michael Boehm opened the scoring for Michigan just six seconds in.
The Wolverines led 5-1 by the end of the first period and never trailed at any point during the game. It was the performance of junior attacker Ryan Cohen that enabled such dominance by Michigan. Cohen registered a staggering seven assists, and his playstyle — in which he often pushes to the upper left corner of the field, and directs the ball towards some of the more
natural finishers onf the team — was what truly allowed the Wolverines to dictate possession.
And to finish Cohen’s assists and passes, Michigan turned to the same man they had looked to for goals all year: — graduate attacker Justin Tiernan. Tiernan put up his joint-best performance of the season, with five goals, after being held to only one by No. 2 Johns Hopkins in Thursday’s semifinal.
“Justin is a competitor,” Conry said. “And he was very disappointed in his performance on Thursday. He made it his mission to do whatever he could for his teammates to make sure that he was much better at the X tonight.” Tiernan and Cohen dominated the stats sheet, but they weren’t alone in their offensive contributions. Graduate midfielder Christian Ronda, junior attacker John Morgan, junior midfielder Aidan Mulholland and senior midfielder Justin Brown also helped the Wolverines maintain possession of the ball and facilitate the attack with second assists, which then allowed Cohen to make the decisive passes necessary for goal.
And while the offensive effort was tremendous, the defense did its part by holding the best scoring offense in the Big Ten to just four goals. Sophomore defenseman Mason Whitney led the way,
causing three turnovers, while also aiding the transition with three ground ball pickups.
The defense’s efforts were also largely in part due to the outstanding efforts of sophomore goalkeeper Hunter Taylor. Taylor established command of the net with 12 saves from 16 shots faced, including three in the first period to help Michigan establish momentum early on. Taylor also supported the Wolverines’ transition game, with three ground ball pickups and a caused turnover.
“He went out with a mission to just be calm and be under control,” Conry said. “And really executed that today and I thought he was a big spark for us.”
It was a near-flawlessly executed game for Michigan on both ends of the ball, with every positional unit playing their role to perfection, and the result was a resounding triumph.
Coming off a three-game losing streak and a drop-off in offensive production, it would have been safe to wonder if the Wolverines weren’t quite the same unit that stormed to a Big Ten Tournament victory last year.
But after a
evident that its match against Pepperdine was a mirror-image of the one against Georgia. On court No. 1, seniors Kari Miller and Jaedan Brown — the Wolverines’ best doubles pairing — simply didn’t come to play. They handed the Waves an early break point that set them behind 3-1 and never caught back up. One court over, freshmen Piper Charney and Reese Miller also found themselves playing catch up after dropping a break early and eventually fell as well, 6-3. And in just under 40 minutes, Michigan was already in a 1-0 hole. Charney was determined to turn the tides, though. In a stellar first
set, she picked apart her opponent’s serve, winning a majority of return points in order to pick up crucial breaks. Cementing her lead with a dominant service game, Charney closed out a seamless first set. From there, Charney left her opponent in the dust en route to a quick 6-1, 6-4 victory in singles to knot the score at one apiece. Despite Charney’s strong play, the Wolverines didn’t rise to her level. In fact, they fell right back into their early hole. Senior Gala Mesochoritou’s match was next to conclude, but instead of building on the momentum, she faltered. After dropping a late break in the first
set, she never regained her footing, dropping the next five games to find herself in an insurmountable 5-0 second-set mess. Regardless of Mesochoritou’s best efforts to rebound, taking the next two games, the match was already over.
“They were fighting,” Bernstein said. “I think we fought hard. You could tell we were trying to hold on there but just didn’t have our best tennis tonight. If we could have come through in a few of those moments, maybe we could have put a little more pressure on them and split some sets to get to thirds.
ZACH GOLDSTEIN
RUBY KLAWANS/Daily
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OPINION
UMich, don’t boycott the election
SARAH ZHANG Opinion Columnist
In 2020, 78% of eligible students at the University of Michigan voted in the election, up 18% from 2016. When I discuss this November’s election with my peers, our conversations indicate a possible break from the previous election’s high turnout. They criticize both candidates and aren’t sure whether or not to vote. They hope that their non-vote would act as a protest against an unsatisfactory selection of political leaders and a commitment to their values for a more robust democratic process. My peers are not alone. In fact, 67% of respondents to a January Ipsos poll voiced dissatisfaction with the current candidates, and 14% of respondents to a recent Marist poll do not want to vote for either one. Many citizens have legitimate reasons to feel unsatisfied with the nominees, whether it’s their policy goals or personal traits.
While boycotting the election may seem appealing to ambivalent voters, choosing not to vote actually fails to secure more desirable nominees or ensure policy progress. Rather, we, as students of
the University, must leverage our voices in November to spur the changes that we want to see. Many young adults believe that their non-vote would pressure the two parties to nominate candidates who are more responsive to their generation. History proves that this may not be the case. For instance, youth voter turnout dipped in the 2012 and 2016 elections. This low turnout did not encourage the parties to nominate more desirable candidates. The two choices today are nearly as unpopular as the nominees in 2016 were. In this election especially, it will be undecided voters that determine our next president. Though many voters believe that their voice does not matter, our voices have more weight than we realize: Michigan is a swing state, and even a small number of votes can decide this election. By choosing not to vote, we’re forfeiting our say in America’s future. A non-vote is a vote for the winning candidate. We need to use our voices if we want them to matter. We should not let others speak for us. If we decide to skip the ballot box, we also lose the opportunity to vote for candidates running for lower levels of government. Given the heavy media spotlight on the presidential election, we overlook
the power of these officials in creating the changes that we want to see. On Ann Arbor’s ballot this November, voters will elect new U.S. House Representatives, State House Representatives, school board members and other officials. Before November, we can also vote in Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary on August 6th.
Local voting is especially important since these officials enact policy regarding public safety, transportation and housing — decisions that touch our everyday lives. In local elections where one vote can often determine the winner, our voices are critical in ensuring our representation in politics and shaping our city’s policy agenda.
Some people voice barriers to voting as a reason for not casting their ballot. While we should recognize the structural obstacles that preclude people from voting, the University provides students with clear registration steps and on-campus polling stations, which help to facilitate the process. For the presidential primary, I changed my registration to Michigan at a booth in the Diag, and early voting policies let me vote at a convenient time at the University of Michigan Museum of Art.
From the Daily: UMich administration is putting out the wrong fires
THE MICHIGAN DAILY SUMMER EDITORIAL BOARD
Before dawn on Tuesday, May 21, University of Michigan law enforcement arrived on the Diag tasked with clearing the Gaza solidarity encampment. Dressed in full riot gear, they issued a 15-minute dispersal warning to approximately 50 protesters before advancing in force less than 10 minutes later. The encampment, which had operated peacefully for almost a month, was removed violently as police pepper sprayed and arrested students.
In an email to the U-M community, University President Santa Ono justified his decision to clear the encampment by claiming that the protesters failed to comply with directives from the University fire marshal, which the protesters deny. He then went on to provide a long list of other grievances with the encampment’s leadership and recent pro-Palestine protests, citing vandalism of U-M property, physical altercations outside of the University of Michigan Art Museum and demonstrations outside the homes of several members of the University’s Board of Regents. The board’s furious reaction to the burnt cradle and bloody body bags placed outside of their front doors on May 15 likely led to increased pressure to resolve the situation, hence the fire marshal’s inspection of the encampment that came only two days later.
Regardless of what external factors may have influenced Ono’s thought process, U-M policy did grant him and the administration the authority to act. His email accurately stated that the encampment had “always violated the rules that govern the Diag” — rules that students and community members agree to abide by when studying or working at this institution. As such, many, including members of the TAHRIR Coalition, anticipated a response from the University eventually.
This Editorial Board’s issue with what took place Tuesday morning does not stem from the fact that the encampment was removed, but with how the University went about removing it. The administration’s strategy, both in terms of reasoning and execution, was careless
and counterproductive to any longterm trust with students.
Ono’s contention that fire safety concerns “forced the University to take action,” is disingenuous at best and deceptive at worst. The issues Ono refers to — external camp barriers, overloaded power sources and open flames — were not recent developments. The encampment operated for weeks in this “high-risk” manner without any University intervention. While this behavior might have been dangerous, it could not have been Ono’s primary concern, or he wouldn’t have waited so long to rectify it. It seems like this was merely the convenient excuse Ono had been looking for.
Additionally, Ono’s attempt to frame the encampment clearing as a safety precaution for the protesters is invalidated by the numerous safety hazards created by the police response. The University cynically sent in officers at 5:45 a.m., limiting the number of potential witnesses. Law enforcement behaved accordingly, moving violently against the demonstrators even before the deadline for their 15-minute dispersal order had passed. The University may have been trying to prevent more protesters from arriving at the scene, but they did so at the expense of the clear and public warnings that students deserved.
This Editorial Board has written in the past that campus is becoming a pressure cooker and that the more forcefully the University reacts to expression, the more intense that expression will become. The encampment clearing is only the most recent example, but things didn’t need to end this way. Administrations at other colleges negotiated with their protesters, and their encampments came to peaceful resolutions. Instead of pursuing this route, Ono and his administration opted to further strain their relationship with dissenting students rather than engage with them, acting in bad faith and placing demonstrators in danger.
Choices made by some of the protesters, however, indicate that they may have been acting in bad faith as well. Incidents of vandalism and destruction of property turned off potential supporters and gave the University more pretext to act. The paint-over of the Michigan Union sign and replace-
Why language students should study abroad
ment of bricks on the Diag, for example, made the demonstration look unruly and disinterested in productive dialogue. Moreover, participants at the encampment spent weeks seeking an audience with Ono and the board, but when a public-comment period opened at the most recent meeting of the board, no demonstrators spoke. University Regent Mark Bernstein (D) took notice, stating “It’s also worth noting that it appears that nobody from the coalition of over 40 groups has signed up for public comment today, not one person.” He went on, “There are many robust opportunities to engage with this board in person, virtually and through submission of correspondence to name a few.” Though Bernstein was unlikely to ever support the protesters’ demands, his point still stands. The demonstrators gave up on institutional avenues of making change, leaving them with only the encampment and disruption as a point of leverage. And, when the encampment was cleared, their attempt to impede the police with chairs and tables cut against the tradition of civil disobedience they claim to represent. Ultimately, the future of proPalestinian protests on campus is uncertain. While Ono has said that the administration’s protest policy has not changed, it is clear that the dynamics have shifted. In using force against members of the campus community, the University showed blatant disregard for its duty to protect students. We agree with Ono on one thing — what happened Tuesday morning must be taken into account within the broader context of several events over the past few months. The free speech principles followed by the Disruptive Activity Policy, the cancellation of CSG ballot initiatives, and Ono and the board’s refusal to meet with proPalestine protest leaders put the administration in a position where police violence was its only perceived option. The University stands at a crossroads. Down one path, Wolverines are met with pepper spray and tear gas. Down the other, they aren’t. For all Ono’s talk about a potential fire at the encampment, the fire he and the board should have been focused on was the growing flame of distrust between students and the administration.
SETH GABRIELSON Opinion Columnist
We live in an increasingly interconnected and dependent global community. We see all sorts of different cultures and identities. But, that doesn’t mean we truly understand them. Similarly, learning a language doesn’t guarantee an understanding of its speakers’ culture. I, like many other students, have pursued a minor in a foreign language. As part of my German studies, I’ve had the privilege of studying at the Goethe Institute in Dresden, Germany. Having recently returned to the United States, I think everyone pursuing a language degree should have a similar experience. It’s widely recognized that immersion in a native-speaking environment accelerates language acquisition dramatically. The benefits include experiencing common vocabulary usage, solidifying grammatical systems and increasing communication speed. Additionally, studying abroad immerses students in the native culture of the language they have studied.
Immersion in Dresden has significantly enhanced my academic work. Daily interactions with native speakers have clarified complex grammatical concepts and enriched my vocabulary. The need to communicate effectively has sharpened my critical thinking and problem-solving skills. I’ve had a deeper engagement with all my coursework, resulting in a stronger commitment to academic success across the board.
Daily interactions and cultural immersion play crucial roles in understanding idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms. These
phrases carry meanings that transcend literal translations, deeply rooted in the cultural and historical context of the language. Engaging with native speakers in everyday situations allows students to grasp the nuances of these expressions, enriching their comprehension and making their communication more authentic and nuanced. This deepened understanding transforms our language skills from mere textbook knowledge to practical, living fluency. Living abroad is a transformative experience that builds personal
confidence and independence. Navigating daily life in a foreign country requires adapting to new cultural norms, overcoming language barriers and solving unexpected problems. These challenges force students out of their comfort zones and foster a sense of self-reliance and resilience. My time in Dresden has boosted my confidence in handling unfamiliar situations and making decisions independently.
Studying abroad positively impacts academic performance not just in language proficiency, but also across various academic areas.
Research indicates that students who study abroad often achieve higher academic outcomes than students who stay on campus. This improvement stems from the practical application of language skills in real-world settings, complementing traditional classroom learning.
Studying abroad also enhances practical problem-solving abilities, such as handling logistical issues, navigating public transportation or managing finances in a different currency. Engaging with peers and professionals from around the world helps build a global network
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that can lead to future job opportunities and collaborations.
The professional benefits of studying abroad are equally compelling. Immersive international experiences significantly improve career readiness and open up valuable networking opportunities. Employers highly value the adaptability and crosscultural communication skills that students develop while living abroad. Being able to navigate different cultural contexts and work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds is a
crucial skill in today’s globalized job market.
Furthermore, studying abroad can help a campus as a whole by enriching the multicultural understanding of students. When students return from their international experiences, they bring back enhanced language skills and a deep appreciation for cultural diversity. Firsthand exposure to different cultures develops empathy and cultural sensitivity — essential traits in our interconnected world. This fosters a more inclusive and culturally aware community, benefiting everyone.
Some may argue that studying abroad is not feasible for all students due to financial constraints and the need to work through the summer. However, the University of Michigan can easily mitigate this struggle. I received a substantial amount of financial aid for my studies in Germany, and many other students I have met are working while they’re studying abroad. The University could even expand summer abroad programs to include work abroad programs, all of which could be facilitated by the Center for Global and Intercultural Study. These experiences encourage students to challenge assumptions and broaden their worldview, promoting a campus culture that values diversity and global awareness.
If the University wants to develop comprehensive language majors and minors, the goal should extend beyond teaching linguistic proficiency to fostering a rich understanding of the culture that produced the language. Language and culture are intrinsically linked, and a deep comprehension of one enhances appreciation of the other.
Opinion
Pizza parties won’t save corporate America
Ihate pizza. It’s greasy, messy and unhealthy. As someone with lactose intolerance, it makes my stomach nauseous, even when I use Lactaid. It’s also awkward at club events when everybody around me is eating and I’m not because the only thing on the menu is pizza. Personal gripes aside though, I also hate what pizza has come to represent: a corporate Band-Aid for a bro -
ken office culture. Pizza as a social food isn’t new. Since childhood, most of us have attended at least one party — either at school or at a friend’s place — where pizza was served as the main dish. As we transitioned from grade school to college, a slice of pizza from Joe’s Pizza or New York Pizza Depot became emblematic of post-party cravings and late-night study sessions. Corporations, though, capitalize on this affection for pizza when they throw their infamous pizza parties to boost employee morale.
I understand why companies choose pizza as their go-to meal for their mandated events. It’s cheap, easy to buy in bulk and one of the most popular foods in the world — Americans eat enough slices a year to fill a suitcase. The problem arises when executives think pizza parties are a substitute for fairly compensating employees. Sure, it may bring the office together, but only in the short term. If companies want longterm retention, they need to stop throwing cheesy parties and expecting employees to
suddenly start liking their jobs again.
The Gilded Age was a historical era where America’s industrial economy was booming but only benefited the ultra-rich, and some say that the Second Gilded Age is now upon us. Only 49% of Americans are satisfied with their work. With company profits at an all-time high, the top 1% of the socio-economic spectrum continue to get richer, while the bottom 99% struggle to stay afloat. As a result of COVID-19 inflation, companies are trying to reset wages back to pre-pandemic levels. The cost of living, however, isn’t going down with them, making some jobs — even positions that require a bachelor’s degree — blatantly unlivable. Therefore, when corporations decide to reward their underpaid staff’s hard work with a pizza party instead of increasing their salaries, the gesture comes off as cheap, when they could be spending a lot more.
Company loyalty is also diminishing. The average American spends 4.1 years with their company. Roughy 44 million people quit their jobs in 2023. Unlike previous generations, who picked companies fresh out of college and stayed there for 50 years, younger generations are less willing to put up with toxic workplace environments, thus short-term solutions like pizza parties aren’t effective at keeping them pleased.
Pizza parties also come across as performative. Company-sponsored food can qualify as a deductible, meaning it lowers the amount a corporation needs to pay in taxes at the end of a year, allowing them to generate more profit. Pizza parties were never about the employee; it was about the companies wanting to appear like they care about their staff without having to raise their pay.
The problem is simple: Corporations are worrying too much about short-run engagement. Pizza parties are just one of the short-run solutions that managers employ to create a “fun” workplace. It’s easier to say “We are all a family here!” than it is to actually create an environment where employees feel valued.
Short-run solutions are also cheaper. If a company is making record profits with the system it currently has in place, they have no incentive to drastically switch up its ways. But workers aren’t dumb; managers may notice a boost in engagement after a new perk is introduced, but employees pick up on the temporary nature of the fix. The more corporate departments invest in short-term perks, the less effective (and productive) they become, and the more manipulative they appear to be.
The solution companies are looking for doesn’t lie in the cheese, but in the dough. If companies want better reten -
Catch up, America: The case for high speed rail
project, but very, very slowly.
Last week, as my car idled on I-96 in stand-still traffic, my mind began to wander. I thought about my recent trip to Spain, where I was studying abroad just two weeks prior. Strangely enough, in my daydream, it was not untouched beaches, fresh seafood paella or late-night club outings that I thought of. It was public transportation. At this moment, bumper to bumper in rush hour traffic, I yearned for the trains.
Even before my European travels, public transportation had taken up significant real estate in my brain. When thinking about other global examples of infrastructure, whether the bullet trains in Japan or the vast system of trains connecting major cities across Europe, I wondered why America lags so far behind. Convenience aside, constructing more public transportation also seems like the most environmentally responsible thing to do. As climate change disaster looms and President Joe Biden’s promises of carbon neutrality feel impossibly far away, a greater reliance on public transportation could be our best route to alleviate
the crisis. With this in mind, the United States must prioritize and invest in a national high-speed rail system, ensuring a greener and more connected future. As of right now, there are no high-speed (above 155 mph) trains currently running in the U.S. Amtrak, however, plans to begin running high-speed trains on its Northeast Corridor, connecting Boston to Washington D.C. later this year. But this may not be realistic, as this project has already experienced several delays. This unfortunately is the only project that will be coming into fruition in the near future because all other major high-speed rail plans lack either necessary funding or initiative.
High-speed railways in this country have stalled because they’re costly. President Biden has made some effort to fund transit initiatives, but these contributions appear inconsequential. In December, the Biden administration allocated $8.2 billion to fund passenger rail projects. He also allocated $3.07 billion to the California High Speed Rail project, a high-speed train system set to be built in California. One problem: This project is estimated to cost over $128 billion. Yes, Biden is chipping away at this
In 2021, the U.S. allocated $1.2 trillion toward transportation and infrastructure spending. We should use that money to expand and update our passenger rail system. No more chipping away. Other countries have proven that this endeavor is both possible and worthwhile.
Two of the most obvious benefits are convenience and efficiency. I’ll admit that I became passionate about this subject for completely self-interested reasons. I don’t like traffic. I don’t like driving for hours when I could be comfortably reading a book. I don’t like to spend time waiting to pass through airport security. High-speed rails could revolutionize the way we travel between cities that are 200 to 600 miles apart. A trip from Chicago to St. Louis, which would usually take nearly five hours by car, would take only two by train.
High-speed trains would not only benefit those of us who travel frequently, but would serve all of our best interests. This change in infrastructure would have a significant beneficial impact on our environment. The United States is infamously car-dependent; transportation is currently the largest source of planet-warming gasses in the
United States, releasing 28 percent of U.S. carbon emissions. We can, and should, change that.
Data shows that high-speed trains emit only a fraction of the carbon dioxide that car or plane travel does, as they are much more energy efficient and can garner power from renewable sources.
Environmentalists and policymakers are constantly looking for ways to engage the public and get it to reduce their
carbon footprint. Unlike other strategies to be more eco-conscious, like turning off the light when you leave a room, eating less beef or trying to compost, high-speed rail is something people will want to actively participate in. For most people, excitement and carbon emission reduction rarely appear in the same sentence. Legislators and environmentalists should harness this opportunity.
The time for the federal gov-
tion and better office culture, it has to be genuine and topdown. Executives can afford to give up a yacht or two in order for their employees to be paid a livable wage. Up to a certain extent, money can buy happiness. Starting with paying employees wages they actually deserve can make people want to invest more into the company. Paying more competitive wages also helps with employees jumping ship every four years to another job. Of course, money isn’t everything that goes into boosting worker morale — H.R. departments also need to look into more long-term solutions. Creating a space where people want to come into work proves far more effective at boosting employee satisfaction than the occasional delivery from Little Caesars. Companies that experimented with floor plans that support all kinds of work styles saw an increase in performance and profits. Additionally, 84% of organizations surveyed by Businesswire said a lack of focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs contributed to employee turnover. Stronger DEI initiatives could reverse this trend. As college students, Corporate America is a very real possibility for post-graduation. Offices with a strong “pizza party” culture should be avoided at all costs. It’s the yeast you can do.
ernment to seriously invest in our infrastructure is now. Other countries serve as examples of what is possible. In 2008, China began the seemingly impossible task of building what would be the world’s longest highspeed rail network. Since then, they’ve experienced reductions in pollution, traffic and cost of living, as well as general improvement in quality of life. We should follow in their tracks.
A TikTok ban is a step toward a healthier generation
It can sometimes feel like everyone around us lives in an interconnected world of quick, trendy and instant content where the algorithm reigns
supreme. In the race to consume your screen time, TikTok stands above all other platforms — a paradigmatic symbol of the social media craze. TikTok’s place at the top has been threatened, however, as President Joe Biden recently signed a bill that would ban the app unless it is
sold to a government-approved firm. Despite its controversy, this ban is a step in the right direction.
The TikTok ban is the product of national security fears. The app’s Chinese ownership has led to concerns that the Chinese government can use it to
influence the content seen by American TikTok users. These concerns are well-founded; analysts have found it likely that TikTok’s algorithm has been trained to suppress videos and content that does not align with the geopolitical interests of the Chinese Communist Party. This, along with questions regarding the app’s data intake and the safety of that information in the hands of a company owned by a hostile nation, has led to bipartisan support for a TikTok ban. Reactions to the ban have been mixed, with many young people coming to the app’s defense. They see TikTok as a place to participate in trends, different communities and other aspects of life relevant to contemporary culture; the ban threatens to take it away from them. Furthermore, social media has assisted in making news regarding politics and current events more accessible to young people. This age group’s constant social media usage has created what many describe as the first “digital native” generation.
As long-term social media use becomes more normalized, psychologists have studied its
negative effects on the brain, of which there are many. In 2023, the United States Surgeon General released a national advisory about how social media affects youth mental health, suggesting that the incessant use of these platforms is correlated with increased rates of depression and anxiety. Additionally, psychologists are beginning to recognize how high amounts of time spent online can lead to low self-esteem, sexual frustration and body image issues.
These byproducts of the digital norms surrounding beauty and character are unrealistic and unattainable and contribute to rising rates of suicide among young people.
With the consequences of constant social media usage only now becoming clear, the government’s efforts to regulate and control the field make sense. While they have long promised to create a more connected world, social media platforms like TikTok have actually created the opposite. People now feel more isolated than ever before, and this lack of social interaction has created a generation with the highest rates of social anxiety in history. While these
apps may be social in nature, many fear that high amounts of screen time have created a generation of individuals incapable of in-person interactions, confrontations and relationships. Many of the issues associated with TikTok have been blamed on the app’s unique and mysterious algorithm. Its effective programming allows each user’s feed to be personalized with striking accuracy. This accuracy can foster user dependency on the app, perpetuating a cycle of increased consumption — taking place, for young people, during some of the brain’s most crucial development periods. In fact, many users are now beginning to exhibit symptoms associated with addiction.
Considering the sharp increase in mental health issues associated with the digital world, it has become evident that something must be done about social media. Its benefits are not to be understated; social media has facilitated vast communication and allowed people to experience a wide array of identities and information.
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LAURA HURLBURT
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MATEO ALVAREZ Opinion Columnist
An unexpected slice of summer
Let’s kick predatory towing to the curb
Lto
on
Her car was towed in under
utes. She was handed a staggering fine and a series of absurd fees and stipulations. Even though she beat the tow truck to the impound lot, she still had to pay a storage fee. This situation exemplifies a larger issue: the predatory nature of the towing business, especially around college campuses.
Getting towed is an all-toocommon occurrence, with millions of Americans going through the ordeal each year. It is not a pleasant experience to say the least, and there are a variety of factors that can make it even worse, such as your car getting damaged or being towed unfairly. Unfortunately, there’s simply not much you can do about it.
Given the nature of the billion-dollar towing business, especially on college campuses where victims are students with minimal disposable income, it is time to change the many inherently unfair qualities of the towing process.
Towing typically occurs in one of two ways: A property owner or the police can call a towing company requesting vehicle removal or tow trucks can find vehicles in violation of posted parking regulations on patrol. Vehicles can be towed for minor infractions like being slightly over a line or parked in an ambiguous spot. In some cases, towing companies have towed residents from their own homes.
Many states — including Michigan — allow any third party, whether that be a property manager or an employee, to receive kickbacks from towing companies for calling in violations. Such a system encourages third-parties to enforce parking rules to absurd extremes, sometimes flouting them altogether. In some cases, towing companies have hired “spotters” to watch lots and report even the most minute violations. It is possible to get towed in just a few minutes. Getting towed, especially in
Ann Arbor, is not cheap. A sample towing bill obtained by The Michigan Daily shows how tackon charges can add up — the final price tag racked up to a whopping $365. This is much higher than the average towing bill in the United States of $165. And as an additional hassle, many towing companies only accept cash. College towns like Ann Arbor are environments ripe for predatory towing practices. Most students live in off-campus housing, and many of these apartments are notorious for malicious towing. When mov-
ing into an apartment or dorm, public parking is often very far away from the premises. For students balancing tight budgets and demanding coursework, a sudden towing fee isn’t just a financial burden; it can lead to missed classes, late rent payments and significant stress. Research shows that 37% of people in the United States can’t afford to pay $400 for an emergency expense without first selling something or borrowing money. It is unsurprising that towing leads many into debt, low credit scores and financial ruin.
Trash the junk fees
12 S. Thayer St. is a threeunit apartment complex between the Diag and North Quad Residence Hall. The building itself is unremarkable with its plain, offwhite siding, exposed concrete foundation and awkward, tri -
angular profile which leans above the Jamaican restaurant next door. A cluster of spiked weeds peek from a corner of the building, and the adjacent sidewalk is stained and worn from years of student traffic. What is notable, however, is the fact that 312 S. Thayer St.’s public listing fails to mention the $9,850 waitlist fee, discovered in a report produced by The Waitlist Working Group of the
Ann Arbor Renters Commission. According to the policy of Prime Student Housing, the building’s landlord, before prospective tenants can even set foot in the building, they have to pay nearly ten grand — not so that they can sign the lease, but so they can have the chance of signing the lease. They are asked to pay a junk fee. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many of Ann Arbor’s largest
landlords, such as Prime Student Housing, Campus Management and Varsity Management, have begun to expand their charging of so-called “junk fees.” Put simply, a junk fee is any charge, fine or payment landlords demand of their tenant which does not actually provide for any service. And to make things worse, more often than not, these junk fees are not advertised to the tenant when they apply — one of the many reasons why they ought to be abolished.
In Ann Arbor, pre-tenancy fees, a type of junk fee charged before tenants move into their apartments, are particularly egregious. In a city with rent higher than most of Michigan, other landlords now ask for money even before you sign a lease. Campus Management asks for an “option to lease fee” and Landmark Apartments demands a generic “application fee.” In each of these cases, the fee must be paid before a prospective tenant even sees their contract.
According to the National Consumer Law Center, similar fees range from $25 to $350 nationally. In Ann Arbor, they are frequently between $50 and $500. Some are as high as $10,000.
Some landlords, such as Howard Hanna, “guarantee” a full refund. According to the report, however, when a group of prospective renters asked Hanna Realty for the return of their $200 application fee, it took five emails — and the threat of legal action — to finally get their money back. Students are particularly vulnerable to pre-tenancy fees. As the University fails to provide adequate housing and the aver-
Additionally, there are not many protections for those towed under false pretenses.
Victims have limited recourse, as the tow yard can hold your vehicle hostage until you pay, even if you have reason to challenge it. If you win the dispute in front of a judge, you will be reimbursed, but to get there in the first place still costs a $75 filing fee. It is simply not practical to contest a vehicle towing most of the time, even if the towing company is in the wrong.
Of course, there is a genuine reason for legitimate tow-
ing practices. Parking and road rules need to be enforced in some capacity to limit obstructions and allow for roadways and parking lots to be used effectively. Insufficient consumer protections, however, erode the social value of towing services in the first place. In this case, it is cash-strapped college students who are footing the bill. There are several actions that cities and states can take to make towing fairer. States can create laws requiring clear tow-away signs. They can also require towing companies to take pictures
Protections
mented on the
Detroit City Council
as
an ordinance in 2021 requiring towing companies to accept all forms of payment and stop a towing if an owner returned to their vehicle before it was removed. However, the ordinance only came after a former council member was arrested in a federal case for taking bribes from a towing contractor. We need to park predatory towing practices for good and shift gears toward fairness and accountability. By implementing clearer regulations and ensuring transparency, policymakers can drive out these exploitative tactics. Let’s stop students from having to dodge tow trucks and create a campus environment where education and community, not towing fines, take the front seat.
age rent in Ann Arbor approaches $2,000 a month, students are in a rat-race to secure affordable housing before fall. Caught between the pressure of securing housing and landlords demanding $50, $200 or even $10,000 in pre-tenancy fees, students often have no choice but to pay.
One U-M student interviewed by CBS News said about her experience, “You have to be really careful because it feels like a scam. And sometimes, maybe it is.”
Even after pre-tenancy fees — and outrageous rent — many Ann Arbor landlords charge socalled “hidden fees,” which are often unmentioned in a tenant’s contract, according to Zackariah Farah, a student tenant and organizer involved with the Ann Arbor Tenants Union. He also spoke to me about members experiencing sudden increases in utility fees, new “no hassle” fees and charges for unspecified “administrative costs,” describing these policies as a reality of living in Ann Arbor. Of course, some hidden fees
are “justified” by landlords. It’s true, some do actually cover real expenses, but their amounts are often unreasonable. Another tenant explained to me that their landlord charged them $600 a year for a single, unpaved parking space. They chose to park a block away instead. Under Ann Arbor law, landlords can charge new fees at whatever time, whatever reason and for whatever amount they want. Campus Management has recently introduced “move-in” fees, which can be as high as $2,100, alongside new, mandatory fees for cleaning — which can be anywhere from $135 to $500 per unit. If landlords can invent new fees whenever
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HAYDEN BUCKFIRE Opinion Columnist
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AIDAN ROZEMA Daily Opinion Contributor
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‘Dearest gentle reader,’ I miss courting
IJOVANNA GALLEGOS Opinion Columnist
n preparation for the release of the first part of the third season of Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” I rewatched the first and second seasons of the hit series.
In a world where dating often feels transactional and fleeting, the absence of courtship is a glaring departure from the long gone Regency-era romance present in the show. As I finished all 20 episodes, I found myself drawn to Bridgertons romanticized world and its potential to enhance dating in this day and age.
Reviving the art of courting could improve modern romance by restoring intentionality and respect to our dating culture. Courtship requires effort and respect, unlike what we do today. When swiping right has become a substitute for finding love, it’s easy to forget the allure of a hand-
written love letter or the anticipation of a planned, thoughtful date. Embracing these practices doesn’t necessarily contradict feminist values; rather, it empowers individuals to pursue meaningful and lasting relationships. By fostering genuine connection and mutual respect, bringing back courting could enrich our modern relationships without compromising our values.
Bridgerton and classic romcoms evoke a sense of nostalgia for a more romantic and deliberate approach to relationships. These stories captivate their audience with narratives of love and yearning, where every gesture is significant and every interaction is carefully planned. Courting practices — as shown in Bridgerton — like writing letters, planned dates and formal introductions play a role in building anticipation and emotional connection. But sadly, writing a letter has been replaced by texting. The
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long-term relationships, impeding a deeper romance. The digital age has not only brought convenience and transformed how people meet and interact, but it has also led to a decline in meaningful connection. Swiping right and messaging on dating apps has become the norm, reducing potential partners to profiles on a screen. When the next option is just a swipe away, people don’t want to commit to each other because they fear they might miss out on someone “better.”
If I ever decide to marry, my dream proposal would go something like this: My partner and I decide we’re ready for marriage, and together we shop for a ring. From then on I know a proposal is coming, but I don’t know when to expect it. Perhaps on my birthday or an anniversary, or maybe while doing mundane tasks like laundry or dishes. Alternatively (because I can be quite competitive), we would each buy rings and attempt to out-do each other with exciting surprise proposals. No matter what, though, one thing remains the same: I want to be part of the decision-making process. Close friends and family may be there for the proposal and wedding, but the engagement is only between the two people
who will tie the knot. When that decision is made, I want to be in my clearest state of mind, meaning no screaming crowds and no jumbotrons. Really, any kind of surprise public proposal is off the table. Now, I don’t want to rain on someone else’s dream proposal parade. Of the times I witnessed a public proposal, I was happy to be there. From a proposal on the University of Virginia’s historic Lawn to a Harry Styles concert to a University of Michigan football game, there’s something beautiful about getting to share in that love and excitement. Still, all these proposals ended with a “yes.” If those being proposed to were caught by surprise without an immediate decision in mind, those situations probably wouldn’t have been as lovely. In order for a public proposal to truly work, it must be based on a prior and private agreement of
thrill of waiting for a handwritten note filled with heartfelt words like the ones out of a Jane Austen novel is something many have never experienced. In many cases, planned dates and formal introductions have been replaced by casual hangouts and impersonal online interactions in the present. Yet, these traditional courting practices help create deeper bonds, making each moment special and memorable.
Don’t
Courting emphasizes intentionality, respect and clear communication of romantic interest — qualities often lacking in modern dating. With the rise of hookup culture, casual encounters have been prioritized over
Of course, courting is an inconvenience. It requires time, effort and emotional investment, all of which could be fruitless if the courter is met with rejection. Modern dating, on the other hand, offers convenience. But it comes at the expense of emotional depth and genuine connection. The benefits of in-person romantic interaction far outweigh the convenience cost. Online dating, with its focus on superficial attri-
propose to me in public
the couple to become engaged. Public proposals have seen a large boom in the internet age. Though private proposals remain popular with the majority of people, the prominence of a quiet, personal proposal has decreased from generation to generation.
From flash mobs to movie trailers, Millennials and Generation Z are finding more and more creative ways to ask for a partner’s hand in marriage in front of a crowd.
On one hand, a public proposal can signify devotion. Setting up a large-scale display in order to ask for one’s hand in marriage is demanding, both monetarily and logistically. The proposer has to consider every little detail in creating the perfect proposal. Uncertainty of acceptance also adds to a public proposal’s zeal. The proposer puts themselves at risk of being rejected publicly, so the fact that they go for it anyway should
indicate their assuredness that the intended will accept. All these ingredients come together to craft an offer that announces “I want to marry you,” before a crowd, the internet or even the rest of the world.
On the other hand, a public proposal can be a form of coercion. According to research from The Self and Well-Being Lab at the University of Victoria, public proposals are more likely to be rejected. Still, the person being proposed to feels considerable pressure to say “yes.” The researchers also note that many of the public proposal stories in the study described audiences who would encourage an affirmative answer or grow silent or hostile when the intended rejected the proposal.
A proposal on its own is a question or request, but a public proposal can stray in the direction of a demand. The decision to get
engaged, when made between just the couple, is removed from immediate external pressure. A surprise public proposal, though, gives only the illusion of choice and dares the prospective spouse to turn down a lavish offer when all eyes are on them.
When it comes to breaking the manipulative public proposal script, we must recognize that the moment for a final decision should not come in front of a large crowd filming the ordeal with their phones and shouting “Say yes!” There are plenty of ways to go about this. For one, consider renting a space for just you and your partner. Maybe that means renting out your partner’s favorite restaurant for an evening or perhaps reserving a movie theater to watch your partner’s favorite movie.
As I mentioned earlier, you could also consider a double proposal. Particularly popular in the
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butes, increases the likelihood of eventual relationship dissatisfaction. Many people who connect through dating apps don’t take the time to truly know each other, leading to shallow and short-lived relationships. So, if we want to create more meaningful connections in relationships, we’re going to have to sacrifice some convenience. Every action in the courting process is deliberate and therefore meaningful. Planning a date involves thoughtful planning and effort, showing a potential partner that their time and company is valuable. Respect is inherent in the process, as courting often requires seeking permission and honoring boundaries. Furthermore, clear communication of romantic interest eliminates the ambiguity and uncertainty that characterize many modern relationships.
LGBTQIA+ community, a double proposal — sometimes also known as a “partnership proposal” — is when two partners propose to each other, whether at the same moment or at different times. This is certainly an equitable option that allows for all parties involved to agree, propose, say “yes” and exchange rings.
A private proposal doesn’t mean your engagement can’t be shared publicly, too. Even if you are someone who enjoys being a bit flashy, think of the possible benefits of planning ahead: You’ll be able to find the perfect ring, have enough time to get a manicure (if you so choose) and you can get engaged again and again in front of an audience. This comes with the added benefits of, for example, free food when you get engaged at a restaurant or other public venues.
AUDRA WOEHLE Senior Opinion Editor
MiC
What is MICHIGAN IN COLOR at The DAILY?
Michigan in Color, commonly referred to as MiC, is by and for people of Color. The MiC team brims with creative and collaborative energy with the intention of celebrating our stories and fostering a community for BIPOC. The content under the
MiC umbrella is wide — from personal narratives to photography projects to statements about collective liberation, we welcome multitudes of expression. In all of our content, MiC seeks to offer a safe space and powerful platform for the artistic minds
of people of Color in order to illuminate stories and perspectives that have gone historically underrepresented in traditional journalism.
yours truly, an ex-“feminist”
or right in the middle, single or married or widowed, employed or studying or a stay-at-home mom, a mother of many or maybe just one — this is addressed to you.
Author’s Note: I would like to clarify that despite the marginalizing gaps and inconsistencies within Western feminism, abandoning it as a whole will only result in further prejudice. As women, and specifically women of Color, it is our responsibility to rewire this movement toward an equal and just agenda that fights and protects all women. We must refuse to hide under the same blanket of “feminism” where those who pick and choose who deserves righteousness cower. I dedicate this piece to the young girls and women in Gaza, who have not stopped persevering for their survival and freedom, and who will continue to do so well after you finish reading.
dear feminists,
dear activists, dear difference-makers,
I must admit, one of my favorite aspects of my identity is the fact that I’m a woman. I love being a “girl’s girl” and wearing my heart on my sleeve. I love being a daughter and a sister, and I love having a girl best friend. What I love most, however, is the unconditional unity and understanding between us all. The authenticity and empathy shared among all women is a universal phenomenon that I have only just begun to scratch the surface of as an 18 year old.
I was only ever able to identify transient glimpses of such unfathomable unity — beginning innocently through moments like being asked to “check” my friend as she left the lunch table and deepening as I grew from a girl to a woman. Although my admiration for such bonds has yet to cease, my gravitation
shattered. The trust and faith I once thoughtlessly extended has dwindled with the lack of support and solidarity among women, constructing an entirely new perspective of disillusionment founded on the Western definition of feminism.
At the ripe age of nine, I deemed myself to be a feminist. In fourth grade we read a biography on Malala Yousafzai and it was safe to say that I was nothing short of awed. I mean, could you blame me? She was everything I strived to be, demonstrating a strength and resilience I never thought I’d be able to embody. Soon after, my intrigue in women of history only intensified, and my desire to possess the same qualities as these inspiring leaders grew with fervor. From Malala to Rosalind Franklin to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, my concept of feminism roughly entailed the push for women to lead, succeed and change the world.
However, as I grew older, my perception on feminism drastically shifted, as I began to notice gaps and inconsistencies within a movement I had once fully embraced. Today, being a “feminist” feels more predominantly geared toward first-world issues like the pink tax or the wage gap. This pervasive perception of women’s activism encapsulates criteria-based obstacles that are faced by a limited group of people. It has turned a blind eye to problems like lack of education, extreme poverty, little healthcare and war faced by millions of women around the globe, and instead only focuses on the smaller scope of issues like bodily autonomy and women’s equality in America alone. These focal points of Western feminism should not be abandoned and their importance is unquestionable, but to minimize women’s equality to this set of grievances when specific populations of women are struggling to simply stay alive is blatantly ignorant. We have unfortunately grown accustomed to a world where it is normal for thousands of women to march for “My Body, My Choice” but take a seat when women just like them are on the other side of the globe fighting for survival.
Where lost religions go: What colonization can and can’t erase
My lost religions haunt me. There is a world, perhaps similar to this one, where Spain’s leather boots never dropped off their boats, never left footprints in the sand of the Philippines. There is a world where anitism, the indigenous religion of the Philippines, was never taken into the hands of the colonizing man, picked and prodded at, taken and torn, with Catholicism pushed into its place. There is a world where I believe in a religion that was born on the shores of my mother’s country, where I was raised believing in anito, where the trinity I was raised with was instead a constellation of deities and spirits. That world is not this one, and this absence of a possibility remains a thorn in the folds of my mind.
“We’ll never get them back,” a Filipina friend once said to me. “All those religions, what could have been. The Philippines had indigenous religions. I think it’s easy to forget. Imagine that? We’ll never get them back.”
Before Islam, Christianity, and the other vastly dominating religions arrived to the Philippines on boats, there was anitism. It was a polytheistic belief system, with a multitude of deities with different levels
of power. The deities of anitism were gods that had personalities, flaws. There was a hierarchy of power, with the Naga serpent, considered the most powerful deity, at the top. The Naga serpent was the central god, around which the rest of the gods orbited. Anitism gods could influence fortune and fate, and it was important to perform rituals or sacrifices to avoid a god’s curses. Gods could also work on the physical plane and cure illnesses or dispel curses if a spiritual leader or healer worked on their behalf. Another core part of anitism were the anito — what souls became in the afterlife. Those on earth could make sacrifices or give offerings to the anito, typically the anito of their ancestors, who could intercede on behalf of the living relatives. Nature, too, had power, such as with water spirits and forest spirits. Believers would often perform rituals to ask other anito to speak and commune with the nature spirits for them. Nature spirits were the ones who controlled the seasons and, therefore, the bountifulness of the land, so it was important to appease them. All nature, and all land, had a spirit.
This was the religion that existed before colonizers sailed in from across the ocean. In particular, it was Ferdinand Magellan’s arrival in the Philippines in the 1520s that
brought with it the beginning of a tidal wave of colonization. It was the first instance, in what became a series of instances, in which men from far-off lands carried on their backs stories and threats, carried a new religion that would soon come to dominate many of the islands. “It was a miracle,” a man once told me. He was older, white and married to a Filipina. “They were told of Christianity and immediately believed, all of them. It’s a beautiful story.”
He was referring to the story of Christianity in Cebu. It’s a famous tale for Catholic Filipinos: Magellan arrived in the Philippine province of Cebu and held a Catholic mass for the first time on its soil. Cebu’s rulers immediately bowed to the new religion, and hundreds of Filipinos were baptized.
The sentiment of his reference grated on me — why was this beautiful? Evangelizing, erasing, replacing one culture with a distant other. Where was the beauty in this loss, of what was taken from us? There’s a pain that lies in the inevitability of it, too, the knowledge that had it not been Cebu, it would likely have been another province. This unavoidable event was the beginning of an unspoken promise, that the Philippines would forever be prevented from returning to its original identity. An entire erasure of custom, of memory.
When will the East meet the West already?
Last semester, an art professor described a print of mine as “East meets West,” and the words followed me for days afterward. People couldn’t think like that after all this time –certainly, globalization must have progressed enough to wreck the idea of neat and separate cultural spheres. Yet, as my experience showed, I was expecting too much.
I wasn’t making art for the purpose of addressing my Americanness or Indianness. My choices were informed by my cultural background, but my art had more merit to it than that facevalue description. My work had a distinct point of view beyond my ethnic identification. I wasn’t interested in the East and West. I was interested in portrayals of illness, femininity, technology and disorder. Sometimes, I explored these subjects within the context of the South Asian diaspora and, other times, I didn’t.
Yet, as much as I resisted the East-West dichotomy, it popped up repeatedly in discussions of AsianAmerican art. Most recently, I was browsing an online library and stumbled upon a new release from Balli Kaur Jaswal, “Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows”. The synopsis described it as a “lively, sexy, and thought-provoking East-meetsWest story about community, friendship, and women’s lives at all ages…” I groaned out loud. The review almost covered an Asian American story without mentioning hemispheres.
More issues abound when we consider what constitutes the East versus the West. In an Asian Studies course I took last year, the professor challenged the class to define the terms. Some classmates focused in on geography. Everything east of Turkey was the West, while the continent of Asia constituted the East. But what about Russia?
Others decided that the West and the East aligned, respectively, with colonizing and colonized countries. But what about Japan? We couldn’t come to a consensus.
As Naoki Sakai, a professor emeritus of Asian Studies at Cornell University, sees it, that may have more to do with the flimsiness of “the West” as a concept than our ineptitude. He observes that the idea reinforces a Eurocentrist position on modernity that reveres societies with industrialized economies, secular institutions, democratic governments and robust middle classes.
Even the nations that this concept supposedly reflects best do not behave as predictably as the term asserts. For example, understanding the United States as a secular state obscures the role of Christian nationalism in the American political arena. As Sakai concludes, “Today the West as an analytic concept is bankrupt and generally useless in guiding our observation about certain social formations and people’s behavior in many loci in the world.” If the West is a poor descriptor of culture, the East — since it always exists in relation to the West — must be as well.
This dichotomy lacks utility when analyzing Asian-American art in particular because Eastern and Western motifs are not neatly distinguishable. Take, for example,
a print I made of a woman in a sari on a moped. My art professor might say the woman in a sari is Eastern and the moped is Western. These distinctions depend on a theory of origination. The woman in the sari is thought to have originated from the East and the moped from the West. This origination theory obscures the complexities of crossregional exchange. Although its first commercial design was created in Britain, mopeds have a specific South Asian context, as they are a more common mode of transportation than cars, especially for lower-income families. As the uses and contexts of this invention evolves, so might its cultural ownership. More importantly, how useful is thinking about origination when analyzing this artwork? Does this framework reveal anything new? Does it achieve anything beyond reinforcing stereotypes about the East and West? The East contains all Asian tradition, while the West claims all innovation, even if the people and objects in these imagined spaces start new histories somewhere else. Asian Americans are often imagined as people split between two worlds, the East and West. But that idea essentializes our identities without providing for the differences in how we see ourselves. We can think of ourselves as part Asian and part American, attest that we are only one or the other, feel most connected to an ethnic label outside of either, identify most with where we physically live, find little reason to examine our ethnic identity, change our minds about these labels over our lifetimes and more.
ARYA KAMAT MiC Columnist
Design by Alisha Razi/MiC
ANUSHI VARMA MiC Columnist
Design by Gabi Shave/MiC
ROSHNI
VEERAMACHANENI MiC Columnist
ANUSHI VARMA MiColumnist
I sense throbbing, pounding pain. Its antennae extend into and around my brain like nerves alighting with fire — the first subtle, tingling notions of something maleficent and unruly. As I drive home from orchestra rehearsal, the pain delivers a sharp migraine, throttling my head despite the smooth pavement under the car’s wheels. With a migraine this intense, tears leak from my eyes as I greet my parents at the door. I feel as though my insides have turned to stone, and my head swells like a balloon. My parents swiftly whisk me to my room, turn the lights off and feel my head. The warm touch of their hand covers my forehead, and at that moment, I let myself fall into their hold.
We are no strangers to pain. I grew up incurring headaches and migraines periodically — their ravenous pain consistently rendered me numb. My parents face numerous back issues, pain that crawls and bites without warning, leaving them paralyzed from its ferocity. In these times, we find ourselves in the arms and hands of one another, along with our binding agent: Tiger Balm. I can’t tell you why Tiger Balm is so popular in my family, but in Asian households, the salve is a tried and true saving grace — a glue that holds us together. Its pliable, yellow paste has a strong, herbal scent. As soon as it is applied, it cools the vast plains of skin that coat the body and warms the capillaries and glands underneath.
I am so indebted to Tiger Balm for how often it has rescued me from the trenches of human health that my parents joke it will be their gift to me on my wedding day.
Tiger Balm is the physical manifestation of a core belief in our household: the power of physical touch. The pressure of our hands infuses life into the recipient as we circulate the blood and move the flesh, revving up the body’s internal mechanisms. Specifically, our palm strength kneads and rolls away the
Yearning for Touch Cracking the Code
pain, turning it docile and limp. My journey with physical touch can be traced back to birth. As an infant, I was plagued by eczema that forcibly coated my dry skin, from my legs to my eyelids. It was so grave that my parents had no choice but to put mittens on my tiny hands to prevent my tiny fingernails from digging into my crusted skin.
Desperately looking for a solution, my parents learned from my doctor that sesame oil was the trick to alleviating my skin problems. They diligently kneaded me with sesame oil every night before putting me to bed, and eventually, their efforts relieved my excruciating itchiness.
I imagine, during these massages, my limbs would glisten as my eyes digested my parents’ faces and my skin registered their graze, their touch alleviating my pain and reaching my heart.
From then on, I acknowledged the power of my parents’ touch. I grew confident that every flare-up of eczema, growing pains, soreness and headaches would inevitably succumb to a deep, thorough massage by my parents. Under their touch, I knew that my body would finally be able to rest as my parents took my pain into their hands. More importantly, the same way I relied on my parents, they relied on me. Countless times, I stepped and
sat on my mother’s back (with her permission, of course) after she had spent a long day sitting in her office chair. With every prod to her lower back, she would sigh, and I would giggle! What seemed like only play to me was actually insurmountable physical relief for my mother. Every massage proved the necessity of our ability to touch and feel. We sustain each other; our heat and weight meld us neatly together.
At my family’s core, body language speaks more fluently than our mouths. As much as I trust their physical presence, I can’t always say the same when it comes to communication. Our different upbringings and philosophies frequently butt heads, resulting in yelling, crying and silence. We couldn’t always agree on where the line fell when it came to how far from home I could go for college or how late I was allowed to stay out or who I could hang out with. When I entered college, our boundaries continued to waver and fluctuate: phone calls that ended hesitantly, urgent texts to call as soon as possible, gaps of silence following stressful conversations. It seemed the words we were using to narrow the gap between us often ended up doing the opposite. Before I entered college, my childhood room was my respite
from my family. My mother joked that like a snake, I would emerge silently and return quickly back to my “nest,” hardly noticed by those who saw me. For all the slithering that I did, it was how I protected myself from difficult conversations with my family. Particularly, when I was applying to college, being able to meet in the middle was painful. On one occasion, I was called downstairs from my safe haven to the family room. My parents were waiting, the lights dim as if signaling the coming of a storm. The reason for the meeting was to discuss my desire to apply to schools in California. I stood in front of my parents, like a defendant testifying to the court, and listed the schools I wanted to attend, desperately trying to respectfully persuade them of my steadfast passion for living on the West Coast. I felt jumpy and nervous as the words trickled out of my mouth because I could read the skepticism and disapproval clear in their faces. The flame inside me dwindled. While I pressed on for the sake of fighting for myself, I wish I hadn’t, so that I could have avoided the emotional wounds incurred. The lack of oxygen was choking the fire I had so timidly stoked.
i. + I like to think that math is the first language I learned — one that neither Marathi nor English held a candle to — and it was no wonder, given how deeply entrenched it was in my childhood. “Dora the Explorer” seldom left our living room TV, and Dora taught me how to count better than she could locate her destinations. My first toy (and friend), a gray robot called “Kasey the Kinderbot,” had pattern-finding skills and dance moves that rivaled my own. Colorful fridge magnets of numbers made the biggest dent in my issues with object permanence, and, as an infant, I sought them out the most.
My parents taught me the first math lesson I remember. After long hours of work, my dad spent time kneeling beside the off-white kitchen fridge to demonstrate (in English and Marathi) all the intricacies of ordering numbers from one, ए (ek), to 10, (dah ), a one year old should know — and I’d follow. My mom, baby steps away, was in charge of dinner and would look at us fondly as smells of hot oil and pav bhaji filled the air. As we’d do this daily ritual, my parents would banter and turn to exclaim “Good job!” to me each time I recited my numbers with no mistakes. This cramped one-story, one-bedroom house we created our home in, and their filial child who knew her numbers by heart, were testaments to the sacrifices my parents made to immigrate to the United States and their staunch belief in education.
ii. x Math remained a constant in our lives. I became two, three and then five (age is a fickle thing for children), as well as a head taller and bespectacled, before my family moved. The house we lived in was much larger, matching the presence of math in my life. Thanks to my parents, Lego toys began to replace baby ones, addition worksheets took precedence over coloring
books and I knew my numbers way beyond 10. Math turned from a simple love language to my parents’ grand plan to make me the next Indian child prodigy in the subject. It made sense to me at the time. I was good at math and continued to work hard at it. My parents expected my success but also poured their energy into ensuring I could excel at math. I turned eight and began to participate in math classes and competitions as my parents grew busier with their jobs. When they weren’t instilling lessons and advice in me to polish my math repertoire, they worked days and nights to make a living. They made the most of building their budding careers as foreigners, aspiring to attain the American Dream. The money rolled in, but the time my parents spent with me on weekly math sessions was all the more meaningful. These moments weren’t just about math; they were about sharing a bond. My dad would patiently explain the logic behind each step, his eyes lighting up as I grasped new concepts. My mom would cheer me on with every correct answer, her pride evident
Wong/ MiC
ARTS
What is ARTS at The DAILY?
Among all the sections at The Michigan Daily, the Arts section prides itself particularly on its writers’ self-expression both in style and content. Daily Arts staff ers write under one of six beats
Who really lost the Kendrick-Drake beef?
boxd die-hard, the Arts section is the place to go for conversations es by writers who care about them
JoJo Siwa, delusion and the catastrophe of childhood fame
CAMPBELL JOHNS Daily Arts Writer
If you’ve been on social media recently, you’ve probably heard about JoJo Siwa. She got her start on two seasons of “Dance Moms,” then signed to Nickelodeon for a few years, but has recently fully committed to rebranding her music career. Discussions about her new song “Karma” and clips from her recent interviews have been inescapable. I’ve rarely had a conversation recently that hasn’t mentioned her in some way. She has been dominating the internet, mostly getting clowned on and memed over her many cringeworthy moments — moments which, when viewed through the lens of her childhood, might beg to be re-examined.
This internet storm began as Siwa began to tease the drop of “Karma,” starting her press tour with a new, slightly darker and edgier aesthetic than her typical “JoJo with a Bow Bow” glittery glam. Though the switch might not be noticeable to some (she’s still wearing gems and glitter, just with black clothing instead of pink), Siwa seems to think it’s a culture-changing shift, claiming in an interview, “no one has made, in my generation, this extreme of a switch … it is very scary, but someone’s got to do it.” This was the first interview I saw being joked about online, and things only spiraled further from there.
The following, much more concerning clip making its rounds online comes from an interview Siwa gave to Billboard News. Here, Siwa relayed a conversation with music executives where she told them she wanted to “start a new genre of music.” When they asked what she meant, she responded, “well, it’s called gay pop.” She then went on to list songs that inspired the one she would be putting out, like “Applause” by Lady Gaga and “On My Own” by Miley Cyrus, completely contradicting what she just said by listing gay pop that surfaced long before she apparently invented it. The notion that she “invented” gay pop is utterly insulting to Queer artists that came before her (and active contemporaries), so it’s no surprise that her remarks sparked tons of concern online. One video
that I particularly enjoyed said, “I feel like JoJo Siwa thinks she’s like the first ever gay person … what do you mean that you’re going to create a new genre called gay pop? You just slapped Lady Gaga on the face.”
If all of this wasn’t wild enough, it’s been discovered that Siwa did not write her new song herself but instead bought and legally remade it. In 2012, singer Brit Smith recorded a demo of this single, with a music video uploaded to Vimeo that was recently discovered after Siwa’s version was released. The song was originally produced and written for Miley Cyrus, who passed it onto Smith, where it was pushed to the back burner until Siwa got her hands on it. There’s nothing wrong with Siwa recording an old song she didn’t write, artists do that all the time. It just makes her claim of inventing gay pop even more outlandish, as she didn’t even write the song she is insisting started the genre. There is another wild moment from this rebrand press tour where, when asked who her inspirations are, Siwa listed iconic artists from former eras, saying Elvis Presley “was the first to not be afraid to be different, to not be afraid to be out there, to not be afraid to take a risk.” The notion that Elvis was the first artist to take risks, or the first to push boundaries, is such an ahistoric and offensive take that it rightfully got tons of online criticism, adding to Siwa’s swarm of hate.
These are just a few worthy moments from Siwa’s rebrand that have entered public discourse recently, all adding to what quickly has become a trend of backlash she’s received. There are many more absurd moments to discuss, but it’s worth asking if doing so is jumping on the hate train of a young woman with an extremely out-of-the-ordinary background.
Siwa’s cringeworthy and often disrespectful behavior hints at something important to consider when we talk about her: her upbringing as a child star. In an appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Siwa discussed being her family’s breadwinner, saying, “I didn’t really realize until I was maybe 17 or 18, like ‘oh, I pay for everything for everyone.’” She then tries to find a positive by saying, “but then I was like wait, I get to
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take care of my family.” These comments hint at the family’s complete reliance on Siwa and her income from an extremely young age, a burden no child should have to carry. It is something that is frequently cited as an immensely traumatizing experience for young stars.
This destructive financial burden on a girl so young seems to have been worsened by the other unhealthy environments where Siwa was raised. “Dance Moms,” where Siwa got her start, is now widely acknowledged as an extremely toxic environment, with most fans and ex-dancers agreeing on its harmfulness. This was the environment in which Siwa grew up, starting on “Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition” at age 9 and joining “Dance Moms” officially at age 11.
As with all of the ex-dancers, Siwa had many moments of being yelled at on the show, permanently preserved and publicized snapshots of the high-stress environment where she grew up.
Siwa also spent many of her teenage years hanging out with the infamous YouTuber Colleen Ballinger and her family. Despite the drastic age difference (Siwa was 12 and Ballinger 29 when they met), the pair became friends. While Siwa defends her friendship with Ballinger, and while they still hang out to this day, there were definitely some odd moments between the two. One example was the video where a 32-year-old Ballinger showed a then 15-year-old Siwa the raw footage of her giving birth. While Siwa may not take issue with this, it is obvious that if this was appropriate — though I and many others would argue it was not — it was at least an example of the completely out-of-the-ordinary environment Siwa occupied for so much of her youth. All of these factors bring us to Siwa’s current behavior. It’s clear that she takes a lot of this pressure in the spotlight from her youth into her career and mindset today, and who wouldn’t? Growing up with her level of fame is bound to deteriorate the mind of anyone in her position, but also demands us to ask pressing questions. To what extent are her ego-centric comments the fault of her upbringing? How far is too far when criticizing her?
The Case for Drake by Ariel Litwak
I wwreally, really dislike Drake’s music. Trust me, it’s nothing personal — or at least it wasn’t until now. He just doesn’t offer what I want in rap: lyricism, storytelling, complex production … So, if I had to pick a favorite Drake song, it’d be “Poetic Justice,” mainly because it’s a Kendrick Lamar song. But “Poetic Justice” also happens to be my least favorite Kendrick song — because Drake’s on it.
Alleged rapper Aubrey Drake Graham has been the subject of much controversy, as so many people with his status have been in the past. It seems almost unavoidable for a celebrity as big as him to have some real skeletons in their closet, and on the occasions that we have gotten a peek at Drake’s, it hasn’t looked great. But never has he been so overshadowed by his controversy as it is right now, with the rap world-shattering Kendrick v. Drake feud escalating to allegations of race baiting, child neglect, drug abuse, sexual abuse, sex trafficking and pedophilia.
Although all of this happened in the span of a few months, animosity between Lamar and Drake, two of the most successful rappers of the modern era, goes back a long time — yet, as fans, we can’t know when it got personal, or even pinpoint exactly where it started. Ever since Kendrick’s famous “Control” verse, they’ve been subtly dissing each other in songs like “The Heart Part 4” and “The Language.” Then came “First Person Shooter,” a J. Cole and Drake collaboration that is rumored to have originally included Kendrick, hence the bar that would eventually come to define this feud: “Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me (Cole)? / We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali.”
I would argue that Drake’s first mistake was creating this dichotomy between himself and Kendrick Lamar. Now, a lot of rappers claim to be the GOAT — that sort of male bravado is almost inseparable from the genre — but when you’re mentioning specific people as your competitors, it only invites comparison. And while Drake is undeniably one of the most commercially successful rappers of all time, few would argue that any of his albums hold a candle to Kendrick’s Pulitzer-winning oeuvre, at least when it comes to lyricism, storytelling and influence. While Kendrick is known for heartfelt, introspective music, Drake’s music isn’t very personal — hardly surprising, considering that he allegedly doesn’t even write his own songs. As unfair as this could be argued to be, the truth of the matter is that Kendrick is a much more loved and trusted figure in hip-hop, meaning that Drake had a steep hill to climb from the get-go.
One of Drake’s other high-profile feuds — involving Pusha T and Kanye West — was also similar in this sense. The Pusha T beef could be seen as a prelude to this one: Drake started off strong, but simply could not compete with the incisiveness and revelatory nature of “The Story of Adidon,” a diss track so powerful that it forced Drake to acknowledge the existence of his son. Compare this to Eminem’s recent beefs; by responding to Benzino and Machine Gun Kelly, he was punching so far below his level that it was impossible for him to ever lose.
All this being said, “Push Ups” — Drake’s initial response to Kendrick’s verse on “Like That” (a
song that I’m sure you’ve heard way too much) and other attacks on him from both of the recent Metro Boomin and Future collaboration albums — was a surprisingly strong start. It hasn’t aged the best, with some of its content really coming back to bite Drake in the ass (for instance, the twenty-v-one line and his mention of Whitney Alford), but it was still a great song that contained maybe the strongest diss in this entire feud: the fact that Kendrick Lamar is short. Allegedly.
Not even a day later, however, Drake decided to release “Taylor Made Freestyle,” a song that almost single-handedly undid everything that “Push Ups” had done for him. Throughout this entire beef, Drake’s approach seems to have been to throw shit at the wall and see what sticks, perhaps in an attempt to compensate for his lyrical deficits by dominating the discourse with sheer volume. The main claim that Drake made in this song was that Kendrick had been delaying his response to “Push Ups” (a song that was released not even a full day earlier) due to Taylor Swift’s album rollout — essentially, Drake was accusing Kendrick of being in Taylor Swift’s pocket. One might think that he had forgotten the fact that he delayed Her Loss for her, but no, he literally called back to that in the song, actively highlighting his own hypocrisy.
And, somehow, that’s not even the most DAMNing part of this song. Drake’s usage of artificial intelligence voice filters to rap from the perspective of Snoop Dogg and Tupac was an … interesting choice, considering how negative the public perception of AI is, let alone using it to insult the legacy of some of hip-hop’s most legendary artists. Expectedly, “Taylor Made Freestyle” was taken down by the Tupac estate. I’d call that a blessing, though, because that song was a bad look, even considering everything that came after.
Eventually, all of Drake’s goading worked, and on April 30, Kendrick released “euphoria” — a three-beat, six-minute opus of a diss track, one that perfectly predicted almost all of Drake’s subsequent moves and hinted at some of the dark allegations that would later be unearthed while remaining a relentlessly enjoyable song. Calling out Drake’s alleged use of ghostwriters, alleged non-Blackness, alleged child neglect, alleged hypocrisy and alleged cosmetic surgeries, all while imitating Toronto slang and being chock-full of great bars, “euphoria” seemed to be the final nail in Drake’s coffin.
But, as we all know, it wasn’t: While Drake and the Ghostbusters rushed to respond, Kendrick released “6:16 in L.A.” the morning of May 3, and within just a few minutes of the release of Drake’s “Family Matters” that same night it was completely overshadowed by “meet the grahams” — a dark, grimy and highly accusatory track.
Of course, Drake’s response to “euphoria” could never have accounted for this double K.O., but even when comparing it to just “euphoria,” “Family Matters” pales in comparison. It’s a fine song, but Drake’s claims are just less credible than Kendrick’s, which makes them fall flat in comparison. This song feels like it was meant to have the last word, but Kendrick’s rapid response forced Drake into further action. It was in these rushed, unplanned responses that Drake went from losing a beef to becoming a laughing stock.
Drake’s immediate response to one claim in particular (him having a daughter) was complete denial, which would have been fine if not for the return of his throwshit-at-the-wall approach. His
next response, “The Heart Part 6,” was what Drake wanted “Family Matters” to be — the last word. Not because it destroyed Kendrick or even because it restored Drake’s reputation, but because it was so, so horrible that just letting it exist by itself was more damning for Drake than anything Kendrick could ever respond with. Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin. “The Heart Part 6” made Drake’s previous blunders seem like masterful chess plays in comparison. Maybe the only clever thing about it was its title: By using the format of Kendrick’s “The Heart” series, Drake prevented Kendrick from releasing a new installment of this series (and thus a new album) without drawing attention to Drake’s song. The issue is simply that paying attention to this song for even a second makes the winner of this beef clear and indisputable. In this song, Drake presented three main claims. First, a returning topic from “Family Matters,” is the allegation that Kendrick’s fiancée, Whitney Alford, cheated on him with pgLang co-founder Dave Free, which seems to be completely based on the fact that Alford doesn’t follow Kendrick on Instagram and on Free commenting a heart emoji under a picture of Kendrick’s family, which not only is a massive reach but also makes Drake look pathetic and childish. I mean, really? You’re basing your diss on Instagram replies? You know who else responds to every single Instagram post with a heart emoji? My goddamn grandmother! Then, Drake claims that he fed Kendrick false information as bait and that he expected all of his responses. As Anthony Fantano said, this would be much more believable if Drake had anything to show that he had planted evidence, or if, for instance, he had responded to “meet the grahams” with receipts rather than immediate deflection. This was an ill-considered pivot, to say the least, one that seems to have come from reading one too many stan theories. His final claim is that Kendrick hasn’t provided sufficient evidence for his allegations. This is a good point, actually — for more on that, see Holly’s article below. But coming from Drake, this is pure hypocrisy, especially considering that he’s saying this in a song full of completely unsubstantiated claims. At least Kendrick does seem to have some sort of mole in Drake’s circle.
Claims aside, the content of “he Heart Part 6” is abhorrent. From claiming that Kendrick’s “Epstein angle” was what he expected and then stating that he’s too famous to be a pedophile (as if that’s ever stopped anybody), to misinterpreting “Mother I Sober” in order to mock victims of molestation, Drake’s argument for his innocence only makes him look worse. The song’s spoken-word outro, with lines like “you’d be a worthy competitor if I was really a predator,” unceremoniously concludes the beef, being as grating to the ears as it is just plain dumb. Even through all this, it’s not particularly difficult to spot Drake’s fatal mistake – making it personal. Had Drake kept the beef purely competitive, rather than bringing up Alford in “Push Ups,” Kendrick likely wouldn’t have been the one to escalate it with personal attacks. As he warned Drake on “The Heart Part 4” and later again on “euphoria:” “don’t tell no lie about me / and I won’t tell truths ‘bout you.” In trying to score a cheap shot in a rap beef, all Drake did was open the door for Kendrick to remind us of his long
ARIEL LITWAK & HOLLY TSCH Daily Arts Writers
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Everything I know about being Southern (in poetry)
The South. I’ve loved it so much I’ve sworn I would never leave and I’ve hated it so much I’ve sworn I would never come back. With 19 years lived, learned and loved, I’m now somewhere in the middle. Leaving the region for a longer period of time has allowed me to view it through ever-so-slightly rose-tinted glasses. The South and I have a dynamic similar to siblings. I can make fun of it and talk negatively about it all I want, but as soon as I hear someone else making fun of my beloved Southern ways, it is war. I love the food and the constant “How are you?”’s. I love the lightning bugs and country music blaring out of speakers under the sweltering sun. Summer Awad speaks to her own experience as a Palestinian-Southern person in her poem “The South speaks her mind,” and it’s the most moving piece of writing I’ve read in weeks. “the South speaks her mind Stop talking about me like I’m not here. Stop stroking my hair and wrapping your lips around my darlins and honeys while you tell me you know what’s best for me, I will bless my own heart, thank you very much”
Among the people in my hometown, I am known for being too ambitious. I told my fifth-grade English teacher that I was looking forward to her vote in the 2040 election. When I graduated high school, she told me she couldn’t wait to see me run. Luckily for every other inhabitant of this world, I will never run for president. My family got used to hearing me endlessly talk about the unrealistic expectations I had for myself. Going to the University of Michigan, becoming president and being a journalist in New York were all some of the “random hyper fixations little Sarah has gained that she’ll never actually achieve.” Still, they always indulged my dreams until one of them became reality: I was accepted into the University of Michigan. As winter turned into spring, my life bloomed as well. I could see my dreams forming in front of my own eyes. I wasn’t listening to Foster The People as I sped down back roads, begging the stars to make my wish come true anymore. My star found me in the dark cave of my bedroom and brought me to the front porch. I had never been more excited about anything in my entire life. I cried in the arms of my Chemistry teacher with pure, unadulterated joy. At last, I had a ticket out. So, naturally, when my weekly family dinner rolled around, I was so excited to tell them. At that point, I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to go, but I was
still excited just to have the possibility. After a long swig of McDonald’s Sprite to soothe my nerves, I worked up the courage to tell them.
“I got into Michigan!”
“I heard. You shouldn’t go.”
“But it’s such a great opportunity! Michigan is such a great school.”
“What about Auburn? What about Sewanee? What about all of the other places you said you were going to go to? They’re all just fine.”
This moment made clear to me what rural Southern culture really is. These people that stroked my hair and nurtured me and swore they were on my side, declared that what they wanted was more important than what I had dreamt of for my entire adolescence. If it means getting out, it isn’t for you, “honey.”
“Stop assuming I am white and complacent, stop running your mouth about my level of education, stop joking that you should have let me secede, that I’m what happens when sisters and brothers breed”
When I tell people I am from Alabama, almost every single person’s face falls immediately.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
‘Brat’: Can you take the party girl out of the party?
Partying can be a dissociative experience. The environment is an escapist’s fantasy: Dim lighting, stuffy rooms and nothing to do but sway to the music, with sweaty bodies on sweaty bodies. It produces a certain liminality — can you be sure that the silhouette next to you is real? — that feels inebriating, even for the sober among us. My friend often carries a flask of scotch. Sometimes there’s a specific theme that offers the chance to be someone else. And who could miss the faint clouds of smoke polluting the air? But parties are also ideal environments for pondering; it’s much easier to confront the impending realities of post-grad life in a room with my friends and randos, collectively losing ourselves to the buzzing synths of “Bad Romance.”
For the UK’s greatest Tumblrera-queen turned bubbling-under-pop-diva Charli XCX, parties have functioned as creative inspiration since the early days when her parents took the 16 year old to perform at underground raves and many other career-long partying experiences, which led her to later be described as a “party anthropologist” in 2019. Her shows, venues notwithstanding, are less like conventional concerts and more like elevated dance parties. In March 2024, she hosted “PARTYGIRL,” her debut Boiler Room DJ set, in New York City, and previewed her new album. On Brat, the club becomes Charli’s own reflection room, while she remains as effortlessly cool as ever, enveloped by glossy dance music.
Brat opens with “360,” an electropop banger steered simply by a chirping synth loop and a springy bassline in what feels like
a revamped “Boom Boom Pow.” Charli also opts for minimalism on the vocal front, employing a fairly monotone melody. The song’s perfect for runway strutting and gloating, as she flexes her influence on pop music (“I set the tone, it’s my design / And it’s stuck in your mind”) and namedrops her famous friends (“Call me Gabbriette, you’re so inspired”).
“360” sets the tone for the rest of the album through that very self-referentiality. There’s no way to understand the song without some investment in the myth of Charli XCX (“I’m everywhere, I’m so Julia (Fox)” makes little sense to an outsider). While that may alienate casual listeners, it becomes the catalyst for Charli’s most vulnerable album. Songs are diaristic, tapping into insecurities, relationships and, well, parties. Whether it’s her romantic uncertainties with fiancée George Daniel on “Talk Talk” or friendship troubles with an unnamed pop star on “Girl, so confusing,” speculated to be about Lorde (as evidenced by the recently released remix featuring her), Brat departs from conventional pop vagueness in its confessionality.
The emotional apex of the album, though, is “So I,” a moving tribute to the late SOPHIE, visionary producer and frequent collaborator of Charli’s. With lyrics about SOPHIE’s impact on her, Charli expresses regrets over not spending as much time with her friend before her passing. Synth plucks shimmer like crystals in damp caves while the drums take a seat, before exploding into a distorted autotuned vocal run in the outro. The buildup and climax feel reflective of our emotional state when losing a loved one; we often struggle to process it at first, until reality hits us all at once.
The diaristic nature of the album is quite new for Charli, but
more broadly, for pop music as a whole. While (mainstream) pop music regularly features poignant, personal songs — Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo come to mind — few are so direct in their message. Pop stars often function more as concepts, donning a veil that separates the human from their art. The thematic quality of Brat seems to break down the barrier between pop star as image and pop star as human, to slowly shed the myth surrounding the artist. This is supplemented by the album’s promotional material: In various interviews, Charli provides direct explanations for songs and lyrics, as if to get ahead of fan interpretations. This isn’t perfect — fans still speculate about the subjects of songs — but it attempts to shatter the mythologizing surrounding her.
In recent years, dance music has experienced a renaissance of sorts in the mainstream, from Beyonce’s, uh, Renaissance to Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind, and every artist with some penchant for danceable music facilitating Jersey Club remixes. There are things to praise and criticize — the platforming of underrated and unrepresented artists and styles of music, or the appropriation of genres without giving credit to pioneers. When you self-describe your album as “club music,” it becomes an invitation to poke at its authenticity. But little of this matters for someone as deeply invested in club culture as Charli XCX. For a self-proclaimed “party girl,” to party is to live, and thus the party becomes the setting behind Charli’s reflection. All kinds of dance music — blown-out electronics, growling basslines and hypnotizing drum loops — become the soundtrack to a chaotic set of emotions. Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Design by Rumaisa Wajahath
SARAH PATTERSON Daily Arts Writer
THEJAS VARMA Summer Managing Arts Editor
When TV shows lose themselves
one of Jim’s (John Krasinski, “A Quiet Place”) pranks or couldn’t figure out how the copier worked, you’d laugh, but you’d never think he was a harebrained fool for it.
Part of the beauty of longform storytelling is getting to experience the complex lives of interesting characters alongside them. You get a glimpse of their boring office jobs, their petty friend drama and even their embarrassing losses. You get to know them on an intimate level, finding the comedy or sadness coloring their world. You want to know how they react to it and what they’ll do next. Like any nuanced human being, these characters contain multitudes, and that’s why we love them; but, after a (possibly too-long) while on the air, the complex characters we once knew can turn into caricatures of themselves.
All characters are exaggerated in some way — especially on sitcoms or teen dramas — to keep the audience entertained. But when every new season tries to top the previous one with more laughs, more tears and more drama, the level of exaggeration takes once-interesting characters and distills them into onetrick ponies. Hundreds of characters have suffered this fate, and it morphs their respective shows into what is, essentially, a lower-quality parody of itself.
“The Office,” for instance, was a sitcom tasked with highlighting the everyday wonders of mundane nine-to-five work, and it did so with its down-toearth ensemble cast. They play off of each other’s boredom, each harboring their own hopes and dreams of leaving work at the end of the day and finding fulfillment in their personal lives. In season one, they all get to have that, but by the series finale, some characters are just a shell of their former fleshed-out selves. No character demonstrates that more clearly than Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner, “Trash Truck”). In his early days, he’s a competent accountant who sometimes takes a while to wrap his head around what’s happening in the office. If he was confused about
The problem arises, as it inevitably does, when the fervor for a laugh outweighs the well-being of the character. It slowly ceased to matter whether Kevin could actually do the job he’s had for years — or even do basic math. What mattered most by the end of the series was how dumb he could be for a punchline. The Kevin we meet at the start of the show is not the same person who spilled an entire pot of chili all over the carpet and thought scooping it back in would solve the problem, or the guy who needed to be talked out of omitting placeholder words because he actually thought he’d be able to save time that way. No one bats an eye when he does these things, because his exaggeration by that point had become the new normal. Of course, he’s the bumbling idiot of the office, who can even remember when he used to be just another accountant?
These exaggerations don’t stop at writing choices, they extend to all points of characterization. In season one, Kevin’s voice is disinterested and slow as he delivers his lines. He laughs along when his coworkers do, but he doesn’t do so at childish sex jokes every chance he gets. The new Kevin, however, is practically a child. From his higher-pitched voice that rounds out every word out of his mouth to the incessant laughter at things only a 12-year-old would find funny, he’s a new man-child. That’s what gets the laughs, right? That’s what it’s all about?
The issue with this isn’t just that it prioritizes cheap and easy comedy — a laugh makes you feel good regardless of how sophisticated its construction is. It takes a much bigger toll on the show’s storytelling. Any arc Kevin could’ve had is thrown out the window; any audience members identifying with him — the way they might identify with a fully-formed Jim — is tossed out
with the bathwater. You’re no longer watching a person, you’re watching a walking punchline.
One of the most famous instances of this descent down an exceedingly slippery slope is “The Simpsons’” Ned Flanders (Harry Shearer, “This is Spinal Tap”). His case was so egregious this phenomenon was coined as “flanderization” after him. He began the show as a well-rounded character who happened to be religious and ended it as the epitome of a negative Evangelical Christian stereotype with no other personality traits. He’s no longer a caring father, a generous neighbor or an upstanding citizen — just an extremist caricature for the show to poke fun at. Over the course of a staggering 35-season run, turning the dial up on certain character traits is bound to happen, but there’s no excuse for drowning out the rest.
Part of the issue is the indulgence in overly-prolonged series runs. We hate to see our favorite shows canceled too soon, but it can be just as painful to watch them go on for way too long because of some overzealous desire for production. By the time they become entirely unrecognizable to us, we wish they’d ended while they still had their heart. Flanderization doesn’t end at just characters; it extends to entire TV shows. Series that started out with the intention to make a statement about their genre or the world at large can turn into the quintessential example of the very thing they set out to criticize. Take “Glee,” which began with already overly-exaggerated characters as a way to satirize kitschy teen dramedies. Sticking to this goal in its first season, the show set itself apart as a uniquely inventive story among its peers. Having too much of a good thing made it lean heavier into the outlandish teen drama storylines so much that, by its final season, audiences didn’t know if the show was even satirical anymore.
Tents and houses
military campaign, it was a pertinent read.
On May 21, I was returning home from a brief camping trip. I had no cell service during the four-day trip and was completely out of the loop. As I took the Greyhound bus home, I opened The Michigan Daily website and was greeted by some upsetting yet unsurprising news. I took the eight-hour bus ride to gather my thoughts.
The University of Michigan’s Gaza solidarity encampment on the Diag was destroyed at the hands of an administration tacitly supporting Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza and the killing of — as of writing this article — almost 36,000 Palestinians. The University’s actions were a cruelly poignant parallel to the circumstances of those whom the encampment wished to rally behind — the displacement of Palestinians from their homes and livelihoods in Palestine.
As I walked through the Diag encampment, there were messages and murals etched with chalk beneath my feet. The colorful symbols of the camaraderie held messages of mourning, righteous anger and hope. Even as someone who never lived at the encampment, I followed the news of the occupation of the Gaza Strip — the rapidly increasing starvation, disease, displacement and grief deliberately spread by the ruthless Israeli army under the passive supervision of an apathetic United Nations — and I could sympathize with the rage. It is a fire, destructive and fueled by decades of persecution and dehumanization. My anger caused one message scribbled on the ground to stand out all the more: “Our revenge will be the smiles of our children.”
I spent my relatively uneventful trip finishing reading Palestinian-American author Hala Alyan’s 2017 debut novel, “Salt Houses.” Considering the current humanitarian crisis occurring in Rafah and the reaction of the University’s student body to Israel’s
Alyan’s tragically poetic and painstakingly crafted novel tells multiple tales of a family repeatedly displaced from their home. Alyan taps into a wide range of emotions: the needling irritation of petty squabbles eroding an already strained family life, terror and uncertainty of an inevitable and impending loss, initial shock after catastrophe and consequential grief and rage. The sudden changes or additions to family can put more pressure on a stressful family situation. Homes can also bring stress of their own; turning a new house into a home can feel like a Sisyphean task, especially when it is tied to feelings of discontentment or impermanence. That being said, the hope, joy and intimacy of both home and family ultimately ground these characters.
The book follows the Yacoubs — a fictional middle-class Palestinian family — from 1963 to 2014. After facing imprisonment and displacement, the Yacoubs must leave their original home in Nablus, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. As the family grows with time, they find themselves more spread out. Between personal battles with grief and Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, the family find themselves in Amman, Jordan; Beirut; Kuwait City; Paris and even Boston. Each new location gives a vivid description of the city and her denizens, along with the coinciding narrator’s thoughts on their new place of residency.
As various Yacoubs sojourn around the globe, the idea of home changes with each character, like clay being molded by the hands of the speaker. To Salma, the matriarch of the family, and her daughter Alia, home is something that was taken from them; Jaffa and Nablus become somber dreamlike days past, filled with details of the mundane daily life that stuck — damp laundry never hung up to dry or pomegranates as big as the moon. To Alia’s brother Mustafa, it is something to fight for, a source of burning passion to combat the restlessness felt from years of watching land being taken from Palestinians. To Alia’s restless daughter Souad, it is the permanence and importance of heritage that her time in America lacked, and a clean slate — providing relief from a messy divorce and post-9/11 racism. To Souad’s unyielding daughter Manar, it is a disorienting place of dissonance caused by a lack of familiarity. Her expectations of a land that is personal to her, speaks to her, aren’t met, as she voyeuristically probes for evidence of memories that were never hers, pictures, stories and letters that she continues to keep alive.
From the start to the end of the book, each perspective represented feels as if it came straight from a personal account. Alyan’s novel reads like a deeply intimate project — and why wouldn’t it? Alyan paints a vivid picture of each location with meticulous strokes of refined artistry and mastery over language. Everything comes to life: the Kuwait City marketplace Atef frequents, an eerily quiet Beirut with citizens scattered and apprehensive from the frequent bombing and, especially, Salma’s lively house in Nablus — with her carefully curated garden, each color and aroma complementing one another — that turns barren and fragile once Salma leaves. Even moments that don’t tie into any themes have a place, building a closeness with the characters that contributes to the emotional resonance of the novel. To top all of this off, Alyan’s prose is expertly and unapologetically poetic; the lyricism can quickly move from feeling as delicate as the flowers of Salma’s garden to cold water in the face, with an emotional gut punch that practically knocks the wind out of your lungs. In conjunction with thorough musings of home — home taken, home rebuilt and home reclaimed — “Salt Houses” plays with ideas of time and memory. The main framing devices of the narrative are the changing perspectives, changing setting and passage of time between each chapter.
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No more weight STATEMENT
spared. Instead, all he said was, “more weight,” until he was gone.
Talk about dying on a hill.
Giles Corey is a name that I will never forget, and not just because it’s a fun one to say. If you aren’t familiar with Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” or the general lore behind the Salem Witch Trials, allow me to fill you in:
Way back in 1690s Massachusetts, Corey was a farmer in Salem, who, along with his wife Martha, was accused of practicing witchcraft. It was customary that if the accused fessed up to their dealings with the devil and prayed for forgiveness, the satisfied accusers would let them go back to living their simple lives in the lovely seaside town. On the contrary, if they refused to admit to their alleged sins, they would be executed — regardless of the truth.
This tradition created quite the dilemma for many devout Puritans in the town who believed that a life of dishonesty would send them to hell. Corey was one of many who refused to confess, insisting that he was innocent of such fantastical activities. I imagine he knew that lying would condemn him to hell eventually, whereas the truth would simply fast track him to heaven, and I suppose he chose the latter. This I find a bit ironic, considering Corey was a well-documented petty thief. During his trial, the men of the court began placing heavy stones atop his body as they continued to question him, but he was already “committed to the bit,” as my best friend would say. He could have simply given in, played the part that the other Puritans wished of him and been
His gravestone reads: “Giles Corey. Pressed to death.” I visited it once during my senior year of high school, when I was considering going to college on the East Coast. After eating copious amounts of seafood and observing an array of largely unimpressive but outwardly beautiful brick buildings, I decided to opt for the University of Michigan, the alma mater of the very man who wrote Corey’s tale.
I sort of admire Corey’s commitment. You see, I have been placing stones of my own upon my chest willingly — my desires, my regrets and my fifteen unfinished assignments, all neatly wrapped together with a bow. Like the comfort of my weighted blanket, I hold these burdens near and dear as they dig into my ribcage, threatening to cave in on my lungs at any moment. Like many of us here at the University, I often find myself testing my own limits. I gauge how many credits I can pile on, how many jobs I can work and how many more vices I can adopt.
My fellow self-inflictors and I were born with a stubbornness for the ages and an unwavering belief that we can do it all. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from pushing yourself as close to the breaking point as you can get. Unfortunately, it’s only a matter of time before this weight becomes crushing and we struggle to breathe beneath it all. We all have moments that force us into personal realization against our will, and one of my most memorable ones came in the second semester of my freshman year. Ravaged by mononucleosis and strep throat, my grades
slipping and rejection letters from student organizations coming in quicker than I could cry over them, I was coming to terms with the fact that I was putting too much pressure on myself. I came to college convinced that I was ready to grind until I was six feet under, but six months in I was already out of steam. I felt aimless and depressed. Worst of all, I felt like I had disappointed sixteenyear-old me, who once had expectations that eighteen-yearold me was starting to realize might be a tad unreasonable. Suddenly, my long list of potential extracurriculars and the complete lack of white space in my planner didn’t look so exciting. In fact, they hurt my head more than my incessant fever did. Was I really doing all these things for myself, or was I doing them because I felt that I wouldn’t be impressive enough if I didn’t?
By the time my NyQuil fog had worn off, I realized that I needed to make some serious changes to how I approached college. At an academically rigorous university, where I’ve never seen the “work hard, play hard” mindset illustrated in such full force, it’s easy to get swept up in the intensely competitive campus culture. Not only are we expected to keep up with our challenging school work, but suddenly we’re offered unlimited ice cream, a complete lack of a curfew and the responsibility of doing our own laundry. Self-management quickly becomes a skill very few of us were taught but none of us can manage to live without any longer. Might I amend the famous words of Spiderman’s Uncle Ben to say that with great freedom, comes great responsibility.
I am from a place of many anthems, many ancestors, many histories. I am from a place of many opinions, political and otherwise; a place that is geographically small yet big in the hearts of its natives. A place that, for so long, has been made to follow laws and customs and traditions dictated by those who don’t even live here — who, chances are, haven’t even visited our little island.
I am from what some call the best of both worlds. I am from the eternal colony.
*** Puerto Rico is considered the world’s oldest colony, yet the official term for the island’s status is “U.S. territory.” The island has been ruled by one global power after another, as Spain passed the colonial baton to the United States in 1898 after the end of the Spanish-American War. Although now a U.S. territory, the island remained in a limbo of sorts until 1917, when the JonesShafroth Act granted American citizenship to Puerto Ricans, which made it easier for the United States to recruit Puerto Ricans to serve in the U.S. Army during World War I. It wasn’t until 1948, however, that Puerto Rico was able to elect its first governor, granting the island commonwealth status. As a result, Puerto Rico supposedly gained a more highly developed relationship with the U.S. federal government, but still remained economically and politically dependent on the U.S. Little did Puerto Ricans know that this first taste of selfdetermination would be their last.
***
Growing up in the eternal colony, I didn’t really think
On living in the eternal colony
about, nor did I understand, why I had been born with American citizenship and the benefits that such a designation gifted me. For most of my childhood, I was elated whenever I left home. I loved to travel as a kid, and I selfassuredly claimed that once I left Puerto Rico for college, I would never come back, except for holidays and family reunions.
I would watch Disney Channel sitcoms and strictly read in English. I would tell my parents that I wanted to move to New York City, or wherever the characters in the books I read and TV shows I watched lived. But, at the end of the day, this was all just a far-off fantasy, an American Dream.
However, when my family was almost uprooted to Boston after my dad lost his job when I was in the third grade, I suddenly didn’t want to leave the eternal colony after all.
***
What is most ironic about Puerto Rico’s current political status is that it was never meant to be permanent. Lack of change and conviction of action from both the U.S. federal government and the local Puerto Rican government have led to the development of three principal ideologies — statehood, commonwealth status and independence. The existence of differing ideologies eventually gave shape to the multiple political parties that now run for the governorship, as well as other government positions each election year. Whether it’s statehood, independence or the free-associated state a candidate favors, it is undeniable that Puerto Rico has been, and continues to be, in a perpetual struggle for selfdetermination. Puerto Ricans exist in a constant push and pull between the fervent passion
we feel to cultivate and defend our national pride and cultural identity while also needing to define the island’s status and mediate the relationship with those up north.
Almost every election year, the governor of Puerto Rico changes, and with this transition typically comes a change in the political party in power.
But there is much, much more to the eternal colony than what meets the eye.
***
Leaving the eternal colony meant leaving my friends. It meant leaving my school and teachers, my extended family and the house I’d lived in my entire life. My naïve, eight-year-old mind even thought I would have to leave my dogs. The move to Boston meant leaving everything I’d ever known. Suddenly, the lives of the characters in those Disney Channel sitcoms I loved and the books I devoured one after the other didn’t seem so appealing after all.
When I found out that my dad was considering job offers in both the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico, however, a lost sense of hope reignited within me. I was living the best of both worlds once again. Now, I could watch my sitcoms and read my books and imagine the life these characters led without having to live it myself just yet. I could stay in the comfort of my little island and visit those up north as I pleased, not having to worry about abandoning one or the other forever.
A month later, my dad signed a contract to work for a bank in Puerto Rico. He had bought me more time. The best of both worlds was still within reach.
***
In 1947, the Industrial
Incentives Act was implemented by Luis Muñoz Marín, who would become the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, with the help of the U.S. federal government as part of a larger policy initiative known as Operation Bootstrap. After being amended in 1948, this law established a tax exemption program for private firms from the United States, aiming to help these firms establish themselves on the island to boost the economy. Never was it a priority, or a goal, to provide these tax exemptions for individual investors — until 2012.
In 2012, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico enacted Act 20 and Act 22. Act 22, specifically, aimed to attract new residents to Puerto Rico
by providing total exemption from income taxes on interest and dividends that result after individuals become residents of Puerto Rico. This thus reduces their federal income tax to zero.
With the implementation of Acts 20 and 22, the goal of these tax exemptions shifted from the business level to the individual level. In simple terms, these acts have invited investors from the continental U.S. to move to Puerto Rico and have stripped benefits from an economy that is already in shambles. The local taxpayer is left to pay for the brunt of the taxes that these high-net-worth investors are exempted from.
*** At the end of my senior year of high school, the foreign possibility of moving from the eternal colony to the continental U.S. was about to become a reality. I had gotten into my dream school, and I was excited to embark on this new journey.
Once I fully committed to the University of Michigan, I began reaching out to the other Puerto Ricans who would also be on campus in the fall. I joined any and every group chat I could find to meet students from other Latin American countries.
A question for Puerto Rican readers: Ever wonder why more and more people around you are speaking in English on the island? The history and the policies above are your answer.
Photo courtesy of Graciela Batlle Cestero
The perfect bite STATEMENT
DTW: Down to wait
The breeze is cool on my face as I soak in the dying light of day. My cup of ice cream is in one hand and a spoon is in the other, perfectly poised to transfer another bite of sweet heaven into my mouth. Across the table is my friend, recounting a story to me; when I look at her I feel my heart swell to twice its size in love. I am present in this moment so wholly, willing myself to take in every inch of my surroundings in order to preserve them perfectly in my mind, just as one would preserve a beautiful flower in a book. From this moment onward, fresh basil ice cream from Blank Slate Creamery will always bring me back to this evening, as I relished my friend’s company and conversation.
So far, this summer has been one of light and love. After a tough year thanks to the sophomore slump, the start of the summer has been a chance for me to finally take a deep breath and begin to invest more time into the people and activities I love. With this intentionality, a lot of the memories I have made with my loved ones this summer have revolved around food. Food is and always will be the pinnacle of how I spend time with other people — it offers a chance to sit down with someone, whether in a restaurant or at home, and fully be present in their company.
To me, there is nothing more special than sharing a meal with someone, laughing as we make memories and spend purposeful time together. But, as I’ve spent more and more time with food, I have also found myself on a parallel mission: to find the perfect bite.
It began innocently enough. I wished to find the perfect split scoop combination at Blank Slate Creamery, my favorite ice cream shop. A split scoop is still one serving of ice cream but is made up of two different flavors of your choosing. My goal was to find the tastiest combination of ice cream, which was further encouraged by Blank Slate’s ever-changing menu. As of now, blueberry pancake and lemon bar are my top choice. This simple goal slowly began to make itself apparent in other food endeavors and soon, I found myself searching for the perfect bite in every food establishment I went to and in every meal I ate.
My summer crush on the perfect bite began, and now it is in full force, an ever constant yearning that fills my mind as I venture far and wide in search of the optimal combination of flavors that will satiate me.
Yet, my friends tend to opt for different split scoop combinations that I personally would never pick. Thus, I recognize that my perfect bite might not be your perfect bite. Our tongues are home to small bumps called papillae, which is where our taste buds reside. Taste buds react to the five different flavors in food: bitter, sweet, salty, sour and umami, which can be described as a deeper, richer savory flavor. The number of taste buds on a person’s tongue varies, meaning that we all have different reactions to food depending on the amount of flavor receptors we possess and in what regions they reside. Furthermore, there are some people who have more papillae and some people who have less, which also affects the intensity of a dish.
I used to be Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport’s biggest fan. “There are never any lines!” I’d promise anyone who was booking a flight to visit me at college. Countless occasions of cruising through Transportation Security Administration security and getting to my gate in minutes had spoiled me, and DTW’s efficiency was an expectation rather than a pleasant surprise. I lowered my guard without realizing it — arriving at the airport one and a half hours before a flight began to feel more and more like a formality.
But my flippancy toward punctuality is only superficial, which makes it all the more
dangerous. I hate being late. I am terrified of missing a flight. But, that being said, I can never sense when I might miss my boarding time, so I err on the side of certain doom even when I have a significant amount of time to spare.
Last summer, I booked a flight from my hometown Washington D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, or DCA for short, to Michigan for a weekend trip. After cruising into DCA about an hour and a half before my flight was supposed to take off (discussing in detail with my parents exactly when I should head to the airport and debating factors like traffic, predicted airport busyness, etc.), I was halted by a snaking TSA security line so long it overflowed the roped waiting area. I was devastated. Heart rate accelerating and nervously sweating, I texted my parents to complain that
I was, without a doubt, not going to make my flight. Against all odds, I was early and had to wait at my gate for about an hour before boarding. DTW had never scared me like that. DTW didn’t play games with me like DCA did. The nervewracking experience I had at DCA solidified my appraisal of Detroit’s airport even more. The two of us were officially going strong. That is, until Thursday, May 30th, 2024. They say that even sudden break-ups are never completely out of the blue. I regarded DTW as unopposed in its supremacy over all other airports. So when cracks in our trusting relationship started to form, I turned a blind eye in the name of loyalty. But my unwavering allegiance blew up in my face. On Thursday, May 30th, I arrived at the airport in a nervous wreck. For reasons beyond my control — a
Michigan Flyer bus that was not only delayed, but also wasted precious minutes attempting to go through the Packard and Hill intersection which is decidedly blocked for construction — I was cutting it close. Nevertheless, it was 2:30 pm on a Thursday, and my flight was at 3:46 pm, so I shrugged on my bag and entered DTW hopefully. And what a sight I did see. People everywhere. In masses, in lines and every shape in between. And not just in front of the airline counters where dawdling travelers check their bags and print their tickets. No, the security line of DTW was at a capacity I’d never before seen in my wonderfully efficient airport. But not just any security line, I realized with horror, the TSA PreCheck line.
