2024-10-09 by The Michigan Daily

DPSS pepper sprays protesters, arrests 1 at pro-Palestine walkout

UPDATE 10/7: This story has been updated to include a statement from the U-M Division of Public Safety and Security confirming the arrest of an individual.

UPDATE 10/7: This story has been updated to clarify the order of events related to the arrest and altercation with DPSS officers.

The TAHRIR Coalition, a group of more than 90 pro-Palestine organizations, organized a walkout outside Rackham Auditorium Monday afternoon to recognize the one-year mark of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack last year. At approximately 5:08 p.m., an altercation broke out between protesters and the University of

Michigan Division of Public Safety & Security outside the Kinesiology Building.

DPSS officers arrested an individual and moved through the Diag, pushing aside U-M community members to make room for the DPSS vehicle transporting the arrested individual. Some individuals moved out of the way of the vehicle, which was driving away from the Diag toward State Street, while others remained in front of the car to prevent its passage. DPSS officers pushed aside and pepper sprayed U-M community members who did not move out of the vehicle’s path.

Melissa Overton, deputy chief of police for DPSS, confirmed the individual’s arrest in a written statement to The Michigan Daily.

“During this protest, an individual was arrested, which

led to a large group of protesters surrounding police officers and their corresponding patrol car, obstructing movement,” Overton wrote. “This is an active investigation with details still being confirmed, however, it’s important to note that in some circumstances, officers may employ crowd control measures if deemed necessary to manage the situation, make arrests, or ensure the safety of individuals involved.”

Following the arrest, a group of more than 150 students began marching to the DPSS station in protest.

At approximately 6:21 p.m., DPSS released the U-M community member.

“The individual who was arrested has since been released, and the incident will be submitted to the prosecutor’s office for review,” Overton wrote.

attack on Israel

2023.

Michigan Hillel hosted a daylong exhibition and memorial service on the Diag Monday to mark the one year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The exhibition aimed to memorialize those killed by Hamas since the Oct. 7 attack and call attention to the 101 hostages still being held in Gaza. Throughout the day, the exhibition displayed photographs taken of Israel before and after the attack, posters of missing and dead Israeli and American citizens on large cardboard boxes made to look like milk cartons and Israeli flags in the shape of the star of David on the Ingalls Mall knoll.

More than 400 U-M students and community members gathered for the memorial service following the exhibition, which featured speeches from U-M students, rabbis, Israeli visitors Noa Reuveni and Shay Raz and Jewish community members.

The memorial was opened by Marla Linderman Richelew, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor. She welcomed the crowd to the service and called for remembrance and compassion.

“We gather together this evening — students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, local citizens, people of all faiths and ethnicities — to remember, to comfort, to bear witness and to pray for healing and peace and to hope for a better future,” Richelew said. “Commemorating the significant and tragic event calls us together for consolation, unity and strength.”

Richelew was followed by LSA senior Ryan Silberfein, Michigan Hillel president, who emphasized the importance of honoring those killed throughout Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, not just on Oct. 7.

“While we’re here to mark the unprovoked terror attack (on) Oct. 7 against Israel and that is the primary focus of this gathering, we hold in our hearts all of the innocent civilians in Gaza and now Lebanon who have been killed or injured in these past 12 months,” Silberfein said. “In the coming year, may our communities learn to hold space for and embrace one another.”

After the two opening speakers, speeches were interspersed with other forms of remembrance such as videos of Israel and Israeli citizens, poems, Hebrew music and prayers.

One such prayer was led by Rabbi Nadav Caine from the Beth Israel Congregation, who read a prayer for the state of Israel. Caine explained the significance of the prayer in the context of the day.

“We pray for the state of Israel in this devastating time of war, of shock and of deep grief,” Caine said. “Our hearts are breaking. We pray for the lives of the hostages captured by Hamas, the civilians and the soldiers. Watch over them, shelter them, bring them home. We pray for the souls of the innocent victims who were brutally murdered. … We pray for our family in Israel in this time of crisis and tragedy.”

LSA junior Ryan Finlay told The Michigan Daily that, as a Jewish student, he felt attending Monday’s event was an important way to commemorate the events of Oct. 7,

“I had to come out today in order to remember Oct. 7 because this truly is a monumental day for the Jewish people in the worst way,” Finlay said. “Today, there’s no place I would rather be than outside on the Diag, helping to remember the atrocity that happened one year ago and to help unite the Jewish people on campus.”

Finlay said that since Oct. 7, 2023, he has been increasingly aware of his identity as a Jewish student, describing a shared sense of loss experienced by the Jewish community, as well as changes in his interactions with his peers.

“I had never really thought much of being a Jewish student on campus before Oct. 7 last year, and then everything changed after Oct. 7, because first of all, the Jewish community came together like never before,” Finlay said. “We felt this shared sense of loss, and then we felt this shared sense that we were being opposed by so many people who didn’t care about our suffering. … The people that we used to know, people we used to have as friends, people that we’ve been going to class with, look at us in a totally different way.”

The final speaker, LSA senior Evan Cohen, president of Wolverine for Israel, called for hope despite the tragedy of the circumstances.

“In the darkness, we find glimpses of light,” Cohen said. “We see joy when hostages are rescued through seemingly impossible missions, we see strength as Israelis come together to support each other and we see unity at home, as the Jewish community and our allies fight for what’s right.”

TAHRIR Coalition organizes walkout calling attention to oneyear mark of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza

ALYSSA

TISCH & AUDREY SHABELSKI Daily Staff Reporters

About 250 University of Michigan students walked out of their classes at 3:30 p.m. Monday and gathered outside Rackham Graduate School to prepare for a march on campus organized by the TAHRIR Coalition, a group of more than 90 pro-Palestine organizations. At approximately 5:08 p.m. outside the Kinesiology Building, an altercation broke out, leading U-M Division of Public Safety & Security officers to arrest one individual. Students preventing the passage of the vehicle transporting the arrested individual were pushed aside and some were pepper sprayed by DPSS officers.

Engineering senior Jenin Alameddin, SAFE member, spoke to the crowd outside Rackham and said that Monday’s demonstration was held to recognize the last year of Palestinian resistance and pay tribute to the Palestinians killed by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

“We do not just stand here to mourn the dead,” Alameddin said. “We stand here to honor the resistance. On Oct. 7, 2023, Palestinian resistance fighters launched a powerful attack on Israeli military positions, the fighters broke through the heavily fortified barriers surrounding Gaza, showing that no wall, no matter how high or how strong, can suppress the will of a people

fighting for their homeland.”

LSA senior Alifa Chowdhury, Central Student Government president, spoke at the walkout and said she believes it is important for U-M students to take action to help Palestinians.

“We must recognize our own immense privilege without drones or bombs over our heads,” Chowdhury said. “We must learn from the people of Palestine what it means for education to be a responsibility. Our responsibility is clear. Our university is complicit in sending billions of dollars to a genocide. We are complicit through our silence and privilege.”

Chowdhury and members of the SHUT IT DOWN party recently proposed a CSG budget plan that would only allocate funds toward essential support resources for low-income students and contribute the remaining budget to rebuilding schools in Gaza that have been destroyed by the Israeli military campaign.

Art & Design senior Eaman Ali, a member of the TAHRIR Coalition, told the crowd about the encampment raid that took place on May 21, during which police forcibly removed the encampment, arresting four protesters and pepper spraying others.

“The UMich Gaza solidarity encampment stood for a month this past spring when on May 21 it was violently raided by police in riot gear at the request of administration,” Ali said.

As the speeches concluded,

the students took to the streets and began their march. After the arrest, they rerouted the march to the DPSS station to demand the individual’s release.

U-M alum Salma Hamamy, former Students Allied for Freedom and Equality president, told The Michigan Daily the arrest was sudden and confusing to many individuals.

“Once we crossed in front of the Kinesiology Building, we began to notice that police officers handcuffed and arrested one of our comrades in the moment, and everybody was pretty confused as to why,” Hamamy said. “Nobody could really understand as to why the police arrested this individual. It was very sudden, this person was just chanting just as much as anybody else.”

Hamamy said the protesters began demanding the release of the individual when the police pepper sprayed students and pushed them around.

“Protesters jumped in and demanded his immediate release, and the police continued to push through, brutalizing students using pepper spray, pepper spraying dozens of students in the process and community members, leaving many people quite traumatized — however, not in fear to come and continue protesting,” Hamamy said. “Everybody marched over immediately to the DPSS police station, and upon arrival, our friend was released.”

Sam Adler/DAILY

Michigan Engineering hosts Theranos whistleblower Erika Cheung

About 400 University of Michigan students and faculty gathered in the Stamps Auditorium Thursday evening to listen to Erika Cheung discuss her experience as a key whistleblower who exposed fraud at Theranos, a biotech startup company.

Theranos, founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes, claimed it created technology that could test small blood samples for conditions like cancer and diabetes efficiently through their Edison machines. These claims were proven to be fabricated, and Holmes was charged with fraud in 2018 and sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2022.

Stacie Edington, director of the College of Engineering Honors and Engagement Programs office, said in an interview with The Michigan Daily that she felt Engineering students had much to learn from Cheung’s experiences and that hearing from her will be valuable

CAMPUS LIFE

to them in future career endeavors.

“Our students are able to resonate well with her, because they can understand what it’s like to be a new career scientist and enter a field that you’re just getting to know,” Edington said. “I think her experience really demonstrates the importance of ethics and integrity and courage in engineering and science, and that’s part of what this program is all about.”

Engineering Dean Karen Thole opened the event by talking about the Michigan Engineering Common Reading Experience, which assigns and provides firstyear Engineering students with a book to read over the summer. For the 2024-25 academic year, the program selected the book “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup,” which explains the Theranos scandal and Cheung’s role as a key whistleblower who helped reveal the company’s fraudulent practices.

“There are so many different facets of this book,” Thole said. “I found myself after reading the

book. Every time my mind would wonder about something, I’d think about a different aspect and a different lens in which to look at this story. Truly an amazing story.”

Engineering freshman Emma Ebner said reading “Bad Blood” made her think about the importance of ethics, which she said was further emphasized by the event.

“It reinforced what I read about,” Ebner said. “(The book) makes you think about making sure something is ethical when you’re creating a new product and working for a company.”

Cheung opened her speech by talking about Holmes’ rise to fame. She said the founder started getting attention from investors and the media in 2009.

“She got tons of people to believe in her,” Cheung said. “She had some of the most high profile people in politics and investors throughout the country to buy into her.”

Cheung said she wanted to work for Theranos because the company had the potential to change the health care industry by making

blood testing easier.

“The key idea here about why this is so special is that if you were able to solve the problem of making lab diagnostics more accessible, less painful, more affordable, you could get tested more frequently, and potentially with all that data, you could predict disease before it happened,” Cheung said. “You could open the doors to a whole new way of conceptualizing medicine.”

Cheung’s job at Theranos was to test patient samples in the machines and verify the precision of the results. She said as she was conducting these tests, she started to notice that the tests were producing vastly different results.

“(I was seeing a) 50% failure rate for 2,000 patients a day, I was forecasting that I could potentially produce false results for about 1,000 patients a day,” Cheung said. “So the stakes were getting higher and higher, and my concern about what was happening at Theranos was getting increasingly more.”

Attacks on Lebanon spark protest at Angell Hall

‘Lebanon is bleeding because of its unwavering stance with the people of Palestine’

SASHA KALVERT Daily Staff Reporter

Editor’s Note: Maryam Shafie is a former Daily staffer. Shafie did not contribute to this article.

Nearly 100 protesters gathered at the steps of Angell Hall on Sept. 23 as part of a national call to action from leaders of the Palestinian Youth Movement following attacks on Lebanon last week. The protest was organized by Students Allied for Freedom and Equality and the TAHRIR Coalition, composed of more than 90 pro-Palestine groups. Israel carried out a coordinated attack in Lebanon Sept. 17 during which the pagers of thousands of

Hezbollah members exploded. The explosions killed a total of 12 people and wounded 2,800. The Sept. 17 attack was followed by another attack the next day in which walkie-talkies were detonated, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 450. The explosive materials were placed inside the communication devices prior to their arrival in Lebanon, according to officials briefed on the situation.

Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, but the events of this past week mark a significant escalation. Sept. 23 marked one of the deadliest days in Lebanon since the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in 2006. At least 558 people were

killed on Monday, and, as of Sept. 28, the overall death toll has risen to 720, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Since Sept. 17, more than 1,800 people have been wounded in Israel’s attacks on Lebanon. Moreover, since Oct. 7, 2023, approximately 500,000 people have been displaced from Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities.

On Friday, Sept. 27, Israel launched an air-strike on Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah said they will continue to attack Israel as long as they continue their ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

Engineering senior Maryam Shafie began the event by speaking

to protesters about the connection between Lebanon and Palestine. Shafie reminded protesters that Israel attacked Lebanon in 2006 and attributed the recent assault on Lebanon to Israeli attempts to destabilize the region.

“Today, Lebanon is bleeding because of its unwavering stance with the people of Palestine,” Shafie said. “The pain we witness mirrors the horrors that have plagued our Palestinian brothers and sisters for the past year. The same cruel genocidal tactics, the same fabricated stories used to justify the genocide in Gaza are now being spun to defend the crimes in Lebanon.”

Editorial Staff

SHANIA BAWEJA Joshua Mitnick 92’, 95’ Managing Editor shaniab@umich.edu

ABBY SCHRECK Digital Managing Editor schreck@umich.edu

RACHEL MINTZ and RILEY HODDER Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com

Senior News Editors: Abigail VanderMolen, Astrid Code, Ji Hoon Choi, Mary Corey, Nadia Taeckens, Rebecca Lewis, Sneha Dhandapani

LINDSEY SPENCER and ZHANE YAMIN Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Deputy Editorial Page Editor: Jack Brady Senior Opinion Editors: Zach Ajluni, Lucas Feller, Jack Kapcar, Sophia Perrault

NOAH KINGSLEY and REKHA LEONARD Managing Sports Editors sports@michigandaily.com

Senior Sports Editors: Lys Goldman, Charlie Pappalardo, Zach Edwards, Jon Wuchter, Taylor Daniels, Liza Cushnir

CECILIA LEDEZMA and ZACH LOVEALL Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com

Senior Arts Editors: Graciela Batlle Cestero, Cecilia Dore, Mina

FIONA LACROIX and EVELYN MOUSIGIAN Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com

Senior Layout Editors: Leyla Dumke, Lys Goldman, Sophie Grand

GRACE LAHTI and LILA TURNER Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com

Senior Photo Editors: Emily Alberts, Jenna Hickey, Lucas Chen, Riley Nieboer, Sarah Boeke

REESE MARTIN Managing Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com

Deputy Editors: Olivia Kane, Lucy Del Deo, Ananya Gera

JACKSON KOBYLARCZ and PARINA PATEL Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com

Senior Copy Editors: Tess Beiter, Leonor Brockey, Julia Brownell, Lily Cutler, Ingrid Hofmann, Tim Kulawiak, Josue Mata, Neeka Mehran, Sofi Mincy, Maya Segal, Jess Siegal

ANUSHKA RAHEJA and JACOB KIM Managing Online Editors webteam@michigandaily.com

ANDREW HERMAN and JOVANNA GALLEGOS Managing Video Editors video@michigandaily.com

RILEY STIPE and SNEHA DHANDAPANI Managing Podcast Editors podeditors@michigandaily.com

COLE MARTIN and TINA YU Managing Audience Engagement Editors socialmedia@michigandaily.com

MEREDITH KNIGHT and NAZIM ALI Culture, Training, and Inclusion Chairs accessandinclusion@michigandaily.com

members

The

party was one of more than 100 hosted throughout the state by ONECampaign for Michigan, a campaign team funded by the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee that organizes volunteer opportunities, political events and petitions. At the watch party, attendees were greeted with canvassing sign-up sheets, ate pizza and appetizers, and heard from speakers including U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich.To kick off the event, Dingell spoke about the importance of voting in the upcoming general election in Michigan because it is a swing state. “Right now, I’m going to tell you, neither candidate has won Michigan yet,” Dingell said. “We are a purple state, and we’ve got to get out there. We have got to tell people the truth. We got to give them the facts.”

to canvass and make phone calls.

State Rep. Jason Morgan, D-Ann Arbor, spoke about how a couple of votes could make a large impact in the election.

“It is such a small margin, and we have so much going on in the world, in our community, in our state,” Morgan said. “We need every single one of you to remind people to vote to make sure that we win every single vote in this election. That’s the only way we are going to win.”

might not understand how critical it is to vote,” Frey said. “That’s what I see as the people we want to reach when we canvass. I can see how it’s making a difference.”

Throughout the watch party, the crowd cheered at the end of Tim Walz’s answers, laughed when the candidates made an incorrect statement or stumbled over their words and booed when the candidates continued talking past their time limits.

Event organizers from ONECampaign for Michigan encouraged attendees to sign up

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Rackham student David Frey said he believes these efforts to mobilize voters could make a difference in the election.

“People who lean left politically

In an interview with The Daily, attendee Cynthia Weber said she enjoyed being at the watch party because of the positive atmosphere created by the audience.

Business Staff

GABRIEL PAR EDES Creative Director

ANNIKA CHINNAIYAN Sales Manager

Ananya Kedia/DAILY

LSA student Amarilia Acosta Oliva represents Colombia during La Union on the Diag Thursday.

Sip and stroll: Ann Arbor expands Social District

On State and Main Street, Ann Arbor locals are now invited to enjoy a drink in the Downtown Social District, whether it’s by sipping a craft beer at Ashley’s or a post-jazz show cocktail at Blue Llama.

Since the Ann Arbor City Council and the Michigan Liquor Control Commission approved an expanded plan on Sept. 18, 2024, the Social District has been open daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. The expansion allows people to carry up to 16 ounces of beer, wine or liquor in a designated cup or can from participating businesses while walking within the boundaries of the social district map.

The social district was originally implemented by the Main Street Area Association in 2021. Back then, the district was confined to Main Street, but has since expanded to the State Street District.

Ashley Schafer, executive director of the Main Street Area Association, explained the reasoning behind the expansion in an interview with The Michigan Daily.

“We thought that from a customer’s perspective, it made more sense to have one unified social district, so we worked together to identify what the footprint would be and what that expansion would look like,” Schafer said.

Schafer explained that the social district allows consumers to be flexible with their plans. .

“I would say the benefits are really for the consumer,” Schafer said. “They’re able to kind of get a drink, walk to the other side of downtown, go see a show when there’s events going on. They’re not just restricted to one area, so ultimately, this kind of just supports the entire downtown Ann Arbor.”

Jeffrey More, owner of Ashley’s on State Street and board member of the State Street District, said

he believes the social district enhances the downtown scene and guest experience, which is helpful to local businesses.

“Because our traffic flow hasn’t been as strong as it has been in the past, particularly during the summer weekends, I wanted to do a social district because I’m looking for anything that makes the area more attractive,” More said.

More said he believes the new social district plan makes Ann Arbor more attractive and fun, especially during festivals.

“Whether you live here or you’re looking for something to do on an evening, you can come here, grab a drink, window shop,” More said. “Then we get the advantage of the art fair in the summer … you can get your drink and wander the car show or wander during Taste of Ann Arbor. … It just makes it more fun.”

Angela Heflin, executive director of the State Street District, told The Daily she does not expect current safety standards to be impacted by the increasing numbers of people in the social district. She noted that the previous social district operated without issues and does not believe the expansion will impede law enforcement.

“In the time that Main Street has had a social district, over the last couple years, there have been no issues or situations that I am aware of,” Heflin said. “I don’t anticipate that it will be a burden on law enforcement or create any additional challenges within the area.”

CSG passes Textbook Transparency Act

The Assembly also discussed police transparency on campus

The University of Michigan Central Student Government convened in the Michigan Union Wolverine Room Tuesday evening to pass resolutions regarding the ex-officio appointment process and a new Textbook Transparency Act focused on making course materials more accessible. The Assembly also heard the introduction of three new resolutions, covering policing transparency, academic programs and potential scholarships.

CSG unanimously passed two resolutions, Assembly Resolutions 14-031 and 14-035, or the Textbook Transparency Act. AR 14-031 is a procedural resolution that clarifies how ex-officio members of CSG are appointed, specifying the role of the Executive Nominations Committee in reviewing the Assembly Speaker’s nominations for these positions.

AR 14-035 is a joint call made by CSG, the U-M Dearborn Student Senate and the U-M Flint Student Government asking University administration and faculty to commit to include textbook and material costs to students as part of course syllabi. The resolution aims to lower the burden of additional costs for students by asking faculty members to attempt to make PDF versions of textbook readings available.

Members of the Assembly also introduced three resolutions

that will be moved forward to the Resolutions Committee, the group of Assembly members that determines the wording of a resolution before it is voted upon.

AR 14-036, the Transparency in Policing Act, was introduced by one of its sponsors, Erin Neely, vice chair of the Rules Committee. The resolution demands that the U-M Division of Public Safety and Security and the Ann Arbor Police Department release body camera footage and written reports relating to the removal of the U-M Gaza solidarity encampment on May 21. The resolution also includes demands for policy changes to prevent future instances of officers turning off body cameras. The resolution comes in the wake of an investigation by The Michigan Daily which found that AAPD officers deactivated body-worn cameras while patrolling DPSS’s sweep of the Gaza solidarity encampment.

Introducing the resolution, Neely said she hoped the need for such an act would be something that CSG could agree on due to the relevance of the issue for the student body as well as the importance of police transparency more broadly, citing the University’s denial of a Freedom of Information Act request by The Daily in the investigation.

“I think this issue is pretty important to the student body, and it should be able to generate, hopefully, trans-partisan support because we should all agree about accountability in policing, and if

(AAPD) are deliberately turning off their cameras or refusing valid FOIA requests from The Michigan Daily under flimsy excuses, that is a problem,” Neely said. Assembly members also introduced AR 14-037 and 14-038. AR 14-037, the Labor Studies Act, would call upon the University to create a new labor studies minor as well as a Labor Studies Center which, according to the proposed resolution, would provide students an opportunity to understand labor movements, including labor activists, and how they influence the economy. AR 14-038 proposes the establishment of a Scholarship Study Task Force oriented around creating scholarship opportunities for students who identify as refugees or conflictimpacted. The task force, known as CARES, would be responsible for coordinating this effort with the University’s administration and clarifying its feasibility.

Assembly members asked CSG President Alifa Chowdhury, who has not attended recent CSG Assembly meetings, about progress made by the executive committee. In her executive report, Chowdhury described recent efforts by the executive committee to pass a budget to send aid to Gaza.

“We’re working on passing a budget to allocate $440,000 to go to Gaza,” Chowdhury said. “I think that’s been taking a lot of work and effort and time.”

New UMich research suggests carbon dioxide emissions from forest soil increasing as the climate warms

American forests are important sources of carbon sequestration, storing millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year. However, a unique experiment led by Peter Reich, University of Michigan professor in the School for Environmental and Sustainability, suggests carbon emissions from forest soil will likely increase as the climate continues to warm.

Findings from the experiment, published on Aug. 20, measured soil and plant respiration in a northern Minnesota forest for 13 years. While the study was published this summer, the experiment is still ongoing.

North American forests in temperate climates are thought to be ideal for carbon sequestration because many of the tree species in these forests have a longer life span, and decomposition of organic materials like dead trees and leaves occurs at a slower rate in comparison to warmer

climates. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Reich spoke about how a warming climate will impact how well these temperate forests will be able to store carbon dioxide.

“There’s four times more carbon in the soil than the atmosphere, so if you could just even take a little bit more out of the atmosphere and put it in the soil, or hold on to what’s in the soil and get less back, that can help slow down climate change,” Reich said. “We’re worried that the evidence from the way the plants

and microbes work is that they’re going to be challenged to do that as the climate changes.”

The Minnesota experiment consists of 72 plots across two sites that are surrounded by heat lamps to mimic the effects of global warming. To warm the soil, cables in the ground release heat. The plots contain 10,000 seedings of various tree species and native herbaceous plants like shrubs and ferns to mimic the behavior of various plants in the ecosystem.

Reich said it is rare that an experiment mimics climate

change realistically by warming both the plants above the soil and the roots underground without the use of chambers to trap the heat. He also said the field design requires frequent maintenance and costs can often become a limitation for research.

“In a warmer world, plants might acquire more or less carbon from the atmosphere because of the fact that they’re warmed,” Reich said. “So if you do an experiment where you’re not warming the plants above ground, you’re missing a big part of the

way in which climate change will influence this whole process.” Guopeng Liang, a postdoctoral associate at Yale University, co-authored the article on the experiment’s findings. Liang said there are only two comparable studies that attempt to measure the effects of climate change on forest soil. However, Liang said it is important to better understand how climate change will affect not only temperate forests but also those across climates.

The incident reported no injuries, and is considered to be a home invasion and a crime of opportunity

& EMMA

An armed individual entered Rabbi Mendy Klahr’s home

Rosh Hashanah dinner. The individual entered through an open backdoor with a handgun, stole a bag, and fled the scene. The incident occurred shortly before 11 p.m., and no injuries were reported.

Law enforcement officials have taken one person into custody and are working to apprehend a second suspect who has been identified.

“The university is absolute in its pledge to do whatever it can to protect and care for our students, faculty, staff and visitors,” Ono wrote.

Ono acknowledged that this incident comes at a time of escalating tensions in the Middle East, and urged the campus community to support each other.

The Southfield Police Department is investigating the incident as a home invasion and a crime of opportunity.

University President Santa Ono addressed the incident in an email to the campus community, emphasizing the need for unity and support during a time of heightened global tensions.

In response to the incident, the University of Michigan’s Division of Public Safety and Security has increased security and patrols around campus and neighboring areas.

Climate Futures Symposium +

“These are challenging times, but there is enormous strength in our community,” Ono wrote. “Resolve with me to join together in solidarity, and help everyone feel safe, protected and empowered to live and learn at the University of Michigan.”

Across two days of moderated presentation panels, speakers will show how urban planners, designers, technologists and architects help to reduce emissions, promote resilience, and improve equitable access to healthy and vital built environments. Symposium sessions will challenge the assumptions, interests, practices, and values shaping the current landscape of climate action, and they will open space for inclusive and collaborative imagining of new possibilities. taubmancollege.umich.edu/climate-futures

Ono urged anyone with information to contact the Southfield Police Department at (248)-796-5500 reference case number 24-36003. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

MATILDA SOPHIA

MOTTOLA

SPRING Daily Staff Reporters

BARRETT DOLATA Daily Staff Reporter

BRONWYN JOHNSTON Daily Staff Reporter

Daily Arts runs a marathon 2024: Introducing the runners

This fall, two relay teams of four Daily Arts staffers will train for and run the Probility Ann Arbor Marathon. But as writers, we can’t just run the race — we have to write about our past experiences with running, how we are preparing for the marathon, what we look forward to and what we are afraid of.

Zach “Old, frail and busy” Loveall

This is my third time running the marathon relay with Arts, and it’s the first time I’ve felt truly ready for my leg in the weeks leading up to the marathon. In previous years, I’ve worried on some level about just finishing in the first place and this time I’ve set high goals for myself.

I’ve had months of fairly consistent running, with my experiences of previous relays with Arts having solidly established running as a hobby of mine. Luckily for me, this is the year I needed an early start on training the most. On top of running the relay with Arts, I’m now in charge of running the Arts section of The Michigan Daily. On top of trying to graduate on time, I’ve added all of the many hours necessary for a newspaper section to function to my schedule. Running has been sidelined and squeezed between class and work, and my evening runs have been shortened so I have time to eat dinner. My biggest worry for running is currently whether I remember to pick up the registration packet before

the day of the marathon. But while I might be swamped with work, I’m thrilled to put on my running shoes and hit the pavement. The thrill and euphoria of running never go away and are only heightened by the camaraderie in a relay team. When I start running through the Nichols Arboretum or under the clock tower, the last thing I’m thinking about is how busy I am.

Grace “Why did I commit to this”

Sielinski

When people ask me about my hobbies and the well is running dry, sometimes I mention that I run occasionally. This is a lie. I go outside and move my legs in a back-and-forth motion, but calling it “running” is a stretch. A generous person would call it a “slow jog,” but I have had instances where speedwalkers have made it around the block faster than I have. I am the yin to Tigst Assefa’s yang; without me, she could not exist. The universe would implode from the imbalance.

Still, I can carry my slow-motion body through a good amount of miles, and with my teammate’s support, I’m excited to be able to say I ran a goddamn Boston Marathon qualifying race — at least part of it. I tried to “run” a half-marathon the year before last, but I sprained my leg halfway through training and derailed my entire summer. I’ve done a 10K since then, but this atmosphere is different: People will actually be depending on me to run. Yikes! That’s a lot of pressure! But it’s also

a great motivator, and I’m looking forward to the camaraderie this will inspire among our perhaps less-thantraditionally-athletic motley crew of runners.

To everyone on my team: You will have to wait well over an hour for me to finish my leg. Sorry about that.

Kristen “Delusions of grandeur” Su

This is my second time doing the Arts marathon. Despite telling myself that my somewhat inconsistent running routine would continue through the winter, the only consistent parts of my daily routine are my unrelenting homework procrastination efforts via watching elite track and field races. I can tell you the exact time of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s latest 400meter hurdles world record at the Paris Olympics, but I can’t tell you the last time that I set foot on a real track.

Before my imagination can run wild with possibilities of what the past year would have looked like if I continued my running efforts, I’m just going to set myself a simple goal: running my 6.5-mile leg one minute faster than last year. Next year, if (or when) I fail at consistently running again, I’ll set myself the goal of running one minute faster than this year. I said in last year’s blurb that I hope to run a marathon in 10 years. If I can carry the mindset of “how hard can it be?” and set myself simple goals, hopefully my slow and somewhat unsteady process will bring success in the end.

The Michigan Daily Crossword

Holly “Not long for this world” Tsch I’m not going to lie to you, I haven’t purposely run since a 5k when I was, like, 10 years old. I was a swimmer in high school, and I do light cardio in the mornings on a broken exercise bike. When telling my friends about this, I’ve gotten three “Oh god, really?”s and two “That’s unfortunate”s. I do love suffering, and think this will be edifying, if nothing else. I’ve also been sick two times this fall, so I’m getting into it a bit late. My main goal is to survive. My secondary goal is to finish my approximately 6.5-mile segment. Preferably in less than two hours.

I am my team’s anchor, which makes me excited to pass that responsibility onto someone else! Namely, the four-person hype team composed of the two members of Steely Dan and the two members of Machine Girl. They have faithfully soundtracked my training and will soundtrack my actual leg of the run as well. To my wonderful teammates: Once I take the field, you will have already finished, and you should take more pride in that than whatever time the team may or may not achieve.

Olivia “Here for a good time and probably also a long time” Tarling I have never run the Arts marathon. But I did run track in middle school and complain the entire time like I didn’t sign up for it. So get ready, Ann Arbor. I’m coming to groan my way around Tree Town this October. Although track wasn’t my strong suit, I later fell head over heels for

And that is exactly what I’ve done here. July Olivia is currently my worst enemy but hopefully October Olivia will feel differently about that. How

Back

60. Notion

62. Whac-___

63. Bizet's "Habanera," for one

64. Showy way to dress, or a hint to 17-Across, 41-Across, 11-Down and 34-Down

66. Yale's state: Abbr.

67. "404 Page Not Found," e.g.

68. Shaving mishap

69. Reflex test area 70. Deceitful individual 71. Takes steps DOWN 1. Inventor Nikola 2. Voices above tenors 3. USB and others 4. Whenever 5. Play-___ (kid's clay)

6. Tangerine throwaway

7. Unfamiliar

8. Locale of the indecisive?

9. Tough journeys

10. Catching some z's

11. Blissful place, metaphorically

12. Become well

13. Designer Mode of "The Incredibles"

18. UFC fights occur in an eight-sided one

24. Like Thor 26. Docile 28. Cry loudly 30. Choice word 31. Computer scientist Turing

32. Style fancily, as hair 33. Prefix with disestablishmentarianism

34. Elevated theater seating section

36. Opposite of SSW

37. Loud, disruptive noises

38. Winning

41. Composer Khachaturian

45. Necessity for a marathoner

47. Ballon d'Or winner Zinedine

49. Spanish custard dessert

51. Internet destinations

52. Decorate

53. One more than tri-

55. Gin's partner

56. To-be, in politics

57. Classroom fixtures

58. Breach a computer system

59. Fe, on the periodic table

61. "I get it now"

65. Before, in poetry

I’m not completely unathletic, I swear. I have done cardio training before — I was a swimmer in high school. But all that’s in the past. Realizing, with horror, that I’ve agreed to run a quarter marathon in one month instilled one clear message in my mind: I need a hero. For training, I am been completely self-directed, mostly choosing to go to North Campus and listen to music, while remaining generally bored and regretful. That is until I discovered an old relic in my playlists.

Enter “Gaucho 2022,” a concept playlist I created during a long boring day working behind a desk at Washtenaw Community College. The playlist consists of 25 hand-picked Steely Dan songs, alternating with 25 handpicked Machine Girl songs. Woven together from my lateteen angst and my early college directionlessness, each song serves a purpose. Machine Girl is the raw energy, and Steely Dan is the clarity providing rest. Just as all workouts can be broken into rush and recovery, this perfect playlist embodies both.

Steely Dan almost exclusively writes extremely smooth songs about the seedy edges of American culture. Every one of their songs fade out at the end and most contain an all-time classic yacht rock solo. They’re suave, but they draw on contrast to create a clear image of the social decay of the ’70s: all beautiful instrumentation, with bafflingly uncomfortable lyrics about a weird old man screening pornos for the neighborhood kids.

Machine Girl write songs about having drums and synths louder than your vocal track. Their songs lead in with aggressive drums that wake every resting atom. Straddling breakcore and hardcore, they wear a lot of hats, but none of them are quiet. Some of their most famous songs are set apart by little three-second interludes of relaxed, nostalgic samples, before you’re thrown back into the shredder of breakbeat and industrial drums. These two artists come together to create the maximum contrast possible in my playlist — all other elements of art be damned. It stands to reason that if you fall asleep, you’ll be unable to continue running. Therefore, I work with the most jumps in energy possible. The magic comes from the clash. I warm up to the smooth sounds of Steely Dan’s “Black Cow” and then get punched in the face with Machine Girl’s industrial drums on “Blood Magic.” Machine Girl gives twominute sprints, Steely Dan gives six-minute relaxed jogs, and before I know it, I’ve passed six miles. The contrast on its own is fun, but this is not a shuffled playlist. Each song’s place in the playlist was given careful consideration and a purpose. I connect themes, like Machine Girl’s use of porn audio samples on “C_MGRL” and the aforementioned Steely Dan creepy guy classic “Everyone’s Gone to the Movies.” The anticapitalist revolution described on “IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLENIALS TO DESTROY A NATION OF MILLIONS…” flows into the peaceful, lonely postapocalypse of “King of the World.” There’s a narrative to the playlist and if there’s ever a time the order feels amiss, I painstakingly rework it while heaving on the North Campus treadmills. Contrast

Natasha Eliya/DAILY

CORA ROLFES Daily Arts Writer

(A Reluctantly Included) Spoiler Warning: Game of Thrones; Pride and Prejudice

When I was in middle school, nothing could tear me away from my books. Before I got my first phone, my eyes touched literally nothing else. After homework got done? Reading. The walk from the car to the grocery store? Catch me trailing behind my mom, eyes glued to a page. I would even sneak books out to recess under my winter jacket to read outside instead of playing or “having fun.” Yet oftentimes, before I finished each book I read, I would find myself, as if drawn by some magnetic force, turning to the last page and spoiling the ending for myself. On purpose. OK, that’s a little melodramatic. Most of the time, I would start with just a peek. Check to see if my favorite character’s name was back there. It was? Cool! They probably survived whatever youngadult fantasy I had picked up that week. Sometimes instead of the last page, I’d only skip a couple, or a chapter, just to see how the immediate action played out. But then, as soon as my confidence wavered, I’d have to doublecheck. Maybe this time I’d scan a few more words. Each glance at those nebulous future pages would restore my confidence that all would be well and gave me the courage to continue through the

Arts

I hate spoiler warnings

book. I was insatiable. I couldn’t wait for the author to finish demonstrating the hard and long path the heroes were taking to succeed in their journeys. I needed to know, as soon as a thought began to form into a question, that everything would be okay. Every once in a while, my eyes would catch a set of words that changed the entire way I was reading the book. A character would die, or two would get together or, as in one particularly notable case, my favorite love interest would betray the protagonist. You might think, in the dangerous game of roulette I was playing, that this was the bullet. I’d have ruined the story for myself, and emptied the book of all excitement. But this was my gold mine. This was exquisite. Knowing something I shouldn’t know — that was THAT big, that changed the way the book read, the characters appeared, the fabric of the world was built — was the dream. I admit it! I love spoilers. Not only do they give me a reason to push through a particularly boring novel, but I am also a firm believer that if a story is ruined by a spoiler, maybe it’s not a very good story to start with. Upon a second read (or a first, in my case), you should be able to understand more about the world, the characters and the work the author put into foreshadowing their ending. Instead of sprinting to the end of a novel, tearing through to know what the ending might be, you get to stroll through it, noticing the

greenery and careful landscaping of the grounds. If a good ending only enhances a book’s value, knowing about it in advance just sweetens the pot. As I’ve gotten older — read more classics and seen more shows — I’ve often known how things were going to end long before I’ve even gotten to the inciting incident. No one starts “Romeo and Juliet” not knowing where they’re headed. It’s just what happens when you live in a world that is influenced by art. It’s impossible to insulate yourself from it. For my part, I knew when I started the acclaimed “Game of Thrones” that Ned Stark was going to die. I also knew, thanks to a friend, that Jon Snow was a Targaryen. Those plot points being spoiled didn’t ruin the experience for me. In a way, they actually kept me engaged in the show, excited to see not just where things would end, but how things were going to end — how exactly characters got to the freeze-framed versions of them that I knew were waiting for me, chapters or episodes ahead. I always had something to look forward to: I just needed to make it to the Red Wedding or Jon Snow’s death. And if knowing a spoiler or two is the thing that gets me from not watching to watching or not reading to reading, I’ll take it. Interestingly enough, a study by Nicholas Christenfeld, a University of California, San Diego psychology professor, suggested that spoilers do in fact increase an audi-

John Summit’s ‘Experts Only’ is ‘Where You Are’ and where you’ll always want to be

SKYLAR WALLISON Daily Arts Writer

Earlier this month, John Summit — DJ, producer, and emerging artist in both House and Dance genres — attracted an incredible turnout of young audience members to his show: “Experts Only.” Best known for hit songs such as “Shiver,” “EAT THE BASS,” and of course “Where You Are,” Summit’s name carries a certain importance in today’s music scene — you might even call it the event of the semester. The overwhelming interest and excitement about his Michigan show is a true testament to the vastness of Summit’s audience Through his record label, Summit plans “Experts Only” shows in distinctive locations, choosing the Russell Industrial Center for his Detroit show. The venue, with the commercial quality of a warehouse, allowed for the event to be entirely general admission — with more than enough room to dance. With an audience composed of mostly college aged people — many of whom were University of Michigan students I recognized — this choice reflected Summit’s understanding of his demographic.On July 12 of this year, Summit released his debut album: Comfort in Chaos. In its 12 tracks, the album takes a journey through his career:

introducing new hits such as “Stay with Me” or “palm of my hands,” and including quintessential collaborations with artists HAYLA, Paige Cavell, and more. His “Experts Only” show encapsulated the energy of his debut album: an experience that makes the listener feel something and sing along. Elevated above the General Admission floor, Summit’s booth spanned the width of the room, producing the effect of a London Boiler Room show. This layout rendered the event intimate, with concertgoers wholly immersed in the experience. With vibrant and dynamic light displays, a bass that rocked the Center to its core and “Experts Only” decorations, the event was tailored to Summit’s essence. Once the crowd was fully adapted to the sounds of Comfort in Chaos, Summit would slowly integrate his famous hit songs. When he transitioned from a nonspecific backbeat to the introduction for Sage The Gemini’s “Gas Pedal Remix,” every single hand rose straight into the air. Even if Dance House music does not drive you, John Summit’s “Experts Only” will. While Summit’s show was a tremendous success, his engagement with the University of Michigan community did not stop there. In fact, he also made his lecture debut at the School of Kinesiology in Sports Management 313, Business

Development in Sports. The professor, Barry Klarberg, is one of Summit’s advisors. Using Summit’s career as a case study for his students to review, the two presented slides on the ins and outs of the DJ’s business and branding strategy. In his lecture, Summit addresses his marketing and strategic techniques to best reach his target demographic, thus exposing more listeners to his music. Summit explained how this can manifest in various ways, including — but not limited to — declining high-value brand deals or missing important life events for mandatory shows. His biggest priority, regardless of money or fame, is his fanbase and audience. “John talked about how passionate he is. He told us about all the sacrifices he makes to do what he does. For example, he had to miss his childhood best friend’s wedding because he committed to a show,” said Kinesiology junior Hannah Cohen, a student of SM 313. Such a sentiment demonstrated Summit’s level of work ethic and persistence to the students. Indeed, this level of dedication and passion was palpable in both the lecture and his “Experts Only” event. Summit’s career has skyrocketed not only because of his keen ability to produce music but also because of his ability to engage with his fanbase and prove his dedication every time he performs.

ence member’s enjoyment of a story. Christenfeld hypothesizes that because you know where the story ends up, you are better able to make sense of its purpose and themes earlier on in your experience. It makes the plot easier to follow and allows you to indulge more and have fun instead of stressing over missing important pieces of information. That’s not to say there’s no such thing as too many spoilers. Once I went to read “A Game of Thrones”, there wasn’t all that much that strayed from the show. I had broken my cardinal rule of reading the book before seeing the adaptation, and

I have to admit, it did come back to bite me here. It was hard for the book to keep my attention, and it took more energy than desired for me to plow through the 800-page paperback. It made me wonder if I had known only a few plot points instead of each and every one, whether I would have clicked better with the novel. But that’s not to say avoiding an adaptation in fear of spoilers for the source material is always the best move. I had seen the movie version of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” (2005 supremacy) at least three times before I picked up the book in high school. Because

the movie tends to stray from the book and Austen’s writing is so captivating, when I did finally decide to pick up the novel — following a screening of the film — it honestly felt like reading a whole different story, with a structure that I was familiar with, but a new world of wry humor and distinct characters that I had never previously encountered. Knowing that Lizzie and Mr. Darcy would ultimately end up together enriched their every interaction and allowed me to notice things I might not have before.

Sabrina Carpenter keeps it short n’ sweet on new album after her rise to fame

After the release of The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift entered the periodic “flop” era of her cyclical career, a pattern best represented by a steep sinusoidal graph, featuring higher highs and lower lows. Her intermittent downward trajectory left a vacancy in the pop girl realm for the summer of 2024 (but don’t worry, she will inevitably be back when she wins album of the year again), leaving many to speculate who will take her spot. Of course, with Charli XCX’s Brat lighting the world on fire the past few months, it’s easy to point towards her as this season’s pop girl. But Charli has always been a relatively strong player in the world of pop. Instead, this summer has seen the rise of two “new” pop artists launched into this echelon of fame: Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter. Of course, this is an overly simplistic summary of Carpenter’s rise to fame. First, the search for a new pop girl cannot be attributed to Swift’s latest release receiving less critical acclaim than her past works; if anything, it has proved that there is always an audience for her music, making Swift more untouchable than ever. Rather, Carpenter’s newfound popularity is the result of a sort of pop renaissance; or maybe it’s the other way around, in which Carpenter is a progenitor for this revitalization. Second, neither Chappell Roan nor Sabrina Carpenter is a new artist. The former was on the verge of terminating her career before her very recent meritocratic skyrocket to fame. And when the latter released her

highly anticipated Short n’ Sweet at the tail end of August, many viewed the album as her sophomore attempt — despite it being her sixth studio release.But, in a way, this is Carpenter’s sophomore album. The pop star’s first real foray into the music industry was singing the theme song on Disney Channel’s “Girl Meets World,” a show in which she portrayed the blonde, snarky counterpart to Rowan Blanchard’s kindhearted lead. She has come a long way since then, and Short n’ Sweet may be Carpenter’s final cut to the ties binding her to the girl from Disney Channel. Mixing clever euphemisms with bold, bald explicit statements, the album packages Carpenter’s new direction in a fun, poppy tune. It’s very much in line with the new image Carpenter has been cultivating, demonstrated by the unique “Nonsense” outros she’s bestowed upon audiences (a bit she is unfortunately retiring). Although the idea of a female pop artist including innuendos in her work is nothing new, Carpenter has a shockingly refreshing approach through her invigoratingly clever wordplay, an element of her music that extends far beyond sexual implications.That is not to say Carpenter is always coy and never introspective on Short n’ Sweet. “Dumb & Poetic,” a track rumored to be about Shawn Mendes, sees Carpenter reminisce over an ex-lover who ultimately proves to be detrimental to her. It trades the synth-pop of her two singles for a more stripped-down singer-songwriter approach, a warm guitar and Carpenter’s phenomenal voice eviscerating her target to an acoustic ballad. “Lie to Girls” is a lyrically scathing track, explor-

ing the limits of what a girl will do for a man; when she sings “We love to read the cold, hard facts and swear they’re incorrect / We love to mistake butterflies for cardiac arrest,” it’s equal parts tragic and relatable, especially when coupled with Carpenter’s lush voice. Conversely, the song’s backdrop is quite sweet-sounding, Carpenter floating dreamily over twee guitar chords. It’s an interesting juxtaposition that highlights the blistering criticism directed at an ex-lover. The dichotomy between light-hearted pop and reflective introspection is not the only diversity Carpenter displays through Short n’ Sweet. Songs like “Please Please Please” are bright, effervescent and distinctly Jack Antonoff-esque, while other tracks such as “Slim Pickins” see Carpenter venture off into the realm of country (interestingly, also produced by Jack Antonoff). While Carpenter is not the only pop artist to flirt with country music (see Cowboy Carter and the rumored Lasso), her country-isms don’t take over the album: Instead, they’re an example of the genre diversity featured all over Short n’ Sweet. Even the two singles that launched Carpenter into this new level of fame display this sonic diversity — “Please Please Please” is a (relatively) slower track regarding the embarrassment she feels over her lover, while “Espresso” is a cheeky self-love anthem. These differences highlight Carpenter’s range without sacrificing any of the cohesiveness presented by Short n’ Sweet. It’s a fine line she walks, but it ultimately provides her the most compelling case for why she deserves to occupy that previously vacant pop girl seat.

Evelyn Mousigian/DAILY

AMAYA CHOUDHURY Daily Arts Writer

What’s in a name?

“What is your good name?”

It’s a question that most people living in India have heard at least a couple of times. Most people think of the phrase ‘good name’ as just another one of the quirks of Indian English — an Indianism, if you will. It is also not typically associated with good “English,” either, and people who say it are usually clowned on by the bettereducated upper classes that still strive to fit the molds set by their colonizers. But, its history is actually steeped in Indian naming traditions. Most people who are Bengali (whether that’s Indian Bengali or Bangladeshi, because fuck partition) are quite familiar with the concept of having multiple names. There’s the “bhalo naam” (literally: “good name”), which is on official documents and used for most introductions to strangers. The other name is their “daak naam” — their “call name,” or the “name one is called by.” This is a sweeter name, more intimate, usually reserved for family members or very close friends.

While the daak naam appears to function essentially as a nickname, it has embedded itself uniquely into the very fabric of Bengali kinship. Most people tend to separate their public and personal lives to some degree, adjusting to accommodate these individual social spheres. Your personality molds to fit the dynamic of the group you’re with. You have different inside jokes, different postures. For Bengali people, giving these separate versions of yourself separate names makes this difference more tangible.

It is not just a matter of having two names — who you are when someone refers to you by your bhalo naam, and who you are when someone refers to you by your daak naam, are essentially different people. Being called by your daak naam can be instantly disarming, a signal that someone really knows you, and allows for an almost immediate switch to a more familiar form of interaction.

My own relationship with my name is a bit more complex than the usual story. My mother is Bengali. She is the parent I have lived with for most of my life, and her family and food and language are what I feel most connected to, despite it being a precarious connection. But I don’t have her name — I have my father’s.

I think my mom knew this too. She never wanted my name to be Vidushi, she says. That’s my ‘good name’, by the way. “Vidushi Amaresh Mohan.” It feels weird to admit that here. But yes, Ihaa is “just” my daak naam. She wanted to name me something that sounded more Bengali, and also something that was more clearly connected to her. In fact, she still asks me sometimes to change my name. Nonetheless, Vidushi was what was decided upon, a Hindiorigin name. Vidushi meaning scholar; Amaresh, my dad’s name, a more enduring paternal marker than a maiden name. She came up with Ihaa as my daak naam to compensate, I think. She says she was inspired by the Spanish word hija, meaning daughter. My dad says it’s from the Sanskrit word iha, meaning desire. I’ve come to accept that it’s probably a combination of both. I have always been acutely aware of the fact that in India, names say a lot about a person. My good name only tells half of

my story. The half that is left out is my mother.

I understood pretty early on in life that I was a different person to different people. Whenever my parents took me to meet new people, they would prompt me to introduce myself. Sometimes I had to say I was Ihaa. Sometimes I had to say I was Vidushi. The problem was, even though I knew conceptually that Vidushi and Ihaa were different people, I was always confused about when and where I had to be each of these people. I would slip up, and say Vidushi when my parents expected me to say Ihaa, and vice versa. They would jump in immediately to correct me of course, but I felt very stupid each time. What kind of person doesn’t know who they are? I think that’s when my love-hate relationship with my names started.

When I came here for college as an international student, I realized I had an opportunity to start fresh. The start of all relationships I would forge would be an introduction, and without my parents to prompt me, I was in control. So I started telling everyone my name was Ihaa. At first I justified it to myself as a culture thing, a way of strengthening my roots in my Bengali heritage.

But the more I thought about it, I realized that that wasn’t my sole motivation, or even my strongest motivation. Like I said before, your daak naam is the name used by the ones closest to you. It’s a name that is defined by its associated comfort and warmth. In my case, I was most used to being called that name by my mother. When I hear my daak naam, I inevitably think of the childhood that I spent with her. My mother was a terrifying symbol of authority when I was little, but she was also

affectionate, often indulgent, and proud. As a kid, we used to move around a lot, so I found myself often surrounded by her and her friends, who created a supportive environment where I was free to pursue my interests. My mother named me Ihaa. She also made me Ihaa. That’s who Ihaa was, a loved and adored child.

All of that changed at some point. Maybe it happened while I wasn’t really paying attention to our relationship, in the years I was away at boarding school. For a long time, it was just our own two-person family. But then we drifted. She remarried, our family expanded. And I didn’t really have to deal with that at boarding school until the pandemic, when I came home and realized everything had set into place without me. It was like being a small child again and not knowing what my name was supposed to be when someone asked. I felt like I’d lost my only family. The memories connected to my daak naam turned sour.

I craved the affection and gentleness of childhood. I wanted to be looked after, asked after, cared for. In an attempt to replicate the fleeting warmth of my years with my mother, I started asking people to call me Ihaa as a sort of compensation, and waited patiently for the comfort to come.

It was a futile effort. There is a gaping flaw in that logic there. The name “Ihaa” was not what was bringing me comfort. It was my mother. Being called by my childhood name by people who have only known me for a couple of months just felt … empty, honestly. I had gone ahead and assigned all those meanings to my name, forgetting that at the end of the day, my name by itself was just a sound, not some kind of magic spell. I felt stupid, then,

Forget Me Not

My parents gave me the weight of our Palestinian heritage the echoes of the athan, the warmth of olive trees carried on the desert’s breath, and the chants of generations before me. This is my inheritance, and it resonates in me

like a drumbeat too loud for America to bear.

But my skin—pale, mistaken for whiteness— conceals my origins, a mask I never asked to wear.

You see light skin, and you think you know me.

But my skin is not an invitation it’s the seal, binding the history written in our blood.

I was born into a world that

calls me white until the bridge of my nose reveals me— a roadmap to my ancestors, a feature they misplace.

Still, you blindly say, this is where I belong.

We carry genocide in our memory, our stories passed down in scars.

I speak the language of survival, My tongue twists around

places I’ve never been, and they cry for me to come home.

You say, “Check the box,” but nothing applies. I am Palestinian, the leaves of the olive trees my grandma whispers to me about.

Her voice carries the dreams of my ancestors, the strength of their roots deep in Ramun’s soil

for having trespassed upon the sanctity of what is supposed to be such an intimate name by opening it up to the world, and with no real reward. Upon further introspection, I realized this effort to cling to my childhood was not a contained one. It had seeped into my manner of dressing, speaking — even the way I braided my hair, a facsimile of my schoolgirl days. I had begun to unconsciously reject the idea of romance, and became uncomfortable with the idea of people perceiving me as a sexual being in any way, because the implications of maturity that came with it was something I wasn’t ready to deal with. In some ways, I regressed into more of a child than I was even back in middle school, which is when I first went to boarding school.

I only became aware of this subconscious suppression of sorts when I visited my maternal uncle in Austin, Texas over my winter break of freshman year. I was taken aback by how caring my uncle and aunt were. They worried that I was eating too little at school (which I was), and they made all my favorite foods. I had so much fun with my cousins and their dog too, a kind of fun I hadn’t experienced in years. One day, sitting at the dining room table, it struck me that it was here in Austin of all places that I felt most at home. Not with my mother or father, but with my mama-mami. It was a sudden, overwhelming rush of both grief and joy, as I finally understood what I had been deprived of for so long, and also realized that I had now gained it back.

Over the course of the next year or so, as I began to truly contend with the loss of my family as I had known it, this feeling of home that I got from

Forget me not. Forget me not. I am Palestinian, I will not fade into the background, I am not your check box, I am not a conflict you get to rewrite, I am more than what you watch and read.

I am every story my family couldn’t tell, I am the resilience they carved into my bones,

my mama-mami anchored me and kept me afloat for a long time. I began to slowly rid myself of the knot of anxiety I had developed about things changing too fast, and stopped being scared of growing up. It no longer felt like the love and light of my childhood was slipping away out of reach. Growing up did not have to mean growing away, and more importantly, I saw that change itself was not the problem. I want to keep being Ihaa to everyone who now knows me by that name. At the same time, I won’t shirk away from being known as Vidushi. Names have a lot of power, you know. They’re weighty, sometimes suffocating, and can often conflict with your identity (and I’ve dealt with that throughout my queer journey too). But ultimately, the meaning you assign to them is your own. I am choosing to take back control of what my names mean to me, though it is admittedly an ongoing process. What is my ‘good name’? I’m not so sure anymore, now that the lines have been blurred by numerous changes in context. What I do know is that whether it is my daak naam, my bhalo naam, or another name entirely, it all ties back to the same source. I think I’ve been focusing too much on what makes all these identities different, and forgotten what connects them together. They’re all names for me. Maybe slightly different versions of me, but I don’t think it really matters all that much in the grand scale of things. I can live without the anxiety of second-guessing myself every time I have to do an introduction. The next time someone asks for my name, I’ll just tell them whatever I feel like. It’s my name anyway, right?

I am the daughter of survival, so I won’t let you forget me, for I am not your tragedy. I am Palestinian. and I am living history. I’m the voice of a people you failed to silence, the legacy you cannot erase. I am the truth you refuse to see, and I will rise again and again until you no longer question who I am.

IHAA MOHAN MiC Columnist

YASMEEN NIMER

MiC Columnist

Ihaa Mohan/MiC

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

SAMANTHA RICH AND DANA ELOBAID Co-Editors in Chief

Zach Ajluni

Jack Brady

Lucas Feller

Seth Gabrielson

ZHANE YAMIN AND LINDSEY SPENCER Editorial Page Editors

SHANIA BAWEJA AND ABBY SCHRECK Managing Editors

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Jovanna Gallegos Jack Kapcar Tate Moyer Tom Muha

Maximilian Schenke

Lindsey Spencer Audra Woehle Zhane Yamin

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

Net-zero isn’t enough

ELIZA PHARES Opinion Columnist

As the climate crisis continues to ravage communities and raise global temperatures, it can get exhausting to keep on fighting. It’s easy to feel removed from the movement when ideas like climatecentered policies and developing new, sustainable technology seem intangible. Despite being a Graham Sustainability scholar, a public policy student focused on climate policy and a member of a professional sustainability fraternity, I still experience burnout in the fight against climate change. No matter how sustainable I am or how much I advocate for environmentally friendly solutions, nothing will change on a global scale without massive action from corporations and governments. We do, however, have more influence on the environmental policy local to our communities.

To put it plainly, the University of Michigan’s current net-zero or carbon-neutral goal isn’t enough. It’s vague in meaning, and though good intentions underlie the metrics, the policy leaves too much up to interpretation. To combat the climate crisis, the University needs to make more concrete sustainability goals and commit to net negative emissions.

The University currently aims to reduce emissions from purchased power to net-zero and establish goals for a wide range of indirect emissions sources by 2025. It has also pledged to eliminate direct greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and establish a net-zero endowment by 2050. These goals, however, are already failing. And with three months left to reach the 2025 goals, little progress has been made. In fact, emissions may get worse. Scope 3 emissions, which include U-M-sponsored travel, are going to increase substantially with the expansion of the Big 10 Conference leading to increased plane travel to and from California, Oregon and Washington.

Even though the University is unlikely to meet its current climate goals, the goals weren’t specific enough to begin with.

The University’s 2050 net-zero endowment goal, for instance, leaves a lot up to interpretation.

The University already discontinued direct investments to companies that are the “largest contributors” to greenhouse gas emissions, while also ceasing investments in fossil fuels.

Although this sounds great, the metric is arbitrary. The University could argue, for example, that a company ranked 10th on the scale of greenhouse gas emissions isn’t the largest contributor because there are nine more before them. This number should be quantified and publicized so the community knows exactly how far the plan extends.

Achieving net-zero emissions also relies on heavily investing in carbon offsets, a strategy in which the University balances its greenhouse gas emissions with off-campus carbon reduction. But carbon offsets are often referred to as an environmental scam. In practice, they take the blame off environmentally dangerous infrastructure without actually improving it. The University must invest in its infrastructure and emissions before looking at other ways to offset its carbon emissions.

Net-zero goals are often associated with greater conversations of environmental justice, but much of this is greenwashing — a strategy in which organizations pretend to remedy climate change in order to improve their public image. Companies often have an agenda when they create climate plans: Caring about the environment is good PR, even if it’s performative. This leads many carbon neutrality plans to be vague and lack definite standards for emission reduction. For example, some countries do not track airplane travel as part of their scope 3 emissions goals, despite it being a considerable source of carbon emissions.

Underreporting has consequences. The people who are

bearing the brunt of climate change are often the most disadvantaged — and the least able to combat vague climate plans. If the metrics by which we determine net-zero emissions aren’t comprehensive enough, they are ones most likely to suffer. Setting clear environmental goals isn’t about semantics, it’s about ensuring real people don’t have to suffer from performative greenwashing.

The University of Michigan isn’t completely at fault for adopting a lackluster plan; net-zero plans are everywhere. They serve as the basis for sustainability initiatives because they give companies a feasible goal to strive for. Additionally, because technology is always advancing, it’s tricky to complicate a plan beyond net-zero emissions — the University can’t predict the impact of carbon capture systems before they exist.

This doesn’t mean the University shouldn’t strive for something better. We have a vast team of academics who recognize the impact of climate change. The University has the potential to break out of the net-zero mold and go further.

Plans should be made to be adaptable. 2050 is more than 25 years away, so taking a look at goals every year or two will allow the University to evolve based on new technology. Next, the University needs to publicize every metric possible when creating its plans — straying away from vague markers like “largest contributors.” Last, the University needs to look past net neutrality and actually reduce the carbon levels emitted into the atmosphere. This means transitioning away from carbon offsets to sustainable systems that are not reliant on fossil fuels.

As U-M community members, we have the chance to not only impact the University’s sustainability initiatives but also to impact what organizations around the world view as a good sustainability plan. By pressuring an institution that we have a unique relationship with, we can start to break down the barriers to sustainability and give the people a voice in creating a more environmentally sustainable future.

From The Daily: UMich shouldn’t use neutrality to escape responsibility

THE MICHIGAN DAILY EDITORIAL BOARD

Following the adoption of the University of Michigan Principles on Diversity of Thought and Freedom of Expression in January of this year, the University created an advisory committee tasked with investigating the state of discourse on campus and how the University could help foster it. In its findings released earlier this month, the committee reported that “diversity of thought is lacking” and “deficiencies in constructive disagreement” persist on campus. Among its recommendations was that the administration adopt a policy of “institutional neutrality.”

The report states that “institutional statements disserve the university’s mission. They undermine our commitment to open inquiry by suggesting that those who disagree are unwelcome. They cause would-be dissenters to worry that voicing disagreement may jeopardize admission, grades, or advancement.” Only statements regarding issues that directly pertain to campus would be accepted under the proposed neutrality bylaw.

Similar proposals have become increasingly popular on campuses across the country as administrators have struggled to respond to the polarizing Israeli military offensive in Gaza and Lebanon. University President Santa Ono has, on multiple occasions, found himself subjected to scrutiny by pro-Palestine activists over alleged bias in his emails addressing campus activism.

Sweeping policy statements are unable to capture the diversity of perspectives on campus and the nuance in the issues they’re commenting on. As such, they have understandably left many students feeling unheard. There are more than 30,000 undergraduates enrolled at this institution — representing all of them in an email

is impossible, especially when it comes to controversial issues.

The University is supposed to represent all of its students, not just the select groups that happen to align with its vision. Accordingly, the only solution seems to be adopting a policy of neutrality.

The University should refrain from making statements on contentious far-away topics and opt instead for a more hands-off approach. By remaining neutral on matters that don’t directly affect the campus community, the University creates space for open dialogue and debate among students, allowing them to engage with these topics rather than relying on the administration to mediate the conversation.

That said, we fear that the University isn’t defining institutional neutrality the way that most of us would. There is nothing wrong with the approach if it means an end to Ono’s fartoo-frequent emails; but if this proposed policy is to be used in bad faith, just as we believe the new Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities was, there is cause to worry.

There are multiple occasions where contentious worldwide events intersect with campus affairs. How the University plans to navigate this gray area isn’t clearly outlined in the proposal. Climate change, abortion and the conflict in the Middle East all touch our campus in one way or another. While the student body doesn’t need real-time emails about these issues, it does need effective administrative responses.

It’s impossible to create policy without taking a stance. Would the University choosing to remove fossil fuels from its endowment in 2021 violate neutrality? Would the University supporting access to abortion care in 2022 violate neutrality? Would the University stating in 2024 that it would remain invested in companies linked to Israel violate neutrality? In all these cases, the University made inherently non-neutral decisions,

even if their decision was to do nothing at all.

Furthermore, the University is already supposed to be neutral under existing law. Unlike private schools like Columbia University, the University of Michigan is a public institution. This means it qualifies as a state actor and is therefore already required to maintain political neutrality. A new bylaw requiring institutional neutrality is redundant to the University’s public nature. With this new policy, it’s possible and perhaps plausible the University will use “neutrality” to defend inflexibility in its future policies. Should our collective values on these stances change going forward, the University could use institutional neutrality to avoid being responsive.

While the concept of institutional neutrality seems appealing on the surface, we believe that, in its current form, the proposal presents too many ambiguities. The University must be dynamic and capable of evolving to meet the needs of its students and the desires of its community. We don’t need any more Ono statements — but we don’t need stasis, either. If the entirety of our community has come to a consensus about a polarizing topic, the University should align itself with that consensus. If we have not, then neutrality is an acceptable stance.

The Board of Regents will vote on institutional neutrality in their October meeting. Until the campus community receives an indication and clarification that neutrality won’t be used as a cover to avoid making necessary changes to its actual policies, this editorial board cannot support the Committee’s proposal. The University must clearly define how it will apply neutrality in a way that ensures it remains a platform for dialogue and growth, before this policy is to be voted on. Only then can it truly foster an environment where diverse perspectives are heard and respected.

The curse and honor of being Lebanese

rom the day we are born, we are immediately thrust into a world that hates us. Of course, we don’t remember it that way. I remember being a child playing in public with my toy planes and imagining myself flying; meanwhile, my parents had to face looks of fear from onlookers as they saw a young Arab boy pretending to fly a plane.

I come from a proud Lebanese family with a proud commitment

to our culture. Throughout my upbringing, I can vividly recall my Tata humming the melodies of Fairuz, the eternal voice of Lebanon. Throughout my adolescence, I struggled to understand why exactly my family and I were here in America. We are Lebanese, we’re from Lebanon — so why don’t we live there? When I’d ask my mom, her answer was the same every time: “We fled the war; it wasn’t safe.” I struggled to understand the severity of my mother’s situation for a while. I couldn’t grasp how someone could pick up everything and leave their home.

Over time, I gained more awareness of my people’s history and why so many Arabs had been forced to leave their homes. I began to understand what it means to be Lebanese. I began to understand that my family fled Lebanon in the 1970s because of the civil war; they left everything they’d ever known just to survive. I began to understand the struggle of my people — a struggle that makes being Lebanese the greatest honor of my life. As I was confronted with the reality of the state of my country and the Middle East, my perception of my homeland changed and I felt the

isolation of the Arab diaspora. It was as if Fairuz had stopped singing. Since the Civil War, Lebanon has continued to face war, economic collapse and government corruption. In 2006, Lebanon was thrust into a war with Israel in which more than 1,100 Lebanese civilians died and more than 1 million were displaced. Despite the economy getting back on its feet after 2006, Lebanon took another blow. The 2020 Beirut explosion killed 218 and displaced 300,000. Shortly after, when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, Lebanon’s economy began to collapse. The Lebanese lira lost more than 90% of its value, inflation skyrocketed and banks froze people’s assets. Consequently, shortages of basic goods and a sharp increase in poverty plunged Lebanon into one of the worst economic crises in modern history, stirring widespread protests. Corruption within the government caused a lack of electricity, water and basic infrastructure needed to support life in Lebanon.

A characteristic notable to the Lebanese, however, is our resilience. Every day, my people enjoy the Beirut sun and take walks along the Raouché. Coffee shops open their doors, ice cream shops light up children’s eyes and elders enjoy reminiscing about their youth in 1960s Lebanon over sheesha. Walking from a local market in Hamra to a record shop, where I bought more records than I could fit in my luggage, and then enjoying a walk with my mom down Beirut’s streets

was simple yet peaceful. Eating dinner with my family along the Raouché and watching the waves crash along Beirut’s shores reassured me that I was home. Even if the lights went out while we ate, we still smiled and enjoyed each other’s company, hoping to see our home at peace one day.

That’s different now.

Today, Lebanon is experiencing the same thing it did in 1975: aggression that led to occupation. More than 1,000 Lebanese civilians have died since the Israeli bombing of Lebanon, which began on a large and deliberate scale on September 21, 2024. Despite civilian casualties, Israeli bombs continue to fall, kill and displace my people.

Lebanese across the world are hurting, especially here on campus. Like many other Lebanese who dream of returning home, we cannot go an hour without texting our family in Lebanon to see if they’re still alive. Every time the death count goes up, I feel defeated. These are not statistics; these are lives.

This is a larger message to the Arab diaspora. We fled persecution, war and unstable regimes. We hoped to return home someday and live under the same sun as our grandparents and parents. We hoped to drink our morning nescafe, work the day and then enjoy a lively home-cooked meal with friends and family. We hoped to dabke and sing the eternal songs of our homeland under the moon that lit up the sky for the generations before

us. A requirement of being Lebanese is living through conflict and normalizing the sonic boom of Israeli fighter jets over Beirut. It has become routine to repeatedly text my family in Lebanon, “Where are you?” and “Are you safe?” What broke me was when I asked one of my cousins who lives in Dahiyeh if she was okay. “We are okay, but we are scared,” she responded. It has become customary to text other Lebanese here on

Alyssa Mulligan/DAILY

ANGELINA AKOURI Opinion Columnist

A few nights ago, while my friends and I were at dinner, we made a deal that the first person to talk about the latest drama had to pay the bill. After enduring small talk about classes and the very “interesting” change in the weather, we ate our appetizers in silence. Just as I was about to break, my other friend beat me to it.

Thanking God I didn’t have to pick up the tab, I realized that a core element of girlhood is sitting down with your friends, discussing the latest scoop and adding, “But who am I to say anything?” after each snarky comment. That’s not a bad thing.

From a young age, society teaches kids not to gossip. I was always told if you talk ugly about someone else, your kids will be ugly. While this was definitely an extreme claim by my grandmother to keep my soul “pure,” it’s something that has stuck with me forever. There is some merit to her, and others’, philosophies, but the definition of gossip has changed over time. Its current definition might not necessarily be the best word to describe how my friends and I communicate. Historically, gossiping wasn’t always a bad thing. During the Middle Ages, it was a trait of strong female relationships and allowed women to assert their independence from men by curating their own spaces within a patriarchal society. These spaces were especially empowering, as they gave women the ability to build strong connections and support one another during a time in which they had little personal autonomy.

However, as this convention became more widely practiced and the influence of women was increasingly viewed as a threat, social formations like gossiping became a threat to the patriarchy. The root definition of gossiping transitioned from simple discussion of others to implying that the details of gossip are typically untrue and disreputable.

Today, the definition and critiques of gossip carry the same connotation as they did in the Middle Ages. Discussing drama is often seen as harmful, even if it’s just idle chatter. We need to reclaim the word gossip so we can reclaim the power that is girlhood.

When meeting new people, taking the relationship from a surface

During the summer, I set my goal for sophomore year: form as many friendships as possible. When I arrived on campus last month, I filled the empty spaces on my Google Calendar with events and challenged myself to have multiple conversations with new friends every day. I started discussions with strangers at the University of Michigan Museum of Art and had impromptu boba runs with friends I ran into on the Diag. Although I enjoyed meeting new people during the first few weeks of the semester, I started to treat each social event as a box to check, rather than an opportunity to form new relationships. Once-flowing conversations about summer had run dry, and classes and professional commitments began to populate my calendar instead. The Welcome Week excitement faded, and with it went my enthusiasm to engage with

That’s the scoop

level friendship to a deeper connection isn’t always easy. What has proven to be most effective in solidifying a friendship, though, is the sense of shared perspective. Exchanging stories and insights about the latest drama has the potential to deepen new connections and strengthen old ones.

Discussing drama also helps young women process their emotions and make sense of complex social interactions. Getting your friends’ opinions on someone else’s situation not only provides a sense of shared understanding and validation, but also helps you later apply the same perspectives to similar issues. This is solidarity at its finest.

The vanity that people view as an “essential part” of gossip is nothing new. Many interpret it as a form of

used to elevate yourself by

However, the gossip my friends and I — and undeniably a countless amount of others — partake in isn’t always malicious. Sure, every debrief might include casual resentment toward those who have wronged us, but at its core, these conversations are a stronger tool for deepening connections than carrying out vengeance.

The idea that there are more substantial things to discuss than who’s dating who and who drank a little too much at the bar last night is a strong argument to make. But, after coming home from a long day of classes and work, the last thing I want to discuss is the political and economic state of the world.

And, these so-called “substantial” conversations that are usually

reserved for more serious topics can also include elements of gossip. The formality of discussion used with a professor or boss is undoubtedly going to be different than what you talk about with your friends. This doesn’t mean that the conversation always has to reflect a TMZ-style table talk — engaging in conversations and topics that mix both substance and gossip allows for richer discourse. It is possible to explore the implications of social relationships while still reflecting on how these interactions enrich our understanding of the world and each other. Casual discussion doesn’t always have to lack depth. That is also not to say that all women need gossip to get through the day, but they should have the op-

tion, without the fear of shame. Encouraging open conversation — especially gossip — is important, especially during the most impactful years of a person’s life. While society advises kids to stay away from drama, cutting it out completely is unrealistic and can have an adverse effect of preventing children from learning how to navigate interpersonal relationships and resolving conflicts. Elementary school pettiness may seem unnecessary, but that is the way of life. As we get older, drama doesn’t just magically resolve itself. It continues to thrive in the workplace, lecture halls and even as we start families of our own. Rather than advising our children to stay away from it at all costs, we should teach them how to navi-

Canceling plans? Blame social burnout

both new people and my preexisting friends. With so much on my plate, I started to question why I had canceled dinner plans to RSVP “yes” to professional events. In hindsight, I realize my fatigue could be classified as “social burnout.” I hadn’t heard the term before this semester, but I have experienced it multiple times throughout college. My friends also report experiencing this feeling, but not recognizing it as an actual phenomenon experienced by others.

Social burnout can include feeling tired or losing interest in certain relationships as well as feeling drained after conversations. It often causes irritability and frustration, making it challenging to invest time and energy into cultivating healthy friendships. Therefore, we must acknowledge the prevalence of social burnout and find ways of managing the social stresses that cause it. The first step to remedying this relationship fatigue is to identify why it exists: overcommitment

to different activities and unfulfilling conversations with others.

At a large university like ours, many students try to participate in as many activities as possible to make the most of their college experience and mitigate the fear of missing out. However, the pursuit of the ideal social life has a snowball effect. Social media is a breeding ground for comparison, and we often feel that our social opportunities are insufficient simply because our friends appear to have more or “better” experiences.

The pursuit of social events under the “more is better” framework can push students into an unsustainable cycle of overcommitment. We often oscillate between feeling overwhelmed by social opportunities and feeling guilty when we cancel on others. When we prioritize quantity of relationships and experiences over quality, the constant bustle of people around us can drain our social battery to the point of burnout. Beyond overcommitment, other

lifestyle factors contribute to this fatigue among college students. When students have to juggle classwork with employment, extracurricular activities and personal wellness, burnout is likely to follow. Additionally, many of us prefer more time alone to deal with mental fatigue, but this approach can actually increase feelings of loneliness and exacerbate our tiredness. Given the interconnectedness between various aspects of wellness, the relationship between mental and social health also works in reverse. Friends who practice excessive self-enclosure or do not reciprocate our attention are increasing distance within the relationship. Despite constituting a relationship, these connections often increase our stress and leave us with little satisfaction from conversations. If you are on the

back end of a relationship and are putting up with your apathetic socalled “friends,” you might want to consider ending the connection.

Introverts are especially susceptible to social burnout. Extroverts often gain energy from social interactions, whereas introverts can feel tired from the same amount of conversation.

In campus-wide events or large group dinners, introverts report feeling overstimulated without adequate time to recharge.

As an introvert entering the academic year, I was initially excited by the multitude of opportunities to meet people. However as time passed, I began to feel overwhelmed by the number of events on my calendar each day. In the grip of social burnout, I carried that fatigue into each new conversation. I was less motivated to interact

gate it. Understanding that drama is an inevitable part of life can be a good thing if approached the correct and thoughtful way. This correct and useful form of gossiping promotes empathy and problem solving, rather than spreading lies. Discussing the issues of a person who might not be in the room doesn’t immediately equate to talking behind their back. Talking about their situation and framing it to provide a new perspective is key. Then, gossip — usually stigmatized as a form of judgment — turns into a tool for connection and support. So the next time you find yourself discussing the latest scoop with your girls over a bottle of wine, remember the only thing you should have to pay for is the morning after one too many glasses of red.

with new people and truly enjoy the activities that I participated in. As much as these feelings hinder the college experience for many, we cannot eradicate them entirely. The demands of college make packed calendars and superficial interactions inevitable; we cannot eliminate our social stresses. Rather, managing burnout is more realistic and effective than removing it. One way to mitigate social stress is to be kind to ourselves and set healthy boundaries. We must communicate with our friends when we want to be alone to practice self-care. As we discover our personal balance between alone time and time with others, learning to clearly convey our intentions and understanding that our boundaries are not impositions on others.

judgment

putting down others.

SARAH ZHANG Opinion Analyst

Evelyn Mousigian/DAILY

On pain and prayer

AYA FAYAD Statement Correspondent

My mother prays sitting down now. When I speak that simple fact, when I think it, it is full of desperation and self-resentment.

My mother prays sitting down now — I can’t quite believe it myself either.

Muslims pray five times per day in different intervals called Fajr, Duhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha. The prayer names translate to dawn, noon, afternoon, evening and night. Each is prayed at the time corresponding to its name, and though there is a fixed time frame for each prayer to be completed, the earlier one prays, the better. Though some may consider prayer to be spoken invocations to God, for Muslims, prayer also refers to the physical acts of standing, bowing and kneeling while in the presence of God. The appeals made to God and Quranic verses recited while doing so are called duaas, or supplications. The physical process of prayer goes like this: One stands up, bows down, kneels, prostrates with their forehead on the ground and gets back up to repeat the process. Each prayer differs in the number of times this process is repeated (the process is called a rak’ah, or a kneeling), but altogether, Muslims do this 17 times per day.

Something that has always been distinct to me about the prayers Muslims perform is the physicality they require. It’s a type of worship in itself, really, to give your energy and strength to something else — an exchange to be able to submit yourself to the presence of God.

In Islam, when one can no longer physically stand up for prayer or pick themselves up from their kneeling position, perhaps because doing so causes the individual too much pain, they are permitted to pray sitting down. This can be done sitting on the floor, sitting in a chair or even lying down in bed. For the most extreme injuries and disabilities, one is allowed to simply close their eyes and recite the prayers in their head, without needing to lift a finger. Prayer can be physically taxing — a reality all Muslims know and understand. Though part of the worship is in giving, the repetitions indisputably require physical exertion that, for some, can come to be too much. Still, it is not uncommon to hear Muslims who are unable to pray (women do not pray during their menstrual cycle, and travelers make up their prayers at a later date), or

IAN JOO Statement Columnist

those who cannot pray while standing, lament that they miss their prayers and the physical act of giving that comes with them. A deep, untouchable beauty in the religion is that when one gives, it is because what they receive in return is boundless. In Shia Islam, prostration is performed on pure earth, or on that which grows from it, to demonstrate the Prophet’s example and to symbolize the Islamic belief that we come from and return to the earth when we die. During prayer, when you kneel to give praise to God, the forehead is placed onto an article of earth. Though marble, paper, wood, stone and dirt are all permitted, most Shia Muslims use a turbah — a compact of sand from the desert of Karbala in Iraq — to comply with this ritual. This is how my mom got the injury that prevents her from standing up; one day, while getting ready to pray, she accidentally dropped a rather large and heavy turbah onto the dorsum of her foot and fractured her talus bone. The first time I noticed her praying sitting down was when I walked into her room to grab a bracelet of hers I wanted to wear. It was typical teenage selfishness — walking into her room without knocking because she was my mom, and it was therefore my right to barge in and take something of hers without asking first. When I saw her praying from a chair that first time, I wondered how long she had been doing it before I noticed. That day, I walked out of her room with my head down.

When I see my mom praying sitting down, I can’t help but to try and make sense of how much of the fault is mine — of all that I’ve done and haven’t done — to get her to that point. The housework, the laundry, the home-cooked meals every single day of my life, the going away to college and the leaving her in a big, empty house all alone. In my head, it isn’t the physical injury she sustained, but it’s as if I took and took and took until she just couldn’t help it anymore, and the weight of it all meant she just had to pray sitting down instead of standing up. When my thoughts really wander, I imagine each thing she gave me — be it physical, emotional or mental — was an additional straw she had to carry on her back. When the load was too heavy for her, she finally had to sit down. For months afterward, once I realized the extent of her injury, I wondered: At what point can we no longer come back from our pain? At what point is the injury so

deep, so centered on the abilities of our being, that it changes us fundamentally, to the point that we accept that we have to pray sitting down? As we age, fractures and breaks take longer to heal, and for some people, they heal poorly or not at all. By the age of 25, bone density begins to stabilize, and by age 40, begins to outpace formation. Our tendons, with age, take longer to regenerate and lose their healing capacity, and wound healing occurs at a slower rate in aged tissues and brings additional complications.

My mom’s worship is something she wears proudly. The blackblue bruises on her knees that have been there ever since I can remember, the tear-stricken towels she saves in her closet once she has used them to wipe the tears she cries for the martyrdom of the prophet’s grandson, the countless prayers she mutters to herself whenever she has a moment of respite, all point to the person that she is. There would be times when my mom would try to stand up to pray, despite her pain. It was a pattern: standing up, sitting down again, standing up, sitting down for longer, standing up, and what I think is now the final sitting down.

But she is proud of her pain, she assures me. She explains to me that when something is harder on one than it is on others, God’s reward for them is even more bountiful. Similar to the one who pulls themselves away from their addiction in contrast to those who avoid substance entirely, and the one who finds the right path when they were never given guidance themselves to begin with, right there is also the one who prays even when they cannot do it in its entirety.

My mom says she worships in the midst of her pain, not despite it. She has never missed a day of prayer in her life and she says she doesn’t think that she ever will.

“God gave me these legs,” she says. “He gave me these knees, this top of my foot, this broken bone.”

She says she will never give up on prayer, even if she is unable to do it in its full capacity, even if her foot will never heal. Instead, she molds it to fit her, she makes it into her own, she tries and tries to stand up even when at the end of the day she has to sit back down.

“Part of the worship is in trying,” she says.

At the end of this explanation, I am left somewhat in pieces.

What sustains the human being if not this type of faith? How am I to make up for the things that I have done if my mother herself has

already made peace with them?

How did so much time pass before I noticed that as I was aging, my mother was too? Then I think about how even in asking her to provide this explanation to make myself feel less guilty, I am still taking.

Sometimes, at the end of the evening when I feel that I’m too tired to pick myself back up and my legs and joints are aching from the activities and movements of the day, I sit cross-legged on my bed and put my pillow on my lap, and I pray my Maghrib and Isha for that night sitting down. I lock my bedroom door because of the shame I feel at not wanting to stand up — rather than not

being able to — and, in between the second and third repetition of my would-be prostration, I pray for God to forgive me for my tiredness in His presence. I ask for His mercy in my time of foolish insufficiency, and I pray for my parents to live long, happy lives.

During this last appeal, I think about how my mom would pray standing up if she could. There are times when my mom tells me about how guilty she feels for all the wrongs she has committed over the course of her life, and each time, I’m met with the same mix of surprise and shame. They’re always small things, the things that she speaks about — things that you can’t

Vivien Wang/DAILY

even call sins. Small naiveties and mistakes she wasn’t able to avoid because she didn’t have a mother or father growing up to guide her; things that hurt her more than they hurt the people that she thinks she hurt. In those moments, I grab her face in both my hands and I laugh at her.

“Mama, you’re the first person going to Jannah,” I tell her (Jannah is the Arabic, Islamic word for Heaven, translating literally to “garden”). “When the time comes, you’re going to be sitting at the same table as the Prophet and feasting from the banquets of Heaven with his family.”

Exploring (and building) the depths of Wikipedia

After a long day of yelling obscenities at a Michigan football game, I quietly retreat to my messy, dimly-lit room. Laying on my bed, covered in my sheets, I open up Wikipedia. There, I read up on the newly-created page for Dominic Zvada, Michigan’s starting kicker and, in my opinion, one of the best players on our new team. The article is considered an “orphan,” meaning no other Wikipedia articles linked to the page. I quickly find several articles on Wikipedia that mention Zvada’s name, and link his page to them.

The next day, procrastinating writing a philosophy paper, I open up Wikipedia and read through an article about a streaker run that once took place on the University of Michigan campus. I discovered this article while exploring the University of Michigan Wikipedia template. A Wikipedia template organizes several articles relating to a topic (in this case, the University) into one neat box. Before finally starting my paper, I check out the images and sounds of Wikimedia Commons, an online collection of free-use files. Surprisingly, my weird and nerdy behavior is far from uncommon. Viewing unusual Wikipedia articles has become a common activity for many, in no small part due to the social media

account Depths of Wikipedia. With more than 1.4 million followers on Instagram, the account highlights various odd, bizarre or otherwise interesting articles on the website. Some of my personal favorites include articles about the Kentucky Meat Shower (when red meat fell from the sky), the Chicago rat hole (a rat-shaped hole in a Chicago sidewalk that gained worldwide notoriety), Steak and Blowjob Day (an unofficial holiday) and “nowhere girls” (a Chinese term that describes my little sister very well).

I first discovered the account while casually scrolling through X; it was one of the few bright spots on a website saturated with toxicity. It embodied everything I loved about scrolling through Wikipedia: not just the wacky articles, but also the fun of discovering a topic you otherwise never would have considered (How many times do you ponder inventors killed by their own inventions?). I was always excited when the account posted something new; even after it stopped posting on X, I found and followed the account on Instagram. The mastermind behind the account is Wikipedia fanatic Annie Rauwerda, U-M and The Statement alum. Naturally, I had to interview her. Rauwerda’s enthusiasm for Wikipedia radiated throughout the interview. As soon as I

mentioned I edited Wikipedia, she asked for my username and we fell into a discussion about how Wikipedia helped us gain appreciation for everyday things. I mentioned how I had found a new appreciation for Grand Rapids, our shared hometown, by perusing Wikipedia’s Grand Rapids article and template. Previously, I had dismissed the city as rather boring with nothing to do, but Wikipedia highlighted its rich history, artwork and culture — aspects I had never previously noticed. Most notably, I learned that my city staged a city-wide lip dub video, which critic Roger Ebert called “the greatest music video ever made.”

“There are a lot of things that I’ve gained appreciation for because of Wikipedia. … There’s a group of people from Wikimedia Spain who are really into documenting manhole covers on Wikimedia Commons,” Rauwerda said. “Now I notice manhole covers more. … I appreciate them because the designs are unique sometimes, especially if you’re traveling to different cities or countries.”

Hoping to cultivate an appreciation of my Korean American heritage, I began to look through articles on Korean history. Wikipedia provided a vast repository of Englishlanguage articles about Korea and its history, something I rarely found anywhere else. There was, however, a serious problem with

the articles: Whoever had written them was clearly not a native English speaker. The articles, though well-sourced, were rife with grammatical errors. It bothered me so much that I began to edit these articles to correct them, embarking on my journey as a Wikipedia editor.

Editing soon became a hobby for me, something I only realized when I found myself accumulating more than 3,000 edits on the website. Though many would consider editing to be a chore, it’s a bizarrely relaxing habit to me. There’s just something so satisfying about making improvements to a Wikipedia page. It’s like finding and solving an error in a computer code. Rauwerda feels the same compulsion.

“The main reason (I edit) is not a very noble one,” Rauwerda said. “It’s just that it’s annoying when things are wrong. And when things could be better. It feels very exciting. It makes me feel like I have a little bit of power.”

This excitement is only compounded by the knowledge that someone, somewhere in the world, will eventually see the result of your edits.

“I recently saw a Tiktok (whose creator) had read an article that I wrote,” Rauwerda said. “The person was explaining a topic in the exact order that the Wikipedia article was structured, and sometimes the phrases felt oddly

similar. I wish that the person said, ‘Hey, by the way, thanks to Wikipedia for this information.’ My reaction was really a lot of happiness and pride and I was so happy that I was useful.”

However, if anyone, including myself, can edit Wikipedia, is it truly reliable? I, like many others, remember our teachers ardently forbidding us from using Wikipedia for schoolwork. Part of this, I think, stems from a misunderstanding of what editors actually do for Wikipedia.

Editors only add already-available information from reliable, published sources to Wikipedia; original research is strictly prohibited and an unreferenced edit will almost certainly be “reverted,” or undone. In addition, unlike many other sources, Wikipedia makes it clear where its references come from — even featuring a guide that shows which sources it considers trustworthy (and which sources it doesn’t).

I would argue that Wikipedia, like so many other platforms, can be both reliable and unreliable. When reading through Wikipedia, or any other source, it’s important to check the references linked to its claims. An unreferenced statement in any source should be treated with caution.

“Yes, Wikipedia is unreliable sometimes,” Rauwerda said. “You should never cite it in a research paper, of course, but it’s the best thing that’s easily accessible online

most of the time. And most of the time … it’s accurate, it’s good, it’s balanced.”

The website, of course, isn’t perfect. Its size means that there are always going to be plenty of disagreements. Often, edit wars — where editors disagree about what information to include on a page — arise around controversial articles. In these conflicts, edits are reverted, or undone, almost as quickly as they are written. The edit history of Yasuke, the black samurai announced as the protagonist of the new Assassin’s Creed game, shows the aftermath of a particularly bloody edit battle, littered with the corpses of reverted edits.

Wikipedia’s foreign language counterparts, somewhat less well-monitored than the English version, have been victims to rampant misinformation. In one infamous case, an overconfident teenager from North Carolina was responsible for nearly half of the articles on Scots Wikipedia, the Scots-language edition of Wikipedia. Unfortunately, the teenager was not proficient in the Scots language, inserting random Scots words into English sentences. Because Scots is such a small language, the changes went largely unnoticed, though the website gained a reputation among Scottish speakers as being “legendarily bad.”

‘Pigeons deserve better! Trust me, I fed one.’

ANNA MCLEAN Statement Correspondent

Pigeons: we know them, but do we love them? Historically, yes. Currently, no. In the 21st century, pigeons are colloquially referred to as “the rats of the sky,” “trash birds” and, most fondly, “damn nuisances.” Sitting on a park bench in the heart of Rome this summer, I found myself unable to look away from the small, gray birds that sat mere feet away from me, ruffling their feathers in the rain and looking for their next snack.

I once heard that Rome was one of the dirtiest cities in the world, and I was inclined to agree as I wandered; it didn’t strike me as odd that its most frequent fliers, the birds in front of me, littered the streets — dirty city, dirty birds. Feeling particularly emotional and somewhat romantic in the light August mist, I couldn’t help but wonder how the useful carrier pigeon was reduced to what we know them as today: filthy little aves.

Exploited for centuries for their magnetoreception — their ability to sense earth’s magnetic field — pigeons were once treasured as couriers. They were used to deliver messages and warnings on battlefields, and they soon became representative of increasing globalization as early as 3,000 B.C.E.

Pigeons were used in both World Wars to aid communicative efforts; they were taken to one side of a battlefield and then released back to their home coop on the opposite side, delivering potentially life-saving news. Their efforts earned them the unyielding admiration. And, captured in paintings throughout the years, most notably by Picasso, pigeons were once thought to be symbols of peace, tranquility and unity.

This begs the question: How, and why, did pigeons suffer such a dramatic fall from grace?

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Elizabeth Young, director of the “Palomacy Pigeon & Dove Adoptions” rehabilitation center, detailed the way pigeons exist in the modern world.

“(Pigeons are) victims of their own success.” Young said. “(Pigeons) have managed to survive in our human world. And even though they are always on the verge of starvation, they’re repopulating, you know, they’re hardy.”

Because of their resilience, pigeons became nuisances once society no longer had use for them. It wasn’t that a singular pigeon committed some horrible, unforgivable act against a human and we never forgave them. No, it’s that in the wake of our advancement as a species, we left pigeons behind.

Much of the contempt that we feel towards pigeons has come from the idea that they are dirty. We see them walking the city streets, click-clacking their way through life with their dull coats and beady eyes, and we call them vectors for disease — an idea that has become entrenched in our cultural consciousness. The last time someone contracted a fatal disease from a pigeon was in December of 2023. The disease, pigeon avian paramyxovirus-1, is a viral infection that is typically spread by pigeons to pigeons. It is unlikely that humans can contract this specific strain of paramyxovirus, but when they do, it typically causes, at most, mild conjuctivitis. In this case, though, a 2-year-old toddler suffered fatal neurological symptoms, continuing to reinforce the idea of the malevolent pigeon. However, according to the volunteered-based rescue organization, Greenwich Wildlife Network, what we conveniently leave out is that other diseases, such as salmonella and psittacosis are only spread by pigeons, or any wild bird, roughly 0.2% of the time — meaning that 99.8% of salmonella and psittacosis outbreaks are not pigeonrelated in origin. And, believe it or not, pigeons are oftentimes not carriers of avian influenza, or otherwise known as the infamous “bird flu.” I wanted to know more about the true nature of pigeons, and not

just what the zeitgeist has claimed to be universally correct. I joined a Facebook group titled “The Michigan Pigeon Club” and searched for answers there. I yearned to know how pigeons got such a bad reputation, and I wanted to know why we hated them so much. What better place to learn the answers to these pressing questions than from the pigeon enthusiasts of my state? Pigeons really couldn’t be all that bad, could they? I mean, if you look at them from the right angles, sometimes they might even be cute.

I got an overwhelming amount of responses, and more than half of them directed me to Stassia Fulmer, the owner of Stassia’s Pigeon Pants Shop. Before I even begin to unpack Stassia’s take on pigeon pants, it’s worth mentioning that she is the go-to pigeon rescue and rehabilitation expert in eastern Michigan. To answer my questions, I took a trip out to Jackson to see her pigeons, and hear what she had to say about these birds.

Upon my arrival, Fulmer brought

I really didn’t know anything about pigeons at all. With the birds flapping about the enclosure and cooing their way into my heart, I listened as Fulmer told me about her first pigeon, Fran.

“So my first pigeon, Fran, she became bonded to me to the point where she would cuddle me. She was like a dog,” Fulmer said. “When I came home, she was excited to see me, to follow me around everywhere. She had a little nest next to me in my bed, … but that’s not abnormal, actually.”

I could not believe my ears. Pigeons … as pets? When I think of what a typical pet looks like, I picture my own cat, curled up in my lap or dozing in the mid-afternoon sun. One typically thinks of a furry, mammalian companion as the best and most customary pet, but I knew that Fulmer’s love for her birds was real, and that these critters loved her right back, just like any good pet would. Throughout our interview, Fulmer apologized continuously about the state of the pigeons’ feathers, explaining how a couple of her birds were a little under the weather

the population and breaking down stereotypes that perpetuate pigeon

Young explained to me how Palomacy seeks to combat these

“Everybody knows pigeons, but nobody knows pigeons,” Young said.

now. I almost asked her where I might acquire one of these guys. Which, actually, isn’t all that hard to do. White pigeons, sometimes indistinguishable from doves, are released and then rescued quite often in the Ann Arbor area, Fulmer told me. She explained that a lot of the rescues she gets notified of are birds that were used for ceremonial purposes on wedding days. Unfortunately, the newly betrothed typically don’t think about the fact that they’re releasing domesticated animals, like trained pigeons, into the wild — unable to survive.

In light of these malpractices, Fulmer told me about her own efforts to keep pigeons safe and happy while I crouched down to feed the bravest of her flock who dared to nibble from my palm.

“I’ve rehomed several pigeons in our area. Someone finds one and they’re like, ‘I don’t know what to do with it.’ I’ll take it off your hands and I will help you get it to the next home.

(pigeon feathers can dull when they don’t feel well, apparently). I marveled at her affectionate fussing.

I, personally, had never seen a pigeon look better, but Fulmer cooed nonetheless.

You hear stories about people rescuing the underdog shelter animal: the mangy, skinny dog or the feline missing an ear. You don’t often hear about rescuing the real underdog, or should I say underbird: pigeons. Historically, this species has been through hell and back, but there I stood, watching a pigeon, against all odds, cuddle with a woman who had given it a chance. I felt all of my biases against the birds slip away; I wanted to cuddle with a pigeon

I’ve done that several times,” Fulmer

Fran, Fulmer’s first rescue pigeon, was actually a wedding release.

According to Palomacy, the “dove release” industry is surprisingly harmful. Even under the best circumstances, these trained doves and pigeons are hurt, lost and killed. Not many, if any at all, will survive.

Carelessly releasing these domesticated feathered friends has created the need for pigeon rescue groups.

Dedicated individuals like Fulmer and her one-woman show, and rescue nonprofits like Palomacy, are constantly working

“One of the things I say is to meet a pigeon is to fall in love with pigeons. And so I think that all of this advocacy and the rescuing and the adopting is counteracting the negative publicity that is actually very false.”

While Young and the Palomacy center work toward a broader audience, educating people on the kind-hearted nature of pigeons, Fulmer makes pigeon pants. The keeping, rescuing and raising of at least a dozen pigeons isn’t cheap; I’m certain that the costs of bird feed adds up, and the money to fund these expenditures has to come from somewhere. In Fulmer’s case, her income from making pigeon pants aids her continued efforts to rescue and rehabilitate her beloved birds. In her own way, Fulmer is combatting the cynical lens through which we see pigeons. I mean, how can you hate a bird that’s wearing a diaper?

While Fulmer did not invent bird diapers or pigeon pants, she did come across the idea from the Palomacy group. She ordered some for her own birds and wasn’t satisfied. So, with a sewing background and a dream, she got to work. It started with a casual post to her own following, but she quickly received requests to make more. She says that now, making pigeon pants accounts for one of her main sources of income.

“99.9% of my customers are pigeons. And it’s all over the world. I ship them all over the world,” Fulmer said. “Most of my clients are in San Francisco (where the Palomacy group is located). But I’ve sent them to Germany. I’ve sent them to Romania. I’ve sent them to Australia. All over.”

“The pigeon world, it can be very happy. And that’s how I approach things,” Fulmer said. We’ve vilified pigeons; we project our disdain for urban grime onto these resilient birds, but they truly don’t deserve it. Once revered for their intelligence and loyalty, pigeons have been unjustly discarded as mere pests. After meeting Fulmer’s affectionate flock and learning from dedicated rescuers like Young, I’ve come to realize that pigeons are far more than just “trash birds.” They are creatures worthy of our respect and admiration. They’re capable of bonding, loving and thriving when given the chance. I can’t say I’ll ever find myself in a position to actually own a pigeon, but the next time I hear someone call them a “rat bird,” I’ll say something — because to know pigeons, truly, is to love them.

Jack Tuttle provides a spark then extinguishes it with costly turnovers

REKHA LEONARD Managing Sports Editor

SEATTLE — All eyes were on Jack Tuttle.

Facing a 14-0 deficit against Washington early in the second quarter, the No. 10 Michigan football team needed an answer, a spark, anything to keep itself from spiraling toward a blowout loss to the unranked Huskies. So Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore benched junior quarterback Alex Orji and called on Tuttle, a seventh-year quarterback who was sidelined with an injury to his throwing arm until last week.

“Before he went in the game, he told everybody, he was like, ‘Listen to me, look at me,’ ” senior running back Donovan Edwards said, opening his eyes wide to demonstrate how the team looked at Tuttle. “Everybody just like, gave all their eyes to him. He has great leadership abilities and capabilities, so I’m grateful that he got out there and was able to show what he can do.”

The third quarterback Michigan has trotted out this season, Tuttle showed the best and worst of what he can do, throwing for 98 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

On his first drive, Tuttle marched the Wolverines down the field. He only threw one pass, a 5-yard completion to senior fullback Max Bredeson, but he forced the Huskies to account for his arm — a wrinkle they didn’t have to take as seriously with Orji under center. The threat of Tuttle’s arm opened up rushing lanes all over the field. Graduate running back Kalel Mullings picked up 8 yards on two carries. Tuttle himself ran for 14 yards on two carries. And

Edwards put the icing on the cake with a 39-yard touchdown run, cutting Michigan’s deficit in half.

For a while, the Wolverines sustained that momentum. Tuttle piloted a decent drive that ended in a field goal before halftime. Coming out of the break, Tuttle really took the reins, skillfully progressing through his reads to make timely throws. Facing a third-

and-10, he kept the drive alive by finding junior receiver Amorion Walker for a 22-yard gain.

A few plays later, he escaped a rapidly collapsing pocket and hit a wide open junior tight end Colston Loveland for an 8-yard touchdown to claim Michigan’s first lead of the game.

“I thought he came out and gave us a spark early,” Moore said. “Obviously, three straight drives, we had a touchdown,

Sarah Boeke/DAILY

field goal, touchdown, so I think the players fed off of that.”

The Wolverines fed off of Tuttle’s spark, so when he fed the ball straight into Washington’s clutches, they sputtered out.

Facing a tied game in the fourth quarter, Tuttle rushed up the middle and promptly fumbled the ball at his own 32-yard line. One 27-yard rush

later, the Huskies were knocking on the door, and they punched the ball into the end zone a few plays later to retake the lead.

With 6:22 left to go, Tuttle and Michigan were running out of time. And then Tuttle put the ball in Washington’s hands once again, thereby putting the game out of reach for the Wolverines. Tuttle’s interception led to a Huskies field goal and an insurmountable two-score deficit.

“In the fourth quarter, those two turnovers were huge,” Moore said. “They got 10 points off of them, so we got to do a better job taking care of football in all aspects. Jack’s going to beat himself up about that, but we can’t let him do that. We got to uplift him, and as a team, take care of him.”

With Tuttle likely being Michigan’s starter moving forward, Michigan will have plenty more opportunities to uplift him and feed off of his spark. The Wolverines got to do that for three drives on Saturday, until Tuttle’s mistakes shot them in the foot.

All eyes were on Tuttle when he addressed his teammates before entering the game. All eyes were on Tuttle when he drove Michigan’s offense down the field for three straight scoring drives. And all eyes were on Tuttle when he committed two turnovers and sealed the Wolverines’ loss.

Lys Goldman: Michigan still doesn’t know what it is, nor what it can be

SEATTLE — Halfway through the season and on the heels of a deflating loss to unranked Washington, the No. 10 Michigan football team continues to beg the question: What if? What if Davis Warren could take care of the football? What if Alex Orji had the accuracy? What if Jack Tuttle was healthy from the get-go?

Any one of these hypotheticals come true, and you’re probably looking at a very different team. But that’s just the thing — they’re all hypo -

theticals. Warren turned the ball over three times against Arkansas State. Orji threw for 118 yards total in two full games under center. Tuttle was fighting through an upper body injury for the first four weeks of the season. So three quarterbacks and six games later, it almost feels like the Wolverines are right back at square one.

First and foremost, they still don’t have a clear QB1. After stalling out on three straight drives to open Saturday’s clash with the Huskies, Orji was benched in favor of Tuttle. The graduate quarterback made his first appearance this season, coming in midway through the second frame and sparking three straight scor -

Wolverines

ROSS For The Daily

The No. 6 Michigan field hockey team knew it was in for a defensive showdown against No. 4 Ohio State. Sunday, in a rivalry matchup, the Wolverines (8-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) defeated the Buckeyes (9-1, 1-1) due to freshman forward Cami Wiseman’s game-winning goal. But that one goal on the scoreboard wasn’t the main reason Michigan won. Even before the blow of the whistle to start the first quarter, the Wolverines knew they needed a strong defense and consistent intensity in order to leave the field victorious.

“Ohio State is always a very talented team, especially in the forward line, but also defensively, so we had to work on our strengths,” Wiseman said. “We have some amazing defenders in the backfield that could really lock down some of their better players.”

Despite the strength of Michigan’s defensive unit consisting of direct passes and numerous blocks, its offense struggled early on, getting only four shots off and zero goals by halftime. As the game progressed, though, the intensity increased along with it. In the third quarter, the ball continued to bounce between the middle of the field, often getting interrupted between transitions leaving both teams scoreless and shotless. However, about seven minutes in, the Wolverines earned a pen -

ing drives. The momentum was shortlived, though. As the night wore on, Tuttle failed to keep the ball out of harm’s way, and Michigan’s early offensive struggles reared their head once more.

“We’ll see,” Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore said in response to whether he envisioned Tuttle as the starter moving forward. “But positive, positive. I think he gave us a spark, so we’ll see if he’ll be the starter. Looks like he’s giving us the best chance. Obviously we gotta clean up the turnovers at the end, but he definitely had an exciting start to the game.”

Moore often likes to keep things close to the vest, and

understandably so. But the sheer fact that Michigan’s starting quarterback is still unknown, with only six guaranteed games left, is cause for concern.

Week in and week out, the Wolverines have emphasized their ability to find success with anyone under center. So far, they haven’t shown it. None of the three quarterback options have proved capable of churning out consistent results, and with all the changes, Michigan hasn’t been able to establish a working offensive identity. Through the ups and downs of the Wolverines’ season thus far, their only real calling card is inconsistency.

And though the quarterback might be the most visible, it’s

certainly not the only roster component that’s still in flux.

The Wolverines don’t have a clear WR1, either. Before senior Dominick Giudice suffered an injury this past week, they were still rotating centers. And even with arguably the most lethal defensive tackle duo and the best cornerback in the country, they have yet to find a sustainable rhythm on defense.

“It’s football,” Moore said. “And in football, you never know what’s going to happen. So for us, we’re adjusting. We’re really working our tails off to get better, and that’s what we’re gonna do this week.”

Michigan and Moore often harp on taking everything

one week at a time, one game at a time. The goal is to go 1-0 each weekend. At some point, though, the bigger picture needs to be addressed — because with half of their schedule behind them, the Wolverines still haven’t figured out what they are, nor what they can become. What if they could execute on Saturdays the way they claim to during the week? What if they could clean up the tackling issues on defense? What if they could finally figure out how to finish games? Inconsistency breeds ‘what ifs.’ Against Washington, that inconsistency was on full display — and so far, it’s the reason Michigan has failed to establish any real identity.

prevail 1-0 over the Buckeyes in defensive battle

alty corner. They were blocked three times initially, until Wiseman picked up a rebound and dove to push the ball into the back of the Buckeyes’ net.

Although Michigan had taken the lead, the team knew that it must maintain its defensive composure to keep it — especially against a team as deep as Ohio State.

“The game is not over so anything could happen,” Wiseman said. “We’re up 1-0 but that’s

not enough, we need to maintain ourselves, keep our cool and continue the game.”

While Wiseman’s goal was crucial for the Wolverines’ victory, their defense alongside redshirt freshman goalkeeper Hala Silverstein were the flames that fueled this fire. Michigan’s goalkeepers enter every game with hopes of a shutout since the start of the season, and they have been successful numerous times. How-

ever, with such a low-scoring game like Sunday’s, it can be very tedious for the defensive unit to achieve this goal.

“Playing a 0-0 game for a majority of the game is always stressful,” Silverstein said. “It can be intense but I have a lot of trust in my defenders, so I had a good feeling about today and that we were going to come out on top and it was just the process of getting there.” What the defensive unit

found the most useful was good communication and organization. The Wolverines were extremely vocal on the field.

When the ball entered their circle, they maintained a strong formation to keep the ball away from their goalkeeper at any cost, concluding the game with only four shots allowed on net.

“Obviously the ball isn’t always coming at me, but my job as our goalkeeper usually involves communicating and just keeping us organized in the back, which I also have a lot to owe to my defenders today,” Silverstein said. “They did a great job, but we definitely work as a team to keep organized and if we can reduce the shots on goal that’s even better. If I don’t have to touch the ball, that’s great.” On Sunday, it may have been Wiseman’s goal that made the difference on the scoreboard, but it was Michigan’s defense that earned it the rivalry win.

MOLLY

WASHINGTON 27 | MICHIGAN 17

STUNNED IN SEATTLE

In game of momentum shifts, Michigan stalls late, loses to Washington

SEATTLE — Twenty minutes into Saturday’s contest between No. 10 Michigan and unranked Washington, all looked lost for the Wolverines.

In a National Championship rematch ten months after confetti had rained maize and blue in Houston, Michigan’s remade version of itself looked completely

Tuttle reshaping the contest for Michigan (4-2 overall, 2-1 Big Ten), the Wolverines couldn’t hang on to a slim lead as Washington’s quick start and late surge proved enough for the Huskies (4-2, 2-1) to emerge victorious.

“I don’t think there’s one thing, that’s football,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said of the game’s decisive moment. “Momentum swings back and forth. The big plays, the things that happened, helped them, they tied the game

Will Rogers converted a 36-yard completion and slowed down little thereafter. Piloting efficient drive after efficient drive and throwing two touchdowns to wide receivers Denzel Boston and Giles Jackson on his first four drives, Rogers put the Wolverines in a 14-0 hole.

The contest appeared to be careening towards a blowout. And then, just like that, Tuttle came in and the energy completely shifted.

capped off by a 39-yard Edwards touchdown run. Feeding off of that energy, Michigan’s defense jolted back to life as well.

By halftime, everything had flipped on its head. Michigan’s offense had put together successive scoring drives for 10 points, and its defense had forced a 3-and-out and blocked a field goal to end the half. Even down four points, the Wolverines appeared to be in control, and after the half, they didn’t relinquish it.

Tuttle again piloted an efficient touchdown drive capped off by an 8-yard pass to junior tight end Colston Loveland, and with Michigan suddenly ahead 17-14, the game appeared completely

After a punt of their own, and a field goal on what had once been a first-and-goal early in the fourth quarter, the Huskies just managed to tie the score with ten minutes remaining.

Then, Michigan shot itself in the foot, multiple times. On a crucial drive with the chance at taking the lead, Tuttle fumbled on his own 32-yard line. And in that moment, Washington forcibly retook the spark that Tuttle had given to the Wolverines. The Huskies punched the ball into the end zone on a third-and-one and retook a 24-7 lead. Michigan never recovered. Trying too hard to force points onto the board, Tuttle put the the back half, we just missed some opportunities. Me personally, I got to be better at protecting the ball. Like, I can’t fumble. I can’t do that. That’s completely on me. Can’t put the team and the defense in the situation. And then in the end, on the last drive, I can’t put the ball into danger. That’s it.” In a game of massive energy shifts, multiple key moments felt like they should’ve been decisive. The Huskies’ immediate 14-point lead should have been decisive, but it wasn’t. Tuttle’s roaring 17-point comeback after the quarterback switch should have been decisive, but it wasn’t. But when the clock ran out, Washington had the last say.

CHARLIE PAPPALARDO Daily Sports Editor

Lucas Chen & Sarah Boeke/DAILY Design by Lys Goldman