2024-10-30

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BLYS GOLDMAN

Sports Editor

efore leaving the podium during Saturday’s postgame press conferences, senior running back Donovan Edwards had one final point he needed to make.

“One last thing that I do want to hit on, about this guy right here,” Edwards said, affectionately slapping the shoulder of the player beside him — senior quarterback Davis Warren.

“I truly respect and I appreciate him, and he deserved the game that he had,” Edwards continued. “Especially being able to get his start back, to be able to lead this team to victory. Y’all better stop counting him out, man, because he’s shown time and time again that he overcomes adversity in his personal life and in the football world.”

Edwards’ comment speaks volumes about Warren’s impact

and the Michigan football team’s offensive circumstance — because on Saturday, eight weeks into the season and three quarterback changes later, the Wolverines found themselves right back at square one. Just like their first few games, Warren started while junior quarterback Alex Orji rotated in on designed plays. Michigan veered away from that identity in Week 4, but unproductive starts and an undisclosed injury in the quarterback room forced the Wolverines to revert back.

And this time, under the lights against in-state rival Michigan State, they finally figured out how to make it work.

Although the Spartans refused to go down easy — as expected in a rivalry game — Michigan (5-3 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) found a way to earn a much-needed victory, edging out Michigan State (4-4, 2-3), 24-17.

“It was huge,” Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore said. “I thought it was great. One, it’s the biggest game of the year in-state. So it means a lot for the program

to keep (the Paul Bunyan Trophy) home here … But it was huge for our kids to get a victory and feel that confidence again. I love seeing the smiles on their faces in the locker room.”

Although Michigan got the last laugh, it was the Spartans who struck first. They took an early 7-0 lead as the Wolverines struggled to move the ball for the majority of the first half. Michigan maintained possession for just one minute and 39 seconds in the opening quarter, gaining a single yard before going three-and-out to start the game.

The Wolverines finally found a semblance of offense within the final three minutes of the first half. Driven by five completions from Warren and five rushes from Edwards, they strung together their first sustainable drive. To cap it off, Warren found junior tight end Colston Loveland wide open in the end zone and put six points on the board for Michigan.

In a surprising turn of events, following a strip sack and field

goal, the Wolverines took a 9-7 lead into the locker room. Despite mustering just 15 total yards in the first quarter, Michigan suddenly had the upper hand — and from there, the Wolverines never relinquished it.

Riding the momentum of those two straight scores, Michigan dug deeper into its playbook coming out of halftime.

The Wolverines mixed in a few trick plays and continued to use Orji, who made his appearances productive with a 29-yard pickup and a rushing touchdown. While Michigan State was forced to settle for a field goal in response, Michigan’s reinvigorated offense kept rolling.

Early in the fourth quarter, a lateral to Edwards created a clear path to the end zone for Loveland, who hauled in Edwards’ well-placed pass to score his second touchdown of the night. A successful two-point conversion — again, to Loveland — put the Wolverines up 24-10.

“(Orji) got a touchdown, Dono got a touchdown and I got one,” Warren said. “So that was a

pretty fun feeling. And I think it just shows like all of us as quarterbacks, we’re just trying to do whatever we can to help the team win football games.”

Capitalizing on Michigan’s long-term tackling issues, Michigan State clawed its way back within one score midway through the final frame. The Spartans couldn’t complete the comeback, though, as quarterback Aidan Chiles’ final pass fell incomplete and the Wolverines took over on downs.

With Orji under center, they rode out the remaining time to successfully retain the Paul Bunyan Trophy. A skirmish broke out after the final whistle — something that’s almost become commonplace in these rivalry matchups — but the outcome was already decided.

Back in postgame press conferences, after making his final point about Warren, Edwards cheerfully headed back to the locker room. But Warren wasn’t the only Michigan quarterback that Edwards made sure to shout out.

“(It) was no surprise to me, that he was the leader in rushes, with 64 yards with a 10.7 average,” Edwards said about Orji. “And it’s just the fact for me that during the game … I think it was our first play in together. He said, ‘Watch what God does.’ … Just him saying that, him having the game that he’s had today, and the impact that he had for us today. That’s how God works. I’m very grateful just to be able to look at the impact that Orj made in that game.” Edwards’ comment about Warren speaks volumes, and so does his about Orji. Because on Saturday, in what felt like a full circle moment, the Wolverines returned to their day-one offensive structure — except this time, with zero penalties and zero turnovers, it worked. So although the Wolverines entered the rivalry matchup back at square one, it now looks like they might’ve finally found a sustainable way forward.

Rev. Al Sharpton and Exonerated Five visit Ann Arbor, encourage students to vote

Sharpton, George Floyd’s brother and two members of the Exonerated Five discussed the importance of election participation

AVA CHATLOSH Daily Staff Reporter

More than 100 people crowded the Michigan Union’s Kuenzel Room Thursday afternoon to hear from civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton, George Floyd’s brother, Terrence Floyd, and two members of the Exonerated Five, Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam, on the importance of voting.

The Exonerated Five, formerly known as the Central Park Five, consist of Salaam, Wise, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson and Antron Brown (formerly Antron McCray). The five men were wrongfully convicted of rape following the 1989 attack of a woman in Central Park. The men were teens when they were arrested and gave confessions that they later retracted, stating that they confessed due to police coercion. The men spent between 6 to 13-plus years in prison before being exonerated in 2002 following the confession of the true culprit, whose DNA matched that found at the crime scene.

The group stopped in Ann Arbor on their tour around Michigan to encourage students to vote. The event was organized by the Black Student Union, and was the third

stop on the “Wheels of Justice” bus tour, which also made stops in Detroit, Pontiac and Flint.

BSU Vice Speaker Alyssa Peek organized the event and said in an interview with The Michigan Daily that the event was an important opportunity to mobilize Black voters on campus.

“We’re trying to get more Black students out to vote, whether that’s registering them or just encouraging them to go to the (University of Michigan Museum of Art) or go to the (Duderstadt Center),” Peek said.

“Having such high profile people come to the University and then speak and really emphasize and bring home that point and build that type of credibility; it’s just really important for Black students or just anyone else to hear.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II kicked off the event. Gilchrist, a U-M alum, recounted that during his time at the University, students organized a racist bake sale initiative to oppose affirmative action, and implored the crowd to take action to combat racism on campus and nationwide.

“I tell this story because there’s always something that we can do to stop something bad from happening,” Gilchrist said. “You can use your person, you can use your

ideas, you can use your votes, you can use your energy. And I want to challenge all of you. When you see something, I want you to confront it, because nothing has ever gotten better as a result of somebody not doing something about it. The electoral process will not get better if we don’t participate in it.”

Sharpton similarly emphasized students’ critical role in this election in his remarks.

“This election will determine where your life is going to go,” Sharpton said. “In the last year, we have seen many of the things that were fought for … in terms of civil rights and voting rights, and women’s rights overturned. So the life I grew up with, you will not grow up with.”

LSA sophomore Clarke Norman said in an interview with The Daily that the event inspired her to share the Exonerated Five’s story and encourage her peers to vote.

“I may share their story more because I know a lot of people probably don’t know the story,” Norman said. “So I would go out, maybe share their story, and encourage people to vote.”

With the election 11 days away, Sharpton reminded the audience that in 1989, former President Donald Trump spent $85,000 on full-page ads in four prominent

New York-based newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty following the coerced confessions of the Exonerated Five.

“He took $85,000 and bought an ad saying those young Black boys and brown boys should be executed,” Sharpton said. “‘Bring back the death penalty.’ That’s the only racial statement he made, until he started running for president.” The Five filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump Monday for statements he made during the Sept. 10 presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. Salaam, who is now a member of the New York City Council, spoke on how the group knows what is at stake in the election.

“What happened to us is nothing short of a miracle,” Salaam said. “Your children’s children’s children’s children yet to be born are counting on you to do what’s necessary. … I want you to vote, not just because your life depends on it, because those children yet to be born’s lives depend on it. That’s what’s at stake.”

Harris, Walz visit Ann Arbor to rally for a ‘Different Kind of World’ The rally also featured local political leaders and musical guest Maggie Rogers

With eight days until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, rallied voters in Ann Arbor alongside running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, musical guest Maggie Rogers and local political leaders.

Monday’s rally in Burns Park was Harris’ latest appearance in a string of campaign events around Michigan, which is one of seven swing states expected to decide the presidential race. Harris joined former First Lady Michelle Obama for a campaign rally in Kalamazoo Saturday, where she emphasized her plans to strengthen the economy and protect reproductive freedom.

Recent polling in the state shows Harris and former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, virtually tied, and Trump also returned to the state this week in a final push to appeal to voters.

Justin Thach, a U-M alum and organizer with the Harris campaign, opened the rally with remarks on the importance of civic and voter engagement, followed by a speech from Tony West, Harris’ brother-in-law and former U.S. associate attorney general.

Assad Turfe, Wayne County deputy executive, said in his remarks he has felt the pain and grief over the last year due to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. Turfe urged voters who feel similarly to vote for Harris in the next eight days, citing Trump’s support of the Israeli military campaign, as well as his previous offensive remarks about Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.

“Trump has praised the Israeli war in Gaza and encouraged Netanyahu, ‘Do what you have to do,’” Turfe said. “He even said Israel should ‘finish the job.’ Just last month, Trump said that he would block Palestinian refugees from coming to the United States. Trump has called Yemeni immigrants terrorists, and he uses the word Palestinian as a slur. Trump has promised to bring back his racist travel and refugee ban, and he said it would be even bigger this time. If he gets another chance to occupy the Oval Office, he will only bring more chaos and more suffering.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, also spoke at the

event. Dingell highlighted how the values of Ann Arbor voters contrast with the values of the Republican party, and encouraged attendees to vote.

“See, in Michigan, we look out for one another,” Dingell said. “We respect our neighbors and let them make their own choices. … We treat each other with decency and kindness, and we send bullies back to where they came from. So in these next eight days, you all have to fight for them, and it starts with making a plan to vote.”

In his remarks at the rally, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II pointed to the achievements of the state government since the 2022 midterms, when voters elected Democrats to the state House, state Senate and the governorship, as motivation for Michiganders to vote Democratic in 2024.

“We’ve shown people here in Michigan that Democratic government is worth fighting for and worth voting for, because me and Gretchen Whitmer — our amazing governor — (and) the first Democratic trifecta in 40 years have delivered on everything from putting money in people’s pockets to protecting reproductive freedom,” Gilchrist said. “And we have to make sure that we keep an ally in the White House, and the

strongest ally for Michigan is Vice President Kamala Harris.”

Gilchrist closed his remarks by introducing indie singersongwriter Maggie Rogers, who performed renditions of five of her most popular songs, opening with “Love You For a Long Time” and closing with “Different Kind of World.” Rogers, who is currently on tour for her most recent album, Don’t Forget Me, said she came to Michigan to campaign for the Harris-Walz ticket because of the importance of the election.

“As I’m standing here today, I can’t ignore the headlines that I’ve been seeing on my phone any longer,” Rogers said. “I have to face the reality of what’s happening in the next eight days. To tell you the complete truth, it’s terrifying. These are such wild and unprecedented times, and the energy feels so high, and the future feels so uncertain and I don’t always know what to do with that feeling. But there is something to me that is greater than fear — and that’s action. All of you being here today, right now, and voting. Voting is the key to the future.”

After Rogers’ performance, LSA freshman Gauri Chawla, student fellow with the Michigan One Campaign, spoke to attendees about her experience as a first-

time voter during this election. Chawla said she felt the choice between Trump and Harris was clear.

“This year is the first time I have ever been able to vote, and I am thrilled to be supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” Chawla said. “As a student and a first time voter, the choice between a candidate who wants to protect my freedoms, and a candidate fighting to take them away could not be easier.”

In an interview with The Michigan Daily before the event, Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor emphasized that — in addition to the presidential election — local, down-ballot races have a significant impact on people’s day-to-day life. Taylor highlighted Michigan’s state Supreme Court race and Ann Arbor’s ballot proposals, which have made waves in the community.

“I think it’s incredibly important that we recognize that while the partisan ballot exists and is there, down ballot races are crucial to people’s quality of life,” Taylor said. “You’ve got the state level races, like the Supreme Court, you’ve got local races, like props A, B and C and D. … It’s incredibly important that people

understand what’s at stake.” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, took the stage shortly after Chawla to highlight Harris’ platform and her record in office as a prosecutor, U.S. senator and vice president.

“She stood up for women and children against predators and abusers,” Walz said. “She stood up for seniors and workers against fraudsters and big corporate needs. And she stood up for families and communities and took on transnational gangs and traffickers.”

Walz also asked the men in the crowd to think about the women in their lives as they cast their vote this November, emphasizing Harris’ commitment to sign a national law codifying the right to an abortion if it came across her desk.

“All of you have those women in your life, daughters, partners, sisters, friends, neighbors, colleagues, whoever it might be,” Walz said. “Their lives are at stake in this election. Let me be very clear about this — when Congress restores the right to choose, making Roe the law of the land, Kamala Harris will proudly sign it into law.” Harris, who held a rally in Texas Friday alongside U.S.

Senate candidate Colin Allred and musical guest Beyoncé, cited the state’s current abortion policy as an example of the harms inflicted by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Texas law currently prohibits all abortions after the point at which the fetus’s heartbeat can be heard, usually about five or six weeks, with no exceptions in cases of rape or incest.

“I was in Texas the other day,” Harris said. “You know, they provide prison for life for doctors and nurses and health care providers for providing care — prison for life. For a crime that is a violation of someone’s body, and then to tell a survivor of that violation, ‘You have no right to make a decision about what happens to your body.’ That is immoral. It is immoral. And I know you all agree: One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do.”

Shortly after taking the stage, Harris’ remarks were interrupted by a group of pro-Palestine protesters within the rally crowd. In response to their chants of “Israel bombs, Kamala pays,” Harris emphasized her support for a cease-fire deal that would put a stop to Israeli military violence in Gaza and bring the remaining hostages home.

Harris also directly addressed the young voters in the crowd, highlighting their leadership in fighting for social issues that the Harris campaign has been emphasizing.

“One of the things about (your generation) is that you are rightly impatient for change,” Harris said. “You have only known the climate crisis, and are leading the charge to protect our planet and our future. You young leaders who grew up with active shooter drills and are fighting then to keep our schools safe. You, who now know fewer rights than your mothers and grandmothers, are standing up for reproductive freedom.”

Ann Arbor resident Paul Hackert told The Daily he has already voted for Harris because he supports abortion access and aid for Ukraine. He also said he believes in Harris’ economic policies, but also because he appreciates her approach to the campaign in general.

“I really like her theme of positive, going forward,” Hackert said. “I really don’t like Trump. Honestly, I despise him. He’s just a despicable individual. So I like her positive approach, I hate his un-American, horrible approach.”

MARY COREY & SAMANTHA RICH Daily News Editor & Co-Editor in Chief

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell speaks at domestic violence awareness panel

Students Against Domestic Abuse, an organization aiming to raise awareness about domestic violence and support survivors, hosted a discussion panel on domestic violence at the Ford School of Public Policy Tuesday afternoon. The panel featured local experts on domestic violence and gender-based equity and included insights from individuals in political, nonprofit and academic fields. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., who has become a prominent Congressional advocate for preventing domestic violence, moderated the panel.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, nearly one-third of female college students report experiences of intimate partner violence.

LSA senior Shuyan Tang was one of the founders of Student Against Domestic Abuse and currently serves as the internal president of the organization. Tang told The Michigan Daily in an interview he created the group after recognizing a need for increased domestic violence awareness on campus.

“There’s no other student organization on the Michigan campus that focuses on domestic abuse prevention, uniquely or exclusively,” Tang said. “It’s important for us to provide this community for people with similar experiences to share and find

communities, and also promote awareness.”

Public Policy junior Madeleine Wren, external president of SADA, told The Daily that part of the organization’s goal is to facilitate more conversations about domestic violence.

“We think that domestic violence is something that’s not talked about enough on campus, even though we’re in the age group that is most likely to be survivors of domestic abuse,” Wren said. “We wanted to fill that hole on campus.”

Dingell serves as the co-chair of the Domestic Violence Task Force for the House of Representatives alongside U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis. Dingell asked panelists to discuss how students can recognize the signs of an abusive relationship and support their friends who may be experiencing one.

“Intimate partner violence is a more common problem on college

UMich and MSU ROTC students run 64 miles in annual fundraiser before rivalry football game

The run was part of the 11th annual Alex’s Great State Race, which honors the memory of Alex Powell

The panel also featured local experts in political, nonprofit and academic fields ELIZABETH

About 50 students in the University of Michigan and Michigan State University ROTC program completed a 64-mile backroad trek Friday morning as part of the 11th annual Alex’s Great State Race. The race occurs every year on the Friday before the Saturday rivalry football game between MSU and the University. Cadets from both schools run the game-day ball from one campus to the other each year.

Alex’s Great State Race honors the memory of Alex Powell, a former MSU student who lost his life from a rare form of aggressive cancer. While Powell was battling cancer, he was able to continue his education due to support he received from the Michigan State Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities while receiving cancer treatment at Michigan Medicine. The annual race serves as a fundraiser for the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities at MSU and the U-M Students Accessibility and Accommodations Services, which is housed in the Services for Students with Disabilities office.

The race had an early morning start, with runners taking off at 1 a.m. in East Lansing. Participants finished at approximately 12 p.m. in Ann Arbor. There were security measures, inlcuding flashers for runners to see the course and signs that read “Runners on road ahead,” in place to maintain the safety of the runners throughout the 11-hour course.

Richard Bernstein, Michigan Supreme Court justice, joined the runners at the five-mile mark, and students from the U-M Adaptive Sports & Fitness teams joined the group in the last mile of the run.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Alex’s mother Juliana Powell shared her inspiration for creating the event and her desire to give back to the programs that supported Alex during his battle with cancer. She explained how the race raises money for the two school’s accessibility programs.

“After Alex’s passing, I just wanted to find a way to give back, and it was an easy thing to want to give back to the University here, as well as back home at East Lansing,” Powell said. “We’re raising money for both (schools). We have two fully endowed scholarships at both schools now that help students who need assistance.”

Louis Goldstein, captain and assistant professor of military science in the Wolverine Battalion, told The Daily that ROTC members volunteered to run the 64-mile trail. He also spoke about how this event is tied to broader goals and values of military service.

“Military service isn’t just pulling a trigger or what some of those connotations are,” Goldstein said. “We’re here because of the service orientation that service can be. We’re here for the community.”

Public Policy junior Samuel Roberts highlighted the unique collaboration between military programs and civilians during the overnight trek.

Center, described how the advancement of technology has led to new forms of abuse among college students.

“Posting or threatening to post private pictures or videos on social media, forcing partners to share account passwords, monitoring accounts or managing who they can be friends with, it goes on and on and on,” Huhman said.

“This is a tactic that’s particularly challenging to navigate when in an intimate partner violence relationship.”

campuses than many people want to acknowledge and women are disproportionately victimized,” Dingell said.

Elizabeth Seney, director of Gender Equity and Title IX coordinator, explained that students experiencing domestic violence have multiple options for support through the University of Michigan’s Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX Office.

“A person can decide if they want to explore resolution processes like an investigation process or an adaptable resolution process through the University,” Seney said. “There are supportive measures that they’re entitled to at the University to maintain or restore that access to their education and to all the things that they’re here at U of M to do.”

Panelist Anne Huhman, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness

ADMINISTRATION

Huhman also addressed misconceptions that contribute to barriers for survivors trying to come forward and share their story.

“People don’t want to believe that someone that they’re friends with and have chosen to build a relationship with would do something like that,” Huhman said. “So that’s where we have people not believing survivors when they come forward.”

Dingell closed out the session by sharing her personal experience with domestic violence and urging audience members to seek out resources if needed.

“I lived in a home where there was domestic violence, and things have changed since I was a child,” Dingell said. “It’s really important, as we have these discussions here, that you feel comfortable asking questions and knowing that there are resources that you or your friend can go to where there is help.”

at MichiganDaily.com

GEO rallies at Michigan League to challenge reduction in GSI positions

The rally follows policy changes raising minimum student enrollment for a course to hire a GSI

no to the grievance hearings, so both arguments were denied.”

About 35 University of Michigan students and staff gathered in front of the Michigan League Friday morning for a rally challenging LSA’s decision to reduce the number of graduate student instructor positions by 8% this semester. The decision is reflected in changes in the LSA Graduate Student Allocation Guidelines, a policy implemented in February that outlines changes to increase the minimum student enrollment for a course to hire a GSI and a stricter preference for doctoral students in LSA over master’s and professional students.

The Graduate Employees’ Organization filed two grievances against the University in April and May regarding the lack of notification about the Graduate Student Allocation Guidelines’ implementation and changes to the GSI hiring policy. In an interview with The Michigan Daily at the event, Rackham student Conrad Kosowsky said the University had declined hearings for both grievances, which prompted GEO to initiate arbitration.

“One grievance is about a notification requirement in our contract, saying they had to tell us that this policy was happening,” Kosowsky said. “They did not notify us that the policy was happening. The second grievance is about the contents of the hiring rules. We have a number of provisions in our collective bargaining agreement … that speak to why LSA shouldn’t be putting in place hiring rules that look like these new policies. They said

In an interview with The Daily at the event, GEO President Nicolas Juarez said he believes the GSI cuts reflect the U-M administration trying to cut costs after GEO won pay raises in 2023.

“One of the things that we feel is that this is a direct result of the University trying to basically not honor the wins that we won in our most recent contract because we won larger raises,” Juarez said. “It’s obvious the University is trying to pay less people, and a big part of that as well is that they’re increasing the number of classes that a GSI needs to teach.”

Kosowsky opened the rally and introduced GEO Vice President Ariana Haidari. Haidari said GEO gathered to publicly denounce the University’s decision to decrease the number of GSI positions available.

“Today we are here because the University, by having an $18 billion endowment, has decided to choose austerity and choose to cut positions, rather than to prioritize the quality of education, the workplaces we deserve and generally — as a surprise to no one — doing the right thing,” Haidari said.

Rita Lee, admissions counselor at Stamps School of Art & Design, spoke after Haidari and said GSIs are a valuable part of the educational experience at the University.

“When I heard about this, I thought a lot about my undergraduate experience,” Lee said. “I wasn’t an LSA student. I was in the art school. At least 40% of my education was given by graduate students like you.

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Early in-person voting underway across Michigan

Election Day may be more than a week away, but Ann Arbor residents and University of Michigan students have already started casting their ballots for the 2024 general election.

Proposal 2, an amendment to the Michigan Constitution approved by voters in 2022 mandates a minimum of nine days of early voting before statewide and federal elections. Early voting centers must be open for at least eight hours a day until Sunday, Nov. 3. This year, early voting began Saturday, Oct. 26.

Ann Arbor residents can cast their ballots early at six locations, including the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Duderstadt Center, Ann Arbor city hall and three local libraries.

The Ann Arbor City Clerk has satellite offices at the UMMA and the Duderstadt Center, where students and community members can register to vote, check their registration status and mail or cast their ballots. The voting centers will be open Nov. 4 from 11 a.m. to

4 p.m. for last-minute registration and on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for in-person voting.

Nursing junior Chazia Siskowski, a UMICH Votes Fellow who provides resources and assistance to voters, told The Michigan Daily early voting turnout at the UMMA exceeded her expectations.

“For the first day of early voting, it has honestly blown me away,” Siskowski said. “We had a line filling the entire lobby of the UMMA.” As of Sunday afternoon, Michigan’s voting dashboard stated that nearly 23% of registered

voters in the state have cast more than 150,000 ballots early or absentee. Jacqueline Beaudry, the Ann Arbor city clerk, reported that Ann Arbor had the highest statewide early voting turnout on the first day at 2,011 voters.

LSA senior Annie Rollins said in an interview with The Daily that she initially planned to vote absentee but later chose to vote early in person because of the excitement of casting her ballot at a polling place. Voters who request absentee ballots but decide to vote in person instead must sign an affidavit stating that they only voted once.

“I decided to vote early in-person because I received my absentee ballot in the mail a while ago, but it’s kind of exciting actually to go vote in-person,” Rollins said.

“The whole voting process can be confusing, especially being on campus. You don’t know where to go, so having central resources like this at the UMMA and the Dude is really helpful.”

Unlike absentee voting, where ballots are sealed and counted later, early voting allows voters to fill out their ballot in person and feed it directly to a tabulator, just

as they would on Election Day. However, the machines do not tally the results until polls close.

Wayne County, which has 14 early voting centers, was the first jurisdiction in Michigan to start early voting for the general election on Oct. 19. Other communities, like East Lansing and Canton Township, also began early voting ahead of the required nine-day window.

U-M alum Ronnie Sharangpani emphasized the importance of civic engagement and urged people to get out the vote in an interview with The Daily.

“Whether you personally care about voting, I get that life gets busy, and it might not be on your mind even during election time, but maintain and exert your will on both yourself and systemic issues,” Sharangpani said. “It’s pretty much imperative that you should vote and be civically engaged.”

LSA senior Julia Rehring told The Daily that she chose to cast her ballot in person over voting absentee because she felt it was important to exercise her voting rights even before Election Day.

CSG revotes and passes

The Wolverines’ Budget Act, fails to pass the Rebuilding Education in Gaza Act

The Assembly also discussed safety concerns

The University of Michigan’s Central Student Government met virtually Tuesday night to vote on the reconsideration of F24-001: The Wolverines’ Budget Act and F24-002: Rebuilding Education in Gaza Act. The Assembly also discussed CSG president Alifa Chowdhury’s Instagram post on CSG’s page following the initial passage of F24-001 and failure of F24-002, which has since been deleted, as well as concerns over member safety following disruptions to their Oct. 8 meeting. The assembly started the meeting by swearing in new members, recalling members who had exceeded maximum unexcused absences and hearing community concerns.

Afterwards, they began discussion on the Wolverines’ Budget Act and the Rebuilding

Education in Gaza Act. LSA senior Mario Thaqi, speaker of the Assembly, explained that since the budget was passed at CSG’s last meeting, the executive committee had requested a reconsideration, which is not the same as a veto.

“Just for some clarification, last week we passed F24-001 and failed F24-002,” Thaqi said. “However, it is within the president’s powers to ask us to reconsider our vote within six days. This is different from a veto.

A veto requires a two-thirds vote and is the president rejecting a piece of business whereas a reconsideration means the president is asking us to revote. If we get a simple majority on either vote they pass. However, the difference here is that once one of these petitions passes it will go into effect because it cannot ask to be reconsidered again. This will be the last vote on these petitions.”

The Assembly then held a secret ballot vote on the two budget acts. The Wolverines’ Budget

Wallace House hosts political journalists and experts for roundtable on 2024 election

The panelists touched on political realignment, polarization, immigration and misinformation

More than 200 University of Michigan students and community members gathered in the Rackham Auditorium Wednesday night to hear nationally renowned journalists and experts discuss the upcoming general election. The conversation, hosted by the Wallace House Center for Journalists, touched on political realignment, polarization, immigration and misinformation. The event was titled “One Nation, Divergent Views: A Pre-Election Roundtable” and moderated by Detroit-based public radio journalist Stephen Henderson.

The panel’s speakers included Lydia Polgreen, New York Times opinion columnist, María Elena Salinas, ABC news contributor and broadcast journalist, opinion columnist Bret Stephens and Vincent Hutchings, Hanes Walton, Jr. collegiate professor of political science and Afroamerican and African studies. The speakers first considered questions from Henderson and later opened the floor to questions from the audience.

Throughout the panel, speakers considered whether party structures are changing and, in turn, whether these potential shifts make the outcome of the upcoming election more difficult to predict. Stephens said he believed shifting party demographics make election forecasting more difficult.

“It used to be a case that working class voters voted Democrat,” Stephens said. “That has shifted, in part, because the identities of the parties have shifted along with the correlation between levels of education and party affiliation.

So what appears to be this kind of 50-50, country, actually masks, I think, a lot of movement that’s very difficult to predict.”

Salinas similarly suggested that in her personal reporting experience, she has noticed movement within the Latine community between different political parties. Vice President Kamala Harris is currently polling lower among the Latine community than the Democratic nominees in the last six elections.

“Most Latino women are supporting Kamala Harris, but it’s Latino men, particularly young Latino men, that, like… non-college educated men, they are going towards Trump,” Salinas said.

Hutchings addressed these observations with skepticism and said that, as a political scientist, he believes it is important to exercise caution when identifying trends in voting behavior.

“There may well be shifts, and those shifts may be sufficiently consequential to decide the outcome,” Hutchings said. “But the notion that there will be dramatic changes, that some group of voters are moving towards one party or another — it’s way too soon to know that.”

Speakers also considered what kinds of qualities in candidates are most effective in encouraging people to vote. Stephens

suggested that some voters might be drawn to former President Trump due to the perception that his presidency will create a sense of stability in their lives.

“Their instinct is to go to the candidate who seems to be — although I see (him) as a chaos agent — the heavy-handed guy who gets things in order,” Stephens said.

Polgreen said she believes when trying to predict voter behavior, it is important to remember that people do not always behave or vote rationally.

“People aren’t making decisions based on an empirical study of facts or history,” Polgreen said. “We’ve published so many focus groups and things of people who (say) ‘When Trump was president our car payment was less’ … but there’s a lot of other stuff that goes into it that is extremely salient to the state of the world.”

LSA senior Maurielle Courtois, is the co-president of Turn Up Turnout, a nonpartisan U-M student organization promoting voter engagement. Courtois attended the event and said she enjoyed learning more about how the panelists understood the election in the context of their voting experience.

“I have such a Gen Z perspective of elections and voting, like it’s my first time voting in a presidential election,” Courtois said. “Everyone on that panel has had a multitude of opportunities to vote … so their perspective is, I would say, different, because they have other elections to compare this one to. This is the only one that I have experienced voting in.”

Act passed and the Rebuilding Education in Gaza Act failed.

The majority of the rest of the meeting focused on Executive Reports, during which the Assembly discussed their Oct. 8 meeting, which was cut short due to student protestors disrupting the Assembly with chants, as well as a post made on CSG’s Instagram account the following evening.

Many members expressed concerns for their safety. LSA junior Eric Veal, vice speaker, said he had received threats from people on campus and felt unsafe coming to CSG meetings.

“I’ll be very candid, I have received threats about going to class and where I live,” Veal said. “I didn’t come to CSG to be harassed on campus. I don’t feel supported and I don’t feel safe coming to meetings because people are walking around saying they are going to physically harm me or people at

SHANE BAUM Daily Staff Reporter

Ava Farah/DAILY A ROTC cadet holds the game ball after it was carried all the way from East Lansing for the 11th annual Alex’s Great State Race Friday morning.

Soyeon Kim/DAILY

AMANDA VENCLOITE-PIRANI Daily Staff Reporter

MADDYN SHAPIRO Daily Staff Reporter

What are you afraid to say? What words make up the cell you can’t seem to escape? Why is that solid feeling of water in your lungs dragging you down

like an anchor at sea? What do you have living in your heart’s Pandora’s box that you never want to let out? It must be something big, or maybe it just feels that way. It must be hard dragging all that weight around, trapped by it the same way you continue to trap it

inside yourself. Whatever it is — a desire, a fear, a dream, a regret — it will hold you hostage as long as you’re its only home. If you just tell someone — anyone — you could breathe again. You wouldn’t be the only one carrying it. And how nice would it be to have an extra set of hands?

Confessions of a Notes app poet

Instapoetry. I will never, ever miss an opportunity to bash it. Published screenshots of lazy three-line verses, they are everything they sound like. Uninteresting, unoriginal, unstructured and painfully fake-deep — self-serious but ridiculous. A complete affront to literature.

These critical claims, though, would be an understatement from anybody given access to my phone’s Notes app. What lies in the pages of its “writing” folder is arguably several times worse than the work of the average Instapoet. Partially written (and completely melodramatic) sentences and metaphors I jot down at two in the morning convinced they are intellectual blessings, all combine to create embarrassing, free-verse confessions of my deepest emotional experiences.

Writing Notes app poetry has become one of my favorite outlets. It also produces something that I would never let anyone else read; even admitting that it exists prompts the little voice in the back of my head that tells me “you are not a vibe bro.” Within the locked notes nestled between my Friday to-do list and my “movies-to-watch” list lie a history of my relationships, expressions of grief and other flowery-language-ridden thoughts that

make me roll my eyes when I read them back. But, this is also what makes these poems so valuable — they’re authentic and unfiltered, not intended for anyone’s eyes except my own. This means they are unburdened by any standards or expectations of quality, unlike any other form of expression.

I struggle with creating anything that I know will be seen. I love writing and making art, but the concept of an audience makes me fixate on small details and filter what I have to say. I even tried formally journaling for a bit, but I didn’t like having a tangible account of my passing thoughts. The idea that my hypothetical future grandchildren might read the entries gave me serious stage fright.

Writing poems in my Notes app feels perfectly impermanent. I ran out of iCloud storage a couple of years ago, so chances are they’ll cease to exist when my iPhone 11 dies. Nobody can read my Notes app confessions, and I’m fairly sure nobody wants to; who cares about the things I write so unceremoniously?

This detachment is what makes writing there so comfortable. While there’s a kind of fulfillment in creating art to share, there’s a special freedom in creating art that’s built to be thrown away. There’s no shortage of artists who discuss the benefits of making bad art — it strengthens

you against failures, giving you space and experience to improve.

It’s a necessary step in any creative endeavor. But also, it doesn’t only have to be a “step.” Though the practice of writing is inherently productive, what is produced from writing has no obligation to evolve. Your bad poetry can live and die in your Notes app, and that can be all that it amounts to.

I’m involved in multiple forms of creative expression in my daily life (writing, film, fashion, etc.) so I’m constantly conscious of what my work is “trying to do.” Whether it’s a class assignment or a project I’m taking on in my own time, there will always be pressures — internal and external — to give my art a purpose. Allowing myself a space where whatever I create seriously does not matter and has absolutely no point for anyone aside from myself has created the perfect drain to dump my thoughts that don’t make the cut anywhere else. It gives me a place to depart from them, to walk away cleansed and refreshed.

These throwaway thoughts, held to no responsibility to be valuable, occasionally also bloom into writing that I want to share. Without the pressure to create something “good,” I can write more, creating a bank of ideas I can develop later, whether in a short story or an article.

The cost of those hands might feel too great. You’ll have to be braver than you’ve been thus far to pass it into someone else’s palm. Stronger still to carry it off your chest. But the truth tends to get out — better to relinquish it yourself than elongate your own self-imposed suffering.

Your cage will disappear once you let it, and then all that is left is to step out into the light. Liberated. You could float up to the surface and fill your lungs with air. Saved. That noise from whatever’s rattling around in Pandora’s box would finally stop filling your ears. At peace.

But confessions don’t come easily. Writers know that better than anyone. Every line is a confession of emotion, of belief, of observation. By writing, they string them together every day. In the Confessions B-Side, nine Daily Arts writers will show you how to confess.

Yes, you are the asshole

the OP (original poster) to discuss developments and ask for further advice.

I doubt I could write a movie with more twists than a Reddit post. From romance to horror stories, the site truly has it all. I’ve spent countless hours scrolling through threads, enraptured by the sheer absurdity of the situations I was reading about. Every time I expected a story to wrap up, another curveball got thrown and my bedtime was delayed by another two hours. Reading through a thread, it’s easy to find entertainment the same way you would in a book or movie. It’s fun to treat a post like fiction — something to laugh at, share with your friends and scroll away from. Then, reality hits you like a gut punch when you remember that many of these stories are true, down to their most intimate details.

Since its creation in 2013, the popular “Am I the Asshole?” subreddit has become a cesspool of oversharing. Users often visit the subreddit to ask for advice on interpersonal conflicts in their lives, looking to determine whether or not they’re the “asshole” in the situation. Commenters bestow the judgment of YTA (You’re the Asshole) or NTA (Not the Asshole) and provide their opinions on the circumstances. If a situation is ongoing, posts may be edited by

While the AITA subreddit has helped many users remedy their conflicts, it has also attracted hoards of people looking to validate their poor decisions. Neglectful parents and jealous spouses often hijack the subreddit, complaining about graves they dug for themselves. One poster forbade her husband from attending his best friend’s funeral because she believed their relationship was “inappropriate.” Another screamed at her adult daughter’s roommate, whom she called a “leech,” while her daughter was hospitalized. She claimed the roommate was the reason her daughter did not want to speak with her in the hospital, saying she “KNEW that leech did something to make that happen.” In both posts, commenters called out the OP’s vitriol, recommending a healthy dose of self-reflection and empathy.

When opening up personal disputes to public opinion, it’s important to recognize the difference between venting frustration and asking for advice. The core question behind AITA is whether the OP is wrong in the situation, but posters like these easily become defensive when receiving negative feedback. This twisted perspective only causes posters to push back harder when they are inevi-

tably called out for their behavior. For advice to be helpful, the OP must be willing to accept it, which many are unwilling to do. And of course, who can forget the infamous Cbat incident? One fateful day, under the Today I Fucked Up subreddit, user Tyler Life posted to admit to playing Hudson Mohawke’s “Cbat” during intimacy. His girlfriend (shockingly) hated the song, leading to a rift in their relationship. The post sent the internet into a frenzy as more people listened to the song, putting Life’s unconventional music taste during intimate moments on full display. After the thread was discovered by his girlfriend’s younger sister, the relationship ended, but the legacy of Cbat lives on. While the strangeness of these experiences makes for solid entertainment, it’s important to consider the real-world consequences of Reddit posts. Even when using pseudonyms or throwaway accounts, AITA or TIFU stories may reveal extremely personal information about the OP or other players involved. Sharing intimate details about a partner online, often without their knowledge or consent, can jeopardize their privacy, as it did for Life. In extreme situations, the safety of the individuals involved may be compromised.

CECILIA DORE Senior Arts Editor

MINA TOBYA Senior Arts Editor

Vivien Wang/DAILY

Vivien Wang/DAILY

MORGAN SIERADSKI Daily Arts Writer

Haylee Bohm/DAILY

This summer, in the wake of a disappointing Bridgerton season, no one — at least no one on my Twitter and Tiktok feeds — would shut up about the release of “My Lady Jane.” It’s a TV-14 historical fantasy series for which a large selling point was the fact that it stepped on “Bridgerton”’s toes with its modernized period romance plotline. It was heralded as funny, sexy and romantic. It honestly seemed like something I would have liked in middle school and, I don’t know if it was the heat or the long hours of working behind a service desk, but one day I broke and decided to watch it. All of it. I binged all eight episodes of “My Lady Jane” in one day, and boy do I want that time back.

In defense of my somewhat manic eight-hour watch party, “My Lady Jane” is a show designed to be binged. A disembodied voice provides exposition, a feature that has proven popular in many other direct-to-streamer shows (“Jane the Virgin” or “Never Have I Ever” and, of course, “Bridgerton” come to mind) and it requires very little mental engagement to enjoy. Any tedious, thoughtprovoking mysteries are only

really left as mysteries for the characters; the show’s voice has a lewd and shocking sense of humor — especially considering the young adult book it was based on — and the plot never meanders, just jerks from twist to twist, giving audiences very little time to catch their breath.

The show follows an altered version of the story of real-life, nine-day queen, Lady Jane Grey. Why is it altered? The narrator kicks us off with a very direct explanation: “Jane could have been the leader England needed but instead history remembers her as the ultimate damsel in distress. Fuck that. What if history were different?” It’s all very tongue-incheek.

Never fear — in this version, we are not doing real-life person Lady Jane Grey a disservice by depicting the very real unjustified death she suffered at the hands of Tudor-era England. She is no longer an agency-less political puppet for the members at court, who dies as a result of political maneuvering out of her control. She is no longer a helpless damsel who is a discredit to feminism. Instead, she is an empowered, fearless firecracker who … is still an agency-less political puppet for the members at court. But it’s okay! She doesn’t technically die in this one! And her husband is hot!

The show rejects the real Jane Grey’s tragedy, only to parade around her name and world, discovering along the way that just because Jane has a visible personality, it doesn’t make her any less subject to the misogyny of the time. She is still sidelined, still accused of bogus charges and sentenced to execution because of them. It’s like the show is dancing around the reason all of this happened to her. It disparages the real figure Lady Jane Grey as a damsel in distress and trades her in for a newer model. This one is smart! She has aspirations! And an attitude! And by the time the story is over, it’s like the show has realized — extremely late in the process — that all of these upgrades are for naught. The blame for Jane Grey’s imprisonment and death is not to be placed on Jane Grey’s personality, but on the political situation around her. Shocking. You can’t change the course of her life by throwing in a combative personality. The tragedy of Lady Jane Grey’s story is her lack of agency.

The opening narration is a symptom of the larger problem I have with the show: its shallowness. There’s no message about the real Jane Grey’s life or her treatment in the history books, and there’s no message beyond the attempted dissolution of prejudice towards their token

suppressed group: Ethians — magical humans that can turn into animals at will. A conflict that is based on the real-life conflict between Catholics and Protestants during that time period.

While I understand not wanting to go on a deep dive about Tudor-era religious tensions in a young adult book — a designation for books targeted towards readers aged 18, but also 12 — this kind of world-building

is not uncommon in many young adult fantasy novels. A simple narrative about this kind of group antagonism is something that younger audiences can benefit from. Learning to challenge the status quo and critically engage with the world around them is a valuable skill, and it’s not uncommon to see these diluted, black-and-white, “them-vs.-us” narratives in the YA genre. That being said, if the one part of your show that gives away that it was

based on a YA novel is the

Faye Webster, like many young adults, has known the pain of a crush on someone who didn’t even know her name. Unlike most, she confessed her love to a celebrity crush through her song “A Dream With A Baseball Player.” She does not divulge the player’s name in the lyrics, but she tells the press — from Interview Magazine to ESPN — that it’s Atlanta Braves generational standout Ronald Acuña Jr. The slow, dreamy song feels like

a late-night conversation with a friend, but Webster sings it directly to her love. It feels fitting to profess my current athletic crush alongside Webster, a queen of unrequited love ballads with off-putting lyrics. I won’t write his name, and I almost hope he never reads this, but I feel much lighter (and a little humiliated) confessing to my pro tennis player crush.

“I saw you last night in my dream / That’s still the closest you and I have been / That’s kind of sad, don’t you think? / I think so” The “sadness” of an unattainable

crush has two meanings: The loneliness hurts and the juvenile nature of an unrequited devotion feels embarrassingly pathetic. My crush keeps me staring at the only TV in the bar playing the U.S. Open, and checking minor international tournament scores.

To my crush: I’m sad we’ve never met. I’ve never even seen you play in person.

A celebrity crush doesn’t, and shouldn’t, consume one’s mind as much as a real-life one who we could encounter at any turn, but they are sadder. Yearning grows as the relationship stays wholly

one-sided. A one-sided love is both beautiful and depressing, both because and despite the fact it will remain a perfect dream.

“How did I fall in love with someone / I don’t know?” Webster’s love for Acuña is not life-changing nor marriage material, but a special type of dream-state love. Love isn’t just in commitment, intimacy and passion — it exists in the opening line of Webster’s single “Kingston”: “The day that I met you, I started dreaming.” Love gives hope, warmth and joy where there was once boredom and sadness. Love is behind the best kind of crush.

Webster wrote “A Dream with a Baseball Player” while alone, bored and watching baseball to the point where she thought she wanted to be a player. “But I’m not, so I guess the next best thing was having a crush on one,” she revealed in a press statement.

She told Pitchfork that she came to love Acuña because they were the same age and she found him cute. “He’s also the best player they have — so that matters,” Webster said. My crush, too, is my age, a top athlete and objectively handsome.

We move from an attraction to a loving crush through emotional connections to someone — seeing their character, commitment, personality, talent and principles revealed through their actions on the field/court/pitch/diamond and off. There is beauty and romance in every sport.

Tennis player who I hope never reads this, I think a 149-mile-perhour serve is beautiful.

Faye, I agree that Acuña’s 190 career stolen bases stat is beautiful.

“How am I supposed to ever be with him / When he and I don’t speak the same language? / But we have conversations in my head”

We are closer than ever to professional athletes, with social media and post-game press providing glimpses into their personalities. We can imagine conversations with our celebrity crushes pieced together with interviews, highlight reels, Instagram captions and clips we see of games. Still, because we do not truly know them, we can build a vision of our love that is perfectly lovable.

We both speak English. Still, I’m not your type (historically) and I cannot foresee us together beyond daydreams. You are on tour, I am looking for a 9 to 5 job. But I have an idea of your personality that I hold close and sort of love. In the least creepy way, I see you often through TikToks that my roommate and I share. We both love your boyish overconfidence.

Regardless of the type of TikTok — near-cringy thirst trap edits, peeks into a player’s humor and sportsmanship or stunning highlight reels from tournament page admins who know their audience — edits show why we fall for a celebrity athlete. We can see our crush as joyful, sad, angry, loving and caring through edits set to music from romantic Clairo to bass-heavy Yeat. We love athletes because of their beauty, strength, talent and commitment to the game — and because they are lovable, with emotions, humor and loves of their own that we are offered peeks into. This lets us create fantasy versions of real people.

“I could just meet him and get it over / Or I’ll just keep wearing his name on my shirt” Meeting a celebrity moves them into reality, and even if they remain attractive, this alters the pining, hopeful, dreamy love. Wearing a jersey is enough to feel close to them.

You don’t have a jersey, and I don’t wear your sponsor brand, so I wonder if you’d know I’m a fan if we

met. I would probably go silent or say something weird. I hope we meet. And I hope we never meet. Webster finally met Acuña when a Braves employee invited her to sing during the seventh-inning stretch in 2019. “When I did that, I was just like, ‘Alright, I think that was it. I think that’s what I needed to complete this chapter,’” she told Interview Magazine. The crush seemingly disappeared when Acuña became real.

“Whatever I need just to help me cope”

A celebrity crush may be an embarrassing coping mechanism for managing day-to-day reality (and sometimes abysmal love lives), but it’s also logical. A crush that is not fully attainable can’t hurt you. It’s a defense mechanism. Your love is innocent and removed from reality. It exists in a dream world where nothing can cause you pain, as long as you don’t get really obsessed.

I am not obsessed with you, but I have a better day when you win a match. Sports are an escape from our realities (for those who are not professional athletes). They are truly human: showing magnitudes of joy, power, companionship, independence, grit, struggle and triumph. In “Challengers,” a film that spawned a new tennis obsession and drew plot lines between tennis, sex and attraction, junior star Tashi (Zendaya, “Shake It Up”) calls tennis a relationship and compares it to love. It is easy to get emotionally invested in the sport. When I watch tennis, I feel love. I also feel a little giddy, because I have a crush. A celebrity crush gives us something to dream about. I don’t know if my tennis crush is the funny, kind, perfect person I imagine he is, and he does not have to be. I can daydream. And I can check the score for the Swiss Indoors Basel tournament and cheer him on.

United States President

THE ISSUES

ABORTION

Ban or legal?

KAMALA HARRIS

DONALD TRUMP

CLIMATE CHANGE

Should climate change be a top priority?

Legal. “Every woman should have the right to make decisions about her own body.” “This fight is about freedom.” With Biden, strengthened abortion pill access and abortion patient protections, overturned Trump Planned Parenthood federal funding ban. Would sign national abortion rights bill if Congress passed.

Yes. We’re seeing the climate crisis “every day…in real time.“ “We must do more.” Cast the deciding vote to commit $369 billion to climate and clean energy, the biggest investment in US history. Supported $1.2 trillion in infrastructure; includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions. No longer would ban hydraulic fracking.

Ban. “After 50 years of failure, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade.” Did so by appointing three anti-abortion Supreme Court Justices. It was “a miracle.” States should decide for themselves, potentially monitoring women’s pregnancies and prosecuting women for getting abortions. Abortion is “really not that big of an issue.”

No. Climate change is a “hoax.” The world will “start getting cooler.” Withdrew from the Paris climate pact. Will expand coal and oil production. “I want to drill, baby, drill.” Asked oil and gas executives to donate $1 billion so he could reverse Biden’s climate initiatives.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

How to ensure effectiveness and fairness in law enforcement?

ECONOMY

How to improve the economy and make daily life more affordable.

EDUCATION

Limit teaching about racism and gender identity?

Police are dedicated public servants. As a prosecutor increased felony convictions by one third. But “public safety requires community trust.” Has supported better training, banning choke holds, and prosecuting police misconduct.

Expand child tax credit. Give tax credits for affordable housing builders and subsidize first-time home buyers. Restrict price gouging on groceries and lower drug costs by negotiating prices. Supported bipartisan infrastructure bill.

No. In Florida “extremists… passed a law, ‘Don’t Say Gay,’ trying to instill fear in our teachers.” Now, “they want to replace history with lies,” teaching “that enslaved people benefited from slavery.” Children should be “taught the truth.”

Police are “under siege.” Cut back active federal oversight of excess force, though supported a database to track it. Admires Chinese approach of quick trials and a death penalty for drug dealers so there will be a “zero drug problem.”

Increase taxes (tariffs) on imported goods. Cut housing demand with mass deportations. To lower prices, would deregulate businesses, rein in “wasteful federal spending” and unleash American energy. Opposed infrastructure bill.

Yes. Certify teachers who “embrace patriotic values.” Would “cut federal funding” for any school “pushing critical race theory, gender ideology.” Restricted diversity training for federal employees and contractors.

ELECTIONS

Did Joe Biden win the 2020 Presidential election?

GUN LAWS

Loosen or tighten gun regulations?

HEALTHCARE

Repeal or expand the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare?

Yes. “The [election] results were certified by state after state and reaffirmed by court after court.” “On January 6, we all saw what our nation would look like if the forces who seek to dismantle our democracy are successful.”

Tighten. “Every person deserves the freedom to live safe from gun violence.” Supported the bipartisan gun safety bill and required background checks for gun show & online sales.

Expand. “Health care is a right, not a privilege.” Cast a tie-breaking Senate vote to expand ACA & lower Medicare drug prices, including a $35 monthly insulin cost. Would link drug costs to costs that comparable wealthy nations pay.

No. Called the election a “Big Lie” and a “Massive Fraud” that would justify “termination” of parts of Constitution. Called those who stormed U.S. Capitol “unbelievable patriots.” Would pardon them fully.

Loosen. To NRA, “no one will lay a finger on your firearms.” Plans to roll back Biden gun restrictions. Reversed Obama-era background checks for those with mental illnesses.

Repeal. “Terminate.” “Obamacare is a catastrophe.” As President, promised to replace it with “something terrific,” but repeal failed in the Senate by one vote. Supported an unsuccessful lawsuit to overturn it.

IMMIGRATION

How to handle immigration?

Support a path to citizenship for “DACA” participants brought to the US as children?

ISRAEL/GAZA

Response to Israel’s invasion of Gaza following October Hamas attack?

LABOR Make it easier or harder for unions to organize?

Supports “comprehensive immigration reform.” Backed the bipartisan Senate border security bill. Rejects mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. “We are a nation of immigrants…. let us all address [the issue] with the urgency and seriousness it requires.” Supports pathways to citizenship for DACA participants and undocumented spouses of citizens.

“We need” a cease-fire & a two-state solution. “Israel has a right to defend itself.” But “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed… Civilian suffering… [is] devastating.” Palestinians and Israelis both “are entitled to security.”

Easier. “Unions built” the American middle class. “We are fighting to protect the sacred right to organize.” Backs pro-union laws. Walked UAW picket line. Build “an economy where every person, not just the wealthy,” can thrive.

Illegal immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” Will use the National Guard and local police, with possible detention camps, to deport 15 to 20 million illegal immigrants. Opposed the bipartisan Senate immigration bill. Tried to end DACA; Supreme Court overruled. Would renew his Muslim ban and end automatic citizenship for everyone born in US

Has supported Israeli action, “get the job done.” Says Israel releasing images of bombed Gaza buildings loses “the PR war.” Gaza protesters are “raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers.” Would deport student protesters.

Harder. Made it harder for unions to organize. Restricted federal employee collective bargaining. Praised employers who fire striking workers: “They go on strike…and you say… ‘You’re all gone.’” Striking Auto Workers were “sold down the river by their leadership.”

LGBTQ RIGHTS

Limit or expand LGBTQ rights?

MARIJUANA Ban or legal?

MINIMUM WAGE

Raise federal minimum from $7.25 an hour?

SOCIAL SECURITY

Cut Social Security or raise retirement age to stabilize program?

STUDENT FINANCIAL AID

Support lowering interest on student loans and/or forgiving them?

TAXES

Raise or lower taxes on the wealthy and corporations?

UKRAINE/RUSSIA

Support defending Ukraine against Russian invasion?

VOTING RULES

Make voting harder or easier?

Expand. In 2004, officiated some of the nation’s first same-sex marriages. Helped repeal California’s anti-gay marriage initiative. Biden administration protected LGBTQ medical patients from discrimination.

Legal. “Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed.” Legalize and regulate. Supports Biden’s easing federal prohibition.

Yes. Supports Congress raising the national minimum wage to $15. Biden administration raised to $15 for federal contractors.

No. Would protect and stabilize Social Security by making wealthier Americans pay into Social Security at the same rate as everyone else; they’d keep paying in above their current $168,600/year income cap.

Yes. Supported Biden forgiving $144 billion for over 4 million borrowers, after the Supreme Court blocked the Biden-Harris $430 billion forgiveness plan.

Raise. Voted against Trump tax cuts, which included the largest corporate cut in US history. Supported increasing corporate tax rates. To boost teacher salaries, proposed raising estate taxes on the very wealthy.

Yes. “Regarding Putin’s unprovoked, unjustified war against Ukraine… we are committed to… defend democratic values and stand up to dictators.”

Easier. Pass bills to protect voting rights and make voting and registration easier. Biden administration directed federal agencies to help people register.

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Limit. Weakened an Obama order protecting LGBTQ federal contractors from discrimination. Banned transgender military servicemembers and ended antidiscrimination protections for transgender patients.

Unclear. It does “significant damage.” Reversed Obama rule to not prosecute in states where legal, but ultimately didn’t prosecute.

No. A $15 minimum wage would “eliminate jobs.” Threatened to veto. Questioned need for a federal minimum wage: let the states decide.

Mostly yes. There’s “a lot you can do in… cutting.” Also flags bad management. Proposed $35 billion cuts in Social Security disability programs. But “will never do anything” to “hurt Social Security.”

No. Called student loan forgiveness “unfair” to those not attending college. Vetoed forgiving loans of defrauded students. Proposed cutting support programs for student borrowers.

Lower. His 2017 tax cut included the largest corporate cuts in US history and major tax cuts for the wealthy. Would extend and expand when they expire in 2025. Raising business taxes “will lead to the destruction of your jobs.”

Mostly no. To end the war, will push Ukraine to give up territory to Russia. Russia should “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that don’t pay enough.

Harder. Has long supported stronger voter ID requirements. Sued to bar ballot drop boxes. Encouraged Republicans to vote early but said early ballots “get lost” or are “phony.”

HARRIS (D)

TRUMP (R)

NADIA JAHANBIN MiC Columnist

Just as you can’t change the ocean’s current or bend the wind to your will, you can’t control the way your parents raised you. And yet, how many of us wish we could? As I’ve grown older and gained a better grasp on the world around me, I can’t help but cast a long look back at my childhood, with frustration creeping in as I’ve realized the ways I may have deserved different, better. I was only a child, after all, with as little power to control my upbringing as I had in picking the clothes I wore or the color of my nursery’s walls.

These moments of reflection are hard because I wholeheartedly appreciate the various demonstrations of love, effort and privilege I experienced growing up. I hope my parents know that every time I express my gratitude for their dedication to my siblings and me, I mean it tenfold. At the same time, I understand that my parents, while managing their own obstacles — multiple children and multiple jobs — often struggled to peacefully balance everything. These circumstances created their own hardships that left stains on my childhood in ways that my parents, despite their undeniable acts of love and effort, cannot take back. However, these hardships can be easily hidden, finding comfort in existing quietly beside me. I hold their hand as I walk to class, play with their hair when I feel lost in a crowded room, politely shush them during our sleepovers because “it’s important I get at least some sleep tonight.” We’ll dance between grief and gratitude, patiently waiting to find our rhythm. While their ability to camouflage has left room for misunderstanding, I value the trade off of concealment — containing these experiences so that only I bear their weight.

For many immigrant children, choosing to carry the weight of

our adversities alone becomes second nature, and over time, a strange sense of comfort comes from it. These parts of myself tuck themselves away; yet, despite years of trial and error, there are other parts of me that are not as easily concealed. When someone learns that I am Persian but have a waning familiarity with my mother tongue, it becomes the elephant in the room — one I feel powerless to address without revealing parts of myself I have successfully, and preferably, hidden for so long. Instead, I’d absorb the criticism to protect my parents, who did their best with what they knew at the time, and to refrain from revealing the hidden parts of my identity that didn’t feel ready to emerge just yet.

I grew up surrounded by Persian culture and language, but with my parents’ hands tied and no extended family to help, ensuring our basic needs took priority over complete cultural transmission. Adding to the mix a pretty jarring immigration experience, it made sense for them to minimize our struggle and maximize their children’s privileges by securing English as our first language. This wedge between my culture and me didn’t concern me as a child. I didn’t spend much time contemplating my experience as a woman of Color, one who should speak a certain language, compose myself a certain way or make an effort to be a model minority. Rather, I was concerned with merely being because existence in and of itself was satiating to me. Unconsciously, I found myself shifting from basking in being to gradually becoming hyper-aware of the treacherous environment around me, inadvertently taking greater accountability for those within it as I got older. Did my friends feel included? Were my siblings in a good mood today?

How about my parents? Was the house clean? If I cleaned it, could I make things easier for

Funny in Farsi

them? I constantly compiled facial expressions, tones of voice and body language, embodying Elizabeth Harmon as I projected each interaction on my bedroom ceiling. I tried to decipher how to improve the lives of my loved ones, even if it meant sidelining the cultivation of my own identity. When I was a kid, I was clueless that there was a “right” way to grow up, that I was supposed to teach myself my mother tongue. It wasn’t until the term “whitewashed” slapped my middle school self in the face that I was made aware of my perceived shortcomings and struggled to process the accusations. I had spent years shrinking myself — did my voice suddenly have meaning? And if it did, without my mother tongue, had I stripped it away without even knowing? It’s a privilege, not a given, to be taught your native language. Raising bilingual or trilingual children while ensuring they maintain proper development in their language of instruction is a luxury not everyone can afford. The methods of being able to do so are not common knowledge — especially for immigrant parents who faced traumatic experiences during their own assimilation into Western culture, particularly due to not knowing English. Being dismissed as “white-washed” and a “fake Persian” ostracized me from my cultural community, leaving me ashamed to step into cultural spaces. The sound of Farsi shifted from being an homage to my culture to a reminder that I lacked a distinct quality that could help establish a safe community for myself and express a fundamental part of who I am. Any attempt to learn it after this realization only served as another reminder of my unfamiliarity with the language and its consequences. I felt misunderstood, treated as though I had purposefully rejected my culture, when in reality, I was begging my parents for help, holding onto it for dear

At the heart of Indian weddings

ARYA KAMAT MiC Columnist

Weddings are one of those times when love, in all its forms, is put on full display. But what does love mean? There’s this line from “The Half of It” that I often recall: “When one half finds its other, there is an unspoken understanding, a unity — and each would know no greater joy than this.”

It’s the kind of half-corny quote that would make excellent calligraphy on a wedding invitation or caption on an Instagram post of two people gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes at sunset, faces bright in golden hour lighting and the glow of mutual selfactualization. Beautiful, right?

In the quest for love, we grapple with choices that shape our entire lives. The search for our “other half” can consume years or happen in an instant. Some of us spend decades building a relationship, learning its rhythms, challenges and rewards. Others face the painful realization that what they thought was lasting love was temporary. These universal struggles with love’s impermanence and uncertainty only reinforce Camus’ theory that life is irrational and meaningless. Like Sisyphus pushing his boulder up the mountain, we

keep searching for love, knowing it will slip away at any moment.

This summer, these thoughts simmered in my mind as I attended a family friend’s wedding. It was a traditional Indian wedding, full of vibrant colors, elaborate rituals and a dance floor that was somehow popping until 2 a.m. Indian weddings weave a tapestry of traditions — carefully preserved and gently revised from one generation to the next. And as I watched, I found myself reflecting on more than just the ceremony.

Returning home from college and reconnecting with the local Marathi community after a year felt like stepping back into a familiar dance — one where I knew the steps but had somehow forgotten the rhythm. I found myself relearning customs I’d half-forgotten, donning warmtoned, bejeweled gowns and meeting childhood friends navigating similar crossroads as myself. In the midst of revisiting my community events and coming to terms with time’s dizzying speed, I was asked the age-old question by the aunties making their rounds … “Do you have a boyfriend yet?” Unfortunately, turning 20 doesn’t give you the same privileges the teenage years gave: permanently residing in the Kids’ Corner, being exempt from relationship questions (as studies took precedence, of course).

Entering my 20s also means I’m grappling with the dilemma

of intimacy versus isolation, although I am rather loath to pick the former, be it by chance or circumstance. My mind is tangled in thoughts of the eightplus years of school awaiting me on my pre-med journey and whether I’ll last long enough to reach the phase of ego integrity versus everlasting despair.

Despite the constant weight of those thoughts, I let them drift away, refocusing on the wedding unfolding before me. What struck me most about this particular wedding was how it broke from tradition in beautiful ways. The bride wasn’t Indian, and both she and the groom were well into their careers before tying the knot. It was a quiet yet powerful reminder that our generation is rewriting the rules as we find our paths between tradition and modernity. I felt a wave of emotion overcome me as I watched the couple exchange vows among the many Indian rituals. Friends and family put on (un)coordinated flash mobs with awkward, clunky yet full-of-life speeches about the newlyweds. Most of it was the joy and hopeful anticipation that came with being a mere audience member spectating the wedding but, eventually, a bit of fear about when my turn may come — if it ever would — started to settle in, despite my lack of enthusiasm for love.

life, praying it wouldn’t leave me. Last year, I reconnected with an old childhood friend. We reminisced about her teaching me gymnastics on the playground or how we’d use fallen leaves to mix potions. Our laughter faded into a soft sigh: “We should do this more often.” I agreed, admitting I wanted to meet more Persians, to be surrounded by the sounds of Farsi and jokes that only resonate after you’ve had the pleasure of attending a handful of mehmoonis. She said her door was always open, and was curious why I hesitated to step through. I confessed my uncertainty about being accepted. In moments of doubt, her kindness lingers. “You are Persian by blood; nothing can take that from you. Regardless, I’m here to help.”

It took time to heal my relationship with Farsi, but once I found a support system that embraced me, I valued what I had yet to learn, taking it as an opportunity to get closer to my culture. As I immersed myself in the Persian community that was patiently waiting all around me, Farsi began to resonate differently. I listened to Persian music on the way to class, podcasts on my daily walks, binged Persian carpet art history videos and more. I captured Farsi as it floated in the air around me; like bubbles glistening in the summer sun, I sought to catch each word one by one. I turned my initial shame into intrinsic love for the process of learning, building my knowledge of the culture and language.

Despite Southern California having one of the largest Persian populations, resources for learning the language were scarce and the resources that did exist were inadequate. Although this temporarily deterred me, I was steadfast in giving myself the opportunities my younger self did not have. I found local classes and took advantage of the website Chai and Conversation, the first online source I found after months of searching,

that comprehensively taught the language from speaking to reading to writing to poetry. I was also drawn to the University of Michigan because of its expansive Persian program, having upper-level Persian language, literature and culture classes, a program not as many universities can boast about.

Beginning this learning process has been healing my inner child, and I am grateful to have access to the resources to immerse myself in it. In fact, I’ve fallen deeply in love with the process of reconnecting with my culture and family in ways I’ve long dreamed of. Though it was hard to accept that this connection wasn’t inherent, not something simply gifted to me, I embraced it. It has shaped me into someone who loves her heritage with a tangible, passionate reverence. At times, I’ve felt pressure to embody certain traits, like physical characteristics that “look Persian” or speaking the language, as if my connection to my culture and identity regarding it was contingent on possession of them. Labels like “white-washed” make me feel as though I am not an acceptable representation of my cultural identity that I cherish so deeply, in the process diminishing the complexity of my character and invalidating my experience as a Persian American. I’ve come to realize that my relationship with my culture doesn’t need to conform to anyone’s expectations. I chose to learn Farsi to embrace the beauty of Iranian culture, not to appease those who once invalidated my heritage. Through difficult conversations with my parents, I know they, too, wish they could go back and teach my siblings and me the language. I deeply appreciate the support they offer now in my journey to learn it. Still, in this continued dance between grief and gratitude, there is one struggle I face: accepting the difference between learning and acquiring a language.

As a child, language is absorbed

like sugar dissolving into chai, sinking into the subconscious, effortless and intuitive. But learning a language later in life, albeit completely possible and encouraged, requires deliberate effort and a deep understanding of its intricate structure. I am proudly learning Farsi, yet I mourn that I’ve passed the age where I could have acquired it naturally. I fear that even after dedicating years to mastering the language, it will remain an academic achievement rather than a fluid part of my soul. Will Farsi become as natural as breathing to me? Will the words weave seamlessly into the fabric of my thoughts, or will I always first translate them from English? Will it flow from my mouth, rolling off my tongue with the grace and ease of my native voice? Can I truly be myself in Farsi, or will it always feel like a constructed alter ego? I’ve always loved learning people’s stories, connecting with them by broadening our perspectives. My ability to connect with others has always felt natural to me. But could I do that in Iran? Would my humor and personality translate, or would I still feel distant, like a visitor to my own culture? Learning your mother tongue, even later in life, is a gift. But the thought that I may always remain on the outskirts, familiar and even fluent, but never truly effortless, is a quiet sorrow I carry with me. Still, you’ll find me in the far corner of the LSA Building after the lights have dimmed, softly whispering each letter, paying close attention to how my hand delicately drafts the pencil across the page, analyzing the shape of each symbol to ensure it aligns with its proper sound. Even in my focus, my thoughts wander. I contemplate how if even phrases lose aspects of their meaning in translation — how can I preserve my identity through it all? Can who I am cross over into my native language? Will I still be funny in Farsi?

Autumn

“You cut it much shorter this time.”

Yeah. I wanted to see how it would look.

“I didn’t think you’d ever give up your long hair. You spent forever growing it out.”

I kind of wanted to try something new.

“Well, it looks quite pretty, even if it’s shorter than you’re used to.”

Thanks. I kind of miss the long hair, though.

Turning her head this way and that, she examines the layers of hair that now fall right below her chin. It will take a while for her to get used to this new reflection. It doesn’t look bad, necessarily.

Something just feels a little off.

I probably should have asked someone else to cut the back. Oh well, I can trim that some other time.

***

“Back at it with cutting your own hair?”

Yes. It was supposed to be a quick trim, but I got a little carried away.

“Did you not like the bob?”

I mean, it was fine. I really didn’t mean to cut this much, but I don’t mind it.

“You kind of look like a boy now.”

Do I?

She’s not sure if she wants to dwell on that. Although, her mirror was right about her looking like a boy. She knows that if her 15-year-old self saw her right now, she’d be distraught. That little girl would mourn the waist-length hair that she was always so eager to show off.

However, the girl sweeping chopped-up hair into a dustpan isn’t mourning. She dumps everything into the trashcan and plants herself in front of her mirror again. I bet no one will call me pretty when I look like this. She searches for some hint of emotion on her face — sadness, perhaps, or maybe disappointment.

Instead, she sees the beginnings of a smile. Winter

“You look awfully pensive.”

That tends to happen when someone is questioning their identity.

“Oh?” Well, here’s the thing, it’s not like I ever hated being a girl. I actually used to love pink and princesses and all those “girly” things. But lately, every time someone calls me a girl or uses she/her for me, it feels kind of wrong? I don’t really know what’s right. I don’t feel like a trans guy? But, I don’t feel like a cis girl, either?

“Trans guy and cis girl aren’t the only labels out there. You know that.”

Yeah, I do. I’m sure I’ll figure out the right words eventually.

“In the meantime, how about you get dressed?”

She grabs the first thing from her closet and it turns out to be her navy blue dress. It’s comfortable, not too long or too short and the neckline is quite flattering. She found it last year and adored how it looked.

Now, as she stares at her reflection, creases start to creep between her brows. Same dress, same build, except for some reason it didn’t look as good anymore.

Tugging on the hem or adding a

necklace did nothing to help. Fuck this. She pulls on a pair of jeans and a baggy T-shirt. That feels much better. Spring

“Wow, you’re getting rid of a lot.” Yeah. I haven’t worn any of these in months so there’s no reason to keep them.

“Aww, but you love that skirt.”

Well, I don’t love how every time I try to wear it, people automatically use she/her for me.

“Does that mean you’re definitely not going by she/her anymore?” Yes, I’m officially using just they/them now. It was an easy decision for them to make. Lately, every she/her or “miss” or “hey ladies” has felt like needles stabbing into their ears. The few times they intentionally hid their chest with a binder or a shirt were the only moments where people actually used they/ them. If dressing more masculine is what it takes to not get misgendered, I am more than happy doing that.

CHARLIE SHANG MiC Columnist

Lauren Hahn/MiC

Conversations with the mirror

AYA GALANG MiC Columnist

My dad has always hated when a story ends with the cliche, “but it was all just a dream.” He calls it a cop-out that resolves too many plot holes and enables careless writing. In honor of that sentiment and my sister’s meme pictured below, here is a critical analysis of “just a dream” my dad once had.

OG Fam groupchat: Feb. 15

2024 Dad: 2:29 p.m. — just woke up from this dream: lolo rented a biiiig red van to drive us all somewhere. we were parked on the side of the street next to a park. i heard something about there being a rice beach. everyone else was hanging out in the park (daytime) and i went through some bushes and came out a moment later on the rice beach (nighttime). also this beach was in japan. it was white sand but there were uncooked kernels of rice all around. “maybe that’s why they call it rice beach ” i started wading out in the water and thinking “maybe locals don’t wade. maybe i’m not suppose to do this and they’re assuming i’m a dumb foreigner.” i eventually went back to shore and now the beach was all rice. i laid in it and rice stuck to me. i rolled in it and soon i had a suit of white armor made of rice. i could barely move it was so heavy. then i dried off and it all fell off. i realized i was late for a meeting at work and went to get my work scooter, which was missing. i assumed aaron from work took it. i was miffed. went back to where the van was parked to get my shoes. there was one flip flop and a notepad shaped like a flip flop. i figured i’d make the notepad work as a flip flop and grabbed it. went to see if my scooter was back (it was not). grabbed an unused kid’s bike instead. looked

A Critical Analysis of my Father’s Dream

at the address of the meeting and it was some odd number on Wexford Court. had a real hard time peddling up the hill on the street on the tiny kids bike with my notepad flipflop. finally rode past the old house and they put it up for sale. i was kinda miffed. found a house that looked like the picture of where i was supposed to be but the address was different and no one was around. never went to the meeting. now i’m wondering what it all meant. i wouldn’t be so miffed if i looked like baby juli. My father’s dream is divided into two acts and two themes. The first reflects his upbringing in the suburbs of Wisconsin as a second-generation Filipino American immigrant. The second reflects his ADHD, which warps his perception of time, fueling a feedback loop of internalizing missed opportunities and wasted potential.

ACT 1: The Rice Beach

My father is the fifth child of six, all with a first name starting with the letter M. His parents immigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin as students in the mid-’50s where, after a few years of moving, they returned to build their final home in 1968. My father, Marcial, was

born later that year, and many decades later, he would return to live under his parents’ roof, this time with his three daughters in tow. A middle-class suburb 30 minutes outside of the city is all he’s truly ever known.

The Galangs were an admirable family. A doctor father, English teacher and eventually stay-athome mother. Heavy accents but perfectly comprehensible, strained out by the second generation, distilled by the third. Galang is Tagalog for respect. Galang is our rare pre-colonial emblem of Filipino heritage. It is the embroidered golden sun and three stars flying alongside 50 white ones on the front porch. It’s my Lolo proudly praising his country and General MacArthur in the same breath (enough times that my younger cousin bears the general’s name). It’s the extension of Kapwa to the Polish and WASP neighbors while still cultivating primarily Filipino spaces. Nowhere near perfect, but full of respect for each other and their communities, the Galangs were the epitome of the American Dream.

My dad’s dream begins by transporting him quite literally into the realm of his subconscious like Charon, except if the

How to not be ‘Generic Asian Man’

This past July, I decided it was finally time to clean my room, something I had been putting off since I graduated high school. As I sorted through stacks of worksheets, lab reports and readings, I came upon a senior year analytical essay on Charles Yu’s “Interior Chinatown.” In it, I argued that the characters of “Interior Chinatown” demonstrated a sense of disconnect and displacement that is typical of the East Asian experience. It is easy to feel we are stuck in a double bind; we often do not feel integrated into American society but are also isolated from our ethnic roots. I smiled recalling the joy of reading the book, the work I put into the essay and the glowing feedback my English teacher gave. It also allowed me to reflect on how my own perspectives on the Chinese American identity had changed since I wrote the essay.

“Interior Chinatown’s” message of dual alienation resonated strongly with my high school self. To give a bit of background, I was born in the United States and moved to Hong Kong when I was 5. Though it gave me a greater understanding of Chinese culture and allowed me to experience a truly multicultural environment, I felt like something was missing.

Living in Hong Kong was the first time I became aware of the concept of identity; I clung to my Americanness, longing for that place I still called home. That is not to say I was unhappy. I was accustomed to the narrow alleys of Aberdeen and the bustle of Tsim Sha Tsui, but America seemed like the place I truly belonged.

Years later, 14-year-old me stood in the lunch line, listening to the steady hum of conversation flowing beside me. Phrases like Avalon, Flyers and KOP went in one ear and out the other; I felt like I was learning English for the first time, unable to relate to the hobbies, interests and pastimes of my peers (what even is lacrosse?). At the end of the school day, Mom picked me up. I stared at the blur of quaint suburban communities and fancy country clubs, wondering what it would be like to call these streets “home.” I suddenly felt a deep longing for the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong. Time helped, but I still felt like an outsider looking in, never fully a part of my primarily white high school.

In “Interior Chinatown,” Willis Wu, the protagonist, is an actor playing a stereotypical, borderline racist side character aptly named “Generic Asian Man” in a cop show. As a child, he witnesses his father, a Taiwanese immigrant and actor himself, become disillusioned with his roles, believing he will never

ferryman that transported souls across the river Acheron was a tall slim Kapampangan man with a booming voice and a boxy Ford Econoline. He arrives at a park — which my father revealed during our follow-up interview — similar to the ones downtown by the lakefront. There is usually an area of grass, followed by a gate of trees, before an almost immediate drop off a steep cliff. This one, of course, leads to a rice beach instead.

The park may reflect two things. One, his memories of attending countless Filipino community gatherings crowded with University Santo Tomas Alumni and their children, where the pancit was washed down with Coca-Cola, grassstained blue jeans, and his parents, the alumni association presidents, would make a speech before the prayer. Two, since the park resembles the lakefront and not the suburbs, it may be an homage to my childhood happy place, the riverwalk in front of Lake Michigan. The exact path he walked as a college student at Marquette University and the one we often walked before our financial hiccups, when the Calatrava was my third home. Either way, he leaves us all at

the park and ventures through the gate of rice foliage to find this speculative land. This action speaks for itself.

The speculations are true, and he arrives in what he understands as Japan. My father is an avid media consumer.

Japan’s successful rebrand after WWII greatly enabled Western media’s homogenization of Asian culture to be popularly associated with East Asian culture. Why he recognized the rice beach as Japan and not the Philippines might have to do with his higher exposure rate to Japanese media than Filipino.

The Japanese continue to occupy the minds of the residents of Manila, Macabebe and beyond, generations past direct contact and conflict.

As he wades in the water, he asks, “Maybe I am not supposed to be doing this, and (the locals) are assuming I’m a dumb foreigner?” Although he has identified this location as Japan, the typical feelings of imposter syndrome can be interpreted in many ways, whether it’s the internalized ostracization from East Asian communities for being darker and perceived as laborers, or for being the bridge between the world where you

Author’s Note: For my nonArab readers, the following is a list of some vocabulary used throughout this piece. Tata/Sito means grandmother, and Jido means grandfather. Mama is mother, Khalto means maternal aunt, and Khalo means maternal uncle. Amo means uncle. The Jnoub means “the South,” referring to the villages and region of Southern Lebanon.

***

“Tata, tell me a story from when you still lived in Lebanon.”

… later that night

“I was having a hard time remembering, but finally my memories started flowing. Here you go.”

be promoted to the roles the white actors play (spoiler: he never is). Like Yu’s characters, I struggled to come to terms with the contradictions that seemed to follow my Chinese ethnicity and American nationality. The United States is a nation that (at least on paper) embraces cultural diversity. The country is both a mosaic and melting pot, but both external and internal pressure made me feel I had to conform to white American society. I created two rigid ideas of American and Chinese identity in my mind and inevitably, I felt I had to pick one or the other — Chinese, or American.

As societal pressure and expectations shaped my identity during high school and beyond, I repeatedly asked myself questions like “Am I American enough?”, or “have I become whitewashed?”

I rarely talked about my Chinese identity with my white peers, instead opting for casual conversation about Philadelphia’s sports teams. Funnily enough, I eventually came to love them, but when I was with my AsianAmerican friends, I found my knowledge of sports did not match their own interests. This cultural duality made me feel like I had to compartmentalize different aspects of myself to be accepted in different social settings. Yet, in my attempts to fit in, I somehow felt even more incomplete.

Tibneen, Lebanon 1968, from Intissar D.

Although summers were often reserved for spending time with our friends, it was always hard for my family to do so due to the fact that every summer was spent in a different town within the mountains of Jabal, Lebanon. My brother had asthma growing up, and the doctor recommended he spend summers in areas where pine trees grew, in hopes that the fresher air would help with his breathing. Summer was never something I exactly looked forward to; that was reserved for our spring breaks spent in Tibneen, away from the southern suburbs of Beirut, or the Dahye. The one thing I always remember is how beautiful the meadows were in

were raised and the country you have never stepped foot in but cannot escape. The suit of white armor is beautiful but ephemeral. An attempt to assimilate into the more commonly understood culture, whether Japanese or White, as a way to protect and strengthen one’s self; however, instead, it weighs him down and quickly deteriorates, leaving him back in the state he came in.

To his credit, the armor fell off because he chose to dry off. We’ll assume a positive interpretation and deliberate choice by his subconscious to return him some agency. Growing up in the suburbs, he and his siblings were often the only students of color in each class. Of the 15 grandchildren, there’s not a single full Filipino in my generation. My sisters and I are half Peruvian and my cousins are an assortment of European and American.

Assimilation is a delicate concept swept under the dinner table and shoved in between stacks of Crate & Barrel’s bland beige fine linens that swaddle babies with round eyes and light skin. Some armor held together better than others, a protective method created to comfort the wounds of being other; who can blame them? Now, their children wear white armor that cannot fall off. Thank god my father’s did, though.

The first act lays the foundation of his psyche, as they all primarily could be manifestations of his childhood experiences, cultural ties and struggles with identity. He arrives with the assistance of his father and acknowledges family ties before leaving to journey alone. In solitude, he must confront the dissonance between the self and the two (if not three) cultures, decolonizing the conscious in the process.

(the South)

the spring as we drove towards Tibneen. They were full of red, white and yellow flowers, and the air was fresh with the smell of blossoming orange trees. Sometimes we would stop in Tyre, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, and get sandwiches. My favorite was a sausage sandwich with banadura and pickles on toasted French bread. One year, we decided to visit my mom’s Jido and Sito’s house, where I played house with my cousins. We shaped plates and pots from mud and scoured the backyard for flowers to fill our vases. We played hide and seek, and ate fresh khyar and banadura from the garden. We climbed trees and made necklaces out of flowers.

I think that was one of the best times I can remember.

“Thank you, Tata.”

“You velcome, Veva.” ***

“Ava, I finally remembered a story.”

“Okay Jido, let me sit down and grab my laptop.”

“Does it have to be happy or sad?”

“Anything you want Jido.”

Kuwait 1961, from Mustafa H. My dad needed to find work, and left me with my brother Mahmoud in Lebanon until he found a place to work and a house to live in. This was in 1961, I was 6 years old and my brother was 7. Once he found a place for us, they put me and my brother on a plane.

As soon as it took off, it caught on fire, and it had to emergency land and be evacuated —

“Wait what? The plane just caught on fire?”

“Yes! I thought it was just my imagination but I called your Amo Mahmoud the other day and he said yes!”

“Um … OK continue.” — so then after they evacuated us we got onto another plane and flew to Kuwait. I was 13 years old

“Wait I thought you were 6 years old?”

“No no, this is a new story.”

“Oh, okay continue.”

Kuwait – 1968 When I was 13 years old, we used to play hide and seek a lot. Our fathers used to stand and watch us as we played. Once it was somebody’s turn, they stood against the wall and counted, and everyone ran in different directions. When you were hiding you had to try and run to the wall and say “1, 2, 3!” before the seeker got you. Well, it was my turn to hide, and I found a car on the street and slid underneath it. I could hear them all from a distance, and for hours I stayed under the car as I watched them all be found and try to help find me. Then, I found an abaya next to me. It was the kind that covered everything but your eyes. I put it on, and covered myself, and began to walk towards them. They couldn’t even recognize me! I walked straight past them, and I could hear them asking each other about what this woman was doing. I went right up to the wall and ripped off the abaya and shouted “1, 2, 3!”

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From The Daily: There is no good reason not to vote From

n nine days, Americans will go to the polls to decide the nation’s future. Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are facing off for the highest office in the land, and the winner will have sway over everything, from the economy to the nuclear codes.

As college students and the future leaders of America, this election requires our utmost attention. Our world is changing, and the outcome of election day has the potential to drastically adjust our life plans. Given these high stakes, we believe that Kamala Harris must win in November. Her background, policy positions and principles make her the obvious choice in this race. As such, The Michigan Daily Editorial Board endorses Kamala Harris for the United States presidency.

Harris rose through the ranks of state and national politics over the course of 20 years. She started out as a prosecutor in California and was later elected to be San Francisco’s district attorney in 2003. She spent most of her time on child abuse, domestic violence and gun cases, gaining a “tough on crime” image that lasted through her tenure as Attorney General of California.

Harris was eventually elected to the U.S. Senate, where she was a champion for economic and climate issues. Now, as Vice President, Harris plays a pivotal role as the president of the Senate, breaking ties to pass crucial legislation for the American people.

Trump doesn’t have the same diversity or length of experience as Harris, but he has made his mark on American politics. The heir to his family’s business, he used the “Trump” name to start new ventures and create his own personal brand. Then, in 2015, he used that brand to launch his presidential campaign — and won.

Labeled a right-wing populist, Trump’s presidency was defined by his miserable leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, the spread of conspiracy theories and a sense of general distrust with political institutions. Due to popular dissatisfaction, massive voter turnout in 2020 squashed Trump’s reelection hopes, making him into a martyr figure and the new face of the Republican party. Now, the two are competing on the same ballot. Harris succeeded Biden as the Democratic nominee

following his exit from the race, while Trump has been campaigning since the moment he lost his reelection.

With poll numbers closer than ever and political divisions growing increasingly tense, the potential result of the election is becoming more unclear. Despite this lack of clarity, one thing is for sure: whatever happens in November will determine our nation’s future.

College students have a lot at stake in this presidential election. Very soon, we will be looking for jobs, searching for housing, finding partners and starting families. On the “bread and butter” issues that these life steps center around, Harris has much more to offer than Trump’s “concepts of a plan.”

For those concerned about post-grad financial security, Harris is the only suitable choice. Her initiatives address every single major aspect of the average American’s financial stress. She promises to increase the federal minimum wage and to raise taxes on the wealthy, lifting the financial pressure on low- and middle-income individuals.

Most notable, however, is her staunch rejection of absurd and retaliatory tariffs. Trump proposes placing the highest percentage tariffs the modern United States has seen. However, almost every single reputable economic expert, independent of political affiliation, has stated that Trump’s tariffs will raise the financial stress on American families, fracture international trade and even hurt American manufacturing — all without substantially reducing the deficit. In short, the only things these tariffs are good for are imposing a $3,200 tax on the average American family and wrecking the U.S. economy. For those concerned about their future financial security, Harris’ policies, although not perfect, offer much more to the average American than Trump’s. Harris also realizes that the cause of the current housing crisis is a shortage of housing. To combat this, she has proposed to build 3 million new homes, offer financial support to contractors and remove the bureaucratic restrictions that make housing construction difficult. In Trump’s mind, the high cost of housing is caused by illegal immigration. It cannot be overstated how wrong this is. To scapegoat Americans’ real housing concerns with existential fear of undocumented immigrants is to reject any hope of actually alleviating these concerns in the

first place. It is also blatantly demagogic.

But, as ubiquitous and important as the price of groceries and housing are this election cycle, there is more at stake. Earlier this year in Texas, a woman miscarried in the lobby restroom of an emergency room after being denied care. In North Carolina, a woman gave birth in a car after being refused an ultrasound. A 10 year-old rape survivor from Ohio, ineligible for an abortion in her home state, was forced to travel to Indiana to receive care.

These are all a consequence of the former president’s first term in office. Given another presidency, Trump would appoint more conservative justices to the Supreme Court, and further stimulate the chaos that has stripped American’s of their access to necessary health and reproductive care.

There are valid criticisms of Harris. Some of her policies — like subsidizing the cost of housing for first-time homebuyers and banning corporate price gouging — are not good policies. But for every single issue Harris is suboptimal on, Trump is abysmal. His policies will make it harder for the average American to buy food, find and pay for housing and get a job. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, has changed his mind on his own running mate much more than Harris has switched her position on any given issue. There is a chance that some of Harris’ domestic policies don’t work out. Trump’s, however, are certain to fail. They are certain to fail Americans and our allies, along with the institutions and values that define us.

The distinction between the two candidates could not be clearer. The vice president fundamentally represents the democratic spirit this country was built on; the former president does not.

Her long history of public service speaks for itself. Her career was built on giving a voice to those without one and making her community better. Above all, Harris is dedicated to the preservation of our democratic norms and institutions. She has shown an unflinching loyalty to the U.S. Constitution, an unfortunately high bar to clear in our current political climate. Throughout her 20 years of service, Harris has consistently embodied the qualities of a leader: integrity, resilience, open-mindedness and good decision making.

Shauna Ryder-Diggs, a former member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents from 2012 to 2020, offers voters the administrative experience necessary to the role of University regent, while avoiding the current board’s misguided decision making.

In her prior regency, she helped found the Go Blue Guarantee program, which provides free tuition to Michigan families with household incomes below $75,000. She has also firmly established herself as a tuition hawk, voting twice against a 1.9% tuition hike in 2020. In a recent interview with The Daily’s Editorial Board, Diggs underscored her intention to make a U-M education more accessible by establishing more scholarship and grant opportunities while keeping

tuition affordable. Diggs offers a unique perspective to the board. She is a certified dermatologist with more than 20 years of experience running her own practice. While the board has plenty of members with legal and business experience, it distinctly lacks a regent with any health care experience — a crucial pitfall, given that almost 20% of the University’s $17.9 billion endowment is allocated toward Michigan Medicine. Electing an MD-holding alum of the University’s Medical School would provide Michigan Medicine with effective representation in the University’s decision-making process and put health care equity on the map as a leading policy issue. Diggs is deeply involved in the Michigan community. She is currently on the Board of Directors of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and has previously served on the Boards of Directors at the

Detroit Institute of the Arts and at Forgotten Harvest, which works to combat food waste and insecurity. Her decades of engagement with her local community reveal a genuine dedication to improving this state. This editorial board has no doubt that this dedication would only be supported by the role of a University regent. On a more fundamental level, Diggs deals with people, not ideas. Her day-to-day life revolves around talking to patients, listening to what they have to say and providing real care to solve their problems. In the context of an administration that has been all but completely neglectful of the opinions of those opposed to them, Diggs’ humanist approach is desperately needed.

This editorial board hopes that, if elected, Diggs may persuade the current board to adopt a similar approach.

Of the candidates on the ballot,

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Election season is in full swing. Americans who haven’t already voted early or by mail will go to the polls on Nov. 5 to vote on ballot measures and dozens of local, state and federal races. Many of them, including the presidency and Michigan Senate seat, are incredibly close. For a significant portion of campus, this is the first presidential election we’re old enough to participate in. Still, some students have no intention of doing so, citing that voting is “too difficult” or that their vote “doesn’t make a difference.” Though these common reasons may seem appealing in our current era of political polarization and cynicism, they are not as sound as they might seem.

Voting is difficult easy

Many people don’t vote because they assume the process will be difficult, inconvenient or time-consuming. In reality, there is a substantial amount of infrastructure available to make the process as easy as possible — especially for University of Michigan students. Two potential stress-inducing factors on Election Day include registering to vote and making it to the polls. In Michigan, same-day voter registration ensures that if you were unable to register before Nov. 5 for any reason, you can register at the polls with proof of identity. If you’d prefer not to wait that long, you can also register online or by mail up to 15 days prior to the election, or at the University of Michigan Museum of Art through Election Day. If you don’t want to vote because of the long lines on Election Day or you’d miss class, you can instead request a mail-in ballot or look into early voting. Voting by absentee ballot not only saves time on Election Day, but also provides a convenient alternative for those who would prefer to not vote in person. Early voting is another option to help voters overcome the hassle associated with Election Day. The University of Michigan will offer nine days of early voting at both the UMMA and the Duderstadt Center to ensure students have ample time to fit voting into their

only Diggs has the distinction of experience paired with a holistic understanding of our community and the issues it faces. Without reluctance, The Michigan Daily Editorial Board endorses Shauna Ryder-Diggs for the University Board of Regents. While this editorial board is aware that there are two open seats for the Board of Regents, we cannot earnestly endorse a second candidate.

One of the Republican candidates for the board, Sevag Vartanian, did not respond to an interview request with the editorial board within the ample amount of time provided to him. His four-sentence public platform and decision to not talk with us demonstrates a negligence to meet students where they are. We are, therefore, unwilling to support his candidacy.

In contrast to Vartanian, the other Republican candidate, Carl Meyers,

schedules.

Your vote doesn’t does count

Given the way the Electoral College works, swing states have a disproportionately large impact on deciding the next president. As a result, the winner of the election will be determined in places like Michigan and by a razor-thin margin. This gives your vote more weight than you realize. In Michigan, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are currently neck and neck in the polls. In such a close race, who comes out victorious will depend almost entirely on turnout. In 2016, for example, Trump won Michigan by only two voters per precinct.

When you choose not to vote, you also lose the opportunity to make decisions on what happens in your own community. Fewer people participate in local elections than national ones, and who earns a place on the Ann Arbor City Council, for example, can quite literally come down to a few votes — like in Ypsilanti earlier this year, when the incumbent lost his primary by only eight votes. With the heavy emphasis on national issues this election, people often overlook the importance of local candidates in creating the changes that they want to see, simultaneously overlooking their own power in making that change happen. Your vote doesn’t does matter

The winners of this election will create policies that deeply impact your life. It’s in your best interest to have a say in who those winners are. By voting, you tell your elected officials what issues matter to you and what legislation you want to see passed. Americans this election season are most concerned with the economy, health care and Supreme Court appointments, and the list goes on. If you can think of an issue, it’s probably on the ballot — or at least being considered by one of the candidates. Politics have consequences. What goes on in Washington, D.C., Lansing or your city hall has a massive impact on your ability to thrive in your community. Fortunately, you can have a similar impact on who represents you in these places.

On Ann Arbor’s ballot next month, voters will elect new state House Representatives,

did respond to our request for an interview. His openness to dialogue with students is commendable and his planned tuition freeze and financial experience could very well benefit the University in the future. However, his platform points regarding free speech and trans identities in sports are alarming. If we want to create a more inclusive and responsive university, a candidate who refuses to publicly acknowledge rampant Islamophobia in his platform and who utilizes transphobic talking points to garner political support should not be elected.

For the past six months, we have witnessed a vast erosion of our rights as students to speak freely, be treated with due process and for our concerns to be addressed by the University — an erosion that the current board complied with, if not facilitated. Denise Ilitch — who is seeking reelection — has

school board members and vote on proposals that could fundamentally alter the landscape of local politics. These races arguably have a larger effect on your life than countrywide races do. Voting in local races is therefore critical, since these officials enact policies regarding public safety, transportation and housing — choices that impact your everyday life. Your vote won’t will decide the future of America Your vote has the power to shape the country’s future. The 2024 election is about more than just two candidates; it’s a choice between two fundamentally different ideas of what the United States is and can be. On everything from social policy to economic visions to America’s place in the world, the two presidential tickets couldn’t be further apart. The other races have equally important stakes. Casting your ballot one way or another doesn’t just impact you — it impacts everyone. Our country stands at an inflection point, and who wins on Nov. 5 will decide which direction it goes. The ripple effects of this election will last decades. Supreme Court appointments, international relationships and most legislation last far longer than just four years. By voting, you aren’t just deciding what candidate you want in the immediate future, but what kind of a nation you want the next generation to grow up in. While you likely don’t agree entirely with any of the choices this election cycle, be they candidates or ballot measures, some will resonate more with your values and priorities than others. That alignment should guide who and what you choose to vote for, and nothing else. America depends on it. To register to vote in Michigan, go to this page. Click here for more information on voter registration. U-M students and Ann Arbor residents can also visit the UMMA to register to vote, pick up or drop off an absentee ballot, vote early after Oct. 26 or vote day of on Nov. 5. This editorial represents the opinion of The Michigan Daily’s Editorial Board. If you are interested in submitting an Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor, please send your submission to tothedaily@ michigandaily.com.

been complicit in this degradation of student rights, from her involvement in suppressing student resolutions to her vote in favor of institutional neutrality. While Ilitch deserves praise for her work in other areas — most notably her efforts to improve the University’s handling of sexual misconduct cases — she has continued to fall short when it comes to protecting student liberties. In a rejection of the status quo, this editorial board cannot, in good faith, endorse any incumbent candidate for the University Board of Regents. Our decision to not endorse a second candidate is not motivated by cynicism or vitriol — in fact, this editorial board knows and believes that this University can and will rise above its current rut. However, that will never happen if the regents do not feel the need to heed student voices. Nov. 5 is a chance to make them listen.

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Sorry Engineering students, you need more writing requirements

Transitioning from LSA to the College of Engineering has been jarring. Aside from the 3:7 female-to-male ratio, I’ve noticed a stark difference in communication skills between both cohorts of students. Within LSA, it was quite easy to carry conversations with peers. Meanwhile, in the College of Engineering, it has been impossible to make any form of small talk. I prepared myself to be in the gendered minority of any room I walked into, but I did not think I would be in the “communication skills” minority as well.

Over the past month, I asked three project teams (student-run engineering competition teams) five questions: their year, major, graduate plans, if they took ENGR 100 or an equivalent course, and their opinion about introducing an upper-level writing requirement to the core engineering curriculum. Half had plans to attend graduate school, but three-quarters are uninterested in the idea of a writing course — which could help with their graduate school applications.

In addition to major requirements, LSA students must complete two writing classes and fulfill other distribution requirements. The College of Engineering, on the other hand, requires that students take ENGR 100, a First-Year Writing Requirement analog and some form of technical communication component

built into majors. Despite this, after asking around, I found that many of my engineering colleagues seem to undervalue the importance of strong writing skills.

One of the most significant benefits of requiring writing classes for engineering students is the development of greater communication skills. Writing courses teach more than just technical writing; they cover essential skills such as argumentation, clarity and persuasion. These skills are crucial for engineers who often need to explain complex ideas to nontechnical stakeholders or advocate for their projects effectively.

Imagine an engineer presenting a new project to a board of directors, many of whom may not have a technical background. Without strong writing and communication skills, the engineer may struggle to convey the importance and impact of their work, leading to misunderstandings and potential setbacks. In today’s world, being able to communicate effectively is just as important as technical expertise.

The importance of writing skills extends beyond technical fields. Most engineering graduates find themselves working on interdisciplinary teams that include professionals from varying backgrounds. A solid foundation in writing can facilitate better collaboration and innovation. In an increasingly interconnected world, the ability to articulate ideas clearly and persuasively can lead to more productive discussions and breakthroughs. By

taking a writing class, engineering students can learn how to communicate with professionals in other fields, fostering an environment where creativity and diverse perspectives can thrive. Effective communication is also vital for career readiness and adaptability. Engineers often shift careers or roles, and strong writing skills are versatile. These skills are valuable whether they enter consulting, management or academia. Writing essays enhances critical thinking and analytical skills, preparing students for a variety of challenges they may face in their professional lives.

Consider the engineer who decides to transition into consulting. Their ability to write compelling reports and deliver presentations can significantly influence their success in that new role. A writing course can provide the practice and feedback necessary for honing skills, ultimately making students more versatile and marketable in the job market.

Aside from the professional edge writing gives you, there’s a genuine concern among many teachers that many college students, including those in engineering programs, lack the necessary reading and writing skills for academic success. These lack of skills may lead to shorter attention spans and less emphasis on lengthy texts. A dedicated writing course could help bridge this gap by providing structured practice and feedback, ensuring that all students can effectively communicate their ideas. This is

especially critical as engineering students encounter dense technical literature, and the ability to distill information into clear writing is essential for their future roles.

In speaking with most of my peers, I’ve noticed a troubling trend: Many struggle to articulate their thoughts coherently, even in informal settings. The ability to communicate clearly is not just an academic skill — it’s a life skill that can affect personal and professional relationships. By requiring a writing course, perhaps even one that requires oral communication, the College of Engineering can ensure that its graduates are not only technically competent, but also capable of contributing meaningfully to

discussions in their workplaces and communities.

The College of Engineering already has technical communication classes built into some required courses across majors.

The TC requirement is similar to a standard English writing course, but with the added layer of writing in a concise manner.

Some disciplines have standalone technical communication classes, taught only by members of the Program in Technical Communication. For instance, in the Industrial & Operations Engineering program, students must take TC 380 (Technical Communication in IOE) their junior year.

In others, TC is embedded in a class, co-taught by an instructor from TC and another from the major program. For example, the Aerospace Engineering program requirement AERO 305 (Aerospace Engineering Laboratory I). Since the Department of Robotics opened in 2022, the TC program was able to curate a curriculum that took their learnings from other departments and created something unique just for them. Robotics uses a hybrid of both, using stand-alone and embedded technical communications courses in their curriculum. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Kelly Hanson, director of the Program in Technical Communication, discussed the role of technical communication in the College of Engineering.

House rules: Why young buyers can’t compete in today’s market

OGISELLE SESI Opinion Analyst

n the Halloween before the 2016 presidential election, I remember spotting numerous high schoolers wearing masks that depicted the faces of soon-tobe President Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton going door to door with pillowcases as they shouted, “Trick-or-Treat!” Although the 2020 election did not get its share of Halloween fun due to the COVID-19 pandemic, costume stores like Party City continue to stock their shelves with presidential masks replicating candidates’ faces.

These options stem from a history of interest in wearing political costumes on Halloween, especially when candidates become popular or infamous during that year’s election cycle. Whether they celebrate or mock the candidate they depict depends solely on the costume-wearer. Either way, the costumes allow voters to satirize American politics in a low-stakes, lighthearted manner. This is important considering the holiday’s proximity to Election Day. Celebrators should have their fun during the weekend, but also take that political passion to the polls on Nov. 5. Treating politics lightheartedly on Halloweekend by dressing up as your “favorite” candidate — especially this year — could serve as an opportunity to increase civic engagement just days before the election.

For a little more than three decades, Halloween costume chain Spirit Halloween has tracked presidential mask sales and used them to predict election outcomes in what they call the “Presidential Mask In-

dex.” There are clearly flaws with this system, as only a slim percentage of Halloween costume-wearers will pick political costumes. It’s interesting to note, however, that in 2016 and the 20 years before it, Spirit Halloween correctly predicted election outcomes for every presidential election thus far. This shows that we can reasonably mix something as serious as the presidential election with humor and fun, particularly during the spooky season.

One may argue, fairly, that an individual’s Halloween costume choice and their civic engagement are two separate things. Although this is true — there isn’t much evidence suggesting a correlation between the two ideas — it is important to recognize that people approach politics differently, and Halloween presents an opportunity to do so lightheartedly. It’s also OK to have fun with serious topics like politics, just like the Spirit Halloween chain does as they track their mask sales each election season.

Generation Z, in particular, generally differs from older generations in their approach to politics. Media trends, specifically regarding political campaigns, demonstrate that marketers target issues such as inflation, housing, health care and more that are important to this generation. Because this presidential election is expected to be close, both the Democratic and Republican candidates are attempting to appeal to Gen Z voters. While Harris has jumped on the “brat summer” trend by mimicking Charli XCX’s new album cover in her campaign’s banner, Trump is appealing to economic factors, such as a dissatisfaction with the current cost of living, to reach the younger

audience. Typically, content that appeals to humor attracts audiences. People prefer brands, for example, that sell the feelings of joy and fun to them. Politicians, in the same vein, try to incorporate humor into their campaigns to appeal to voters. While always taking a playful approach may distract from important conversations regarding policy and initiatives, the occasional incorporation of humor by campaigners and partyfollowers could potentially help the United States diverge from a past of otherwise low voter turnout rates in recent elections.

Younger voters face more obstacles to go out and vote, likely in part because some do not receive effective civic education throughout their schooling, and in part because of poor time management skills. As such, young voters tend to favor and take a more lighthearted approach to politics. It is often easier to digest and engage with serious subjects when we joke about them.

People find humor alluring because it provides a temporary break from particularly serious situations. Our society emphasizes a need for fun during times of crisis to manage stress and anxiety. This was true during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s true now, during what seems to be a high-stakes election season. Voting for whom you think is the right candidate can be stressful, especially as you sift through various narratives surrounding each one. Therefore, approaching the matter cheerfully or humorously during events like Halloween allows you to balance the serious with the silly.

As many of us approach college graduation, a question looms: “Will I ever be able to afford a home?” For those about to enter the workforce, the question isn’t just an unlikely hypothetical. While luxury home sales are hitting all-time highs, entry-level buyers are being locked out of the housing market due to increasing prices and a shortage of affordable housing.

A new Redfin report found that the average U.S. luxury home sold for a record $1.17 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, an 8.8% increase from the previous year. In the same period, the supply of luxury homes increased by 19.7%, while the nonluxury home supply decreased by 3%.

These numbers don’t indicate a thriving luxury market, but rather a systemic housing supply issue. With so few homes available and such high demand, properties that were once considered affordable are now considered luxury. Instead of building new homes to accommodate more buyers, we are stuck with a limited supply that is getting more expensive. This leaves young professionals with little to no entry-level housing options.

The housing market is increasingly skewed in favor of wealthy buyers — those who are less affected by economic fluctuations and have money on hand to buy up property at premium prices. “A lot of luxury buyers are coming in with cash, snapping up expensive homes,” explained Heather Mahmood, a Phoenix real estate agent, in a recent article published in Kiplinger.

Unlike the average buyer who depends on loans and is sensitive to rate hikes, wealthy cash buyers don’t rely on financing and can skirt around high borrowing costs. In instances where they do take out mortgages, their financial standing usually allows them to negotiate better terms. Following the pandemic, high inflation forced the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, ultimately pushing mortgage rates in 2023 to their highest point since September 2000. This created concern, particularly for postgrads who are still paying off student loans. Although the U.S. Department of Education lists 10 years as the ideal timeline for paying off student debt, the average student borrower takes closer to 20. During this time, the prospect of managing a high mortgage payment is often unachievable. Another part of the problem

is the disappearance of what was once known as the “starter home.” U.S. News & World Report defines these as “smaller, more affordable homes that help first-time buyers get their foot in the door of homeownership.” The point of these units isn’t to be something special or long-term. The objective is to provide first-time buyers with a door into the housing market, allowing them to build up the equity needed to eventually purchase a forever home. The decline of starter homes could be a reason for the rise in age of first-time buyers. Historically, buyers would start looking for a home in their late 20s to early 30s; today, that’s not the case. According to a 2023 report by the National Association of Realtors, the average age of first-time buyers is now 35 years old, a six year increase from 1981. Without starter homes, people are forced to save more for a down payment on a larger, more expensive property. As a result, they’re older by the time they’ve saved enough money to enter the market. In February 2023, the down payment on an average home came in at about $56,000.

That’s a 25% increase from just a year prior.

Some argue that these market trends are cyclical. They claim that high prices will eventually stabilize and entry-level buyers will have more opportunities in the future.

While it’s common for the real estate market to experience ups and downs, current trends suggest a more permanent structural shift.

Wealthy buyers and investors are continuing to price out the average buyer and this imbalance isn’t showing any signs of correcting itself. Though mortgage rates have consistently decreased over the past several months and this trend is expected to continue well into next year, it’s not enough solace for entry-level buyers. Lower borrowing rates won’t make up for overall high prices and low inventory. Once again, the real winners will be institutional investors and wealthy individuals who can act quickly and buy multiple properties. Falling mortgage rates give the illusion that housing is more affordable, but they actually just distract from the real issue: a lack of supply.

There’s another argument that this high demand for houses is indicative of a healthy real estate market. But a healthy market for who? Not for the 45.5 million Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 who are being hit with outrageous prices. For existing owners and wealthy buyers, high property value is a positive, but for

low-income and young buyers it’s a barrier to entry, one that is often impossible to overcome.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has proposed a plan to build three million new rental units and homes in the next four years, which could help lower these costs for first-time buyers. Increasing supply could make a real difference in helping prices to stabilize and even decrease. However, many previous projects to increase affordable housing have struggled. Developers can be reluctant to take on lowerincome projects. For them, building higher-end homes tends to have a higher profitability. Affordable housing jobs tend to have a lower return. To help Harris’ plan come to fruition, policymakers could implement solutions like tax breaks or more lenient zoning regulations for developers who are committed to building a certain amount of affordable homes. These incentives could allow for higher-density developments, making affordable projects feasible by helping compensate for the lower profits associated with them.

To address the disproportionate buying power of institutional investors, policies could be introduced to limit their access to single-family or entry-level homes. These investors are known for their ability to outbid individuals with all-cash offers and purchase properties in bulk, which inflates prices and limits homeownership opportunities. In some areas, their involvement has also been linked to higher eviction rates and a reduction in owner-occupied housing. A solution could be to place higher taxes or fees on investors buying these types of homes. This could help deter them from the market for starter homes — a market that should be reserved for individuals and families who are looking to buy for the first time. The current trajectory of the housing market is unsustainable. Young professionals and average Americans will continue to be priced out unless things change. To prevent an even wider wealth gap, policymakers need to address the issue and create more opportunities for first-time buyers. By encouraging development and ensuring that entry-level homes aren’t absorbed by investors, we can create a system and market that is more balanced and favors more than just the wealthy few. The future of the housing market — the future of young professionals like ourselves — depends on how well we address these issues now.

TÉA SANTORO Opinion Analyst

Avery Nelson/DAILY

Hannah Willingham/ DAILY

JOVANNA GALLEGOS Opinion Analyst

Trick plays leave Michigan grinning in win over Michigan State

REKHA LEONARD Managing Sports Editor

Donovan Edwards spent plenty of time praising his teammates in his press conference after beating the Michigan State football team. But the senior running back also spent plenty of time cheekily praising himself.

Throwing a 23-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Colston Loveland in the fourth quarter, Edwards improved his career passing record to 4-for-4 with two passing touchdowns. When asked about the trick play, he first emphasized what an honor it was for his coaches to trust him throwing the ball. Then he paused, smiled and added one last quip:

“Dono has a perfect QBR rating.” Edwards’ joking nature about his throw was exactly what Michigan coach Sherrone Moore hoped to elicit by drawing up trick plays.

“These guys are kids, so when you introduce a trick play, they all smile, they all get happy, and especially this one over here,

FOOTBALL

you can see the grin on his face,” Moore said, gesturing at a grinning Edwards beside him. “It was just to change it up, give them some variation, and it also makes people work at something. And that’s what we want to be able to do because we’ve got a lot of them in the bag.”

In a rivalry win over the Spartans, the Wolverines effectively implemented a variety of trick plays. Not only did the trickery give Edwards and company something to smile about, it dramatically opened up the offense.

Five plays into the second half, Michigan dialed up a flea flicker. Senior quarterback Davis Warren handed the ball off to graduate running back Kalel Mullings, who quickly pitched it back to Warren. Warren had plenty of time in a clean pocket, so he planted his feet and delivered a 23-yard dart to junior wide receiver Tyler Morris at the sideline.

On the very next play, the Wolverines lined up without a quarterback under center. Junior quarterback Alex Orji was on the field, but he was set up out wide in the backfield. Sophomore receiver

Semaj Morgan jogged over from his position in the slot and took the snap, faking a handoff to Orji before running the ball 7 yards up the field himself. A few plays later, Orji punched the ball into the end zone, a score set up by the success

of Michigan’s trick plays.

“We had some in the hopper, for sure,” Loveland said of the Wolverines’ trick play calls.

“Games like these, anything could get called. I knew we had them for sure, and knew in a crucial time, if

we need to get it off the sheet, we get it off the sheet.” Early in the fourth quarter, Edwards’ quarterback moment made it off the sheet. Warren pitched the ball back to Edwards, and, running toward the side-

line, Edwards cocked his arm and tossed a dime to Loveland, who easily stepped into the end zone.

“The safeties, they trigger very hard, and they’re tremendous athletes, tremendous players — same thing with their whole entire defense,” Edwards said. “It’s just something that we were comfortable calling in that situation, and I’m glad that we got that off the call sheet.”

Making the most memorable play of the game, Edwards made sure to rub it in. He lapped up the attention as a reporter jokingly compared him to Tom Brady — while Moore smiled and shook his head, repeating “don’t start, don’t start” as

in

glory. He perked up when

ren said “all of us quarterbacks,” prompting Warren to laughingly include him in the group. And for all of Edwards’ joking remarks, his self-praise

a

sentiment that his perfectly executed pass sealed the game for the Wolverines. It was a culmination of a night of trickery that breathed new life into Michigan’s offense — and brought back the Wolverines’ smiles.

After 4-game hiatus, Davis Warren shows his readiness in return as starting quarterback

NOAH KINGSLEY Managing Sports Editor

Davis Warren had six weeks to think about what went wrong.

Back in Week 3, when the senior quarterback threw three interceptions against Arkansas State and was subsequently benched, it looked like the end of a short-lived Davis Warren era for the Michigan football team. With six picks in half as many games, it was hard to trust that Warren could pilot the Wolverines’ offense, or even hold onto the ball for that matter.

For six weeks, Warren had every opportunity to sulk over his bench-

FOOTBALL

ing. But spurred on by Michigan offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kirk Campbell, Warren got right back to work, hoping he could earn himself another chance.

“I felt like I’d always stay prepared,” Warren said of those six weeks. “That’s something Coach Campbell talked about, even after Arkansas State, was, ‘This team’s gonna need you at some point again, and you gotta stay ready.’

“… It’s not my job to have the perspective on if getting benched was the best thing that ever happened to me, the worst thing, a learning opportunity, something that I’ll always regret. It’s my job to stay ready.”

So when Warren got the opportunity to start again this week, he was ready. He guided the Wolverines to a 24-17 win over rival Michigan State, completing 13-of-19 passes for 123 yards and touchdown. Most importantly, though, Michigan didn’t turn the ball over all game for the first time this season — a stark departure from Warren’s first tenure as starting quarterback.

Warren still spoke in a measured manner about his performance postgame. He was critical of a couple of his missed throws on third down, and emphasized that there was still “meat on the bone” for the offense, that the Wolverines could have scored more points. Unlike

Colston Loveland at center of Michigan-Michigan State game, both between and after whistles

By the time that the final whistle blew on the Michigan football team’s 24-17 victory over rival Michigan State, Colston Loveland was already central to the story of the Wolverines’ resurgent performance. With six receptions, 67 yards and two touchdowns, the junior tight end helped define Michigan’s night and drove the Wolverines’ often stagnant passing offense to relative success. But after the whistle blew, Loveland was thrust — or thrust himself by some measures — even further into the spotlight.

While senior quarterback Davis Warren took a knee to end the contest and ran off to find the Paul Bunyan Trophy, Loveland and Spartans defensive lineman Anthony Jones got into extracurriculars. Jones rushed at Loveland during the play, colliding with his helmet with some force, to which Loveland responded with a headbutt of his own, after which things deteriorated. Jones grabbed Loveland’s helmet with both of his hands, pulling him down, and both sidelines responded by rushing the field.

“Lil bro stay doing lil bro things,” Loveland said in an onfield interview with FOX immediately following the skirmish.

the last time he uttered those words early this season, it looked plausible that they were capable of scoring more points.

He gave plenty of credit to junior quarterback Alex Orji, too, who helped open up Michigan’s offense with his legs. Together, the pair proved that at least for one game, the offense that the Wolverines intended to run at the start of the season could actually work.

Warren wasn’t trying to prove anything with his performance, though. At least not to anyone else.

“I wasn’t proving anything to anyone but myself,” Warren said.

“Like, truly. I truly mean that when I say that. I think just what I’ve been

through, how far I’ve come to get to this point, I know what’s important, and the most important thing is me.”

When Michigan’s offense struggled early this season, the most important thing was Warren, who constantly put the onus on himself to improve. When the Wolverines replaced him, the most important thing was Warren, who once again became “the best practice player he can be.” And when he returned to the huddle as starting quarterback, the most important thing was Warren, who never turned the ball over.

“(There’s) one last thing that I do want to hit on about this guy right here,” Edwards said unprompted, tapping Warren on the shoulder. “I think that if you go through a lot of adversity and expectations on you, the adversity defines who you are. This guy right here didn’t flinch, not one bit.

As much as Warren wanted to focus on his own preparation and his own mindset, senior running back Donovan Edwards took the chance to open it up a bit to others. Still wearing the pants from his uniform and a torn undershirt, Edwards needed to make one last point before concluding his postgame press conference and heading back to the locker room to change.

It was a moment of high tension, it was a moment that frustrated Michigan coach Sherrone Moore, but acutely, it was a moment that encapsulated Loveland’s night perfectly. All game, Loveland was at the center of the action. And all game, Loveland drove Michigan State crazy.

With Warren back under center for the first time in four games, the Wolverines’ offense took a few drives to get going with three straight punts. But within those struggles, Loveland was one of the only facets working, reeling in two key passes that helped give Michigan its only first downs on those drives.

But late in the first half the Wolverines finally started moving the ball. Both figuratively and literally, it started and ended with Loveland. Warren’s first and last passes of the drive ended up in the tight end’s hands with the last being a touchdown for the wideopen Loveland in the corner of the end zone.

From then on, Michigan’s offense finally got going, and it was in part due to the attention that Loveland drew from the Spartans. All season Loveland has been the key component of the Wolverines’ passing attack,

“(Michigan State) is lil bro. They can do whatever they want, we knew it was gonna get chippy but everything within the confines of the game we do right. And then after, if they want to get busy we get busy.”

with more yards than all of their wide receivers combined. And that continued Saturday night, but when all of Michigan State’s focus switched to Loveland, Warren found his receivers in the second half and piloted multiple efficient drives.

“He’s just a dude, does dude things all the time,” Moore said of Loveland. “(We) just try to give the ball to him as much as we can, when we can, but people know he’s gonna get the ball at some point. So you’ve gotta do things to make it like he’s not getting it.”

And after two rare drives in which Loveland “didn’t get it,” Michigan drew up a play to ensure that the ball would get back into his hands — even if it required some trickery. Early in the third quarter on the Spartans’ 23-yard line, Warren pitched the ball back to senior running back Donovan Edwards, who delayed, and then launched the ball to Loveland for another six points.

Just when Michigan State’s focus had finally been taken off of Loveland, he put himself right back at the center of the contest. So by the time the game ended, Loveland was already a key part of the story of the Wolverines’ victory. But with his and Jones’ antics after the whistle, he also became a key component of the tension.

With the first part of Loveland’s notoriety, Moore was wellpleased. But with the skirmish, Moore was frustrated.

“I told the team it was unacceptable regardless of what happened and how it started,” Moore said. “Those guys chirping at us, and us responding. The guy headbutted Colston at the end, our job to represent the University is to not respond to that. … That’s not Michigan football, that’s not who we are.”

Between and after whistles, Loveland was at the center of the action Saturday night. All night he gave the Spartans headaches, but with the skirmish at the end, he might’ve just given Moore a headache too.

CHARLIE PAPPALARDO Daily Sports Editor

Jenna Hickey/DAILY

Youth on full display as Michigan races past Northwood 81-52 in exhibition

KLEIN

All offseason, one thing was certain about the Michigan women’s basketball team: it would be a squad heavily reliant on its youth to run the show. And in its first taste of oncourt action of the season Sunday, that youth was on full display. The Wolverines’ starting lineup featured three freshmen, who combined for 44 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists in the Wolverines’ 81-52 exhibition game win over Northwood.

Freshman guard Mila Holloway immediately stole the show. She slashed through the Timberwolves’ defense for an easy layup to put the Wolverines on the board. But that wasn’t it for Holloway, as she hit two threes and recorded an and-1 floater on her way to a 12-point first half, which propelled Michigan to a 43-30 halftime lead.

As Wolverines’ coach Kim Barnes Arico alluded to before the season, Holloway served as Michigan’s primary ball handler Sunday. Leading a faster, more athletic roster than the Wolverines are accustomed to, Holloway looked to push the ball whenever possible, getting up the floor quickly and finding teammates with outlet passes.

“We put a big emphasis on

(playing fast) in practice,” Holloway said. “Get it out. We don’t really want to set up an offense. We want to score as quickly as we can.”

However, for fellow starting freshman guards Olivia Olson and Syla Swords — both of whom played in the McDonald’s AllAmerican game last spring — it took some time to get going. Michigan went to Olson often

early on, running a set play to get her an open elbow jumper on the game’s first possession. She missed that one, and then her next two, before nailing a pullup jump shot to get on the board. Olson quickly settled down, making three of her next five shots including a sweet changeof-pace euro step layup in transition.

Olson continued to find her

Olivia Olson finds her groove in exhibition matchup

“I was definitely nervous,” Olson said. “I mean, we all were, but it just went away once we started playing the first couple minutes.”

There was a lot of buzz surrounding the Michigan women’s basketball team’s exhibition game against Northwood. But not for the reasons you might expect.

The interest in Sunday’s game had nothing to do with questions regarding who would emerge victorious from the contest, but rather, who would be starting in it. Because in the Wolverines’ 81-52 win, they did something unusual for Michigan: They put three freshmen in their starting lineup.

Each of these youngsters had the chance to start their collegiate careers off with a bang, and freshman guard Olivia Olson seized that opportunity. Working all angles of the court, Olson totaled a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds over the course of the matchup — leading the team in both categories.

While Olson’s standout performance stole the show, she didn’t immediately hit the court running. In fact, Olson started the game 0-for-3 from the field before finally sinking a pull-up jumper late in the first quarter.

Indeed, after notching her first points, Olson’s game slowly began to take form as the clock ticked into the second quarter. Though she totaled six points, her main contributions were on the boards. With four offensive rebounds, Olson played a vital role in earning extra possessions for the Wolverines — a skill she’s been honing in practice.

To measure the intangibles, Michigan uses a system of “practice points.” These points keep track of stats that fall outside of your typical point-scoring plays. And when it comes to those, Olson has dominated, earning the majority of the practice awards.

“I don’t know that any freshman has won consistently the way Olivia has won,” Wolverines coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “… We want to say, ‘Okay, we’re the hardest working team in America.’ But how do you measure that?

That’s our practice points. That’s our measuring stick.” Sunday, those practice points translated onto the court as Olson consistently helped move the

ball up and down the court. In moments where Michigan’s fastpaced offense seemed frantic, Olson remained steady. So when her opportunity came, Olson was ready, having settled into her groove.

Dribbling up the court in the third quarter, Olson evaded her defenders and drove her way into the paint to create an opportunity to score. After creating the necessary space, Olson watched her shot fall through the net for two more points for the Wolverines.

With this shot, Olson tallied her fourth point of the quarter and surpassed freshman guard Mila Holloway as the leading scorer for Michigan with 14 — a total that continued to climb as she maintained the top-spot.

“You guys saw it today, she just sacrifices her body, sells out,” Barnes Arico said. “… The way she played today is the way she practices. Everybody had the chance to see that today.”

Olson’s final contributions came in the form of free throws in the fourth quarter. Netting five of the six attempts, Olson helped the Wolverines earn some final points.

groove in the second half, leading the Wolverines with 13 points as they nearly doubled their halftime lead. As a bigger, stronger guard, she excelled at getting into the paint and finishing at the rim. It only took one game for Olson to establish herself as one of Michigan’s go-to options offensively, leading all scorers with 22 points.

“You gotta keep shooting,”

Olson said. “I tried to pass it more, get some rebounds to help get me going. Everyone was motivating me, people are like, ‘keep shooting.’ ” On the other hand, Swords struggled to get her shooting going Sunday, finishing with seven points while shooting 3-for-8 from the field. Instead, she made her presence felt as a distributor. She recorded a

team-high five assists, including a drive-and-dish to Holloway for a corner 3-pointer in the first quarter. Swords’ slower-thanexpected start may be a product of having missed practice time after playing in this summer’s Olympics.

The Wolverines suffered through early growing pains outside of the shot-making department as well. Holloway and Swords, in particular, struggled to take care of the basketball, surrendering eight combined turnovers on the day. While Michigan generated some offense in transition, many of its turnovers came while trying to push the ball.

After the exhibition game, it appears that the Wolverines’ freshmen will carry the bulk of the load this year, as expected. They’re a talented group oozing with potential, but the pace and physicality of the college game still present a learning curve.

“The three of them are extremely, extremely talented players,” Barnes Arico said. “It was our best recruiting class in program history. … But they’re young, so they’re going to have some ups and downs, but they’re super coachable, they’re super talented.”

The Wolverines’ freshmen had their way with Northwood, but they’ll be facing much tougher competition next week in the team’s season opener against No. 1 South Carolina.

Michigan falls short in 2-1 overtime affair with Northwestern

NATHAN

After the 60 minutes of regulation ended, neither the No. 7 Michigan field hockey team nor No. 1 Northwestern dared to celebrate just yet.

Although the Wolverines (11-4 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) forced the Wildcats (17-0, 7-0) to their first overtime of the season, Northwestern pulled off the victory, 2-1. With the Wildcats’ high-powered offense averaging 3.76 goals per game, even with Northwestern struggling offensively, Michigan’s sole goal was never going to be enough to win. Despite three victories against ranked opponents, the close loss marked the Wolverines’ third loss to a top-10 opponent this season.

“I think we fought really hard,” junior midfielder Claire Taylor said. “We stuck to our tactics, we stuck to our passing sequence. We played really tight and really hard defense, and we had our chances, and now we just need to finish.”

During the first quarter, the ball largely remained on the Wildcats’ half in Michigan possession. Still, only after 10 minutes of play did Wolverines sophomore mid-

fielder Natalie Millman finally take the first shot of the game, which sailed high above the net.

On the other end, a strong defensive presence by Michigan meant that Northwestern failed to have opportunities in the circle, meaning they ended the quarter with no shots.

Both teams’ offenses came alive in the second quarter, though. The Wildcats began with the first two corners of the game, which were both blocked. Later, the first shot on goal came from Northwestern, with Michigan redshirt freshman goalkeeper Hala Silverstein making the save. Wolverines redshirt junior forward Abby Tamer — the team’s leading scorer — took Michigan’s first shot on goal late in the first half via a hard-hit backhand attempt which was ultimately saved. Despite a scoreless game entering halftime, both teams began to build up momentum. It was clear that one team would eventually break through — the only question was which one.

Just over five minutes into the third quarter, the Wildcats found themselves with another corner. This time, forward Chloe Relford scored the first goal of the game. The ball was passed in, and Rel-

Blevins leadership and Goldson heroics help Michigan take down No. 2 Maryland

the end, it was a good team performance and a good team battle.”

If Friday night’s contest between the Michigan men’s soccer team and No. 2 Maryland was played on paper, the Terrapins would be celebrating all weekend long. However, fortunately for the Wolverines, the game was played on grass. With only one conference win under its belt, Michigan (7-3-5 overall, 2-3-4 Big Ten) was presented with a tall mountain to climb: hosting the unbeaten Big Ten leaders Maryland (8-2-5, 5-12). But after taking advantage of early momentum garnered by a saved penalty from sophomore goalkeeper Isaiah Goldson, graduate midfielder Bryce Blevins led the Wolverines in handing Maryland its first conference defeat in a 2-0 victory.

“We grinded it out and found a way,” Michigan coach Chaka Daley said. “We didn’t play magnificently well, but I thought we fought really well. We competed and fought for everything. So in

The Wolverines’ organization and discipline made the start of the first half chaotic for the Terrapins, who squandered possession a number of times. Maryland didn’t offer a threat in the final third until a through ball launched Terrapin forward Sadam Masereka into a counter attack in the fifth minute, isolating junior defender Nolan Miller. In a panic, Miller tried to win the ball with a sliding challenge, but clipped Masereka’s knee for an early penalty call.

Up stepped Maryland forward Colin Griffith, who attempted to bait Goldson with a stuttered run up. But Goldson didn’t flinch, diving to his right and parrying the ball to Terrapin midfielder Aldi Ndrenika, who sent the rebound high and wide. Goldson’s teammates smothered him in celebration as soon as the danger was averted, as the Michigan keeper’s intuition and heroics kept the game scoreless for the time being.

“Shoutout (Wolverines’ assistant coach) Jhohan Obando, (substitute goalkeepers) Ethan Wood,

Hayden Evans and Alen Bean, I appreciate you guys.” Goldson said. “They definitely helped me steer the way of where the penalty was going. The whole goalkeeper unit did our homework on each player’s penalties.”

Not even four minutes later, Michigan found itself on the attack. The home crowd hardly finished celebrating the save from Goldson when sophomore defender Matthew Fisher sent a cross-field ball to Blevins, who beat his defender to the byline with a pair of stepovers. His leftfooted cross met the head of sophomore defender Patrick O’Toole in unfamiliar territory, and the net rippled for his first career goal to open the scoring.

“We’ve been emphasizing getting runners into the box,” Blevins said. “Patty made a great run, I was just lucky enough he was there. It was a really good finish as well.”

The Wolverines weren’t content with a one-goal advantage. Hungry for more, Michigan continued to put pressure on the Maryland backline, which conceded an average of fewer than a goal per game

heading into the night. Senior forward Jacob Bucknor utilized his pace and skill to generate several scoring opportunities, and graduate forward Beto Soto’s vision and technique helped terrorize the Terrapin defense as well.

While unsuccessful in their search for a second goal before the halftime whistle, the Wolverines remained on the front foot for the rest of the half. They held the Terrapins, who averaged almost two goals per game this season, to two shots on goal in the first period; one being the missed penalty and the other a long-range effort straight into the gloves of Goldson. Michigan began the second half as if the game was still scoreless, and Maryland felt that aggressive presence early on. Three minutes in, Blevins beat his defender once again and sent in a low, driven cross in search of Bucknor. On its way to Bucknor, the ball ricocheted upward into the outstretched arm of Terrapin defender Bjarne Thiesen, which was deemed a penalty by the video assistant referee.

Blevins, who scored the Wolverines’ only other penalty ear-

lier this season against Penn State, seemed destined to be the one for the job. Maryland goalkeeper Laurin Mack pointed to his right hand side to taunt Blevins, suggesting he shoot the ball in that direction.

Blevins took him up on his offer, sending the Terrapin goalkeeper the wrong way before coolly rolling the ball in the bottom left corner. After doubling its lead, Michigan decided to sit back and get numbers behind the ball for

ford took a strong forehand shot that had no lack of power behind it. It wasn’t surprising that Northwestern executed the play to perfection to score, given this was its third corner of the game. Both offenses continued to be active with multiple shots on goal, but neither team broke through. Although Michigan had several corner opportunities, they failed to capitalize, and it appeared that the Wildcats just had the edge. Northwestern seemed to confirm this, as just over a minute into the quarter, the Wildcats reached the back of the net again, but Wolverines coach Marcia Pankratz challenged the play. After a tense minute of review, the goal was overturned, keeping Michigan in striking distance. This ruling reinvigorated the Wolverines, propelling them to one final push, despite the scoreboard.

Halfway through the quarter, Michigan earned itself a corner. After it failed and the Wolverines received another, Tamer assisted redshirt junior midfielder Emmy Tran for her first goal of the season to even up the game and send it into overtime.

insurance. Maryland repeatedly knocked on the door but Goldson refused to answer. The Wolverine goalkeeper was a brick wall, ending the night with a clean sheet and nine total saves. Without a win against a top-five opponent since 2011, as well only earning one point from its previous three matches, Michigan stood face-to-face with a mountain in its battle with the

AYDIN ABDOLLAHI

Riley Nieboer/DAILY

JORDAN

Daily Sports Writer

Ellie Vice/DAILY

ALINA LEVINE Daily Sports Writer

FIELD HOCKEY

Learn what’s at stake in the Michigan Supreme Court race

IN 2022, SEVEN MICHIGAN STATE LEGISLATURE RACES WERE

DECIDED BY UNDER 1,000 VOTES

There are 454,231 college students in Michigan. Local elections impact your daily life and are often decided by just a few votes. As a voter, trust yourself to vote in every contest. Make sure to complete your ballot from top to bottom.

Early Voting Ends: Nov. 3, 2024

Election Day: Nov. 5, 2024

SKELETON E di T i ON

This year, the Statement team set out to uncover skeletons in out metaphorical closets. Our writers explored their own fears, while investigating greater truths pertaining to society, academia and the Halloween spirit. Unlock the closet, if you dare, and see what our writers have in store.

Illustrations by Avery Nelson

Designed by Leyla Dumke and Ashley Xu

When you age, your skeletons do too

KATIE LYNCH Statement Columnist

You can tell a lot about a person by what’s on their nightstand. Next to my bed are two blue milk crates stacked on each other and stuffed with books, an anticipatory bottle of melatonin, Vicks VapoRub, a box of tissues and a couple of pens for good measure. On top of everything, next to another stack of books and an alarm clock that my brain only selectively notices, are two Archie Comics books, both recently gifted to me by a friend. I’ve read both since I was given them, but still I like to keep them next to my pillow; their tattered covers adorned with familiar characters have become a comforting image before I go to sleep each night.

Archie Comics are one of the most emblematic symbols of my childhood and one that is shared across generations of my family, from siblings and cousins, parents and grandparents, to my aunts and uncles. I grew up reading them at my grandparents’ cabin in northern Michigan, my siblings and I squabbling over the same copies my dad and his siblings shared in their own youth. They’re the perfect read for just about any setting — rocking in the porch swing, trying to fall asleep at night, eating breakfast or sitting on the dock.

I love these comics with all my heart, but as I sift through the rather large stack of them taking up residence on my desk, I’ve started to reexamine the way my relationship to these characters has changed over time. The comics, which have been around for nearly 85 years, have evolved to incorporate modern-day social settings and pop culture references (among other changes). Even so, across a varied cast of characters and many distinctive plot lines, the essential premise of the franchise remains the same: Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge are both in love with Archie Andrews, and he is in love with each of them as well.

Betty and Veronica are constantly competing against each other to win Archie’s affections, often sacrificing their close friendship in an effort to gain an edge on the other. Archie, in turn, is easily swayed by whichever girl brandishes a freshly baked pie or a new bikini and can be insensitive in the way he handles the “loser’s” emotions. Whoever he asks out on a date, for any given occasion, feels smug, and whoever he doesn’t ask feels like they must have done something wrong. Betty and Veronica have their own lives and

identities beyond their pursuit of Archie. Yet, so much of the plot in these books is centered around the relentless female pursuit of male affection as a way to affirm their own identity. All of this is to say, the Archie Comics aren’t your typical feminist read. However, my intention is not to make a case against Archie Comics.

older as a way of inevitably changing for the worse.

Everything ages, and some things better than others. We’re no strangers to physical manifestations of age on the human body (like wrinkles), and in tandem, we attempt to cover up these signs of aging and present an illusion of youth. In recent decades, we’ve also

Most of the ones I read in my childhood were nearly 50 years old, and written in the context of a vastly different social environment with a higher tolerance for gender stereotyping than we’re willing to accept today. I love the comics and hope to continue reading them for the rest of my life. Still, I often think about this sentiment — how the present-day version of me is able to think through something with a critical eye, something that I once used to accept without a second thought. I see this change in perspective as being illustrious of a broader social phenomenon that conflates aging and deterioration, seeing the natural process of growing

stantly clouds the way we think about aging, and stops us from talking about it openly.

Some of the strongest feelings of embarrassment surrounding age that I experience stem from thinking about a younger version of myself from a current, grown-up perspective. I find it natural to obsess over what has not aged well from my childhood personality and hobbies, even though doing so brings up uncomfortable feelings of regret and self-consciousness. I know I’m not alone in thinking about my younger self this way, which makes me wonder why people are so prone to hiding the characteristics of their younger selves that they’re embarrassed of. Why does this sense of shame and aversion to open conversations continue to run so deeply if embarrassing childhood memories are something that no individual is immune to?

seen a lower tolerance to insensitive jokes and acts of cultural appropriation, often expressed through the lens of “cancel culture” in digital spheres, which some Americans consider inconducive to productive conversations. Each of these examples demonstrate how not only are we, as an American society, generally terrified of getting older, but that we also fear difficult, transparent conversations surrounding the process of aging. That which ages poorly is a nationally shared “skeleton in the closet” — a reminder of our individual pasts that we fear too much to confront. There’s this looming threat of social punishment that con-

I want to paint you a picture of my middle school self, in all of her glory, as someone that spent most of their high school years being decidedly ashamed of. I played many sports and was not notably good at any of them. I put my hair in a high bun or ponytail almost every single day. I had a Hamilton phase. I wore the school’s bulldog mascot costume during a pep rally one year and ran scared from a group of eighthgrade boys who wanted to unmask my identity. I thought of the homework for my English classes as “dessert” (and this one I actually stand by). I wrote stories in a blue composition notebook whose characters were not humans but mountain goats. In short, I was nothing shy of a total nerd, as all middle schoolers are. Twelve-year-old me cared a lot about what other people thought of her but still managed to find a way to boldly own the things she loved. Now, I find myself wondering how in the world she was able to do that because at this point in my life, it feels like in every decision I make, I am forced to meticulously measure my present interest against future consequences.

Ever since I turned 18, for example, a small part of me has wanted to get a tattoo, more so because I can than for any other reason. But as much as I think about it, I cannot think of a single image or symbol that I could confidently say would be timeless enough for me to enjoy having on my body forever. Even the Libra symbol, something I once resonated with wholeheartedly and thought to be utterly classic, now seems so high school, so cliche.

The future of ancient human remains

MEGHAN DWAN

Statement Contributor

When I pass away, I want to be buried with a tree, so that my descendants can carve their names into it and I can know them a little bit forever. My sister once proclaimed that she wants her funeral to be a masquerade ball so that when someone opens her casket, expecting an elaborate prank, it would really just be her dead body. I know friends who want to be buried by family or have their ashes spread in the ocean or be kept in an urn and looked after by their children. Morbidly or sarcastically or jokingly, whatever the fashion, everyone has thought of where they will go when they set sail toward the light. So what becomes of the remains left without a voice?

Nestled in the William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing of the Kelsey Archaeological Museum are the human remains of a mummified child. Their name, favorite toy and loving caretaker, is left a mystery. Researchers at the museum write on the associated plaque that the child lived around the beginning of the Roman occupation in Egypt, when Roman census records showed very high rates of child and infant mortality. The museum received the mummified remains in 1971.

In a project led by Engineering student Grant K. Martin in 2002, CT scans revealed that the mummification of the child in the Kelsey was primarily made up of cloth, rather than actual human remains. The scans showed that wood was also part of the bundle, meaning that the child’s body wasn’t strong; whether the result of a sickness or because the family had to wait to mummify their child is unclear.

Now the child, who was once as alive as you or me, lies behind the glass of a display case close to ancient funerary items in the exhibit.

As an archaeology student at the University of Michigan, I can admit I find it upsetting that the mummified remains are out in the open when the child was supposed to be entombed forever, to rest peacefully and undisturbed. I think of the family that spent

weeks working to mummify the child. It was jarring to see the mummified remains in the museum. In class, professors reiterate over and over again that the human remains we study are people, not artifacts, and that they must be treated with the utmost respect and dignity. The Kelsey pledges this in their policies on the stewardship of human remains, emphasizing that access to the remains in their possession are heavily monitored by the museum’s oversight committee who must carefully review each access request — even those of the museum’s personnel staff and curators.

Displays of human remains are extremely controversial within the archaeological community. As archaeology moves into the future, ethics take more of a forefront in the field and in the classroom. Learning about how old archaeologists would use their research to enforce race and gender-based stereotypes, and provide evidence for how women have always, even in the stone age, been the weaker gender, has become a preface to introductory courses in the subject. Often, guests are brought into class or to field schools to help students understand how they affect the communities they work in. Archaeology is destructive, and that destruction does not exist in a vacuum at the dig site — it affects people in the modern age, too. Educators are trying to steer new archaeologists away from the old archaeology and urge them to value the voices of the community they work in, wherever that may be in the world, above their research.

In every class, every field school, every discussion with outside organizations, the handling and treatment of human remains is dissected from every angle, and we always end up at different conclusions. As I dive deeper into the field of archaeology, I can see how research on human remains can yield information that is just not accessible through other means: It can expose sexist biases old archaeologists had when studying burials, provide evidence in cases of crime from decades ago and give insight into the individual’s life rather than the society

they lived in. It tells the stories, not of historical figures like Julius Caesar or Charlemagne, but of the actual creators of culture — everyday people. However, I have concerns about how different communities around the world feel about archaeological sites in their backyards. In some instances, bioarchaeology can be a source of pride and connect people to the past. In other cases, it can be seen as a step up from grave robbing, because in the past it was exactly that. Each community has a different view, and it is essential that as archaeologists, we listen first and foremost to how the community connected to these sites, artifacts and remains feel. Old archaeology was about finding the biggest, most valuable item at the site and throwing the dirt back in once everything else was sold for parts. The knowledge and research that’s been lost because of that is atrocious — not to mention the damage done to the communities they worked in. Now, their spoils are floating around museums across the globe, with no context on how to treat these remains with dignity and no way to confidently connect them to the culture they came from. The mummified child in the Kelsey is an example of a problem modern archaeologists have struggled to address.

Some museums have decided to remove human remains from displays altogether due to these ethical and cultural concerns. For example, The Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford University has removed more than 113 human remains, including Egyptian mummified remains, decorated skulls and their infamous shrunken human head display. Archaeology is an intense passion for me. The idea that I can discover a personal detail about someone who lived a couple millenia ago from a few cut marks on animal bone is incredible. When connections can be made between the past and the present, or when methods from thousands of years ago can be incorporated into the future unfolding in front of us, I feel so much hope about what our world will become. Every time I have heard of archaeological cases where ancient women were in power, or where there

was a lack of inequality between sexes, it inspires me — for a few minutes, I feel invincible. I feel less alone with archaeology. It tells a million different stories of people who were different from me, but felt the same things, had the same fears and loved the same way. People amaze me; in every time period, in every place, there was always passion, always creativity, always family. Even as the circumstances changed, every person has felt grief and rage and love and found ways to express that, even if we don’t know now what those ways were.

Time is a tapestry, with each vertical thread representing the inherently human patterns across millenia and each horizontal thread a life. We are bound to our place and to our patterns. An archaeologist’s job is to look at the tapestry — the art it forms, the way threads come together like people, the way they fall apart like empires, the spinsters who sat by the spinning wheel, creating the history we have today. Archaeologists examine each knot, each string, each pattern. The design it creates is unmistakably beautiful. When given the full tapestry, we can ask: Who are we? What makes us special? What history are we creating today?

But we must also ask, if archaeology also requires running a knife along that thread and tearing the art to pieces, how can we ensure the safety and protection of the very thing we are tearing apart? What use is it to know the past if we use it to justify hurting people in the present?

Every aspect of archaeology has something enjoyable in it, but the ethics are questionable at best and deteriorating with time at worst. As we move away from the past and weave our future, there can be a place for archaeology. It’s in the archaeologist’s hands to ensure that every scoop of dirt, every scrape of the trowel has a purpose. We need to ensure that as we create the future of the field, we center inclusion and prioritize the voices we unearth, as well as the modern communities we garner this information for. Archaeology doesn’t have to die; it can choose its fate as long as it allows others to choose theirs.

I’m

going

trick-or-treating this year

AUDREY HOLLENBAUGH Statement Columnist

My best friend and I have gone trick-or-treating together throughout our entire friendship, spending Halloween running from door to door in our costumes and filling pillowcases with candy. When we were 14, I put a sheet over my head and went as a ghost, and she went as a cup of Kraft Mac & Cheese. When we were seniors in high school, we were still at it, braving the rain and having the time of our lives as a pirate and Batman. But that was in our small home town, where people were just happy to have someone to knock on their door and ask for candy. This year, as sophomores in college, we’re taking on Ann Arbor.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit uncertain of how our trick-or-treating experience will go. I haven’t gone in two years, and it’s certainly going to look different than my hometown. Instead of taking hours to get ready after school and waiting anxiously in my costume for 5 o’clock to roll around, I’ll be

rushing back to my dorm after work, changing as quickly as possible, scarfing down some dinner and then rushing home again after trick-ortreating so I can throw on a version of my costume that calls for a lot less fabric and make my way over to Hill Street.

I’m not sure how well this mildly ambitious and stress-inducing plan will work. Will residents here be happy to see college kids engaging in a fun and innocent pastime, or are they sick of overage trick-ortreaters groveling for free candy? I don’t know, and while I’d prefer to get some smiles and chocolate bars, I guess I don’t really mind either way. I’m just excited to try it. Even if we get scolded by some suburban mom who thinks we’re too old to be shouting “trick or treat!” on her doorstep, I know we’re going to have a wonderful time.

My best friend and I do stupid stuff like this all the time. Most of the time, my friend suggests these things, because she’s incredibly confident and funny, and she always comes up with these silly activities for us to play out. Trick-or-treating was 100% her idea. I was honestly

hesitant at first, but she brought me on board, and now I can’t wait. Just this past week, she asked me through an email forward to go to an event in the Michigan Union just so we could grab the free dinner and leave. Our junior year of high school, when we were at Great Lakes Crossing during a trip for a school event, we went on the carousel in the middle of the food court together. We were surrounded by people who were sitting quietly and enjoying the calm, relaxing ride while we spun ourselves in one of the teacup-seats as fast as we possibly could, laughing louder than anyone else there.

We’re not easily embarrassed when we’re with each other — we’ve made it a point not to be. It’s something we started years ago, but I don’t remember exactly when. It’s just become such a natural part of who I am, especially when I’m by her side. Basically, if one of us asks the other to do something that seems dumb and childish yet incredibly fun, but the other person is hesitant, all we have to do is remind them of the “YOLO” — you only live once — mindset, and their mind changes almost instantly.

YOLO. It’s incredibly dated and cringey by now, and generally in its heyday was mostly used in unserious contexts. But for us, it means you only have so many chances to experience life, and the opinions of the people you’re worried about embarrassing yourself in front of most likely aren’t going to matter, so just do whatever you want to do. When I’m feeling self-conscious about something, and my best friend looks at me and says “YOLO,” I realize how little what strangers think of me matters, and what a great time I could be having if I just let go. Why care so much about the opinions of people around you when you could just be happy instead, giggling with your best friend?

When I was apprehensive about going trick-or-treating, I eventually thought to myself, why? What is the big deal if someone starts lecturing us about this being a holiday for children, or yells at us to get off of their doorstep? It truly doesn’t matter. All it will be, whether it goes badly or not, is more for me and her to laugh about together. I didn’t always have this mindset. My self-consciousness really

set in when I was in fifth grade. During “national reading month” that year, my school did a “dress up as your favorite character” day. My mom and I were so excited — we picked Sally from “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and I wore this crazy distressed tulle dress and my mom teased my hair and painted my face to make big eyelashes and stitches extending either side of my mouth. We took pictures before I left for school, and I was looking forward so much to getting to school and having everyone see my costume — until I got there, and no one else had dressed up.

Some people had subtly worn things that nodded to their favorite characters, like certain colors or items of clothing, but hardly anyone participated, and no one was anywhere close to the level of dressed-up I was. So I spent all day in that dress and face paint... mortified. I don’t remember if I cried, but the disappointment and embarrassment I felt stuck with me for a long time. I became terrified of doing anything that had even the slightest chance of giving me that feeling again; I panicked whenever I had to walk down the hall with a big project in my hands, was terrified on school spirit days and never went out of my comfort zone to try new hairstyles or fashion choices for fear of doing something “wrong.”

This insecurity followed me through middle school and even high school. I was quiet and timid a lot of the time, had zero self-confidence and based every single thing I did off of others. I wanted to make sure I was “normal” and did everything “right.” I remember during freshman year of high school, I obsessed over how other girls in my grade tucked their hair behind their ears. Did the hair fall back down past their ear? Did they tuck all of it, just one side, or leave out little strands in the front? I was meticulous in my observations of others and in my replications of their behavior, because I thought that being like everyone else as much as possible was the key to finally clicking into place and fitting in. I never had many friends, wasn’t included in much and even got bullied from time to time. I figured it was because I was doing something wrong. Looking back, I now realize that what I was doing “wrong” was being so afraid.

My best friend is the one who pulled me out of my own head. We met in a class in sixth grade, became attached at the hip within a year and she’s slowly been working her magic on me ever since. She’s always amazed me with her confidence and vibrancy; she’s

really an incredible person, and I owe her everything for how she’s helped me grow and love myself. She encouraged me to be bold and to do everything I wanted to do without caring about who is looking. She still tells me, as many times as I need to hear it, how wonderful she finds me to be, and how little I should worry about being too much or not enough because I am fantastic the way I am. She truly is the one who dug me out of the hole I was in, and I do all I can to do the same for her when she needs it. Now, we use that courage that we’ve cultivated together to say YOLO and go trick-or-treating at 19 years old. It’s so wonderful to have someone who will live life like this with you. We remind each other that, in her words, “embarrassment isn’t real” and, even when we’re still a little bit scared of something, at least we’re not alone.

Our junior year of high school, we dressed up as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy from “SpongBob SquarePants” for a football game on Halloween. We felt ridiculous — I had a painted purple star over my nose, and she wore a black burglar mask over her eyes. While we were getting ready at her house, I kept saying I felt like I looked stupid and she kept telling me I didn’t, and vice versa. We were stressed and a little nervous but eventually, we posed for pictures on her porch, went to the game and had a great time. Tons of people complimented us, and we felt silly and happy being together in those costumes we were initially uncomfortable to leave the house in. It’s one of my favorite memories with her now, and gave me one of my favorite pictures of us, standing in front of her front door touching fists in an imitation of a popular snapshot from the show.

So, while retiring to my dorm with a big bag full of candy would certainly be nice, I’m mostly just looking forward to how much we’re going to laugh with each other this Halloween — walking down Granger Avenue, giggling because we’re ringing doorbells with elementary schoolers. I really don’t care how our time trick-or-treating goes, as long as I do it with her. I’m sure we’ll get cold feet at the first door, and I’ll have to push her or she’ll have to push me and we might get testy with each other. But I know we’ll get past it together.

All of the embarrassment in the world is worth the laughter we’ve gotten from it. And that’s why you’ll catch me in the suburbs of Ann Arbor on Halloween night, bent over in stitches with my favorite person in the world.

Waste: The skeleton in Halloween’s closet

JULIANA TANNER

Statement Correspondent

Over the course of my time in higher education, I’ve unintentionally created a routine for Halloween preparations. The steps are as follows: realize I don’t have a costume, scour the internet for last-minute costume inspiration and then run to the thrift store or throw everything out of my closet before haphazardly constructing a halfway decent costume.

The other night, the routine kicked into action once again. Collapsed on my bed, I scrolled through Pinterest desperately searching for inspiration. After scratching Elaine Benes, Charlotte York and Rory Gilmore from the list, I finally decided to throw on a white turtleneck, paint the tip of my nose black and grab some black sunglasses for a rough interpretation of the cartoon character Snoopy.

While I got ready, “Hocus Pocus” played on my laptop, my speakers projecting Max’s claim that Halloween was a ploy invented by the candy companies to sell more candy. As a kid, I couldn’t have cared less whether the candy companies were conspiring or not. Hearing the

sentiment again now, with black eyeliner on my nose, I find myself aligned much closer to Max on the Halloween skepticism scale.

Not only candy, but the holiday’s decorations, costumes and themed Trader Joe’s foods are produced in excess each year. In the year 2024, Halloween can’t be divorced from our collective awareness of the crisis of overconsumption. As I empty my own closet onto the floor, the skeleton unacknowledged in the back of Halloween’s closet is the waste shipped away to landfills each Nov. 1.

Despite my current Scrooge-ness, growing up, Halloween was by far my favorite holiday. Each year, I looked forward to crafting my costume in front of the TV during ABC Family’s Halloween movie marathon. Sitting on the carpet in the living room, I stapled a deck of cards together for a Queen of Hearts costume while Max lit the candle in “Hocus Pocus.” Leading up to the holiday, haunted hayrides, apple cider and carving pumpkins were indispensable parts of my family’s holiday traditions.

But now, as an adult, the fuzzy nostalgia that once hung over my memories of running through the aisles of Spirit Halloween has faded away to some degree. Walking down the festive aisles of plastic skeletons, pumpkins and candy bowls instead remind me that their nonbiodegradable composition will extend their lifetime. The polyvinyl chloride will haunt the earth long after its presence

is wanted. While I used to delight in watching my neighbors put their decorations up, now I wonder how much energy it takes to keep them running or where they’ll go when they’re no longer needed.

Of course, it’s not fair to blame Halloween for ills like overconsumption and excess plastic, which plague virtually every aspect of modern life, including every other holiday. Plastic decorations, food waste and fast fashion are not unique to Halloween. Yet, I still can’t enjoy the holiday quite the same way I used to knowing what I know now.

Growing up in Michigan, my Halloweens were always bitterly cold. On more than one occasion, I ran around with my pillowcase full of candy in one hand and an umbrella to shield against the freezing rain in the other. The brisk winds meant you couldn’t care about your outerwear obstructing your costume, unless you wanted to come out of the holiday with blue fingers and toes. This year in my hometown, it will be 70 degrees on Halloween.

While some out-of-staters may appreciate the milder Michigan winters of the past few years, the record-breaking highs are not a friend to the delicate ecosystems of our state. The effects are farreaching as temperatures create ripple effects that harm the natural balance protecting our agriculture and wildlife.

Although the massive industry which creates and distributes the costumes, candy

and decor for Halloween each year is not solely or directly responsible for climate change, the effects of this large-scale production are undeniable.

Much of the makings of modern Halloween festivities are far from eco-friendly. Each year, the typical trimmings of Halloween have the potential to make a significant dent in our national overconsumption problem. The excess of empty candy wrappers, trick-or-treating buckets and organic pumpkins in landfills pose a risk to the earth’s wellbeing as methane fumes produced by mounting waste contribute to the rising temperatures both globally and locally.

For college students, the primary item on the holiday shopping list is a costume. Unfortunately, the vast majority of retail Halloween costumes are made with oil-based fabrics like acrylic and nylon. In fact, 80% of Halloween costumes

fore reaching the store, the very production of the costumes feeds a fast fashion industry that notoriously exploits their employees, leaving garment workers underpaid and forced to operate under dangerous working conditions.

Since the year 2000, fast fashion production has nearly doubled in scale; A significant portion of Halloween costumes are produced overseas, specifically in nations like China where 7.7% of underage children are working illegally. Many people acknowledge that the industry is unethical, and while most consumers don’t want to forgo their morals, the industry can make it seem as if there is no other option in the market for affordable Halloween costumes. While the accessibility of thrifting has increased in recent years as companies like ThredUp and Depop allow consumers to buy second-hand from the convenience of their own home, these platforms still offer much more limited choices and can’t compete with next-day shipping.

So, I feel conflicted each time October rolls around. I still love Halloween as much as I did when I was a kid, even if it’s more complicated than it once was. As a lover of costumes and curating spooky playlists, there’s a lot to look forward to. At same time, Halloween a college campus is an entirely different beast than the ones I spent running from house to house. Rather than occupying just Oct. 31, Halloween annually encroaches upon the entire weekend surrounding it, and sometimes, like this year, claims both weekends bookending the holiday. And since the holiday no longer exists on a solitary calendar date, you also can’t get by with just one costume. Depending on how much you abide by social pressures, multiple costumes are often necessary to keep up with the status quo. In line with my inner child, I always plan to come up with a creative and unique costume. But due to a combined lack of time management and an unwillingness to buy something new,

I typically end up pulling something out of my closet and loosely reverse engineering an existing costume to fit the garment.

Last year, I walked to Salvation Army to find something to wear only a couple of hours before getting together with my friends. The store was packed with other like-minded students and the racks were fairly picked over. After browsing row after row of clothing and coming up short, I finally found a Fran Fine-esque turtleneck and hit the checkout counter. The year before that, I threw on my baking apron and picked up a pack of Starbursts as an homage to Claire Saffitz’s time in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen. My most expensive costume by far was when I broke my wrist and took advantage of the fact to recreate Saoirse Ronan’s look in “Lady Bird.”

My costume choices are, to my own disappointment, decidedly less exciting than what the holiday would traditionally call for. Depending on your own wardrobe choices, a closet-costume can often be mistaken as someone simply not wearing a costume. So while I’m able to forgo purchasing into the Halloween industrial complex, whether or not I’m actually participating in the Halloween spirit is subjective. And even while I’m not purchasing fast fashion, by joining in on the raids of the local thrift stores, I’m inevitably taking away stock from those who rely on thrift stores for their clothes.

The influx of Halloween shoppers to thrift stores is not only anecdotal. According to a survey conducted by Goodwill in 2018, among those who craft their own costumes, 52% of respondents turn to thrift stores for materials — a statistic which I find hopeful. A testament to the growing conscientiousness surrounding the issue of fast fashion, many of us already try to limit purchasing new.

On the other hand, intrinsic to Halloween’s supernatural nature, many costumes are made up of items which would be a rare find in the aisles of a Salvation Army. It’s possible that Halloween and

its waste are inextricable from each other. The female Patrick Batemans and Mia Thermopolis — both creative, fun costumes in line with the spirit of the holi day — usually require items not found in anyone’s day-to-day wardrobe. And outside of the college campus bubble, candy, decor and pumpkins are all features of the holiday which are fundamental to Halloween despite the waste they create.

As much as I’d like to pretend that my choices in Hal loween costuming are purely eco-conscious, that’s not entirely the case. More likely it’s a result of the combined ef forts of my inability to plan ahead as well as my refusal to spend money on something I know I’ll only wear once. Even so, I’m hopeful knowing that many of our peers are taking the steps to mitigate the waste the holiday creates, whether or not their reasons are ecological, economical or personal. It may be that waste is intrinsic to Halloween — a fact I’ll have to continue to reckon with as the years go on. However, reducing that waste is not hopeless. Exposing the skeleton is the first step. Now as a generation we all need to find a way to throw the skeleton out with the rest of the trash.