The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.com Monday, October 27, 2014 - 3A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, October 27, 2014- 3A DIWALI From Page 1A This is the first University group to host a Diwali celebration of this scale, Garg said, offering a chance for some students to continue tra- ditions from home and providing a new cultural experience for oth- ers. "This event is a great way to bring people together, people who have (celebrated) at home but who don'tnecessarilyhave aplatformto do thathere," Gargsaid. Behind its wide cultural signifi- cancethe celebrationofand mean- ing behind Diwali can differ based on personal ties or family tradi- tions. Engineering freshman Ved- ant Shah, who is from India, said this was his first time celebrating Diwali away from his family. He said it was a rare opportunity to enjoy cuisine familiar to home. "Back home, people burst fire- crackers," Shah said. "The signifi- cance of this festival is basically good versus evil. It's a good time for all Indian friends to wear tra- ditional clothes, get together and have a good time." Engineering graduate student Deepak Singh also enjoyed attend- ing the event. He added that his celebration of Diwali focuses on Rama, an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu who is the source of all energy and light. Singh said he cel- ebrates Rama's return home from a 14-year-long period in exile. "People celebrated by lighting deepaks, lights, and they lit the whole hometown with lamps," Singh said of his Diwali celebra- tions at home. Desi Mania likewise lit the whole Rogel Ballroom with lamps, providing a similar feeling for many students. "We can feel home here, we can meet and greet more people," Singh said. "Once in awhile you need that kind of thing; these things bond people together." TREE From Page 1A said. The exact age of the tree can be tested, but that proce- dure involves cutting into the tree and could compromise its health. The tree is estimated to weigh about 675,000 pounds and is about 65 feet tall. Cox said the bur oak was the big- gest he had ever seen. With the relocation's price tag set at $400,000, some members of the University have called the move into ques- tion. The move was included in the overall cost of the business school renovation. "It's kind of a tough swal- low that it's costing $400,000," said Engineering alum Jim Sterken. "But it's preserving history. The tree was probably here before campus was, so I hope it goes well." "I'm pissed," said Engineer- ing junior Max Boykin. "It costs so much money for mov- ing a tree that could die in a year or two." He added that the money could be better spent on other resources, research or finan- cial aid for students who need it. However, University Spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said he believes the cost is justified. "The expansion of the Ross School of Business is really important for us to be able to serve the future needs of our students," Fitzgerald said. "But at the same time, I think we wanted to recognize the historic significance of the tree." For the next three to five years, the tree will be remain on a strict maintenance pro- gram which will include close monitoring of pH and moisture levels. In addition, Environmental Design and a University horticultural- ist will monitor leaf size and color, as leaf health is indica- tive of overall tree health. While the tree was offi- cially moved this weekend, preparations have been ongo- ing for months, Cox said. The process began with a site visit by Environmental Design officials to evaluate the health of tree and the condi- tions of the new site. The crew first arrived this summer to begin the move. The first step of the moving process was determining the size of the root ball; the Ross tree root ball measured about 40 feet in diameter. Next, the crew dug trenches about three and a half feet deep at the diameter of the root ball. This allows the crew to "clean cut" the roots that sprout from the root ball. "This allows for new roots to grow right off those fresh cuts, so when we come back and move it, you've got a tree that's already regenerat- ing roots before you've done anything to it in terms of the actual move," Cox said. This step of the process is completed by refilling the trenches. The crew returned in July to begin the second phase of the move, which includes building a platform under- neath the tree using pipes. The pipes are pushed beneath the tree, creating a solid grid that later allowed for lifting. The final phase of the proj- ect is the actual relocation of the tree. The more time that passes after inserting the pipes and before starting the final phase, the more likely the tree move will be success- ful, Cox said. This phase began 10 days ago, when the crew arrived and dug underneath the pipe grid. The move was scheduled for noon, yet delays resulted in the move occurring at 3 p.m. A root mass slowed down the raising of the tree, a com- plication that Cox character- ized as routine and expected. "Whenever we move big trees, there's always some- thing that slows you down. It's not an exact science," Cox said. The tree was moved using a large transporter, which was fed under the pipe platform while a set of inflated air blad- ders raised the tree momen- tarily. The process Sunday, the process that lowered the tree into its new location was complicated by the bursting of one of the air bladders. No one was hurt and the tree is secure, and Environmental Design is investigating the incident further. The transporters move slower than one mile per hour and were originally designed to carry large indus- trial materials, Cox said. The transporters have 96 indepen- dently moving wheels, allow- ing them to turn 90 degrees on the spot. In addition, these types of transporters are ideal for tree relocation due to their low center of gravity and large weight. Each transporter weighs about 90,000 pounds, bringing the total weight of the package to nearly 900,000 pounds as it rolls, Cox said. However, the tree must be extremely secure on the transporters and cannot be moved in wind conditions higher than 25 mph. The crew measured wind speeds on site approximately every 15 min- utes during the relocation. The Michigan Daily celebrates its 10TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR DEFEATING THE STATE NEWS *#BEATSTATENEWS A C TOR INT ER V IE W "Actor talks 'Dear White Peoule' role ByJAMIE BIRCOLL Daily Film Editor "My dad is from here (Detroit) The last time I was here, I was like 12, " said actor Marque Richardson. "He grew up on Chalmers and Warner? Which I think is east side." He might mean Chalmers and Warren, but it's not a detail which bogs him down. Richardson is a man of high energy, and right now, he could not be more enthusiastic to discuss his latest project, the satirical drama "Dear White People." The film, which opened at The Michigan Theater this past weekend, discusses the plight of minority students at an exclusive, fictional Ivy League school. "When I read the script, I was attractedtothethree dimensional aspects of these characters. The flaws, the complexity, everything - I loved it!" Richardson said at a roundtable media interview. "You don't get a chance too often to dive into something like that." Richardson's " filmography ranges from one-off stints on TV shows like "ER" and "7th Heaven," to more recent, recurring roles in "True Blood" and "The Newsroom." But "Dear White People" might be his biggest, and * certainly his most complex, role to date, as the militant activist Reggie - a "modern day Malcolm X" as Richardson describes. It's a role that demands a balance between sharp comic timing and dead-eyed seriousness, although Richardson wasn't entirely sure how to play it. "I would listen to Malcolm X speeches and all this early '80s and '90s rap and hip hop, Public Enemy and N.W.A," Richardson said. "I took it so serious, and when I saw it for the first time at Sundance (Film Festival), the audience is just dying laughing at certain parts, and I'm like 'Wait, I was tryingto be serious!'" "Dear White People" is certainly a funny film, but it comes with a bite. Like all good satire, the film critiques society through a salvo of mockery, with shell after shell hammering modern racism, classism, intolerance and the overall failure to communicate. Sometimesit'sdead-on;sometimes it's a bit tense. Richardson cites one particular scene where a group of activists declare "Fuck Tyler Perry" when discussing the films being screened at the local movie theater. "I read that and I said, 'Oh, all right. Well here we go,"' Richardson said. "But (director Justin Simien) wasn't taking a jab at Tyler Perry with that line; he was taking a jab at Hollywood's thinking people of color, that all OPTIMIZE From Page 1A solutions to those problems. "The goal of those classes is to get students to that spot where you're more aware of more issues and you've had a chance to really start to engage with them," said Jeff Soren- son, one of the optimize co-founders. "Then you get the idea in your head that 'Hey, maybe I can start doing something about this."' But while optiMize is workingto raise awareness of important issues through its mini course, the orga- nization's focus has always been moving those discussions out of the classroom and into the real world - a process achieved largely through theirannual SocialInnovationChal- lenge, held throughout the winter term. The workshop on Sunday intend- ed to kick off optiMize's build-up to the 2015 Social Innovation Chal- lenge. In the workshop, ZingTrain Trainer Timo Anderson and retired Managing Partner Stas' Kazmier- ski asked students to write down, using the presentor past tense, their visionforthe completedformoftheir social innovation projects. In Ander- son's view, having a well-articulated vision before developing a course of action is essential for the success of any project. "A lot of us spend so much time thinking about the ideal," Anderson said. "But unless we know where it is and have defined and documented it and made it inspiring and avail- able, you can't get there. If you don't put directions in the GPS, the GPS doesn't work." The workshop also had a "Vision- ing" process. Kazmierski said this was essential for fostering collabo- ration amongst team members on a project. Many of the students at the event - like LSA sophomore Mary Kruk, who hopes to disseminate knowledge of safe sexual practices to children who receive only absti- nence-based sex education - were looking to find waysto puttheir ideas into practice. "I have an idea, butI don't neces- sarily know how to start it or how to plan it," Kruk said. OptiMize co-Founder Tim Pituch, a Rackham student, hoped that the ZingTrain workshop would help students begin that planning process. "Essentially, what (Zingerman's is) encouraging you to do is to imag- ine a better alternative to the prob- lem, but not necessarily thinking about the how, not thinking about what it takes to get there at this point," Pituch said. In terms of their on vision for the future of optiMize, Sorenson and Pituch plan on building the organization's disparate programs - the "Critical Social Issues" course, the Social Innovation Chal- lenge and their Summer Fellowship Program - into a smooth process aimed at helping its members find success in their own initiatives. "The classes feed into that, and then the studennts that reallr do well (in the challenge) feed into the Summer Fellowship Program that we launched this past sum- mer where we provide students with $3000 fellowships to pay for their living expenses while they're still working on their project in the summer," Sorenson said. But more generally, Sorenson and Pituch hope to continue devel- opingoptiMize into an integral and influential part of the University community. "Both of our visions include actually having a center on cam- pus - a physical place where social innovation at the University of Michigan convenes," Sorenson said. "Mine had a coffee shop in it, I don't know if Tim's had a coffee shop in it." "It's notabad idea," Pituch added. "But essentially to have more stu- dents involved, having gabiggermen- tor community, alumni around the world know about us and want to help." "I think our vision, in many ways, is this model of learning and creat- ing impact while you're learning as something that's just done around the world," Sorenson said. "And we hope to be thought leaders in that COURTESY OF MARQUE RICHARDSON Richardson plays a Malcolm X archetype in new film. we want to see is Tyler Perry. But what about the rest ofus who want to seethese black art-house, smart films?" But the film extends beyond race - it's about belonging, discovering oneself at college, the first opportunity one has to forge his/her individuality. These are hardships that are universal, and reveal a heart in the firebrand. "I'm not just interested in black stories. What resonated with me is, this is a story about identity and identity crisis, and really giving an eye into a new level of consciousness, in terms of (characters) you might identify with," Richardson said. Still, there's something frustrating about the film, for people of all races; there's something incendiary about a title "Dear White People." It's a strong PR move, gaining the film fargreater exposurethanatypical film of this size, with no stars and a small budget. "The title's job was to spark controversy, to get people in the seats," Richardson said. "Justin did his job: to start a conversation, start a controversy andto do it ina way that hadn't been done before." The film wisely doesn't provide any answers to that dialogue, though, opting to illuminate a difficult matter and to let the audience decide where to go next. "Where do you go with it? It's whatever the people do, however you feel about it and what those conversations lead to in this, which I don't believe in, 'post racial America,"' Richardson said. "We can't give the answers - we don't have the answers. This film is a Black experience, it's not the Black experience." The hope is all of this leads to more films like "Dear White People," ones that are willing to push buttons to spur the conversation further, the kind of films that Spike Lee made in the late 1980s and early 1990s; Richardson knows there's talent out there, and expects indie black cinema to reappear in the mainstream. "This has been going on since 1915 with 'Birth of a Nation,"' Richardson said. "And since then there's been and will be a resurgence, an upsurgence ... is that even a word? Fuck it; let's make it a word. We made up a word today! Upsurgence!" Campus Mind Works Groups FREE mental health education and support groups for U-M students Healthy Body, Healthy Mind: Sleep, Exercise, Nutrition & Mood When: Tuesday, October 28 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Where: Mason Hall, Rm MH 1359 Central Campus Visit www.campusmindworks.org for more information. Presented by the U-M Depression Center in collaboration with the College of Engineering and the Newnan Academic DEPRESSION CENTER Advising Center.