Monday, May 7, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, May 7, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 5 Senior attackman Trevor Yealy tallied two goals in the final game of Michigan's inaugural varisity season. Wolverines lose final game of inaugural varsity season By SCOTT FREEDMAN Daily Sports Writer The Michigan men's lacrosse team concluded its first season as a varsity program with a loss to No. 5 North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Saturday. Tied at two a mere nine minutes into the game, the Tar Heels quick- ly gained control and never looked back on their way to a 19-5 rout of the Wolverines. Michigan hung close to North Carolina through the first quar- ter thanks to strong performances from junior Zachary Dauch and fifth-year senior Trevor Yealy. After one period of action, Mich- igan trailed, 6-3, exhibitingsigns of life heading into the second. But the Tar Heels held the Wolverines scoreless in the sec- ond quarter, jumping out to a 9-3 lead heading into halftime. Yealy notched a second goal in the third quarter, but a seven-goal explosion by North Carolina left Michigan in a hole, down 12 goals with only one period to play. Not surprisingly, Michigan found North Carolina's lead to be insurmountable, as the Wolverines fell to the Tar Heels with the final tally standing at 19-5. "You have to give credit to North Carolina," said Michigan head coach type ofl to be, a to finis because what to show th for then Desp offensiv his nint son. 01 lacri None goals or offensiv son. M have all but two, Mich a 1-13r coming But de. Paul an signific: building Paul' John Paul. "They are the the hard work put forth from the program that we're aspiring senior athletes. nd in some ways it's great "[The seniors] had a really tough h against a team like that task this year," said Paul. "They did we got a close-up look of a great job establishing the founda- p-1O lacrosse looks like and tion for what this program is going 7em the work we need to do to become. We're not going to get n to get there." where we want to be without great ite the Wolverines' poor senior leadership, and we got that ve output, Yealy put forth this year." h multi-goal game this sea- The athletes were also more than satisfied with the year as a whole. "It's been an incredible honor ... to wear the winged helmet and rep- We got a (feel) resent the block 'M' on the varsity level," said Yealy. "I feel incredibly privileged to have been a part of it, osse looks like." and I'm thankful to all the coaches, administration, athletic depart- ment and all the people around the program for what they have done to make this program possible. It's theless, Michigan's five been an unbelievable experience, n Saturday tied their worst and I wouldn't trade it for any- 'e performance of the sea- thing." toreover, the Wolverines Fifth-year senior Brian Gre- owed 10 or more goals in all nier, who notched his fourth goal games throughout the year. of the season on Saturday, added: igan finishes the year with "It was awesome to be part of the record, with its lone win first team. I'm really proud of coach March 4 against Mercer. Paul for leading us through this spite the sub-par record, transition, and although our record d the team understand the didn't show it, it was a great year. ance of this first year as a I'm proud ofthis team and what the g process. team will become because of Team was especially pleased with one." Tobel sets record for second- straight week By JUDY KIM ished in second place in the For the Daily women's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:03.58. Junior Kiley Tobel keeps The impressive feats didn't improving. stop there. Rising senior Allison Tobel, who set the Michigan Liske won first place in women's pole vault program record last shot put (14.22 meters), and in week with a height of 4.16 meters, women's discus throw, fifth-year set it again it at the Len Paddock senior Emily Pendleton, junior Invitational with a jump height Erin Pendleton and junior Kari of 4.17 meters. She attempted the Prena took first (52.61 meters), 14 feet, but missed, and finished second (51.28 meters), and third in second place. place (45.58 meters), respective- Despite missing the 14-foot ly, for Michigan. mark, Tobel said she was pleased Junior Charlotte Cahill ran to with the season overall, adding first place in the women's 100- that she is definitely "hungry for meter dash (12.15 seconds), and more." sophomore Amber Smith took "I can't tell you how good it second place in the 100-meters feels to be consistent, especial- hurdles (13.77 seconds). ly at a high level," Tobel said. The success of Michigan ath- "(Friday), I got some really good letes in the Len Paddock Invita- attempts at 14 feet and I haven't tional adds to the anticipation of felt that good in a while." the upcoming Big Ten Champi- In addition to Tobel's second- onships, which begin on May 11 place finish, the women's 4x100- and end on May 13, in Madison. meter relay team came in second "If we can continue to move in place, finishing in 46.43 seconds. the direction we've been going all The 800-meter was another year, we'll be fine," said Michigan strong event for the Wolverines, coach James Henry. "We've had as freshman Brook Handler, a few meets where I wasn't very sophomore Ariel Dempsey and happy and the kids weren't very junior Chloe Prince came in sec- happy. The last two meets put and (2:11.97), third (2:15.85) and us back in position, feeling good fourth place (2:17.09), respec- about ourselves. There is confi- tively. dence with the girls and that's Senior Nicole Prince took sev- something we can carry into next enth place, finishing in 2:20. week and know we can be com- Freshman Dana Carey fin- petitive in the conference." IN THE SUMMERTIME WHEN THE WEATHER IS FINE oeYOU SHOULD WRITE FOR THE MICHIGAN DAILY. WRITE FOR MORE IN FORMATION, E-MAIL AXELRAD@ MICHIGAN DAILY.COM Editor's note: *The writer of this viewpoint has chosen to change the subject's name due to the sen- sitive nature of the material. Dear *Laura, I am writing you to tell you what I could not say when I saw you across the street, on the steps of the Michigan Union. We crossed paths during our freshman year of college, which was 11 years after our separation. I want to tell you exactly who I am, considering that in the past we were both confused on my meaning to the world - you said that I was a "nigger," and I thought that you might be right. We were nine-years-old and in the fourth grade. We were on our way to our elective class when you asked, "Brittany, do you know that you are a nigger?" That was a day I will never forget and I wonder if you remember it-if at all-for the same reasons that I do. When you told me what I meant to you, I found it more useful to analyze your motives rather than your specific message. I went to bed that night thinking about what kind of conversation your parents had with you about my race. Moreover, I was hurt that you did not consider how I would like to be identified. My concern at nine-years-old isstill the same for me at the age of 21: "Why was I not given the opportunity to speak for myself?" I wonder, at exactly what age do children come to understand the meaning of race? This leads me to ask, atwhat age do children's inter- racial friendships become strange? Is this question different from thinking about the age at which some white children are told that black children are niggers? Fundamentally, I want to know at what point in your nine-year-old life did you begin to doubt I was your equal? Since you seemed off-put when you saw me during our freshman year of college, I'm interested to know if the way our friendship ended affected you as much as it affected me. I assume that it did, not only because of your noticeably distant disposition when I bumped into you later on campus - face-to- face - but because you "de-friend- ed" me on Facebook not long after you saw me. I want you to know that your perception of me at nine-years-old was notyour fault. At the time, the deterioration of our friendship was more reflective of race in America than it was a representation of your character. As a self-identified Italian- American, what would you do? I hope you understand that hav- ing the strength to empathize and appreciate the experiences of people with a different race than your own is important. The world listens when you speak, but the world questions if I can. Will you speak with me so that I, too, can be heard? I am asking you to be my ally. I am currently negotiating my place in the world. I am searching for a seat of influence that would impact the types of questions that race in our country has left me curious to understand, and I could benefit from your bargaining power. So, although you speak of the glass ceiling, that same ceiling often feels concrete to me. Stand beside me to make the types of changes that Susan B. Anthony and Eleanor Roos- evelt made for you (e.g. the right to work, vote and co-ed educa- tion). Let's further the advocacy work of the former Black Panther, Kathleen Cleaver, with the right to access birth control, and that of First Lady Michelle Obama's concerning healthy living. These issues affect all of our lives, and our nation's future. I am asking that you reconsider stereotypes and be open to believ- ing that my race may be different from what you think we are, and what you think we can become. I am asking you to think critically about the words that you use and the decisions that you make - most of which havecthe potential to affect the lives of people in the nation you care the most about: America. Altogether, I am asking thatcyou help me provide other girls in our country with the friendship that we never had. Sincerely, Brittany A. Smith Brittany Smith graduated with the class of 2012. "Basically, we're just a country full of bitches. We're like the kids in the back- seat on a road trip whose parents keep telling them to shut up." Watching Seth Meyers spew some ADRIENNE scarily accu- ROBERTS rate jokes at a comedy show the other Friday night made me realize that we, as a country, are not terribly self-aware. We get what we want, and then we hate it and complain, just like that. Most of us don't realize that we sound like whiny, little children. While this tendency may just be human nature, it's more pro- nounced in America because in politics, we have two options. And usually, they're quite extreme. Left or right. A capitalist-conser- vative or a hippie-liberal. Com- pletely out of touch or just too cool. As young people who will be voting for president in a mere six months, we want a politician that can speak to us in a language we can identify with and discuss topics we care about. Things like foreign policy are extremely important, but they aren't what we, as college students, deal with on a daily basis. When President Obama appeared on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" and "slow jammed" the news, it was a refreshing break from the gener- alized speeches that we hear on a frequent basis. It was funny, yet effective. And it hit home with college students. Not surpris- ingly, the Stafford Loan inter- est rate increase received much more attention from the press, BRITTANY SMITH I An open letter as young people are more likely to watch a nighttime program. Obama's "slow jam" was the third and fourth most searched item on Google for days after it aired. Appealing to a younger genera- tion is not solely reserved for the Democratic Party. Mitt Romney went on "The Late Show with David Letterman" to recite a "Top Ten List" in an obvious attempt to identify with the younger vot- ing generation and make himself appear less uptight. While both candidates have pandered to the youth vote, they have criticized each other's methods as being insincere and condemning them as desperate attempts to relate to the younger voting generation. But the thing is, while the goal of comedic endeavors from poli- ticians is to ultimately persuade you to vote for them, research shows that receiving informa- tion in a humorous manner actu- ally causes viewers to retain more information. So, though it may appear to be just another campaign strat- egy, viewers are most likely learn- ing more than they would when watching a typical debate, and may have an easier time remember- ing it. More viewers will tell their friends about it in the morning or post it on Facebook, all because it is a nontraditional - and funny - form of presenting news. It's understandable how sing- ing about Stafford loans, which are a major concern for many stu- dents, may come off as insensitive. But it may actually be beneficial to young people who had no con- cept of the severity and urgency of the issue before. It's by no means a funny issue, buta funny delivery brings about necessary thought and action. It's surprising, then, that we turn around and criticize these same actions that draw attention to an issue and make it seem as though politicians are dumbing them down for our demograph- ic. The complexity of the issue remains the same - what changes is the style in which that message is delivered. We sound like whiny, little children. If we desire politicians that speak to us on an understandable and relatable level, then we should appreciate the fact that humor is an effective manner to get people to listen, and hopefully care. Once we start calling presidents "too cool" when they attempt to relate to a younger generation, we risk keeping many voters in the dark. With almost every new presi- dent, we complain that they are out of touch and have forgotten about whatthe youth vote needs to make an informed decision. If we continue to criticize presidential nominees Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, we should expect that their concern over issues impor- tant to us would dwindle. As a country, we will most like- ly continueto be the annoying kids in the backseat on a long drive. A line needs to be drawn, however, between constructive criticism and just plain bitching. Adrienne Roberts can be reached at adrirobe@umich.edu. 39 @JoseCuervo thanks for a day of drunken stupor and tequila .shots now if someone could ;dust te me wh atI was ce le brat- ing?.... #DrinkoDeMayo -@michdailyoped A sl'ow jam situation WANT THE DAILY ON THE GO? Now you can access your favorite Daily opinion content on your phone. Read Daily editorials and join in the debate. Check out the Daily's mobile website at m.michigandaily.com.