Thursday, May 30, 2013
4 1 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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Thursday, May 30, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
From death to life
KATIE BURKE
EDITOR IN CHIEF
ERIC FERGUSON
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
ELLIOT ALPERN
MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board.
All othersigned articles and illustrations representsolelythe viewsof their authors.
PFlRF 1 THE E A Y
Repackag ed strategy
Obama counterterrorism policy shift is a mixed bag
Jn a major speech last Thursday, President Barack Obama outlined his
approach to the future of U.S. counterterrorism strategy, consisting of
"targeted action against terrorists, effective partnerships (and) diplo-
matic engagement and assistance." However, this strategy was overshad-
owed by his discussion of two longstanding institutions of the war on terror
- targeted strikes against terrorist suspects using remotely piloted drones
and the Guantanamo Bay detention center. While his speech was critical of
both these institutions and is a good starting point for the future of the war
on terror, the president's inability to close Gitmo and obstinate defense of
drone strikes is disappointing. The success of the president's new approach
depends in part on him placing pressure on Congress to give him the tools
he needs to close Gitmo, but also on scaling back the drone program.
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eath - how do we really about Neil's future plans. The
explain it? Why is it that conversation calmed Neil down
murderers and rapists and he was finally able to go
imes back to sleep. The next morning,
e good the morning he was set to leave
and North Carolina, Neil kissed his
s? father, told him he loved him and
arted to left for the airport. Two hours
about later his father passed.
death, Despite the deep pain that
more comes from death, remark-
tantly, SARA ably, there can still be beautiful
life SHOUHAYIB moments even at the end of some-
meant one's life. I can't help but think
omeone that Neil's panic attack happened
ear to me lost his father two for a reason, that some greater
ago. My friend Neil was at being or higher power wanted
'port the day his father died them to have one last talk and one
had a flight that was set to last special moment together. He
ff on a Friday at 1:15 p.m. An was lucky to have had a chance
efore he was set to take off to say a proper goodbye and was
eived a frantic call from his even luckier that he didn't step
explaining that their father onto that plane. His story is proof
aving trouble breathing and that the universe works in myste-
responding. Neil rushed rious ways, and that although los-
from the airport, but on his ing a loved one can be one of the
is father passed - he was darkest times ina person's life, it's
e. these lovely final moments that
need to be remembered.
Death - it's something hard
" ' to understand and truly define.
Death - it's It really makes you wonder about
hi h d life and its inherent meaning.
Death is a reminder to cherish
unde stand those you care about and to not
stress about the small stuff. It's
a reminder that life is short and
that it's more precious than we
make it out to be at times. We
en the news reached me forget that eventually there is an
his father's passing, tears end for all of us. If we live like it's
tly flooded my eyes. I felt our last day on Earth everyday, I
that such a good man left guarantee we would all start to
arth too soon, and that do the things that really make
ne I cared about deeply us happy. Why hold off on doing
endure the grief of losing a something you always wish you
Yet, I was reminded of the could? Like taking that five-day
that preceded these just Caribbean cruise you always
before that made me think dreamed about going on. Go
ven in the midst of tragedy skydive, start a new hobby, fall in
can be glimpses of precious love, spend more time in nature,
nts to be thankful for. give back to your community,
night before his father hug your loved ones and tell
d, Neil had a panic attack them you love them, laugh when
middle of the night, which things aren't even that comedic,
out of nowhere. Neil deals exercise and be good to your
moderate to severe anxiety body, try to see the good in
tic attacks are no stranger things, spoil yourself sometimes
a. Instead of resorting to his and appreciate the time you
ribed fix, Xanax, he went to have. What started off being a
'her's room when he noticed reflection about death ended up
as awake. His father was being an epiphany about life. It's
,sed with terminal cancer a treasurable and magical thing,
nuary 2012. Doctors told so plain and so simple - go live
ne only had a few months your life to the fullest. It really is
e and here he was over a shorter than you think.
and a half later. That was
rst miracle that occurred. Sara Shouhayib can be
ay talking with his father reached at sarasho@umich.edu.
Alone with local hand Brave Bird, Pity Sex has emerged as a major ylayer in Act Arbors ems scene.
A2'9
A semo insurgen
In his speech, Obama claimed
that his preferred method of tar-
geted action against terrorists is
to capture them. However, his
actions over the past four and a
half years show an entirely dif-
ferent preference. Though details
are few, the government has used
drones to kill suspected terror-
ists in countries such as Yemen
and Pakistan. While Obama con-
tends that the program only goes
after those who "pose a continuing
and imminent threat against the
American people," his administra-
tion's definition of "imminent" has
been called into question before.
Some estimates of the number of
civilians killed by the strikes are
in the thousands, and the program
has been blamed for radicalizing
the next generation of terrorists,
even as it takes out the current
generation. The administration
should seriously consider ending
this program and seek other meth-
ods for combating terror organi-
zations that don't exacerbate the
future threat of terrorism.
In contrast to his discussion on
drones, Obama's evaluation of the
Guantanamo Bay situation was
quite accurate. At the moment,
transferring prisoners away from
the facility is virtually impossible
without Congressional approval
- even though some 86 detain-
ees have been cleared to return to
their home countries and secure
facilities exist in the U.S. for the
rest. Calls for its closure have
reappeared as over half of the
inmates have gone on a hunger
strike over the last few months
protesting their seemingly end-
less detention. Obama's point that
"(U.S.) allies won't cooperate with
us if they thinka terrorist will end
up atGitmo" reflects how the facil-
ity's continued operation doesn't
line up with his new strategy. Con-
gress must engage with Obama in
order to close the facility.
Throughout the speech, Obama
made it clear that terrorism is and
will remain a significant threat
to the U.S. His strategy's focus
on partnerships and diplomatic
engagement reflects the fact that
the country cannot hope to coun-
ter terrorist networks spread
across multiple countries with-
out the support and cooperation
of other countries. Moreover, his
proposal to eventually repeal the
authorization to use force passed
shortly after 9/11 indicates how
the war on terror has - for bet-
ter or worse - become more than
a reaction to an attack on the U.S.
With a few modifications in drone
use and Congress's cooperation,
Obama's strategy will be a work-
able blueprint for the future of
counterterrorism strategy.
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Pity Sei
na Phi fraternity Ann Arbor music scene came in the
wake of another era that included
quently features such bands as Dire Wolf and
Damages. It was from this crowd
local emo talent that some of the band members and
first listeners would come, and so
By JOHN BOHN for that, those days can't be omitted.
DailyArts Writer But when I started hanging around
at Sigma Phi in January 2011, Dire
n it comes to shows and Wolf had just played their last
s of any size, behind the final show. In a similar fashion to my
t lies a world of logistical experiences with Borders freshman
g and preparation that's year, my college experience seems
to make sure things go to have begun with a rupture in
ly, let alone actually go. For Ann Arbor's communal life.
al scene, though, sometimes So during the winter semester
a few friends doing what in 2011, when my story begins,
ie. Pity Sex and Brave Bird were just
funny because alot of people forming. After Brave Bird released
t Ann Arbor seems to be a their EP that spring, Lieu was also
lace for music," said Chris pushing his friends in Pity Sex to
ricist and guitarist of Ann release a demo.
band, Brave Bird. "It's kind "I strong-armed them into
me and my friends goofing recording it because I wanted Ann
'." Arbor emo to be a thing," Lieu said.
is not to say that it isn't a lot "And it was really good and a lot of
- it's just that, sometimes, people got into it."
laugh with each other while Pity Sex returned to Lieu for
it. a second recording the following
is part two of my column on summer, which resulted in the Dark
bor's emo revival, and while World EP. This time, Lieu and Pity
re I talked a lot about what Sex took the recording in a different
the emo genre is, this time direction, giving it a more o-fi
to talk about the energy and recording reminiscent of Smashing
hip that goes into making Pumpkins or Dinosaur Jr.
cene. During that summer, both Brave
ously, this story has a wider Bird and Pity Sex got record deals.
than just Brave Bird and Brave Bird signed with Count Your
X. Their big splash onto the Lucky Stars, a Michigan-based label
in Fenton. Pity Sex sign
for Cover Records, a 1
for being the starting p
major bands as Tiger
Title Fight. Brave Bird,
now tour frequently,
together, and Brave Bi
released a full-length a
Maybe You, No One Else
In many ways, the es
of these two bands h
the environment in
Symbolically, the city
to be a home for the em
when it comes to infras
places to play, helping
emo bands can be dif
scenes come about thr
of-mouth and someone
their basement.
"Ifyou're fromout of
going to ask your frieni
play at your friend's r
said. "That's how a s
When you're starting
one gives a shit about y.
to go to your friends."
As of right now, the
for these kinds of ban
Phi. Having given it
hardcore and punk
the past decade, Sign
cultivated a particular
and crowd. Sigma Phi
somewhat alone inthe k
it presents, which is i
the number of listeners
"Whenyouplayinat
other bands help you ou
intheir town, and you need to help
them out with shows in your town,"
Lieu said. "And when they ask me
about Ann Arbor, I don't know what
to do. I don't know if I can get these
kids to come out. There aren't many
kids in Ann Arbor who are really
into this kind of music. I mean, we
do well, but that's because we have a
lot of friends who support us."
For a while, Launch, the skate
shop on South University, hosted
hardcore and punk shows, but
eventually, they had to close their
doors because things would get
out of hand. A lot of the traffic
was from out of town, either
from Detroit, Downriver or from
Lansing, and the small shop would
fill up fast. I remember standing
outside on the corner of South U.
and Church a lot of the time when I
went to those shows.
"Those were huge hardcore
shows with bands from Chicago,
RUN FOR COVER like Harm's Way or Weekend
Nachos would come out," Lieu
said. "Those bands are huge in the
punk scene, so everyone loves those
bands."
But when it comes to a smaller
band that's just starting, the worry
ed with Run that no one will come is justified.
label known Brave Bird has faced this problem
oint of such on tour firsthand.
rs Jaw and "For a smaller band like mine, we
and Pity Sex don't necessarily know how we're
occasionally going to do in a city," Lieu said. "It
rd has since can be OK or it can be bad. Or it can
lbum named be amazing. Like in Philadelphia,
Worth It. the first time we were on tour,
stablishment there were 100 kids in a basement
as changed singing along. And the next day, in
Ann Arbor. Baltimore, we were at a really cool
appears as spot called Trim City, and there
to genre, but were like five people in the crowd."
tructure and When it comes to the up-and-
out-of-town coming music scene, cities and
fficult. Most towns can be hit or miss. Ann
'ough word- Arbor, while having a very vibrant
offering you community with Sigma Phi at its
center, probably fits somewhere in
townyou're the middle of this spectrum. There
ds if you can are the "nowherevilles" (to use
house," Lieu Lieu's term) where a very singular
cene forms. scene thrives and bands of a certain
out and no genre will do really well. Then there
ou, you need are the big cities where there is so
much going on that a subculture
main venue seems to exist for every style. Ann
ids is Sigma Arbor obviously has its steadfast
s space to venues, but as a college town, some
bands for of the venues are constantly shifting
ma Phi has depending on which houses people
r reputation are living in during any given year.
is, however, And it's in this environment
:ind of music that the "Ann Arbor Emo Revival"
ndicative of has come about. But where to go
in the area. from here? Pity Sex and Brave
ouringband, Bird have given it a reputation,
t with shows but the spaces for performance
are limited. In terms ofnewbands
forming in the area, however,
Ann Arbor seems to have a great
climate. This year, Jon Riley,
Zach Geimer, Sean Horner and
John Dickenson formed the band
Youth Novel, whose influences
are some of the same bands that
gave Brave Bird and Pity Sex their
initial direction.
"It's really cool because they are
like a new band where there are
some already established bands,
and we're all trying to help each
other out," Lieu said. "When I
found out about them, I was like
you guys are part of our Ann Arbor
Emo Collective, which doesn't
really mean anything. It's just me
pretending like there is something
going on here."
"They are really a bunch of great
guys and they write killer songs,"
Lieu said. "AnythingI can do to help
our scene get to that next level."
That next level, for Chris,
isn't necessarily a mainstream
breakthrough. Instead, it's
about sustainable living and the
persistence of a style of music
that died off in the 1990s before
it got started.
And that's where I leave it. Ann
Arbor has shifted just that much
more. New bands looking to put out
their sound will find a community
here. And, as long as it lasts, that
will be so. If it doesn't last, if time,
as always, goes along and people
move on, the nextgenerationofkids
will come to Ann Arbor and hear
of the "good old days." Every new
generation hears about the good
old days. And, in that wake, if they
want, they'll talk about starting
something new or bringing
something back. And that'll be Ann
Arbor for them.
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