Thursday, July 24, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com TROTTER voice those concerns to the admin- From Page 1 istration. "If we'd have an advisory board, we could have had that conversa- of a new director, but has plans to tionearlyon andtried to move that continue work in the fall to ensure agenda forward, rather than hav- all of the issues raised in January's ing student have to put together seven demands protest receive a set of demand to say, 'These are appropriate attention and action the things I want,' "she said. "The from the University. idea is to hear what it is the stu- "We're still working hard to dents are feeling so that we can be obtain these goals that we've set responsive ahead of time, before in place," she said. "I hope that in they get to a breaking point." several years all the demands will The University is also con- be met ... No one coming up into tinuing the long-term process of the BSU and the BBUM move- establishing a new multicultural ment is going to be okay with these center on Central Campus, which demands not being met." Simpson said she adamantly sup- Gaines said she hopes the new ports. Harper said working on director will ensure the necessary programming changes at the cur- renovations are completed to make rent facility is an important step in the physical spaces in Trotter Cen- determining the best plan for the ter safer. new center. While facility improvements Harper also said she felt it was have been the ongoing topic of important to capture students' conversation ever since January's energy while the protest was still protest, Harper said improving at the front of their minds. student programs at the center "Lots of students have been talk- was an even greater challenge. ing about the multicultural center "It's not that we're moving away and being involved," Harper said. from paying attention to improv- "We really can't wait. We need to ing the facility," Harper said. "But harness that energy and that com- we also need to strengthen pro- mitment right now and have some grammatically what's going on honest conversations about what it there - so it's a shift in focus." isn't and what it could be. I think Simpson said she plans to orga- the possibilities are endless, but nize programming based on stu- we have to do that work now while dent input and has plans to form we also plan for a new facility." a student programming board to Though she did not refer- oversee event planning for the ence specific program proposals, various campus organizations that Harper said the University plans use the space. to work with students to evaluate In addition, Simpson also plans the best use for the space, poten- to form a student multicultural tially including classes, retreats or advisory board that could work workshops. with the administration to address Harper also referenced the cur- minority issues in a proactive, rent struggles between the Trotter rather than reactive fashion. She Center and local Greek commu- helped moderate similar student nity, citing student complaints of groups at her former position in homophobic, racist and sexist lan- the Spectrum Center, which dur- guage that gets "hurled out of dark ing her time as director helped windows" on their way to the cen- establish gender-neutral housing ter for events. and other programs on campus to Simpson said she plans to support the LGBTQ community. work to improve the neighbor- Simpson said she envisioned hood around the Trotter Center that the board would work closely by engaging local Greek houses with Harper and other University through regularly scheduled com- officials to foster conversations munity meetings and retreats, about multicultural issues on cam- allowing members of those houses pus. She added that such a board, and students who use the Trotter if it had been in place sooner, may Center to engage in dialogue and have identified the need for Trot- build understanding about ter Center updates sooner and "We just want to think differ- would have had more ability to ently about that work and work Thursday, July 24, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 17 with those students that live around the multicultural center, so that they have that as part of their University experience also," Harper said. From the BSU's perspective, most students on campus are still not aware of the issues surround- ing the Trotter Center and minor- ity inclusion on campus. Many continue to live in sheltered com- munities that prevent them from engaging with these issues, Gaines said. "We're just trying to make people aware, to educate," Gaines said. "I think we know vice presi- dent Harper has our back, but we all could do a better job making campus aware." The new appointments will also allow both MESA and the Trotter Center more freedom to develop programs specific to the needs of their students. Harper said the current system, with one direc- tor overseeing both facilities, pre- sented problemsgiven the physical separation of the spaces - Trotter Center is located off of Washtenaw Avenue and MESA offices located in the Union - and the specialized needs of each office. "In the past, we've focused on the facility," she said. "What we need to focus on now is how we make sure there's something going on inside the facility." In a press conference on Friday, University President Mark Schlis- sel also addressed the issue on diversity on campus, noting that it was a topic of discussion through- out his interview process and dur- ing the months leading up to his appointment. "Last year was a very important year on campus from the diversity discussion perspective," Schlissel said. "I've never been at an institu- tion where it's closer to the top of the mind of people that you talk to ... It's very much part of the fabric." Harper agreed with his com- ments, citing the long history of diversity issues on campus, which she said positioned the University as a national leader on the topic. However, she said the added attention can put pressure on administrator to create a perfect campus. "It's hard, but it's doable," she said. "We just have to do it with our students, not to our students." DETROIT BEAT General Motors CEO Mary Barra in midst of difficult summer 'Trouble in Paradse No Smilin i Vn Chicago Detroit automaker recovering from ignition switch recall By KATIE BURKE ManagingEditor General Motors CEO Mary Barra began the summer in the Big House, delivering a speech to University graduates that offered advice for the future. Last week, she appeared in front of Congress for the fourth time in four months, addressing an audience that was much less welcoming than the class of 2014. Barra did not mention GM in her commencement address in May, even though the company was in the midst of a crisis that would call into question the cul- ture of one of Detroit's major automakers. Detroit has been home to American automakers since Henry Ford and William Mur- phy founded the Detroit Auto- mobile Company in 1899. Since then, three have emerged as the foremost U.S. automakers: Ford Motor Company, Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors. The three automakers have weathered a number of storms over the past decades, from the oil crises in 1973 and 1979, to the Ford tire failure controversy in 2000, to the GM and Chrysler bailouts of 2009, all of which have had ripple effects on their home city. The most recent jolt to the industry began Feb. 13, when GM recalled 619,122 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac GS models, both cars that sold well when they were on the market. What began as a routine recall notice - 714 recalls affecting 27,957,339 vehicles were issued in 2013, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis- tration - quickly led to the pub- lic revelation of a faulty ignition switch linked to 13 deaths and 54 accidents. One month earlier, Barra had assumed office as the first female executive of a major automaker. According to GM, she was noti- fied of the defective ignition switch Jan. 31, two weeks later, leading to the initial recall. By March 17, 2.6 million vehicles had been recalled and three days later, the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Commit- tee announced its first investiga- tive hearing into the issue. This is the second major auto company recall this decade fol- lowing a 2010 Toyota recall sparked by unintended accel- eration in the Prius and other models. The company eventually recalled 15.43 million vehicles worldwide, and was fined $17.4 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation. While the Toyota recall occurred on a massive global scale, the implications of the GM crisis hit much closer to the Motor City. How the switch came to be In pursuit of a smoother igni- tion switch, GM engineers began working on a new design in 1997. Between 1999 and 2001, an engineer named Ray DeGiorgio was given control of the design and was ultimately in charge of approving the final design speci- fication in March 2001. After its initial design approv- al, the switch had proven prob- lematic in testing. There were multiple reports of the switch slipping from "run" to "acces- sory" modes, as well as electrical issues. By design, when the igni- tion switch is no longer in "run" mode, airbags will not deploy. DeGiorgio and his team attempted to address these problems in time for the vehicle launches of the Saturn Ion and Chevrolet Cobalt. In internal emails, DeGiorgio referred to it as "the switch from hell." According to an internal investigation, in 2002 DeGiorgio approved the switch design for production, even though it had not yet met torque requirements. Reports of vehicle stalling con- tinued to be brought to the engi- neer's attention in the following Read the rest of this artitle at MichiganDaily.com Elly Jackson a.k.a La Roux Danceable beats fill La Roux's 80s throwback album By ADAM DEPOLLO OnlineArtsEditor It's been five years since Eng- lish synthpop duo La Roux - then composed of singer/multi-instru- mentalist Elly Jackson and pro- ducer Ben Langmaid - released its eponymous debut album, which featured the massively Trouble in successful sin- gles "Bullet- ParadiSe proof" and "In La Roux for the Kill." The years since Polydor 2009 have pre- sented a number of obstacles for Jackson, including a debilitating bout of performance anxiety, but, after parting ways with Langmaid over creative differences, La Roux has returned as a solo act with its infectious sophomore release Trouble in Paradise. On 2009's LaRoux, Jackson and Langmaid successfully blended '80s chic with elements of the late '00s club sound on the album's radio-ready singles, but the LP's deeper cuts were something of a disappointment. While the dis- tillation of punchy square synths and 808 percussion worked on "Bulletproof," it left the rest of the album feeling sparse and incom- plete, as though it were begging for a remix that La Roux wasn't quite ready to provide. Fortunately, the creative split between the duo's members seems to have opened the way for Jack- son to pursue her '80s throwback aesthetic to its potently dance- able and upbeat conclusions on her latest release. Opening with "Uptight Downtown," Jackson delivers a string of well-crafted melodies and contagious cho- ruses over buoyant analog synths on the album's more club-ready tracks and lush piano riffs and vocal harmonies on ballads like "Paradise Is You." Jackson's ear for melody is particularly strong on the chorus of "Cruel Sexual- ity," a dance track with traces of Graceland-era Paul Simon," and on the mildly tropical synth lines of "Sexotheque." Trouble in Paradise's produc- tion, provided largely by Eng- lishman Ian Sherwin, is just as impressive as the album's song- writing. The warm lo-fi halo floating over Jackson's voice adds an inviting color to the LP while providing a touch of nostalgic '80s fuzz to the whole project - a number of the tracks, particular- ly "Cruel Sexuality" and "Silent Partner" with their driving ana- log bass lines and echoing vocals, sound like they were recorded inside of a David Bowie music video. You can almost see the fog machines and angular shoulder . pads sticking out through the mix. This album's biggest stumbling block, however, is Jackson's lyrics, which, while exploring the rocky aspects of relationships implied by the record's title, don't offer much in the way of innovation or even particularly creative imag- ery. Even on the most interesting lyrical track "Paradise Is You," Jackson is dealing with ideas, like losing yourself in your lover, that we've all heard before. And, while I could overlook Jackson's lyrics if she ended the album on a strong note with the catchy single and second-to-last song "Let Me Down Gently," she unfortunately closes out the LP with its most disappointing track "The Feeling." In comparison with the finely wrought '80s aesthetics on the rest of the album, this cut's badly mixed bass lines and drums are an unexpected turn. The lack- luster production blends poorly with Jackson's weak falsetto and clumsy vocal harmonies, making this track seem like a half-finished demo that was mistakenly tacked onto the album's final cut. With the exception of the album's weak finish, however, Trouble in Paradise is a solid fol- low-up to La Roux's debut album that, while lacking any obvious hits along the lines of "Bullet- proof," is a much more satisfying release. Few of the LP's first eight tracks feel incomplete in the way that much of La Roux did, and Jackson has clearly come into her own as a songwriter, crafting refreshingly nostalgic pop tracks that still sound like they were made in 2014. By BRIAN BURLAGE Daily Arts Writer There's something unsettling about Lonnie Lynn's voice. His distorted mid-range flow some- times smears over the treble/ bass border. It's gravelly. His Nobody's inflection seems . rather venom- Smiling ous at times, and Common when you hear it string together ARTium his somber mate- rial you start to have thoughts like "Man, if this guy is rapping about Chicago crime, it must really be a huge problem". And that's precisely what Common does on Nobody's Smiling. The whole album is a log for his thoughts about growing up in Chicago, being confronted with violence at an early age and grieving for murdered friends and family. The particular immaterial quality of his voice allows him to give his subject matter a unique importance, a cut-the-shit direct- ness that aims its five-fingered death punch straight at your fore- head. And before you can recog- nize it happening, Common takes the podium as the experienced teacher and you become his happy pupil. Listen and learn, he says on Nobody's Smiling: I'll tell it like it is. Lesson 1: Album artwork counts. Nobody'sSmilingis the aesthetic opposite of Common's sixth album Be, the uplifting, jazz-sprinkled soul project that proved he could delve into the root of hip-hop and still maintain his funk. The most immediate difference between Be and Nobody's Smiling is the album cover. Be's cover is tainted with a tangerine glow, upon which Common's Marvin Gaye-esque profile grins openly. Its warmth and sincerity reveals much about the album's power through spo- ken word: stories told around the halo of a fire. Nobody's Smiling, on the other hand, takes its moniker very literally. Common's stony face emerges like a ghost, his eyes dark as coal, the front of his pale face turned aslant now, the whole look of him bending into shadow. From the second we notice its correla- tion to Be, we learn that Common has set a pretty high mark for the album. His is grave business, after all. Lesson 2: Politics have changed very little in south-side Chicago. Sure, Common has had his share of political involvement with campaigns, protests and charity. And sure, he even took a special trip to the White House in 2011 to perform for the Obamas. But if Be was his grand inaugural address, then Nobody's Smiling is his sol- emn campfire talk, in which he bears the heft of his anxiety about Chicago crime to the people who might not know better. R&B pro- duction wizard James Fauntleroy kicks off the opening track "The Neighborhood" with a plea, his voice straining from somewhere in empty space: "But be careful don't drown in the gold/I know it glows but it's cold." A chorus of shrill trumpets shatters the peace. Com- mon and Lil Herb (hailing from 'Terror town' in Chicago) use the rest of the song to explain just how impossible it is to leavea neighbor- hood in Chicago and how consis- tently dangerous it is to challenge any of the neighborhood rules. Urban division often translates to political division, they seem to state - not the other way around. Lesson 3: Gloomhas a place in an album's sound. While Common busies himself with painting a bleak and even tragic portrait of Chicago, pro- ducer No I.D. crafts even bleaker instrumentation. With the excep- tion of "Hustle Harder" and "Real" - two tracks that gracefully address sexuality in the midst of violence - the beats are thunder- ous, the bass is deep and an elec- tric tinge galvanizes the album's neo-soul vibe. Horn sections fil- tered through mix machines and a score of wiry classical instruments each add beauty to an otherwise desolate soundscape. No I.D. has delivered his trademark intensity See COMMON, Page 8 SUMMER IS ALMOST OVER. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO THIS FALL? WE DO... #rushTMD HIRING FOR FALL 2014: NEWS, SPORTS, OPINION, ARTS, PHOTO, DESIGN, ONLINE, VIDEO AND MORE!