Sports & News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, November 2, 2016 — 7A
Michigan searching for an identity
Michigan hockey coach Red
Berenson knew right away.
At
Thompson
Arena
on
Saturday night, he saw his
players
disheartened
and
discouraged. After battling with
Dartmouth the whole game, his
then-11th-ranked Wolverines let
up a late goal to lose 3-2 to the Big
Green. Michigan’s players looked
to their coach for a message of
motivation in a weekend when it
lost both of its games.
“His message was that we did
good things, but there’s still some
things we have to get better at,”
said senior defenseman Nolan
de Jong. “It was a glimpse of
what we can be, rather than the
Vermont game where we pretty
much struggled throughout the
entire game — there wasn’t very
much pushback from us.
“At least we kind of see the
team we can be. See the energy,
the legs, the enthusiasm that we
can play with. It’s a good sign.
We gotta keep improving every
day.”
Through seven games, the
Wolverines stand with a .500
record and many questions.
Michigan’s lines continue to
shift nearly every period, and its
goaltending situation remains
a mystery until just before puck
drop. If the Wolverines had
consistently
outplayed
their
opponents, these aspects would
be solidified. But until they do,
Berenson believes it necessary to
constantly tinker with his lineup
and netminders.
As the third-youngest team in
college hockey — with an average
age of 20.9 — another coach
might be easily frustrated having
to teach his new system to a fresh
set of players. But Berenson — in
his 33rd year in Ann Arbor — is
used to it.
“Even
though
we’ve
had
maybe not as many freshman,
you look at the age of our team,
it’s always been around 18,19
or 20,” Berenson said. “... We’re
helping them develop and learn
how to play at this level and
they’re already ready. You’ve
seen
Lockwood
and
Slaker,
they’ve already made an impact
on this team. It’s not like they
have to be reinvented. These kids
know how to play hockey. Some of
them are more ready than others.
It’s our job as a group to help
them all make the adjustment on
where to fit in.”
In De Jong’s
freshman
year, the team
struggled
at
times, including
a
four-game
losing streak and
a month when it
won just four of
nine games. As a
first-year player,
he looked to his
older leaders (former Michigan
defenseman Mac Bennett and
former forward Derek DeBlois)
for guidance.
“They
were
the
guys
who
no matter what
happened,
whether we lost
10-1 or we won
10-1 they were
always in here
putting
their
work
in,”
De
Jong said. “Doing
extra things in
the weight room
or on the ice, they were always
trying to get better, which is
something I looked up to a lot.”
Now
as
a
senior
leader
and captain, De Jong says he
“absolutely” sees himself in that
role.
“It’s not always going to be
things that I say, but it’s going to
be things that have to show,” De
Jong said.
“That’s going to be if we have
a conditioning skate at the end,
even if I’m not the fastest guy
out there, I’m gonna be the guy
that’s gonna push it all the way
to the goal line or get those
extra few strides in. Whether I
have to block a shot in practice
or whatever to kinda show guys
that I’m all in.”
The
Wolverines
have
spent these first seven games
constructing their own identity,
one that already looks drastically
different from last season’s, in
which its prolific offense had an
immediate impact in games. This
year, though, Michigan is still in
the midst of developing its own
distinct character.
The growing pains that the
Wolverines inevitably have faced
are simply a part of the game,
according to Berenson. He will
keep readjusting and focusing
in order to find groups that work
and succeed together.
“This is our team now and it’s
about creating an identity and
creating the personality for our
team,” De Jong said. “I think
we have a lot of youth and that
should bring a lot of excitement
and I think at this point in the
season, we can’t be using youth
or a young team as an excuse.
“(It is) time to push forward.
We’re going to have to be a hard
team to play against. A fast team,
stingy defensively and I think
goaltending is going to be a big
part of our team. I think we’re
still working on the identity but
we’re going to get there.
Added Berenson: “We haven’t
really played the kind of hockey
that I think our players think we
can play, or the coaches think
we can play. We gotta build
whatever identity that is. Our
next game is our best chance
to take a step in that direction.
You’re not gonna do it all in one
game, or a week or a weekend,
but I think if we start seeing
the same results, better results
in certain areas then we’ll start
getting an identity that we can
believe in as a group.”
AVI SHOLKOFF
Daily Sports Writer
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Senior defenseman Nolan De Jong is tasked with leading a young Michigan hockey team that is still looking to find firm footing early in the season.
With a sputtering offense and a young team, the Wolverines are pressing ahead in hopes of finding a suitable style
Panel tackles issues of polling, Twitter and cybersecurity
With the general election six
days away, topics dominating
the national conversation such
as the influence of Twitter on
the election, the vulnerability of
America’s voting technology to
hackers and whether a shift to
electronic voting could solve it
were discussed at a University
of Michigan Information and
Technology
Services
panel
discussion
titled
“Disrupting
Democracy: How Technology is
Influencing Elections.”
The event was moderated by
the host of Michigan Radio’s
Morning Edition, Doug Tribou,
and attended by approximately
60 students, faculty and staff
members.
Alex Halderman, a professor
of engineering and computer
science who was a panelist
at
the
event,
researches
polling technology and voting
machines
by
deconstructing
government
machines
and
conducting
security
analyses
on them. During his remarks,
he
emphasized
cybersecurity
concerns that surround polling
technology in an age of increasing
digital connectivity, as well as
increased cyber concerns over
hacking by non-state and foreign
actors.
“Unfortunately, the security
is nowhere near where it should
be,”
Halderman
said.
“The
problem is that about a quarter of
American voters, even today, will
be voting on technology on voting
machines that don’t produce any
form of physical record.”
To illustrate more specific
concerns
over
exclusively
electronic
voting,
Halderman
spoke
about
how
in
2010,
Washington, D.C. staged a mock
election in which all polling
would be conducted via the
Internet. Officials in D.C. invited
computer scientists and hackers
to infiltrate the voting system’s
network so as to learn about
potential
issues
with
online
voting. Halderman and a team of
UM students took up the district’s
offer and, within two days, they
were in complete control of the
voting system.
“I am not sure how many
people
can
be
reading
the
newspaper
or
watching
TV
today, and think that it would be
a good idea to take our election
system and just put it at a website
somewhere that could be reached
from anywhere in the world,”
Halderman said.
Chris
Dzombak,
another
panelist,
also
stressed
the
vulnerability of America’s polling
infrastructure, saying it has not
received nearly enough attention
this election cycle. Dzombak
is an Ann Arbor resident who
works for The New York Times
as
a
software
engineer
for
iOS development. He said he’s
discussed the increasing issue
of cyberattacks on governments
with his coworkers.
“We have seen more and more
higher profile sort of Internet and
computer security issues as these
sort of things are becoming more
and more common,” Dzombak
said. “A paper audit trail and
checking it against the results
are important and they seem like
common sense security measures
and I am really disappointed
we have not implemented these
measures.”
Panelist Walter Mebane, a
professor of political science
and statistics, also discussed
his research on U.S. elections
and election forensics, a field
of study that analyzes ballot
formats
and
compares
the
merits
of
voting
machines.
Mebane said when a social
media site like Twitter becomes
the central place that voters
to turn for information on
the election, the inability to
disprove a lot of the information
disseminated on the site allows
rumors and misinformation to
run rampant.
“Twitter can certainly be
used to spread rumors and
misinformation … as it is a
kind of weird universe where
credible information is hard to
establish,” Mebane said.
Beyond the issue of spreading
misinformation, Mebane said
Twitter and social media is
often bifurcated, or divided
based on the preferences of
the consumer. Noting the high
polarization characterizing the
current election, he said this
bifurcation lets users only seek
out like-minded individuals and
consume political information
that aligns only with their
previously held viewpoints.
“If the post-election behavior
mirrors
the
pre-election
behavior, one set, one group
saying big fraud, big rigging, big
problems … regardless of what
happens there,” Mebane said.
“That would be an issue and the
question would be to counteract
that message if it deserves to
be counteracted to and have
that message be supported or
refuted by evidence.”
LSA sophomore Jamie Pew,
an attendee, agreed with some
of the sentiments voiced at the
event, saying he has noticed his
Twitter feed features views and
opinions predominantly in favor
of
Democratic
presidential
nominee Hillary Clinton and
related topics.
“I
have
a
very
narrow
perception of what’s going on
in the election and what the
outcome will probably be,” Pew
said. “It is definitely a challenge
to find the right people to
follow, both Democrats and
people who are conservative.”
ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily
Engineering Prof. Alex Halderman and Political Science Prof. Walter Mebane discuss the influence of technology in elections on a panel moderated by Michigan
Radio Host Doug Tribou in the Michigan League on Tuesday.
TYLER COADY
Daily Staff Reporter
‘M’ third
in playoff
standings
If
the
college
football
season
ended
today,
the
Michigan football team would
have a chance to compete for
the national championship.
The Wolverines ranked No.
3 in the first College Football
Playoff poll released Tuesday
night. At the end of the year,
the top four will reach the
playoff, with the first- and
fourth-ranked
teams
and
second-
and
third-ranked
teams playing each other and
then the winners of those
games playing for the national
title.
The
semifinals
this
year for the teams that make
the playoff are in Atlanta
and Glendale, Ariz., and the
championship
game
is
in
Tampa, Fla.
Alabama (8-0) earns the
top-ranked spot this week,
with Clemson (8-0) at No.
2. Texas A&M (7-1), despite
losing to the Crimson Tide,
33-14, is the final team in the
top four, ahead of undefeated
Washington at No. 5.
Michigan’s opponents also
earned a strong showing in the
poll, with Wisconsin (6-2) at
No. 8 and Colorado (6-2) at No.
15. The Wolverines beat the
Badgers on Oct. 1, 14-7, and the
Buffaloes on Sept. 17, 45-28.
One of the biggest surprises
in the rankings is Penn State
at No. 12. The Nittany Lions
struggled earlier in the year
and lost at Michigan Stadium,
49-10, on Sept. 24. They make
an appearance in the poll in
large part because of their
upset of then-No. 2 Ohio State
on Oct. 22.
The Buckeyes (7-1) come in
at No. 6 in the rankings and
play Saturday night at home
against No. 10 Nebraska (7-1),
the fourth Big Ten team in the
top 10.
FOOTBALL
JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
“At least we
kind of see the
team we can
be.”