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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 — 3A

Services report outlining the 
top 
five 
student-identified 

mental health concerns as 
anxiety, 
depression, 
self-

esteem, 
academic 
problems 

and relationship difficulties. 
Additionally, the report found a 
17-percent increase in demand 
for counseling services that 
year. 
Nationwide, 
mental 

health is an onging concern 
on college campuses — in a 
2011 survey from the American 
College Health Association, 
30 percent of college students 
have reported at some point in 
the previous year feeling “so 
depressed that it was difficult 
to 
function,” 
and 
overall, 

students are seeking treatment 
for mental health concerns at 
higher and higher numbers, 
according to the Center for 
Collegiate Mental Health. 

Numerous student speakers 

at the event acknowledged the 
support of CAPS. Todd Sevig, 
director of CAPS, wrote in 
an email interview Monday 
night that he was glad to see 
students taking initiative in the 
ongoing campus discussions 
surrounding mental health. 

“I am so appreciative of 

the Greek System for holding 
this event,” Sevig wrote. “It’s 
critical for our campus to 
hear and understand the real 
stories of how mental health 
plays out in students’ day-to-
day lives. This first-ever event 
is also a wonderful example 
of how student empowerment 
can help change lives and help 
our campus culture be 100% 
supportive of mental health.”

Kinesiology 
senior 
Joe 

Filipiak, the Interfraternity 
Council judicial vice president 
and lead organizer of the 
event, said before the event he 
thought it was crucial to hold 
a speak out regarding mental 
health, 
especially 
before 

exams.

“(Mental health) is a big 

issue, not only within the 
Greek 
community, 
but 
on 

college campuses in general,” 
Filipiak said. “We see how 
it affects our friends, we see 
how it affects our fraternity 
brothers, sorority sisters, et 
cetera, and we figured it was 
time to start changing the 
stigma and speak out about it.”

Filipiak 
also 
noted 
how 

widespread 
mental 
health 

issues 
are, 
particularly 

in 
a 
demanding 
academic 

environment.

“It really affects everyone, 

especially at a school like 
Michigan where there’s so 
much 
emphasis 
being 
put 

on your grades or academic 
performance, 
being 
the 

Leaders 
and 
the 
Best,” 

Filipiak said. “So that finals 
talk can really stress people 
out, so we wanted to give 
people 
a 
reminder 
before 

they really hunker down and 
start studying that there is a 
community here if they are 
experiencing any of that stress, 
any of that depression.”

Wung 
emphasized 
the 

difficulty of sharing stories 
in public, saying she used her 
own experiences to contribute 
to the planning of the event.

“I had so many health 

concerns coming to college and 
especially during my first term 
as president; I really got to my 
lowest point and having this 
community around me is what 
really made the difference 
between being here today and 
being a different person here 
today,” Wung said.

Both Filipiak and Wung said 

they hope to hold future events 
similar to Monday’s speak out 
to continue to bring attention 
to depression, anxiety and 
other mental health concerns 
on campus.

SPEAKOUT
From Page 1A

Noire: Blacks in American 
Horror Films from 1890s to 
Present,” published in 2011, 
she 
provides 
insight 
and 

analysis of a unique genre: 
Black horror.

Horror Noire focuses on 

Black horror films, which is 
distinct 
from 
mainstream 

horror films that may have 
African-American supporting 
or lead actors. Coleman said 
Black 
horror 
films 
often 

convey a political message to 
the audience.

“It is almost like a protest 

movement genre where they 
are talking back to society 
about social ills,” Coleman 
said. “You will see Black horror 
responses to police brutality 
and mass incarceration.”

One of Coleman’s favorite 

horror films, “Night of the 
Living Dead,” was set in her 
hometown of Pittsburgh and 
produced by George Romero 
in 1968.

“What is interesting about 

‘Night of the Living Dead’ is 
that it is a mainstream film 
that has a Black hero,” Coleman 
said. “The ending of the film is 
very dramatic and speaks to a 

lot of the police brutalities that 
Blacks were facing.”

After 
personally 
viewing 

and analyzing hundreds of 
horror films for her book, 
Coleman 
also 
found 
that 

Black death in Black horror 
films differed from that in 
mainstream 
horror 
films. 

Coleman 
said 
typically 
it 

provides a political message, 
like police brutality, while in 
mainstream 
films, 
African 

Americans often take the role 
of the monster’s victim.

“There is a kind of disruption 

of the typical representations 
of Blacks in horror films, 
that they are essentially meat 
for some monster,” Coleman 
said. “They are much more 
than that; they are smart and 
resourceful and that isn’t the 
case in typical horror films.”

She pointed to “Jurassic 

Park” 
as 
an 
example 
of 

how African Americans are 
portrayed in most mainstream 
horror films.

“If 
you 
have 
this 
big, 

loathsome dinosaur monster, 
how do you show how wickedly 
bad it is?” Coleman said. “You 
introduce a Black character, 
and if the monster can beat 
that figure, then it must be 
badass.”

Having spent years studying 

African popular culture and 
media studies, Coleman said 
she has also found that there 
have been significant changes 
in how African Americans 
are 
being 
represented 
on 

television, pointing to current 
shows on network television, 
such 
as 
“Scandal” 
and 

“Blackish,” 
feature 
African 

Americans as leading actors. 
She said other media viewing 
sites such as Netflix and 
Youtube have the potential 
to provide a deeper look into 
African American life.

“Outside 
of 
network 

television, you see the most 
innovative 
presentations 
of 

Blackness that dig deep into 
Black life and culture in an 
interesting 
way,” 
Coleman 

said.

In 
class, 
Coleman 
said, 

she makes it a priority to 
challenge students to think 
critically about the content 
they are viewing on the screen, 
emphasizing the human lives 
behind the camera.

“I 
want 
them 
to 
be 

thoughtful about the things 
that they contribute to media 
or to discourses about Black 
life,” Coleman said. “I want 
people to be more thoughtful 
in how they represent who I 
am.”

FILM
From Page 1A

said.

The 
lecture 
began 
by 

introducing 
the 
inspiration 

for the subject of the book 
and its cover, an image of an 
upside-down tree. Pfeffer said 
while watching an interview 
between Oprah Winfrey and 
Thomas Beatie, a transgender 
male who became pregnant, 
she 
was 
intrigued 
by 
the 

intense audience reactions that 
ranged from shock and anger 
to acceptance and curiosity 
toward his relationship with 
his wife.

She 
said 
she 
was 
first 

attracted to the cover image 
of “Queering Families,” an 
upside-down, 
barren 
tree, 

because it was simultaneously 
recognizable and ambiguous, 
reflecting the complexity of the 
relationships the book features.

“Were those barren branches 

or life giving roots?” Pfeffer 
asked. “Are those blue clouds 
floating in the sky or a water 
source 
towards 
which 
the 

roots 
are 
stretching? 
And 

the branches or roots where 
someone might see barrenness, 
Halloween or death, others 
might 
see 
something 
more 

arterial. A pathway. A place 
where vital sustenance and 
growth can happen.”

The rest of the discussion 

was based off one specific 
chapter 
from 
“Queering 

Families,” 
titled 
“Partners 

Negotiating Bodies, Sexuality, 
and Intimacy.”

“(The chapter) really details 

sexuality, bodies and intimacy 
in the context of cis women’s 
partnerships with transgender 
men,” Pfeffer said.

It discusses five different 

themes: 
trans 
sexual 

embodiments, destabilizing the 
penis, new queer lexicons and 
sexual imageries, penetrating 
myths 
and 
realities, 
and 

monogamy. 
During 
her 

remarks, 
Pfeffer 
introduced 

each of these themes and 
used information from the 
interviews 
in 
“Queering 

Families” to provide context.

For 
example, 
Pfeffer 

discussed 
trans 
sexual 

embodiments and addressed 
the 
varying 
positions 
on 

bottom surgery within the 
relationships 
of 
cisgender 

women and transgender males. 
She said she found that many 
cisgender 
women 
reported 

being 
disinterested 
in 
the 

surgery due to the expense and 
risk.

In 
regard 
to 
monogamy, 

Pfeffer found just two of her 
interviewees 
were 
raising 

children with their transgender 
partners 
at 
the 
time 
the 

interviews 
were 
conducted. 

For younger queer cis women, 
forming an open relationship 
with a trans partner was more 
common.

“For 
younger, 
queer-

identified 
cisgender 
women 

in particular, forming an open 
relationship 
structure 
with 

a trans partner may serve as 
one way in which this group 
engages in social innovation,” 
Pfeffer said.

She discussed the fourth 

theme, penetrating myths and 
realities, by explaining what 
she called a broadening sexual 
language and practices that 
have occurred as trans people 
become more visible in society.

“Trans 
people 
and 
their 

partners 
are 
carving 
out 

innovative 
and 
generative 

pathways 
full 
of 
pleasure 

and joy that are nuanced, 
complicated 
and 
deserving 

of broader and more focused 
sociologic attention,” Pfeffer 
said.

Several students at the event 

declined to discuss the lecture 
with Daily reporters.

AUTHOR
From Page 1A

CAROLYN GEARIG/Daily

Carla Pfeffer, assistant professor of sociology and women’s studies at the University of South Carolina, answers questions after her talk on 
relationships between cisgender women and transgender men at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender Tuesday.

ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily

Dundee resident LeRoy Whipple owns and manages Whip’s Dog Days Hot Dogs, which serves hot dogs out of the back of a trailer near C.C. 
Little. “I do it for the students,” Whipple said. “Students come a lot during their time here and then graduate. My favorite part about being out 
here is just working with the community and being a part of it. After being out here this long, you become part of Ann Arbor.”

WHIP ’S DOG DAYS

application with information 

for sexual assault to extend 
the 
University’s 
current 

efforts to educate students on 
bystander intervention, healthy 
relationshipsand 
responsible 

decision making.

“Funding for the Ann Arbor 

campus will support the creation 
of a web-based application 
that provides information and 
resources focused on well-
being, healthy relationships and 
sexual violence,” the release 
says. “The app will reinforce 
key skills and messages included 
in 
university 
programming, 

such as Relationship Remix 
and Change It Up, which are 
provided to students during 
their first weeks 
on 

campus.”

FUNDS
From Page 1A

kid that is totally engaged 

in 
a 
tough 
curriculum,” 

Berenson said. “We’ve had 
kids in the business school, 
we’ve had other engineers, 
we’ve 
had 
pre-med, 
and 

good for them. That’s what 
their passion is and they’ve 
been able to balance it with 
hockey. I’ve given them time 
off if they need it, (Piazza) 
hasn’t asked for any time off, 
but if they need time off for a 
study session or whatever, I’ll 
give them time off.

“He’s quietly just going 

about his business and doing 
really well. He’s a real good 
student and a serious player.”

PIAZZA
From Page 2A

After 
their 
performance, 

the actors held a Q&A with the 
assembly in which they discussed 
possible ideas for collaboration and 
plans for a resolution. The group 
included seven students, including 
LSA senior Ramiro Alvarez, who 
said the group was interested in 
allocating a certain amount of 
supplies to selected high schools 
or groups. This, he said, is so they 
can focus in on long-term solutions. 
One solution he suggested was to 
compete against Michigan State 
University, mimicking the success 
of Blood Battle, to collect the 
supplies.

Over 
the 
duration 
of 
the 

crisis, CSG discussed ways to 
have campus-wide efforts toaid 
Flint residents by reaching out to 
fundraising groups, supporting 
organizations helping Flint and 
creating 
a 
partnership 
with 

UM-Flint’s student government.

Alvarez also said he believed 

CSG could represent the students 
interested in helping Flint to 
the Board of Regents. The CSG 
president speaks before the Board 
at each Regents meeting.

“Right now, you can step out 

and get a drink of water from the 
water fountain,” Alvarez said. 
“But 45 minutes away from here, 
people can’t do that. And we know 
that it is a lot to just drop on you 
all but … we are here to work with 
CSG in any capacity that you can 
think of. Do something long term.”

Public Policy junior Nadine 

Jawad suggested the group could 
focus on elementary schools, 
since the water crisis has been 
associated with severe health 
risks 
among 
young 
children. 

The group agreed, detailing the 

developmental issues appearing in 
children from Flint, which include 
lower IQ scores, developmental 
delays and behavioral issues. Lead 
contamination in young children 
is considered incredibly hard to 
reverse once it has occurred.

Other 
effects 
from 
the 

contaminated water include teeth 
damage, severe bone pain and 
cancer.

Not everyone on the assembly 

was in favor of the performance. 
Rackham student Andrew Snow, 
CSG’s Ethics Committee vice 
chair, took fault with the skit’s 
portrayal of Snyder. The group 
satirized Snyder’s response to the 
Flint crisis as unprepared and 
uninterested in the city’s crisis, 
interested in only votes and his 
image.

Over the past year, Snyder has 

attempted to demonstrate ways 
in which Flint can trust their 
filters by vowing to drink from 
Flint for a month in April. He and 
the state government have drawn 
significant 
criticism 
because 

of the slow response and lack 
of oversight from government 
officials from the Michigan state 
government.

Snow noted that Snyder’s 

daughter attends the University 
and said she does not deserve to 
see the caricature of her father.

The group disagreed, stating 

their form of acting allowed 
them to channel their worries 
about the crisis in productive 
ways.

“This is a way of us processing 

the disillusionment, sadness and 
grief that comes with the little 
support that isn’t there,” Alvarez 
said. 

CSG
From Page 1A

Read more at 
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