michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, March 16, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

WICHITA, Kan. — Michigan 

and Montana stood around, 
waiting for action to restart.

There was a shot clock 

malfunction with just under 
17 minutes to play in the 
second half, and it took an 
extraordinarily 
long 
amount 

of time to get it working again. 
When the shot clock did start 
ticking properly again, the game 
paused again moments later for 
the under-16 media timeout.

The pauses, coupled with 

sloppy play all around, were 
enough to make the game feel 
tired.

In the end, it didn’t matter for 

the Wolverines (13-5 Big Ten, 
29-7 overall). They sleepwalked 
their way to a 61-47 win to earn 
a matchup against sixth-seeded 
Houston on Saturday.

Things couldn’t have started 

much worse for Michigan.

In the first few seconds, senior 

guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman got called for a foul 
before junior forward Moritz 
Wagner turned it over. Over the 
next few minutes, sophomore 
guard Zavier Simpson picked up 
two fouls and was relegated to 
the bench, while the Wolverines 
turned it over again.

Oh, and they didn’t score a 

point.

Even still, fifth-year senior 

guard Jaaron Simmons — who 
filled in when Simpson came 
out — and redshirt sophomore 
wing Charles Matthews did just 
enough to give Michigan a three-
point lead at the halftime break.

The grogginess of the whole 

game 
showed 
through 
on 

the court for the Wolverines. 
The fire and swagger they 

normally possess — and had 
possessed over the final stretch 
of their season as they won nine 
consecutive games — was almost 
completely absent.

Wagner, the team’s leading 

scorer, had just 5 points all game. 
Simpson didn’t have the same 
dynamic control of the offense 
he’s shown down the stretch of 
the season, scoring just 5 points 
while turning it over a couple 
times in transition.

If Montana had mounted any 

sort of offensive threat at all, 
Michigan might have been in 
trouble.

But the Grizzlies were even 

more useless with the ball in 
their hands. They shot 33 percent 
from the floor and turned the 
ball over 11 times themselves. 
During the stretch when the 
clock broke and nobody seemed 
to know how to fix it, Montana 
was in the stretch of a scoring 
drought that nearly reached ten 
minutes before Ahmaad Rorie’s 
3-pointer with 9:30 left.

Beyond the contributions of 

Michael Oguine and Rorie, the 
Grizzlies’ two leading scorers, 
the rest of the team combined 
for 14 total points.

At the end of the game, the 

clocks 
mercifully 
crawled 

toward zero. What remained 
of the 14,000 people who once 
filled 
the 
stands 
aimlessly 

meandered their way out of the 
arena.

Some of them will come back 

Saturday to see the Wolverines 
take on the Cougars in the 
second round. It might be tough 
for them to remember exactly 
how 
Michigan 
got 
there, 

because for parts of Thursday 
night’s game, both literally and 
figuratively, it seemed like time 
was standing still.

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily

Assistant Attorney General Angela Povilaitis and LSA freshman Morgan McCaul discuss the power of victim impact statements in Larry Nassar’s prosecution at 
Hutchins Hall Thursday. 

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Morgan McCaul, Assistant AG Angela Povilaitis discuss effect of victim impact statements

Despite daunting barriers to 

reporting, nearly 300 survivors 
have come forward with stories 
of the assault they suffered at the 
hands of Larry Nassar, former USA 
Gymnastics and Michigan State 
University doctor. Angela Povilaitis, 
assistant 
attorney 
general 
of 

Michigan, served as an advocate 
for many of these women over the 
course of a week during Nassar’s 

January sentencing trial in Ingham 
County Court. Thursday afternoon, 
Povilatis — accompanied by LSA 
freshman and survivor Morgan 
McCaul — spoke at the University 
of Michigan Law School on the 
use of victim impact statements 
during the Nassar trials. Povilaitis 
explained victim impact statements 
are not simply powerful for the 
survivors, but have transformed 
the way perpetrators of sexual 
assault are being prosecuted.

Originally, 90 women were 

scheduled to give victim impact 
statements 
during 
Nassar’s 

sentencing. 
However, 
as 
the 

momentum 
and 
support 
for 

survivors 
grew, 
more 
women 

reached out to Povilaitis, asking 
to tell their stories of abuse. 
156 women in total gave their 
statements for Nassar — and the 
world — to hear.

Povilaitis 
highlighted 
how 

unique this case was considering its 
length, breadth, the nature of the 
crime and the number of victims 
who spoke and came forward –– 
about 260 to 300 survivors in total.

“(Sexual assault cases) are the 

most difficult cases to prosecute, 

there’s an inherent skepticism, 
there’s societal victim blaming, 
there’s various myths about how 
rape and sexual assault victims 
are supposed to act and behave 
and disclose,” Povilaitis said. “This 
sentencing hearing will shift that.” 

She went on to explain she 

could have brought charges for 
all 250 survivors at the time. 
However, she chose to only bring 
charges for 10, as it would not 
only be difficult and prolonged to 
evaluate 250 individual cases, but 
also unnecessary with Nassar’s 

ABBY TAKAS

Daily Staff Reporter

See IMPACT, Page 3

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

Check out the 
Daily’s News 
podcast, The 
Daily Weekly 

INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 93
©2018 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

In Nassar’s wake, prosecutor and 
survivor see shift in assault cases

When LSA freshman Shelby 

Alston received a full scholarship 
to the University of Michigan, she 
began to consider how she might 
factor housing into her life at the 
University. Hailing from Royal 
Oak and Alston was working a job 
in Auburn Hills, she didn’t want 
to sacrifice her job to come to Ann 
Arbor. Alston decided commuting 
from home would be the best way 
to ensure she would be able to 
keep doing the work she loves.

Each weekday, Alston makes 

the 
90-minute 
commute 
to 

campus, the first hour driving 
her own personal vehicle and — 
after parking at the Plymouth 
Road Park & Ride Lot — the last 
30 minutes riding the public bus. 
While the lengthy commute can 
often be an inconvenience, Alston 
explained, it’s the refund check 
she receives from a part of the 
University’s original room and 
board cost that allows her to pay 
her travel expenses.

“If I don’t use the money for 

room and board, they give a 
portion of it back to me in a refund 
check, which I use for gas,” Alston 
said. “It worked out really well.”

According to the Office of 

Financial Aid, the estimated 
on-campus 
room 
and 
board 

cost for in-state freshmen and 
sophomores is $11,198. University 
spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen 
wrote in an email interview 
benefits 
and 
resources 
like 

Alston’s 
commuter 
allowance 

plays a large role in reducing 
financial strains for students who 
choose to commute to campus.

“Students who commute will 

reduce room and board costs 
significantly,” Broekhuizen wrote. 
“The allowance for commuting 
students is $4,814 for the academic 
year to acknowledge ongoing 
family household expenses (food, 
utilities, etc.) and transportation 
costs.”

Though Alston has enjoyed the 

advantages of being a commuter 
student — financial advantages 
along with the ability to use the 
public bus system for free as a 

student of the University — she 
said easier access to parking 
near University buildings would 
be most helpful in ensuring 
accessibility for students who 
choose to commute and save their 
financial aid for other expenses.

“Sometimes I feel as though 

it’s kind of a community that’s not 
thought of as much,” Alston said. 
“We’re not really accommodated 
for, which is understandable — 
there’s such a small percentage of 
students who commute. I think it 
would be tremendously beneficial 
for the school to offer on-campus 
parking.”

According 
to 
Broekhuizen, 

the University currently does 
not keep track of data on the 
commuter student population, the 
number of students that commute 
or the reasons they decide to 
commute. This lack of data is 
what some commuter students 
believe could serve as a pipeline to 
creating better resources for their 
commutes.

Business sophomore Subhan 

Chaudry lived on campus his 
freshman year, but later decided 
to commute from home, about 

Following 
Wednesday’s 
gun 

safety rally and walkout hosted by 
the Washtenaw Youth Initiative, 
members 
of 
the 
Washtenaw 

County 
community 
gathered 

Thursday night to discuss what 
more can be done in the fight 
for gun control. Jeanice Kerr 
Swift, 
superintendent 
of 
Ann 

Arbor Public Schools, introduced 
the event, acknowledging and 
applauding the activist work of 
students in the area.

“We 
respect 
the 
First 

Amendment rights of our students 
in Ann Arbor schools, and I am so 
impressed with their knowledge, 
with their conviction, with their 
ability to critically think and to 
articulate what their generation 
is feeling right now in our public 
schools,” Swift said.

Swift also apologized on behalf 

of adult community members on 
their inability to effectively prevent 
the shootings taking place in 
schools across the country.

“I feel very sorry that as adults, 

we have not been able to solve the 
problem of safety in our schools,” 
Swift said. “I know that many 

See SAFETY, Page 2

Gun safety 
discussed 
at Pioneer 
town panel

ANN ARBOR

Washtenaw high school 
students talk Parkland 
shooting, activism efforts

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE

Daily Staff Reporter

Commuter students call for increased 
resources, accessibility on campus

With no data on commuters, students request further research, education efforts

JORDYN BAKER
Daily Staff Reporter

See COMMUTER, Page 3

Former state Rep. Rashida 

Tlaib has been first in many 
arenas over her lifetime. She 
was the first of 14 children, born 
and raised in Detroit by her 
Palestinian immigrant parents. 
After attending law school on 
the weekends while working 
during the week, Tlaib became 
the first Muslim woman elected 
to the Michigan legislature. She 
served as a state representative 
for six years and then worked 
as a public interest lawyer at the 
nonprofit Sugar Law Center for 
Economic and Social Justice for 
the following three years.

Now, Tlaib is onto her next 

first: the first Muslim woman 
elected to Congress. In early 
February, Tlaib announced she 
was running for Congress, vying 
for the seat vacated by former 
Rep. John Conyers Jr., who 
resigned in December.

“It 
is 
something 
that 
is 

inspiring to many people – even if 
you’re not Muslim – to know that 
a girl like me who grew up poor in 
south Detroit, who didn’t speak 
English when I started school, 

See TLAIB, Page 3

A day in the 
life: Tlaib, 
former MI 
State Rep.

CAMPUS LIFE

24 hours with Rashida 
Tlaib, running to be first 
Muslim Congresswoman

MAEVE O’BRIEN
Daily Staff Reporter

ROSEANNE CHAO/Daily

Michigan sleepwalks to 
61-47 win over Montana

MIKE PERSAK

Managing Sports Editor