2020-03-26

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Political campaigns adapt to coronavirus: ‘It’s a completely different kind of strategy’ Student organizers adjust voter outreach methods in response to COVID-19 outbreak JULIA FORREST Daily Staff Reporter

Since summer 2019, Porter Hughes, LSA freshman and co-founder of Students for Bernie at the University of Michigan, has spent hours knocking on doors, phone banking and offering rides to and from local polling stations in support of the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Hughes also helped organize Sanders’s rally in Ann Arbor in March. The event featured the senator and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY. “I’ve been working on the campaign since August, but I started my training over the summer in July,” Hughes said.

“Students for Bernie at UMich was started in September and has been working for the campaign since then as well. We worked to promote Bernie on campus by holding events such as canvasses, phone banks and the rally with Bernie and AOC.” Other campus organizations supporting political campaigns — whether in support of national, state or local politicians — have also put in effort in trying to get their

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candidates elected by connecting to voters face-to-face.

But now traditional methods of campaign mobilization have been either upended or called off due to the recent outbreaks of COVID-19,

a pandemic sweeping the U.S. and the rest of the world.

In the U.S., the number of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 has risen to more than 59,000 cases and more than 300

deaths as of Wednesday, making the U.S. third highest in number of confirmed cases, as of Sunday.

More than 158 million Americans are now mandated by state governments to stay at home in

‘U’ refund includes some meal plans, not all

MDining still considering reimbursement for certain options, leaving students confused JASMIN LEE

Daily Staff Reporter

As students leave campus at a rapid pace in accordance with University of Michigan guidelines, some are worrying about the lastminute move-out costs as well as services from the University they have already paid for but will no longer be able to use.

University Housing sent an email on Friday announcing that students who move out of the campus dorms

by March 25 will receive a refund of $1,200. A petition calling on the school to cover the costs of “unplanned travel and moving expenses” had more than 1,700 signatures as of Wednesday night.

While the Friday email entails how to receive the refund, the question of refunds for student meal plans remained unanswered.

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However, Steve Mangan, senior director of MDining, wrote in an email to The Daily that the refund University Housing is offering for $1,200 includes the unlimited meal plan.

“All students living in Campus

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Housing, who have moved out and left campus, have been offered a $1200 refund for their Housing and Dining plan for the Winter semester,” Managan wrote. “Due to the variety of options for off-campus meal plans, refunds for students with Optional

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Meal Plans are being evaluated and we will be reaching out to each Optional Meal Plan holder in the near future.”

Students planning on receiving the University Housing refund should not expect to receive an additional refund from MDining.

The email from University Housing states the refund will come from the University Housing contract, which includes a meal plan selection.

LSA freshman Ari Richardson lived in East Quad Residence Hall, which reported a case of COVID19 among one of its cooks last week.

Richardson said she was unaware the University Housing refund included the meal plan, adding that MDining should have given options to students regarding their meal plan due to the different circumstances of student housing.

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an effort to slow the spread of the disease.

In Michigan, the number of cases has spiked to more than 2,000 across the state as of Wednesday.

See CAMPAIGNS, Page 3

GOVERNMENT

El- Sayed discusses health care Activist talks Medicare for All via BlueJeans KARA WARNKE For The Daily

Political activist Dr. Abdul El-Sayed said the outbreak of coronavirus proves the need for Medicare for All in an online Ford School of Public Policy discussion on Wednesday.

Health care — particularly Medicare for All and how to pay for it — has been a major issue throughout the Democratic presidential primary.

See POLICY, Page 2

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DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily Representative Debbie Dingell held her third telephone town hall Wednesday evening. This photo was taken when Dingell previously spoke with supporters to kick off the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus at the Pretzel Bell in February.

Dingell provides updates on federal response to COVID-19

US representative hosts telephone town hall to discuss efforts to stop spread of virus, tells constituents ‘We cannot have a panic right now’ SARAH PAYNE

Daily Staff Reporter

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., held her third telephone town hall on Wednesday to answer questions from constituents regarding the most recent developments on the coronavirus, including the relief package that was negotiated by the U.S. Senate earlier that day and passed Wednesday night, and the resources available to constituents in District 12.

Congress has already passed two smaller coronavirus bills to help bolster the economy, but the third is a nearly $2 trillion package that aims to help stabilize the U.S. economy in the months to come.

Dingell talked with constituents alongside Carolyn Wilson, chief operating officer and executive vice president at Beaumont Health, and Romy Ancog, the regional export finance manager at the Small Business Administration in Detroit.

Dingell opened by emphasizing the importance of staying home and how

everyone is needed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

“This is real and diligence on the part of everyone is needed right now, and this is not a partisan time,” Dingell said. “The number one priority besides PPE (personal protective equipment) is to address this health crisis. It requires a Marshall Plan that we have to keep our health care infrastructure strong, and we are going to have to rebuild it to ensure that the resources are there to test and treat everyone who needs it.”

Wilson noted that many cases of COVID-19 are mild, and symptoms — which can include fever, fatigue and dry cough — can often be managed without seeking medical care.

“Most people do very well with their management of these symptoms at home,” Wilson said. “There is a minority of patients who do require intervention if those symptoms get moderate or severe and we would encourage you if you do have mild symptoms to stay at home and quarantined as the governor has asked us to do.”

Ancog discussed the focus of the

SBA during this time and encouraged small business and nonprofit owners to apply for loans. “(We are focused on) how it can help business owners get through this very difficult time,” Ancog said.

“These loans are available for any small business or nonprofit whether it was affected directly or indirectly by this virus.”

Dingell also acknowledged the need to “flatten the curve,” or slow the spread of the virus enough to ensure the nation’s hospitals are not overwhelmed.

“If we’re going to take the peak and lower it, we have to get to a hump and that means we have to stop going out and it’s really hard, but we have to do that,” Dingell said.

“The bill that we hopefully will get more details on tonight — Schumer called it unemployment on steroids — part of it is going to try to fully replace wages for four months.”

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Now, the spread of coronavirus and growing concerns about how the nation’s hospitals will handle the strain have fueled calls for Medicare for All among some activists and politicians.

According to El-Sayed, one of the primary goals of passing Medicare for All is to prevent catastrophes like the COVID-19 pandemic from causing damage on a national level.

“Our responsibility is to articulate the future that is set in the past we wish we had,” El-Sayed said. “One where we had been able to address this, one where we could have been able to stop this.”

El-Sayed, an alum of the University of Michigan and former health director of Detroit, is a prominent proponent of universal health care, has discussed Medicare for All widely

in various interviews, podcasts and in his upcoming book “Healing Politics: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic.” He is a longtime proponent of the policy. During his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, he proposed MichiCare, single-payer health insurance covering all Michigan residents.

On Wednesday, El-Sayed outlined the ways in which Medicare for All would benefit Americans, pointing to the failure of the nation’s current health care system to adequately respond to the outbreak of coronavirus.

“Whenever you have a public good, if you run the public good poorly, it’s poor,” El-Sayed said. ”If you defund the public good, it’s bad. I don’t want folks to fall for the trick of ‘Oh look, they’ve got a public system and look how bad it’s failing.’ Well, we’re two weeks away from seeing what the consequences of our system are, and it’s going to be awful. I wish we never

had to see it, but we’re going to see a lot of these images.”

With respect to the COVID-19 pandemic, El-Sayed criticized the current health care system’s handling of the situation.

“Our current pandemic is substantially worse because there are 10 percent of people who are, in effect, locked out of health care,” El-Sayed said. “Coronavirus creates a very nonspecific set of symptoms. You know how many other diseases cause a fever and a dry cough? Almost everything that people suffer from this time of year. So if you’re sitting there, and even if you have insurance but your health care is behind a deductible, you’re saying ‘Well look, alright, so I can get tests paid for but if I don’t have COVID, then I’m not going to get my care paid for and I’m going to have to pay for it.

So maybe I just won’t.’”

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CAMPAIGNS From Page 1 Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency on March 10 after the first cases were detected in Michigan.

Whitmer has since banned gatherings of more than 50 people, closed all schools and public spaces and restricted hospital visits. Whitmer also put a shelter-in-place order into effect beginning March 24.

Other states, including California, New York and Illinois, have also issued similar orders. With Americans unable to leave their homes — unless in cases of emergency — campaigns have been forced to shut down campaign rallies, face-to-face town halls and canvassing events.

“This was in nobody’s playbook,” Hughes said. “It kind of took everyone by surprise. It required some maneuvering, and I’m really proud of our team in being able to pick up where we left off.”

Both Sanders’s and former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaigns have mandated that staffers work remotely.

Field-organizers will continue campaigning via digital platforms such as phone banking and mobile updates.

Both candidates have also shifted to conducting “virtual” town halls and broadcasting their speeches remotely.

Biden has switched all of his

MDINING From Page 1 “I believe that students should have the option to either have them refunded or carry over into the next year,” Richardson said. “Because then you’ll have seniors who aren’t going to use them anytime soon and already paid for this. If you don’t get it back, that’s just the University taking money.”

Richardson also said her primary concern with MDining was about her leftover Blue Bucks and Dining Dollars.

“My main problem when it was time to leave was that I had a bunch of Dining Dollars and Blue Bucks leftover,” Richardson said.

While Blue Bucks are refundable and automatically

POLICY From Page 2 El-Sayed also viewed the current pandemic and its implications for Medicare for All through a political lens, discussing the implications the COVID-19 virus may have on the passing of favorable legislation in the future.

“We’re talking about a mass trauma that we are all experiencing right now, and that’s terrible,” El-Sayed said. “But every time someone has to go bankrupt for their cancer care, every time someone who gets really sick can’t see a

News

Thursday, March 26, 2020 — 3

efforts to online campaigning, recently holding a virtual town hall in Illinois that was stopped fifteen minutes into questions due to technical difficulties. He has also held a virtual fundraiser and plans to continue virtually campaigning amid the COVID19 outbreak.

Andrew Schaeff ler, LSA freshman and co-founder of Students for Biden at the University, said the campus organization plans to readjust its efforts to support Biden by working remotely and focusing on virtual campaigning.

“We can’t have a presence on campus, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not doing everything we can,” Schaeff ler said.

“There’s still virtual campaign events that are happening, that our members are participating in. And (this crisis) just goes to show that when you’re dealing with these problems as president, you don’t want someone that needs on-the-job training. And I think that for many voters, that will be the deciding factor.”

President Donald Trump has also had to adjust his campaign due to the outbreaks. He recently postponed or canceled events in Colorado, Nevada and Wisconsin. Trump has also called for all of his campaign staffers to begin working from home and has canceled all in-person rallies and events until further notice.

Students for Trump did not respond to The Daily’s request

for comment.

Down-ballot campaigns have also had to scramble to find alternative ways of engaging voters that do not jeopardize an individual’s health or safety.

Some have halted campaigning entirely for the time being while some have switched to more virtual outreach and campaigning.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., who is up for re-election in November in Michigan’s 12th Congressional District, spoke to The Daily about halting her current campaign efforts for the time being to focus on serving her constituents to the best of her ability.

“I don’t think (campaigning) is a priority,” Dingell said.

“I’ll have to figure it out down the road. But now, I’m not up there saying, ‘vote for me.’ I don’t think it’s appropriate to ask people to vote for you right now. I’ve been very focused on making sure everyone’s okay.

What are we going to do to make sure that people are safe?

My campaign will come back up again in a few weeks. My job is to represent the people of my district, to make sure I can do everything I can to fight for them.”

Solomon Rajput, Dingell’s opponent in the Democratic primary, has moved all of his campaign operations online and ordered his staff and volunteers to work remotely from home.

Rajput spoke to The Daily about

the importance of keeping voters engaged by helping to put to the forefront what issues voters care about most.

“You know, this isn’t just a regular campaign,” Rajput said.

“We do need to make sure that we are doing what we can to improve people’s lives during this crisis. (We are) able to really focus in and rally around (the issues) people will be facing during this crisis and are trying to help people through that and let people know that we’re here to champion their issues … I think it’s important for people to demonstrate their commitment to materially improving the lives of Americans.”

Marianne Drysdale, LSA senior, is working to re-elect Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who is up for re-election in the fall She serves as co-president for Students for Gary Peters, a student group that is not directly affiliated with Peter’s campaign but has still focused its energy on supporting his candidacy.

She said in-person interactions play an important role in campaigning.

“Things have really, really, really changed, because in organizing the most effective way to transition a conversation into a vote is through in-person interaction,” Drysdale said.

“And for us, campaigning now is probably going to be mostly using our personal digital networks and reaching out to other people that we know to

use their digital networks. So it’s a completely different kind of strategy.”

As campaigns have struggled to adjust to life amid the coronavirus, the general election itself could also be affected. States across the country have already begun to postpone their primary elections set to take place in March or April to later in the summer.

“No one really can predict what the world will look like in November,” Drysdale said.

“Because there’s scenario A, which is people aren’t worried about (the election). People are more worried about their dire economic circumstances or about exiting the house. Or scenario B is that people are really frustrated with the status quo of our federal leadership or people are feeling all the more empowered to be keeping up with the news … I don’t think that anybody really has the capacity to be able to predict exactly what’s going to happen.”

Rajput also noted the uncertainty.

“We can’t even see two weeks out right now,” Rajput said.

“Everyone’s just taking this day by day … I think what is paramount to our country and also thousands of individuals is to ensure that everyone is as healthy as possible.”

Reporter Julia Forrest can be reached at juforres@umich.edu.

transfer from year to year, MDining is still evaluating its options in regard to Dining Dollars.

Students who had optional meal plans should expect to hear from MDining about their individual circumstances, as each case will be evaluated for a refund.

LSA sophomore Alec Bayoneto lives off-campus but has the 55 Block optional meal plan. This plan costs $1,432 for the fall and winter semesters, and when Bayoneto left campus, he said he had 17 unused meal swipes left. As of Wednesday, Bayoneto said he has not received any emails from MDining regarding a refund for his optional meal plan.

“I know that we’re all struggling right now to handle everything,” Bayoneto said. “If

they reimburse us, that would be one less thing to worry about right now with readjusting to the way things are with everything that’s going on. For plans like mine, you can see how many swipes you would’ve had left.

It’s about $12 a meal, so they can just easily total that up and give you back an exact amount.” freshman Dominic LSA Colletti also lived in East Quad. Colletti said he was glad University Housing was reimbursing students but questioned the logic behind the amount they were offering. He speculated the prorate for the room alone would be close to $1,200 at the cheapest rate and said many students are not on the cheapest rate for room and board.

“I think there’s absolutely no reason not to prorate. It’s a little

trickier because, with housing, everyone’s already signed their contract and already paid with dining,” Colletti said. “It gets a little trickier with students who have off-campus meal plans because a lot of them have used a lot of their meals … I can foresee that being more complicated, but unlimited meal plans should be just prorated plain and simple. Divide the rate by however much time is left in the contract.”

Students who are staying in the dorms should not expect any change in the price of their meal plans. According to Mangan, changing the meals from dinein service to take-out boxes does not interfere with their ability to provide meals during the week and on the weekends.

“Michigan Dining continues to provide breakfast, lunch and

dinner every day with brunch and dinner being provided on Saturday and Sunday so there will be no change in meal prices,” Mangan wrote.

Richardson said even though everyone is working to adjust to extreme new changes, she thinks University services still need to be accountable to students.

“I understand that a lot of departments in the University are scrambling to figure out what to do and we’re all struggling, but that doesn’t take away from that fact that there’s still a program that has a responsibility to provide for the students,” Richardson said.

“So when they can’t provide meals anymore, we should be compensated in some way.”

Reporter Jasmin Lee can be reached at itsshlee@umich.edu.

doctor — that’s a mini tragedy on its own. And even though it’s not collectively experienced, let’s not undersell the cost that that has on those individuals and the fact that it’s happening to 10 percent of our population or 42 percent of people who have cancer.”

El-Sayed emphasized the importance of preventative care over reactive care, stating the ways in which it would cut costs overall.

“One of the most important aspects of Medicare for All is that it streamlines the incentive set to prevent disease, which reduces health care costs over the longterm,” El-Sayed said. “And because

it’s the government, the only real intended outcome is, rather than making money off the system, to promote the well-being of the population.”

El-Sayed explained the way in which American insurance and medical systems currently work.

“One of these things we’ve seen in this system is this crazy amount of consolidation on either side,” he said.

“The biggest hospital groups or the biggest payers are able to negotiate to consolidate the market around themselves, in effect creating local oligopolies or even monopolies.”

El-Sayed further critiqued the American health care system’s

current market structure. He explained the ways in which it does not display the traits of the free market championed by members of the American public and critics of a single-payer healthcare system.

“The problem with American health care, and health care in general, is that you don’t actually know what you want,” El-Sayed said. “You have a deep information asymmetry. I walk in, and I know I’m sick and I know I want the sickness to go away, but I don’t know what I need to make the sickness go away.”

During this discussion, Rackham student Rebecca Copeland asked

El-Sayed about the implementation of a sweeping policy like Medicare for All. “Something that I think a lot about when I think about Medicare for All is how a lot of the services and general operation of a program like this would be contracted out to private contractors because that’s how most of the (Affordable Care Act) implementation is happening,” Copeland said. “I was wondering what your thoughts were on that and how you see something like this being implemented.”

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Opinion

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The unique experience of re-reading and re-watching

D

ue to a pandemic-thatmust-not-be-named, many people have found themselves quarantined in their homes. This new window of free time can be looked at as a unique opportunity to try new things.

Perhaps, you can finally read all of those untouched books on your shelf, start exercising, learn to bake, watch that show you’ve been meaning to get to on Netflix.

While I am a big proponent of trying new things, I also strongly recommend revisiting things you’ve experienced in the past.

Re-reading, re-watching or even re-listening to something is often looked upon as a complete waste of time. Why give up time that could be spent discovering the millions of untouched materials the cybersphere or your dust-collecting bookshelf can doubtlessly provide?

To me, however, there is something uniquely peculiar about revisiting old work; it’s because we never experience the same thing twice.

When I reopen a book, which I regularly do, I am never reading it exactly the same way. I’m a new me with new experiences, new memories and quite possibly, a new perspective which will reshape my views of the work. This same idea applies to movies, television and music.

It goes without saying that our current predicament forces us to reconsider parts of life that we’d previously taken for granted.

Many of us have been faced with new questions and begun to look at life differently. These lenses — quite possibly glazed with fear, apprehension and hope — can offer us the irrefutably magical opportunity of revisiting fictitious worlds with a new point of view.

Why, however, should you spend your time re-entering a world when you could instead be somewhere completely new? In times of stress, revisiting a work can be less overwhelming or daunting a task than tackling something completely different. The words seem familiar or comforting, like a weighted blanket, and the characters feel like old friends. With each piece of dialogue, description or downbeat, you may just feel a little more OK than you did before. I, of course, am not a doctor, psychologist or person qualified to assess anxiety or frustration.Instead,Ispeakfrommy own personal experience. However, there have been studies that support my claims about the benefit of repeat experiences. In his study, “Enjoy it again: Repeat experiences arelessrepetitivethanpeoplethink,” psychologist Ed O’Brien discusses measured enjoyment levels of repeat experiencers. “Repetition,” he claims, “could add an unforeseen spice to life.”

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were there to comfort me when the ACT seemed unconquerable. John, Paul, George and Ringo serenaded me

through college acceptance and rejection letters. Now, through this uncertain and inexplicable time, Lorelai Gilmore has helped me keep calm and attack this new reality, clever quip by clever quip.

We revisit the same songs again and again — they become a huge part of our identity. The same should be said for the longer works in our lives; books, movies and television define our interests and can speak to our perspectives, ideologies or priorities in an even greater way.

Throughthisprocessofrediscovery, we find new ways to connect with people.

Even in isolation, we can revisit, expand and reinforce old connections made the first time we experienced a certain book or movie. Who were you dating? Who were your friends? What were your priorities?Howhasthatallchanged?

Maybe a connection you’ve made in this past year has forever altered the way you feel during “To Kill a Mockingbird” or how you pity “The Godfather.” There are so many new entrancesandhallwaysandwindows within the doors you have opened in the past. Find them, walk or climb through and open them. In addition to all of the new tasks and books and shows in your queue, try applying all of this newness to something your brainwillremember.Itmaysurprise you how new it may seem.

Jessica D’Agostino can be reached at jessdag@umich.edu.

KEVIN MOORE JR. | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT KEYJR@UMICH.EDU

I

The “right” side of history

n deeply embedded systems of oppression, the most basic elements of human rights are stripped away. The right to plan your family size.

The right to drink water without being poisoned. The right to get life-saving medication without bankrupting yourself.

These issues are obvious in unstable and undemocratic developing countries. But, they also hit extremely close to home.

In political systems marked by corruption, high violence and extremism, there is a festering wound that is often overlooked. The rights of the affluent are prioritized above all else; elections are blatantly rigged, the wealthy can bribe the police and afford exemplary lawyers to further benefit themselves in the legal system. Challenges to the status quo of government are “extreme” or “too radical,” even when the statement is as harmless as a social media post. Those who are not prioritized by the state must be silenced, or at the very least, disempowered in order to maintain an unchecked system that protects a small number of specific people (tied by class, family ties, religion or race). This can be executed by the state in multiple ways.

In authoritarian regimes, freedom of the press and freedom of speech are typically the first things to be eliminated, like in China, where the infectious and potentially fatal COVID-19 originated before spreading across the globe. The restrictive policies that prevent people from speaking about their experiences, fears and challenges directly contributed to the slow spread of information about the virus, highlighting how domestic human rights policy abroad impacts our domestic well-being. Governments sometimes progress from illegitimate (dictatorships and extreme citizen suppression) to legitimate (a government with some available representation of citizens). In this process, the powerful politicians and entrepreneurs have to earn some respect from those that work for (and are always beneath) them, in order to keep their power.

After the American Revolution, the founders had to reckon with a few challenges. These challenges came primarily from non-land-owning white men. In order to stop violent uprisings (like Shay’s Rebellion), the powerful threw the disgruntled a bone 80 years later — giving them the right to vote. Despite what we know and understand as an obvious flaw in democratic liberty, at the time, these white men were depicted as radical. While their concerns were included in political discourse, other disenfranchised groups (African Americans, immigrants, women and the intersections of these identities) were still forced into cultural silence through subordinating and dehumanizing systems like race-based chattel slavery and disenfranchisement through strict voting laws.

Over time, as states become stronger, the affluent and powerful have to mitigate more challenges. When abolitionists (and other grassroots movements) had clawed their way into political discourse, forming voting blocs dedicated to the end of slavery, the issue many faced had to be reckoned with. When white women and workingclass white men came to personal terms with the atrocities of slavery — which African Americans had been traumatized by since the 1500s — the affluent and powerful were forced to find a solution, nearly tearing the country in two. In 2020, the impact of slavery on generations of African Americans is easily understood as a horrific human rights violation. But

before slavery was abolished, abolitionists were depicted as radical. The barriers that exist today, upheld by past race-based chattel slavery, are swept aside.

As mobility, progress and change begin to occur and restrictions are lifted — for example, the fight for gay rights demanding media representation — and as individuals who are hurt by the political, economic and social limitations enforced by the government finally gain a say, they see a glimpse of what the affluent and powerful have always had. This movement led to the majority’s basic tolerance of their humanity, which then led to the acceptance of their legal ability to marry who they love. Now, the adoration of a handful of white gay icons (Ellen Degeneres and Pete Buttigieg) have worked for their recognition. Once these political, economic and social freedoms are actualized for some, they justifiably want to keep their sense of autonomy, affluence and power. Sadly, the legal restrictions and oppressive policies that they have progressed from still have a firm grasp on non-white LGBTQ+ members who face disproportionately higher rates of violence.

Despite the expection of marriage as a human right, for centuries, any display of LGBTQ+ affection was depicted as radical.

Today, the legacy of those barriers that many still encounter today is ignored.

Human rights issues are prevalent in every country. In China, the suppression of free speech contributes to the spread of a complicated and deadly virus across the globe, while the continued lockdown and persecution of the Uigher Muslims renders them specifically vulnerable to COVID-19. In the United States today, racialized immigration policies are leaving children in cages without their parents or basic supplies to support themselves. In the U.S. today, polling places with high amounts of minority voters are closed despite massive lines. In the workplace, LGBTQ+ Americans are fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Any state-enforced policy that strips people of their basic humanity, from their right to live to their right to critique the government on social media, isn’t an attack on one group alone.

It’s an attack on everyone, whether it is immediately apparent or not.

It is unfair to argue that fighting for fundamental human rights is radical, and the fear of social ostracization should not prevent privileged citizens from advocating for a progressive candidate.

Those of us who are lucky enough to be able to vote because of the resilient and heroic actions of those before us — those deemed radical, unreasonable and idealistic — need to vote. Rather than pointing fingers at international human rights limitations, American voters must first reconcile with the historic and present-day oppression, discrimination and dehumanization in their own country.

Not just for ourselves, but for everyone.

While the freedom of speech, political participation and financial security may finally be in our grasp despite centuries of discrimination, we must use what we have fought for to help our neighbors, not just ourselves. And this applies to those currently in power, too — continue to silence and dehumanize others, and you will have serious moral and pragmatic fissures to mend. In 2020, vote from a place of hope for humanity versus the fear of its failures, and with the understanding that human rights are not, and have never been, radical.

Elizabeth Cook can be reached at elizcook@umich.edu.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Arts

MUSIC REVIEW

Thursady, March 26, 2020 — 5

FILM NOTEBOOK

Villians in film: The good, the bad and Severus Snape SABRIYA IMAMI Daily Arts Writer

Algorithms and self- love in Gambino’s suprise album

RCA

listened to a minimally modified “Feels Like Summer” that appeared as “42.26.” In terms of “Algorthym,” it beeps, boops and glitches like a cyborg and chugs with the weight of its overWhen my friend told me Donald Glover production (kind of like Muse’s Simulation dropped a new album, I immediately sought it out Theory, but actually palatable). Nonetheless, on Spotify and couldn’t find it. The long-awaited the track is dynamic, developed and catchy Childish Gambino enough to garner lasting project materialized attention from listeners. on a mysterious Blossoming from wispy website, https:// synths, it grows with donaldgloverpresents. layered, chugging 3.15.20 com, on March 15. My 808s reminiscent of a friend joked that Glover packaging machine.

Childish Gambino uploaded the album on The beat subsides with RCA Records accident before taking Glover’s oscillating a nap — a very probable falsettos and autotuned, explanation, but Glover’s robotic vocals. Its chorus, move felt very deliberate. an interpolation of It’s not out of character Zhane’s 1993 hit “Hey for Glover to drop projects Mr. D.J.” is self-aware of without warning. The very nature of the release what’s happening in the background; Glover (unannounced, on a less than conventional upends the R&B Duo’s version to make the lyrics streaming platform that loops over and over come off as more tongue-in-cheek, mocking the again) deeply affects the listening experience. derivative or “algorthym-ic” nature of dance The traditional song markers — a tracklist, titles, music: “Everybody (Everybody), move your timestamps, beginnings and endings — are body, now do it (Now do it) / Here is something blurred and mystified. Every song stands on its (Ooh), that’s gonna make you move and groove.” own, but the presentation meshes them into one The track ultimately gives way in the end to cohesive entity. This continuity in presentation a catchy overlapping of falsetto and altered organically comes from the sound. Traditional vocals the halt abruptly as the instrumentals progressions between verses, choruses and malfunction — perhaps indicating a clash bridges aren’t as predictable, with each song between authenticity and artificiality. progressing or stagnating sporadically. This “Time” picks up from here and rebuilds the album very literally chugs, squacks, vibrates, lost beat from the straggling, struggling beeps at echoes and chirps as the bass lines play out the end. “Time” is clunky like its predecessor, but over bright synths, creating a pleasant volatility sweeter, more voluminous and diverse. Every throughout. drum beat is decipherable and synthesizers There are still traditional glimmers of song are faint but laser focused. The vocals are formality on this project, but the departures take pumped up and bright, mingling well with the precedence. Most notable is the appearance of meditative, jangly guitar base. “Time” builds off “Feels Like Summer,” an easygoing, upbeat 2018 of manifold genres, borrowing elements from single. Ironically, this album’s artistic departure ’80s synth pop, gospel and funk. The Ariana harkens back to “This is America,” a 2018 single Grande feature is uncharacteristically short that didn’t make the cut for this project. An but aesthetically sufficient for another layer of ad-lib-heavy, satirical critique that tethers Black sweetness. Despite the leaping variations and American art to Black American suffering, the textures, the song never feels overwhelming, track sent ripples across Internet communities developing gradually across its relatively slow that immediately dissected the thematic pace. The track balances its saccharine nature underpinnings of its video, lyrics and all the against Glover’s contemplative and critical connections in between. Similar to “This is character given the stark nature of its lyrical America,” Childish Gambino strives to unsettle commentary. “Maybe all the stars in the night his listeners with the connection between his are really dreams / Maybe this whole world ain’t music and its presentation. exactly what it seems / Maybe the sky will fall One week after its premiere and subsequent down on tomorrow / But one thing’s for certain, disappearance, the album now resides on baby / We’re running out of time,” Glover croons traditional streaming platforms with the title in the chorus. As he wrestles with the ulterior 3.15.20, named after the date it was released. meaning of what is abundant and impermanent, The name of each song runs in tandem with the Glover conveys the reasoning for this track’s album title, each a mere timestamp of when the merit of a title; reality and time are orderly and song begins. This is with the exception of songs artificially constructed, much like a traditional “Algorhythm” and “Time.” My initial thinking album. for singing out these two tracks started with the fact that “Algorthym” was part of a two-song Read more online at bonus collection that was randomly distributed michigandaily.com alongside purchases for Glover’s “This is America Tour.” Yet this theory didn’t hold as I DIANA YASSIN Daily Arts Writer

A lot of people glorify heroes. They help people, do good and save the world. And that’s true; they deserve a lot of praise for all the good that they try to do. But in all honesty, would they even be heroes if villains didn’t exist? Someone or something has to cause a problem or do something that will make another person stand up and decide to become a hero, which is why I think villains deserved to be discussed and, dare I say, glorified just as much as heroes.

One of the most common misconceptions about villains is that they all fall under the same category: the bad guy. This could not be more incorrect. I think the best way to categorize and understand villains is by looking at the scale of Hero, Vigilante, Antihero and Villain. The term Hero is pretty self-explanatory: It refers to the person who saves the day. But the other terms get a little more complicated.

A Vigilante, for example, is a person who decides to become something similar to an authority figure or a member of law enforcement without getting actual legal authority. A Vigilante tries to do good and fight crime, but without authority figures backing him, they’re often chased down by law enforcement. Batman is a perfect example of this. He risks his own life on multiple occasions to protect Gotham, but because he chooses to operate in the shadows and act as an intimidating figure, most of the Gotham City Police Department is after him constantly.

The Antihero is probably the most complicated term of all because it’s always in a gray area. An Antihero is neither good nor bad, hero nor villain. Antiheroes are typically understood to be protagonists or central characters that don’t have stereotypical “good guy” qualities. I’ve always thought that this explanation was incredibly vague, so I came up with my own distinction for Antiheroes: characters who think that the ends justify the means. This could mean that they either do the wrong things for the right reasons or do the right things for the wrong reasons.

An example of the former would be Albus Dumbledore. This might be a surprise to many of you, because by all accounts Dumbledore is the token “good guy” — the mentor who Harry relies on.

But even though his end goal was to do the right thing by stopping Voldemort, Dumbledore made a lot of awful decisions.

He constantly did the wrong thing to

defeat Voldemort, such as keep secrets from Harry. Granted, he is more heroic than many other Antiheroes, but he did make mistakes that were unforgivable.

On the other end of the Antihero falls Severus Snape. I’m not much of a Snape fan myself, but I can admit that in the end, he did the right thing by being a spy for the Order of the Phoenix and helping Harry defeat Voldemort. But he did none of these good things for the right reasons.

He did everything in Lily Potter’s name. At first, that sounds like it would be okay, but then you remember that the only reason he turned to Dumbledore was for her, not because he actually wanted to fight for the good side. He had absolutely no problem in letting James and Harry die as long as Lily was saved. Not to mention that he was cruel to students, mere children, when he had no right to be. So yes, Snape may have been important in defeating Voldemort, but does that really mean he was a Hero?

No. He did what he did for himself, not for anyone else.

And finally we get to the Villain. Villains are often known as the characters whose evil actions are most central to the story, the characters who cause problems for the Heroes. This is also pretty broad, but it makes sense. The Villain does bad things because he wants to. And what better Villain to discuss than the Joker? In my mind, Joker is the epitome of the Villain.

He just likes to wreak havoc and hurt people and cause problems for Batman to solve. He also rarely gets any material out of his evil. In “The Dark Knight,” the Joker literally burns a stack of money to prove that, for him, doing evil isn’t for any material gain. For him, evil is a state of being that he enjoys. He likes to do evil.

Sure, he may have a tragic backstory, but in the end, the Joker just likes to be bad, which is why he is one of the best examples of a Villain.

I know that many of my examples are subjective, but to me, the characters that I mentioned embody each of these categories and their respective traits. Morality in general is a subjective concept, but that’s okay because it makes watching and talking about movies and their characters so much more interesting. Good and evil fall on a scale as well, just like the scale of Heroes to Villains. No one person can be perfectly good or perfectly bad. Even the most honored Heroes have dark sides, and the most vile Villains have soft spots.

Obviously the scale of good and bad is meant to be arguable; what fun would it be if it weren’t?

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Thursday, March 26, 2020 — 6

DAILY COMMUNITY CULTURE COLUMN

TV REVIEW

On Community Culture in the age of Coronavirus SAMMY SUSSMAN

Daily Community Culture Column

As you can probably tell from my byline, I’m The Daily’s community culture columnist. As I wrote in my application two years ago, my column focuses on “the intersection between history, culture and the performing arts.” I’ve spent the past two years analyzing performances I’ve attended in Ann Arbor and beyond. I’ve written about everything from “Mean Girls” to “Le Marteau sans Maître.”

But two weeks ago, the performing arts industry began to change.

It began with late night shows taping without audiences and concerts being live-streamed from empty concert halls.

The University made plans to limit concert attendance while continuing some School of Music, Theatre & Dance events.

By the following week, the entire industry was shut down. Broadway was dark, Coachella was postponed from April to October.

The Metropolitan Opera canceled the remainder of its season and lost $60 million as a result. The University canceled all concerts and events of any size before locking the rehearsal and performance facilities under the governor’s order.

As I sat in my childhood bedroom trying to write this column — the University having all but demanded that students leave campus — I struggled to write another column about recent performances and trends I noticed in the performing arts. It felt as though entire concert seasons, entire productions, had been canceled in a period of two short weeks.

At the beginning of March, I was excited for the premieres of three of my creative works. I was also excited for countless performances by and premieres from friends across the country that I planned on attending. At this point, one week from the end of March, every one of these performances has been canceled or postponed indefinitely.

I had plans to attend a summer music festival and intern with a professional performing arts organization. My internship has been canceled

outright; the status of my summer festival remains uncertain. For those friends who are about to graduate, jobs in the performing arts industry are disappearing.

Trying to write a column about the performing arts this week — trying to find anything, in essence, to take issue with or comment on — seemed disrespectful. The entire industry seems to be in free fall, the bottom not yet in sight. Any issues I might have with specific works or performance practices felt trivial.

It’s not as though we haven’t seen performers and performing arts organizations attempt to respond to this crisis.

Hundreds of performing arts organizations have moved much of their creative work to the realm of online streaming.

Audiences at home can watch performances by most major orchestras and operas free of charge. And more performers have taken to various online services to share their artistic work that I could possibly try to recount in one sentence.

Last week, I was touched to see Broadway star Laura Benanti share a tweet from MUSKET producer Alexandra Niforos about “The Wiz,” MUSKET’s canceled production of the semester.

These rounds of cancelations have served as a great equalizer, relegating artists from high school to the professional world, at least for the time being, to social media.

And though these social media posts may be fun, the outlook for the entire community remains bleak. The Metropolitan Opera faced significant backlash recently after it sent fundraising emails to soloists it had just laid off. While the specifics of this case may seem hypocritical — as of now, the organization’s administrative staff continues to be paid while musicians and performers are not — the end result is the same: Everyone is struggling to stay afloat. This epidemic has, in the space of two weeks, dragged most of the performing arts community underwater.

There will be a point in time when physical proximity and coexistence induce not fear but beauty

Read more online at

michigandaily.com

SADHANA RAMASESHADRI

NBC UNIVERSAL TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION

‘Top Chef’ is an exhilarating flurry of food and action the spotlight. Bravo’s editors instead choose to linger on those who create sloppy deliverables Daily Arts Writer instead.

And then, as if on cue, comes the PFTS “I got people for that shit.” Abbreviating comment. Yet in the context of the Quickfire the phrase to PFTS, Kevin Gillepsie, one of the Challenge, you may find PFTS to be a flimsy, contestants in the new season of “Top Chef: All catch-all fallback to any shortcoming that a Stars,” says he has his own kitchen staff in his contestant may face throughout the remainder restaurants who perform the menial kitchen of the season. tasks that the contestants are now expected to You’ll find there is little drama that unfurls perform on the show. For the show’s contestants, among the contestants — something the editors many of whom have their own restaurants, PFTS at Bravo try to substitute with dizzying flurries of is the overarching sentiment of the new season jump cuts and close-up shots of the contestants’ — a competition filled with tasks resembling the hands prepping their dishes. Most of the drama is kitchen grunt’s stress-filled trip down memory a result of technical errors: Errors you might find lane. unacceptable in the confines of your own home You, the viewer at home, might use PFTS may become understandable in a restaurant or when you receive something that you personally competition setting. Not splashing liquid oil on dislike but know of others who would appreciate an open flame may seem like a no-brainer to that item. The season premiere of “Top Chef: many, but it can be easy to be oblivious when All Stars” is one of these items: an anxiety- your fish fillets, meant to be served among the inducing, tumultuous start that is occasionally greatest culinary heavyweights, are aggressively problematic. sticking to the unseasoned beach grill.

Competition cooking shows typically attract If you are to be particularly discerning, you the enthusiastic, young may bristle at both and cocky journeymen the show’s insidious and industry-hopefuls labeling and defining of the culinary trade. of “Asian” cuisine. An The current season of “Asian” aioli called so “Top Chef” provides only due to its usage a twist — allowing of citrus juice and fish competitors (but sauce, another “Asian” not the winners) of aioli spiked with Season 17 Premiere previous seasons to miso, parmesan and Bravo claim their own Top a hibiscus ponzu are Thursdays 10 p.m. EST Chef title alongside consumed by a judging a cash prize of panel, all of whom $250,000. The talent (aside from Padma pool is particularly Lakshmi) are not of strong: Many of the Asian descent. For competitors, after many of these sauces their initial losses on who are created by the show throughout contestants who, aside the seasons have become celebrated chefs in from Lee Anne Wong and her miso aioli, are not their own right. Some, such as Gregory Courdet East Asians and then subsequently are critiqued and Karen Akunowicz, have even earned the by a non-East Asian panel raises a subtle coveted James Beard Award for Best New question. Who are the creative voices and talents Restaurant. who have the power and privilege to create, Yet much of the prestige and gravitas of these showcase and define East Asian ingredients, accolades is immediately stripped away with the and who with power and privilege can judge season’s first Quickfire Challenge — a mise en these dishes and ingredients? These are heavy place race of coring artichoke hearts, supreming questions to consider, and not questions that a oranges and deshelling almonds, a contest that show with levity and American-centric ideals will ultimately determine the composition of such as “Top Chef” can answer. the three groups for the next round. As many But ultimately, the “Top Chef” premiere of the contestants rush through the contest, the offers an exhilarating peak of a show in which judges, in particular Tom Colicchio, critique the passionate culinary creatives continually hone overall messiness of many of the contestants’ their craft by competing amongst each other final products. Much of the critique focuses on under the watchful eyes of Tom Colicchio, several contestants’ rustiness toward preparing Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons. This is the the ingredients on hand — the contestants show you would recommend to those who enjoy who manage to create passable or even cleanly watching the spectacles of action and conflict prepared final products do not get much time in flash upon their screens.

BRENDON CHO

‘Top Chef’