OPINION

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

24 hours with the Robert Anderson survivor protesters outside Schlissel’s house

2021 DAILY NEWS, PHOTO & VIDEO STAFF

10:00 a.m. By 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 5, Jonathan Vaughn, the Anderson survivor and former Michigan football player who has been leading the protest, will have been camping out in front of President Schlissel’s house for 28 days.

On a normal day during the protest, Vaughn wakes up in his tent around 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. and heads to the Michigan Union, where he orders a coffee and breakfast sandwich from Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea. One of his favorite parts of the day is enjoying a morning cigar with his coffee.

At 10:00 a.m., Ann Arbor is a brisk 37 degrees, and Vaughn is getting out a pack of hand warmers from his tent to stuff in his pockets. Putting the hand warmers in his pants pockets, Vaughn said, targets a main artery and keeps his toes warm during the day. Spending anywhere between 14 to 18 hours of the day outside in the elements, Vaughn said staying warm is crucial to his endurance.

In terms of the camp, Vaughn said he has gotten used to sleeping outside but will have to prepare his tent better for the winter ahead. Currently, Vaughn said he relies on generators and heaters to keep him warm, but they do not last the entire night.

What makes his days go by faster and what keeps his mind off the cold, Vaughn said, is being able to talk to his fellow campers and those passing by who stop to check in and offer their support.

2:00 p. m. At 2:00 p.m., the camp is humming along. Vaughn is playing some music from a bluetooth speaker, while Christian talks with passersby near their large sign. A few people sign the poster, but most who walk by either have already signed, or they ignore the protest and mutter quietly.

“I walk past every morning, so I do know that it’s about the sexual assault, sexual allegation situation,” Engineering sophomore Collin McManus said. “I can see obviously it’s peaceful, these guys always have great energy. They’re making a statement for sure.”

Christian shares that he is an artist, producing paintings for many notable celebrities and athletes, including head football coach Jim Harbaugh. Everyone is very excited for the campout scheduled for later in the evening. The mood overall is very cheerful. Christian dances, noting how he is grateful that he is still able to despite his prostate cancer diagnosis.

“I dance everywhere,” Christian said after hearing a catchy song. “See, ‘cause the thing is, I was supposed to be dead two and half years ago. So it’s like, I dance every chance I get.”

9:00 p. m. By 9:00 p.m., the group of protesters grows to around 30. Huddling together in a circle, each individual takes turns sharing why they came out tonight. Some are here in solidarity, and others are also survivors of sexual assault themselves. But everyone here has the same purpose: to enact change.

“No more hiding,” Christian said. “Those days are over. No more hanging my head in shame. Those days are over. No more denying what happened to us. Those days are over. Because why? Because I have a voice. I have a voice. I have a voice.”

The group’s energy can be felt from a block away, with chants of “I have a voice” and “Hail to the Victims” ringing across the street. Very few people walk through the group. In fact, most passersby cross the street before reaching the tents.

Soon after, a projector screen is created using a white blanket placed over the signature board, directly facing Schlissel’s house. A heartfelt video shows Christian and his son having a conversation about his diagnosis in 2016. Christian’s son then gifted his father a song titled “Superman,” which plays at the end of the video.

The atmosphere is heavy, with many in the crowd tearing up, including Christian himself. Vaughn brings over a box of tissues for Christian, one of the many moments of sincere understanding and true friendship between the two. 11:00 p. m. A couple of microphones, a laptop and a speaker is all it takes to set up the first “Hail to the Victims Karaoke Night.” Both the Anderson survivors and those walking by sing various songs, inviting the rest of the crowd to join in. Vaughn raps along to a Run-D.M.C. song which he says was “his freshman song” and one he remembers singing in the school cafeteria.

Business senior Job Mayhue is part of the men’s track and field team at the University, as well as a member of Take Back the Night, a student-run campaign against sexual violence.

Mayhue told The Daily he heard about the Anderson survivors’ campout through his work with Take Back the Night, but Friday night was his first time visiting. Mayhue has several conversations with Vaughn and Christian throughout the hour and told The Daily that witnessing the simultaneous vulnerability and strength of the survivors is incredibly inspiring.

“I think everyone should just take the time to really think about this,” Mayhue said. “It’s easy to see it and just go on with your life. But if we wait to care about problems until they are happening to us, that’s a really bad situation.”

9:00 a. m. A coalition of student organizations — Michigan Students Against Sexual Assault, Central Student Government and Roe v. Rape — begins a teach-in at 9:00 a.m. by listing out their demands for the University. The demands are split into four categories: prevention of sexual assault; adequate response to sexual assault allegations; resources for survivors and victims; and healing the community.

As the teach-in begins, tour groups are spotted diverting through the Law Quad, entering from State Street and exiting from the archway next to Tappan Avenue. Notably, parents and prospective students are heard asking about the protests as they notice the tents.

Of the six or seven tour groups seen walking by, the majority of guides do not address the questions, sticking to the usual tour script. One appears to mention it in passing as two people, an older woman and a girl looking to be in her teens, break from the group and begin reading the signs set up.

The demands are now posted beneath the signature board outside of the president’s house. The student organizations who created the demands encourage anyone with suggestions for the demands to reach out to them.

A second tour guide is heard directly addressing the protest and the goals, but no one from the group breaks away. At the back of this group, an older man dismisses the protest as “overreacting” to a boy who is presumably his son.

With the streets abuzz with parents and students in anticipation for the football game, the survivors had not yet emerged from their tents at 10:00 a.m., bringing the day-in-thelife coverage to a close.

The Michigan Daily News & Photo Staff can be reached at news@ michigandaily.com and photo@ michigandaily.com.

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ARTS OPINION over the over the YEARS YEARS

Bis etum il ius eliquam usaerum eium FEBRUARY 4: Then-University President Mark velicti comnit dunt, tota que consequo is Schlissel launches the President’s Commission essunture dolor molesti beriore, il ea ne on Carbon Neutrality, whose advice informed plab ipsae excero te volorep tation re the University’s ongoing commitments to videndunt omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. et laboriame lantiossunt hil ius arumqui dentibus, qui aliat pa qui simolessit, nes OCTOBER 30: The University announcees that escilit harum que volorit eicia con plis it will help develop and operate the Detroit everum fugitatur si quiae esto blaturem labo. Center for Innovation, an educational and Itatas mos venis arumnihilla ntentotatem research facility for students pursuing a variety aut etum hil il mod quam es est as endaesc of STEM degrees. ipiendis escium lation cupta doluptam ab JUNE 22: Then-University President Mark Schlissel announces that the University will reopen the Ann Arbor campus to in-residence learning in the Fall 2020 semester.

SEPTEMBER 8: Members of the Graduate

Employees’ Organization begin of strike against the University’s handlings of COVID-19 JUNE 17: The University extends the Go Blue Guarantee, which waives tuition for low-income students from Michigan, to the

University’s Flint and Dearborn campuses.

OCTOBER 8: John Vaugn sets up his campsite outside the University of

Michigan President’s House, to protest the University’s handling of hundreds of sexual assault allegations against Robert Anderson. FEBRUARY 8: The Board of Regents appoints a Presidential Search Committee to find a replacement for former University

President Mark Schlissel. The

Committee includes two students and a variety of faculty and staff members.

FEBRUARY 25: Russia invade Ukraine, triggering a massive backlask from Western governments and media, including the Michigan Daily Editorial Board.

NOAH ENTE | 2021 COLUMNIST

The roaring comeback of live sports BECCA MAHON/Daily

In 2020, the first and most intense year of the COVID19 pandemic, daily life in our society underwent significant changes. These adaptations were part of what many believed to be a “new normal” that would persist as long as — if not longer than — the pandemic itself. Some developments have been widely considered positive. Unnecessary meetings were canceled or adapted into emails. Long commutes were often eliminated. Many families found themselves spending more time together. Despite the rapidly worsening state of public health, perhaps there were a few silver linings in this new normal.

Such was not the case for spectator sports and fans. With restrictions on large gatherings, live audiences were prevented from attending sporting events, and after long periods of complete shutdown, seasons were either canceled altogether or resumed in vacuum environments free of fans. Players across various sports noticed the difference in the atmosphere and the ways in which empty arenas impacted the games. Fans waxed poetic about missing the experience of attending live competitions and witnessing athletic history. These audience-free environments were a necessary alteration during the height of the pandemic, but all parties wished for the conditions which would allow sports and the broader community a return to normalcy.

With COVID-19 cases decreasing as a result of widespread immunization, spectators have started to trickle back into stadiums, and fan bases could not be happier. The sights and sounds of tens of thousands of raucous people reacting to every play could never be replaced by artificial crowd noise, and being part of a team’s home-field advantage is a magical feeling for fans of all ages. The return of fans has increased both the quality and stakes of each game played. The NFL, for one, has repeatedly called 2021 its “biggest season ever,” as the return of fans across the league and the addition of a 17th game for each team combine to ceremoniously usher in the future of the sport.

Nowhere has this comeback borne out more evidently than at Michigan Stadium, where spectators have enthusiastically returned after a 2020 season that left many fans feeling as empty as the bleachers at the Big House. As the largest stadium in North America and the third-largest in the world, the complete absence of fans could not be more unnatural. In normal times, those in attendance at Michigan football games are reminded by announcer Carl Grapentine that they are part of the “largest crowd watching a football game anywhere in America today,” a fact which carries special weight after a year in which crowds were robbed of the electric atmosphere of Michigan football. U-M fans certainly appear refreshed upon their return, with their spirited game day traditions, such as the crowd’s inspired singing of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” garnering national attention.

For those who already had the chance to be part of college fandom before the pandemic struck, the removal of fans from sporting events made for yet another tough blow. Taking in a game at the Big House, Crisler Center, Yost Ice Arena or anywhere else on campus is a one-of-a-kind experience and practically a rite of passage for U-M students. With boisterous collective chants, seas of maize and blue apparel and the exceptional performances of U-M student-athletes, the environment is unparalleled. After a year of watching from our couches as U-M teams achieve greatness, students and fans have found an even greater appreciation for simply being present.

Athletes often explain their love for team-oriented sport through an appreciation for being part of something greater than themselves. The same can be said for fans, who dedicate their time, resources and energy to the teams they adore. Their cheers, whether stemming from euphoria or exasperation, are what make spectator sporting events the popular rituals they are. Research has shown that the presence and energy of a live audience often affect the performance of athletes and may exert notable influence on the outcome of a game. Home court advantage exists and can certainly prove powerful.

After a year in which people felt more socially isolated than ever before, the enthusiasm for live sports comes as no surprise. Despite the lingering of COVID-19, many of those with a love for their teams and competition simply cannot remain on the sidelines any longer. It once seemed improbable for crowds to come back to arenas this year, or perhaps for even longer. Now, scientific developments and necessary precautions have assured that in-person sports attendance is back and likely here to stay, and it is beautiful to see athletes and fans coming together once again. For those able to attend who haven’t gotten in on the action, there’s no better time to get in the game and be a part of something bigger than oneself.

Noah Ente can be reached at noahente@umich.edu.

LIZZY PEPPERCORN | 2021 COLUMNIST

Exclusivity in Michigan’s food spending culture

Upon entering college, I expected my financial situation to fit that of the “broke college student” I had heard was the norm. The absurdly high cost of tuition at colleges and universities in the United States places a heavy financial burden on families, with 69% of college students in the class of 2019 taking out student loans and graduating with a debt of $29,000 on average. This obstacle within the college experience has given the average American college student the stereotype of being “broke.”

I soon came to see that this stereotype did not fit the average University of Michigan student, as the median family income on the University’s campus is $154,000. This stands significantly higher than the national median household income of $68,703. Staple parts of life for many U-M students — at times, myself included — are allowances, Canada Goose jackets and even a parent’s credit card on hand. Wealth inequality is one of the most pressing issues facing America. On a smaller scale at the University, however, I have noticed this inequality manifesting itself largely in the food scene.

Last year as a freshman living in the dorms and this year as a sophomore living in Greek life housing, I have paid for meal plans. While the meal plan I am on now does not offer dinner on Saturdays or breakfast on Sundays, I often find myself spending money on food even on days when my meal plan does offer food.

In best college town rankings, Ann Arbor is almost always in the top three, offering amazing food options for takeout and dinein experiences. Therefore, food in Ann Arbor is at the center of social life for many U-M students. Especially during the pandemic with social events being limited, getting food with friends or going out to eat are some of the easiest options for socializing and changing up your daily routine. Because the average median income at the University is so high, many do not understand that centering socializing around spending money on food puts students that are more financially conscious in uncomfortable situations, having to choose between spending time with friends or saving money.

Further, when students choose to spend money on food while having meal plans purchased, this increases food waste because meal plans produce enough food for everyone with a plan to be served. Nine-hundred twenty-five million people in the world are considered starving while 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted annually — this is enough food to feed three billion people. By increasing food waste, students are exacerbating inequality in an extremely unnecessary way.

University President Mark Schlissel has stated that the University is seeking to “welcome students from all communities and backgrounds who have the talent and desire to be Michigan Wolverines.” However, for the University to become a truly welcoming campus to students from all socioeconomic backgrounds, the culture around spending money among the students themselves must become more considerate and aware of the financial burdens others may be facing.

Student spending in the city of Ann Arbor, not including groceries and housing, is estimated to be at around $94.9 million annually. Food is at the center of Ann Arbor’s economic success and students are an integral source of income for many Ann Arbor businesses. Therefore, students who can afford to spend money on food and enjoy doing so should continue giving Ann Arbor restaurants business.

However, students must put more thought into deciding to eat out. Not only is there the larger issue of food waste, but by constantly centering socializing around spending money on food, students are creating an exclusive community that perpetuates socioeconomic divisions within the student body. While it may feel at times that everyone can afford to spend money on food, the typical college student faces extreme financial burdens from the high cost of tuition. When social life is centered around spending money, our community will never be welcoming to everyone.

Design by Erin Shi

Lizzy Peppercorn can be reachedat epepperc@umich.edu.

EVAN STERN | 2020 COLUMNIST

Salem Springs threatens last stretch of green space between Detroit and Ann Arbor

Since I started studying at the University of Michigan, I have become more and more familiar with Washtenaw County’s primarily rural character: its winding gravel roads, bucolic red farmhouses and wide-open spaces. Just beyond Ann Arbor’s city limits in almost every direction lies a spectacular expanse of greenery, mimicking the rural escapes of Northern Michigan.

Last Saturday, I had a few spare hours and decided to take a drive out into the countryside only a few minutes from Central Campus. Traveling down twolane country roads just outside of Ann Arbor always puts me at peace, and against a vivid backdrop of leaves ablaze with the flames of autumn, the scenes that whizzed by outside were striking.

There was one point that afternoon, however, that brought me crashing back to reality. I was driving down a road in Salem Township; the sun was just starting to dip toward the horizon, and the leaves were tinged with brilliant streaks of crimson and orange when a rectangular for sale sign advertising new home sites caught my eye. This sign signaled that new houses would invade at any moment and topple the idyllic landscape — and I realized when I saw it that the scene was fleeting. ***

Salem Township is a small, rural community in northeastern Washtenaw County with a population of about 6,000 people. Salem is roughly 10 miles from downtown Ann Arbor and is characterized by its country-like atmosphere, farmland and open space. Together with its neighbor to the south, Superior Township, Salem serves as a narrow buffer between the built-up urbanization of Metro Detroit — including Wayne County communities like Canton and Plymouth — and the splendor of Ann Arbor we have come to love.

For decades, even as far-flung locations in Metro Detroit have experienced dramatic waves of urban sprawl, Washtenaw County has largely retained its identity as a distinct community. Even just a half mile west of the border with Wayne County, Washtenaw has held on to its beautiful and scenic landscape.

This, however, could all change as Washtenaw braces for a new wave of sprawl that, this time, might be powerful enough to encroach beyond the boundaries of Metro Detroit. Schostak Brothers and Company, a developer based in Livonia, has plans to develop hundreds of acres of rural countryside in Salem Township centered near Michigan Highway 14’s interchange with Gotfredson Road. If these plans are put into action, this single project alone could lead to a 25% jump in Salem’s population.

Schostak’s plans for building a massive residential and retail project date back to 2003, when the prominent Michigan developer first purchased this land. Since then, the project has gotten tangled up in legal battles over zoning as nearby residents push back against the development. (This multi-use plan has also been scrutinized over the origins of a questionable Michigan Economic Development Corporation grant to help the project get off the ground.)

More recently, the project — dubbed “Salem Springs” — has stalled as Schostak struggles to find a way to connect the land to the sewer system. The developer is currently fighting a court battle over running a sewer line south to the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority through Superior Township; Superior is (rightly) blocking the construction of this line through its agricultural district, as a sewer could set off a new wave of sprawl within its own community. ***

Maybe the court will rule against this project, and maybe the land will be spared. Maybe I’ll be able to drive down the same two-lane country road next fall, and maybe I’ll find solace in the brilliant shades of autumn again.

Sadly, I know the odds this would happen are decent at best. Development is sometimes just impossible to defeat. And even if somehow Schostak’s plans are derailed, it will only be so long until the next developer proposes to raze a slice of Washtenaw’s scenic wilderness.

These are depressing thoughts, and they should be. Urban sprawl is a truly destructive force that has destroyed communities across the country. Once it comes to Washtenaw County, it will be unstoppable if we don’t take a stand now. Our precious natural resources and open spaces are fragile and limited, and development will wipe them away. Forever.

Some might dismiss sprawl like Salem Springs as unrelated to the environmentally-conscious community of Ann Arbor that we have come to love, but this simply isn’t true. Regardless of how far our community may feel from Metro Detroit, the eastern border of Ann Arbor is less than seven miles from Wayne County. A mere seven miles is very little land for urban sprawl to cover, and once developers get it started, development could spread toward Ann Arbor like an uncontained wildfire.

This spells major trouble for Ann Arbor and its unique community identity, both as a cultural center and as the home of the University of Michigan. One day, commuters could drive between Detroit and Ann Arbor with no apparent change to the landscape — just subdivision after subdivision — to the point that our city could geographically exist as a large suburb of Metro Detroit. It might seem inconceivable today while there is so much greenery nearby to enjoy, but developers have been known to convert open fields into mazes of curving streets, cul-de-sacs and parking lots remarkably quickly.

More importantly, sprawl is one of the most hostile enemies of the environment. In the age of climate change, urban sprawl dramatically increases our community’s dependence on gas-powered vehicles for transportation. Massive trends of sprawl also eliminate large tracts of greenery, removing carbon-sequestering trees from the landscape and destroying plant and animal habitats. Finally, urban sprawl claims land that has previously been used for farming in the past. In Ann Arbor in particular, we are quite fortunate to be in such close proximity to so many successful farm operations that provide locally-sourced and organic produce. But these too could be lost to urban sprawl if we turn a blind eye to Washtenaw’s growing fight against these development pressures. ***

There is reason for hope. Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County are lucky to be home to a community that cares so deeply about protecting our green spaces. For nearly two decades, the city of Ann Arbor has operated its innovative Greenbelt Program, an effort that aims to protect natural resources, farmland and open space in eight surrounding townships, including Salem and Superior Townships. This program has already permanently protected more than 6,100 acres of land, with new landowners applying to join the city’s greenbelt every year.

In addition to the Greenbelt Program, which is one of the most prominent land preservation initiatives in the community, many other entities have committed to defending our green spaces. Washtenaw County leads a Natural Areas Preservation Program, and many other organizations like the Legacy Land Conservancy and Superior Greenway lead similar efforts. Moreover, a number of communities, Superior Township in particular, have implemented strict measures to protect their green space and agricultural districts.

In the end, it is perfectly appropriate for a community like Washtenaw County, with a thriving economic landscape, to be the site of some development. But it is crucial that development is both economically and environmentally responsible, as well as minimal. Enormous, disconnected projects like Salem Springs are irresponsible and will lead to an explosion in development and sprawl across our community.

County officials, township governments and city leaders must work together immediately to form a comprehensive plan aimed at protecting Washtenaw’s invaluable natural spaces. It’s not too late. This is our community, and our green spaces, to defend.