3-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, October 24, 2016 — 3A

the vote efforts.

However, those have very 

little to do with attracting 
candidates or surrogate visits, 
and only coordinate after a visit 
is announced.

“It’s a very formalized process 

that is mostly done through 
the campaign,” said LSA senior 
Lauren Gallagher, Students for 
Hillary president. 

Cynthia 
Wilbanks, 
vice 

president 
of 
government 

relations at the University, said 
the student enthusiasm for the 
electoral process on campus has 
contributed to the visits so far.

“The 
reputation 
of 
the 

University of Michigan as an 
energetic campus with students 
who are very well-informed and 
eager to participate is a well-
known characteristic,” she said. 
“And as a result it is no surprise 
that this campus is one where 
candidates find themselves.”

Despite polling at 42 percent 

nationally, 
according 
to 
the 

RealClearPolitics 
polling 

average, Republican presidential 
nominee Donald Trump receives 
very little support on campus 
with the most recent Michigan 
Daily survey showing him at 
12.1 percent approval among 
students. 
Despite 
his 
poor 

performance, 
however, 
the 

University’s chapter of College 
Republicans retains its support 
for Trump and remains fairly 
active on campus.

Throughout 
the 
semester, 

the group has hosted debate 
watch parties and contributed to 
voter registration efforts across 
campus. However, this has not 
resulted in a major candidate or 
surrogate visit.

College Republicans President 

Enrique Zalamea, an LSA junior, 
wrote in an email interview with 
the Daily he is not surprised 

Trump has not hosted events 
on 
campus, 
but 
noted 
his 

organization has been involved 
with local campaigns and been 
invited to Trump events in the 
state.

“I 
assume 
Trump 
and 

Pence not visiting Ann Arbor 
is a strategic decision to focus 
on 
more 
conservative 
parts 

of Michigan, such as during 
Trump’s rally in Novi Michigan, 
and Pence’s Lincoln Day Dinner 
in McComb county; both of 
which 
(College 
Republicans) 

members were given admission 
to,” he wrote.

Traditionally, Trump prefers 

to hold rallies in large venues and 
has bragged about his ability to 
draw large crowds in comparison 
to Clinton. In his most recent 
visit to the state in Novi, he 
filled the Suburban Collection 
Showplace with approximately 
1,000 people. Given his low 
support on campus, hosting a 
rally here might not result in his 
normal audience size. Nationally, 
while Trump retains a minority 
of support group among college 
students, he has also been met 
with protests at a portion of the 
few campuses he has visited.

Wilbanks said the Trump 

campaign has thus far not been 
in contact with the University.

“From the position of being 

helpful of all candidates, I would 
say we have only heard from 
Secretary Clinton’s campaign 
team,” she said. “We have not had 
any specific outreach through my 
office from Mr. Trump’s team. 
Maybe there will be outreach for 
that type of activity, but so far 
that has not been the case.”

The lack of visits may also be 

due to different policy emphases. 
Clinton has repeatedly touted her 
higher education reform plan, 
which 
includes 
collaboration 

with Sanders and has resulted in 
tuition-free college for families 
who earn less than $125,000, 
a very popular notion among 

students. Trump, on the other 
hand, has not released a detailed 
plan relating to higher education.

Looking outside of the two 

major 
parties, 
Libertarian 

presidential 
candidate 
Gary 

Johnson has received a fair 
amount of support on campus, 
with the most recent Michigan 
Daily survey showing him at 11.7 
percent.

However, there is no formal 

support 
group 
for 
Johnson 

on campus, and nor has their 
been any interaction from his 
campaign.

Johnson has received limited 

attention throughout the election 
season, some of it for blunders. 
Johnson has campaigned at a 
few college campuses including 
a speech at Liberty University’s 
convocation and nearby Purdue 
University.

Comparatively, when Johnson 

ran in 2012, he embarked on an 
ambitious college tour across the 
country.

Nationally, 
Green 
Party 

presidential nominee Jill Stein 
has also gained the support of 
some young people, and has 
identified student support as 
an important part of her base. 
On the University’s campus, 
however, support hasn’t been 
very visible, and she polled at 3 
percent in the Daily poll. 

Stein has spent a fair amount 

of time campaigning at college 
campuses with a college tour 
in Maine and various other 
university stops, including an 
upcoming event this Friday at 
Eastern Michigan University.

Eric 
Borregard, 
Green 

Party 
candidate 
for 
state 

representative, told the Daily in 
a September interview that his 
party has seen an increase in 
support from young people in 
this election.

“I think it is decidedly younger 

this year than it ever has been 
because of the infusion of Bernie 
Sanders people,” he said.

CANDIDATES
From Page 1A

entertaining as well.”

Other alumni, most of them 

recent graduates, were excited 
to see the groups they formerly 
belonged to perform onstage. 
Alum Ryan Bruder, an Ann 
Arbor resident and former 
Dance Marathon member, said 
watching the performances 
was a good way to reconnect 
with what the student group 
has been up to.

“For me coming back it’s 

good to get an update where 
people have been and where 
they’re going,” Bruder said.

Engineering junior Akshaya 

Rajkumar, Michigan Bhangra 
Team co-captain, said she 
appreciated how the event 
brought even the smallest of 
student organizations on the 
stage.

“I think it really shows 

how diverse our campus is,” 
Rajkumar said. “We’re a very 
small Indian dance team on 
campus so it’s really nice to 
be recognized in such a big 
platform.”

her addiction continued, though, 
instead of family remaining a 
priority as it always had been, 
getting her next bigger and better 
“high” took over, until one day 
— July 10, 2014 — they found a 
needle next to her unresponsive 
body.

“It was surreal for my parents 

in the way that all of this energy 
and time spent into her recovery 
was now gone; their daughter 
was gone,” Martin said. “It was 
definitely a shift coming back into 
reality, coming back from that 
world of heroin and opiates.”

Now, more than two years later, 

Martin still thinks about what 
life would be like had her sister 
not overdosed, noting the stigma 
that her family faced throughout 
her sister’s battle with addiction, 
which included numerous stints 
in rehab facilities, jail time and 
periods of drug testing.

“It was scary for me to try 

and come up with these lies to 
make us seem like we were a 
normal family that just couldn’t 
do certain things,” Martin said. 

“People caught on, but they didn’t 
really ask questions and that 
was probably one of the hardest 
parts… not knowing the line 
between wanting to talk about it 
but also knowing that if it’s talked 
about, people will look at you 
differently.”

Experiences 
like 
that 
of 

Martin’s family are growing in 
numbers both nationally and 
locally in Washtenaw County. 
In response, several initiatives 
within and surrounding Ann 
Arbor have been working to 
reduce opioid-related deaths and 
primarily raise awareness about 
what Martin calls a “silent opioid 
epidemic.”

Martin said she struggled 

entering her freshman year at the 
University of Michigan just two 
months after her sister’s death 
because she often faced the same 
common misconceptions about 
being family members of drug 
users do.

“I didn’t want to be that girl 

that was known in my town 
who, when you said your sister’s 
involved with drugs, you were 
automatically 
stigmatized 
of 

being bad and dangerous, and 
they couldn’t trust you,” Martin 
said. “Even though I had never 

touched a single drug in my 
entire life, it was still how I was 
perceived.”

Statistics from the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention 
show 
opioid 
overdoses 
have 

tripled nationwide since 2000. 
According to a January 2016 
report, opioids — particularly 
prescription 
pain 
medication 

and heroin — are the main drugs 
associated with overdose deaths, 
a statistic that was made apparent 
in 2014, the year in which more 
people died from drug overdoses 
than any other year on record.

Statistics 
from 
Washtenaw 

County are just as severe as those 
nationwide. According to the 
Washtenaw County Public Health 
Opioid Report from June of this 
year, since October 2015 there 
have been about 20 Washtenaw 
County residents overdosing per 
month, and 25 percent of these 
residents do not survive.

Additionally, opioid and heroin 

overdose data show there have 
already been 33 opioid deaths in 
Washtenaw County so far this 
year, more than the total amount 
of overdose deaths in the county 
just three years ago.

Health effects
Opioids 
change 
both 
the 

physiological 
response 
and 

behavioral 
mindset 
of 
the 

user after prolonged periods 
of dependency on the drug, 
according 
to 
Marci 
Scalera, 

co-chair 
of 
the 
Washtenaw 

Health Initiative Opioid Project. 
She said users begin to need the 
drug just to feel “normal.”

Martin said her sister was 

active in a number of activities 
such as dance, student council, 
writing and sports until she 
first began experimenting with 
marijuana at about age 15.

Once 
Angie 
began 
using 

harder drugs, Martin watched 
her lose interest in academics, 
quit the dance team and drop her 
application for the high school 
student council — changes Martin 
said were indicative of a “slow but 
downhill” spiral away from her 
priorities and morals. Echoing 
Scalera’s sentiments, Martin said 
Angie began to prioritize chasing 
a high as her addiction continued.

“It 
manipulates 
people 

into being liars,” Martin said. 
“Wanting that drug was her main 
priority in life. Everyone else was 
doing life with drugs on the side, 
but she was doing drugs and life 
on the side.”

Research

Mark Ilgen, interim director 

of the UM Addiction Treatment 
Services and research investigator 
in the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, said his research aims to 
assess the success of treatment 
methods for his patients, use a 
combination of modification of 
methods to personalize treatment 
and 
interact 
with 
substance 

abusers at an earlier stage of their 
use.

Ilgen 
said 
the 
recent 

prescribing of opioid painkillers 
in medical settings is much 
of what increased the use and 
misuse of these medications. 
University 
researchers 
have 

supported this notion — last 
February, researchers found that 
giving patients smaller doses of 
prescription opioid painkillers 
for medical reasons may prevent 
overdoses.

“When you’re talking about 

opioid 
use 
disorders 
and 

prescription opioid misuse and 
now heroin dependence, you’re 
looking at confluence of a number 
of factors that all increase opioid 
use over the last 10 to 15 years or 
so,” Ilgen said.

 

was raised from the members, 
the 
members’ 
families 
and 

the alumni of the fraternities 
competing in the qualifying 
tournament and the Mudbowl 
championship game.

Public 
Policy 
junior 
Josh 

Martin, a Pi Kappa Phi member, 
said the philanthropic efforts 
tied to it are what make the 
Mudbowl a special event.

“We raised almost $50,000 

this year,” Martin said. “It is a 
fantastic cause as (the hospital 
is) helping kids get better every 
day.”

Twelve fraternities compete in 

the week leading up to Mudbowl 
for a chance to play the Michigan 
Mudbowl Club on Saturday. Pi 
Kappa Phi ultimately beat out 
Phi Delta Theta in the 12-team 
championship Friday night.

For Kinesiology senior Alex 

Dolik, the game this year held 
extra significance for former 
members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon 
still at the University.

“This is the last one for us, 

basically,” Dolik said. “We are 
representing 150 years of (Sigma 
Alpha Epsilon) tradition that is 
not there anymore.”

Though this year the game 

felt extra special to Dolik, he 
emphasized that the Mudbowl 
also holds much significance to 
members of the University and 
Ann Arbor community.

“People think it is a fraternity 

event, but it is something way 
more than that,” he said. “It is 
80-plus years of tradition in the 
community and in Ann Arbor as 
it connects not just the students 
but the people at large in the 
community.”

After both teams’ fans yelled 

insults at one another, the game 
got underway with Pi Kappa Phi 
racing out to an 8-0 lead. However, 
the Michigan Mudbowl Club 
scored two quick touchdowns 
to reach a score of 12-8, with the 
ensuing celebrations resulting 
in fans falling in the mud and 
beer being spilt on spectators. 
Each team would score one more 
touchdown before halftime, with 
the score at the break was 20-16 
in favor of the Mudbowl Club.

Joey Burke, a student at the 

University 
of 
Massachusetts, 

Amherst who was visiting Ann 
Arbor for the weekend, said the 
first half of the Mudbowl made for 
a unique game-day experience.

“The 
atmosphere 
here 
is 

unbelievable and everyone is in 
the game spirit,” Burke said. “We 

have tailgates at (my school) but 
we don’t have the Mudbowl!”

At the beginning of the second 

half, with the crowd growing 
larger and celebrating among fans 
increasing, a large fight broke out 
behind one of the end zones. A 
group of about 20 traded punches 
with one another, leaving some 
fans bleeding and covered in mud. 
Players from both teams stopped 
the game to break up the fight to 
continue the game.

After a brief hiatus, the second 

half saw a dominant performance 
by the Mudbowl Club as the team 
held Pi Kappa Phi scoreless while 
adding two more touchdowns 
to its haul. In the end, the game 
finished 36-16 in favor of the 
Mudbowl Club.

For LSA junior Nick Cargill, 

a key organizer of the event, his 
team’s victory in the mud marked 
the culmination of a memorable 
day.

“It is great to be able to 

come out here and raise money 
for the kids and have one last 
homecoming with the people 
who originated the event and win 
one last Mudbowl,” Cargill said. 
“Having organized it, I put a lot of 
work into making this happen, so 
just to see it all come to fruition 
is beautiful.”

MUDBOWL
From Page 1A

RALLY
From Page 1A

Read more online at 

michigandaily.com

OPIOID
From Page 1A

