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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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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