3-News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Friday, November 4, 2016 — 3A
candidates. Clayton has stated
plans to sustain and expand
current mental health-related
programs, while Magee says
he wants to target substance
abuse and addiction with a
new program. If elected, both
candidates
have
prioritized
addressing mental health issues
in the community.
In an interview, Clayton said
he plans to continue his office’s
relationship with Washtenaw
County
Community
Mental
Health, a local government-
affiliated group that provides
services to those with mental
disabilities.
The sheriff’s office currently
collaborates with the WCCMH
through the Community Mental
Health
Response
Program.
Staff members from both units
co-teach a course to educate first
responders on mental health
crises and the appropriate way
to act in such an event. Clayton
said if elected, he will push to
expand the initiative to other
law enforcement agencies in the
county.
He also said his team plans
to continue working closely
with other groups to improve
mental health and engage the
community through a variety of
collective efforts.
“We’re working with a lot
with
of
the
mental
health
professionals
and
grassroots
folks first, NAMI — National
Alliance on Mental Illness — and
the two health care systems, to
really talk about a comprehensive
approach for addressing mental
health crises here in our county,”
he said. “It’s a major initiative we
will continue to work on.”
Speaking to reducing the
fatal effects of substance abuse,
Clayton said he plans to continue
addressing the county’s opioid
issue firsthand with naloxone —
a medication that counters the
effects of opioids in the event
of an overdose — noting that
the sheriff’s office was the first
organization in the county to
administer the medication.
“As far as the opioid issue,
we’ve been leaders on that since
last year,” he said. “We’re going
to have our best efforts in our
prevention, in education and
supportive recovery. Our move
toward naloxone is now giving
them a tool that is proactive, and
that has, quite frankly, saved
lives.”
Clayton said 33 people are
alive today and able to rejoin the
community because of his staff’s
appropriate administration of
naloxone.
“They might not be ready, but
when they are, they’re alive now
and they have potential to be a
contributing member of society,”
he said.
Magee
has
similarily
prioritized mental health during
his campaign, viewing it in
conjunction
with
substance
abuse.
Combating
the
local
heroin epidemic has been at the
forefront of his campaign, and he
cited it as the number one public
health and public safety crisis in
the community.
If elected, Magee plans to
institute a program he developed
called PETER — Prevention,
Enforcement,
Treatment,
Education and Recovery.
A large part of this initiative,
according to Magee, is spreading
awareness to the community
about issues related to substance
abuse.
“I want my deputies involved
in
the
community
from
a
preventative
standpoint
to
prevent young people from even
starting drugs, to really continue
to get the word out there,”
he said. “Every day, deputies
on the street should be doing
something, working with people
and mentoring.”
Magee
emphasized
that
enforcement
extends
beyond
arrest,
focusing
on
the
importance of enforcing rules by
way of “peer-to-peer pressure”
within the family and within the
substance abuse community.
He noted that those who
commit
crimes
are
not
necessarily criminal, adding that
low-level offenders often deserve
to be helped and rehabilitated.
“When people are treated for
mental health and substance
abuse issues at the same time, we
will have a much more successful
rate of getting people away from
the deadly disease of addiction,”
he said.
Magee
said
he
plans
to
dedicate his first year’s salary to
drug treatment and prevention
programs in the community.
Increasing restorative justice
initiatives
The two candidates have also
addressed issues surrounding
incarceration in the community.
Clayton
said
another
initiative the sheriff’s office
aims to enhance is LEAD, Law
Enforcement Assisted Diversion.
Originally launched in King
County, Wash., this program
works to treat and support low-
level offenders at the community
level, according to its website.
Clayton said this program
was
created
for
offenders
who do not pose a risk to the
community, allowing them to
avoid unnecessary jail time.
“Say they have some root
cause issue like substance abuse,
mental health issues, housing —
all of those things,” he said. “It’s a
harm reduction approach, where
a person has the opportunity to
enter that system and to get the
kind of help to stabilize them
— if they work through, say, an
addiction or mental health issue
— as opposed to going to jail.”
Also
emphasizing
the
importance of restorative justice,
Magee said in conjunction with
PETER, plans to transform part
of the jail into a recovery unit,
pointing to this as a primary
reason for his decision to run
for office. He said more than
80 percent of all crime-related
activity can be traced back to
substance abuse issues.
“(The sheriff’s office) gives me
the most widespread impact that
I can have,” he said “... Having an
impact right there at the jail with
individuals, I can help institute
programs, and I can help reduce
the recidivism rate. I can have
the biggest impact not only on
people who are suffering from
the illness of addiction, but also
impact our community in many
other ways.”
PROSECUTOR
From Page 1A
he performed of Latino voters:
political trends, development
among the Latino electorate,
evolving
political
parties,
the candidates and further
Latino effect. He said the
most important aspect of the
Latino population is that it is
relatively young and foreign
born, resulting in only 48
percent of Latinos voting in
the last election in contrast
to 66 percent of white and
African-American voters.
Though
García
noted
Latinos overwhelmingly align
with the Democratic Party,
he explained that only 25
percent
believe
Democrats
are truly committed to their
community
and
working
on
important
issues
like
immigration.
This
election
cycle,
polls
show
Latinos
are
much
more
dedicated
to
stopping
Trump
than
supporting Hillary Clinton.
Throughout
the
campaign,
Trump has proposed several
strict immigration policies,
such as building a wall along
the U.S.-Mexico border, and
used controversial rhetoric
about Latinos .
“What’s the old cliché about
a house that’s not a home?”
García
said.
“Latinos
feel
like the Democratic Party is
a house, but not necessarily
their home.”
Nichols
continued
the
conversation by sharing her
research on whether “threats,”
both in the form of insults and
policy, are enough on their
own to mobilize the Latino
population to stop Trump.
She said though many people
believe that Trump’s rhetoric
will cause many more Latinos
to vote, hate alone is not
enough to motivate people to
vote. She added that she wants
people not to cower in fear, but
rather to feel energetic about
the prospect of voting.
“The idea is that there may
be an issue with trying to get
people to go out and vote, in
large part because threatening
may not be enough,” Nichols
said.
Instead,
she
pointed
to
the results of her research,
which found that politicians
must
couple
both
threat
and opportunity to inspire
action. When Latinos were
shown
a
threat
to
their
citizenship, an opportunity
to gain citizenship and a mix
of the two — followed by the
opportunity to send a letter to
their U.S. senator — 72 percent
sent the postcard in reaction
to the mixture of threat and
opportunity.
Nichols added that Latinas
spearhead
community
organizing efforts and were
the most likely to reach out to
both their local and national
governments.
Ostfeld concluded the panel
by discussing a study she
conducted on the effect of the
mass shift of Latinos to the
Democrat Party and broader
patterns of partisanship. She
found
that
as
Democratic
outreach
to
the
Latino
population grows, it is white,
college-educated voters who
are shifting in large numbers
away from voting straight-
ticket Democrat. When the
white
study
participants
were shown two articles, one
describing Clinton’s outreach
to Latino voters and the other
describing Clinton reaching
out to undecided voters, they
were 15 percent less likely to
vote for Clinton after reading
the article about her reaching
out to Latinos.
From this data, Ostfeld
said it’s clear the mass shift
of
Latino
partisanship
is
contributing to a new racial
realignment of the American
party system and increasing
the salience of white identity.
2-News
FORUM
From Page 1A
Center for Political Studies,
said the data is not shocking
given
what
voters
have
witnessed in the media and
during debates.
“The polling data shows
that we have two of the most
unpopular candidates ever to
run in a presidential election,”
Traugott said. “The general
tone of the campaign has
been very negative, shown by
the fact that the candidates
didn’t shake hands. We can be
confident that it’s been quite
stressful.”
On campus, the University’s
Counseling and Psychological
Services has taken notice of the
climate as well. In response to
both the political climate and
the APA’s study, CAPS has
created services to help handle
election stress.
Mishelle
Rodriguez,
coordinator of social media at
CAPS, said she noticed from
both personal experience and
the APA study that regardless
of their political affiliations,
people are stressed.
“This
year,
people’s
experiences
have
been
markedly
different
than
previous
years,”
Rodriguez
said. “I don’t know that ever
before there has been a need
for this. We really wanted to
be proactive and offer students
events, information and coping
skills so people felt that we
were supporting them.”
The APA’s findings indicate
that both Republicans and
Democrats
are
equally
stressed.
The
study
also
shows the two age groups
experiencing
the
most
stress are matures (71+) and
millennials (19-37) some of
whom are voting for the first
time. Additionally, the study
indicated that adults who use
social media experience more
stress than those who don’t.
Rodriguez said she believes
social media is a huge factor in
the mental health of students
because it can be difficult for
some individuals to put their
phones down and disconnect
when the time calls for it.
“There’s a certain level of
information that’s good for
people to make better decisions
on how they’re going to vote,
but there is a point where
you are consuming all this
information and can’t process
all of it, so that gives people
anxiety,” Rodriguez said.
As well, she said social
media provides a platform
for discourse in which you
don’t see the other person
and
therefore
don’t
face
repercussions for the things
you say.
“When
people
post
comments on social media,
they don’t see how it impacts
other people, and they have
anonymity, so they can say
very
callous,
inflammatory
things without ever having
to deal with how it impacts
people,” Rodriguez said.
Staff
psychologist
Jamye
Banks, coordinator of suicide
prevention at CAPS, said the
University
is
also
unique
in that it is such a diverse
community, which can be yet
another stressor that students
have to manage.
“Anxiety is already a major
issue on this campus because
of the academics and adding
the uncertainty of how the
election will play out adds to
that,” Banks said. “We have a
diverse group of people on this
campus, and not everybody
has the same idea, and how do
you then dialogue with people
on campus who have different
ideas and perspectives? And
if you’re a targeted identity
within all of this, that’s going
to be more stressful and you’re
worried about safety.”
For
Engineering
junior
Mazen Oweiss, the type of
used rhetoric is causing worry
both for himself and those he
cares about.
“My mom and some of my
friends wear a hijab so when
they go out there and wear it
on their sleeve, it’s upsetting
to
see
that
(derogatory
comments) happen in public,”
Oweiss said. “It’s upsetting
and a bit worrying because it
affects people I care about.
There’s a general feeling of
alienation.”
Public Policy junior Ella
Webb, a member of Students
for Choice, said she also finds
it alarming that hate speech
has become OK throughout the
election season.
“I
think
Trump
has
normalized it, and if someone
who
is
in
a
position
of
power
is
promoting
that
ideology, people become more
comfortable
not
just
with
the comments themself but
on issues of immigration and
racism,” Webb said. “I’ve seen
this kind of rhetoric pick up
a lot because people are more
comfortable because they now
have a figure to back up their
claims to.”
GOP presidential nominee
Donald
Trump
has
faced
criticism over high profile
incidents
like
a
video
released in which he makes
comments about touching a
woman without her consent,
prospective
talk
from
the
candidate on building a wall
to
block
illegal
Mexican
immigration and the possibility
of deporting Muslims.
Traugott
said
fear
of
becoming or being a minority,
as well as media coverage,
contributes to the elevated
levels of stress people are
experiencing.
“There
are
problems
of
whites becoming a minority in
the United States by the 2040s,
which is creating anxiety in
that group,” Traugott said.
“There are also issues of the
coverage and the style of
coverage. Some of it is related
to the content and revelations
of
Trump’s
behavior
and
impudent
attitudes
about
women.”
Traugott
also
noted
Democratic
presidential
nominee Hillary Clinton has
had her share of criticism
as well from inquiring into
a private email server she
used for government work
and the investigation of the
Clinton Foundation in regard
to criminal conflict of interest
between the foundation and
the State Department during
Clinton’s tenure as Secretary
of State.
“In public policy terms,
there are a lot of issues
that
distinguish
the
two
candidates
and
there
are
plenty of criticisms of Hillary
Clinton’s behavior in the past
and recently with the emails,”
Traugott said. “But each time
the GOP campaign tries to
focus on this fact, Trump
makes
some
outrageous
statement and the media focus
on that, which detracts from
the behavior of Clinton.”
Amid the election season,
University students have also
been
processing
incidences
on campus. In September and
October, multiple anti-Black,
anti-Muslim and anti-LGBTQ
fliers
were
posted
around
campus. While the University
has taken several steps to
combat this rhetoric, it has
still
left
students
worried
about their safety on campus,
prompting many to protest.
Rodriguez said the current
political situation and campus
climate have left people fearful
that the elections won’t result
in their favor and, in turn,
fearful of how those results
will affect their lives.
“Some of the same groups
we
hear
targeted
in
the
political rhetoric are targeted
on campus by fliers and all of
this stuff echoes each other,”
Rodriguez said. “Once this
election is over we’ve made it
OK to say a lot of callous things
and we will have to deal with
the aftermath of that for quite
a while.”
Oweiss said the aftermath of
the election will have a lasting
impact on his community,
saying
he
believes
racist
interactions are occurring in
many communities.
“One of my friends was
walking home late at night,
and she was verbally harassed
by three guys based on her
race,” Oweiss said. “Stuff like
that, where she’s a woman in
a hijab walking alone at night,
is worrying — that could be
my mom or my sister or close
friend.”
ELECTION
From Page 1A
“So if something else happens,
then we’d say, ‘Hey students,
you signed on to this. You
agreed to be an ally,’ ”
One of the units that has
already expressed support for
the campaign’s cause is the
Office of Multi-Ethnic Student
Affairs. Trey Boynton, the
director of MESA, addressed
the
general
assembly
at
CSG’s meeting last Tuesday,
promoting
the
body’s
message of a more welcoming
environment.
MESA’s core work involves
community
engagement,
leadership development and
social justice education. Along
with its staff of six, the office
partners with other groups
on campus to amplify student
voices.
In
MESA’s
mission
statement about racial justice
work,
Boynton
said,
“We
want to transform the student
experience
by
building
inclusive spaces and equitable
opportunities for all students.”
In addition to MESA, CSG
has also reached out to the
UM Black Student Union and
the Dean of Students Advisory
Board to partner with them on
the campaign.
“It’s about supporting those
groups on campus that do this
work,” Griggs said. “So we
don’t want to be the driving
force always that implements
these programs, but we want
to support student orgs and
departments that already do
them just to continue that
conversation.”
During the CSG meeting
Tuesday, Boynton expressed
MESA’s unwavering support
for CSG’s initiative, which
Griggs has said she hopes
to receive from many other
student
organizations
on
campus.
“Well
done,”
Boynton
said. “Way to live up to who
you want to be. Way to be
aspirational in practice. We
(MESA) are happy to travel
with you as you travel down
this road standing and being in
solidarity. I am so immensely
grateful that I am not alone in
this world.”
CSG
From Page 1A
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