Monday, January 9, 2017 — 3A
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
who had HIV/AIDS and never
told their mother.
“Why didn’t he show her any
respect, because AIDS soon took
her life,” read their poem.
Rackham
student
Will
Beischel said in an interview he
attended the event because the
topic is personally relevant.
“I think a lot of the time HIV is
kind of reduced to people getting
it from being promiscuous or
drug use and things like that
which, you know, HIV is a
much more varied story than
that,” Beischel said. “A lot of the
stories presented tonight were
about love, and relationship and
violation of those things, so I
think it’s really important to
hear all of those perspectives.”
The poems presented focused
on different aspects of living
with and contracting the disease,
including growing up with AIDS
and how actions with someone
one night can create feelings that
affect the rest of one’s life with
the contraction of HIV/AIDS.
“I am writing this to you today
so you can share with others, tell
people that getting laid, is not
the same as a lover,” read a poem
presented by LSA senior Javon
Shell.
After
the
poetry
performances,
Leseliey
Rose
Welch, deputy director of the
Detroit
Health
Department,
spoke.
Welch
began
by
discussing her research in South
Africa regarding pediatric HIV,
and touched on some of the
reasons why this problem exists
and what the world community
can do to in order to combat the
spread of the disease.
“I had been on that job (in
South Africa) for less than two
weeks before I had gone and
come back to find the baby
that I saw the day before not
there,” Welch said. “And one
moment crystallized in my
mind forever … watching this
mother cry over her baby’s
crib. And realizing that that
mother was crying not because
the medicines to save her baby
didn’t exist, but because she
had no access to them.”
The
symptoms
of
this
problem had several causes in
South Africa, Welch said.
“They
weren’t
missing
awesome doctors in South Africa
in 1998; they were missing the
power, the money, the resources,
and politics was preventing
saving lives,” Welch said. “It’s
not HIV, it’s the world. What
that really means is that we are
our own problem at this point.”
Welch’s
presentation
examined the problem of HIV/
AIDS in the United States and
why we still have a problem
with HIV/AIDS.
“We are here because of
a false hierarchy of human
value,”
Welch
said.
“That
really is at the crux and the
root of every ‘-ism’ we know
how to describe. This idea that
my life is more valuable than
yours, or yours more valuable
than mine.”
Welch
included
possible
strategies
to
mitigate
the
effects
of
HIV/AIDS,
and
suggested that no one concrete
solution will be the end-all to
the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
“I think the only thing
that will get us there is love,
and love in a social, political
sense,” Welch said. “Love from
the top down and to our core
and a love that transcends the
differences that we see and
don’t see.”
Welch ended her speech by
reading two poems, the first
of which discussed the pain of
knowing one has HIV and the
second centered on the topic
of activism along with the
refusal of “-isms.”
Business
junior
Arjun
Kaushal found value in the
topic being presented in this
manner,
which
worked
to
create a broader awareness.
“People oftentimes think
that
HIV/AIDS
isn’t
here
because they’re not seeing it,”
Kaushal said “when in fact it’s
here, and it’s on our campus.”
SPEAKOUT
From Page 1A
the ARMA on public roads will
present more of a challenge,
however.
“I think one of the key
challenges
of
driverless
vehicles is, first of all, they
need to be street-legal, and the
ARMA is a vehicle designed
by a French company, NAVYA,
and they’re not necessarily
street-legal
in
the
United
States,”
he
said.
“And
in
addition to our additional rules
that driverless vehicles must
follow, when they are trying
to provide mobility services to
the general public, there are
additional
qualifications.
So
at this moment, the NAVYA
vehicles cannot yet be operated
on a public road in the city, but
that’s one thing we are trying to
achieve.”
However, rather than playing
a technological role, MTC is
simply assisting NAVYA with
the
logistics
and
eventual
implementation of putting their
self-driving shuttle on public
roads, Peng said.
“Our role is not necessarily
technology,” he said. “We are not
helping them to develop, NAVYA,
we are just trying to link them
to the data they use. Again, the
goal is to deploy this vehicle on
the streets of Ann Arbor and
understand how it can be part
of the public transportation
system in the city.”
NAVYA
is
hoping
their
driverless vehicles will make a
splash elsewhere in the United
States as well, according to
MTC Communications Director
Susan Carney.
“The vehicle was introduced
at Mcity only on December 9,”
Carney wrote in an email. “It was
shipped to Las Vegas not long after
to be used for demonstrations
by NAVYA at CES (Consumer
Electronics Show).”
When they do end up being
put into street usage, however,
Peng imagines that they could
help to modify bus routes at the
University to make them more
efficient.
“Sometimes, at the end of
the bus route, in many cases
the bus is pretty empty,” he
said. “In other words, redesign
and shorten the bus route and
replace part of the route with
shuttles.”
Because the shuttles only
seat 15, though, Peng thinks the
current buses are here to stay.
“Our University bus system
serves about 36,000 trips per
day, so there are many cases
when the bus is pretty full, and
we don’t believe that replacing
one
bus
with
three
other
shuttles makes any sense,” Peng
said. “I don’t think it makes
sense to be replacing the buses
with shuttles, but it needs to be
integrated.”
MCITY
From Page 1A
so bad that I was so determined
to come back and get better,”
MacDonald
said.
“By
the
second class I was so much
more comfortable and much
less fearful.”
She assured beginners that
they would be welcomed and
comfortable
despite
having
little experience.
“A lot of people are signing
up with friends, which I think
is great because it takes away
a lot of fear and nervousness,”
MacDonald said. “We have so
many different classes on the
schedule and instructors that
are so welcoming that you don’t
feel intimidated at all. Students
will definitely feel right at
home.”
Lipkowitz opened Polarity
with the goal of removing the
negative stigma surrounding
pole fitness. She strives to
create
an
accessible
studio
with a welcoming atmosphere
that will make students feel
comfortable exploring pole as
both a fitness and mental health
building activity. She added
that Polarity is also the new
official home of the Michigan
Pole Dance Society, a student
organization on campus.
“My
whole
goal
is
to
demystify pole in the same
way that I demystified yoga,”
Lipkowitz said. “We’re starting
out with a very beginner-
friendly curriculum and are
hoping to grow with our clients.
As soon as we see that we’re
experiencing growth and that
people are coming back, we’ll
add classes to the schedule
accordingly.”
Instructors
Sylvia
Chen
and
Laura
Marthey
gave
demonstrations and answered
questions
during
the
open
house. Marthey agreed with
Lipkowitz
that
beginners
shouldn’t be afraid to come to
the studio.
“The focus of the studio is
from a fitness and wellness
perspective and to demystify
and desexualize pole,” she said.
As a new studio, Chen says
Polarity
anticipates
most
clients to be beginners, so all
of the classes are designed to
be beginner friendly, with the
intention of expanding in the
future.
Polarity offers several classes
including Polega, Power Pole,
Pole Technique, Contemporary
Dance Pole and Beginner Pole.
Polega in particular mixes aUM
Yoga’s popular class F*** This is
Hard with pole-fitness in order
to improve balance, flexibility,
strength
and
endurance,
according to Lipkowitz.
Nursing
freshman
Caeli
Lacroix
was
one
of
many
University
students
who
attended
the
Polarity
open
house. She signed up for a
free class in January and was
excited to try pole.
“The
studio
was
really
nice and everyone was very
friendly,” Lacroix said. “I’m
nervous but excited to give it a
try and see if I like it.”
POLE
From Page 1A
developments.
Business sophomore Mohammad
Shaikh is an avid biker. In the warmer
weather, he usually rides his bike
around campus every day, and as an
Ann Arbor native, he has experience
biking throughout the rest of the city
as well. Shaikh said he supports the
ordinance, and thinks it will make
Ann Arbor a safer place for bikers and
pedestrians.
“Because Ann Arbor is a city where
parking is limited and a lot of people
park on the side of the road, that kind
of takes away space,” Shaikh said.
“And when you add bikers into the
equation, it’s hard to accommodate
everyone... I haven’t had too much
of a problem with people driving too
close to me, but I think that we can
definitely be safer.”
CYCLISTS
From Page 1A
looking for individuals living
with chronic illnesses to talk
about what they perceived as
their
greatest
management
struggle. Wolin responded to
Soraya’s post.
“I personally live with Type
1 diabetes and celiac disease,”
Wolin said. “I’m pretty much an
open book and I wanted to see
what she was interested in.”
Soraya reached out later to
Wolin and informed her of an
annual competition sponsored
by the Public Health School
called Innovation in Action,
which
encourages
Michigan
students to create projects to
address real-world problems.
After
graduating
from
Michigan
in
April,
Wolin
submitted
the
project
for
the
Lyfebulb-Novo
Nordisk
Innovation Award, which strives
to award patient entrepreneurs
that have created projects that
advance the care of diabetes.
Lyfebulb
founder
Karin
Hehenberger,
the
award’s
creator, commended Wolin for
her simple idea that appealed to
many patients.
“Four
individuals
picked
Brianna (Wolin), the youngest
person, a spunky girl — it was
incredible,” she said.
The
award
attracted
applications from more than
100 people from 15 different
countries.
Ten
applicants,
including Wolin, were chosen to
attend the Innovation Summit
hosted by Novo Nordisk in
Copenhagen. At the conference,
the applicants first pitched their
ideas to entrepreneurs, then to a
patient panel, which ultimately
picked Wolin as the winner.
“Winning the award really
meant that I took a circumstance
given to me without an option
and that I was able to turn it
around into something that
is impactful to others,” Wolin
said. “People are finally taking
a moment to realize the mental
health
impact
of
chronic
illness.”
For Wolin, winning the award
highlighted
the
importance
of FYD for individuals with
chronic illness. When Soraya
graduates from the University
with her master’s, Wolin is
hopeful that the project can
continue to be impactful. In the
meantime, Wolin will continue
to work on launching the
project.
“My work on FYD grew
out of absolute need that I felt
going to a university where it’s
easy sometimes to feel alone,”
she said. “You need to leverage
what’s available until the next
thing comes around. I promise
to bring Find Your Ditto as soon
as possible.”
LSA freshman Sari Grossman
currently lives with Crohn’s
disease. Grossman joined the
Crohn’s and Colitis Student
Initiative at the beginning of her
freshman year, and affirmed the
need to have connections with
people with similar experiences.
“I have been able to meet
people
who
had
similar
experiences,
but
also
very
different
ones
from
me,
Grossman said. “(FYD) would
be really beneficial for a lot of
people that are in the club on
campus, or this is their first
time talking about their illness.
It will be a really great first step
for people.”
HEALTH
From Page 1A
We are here
because of a false
hierarchy of
human value
Our University
bus system serves
about 36,000 trips
per day
My whole goal is
to demystify pole
in the same way
that I demystified
yoga
for the 200th anniversary
of U of M, and is developed
from
primary
sources,”
Mendeloff
said.
“Several
storylines were taken from a
novel written by one of the
first co-ed graduates, Olive
San Louie Anderson, who
wrote about her experiences
at the college as a member of
that first group of women.”
The
directors
noted
how the message of the
play resonated with them,
especially
because
the
inequalities women faced
in 1871 have not vanished
completely.
They
said
the
main
characters
of
the play struggle to be
taken seriously by both
the
administration
and
their male peers, and cast
members used this struggle
as a talking point to discuss
the lives of older relatives
who faced similar issues in
school.
Furthermore, McGlashen
noted one of the main goals
behind
“The
Dangerous
Experiment”
was
to
bring history and notable
historical figures to life,
through
a
fictionalized
account of the very real
pressure they faced from the
community and University.
“One
of
the
main
objectives of our project is
to humanize the history,”
McGlashen
said.
“To
enforce the fact that these
historical
retrospectives
that the University is doing
for the bicentennial are
based on living, breathing
people
who
experienced
many of the same joys and
frustrations that students
and
faculty
experience
today.”
Both Mendeloff and the
play’s directors said the
play is a good fit for both
the Residential College and
the bicentennial celebration
because of its basis in
history and relevance to
current
issues
faced
by
female students.
“I
think
that
‘The
Dangerous
Experiment’
perfectly represents how
the bicentennial is not only
an opportunity to look back
and see how far we’ve come,
but to think about how we
can push ourselves now
even further in the pursuit
of equality,” Kaufman said.
PLAY
From Page 2A
ZOEY HOLSTROM/Daily
Mcity features a freeway section with an on and off ramp.