The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Monday, April 10, 2017 — 3A
musical performances.
“True Blue was really great,”
Alcantara said. “That was one of
the larger crowds I think I’ve ever
performed in front of. ‘Glory’ felt
particularly strong. It’s a great
feeling when you perform a song
and it goes over with the crowd as
well as it did (that night).”
As Darren Criss, event emcee,
took the stage, he reminded
the audience of the University’s
prevalence
on
Broadway.
A
2009 graduate, Criss achieved
prominence on the hit TV show,
“Glee,” where he portrayed an
openly gay student and singer. He
now stars in a national tour of the
musical “Hedwig and The Angry
Inch.”
“Every time I look to see a
Broadway show, even without
knowing it, there’s about an 80
percent chance there are at least
two Michigan graduates in it,” he
said.
Criss’s hosting brought many
students, such as LSA freshman
Caylin Luebeck, to the event, who
then found much more.
“The show definitely surprised
me — it included a lot more of
a variety of performances than
I expected,” Luebeck said “My
favorite part, that’s hard. It was
probably when the Men’s Glee
Club sung ‘Glory’ from ‘Selma.’ It
was a very powerful and moving
performance.”
Parts of the show also included
video interviews of alumni who
fell in love at the University, a
“Dear Squirrel” video about the
squirrels on the Diag and a video
tribute to notable University
professors. There was even a
segment highlighting the role of
the Diag in students’ lives.
“Oh, the Diag,” Criss said.
“Separation between Church and
State. Literally, as in our streets.”
One such professor, Ralph
Williams, an Arthur F. Thurnau
Professor Emeritus of English,
touched on how Ann Arbor acts as
a place where people of all races,
religions and backgrounds can
come together and share their
stories.
“The story of us not a single
story, but the stories of all of us
who have been part of its history,”
Williams said. “Michigan belongs
to us, and in a deep way, we belong
to it. Being a part of its history
expands each of us across the
whole globe.”
Many
of
the
University’s
sports legends were also honored,
including former NFL player
Desmond Howard, Fab Five
members Jimmy King and Ray
Jackson, former basketball player
Diane Dietz and former softball
player Sierra Romero.
Michigan football coach Jim
Harbaugh made an appearance as
well, giving a speech referencing
former Michigan football coach
Bo
Schembechler’s
notable
speech, “The Team.” Harbaugh
spoke on improving race relations
as well as the importance of
remembering
how
everyone,
regardless of background, is on
the same team.
“Over the past century, the
University
has
reformed
its
outlook on races relations and civil
rights,” Harbaugh said. “True
leadership is standing up behalf
of the marginalized to always do
what is right.”
James Toy, founder of the
Spectrum
Center,
Muñoz
and
Douglas
Scott,
founder
of Environmental Action for
Survival, also spoke.
Scott
graduated
from
the
University in 1966 after years of
participating in protests during
his time at the University.
“As a graduate student in the
School of Natural Resources
(and Environment), I was one
of the small group that decided
to plan what became the largest
environmental teach-in,” Scott
said. “Once again, the University
of Michigan led the way for
American social progress.”
Muñoz,
a
third-generation
Wolverine, has a long history at
the University of Michigan in
her family. Muñoz graduated in
1984 and is the former director
of White House Domestic Policy
Council.
“In all, the Muñoz family has
had someone at Michigan every
decade, for 100 years,” Muñoz
said. “I grew up in the Detroit area
in a nearly all white neighborhood.
At Michigan, I learned firsthand
about the positive impact of
blending cultures.”
Right before the Michigan
Marching
Band
broke
into
“Victors
Valiant,”
University
President
Mark
Schlissel
closed the event with a speech
referencing the University’s far-
reaching contributions to society,
both on earth and in space.
“On this stage and all around the
world, we see that the University’s
stars are everywhere,” Schlissel
said. “They’re succeeding in
every discipline and pushing
the frontiers of discovery and
imagination into the night sky and
beyond.”
TRUE BLUE
From Page 1A
Irwin justifies legalization by
discussing the “failure” of the
war on drugs, as he wrote in a
Facebook post. In 2014 over 20,000
arrests were made in Michigan for
marijuana possession, a tally that
Rabhi said is too high.
“The war on drugs has failed
us,” Rabhi said. “It has cost us too
many millions of taxpayers’ dollars
locking up the wrong people.”
LSA junior Rowan Conybeare,
chair of the University’s chapter of
College Democrats agreed and said
arrest doesn’t solve the institutional
problems associated with crime.
“If Michigan were to legalize
marijuana,
it
would
prevent
thousands of arrests for petty
crimes, and help to end the
cycle
of
disenfranchisement
perpetuated by the criminal
justice system.”
Additionally, though African
Americans comprise only 14
percent of Michigan’s population,
35 percent of marijuana arrests
were
of
African-American
individuals.
Rabhi
said
the
disproportion is no coincidence.
“I’m here with you because the
war on drugs is a race war,” Rabhi
said. “It is a war against people of
color.”
Merrill
argued
the
enforcement of marijuana as
illegal is inappropriately titled a
“war” when, in reality, police are
simply upholding what has been
federally illegal for a long time.
“There
is
certainly
an
argument that marijuana is over
classified and punishments for
its use should not be as harsh,
but there is no ‘war on drugs,’ ”
Merrill said. “It has been the law
for decades, and police simply
enforce the law of the land rather
than wage war on citizens for
their drug use.”
MARIJUANA
From Page 1A
Despite a canceled flight due to
bad weather, Fauci delivered his
lecture via video.
“If
history
has
taught
us anything, it’s that every
administration
is
likely
to
experience an infectious disease
crisis,” Fauci said.
Through his collaboration with
presidential
administrations,
Fauci also noted the necessary
elements to prevent and control
an epidemic.
“We need global surveillance,
transparency,
infrastructure,
clinical
research
cooperation
and platforms for vaccines and
drugs,” Fauci said, specifically
emphasizing the need for a flu
vaccine. “We’ve come to the
time now where we must have a
universal influenza vaccine.”
Fauci ended his lecture by
stating the title of a report he
co-published nine years ago:
“Emerging infections: a perpetual
challenge.” He reasoned that,
even in the medically advanced
age of 2017, emerging infections
and infectious diseases are still a
“perpetual challenge.”
Dr. Paul Farmer, professor
at
Harvard
University
and
co-founder and chief strategist
of Partners in Health, was the
keynote speaker for the 21st
annual Robert Fekety Lecture.
Farmer drew on his experiences
going abroad, specifically during
the Ebola epidemic, to emphasize
the importance of viewing serious
illnesses and outbreaks from the
point of view of the patient.
When he went to West Africa,
Farmer noticed the shocking
public health deserts, a term for
places where minimal health
infrastructures are in place. He
also saw clinical deserts, meaning
there
were
few
caretakers
available too, which contributed
to the quick spread of Ebola, and
the many resulting deaths.
“Liberia was a public health
desert, which is why Ebola
spread,” Farmer said. “It was also
a clinical desert, which is why it
killed.”
To prevent an outbreak like
Ebola in the future, Farmer
emphasized
the
need
for
sustainable health infrastructures
that will balance public health,
prevention and clinical care for
treatment of patients.
“Responding
to
pandemics
involves staff, stuff, space and
systems for care as well as public
health work,” he said. “We need
to build academic medical centers
in clinical deserts,” Farmer said.
“We can’t just have public health
fortresses.”
The largest event on the
convention agenda was a panel
hosted
by
Gupta,
featuring
four health professionals with
different areas of focus.
Dr. Martin Cetron, director for
the Division of Global Migration
and Quarantine at the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention,
set the tone for the conversation
when he talked about the potential
future of a pandemic.
“Outbreaks
are
inevitable,
pandemics are optional,” he said,
propelling the conversation into
a discussion about pandemic
preparedness and the role of the
media in outbreaks.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, former
director of the Detroit Health
Department
and
University
of
Michigan
alum,
believes
pandemic preparedness requires
knowing when and how to start
the process of taking action.
“Pandemic
preparedness
means
being
able
to
move
information, people and supplies,
and knowing when to set that in
process,” he said.
The same difficulties health
officials
face
with
knowing
how and when to categorize an
epidemic as an outbreak applies
to the media, according to New
York Times reporter Donald
McNeil. McNeil covers “plagues
and pestilences” for the NYT and
said the media has gotten better
at knowing when it is appropriate
to publish a story that will alert
the world to a disease.
“You have to decide when
to cover new outbreaks and
when to drop everything else
you’re doing,” McNeil said, also
noting the media cannot always
wait for the CDC or the World
Health Organization to send out
an alert.
El-Sayed
said
these
improvements in the media
can help the public health
community inform the world
about a particular disease.
“Often, it’s hard for public
health to act as it needs if there’s
not media coverage of an issue,”
El-Sayed said. “In an outbreak,
communicate early and often,
to everyone, and set values from
the start.”
CONFERENCE
From Page 1A
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panels — one of which will be led by
Ty Roberts, chief technology officer
at UMG — throughout the day.
In addition to UMG’s features, the
festival will also host activities such
as Rap Cypher, yoga sessions on the
Diag lawn, an MTank-led spinoff of
the television show “Shark Tank”
and a Bicentennial art installation
that is to be painted throughout the
day by current Art & Design seniors.
MUSIC Matters is also working
with project managers at both the
Michigan League and the Michigan
Union to find a permanent home for
the installation afterward.
The festival’s main themes include
arts,
community,
sustainability
and social identity, with a variety
of multicultural and sustainability-
focused student organizations being
present throughout the festival.
SpringFest will also feature a
“Mental Health Zone” with support
from both School of Nursing Student
Government and the Wolverine
Support Network.
MUSIC Matters will also be
renewing their past food truck
partnerships, with offerings from
a variety of southeastern Michigan
restaurants, including El Taco Veloz,
Shimmy Shack and Detroit BBQ
Company.
SpringFest’s
evening
concert
will be taking place at the Crisler
Center at 7:30 p.m. Proceeds from
gate receipts will be going toward
a University-hosted arts camp for
Detroit youth this coming summer.
Tickets start at $19.99 for students
with valid UM IDs, and at $29.99 for
the general public.
SPRINGFEST
From Page 1A
class this year was an exciting
experience.
“I volunteered at FestiFools last
year, and I thought it was really
awesome and was bummed I
didn’t take the class, so that’s why I
registered for it this year as a second-
year LHSP student,” Minnebo said.
“It was really cool being able to do
art for art’s sake, while also being
able to make a statement. A lot of
the puppets this year were very
political, so it was interesting to see
how that came about.”
LSA freshman Alex Mullen
came to the event to because he
heard it was a fun occasion unique
to Ann Arbor, and because he
had friends participating in the
festivities.
“I think it allows for really odd
freedom of expression that you
wouldn’t see in a lot of other places,”
he said. “There’s some level of
political commentary happening
— there’re a lot of gaudy depictions
of our current president and other
political figures.”
Whether the designs were
inspired by this year’s theme or by
recent political occurrences, pieces
such as a giant dog topped with
Betsy DeVos’ head and Ann Arbor
Mayor Christopher Taylor linking
arms with his puppet doppelganger
certainly turned heads at the event.
“Seeing the previous few years,
I don’t know if it was every this
overtly political,” Minnebo said.
“I just wonder if it’s because of the
time we’re in now or especially the
town we’re in. A lot of the puppets
were made that way — everybody
wanted to make a Trump puppet
and kind of take that on, and it was
kind of encouraged, but to do it in
a different and interesting way. I
think it adds another layer to the
parade.”
LSA sophomore Emily Miu
participated in Festifools as well,
and found it interesting that
the public art was latent with
underlying commentary.
“This is a parade, it’s FestiFools
and it’s about being foolish.” Miu
said. “It doesn’t have to be political,
but it still ended up having those
themes, and that’s got to mean
something, you know? I think it’s
because a lot of art is inspired by
passion, and what’s been happening
around us to humanity and society
has inspired a lot of passion in
people who want to voice this.”
Ann Arbor resident Cara Rosaen
said multiple factors came together
to make FestiFools the experience
it is, and she found the interactive,
community-building
aspects
particularly interesting.
“We’ve lived here almost our
entire lives and we’ve never been!”
Rosaen said as she lifted her son
onto her shoulders. “I actually got to
see the place where all these statues
and paper-mache things are kept,
which is so cool. We saw them there,
and then actually got to see them in
action today. It’s colorful, silly, make
believe and imaginative. This is a
‘keep Ann Arbor weird’ moment!”
FOOLS
From Page 1A