The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
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