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Thursday, February 7, 2019 — 3A
JOURNALISM
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SAD
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THREADING
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Engineering senior Anna
Learis agreed, noting she has
noticed some of her friends
suffering more from actual
clinical depression during
the winter, while some may
just be feeling more down.
Learis is the co-founder and
editor in chief of Mental-
ity Magazine, which aims
to increase discussion about
mental health by provid-
ing a platform for students
to share their mental health
experiences through writ-
ing.
“I have quite a few friends
or acquaintances with things
that are more along the lines
of clinical depression, and
obviously that gets worse,”
Learis said. “But also with
people who usually don’t
have
any
mental
health
issues, when it’s this cold,
you don’t go outside, you’re
not socializing, you know,
you stay in bed all day. And
although that’s fun every
now and then, you just get in
such a slump, and especially
in Michigan, I think it’s hard
for students to get out of that
slump.”
As a result, CAPS has
established Wellness Zones
on campus. Wellness Zones
come equipped with mas-
sage chairs, yoga mats with
meditation videos and artifi-
cial full spectrum light ther-
apy lamps, which are used to
alleviate SAD.
However, there are cur-
rently no Wellness Zones
available for undergraduate
students to use. The Well-
ness Zone for Central Cam-
pus has been temporarily
closed and put into storage
because of construction on
the Michigan Union, and is
slated to return in the winter
2020 semester. A new one is
coming soon to North Cam-
pus in collaboration with
the
Engineering
Student
Government, but has not yet
opened. Graduate students
can use the Wellness Zone in
the Munger Graduate Resi-
dences.
For those struggling with
SAD or feeling the effects
of the cold on their mental
health, Learis recommend-
ed the sun lamps for light
therapy and reaching out to
friends to leave the house
more often during the win-
ter.
“One of our writers tried
(light therapy lamps) out
for two weeks and told us it
changed her mood complete-
ly,” Learis said. “And then I
tried it out and was like, “Oh
my gosh, this works.” And
going along those lines, I
think one thing that comes
up a lot when I talk to peo-
ple about seasonal affective
disorder is a lot of it kind of
all rotates back to cutting
yourself off socially … so
another thing is reaching out
to friends and making plans
that force you to leave the
house to still engage.”
Hays also recommended
light therapy lamps and get-
ting natural light outside in
her advice to students.
“Spend
time
outside,
regardless of how cold it
is,” Hays said. “Even if it’s
cloudy, the rays seem to come
through in a way that lifts
the spirits. Trying to main-
tain a regular sleep habit,
trying to get outside even if
it’s walking outside instead
of taking a car. Spending
more time outside than they
might normally think about
doing in the winter.”
While CAPS provides a
multitude of resources for
students on campus, some,
like Learis, still bring up the
issue of long waiting times
for appointments.
Learis said the issue of
long waiting times can be
detrimental for people who
need help immediately, but
acknowledged
that
this
problem has been alleviated
slightly within the School of
Engineering.
“If someone’s having an
issue, they want to talk now,
not in two and a half weeks,”
Learis said. “So I think until
they get more rotating coun-
selors, that’s a major issue.
And fortunately, the Col-
lege of Engineering has two
embedded
CAPS
counsel-
ors, so a lot of my Engineer-
ing friends have said that
they’ve seen improvements
in scheduling times since it’s
happened, but I think that’s
the exception.”
According to Dolan, CAPS
is on track to see about 2,500
students this semester, con-
tinuing a trend of substan-
tial increases each semester
for the past several years.
However, the CAPS staff is
at full capacity for their bud-
get, so he said the possibil-
ity of increasing the number
of counselors and available
appointments is not likely.
“We are fully staffed for
the funding that we have,”
Dolan said. “It is a challenge,
and I’ll be honest as the clin-
ical director, it’s very chal-
lenging right now to meet
the needs of all the students
who come to CAPS.”
LSA senior Jordan Laza-
rus is the executive direc-
tor of Wolverine Support
Network, an organization
sponsored by CAPS offer-
ing weekly peer-facilitated
support groups as well as bi-
weekly community events.
Although he too has heard of
the long waiting periods for
CAPS appointments, Laza-
rus said they are still able to
provide far more resources
than other colleges he has
worked with through WSN.
“Like
everything
else,
there’s a finite amount of
resources and I wish there
was more,” Lazarus said.
“I don’t run CAPS, but they
exist to serve students. And I
know that compared to a lot
of campuses that I do inter-
face with, CAPS here is real-
ly 50 steps ahead. But yeah,
there are waiting times, and
it is a problem.”
On
long
waiting
lists,
Dolan
emphasized
initial
consultations
are
usually
within a few days and CAPS
provides a counselor on duty
every day for walk-in meet-
ings.
“Now that (walk-in meet-
ings) is a first-come, first-
served service, so sometimes
students might have to wait
to see the counselor on duty,
but we have counselors on
duty to see someone every
day,” Dolan said. “The wait
times might come in later
on when people are actu-
ally engaged in counseling
because we have so many
students that are interested
in
individual
counseling.
Again, we do our best to
see students right away, but
there might be some waits in
terms of actually engaging
with the counselor.”
Learis
also
recognized
improvements
in
student
resources when it comes to
mental health and highlight-
ed the growth in student
organizations advocating for
mental health.
“I think this might… be
because I’ve gotten more
involved with the mental
health community over my
time — but I see so many
organizations
doing
such
great work,” she said. “From
CAPS in Action to CSG’s
Mental Health Task Force
to Mentality Magazine. So I
feel like the conversation is
more frequent about men-
tal health, even if we aren’t
necessarily
getting
more
resources.
More
people
know they can say, ‘I’m not
having a good mental health
day.’”
For emergencies, Learis
recommended
the
CAPS
24-hour hotline as well as
the University’s Psychiatric
Emergency Service hotline.
Finding a shared experience
with someone else, Lazarus
says, could make all the dif-
ference in getting better.
“Talk about it,” he said.
“Everyone
—
seriously,
everyone — is going through
something. And I believe
from a peer support side,
just knowing that there’s
someone who you can relate
to and empathize with, you
know like, ‘We both get SAD
in the winter.’ Just to feel
that sense of connection and
shared humanity is really
powerful, and can really,
really help.”
CAPS 24-hour services can
be reached at 734.764.8312.
According
to
de
Guz-
man,
covering
the
events
in the Philippines became
more difficult following the
widespread attention of the
killings. He also expressed his
overarching concerns report-
ing the Philippines’ political
situation.
“As the months went on as
more and more international
attention was put on the kill-
ings
and
as
international
criticism rained down on all
of this, it became harder and
harder to do our work,” de
Guzman said. “It got to a point
where police stopped shar-
ing information with us about
where killings were taking
place.”
De Guzman went on to
stress the dangers of journal-
istic work in the Philippines.
“Looming over everything
is that fact that the Philip-
pines is still probably the most
dangerous place for journal-
ists working in areas outside
of a war zone,” de Guzman
said. “I wish I could be more
positive by where things are
going in the Philippines right
now, but I feel that’s a bit pre-
mature.”
Panelist
Arlyn
Gajilan,
Reuters deputy managing edi-
tor, went on to present and
discuss a video of two Reuters
journalists captured in Myan-
mar while covering the killing
of 10 men. Gajilad said the sit-
uation highlights the dangers
of journalism in violent areas.
“Despite
our
size
and
influence, we are like any
other journalist working in
a country where people are
oppressed,”
Gajilad
said.
“They are subject to the same
kind of dangers, and thats
whats happened here.”
Gajilad said many people
fail to recognize the true
impact of violence towards
journalists.
“It’s easy to think of them as
journalists, it’s kind of a nice
safer road,” Gajilad said. “But
then journalists are people
too, with families and chil-
dren and ties to the local com-
munity so there is a human
toll.”
As the final speaker, Tyrell
Haberkorn, Southeast Asian
studies professor at the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin, Madison,
focused mainly on the state of
reporting and voice suppres-
sion in Thailand. Haberkorn
highlighted
the
reasoning
behind the concern of freedom
of expression to oppressive
regimes in Thailand.
“Why are dictators so afraid
of freedom of expression and
what do they do when they’re
afraid,”
Haberkorn
said.
“They’re afraid their mis-
deeds will become uncovered,
they’re afraid that upon seeing
this information, citizens will
become subjects, not objects,
and they will rise up.”
A fourth speaker, photo-
journalist Hkun Lat, was sup-
posed to speak but could not
attend due to issues obtain-
ing a visa, according to Allen
Hicken, political science pro-
fessor and moderator of the
event.
In the Q&A section, audi-
ence
members
asked
sev-
eral questions regarding the
effects social media poses
on journalism in Southeast
Asia. According to Haber-
korn, social media sites such
as Facebook provide both a
positives and negative impact
for citizens looking to freely
express their views.
“Facebook is both a tre-
mendous platform for disso-
nance and to call for action,”
Haberkorn said. “But it is
also a place of great danger
largely because of those who
are accused of imposing the
monarchy have been accused
on the basis of Facebook
posts.”
AJ Vicens, audience mem-
ber and Knight-Wallace fel-
low, said he is happy there are
people who bring these South-
east Asian issues to light on
campus.
“Clearly journalism is a
troubled institution around
the world,” Vicens said. “To
hear from these people their
perspectives on what’s hap-
pening in Southeast Asia is
just so important and I’m glad
there are people paying atten-
tion to all that’s going on over
there.”
De Guzman said issues are
faced by journalists all over
the world, and the issues may
increase before the problem
can be solved.
“We are seeing a kind of
really rising populism and mix
of nationalism in the country,
a mix of white nationalism,”
de Guzman said. “I feel there
are more and more dangers
now
that
journalists
face,
especially those who have to
be there where things are hap-
pening, and it might get a lot
worse before it gets better. It’s
an exciting time to be a jour-
nalist but it’s also getting to be
extremely dangerous.”
Vicens said he hopes view-
ers leave with respect for
journalists who work in a dan-
gerous time.
“Reporters are putting their
lives on the line, quite literally
to get truth out in these coun-
tries,” Vicens said. “It’s very
difficult work, it’s not very
appreciated in a lot of places.
In the face of such opposition
from the community, the gov-
ernment and security forces
they are doing such hard work
and people should respect
that.”
COMPLE X RHY THMS DANCE SHOW
ASHA LEWIS/Daily
The University of Michigan Department of Dance rehearses for their annual show opening at the Power Center this Thursday.
During high school, Bashir
began to thread her friends’
facial hair, which is where
she got the inspiration to
continue
her
pastime
in
college.
“In high school, I started
threading
my
friends
—
literally in the middle of
class I would thread them,”
she said. “One of my teachers
said ‘You should go to college
and be your dorm’s eyebrow
threading girl or your hall’s
eyebrow
threading
girl,’
but, at the time, I thought
that it would never actually
happen.”
Bashir
explained
she
had no initial intention of
turning this hobby into her
own personal, student-run
business. In fact, she simply
continued to thread for her
friends’ benefit.
“Originally, (at Michigan),
I was just doing it to thread
my friends if they ever
needed
to
be
threaded,”
Bashir said. “I just kept
threading my friends and it
just kind of grew by itself.
I didn’t have to do a whole
lot.”
Once
Bashir
began
charging
people
for
her
services, she began to amp
up
her
marketing
skills
beyond
word
of
mouth,
she
explained.
She
also
created a digital flyer, which
circulated various student-
related social media groups.
“At some point last year,
I started to put up posters
in the UGLi and around my
dorm,” Bashir said.
LSA sophomore Annika
Dhawan, one of Bashir’s
current customers, said she
discovered Bashir’s business
through her digital flyer on
Facebook.
“I first heard about her
before I came to school,”
Dhawan said. “I remember
someone posting ‘Looking
for
recommendations
for
threading
and
waxing
services, etc.,’ and then I
remember seeing someone
posting her flyer in one of
the comments and a lot of
people were paying attention
to that. When I was actually
looking for someone during
the year I consulted that
post.”
Dhawan
explained
she
decided to use Bashir instead
of a local threading business
because of her prices and
convenience.
“Because she is a student
herself I feel that her prices
are a lot more reasonable
for students and it’s really
accessible,” Dhawan said.
“Last year she was running
her services out of her room
in Alice Lloyd, and it was
pretty convenient to make a
trip over there.”
Public policy junior Arwa
Gayar
also
discovered
Bashir’s threading business
through social media.
“I found out about it
through
MSA
(Muslim
Student Association), so the
Muslim girls on campus have
kind of like a mass chat on
WhatsApp and I remember
I saw a flyer on there about
threading services and I
needed to get my eyebrows
done, so I contacted her,”
she said.
Gayar explained she chose
to use Bashir’s services not
explicitly for convenience or
price, but primarily because
she felt more confident in
Bashir’s threading ability
considering her heritage.
“I
have
pretty
thick
eyebrows
and
there’s
a
certain style that I like and
a lot of times salonists will
not know how to do my
eyebrows how I like them,”
Gayar said. “I trusted her
more because it’s kind of a
community thing that Desi
girls and Arab girls struggle
with their eyebrows and
because
she
knows
the
struggle, I trusted her more
to do my eyebrows how I like
them.”
Many customers not only
appreciate Bashir for her
actual threading services,
but also for the comfortable
experience she provides.
“She has made a very
comforting
environment
for everyone who goes to
her and anyone who wants
the service done,” Dhawan
said. “She always makes
her little set up very homey
and
really
comfortable
and familiar. People not
only find it convenient and
accessible but also just very
comfortable and a nice safe
place to go.”
Gayar echoed this opinion,
adding Bashir has fostered a
sense of community through
her services as well.
“It’s comforting to know
that I can go to this girl’s
apartment and know that
she is going to do a good
job instead of going to some
random salon,” she said. “I
think (Bashir’s business) is
also important just because
eyebrows have kind of been
like a common theme among
Muslim girls … (they are)
a constant struggle and so
it’s kind of a unifying thing
that you can provide for
your community even when
it’s something as simple as a
basic service.”
Bashir donates a portion of
her profits to local charities.
She explained she wanted
her business to have a larger
impact.
“When I started charging
people in college, I wanted
to do something with (the
money)
…
so
I
started
to donate 30 percent of
the proceeds to different
charities,” she said.
Bashir said she wanted
to be intentional about her
donations.
“I usually send the money
to charities I have personal
ties to,” Bashir said. “In high
school, I worked a lot with
the Muslim Center Soup
Kitchen in Detroit. … I also
give it to Syrian Refugees …
who have been relocated to
my hometown and around
Detroit.
I
actually
also
always ask my appointments
for suggestions about where
they
would
want
their
money going, but for the
most part it’s soup kitchens
and refugee charities.”
While
Bashir
said
the
most
important
part
of
the business for her is the
charitable aspect, she also
appreciates the community
it has provided her, as well
as her customers.
“The
biggest
thing
is
that I’m doing something
because
I’m
donating
to
charities,” Bashir said. “But
in terms of my daily life, it’s
nice because I get to meet a
lot of new people … (and with
that), I get to know what’s
going on around campus.”