Bryan identified the need for
accessible food for students,
especially because a full-service
grocery store is not located
on the University’s campus.
Bryan
explained
that
the
Food Sustainability Program
teamed up with organizations
like the Office of Student Life,
Wolverine Wellness, the Office
of Financial Aid and CAPS to
form a task force and determine
the need behind this initiative.
“There is need here, there are
students that are going hungry,
there are students that are
surviving on ramen at best, that
aren’t getting the full nutrition
that they need,” Bryan said.
“We put together a working
group … to make sure that we
got everyone on the same page
that we identified, ‘Yes, there’s
a need.’”
Now that Student Life has
taken on this project and
worked to curate a permanent
location
on
campus,
the
students behind Maize & Blue
Cupboard
are
working
to
establish a new organization,
temporarily
named
“MBCB
Consulting,”
that
ensures
students are still a part of the
process.
Business sophomore Spencer
Baxter joined Maize & Blue
Cupboard in 2018 and served
as vice president of operations
this past fall. He was recently
elected co-president. Baxter
explained Student Life’s role
in taking over the student
organization left the current
students to determine their
next
steps
on
their
own,
which will include smaller
projects focusing on increasing
engagement and limiting food
waste within the new facility.
Instead of student volunteers,
Student Life will be hiring full-
time employees to oversee the
organization
“That kind of defeats our
purpose because we were sort
of a less committal organization
… there are some people that
would want to volunteer but not
volunteer if someone is getting
paid next to them,” Baxter
said. “We want (to create) a
part-time paid staff position to
incentivize people to come.”
Food insecurity has been
a widely discussed topic on
campus in recent years, noting
the lack of food resources
available on and near campus.
According to a study from
2016, 41.4 percent of Michigan
students had low to very low
food security. Campus groups
like Maize & Blue Cupboard
and Student Food Co. have
been working to combat the
issue
for
years,
garnering
support from Central Student
Government and other student
organizations.
CSG has implemented an
Emergency Meal Fund program
for
students,
which
offers
meal swipes to food-insecure
students while they explore
further options with the Dean
of Students Office. Additionally,
former CSG President Daniel
Greene, a Public Policy senior,
signed an executive order to
establish the Food Insecurity
and Campus Affordability Task
Force, which went into effect
this past fall.
LSA
sophomore
Ben
Gerstein,
incoming
Central
Student Government president,
also
noted
past
initiatives
through CSG to help combat
food insecurity for students and
explained that the incoming
assembly will work to prioritize
this issue for the next school
year.
“I
think
it’s
a
great
development for the student
body here, and it’s going to be
a consistent strong resource
for students,” Gerstein said.
“In Ann Arbor and on campus,
food is extremely expensive,
and being able to have that
in a pretty good location for
students to access whenever
they need … is really important.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, April 5, 2019 — 3
CUPBOARD
From Page 1
INSECTS
From Page 1
PREMIE RE OF “THE NOTE BOOK S” BY DA VINCI
The Chamber Choir and Imani Winds group conducted by Eugene Rogers performs the chamber setting premiere of The Notebooks by Leonardo Da Vinci, composed by Jocelyn
Hagen, in the University of Michigan Museum of Art Thursday evening.
DANYEL THARAKAN/Daily
Hilary Gustafson said she was
excited to see Literati’s name on
the nominations list among so
many bookstores that are “doing
innovative things in the industry.”
She attributed the win to the
bookstore’s staff over all other
factors.
“Their
expertise
and
commitment to the written word
and love for books has really made
our business what it is today,”
Hilary Gustafson said.
Gina Balibrera Amyx, creative
programs and floor manager at
Literati, also emphasized Literati’s
booksellers as a major factor in the
bookstore’s success. Some of these
employees previously worked at
Borders, which was previously the
main bookstore in downtown Ann
Arbor before it closed in 2011.
“We have people who spent
decades working at Borders … and
we have a lot of poets and fiction
writers on staff from the U-M
Helen Zell writing program — so
MFA students and graduates of
that program — so people who are
deeply immersed in that world and
so they bring a lot of passion to the
business as well,” Balibrera said.
Literati’s staff has grown from
seven booksellers to 27 in the
six years it has been in business.
According to Hilary Gustafson,
booksellers
stock
the
shelves
according
to
what
they
see
customers looking for on a daily
basis.
Hilary Gustafson also cited
Literati’s social media presence and
community engagement as factors
that have led to its success in its
short time in business.
“We do pride ourselves on being
community focused in events and
book clubs,” Hilary Gustafson said.
“We have over 150 events a year,
both in store and off site, and most
of them are free and open to the
public.”
One of Literati’s most well-
known
factors
is
the
public
typewriter in its basement on which
visitors are free to leave notes.
Hilary Gustafson said her husband
and co-owner, Michael Gustafson,
reads through the notes left on the
typewriter every day.
“The
public
typewriter
really invites the community to
participate,” Hilary Gustafson said.
“A lot of good writing comes out of
it.”
Michael Gustafson published
a collection of notes left on the
typewriter last year with co-editor
Oliver Uberti.
Those
who
frequent
the
bookstore were not surprised that
the store was awarded Bookstore of
the Year.
The coffee shop on the top floor
of Literati attracts students as a
place to study or write. According
to
Hilary
Gustafson,
many
MFA students use it as a space
to write. The Gustafsons invite
visiting authors to leave notes of
encouragement to such writers on
the “author wall,” which is crowded
with their writing.
The cafe does not only attract
English graduate students. Many
undergraduates use the space to
work as well.
LSA freshman Julia Kravchenko
said she and a group of friends spend
about three to four hours working
in the coffee shop at Literati every
Thursday.
“Literati is special because it’s
very quaint,” Kravchenko said. “It
has a phenomenal atmosphere that’s
the textbook definition of a coffee
shop you would see in a movie or
read about in a book, plus the music
is always different each time we go
depending on who’s working.”
Kravchenko said she thinks the
Bookstore of the Year award was
well deserved.
“From what I’ve browsed in
their bookstore, it has a really wide
variation of genres and books for a
small store,” Kravchenko said. “I
once found a Frankenstein Pride
and Prejudice crossover work and I
sort of lost it because I didn’t think
that existed.”
University alum Sierra Bain said
she spent a lot of time at Literati
while earning her undergraduate
degree.
“I feel like it’s a no brainer that it
was named Bookstore of the Year,”
Bain said. “I like the coffee shop
upstairs, and I like the light in the
space and how it overlooks our little
town.”
Jones submitted a comment
card to MDining explaining the
second incident.
She expressed her displeasure
with the encounters and suggested
MDining work more carefully to
maintain the quality control of
their products.
“I’m assuming it’s because they
mass-produce
everything,
but
that’s still gross,” she said. “They
could still, like, quality control it.”
Rachel Christensen, food and
occupational safety manager for
MDining, explained in an email
to The Daily that these types of
incidents most often happen with
products that grow out of the
ground.
“Where a product grows in the
ground, for instance, can increase
the likelihood of exposure to dirts,
bugs, rocks and other undesirable
objects,” she wrote. “We never
want to serve a product that
contains foreign objects.”
LSA freshman Nora Sharba
described an incident just this
past February in which her friend
found a cricket in their salad at
South Quad Dining Hall.
“I came back from the bathroom
and all my friends were standing
around our table at South Quad
freaking out, so I got over there and
at first I couldn’t see it because it
blended in with the salad,” Sharba
said. “I didn’t know what the big
deal was, but then I saw the cricket
in there and my jaw dropped.”
Sharba said the discovery has
prevented her from eating salad at
the dining halls since.
“I wasn’t completely surprised
because dining hall food can be
made pretty carelessly when you’re
trying to feed so many people in a
short amount of time,” she said. “I
definitely lost my appetite though
and didn’t eat in the dining hall for
a few days — I haven’t had a salad
ever since.”
She was disappointed with
the apparent lack of care from
MDining in maintaining quality
assurance over their ingredients.
“I
think
that
the
lettuce
ingredients should be washed
more carefully because anyone
who was paying attention would
have noticed something like that,
and it’s pretty unsettling to find
bugs in your food,” Sharba said.
Soster said MDining was not
aware of these recent incidents,
and has continued to increase the
frequency with which they train
their staff on inspecting their
products.
“It’s
unfortunate
that
the
student
didn’t
feel
it
was
appropriate to ask for a manager
because we want to take care of
stuff on the spot,” he said. “What
I’d like to communicate is: If
there’s an issue, let us know right
then and there.”
He emphasized students are
highly encouraged to approach
MDining with the issue so it can
be handled appropriately.
“When you approach me in a
dining hall and go, ‘Here’s what I
found,’ I can go right back to the
kitchen and go, ‘Where did this
come from?’ and then contact the
vendor,” he said. “The emphasis
I’m placing here is we want to fix
it. We’ll fix it right on the spot.
It’s frustrating, it’s unfortunate
and we just want the community
to know that we keep the highest
standards, and we don’t want that
to happen either.”
MDining Marketing Manager
Kelly Guralewski also highlighted
MDining’s readiness to resolve
such issues.
“Even
if
a
student
isn’t
comfortable
or
a
guest
isn’t
comfortable with going to a
manager, they can write on the
comment card, email us, send us a
message on social media,” she said.
“At the end of the day if they do
post it for their friends to see, then
we’re still going to comment and
try to make it right.”
Soster
explained
when
situations like these happen, it is
best to report them immediately
so MDining can then contact
the correct vendor who supplied
the product and resolve the
issue. Christensen echoed this in
MDining’s statement.
“Our first line of defense, and
what is critical to our quality
control, is that we only purchase
food from approved, reputable
suppliers,” she wrote. “Any incident
of this nature is immediately
reported to the vendor to ensure
they are held accountable. This
ensures our vendors are aware
of an issue, so they can review
their food production process and
adjust if needed to increase safety
precautions.”
The administration also focused
efforts
on
preventing
sexual
misconduct on campus through
initiatives
like
the
Survivor
Empowerment Fund and events
like “Empowering Survivors: A
Forum on Sexual Misconduct
Policy.”
The Survivor Empowerment
Fund provides finances to groups
on campus striving to educate the
University of Michigan on sexual
assault prevention and aiming to
empower survivors. These funds
are allocated toward costs for
bringing guest speakers and general
programming.
The two-hour forum comprised
of professional presentations on
issues related to sexual misconduct,
such as the Sixth Circuit Court
Ruling and the proposed Title
IX policy. Prior to the event, CSG
worked with other departments to
spread knowledge on how to write
comments and notify the necessary
parties as a result of sexual
misconduct.
The executive team further
worked on bettering inclusivity
and equity on campus, specifically
through
the
announcement
of the Narratives, Equity and
Transformation Plan.
“The program, led by CSG
executive diversity officer Lloyd
Lyons, aims to provide student
organizations
with
a
clear,
individualized overview of key
areas of improvement as well as a
toolkit to help those organizations
achieve their full potential,” a CSG
information release stated.
Former CSG President Daniel
Greene, a Public Policy senior,
spoke about how valuable he
believes the NET plan is for all
students and organizations on
campus.
“The first thing many students
do on this campus to make this
big campus small is join a student
organization, and until we can
improve the inclusivity of the
culture mentality behind student
organizations … we’re not actually
going to see the improvements on
the DEI front,” Greene said.
In regards to housing, the
executive team introduced the
Housing Management Guide last
semester — now the most visited
page on the CSG website according
to Greene — which provides
students with specific information
to assist them in finding the best
housing options to fit their needs
off-campus.
LSA junior Isabel Baer, the
former
CSG
vice
president,
believes one of the largest impacts
they had on campus was through
the Big Ten Voting Challenge. CSG
pursued social media campaigns,
made
two
public
service
announcement videos on voting
and contributed to the Buses to
Ballots initiative to help students
get to and from polling stations.
In 2018, voter turnout at the polls
in the University campus precincts
tripled in comparison to the 2014
voter turnout.
“I think (the turnout rate)
proves that it’s not that students
don’t want to vote and are actively
not, it’s more a feeling of not
knowing where to go or not caring,
especially with the midterms,”
Baer said. “I think that was really
important moving into a general
election that’s happening and the
first time Michigan is considered
a purple state officially, so … I
hope students can continue and
obviously will continue as well to
do that promoting.”
In
addition
to
the
larger
initiatives
the
administration
pursued, former Communications
Director Lydia Barry, an LSA
senior,
believes
the
smaller
initiatives they accomplished are
just as important, specifically ones
in which CSG had one-on-one
interactions with students, such as
the recent Division of Public Safety
and Security event registering
students for emergency alerts.
“I think every time a student
interacts with us in that way or we
just want a suggestion from them
or just want to give them breakfast
during finals or something, I
think that leaves a really positive
impression with them,” Barry said.
“I’ve seen students who you know,
come to get a snack or something,
but then they end up saying ‘I
have this idea’ … So I think CSG
being that middleman is really
important.”
CSG
From Page 1
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
In an interview with The
Daily after the event, College
Democrats Chair Ruby Schneider,
an LSA junior, discussed the
importance of creating a space for
the LGBTQ+ community to share
their experiences.
“It’s really important to provide
a space for queer folks on campus
to be able to share out, hear from
others and be comfortable with
the identities and where they’re
at in their coming-out process,”
Schneider said.
Grogan expressed she was
pleased
with
the
audience
participation and story diversity.
“I was very pleased with the
participation of people in the
audience,” Grogan said. “We
weren’t sure people would be
willing to put themselves in
this really vulnerable position,
but people were willing and
able. And I think we had a lot of
diversity of voices, in experience
and background, which is really
important when talking about
coming out since there is not one
coming-out experience.”
LSA
senior
Kallie
Bernas,
former co-chair of Stonewall
Democrats,
expressed
she
is
happy to see how the event has
grown since the first time it was
hosted.
“It’s really interested to see
how things have grown over
time,” Bernas said. “We were
pulling teeth at the first one, and
people were a little bit timid …
Hearing one person talking about
how the first event inspired him
to come out was really powerful.
And it just felt like the atmosphere
in that room was like family,
everyone could relate to bits and
pieces of the story, so I felt really
strengthened and really proud to
be a member of this community.”
LITERATI
From Page 1
SPEAKOUT
From Page 1