More than 75 Washtenaw
County residents made the
trek from Ypsilanti to Ann
Arbor
Saturday
morning
during the second annual
Bridging 23 Unity Walk.
Organizer Robin Stephens
said the 8-mile walk was cre-
ated to unify the east and
west sides of Washtenaw
County, which faces dispari-
ties in job access, economics
and education.
“I think it’s so important
for us to really connect as an
entire community so we’re
all responsible for each other
and we have to help each
other,” Stephens said. “If it
means we have to get out
and walk … so that we really
get to know and understand
each other, then I am willing
to put these walks together
for the rest of my days.”
Stephens, an Ann Arbor-
based
criminal
defense
attorney, said she attended
an event at the Dispute Reso-
lution Center that challenged
her to create unity within
her community. Inspired by
her past participation in the
Susan G. Komen Race for
the Cure, Stephens decided
to create the Unity Walk to
encourage dialogue between
county residents who may
not have met otherwise.
“I had done the Susan G.
Komen breast cancer walk
three times prior, and I knew
from my own experiences
walking with thousands of
people that I did not know,
that by the end of that walk
I knew some of them much
more intimately,” Stephens
said. “We were walking and
we were bonding and we
were talking, and … I really
built a bond with those peo-
ple.”
Participants began the
day at the Ypsilanti District
Library. They took Washt-
enaw Avenue all the way to
Ann Arbor and concluded
at the Ann Arbor African
American Downtown Festi-
val.
A rally with multiple
speakers from the com-
munity preceded the walk.
Stephens began the rally by
introducing Jeff Gabrielson,
vice president of the Asso-
ciation for Youth Empower-
ment.
Gabrielson said the goal
of the Unity Walk was to get
to know other community
members on a personal level.
“What we see is that when
we get to know each other as
human beings, there’s a third
wave that occurs,” Gabriel-
son said. “Our intent with
Bridging 23 is to look at dif-
ferent ways to bring people
together.”
Ypsilanti
Mayor
Beth
Bashert also spoke to partici-
pants about fixing income,
education and health care
disparities within the coun-
ty.
“We all know that, in our
area, we have disparities,
and we talk about them all
the time; disparities from
one side of our county to the
other,” Bashert said. “We
know what the problems
are, and I’m going to tell you
what the solutions are. The
solutions are right here.”
Bashert said solutions to
issues of disparity must be
solved regionally and that
unification helps the county
grow stronger.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell,
D-Mich, commended par-
ticipants on their work in
bringing both sides of the
county together.
“This walk is a symbol of
people caring, and we need
to get a lot more people
engaged because we are one
community,” Dingell said.
“Together, we can make a
difference.”
Stephens closed the rally
by challenging participants
to meet at least two people
during the walk they did not
previously know. During the
walk to Ann Arbor, partici-
pants conversed with those
around them and did not use
their cell phones.
Eastern Michigan Uni-
versity senior Sarah Khan
said she was encouraged by
a friend to take part in the
Unity Walk. She said the
walk let her see Ypsilanti
and Ann Arbor from a new
perspective and helped her
meet people from across the
county.
“I think it’s really cool to
see people come together for
things like this,” Khan said.
“I would like to see a little
more diversity, like genera-
tional diversity, but as far as
the people that I met, they
were all really cool.”
In the future, Stephens
said she hopes to extend
the walk to reach other sur-
rounding Washtenaw Coun-
ty communities.
Read more at michigandaily.com
3
NEWS
Thursday, June 6, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
On Jan. 23, after nearly a
year of deliberation among
University
of
Michigan
administrators, Duo Two-
Factor Authentication was
introduced
for
student
employees, faculty and staff.
Duo, a program that aims
to protect a user’s data by
requiring they log in to web-
sites like Canvas and Wol-
verine Access using both a
password and an alternate
device, is mandatory for
those employed by the Uni-
versity on all three campuses.
LSA sophomore Charlotte
Weisman, a former employee
at Maizie’s Kitchen and Mar-
ket in the League, said she
was accustomed to programs
that use dual-factor verifica-
tion and found the process of
setting it up fairly simple.
“There are a lot of plat-
forms that use dual-factor
authentication, like Facebook
and Instagram where they
text you a code or some-
thing,” Weisman said. “Ini-
tially, I was a little annoyed
because I was like ‘Oh, I have
to set this up, I don’t know if
this is going to be a hassle,’
but I found it pretty straight-
forward and they kind of
walk you through the steps.”
Duo Security, an internet-
safety provider with offices
in three states and the Unit-
ed Kingdom, was founded
in 2010 by University alumi
Dug Song and Jon Oberhe-
ide. According to the Duo
website, the company serves
over 14,000 customers in 100
countries, including larger
brands like Yelp and Face-
book. In August 2018, Cisco
Systems Inc. acquired Duo in
a $2.35 billion deal.
According to Ravi Pendse,
vice president of information
technology and chief infor-
mation officer, multi-factor
authentication has existed in
some form at the University
since 2005. Pendse said Duo’s
2FA provides more extensive
security coverage than pre-
vious verification programs
because it is based in a smart-
phone app rather than an
external hard drive.
“In 2005 and even before,
when people used other
forms of verification, they
would not use most of the
modern tools that we use
today — tools that we carry in
our pocket or purses,” Pendse
said. “A lot of the things that
we do, we do them through
smartphone … so smartphone
has replaced many things,
including the two-factor veri-
fication that can be used for
using Duo.”
Most 2FA users verify their
identity using the Duo Securi-
ty app and their smartphone,
Pendse said. Student employ-
ees and faculty, however,
can also request a hardware
“token” from the University
that plugs into their computer
for when they are traveling or
do not have reliable service.
“One of our challenges
was communication — let-
ting people know that while
smartphone is the most pop-
ular way to use Duo, that’s
not the only way, there are
many ways you can use Duo,”
Pendse said.
Students, ‘U’
fauclty reflect
on Duo after
six months
Washtenaw County residents trek from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor on Saturday
One semester in, users express support
of heightened online security at ‘U’
COURTESY OF BARBARA COLLINS
Washentaw county residents walk from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor as part of the Bridging 23 Unity Walk Saturday.
Read more at michigandaily.com
Unity walk encourages
county-wide conversations
LIAT WEINSTEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
BARBARA COLLINS
Summer Managing News Editor