T
he
drawbacks
of
social
distancing
can
include
loneliness, reduced productivity
and loss of health benefits associated with
human interaction. Happy hours, fitness
classes, traveling and football games
activate the body’s senses and make for
a pleasant experience — so much so that
people crave and seek out more of these
interactions. So when left to our own
resources, many are wondering, “How
can we handle social distancing?”
According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, social distancing
is necessary to reduce the probability
of contact between persons carrying
an infection and others who are not
infected. Bottom line: By staying home
you reduce the risk of becoming infected
with COVID-19 and then unknowingly
infecting others.
Not all people will experience the
stress of this outbreak in the same way.
The common ground is the shared
responsibility to contain coronavirus in
our communities. Worried or not, now is
not the time to carry on like normal.
Many of us are scared, anxious, tired
and sad. Take comfort in knowing this
will pass and the drawbacks of social
distancing are temporary. Use the time
wisely to connect with yourself and come
out the other side stronger. Right now,
self-care is your health care; do as much
as you can.
Be sure to be self-shielding: Being
within six feet of someone who is sick
can get you and your personal space
contaminated with COVID-19. Now is
the time to overindulge in screen time to
completely avoid respiratory droplets of
others when we talk, sneeze and cough
— these can land on surfaces or in your
mouth or nose. Skype or FaceTime your
friends and conduct meetings over video
conferencing platforms.
Prepare
meals
at
home:
Gov.
Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive
order on Monday closing all Michigan
restaurants and bars. There is no
antibiotic
(they
are
designed
for
bacterial infections, not viral ones like
the novel coronavirus) to treat COVID-
19. Scientists are already working on a
vaccine, but they don’t expect to have a
good vaccine until spring of 2021 at the
earliest. It’s best to stock up on groceries
for a two-week period of time, and
prepare all meals at home. Use this time
to fuel on healthy foods — avoid sugar,
salt and white flour — to keep your
immune system strong.
Work out at home: Thirty minutes
is the magic number when it comes to
reaping the benefits of exercise. Doing
a workout that is out of your typical
routine will challenge your body and
keep your mind active. Find a workout
video online and get your family
involved. Utilize your backyard for
breaks and a few laps to stretch your
body.
Wash your hands: Twenty seconds of
scrubbing. Do this often, and be careful
about maintaining good hand-washing
and cleaning of high-touch surfaces like
doorknobs and countertops. Remind
yourself not to touch your face.
Self-care is your health care: Ask
yourself: What do you like to do? Avoid
sedentary habits in the home — instead
tackle home projects and organization.
Read books, do journaling activities
— anything you can do to set up your
comeback when self-isolation is no longer
recommended. Channel the creativity
inside of you — keep pushing through.
Are you doing all that you can?
4A — Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Alanna Berger
Zack Blumberg
Brittany Bowman
Emily Considine
Jess D’Agostino
Jenny Gurung
Cheryn Hong
Krystal Hur
Ethan Kessler
Zoe Phillips
Mary Rolfes
Michael Russo
Timothy Spurlin
Miles Stephenson
Joel Weiner
Erin White
ERIN WHITE
Managing Editor
Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.
ELIZABETH LAWRENCE
Editor in Chief
EMILY CONSIDINE AND
MILES STEPHENSON
Editorial Page Editors
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of The Daily’s Editorial Board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
DR. RUBINA TAHIR | OP-ED
How to cope with social isolation
A
s the iconic piano riff
began to play, my mom,
grandma and I looked at
each other with excited grins. With
the lights of metropolitan Denver
twinkling over the stage, Dolly
Parton belted out “9 to 5.” Seeing
Parton perform the song alongside
my mom, who worked her way
through college as a single mother
and her mother, who worked at
Wendy’s for decades until retiring,
made the song’s anti-corporate, pro-
woman message hit even harder.
We danced and sang along with the
thousands of other people nestled
between the stunning megaliths
of Red Rocks. A lifelong memory,
it wouldn’t be the only one set to
Parton’s underdog anthem.
After waiting for four hours in
Detroit’s Eastern Market, the same
piano riff blared throughout the
room. Like in Colorado, the notes
brought an ecstatic smile to my
face as presidential candidate Sen.
Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., ran
onto the stage. The room erupted
in screams as she gave the woman
who introduced her, state Sen.
Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, a
typical, big Warren hug. After a year
of supporting and campaigning for
her, I couldn’t believe my political
icon was right in front of me.
Attacking corruption and corporate
greed with the fervor and agility
only she has, Parton’s jingle felt
tailor-made for Warren’s speech.
The overflowing excitement I
felt from the rally hadn’t dissipated
by
the
time
Super
Tuesday
results trickled in later that night.
Eventually, though, the excitement
began to sour. My mother, who had
registered to vote after attending
a Warren rally in Denver, called
me to vent her frustration with a
Democratic Party that was readily
denying a woman nominee. While I
tried my best to cultivate optimism
with California’s vote yet to be
counted, a few hours later I had
joined her in her anger.
Two
days
later,
Warren
suspended
her
campaign
for
president, narrowing the field
down to two very old and very
white men, former Vice President
Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders,
I-Vt. Women across the country
expressed their disappointment.
Rachel Maddow told Warren that
her leaving the race felt like a “death
kneel” to see a female president in
her lifetime while U.S. Rep. Nancy
Pelosi, D-Calif., complained about
being the most powerful woman in
the U.S. government. I also couldn’t
help but feel my once overwhelming
excitement for the primary fall to
the wayside. Beginning as the most
diverse field in either party’s history,
I couldn’t believe that in Tuesday’s
Democratic primary I was being
forced to vote for a white dude. As
a liberal, it’s no surprise that I voted
for Sanders, but unlike many of my
classmates, I did so without any
enthusiasm. While I wish I could
see Sanders as a liberal beacon
of hope, I can’t help but see his
potential presidency as a looming
disappointment.
Known for his crotchetiness,
Sanders’s temper, exhibited by
his constant yelling and hatred
of criticism, is only matched by
Biden’s, who famously called a
young woman a “lying dog-faced
pony soldier” for asking a question.
Compared to ex-candidates in the
race whose communication with
voters
encouraged
productive
dialogue, these two despise the
questioning of them or their plans.
With the most ambitious left-wing
platform in modern history, this will
likely come back to haunt Sanders’s
presidency.
A politician for almost his entire
adult life, Sanders is beloved for his
admirable consistency on the issues
that are now the centerpieces of
his campaign. Sanders’ supporters
tout his decades-long unwavering
stances as proof he won’t flip-flop
as president. In order to fulfill his
promises, however, Sanders plans
to do just that: Changing his views
on the issue of executive power,
a philosophy that he opposed
as a congressman. His team has
already drafted dozens of executive
orders for his presidency to bypass
Congress on issues like immigration
reform,
the
environment
and
legalizing marijuana. While this
proves he plans to make good on his
promises, it’s a bad way to go about
doing so.
Executive orders, while effective
at enacting short-term changes
during a president’s administration,
will fail to solve the problems they
address. Easily repealed by future
presidents, any structural change,
which most of his plans require,
must be accomplished through
the creation of permanent
solutions codified by law. President
Donald Trump’s repealing of the
Obama administration’s executive
order that created Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),
leaving the futures of thousands of
“dreamers” in limbo, exemplifies
why unilateral executive action is a
sub-par strategy. This is one reason
his presidency won’t be the liberal
heyday his supporters anticipate.
While it’s reasonable to argue
executive orders are a necessary
evil to bypass Mitch McConnell’s
lame-duck Senate, Bernie’s path
to the nomination has entailed
burning more than just Republican
bridges.
While Sanders has publicly
denounced the toxic “Bernie Bro”
culture that is known for sexist and
sometimes dangerous attacks on
fellow Democrats, his actions don’t
align with his words. Sanders, as
well as other top officials in his
campaign, have all sat down for
interviews with the pro-Sanders
podcast “Chapo Trap House.”
Calling themselves part of the
“dirtbag left,” the show is infamous
for spouting off the same viciously
insensitive remarks Sanders claims
to denounce. With an agenda that
will require at least unity amongst
Democrats,
Sanders’s
unique
inability to stop his supporters
from attacking strong women
like those who raised me was yet
another reason I didn’t “feel the
Bern” at the ballot box.
I used to tumble out of bed and
stumble to the kitchen before class
each morning and scroll through
my phone’s newsfeed, optimistic
that Democrats would not only beat
Trump in November but would do
so using the same woman-power
that won us back the House in 2018.
Now, my morning ritual inspires
more sadness than hope. I want
Bernie’s left-wing revolution to
seize the White House, don’t get
me wrong, but I’m disappointed the
glass ceiling Hillary Clinton began
to chip at more than a decade ago
still has yet to shatter. While this
election may have been heavily
influenced by the boogeyman in
the White House, hopefully in four
years the nominee will be chosen
based on their qualifications rather
than their gender.
Why I can’t feel the Bern ... no matter how hard I try
RILEY DEHR | COLUMN
Riley Dehr can be reached at
rdehr@umich.edu.
Dr. Rubina Tahir is a board-certified
chiropractor and wellness expert and can be
reached at chiro@rubinatahir.com.
KEVIN MOORE JR. | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT KEVJR@UMICH.EDU