Chen also explained why she 

believes the census is important, 

citing the value of congressional 

representation. She also discussed 

ways the Bureau could increase 

student response. 

“It is important that people are 

reminded that, in a time like this, 

having accurate representation and 

data can be crucial (for) public health 

and safety,” Chen said. “I think 

that it’s great that the census can be 

responded to online (because) they 

can probably get a higher rate of 

accurate responses. Right now, not a 

lot of people are willing to leave the 

house or talk to people in person, so 

using online tactics for something 

this important should definitely 

help.” 

In the press release, the Bureau 

also announced how they would 

alter data collection to ensure safe 

procedures. 
Though 
they 
have 

suspended in-person canvassing in 

certain locations, they emphasized 

the importance of counting everyone 

to ensure accurate numbers once 

they are able to resume in-person 

operations. The Bureau is also placing 

an emphasis on locations where 

students often live and places where 

homeless 
populations 
frequently 

visit. 

“In (the in-person) operation, 

census takers begin following up with 

households that haven’t responded 

yet 
around 
some 
colleges 
and 

universities,” the Bureau said. “We 

can count households in areas with 

off-campus housing before the end 

of the spring semester when students 

may leave for another residence.” 

Margaret Leary, former director 

of the University Law Library, has 

given 
educational 
presentations 

on the census and participated in 

various outreach events, such as a 

census town hall event in February. 

She said students leaving Michigan to 

return home could greatly impact the 

count and, in turn, affect the amount 

of representation apportioned to the 

state. 

“I expect the absence of students 

will lessen — and make less accurate 

— the count throughout Michigan,” 

Leary said. “College students are low 

responders because they are so busy. It 

is very possible ... they will be counted 

at home. Overall, this is probably bad 

for Michigan, because if they are 

not counted here, and are counted 

in another state, that increases the 

chance of our congressional numbers 

dropping from 14 to less. It depends 

on how well colleges and universities 

respond to the Census Bureau’s 

efforts.”

The Bureau said people can 

respond online or over the phone, and 

that they will also be participating in 

outreach efforts in hopes of increasing 

the initial response. This would 

include producing advertisements 

explaining the census and motivating 

people to fill it out.

“The Census Bureau is also 

making changes to its paid media 

campaign, earned media efforts, 

and partnership outreach efforts to 

adapt to changing conditions while 

continuing to promote self-response,” 

the press release said. “The key 

message right now for anyone with 

questions about how COVID-19 will 

affect the 2020 Census: It has never 

been easier to respond on your own, 

whether online, over the phone or by 

mail — all without having to meet a 

census taker.” 

Leary commented on the Bureau’s 

outreach efforts and how they hope 

to prevent the COVID-19 crisis from 

affecting the census. She said she 

expects the changes made to the 

process will reduce the number of 

people counted, especially among 

undocumented 
people, 
college 

students, people of color and those 

with lower degrees of education or 

low socioeconomic status.

“I am very concerned because it 

will inevitably cause the count to 

be less than it would have been for 

several reasons,” Leary said. “(It 

will impact) those groups that are 

historically least likely to respond 

either from fear and/or lack of 

knowledge of the impact of them 

not being counted. There will (also) 

be both less time and fewer Census 

Bureau workers to knock on doors to 

encourage people to respond. Each 

one of these elements will compound 

as 
the 
coronavirus 
emergency 

worsens or lengthens.”

Reporter Emma Ruberg can be 

reached at eruberg@umich.edu

Wednesday, March 25, 2020 — 3
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FOOD
From Page 1

CENSUS
From Page 1

“We know that, especially 

now with quarantines and social 

isolation, people have even less 

ability to get out and go to the 

food pantry during certain hours 

and pick up food, or maybe they 

are working or don’t have the 

transportation to get there,” 

Starman said. “So, we’ve been 

in really close contact with all 

of 
our 
community 
partners, 

our food pantries, our meal 

programs to get extra food out 

to make sure that everyone — 

children, families, individuals, 

veterans and seniors — are able 

to get food in this situation.”

In addition to the work Food 

Gatherers is doing, the Maize and 

Blue Cupboard has continued its 

services in providing food for the 

University community. Steven 

Mangan, 
senior 
director 
of 

MDining, said the organization 

plans to remain open for the 

foreseeable future because of 

a recognized need for their 

operations. MDining, donations, 

Food Gatherers, Central Student 

Government and the Dean of 

Students office support these 

operations.

Mangan said during a crisis, it 

is especially important for their 

organization 
to 
continue 
its 

mission. 

“There 
are 
a 
number 
of 

students that have been and 

will 
continue 
to 
experience 

food insecurity,” Mangan said. 

“In addition, many off-campus 

students may not have access 

to food or basic supplies. Maize 

and Blue Cupboard will provide 

these needed services to all 

students and faculty and staff 

during this crisis.”

Volunteers are continuing to 

work at both the Maize and Blue 

Cupboard and Food Gatherers, 

but precautions are being taken 

to ensure the health and safety 

of all who come in contact with 

the organization. 

Mangan 
said 
the 
Maize 

and Blue Cupboard asks their 

volunteers and shoppers about 

their health. If healthy, they 

will be admitted into the store 

in limited numbers to encourage 

distance 
from 
one 
another. 

The organization also provides 

gloves and hand sanitizer for 

their shoppers.

“Upon 
entering, 
shoppers 

are 
asked 
to 
present 
their 

MCard,” Mangan said. “Staff at 

the entry will visually observe 

and question shoppers about 

their wellness. Shoppers will 

be able to enter three at a time 

to maintain social distancing. 

They are instructed to use 

sanitizer and wear gloves that 

are provided by Maize & Blue 

Cupboard and instructions are 

posted regarding how to handle 

food. 
Shopping 
baskets 
are 

sanitized between shoppers and 

surfaces are sanitized every two 

hours.”

Starman said Food Gatherers 

is also taking similar precautions 

in terms of monitoring their 

volunteers and are asking about 

each individual’s health.

“We 
have 
modified 
our 

volunteer 
opportunities,” 

Starman said. “We don’t have 

them in congregate situations 

like with our volunteers in our 

community kitchen. We have 

stopped some of our normal 

volunteer roles, like not having 

volunteers in our warehouse. 

We are also having everybody 

answer questions before they 

volunteer and then when they 

come to the shift, such as, ‘Have 

you been sick? Are you sick? Have 

you traveled out of the country 

within this certain amount of 

time? Are you in a risk group?’”

Additional community groups 

and individuals have reached 

out to Food Gatherers to donate 

their help, such as Cottage Inn 

Pizza and BD’s Mongolian Grill, 

according to Starman. 

LSA junior Aaron Boockvar-

Klein said he feels these food 

donations show a lot about the 

way society deals with crises. He 

also said he thinks there will be 

many eager volunteers.

“During the last week or so, 

I’ve seen a lot of people come 

together and to get through this 

time by just being generous for 

no gains,” Boockvar-Klein said. 

“I think there are a lot of people 

at home right now looking for 

something to do, and people 

wanting to make a difference 

in this crisis. So, I think there 

would be a lot of people willing 

to volunteer their time, or extra 

food if they have it.”

Reporter Jenna Siteman can be 

reached at jsiteman@umich.edu.

What you need to know for the student 
government elections this week

The Daily compiled a list of frequently asked questions regarding how to vote 

Though students are scattered 

across the globe as classes move 

online for the semester, the University 

of Michigan student governments 

will still hold elections online this 

Wednesday and Thursday, March 

25-26. Here is what you need to know.

What am I voting on?

Students 
are 
electing 

representatives for their schools to 

the Central Student Government 

Assembly. There is also a University-

wide election for the executive ticket 

of 
Central 
Student 
Government, 

the Michigan Police Department 

Oversight 
Committee 
and 
the 

adoption of an instant run-off voting 

policy. These positions are all year-

long terms. Depending on the school, 

there may also be specific proposals or 

policies for students to vote on.

Who is eligible to vote?

For the executive ticket of CSG, 

any student regardless of grade or 

school is eligible to vote. There are 

also elections for CSG Assembly 

representatives within each school 

at the University and any student 

can vote for their respective school’s 

representative. 
Some 
school-wide 

student governments, like LSA’s, are 

also housing their ballots within the 

election website, where any student in 

any school will be able to vote for their 

school’s student government. 

How and when can I vote? 

Voting 
begins 
on 
Wednesday, 

March 25 at midnight and closes on 

Thursday, March 26 at 11:59 p.m. 

All voting takes place online at vote.

umich.edu except for the College of 

Engineering’s election, which happens 

at vote.studentlife.umich.edu. 

Why do some schools have more 

openings than others?

Each school is allotted a certain 

number of representatives based 

on the total number of students 

at the University enrolled in each 

school. LSA, the largest school at the 

University, has 14 representatives, 

while smaller schools, like the School 

of Education, have as few as one seat.

Does how I rank the candidates 

matter?

Yes. 
In 
student 
government 

elections, a form of ranked-choice 

voting is used. This means students 

rank their preferences for the position 

with the option to rank as many 

candidates as there are open positions. 

So, for the CSG executive ticket, there 

is only one spot to rank because only 

one pair can hold the office, while 

for 
representative 
elections 
with 

multiple seats, voters can rank multiple 

candidates for those seats.

For the smaller schools, this has 

little impact. However, when there 

is more than one seat open, like for 

LSA’s 14, a different numerical value is 

given to each candidate based on how 

high they are ranked. That means a 

candidate who is ranked as a voter’s 

first choice receives more points from 

that voter than the candidate ranked as 

their second choice.

The 
voting 
frequently 
asked 

questions webpage offers this example: 

If there are three open seats, a vote 

for the No. 1 preference would give 

that candidate three points, the No. 2 

selection would receive two points and 

No. 3 would receive one point. 

What is the difference between 

CSG 
and 
school-wide 
student 

governments?

CSG is the student government of 

the entire University student body, 

containing representation from every 

school, including graduate programs. 

CSG is known for its AirBus program 

offering free rides to and from the 

airport, its game day hydration stations 

and for providing funding to student 

organizations.

Individual 
schools’ 
student 

governments are composed of students 

in programs within those schools. 

These 
student 
governments 
are 

typically more focused on the needs of 

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

In September 2018, shortly after 

Doe’s lawsuit was filed, the U.S. 

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals 

struck 
down 
the 
University’s 

single-investigator 
process 
in 

Doe v. Baum, a different sexual 

misconduct 
lawsuit. 
The 
court 

ordered the University to create 

an 
interim 
sexual 
misconduct 

policy that incorporates cross-

examination and a live hearing. 

The cross-examination process 

has 
been 
largely 
criticized 

on 
campus 
with 
claims 
it 

re-traumatizes the survivor by 

forcing them to face their alleged 

assaulter.

In June 2019, the University filed 

a motion to dismiss the lawsuit 

and 
claimed 
the 
due 
process 

argument Doe made was no longer 

relevant due to the new policy. 

Though the motion was dismissed, 

the 
University 
maintained 
the 

argument. 

In October 2019, Doe’s suspension 

was lifted and he is now re-enrolled 

in classes at the University.

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

POLICY
From Page 2

ALEX HARRING

Daily News Editor

