The
Michigan
state
legislature passed two bills
to appropriate $150 million in
response to the coronavirus
pandemic.
On March 17, the House
unanimously
passed
House
Bill 4729. The bill appropriated
$50 million to the Health and
Human Services Department,
which requires the funds to be
distributed to critical health
care providers in order to
expand the state’s response
to the coronavirus. It also
allocated $75 million to the
Department
of
Technology,
Management and Budget and
those funds are authorized for
public health emergencies and
related economic responses to
various departments.
On March 30, the Michigan
Senate passed Senate Bill 151,
which created and distributed
an additional $15 million into
the
Coronavirus
Response
Fund along with $10 million
to other various departments,
totaling state funding for the
coronavirus pandemic to $150
million.
In a joint statement, Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer
and
legislative leaders addressed
the signing of the supplemental
bills.
The
statement
noted
the funding will allow for the
purchasing of medical supplies
essential for Michigan to slow
the spread of the virus.
“Today’s
signing
of
two
supplemental budget bills will
provide new state funding of
$150 million to bolster response
efforts,” the statement reads.
“To date, the state has already
expended
more
than
$130
million to secure more than 20
million masks, more than 2,000
ventilators, nearly 9 million
ounces of hand sanitizer, more
than 255,000 boxes of gloves,
2.4 million gowns, more than
2,000 beds, 210,000 testing
supplies, 3,000 thermometers,
185,000 face shields, 22,000
cartons of disinfecting wipes,
as
well
as
other
needed
supplies.”
With businesses temporarily
closing
and
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer’s Stay Home, Stay Safe
Executive Order, many students’
on-campus jobs have been left in
limbo.
When the news of moving to
remote learning broke on March
11, LSA freshman Zachary said
he planned to stay on campus and
continue working with MDining
at South Quad Residence Hall.
He has held this position since
November and said he hoped to
pick up extra hours in light of
online classes and reduced social
gatherings.
Burton said he didn’t have too
many concerns about staying on
campus initially.
“It was a little bit stressful, but
I didn’t let it get to me that much,”
Burton said. “After a certain point,
you’re just like, ‘Okay, here we go
again. Here’s another mess to deal
with.’”
However,
as
University
of
Michigan
Housing
encouraged
people who are able to leave
campus, Burton said he found
himself feeling like one of the last
people living in South Quad.
“I know everyone in my friend
group left before I did, because I
was intending to stay on campus,”
Burton said. “I decided to leave
once I realized that it’s going to
shut down soon anyway.”
As for his job, MDining is
allowing student employees to
stop working if they leave campus
while still being able to resume
their job once they return to
campus. According to Burton,
the University Housing refund
covered what he would have been
making had he not taken on any
extra hours.
Even so, Burton said he is still
worried about not having an
income at this time, especially
since both of his parents had to
stop working due to the pandemic.
“I still would have liked to make
more (money) because my family
situation is not really the best at
the moment,” Burton said. “I want
to help out with that but I can’t,
really.”
LSA freshman Katie Carroll
also had an on-campus job she has
held since last semester working
as a student-teacher classroom
aide
at
the
North
Campus
Children’s Center. It was during
one of her shifts at the Children’s
Center that she got news of class
cancellation.
“It was a little nerve-wracking
— the fact that our classes had
been canceled and the University
basically shut was emailed to us
during my shift,” Carroll said. “The
Children’s Center still couldn’t get
permission to close for like five
days beyond that, even though
they’re part of the University … so
a lot of the teachers were nervous
about that.”
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, April 3, 2020
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Students discuss impact of losing on-campus
employment following coronavirus outbreak
DESIGN BY CARA JHANG
JULIA FANZERES
Daily Staff Reporter
See EMPLOYMENT, Page 3
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 98
©2020 The Michigan Daily
N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily
CAMPUS LIFE
For many students at the
University
of
Michigan,
summer is a time to gain
experience in the real world
through jobs and internships.
However,
as
the
number
of COVID-19 cases in the
United States and worldwide
has continued to rise, many
summer internships and jobs
have been canceled, leaving
some students scrambling to
find other plans.
Students’ summer plans
face threat of cancellation
SARA ZHAO
For The Daily
Future of
internships
uncertain
MI virus response on par with other states
Neighboring regions follow similar stay-at-home guidelines, allocate funds for crisis
IULIA DOBRIN
Daily Staff Reporter
DESIGN BY LIZZY RUEPPEL
See MICHIGAN, Page 3
As most University
operations shut down,
employees leave work
with no return date
See SUMMER, Page 3