The Michigan primary elec-

tion for Michigan’s 12th Con-
gressional District seat in the 
U.S. House of Representatives 
is on Aug. 4. Solomon Rajput, 
a current medical student at 
the University of Michigan, 
is taking a leave of absence 
to run for Congress and chal-
lenging incumbent U.S. Rep. 
Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., who 
has served three terms as the 
representative from the 12th 
district. The Dingell family 
has represented the district for 
the past 87 years –– Dingell 
was preceded by her husband 
John Dingell Jr. and his father 
John Dingell Sr. Candidate Jeff 
Jones is running uncontested 
in the Republican primary for 
the 12th district. 

The 
Washtenaw 
County 

Democratic 
Party 
recently 

hosted a debate for Rajput and 
Dingell where they discussed 
the COVID-19 pandemic, the 
economy and the environment. 
Last week, The Daily met with 
both Democratic candidates to 
discuss their experience, main 
policy issues, campaign strate-
gies and the importance of vot-
ing in the upcoming election 
before the primary. 

Medicare 
for 
All 
and 

Healthcare

Though both candidates sup-

port Medicare for All, Dingell 
cited universal healthcare as 
her top issue going into a new 
Congress in 2021 and was a lead 
sponsor of the Medicare for All 
Act in 2019. 

“The 
number 
one 
issue 

that I am going to get done 
is Medicare for All,” Dingell 
said. “I think every person in 
this country has a right, when 
they’re sick, to be able to go 
to the doctor (and) not have 
to think about (being) able to 

afford the treatment that they 
need. I have always felt this 
way but having been a care-
giver for five years, and seeing 
this (first-hand), I know I’m 
luckier than many and the days 
that I was desperate, I couldn’t 
navigate the system. I couldn’t 
make it work.” 

Rajput spoke on the current 

healthcare system’s need for 
reform, calling it a “dystopia,” 
and told The Daily that his 
campaign supports Medicare 
for All systems. 

“We are ardently support-

ing a Medicare for All system, 
single-payer health care system 
that would guarantee health 
care for all people in this coun-
try, because right now, our 
system could not be more dys-
functional,” Rajput said. “Our 
health care system is kind of 
the health care system you’d 
find in a dystopia.”

Rajput also said Medicare for 

All is more necessary than ever 
amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“(People are) not only wor-

ried about getting the virus,” 
Rajput said. “They’re also wor-
ried about losing (their) job and 
losing their health care, and 
then not being able to get treat-
ment for the virus because they 
no longer have health care. So 
still, (a) Medicare for All sys-
tems is something that we’re 
really fighting for.”

Rajput said his experience as 

a medical student gives him a 
unique, first-hand understand-
ing of health care issues. 

“We go see patients (and) we 

try to figure out what’s going 
on with them,” Rajput said. “So 
often, we have to tell patients 
we know exactly what’s going 
on with you and we got the per-
fect thing for you, but we can’t 
give it to you because your 
health insurance doesn’t cover 
it. And it’s some pretty sad, 
heartbreaking stuff.” 

3

Thursday, July 30, 2020

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS

The University of Michigan 

COVID-19 Campus Challenge, an 
initiative organized through the 
College of Engineering aimed to 
support and showcase student 
ideas for changes to be made on 
campus during the pandemic, 
hosted a virtual showcase on July 
1. Teams presented their propos-
als in project categories includ-
ing food insecurity, Diversity, 
Equity and Inclusion, co-cur-
ricular activities, mental health, 
housing and transportation. Sev-
eral projects from each category 
were designated as finalists. 

Business sophomore Achintya 

Saxena participated in the food 
insecurity category and pro-
posed improvements to the exist-
ing infrastructure of the Maize 
and Blue Cupboard. His team’s 
project was titled “Maize and 
Blue Cupboard 2.0.” The project 
included a scheduling system 
to keep students and MBC staff 
safe while connecting with local 
farmers, distributing easy and 
healthy recipes and increasing 
community engagement with the 
Cupboard in the long-run. 

Saxena said he believes food 

insecurity grows with increas-
ing economic problems, so health 
concerns and budget restrictions 
for some students may hinder 
them from getting the food they 
need. 

“Because of COVID, people 

aren’t able to go to the Maize and 
Blue Cupboard because they may 
not be on the Michigan campus 
or if they are on campus they may 
be afraid to go to a public space,” 
Saxena said. 

One of the most enjoyable 

parts of the challenge for Saxena 
was the collaborative nature of 
the development process

“It was kind of different than 

some of the other case competi-
tions I’ve done before in that it 
fostered a much more collabora-
tive environment where you were 
given a lot of mentors and staff 
who you could reach out to and 
ask questions,” Saxena said. “For 
example, for food insecurity we 
had a meeting with MDining staff 
and we were also able to schedule 
one-on-one meetings with the 
associate dean of students as well 
as the director of the Maize and 
Blue Cupboard. That exposure 
was really good because it gave 
us a lot of access to information 
we wouldn’t normally be able to 
come across as students.”

Engineering 
sophomore 

Manasi Sridhar and LSA junior 
Meredith Ainsworth created a 

project aimed at battling social 
isolation on campus during the 
fall semester. The project incor-
porates a survey — called the 
UMich Pal Pact — and a matching 
algorithm designed to help stu-
dents connect with someone new 
and expand their social support 
network. Ainsworth explained 
how the makeup of the Univer-
sity’s smaller colleges and units 
coupled with the public-health 
informed fall semester can make 
campus a very isolating place for 
some students.

“I think it is more important 

than ever to bring people togeth-
er and try to make sure that 
people are not feeling lonely and 
able to advocate for themselves 
in terms of mental health,” Ain-
sworth said. 

Additionally, their team hoped 

to coordinate more virtual and 
in-person mental health wellness 
events. According to Sridhar, the 
problem with mental health ser-
vices on campus is not the lack 
of them, but rather the lack of 
accessibility to them. 

Sridhar, Ainsworth and their 

other team members have decid-
ed to continue on with their 
project regardless of if they are 
contacted by the University’s 
administration, as they believe it 
will positively benefit students. 

Participants reflect on 
COVID-19 campus challenge

CELENE PHILIP
Daily Staff Reporter

Design by Hibah Chughtai

SARAH PAYNE & 
ARJUN THAKKAR
Summer News Editor &

Daily Staff Reporter

Read more at michigandaily.com
Read more at michigandaily.com

Dingell, Raj
put 

pr
prep
pa
ar
re for e
ele
ect
tio
on

The congressional candidates outline 

campaign strategy

Students discuss next 
steps, lessons learned 

and shortcomings

