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July 30, 2020 - Image 3

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

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

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