Gyms
and
pools
can
reopen subject to restrictions
to
uphold
public
health
protocols amid the COVID-
19 pandemic, Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer
announced
Thursday. Some organized
sports will also be permitted
to resume as part of the state’s
gradual reopening process.
Following the governor’s
executive
order,
the
University
of
Michigan’s
Department of Recreational
Sports announced plans to
begin reopening its facilities
to the campus community in
the next several weeks.
The
department
noted
that the process would not
take
place
immediately,
nor
without
the
proper
health and safety measures
recommended by state and
federal officials.
“The exact reopening dates
for each facility will not be
determined until we evaluate
the amount of work still
needed,” the update read. “We
will then develop timelines
for how quickly this work can
be completed and ensure we
can meet all additional state
requirements.”
In
the
press
release,
Whitmer explained that her
order is in accordance with
the public-health informed
policies her office has tried to
pursue during the pandemic.
“Throughout
this
pandemic, we have followed
the best science and data
available to make decisions
that will keep Michiganders
safe, and our hard work is
paying off,” Whitmer said.
“Today we are announcing
the reopening of gyms and
pools
with
strict
safety
measures in place to protect
patrons and their families.”
In an interview with The
Daily, Mike Widen, director
of recreational sports at the
University,
said
the
plan
will be rolled out in phases
and with students’ health in
mind.
“We put together a phased
reopening
plan
that
will
include some reduced hours
when
we
open,”
Widen
said. “We wanted to reduce
the hours a little bit so we
get a chance to really get
some extra cleaning done
in between times. Luckily
we have three facilities in
order to make that happen.
So we’re gonna look at less
hours per day for each facility
but we’ll try to make sure that
each facility, we get the most
utilization time.”
In addition to frequent
cleaning
and
spaced
out
exercise equipment, Widen
said that intramural sports
would occur in a safe manner,
only
with
activities
that
allow for a greater degree of
social distancing than the
intramural sports students
usually play
“The
intramural
sports
program is starting this fall
with outdoor and virtual
programs only,” Widen said.
“So the outdoor programs
will be those that we can
physically
distance,
so
we’re doing things like (for)
basketball
we’re
playing
HORSE
instead
of
five-
on-five
or
three-on-three.
We’re
playing
beanbags,
we’re playing Kan Jam, we’re
playing
Pickleball,
we’re
playing singles tennis.”
The
Department
of
Recreational
Sports
anticipates needing time to
fully reopen gyms in order
to “complete the necessary
hiring, training, maintenance
and safety precautions to
prepare
our
facilities
to
safely operate in a COVID-
19 public health informed
environment.”
Daily Staff Reporter Ben
Rosenfeld can be reached at
bbrosenf@umich.edu.
The Michigan Republican
Party
announced
Sarah
Hubbard and Carl Meyers as its
candidates for the University
of Michigan Board of Regents
this weekend. They will face
off against incumbents Shauna
Ryder Diggs (D) and Mark
Bernstein (D) in the November
general
election.
Currently,
Regent Ron Weiser is the only
Republican
serving
on
the
board.
Meyers, a longtime political
operative and former Michigan
Republican
Party
treasurer,
ran unsuccessfully for regent
in 2004 and 2016. He also made
a bid for the position in 2014
but did not receive enough
votes at the state nominating
convention. Meyers, a U-M
Dearborn alum, is currently
the senior vice president of
Investments
at
Raymond
James.
Meyers
thanked
the
Republican
Party
for
the
nomination in a Facebook post
and said if elected, he wants to
freeze tuition at the University.
“After all athletes are back
on the field and students back
in the classroom, my first order
of business will be to propose
a freeze in tuition,” Meyers
wrote. “Yes, freeze tuition …
U of M is now one of the most
expensive public universities
in the country. In the middle
of the COVID-19 pandemic,
the Board chose to raise tuition
costs … this is just wrong.”
In 2016, his platform focused
on fiscal conservatism, budget
transparency and accessibility.
His priorities for 2020 are
similar, noting the need for
financial discipline in response
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According
to
Meyers’s
pre-convention
campaign
statement, Meyers’s campaign
has raised a total of $179.68
in contributions and other
receipts, all of which came
from Meyers himself.
Meyers
did
not
respond
immediately to request for
comment.
Hubbard, his co-challenger
and University alum, is a
small-business
owner
and
has experience working in
Republican politics. According
to her campaign website, she
will try to lower tuition by
taking efforts to “rein in out of
control spending.”
The
website
also
notes
that she wants the University
to
reopen
for
in-person
classes amid the pandemic
and emphasizes the need to
promote freedom of speech
on
campus,
claiming
that
conservative
voices
are
“consistently
mocked
and
stymied, even to the point of
being banned” on campus.
In an interview with The
Daily,
Hubbard
said
her
Republican values informed
her campaign for regent.
“I’m conservative, pro-life,
pro-Second
Amendment
—
that’s something that just as a
regent I think is important and
a matter of representing the
Republican Party,” Hubbard
said. “But as far as issues
before the Board of Regents, I
haven’t really had a chance to
look at those and how it applies
at this point.”
Hubbard expressed support
for the University’s decision
to bring students back to
campus for a hybrid semester,
a decision that has sparked
criticism from both students
and faculty.
“It’s important that students
be back at school and I admire
the fact that the University
has found a way to bring kids
back to the dorms,” Hubbard
said. “I also wish that we could
move forward with a football
season, just like a lot of our
peers are across the country.
Unfortunately, the Big Ten
made this decision to basically
cancel football … and it’s too
bad because it plays such an
important role for the entire
athletic system at Michigan
as well as the University as a
whole.”
The Big Ten has not canceled
the season entirely. Instead,
the
season
is
tentatively
postponed,
though
the
organization has not said how
long this postponement will be.
According
to
campaign
finance documents filed prior
to the convention, Hubbard’s
campaign has raised a total
of $2,675 in contributions and
other receipts. Of that, $1,000
came from her father, Jerry
Hubbard,
who
previously
served as a supervisor of
Branch County Commissioner
and Union Township.
In addition to advocating
for Second Amendment rights,
Hubbard’s campaign website
lists supporting anti-abortion
voices on campus as a priority,
a stance she doubled down on
when speaking to The Daily.
“I think it’s important for
all voices, really, to be brought
to
the
fore(front)
related
to discussions on campus,”
Hubbard said. “It’s important
to
make
sure
everyone’s
heard pro-life conservatives
in classrooms, and that they
are able to make sure that
their points are made and that
they’re understood, that there
are several points of view on
lots of different issues and we
want to make sure that that
kind of speech is protected.”
In
a
June
2
Facebook
post detailing his campaign
priorities,
Meyers
also
highlighted what he sees as the
stifling of conservative voices
on campus.
“From
the
Governor’s
office to our universities, civil
liberties are being eroded.
I believe in protecting free
speech on campus and assuring
fair admissions for all,” Meyers
wrote. “The University must
foster
an
environment
on
campus where all students feel
free and safe to express their
thoughts and views, without
fear
of
retribution
from
fellow students, faculty or the
administration.”
Meyers also acknowledged
the
difficulty
of
running
against
incumbents,
arguing that the Democratic
supermajority on the Board of
Regents must go.
“This is going to be a tough
race…,”
Meyers
wrote.
“I
expect to be running against
two sitting liberal Democratic
incumbents. It’s going to be
a real fight, but I’m up to the
challenge!”
Daily
News
Editors
Liat
Weinstein and Emma Stein can
be reached at weinsl@umich.
edu and enstein@umich.edu.
Managing News Editor Leah
Graham can be reached at
leahgra@umich.edu.
The
University
of
Michigan’s football rivalry
with Ohio State University’s
spans more than a century.
This year, the two teams will
not have the opportunity to
play after Big Ten presidents
and chancellors, including
University President Mark
Schlissel, announced that the
season would be postponed
with hopes of assembling a
spring schedule.
Baltimore Ravens coach
John Harbaugh, brother of
Michigan football coach Jim
Harbaugh, has continued to
advocate for a football season,
telling reporters Wednesday,
“Free the Big Ten. Let’s go.
Let’s go play some football.”
Jim Harbaugh has loudly
advocated
for
playing
football this fall, releasing a
lengthy statement citing his
team’s low positive test rate
last month.
On Saturday, Jim Harbaugh
attended a protest organized
by Michigan football parents
calling for a fall football
season.
“Free the Big Ten, like
my brother John Harbaugh
said,”
Jim
Harbaugh
told reporters. “I mean,
(it) says it all. We want
to be free to play.”
Schlissel was one of
the Big Ten presidents
who
voted
in
favor
of putting off the fall
season. In an August
statement,
Schlissel
noted there were “too
many poorly understood
health
and
safety
concerns
unique
to
intercollegiate athletics
to
move
forward
with
practices
and
competition at present.”
On
Saturday,
Jim
Harbaugh
said
he
“would have rather been
coming to a game than a
rally,” adding that “We
should’ve
been
playing
a
game today.”
While
the
Harbaughs
criticize the Big Ten, local
politicians
and
university
chapters
of
College
Democrats in both Michigan
and
Ohio
are
shifting
the blame to the Trump
administration.
In
a
virtual
press
conference Friday morning,
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell,
D-Mich.,
Columbus
City
Attorney Zach Klein and
students from universities
across Michigan and Ohio
criticized
the
Trump
administration’s
pandemic
response
while
endorsing
former
Vice
President
Joe
Biden’s
policies
and
campaign.
Trump
has
been
in
contact
with
Big
Ten
Commissioner Kevin Warren
recently,
discussing
how
the conference can resume
playing as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, Trump tweeted
that discussions put them on
“the one yard line.”
At the press conference
Friday, Dingell described her
love for Michigan football
and her disappointment in
the canceled season.
“There’s
nothing
better
on a Saturday than a Big
Ten football game,” Dingell
said. “Quite frankly, I like
football more than I like
politics and suddenly we
don’t have a season this fall
... the way that COVID has
been handled from the very
beginning
is
determining
what’s happening in this
country.”
Dingell said she wears
a
mask
and
practices
physical distancing to lead
by
example.
Trump
has
wavered
on
supporting
COVID-19 precautions such
as masks and distancing.
Most recently, the majority
of attendees did not practice
these safety precautions at
the
Republican
National
Convention.
She
acknowledged
the
frustration of both players
and
fans
and
addressed
the economic strain these
decisions put on towns like
Ann Arbor.
“Our college athletes are
upset,” Dingell said. “Do
you know what this does to a
town like Ann Arbor and the
surrounding
communities
or any of the other Big
Ten hometowns? It hurts
those small businesses and
there’s no question — what
we don’t need is a president
playing politics with a very
flammable situation.”
Klein, an alum of Ohio
State
University,
said
he
was disappointed about the
cancellation of the fall season
but celebrated the two states
coming together to discuss
COVID-19 policies and the
importance
of
economic
recovery.
“The greatest rivalry in
college sports: Ohio State
versus Michigan in football,”
Klein said. “The fact that
we’re coming together to
talk about the importance
of COVID, recovery, sports,
the economy, our health I
think is really summed up in
the cancellation of a football
season.”
Klein said college sports
have
a
massive
impact
not
only
on
universities
themselves
but
on
their
surrounding communities as
well.
“Our economy is failing
and we have no football,”
Klein said. “All of that is
because of failed presidential
leadership.
The
economy
is COVID and COVID is
the economy and until the
president of the United States
recognizes it for what it’s
worth and takes it seriously
... not only are we not going
to have football, we’re not
going to have the economic
rebound for the families that
deserve it.”
Ben
Schuster,
Business
senior
at
the
University
of
Michigan
and
presidential campaign
organizing director for
Ohio students, spoke
about Trump’s slow
pandemic
response,
saying Trump failed
to heed warnings from
scientists
about
the
impact of the virus.
“Donald Trump did
not take the steps that
we need(ed) to control
this
pandemic,”
Schuster said. “He’s
had
six
months
to
come up with a plan
but
instead
he’s
ignored
warnings,
downplayed the threat
COVID-19 poses and attacked
social distancing measures
that would have slowed the
spread.”
Schuster
said
he
is
disappointed by the lack of
action from Trump on policy
issues pertaining to COVID-
19.
“I take this rivalry very
seriously and Trump always
says he’s doing something to
get football back but he isn’t,”
Schuster said. “Like always,
he is tweeting demands with
no follow-through.”
Managing
Sports
Editor
Ethan
Sears
contributed
reporting.
Daily Staff Reporter Sarah
Payne can be reached at
paynesm@umich.edu
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
4 — Wednesday, September 9, 2020
MI, OH Dems put rivalry
aside to criticize Trump
for fall without football
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michigan and Ohio Democrats come together to agree that President Trump’s response to COVID-19 caused the Big Ten
presiden’ts decision to postpone athetlics this fall.
SARAH PAYNE
Daily Staff Reporter
GOP Regent candidates run
on pro-life, pro-2A agenda
LEAH GRAHAM,
EMMA STEIN &
LIAT WEINSTEIN
Managing News Editor
& Daily News Editors
Politicians pinpoint administration’s response to COVID-19 as
cause of Big Ten presidents’ decision to postpone athletics
Republican hopefuls look to unseat Democratic incumbents
Executive order clears way
for reopening gyms, sports
Whitmer allows for some organized physical activities to resume
BEN ROSENFELD
Daily News Editor
“I take this rivalry
very seriously and
Trump always
says he’s doing
something to get
football back, but
he isn’t.”