The 
candidates 
discussed 

the 
University’s 
COVID-19 

response, tuition increases, sexual 
misconduct 
investigations 
and 

systemic racism, among other 
issues.

The election will fill two open 

seats on the board. Incumbent 
Regent 
Shauna 
Ryder 
Diggs 

(D) was joined by three-time 
candidate Carl Meyers (R) and 
first-time 
candidate 
Michael 

Mawilai (Green) at the forum. Each 
candidate gave a brief overview of 
their platform before responding 
to a series of questions from 
Colleen 
Conway, 
moderator 

of the event and chair of the 
Senate Advisory Committee on 
University Affairs.

Much of the conversation at 

the forum focused on the board’s 
role in holding the University’s 
administration 
accountable 

for 
both 
transparency 
and 

communication with the greater 
community. When asked about 
responding to sexual misconduct 
allegations 
against 
former 

University 
Provost 
Martin 

Philbert and the late University 
Health Service Director Robert 
Anderson, Ryder Diggs advocated 
for bringing in external experts 
and 
spoke 
to 
the 
board’s 

responsibility to the public and to 
the University.

“I believe the board’s role 

is critical with issues such as 
Philbert and Dr. Anderson because 
these types of issues affect the 

entire institution, affect trust, 
transparency 
and 
obviously 

affect risk — the risk profile of the 
University,” Ryder Diggs said. “I 
believe the board’s role is to assist 
with bringing in independent 
outside experts to work with our 
internal teams to take a broad 
look.”

Mawilai 
advocated 
for 

conducting 
investigations 

internally when possible. Meyers 
seconded Ryder Digg’s proposal, 
suggesting that the University 
should bring in outside experts in 
these types of investigations.

The three candidates expressed 

their disapproval of University 
President 
Mark 
Schlissel’s 

response 
to 
the 
COVID-19 

pandemic. Mawilai referenced the 
Graduate Employees’ Organization 
protests last month, criticizing the 
University’s reopening process.

“I think we really should’ve 

erred more on the side of caution, 
make 
sure 
that 
everybody’s 

onboard and not try to steamroll 
a reopening before we had all the 
plans in place where everybody 
knew what they had to do,” 
Mawilai said.

Meyers said the University’s 

reopening 
plan 
was 
unclear, 

emphasizing 
the 
board’s 

responsibility 
in 
holding 
the 

administration accountable. Ryder 
Diggs said it is important to create 
a clear plan early on, modifying it 
as we learn more about the virus 
and gathering input from a variety 
of voices on campus.

The candidates also discussed 

the University’s 1.9% increase in 

tuition for the 2020-2021 school 
year. Ryder Diggs said she voted 
twice against the tuition increase 
and suggested that the University 
could afford not to increase tuition 
in the upcoming school year. 
Mawilai spoke to the importance 
of providing the best value for 
students’ 
education 
and 
also 

advocated to minimize tuition 
increases.

Meyers, whose platform is 

largely based in higher education 
affordability, promised one of 
his first proposals would be to 
roll back the increase and freeze 
tuition.

“The cost of higher education 

has stifled diversity and stifled 
inclusion 
where 
folks 
look 

elsewhere,” Meyers said. “I think 
the budget needs to be controlled, 
especially during this COVID 
period. The University is in the 
most serious financial challenge 
in its modern history right now 
and they chose to raise tuition 
where students get a diminished 
experience … it was wrong.”

Other topics included systemic 

racism and proposals to cut police 
funding. All three candidates 
acknowledged the existence of 
systemic racism and the necessity 
of taking steps to eradicate it. None 
said they would defund campus 
police. 

Ryder Diggs and Meyers argued 

the University should allocate 
more resources to the Division of 
Public Safety and Security. 

Ten thousand free, reusable 

masks will be given to low-
income 
communities 
and 

the elderly, the Washtenaw 
County Office of Community 
and 
Economic 
Development 

announced in a press release 
Tuesday. 

The masks will be distributed 

throughout 
the 
county, 

including at 12 locations in 
Ann Arbor. The program stems 
from an executive order Gov. 
Gretchen Whitmer signed in 
August to provide 4 million 
free masks throughout the 
state of Michigan. 

OCED 
Administrative 

Assistant David Beck, who 
works 
closely 
with 
the 

distribution 
sites 
for 
the 

program, said masks will be 
vital as residents brace for 
colder 
weather 
and 
more 

indoor activities. 

“Our hope is to be able to 

get the masks out, to be able 
to distribute them and have 
people prepared for winter, and 
not be scrambling during the 
winter to provide masks” Beck 
said. 

Beck said the county has 

been informally distributing 
free masks to residents for 
months.

“Originally there were masks 

that people were selling and 
were making that they were 
donating to us,” Beck said. “If 
anyone needed a mask we tried 
to deliver it to them, or they 
were able to come to our office 
to pick it up.” 

Beck 
said 
the 
state 

government’s 
donation 
of 

10,000 masks has formalized 
the distribution project, and 
the program aims to reach as 
many people conveniently as 
possible. 

“Even acquiring masks, and 

particularly reusable masks, 
may not be as easy for some 
people in our community than 
others,” Beck said. “For senior 
citizens who might not have 
transportation to go to certain 
places to buy masks, for those 
who maybe don’t have the 
disposable incomes to be able 
to find masks.” 

The 
pandemic 
has 

shown 
that 
COVID-19 
has 

disproportionately 
impacted 

specific communities, such as 
low-income families, African 
Americans and senior citizens, 
more than others. 

Beck said OCED has been 

doing important work for these 
communities, including using 
donations and funding to help 
with utilities and rent during 
the economic shutdown and 
the current recovery. Beck said 
the free mask program is an 
extension of this work.

Though 
the 
free 
mask 

program is in response to 
COVID-19, 
Beck 
said 
the 

community connections forged 
through 
its 
implementation 

could be useful towards other 
initiatives going forward.

“Finding new organizations 

and new places and new groups 
to be able to work with, I think 
will be the broader impact,” 
Beck said. “Hopefully, God 
forbid, if anything like this 
happens again … the network 
that’s already in place will be 
strengthened. We’’ll be able to 
start networking out to other 
organizations and partnering 
with other organizations to be 
able to help provide services 
and other resources as we can.”

Jennifer 
Howard 
is 
the 

director of the Turner Senior 
Wellness Program, one of the 
mask distribution sites in Ann 
Arbor. She works closely with 
the elderly in the area.

“When COVID hit, we had 

to shut everything down, all 
of our programming was in 
person and we couldn’t safely 
bring anybody into the center,” 
Howard said. “The thing that is 
really tough on our community 
is the socialization, and some 
of the isolation that has come 
from this.”

Carolina 
Barillas 
is 
a 

Manchester resident who works 
as a nanny for a doctor’s family. 
Barillas said she has been living 
on a stretched budget due to 
the pandemic. Since she was 
laid off for the majority of the 
summer, Barillas said she has 
been closely budgeting and 
watching her money.

Barillas said she thought 

the free mask program was 

an important offering to the 
county. 

“I’m an essential worker and 

I’m in the high risk category, 
and I have to go out and work,” 
Barillas said. “I think they 
should be free ... It’s a lot less 
stressful, with my very limited 
funds.” 

Barillas said it was vital 

for the entire community to 
practice wearing masks.

“It’s your civic duty to wear 

a mask,” Barillas said. “To 
show that you care about other 
people.” 

In the past few months, 

the center has been able to 
reopen a few days a week and 
begin providing some of these 
community services, such as 
exercise 
programs, 
cooking 

classes and other social events, 
in 
conjunction 
with 
their 

online efforts. Howard said the 
free mask program will help 
the center be able to stay open 
and keep operations running. 

“We do have a lot of our folks 

who do not have the resources 
to purchase the masks that 
they need, the PPE, that kind 
of thing,” Howard said. “So 
this is a really great way for us 
to have those masks on hand 
available for them, not only to 
use within our center but to 
use for anywhere else that they 
might go.”

Public Health senior Emily 

Guo is the co-president of 
CURIS Public Health Advocacy, 
a 
student 
organization 
on 

campus that works to enact 
public health efforts in the 
local 
community. 
She 
said 

affordable, 
reusable 
masks 

are important for low-income 
communities. 

“(Wearing a mask) is one of 

the most cost-effective primary 
prevention strategies for the 
communities so you don’t have 
to rely on coming in later, 
which is more expensive,” Guo 
said. “(Some people benefitting 
from the program) have to have 
in-person contact, which is the 
case for a lot of low-income 
communities.” 

Daily 
News 
Contributor 

Paige Hodder can be reached at 
phodder@umich.edu. 

When students returned to 

campus in August amid the 
COVID-19 
pandemic, 
many 

socialized outdoors at a safe 
distance. 
As 
the 
weather 

becomes 
colder, 
students 

are faced with an important 
question: how can they socialize 
now?

Rackham 
student 
John 

Gearig said he’s worried about 
colder weather, as he doesn’t 
think it’ll be as safe to spend 
time with friends indoors. 

“If weather permits, I prefer 

to be with people outdoors, but 
it’s not very possible,” Gearig 
said. 

In a normal year, students get 

exercise when walking short 
distances to class and to meet 
with friends. As temperatures 
drop, 
this 
becomes 
less 

common, 
especially 
since 

most students have many of 
their 
classes 
online. 
Preeti 

Malani, University of Michigan 
chief health officer, said she 
encourages students to continue 

spending time outside even 
when the temperature drops.

“Even when it’s colder, it is 

still important for your overall 
health to try and get outside,” 
Malani said. “There’s a saying 
that there’s no bad weather, 
there’s just inadequate clothing. 
Not to say that you can spend 
hours and hours outside in the 
winter months, but definitely 
find ways to be outside when it’s 
possible.”

Because common areas in 

the residence halls are closed, 
students tend to rely on the few 
buildings open on campus to 
connect with each other and get 
out of the cold. LSA freshman 
Lauren Wittek said students are 
told to follow social distancing 
requirements in these indoor 
spaces.

“Most of the time that my 

friends and I are inside, it’s in 
the Union, so we have to have 
our masks on,” Wittek said. 

When spending time together 

indoors, Malani said wearing a 
mask and maintaining distance 
will prevent the spread of the 
virus.

“Indoors you can still get 

together, it’s just a matter of 
maintaining 
some 
distance 

and wearing a mask,” Malani 
said. “One of the concerns is 
that students won’t follow the 
guidance (of density limits), but 
I have no doubt that the students 
will follow the guidance. If you 
can have a mask on and can be 
in closer proximity, you want to 
try to maintain that six feet if 
you can, and you want to have a 
well-ventilated room.”

University contact tracers 

have identified six COVID-19 
clusters in the residence halls. 
Though some attribute this to 
the shared common areas and 
restrooms in communal living 
spaces, Malani said most of this 
spread is through social contact. 

“I would say that people in 

congregate housing are at risk 
just because they can be in 
settings with large numbers of 
people, but living there itself is 
not a higher risk,” Malani said. 

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
 4 — Wednesday, October 14, 2020 

As cold weather arrives, 
students consider options

DESIGN BY SHANNON STOCKING

KAITLYN LUCKOFF

For The Daily

Washtenaw County will 
donate 10,000 free masks

Health experts weigh in on ways to socialize this coming winter

Supplies to be prioritized for at-risk communities, elderly

Candidates for Regents 
talk ‘U’ COVID-19 response

Topics discussed include systemic racism, sexual misconduct

ANGELINA LITTLE

Daily Staff Reporter

PAGE HODDER

For The Daily

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Students 
in 
asynchronous 

classes said the transition back 
to school has been especially 
difficult. Without a structured 
schedule and classes meeting 
regularly, students said they face a 
new challenge in managing their 
time. 

LSA 
sophomore 
Melanie 

Esterine, whose only synchronous 
classes are small discussions, 
said 
she 
struggled 
with 

procrastination at first while 
adjusting to the unconventional 
semester. 

“In the beginning, it was really 

difficult because I feel like when 
you don’t have a set schedule to 
stick with, you just do things 
whenever, and then you keep 
putting it off and then it becomes 
a mess,” Esterine said. 

Now that she has settled 

into the semester, Esterine has 
discovered a few tricks to help her 
stay organized and on track with 
her school work. 

“I’ve started to try and develop 

my own schedule that works best 
for me that consists of doing a lot 
of stuff on Monday and Tuesday 
and then maybe taking it easier 
on the other days,” Esterine said. 
“That’s been helping me a lot. I 
would say that I’ve gotten used to 
it now.”

LSA senior Dawson Wells 

said he has conflicting opinions 
about 
asynchronous 
lectures. 

Even though his asynchronous 
lectures have given him more 

independence, they also have 
some drawbacks.

“Without having that structure 

built-in, it’s a lot harder to stay 
motivated and to stay caught up 
and not have a night where I have 
four lectures to watch before my 
exam,” Wells said. 

However, Engineering junior 

Carolyn 
Melvin 
said 
she 
is 

actually a fan of asynchronous 
classes. 
Having 
pre-recorded 

lectures allows her to watch them 
at both a convenient time and a 
suitable pace. 

“To be honest, the transition to 

asynchronous lectures has been 
better than expected,” Melvin 
said. “A lot of my classes in the 
past had recorded lectures which 
I have always liked because I 
can speed up or slow down the 
lectures.” 

 Since she is unable to see the 

other students and communicate 
with them, Melvin said she feels 
isolated 
while 
watching 
her 

asynchronous lectures.

“When it comes to interacting 

with other students in class, this 
has been much tougher,” Melvin 
said. “It is easy to feel alone in 
classes and not know how to get 
help.” 

LSA senior Tikvah Finn said 

she feels as though the workload 
is heavier with asynchronous 
classes, which are more difficult 
for her with the additional 
responsibility of watching over 
her child. 

“Virtual learning, as necessary 

as it is during this pandemic, has 
led to a significantly increased 

workload as a student,” Finn 
said. “Compared to a previous 
17-credit, in-person semester, I 
have to spend more time watching 
virtual lectures and studying 
outside of class time during this 
13-credit online semester.”

Music, 
Theater 
& 
Dance 

sophomore 
Andrew 
Kevic 

voiced the same criticisms as 
Finn. Kevic said he has also had 
more work this semester due 
to asynchronous lectures and 
virtual learning. Coupled with his 
other responsibilities outside the 
classroom, Kevic said he finds it 
challenging to manage his time. 

“I think it kind of changes the 

balance of my whole schedule, 
especially because I have work 
study and I have another job on 
top of that, so I have to really 
think about how I spend my time,” 
Kevic said. 

Kevic 
said 
even 
though 

asynchronous 
classes 
have 

made it more difficult for him to 
have a regular schedule, he has 
also found that there are some 
benefits. In learning how to better 
manage his time, Kevic said he 
has acquired a new skill. 

“It’s been a lot more of a 

challenge, 
but 
in 
ways 
it’s 

been 
more 
rewarding 
than 

last semester, especially since 
quarantine,” Kevic said. “I’ve 
noticed that I’ve had a lot more 
control of my time and I’ve been 
able to kind of shape my day, every 
day.”

Daily 
Staff 
Reporter 
Lily 

Gooding 
can 
be 
reached 
at 

goodingl@umich.edu.

Students in asynchronous 
classes discuss scheduling

New format of learning brings challenges in time management

LILY GOODING
Daily Staff Reporter

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com