Democratic
presidential
nominee and former Vice
President Joe Biden spoke
in Detroit with U.S. Senator
Gary
Peters,
D-Mich.,
to
supporters
in
their
cars
Friday night: a little more
than two weeks before the
general election
Peters, who is also up for
re-election this November,
said he is excited to have
Biden
back
in
Michigan
and
reminded
attendees
about
Biden’s
work
for
Detroit during the Obama
administration,
referencing
his success in public office.
“We are so happy that he’s
right back here in Michigan,”
Peters said. “Right here in
Detroit, we know that Joe
cares about this state and we
know because he has been
here before, and he’s been
here when we need him.”
Peters
criticized
the
national Republican Party
leadership in regards to their
handling of the pandemic. He
told the drive-in crowd that
Biden would lead the nation
with a more comprehensive
pandemic plan.
“President Trump does not
know how to lead, and we
need a president that leads,
not tweets,” Peters said.
Peters discussed the 2008
financial crisis, which he
said Biden played a role
in mitigating for everyday
Americans, and said Biden
would advocate for people
instead of corporations.
“There were people that
said, let them go bankrupt,
let them go away,” Peters
said. “Joe Biden said no, I
will stand with American
workers, (and he) will always
stand with them to make
sure
that
they
have
the
opportunity to be successful
... He has stood with us in
the past, he will stand with
us in the future and that’s
why we will elect him the
next president of the United
States.”
American
Federation
of
Teachers
member
Everett
Whitfield,
a
teacher
at
Thirkell Elementary School
in Detroit, joined Peters.
Whitfield
said
he
voted
absentee in support of Biden
just before taking the stage.
“Joe Biden is the leader we
can trust,” Whitfield said.
“He has shown compassion
and to others in various ways.
Regardless of the party line,
he shows that he cares, (and
reflects) our precise history
of working with people of
color.”
Biden took the stage after
checking out a couple of cars
gathered around the stage.
Biden told supporters that
he loved cars and that he
believed in Motor City.
“I’ve always believed in
Michigan,” Biden said. “We
have the finest auto workers
in the world here in Michigan.
That’s not hyperbole. That’s a
fact.”
Biden
emphasized
the
need for equity in the nation,
particularly for communities
of color in Detroit.
“We
need
America’s
leadership to seek deescalate
tensions over the lines of
communications to bring us
back together again, to heal,”
Biden said. “As President,
that’s precisely what I’ll do.”
Biden said he is running
to represent all Americans
as president and that he will
work together with others in
order to enact change.
“Today, trust is heavy,
hope seems elusive, instead
of healing, we’re being ripped
apart,” Biden said. “I refuse
to let that happen. We need
to revive a spirit of being
able to work together with
one another. I’m here to tell
you it can happen again,
and that it must happen if
we’re going to get anything
done. I’m running as a proud
Democrat, but I will govern
as an American president.”
According
to
Michigan
Deputy
Communications
Director John Grandy, in
Michigan, city and township
clerks have distributed 2.8
million absentee ballots to
voters. More than 1.2 million
ballots have already been
sent in. Clerks in a record
number of cities, including
Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Flint,
Grand Rapids and Lansing,
have added weekend and
evening
hours.
These
additional hours will be used
to expand access and raise
awareness of early voting,
which is available to all
Michigan voters for the first
time in a general election.
On campus, the city set
up a satellite clerk’s office in
the University of Michigan
Museum of Art for students
to register to vote, vote early
and return absentee ballots.
Students on North Campus
can return absentee ballots at
Fire Station Number 5.
Daily Staff Reporter Sarah
Payne can be reached at
paynesm@umich.edu.
As of Friday, more than one
thousand cases of COVID-19
have been confirmed since
move-in
and
quarantine
housing is at 46% capacity,
according to the University
of
Michigan’s
COVID-19
dashboard. This comes less
than two months after move-
in and the start of classes.
During move-in, resident
advisers and students living
in University housing raised
concerns
that
University
Housing
was
not
taking
enough
precautions
to
protect
their
residents.
Members
of
ResStaff
went on strike and called
upon
the
University
for
better personal protective
equipment and enforcement
of Housing policies.
There has also been a
city-wide
impact,
with
Washtenaw County Health
Department reporting the
possibility of exposure at
two Ann Arbor restaurants,
Brown Jug Restaurant and
Chapala Mexican Restaurant
earlier this week.
Washtenaw
County
COVID-19
cases
also
crossed University metrics
for reevaluation of campus
operations
earlier
this
month.
These
metrics
include
exceeding
five
days of increases in new
infections using a seven-
day average and more than
70 new cases per million.
Meeting these metrics could
prompt “further responses
and
strategies
regarding
campus operations during
the COVID-19 pandemic,”
according to Michigan News.
In-person classes are still
being held, though 70% of
University coursework has
been online since the start of
the school year.
During the University’s
weekly COVID-19 briefing
Friday, Chief Health Officer
Preeti
Malani
said
the
current
rate
of
students
entering
quarantine
or
isolation housing is “not
sustainable” for the rest
of the semester. According
to Malani, this rise could
prompt a change in the
University’s
current
plan
for a hybrid semester if
quarantine housing fills to
capacity.
“This is very concerning
— in the last week, there’s
been a very robust increase
in these numbers and I know
many people are following
them on the COVID tracker,”
Malani said. “There still is
plenty of housing available,
but at the current rate, we
will go through it within a
couple weeks.”
When
asked
whether
quarantine
housing
is
projected
to
reach
capacity
in
two
weeks,
University
spokesperson
Rick
Fitzgerald
directed
The Michigan Daily to the
COVID-19
dashboard
and
said the number of students
in
quarantine
housing
continues to grow as more
positive cases are revealed.
“Quarantine and isolation
housing
is
running
at
46
percent
of
capacity,”
Fitzgerald
wrote.
“As
you may recall, we have
600
rooms
reserved
for
isolation
and
quarantine.
It’s clear from the graph
that the numbers have been
increasing
steadily
since
about Oct. 9.”
Fitzgerald did not confirm
whether “not sustainable”
meant
that
quarantine
housing
was
projected
to reach capacity in two
weeks,
instead
echoing
Malani’s point that students
need to practice enhanced
prevention
measures
in
order to slow the spread.
“It’s critical that each
one of us act as if we are
contagious
by
wearing
masks, gathering only in
small groups, maintaining
social
distancing
and
following
public
health
guidance,” Fitzgerald wrote.
Quarantine and isolation
housing saw an average of 51
students check in between
Oct.
13-15,
Fitzgerald
confirmed.
LSA
freshman
Emma
Dwoskin
said
she
is
concerned about the lack
of
testing
taking
place,
especially
for
freshmen
living in residence halls.
“If there’s 1,000 cases,
there’s probably four times
as much because they’re
not testing us, which is very
alarming and concerning,”
Dwoskin
said.
“I’m
sure
so
many
people
are
asymptomatic that it would
be really beneficial to just be
testing us.”
According
to
the
dashboard, as of Oct. 16,
quarantine
and
isolation
occupancy is at 46.2%. If a
student living in a residence
hall
tests
positive
for
COVID-19, they are required
to
either
quarantine
or
isolate on North Campus or
return to their permanent
residence. They may also
choose to book a room at a
local hotel.
Since move-in, there have
been nine clusters identified
in the residence halls. The
first cluster was reported
in South Quad Residence
Hall on Sept. 17. The most
recent cluster was identified
in Mary Markley Residence
Hall on Oct. 13.
In
a
recent
interview
with The Michigan Daily,
University
President
Mark
Schlissel
discussed
University Health Services
increasing
their
testing
capacity.
“We’re telling (UHS) to
ease up because we want
students
to
use
UHS,”
Schlissel said. “It’s free, it’s
convenient, there’s a one-
day turnaround time, and
we can work with students
immediately
when
they
get a positive result to help
assure their health and to
make sure it doesn’t spread
to others, so we’re going to
have the UHS folks be a little
more relaxed.”
Dwoskin said she was
aware that UHS is providing
more
tests
but
became
concerned when she was
unable to receive one, even
with cases on her dorm floor.
“(The University) said that
UHS would start allowing
testing to anyone who wants
it, and then I called UHS,
and they were not aware of
this and were not able to give
a test just if you want it, only
if you’re extremely exposed,”
Dwoskin said.
As of Friday, 322 positive
cases have been confirmed
in the past 14 days, according
to the dashboard. 2.3% of
tests administered since Oct.
11 have returned as positive
for COVID-19. Additionally,
142 students are still in
quarantine, meaning they
have either been exposed to
the virus or are still waiting
for test results.
Members of the campus
community with symptoms
should isolate and contact
University Health Service
at 734-764-8320 for a free
COVID-19
test.
People
with mild symptoms can
use the University’s online
assessment to initiate the
testing process.
Students who test positive
for COVID-19 after visiting
an off-campus testing site
should
report
their
case
here.
The University plans to
reach a decision about the
winter semester by Nov. 1.
Daily News Editor Claire
Hao contributed reporting.
Daily Staff Reporter Alec
Cohen can be reached at
cohenale@umich.edu
and
Daily
News
Editor
Liat
Weinstein can be reached at
weinsl@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
4 — Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Use of quarantine housing
spikes as U-M cases cross
1,000 since start of school
MADDIE FOX/Daily
Quarantine housing in Northwood spikes as cases surpass 1,000 since start of school year.
Occupancy rate gets close to hitting 50 percent while
spread of coronavirus on campus continues to increase
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Joe Biden, Gary Peters
campaign before election
SARAH PAYNE
Daily Staff Reporter
Presidential contender, senator go on the trail in Detroit
MDining workers speak
out after almost striking
Employees criticize working conditions in dining halls
LSA senior Mak Guenther,
who had been employed by
MDining since her freshman
year and was working in Mosher-
Jordan dining hall this year, quit
her job three weeks ago.
According
to
Guenther,
Mosher-Jordan
was
getting
1,000 more students than other
dining halls. When Guenther
asked her management and
MDining administrators about
efforts being made to mitigate
this influx of students, she
said she only got vague to no
responses and saw no change.
“It was like pulling teeth to
get answers,” Guenther said. “I
had to let it go because of how
horrible the response has been.”
Guenther said quitting was
the best thing she could do
for the strike efforts because
she made it clear that she was
leaving due to what she felt were
unsafe working conditions.
“Immediate managers were
really great and it felt like
they were on our side and they
were also trying to get the
answers for us,” Guenther said.
“But from the wider dining
administration,
(I
felt)
just
absolutely undervalued, very
taken advantage of and just
completely disrespected after
sending in questions over and
over and over again and never
getting answers back.”
Guenther
isn’t
alone
in
raising concern over MDining.
Members
of
MDining
had
planned a walkout due to these
concerns in solidarity with the
September
graduate
student
and resident adviser strikes.
The walkout was postponed and
changed to a work “slow down”
out of fear of retaliation.
Despite this action, student
workers said they still feel
unheard
by
administrators
and will continue to push for
changes in their workplace.
With the dining halls open,
MDining
workers
complete
shifts in-person, which they say
elevates the need for a response
to
their
pandemic-related
concerns.
LSA senior Nik Von Seggern,
who also worked in Mosher-
Jordan dining, took a break
from working due to what she
also felt were unsafe conditions.
According to Von Seggern,
the workers were not provided
with disposable masks as they
had been told they would be.
She said they had to use the
University-provided
cloth
masks which some MDining
workers felt were inadequate.
Though there is a sick bank
for workers to get paid sick
leave, Von Seggern said many
student workers used this bank
back in March.
“When we were all laid
off, most workers took their
sick bank,” Von Seggern said.
“Now, when we come back, the
pandemic is arguably worse
than what it was, or we know
more about it than what we did
— there’s no sick bank.”
Student MDining workers
have been circulating a petition
demanding increased workplace
protections that has garnered
more than 450 signatures at the
time of publication.
The
petition
calls
for
more testing, paid sick leave,
severance pay for the remainder
of the academic year if dining
halls
were
to
close
again,
transparent
contact
tracing,
adequate
sanitation
and
personal protective equipment
and
consistent
COVID-19
policies for all units.
Steve
Mangan,
senior
director of Michigan Dining,
said disposable masks would be
available for any worker who
didn’t have one in an email sent
Wednesday to MDining student
staff and obtained by The
Michigan Daily.
According to Mangan’s email,
there is a one-time sick bank
of up to 80 hours of paid leave
offered for MDining workers.
He
addressed
that
many
students may have used this
bank in March and April, and
he said that it is not available for
employees hired after June 7.
“For those student employees
concerned with our attendance
policy, our philosophy of ‘don’t
come to work if you are sick’
is still the guiding principle,”
Mangan wrote. “Any absence
related to COVID (going for
a test, required quarantine/
isolation, etc.) will continue to be
excused with no repercussions.”
In an email to The Daily,
Mangan
said
if
student
employees used up all of their
eligible paid time off, there is
no further paid time off unless
that employee meets the criteria
of the Michigan Paid Medical
Leave Act.
According
to
this
act,
employees
may
take
paid
medical leave for situations such
as physical or mental illness
or injury to the employee or a
family member and preventative
care for the employee or a family
member. Paid medical leave is
accrued at one hour for every 35
actual hours worked.
Public Policy senior Nora
Hilgart-Griff, who works at
the Blue Cafe in East Quad
Residence Hall, is in her third
year of working with MDining.
Employees in her unit wrote
an
email
to
management
citing concerns about COVID-
19 screening before shifts,
access to personal protective
equipment and being able to
take off work due to COVID-
19 related concerns without
consequence.
IULIA DOBRIN
Daily Staff Reporter
LIAT WEINSTEIN
& ALEC COHEN
Daily News Editor &
Daily Staff Reporter