Should we do this again?
University of Michigan students
and administrators are asking that
exact question about the current
hybrid semester ahead of the
upcoming decision on whether to
bring students back to campus in
the winter semester.
Unlike the decision on the fall
semester, which was announced
in June during a state and
nationwide
lull
in
COVID-19
cases, the pandemic is headed in
the wrong direction. The United
States just registered its greatest
single-day case increase — nearly
100,000 cases in a 24-hour period
— and Dr. Anthony Fauci told The
Washington Post recently that the
country “could not be positioned
more poorly” going into the winter.
Despite the challenges of the
fall hybrid semester — clusters
in residence halls, strikes across
campus in September and the
two-week stay-in-place order —
transmission outside of young
people’s social gatherings remains
low,
according
to
University
officials, and hospitalizations and
deaths have not risen with cases.
According
to
University
spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald, the
University is looking at several
factors for the winter semester
decision.
“Among
the
considerations:
health, safety and wellbeing of our
community; lessons learned from
the fall term related to teaching
and learning; survey results from
faculty, students and staff; and
feedback from many different
advisory
groups
on
campus,
students,
faculty
and
staff,”
Fitzgerald wrote in an email.
Fitzgerald added that COVID-19
testing “will be part of the plans.”
Students’ views on the hybrid
semester are mixed. Six students
interviewed by The Daily said
they were in favor of attempting a
hybrid semester again, two were
opposed and one was indifferent.
They expressed the wide range
of sentiments across the student
body as the community weighs
the value of health and normalcy
in a pandemic-marred college
experience.
About 80% of undergraduate
classes were held virtually at the
start of the year, and with the
recent order, only 10% maintain
any in-person instruction. Some
students rely on in-person classes
for their major, like pre-med LSA
sophomore Sophie Boock, who has
labs that can’t be taken virtually.
“To be able to still go in once
every three weeks and have that
hands-on experience has been
great,” Boock said.
LSA senior Jacob Katzman also
relies on in-person labs and said
he wouldn’t be in Ann Arbor next
semester if it was entirely virtual.
“If I can’t get into the lab, I can’t
do my thesis, so it would definitely
set me back if we weren’t allowed
to come in,” Katzman said. “I’m
very grateful we’re allowed to
come in this semester.”
Others found in-person classes
less essential, like Kyra Freeman,
a Public Health graduate student,
who opted into virtual classes
after the first few weeks for
convenience. LSA freshman Jenny
Nam lives in East Quad Residence
Hall and said she became more
hesitant to attend in-person classes
when cases in her residence hall
started rising.
“I was definitely a lot more
nervous being in my dorm because
we started getting a lot of emails
about how we were getting a new
COVID case like every day, so then
I was like, ‘Oh, so many people are
stuck in one dorm building, it could
spread really fast,’” Nam said.
As of Oct. 26, residence halls
have recorded 472 cases since
the beginning of the semester,
and many resident advisors have
voiced concerns over health and
safety.
LSA junior Shivang Chandna
said his off-campus apartment
is a sunk cost, but he’d wait and
watch public health metrics before
deciding to move back for the
winter.
“If they do go a hundred percent
remote and things are okay here, I
definitely want to be back, because
I love the city — I love everything
about it — but if cases keep going
up and it’s a hundred percent
online, I’d rather be back home,”
Chandna said.
U-M
administration
has
cited the high proportion of
students with off-campus leases
as justification for the hybrid
fall semester. With a link to the
physical campus, administrators
argued, students would be more
likely to follow public health
guidelines.
Most students The Daily spoke
with said they would be back in
Ann Arbor regardless of next
semester’s format, including LSA
sophomore Sam Pinkus. The time
difference between Michigan and
her California home would put her
synchronous 8 a.m. class at 5 a.m.
“Already looking into remote
learning
for
the
week
after
Thanksgiving is a little daunting,”
Pinkus said. “There’s definitely
like an academic feeling (on
campus) still, so I think it’s easier
to get things done here than at
home.”
LSA
senior
Eliot
Giannoni
said he’ll be back in Ann Arbor
regardless to “finish off the college
experience.” However, he said
connecting with people has been
harder this year.
“I can only imagine for freshmen
just coming on campus for the
first time and not really knowing
anyone, that’s got to be difficult,”
Giannoni said. “Academically, it’s
been hard as well to connect with
your peers on a group assignment.”
But
engineering
sophomore
Mohammed
Kashan
said
he
thinks the winter semester should
be entirely virtual for the safety
of students and others close to
campus.
“It would be safer because
to be honest, with people that
are as young as undergrads, and
even grad students, it’s hard to
understand what this virus is
doing,” Kashan said.
Most students who favored
another hybrid semester said the
University needs to make changes
for the winter. Some noted the
lack
of
communication,
like
Chandna, who said he has seen
“disorganization” with the recent
case escalation and stay-in-place
order.
“I mean, literally three or four
weeks ago they were like, ‘Do
in-person events up to 25 people’
and this and that,” Chandna said.
“And then fast forward to now,
we’re under lockdown, cases are
going up and I don’t think this is
going to improve.”
Pinkus said it’s also been
hard for her to keep up with the
University’s
changing
public
health guidance.
“We just get a new email every
day with new rules and regulations
regarding COVID and what we’re
allowed to do and what we’re
not allowed to do,” Pinkus said.
“Obviously the world is changing
every day and the school’s trying to
keep up with that, but just having
more clear communication with
students (would be helpful).”
Othera said the University
needed a more robust testing
plan to bring students back next
semester.
University
President
Mark Schlissel has repeatedly
defended the initial plan that
did not test off-campus students
who were asymptomatic upon
their arrival to Ann Arbor. A
community
sampling
testing
program now tests over 3,000
community members per week,
but the program didn’t reach 1,000
weekly tests until a month into the
semester.
Outside of the surveillance
testing
programs,
if
students
have a COVID-19 scare and want
immediate
testing,
they
have
to have symptoms or be a close
contact of a positive case. Nam
noted that many go off-campus
to get tested, leading to a lag in
reporting cases.
“I know people have had
experiences where they’ve had a
lot of trouble trying to get tested
for COVID,” Nam said. “I feel like
if they made it a lot easier and made
it a lot more accessible, that would
be a lot better, but it would also
expose the fact that they’re getting
a lot of COVID cases, so they
probably don’t want to do that.”
Chandna said he couldn’t say
yet what the University should do
because it depends entirely on its
testing capacity.
“If they are equipped enough to
handle another semester hybrid
with random testing, more rapid
testing, then of course hybrid —
otherwise, 100% online is the way
to go,” Chandana said.
Overall, Nam said, COVID-19
is going to be a part of the winter
semester no matter what, so the
state of campus will depend on
whether people follow public
health guidelines.
“Obviously we’re not going to
get the experience that we were
supposed to get if COVID was not
a thing, but I think that rather than
depending on the University as a
whole to just take care of things,
like everything, it would be nice
for the entire community to also
work towards being more careful
and following safety guidelines,”
Nam said.
Boock said even with all of the
turmoil of the last few months,
the fall semester is better than it
would’ve been if students weren’t
allowed back on campus.
“I always think there’s room
for more improvement, but I think
we can take this and keep going,”
Boock said. “We love it here — we
came back for a reason.”
Daily Staff Reporter Calder
Lewis can be reached at calderll@
umich.edu.
Within the first 30 seconds of
Monday night’s Zoom meeting,
members
of
the
University
of Michigan’s chapter of the
College
Democrats
began
discussing possible presidential
election results. With anxiety
regarding Tuesday’s election
and the additional stress of
mail-in ballot counting delaying
results,
the
student
group
struggled to stay calm.
LSA senior Carolyn Chen
stated frankly: “I am recklessly
optimistic. I am ready to be hurt
again.”
Chen said she was proud
of the University’s high early
voting turnout, emphasizing
the effectiveness of the satellite
voting location at the University
of Michigan Museum of Art.
State Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-18,
spoke
at
the
Zoom
rally.
Showing
excitement
about
tomorrow’s election, Irwin also
emphasized what rights are at
stake.
“I’m riding with Biden,”
Irwin said. “We all know what’s
at stake. The world’s burning,
we’re facing climate change and
have no national strategy. We’re
lagging behind on education
and labor rights. The rights
of women in this country are
tremendously under pressure.”
Irwin reminded attendees of
the importance of getting in any
last votes, saying voter turnout
has never felt more important
due to the polarization of
Tuesday’s election.
“We need to squeeze out
those late voters, those maybe
voters, and let them know why
it matters,” Irwin said.
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist,
D-Mich., spoke after Irwin,
reiterating the necessity of
voting and inspiring young
voters
to
prepare
for
a
generational change.
“Young voters are a decisive
factor
in
this
electorate,”
Gilchrist said. “We need to take
advantage of this generational
opportunity.”
Next to speak was U.S. Rep.
Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., who
was unafraid of hiding her own
election anxiety.
“I’m scared shitless,” Dingell
said. “I was really scared four
years ago, I thought Hillary
Clinton was going to lose,
nobody believed me.”
Dingell told participants to
expect hazardous rhetoric to
come from Trump this week.
“Donald Trump’s going to be
shoveling fake news tomorrow,
and we need to shovel it back up
his blank. I won’t say it, but you
know what I’m saying,” Dingell
said.
Dingell
then
introduced
her fellow representative, U.S.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.,
whom Dingell referred to as her
“sister.”
“She really is my sister,”
Dingell said. “You don’t want to
screw with the two of us.”
Tlaib
shared
the
other
speakers’
concerns
and
emphasized
her
desire
to
see the end of the Trump
administration.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
4 — Wednesday, November, 2020
College Dems host event
on eve of election night
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Students line up outside of the University of Michigan Museum of Art to cast their votes Tuesday afternoon.
EMILY BLUMBERG
For The Daily
Michigan Marching Band
adapts to virtual semester
U.S. Reps Dingell, Tlaib provide last push for voter turnout
Members learn new techniques through asynchronous modules
BROOKE VAN HORNE
For The Daily
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
CALDER LEWIS
Daily Staff Reporter
Should the ‘U’ have in-person classes this winter?
Students weigh in on impending decision from the University regarding courses, reflect on challenges of hybrid fall plan
This semester hasn’t looked
the same for any organization
on campus, and the Michigan
Marching Band is no exception.
For the first time since its
founding in 1896, the band has
pursued a fully virtual format.
Despite these challenges,
band
members
have
been
fostering friendships, learning
new skills and staying safe.
After months of planning
this summer, the band staff
chose to adopt a module style
of learning. Students enrolled
in ENS 348 just like normal
times, but instead of practicing
at Elbel Field Monday through
Friday from 4:45-6:15 p.m., the
band members are learning
completely
asynchronously.
The two-week modules are
themed so that the musicians
are able to hone their skills and
learn techniques they wouldn’t
normally be able to.
“No
one
was
expecting
this to be a substitute for an
in-person season, but I speak
for many people when I say
that we’ve gotten things out of
it that we couldn’t normally get
from a busy band schedule,”
said LSA junior Kaitlyn Colyer,
the
leader
of
the
piccolo
section.
LSA
junior
Shelby
Ostrewich, an alto saxophone
player, said she likes how
module-style
learning
has
allowed the band to learn
different skills.
“My favorite so far has been
the flag for non-flags since it
gave me an excuse to be more
active and get off my laptop,”
Ostrewich said. “It helped me
have a whole new appreciation
for our color guard.”
During
traditional
years,
the band’s rehearsal schedule
is planned down to the minute.
This year, the pandemic made
that impossible, Band Director
John Pasquale said.
“It’s completely different in
every possible way,” Pasquale
said. “Quite literally 100%
of (the program) had to be
examined, and then changed.”
The staff has worked to keep
the performers engaged.
“We obviously care about
their safety first and foremost,
that is paramount,” Pasquale
said. “Then, their experience
is a very close second.”
Not only have the modules
given
the
students
an
opportunity to see behind the
scenes, they have also helped
integrate freshmen with their
fellow band members through
collaboration,
according
to
LSA freshman Alina Stinson,
an alto saxophone player.
“The group work aspects of
these classes have introduced
me
to
so
many
different
people,” Stinson said.
Of
the
nearly
400
performers who were accepted
to be a part of the Michigan
Marching Band this season,
more than 250 students have
enrolled in the optional virtual
model while the others opted
out. Anyone in the MMB
this season will not have to
reaudition next year.
Auditions for the subsequent
academic
year
are
held
during the summer each year.
Pasquale said he was “floored”
by the number of students
who chose to audition despite
uncertainty about what the
upcoming season would look
like.
“All things considered, it
was a very positive audition
cycle,” Pasquale said.
The MMB plans to release
two completely virtual shows
this semester. The first one,
scheduled for early November,
is titled “Hail to the Everyday
Heroes” and will be a tribute
to the frontline workers in the
pandemic.
“The
resiliency
of
the
students I am so proud of and
inspired by every day, by the
spirit of the Michigan family
and community that is seen
by the students and faculty,
staff, alumni and supporters,”
Pasquale said. “How people
are coming together — it’s only
a testament to the strength of
the Michigan community.”
The
second
show
that
will be released around the
Michigan vs. Ohio State game
in December and will be
completely designed, arranged
and written by students.
In an ordinary season, the
section student leaders are
charged with teaching first
and
cultivating
community
second. This year, community
comes first given that organic
connections are difficult to
foster virtually. From section
“Among Us” games over Zoom
to remote watch parties for
game days and virtual quiet
study
sessions,
the
band
members are trying to stay
connected in any way possible.
Stinson, who opted to live
at home in Michigan with
her
family
this
semester,
said that she has made many
close
friends
—
freshmen
and upperclassmen alike —
through events organized by
the alto section.
“I’ve been amazed by the
sense of community within
the band, even in a virtual
form,” Stinson said. “I feel
just as included as if I were on
campus.”
However, building a sense of
community in the absence of
in-person practices is without
a
doubt
challenging.
LSA
junior Will Padbury said it’s
helped immensely that he lives
with fellow members of his
section.
“We
experience
virtual
band
together,
reminisce
about previous seasons, and
help each other stay focused
and optimistic for next year,”
Padbury said.
Colyer said section leaders
have always been responsible
for welcoming new members.
However,
the
nuanced
challenges this semester have
made it important to ensure
new
members
know
they
have a friend without being
overbearing.
“We’ve also had to strike a
balance between letting people
know we’re here and we’re
actively interested in their
participation in the band, but
also respecting that people are
overwhelmed with the amount
of
time
they’re
spending
online,” Colyer said.
Daily
News
Contributor
Brooke Van Horne can be
reached at brookevh@umich.
edu.