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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 10
©2020 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
STATEMENT..................9
ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
SPORTS.......................19
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The University of Michigan is
prepared to begin administering
Pfizer vaccines as early as
Dec. 15 pending government
authorization, school officials
confirmed
in
the
weekly
COVID-19
briefing
Friday
afternoon.
Anyone
enrolled
in
the
Pharmacy,
Kinesiology,
Nursing,
Social
Work
and
Medical schools who is exposed
to patients will be included
in the first phase of COVID-
19
vaccine
prioritization,
according to Medical School
professor Sandro Cinti.
COVID-19 vaccines will be
distributed in three phases,
according to Cinti, who is also
co-lead of Michigan Medicine’s
COVID-19
Vaccine
and
Therapeutics Task Force.
Phase 1 will be administered
in three parts. Phase 1A, set
to begin Dec. 15 if the Pfizer
vaccine
receives
emergency
approval next week, includes
health care personnel and long-
term care facility residents and
staff. Pfizer has said the vaccine
will be ready within hours after
government authorization.
“We will start on the 15th
— probably — of December in
our phase one,” Cinti said. “We
will ramp up as we get more
vaccine. And we’re looking to
start vaccinating people on the
Hill in the hospital. And then we
will also have off-site clinics in
ambulatory care. Very quickly,
we will move into Phase 1B,
which includes the University.”
Phase
1B
will
vaccinate
essential workers in sectors
like education, food, utilities
and transportation, including
members
of
the
University
community. Cinti said Robert
Ernest, director of University
Health
Service,
and
other
University
personnel
are
working on how to distribute
the vaccine to the campus and
Ann Arbor communities.
“1B
is
essential
workers
and this is why we added
the
University,”
Cinti
said.
“(Getting) educators back to
work, which includes K-12, the
college campuses, is going to be
important.”
Phase 1C includes senior
citizens and others with high-
risk conditions. The components
of Phase 1 are planned to begin
about five weeks apart from
each other and overlap.
In May, LSA senior Bhoomika
Gupta received a call that her
internship was canceled due to
COVID-19, similar to students
across the country. Through
networking, Gupta was able to
successfully secure a virtual
internship
with
a
global
nonprofit.
Despite working this past
summer, Gupta has not secured
full-time employment. Gupta,
who hopes to pursue a career
in
human
resources,
said
the competitiveness of full-
time recruiting has only been
worsened
by
the
economic
uncertainty of the pandemic.
“People aren’t recruiting as
easily,” Gupta said. “Companies
that are recruiting are really
large companies that are, of
course, aggressively competitive
this semester, because everyone
knows that very few companies
are hiring.”
According to Gupta, who
hopes to work in business
human resources, the pandemic
has forced seniors interested
in
similar
fields
to
adjust
their expectations and their
recruiting timeline.
“The Michigan norm is you
recruit first semester, you’re
done, second semester you get to
relax and then you’re working.
But this year, it’s going to be more
of second-semester recruiting
or at least until December,
which is an interesting mental
game,” Gupta said. “I think for
many students, because you feel
behind your peers, you feel like
you’re not doing enough.”
The
University
recently
announced
its
plan
for
the
winter
term,
which
acknowledged
unprecedented
stressors students are facing
and emphasized the importance
of
mental
health.
Though
the
search
for
professional
opportunities
against
the
backdrop of the pandemic has
not been easy for many, the
plan did not include anything
specifically
pertaining
to
enhanced
career-related
services.
Kelly
Day,
an
internship
program manager at the LSA
Opportunity
Hub,
said
the
office has various resources for
students seeking internships.
She
pointed
to
the
LSA
Opportunity Network where
internships are posted daily.
“(We’re) trying to provide all
the support that we can, and
letting students know that it’s
okay wherever you’re at in the
situation, and it’s pretty normal
to have some of these questions
and concerns,” Day said.
Limited job options have
caused Gupta to contemplate
alternative
post-graduate
opportunities such as graduate
school.
“I know something will work
out,” Gupta said. “I’ve started
thinking about grad school as
well, because I’d rather be safe.
Grad school was not something
that was even in my plans for at
least another five or six years.”
CAMPUS LIFE
DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily
Healthcare workers at Michigan Medicine have been asked to work even if they have a close contact with COVID-19.
University plans to start vaccine
distribution as soon as Dec. 15
Pending government authorization, Michigan Medicine makes preparations
COVID complicates
career prospects for
seniors, recent grads
Professional opportunities hard to find
as coronavirus upends nation’s economy
JASMIN LEE &
CALDER LEWIS
Daily Staff Reporters
ELIZABETH WILLIAMS
For The Daily
Three Washtenaw County
business owners have teamed
up to found the Association of
Businesses of Color. The ABC
provides aid to businesses
owned by people of color
that are struggling with the
economic downturn brought
on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ABC was created by
Brian Jones-Chance, Patton
Doyle
and
Ylondia
Portis,
business owners and members
of the Downtown Development
Board in Ypsilanti, to address
the
economic
disparities
between businesses owned by
white people and those owned
by people of color in the area.
“A lot of businesses have
closed
permanently,
and
staffing is another issue,”
Jones-Chance,
co-founder
of 734 Brewing, said. “Many
of our remaining businesses
have found it difficult to keep
teams employed, the revenue
issue stemming from reduced
hours or reduced capacity or
both.”
As
businesses
adapt
to
another
round
of
forced
closures,
members
of
the
ABC have focused on how
business owners of color in
particular are handling the
new restrictions.
When
county
leaders
declared
racism
a
public
health crisis this summer,
they noted that Washtenaw
was 80th out of 83 counties
in
Michigan
for
income
inequality
according
to
a
2020 ranking. Black residents
have been disproportionately
impacted by COVID-19.
A
new
grant
will
be
introduced on Dec. 15 to
support
businesses
that
closed in response to the most
recent state order. The ABC
is working to ensure equal
access to this grant.
2020
marks
the
50th
anniversary of the University
of
Michigan
Department
of
Afroamerican
and
African
Studies within LSA. DAAS is
committed to African studies and
conducting research to support
the broader African and African
American communities.
Throughout the 1960s, Black
student
organizations
joined
together as the Black Action
Movement,
demanding
racial
justice at the University. In 1968,
BAM
organized
on-campus
protests to urge the University to
increase Black enrollment to 10%.
Among BAM’s achievements was
the creation of an Afroamerican
and African Studies Program,
which later became DAAS.
As
a
product
of
social
activism
at
the
University,
DAAS was founded upon the
principles of diversity, equity and
inclusion, according to Matthew
Countryman, DAAS department
chair and associate professor.
Since then, these foundational
principles have been integrated
into
DAAS’s
undergraduate
major and minor in addition to its
graduate certificate program.
Countryman
said
the
department seeks to create a safe
space for students and values
inclusivity greatly.
“We can be a home for students,
whatever their major or however
many courses they take with us.
We can be a place that affirms
their presence and values their
presence on campus in ways that,
unfortunately, they don’t always
experience in their other classes,”
Countryman said. “That’s crucial
to our mission and something
that all of our staff and faculty are
aware of on a daily basis.”
LSA senior Thomas Vance,
an AAS major, said this 50th
anniversary is a testament to
what Black activism can achieve.
“The 50th anniversary, to
me, is just a celebration and a
highlight of what happens when
Black students fight for change,”
Vance explained. “It’s something
I’m
always
thankful
for.
I
don’t think that my Michigan
experience would be as positive
without DAAS.”
LSA senior Tiffany Harris,
also an AAS major, found that
DAAS faculty foster a welcoming
environment where students of
color feel comfortable discussing
race in the classroom.
“In a lot of political science
classes, I’ll be the only Black
girl, and it’s uncomfortable to
have to fight for the whole Black
community consistently in class,”
Harris noted.
ACADEMICS
SHANNON STOCKING
Daily Staff Reporter
JEREMY WEINE/Daily
Three Washtenaw County business owners have teamed up to found the Association of Businesses of Color.
EVAN DELORENZO
For The Daily
Business owners look to support
companies run by people of color
Local entrepreneurs form group to provide assistance, guidance amid pandemic
DAAS students, faculty
reflect on department’s
history in its 50th year
Social activism spurred creation of Dept.
of Afroamerican and African Studies in LSA
See BUSINESS, Page 3
See JOBS, Page 3
See VACCINE, Page 3
See DAAS, Page 3