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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 19
©2021 The Michigan Daily

N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

ARTS............................ 5

MIC...............................9

OPINION.......................11

SP O RTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
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Weiser sought Regents’ support after calls for his
 resignation: “Remember Germany in the 1930s”

ADMINISTRATION

Newly-elected GOP Chair sent multiple controversial emails to board over past year

University of Michigan Regent 

Ron Weiser (R) has sent emails to 
his fellow regents during the last 
year comparing the board’s silence 
in the face of recent calls for his 
resignation to “Germany in the 
1930’s,” calling graduate student 
protesters “hired union hacks” 
and one containing only a picture 
of a bikini-clad woman.

The 
emails, 
obtained 
by 

The Michigan Daily, were first 
reported by WDET. 

Some in the U-M community 

demanded Weiser’s resignation 
following the Jan. 6 insurrection at 
the Capitol because they thought 
he inadequately addressed the 
incident. Weiser called on the 
board to support him in a Jan. 17 
email to the Board of Regents, 
U-M President Mark Schlissel and 
U-M Secretary Sally Churchill. 

“Their issues are not about 

anything I have done or said only 
about being a Republican Leader 
and not saying exactly what they 
want me to say (it varies with some 
of them actually saying I’m anti-
Semitic),” Weiser wrote. “It might 
be nice if part or all of my fellow 
Board Members say something 
about my service or largess to the 
University. Silence has historical 

consequences. 
Remember 

Germany in the 1930’s.”

None of the regents have 

followed through on Weiser’s 
request to comment publicly on 
the matter. 

When asked by The Daily in a 

previous interview about the calls 
for Weiser’s resignation, Schlissel 
said questions about Weiser’s 
political associations and activities 
within the Republican Party are 

questions for Weiser, not the 
University, to answer. He pointed 
out regents are accountable to the 
public through statewide popular 
vote every eight years. 

“I think that the many faculty 

and students in the community 
and others that have objections 
are 
raising 
those 
objections, 

they’re getting lots of coverage 
in the media, and those fall into 
the political process,” Schlissel 

said. “It’ll have to be worked out, 
but I can say that the University 
itself, as well as all the regents, 
unambiguously 
condemn 
the 

violence and those that incited 
the violence. That’s not a matter of 
question.”

Weiser 
has 
sent 
other 

questionable emails to the U-M 
administration. In an April email 
to the board, Weiser relayed 
an 
anecdote 
from 
his 
wife 

about a Graduate Employees’ 
Organization car demonstration 
outside the Weiser residence 
during 
bargaining 
with 
the 

University at the time.

“I suspect these are hired union 

hacks,” Weiser’s email reads. 
“The lead person truly has no 
idea of U governance, he was sure 
the U was a for profit business. 
While he was cleanly dressed it 
was impossible to imagine him in 
a classroom. Janitor maybe from 
the mental content.”

Additionally, on May 1, 2020, 

Weiser sent an email to the 
regents containing only a selfie 
of a woman in sunglasses and 
a bikini top laying on a towel. 
The subject of the email is “BB.” 
The Daily is not publishing the 
photo as it is unable to verify the 
woman’s identity and to protect 
her privacy. 

CALDER LEWIS
Daily News Editor

The University of Michigan’s 

class of 2021 spring commencement 
will be held virtually amid the 
COVID-19 pandemic, as announced 
in an email by University of 
Michigan President Mark Schlissel 
Thursday morning.

The 
announcement 
comes 

after a two-week stay-in-place 
recommendation for the University 
by Washtenaw County Health 
Department, 
and 
currently, 

COVID-19 cases at the University 
account for more than 34% of the 
cases in the county.

The commencement ceremony is 

scheduled for May 1 with plans for 
synchronous content that will be 
recorded and available for viewing 
afterwards. According to the email, 
the University is also working to 
provide virtual performances, host 
interactive elements and bring an 
inspiring main speaker.

Schlissel noted the decision 

was carefully considered, pointing 
to the uncertainty around future 
gathering sizes, travel restrictions, 
infection rates and vaccination rates 
as strong factors. He acknowledged 
the community impact of holding a 
virtual ceremony in his email. 

“We very much wish that we 

could hold a safe commencement in 
Michigan Stadium, along with the 
many other celebration activities 
that are a fundamental part of our 
community life and traditions,” 
Schlissel wrote. “Commencement 
is the most joyous event of the 
academic year for many in our 
community, as we celebrate the 
accomplishments of our graduates 
and draw inspiration from the 
achievements they will share with 
our world.”

The class of 2020 also received 

a 
virtual 
spring 
and 
winter 

commencement 
ceremony, 

making this the third ceremony 
that has been affected by the 
pandemic. 
Schlissel 
stated 
all 

graduates affected by the pandemic 
are 
welcome 
to 
any 
future 

commencement of their choosing.

“They and their families will 

be our honored guests at these 
ceremonies, and the graduates 
will be recognized not just for 
the completion of their degrees, 
but also for their resilience and 
fortitude in persevering during 
these challenging times,” Schlissel 
wrote.

According to the email, the 

University also hopes to invite both 
classes back in the future for special 
future in-person celebrations.

For future updates about the 

spring commencement, the email 
encourages students to visit the 
commencement website.

Daily News Editor Francesca 

Duong can be reached at fduong@
umich.edu.

CAMPUS LIFE
Class of 2021 to receive virtual 
commencement ceremony

FRANCESCA DUONG

Daily News Editor

Dr. Howard Markel, director 

of the University of Michigan’s 
Center 
for 
the 
History 

of 
Medicine, 
has 
written 

extensively 
on 
American 

pandemics, as well as on the 
political uses of quarantine and 
isolation. The Michigan Daily 
spoke with Markel over the 
phone last month to hear more 
about his work as a doctor and 
scholar during the COVID-19 
pandemic.

Markel began by explaining 

how he co-authored a paper 
with his colleague Dr. Marty 
Citron on “flattening the curve” 
in 
2007, 
which 
suggested 

that cases are reduced when 
social 
distancing 
measures 

are 
implemented. 
Citron 

visualized data into a curve, 
now considered by many to be a 
defining public health image of 
COVID-19.

Markel said his work on 

flattening the curve began in 
2005 in the era of the H5N1 avian 
flu. Citron, who worked as the 
head of the Division of Global 
Migration and Quarantine at the 
Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, would frequently 
travel with Markel to give 
presentations. 
Usually, 
their 

trips took them to Atlanta or to 
Washington, D.C. 

“I knew the room service 

menu at the hotel I stayed in 
by heart,” Markel recalled. “I 
always ordered the same thing. I 
can even tell you: chicken with a 
mustard sauce and rice.” 

Markel said he coined the 

term “flattening the curve” 
while 
opening 
a 
takeout 

container of pad thai, which 
looked like a flat curve.

“When I took out the pad 

thai, it was all flat like one giant 
noodle,” he explained. “I said: 
‘it’s just like the curve. It’s flat!’ 
So, that’s where ‘flattening the 
curve’ came from.” 

Markel 
said 
the 

implementation 
of 
social 

distancing measures in Mexico 
during 
the 
2009 
influenza 

epidemic became the pair’s first 
living “laboratory” for their 
concept. At the time, Markel 
said he and Citron noticed 
that 
though 
the 
influenza 

epidemic was not as deadly as 
some feared, the application 
of social distancing measures 
had the desired effect they’d 
predicted: They extended the 
preparation time allotted to the 
Mexican government, ensuring 
its hospitals were able to see 
a smaller and therefore more 
manageable influx of patients. 

Despite 
the 
reduction 
in 

cases, Markel said he and Citron 
encountered strong doubt — 
and outright dismissal — when 
they presented their work to 
the public in the early 2010’s. 
Markel said he experienced 
contradictory emotions when 
seeing his life’s work suddenly 
become so relevant during the 
COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We didn’t have a crisis to 

apply this to until now,” Markel 
said. 
“It’s 
been 
incredibly 

exciting for me as a scholar and 
a professor, and as an observer, 
I’ve been horrified.”

While social distancing is 

“the nuclear option” because it 
is so disruptive to how society 
functions, 
Markel 
said 
it 

remains necessary for putting an 
end to the COVID-19 pandemic 
and, despite disagreements over 
public health programs and 
policies, the country needs a 
centralized program. 

U-M medical historian 
who coined the term 
“flattening the curve” 
talks COVID-19 response

SIERRA ÉLISE HANSEN

Daily News Contributor

RESEARCH

Design by Ahmad Kady

‘U’ will not have graduation at the Big House for second year due to the pandemic

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

Commencement for the Class of 2021 will be held virtually and not in the Big House.

Restaurants face complications 
in resuming indoor dining

BUSINESS

Even with Gov. Whitmer’s approval, some businesses hesitant to fully reopen

On Jan. 22 — six days after 

the first case of the COVID-19 
B.1.1.7 variant was first detected 
in Washtenaw County — Gov. 
Gretchen Whitmer announced 
indoor dining could resume at 
25% capacity on Feb. 1. Just three 
days after the announcement, 
the Washtenaw County Health 
Department imposed a stay in 
place recommendation on the 
University of Michigan.

Now 
that 
businesses 
can 

finally open, the stay in place 
recommendation has introduced 
further 
complications. 
This 

resumption comes after nearly 
three months of restaurants being 
restricted to takeout and outdoor 
dining under Gov. Whitmer’s Nov. 
15 “Pause to Save Lives” executive 
order, which was met with 
frustration from local business 
owners. 

The 
stay 
in 
place 

recommendation, which is similar 
in structure to the October 2020 
stay at home order, asks students 
not to leave their residences 
except for essential activities 

such as in-person classes, work or 
research that cannot be completed 
remotely, 
obtaining 
food 
or 

medical care and other approved 
activities until 11:59 P.M on Feb. 
7. Unlike the first order, however, 
the 
recommendation 
didn’t 

explicitly ban indoor dining. 

Jerusalem Garden owner Ali 

Ramlawi, a City Council member 
for Ward 5, said the stay in place 
recommendation didn’t impact 
his business nearly as drastically 
as the October order, mostly 
because they have only been open 
for outdoor or carry out dining 
since June. 

“We’re not seeing a noticeable 

decrease — maybe a 5-10% drop,” 
Ramlawi said. “It has been a little 
slower, but it’s hard to pinpoint 
when you’re not doing much in 
sales.” 

LSA 
freshman 
Meredith 

Dirkman said while she plans to 
avoid sit-down restaurants and 
utilize takeout until the stay-at-
home recommendation expires, 
she is comfortable with the steps 
restaurants have taken to keep 
guests safe and would be willing 
to eat at one.

GEORGE WEYKAMP

Daily Staff Reporter
Dr. Howard Markel discusses impact of 
quarantine on marginalized communities

See WEISER, Page 4

See MARKEL, Page 4

See RESTAURANTS, Page 4

