Our next well-being day better not be
disguised by the administration in the form
of a break and exposed for what it actually is: a
poor attempt by the University of Michigan to
supposedly address the mental health needs of
students and failing, miserably.
Students
receive
email
after
email
from University President Mark Schlissel,
professors and Graduate Student Instructors,
acknowledging that students are facing a
stressful time. Each message sounds nearly
verbatim to, “This has been a challenging time
for everyone in our community. We’ve been
affected personally — and tragically — by the
spread of the virus. We’ve been asked to think
and work differently, under considerable
time pressures and growing stress.” But the
current leniency –– or rather, lack thereof
–– given by professors does not reflect this
attitude of empathy at all; simply giving
students two “well-being breaks” is not the
appropriate answer. While President Schlissel
acknowledges the breaks will not solve all of
our problems, and that they are supposed to be
“just a day to give time,” the break has not even
been able to do that: my personal experience
aside, observing other students around me has
been the perfect testament to how the break has
failed in accomplishing what it was set out to do.
On our first well-being day, I was sitting
at Sweetwaters in the Michigan Union
at 8 a.m. — the rest of the seating options
became full in the next half-hour. If that isn’t
a testament to how “relaxed” students were
during the first “break,” then what is? I had
homework specifically assigned on the day
before the break that was due the day after.
The only way I could have possibly enjoyed
my day off was if I had pulled an all-nighter
on Tuesday and woke up early on Thursday
to finish my assignments. The sheer quantity
of unnecessary homework that classes have
been assigning gives the impression that
the University is ignorant of the fact that
the pandemic continues to impact students’
mental health and personal lives.
If we remove all personal experiences and
tragedies related to COVID-19 and solely
consider what classes are like via Zoom, that
should be enough reason to prove just how
frustrated students are. I have back-to-back
classes from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays.
That’s six hours of me rooted to the same spot,
staring at my computer screen and skipping
lunch only to make sure I don’t fall behind.
On Thursdays and Fridays, I have calculus
from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., giving me less than one
day to address my webwork and prepwork
assignments and textbook problems, not to
mention having to rewatch the same lecture
at least twice to grasp all the material. All this
just to make sure I don’t fall behind — which
excludes the time I need to put into studying
for exams, team homework projects and
quizzes. And this is one class.
Unfortunately, I am not alone in having
to drudge through such a monotonous,
overwhelming schedule. I cannot even imagine
how many other students are swamped with
an endless to-do list, only to be rewarded with
two days of no class — and already one of them
being a complete failure. Yes, winter break
was longer than it was in previous years, and
yes, eliminating spring break altogether is
an attempt to mitigate the spread of COVID-
19 around campus. But instead of giving a
ridiculously long winter break, why weren’t
we given five individual days, one every other
week, of no class and no extra assignments,
spaced out appropriately through the semester?
Students are expected to maintain themselves
physically, mentally and academically while
being overworked to the point of exhaustion.
And all this is enforced without considering the
personal tragedies related to COVID-19.
Instructors are at fault here too and need
to give students the appropriate workload
so that on a well-being break, students can
actually relax and not have a tremendous list
brimming with assignments. It should be
obvious enough to realize that group projects
should be completely eliminated unless there
is no possible alternative.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
6 — Wednesday, March 17, 2021
puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com
By Enrique Henestroza Anguiano
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
03/17/21
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
03/17/21
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2021
ACROSS
1 Slim advantage
5 Embraces
11 Intel seeker
14 Many a character
on HBO’s
“Euphoria”
15 Warhol’s
“Campbell’s Soup
Cans,” e.g.
16 Vientiane people
17 *Generous
reward
19 __ al-Fitr: end-of-
Ramadan feast
20 Skater Midori
21 Author’s
representative
22 Northeast
Corridor express
train
24 Gliding ballet step
26 Cut loose
27 *“I sussed that
out a while ago”
33 One-named
“Body Party”
singer
36 Sicilian peak
37 Cut off
38 Chewy Hershey
candy
39 Like some
serious flaws
40 Christmas candle
scent
41 “__ cost you!”
42 Old Roman road
43 Put in a
bibliography
44 *Family dinner
reservation
request, perhaps
47 Designer
Saarinen
48 Like Camembert
52 Back in style
54 Quickness
57 Romance
58 Dept. phone
number
59 Retreated on
the same trail ...
and what each
answer to a
starred clue has?
62 Grow older
63 Aerie newborn
64 Tennis icon
Arthur
65 Former space
station
66 Renaissance fair
rides
67 “Watch __ space”
DOWN
1 Work __: moral
belief
2 “Murder by __”:
1976 Neil Simon
spoof film
3 Salami choice
4 Pierre’s “fin,” to
Peter
5 Highest point in
an orbit
6 Taj Mahal feature
7 Receptive
8 “What’s __ is
prologue”: “The
Tempest”
9 __TV: reality
channel
10 Namesake of a
Venice basilica
11 “You can give
me an answer
tomorrow”
12 Sand transporter
13 Jedi Grand
Master
18 Obama
daughter
23 Plot
25 Park carriage, or
one pushing it
26 Agreement
28 “I like it”
29 Mammal at an
aquarium
30 Eat (up)
31 Bistro pour
32 Didn’t dillydally
33 Lit __
34 Scintilla
35 Assurance
after putting a
Band-Aid on a
boo-boo
39 Inventory
tracking method
for a CPA
43 Like corned beef
45 Wears down
46 Large jazz
combos
49 Knee-deep (in)
50 Sweet Japanese
rice cake
51 Farm fittings
52 Paper package
53 VFW member
54 Bigger than big
55 Qualified
56 Winter coaster
60 Breakfast grain
61 Club that may be
flipped with joy
SUDOKU
3
8
6
1
1
9
4
2
8
5
1
3
6
5
8
6
1
1
8
4
2
1
9
3
6
7
3
5
7
6
1
2
9
“I thought you
were vegan?”
“I was... worst
week of my
life.”
03/10/21
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
way
e
WHISPER
Our next well-being break better be a break
“When I think of home, I think of a place
where there’s love overflowing.”
Around this time last year, I had the
great fortune of taking part in MUSKET’s
“The Wiz,” before the production was
canceled due to COVID-19. As a member
of the ensemble, I got to work with an
amazing group of insanely talented artists,
performing alongside an all-Black cast in
a show that celebrates African-American
culture in all its glory. And while the
experience was cut short, I have long
since remembered the sense of belonging,
communion
and
intimacy
fostered
during the rehearsal process, all of which
was epitomized in the finale, Dorothy’s
final number (sung by the phenomenal
University of Michigan alum Lauryn
Hobbs) “Home.”
Famously performed by Stephanie Mills
on Broadway and by Diana Ross in the film
adaptation, this R&B soul ballad, in all its
lyrical genius, is a powerful expression of
the all-encompassing love that being home
engenders.
As I traveled back home to Kalamazoo,
Mich. this weekend to visit family and
friends and to celebrate my upcoming 20th
birthday, I reflected on this sentiment in
the best way I knew how: driving.
In the midst of running errands, finishing
tasks and visiting friends, I ended up driving
in my hometown for a short but considerable
part of my visit. And while I drove past the
places and spaces that I had literally known
all my life, I thought about how many
times I had traversed these same roads in
Kalamazoo –– day after day, week after
week, month after month, year after year.
I thought about the hundreds of early
morning commutes to school — talk radio
radiating to where I was sitting in the
backseat of my dad’s car on the way to
elementary school, headphones hampering
the loud chatter of the school bus on the
way to middle school, car speakers spewing
my favorite musical theatre songs on the
aux of my 2006 Toyota Scion on the way to
high school.
I thought about the many, many miles
made on my way to club meetings and
class trips, football games and food runs,
soccer practices and Sunday school lessons,
hair appointments and hook-ups, musical
rehearsals and movie outings.
I thought about the times I traveled
down the freeway to friends who would be
strangers further along the road, to sites I
swear I’ll never see again and to scenes I
still seek to see once more.
I thought about the summer sunsets
at the land preserve, the autumn outings
to the Art Hop, the winter rides watching
holiday lights and the spring sprints down
the infinite fields.
I thought about the good times — the
windows rolled down and the sun soaked
up. The small talk on the long rides.
I thought about the bad times — the
breakdowns in the backseat and the tears
wiped in front of the wheel.
I thought about the persisting poverty,
the rampant racism and the continued class
divides. The streets that make the headlines
and the lines of homeless encampments
along the streets.
I thought about the revolutionary
resilience of those resisting tyranny in my
community, the divine camaraderie of those
combatting capitalism in its late stages and
the liberating love keeping Kalamazoo
afloat. I thought about how so much around
me had changed, yet how so much has
stayed the same. How much I’ve changed
and how much I’ve stayed the same.
I thought a lot about how having lived
so long in one town has yielded within
me a cacophony of contradictions and an
assortment of antithetical attitudes.
But most of all, while driving in my
hometown, I thought about how after
years and years of yearning for something
more, vowing to venture out into the
great unknown, how grateful I am to not
only be able to call this place home, but to
have a home, and for it to serve as a real
life reminder of the miles and miles of
memories I’ve made throughout my time
on this Earth.
Because just like Dorothy’s final line in
the finale goes, “I’ve learned that we must
look inside our hearts to find a world so full
of love like yours, like mine, like home.”
Driving in my hometown
KARIS CLARK
MiC Columnist
Design by Emily Gordon
SYEDA RIZVI
MiC Columnist
The Southern states froze over, and to no
one’s surprise, their state governments have
only made the situation significantly worse.
They have been hit with one of America’s
worst weaponized duos –– climate change
and environmental racism.
During a time of great panic and
uncertainty, when the changing climate
created an uncharacteristic winter storm in
Texas, the Texas state government decided to
abandon their Black and Latinx working class
communities. The power went out for over
4 million Texans during the storm. Power
companies were worried about not being
able to support their consumers’ drastically
increasing demand for heat and gas sources,
so in order to meet demand, utility companies
orchestrated controlled power outages in
order to prevent long-term damage to the
natural gas industry and power grids. Families
were already struggling financially with the
COVID-19 pandemic, and were now missing
paychecks because the snow and ice left them
trapped in their homes. This added cost while
sitting in houses with no utilities was brutal
for those already struggling to make ends
meet. Many people did not survive through
the power outages, lack of clean water and cold
temperatures of this unprecedented event.
Those who lived in rural areas which lack
hospitals, commercial businesses, commercial
living complexes and other facilities essential
to the Texas economy had a higher likelihood
of being impacted by the man-made problems
exacerbated by the storm, including the
rise in gas prices and the controlled power
outages. Black and Latinx communities
who greatly inhabit these areas suffered the
worst consequences, affirming the inherent
correlation between climate change and
systemic racism. These communities suffered
through this climate and government-fueled
disaster, while still living through the raging
COVID-19 pandemic that is harshly impacting
them. The government has shown that when
worse comes to worse, they are willing to
sacrifice Black and Latinx communities in
order to protect an oppressive and racist
capitalist order.
Though this storm took place in the middle
of February, lots of people are still lacking
access to safe water in Texas, as are some
communities in Mississippi. Even though
these states initially experienced a climate
disaster, it is the government’s abandonment
of its marginalized populations that allowed
the storm to become so deadly. Instead
of providing these communities with the
adequate resources and solutions to cope
with and manage the conditions in question,
politicians left their constituents to fend for
themselves. This is environmental racism, and
it is nothing new to America.
Over 15 years before this year’s winter
storm, the South experienced a humanitarian
crisis, Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, this
hurricane
devastated
states
including
Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. The
deadly storm destroyed businesses, houses
and lives throughout these states. It had an
especially negative impact on New Orleans,
La. –– a majority Black city. Though this was a
natural disaster, the insurmountable damage
was caused by the federal government
neglecting to prepare prior to the disaster
and in the hurricane’s aftermath, abandoning
these communities after the storm. While
former President George W. Bush took his
time relaxing on his vacation, the American
people were drowning in the
damage of this vicious storm.
The poor construction
of levees that protect the
land in New Orleans
from
hurricanes
dramatized
the
damage
of
Hurricane
Katrina. Had the
government
taken
the time to implement
protective
measures
and provide resources,
like more funding and better
quality levee construction, the
city would have been better prepared. Tens
of thousands of people had to permanently
leave their Louisiana residences because of the
damage done to their homes and businesses.
Louisiana received large surges of aid when
Katrina first hit, but it wasn’t enough. Despite
the fact that the community is still suffering
over 15 years later, conversation regarding the
storm has greatly diminished.
Similar to New Orleans, Puerto Rico went
through significant trauma and destruction
with Hurricane Maria in 2017. But when
comparing the amount of aid that went
to Puerto Rico with other hurricanes like
Irma and Harvey that destroyed rich white
continental cities, Puerto Rico received a
lot less aid, despite having the most amount
of destruction. New Orleans and Puerto
Rico, still living with the damage from their
hurricanes so many years later, while rich
white communities are able to thrive because
of the government’s swift aid
after the storms, emphasizes
America’s
persistent
problem of environmental
racism.
Almost seven years
ago,
Flint’s
water
supply was found to
be contaminated with
lead
and
bacteria.
This
was
another
case of environmental
racism in which the
Michigan
government
cut down on water costs by
changing Flint’s water supply. It’s
notable that the government chose Flint
for this abhorrent decision –– Flint has the
second-largest population of Black Americans
in Michigan. As of 2019, its population was
54.1% Black, and 38.8% of its citizens were
considered under the poverty line. The new
water system was filled with bacteria and
lead that caused many diseases, deaths and
developmental issues in Flint residents.
When the country originally learned about
this problem, almost a year after Flint’s water
was first contaminated, pledges of monetary
donations and safe water flooded into the
city. National news channels would report all
the latest updates, and there was persistence
in informing the country on what was
happening in this city. People wanted answers
and wanted to help as much as possible,
but as soon as the news stopped deeming
the situation as newsworthy, conversations
around the country stopped. Years later, Flint
is still struggling to get clean water. A 13-year-
old Flint resident, Mari Copeny, has been
instrumental in keeping the conversation
going around the country since she was 8 years
old. Government officials responsible for this
crime are now being charged and some pipes
have started to be replaced. But as a whole,
national concern has lessened tremendously
despite the persisting urgency of this problem.
Poisoned water is still a reality for this city.
Texas was fortunate to receive donations
and aid from non-profit organizations in
order to help out some of its communities who
are struggling right now. This philanthropy
is a testament to humanity and is effective,
but the remedy marginalized communities
really need is environmental justice. This
situation is a repeated humanitarian crisis
that will only start to heal once honest
accountability is pursued, rather than false
perceptions of accountability that only serve
as a publicity stunt to distract from cries for
help. The problems in Mississippi and Texas
are recent, but I’m worried about what will
happen once these events aren’t breaking
news. Will people start to forget about
Texas, like they have Flint, Mississippi and
New Orleans?
America’s most wanted: environmental racism and climate change
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
MARIA PATTON
MiC Columnist
De
si
gn
b
y
Sh
ar
o
n
K
w
a
n