2
Thursday, June 10, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com
CALDER LEWIS
Editor in Chief
eic@michigandaily.com
KATIE LYNGKLIP
Business Manager
business@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL STAFF
Madison Gagne
Managing Editor
mbgagne@umich.edu
Allison Engkvist
Digital Managing Editor
engkvist@umich.edu
Christian Juliano and Shannon Stocking
Managing News Editors
news@michigandaily.com
Josh Taubman and Max Wadley
Managing Sports Editors
sports@michigandaily.com
Rosa Sofia Kaminski and Julian Wray
Managing Arts Editors
arts@michigandaily.com
Becca Mahon and Dominick Sokotoff
Managing Photo Editors
photo@michigandaily.com
Sarah Chung and Allison Yih
Managing Design Editors
design@michigandaily.com
Ethan Patrick and Caroline Atkinson
Managing Copy Editors
copydesk@michigandaily.com
Eliya Imtiaz and Lola Yang
Managing Michigan in Color Editors
michiganincolor@michigandaily.com
Amelia Duffy and Zoe Storer
Managing Social Media Editors
socialmedia@michigandaily.com
Mary Rolfes
Editorial Page Editor
opinion@michigandaily.com
Margaret Rudnick
Managing Video Editor
video@michigandaily.com
Samantha Cole
Managing Statement Editor
statement@michigandaily.com
CONTACT INFORMATION
News Tips tipline@michigandaily.com
Corrections
corrections@michigandaily.com
Letters to the Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com
News section news@michigandaily.com
Photo Department photo@michigandaily.com
Arts Section arts@michigandaily.com
Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com
Sports Section sports@michigandaily.com
Advertising wmg-contact@umich.edu
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday
through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students
at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free
of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked
up at the Daily’s office for $2 per issue. Subscriptions for
September - April are $250, and year-long subscriptions
are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced
subscription rate. Subscriptions must be prepaid.
The
University
of
Michigan’s
Central
Student
Government
(CSG)
gathered
on Tuesday to vote on various
resolutions pertaining to tri-
campus equality, scholarship
distribution to U-M personal
care assistants and a student
health and wellness task force,
as well as to confirm CSG
cabinet positions.
The Assembly discussed and
passed a proposal, LDF 11-002,
requesting $10,000 from the
CSG budget to fund a rally for
tri-campus
equity.
Funding
for the rally includes up to 10
ADA-complaint and disability-
conscious
buses
to
provide
transportation from U-M Flint
and Dearborn campuses to Ann
Arbor for the protest, supplies
for
staging
and
victuals.
The
proposal
was
passed
unanimously.
LSA
senior
Joseph
Lobodzinski debated in favor
of the motion, referencing an
article by The Michigan Daily
regarding University President
Mark Schlissel asking U-M
faculty if they believe the
University should use funds to
expand the Go Blue Guarantee
to the Dearborn and Flint
campuses, even if it meant
sacrificing ‘academic excellence
and salary growth’ at the Ann
Arbor campus.
“(The
question)
pits
us
against our fellow students at
the University of Michigan-
Flint and Dearborn. They are
using the classic divide and
conquer tactic,” Lobodzinski
said.
“This
motion
will
organize about 400 students
from both the Dearborn and
Flint campuses to come to the
University of Michigan (Ann
Arbor) campus and advocate on
their behalf for more funding to
their campuses.”
CSG
also
discussed
two
resolutions pertaining to the
creation of a Student Health
and Wellness task force and
the
authorization
of
the
creation of an initial funding
for a task force charged with
producing, vetting, and gifting
scholarships to employed as
personal care assistants at the
University.
Both
resolutions
passed unanimously.
Tensions
initially
arose
between
the
executive
nomination
committee
and
CSG President Nithya Arun
after the committee released
a report of disapproval for
LSA
junior
Grace
Roberts’
confirmation as Chief of Staff
following their interview with
Roberts. CSG member Noah
Zimmerman was present at the
executive nomination hearing
with Roberts and reiterated
the
committee’s
disapproval
for Roberts for the position
of Chief of Staff. Zimmerman
said
Roberts’
relationship
with Arun, as well as her
contradictory approach, pushed
the committee to express their
disapproval.
“Grace made it very aware
that she wanted to take a unique
perspective on (the role of
Chief of Staff) and that (Arun
and Robert’s) had a working
relationship, but only a working
relationship of the recent past,”
Zimmerman said. “She thought
that was a beneficial quality
to have, and we disagreed on
that. We do think it is a good
idea to have someone who
disagrees and someone that
is not just a yes man … but,
however, she (said she) would
go with what she wanted. Those
two concerns … gave us no
confidence to give her a positive
recommendation.”
When
asked
about
her
contradictory
approach,
Roberts said that she would not
simply follow along with the
President and Vice President’s
agendas as a rubber stamper.
“What
was
communicated
in the executive nominations
report
is
not
an
accurate
representation of what I said or
what I believe,” Roberts said.
“I am a voice that (President)
Nithya and (Vice President)
Carla trust, and I want to be
able to say to them my honest
opinion about things, but that
doesn’t mean I am bull-headed
and that I will not do the things
expected of me as Chief of
Staff.”
With
increased
vaccination
rates,
relaxed
COVID-19
restrictions
and
increased
government stimulus, businesses
are looking to return to pre-
pandemic levels of production.
There’s just one small problem:
some businesses can’t seem to find
employees.
Jack
Edelstein,
owner
of
Apothecare Ann Arbor, an organic
cannabis
cultivation
facility,
said that overall his business has
run pretty smoothly during the
pandemic but found that COVID-
19 made it difficult to secure a
steady staff.
“We’ve been in business for
under two years, so we’re still in
that startup phase, and there’s
always challenges,” Edelstein said.
“The most challenging one has
been assembling a stable team of
employees … and I guess COVID
did play a role here, because it made
some potential employees just
unavailable for various reasons.”
As more businesses began to
lessen their restrictions in April,
U.S. employment in leisure and
hospitality
had
increased
by
331,000, half of which consisted of
jobs relating to food service.
Incoming LSA freshman Sarah
Ashby who currently works in food
service
experiences
significant
understaffing at her workplace.
Ashby said she noticed a lack of
productivity and staff morale as a
result.
“(Employees) aren’t the nicest
but you can’t fire them (because
of short staff),” Ashby said. “I
know it gets stressful – they work
long hours (so) they just have bad
attitudes.”
Ashby said that people may also
be hesitant to get jobs right now
because of potential exposure to
COVID-19.
“There’s just a lot of uncertainty
right now and some people aren’t
sure if they want to work right
now,” Ashby said.
Rising LSA sophomore Sara
Ojala, who also currently works
in food service, said she felt that
the national staff shortage was
the result of a mixture of a few
different factors. As a student who
has experienced Zoom fatigue this
year, Ojala said that it’s not very
motivating right now for someone
to get a full-time job in the summer.
“I think that a lot of people have
gotten very comfortable during the
past year and a half doing things
from home,” Ojala said. “(People)
are more accustomed to staying
home in their own bubble as
opposed to putting themselves out
there again.”
Ojala said another reason could
be that staff shortages can create
an immediate stressor for new
employees.
“I actually think that, ironically,
it is a deterrent that businesses
are short-staffed,” Ojala said. “ I
know that if I were a prospective
employee, I would be pretty
hesitant to jump into a job that is
stressful on others and would be
stressful on me.”
Business
professor
Jeffrey
Sanchez-Burks said people have
had a year-long reflection on
the employment conditions that
existed since before the pandemic.
He said wage level plays a partial
role in the staff shortage, which
is why some organizations began
increasing wages.
Design by Megan Young
DOMINIC COLETTI
Summer News Editor
NIRALI PATEL
Daily Staff Reporter
First Michigan hantavirus case
identified in Washtenaw County
woman
Post-pandemic labor shortage
leaves complications for a
recovering economy
Read more at michigandaily.com
Read more at michigandaily.com