Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pro-

posed allocating $75 million of fed-
eral COVID-19 funds to provide 
Michigan law enforcement with bet-
ter training, find and remove illegal 
guns from Michigan communities 
and fund community programs that 
provide more opportunities in educa-
tion, jobs and the justice system.

This 
proposal, 
which 
was 

announced in Detroit last month, 
comes in the wake of an increase 
in violent crime in Michigan over 
the past year, with the crime rate in 
Detroit increasing by 9.41% and the 
homicide rate in Detroit increasing 
by 19%.

In her announcement of the pro-

posal, Whitmer cited the impor-
tance of ensuring safety for citizens 
of Michigan as her motivation for 
the funding decision.

“People are scared,” Whitmer 

said. “They’re afraid to pump their 
gas or merge onto the highway, 
pull up to a red light, drive to work, 
drop their kids off at school. That’s 
not right, and we cannot and will 
not accept this. No one should feel 
unsafe as they go about their lives.” 

Whitmer’s proposal for increased 

funding comes after protests erupt-
ed across the country last summer 
following ongoing police violence, 
as calls to defund law enforcement 
gained support.

LSA senior Noah Streng, presi-

dent of Young Democratic Social-
ists of America at the University of 

Michigan, is discontent with Whit-
mer’s announcement. Streng said he 
believes that increasing funding of 
law enforcement will not decrease 
violence or crime and that this fund-
ing expansion does not address 
socioeconomic disparities facing 
Michigan communities as a result of 
the pandemic.

“I think that Governor Whitmer 

is wrong when she says that police 
keep us safe,” Streng said. “It’s true 
that we have seen an uptick in vio-
lent crime over the past year, but 
crime doesn’t just happen for no rea-
son. There are real material reasons 
why people are turning to crime.” 

David Helps, co-chair of the 

Graduate Employees Organization’s 
Abolition caucus, said he thinks 
lawmakers must look at more than 
crime rates when making policy pro-
posals and decisions. He highlighted 
Detroit’s 45% unemployment rate 
during the pandemic and the impact 
that has had on communities and 
crime rates across the city.

“People have been traumatized, 

people have been sick, have lost 
work, have known people that have 
died, and all of those forms of suf-
fering have been concentrated in 
certain cities and in certain commu-
nities,” Helps said. “Those are some 
of the same places in which we’re 
seeing an increase in certain forms 
of violence.”

Proponents of this proposal have 

argued that sufficient police training 
is key to decreasing violence among 
communities because it will help 
law enforcement better equipped to 
handle high-stress situations.

LSA sophomore Alex Manthous 

supports Whitmer’s proposal and said 
he thinks this increase in funding will 
help promote safety across the state.

“I stand with her decision not to 

defund the police,” Manthous said. 
“I am a proponent of getting illegal 
weapons off the street, especially 
since crime is closely associated with 
guns and illegal weapons.”

Streng said he believes the police 

should be defunded with a focus 
on allocating more money to com-
munity programs in communities 
that have been divested from. This 
money would be used to bolster 
education, housing and mental and 
physical health, Streng said, which 
may subsequently decrease violence.

“We cannot arrest our way out 

of this problem,” Streng said. “If we 
took federal funding and coupled it 
with shifting resources away from 
police departments and towards 
robust social services, jobs, educa-
tion and health care, we would see 
a much different outcome, where 
people would have the opportuni-
ties and abilities to get themselves 
out of poverty and not have to turn 
to crime.”

The governor’s proposal is await-

ing support from the Republican-
held legislature, which has touted 
bipartisan support for increased 
law enforcement and funding of the 
police.

Helps expressed his frustration at 

the lack of action to address the root 
causes of violence from both sides of 
the aisle.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, September 22, 2021 — 3

BARBARA GRAZIOSI

PROFESSOR OF CLASSICS 
AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

THE GERALD F. ELSE LECTURE 
IN THE HUMANITIES

CLASSICS, LOVE,
REVOLUTION:

THE LEG ACIES OF
LUIGI SETTEMBRINI

WEDNESDAY,
SEPT. 29, 2021
4:00 P.M.
MICHIGAN LEAGUE

HUSSEY ROOM, 2 ND FLOOR

A public lecture and reception. For more info, call 734.615.6667 
or visit events.umich.edu/event/86627. Livestreaming will be 
available. Please visit lsa.umich.edu/classics for more information.

 
 
Congratulations 

To our 31E scholars, 
recipients of this year’s 
Class of 1931 Engineering Scholarship 

 
 
The class of ‘31E and its Scholarship Selection Committee welcomes 
their five new scholarship winners for the 2021-2022 academic year: 
 
Sidharth Anantha 
Hanna Chen 
Jose Diaz Peon Gonzalez Pacheco 

Gina Kittleson 
Kira Woodhouse 

 
 

 

They will be joining the ‘31E Honor Society and our sixteen current scholars: 
 
George Adamson 
Tyler Bartlett 
Alfonso Botta-Lopez 
Robert Elliott 
Michelle Gehner 

Jessica Houghton 
Jacob Mackey 
Benjamin Manley 
Aditya Middha 
Taylor Scott 

Morgan Serra 
Joseph Taylor 
Allison Wilcox 
Laura Williams 
Claudia Zimmerman

Chimmuanya Iheanyi-Igwe 
 
 
All of these scholarship winners will be honored at the 39th Annual 
Scholarship Dinner of the Class of ‘31E, which will be held virtually on Friday 
evening, September 24th, 2021 at 5:30pm. 
 
Since the establishment of the ‘31E Scholarship Program in 1982, more than 
200 aspiring engineering students have been helped to experience a University 
of Michigan education, and have gone on to productive and rewarding 
careers. 

A public lecture and reception; you may attend in person 
or virtually. For more information, including the Zoom link, 
visit events.umich.edu/event/84262 or call 734.615.6667.

Tuesday, October 5, 2021 | 4:00 p.m. | Weiser Hall, 10th Floor

LSA COLLEGIATE LECTURE

Ewart A.C. Thomas Collegiate 
 

Professor of Psychology

VONNIE C. 
MCLOYD

Latinx Heritage Month 2021 

celebrations at the University of 
Michigan commenced Wednesday 
evening with the opening ceremony 
in the Rogel Ballroom at the Michigan 
Union. With Latin pop music blasting 
from speakers, the smell of Latinx 
food lingering in the air and students 
pairing up to learn salsa dancing, the 
ceremony marked the first event in a 
month of cultural gatherings.

Across the nation, LHM is 

celebrated annually between Sep. 15 
and Oct. 15, a period during which five 
Latin American countries as well as 
Mexico and Chile commemorate the 
anniversary of their independence. 
The holiday originated in 1968 
as a week-long celebration called 
Hispanic Heritage Week, but was 
later renamed and expanded to a full 
month in 1988.

Every year LHM has been 

celebrated at the University, the 
program has been given a different 
theme, 
with 
this 
year’s 
being 

“florecemos de nuestras raíces,” 
or “we bloom from our roots.” The 
hybrid ceremony was attended by 
students in-person, with several 
viewing the festivities from the 
virtual livestream.

Anamaria 
Lopez, 
Education 

graduate student and the LHM 
student 
coordinator, 
opened 

the ceremony by explaining the 
significance of the 2021 theme. Lopez 
said the theme acknowledges how the 
historical experiences — the “roots” 
— of Latinx communities shape their 
tenacity and resilience in the present 
day and allow them to “bloom.”

“The (LHM) planning committee 

decided that we wanted to celebrate 
Latinx heritage by honoring the 
beautiful culture, vivid life and all 
the hard work that our ancestors and 
those who have come before us have 
put in,” Lopez said. 

The ceremony officially opened 

with a land acknowledgment and 
a welcome address from Martino 
Harmon, vice provost for student 
life. 
In 
his 
address, 
Harmon 

called upon attendees to reflect 
on the contributions of the Latinx 
community with those around them 

during the rest of the night as well as 
every day throughout LHM.

“I encourage you to practice 

inclusive leadership and celebrate 
your community wherever you go, 
whatever you do,” Harmon said. “The 
roots of this history, this community, 
reach deep.” 

In 
2020, 
8% 
of 
University 

undergraduate students identified 
as Hispanic, with Hispanic faculty 
members constituting just 4% of total 
faculty at the Ann Arbor campus. 

Lopez told The Michigan Daily 

the University has been expanding 
campus LHM celebrations over the 
past several years, though last year’s 
activities were completely virtual. 
Lopez said it is important to highlight 
the contributions Latinx culture has 
made within the U.S. to empower 
what is often an underrepresented 
and marginalized community at the 
University and nationwide.

“(LHM) acknowledges all of the 

movements and the history and the 
people who are of Latinx descent who 
have (also) made an impact within the 
United States,” Lopez said. “In reality, 
this should always be happening, but 
the truth is that it’s not.”

Michelle 
Ferrez, 
director 
of 

the 
Undergraduate 
Research 

Opportunity Program, gave the 
keynote address. In her speech, Ferrez 
spoke on her personal experience 
with encountering and fighting racial 
injustice during her time in college. 

She also described the “cultural 

capital” model, referring to the 
inherent value of non-quantifiable 
assets associated with a particular 
culture — including social justice, 
storytelling and aspirations — that 
promote social mobility. 

Ferrez gave examples of ways 

the cultural capital model could 
positively transform and equalize 
higher education, and challenged 
attendees to use their own cultural 
capital to improve their communities.

“We need leaders like all of you 

with your Latinx (perspectives) 
and that capital each and every one 
of you have, to (address) racism, 
environmental justice, climate issues, 
needs of communities with water 
systems, access to food … not just in 
our communities in the United States, 
but in our home countries throughout 
Latin America, throughout Central 
America, throughout the islands, 

the Caribbean throughout Mexico,” 
Ferrez said.

Jesús Galván, program manager 

of the University’s Office of Multi-
Ethnic Student Affairs, told The Daily 
Ferrez was selected by a committee 
of MESA members on account of the 
relevant research she has completed 
about educational equality for those 
identifying as a part of marginalized 
communities.

“For one, (Ferrez) is familiar 

with the experience we’re trying 
to represent and speak about, but 
also, they’re part of us here at U-M,” 
Galván said. “So we shine light on 
the folks that are doing the good 
work and are critical components to 
student success on this campus.”

Lopez said MESA began planning 

this year’s LHM over the summer, with 
an important part of the preparations 
involving MESA’s collaboration with 
Michigan Dining chefs who identify 
as Latinx. Throughout the opening 
ceremony, attendees were encouraged 
to try different food items from the 
buffet which included tostones, arepas, 
arroz con gandules and empanadas. 

The two main chefs — Luz Ruiz 

from Panama and Miriam Palacio 

from Colombia — were also given the 
opportunity to explain their personal 
backgrounds and identities to the 
crowd as well as why they chose to 
prepare each specific dish for the 
event.

Empanadas, Palacio told The Daily, 

are usually made using corn flour-
based dough. But she had experience 
in Colombia making the dough with 
flour derived from the yuca root, 
which makes the dish gluten-free so 
more students can try it.

“I used yuca to make the dough 

and it makes this food be gluten-free,” 
Palacio said. “I hope you guys enjoy … 
their Colombian flavor.” 

Autumn Battin-Flores, the senior 

associate director of retail and catering 
for the University, told The Daily 
MCatering has been collaborating 
with 
MDining 
and 
cultural 

organizations on campus for three 
years to serve authentic cuisine at 
various heritage month events. Flores 
said encouraging chefs to cook dishes 
from their individual cultures is a 
promising start to promoting culinary 
diversity within campus dining.

NEWS

Virus cases remain stable after sharp rise in late August

Since 
students 
returned 
to 

campus in late August, the number 
of 
positive 
COVID-19 
cases 

associated 
with 
University 
of 

Michigan students has increased 
then decreased.

The number of COVID-19 cases 

increased from 73 on the week of 
Aug. 22 to 195 the week of Aug. 29, 
the first day of classes.

Preliminary data from the two 

weeks since then shows numbers 
have remained high at 156 the week 
of Sep. 5, then dropping to 82 for the 
week of Sep. 12. 

Since class began, positivity rates 

have remained under 2%.

In an email to the University 

community on Friday, President 
Mark Schlissel wrote that per the 
dashboard, “case numbers and our 
quarantine housing usage have 
flattened.”

In an email to The Michigan Daily 

last Thursday, Dr. Robert Ernst, 
associate vice president of student 
life for health and wellness and 
the director of COVID-19 Campus 
Health Response, wrote he believes 
the University’s mitigation strategies 
such as masking and vaccination 
reduce the risk of transmission 
on campus, even with the more 
contagious delta variant. 

“Given 
the 
repopulation 
of 

campus and many associated large 
social gatherings where masking is 
not universal, the finding of covid 
transmission among students early 

in the fall semester is not surprising,” 
Ernst wrote. “Peer institutions 
like ours have seen similar early 
increases, and campuses like ours 
that started earlier have seen these 
early increases followed by a gradual 
decline.”

In the past few weeks, doctors 

across the state have reported seeing 
a gradual increase in the number 
of COVID-19 cases in hospitals. 
According to Jakob McSparron, 
associate director of the critical care 
medicine unit at Michigan Medicine, 
the number of cases per week in the 
past month has risen from 25, to 35, 
to 45 as the delta variant has spread. 

“The rise is a little bit slower 

compared to the previous surges we 
used to see,” McSparron said. “This 
time it’s more of a steady increase in 
our numbers.” 

Hallie Prescott, a pulmonary care 

physician at Michigan Medicine, 
said in an email she believes these 
rising trends should be of concern to 
students. 

“It is certainly worth noting 

that COVID is circulating in our 
community, and therefore (it is) 
important to take extra precautions 
such as wearing a mask while in 
public indoor spaces,” Prescott 
said. “Even if one’s personal risk of 
hospitalization/death from COVID 
is low, these extra measures are 
important to keep case counts low 
and protect our community as a 
whole.”

According to McSparron, the 

majority of patients in the intensive 
care unit at Michigan Medicine 
are unvaccinated. The few that 

are vaccinated have underlying 
conditions putting them at risk, he 
said. 

McSparron said he believes things 

could start to look more normal if 
vaccination rates increased. 

“Unfortunately, 
I 
think 
we 

are seeing more young patients 
this time around in terms of the 
unvaccinated,” McSparron said. “It’s 
very hard to see a 20-year-old on a 
breathing machine knowing that so 
much of this was preventable.” 

LSA sophomore Lana King 

said she first started to notice 
the uptick when she received 
multiple 
“COVID-classroom” 

notifications, which have since been 
discontinued.

“I personally don’t feel too scared 

because we’re all wearing masks and 
especially in class, you’re not getting 
that close to people,” King said.

When asked if the recent trends in 

COVID-19 cases on campus should 
be concerning to students, Ernst 
said it’s too soon to predict further 
developments this fall. 

“There has not been evidence of 

transmission within residence halls 
and fortunately, as we would expect 
in a highly vaccinated population, 
most affected individuals experience 
only mild symptoms,” Ernst said. 

Ernst 
said 
the 
University 

is in a very different position 
compared to the last academic 
year, when Washtenaw County 
had to use stay-in-place orders and 
recommendations to curb the spread 
of the virus. 

PUBLIC SAFETY

Gov. Whitmer proposes 

allocating federal COVID-19 

funds to Michigan police

Proposal responds to increase in violent crime in state

KATE WEILAND
Daily Staff Reporter

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

ASHNA MEHRA
Daily Staff Reporter

Three weeks into the 

semester, here’s the COVID-19 

outlook at UMich & in Ann 

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

‘Florecemos de nuestras raíces:’ UMich kicks of Latinx 

Heritage Month with opening ceremony

RONI KANE & 
PAIGE HODDER
Daily Staff Reporters

CAMPUS LIFE

Speakers talk cultural identity, history at event celebrating independence of numerous Latin American countries

Read more at MichiganDaily.com