The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 — 7
Content warning: This article contains mention of
sexual assault
October clambers in without warning, its
ostentatious display sweetened by crisp autumn air,
boisterous jack-o-lanterns flashing toothy grins and
ghost stories.
I’ve never experienced the supernatural: I have
no sinister encounters to furtively whisper around
a bonfire, no tales of messages from beyond or Ouija
boards gone awry. I’ve never touched the other side,
but I think I believe in ghosts. Not the kind you’re
thinking of, I’m sure, but ghosts all the same.
The ghosts I’m acquainted with don’t look like the
ones written in folklore. They are not disembodied
figures with lifeless skin, pinned up curls and
shadowy nightdresses clinging to their skeletal,
evanescent frames. They lack the eeriness of empty
eye sockets and mouths frozen in a permanent
scream of agony, moaning in torment as they float
down ornate spiral staircases. Mine take the form of
moments frozen in time, so vivid I think they’re still
here, but long-since dead.
They are people, places, memories, relentless in
their haunting and antagonizing in their absence.
They lurk patiently in every corner, begging to
be remembered: in old photo albums and my
childhood bedroom, in text messages and vacant
corner stores, in the pages of my high school diary
and the dusty frames on my nightstand. Ghosts
may connote death, but it’s the living who create
them. We conjure them in empty corridors and
horror films. We lure them to speak to us in the
sanctity of flickering candlesticks, with our hushed
whispers and electronic spirit boxes. We want them
to make themselves known to us, enamored by the
untouchable specters we force back into existence.
I am no stranger to necromancy, to the cruel and
fruitless pursuit of trying to bring things back from
the dead. I long for lemures: I crack the door open
for them, I leave the lights on. I am encompassed by
eulogies, akin to apparitions.
I am a mosaic of ghost stories. To tell them is to keep
them alive.
T
he Graveyard
I drive back to the town I’m from and think
I’ve never seen a graveyard look so much like home.
The roads are familiar but uncanny, reeking with
the putridness of a past life. I was born and raised
here: I’ve kissed every corner, caressed every crack
in the concrete, so why do I feel like a tourist? I don’t
recognize the new shop by my high school. The city
has cut down the towering oak tree in front of my
house and nobody cared to invite me to the wake.
I am sick with unrest, like an anguished Victorian
spirit discovering that the sanctuary wherein he
lived and loved had been bulldozed and replaced,
that nobody remembered him at all. I drive the same
car but it feels like a casket now, a cold metal vessel
transporting me through a world that’s since moved
on without me. I’m pale with the bone-chilling
premonition that things have died here.
I realize I’ve died here too, a hundred times over.
So many little versions of me have faded away, leaving
sepia-toned remnants in their wake. Old flames,
friends, feelings and fleeting memories, all faceless
ghosts now marking this place as a land of no return.
I wonder if my presence sends a chill down the locals’
spines, if they know someone that no longer belongs
here has tried to communicate from the other side.
I try to rouse these things back to life. I perform
seances in the parking structure I used to frequent
with people who dare not speak of my existence.
I watch in solitude as the sunset, red as inferno,
sets the town ablaze. I think about how so much
has changed here, that I’ve changed too. But I find
solace in knowing that one November evening, we
drove up to the top of the parking structure and
used our car keys to carve our names into the wall.
I’m grateful for the etchings that outlived us, the
irrevocable proof that once, I was here.
Kyra tells me to hold my breath when we drive past
a cemetery. Superstition warns that the restless spirits
will enter your soul and nestle into your bones. With
no home to return to, they anxiously await a gust of air
from unassuming lungs that they can get swept up in,
longing to take the life that courses through your veins
and make it their own. I don’t blame them, but we
selfishly puff up our cheeks and sit in silence anyways.
Kyra steps on the gas so we don’t suffocate. We turn
the corner and breathe out a sigh of relief in unison.
I pull out of the driveway of my home and make the
trip back to school. I hold my breath. I’m blue in the
face the entire way there.
P
retty Dead Things
My body feels like a graveyard, too.
Because my body, it’s a mess of limbs and
appendages, of flesh and regret. Sometimes it feels
like a thing I haunt, a land that is no longer mine. To
be so disjointed in the skin that was painstakingly
designed for you feels blasphemous, but each
movement is exorcised out of me, like I’m rattling
my putrefying bones from the inside trying to coax
out some evil sickness.
I remember the graverobbers that visited my
body, their greedy hands digging and clutching
and taking, always taking. They were insatiable
in their taking, and their hunger raised a mind-
splitting ring in their ears that stopped them from
hearing me protest and plead and persist that this
body is mine, not theirs. Not that it matters: dead
girls can’t say no.
It feels like watching from the other side,
suspended in the leaden grey of compulsory silence.
Like a spirit that doesn’t know it’s passed on,
screaming until her throat is raw, wondering why
nobody can hear her. But I watched as they made a
grave of me, something so alive, with teeth and hair
and blood and fight left in me, still.
I mourn the girl that I was before you touched
me. I bring her flowers on Sundays. I make her
headstone beautiful, wondering if dead things can
be pretty, too.
I scrub and shine until my knuckles bleed.
Can dead things be pretty, too?
The Ford School of Public Policy
and School of Public Health hosted
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
Director-General of the World
Health Organization, to reflect
on the lessons learned during the
COVID-19 pandemic and discuss
preventative steps to make sure the
same mistakes are not repeated. The
event began with an introduction
of Ghebreyesus from Public Policy
Dean Michael Barr.
Ghebreyesus
began
his
presentation by stating, “I have often
said that health is a political choice.”
He
reminded
viewers
that
regulations
involving
pandemic
response such as, isolation and
quarantine guidelines were already
put in place before the pandemic
started. In addition, he recognized
that low-income countries and
minority groups have suffered from
the pandemic at disproportionately
higher rates in comparison to affluent
countries and citizens. He attributed
the failure of handling the pandemic
to medical systems only focusing on
whether they were advanced through
research and practice, not whether
the systems were stable enough to
handle catastrophe. According to
Ghebreyesus, this factor is what
contributed to many advanced
medical systems, like the United
States, feeling overwhelmed when
the virus was rapidly spreading. In
light of these issues, Ghebreyesus laid
out three lessons the pandemic has
taught health care policymakers and
how countries can move forward:
1. A strong healthcare system
is not the same as an advanced
healthcare system.
The underinvestment in public
health and primary healthcare
is one of the main factors why
healthcare systems were swamped
when
the
pandemic
started.
Ghebreyesus said that “primary
health is good for providing mental
health and mitigating the effects of
social, economic and environmental
health.” Investing in primary care
has shown lower rates of emergency
department visits, lower mortality
rates and higher rates of patient
satisfaction. In addition, investing
in primary care allows health
problems to be discovered early, so
patients can avoid drastic outcomes
later down the line.
2. Increased funding for resources
to help countries recover and be
prepared for another pandemic.
Money needs to be put towards
helping low and middle-income
countries get out of the pandemic.
According to Ghebreyesus, the money
should be allocated for surveillance,
laboratory, communication, contact
tracing and preparedness using the
one health approach. The one health
approach analyzes how people’s
health is related to their environment.
For example, the one health approach
would study how climate change
impacts access to water and food
within a community. Using the one
health approach to understanding
health allows health care officials
to see how environments influence
one’s health and allows citizens to see
how what they consume or how they
live is either benefitting their health
or causing harm.
I never knew that, for a period
of my childhood, food stamps kept
me fed. It wasn’t until I took an
Intro to Public Policy course during
my second-year fall that I learned
about food stamps, their “benefits”
and who they help. I knew my
parents struggled financially after
they separated, but they made sure
their kids never worried about
money. The class had a module on
social welfare policy which taught
us about different government
programs aimed at assisting the
poor, unemployed and marginalized
in society. We discussed different
programs such as the Supplemental
Nutrition
Assistance
Program
(SNAP,
aka
food
stamps),
Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF, a cash welfare
system for the very poor), minimum
wage and others. Throughout the
module, however, I noticed that
programs providing benefits to
the most vulnerable populations
were
commonly
political
and
rarely seemed to pursue their noted
mission of lifting people out of
poverty.
Though the module offered
dozens of graphs, charts and
statistics with insightful numbers,
data can do little to show the
individual
impact
of
policy.
Throughout my public policy classes,
I always have long and complicated
academic papers assigned which
describe how to help poor people,
even though most of the time these
articles are written by old, wealthy
and institutionally educated white
academics. To better understand
how social welfare helps (or hurts)
a community, legislators should look
to their constituents who participate
in such programs.
After reading the papers, graphs
and data, I wanted to learn from
the perspective of the true working
class, so I could better grasp what
eligible participants thought about
the efficacy of social welfare policies.
After first learning about SNAP in the
introductory course, I called my mom
and asked her if she knew what SNAP
was and if she used SNAP benefits to
feed my two siblings and myself. Her
response: “YUP, we were broke,” in a
comical manner.
Since that initial call last fall, I
was trying to remember more of the
conversation surrounding SNAP
and her experience with it. This
semester, however, I am taking a
social policy seminar, a course that
dives into many different welfare
policy areas such as tax benefits,
aging policy, education, housing
and universal basic income. Again
being reminded of the worsening
state of America’s poor through this
class, I wanted to leave the boring
(but informative!) white papers and
research studies and engage with
the working class directly. So, I
conducted a formal interview with
my mom to gauge her thoughts on
the SNAP program.
We discussed the application
process first. From 2007 to 2010
my mom was on SNAP benefits.
She began to describe the rather
long process it takes to determine
whether one is eligible for benefits.
First, she had to go to the Illinois
Department of Human Services.
SNAP is a federally funded program
that grants states flexibility when
determining the program’s design
and implementation. After arriving
at the Department of Human
Services and filling out the paper
application, one waits at home to
receive an interview invitation in the
mail. Though I knew states varied
in SNAP eligibility, I never would
have thought an interview would be
a necessary component when trying
to feed your family.
This interview process is a perfect
example
of
an
administrative
burden that plagues social policy.
Administrative burdens refer to
different costs associated with
joining an assistance program.
Learning about how to apply for a
program, filling out complicated
documents and dealing with the
stress and stigma that come with
government aid are all examples of
administrative burdens that deter
many people from receiving benefits
such as SNAP.
Ghost stories
Dr. Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus presents global
perspectives on public health
Welfare from a
mother’s perspective
YASMINE SLIMANI
Daily Arts Writer
ANCHAL MALH
MiC Columnist
Design by Janice Lin
Design by Maggie Weibe
puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com
By August Miller
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
11/03/21
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
11/03/21
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2021
ACROSS
1 Site-hop,
Webwise
5 Watched closely
9 Beetle relative
14 “Small world”
15 Fish that ought
to go well with a
cobbler?
16 Paddled
17 Not at all biased
18 Yeast-free loaf
20 Au courant, with
“in”
22 Common lunch
hour
23 Instrument for
Este Haim of
the pop rock trio
Haim
24 Opposite of a
roast
27 “When They
See Us” creator
DuVernay
28 Become less
brilliant, as colors
29 Fictional legal
secretary
35 Org. impacted by
the Real ID Act
38 “CHiPs” actor
Estrada
39 Kitten’s cry
40 Place in an
overhead bin,
say
41 Not looking good
42 Three-horned
dinosaur
46 Self-__
48 Hoppy brew
letters
49 Job for the
police
56 DEA agent
57 Valley
58 Application of
small drops
59 Overpowered ...
or how the
Across answers
with circles might
be described?
62 Bends
63 Surg. holding
area
64 Save for later, as
a TV show
65 Pacific salmon
66 Puts in the work
for
67 Appear
68 Suffix with
Jumbo
DOWN
1 What Germany
has that Greece
doesn’t?
2 DIY mover
3 Mighty mammal
with keratin horns
4 Rite of passage
involving hot
embers
5 Law firm abbr.
6 Kits and cubs
7 “Silas Marner”
author
8 Interior design
9 Role
10 iPod accessory
11 Showed, as a
good time
12 Rag on
13 Puts into the mix
19 Carver’s tool
21 Soprano
superstar
25 Rapper Lil __ X
26 Upside-down
sleeper
29 Dawn
phenomenon
30 Slice of history
31 Author who
wrote the
Thongor fantasy
series
32 “That’s enough!”
33 Word with hall or
room
34 Woolly mama
36 Unruly head of
hair
37 9-Across et al.
40 Short-lived 1765
legislation
42 Amount past due?
43 Tears to shreds
44 Rocker Ocasek
45 Goodall subjects
47 “You gotta be
kidding!”
49 Linney of “Ozark”
50 Indisputable
evidence
51 Skateboard leap
52 Christopher who
played Superman
53 Boot on a
diamond
54 Cheesy chip
55 Cicely of “Roots”
56 “Ain’t gonna
happen”
60 Market advances
61 Bubbly title
SUDOKU
WHISPER
“Why did
Sally fall off
the swing?”
“She had no
arms. Happy
Halloween.”
WHISPER
By Craig Stowe
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
10/27/21
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
10/27/21
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Wednesday, October 27, 2021
ACROSS
1 Like many a
basement
5 Hold dear
10 Breakfast
companion?
13 __ vaccine
14 As a companion
15 Soup du __
16 Big name in plant
food
18 Reverse
19 Also
20 G.I. entertainment
often featuring
Bob Hope
22 Through street
26 Hollywood Walk
of Fame symbols
27 Get duded up
28 “Despite my best
attempts ... ”
30 Bladed tool
31 Enjoyed the buffet
32 [as per the
original]
33 First section
of the “Divine
Comedy”
36 “That makes
more sense”
40 Witticism
41 Big bang letters?
42 Keep __ distance
43 Kitchen gadget
47 Greek wraps
49 Take the floor
50 Unlike bikinis
52 Handicraft worker
54 Something up
one’s sleeve
55 Jackson family
musician born
Toriano
56 Home with a
between-floors
entrance ... and
what can be
found on puzzle
rows 3, 6, 8 and
10?
62 Smooth (out)
63 Events with kings
and queens
64 Shade of blue
65 “__
Rosenkavalier”
66 Lathered up
67 Slush Puppie
parent company
DOWN
1 __ Pérignon
2 “Hereditary”
director Aster
3 Deface
4 Missouri River
feeder
5 Heroism
6 Blonde
beverage
7 Part of a cord
8 Like a mob
scene
9 They might clash
on stage
10 Actress Helena
__ Carter
11 Email program
named after
writer Welty
12 Half-asleep
15 Supreme Court
figure
17 Filmmaker Ethan
or Joel
21 Davis of “Do the
Right Thing”
22 “East of Eden”
brother
23 Sailing hazard
24 “Leave __ me”
25 Exist
27 Letter after
upsilon
29 Helper: Abbr.
31 Payment before
a deal
34 Sentiment
35 Lures (in)
36 Concerning
37 Snitch (on)
38 Chiwere speaker
39 Used to be
41 Royal flush card
43 Like many
candies
44 Get in
45 Ramble on and
on
46 Amateur
47 Birth
announcement
word
48 Sana’a native
51 One taking a
fall
53 Egyptian
slitherers
57 Mauna __
58 Little devil
59 Device that
may be wet
or dry, briefly
60 End of the
day
61 Cleaning
ingredient
HUGO QUINTANA
MiC Columnist
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
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