The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, January 12, 2022
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is publishing weekly on Wednesdays for the
Winter 2022 semester 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. If you would like a current copy of the paper mailed to you, please visit store.
pub.umich.edu/michigan-daily-buy-this-edition to place your order.
PAIGE HODDER
Managing Editor phodder@umich.edu
DOMINIC COLETTI and KRISTINA ZHENG
Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com
Senior News Editors: George Weykamp, Kaitlyn Luckoff, Kate Weiland, Nadir
Al-Saidi, Roni Kane, Shannon Stocking
Investigative Editor: Sammy Sussman, Vanessa Kiefer
JULIAN BARNARD and SHUBHUM ‘SHUBS’ GIROTI
Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Senior Opinion Editors: Brandon Cowit, Quin Zapoli, Siddharth Parmar, Olivia
Mouradian, Jess D’Agostino
SABRIYA IMAMI and LILLIAN PEARCE
Managing Arts Editors
arts@michigandaily.com
GRACE BEAL and TESS CROWLEY
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com
GRACE TUCKER
Managing Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com
Deputy Editors: Taylor Schott, Julia Maloney
CAROLINE ATKINSON and ETHAN PATRICK
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com
Senior Copy Editors: Melissa Kurpiers, Ella Krumerman, Alex Stamell, Lizzie
MacAdam, Olivia Bradish, Dana Elobaid, Audey Ruhana
DORA GUO and ERIC LAU
Managing Online Editors
webteam@michigandaily.com
HANNAH ELLIOTT and JULIA RAGUCKAS
Managing Video Editors video@michigandaily.com
Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Yasmine Slimani, Maya Kadouh, Anchal
Malh, Safura Syed
Senior Sports Editors: Aidan Woutas, Josh Taubman, Brendan Roose, Jack
Kingsley, Jacob Cohen, Abby Snyder
Senior Video Editor: Jordan Shefman
Senior Social Media Editors: Christian Juliano, Justin O’Beirne, Martina
Zacker, Jillian Sacksner, Mishal Charania, Mae Veidlinger, Kirti Aplash, Jacob
Cohen
Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com
ARTS SECTION
arts@michigandaily.com
SPORTS SECTION
sports@michigandaily.com
NEWS TIPS
tipline@michigandaily.com
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com
AARON SANTILLI
Business Manager
business@michigandaily.com
JASMIN LEE
Editor-in-Chief
eic@michigandaily.com
PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com
NEWSROOM
news@michigandaily.com
CORRECTIONS
corrections@michigandaily.com
JARED GREENSPAN and NICK STOLL
Managing Sports Editors sports@michigandaily.com
Senior Arts Editors: Emilia Ferranti, Mik Deitz, Katrina Stebbins, Sarah
Rahman, Fia Kaminski
Arts Beat Editors: Emmy Snyder, Jacob Lusk, Kai Bartol, Laine Brotherton,
Matthew Eggers, Meera Kumar
SOPHIE GRAND and ERIN SHI
Managing Design Editors
design@michigandaily.com
JESSICA KWON and ELIYA IMTIAZ
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com
EVAN DELORENZO and ZOE STORER
Managing Social Media Editors socialmedia@michigandaily.com
Editorial Staff
Business Staff
Senior Photo Editors: Julia Schachinger, Jeremy Weine, Kate Hua, Emma Mati,
Anna Fuder
Assistant Photo Editors: Dominick Sokotoff, Jenna Hickey, Lila Turner,
Julianne Yoon, Becca Mahon
RORI MILLER
Creative Director
DOUG MCCLURE and MAX ROSENZWEIG
Managing Podcast Editors podeditors@michigandaily.com
SCHUYLER JANZEN
Sales Manager
ADVERTISING
wmg-contact@umich.edu
AYA SALIM
Digital Managing Editor ayasalim@umich.edu
ANDY NAKAMURA and RIPLEY NEWMAN
Co-Chairs of Access & Inclusion accessandinclusion@michigandaily.com
Senior Podcast Editors: Sofia Terenzio, Isaac Mintz
Associate Editor: Lilly Dickman
Senior Layout Editor: Ellie Orlanski
GOVERNMENT
Redistricting committee approves Chestnut, Linden
and Hickory plans
KATE WEILAND
Daily News Editor
State of Michigan adopts new
Congressional maps, reflects
on engagement process
Jim Toy, a lifelong advocate of
LGBTQ+ rights who was widely
believed to be the first openly
gay man in the state of Michigan,
peacefully passed away on January
1 at the age of 91, according to The
Detroit Free Press.
As early as the 1970s, Toy was
a prominent voice in fighting dis-
crimination against the LGBTQ+
community. He graduated from the
University of Michigan with a mas-
ter’s degree in clinical social work
and helped to establish the Uni-
versity’s Human Sexuality Office
— now referred to as the Spectrum
Center — which became the “first
campus center in history” commit-
ted to supporting LGBTQ+ indi-
viduals.
“I’m saddened to hear of the
death of Jim Toy, national social
justice advocate, life-long cham-
pion of LGBTQ+ rights, pioneer of
the @UMSpectrumCtr & 2021 @
UMich honorary degree recipient,”
University President Mark Schlis-
sel wrote on social media. “May we
all honor his legacy by offering our
support to all who experience dis-
crimination.”
At a 1970 anti-Vietnam War rally
in Kennedy Square, Detroit, Toy
became the first man in the state
to publicly come out as gay while
representing the Detroit Gay Lib-
eration Front. He later went on to
become a founding member of the
Ann Arbor Gay Liberation Front.
Many local officials, including
Washtenaw County Commissioner
Jason Morgan, also spoke to Toy’s
legacy and impact on the commu-
nity on social media.
“Jim Toy was and will always
be a champion for LGBTQ rights
and for our community,” Morgan
wrote in a Tweet. “He was a men-
tor, friend and someone I admired.
I am honored to have known Jim.”
Ann
Arbor
City
Council-
member Travis Radina, D-Ward
3, served alongside Toy at the
Washtenaw Rainbow Action Proj-
ect, which was renamed the Jim
Toy Community Center in 2010.
Radina shared on Facebook that
Toy was a thoughtful and wise
mentor, who went on to co-author
the first official Pride Week decla-
ration adopted by the Ann Arbor
City Council.
“Most people who are lucky to
live as long as Jim did have expe-
rienced amazing and great lives,”
Radina wrote. “But Jim wasn’t
satisfied to simply live a great life
for himself. He dedicated nearly
all of his time with us to ensuring
that others could live great lives
as well — and to live them openly,
safely and as our true selves, sur-
rounded by friends and unwaver-
ing love.”
Radina also noted Toy was a co-
author on Ann Arbor’s first non-
discrimmination policy on sexual
orientation as well as a strong pro-
ponent of adding sexual orienta-
tion, gender identity and gender
expression to the University’s non-
discrimmination bylaw.
Flowers and memories can be
sent through the Muehlig Funeral
Chapel. No services have been
scheduled.
Managing News Editors Dominic Coletti
and Kristina Zheng can be reached at dcolet-
ti@umich.edu and krizheng@umich.edu
ANN ARBOR
Longtime LGBTQ+ activist Jim Toy, first publicly gay
man in Michigan, dies at 91
KRISTINA ZHENG &
DOMINIC COLETTI
Managing News Editors
Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County officials reflect on legacy and impact
BECCA MAHON/Daily
Leaders of the Michigan Independent Citizens
Redistricting Committee (MICRC) held a news con-
ference Tuesday to speak on the officially adopted
congressional maps for the state of Michigan.
Following years of engaging in community
feedback, the commission adopted the Chestnut
Congressional map, Linden state Senate map and
Hickory state House map. The approved maps will
be in place until the next redistricting cycle in 2031.
The Chestnut map — which removes the state’s
two majority-Black congressional districts — was
backed by eight commissioners and gives Democrats
a 7-6 advantage in the next election. The Linden map
was backed by nine commissioners and leans 21-17
Democrat, a move that shifts the control away from
Republicans in the state Senate for the first time
since the early 1980s. The Hickory map was backed
by 11 commissioners and leans 54-56 Republican.
Throughout the drawing and consideration of
various maps, the commission said they heard sev-
eral concerns from citizens about gerrymandering
and ensuring accurate representation for Michigan
voters. The commission — led by 13 citizens random-
ly selected from more than 9,000 applications — had
more than 25,000 comments from across the state
over the course of 130 open meetings.
The MICRC’s work is the first time in state his-
tory that an independent citizen-led commission
handled the redistricting process. In 2018, Michigan
voters approved an amendment to the state consti-
tution that created the commission, requiring their
work be done open to the public.
MICRC Chairperson Rebecca Szetela said that
the most exciting aspect of this redistricting process
was the citizen participation.
“This has been an exciting and invigorating pro-
cess and I am so proud to have been a part of it,”
Szetela said. “This is the first time that we have had
citizens throughout the state have the ability to com-
ment, participate and assist in the drafting of con-
gressional districts, state House districts and state
Senate districts, and that is a fantastic testament to
Michigan and a fantastic testament to this commis-
sion that we were able to do it.”
Commissioner Brittni Kellom agreed, saying that
she appreciated the ways in which the commission
was able to work together.
“We live in a society where voting and trust and
being a caring brother or sister to your fellow
citizen isn’t always the value and I think we had an
opportunity to reinstill that in Michigan,” Kellom
said. “I think that that above all is a testament to what
true democracy looks like. It’s a testament to what it
looks like to work together and build community no
matter what your race is, no matter what you believe
in, no matter what you do in your personal life, so
that has been the beauty of the commission.”
During the press conference, the commission said
they received significant feedback from citizens who
were concerned with the lack of representation for
Black residents in the state, particularly in the city of
Detroit.
Kellom said that if the commissioners had more
time to draw out the maps and get to know areas
across the state, especially Detroit, the final maps
likely would have been different and more consider-
ate of the Black population in Michigan.
“I know Black people all over, and particularly in
Detroit, will continue to do what they need to do to
survive, which is to galvanize and to be active and
to do what they need to do,” Kellom said. “Do I wish
that there was more time to get it right? Absolutely,
because I truly believe that the way that you answer
and restore pain and healing is to give people a head
start and a head start is not cheating when you’ve
gone so long without.”
Szetela said that while she believes the approved
maps are in agreement with the Voting Rights Act,
she said she is still concerned that a lack of data about
Black voters, especially in and around Detroit, may
have impacted the fairness of the final maps.
“Unfortunately with this process being so data
driven, there’s just an absence of data that we can’t
analyze to determine that,” Szetela said.
Szetela, Kellom and Commissioners Rhonda
Lange and Erin Wagner all voted against a motion
Tuesday morning that would have stopped the com-
mission from considering new maps. If approved,
however, this motion would have extended public
comment by enacting a new 45-day period, which
would have given the commission more time to con-
sider other maps or draw new maps.
Szelta said that an extension of time may have
allowed for more fair maps to be drawn that would
more accurately represent voters.
“I think the biggest issue for us was just time,”
Szetela said. “Unfortunately, we happen to have
this inaugural commission come into play during a
pandemic which created all sorts of challenges both
with the ability for us to meet in person and with the
ability to get data from the Census Bureau that assist-
ed us in drawing the maps so despite that extraordi-
nary challenge, we rose to the occasion, we worked
really hard and we managed to get these maps done
in a timely manner.”
Moving forward, Kellom advised all citizens to
examine the maps and continue to actively partici-
pate in voting and democracy.
“I would tell the citizens to understand the map
– whatever feeling you have on it – understand all
three maps and what that means for you in the
future, and then develop and devise and create and
reimagine, just like we did, a plan that allows you to
be the most successful and what that means and I
hope as a commission, we can have opportunities to
facilitate that conversation,” Kellom said.
Despite conflicts in support for the approved maps,
Communications and Outreach Director Edward
Woods III said that having a citizen-run commission
allowed for more fair maps to be produced.
“In 2018, voters in Michigan, by more than 61%,
said that they wanted voters, citizens, Michigan resi-
dents to draw the maps and not politicians so that
they can have fair maps and prevent gerrymander-
ing,” Woods said. “Tonight, we are happy to report
that that has taken place.”
Commissioner Douglas J. Clark said that he
is proud of these maps and that the commission
worked hard to represent all communities as best
they could.
“We just can’t meet everybody’s needs 100%, so
we chose to move forward and do the best we could
to get to that point and we recognize there’s probably
some things that some folks like and other things
they don’t,” Clark said. “There’s conflicts in every-
thing that we went forward to discuss. We made it
where we thought it represented the largest part
of the society and I’m personally very proud of the
products that we’ve produced.”
The commissioners said that they do not plan to
sue the commission moving forward, but they may
still face legal challenges.
Daily News Editor Kate Weiland can be reached at
kmwblue@umich.edu.
On Friday, the University of Michigan COVID-
19 dashboard reported a record high of 815 positive
cases so far for the week of Jan. 2. This number has
increased since the University reported 676 positive
cases for the previous week ending on Jan. 1.
Most cases are linked to household and social
gathering exposures, according to the dashboard
update, and the majority of cases reported mild
symptoms of sore throat and runny nose. The
positive COVID-19 cases were collected from the
Community Sampling and Tracking Program and
the University Health Services, the latter of which
reached a 26.9% positivity rate on Friday. Complete
data for this week will be released on the COVID-19
dashboard on Jan. 12.
Quarantine and isolation housing was at 35.1%
capacity on Thursday before dropping to 33.3% as of
Friday at 8:30 a.m.
The University has received 22,000 submissions
of booster information from students, faculty and
staff from all three U-M campuses, University Presi-
dent Mark Schlissel wrote in an email to the campus
community Friday. Submissions are currently being
verified, and individuals may submit vaccine infor-
mation here.
Schlissel also announced that N95 masks will
be available while supplies last at some on-campus
COVID-19 testing locations. The masks will be avail-
able for anyone in the U-M community and can be
found at any of the seven CSTP sites on campus in
the coming days. Individuals do not need to be get-
ting a COVID-19 test to receive an N95 mask.
In addition, Schlissel called on U-M instructors
to offer flexibility in accommodating students who
are ill or quarantining this semester, including not
penalizing students who may not have documenta-
tion of illness.
“In addition, accommodation for illness can
include activating video or zoom in equipped class-
rooms so that students who are out sick can see and
hear the class…” Schlissel wrote. “Provost Susan
M. Collins and I also recognize that in some cases,
absences of instructors or large numbers of students
due to illness and quarantine and isolation may tem-
porarily warrant remote teaching.”
Martino Harmon, vice president for student life,
and Robert D. Ernst, associate vice president of stu-
dent life for health and wellness, sent an email out to
students on Thursday detailing information on what
to do if students test positive.
NEWS BRIEFS
N95 masks, isolation
guidelines released for
campus community
UMich reaches
an all-time high
of 815 positive
COVID-19 cases
for week of Jan. 2
KATE WEILAND
Daily News Editor
Read more at MichiganDaily.com