The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, February 2, 2022
ADMINISTRATION
Amid a nationwide surge of
COVID-19 cases, the University
of Michigan announced a new
policy requiring either proof of
vaccination or a negative COVID-
19 test for all indoor athletic
events. The new requirement is
in addition to
the
existing
face
covering
mandate
while
inside
University
buildings.
The
policy
specified that
those
who
tested positive
for
COVID-
19
will
be
required
to
show a public
health release
letter or a letter
from a doctor
that is dated
within 90 days
of the sporting
event.
The
policy will be
in effect until
further notice,
according
to
the Michigan
Athletics
website.
LSA freshman Sara Taub is
on the Michigan dance team
and
performs
at
women’s
basketball games. Taub said the
new requirements made her feel
more safe at athletic events and
was glad people were still able to
attend, despite the surge.
“You want a lot of people
coming to the games to support
the teams, and you just want to be
as safe as possible so that we can
keep going to the games because
last year that was impossible,”
Taub said. “I think that support
is so important, especially for
(dance). We just had our nationals
… it was so much better being able
to experience that energy live, in
person.”
Taub
also
said
random
asymptomatic
testing
would
make her feel more comfortable
attending all events on campus.
“Other universities (are) doing
random testing for students, and
I feel like … that would be a more
effective way (to minimize the
spread of COVID-19) than just
kind of testing when you want to or
when you need to,” Taub said. “I just
think that that would help eliminate
the amount of cases or just bring
attention to the positive ones.”
In an email to The Michigan
Daily, Associate Athletic Director
Kurt Svoboda wrote that athletic
events will accept photo vaccine
cards, and the policy will remain
until further notice. Additionally,
at-home rapid tests will not satisfy
the negative test requirement.
“In
early
January,
the
requirements were put in place
in anticipation of rising cases
stemming from COVID’s omicron
variant while striving to provide
the safest and best possible
in-person experiences for our
students and other community
members,”
Svoboda
wrote.
“Other indoor ticketed events
had previously instituted these
policies.”
Engineering
freshman
David Grover said he went to
the Michigan wrestling match
against Penn State Friday. Grover
also said he knows more people
who tested positive compared to
last semester, and he believes the
virus will become as common as
the flu..
“Yeah, it’s a lot more intense
than it was (last semester),” Grover
said. “I haven’t really had anybody
in my family or friend group that
had ever (tested positive) … (I
think) it’s gonna become like the
flu where people get it every year,
it kind of rolls through and then
it’ll subside for a bit. And there
will be vaccines that come out that
change yearly, depending on what
variant there is
and it’s just kind
of what it is at
this point.”
Grover
said
he wasn’t asked
to show proof
of
vaccination
or a negative
test
when
he
went
to
the
match. He said
while he thinks
vaccination
and
testing
are
effective
in
minimizing
the spread of
COVID-19, he is
skeptical of its
enforcement.
“As
far
as
sporting events
go, because I
didn’t get asked
for any proof
of
vaccination
or
testing,
I
can’t speak on whether any of
the people who didn’t go through
that student entrance (followed
the University’s policy),” Grover
said. “I didn’t see if there were
any altercations, I didn’t see if
anybody just went through. I have
no idea if they actually did check
it. So I don’t think I can speak
on whether it’s even changing
anything inside of the event.”
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Proof of vaccination or negative test required for attendance inside sporting games
University community reacts to additional
COVID-19 policies for ‘U’ indoor athletic events
RACHEL MINTZ
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Environmental, wildlife non-profit organizations gather to discuss conservation eforts
Rep. Debbie Dingell talks $1 billion infrastructure
bill at U-M Botanical Gardens visit
Students in the University
of Michigan School of Social
Work drafted a Payment for
Providers
petition
calling
for Masters of Social Work
students
to
be
financially
compensated for field work. A
similar version of the petition
was drafted in 2017, but the
majority of field work positions
through
the
SSW
remain
unpaid.
MSW
students
must
complete 16 hours of field work
a week in their first semester
and 28 hours a week in the
following semesters, according
to criteria set by the National
Association of Social Workers
(NASW).
IRENA LI
Daily Staff Reporter
LSA senior Zackariah Farah
speaks at a rally organized
Marc Gaden, Communications Director and Legislative Liaison of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, speaks
to Rep. Debbie Dingell at the UM Botanical Gardens Wednesday afternoon. Members of the Great Lakes
Fishery Commission, Ducks Unlimited, Healing Our Waters, among others, discuss the federal infrastructure
funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and tour the wetland area.
Design by Katherine Lee
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich.,
visited the University of Michigan
Matthaei
Botanical
Gardens
Wednesday to discuss the impacts
of the Great Lakes Restoration
Initiative (GLRI) following the $1
billion in federal infrastructure
funding the initiative received last
year.
Dingell
represents
Michigan’s
12th Congressional District in the
U.S.
House
of
Representatives.
She was joined by members of
various environmental and wildlife
organizations,
such
as
nonprofit
organization Ducks Unlimited and the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to hear
how GLRI funding has supported
those groups’ local conservation
efforts.
The
$1
trillion
bipartisan
infrastructure bill, which was
signed into law by President Joe
Biden last November, allocated an
additional $1 billion to the (GLRI).
Established in 2009, the GLRI
works to protect wildlife and restore
habitats by eliminating threats to
the Great Lakes ecosystems such
as pollution, contamination and
invasive species.
Kyle Rorah, Ducks Unlimited
regional director of public policy,
said the GLRI as well as the Great
Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration
Act of 1990,vital to collaborative
conservation efforts, benefitted
Americans across the country
despite the initial monetary costs
that go into these programs.
“These
programs
are
just
incredible,” Rorah said. “When
you think about the multiple
benefits that ecological restoration
provides communities, the value
delivered back to society (and) to
wildlife, far outpaces the upfront
investment.”
TESS CROWLEY/Daily
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Design by Priya Ganji
MSW students required to complete up to 28 hours of
fieldwork per week unpaid
Petition demands UMich
School of Social Work fund
degree-required internships
MADISON KRAFT
Daily Staff Reporter
NEWS
NEWS
Read more at MichiganDaily.com