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.” The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is publishing weekly on Wednesdays for the Winter 2022 semester by students at the University of Michigan. 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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