“It was really inspiring to see so 

many students so invested in the 

election and taking action to better our 

future,” Wise said.

The U-M chapter of College 

Democrats, who helped organize and 

host events to increase exposure of 

Democratic candidates to the student 

body, told The Michigan Daily in a 

statement following the election that 

they feel optimistic about the results.

“We, the College Democrats at U-M, 

are elated by the results of the 2022 

midterm elections in Michigan,” 
the 

statement reads. “We continue to 

express our support of Governor 

Gretchen 
Whitmer, 
Lieutenant 

Governor Garlin Gilchrist, Attorney 

General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of 

State Jocelyn Benson as they continue 

to work hard for Michiganders. Now 

that the State House and State Senate 

have a Democratic majority, we are 

optimistic of what is to come with this 

progressive leadership.”

LSA freshman Gavin Thomas, who 

said he is unaffiliated with campus 

political activism, said he was also 

content with the results.

“I’m pretty happy with the outcome. 

I think that things worked out for the 

best, at least in my opinion,” Thomas 

said. “I think that that was one of the 

best results we could have gotten.”

LSA freshman Mary Backman said 

she was particularly excited with the 

passage of Proposal 3, a ballot proposal 

to amend the Michigan constitution to 

enshrine the right to an abortion, birth 

control and other forms of reproductive 

healthcare. 
The 
proposal, 
which 

passed with 56.7% of the vote, received 

widespread media attention following 

the overturning of Roe v. Wade — a 1973 

lawsuit which guaranteed the right to 

abortions nationwide — in June of this 

year.

“I’m very excited,” Backman said. 

“I’m very happy with how the election 

turned out, (Proposal 3) passed and 

Whitmer is the governor, and I just 

couldn’t be happier.”

Some students said they thought the 

campus reaction to Proposal 3 passing 

and the reelection of Whitmer was 

generally positive, including LSA junior 

Emily Karamihas, who said she comes 

from a more conservative part of the 

state.

“A lot of my friends also shared 

my reaction, so that was definitely 

nice,” Karamihas said. “It’s definitely 

different.”

Karamihas, who voted in her 

hometown of Dexter, Mich., said she 

was hoping for a Democratic win but 

wasn’t confident. To her surprise, 

Dexter cast a majority vote for Whitmer.

“I know definitely in 2016, even 

2020, there were a lot of Trump signs I 

would drive by every day,” Karamihas 

said. “I was not confident that it would 

be blue, but it was definitely what I was 

hoping (for).”

Rentschler said he was actually 

expecting more votes in favor of 

Whitmer, who won with a 10.6% 

margin over Republican challenger 

Tudor Dixon.

“I think I was surprised to see 

that the numbers didn’t have a bigger 

majority,” Rentschler said. “Governor 

Whitmer only won by about, I want 

to say, 7%. I think I was surprised, I 

would have thought it would have been 

more. All of (the proposals) passed with 

pretty small margins, and I would have 

thought to see more, especially for the 

state of Michigan.”

Whitmer won reelection with 

a slightly higher percentage of the 

popular vote than her initial victory 

in 2018, when she won 53.3% of the 

popular vote. In 2018, 4.34 million 

ballots were cast.

Students also commented on the 

significance of this year’s election, with 

this year being the first time Michigan’s 

gubernatorial race has been between 

two women. Following the election, the 

Michigan House Democrats appointed 

state Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit, to serve 

as speaker of the house. Tate will be 

the first Black speaker in state history. 

Democrats also selected state Sen. 

Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, as 

majority leader, the first woman to 

take up the post. Brinks is also the first 

woman to represent Grand Rapids in 

the state senate since 1920. 

LSA junior Safra Arevalo said 

she was proud to see the diversity in 

Michigan’s elected leaders.

“I think it’s more important to 

see diversity in whatever level of 

government and legislation,” Arevalo 

said. “I think that’s just something 

important to me, so it’s nice to see that.”

Rentschler 
echoed 
similar 

sentiments, saying that having Tate 

and Brinks in elected roles is crucial 

in increasing representation in the 

legislature.

“Even if they prove to be lackluster, 

which I don’t think they will be, 

representation 
is 
important,” 

Rentschler said. “It’s good to let people 

both feel comfortable in their own 

bodies and know their voices are going 

to be heard and represented.”

The U-M chapter of College 

Republicans, who publicly supported 

many Republican candidates this 

past election cycle, did not respond to 

requests for comment from The Daily. 

The organization issued the following 

statement on social media:

“Despite yesterday’s results, College 

Republicans is proud to put our best 

foot forward in the good fight. Our 

work is not done,” the statement reads.

Rentschler said he noticed that 

many conservative voices on campus 

tend to share their thoughts on social 

media, rather than speak publicly to 

likely avoid backlash.

“Snapchat has those campus stories 

for your (class) grade, and there’s a 

couple people who have been very 

vocal about their opinions about that,” 

Rentschler said. “They’re not being 

treated too kindly, I will say.”

LSA senior Charles Hilu said the 

U-M campus has a problem with 

allowing conservative students to 

express their opinions.

“I believe there is certainly a culture 

on campus where you’re expected to 

have a left-wing opinion, where you 

are expected to have opinions from the 

left,” Hilu said. “Many conservative 

students do not feel comfortable 

expressing heterodox opinions, and 

that’s rampant at the University of 

Michigan.”

LSA freshman Gabe Khouri said 

voting is a responsibility, but he believes 

some people are pressured into voting 

just because they are eligible to and not 

necessarily because they are adequately 

informed about the candidates they’re 

actually voting for.

“That’s why I held off from voting in 

this election, since I believe I wasn’t in 

the right place to vote just yet,” Khouri 

said. “For one, I hadn’t done enough of 

my own research on what’s at stake, 

which is mostly my own fault, but I 

digress. I also simply don’t feel ready to 

take on that responsibility, and I refuse 

to cave into pressure to vote for the sole 

reason that I’m registered, because 

that is an irresponsible approach to the 

voting process, in my opinion.”

Looking beyond the immediate 

aftermath of the election, Karamihas 

said she’s hopeful for policies a 

Democratic trifecta might enact and is 

glad Republicans didn’t gain power.

“I’m hopeful that laws helping 

protect the rights of trans people 

especially will become a reality, since 

they’re facing a lot of fear-mongering 

in the media lately,” Karahimas said. 

“I also definitely hope for better gun 

control legislation to help prevent mass 

shootings. To be honest, for me it really 

is mostly about avoiding the election 

denial, COVID denial and LGBTQ+ 

panic that seems so common among 

Republicans lately rather than any 

specific hopes for Democrats.”

C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital has 

reached 100% capacity following a 

surge in respiratory syncytial virus 

(RSV), according to a Thursday press 

release from Michigan Medicine. So 

far this year, the hospital has seen 

259 cases of RSV, a 46% increase 

over 2021. 

This spike comes prior to the 

expected surge of the flu and 

COVID-19 cases. Across the country 

healthcare systems have already 

begun to see increased numbers 

of flu and COVID-19 cases and are 

encouraging everyone to stay up 

to date on vaccinations for both 

viruses. With an early increase in 

RSV cases in children’s hospitals 

across the country, health systems 

are concerned for the coalescence 

of all three illnesses. Luanne 

Thomas Ewald, chief operating 

officer at Mott and Von Voigtlander 

Women’s Hospital, said the surge is 

unprecedented. 

“We have never seen a surge 

in pediatric respiratory viruses 

like this before. Our hospital is 

100% full,” Thomas said in the 

press release. “This is incredibly 

concerning because we haven’t even 

seen the full impact of flu season 

yet.”

Due to the limited capacity at the 

hospital, Mott physicians including 

Dr. Kimberly Monroe, chief clinical 

officer and pediatric hospitalist at 

Mott, recommend parents call their 

child’s primary care physician to 

determine whether an in-person 

visit is necessary.

“The vast majority of children 

with RSV experience cold symptoms 

and can rest and recover at home,” 

Monroe said in the press release. 

“However, if they’re showing any 

signs of severe illness, such as trouble 

breathing, they may need immediate 

care and should be brought to the 

emergency 
department. 
We’re 

particularly 
concerned 
about 

children under the age of 2.”

Mott is working to increase 

bed capacity and possibly transfer 

patients to other local hospitals.

“We’re working very closely 

with our partners around the state 

to find space for children who need 

care even if it’s not at our hospital. 
 

We’re also looking at unique ways to 

increase our bed capacity during the 

surge,” Ewald said.

The fanfare of the Star Wars 

theme and Lil Nas X’s ‘Montero’ 

could be heard Tuesday afternoon 

from the top of Burton Tower on 

Central Campus. The music was 

a part of a special performance 

entitled “For Whom the Bells 

Poll,” which was held to bring the 

community together on Election 

Day. 

The 
election 
day 
medlies 

performed at both Burton and 

Lurie Towers were done by Music, 

Theatre & Dance graduate student 

Carson 
Landry, 
who 
studies 

carillon performance. A carillon is 

a percussion instrument consisting 

of a keyboard attached to cast 

bronze bells. According to Landry, 

the University of Michigan has two 

carillons which have a range of four 

and a half octaves. The Charles Baird 

Carillon in Burton Tower, donated 

by Charles Baird, the University’s 

first athletic director, is the third-

heaviest carillon in the world today.

In honor of elections, the U-M 

carillon studio invited community 

members to vote on songs for the 

live performances on Tuesday. This 

was also in partnership with the 

campuswide Turn Up Turn Out 

voting initiative, which aims to 

increase student voting engagement. 

Carillonist 
and 
associate 

professor of carillon Tiffany Ng 

said that this performance was 

part of a larger project to find ways 

to incorporate the carillon in the 

community. She said the project 

was launched to help address the 

physical isolation that can occur 

when carillonists perform in the bell 

tower.

“What we’re doing is not saying, 

‘Hey, come vote through a bell 

tower concert,’ but actually, ‘Who 

is already getting out the vote and 

how can the bell tower be involved 

in that?’” Ng said.

Since the carillon is usually 

played during very public events, 

Landry explained the carillon has a 

unique role that can bring awareness 

to certain issues and reach many 

people in the community. 

“The carillon is a very publicly 

present instrument,” Landry said. 

“It is very important that we are 

connected 
to 
the 
community, 

and what we play on the carillon 

is representative of our entire 

community and what people want 

to hear.”

LSA senior Allen Gibson said that 

performances like these are a fun 

way to increase voter engagement in 

the community.

“I definitely feel like any effort to 

increase voter participation or (to) 

get people encouraged to go out is 

important,” Gibson said. 

Business 
senior 
Jeremy 

Vandenhout, who attended the 

performance in the Tower, said 

this performance was very special 

because the audience could enjoy 

the music while having a scenic view 

of the campus from above.

“This is a great opportunity to 

get that front row seat and really 

understand where the music is 

coming from that we hear everyday,” 

Vandenhout said. 

The songs chosen for the event 

included popular music from movie 

franchises and artists, such as 

John Lennon. After the 30-minute 

performance, many spectators said 

they enjoyed the final song, which 

was Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.”

Though this event was meant 

to encourage voter participation, 

Vandenhout said that it was not just 

about the elections, but also about 

bringing people together. 

“I think even on Election Day, 

people are going to probably vote 

regardless of whether there’s music 

going on,” Vandenhout said. “But 

this (event) again is a great way to 

build community.”

Ann Arbor resident Zachary 

Storey said he follows the Ann 

Arbor City Council and heard 

from others in the community 

about the lines at the University. 

Arriving at the event with more 

blankets in tow, Storey, who voted 

at the Ann Arbor Public Library 

location earlier in the day, said 

the turnout among student voters 

sends “a clear message” that 

young people care. 

“I just would like to encourage 

students to just continue your 

civic involvement,” Storey said. 

“Get curious about city council, 

get curious about the county 

commission, and there’s a lot of 

local things that your voice can 

really make a difference (in), 

especially at the city level. In my 

opinion, I don’t think the city 

does really well at reaching out 

to students. But if students speak 

up, that’s going to be a voice that 

isn’t usually heard, but people 

will listen.

Julia 
Hale 
said 
she 

procrastinated registering to vote 

when she recently moved back to 

Ann Arbor after college, so she 

joined the line at UMMA at 7:45 

p.m. to register and vote at the 

same time. 

“I just felt like this election 

was too important to not vote 

in,” Julia Hale said. “I just don’t 

want to take any risks. I feel like 

every vote counts, and I strongly 

believe in harm reduction. So I 

want to do my part.”

Julia 
Hale 
said 
she 
was 

inspired to wait in the line 

because she believes there is a 

lot of work that can be done for 

the country, and voting is an 

important part of that. 

“I think that maybe if I were 

out there doing organizing work 

and all that other stuff, I wouldn’t 

feel like my vote counted as much, 

but I don’t have time for that in 

my life right now,” Julia Hale 

said. “So I think what I do have 

time for is waiting in line, so I can 

do that, and I’m doing it.” 

News
Wednesday, November 16, 2022 — 3 

Burton Bell Tower strengthens community with election day melodies 

CAMPUS LIFE

Star Wars, Lil Nas X songs echo from the prominent campus landmark 

Mott reaches 100% capacity 
following surge in RSV

NEWS

Record surge of pediatric respiratory illness leads to bed 
shortage 

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

JI HOON CHOI & 
GRACE LONG
Daily Staff Reporter & Daily 
Contributor

MATTHEW SHANBOM
Daily Staff Reporter

BLUE WAVE 
From PAGE 1

STUDENTS WAIT IN LINE 
From PAGE 1

The 
University 
of 
Michigan 

Precision 
Health 
program 
is 

launching MY PART, a genetic testing 

program aiming to collect a more 

diverse and holistic biorepository for 

future research. While some U-M 

community members are excited 

by the promise of advancing genetic 

research, 
others 
have 
expressed 

concerns over data privacy.

The project aims to provide 

bioinformation to researchers looking 

to make medical breakthroughs in the 

future. To incentivize participation, 

subjects are paid $25 and given 

access to their personal ancestry 

tree for compensation when they 

give a blood or saliva sample, which 

will then be stored in the MY PART 

central biorepository. Participants 

were also asked to fill out a variety of 

questionnaires regarding their health 

information. 

In an interview with The Michigan 

Daily, Janet Houghtby, manager of 

cohort development at Precision 

Health, said the main goal for the 

project was to bring in people outside 

the hospital setting who have been 

underrepresented within medicine to 

create greater inclusivity in research. 

Houghtby said participants were 

mainly recruited from preoperative 

areas, so all samples were coming 

from a similar population.

“We were getting kind of the same 

type of people coming through and 

participating,” Houghtby said. “We 

really realized that in order to make 

a difference in medicine and people’s 

health care and treatments, (we need 

to) to look at how we can best serve 

everybody.”

Jennifer 
Smith, 
professor 
of 

epidemiology and a member of the 

cohort development team, said in 

an interview with The Michigan 

Daily this project is a better way 

to get holistic health information 

from patients, which will aid staff 

in conducting more accurate and 

beneficial research.

“We think of genetics, and it (seems 

like) all geneticists, they only care 

about your genetic predisposition, but 

honestly, Precision Health is so much 

more than that,” Smith said. “Being 

able to integrate genomics into social 

factors or environmental factors, 

really understanding the person as a 

whole, is very important.”

In the genomics field, informed 

consent is an essential part of the 

research process. Houghtby said 

this is an important focus for MY 

PART as well because of the critical 

information that will be stored in the 

biorepository.

“If you’re going to sign up for 

something, you should know the 

purpose, you should know what the 

risks are, what the benefits are and 

how we’re going to protect your 

privacy,” Houghtby said.

MY 
PART 
will 
assign 
each 

participant’s genetic data a code 

rather than their name, so it can not 

be attributed to a unique individual. 

However, in the MY PART consent 

document, it is noted that they are 

not able to guarantee anonymity 

indefinitely. 

“Today, researchers cannot identify 

you if they only have your DNA,” the 

consent document notes. “This could 

change in the future. Researchers will 

be asked not to do this, but we cannot 

promise that this will never happen.” 

Smith said this uncertainty is 

common when it comes to genetic 

research because it is difficult to 

predict where future technology will 

lead the field.

“If I gave the government your 

DNA code, they wouldn’t be able to tell 

who you are because they can’t match 

it to anything,” Smith said. “But we 

don’t know in 20 years if, you know, 

everybody’s DNA is going to be on file 

somewhere in the government, so we 

can’t predict what matching might 

be able to happen at some point in the 

future.” 

In order to achieve diversity among 

participants, MY PART has been 

cold emailing pre-existing Michigan 

Medicine patients who are members 

of underrepresented demographic 

groups. 
Some 
demographic 

characteristics the group screened for 

include age, race and ethnicity. 

LSA senior Claire Waldron said she 

was initially enticed by the monetary 

compensation, as well as the prospect 

of getting access to her ancestry 

records without having to pay. Though 

she had reservations about the validity 

of the information, Waldron said she 

trusts Michigan Medicine as a strong 

research institution.

“They have good intentions with 

it,” Waldron said. “It’s the University 

of Michigan, and I trust them. I do 

think that with good intentions, 

there can always be less than ideal 

outcomes, and that’s something with 

a lot of uncertainty.”

Smith sees potential benefits in the 

form of preventative care and new 

treatment options.

“For example, our database has a 

lot of people who have cancer,” Smith 

said. “By studying their genetics, 

which don’t change over time until 

they get cancer, a genetic disease, 

we can actually identify people who 

might be at higher risk for certain 

cancers. We’re trying to do the 

preventative pieces and the treatment 

pieces. Genetic studies can help with 

both of those things.”

LSA senior Casey Martin said 

she would not feel comfortable 

participating in the study because 

of the vast amount of information 

researchers would have and the lack 

of control she would have over this 

sensitive data.

“Even your doctor doesn’t have 

your 
genetic 
information 
unless 

you’ve gotten genetic testing done, 

and even if you have, it’s normally for a 

very specific thing,” Martin said. “The 

University of Michigan would just 

have that, and what are they doing to 

protect it?”

Participants 
are 
allowed 
to 

withdraw from the study at any time, 

but the informed consent document 

notes that they will not be able to get 

back samples or any information that 

has already been shared.

U-M Precision Health program collects biorepository of genetic data for 
future research

RESEARCH

Project aims to create inclusive database for more accurate, holistic studies

ISABELLA KASSA
Daily Staff Reporter

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

A student casts her vote in the UMMA at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning.
GRACE BEAL/Daily

