“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