Since Santa Ono took office as
the president of the University of
Michigan 88 days ago, the football
team beat Ohio State for a second
time, the 2022 fall semester finished
and Ann Arbor experienced a frigid
winter
blast.
Ono’s
presidency
marked a hopeful change for many
organizations on campus, but has
Ono lived up to his expectations in
his first semester as U-M president?
Rackham
student
Amir
Fleischmann, Graduate Employees’
Organization contract committee
chair, told The Daily he has overall
hope
for
Ono’s
administration,
but
some
issues
from
past
administrations still persist.
“Lack
of
transparency
is
something
we
associated
with
President Schlissel,” Fleischmann
said. “We really were optimistic that
President Ono would be turning a
new page. So far, we haven’t seen
that happen, but we think there’s still
time and we generally look forward
to working with (him).”
Fleischmann said he hopes Ono’s
administration will work more with
its students and faculty when it
comes to labor and other University
affairs.
“We really want him to work
with campus labor, to work with
students and faculty to manage the
affairs of the University together, and
create a fantastic place of learning,”
Fleischmann said.
LSA senior Russell McIntosh
and co-programming chair of the
Black Student Union (BSU) told The
Daily he does not want to see Ono
forget about Black students at the
University.
“We want President Ono to
remember that Black students have
real and pressing needs,” McIntosh
said. “They’re extremely important.
We want to see progress.”
On Nov. 1, the BSU released their
“More Than Four” platform, which
calls on the University to provide
more support for Black students by
increasing Black student enrollment,
expanding efforts to combat anti-
Blackness, improving DEI policies
and investing in K-12 education
to improve equity. Ono expressed
support for the BSU in a tweet after
flyers promoting the More Than
Four platform across campus were
torn down.
LSA senior Kayla Tate, BSU’s
speaker, told The Daily she thinks
one way Ono seems to be backing
change on campus is by making
promises directly to students.
“I know that one of his big
priorities has been building trust
and that he’s been meeting with a lot
of students,” Tate said. “I definitely
have been hearing a lot of promises
about improvement.”
Tate said while she has hope for
Ono’s future as president, she is still
hesitant to blindly accept Ono.
“We’re hopeful, but not naive,”
Tate said.
LSA junior Jacob Sendra, vice
president of the U-M chapter of the
Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL), said
in an interview with The Daily he
believes Ono’s first semester has
gone swimmingly in terms of his
commitment to the environment.
“I think we are very optimistic
about the direction of his first
semester, especially in regards to
sustainability,” Sendra said.
The CCL focuses its efforts
on enacting sustainable climate
policy by fostering relationships
with lawmakers. Sendra said he’s
hopeful Ono’s tenure could increase
sustainability efforts on campus
because he seems willing to listen to
student climate organizations.
“We feel like we have the potential
to form a real fruitful partnership
between our organization and a lot
of other climate organizations on
campus that we’ve been talking to,
with this new administration that
can bring about some real positive
change in regards to sustainability,”
Sendra said.
Kirsten Herold, president of the
Lecturers’ Employee Organization
and
School
of
Public
Health
professor, told The Daily she thinks
Ono’s first semester has gone fairly
well and has been a welcome change
from past administrations.
“He’s willing to have a more
ongoing relationship with union
leadership, which is something that
has been missing from not just the
most recent president, but several
presidents before that,” Herold said.
Herold said she believes Ono still
has a lot to learn and that she thinks
the University community should
give him more time to acclimate to
the campus climate before criticizing
him.
“(The University) is a very big
place, and it’s a lot,” said Herold.
“You know, he’s a smart, energetic
guy, but there’s a lot to learn and get
to know. And so personally, I feel that
people who want to criticize him for
one thing or another, it’s a bit unfair
because he just got here.”
Central
Student
Government
President Noah Zimmerman, an
LSA senior, told The Daily he feels
that while there are some areas of
improvement for Ono, he believe’s
Ono’s first semester went well
because of his willingness to learn.
“He’s been great,” Zimmerman
said. “Is there room for improvement?
Yes. He has to learn how the
University works still. And he’s still
learning, still asking questions, but
he’s asking the questions that need to
be asked.”
CSG Vice President Jacqueline
Hillman, an LSA senior, told The
Daily she believes Ono truly cares
about helping students.
“One thing that I can say very
confidently is that President Ono
genuinely puts students at the heart
of every single initiative that he
started to carry out,” Hillman said.
Hillman said she has hope for
the future of Ono’s administration
and believes Ono can help repair
some of the damage done by past
administrations to create a better
future for the University.
Consistently ranked as one of the
top places to live in the country, Ann
Arbor’s appeal relies heavily on its
numerous and delicious restaurant
options. Taking a walk down any
street yields a rich sensory experience
as everything from Asian and Italian
to Mexican and American cuisine
options excite the eyes, nose and taste
buds.
Recently, a new fusion restaurant
popped up on the northside of town.
El Limōn introduced a new blend of
Mediterranean and Mexican flavors
to Ann Arbor when it opened on Nov.
4. The restaurant, nestled between
The Songbird Cafe and Curry On,
an Indian Street Food hot spot, on
Plymouth Road is bringing new flavors
to the area around the University of
Michigan’s North Campus.
El Limōn’s menu offers dishes
that combine the two unique flavor
palates, bringing creations to life such
as: crispy falafel tacos, spiced chicken
shawarma burritos, rice dishes with
yellow flour tortillas, nacho chips and
lentil bowls.
Ali Hijazi, owner of El Limōn,
was born in Lebanon and previously
ran the two ‘Zamaan Cafe’s, a
Lebanese cuisine style restaurant in
Ann Arbor. Hijazi said he believes
the combination of Mediterranean
and Mexican cuisines is not novel,
noting
commonalities
between
Mediterranean and Mexican cuisine.
For instance, Hijazi said there’s a fine
line separating a burrito from a pita
wrap — it all comes down to the type of
bread and the spices and sauces.
“So, the burrito that you see, the
flour, or the tortilla, of the taco is
nothing but pita bread,” Hijazi said.
“When we are cooking, whatever
we use in Arabic cuisine, so many
ingredients
are
common
with
Mexican cuisine.”
LSA
freshman
Isaac
Hintz
expressed curiosity towards the idea
of Mediterranean-Mexican fusion. He
said the two cuisines are individually
among his favorites, so he would be
interested in trying them together at
El Limōn.
“Mediterranean food is probably
my favorite food … and then Mexican
is probably my second or third favorite,
so I think fusing those would be pretty
good,” Hintz said. “I’ll have to try (El
Limōn) for myself.”
When creating El Limōn, Hijazi
said he saw an opportunity for
a restaurant in Ann Arbor that
combinated these cuisines. He said
he hopes his customers will see the
connection between Mediterranean
and Mexican food styles.
As for the future of El Limōn and
the Zamaan Cafes, Hijazi said he is
somewhat concerned about finding
employees to work at the restaurants
long-term. He told The Michigan
Daily he has not had many people ask
about jobs. He said the issue may be
symptomatic of a larger industry-wide
worker shortage that has plagued
the restaurant scene since the start of
the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently
Hijazi’s family members are working at
El Limōn as cashiers and cooks to keep
the doors open, but only temporarily
until they finish their studies at school.
“We can barely handle these
businesses now,” Hijazi said. “We can’t
find workers. This is a big problem for
the restaurant industry now.”
Despite the shortage of employees
for Hijazi’s restaurants, Hijazi shared
that he hopes to make El Limōn a space
for the cultural fusions to flourish by
having live Spanish and Arabic music
play inside El Limōn.
“We’re
hoping
to
bring
live
musicians, (so) they can introduce
the customers to the fusion of music,”
Hijazi said.
Eric Kaldjian, an employee at
the U-M North Campus Research
Complex, recently visited El Limōn
with his family to celebrate his
birthday. He said his family loves
Mediterranean food and they were all
excited to try El Limōn’s menu.
“(My family and I) were so looking
forward to coming here that we came
here for my birthday lunch,” Kaldjian
said. “We all loved the Middle Eastern
food from Zamaan (Cafe). So we
concluded that El Limōn is likely to
be very good also. And our conclusion
was correct.”
Kaldjian was with his wife, Cynthia
Stiles, and their son. They all said the
food was delicious, and Stiles added
that she was especially interested in
the unique combination of cuisines.
“I was curious about how the fusion
between Mexican and Middle Eastern
flavors would work, and I have to say it
works very well,” Stiles said.
2 — Wednesday, January 18, 2023
News
El Limōn opens near North Campus
BUSINESS
Campus reflects on Santa Ono’s first semester
New restaurant brings Mediterranean and Mexican fusion cuisine
to North Campus
Students and professors reflect on Santa Ono’s first semester as
U-M president after fall 2022
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