10 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 20, 2005 Nation receives 'D-' for traffic signals NEWS A study found that it would cost $965 million per year to fix the inefficiency of the system WASHINGTON (AP) - Backed up at a traffic light? Frustrated when you hit a red light only a block after driving through a green? Odds are, those traffic signals may need some work. A report card issued last Wednesday gives the nation an overall grade of a D-minus for traffic signal operation. The study said the inefficiency leads to frustration and unnecessary delays for motorists, wasted fuel and more air pollution, as vehicles constantly stop and go. "Everyone knows the traffic signals turn red, yellow and green," said Shelley Row of the Washington-based Institute of Transportation Engineers. "It's not about them changing colors. It's about them operating efficiently." The report card, prepared by a coalition of transportation groups, was based on self-assess- ment surveys filled out last fall by 378 traffic agencies in 49 states. It measured the way traffic agencies man- age their systems, review traffic signal timing, maintain an inventory of traffic data and pro- vide adequate staffing. Among the findings: 68 percent said they either have no docu- mented management plan for their traffic signal operation or they simply respond to problem intersections as they happen. 71 percent don't have staff to monitor traf- fic before and after normal working hours. * 57 percent said they don't conduct routine reviews of traffic signals within three years or they only address problems as they arise. The report card describes a widespread inad- equacy of resources for the monitoring and coordinating of traffic signals. It concludes that the nation's system could receive an "A" grade for $965 million a year. It also contends that the improvements could lead to less time battling traffic and reductions in fuel consumption and harmful emissions from vehicles. Many communities have not completed a systemwide retiming of their traffic lights in a decade, said Phil Tarnoff, director of the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology at the Uni- versity of Maryland. * HOUSING Continued from page 1 agreed to share the expenses of renting one housing unit, each of them is actually responsible for the total. "It's not that person A owes $100 a month, it's that person A potentially owes $400 a month and so does B and so does C and so does D. As long as everyone is paying it's fine, but if any one of those people drop out, the remaining persons are liable," Lewis said. Other terms he said can be tricky for students are "prep fee" and "cleaning fee," because students are often unaware of what each entails - and knowing what the terms mean can prevent being ripped-off. A landlord cannot charge a tenant a cleaning fee that would be used to clean the house before his move-in date because Ann Arbor's city code requires landlords to clean housing units before tenants move in. On the other hand, it is legal for a landlord to charge a cleaning fee in advance for cleaning that will done after a tenant's lease expires. This cleaning fee, however, cannot be deducted from the security deposit. As for the use of prep fees, Lewis stresses that the lessee needs to ask the landlord exactly what this fee is going to cover. "Some of them are outrageous," said Lewis, who said the fee is legal when applied toward the costs of certain procedures like background checks. Even if a tenant and landlord make it through the year without too many troubles, the security deposit can pose it's own set of issues. Many stu- dents agree that this can be a grueling process in which landlords often make unreasonable or unwarranted deductions. Lewis suggests the best way to avoid these deductions is to thoroughly fill out the checklist given to tenants during move-in. "Probably one of the most important steps in keeping your deposit at the end of your lease is writing a very good security deposit checklist at the beginning of your lease and documenting the condition of the apartment when you move in," Lewis said. "Tenants need to go room by room and be as picky as they can be. Don't ignore little things," said Lewis, who recommended tenants take incoming and outgoing photos as additional evidence. These checklists can be compared to those made by the landlord during move-out, distinguishing any prior damage from damage caused by the cur- rent lessee. By law, a landlord cannot charge for damage due to natural wear and tear on the unit, Lewis said, adding that is also illegal to charge for cleaning required after move-out. "I have watched landlords try and nickel-and- dime those deposits," he said. "I have seen some that charge $5 for replacing a burnt-out light bulb." Beyond the concern of unwarranted deductions, some students are worried their landlords may never refund their security deposits at all. LSA junior Wajeeha Shuttari has been unsuc- cessful at getting her security deposit back. Shut- tari and her former roommates, whose lease ended last August, have yet to get their $1,200 security deposit from their former landlord. A few weeks ago, she called the landlord - who leases an apartment in Tower Plaza but is not affiliated with' the company - to ask for the deposit but said her landlord brushed her concern aside, leaving her frustrated and without the deposit. One of the factors she said played a part in the debacle is that she and her roommates never received a copy of the lease, preventing her from knowing what the lease said about security deposit return policies like forwarding her deposit to her new address. "I want students to make sure they have a copy of the lease," Shuttari advised. To better ensure the security deposit return runs smoothly, Lewis said students must provide an address where the deposit can be sent to the tenant upon moving out. This must be completed within four days of moving out of the housing unit. Once this phase is complete, the landlord has 30 days to either return the security deposit or send a written statement explaining why he is deducting money from the deposit. If a tenant receives a list of deductions, he then has seven days to respond with objections. If there are objections, the landlord then has a total of 45 days from the date of moving out to either sue the ten- ant in small claims court or reach an agreement with the tenant, Lewis said. Lewis added that students frequently think they cannot pay the last month's rent and instead rely on the security deposit to cover the rent. This is not a strictly legitimate practice unless the landlord agrees to this, although most do not because they want to have the full security deposit in case they need to make repairs to the apartment that would be deducted from the deposit. Students often do not realize they are allowed to withhold rent if the landlord fails to make housing repairs after he has been notified in writing and given a reasonable amount of time to fix the prob- lem, Lewis said. The tenant is not obligated to pay full rent if the documented repairs are not made. Lewis warns this may not be as easy as it seems. Landlords who contest the claims can sue the ten- ant in court, where a judge will decide who is at fault and if withholding rent was warranted. If the tenant does not want to withhold rent, he can deduct the repair, which is when the tenant tells the landlord in advance that he will make the minor repairs himself and then bills the landlord for the repairs or deducts the cost of the repairs from his rent. PORN Continued from page 1. pay you for photos which are required, but we may pay for video if we like what we see." Posts on the site's Yahoo Group state that the models' pictures will be funneled to other pornography sites and that models will earn a 15-percent commission after the completion of nine videos. It goes on to say that the website is "a good opportu- nity to build up your resume for those who are serious about making a career out of the industry." Department of Public Safety spokes- woman Diane Brown said the minimum charge for engaging in sex or pornogra- phy in public places would be indecent exposure, which could qualify as a mis- demeanor with up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Ward's claim that he was filming in dorms also violates University residence hall policies. Before videotaping in resi- dence halls for commercial purposes, students must go through an approval process. The Housing lease also prohibits students from running a commercial busi- ness out of their dorm rooms. Peterson stressed that the University is most concerned with the often negative. emotional and psychological implications of participating in pornography. "People in this business can make a lot of promises; some might not be able to fol- low through -even financially," Peterson said. " We don't want people to be exploit- ed. Problems of fame and fortune might not materialize, since the person just wants to make a quick buck off of you." A website proprietor posted a response to Detroit Local 4's coverage of the story on wwwmidwestxbois.com. "Please keep in mind these are adults we are speaking of," the proprietor wrote. "They are capable of making their own decisions." Frederic MacDonald-Dennis, direc- tor of the University's Office of LGBT Affairs, sent an e-mail like the Universi- ty's to the LGBT community. "We fully support your rights to do with your bodies as you choose," Mac- Donald-Dennis wrote. "However, we do strongly encourage you to think carefully about how your images may be used by people who do not have your best inter- ests in mind." The spokespeople of various universi- ties across the state said they had been notified of the "College Campus Inva- sion Tour" but had not found evidence that filming had actually taken place on their campuses. The website states that every Saturday in April the pornography producers will be holding appointments at EMU. EMU spokesman Ward Mullens said he does not believe MidwestXBois has been conducting meetings on the EMU cam- pus because no one has requested rooms or put up flyers recruiting models. But he maintains it is possible the university has missed something because of the large size of the campus. GVSU spokeswoman Mary Eileen Lyon said the GVSU administration is aware of the situation but has found no evidence of it. "We made inquiries, everyone said no, and that's where we sit at the moment," she said. "It sounded like some other cam- puses were a little busier than we were." The Yahoo group says some of the models also come from Illinois, Ohio and Indiana. CHARITY Continued from page 3 Lauren Rueber, a Kinesiology senior and co-director of Greek Week. "I think it's the most reward- ing aspect of the week." Another highlight was "Mr. Greek Week" - a mock beauty pageant for fraternity members. Lisa Wood, an LSA senior and philanthropy chair for Alpha Delta Phi, said the event raised about $4,000. Greek Week culminated with the "Sing and Variety" show, in which different teams performed song-and-dance routines after long months of practice. "All the teams worked for months on end to put together a truly fantastic musical and dance competition," Krasnov said. Lindsay Fediuk, an LSA junior and spokeswoman for the Panhellenic Association, said she was proud of the Greek community and its involvement in philanthropy. "It was great to see everybody wearing their letters, proud to be Greek and working for a philan- thropic cause," she said. Travis Foley, co-director of the Greek Week steering com- mittee, said much of the money raised was due to the time and effort of individual houses and that many donations came from local businesses, including Big Ten Burrito, STA Travel and Buffalo Wild Wings. Sponsors also included Apple Computer and the Necto. The funds raised this year will be distributed to several chari- ties, including the Coach Carr Fund, which funds patient care at the University Cancer Center, the Camp Heartland, the Make- a-Wish Foundation, a group that tries to enrich the lives of termi- nally ill children and the Cancer Wellness Community, which will open in Ann Arbor next year and will help prevent, detect and treat cancer. INTERNSH IPS Continued from page 3 Despite the growing job market, Teicher said competition was intense for available positions. Engineering sophomore Crystal Miranda experienced similar dif- ficulty when applying for chemical engineering positions this summer. "I got a lot of interviews, but (no one) wanted me," she said. It took 10 applications before Miranda final- ly found an internship at appliance manufacturer Whirlpool. I ..but can't get out?? CALL THE DELIVERY BUTLER! We deliver right to your door from. these local restaurants: Getting your PharmO soon? 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Prepay $30 for each two cubic yards of bulky items at the curb, such as sofas, mattresses, computers, furniture4 Phone the City's Call Center (734) 994-2807 during business hours to arrangefor bulkpickups. Visa and MasterCard are accepted.fThe Drop-Off Station.,2950 E. Ellsworth, 971- 7400, is open Mon-Sat, 9-5 at a lower fee for self-hauled drop-off of trash, recyclables and bulky itemsJ Thank you for your compliance especially during moveout. Violations are charged a minimum of $70 per citation. www.a2gov.org - 99-GREEN - Call Center 994-2807 Do tiorce. GRADUATING SENIORS MEDICAL SCHOOL CAN STILL BE WITHIN REACH! 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