The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, October 20, 2017 — 3A

were told their priority apartments 
were already in high-demand and 
to select another apartment, with 
minimal help. Students said they 
were not told which apartments 
were available, as the management 
company didn’t know. Others 
put down their deposit without 
knowing the repercussions if their 
desired residences would be filled 
by other tenants.

While waiting in line at the 

Prime Student Housing office 
for three and a half hours, LSA 
sophomore Kathryn Qin decided to 
find out if others were experiencing 
the same wait times as her.

“While I was in this line I 

actually called a different housing 
place, and apparently there was no 
line for that,” Qin said.

Monday’s line is just one example 

of problems students experience 
with Ann Arbor housing. While 
affordability and vicinity are key 
issues many lessors have attempted 
to tackle, students are also voicing 
concerns over what they call a non-
transparent system.

Ann 
Arbor 
law 
prohibits 

leasing to occur until 70 days after 
the current lease period begins, 
meaning that students have only 
70 days to decide if they want to 
renew their lease for the upcoming 
year. The time period between the 
date Prime tenants could move in 
— according to the website, Aug. 25 
at the earliest, with an early move-
in cost of $600 — and the renewal 
date of Oct. 20, is only 56 days, not 
70.

Per Prime Student Housing, 

students could make appointments 
to view apartments or residences 
starting Oct. 23 — though the 
appointments would begin Oct. 27. 

Prime uses what they describe 

as “Option to Sign Deposits,” which 
allow students to lock down an 
apartment before the mandatory 
waiting period is over. Prime says 

that “Option to Sign Deposits” are 
for students who have already have 
seen the apartments on their own 
time, without an official tour from 
Prime itself. Students recalled their 
experiences knocking on doors 
and asking residents to see their 
current apartments or houses.

Prime’s 
“Option 
to 
Sign 

Deposits” bypasses Ann Arbor law 
by allowing students to reserve an 
apartment before the mandatory 
70-day waiting period is over and 
without receiving a tour of the 
apartment that they are placing a 
deposit on.

Prime has noted its commitment 

to this law; on its website, the 
company states: “We cannot begin 
to show apartments until the 
mandatory time frame has passed.”

However, after several phone 

calls, 
Prime 
Student 
Housing 

Property Manager Annette Temple 
declined to comment for any 
portion of this report.

The 
Ann 
Arbor 
Housing 

Commission could not speak to 
this law due to being a Housing 
and Urban Development fund 
administrator. 

The City Attorney’s office also 

did not respond for comment at the 
time of publication.

In 
comparison 
to 
other 

properties on campus — such as 
Cappo Management and Deinco 
Properties, Campus Management, 
Cabrio Properties and high-rises 
like Landmark — Prime is not 
completely unique.

For Cappo/Deinco Properties, 

though reservations are accepted 
Oct. 2 through Nov. 8 — similar to 
Prime — the company’s website 
explicitly states: “Leasing for Fall 
2018-2019 does not begin until 
Nov. 10, 2017. … If current tenants 
renew, then fee is returned. If 
reservationists cancel or do not 
show up on 11/10 to sign the lease 
then reservation fee is forfeited. 
If the lease is signed then the 
$500 becomes part of the security 
deposit.”

This information — that the 

soonest the company can show 
properties 
or 
sign 
leases 
is 

November, but reservations can 
be taken as early as October — is 
also repeated on the automated 
message when calling the office. 
The overlap of a deadline to renew 
a lease and the time to sign a new 
lease, however, is not as stark as 
with Prime.

Further leasing difficulties can 

be found at Campus Management 
properties. The company utilizes a 
first come, first serve policy when 
it comes to applications for houses 
and apartments and states on 
their website that — in reference 
to this policy — “Unfortunately, in 
our fast paced rental market this 
does occasionally create footraces 
between groups vying to get back 
to our office first.”

Campus 
Management 
also 

charges a fee that equates to half 
a month of rent if an applicant 
decides 
to 
withdraw 
their 

application. The company explains 
this fee is necessary due to the 
lost time created by a withdrawn 
application. Campus Management 
did not respond for comment by the 
time of publication.

Unlike Prime and properties 

that operate similarly, Cribspot 
properties do not attempt to bypass 
this law and instead enforce the 
mandatory 70-day waiting period 
to sign leases and even to place 
deposits.

According 
to 
LSA 
junior 

Merissa Maccani, a future Cribspot 
resident, her group of roommates 
has not been able to sign the lease 
or place a deposit for their new 
residence yet because the current 
residents still have time within 
their 70-day window to decide if 
they wish to renew their old lease.

“We are waiting for a verbal no 

from the group of people that are 
currently living there,” Meccani 
said.

Similar to Cribspot, Oxford 

Companies 
allows 
current 

residents first right to renew until 
Nov. 8, according to the company’s 

website — just over three weeks past 
Prime’s current tenant deadline. 
The Oxford website also explicitly 
spells out the leasing and renewing 
process; residents can apply online 
and pay $200 per applicant — 
which is split $100 towards the 
application and $100 towards a 
security deposit. Once applications 
are received, an electronic lease is 
sent out and future residents have 
three business days to sign it. Once 
it is signed, “future residents will 
have 3 additional business days to 
pay the remainder of the security 
deposit, which is equal to 1.5X the 
monthly rent, minus the $100 you 
paid upon applying.” After this, a 
manager confirms the lease.

Olivia 
Zuver, 
property 

management and leasing assistant 
for the residential team at Oxford 
Companies, said the company’s 
move-in dates are slightly later, 
requiring them to apply the 70-day 
ordinance even if it moves the 
renewal date later in the season, 
than other properties.

“To give the proper amount 

of time, 70 days, that’s why we’re 
giving them to November 8,” Zuver 
said. “Then, starting November 
9, is when we’ll officially start 
touring and signing leases for new 
residents.”

Prior to the renewal date, 

residents can place a reservation 
in a similar fashion as the official 
application.

“We have reservations coming 

through basically every day for 
places,” 
Zuver 
said. 
“They’re 

applying, 
putting 
down 
an 

application 
(and) 
their 
fees, 

signing a lease and paying the 
security deposit — we’re just not 
countersigning that lease until 
November 9. If somebody were 
to put down a reservation on an 
apartment, and then the current 
residents decide that they are 
renewing, we can transfer that to 
a different apartment or house that 
we have available or we refund 
them all the money they’ve put 
down.”

Students say this process is 

substantially more straightforward 
than 
Prime’s; 
however, 
with 

disparities apparent in nearly 
every 
management 
company 

in Ann Arbor, many students 
feel frustrated with the lack of 
transparency.

LSA junior Rebecca Deitch, an 

Oxford tenant, said she had to do 
her own property tours prior to 
signing with the company.

“Me and my roommates went 

around the area that we wanted 
to live and knocked on doors and 
found out who was moving out,” 
Deitch said. “Also, looked online, 
but it was just more reliable to ask 
in person.”

Once 
they 
decided 
on 
a 

property, 
the 
roommates 
put 

down a reservation prior to the 
renewal date; while this process 
was informative, Deitch noted an 
overall lack of communication and 
unreliability within the company 
before signing.

The 
application 
process 

through Landmark — one of Ann 
Arbor’s luxury high rises — is also 
inconsistent with that of the others. 
Along with Landmark’s application, 
several fees must be submitted: a 
$100 non-refundable application 
fee, a $100 non-refundable move-in 
fee, a $100 non-refundable hassle-
free fee and a refundable security 
deposit of $200.

Even 
on 
the 
application, 

Landmark has made it clear: 
“Accommodations 
are 
limited 

and will be leased on a first-come, 
first-served basis. The acceptance 
of (the) application does not 
ensure an accommodation. An 
accommodation 
is 
reserved 

only upon execution of the lease 
agreement by all parties.”

On 
the 
other 
hand, 
LSA 

freshman Sarah Renberg has had a 
different experience with another 
high rise.

Renberg — who is planning 

to sign a lease with three other 
roommates to live in Zaragon West 
next fall — spoke positively about 

her experience with the company.

Renberg said she found having 

four students live in a two-
bedroom Zaragon West apartment 
substantially 
cheaper 
than 

most houses around campus — 
despite often considered a luxury 
complexwas.

Luckily, Renberg said she and 

one of her roommates both have 
the advantage of older siblings on 
campus to forewarn them of the 
difficulty of finding housing later 
on in the semester.

“We 
heard 
if 
you 
left 

Thanksgiving break without a 
lease, then you probably wouldn’t 
find one,” Renberg said. “We’re all 
freshmen, so that was intimidating 
and overwhelming. We started 
hearing that people were already 
signing for apartments and that 
those fill up pretty fast, so we tried 
to move as quickly as possible.”

Renberg and her roommates 

were able to set up tours in a few 
complexes and were able to see 
“model” 
apartments 
prior 
to 

filling out any paperwork. Once 
the roommates submitted the 
housing application — which they 
completed before fall break so their 
spot was held — a lease was sent to 
the group, which they had five days 
to sign.

Renberg voiced concern with 

other management companies and 
the inability to see most apartments 
before placing a deposit.

“I’m not going to pay for 

something I’ve never seen before. 
I think there’s a lot of risk in that, 
and I didn’t want to rely on just the 
pictures online,” Renberg said.

However, Renberg was overall 

happy with her experience, though 
she found it challenging and 
rushed.

“We didn’t want to wait and 

chance it,” Renberg said. “I’ve only 
known these people that I’ll be 
living with for six or seven weeks, 
and now I’m deciding to live with 
them again. So it’s definitely an 
accelerated process, but that’s just 
the way it is.” 

HOUSING
From Page 1A

After 
the 
attackers 
left, 

Nursing student Danny Vachon 
saw the injured student on the 
ground bleeding profusely from 
his nose. He said the student’s 
friend was wearing a New 
England Patriots jersey and the 
father said the fight broke out 
over a sports argument. Vachon 
said the injured student and his 
friends were clearly intoxicated 
and he had to hold the student’s 
head up so he didn’t choke on his 
own blood. A bystander attempted 
to call 911 for the student but, as 
they didn’t know enough about 
his condition, Vachon called the 
Ann Arbor Police Department 
and was eventually referred to 
the University Division of Public 
Safety and Security.

DPSS 
spokeswoman 
could 

not comment on the case but 
confirmed the details of the 
incident.

The father, referencing the 

large crowds typical of a football 
game day, thinks there may 
be evidence of the assault on a 
bystanders’ phone. Existence of 
a video of the fight is unknown, 
but he believes there is a high 

probability someone has some 
sort of documentation on their 
phone. He is offering a $10,000 
reward 
on 
a 
University 
of 

Michigan 
Parents 
Facebook 

group for anyone with concrete 
evidence as to who attacked his 
son.

“The first thing is, (my son) 

gets attacked by these animals, 
when it’s six-on-one or eight-
on-one, even the biggest player 
on the football team is not going 
to be able to survive, but what’s 
just as frustrating is there’s cell 
phone video out there because 
there were people all over the 
place,” the father said. “(DPSS) 
has not been able to get any sort 
of video from the circumstance 
itself whether it was from the 
buildings or whether it was from 
bystanders and my opinion is 
nobody wants to step forward 
because nobody wants to be a 
rat.”

If it weren’t for Vachon, 

according to the father, the victim 
could have died by choking on his 
blood. Vachon said, as a nursing 
student with medical knowledge 
and background, he felt as 
though it was his duty to put his 
education to work and help.

“If it seems as though someone 

could be severely injured, if it 

looks like the average person’s 
help or knowledge wouldn’t 
really be something that would 
be valuable to that situation … it’s 
where actual medical knowledge 
and treatment would be probably 
necessitated is the point where 
I would feel like I would have to 
step in,” Vachon said. “A normal 
fight, I probably would have kept 
walking but something like this, 
I kind of felt the need to … step in 
and help.”

AAPD took the initial report 

and 
has 
since 
shared 
the 

investigation with DPSS.

Vachon said he was glad he 

didn’t walk past the victim, 
assuming him to be simply 
intoxicated.

“If this would have been a 

situation where, let’s say, I didn’t 
see him get into the fight and 
there’s just someone lying on 
the ground, sometimes you have 
that passing thought of, ‘Oh it’s 
just some drunk person that fell 
asleep and they’re on the ground 
and OK,” Vachon said. “If no 
one had been around to see this 
happen and if he had lied there 
for an hour or two, he probably 
would have died. … I’m just happy 
that I was there, that I was able to 
help him and I’m happy he’s OK 
right now.”

CRIME
From Page 1A

With the upgrade, HERCULES 

researchers hope to bump up 
the power to two to three times 
its current capacity — to 500 or 
1,000 terawatts. To do this, they’ll 
replace outdated lasers, some of 
which are homemade. The laser 
industry has progressed since the 
time of these homemade lasers, 
and researchers can now order 
more advanced versions. With 
this new equipment, HERCULES 
can reach new heights of power 
and intensity.

Assistant 
EECS 
professor 

Louise Willingale specializes in 
performing 
experiments 
with 

the HERCULES laser. She looks 
forward to the new experimental 
opportunities 
the 
upgrade 

provides.

“We’re hoping that with the 

upgrade we’ll be able to design 
new experiments that weren’t 
possible before,” Willingale said.

One new experiment they will 

attempt is called “boiling the 
vacuum.” When a laser reaches 
an extremely high intensity and 
encounters a single electron, 
the two can collide in such a 
way that they’ll create particles 

out of nothing. The upgraded 
HERCULES is expected to mimic 
this environment so researchers 
will be able to better study this 
phenomenon.

HERCULES will also make 

exciting new ventures in particle 
acceleration — a process that 
propels particles to faster speeds. 
Alexander 
Thomas, 
associate 

professor of nuclear engineering 
and 
radiological 
sciences, 

compared this process to wave 
surfing.

“Replace the boat with a laser 

pulse, which pushes through 
plasma, which is like the water, 
and the electron beam is the 
person gaining energy, being 
dragged in by the wave,” Thomas 
said.

Particle accelerators can be 

hundreds of yards long, but the 
HERCULES laser can accomplish 
the same job in a few yards or less.

“You’re reducing something 

that’s 
three 
miles 
long 
to 

something that can fit on a tabletop 
that impacts all of science, and 
that’s pretty exciting,” he said.

Increasing the energy and 

intensity of the laser is only 
one feature of the upgrade. 
Thomas 
discussed 
another 

area of improvement: a higher 
repetition rate, which allows 

the laser to shoot out pulses 
more 
frequently. 
Originally, 

researchers would have to wait 
about a minute between the trials 
of their experiments. The laser’s 
new technology will shorten this 
waiting time and allow for more 
repetitions.

“In 
terms 
of 
experiment 

techniques, it opens up much 
more,” he said.

Rackham 
student 
Amina 

Hussein, a graduate research 
assistant 
in 
the 
College 
of 

Engineering, has been working 
with HERCULES for two years. 
She discussed how incredible it is 
to have the opportunity to operate 
the laser herself.

“Getting an upgrade in a 

group like this where we work 
as collaborators who use the 
system and also get to take some 
ownership of the chambers is 
a really cool opportunity that I 
think is unparalleled in other 
groups that might have similar 
systems,” Hussein said.

She is excited for what the 

upgrade will permit HERCULES 
to accomplish.

“It’ll just allow us to continue 

pushing the envelope and do 
cutting edge science with these 
laser systems that are rare in the 
world,” she said. 

LASER
From Page 1A

Michigan — which achieved 
a record high $476 million in 
contributions this year — as a 
major source of funding.

Sarkar 
delivers 
official 

statement on renaming of C.C. 
Little building

Central Student Government 

President 
Anushka 
Sarkar, 

an LSA senior, used her time 
before the Board to lobby for 
efforts to rename the C.C. Little 
building. The building is named 
for former University President 
Clarence Cook Little, also an 
avowed eugenicist, and has been 
a site of controversy and protests 
this semester.

CSG, 
LSA 
Student 

Government 
and 
Rackham 

Student 
Government 
have 

all expressed support for the 
renaming.

“(Renaming is) a relatively 

simple way to demonstrate to 
the campus community that the 
University of Michigan does not 
glorify the leaders of our past 

that would test a good portion 
of our faculty, staff, and student 
body,” Sarkar said.

A formal request for the 

renaming, authored by four 
University 
faculty 
members 

and one student, is currently 
before the President’s Advisory 
Committee 
on 
University 

History. According to a new 
renaming policy released in 
January, the advisory board 
reviews the request and makes 
an initial decision, passing the 
proposal to the Board for a final 
vote. Sarkar implored the Board 
to consider the petition.

“Proponents of the name often 

cite the need to preserve our 
collective history … I recognize 
this as valid,” she said. “It’s 
more important to consider the 
ways in which we engage with 
our darker historical moments. 
There is a critical difference 
between 
understanding 
our 

history and glorifying our worst 
moments.”

LEO Bargaining

Public comments Thursday all 

focused on upcoming bargaining 
between the University and the 

Lecturers’ Em ployee Union. The 
union’s platform requests higher 
minimum salaries on all three 
campuses, a dedicated fund for 
lecturers advancing values of 
diversity, equity and inclusion 
and an extension of health care 
benefits. Lecturers who spoke 
before the Board on Thursday 
complained 
their 
University 

salaries were not competitive 
with positions at local high 
schools and community colleges.

Construction projects

The 
largest 
project 
the 

Board approved Thursday was 
a schematic design for $120 
million 
renovations 
to 
the 

Edward Krause building on 
North University Avenue. The 
building, which is adjacent to the 
Chemistry building currently 
houses the LSA Departments 
of Ecology and Evolutionary 
Biology and Molecular, Cellular 
and 
Developmental 
Biology, 

but the School of Kinesiology 
will also relocate to Krause 
following the architectural and 
mechanical renovations.

The project will be completed 

in the fall of 2020.

REGENTS
From Page 1A

The report states police then 

noticed a crowd of about eight 
people surrounding a Hispanic 
male and then dragging him inside 
the house. The officers went up 
to the house and knocked on the 
door. When someone opened the 
door slightly, one officer forced 
their foot inside to stop the door 
from closing again, and entered 
the house thereafter.

Lambda 
brother 
Emilio 

Velazquez, 
an 
LSA 
junior, 

explained he and his brothers 
were forcing an agitated brother 
inside the house to protect him 
from reprisal.

“They came into our backyard 

without a warrant … they were 
putting people in handcuffs for 
loud noises,” he said. “They forced 
their way in without a warrant 
and took one of the guys who was 
holding the door and slammed 
him on the porch.”

One officer’s report, on the 

other hand, details a student 
who “tripped over the bottom 
ledge of the door, which caused 

him to lose balance.” The officer 
then “utilized and guided his 
momentum down to the porch.”

An 
email 
from 
the 

Multicultural 
Greek 
Council 

coordinator to Velazquez obtained 
by The Daily indicates AAPD is 
moving to file a public nuisance 
against the Lambda house for 
repeated offenses. In an interview 
with The Daily last year, AAPD 
Sgt. Thomas Hickey, community 
engagement lead, said officers’ 
party patrols only respond to 
referrals. Velazquez, however, 
maintained his house takes pains 
before events to ensure neighbors 
are not disturbed, and yet the 
tickets continue. He said he was 
not aware of other fraternities 
receiving this level of citations.

The Office of Greek Life 

declined to comment on this story.

These 
discrepancies 
in 

accounts are not uncommon 
between communities of color on 
campus and local police. A report 
by The Daily last year found Black 
students in particular to be wary 
of police after repeatedly hostile 
interactions 
on 
and 
around 

campus. Kappa Secretary Ka’marr 
Coleman-Byrd, a Business senior, 

said AAPD has not initiated any 
attempts at outreach — even after 
policing dialogues hosted by Black 
students. Many also perceive 
predominantly white chapters to 
have working relationships with 
AAPD.

“Last year we reached out to 

Ann Arbor police as well as the 
University police,” he said. “They 
have never made an effort to 
reach out to us. My trust towards 
police is really a case-by-case 
relationship. 
(Interfraternity 

Council) fraternities never get 
shut down when hosting a tailgate 
or party because they have an 
agreement with Ann Arbor police. 
It is unfair that we aren’t not given 
this same courtesy/ opportunity.” 

“I do think it’s a people of 

color issue because this doesn’t 
happen to the white fraternities 
on campus,” Velazquez agreed. “If 
you were to walk down Hill Street 
you’d see a bunch of kids partying 
and blasting music and you never 
see them get shut down.”

AAPD did not return requests 

for comment.

POLICING
From Page 1A

Read more online at 

michigandaily.com

