begin to 

accept applications 
and deposits during the fall 
semester.

For 
many 
freshmen, 
the 

search for off-campus housing 
can begin only a few months into 
their college careers and can 

present many obstacles for those 
unfamiliar with the ins and outs of 
securing and negotiating housing 
contracts. 

“We’ve been working really 

hard to correct a misperception 
that you have to rush and be in a 
hurry to make a decision about 
your housing for the subsequent 
year,” she said. “We’re working 
really hard with landlords and 
city officials to make it more 
comfortable for you to know, at 
whatever time of the year is right 
for you, that you will be able to find 
housing that works for you.”

LSA 
sophomore 
Mikaela 

Uddfolk said she signed a lease by 
the end of October of her freshman 
year. Uddfolk, who is currently 
living in an off-campus apartment, 
said due to her plans to study 
abroad next year, the process has 
been significantly less stressful 

compared to 
her freshman year.

“I’m planning on finding 

a sublease for next year,” she said. 
“If I was just starting to look into 
housing now, to actually sign a 
lease, I think I’d be pretty stressed 
out.”

Uddfolk said it would be 

helpful if the University included 
information about the housing 
search during orientation so new 
students could be better prepared 
for it.

Among the other speakers at 

the event was Gayle Rosen, an 
attorney working for Student 
Legal Services, the University’s 
law office for students. Rosen is 
in charge of advising students 
in negotiating their leases and 
housing contracts.

“We do anything from renewing 

leases to helping you with security 
deposits, as well as helping you deal 
with construction, noise, eating 
issues, air conditioning issues and 

permitting 
emotional support 
animals,” Rosen said.

The event also included a 

question and answer session with 
student 
representatives 
from 

Beyond the Diag, the university’s 
program intended to “improve 
off-campus 
safety 
resources, 

communication, and education for 
UM students.” Jones specifically 
referred to the program in her 
comments, citing the support they 
provide to undergraduates.

“A lot of people think their 

problem or concern is a little too 
personal or specific to them,” 
Jones explained. “I want you to 
know that our help can be very 
personalized to your needs. If you 

With the midterm elections 

just around the corner, the 
University of Michigan chapter 
of 
College 
Democrats, 
the 

Roosevelt Institute and the 
Michigan 
Affordability 
and 

Advocacy Coalition hosted 

a 
panel 
Monday 

night 
to 

discuss 

and explain Proposal A to 
University 
students 
at 
the 

Ford School of Public Policy. 
Panel members included Mayor 
Chris Taylor, Councilmember 
Zack 
Ackerman, 
D-Ward 

3, and Public Policy Kellie 
Lounds, president of College 
Democrats.

Proposal A was introduced 

following the City Council’s 
approvalof the Library Lot 
development in June, with 
plans of creating a 17-story 

commercial 
development 

complex 
on 
top 

of 
the 
711 

Underground 
Parking 

Structure in downtown Ann 
Arbor. The building would 
include 43 affordable housing 
units, 
office 
spaces, 
hotel 

rooms and a public plaza. If 
passed, Proposal A would reject 
these development plans, and 
instead, propose the city builds 
an additional urban park and 
civic center commons. 

The panelists argued the $5 

million price tag of this park 
could 
instead 
be 
allocated 

towards 
affordable 
housing, 

which, 
according 
to 
the 

panelists, is a more pressing 
and relevant issue. Ackerman 
said with this new privately-

owned complex, students or 

Ann Arbor residents 

that 
use 

federal 

housing 
vouchers to pay their rent 
would be able to live in the 
central downtown area, rather 

than on the outskirts of the 

city.

“If we truly 

want to 

remain a diverse and inclusive 
community, 
housing 
is 
the 

crux of this entire equation,” 
Ackerman said.

Ackerman said this complex 

would bridge the gap between 
the adult population in the Main 
Street area with the student 

population in the State Street 

Students and faculty gathered 

in Palmer Commons at the 
University of Michigan Monday 
morning to listen to panelists 
describe the origins and mission 
of 
the 
Boycott, 
Divestment 

and Sanctions movement. The 
movement has always been a 
contentious issue on campus, 
but has become a rising issue 
recently 
after 
a 
Graduate 

Student 
Instructor 
and 
a 

professor 
declined 
to 
write 

letters of recommendation for 
students hoping to study abroad 
in Israel last month.

The panel was hosted by 

the Center for Middle Eastern 
and 
North 
African 
Studies. 

CMENAS 
director 
Samer 

Mahdy Ali opened up the event, 
first recognizing the tragedy 
of the shooting at the Tree of 
Life synagogue in Pittsburgh 
this past weekend. Ali then 
noted 
some 
people 
might 

As 
students 
begin 
the 

search 
for 
their 
housing 

arrangements for next year, 
the University of Michigan’s 
Central Student Government 
held a town hall Monday night 
to address the challenges of 
finding off-campus housing.

CSG 
president 
Daniel 

Greene, a Public Policy senior, 
began the town hall discussing 
the dynamics of student and 
landlord relationships.

“A lot of students blindly 

sign 
their 
lease,” 
Greene 

said. “They don’t know the 
information they should look 
out for, and a lot of students 
find themselves unsure of 
what to do when they have a 

conflict with their landlord 
or 
housing 
management 

company.”

Dean of Students Laura 

Blake Jones followed Greene, 
going 
into 
further 
detail 

about 
the 
resources 
that 

are 
available 
to 
students 

searching 
for 
help. 
The 

University offers resources 
including Tenant Rights and 
Responsibilities 
materials, 

Student Legal Services for 
issues with landlords and 
more.

“We’re 
committed 
to 

making sure that when you 
move off campus and go into 
residential environments that 
you have those that are among 
the highest quality,” Jones 
said. 
According 
to 
Jones, 

now is a stressful time for 
students, as many landlords

Ann 
Arbor’s 
highly 

partisan 
local 
elections 

make it an outlier among 
cities in Michigan, and City 
Councilmember Jane Lumm, 
I-Ward 2, wants to change 
that.

According to Lumm, only 

two other cities in Michigan 
— Ionia and Ypsilanti— have 
partisan local elections, while 
most have nonpartisan races, 
meaning candidates do not 
run as members of a particular 
political 
party. 
She 
also 

noted that Ann Arbor’s usual 

Officials 
criticize A2 
partisan 
elections 

Ann Arbor is one of 
three cities in MI with 
partisan local elections, 
Lumm wants change

Experts on Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions 
discuss origins and intent of movement

Speakers refute allegations of anti-Semitism against movement, emphasizing solidarity with Jews

MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily

Huwaida Arraf, a civil rights attorney and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, discusses the BDS movement at a CMENAS Teach-In Town Hall 
at Palmer Commons Monday morning. 

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 20
©2018 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

City Council members push to fail Prop A

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor and Ann Arbor City Councilmember Zach Ackerman discuss how Proposal a will affect affordable housing in 
Ann Arbor in Weill Hall Monday. SARAH KUNKEL/DAILY 

The panel, which featured Mayor Taylor and Councilmember Ackerman, was hosted by College Democrats and the Roosevelt Institute

University is working with landlords, city government to 
reduce rush in off-campus housing search

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, October 30, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE

Daily Staff Reporter

LEAH GRAHAM
Daily Staff Reporter

CAMPUS LIFE
ANN ARBOR

See ELECTIONS, Page 3A
See BOYCOTT, Page 3A

bring housing
concerns to CSG 
town hall

BENJAMIN ROSENFELD

For the Daily

“We’ve been 
working really 
hard to correct a 
misperception that 
you have to rush 
and be in a hurry 
to make a decision” 

ABBY TAKAS

For the Daily

See CSG, Page 3A

See COUNCIL, Page 2A

Students 

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