The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, September 26, 2019 — 3

There will be undergrad
and
either
graduate
or
professional students on it,
there will be some student
affairs people, there will be
some regular professors, I
think a dean might be the
chairperson of the search
committee. So it will be a
broad group that represents
many
of
the
different
constituencies that depend
upon the success of this
person, the new VP… We can’t
expect someone that we hire
brand new to be as talented
at this job as Vice President
Harper, who had been in this
position for 19 years as Vice
President of Student Life, and
before that she was dean of
the college. So she’s not really
replaceable. We’ll try our best
and we’ll get somebody good,
but on day zero they’re not
going to be Royster Harper.
TMD: How long does the
process take?
MS:
It
takes
several
months. The first thing we
do is come up with a good

job
description,
then
we
advertise, then we try to
build up lots of applicants. At
the same time, we’re doing
this outreach where we’re
talking to groups and trying
to get a sense of everyone’s
expectations and what we
really should be looking for.
It takes a while and it’s worth
the time and investment. VP
Harper is going to step away
in mid-January. It’d be great
if we had a new person then,
but we also might appoint an
interim person to tide us over
while we finish doing a good
search.
Commission
on
Carbon
Neutrality
TMD:
Following
the
Washtenaw
County
Climate Strike last March,
demonstrators
staged
a
sit-in
in
the
Fleming
Administration Building to
demand a one-hour meeting
with the administration about
climate
change
concerns
and the University’s plan to
reach carbon neutrality. 10
demonstrators were arrested
or remaining in the building
past 8 p.m., including two
minors,
and
were
given

trespassing citations. In June,
six of the demonstrators
appeared in court for the first
time and plead not guilty to
all charges, and a pre-trial
date was set for September
13. What do you expect the
Commission
on
Carbon
Neutrality
to
accomplish
in the upcoming semester?
The commission’s goal is to
provide
recommendations
to the University on how to
achieve
carbon
neutrality
through the collaboration of
students and faculty.
MS: They’ve been working
all
through
the
summer.
They’ve divided up the big
task of figuring out how and
how quickly we can go carbon
neutral into a bunch of
smaller tasks … They’ve also
put out a request for students
who want to come and work
for the commission for pay,
doing research in support of
the mission … The biggest
thing
I’m
nervous
about
in our ability to go carbon
neutral is how we heat the
campus.

Read more at
MichiganDaily.com

SCHILISSEL
From Page 1

“Some of our employees
live in Whitmore Lake, a
number of them live out
toward the edge of Ann
Arbor and Ypsilanti in
the apartment complexes
on
Washtenaw
and
Packard and areas like
that,”
Engelbert
said.
“It’s almost impossible
for them to find housing
in central Ann Arbor.
They’re just priced out.”
Engelbert
echoed
Hall’s statement about
the
added
difficulties
a
commute
poses
for
employees
working
in
Ann Arbor.
“I
have
personally
tried to help some of our
staff find housing closer
to work and it’s a real
challenge,”
Engelbert
said. “We’ve had to alter
people’s
schedules
so
that they can make it
back to Ypsilanti with
what the bus allows.”
Mitch
Czechowicz,
kitchen manager at the
Detroit
Street
Filling
Station, recently moved
to Ypsilanti due to high
Ann Arbor rent rates.
“I moved to Ypsilanti
because
I
couldn’t
really afford to live in
Ann
Arbor
anymore,”
Czechowicz said. “I was
living with two other
guys and our rent was
just most of the money
we were making for not
that much space at all… I
pay about $200 a month
less in Ypsilanti for more
space.”
Czechowicz
faces
a
25-minute
daily
commute to work from
Ypsilanti,
sometimes
taking up to an hour due
to traffic and vehicle
issues.
“I gotta deal with rush
hour and dealing with
either 94 or Washtenaw
and spending like an
hour in traffic on a lot
of days, and then just
money put into gas and
wear and tear on my
vehicle,”
Czechowicz
said.
Engelbert
said
Ann
Arbor has become an
exclusive place for the
elite because of the high
rent prices.
“We pay our people
pretty
well
especially
for
a
restaurant,
but
Ann Arbor has become
so exclusive and elite in
terms of who can afford
to live here that people
who
make
a
normal
amount of money just
can’t
find
housing,”
she said. “They cannot
afford to live in the city.
Ann Arbor as a whole
is part of that trend
toward
gentrification
and the rich get richer
and the poor move out of
town — and it’s not just
the poor. $38,000 a year
isn’t poor; it’s normal,
and people can’t afford
to live here.”
Engelbert
stressed
Ann Arbor should push
toward more affordable
housing and be more
inclusive of those from
diverse
socioeconomic
backgrounds.
“It will have to take
a concerted effort by
public
and
private
sectors to make it do
anything
different,”
Engelbert said “There
has to be a will and a
desire to see Ann Arbor
be
an
economically
diverse city. If there’s
not a will and a desire to
see that, then we’ll just
keep trending more and
more
toward
wealthy
residents.”
Other local businesses
are facing similar issues.
Nick Yribar, co-owner
of
local
comic
book
store Vault of Midnight
on
S.
Main
Street,
expressed the difficulty
his
business
has
had
in accommodating the
rising costs of rent in Ann
Arbor for employees.
“We’ve been in Ann
Arbor for 23 years, so
we have seen how the
market
has
changed

…
it’s
heartbreaking,”
Yribar said. “We employ
maybe 10 people just
at our Ann Arbor shop
and it’s just increasingly
difficult for anyone that
works for us to live in
this city.”
Vault
of
Midnight
has attempted to keep
existing employees and
recruit new employees
despite
housing
unaffordability
by
negotiating pay raises
and offering employee
benefits that may not
be
available
at
other
businesses.
“We’re in the process
right now of raising the
base pay for our staff
for the entire company,”
Yribar said. “We try to
be as competitive as we
can; we offer SIMPLE
IRA
programs
and
health care and profit-
based bonuses, and all
of this is just in an effort
to keep people around
given
that
they
can’t
afford to live in Ann
Arbor. I don’t think any
of our staff lives within
the
city
anymore,
I
think almost everybody
is
commuting
from
Ypsilanti or farther.”
Issues
like
high
rent prices aren’t only
affecting the city at the
residential level, but also
entire
businesses
and
their ability to remain
open
in
Ann
Arbor
at an affordable rate.
Yribar’s store has moved
locations
on
multiple
occasions due to rent
concerns over time.
“Over the 23 years that
we’ve been in business
we’ve had four different
locations,
and
we’re
always moving due to
rent concerns and due
to
issues
navigating
property owners until
we
landed
on
Main
Street,”
Yribar
said.
“The number one thing
we’re worried about is
‘are we going to be able
to afford to be in this
city?’”
Local
business
owners worry that as
rent rates continue to
rise for both residents
and
businesses,
only
particularly
wealthy
businesses
and
chain
locations will be able
to afford to stay open,
eventually
eliminating
the ability of current
local
businesses
to
remain open and local
residents to open new
businesses in Ann Arbor.
“Especially
long-
standing small and local
businesses (are at risk),”
Yribar said. “If you just
take a look at the number
of vacant spots on Main
Street at the moment …
it’s startling to see these
businesses leave.”
Business owners like
Yribar
say
the
issue
of
affordable
housing
in Ann Arbor is the
important
problem
facing
the
city
right
now, as it continues to
affect
the
shape
and
direction in which the
city progresses.
“Affordable
housing
and being able to live
and work in this city
are changing Ann Arbor
more
than
any
other
single
factor,”
Yribar
said. “There’s nothing
more pressing happening
in Ann Arbor than the
ability
of
the
people
that work here, make it
cool and make it special
being able to live here.
We think about it every
single day and there’s
only so much we can do
with a small business.
We can try to take care
of people, we can try to
entice them to stay with
us, but it is a huge issue.”
Yribar
called
on
students
to
be
more
aware of city issues in
order to get involved
and make a proactive
change.
“Students
should
be
aware
of
what
is
happening in the city
that they’re a part of for
however
long,”
Yribar
said. “Do we think as a

city that there is value
in having the voice of
younger people, and of
renters, and of people
that
don’t
just
own
property on the west
side of Ann Arbor? I
think that there is, and
I think that it makes the
city stronger.”
Social
Work
student
Laura
Rall
is
the
president
of
Affordable Michigan, an
affordability
advocacy
group on campus. She
said the organization’s
main priority for this
year is to advocate for
more on-campus dorms.
“U-M
has
increased
the number of students
enrolled
each
year
over the past few years
significantly.
There
are
thousands
more
students,
but
they
haven’t built any new
dorms,” Rall said. “We
are really trying to push
this year for a new dorm
being built. Obviously
the
less
on-campus
housing that’s available
for
students,
they’re
going to have to go out
into the city and get
these places from people
who live in Ann Arbor.
Same with students who
commute from Ypsilanti,
and it is taking homes
away from people who
live in Ypsilanti full-
time.”
As
more
expensive
forms of student housing
are being built, students
are forced to move off-
campus
for
cheaper
options, taking homes
away from people who
live and work in the area
full-time, Rall said.
“I
think
it’s
100
percent the University’s
problem
because
they
are
admitting
more
students,”
Rall
said.
“It’s really just not fair
to the people who do live
in Ann Arbor full-time,
and families with jobs
because
it’s
becoming
more of a University-
focused town instead of
a town that also has a
University in it, which is
what it should be.”
Ambrose
Wilbanks,
workforce development
liaison for Destination
Ann Arbor, a local visitors
bureau, highlighted the
growth Ann Arbor has
undergone
over
time,
incidentally driving rent
prices up.
“I was born and raised
in
Ypsilanti
and
to
look at the University,
it’s
unrecognizable
compared
to
what
I
saw
in
high
school,”
Wilbanks
said.
“Plus,
the
tax
sector
has
expanded exponentially
which if you look at
people in that sector of
the workforce, they tend
to be more professional,
more high income in the
end. People will charge
as much as you’re willing
to pay.”
Wilbanks
said
since
Ann Arbor has expanded,
it’s well understood the
demand to live here is
met with many high-
income residents.
“The reality is that
to live here you have to
have a certain amount
of disposable income,”
Wilbanks
said.

“I
think that people are
very welcoming across
the
board
with
the
understanding
that
you can only be their
neighbor
if
there’s
housing you can afford.”
Czechowicz, who has
lived in Ann Arbor for
about 15 years, agreed
the area has changed
significantly over time.
“I mean there are a
lot
more
corporations
for
one,”
Czechowicz
said. “Even just having
things like Subways and
7-11’s
right
downtown
seems
kind
of
weird
sometimes. I’m used to
having a more localized
feel to it, like when I was
a kid… I wish it was the
way it used to be. Ann
Arbor
definitely
feels
more pretentious than it
used to be.”

RETENTION
From Page 1

When the case reached the
U.S. district court in August
2018, Parker rejected Speech
First’s request for a preliminary
injunction against the BRT and
sided with the University. In
her statement signed Aug. 6,
2018, Parker wrote in a court
opinion the BRT does not violate
the First Amendment rights to
freedom of speech but instead
may only “chill” these rights.
“Speech First alleges, and
Defendants do not deny, that
students engaged in ‘bullying’
and ‘harassing’ behavior can be
and have been punished through
(Office
of
Student
Conflict
Resolution)
proceedings,”
Parker wrote. “Speech First,
however, fails to demonstrate
that the BRT poses anything but
a ‘subjective chill’ on students’
free speech rights.”
While Speech First’s lawsuit
was filed over a year ago,
issues of free speech are still
being debated on campus and
throughout the state. On Sept. 5
two bills related to campus free
speech passed in the Michigan
House
of
Representatives’
House Oversight Committee.
The two bills — “The Campus
Free Speech Act” and “The
College Campus Intellectual
and Expressive Freedom Act”—
aim to set standards for how

universities in Michigan create
policies relating to freedom of
speech.
LSA junior Lincoln Ballew,
chairman of the University’s
chapter of Young Americans for
Freedom, said she was happy
to learn the federal appeals
court ruled in favor of Speech
First Monday. Ballew said Bias
Response Teams like those at
the University have a known
record of violating the rights to
freedom of speech on college
campuses.
“I absolutely think the Bias
Response Teams are a violation
of the First Amendment and
our Constitution, and so I
personally believe that vacating
the ruling is a huge win for the
First Amendment and for free
speech,” Ballew said. “People
are afraid to share their points
of view and their opinions
because
of
these
response
teams — they’re afraid that
their comments in class will be
reported and they’re going to get
in trouble with the University.”
Maria
Muzaurieta,
LSA
senior and president of the
University’s chapter of College
Republicans, issued a statement
on behalf of the organization.
Muzaurieta
said
the
group
continues to support Speech
First and the ideas they promote
about freedom of speech.
“We stand behind Speech
First in their efforts to rid U-M
of oppressive rules that mock

the spirit of our great First
Amendment,”
Muzaurieta

wrote in a statement to The
Daily. “The University seems
keen on providing ex post
facto
justification
of
their
commitment to free expression
when the reality for the students
represented in the case was
so
much
different.
College
Republicans
stand
foremost
behind principles of free speech,
and hope that the University
better
adheres
to
those
principles in the future.”
When
contacted
by
The
Daily, the University’s chapter
of College Democrats declined
to comment about Monday’s
ruling because they felt they had
nothing to add.
University spokesperson Kim
Broekhuizen wrote in an email
to The Daily the University
maintains
their
existing
policies
regarding
freedom
of speech, which are outlined
in the University’s policy of
Freedom of Speech and Artistic
Expression.
“The
panel’s
decision
did not address the merits
of
the
university’s
existing
policies, and we are confident
the university will prevail,”
Broekhuizen
wrote.
“U-M
is deeply committed to the
protection of free speech by
students, faculty, and outside
speakers alike, regardless of
their views.”

FREE SPEECH
From Page 1

“It’s really encouraging to
see
both
administrations
kind of unite in saying that a
world with the United States
at the helm is a better place.”
Power’s memoir follows the
unique path Power followed
on her journey to going into
diplomacy. Beginning as a
war correspondent on the
Yugoslav Wars for multiple
publications
including
the Boston Globe and the
Economist, she transitioned
to human rights advocacy,
and
eventually
became
the
youngest
American
to assume the role of U.S.
Ambassador to the United
Nations. Powers explained
her book is a fusion of her
personal
memoir
with
concrete policy analysis.
“My book is definitely
unique
in
the
political
memoir
domain
in
combining ample discussion
of romance with a darker
discussion of Putin – but
with no connection between
the two,” Power said.
Powers went on to discuss
a range of policy issues she
focused on during her time
in office, from relations with
the Middle East to the Ebola
crisis
that
ravaged
West
Africa in 2014. She touched
on what she viewed as her
greatest failure in office –
Obama’s inability to secure
congressional approval for
a military strike in Syria in
2013.
After the event, Public

Policy
graduate
student
Mohammad Akbar Zadran
told
The
Daily
that
he
attended the lecture in an
attempt to see foreign policy
in action.
“I came to this event in
order to learn about the
practicality
of
diplomacy
and foreign policy in the
United States,” Zadran said.
“In class we have discussions
about policy as an academic
arena, but here we hear about
its practical implementation
and implications and the
effect on the United States
and around the world.
Ultimately,
Power
concluded by stressing to
students the importance of
having specific, streamlined
policy goals in the field of
diplomacy, and to celebrate
every small win.
“He or she who fights every
battle fights none,” she said.
“Figure out what your slice
of change is…Sometimes we
get a little grandiose about
all we can achieve – and
you’ll get there. But I think if
each step is a growth, if you
can identify the minimum
growth you can achieve,
then all kinds of good things
can happen.”United Nations.
Powers explained her book
is a fusion of her personal
memoir with concrete policy
analysis.
“My book is definitely
unique
in
the
political
memoir
domain
in
combining ample discussion
of romance with a darker
discussion of Putin – but
with no connection between
the two,” Power said.
Powers went on to discuss

a range of policy issues she
focused on during her time
in office, from relations with
the Middle East to the Ebola
crisis
that
ravaged
West
Africa in 2014. She touched
on what she viewed as her
greatest failure in office –
Obama’s inability to secure
congressional approval for
a military strike in Syria in
2013.
After the event, Public
Policy
graduate
student
Mohammad Akbar Zadran
told
The
Daily
that
he
attended the lecture in an
attempt to see foreign policy
in action.
“I came to this event in
order to learn about the
practicality
of
diplomacy
and foreign policy in the
United States,” Zadran said.
“In class we have discussions
about policy as an academic
arena, but here we hear about
its practical implementation
and implications and the
effect on the United States
and around the world.

Ultimately,
Power

concluded by stressing to
students the importance of
having specific, streamlined
policy goals in the field of
diplomacy, and to celebrate
every small win.
“He or she who fights every
battle fights none,” she said.
“Figure out what your slice
of change is…Sometimes we
get a little grandiose about
all we can achieve – and
you’ll get there. But I think if
each step is a growth, if you
can identify the minimum
growth you can achieve,
then all kinds of good things
can happen.”

DIPLOMACY
From Page 1