“He traveled the world a 
couple times on tours of inner-
Asia — Afghanistan, Pakistan, 
in 1952 you know, when people 
weren’t doing that … He was 
trained as an architect at MIT 
in Mechanical Engineering, 
worked as an architect and 
community 
planner 
but 
his passion was drawing — 
drawing buildings and arts, 
and his life mission was to 
advocate for world peace.”
Since taking ownership of 
the space, Ahern has hosted 
bands, artistic performances, 
political organizing meetings 
and event lectures at Arbor 
Vitae. In advocating for world 
peace, Ahern was the first 
person to invite the Dalai Lama 
to Ann Arbor. John, a Buddhist, 
explains her connection to the 
loft is largely due to its role as a 
safe space for all religions.
“Part of the reason why I 
feel connected to this space 
is 
because 
I 
am 
Tibetan 
Buddhist,” John said. “So, 
a huge part of my personal 
identity, I feel I kind of owe 
to this place and to Rich 
for literally making a place 
for 
these, 
non-traditional, 
countercultural thoughts to be 
talked about and discussed. “
Now, almost half a century 
later, 
Arbor 
Vitae 
is 
in 
danger of being shut down as 
several aspects of the loft’s 
infrastructure have not met 
building 
code 
standards 
established by the state. John 
said when Ahern converted 
the loft into a living space, 
his 
relationship 
with 
the 
property owners allowed the 
lack of infrastructure to go 
unaddressed. Yet, after the 
shift in property management 
to 
Oxford 
Companies 
and 
Ahern’s death in 2004, the 

building 
has 
come 
under 
scrutiny. 
“(Arbor Vitae) was based 
on Rich’s own communication 
power, 
after 
he 
died, 
people who lived here were 
intimidated 
by 
the 
city 
and 
property 
management 
companies and felt less and 
less agency to advocate for this 
place,” John said. “And that’s 
part of why it’s so under the 
radar now … tenants have kind 
of shrunk and tried to hide.”
Earlier this year, as the 
tenants were attempting to 
negotiate a new lease, the new 
management company ordered 
an inspection on the loft. Arbor 
Vitae’s facilities failed to meet 
building code standards on 
infrastructure such as internal 
heating. 
“Oxford 
is 
the 
property 
management 
company, 
the 
people here were working 
to get a new lease, and a city 
inspection happened during 
that process,” John said. “They 
came in, and I think it was an 
inspector, and they threw the 
book at the place. Which is 
kind of understandable.” 
The 
residents 
promptly 
received an eviction notice on 
Aug. 27. Lizy Michealson, a 
current resident of Arbor Vitae 
and University of Michigan 
alum, felt a sense of loss at the 
thought of losing Arbor Vitae. 
“When we first found out, 
it was just in a very emotional 
stage,” 
Michealson 
said. 
“Essentially, we felt this very 
intense loss … A lot of things 
have changed in Ann Arbor 
and the entire world, and this 
place has been a witness to 
that.”
The 
Daily 
reached 
out 
to 
Oxford 
Companies 
for 
comment but did not receive 
a 
response 
in 
time 
for 
publication. 
LSA 
junior 
Solomon 
Medintz said saving Arbor 

Vitae is important for the Ann 
Arbor community because of 
both its rich history and also 
because of its affordability.
“Arbor 
Vitae 
has 
this 
amazing history of community 
space 
and 
organizing 
and 
art,” Menenditz said. “So 
many amazing conversations 
and meetings have happened 
there. That space should be 
preserved. (Arbor Vitae is) 
one of the only affordable 
options — housing options — 
on our campus, and I think we 
should be preserving all of the 
affordable housing options we 
can.”
In the face of complete 
shut-down, 
community 
activists and tenants rallied 
around the issue. On Sept. 
3, a GoFundMe page was 
created to save the loft. The 
proceeds would go to possible 
renovations, 
preserving 
Ahern’s 
memorabilia. 
At 
the time of publication, the 
page had raised a little over 
$4,000, almost a fourth of its 
fundraising goal of $20,000. 
John described her sense 
of urgency in saving the loft 
because it is one of the only 
counter-culture spaces left in 
Ann Arbor.
“I mean if this place goes, 
it’s the last nail in the coffin 
of Ann Arbor turning into a 
neo-liberal hell-hole,” John 
said. “From my perspective 
as a townie, this is the secret 
beating heart of Ann Arbor.”
Michealson 
reflected 
on 
why she is fighting to keep the 
Arbor Vitae alive.
“This place is like our family 
member,” 
Michealson 
said. 
“You don’t let your family 
member go. You fight for them. 
You make sure that they can 
stay and be healthy and impact 
other people’s lives.”

The 
training 
included 
defining 
sexual 
assault, 
consent, 
coercion 
and 
the 
nuances within each of these 
topics. They then discussed 
intervention strategies using 
different scenarios to display 
how to enact these strategies. 
CSG President and Ford 
junior Ben Gerstein’s report 
included 
planning 
for 
the 
upcoming 2020 presidential 
debate to be hosted at the 
University. Gerstein discussed 
the importance of ensuring 
the environment around the 
debate is safe and inclusive for 
all students. 
“A couple of things to be 
cognizant 
of 
in 
discussing 
this debate is this experience 
is an exciting opportunity to 
engage in history but then 
it’s also an experience that 
brings 
legitimate 
concerns 

on campus,” Gerstein said. “I 
think we all recognize what 
the divisive climate of the 2020 
election is, the potential for that 
to encompass several weeks 
of the campus experience and 
our students is important to be 
reminded of.”
Gerstein, who is a student 
representative on the 2020 
presidential debate planning 
committee, said he will work 
to 
ensure 
the 
committee 
understands student concerns. 
The first town hall meeting 
regarding the upcoming debate 
was held this Tuesday. The 
second will be held next Wed. 
Oct. 30.
Gerstein also discussed the 
upcoming 
Giving 
Blueday, 
a fundraiser for University 
student 
organizations 
held 
December 3. This year, CSG 
will be fundraising for the 
Leadership 
Engagement 
Scholarship, 
a 
scholarship 
created by CSG with the goal 
of 
providing 
assistance 
to 

students who face financial 
barriers to pursuing leadership 
positions at the University. 
Gerstein 
emphasized 
this 
stipend will benefit students 
hoping to take on leadership 
positions 
in 
organizations 
across campus, rather than just 
CSG.
LSA 
sophomore 
Sam 
Braden discussed a project 
focused on the LSA Advanced 
Placement and International 
Baccalaureate 
policies 

regarding class credit. 
“LSA is not only the only 
school at Michigan that treats 
AP and IB policy differently. 
It’s also the only university 
in 
America 
where 
this 
happens,” Braden said. “I met 
with (Director of Academic 
Standards 
and 
Academic 
Opportunities) Conway-Perrin 
and she agreed this change 
needs to happen.”

“The CDP, not the University, 
controls the tickets U-M is 
going to receive,” ” Zalucki said. 
LSA freshman Daeveonna 
Middleton 
said 
she 
was 
disappointed by the low number 
of tickets being given to the 
University.
“I know they said something 
about how 1,000 students could 
help volunteer for events, but 
that’s 
not 
guaranteeing 
us 
from being able to go there 
and working directly with the 
debate,” 
Middleton 
said. 
“I 
was kind of disappointed, but 
I also have to realize this is an 
international event. But I wish 
there was more opportunity for 
students to be able to experience 
this because it’s kind of like a 
once in a lifetime thing.”
Student involvement 
According to Dean of Students 
Laura Blake Jones, there will 
be various student engagement 
volunteer positions surrounding 
democratic 
engagement, 
programming, campus climate, 
safety and student activism. The 
event staff volunteers will work 
in the coming months to help 
prepare for the debate.
Jones also said students can 
attend the next Presidential 
Debate 
Town 
Hall 
next 
Wednesday, Oct. 30, to sign 
up for the various engagement 
teams and get involved.
“I would imagine that this is 
going to continue to evolve, and 
in the next town hall meeting 
that 
we’re 
holding 
on 
the 
30th, when we get into groups, 
specifically, those of you that do 
want to come back to the next 
meeting and want to actually 
engage and be a volunteer can 
start working in these areas,” 
Jones said. “There are five 
major areas of involvement, and 
there’s overlap and connections 
between the five areas.”
Campus accommodation
According to Zalucki, the 
University 
is 
preparing 
to 
accommodate 
up 
to 
5,000 
different members of national 
media and says students should 
anticipate having the option to 
interact with media entities as 
the debate draws near.
“We’re going to have about 
1,000 to 3,000, up to 5,000 
different media center media 
entities from around the world,” 
Zalucki 
said. 
“That’s 
huge. 
A 40,000 square foot tent is 
gigantic, and we are ready to 

host such a large event because 
that means they’re going to also 
be on campus talking to all of 
you. We give you opportunities 
that you wouldn’t have every 
day.”
Zalucki said it will be the 
equivalent 
to 
six 
College 
Game Day stages placed in the 
Ingalls Mall area in order to 
accommodate the major media 
networks prior to the event.
“Think when ESPN is here 
for game day, just multiply that 
by six,” Zalucki said. “And I’m 
sure all the excitement… (will 
lead to) smaller pop ups from 
some sort of social media sites as 
well. So, the media presence on 
campus for those four days will 
be quite extraordinary and a real 
opportunity for student voices to 
be heard.”
Campus services
When asked about how the 
debate will impact on-campus 
services, Jones compared the 
shift in operations to hosting 
another special event, like a 
large football game, and said 
the University will strategically 
assign tasks to make sure campus 
services remain functional.
“We’re being very strategic 
about who is going to be involved 
with which things related to the 
debate,” Jones said. “When we 
know we have a football game, 
the hospital steps up in ways 
that are very different than our 
normal operation, so that we can 
anticipate and plan for medical 
emergencies 
that 
might 
be 
affiliated with that. So, I would 
imagine in many of our areas, 
we’re going to do the same sort 
of planning to step up and be 
ready.”
Zalucki said the University 
will also be bringing in outside 
vendors to assist with day-to-
day operations and facilities on 
campus.
“We are also bringing in 
any types of vendors who do 
this regularly,” Zalucki said. 
“On a regular basis, you want 
to go to school, you want to be 
fed, you want the lights on and 
you want to get internet. As we 
start to ramp up, there will be 
improvements and resources 
just to supply and support these 
types of activities on campus, 
so your internet won’t fall 
down, things like that, we are 
anticipating.”
Carver said arrangements 
are being made to ensure 
faculty who are helping plan the 
debate, particularly on the core 
team, will have replacements or 
ways of ensuring academics and 
normal course curriculum are 

not falling behind.
“From a curriculum and 
other management standpoint, 
everybody that has been pulled 
on to the core team, for example, 
you know, there’s a recognition 
that the person is not doing 
their regular job and steps are 
being made to take care of that,” 
Carver said.
Business 
freshman 
Karma 
Karira 
said 
she 
is 
most 
concerned 
about 
the 
functionality 
of 
student 
facilities during debate week.
“The most pressing issue to 
me was how it would intrude 
on my ability to be a student 
on campus,” Karira said. “The 
resources that are still available 
to students and how that’s 
separated from the presidential 
debate, and, just in general, I 
pay for going on those busses 
and having those study spaces, 
so those concerns are most 
pressing.”
Student safety and well-
being 
When asked about student 
health and well-being, Jones 
said 
student 
involvement, 
particularly 
from 
the 
engagement volunteer teams, 
will be critical in ensuring the 
students’ needs are met.
“So, I think I sort of started 
to talk about in terms of 
anticipating the needs of our 
students and student life,” Jones 
said. “That group is focused on 
campus climate and safety and 
well-being. But we might be 
thinking from administrative 
perspective, what can we do? 
How can we staff up availability 
of counselors and CAPS for 
example, right? But (students) 
may have other very tangible 
ideas about what we could 
be doing, and so that’s where 
(student) input is going to be 
really, really important.”
According 
to 
John 
Seto, 
Division of Public Safety and 
Security 
deputy 
director, 
there will be an increased 
security 
presence 
around 
campus buildings as the debate 
approaches to ensure the safety 
of students and faculty.
“Is it going to bring out some 
new challenges? Absolutely,” 
Seto said. “But I am here to 
tell you that based on the 
foundation that we built and 
the partnerships that we’ve 
built, I’m very confident that we 
can provide that safe and secure 
environment, right.”

One of the new companies, 
Applied Morphomics Inc., was 
founded by University faculty 
member and surgeon Stewart 
Wang to collect and apply CT 
scan biological data. 
“A CT scan is basically a 
three-dimensional, 
digital 
record of a person’s body, 
and there’s a huge amount of 
information in there,” Wang 
said. “We developed a very 
rigorous system of anatomic 
indexing to go through and 
separate out all the body 
parts, label them and use that 
annotated ground truth.”
Wang elaborated on the 
initial automotive application 
of his technology and the 
shift in focus to Applied 
Morphomics’s 
current 
goal 
of 
improved, 
personalized 
patient care. 
“The data I produce in my 
laboratory is used to produce 
the virtual crash dummies 
that the automotive industry 
uses,” Wang said. “If I’m asked 
to treat you or another person, 
if I can somehow understand 
what their body came from 
and has been through in 
the current condition, I can 
be a much better doctor … 
What we do is we go and we 
extract actionable data from 
each patient’s body using this 
medical imaging.”
Another 
interdisciplinary 
startup 
is 
Arcascope, 
a 
digital 
application 
created 
by 
research 
fellow 
Olivia 
Walch 
to 
help 
individuals 
correct disruptions in their 
circadian 
sleep 
rhythms. 
Walch initially created the app 
while pursuing her Ph.D. in 
mathematics, using research 
to help travelers adjust to time 
differences. 
“A lot of factors can affect 
your 
circadian 
clock, 
but 
the very first one and the 

most important is still light 
exposure,” Walch said. “You 
can adjust faster if you get 
light at the right time and, sort 
of equally importantly, you 
avoid it at the wrong times.”
Walch spoke on her work 
modifying the initial idea to 
be more user-oriented and 
practical in its function to help 
everybody, not just travelers. 
“I just started working on 
the problem myself from the 
perspective of how to make 
the math work better for real 
people,” Walch said. “What 
we do now is just that, using 
math to help people expose 
themselves to light and take 
action steps to help them live 
better.”
Walch 
said 
her 
current 
focus is on finding ways to 
implement their technology to 
help cancer patients strategize 
the best times for treatment. 
“(A) place it could be useful 
is helping people time when 
they should take medicine,” 
Walch said. “Because your 
body changes over the course 
of 
the 
day, 
it 
prioritizes 
healing and metabolism and 
immune response at different 
times.”
A sizable portion of the 
University’s portfolio this year 
was composed of tech startups 
like Voxel51, co-founded by 
computer science professor 
Jason Corso.
“My 
group 
focuses 
on 
research 
related 
to 
video 
understanding, and this is 
somewhat unique in the world 
of computer vision where most 
people tend to focus on just 
like 
image 
understanding, 
image 
recognition,” 
Corso 
said. 
Corso 
explained 
the 
process 
of 
building 
his 
startup independently and the 
decision to incorporate the 
University in the business. 
“When 
we 
began, 
we 
were 
completely, 
sort 
of, 
divorced from the University,” 
Corso said. “There’s a lot 

of 
mentoring 
and 
strong 
experience that the University 
brings as well as a good 
network of marketing and so 
on, so we felt it was the right 
thing to do to really reengage, 
and 
so 
we 
actually 
did 
ultimately form a relationship 
with the University.”
Wang also described the 
integral role the University 
played 
in 
facilitating 
the 
creation 
of 
Applied 
Morphomics by licensing back 
his intellectual property.
“When I talked to (the 
University) 
about 
what 
I 
wanted 
the 
technology 
to 
do, what I was hoping that it 
would be able to do out in the 
real world, they worked very 
hard with me to figure out a 
way to arrange this,” Wang.
Arcascope 
also 
was 
developed with the help of 
the 
University’s 
resources, 
according the Olivia Walch. 
“This 
is 
very 
much 
a 
company that’s been incubated 
at Michigan, took its first 
steps with Michigan holding 
its hand,” Walch said. “They 
could’ve, in 2014, come in 
and been like, ‘We own the 
technology, so we’re going to 
do whatever we want with it,’ 
and they’ve been very clear 
that they put the inventors in 
the driver’s seat.”
LSA 
sophomore 
Sahil 
Kapur 
who 
co-founded 
a 
watch company called Recrire 
Vie at U-M to fund his non-
profit Help to Fight Hunger, 
also 
emphasized 
how 
the 
University facilitates startups 
at all levels.
“There’s definitely a lot of 
resources that the University 
offers, and they’re all very 
wide-spread 
and 
equally 
spread, and I think it depends 
on you, whatever you want to 
choose,” Kapur said. “Even 
if you’re not taking a class 
at Ross, I feel like there’s so 
many 
other 
opportunities 
around the school that you can 
make a difference.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, October 23, 2019 — 3A

“Is it safe to visibly be 
religious on a campus like this, 
when nationally the country 
is facing white supremacy and 
gun violence?” Ali asked the 
audience.
Kelly 
Dunlop, 
associate 
director 
for 
campus 
involvement, led a panel of five 
students who came from various 
religions and backgrounds. The 
event began with a moderated 
discussion and then opened to 
questions and comments from 
the audience. 
In response to the national 
political 
climate, 
the 
panel 
discussed how religion can be 
used as a mechanism to bridge 
divides and facilitate healing. 
Social Work student Stephanie 
Morgan-Sterenberg was raised 
in a secular Jewish household 
and attended the Tree of Life 
temple in Pittsburgh, which fell 
victim to a domestic terrorist 
attack when a white supremacist 
killed 11 people in a shooting last 
year. 
“It was shattering in so many 
ways to think that we just keep 
experiencing this barrage of 
violence, and it’s condoned 
by 
this 
culture 
of 
white 
supremacy,” 
said 
Morgan-
Sterenberg. 
Morgan-Sterenberg 
said 

this experience pushed her to 
communicate with people of 
various religious backgrounds 
in 
order 
to 
unpack 
their 
experiences of facing religious 
discrimination. 
The panelists also reflected 
on their experiences in the 
classroom and around campus. 
Law School student Areeba 
Jibril discussed the exhaustion 
she has experienced as a visible 
Muslim because of her hijab. 
Jibril said our society has 
normalized the idea people 
of color are there to enrich 
white lives, and it is important 
to remember the people on 
the other end of questions are 
human.
The panel also deliberated 
how 
the 
University 
should 
address 
religious-specific 
issues going forward. Many of 
the panelists agreed professors 
should work on lifting the 
burden 
from 
the 
religious 
minorities in the room, and 
instead explain these narratives 
through readings from authors 
from those religious groups.
LSA senior Armind Chahal 
proposed 
underclassmen 
undergo 
religion-focused 
workshops, in addition to the 
mandatory 
race/ethnicity 
course requirement. 
In an interview with The 
Daily after the event, Rackham 
student Lauren White said she 
agreed with the focus on how 

faculty can improve campus 
climate.
“A good takeaway was that 
they were talking about faculty 
involvement and talking with 
staff about how they can better 
assist and be with students who 
are students of faith and not be 
offensive,” said White.
LSA junior Lorna Brown, 
who is a Michigan in Color 
editor for The Daily, grew up 
Methodist in a Black family 
that valued attending church 
every Sunday and praying every 
evening. She explained the close 
relationship between her race 
and her religion, and reflected 
on her experience in the dorms 
her freshman year when racist 
slurs were written on dorm door 
name tags. 
“That was where we really 
started doing our marches and 
going and saying we need that 
support,” Brown said. “That is 
something I continuously see, 
and I know that’s the case for a 
lot of people.”
Marlanna Landeros, Division 
of Public Safety and Security 
program 
manager, 
oversees 
DEI 
and 
student 
program 
collaboration with DPSS. When 
asked what DPSS was doing to 
address and prevent events like 
this, Landeros explained it is an 
ongoing process. 

RELIGION
From Page 1A

CSG
From Page 1A

DEBATE
From Page 1A

LOFT
From Page 1A

STARTUPS
From Page 1A

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

