“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
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