Landlords in Ann Arbor are
pushing ahead with fall leasing
for the 2021-2022 school year,
despite the ongoing COVID-
19 pandemic, while students
question if they should sign
leases as early as they have in
prior years.
The fall leasing period many
Ann Arbor landlords observe —
in which tenants whose leases
start shortly before the academic
year begins are asked to decide
whether to renew less than three
months into their lease — has
pushed students to make quick
decisions about their off-campus
living
situations
for
years.
Under the circumstances of the
pandemic, however, long-term
planning and dealing with these
early deadlines have become a
bigger challenge for students.
This is the case for LSA
sophomore Mia Waelchli, who
in late August moved into an
apartment unit managed by
Varsity Management, a company
that manages more than two
dozen off-campus properties
in Ann Arbor. A little more
Sandra Steingraber, an alum of
the University of Michigan and
former opinion writer for The
Michigan Daily, said she doesn’t
remember the University’s first
arrest following the deputization
of
campus
police
officers.
Steingraber, who was a Rackham
student at the time and now
teaches environmental studies at
Ithaca College, was unconscious.
She was carried away on a
stretcher by the Ann Arbor Fire
Department after being thrown
to the ground by an Ann Arbor
police officer on Oct. 6, 1988.
“I have a really strong memory
of the back of my head hitting the
pavement because it just sounded
like a metal bat hitting a ball,”
Steingraber said.
When Leo Heatley, director of
the University’s Department of
Public Safety, draped his coat over
Steingraber, Cale Southworth,
then a colleague of Steingraber’s
at The Daily, demanded Heatley
get off her. Heatley then threw
Southworth to the ground. After
Southworth tried to run away,
DPS Assistant Director Robert
Pifer arrested him. Heatley and
Pifer were the first two public
safety officers deputized at the
University.
Prior to former University
President
James
Duderstadt’s
inauguration,
dozens
of
protesters
demonstrated
on
North University Ave. Students
criticized what they called a
clandestine process to install
Duderstadt as president, alleging
violations of the Open Meetings
Act,
which
requires
local
governing
bodies
to
conduct
their business transparently. The
students also took issue with
Duderstadt’s
ties
to
military
research.
Steingraber attempted to enter
Hill
Auditorium
with
Rollie
Hudson, an opinion writer at
The Daily, to cover the ceremony.
Steingraber said when Hudson
reached
into
his
pocket
to
display his press pass to the law
enforcement officers blocking the
entrance, police tackled him to
the ground.
“He started bleeding and they
were grinding his head to the
pavement, and it became suddenly
very
dreamlike,”
Steingraber
said. “It was as if no sound was
coming out of my mouth.”
She and other students followed
Hudson as police allegedly tossed
him in the unmarked car.
“He started to smear his blood
on the inside of the windows to
show us that he was bleeding,”
Steingraber said.
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
The
Washtenaw
County
Health Department alerted the
public Monday afternoon to a
possibility of exposure at two Ann
Arbor restaurants, Brown Jug on
S. University Ave. and Chapala
Mexican Restaurant on N. Main
St. Anyone who was at Brown Jug
from Oct. 1-3 and Oct. 6 and Chapala
on Oct. 1 should quarantine and
monitor for symptoms.
Currently, 13 cases are linked to
the two restaurants, not including
six positive cases at popular
student bar and restaurant Brown
Jug dating back to August.
Jimena Loveluck, health officer
for Washtenaw County, noted
that contact tracing is difficult
with cases coming from public
interactions in a restaurant setting.
“In most situations, we can
contact individuals exposed to
COVID-19 directly,” Loveluck said.
“Unfortunately, with the number
of positive cases that report visiting
each of these establishments at
crowded times, there is a possibility
of widespread, public exposure.”
After the first cases were linked
to the Brown Jug, the restaurant
closed from Aug. 30 to Sept.
8. Owner Perry Porikos, who
also owns the Blue Leprechaun
and Study Hall Lounge in Ann
Arbor, told all employees who
tested
positive
to
quarantine
in
accordance
with
health
department protocol.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily, Porikos said he
implemented several new safety
protocols,
including
having
employees come in through the
same entrance, increasing the
frequency of testing and installing
plexiglass
barriers
between
booths. However, one concern
has been the number of patrons
waiting in line outside the bar, and
the difficulty of making sure they
are social distancing and wearing
masks.
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news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 3
©2020 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
A RT S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 0
STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
SPORTS.......................15
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JULIANNA MORANO
Daily Staff Reporter
JEREMY WEINE/Daily
Landlords in Ann Arbor say they are pushing ahead with fall leasing for the 2021-2022 school year.
See POLICE, Page 3
Graduate students’ anti-policing demands echo
demonstrations over armed officers decades ago
The Daily outlines history of law enforcement at the University of Michigan , activism in response to deputization of officers
Landlords move forward with
fall leasing period, rent increases
Uncertainties surrounding pandemic lead students to question signing leases
New COVID-19 cases
traced to Brown Jug,
Chapala restaurants
located in Ann Arbor
See COVID-19, Page 2
Photos from The Daily archives feature Rollie Hudson center, Sandra Steingraber, then a reporter for The Michigan Daily, top right.
Washtenaw County advises visitors from
last week to monitor symptoms, quarantine
CALDER LEWIS
Daily Staff Reporter
BEN ROSENFELD
Daily News Editor
See LEASE, Page 3