This was more difficult for 

students who had already left 
due to the two-week stay at home 
order issued in late October. 

LSA freshman Dora Usdan, 

who moved back home earlier in 
November, plans to live in an off-
campus apartment next semester 
with her roommate.

“But we just had to sign the 

lease on an apartment that we’d 
never seen before because we’re 
not in Ann Arbor,” Usdan said. “It 
was really stressful because even 
as I was on the phone with real 
estate agents, I’d be looking at a 
property and the agent would say, 
‘Someone just signed that lease 
30 seconds ago in my office, it’s 
gone.’”

Many students left during the 

stay-in-place order because they 
were offered partial housing 
refunds if they moved out by Nov. 
3. 

LSA freshman Sara Stawarz 

was one of them. She said she 
didn’t expect the situation in Ann 

Arbor to change so rapidly while 
she was gone.

“It’s been kind of stressful 

because I left with the knowledge 
that I would be coming back next 
semester and that this wouldn’t 
be the last that I’d see of my 
friends until August, which is the 
situation now,” Stawarz said. 

For some out-of-state students, 

leaving early during the two-
week stay-in-place period has left 
them in a difficult situation now 
that they cannot return to their 
dorms next semester. 

The 
University 
has 

recommended 
two 
options: 

returning to campus to empty 
out their rooms themselves, or 
hiring John’s Pack & Ship moving 
company at a minimum cost of 
$500 to do it for them and mail or 
store the belongings. 

In an email to The Michigan 

Daily, 
University 
Housing 

spokesperson Amir Baghdadchi 
wrote students are allowed to 
sign up for a time slot to return 
to campus and pack up their 
belongings. The dates for move 
out range between Nov. 30 and 
Dec. 6. If necessary, students 
may also move out after Dec. 6 

and before the start of winter 
semester if arranged ahead of 
time with University Housing. 

“We understand moving out 

can be a challenge, and we’re 
ready to be flexible and offer 
students options,” Baghdadchi 
said.

LSA freshman Nadir Gerber 

is at his permanent residence 
in 
California 
and 
reached 

out to Housing to explain his 
predicament. 

“I did mention that I was in 

California so it wasn’t feasible for 
me to come out and pick things 
up from my dorm and their first 
recommendation was that I come 
out and pick things up from the 
dorm myself,” Gerber said. “I am 
potentially looking at flying back 
out to Michigan and just getting 
everything myself, but doing that 
while I’m still trying to attend 
class is not only a huge financial 
commitment but also really gets 
in the way of my schooling.”

Usdan, who had moved back 

home to New York, said this was 
an 
unreasonable 
expectation 

for students and their families, 
saying students essentially have 
two choices: “Com(ing) back with 

their parents who are more at risk 
to pick up their stuff or paying a 
really high fee.” 

“That’s super inconvenient and 

they didn’t tell me to move out 
all my stuff when I left Oct. 24,” 
Usdan said.

Baghdadchi also wrote that 

students are able to authorize 
someone 
to 
pick 
up 
their 

belongings on their behalf if they 
are unable to do so themselves. 
He wrote that the best option for 
some students may be to use a 
third party to pack, store or ship 
items, and they are able to use 
John’s Pack & Ship to do so.

Students who want to remain in 

the residence halls next semester 
can apply for an exception. 
Stawarz said she felt the space 
allotted to tell the University why 
she should stay was insufficient 
to get the message across. 

“I had to write them in 500 

characters or less, why for my 
mental health I should go back,” 
Stawarz said. “It was so hard to 
get the full scope of the issue in 
500 characters, and I genuinely 
am afraid that they won’t take me 
back.”

Several 
students 
have 

expressed 
disappointment 

with the University’s response 
to 
COVID-19 
this 
semester, 

attributing the closing of the 
residence halls to a lack of 
preparedness and a shortage of 
testing availability. 

Stawarz said she wishes the 

University 
had 
tested 
more 

students earlier in the semester 
before the stay-in-place order 
was implemented.

“It’s 
pretty 
disappointing, 

especially knowing that all of this 
could’ve been prevented if they 
had just done weekly testing. 
They let it go way too far and only 
implemented these things when 
it was unimaginable for them to 
not do so,” Stawarz said. 

As part of the University’s 

plan for the winter semester, 
testing capacity will be increased 
to about 12,000 to 15,000 tests 
per week. According to the plan, 
students living in University 
Housing 
or 
participating 
in 

on-campus activities in winter 
2021 will also be tested on a 
regular basis. 

Over 
the 
summer, 
the 

University’s Board of Regents 
voted to increase tuition and 

increase room and board fees by 
1.9% in the 2020-2021 budget, 
despite receiving backlash from 
the 
campus 
community 
for 

raising tuition during a global 
pandemic. This was in response 
to a projected University budget 
deficit due to COVID-19.

Other 
students 
said 
they 

were more concerned about the 
prospect of paying full tuition for 
the winter semester while going 
to school online and living at 
home. LSA freshman Yitzi Zolty 
said he wonders what students 
are paying for when the capacity 
for campus learning is so limited.

“I doubt this was a decision 

that was made overnight — 
there’s nothing wrong with full 
transparency,” Zolty said. “I 
think the main thing, at least 
on my mind, is that we’re still 
paying full tuition as out-of-
state students, and part of their 
spending plan is to upkeep 
facilities. But if none of those are 
going to be in use, why are we 
paying so much?”

Daily Staff Reporter Hannah 

Mackay 
can 
be 
reached 
at 

mackayh@umich.edu.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 — 3

HOUSING
From Page 1

Hurns agreed, saying different 
U-M representatives and sources 
have stressed the importance of 
including test scores differently. 

“Originally, they were saying, 

‘Well, we want to see something, 
even an AP score, a PSAT score, 
something,’” Madis said. “And 
then the last presentation I saw, 
it seemed to be leaning more 
towards test-optional. So, I’m not 
exactly sure (what the University 
wants).”

In response to concerns over 

how the University would fairly 
evaluate applicants without test 
scores, Erica Sanders, director of 
undergraduate admissions at the 
University, said in an email to The 
Daily that no individual student 
would be at a disadvantage in the 
admissions process. 

“As is the case every cycle, each 

student is evaluated individually 
and holistically,” Sanders wrote. 

“We do not compare individual 
students to each other.”

New deadline allows more 

time to perfect application

Though 
students 
expressed 

mixed feelings about the changes 
to the testing policy, seniors and 
administrators were generally in 
favor of the extended Nov. 15 early 
action deadline. With the new 
deadline, early action applicants 
are guaranteed an admissions 
decision of accept, reject or 
deferral to the regular decision 
pool by late January, about a 
month later than previous years.

Despite admissions decisions 

being delayed to January, Riley 
Hodder, a senior at Oxford High 
School in Oxford, Mich., said the 
extended application deadline has 
allowed her to devote her efforts 
after Nov. 1 entirely to her U-M 
application. 

“It was a major benefit to be 

able to put off U-M for a few days 
and focus on (other applications) 
that needed to get done,” Hodder 

said. 

According to The Wall Street 

Journal, the Common Application, 
which is used by the University 
and more than 900 other schools, 
saw 8% less first-year applications 
and 10% fewer applicants through 
Nov. 2 compared to the same 
period last year.

Some 
high 
school 

administrators, including Ann 
Arbor Public Schools counselor 
Christopher Kasper, said they 
felt 
concerned 
the 
extended 

deadline 
would 
encourage 

students to procrastinate on their 
applications.

However, Groves High School 

Counselor Lilianne Kowalchuk 
did 
not 
anticipate 
students 

would delay working on their 
applications more than usual. 
Kowalchuk has recommended her 
students treat the additional two 
weeks like a “safety net.” 

She said she wants them to have 

their applications completely done 
by Nov. 1 and to use the extra time 

to double-check that everything 
has been properly submitted and 
received by the University.

“The kids who procrastinate 

are going to procrastinate no 
matter what,” Kowalchuk said.

Pandemic causes students to 

consider college options closer to 
home

The lack of physical college 

visits, admissions tours and other 
traditional recruiting events have 
further affected the information 
students have access to as they 
determine which college is right 
for them. 

Anna Partalis, a senior at 

Bloomfield Hills High School in 
Bloomfield Hills, Mich., said even 
though she is applying to several 
out-of-state 
universities, 
the 

University remains her top choice 
due to the pandemic’s cancellation 
of campus visits.

“I feel like if I were able to 

do in-person tours, I would be 
more attached to other out-of-
state schools,” Partalis said. “The 

experience for students in person 
is really important to me, so I feel 
like I’m definitely more attached 
to my in-state schools.” 

Nosheen 
Ahmed, 
a 
senior 

at Niles North High School in 
Skokie, Ill., said while she had 
previously wanted to go out-of-
state for college, both financial 
issues and the possibility of the 
University still being virtual for 
the Fall 2021 semester have made 
her strongly consider in-state 
options. Ahmed said though she is 
still applying to the University, the 
ongoing pandemic has brought 
new factors into the equation of 
deciding where to attend.

“(The University is) switching 

to online school and restricting 
the dorm options, but they’re not 
lowering tuition, and that doesn’t 
make sense to me,” Ahmed said. 
“My mom was at risk of losing her 
job, and we’re going to have three 
kids in college (next year), so I just 
don’t want that financial burden.” 

University promotes holistic 

evaluation of applications, with 
concessions 
for 
COVID-19-

related setbacks

With 
diverse 
grading 

systems, inconsistent access to 
standardized tests and mental 
health 
challenges 
posed 
by 

COVID-19, the U-M admissions 
office, known for its selective 
acceptance 
process, 
faces 

unprecedented 
challenges 
as 

they decide who they will grant 
admission to for the Class of 2025. 
The University accepted 26.1% — 
approximately 17,000 out of more 
than 65,000 for a 6,900-student 
class — for the Class of 2024.

Sanders said she is optimistic 

about the admissions department’s 
ability to contextually review a 
student’s application and consider 
any external factors that may 
affect how that student appears 
on paper.

APPLICATION
From Page 2

“We 
have 
expanded 
our 

capacity in a number of ways,” 
Dickson said. “We converted 
what was recently a moderate 
care unit into a fully functional 
ICU, we have put additional ICU 
physicians on the service and 
we have provided additional 
training 
for 
moderate 
care 

nurses to provide critical care to 
patients.”

As cases continue to rise and 

hospitals continue to prepare, 
some 
specialty 
hospitals 
in 

Southeast Michigan have begun 
to offer their extra space to major 
health systems. On top of this, 
some non-health care businesses 
have also begun to offer space for 
low-acuity patients. 

‘We 
never 
stopped 
our 

preparation and planning’

Compared 
to 
the 
spring, 

Dickson said Michigan Medicine 

is more prepared now for a rise 
in cases. 

“We’re more prepared because 

we’ve seen this movie before,” 
Dickson said. “We didn’t know 
what to expect in March really, 
at that point all we had were 
anecdotes from our colleagues 
in Asia and Europe. By now 
we have a luxury of lots and 
lots of experience, randomized 
controlled trials and rigorously 
done observational studies.” 

Michigan 
Medicine 
has 

also gained specific medical 
knowledge in the past months 
of the pandemic that will help 
the hospital provide better care 
to COVID-19 patients, Dickson 
said. 

“I think we’re smarter about 

what not to do as much as we 
are smarter about what to do,” 
Dickson said. “I do think one 
thing we learned over and over, 
is that more important than 
any given drug for COVID, is 
outstanding meticulous evidence 

based critical care practices.” 

Jeffery 
Desmond, 
chief 

medical officer of Michigan 
Medicine, 
said 
Michigan 

Medicine 
never 
stopped 

preparing for a rise in cases. 

“We 
never 
stopped 
our 

preparation 
and 
planning,” 

Desmond said. “Even when we 
were on that plateau during the 
summer and early fall.” 

Desmond also said Michigan 

Medicine 
has 
been 
at 
the 

forefront of preparations and 
use of new knowledge since the 
beginning of the pandemic. 

“We were one of the early 

hospitals in the country to 
require masks for everyone in 
the hospital,” Desmond said. 
“We did that because we felt the 
data was suggestive that it would 
be protective for our employees 
and for our patients … and it 
turns out universal use of masks 
really provides protection for 
employees and for patients.” 

This moment in the pandemic 

is also different, Desmond said, 
because 
Michigan 
Medicine 

is continuing to treat regular 
patients 
and 
COVID-19 

patients, which they didn’t do 
in the spring because of Gov. 
Gretchen Whitmer’s executive 
orders restricting nonessential 
treatment.

“We have reverted back to 

more normal care,” Desmond 
said. “Now, we’re in the midst of 
managing COVID patients and 
non-COVID care simultaneously 
in the hospital.” 

However, Desmond said he 

believes Michigan Medicine is 
more than capable of rising to 
this challenge. 

Desmond also said Michigan 

Medicine has recently been able 
to somewhat recover from the 
poor financial performance of 
the summer and early fall. He 
said the hospital system has 
been able to reinstate retirement 
match 
and 
professional 

development funding.

Nursing sophomore Britney 

Nguyen agreed with Desmond 
and Dickson, noting that there is a 
more widespread understanding 
of how the pandemic should be 
handled now than there was last 
spring. 

“I think we’re more prepared,” 

Nguyen said. “I think everyone 
just being on the same page with 
the pandemic has really helped 
and just getting a University-
wide consensus on what steps we 
need to be taking.” 

Health care workers ask 

students 
to 
follow 
public 

health guidelines

Both students and medical 

professionals in Ann Arbor said 
they see the role students can 
play in slowing the spread of 
COVID-19 — and are asking them 
to remain vigilant as cases rise.

Nursing senior Joyce Lee 

wrote in an email to The 
Michigan Daily that nursing 
students have had to be open 
to changes while completing 

clinical hours in the hospital. 

“As a nursing student we 

have to be flexible in general 
and 
especially 
during 
a 

pandemic,” Lee wrote. “As with 
most students, most formats 
are virtual, and clinical are 
in-person. For one of my clinicals 
I am a contact tracer and there 
have been moments of more 
contacts at certain points.” 

Hyzy also said it is important 

for students to be safe and make 
good decisions to mitigate the 
spread of the virus. 

“I would implore your readers 

to be good citizens,” Hyzy said. 
“You might get by with a milder 
case of COVID but … people 
are dying and more people will 
die, though admittedly fewer 
than the spring. But this is very 
serious stuff. And I’m telling 
you, it’s starting to really take off 
again.” 

Daily Staff Reporter Paige 

Hodder 
can 
be 
reached 
at 

phodder@umich.edu.

HOSPITAL
From Page 1

University President Mark 

Schlissel and Provost Susan 
Collins wrote in a Monday 
email to the campus community 
that the University would shift 
all 
coursework, 
except 
any 

associated with training medical 
professionals, to be conducted 
remotely to follow the state’s 
guidelines. This only affects the 
three days before Thanksgiving 
break. 

Previously, 
under 
the 

University’s initial plan, all 
undergraduate 
classes 
were 

scheduled to go fully remote 
after the holiday through the 
end of the semester on Dec. 18, 
but the state order shortened 
that timeline. 

“Over 
the 
past 
several 

months, we have been asked to 
continually adjust our activities 
to help protect the health and 
safety of the larger community,” 
Schlissel and Collins wrote. 
“We know this will cause some 
disruptions in a few courses 
and labs that were meeting in 
person through Friday – and we 
appreciate everyone’s continued 
diligence 
and 
resilience 
as 

we work to slow the spread of 
COVID-19.”

The 
state’s 
three-week 

epidemic order is not the first 
time the school’s operations have 
faced significant disruptions in 
an effort to curb the spread of 
the virus. Administrators have 
had to switch gears several 
times over the semester to deal 
with unforeseen circumstances 
stemming from the pandemic, 
ranging from lockdowns to labor 
disputes.

Schlissel started off the year 

on an optimistic note, saying in 
August, “I think it’s more likely 
than not that we will make it 
through the semester,” even as 
other colleges reversed course 
on their reopening plans. 

The choice to move forward 

with 
reopening 
sparked 

criticism from students, staff 
and faculty, who complained 
about the lack of testing and 
called 
for 
more 
stringent 

restrictions regarding campus 
operations. 

“It’s 
not 
realistic 
that 

students are going to come back 
on campus and not bring COVID 
with them and spread it amongst 
themselves,” Rackham student 
Gabby Sarpy said at a protest in 
August. 

The semester began with 

about 78% of classes taught 
remotely, 
but 
outbreaks 
on 

campus 
in 
September 
and 

October prompted Washtenaw 
County to issue a stay-in-
place order for undergraduate 
students on Oct. 20. The order 
carved out several exceptions 
for students, including attending 
class. 

Courses 
that 
were 

significantly 
enhanced 
by 

in-person 
learning 
did 
not 

have 
to 
move 
to 
remote 

instruction under the county’s 
October order. According to 
the University Record, 90% of 
undergraduate courses are now 
being taught remotely. 

Students raised doubts about 

the stay-in-place order, even 
calling it a targeted “anti-party 
ordinance.” The order, however, 
seemed to work. When it was 
first issued, COVID-19 cases 
associated with the University 
represented more than 60% of 
local cases. Two weeks later, 
University students accounted 
for about a third of cases in the 
county. 

According to Schlissel, the 

University saw an “unacceptable 
level 
of 
COVID-19 
cases” 

among undergraduates, both 

on campus and off. He said 
the 
experience 
pushed 
the 

University to shift away from 
the model used for fall. 

Now, the plan for winter will 

offer increased testing, and no 
instructor will be required to 
teach in person. Residence halls 
will be closed to students who 
do not present a compelling 
need to stay on campus. 

Many of the components 

of the winter plan align with 
demands voiced by the Graduate 
Employees’ Organization earlier 
in the semester when Graduate 
Student Instructors went on 
strike.

“In some ways, it feels like 

the admin has come to their 
senses, but really I think this 
was 
a 
calculated 
business 

decision — ‘We were willing 
to risk community safety to 
maintain tuition and housing 
revenue, but doing that hurt us 
so we’re shifting course,’” GEO 
member Dom Bouavichith said 
in a previous interview with 
The Daily.

In 
addition 
to 
graduate 

students, residential advisers 
went on strike due to the 
working conditions in residence 
halls. Some dining hall staff 
also spoke out in protest of the 

University’s handling of the 
reopening. 

The pandemic also threw 

a wrench in the University’s 
research 
apparatus. 
The 

University placed nonessential 
research largely on hold in 
March. 
Activities 
slowly 

ramped up throughout the 
year, with adjustments made 
for large spikes in cases in the 
community. 

At the start of the school year, 

only senior students already 
trained 
in 
their 
respective 

research could resume work in 
person, but by mid-October, all 
undergraduates were allowed 
to 
participate 
again. 
The 

county’s 
stay-in-place 
order 

limited research activities for 
undergraduates shortly after 
they were allowed to return, 
leaving many students feeling as 
though they were back at square 
one. 

While the state’s new rules 

do not limit the University’s 
research, Schlissel and Collins 
noted 
they 
would 
adjust 

operation policies out of an 
excess of caution. Research 
laboratories will continue to 
operate at 60% density, and 
undergraduate 
students 
can 

still help out with in-person 

research. 

However, 
according 
to 
a 

Monday 
update 
from 
Vice 

President of Research Rebecca 
Cunningham, certain human 
research studies “should prepare 
to pause in-person activity” 
with research participants by 
Friday at the latest.

Cunningham also noted that 

12 researchers who had been 
working in person have tested 
positive for COVID-19 in the 
past seven days. 

As cases continue to rise 

across 
the 
state, 
Michigan 

Medicine 
is 
preparing 
for 

another rise in hospitalizations. 

“We’re 
more 
prepared 

because we’ve seen this movie 
before,” said Robert Dickson, 
associate professor of medicine 
in the Division of Pulmonary 
and Critical Care Medicine. “We 
didn’t know what to expect in 
March really, at that point all 
we had were anecdotes from our 
colleagues in Asia and Europe. By 
now we have a luxury of lots and 
lots of experience, randomized 
controlled trials and rigorously 
done observational studies.” 

Managing News Editors Leah 

Graham and Sayali Amin can be 
reached at leahgra@umich.edu 
and sayalia@umich.edu. 

SEMESTER
From Page 1

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

