ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Thursday, September 18, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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BUSINESS
A housing sees uptick in luxury, high costs 2
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
LEFT: Booths at EarthFest handed out apples to students and staff. RIGHT: LSA sophomore Kaitie Benedek pledges to visit the campus farm more often and poses for a picture.
EarthFest unites students in environmental efforts Green groups congregate to display their work By ARIANA ASSAF Daily Staff Reporter
Celebrating and protecting the planet has been promoted by the University for years, but Wednesday, Planet Blue injected
new energy into the spirit of sustainability with its annual EarthFest — a “Party for the Planet” that included food samples, live entertainment and the chance to win an iPad. Music could be heard from beyond the Diag, where about 60 booths were set up to educate passersby about topics ranging from how to make environmentally friendly food purchases to guidelines for proper drug disposal.
To meet sustainability goals, the University promotes creating healthy environment, climate action, community awareness and waste prevention. Barbara Hagan, a sustainability representative with the Office of Campus Sustainability, said student groups, individual University units and outside nonprofit organizations had all come together for the sake of sustainability and to raise awareness at EarthFest.
“The University has goals to reduce our waste, to increase our sustainable food purchases, to reduce the chemicals that we put on the lawns,” Hagan said. “So all this is to bring awareness to that initiative as well as all the cool things we have on campus that are working towards those goals.” Like Festifall and Northfest, students had the opportunity See EARTHFEST, Page 2A
Expensive apartment buildings can charge up to $2,000 per month By HILLARY CRAWFORD Daily Staff Reporter
Traditional college housing — the rickety, aging homes and rarely renovated apartments that smell like Ramen noodles — has had competitors from new luxury apartment buildings near campus. Landmark Apartments, Sterling 411 Lofts, Zaragon Place and Zaragon West have all opened in the past five years, and several new luxury apartment complexes are on the rise. Maggie Ladd, executive director of the South University Area Association, said prior to 2006, the association researched retail business and housing that was offered to students at different universities. Ann Arbor’s offer-
ings, the research found, were subpar. “We felt that Ann Arbor wasn’t filling the demand,” Ladd said. Landmark is one complex erected to meet some of those demands. Its amenities are abundant: a hot tub, sauna, free bagel breakfasts, a built-in fitness center, granite kitchen countertops and more. The catch: monthly rent in some units can exceed $2,000 per person. “We have a very sophisticated student body,” Ladd said. “They are looking for state-of-the-art places to live as opposed to single-family places that have been turned into student apartments.” Other universities seem to be attracting this “sophisticated” populace as well. Newspapers nationwide are commenting on the new amenities colleges and their surrounding towns are offering, matching their higherincome student body. Rick Perlman, founder and president of Zaragon, Inc., said See RENT, Page 2A
DETROIT
FORD SCHOOL TALKS
Pilot program uses texting for data collection
Colombian prof. talks country’s struggles
Researchers survey Detroiters through real-time communication By NEALA BERKOWSKI Daily Staff Reporter
Though texting is generally used as a casual form of communication, University researchers are exploring the medium as a new means of collecting data and interacting with communities. Their pilot participants: lowincome Detroit residents. Dr. Tammy Chang, assistant professor of family medicine at the Medical School, and member of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, is leading a team of researchers for the pilot. The goal is to collect data on subjects’ medical knowledge, literacy and numeracy. The study focuses on the residents of the Villages at Parkside, a lowincome predominantly AfricanAmerican community in Detroit. Chang said texting is differ-
ent from other forms of collecting information, such as online or physical surveys and phone interviews, because it allows researchers to receive real-time information from the group they are trying to learn more about. She also said cell phone ownership and use has been found to be particularly high within AfricanAmerican communities, making it easy to focus the sampling to that demographic. “You’re not necessarily going to go to a community meeting after working two jobs,” Chang said. “You’re not necessarily going to feel like filling out a fivepage survey and when somebody calls you on the phone, you may not necessarily feel like talking to them about your opinion about x, y, z things. What’s awesome about text messaging for this group is that it’s allowing them to speak to us in a language, in a modality that they’re used to. They can do it on their time when they feel like it.” Zachary Rowe, executive director of Friends of Parkside, a Detroit nonprofit that focuses on the wellSee TEXTING, Page 2A
Speaker discusses violence and new peace initiatives By EMMA KERR
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Daily Staff Reporter
Adam Liptak, a U.S. Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times, speaks about the Roberts court and constitutional law at South Hall Wednesday.
NYT reporter provides Constitutional analysis Document’s birthday marked with discussion of longevity, progress By TAYLOR WIZNER Daily Staff Reporter
To honor the 227th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution’s signing, Adam Liptak, U.S. Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times, spoke Wednesday afternoon about
the Roberts court and the Constitution’s role in public policy today. In front of a crowd of about 100 people, consisting mostly of students and Ann Arbor residents, Liptak discussed some of the unique aspects of the Constitution, focusing on its longevity — since the average constitution lasts 19 years — and the short length of the document, which leaves room for ambiguity. One of the more interesting aspects of the Constitution is the Bill of Rights, Liptak said,
because of the argument forwarded by many of the federalist Founding Fathers that it is unnecessary and dangerous. Some argue its existence proves that a few select rights need to be protected, without detailing how they should be enforced and excluding other considered rights. “It’s the Bill of Rights rather than the Constitution’s structural provisions that really capture your imagination,” Liptak said. Liptak said a strong focus of See REPORTER, Page 2A
Wednesday evening, attendees at the Ford School of Public Policy got an expert’s take on violence in Colombia and its government’s inability to keep the peace. Alejandro Castillejo-Cuéllar, associate professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, stressed the need for leadership and new government strategies for understanding the country’s political conflict and its effect on Colombian communities. Castillejo-Cuéllar emphasized both the potential and shortcomings of Colombia’s controversial 2005 Justice and Peace Law, which provides a path for former paramilitary antigovernment fighters to reintegrate into mainstream society. Right wing paramilitary See POLICY, Page 2A
The Michigan Theater: Examined An in-depth look at the history of Ann Arbor’s first movie theater
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 139 ©2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A SUDOKU.....................2A OPINION.................... 3A
SPORTS.....................5A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A B-SIDE ....................1B