What SOs Fights for
Addressing Construction
Nobody likes the construction. Construction has been dragging on for months on end with no end in sight. The refurbishment of the Diag was completed 2 weeks from the start of classes. What’s going on?
The ongoing construction on State Street makes our school look incompetent and dismissive of accessibility concerns, and whoever is responsible for this blight upon campus should be held accountable.
SOS plans on creating a series of committees and advisory boards to investigate the source of the construction and get to the bottom of what is going on. And if that doesn’t work? We are going to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act request) the responsible parties to force an answer.
We promise you we will figure out who was responsible for this, and we will make the public, press and greater Ann Arbor community aware.
Housing Connections
Ask around long enough and you’ll quickly find out what a nightmare renting and leasing property in Ann Arbor can be. In 2024, Michigan ranked third for highest rent on average in the nation, with Ann Arbor being an unfortunate leader in highest rent costs across the state.
That is why we plan on working with Ann Arbor locals and landlords to create a service through the university to negotiate for fair housing rates. We plan on creating a public housing database, where students and locals can cooperate and negotiate for better rates with landlords with the University as an overseer.
Club Sports Funding Increases
One of the greatest issues facing our club sports is their dire lack of funding, particularly in areas such as storage and transportation. Many club sports lack an area to place their equipment in, often being forced to cram this equipment in a member’s dorm room or apartment.
Similarly, club sports are rarely granted reimbursement for transportation costs-which are often incurred as club sports frequently travel to compete with other teams across the country.
For this reason, our once burgeoning club sports scene is floundering. There is a simple solution for this: expand club sport funding and create a club funding floor amendment for the All-Campus Constitution.
In 2024, club funding was completely cut by a student government administration disenfranchised with the University’s politics concerning national events. This did far more harm than good, and clubs around the university suffered for semester after semester due to this unprecedented and unwarranted destruction of funding. We won’t let another event happen like that again.
Bereavement Leave
For nearly a decade, CSG has put off issues of employee bereavement leave-or allotted time for employees to grieve the loss of a loved one or similar tragic event. Currently, there is no university-wide bereavement leave policy for student employees; no way for students to spend time with family after experiencing such a tragic event.
That ends now. We are taking action to grant bereavement leave to all employees if needed.
Blue Light Expansion
In a non-binding ballot question issued last year, 48% of students that did not indicate that blue-light phones made them feel safer noted that the blue-light phones on campus were not effective due to their limited number and incredible distances between phones.
Blue-Light Phones are designed to be the first line of defense against sexual assaults and other attacks on campus by connecting you directly with a DPSS officer who will travel to your location to offer assistance.
However, a large portion of these phones are inoperable by the student body due to poor upkeep, missing instructions, or other such impediments, and these phones can be nearly impossible to find during an emergency, with spaces ranging from a few hundred feet to a few miles between phones.
That is why we are working to pass a comprehensive reform program of the blue-light phones, making sure there is always one nearby in case of emergency.
