Statement Issue Archive
April 17, 2013
THE STATEMENT
Students of the Year 2012 to 2013
- Illustration by Alicia Kovalcheck
BY HALEY GOLDBERG
In these eight pages, you can read the stories of the 11 nominees we felt embodied a “Student of the Year.” They’re students working to aid communities near and far, advocating for justice on campus, representing the University proudly on the field, on the court and overall making this campus a better place.
STUDENTS OF THE YEAR 2012-2013
Students of the Year: Jennifer Ryan
- Adam Glanzman/Daily
BY ALEXA DETTELBACH
Jenny Ryan is a lot of things. She’s an LSA senior, a point guard, she was the captain of the 2012-2013 women’s basketball squad and she’s a third team All-Big Ten selection.
But above all else, Jenny Ryan is a Wolverine.
The Saginaw native will go down as one of the best women’s basketball players in program history, both on and off the court.
STUDENTS OF THE YEAR 2012-2013
Students of the Year: Meaghan O'Connor
- Todd Needle/Daily
BY ALICIA ADAMCZYK
While many college students barely have time to heat up a bowl of ramen noodles, LSA senior Meaghan O’Connor has baked over 1,000 cupcakes this year. But the Grand Rapids, Mich. native isn’t trying to fill an insatiable sweet tooth — she’s hoping to inspire students around campus.
Students of the Year: Josh Buoy and Stephanie Hamel
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY JENNIFER CALFAS
For LSA seniors Josh Buoy and Stephanie Hamel, their film endeavors began in middle school, with a class project entitled “The Afrenchists,” which depicted French kings in the style of the television series “The Apprentice."
Students of the Year: Brian Garcia
- Marlene Lacasse/Daily
BY STEVE ZOSKI
A student’s first year at the University can be overwhelming, but as a passionate performer, student, artist and advocate for social justice, freshman Brian Garcia is already beginning to make a difference.
Students of the Year: Kevin Mersol-Barg
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY JENNIFER XU
Anxious, restless and disarmingly modest in manner and speech, Public Policy senior Kevin Mersol-Barg does not resemble your typical political figure. Whereas some great orators have relied on theatrics to get their point across, Mersol-Barg’s speech patterns are completely and utterly drama-free.
Students of the Year: Elisabeth Hindert
- Natasha Janardan/Daily
BY AARON GUGGENHEIM
Elisabeth Hindert, an LSA senior, is the head of marketing for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a group that works to connect student-athletes with the community, and the director of I Will, a student campaign to educate students and raise awareness about sexual assault at the University
Students of the Year: Trey Burke
- (Adam Glanzman/Daily)
BY DANIEL WASSERMAN
Since the moment Trey Burke committed to playing one more season last April, the ensuing 12 months seemed to come out of a fairytale.
Students of the Year: Sripriya Navalpakam
- Katherine Pekala/Daily
BY KAYLA UPADHYAYA
Sripriya Navalpakam isn’t just an entrepreneur: She’s an activist. A Business sophomore, Navalpakam knew she wanted to go to business school when she was in eighth grade.
Students of the Year: Denard Robinson
- Photo Illustration: Erin Kirkland/Daily
BY ZACH HELFAND
Denard Robinson was on the phone. He was on his way to a workout with the Washington Redskins. The LSA senior wanted to talk about a graduation bucket list.
Students of the Year: Rama Mwenesi
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY HARSHA NAHATA
Meet Rama Mwenesi, a senior studying industrial and operations engineering. Mwenesi is the co-founder of E-MAGINE, a multidisciplinary organization that works to provide Internet access to rural, marginalized populations across the world.
April 10, 2013
The Statement
The Science of It All: The nose knows
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JENNIFER XU
I once had an MCAT teacher who was unable to smell anything for an entire year. After undergoing a bad eating experience at an Indian restaurant, he woke up to discover that his sense of smell had vanished. He spent the good part of a year with an effectively plugged-up nose, eating all kinds of foods indiscriminately with little enjoyment.
The Statement
Conversations: Advice for the University newbie
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY THE STATEMENT STAFF
University Provost Phil Hanlon — who has been a University faculty member since 1986 — and Manish Parikh, Business senior and current Central Student Government president, met in Daily's newsroom to look back on their time at the University. Parikh graduates this spring, and Hanlon will leave to serve as president of Dartmouth College.
Visual Statement: Faces of Fleetwood
- Adam Glanzman/Daily
BY ADAM GLANZMAN
A photostory about the Fleetwood Diner
The Fans of Fairness
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY HALEY GOLDBERG
Ted Hillary has attended 24 men’s basketball NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four games and over 2,500 basketball games throughout his life — averaging about 95 games per season. But at the age of 64, Hillary had a new experience with basketball this year: filling out a March Madness bracket.
April 3, 2013
PHOTOS OF THE YEAR — The Statement
Photos of the Year, 2012 to 2013
BY THE MICHIGAN DAILY PHOTO STAFF
These are the photos of the year; moments pulled from life, our photo staff’s viewfinders and the pages of the Daily. They range from portraits of professors and fire chiefs to action shots highlighting the human emotion that comes from winning an election or a spot in the Elite Eight.
March 27, 2013
The Statement
The Literary Issue
- Illustration by Alicia Kovalcheck
BY PAIGE PEARCY
In all of my previous columns regarding books — all two of them — I’ve said in some way or another that I have no authority to really judge the literary pieces I write about, and, yet, here I am, at the helm of this issue, selecting the pieces that go inside.
THE LITERARY ISSUE — The Statement
5.
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY HANNAH WEINER
if I am yours and you are mine
THE LITERARY ISSUE — The Statement
IT
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY PETER WAGNER
OVERHEARD PHONE CONVERSATION
OCT-1972, BUS STOP, BERKELEY, CA
THE LITERARY ISSUE — The Statement
Desire Under the Mosquito Netting
BY GIANCARLO BUONOMO
“Hunger is good discipline and you learn from it.”
Ernest Hemingway
THE LITERARY ISSUE — The Statement
Something
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY ALANA WEISS NYDORF
Your nails are green. Your body is pink. The tiles are white, and you are alone. The water is hot and you are sitting on the floor of the shower trying to pee.
THE LITERARY ISSUE — The Statement
Preparation for Painting Shutters: A Checklist
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY LUC LAFRENIERE
1. When you pry the shutters from the office wall
be sure to let the dayspring’s foremost teeth
nip loose the clutched fibers of your thawing skin.
THE LITERARY ISSUE — The Statement
The F Train Downtown
BY OLIVIA LLOYD
she wasn’t the most beautiful woman,
(those fairy eyelashes…)
THE LITERARY ISSUE — The Statement
Ballet Class, 2001
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY CARLINA DUAN
Sasha has pink shoes. the ones
With the rubbery tops
THE LITERARY ISSUE — The Statement
Likewise
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY LOGAN COREY
these are my people
who mistreat cashmere sweaters
THE LITERARY ISSUE — The Statement
Fucking Locally
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY ALLISON EPSTEIN
She was one of those Greenpeace tree huggers; that much was obvious. Combs were made of plastic, made of oil, made of crushed-up dinosaur parts: they weren’t vegan, she wouldn’t use them, she had dreadlocks.
March 20, 2013
The Statement
Ann Arbor Affairs: Good news
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY ISABELLA MOLITERNO
Like romantic relationships, maybe holding onto one’s faith is difficult because everyone on the outside feels like they have the right to judge you for who you love.
The Statement
Personal statement: The solitude games
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JEN CALFAS
That’s when the overwhelming, indubitable grasp of loneliness hit me. Four days. Three nights. No communication. I felt like I was headed for an insane asylum.
The Statement
The Research Difference: How the University varies the value of faculty members
- Illustration by Alicia Kovalcheck
BY AMRUTHA SIVAKUMAR
The union representing lecturers has been bargaining for increased wages for its members, hoping to gain not only recognition but also pay compensation equal to research faculty members. The obstacle, however, is deciphering why exactly these lecturers are valued less than their research-focused counterparts.
The Statement
The Scientific Club: By invitation only
- Paul Sherman/Daily
BY PAIGE PEARCY
When I was handed the list, it had a tinge of holiness to it — University holiness, if that exists. The names ranged from past and present University presidents to various professors with named professorships or deanships or both — the top scholars on campus.
Day at Dominick's
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY TERRA MOLENGRAFF
I have always been fascinated by how a space evolves depending on the people who inhabit it. The moment I stepped into Dominick’s, I knew that it was that kind of place.
March 13, 2013
The Statement
The Science of It All: A clean slate
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JENNIFER XU
In all likelihood, you’re acquainted with someone who’s a germaphobe. They shudder visibly when you offer them a swig of your soda, pump and dump out the contents of the Purell dispenser in the corner and give death stares at the barista wiping the countertop with a part-sodden rag.
The Statement
Personal Statement: Becoming a 'Good Girl'
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY CARLINA DUAN
But the truth was I had no trouble deciphering Mrs. Liu’s criticism. In fact, I understood her disapproval quite clearly. Each knuckle-whack carried a slap of condemnation: Bad Girl. I disliked piano lessons, but it wasn’t because Mrs. Liu wasn’t white. It was because she was, like my mother, Chinese, and her furrowed eyebrows meant I was failing to be a Good Chinese Daughter.
The Statement
Study Strong: How students on campus misuse stimulants
BY IAN DILLINGHAM
Within the increasingly competitive college environment, where students are being pushed to achieve socially, academically and professionally, academic “performance enhancers” are being widely abused. Across the nation, students turn to these stimulants in an attempt to gain a mental edge.
Visual Statement: Loved Ones Through a Line and a Lens
- Ruby Wallau/Daily
BY MICHIGAN DAILY PHOTO STAFF
The Michigan Daily photo staff illustrates their loved ones in a photo and a sentence.
February 27, 2013
The Statement
Personal Statement: Rome interrupted
BY CARLY FROMM
ROME — I walked up to a nearby newswoman and asked her, in very broken Italian, what happened. She didn’t speak English, but she probably said something along the lines of, “The Pope resigned. The Pope resigned for the first time in almost six centuries.”
The Statement
Personal Statement: Observations of a North African kingdom
BY JACOB AXELRAD
RABAT, Morocco — On January 26, I boarded a plane at Los Angeles Airport and flew to Rabat, Morocco, the country’s capital. Since then, I’ve been living and studying in a country that, until a few months ago, I knew little aside from the fact that its largest city, Casablanca, is the namesake of a classic Hollywood movie.
The Statement
Personal Statement: Almost always right
BY HANNAH POINDEXTER
SEVILLE, Spain — I’m usually, almost always right. The phrase, now a long-forgotten joke with friends, serves as my secret, overconfident mantra.
The Statement
Personal Statement: A Venetian adventure
- Erin Kirkland/Daily
BY ERIN KIRKLAND
VENICE, Italy — Venetian Carnevale is supposed to be the Italian equivalent of Mardi Gras. But what happens when a torrential downpour washes away the rich colors, golden-glittering festival masks and confetti? Let me tell you.
The Statement
Random Student Interview: Clueless abroad
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JENNIFER GUSTAFSON
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where Elle Woods is a globetrotting litigator and you’re still sifting through your mom’s chain e-mails.
The Statement
'U' study abroad
- Illustration by Alicia Kovalcheck
BY ALICIA ADAMCZYK
When it comes to academic programs, few other public institutions match the quality of the University’s. But there’s one component of the University’s repertoire that may not stand up to the gold — well, maize and blue — standard, at least according to many students: the study abroad programs.
The Statement
Visual Statement: Florence Flea Market
- Erin Kirkland/Daily
BY ERIN KIRKLAND
A flash of pink peers out from one street over and catches my eye as I leave my apartment. Granted, I had only been in Firenze for 4 days and everything was a possibility for exploration.
February 20, 2013
The Statement
Paige's Pages: Revisions, revisions
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY PAIGE PEARCY
I chose to read Smith’s first novel for two reasons: One, because I admire the essays and literary journalism that I’ve already read by her and two, because I was told that she always revises her work, even during public readings. And considering I re-wrote this column five times and have been editing it for two weeks, that sounded all too familiar.
The Statement
Visual Statement: Prayer on Packard
- Ruby Wallau/Daily
BY RUBY WALLAU
Sunday morning I found myself in a room filled with the sounds of gentle breathing and a crackling fireplace. Every cushion was filled with meditators participating in the weekly public service at the Zen Buddhist Temple.
The Statement
Personal Statement: An ode to LBJ
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JOSEPHINE ADAMS
LBJ, you ask? Like the president? Well, perhaps. The Honda Civic was smaller than the van, so he immediately became “Lil Whip Jank,” which became “LWJ,” which became “Lil William James,” which became “Lil Billy James,” which became “LBJ.”
The Statement
HathiTrust: An author never forgets
- Illustration by Alicia Kovalcheck
BY RACHEL PREMACK
The HathiTrust Digital Library seeks to digitize the record of human knowledge, but both HathiTrust and Google Books have raised intricate legal questions. These organizations do not ask the permission of authors or publishers before digitizing their books, nor do they compensate either party.
February 13, 2013
The Statement
Personal statement: Confessions of an NPR addict
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JESSE KLEIN
If you asked my roommates what’s the hardest part about living with me, they would probably say it’s the fact that I listen to talk radio while I sleep. Apparently when the headphones fall out of my ears, it’s super annoying to hear Carl Kasell’s voice at two in the morning. I wouldn’t know; I love him.
The Statement
Ann Arbor Affairs: Courting a campus
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY BETHANY BIRON
On a bench in the Law Quad, I felt the unexpected warmth of adoration washing over me. This wasn’t the romantic type of love — with its intertwined hands, sweet nothings and coquettish grins — but the deep affection for a place, a landscape.
The Statement
Beyond the classroom, into the community
- Illustration by Kristen Cleghorn
BY MELANIE KRUVELIS
In Project Outreach, students split in-class hours with fieldwork around the Ann Arbor area. From spending time in juvenile detention centers to working with ESL preschoolers, students break out of the lecture hall and dive right into the community, giving them a whole new classroom experience.
The Statement
Conversations: What's wrong with students today?
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY THE STATEMENT STAFF
LSA Prof. Bruce Conforth and Engineering Prof. Elliot Soloway met to discuss this question. This is the first in a series of bi-weekly features bringing together two, unique individuals — often occupying different campus spheres — to engage in dialogue.
Off the record
- Photo by Teresa Mathew
BY SAM GRINGLAS
Every gate has its keepers — those with the clout to open and to unlock, but also the power to contain and restrict. On campus, members of Greek Life, athletic departments and administrators, as well as their spokesmen, all have a role to fulfill: They seek to uphold a brand’s name, keep strategies competitive and ensure initiatives are carefully planned. But does secrecy — or the efforts to report it — ever go too far?
February 6, 2013
The Statement
The Science of It All: More than caffeine
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JENNIFER XU
While there’s no definitive answer as to why coffee shops have become such hubs of productivity, a couple hypotheses have been raised.
THE DETROIT ISSUE — The Statement
CriticCar Detroit: Reviews on the road
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY STEVE ZOSKI
It's a cold and windy Saturday night in Detroit, as a car containing three University alumni on an $80,000 mission stops at a red light on Woodward Avenue.
The Detroit Issue — The Statement
The Heidelberg Project: An oasis of art
BY ALICIA ADAMCZYK
The Heidelberg Project is an art initiative on the east side of the city started by Detroit artist and resident Tyree Guyton. In 1986, Guyton reclaimed his childhood neighborhood, transforming vacant lots into what is now considered world-renowned, outdoor art installations.
Visual Statement: The Detroit Issue
BY DAILY STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS
Detroit through the eyes of Daily photographers.
January 30, 2013
The Statement
Controlling your reality
- Illustration by Alicia Kovalcheck
BY PAIGE PFLEGER
The effects of reality shows have a tendency to burrow much deeper than one drunken sleepover. They can alter perception of what is right and wrong and can perpetuate drinking, drugs and sex throughout generations.
The Statement
Portrait: You're going to Hollywood
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY HALEY GOLDBERG
This fall, Music, Theatre & Dance freshman Jayne Jaeger made it to Hollywood on American Idol. What's it like to be a contestant on America's biggest TV talent show? Jaeger brings us back into the audition room as she recounts her experience.
The Statement
Random Student Interview: World's end
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JENNIFER GUSTAFSON
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where the human race has been dissolved and it’s all your fault.
The Statement
Behind the scenes with Filmic
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY AUSTEN HUFFORD
Founded in January 2011, Filmic has been responsible for some of the most memorable marketing materials for University students, including “The Michigan Transportation Musical” and Desmond Howard’s “Stay in the Blue” video campaign, which aired in the Big House on game days throughout the football season.
The Statement
Personal statement: Permanent ripples
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KATIE BURKE
Over a year later, I realize I’ll never know what Shorts was thinking or feeling that night before his graduation; there will never be an explanation, it will never be all right, but I know his memory will never fade.
January 23, 2013
The Statement
Visual Statement: Behind the Fines
- Marissa McClain/Daily
BY MARISSA MCCLAIN
Parking has always been an issue for me. Since I became a licensed driver five short years ago, I've managed to accumulate thousands of dollars in parking fines.
The Statement
Paige's Pages: The books that bind
BY PAIGE PEARCY
You don’t have to believe that just because my name is the same word as those that fill my favorite objects that I have any authority to deem a book worthy or not worthy. But, I am an English major, if that credits me at all.
The Statement
Personal statement: We were just present
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY AARON GUGGENHEIM
I stood on one foot in my boxers in a frigid river, attempting to wash away the thick layer of dirt that had turned me an off-shade of brown. And as I stood there — soaked in that heart-rending beauty that comes from encountering profound silence in the wilderness — I realized something both profound and troubling: We had absolutely no idea what we were doing.
The Statement
Avalon Housing: A place to call home
BY EVERETT COOK
There’s a regular-looking house on a regular corner of a regular Ann Arbor neighborhood that has been a symbol of growth for residents all over the city for the past 20 years. It’s nondescript — three stories, tan, flanked by a long porch — but the beauty of the house lies in this subtleness, because the lives of the tenants inside have been anything but subtle.
The Statement
Prof. Ralph Williams: A modern day Prospero
- Nick Williams/Daily
BY PETER SHAHIN
Nearly four years after his “final” lecture, Ralph Williams is still enraged.
January 16, 2013
The Statement
Personal Statement: Nine weeks in Kuwait
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY DANA DEL VECCHIO
The call to prayer from surrounding mosques and the sight of burqas worn in 120-degree weather was quite a culture shock to say the least. I spent nine weeks in Kuwait City as an outsider last summer and expected to blog daily about my exposure to the Muslim world. What I did not expect was to learn a life lesson in friendship.
The Statement
Ann Arbor Affairs: Old Testament love
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY TERESA MATHEW
I was 14 when I fell for my first Jewish boy. Granted, he was over twice my age and I’d never actually met him, but what liberal, politically aware teenager hasn’t had a crush on Jon Stewart? And it wasn’t just a passing fancy — oh no, it was a trend. For years I would find myself attracted to actors who just so happened to be Jewish.
The Statement
The social university
BY JEN CALFAS
LSA sophomore Jeremy Jones updates his Twitter daily. Within his 22,763 tweets, he comments on everything from his new economics class to the first birthday of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s baby, Blue Ivy.
The Statement
A way from addiction
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY PAIGE PEARCY
St. Patrick’s Day: a marathon of skipping classes, being drunk before 10 a.m. and taking long naps. But maybe it’s not. For then-LSA senior Paige, Saturday, March 17, 2012 was hard.
January 9, 2013
Visual Statement: Three Weddings and a Baptism
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY TERESA MATHEW
India may seem like an exotic break destination for some, but for me it has never signified an actual vacation. Trips to India are a whirlwind of visits to every branch of the family tree, trying not to get my myriad relatives confused, and attending every function under the sun.
The Science of It All: Resolution Reality
BY JENNIFER XU
If you’re like me, you never keep up your New Year’s resolution. My willpower often only lasts until the middle of the month – around the time my credit card statement rolls in and a dismal slush covers the sidewalks. That’s because many resolutions – whether it’s losing weight or weaning ourselves off Facebook – try to dislodge rock-solid habits.
The news outlook for 2013
BY TAYLOR WIZNER
It’s a new year and a fresh season for news. What’s ahead for the campus and Ann Arbor community? Here’s what headlines you should look out for in 2013.
It takes green to go blue
BY MATT SLOVIN
Though the team’s Rose Bowl hopes dissipated in the season’s final weeks, Michigan, with its notoriously willing-to-travel students and alumni, continues to be a hot commodity for event organizers.
Letter from the Editor: Welcome to the new Tangent
BY HALEY GOLDBERG
Welcome to your new opening section of the magazine: “The Tangent.” Inspired by the name of The Statement blog, we hope it can lead you astray.
Personal Statement: Trials of a lesser-known Gaga
BY JULIA SMITH-EPPSTEINER
Remember you are a skeleton.
Let your bones float inside your flesh, or in a pool of water. Pull your bones. Soften your flesh so you can pull more. When you think you can’t pull anymore, soften and pull more. Allow curves to enter and move in your body; imagine little circles in between your bones and your flesh. Let the curves travel. Shatter the bones in your feet.
December 5, 2012
The Statement
The Sex Issue
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY JENNIFER XU AND DYLAN CINTI
The Internet can be a terrifying place. But it is also be a place where meaningful connections begin. And who's to say that something that starts through Craigslist can’t lead to something special? If the author of “Casual Encounters” is reading this, there’s a 6’2” stud who’s interested in you. He’s a successful guy with bedroom eyes, and he’s looking to “have some fun.” Message him.
Statement preview
Casual encounters: Tapping into a secret sex space
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY A UNIVERSITY SENIOR
I do have sex with men. Usually it's late at night, and usually it's with men I’ve met on the Internet. I also have sex with women, though that’s a bit more complicated than getting online, sending a few e-mails, and dropping my pants in a stranger's bed.
A not-so-sexy threesome
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY ANNA SADOVSKAYA
I lay there, on the floor of Sara’s dorm room, while the two wanton lovers consummated their relationship. Twice.
Random Student Interview: Let's talk about sex
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
What’s your most embarrassing sex story?
Most embarrassing sex story ... I guess I’d just have to say my girlfriend’s mom walking in on me and her. It was pretty terrible.
Portraits: 'Honey, they've got a full line'
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY ZACH BERGSON
S3 Safe Sex Store, we don’t care who you or how you identify. We want to make sure that whenever or however you identify, you’re proceeding safely. That’s our number one concern.
Envying the anglerfish
- Illustration by Nolan Loh
BY EMILY PITTINOS
When I was 16, I had a panic attack in my high school’s cafeteria because I got the urge to push a beautiful ballerina against the menu-plastered bulletin board, grope her ass and feel her pulse under my tongue.
November 28, 2012
Personal Statement: Maintaining stability
- Alden Reiss/Daily
BY ALDEN REISS
When I was 10, my dad would chauffeur me to school once a week. I would sit on his lap as we drove the 10 city blocks to my middle school. Unlike most people who were driven to school, my journey took place on the sidewalk instead of the street — in my dad’s motorized wheelchair, since he was unable to walk at the time.
In vivo: How do students in biomedical research adjust to animal experimentation?
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JACOB AXELRAD
When many labs require live animal subjects, which can range from mice to dogs to rabbits, what is the adjustment process like for a student unaccustomed to working with animals, some of whom are killed by the end of an experiment?
Random Student Interview: This interview isn't really 'random'
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where we didn’t have time to draw you any pictures this week and we’re too cold to care if you care.
Let’s talk about Christmas. Spice it up a bit. Oh wait, should I have said “the holidays” or whatever? How do you feel about people saying “Happy Holidays?”
As opposed to “Merry Christmas?”
Yeah.
I mean, I don’t really care. Like, I’m Jewish and I don’t care.
Visual Statement: The conductor of school spirit
- Alden Reiss/Daily
BY ALDEN REISS
When I set out to document the life of Jeffrey McMahon, the drum major of the Michigan Marching Band, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew I would get a subject full of smiles, confidence and maize and blue.
November 21, 2012
The Statement
Personal Statement: Why I love ads
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY LUCY PERKINS
Advertisers love me. Slogans and jingles by celebrities meant to sell me something usually succeed. They convince me that there’s a 100-percent chance my life will get better if I buy whatever they’re trying to sell.
The Statement
The restless: Students living the dream without sleep
- Photo Illustration by Terra Molengraff
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
By the time I started counting how many probes were attached to my head and body, I was too tired to complete the task. I stopped at 28 and tried to settle into a comfortable position in the railed, hospital twin bed. Dawn, my ironically named night shift nurse at the KMS Sleep Center near Briarwood Mall, spoke to me over the intercom.
Visual Statement: The saga of stagecraft
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY TERESA MATHEW
“Hairspray” doesn’t usually make you think of blood, sweat and tears. Onstage, the cast and crew pull off, seemingly effortlessly, a production where every song is on pitch and every step is in place.
Random Student Interview: Hitchhiking to Connecticut
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
So what’s the interview about?
Let’s talk about Thanksgiving, because that’s like, topical.
Sure.
Ugh, never mind. That’s boring.
November 14, 2012
The Statement
The drunk diet: The science behind why you crave NYPD after a night of partying
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY LUCY PERKINS
Basically, if you’re drunk, there’s little to no chance that your brain will tell you to control yourself when it comes to the greasy goodness of late night South University food.
The Statement
The snacker generation
- Photo Illustration by Terra Molengraff
BY LUCY PERKINS
The ideal vision is that after we graduate, we will instantaneously become real people, get our acts together and be responsible with our finances. We will cook more, eat out less and open retirement accounts. That’s not what happens. For the first few years post graduation, people tend to live lifestyles as if we had the same financial aid and parental support as we did in college.
Random Student Interview: Kid Cudi understands me
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Don’t you feel like you could just be buddies with anyone?
No.
Portraits: Going for broke without going broke
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY HALEY GOLDBERG
Do you think being 21 has increased your spending?
Originally, yes. The first six months of being 21, definitely. I could live just off a loaf of bread for groceries so I could have the extra money going towards going out and now it’s like, it’s not worth it.
November 7, 2012
The Statement
The Lost Generation, Part II
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY MELANIE KRUVELIS
“Think I need this thing?”
The moderator talks into the microphone — testing, one, two, yep, much better. The audience wanders from the coffee machines back to their seats. It’s the first full day of the University's Port Huron Statement conference, this two-part workshop, one-part reunion honoring the 50th anniversary of the New Left manifesto.
Portraits: Flying the red flag in blue waters
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY ZACH BERGSON
You wake up Wednesday morning and President Obama won. What does that mean for the Republican party, specifically, College Republicans?
I think it would be a time for Republicans in Congress and everyone to re-evaluate what they’ve done over the past four years, and realize that its time to work together to actually solve the problem, rather than punting the football down the road.
Random Student Interview: What I say is cool is then cool
BY BRANDON SHAW
What’s your name and what are you doing?
Ryan, and I was studying before you started prancing around, singing, “Who wants to interview for The D?” at the top of your lungs.
Yeah, sorry not sorry about that. Tell me – do you like fall?
Driving the vote: Election Day at a soup kitchen
BY CASSIE BALFOUR
DETROIT — A table by the front door is decked out in red, white and blue. Ballot literature covers its surface. Most in the room wear a sticker on their jacket that reads, “I voted.” But this is not a polling place. It's the Detroit Action Commonwealth Capuchin Meldrum soup kitchen.
October 31, 2012
Statement Preview
Personal Statement: Fifty years later, still making a statement
- (File Photo/Daily)
BY TOM HAYDEN
Few Ann Arbor residents know that The Statement, the Daily’s weekly news magazine, is named in memory of the Port Huron Statement, drafted by myself as the founding document of Students for a Democratic Society 50 years ago.
Portraits: Student perspectives on voting
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY MICHAEL SPAETH
“I don’t want to be that person who voted for whoever, like, the president is who, like, brought our country down, so I don’t want to have any part of it. So I’ll just not vote at all.” –LSA freshman Rebecca Lyttle
Random Student Interview: Who would win in a fight, Obama or Romney?
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
But, let’s get down to the real issues. Romney or Obama. Who would you sleep with?
Kelly 1: Obama.
And why?
Kelly 1: If he can get Michelle, he can get me.
Personal Statement: The right to bear arms
BY DAVID TAO
He found himself making an extreme kind of Internet impulse purchase: a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle, the civilian version of what most of our troops carry in Afghanistan. He told me about his purchase over GChat one day and asked if I wanted to learn how to shoot it with him.
You bet I did.
Personal Statement: I've never met Mitt Romney
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY ANDREW WEINER
I’ve never met Mitt Romney. He might have noticed me in Iowa when he took the stage in the middle of a manufacturing plant during the hellish slap-fest that Republicans called “primary season.” The GOP nominee might have seen me standing there, silently judging the conservatives I was packed in with.
Politics at the diner
- Illustration by Nolan Loh
BY ZACH BERGSON
Without administering a Gallup poll, I thought the clearest barometer of the Ann Arbor psyche could be found at Fleetwood Diner. Open 24/7, Fleetwood acts as a microcosm of this city, where students, faculty and townies gather to trade stories and discuss issues.
October 24, 2012
The Statement
The Housing Issue
- Illustration by Nolan Loh
BY JENNIFER XU AND DYLAN CINTI
If your parents have enough disposable income to put you up in a palace like Zaragon or Landmark, then this issue of The Statement probably isn’t for you. But for the rest of us — the ones without the high-rises and penthouse apartments — we must learn to discerningly navigate the world of off-campus real estate.
The legacy of Arbor Vitae lives on
BY MELANIE KRUVELIS
Well, just the baby doll sitting behind him in a feather boa and mustache. And that drawing that reads “Hella Taco.” Then there’s that picture: the one with the straight-faced bearded man sitting in a Chuck E. Cheese’s photo booth. But I guess that’s just the sort of stuff you learn to forget when you move into a Midwestern art collective.
Move-in day, take two
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY LEAH SHEPHERD
When I found out in August that I would be living in Bursley Residence Hall, I called my roommate Allie and listened to her cry on the phone. Innumerable stuffy bus rides, congested lines and waking up absurdly early for class confirmed my worst fears.
Students living solo: Weird or just different?
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JESSE KLEIN
According to the U.S. Census, it's estimated that one in four households has a single occupant. Though this trend hasn’t necessarily translated into the hustle and bustle of University off-campus living, there are several students who’ve turned to domestic solitude as a way of life.
A renter's guide: What to do before you sign the lease
BY THE STATEMENT STAFF
Most leases in Ann Arbor have a 12-month commitment, and if you don’t plan on staying on campus all year, bear in mind that you’ll be taking a loss when you sublet during spring and summer semesters.
Random Student Interview: I'm a house, you're an apartment
BY BRANDON SHAW
Do you smoke cannabis in these apartments?
No.
Why not?
Why? Because uh, I don’t know. I have asthma so, you know?
Ann Arbor, off the grid
BY THE STATEMENT STAFF
Want to make the transition from dorm to independent living, but not super enthused about living in an apartment or house? Here are some alternative housing options to consider.
Visual Statement: A ladylike tradition
- Marlene Lacasse/Daily
BY MARLENE LACASSE
By bringing its residents together in a beautiful and historical place, Friday afternoon tea is quite a poetic way to embody the ideals that make Martha Cook unique.
The Michigan Daily's Ann Arbor Housing Guide
- Graphic by Nolan Loh
BY THE STATEMENT STAFF
Use this map and accompanying infographic to figure out which neighborhood best fits your budget and needs.
October 17, 2012
The Statement
Hackers for hire: High-tech innovation, free iPads and asymmetric information
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY ANDREW WEINER
Jack Dorsey speaks with the kind of calmness you’d expect from the creator of two of the most innovative companies in the country.
Random Student Interview: Maybe not literally a minute
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Welcome to the Random Student Interview. What’s up with the fountain by the Union?
Hey! Got a minute?
Like literally a minute? Because I’m late for my friend’s birthday party.
OK. More like two or three. I’m sorry I lied. Will you forgive me?
OK. Let’s hurry it up though.
Portraits: A Detroit political junkie with a global eye
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY ADRIENNE ROBERTS
Name : Eli Day
Age : 20
Hometown : Detroit, Michigan
School and year : Public Policy Senior
What was it like to grow up in Detroit?
Personal Statement: I used to dance
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JACOB AXELRAD
We are four friends, each no older than 12. We are on the street; tap shoes draped around our necks, black dance bags at our sides. We wear baggy clothes and scarf down the remnants from a bag of Cheetos. Streaks of orange dust coat our hands. Our feet jitter in anticipation as we wait outside the studio where we take classes every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
***
Question and Answer with FetchNote CEO Alex Schiff
BY ANDREW WEINER
"I’m taking a year off. I will finish school eventually. It’s personally important to me that I do so. But I’m going to let the business dictate that. Right now the business needs me to focus on it full time."
October 10, 2012
The Statement
Personal Statement: Being black in Ann Arbor
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY ERIKA ROSS
I felt particularly combative that night. I felt the need to defend myself. She assumed I had the same background as other students she had met on the basis of my skin color. The confrontation continued. “Well, I’m sure you have financial aid,” she said. “It’s so unfair that you get financial aid just because you’re black.”
The Statement
Demonstration unlikely: Teaching sex at the University
- Photo Illustration by Nolan Loh
BY HALEY GOLDBERG
What do an expert on South American freshwater fishes, a sex therapist and a classroom of 230 undergraduate students shouting “penis” and “vagina” have in common? Last winter, they were all part of the Biology 116 course Biology of Sex, one of many courses at the University that discusses sex, sexuality and the academics behind gettin’ it on.
The Statement
Personal Statement: I am pro-life, but I am open to dialogue
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY CARMEN ALLEN
I am no stranger to activism. As last year’s president of Students for Life, I have often branded myself as the resident pro-lifer in campus discussions and activities.
Random Student Interview: Why didn't you call me back?
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Hey! How’ve you been?
(Woman keeps walking)
Hey! Haven’t seen you in a while!
Umm …
Visual Statement: A haven for Ann Arbor's skateboarding scene
- Nicholas Williams/Daily
BY NICHOLAS WILLIAMS
Being a skateboarder is tough. Learning tricks and having balance does not come easily to many people. But it's particularly difficult to be a skater in Ann Arbor.
October 3, 2012
Random Student Interview: Stretching, not crushing
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where our hopes and dreams haven’t been crushed by an overwhelming sense of self-doubt … yet.
Have I broken your spirit yet?
Maybe.
Personal Statement: You will never put a ring on it, so don't try
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAYLA UPADHYAYA
I don’t want to get married. I’ve been telling people this since I was about 12, though the thought was in the back of my mind before then.Whenever I tell people I don’t want to get married, I’m met with one of two responses: They either react as if I’ve just informed them that I have a nuclear bomb in my purse or they laugh and say I’ll change my mind.
Portraits: What do flying, marriage and Greek life have in common?
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY ZACH BERGSON AND TERRA MOLENGRAFF
You have been involved with three very distinct groups on campus. What was it like to interacting with such different organizations?
You have to be open to new people and new ideas and new ways of thinking. You have to take each person for their personality and be open to who they are instead of what they wear or who they hang out with.
Getting busy: Fulfillment without commitment at the University
- Photo Illustration by Terra Molengraff
BY BETHANY BIRON
An arduous week of academia paves way to the sweet freedom of Friday night, and the streets swell with a cavalcade of stilettos propping up scantily clad girls with berry-colored lips and black-rimmed eyes. With bags slung haphazardly across their shoulders, they sip on gin and tonics between shots of Absolut before stumbling to the dance floor where their lips magnetically meet with a stranger’s, heads ultimately hitting the pillow in that same stranger’s bed.
September 26, 2012
Personal Statement: I am a first-generation college student
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY TERRA MOLENGRAFF
I was accepted to the University of Michigan with the precondition that I attend classes from June 20 to August 17 through the University’s Summer Bridge Program. Bypassing this program wasn’t an option, its bolded prerequisite announcing itself on my acceptance letter: you must attend this program for acceptance into the Fall 2010 semester. I must?
Personal Statement: I mugged my grandma's mugger
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY ERIN KIRKLAND
Let me set the scene for you: June 12, 2001. Slightly after 10 a.m. Central European Time. Rome, Italy.
Personal Statement: I was a child piano prodigy
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY JENNIFER XU
In elementary and middle school, I was a child piano prodigy. You know those little kids on YouTube who play concertos with orchestras, their fingers sliding deftly over the ivories even though their feet can barely reach the pedals? That was me.
The Personal Statement Issue
- Photo Illustration by Teresa Mathew
BY THE STATEMENT STAFF
You’re a first-generation college student. The summer before your freshman year the University tells you they want you there early. Six weeks early. You’ve got some catching up to do. Under a blaring June sun you walk the campus in a daze, questioning the decision you’ve made and the friends you’ve left behind at home.
Visual Statement: A tropical Thanksgiving
BY TERESA MATHEW
It's rare that I find myself with an opportunity to prove that I am, in fact, Indian.
Random Student Interview: Is that racist?
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, were we’re rollin’ dirty and breakin’ the law. Oh, and we swear we’re not racist.
Do you consider yourself a hipster?
No.
Personal Statement: The first time I saw Denard Robinson
BY ISABELLA ACHENBACH
Then it hit me. It hit me so hard my hands started to shake and my mouth turned into a huge grin despite my efforts to subdue it, which probably made me look like an insane wolf, mid-snarl.
It was Him. Denard. Shoelace.
Personal Statement: My third grade teacher almost killed me, but ended up saving my life
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY ZACH BERGSON
My wrinkly, turkey-necked third grade teacher was the most terrifying teacher I've ever had. One day, in class, she knocked my desk over and nearly cracked my head open. I've never been the same.
September 19, 2012
the statement
What makes a holy man?
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY JACOB AXELRAD
Mohammed Tayssir Safi, the University's Muslim chaplain, is what one might call learned. He narrates with confidence and a smile that all but envelops his face. He is, as friends and family will tell me in the months to come, “spiritual.” They will repeat the word over and over again, until it hangs thick in the air.
Ann Arbor: A retirement mecca
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY RAYZA GOLDSMITH
While they don't declare their presence as forcefully, an older demographic constitutes a large chunk of the city. Retirees who choose to settle in Ann Arbor are a different breed from the warm-weather-seeking, golf-playing folks we usually associate with senior populations.
Portraits: Tapping into a foreign culture
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY ZACH BERGSON
How did you, as a native Caucasian Michigander, get so involved in Korean culture?
When I was in middle school, my two best friends were Korean twin sisters and they used to talk to each other in Korean occasionally or pass notes in class in Korean and I became curious.
Random Student Interview: Let's play a guessing game
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Hey! Would you like to be in the Random Student Inter —
I would, but I don’t think I can be in it twice.
September 12, 2012
Random Student Interview: Do you find me crazy?
- Illustration by Nolan Loh
BY BRANDON SHAW
Tell me about yourself.
I’m a freshman at the University of Michigan and I’m –
That’s good. Can you name five Bruce Springsteen songs?
Visual Statement: Not just a summer camp for scientists
- Erin Kirkland/Daily
BY ERIN KIRKLAND
The University of Michigan’s Biological Station has rustic cabins and may be located in Northern Michigan, but the criteria for a stereotypical summer camp ends there.
Mary Sue Coleman, the advocate
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY JOSEPH LICHTERMAN
For Mary Sue Coleman, face time matters. It's her bread and butter. It doesn't matter if she’s talking to students or a prospective million-dollar donor. Somehow she manages to charm everyone. Over the past decade, she’s used that charm to become the University’s best advocate, promoting the University and what it stands for.
Fearing the fear of missing out
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KATIE STEEN
During class on their laptops, waiting at the bus stop on their i-whatevers, at their office computers while pretending to look busy, people can’t seem to keep their eyes off their newsfeeds. It’s disruptive and usually irrelevant, but it’s a widespread go-to distraction. But there are those rare individuals who shun the use of the social media website.
September 5, 2012
Letter from the editors
BY JENNIFER XU AND DYLAN CINTI
Our mission is simple: find good stories and tell them well. It’s not an especially original mission. Indeed, Mark Twain wrote that it was his love of “a good story well told” that led him to write in the first place.
Random Student Interview: Journey to Hypothetical Land
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where we travel to a mythical place called Hypothetical Land.
Do you know about Isaac?
No.
Do you think Isaac is just some guy I’m talking about?
Heart of glass: The fragile science of in vitro fertilization
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY JENNIFER XU
We live in an age of mechanical production. Technological gadgets have insinuated themselves into our personal, professional and internal lives. So it should come as no surprise that we also live in an age of mechanical reproduction. That's right, the most intimate biological process is now online and open for business.
Personal Statement: I struggle with mental illness
- Illustration by Megan Mulholland
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Last February, I admitted myself to the Psychiatric Emergency Service at the University Hospital. Insomnia, nightmares and sleep paralysis had plagued me for more than a year. The worst nightmares started with me waking up in my bed, everything lifelike, and ended with somebody harming me.
April 11, 2012
The Statement
Order and chaos: Exploring the controversy surrounding a not-so-secret society
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
You've been tapped to join Order of Angell.
Random Student Interview: Show me your O-face
- Illustration by Jeff Zuschlag
BY LAURA ARGINTAR
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where it’s not our first time at the rodeo.
Howdy, partner!
I wasn’t aware we were at a rodeo.
College confidential
BY LAURA ARGINTAR
Ever fantasize about having sex on the block ‘M’? Wonder what really goes on in the Michigan dining hall or in the back rooms of the bar? Individuals speak out about scandals you’ve always felt were happening on campus but never knew who they happened to.
April 4, 2012
The Statement
The Year in Photos
- Photo Illustration by Terra Molengraff and Todd Needle
BY DAILY PHOTO STAFF
The Michigan Daily photographers have selected their favorite photographs from the past academic year, highlighting some of the most important events and people that impacted the University.
Letter from the editor
BY TERRA MOLENGRAFF
Once upon a time, the Greeks coined the word that originates our present understanding of photography. That word means “drawing with light.” This issue of The Statement is about such drawings. It's about the best photos in The Michigan Daily this year. The people who took the photos are artists whose brush strokes are lens snaps and paints are light.
March 28, 2012
The Statement
Inspiration Illuminated: TEDxUofM strives to promote interactivity among audience members
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY MICHELLE DEWITT
You may have seen TEDxUofM chalked on the sidewalk before you picked up this magazine. Or you could have seen a Facebook friend post about going to the event tomorrow. But what’s the big deal about this conference with funky capitalization?
Random Student Interview: Are you having a super Tuesday?
- Illustration by Jeff Zuschlag
BY LAURA ARGINTAR
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where people can kind of be downers.
Anything bothering you today?
My lecture hall smells like pickles. It was really hot at the bar last night and I was trying to get down on it. And you’re currently in the way of me going to the bathroom.
How 15 minutes became 12 hours: Eavesdropping on the aftermath of the CSG elections
- Alden Reiss/Daily
BY GIACOMO BOLOGNA AND ANDREW SCHULMAN AND AUSTEN HUFFORD
Last Wednesday, midnight: The online polls for Central Student Government president, vice president, assembly representatives and Department of Public Safety Oversight Committee are activated. There are six parties running for CSG president.
March 21, 2012
Nick Lemmer: The Sweet Spot
- Austen Hufford/Daily
BY AARON GUGGENHEIM
Nick Lemmer sits at a small metal table inside Iorio’s Gelateria working on his laptop as customers at an adjacent table chat over two small cups of gelato. Lemmer, with his stained shirt and scraggly beard, looks just like another customer.
But Lemmer actually runs this joint.
Fitzgerald Toussaint: The Frontrunning Tailback
- Marissa McClain/Daily
BY STEPHEN J. NESBITT
Michigan football coach Brady Hoke's arrival last year brought the return of the pro-style offense to Michigan football. With this return came the re-emergence of the traditional Michigan tailback.
That tailback was redshirt LSA junior Fitzgerald Toussaint.
He set his goal in mind the first time he met Hoke — he wanted to carry the load as the starting tailback.
Emily Pittinos: Spinning Yarns
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY KYLE SAUKAS
While most students kill time on Facebook or do homework in their rooms in the residence halls, LSA sophomore Emily Pittinos writes award-winning poetry and fiction, and makes unique art out of the yarn she spins in her room in the Residential College in East Quad Residence Hall.
Jessica Kaltz and Samira Monavvari: The Drive to Save a Life
- Adam Glanzman/Daily
BY HALEY GOLDBERG
Call it a coincidence, a twist of fate or a viral chance of luck.
Forrest Cox: From the Reservation to the Classroom
- Marlene Lacasse/Daily
BY ANNA ROZENBERG
Public Policy junior Forrest Cox is an active member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe, which led him to become the external co-chair of the University’s Native American Student Association.
The Statement's Students of the Year
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
More than 40,000 students attend the University and they all stake claim to the epithet “the leaders and the best.” How could you whittle the “champions of the west” down to just 11 Students of the Year featured in 10 articles? With plenty of viable choices, it wasn't easy.
Connie Shi: What is the Right Answer?
- Marissa McClain/Daily
BY VANESSA RYCHLINSKI
LSA junior Connie Shi has all the answers.
The cellular and molecular biology major advanced to the semi-finals of the College Jeopardy! Championship after winning a quarter final that aired Feb. 2, finishing with $19,000 in winnings.
Mohammed Tayssir Safi: A Good Listener
- Paul Sherman/Daily
BY ANDREW SCHULMAN
For Rackham student Mohammed Tayssir Safi — hired by the Michigan Muslim Alumni Association as the University’s first Muslim chaplain in January — listening is as much a religious duty as a line item in his job description.
“It’s an act of worship just to meet people: to talk to them, to hear them, to listen to what they have to say so that you can better serve them,” Safi said.
Taylor Louderman: To Broadway and Back
- Courtesy of Chris Dzombak
BY JESSE KLEIN
With blonde hair and bright blue eyes, Taylor Louderman looks like your stereotypical high school cheerleader, but she hadn't ever cheered until she landed a starring role in Bring It On: The Musical.
Shawn Hunwick: The End of a Fairytale
- Marlene Lacasse/Daily
BY MATT SLOVIN
Meet LSA senior Shawn Hunwick, the most unlikely star goaltender in Michigan hockey history.
Duncan Miller: The Rising Star
- Alden Reiss/Daily
BY ZACH BERGSON
Though he’s too modest to admit it, Engineering junior Duncan Miller is a rising star in the field of aerospace engineering.
Miller, who said he was “bitten by the space bug at an early age,” has a résumé that any aerospace engineer would appreciate.
March 14, 2012
Random Student Interview: Hi, I'm high
- Illustration by Jeff Zuschlag
BY LAURA ARGINTAR
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where honesty is the best policy.
What happened last year in Relay for Life that made you not want to do it again?
I don’t even remember what it was. I was so high I blacked it out. I don’t remember anything except getting candy everywhere and it was beautiful and I wanted to lay on the grass. I didn’t feel like walking.
A tour de force: Relay for Life unites campus groups
- Photo Illustration by Nolan Loh
BY PETER SHAHIN
The reasons for joining Relay for Life at the University are varied. Some come to remember, some to find hope, some to support friends and a few to get room points with their sororities. But the fundamental mission of the event is as simple as it is resonant: to preserve human life.
Talking about how we talk: The green light of Gchat
BY JACOB AXELRAD
You sign in to Gmail to check an e-mail from a professor. All of a sudden, your friend sends you a message:
Friend: I MISS YOU!
March 7, 2012
The Statement
The long hike up: Tracking the causes of the University's tuition increases
- Illustration by Nolan Loh
BY EMILY ORLEY
It has never been more apparent that a college degree is necessary for future career endeavors. Based on statistics released last year by the U.S. Census Bureau, 30 percent of the 61 million Americans older than 25 possess undergraduate degrees.
The Statement
Caught in between: Undocumented immigrants fight for tuition equality
- Illustration by Nolan Loh
BY GIACOMO BOLOGNA
Many University students decry high tuition, but Maria Ibarra's status as an undocumented resident actually prevented her from attending the University of Michigan due to tuition costs.
Random Student Interview: Um, do I know you?
- Illustration by Jeff Zuschlag
BY LAURA ARGINTAR
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where we make fast friends.
You have never seen me before in your life, have you?
Oh gosh, I haven’t. I’m really sorry. You seemed so friendly when you approached, I didn’t want to, like, stop you or anything, you know? I didn’t want to be like “Hey, I’m really sorry, but how do I know you?” I thought that would be so douche-y. But um, wait, we’ve never actually met, right?
February 22, 2012
Random Student Interview: Real men wear purple
- Illustration by Jeff Zuschlag
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where we’re secure enough with our masculinities to wear purple whenever we please.
Seems a bit weird, eating kid-shaped candy.
They’re delicious.
...And the men and women merely players: How the Department of Musical Theatre makes actors
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY TIMOTHY RABB
The path toward the bright lights of Broadway is not an easy one. The first step is earning a spot at the University's prestigious Department of Musical Theatre. The whole ordeal is almost like a concentrated version of the Greek life pledge process — withstand the backbreaking rigors of the audition, and an atmosphere that seemed at first cutthroat and cruel suddenly becomes a comfortable home.
Cents and sensibility: Why TCF isn't the leader and best of student banking
- Illustration by Shelby Curwen-Garber
BY STEVE ZOSKI
TCF is the most prevalent bank within walking distance of the University campus. About 20,000 University students currently have TCF Totally Free Student Checking accounts. But these checking accounts do not earn interest and require a $10,000 minimum balance or 10 qualifying withdrawals to avoid a $2.95 monthly fee.
February 15, 2012
The Statement
A Day in the Life of a Zombie
- Shelby Curwen-Garber/Daily
BY NICHOLAS ANASTASIA
It’s morning. You shuffle out of bed, moaning. All you want to do is sleep, but no such luck. With a dull thud, your feet hit the ground and you shamble over towards the stairs. As you walk, mottled flecks of your flesh peel off, leaving pieces of yourself behind you.
The Statement
The Statement's annual literary issue
- Photo Illustration by Arjun Mahanti and Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
As a writer, I know what it’s like to tap your soul into a keyboard. As a human being, I know what it’s like to be rejected. This may only be a small sampling of the talent the University has to offer, but I think all of the work here displays something every person can relate to. Whether you write for a living, for fun, for catharsis or for your sanity, I hope you read yourself into the stories and poems here.
Etiquette
- Adam Glanzman/Daily
BY EMILY MORRIS
“They bleed for each other,” Mr. Shifterton said in that all-knowing, dramatic tongue that only writers and philosophers talk like. “Silly, silly kids.” Mrs. Carrysherself licked her sticky lipsticked mouth and nodded along, vodka-glazed eyes batting heavy lids, thick with black and blue dust caked on like sympathy on church Sunday.
Anytime
BY ALEXANDER KANG
I let go of the ball and the world came up
She told me something important but I forgot about it
So I asked her,
“Jenny, what was your name again?”
Being Cheated On
- Sidney Krandall/Daily
BY LOGAN COREY
is kinda like
getting all the way
to the end of the
Narnia series
Pink
- Nolan Loh/Daily
BY JACQUI SAHAGIAN
His brains were pink when they came out, and the school bus was, for once, stunned into silence. Blood’s red, more familiar and easier to take. The color of my mother’s eyes, not her lingerie. We made each other bleed on a regular basis, as a rite of passage, but something here this time slipped.
Fuck Me Heels
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY LOGAN COREY
a method of strapping crocodile over
smooth enameled skin, freshly waxed
and tan, laundered fresh, slide the foot
slowly at first, tentatively point the big toe
Orgasm
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY JACQUI SAHAGIAN
Orgasm is a moment of pure vulnerability,
That’s what he said lying in bed with me
Next to me, between damp sheets,
Staring past me at their embroidery.
February 8, 2012
The Statement
Would there be the Internet without the 'U'?
- Graphic by Nolan Loh
BY ZACH BERGSON
There are countless theories of how the Internet was created. Most people respond to the question with playful jokes about Al Gore’s remarks in 1999 that he “took the initiative to create the Internet." But when this question is posed to University administrators, it's met with a decidedly different answer.
The Statement
Promethean Vision: The story of research at the University
- Graphic by Nolan Loh
BY ZACH BERGSON AND PAIGE PEARCY
A student at the University of Michigan will at some point become indoctrinated into the rich history of Michigan football. Bo Schembechler. The House That Yost Built. The Game. But what many students don’t realize is Michigan has another storied history, one filled with bombings, protests and clandestine activities. No, this isn’t a plot from an old James Bond movie or a Tom Clancy novel. It’s the story of research.
Rolling your own burrito: A day at the mercy of strangers' food suggestions
- Adam Glanzman/Daily
BY CHLOE STACHOWIAK
I can’t help but think I’m missing out on something — that an entire world of cafés, sandwich shops, and restaurants exists outside my tuna roll and chicken salad palate. I decided to seek out these answers the only way I knew how: by putting my appetite in strangers’ hands. For an entire day, I asked people off the streets where to go for each meal and what to order — no Panera allowed.
Random Student Interview: Two Starbursts and a tattoo necklace
- Illustration by Jeff Zuschlag
BY LAURA ARGINTAR
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where we run around without clothes on.
What is the worst gift you’ve ever received?
Does no gift count? One time I received a gym membership, which was weird.
February 1, 2012
The Statement
Sustainability at home: Friday morning breakfasts at Selma Café
- Erin Kirkland/Daily
BY CHELSEA LANDRY
Lisa Gottlieb and Jeff McCabe do not have wallpaper in their mudroom. Instead, tiny strips of masking tape bearing the names of Selma Café regulars in Sharpie cover every inch of drywall, some name tags even creeping up onto the ceiling. Robin’s egg blue and pastel yellow paint is barely visible underneath the multitude of peeling tape.
The Statement
TFA Detroit: the $3,000 gamble
- Terra Molengraff/Daily
BY CAITLIN HUSTON
In Detroit, Teach for America corps members have a chance to make an impact on one of the country’s most disadvantaged school districts. Despite the lack of resources, Detroit schools that choose to partner with Teach for America pay the organization an average of $3,000 for each TFA corps member employed, in addition to paying corps members a starting teacher's salary.
• A two-year crash course: How prepared are the corps members?
Random Student Interview: I hate kids
- Illustration by Jeff Zuschlag
BY LAURA ARGINTAR
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where we tell it like it is.
Would you yourself ever want to be a teacher?
No, I hate kids.
Teach for America: A two-year crash course
BY CAITLIN HUSTON
Applicants to Teach for America hear about how the program looks for the best and brightest in student leaders. They hear about how leadership has been carefully studied and proven to produce effective teachers in underprivileged districts in the country. But complaints from former corps members have been aired in terms of training, a lack of support and a two-year teaching commitment that community leaders say doesn’t help schools in need.
January 25, 2012
The Statement
826michigan: How a robot store gets kids hitting the books
- Marlene Lacasse/Daily
BY ANDREW SCHULMAN
826michigan, as a feature of its philosophical culture and its mission statement, strives to prevent the fear of the blank page. The 2,330 students it helped last year span the literacy spectrum from English-as-a-second-language learners to adept writers who simply need a community to debate whether serene or tranquil is the better word to use in their short story.
The Statement
Stepping across the protest line: What happens when a pro-choice student attends a Students for Life meeting?
- Hannah Chin/Daily
BY CASSIE BALFOUR
I remember seeing one young woman, a student, standing nervously behind the display, pro-life pamphlets in hand. I wish I had talked to her, instead of openly laughing at what I perceived at the time to be really poor activism.
Random Student Interview: Booze and boobs
- Illustration by Jeff Zuschlag
BY LAURA ARGINTAR
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where there’s plenty of alcohol, porn and illegal activity.
Why do you smell like alcohol?
‘Cause I’ve been drinking, duh. It helps me talk more in my discussion class.
The reluctant role model
BY ANDREW SCHULMAN
Had 826NYC existed when 826 National CEO Gerald Richards was a boy, Richards might have visited the tutoring center himself. He might’ve even been like Santiago, a student at 826 Valencia who told him last year that he aspired to be 826 National’s CEO but has since confessed to being unsure of his career path.
January 18, 2012
Random Student Interview: Learning about civilizations with Nations
- Illustration by Jeff Zuschlag
BY LAURA ARGINTAR
Welcome to the Random Student Interview, where a student’s name is just as interesting as her major.
Your last name (Nations) is that the plural form, like with an “s” at the end?
Yeah, like the United ones.
Pitching yourself: Behind the interview process
BY KAITLIN WILLIAMS
You’ve sat down for your job interview. Then the first question arrives: “How many people are using Facebook in San Francisco at 2:30pm on a Friday?” Why would anyone ask this question during an interview? How would you begin to answer it? And, most importantly, what would your answer say about you?
Post-grad plans
- Alden Reiss/Daily
BY STEVE ZOSKI
The Michigan Daily surveyed 30 students out of seven of the University's schools and colleges to learn about what they want to do after they graduate and how the University has helped them get there. Here's what they had to say.
Is college worth it?: Careers open for those without four-year degrees
BY CHRISTINE CHUN
Landing a job after graduation is no guarantee. In fact, the job hunt all seems like a big toss-up. A recent study done by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce found that unemployment rates for recent college graduates was 8.9 percent. So what options are out there for people with associate's degrees and GEDs?
January 11, 2012
The Statement
Is this real life?: YouTube turns the personal into public
- Teresa Mathew/Daily
BY LUCY PERKINS
Though many people see YouTube as a virtual hub where they can find music videos and watch that one idiot majorly wipe out on a skateboard ramp, the Nerdfighters view YouTube as a community. Channels, schedules and videos are full of inside jokes. Comments come from familiar usernames. “Instead of being made of cells and body stuff, Nerdfighters are made of awesome,” said LSA freshman David Dolsen.
