Statement Issue Archive
February 3, 2010
Leave no stone unturned: My quest to discover just how much paint is on The Rock
BY SAM WAINWRIGHT
Spin the Cube. Sled in the Arb. Get steamy in the stacks.
These are the things your campus tour guide told your starry-eyed high school self had to be done before graduating. After all, what is being a Michigan Wolverine without some tried and true collegiate traditions?
Personal Statement: Betsy Huebner
BY BETSY HUEBNER
Friday morning I woke to a text from my friend Brian that read, “Call me now!” A friend of his runs an adoption agency in Colorado and had sent an e-mail asking for people to go to Fort Lauderdale to help with children coming in from Haiti.
From blue chip to blue books: Antonio Bass's injury and recovery
- Jake Fromm/Daily
BY ANDY REID
Through the blur of heavy sedation, Antonio Bass opened his eyes to find the entire Michigan football coaching staff peering down at him.
Real World Application: A class where students use what they learn, and even make a buck too
BY DANIEL STRAUSS
Apple products are all over campus these days — iPods in the CCRB, MacBooks in the Grad and iPhones, well, everywhere. With this ever-increasing ubiquity in products beginning with “i” or “mac” comes an abundance of downloadable applications.
January 27, 2010
Niceness Challenge: Trying not to judge for a week
BY ALLIE WHITE
Inspired by my roommate who, a few years ago, implemented something her and her boyfriend called “Niceness Movement ‘08” to curb the pattern of involuntary meanness they had developed toward each other, I decided to undertake a movement of my own.
Personal Statement: In Pakistan, despite the tumult, life goes on
BY FAISAL MASOOD
Last year, while home in Pakistan during winter break, I stopped by my high school to visit old teachers and friends. I talked with some of the seniors there, just as they were preparing to finish the semester, almost ready to start a break of their own.
The Graveyard Shift: The stories of Ann Arbor's 4 a.m. workforce
- Sam Wolson/Daily
BY MAGAZINE STAFF
But amid the darkness of the morning's wee hours, a few solitary lights remain. They are those of Ann Arbor’s 4 a.m. workforce — the graveyard shift, the midnight mavens. Though their efforts often go unnoticed, they’re the ones who keep campus running when no one else is looking.
January 20, 2010
Personal Statement: Copenhagen conundrum
BY AUBREY ANN PARKER
I left Copenhagen the day before President Barack Obama arrived on his white horse to save the United Nations climate talks — or so the American media would paint the scene. As I boarded my flight, however, I couldn’t help feeling disenchanted by what I’d experienced over the last nine days.
Goodbye Facebook: What it's like to give technology up for a weekend
BY LIDIA JEAN KOTT
A college student devoid of modern technological advances, things my peers and I believe to be utter necessities of daily life, is a scary thought. So when I told my friends that I'd been assigned to write a story that required me to live without technology for the weekend — no cell phone, no computer, no iPod — their response was predictable: “Oh, my God!
Silently Disabled: The everyday struggles of those with invisible disabilities
- Jed Moch/Daily
BY JENNA SKOLLER
For individuals whose disabilities are considered ‘invisible’ — those that aren’t first apparent to the general observer — the struggle lies not only in coping with their disabilities, but doing so in a world that doesn’t know they’re sick.
January 13, 2010
Tsk, Tsk, TSA: A frequent flyer's experience with an airport prank gone bad
BY REBECCA SOLOMON
I consider myself an expert traveler at this point in my life. After four years and countless flights commuting between Philadelphia and Ann Arbor, I’ve mastered the art of packing and I can put my shoes on and my laptop back in its case in record time.
New Rules: 239-241
BY MAGAZINE STAFF
rule 239: The cold weather is a perfectly valid excuse to decline a booty call invitation.
rule 240: A music gimmick on the first day of class doesn’t make us like you, professor. It’s just weird.
rule 241: Don’t cut your own hair. Don’t cut your friend’s hair. Leave it to the barber.
Random Student Interview: Sara
BY TREVOR CALERO
Hello
Hi. Is Jillian there?
No. Who’s this?
Uh ... who’s this?
This is her roommate, Sara. Who’s this?
Trevor Calero. I’m the magazine editor at The Michigan Daily.
Oh, OK. No. I’m her roommate.
Catching up with Ralph Williams: Two years later, he's just as amicable as ever
BY ALLIE WHITE
With all the hype surrounding storied University prof. Ralph Williams, I considered myself fortunate in having secured a spot in one of his courses during the winter 2008 semester, his last at the University. While I’d heard quite a bit about his larger-than-life personality, I entered the class on the first day prepared to make my own observations about this ‘legendary’ professor.
Waitlist woes: Some classes at the University are just too much of a pain to get into
BY MAGAZINE STAFF
CAAS 358: Michael Jackson, Race and Genius in America
Gay and Greek: The experience of being gay and in a fraternity
- Jed Moch/Daily
BY NICOLE ABER
Jonathon Ohlinger, known to his friends as JD, never really wanted to join a fraternity. Just wasn’t for him. But after becoming close with a few kids that lived down the hall freshman year who were all going to rush, Ohlinger decided he’d give it a shot.
January 6, 2010
The Statement chooses the 10 stories we'll still be talking about in 10 years
BY DANIEL STRAUSS AND ALLIE WHITE
Economy shmashmonomy. While some economists are “optimistic” things will improve in the future, most agree that any improvement will be from bad to, well, less bad. Michigan is in the unlucky group of states that has been hit particularly hard by the Great Recession.
Personal Statement: My Two Ann Arbors
BY SIAN DOWIS
Most of you probably only have one Ann Arbor, but for me there are two -— the Ann Arbor of my old life and that of my new. My old life-Ann Arbor revolves around my childhood home near the Huron River and my school, Community High School. It’s made up of nature trails, cobblestone streets and places like the Farmers Market, the YMCA, the People’s Food Co-op and, of course, the Arb.
The Rules: 236-238
BY MAGAZINE STAFF
rule 236: Giving a gift receipt defeats the purpose. You might as well just give them a gift card to the mall.
rule 237: If you ask, "Are you sitting down for this," someone better be dead. Or at least in the hospital.
rule 238: You know you won't be able to commit to the gym five days a week, so don't even make the resolution.
Random Student Interview: Kelsie
BY TREVOR CALERO
Hello?
Hi. Is this Kelsie? Yes it is. Who is this?
Running with a Legend: After 21 years coaching women's track, Red Simmons leaves a quiet legacy
- Max Collins/Daily
BY CHANTEL JENNINGS
The greatest personal collection of Michigan athletic history can be found in a most unlikely place: in the cold, dingy basement of a three-story townhouse off South Main Street. The floor is cluttered with scrapbooks and boxes of memorabilia. The tables and shelves are like an intricate game of dominos; removing one item would undoubtedly disrupt the chaotic perfection.
December 9, 2009
New rules
BY MAGAZINE STAFF
rule 233: You can only turn your nose up at cheap beer if you haven’t been stupid drunk in the past semester.
rule 234: It’s OK to hate Christmas music. And Santa Claus. And super crowded mall parking lots.
rule 235: No, Spanish 232 doesn’t count for the Race and Ethnicity requirement — even if you did take a themed cultural section.
About Campus: The University according to MBloggers
- Illustration by Jessica Lax
BY MALLORY BEBERMAN
Back when the University hired student bloggers to attract prospective students, entries were limited to overly enthusiastic testimonials from model Wolverines. But the University’s MBlog, a blogging service for current students and University faculty and staff, offers another, more telling side of the University experience.
Can changing the channel change minds?
- Sam Wolson/Daily
BY SAM VAN KLEEF AND SAM WAINWRIGHT
What would happen if a liberal and a conservative traded news media for a few days? A liberal and a Libertarian did just that, ignoring the news for half a week and then submerging themselves in enemy content for the other half. The result? Insight into the biased outlets that deliver news to Americans.
Boys, girls and bathroom graffiti
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
To shed some light on the University’s tangle of jotted thoughts, The Statement applied psychology studies of bathroom graffiti to two of the most used restrooms on campus, the men and women’s restrooms in Mason Hall near the Fishbowl. The comparison between the two rooms shows that the difference between men and women’s restroom habits definitely doesn’t end at standing up and sitting down.
December 2, 2009
Personal Statement: A lesson from Berry Gordy
BY CHANEL VON HABSBURG-LOTHRINGEN
While visiting Hitsville USA in Detroit, I saw the ultimate Motown exhibit: Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records. Finding myself unexpectedly face to face with the notorious music mogul, I was moved by his frankness and self-satisfaction in the face of history's often disparaging view of his career.
Oversharers on University e-mail listservs
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY VERONICA MENALDI
Almost every student at the University is part of at least one e-mail listserv. Listservs are usually used to send event notices and distribute general information to its members — but this isn’t the only use students have found for them.
New rules
BY MAGAZINE STAFF
rule 230: Whoever turned the TV on gets to control what the rest of the house watches unless something is on that is obviously much better.
rule 231: After the fifth time your roommate calls you to come home and open the door, you can start charging a lock-out fee.
rule 232: You’re never really obligated to bring something you baked yourself to a potluck.
November 18, 2009
The best of our brewers
- Said Alsalah/Daily
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
Meet the two winners of our three categories, Ian Stines and Mike Elchinger. Stines won two categories and took Best of Show.
Scalping the golden ticket: OSU-Michigan football seats
- Sam Wolson/Daily
BY ROGER SAUERHAFT
The rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State is known as “The Game,” but in Ann Arbor every other year, it’s about much more than just athletics. With masses of people buying and selling tickets to see the adversaries face off, the phenomenon creates a self-contained, informal economy.
About Campus: The law student "party" house behind West Quad
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY NICOLE ABER
Nestled between South Quad and West Quad is a house that remains a mystery to many students. Its large, brick frame and massive white columns have the appearance of an old-time Southern estate, despite being surrounded by plain-styled dorms on two sides.
Personal Statement: Midnight in the Arb
BY HAMDAN AZHAR
The Arb is a welcoming place by day, but at night it transforms into a surreal and eerie dreamscape.
New rules
BY MAGAZINE STAFF
rule 227: Incense is only relaxing for people who like the smell. Ask your roommates before you light up your putrid “lilac” sticks.
rule 228: It’s OK to ask sick people to sanitize any surface contaminated by their used tissues. Just be nice about it.
rule 229: “Getting Ricksy” has its time and place: Rick’s, Saturday night. That’s it.
Bottle Royale: The Michigan Daily's first student brewer contest
- Jake Fromm/Daily
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
ABC’s Tap Room served as the setting for The Michigan Daily’s first home brewing competition, in which students submitted their own beer to be judged by a panel of local experts: Matt Greff, owner of ABC, Ron Jeffries, owner of Jolly Pumpkin, and Alex Petit, a member of the Ann Arbor Brewers Guild.
November 11, 2009
Personal Statement: A moderate Republican's lament
BY GORDON CHAFFIN
The former president of the College Republicans on his reasons for resigning
New rules
BY MAGAZINE STAFF
rule 224: Don’t chew with your mouth open. (Not original, we know, but that smacking sound is as disgusting now as ever.
rule 225: You’re under no obligation to be Facebook friends with married people who share an account.
rule 226: It’s OK to pretend that football season’s over after basketball season starts. Or because it’s cold out and you’ve grown indifferent.
About Campus: Where the wilderness lovers are
BY SAM WAINWRIGHT
At the end of Longshore Drive, there is a cabin with a wide wooden deck, a big swing and a roaring fire, sitting peacefully on the Huron River. It’s the home of the Society of Les Voyageurs, a student organization for outdoorsmen and women.
Wolverines taking Washington
BY SUTHA KANAGASINGAM
If the Obama administration hires anyone else affiliated with the University of Michigan, there might be a Maize Out at the Capitol Building. Here are a few of the alums and faculty members who are making waves in Washington, D.C.
The students who shoot for the stars
- Sam Wolson/Daily
BY LARA ZADE
The final frontier has lost its allure for the majority of Americans and NASA still struggles with funding woes. But at the University, more students than ever have enrolled in the Department of Aerospace Engineering where new, less expensive technology allows them to develop projects on the professional level.
October 28, 2009
Declaration of the rights of tenants
- Jake Fromm/Daily
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN AND SAM WAINWRIGHT
Any student renter in Ann Arbor has heard horror stories about exploitative and negligent landlords. Students are too often at a disadvantage in lease agreements because they don’t know what rights housing laws afford them. It's time for that to change — read on for an explanation of tenants' rights and duties.
Should you live in Kerrytown?
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
There are many student enclaves in the residential area around campus, but the most obvious divide is the Diag. Most student renters live south of South University Avenue — in the area affectionately deemed the student ghetto. But a subset chooses to split from the horde and settle in the north near Kerrytown. While the rental houses north of Huron Street are often just as run down, Kerrytown offers a different way of life. Which side should you choose?
New rules
BY MAGAZINE STAFF
rule 221: If you’re going to fall asleep in class, don’t sit in the front of the lecture hall. Your drooling might distract the professor.
rule 222: Don’t be annoyed when you explain your esoteric Halloween costume several times and people still don’t get it.
rule 223: Sexy nurses and sailors aren’t that sexy when they’re shivering. Wear a coat or a fall appropriate costume.
The trap of luxury: over-priced student apartments
- File Photo/Daily
BY TREVOR CALERO
Ann Arbor's most expensive student apartment complexes — 4 Eleven Lofts, Zaragon Place and the Courtyards — really aren't worth the cost.
Personal Statement: The drug den next door
BY ROGER SAUERHAFT
The problems ensued from day one. Excruciatingly loud, violent confrontations took place on a nightly basis between residents in the other apartments in my house. Shady characters entered the house — by either invite or force — at all hours of the night and compounded the violence through what were obviously illicit drug deals.
October 21, 2009
New rules
BY STATEMENT STAFF
rule 218: Just because you have a Blackberry doesn’t mean you can expect everyone else to text 75 word responses, too.
rule 219: Even if it’s not your chore to clean the bathroom, you can’t leave your grody stuff all over it.
rule 220: Whether fighting or sexing with your boo, keep the volume low for your roommates’ sake.
Personal Statement: A mysterious illness, a massive change of plans
BY ASHLYN GURLEY
Whether we like it or not, our decisions in life are often made because of issues we can’t control. I had to learn this the hard way when I didn’t get to come to the University of Michigan my freshman year.
It started my senior year of high school, when my health rapidly deteriorated. I went from being an active, athletic teenager to not being able to climb a flight of stairs without help.
About Campus: Weekend alternatives to walking
BY SUTHA K. KANAGASINGAM
There are so many decisions to make before you go out at night. What will you wear? At whose apartment will you pregame? Which bar will you go to? How drunk will you get?
James Duderstadt: The former president who is reshaping higher education
BY IMRAN SYED
It will be up to others to figure out how education, democracy and intellectual humanity are shaped in the future. But as long as he is around, James Duderstadt continues to have the will, insight and influence to ensure we at least know what we’re in for.
Ahh! Real Ann Arbor ghost stories
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
If hauntings are your guilty pleasure, “Ann Arbor Area Ghosts” is the book for you. We’ve picked out the highlights so you won’t have to be seen reading it.
New rules
BY STATEMENT STAFF
rule 215: Don’t wear a football shirt with a pledge to stay all four quarters unless you’re actually going to stay.
rule 216: If you must ride your bike in the street, obey the rules of the road. Sharing goes two ways, asshole.
rule 217: Don’t say “we need to hang out soon.” If that were true, you wouldn’t have a problem finding time to hang out.
Personal Statement: My evacuation from Lebanon
BY JESSICA MALOUF
Lebanon is not only where my parents were born and all my relatives live, but it is also my second home. But on July 13, 2006, that idyllic view was disrupted. Israel had began an air strike against Lebanon and my family and I could do nothing until the United States came to retrieve us.
A box full of feminist mementos
BY ASHLYN GURLEY
The University's chapter of Mortar Board received a box full of memorabilia that chronicle the group's origins as a female honor society struggling for women's rights on a male-dominated campus.
Eating local when the fields freeze over
BY SARA LYNNE THELEN
When winter comes, you might think your opportunity for eating Michigan-grown food has passed. But Ann Arbor producers have you covered all year round — if you’re willing to alter your diet.
October 7, 2009
New rules
BY MAGAZINE STAFF
rule 212: It’s too early to wear Uggs. But of course, it’s always too early to wear Uggs.
rule 213: Don’t walk more than 20 minutes to go to a house party. You’re in Ann Arbor, not East Lansing.
rule 214: If you haven’t done a load of laundry since school started, you need to as soon as possible.
One little pill, one giant leap toward sexual equality
BY YASASWI PARUCHURI
After years of research, male oral contraceptive is at the point that it could be made commercially available. The only thing that stands in the way is the pharmaceutical industry's twisted business sense.
About Campus: Cross-dorm rivals
BY DANIEL STRAUSS
For many University students, the residence hall is simply a place to make a few close friends and poignant memories. Dorm hall solidarity can feed heated rivalries.
The cult(ure) of club sports
- Left photo by Said Alsalah/Daily, Right by Sam Wolson/Daily
BY NICOLE AUERBACH
Members of club teams compete without the perks afforded varsity teams: scholarships, brand new gear and a page on the official Michigan athletic site, mgoblue.com. A handful of teams practice and compete on the level of varsity. But the process for joining that elite echelon of college athletics is nearly impossible to pass.
September 23, 2009
Personal Statement: An international student's first view of Ann Arbor
BY EMAD ANSARI
Next spring, I graduate and leave Ann Arbor for good. Even with still two semesters to go, I am already feeling myself terribly nostalgic at the prospect of bidding farewell. But I didn't always harbor such warm feelings toward my American home away from home.
About Campus: Life in the time of swine flu
- Laura Garavoglia/Daily
BY LARA ZADE
H1N1 mania has hit the University, and there isn’t a place you can go on campus that won’t remind you of that.
New rules
BY STATEMENT STAFF
rule 209: Leaving a pop can where a homeless person can find it counts as recycling. And also charity.
rule 210: Harassing someone at a football game for not wearing maize doesn’t make you a better fan. It makes you a dick.
rule 211: When it comes to space in a communal fridge: if you don’t use it, you lose it.
How Michigan marijuana patients get their medicine
- Sam Wolson/Daily
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
As it stands right now, the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program presents a catch-22 for patients: You can smoke weed, but it’s up to you to figure out how.
Forget the Campus Inn — stay here, instead
- Sam Wolson/Daily
BY ASHLYN GURLEY AND JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
Vitosha Guest Haus on Washtenaw Avenue is not the typical bed and breakfast. On the outside, it's a historical European-style mansion. On the inside, it's one eccentric Ann Arborite's personal dollhouse. All around, it's worth a visit.
September 16, 2009
New rules
BY STATEMENT STAFF
rule 206: If you just have a cough, you definitely don’t have H1N1. But you do have an excuse to miss class.
rule 207: It’s OK to pretend not know someone you had haven’t talked to in more than a semester.
rule 208: Print double sided until your professor literally threatens to lower your grade if you do it again.
About Campus: Serious work on the set of "Trivial Pursuits"
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia/Daily
BY SARA LYNNE THELEN
University film students put in long hours on the Ann Arbor-based set of "Trivial Pursuits" in the hopes of getting a toe into the film making business.
Personal Statement: My black mother's validation in a daughter at Harvard
BY DANIEL STRAUSS
If I reduce my mother and sister’s college experiences to just a few sentences, they have similar profiles. Both were admitted into elite private universities (Harvard for my sister, Williams College for my mother), both were (or are) serious students and both are people of color. But there are a few important differences.
Is AnnArbor.com the new face of news?
- Max Collins/Daily
BY LARA ZADE
AnnArbor.com has a bold plan, one that tries to find a silver lining in the otherwise consistent doom and gloom of faltering newspapers across the country. But as a business, the road to prosperity is laden with obstacles.
Thrifty sophistication: swanky cocktails on the cheap
- Sam Wolson/Daily
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
The broke college student's ticket to feigning sophistication in Ann Arbor's martini bars: no one they have their drink specials.
September 9, 2009
New rules
BY STATEMENT STAFF
rule 203: If your roommates left a bunch of stuff for you to move out in August, you have the right to keep it all.
rule 204: Demand rubbing alcohol for your beer pong water as long as the Swine Flu is afoot.
rule 205: Don’t plant a vegetable garden if you’re not going to care for it. If everything dies, it ceases to be environmental.
Out with the old eats, in with new treats
- Sam Wolson/Daily
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
This summer wrought the end of several dining and wining mainstays. Happily, though, their locations didn’t stay empty for long. But do the replacements measure up?
Personal Statement: Daughters without mothers
BY TALI GUMBINER
There are times when I find myself sitting on the floor, with my legs pressed against my chest and arms wrapped around my shins, when I look down at my bare feet and think, “God, there is nothing more I need right now than a pedicure and a mother.” Yes, a pedicure and a mother. The two are of course not equal in importance.
The dark side of campus history
- Anna Bakeman/Daily
BY DAILY STAFF
You might have thought you had the full campus tour, but you’d never hear about these shameful events in University history from a tour guide. McCarthyism, eugenics and military research — the University’s hands are anything but clean.
About Campus: Mustachioed Michigan men
BY DANIEL STRAUSS
A strange correlation of sports fandom is that the more diehard the fan, the more dignity to sacrificed to support his or her team of choice. Grown men paint their entire bodies primary colors, dress as animals and chant rhymes like their lives depend on it.
New rules
rule 200: If graduation day is the expiration date for your relationship, break up with class and grace.
rule 201: The financial crisis is actually a fantastic excuse not to do anything productive this summer.
rule 202: If you don’t do a background check on your subletters, you can’t really blame them when their crackhead friends trash your place.
Personal Statement: The real ROTC
BY ERICH MEHNERT
Flying faster than the speed of sound, replying “YES SIR!” to every command, training earlier in the mornings than the average student wakes up for class. Is this what you think of when you hear R-O-T-C? Well, you’re right… sort of. You have definitely seen us, the ones who walk around in our “blues” every Thursday with shiny black shoes and meticulously pressed uniforms.
April 8, 2009
Students of the year: Laura Misumi
- Ben Simon/Daily
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
The life of a campus activist can be a lonely one. There is power in numbers — but without that, there is only frustration. And when just a handful of people show up to your social justice rally, it can be hard not to throw in the towel.
Students of the year: Eric Plourde
- ROB MIGRIN/Daily
BY JILLIAN BERMAN
At the age of 20, LSA senior Eric Plourde has already made his first political gaffe.
Before a televised debate against Ann Arbor mayor John Hieftje on Oct. 14, the Libertarian mayoral candidate compared himself to a certain infamous vice-presidential nominee — “I feel like Sarah Palin,” he said.
Students of the year: Katie Helegda
- Chanel Von Habsburg-Lothringen/Daily
BY KARA MORRIS
On her first day as president of Nakamura Co-op, LSA junior Katie Helegda had to face the possibility that Nakamura might not exist for much longer.
On Sept. 28, Helegda received notice that the Inter-Cooperative Council (ICC), the governing body of Ann Arbor’s student co-ops, had put Nakamura on house priority status, a status similar to probation.
Students of the year: David Requiro
- Zachary Meisner/Daily
BY BEN VANWAGONER
Popular culture promotes an image of the musical prodigy: the young virtuoso, standing erect and regal with his instrument, isolated from the world in equal parts by technical genius and social infancy.
Students of the year: Jose Nunez
- Jed Moch/Daily
BY ROGER SAUERHAFT
After pledging the fraternity Chi Psi as a freshman, LSA senior Jose Nunez learned of the tragic story of Lynn “Gordie” Bailey.
Bailey, a Chi Psi pledge in 2004, died after a night of binge drinking with fellow pledges in what was recently judged an act of hazing after a four-year lawsuit.
Students of the year: C.J. Lee
- Max Collins/Daily
BY JASON KOHLER
Before Michigan’s first-round game in the NCAA Tournament, fifth-year senior guard C.J. Lee sat alone — waiting.
He had been waiting a long time.
All of his hard work led him to this moment. He was a starting captain on an NCAA Tournament team. As his teammates waited for Lee's name to be called as Michigan's last starter, all eyes were fixed on their leader.
Students of the year: Moustafa Moustafa
- KRISTA BOYD/Daily
BY KELLY FRASER
The weekend before finals last December, LSA junior Moustafa Moustafa wasn’t studying for his anatomy exam that Monday. He was driving a rental truck to Chicago through a snowstorm.
The truck contained medical supplies that the interfaith campus group Children of Abraham had collected and Moustafa was rushing to get the supplies on a container bound for Iraq.
Students of the year: Julia Samorezov
- Clif Reeder/Daily
BY STEPHEN OSTROWSKI
Engineering senior Julia Samorezov likes to spread herself thin. Involved in the engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Ambassadors and a service sorority, Samorezov has the immediate collegiate community covered. Now, she’s looking beyond Ann Arbor.
Students of the year: Ashwin Lalendran
- Chris Dzombak/Daily
BY DANIEL STRAUSS
For an organization that collaborates with the University, part of MPowered’s mission statement seems counter-intuitive: “…engineers aren't spinning their class projects into businesses and art students aren't dropping out of school to run their own clothing line. And that's the problem.”
Students of the year: Abdul El-Sayed
- SAM WOLSON/Daily
BY EMILY BARTON
There are a few things that incite an inferiority complex in University students when comparing themselves to their Ivy League peers. One is the dismal number of Rhodes Scholars named at the University.
This year, though, Abdul El-Sayed was named the University’s first Rhodes Scholar since 2004.
New rules
rule 197: Don’t bully your friends into getting season football tickets. You’ll feel like a jerk when they cop out of most of the games next fall.
rule 198: Only ask your housemate to turn down music if he went to bed alone. In the other case, wait 15 minutes until the sex is over.
rule 199: Vegans don’t have the right to bitch about the soap you have in your bathroom.
April 1, 2009
New rules
rule 194: Your study abroad stories aren’t any more interesting than other study abroad stories. Keep them short.
rule 195: The “ironic mustache” isn’t ironic when every scenester creep has one.
rule 196: If you ask a second semester senior to do something for you, don’t be surprised when they get drunk instead.
The Statement Humor Issue: Open letter to dorm hall assholes
- Jed Moch/Daily
BY STEPHEN OSTROWSKI AND JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
The economy is in a slump. Apparently, so is humanity, because you and I were somehow shat into the same collegiate latrine called on-campus housing. I must have been a huge dick in a previous life, or else I would be enjoying a more favorable social lot, perhaps as a witch doctor or platypus or javelin thrower. Instead, Providence, undoubtedly plastered, played poker with our lodging logistics and dealt me the royal flush of douchebaggery in having to live a few doors down from you.
The Statement Humor Issue: Make your own adventure - Post-graduation
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
Congratulations! It’s graduation day and all your friends and family are here to celebrate. Grandma wants to know what you’re doing now that you’re done with school. You cringe, shrug your shoulders and say, “It’s not quite what I wanted, with the economy and all, but I’ve decided to ___.”
The Statement Humor Issue: Please don't hurt this man
- Clif Reeder/Daily
BY ANDY REID
One Daily editor sets out to punk Ann Arbor, struggles with his conscience and almost gets his ass kicked while wearing a banana suit.
March 25, 2009
Personal Statement: The night I can't remember
BY MELANIE MACEACHERN
Picture this: you’re a 17-year-old girl from Arizona thrown into campus life at the University of Michigan. At first, there is the inevitable struggle of meeting people and making friends. You’re impressed by almost anyone you meet and jump at the chance to hang out with someone new — even when it means forcing your mother’s criticism to the back of your mind.
A little something on the side
BY KRISTEN STEAGALL
Even in the toughest of economic times there is money to be made. It all depends on how far you are willing to go to make quick cash.
New rules
rule 194: Your study abroad stories aren’t any more interesting than other study abroad stories. Keep them short.
rule 195: The “ironic mustache” isn’t ironic when every scenester creep has one.
rule 196: If you ask a second semester senior to do something for you, don’t be surprised when they get drunk instead.
College rankings: In the eye of the beholder
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY STEPHEN OSTROWSKI
The importance — perceived importance, at least — of college rankings is as objective as the rankings are subjective. To decide which publications give the University a fair shake and which are just talking trash, it’s crucial to look at the methodology of the ranking system. Here is a breakdown of four very different approaches to ranking the nation’s colleges.
March 18, 2009
Personal Statement: The glamorous life of a movie extra
BY YASASWI PARUCHURI
I was walking through the door to Angell Hall one day a few weeks ago as a young man and woman walked out. With a casual flip of his tousled hair and a confident gaze through his Woody Allen-esque glasses, he said to her, “They told me absolutely no hipster clothes. Nothing even resembling hipster is allowed.”
About Campus: Sauced in section, lit in lecture
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY DANIEL STRAUSS
Most every year there is a push to move the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day to the weekend, eliminating the inherent conflict between “workday” and “drunk all day”.
New rules
rule 191: No matter what, your friend’s new haircut is a cute new haircut.
rule 192: When overhearing a stranger loudly talk of personal problems, it’s acceptable to give painfully honest advice.
rule 193: If you don’t have a better idea about what do, you can’t complain about the stimulus plan.
1989 and beyond: How Michigan's national championship was its best moment and biggest curse
- SAM WOLSON/Daily
BY JASON KOHLER
With the Michigan basketball team in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade, the buried, drama-filled story of the ‘89 National Championship team is both a lesson to emulate and a cautionary tale.
March 11, 2009
About Campus: What's cooking, Martha?
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY EMMA JESZKE
Recall your experience of living in the residence halls. During this rite of passage, you might have encountered one or more of the following: nasty dorm food, a run-in with a drunken (and possibly vomiting) roommate, getting sexiled (or sexiling someone else) and adjusting to the awkward concept of community bathrooms.
Personal Statement: My thrice broken heart
BY ELYANA TWIGGS
I am awakened by a green nurse. Her features are blurry and her voice is distant. She has four eyes. She makes me repeat my name. I fail the first test. I can talk now that the breathing tube has been pulled from my windpipe, but my voice is harsh and barely audible. I think I just swallowed sand coupled with a handful of nails. I am sweating. I am freezing. I am lifeless.
The Ann Arbor bubble
- ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily
BY KELLY FRASER
The city might seem isolated from Michigan’s economic trouble. But how secure is it, really? One of the largest employers in the city, and the rescuer of the forsaken Pfizer complex, the University is serving as an economic security blanket for Ann Arbor more than ever.
New rules
rule 188: If your roommate deigns to bake something, you have to eat it (or at least be convincing about pretending to).
rule 189: Packing up your stuff is an acceptable way to tell your professor that class is over.
rule 190: Playing in the Church Street flood waters is never a good idea.
March 4, 2009
Dust Child
BY MEGAN CUMMINS
I remember being pregnant: the first sharp pain in my stomach, and then the vomit. I remember the tip of the pee stick, positive and pink. Most of all, I remember being alone, living still in the apartment I rented and driving my first car and sometimes eating cereal for all three meals. But with that pain came instinct.
Literature issue: letter from the editor
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
Every year around Hopwood Awards season, students rush a small room in Angell Hall in a mad dash to enter their painstakingly edited and neatly foldered creative writing portfolios into the contest before the 12 p.m. deadline.
Literature Issue: Dust Child
BY MEGAN CUMMINS
I remember being pregnant: the first sharp pain in my stomach, and then the vomit. I remember the tip of the pee stick, positive and pink. Most of all, I remember being alone, living still in the apartment I rented and driving my first car and sometimes eating cereal for all three meals. But with that pain came instinct.
Literature Issue: All old maids are mystics
- Illustration by Rose Jaffe
BY DAVID KINZER
All old maids are mystics,
Knees on hardwood floors;
Dust circling as their bodies descend;
Gumballs on the bottoms of their throats;
Chapped lips opening in hope and recitation
Yit-ga-dal v’yit-ka-dash sh’mei ra-ba
And waiting, parted, for the choral response,
Silence like shallow waves
That crush against their mouths,
Salt water dripping on their tongues.
Literature Issue: The Drowned Man
BY MEGAN BERKOBIEN
I have read what it feels like to drown, and I try not to think of it as my feet edge to the beginning of the sea, to the beginning of a universe that offers free will to the most fanatic of men, connecting me to those I would not know in any other circumstance. I am prudent; I care too much.
Literature Issue: Poet's notebook
- Illustration by Rose Jaffe
A selection of short poem: baggage claim frustration, weather reveries and a send-off to Lloyd Carr.
February 18, 2009
About Campus: Samurai sweethearts
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY KARA MORRIS
Known for their stealthy distribution of candy around campus on Valentine’s Day, the red- and pink-clad Valentine’s Ninjas struck again last Saturday.
But this year, the ninjas allowed a Statement writer to join their band of guerrilla gift-givers on their mission to thrust sweets into the hands of unsuspecting students.
New rules
rule 185: Don’t bank on finishing your midterm paper on the plane to or from your Spring Break destination.
rule 186: Twitter might be idiotic, but if it’s being used to break news you can’t completely ignore it.
rule 187: No one really cares how little you slept last night. Keep it to yourself and catch some shut eye during lecture like everyone else.
An improbable bar crawl
- JED MOCH/Daily
BY ROGER SAUERHAFT
After a busy day last week, I felt like rewarding myself. I changed into a button down shirt, put on my favorite sweater, brushed my teeth and splashed on a little extra cologne. Then I met up with my friend David and headed out for guy’s night out. Our destination: Whole Foods Market.
Seeking a post-gender society
- CHRIS DZOMBAK/Daily
BY KRISTEN STEAGALL
In a world that is not quite ready to renounce established gender identities and roles, transgender students face challenges every day to their gender philosophies, such as that unavoidable dilemma of which bathroom to use.
Personal Statement: Sweet dissatisfaction
BY STACY ARON LAZAR
I could always tell the mornings when my dad was cooking caramel in the back of his candy store — the sweet aroma filled my senses even before I walked through the swinging door of his chocolate store. The copper kettle he stood next to resembled a cauldron, and I used to imagine that I was a witch brewing a secret potion.
February 11, 2009
Personal Statement: My mark of destiny
BY TATIANA KLINE
No one asks to be different. It’s just something that happens, something that you sort of get stuck with. Some choose to accept their circumstances, and others try to change them. I have learned to accept the fact that I’m different, but I still can’t help but wonder how different things would be if I never walked into the kitchen of my old home years ago.
Understanding the enemy
BY EMILY BARTON
Scholarly interest hasn’t been the driving force behind the growth of language and culture studies. The opportunities available today in many foreign language programs stem directly from the “know the enemy” mentality of yesterday.
About Campus: Rent-by-the-hour romance
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
I’ve always been a little suspicious of the Oasis Hot Tub Gardens on State Street. And to be sure, I’m not alone.
“I used to work at a pool, and you can only get things so clean,” my roommate said when I told her of my plan to visit the Oasis.
Fine (dumpster) dining
- SAM WOLSON/Daily
BY KARA MORRIS
Imagine coming home to a dozen bouquets of flowers. They are so numerous that it was necessary to use cups, tomato sauce jars and beer bottles as makeshift vases. Then your lover tells you a dirty secret — these flowers are, in fact, dumpster flowers. And you fall even more in love.
These are the life and times — and treasures — of a freegan.
February 4, 2009
Personal Statement: The tantric New York Times
BY BRIAN TENGEL
Reading the Sunday New York Times is better than sex,” a friend of mine once remarked a few years ago.
Being unfamiliar with the paper at the time, I couldn’t validate his statement. But it gave me pause. The Sunday Times must really be something, I thought, if he’s arguing that it’s better than sex. So I started reading.
New rules
rule 179: It’s acceptable to keep your socks on during sex in this weather.
rule 180: Throwing all your plastic bottles in a bin labeled “newspaper only” doesn’t make you a good environmentalist.
rule 181: It’s fine to have your guilty pleasure TV shows. It’s not OK to watch the same episode of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” more than once.
Abroad off the beaten path
BY KELLY FRASER
Florence. Seville. Aix-en-Provence. These cities, with their postcard views, abundance of cafés and sunshine, are the old standbys for study abroad locations. Western Europe and Australia remain the most popular destinations for University students, said Nicole LeBlanc, assistant director of the University’s Office of International Programs.
About Campus: Back to school
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY ZENAIDA RIVERA
You might have seen them in your psychology lecture or your sports management class. They sit near the front and chat jokingly with the professors as if they know a secret we could only figure out with time and experience. They’re the Knight-Wallace Fellows — a group of mid-career journalists who take off one academic year to attend classes and do research at the University — and if you listen, they could teach you a thing or two.
January 28, 2009
Spend —> be green —> make green
- Photos by Sam Wolson
BY LISA HAIDOSTIAN
Among the dark marble countertops and heavy wood-paneled doors of the new Ross School of Business building’s bathrooms, the electric green handles on the toilets seem a little out of place.
About Campus: Students of zen
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY BRANDON CONRADIS
It’s about 7 a.m. on a Wednesday morning at the Zen Buddhist Temple on Packard Street. LSA junior Joslyn DeVinney is demonstrating how to do a prostration in the sonbang, or meditation room.
Personal Statement: A home plate away from home
BY ROGER SAUERHAFT
I sat before my television on Election Day and tried to hold my emotions in check as I witnessed one of the most symbolic moments of American history. In my head, I thought of the first image that came to my mind when I heard the word “America.”
It wasn’t the Statue of Liberty or the American flag.
New rules
rule 170: The cold makes you heartier. Repeat that to yourself on the way to class.
rule 171: Averaging one outfit for every 2.5 days is acceptable, at least until people confront you about it.
rule 172: If opting for library books over new editions for class will help you buy a ticket to a warm Spring Break locale, you’re warranted in doing so.
Ads with eyes
BY KRISTEN STEAGALL
Online advertising has taken an Orwellian turn as of late. Termed behavioral advertising, it tracks our every move on the Web. It’s the technology that allows Gmail to show you ads that coincide with the content of your Inbox and the reason why advertisers take so much interest in your Facebook interests.
January 21, 2009
Personal Statement: In league with the devil
BY WILLIAM PETRICH
We trailed 4-3 with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth and final inning. Standing in the coach’s box alongside the first base line, I glanced at my scorecard to find, regrettably, that Aaron was our next batter. “Shit,” I muttered to myself. “Anyone but Aaron.”
Rewards reaped, fees incurred
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
Learning to spend on credit can be a treacherous path, but the savvy student can earn more than just a good credit score. See if these student credit cards’ reward programs are worth their fine-print pitfalls.
Junk Drawer
A collection of this week's high and low points: talking points, featured study, quotes of the week and more.
New rules
rule 173: In deeper than two feet of snow, there is only one rule in street parking: if you can get in and out, you’re good.
rule 174: True artists would never be censored by a city graffiti ordinance.
rule 175: “Technical difficulty” isn’t a reasonable excuse to warn students of a highly contageous norovirus three days late.
Greasing the wheels
- Anna Bakeman/ Daily
BY GABE NELSON
The Detroit Three used to be big-time benefactors to the University. But needing a technological edge in the face of economic uncertainty, automakers are looking to the University for more than good will.
January 14, 2009
Young blood at the auto show
- (Said Alsalah/Daily)
BY ANDREW GROSSMAN
Our generation’s coming of car-buying age should be a cause for hope as automakers look toward an uncertain future. There were 63 million Americans between the ages of 10 and 24 in 2007, according to an estimate from the Census Bureau. But we are a generation uncomfortable with our parents’ transportation, survey-takers and market-researchers say. Automakers know that. The vehicles on display at the North American International Auto Show are smaller, more efficient and more connected than they were even a year ago. Here’s what some companies are doing to catch your eye.
Personal Statement: Watching from abroad
BY ABIGAIL B. COLODNER
When asked by Czechs last semester what I was doing in the Czech Republic, I said I came to study "politika," politics, my language teacher's simplification of "public policy."
"Why would you come to the Czech Republic to study politics?” a talkative barfly named Petr asked me. “It is the worst."
Lights. Camera. Economic stimulus?
- Sam Wolson/ Daily
BY COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
The movie “Betty Anne Waters,” starring Hilary Swank, will start its seven-week shoot in Ann Arbor on Feb. 17, though its production crew has been in the area since November and will likely stay until the end of April. The film is one of many that have flooded into the area in recent months, thanks to the passage of the Michigan Motion Picture Incentive Program. And with much of Michigan’s economy continuing to crumble, the face of the state’s quickly growing film industry may start to look less like short-term, converted offices and more like a Midwestern Tinseltown.
About Campus: The campus flea market
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY KELLY FRASER
When the Department of History no longer needs a filing cabinet or it’s time for the University Hospital to replace its helicopter launch pad, the used items could end up at Property Disposition — the University’s equivalent of the Land of Misfit Toys.
January 7, 2009
Personal Statement: From the picket line
BY BEENISH AHMED
For 18 years, peaceful protests have occurred at the Fort to call for an end to the US’ role in perpetuating and providing means for coups and the constant oppression of a population that such overhauls are predicated upon. A group of University students including myself made the 13-hour, Waffle House-laden trip to join voices with the School of the Americas Watch.
About Campus: Donation duds
- Illustration by Laura Garauoglia
BY KRISTEN STEAGALL
The big donors to the University are easy to spot. The $100 million that Stephen M. Ross donated to the business school is obvious to anyone on Central Campus who looks south, and the story of William Cook’s famous donation to build the Law Quad is told to all prospective students on campus tours.
Everybody does it, don't they?
- Photo illustration by Sam Wolson
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
The issue of gender-neutral pronouns might seem petty — something spawned from political correctness or academic stuffiness — but once “somebody rips his panty hose” or a friend asks whether it is “your sister or brother who holds his breath the longest,” even the strictest English teacher would have to admit there is a problem. As can be seen everywhere from the presidential election to Facebook News Feed and perhaps even your last term paper, the generic-pronoun question still dogs the English language.
Competitors and confidants
- Photo by Sam Wolson
BY LISA HAIDOSTIAN
Although law school is often deemed one of the most academic, stiff and competitive post-graduate programs, law school message boards are filled with a whole lot of love and support between anonymous posters vying for the same few prestigious spots.
December 3, 2008
About Campus: The X-rated Daily
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
Like many companies with a stake in online revenue, The Michigan Daily turned to Google Analytics to see what keywords bring search engine users to our website.
A lot of the results from the last semester are predictable — “sam mcguffie,” “michigan vs toledo” and variations of “michigan daily” dominate our top ten keywords.
About Campus: An international Thanksgiving
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY ELIN BERGMAN
A certain group of people remained on campus after the Thanksgiving exodus: the University’s sizeable body of international students.
When most students went back to their hometowns last week to indulge in food, beverages and the shopping frenzy of Black Friday, their foreign peers remained on the nearly abandoned campus over the holiday.
Personal Statement: I'm sorry. I'm shy.
BY ZENAIDA RIVERA
I had gone out one night to a friend of a friend's house for a small gathering and I could hear her housemates commenting quietly to each other as I left. "I was just trying to be polite, you know, start a conversation. She was kind of a bitch."
Affirmative stagnation
- (Angela Cesere/Daily)
BY ROSE AFRIYIE AND MATTHEW HUNTER
After Proposal 2 passed, one black LSA student described the campus atmosphere as “filled with anger and disbelief, especially in the black community. Amongst my white peers it was drastically different. It was kind of like ‘that sucks, now lets move on.’ ”
November 26, 2008
About Campus: The secret of Lloyd island
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY TREVOR CALERO
The Lloyd Hall Scholars Program, a living-learning community for art and writing in Lloyd Residence Hall, offers a lot of perks for its freshmen.
Lloyd scholars get reduced prices for University performances, access to small creative writing classes that fulfill the often-painful first-year writing requirement and an absolute guarantee they won’t have to live on North Campus.
Personal Statement: The kid inside
BY CHARLES CLINTON
I needed to do something about myself and do it quickly, or at least I felt that way at the time. I had to learn how to grow up and I had to do it fast.
I was 13 years old and about to enter high school, so I had plenty of other things to worry about than Asperger’s syndrome and how to suppress it. I felt that the most important thing at the time was to be strong, be tough, show no weakness and act at all times like you know what you’re talking about.
Ypsi: the other college bar scene
BY KRISTEN STEAGALL
I’m not from Michigan. But like many University students, my views on Ypsilanti were shaped before I had ever visited it. Degenerate, dirty and scary are just a few of the adjectives my peers have used to describe it. But I figured the home of Eastern Michigan University must have its own college nightlife. I decided to check Ypsi out for myself.
The empty pantry epidemic
- Chanel Von Habsburg-Lothringen/Daily
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
While the state’s stagnant economy has increased the need for aid organizations over the years, food banks statewide report a drastically sharper increase in demand for 2008.
November 19, 2008
Personal Statement: Baits won
BY WILLIAM PETRICH
“Baits is an amazing community that allows you to get involved and build lasting friendships during your first year at Michigan” reads a description on the housing website. Whoever wrote that could have drafted speeches for Donald Rumsfeld during the run up to the Iraq War. I don’t know who Vera Baits was or what atrocity she committed, but it must have been terrible for the University to punish her as they have, naming their most disgraceful installation in her memory.
About Campus: Taking abuse at Telefund
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY SARA LYNNE THELEN
In about 2.6 million calls to members of the Alumni Association, more than a hundred student workers at Michigan Telefund, the University's telemarketing-style fundraising program, help to collect about $3 million in donations every year.
Behind the impressive fundraising, though, is the reality of telemarketing — assertively asking for money coupled with frequent rejection.
The art of bullshitting
Bullshitting is an art form. Do it right and you’ll score an A and a place in your professors’ good graces. Do it wrong and everyone will know that you’re an asshole — or you’ll cross the line into cheating. Here’s how to do it right.
Changing how fans follow Michigan football
- PHOTOS BY SAM WOLSON/Daily
BY ANDY REID
In just a few years, Brian Cook’s website mgoblog.com has overthrown the ranks of professional journalists who cover the team, representing the drastic change in the culture of news coverage — in this case, the coverage of Michigan football, a change to which most major newspapers have yet to adapt.
November 12, 2008
Pot watch: Michigan's medical marijuana
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
A resounding 63 percent of Michigan voters passed an initiative that made Michigan the 15th state to allow for the use of medical marijuana.
Glimpses of alumni past
BY MIKE DOLSEN
The University has had a slew of famous alumni — the man who voiced Darth Vader and Mufasa from “The Lion King,” a modern-day Charlie’s Angel, a president, a famed playwright, several notorious murders. Traces of these four illustrious alumni still survive on campus today, but rather than namesake libraries or theatres, it’s the smaller artifacts that reveal what these alumni were like in their formative days at the University.
November 5, 2008
Personal Statement: Choosing the road over resume
BY PATRICK TAIT MORRIS
Over the past summer, I had the fortunate experience of taking a seven week road trip in a cherry red 1979 Mercedes-Benz station wagon that runs on vegetable oil.
It’s possible, although it does involve driving slowly, and sometimes aimlessly, through towns across the United States.
The last puff: how close is Michigan to banning indoor smoking?
- PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY BENJI DELL/Daily
BY TREVOR CALERO
When Henry Cohen opened the Black Pearl on Main Street in September, he had to make a decision about the identity of his martini bar.
As an ex-smoker who takes the damaging effects of second-hand smoke seriously, Cohen wanted to make his bar a non-smoking establishment.
“I think (smoking) makes it unpleasant for people who are nonsmokers,” he said. “In fact I know.”
Snack food snobbery
These student have strong opinions about campus's best burrito, cheap beer and convenience store pizza. But can they tell their favorites in a blind taste test?
October 29, 2008
Personal Statement: Me for mayor
BY ERIC PLOURDE
"You’re running for what? Mayor? Why? He’s kidding right? Oh, you’re serious? Can you do that? Tell me about it!”
The ballot beyond Obama
Yes, after you vote for Obama, the ballot will ask you to elect other people to other positions. Here’s a cheat sheet to catch up.
Blunderin’ Joe Biden VS. McCain the Mouth
Joe Biden gaffes:
“Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me.”
—At a Sept. 10 town hall meeting at Nashua Community College New Hampshire.
“I mean, you got the first mainstream
October 22, 2008
At 'fake frat' Beta Omega Chi, the party must go on
- CHANEL VONHABSBURG-LOTHRINGEN/Daily
BY TREVOR CALERO
For the residents of certain campus houses, throwing wild parties is more than just fun — it’s sacred tradition.
Personal Statement: Renting in A2, a cautionary tale
BY CAROLINE HARTMANN
When people tell me they’ve had unfortunate Ann Arbor housing experiences, I can’t help but laugh a little. Not because I don’t believe them, but because I know I’ve fared worse. So much worse that I can claim the authority to lay down some ground rules for every student seeking housing in this cramped college town.
So the house is a historic landmark? Forget it.
October 15, 2008
Personal Statement: The cold war
BY JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
I lay there, weak and defeated.
Defeated, because this was the semester I wasn’t going to let it happen. This year, I was going to do everything in my power to avoid being taken captive by that most abominable nemesis — the campus cold.
Adult Swim's convoluted campus marketing
BY SARA LYNNE THELEN
Among the many multicolored fliers passed out to students last week, one would have definitely sparked the curiosity of a recipient who bothered to read it.
“Adult Swim presents the Williams Street County Fair and Expo featuring the Experienced Clairvoyant Cat, some balloons, free t-shirts. Plus go fishing!” read the advertisement in Old-West style type.
October 8, 2008
Country before college life
- Chanel Von Habsburg-Lothringen
BY ANDY KROLL
Why ROTC cadets and midshipmen who choose 5 a.m. drills over Thursday night bar crawls.
Personal Statement: The double life of depression
BY JANE COASTON
Mental illness is the awkward cousin in the family of illness. It's tough to discuss, tough to understand and tougher to admit to dealing with.
Minimum injustice
BY TREVOR CALERO
Ever buy a muffin when all you wanted was coffee just so you’d meet the minimum for a credit card purchase? Here’s why you shouldn’t have to
About Campus: A little off the bottom
- Allison Ghaman
BY SARA LYNNE THELEN
A Daily woman gets a haircut from campus’s dudeliest barbor
October 1, 2008
Not for your convenience
- CHANEL VONHABSBURG-LOTHRINGEN
BY KARA MORRIS
While many campus restaurants vie for student costumers by accommodating their strange eating schedules, a few places refuse to bend to the call for convenience. Are these limited-hour eateries worth your time?
Personal Statement: Unfit for "The Real World"
BY COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
It started as a joke. A friend told me last spring that MTV’s “Real World” was accepting casting applications on its website for the show’s 22nd season, so we both sent in our name, age and a picture and promptly forgot about it.
But then, a few weeks ago, an e-mail appeared in my Gmail with “RW Casting” in the subject line. The Real World crew was coming to Scorekeepers on Saturday, Sept. 20 and that I was invited to come to the casting call, with a guest, as a “VIP applicant.”
Well, what the hell? I thought. I might as well go all the way on this one.
September 24, 2008
Showdown in the Fishbowl
- Illustration by Laura Garavoglia
BY JACOB SMILOVITZ
As Apple would have it, your choice of laptop is your defining personality trait. You’re either a Mac hipster or a PC suit.
But Windows couldn’t let the Mac guy’s slights go unanswered, adopting an advertising strategy that answers for its competitor’s portrayal of the PC nerd. “I’m a PC” is the rallying cry for an amalgam of personalities — black, white, young, old and Jerry Seinfeld.
But both companies’ commercials make it clear: you’re PC or you’re Mac, you’re with us or you’re against us.
The state of the sexual union
- Photo illustration by Zachary Meisner/Daily
BY ROSE AFRIYIE
The Statement investigates the state of the sexual union for college-aged men and women at the University and nationally.
September 23, 2008
Personal Statement: A former mean girl's lament
BY ANNIE BERNSTEIN
I will never be able to show my kids my seventh grade yearbook. The photos of each of my classmates are either crossed out or circled, bearing my judgment. I’d like to think that my markings were grounded in careful thought, but I know it was an arbitrary process. It’s been eight years since I was in seventh grade, and I am just coming to terms with the shameful fact that I was the archetypal middle school Queen Bee.
September 17, 2008
Catch-up cuisine
- Chanel Von Habsburg-Lothringen
BY LINDY STEVENS
The University has never made a top priority of catering to students’ comfort. But the competition for the hearts and minds of prospective students often comes down to their stomachs
The Hill Dining Center reviewed
BY KARA MORRIS
While the new Hill Dining Center Marketplace promises more choices, the only variety to set it apart from past dining halls is in the number of stations: seven. Apart from a few creative dishes, the "marketplace"-style cafe has done little else but categorize and reintroduce the dining system's old menus.
