COMMUNITY

TL

C NSTRUCTION inc

JEWFRO

We're All
Warriors!

By Ben Falik

was a student at Wayne State
University for 90 minutes back in
2004. My thinking? Some non-
degree coursework would keep my
newfound academic bachelorhood
sharp, whether I went back to grad
school or was tapped to play a
smart person on TV. After one day of
microeconomics, I determined my
22-year-old opportunity cost would
instead yield higher utility printing
ironic iron-on T-shirts in my parents'
basement. In addition to coining
such gems as "Stop the Whales" and
"Save Protractors: Turn that Frown
Pi Radians," I got a real life lesson in
supply (high) and demand (low).
Also, I had big plans for John Kerry.
But I held on to my WSU ID —
largely because I have a deep and
abiding affinity
for photo iden-
tification, but
also because
I had a hunch
that my tenure at
Wayne would be
longer and potentially
more auspicious than
its micro beginnings. And
this summer, those long lost
90 minutes turned into three hours
— credit hours for the 19 under-
graduates who took a chance on
me and on the Honors College's first
summer service-learning course.
Through Monday seminar sessions
with guest speakers and Wednes-
days with Summer in the City, my
students proved to be capable paint-
ers and planters. But they were most
effective in engaging our mercurial
middle school crew.
Many Wednesdays, the 40 middle
school and college students would
chart a collective course through
entire neighborhoods — Midtown,
New Center, Downtown — scaveng-
ing for things to hunt, so we could
then send 400 elementary and high
school students there on a Friday
Field Trip. Proving that 12- and 20-
year- olds have at least one impor-
tant thing in common, there was
never any pizza left over.
Nor was this just a few course
credits during an otherwise idle
summer.These kids worked. Aman-
da clocked in at Beaumont at 7 p.m.,
left at 7 a.m. before class at 9:30.
Elaira split her time between two
law firms. Matt between the fencing
team and Kroger meat counter.
Leigh at Wally's Frozen Custard and
a family physician's office.
And they have plans for after they

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26 September 2012 I

RED TIMID

JN

graduate that make my T-shirts look
all the more ironic: neonatal nurse
practitioner, forensic pathologist,
medical examiner (of dead people,
majoring in mortuary science),
pharmacist, "design engineer for ei-
ther washing machines or elevators,
if not cars."
My first full-fledged semester at
Wayne gave me both a strong sense
of Warrior Pride and
a hope that you will
wear yours on your
sleeve — be it scrubs,
suit, lab coat or cover-
alls. An unsubstantiated
but unsurprising statistic I
heard recently: One in three
Detroit-area professionals
boasts a degree from Wayne
State. Most, admittedly, are Tartars,
having turned their tassels before
Wayne became the Warriors in 1999.
In any case, there are more oppor-
tunities than ever before to show
your love for the Green and Gold:
•Urban Gridiron. WSU might be
divisionally distinct from the Big
Ten and MAC, but none of our other
collegiate football teams made it to
their respective national champion-
ships last year.
•Curl Up & Dye. Get your haircut
on Cass Avenue or check out one
of the many other local businesses
sparked by Wayne's concerted
economic and community develop-
ment efforts.
•Go Stargazing. Who says you
can't see the cosmos from the city
— or, for that matter, in the after-
noon? Wayne boasts a bona fide
planetarium, where, for the love
of the little guy, Pluto can still be a
planet.

•Start the Presses. Coney Detroit,
Hollywood's Chosen People: The Jew-
ish Experience in American Cinema
and The Glory Years of the Detroit
Tigers: 1920-1950 are just a few of

the recent titles from Wayne State
University Press.
Best of all, a motto I couldn't have
alliterated better myself: Industry,
Intelligence, Integrity.

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