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THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page five
A click and a swoo
h
You won't see it in the front row of this year's Indianapolis
500, but don't be surprised several years from now if when
Tony Human shouts "Gentlemen, start your engines" the
only sound is a click and a mild swoosh.
The Amick-SunWind Windmobile, designed by James Amick
of Ann Arbor, is intended as an alternative to the roaring,
fuel guzzling passenger cars which dominate the present auto
market. It runs exclusively on wind and the electric power
that wind generates.
AMICK AND HIS three sons-James, Richard and Doug-
built and tested the prototype of the Windmobile on roads and
airport runways around Ann Arbor. Looking somewhat like
a cigar sitting under a croquet wicket, the wind car is eight
feet high, eight feed wide and 11 and one half feet long. The
test prototype's one seat is actually more of a cockpit, but
the Amicks plan to modify the design to fit several people
for road use.
Amick, a land sailing enthusiast and former University
Engineering professor designed the Windmobile's predecessor,
the Land Sailor, in 1971 and tested it at the Bonneville Salt
Flats in Utah in 1973. "Most people at the Sail Club were
skeptical," Amick recalls, but the vehicle reached speeds of
60 miles per hour.
Even after the car was adapted for road use with an
electric battery it retained the three-wheeled design of a
sailplane.
WHEN THE WIND hits the arch-shaped wing at an angle,
the airflow produces a forward-acting element which drives
the car. There is no chance of the vehicle becoming airborne
because of a tail wing which sits behind the vehicle's center
of gravity and pushes the nose down, much like a spoiler
on a race car.
A 10 m.p.h. crosswind is ngh to move the Windmobile at
a speed of 50 m.p.h., and higher crosswind speeds permit the
spinning wheels to recharge the batteries. In low winds, the
batteries alone can carry the vehicle 40 miles at a speed of
45 m.p.h.
As an aerodynamic engineer, James Amick worked at the
University aerodynamics laboratory until 1970 when, he says,
"they ran out of research projects." Ile still serves as an
occasional consultant at the University wind tunnel, but his
work now consists primarily of perfecting the Windmobile.
Amick describes himself as "a freelance inventor," but
concedes that nothing he has designed is currently on the
market.
"I'M HOPEFUL that this car will get other people interest-
ed in wind power," he says. "It will let them enjoy the wind."
Drivers who get a kinky thrill out of sitting at intersections
and gunning an internal combustion engine will find the
Windmobile quite different. The electric motor makes the
-ar very quiet even when not under wind power, although the
Amicks say it could be adapted to an internal combustion
engine. The acceleration is also extremely smooth.
"The most fascinating part of it
and get gust of wind and you feel
says Doug Amick, a senior at Albion
car. "It's very much like a glider."
is when you're driving
the engine accelerate,"
who has test driven the
"You feel the wind pick you up, and then-vwoosh," he
adds, punctuating his sentence with a smooL-i hand gesture
to indicate the even acceleration of the car. "It's a nice
feeling moving with just the wind."
-STU McCONNELL
Stunning studs
A whole lottastruttin'
Flexing their muscles and shaking their hips, seven saucy
male soecime-s promenaded before a panel of twelve judges,
battling for the crown in the Male Beauty Pageant held in
Couzens cafeteria last November.
Strutting down the wooden walkway, the sexy septet was
greeted. with whistles, catcalls and cheers by about 150 people.
CONTEST WINNER Steve O'Hara gushed, "I'm just so
thrilled I could float away," as he was presented a bouquet
of roses by his escorts, Jane and Linda.
"The crowd's favorite, Amir "the Shiek" Hafiz, thrilled the
fans ,as he appeared with his body glazed by olive oiT.
"I ruined by best shirt with the oil," the annointed hero
said. "But an olive oil distributor has promised to sponsor me
in the state competition."
REIBEARDED bombshell Steve Spolar, the contest's first
runner up, said simply, "I was dynamite."
Second -runner up Dave Johnson, a trombone player for the
Michigan MV arching Band, said, "It was the biggest thrill of
my life."
The beauties attempted to show they were also part brain
as they fielded questions about educational experiences, the
implications of the resignation of Supreme Court Justice William
Douglas, and whether it is "better to die for something or live
for nothing."
"Three trips off the top of Burton Tower will tell you no,"
said hairy-chested Steve Borkan.
THE PAGEANT was the brainchild of Couzens RA Char-
litta Blair, who organized the event with the help of her
"Fourth Floor Foxes."
The $75 in proceeds went to Maxey Boys Training School,
a juvenile detention home.
At one point the preceedings were interrupted when a
group calling themselves COME (Citizens Organized for Male
Equality) stormed the stage carrying a torch and signs, in-
cluding one which read "Penis Power."
"The tide has turned, we believe in equality for men.
Women's lib has usurped our role," the group's official state-
ment said. "We want our jocks back, we want to wear the
pants in the family."
-PAULINE LUBENS
Photos by Scott Eccker, Steve Kagan & Pauline Lubens
Windmobile
Hash Basher
Hash Bash isa smash
.~..~.......".~...".l .......................
Fowl play
called b
city COps
Neither Bill Strauch nor his pet
rooster Rojo have much to crow
about these days. f.
The Ann Arbor police are try- F}}r >
ing to silence the boisterous 'of
bird, and Strauch is battling city ?
officials in court against charges
of foul play. .
HARD TIMES for Strauch and. .
XWhis pet rooster began last Sep-.
tember when city cops received
a call from irate neighbors who
wiwere furious with Rojo's mid-
night serenading. Upon answer-
ing the call at 700 Madison Place,
police found the Mexican rooster
crooning away in Strauch's park-
ed Buick. Acting on a city ordi°
nance which prohibits the raising
of "fowl, horses, goats, or farm
animals," police dlapped Strauch r
with a misdemeanor for "chicken
being raised in auto," and posted{r,
a $35 bond on the citation.
'1I'm pleading not guilty to the A
charge," says 59-year-old Sraucha:
a self-proclaimed eccentric whose
case received national media at- h
tention last fall. "Rojo was not
being raised in my car. He's al-
ready been raised. And besides,
he s not a chicken," Strauch said
pointing out a technicality in the gy
charge. "He thinks he's the bad-
dest fighting cock in thetworld.*
THE ANN ARBOR police, how*
ever, didn't give Strauch's case
a fighting chance.
"You just can't raise chickens'K;
in the city," explained Captain
M. Dann of the Ann Arbor Police
Department. "We didn't take the
chicken away from him, because .. :-
Despite cold temperatures and an almost
constant drizzle, this year's Fifth Annual Hash
Bash enjoyed its largest turn-out yet.
Nearly 5,000 people came to the bash-held
religiously every April 1-which originated half
a decade ago to celebrate the reduction of the
penalty for marijuana possession to a mis-
demeanor.
WHILE MOST people appeared to enjoy the
availability of large quantities of dope and
alcohol, some felt that "the whole thing is get-
ting too commercial." Besides the selling of T-
shirts, bracelets, food and other assorted goods,
one man reportedly attempted to sell a twelve
pack of empy, crushed beer cans.
Wild roars of glee greeted the sun each time
it appeared, although most of the crowd ap-
peared oblivious to the drizzly weather. In fact,
the crowd was willing to yell at anything as
long as everyone else was doing it.
Alany persons at the bash objected to the
large number of younger visitors. "They're all
a bunch of high school dropouts," said one stu-
dent. "It makes me sick to think that they
group these people as Ann Arbor students."
MtiMA DONNA said her son Viento, also four,
"has had a toke or two, but I'm not into kids
smoking. Anyways, he gets a natural high."
Eric Holdreith, 10, of Chelsea, obviously found
his high another way. "I'm just hanging around
trying to cop a buzz," he said, joint in hand.
"I've been smoking ,since I was two."
The University and high school students at
the bash were joined by at least two motorcycle
clubs. The Engagers from Inkster and The
Violators from Detroit, as well as several peo-
ple from nowhere in particular.
"I'm just hanging around from everywhere,"
said one man.
THE HIGHLIGHT of the day was an im-
promptu striptease on the steps of the Graduate
Library. Karen Wallace and David Laird did
their thing for a crowd of cheering onlookers
and eager photographers.
"It feels good to walk around with no
clothes," said Wallace. "I used to do it all the
time in high school."
"We're both Pisces," she offered by way of
explanation, "and the only reason David cov-
ered himself is because . . . well, you know
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