,
19 .years o
Good Humor:
Jerry Poquette
By BETH NISSEN
"I'LL HAVE A toasted almond bar," said the girl,
straddling a 10-speed and scrounging in her
patched denim pocket for change.
As he has for thirteen years, Jerry Poquette, the
campus's best-known Good Humor man, reached
into his freezer truck and instinctively withdrew
the right ice cream bar,
"They used to call me Speedy Jerry," said the
65-year-old ice cream pusher with a toothy grin. "I
can reach in blindfolded and get anything.
Jerry Poquette has been with Good Humor for
nineteen years; all but six of those years he has
stationed his-white truck in front of the LSA build-
ing. "Most of my customers are students and work-
ers in the office buildings," he said, "but I sell to
little kids, too, and University officials, even dogs.
Their owners buy them their favorite ice cream.
"I sold ice cream to Red Grange when he was
in town, and I used to sell to Cazzie Russell, Oliver
Darden and Bill Bunten when they were playing
ball. Cazzie liked the plain Good Humor bar and
Oliver always bought a-toasted almond while Bill
liked the chocolate eclair. I remember what folks
buy."
POQUETTE'S WORK YEAR begins April 1 and
ends the first of October. "During the winter, I
don't work," said Poquette, adjusting his Captain's
hat. "I just have a lot of fun.I just eloped five years
ago. I called my son up one night and said, 'Kid,
you've got a new mother.' It was that fast. So my
new wife and I play all winter and I work in the
sin all summer. I've done pretty good, considering
the amount of bad weather recently. I was selling
ice cream with my overcoat on in April. But rain
or shine, no matter what, I get out the truck and
start selling ice cream when April comes. And
peonle say to me 'Where have you been? I've been
waiting for you to show up."'
Poquette halted the conversation to quickly ex-
change a handful of chocolate eclairs for quarters
and dimes. "I sell the best bar in the country, bar
none," he declared. He waited for the semi-circle
of waiting customers to stop groaning over the
word-play. "You've got to work a little pun to have
a little fun," he shrugged.
"I FIGURE I'M entitled to an Honorary degree at
the University after all these years," said Po-
quette, squinting through plastic-frame sunglasses
and rapidly handing out chocolate bars, popsicles
and ice cream cups. "Maybe a degree in Psychol-
ogy. I meet and talk to students from all over the
world and they tell me all kinds of things."
Poquette hasn't noticed much change in students
in thirteen years. "Maybe the kids are getting
smarter every year, but they're still mostly the
same."
Poquette remembers over a decade of varied stu-
dent activities including demonstrations a n d
marches. "Sure, what people do changes year to
year," said the Ice Cream Man, "but every sum-
mer, when the sun is hot, they all put on their
smiles and they come out for ice cream."
Beth Nissen is a member of the editorial
page staff.
Doily Photo by STEVE KAGAN
The Michigan Daily
Edited and managed, by Students at the
University of Michigan
Saturday, May 10, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
Dorm cost panelafarce
THE LATEST IN A long line of Feldkamp fiascos came
Thursday with the Housing Director's Thursday sug-
gestion that the "special committee chaired by me ap-
pears to be an effective way at this time to explore
(housing) cost reductions."
What with the economic crunch and a next-to-hos-
tile state legislature, money-conscious students' pros-
pects for next year are dim enough without having Feld-
kamp dictating housing priorities,
Hard times is a fact of life, and it would be foolish to
argue the fact that less money for the University inevit-
ably means some services and positions at the University
have to be cut.
But with the virtual certainty of another tuition in-
crease come fall, the move to dorm service cuts seems
a clear indication that students again will be stuck at
the short end of the stick.
JOHN FELDKAMP'S BUNGLING of housing affairs at
the gross expense of his tenant legions has come to
be expected routine over the past year. The infamous
dorm lottery was widely acclaimed as a mass injustice
of the lowest order.
Yet, incredibly, the Housing Director, with the mem-
ory of his past blunders still vivid,has the gall to dictate
the parameters of student living arbitrarily, without legi-
timate student input in his decisions.
The cost Reduction Committee could be an effec-
tive forum for ensuring student tastes and needs would
be represented in Housing Office decisions. Predictably
enough, however, Feldkamp has chosen to mold the com-
mittee into a rubber stamp panel..As student commit-
tee member Irving Freemean put it, "The committee,.
isn't necessary. The only reason they have it is, when in
September everybody complains, Feldkamp can say a'
committee decided on the measures."
Letters to The Daily
elitism
To The Daily:
EITHER acknowledge that
you are coming from an elitist,
academic, white male, Anglo-
Saxon orientation, or hire per-
sons capable of monitoring your
destructive racism.
Can you still print the cartoon
of Wednesday, April 16, depict-
ing the CIA agent holding the
I.D. "I am not a crook"? Prom-
inent, displayed in your key edi-
torial area, the coloring of the
exaggerated agent is another
obvious association of "black"
with evil.
This newspaper is :nore than
a tool for graduate scintol as-
pirants. Visual and printed
words have subtle, yet acute
consequences.
You have serious responsibl-
ity to yourselves, to students
here, and most important, to
those many, many individuals
who finance our privilege with
their sweat.
Recognize it!
Nadine Egnatios
April 16
outrageous
To The Daily:
IN VIEW of the current econ-
omic state inthis country, price
changes are never surprising.
But the conspicuous price leap
at Margaret Bell Po)l, in effct
since the end of the winter
term, comes as a shock. From
ic to 7 c is outrageous fo r
University students, whom the
'pool is supposedly serving. Fa-
culty and others with full-time
jobs may be able to afford the
increase, but unemployed stu-
dents face a hot, dry summer
The Physical Education De-
partment has at least one valid
point: they demand that swim-
mers wear their provided suis,
which considerably reduce bac-
teria in the pool. This sui serv-
ice comprises .2Sc of the -new
fee. But, interestingly enough,
a towel costs 17c to launder -
2c greater than the otd 15, adi- committee, consisting cf key
mission. The U may no longer housing administrators rnd
be able to give gifts like :bat, three students, will be examin-
but must they recapure t h e ing numerous proposais to save
money they've lost ia years money, many of whi:h involve
past? A 5100 per cent increase drastic cuts of services in ui-
is too abrupt to be jusified. I versity housing. -
suggest that budget cuts be It is important that all ttu-
made with more subtlety in the dents who are concerned-w it h
future, and hope to see Ma the quality of jife in dormitories
Bell's price go down before the attend the committee's meetings
temperature goes up. and let the adminisrators know
-Timothy Chrisuensea their feelings with regard to
May 8 certain cuts in services. T he
committee meets on Wednesdays
hosn at 2:00 p.m. in Room 3545 of the
housing Student's Activities Building.
To The Daily: Let them know what you think!
THE COMMITTEE on Cost -IrvingFreeman
Reductions was recently formed Committee on Cost
to find" ways to cut the budge, Reductions
of the Housing Ofita T h a May 8
A0-- A'dotaU~lS eAM~E 'a-WotIUJ6. WOOj