HosPitaLP'rlani lExposes
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Patien-ts .to At, ot Diseases
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by Liz Patton
If the word "hospital" makes
you think of dreary rooms and -
harried staff rushing down bleak
hallways, think again. Envision art
isplaysgracingthe:busy
corridors, prins in the rooms, and
live music in the patient lounge.
Those who have never had
-occasion to visit the halls of
healing at the University of
Michigan Hospitals may not know
Don't let your dorm room
hold you hostage!
V% E wS ~~
You
o BE
LORTUeW i
uG A
FIGHT BACK!
...and turn your room into a
place that you want to hang
out in with
posters, calanders, and
room supplies
from
book store
aboutthe free patient program
called 'Gifts of Art." This is not a
concert series for which one can
buy season tickets. In fact, those
patints -who are there to listen
undoubtedly would prefer to be
elsewhere. Yet the weekly
concerts and monthly art exhibits
add up to a sizeable number of
presentations each year. Behind it
all is theater designer-turned-arts
administrator Gary Smith.
Smith oversees the three main
aspects of the Gifts of Art
Program. Almost every week, the
hospital community is treated to a
live performance - indoors from
September to May, outdoors in
the courtyard from May to July.
Elaine Sims, the promotion
coordinator, has presented an
extraordinary variety of
performing artists from Madrigal
singers and Renaissance dancers
to jazz ensembles and solo
pianists - an ever-changing
kaleidoscope reflecting the fluid
composition of the hospital
community. Smith is open to just
about anything, stipulating only
that the groups be from Michigan.
"What funding we get comes
ultimately from the Michigan
community," says Smith, "so it
should go back to the
community."
In the hospital's eight
galleries, Smith and Exhibit
Coordinator Martha Salot displays
paintings, pottery, sculptures and
other forms of visual art in a series
of 72 shows per year. A variety of
sources are tapped, from students
in medical illustration, to artists
coming to the Art Fair, to
employees of the medical center
itself.
The third part of the program,
called Art Cart, is a travelling
collection of framed prints which
allows patients to change the
artwork in their rooms. "They can
change it to something they like,
or at least something they hate
less," says Smith with a grin. Live
demonstrations of studio arts such
as pottery and painting are also
part of the program.
The number of similar
programs across the country is
growing, along with acceptance of
the idea that mental well-being is
important to the healing process.
Responding to a national need for
networking and problem-solving,
Smith helped found the Society
for Health Care Arts
Administrators.
Michigan's program, begun in
emulation of the University of
Iowa Hospital and Clinics, is now
one of the largest of its kind, This
summer, U.S. News and World
Report mentioned the weekly
performances in its survey of the
top hospitals across the country.
One of the remarkable aspects
of the Gifts of Art program is the
extraordinary diversity of
performers from week to week.
How does he find them? "We
solicit most of the stuff, but we
get demo tapes a lot," said Smith.
"People will call us up and say
they'd like to perform here. Or
one of us will say, 'I saw this great
group Friday at the Bind Pig.' We
"Our mission is to the
patients and their families... to
provide an aesthetic experience
for patients under stress,"
explained Smith. It's also an
opportunity for patients to do
something "normal" with their
family.
But the real reward for Smith
comes in observing the response
of the patients. "The arts have a
very special healing power. It's
like cating right," he said. "You
by Daniel Poux
You stumble out of your
morning lecture in Angell Hall
unable to think about anything
except putting food in your
stomach. You sprint to the Union,
because the only food-buying
power you have is in your Entrde-
Plus account, and the line outside
the South Quad cafeteria is around
the corner. Walking into the newly
renovated MUG, you're con-
fronted with a standing-room-only
crowd of students just like you,
waiting in line for twenty minutes
for a Baby Pan-Pan and some
Crazy Bread.
Why do you do this to yourself?
Lunch is supposed to be the
nutritional highpoint of your day.
In some European countrics, the
midday meal can go on for hours,
with an incredible selection of
elaborate dishes. They wouldn't
settle for a six-inch Subway Club
and a Sprite; why should you?
There is a better way to do
lunch. With a little pre-planning
and creativity, you can avoid all of
this, and eat a much better lunch,
by making it yourself.
I had a very lucky childhood.
From the first day of first grade to
the last days of my senior year in
9vyFOR THOU
Andrew Levy Daniel Poux
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morning?"
I would recommend preparing
as much of the lunch as possible
the night before. You can just
throw it in the fridge, and do the
last minute stuff on your way out
the door in the morning.
Those of you who shudder at
the thought of slightly soggy
sandwiches or less-than-fresh
apple slices should probably get
up a little early in the morning,
and make it fresh. If your sleeping
habits are anything like my
roommates, then the idea of
getting up early for anything
makes you nauseous. But ten
fewer minutes of sleep is not
going to kill you, and it gives you a
definite psychological edge to
Stock up on the proper sup-
plies. Brown bags, plastic baggies
and waxed paper or plastic wrap
are all vital materials for a success-
ful bag lunch. You can pick them
all up very cheaply at the grocery
store, and they last for a long time.
Concentrate on finger foods.
Frequently, you don't have many
utensils, or a plate, or even a table,
so bite-size pieces work best.
They're easy to eat on the go, and
aren't very messy.
Try carrot or celery sticks,
chopped up in advance, and stored
in a bowl of cold water in your
fridge. 'I'hese take a little time to
prepare, but you can do enough
for a whole week of lunches at one
time, and they'll stay fresh, as long
as you leave them in the refrigera-
tor.
Fruit - whether it's apples,
pears, or oranges -is easier to eat
when you cut it up.
Cold cereal in a plastic bag is
good, too. Cereals like Quaker Oat
Squares, Cracklin' Oat Bran, or
Strawberry Fruit Wheats taste
really good without any milk or
sugar, and it only takes seconds to
throw them in a baggie. As an
added plus, these are good sources
of fiber, and will help "keep you
regular."
Watch for leaks. There's
nothing worse than realizing
halfway through your Russian
History lecture that your tuna
salad has soaked your coursepack
all the way up to the part about
Catherine the Great and the horse.
If you're going to pack some-
thing that's even the least bit
moist, either wrap it really well, or
secure it in a container with a
*INciaIJ)I5~
S 1largecanor2smallcansofd
4 celery stalks, dleaned and mir
I i medium sized red orion, cho
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup lowfat mayonnaise or r
*salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Drain tuna well. In a bowl, break up
Ihands (make sure they're dlean). Car
the amounts -of mayonnaise and lenm
thatthe salad will stay on the bread,
creamy texture. Use Iowfat yogurt If
but doesn't hold the salad together:
better.
* This same recipe Is good with chicke
Inepenivepackages ofbreasts, thi!
I and eepthem In your freezer. Boll
* an hour, until the Inside Is complete
* pick it off the bone into bite-sized d
grapes in, too, if you want to be dar
sturdy lid. Tupperware works
really good, but recycled marga-
rine tubs do the job, too. Just
make sure the lid's on tightly, and
put it in the bottom of the bag.
Also: if you're making a
sandwich with some type of salad,
be it chicken, tuna or cactus
(cactus?) spread butter or marga-
rine on the bread. This barrier will
keep the bread dry, and you won't
be disappointed when you open
the bag to find a mess of limp
wheat bread.
Well, I've reached the limits of
my lunching knowledge. I hope
that I've given you a few pointers
that, coupled with your own
creativity and desire, will convince
you that brown bagging is the way
to go.
MICHELLE GUY/Weekend
University hospitals arts administrator Gary Smith introducing the group
"Footloose" on Tuesday. Their appearance was one in a series of
performances, exhibitions and concerts the hospitals produce for the
benefit of patients and the rest of the hospital community.
"A man can be a pessimistic determinist
before lunch and an optimistic believer in
the will's freedom after it"
-Aldous Huxley, "Pascal, " Do What You Will, 1929
go to the Art Fair and find talent
there. We try to stay tuned in to
who's doing what in the local
community."
That isn't too difficult for
Smith. He grew up in Ypsilanti
and has lived in and around
Michigan all his life. After
graduating from high school in
1%7, he came to the University
of Michigan for pre-medical
studies. Without a trace of
embarrassment he described how
he flunked out, transferred to
Eastern Michigan and finished his
degree there in Dramatic Arts in
1972. In 1975 he got a Master of
Fine Arts degree in theatrical
design from Ohio University,
then taught at Interlochen for a
time. Back in Ann Arbor, for five
years he worked for the
University of Michigan in student
services, arranging performances.
He was hired to start the Gifts of
Art program in 1987, shortly after
the new University Hospital
opened.
need a certain amount of aesthetic
time in your life."
"I saw a man who had refused
to communicate for six months
suddenly ask to get into a
Michigan's program... is
now one of the largest of
its kind. This summer,
U.S. News and World
Report mentioned the
weekly performances in
its survey of the top
hospitals across the
country.
high school, as I walked out the
door to my waiting carpool, I
scooped up a brown paper bag
with my name on it waiting beside
the front door. Every day for 12
years my mother faithfully packed
me a well-balanced lunch, with a
sandwich (two, as I got older),
some fruit or vegetables, and some
cookies. She even put in a folded
paper towel - I'm still a messy
eater - and a cute card on my
birthday.
Now that I'm on my own, I
realize how much I took her
efforts for granted. It has been
difficult, but the payoff-- a
better, cheaper lunch I don't have
to wait in line for - is definitely
worth it. All it takes is a brown bag
and 10 minutes a day.
The first question the eager
lunch-packer must ask him or
herself is: "Do I want to assemble
my meal the night before, or get
up a little earlier, and do it in the
walk off to class with a symbol of
your ambition and creativity in
your hand.
The real beauty of brown bag
lunching lies in its inherent
flexibility; you can make your
lunch exactly the way you want it.
Whatever your tastes, you can
indulge them, exactly the way you
like. I'll try to concentrate less on
specific foods, and more on
techniques, to make any lunch
better.
iF?6-
200-208 South 7nM 3~~e. Ann ArWo.
1205 S. University " 761-7177
2773 Plymouth Rd * 741-4722
Welcome Back Blondes, Brunettes and Red Heads!
RelaxersNA Haircuts
Spiral Perms Full Nail Service
Wave Nouveau SALON Custom Hairstyling
312 Thompson St. (near corner of Liberty) 995-5733
Saturday, September 21st:
From London, England
IRS Recording Artist
Wednesday, October 2nd:
From Zimbabwe
Sunday, October 6th:
REO Speedwagon's
wheelchair to follow a madrigal
quartet around the hospital,"
Smith recalled. "That kind of
thing really makes you believe in
"l]~I I'i7L I'd map
i 1' i
September 20, 1991
WEEKEND
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WEEKEND
Sept
t