The Michigan Daily - W4e.' c, .e. - Thursday, January 25, 1996 - 78

University student Willy Jurkiewicz has one up on fame

y JEfrey Dinsmore
ally Arts Writer
ye you've seen his flyers around
aus. That leering, wild-eyed face sit-
ng under a spiky head of hair grabbed
our attention on the way to biology lab.
tepping forward to get a closer look, you
aw that this guy called himself "Fa-
nous' Willy Jurkiewicz. "What's so fa-
pous about him?" you asked. Your ques-
onwasnot answered, becausedue to all
hemarijuanayou'vebeen smoking lately,
ou have a five-second attention span.
'o walked away, and the flyer was
r,6 ty forgotten.
Willy Jurkiewicz will not be forgotten
hat easily.
Since the beginning of the 1995-'96
chool year, Willy Jurkiewicz (pro-
ounced yer-kay-vitch, as in "Does yer
ave itch?")has been aman on a mission.
liegoal: National fameby the year 1997.
Vhy? Well, to quote one of his flyers,
Because we have more control over our
v than we think."
Junior in the Residential College,
urkiewicz began formulating his ideas
ver the summer when he participated in
he New England Literature Program. "I
ealizedbow much I like people, but atthe
ame time I'm frustrated by the way they
ct." To combat all the apathy and self-
ity that Willy saw coming from the
whole "generation X"movement, he de-
ided to show the world exactly how
nuch control people have over their own
l ies. Influenced by the do-it-your-
ci punk ethic, the self-conscious trend-
etting of Andy Warhol and the comic
lash of The Fantastic Four, he decided to
nake himself famous.
So what constitutes fame? For
urkiewicz, fame involves nothing less
han an interview on one of the two bas-
ions of late night humor, Letterman or
Leno. (Although, as he acknowledges on
his home page, he wouldn't rule out aspot
>4ontel Williams' stage, simply be-
:ause Montel is "suchacool guy.") While
his may seen tobe arather lofty goal, it is

this exact loftiness that makes the ends so
desirable.
"People don't feel like they have any
powerin this world,"Jurkiewiczbelieves.
"They feel like all the problems of the
world are too monumental and the indi-
vidual doesn't have any powerin society.
So 1 feel like I need to do somethingreally
gigantic to prove that we can pull things
off. I think it's critical to our nation's and
mankind's future that people start realiz-
ing what power they have. Even when
people feel powerless, they're still role
models for others."
One ofthe first steps Willy took toward
accomplishing his goals was to set up a
home page on the World Wide Web. He
then took to writing the "Famous" Willy
Jurkiewicz Manifesto, outlining his goals
and reasons for wanting to achieve them.
Since October, Jurkiewicz has been con-
stantly updating and expanding his home
page, managing to work in links between
everything from Jimmy Carter to a Devo
fan club to a Japanese Internet cage.
So far, everything's going according
to plan. The manifesto was published in
the Internet magazine "Tum Yeto,"
which is now linked to Jurkiewicz's
homepage as well. People are begin-
ning to notice the flyers he's stuck on
most of the kiosks around town. And in
case you've forgotten, you're currently
reading an article about him in The
Michigan Daily.
Jurkiewicz recently achievedhis great-
est level of fame yet with the founding of
a Japanese chaperofthe "Famous" Willy
Jurkiewicz Fan Club. One night, while
surfing the World Wide Web, Japanese
student Miyuki Takahashi ended up at
"Tum Yeto"andstumbled upon hismani-
festo. Intrigued, she sent him e-mail say-
ing that one of her friends controlled a
successful internet cage in Japan, and that
she'd be interested in becoming president
of the first ever branch of the "Famous"
Willy Jurkiewicz Fan Club. The mani-
festo waslinkedtoJapan,andnow internet
surfers worldwide are learing about "Fa-

ing around - I don't tell many people,
but I say it to myself, cause I think it's
funny - is that I'm a painter and
America is my campus.
"What I think you needto make itin the
art world ... you need talent, you need the
ability to talk about your art, you need to
hang around with famous people and you
need to pull off crazy stunts. Therefore,
the artists that help me out, as long as
they're talented and can talk about their
art, we've already taken care of the other
two.
"If Ido become famous, my fame is not
going to be that substantial," he contin-
ued. "But the artists who make me fa-
mous -they've pulled offa huge artistic
stunt. They've taken a nobody and made
him a star."
In the immediate future, Jurkiewicz's
plans include starting a "Famous" Willy
Jurkiewicz Promotional Marching Band
that will tour the streets of Ann Arbor,
making his name known. A covert and
mysterious "Famous" Willy Jurkiewicz
Guerilla Orchestra is also on the way,
which,accordingto"Famous"Willy him-
self, "must be seen to be believed." He's
currently completing the paperwork nec-
essary in declaring himself an officially

recognized campus club as well, so be on
the- lookout for "Famous" Willy
Jurkiewicz banners on the Diag some-
time soon.
As for the distant future, Jurkiewicz
isn't interested in his fame lasting for
more than the standard 15 minutes. "I
have this romantic idea that after I be-
come famous I'll just slip into obscurity
and become an English teacher." Al-
though, as he admits on his web page,
"the words 'counter culture' have a nice
ring to them."
So if you should run into "Famous"
Willy Jurkiewicz around campus, be sure
to show your support by giving him the
big thumbs up and pointing out to your
friends who he is. If the entire University
can getbehindhim and supporthis cause,
we just may be able to turn a nobody into
a star. Think of the pride you'll feel when
you turn on "The Late Show with David
Letterman" to see one of your fellow
students sitting on the stage, knowingthat
you were partly responsible for getting
him there. Who knows? We just may
prove that we have a voice after all.
Check out "Famous" Willy's home
page at http://www.personal.umich.edu/
-nakedboy/


JOSH BIGGS/Daily
"Famous" Willy Jurklewlcz bares it all in the name of fame.

I

SOPHOMORES...

mous" Willy's cause.
As a result of Jurkiewicz's burgeoning
fame, he feels he'll have the opportunity
to spread a few personal messages that
wouldn'tcarry much weight comingfrom
a nobody. For one, he'd like people to
know that he doesn't do drugs, and he
"has never been and probably never will
be drunk," feeling that drugs and alcohol
are simply reality-avoidance tools. When
Professor Susanne Baker from the School
of Education passed away recently,
Jurkiewicz wrote aeulogy which remains
on his web page today. And he'll never

tire of promoting his favorite local band,
Big Willy and the Flaming Debutantes
(no relation).
Although Willy Jurkiewicz's immedi-
ate goal is to become famous himself, the
end message, he hopes, will be one of
"self-empowerment, not self-aggrandize-
ment." To this end, he's extended an
invitation to campus artists to contact him
and help his cause.
"I'm looking for people who want to
make it in the art world to help me out,
because I see this as a pretty artistic
movement ... the cliche I keep throw-

Access volunteering opportunities

Check your mailbox for a list of
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BIan A. Stavros
)aily Arts Writer
Where do civic-minded cybersurfers
visit.on the World Wide Web to make
donations, find volunteer opportunities
md get information on nonprofitcauses?
The answer is "access.point," a new
ite launched last month by access.point
nc., at http://www.accesspt.com.
Enabling concerned citizens to ex-
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ac s.point offers a variety of services
uch as the Civic Involvement System,
Nonprofit Professionals Network, the
Online Campaign center and the
Fundraising System.
"Access.point is harnessing the power
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ety," said James Clark, president and

founder of access.point Inc.
"The Internet should be used for more
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chances of good things happening
online."
The site provides World Wide Web
exposure for hundreds of smaller, non-
profit organizations that would other-
wise not be able to afford access, Clark
said. Access.point has brought together
content from leading nonprofit organi-
zations, such as Independent Sector,
the National Council of Nonprofit As-
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cation, the Benton Foundation, City

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agement magazine and more.
As a New York information technol-
ogy developer and Internet consulting
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America Online's official partner in the
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is currently in the process of formulat-
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for several nonprofit organizations.
These organizations include the Na-
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munity Service, the National Center for
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sembly, whose members are the United
Way of America, the Salvation Army,
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America,
Goodwill Industries and the National
Council on Aging.

U

Sam

Zell


-


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4
CS FIRST BoSTON
f x
1TECHNICAL CAREER OPPORTUNiTIES
CS First Boston, a leading global investrient bank, headquartered
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'systems which control tra e 'pracessing and , mnangement
information for CS First Boston. The Technical AssociateProgmm
is designed to help build a'supeors ntms staff. All University e1x
Michigan Seniors with.technical adcomputer skills arinvied
attend our information sessi rrM Please dress casual. _
INFORMATIM iON: "
Monday, January 29=9
1200 EECS i..7,
6:30 PM x> v'

The DeRoy Professor in Honors
will give a lecture titled
"Risk and Reward;
The Role of Risk in Return"
Tuesday, January 30 at 4:00 pm
in the Askwith Auditorium,
140 Lorch Hall.

There

will be time for Q and A's




I,