UNIVERSITY
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 3,1997- 5C
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Service groups
help communities
U' housing offers
9
"
unique expenences
By Marla Hackett
Daily Staff Reporter
Looking around the cramped quar-
ters of a residence hall room, a student
may feel like it could never be called
home.
Yet after a few weeks, some posters,
major appliance or two, and maybe a
et, the room transforms into a
social haven.
LSA senior Jeff Gutman said the
best part of dorm living was "coming
back and hanging out with friends until
4 or 5 a.m."
Such statements are common
throughout the University residence
hall system, building a community
atmosphere and the promise of a lot of
n.
"There's always someone for you to
hang out with - just knock on some-
one's door," said Engineering junior
Tomo Sato.
The personalities of the residence
halls are known to be diverse.
"Each residence hall, through both
the traditions that are passed down
every year and the people living there,
Alan Levy, associate director of hous-
ing public affairs. "But the personality
of the dorms are always changing," he
continued, noting that people must be
careful of characterizing residence
halls based on perceptions."
For example, South Quad has a rep-
utation as being full of athletes.
"South Quad is perceived as a jock
dorm," Levy said. "The fact is, I think
the largest number of people we've
ever placed there with athletic scholar-
ships was 70. South Quad has a popu-
lation of over 1,000," Levy said.
West Quad, South Quad's neighbor,
is known to be quieter, due to the high-
er number of returning students.
"West Quad is great when you're
there and you already have all your
friends, but I don't recommend living
there as a freshman," said LSA senior
Justin Hirsch.
An added bonus to West Quad is that
it's connected to the Michigan Union,
which houses fast-food outlets, a cof-
fee shop and numerous places to study.
Indeed, some students said if a per-
son walks down the street dressed
oddly, they
automatically
assume that
s always person is from
East Quad.
yo t h e r
w -twi fth. CCentral
Campus dorms
- Tomo Sato include Betsey
ineering junior Barbour, Helen
Newberry and
Martha Cook.
All three are single-sex residence
halls, housing a few hundred women.
Martha Cook is known for its formal
afternoon teas.
The Hill-area dorms, which are
somewhat further away from the Diag,
exude their own character. For exam-
ple, most of the residents at Mosher-
Jordan are returning students.
"MoJo is known as a sophomore
dorm that's a little quieter," Gutman
said.
Stockwell is one of the few all-
female dorms on campus, but many
male students frequent Stockwell's
, Project Serve appeals
to new students with
Community Plunge
By Stephanie Hepburn
Daily Staff Reporter
For some students, education doesn't
end in the classroom - it carries into
homeless shelters, elementary schools
and hospitals.
Barry Checkoway, director of the
Center for Learning Through
Community Service, said service activi-
ties fill an important role in University
life.
Checkoway said service "reengages.
the University's original mission of citi-
zenship in a democratic society ... and to
prepare them for lifelong roles in society"
Anita Bohn, head of Project Serve,
said community service allows students
to make differences in issues that match
their personal concerns.
"Community service is not only a
way for students to live out their own
sense of social responsibilities, but also
a way for students to involve them-
selves in issues they care about," Bohn
said. "It also helps students learn out-
side of the conventional classroom and
helps students explore potential careers
in a hands-on environment.'
Project Serve is a student-run service
group that offers hands-on work, as
well as chances to assist in office work.
The Center for Learning Through
Community Service attempts to help
faculty promote community service in
teaching. "Students will come back to
the classroom from their service experi-
ence and integrate the experience into
their studies," Checkoway said.
Internships are one way faculty mem-
bers engage students with the communi-
ty through the process of observing
research. Through these programs, stu-
dents may observe researchers in action,
Checkoway said, and witness the
demands these jobs carry.
Promotion of projects usually occurs
through word of mouth, publicity in resi-
dence halls and e-mail lists, Bohn said.
LSA junior Neil Romburg said he
has benefitted from his involvement in
service projects.
"Community service is both self-ful-
filling and helps you feel as if you're
part of the community," Romburg said.
The variety of ways to perform com-
munity service at the University gives
students the opportunity to find some
cause in their range of interests. Places
like Project Serve and the Center for
Learning through Community Service
attempt to make such matches. Both
groups are located at 1024 Hill St., near
East Quad residence hall.
Project Serve annually sponsors
Community Plunge, a program for
first-year students. Participating stu-
dents choose an issue at registration on
the first Saturday of the fall semester.
Following an orientation day, students
are sent out to a hands-on experience in
the community. Community Plunge
organizers say they hope to connect
first-year students with the community
from the start.
Bohn said community service gives
greater insight to participants.
"Perspective is gained as you see the
strength of a person holding onto their
health, or not knowing where their next
meal comes from," Bohn said.
Along with Community Plunge,
Project Serve also organizes environ-
mental cleanups, activities with senior
citizens and help at local shelters.
Project Serve sometimes takes students
further away than Ann Arbor.
"The programs that take you outside
of Ann Arbor offers students a sense of
balance," Bohn said. "It gets you off
campus and out doing something. You
learn more for yourself and put your
own issues in perspective, giving you
personal success."
Project Serve runs community-ser-
vice activities in Detroit and through
the popular Alternative Spring Break,
which sometimes allows participants to
travel the country for a week to help out
at a site. Since its start in 1990, the pro-
gram has grown from 14 people at one
site to 400 people at 35 sites.
"University-community partner-
ships have the wonderful relationship
where all parties involved benefit: the
students, the professors and the com-
munity," Checkoway said. "Students
can take a poverty class or a child-care
class, and apply an experience through
non-detached methodology that enables
students to come back into the class-
room and share and integrate their
experiences to their learning."
Starting in September, the Center for
Learning Through Community Service
will sponsor a program called America
Reads, where work-study students partic-
ipate in tutoring. Students will work 6-8.
hours a week in public schools in Ann
Arbor. They will assist K-I children who'
have difficulty learning how to read.
help develop
their own envi-
Snment," said
William Zeller,
director of resi-
dence opera-
tions. "Both the
architecture and
the students
create an
atmosphere
where, although
k t's similar every
ell."
"There'
someone
to hang of
Eng
year, it's different as
JOE WESTRATE/Daily
LSA first-year student Karen Golen studies in her room in Butler House at Mary
Markley residence hall.
i
The presence of a living-learning
program can influence a residence
hall's environment.
"The Residential College being in
East Quad certainly affects the atmos-
phere of the building," said Vice
President for Student Affairs Maureen
Hartford.
The different residence halls come
to be known by the common percep-
ons associated with them.
"I think it's accurate that the resi-
dence halls have reputations," said
cafeteria.
Gutmarr said Markley is one of the
best residence halls for first-year stu-
dents, due to the action and opportuni-
ty to meet other students.
"Markley was great as a freshman. I
met a lot of my friends there," Hirsch
said.
But like the rest, Markley bears its
own reputation.
"(Markley) has the reputation for a
lot of people from the East, like New
York or New Jersey. It's definitely
true," Gutman said.
Alice Lloyd may be less known, but
people often compare its student com-
position to Markley.
The final Hill-area residence hall is
Couzens. Couzens houses the Women
In Science and Engineering program,
which contributes to the experience.
Some students assigned to Bursley
on North Campus said they feel as if
they've been exiled. "There can be the
perception that it's far away from
things," Levy said.
But there are advantages accompa-
nying the supposed isolation.
Floormates often get a chance to know
each other better, and floors are known
to be close-knit.
"People didn't really leave on week-
ends, so we were together all the time,"
Sato said.
Above all, Zeller said residence halls
offer a distinct advantage to students
living there.
"Residence halls provide a support
system and network to help (students)
in their transition," Zeller said.
Naked Mile,
Iash Bash spice
up life at 'U'
Compiled From Staff Reports
Far from the stress of final exams, the crowds of football
Saturday and the snowy sprawl of campus in winter hover
two of the most anticipated events at the University.
Some call them fun.
Some call them disgusting,
Whatever the label, Hash Bash and the Naked Mile are two
&pus traditions that don't show signs of being smoked out
anytime soon.
They happen every spring: two unrelated events, one fea-
turing naked students jiggling their ways through campus,
another featuring hordes of colorfully clad protesters and a
peculiar smoke wafting through the Diag.
The first Saturday in April is the traditional date of Hash
Bash, an event regularly attended by thousands of activists and
people watchers, under the banner of legalizing marijuana.
"A little rain can't stop freedom," said marijuana legalization
vocate Marvin Marvin. "They shouldn't be able to stop us
m doing what we want with our bodies and our lives."
Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon said Hash Bash sends a
poor message to the youth of the city.
"We have a serious problem here in Ann Arbor" Sheldon
said. "This is an event which condones drug use to our young,
and that is not the message that our community wants to send
out about Ann Arbor."
The Naked Mile isn't run under such serious pretenses.
The event, which occurs on the last day of classes each year,
is a continuation of a tradition began by the Michigan crew
am. But now many students participate just for fun.
BOHDAN DAMIAN CAP/Daily
Hordes of nude students run through the Diag last April 22.
The Naked Mile is traditionally held on the evening after the
last day of classes.
"The crew team started the naked mile in the '70s," said
Kinesiology first-year student Jeanine Seeger, a Michigan
crew-team member. "They did it to celebrate, but I'm not sure
exactly what."
LSA senior Amy St. Clair said she waited until her gradu-
ating year to run. She said the mile of freedom lived up to her
expectation.
"I wanted to run since I was a freshman," St. Clair said.
"It's something I'll never forget. It was so liberating."
While the Ann Arbor Police Department frowns on the
events at Hash Bash, its members take a somewhat more
lighthearted view at the naked students enjoying exhibi-
tionism. AAPD Sgt. Larry Jerue said the that even though
the AAPD does not make arrests, they do not encourage
students to run.
"We do not endorse (the Naked Mile,) but it's good intend-
ed fun," he said. "If we were -going to do something, we
would come in at the end when everyone is tired - it would
not be much of a chase."
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