S U S V 4B - The Michigan Daily Weekend Magazine - Thursday, April 9, 1998 S S S w e 7W7 -W The Michigan Daily We( Loyd provides helpful, friendly service to A2 post office customers Prof. Brian Coppola takes on the world By Joanne Alnjar Daily Arts Writer While his acconi to his students - he By Steve Glick l,, r the Daily Newv man from "Seinfeld." Cliff C(ljvin from "Cheers" and ienry Lo d from Ann Arbor -what do they all have in common? They are all exceptional United States postal w\orkers ... well, except for Newman. who is always using his mail truck to run scams with Kramer. Then there's Cliff Clavin. whose continuous drinking sometimes becomes more important than his job. At least we in Ann Arbor still have Loyd, the real-life post office employee who loves his job and is appreciated by many. Loyd . who worked until last Friday fun to consider it work." Mark Fancher. a visiting clinical professor at the Law School, is a fre- quent customer at the Arcade office. "I always feel extra-H n y ordinary wa h here; Postal he said while adresn His post office desk bears a sign with his name written in Korean, and Henry reminisced about how a woman from Korea once recognized ... Loyd worker his sign. He said that after a long conversa- tion, the two realized that they were related. Loyd has always Arbor and began deliv- high school. After serv- an envelope at the office one morning this past week. "Henry is extremely helpful and friend- ly. He's patient with all the people. "He's the best example of why the bad rap that post office workers get is a myth." As Fancher pointed out, Loyd is a unique person. In addition to work- ing in the Nickels Arcade post office, lived in Ann ering mail in at the Nickels Arcade post office and will soon move South post to the new University o ffice, is "I play al office. I mi'5, f,,a probably best- nown for the onside-r Hershey Kisses that he doles out on Valentine's Day. Ann Ar But at all times of the year, the friendly Loyd greets all his customers with a smile and tells them to "come by and see me again. Loyd said he genuine ly enjoys his job. "I play at the post office." he said. "Sometimes I have too much t the post have too n t rit work." - Henry Loyd rbor postal worker he also runs marathons. With more than 100 other postal employees from across America, he recently ran the Centennial Boston Marathon. All the runners were given spe- cial post office ing two years in the army, he worked for McDonald's before taking a job with General Motors. Fifteen years ago, when General Motors laid him off, Loyd decided to return to the U.S. Postal Service. He worked his way up from servicing stamp machines to the desk day job that he now holds. The post office in Nickels Arcade where Loyd has been working for so long is moving this week to'a new location on South University. He said that he "hates to lose his customers over here," but he added that the post office needs a bigger location. Students from another part of cam- pus will now get the opportunity to meet Loyd in the new office. As Brian Sigler, an LSA senior, said, "(Loyd 's) by far the nicest guy ever." If his new customers are as appre- ciative, Lovd should have no prob- lem making new friends on South University Avenue. In his high school yearbook, one student wrote to Dr. Brian P. teaching more thai Coppola: "One day your take on the world will take you far or land Coppola's life. Betv you in jail." surfing the Internet; His take on the world landed him at the University where, at just 41 art media,-he still f years old, this energetic associate professor entertains his organic as read. "I have a b chemistry students in a way that most can't. tall as I am; Copp His education began in New Hampshire. He graduated from the He also draws an University of New Hampshire with a degree in chemistry, then earned a Ph.D. from the D n C' l University of Wisconsin-Madison. But not allof his school days were successful ... Chemistry professor "I was actually not that interested in staying at my first-grade class on the first day," he said, saying he pleaded with his teacher to take him home. "Then on the happy to explore in second day of first grade, I cried to stay and not go home. Go figure." His music collec After teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, he diverse sounds whic moved to Ann Arbor in 1986 to pursue what he called a well-sup- just "propel out of ported endeavor to educate people and flourish in his scholarly inter- Wayne, Third Eye E est. Beatles, The Nylon "Because it is not usual to have faculty whose area of scholarly Fleetwood Mac an interest is in education-related matters centered in departments like "People should g chemistry, U-M has turned out to be a unique and rewarding envi- music with tiem," ronment for me to work in;' Coppola said. Students taking C Since arriving on the University campus, his goal has been to influ- enthralled by his te ence in some way every person he meets, and hopefully help them well. Baggy pants, learn something from the encounter. Coppola said one of his greatest norm. When asked rewards is being able to accomplish this goal by teaching. answer is any place "The worst thing to me is to cross paths with someone ... and to stores off of State S end up with no impact or change," he said. "Discovery, continuous Dr. Brian Copp learning, self-discovery -- I want these things for myself so I try to peers and the futur be quite explicit about these things for others:" down to earth throe iplishments and teaching ability are quite obvious e has won the esteemed Golden Apple award for n once - there are many more dimensions to ween working out at the CCRB every morning, and adding to his extensive collection of various inds time to lecture on styles of teaching, as well acklog of books to read that is probably twice as ola said. d co-writes a cartoon strip with two of his former undergraduate research students. The cartoon, titled "Under the Hood," appears in a quarterly magazine called The Chemical Intell igencer. Coppola's busy schedule of teaching and research doesn't allow for more extensive art projects, which he said he would be more than his rare spare time. ction, not surprisingly, is a combination of many ch he said are used to either reinforce his mood or it." In his collection are titles from Fountains of Blind, Paula Cole, Billy Joel, Letters to Cleo, The ns, Blessed Union of Souls, Barenaked Ladies, d Jewel. go to museums more, and they should bring their Coppola said. Coppola's chemistry classes say they are not only eaching skills, but by his unique fashion sense as earrings, silver rings and a chain.watch are his where he shops, he replied, "What a question! The cheap, which pretty much leaves out most of the Street!" ola has made a large impact on his students, his e of chemistry, but nevertheless manages to remain ugh it all. One of his major concerns for the future Prof. Brian is the direc oriented m my view." His solui as my colla tions to the back about In all, hi tation: "Or running uniforms, he said. He has been jogging for six years. Loyd said he also is learning to speak Korean. Loyd has a friend in Ann Arbor who teaches him Korean while he helps his friend with English. Early birds see students during morning' I 1 ~iI Want to earn credit this summer without setting foot on campus? Two independent study programs available: Summer Independent Reading Program Open to undergrad students with at least a 3.0 GPA Enrollment deadline: May IS Hundreds of potential courses Tuition: $197 per credit hour* Independent Learning Course Program Open to all students No enrollment deadline Selected courses available Tuition: $245 per credit hour* EMIO YNATHAN/Daily Henry Loyd always has a smile on his face to greet post office customers. By Kerr! Murphy Daily Arts Writer It's time to make the donuts ... no, actually, it's time to make the bagels. It's 5:30 a.m., campus is deserted and the sun is barely high enough to shed light on the desolate sidewalks of State Street. So who is up besides the birds at this outrageotus hour?' Einstein Bros. Bagels employees, to name a few. "Normally I'm here by myself except for one girl who comes in and bakes with me at 5:30. It's better with someone else," said Einstein manager Dawn Vandepitte, as she rushed around brewing coffee, setting out juice and baking hundreds of bagels in the back of the store. "I bake about 450 bagels in the morning, which is about two and a half racks, but I should really be mak- ing three racks since its Friday," Vandepitte said. It's no secret that Einstein is a hot spot for the rush of hungry, sleepy- eyed students in the morning. Lines can be seen extending almost outside the door for that warm bagel, schmear and hot cup of joe. Einstein aa s SahrahnsngSN anLinstd eerye es asoy sbwithwhraing "omeagels imk sle siod.eLnea Otaey ptanelosings a say eaboyutheworing. shift.. "Smeimsitmae so arahyin teoaniSng. The friendly staff of Einstein provides students with their morning bagel fix. But students aren't the only ones who benefit from employees' early morning efforts. "In the morning it's all the same people. I know everyone who comes in, I know how For further information and to register, please contact: University of Michigan Academic Outreach 1210 Buhr Building 837 Greene Street 764-5300 aocourses@umich.edu opens its doors - many kids they at 6:30 every Eistie mp o e s have. It's nice - morning, before Bage akers I've met a lot of many students really nice peo- even have their ple," Vandepitte eyes open. Although quiet for a couple said. of hours before the pre-class rush, Around 6:15, Vandepitte was still lines quickly form as the campus rushing around as a customer tried the awakes. door prematurely. "At 10 minutes after the hour the "Cream! I always forget one thing lines are ridiculous!" Vandepitte said. every morning," Vandepitte said. By 7 a.m., Vandepitte was joined by student employees to face the rush of people. Einstein on State Street employs 47 staff members from September to April, but the numbers drop to 15 dur- ing the summer when most students want to work full-time. But whether students are full-time or part-time employees, being around bagels on a regular basis seems to yield the same results. When asked how she feels about bagels since having worked at Einstein, Vandepitte said: "I don't eat bagels. I've worked here for two and half years - I order out a lot" * plus infrastructure fee