1B - Michigan Daily Weeken# agazine - Thursday, Apri, 1998
Louis tanczakows thatgg es9
doesn't matter, though aging does pd
0
The M igan Daily Weeke
To ShakeyJake, life in ol' Ann
Arbor is full of stories and songs,'
By Elizabeth Lucas
Daly Weekend, etc. Editor
Think that scientific breakthroughs
are only made in professional research
labs? Think again. University students
like Louise Stanczak demonstrate that
effective scientific research can also be
done by undergraduates.
Stanczak, an LSA senior majoring in
biopsychology, recently won the
University's Tanner Award for her
research on age-related cognitive
decline. She said she plans to use the
$400 prize to further her research. "I did-
n't expect to win, but it was a good sur-
prise." Stanczak said.
Stanczak explained that her experi-
ment involved two groups of test sub-
jects. The members of one group ranged
in age from 65 to 75, and the second
group was composed of younger people,
ages 18-25. The subjects were asked to
perform a simple letter-matching task on
a _ computer, and their reaction times
were recorded to determine how much
they slowed down with age.
Stanczak said that although she had
been working on this project for a year,
"I've always been interested in science. I
PAUL TALANIAN/Daily
Louise Stanczak won the Tanner Award
for her work in blopsychology.
was really just interested in science and
the brain and cognitive organization."
Stanczak said she first learned of this
project in a class taught by psychology
Prof. Patricia Reuter-Lorenz. But she has
since assumed more responsibility for
Louise Stanczak
Student researcher
the experiment. "I can spend 40 hours a
week in the lab sometimes," Stanczak
said. "I run the experiment by myself,
and I can test subjects. ... As an under-
graduate, that's unusual."
But Stanczak noted that the University
tends to foster such research. "U of M
has an excellent biopsychology program
- one of the best in the nation,' she
said. Stanczak said the program is espe-
cially hospitable to women scientists.
"My professor is a woman, and she's a
great role model," she said.
In the 'future, Stanczak said, she
plans to attend graduate school to earn
a Ph.D. in neuropsychology, and then
to continue her research on aging. "I
want to look at ways to stop cognitive
decline. I think that's a really practical
thing to do."
If today's University students are still
as sharp and computer-oriented 50 years
from now, they may have Louise
Stanczak to thank.
CRISP
Continued from Page 58
CL: I have not received your
response.
JP: Response, shmesponse! What
about my feelings? ... I'll press nine!
Don't think I won't do it! I'll press nine
and exit the system, you little ...
CL: I have not received your
response.
JP: You're making me do this, CRISP
Lady! When you're whining in your lit-
tle room thinking to yourself, "He was
so good to me. He pressed my buttons
just right," don't you come crying back
to me. One of these days, I'm gone. I.
mean, I won't always be here for you ...
CL: Thank you for using the
University of Michigan Telephone
Registration System. Click.
JP: Hey, don't you hang up on me!
I'm not done with you yet! ... CRISP
Lady, are you there? CRISP Lady? I'm
sorry about what I said. You know I did-
n't mean it, right? CRISP Lady? ...
ByGina Ramussen
Daily Arts Writer
This city abounds with interesting
individuals with special gifts or quirky
talents. Looking for one? Just climb the
steps of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate
Library and meet ...
"Master Dean, the rhyming machine
worth all the green, worth every jelly
bean, worth every green bean."
Yes, meet Dean Downie, a man with
the talent of spinning countless rhymes
from just one word. "l come up with
them fast and quick:' Downie said of his
incredible capability.
Downie works in the Graduate
Library mailroom. He has been working
for the University for 30 years and said
he likes his job more
cruT' LImwrs
Inside the Clarion Hotel
2900 Jackson Rd., Ann Arbor, MI
DANA LINNANE/Daily
The Graduate Library's Dean Downie has a rhyme for every occasion.
The rhyming machine
i
and more each day. "IfD
I didn't like what I1 ia lD
was doing. why would Library e
I be here?" Downie e
asked.
Downie, who began rhyming when he
graduated from high school, said his job
gives him the perfect opportunity to
show off his knack. Cheering people up
is one of his main goals in life, he said.
"If faces look sad," he said, "the first
thing I do is get them to smile. Or else
walk a mile, walk down a street like a
crocodile before they fall out of style and
end up as bad as Captain Lyle and won-
der which items are in the aisle."
To many listeners, Downie's rhymes
may sound like a bunch of gibberish. But
Downie insists they mean something:
"Why would I say them if they didn't?"
Downie rhymes all day long. Some of
his rhymes focus on particular groups,
and he has advice for just about every-
one:
"Alcoholics, the more they drink, the
less they think. Don't know why they
turn so pink because they can't give me
half a wink and don't give themselves a
blink because they stink and better off
before they go down the sink and they
won't have to have their heads shrink
and wonder why they turn so pink and
couldn't tell which was the best pen of
ink."
To the smokers:
"The more they smoke, the more
they're broke, taking chances having a
stroke, wondering why they can't tell a
joke because they couldn't even tell why
they shouldn't have smoked. Besides,
they shouldn't even
" have a Coke."
wke Downie said his
lo rhymes have earned
l y him dirty looks in the
past. It seems some
people are bothered and annoyed by his
irksome cleverness. But Downie doesn't
let them bother him. "I don't care who
they are or what they do until they
smile," he said.
Jeremy Schroeder, an LSA senior and
graduate library employee said that
Downie's rhymes are highly ingenious.
Other co-workers, too, marvel at
Downie's speed and ability. One worker
commented on how the rhymes "kind of
flow off of his tongue."
When asked if he's ever annoyed by
these word-twisting tales, Schroeder
responded with a smile. "Not at all," he
said, "we welcome him with open
arms."
By Joanne Alnajjar
Daily Arts Writer
As the days rumble along in Ann
Arbor, students plan their futures, cor-
porate types hit the offices, and every-
day people go about their everyday
lives.
The same is true in the days of
Shakey Jake, a famed Ann Arbor per-
sonality. In his pink sunglasses, pink
hat and large bow tie, Jake goes about
his business day in a day out -- loyal-
ly visiting the Bagel Factory and Deli
on South University
Ave., greeting cus-
tomers, signing auto- Shake
graphs and playing his
guitar. A2 per
Generations of Ann
Arborites have met or
heard stories about Shakey Jake, a man
who always has something to say.
Some of his stories sound hard to
believe ... but others are right on.
Born in Little Rock, Ark., Jake said
he had 14 brothers and sisters and "a
good mother. She died in 1974 at 106.
Good woman." Bill Clinton lived 10
miles away. he said. "I remember when
he was running for governor." Jake
added that he thinks Clinton is a
decent guy in spite of recent allega-
tions.
As the story goes, Jake was in New
Orleans in 1948, playing his trusty gui-
tar on Bourbon Street, where he joined
the likes of B.B. King, The Supremes
and James Brown in front of the
Shakey Jake Bar ("They named it after
me," he claimed).
One day, he recounted, some college
students took him to Ann Arbor. "They
came and -got me. They wanted me to
come along," he said.
To this day. Jake enjoys playing
blues, reggae, love songs and church
songs.
"You name
y Jake
sonality
it, I can play it. I taught
it all to myself, it ain't
hard." he said. "I walk
down the street and
play it all day. It's part
of my job."
Jake said that when
he arrived in Ann Arbor
proud of what he has learned from life.
"I got my own school right here," he
said. "What's important is just to keep
goin'... I can tell when I meet a person
how they are. I know human nature."
Regarding education, Jake said he
feels that today's youths are clueless
about life. "They don't understand life,
just how to get money."
Jake said his work involves being
both a musician and psychologist, as
well as selling T-shirts, postcards and
bumper stickers decorated with his
picture. He also advertises for the
Bagel Factory, which uses the tag line:
"We bake for Jake."
But he said his job acting as a psy-
chologist to Ann Arborites is his most
important one.
"I get 'bout three or four calls a day,'
he said. "When people can't sleep,
they call me and I go talk to them. I
had a lot of interesting cases, but most
are just uptight, and when they have a
problem, they call me.
"They know where I'm at. That's
life, I'm used to it."
Frequently, messages are left for
Jake at The Bagel Factory, which he
claims is his office. "I get all my mes-
sages here," he said, sitting at a table,
signing autographs and talking to
admiring customers. ("This is da
man!" one commented.) "If you want
me, you call Bagel Factory. Isn't that
50 years ago. there was no crime and
locals used to ride "the horse and
buggy. I serious!" He said that people
just left their doors open knowing that
the neighborhood was safe. But today
is different, he said.
"I know them violent people, but I
see 'em and I try to keep the conversa-
tion short," he said. "I know what
streets to stay off of so I don't have any
trouble."
Jake said he is a self-made man
responsible for his own education. He
never attended school and never
learned how to read, but he said he is
CRISP personality proves stable in a student
Happy Hour 4:30-7 No Cover 'till 10
Lady's Nite Friday and Saturday
Hrs.: 4:30-2amf Mon-Sat
8-Zaun Sun
True or False?
VEnglish is, like, degenerating before our eyes
VGood grammar is a matter of self-discipline
/'Dialects are sloppy, corrupt forms of a language
VSign language is not a real language
yChildren learn to talk by imitating care givers
LINGUISTICS 211
INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE
- WHERE FACT MEETS FICTION -
Lecture: Monday / Wednesday, 12-1
Discussion: Friday, 9; 10; 11; 12
Economic Journalists Needed
Write about economics and financial markets at
Dow Jones Newswires, Dow Jones & Co.'s
global real-time news arm, with bureaus in 60
cities around the world. Describe your work
experience, strong writing/reporting skills and
passion for financial markets and economics to:
Michael Pollock
Senior News Editor,
Dow Jones Newswires
Harborside Financial Center, Plaza Two
Jersey City, N.J. 07311
Michael.Pollock@cor.dowjones.com
Being around Downie certainly is an
amusing experience. HIis comical
rhymes have accompanying facial
expressions. He speaks with utmost seri-
ousness, but it is hard not to laugh.
"There's only one of you in the world,
you wanna be chased by a squirrel or be
a smart girl, spend all day having a
chocolate swirl, spend all day having to
worry about Captain Earl, wondering
why you wouldn't give yourself a twirl,
because you didn't know what was the
best swirl, wondering why you got
caught by a squirrel:'
When asked if he would ever stop
rhyming. Downie replied: "Never, ever,
no way in the world!"
"Everyone has to have a rhyme,"
Downie said. "A rhyme will keep you
out of crime, show you are worth a dime,
not spending all day chewin' a lime, you
can have more primetime."
Shakey Jake dances with Ann
Jazz Festival, which Jake calle
nice? My own headquarters'
Workdays might be long
and he said he is awake 18
day. But he said he loves wha
"I always got time. I mak<
people with problems,"
"That's what I do. In 50 yea
never had a day off. I don't
day off, I keep goin'. I play
and I do my psychology job
yeah, I don't have any proble
a good life."
One distinguishing featu
Jake is his hands - wrini
By Joshua Pederson
Daily Film Editor
The following is Joshua Pederson's
conversation with the CRISP Lady:
CRISP Lady: Welcome to the
University of Michigan Telephone Re-
gistration System. Please press one now.
Joshua Pederson: Hi, CRISP Lady.
Well, CRISP Lady, I have this problem
and I didn't know who I could call.
You're the only one that ever listens to...
CL: Enter your nine-digit student
number.
JP: OK, fine. But I don't really know
why you need that. I just need a bit of
advice. Ya see, there's this girl ...
CL: Please hold on.
JP: Well, OK, I realize that you have
things to do, people to see, but CRISP
Lady, it's kind of important ...
CL: Enter your birth date as six num-
bers: two for the day, two for the month
and two for the year.
JP: But CRISP Lady, it's not my birth-
day. Like I said, there's this girl that I
really like, and I just figured that you've
been so helpful in the past that you might
be willing to help me with this .
CL: I have not received your response.
Enter your birth date as six numbers: two
for the day, two for the month and two
for the year.
JP: No, CRISP Lady. You don't have
to feel guilty. Just because you forgot my
birthday last year, you don't have to feel
bad. I mean, I was hurt, but I can forgive
you. But back to this girl. She's so cute,
but I don't think that she likes me. Ever
since I did my mashed-potato-up-the-
nose trick in the cafeteria ...
CL: I have not received your response.
Enter your birth date as six numbers: two
for the day, two for the month and two
for the year.
JP: Well, fine then. CRISP
You're not being veryV
considerate today. But, 'U',Voic
back to my problem. U
She's got sandy blonde
hair and ... oh my gosh! I don't even
know what color her eyes are! I'm such
a horrible person! No wonder she does-
n't like ...
CL: Please enter a four-digit personal
now.
now
JP: Registration transactions? What's
that supposed to mean? Is that some kind
of joke? I don't think you understand,
CRISP Lady ...
security number of your choice.
JPt Hold on, CRISP Lady. I totally
trust you. There's no need for personal
security numbers between ffcends.
Especially friends as close as we are.
Wow, CRISP Lady, you
adysound really sexy today.
Remember, we're talk-
I
ing about this girl 1 like.
CL: For registration
transactions, press one
CL: For fall term, press one
JP: Fall term! Fall term? I r
years together and all you can
is fall term? Live in the no'
Lady! We're talking about u
don't think I even know you an
CL: To add a class, press on
a class, press two. To swap cla
JP: Stop it, CRISP Lady!
S uat
t
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