0 0 0 0 2B - The Michigan Daily - [Aeslof Ann Aruor 1999 - Thursday, April 8, 1999 Best of Ann Arbor 1999 Contents "ZBest of Ann Arbor Column The Michigan Daily - Best of Ann ArLor 1995 d Master List of this Year's Winners .................................. 3B / Best of Business .........................................4B-5B / Best of Dating . ... ........ .... ..... ...........................6B / Best of Entertainm ent....... . .... .....................................7B / Best of Restaurants ... .. .................................8B-1OB S Best of the University .....................................................1 B-I2B ~ Best of the Rest ...............................................13B / Photostory: Best of Daily Photo. ..................................14B-15B J "Daily Driver," Column, by Reilly Brennan...................16B-17B / Best Athlete: Louis Bullock, Feature ............................18B WHY WE'RE THE BEST / Best Subs: Jimmy John's, Feature ............................................................19B / "Lost in the Rain in Juarez," Column by Will Weissert ....................................20B / "Big Ideas (Don't Get Any)," Column by Andrew Mortensen ...........................21B / Best Place to People Watch, Break Up: The Diag, Feature ..............................22B / Best MSA Member: Sarah Chopp, Feature .................................................23B ~ Video Rewind: "Caddyshak" Feature ......................................................24B "A Touch of Class," Column, by Aaron Rich ...............................................25B / "State of the Arts," Column, by Christopher Tkayczk .....................................26B / "State of the Arts," Column, by Jessica Eaton ...........................................27B / Best Campus Tradition: The Diag Feature..................... .........28B it's that time of year again. Here we are, publishing a list of the best of Ann Arbor. But what makes some- thing the "best?" We, as a student body, call ourselves "the leaders and best" (in fact, we sing it at most major sporting events), and we pride ourselves on attending one of the best public universities (some say one of the best universities overall) in the country. We take classes taught by well-respected, knowledgeable professors, the best researchers in their respective fields. Many of our sports teams have won national championships and are therefore considered some of the best in the country. The city of Ann Arbor has been named one of the best places to live. But what do these "bests" mean? For that matter, what makes some- thing qualified to be deemed "the best" or "not the best" in the first place? Some of the categories award- ed may appear to be rather arbitrary. In the "Best of Ann Arbor," why doesn't the Daily poll students' opin- ions of the best stoplight? Or the best direction, north or south, to walk through the Diag? Or the best college memory? "That's what you should ask peo- ple," one of my roommates told me as we were discussing column ideas. "You should talk to older people and ask them what their best memory of their time in college is. People would want to read about that." Maybe she's right. Maybe people would care about that. In fact, when it comes right down to it, maybe that really is what it's all about. Every one of us (that is, everyone who has left their room at least once in their college career) will leave this place with vivid memories - some good, some bad. And even though they may try to deny it, these memo- ries are intricately tied to the physi- cal entities of the campus and the city of Ann Arbor. place in my heart, not because it was voted Best Cheap Beer this year, but because of a night last spring when I stayed there for hours with friends I hadn't seen in several months. We ordered pizza and milkshakes and "caught up on old times" until some obscene hour in An excellent example is The Brown Jug, the popular yet easily missed restaurant on South U. The Brown Jug will always hold a special stantly loud and it will always be associated in my mind with stress and exhaustion. But the adventure of an all-nighter, with the early-morn- ing coffee breaks and the impromptu support groups that form, is some- thing that I will only have (or at least only appreciate) in college. Those places, and those memories, are pretty typical of the college expe- rience. There are also the memories unique to this university, those cam- pus traditions that everyone automat- ically associates with Ann Arbor - two excellent examples, Hash Bash and the Naked Mile, occur at this time every year. For the rest of their lives, some alumni will associate their four years in Ann Arbor with marijuana and nudity, and these two things will form the fond memories of their University experience. Although I can't say the same, I know that years from now, I will be able to tell stories about witnessing these events. From the commonplace (like the satisfaction of an Einstein's bagel before my 9 a.m. class) to the wild (a crowded night at the Nectarine) to the simply obnoxious ("Nice shoes ... wanna fuck?"), there is some- thing for everyone. Every student on this campus has something that makes them happy to be here, some- thing that they will miss when they graduate and move away from Ann Arbor. Whether food or books or a really great landlord, every "best" creates a good memory for someone, and those memories are what make them truly important to our time at the University. Ten years from now, when I live in New York City or Phoenix or Fargo, when I possibly have a family and hopefully have a fairly secure career, I may not remember how good a Pizza House chipati tastes or what my intro psych course was like. And I definitely won't remember how cool the bathroom in the Michigan League is. I will, however, remember all of the times I ordered cheap pizza and stayed in a friend's dorm room until 4 F F I f r, a C Jessica Eaton State of the Arts the middle of the night ... when we realized that we all had to wake up at 8 a.m. the next day and we just didn't care. Angell Hall, voted Best Computing Site, has a special place in my heart for a surprisingly similar reason. 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