I
The Michigan Daily - New Student Edition - Wednesday, September 5, 2001- 11C
Quiz Bowl team captures national
title for second consective year
By Nika Schulte
Daily Staff Reporter
Q: What Wolverine squad recently clinched a national
title for the second year in a row and the fourth time since
1996?
A: The University's Michigan Academic Competitions
team, which plowed over the University of Chicago in last
weekend's finals of the College Bowl National Champi-
onship Tournament in Los Angeles.
The victory not only secures national bragging rights for
the team but also furnishes the University with a $10,000
student life grant from Ford Motor Co., which sponsored the
competition.
Out of the thirty members on the team, five represented
the University in the event - SNRE graduate student Ati
Tislerics, LSA senior Michael Davidson, Engineering
sophomore Ryan McClarren, LSA sophomore Mark
Calaguas and LSA freshman Ben Heller.
. Aside from the team's correct answers, Heller credits the
victory to the quickness of team members. "We also had a
greater depth of knowledge," he said.
Davidson, who received all-star recognition as an individ-
ual, said the team also seemed more experienced comfort-
able playing in front of an audience. "Going into the finals
we were undefeated. Chicago had four losses and seemed to
be intimidated," he said.
The MAC team has also been in the spotlight as adviser
Kevin Olmstead and MAC alum David Goodman have both
cashed in on the top prize of AB:C's "Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire."
Although Davidson said the famous MAC members have
prompted extra inquiries to the group's website, he said the
team is not a training ground to reach the "hot seat" across
from Regis Philbin.
Instead, Heller said players are motivated by their desire
to further their knowledge in topics that appeal to thom such
as history, literature or fine art. "It's stuff you are already
interested in, areas you want to get better at and learn more
about."
Using knowledge they already have can serve as adequate
preparation, Davidson said. "Most of us don't study. We just
use the stuff we already had learned from classes."
The team holds weekly sessions to prepare for the more
than 15 competitions at college campuses across the coun-
try. Any student can join the team.
When they aren't busy buzzing in to win, teanmmembers
also write questions and host competitions for highschool
students and the University's College Bowl Intramural tour-
nament.
DAVID KATZ/Daily
,'While often a one-sided battle, the snowball fight between South and West Quad is a University tradition on the first heavy
snowfall of each winter and quickly teaches warm weather natives that snow has its painful side.
Snowball fights,cold weather on
ar for first snowfall in Ann Arbor
_ _.
By Carrie Thorson
:lDaily Staff Reporter
r After a week of below-freezing
temperatures and biting winds, Ann
Arbor experienced its first substan-
'tial snowfall of the season, forcing
students to scrape off their cars and
,don boots and scarves for their
.hilling trudge to class this morn-
, g.
As hundreds of South Quad and
West Quad residents battled each
: other in their traditional snowball
fight celebrating the first big snow-
fall, a snow advisory was in effect
for Washtenaw and Wayne counties.
'Between 3 and 6 inches of snow fell
,in the area by midnight,
' With temperatures enabling roads
freeze and snow to stick, students
took extra steps to make it to class
;on time and still stay warm. Some
;students reacted negatively to the
;change in seasons.
"I hate, more than anything in the
,world, being cold," LSA junior Janel
;Owens said as she stood in the snow
waiting for a bus to North Campus
yesterday. "It makes me physically
;angry."
*The University has discontinued
ie use of ice-Ban to reduce slipping
':on walkways through campus. The
Ade-icer, resembling soy sauce, gener-
:ated many complaints last year
because of its odor and tendency to
:ruin students' shoes.
"That stuff was terrible," Engi-
neering soph mer ddihe.S irsaid.
"It's sticlyrmg. t,3'1P v
The new de-icer is a corn-based
Squid, said Mark Cornwell, senior
3horticulturist for the University
tGrounds and Waste Management.
#lce-Ban also utilized corn.
"We were quite fortunate that the
hew generation of liquid de-icer hit
the market at the end of last winter,"
*Cornwell said. "We're one of the
first people touse it and a lot of the
,tracking problems are gone..
Students have already mistaken
:the new amber-colored de-icer for
usi
*Continued from Page 9C
GSIs, but if they're a quality out-of-
.state student, the department doesn't
have the fnds to pay for their tuition,"
.Pore said.
w Some GSIs said they think teaching
is a valuable part of graduate school
d they would be sorry not to have the
opportunity to spend with undergradu-
gates.
Mihas said next year is his final year
in school as well as his last opportunity
to teach.
Assistant Prof. Catherine Benamou,
,who teaches courses in American cul-
ture, romance languages and film and
*video studies, said in her fields, "there
vre not a lot of Ph.D. candidates. (The
Anew budgeting plan) narrows the pool."
y Benamou said that she will therefore
"feed to spend more time training grad-
;Mate student candidates from other
,departments. She also said that the
:9SIs hired from other departments
might not be able to help undergradu-
:ate students as wel as an instructor
From a more applicable field.
e "It will mean that undergraduates
*will need more contact with the prima-
instructor" Benamou said.
Gin said specifically in SNRE, GSI
vositions are not readily available.
Therefore, there aren't many tuition
waivers given away by SNRE.
"In the School of Natural Resources
and the Environment we don't tend to
1et financial aid. There is no financial
the "brown crap" they hated last
year, grounds worker Rick Privetti
said as he sprinkled salt on a side-
walk near the Dana Building.
"Someone already complained to
me about it," Privetti said. "I'm like,
'Hey man, I've got a scoop of white
salt here and it's not getting on your
clothes."'
Over on East Madison Street, the
residents of West Quad battled their
counterparts from South Quad for
more than an hour. By 11:30 p.m.,
snow warriors from West Quad,
pushed their way into South Quad,
occupying the lobby and first floor
lounges.
Battle cries of "Follow your
troops!" and "Do it for your coun-
try!" scared non-participants away.
Some snowball fight participants
filled trash cans and and organized
30-man charges to attack opposing
forces. "I love the charges - the mass
organized advances are some of the
most spectacular things you will
ever see on this campus," said West
Quad resident Neal Lyons, an LSA
sophomore.
"After winning four consecutive
years, maybe next year they'll just
open the doors and let us in," said
West Quad resident Matt Nolan, an
LSA sophomore.
Students making their way to class
lamented the falling snow and chill-
ing winds.
Some of the coldest people on
campus were those like RC junior
Jenna Hershman who have to travel
between Central and North campus-
es to get to work or classes. "I have
to take the bus to work," Hershman
said. "It's cold out and it's a pain."
Students who come from warmer
areas of the country, like LSA
sophomore Ben Boylston, have some
adjustment to make as well.
"I'm not cut out for this weather,"
said Boylston, of Leesburg, Fla.
"You Yankees can keep it. I need to
go back where I belong."
Not all students are waiting for
warm weather to return. Consistent
snowfall enables students such as
Kinesiology freshman Andrea Parker
to engage in winter sports.
"I like the snow if it sticks in big
amounts so I can ski," Parker said.
Jay Gillespie, a Music sophomore,
also welcomed the snow.
"I'm glad that it stopped snowing
wimpy,",Gillespie said. "I was get-
ting tired of this halfway crap."
-Daily Staff Reporter Maria Sprow
contributed to this report
__m__mmmmmi
Im .m - - err. - m - m - - - - - - T-. -oO Nw - - - -" w a - - - - -.
FREE FREEl .
eAny ReolrnSzeAny Regular Sizee
___..m.. . M