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12B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend Magazu-ie- Thursday, April 11, 2002
Grad I-brary great for studying, intimate moments
The Michigan Daily - Weekend Iaga zi
Whle.Best of A2 is revealing, it lacks key c
By Jim Schiff
Daily Fme/Performing Arts Editor
Never underestimate the entertain-
ment value of your local library.
Aesthetically unpleasing as it is, the
Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library is ripe
with friendly staff, thousands of books
and enough sex stories to fill a trashy
novel. It is unsurprising then that it was
voted "best library" in the Best of Ann
Arbor poll.
The Grad is perhaps the only library
on campus that requires a map to navi-
gate through it. This may be because the
building houses thousands of academic
journals, periodicals and books. Its
maze-like layout is both a boon and a
burden to students: You can take the
connector from the Grad all the way to
the Randall Laboratory, yet at the same
time, you might have to find a book
from floor 2A, which is only accessible
from one staircase.
Despite some annoyances, most stu-
dents enjoy the Grad because it provides
abundant, tranquil study space. With
several floors of personal carrels and
tables, it is perhaps the best location on
campus for exam cramming. "I like the
fact that I can go there and be in a quiet
environment where I won't be dis-
turbed," said LSA junior Justin
Holtzman. "It's better than the UGLI
(Undergraduate Library) where every-
one is loud and everyone talks on their
phones."
"I like how there's a ton of places to
study," said LSA junior Megan Harris-
Linton, echoing Holtzman's sentiments.
"If you're studying for six hours straight,
you can move all around."
The stacks, located on the upper floors
of the Grad, house the majority of the
library's collection, as well as the study
carrels. While the stacks are intended to
serve a purely academic function, they
have been known to produce a scary set
of stalking experiences. Holtzman
recalled one particular instance when he
was followed through the stacks by a
trench-coat-wearing library patron.
"Usually you can hear people there, but I
couldn't hear him," he said. "He was try-
ing to sneak up on me."
The stacks and the study carrels often
take on a life of their own, apart from the
late-night cram sessions. Also voted as
the "best public place to have sex," the
Grad provides hours of laughter simply
from the stories on the carrel doors.
Students brag about their fraternities and
talk about the hot political topics of the
day, but most of all, they write about
their sexual fantasies. "People talk about
everything from masturbation to inter-
course in those little carrels," said
Holtzman. "There will be a story and
then someone will continue it and
answer the questions - the next thing
you know, there will be an entire wall of
these stories."
While some students write about their
fantasies in the Grad, some actually
choose to act on them. It's not unusual,
for example, to see students making out
in the carrels. "You sometimes hear nois-
es and wonder what's going on over
there," said Harris-Linton. "I don't want
to know what they're doing." And,
though it may come as a surprise, a few
students have been caught engaging in
solo activity in the stacks. "I don't need
to be exposed to such exposure," said
Holtzman.
Though the Grad is not open 24 hours
a day, its staff rarely sweeps the building
for patrons. Students, then, have found
secluded spaces to hide in the wee-hours
of the morning, hoping to use the library
to pull all-nighters. "You can disappear
for days," said Harris-Linton. "If people
walk by, they usually look the other way."
The Grad also has perhaps the most
amiable library staff on campus. Pestered
by students who have never heard of
microfiche or have dozens of overdue
books, they always greet everyone with a
smile at the circulation desk. But with the
kind of entertainment that goes on in the
library, you can hardly blame them.
By Miha d Grass
Daily Food and Drink Critic
While this year's Best of Ann Arbor
survey covered critical categories to find
out the city's best of everything, there
were certain categories that were inap-
propriately left out. Here is my attempt to
cover all the bases.
Best soup: Le Dog
Best non-Zingerman Corp. deli:
Amer's
Best multi-tap: Ashely's Pub
Best cheap beer: Del Rio
Best cheap bar food: Del Rio
Best Coney Island restaurant: Not
Leo's
Best place for your folks to take you:
Chop House, Escoffier (tie)
Best martinis: Bab's
Best Vietnamese: Saigon Garden
Best Ethiopian: Blue Nile
Best organic brewpub: Leopold's
Best cold subs: Jimmy John's
Best hot subs: Pizza Bob's
Best cheap Middle Eastern food:
Jerusalem Garden
Best Middle Eastern Restaurant:
Kabob Palace
Best place to feel that you're wasting
your money: Studio 4
Best expensive non-Zingerman
Corp. deli sandwich: Maize and Blue
Best botique breakfast: Cafe Zola
Best 'Hippie Hash': Fleetwood Diner
Best undiscovered breakfast: Frank's
Best vegan: Earthen Jar
Best place for late night munchies
before going back to Markley:
Panchero's
Best place for late night munchies
before going back to East Quad: In and
Out, Bella Napoli (tie)
Best pizza slice you really think you
should have but you're just drunk: In
and Out
Best place for indigestion: Hong
Kong Inn
Best place that only feebs think is
Ac's best restaurant: Gandy Dancer
Best place to mis-use MSA funds:
University Club
Best place to get pissed off at the
service: Michigan Union Subway,
Pierpont Commons McDonald's (tie)
Best place to run into Regent Dan
Horning (R-Grand Haven) and his
drinking buddies: Ashley's Pub
Best place to smoke a cigar: La
Dolce Vita
Best place to purchase cigars and
tobacco: Masion Edward
Best sidewalk hot dog vendor:
Beiner's Weiners
Best hot dogs around: Yesterdog
Best coffee special: Double Punch
Tuesday's at Espresso Royale
Best place to read The New York
Times every morning: Espresso Royale
on State Street
Best pizza delivery: Cottage Inn
Best late night pizza special: Cottage
Inn's Late Night special, Bella Napoli's
94 cent slice (tie)
Best place to run into University
officials during the lunch hour:
University Club
A SI
Chi
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10"
" Chicago Deep Dish
& Traditional Pizza
" Pasta " Wings
" Burgers * Chipatis
" Lunch Specials
" Kids' Menu
" Reservations Taken
for Large Groups
Good Food & Great
Service...Your I
"Of all the pizzas we tasted
that actually drew raves. Ii