Secrets of A2
lie within its
many alleys
Some of my
fondest
memories of
Ann Arbor reek of
urine. Be it trying
to be on time for
trivia night at
Con or O'Neill's or
racing to reach a
professor's mail-
box before he did,
my perpetual tardiness often finds me
in alleys, searching for shortcuts.
My first night as an official fresh-
man, I indulged in a party with a few
friends. Unfortunately, I saw first-
hand the spectacle that can occur
when you mix even the slightest bit
of drama and drunken girls. Soon,
one of my friends broke up with her
boyfriend, threw her cell phone at
me and ran down an alley. Circling
around in a daze, I tried to find my
way to my sobbing friend and then
back to the dorms (at this point, I did
not know where the Michigan Union
was, and I lived in West Quad). Soon
after that scary night, I swore off
drinking until my friends and I could
handle alcohol.
A couple of months later, I partic-
ipated in an all out battle of the
sexes, staged mostly as a water war
in the dead of the night. Between
hiding from the opponents and the
Department of Public Safety, we
ruled the State Street vicinity,
retrieving our purses and keys -
the theft of which started the whole
melee.
A different kind of sport emerged
freshman year: Finding the fastest
route to friends' places. While I saw
upperclassmen coming down a par-
ticular alley, I never ventured until
the winter months left me no choice
but to find the shortcut. It was one
of the most extensive since it links
Madison Street to Hill and Sybil
streets. One night, as I walked down
some dimly lit stairs, I saw a shad-
owy figure at the bottom. He quick-
ly acknowledged my presence and
ran away into the darkness. I had
just witnessed someone in the act of
creating graffiti, which - in the
pristine area of Ann Arbor that stu-
dents are accustomed to - is some-
what of a rare occurrence.
Though Ann Arbor is known for
its support of the arts, I saw a classic
example of the extent of creativity
available here when the Royal
Shakespeare Company performed
Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Chil-
dren." Students were invited to show
the cast around, and after dinner with
a few of the cast members at Thanos
Lamplighter on East Liberty Street,
we walked back toward State Street.
Next to the Michigan Theater resides
one of Ann Arbor's most famous
alleys: Painted with numerous
murals (some hidden under the one
visible now) and rich with history,
the murals and passersby are often
treated to dance performances by a
Michael Jackson impersonator.
though I had often heard of his
presence, it was on that night that I
first bore witness to yet another Ann
Arbor mainstay.
There are some alleys students
should be aware of and I will do the
unthinkable and divulge some hard-
earned secret shortcuts.
Instead of taking the expected
route through Nickels Arcade to
South State Street to reach Amer's
Deli, head north on Maynard Street,
past the Aveda salon, until you
reach an alley on your right. Take it
past its curve to the back door at
Amer's, which is near the rest-
rooms.
Racing from a class in the
Frieze Building to lunch at Mr.
Greek's? Follow the trail on the out-
skirts of the parking garage south
until another alley pops up after the
construction. Turn right and take
that alley to State Street.
Almost parallel to South Univer-
sity Avenue is an alley that runs from
South Forest Street to East University
Avenue. While this route is barely lit
during the night, it makes for a useful
path during the day.
After my years here, I have grown
so much from all the city offers: the
quiet spot near the Huron River, the
bustle of the Art Fair, Saturday morn-
ings at the market in Kerrytown and
so much more. I could have written
about a variety of topics that capture
Ann Arbor's qualities, be it the nature
of the citizenry (surprisingly polite if
you make the effort to be the same),
the party scene (mostly segregated by
race or along the Greek/non-Greek
divide) or the transportation system
(extensive and useful as it is timely
and reaches most of the city).
Regardless of what I write, the
essence of Ann Arbor remains in the
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ANN
AROR
Fall 2004
SECTION F
NEW STUDENT EDITION
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streets
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Washtenaw County votes Dem., donates to GOP
April 15, 2004
By Anne Joling
Daily Staff Writer
With the presidential elections just seven
months away, Ann Arbor residents have
donated the second largest amount of money
among Michigan metro areas to candidates,'
political action committees and parties in the
2004 election cycle, according to the website
Opensecrets.org.
Some of the money comes from groups
such as political action committees, but most
of it comes from individual donors.
Washtenaw County voters typically favor
Democratic candidates - the county gave a
majority vote to the Democratic candidates
for governor, secretary of state, attorney gen-
eral and U.S. senator in 2002, while county
residents have voted for Democratic presi-
dential candidates in the past four elections.
But the statistics from the Federal Elec-
tions Committee show that individuals in
Ann Arbor have donated $244,260 to Presi-
dent Bush and only $16,500 to John Kerry.
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who
dropped out of the race in February, received
$64,350, Opensecrets.org reported.
The Center for Responsive Politics runs
Opensecrets.org, a non profit, non partisan
research group that tracks money in politics.
According to the website, the reason for the
imbalance of Republican and Democrat con-
tributions can be partially attributed to the
many Republican business owners and exec-
utives who live in the Ann Arbor area.
University Regent Larry Deitch (D-Bing-
ham Farms) said he also felt that the number
of wealthy Republicans in Ann Arbor con-
tributes to the difference in donation
amounts.
"(Ann Arbor) is a highly desirable area to
live in, so you have a lot of very wealthy people
who live here - many of whom are politically
active - and I think that manifests itself in
the contribution records. Republicans donate
more money," Deitch said.
Some notable business owners and execu-
tives who live in Ann Arbor and fund Bush's
campaign include Gerard Anderson, presi-
dent and chief operating officer of Detroit
Edison Energy, who donated $2,000 to Bush,
and William Boddie, vice president of Ford
Motor, who also gave $2,000 to Bush.
"I think it is important for everyone to
participate in a democracy, and part of that is
donating money," Regent Olivia Maynard
said.
Deitch said he feels that donating money
is part of what it means to be a good citizen.
"Contributing money is an important way
to advance principles and people you believe
in, and it's something that I've been doing
since I was a student, and will continue to do
until I die," Deitch said.
Although Deitch gave to Lieberman, he
said he will donate to Kerry now that Lieber-
man has dropped out of the race.
City sues company for
water contamination
Mayor John Hiefte answers questions In a mayoral debate at Forsyth Middle School on Oct. 24, 2000.
he Daily talks community,
symbiosis with Mayor Hieftje
May 17, 2004
By Mona Rafeq
Daily Staff Writer
The city of Ann Arbor filed a lawsuit
against Pall Life Sciences Wednesday in
the Washtenaw County Circuit Court
asking that the company pay damages
for contaminating a water supply well.
Ann Arbor Water Utilities Director
Sue McCormick said in a press release
that in 2001, the city discovered one of
its water supply wells contained trace
amounts of the 1,4 Dioxane chemical
during routine testing.
The chemical was used as a manufac-
turing solvent at Pall Life Sciences plant
and was disposed of in uncontained
lagoons. These lagoons are not lined
with sealants to isolate the chemicals
from surrounding water. The 1,4 Diox-
ane leaked from a lagoon into the well.
"We are searching for alternatives to
the well," McCormick said. "Those alter-
natives are going to cost money. Pall
should shoulder those costs, not Ann
Arbor's citizens."
The city is recommending that Pall
pay for a double-lined pipeline that will
treat water containing the chemical and
move it to the Huron River.
McCormick added that although the
long-term future is threatened, the
municipal water is safe for all uses.
"Our water meets all published environ-
mental and health standards," she said.
The well which was used mainly dur-
since the chemical was discovered.
The Unit E toxic plume - the meas-
urable discharge of the regulated chemi-
cal 1,4 Dioxane - was discovered two
years ago. City officials say that it is cur-
rently 18 million square feet and still
growing.
Pall Life Sciences is part of the Pall
Corporation, which is one of the world's
largest manufacturers of water purifica-
tion equipment and filters. On its web-
site, the parent company reports that its
annual sales are about $1.6 billion.
Pat Iannucci, vice president of corpo-
rate communications at Pall Corporation,
said the city's lawsuit would only slow
down progress on the cleanup.
"This is all part of an ongoing cleanup
of historic contamination. Pall is contin-
uing to work with the Michigan Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality and has
already cleaned up more than two billion
gallons of ground water," Iannucci said,
referring to a separate lawsuit filed by
MDEQ against Pall in 1988.
That suit resulted in a court order in
2000 by Washtenaw County Circuit
Court Judge Donald Shelton for Pall to
stop the underground contamination in
five years or by July 2005.
Matthew Naud, Ann Arbor environ-
mental coordinator, said the existing
MDEQ lawsuit is different from the law-
suit filed by the city.
"The goal of the MDEQ is limited to
forcing Pall to live up to state of Michigan
environmental standards" he said in a
March 6, 2003
By Charles Paradis
Daily Staff Writer
An Ann Arbor native, Mayor John Hieftje walked in the
shadow of University buildings as a child and now runs
City Hall. The Michigan Daily caught up with the mayor
over break and asked him about the relationship between
the campus and the community.
From fire protection to Hash Bash, Mayor Hieftje shared
his views about Ann Arbor. One prevailing theme permeat-
ed the entire interview: Hieftje wants to see a fair relation-
ship between the city and the University.
ThrMirhin 1"I.nily. unm w n .Pthe o m manti
works for the University, works for the city, and it goes
back and forth. We share the same space. I think we have a
wonderful partnership, and I hope it continues as we go
down the road. But like any partnership, it is like a mar-
riage except that we can't get a divorce. So it is really good
if we can continue to get along well. But from the city's
point of view, we need to make that relationship with the
University a little more equitable.
TMD: What needs to happen to make the relationship
more equitable?
JH: One of the things that has happened recently is that
the state government's budget is really a mess. The new
governor (Jennifer Granholm) was left with a real mess,
and s there's been some cuts that have come down to
I