4B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 10, 2005
The Michigan Dai
Do Random Acts of Kindness
ACTING Up.
GROUP FINDS CREATIVE WAY TO SPREAD CHEER
life with Bob 1with Bob Hunt
MY INFINITE WISDOM
By Jenny Mahn
For the Daily
Imagine hurriedly pacing through
the Diag and receiving candy from
a smiling student - no strings
attached. Or standing alone in an
elevator only to be greeted by polite
conversation. Better yet, returning to
your car to find that someone filled
your expired meter for you.
Amidst the daily flurry of class-
es, appointments and lunch dates,
life on campus is often a whirlwind
of tasks and obligations by the hour.
But members of Do Random Acts of
Kindness devote an hour each week
to "RAKing" individuals - carry-
ing out random acts of kindness on
campus and throughout Ann Arbor.
DoRAK emerged as a spinoff
of Circle K in the fall of 2001 but
evolved into its own, MSA-recog-
nized group in winter of 2002.
According to LSA senior Amanda
Fox, co-chair of DoRAK, the struc-
ture of the group "is what makes it
so much fun." The group is com-
posed of five teams, each with six to
ten members, led by a captain or pair
of co-captains. Each team meets for
an hour a week during which the
group "decides what RAK they want
to carry out and then actually goes
out and does it," Fox explained.
Although one hour per week may
appear to be a short amount of time
to brighten people's lives, DoRAK has
proven that a great deal can be accom-
plished in a short period of time.
From making "anti-boredom" kits
filled with crossword puzzles, jokes,
"When there are times when I'm
feeling stressed out or upset about
something, I realize that by smiling
or doing something nice for someone
else, I end up feeling a little better."
- Nima Shah
LSA junior
random quotes, mad libs and candy to
be handed out in the waiting room of
University Health Services, to handing
out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
to homeless people, DoRAK members
take advantage of each hour to help
people both on campus and those in
surrounding communities.
Examples of RAKs include taping
lucky pennies to cards with phrases
such as "Heads Up!," "Make a Wish!"
and "A lucky penny a day keeps the
bad things away!" and placing them
at random places around campus.
The lively, energetic and bigheart-
ed nature of the group is largely
based on its structure. "This struc-
ture provides a lot of flexibility and
really puts the creative power in the
hands of members who choose what
they are going to do, and then they
get to go out and actually see their
kindness in action," Fox said.
The structure also provides a
relaxed atmosphere. "Because it's
not overly time-consuming, I don't
feel pressured to do RAKs, I just do
them because I enjoy it," co-captain
and LSA junior Nima Shah echoed.
Architecture junior Katie Westrick's
favorite RAK is when her RAK team
played four square on the Diag.
"Everyone walking by immediately
got this happy and confused look on
their face from the sight, but several
people jumped into the game on their
way to class or the library. The line
would get so long at times but we met
a lot of new people, some of whom
even ended up joining DoRAK," said
Westrick, who is DoRAK's fundrais-
ing and treasury chair.
An underlining attribute of
DoRAK is the wide-ranging impact
it has on the community. The chanc-
es of a RAKed individual continu-
ing the positivity are enormous with
each good deed contributing to the
creation of a chain effect of kind-
ness. "Last year in the dorms, we
posted comic strips in the bathroom
stalls. After a week or two, we went
back in the bathroom and someone
else who lived in the hall changed the
DoRAK uses a variety of methods, from making sandwiches for the
homeless to creating candy flowers, to carry out its acts of kindness.
strips!" Westrick said. "It was nice
to see that someone thought it was
so great to do something like that
that they wanted to keep it going."
Another RAK favorite is creating
candy flowers from Hershey Hugs and
Kisses, red tissue paper, and green
pipe cleaners. These Spring treats are
then passed out to unsuspecting peo-
ple around campus. Giving out candy
is captain and newsletter committee
member Rena Menke's favorite RAK.
"Almost everyone loves candy. When
people take the candy and realize there
isn't a catch or that they don't have to do
anything for it they are so thankful and
excited," said Menke, an LSA senior.
In addition to RAKing, DoRAK's
website, www.umich.edu/-dorak,
is full of stories about RAK experi-
ences, RAK ideas that people can do
on their own and a link to D Good
News, a DoRAK newsletter. The
newsletter features "RAK-It-Your-
self" ideas, personal RAK experi-
ence stories, and pictures of RAKs.
Though DoRAK undoubtedly
brightens the day of the people
being RAKed, the members receive
just as much satisfaction and enjoy-
ment from RAKing. "I love DoRAK
because it reinforces my belief in the
difference that kindness can make. I
love working with people who want
nothing more than to spread kind-
ness everywhere they go," Fox said.
Involvement in DoRAK has also
changed the outlook of some of its
members. "DoRAK has given me an
appreciation for the little things that
happen in my every day life," Shah said.
"When there are times when I'm feeling
stressed out or upset about something, I
realize that by smiling or doing some-
thing nice for someone else, I end up
feeling a little better," Shah adds.
For Rena Menke, DoRAK has
illustrated that kindness can fit into
anyone's schedule, no matter how
busy there are. "DoRAK has shown
me that a little bit of kindness goes
a long way."
Because I'm a second-semes-
ter senior, I've been in Ann
Arbor for nearly four full
school years and one summer. Thus,
I feel like I have what amounts to
infinite wisdom. During my free
time over spring break, I figured
that now was the time to share that
with y'all. And I'm not even going to
charge you:
Good Idea: Jessica Simpson.
Bad Idea: Ashlee Simpson (Did
you hear the reports of her perform-
ing at a Bat Mitzvah this week-
end?).
Good Idea: Getting your parents
to throw you an awesome Sweet Six-
teen party.
Bad Idea: Getting MTV to cap-
ture the whole thing on national tele-
vision as you throw down $250,000,
and also not expecting the network
to portray you as spoiled and bitchy.
Good Idea: Marrying Denise
Richards.
Bad Idea: Marrying Charlie
Sheen.
Good Idea: Charley's Down-
stairs.
Bad Idea: Charley's Upstairs
(Although I must admit I do like
walking by and counting how many
people I can see through the window.
It normally takes just one hand).
Good Idea: Bringing in Chris
Rock to host the Oscars.
Bad Idea: Bringing in P. Diddy
to introduce a song from the "hip"
movie, "The Polar Express."
Good Idea: Jamie Foxx doing
"Ray."
Bad Idea: Jamie Foxx doing
"Booty Call."
Good Idea: Brunette Kelly Clark-
son.
Bad Idea: Blonde Kelly Clark-
son.
Good Idea: The Maize Rage.
Bad Idea: The Blunatics.
Good Idea: Putting wiper fluid
in your car so that you can clean off
your windshield while driving.
GOOD iDA
READING WEKED
MAGAZINE.
BAD IDEA:0 DIG
INSTEAD~.
~~N~'\ k\
" i
Bad Idea: Not closing the hood
properly, causing your latch to get
completely destroyed and your hood
to fly open while driving on I-94 and
leaving you to rush to the hardware
store in Chelsea to apply duct tape
all over the front of your car (Yes,
this really happened to me. In the
snow no less).
Good Idea: Rocky I, II, III and
IV.
Bad Idea: Rocky V.
Good Idea: Going with one of
your housemates to spend a Satur-
day night partying in East Lansing.
Bad Idea: Getting so drunk that
you introduce yourself to people as
"Snake" and passing out on the floor
of your housemate's cousin's friend's
apartment.
Good Idea: The Chicago Bears
drafting Braylon Edwards.
Bad Idea: The Chicago Bears
drafting David Terrell.
Good Idea: Trying to meet new
people at your friend's house party.
Bad Idea: Trying to meet new
people over The Facebook.
Good Idea: Giving your friends
your cell phone number so that they
can contact you.
Bad Idea: Giving your cell phone
number to Paris Hilton.
Good Idea: The 2005 NCAA
Men's Basketball Tournament.
Bad Idea: The 2005 NHL sea-
son.
ATTENTION ALL
STUDENTS WITH
CROHN'S DISEASE
OR ULCERATIVE
COLITIS
Please join
Dr. Ellen Zimmermann
Associate Professor of
Gastroenterology, U of M
for the first IBD student
group meeting of 2005
Thursday, March 10th at
7pm in Mason Hall 3314
Our informal discussion will
include:
Latest Research
New Therapies
Nutrition
Come hungry because food
will be served!
Please e-mail
ra jus ium ic/h. edu to be
placed on our mailing list
Good Idea: China Gate.
Bad Idea: Magic Wok.
Good Idea: Telling people that
you just got the latest DVDs of
"Seinfeld."
Bad Idea: Telling people that you
just got the latest DVDs of "Xena:
Warrior Princess."
Good Idea: Kirstie Alley on
"Cheers."
Bad Idea: Kirstie Alley on her
new reality series "Fat Actress."
Good Idea: Designing plays for
your basketball team
Bad Idea: Letting your basketball
team play like it's at the CCRB, and
thus holding onto the ball for 25 sec-
onds before chucking up a contestec
3-pointer (Looking at you Coach
Amaker).
Good Idea: Fox ordering new
episodes of "Family Guy."
Bad Idea: Fox ordering new epi-
sodes of "American Dad."
Good Idea: Kevin Costner in
"Field of Dreams."
Bad Idea: Kevin Costner in "The
Postman."
Good Idea: "24."
Bad Idea: "Johnny Zero."
Good Idea: Central Campus.
Bad Idea: North Campus.