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.