0 0 0 6B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 14, 2005 The Michigan point counterpoint the capricious life (with Adam Burns POINT: WE ARGUE THE BEST! COUNTERPOINT: WE HAVE NOTHING ON NICK AN FRESHMAN YEAR IS THE BEST YEAR By Alien Daily Arts Writer Recently, my friends and I were discussing what we were going to do after graduation. Instead of talking about the future, the conversation turned to the past. We wondered: "What year of college did we think was best?" While everyone else thought that senior year was the best, I stuck by freshman year, that magical year when living in a 9x12 room was heaven. I can definitely see their argument for senior year, which runs like a year-long Welcome Week and is so full of fun and so without home- work that it almost prepares you for your departure from the University. Almost. I suppose that I was in the minor- ity for my choice because I loved liv- ing in Markley. I loved the fact that I could walk upstairs to eat, visit my friends at four in the morning or feel like I owned a PlayStation 2 because some kid down the hall had one. Freshman year was the only year that friends could be made simply by asking someone if you could eat with them or telling someone that you liked a poster in their room. In many cases, it was the only year that you would truly be friends with those people - as it was before you moved in together or lost con- tact with them, either way realizing that while they may like "Swing- ers," they're otherwise pretty weird. There's nothing like a sink full of dishes and an apartment full of gar- bage to make you wonder why things can't be more like they were fresh- man year. Freshman year is a time for firsts. A walk through the Arb, a pizza from Bell's, ice cream from Stucchi's, a football game, a broomball game or a movie at the State Theater. All are great and definitely worth doing over and over, but they can never again be as special as they were the first time you experienced them and thought, "I've got to come back here again." In freshman year, you eat at Bell's without the thought that it could be your last time. Some people say that senior year is the best because you are old enough to go to the bar and have the free time to do so. While the bar is indeed a blast - at least it was when Mitch's was ope -, even it has trouble competing with the fun of watching "Zoolander" for the 11th time with 12 people crammed into a dorm room in the early hours of the morning. As a senior, you don't have to deal with the embarrassment of traveling in a herd of 30 in search of the rumor of a party on a street no one in the group has ever heard of. But while you may miss out on the embarrass- ment, you also miss out on the privi- lege of walking the streets with 29 other people, none of whom care if they find the party because walking aimlessly is fun enough. I met all my friends in my fresh- man year at sign-ups for intramural soccer, when we all jumped at the chance to play for Big Blue. Later that year, we signed up for broom- ball and the highlight of our season was walking at 1:40 in the morning to Yost in the freezing cold to play a game. As we headed out for our 1:20 game this year, we tried and failed to remember the score of that game freshman year. But everyone remembered the walk - where we laughed, skipped, sung and did our best to feel like we were young and in college. Listen dude, I know we don't agree on much - politics, socializing, the promiscuousness of your older sister - but I have make one point totally, spring water-clear: We have, like, the best arguments ever. There's no other source in Ann Arbor - nay, the entire post-indus- trial world - where people can get their fill of my punk-ass antics and you ... I don't know, old-people talk and shit. Face it, I'm easily the illest Alien on campus and tons of people like what I say. Seriously, this one chick totally asked if I was the Alien from the Alien vs. Predator column in my English discussion. She ended up yelling at me, but whatever, she knows who I be. For all year we've been the two polarizing, galvanizing voices on cam- pus. Republicans vs. Democrats, Pro- Choice vs. Pro-life, and even Michael Phelps vs. Sobriety take a back seat to the battlefield that is Alien vs. Preda- tor. We answer to no one. Punt vs. Counter-Punt? Those two old dudes who sit around in grimy "We have, like, the best arguments ever." - Alien Daily Arts Writer sweatshirts, yapping about how sweet the football team is? Their magazine gets tossed to the street as soon as the creepy and virginal freshmen kids stare long enough at the Ddja Vu ads next to the arti- cle. Extraterrestrials talking about boobs and colonoscopies? That shit lasts forever, my friend. So have some confidence. I know you're a butt-ugly space pirate, but come on, if you don't have some pride in your work, what can you believe in? By Predator Daily Arts Writer Though I have enjoyed our well- meaning and often witty repar- tee, Alien, I must cede The Michigan Daily award for "Best Point/Counterpoint" column to the two gentlemen who write "Punt/Counterpunt" for the Michi- gan Football Guide. Though most often used for con- fetti after a thrilling Michigan football victory, the nuanced and thrilling discourse between Nick Rou'M'el and Ken "Sky" Walker is as important to the autumnal mood as the hued leaves themselves. Plus, you can't discount the public service The Michigan Football Guide is pro- viding, giving those two charming homeless men jobs! But that's not my favorite part. My favorite part is how no matter what the odds are, one of them manages to find something nice to say about the opposing team. It makes the game so exciting! "My favorite part is how no matter what the odds are, one of them manages to find something nice to say about the opposing team. It makes the game so exciting!" - Predato Daily Arts Write Whenever I think our footba team is going to just walk all ov .. ..... . .. .. . ....... WEEKEND MAGAZINE. DON'T CRY. BE HAPPY. ALIEN AND PREDATOR ARE SAFE AND SOUND BACK AT THEIR HOME PLANETS. MAYBE THEY'LL COME BACK SOMEDAY* STUCCIIS. 1121 S. Uveao , ............ ..... .................. : ::.. - ......... - - :4 1 , .: ,: , .. . - , I'l-l- I ... ... ......... I .......... . ........ .. ...... ..... ..... . ......... .................. , , :: ... 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