NEWS

The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 18, 2005 - 3

ON CAMPUS
Prof to speak on
conditions among
American Indians
Karia Walters, a University of Wash-
ington associate professor and director of
the Native Wellness Research Center, will
speak today at 10 a.m. at the School of
Social Work Building.
Walters currently leads a national study
on the links between traumatic stress,
substance abuse, mental health and other
conditions among Native Americans and
native Alaskans.
Advocacy Day
prompts discussion
of global health
issues, hate crimes
SERVE-SPARK, an organization
designed to spark students' interests in
community service, will sponsor Advo-
cacy Day today at the Michigan Union at
12 p.m. Organizers of the forum hope to
increase awareness and prompt discussion
of global health issues, hate crimes and
natural disasters.
Former prisoners
display artwork
'Are We Free," a showcase honoring
participants of the University's Prison
Creative Arts Program's Linkage Project
will present its closing reception tonight
at 6:30 p.m. at the Duderstadt Center in
the Media Union. The program unites
formerly imprisoned artists, writers and
musicians with community arts mentors.
There is no cost to attend.
Improv troupe
honors TGIF
ComCo, the University's oldest improv
comedy troupe will present "WTF Hap-
pened to TGIF," an evening of scenes,
.improvisation and "fondly remembering
being nostalgic" at 8 p.m. tonight in the
Michigan Union U-Club. The cost is $2.
CRIME
NOTES
Car broken into on
Church Street
The Department of Public Safety
reported on Wednesday that a car parked
in a Church Street carport had been bro-
ten into and that attempts were made to
steal the owner's car stereo. There are
no suspects.
Sick student
transported to
emergency room
A caller reported to DPS that a student
from Mary Markley Residence Hall was
feeling sick and needed to be transported
to the emergency room on Wednesday.
The subject refused to be transported by
a Huron Valley ambulance.

Shoes and jewelry
box stolen
A Northwood Apartment resident
reported to DPS that her jewelry box and
two pairs of shoes were stolen from her
vehicle on Hubbard Street. There are no
suspects.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Wolverines prep
for rally
Nov. 18, 1955 - Perhaps the most
intricate and significant pep rally in the
University's history will form tonight at 8
p.m. at the Michigan Union. Few students
know what their support might mean to
the Wolverines, who are scheduled to play
the Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday in one
of the most decisive games in the history
of collegiate football. This isn't a rah-rah
period in University history, and it's fash-
ionable, in many respects, to keep enthusi-
asm to a minimum.
The rally's entertainment will likely
mfaft nnvhl-r.v 'c. toacPC 1'hP cPtroivoan-

Students make spiritual journey in Spain

By Katerina Georgiev
For the Daily
Legend has it that when St. James, one of Jesus's apostles, was
beheaded in 42 AD, his disciples stole his corpse and put it on board a
ship with a crew of angels. After seven days the ship landed in Galicia,
but the disciples were unable to bury their leader because the king and
queen of the region were not Christians.
After some time, the queen of the area - which later became the
city of Santiago in Spain - converted to Christianity, and James was
finally buried.
In the 9th century, a hermit found St. James's tomb, and the journey
to Santiago became an important pilgrimage site for medieval Chris-
tians. Even today, it is estimated that nearly half of the people who
make the pilgrimage to St. James's tomb do so for religious reasons.
Others, like the 14 University students in the Global Intercultural
Experience for Undergraduates program, make the trip down the his-
toric "Camino Frances," a popular route to the tomb, for class credit.
Students participating in the program receive two credits and an
opportunity to travel through Europe.
During the course of the trip, the group walked 185 miles, from
Le6n, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Andy Noverr, director of the program and a participant in the
trip, said the diverse array of people the group met was one of the
best parts of the trip. Far from only interacting with Spaniards,
they met people from Germany, Austria and England, and even a
Shaman alternative medicine man from Chile determined to walk
the way barefoot. Noverr said with all the different nationalities
represented, walking the Camino is not only seeing Spain, but
experiencing "an entity unto itself."
Each person had a different reaction at completing the trip, and each
person took something different from it, said LSA senior John Notari-
anni, a participant in the program.
"I'll never know exactly what the experience did for some of the peo-
ple in my group, and I don't know if I can even fully explain what it did
for me," he said. "Go do it and see yourself, Joe Michigan Student."
Notarianni said the most frustrating aspect of the trip was being so
removed from the outside world.
"The first week we kind of clung to (the outside world), singing
songs, jabbering about childhood television shows, speculating on
world politics and life at home," he said. "Eventually, it all just faded
away and the world shrunk only to our immediate experience."
While the GIEU program is entirely secular, participants are
allowed to explore the religious aspect on their own time.

"I'll never know exactly what the
experience did for some of the people
in my group, and I don't know if I can
even fully explain what it did for me."
-John Notarianni
LSA senior and program participant
Notarianni described a definite spiritual element to the pilgrimage.
"Being in the fabled city was a major emotional release, and despite
our group being largely secular, the power of the history, the architec-
ture and even just the energy of Santiago was undeniable," he said.
The trip took five weeks to complete, and while both Notarianni
and Noverr cited group tension as a problem, they said the common
goal of finishing the 185-mile Camino ultimately unified the group.

AG Cox
knew of
Fieger s
plans
LANSING (AP) - Michigan Attor-
ney General Mike Cox told detectives he
first learned several months ago that Geof-
frey Fieger could retaliate against him for
investigating the brash lawyer's $457,000
payment for negative ads in the 2004 state
Supreme Court election.
Cox, in a Nov. 7 interview with Oak-
land County investigators, said lawyer Lee
O'Brien - a key figure in the Cox-Fieger
imbroglio - told him in a casual manner
that Fieger was upset about the campaign
finance investigation and might retaliate
against him.
The face-to-face encounter occurred
sometime in late summer, Cox said. Cox
and his wife were at a Livonia restaurant
when the attorney general approached
O'Brien, who had pulled his vehicle up to
the curb.
Cox's statements, detailed in a one-page
summary by a sheriff's detective, were
included in documents and tapes released
by Oakland County Prosecutor David
Gorcyca under the Michigan Freedom of
Information Act. The statements show Cox
may have known before October of poten-
tial ramifications if he continued the Fieger
investigation. In October, Fieger alluded to
Cox's infidelity on a public television show
and, according to Cox, told O'Brien to
threaten the attorney general.
Gorcyca announced Tuesday that he would
not file charges against Fieger or O'Brien, and
Fieger said there was never a scintilla of evi-
dence that he committed a crime. O'Brien
also maintains his innocence.
In a phone interview earlier this week,
Cox said he did not know O'Brien very
well, only in the sense that "I know hun-
dreds of other lawyers." Cox spokeswoman
Melissia Christianson said yesterday that
O'Brien played a "minor role" in raising
money for Cox's 2002 campaign.
But O'Brien, in conversations secretly
taped by Cox staffer Stu Sandler, said he
was a friend of Cox. O'Brien also said he
earned "a million bucks a year" from Fieg-
er by referring legal cases to him.
According to Sandler, O'Brien left a
voicemail for him on Oct. 12 saying he
wanted to deliver a threat from Fieger.
Sandler, Cox's external affairs director,
wore a wire during two meetings in Novi
with O'Brien on Oct. 14 at a bar and Oct. 17
at a bookstore. He did not wear the surveil-
lance equipment when meeting with Fieger
and O'Brien later on the 17th. In the conver-
sations - often profanity-laced - O'Brien
talked about both Fieger and Cox.
"Look, your guy (Cox), that's why I
threw parties for him... I didn't even want
him to win. I just liked him cause he did
me favors. ... And you know, actually I
like Cox more than Fieger, to be honest
with you. Personally, I think Cox is a more
honorable (expletive) man than, uh, Fieger.
But I make money off Fieger."
O'Brien said Fieger gave him the
"names of two broads" with whom Cox
had sex "in the line of duty." Cox, who
came clean about an affair last week, has
acknowledged having an affair with one of
the women. He denies the other allegation.
Sandler told investigators O'Brien gave
him a piece of paper with the two names
on Oct. 17, before the two met Fieger.
In one conversation, O'Brien suggest-
ed that if Cox and Fieger came to a truce,

Fieger would call off "whatever he's plan-
ning on doing."
O'Brien also suggested Fieger might
not do anything until Cox did something.
"Like last week, (Fieger) was scream-
inu at me tha~t- voniklnowtl Iyou101 gu wre

AVANT
Continued from page 1
One of two MCs for the night, Nick
Willis - an LSA senior and former
member of the Michigan track and field
team - joked after the event that the size
of the crowd met his expectations, "give
or take a couple hundred people."
LSA freshman Emily Bier said that her moti-
vation for attending the event was two-fold.
"I'm a Christian and I love football, so
seeing Jason Avant speak is like mixing my
two favorite things," Bier said.
Bier added that she thought the larger-
than-expected turnout resulted from stu-
dents' excitement for tomorrow's football
game between Michigan and Ohio State.
When asked why so many people came
to hear him speak, Avant conceded that the
game may have been part of their motiva-
tion, but he wasn't concerned with the reason
they attended.
"I don't care how they get here, as long
as they hear about the glory of God," Avant
said after his talk.
Even though LSA senior Jeremy Han-
nich - the other MC of the event - said the
point of the talk was to show how God works
in people's lives everyday, the presence of
Michigan football was everywhere.
Before Avant spoke, a short film about the
history of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry
was shown, and Hannich and Willis gave
away Michigan merchandise to members of
the audience who correctly answered trivia
questions about the football team.
But in the end, Avant's passionate recount-
ing of his journey to God is what stuck with
the audience the most.
"In society today, it is not an easy thing
to do to say you are a Christian. It was a
really powerful story for Jason to share with
the Michigan community," LSA freshman
Annie VanDyke said.
The talk was sponsored by Campus
Crusade for Christ in conjunction with
Athletes in Action, an offshoot of Cam-
pus Crusade that serves the religious,
needs of varsity athletes.

MIKt HULSEBUS/ Uaily
Senior co-captain and wide receiver Jason Avant speaks about his turn to Christianity. The talk was spon-
sored by Campus Crusade for Christ In conjunction with Athletes In Action, an offshoot of Campus Cru-
sade that serves the religious needs of varsity athletes.

DINGWALL
Continued from page 1
Yet while the rest of the country
toils in the boring legalities of planned
cities, the University is free to plan
without bounds and, more importantly,
free to carry out those ideals. The
University, because it is state-owned, is
not chained down by local ordinances
or boring processes - and nor are its
plans. Each campus modification must
only be approved by the regents, one
body with one interest.
Central Campus is obviously more
structured than an archipelago of self-
centered buildings, but the intricacies
of the campus plan are hard to detect.
Because the University has complete
control over its own construction, why
is the campus not Eden? Why are there
still alleys and awkward spaces? Evident
programmatic elements like service
entries are too easily blamed; the seem-
ingly elegant system of planning para-
dise is actually harder than it looks.
Guided by three main principles,
the Central Campus master plan
focuses on innovation, collaboration
and excellence. These goals are fine,
but highly generic and nonlocational.
As far as fundamental themes, only
one of five talking points actually
alludes to location, and that is the
notion of adjacency aiding collabora-
tion. The other factors all have good
intentions but are hard to visualize
in terms of place. It can be difficult
to design a University building that
is guided by "student life" and "pres-

ervation of knowledge." These elements
are virtuous, but impossible to see while
walking through the Diag. What is seen
and experienced are the figures of build-
ings and the vacancies between.
Over hundreds of years, the Univer-
sity has evolved so that the campus plan
no longer looks toward the future but
reconciles the past. Campus planning
was not conceived in Ann Arbor until
the 1960s, a century and a half after it
was established. In the late '90s, archi-
tecture firm Venturi, Scott Brown and
Associates analyzed the campus and
projected plans focusing on what was
already present. Buildings on the west of
the Diag are mainly arts and humanities
and thus named the Arts and Humanities
Corridor, while the east buildings on the
Diag hold the Science Corridor. React-
ing to what exists leaves us with trends
for the future, but doesn't help mold a
better future. For example, the Science
Corridor leads us north through the
Life Sciences Complex and finally to [
the Medical Campus. This transition,

though nice on paper, is still awkward
and cumbersome. Also, there is a Per-
forming Arts Corridor that leads us from
Rackham to the west, and continues into
downtown Ann Arbor. This is not visible
at the pedestrian level, but merely a label
trying to describe what is already pres-
ent, in hope of guiding the future.
Lastly, the layering of architects
on the campus adds to the piecemeal
nature of the campus and detracts from
the overall plan. University Planner for
Plant Extensions Operations Sue Gott is
doing a tremendous job of trying to bring
together the portions of the campus into
one coherent whole. Yet when individual
projects are looked at, the plan dissipates
because each architect interprets it differ-
ently. Add to that the fact that a separate
architect was hired to redefine the cam-
pus, and the many hands at work often
are at odds - such as when entrances do
not fully correspond to paths and paths

are obscured by buildings.
For years, I was oblivious of the paths
through the School of Social Work and
School of Education buildings; I still
get lost if I try to cut through the Law
Quad to Rick's. For me, that area is not
the best solution of planning, although
it is supposedly as elegantly planned as
the Social Science Corridor and will be
boasting new Public Policy, Law and
Business buildings to that end. Although
the campus tries to be perfect, it still has
to wade through perceptions, history
and designers to get there. These issues
are not bureaucratic like city planning,
but mainly just annoying nuances of any
plan. But I must admit, I truly believe
that Ann Arbor's campus is one of the
best, not counting Eden.
Dingwall is the Daily's
architecture critic. He can be
reached at adingwal@umich.edu.


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