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IATDOM TUDENT I NT
Random
By Theresa bs
,. andom: Hello?
The Michigan Daily: Hi, is this
Dave?
R: Yes.
TMD: Hi, this is this is Theresa Kennelly
from The Michigan Daily and you have been
selected to participate in the random student
interview, would you like to do it?
R: Sure, no problem.
TMD: Ok, first things first, how did you
spend you Martin Luther King Day?
R: Oh, I spent my time studying actually
and writing a couple of papers.
TMD: Did you do anything related to
MLK?
R: On Martin Luther King Day?
TMD: Yeah, on Monday.
R: No, nothing out of the ordina-y.
TMD: Well that's certainly a groat way to
celebrate diversity. What would you say you
favorite holiday is?
R: Holiday?
TMD: Yeah.
R: Thanksgiving.
TMD: Which do you prefer: gravy or
sweet potato casserole?
R: Gravy is a type of food?
TMD: The best kind.
R: All right, go with the gravy then.
TMD: Good. How do you rate yourself on
world geography? Do you think you're pretty
good?
R: Umm, yeah, sure. Maybe?
TMD: What's the capital of Canada?
R: The capital of Canada ... Canada? Cap-
ital? Umm, want to give me a hint?
TMD: It starts with an "0"
R:0...
TMD: It's not Ontario.
(Ten Seconds)
TMD: Hello?
R: Ottawa!
TMD: Yeah! What about Norway?
R: Norway ... hold on, I think I know this.
I definitely do know this one. It's pretty ran-
dom.
TMD: Another hint: It also starts with an
"GO."
R: Oslo.
TMD: Great. What about Lebanon?
(Pause)
TMD: It's the name of a popular drinking
game.
R: Beirut!
TMD: Yeah. How do you think Lebanese
people would react to millions of American
college students playing a drinking game
named after their capital?
R: I don't think they would be too excited
about it. They would be kind of ... maybe
surprised?
TMD: Well I think they would be pretty
f-ing pissed off. Next question, what do you
feel about the University's policy with Coca-
Cola?
R: I really don't know what happened but I
love Coke so I'm kind of upset about it.
TMD: Do you miss drinking it in Angell
Hall between classes?
R: Definitely.
TMD: Are you going to start drinking a
lot more Faygo now?
R: Probably not.
TMD: Well, the Faygo company names
some of their pops after colors of the rain-
bow. What would you say is the tastiest color
of the rainbow?
R: What is my favorite color of the rainbow?
TMD: No, tastiest.
R: Umm, hot pink, is that in the rainbow?
TMD: Sure, yeah that's a pretty tasty
color. I'm more of an orange person. When
you were younger, did you ever suck on those
markers that smelled like fruit?
R: Suck on them? No!
TMD: Well I kind of expected them to
taste like how they smelled, but they ended
up only tasting like poison. What's your
favorite color M&M then?
R: Blue.
TMD: Did you ever hear the rumor in
middle school that green M&Ms make you
horny?
R: Green M&Ms make you horny? Is that
true?
TMD: Supposedly. Maybe you should run
an experiment?
R: Ha ha. I will.
TMD: So are you familiar with the Spice
Girls?
R: I hate the Spice Girls.
TMD: Ok, but out of the five, Scary,
Sporty, Ginger, Posh and Baby, what Spice
Girl would you say you identify the most
with?
R: Let's go with Scary Spice.
TMD: Me too! My second favorite is Baby,
do you think we would be good on a date or
make a good couple?
R: Definitely, we should maybe go out
sometime.
TMD: Well maybe this weekend. Next
question: would you rather make a snow
angel while naked or eat yellow snow?
R: I'll go naked.
TMD: What if it was in the Diag? And,
what if the snow was yellow because of you?
Still same answer?
R: Yeah why not. That would be kind of
fun.
TMD: OK, but I hear urine is sterile, so
it might not be that bad. Just something to
consider. Next question: What did you used
to do on snow days as a kid?
R: Go sledding and throw snowballs at
people that walked by.
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MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily
President Mary Sue Coleman speaks at spring commencement at Michigan Stadium in April.
an Institute of Medicine report about the
topic.
"After three years of intensive and
wide-ranging study of the consequences
of uninsurance, this committee has con-
cluded that small steps are inadequate,"
she said. "This is the reason we are tak-
ing the bold step of issuing an unequivo-
cal call for universal coverage."
She added that there is no excuse for
delay and pointed out a number of con-
sequences of uninsurance, including
the harm it does to families and to the
nation's economy.
Coleman has also become increasingly
vocal about her displeasure with Lansing
politicians for cutting higher education
funding. While in her office, I pointed to
a picture of Coleman and Gov. Jennifer
Granholm, both wearing sunglasses.
Coleman walks a political tightrope
when it comes to the governor, but on
that day, she said, "I wish she were more
supportive of the universities."
- In 2003, as the University began to feel
the full the effects of state budget cuts,
Coleman gave $500,000 of her and her
husband's own money to the University.
That money went to a number of uses,
including scholarships and renovations
to Trotter House and the University of
Michigan Museum of Art.
In March, Coleman complained to the
Daily that "higher education has been
used to balance the books of the state."
It would be easy to dismiss these
strong statements as self-serving calls
for more funding, but I don't buy that. If
Coleman leaves for a private university at
some point, I'd take my statements back,
She never fails to point out the good that higher education
has done for millions of Americans, especially the students who
grew up "of modest means," as Coleman likes to say, but
eventually became prosperous because of their college education.
but for now it seems she is genuinely
committed to high-quality public higher
education. She says it is "a great state-
ment of democracy in this country" that
the American people have been willing
to support public universities that rival
private universities, calling these public
universities "one of the signal achieve-
ments of a great democracy." That, she
says, is why she is so concerned about the
recent funding decreases.
She never fails to point out the good
that higher education has done for mil-
lions of Americans, especially the stu-
dents who grew up "of modest means,"
as Coleman likes to say, but eventually
became prosperous because of their col-
lege education.
While Coleman can be selectively out-
spoken, she still faces criticism that she
doesn't have a clear vision for the Uni-
versity. The themes of her Senate Assem-
bly address were academic excellence,
collaboration, engagement and acces-
sibility - consistent with what she said
at the Union the year before, but hardly
groundbreaking.
Regent Andrea Fischer Newman dis-
missed criticism that Coleman does not
have a vision for the University. She
pointed out that Coleman had to spend a
great deal of time on initiatives Bollinger
did not have time to finish, such as LSI.
Eisendrath, who has been at Michigan
through four presidencies - Harold Sha-
piro, Duderstadt, Bollinger and Coleman
- concurred, saying Coleman doesn't
have any "grand plans to lead a charge
somewhere," but that between Bollinger
and Duderstadt, who was constantly
thinking about the future, the regents had
had enough visions and wanted to get
some basics done.
But universities are full of intellectuals
who think big and want leadership. Dur-
ing this era of declining state support, a
strong leader is necessary to maintain
academic quality despite the funding
dropoff.
In a chapter on presidential leadership
from Duderstadt's forthcoming book, he
writes,"Michigan embraces bold visions,
and without these, effective leadership is
simply impossible."
If Coleman becomes merely an ini-
tiative president - and she's launched
a number of good ones - she will be
remembered as the University's first
female president, not a bold leader. Cole-
man is clearly a skilled manager - the
best Eisendrath said he's seen so far in a
University President.
"She's a born manager," he said.
E
isendrath, however, is
wrong - along with
Rudgers, the regents I
talked to and even Cole-
man herself. They're not
wrong about her mana-
gerial skills or even
which issues she thinks are impor-
tant. They're wrong when they try
to describe her vision for the Uni-
versity. And everyone who says she
doesn't have any vision is wrong as
well.
Whether anyone - including
Coleman - realizes it or not, she
does have a vision. She just hasn't
articulated it very well. Maybe that's
because her schedule is so packed
she hasn't had a chance to take a step
back and realize that all her initia-
tives are coherent.
If I were to describe the vision of
her presidency, I would label her the
anti-wall president. Coleman doesn't
believe in walls unless they are abso-
lutely necessary.
The themes of her State of the Uni-
versity address in September were
academic excellence, collaboration,
engagement and accessibility. Those
goals are all closely related because
to achieve them all, she will need
to tear down artificial barriers .that
exist either inside the University or
between the University and the rest
of the world.
Aside from academic excellence,
which is pretty self-explanatory, her
speech had three other themes:
Collaboration. She wants more
communication between experts
with different backgrounds.
"The single laboratory and the
solitary scholar are often supple-
mented by collaborative endeavors.
Academic discoveries will emerge
from the intersection of our disci-
plines and will be more intertwined
with the world we inhabit and serve,"
she said in her 2004 address at the
Union.
Hence the interdisciplinary task-
force, which provides funding for
significantly more team teaching.
It looks for ways to better share
information between faculty, and it
takes a look at budgetary changes
that can be made to increase flex-
ibility in funding team teaching and
interdisciplinary programs, includ-
ing improving connections between
undergraduate and graduate pro-
grams.
North Quad, which will combine
academics with residential life,
is another example of Coleman's
efforts to make the University more
seamless.
Engagement. Coleman wants the
University to be relevant to the rest of
society. As she said in her September
See COLEMAN, page 12B
Frlda\T
1920406
Arabic Music Ensemble
A group of ethnomusicology stu-
dents perform both traditional and
contemporary Arabic music at Brit-
ton Recital Hall. The performance
begins at 8 p.m. Admission is free.
Open Mic Night
Beginning at 7:30 p.m., acts can
sign up to take part in an Open Mic
night at the Michigan League. The
show features free admission and
refreshments, and performances
begin at 8:30 p.m.
Lucy Kaplansky
Folk singer Lucy Kaplansky, a former
clinical psychologist, comes to the Ark.
Kaplansky sings about a wide range of
issues, including Sept. 11 and her per-
sonal story about adopting a child from
Asia. -Tickets are $17.50 and the show
starts at 8 p.m., with doors at 7:30 p.m.
Sry O
A Fusion of Cultures
The Arab Student Association spon-
sors this meeting at the U-Club in the
Michigan Union. This formal event
provides students with a chance to meet
people from many different cultures and
includes music and dance. Starting at 8
p.m., the event goes until midnight.
Shamrockettes
The Shamrockettes fill the Mendelssohn
Theatre with Irish music and dancing.
The songs will feature traditional Irish
folk songs and some twists on contempo-
rary songs. The show begins at 7:30 p.m.
and tickets cost $5.
3UsfdaT
The Weekend ]List
1. ,O
U-M Life Sciehces
Orchestra Concert
The U-M Life Sciences Orchestra
presents a concert of Scottish and
British music under the conduction of
John Goodell. The show begins at 4
p.m. at Hill Auditorium. Admission
is free.
Shakuhachi Flute Concert
The Unversity of Michigan Muse-
um of Art presents an exhibition of
Asian art accompanied by Michael
Gould's shakuhachi flute. The exhibit
opens at 2 p.m. at the UMMA in the
Alumni Memorial Hall. Admission is
free.
Stud
Fly Cli
spring break, stem
Samsl rounft, StuffntAirfares from 04
Philadelphia $1o4
Dallas $169
Minneamlis $19
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10B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 19, 2006
The Michigan Daily