S 9 9 9 9 9 9 V v w I 3B The Daily Dish Richard Murphy discusses the growing blog scene and Ann Arbor. 4B Willow Run Automotive plants fight to stay alive against foreign powerhouses. 5B In My Own Words Kevin Porter talks about his experience as captain of the USA World Junior Char- pionships hockey tearn. 5B Point/Counterpoint The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and G.. Joes argue about who's the superior squadron. 6B Renting Troubles Alan Levy confronts prob- lems in the Ann Arbor housing situation. 8B Room Raiders Dale Winling presents solu- tions for the University's growing housing problem. From The Editor RANDOM STUDENT INTERVI EW loB Media Column Kristin MacDonald confronts the changing image of "sexy." 10B Campus Life Column Mark Gianotto attempts to solve the University's book buying problems. As the second semester of The Statement begins, there are many exciting new developments to look forward to. Randoms like dill By Doug t First of all, we have 11B Random Student Interview Laura and Kaitlin chat about cooties and being afraid of the dark.a 11B The List A guide to the happenings, concerts and shows around town this weekend. elected new editors to replace me (and have a ridiculous picture in the magazine each week). Sports writer James Dowd will be the new manag- ing editor of the maga- zine and Arts writer Chris Gaerig will be his associ- ate editor. The two of them have done the majority of the work for this week's issue and they'll take over officially in February. Another new feature for this semester is a piece called "What it feels like to ... " where a campus figure writes about their day-to-day experiences. This week, hockey player and World Junior USA captain Kevin Por- ter is featured. We also have new columnists this semester, so be on the lookout for new writings on fashion, food, cam- pus life and media subtext. To all those who weren't selected or want a column in the future, feel free to apply next semester. Our cover story this week is a housing symposium, where local figures discuss the problems with off-campus housing and offer suggestions on how to fix them. We did a similar idea on Detroit and we decided to bring it back to let more local voices be heard and also to offer a more intellectual look at the topic. Thanks for reading. Michigan Daily: Hi, is Laura there? %Ra dom: This is she. u TMD: Hi, I'm calling from The Michigan wily and you've been selected to do this week's Random Student Interview. Are you up for it? .. kSure, why not? TMD: Really? R: Sure. TMD: Wonderful. So how it's going? R: Pretty good. TMD: Did you get any good gifts during the holiday season? R: I got an iPod so that was nice. TMD: Yeah, that is pretty good. What was the best present you got when you were a little kid? R: Oh, wow. Um ... my trampoline. TMD: You got a trampoline? Do you still have it? R: Yes, I do. TMD: And it's still as bouncy as ever? R: Oh yeah, haha. TMD: So did you ask for the trampoline or was it a surprise. R: No, I asked for it. TMD: Why did you want a trampoline? R: I was a cheerleader/tumbler/gymnast so I wanted to be able to do stuff on it. TMD: But couldn't you do that without the trampoline? R: Well, not really. I could, but it's more fun with the trampoline. TMD: Do you ever just jump up and down for fun? R: Yeah, I do that too. TMD: Give me your best "Your mama's so old" joke. R: Oh my god. Can I ask my roommate? TMD: Yeah, sure. R: OK ... OK, we have a "Your mama's so fat" one. Is that OK? TMD: Yeah, that's fine. R: Your mama's so fat, she used 1-75 as a slip and slide. TMD: Oh! Oh! The roommate came up with that? R: Yeah. TMD: Wow, your roommate's pretty cool. Maybe we should get her on the line, too. R: Do you want to? TMD: It doesn't matter to me. R: Hold on, hold on ... Hello? TMD: Yeah, who's this? R: Kaitlin. TMD: Hi Kaitlin. You know you're now doing the Random Student Interview for The Michigan Daily. R: OK, sweet. TMD: So you're the one that came up with that your mama joke, huh? R: I did. TMD: That was a pretty good one. Where did you get that one from? R: I think in elementary school. TMD: Really? Never happened at my school. What else happened in your elementary school? R: What else did I do? I kicked boys? TMD: Why did you kick boys? R: Because boys have cooties, hahaha. TMD: Oh, do we still? R: No that went away. TMD: When did that go away? R: I think they went away at age 12 or 13. TMD: Because then boys became hot? R: Yeah, pretty much. TMD: Well, not me. I wasn't hot until like 19 or 20. What's the last movie you saw? R: "The Family Stone." TMD: I've never heard of that. What's it about? R: It's about a family and one takes his girlfriend home for Christmas to meet the family and it's kind of disastrous. It's funny, it's tear-jerking. I give it two thumbs up. TMD: Wow. I think I saw that movie. I think it was called "Meet the Fockers." R: No no no. TMD: Now do you want to keep going or do you want to put ... Laura, is that her name? ... back on. R: I'll put Laura back on ... Hi. TMD: Hi, Kaitlin was really nice! Do you two get along quite well? R: We do. Very well. TMD: Did you know her when you moved in? R: No, we went in blind, so it's a success story. TMD: So what made you become close? Was there like a defining moment? R: Not really. We're just kind of one and the same. We have a lot in common. TMD: People say that all the time and I don't really think that's true. People will be like "I like movies" and someone will be like "Oh, I like movies too!" That's not really having something in common. R: But we have weird things in common, LISTEN Download a podcast of this column at wwwmichigandaily.com. though. TMD: Like what? R: We like the same foods that people usu- ally don't like. TMD: Like what? R: Like dill pickle chips. TMD: Dill pickle chips? R: Yeah. See? TMD: Well, there you go. TMD: So Laura ... I'm talking to Laura, right? R: Yeah. TMD: What's your favorite comic strip? R: Calvin and Hobbes. TMD: What about the Lockhorns? R: They are pretty funny. I'm not gonna lie. TMD: Do you want to be like them when you get married? R: No, they hate each other! TMD: Yeah, but they're still married. R: I know, but they hate each others' guts. TMD: Well that's not so bad! It's not like he's cheating on her or anything. R: OK, well no. I don't want to be like them. TMD: OK. So how are classes so far? R: They're good. TMD: Did you do any icebreakers or anything in any of your classes? R: Well, we just sat around the room and gave our names and a hobby or something. TMD: Now, let's say you had to choose an adjec- tive to describe you that starts with the same letter as your name. That's a common icebreaker. What would you say? R: Um ... loopy. TMD: Loopy? R: I can't think of anything that starts with an L! TMD: What about Leaping Laura? R: Yeah, that'll work. TMD: What do you think Kaitlin would pick? R: Kinky Kaitlin. She said kinky. TMD: Oooh. Oh boy. Maybe you should put her back on the line. R: Do you want her back on the line? -, ,,". " , TMD R: Hc TMD R: I'n TMD view nov eaten? K chip fixa R: Tl TMD in the ca R: Ol used to! peas in it TMD R: I di aunt just etables a TMD current R: I bees. TMD were a 1 R: I v TMD hiding i R: I i bed. TMI R:Yc TMD crocodi R: I i TMD your pa crocodi R: Be TMD done an R: M picture c knee-hid TMI kid. R: C TMI style. A Is there R: N TMI this. Lc Magazine Editor: Doug Wernert Cover Art: Caitlin Kleiboer Photo Editor: Ali Olsen Designers: William Couch Editor in Chief: Jason Z. Pesick Managing Editor: Alison Go Doug Wernert, Magazine Editor show your fa pites ome love. Best of fnn fr bor vote at www.michigandaily.com/aabest polls open January 5t" / polls close January 271h University of Michigan 2006 MLK SYMPOSIUM A Time to Break Silence The Weekend l ist Ydav W405.c Saturday 1;K43 Emmett Till: The Untold Story Presented by Keith A. Beauchamp Documentary F Immaker January 16, 2006 2:00pm Michigan Union Ballroom Sponsored By: University Library Co-Sponsored By: Bentley Historical Library, Information Technology Central Services, Law Library, Kresge Business Administration Library, School of Information, University Housing Bollywood Satirized The Institute for Research on Women and Gender presents a critical exhibition of the filmmaking capital of Asia. The exhibit, featuring photos by Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, will begin at 8 a.m. at Lane Hall. Admission is free. LGBT Parenthood The Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Affairs presents a discussion of LGBT parenting experiences. The brown bag lunch begins at noon at the Michigan Union. Admission is free. Keynote Lecture and Video Discussion The University Musical Society presents Carla Maxwell's discussion of Jos6 Lim6n's Dance Company. Former company members, Peter Sparling and Gay Delanghe will join her. The presentation is at 6 p.m. in the Hussey Room of the Michigan League. Admission is free. The Hard Lessons at the Halfway Inn The East Quad Music Co-Op presents The Hard Lessons, who will be perform- ing alongside The Avatars and Tyvek. The show begins at 9:30 p.m. at the Halfway Inn. The show is all ages and tickets are $5 at the door. Ballroom Dance Lessons The University Ballroom Dance team offers a chance for beginners to learn Latin and Standard dance steps. The course begins at 4:30 p.m. at the CCRB dance room. A partner is not necessary. The first three lessons are free and there is a $40 fee for the rest of the term. Green Eyes Brian Mazzaferri, Eli Zoller and choreogra- pher Lizzie Leopold present "Green Eyes," a per- formance incorporating film, music and dance. The two shows begin at 7:30 and 10 p.m. at the Duderstadt Center in the Media Union Video Stu- dio. Admission is free. ,Sundaw U-M Lfe Concert The U-M a concert of the conducti begins at 4 X sion is free. Rachael C Contempo native Racha Ark. Doors a at 7:30. Tick< at the door. 2B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 12, 2006 11B -The Michigar