0


"I did research with Professor Martha
Pollack for a year on the Autominder
project," Vikas said, referring to a
University research project designed to
help elderly people remember common
tasks. Rather than stay in Ann Arbor for
the summer, Reddy headed to IBM's San
Francisco office. When Vikas returned
from IBM's San Francisco offices for
the fall 2005 semester, he worked over
the Internet, via a process known as
"telecommuting" on the WebSphere
project. When asked what work he felt
was more rewarding, Vikas felt that his
work for IBM was less rewarding but
the opportunity to live in San Francisco
put it over the top. Reddy also felt that
his work at IBM was better to have on
his own resume.

"A company like Google or Microsoft
would probably be more interested
in the research project because it
involved artificial intelligence," he said.
"But a consulting company like Bain
would be more interested in my IBM
experience."
Reddy plans on working for a small
startup company when he graduates. He
was unsure whether or not he'd return to
the academic environment.
"I'm not sure I'd be good at it, Reddy
explained. "After meeting the people
in the Autominder project and other
Ph. D. people, I'm not sure I think the
same way as they do ... I have very little
patience, unfortunately." Reddy said
that if his studies at the University were
extended, he would "probably work on

some of (his) own ideas."
Engineering senior Jeremy Linden
also quickly discovered that academia
wasn't his place.
"I've done research and I'm
not a huge fan," he said. "It's not
particularly practical, and I like to be
more hands-on."
Linden said that current
undergraduate research is too
theoretical, and research positions at
the University may not necessarily
reflect actual corporate work.
"I've always wanted to start my own
business, so I'm interested in ideas that
have real-world, business applications,"
Linden said.
Linden also said that although he
holds contrary opinions, the state of




research at the University is strong,
with a large surplus of undergraduates
interested in academic research.
"(The University) isn't exactly begging
for undergrads to research," Linden said.
"They have tons of willing and able
students who want to do research."
Linden said that many of his friends
who are undergraduates struggle to get
research assistant positions because so
many graduate students need them to
keep their funding.
Because of his corporate spirit,
Linden opted to take an internship
with Microsoft as opposed to doing
undergraduate research.
"I got an offer from Microsoft that paid
$5,000 a month and I took that instead,"
Linden said."Idon'tthink undergraduate
research is really attempting to compete
with internships."
Farnam Jahanian, a professor in the
College of Engineering's Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science
program, sees very little effect of
corporations on the University's
research climate. In 2000, Jahanian
founded Arbor Networks with Rob
Malan, an engineering alum, after
Malan completed his dissertation at the
University.TogetherJahanianandMalan
developed a network security company
with a customer base that includes 70
percent of the world's Internet Service
Providers as well as major corporations
such as Thomas Weisel Partners and
Comerica Bank. Their major product,
Peakflow, monitors and protects against
malicious network intrusions from

hackers, viruses and other malware, such
as worms and e-mail spam programs
known as "spambots." Arbor Networks
eventually moved their financial
operations to Lexington, Mass., keeping
their research and development wing in
Ann Arbor.
"We believed that we could grow
a top-notch engineering team in this
area," Jahanian said. "More than
half of the engineering and product
management teams (at Arbor Networks)
are University of Michigan engineering
and business school graduates."
Jahanian's company has also recruited
professionals from major cities such as
Chicago and New York to work in closer
proximity to the University.
When confronted with the issue of
University research being harmed by
students moving to more profitable
ventures online, Jahanian said
internship experience is beneficial to
undergraduates, but research helps
prepare students for graduate-level
programs. "For most undergraduates
seeking entry-level software or
hardware development positions, real-
world experience is considered a big
plus by most recruiters," Jahanian said.
"Master's and doctoral degrees prepare
students for advanced (research and
development) positions.
Jahanian quickly dismissed any
possibility of undergraduate defection
on a large scale and emphasized the
fact that those seeking more advanced
degrees are responsible for a great deal
of University research. "I don't think this

By Mad/son Moore

s I hide behind my five-inch
wide sunglasses on the steps
of Angell Hall while the rain
pours rambunctiously out of the gray
sky, holding my umbrella and a copy
of Hello! celebrity gossip magazine
in one hand, I think to myself: I am
utterlyfabulous.
Who's fabulous? First, they are
not afraid to stand out. They venture
outside of "the norm," giggling at
how uniformly people follow the
pack. They dare to be ironic, they
take risks or they break all the rules.
And they're easily spotted. Why do
you think they hide behind huge
sunglasses?
But for gay men, at Michigan
and elsewhere, being fabulous often
comes with a price: homophobia,
because "men" are supposed to look
like "men," - whatever that looks
like. All men wear ugly T-shirts
and potato sack jeans. All men love
sports. And any man who even tip-
toes outside of the squishy box that
separates men from women gets
called a "fag." Men, according to
this rule, are not supposed to act like
anything other than men.
Bullshit!
I have never been intimidated by
these comical sets of heteronorma-
tive ideas and codes. They are toxic.
But this does not mean I have never
faced homophobia.
Last summer in Chicago, after a
long day of research, I decided to
relax by treating myself to several
cosmopolitans, good music and as
many hot boys as I could see with
two eyes.
I thought, "I'll go dancing!"
I headed to my dorm and combed

my closet for the perfect outfit
- something that would say, "rock
star chic" or "I'm the glamour you
hope(d) to be."
There I strutted, to Madonna of
course, in my room trying to figure
out what to wear. Fur? Somebody
will undoubtedly shower me with
paint. Popped collar? This look was
out as soon as Abercrombie and
Fitch started selling "pre-popped"
shirts.
As I left the train station, heading
now towards Hydrate in Boystown,
Chicago, I learn that I am being fol-
lowed by what is clearly a drunken
man who only wanted to cause a
ruckus.
"Hey! ... Hey! I know you hear me
talking to you. HEY!" he exclaimed
with exponentially more force as it
became evident that I was trying to
avoid him.
Not certain if he was talking to
me, but still on my cell phone and
headed towards Boystown, I turned
around only to find out that I should
have never paid him any attention.
"Yeah, I'm talking to you," he
exclaimed, now hurrying towards me.
What could this guy possibly
want from me, I wondered? He was
quite the ragamuffin, a tall Chi-
nese kid about 25 years old. He
wore ridiculously baggy clothes,
carried two bottles of Natty Light
and seemed to get off on causing
trouble. This is one of the types of
people most dangerous to homo-
sexuals everywhere.
Actually nervous now, I picked up
my pace. But not quickly enough,
apparently, for the Chinese ragamuf-
fin was no longer behind me but in

fact directly to my left. He stared at
me intensely. And he spoke thus:
"Hey ... where you going? " he
asked intoxicated.
"Excuse-uoi maisje tie parle pas
l'anglais, " I said to him in French.
I even began to speak in French on
my phone in hope that this ridicu-
lously crazy person would believe
that I didn't know any English. He
didn't.
"Man, please. You speak English.
I know you speak English. Ain't no
damn black French people in Chica-
go! Wooooo shit! Let me take a look
at that ass! Mmm, mmm, mmm, look
at that tight little bubble ass! I bet
you hungry for some dick. huh? You
want a little dick? Mmmm! Man I
tell you what, I'm not gay, but I'll
fuck you!"
And he actually said it a sec-
ond time:
"I'm not gay, but I'll fuck you!"
How do you respond to such a
phrase? I may have even enter-
tained his offer if he didn't look so
much like a gorilla. All the while
I greatly appreciated his honesty
about my tight little ass. "I'm not
gay, but I'll fuck you!" is quite the
pick-up line. Now if I could only
get hot men to randomly approach
me with it ...
This was a homophobic event. I
hope you noticed.
I have spent a solid three years
in Ann Arbor, and have never expe-
rienced such a blatant homophobic
event. This is because Michigan is
as gay as balls, if I may be collo-
quial. Many are still closeted, and
some are out and about (yay for
gay!), while others still haven't fig-

IN MY M WORDS
Fabulous is not a crime

Gay

student battles through adveristy
at home and on cam pus

Moore likes to sport the biggest glas

ured it out.


seven great reasons to

come to

Columbia college chicago
t. Columbia College Chicago's Summer Sessions offers you the
opportunity to take classes at the nation's premier visual,
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2. Columbia is known for its innovative urban arts curriculum, faculty
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. Reduced tuition on all summer classes (that's right, it costs a lot
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Y. Summer school is big fun (a little more relaxed, but a little more
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- and that big, big lake

If they have yet to come out, :
is because homophobia does exis
on this campus. One of my mos
memorable, but not exclusivel
homophobic, times happened at th
beginning of the school year as
strutted down State Street at the en
of a football game.
With them in their corn-yellov
shirts and me clad in Dior, I've neve
felt quite so gay in my life. I don
even have to tell you why. Nobod
said or did anything, but the tensio
could be cut with a football.
What's more, people in some o

A convnient!
If you live in An Arbor, you
have recycling services available
. right outde your door. For free!
Coil Recycle Ann Arbor to request a
tote or contact your landlord and
et them know you wont reycling!
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REGISTRATION SEGINS ON MAR~CH 17.


The Michigan

8B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 6, 2006