WV ~ w w -~ w ~ w ~ w w w W W W I -r- MW TheMicign Dil - ednsdy, epembr 0, S0 . -. - .. - - *- S 55. - S. IF 3B THE JUNK DRAWER What you should and shouldn't be talking about on campus this week. 4B THE ART OF FIGHTING A Daily editor learns to break a man's bones at Weapons Connection Society Summer Weapons Camp. 5B IN MY OWN WORDS A compelling look at a student's summer in Pales- tine and the insight she gained towards the ongoing conflict. 6B HARD TIMES FOR SCIENCE For the first time in its history, the NIH has had its funding cut posing a threat to the University's young biomedical researchers. 10B FICTION AND POETRY A short story and two poems by student authors. CAMP Continued from page 4B a piece of millstone used for grinding rice into flour. Now picture the grim reaper, scythe in hand. The scythe is an agri- cultural tool used to harvest grain. A similar tool, the sick- le, is smaller and less efficient at the job. The kama, another common Okinawan weapon, was originally a sickle. After asking Carbone which weapon I should learn, he pulled a nunchaku out of a bucket of weapons. Having only seen nunchakus in mar- tial-arts films, I grabbed the weapon excitedly. I smiled while asking myself, "Am I actually about to do this?" SAN: NUNCHAKU KATA All the students dispersed into groups on the grass with several students learning each weapon. It turns out the key to learning a kata is repetition. Mary Carbone, Peter's wife and a martial artist for the last 29 years, said the repeti- tion leads "almost to a state of meditation." I can't say I would have said the same - at least at first. Learning the kata was hard. I started to get agitated because my feet were apparently in the wrong place all the time. (You are supposed to get really low in the knees and spread your legs like you are on a horse.) I could have sworn my feet looked the same as everyone else's. On top of that, my right arm went forward when my left should have. My arm was up instead of down, my foot in the back instead of the front. It was eventually my turn to lead the group in counting - in Japanese. "Uh, Itch? Ni? Can I do this in English?" I was frustrated that I couldn't remember 10 simple Japanese words, but my group members didn't mind that I counted in English, at least from what I could tell. My movements were abrupt at first. But after repeating the movements 20 times over, I felt the same way I fondly remem- bered from my days in ballet class - the feeling of grace. After getting more comfort- able with the nunchaku, I was able to control its movement fully, guiding the weapon and my body in time with the counting. It was an extraordinary release, and at a certain point, I had memorized the steps and was able to move through the kata ceaselessly. During dinner later that day, I spoke about this feeling with other students. A woman from Long Island, who was in my nunchaku group, said that knowing a kata well is helpful in the heat of battle because when threatened, it is difficult to think rationally about your next move. That means if I have a nunchaku in hand, I'm pre- pared for anything. SHI: LEARNING TO CIPHER Most of us have known someone who took karate as a kid, claims they can break a 2- See CAMP, page 12B Who wants -you hired or rejected based on your skin color? Accept the challenge. Go to RaceFreeZone.com (paid for by Race Free Zone, 652 N. Adams, Owosso, MI 48867) ARE YOU AN ASPIRING WRITER? CONTRIBUTE TO THE STATEMENT'S SHORT FICTION AND POETRY SECTION. E-MAIL SUBMISSIONS TO CYANJ@UMICH.EDU. 1a a paramount pictures and mtv films present a dickhouse production in association with lynch siderow productions "jackass number two" johnny knoxville bam margera steve-o chris pontius ryan dunn wee man preston lacy dave england ehren mcghehey -sean cliver dimitry elyashkevich bam margera derek freda trip taylor david gale van toffler p£ b' jeff tremaine spike jonze johnny knoxville RESTRICTED GD |s ' 55efftremaine R S RC E f r m ieWun iuwcont tnrvn our auat ,w soundtrack available on bulletproof records EXTREMELY CRUDE AND DANGEROUS UTSTHOGHUT SXALCOTET SUNES ERUHUT SEXUAL c~ONTENTI.i~ NUDITY, AND LANGUAGE. jackeas amoviS5JV For rating reasons, go to www.fimratings.com WARNING: The stunts in this movie were performed by professionals, so neither you nor your dumb little buddies should attempt anything from this movie. in theatres september 22