8 - Friday, February 2, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com i Love us or hate us, we're out of your hair. It's been great - for the most part. We could have done with a little less hate mail. But hey, it happens. Gone! Gone! Gone! Jared Goldberg Daily Columnist and Edit Board Member website and I am so involved in the redes this past fall. That w something I have bee I xn frzrn rh iwas a rresnman re With the exception of Sam Butler, I South Quad dorm ant think I am the most senior staff member of never forget. the Daily. Being a fifth-year senior - yes, I This is my one shot said it - I have seen much during my time pus under my own n on this campus, and most importantly, at est of brevity I will this paper. sweet. I hope my ho: My time at the Daily has been a life- has treated you all as changing one. I have had my writing chal- that you find someth lenged, encouraged and, especially in my Finally, to pass alon; younger days, completely destroyed. But thing I have learned I've met some extraordinary people here. here: being satisfied i Remember, true believers, that the Daily having appreciation. staffers are people too. And we're stu- dents. To quote Abbie Hoffman on the power Amanda Bu of youth: "We were young, self-righteous, reckless, hypocritical, brave, silly, head- Assistant Editorial Pa strong and scared half to death..And we were right." You have the power to change For making me unele the world. Do it. you. None of my endless reams of wisdom would have been possible without the help of many people. Much love for Imran, Matt Kivel Chris, Emily, "zbream," Suhael, Sam, JzPe- sick, Zac, Aubrey,Sravya, DanAdams, Dibo, Music Editor 11hnlv.n Wnll nd nil thp nthp I' proud to have been sign that we unveiled vas the culmination of n wanting to do since eading the site in my d it was a project I will t to address all of cam- ame and in the inter- keep this short and metown of Ann Arbor well as it did me and ing in it to love daily. g the most important in my last four years s nothing comparedto irns ige Editor ctably liberal, thank four years happened within the walls of 420 Maynard St. I made great mistakes, had great successes and became friends with some amazing, talented people. To every Daily staffer past, present and future: Thank you. Trevor Campbell Associate Photo Editor If you are a conservative student, give the editorial board a chance; you'll never get your way, but they give you a nice soapbox from which to orate. McCain-Graham'O8! Shubra Ohri Statement Photo Fditor write for news; Ashley Dinges for the elec- tion car bombs; the summer 2006 editors for all the memorable moments; Andrew Klein for my first and only Daily point; and everyone who believes in the work we do and why we do it. Much love and best of luck in the real world. And yes, I do explain it all. Donn M. Fresard Editor in Chief Karl, This is the year. Cheers, Donn Eugene Robertson Grandoa Photo 4 I -eneny,- oam ou, an an me omers im forgetting. Thanks for making me the man I am today. Shalom. Mike Hulsebus Manaqine Photo Editor Emily Beam Editorial Page Editor Funny what can happen in two years. Peace. Whitney Dibo Associate Editorial Page Editor When I first walked into the Daily, I was both politically confused and academi- cally self-conscious. Now, after three years spent on the Daily's editorial board, I am a firmly solidified liberal with overblown confidence in my own ideas. These are gifts you cannot receive anywhere besides The Michigan Daily. And thank you so much to the wonder- fully talented members of the editorial board for always challenging my morals and pushing me to defend my opinions. Your impact on my college experience can- not be overstated. Thank you to Sam Singer and Suhael Momin for giving me confidence in my writing, and to Chris Zbrozek and Emily Beam for teaching me what good edito- rial writing is. And thanks to Mara, John, Imran, Amanda, Sam, Jared, Theresa and all the other members of the edit board with whom I've argued so passionately over the last few years. After writing for the Daily, I have real faith in a newspaper's ability to change things. I feel privileged to have been part of a publication that I know, in my time at the University, made a difference. Phil Dokas Online Editor It is odd that having been here for nearly two years my first words to be printed in the Daily are also likely to be my last. I am the person who has been lead- ing the small group of people running the Well this is it - I've stumbled through my years at this university hoping to find meaning. Searching for a better life and somehow I got tangled up in this publica- tionthey call The Michigan Daily. Slearned a lot about music from the people here and I would just like to thank those who have helped me along the way. First and fore- most I would like to thank Joel Hoard for giving me the opportunity to write for the Daily - and thoughI hooked up with your friends at that party freshman year I hope you forgive me; I was young and stupid. Next I would like to thank Andrew Gaerig, for teaching me whatgood music is and why all of my preconceived notions about music were wrong. Goodbye everyone, uphold the traditions of our forefathers. Christopher Zbrozek Editorial Page Editor I was recruited to this paper, one of the Party's most vital communication organs, in the dark summer of 2004. The fascist Bush, a shameless toady for the ruling class, stran- gled workers at home and abroad. A brave cadre of young intellectuals spit in the face of imperialist dogma and committed their blood to the revolutionary cause. Those comrades who went before - Jason, Suhael, Daniel - now carry on the struggle elsewhere. Others - Sam, Jared, Emily - continued the fight by my side. Our successors will lead the people to glory. The reactionaryelementswithinourranksknow who they are, and they shall be purged. Two and a half years later, phase one is complete. Chairman Pelosi is in position. The insults of centuries can no longer be endured. Soon the people will rise, and the jackal Bush and his running dogs will face the proletarian justice they so richly deserve. Workers of the world, unite! Bernie Nguyen Managing Arts Editor No goodbyes. But good memories, good times, good friends. Everything I could have ever hoped for in an extracurricu- lar, and so much more. Thanks to all my friends, and my dear roommates, BARI and 4QA, who have made the last three and a half years the best ones of my life, and Tom, who drove me home on rainy nights and always loved me. To Jeff, who taught me more than I could learn about journal- ism and scandalous cinema. Punit, Evan, Andrew, Kim, Donn, Opinion, my sub- editors - my life will be less colorful, less brilliant, now that I won't see you all on a semi-daily basis. I'll miss you, and every- thing else about this place, especially the French fries and the sheer joy of finishing the page before deadline. But no goodbyes. Ashley Dinges Former Managing Editor Most of my education during the past Punit Mattoo TV/New Media Editor Sorry to all my engineering friends who had to hear me mutter Paris Hilton jokes to myself while writing my columns in class. I hope outside of the letters calling for me to learn some manners and respect babies, people derived some joy from caus- tic insults only slightly above the quality of Jay Leno monologues. I know I did. The odd group of friends I made here over the past four years all gave me something com- pletely different and gave me the LS&A education I missed out on. Thanks to Kim, you're from Troy and made me realize how much I need to defend Detroit. Llloyd? Pizza House? Evan? The most obnoxious person I've met at Michigan and also the most intelligent. Nobody else can put me in a chokehold while lecturing me on Per- sian poetry and Wrestling storylines, and I hope that'll still happen in the future. Bernie? The constant happiness was pain- ful at first, but I finally realized that it helped me trough the dreadful nightsides. Jeff? It was fun taking care of you; I'll take the girls you introduced me to as a thanks. Rachel? I should've listened to you a lot earlier. This Amanda girl, she's a hot bitch. Thanks. Anne Joling News Editor These past few weeks have given me a glimpse of what life will be like without the Daily, and it's been wonderful. That said, I've also realized what it means to be out of the loop and away from my friends. My hope is that this will not be a final goodbye. Karl, your ceaseless energy and com- mitment to the Daily are both impressive and inspiring. Good luck and take care. Anne, you are beautiful, intelligent, Dutch and also named Anne, and I feel privileged to call you my friend. Let's make our lunch dates a regular thing. Tina, I'm happy to have been given the chance to know and work with you. Grossman, Kelly, Mek, Wally, good luck in the upcoming semesters, I know the paper will thrive under your leadership. Have fun, keep the editor parties alive and take care of each other. To the Daily as a whole I leave you this advice: Don't walk home alone after dark. John Stiglich Daily Columnist and Edit Board Member I want to thank the Daily's liberal ide- ology for pissing me off to the point that I felt compelled to volunteer for the edito- rial board so I could infect the page with occasional sanity. Over the years, I grew to respect colleagues that I neverthought I would and I have harvested what I hope to be lifelone friendshios with old adversaries. Rajiv Prabhakar Daily Columnist and Edit Board Member I still remember the day when I first joined the Daily. I was completely sur- rounded by people who seemed to know anything and everything about current affairs, politics and the University, and there I was - an 18-year-old freshman who just came to this country the previ- ous month. There were few times when I felt more out of place than I did right then, and I literally had to force myself to keep coming back to the Daily over the next few weeks. Oftentimes, especially during my first semester, I had almost nothing to con- tribute to the all-knowledgeable editorial board, butI still enjoyed just sitting in and listening to all the discussions and debates. Before I knew it, I was the one telling all my friends about the latest happenings at this University - at times, I still have trouble believing that I'm now a columnist here. Being in the editorial board and watching everyone debate their various beliefs was intellectually stimulating in a way thatnone of my classes were. To anyone out there who's thinking of writing for the daily: just do it. You'll have the time of your life. Ali Olsen Avz+ss+ id las fFdit+n 4 David Tuman Editor de Fotozrafia 4 4 q Forest Casey Associate Photo Editor The happiest moment of my life came to me in the backseat of a Ford Taurus on assignment for the Daily. I was sitting in the backseat cavern I'd made with backpacks of camera equipment and our full collection of suits and ties that made us look more like kids than journalists.Suhaelwasthunderingbackhome through Canada,tailgatingthe Canadians. The walls of my cave were lit by the D2H's display as I lookedthrough hun- dreds of photos from the floor of the-Demo- craticNationalConventioninBostonuntilthe batteries died. Oh, how we had to lie, to cheat and flat- ter our way into the gates of the DNC. How David convinced Carl Levin and then Michael Moore to give up their passes for us. How Suhael flirted with the girls at the press cen- ter, buying us one more day, a few more hours inside. We were hungry.We were foolish. HowI fought my way into the convention center, then up the hierarchy of access pass- es, down to the ground floor, and finally right next to the stage. For a few days, we were in the center of the most importantnews of the world. And Igot the photos. Every last one of them. Every smile and salute and tear. I cap- tured them all. See GOODBYE, page 7 4 Carissa Miller News Reporter and Editor It seems almost futile to try to put into words why I am thankful for the years I spent at the Daily. Unique experiences, resume booster, talented people, a second family ... blah blah blah. So, to keep it relatively short and drunk- enly comedic, I would like to thank: everyone in news for allowing me to embrace my inner nerd; everyone in arts for helping me feel semi-cool even though I 4