2A - Thursday, January 11, 2007 Everyone's good friend A conversation with the Diag's most polite denizen The question echoes inside the Engineering Arch, ricocheting from Ulrich's to In-n-Out and resonating up and down South University Avenue. "Spare any change, my good friend?" The echoes come from Ronnie, a middle-aged Ann Arbor native who can be found standing out- side of the arch almost daily. And immediately following each request, through his gap-toothed smile, he offers each passerby the same wish, r' regardless of whether or not they have change to spare: "Have a nice day." Even though he said University students are fairly generous with their quarters, Ronnie isn't only occupying his post for profit. What he's really looking for, he said, is another friend and some conversation. "It's more on a friendship thing," Ronnie said, who declined to give his last name. "I don't expect people to stop and give me change. I would prefer to have a real close friend than change in my pocket." Growing up in Ann Arbor, Ronnie said he once had dreams of attending California's Gemological Institute of America for jewelers and designing l =affordable jewelry for everyone to enjoy, not just RoB MIGRIN/Daily the wealthy. Ronnie, an Ann Arbor resident known on campus for his signature "Spare any He returned to his hometown from Los Angeles change, my good friend" call, stands outsidethe Engineering Arch yesterday about 10 years ago to help care for his aging moth- afternoon. Ronnie says he placesfriendship over collecting money. er. He continues to live with her near campus. He survives on welfare and the kindness of stu- dents, he said. While he said he would like to get a job, he prefers to be available during the day in case his mother needs anything from the phar- macy or store. Ronnie said although students frequently assume he will use the money they give him to buy drugs or alcohol, he saves up for purchases like his new winter coat - a tan one, with faux fur lining. Ronnie said that he prefers the campus area because of the friendliness of the students, and said that Ann Arbor becomes much more "snotty" when students leave in the summer. Ronnie is not discouraged if students ignore him. "If you don't speak to me, then I guess you don't want to part of my repertoire," he said It doesn't take much to get on Ronnie's good side. "I like people (who are) vibrant individuals. Those are my special people," Ronnie said. "If they do have (vibrancy), I encourage them to reach their highestgoal. If you have anythingspecial about you, I encourage you to reach your highestgoal, too." "Everybody likes what I'm doing," he said with a laugh. "Except maybe the police. They have to work for their money." TARYN HARTMAN - Know a campus character worthy of a profile? 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CRIME NOTES CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Student comes down with food poisoning WHERE: West Quad Resi- dence Hall WHEN: Tuesday at about 11:30 p.m. WHAT: An ambulance was called for a male student with a case of food poison- ing, the Department of Public Safety reported. Student reports water-logged computer WHERE: East Quad Resi- dence Hall WHEN: Monday at about 4 p.m. WHAT: A male student re- ported water damage to his computer, DPS reported. Key, two bucks stolen WHERE: North Ingalls Building, 300 N. Ingalls Ave. WHEN: Tuesday at about 11 a.m. WHAT: A caller reported a master key and $2 in cash was stolen sometime in the past two weeks, DPS reported. Bathroom stall vandalized WHERE: West Quad Resi- dence Hall WHEN: Monday at about 10:00 p.m. WHAT: A caller reported some had written on the wall of a bathroom stall, DPS reported. Space traveler shares voyages WHAT: A lecture detailing Greg Olsen's training and 10 days at the International Space Station WHO: Greg Olsen, the third private citizen to orbit the Earth WHEN: Today 4 p.m. WHERE: Biomedical Sci- ence Research Building Auditorium Screening of flim on Mideast conflict WHAT: A screening of the documentary "Encounter Point" WHO: Center for Middle Eastern and North African studies WHEN: Today from 7 to 8:45 p.m. WHERE: The Michigan Theater Bisexuality. conversation WHAT: A lecture explor- ing the social and cultural issues surrounding bisexu- ality WHO: Institute for Research on Women and Gender WHEN: Today from noon to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: Room 2239, Lane Hall CORRECTIONS Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@ michigandaily.com. At least three members of the Yale all-male singing group, The Baker's Dozen, were injured after being taunted with anti-gay slurs and savagely beaten at a New Year's Eve party in San Francisco, The Associated Press reported. One member of the group suffereda brokenjaw. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said he wants his company's new iPhone to account for 1 percent of all cell phone sales in 2008. >>FOR MORE, SEE ARTS, PAGE 2B Two years have been added to the prison sentence of former elementary school teacher Pamela Rogers for send- ing a male student nude pictures, The Associated Press reported. Rogers is serving an eight-year sentence for having sex with the same student when he was 13 years old. 01 Kansas school board to reverse sex ed policy Truck pushes Pa. I -1 -2Un , TOPEKA (AP) - A day after tak- ously have said they want to reverse active transmitted diseases. It's not On Tuesday, the board moved ing steps to revise its science stan- a decision the board made last sum- a mandate, so districts don't risklos- quickly to dump its current science dards, the State Board of Education mer when conservatives held a 6-4 ing their accreditation by failing to standards, which treat evolution as agreed yesterday to tackle sex edu- majority. adopt it. a flawed theory. cation requirements installed by In June, the board approved a But the policy does require The board will vote in February the board's previous conservative policy stating that human sexuality schools to get written permission on a rival set of evolution-friendly majority. classes should promote abstinence from parents for students to par- standards drafted by a committee Board members agreed to put the until marriage, while still giving ticipate in sex education courses. In of educators. The present standards sex education policy on the Febru- students complete and medically most districts, students previously incorporate language favored by ary agenda. There was no discussion accurate information about birth were automatically enrolled unless backers of intelligent design and of the issue, but moderates previ- control and preventing sexually their parents objected in writing. were adopted in 2005. school bus ott road WERNERSVILLE, Pa. (AP) - A tractor-trailer collided with a school bus and a van early yes- terday, knocking the bus into a cornfield and injuring a total of 10 people, school officials said. Seven students on the bus were treated for broken bones and cuts, while two students in the van were expected to be kept in the hospi- tal overnight, said Robert Urzillo, superintendent of the Conrad Weiser School District. The bus driver was hospitalized with a broken pelvis. The bus was stopped at a red light on Route 422 with 15 middle- and high school students aboard when it was hit around 7:50 a.m., Urzillo said. The circumstances of the acci- dent were not immediately clear, but Urzillo said the tractor-trailer apparently first hit the front of a van, then bounced and hit the bus. All the students were able to get off the bus, but seven of them and the driver were taken to hospitals by ambulance, Urzillo said. Authorities had not decided yes- terday whether to cite the driver of the tractor-trailer and the acci- dent remained under investigation, said Officer Gary Chwastiak, of the Lower Heidelberg Township Police Department. Wernersville is about 5 miles west of Reading. *1 * 01 ;