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w
Th -McignDal -Wensdy0Otbe 007
new ul es
rule 57: You're
iot fooling anyone
when you order
a diet coke with
your triple bacon
burger. rule 58:
Wearing a mini-
skirt in sub-zero
temperatures will
not make you look
hot. Only cold.
rule 59: Picking
an occupation and
putting the word
"sexy" in front of
it is rarely a good
costume idea.
E-mail rule submissions to
TheStatement@umich.edu
THE EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK with GARY GRACA
A look at the big news eventsthis week and how important they really are. Conveniently rated from one to10.
WATERED DOWN ANSWERS
After days of nomination hearings that didn't produce
answers, Senate Democrats are threatening to oppose
confirmation of attorney general nominee Michael
Mukasey unless he answers in writing about whether he
believes waterboarding is illegal. Senate Republicansjust
suggested that they tie him down and simulate drowning
untilhe answers.
5
BRINGING RACISM BACK
Reversing its position that all images of the former
mascot Chief Illiniwek would be banned from university
activities, University of Illinois administrators allowed
S the stereotypical image to be displayed during the
homecoming parade last weekend. Administrators were
hoping to teach one important lesson: If you want to
promote racist stereotypes at sporting events, take it
outside please.
SCARED STUPID
If you thought sexy nurse outfits was this year's most
popular Halloween costume, you probably missed a peren-
nial favorite - paranoia. Whether it's the NewJersey,
7 elementary school that banned Batman's utility belt orthe
misguided Michigan legislature that is keeping reformed
sex offenders from using their porch lights, nothing goes
better with a Butterfinger than a little overreaction.
NO STRINGS ATTACHED
After receiving a gift of $35 million in 1961 to support
the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International
Affairs, Princeton University is being sued by the donor's
children for not adhering to the donation's original intent.
Thankfully, the Universityof Michigannever accepts
absurdly large donations that come with petty strings
attached. (Cough, Stephen Ross, cough.)
CERTIFIED NON-HITLER ARTWORK
Three years and more than $100,000 after starting its
investigation, the University of Michigan Museum of Art
can now proudly say that most of its artwork is believed
to probably not have been possibly stolen by Nazis. As
an important follow-up, the University hopes to maybe
find out if any of its artwork was potentially stolen from
people who may have been Native Americans.
NUTHIN' BUT A COURT BATTLE
Rapper Dr. Dre will likely be facing trial after three
former Detroit city employees, includingformer police
Commander Gary Brown, sued the rapper when a video-
tape of the three asking concert producers to not show
nudity at a 2000 Detroit concert made it onto a Dr. Dre
DVD.
2
ANSWERS
The greenest mayor,
Seven years ago when John Hieftje was elected mayor of Ann Arbor, there were no hybrid buses, the word Green-
belt - now a program providing funding for the city to secure and preserve undeveloped areas around the city lim-
its - was more strongly associated with fashion than city planning, and most current students were still in high
school. Now it's hard to imagine Ann Arbor without the hyper-environmentally conscious mayor's influence.
Here, Hieftje talks about the relationship between town and gown, his goals for the city's energy consumption, his
favorite restaurant and why it's taken so long for the Greenbelt to acquire more than a few hundred acres of land.
" I teach a class at the Ford School, so I have a lot of interaction with students. One of the things I've always said is while it's true most students won't be here for very long, each one
is filling a spot that, even though it's rotating, is an important part of the community. Anyone who steps back and looks at it realizes students make a huge contribution to life in Ann
Arbor.
" My favorite restaurant is Zanzibar.ISshouldn't say that. I like all the restaurants in Ann Arbor, but often when my wife and Ihave a chance to go out to dinner we go to Zanzibar.
" So far, the city has bought about almost 800 acres of or development rights with the Greenbelt taxes, and it's poised to buy more
now that the real estate -market is down. There's a silver lining to the market downturn for the Greenbelt. Many more applications
have come in and soon we'll have five to seven thousand acres around the city. We expect to have that accomplished by about 2015.
* The revenue that we're collecting doesn't matter that much in terms of the land we're buying right now. We're using it to work
with f*mers and developers and we're buying bonds. We still have another 20 million to go, and working with all our partners,
that will be magnified.
" One of the problems that students encounter being involved in city government is that it's a long-term, year-round commit-
ment. This acts to limit student involvement.
But students still find a way to be involved; for example, they were the force behind my sponsoring the lease-signing ordinance.
This year, students have been working with landlords to come up with some modest changes that will make more user-friendly for
all.
9 Back in 2005,I issued the Mayor's Green Energy Challenge, which calls for the city to 30 percent renewable energy by 2010. We're
at 18 percent now. And we're on the way. Just look at what we've announced in a three-week period.
" Two weeks ago, we received national press for being the first city in the country to convert all the light fixtures in our down-
town streetlights to environmentally friendly LEDs. It's a $650,000 program with a four-year payback because LED's are 50
percent more efficient and they last 10 years, versus two. When we are finished with downtown, we'll turn to replacing the
rest of the streetlights in the city.
" Last week, we announced that in working with the An Arbor Transportation Authority, we're replacing our buses
with U.S.-made hybrid models using bio-diesel and regenerative braking to charge the batteries. Under 25 miles per hour,
they're running completely on electricity and they're 30to 50 percent more fuel-efficient. Five more arrive in the spring
- that'll give us 20, and that's more than a quarter of the fleet with more to come.
* It's going to take at least five years for the city to shake off the impact of the Pfizer plant closing, but I think at that
point the city will be better off in a lot of ways. SO many of our eggs won't be in the same basket anymore. It's going to
take a while, but there's some very good work being done to rebuild the tax base that Pfizer represented.
COURTESY OF JOHN HIEFTJE
MagazineEditor:AnneVanderMey
AssociateMagazine Editor: Jessica
Vosgerchian
Ed'tinthief: Kal Siouvil
ManagingEditor:J eff evBlor
Cover Photo:AngelaCesere
PhotoEditor:Emma
Nolan-Abrahamian
Designer:Bridget O'Donnell
PERSON OF THE WEEK.
CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER
No one was surprised when Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner became Argentina's first elected woman
president after the elections last weekend, least of all Kirchner herself. After her husband, President
Nestor Kirchner, decided to not seek re-election and anointed her his successor in Argentina's Peronist
Party, Kirchner felt so secure with her election prospects that the powerful sena-
tor didn't really bother to campaign at all. She opted to spend most of the last
two months touring Western Europe and North America - hobnobbing
with foreign leaders and dignitaries.
But her knack for fashion and her academic speeches make lady Kirchner
a strange candidate to wear the mantel of populist general Juan Peron.
That's a fact that Kirchner, who sees herself as more of a Latin American
Hillary Clinton than a 21st Century Evita, is quite aware of. In a victory
speech Sunday night, Kirchner said being Argentina's first elected female
president made her feel "an immense responsibility to my gender." But for
a candidate who hardly campaigned, what remains to be seen is what form
that responsibility will take after the last champagne bubble pops.
OFF THE WALL A sampling of campus graffiti
1 did not
SMASH
FASCISM
What if Jesus really is
the answer?
have sex in
this carrel
- A study carrel in the
Harlan Hatcher Graduate
Library
- The women's bathroom in Amer's on Then we're all fucked.
State Street
- The men's bathroom in Ashley's
on State Street
Ia poesic = a mort
- A study carrel in the Grad Library
Seen interesting graffiti around campus? E-mail thestatement@umich.edu
ZING'S
From page SB
make enough money to stay in busi-
ness and provide good jobs with
benefits for people," said Pete Sick-
man-Garner, marketing manager
for Zingerman's, "And, well, given
that, we're at about 3.5 percent."
So why is it that ZingTrain can
charge a grand a pop for training
seminars in the Zingerman's way
of doing business if it's so far from
being a cash cow?
Maybeit'sZingerman'sfeel-good
philosophy, part of what has pro-
pelled the small-town deli into the
pages of business magazines and
onto the front page of the Business
Section of The New York Times.
The restaurant has an aggres-
sively loyal following and most of
the employees seem to like coming
to work. The principle behind the
company's success - and the trade
secret that's taught at ZingTrain
seminars - lies in an inclusive com-
pany decision-making policy. First,
someone comes up with an idea of
how to make the company better.
It could be anything from a dif-
ferent ingredient in a sandwich to
redrawing a sign on the front door.
That person, whether they're a
dishwasher or a store manager, has
an equal opportunity to carry out
the change. To communicate the
new policy to the staff, the employ-
ees assembles a group of other
employees from a few of the other
areas in the restaurant, in other
words, a microcosm of the compa-
ny. They then work together to get
the information about that decision
out to customers, other employees
and upper-level managers.
"The employeesbuy in a lot more
if they're involved in the decision
than if they just hear about it from
somebody," said Joariie Mallory,
a manager at Zingerman's Road-
house on Jackson Road. "In a way,
it really helps us because it's like
they're doing our work for us," she
said. "They're the ones coming up
with the ideas."
Zingerman's believes that being
a great place to work and being a
great place to eat go hand-in-hand.
"Oh yeah, everyone who works at
the Roadhouse is really cool," said
Zan De Perry, a Roadhouse busboy.
"It's a good place to work." It also
helps to foster a sense of humor in
the employees as a way of keep-
ing them loose. When asked about
Weinzweig's knowledge about the
cheese industry, De Perry said, "Oh
yeah, Ari's a cheese," he paused,
searching for the right word.
"Wiz."
That may be true, but just as
much, and maybe more important,
he's a business wiz. Weinzweig
and the rest of Zingerman's staff
have managed to put together a
business that's propped up the
community and stayed loyal to its
founding principles - good food,
even if it's isn't turning a huge
profit. And in the end, anyone who
can get people to buy macaroni and
cheese for $15 must be doing some-
thing right.
- I he side of Angell Hall