0 0- 0 1 0 0 0 I. *.. ... aR.. THE EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK with GARY GRACA A look at the big news events this week and how important they really are. Conveniently rated from one to 10. i'WE R uew rules rule 63: It's almost Thanks- giving; take down your Hal- loween Face- book picture. rule 64: Never try to be the person who knows more than the tour guide. rule 65: One phone call is always bet- ter than six text messages. - E-mail rule submissions to TheStatement@umich.edu OUT OF IDEAS Once again attaching a timeline for withdrawal to its Iraq war spending bill, the Democratic congress again failed to pass a bill that would haveforced President Bush to withdraw troopsfrom Iraq -ijust like last time and the time before that. In response tothis defeat, President Bush collectively asked Congressional Democrats to fol- low up their bill by "Making me a sandwich." THE NIGERSAURUS Along with a team of researchers, University of Michigan professor leff wilson unveiled the "Nigersaurus" last Thursday at the National Geographic Society. Although The Ann Arbor News reported that the researchers 2 struggled for 10 years to understand their "bizarre find, which was made in a Nigerian desert, apparently the researchers didn't give much thought to coming up with a lessoinflammatory name. GO CONSTITUTIONAL OR GO HOME Frustrated that the U.S. Congress isn't doing enough to end immigration, several Michigan Democrats in the state House of Representatives are forging ahead with a billto make it a feiony to hire illegal immigrants. Keeping with the intolerance of the last two Proposal 2's, which banned gay marriage and affirmative action, why notjust add a constitutional ban on immigration to the ballot as the third iteration of Proposal 2? Real legislation is lame. TAKE IT TO THE (GREEN) HOUSE Expanding on a U.S. Supreme Court decision this summer that allows the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, a federal court oflappeals in California ruled on Thursday 6 that the Department oflTransportation must consider the cost of global warming when it setslfuel efficiency standards. Environments across the country celebrated the decision this weekend with carbon-neutral marijuana. 1 LAPTOP THEFT At an Arkansas church last week, a preacher was pray- ing with a patron when he opened his eyes to find both the patron and his laptopgone. The man was eventually caught, but in an unusual display of solidarity, university libraries around the country rallied around the preacher, saying, "we told you so: Don't leave your laptop unat- tended." DETROIT'S NO.1 Although St. Louis may have beat Detroit in the 2006 World Series, Detroit got back on top Sunday. Ranked just ahead of St. Louis and another Michigan city, Flint, Detroit is America's most dangerous city, according to a study released Sunday by the CQ Press, which used crime data from the FBl. THE WEEK PSON Positioning in the run-up to January's presidential prima- ries is a tricky business in the very fluid republican field. You don't want to become old news by peaking too early, and you always want to exceed expectations on election night. But this week former actor and one-term senator Fred Thomp- son found himself in a position that not even the most skilled politician could put a positive spin on - with half the support of the long-shot Libertarian candidate Ron Paul in New Hampshire and losing ground in every other early state. To make matters worse, ITS Congressional Quarterly reported that several of Thompson's congressional backers are reconsidering their endorsements. The Wash- ington Post ran an obituary of his campaign. Yesterday, the former "Law & Order" star's campaign acknowledged it, was atrophying support, say- ing Thompson must come in at least third in the Iowa Caucus- es to remain viable. That much 5ss is clear. The real question is can the laid-back actor inspire portunity anyone with the screen writers on strike. The soring historian As an associate archivist at the Bentley Historical Library, Gregory Kinney spends a lot of his time sifting through old docu- ments from the Athletic Department. Originally a history major, Kinney studied library sciences at the University and eventually fell into his current field of study - a position he says is unique to the University, an athletic historian.-Here, Kinney talks about the challenge of ever changing technology, the most requested documents and how history will treat Lloyd Carr. * The most requested photos over the past few years have been of Bo. There are two documents that are very popular. One is a letter Gerald Ford wrote to Coach Kipke in 1931 thanking Kipke for his hospitality after Ford visited him in Ann Arbor. The second is a letter Coach Crisler wrote to his 1947 football team, who went on the win a Rose Bowl that season, when he was near death. It's a very touching note. .1 think people will remember what a great guy Lloyd was, the devotion his team seems to have to him, the national championship. But most of all, he carried on the Michigan tradition. @1 do a variety of work on any given day. Most of the time I'm involved in reference work for the Athletic Department's media relations. They usually have a specific question they need answered or a photo request. And then I get a lot of e-mails from the general public. For example, some- one's grandfather may have played on the football team in 1931 and they want to know more about him. I started working as an archivist for the Athletic Department in 1992 when Schembechler Hall was being built because there was a museum attached to the hall. It was only supposed to be a short-term project, but I stayed on. s I think the University has a responsibility to document its activities. Media relations require a lot of old material. A lot of alums have fond memories of Michigan athletics and this material allows the University to keep in touch with a broader audience. . I love the physicality of handling photos from the 1880s. I was a history major so I really like understanding what people were feeling and what campus life was like in the past. * Our paper materials date back to the 1860s. Then we also have photos and videotapes. Now we have a lot more digital files. There is something nice about having the physical object, but it's also nice to have the digital option. " The videos from Bo and Lloyd's eras are going to be very different. The videos from Bo's time are single shots from the press box. But now the games are shot from so many different angles. It's really wonderful. RANDOLPH COURT APARTMEIN zS Bedroom Apartment Homes Ground Floor Ranch Style! Private Entrance! Patio! Spacious Kitchen! Air Conditioning! Laundry Facilities! 24-Hour Emergency Maintenance! Pets Welcome! And much, much more! Call today to reserve your new addres 73497l-228 Equal Housing Op «;;.r' StudentUniverse.com