0 0 0 0 I. " - - 6O* I Wednesday, September 17, 2008 - The Michigan Daily TB THE EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK with GABE NELSON A look at the big news events this week and how important they really are. Conveniently rated from one to 10. new rules rule 133: If you get the one parking spot for your apartment, you have to drive your roommates to class sometimes. rule 134: Abstain- ing from voting is never a political statement. It's either lazy or douchey. HILL DINING CENTER From Page 4B NO SECURITIES JOB, NO JOB SECURITY Lehman Brothers went bankrupt this week, while a nearly broke Merrill Lynch sold itselftto Bankof America. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had to be bailed out by the federal government, and no one knows what will happen to American International Group and Washington Mutual. All in all, it's been a tough couple weeks for Ross School of Business students, many oftwhom now face uncertainty about what they'll be doing aftergraduation. Congratula- tions, business kids - you know how itfeels to be a liberal arts major. PLUGGED IN General Motors released yesterday the first images of its planned Chevrolet Volt plug-in vehicle, a battery-powered car that will run 40 miles on an electric charge without gasoline. Some are calling the Volt a step forward for GM, known for focusing 6 on trucks and SUVs rather than small, fuel-efficient cars. It's unclear though, how many Americans are willingto pay $40,000 for a small, fuel-efficient car. That's why GM is seekingtax breaks for people who buy the cars. Another major corporation seeking government help. Get in line. IN A BAD LIGHT A freelance photographer commissioned by The Atlan- tic totake pictures of John McCain for its October 2008 coverftricked John McCain into standing on topof a light so she could take unflatteringpictures of him. The Atlan- tic ran a more conventional image, but the photographer put on her website what the New York Post described as a mug of McCain looking "devilish, with bulging brows and washed-out skin." The Atlantic has apologized to McCain and says it won't pay forthe pictures. But it seems like their choice of photographers was poor. Who needs lighting tricks to make McCain look ugly? r c c ule 135: Never ZUNE ON THE DOLLAR MENU omplain about Ina brilliant marketing plan, Microsoft released a software upgrade for its Zune portable media hanges to Facebook. player yesterday offering users free wireless Internet access at nearly 10,000 McDonald's - E-mail rule submissions to restaurants nationwide. It's a match made in TheStatement@umich.edu heaven: Microsoft gets to associate their strug- gling iPod competitor with inexpensive, low-qual- Magazine Editor: Jessica Vosgerchian ity food. Hell, McDonald's might be able to help EditorinChief: Andrew Grossman popularize the Zune by givingthem away with PhtnEdiE Char nonGasog Happy Meals. If kids love cheap, useless plastic toys, they'll love the Zune. at the Hill Dining Center, $10.15 ver- sus $10.75, schools nationwide are beating the University's dining sys- tem in not only quality but also cost. While the University's meal plan options range from $1,685 to $2,245 a semester for most students, unlim- ited meal plans at Virginia Tech and the University of Georgia. cost $1,290 and $1,645 respectively. At Georgia, that price includes a dining location open 24 hours and parking at no extra charge. Mike Floyd, executive director of food services at Georgia, said those are the kinds of perks necessary to keep students, whom he calls cus- tomers, happy with every aspect of their dining experience. Floyd will be the first to tell you, though, that options are what stu- dents value most. And from south- ern favorites like fried chicken and black-eyed peas, to chicken chimi- changas with black bean salsa, Floyd said Georgia's menu is designed to please a generation that has grown up surrounded by international foods and expects more than just the meatloaf and mashed potatoes of their parents' college years. "I would say that today's student is the most educated that we've ever seen in college food service as far an understanding of food," Floyd said. "They have an appreciation for fine restaurant dining in their local com- munities and they're a part of the food court generation where every- body gets something different." Universities across the country are adapting to a new kind of stu- dent population that expects more out of their meals than ever before. A trip to the dining hall isn't just a study break to stifle hunger pangs with a side of green bean casserole anymore. For today's undergradu- ates, eating on campus is a social event, and at Bowdoin College, stu- dents have made it clear that when they come to eat, festivities should be on the menu. In response to student demand, the chefs at Bowdoin came up with a concepttheycall"SuperSnack."Held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, from at 10 p.m. to 1 a.m,, stu- dents can go to Thorne Dining Hall for high-quality, late-night eats. Serving foods like fresh fruit, grilled cheese sandwiches and a variety of breads and hummus, Michele Gaillard, associate director of dining at Bowdoin, said the week- end event complete with music, has become "wildly popular," among students. "It's like a little cocktail party without the cocktails," Gaillard said. And with mixers like that, it isn't hard to see why the dining hall menu is the most visited page on Bowdoin's website. But whether it's the Mongolian grill at Georgia, where students can pick from seasonings, sauces and ingredients to be prepared by a professionally trained chef, or Bow- doin's peanut grindingmachine pur- chased in response to requests for natural peanut butter, the bottom line is that students have demands and schools are starting to listen. That also means that some schools have had to clean up their act and start preparing meals with a healthier approach. At Notre Dame, flax seeds are seated next to salt and pepper shak- ers so students can sprinkle on extra nutrients. Bowdoin grinds all of their meats in-house to control the fat content in things like ground beef. At schools nationwide, as well as here at the University, cooking with trans-fat free oil has become the norm. And of course, how could any modern cafeteria be complete with- out a nod to going organic? At Bow- doin, two large gardens tended by a full-time garden manager produce things like corn, blueberries, squash and yellow tomatoes that are cooked up in the school's two kitchens and served with almost every meal. An on-campus farmer's market sells the excess produce directly to students. As of 2007, 20 percent of Bowdoin's dining hall budget was spent on locally produced goods. Schools like the University of Georgia have also made a push toward sustainable dining systems, with locally purchased peaches, peanuts and chickenmakingregular appearances on daily menus. At the University, only East Quadrangle's cafeteria regularly serves produce grown locally. This newfound consideration for the environment is also beginning to show up at schools like the Univer- sity of California at Santa Cruz and George Mason University, which have ditched meal trays to discour- age students from taking more food than they can eat. Mike Lee, director of residential dining services at the University, said something like going trayless could happen at a few dining halls, but wouldn't work campus-wide. "At some of the operations, doing away with trays, the operations just don't lend themselves to that," Lee said. He pointed to East Quad, where a lot of dishes are kept in the seating area, rather behind a serving line, as a place where trays could someday be on the way out. "We're trying to look at which (dining halls) would work and what I want to do is have us workingwith the students who live there and say, 'How can we do this?''What makes sense?' so we can involve them in the process," he said. But the real question is whether lobster, local produce and eco- friendly cooking actually influence which college acceptance letter stu- The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports REC Intramural Sports Program REC SPORTS www.recsports.umich.edu SPORTS INTRAMURALS 734-763-3562 INTRAMURALS Fun inthe Sun!! Entries Due: Manager's Meeting: Thurs 09/18 MANDATORY ".".. Thurs, 09/18 7:00 PM IMSB Entry Fee: "'" ..*$35 per team Entries Due: '-, Mon, 9/29 ' Tournament Dates: "".. 09/19 - 9/21 Elbel Field Entry Fee: $35 per team "'- $5 per individual -'". . .. Manager's Meeting: 0..*.. En-ies also MANDATORY . taken online Mon, 10/01 *.* 6:00 PM IMSB - - *. Earn All-Year Championship Points!! 0* 1 Meet Date: Wed, 10/01-- UM Indoor Track Al - All entries taken at the IM Building and online dents will choose. The answer from dining directors across the country: maybe.. Johnson said' students have told him Virginia Tech's dining services were the deciding factor in their col- lege decision. And at Bowdoin, with a cold climate and long winters, the dining hall can often be a sell- ing point. But for the University of Michigan, which has academics and athletics to make up for amenities, catering to students' pickier tastes might not need to be a priority.