e IC41,pan 4:3at1V Ann Arbor, Michigan Monday, September 22, 2008 michigandaily.com POST-GRADUATION JOBS Economy has mixed impact on recruiting SAIDALSALAH/Daily LSA junior Tom Duvall, a member of the College Democrats, registers Gabrielle Letbotter to volunteer for the Obama campaign in Detroit on Saturday. Dems moun Detroit turnout effort' Struggling economy hasn't stopped some companies from scouting 'U' students By CHARLES GREGG-GEIST Daily StaffRyporter It was like almost any other house party - Girl Talk blaring from big speakers in the living room, boxes of pizza piled on the kitchen table, a keg and three beer pong tables in the basement. Except that everything but the beer was paid for by two college recruiters from Microsoft. "It'sjust a more casual way for us to hang out and meet them before the career fair," said Keith Auer, a Microsoft recruiter who attended the party, referring to the students filingintothehouse Thursdaynight. The party was hosted by eight stu- dents studying Electrical Engineer- ing and Computer Science, three of whom spent last summer interning at Microsoft in Seattle. Most of the guests were other EECS students. "We do the traditional things ... but you have to differentiate your- self a little," Auer said. "One way to do that is just by kind of getting into theminds.of the students. What do they want, what are they going to come to?" While Microsoft has bulked up its recruitment here, the nation's struggling economy has made it dif- ficult for other companies to do the same. Lynn Sebille-White, assistant director of recruitment services for the Career Center, said financial service companies have suffered most duringthe country's two-year economic downturn. "The one that we've seen that has been hardest hit is banking," she said. "Financial services, lend- ing, to some degree consulting." Many analysts are now say- ing that the U.S. is facing its worst credit crisis since the Great Depres- sion. Lehman Brothers, a financial See RECRUITING, Page 7A W hi unr ith enthusiasm to win the state by 150,000 votes. In this fall's election, with polls igh for Obama, showing a tight race between Democratic candidate Barack 'egistered voters Obama and Republican candidate hard to find John McCain, Democratic strate- gists have placed an unprecedent- ed focus on registering new voters By JULIE ROWE in Michigan's largest city. Obama, Daily StaffReporter the first-ever black candidate from a major party, is hoping for record CROIT - Without Detroit, turnout in Detroit, where more 004 election would have than 80 percent of residents are out entirely different. black. ratic candidate John Democratic volunteers have received 300,000 votes in answered their candidate's call, otor City, about 15 times as heading into the city to regis- as his opponent, Republican ter new voters, but once they get e Bush. Though Kerry ulti- there, they're having a hard time lost the election, he went on finding anyone else who wants to sign up to cast a ballot on Election Day. Along with 100 members of the University's chapter of the Col- lege Democrats, LSA junior Tom Duvall and LSA senior Lindsay Miars hit the streets of Detroit with stacks of voter registration forms on Saturday. Half the group was expected to register voters at high-traffic areas like shopping centers, liquor stores and gas sta- tions, while the other 50 went door-to-door. But both groups struggled to find people of voting age who hadn't already registered. Many of those who hadn't voiced indiffer- ence toward the election. - "It's more challengingthan dis- couraging when people tell you they're not going to vote," Miars said. "It's harder to talk people out of their apathy than anything else." On Saturday, campaign orga- nizers gave door-to-door can- vassers lists of "sporadic voters," people who haven't consistently voted in the past eight years. Can- vassers were told to talk to people in those homes and encourage them to go to the polls on Nov. 4 to vote for Obama. They were asked to knock on every door to register prospective voters, but many were uninterested or had already been approached. When Duvall asked one man if See VOTING, Page 7A DET the 20 turned Democ Xerry the Mt many Georg mately FRATERNITIES, SORORITIES AND LGBT STUDENTS ENCOURAGING GREEK TOLERANCE New group aims to help LGBT students feel comfortable By JILLIAN BERMAN Daily StaffReporter A new University student orga- nization aims to make campus a place where students can feel com- fortable being both gay and Greek. Ashley Schwedt, who served last year as one of co-chairs of the group,. called Lambda Alliance, said she hopes it will help make students feel more comfortable being a part of both communities. "I want there to be more accep- tance in Greek houses. I want LGBT people to feel more comfort- able being Greek," she said. "I just want it to be equal both ways." The Lambda Alliance is made up of representatives from the Inter- fraternity Council, The Michigan Student Assembly Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Com-' mission and the Multicultural Greek Council, among others. All four Greek councils are involved. LSA senior Alissa Renz, also a group co-chair, said the Lambda Alliance will target discrimina- tion issues seen in the Greek com- munity, as well as throughout the University. "You come face to face with issues as simple as use of language that is completely inappropriate," she said. "(There is) subconscious hatred towards a group of people that most people don't readily' think about when they're acting a certain way." Interfraternity Council Presi- dent Jose Nunez, a member of the Lambda Alliance, said he met with then-LGBT . commission chair Jen Hsu last year to come up with a way to address the distance between the Greek and LGBT communities. Renz said one of the group's main goals is to create a modified form of"ally training" - a practice that gives students the tools they need to support members of the LGBT community. "These people are supposed to be your family and if they cannot be who they really are around you because they don't feel comfort- able enough or feel as though you won't accept them, that's a sad state of affairs," Renz said in an e-mail. The Spectrum Center, along with the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Association See LAMBDA, Page 7A UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES New machine at UGLi promises on-demand books SAID ALSALAH/Daily Cupcake Station employee Crystal Nemchak prepares a take-out order for some customers. The shop opened Friday and gave free cupcakes to its first 500 visitors. New downtown shop offers chic cupcakes University is first American college with 'Espresso Book Machine' By VERONICA MENALDI For the Daily The University has purchased a machin that can copy and bind a replica of a book i * slightly more time than it takes to brew a po of morning coffee. The Espresso Book Machine, made b New York City-based On Demand Book can copy an entire volume in less than H minutes for less than $10, allowing librarie . to make duplicates ofout-of-copyrightbooks for a fraction of the cost of an original. It was named one of Time Magazine's "Best Inven- tions of 2007" and has been compared to an ATM for books. The University is the only American col- lege that owns one of the machines. Only nine have been sold worldwide. Paul Courant, the University's dean of e libraries, said the library purchased the n machine with several "generous. dona- t tions." He declined to elaborate on the cost of the machine or the source of the fund- y ing. s, Courant said the library hopes to have the 0 machine up and running by Oct. 1. It will be s See COPIER, Page 7A BY THE NUMBERS The specifications of the Espresso Book Machine, the new copying device in the University's library system. Minutes to print a book Costyto print one book 'Cupcake Station' part of nationwide bakery trend By JILLIAN BERMAN Daily StaffReporter At first glance, the inside of the Cupcake Station on East Liberty Street looks more like a fairy tale house than a pastry shop. Instead of maize and blue, But- ter Cream Yellow and Robin's Egg Blue cover the eatery's walls. Cus- tomers sit at the "cupcake bar" to create their own fantasy snack. The store, which opened Fri- day, is the second of its kind in Michigan. Owner Kerry Johnson opened his first store in Birming- ham about two years ago and is excited to bring the concept to Ann Arbor. "I love Ann Arbor as much as I love cupcakes," he said. "It's all about the connection in Ann Arbor." The Cupcake Station offers a variety of whimsical flavors, rang- ing from Lemon Lust to Southern Red Velvet, with cupcake prices ranging from $1.35 to $4. The Cupcake Station is part of a See CUPCAKES, Page 7A WEATHER HI: 75 TOMORROW LO: 42 GOT A NEWS TIP? 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