2A - Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
2A - Thursday, January 22, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
I CAN HAZ MUFFIN?
..E I.
Undergraduates go underground
The prospect of being underground,
sweltering in 120 degree heat and sur-
rounded by reinforced concrete, did
little to deter "Tunnel Bob" from his
many forays into the University's tun-
nel system.
The University's six miles of under-
ground maintenance tunnels (as of
2000), which extend from the Central
Power Plant to the Medical Campus
and South Quad, supply heat to all
local University buildings, and have
long been a source of mythological
fascination for students. One man, in
particular, made the tunnels the stuff
of legends.
"Tunnel Bob," a University student
from 1971-75, often trekked through
the tunnels with a group of five or six
adventuresome accomplices known
as the Elliot Expeditionary Force.
The group was named after the Elliot
House in the Mary Markley Residence
Hall, where the members lived.
Bob, who never gave the press his
real name, explored the tunnels so
frequently that a security guard at his
dorm gave him the moniker "Steam
Tunnel Bob" - a nickname that stuck
throughout his four years as anunder-
graduate.
During an interview with The
Michigan Daily in 2000, Bob said that
the thrill of being in the tunnels was
"to do something thatwas sort of semi-
illegal, to explore."
Bob added, though, that sneaking
into the University'stunnels wasn't the
only illegal act he and his friends com-
mitted underground.
"You could pretty much smoke dope
whenever you wanted," Bob said. "One
time we went down there stoned and
we thought we saw a security guard
and we ran out (of the tunnels on the
Medical Campus) in front of three
campus cops and they were chasing us
around the Markley parking structure
- somehow they ended up on the top
floor and we ended up on the bottom,
and we got the hell out of there."
Bob also said that students explored
the tunnels to get into the Buhl Medical
Buildingto see human fetuses in jars.
"You went into this gigantic room
that had a ceiling maybe 20 feet high,
and you went through a door into
this storage room where there were
all these fetuses bathed in ultraviolet
light," he said.
The tunnels weren't only a popular
site for student adventures and pranks.
They were also used by the adminis-
tration for safety purposes.
In the 1980s, University President
Harold Shapiro and the University
Board of Regents usedthetunnels as an
underground route to enter the Flem-
ing Administration Building. Student
protesters, demanding that Nelson
Mandela be given a honorary degree
by the University, blocked the above-
ground entrance to the building.
JASMINE ZHU
CHANEL VON HABSBURG-LOTHRINGEN/Daly
A squirrel outside Haven Hall enjoys a muffin on
Squirrel Appreciation Day.
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14,
0
CRIME NOTES
Keys to science Burnt popcorn
building lifted the culprit in
WHERE: Dennison Building fire alarm
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Mass meeting Talk on women
for fraternities' and the economy
WHEN: Between Jan. 12 and
Jan. 13
WHAT: A supervisor for a
custodian who was cleaning in
the Natural Science Building
reported the building's master
keys stolen, University Police
reported. The custodian turned
in the keys and the supervisor
put them in an unlocked box
in a locked office. The next day
they were missing.
WHERE: West Quadrangle
WHEN: Tuesday at about 2:00
p.m.
WHAT: A residentburned
popcorn in a microwave and
set off a fire alarm, University
Police reported. The hallway
had to be ventilated, and the
alarm was reset.
Winter Rush
WHAT: The Interfraternity
Council will be holding an
informational meeting about
Winter Rush.
WHO: The Interfraternity
Council
WHEN: Today at 7 p.m.
WHERE: The Michigan
Union, Pendleton Room
Summer
internship fair
WHAT: An internship fair for
students featuring 30 to 40
businesses and service orga-
nizations from Michigan and
across the country.
WHO: The Career Center
WHEN: Today from 12 p.m.
to 4 p.m.
WHERE: The Michigan
Union
Fake Ariz. ID
$1,000 laptop .
se aconfiscated
stolen at midday
WHAT: Heidi Hartmann of
the Institute for Women's Pol-
icy Research, Randy Alelda
of UMass Boston, Prof. Sandra
Danziger and Kristen Seefeldt
of the National Poverty Cen-
ter will lead a discussion on
women living at or below the
poverty line and their roles in
today's economy.
WHO: School of Social Work,
ADVANCE, Center for the
Education of Women, Depart-
ment of Psychology, Depart-
ment of Women's Studies, the
University's Dearborn Gender
and Women's Studies
WHEN: Today from 3:30 p.m.
to 5 p.m.
WHERE: School of Social
Work Building, Educational
Conference Center
CORRECTIONS
0 Please report any error
in the Daily to corrections@
michigandaily.com.
Catholic Church officials
in Scotland and members
of the Scottish parliament
have denounced the classic
children's song "The Hokey
Pokey," citing anti-Catholic
origins and drug references,
canada.com reported. The song
was originally penned by Irish
songwriter Jimmy Kennedy.
Ann Arbor local bands
Starling Electric and Light-
ning Love will perform at
the Blind Pig on Friday. Doors
will open at 9:30 p.m.
>>FOR MORE, SEE B-SIDE, PAGE1B
A postal worker in How-
ell, MI failed to deliver
thousands of pieces of
mail, storing the letters in a
self-storage unit in Livings-
ton County, the Associated
Press reported. Officials found
988 first-class letters among
the undelivered mail, which
included letters dating back to
2005.
4
4
WHERE: Biomedical Science
Research Building
WHEN: Tuesday around noon
WHAT: A Gateway laptop val-
ued at $1,000 was taken when
the owner left it for a half hour,
University Police reported.
There are no suspects.
WHERE: Mary Markley Hall
WHEN: Tuesday at about 2:00
p.m.
WHAT: A hall director turned
a fake Arizona driver license
over to Housing Security,
accordingto University police.
The resident asked for the ID to
be returned, and was denied.
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