HISTORY LIVESFINDING HIS PLACE
The Rude Mechanicals bend. time Fr. the hardwood to the gridironslot
with this weekend's performance of receiver v Grady learnedt.ms
Shakespeare's play 'Richard Il.' with a new set of Wolverines.
See Arts, Page 5A SeeSFootball aturday InsId
46 4

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Friday, October 23, 2009

michigandailycom

FRAGMENTED REALITY

PH .0 POLIT ICS
Continuous
enrollment
still an issue

ARIEL BOND/Daily
Heather Rowe's exhibit "Trouble Everyday" in the University of Michigan Museum of Art features mirrors, carpet, drywall and molding. Her architectural exhibit opened to the
public last Saturday. According to the UMMA website, within Rowe's work, "shards of mirror incorporate the surrounding space in a fragmented patchwork of reflections."
FINANCING YOUR EDUCATION
S tate' sdc n s in

As policy inches to
implementation,
student grievances,
confusion continue
By ANNIE THOMAS
Daily StaffReporter
Though the continuous enroll-
ment policy in Rackham Graduate
School was announced last year,
many students involved in nego-
tiations surrounding the policy
say they are still unclear on what
the policy actually means.
The policy, which was first
announced last semester, would
require students in a Rackham
doctorate programs to register
every fall and winter term until
they complete their degrees - a
change that would consequently
decrease tuition rates for gradu-
ate students.
Fromits infancythepolicysuf-
fered from what many consider to
be a poor publicrelations strategy,
leaving faculty and students alike
confused over the policy's details
and its ramifications for the edu-
cational experience in Rackham.
That lack of clarity sparked some
backlash from students and even
prompted the formation of the
"Continuous Enrollment Work
Group," an organization of Uni-
versity graduate students who say

the proposal was not being accu-
rately portrayed to the Rackham
community.
One major effect of the new
policy would be that students
will be required to pay tuition
each semester - something they
currently don't have to do if they
decide to take time off to care for
children or do special study in the
field, though the new policy will
accommodate some situations
that would allow students not to
enroll for a semester.
In the midst of all of this, the
Rackham Student Government
passed two resolutions over the-
summer requesting more infor-
mation about the policy from
Rackham administrators.
"Within 48 hours, somewhere
around 472 students signed a
letter of support for the resolu-
tions just because they were very
concerned that they hadn't had
access to this information and
were excited about the opportu-
nity," Rackham student Marie
Puccio said.
She added that Associate Dean
Peggy McCracken accepted the
resolutions.
The first resolution requested
Rackham to follow up in writing
to the Continuous Enrollment
Student Advisory Committee -
a group established last spring
by the University in order to
facilitate communication with
See POLICY, Page 7A

Mi(
Tr
p amo
Whi
continu
the sta
deficit
keep tI
Michig

chigan Education ents plan for their children's col-
lege educations has been relatively
ust a bright spot unaffected.
The Michigan Education Trust
ing state's troubles - a prepaid college tuition program
- has seen better days, but officials
By NICOLE ABER say the economy has had relatively
Daily Staff Reporter little impact on the program's oper-
ations. At the same time, similar
le Michigan legislators programs in several other states,
ae to work on eliminating including some with lower unem-
tte's more than $2 billion ployment rates and healthier state
and businesses struggle to budgets, have been experiencing
heir doors open, a popular serious financial hardship.
an program that helps par- Prepaid college tuition pro-

grams, like the MET, allow families
to lock in current tuition levels and
pay for their children's post-sec-
ondary education long before their
children ever set foot on campus.
After parents invest in the fund,
the money can be accessed when
the child goes to college and will
fully fund the cost of tuition for
Michigan's public universities and
community colleges. If the child
decides to go to a private institu-
tion or an out-of-state school, the
money can be transferred to cover
a portion of those tuition costs,

according to the Michigan Educa-
tion Trust's Web site.
. TerryStanton,publicinformation
officer for the Michigan Depart-
ment of Treasury, said although
MET was not hit as severely by the
recession as several other states'
prepaid funds, it was still affected
by the downturn in the stock mar-
ket over the past year.
"Certainly it has (been impact-
ed), as has any other investment
program, or program that relies on
the stock market, whether it be a
See MET, Page 7A


WEATHERING THE CRISIS
Experts: Economy
on way to recovery,
despite jobs reports

From books to blouses: Pitaya fills the State
Street storefront vacated by Shaman Drum

Hig
will
pro
Des
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mists s
yesterd
slowly
in the
progre
Alle
sion Et
panelis
shorter
Sina
inform
firm, s
held a'
Policy,
grown
ter, a r
growth
sumer
next fe
2 perc
In a
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cago ar
ists, sa
{ in the

h unemployment "I think it's probably just a lit-
tleobit better than it was a couple
continue to be a months ago," Evans said. "I think
the big change has been since
blem, panel says March of this year, which was
probably the bottom in terms of
By LILLIAN XIAO optimism about the economy."
For the Daily Though there's recovery in sight,
Sinai said unemployment rates are
pite a lingering, high unem- still lingering at about 10 percent
ent rate, four macroecono- and added that ideally employment
aid during a panel discussion rates would hover around 4 per-
day that the economy will cent.
emerge from the recession The economy's slowgrowth rate,
next few years and is already according to Sinai, suggests that
ssing on an upward slope. businesses will refrain from hir-
n Sinai, co-founder of Deci- ing and demand for employees will
conomics, Inc. and one of the remain low for now. He described
sts, likened the uptick to the this as a cycle in which short labor
r leg of an "up-tilted L." demands, low income and reduced
ii, co-founder of a market spending all act upon each other to
iation support and advisory prevent any significant economic
aid at the event, which was recovery.
t the Ford School of Public Evans also said in the interview
that the nation's GDP has that the job market will continue
3.5 percent in the third quar- to be challenging for job-seekers to
eflection of slow but positive navigate but that college graduates
h. He said he expects con- may actually have an upper hand.
spending to increase in the "Since recent college graduates
rw years, by anywhere from are in new entry-level positions,
ent to 4 percent. this could be attractive for employ-
n interview before the dis- ers," Evans said.
n, Charles Evans, president But Evans said entry-level jobs
Federal Reserve Bank of Chi- are no guarantee, adding that stu-
nd another one of the panel- dents should prepare to enter an
id he foresees future growth uncertain economy.
economy as well. See PANEL, Page 7A

Women's clothing
store hopes to offer
style on a budget
By LINDSAY KRAMER
Daily StaffReporter
The State Street landscape is
changing once again. The space
that was once the former home of
AnnArbor mainstay Shaman Drum
Bookshop will officially opentoday
as Pitaya, a women's clothing store
that provides "stylish clothing at
affordable prices," according to
owner Michael Mazor.
The Ann Arbor location is one
of the company's 16 stores and will
take over the lower level on the
south side of the Shaman Drum
space, which was previously used
for its bookshop but not for text- Pitaya owi
book sales. Mazor said he has been for busine
waiting for a spot to open up on
State Street for years. a mix of
"Ann Arbor is perfect for what well as
we do," Mazor said. "The students chased ft
are under-served and are going to Mazor
appreciate what the store has to items by
offer. I only wanted to be on this pingeasi(
block and would have waited for- that the
ever." having a1
Mazor signed the lease for the available
space in September and immedi- products
ately began the process of turning "We k
the old bookshop into a clothing he said.
store. LSA sc
The clothing and accessories in said she1
the store range from $12 T-shirts provide s
to $69 jeans. The merchandise is at a dece.

ner Michael Mazor (left, facing forward) speaks to architects yesterday. His wormen's clothing store
ss today, replacing Shaman Drum's former location on State Street.

Pitaya brand clothing as
other merchandise pur-
or the store.
r said he arranged all the
color to try to make shop-
er for customers.He added
company prides itself on
new stock of merchandise
each week to vary the
for its customers.
eep almost no backstock,"
ophomore Kristine Haines
thinks the new store will
tudents with good clothes
nt price.

"The prices are OK and every-
thing downtown is pretty expen-
sive," she said. "But (the clothes)
look cute and I'd probably go
there."
School of Art & Design junior
Ariel Markowitz said the store fits
well in the neighborhood.
"I maybe would stop in there.
It looks similar to Poshh or one
of the stores on East Liberty," she
said. "I think the price is definitely
reasonable. The clothes are spe-
cific and target a certain group of
people."
Pitaya did not advertise the

store's opening, and Mazor said he
is currently looking for employees
and a store manager. He added that
the company chooses the locations
of the stores based on where the
managers would also enjoy living.
Mazor said the store is named
after a Guatemalan fruit that
comes from a cactus. After return-
ing from a trip to Guatemala,
Mazor sold items he bought there
and made back all the money that
he spent on the trip. He did this
multiple times before deciding to
open up a store, and said he chose
See STORE, Page 7A


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