0 9 0 0 2B Th Satmet ./ eneda, ebuay 4 20 Wednesday, Febru-ary 24, 2010 // The Statement 7B ABOUTCAMPUS the statement Magazine Editor: Trevor Calero Editor in Chief: Jacob Smilovitz Managing Editor: Matt Aaronson Deputy Editor Allie White Designers: Sara Boboltz Corey DeFever Photo Editor. Jed Moch Copy Editors: Erin Flannery Danqing Tang Cover illustration: Jed Moch The Statement is The Michigan Daily's news magazine, distributed every Wednesday during the academic year. To contact The State- met e-mail calero@michigandaily. com THEJUNKDRAWER random student interview Hi. Is this Ben [Last name redacted]? This is. Hi. This is Dani from The Michigan Daily. I'm conducting the Random Student Interview... Uh, sorry, what's your name? Dani. I'm scared shitless of these interviews. I don't want to do it. Oh please just do it. I'llbe really nice toyou. I promise. OK, let's do it. Are you going anywhere for spring break? I am. Where are you going? I'm going to Cancun. That's cool. Have you been to Can- cunbefore? Not that I can remember. [Laughs] Does that mean you've been and you just don't remember anything? Ihonestlyhave no idea. [Pause] I'mjust kidding. I've never been there before. Hey, so, people normally ask in this interview 'How'd you get my number?' Please don't tell me it was Facebook. It was Facebook. Are you going to take your number offnow? Um ... well I'm more concerned about my picture. Oh, I'm looking at your picture - you have a microphone and a cup. OK. Yeah, that was karaoke night in, Windsor, or no, not Windsor, shoot, it was ... I don't know. It was a Canadian city. Ben, I think your memory needs a little help. [Laughs] It... it was Niagara Falls actu- ally. I ended up on that night doing karaoke with, uh, she was, like, 55 years old, a woman who was in Niagara Falls for a wedding party. Oh my god. And it was kind of awkward because she was divorced. It was, like, it was her kid's wedding. She had divorced her husband but her husband was re- married, so she was kind of there all by herself. Was she a cougar? I think so. I didn't seal the deal to be honest, but ... Should have, man. Yeah, I know. What's your favorite song to kara- oke to? "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." "Don't Stop Believin.' " That's a good one. No, no, no, no, no. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." Michael Jackson. Oh...that's also a good one.I person- allylike one's you can really belt out. "Don't Stop Believin"'is a cliche. It is. But Ilike it when he talks about Detroit. Yeah, my other favorite karaoke song is "Born In The U.S.A." when I'm doing karaoke in Canada. So why do you go karaoke in Cana- da? Well, we were doing a trip to New York in the summer. So we just sort of stopped over. So you're just going to Cancun with your friends - does that mean you just aren't going 'with your girl- friend, or you don't have a girl- friend? No. I don't have a girlfriend. I'm just going with my friends because... It's fun. Yeah. Are you gonnalook for agirlin Can- cun to have some fun with? More than one. More than one, huh? So you're that kind of guy. I'm just kidding. I don't think you are. Um, yeah.1I like my women how I like my coffee... Strong? ... the only thing is I don't like coffee. How do you like your coffee? I don't like coffee. You don't like coffee? So you don't like women? Something like that. You don't like women? I don't know, it's just a funny joke I like to tell. Do you tell that to a lot of people? Only close family members. - Ben is a Businessijunior. Hecan be found at Charley's every Tuesday night. Cantina on Wednesday. INTERNET CAR RENTAL BY HANNAH WAGNER I completed a tion and receive a day later. My first atte the night before - was a failure able car was pa away. LSA sophom fellow Zipcar u into similar pro vice. "Whenever I there would u or two left," sr always people u us." Given the ch' to Kerrytownfr andpaying$42. ing another fori Detroit, I chose to feel as if my IP C Igan ad P R E S E N T S ~iArbar t@ nA 0F. tQ 27 ix n high school, sophomore year meant sweet 16's and, for most of my friends, a new car - but not me. My carbon-emission minded par- ents, for what at the time seemed to be completely illogical reasons, were of the strong conviction that a car was not necessary for navigating our two-mile-radius town. My house was one half block from school, two blocks from the modest area known as "downtown" and less than a mile from my friends. Despite the walkability of my town, my peers drove their Jeeps, Hondas and BMWs to school and then to the Panera 20 minutes away for off cam- pus lunch. Because of my lack of transporta- tion - and resolution to participate in all popular high school culture and activities - I soon perfected the art of catching a ride. Given my high school experience, adapting to life in Ann Arbor with- out a car wasn't exceedingly difficult. Everything a student really needs is available at Village Apothecary or White Market, and if a new pair of boots is absolutely necessary, online shopping is one click away or the Bri- arwood Mall is just a quick trip on the number six bus. So when I registered for RCHUMS 334: Community Empowerment Through the Arts - a course that requires students enrolled to travel to Detroit once a week to experience community-based art - I thought the professors would have already lined up some form of transportation for the trips. But my assumptions were wrong, and as I scrambled to find a way to travel between Ann Arbor and Detroit each week, I recalled a friend at school in Maine who had raved about something called Zipcar. When her small college became claustrophobic, she could reserve a set of wheels and drive to nearby Boston for a change of scenery. It seemed so simple. And soI registered with Zipcar - a national company that allowsindivid- uals or organizations to buy member- ships and rent cars for hourlyblocks of r ,i lA time - assuming all of my problems would be solved with a hybrid and a tank of gas. As a student, I was able to register through the University, lowering my annual membership fee from $50 to $35 and eliminating the initial reg- istration fee. Drivers must typically be 21 years old to use the service, but when signed up through the Univer- sity, that number is lowered to 18. brief online applica- stylish than practical. d approval via e-mail ThoughIwashesitanttotakeadvan- tageofmypurchase, I feltempowered mpt to book a car - knowing ifI really had to get off cam- I needed it, of course pus, I could. I began to offer to pick , as the closest avail- people up from the airport, take my rked more than a mile neighbor to Walgreens and drive a group of friends to yoga. ore Belle Cheves, a For $8 an hour - $9 on weekends ser, said she's also run - I had the power of 180 miles of blems using the ser- mobility. After a week or two of con- templating the possibilities of my I tried to reserve it, expensive purchase, I finally booked sually only be one a car. he said. "There were Friday afternoon, I trekked sing it before or after through fresh snow to a Zipcar park- ing lot tucked behind South Quad, oice between walking and after six failed attempts to swipe om East Quad at 8 a.m. my membership card over the sensor 93 for a Zipcar, or find- on the windshield, the Scion xB auto- m or transportation to matically unlocked. the latter. ButI began I climbed in, adjusted the seat and investment was more found the key dangling below the steering wheel. And then, I was off to yoga class. Normally, getting to the studio involves waitingfor abus and crossing the un-crossable street that is Washt- enaw Avenue, but with my trusty Zip- car, my friends and I parked just five stepsfromthedoor.Afterclass,Iwant- ed to complete my afternoon with a trip to Whole Foods, but my reserva- tion was almost up. I faced a tough dilemma: organic mangos and a possible late fee, or leave the strip mall empty-handed but return the car on time. Ulti- mately, I decided to risk the fee, and though I pulled into the specified lot seven minutes late, no late fees were charged. Though my first experience was ultimately a success, I haven't booked a Zipcar since. Its inconvenience and price don't seem worth it when, in reality, there's not much a student can't access within a few blocks of his or her home. When everything is so accessible on foot, it's difficult to find the time J Vto take advantage of a set of wheels that have an hourly rate that is high- er than most students' hourly wage. It is certainly liberating, however, to know that if I ever have the sudden impulse to get out of the Ann Arbor city limits for an afternoon, I'm just a SSTRATIONY R (ATIF FEBRTS click away from the open road. M SUBMIT WORK TO THE STATEMENT'S ANNUAL LITERATURE ISSUE. We're taking original works of poetry, flash fiction, creative nonfiction and short stories up to 2,500 words. Deadline to submit is Sunday, March 7! SEND AN E-MAIL TO THELITERATUREISSUE@GMAIL.COM .. ,, F . SICK OF THE DORMS? CAN'T FIND A PLACE TO LIVE? Visit michigandaily.com/classifieds to see all of the groat houses and apartments Ann Arbor has to offer on a convenient map! Also be sure to check out the Classified Pages for other great properties. GRADUATING THIS YEAR? WHAT'S THE ONE THING YOU'D LIKE TO DO WITH THE TIME YOU HAVE LEFT? The Statement is taking suggestions for its first ever Bucket List issue. Tell us what you'd put on your bucket list. Send your suggestions to calero@michigandaily.com.