The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, September 9, 2010 - 7A W SAMANTHA TRAUBEN/Daily Howard Dean rallies the crowd gathered at Rackham Auditorium last night, encouraging them to get involved in the midterm elections. Dean: Dems must win mi terms for Oba-mt P a to conti nue progress From Page 1A out the nation and to work tirelessly to make their desires heard. "So many Americans think all we have to do is vote and get our guy in, or our women in, and then they're going to do the work and we're going to go back to whatever we were doing before," Dean said. "It doesn't work like that. If you want your country to work, you have to work every single day." Although voters will not be elect- ing the next U.S. president, Dean 9 said the upcoming elections are just as pivotal, because President Obama will need in November's elections Congressional support to continue to accomplish policy ini- tiatives. "Barack Obama is not on the ballot this time, but he is in many ways," Dean said. "He can't get anything done, unless you send these guys back to Congress." Dingell echoed Dean's senti- ment, encouraging audience mem- bers to prevent Republicans from WELCOME From Page 1A Week, which has been going on since the fall of 2002, took place during the official first week back to campus. But to avoid competition with Meijer Madness and other Welcome Week events, Jones said they pushed their events one week later. This scheduling also gives students the option to stop by the events after their classes, he said. Student-athletes this year will also experience change in their welcome week reception, which began on Sept. 7 and will end on Sept.12. LSA senior Alex Wood, president of the University's Student-Athlete Advisory Council, said student-ath- letes in previous years attended a nighttime banquet - the sole event of past welcome weeks. "This is the firstyear (for the lon- ger event), and we really tried to put together a program from Tuesday to Sunday to get this year's fresh- OPEN HOUSE From Page 1A because they wanted to talk with Coleman, others came to see the inside of the University presi- dent's house, enjoy refreshments like cookies and cider or just to kill time. But with Coleman grinning, shaking hands and posing for pic- tures with students, nearly every- one left the open house saying they were happy they came. LSA freshman Aditi Shetty said she was happy with the conversa- tion she had with Coleman, who she described as "an icon of the University." "We talked about her house and the architecture," Shetty said. "In hindsight, it was probably a rosly boring conversation to any outsid- er, but I thought it was really inter- esting, because when do you have the chance to talk to the University president?" LSA sophomore Rebecca Guer- riero said she decided to come to the open house because her friends were coming. "I didn't really know what to expect. I didn't even know if we'd get to meet her," she said, impressed with the event and with Coleman. "It makes the University seem like home. You come here and you see her and it's like, she's just overturning Obama's work in office thus far. "The Republicans have talked about change, and about taking the country back," Dingell said, "and I'mgoingtoask, back to what? Back to Bush? Back to Hoover? Back to 1900? Back to Louis the 13th? "We're talking about change and hope and making America bet- ter for our people," Dingell added. "This country is going to move for- ward whether the Republicans like it or not. And we're going to drag them kicking and screaming into the 21st century." Schauer also spoke about con- tinuing to establish Democratic ideals in order to help families, through strengthening programs like Medicare and Social Security. He said he believes the Democratic Party tends to focus on the issues of the many, while the Republicans are more focused on the issues of certain individuals. "It's a question of our values, what kind of people we are," Schau- er said. "And the Republican Party en welcomed into the Michigan family and give them tips to suc- cess," Wood said. Planned welcoming activities include a senior panel in which first-year student-athletes are given the opportunity to ask ques- tions of senior athletes, networking tips at the University Career Center and a screening of "Invictus" dur- ing a finale event titled "Wolverine Wow," according to the SAAC. Wood said the movie screening - intended for the entire athletic community - would take place on the 10-yard line in the recently re-dedicated Michigan Stadium and will feature popcorn vendors. Wood added that the focus on helping student-athletes make the college transition partly reflected the Athletic Department's owns transition under the new leader- ship of Athletic Director David Brandon. Another welcome week event, Explorth, aims to "showcase and highlight North Campus" by offer- ing the chance for students as well believes it's every person for them- selves. And we know we are stron- ger when we are together." Peters emphasized the impor- tance of job creation in a strug- gling economy as well as protecting Michigan's resources like the Great Lakes. "There isn't anything more important than jobs," Peters said. "We've had positive job growth, but we've got to be focused on more. We need to be focused on what it's going to take to keep this economyggoing." Brendan Campbell, President of College Democrats, helped orga- nize the event as an opportunity for students to hear more from Democratic legislators in the area and become inspired to vote and help the Democratic Party in the upcoming elections. "We wanted to make sure stu- dents were excited and energized by this election," Campbell said. "We wanted to get people motivat- ed to volunteer, motivated to come out and vote, motivated to help us elect our candidates in the fall." as faculty and staff to learn about and see all that North Campus has to offer, said Jennifer Wegner, Student Affairs program manager for the College of Engineering and Explorth committee member said. "It's very active," she said. "We know the best way to see (North Campus) is to actually walk around, go to the buildings you might not normally go into and learn things about cool design studios, for example." Though various groups on North Campus hosted the event last year, this year's version - slated for Sept. 15 - will be bigger with more musi- cal performances, an open jam ses- sion and more food. The event starts on the North Campus Diag where participants are given a "passport" highlighting major visiting points. Once the par- ticipants see as many spots as they desire and receive a stamp at each, they can turn the passport in for a chance to win a raffle prize. Students were also welcomed to Central Campus last week with a LSA sophomore Andie Shafer said she found the event to be an important means to get young stu- dents excited about the election. "I thought it was really rousing," Shafer said. "There was a lot of energy in the room. I thought it got people really excited, because I feel a lot of our generation has kind of dulled down after the Obama years. And I think this was a quick burst of energy that everyone needed." LSA junior Ronald Cade said he felt the event was important, because it inspired students to vote in an election that he said would be crucial in allowing Obama to continue to have an impact on the nation. "I think thegovernor'selection is going to be very important, and the term election for Congress is pretty critical because I don't think Presi- dent Obama has gotten enough done that he would've liked to have gotten done," Cade said. "I think another two years with a Demo- cratic Congress will really help him finish these type of things." variety of performances, speech- es and other anchor events like Artscapade, Gayz Craze, Esca- pade, and Maize Craze said Debra Mexicotte, assistant director of the University's Office of New Student Programs. Taste of Michigan, a signature Welcome Week event, aims to "bridge" the gap between the Ann Arbor community, Greek Life and the general student body, Ryan Knapp vice president of public rela- tions for the Interfraternity Coun- cil said. The event allowed students to get a sense of the various din- ing options in Ann Arbor with 13 companies, including Buffalo Wild Wings and Silvio's Organic Pizza, giving out food samples. The event is put on by all four Greek councils in conjunction with LSA Student Government, Knapp said. - Daily News Editor Eshwar Thirunavukkarasu contributed to this report. TEXTBOOKSj From Page 1Ac the legislation, adding that it will likely allow students to takec advantage of sites like Chegg.c "The Higher Educations Opportunity Act is a step in1 the right direction as it creates transparency in the textbooki industry for both students and professors," Couch wrote. The new law will also allow1 students to make more use oft Half.com, according to Amanda Coffee, a public relations spe-i cialist with the company. The1 site gives users the chance to compare prices from a variety of booksellers. "The Higher Education Opportunity Act is a huge step1 towards providing students and families on a budget with great-, er selection and better deals," Coffee wrote. The legislation could also mean an increase in students taking advantage of the Univer- sity's UBook program, which1 is an online forum hosted oni CTools that facilitates used book exchanges. Gretchen Weir, assistant vice provost for academic affairs, said she couldn't predict how the new legislation will affect1 UBook, but she added that the goal of the program is to offer students another way to get cheaper textbooks. "It was devised as a way for students to save money as a way to buy and sell books without a middle man and was part of a larger effort of the University to create a used book market on campus," Weir said. Representatives from Barnes and Noble, Inc. and Ulrich's Bookstore declined to comment on the new legislation. Jackson, the LSA junior, said that while he thinks the RECYCLING From Page 1A away from double-stream recy- cling, which involved separating recyclables by mixed papers and mixed containers before plac- ing them curbside. Now the city uses a single-stream recycling system. RecycleBank has taken advantage of the move, allowing all recyclables to be placed into a single cart. Thomas McMurtrie, the city's solid waste coordinator, said the efforts to consolidate recyclables were part of a larger effort, which includes the RecycleBank part- nership, to make recycling more accessible. "We're making recycling con- venient and easy for everyone," McMurtrie said. With this new emphasis on environmental consciousness, city officials said they hope to see recycling rates double or even triple during the Ann Arbor- RecycleBank partnership, which began on Sept. 1 and will last 10 years. According to a press release issued by the city, recycling rates in participating cities Rochester Hills and Westland are up 241 percent and 458 percent, respec- tively. "We have a very robust multi- family community," said Nancy Stone, spokeswoman for the city of Ann Arbor. "Our understand- ing with RecycleBank is that we want to work with them to devel- op a multi-family (housing) pro- gram and eventually a business program as well." Expanding the program to students in unique housing situa- tions may bring a new set of chal- lenges, McMurtrie said, including legislation will give students more options, it probably won't change the way he shops for textbooks. "I definitely support the opportunity to find the best deals and appreciate it, but I always end up waiting until the last minute anyways," said Jack- son. "Then again, I do think it is a really good idea and might utilize it next semester." Some students also hope that by forcing textbook publishers to disclose the prices of their textbooks to professors, more instructors will take notice of how much their course books cost and try to keep costs down. "I hope that this new law will make the professors more aware of how much all these books cost, and then make final decisions based on that," Bey- ers said. "I feel that if professors, know that a book costs $200 for a student, they might not choose that book for a course." But Associate History Prof. Farina Mir said the new legis- lation won't have much of an effect on how she chooses books for her courses. "I try to keep the cost of my, textbooks within the range of $100 to $150," said Mir. "I don't need to have a publisher tell me how much the textbooks are. I look into the prices myself." Mir said she does try to be conscious of the total cost of textbooks when picking them out. "Sometimes I do choose a more expensive book because of the work the book is doing, but then I make concessions with my other additional textbooks," Mir said. "After all, if the aver- age college student takes four classes a semester, and each class's textbooks are over $100, then that is a rather large por- tion of a college student's educa- tional expenses." dealing with high turnover rates in campus-area housing. "Our plan is to evaluate the program over the next year and then come back with a recom- mendation to City Council," McMurtrie said. "It's more diffi- cult with group housing because it involves multiple people using shared (recycling) carts." Mailings with instructions for signing up to participate were sent out to a significant portion of the nearly 33,000 total homes in Ann Arbor. For those students living off campus in houses and invited to participate in the initia- tive, the benefits of recycling each week can add up. Melody Serafino, a spokeswom- an for New York-headquartered RecycleBank, said participants can earn an average of $130-$200 per year in rewards. "The main incentive for the student who probably is on a bit of a budget ... is the rewards pro- gram," Serafino said. The rewards program allows recyclers to turn their acquired RecycleBank points into food, home goods, entertainment items and more at RecycleBank.com for use at local businesses, including Arbor Brewing Company, Down- town Home and Garden, The Vil- lage Apothecary and Zingerman's Deli. Education senior Rebecca Long, who lives off campus in a house divided into multiple apart- ments, said she'd be inclined to focus more on recycling if she was offered incentives. Along with bolstering local business and offering residents rewards, the initiative will bring additional funds to the city while decreasing overall city waste. "The city sees it as a quadruple win," Serafino said. WANT TO WRITE FOR THE MICHIGAN DAILY? COME TO ONE OF OUR MASS MEETINGS AT THE STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BUILDING (420 MAYNARD ST., NEAR THE MICHIGAN UNION) Sunday Sept. 12 @ 7 p.m. Tuesday Sept. 14 @ 7 p.m. Thursday Sept. 16 @ 7 p.m. Students meet with University President Mary Sue Coleman during an annual open house yesterday. like my mom. It was really cool." Also on hand to visit with stu- dents at the event were University Provost Philip Hanlon and Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones. Hanlon said he enjoyed talk- ing with students at the recep- tion, saying it is a valuable way to get feedback from students about their experiences at the Univer- sity. "I enjoy interacting with the stu- dents," Hanlon said in an interview at the open house. "I like to hear about the great things our students are doing, what their aspirations are and what their problems are, if they have any." In an interview during the event, Jones echoed some of Hanlon's comments, saying she thought the event was a great way for students to interactwith top administrators. "I just think it's so special that this is something that President Coleman does with students," Jones said. "It's a wonderful wel- come to campus for new students or send off for seniors." And many seniors were on hand for the event, including LSA seniors Caitlin O'Gara and Fima Zaltsman, who said they came because they wanted to talk with Coleman about her biochemistry background. "We were really excited that she's a chemist because we're both chemists too," O'Gara said. LSA sophomore Tessa Adzemov- ic also said she decided to come to the event to get a chance to chat with Coleman about biochemistry. "I was interested because I know she was a biochem professor," Adzemovic, a biochemistry major said. "I wanted to ask her about that, but also I just wanted to see what she was like."