0 4 - Friday, December 3, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com E-MAIL JEFFAT JEFFDZ@UMICH.EDU Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu JEFF ZUSCH LAG Meanwhile, in Italy - We must show them how important And we must show them this our education isto us. We must show by blocking public roads and My fellow students! The government them how much we value learning throwing trash at people! seeks to cut the education budget and knowledge. and limit our research time. We can not let this standj- 16f1 prnA\ eia\D cp\DI'f -E E YEEEAAAHHH! 6 JACOB SMILOVITZ EDITOR IN CHIEF RACHEL VAN GILDER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MATT AARONSON MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. Online adviser 'U' should advertise Academic Center resources egistration is always a chaotic time for students. When the LSA Course Guide goes live, students often scramble to make appointments with academic advisers in hopes of creating an ideal schedule. To accom- modate students looking for academic advising, the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center recently updated its website to offer students more resources for managing their course loads. The additions are a good first step - one that other departments should consider reproducing. But simply pro- viding the resources isn't enough if students aren't aware of them. Advising offices must publicize changes so that stu- dents can fully utilize available resources. Thanksgiving up According to a Nov. 28 Daily article, a variety of changes have been made to the online tools available on the Newnan web- site. Among the changes - which have been in the works for about two years - were updates to the Peer Academic Advising office website and instructional videos on how to use Wolverine Access and prepare a class schedule. There is also a new Academic Success Strategies website that focuses on organizational and study skills, according to Timothy Dodd, director of the Newnan LSA Academic Advising Center. According to the Daily article, many students who were asked about the changes commented that they weren't aware of the website. The online updates from the Newnan Advising Center are a great addition to current academic advising resources. The website allows students to quickly pick and choose what they need to know. Infor- mation about distribution requirements, scheduling and everything else that goes into registering for classes is readily avail- able on one website. The resources are easily accessible and enable students to get questions answered without having to make an advising appointment. Though some students need time to sit down with an adviser, others are only after smaller pieces of information that don't necessarily require a face-to-face conver- sation. The extra tools also allow students to get self-help on their own time through the ease of the Internet, without strug- gling to schedule a visit to Angell Hall. This is particularly useful during registra- tion times, when advising appointments are often tough to come by. Now that these additions are complete, it's crucial that the Newnan Advising Cen- ter makes sure students are aware of them. Many students only seek advising when they are new to the University or getting ready to graduate. The center should pro- mote online services so that students know how to access and use the resources that are available to them. The Newnan Advising Center dem- onstrated an understanding of students' needs by giving them the option of face-to- face help or online information. But sched- uling is stressful for all students - not just those in LSA. If the increased online services prove a hit with students, other advising offices on campus should imple- ment similar systems. The Newnan Advising Center should continue to expand its online resources to take the pressure off itself and students. If the current changes are successful, other schools and departments at the University should follow in Newnan's footsteps and update their online resources too. A s my family gathered around grown-up's table when you laugh the table last Thursday eve- during your mom's marathon prayer. ning, we named what we were Your grandma still tells the family thankful for this she wishes she never had children. year. While my And even the most seasoned Resi- mother answered dential College veteran isn't prepared "God" and my for your vegan cousin's rant about uncle chose to say innocent life slaughtered as you bite "pie," I, being the y into a drumstick - after all, those delightful child non-shaven, hemp-wearing, no-good, that I am, thanked rock 'n' rollin' hippies in East Quad the Pilgrims. After are too stoned to complain about any all, without them, food set in front of them. The only we wouldn't cel- MELANIE thing that has really changed is the ebrate the worst interrogation process. That is the holiday known to KRUVELIS horrible period during which Aunt man. Leslie waits right until you shovel Alright, so sweet potatoes in your mouth to ask maybe it's a little unfair to pick on you innumerable questions about poor old Thanksgiving. Overlook- your classes, professors, grades, etc. ing that whole smallpox epidemic - questions that are next to impos- and the near destruction of an entire sible to answer due to a semester-long culture, Thanksgiving's not so bad in love affair with alcohol. principle. Who doesn't like mashed Luckily this "helliday" feast potatoes? And it's not just Thanks- doesn't last forever. Eventually, the giving that brings me down - Blah- casserole turns cold and the mood nukkah, Kwanz-ugh and the other turns from irritatingly friendly to holidays that are not so easily turned bloated and depressed. If you play into puns. From the time they start your cards right, the bitter battle playing Christmas music on the radio between the Wolverines and the up until the drunken splendor of Buckeyes can provide the perfect New Years Eve, I can't help but feel opportunity to escape and see the utterly disappointed. And it's not just people you really wanted to see - because I have no one to kiss under your high school friends. But even if the mistletoe besides my cat Patches. you're lucky enough to actually have Let's examine Thanksgiving. In friends, odds are you'll be disappoint- theory, last weekend should have ed, for two key reasons. been better than a night with that The first is Facebook. Yes, we're dreamboat from "Dawson's Creek." supposed to miss friends when we go Not only was it a necessary break off to college. And most importantly, from extensive procrastination, but it we're supposed to feel satisfied when was also a chance for students to visit we realize that our old enemies are with family. up to no good. But thanks to constant But it's important to note that in Facebook updates, the thrill of catch- order to spend time with relatives, ing up is nonexistent. Scroll through one must actually spend time with your news feed for a few minutes and said relatives. And once you real- you'll find out all too quickly that the ize no one brought you a check "just senior class president is now an alco- 'cause," family can get, well, old. holic, the prom queen is on the fast- You're still getting kicked out of the track toa future in "Girls Gone Wild" films and your ex-best friend is still getting with that weird guy. Thanks to Mark Zuckerburg, the excitement of discovering you're still better than everyone else is gone. Thanks for the worst holiday ever, Pilgrims. That leads right into the second rea- son: the development of the "Harvard of the Midwest" psyche. After nearly three months straight in Ann Arbor, you'll inevitably carry the burden of knowing you are indeed superior to everyone else. (Take that, George- town. Bet you wish you would've accepted me now... sigh.) Suddenly, all your high school friends seem to be so ... vapid ... obtuse ... cretinous ... that they fail to recognize the intellectual value of ellipses! No one else uses air quotes to strengthen an argument! What do you mean you want to go to Macy's for "Black Friday" shopping - don't "you" understand you're simply bolstering a false "sense" of the free enterprise system? Perhaps this may seem pretentious, but we deserve it - thevoice ofDarthVaderwenthere, for love of Zeus's beard. Luckily for us, the horrors of com- ing home are long gone, along with our decent physiques. Life's going back to normal here in Ann Arbor, which means we can all go back to panicking over our econ grades and spending evenings in the fetal posi- tion, clutching on to our bio textbook for dear life. Happy Finals! - Melanie Kruvelis can be reached at melkruv@umich.edu. 0 01 EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Jordan Birnholtz, Will Butler, Eaghan Davis, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Will Grundler, Jeremy Levy, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Harsha Panduranga, Teddy Papes, Tommaso Pavone, Leah Potkin, Roger Sauerhaft, Asa Smith, Julian Toles, Laura Veith, Andrew Weiner ANDREW WEINER LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be fewer than 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. Letters are edited for clarity, length and factual accuracy. All submissions become property of the Daily. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu. AIDA ALI| Break in the Big Apple Bad omens I can't shake this thought. I keep pushing it to the back of my mind, but it creeps right back up to the front again, refusing to be ignored. Maybe it's because the weather has finally made up its mind and decided it wants to be winter. Or maybe it's those pesky final exams on the horizon. Maybe it's because the pasta in North Quad was so dissatisfactory today (it takes talent to screw up macaroni and cheese, but they did it). All these little annoyances keep drawing me to the same conclusion: The world is ending. For starters, while walking in front of Uni- versity President Mary Sue Coleman's house, I noted the elegance of 20 large, black leaves on an otherwise barren tree. This weather doesn't allow for many pretty things to look at around campus, so I allowed myself to appreciate the sight. That was, until I realized that the leaves were, in fact, crows. Take a look up at the bleak, gray sky (which itself foretells the end of days). Every time I look up, there are at least 4 mil- lion crows. That's not even an exaggeration- I counted. Twice. There really couldn't be a more in-your-face harbinger of doom than a mass of black, Hitchcock-esge birds blocking out the sun. And the squirrels. The Daily recently reported that squirrels' unusual social behav- ior is because they have too much contact with humans. Wrong. They're just trying to gain our trust so they have the element of surprise when they finally attack. But it's not just the creatures of Ann Arbor that are makingmepessimistic. It's whatI'mlearning in classes, too. I've always known Im supposed to feel bad about being white, but I didn't know until this semester that I'm also supposed to feel guilty that I'm male, middle class and able-bodied. My sociology class has fixed that, though. Now I'm aware of all the other things I should feel guilty about and the millions of people who aren't as fortunate as me. Luckily, I won't have to worry about people for much longer because soon we won't even have a planet on which to be disadvantaged. After reading Bill McKibben's new book, "Eaarth," I have an incredibly bleak outlook on the future of our planet. Though I can't pro- nounce the book's title, I do understand the idea McKibben attempts to convey. We humans no longer live on the planet our parents were born on - we've created an entirely new one. Who knew? Earth is a receding memory. In his book, McKibben details the many, many ways in which our planet has changed. Some of the facts he points out are downright terrifying. Storms are getting more frequent, stronger and are happening in places that they have never happened before. Spain recently had its first-ever hurricane. Florida has been bom- barded with hurricanes more than ever. Storm intensity has increased so significantly that it's becoming a problem for the interior of the United States as well. But hold on - that's only the beginning. Things are going to get much worse. The parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmo- sphere is far above the number scientists say is the absolute safe maximum. And even though we know how to fix much of the problem, there are many government and corporate interests standing in the way of progress in order to pro- tect their profits. One of the most shocking discussions in "Eaarth" is the problem several small island nations are facing. Because so many millions of tons of ice are melting, oceans are slowly but surely rising. The Maldives, an island nation off the southern tip of Africa, has recently been buying large tracts of land in Australia - not for vacation homes for its citizens, but for emergency relocation sites. The Maldives fears that the entire nation will soon be underwater. I know I live in Ann Arbor, notthe Maldives. But when I suddenly feel the shadows of bil- lions of crows pass over me, I can't help but think, "What has this world come to. And why are there crows? It's December!" Andrew Weiner is an LSA freshman. This Thanksgiving break, I knew I wouldn't be going home. But I wouldn't have thought that I'd be spending Thanksgiving Eve at Pacha - the nightclub franchise from the Spanish island Ibiza - in New York City. I have been to New York City multiple times. The city never fails to blow my mind. My first trip to NYC was at age of 7. I remember the time when everything seemed so big and glamorous, and the World Trade Center tow- ers still dominated the city's skyline. The New Yorkers whizzed past me to get on with their busy lives. They were clearly distinguishable from the tourists with maps and brochures in hand, wearing expressions of wonder and excitement. Over my repeated visits, I have noticed different things about the city like its layout and the architectural marvels. The glamour of the city is like a strong gust of wind that hits you as soon as you arrive. No other major city in the United States holds a torch to New York. Whether I'm in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chica- go or Boston, none of these places make me feel like NYC does. There's an "X-factor" in New York that is unlike every other city in the U.S. New York's uniqueness is largely the media's doing. "Friends," "Sex and the City," "How I Met Your Mother" and several other television shows revolve around the lives of young friends living in NYC. The city has a big role in shaping this lifestyle and identifying the char- acters. And that's not even mentioning the hundreds of movies based in the city. It might just be the glamorous portrayal of New York City that makes it beautiful when I visit. Or perhaps it's the glamour that people see in the city that leads them to portray it as such on the screen. It's probably a bit of both. Lately, the news surrounding New York has focused on the financial difficulties facing the city. According to a Dec. 1 article from the New York Daily News, a survey reported 52 percent more stalled building projects this year compared to last. This is horrible for a big city like New York. The financial crisis in the city has not only affected the livelihood of its residents, but also the land- scape of the city itself. But on the other hand, celebrities face no trouble in finding homes for themselves. Sarah Jessica Parker and her husband Matthew Broderick bought a $21.5 million apartment yesterday in New York "after a marathon house hunting expedition," according to ninemsn.com. An impressive number of big celebrities from all over the world have luxurious houses in NYC. This has become a style statement for movie stars, singers and performers. It adds to the glamour and fashion of the city. But New York is more than just a financial hub and celebrity dwelling. The art and culture of the, city is diverse. Broadway shows, Madame Tussauds wax muse- um, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, various parades - including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - and the brilliant graffiti markings throughout the city give New York its rich culture that doesn't seem to be affected by the financial crisis. A visit with friends made me see a whole different side of New York. I can now boast that I have ridden the subway at 3 a.m., walked the streets all night long and shopped at 5th Avenue on Black Friday. It might not be a lot to some, but for me, this trip marked a special pointin mylife. Like any other city, there are the darker sides to NYC too. But the culture and charm of the city overshadows these shortcomings. I could get used to living in New York City - or at least the New York City I have created in my mind, thanks to media portrayals and my experiences as a tourist. But I am a city girl through-and-through and have put it down as my dream to one day belong on the streets of New York as a resident and not a tourist. Aida Ali is an LSA sophomore. 01 0r The Daily is looking for a diverse group of strong, informed, passionate writers to be columnists for the winter semester. Columnists write a 700-800 word column every other week on a topic of their choosing. If you are an opinionated and talented writer, consider applying. E-MAIL MICHELLE DEWITT AT DEWITTM@UMICH.EDU FOR MORE INFORMATION.