Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.com
TuesdayDecember7, 2010 he Michian Daily- michignda ..yco
MONDAY:
In Other Ivory Towers
WEDNESDAY:
Professor Profiles
THURSDAY: FRIDAY:
Campus Clubs Photos of the Week
A matrimonial myth?
There's a myth on campus that no
hopeless romantic can resist.
According to campus lore, any couple
that kisses under the Engineering Arch
at the stroke of midnight is destined to
marry.
And while the myth is impossible to
prove or disprove, some couples who
have gone on to marry after kissing
under the arch say the legend is more
than just a fairy tale.
For one such couple, Matthew Straw
and Julie Foster-Straw, a 2009 gradu-
ate of the University, the efficacy of the
legend of the Engineering Arch isn't in
doubt.
"It's true!" Julie wrote of the myth in
an e-mail interview last week.
The two met last year while working
at Vinology on Main Street.
Julie said her now-husband knew the
implications of kissing at the spot so he
took her there on the couple's first date
after they ate dinner at Seva on East Lib-
erty Street and saw a show at the Ann
Arbor Comedy Showcase.
"We walked under the arch and he
asked if he could do an 'experiment'
with me," Julie recalled. "We kissed and
it worked! We were married July 15th,
2010."
The couple tried to return to the arch
on the day of their wedding to take pic-
tures while recreating their first kiss
and to commemorate the myth that may
have been responsible for their mar-
riage, but Julie said the weather didn't
cooperate.
"We tried to take pictures there on
our wedding day, but there was a rain
storm right after the ceremony," Julie
wrote.
Matthew and Julie currently live in
Atlanta, where Julie is a graduate stu-
dent at Emory University's School of
Public Health and Matthew is a manager
at a local restaurant and a photographer.
- KYLE SWANSON
SAM WOLSON/Daily
One campus myth suggests that a kiss under the Engineering Arch could lead to tying the knot.
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CRIME NOTES
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Man arrested for Stop sign gone, Author lecture, Art show with
carrying alcohol, fake sign in place book signing works for sale
marijuana WHERE: 2145 Hubbard WHAT: Blake Pardoe will WHAT: Students are
WHEN: Sunday at about 7 a.m. discuss his book, "Lost invited to submit original
WHERE: School of Social WHAT: A stop sign was myste- Eagles: One Man's Mis- artwork and participate
Work riously removed from the side sion to Find Missing Air- in a student art show.
WHEN: Saturday at about 10 of the road, University Police men in Two World Wars." Exhibited works will be
a.m. reported. There are no sus- The lecture will be fol- available for purchase.
WHAT: A man unaffiliated pects. A temporary stop sign is lowed by a book signing. WHO: University Unions
with the University was found there until a real replacement WHO: University Libraries Arts and Programs
in possesson of alcohol and can be found. WHEN: Tonight at 7 p.m. WHEN: Today from 11 a.m.
marijuana, University Police WHERE: Room 100 to 5 p.m.
reported. He was arrested. at the Harlan Hatcher WHERE: The Michigan
Deer meets road, Graduate Library League
M.I.P. issued at car, Grim Reaper
South Quad WHERE:1000 Cedar Bend CCORRECTIONS
WHEN: Sunday at about 9:30 curators talk " A Dec. 6 article in The
WHERE: South Quadrangle p.m. Mcia al "lde
WHEN: Sunday at aboutn12:20 WHAT: A subject's vehicle WHAT: Curators at the Mi g Daily ("Pledges
AT: Arsashinto a sreer wnr it Clements Library will misattributed the author
WHAT: A female student was ran linto the street, University be discussing the cur-
arrested for minor in posses- Police reported. No one in the rent exhibition, "Sugar of the story. It was writ-
sion of alcohol, University car was injured but the deer tinrhe Arlan'cWorld" ten by Emily Kempa.
The Facebook campaign to
change profile pictures to
cartoons claiming to sup-
port the National Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children is a fraud, The Daily
Mail reported. Rumors have
spread that the cartoons are
being used by pedophiles to
attract child Facebook users.
The University of Nebras-
ka, which will switch
from the Big 12 Confer-
ence to the Big Ten Conference
next year, has 21 teams includ-
ing bowling and rifle.
>FOR MORE,SEE OPINION, PAGE4
Protesters in Berlin are
getting undressed in
order to fight high rents,
AOL News reported. The group
arranges public viewings of
overpriced apartments, and
then strips naked and holds
impromptu dance parties.
Police reported.
suffered a fatal injury.
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BUSINESSES
From Page 1
national chains ... society has more
national chains than it does inde-
pendent businesses," Heywood
said.
Heywood added that landlords
always need tenants and national
chains are always looking for good
opportunities, while independent
businesses are also looking for
affordable spaces.
Heywood said he thinks Ann
Arbor businesses are able to sur-
vive in the financial downturn due
to the 60,000 University-affiliated
people who frequent local busi-
nesses.
"(AnnArbor)isoneofthehealth-
iest downtowns in Michigan, pri-
marily because of the residents and
the University," Heywood said.
Heywood said the shops along
State Street have been able to adapt
to the ever-changing environment
either by keeping up with shifting
product demand or by construct-
ing new stores. He added that it is
impossible to predict the future of
State Street, but he is confident the
area will keep its spirit.
"I think the neighborhood is
TERRA MOLENGRAFF/Daily
University President Mary Sue Coleman at yesterday's SACUA meeting in the Fleming Administration Building.
Pa nel offers recommendations
to boost minority facul tyrates
From Page 1 a draft of a charge calling on the
committee to look at the reten-
without taking into account the tion problem at a later meeting.
history of minority percentages
in that field or the candidates COLEMAN TALKS STATE
available at that time. APPROPRIATIONS FOR
Faculty members said it was RENOVATIONS AT 'U'
unclear which departments had
made efforts to recruit minority University President Mary
faculty in the past. Sue Coleman began the SACUA
In response to the low rate of meeting by referencing recent
minority professors revealed by state legislation, which will pro-
the study, Holland outlined sev- vide money for the University to
eral committee recommenda- renovate buildings at the Ann
tions for boosting the numbers, Arbor, Flint and Dearborn cam-
including having greater inter- puses.
actions between departments, According to the University
meeting with the provost more Record, the legislation that was
frequently and strengthening approved on Friday will give
efforts to recruit and maintain $383 million in state funding for
American Indian and Native projects across the state, with a
Alaskan faculty. Holland also limit of $30million for each proj-
said that he thought the most ect.
important issues underscored by Coleman said she is "very, very
the study are why minority fac- pleased" about the legislation,
ulty chose to leave the University adding that the money allocated
and why there were disparities to the University's Ann Arbor
in minority percentages between campus will be used to reno-
the units. vate the nanofabrication facility,
Rothman said he would brings called the G.G. Brown Memorial
Building.
Speaking about the challenges
she's faced during her terimo as
president, Coleman, whose con-
tract was recently extended by
the University's Board of Regents,
said the most formidable obstacle
she's dealt with was managing
the University's budget in the
face of an ailing economy.
"This has been a really chal-
lenging time for the state of
Michigan, because we really have
been in a recession for the past 10
years," Coleman said.
But Coleman said this financial
challenge has actually allowed
the University to grow stronger,
because of the management tech-
niques it has in place. She added
that the University is currently
on "as firm of a financial footing
as (it) has ever been."
Coleman also said that in her
upcoming term, she would like to
increase the amount of interna-
tional alumni donations.
"This is going to be an area
that we hope will be fruitful in
the future," Coleman said.
MAJORS
From Page 1
care business, and I've seen his
billboards out on I-94. He's entre-
preneurial," she said.
Susan Parrish, the interim
director of undergraduate stud-
ies for the Department of English
Language and Literature as well
as an associate English profes-
sor, echoed Evaldson's sentiment,
saying English concentrators
learn skills that are applicable to
many careers. According to Par-
rish, many students who major in
English have an interest in fields
such as teaching, publishing and
journalism, especially since the
University doesn't have a specific
school or concentration for
journalism.
"When people think 'English'
they think about things like book
clubs, which are associated with
the after hours of work," Parrish
said. "But in truth, you can build a
career out of almost anything the
English department offers."
However, Parrish said the per-
ception that English is a more rec-
reational major has led to a drop
in enrollment. She added that the
department is looking for ways to
maintain and attract more concen-
trators.
"We are actually currently
undergoing some curricular
changes to address that because
we don't want to lose any concen-
trators," Parrish said. "We're doing
a lot of soul-searching about why
numbers in our concentration are
going down."
The department has already
implemented a few changes to
address the issue. This year for the
first time, two peer advisors are
available to help students. Accord-
ing to Parrish, the English depart-
ment hopes that the student peer
advisors will make students feel
more comfortable coming into the
main office and asking questions
about the department or major.
"We're trying to make students
feel completely welcome," she said.
LSA senior Laura Winnick is
one of the department's two peer
advisors. She said she hopes to
take her English degree to "spac-
es where creativity is important
and prized," including classrooms
and non-profit organizations. She
explained that despite misconcep-
tions, English is extremely practi-
cal beyond the realms of teaching
and writing.
"Even if a job position does not
directly involve inscription, the
crafting of language is crucial to
the act of arguing, the art of being
persuasive, and the ability to pres-
ent oneself," she wrote in an e-mail
interview. "This is what the Eng-
lish major provides its students
with - the ability to write and the
challenge to write well."
In addition to learning valuable
skills, majors in the humanities
also give students the opportunity
to learn about a subject they're
passionate about, according to Tim
Dodd, the director of the Newnan
LSA Academic Advising Center.
"I want people to divorce the
notion of major from the idea of
vocation," Dodd said. "Your major
should be the content area that
going to get even more vibrant in
the next five or six years," said Hey-
wood. "I'm optimistic, you can call
me crazy."
David Jones, owner of White
Market, said that in his 27 years
as owner of the store, he has seen
many businesses come and go in
the State Street and greater down-
town areas. The turnover, he said,
is just part of business.
"Things change all the time,"
Jones said, adding that he has
seen five or six different busi-
nesses occupy the space next to
White Market during his tenure
as manager.
spurs your brain to be smart, so
you might as well choose the con-
tent area that you like, since all the
majors make your brain smart"
Dodd added that regardless of
their major, students gain useful
tools for a variety of jobs.
"All majors bequeath the same
things," Dodd said, "Content may
be different, but the skills that
you use to acquire that content are
pretty similar across all majors."
LSA senior Marissa Kresch said
she hopes to use her major in phi-
losophy and her minor in Program
in the Environment to become
involved in urban farming and the
ethics of food quality, but she said
she thinks philosophy is more than
just a path that leads to a specific
job.
"If you come to college and view
college as a professional train-
ing ground with no intention of
becoming a professor or a philoso-
pher, then I would say that philoso-
phy is not practical,"she said. "But
if you view college as preparation
for the world or the impact you
intend to make, then I say philoso-
phy is a very practical major."
Though Dodd noted the impor-
tance of finding a major that best
suits one's interests and talents, he
says students shouldn't be "mind-
less" about picking their major.
"Just waving a Michigan diplo-
madoesn'tgetyou ajob, but careful
research does," he said. "Going to
the Career Center early and often
does. It's important to love your
concentration, but also be very
clear-headed and very informed
about the particulars of future
opportunities."
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