6B Wednesday, September 15, 2010 // The Statement Wednesda, September 15. 2010 // The Statemen-'rt 38 news in review Five of the most talked-about stories of the week, ranked in ascending order of actual importance Lady Gaga donned an outfit - The University said that two- A passenger-plane flying in including dress, shoes, a hat and time all-American Wolverine Venezuala crashed Monday bag - made of meat cuts at the Ron Kramer, who played tight ing at least 14 people, thou MTV Video Music Awards Saturday end for Coach Vince Lombardi's least 33 other passengers s night. The animal rights group PETA championship teams of the early vived. The airliner was carr spoke out adamantly against the 1960's, died Sunday at the age passengers from the island performing artist's fashion choice. of 75. Margarita to Ciudad Guaya Umar Far y, kill- lab --the gh at Day bom sur- court Sur ying himself, f of defender! na. attorneys ouk Abdulmutal- alleged Christmas ber - said in a federal day that he will defend oregoing the federal s who were to act as his s. I Two individuals died and about a half dozen others were injured in Afghanistan during protests fueled by American pastor Terry Jones's claims that he would burn copies of the Koran to commemorate the ninth anniversary of September 11. Abuzz of uncertainty and skep- ticism swept across volleyball message boards, blog websites and media outlets on August 24, 2007. According to the national critics, the Michigan volleyball husband-wife coaching tandem of Mark and Leisa Rosen was making a mistake. The subject of such hotly-contest- ed debate: then-freshmen setter Lexi Zimmerman. "On the Internet, all the blogs were, like, 'What are the Rosens thinking, starting a freshmen? They're going to hurt her for life because she's going to be so scared out there,' " Lori Zim- merman, Lexi's mother, reminisced about her daughter's first collegiate match in front of almost 7,500 fans. Disregarding her freshman sta- tus, current senior Lexi catapulted the Wolverines to a five-set victory, in which she tallied 64 assists and 13 digs in her debut donning the maize and blue. And the number of doubters and the negative attention the Rosens received for their unprecedented decision, well, that's all history now, as Zimmerman is on pace to become Michigan's all-time assist leader in the next two weeks. And according to Rosen, she will graduate "this year being the best all-time player in the history of Michigan." Coming to Michigan her freshmen year ranked as the top setter in the country, Zimmerman said she real- ized within 20 minutes of being in the gym her first preseason day that holding the number one position in a recruiting class meant absolutely nothing. "I definitely came in knowing I was going to have to work really, really hard to step my game up because the level was so much higher," Zim- merman said. "And I was still blown away." Zimmerman has dedicated a signif- icant amount of her life to volleyball ever since Scott Harris, her club vol- leyball coach, can remember. "She was what I call the gym rat," said Harris, coach of the northern Illinois-based Sky High Volleyball club. "She was in the gym as much as you wanted her to be. She couldn't get enough of it." Harris recognized Zimmerman at an early age as "one of the most ath- letic and dynamic setters" he had ever seen. From a young age, she proved herself as extremely talented and able to improve at a rate that surpassed most other players. From the end of middle school to her final season as a Wolverine, Zim- merman has continued to set the precedent for what it means to be the best player in the gym. While it is certainly hard to quantify 'the best,' anyone who has been following the Wolverines over the last few seasons can identify the player who has been at the heart of all the success. To the surprise of no one, the "little, skinny kid" - as Mark Rosen described Zimmerman - has remained among the country's top setters, leading the nation last year with 1,516 assists. "The majors for athleticism - speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, balance, explosion - all those things, she's off the charts," Rosen said. "She's got the intangible qualities. She's a great competitor, she plays great under pressure. "When's it's crunch time, she just finds ways to win," he continued. "That's the recipe, that's what you're looking for in players." Upon arriving at Michigan, Zim- merman had a solid foundation for the art of setting, with a high atten- tion-to-detail mindset but with very little latitude with which to play her position. After quickly identifying her as a "free spirit," Rosen allowed Zim- merman a little latitude at first. Then, after realizing she could still perform well, allotted her more and more free- dom with distributing the ball. But even with a little latitude, Zim- merman is still learning on the fly to elevate her game. And that all starts with practice. When it comes to being able to truly dedicate herself to volleyball for the two hours a day when the team practices - as the coaches tell the whole team to do - Lexi does a great job, according junior libero Sloane Donhoff. "When's she's in herefor twohours, she'll go hard for two hours," Donhoff said. "She'll come in here and she's going hard all the time, everyday." And for Zimmerman, who admits to being a reaction player - she says she sets the ball without really doing a whole lot of thinking - the time in the gym has proven invaluable. Rosen and the coaching staff have focused on helping her understand why and in what circumstances to make certain decisions. This has proven to be a relatively easy task, according to Rosen. Despite MUSICAL CHAIRS And the school without a chair is... Michigan. OK, well, almost. By her sophomore year at Bar- rington High School in Illinois, Zim- merman had already caught the attention of many other schools - some had even contacted her as early as the eighth grade. But the nation's top setter of the 2007 recruiting class still hadn't caught Michigan's atten- tion. Enter Stanford University. As a player on one of Sports Perfor- mance's Under-14 teams - the volley- ball club Zimmerman played for prior to switching back to Sky High her sophomore season - she received her first piece of contact from any Divi- sion I school. "Getting letters from coaches, it kind of opened my eyes and made me realize that I could continue with (volleyball), which is awesome because it's definitely something I love doing," Zimmerman said. "If there's someone that wants me to play for them, I'm there." Once the letters and questionnaires started arriving on the Zimmermans' doorstep, the discussion about Lexi possibly pursuing volleyball in the 0 123 4 5 6 7 8 9,10 quotes of the week on the cheap "BP is happy to slice up blame, as long as they get the small- decorating your diggs on a budget est piece." U.S. REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D-MASS.), on the oil company's investigation into the spill, which lays the blame on multiple other parties. "It's only a paradise for rats." MOHAMMAD IMRAN, a Pakistani migrant in the United Arab Emirates speaking about how he came to Dubai to make money, but will leave worse off because of the downturn in the construction industry that left tens of thousands of imported workers without jobs. "We will stop printing the New York Times sometime in the future, date TBD."__ ARTHUR SULZBERGER, chairman and publisher of The New York Times, at a London media summit, in response to a statement that the paper will go out of iLAUSTRATIoN BY KATE EBERTS print by 2015. T he first week of move-in is almost always the hardest on the wallet, especially when moving off campus for the first time. On top of the normal purchases students have to make, moving into a new apartment necessitates the purchase of everything from new the rules furniture to new bedding. So, to help make sure you don't break your budget moving into e ____your first apartment, here are a few tips. Rule number one: don't be picky. Put your concerns for style and cleanliness on the back No. 260: No. 261: No. 262: burner and you shouldn't have much trouble fulfilling your needs without spending too Yes, RicksLinecom is We don't want to hear And if you are rush- much. With this in mind, the best place to find furniture is on the side of the road - the stuff that has been rejected by the rest of the apartment-dwelling student community. the best technologi- about your new tat ing, please under- Not satisfied with pilfering from the side of the road? There's a Home Goods just up Cal advancement of during the 'interesting stand that no one Washtenaw. (Side note: I would not recommend using anything for the kitchen found on the side of the road.) And, if you wait for just a week or two into the semester, there will be the decade. fact about you' part of cares outside the some great sales at other big stores like Target and Meijer. the first discussion freshman class. Hove advice for life on the cheap? Let us know. E-mail onthecheupe umich.edu. byCOURTESY OF THE LOS ANGELES TMES The percentage drop in U.S. crime rates this past The rate of American manslaughters The percentage drop in motor year. This figure comes despite expectations of last year, down from 9.8 per 100,000 vehicle robberies between higher crime rates in periods of economic woes. in 1991. 2008 and 2009.