The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, February 3, 2011 - 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, February 3, 2011 - 5A
EGYPT
From Page 1A
standing aside."
Yesterday, soldiers encircled
Cairo's Tahrir Square, sporadical-
ly firing bullets into the air, but not
getting involved in the battle. The
violence has been fatal, leaving
three people dead and more than
600 injured in the Tahrir Square
protests yesterday.
The protests began on Jan. 25
as protesters, inspired by the over-
throw of the Tunisian government
last month, organized demon-
strations on Facebook and Twit-
ter, according to Michael Dobbs,
Communications Studies lecturer
at the University.
Egyptians used social media
sites and the blogosphere to
express dissenting opinions and
build resentment against the
government before the protests
began, Dobbs, a former Washing-
ton Post foreign correspondent,
said in an interview last night.
"For a long time, Egyptian
bloggers have been writing about
police brutality," Dobbs said.
"Police have been pretty indis-
criminate in beating people up."
Dobbs discussed the instance
of an Egyptian man, Khalid Said,
who drew support from people via
the Internet after the public found
out that the police beat him last
year.
"(Said) died as a result of his
injuries, and in the Egyptian
blogosphere, this became a huge
controversy," Dobbs said. "The
slogan'We are all Khalid Said' was
one of the slogansthatbroughtthe
people into the streets recently."
The Egyptian government par-
tially shut down Internet service
and limited mobile communica-
tion last week in an effort to sup-
press the protests. Dobbs said by
the time the Internet was cut off,
it was already too late to quell the
protests.
"Friday is a day of prayer in
the Muslim world, and of course
people were coming out of their
mosques," Dobbs said. "There
are other ways of keeping people
informed - just going to your
mosque and talking to people.
Even if the Internet was shut
down, it didn't mean that every-
thing relied on the Internet."
After yesterday's violent epi-
sodes, it is uncertain whether the
protesterswill succeed or whether
Mubarak will regain control. Tes-
sler said the Cairo protests could
have ramifications throughout the
Middle East, as the uprising could
inspire other countries in the
region to stage similar protests.
In the past week, in order to
prevent revolts in their respec-
tive countries, King Abdullah II
of Jordan dismissed the govern-
ment, and Yemen's President Ali
Abdullah Saleh announced that
he wouldn't seek re-election. The
leaders were trying to demon-
strate to the nations' people that
they are trying to embrace demo-
cratic reform, Tessler said.
"The conditions that prompted
(what happened in Egypt) exist
in all these other places," Tessler
said. "It's a little different from
place to place, but as a general
proposition, they exist in most of
the counties in the region. That
was the case in Tunisia as well."
- The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
CAMPAIGNS
From Page 1A
MSA vice speaker and chair of the
Campus Improvement Commis-
sion, said though the campaign
has changed forms throughout
the years - moving from writ-
ten submissions to digital sub-
missions - it has been consistent
in making students the focus in
advocating for changes at the Uni-
versity.
"The What to Fix campaign
allows us to reach out to stu-
dents, and it's one way that we get
feedback from our constituents
regarding what's going on with
campus issues," Walser said.
Walser, who began work with
What to Fix in September 2010,
said MSA has been successful
advertising the campaign this
academic year. MSA representa-
tives have been speaking with
students in Mason Hall about
campus issues every week this
semester and using tactics like
distributing wristbands and pens
to spread the message.
Last week, MSA members were
particularly impressed with stu-
dent input, having received 120
ideas for campus improvements
after promoting the campaign
in Mason Hall for three hours,
Walser said.
This year, in addition to advo-
cating for Saturday night dining
in residence halls, What to Fix has
been working to improve wireless
Internet connections in Angell
Hall auditoriums and to address
various issues in the Central Cam-
pus Recreation Building and Sha-
piro Undergraduate Library.
According to Walser, 10 indi-
viduals officially work on the
What to Fix campaign. However,
other members of the assembly
participate in What to Fix proj-
ects if they are relevant to their
respective commissions.
Business senior Alex Serwer,
MSA chief of staff and former
chair of the Campus Improve-
ment Commission, said MSA and
LSA-SG are interested in collabo-
ration efforts for campus-wide
improvements based on sugges-
tions the two governments have
received.
"We really hope that students
utilize this campaign in a way that
lets (MSA) know which things
are the most important to them
so that we can devote our time
accordingly," Serwer said.
In a similar attempt to improve
students' experiences on campus,
LSA-SG began the This Sucks
campaign as a project of its Stu-
dent Life Committee about five or
six years ago. The studentgovern-
ment started the initiative after
receiving many complaints about
various things on campus, accord-
ing to LSA junior Brandon Byrd,
Student Life Committee chair.
This Sucks allows students to
send their complaints directly
to LSA-SG executives and com-
mittee chairs via e-mail, and
the complaints are routed to the
appropriate committee within
LSA-SG best suited to respond to
the issue, Byrd wrote in an e-mail
interview.
Byrd wrote that This Sucks is
what first attracted him to LSA-
SG and that the campaign has
grown since he first began work-
ing on it during the winter semes-
ter of his freshman year. In recent
years, LSA-SG began advertising
This Sucks through involvement
in Diag Days on campus, as well as
through e-mails sent to students
within the school.
"Last semester, we put on a
This Sucks Diag Day where we
had a banner that students could
write their complaints on, and the
response was phenomenal," Byrd
wrote. "A lot of the ideas that were
on the banner are now projects
that LSA-SG is working on right
now."
Since Byrd first began his work
with This Sucks, some of the
most notable improvements LSA-
SG has made on campus include
better lighting in the basements
of the Michigan Union and the
Michigan League and healthier
options for students in dining hall
cafes like Ciao Down Pizzeria in
West Quad and Victors in Mosh-
er-Jordan residence hall.
"I think what separates This
Sucks from other similar e-mail
systems is that we keep the stu-
dents updated with our progress
on their issue," Byrd wrote. "This
year This Sucks is looking to
expand even more and to take on
even more projects."
In light of several crime alerts
on campus in recent months,
This Sucks is currently working,
on a campus lighting initiative,
with a specific focus on the area
surrounding the bridge near the
CCRB. LSA-SG plans to eventu-
ally expand the project into a
campus-wide initiative, according
to Byrd.
Though both campaigns have
similar goals, LSA-SG and MSA
haven't joined their respective
movements. But according to
Byrd, the student governments
plan to meet to determine ways
they might be able to work togeth-
er in the future.
LSA senior Kashif Ahmed said
he has heard about the student
governments' programs through
Facebook but, like several other
students, said he doesn't know
much about them. He said he
thinks LSA-SG should focus on
bathroom maintenance in cam-
pus buildings and increasing
University bus service at night
on weekends. He said the latter
is especially important given the
recent influx of robberies in the
Oxbridge neighborhood.
LSA senior Jerry Ilar said he
has yet to give his input through
the MSA or LSA-SG campaigns
and doesn't foresee using them in
the future since he doesn't think
they have led to changes on cam-
pus.
"I haven't personally used
(either of the resources), but I also
haven't really seen any impacts,"
Ilar said.
Brienne Prusak contributed
to this report.
YIKES
From Page1A
Among the services they're
offering are car tune-ups and
assistance and serenades from
the Lambda Chi brothers at $10 a
person. One of the more popular
options has been allowing close
friends of the fraternity to pay $5
per hour to babysit Yikes, Johnson
said.
He added that along with these
fundraisers, Lambda Chi is also - a Brittany Spaniel - last year. generous and eager to help out, said he feels the options currently "He's fun to have around the
accepting general donations to Yikes is technically Johnson's dog, LSA sophomore Kevin Mantay, a offered have proven to be effec- house and everyone loves him," he
expedite Yikes's recovery. so he is ultimately responsible for Lambda Chi member, said. The tive. People began responding said. "He's the friendliest dog I've
"We realized that he was going him, he said, but the whole frater- brothers often bring Yikes to the almost immediately after they cre- ever met. It's a cool way to bring
to need surgery, and we didn't have nity contributes to his care. University's Cheer Team practices ated the Facebook event, he said. the brothers together."
the money, so we thought, that's "He's alot of fun," Johnson said. and sorority houses so "he's pretty Magidson added that there's a LSA senior and Lambda Chi
the great thing about us all being "He loves people, he loves atten- well-known," he added. "Save Yikes" party in the works, member Kyle-Prescott Ogunbase
there, we can work together and tion, so it's a perfect place for him." "I think we'll continue get a but no date has been officially set. said Yikes is like a younger brother.
make more happen," Johnson said. The fraternity brothers have good response with the fundrais- The brothers also plan to create a "It's kind of like having a little
Lambda Chi has historically been surprised by the response ing," Mantay said. PayPal account so they can accept kid around that brightens things
had a house dog, according to they've received, Johnson said, The fraternity is planning to donations online. up around the place," Ogunbase
Johnson, but the fraternity hadn't especially in regard to the babysit- add more fundraising opportuni- Yikes is a unifying force within said. "We've never had a dog (at
had one since the 1980s, so the ting option. ties, but LSA freshman and Lamb- the Lambda Chi house, Magidson the house), so it makes it feel more
brothers decided to adopt Yikes Most people have been very da Chi brother Alex Magidson said. like home."
GOOGLE
From aPge 1A
since the branch's opening in
2006, it has hired graduates from
various colleges throughout the
state.
"We employ a good number
of U of M grads as well as MSU
(graduates)," Parrillo wrote.
According to the Google hiring
0 website, the Ann Arbor office is
hoping to fill positions in account
management, sales strategy and
operations, as well as various
technical positions.
Parrillo wrote that he couldn't
speculate on the number of
employees Google is looking to
add to its Ann Arbor branch but
wrote that they're looking for
multiple people to fill each job
opening.
Business sophomore Dylan
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