4- Friday, February 11, 2011

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

4 - Friday, February 11, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

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Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com

JEFF ZUSCHLAG

E-MAIL JEFF AT JEFFDZ@UMICH.EDU

According toThe New York Times, Bad timing?
Disney marketers have invaded 580 So, have you folks considered
maternity wards across America to spending your honeymoon in Should we come back later?
sell baby clothing to mothers. one of our Disneyland suites?
Yeah. We'i
I think we know where come back
THAT'S going... later.
Encourage crazy ideas

STEPHANIE STEINBERG
EDITOR IN CHIEF

MICHELLE DEWITT
and EMILY ORLEY
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS

KYLE SWANSON
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.
Motor City makeover
Chrysler creates good PR for struggling Detroit
t's no secret that the city of Detroit has seen better days. Vacant
lots, abandoned buildings and a high crime rate now define the
Motor City in the minds of most Americans. Until recently, our
state's engine, the Big Three, was plagued by competitive foreign
automakers, a global recession and a lack of quality products. But
Detroit got the attention of millions of Americans thanks to a Chrys-
ler advertisement that aired during the Super Bowl. The advertise-
ment, featuring Detroit native Eminem, succeeds in giving Detroit an
iconic image - with hope for a second chance.

The two-minute advertisement for the 2011
Chrysler 200 sedan, titled "Born of Fire,"
aired to a record-breaking audience of more
than 111 million viewers, accordingto a Detroit
Free Press article. Super Bowl XLV was the
most-watched television program ever, giving
Detroit a rare, positive moment in the national
spotlight.
The advertisement, produced only weeks
before the Super Bowl, cost approximately $10
million to make. Chrysler should be applauded
for not just spending to boost its image, but the
image of the entire city. The advertisement
never mentions the car it intends to promote.
Instead, it advertises Detroit as a city that has
"been to hell and back," but still maintains
technological expertise that runs generations
deep. This selfless promotion of a city in des-
perate need of a better reputation was a bold
move by Chrysler that will hopefully pay off.
Calling attention to Detroit wouldn't have
been advisable or possible if the Big Three
hadn't recently stepped up their game. After
serious reorganization in the aftermath of
government bailouts and plummeting sales,
the Big Three have some of the strongest line-
ups on the market. They now build award-
winning products like the Chevrolet Volt, the
Ford Fusion and the Jeep Grand Cherokee

- products Detroit should be proud of. The
advertisement introduced Chrysler's new slo-
gan: "Imported from Detroit." It's uncommon
for an automaker - especially Italian-owned
Chrysler- to connect aproductto acity witha
less-than-glowing reputation, but the country
has been forced to recognize that innovation,
quality and excitement still exist in Detroit.
The advertisement's narrator admits that
the hardworking, iconic Detroit is "prob-
ably not the one you've been reading (about)
in the paper." Between crime rates, former
mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and city corruption,
Detroit has had more than its share of bad
publicity. Rolling Stone even called Detroit
"the most epic urban failure ever," inan article
from their March 5, 2009 issue. But that isn't
the whole story of a city that is trying to get
back on its feet. Detroit was once a hub city
for Michigan, and many believe that it will be
again. Detroiters and all Michiganders have
a responsibility to follow Chrysler's example
and support a city whose reputation is so vital
to the state.
The Big Three have returned from near
bankruptcy to profitability and innovation.
With their lead and the state's support, Detroit
has the ability to return to its status as a major
American city.

he earth is round."
- Pythagoras.
"The sun is the center
of our solar system." - Copernicus.
"Mankind,
one day, will go
to the moon."
-Jules Verne.
Unless you're
a member of the
Flat Earth Soci-
ety - yes, it does
exist - or one
who believes that JULIAN
footage of land- TOLES
ing on the moon
is some sort of
conspiratorial phantasm, then you
will likely accept the aforemen-
tioned statements as fact. But long
before the normalization of these
ideas, the masses classified them by
one, two-syllable word: crazy.
The path from the "crazy" to
"accepted" often requires a not-so-
smooth paradigm shift. Standing in
the face of popularly held beliefs is
hard work. And during this transi-
tion, the leaders of the new thought
streams often endure unrest, tur-
moil and, at times, persecution.
But suppose for a second that
we skipped this phase. What if,
instead, we encouraged "crazy"
ideas from the start? Would it lead
to uninhibited exchange and more
diverse discourse?
That question is rhetorical. The
answer is an emphatic yes.
Fortunately, University President
Mary Sue Coleman also agrees. Just
last August, in an interview with
Forbes magazine, Coleman empha-
sized the necessity of programs that
specifically "draw out ... innovative
thinkers ... (who are) willing to take
a risk on what some might call their
'crazy ideas.'"
"Encouraging crazy ideas." It
has a nice ring to it. So nice, in fact,

that it's the tagline for the upcoming
TEDxUofM conference scheduled
for April 8, 2011.
"But what's TEDx?"
Good question.
TED, founded in 1984, is a non-
profit organization devoted to "ideas
worth spreading." At three annual
conferences in Long Beach, Calif,
Palm Springs, Fla and Oxford, Great
Britain, TED brings together think-
ers, tinkerers and doers to share
with the world the subjects they're
most passionate about in the form of
an 18-minute speech, or TED talk.
The TEDx program allows com-
munities to independently organize
their own TED-like event. This will
be the second year for the Univer-
sity's version of the conference, and
with the 1,700-seat venue in the
Michigan Theatre, this year's event
has the potential to be the largest
TEDx event to date. To put things in
perspective: There have been more
than 1,500 TEDx conferences held
worldwide.
A dedicated group of students
at the University is pushing this,
ambitious goal forward with light-
ning-like swiftness and Prius-like
efficiency. They're assembling a
roster of presenters, performers and
audience members from all walks of
life, backgrounds and unique experi-
ences that deserve to be illuminated.
The student group seeks to make
this a University initiative. After all,
the TED brand and the University of
Michigan represent two of the most
respected and influential intellectu-
aljuggernauts in modernhistory. It's
the perfect marriage - la Michael
Jordan and basketball, Mayaeni
with an acoustic guitar or Bill Gates
and computers.
While the conference encourages
crazy ideas, its ultimate goal is lofti-
er - combining thought with action
and design with substance. It seeks

to take participants from "hmmm"
to the coveted "ahal" moment to
yield tangible interdisciplinary
engagement. In the spirit of TED,
cooperation and collaboration - not
competition - rally against the pre-
vailing rat race mentality that grade
distributions and curves perpetu-
ate. And with recent columns like
Erik Torenberg's (Find your inner
entrepreneur, 1/25/2011) and Jer-
emy Levy's (Think Outside the Box,
1/25/2011), it's clear that creativ-
ity ripples throughout the collective
consciousness oftoday's Wolverines.
TEDxUofM
talks highlight
creative thinkers.
To all of you who feel that you
may have ideas "crazy" enough:
This is your time. I urge students,
faculty and alumni to participate
in the sheer magic that is TEDx-
UofM by taking a personal stake in
showcasing to the world what the
University has to offer. This could
be simply telling a friend about the
event, or for those with higher aspi-
rations, volunteering to make the
vision a reality.
The mission behind the confer-
ence is modest, but its implications
have the power to change the way
we view and relate to others, our
world and "crazy" ideas. Be ahead
of the curve. Embrace thecraziness
from its genesis. Unless, of course,
you still think that the Earth is flat.
For that, Ican offer no advice.
- Julian Toles can be reached
at jaytoles@umich.edu.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Aida Ali, Will Butler, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer,
Melanie Kruvelis, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Harsha Panduranga,
Teddy Papes, Asa Smith, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner
AIDA ALl I
Alarming frequency

-the Happy, Healthy Women: Anny Fang talks about the risks
of University students getting 'stoned.'
podium Go to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium

The pregame shuffle

Despite the not-so-appetizing food and
the lack of an elevator, I love living in West
Quad Residence Hall. The convenient location
and lively atmosphere make it one of the best
places to live on campus. However, the joy of
living here is ruined by the constantly ringing
fire alarm. Since I began living in West Quad
this year, fire alarms have been a nightmare.
I've become accustomed to waking up to the
sound of the blaring alarm at absurd hours.
From Dec. 10-13 last semester, South Quad
and West Quad Residence Halls experienced
a total of eight fire alarms. The first alarm
rang in South Quad at 5 a.m., an unfortunate
time for students who rise early and those
who go to bed late. The following day, the fire
alarm went off much after midnight in both
South Quad and West Quad. Two days later,
I received an e-mail from my resident advis-
er informing my hall of a rumor that the fire
alarm would be pulled that evening to start
the annual snowball fight against South Quad.
The fire alarm did go off, once around mid-
night and again an hour later. The following
evening, the fire alarm went off in West Quad
for the fourth and final time that week. This
time, however, fire trucks stood outside the
dorm, and smoke was seen rising from a win-
dow. Even though a majority of the residents
evacuated, some decided to stay back in their
rooms. But are they to be blamed?
Students need to stop pulling the fire alarm.
The repeated pulling of the alarm has made
residents react to the emergency in a casual
way, with frustration and exasperation replac-
ing panic. Many students choose to stay in the
dorms because everyone - including the RAs
- knows it's a false alarm. On one occasion, I
even had to convince my roommate to evacu-
ate the dorm when she refused to, because she
had an exam the next day and was already suf-
fering from a disrupted sleep pattern, thanks
to the alarms.
Considering the recent small fires in South
Quad and the Michigan Union, it's frightening
to think of a real fire in your own dorm. The
only time that I saw fire trucks outside West
Quad, I was afraid of an actual fire. But it was
only a burst steam pipe that caused the smoke

and resulted in fire trucks arriving at the
scene. It's unclear why fire trucks don't arrive
each time the alarm is pulled. It would be a
waste of resources and time and I wouldn't
want that, but how is there a way for the fire
department to determine the authenticity of
the alarm?
The annual snowball fight, for all its charm,
deserves a mention in this article. Everyone
loves a good, competitive snowball fight. But
when the snowball is a chunk of ice, and the
target is someone's face, the game turns nasty.
I watched a girl get hit by ice on her forehead
and rush to the Union with blood running
down her face. She was just one of the victims
of the fight that night, many of whom were
forced to leave their rooms for fear of a fine or
- less likely - an actual fire.
In an e-mail, my RA stated that students
not evacuating during a fire alarm could
be fined. According to The Michigan Daily
article (In West Quad, a recent increase in
false fire alarms, officials say, 2/15/2010),
then-associate director of Housing Secu-
rity described the pulling of the fire alarm
as a "misdemeanor punishable by imprison-
ment for up to a year or fines of up to $1,000."
Despite the warnings over the years, students
in West Quad continue to pull the fire alarm.
Four weeks into this semester, and there had
already beenthree false alarms in West Quad,
one after midnight on Feb 2 - the night of the
blizzard when South Quad experienced three
false alarms.
University Housing officials have to find a
way to solve this problem. Despite the numer-
ous alarms, Housing Spokesman Peter Logan
said in an e-mail that Housing Security super-
visors say there hasn't been an increase in fire
alarms in West Quad this year. And according
to Logan, there are no problems with the func-
tioning of the fire alarm systems. Students
should understand that pulling the fire alarm
isn't funny, it causes alot of inconvenience and
it desensitizes students to the significance of
the alarm. University authorities should try to
curb this activity in any possible way.
Aida Ali is a senior editorial page editor.

J 's that time of the year, when
Valentine's Day is around the
corner and love is presumably
in the air. The
beginning of the
annual pregame
shuffle is also - B-
upon us. In an
annual tradition
for Greeks at the
University, the
time has come RYAN
for the process KNAPP
of pairing up
fraternities with
sororities. The tradition involves
fraternity men asking sorority
women to join them at their tailgates
in the fall, thus christening the term
pregame partner. The formal invita-
tion is extended in the form of a ser-
enade by the fraternity men to the
sorority of their choice. The soror-
ity then votes on its suitors and for-
mally accepts its fraternity of choice
through another formal presenta-
tion - perhaps through another ser-
enade or at another special event.
It's like high school prom all over
again, except this time with much
bigger stakes. Sitting in lecture halls,
I remember hearing chatter about
who's asking who and what fraterni-
ties are going to be paired with what
sororities. It's a fun process, and it
definitely keeps the dull month of
February interesting. Even if you
think the process is a little archaic
or silly, imagine fraternity men ban-
tering about what song to serenade
women with or what props to use.
The time spent creating a plan of
action with your brothers is definite-
ly a unique experience.
Having participated in several
serenades, I can say that the tradi-
tion is definitely one of my favorite

memories in the chapter. The entire
chapter spends weeks perfecting its
craft in hopes of creating the best
presentation to the sorority. Cook-
ie cakes, flowers, decorations and
props - nothing is off limits as the
men seek to do whatever possible to
impress the sorority of their choice.
Never in the history of the world
has a group of guys cared so much
about what a group of women has
thought of them.
The process has become such an
important part of Greek Life cul-
ture that every year fraternity guys
try to top past performances with
more creative and outlandish ideas.
I have to say my favorite story that
I have heard thus far comes from a
fraternity that serenaded the lucky
ladies to "I'm On a Boat", while they
were in fact on a boat. Parking their
vessel outside the sorority house,
one can only imagine what the
sorority house mother was thinking
at that moment.
After all of the suitors have
finished their wooing, the soror-
ity women vote on which chapter
to choose. I can only wonder what
criteria sorority women use in their
decision. There are usually more
than two fraternities who have
extended formal invitations to a spe-
cific sorority - after all, there are
more than 30 IFC fraternities and
16 Panhellenic sororities. I have yet
to be enlightened as to what actually
goes into the sorority's decision. I'm
convinced that sororities discuss the
topic for hours on end, only to come
to a deadlock, finally breaking the tie
by flipping a coin or picking the win-
ning fraternity's name out of a hat.
The funny thing is how much the
pregame shuffle mirrors the dichot-
omy between men and women. Guys

are almost always expected to make
the first move. Yet when a girl shoots
a guy down, it's no big deal, right?
There are other fish in the sea, and
there are plenty of other girls to ask
out. Yet, just like no girl wants to be
the back up, no sorority wants to
be a fraternity's second choice. The
fraternity that gets shot down often
scrambles to find a back up, des-
perately trying to convince its new
choice that they really wanted them
all along and that their presentation
to the first sorority was merely a
ruse to confuse other suitors of their
true intentions.
Serenading is
a tradition that
spans decades.
For those of you who are reading
this wondering, "Why should I care
about some tradition between fra-
ternity men and sorority women?"
perhaps the process is a little silly,
and perhaps there are more impor-
tant things to talk about, but for
Greeks across the University, it's the
opportunity to meet new individu-
als and to be involved in a tradition
that has spanned several decades.
The thought of our parents and rela-
tives discussing whether to serenade
a sorority to "Brown-eyed Girl" or
"My Girl" is a hilarious one, and Iam
glad that I had the opportunity to
participate in the tradition.
Ryan Knapp can be reached
at rjknapp@umich.edu.

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