The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
NEWS BRIEFS
EAST LANSING
State's last known
wolverine brings in
visitors to center
Michigan's only - and last -
known wild wolverine is becom-
ing quite the attraction at Bay
City State Recreation Area.
The Michigan Department of
Natural Resources says the ani-
mal found dead about a year ago
along a trail in Michigan's Thumb
has been mounted and displayed
at the recreation area's visitors'
center.
Park interpreter Valerie
Blashcka says the display is bring-
ing a lot of new visitors.
Wildlife experts don't know
for sure how the female wolver-
ine arrived in Michigan. Biolo-
gists say if wolverines were native
to Michigan they died out about
200 years ago.
LONDON
British cat sets
new record for
purring volume
No need to bell this cat: A gray-
and-white tabby by the name of
Smokey has cat-apulted to fame
with purring so loud it has been
recorded at a potentially record-
setting 73 decibels.
The British community college
that measured the sound said it
peaked at 16 times louder than
that of the average cat. By some
estimates, that is about as noisy
as busy traffic, a hair dryer or a
vacuum cleaner.
The 12-year-old, ordinary-
size feline first came to national
attention last month when her
owner, Ruth Adams, decided to
run a local competition for the
most powerful purr. That led to
a local radio show appearance,
and from there, media coverage
snowballed, with the tabloids full
of headlines like "Thundercat"
and "Rumpuss."
NEW DELHI
India's tiger census
shows increase in
species population
India's latest tiger census
shows an increase in the num-
bers of the endangered big cat,
but threats to their roaming ter-
ritory could reverse those gains,
officials said Monday.
The census counted at least
1,706 tigers in forests across the
country, about 300 more than
four years ago, a government offi-
cial said Monday.
Environment Minister Jairam
Ramesh called the increase good
news but cautioned against any
complacency in efforts to save
the iconic animal from extinc-
tion.
"The rise in numbers is the
result of sustained efforts, but
the shrinking of tiger corridors is
alarming," Ramesh said.
Wildlife experts who conduct-
ed the census said tiger corridors,
which are the routes frequently
used by the big cats to move
from one reserve to another, had
declined sharply as huge power
projects, mining and roads cut
into their habitats.
NEW YORK
Elusive Bronx Zoo
cobra found in cage
The missing Bronx Zoo cobra
has been found.
Zoo officials say the snake
was found yesterday morning in
the zoo's Reptile House, nearly
a week after it went missing.
The Egyptian cobra was found
coiled in a dark corner of the
reptile house and zoo director
Jim Breheny says she is in good
health.
The zoo's Reptile House had
closed last Friday after the snake
disappeared and zoo workers
couldn't find it.
In less than a week, the snake
has become the stuff of urban
legend. Someone even started
pretending to be the cobra on
Twitter and sent fake updates to
legions of followers.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
FUNDS
From Page 1
said the international theme of
North Quad made funding the
trip a sensible choice.
"Our residence hall has
never really taken this on ...
to send residents internation-
ally to do this kind of service,"
Schantz said.
Though only 14 residents
will be participating in the trip,
Schantz said the travelers will
give a presentation to share
their experience with other
North Quad residents during
the fall semester.
"We believe that with the
exchanges that we get from
this trip, we'll be able to take
them back to the residents
next year and hopefully inspire
them to take part in interna-
tional service trips as well,"
Schantz said.
But LSA junior Nicholas
Cormier, another North Quad
resident, is worried about how
the funds were being used. He
said the approval of the pro-
posal is alarming, considering
several other proposals by resi-
dence staff were not approved.
"I've heard from quite a few
people on (residence) staff that
they've been really frustrated
proposing things that they'd
like to see at North Quad for
the residents," Cormier said.
At the RHA meeting last
night, several members also
initially said because the
money would only be allocated
to 14 people, it would be unfair
to other residents in North
Quad and other residence halls.
The remaining RHA budget
moneywas initially slated to be
equally distributed among the
residence halls.
Kurdelski also noted that
nine of the 14 trip participants
are on the Committee for Inter-
national Impact. He said he
thinks the members partici-
FESTIFOOLS
From Page 1
students, but of students and
community members who don't
generally have the opportunity
to create art on this scale.
The story of FestiFools starts
with Tucker's art class for non-
majors, "Art in Public Spaces."
"The class never focused
on creating artists, but on cre-
ating an environment where
people can make art and access
that creativity used to make
murals," Tucker said.
But after the class's mural
was complete, the vibrancy of
the grand opening had faded
and the community members
and musicians streamed out of
the building, Tucker was left
yearning to contain that ener-
gy in a more substantial and
sustained way. When Tucker's
class designed sets for a com-
munity theater production
using puppets, he realized he
had found the perfect vehicle
to capture that spirit of the
mural's debut all semester long.
"We had these two pup-
pets that came down through
the audience, and they were so
effective, they really frightened
small children, who just bolted
from the crowd," Tucker said.
"And we thought, what happens
if we make 50 of these puppets?
And what happens if we can
create our own performance on
the street?"
Tucker's class turned its focus
to making giant puppets for the
newly minted FestiFools. Buck-
ing the notion that art is simply
for artists and elite consumers,
Tucker not only embraced non-
art students at the University,
but welcomed community mem-
bers too. Anyone can volunteer
to help students work on pup-
pets, but Ann Arbor residents
can also make their own proj-
ects and participate as puppe-
teers on the day of FestiFools.
"A lot of people in the com-
munity got involved - the idea
of making this giant perfor-
mance with giant sculptural
puppets grew out of that need
to make something that was
bigger than themselves," Tuck-
er said, gesturing to a commu-
nity volunteer working with
students in the class. "And it
took more people to make and
to operate the puppets, so we're
drawing more people into the
whole process rather than just
the class itself."
Tucker's "Art in Public Spac-
es" class is populated with stu-
pating in the trip should have concerns about the allocation
abstained from voting. of funds. But before the meet-
In response to worries that ing, a petition was circulated
the council lacked impartiality throughout the residence hall
in its vote, Schantz said since to ensure that the council had
this is the first time such a trip the support of its residents. The
has been planned, it's under- petition had about 114 signa-
standable that leaders in the tures, he said.
council would be participants According to its constitu-
on the trip. tion, the council is not required
"It makes sense that the peo- to call meetings that deal with
ple that are more familiar with the allocation of funding for
the project and the people that specific activities like the Peru
are closer to the project from its trip.
beginning stages are the ones "We just wanted to hold that
that participate in it," Schantz vote because it's not a typi-
said. "In the future we want a cal amount to request for pro-
wide variety of residents to be gramming ... We just wanted to
able to go, not just the people make that sure that everyone
who are involved in residence on the council was OK with
hall government." that," Schantz said.
University Housing spokes- Members of the council
man Peter Logan said he thinks reviewed the constitution
the voting process to approve before voting and determined
the trip was appropriate. that the council members
"We don't see anything out attendingthe trip were allowed
of hand in the manner in which to vote, Schantz said.
this was debated, voted on and He added that the allo-
agreed to," Logan said. cated money doesn't cover
He added that hall councils the total cost of the trip for
are solely responsible for how participants, and the council
they allocate funding. is working to ensure the par-
"The hall councils determine ticipants can afford the pro-
their own manner of gover- gram. Though the council may
nance, and University Housing be able to get more money for
does not impose guidelines or the trip, Schantz said partici-
process on the councils," Logan pants will most likely have to
said. "It's upto the councils and personally pay for their plane
their communities to deter- tickets.
mine what is appropriate use of Logan said though this situ-
student dollars that are avail- ation was handled properly, the
able to the councils for commu- hall council will be looking into
nity programs and activities." how it can prevent similar con-
Kurdelski said he under- flicts in the future.
stands the group will be edu- "The leadership of this inte-
cating other residents after the grated council is very much
trip, but he noted that some aware of the disagreement and
current residents won't be liv- concerns expressed by some
ing in North Quad in the fall, of the students in this whole
and thus won't benefit from the process ... and are going to
allocation of funds. He said he review ... to see how they could
wishes the money would have improve or modify the process-
been instead used to purchase es," Logan said.
pots and pans for the residents'
kitchen. - Daily Staff Reporter
Schantz added that some res- Mary Hannahan contributed
idents atthe meeting expressed to this report.
dents who come from a wide in Kool-Aid are pretty much a
variety of majors and Tucker different language."
views his students' inexperi- The puppet partners pointed
ence with art as an asset. to the various sculptures sus-
"Everything is a complete pended from the ceiling of the
and utter mystery for them ... studio and described the vari-
this is way outside their com- ous points the individual art
fort zone," Tucker said. "These pieces were trying to convey.
students bring a wealth of dif- "It's niceto think that every
ferent interests and a broader puppet has a deeper message,
understanding of the world so if you take the time to actu-
with the type of things that ally think about it you can learn
they're studying. What are they something about us and the
gonna do? You know what art world, and what is going on
students are gonna say, but you right now," Robinson said.
never know what these guys are FestiFools is branching out
gonna say." this year: On Friday, Tucker
Tucker has seen every ragtag is coordinating another street
group of non-art majors commit party called "FoolMoon." This
to their giant puppets and find moonlit festival will populate
their voices using only paint, Ann Arbor's streets with lumi-
paper mache and a lot of trial nous sculptures crafted by
and error. And when the pup- Ann Arbor residents and art-
pets finally make their debut on ists alike, as participants weave
the streets, they take on lives of their way throughout streets in
their own. Ann Arbor to create a cinematic
"(The puppets will) prob- experience that ends in every-
ably have a message, so we just one dancing and celebrating in
need to figure out how to har- the street. The spectacle, which
ness that and discover alongthe starts at "dusk," (around 7p.m.),
way what that message really will have a beer tent, music
means," Tucker said. "And they and shadow puppet shows on
won't really discover it until Washington Street. The night-
they get out on the street and time street party will give Ann
connect with the audience, and Arbor residents a taste of what's
the audience starts to connect to come this Sunday.
with their piece. When you "Festifools is a way for peo-
get the puppets out there, they ple to get away from your more
become alive - they become generic jobs, and just be able to
these animated spirits." enjoy intrinsic work for what its
Tucker's students echo his worth," Kinesiology freshman
belief that art can take on a Max Moray said.
whole new meaning with the Kinesiology freshman Jason
addition of the "fourth dimen- Schwartz explained that the
sion" of the public. puppet-making experience is
"I like the idea of art in public more collaborative than his
spaces because a lot of the time other classes, since students get
art seems like something you to know each other outside of a
would find in museums, and not big lecture setting.
very open to the public," LSA "This class requires that we
freshman Zoe Stahl said as she take a different path," Schwartz
added another layer of gluey said.
paint to her sprawled-out pup- And though the studio was
pet. "I like that it's a fusion of abuzz with energy as Tucker
art and community." threw out suggestions to eager,
Stahl and her partner in fledgling artists ("Well, the
puppet-making, LSA freshman gorilla should be lots of differ-
Susie Robinson, decided at first ent colors") and gluey paste
to build a mouth so they could covered nearly every surface,
send a message about food, the giant puppets won't come to
since both are vegetarians. life until they crawl out of their
They eventually settled on mak- cramped quarters and stretch
ing a massive Kool-Aid puppet, their newly animated limbs on
as Robinson acknowledged the the street this weekend.
puppeteer's overall vision shifts "It's like an Ouija board. You
a little bit everyday. get three people on the puppet
"We want to show how and it starts to move, and you
people drink the Kool-Aid, or believe that you're giving it life
follow the crowd, like buying when the puppet actually has a
into agribusiness," Robinson life of its own and you're merely
said. "It's supposed to make following it," Tucker said. "Are
you think about the ingredi- you moving that? Am I moving
ents you're putting into your that? That's the ultimate end of
mouth because the ingredients puppetry, that disbelief."
NORTH QUAD
From Page 1
over the expense of the build-
ing's construction yesterday by
vandalizing several outer sur-
faces of the facility. The students
later received trespass warnings
banning them from the building.
Two students went to North
Quad at 8 a.m. yesterday and
used spray chalk to write state-
ments including "fancy buildings
for the few" and "$175 million,
this money could have been used
to pay for 10,000 tuitions" on a
brick building in the courtyard.
LSA sophomore Ian Matchett,
one of the students involved in
the vandalism, said he and the
other student were asked to leave
within 15 minutes.
Three students, including
Matchett, went to the building at
noon to write statements on win-
dows ip the interior courtyard
of North Quad. They were again
told to leave the area. Police sub-
sequently arrived, and the stu-
dents were cited with trespass
warnings, Matchett said.
Department of Public Safety
spokeswoman Diane Brown said
the students were charged with
malicious destruction of proper-
ty and received a trespass warn-
ing banning them from North
Quad only.
The University's trespass
warning policy is currently
under review by the University's
Office of the General Counsel.
The Office of the General Coun-
sel has proposed six initial modi-
fications to update the current
policy, originally implemented a
decade ago.
Matchett was the only stu-
dent involved in both the morn-
ing and noon incidents. He said
he and his friends chose to write
the statements on the facil-
ity because a large crowd was
expected at the open house. He
said he and his friends involved
were protesting the fact that the
building was constructed with-
out student input.
"Given the economic climate
in Michigan, that money could
have been used putting a lot of
people through school who could
have really used that education,"
Matchett said. "Instead, letting
450 wealthy students live in
somewhat higher standards than
the rest of the students on cam-
pus, doesn't seem like a better
way to spend to us."
However, guests at the open
house never saw the students'
protest, as the vandalism was
cleaned up before the open house
ceremony began yesterday.
Speaking at yesterday's event,
Rackham student Bobby Poul-
son-Houser and LSA junior Nick
Renkes - both representatives
- Friday, April1, 2011- 3
from the Global Scholars Pro-
gram - explained how their
program takes advantage of
the technology in North Quad.
Members of the Global Scholars
Community can videoconfer-
ence with other schools around
the world, Renkes said.
Housed within the residen-
tial area are two living-learning
communities - the Global Schol-
ars Program, which focuses on
fostering cultural diversity, and
the Max Kade House, a German-
speaking language community
for students.
The other building in North
Quad is the academic building,
which is home to the School of
Information and has several
new technological features.
The building has faster Internet
access than any other area on
campus and an IT system that
enables students to share docu-
ments, MacKie-Mason said.
He added that the building
is equipped with several life-
size videoconferencing centers,
which display high-definition
video. Using the large screens,
guest speakers from around the
world can be conferenced in to
address classes.
MacKie-Mason and Hanlon
also highlighted the SMART
Board system in the building.
The system, which consists of
several monitors in North Quad's
lounges, allows students to write
on touch-sensitive screens.
MacKie-Mason added that the
Tower Room on the residence
building's 10th floor is a popu-
lar destination for students who
need amore specific kind of tech-
nology. The room contains a full
audio-visual console, enabling
students to watch films in high-
definition and work on audio
projects with full sound-mixing
capabilities.
Additionally, all flat-panel
televisions in North Quad's
lounges have computer-display
capabilities, allowing students
to plug in their laptops to work
on a group project or share vid-
eos and information with a large
number of people, MacKie-
Mason said.
In an interview after the
event, Hanlon said the Univer-
sity's main goal as an institu-
tion is to educate students to be
successful in an ever-changing
world. North Quad reflects this
I aim by offering technology that
will help students adapt and
become more productive work-
ers in the increasingly technolo-
gy-dependent global workforce,
he said.
"The reaction I've heard
from everyone is positive so far
- those living in and working
in the building," Hanlon said.
"So we hope to continue on the
upward trend we've been on."
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