-a -f -W -W 7W -w- e 0 0 4 2B Wednesday, September 19, 2012 The Statement THE JUNK DRAWER Wednesday, September 19, 2012 // The Statement 7B Ann Arbor: A retirement haven 4 from last week: msc & facebook random student in Are you satisfied with the way Mary Sue Coleman by kaitlin williams/ illustrations bym has been running the University? Hey! Would you like to be in the No Marv Sue Random Student Inter - i Coleman is a ter- I have no opinion I would, but I don't think I can bi CilemUnisty- on this - 4% in it twice. rible University president - 13% What? When were you in it before? I was walking by here last week and this guy stopped me ... Oh, Brandon? Yeah. He's intense. Yeah, that's Brandon. Thanks for stopping again. You must Mostly, although Yes, I think have a very approachable face. the tuition is too she's great high - 31% 52% Would you be able to survive a summer without Facebook? Yeah, no problem. Good luck! summer(walks away) No, sometimes I Yes, I only check ( don't even know Facebook to keep Hey! How about you? Would that I'm going on up with high you like to be in the Random Facebook - 31% school friends Student Interview? 14% The what? For The Michigan Daily. It's supposed to be fun! e iterview vegan mulholland You were closer with Brittany. Closer ... Brianna? Yeah! I got it on like the third try! That's so awesome! So now, you are a junior. No. I get that a lot though. Senior? Fifth-year senior. Wow. OK. Let me think. Then what are you studying? Fifth- year senior, so it's probably something hard... Do you think it's hard? It's just obscure. Not hard, exactly. Obscure. OK. Organizational Studies? No. That 'obscure' thing has me completely thrown off. Wait! Is it in the School of Music, The- atre & Dance? Yes! Yes? Oh my gosh! I'm so good at this! Well, you do look creative. Thanks. OK, let's see how far my clair- voyance goes. You are going to the Union because you want some Wendy's. No, that's not good for you. Really? Yeah, I try not to eat it. Not even a salad from Wendy's? The salads aren't that great. So you want a veggie sub from Subway? Sure. See, I'm good at advertising and promotions as well. No. Fine. What are you going into the Union for? I'm meeting up with some friends. Let's see what you can extrap- olate about me. Are you in Art & Design? No. I wish I had those talents. Oh, are you in social change/com- munity-type stuff? Like sociology or psychology? No. Org studies? No. You're stealing my answers. Haha OK. Are you in LSA? Yeah! Well, it is the biggest school here, but you still win. What year do you think I am? Junior? Higher. Senior! I was thinking senior, but I was like, "No, she has a young face." Well, thank you. I'm glad I could pass for 20. I'll let you get to your friends now. I'm going to go work on my intuitive powers. - Brianna is a Music, Theatre & Dance senior. By Rayza Goldsmith Yes, I don't even have a Facebook 31% Maybe, but I wouldn't be able to delete it completely 14% How long is this going to take? Three minutes, tops. OK. Yay! Great! Thanks for stopping. Now, normally this is where I'd ask you your name and year and school and all that, but I thought it'd be fun today if I could guess all that. OK? OK. Then maybe you can guess some stuff about me. Your name is Brittany. No. Jennifer? Join (Th1 Jidiigan 0aUt Come to one of our mass meetings *Wednesday, Sept. 19 *Sunday Sept. 23 All meetings at 7:30 p.m. 420 Maynard St. It's difficult to think of Ann Arbor as any- thing but a college town. While they don't declare their pres- ence as forcefully, an older demographic constitutes a large chunk of the city. Accord- ing to the 2010 U.S. Census, Ann Arbor resi- dents 65 and older comprised 9.3 percent of the total population, but those as young as 50 are choosing to settle here post-career. Retirees who choose to settle in Ann Arbor are a different breed from the warm- weather-seeking, golf-playing folks we usually associate with a senior population. That's not to say that there's anything wrong with Boca Raton or Honolulu, but those who choose to retire in Ann Arbor say they have priorities beyond just the weather. Marlene Ross, 71, is an Ann Arbor retiree and a volunteer docent at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. She still lives in the large, modern house her husband built and has a strict no-shoes policy inside her home, making visitors' shoes a hot commod- ity for her dog Mokzy. Though she originally hails from New York City, Ross said Ann Arbor has more than enough culture to satisfy her. "I would never leave Ann Arbor," Ross said. "It's a small town with big city opportunities." Ross pointed to the University Musical Soci- ety as one such opportunity. As a volunteer for UMMA, she has free access to many University exhibits and musical performances. Ross said she has seen the acts that perform at Carnegie Hall in NewYork performon campus. Ann Arbor's thriving restaurant scene is also a big bonus for Ross. She noted that on one trip to Manhattan, the man at the deli counter told one of her familymembers: "If your aunt isvisitingfrom Ann Arbor, she has the best Jewish delicates- sen in the country," referring to Zingerman's. "What more can you ask for?" Ross said. "The culture,' the political' limate; tOnVe- nience, unbelievable convenience of living in a small town and yet having all this." Health is wealth It's worth noting that a large part of what makes Ann Arbor a retirement hotspot is the University. In a recent study published by the Milken Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, Ann Arbor was ranked the seventh small metropolitan city for successful aging in the United States. According to Conrad Kiechel, the Milken Institute's director of communications, col- lege towns are particularly well-suited to thriving retirement communities. "One of the reasons that university towns did very well," Kiechel explained, "is because people know about how universities enrich the cultural offerings for people in their community." Another benefit the University provides is its world-class medical programs and facili- ties, which Kiechel said is the primary reason Ann Arbor scored so well in Milken's study. Bob Pickering, 69, an Ann Arbor retiree who lives in the University Commons, said he and his wife initially moved to Maui, Hawaii to retire, but two weeks after the move, opted to relocate to Ann Arbor for medical reasons. "Family compelled us to comeback and med- ical reasons compelled us to come back," Pick- eringsaid. "And frankly, we like Ann Arbor." Pickering met his wife at the University, and housing on campus was the first place they called home. Lifelong learning For many retirees, Ann Arbor's oppor- tunities extend into the academic realm. A nurpoff nstitutigns exist for the sole prpoe*of ertating'a culture of intellectual stimulation for senior citizens. One such institution is Ann Arbor's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, one of 117 life- long learning organizations across the coun- try located on college campuses that cater specifically to an older clientele. OLLI sponsors up to 120 classes and lec- tures each year led by retired professors. Anyone over age 50 is invited to attend these outings and membership costs only $20 annu- ally. Today, OLLI has around 1,280 members. Founded by businessman and philanthro- pist Bernard Osher, OLLI is based on the idea that lifelong learning promotes mental and physical health among older adults by encouraging them to stay involved in activi- ties and creating new friendships, according to Abby Lawrence-Jacobson, OLLI's pro- gram coordinator. University Commons, a 55-plus com- munity, is another University-affiliated institution that caters to retirees seeking intellectual engagement. Founded by retired University faculty, the Commons - a condominium community available only to those with a four-year col- lege degree - hosts concerts, offers lectures by community members and has weekly meetings to discuss worldly issues, accord- ing to Commons resident Karen Gotting. Gotting, 71, said if you're looking for a warm place to settle down with tennis courts, golf courses and allthe other typical Florida retirement stereotypes, the Com- mons isn't your solution. "It's a place where people are very astute in terms of being politically aware of what's going on," she said. A homogeneous city But despite the cultural pride that that Ann Arbor's senior population exhibits, its racill composition is largely-homogenous. Only 8.9 percent of Ann Arbor's 65-plus pop- ulation is African American, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Part of this is attributable to a financial disparity between the racial groups. According to a study conducted by Nari Rhee at the University of California, Berke- ley, Blacks and Latinos are more commonly in the lowest income bracket for retirees, and poverty rates for retirees are twice as high among those groups. Ann Arbor is no exception. Michael McGee, a financial planner based in downtown Detroit, makes a con- certed effort to reach out to the African American community, which he said lacks crucial access to financial advice. It is for this reason, he said, that the black commu- nity is often less prepared than whites to retire. "They maybe do not make the right moves throughout their 30 years of employment that someone else might make," McGee said. McGee also said the general lack of diver- sity in the city discourages many African Americans from moving to Ann Arbor in the first place. McGee said he was one of only three Afri- can Americans at a conference of 125 finan- cial planners held at the University. Nevertheless, McGee is optimistic about the future of financial planning for African Americans, noting that he has seen significant changes over the past decade in the community's knowledge of ' the subject. He added that Ann Arbor might see a change in its retiree demographics as a result of this knowledge. This shift would hopefully further enhance the cultural opportunities afforded by Ann Arbor to its elderly residents, and keep Tree City a popular place for sexagenarians to settle, down.