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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, February 25,2013
michigandaily.com
HOSPITAL
Student
clinic
razed
by fire
Only free clinic in
Livingston County
raises money to reopen
By MOLLY BLOCK
Daily Staff Reporter
Last Monday morning the Uni-
versity of Michigan Student Run
Free Clinic in Pinckney, Mich. was
destroyed in what is believed to be an Special Olympian Devin Sparrow umps nto a tank at the Polar Plunge
electrical fire.
The building served as a dual
clinic housing the Faith Medical
Clinic and the student clinic -which
began working regular hours lon Oct.a
13 after a successful pilot program
last spring. Together, they were the
only free medical clinic in Livingston
County.
The building was destroyed com-
pletely, and supplies and equipment
such as printers, medication, ther-
mometers and blood pressure cuffs
were damaged beyond repair.
The student-run clinic's digital
patient files were spared because
the laptops they're stored on were
out of the building. The firefighters
were also able to save the file cabi-
nets holding Faith Medical Clinic's
patient records.'
Volunteers at the student clinic
heard about the fire on Monday
morning. Medical student Mohamad
Issa, a student director of the clinic,
said the news came as a shock.
"After the initial shock, we started
thinking about the patients," Issa
said. "Who would the patients see?
* What clinic could they go to until we
become operational again? It hurt at
first, but we recognize the commu-
nity needs us and we have all of these
established ties, which motivates
us to come back even stronger and K
to come back as fast as possible by
working with the community."
To be prepared for a new space,
medical-student groups on campus RUBYWALLAU/Daly
are lookingintogetting supplies from The Polar Plung raised about $130,000 for Special Olympics Michi-
the University, relief agencies in the gan and featured Michigan football coaches.
See FIRE, Page 5A
CAMPUS LIFE
Students compete against
MSU to support charity
to support the Special Olympics at Michigan Stadium Saturday.
warm hearts
ADMINISTRATION
Deli fans
hope to
keep itin
Union
Amer's, other
restaurant leases
expire in April
By PAULA FRIEDRICH
For the Daily
An anonymous Facebook
campaign is hoping to stir up
support to keep Amer's in the
Michigan Union after the deli's
lease expires in April.
According to Amer's owner
Amer Bathish, the page was
started by a frequent Amer's
customer and University fac-
ulty member in December,
and quickly gained followers.
Bathish said he didn't know the
customer's name.
The "Save Amer's in the
Michigan Union" Facebook
page currently has 675 likes and
is urging supporters to contact
E. Royster Harper, the Univer-
sity's vice president for student
affairs.
Harper said she has received
between 15 and 20 e-mails sup-
porting Amer's, including some
from Bathish's relatives.
Susan Pile, the director of the
Michigan Union and Campus
Involvement, said the Univer-
sity is currently sifting through
,number of options - includig
the possibility of a University-
run cafe - to fill the space. She
estimated that a decision will be
reached by mid-April.
Harper also said she was sus-
picious that Bathish created the
Facebook page himself, instead
of concerned community mem-
bers.
"We have every reason to
believe that this is not an organ-
ic, from-the-people mnovement,"
Harper said, adding that the
Facebook campaign is being
mounted when Bathish should
be focusing on sending a pro-
posal.
Should Amer's lose the space in
See UNION, Page 5A
Competitors brave
frigid water at
Big House for
Special Olympics
By STEVE ZOSKI
DailyStaffReporter
On the more temperate Satur-
days in the fall, football games in
the Big House routinely attract
more than 100,000 people. But
on a chilly February morning,
a much smaller, less-clothed
crowd convened to raise about
$130,000 for Special Olympics
Michigan by jumping into pools
of freezing water.
"Hail to the Victors" played
through the stadium's speak-
er system Saturday morning
as the first ever Polar Bear
Plunge began. Cheers and cam-
era flashes emanated from the
bleachers asa crowd of over 300
plungers-to-be gathered in the
locker rooms to hear pep talks
from head football coach Brady
Hoke and former head coach
Lloyd Carr. Moments later,
lines of people trotted down
the iconic tunnel and under
the "Go Blue" banner wear-
ing costumes, bearing skin and
braving the cold before finally
taking their turns plummeting
into two inflated swimming
pools set up along the visitors'
sideline.
United State Coast Guard vol-
unteers worked as lifeguards,
helping people quickly escape
out of the frigid water into
the refuge of a white towel's
embrace.
Sitting at a long table in
between the two pools, judges
Hoke and Carr, WDIV sports-
caster Bernie Smilovitz and Ann
Arbor Police Chief John Seto
observed as people made the
plunge. Awards were given in
categories that included "Best
Jump," "Best Costume" and
"Most Michigan Gear" in an
indoor reception following the
event.
Costumes included two Uni-
versity hospital employees in
Ghostbusters gear, a plunger in
full football pads and a troupe
dressed up as the Spartans
from"300."
In Hoke's locker-room
speech, which was displayed
See WATER, Page SA
UMHS physician
and son spearhead
donations drive
By LIANA ROSENBLOOM
Daily StaffReporter
As a part of a cross-campus
competition, University stu-
dents have partnered with
students from Michigan State
University to make wishes
come true for children who are
patients at C.S. Mott Children's
Hospital and Sparrow Hospital
in Lansing.
From Feb. 25 to March 1,
student volunteers will be col-
lectiag donations at booths
and online on both campus-
es to "Make Blue and Green
Wishes Come True." The col-
legiate challenge aims to raise
$25,000 per campus during the
week leading up to the men's
basketball game, against Mich-
igan State, March 3.
Gregory Yanik, a profes-
sor of pediatrics and internal
medicine, is a member of the
executive committee of the
Make-A-Wish Foundation of
Michigan. He said the fun-
draiser began to take shape
when his son, LSA senior Bran-
don Yanik, approached him
with the idea in late 2012. Plan-
ning started by the beginning
of the winter semester.
"I grew up around Mott
hospital and I grew up around
these kids," Brandon said. "I
think it's just great to be able
to put a smile on these kids'
faces."
Gregory said he and Bran-
don were walking through
the Union one day when they
decided to stop in the office of
Student Activities and Lead-
ership to ask for assistance
with finding a student group
on campus to get involved and
were led to community service
fraternity Alpha Phi Omega.
They also contacted MSU
senior Daniel McAree, a family
friend; and MSU-STARS, the
MSU student Make-A-Wish
Foundation group.
Gregory said he and the stu-
dents sent proposals to both
universities and the Make-A-
Wish Foundation for approval.
For the past two months,
groups on both campuses have
been working to design dona-
tion websites and Facebook
pages, gather volunteers and
advertise the event.
LSA senior Briana Lucido,
co-chair of the Make-A-Wish
Foundation committee for
Alpha Phi Omega, said the
project was an opportunity the
fraternity just couldn't pass up.
"Personally, I am honored
to be involved with such an
event because it has so much
potential and everyone who is
working on it is really passion-
ate about making it such a suc-
cess," Lucido said.
McAree said students have
been making presentations at
fraternity and sorority meet-
ings for the past few weeks to
gain support 'from the Greek
community at MSU. He also
had the opportunity to meet
See CHARITY, Page 5A
Social Work graduate student Craig Laurie leads a discussion at the Student Symposium on Global Service and Engage-
ment in the Union Saturday.
SympOSium focuses on respecting
local culture during global service
Stu
Woa
idents discuss posium on Global Service and
Engagement in the Michigan
ys to improve Union Saturday.
Sponsored by the Interna-
global aid tional Center, the symposium
allowed students to reflect on
EPHANIE DILWORTH their international experiences,
Daily StaffReporter especially while working with
the Peace Corps.
Students for Global The University has close ties
ment presented the to the Peace Corps. President
Annual Student Sym- John F. Kennedy famously pro-
claimed an idea for a volunteer
corps on the Union steps during
his 1960 presidential campaign.
The University is the fourth
largest producer of Peace Corps
volunteers, with a total 2,458
since 1961, according to the
Global Michigan website.
About 100 students were
selected to attend the event
after completing an application
See GLOBAL, Page SA
By STI
The
Engage
Third
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