The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, October 6, 2014 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.
Twenty finalists
chosen in annual
ArtPrize
Organizers of the ArtPrize
art competition in Grand Rapids
say that 11 days of public voting
have produced 20 finalists for the
grand prize of $200,000.
ArtPrize says that 37,283 people
cast 352,732 votes in four catego-
ries. They include two dimension-
al, three-dimensional, time-based
and installation artwork.
The competition announced
the finalists Sunday afternoon and
posted images and details of them
online. It says that the five final-
ists in each category move onto
the second round of voting, which
began at 3 p.m. Sunday and runs
through 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
ArtPrize has a prize pool of
$560,000.
LOS ANGELES
Heat spikes in Calif.,
as does drought
Temperatures approached triple
digits in much of California on Sat-
urday afternoon and surpassed100
degrees in inland areas as a steam-
ing autumn in the state seemed
more like an endless summer.
Heat in the low 90s was felt in
the normally temperate San Fran-
cisco Bay Area, and it reached the
upper 90s in the Sacramento area.
Throngs of thousands who
crammed Golden Gate Park in San
Francisco for the annual Hardly
Strictly Bluegrass festival were
chugging water and dumping it
on their heads as they danced
to banjos and fiddles in the mid-
day swelter, with many wearing
shorts and little else.
The mercury was at 95 degrees
in downtown Los Angeles by mid-
day and over 100 in the suburbs of
San Bernardino County.
BLIMPY
From Page 1A
"Grand 0," who is propped up
adjacent to the cash register.
The polar bears stem from an
old tradition. Blimpy Burger's
mascot is a bear, and Magner built
snow-bears outside the restaurant
one winter in the 1990s to attract
clientele. Since then, the joint has
been celebrating polar bears even
when the sun is shining.
Tom and Johanna Westrick,
who are from Dundee, Michigan,
were the first to get their burgers.
Tom got two double burgers with
cheese, mustard, ketchup, pickle
and onion, while Johanna had
one double with cheese, lettuce,
tomato and mayonnaise.
"We've been waiting all sum-
mer for it to open, so we thought
we'd come down and check it
out," Tom said.
The two, who live 30 minutes
south of Ann Arbor, have been
Blimpy Burger patrons for years.
"I worked in Ann Arbor and
used to eat there numerous times
per week," Tom said. "(The food
is) just like I remember it. Seems
like it was still at the old place."
Returning customers report-
ed they like the new restaurant,
which is roomier than the old
space. This one provides a sepa-
rate ramp on the side where cus-
tomers can line up and order, as
opposed to queuing in between
tables as they used to.
However, one customer,
21-year-old William Scott, an
Ann Arbor resident, said it's "too
clean and too new," and that he
misses "that vintage feel, like the
resurrected from some hole-in-
the wall back in the '50s feel."
"They could put some laminate
flooring down so it gets sticky
again, that would be nice," he
said.
Small details aside, Magner
said the feedback has been posi-
tive.
"Most of the comments that
I've had arethat the burgers taste
the same," Magner said.
Magner and his wife, Chris,
said it has been a long year pre-
ceding the business' re-opening.
They closed in Aug. 2013; their
final days had queues up to three
hours long.
The couple was originally con-
sidering a storefront on East Wil-
liam Street, which fell through,
before choosing their current
location on Ashley. They also ran
an Indiegogo campaign which
raised 34 percent of its $60,000
goal.
Blimpy had a soft-opening
last week, where Magner invited
50 people who were involved in
getting the restaurant running
again.
Ultimately, they said they were
happy to be back.
"It means a lot of things to a
lot of people," Chris said. "Just
because of the years they've been
here and been goingto it."
Nostalgia was pervasive as
customers filled the eatery, many
discussing their meal plans and
Blimpy memories.
University alum Herm Stein-
man began eating at Blimpy
Burger in 1958.
"I'm at the point where if I
don't have my Blimpy fix at least
once a month; I get shaky," he said
after finishing his burger. "I have
brought two wives, several girl-
friends, four kids, seven grandkids
and one great-grandkid so far."
Steinman's enthusiasm for
Blimpy extends beyond inhaling
cheeseburgers: he's known to
provide in-house tunes. A bag-
pipe player for 30 years, Stein-
man has marked several Blimpy
milestones in a kilt and the Celt-
ic wind instrument.
"I piped 'em out when they
closed the other one, and I piped
'em in. I'm the house piper,"
Steinman said. He also plays at
weddings and funerals, even
having performed at the funer-
al of the restaurant's original
owner.
What Steinman said he loves
most about Blimpy is the rap-
port. As a regular customer for
the last 56 years, employees
know his order by heart. For
years, he brought his grandkids
here as a last day of school tra-
dition.
He taught them how to order
in the Blimpy way. The cook
asks if you're ordering anything
fried, you respond; the cook
asks how many burgers you're
having, you respond; the cook
asks what you want on your
burger(s), you respond; the cook
asks what kind of bun you want,
you respond; the cook asks if
you'd like the bread to be grilled,
you respond.
Customers who diverge from
this system risk getting yelled at.
"If you weren't embarrassed
at Blimpy's, you should feel
offended," Steinman said.
The favorite memory of
another loyal patron, Ann Arbor
resident Daniel Webber, involves
just that. Webber, who came to
the opening with his mother
Nancy, has been frequenting
Blimpy for 12 years.
Former University President
Mary Sue Coleman was in line in
front of Webber once and would
not get off her phone. Phone
chatting while in line is verbo-
ten at Blimpy's.
"This 50-year-old woman
who used to work here came
and grabbed her by her arm and
pulled her out of line," Webber
said. "(Coleman) said, 'Do you
know who I am?' and the lady
said, 'Yes, leaving."'
Ann Arbor resident Jeania
Getty has eaten at Blimpy for the
last 25 years. She said Blimpy is
"the only place and time that I
ever drink chocolate milk." The
beverage, alongside a triple burg-
er with provolone on an onion
roll with everything on it, is her
tradition - one of many that were
revisited on Friday.
MEDAL
From Page lA
exciting to you and you don't even
have toknow why."
Axelrod received a B.A. in
mathematics from the University
of Chicago in 1964 and completed
his Ph.D. with distinction at Yale
University in 1969. Prior to com-
ing to University, he was an assis-
tant professor in the University of
California, Berkeley Department
of Political Science.
He came to the University in
1974 and holds joint appointments
in the Department of Political Sci-
ence and Gerald R. Ford School of
Public Policy. In 2006, he became
the Mary Ann and Charles R.
Walgreen Professor for the Study
of Human Understanding, and
received the Regents' Award for
Distinguished Public Service in
201.
If given the chance to speak
with the President, Axelrod said
he had a couple areas he would be
interested in addressing.
"I'd like to talk to him about
America's role inthe world," Axel-
rod said. "About how we can con-
tribute to international peace and
global prosperity, without ... disre-
specting other cultures."
He added that he'd also like
to talk about the U.S. economy,
especially in regards to income
inequality and the distorting
effects of money in elections.
"I know the economic difficul-
ties we've had in the Great Reces-
sion have somewhat undermined
our own self-confidence, but as
the economy gets better I think
we'll restore our sense of valuing
our own potential at home and
abroad."
SUPPORT
From Page 1A
participating in big competitions
or tournaments, such as the
NCAA Final Four, Ablauf said.
"Our goal is to help the student
athletes and coaches," he said.
"We want to go out and support
them, weather it is in celebration,
weather it is in time of need, for
whatever reason or what ever they
are going to do."
Junior Volleyball player Olivia
Reed found out about the send off
through e-mails from her SAAC
representatives. Right before leav-
ing for Michigan State, the volley-
ball team found it important to
support their football team, Reed
said.
"Right now it is important for
all of us to come together as a
community," Reed said. "To be
supportive of our football team
as they are maybe going through
a harder time than we would
expect."
Senior Baseball player Eric
Jacobson also attended with his
teammates before their afternoon
practice.
"We really want to show the
football team that we have a lot of
faith in them and that their suc-
cess is important to us," Jacobson
said."In light of the negativity
there are still positives to be found
in our community.
The football team has a 2-3
record going into its game against
Rutgers, and the program itself
has been criticized with regards
to its coaching staff.
Students rallied Tuesday call-
ing for Athletic Director Dave
Brandon to be removed from
his position. Brandon is directly
responsible for football coach
Brady Hoke's performance,which
is under scrutiny from media out-
lets for his handling of sophomore
quarterback Shane Morris' con-
cussion in the team's game against
Minnesotalast week.
"Obviously this week has been
tough on our football program,"
Ablauf said. "We wanted those
student-athletes to know that we
are all here, we are supporting
them, we are going to give them
all the energy we possibly can, so
they can go out and have a great
game on Saturday."
Ablauf said players and coach-
es need to stay focused and the
send off was just part of that ini-
tiative.
"You want to try to keep things
as normal as possible for them and
not alter their routine," Ablauf
said. "I think we have been able to
do that."
ACCELERATOR
From Page 1A
during is earliest stage, as well as
advice from YC partners about
how to develop ideas and pitch
startups to potential investors.
Prominent techies also host
weekly talks for YC participants,
including speakers like Facebook
co-Founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The experience culminates in
a Demo Day, in which about 450
top investors hear presentations
from YC-backed startups and
- hopefully - invest in the
fledgling companies.
University alum Harry
Zhang, co-founder of Lob, a San
Francisco-based printing and
mailing service, participated in
YC in the summer of 2013. The
company has since raised $9.4
million from investors, according
to CrunchBase.
"Overall, it's easily the best
incubator in Silicon Valley and
has one of the best brand names
in the Silicon Valley community,"
Zhang said.
He said the advice and
structured program that YC
offered were invaluable.
"It helps you sort of get the
traction that you need to launch
your startup in a structured
environment," Zhang said. "It
helps you internalize what the
most important thing is that you
should be focusing your time
on when you're building your
company."
The YC-backed company that
was represented at the event
was FarmLogs, an Ann Arbor-
based company focused on
servicing farms and optimizing
crop rotation. FarmLogs CEO
Jesse Vollmar co-founded the
company in 2012, and it has since
produced a profit of $5 million.
Vollmar presented a storyline
of FarmLogs' early days. After
he and his co-founders were
accepted into YC, via an e-mail
that "completely changed (his)
life," he moved to San Francisco,
lived in a tiny apartment with
only an Ikea mattress on his floor
and assumed 100-hour work
weeks of coding - 14 hours per
day, every day.
"Our life just became
completely consumed by the
startup," Vollmar said.
He emphasized the need
to find co-founders who were
equally dedicated to the intensive
lifestyle, after one person in
his three-person team left one
month into the YC program.
"We weren't on the same
page," Vollmar said. "We didn't
all have an agreement that we
were going to pour everything
we had into this company. It's
something that you should
definitely get straight is building
a strong relationship with your
co-founders first."
YC partner Younis echoed
tlis sentiment during his
talk. Younis, whose feedback
platform TalkBin was acquired
and then phased out by Google,
also discouraged attraction to
the image of the dropout startup
founder, such as Bill Gates, Steve
Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg.
Younis also emphasized the
value of working for oneself
rather than for a corporation. He
said the latter option often offers
a larger salary and more security,
but foraying into the startup
world is a priceless experience.
After the talk, University
students with early-stage
startups had the opportunity to
have 10-minute office hours with
Younis.
One attendant was
Engineering alum Tim Jones,
the founder and chief technology
officer of Cribspot, a housing
website that he said has helped
more than 60,000 students find
housing since September 2013.
After attending office hours, he
said he is considering applying
to YC.
"Y-Combinator is really
focused on high-growth
companies," Jones said. "You
have to grow or you die. Office
hours really emphasized how
we need to stay focused and
that every week we should grow
7 to 10 percent. That's really
important to us."
Business senior Jay Raina
said the office hours with Younis
gave him "great wisdom." He is
in the process of establishing
an app that will allow users to
pay their bills at restaurants
electronically, cutting waits of
up to half an hour to process
credit cards and split checks.
"This is absolutely a problem
that needs to be solved and
several people have attempted
to solve this problem but they
failed," Raina said. "One big
takeaway (Younis) gave us is to
look at those failures and avoid
them to make sure our app is
successful."
COUNCIL
From Page 1A
in place.
Current legislation requires driv-
ersto stopforpedestriansifthey are
standing at a curb, curb line or ramp
leading to a crosswalk. The new
ordinance would amend that rule to
include the phrase,"If the driver can
do so safely."
In December 2013, Mayor John
Hieftje vetoed an amendment that
was passed by the City Council to
maintain the requirement that driv-
ers stop for waiting pedestrians.
The amended ordinance would still
require drivers to stop, but would
add language to protect drivers
who are unable to safely stop before
reaching a crosswalk.
Resolution/Ordinance:
Doglicensing
The City Council will be pre-
sented with a resolution and ordi-
nance pertaining to the fees and
procedures associated with dog
licensing in Ann Arbor. In its sec-
ond reading, following little con-
versation at the previous meeting,
councilmembers will discuss
eliminating an explicit fee from
the original dog leasing ordinance
and adding different time length
options for owners.
The new resolution will
determine the fees that will apply
to each corresponding license
time. The ordinance is meant to
offer citizens more options when
purchasing tags and to allow the
establishment of online licensing
procedures.
Ordinance: Stormwater
Management and Soil Erosion
and Sedimentation Control
Water Resources Commission-
er Evan N. Pratt has submitted a
request to the Council to amend
current rules and regulations sur-
rounding pollution caused by con-
struction in Washtenaw County,
including the city of Ann Arbor.
The University is required to
operateunder WashtenawCounty's
National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System and follow
this amended protocol. Ann Arbor
along with much of Washtenaw
County is considered an urbanized
area, meaning it requires a water
permit, which is expected to be
reissued this year. The amended
rules, which have not been updated
since 2000, are meant to better
protect the environment from
pollutants and any other adverse
effects of stormwater runoff.
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Campus Mind Works Groups
FREE mental health education
and support groups for U-M
students
Healthy Body, Healthy
Mind: Sleep, Exercise,
Nutrition & Mood
When:
Tuesday, October 7
from 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Where:
Chrysler Center, Room 133
North Campus
Visit www.campusmindworks.org
for more information.
Presented by the U-M Depression Center
in collaboration with the College of
Engineering and the Newnan Academic
CEPENTEO Advising Center.
!N