Orientation Edition 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
17
Fraternity trio camps out for charity
Group raising money
for youth mentorship
By JILLIAN BERMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Mar. 6, 2008 - On a blustery win-
ter night, while most students were
tucked comfortably in their living
rooms, three members of the Pi
Kappa Alpha fraternity were trying
to study amidst the backdrop noise
coming from Washtenaw Avenue.
Armed with a baseball bat for
protection and wearing several
layers of clothing to fight frost-
bite, LSA sophomores Russ Cash ey
and Tyler Keenan and Kinesiology
sophomore Mike Fry have been
living in a tent on the fraternity's
lawn since Monday night and will
continue to do so until this coming
Monday.
The campers are raising money
for Pike's March 15 Comedy Night,
an annual charity event held by the
fraternity.
The campers are asking other
membersofPike to pledge one dollar
per person per day for the duration
of the campout. About 30 members
of the fraternity have donated a total
of about $650, Fry said.
All of the money collected will go
toward MichiganReachOut!, anAnn
Arbor-based organization that spon-
sors youth mentoring programs.
The rules of the endeavor are
strict. Caskey, Keenan and Fry
can attend class, but they're only
allowed to enter the house to
change their clothing, tend to their
hygiene and get food - which must
be consumed outside.
But the group hasn't completely
gone without, though. For instance,
the trio can't go out to eat, but it has
found at leastone way to dodge that
issue - having food delivered. Fry
said they ordered pizza once.
"We're not going to cheat. We
wouldn't live it down," he said.
"We've gotten yelled at for going in
to get our food."
While all studying, sleeping and
other activities must be done inside
the close living quarters, the guys
seem to be getting along just fine.
"They haven't gotten on each
other's nerves - yet," said LSA
freshman Doug Cunningham,
Pike's public relations chair.
Keenan said the brothers who
aren't camping out have been sup-
portive. They've sometimes shown
it in strange ways, though - two
brothers came out to the tent in
the middle of the night and tried
to scare the campers. The campers
have endured other midnight visi-
tors, too.
"Wildlife is also kind of interest-
ing, just hearing animals come up
to the tent," Fry said.
This is the first time Pike has held
a charity camp-out. Fry, the chair of
Comedy Night, said he chose the
unorthodox fundraising method
because it would allow the rest of
the fraternity brothers tobe directly
involved in the fundraising.
Fry said Pike chose to raise money
for Michigan Reach Out! because of
LSA sophomores Russ Caskey and Tyler Keenan and Kinesiology sopho-
more Mike Fry camped out for a week in March to raise money for charity.
the relationship between the two and bring out some of the kids."
groups. Members of the fraternity Fry said living in the great out-
mentor children in the program. doors has had at least one other
"It has close ties to our house added benefit.
- over 130 brothers have been "Part of the thing is that we can't
involved. It's also a eat charity for watch TV all week, which is actu-
the Ann Arbor conixpspnity," he said. ally good, because we're going to be
"We can bring out all the mentors a lot more productive," said Fry.
Students get busted for buying
Policy change keeps IDs
'from international students
Sept. 17, 2007 - When it comes to
spotting fake IDs, it's all a matter
of experience.
So says Lorin Brace, who works
nights at Village Corner, a cam-
pus grocery stare known for con-
fiscating the fake identification of
underage students.
Brace, a four-year veteran of
Village Corner, said he sees "hun-
dreds and hundreds of IDs from
all over the country or the world"
on an average weekend night.
"Eventually you sort of figure
out what certain IDs are supposed
to look like or feel like," Brace said.
The store once had a fake ID Wall
of Shame, adorned with confiscated
IDs from California to New Jersey,
but it has since been taken down.
When a Village Corner employee
confiscates a fake ID, some students
have gotten a bit hostile, Brace said.
In one instance, a young woman
leapt over the front counter in an
attempt to get her fake ID back.
Not only was she unsuccessful,
but the fake ID listed her actual
address, which allowed the police
to locate her shortly thereafter.
Above all, Brace said that
there's no secret to spotting a fake
ID. It merely comes down to hard-
earned experience and intuition.
- ANDY KROLL
Secretary of State
says policy didn't
consider students
By BETH WITTENSTEIN
Daily StaffReporter
Jan. 28, 2008 - A decision to stop
granting Michigan identification
to immigrants without permanent
resident status could prevent inter-
national students at the University
from getting state driver's licenses.
Last week, Michigan's Secretary
of State made permanent legal status
in the United States a requirement
for anyone applying for state iden-
tification. Michigan Attorney Gen-
eral Mike Cox issued a statement
last month saying illegal or non-
permanent immigrants shouldn't be
granted Michigan driver's licenses
because that would be inconsistent
with federal law. Secretary of State
Terri Lynn Land followed the opin-
ion by changing the policy.
The change was an effort to crack
down on illegal immigration by
making it harder for undocumented
immigrants to live in the state. But
the decision will affect temporary
immigrants living in the state legal-
ly for work or educational purposes.
In the past, Michigan law fol-
lowed former Michigan Attorney
General Frank Kelley's 1995 opin-
ion that no one should be refused
a driver's license based on legal
citizen status. Before last week,
Michiganwas one of eight states in
America that didn't require proof
of legal residence to apply for state
identification.
Rackham student Hsien-Chang
Lin, said international students
often use a Michigan driver's
license as a means of identification
rather than a passport. A driver's
license is often asked for as identi-
fication while using credit cards or
when entering bars, Lin said.
"It is not possible to bring a pass-
port every day, because it is too
important," Lin said. "The policy
change should consider more than
just the drivingissue."
International students who had
state identification before the poli-
cy was enacted are legally allowed
to use that ID. International stu-
dents who were in the process of
applying for identification, though,
will not be allowed to get a driver's
license or state ID.
Lorin Brace, a manager of
store has confiscated.
Corner, displays a handful of fake IDs that t