Monday, July 18, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
'U' alumni work to change the image'of Detroit
Graduates bring new
enterprise to the
dilapidated city
By ANDREW SCHULMAN
Daily StaffReporter
In 2008, Detroit landed on
Forbes' annual list of "America's
Most Miserable Cities," and hope
that its automakers could com-
pete with foreign counterparts
dwindled. As the city's population
continues to decline and its unem-
ployment rate remains higher
than the national average, the fear
that Detroit is slowly disintegrat-
ing remains steadfast.
However, there are increas-
ing signs of economic growth and
vitality appearing throughout the
city, most prominently through
the work of young adults - includ-
ing University alumni - who are
ADMISSIONS
From Page 1
Undergraduate Admissions, said
the University expected an increase
in applicants when they joined the
Common App since other schools
that made the switch over the years
have seen between a 6-percent and
30-percent increase.
Spencer added that while the
website makes it easy for students
to applyto manyschools at once, it's
not the only reason for the increase.
In fact, Spencer said the University
has seen a surge in applicants for 10
years prior to when they switched
to the new application.
The academic reputation of
the University makes people want
to apply, Spencer said, and over
the past several years the great-
est increase in applicants has been
among out-of-state students.
"Michigan has an outstand-
ing academic reputation. We have
outstanding faculty, we have out-
standing facilities and we have out-
standing students," he said..
Furthermore, the University's
more than 300 majors and approxi-
mately 3,000 courses are a "big
draw" to high school seniors look-
ing to apply to college, Spencer said.
He added the increase in finan-
cial aid - namely the $137 million
increase the University's Board of
Regents approved this year in light
developing new businesses, chari-
ties and art projects in the spaces
left derelict after the decade of
economic struggles.
Among the college-educated
Detroit newcomers is 23-year-old
University alum Jimmy Tomc-
zak, who founded TOMBOLO - a
company that makes sandals from
recycled billboard vinyl that imi-
tates the feel of being barefoot -
in September 2010. Tomczak said
he was inspired to start the com-
pany through the University's fos-
tering of entrepreneurial spirit as
well as his own personal vision of
a revitalized Detroit.
"My vision isn't just the shoes,
but the vision to promote con-
scious consumption and creative
reuse," Tomczak said.."And I think
that is a much greater impact and
a much bigger vision to have, to
be able to say that it's not just the
tangible, but both the tangible and
intangible innovations that hap-
of state budgetcuts to higher educa-
tion - also serves as an incentive for
students to apply to the University.
"Anything we can do to reduce
the cost of an education is an incen-
tive," Spencer said. "It can't do any-
thing but help."
Due to these incentives, the
University is expecting the enter-
ing class to be about 5,970 students
- approximately 500 students less
than last year, Spencer said.
As of June, 16,046 applicants
were offered admission and 6,540
paid the enrollment deposit, but
even those who paid the deposit
may not choose to attend the Uni-
versity in the fall,. according to a
July 13 University press release.
The press release also said
admissions are based on a holistic
review of the individualized infor-
mation received about each appli-
cant, including the high schools
students attend and if those schools
are not already significantly repre-
sented at the University.
The University received 4,265
applications from underrepresent-
ed minority students - a 14.8-per-
cent increase from last year - and
1,576 were offered admission, which
is a decrease of 3.7 percent, accord-
ing to the release.
The University will announce
the final statistics as well as an
analysis of applicants by race, gen-
der and other specifics in October,
the release said.
pen as a result of creativity in a
place like Detroit."
Tomczak said he believes
Detroit is ready to "experience
a rebirth" and the burgeoning
entrepreneurial culture has uplift-
ed the city and revamped its busi-
ness landscape.
"It's about those people that
are connecting and coming back
together with the city in mind,"
he said. "There are so many things
happening like that with youth
and different connections that
it's not just about automotive and
corporate protection anymore. It's
about the students, entrepreneurs
and makers that are out there
doing it."
The shift is partially the
result of demographic trends over
the last decade. While a quar-
ter of Detroit's population fled in
response to economic hardships,
duringthat same time the city saw
a 59-percent increase in college-
CRIMES
From Page 1
"We disseminate information
to (DPS) more readily than we
ever have," Lance said. "We have
a very cooperative effort both
administrative and street wise
in terms of working together tc
solve crime."
Diane Brown, DPS spokes-
woman, said University Police
work hard to ensure the campus
remains safe at all times.
"The Department and the
University are content that it's
a relatively safe environmen
-though there are crimes that
occur, a number of the crimes are
preventable," Brown said.
Brown said larceny is the
most prevalent crime on campus
adding that students should be
aware that University libraries
educated residents who are under lished the first issue of MASH this
the age of 35, according to a July
1 article in The New York Times.
Donald Grimes, a senior
research associate at the Univer-
sity's Institute for Research on
Labor, Employment and the Econ-
omy, said youth play a crucial role
in revitalizing the city.
"That's probably the most
important positive indicator that
there's more involvement and
more interest in people from your
generation," Grimes said. "They
see it as sort of an exciting place
to try to work in and revive. You're
sort of on the cutting edge of
urban revitalization."
Mashawnta Armstrong, a
28-year-old University alum, lec-
turer in the University's Taubman
College of Architecture of Urban
Planning, and founder and editor-
in-chief of MASH Magazine, said
she was similarly inspired. As a
native of Detroit, Armstrong pub-
are open to the public, and should
take responsibility of their per-
sonal possessions.
"If students and people can
do a better job at keeping their
belongings secure, then we would
have less crime," Brown said.
While theft is the most com-
mon campus crime, Brown said
that personal crimes do occur
and drinking may cause people to
be more "vulnerable" and suscep-
tible to situations where they may
be endangered.
"Perpetrators see a more
easily-targeted, vulnerable per-
son, and then would try to rob
t them and rarely try to assault
them," Brown said. "Many of
the assaults really are equally
blamed on both sides ... we rarely
will see an unprovoked stranger
attack."
Brown said a range of mea-
sures is currently in place to
March with the aim of upending
misconceptions about the city.
"The purpose (of MASH)
is to change that perception of
Detroit," Armstrong said. "We
always see the negative connota-
tions in media aboutDetroit - that
it's dirty, it's dilapidated. There's
so many negative things that reso-
nate about the city thatgoes out to
the world, and we want to change
that with the magazine."
Because of this, MASH's sec-
ond issue will bear an idea Arm-
strong imagined for her senior
thesis at the University in 2008:
renovating a dilapidated house in
one of the city's deserted neigh-
borhoods. After the magazine
publishes a picture of the house,
Armstrong said she will invite
readers to the building to suggest
renovations and then will work on
raising the funds needed to bring
the changes to fruition.
assist students with preventing
potentially dangerous situations,
noting that DPS patrols certain
areas of campus with extra con-
trol. She added students also
receive numerous safety tips as
part of the DPS video shown to
new students at orientation, at
the bottom of electronic crime
alerts and on signs in public uni-
versity places such libraries and
recreation areas.
Ultimately, she said the issue
lies in personal responsibility of
University members in following
the suggested safety measures.
"The problem isn't that peo-
ple aren't being informed about
this stuff - the problem is that
they aren't adhering to many of
these safety precautions," Brown
said. "For the most part, I'm sure
there are some people who are
and they haven't been victim-
ized."
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