Monday, June 4, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, June 4, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com KYLIE STEENBERGH : VIEWPOINT Pre-meds abroad Prof. debuts 'Shore' Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Ma ard St. Ann Arbor MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu JACOB AXELRAD EDITOR IN CHIEF GIACOMO BOLOGNA MANAGING EDITOR ADRIENNE ROBERTS EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorialboard. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. A2 to the "D' made easy Commuter rail service between A2 and Detroit needed s the University's 2012 graduating class prepares for life after graduation, many of them will leave Michigan. This eagerness to get out of the state altogether often stems from the fear that our state has nothing to offer college graduates. Many students don't see the state of Michigan beyond the confines of Ann Arbor despite the fact that Detroit, one of America's most historic and important cities, is only a short drive away. The state of Michigan needs to prioritize the proposal that Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) made for commuter rail services between Detroit and Ann Arbor to unite the two cities and spur It was the last case of the day: an overweight woman requiring an open abdominal cholecystec- tomy - gall bladder removal. Four hours later, I walked out of the medical clinic in Chocola, Guate- mala to return for dinner. A man approached me, grabbed my hands and repeated the words "thank you" several times. His wife was the woman we had just moved to post-op. Little did he know, I was merely a freshman in college and had only shadowed the surgeon. Regardless of whether I deserved the gratitude or not, it was that moment that made me realize why I was in Guatemala. I initially decided to partici- pate in the medical mission trip to Guatemala to determine if I actu- ally wanted to be a doctor and, to be honest, because I knew it would look good on my medical school application. What I learned, how- ever, in that first short week in Gua- temala far surpassed anythingI had learned from my previous classes at the University of Michigan. Immersed in the culture of tradi- tional Mayans, I realized that at its core, medicine is the same regard- less of where you are in the world. At the same time, it's different with respect to individual culture and the way in which medical condi- tions are perceived. Even with the diversity that Ann Arbor offers, this was not somethingI could have learned while sitting in the Natural Science Building listening to lec- tures about neurons. As a pre-health student, I was extremely lucky to have the chance to travel to Guatemala and experi- ence a culture other than my own. Many students, though, do not have this opportunity between jobs and summer classes. However, a week was not nearly enough. I quickly recognized the potential for what could have been learned if I had a few more weeks or even months. Pre-health students are set in a rigid schedule, which often requires . taking more than one science class each semester. Ifyouwanttogradu- ate in four years, the opportunity to study abroad for longer than a week is largely unavailable because of the demanding process of applying to medical school. Though the major- ity of pre-health students are part of LSA, and thus included in the respective standards of a liberal arts education, the University does not provide a sufficient number of programs for pre-health students to study abroad. ManySpanishconcentratorswho have studied abroad in Spain were able to take classes with a Univer- sity professor overseas and obtain grades for Spanish credit. A similar program with science professors from the University could be imple- mented in countries around the world to allow pre-health students to fulfill the necessary require- ments for admission to medical schools while also experiencingthe culture of another country. The Association of American Medical Colleges has realized this necessary transition in the prepa- ration of medical students. While a solid background in the natural sciences will always be required for success in medical school, a greater emphasis is now being placed on behavioral and social sciences, as exemplified in the revised Medical Colleges Admission Test for 2015. While generalized studies in behavior and social sciences are offered throughthe humanities and social science distribution in LSA, pre-health students are limited in what they can learn, especially when it comes to experiencing another culture. By experiencing the medical field in a culture other than your own, you are not only given the opportunity to learn about another culture, but to appre- ciate yours as well. The man who repeated the words "thank you" to me later explained that he did not know how much longer his wife would have. been able to care for their children with- out this surgery. He claimed that I had helped to give his wife a sec- ond chance at life. These are the moments that more students should be able to experience with the help of the University. As University of Michigan students, we are sup- posed to graduate as well-rounded individuals. However, the Univer- sity does not currently offer long- term pre-health programs suited to the needs of developing well-round- ed students. What we need to be successful in our careers cannot be learned entirely-within the confines of white classroomwalls. Kylie Steenbergh is a LSA junior. Bakopoulos explores dictatroial Greece in "The Green Shore" By ANNA SADOVSKAYA ManagingArts Editor As a group of right-wing Greek colonels were plotting to seize power and control of Athens and the rest of Greece, Athens slept, unaware of the changes that were soon to come. The night was April 21, 1967 and it began what has come to be known as "The Regime of the Colonels" or in Greece, "the Junta." Michigan native and recipi- ent of a 2010 0. Natalie Bakopouios dlebuts "The Green Shore" Tomorrow at7 p.m. At Nicloa's Books Free valuable interaction. At the 2012 Mackinac Policy Conference, Sen. Debbie Staben- ow discussed her proposal to cre- ate a commuter rail service from Ann Arbor to the Detroit Metro Airport and downtown Detroit. She argued, "Michigan is in dire need of a transportation and infrastructure overhaul." Staben- ow's plan to build a commuter rail service from Ann Arbor to Detroit has been discussed in Congress for some time now, but according to Stabenow, "That's moving along slower than I would like." Staben- ow's challengers to her Senate seaf argue that this proposal would need significant private backing for it to come to fruition. Ann Arbor has a major short- age of available parking, so many students don't have the option of bringing their cars to campus. Some students don't have any form of motorized transportation and find themselves limited to Ann Arbor, despite Detroit being a short 45 minutes away. Lawmak- ers need to understand that there are numerous benefits for stu- dents who visit Detroit. Detroit is a vibrant and cultur- ally rich city, but the shadow of the recession makes many stu- dents unwilling to visit. Com- erica Park, Ford Field and Joe Louis Arena ignite with activity, on game nights and young artists who moved to Detroit because of its exceptionally low cost of liv- ing have breathed new life into the city, giving it an entirely new identity. The University has taken a step in the right direction with its Semester in Detroit program. However, our school can't solely bear the burden of sending people to Detroit. Detroit has many new business opportunities to benefit students. At the Mackinac Policy Confer- ence, Republican Gov. Rick Sny- der announced the launch of five new business programs to pro- mote the growth of businesses in Michigan. Companies such as Huntington National Bank, Fifth Third Bank, DTE Energy and 'Consumers Energy have paved the way in this initiative. Quicken Loans, the mortgage company founded by' Detroit native Dan Gilbert, recently hired 500 col- lege students to work as interns at their office in Detroit, along with 300 new technology employees. With the unemployment rate rising to 8.2 percent last month, graduating students should be given every opportunity to explore these job options with- out public transportation holding them back. Detroit is a city that has had so much taken from it by the reces-' sion, and it's time for the state of Michigan and the students of the -University to increase the amount they give back. A commuter rail service that is affordable and easy to access is the solution. Henry Award, a Hopwood Award and Platsis Prize for Work in the Greek Legacy, Natalie Bakopoulos grewup listeningto the melody and music of Greek culture. Holding an MFA in Fiction from the Universi- ty, Bakopoulos travels through the precarious and often unpredictable world of occupied Greece in her debut novel "The Green Shore." "The idea of Greece was always there," Bakopoulos said in an inter- view with The Michigan Daily. "Even if I wasn't speaking Greek as a child, I heard it when my father spoke, andI was aware of the ideas and music ... and of parts of the Greek culture very acutely." Bakopoulos said she strayed from her passion for writing early on. Despite her love for literature, Bakopolous graduated with an undergraduate science degree and set out to work in a research lab. "I wanted to be a writer long before I admitted (it) to myself." Bakopolous said. "When I found myself working in a lab, instead of reading journals like 'Cell' or 'Nature' I would always have The New Yorker or a literary journal, and I kept thinking, 'it's nice to be interested in literature,' but mine moved beyond just an interest in. reading." It was only after a year of sitting in on a multitude of literature and writing classes that Bakopolous admitted to herself that the science track was not for her. Despite the belated start on her writing career, Bakopolous said some of the best advice she'd received was from a University professor who spoke about never fearing the timing of things. "Charles Baxter said in a Hop- wood Talk that 'art is not a sack race', 'literature is not a sack race,' and not everyone comes to some- thing at the same time," she said. "I think I always felt behind, like everyone is already publishing and everyone has their MFAs and everyone is 'in the business,' so to speak." Determined not to let her late arrival to the writing world hold her back, Bakopolous started writing what she knew, recounting old sto- ries and discovering forgotten his- tories. This love for Greek culture propelled Bakopoulos to write "The Green Shore," and it wasn't until she began researching the coun- try's rich history that she began to understand the difficult position the coup d'etat had left Greece in. "It was the idea that Greece had a military dictatorship dur- ing a time where the rest of the world was really moving ahead," Bakopoulos said of her interest in the time period. "Greece was com- pletely stunted by this coup when it could have been entering the modern era." The trapped environment of occupied Greece provided an, entangled backdrop for the char- acters in the novel. Based loosely on her father's family, "The Green Shore" follows the story of four characters living in Athens at the time: Sophie, a willful girl with a penchant for activism thanks to her left-leaning boyfriend, Nick; Anna, Sophie's sister, who falls desper- ately in young love with an older, married man; Eleni, their widowed mother, who tries to scramble together the pieces of her family, and Sophie and Anna's uncle Miha- lis, a poet who must lay low due to his outspoken nature. "The way the characters feel trapped makes for a great story," Bakopoulos said. "And what better wayto trap themthan in adictator- ship." Bakopoulos also noted that some characters have more of a real-life model than others. "Mihalis was inspired by my father's uncle who was a poet named Mihalis Katsaros, and he's a poet who is known in most circles of that generation," Bakopoulos said. "Even if people were not liter- ary, they'd know him as the crazy poet in the middle of the square." The compilation of fictional characters in a historical setting allowed Bakopoulos to delve. into an intricate narrative while having a general story arc to follow. Bako- poulos stressed the importance of the storytelling above the history lesson the book holds. "I want my readers to be moved and to feel differently when they're finished reading than they felt when they started," Bakopoulos said. "If they learn something about Greek history along the way that's fantastic, but that's not necessar- ily my agenda; I wanted to create a moving narrative that was interest- ing and complicated." Taken as an excerpt from Kos- tas Karyotakis's poem "Sleep," the. Green Shore symbolizes the need for something lost, a missing per- son,placeorsentiment. Encompass- ing the horrific history of Athens in the late'60s and the fragile lives of a family, "The Green Shore" provides a glimpse into the psyche of charac- ters cornered anda nation besieged. "In many ways each character is longing for something they've lost, whether that's home or a love or a different lifestyle, but they're all longing for that green shore," Bakopoulos said. "It's going back to a place that exists in your mem- ory." COUGAR From Page 8 friends - by turning 21. He officially becomes a full-fledged member of the grape-gaga gang by sipping his first glass of wine ... and then later throwing back two bottles' worth and spewing a drunken, naked, long-awaited proclamation of love for Laurie (Busy Phillips). The B-plot of "My Life" almost forces a farewell to the cul-de- sac crew's favorite game Penny Can, which Travis points out has become boring in its simplicity. It's a wonderfully theta moment; after all, how long can an audi- ence be entertained by watching characters throw pennies into a can before the inside joke rusts over? Travis' dramatic conclusion - that Penny Can is about family, tradition, maybe even America - speaks to the reason we can never tire of the game. Penny Can's simple, it's fun, it's resourceful and it has heart. We love the game because the characters do, and the characters are what make "Cougar Town" more than just a string of witty jokes doused in no-no juice. Theshow has always succeed- ed in mixing the heartwarming moments with the heartbreaking ones, and the finale epitomizes this delicate balance. The others subject Jules (Courteney Cox) to a "Groundhog Day"-type inqui- sition until she admits to Laurie that she was made Ellie's (Christa Miller) co-maid of honor out of pity, but Jules' rather smothering, love wins out. When the show first introduced Laurie's overseas hot soldier boy- friend who she met on Twitter, it was just a gag used to show how ridiculous Laurie often is. But "Cougar Town" made it much more, establishing Wade (Edwin Hodge) as an actual character. It's just crazy enough to work, and when he finally showsup in person as Travis and Laurie are sharing a near-moment, Travis' devastation mixed with Laurie's deserved hap- piness makes for enough emotion to fill Big Lou to the brim. The will-they-won't-theytale of Laurie and Travis is growing tired, and some find the age difference tough to swallow, but it's still hard not to root for these two as they gaze at each other during Grayson and Jules' beach wedding. Live on, Penny Can, live on. That beach wedding. What a perfect example of a picture-per- fect romantic scene that "Cougar Town" does so well without dip- ping into the overly syrupy. The trick is infusing the bliss with zany jokes; Chick (Ken Jenkins) - fighting tears by looking into his horse's eyes, the wedding party having to move along the beach to avoid oceanside cops. Setting part of the finale in Napa evokes the brilliance of sea- son two's Hawaii-based finale; it's almost spiritual to see the crew in the motherland of viticulture. But coming back to the ill-named town has a beach-day warmness to it. While comedy lovers should be thrilled that this isn't the end for "Cougar Town," few can say that seeing Jules and Grayson liter- ally ride a stallion into the sunset wouldn't be a charming, fitting final image. $1 off ANY smoothie size Limit One offer per customer with coupon. Cannot be combined with any other offer Valid at Barry Bagels Ann Arbor location ONLY I BAGE LS Barry Bagels Westgate shopping Center 251 Jaekson Ave, Ann Arbor ,MI45103 (734) 662-2435 Ersw.xarryxarJs.com L - _Expires: June 10, 2012 WANT THE DAILY ON THE GO? Now you can access your favorite Daily opinion content on your phone. Keep up with columnists read Daily editorials and join in the debate. Check out the [daily's mobile website at m.michigandaily.com.