Only a fool would snub A2 Pub Grub Most often, students go to bars near campus only after 10 p.m. for alcohol. The popular image of bar food is "drunk food" - that is, food only edible after midnight while experiencing a good buzz. But bar food in Ann Arbor can actually be quite good for any meal, including our favorite - lunch. And bar food has a long tradition. It was brought to America by English colonialists who called it "Pub.Grub," a staple of the English diet almost as important as tea and crumpets. The most popular lunch in the U.K. is the "ploughman's lunch," a plate of cheese, bread, pickled onions, chutney, and a tomato or two. Americans are lucky to be spared from this menu. Charley's Since we go to Charley's about as often as you'll find someone wearing a book bag over both shoulders, we were curious as to what we would find. Surprisingly, we found Charley's - located on the corner of Church and South University - to be coping very well with the departure of Super-Manager D.J. Resch (for an objective, well-balanced portrait of Resch, see Mike Gill's column in the March 4 SportsMonday). Lunching at Charley's has its advantages: you can find a seat, you can hear the TV set, and you can feel at ease even if you haven't known all the other patrons since your childhood days at sleep-away camp. Of local bars, Charley's serves the best lunch. We found a surprisingly vast and varied menu. Instead of goldfish and pretzel nuggets, we found chipatis and Mexican food. While word-of-mouth says the chipati ($2.60 Mon.- Thurs. afternoons) doesn't compare to Pizza Bob's legendary edition, we found that it more than holds its weight in lettuce. All the other selections are excellent, including the Mexican bill of fajitas, beef, bean, or chicken enchiladas ($3.15), and burritos ($3.50). Sandwiches, ranging from $3.50 to $4.85, include a reuben, a Georgia reuben, a turkey club and a BLT, and are served with potato chips. The Chicken St. Croix, a tender, grilled breast of chicken with bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato and barbecue sauce on an onion roll,is a palate pleaser. Interesting burgers are offered, such as the pepper steak, a 1/3 pounder with bacon, scallions, and crushed black pepper with provolone cheese. But the best deal may be the "Full Pounder" - a 1/2 pound burger with fries for just $3.65. Just one question: if it's only a 1/2 pound piece of meat, why do they call it the "Full Pounder?" The taco salad ($4.95) is excellent - a veritable garden of lettuce sitting atop r a thick pastry shell. The serving of meat N O A H F I N K E L was generous as was E R IC O L E M 0N T the assorted OUT TO vegetables. LUNCH Accompanying the greens was what FOODOCONNOISSEURS Charley's calls a A T L A R G E. "taco" sauce, butv which, in reality, is French dressing. A u chipati-type sauce would have been Be back in better, but our server 15 minutess said Charley's policy prohibited such a' substitution. _ O' Sullivan' s As a bar, O'Sullivan's - located on South University just down the street from Charley's - does everything it can to recreate the Irish pub atmosphere. And why not? Irish pubs are second only to German beer gardens as the world's leading drinking establishments. Its name begins with an "0'," the wait staff dons green uniforms adorned with four-leaf clovers, and the decor has a decidedly Gaelic flavor. And, of course, O'Sullivan's serves that thick, black and wonderful Guinness stout. Thankfully, O'Sullivan's does not try to replicate traditional Irish fare such as wholemeal bread, porridge, potatoes, milk, and fish. As the authoritative budget travel guide Let's Go Europe says, "Irish food has a terrible reputation and it is utterly deserved." O'Sullivan's fare fares average on the Palate-O-Meter. But then again, it just might be impossible to make a decent Tipperary or Cork sandwich. Lunch offerings include omelettes for $3.45 to $3.95, sundry 1/2-pound burgers ranging from $4.50 to $5.65 (among the more interesting burgers: the O'Brian with lettuce, tomato, onion, mushrooms, bacon, Swiss and cheddar, and the Brendan with grilled pineapples, bacon and cucumber dressing), and various sandwiches. While the burgers have a tendency to be overcooked and certain sandwiches might possess what can be called a "muted flavor," you won't come away dissatisfied. For those of Stucchian descent, O'Sullivan's offers its infamous Leprechaun Combinations - and they're not just for St. Patrick's Day anymore. Soup and bread, or a 1/2 sandwich with soup or salad,'is available for $4.25. The potato broccoli soup we sampled had chunks of redskin potatoes and was well-stocked with broccoli. The chili, while thick and rich, was too tomato-based. The Tipperary, a steak and cheese sandwich, didn't approach its East Coast counterpart - the Philadelphia cheesesteak. With all sandwiches, fries are only an extra $.50, onion rings an additional $.75, and tossed salad or "cup o' soup" a dollar. Ashley's While O'Sullivan's tries to imitate an Irish pub, Ashley's attempts to replicate its English counterpart. In some ways, it succeeds. First, Ashley's - on State near William - serves some English ales found at few other Ann Arbor bars. Second, Ashley's food falls short of splendiferous. As all who have travelled to England know, one should avoid English food. It is unimaginative, usually just fair in quality, and lacking in zest. Ashley's manages to retain this English tradition. Finally, Ashley's has this all for London prices. For example, pitchers of beer begin at $5.75 and go up to $10. The food is slightly less. A cup of chili is $2.75 and a bowl $4.25. Nachos deluxe are $6.75, and chips and salsa a whopping $3.50. At 1/3 of a pound, burgers cost $5.25 and up. It is however, flame-broiled, juicy, served on a french roll, and quite good. Similarly, the Yardbird was also overpriced at $6.50, but was a good marinated and charbroiled chicken breast with honey mustard, romaine lettuce, cheese, bacon, and tomato, on a french roll. Other sandwiches include a Philly steak sandwich, a reuben and Georgia reuben, and a disappointing French Dip with Swiss cheese. signed their letter of intent as high school seniors, they were guaranteed to be on the team. There were not going to be any guarantees under Berenson. Playing for Michigan was a privilege, and one had to earn it. In the process of cutting the veterans, Berenson made a lasting impression on his assistant, but in a different way. "A lot of people were talking about how he cut those guys," -Miller said. "But he never took away any of their scholarships. He was very tough about that. A lot of schools, when they change coaches, the new guy will get rid of some players, but he'll send them home. Red refused to do that. "I knew right then that he was a class act all the way." Changes in attitude and philosophy can only carry a team so far, then the pressure to obtain some talent arrives. While most coaches view recruiting as a chore, Berenson saw it as an escape from having to endure the endless string of losses. In his young recruits, he envisioned the program which he wanted to build. Recruiting is a process in which the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. It's not difficult to persuade a high school star to visit a top-ranked school that gets plenty of exposure. However, after consecutive last-place finishes, the process grows more difficult. The toughest part is getting started. For Berenson, the quest for respectability began with the signings of Myles O'Connor and Todd Brost, but for the program in general, it may have started a year earlier. "I think Jeff Norton was an important recruit for us," said Miller, who, through endless recruiting trips, was instrumental in the signing of all three recruits. "Norton gave us some national exposure in hockey circles. He gave us credibility in the East, where there are a lot of other good programs. You can still see that today, with players like David Roberts (from Connecticut)." Norton was already in his first year when Berenson took over, making Brost and O'Connor his first real coups. "They were the right kind of kids," Berenson said. "They related to what I was saying. They knew this was a top school and that we were going to make this a top program and that they would have a hand in it." Another fact that made the recruiting process difficult was that Berenson would not take any short cuts by signing players who viewed college as merely the training ground for the pros. He believed in the college half of- college hockey. "I'd tell a kid, 'If you just want to play pro, don't come here. If you want to graduate, that's what Michigan is all about,"' he said. "I'm not spending my time at Michigan to babysit a kid for two years and then watch him turn pro." In an incident most Michigan hockey officials would like to forget, four players were charged with sexual harassment of two female students in the Diag. The event affected team unity and tarnished the reputation of all team members on campus. "When you're an athlete, you're visible. I've tried to give our kids good direction. We've had very little trouble with our players." Michigan has managed to put those problems behind them, and this season's success has played a big part in it. Recruits now beg Berenson to take a chance on them, rather than the other way around. Fans have to come early to sit in choice seats in Yost Arena. No one on the current team will be satisfied with anything less than a championship program. "We expect to win now," current co-captain David Harlock said. "1 take a lot of pride in wearing that 'M' on my uniform. It feels good to represent a school like Michigan." The Wolverines finished second in a season-long battle with Lake Superior State for the CCHA championship. Michigan also came up just short of winning the playoff championship, as the Lakers aga 6-5 cor stal the yea circ ton firs pla six the cha has hor Ber this tak Chin JOSE JUAREZ/Weekend Mount Clemens' Denny Felsner has helped lead the Michigan hockey resurrection, which has seen steady improvement in each of Red's years. A New Ecological Order The talks are over. Two sides, long pitted against each other in moral rhetoric and mortal battle, have made their peace. An agreement has been reached. Rebuilding is about to begin. I'm not talking about Iraq. I'm talking about the tropical rainforests. While you were watching reporters pretending to be soldiers and generals pretending WALKER to be reporters, high-level corporate and environmentalist leaders hammered out a compromise that will determine the fate of what many have termed "the lungs of the world." And that compromise is stunning in both its simplicity and its scope. The rainforests will be removed and replaced by a global network of environmentalist theme parks, modelled after Disney World, but, in the words of park advocate Ralph Nader, "with a more progressive, less materialist and acquisitive message." The corporations that have used the forests, the governments that have urged them on, and many major environmentalist groups all stand to receive hefty UN subsidies for their part in the new endeavor, while the indigenous people of the former forests are to be hired to work in the parks' hamburger concession stands. And what parks they will be! Just look at the designs of the first park, planned for Brazil. In the center, an enormous, donut-shaped amphitheater (the "0-Zone") ready for Grateful Dead concerts or any other show that the parks' owners may wish to sponsor. Outside that, a ring of greenhouses, so that people might wander through them and "feel the effect." And beyond those, rides galore! Be propelled soundlessly by the roller-coaster "Silent Spring." Explode with delight riding the "Population Bomb." And look out! You just might fall off this ride, because it's "Unsafe At Any Speed." "I think it's a wonderful idea," says park supporter Jeremy Rifkin. "At a time when the world seems overtaken by ungodly science, something like this comes along to show that there still is hope for this sick civilization. The fact that the parks are government- funded is also important, as it indicates a growing willingness on the part of the State to intervene on behalf of the ecosystem." Rifkin's fellow environmentalist Paul Ehrlich isn't as optimistic, however. "Sure, the parks are a good idea," he says, "but it's too little, too late. Construction won't be completed for at least a decade, and the oceans are slated to dry up five days from now. All we really can hope for is to be saved in the Rapture." But whether or not hope is justified, most people in government are happy to see all the parties involved recognizing their common interests. As one senior EPA official put it, "Environmentalists are getting state intervention on their behalf. Corporations are getting more subsidies. Sure, the environment might deteriorate more, and sure,rthe corporations won't have to meet any actual consumer demand to make their profit, but that just helps us justify still more intervention and subsidies. Not to mention" - and here he puffed up his chest with pride - "a greater role for the EPA." And indeed, the EPA already has a new international affairs desk, so that foreign ecological problems deemed crises can provoke intervention, military or otherwise, from the United States government. And as the Yanamano Indians are moved into newly- built public housing and given low-wage jobs, many feel that hope for these backward primitives may have come at last. In the words of one Brazilian leader, "These people lived in the jungle for centuries. Now, at last, they are being forced to take some responsibility for their lives." A leader of the AFL-CIO agrees. "They thought that just because they lived in the forest, it was theirs," he recalls. "Now, they have something that is truly theirs. A union." Many activists have left the ecology movement since the plans began, implying that all is not well on at least one side of the ledger. But, as one Sierra Club official put it, "When Washington wants to talk to environmentalists, they talk to us. Not the people on the street, but the people who lobby. And we like this idea. For too long, we have acted as though the only options for the government were to own everything and keep it pristine, or to own everything and give it up for commercial exploitation. Now we know that it can own everything and do both. What better world could one wish for?" Part of what has kept the Michigan players in school may be the messages they have heard from their coaches. "More than anything, I think our players realized that there was life outside of hockey," Miller said. "We would tell them that they weren't ready to play pro hockey yet, and I think they knew we were right." While the University has a lot to offer, it can also be quite overwhelming to an 18-year-old rookie. During his first year, O'Connor was experiencing some academic problems, which he brought to Berenson. "The best thing he said to me one day was - and remember, Myles was the top student in his high school -'Everyone here is so smart,"' Berenson recalled. "I told him, 'You couldn't have said anything better about Michigan. This is where you belong.' I remember feeling the same way when I was a freshman." However, the program underwent more disturbing growing pains than O'Connor's classroom difficulties. During the 1988-89 season, just as the team was changing its image on the ice, a severe blow was dealt to its off- ice credibility. Further adding to the turmoil, one of the players who was involved in the Diag incident, Todd Copeland, was accused of throwing a brick through a window of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house last season. "You hate to see things like that happen," Berenson said. -CHEFJ 26 years of expe F DETROIT COB2IHALLW S sored by Michi an Rash Michigan Chefs9) Cuisi BLUE IR? HBE5 IN rN VOTED #1 BEST ORIENTAL FOOD IN ANN ARE VOTED #1 BEST CHINESE FOOD UI ANN ARB LUNCHEON SPECIAL, 11:0 DINE-IN OR TAKE-C SpecialIzing in Szechuan, Huna 1201 S. University, Ann Open 7 days a week 11 I III I I r r March:15, 1991 WEEl N, Page 8 Page 5 WEEKEND Ma