FitiDAYFOCUS
The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 17, 1995 -3
Like others, they came to the University
to study, but found a reason for ...
At
Students are staying
in A2, setting up
shop and profiting
By Lisa Poris
Daily Staff Reporter
ncoming students often feel much
trepidation when they first move
away from home into a strange en-
vironment. The faces around them
are unfamiliar. They share a room for
the first time and they feel nauseous
with homesickness.
Many wonder what possesssed them
to go to school hundreds or thousands
of miles away from home.
John Carlson was one of those when
he arrived on campus from his
hometown in northern Michigan in
the fall of 1989. He said he did not
think he would want to be here after
graduation.
Now, the owner of the Grizzly Peak
brewpub on Washington Street is pur-
This is probably
where we know
the most about the
market and the
people
- Scott Severance
Co-owner of three
Ann Arbor businesses
suing his master's
of business admin-
istration after re-
ceiving his under-
graduate degree in
December 1993.
"* *love it down
here," he said.
His affection for
Ann Arbor grew
during his under-
graduate years, and
now he's sold on
the diverse and
young community
of the city. "This
town is focused on the university set-
ting,. Even though it is small, it is still a
trend-setting city," Carlson said.
The University's Alumni
Association's records indicate 23,000
alumni reside in Washtenaw County.
Two of them are friends who have
known each other since fifth grade.
Scott Severance and Kirt Scholler
are co-owners of Condoms 101, Not
Another Cafe and Salad Days - all
local stores. They both received an en-
gineering degree 1991 and master's of
business administration in 1993 from
the University.
"It's a diverse and cosmopolitan
town," Severance said. "This is prob-
ably where we know the most about the
market and the people.
"It's a good environment to test out a
lot of ideas," Severance added.
Maria Simonte, director of market-
ing and membership for the Alumni
Association, estimates that there are
400,000 living alumni around the world.
While the lure of Ann Arbor seems to
capture many, other schools also have a
strong pull. For instance, more than
35,900 Michigan State University
alumni live in the school's home county
of Ingham.
At other schools, like the the Univer-
sity ofTexas at Austin, a greater percent-
age of alumni may remain in the area of
the university following graduation.
Sources at the Texas Alumni Asso-
ciation said that 55,000 out of the
Not Another Cafe (top),
Salad Days (above) and
Condoms 101 (right) are all
owned by alums
Scott Severance and Kirt
Scholler. Both earned
engineering degrees from the
University before pursuing
masters degrees in the
Business School. They are
only two of about 23,000
University alumni
living in the greater
Ann Arbor area.
Photos by
ELIZABETH LIPPMAN/Daily
280,000 living alumni live in Austin.
Jim Nicar, a computer programmer
for the Texas Alumni Association, at-
tributed the high percentage to the fact
that Austin is the capital of Texas and
more opportunities may present them-
selves for graduates.
"In a place ... like Austin, many
people do find jobs and develop strong
emotional ties to the city," he said.
At the University of California at
Berkeley, the percentage is still greater.
While no exact numbers were avail-
able, Pete Cooney, the director of mar-
keting and membership for the Califor-
nia Alumni Association said, "The
majority (of alumni) live in Northern
California, and the majority of those
people live in the Bay area."
Cooney added that in Northern Cali-
fornia, alumni have opportunities to
enter into every field and that they can
be found doing just about everything.
However, he said he also felt that the
number of alumni remaining in the Bay
area is steadily decreasing as the cost of
living for the Bay area goes up.
Students find
opportunities to
work f'or city
By Maureen Sirhal
Daily Staff Reporter
While many University students complain that Ann Arbor
is not a mecca of excitement, it does offer students many
unique opportunities.
But those opportunities are sometimes hidden. Students
are often portrayed as apathetic with little or no involvement
in the community.
As residents and constituents of Ann Arbor, students are
allowed to participate in the workings of local government as
much as a non-University residents. Yet making students
aware of tl eir opportunities is often difficult said LSA
sophomore Fiona Rose, chair of Michigan Student Assembly's
External Relations Committee.
Rose is a member of the Housing Board of Appeals for
Ann Arbor. As part of her duties, she devotes several hours
a month to attending meetings and reviewing the proposals'
brought forth by Ann Arbor citizens and other board mem-
bers. The commission tours housing sites and makes recom-
mendations to city departments and the City Council:
"Students don't realize how it affects them." Rose said.~
"We have done inspections of inadequate student dwellings.
One of the big issues is basement occupancy. Landlords
think they can clean out their basement, put in a bed and a
table and charge $500 per month.
"I lend a student voice when it is needed," Rose said.
Just as students suffer from a lack of awareness of what is
happening in the community, city hall officials are not
always informed of the activities of students on campus.
Rose said she believes their combination on commissions
would offer benefits to both sides.
Rose said that if more students got involved in neighbor-
hood associations, especially within the Greek system, then
As local activism wanes, volunteerism fills void
*City
"Issues
no longer
inspire
students
By Maureen Sirhal
Daily Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor, like few other cities, is
known for its history of spirited activ-
ism. But a majority of that energy is
focused on the University, while many
city issues go largely unnoticed.
Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon
explained what she perceives as the
difference between activism and
"tI thought maybe I could make a
difference"-PerNioa
less emphasis on community activism
whether it be in social organizations or
in city government.
Former City Councilmember Peter
Nicolas first ran for council midway
through his first year as a graduate
student in the School of Public Policy.
"I thought maybe I could make a
difference," he said.
Nicolas said most students do not take
Former Ann Arbor City Council
resentation on City Council.
-- Peter Nicolas
member and graduate student
maintains that comminitv volunteerism
'rv