BLOOD, WEAT AND SAWD~
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 5, 1995 - 5
Workshop provides students
woodworking opportunities
Workshop Facts
Shop Hours
Monday-Friday
Saturday
Sunday
5-11 p.m.
11 a.m,-6 p.m.
4 -11 p.m.
$y Jennifer Harvey
Daily Staff Reporter
A room full of saws, chisels and
wood inhabits the basement of the Stu-
dent Activities Building. It is not the
site of more University construction.
The packed room is the Michigan Union
Student Wood Shop.
The shop operates as part of recre-
ational programming sponsored by
the Office of Student Affairs and the
Arts and Programs department of the
Union.
"We try to carve out a little bit of fun
in an otherwise busy college experi-
ence," said Kurt Vosburgh, student ser-
vices associate and facilities manager
of the shop.
Student shop users said they think the
facility is a great asset to the University.
"It's a unique facility on any cam-
pus. It's a well-equipped, modern
woodshop available for student use
for merely a dollar and a quarter a
day," said Bob Paretti, a fourth-year
Medical student and eighth-year shop
user.
"It's great, I love it. It's really cheap
and it's got all the tools you could
ever want to use. I think every univer-
sity should have one," said Matt
Weiser, a graduate student in commu-
nications.
The facility includes a variety of
machine and hand tools and a compre-
.hensive woodworking library.
"We offer a chance for people to
expand on their woodworking hobby
.. It's a productive form of socializ-
ing," Vosburgh said.
Vosburgh said the shop staff tries to
teach people traditional methods of
woodworking, but does not try to influ-
ence their creativity.
"Typical is not the way to describe
the shop," he said.
The facility is open to all students,
staff, alumni and theirguests. Vosburgh
predicted 20 to 25 people will be in the
shop every night this month. Atten-
dance is the highest in December be-
.cause of gift-making for the holidays,
" As soon as
discovered (the
Student Wood
Shop) I naturally
gravitated towards
its It's recreational
and therapeutic.
It's a great way to
let off creative
steam."
-- Matthew Schenck
Second-year Law student
he said.
He added some students construct
very creative gifts. "They make every-
thing from boxes to cutting boards, from
desktop mirrors to pepper-grinders and
pen and pencil holders."~
Vosburgh said students also create a
wide range of wooden products for their
local residences: lofts, dining tables,
picture frames, desks, chairs and frater-
nity paddles.
"I've built pretty much my entire apart-
.nent full of furniturc there. I don't know
what I would do without it," Paretti said.
Some students utilize the shop to
work on class projects. Vosburgh said
mechanical engineering students have
used the facilities to create camera
models and snow boards.
Most students come into the shop
with little or no experience in wood-
working. "Experience isn't really re-
quired," Vosburgh said. "A staff mem-
ber can answer real-time questions as
they come up.
"Everybody helps everybody else.
There are some people who are really
good and some people who are just
beginning," said David Ross, a classi-
Use Fees
Students
Staff
Community
$1.25/day or
$25/term
$3/day or
$55/term
$4/day or
$80/term
WALKER VANDYKE/Daily
The Michigan Union Student Wood Shop, located in the basement of the Student
Activities Building, offers a variety of machine and hand tools.
cal studies professor and shop regular.
Shop users said the instruction avail-
able at the facility is very helpful. "Kurt
(Vosburgh) is ultimately cool," Paretti
said.
"It's a wonderful place for woodwork-
ing, but it's also a great place to meet
faculty and students. I've gotten to know
some people quite well," Ross said.
In addition to staff knowledge and
the woodworking library, students can
draw information from any of the
many specialty publications the shop
receives.
Shop users may pay either a small
per-use fee or purchase an inexpensive
term membership. Vosburgh said the
daily use fee goes directly into the shop
users' domain.
"We use the fees to keep router bits in
the cabinet, saw blades sharp and sand-
paper rough."
The cost of materials is not included
in the fee. Students supply all the mate-
rials for their projects, except for glue
and some nails. The shop does not pro-
vide finish materials, wood, rollers or
brushes. The shop does have spray
equipment for finishes.
The University funding is used to
purchase and maintain major equip-
ment like carving tools, band saws,
table saws, radial arm saws, jointers,
routers, drill presses, power miter saws
and belt and disk sanders.
Shop users also have access to hand-
held routers and lathes, grinders for
sharpening tools and a steam bender.
The shop has a complete finishing
and painting room. "It's well venti-
lated, large and warm. It's very difficult
to paint a piece in the winter or in a
confined space. We offer an alternative
to that," Vosburgh said.
"I'd be severely limited without the
shop. I live in an apartment and there
just isn't room to do this stuff," said
Matthew Schenck, a second-year stu-
Remaining Orientation Sessions
l: Wed., Dec. 6, 3-5 p.m.
II: Thurs., Dec. 7, 3-5 p.m.
I: Sat., Dec. 16, 9-11 a.m.
II: Sun., Dec. 17, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
dent in the Law school. "Without the
shop I'd be doing something else or
nothing."
The shop is better ventilated than
most shops of similar size. It has a
special dust management system that
collects the saw dust from the machines
and carries it to collection barrels.
All hearing and visual safety equip-
ment is provided by the shop.
Vosburgh said the University's sup-
port is essential to the operation of the
shop. "We're part of Student Affairs.
People don't realize the division reaches
out to students to provide a richer expe-
rience, a dynamic experience, that's
part of the whole U-M sort of thing."
Schenck agreed that the facility adds
to the university atmosphere. "As soon
as I discovered it I naturally gravitated
towards it. It's recreational and thera-
peutic. It's a great way to let off creative
steam," he said.
Anyone wishing to use shop facili-
ties must first attend a four-hour orien-
tation session. Vosburgh conducts
about 30 such orientations sessions
each year. Several orientations are still
scheduled for this semester. The ses-
sions are free.
The shop will remain open until Dec.
23.
- Daily Staff Reporter Tim
O'Connell contributed to this report.
Pmtesters
mntemipt
game
atEMU
YPSILANTI (AP) - A basketball
game between Eastern Michigan Uni-
versity and San Francisco State Univer-
sity was suspended at halftime last night
after dozens of protesters took over the
court.
Officials were about to start the sec-
ond half of the game when the protest-
ers, demanding an end to police brutal-
ity, converged on the basketball court
of Eastern Michigan's Bowen Field
House.
The protest lasted about 30 minutes
and the game eventually resumed. East-
ern Michigan beat San Francisco State,
111-61.
The protest apparently stemmed from
the Nov. 7 arrest at residence hall of a
black student following a scuffle be-
,tween him and awhiteuniversity police
officer.
One of the protesters, Black Student
Union leader Anthony Garrett, read off
a list of demands that included the fir-
ing of the officer involved in last
month's arrest.
EMU spokeswoman Susan Bairley
said juni or Aaron Johnson was arrested
last month and charged with aggra-
vated assault and disarming a non-fire-
arm weapon from a police officer. The
case now is in court.
"The university is investigating this
incident from many perspectives,"
Bairley said. "I think the point that
needs to be made is the university has
made some very strident efforts to com-
municate with the student."
Bairley said EMU has been unable to
complete its investigation because offi-
cials have been unable to talk. with
Johnson under the advice of his attor-
ney. She said she would not speculate
what the university's response would
be to the protest last night.
Most fans left before the game re-
sumed.
t Homeless
fee effects
of cold, less
By Maureen Sirhal
Daily Staff Reporter
As the winds rage and the tempera-
tures drop, students are not the only
ones to suffer from the cold.
J~Many of Ann Arbor's homeless popu-
lation will feel the effects of the cold to
a much greater degree since the closing
of the Ashley Place homeless day shel-
ter on weekends.
Ann Arbor residents and merchants
teamed up in response to the closing by
urging Mayor Ingrid Sheldon and the
Ann Arbor City Council to keep the
shelter open. The closing occurred three
days before the Thanksgiving holiday
in an effort to reduce costs.
' "The first part of November the funds
were just not available," said James
Bryant, manager of the shelter. "Dona-
tions are down this year and the grants
used for single adults is going more
towards families."
"We give about $100,000 to the
Washtenaw County Shelter Associa-
tion," Sheldon said. "Community de-
velopment has looked at ways we can
do something."
And so they did. The city approved a
?$5,000 grant to the Shelter Association
of Washtenaw County during last
night's City Council meeting. Begin-
ning Dec. 16, the day shelter will be
open on the weekends and will remain
open through April. Washtenaw County
matched the grant with a $5,000 dona-
tion.
Those funds will cover costs of hav-
ing a staff member open the building
and stay there during weekends. While
shelter officials claim a partial victory,
their funding is still meager and volun-
teers are desperately needed. With the
number of homeless people in Ann
Arbor, advocates say there is still much
more that could be done.
The Shelter Association has received
much criticism since its September de-
GM appoints its president to chairman post
DETROIT (AP) - General Motors
said yesterday that President Jack Smith,
chosen as chief executive ofthe world's
largest automaker after a 1992 board-
room coup by outside directors, will
become chairman Jan. 1.
Chairman John G. Smale will move
aside to head a newly formed executive
committee of the GM board.
He led the board in that 1992 revolt,
which was triggered by billions of
dollars in losses from GM's North
American operations. Chairman and
chief executive Robert Stemple was
forced out, Smale became the first
GM chairman since the 1950s who
was not a GM executive, and Smith
was charged with turning the com-
pany around.
"Now, some three years later, it's
clear that GM's
management team
under Jack Smith's
leadership has
turned GM
i around," Smale, a
C ' former chairman of
Procter & Gamble
Co., said in a state-
ment annoucning
the move.
Smale The company
earned record prof-
its of $4.9 billion last year, including
$690 million from North American au-
tomotive operations.
Smith will continue as president
and chief executive. The company
also said Harry J. Pearce, a GM ex-
ecutive vice president, will become
vice chairman and join Smith as the
second company executive on the 13-
member board.
"The changes announced today will
permit (Smale) to continue the leader-
ship role he has played on the GM
board, while permitting him to reduce
his day-to-day involvement in GM's
governance," Smith said in the an-
nouncement.
"The fundamental role of GM's di-
rectors in overseeing GM's manage-
ment and affairs will continue," Smith
said.
JUDITH PERKINS/Da-y
Jesse, an Ann Arbor homeless man, feels the effect of cold Michigan weather as
temperatures drop as another winter season begins. This effect has been
magnified by the recent weekend closing of the Ashley Place shelter.
MIC HIGA N
RECORDS
- T phone: 663.5800
1140 south university (above goodtime chaleys), AA
mon.-thurs.: 9:00a-10:00p sundays
1 fi. & sat.: 9:00-11:00p 11:00-8:04O
cision limiting homeless individuals'
stay in the sheleter to 60 days.
"This (policy) is not too harsh,"
Bryant said. "Before we would have
some people stay here for years."
.The Homeless Action Committee, a
group of political advocates for the
homeless, criticized the policy, stating
it did not meet the needs of the home-
less.
"(The shelters) are not providing ser-
vices needed," said Vivan Louie, HAC
member and Social Work first-year stu-
dent. "It starts the minute you walk in
the door. After that, they bar you for a
year."
Though HAC is concerned for the
homeless community, members are not
taking an active role in keeping the
shelters open.
"We are not service providers," Louie
said. "We are merely educating people."
The night shelter, located on Huron
Street, also suffers from a lack of funds.
It provides a place for the homeless to
sleep at night.
"Ther are about 1,250 homeless in
Ann Arbor," Bryant said. "But the night
shelter can only take 52 men and 22
women. That is not a lot considering
how many more do not have a place to
sleep."
Bryant also said that the University
could do much more to help with the
problem, especially during the holidays
when the campus is vacated.
"The University could open up one
of those buildings and use it for a warm-
ing center," Bryant suggested.
As the colder temperatures approach,
residents and merchants are concerned
that the homeless have no place to go.
"The day shelter is a nice place to
come," said Perry Shepard, who is
homeless. "If we go to the park it's cold
and the police tell us there is no loiter-
ing. If we walk the street it is still
loitering. Not all of us are derelicts and
drunks."
University Director of Community
Relations James Kosteva said the Uni-
versity has not taken any direct action
relating to the shelters despite the con-
sistent problem of the homeless wan-
dering through University buildings.
"Safety and security of our students
is the University's primary concern,"
Kosteva said.
r
flo
'ig real music.-ef
WoR
KING CLASS
HEROy
442 -0
I
,. ,J,,
'C,4e todAy.
w~e Will wind
~'V tie yeafwihv
cvf 4Rnq 4Z-°°'
oFf Wivp ~
SD all S
_____________________________ I
I