Students
have
a
love-
hate relationship with their
Michigan
Marriage
Pact
matches.
The
results
of
the
questionnaire,
which
was
developed by University of
Michigan students for a class
project, were released Tuesday
evening. The pact used an
algorithm
to
find
students
their future spouse, and the
match-ups generated a flurry
of discussion on campus and
online groups.
After
being
open
to
undergraduate
students
at
the University for 21 days,
the questionnaire closed last
week with more than 7,000
participants,
meaning
more
than one out of every five
undergraduates
completed
the survey. LSA junior Elien
Michielssen, one of the creators
of the pact, said her team never
thought
their
class
project
would gain this much traction
among students.
“Hearing people talk about
something that you created
without
knowing
that
you
created
it
is
really,
really
cool,” Michielssen said. “If
you haven’t taken it, you know
someone who’s taken it, or
you log into Facebook and
see all the memes, so I think
it’s something that’s brought
campus together.”
Four student veterans
from the University of
Michigan
spoke
to
a
crowd of 20 people at
the
Michigan
League
Thursday morning.
The
event
was
sponsored by the Office
of Veterans Affairs and
moderated
by
Philip
Larson,
the
program
director of Veterans and
Military
Services,
for
Veterans Week sponsored
by the University. The
event
consisted
of
a
discussion with Larson
followed by a Q&A with
the audience.
Larson
started
off
the
conversation
by
introducing the panelists
and
asking
them
how
the military helped them
prepare for college life. All
of the panelists discussed
how the military helped
them
learn
skills
for
collegiate success.
Panelist
Jennifer
Phillips, an LSA freshman,
is part of the National
Guard. She participated
in basic training this past
summer before starting
her classes. Phillips shared
that doing basic training
for the National Guard
made her more mature
and made her stand out
among her classmates.
“Being a freshman and
18 years old along with
all the other freshmen
here, I’m in the same age
group
and
everything,
but all of my professors
have talked to me outside
of class and asked, ‘How
are you so different?’”
Phillips said. “And that’s
kind of when I told them
like, ‘Oh yeah I’m in the
army, this summer I went
to basic training, and I
really matured there, and
I kind of realized what’s
important.’”
Panelist Scott Reel, a
Rackham student, served
in the Marine Corps as
a journalist and had to
interact with all ranks
of military officers. Reel
said he became skilled
in
communicating
and
working with a deadline
through his work.
Public Policy junior Ben
Gerstein,
Central
Student
Government
president,
wrote a letter to members
of Michigan’s congressional
delegation
in
support
of
the Higher Education Act,
which seeks to make college
tuition more affordable for
students. In the letter, Gerstein
stated that his constituents
—
University
of
Michigan
students — are almost all in
agreement regarding college
affordability.
“While
representing
the
various
viewpoints
of
my
constituents is a tempestuous
endeavor,
there
is
one
issue where there is nearly
unanimous
consensus;
the
paramount saliency of college
affordability,” Gerstein wrote
in his letter.
Advocating for the students
on both the state and federal
levels was one of the priorities
that Gerstein laid out at the
beginning of his term.
In his letter, Gerstein wrote
in support of the provisions
of the bill that seek to create
tuition-free
community
college, increase Pell Grants
and
allow
undocumented
students access to federal aid.
In his conclusion, Gerstein
wrote that on behalf of the
students of the University of
Michigan-Ann Arbor, he looks
forward to their support on the
Higher Education Act and the
College Affordability Act.
Some students are in favor
of
Gerstein’s
lobbying
of
the
federal
representatives.
LSA junior David Carpenter
was supportive of Gerstein’s
letter and applauded CSG for
addressing the issue.
“Regardless of where you
come from, regardless or not
if you’re the individual that’s
putting up the cost and in
fellows education, it really
does affect every single student
that goes to the University of
Michigan, and all the students
that want to maybe want to
come to the University of
Michigan but are restricted by
costs or by having to work and
or other things,” Carpenter
said.
Angie
and
Dan
Bastian,
husband and wife co-founders
of kettle corn snack company
BOOMCHICKAPOP,
delivered
the keynote speech to students
and
faculty
in
Robertson
Auditorium at the 2019 Michigan
Marketing
Symposium
on
Thursday. The talk, moderated by
Business lecturer Marcus Collins,
focused on how the company
disrupted the snack industry to
fit with the symposium’s overall
theme of disruption.
BOOMCHICKAPOP
started
in
the
Bastians’s
Mankato,
Minnesota, garage in 2001 to
pop kettle corn for carnivals,
local markets and events. The
company was acquired in 2017 by
Conagra Foods for $250 million.
The couple began popping kettle
corn to build a college fund for
their two daughters, then 3 and 5
years old.
“We were trying to figure out
if there was a solution to creating
a college fund for our kids outside
of what we were doing,” Dan
Bastian said. “It was an $8,000
investment, you got a kettle, you
got a tent. So, we set it up outside,
turned on the kettle and started
schlepping the corn.”
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, November 15, 2019
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 29
©2019 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
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See COMMIS-
SONIA LEE
Daily Staff Reporter
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Angie and Dan Bastian, co-founders of BOOMCHICKAPOP, give the keynote speech at the 2019 Michigan Marketing Symposium in Robertson
Auditorium Thursday.
DESIGN BY MICHELLE FAN
See VETERANS, Page 3A
See CSG, Page 3A
See PACT, Page 3A
Popcorn snack company founders
speak on disrupting industry model
Will Sparty?
A desperate Michigan
State team comes to town,
searching for an upset win
and a return to its identity.
» See Page 1B
BOOMCHICKAPOP creators reflect on dieting, marketing products
Former service members discuss
journey from armed forces to ‘U’
Ben Gerstein urges support for bill to
make college tuition more affordable,
increase availiability of Pell Grants
JASMIN LEE
Daily Staff Reporter
JULIA FANZERES
Daily Staff Reporter
Student Veterans
Panel talks careers,
transition between
military & college
CSG president
writes letter in
favor of Higher
Education Act
Campus lovesick over results from
Michigan Marriage Pact questionnaire
Relationship survey provides matches for some, disappointment for others
ALEX HARRING
Daily Staff Reporter
See POPCORN, Page 3A