Despite a sea of parking lots sprawled across Washtenaw Community College’s campus and a four-level structure erected this year to house vehicles, WCC’s 131 handicap parking spots have been breached. Alvaro Medina, a 56-year-old business major from Ann Arbor has been frustrated with able-bodied motorists parking in the more conveniently located handicap spots. “Everybody should have a special sticker to prove it is you because some people are cheating,” Medina said. The most common threat to the sanctity of handicap parking, according to Director of Campus Safety and Security Jacques Desrosiers, is the use of legitimate handicap-registered vehicles by drivers without any physical health complications. “Our biggest problem with handicap parking is young people who borrow cars from possibly a grandparent for the convenience of using the spots,” Desrosiers said. “That’s a little selfish.” Despite implications of morality, or lack thereof, when parking in handicap spots to save time, many students brazenly insist on taking these liberties anyway. A female student in clear violation of the rule was confrontational when speaking with Voice reporters. Unfriendly and annoyed, she would provide no personal information as she sat defiantly studying in her Suzuki atop and between the blue lines painted in the asphalt. “I don’t have time to find a spot,” said the violator. “Please go so I can do my homework.” Desrosiers asserts that CSS routinely patrols the lots, searching for any of the multitude of violations to policies in place. Although handicap parking violations aren’t the most common of infractions, Desrosiers says his team does not take them lightly. “If we see it, we will enforce it and write a ticket,” Desrosiers said. “We’ll generally look around the dash board to see if they have any tags or stickers.” When issuing a ticket, CSS officers file it to the local court system immediately for processing. In Ann Arbor, the fine for parking in a handicap parking spot is $125, according a2.gov. The fine also increases depending on the time after the ticket is issued. Leaving tracking and punishment to the judicial institutions depending on what county the car is registered to. “We take it right to the court,” Desrosiers said. But the problem still remains, according to some students. “There clearly is a need for more – and closer – handicapped parking,” handicapped student Kate Conat wrote in an email to a Voice reporter. “I love being a student at WCC and enjoy most of my classes immensely, but just getting to and from them can be a real test of endurance.” Conat said she feels there isn’t enough handicapped parking close enough to some of the buildings. “The three that seem to me to be hardest to get to are the Student Center, the Gunder Myran building and the Crane Liberal Arts and Science building,” she added. “Generally speaking, I’ve been able to find handicapped parking at both the Business Education and Technology and Industrial buildings. As SC, GM and LA are three of the busiest areas of campus, however, the lack of close handicapped parking for these buildings creates a true hardship.” Eastern Michigan University takes care of handicap parking misuse a little differently. Sporting a larger campus and more lots, campus police at EMU require that handicap drivers register with the university to make tracking of improper tag-use less difficult. There are 117 students registered for free handicap parking of the more than 20,000 enrolled at EMU this year. “I have written hundreds of tickets for misuse or fraudulent use of H-tags,” said an EMU campus police officer, Donna Carcone “I don’t think the students know how serious it is. It makes my job easier when EMU issues handicap tags, because the student has been validated.” According to Carcone, violators can be fined up to $500 and be sentenced to 30 days in jail. Although WCC’s security officers are on the case as well and out in full force to stop the abuse of handicap parking spaces, students whose conditions beg the use of such spots continue to find themselves trolling the lots in search of adequately close parking. “I feel I got lucky today,” said a registered handicap driver and nursing major Doug Etcher, 32, of Ann Arbor, as he exited his vehicle in one of the specially marked spaces. “Usually I have to drive around to find a (handicap) spot.” But school administrators are certain they have done everything possible for handicap drivers. Director of Facilities Management Damon Flowers told Voice reporters that the campus is actually lush with the sectioned-off spots, but admits that their placement is not always ideal. “The school has plenty of handicapped parking spaces,” Flowers said. “They might not be where everyone would like them, but we have more than enough.” Flowers points to lax guidelines from the government and the fluidity of lot layout at WCC making it difficult to assign adequate H-spots to certain buildings. The only lot specifically tailored to a building on campus sits across Huron River Drive at the Health and Fitness Center. “By law, building codes and the Americans with Disabilities Act, handicapped parking spaces are close to buildings,” Flowers said. “But there’s really nothing that talks about where they should be located by elevation.” The number of handicapped parking spots is determined by how many plots of land are in use and what they are being used for. There is no finite number of parking spaces required based on the building. According to Flowers, the college uses a formula to determine the number of regular parking spaces needed. Roughly, 278 square feet of campus building equals one parking space. “If this place was a McDonalds, the regulation would tell us exactly how many spaces were required,” Flowers said. Flowers suggested moving handicap spots from the third floor of the parking structure down to its ground-level where seven already reside. *Voice staff writer Nathan Clark contributed to this report
Rachel King is very different from her music. Despite a strong stage presence, the 23-year-old singer songwriter and Linden native is curiously timid. In the hours leading up to a recent performance in Flint, she wandered in and out of the venue, looking anxious. She confessed she was nervous and pushed back her solo performance to go after her band, Wendy Fister. When she finally took the stage, however, she doffed a faded pink detective’s jacket—and any trace of anxiety. King is taking photography and music classes at Washtenaw Community College and she’s beginning to record her music and put it online. Her songs are unconventional, but entirely deliberate. Her music evokes Joanna Newsom and Coco Rosie, but the style is unique. She’s classically trained on the piano and comfortably pushes her vocals without straining them. The hidden gem in her performance is subtext. The less she has to say is more she has to sing. For a nascent artist with such a modest wake, she makes big waves onstage. For more information and a recording of her final WCC performance, visit: http://racheleliking.tumblr.com.
…and the agony of pizza
The challenge: It sounds easy enough, three people get half an hour to eat a 30-inch cheese pizza. Last year three staffers from The Voice tried and failed miserably. This year, two teams made the decision to go head-to-head and square off to see which team were the champion pizza eaters. The teams:
taking care of pizza (tcp) Ben Solis Josh Chamberlain Nathan Clark
discovery channel Matt Durr Ashley DiGiuseppe Adrian Hedden
Pre-game thoughts: Prior to the competition some of the eaters revealed what went into their preparation and how they were feeling prior to sitting down. “I trained by eating tons of rice and beans to get my Puerto Rican blood flowing and I watched three hours of Ninja Turtles so that I could be one with the pizza,” said TCP team captain Solis. “We’re gonna see the pizza, observe it and put it in our stomach with no pain!” Others were not so confident in their ability to take down the gigantic Sicilian wonder. “My entire strategy is to try not to die while eating this,” Clark said. “It’s always been part of my bucket list to eat a table. This thing is a monstrosity, look at it.” On the other side, Team Discovery Channel captain Matt Durr was banking on his experience to help carry his team. As the only returning eater from last year’s competition Durr was confident in his team. “Being the most experienced eater, I told my team we need to take it one bite at a time. We can’t think too far ahead or else you’ll screw up on the slice in front of you,” Durr said. “I really don’t think they know what they’ve gotten into. They talk a good game, but I think once they get out on the field and have to perform, I don’t think they’re going to live up to their own expectations.” When asked what the key to winning was going to be, Durr quipped, “The champions can finish the crust.” The competition: As the eaters dug in, each cut a fast pace devouring their first slice in less than six minutes. As they dove into their second slices, the pace slowed down as their stomachs expanded and their appetites shrank. Hedden in particular looked and sounded like a man ready to explode. “Agony, sheer agony,” Hedden said. “I didn’t think it was going to stay in my stomach when I got that second slice down.” At the 15-minute mark, it was clear that neither side was going to finish the pizza in the 30-minute time limit. However, there was still newsroom pride to be won. The eaters tried switching up their strategies in hopes of finding a way to overcome the obstacle in front of them. “I tried eating just the crust for a while,” Durr said. “I was hoping to give my palate a break from the cheese and sauce combo… it didn’t work.” Twenty minutes into the competition and it was clear that Team Discovery Channel had folded under the weight of the enormous pizza. Being forced to swallow their pride (and they barely had room for that) and give up was too much for DiGiuseppe. “I don’t like to lose, so that was tough,” DiGiuseppe said. “I looked over the pizza, and realized that it just wasn’t going to happen.” The results: Team TCP was left with just two full slices to devour, while Team Discovery Channel had roughly two-and-a-half slices left. It was hard fought battle, but in the end Solis and his team were the victors. “It got hard there for a minute. We all got the sweats, as the other team did too. There was a moment there where I almost puked three times,” Solis said. “We did what we had to do and we attacked it the way we needed to attack it. The crust… that was nothing, I don’t know what the big deal was.” As the Most Valuable Eater, Chamberlain was thrilled with the victory, pointing out that he didn’t train at all for the event. Instead he focused on drinking lots of water and getting a good night’s sleep the night before—like any great eater-athlete. “I just decided I was going to eat, and then just not stop,” said Chamberlain, a 6-foot-7 (and still growing) 18-year-old. “That’s how it works out for me on a day-to-day basis.”
‘Free-running’ sport goes viral with boost from Internet; local club celebrates its popularity
Outfitted with nothing more than a pair of ultra-light training shoes and loose street clothes, Mike Metze is able to transform the unforgiving concrete and steel of almost any urban environment into an improvised playground. Metze is a 22-year-old computer science graduate from University of Michigan and a “traceur,” a title given to those who practice parkour. Parkour is a physical discipline in which an individual uses strength, technique and physics to pass over, under and through obstacles. The goal is to quickly and efficiently traverse any environment, from alleyways to rooftops. Most often, this entails climbing or vaulting over walls and jumping gaps using a variety of techniques.
Parkour’s popularity has gone viral through Internet videos and, recently, Hollywood films such as “Casino Royale.” Metze was one of the first to join the University of Michigan Parkour Club. Founded in 2006 by Michael Friedman and Travis Graves, now former U-M students, it was one of the first college-based parkour clubs in the country. Club members and other local enthusiasts hold practice sessions together in and around Ann Arbor, including the annual “Parkour Jam,” which attracts the top traceurs from around the Midwest. Last year on Sept. 17, the club met outside the Biomedical Science Research Building at U-M. Over 50 traceurs showed up for the event. The group would switch locations throughout the day to practice on a variety of environments and surfaces. Metze began practicing parkour when he came across a YouTube video of David Belle, the founder of parkour, flipping and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. “I was continuously at the pool on the diving board practicing flips. I always had an interest in ‘extreme’ type sports,” Metze said. “Soon after seeing the video of Belle, I discovered a website with tutorials on basic vaults and rolling. My friends and I would go practice the moves, jumping over and between everything possible.”
Metze heard about the club at U-M when meeting Friedman at a Parkour Jam in Washington, D.C., the summer before he began at U-M in 2007. Although Metze graduated last spring, he still manages to find time to practice several days a week. “Having experienced people there to help guide your training makes it much safer and you’ll likely progress faster,” Metze added. Also, you’ll meet new like-minded people that will open up more opportunities.” Aubrey de Cunha, a 29-year-old U-M student from Ann Arbor, is also a member of the U-M Parkour Club. Cunha joined shortly after Metze in 2007. “I had been vaguely aware of parkour for a number of years, but I really got into it when I found out about the club. That’s when I started coming to training sessions,” Cunha said.
The U-M Parkour Club welcomes anyone interested in learning about or practicing parkour. With more than 500 members on its Facebook page, it is easy to find others to practice with, not just in Ann Arbor, but all over Michigan. “The best way to start is to find other people in your area to train with. Even if they haven’t been doing parkour very long themselves, it gives you someone to develop your fitness and skills with,” Cunha said. It’s not all fun and games, however. As with other “extreme” sports, parkour carries the risk of injury, for those just starting out and experienced traceurs alike. “I broke my collar bone once when practicing rolls. I couldn’t train for about six months, which was really disappointing,” Cunha said. Jereme Sanders, one of the most influential members of the American Parkour community, believes people often have a misperception about the sport. “It’s not really about doing crazy movements, it’s about the control of movement,” he said. Sanders, a 22-year-old native of Texas has been involved in parkour since 2004. In that time, he has competed as a member of his parkour team, The Tribe, in a parkour-based reality show, Jump City: Seattle, which aired on G4TV. “I think parkour is still trying to find its place here in America,” Sanders said. Apart from his career as a professional traceur, Sanders is also a parkour teacher at the American Parkour Academy in San Antonio. As an instructor, Sanders stresses the importance of learning proper techniques from someone experienced. “[In the beginning] we were pretty much just figuring out how to do what we saw. I had no idea how to train safely, condition or anything like that,” Sanders said. Sanders hopes to see more people get involved with parkour, and offers tips for beginners: “Find someone more experienced to help show you the ropes, go to a class with an instructor that you trust and do a ton of research. “Also, staying away from high impacts is a great idea when you are first starting out as you have to give your bones, joints, ligaments and tendons time to build.” The U-M Parkour Club maintains a regular schedule throughout the summer. The next Michigan Parkour Jam will take place in September in Ann Arbor. Traceurs, novices and experts come together to train, socialize and share knowledge and experience. For more information, become a fan of Michigan Parkour on Facebook.
Of all the things that Washtenaw Community College Trustee Patrick McLean has to worry about at his day job as the treasurer of Toledo, finding a place where he can eat a healthy meal is near the top of his list. “I was in San Antonio once on a business trip, and I told the restaurant that I was vegan,” McLean said. “The chef came out and told me he understood, but they ended up bringing out a plate of bacon.” Last April, McLean decided to take dieting to a new plateau: he doesn’t eat meat or any other product made from animals. This includes cheeses and other dairy, as well. His diet now consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts and beans. For the past year, McLean has made the eating habit of consuming no meat or animal products a normal part of his everyday life. But the transition from omnivore to herbivore wasn’t easy. Suffering from high cholesterol and blood pressure in 2002, McLean was given strict orders from his doctor to lose weight. Not one for taking pills or other pharmaceutical remedies, McLean saw going vegetarian as a quick a way to solve his ailments. He was amazed at the results. And so was his doctor. “I lost 20 pounds fairly quickly,” McLean said. “My cholesterol and my blood pressure got better. My doctor at one point even accused me of using someone else’s blood.” Since moving toward cutting out animal products entirely, McLean has found himself in good health. In a town like Ann Arbor, finding the right kind of foods locally is never a challenge, he said. With the city’s multitude of vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants, the only time he worries is when he begins his drive to Toledo. He can’t stop at a run-of-the-mill burger joint, and even if he could, McLean professed that he hasn’t eaten fast food in more than 30 years. While improving his health and weight were among the driving factors of going vegan, his decision ended up relying on his moral responsibilities as a practicing Buddhist. “I don’t like the idea of factory farms and the way that they go about the production of food,” he said. “I don’t like the notion that animals are brought up for the sole purpose of being slaughtered and eaten.” McLean considers himself a lifetime “religious seeker,” and eventually took up the Eastern religion 10 years ago because of its comfortable nature and spiritual fluidity. “The reason I like Buddhism is because it focuses on people having the power to change,” he said. “My connection to it is more personal, but I often visit the Buddhist temple on Packard Road.” With Buddhism and a freshly minted vegan lifestyle, McLean has even proven to the other board members that the power of will can help with any major life transition. “I think generally speaking, talking about requiring a special diet, he has helped to increase the health consciousness for the rest of us on the board,” said Trustee Richard Landau. “His willingness to stick to this regiment is admirable to me. I have dieted for a year now and he has had an impact on that.” Landau added that if McLean could do it, so could he. However, with McLean still acting as the new kid in town –appointed to replace State Rep. David Rutledge (D-Ypsilanti) as treasurer in 2011– his fellow board members still dish out robust, yet gentle hazing to his diet. “At one point, I was on a liquid diet because of an injury,” Landau said. “I told Patrick, ‘now I’m more of a vegan than you are.’” McLean laughs at the jokes himself, and knows that when his stomach starts grumbling, his fellow trustees have got his back. “We do talk about it all the time, but especially at dinner after the board meetings,” said Vice Chair Diana McKnight-Morton. “We all say, ‘Oh look Patrick, here’s something you can eat!’ We look out for him that way.”
Washtenaw Community College welcomed a new member to its staff last month, Michelle K. Mueller. She will be taking on the role of Associate Vice President for Economic Development & Community/Corporate Alliances. Mueller has worked with WCC President Rose Bellanca earlier at St. Clair County Community College for five of the 26 years Mueller was present there. Several attempts to reach Bellanca for comment by telephone and email were not successful. “The president and I have worked together previously, so she has a sense of my leadership style and workforce development opportunity,” Mueller said. Shawn Starkey, executive director of Public Relations, Marketing and Legislative Affairs, worked with Mueller at St. Clair. “Michelle was in charge of workforce development and marketing and public relations. We worked together extensively for seven years,” Starkey said. “She was very involved with communicating statewide and with groups on organizing workforce training. She was successful at getting grants.” In her first week at WCC, Mueller had the opportunity to meet with the executive team to talk and begin building a relationship. She also spent time working with IT and HR. “The second week I spent doing one-on-ones with the deans,” Mueller said. “I wanted to understand what the deans are excited about and what they consider to be their flagship programs and how they are interested in helping students.” Mueller also plans to explore working with business and industry. “I think what’s really neat about this position is it gives you the opportunity to really help identify what the needs of employers are and try to create opportunities for the students,” Mueller said. She is responsible for expanding WCC’s programs and partnerships in the business sector, as well as build new relationships with educators, executives and government agencies. “There are opportunities not just for our students, but regional employers and community colleges. There’s not a shortage of things to do,” Mueller said. Having worked in community college administration for 26 years, her experience in recruitment, admissions, academic records, student activities, regional and international partnerships and workforce and economic development are well-advanced. “I like the idea of listening to people… what is it they need,” Mueller said. “We need to listen to what it is employers are looking for and what the students need and match those things to maximize our success.” Mueller grew up in the city of Croswell, within the eastern part of Michigan thumb. She graduated from Crowsell-Lexington High School with a class of 125 students. Very interested in music, she attended Brevard College in North Carolina on scholarship for singing and graduated with an associate of fine arts in voice performance. She then transferred to University of Michigan, where she received her bachelor of arts in communication. Mueller also attended Michigan State University for her master of arts in college and university administration and is almost finished with an enrollment management certification from the University of Florida. Mueller has two sons. Her son Colton, 14, is about to enter high school, and her son Tyler, 18, who graduated from high school last year and now attends St. Clair, where he’s finishing an associate’s degree in engineering. Mueller looks forward to her time at WCC. “I love the people here, there’s a great group here,” she said. “I can’t say enough about the quality of service here and the care for students and employees.”
When first stepping foot into 826’s East Liberty Robot Supply and Repair Shop, it’s easy to be fooled by its façade of gadgetry, clockwork mechanisms and array of homemade-style automatons but concealed beyond this small store is a room much larger. It is filled with students and their volunteer tutors, working hard on schoolwork and independent writing projects. Ann Arbor mom Tracy Henry works part-time and appreciates the value of free tutoring. Unable to afford tutoring for her 9-year-old son Anthony, Henry found 826michigan. She was absolutely overjoyed when she saw how much it was helping him. “I really appreciate the fact that it’s free and they take a lot of time with my son,” said Henry. “He gets a better understanding here. He’s starting to understand his work better since he started here in such a short amount of time. It’s great.” One of eight chapters in the 826national organization, 826michigan is a non-profit organization aimed at supporting 6 to18-year-old students’ reading and writing skills. “We were part of the early effort. Shortly after a chapter opened in Valencia, Calif., we saw that the model worked,” said Amanda Uhle, creative director for 826michigan. “We were inspired by the way the different chapters engaged adults, the community and volunteers to give young people more one-on-one attention that was very much lacking in a lot of classrooms and homes,” Uhle explained. Harib Moheyuddin, a 12-year-old from Forsythe Middle School in Ann Arbor is pleased with the quality of tutoring he receives at 826. “My Mom found this place through my school counselor. It was really painless. You just have to walk in, sign up and you will get help finding a tutor,” Moheyuddin said. “If it doesn’t work out you just get help and you go step by step. I usually finish all my homework here and have no homework left to do at home. It’s really great.” With no homework left to do at home, Moheyuddin finds more time to be with his family. Christine Kwierant has been bringing both her children, Ben, 10, and Melanie, 7, to 826 since the beginning of the school year. Ben Kweirant expressed his enjoyment about coming to 826. “I think it is nice being here because there are lots of people here that try to help kids with their homework,” he said. “It’s really cool.” The organization is driven by programs that are stimulating and entertaining for young students, create an environment that motivates children to improve their writing skills, help English language learners and even craft independent literature. A drop-in tutoring program allows for parents to simply dropoff their child without an appointment and be tutored that very moment. Available Monday through Thursday from 3:30-5:30 p.m., tutors are available for whoever may need them. Volunteer tutor Alyssa Selasky, 20, of U-M, began volunteering two years ago. She came on as an intern in Sept. 2011. “I decided to do the internship when I was simply having too much fun. I wanted to be here more,” said Selasky. It was the best way to have an excuse to hang out with the students and other volunteers. It’s a blast,” Volunteering to tutor is just as simple as stopping by. “If you want to volunteer you can pick up an application. We contact individuals when orientation is near. The orientation is only 1 ½ hours. It explains what we do, what programs we have and you can chose if you want to tutor or do workshops. You just jump right in,” Selasky explained. The works that the students create while at 826 may become published and distributed. Two professionally bound books are published yearly: an annual student journal and an in-school publication tied to one of 826’s in-school residencies. With residencies in five schools, volunteers aid teachers with struggling students by offering workshops and helping with graded assignments. All proceeds made from fundraising, nighttime and weekend workshops and seminars for adults go directly to student programming while revenue from the shop funds the chapter. For more information on 826michigan, or to volunteer or donate, visit 826michigan.org
Ann Arbor’s Zen Buddhists talk Dharma; a beginner’s guide for the average student
Between all-nighters and term papers, the life of a college student can be anything but “Zen.” “There are all these obstacles associated with school and work,” said Eric Kroepel, 21, a generally stressed-out mechanical engineering student attending Wayne State University. “You have deadlines and all these things to do, just to see it all happen again the next day.” Fortunately for students like Kroepel, the monks at the Zen Buddhist Temple of Ann Arbor are helping burned-out students attain peace of mind in the face of never-ending stress at college. Nestled cozily at 1214 Packard St. and hidden behind an archaic brick wall stands one of the few Buddhist temples in America, let alone in the state of Michigan. What may look like an old flop house to an inattentive passerby is a place where spiritual seekers have sought—and found—refuge for more than 30 years. At the heart of the temple are the Rev. Haju Sunim and her host of fellow monks who live and work on the temple grounds. Sunim—known formerly as Linda Murray – founded the temple with her then-husband Sanbul (Alexander Lundquist) in Ann Arbor in 1981. The two bought the land where the temple now resides in the early ’90s. While there are many different forms and practices of Buddhism, the Ann Arbor temple teaches a type of South Korean Zen, modeled after the teachings of Sunim’s master, the Venerable Samu Sunim, based out of Toronto. It was Samu Sunim who directed both Sunim and Sanbul to build a temple in Ann Arbor because of the religion’s growing influence and curiosity in the area. The practice of Zen is a Chinese and Japanese version of the original religion, which began nearly 2,500 years ago in Nepal, India. In Buddhist mythos, a young prince named Siddartha Gautama left his pampered lifestyle behind to find a greater understanding of human suffering. Buddhists believe that through concentrated meditation, Gautama became the Buddha, the enlightened or awakened one. All of Buddhism’s core teachings stem from the small group of monks who followed Gautama until the time of his death. Essential to Buddhism are two major facets, according to Sunim. These include the Eight-fold Path and the Four Nobel truths. Both detail the Buddha’s teachings of suffering, and how to snap out of and away from the pressures and stressors affecting our continued existence throughout multiple life cycles, or karma. Zen teachings recommend finding the most direct path to enlightenment. Instead of suggesting monastic studies and education, the Sunim school of Zen focuses on experience and practice over knowledge. “Suffering, or the Dukkha, is always around us,” Sunim said. “Those other teachings are very helpful, but in Zen Buddhism, there is this kind of scholarship to the sutras and the teachings. The approach to practice is experiential. It’s not just in the head. We try not to be disembodied.” Through courses in guided meditation, basic sitting classes and weeklong retreats filled with manual labor and maddening silence, patrons get a first-hand education on what it takes to achieve a sustained sense of enlightenment throughout all the rigors of daily life. Yet there is another aspect to the temple that has made the building so visibly attractive as a haven for those with just an inkling of interest as well as full-on practitioners of Zen: the Sunday morning and afternoon services. During these sessions, anyone from the outside world can come in to meditate and engage in the most basic precepts of Zen Buddhism. While many religions have a cosmic connection to Sunday as the Sabbath, Sunim said they chose the day out of convenience for patrons and families. “It was quite a change at that time to have the services,” Sunim said about the unorthodoxy associated with the temple’s church-like atmosphere on Sundays. “Even today, I’m not sure that many Buddhist groups offer Sunday services. We like to say that every day is a good day for practice, but as Buddhism spreads around the world, we have to adapt. In this culture it is convenient to attend on Sundays.” Certain aspects of experiential Zen are practiced on Sundays. Attendees take part in meditation, chanting and a Dharma talk similar to Christian sermons at the end. Upon entering the service building, which lies directly left of the monastery’s main house, visitors must first take off their shoes to show respect and to tread lightly, according to Mike Umbriac, one of many students greeting new faces at the door. Known to other monks and students as Magamok, Umbriac bows before patrons as they enter the building. He speaks softly as he informs newcomers of the itinerary. After being welcomed with hot tea, the patrons enter the meditation room, but not before bowing once more in front of the door. The bowing, Sunim said, is to show respect and an understanding of human duality. By bringing your hands together, students acknowledge the spiritual need for oneness in their lives. In the center of the room are four rows of cushions with small pillows, each for a student to comfortably sit—the foundation of Zen Buddhism. Before even attempting the practice of meditation, Sunim said that a student of Zen must first learn to sit still and shut up. For young Americans, Sunim concedes the challenge in this very simple task. Although it is widely understood to each of the students that by taking time out of the day for mindfulness, practicing what they preach can be a much harder endeavor according to Peter Beyer, 67, a door greeter. Beyer led a Sunday session in place of Sunim. Known to many as Bopryok (pronounced Bom-yAK), Beyer suggests a bit of advice for college students either too busy or not interested in attending the services. “Stop!” he said. “Put the books aside for just a second and take time out for yourself. Just five-to-10 minutes a day can help you break the structure of every day stress.” Beyer also suggests staying away from books on Buddhism. “Just do it. Develop a meditation practice or come in on Sundays to see how others do it,” he said. “You can read about it until your head falls off, but the point of Zen is to have an experience.” By coming to a Sunday service on April 1 for the first time, Kroepel’s Zen experience was made that much better. “This is all about actively engaging in self-improvement,” Kroepel said. Kroepel began by reading and doing his own meditation after becoming disillusioned with the dogmatic qualities that came with Catholicism, the religion he was raised in. While Kroepel admits that collegiate stress has not gone away, practicing Zen has been beneficial to his sense of purpose, esteem and time-management skills. “It helps to see all of your assignments clearly,” he said. “If you find a positive in it and are mindful of your work, the burden disappears.” For Sunim, the most important lesson a college student can learn about course-load enlightenment is the very first lesson she was taught by her master long ago. “In this very moment, there is nothing to worry about,” she said. “In this very moment there is nothing lacking. In this very moment, there is always something to be grateful for.”
Washtenaw Community College students and staff gathered recently at Colonial Lanes for a night of charitable bowling with President Rose Bellanca and her husband, Joe. Students and staffers paid $20 a ticket for two hours of bowling, pizza, beverages and a raffle ticket for a chance at winning a basketful of candy and other goodies. They helped raise $300 in a United Way fundraiser for families affected by the Dexter tornado. “The bowling was Mary’s idea,” said Joanne Bellfi, a United Way representative attending the event, referring to WCC United Way Chair Mary Faulkner. “Money raised tonight will be going towards cleaning up and replanting trees in Dexter.” Money donated to the United Way stays in the community, according to Bellfi. The donations go into a community fund used for homeless housing, senior assistance, early childhood education, hunger aid and school-aged youth in Washtenaw County. To date, the United Way has donated more than $16,000 to residents of Dexter. “I’ve been involved with the United Way campaign for over 20 years now,” said Faulkner, executive assistant to the college’s Board of Trustees. “We do something like this every year to help raise money. Last year, we raised $2,800 with charity brackets having every department compete to raise the most money.” Some students came to the bowling alley unaware that it was a fundraiser. “I was surprised. I didn’t know the president was going to be here,” said Tom Dochoda, an 18-year-old math and science major from Ann Arbor. “It has been a busy week. Two hours of bowling for $20 just sounded fun.” Dochoda’s attendance at the event won him one of the baskets from the raffle. Bellanca was unable to bowl due to a recent injury, but came to support the fundraiser and mingle with students and staff. “We have some of the best and most interesting students I have ever met,” Bellanca said as she shook hands with Samantha Mamarow, 19, an animal science major from Saline. Mamarow said her family owns a dairy farm in Saline, where they milk more than 100 cows a day. “Bowling seemed like a good time,” Mamarow said. “If some of the money raised here goes to help other people, we should do this more often.”
On a warm spring day, in the center of the University of Michigan campus, a small crowd forms around an unlikely group of five young men and women playing instruments. The deep notes of a bass, quick strums of a violin, tangy plucks of a banjo and sharp clicks of a washboard create a distinct and familiar sound: folk music.
American Folk Jazz, to be specific. A large sign sitting in front of the band, adjacent to an open guitar case/tip jar, reads “The Appleseed Collective.” Andrew Brown, of Ann Arbor, mans the resonator guitar while singing lead. “I was heavily influenced by a trip to New Orleans, and came back looking to start a project that played that type of music,” Brown said. Joining Brown in The Appleseed Collective are Sophie Tulip (bass/vocals), Brandon Worder (violin/mandolin/vocals), Vince Russo (washboard/vocals) and Katie Lee (banjo/vocals). The band formed somewhat randomly. Smith described his meeting with Brown as, “two cosmically coincidental car crashes.” “Vince’s car hit Sophie and Andrew’s car, which forced Andrew to quit commuting and move to Ann Arbor,” Worder said. “My previous band fell apart after a car crash I wasn’t involved in, so I was looking for a new project.” Brown and Worder met randomly at Café Ambrosia in November 2010 with instruments in hand, and right then and there began the gestation of the band. The band’s very first unofficial gig was at a Kombucha Speakeasy (shortly after Kombucha was made “illegal”). Brown brought his longtime friends Tulip and Russo to the show. “Appleseed played their true debut at The Getup, Ann Arbor, on Dec. 1, 2010, and headlined the Blind Pig shortly after on Dec. 23,” Brown said. The band was recently declared “Rookies of the Year” by radio DJ Matthew Alturda of Tree Town Sound. The whole band is influenced by a variety of old time music such as The Hot Club in Paris. Although Appleseed may be categorized as folk music, the basis of its sound is drawn from 1920’s-40’s swing/western swing, Dixieland or gypsy-jazz. The group recently released its first album, “Baby to Beast” thanks to a crowd-funded effort via record label, Kickstarter. With 132 backers and a donation of $7,829, the funding was a success and the band recorded its new album, “Baby to Beast,” with Brown’s brother, Eli, and his company, Sick Boy Productions. “Eli has a way of dissuading the feelings of stress that can sometimes be coupled with recording and breaking down the process in logical sequence steps,” Andrew said about working with his brother. “He is an incredible sound engineer as well as a producer, and he brings his own opinions to the table with much respect for the aesthetic goals of the artist.” The Appleseed Collective also has a philanthropic side to it. The Ann Arbor band has decided to donate half of the proceeds from sales of the first pressing of “Baby to Beast” to Selma Café, which runs a local non-profit that builds hoop-houses to bolster the local food scene. Lee, the band’s banjo player and female vocals, recently underwent surgery to restore her voice to normal after getting polyp, a condition that restricts vocal expression and range. Lee was unable to speak for two weeks after the surgery, but was recovering quite well and was on schedule to be singing again around mid-May or early June. With Lee regaining her voice, the band is going to continue playing gigs, writing music and recording albums. “We would love to be playing 200+ dates a year. One of our goals is to get a diesel vehicle that we can convert to run off of vegetable oil and travel the continent and beyond,” Brown said with a smile. “We want to spread our music. We work really hard at what we do. Anyone who says musicians are lazy should spend a week with us! We hope to all be able to make a decent living as musicians.” ‘ To listen to The Appleseed Collective’s entire album, “Baby to Beast,” visit: http://theappleseedcollective.com
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