University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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the crossword puzzle sleep homework for your next class anything to get through classes that suck Instead of paying attention in his East Hall Lecture, this student reads the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. Reading magazines or doing the crossword puzzle was often preferred to learning in some lecture halls. L. Prottx photo 34 Michigan Life

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DO DO CD 0) 3 D C CO the changing face of state street In the past couple years, students began noticing small changes and store turnover on the well-known State Street. However, many were surprised to return in the fall to see the retail part of State Street transform from a low traffic, pedestrian friendly, one lane road to a major two lane road. This major street, once characterized completely by its many small, unique, and eclectic shops and eateries, underwent a huge atmospheric change. Mom-and- Pop types were pushed aside to make room for large national chains like Starbucks, Cosi, Sprint, and Ben and Jerry ' s Ice Cream. Decker Drugs closed its doors for the last time, as did Famiglia, a newer small-scale shop that sold home-style Italian dishes. Rodney and Susan Craig, owners of Rod ' s Diner, retired and sold their establishment which was famous among students for its Colliders. Many Ann Arbor students made it clear to the national chain vendors that they were unhappy with the recent change-overs, as evidenced by the protesters who took to State Street and Liberty during the remodeling and move- in of Starbucks. The common theme in discussions about State Street and its recent changes was the rising rent costs. Buildings are being bought out by large real estate companies and sold primarily to businesses that are corporate-owned, said Kevin Phelps, manager of Stucci ' s. He believed that it was the yearly rise in rent that was making it difficult for some smaller businesses to survive. An employee of Spectrum Jewelers, previously Silver Fox, agreed. Rent is your bottom line, she said. I have seen several businesses closing in the last two years or moving elsewhere because small business people can ' t afford to stay. However, I certainly would not want to discourage any small business from opening in this area because some of them are still quite successful and offer some services that these large chains do not. Despite these changes, there were still many smaller vendors like Retro Threads, Ethnic Creations, and Shaman Drum that continued to place their stamp on State Street. Many University students believed that these individually owned shops brought much more to Ann Arbor than simply the products that they were selling. State Street Changes 33

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A Biology of Nutrition lecture in Dennison provides this student the perfect outlet to take a quick catnap. Opportunities for students to sleep were sometimes few and far between, and boring classes seemed to be the perfect time to rest. L. Proux photo by Nicole Mammo Groan.Yawn. Snore. Giggle. Whisper. Sigh. Grunt. These were just some of the daily sounds heard during certain classes at the University.They were the lessons that students just barely motivated themselves to roll out of bed for, because they were either extremely difficult or just incredibly boring. Driven by some powerful force, however, students had no choice but to attend these sessions that were filled with doom and despair: the classes that SUCKED. Two hours of straight lecture in classes such as Psychology 111 or certain Philosophy courses were too much to bear. Crossword puzzles became a daily ritual, and were an outlet for the absolute boredom that students experienced in lecture. No one readily admitted it, but certain classes were simply social periods where students learned the latest gossip and discussed the craziest parties from the previous weekend. Other classes were found to be somewhat pointless by students. An Engineering 100 course titled, Saving Beach Environments was not a favorite of many. We ' re supposed to be engineers, not environmentalists, commented sophomore mechanical engineering student William Frencher. At the other extreme, walking into a class such as Math 216 and seeing frustrated students near tears was also a common occurrence. Another infamously difficult course was Organic Chemistry, or Chemistry 211. Though orgo does not require a great deal of memorization, it involves an entire new way of thinking which makes learning the material much more challenging than other science classes, stated sophomore biopsychology major Courtney Meyer. Although the University was known for its challenging courses, many students were not prepared for how thought provoking and draining these courses would actually be. Regardless of these details, it was mainly agreed that these horrendous courses were necessary to fully shape the U of M experience, and without pain, there would indeed be, no gain. A student does her homework in the last minutes before her cognitive psychology discussion. Homework for undesirable classes was often done at the latest possible moment. L. Proux photo Dreadful Courses 35