Snow Plow Know-How........................1

How to Keep Your House Safe Over Winter Break………………………….…..……2

Regular Exercise Can Increase Lifespan……………………………………………2

Finals Survival Breakfast……………..……3

Keeping Your Heating Bill Low as the Temperature Drops……………….…………3

Staying Stress Free During Finals………4

Emergency Efficiency.………………………4

Manage Your Energy Instead of

Time…………………………………………………5 Job Opportunities with BTD Program …………….………………….………………………6

Sports, Sports, Sports!..……………………6

Winter is here! Hello off-campus students!

We hope your finals are going smoothly and that you are able to enjoy some of the beautiful Michigan winter weather (snowmen and all) this holiday season. We wish you safe and happy travels as you depart campus at the end of the term. Inside this month’s edition, you will find tips on how to de-stress, free events during finals, how to manage your energy and keep your house safe while you’re away.

Go Blue!

Stephanie Karaa, Matt Lonnerstater, and Emily Lustig Beyond the Diag Program Assistants

What’s Inside:

Snow Plow Know-How

You wake up one fine winter morning, only to look outside the window and see the pavement in front of your house buried under a few feet of snow. Beautiful, right? Except you realize you have to leave for classes later that day. What should you do? Snow removal can be exhaustive and unpleasant, but with adequate information and preparation, it’s actually not as bad as you may think! Follow these steps to ensure that you are following the city’s snow removal regulations.

General Snow Salting and Plowing Guide:

• Start with the fresh, loose snow, it’s easier to shovel and has not been compressed from being walked on.

• Be careful where you put the shoveled snow, don’t block neighbor’s paths or drains. • Make a path in the middle of the area you have to shovel first- this will give you a surface to walk

on. • Do not use hot water! Although this may melt the snow, it can replace it with black ice! • Spread salt on the areas you have cleared to prevent ice forming. Aside from your own shoveling techniques, you should be aware of some Ann Arbor city procedures and regulations. The City of Ann Arbor states:

• All snow and ice which has accumulated on the adjacent public sidewalk before 6am must be removed by noon from non-residentially zoned properties.

• Within 24 hours after the end of each accumulation of snow greater than 1 inch, the owner of every residentially zoned property must remove the accumulation from the adjacent public sidewalk and ramps leading to a crosswalk.

• The city provides residents with up to one 5-gallon bucket’s worth of a sand and salt mixture. Visit the maintenance yard at 721 N. Main St. to pick up your bucket.

Make sure to check with your landlord about your snow shoveling responsibilities. The City of Ann Arbor also has a snow plow tracking map, where you can track what streets are being cleared, accessible at http://64.27.15.44/AnnArbor/Public_Tracking.aspx For more information about the city snow removal guidelines, snow parking guidelines, fire hydrant snow removals, or citizen responsibilities, check out www.a2gov.org/snow Photos Courtesy of: 1. http://realestatecareerpath.com/test-post-its-winter-again/ 2. http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=11146&picture=digging-out Contributed by Emily Ho

How to Keep Your House Safe Over Winter Break

You’ve packed your bags. You’ve turned in your last paper and taken your final blue book. You’re ready to go. Still, before you do, you want to make sure your house is secure. Burglaries can and do happen. But, you can decrease the chance of them happening to you by following these simple steps:

Hide your keys: Make sure your house and car are locked before leaving for break. Don’t leave spare keys lying about. Welcome mats and doorframes are obvious places for burglars to look for access to your house or car.

Hide your valuables: If you’re leaving your car in Ann Arbor over break, try to park it inside if possible. Don’t leave anything inside if you can avoid it. Any item—cell phone, iPod, backpack - can attract a thief’s attention. This goes for your house, too. Though if you have to leave something of value behind, keep it hidden from view. Keep your blinds closed. You don’t want to give anyone a reason for peeking inside.

Talk to neighbors: If you know a neighbor who will be in town during break, ask them to watch your home while you’re away. This can give you an added sense of security and maybe a new neighborly connection. Who knows? You might be asked to return the favor one day.

Contributed by Jacob Axelrad

Photo courtesy of http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/safety-and-health/keep-your-home-safe-on-vacation-9-essential-tips

Regular Exercise Can Help Increase Lifespan

How long do you want to live for- 75? 100? 120? Forever? However long it may be, do you want to live your final stage of life as an able-bodied person? Of course you do! But what is it that allows some to live longer than others? Don’t say it’s all in the genes because research is showing our genetic make-up may only account for 15–30 percent of our longevity. It’s what you do (factors you can control and influence) that accounts for the remainder.

Some of these factors include what you choose to take into your body (food, drink, drugs, tobacco for example); who you choose as your friends; whether you see the glass as half-full or half-empty; how happy and content you are; and of course your level of physical activity. Dr. Victor Katch, a UM School of Kinesiology professor, has done extensive research on how to live to 100 and has been writing about it in Michigan Today.

Participation in U-Move Fitness exercise classes can be an important step toward your longevity. Even if you really are not thinking that far ahead yet, you most likely will feel some positive benefits very quickly by regularly engaging in exercise. Things like sleeping better and feeling more energy throughout the day come with regular exercise. Registration for winter semester U-Move Fitness classes will open on December 2. Many classes fill up quickly, so try to register early!

Be sure to check out the U-Move class descriptions here!

Finals Survival Breakfast

With finals right around the corner, students often find themselves in the library for hours on end. Unfortunately, studying usually comes at the price of relaxing, spending time with friends, and enjoying the beautiful Michigan winter. Luckily, UM provides multiple opportunities for us to momentarily forget about looming exams and projects. In past years, events like the Finals Survival Breakfast and Dogs on the Diag have given students the much needed break from their chaotic schedules. Events with free food also give your wallet a break from Pancheros and Jimmy Johns.

The Wellness Zone at CAPS (3rd floor Michigan Union) also has massage chairs, yoga and meditation tools, and light therapy that helps combat seasonal depression that is free and open to all students to use. As always, CAPS also provides counseling services to students.

Finals Survival Breakfast: Thursday, December 12 from 10 pm- 1 am in the Michigan Union Rogel Ballroom

Take advantage of the university events going on during finals! They let you spend time with friends, eat great food, and give your brain time to rest.

Additional events can be found at both the Center for Campus Involvement’s website, and at http://events.umich.edu/.

Contributed by Callie Kalinowski, photo from events.umich.edu

Keep Your Heating Bill Low as the Temperature Drops

With the temperature outside dropping, heating bills are beginning to rise. There are ways to keep your house warm while saving money. Here are some helpful tips to stay energy efficient while keeping warm throughout our cold Michigan winters.

Don’t: • Place furniture and couches near drafty areas. • Forget to close your damper to the fireplace. • Leave lights on when not in use. • Take long showers. • Block heating vents.

Do: • Keep the doors closed as much as possible. • Lower your thermostat and layer up to save money. • When leaving for long periods of time, turn your thermostat down, but no lower than 58°F to save on heating costs, without freezing your pipes! • Invest in blackout curtains for your windows- they help keep the heat in and the cold out! • Buy a humidifier to replace the moisture in the air to make your house feel warmer- humid air feels warmer than dry air.

Contributed by Erica Brooksieker

Photo courtesy of nachi.org

Emergency Efficiency

Most of us don’t think about where our emergency call is being directed to. Contact your cell phone service provider to find out where your 911 call will be dispatched to for faster assistance when you need it most! If you need emergency assistance, call 911.

If you’re on-campus and have a non-emergency to report, call UMPD at: (734) 763-1131

If you’re off-campus, to report a non-emergency, call AAPD at: (734) 994-2911

To reach AAPD’s front desk, call (734) 794-6920.

Storing these numbers may help you reach the public safety department that can properly assist you more quickly.

Contributed by Emily Lustig, Campus Safety and Security Commission Chair

Staying Stress Free During Finals

Admittedly, visiting any campus library during finals is enough to set your nerves on edge. Under eye bags and infrequent showers become incredibly common. Stress is ubiquitous. Whether it be final exams, job stress, or even holiday gift shopping, we understand the stress is present and luckily enough, the University of Michigan provides a slew of resources to help lessen your stress level.

Every semester near finals, PAWS of Ann Arbor brings dogs in the UGLi for fall term and on the Diag during the winter term. If you are missing your pet or need a happy animal to relieve some stress, visit the dogs at the UGLi. They will be there December 11-14th.

On December 12, there will be a late night breakfast from 10PM to 1AM. Let’s be real – who doesn’t want a delicious free meal during the crazy week of finals?

Also, CAPS on the third floor of the Union is another great resource that is there to help you in many ways. If you’re feeling stressed or need a confortable spot for a bit, CAPS has relaxing chairs that students can rest on and their regular services – counseling services – are great to use to if you need to talk to somebody. From one-on-one consultation appointments to group appointments, CAPS provides many services to help.

If you’re a gamer and often on North Campus, there is always that Computer & Video Game Archive at the Duderstadt. You can always go to play or rent video games to put aside schoolwork stress for a bit and delve into the videogame world.

We hope you find these resources helpful. A couple of these options are ongoing throughout the school year, so keep in mind if you want to want to use these resources at a later time! If you want more information, feel free to contact any of the BTD staff. Remember, stay stress free!

Photo courtesy of: https://www.facebook.com/events/596164943746543 Contributed by Jenny Lee

Manage Your Energy Instead of Time

If you anticipate a looming crash of group projects and final exams, you might schedule every minute of every day and most of the night. Sure, it’s important to know what’s coming and where you’re going, but there’s another way to succeed: manage your energy. Top athletes do it, and you might be surprised to learn that the best athletes aren’t necessarily the ones who push themselves the hardest for the longest time. Instead, they develop effective energy management strategies using efficient periods of rest between exertions. That’s right, rest!

We’re not talking a month in Jamaica. Some athletes maximize the seconds that they have between performances. Deliberately disengaging, reducing heart rate, and breathing deeply so when they perform next, they are reset, ready and focused. Your limited energy is just as precious as a top athlete’s. Especially during stressful times like finals, taking good care of yourself, recharging your batteries and regaining balance is critical to your performance. You might need to remind yourself to eat foods that nourish you, move your body, sleep enough, and stay well hydrated.

Are you inclined to pull all-nighters? Staying up all night decreases your ability to process and analyze information, so you may do worse on exams or assignments the following day. To best prepare your mind, get 7-9 hours of sleep, but even a few hours of sleep are better than none. Even napping for 10-20 minutes can give you energy, making you more alert and improving mental performance. Beware of naps longer than 30 minutes (after you enter deep sleep), which may actually leave you feeling more groggy and tired.

If you caffeinate yourself to focus, keep in mind that moderate amounts may help you feel more alert, but too much caffeine can lead to a tendency to disregard signals that you’re tired and need rest, and even produce anxiety-related feelings such as excessive nervousness, sweating and tremors. Caffeine does not replenish energy or prevent emotional fatigue; food, sleep and breaks do. Contrary to popular belief, drinking coffee will not help someone who is intoxicated sober up.

If you are feeling tired, irritable, spacey, or just not-quite-right, don’t ignore it. Take a break instead. Disengage fully, even something as simple as taking a short walk. Breathe, deeply, in… out…. Stretch. Locate tense muscles and relax them. Look out the window. Sip some water. Then you can re-engage fully, with sharper focus on the tasks at hand. For more on this subject, you can read The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, trainers who have worked with athletes and business executives to help them reach peak performance. Photo: http://blog.myskin.com/insights/5-meditation-tips-to-skin-awesomeness/attachment/yoga-pose/ Contributed By Carol Tucker, UHS Health Educator

Sports, Sports, Sports!

This year, the three major revenue producing sports, football, hockey, and basketball, all entered the season with high expectations. During each of the seasons, teams have excelled at times, and also fallen a bit short in other situations. With the season winding down for the football team, it has been a venture including heartache and surprise. On Saturday November 30, 2013, the football team faced its archrivals, Ohio State for the biggest game of the season. With a subpar record of 6-4, this game had an unexpected turn of events and pride for the Wolverines. The team played with high energy, passion, and a dedication; finishing the season strong in preparation for bowl games. Although we didn’t come out victors, it was amazing to see the team play with such heart and high energy, giving Ohio State quite a scare.

Basketball also started off it’s season as a rollercoaster ride. The top-ten preseason ranked team has suffered two unexpected losses, but there is still plenty of time for the Wolverines to make it a great season. The one program that has had some consistency this fall is the Men’s Hockey Team. The team has regained its stellar play from two years ago, reaching the #3 ranking this season with a record of 10-2-1. They had their first Big Ten Tournament victory and continued when they beat Ohio State on Monday December 2, 2013 winning 5-4 in Columbus. Play this year has been great with captain Mac Bennett leading the way on the defensive front. The team has already beaten four top five opponents this season. This season could be special, “Just wait on It”, as hip hop artist Drake would say.

Contributed by Jared Hunter

Want to Join the Beyond the Diag Team? Beyond the Diag is looking for off-campus students interested in fostering a greater sense of community; improving communication between students, the University and the Ann Arbor community; raising awareness of safety issues; and promoting responsible citizenship to all off-campus students.

We have two categories of jobs available for next term! Visit our website for full job descriptions and apply online! Neighborhood Ambassadors reside in one of the near campus neighborhoods. Serving as liaisons connecting students to University resources, NAs coordinate the planning and execution of neighborhood specific events. Program Assistants provide leadership, administrative support, and innovative guidance to advance the Beyond the Diag program. PAs hold regular BTD office hours and are expected to have first-hand experience and knowledge of student safety issues from a University-wide perspective.

Photo courtesy of http://www.campusden.com/index.php/20-packs/about-college-apparel/top-college- football-ivalries/ michigan-ohio-state-rivalry.html

A big THANK YOU to our Platinum Members for supporting the Beyond the Diag program!

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