By BETH LEBLANCCampus Editor

Whether we were at work, at home or, like most university students, in a middle school class-room, all of us remember

the events of 9/11. This year, the University of Michigan-Flint did the same with events around the campus and community that remembered the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

On Wednesday, Sept. 7, UM-Flint began their preparations for the tenth anniversary of 9/11 with the installation of window displays holding the names of the nearly 3,000 9/11 victims. The banners, which are located at the street entrance to the University Pavilion, were installed for a 9-11 candlelight vigil scheduled for Friday, Sept. 9. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Mary Jo Sekelsky helped to orga-nize the installation of the banners and the subsequent vigil.

“The attacks of 9/11 changed America as we know it,” Sekelsky said. “We need to remember what happened that day and we need to remember the thousands of lives that were impacted on Sept. 11.”

Sekelsky believes that those affected by the 9/11 attacks extend beyond the names hanging in the UPAV windows.

“When you start to mul-tiply the number of people who were directly impacted by these attacks, it’s stag-gering,” Sekelsky said.

While the university

planned poetry and music for the vigil, it was decided not to schedule a featured speaker.

“We wanted the vigil to be about the individuals we’re remembering and we didn’t want to put the focus on a speaker,” Sekelsky said.

The names of the 9/11 victims will remain in the pavilion until Veterans Day on Nov. 11. According to Sekelsky, this is to remem-ber both the 9/11 attacks and the war that resulted from those attacks.

The installation of the names of the 9/11 victims was not the only com-memoration that took place on campus.

Sherry Hayden, admin-istrative assistant associate for University Outreach, helped organize a contest among UM-Flint students called “Share your vision.” The contest asked stu-dents to describe how the 9/11 attacks had changed their world. According to Hayden, students could present their vision through images, sculptures, music or performance art recorded

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Columnists talk fantasy, college football [4A & 5A]

•Back to School Smart Commute event planned - A2•U students build wind tunnel - A3•Theta Chi Campus Camp Out coverage - A3•Kodiaks gear up for new season - A3

Blue Bits

U, community commemorates 9/11 anniversary

See 9/11 | Page A-3

Rock of Ages reviewed [5A]M-Times Social [2A]

David Skutnik, junior French TCP

“Now everything in society is different. I recently trav-eled to Europe this summer and travel is much more strenuous.”

Michael Martin, sophomore Business

“Ever since then I’ve noticed profiling is everywhere. It’s raised tensions between a lot of people.”

Devon Stokes, sophomore Elementary Education

“People are more up to helping others than we were before because when it hap-pened we all came together and are more aware of what goes on around us.”

Andrea Dent, sophomore Biology

“It’s brought some people together within the United States. Since 9-11 people get together and talk about what happened.”

Susanna Tippett, junior Spanish

“Traveling is a lot more dif-ficult as well as getting visas to the U.S. People are a lot more aware of world security and national security.”

Chris Harris, seniorPre-Med

“Culturally, it brought a lot of Americans together espe-cially in a time of need.”

U students remember 9/11Campus Editor Beth LeBlanc set out around campus to ask, “How do you think the nation and world have changed since 9-11?”

Beth LeBlanc/Times PhotoOn Wednesday, Sept. 7 window displays listing the names of three thousand 9-11 victims were installed in the windows by the street entrance to the University Pavilion. The dis-plays were installed in preparation for a 9-11 vigil on Friday, Sept. 9

Beth LeBlanc/TimesPhotoBill Rupp (right) and Cory Pringle (left) hang window dis-plays in the University Pavilion on Wednesday, Sept. 7. The window displays contain the names of three thousand vic-tims from the 9-11 attacks and will hang in the UPAV until Veteran's Day on Nov. 11.

Monday, September 12, 2011 A-2 The Michigan Times www.themichigantimes.com

From the editor’s desk...

ONE WEEK ON CAMPUSWhen: Mon., Sept. 12, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.What: Student Mcard & Parking Permit DistributionWhere: UPAV Lobby

When: Mon., Sept. 12, 6 – 10 p.m.What: Monday MannaWhere: UCEN Kiva

When: Tue., Sept. 13, 9 p.m.What: Movie on the LawnWhere: North Lawn

When: Tue., Sept. 13, 7-9 p.m.What: Interfraternity Coun-cil Information NightWhere: UCEN Happenings

When: Tue., Sept. 13, 7 – 8 p.m.What: CAB MeetingWhere: UCEN Alumni

When: Wed., Sept. 14, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.What: Student Mcard & Parking Permit DistributionWhere: UPAV Lobby

When: Thurs., Sept. 15, 12 – 8 p.m.What: Welcome Back PicnicWhere: UM-Flint Campus

When: Thurs., Sept. 15, 6 – 10 p.m.What: Panhellenic Premiere Where: UCEN Happenings

When: Fri., Sept. 16, 8 p.m.What: Greek Yardshow & IcebreakerWhere: McKinnon Plaza

When: Fri., Sept. 16, 1-3 p.m.What: Student Government MeetingWhere: UCEN Happenings

When: Fri., Sept. 16, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.What: My Flint: Park(ing) DayWhere: Leaves from UPAV

When: Sat., Sept. 17, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.What: Farmers’ Market FrenzyWhere: Leaves from UCEN Lobby

When: Sat., Sept. 17, 5 p.m. -12 a.m.What: Phi Kappa Tau Block PartyWhere: UM-Flint Campus

Send your information to Campus Editor Beth Leblanc at eleblanc@umflint.edu.

While The Michigan Times strives to provide the most timely, accurate information possible, occasionally errors may appear in the paper. If you spot one, let us know at laceesth@umflint.edu or 810-762-3475, and we will print a correction.

CorrectionsThe Michigan Times

The Michigan Times has been produced independently by the students of the University of Michigan-Flint since 1959.

Editorial Staff(810)762-3475

Lacee-Starr Horton.......Editor-in-ChiefAaron Burch................Managing EditorBeth Leblanc..................Campus EditorKerry Daly..........................Photo EditorKevin Chambers....Web Content & Social Media EditorDr. Mike Lewis...............Faculty Adviser

Staff: Austin Bailey, Brittney Walker, Chris Jones, Sirius Welch.

Submissions to The Michigan Times become property of The Michigan Times unless material is syndicated. The Michigan Times reserves the right to edit all submissions for grammar, length and content.

The Michigan Times is available in full format online and on your mobile

device at www.themichigantimes.com.

Business Staff(810)762-0919

Joseph Patterson....Advertising ManagerAvailable...............Distribution ManagerAvailable...............Distribution AssistantAvailable.....................Graphic Designer

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Flint, MI 48502

Fax: (810)762-3023

Welcome to the second issue of The Michigan Times. I hope you all had a pleasant first week back and are enjoying your classes. In this issue I’d like to take a minute to point out a few things. First, please notice our newest addition, M-Times Social. M-Times Social features tweets with the #umflint or #mtimes hashtag. We want to see all of you in the paper this year so get tweeting!

Secondly, The Michigan Times loves mail, if you have an issue or a story idea you’d like to see in the paper leave us a com-

ment on Facebook or send us an email.

Third, don’t forget about all the great welcome back activities that are coming up. In the next week alone, you can attend Park(ing) Day, Welcome Back Pic-nic (free food and t-shirts at this one!), Movie on the Lawn, Farmers’ Market Frenzy, Greek Yardshow and Icebreaker, and this is only naming a few.

Last but not least, I would like to draw your attention to our 9/11 tenth anniversary feature. Although, the timing for this issue came a day late for the 9/11 events,

our editorial staff and reporters did our best to represent the events that the university and com-munity held in honor of the tragedy that happened a decade ago. Please visit the M-Times Online for photos and updates of Sunday’s events. I am honored to represent the M-Times and UM-Flint at such a historic time. Our deepest sympathies remain with those whose lives were changed by the 9/11 attacks.GO BLUE!

Lacee-Starr HortonEditor-in-Chieflaceesth@umflint.edu

By BRITTNEY WALKERTimes Senior Reporter

The promotion of healthy living and the utilization of green transportation are two of the many initiatives in store for UM-Flint’s first Back to School Smart Commute Event. The event is to be held Wednesday, Sept. 21 on the UM-Flint campus and throughout the downtown Flint area.

The event is sponsored by UM-Flint’s Walk and Bike Work Group on be-half of a grant from SAGE (Safe and Active Genesee for Everyone), an affiliate of the Crim Fitness Founda-tion.

Several “smart com-mute” events will take place throughout the day. That morning, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., commuters can stop by tents located outside the University Pavilion and Recreation Center. The tents will be offering items such as coffee, snacks, and information regarding bik-ing and walking resources to commuters.

“In the morning we’re going to target morning commuters just to kind of say, ‘Hey, good to see you’re out walking and being healthy and active. Check out these awesome re-sources we have available to you, check out all the trails around the area and all the events going on that really integrate healthy living,’ ” said Ali Misner, senior environmental science & planning and energy & sustainable systems double major and UM-Flint Walk and Bike Group intern.

A guided bike tour of the campus and downtown area will take place from

10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. “We’re hoping to kind

of target a lot of the new students or anyone that’s interested that don’t know their way around really well,” Misner said. “We’re going to show you campus buildings, where all of those are located, various historic features of downtown Flint and also local eateries, the grocery store; just things that you should know that are available to you.”

Misner also said that those taking the tour can bring their own bikes or may be able to use ones provided. She also advises students to bring a helmet.

To end the day, screen-ings of the bicycling films “We are Traffic” and “Return of the Scorcher” will be held in the KIVA on the first floor of the UCEN from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

According to Misner the films are “about bicycle cul-tures worldwide and how people integrate sustainable transportation into their cities.”

“We’re hoping that will be an eye opener for a lot of folks” Misner said.

Dr. Greg Rybarczyk of UM-Flint’s Department of Earth and Resource Sci-ence and the Winter 2011 Sustainable Transportation class conducted research for the Walk and Bike Work Group.

“It is also hoped that our Smart Commute data collection efforts assist in gauging what the ‘needs and wants’ are regarding alternative transportation in and around campus. This data will help drive future campus transportation planning efforts,” said Ry-barczyk via email interview.

Rybarczyk also “assisted with grant writing, com-municating with the Crim Foundation, researching similar events held on campuses nationwide, ad-ministering data collection

efforts, and general help with organizing the event.”

Theresa Landis, Director of Auxiliary and Recre-ational Services, said that one of the challenges about a smart commute event is to encourage people to “just do it.”

“If you can just really encourage people to be part of a bigger picture, even though you’re doing this on your own you’re going to be doing it with lots of other people,” Landis said

“The greatest benefit that the campus and the city of Flint will receive as a result of the Smart Commute Event is educating and pro-moting alternative trans-portation modes in the city

of Flint and on campus to faculty, staff, and students,” Rybarczyk said. “As a result, this event is another step-ping stone towards making the city of Flint and the greater campus area a great place to live, work, and go to school.”

For more information regarding the Back to School Smart Commute Event and the Walk and Bike Work Group visit the Walk and Bike Work Group Blog at http://blogs.umflint.edu/walkandbike-group or their Facebook page at “UM-Flint Walk and Bike Work Group.”

Brittney can be reached at brittnwa@umflint.edu

Back to School Smart Commute event planned

The Michigan Times www.themichigantimes.com Monday, September 12, 2011 A-3

9/11From Page A-1

By SIRIUS WELCHTimes Senior Reporter

Saiful A. Siddique and Aaron Wagel, two senior me-chanical engineering students have built a wind tunnel that will be used this fall in undergraduate classes. The duo built the wind tunnel as a project for their Senior Design II class.

The two have put 1,000 hours into the project, which includes some holidays and weekends. They have been working on the project since January 2011. Wagel believes the wind tunnel has broad appeal.

“Everyone knows what a wind tunnel is and what it's for. We built one that is economic,” Wagel said.

Siddique said that wind tunnels are important be-cause with recent trends in design, everything is moving towards a more aerodynamic design. Some of these items include helmets, bicycles, cars, and turbine blades for boats.

“All the science goes to bad roads so this is really important for an engineering student to know how wind tunnels work,” Siddique said.

The cost of their wind tunnel is $2,500, in compari-son to the commercial wind tunnel currently at UM-Flint

that cost $25,000. One of the differences between larger commercial wind tunnels and the duo’s wind tunnel is that the new tunnel has the ability to be disassembled, as well as the convenience of interchangeable parts. Ad-ditionally, the tunnel includes a turbulence screen.

In addition to the eco-nomic features and cost of the tunnel, Wagel believes that the new tunnel has found a happy medium between energy efficiency and size.

“This is about as big as you can build one and still plug it in the wall,” Wagel said.

The wind tunnel is sealed off, which lets air only leave through the fan, allowing for a quieter demonstration.

“For instruction, you'd want to be able to hear, and as everyone knows, high velocity wind can be really loud,” Wagel said.

The wind tunnel has been presented at the American Society of Mechanical En-gineering, Central Michigan University, Meeting of the Minds in Oakland and a student conference at UM-Flint. Wagel and Siddique are looking forward to upcoming conferences, but until then, they hope to get more students involved with the project.

“The main thing is that this is not just a project. This is a useful project because this semester of fall 2011, this equipment will be used as thermal-fluid lab equip-ment,” Siddique said.

However, Wagel and

Siddique have left room for improvement on their design. For example, a computer science student could change the analog system into a digi-tal data acquisition system.

Both Siddique and Wagel applied to Ph.D. programs

and Siddique was recently offered a job at a wind tunnel company.

“We like research and in-volving ourselves in research,” Siddique said. “[We want] to do something better, some-thing new for the engineer-

ing world.” The wind tunnel will be

used for the Thermofluids lab class this fall, course number EGR 355.

Sirius can be reached at siri-usw@umflint.edu.

Sirius Welch/Times PhotoSaiful Siddique and Aaron Wagel, both senior engineering students, give a demonstration of their wind tunnel at the Uni-versity of Michigan-Flint. The tunnel was designed as part of the duo’s senior design project for EGR 466 and took eight months to complete. At a cost of $2500, the tunnel was designed to maximize efficiency while maintaining economic boundaries. “This is about as big as you can build one and still plug it in the wall,” Wagel said. The tunnel is set to be used as experimental equipment in a thermo-fluids lab this fall semester.

U students build wind tunnel, to be used in fall class

Theta Chi ‘Camps Out’ for Make-A-Wish Foundation

Beth LeBlanc/Times PhotoMembers of the Theta Chi Fraternity set up tents in the circle drive in front of the UCEN for a Campus Camp Out to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Donations collected during the camp out will go toward a Royal Caribbean Cruise for Jada, 11, from Farming-ton Hills who suffers from the digestive illnesses Sclerosing Cholangitis and Eosinophilic Disease. Donations are still being accepted online.

Beth LeBlanc/Times PhotoSenior health sciences major Joe Macko and senior communications major Marcus Papin collect donations outside of the UCEN as part of the Theta Chi Fraternity’s Campus Camp Out. The Campus Camp Out, which took place from Tuesday, Sept. 6 to Thursday, Sept. 8, raised funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. According to Macko, as of Thursday morning, Theta Chi had collected $650.

on CD.“It’s interesting to see

how 9/11 has shaped your thinking,” Hayden said in a phone interview. “Artists have a unique way to show that.”

Acknowledging that some students were only eight years old at the time of the attacks, Hayden said the contest is a good way for students to digest the way that 9/11 has affected their lives.

“We are called on to look at what this event has done to us,” Hayden said. “We are called on to be respon-sible for what we do in the world.“

According to Hayden, students submitted their artwork on Sept. 6 and 7.

Their projects were then to be presented in the Rowe Gallery and peer-judged by My Flint Artwalk partici-pants on Friday, Sept. 9.According to Sekelsky, Artwalk participants would also make a stop at the UPAV to participate in the candlelight vigil.

At press time, two other commemorative events in Flint were also planned for Sunday, Sept. 11. Theta Chi Fraternity had planned a 9/11 commemorative in the UCEN circle drive, while Mott Community College had planned to unveil a piece of the twin towers in front of the Prahl Student Center.

Beth can be reached at eleblanc@umflint.edu.

By JOSEPHPATTERSONSports Columnist & Adver-tising Manager

Well, here we go fellow Wolverines. If you are reading this, you have survived your first week of classes. I trust you have also survived your first week of match-ups thus far as well but before we get into all that, we’ve got a little housekeeping to do.

First, I want to know how picks went in the first round of your draft and also where the Lions defense was chosen. You can send me an email at the address below or make a comment at www.themichigantimes.com underneath my column. Each week I will ask the readers a question. Tell me about your draft and also some interesting facts about your league and whatever cus-toms you may hold. Does your league have an innovative way to hold your draft lottery? Tell me something interest-ing - I’ll publish the best ones in next week’s issue. At some point each week, I will dissect the personalities and dynamics that make this game so much fun yet so an-noying.

Furthermore, ev-ery once in a while I would like to do a “from the inbox” where I address your questions, con-cerns, queries and conundrums (credit to Dr. Paroske, Com-munications Depart-ment.) – feel free to ask me anything. For example, when asked what qualifies

me to write about sports my only answer would be a willingness to em-barrass myself.

This week, let’s talk about my personal favorite: the professional. This is the guy in the league who, by the end of the season, is doing his best impression of Dustin Hoffman in “Rain Man.” The profes-sional’s head be-comes so engorged with random stats they begin to lose their grip on reality come playoff time. This is the owner who comes to the draft with so many spreadsheets and draft guides that he doesn’t actually think at all during the draft. He just spends the process flipping through papers and crossing names off of lists. The commissioner of my league is one such individual. I one day snuck into his office last year and was amazed. The best way to describe it would have to be a cross between mission control at NASA and the office of Russell Crowe’s charac-ter in “A Beautiful Mind.” These own-ers can tell you Brady’s completion percentage and quarterback rating on Thursday nights after Tom has had Maine lobster for lunch, but somehow never end up turn-ing this knowledge into victories.

Next week, I’ll analyze the persona that we all hate to love and love to hate, the trouble-maker.

Joseph can be

reached at joseph-pa@umflint.edu.

Monday, September 12, 2011 A-4 The Michigan Times www.themichigantimes.com

Sports Movies Music Books Culture Food

“Swamplandia!” bogs down readersBy SIRIUS WELCHTimes Senior Reporter

With alligator wrestlers and marsh-themed parks, Karen Russell’s “Swamp-landia!” has a strong beginning, but gets lost in a quagmire of woes for the rest of the book.

The main charac-ter, Ava, narrates her mother Hilola's work at Swamplandia, which involved diving into an alligator-filled pit. Hilola was an alligator wres-tler, the most popular one at their island's theme park of Swamp-landia. But the de-velopment of Hilola’s promising character stops early when Rus-sell removes Hilola from the story line early on.

When Ava tells the excited crowd waiting to see her mother per-form that they have lost their headliner, she's also talking to the reader, since the most interesting parts of the book belong to Ava’s alligator-wrestling par-ents. With Hilola’s pre-mature absence and her husband, Chief Bigtree, off the island before long, there just isn't enough interest-ing material left for the reader.

This book shares a problem with another

animal-related book. The book “Next” by Michael Crichton was the last book he wrote to be published in his lifetime. It was also one of his weaker efforts.

In “Next,” Crichton had so many charac-ters that he was re-quired to rapidly switch to a different charac-ter or set of characters with each passing chapter. “Swamp-landia!” does the same thing, though, with longer, slower chapters. While the effect is disorienting in “Next,” it is exhausting in “Swamplandia!.”

The most nonsensi-cal and useless portion of the book is chapter nine, when Ava's sister, Osceola, tells the story of her current boy-friend…who is a ghost. We soon discover that Osceola routinely dates the dead. As if Osceola’s ghoul-ish gallivanting isn’t enough, this chapter also includes a scene of a man being lifted off into the air by birds. What's the point of having birds in a story-within-a-story if they don't do something evil, right?

The main problem with the book itself is that it's not so much about the fam-ily's alligator-wrestling

theme park, as it is about what happens after the park starts to go under. A more ac-curate title would have been “Post-Swamp-landia!” Unfortunately, without Ava’s alligator-wrestling parents there is not much else of interest. Aside from the first eight pages, the book is boring at its best and painful at its worst.

This being said, I real-ize that the extremely

positive reviews I'd read about it may have increased my eventual disappoint-ment in the book. And, I will also concede that I liked that Ava's secret little pet alligator was red. That was an inter-esting detail in a bog of boredom.

Verdict: D-

Sirius can be reached at siriusw@umflint.edu.

Stay tuned to the

M-Times for more Exploits with Lex & Leroy

By AARON BURCHManaging Editor

With the new season on the horizon, stu-dents participating in the University of Mich-igan-Flint’s football club have high hopes for success.

“We’ve definitely come a long way since last season. We’ve adopted a more professional attitude and it has definitely shown both on the field and off,” Aaron Bigler, president of the football team said.

This season, the club has placed a greater emphasis on student participation and attendance by mak-ing admission free of

charge to any student, regardless of academ-ic affiliation, provided that the student pro-duces valid student identification.

“We’re following the lead of the club hock-ey team this season,” Bigler said. “We want to make this as acces-sible to all students as possible.”

Head coach Jeff Applegate has an optimistic look for the team’s future.

“We’ve been prac-ticing at least three days a week for the past five weeks,” Applegate said. “If there’s one thing that we definitely believe in, it’s hard work and dedication.”

“I wouldn’t have

taken this job if I didn’t see great things in this team,” Applegate said.

In the club’s 2010 – 2011 inaugural season, the Kodiaks went with four wins and four losses, ranking fourth within their league.

Both Bigler and Ap-plegate agree that this year is a “foundation” year for the Kodiaks.

“We’d really like to make a presence here, both on and off campus,” Applegate said. “We want to show that this can be good, safe fun for Flint and the surrounding area.”

Team member Coty Pyscher believes that the bar has been raised with this season.

“From a football standpoint, there’s been a great increase in talent and dedi-cation on the field,” Psycher said. “We struggled quite a bit last season, but with this new attitude, we’re completely seri-ous about this.”

If any student is in-terested in joining the club, contact Aaron Bigler at abigler@um-flint.edu.

Watch the Kodiaks take on Xavier Univer-sity Sept. 17 at Atwood Stadium in Flint at 7 p.m.

Aaron can be reached at aaburch@umflint.edu

U club football gears up for second season

M2

Fantasy Football personality profile:

the professional

The Michigan Times www.themichigantimes.com Monday, September 12, 2011 A-5

By AUSTIN BAILEYTimes Staff Reporter

Weather couldn’t spoil Brady Hoke’s first win as Michigan downed Western Michigan 34-10 in a game that featured a little bit of every-thing, including se-vere weather condi-tions that eventually ended the game early.

Play resumed after a 30-minute delay early in the third quarter before both teams eventually decided to call the game with less than two minutes remain-ing in the third. This marked the first game in school his-tory to end early due to weather.

Michigan fans caught a glimpse of the defensive woes that plagued the past three seasons as Western Michigan scored a touch-down on the game’s opening drive. How-ever, the defense responded by forc-ing four turnovers and maintaining constant pressure on the Broncos quarter-back, Alex Carder.

Wolverine line-backer Brandon Herron helped aid the UM defense as he returned an interception 94 yards for a touchdown, the longest in school history. Herron later scored on a fumble return, becom-ing the first player with two defensive touchdowns in a game in school his-tory. Safety Jordan Kovacs chipped in with two sacks and a forced fumble that set up Herron’s touchdown return.

Starting quarter-back Denard Rob-inson had a quiet performance, car-rying the ball eight times for 46 yards and went 9-for-13 with 98 passing yards. Sophomore running back Fitzger-ald Toussaint carried the ball 11 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start. Senior Mike Shaw added four carries for 54 yards and one score.

Senior cornerback Troy Woolfolk left the game in the sec-ond quarter with an ankle injury. How-ever, the injury didn’t occur to the same ankle which caused Woolfolk to miss the entire 2010 season. Hoke said after the game that Wool-folk could return if needed and was expected to play in Saturday’s game against Notre Dame.

Austin can be reached at aubai-ley@umflint.edu.

By KEVINCHAMBERSWeb Design and Social Media Editor

In “Rock of Ages,” the tale of Sisyphus unfolds as he endures his eternal punish-ment from Hades to roll a gigantic boulder up a hill only for it to tumble down in spite of his efforts, forcing him to repeat the pro-cess. However, unlike the Greek myth, Sisy-phus decides to take a stand and sends his giant boulder off to destroy Hades. He then proceeds to go through a time warp to ruthlessly destroy the strongholds of many historical fig-

ures. Most of the levels

are split between two types of gameplay. Offensive stages mandate players to chip away at an enemy’s stronghold. Pedestrians, housing and defensive weap-onry such as cata-pults will attempt to break apart the boul-der as it navigates the platform. Income can then be used on a variety of power-ups that can turn your boulder into a fiery mass of destruction or poisonous petroleum capable of poison-ing the crops of the enemy. It all amounts to a cheap, wonder-ful thrill while control-

ling a hurtling rock of destruction.

In spite of how great the offense plays out, the game faults during defen-sive segments. As your enemy attempts to send their own gigantic stone rolling, players are tasked with building up defenses as workers slave away at carving another rock. While a strategy should be crucial, this amounts to little more than slapping random catapults everywhere and hoping for the best.

Despite the origi-nality, the gameplay does inherently lend itself to a bit of te-

dious repetition as the game progresses. Rather than progress-ing, it may feel as if it has become a chore after many rounds of pushing a big orb down a hill. However, for the price tag of $10, “Rock of Ages” manages to pack in some outstanding visuals while real-

izing the potential of a completely new gameplay mechanic and stands as one of the best download-able titles out there.

VERDICT: B+

Kevin can be reached at kev-chamb@umflint.edu

“Rock of Ages” packs a boulder-sized punch

Chris Jones/Times PhotoThe 2010 Camaro Lingenfelter was loaned to the Sloan by Lingenfelter Motor Sports. Ac-cording to the company's website Lingenfelter specializes in "taking great cars and trucks and reinventing them with legendary precision." Their Camaro is based on the 1970s Trans Am interior and exterior theme.

Sloan Museum celebrates 100 years of Chevrolet

By BETH LEBLANCCampus Editor

It is the book that inspired a movie. The blockbuster movie that sparked a clothing line. And the clothing line that caused many women to make a “return to the feminin-ity” of the stylish 60’s in their wardrobe style, according to E! News.

But these are prob-ably some of the un-intended and super-ficial consequences of Kathryn Stockett’s “The Help.” The novel, which speaks about the relationships among and between the black “help” and their white employ-ers, was originally not

intended to make any kind of social state-ment, according to Stockett.

Perhaps this is why the social message comes through so clearly in “The Help”. By focusing more on the development of her characters as real people, regardless of race or social distinc-tion, Stockett suc-ceeds in conveying the impact of the civil rights movement on the individuals of a city as racially riotous as Jackson, Mississippi.

Stockett’s story is based on two black maids, Aibileen and Minny, and Skeeter, the white misfit jour-nalist who tells their

story. In clandestine meetings, Aibileen and Minny relate their sto-ries to Skeeter. All three women put their lives on the line for the sake of their story. While Aibileen and Minnie

must face their fears of racial violence, Skee-ter must also face the fear of retribution from her peers.

Their stories are simul-taneously sad and tri-umphant, hilarious and poignant, friendly and hostile. The contrasts between the naïve Skeeter, wise Aibileen and feisty Minny defy the lines that the town of Jackson, Mississippi and the world at large had placed on soci-ety. Their friendship and joint project serve to expose the biased world they inhabit. No matter her intention when writing the novel, Stockett succeeds in conveying the mes-sage that friendship extends beyond the lines of race and often helps to erase those lines altogether.

As for the movie: while the movie may not capture every scene from Stockett’s text, it definitely cap-tured the message and essence of the book. Casting was ideal in the screen adaptation of “The Help”. This is one of the few times when the

characters we imagine in a book are brought to life on the big screen just as we had hoped. Hilly, played by Bryce Dallas Howard (“Eclipse”), is just as evil as you imagined, Skeeter, played by Emma Stone (“Crazy, Stupid Love”), just as bubbly and Aibileen, played by Viola Davis (“Eat, Pray, Love”), just as courageous.

But it was the char-acters of Minny, played by Octavia Spencer (“Dinner for Schmucks”), and Ce-lia, played by Jessica Chastain (“The Tree of Life”), who stole the show. Their depic-tion of the relationship between no nonsense Minny and her em-ployer, the naïve and unassuming Celia Foote, illustrates the real soul of Stockett’s novel: friendship and respect regardless of racial or hierarchical differences.

Verdict: A

Beth can be reached at eleblanc@umflint.edu

No ‘help’ needed with this bestseller

In thehouse ofMaize &

Blue

Monday, September 12, 2011 A-6 The Michigan Times www.themichigantimes.com

FBS

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