BYTOMMYZIMMERVN NEWS EDITOR

Phi Kappa Theta’s one-year probation penalty ends nextmonth, and President Vinnie Paoletta sees good things ahead.

In the wake of the university’s punishment, the fraternityhas brought in more pledges this year than in any since thefall of 2008. Grade point averages are up, members are moreinvolved in community efforts and the brothers are active inmany extra-curricular activities on campus, said Paoletta, asenior business major.

As it emerges from probation, Phi Kappa Theta will hostits first party on Oct. 11 and is taking precautions to limitthe flow of people, keep noise levels low and better checkidentifications – all in an effort to avoid a repeat of an inci-dent that got the fraternity in hot water last year (and is onlynow being discussed publicly by a fraternity official for thefirst time in this article).

UDM put the fraternity on probation in October after aneighbor complained about noise levels and commotion inthe street outside the fraternity house on Fairfield.

The report followed two earlier incidents at the house, oneinvolving a taser and another involving former Titan bas-ketball player Eli Holman.

At the time – and even since then – UDM officials havedeclined to speak about the fraternity’s punishment, citingprivacy laws.

THE VARSITY NEWSWednesday, Sept. 11, 2013Vol. 95, Issue 1 The student newspaper of the University of Detroit Mercy

Faculty members protest at a September media event that featured Gov. Rick Snyder and UDM President Antoine Garibaldi.VN PHOTO BY IAN THIBODEAU

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

PROFESSORSMAY STRIKEWith emotions raw, contract talks snagged and a deadline approaching, negotiators are scheduled to meet Thursday

Phi Kappa Thetalooking forward asprobation nears end

BY IAN THIBODEAUVN CO-EDITOR

With a potential strike looming, negotiators for UDM and theprofessors’ union will meet through a federal mediator tomorrow,Thursday, Sept. 12, as contract negotiations stretch into their tenthmonth.

If an agreement isn’t reached, the professors’ current contractcould be terminated by the administration on Sept. 24, whichmight provoke a strike.

Pam Zarkowski, provost and vice president for academic af-fairs, said the university is working to make sure a strike doesn’toccur, but that officials would make arrangements to hold classesregardless.

Talk of a strike follows a series of developments, includingfaculty protests at two events featuring university President An-toine Garibaldi. Another picket is planned for Thursday’s annualfaith-infused welcome, “Celebrate Spirit!”

What’s on the bargaining tableOf the 47 negotiable points in the proposed five-year contract,

45 have been resolved and agreed upon by administration andunion officials.

The two remaining issues – salary and retirement benefits –have entangled negotiations.

In April, there was an $11 million difference between the twosides’ initial offers. The difference shrank to roughly $400,000in July before ballooning back to $2.2 million inAugust, accord-ing to details shared at a union meeting.

Prasad Venugopal, president of the UDM Professors’ Union,said that as with any bargaining process, the union’s first offerwas high and the administration’s low.

The union had called for the same salary increases (rangingfrom three to four percent annually) and the same 10 percent re-tirement contribution as in the current contract, and the adminis-tration had offered two percent annual salary increases and areduction in retirement contributions to six percent.

After each side took the other’s position into account, the twosides met again in July and closed the gap significantly. About$400,000 separated the sides.

The union came down $9 million from its original offer, andthe administration came up about $1.6 million.

However, just as an agreement seemed to be within reach, ne-gotiations turned sour, Venugopal said.

In early August, UDM administrators reported lower projec-tions for enrollment and a shakier financial future for the univer-sity. They put forth a new offer that reflected those lower figures.

The administration’s offer, according to the union, was $2 mil-lion lower than in April.

According to Vince Abatemarco, vice president for businessand finance, the administration is proposing a five-year contract

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

BYMAGGIE JACKSONVN FEATURES EDITOR

Staff and students are invited to come together tomorrow, Sept.12, to welcome in the new school year at the 14th annual “CelebrateSpirit!” event.

The celebration starts with an 11:30 a.m. mass led by the Rev.Gilbert Sunghera in Calihan Hall.The service welcomes people of allfaiths to unite and ask God’s blessings on the new school year, ac-cording to David Nantais, director of Campus Ministry.

Mass will be followed by a picnic and Student Organization Fairoutside the Fountain Lounge.

The Rev. Howard Gray, S.J., assistant to the president at George-town University in Washington, D.C., will deliver the keynotespeech at 7 p.m. tonight, Sept. 11 in the Fountain Lounge. His topicwill focus on “inter-religious dialogue since 9-11-01.”

This year’s event is sponsored by Campus Ministry, the universitylibraries and the Instructional Design Studio.

“Every year for the past four years, we have been partnering witha different school or academic program,” said Nantais. “A theme ischosen each year which the host program holds up to the univer-sity’s mission. This year, the theme is ‘Serve Community, RespectDiversity and Enhance Knowledge.’ ”

Mass, picnic, guest speakerhighlight ‘Celebrate Spirit!’

VN PHOTO BY TOMMY ZIMMER

A complaint by the fraternity’s former neighborprompted action by university administrators.

Summer has always been a strange season.It’s always harbored an odd, almost dreadful

feeling for me, because since the summer beforehigh school, I’ve spent my days preparing for thefall rather than relaxing after a tough spring.

Throughout highschool, I spent mysummers on the trackor in the weight roomwith my teammates,trying to get in shapefor football seasonwhen we all knew wewere a little too smallto compete in theCatholic League’s topdivision.

I’ve come to hatethe smell of a fresh-cutlawn because the lawncrew liked to do theirwork while we ran.

Honestly, the smell makes my stomach churnnow.

After I graduated, I assumed I’d finally be ableto spend summers in my basement playing videogames or in my pool; maybe I’d go on that roadtrip my friends and I had been talking about sincejunior year of high school.

Well, that road trip remains untraveled, andthough I’ve found plenty of time for video gamesand books, my dog used my pool more this sum-mer than I did.

I had to prepare again.In June, I shipped off to Kenosha, a smaller

city in Wisconsin, to work for the daily newspa-per there.

Again, I spent my summer preparing.It was different this time, though.I’ve had other summer internships, and I’ve

had busy summers for over six years, but thiswas the first time I’ve ever “moved out” andlived away from my family.

Like other summers, I was very much prepar-ing for the fall.

The Kenosha News treated me like any otherreporter on staff; I wrote, I interviewed and Iworked 40 hours per week all in hopes that I’d bea better reporter once the school year picked upand I resumed my role with The VN.

But this time, in addition to more task-orientedpreparation, I was readying a few other things.

I’m a really good grocery shopper now, for ex-ample.

I can stretch $50 into a whole bunch of foodthat can actually be cooked – I wasn’t only buy-ing Crunch Berries and Chips Ahoy!

Although some might see it as vain, I provedto myself that I can indeed commit to a workoutregimen that puts me in a gym five times a week,and I can actually enjoy time in the gym.

I still hate running and the smell of grass,though.

Most important, I learned more about myselfthan I had expected I could.

Although I won’t share the various personalbattles I overcame in my room in Kenosha, I cansay I have a better grasp on what I want my fu-ture to hold.

However, the last thing I prepared and accom-plished this summer cannot be proven by science,but I’ll attest to it forever: My beard respondswonderfully to excess amounts of Wisconsincheese.

I came home with a rather impressive beard. Itwill make a return in November.

My summer wasn’t very relaxing, and I don’tsuspect any of my summers in the immediate fu-ture will be either – though busy doesn’t neces-sarily mean dreadful, I’ve found.

You can learn a lot from being busy both phys-ically and mentally.

I hope this semester keeps everyone equallybusy.

Thibodeau is VN co-editor-in-chief

SEPT. 11, 2013PAGE 2

IanThibodeau

Contact us at the Neal Shine Media Center in 305 Briggs,by email at thevarsitynews@gmail.com or through Facebook.

CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Ian Thibodeau and Curtis PulliamTHE VARSITY NEWSNEWS EDITOR: Tommy Zimmer FEATURES EDITOR: Maggie Jackson

STAFF MEMBERS: Colin Bennett, Vito Chirco, Kamara Fant, Angeles Gavia, Annie Mendoza,Jack Walsworth, Veronica Whitehead and Nick Yim. Faculty Adviser Tom Stanton

FOUNDED IN 1918, THE VARSITY NEWS IS THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT MERCY.

A summer ofpreparation,not relaxation

BYTOMMYZIMMERVN NEWS EDITOR

Government-backed collegeloans are cheaper this fall than theymight have been without Congres-sional action, but students will befacing higher loan rates in comingyears.

In July, the U.S. Senate andHouse approved a bipartisan bill toreturn to lower student loan ratesafter the rates had temporarily dou-bled.

Without action, some studentsgetting government loans this fallwould have been paying an interestrate twice as much as last year.

The bill, signed by the president,connects interest rates with the fi-nancial markets, offering lowerrates temporarily.

This fall, undergraduates canborrow at a 3.86 percent rate, grad-uate students at 5.4 percent andparents at 6.4 percent.

However, those rates are not per-manent. If the economy improves,the rates will soar.

Joslen Letscher, a UDM associ-ate professor of education, said thatwhile the short-term effects appearhelpful, the long-term conse-quences could be daunting.

Letscher said current studentswill benefit since this legislationprevented an immediate doublingof the current interest rate. But bytying the interest rates on studentloans to the variable U.S. treasuryrate, future students might see ratesthat are difficult for them to pay,she said.

“It appears that the work tomake higher education affordablehas yet to really begin if the prom-ise of a higher education has notbeen realized by our students nowand in the future,” Letscher said.

Like most students, biology

major Yousof Sinjab thinks loweris better.

Sinjab said a higher interest ratewould have increased the stress onhim in his decision making.

Ciara Viola, a senior biochem-istry major, said that, regardless,it’s still a pain to take out loans andhave to pay interest.

Ashley Pniewski, also a seniorbiochemistry major, agreed. Nomatter how low the rate is, studentsget burdened with loans, she said.

Education is costly, and interestrates are not the only issue, she

said.“Every time I go to financial aid,

I ask them for more money,”Pniewski said. “And every singletime, they tell me there is nomoney; they cannot give me anymore money.”

(The VN attempted to contacttwo Financial Aid officials but gotno response.)

Ala Elbeshir, a sophomore biol-ogy major in the pre-dental pro-gram, said she would take out loanseither way.

Elbeshir said she wants to be in-

dependent, and not to put the bur-densome cost of tuition on her par-ents.

“We have a family of five, andfour are in college,” Elbeshir said.

She said knowing that interestwill start to build on her loans willbe an incentive for her to get a jobright out of college.

Sam Rakuta, a graduate studentin the five-year business program,works in the financial aid office.She said she simply has to take outwhat she has to take out.

Rakuta said it is difficult to stopborrowing once you are alreadycommitted to a program.

Bruce Brorby, assistant profes-sor of economics, took a positiveview of the Congressional action.

He said anything that holdsdown the cost of borrowing to at-tend college will benefit students,and allow more to attend college.

Borrowing costs are more im-portant now than ever becauseother sources of financial aid havebeen cut back by both the publicand private sectors, he said.

Michael DiGiovanni, UDM ex-ecutive in residence and an eco-nomics instructor, said keepinginterest rates low encourages stu-dents to go to college.

Long-term economic growth isdriven by technology and by edu-cation, he said.

He believes this is one reasonthe Chinese economy is doing sowell. “They are sending so many oftheir students over to some of thebest schools,” DiGiovanni said.

He said that education drivestechnological advancement.

If you increase loan rates, youwill decrease the number of stu-dents seeking college educations,he said. In turn, that will result in aless educated workforce and a lessvibrant economy, he said.

Lower loan rates please UDMstudents, but hikes expected

An affordable education? Student experiences can differ.VN PHOTO BY IAN THIBODEAU

BY COLIN BENNETTVN STAFF WRITER

Freshmen will soon have an op-portunity to take part in a surveyintended to strengthen communi-cation between themselves andvarious staff and support servicesat UDM.

MAP-Works, a program devel-oped at Ball State University andthat has shown success at collegesaround the country, will be pilotedat UDM this month.

Between Sept. 16 and Sept. 30,freshmen will be asked to partici-pate in a survey and share with theuniversity their expectations andtheir student experiences.

Ultimately the surveys will re-sult in unique report for each par-ticipating student, identifying areaswhere they are excelling, areaswhere they could benefit from as-

sistance and connections to sug-gested resources.

But MAP-Works does muchmore than simply gauge where thestudent body is at academically,according to Dr. Sheryl McGriff,dean of the Career Education Cen-ter and chair of the UndergraduateRetention Committee.

“MAP-Works is an online inter-active tool that will allow the uni-versity to organize our support forthe students,” said McGriff. “It isalso a tool that students can use sothat they can get a sense of wherethey are in comparison to theirclassmates.”

MAP-Works will help the uni-versity identify students who couldbenefit from assistance, but forvarious reasons may be afraid toask, she said.

“If a student needs some assis-tance with study skills, time man-

agement, finances or personal is-sues, for example, this tool willhelp us direct that individual tosomeone within the university whocan offer assistance or guidance,”said McGriff.

McGriff stressed that althoughMAP-Works will improve com-munication between staff, facultyand administrators must and willadhere to FERPA student-privacyguidelines.

At its core MAP-Works is aboutstudents, she said.

“It’s about making achievementhere possible,” she said.

Pamela Zarkowski, provost andvice president for academic affairs,sees value in the new program.

She said MAP-Works is wellsupported throughout the univer-sity’s various departments.

“It is clear that the administra-tion, faculty and staff are support-

ive of the initiative because theyunderstand how valuable it will bein contributing to student success,”said Zarkowski.

MAP-Works “allows membersof the university community whoteach, counsel, coach and supportstudents” to better serve students,she said. It also “empowers stu-dents to recognize and correct gapsbetween their behavior and theirexpected outcome.”

Zarkowski said while that sheapplauds those students who arehaving a successful college expe-rience, for those students who doneed help MAP-Works will getthem assistance with such issues asstudy skills, time management, fi-nances and personal issues.

“We are committed to studentsuccess and MAP-Works is oneimportant strategy to achieve thatgoal,” Zarkowski said.

MAP-ping the way to success:Pilot program to help freshmen

THEVARSITY

NEWS CCaammppuuss LLiiffeeSEPT. 11, 2013 PAGE 3

I met news editor CurtGuyette during the first week ofmy summer internship at theMetro Times.

Initially, I was nervous be-cause Guyette was a bit over-whelming.

But if I ever hoped to do anyfreelancing for the Times’ newsdivision, I knew I would have toovercome this anxiety.

When I finally gathered theconfidence to speak to him, Ifound him to be incredibly nice.

I write this column now be-cause the Metro Times firedGuyette last week after he re-vealed to a Detroit reporter that the Times was for sale.

After our initial meeting, I began to research my firststory on Detroit’s new police chief.

The story was going to be in Guyette’s weekly column.That was the plan we put together after I did more report-ing on it.

This included speaking to the new chief over the phoneand attending the press conference where he was intro-duced to the city.

The conference was a bit difficult to find that day be-cause everyone, including Mayor Bing’s communicationsdirector, told me it was in some other building; first the oldcounty building, then this, then that, etc.

It was exhausting but reinforced one of the lessons Ilearned working under Guyette: Sometimes, you have toflex your legs a bit to get around.

Unfortunately, it was incredibly hot that day, and find-ing a parking spot in the city was another challenge be-cause I did not have anything but a credit card and none ofthe parking lot guys takes anything but cash – not even theones with booths who could install the technology to do so.

After racing around, I found the press conference, andgot there in time to hear it, albeit sweaty and tired.

Afterward, I spoke to the emergency manager’s commu-nications director about an interview with the chief. I alsospoke to the police department’s media relation person.However, the new chief was heading back to Ohio to finishhis tenure in Cincinnati.

Finally, I tracked him down. Turns out he did part of hisstudies at UDM. Small world.

As we spoke, I wrote quotes furiously in my notebook.Later, I composed the story in grand fashion, and turned itinto Guyette.

He told me beforehand it would be an awesome piece ifI looked into Detroit’s previous police chiefs, most ofwhom in recent times turned out to be disreputable anddishonorable. It made a good juxtaposition against the newchief’s seemingly flawless record in Cincinnati and LosAngeles.

Anyway, this moment serves as more than an remem-brance of what I did this summer. I hope it gives you anidea of Guyette’s character and expertise.

He is not the type of person to be idle or rest on the mer-its of his past work.

At the Metro Times, he was a rigorous task master, andhe challenged me in many ways, encouraging me to writestories with more of an editorial slant, different from otherspreviously.

While doing so, he pursued his own stories, such as his“Pet Coke” pieces about the four story-high mounds of atar-sands byproduct piled near the Detroit River.

Guyette was on top of stories, because he researchedthem and got out into the world to talk to people.

At the Metro Times, he proved himself to be a man ofthe people. He did his job for the people of Detroit, and hisgoal was to care about all citizens of the city.

What more could anyone ask?Guyette is a true journalist who believes in writing

about the nature of the troubles of the average person inDetroit. He is a devoted gatekeeper for the flow of infor-mation between those who govern our society and influ-ence it and the average citizen who could or could not givea damn.

While my heart goes out to him over his firing, I haveheard plenty of people speak about how outrageous it is.

I am sure he will get another job writing somewhere, butfor now we need to accept this sad reality: Curt Guyettewas fired after 18 years of service to the Times, and De-troit has lost one of its top journalists.

Zimmer is VN news editor

TommyZimmer

Metro Times’ fired newseditor was valued mentorand respected journalist

BY COLIN BENNETTVN STAFF WRITER

Gone are the lockers, phonebooths and pews that long oc-cupied the first floor hallwaysof the Briggs Building.

They have been replaced bypurpose-built tables and chairsthat fill the void left by theeclectic mix of relics.

In early July, renovationsbegan on the lower levels ofBriggs, which is home to theCollege of Liberal Arts andEducation (CLAE).

Improvements include up-dated carpeting, new studyseating and most noticeablythe new student lounge locatedin the basement.

The renovations were madepossible by a combination ofmoney. The bulk was left toUDM by alum and former pro-fessor and dean Catherine A.Caraher, PhD, who died onJuly 9, 2012. It was combinedwith donations from otheralumni and friends of the uni-versity, said Robin Gembacz,administrative assistant to thedean of CLAE.

Regarding the needfor renovations, Gem-bacz said it was ulti-mately to meet theneeds of the students.

“We wanted tomake a place for stu-dents to sit and to workon their laptops in be-tween classes – tomake it more studentfriendly,” she said.

Many students wel-comed the improve-ments upon returningto class in August.

“I love the way thefirst floor looks now. Itlooks like a profes-sional building. Beforeit was really old andoutdated,” said seniorbiochemistry major MaxTrombly. “It’s up to the stan-dard of all the other buildings.”

Trombly said that while themajor updates are impressive,simply removing items such asthe vending machines from thehallways has been a big im-provement.

“They kind of got all theclutter out of the hallways and

made it more aesthetic,” hesaid.

As home to much of the uni-versity’s core curriculum,Briggs Building has often beena target for ridicule and asource of lament for many stu-dents on campus.

And although students willstill be crossing their fingers inthe hope that the building re-

ceives air conditioning some-time in the future, the currentimprovements, especially inthe basement, have been wellreceived.

“I think it’s great that thereis a spot for students to sit inthe basement because beforestudents would be sitting onthe floor in the halls,” saidSamantha Southwell, a UDMdental school student and 2012biology graduate. “It looks alot better because the carpetused to be gross down here.There were big stains in it.Overall, I think it looks a lotbetter.”

But no matter how great theimprovements, some studentsnoted that much of the build-ing has yet to receive the sameupdates.

“I still think the second floorand the third floor need a littlework,” said Trombly.

Although the university hasyet to set an exact timeframefor the next phase of renova-tions, it will be launching acampaign to raise more moneyto extend the improvements tothe rest of the building.

Lockers were removed from the first floor of Briggs and replaced with seating areas and computer counters.

VN PHOTOS BY KAMARA FANT

A FRESH LOOK FOR BRIGGSBasement, first floor renovated thanks to late professor’s gift

The new lounge is in the basement.

PAGE 4 SEPT. 11, 2013

under which unionized faculty would receive nopay increase in year one, get a 1.5 percent lump-sum payment during the second year and 2 per-cent lump-sum payment during the third year,and receive three percent salary increases inyears four and five.

Larry Zeff, chief negotiator for the professors’union, said the union was unhappy with thelump-sum proposal because the money wouldessentially be a bonus, and would not compoundover time as salary increases would.

In addition, faculty would receive an eightpercent retirement contribution during years onethrough four and a nine percent retirement con-tribution in year five.

The 240 unionized professors wouldn’t nec-essarily see salary cuts, just not the same amountof increases and benefits under the new contract,Abatemarco said.

He said that all non-union staff had their re-tirement contributions eliminated last year whileunionized faculty continued to receive retire-ment contributions; the contributions have beenincreased to two percent this year.

Abatemarco said the administration has beenfair in the talks.

Union officials see it differently, saying theadministration has bargained unfairly by goingback on what it proposed in April.

Compromises on both sidesVenugopal said that the union has come down

$12 million from its original proposal.“I think we have put forward a proposal that

does two things: It recognizes the university’s fi-nancial challenges, and it (makes) significantconcessions,” he said.

Abatemarco said that the administration’snew offer uses today’s budget and declining-en-rollment realities.

“They (professors) want to have what theypreviously had,” Abatemarco said. “Now, we’renot asking them to take reductions in salary…But the union leadership is trying to get the mostfor their union members, and we respect that,and we certainly do not believe that what they’reasking for really takes into account what the cur-rent realities are.”

Union officials say they don’t intend to comedown further and that they haven’t been pre-sented with any evidence to substantiate the ad-ministration’s financial claims.

Administrators contend President Garibaldiprovided evidence of the current deficit in hisconvocation speech and in an email to facultymembers.

Venugopal disputes that claim, saying theunion hasn’t received details of the reported $9.6million budget gap that the administration citesas the reason for its new, lower proposal.

He said the administration’s request that theunion come down an additional $2.5 million ontop of what it has already conceded is unaccept-able.

“We’ve done our part,” he said.If more money is given up by the union, the

integrity of the faculty body could be put at risk,he said. It might become difficult to keep thebest professors teaching at UDM if the moneyisn’t there, he said.

“We are the core of this institution,” he said.“Our students would want to know that we havethe best faculty… In order to do that, we need toensure that we have a contract that will keep thefaculty here, even within the context of a uni-versity that has some financial challenges.”

Zarkowski and Abatemarco said they also arelooking out for students in the negotiations.

“We’re trying to come to some consensus thatwould protect the quality of education (and) befiscally responsible to the entire university,”Zarkowski said. “We’re trying to balance thosetwo things.”

Added Abatemarco, “They have their goalsand we have our realities, and right now they’renot in sync.”

But Venugopal said the university cannot askfor more from professors.

An ultimatum or target?According to union officials, a turning point

occurred on July 26 when President Garibaldinotified the union that the administration was in-voking a clause in the current contract, giving60 days for an agreement to be reached.

Both administration and union officials saidthe clause allows the administration to unilater-ally modify or terminate the current contract bythe set date if no agreement has been reached.

But explanations of the administration’s moveto enact the clause differ.

Garibaldi stated in an email to UDM facultythat 60-days notice was given “to establish a tar-get deadline for successful completion of thetwo remaining issues.”

Zarkowski echoed Garibaldi’s statement.“We hoped in the next 60 days, because we

thought we were so close, that we were going tofinish the negotiations,” she said. “It wasn’t ourintent to terminate (the current contract). Wewere just saying, ‘We’re close, let’s wrap this up.Let’s give 60-days notice as their contract says

we can.’ ”Venugopal portrayed the notice as a threat,

saying that the administration had never beforeinvoked the clause.

In past contract negotiations, it was under-stood that any new contact would be a modifi-cation of the old contract, he said.

Once an agreement was reached, the old con-tract was modified to more or less absorb theterms of the new contract, he said.

The clause was never used to spur negotia-tions or force a completion date, according toVenugopal.

“This time, with two issues still outstandingon July 26, they invoked this clause that wouldallow them to unilaterally – this is the key – ter-minate or modify our contract,” he said. “If theytake that action before we have settled all issues,they will have taken it unilaterally” without thebargaining process.

Venugopal said that if the administrationmakes any unilateral decision, it will havenegated any promises of a collectively bargainedcontract or a negotiated settlement.

The union will be ultimately unhappy with ei-ther a termination or modification if done uni-laterally by the administration, Venugopal said,as it would in his view effectively bust the UDMProfessors’ Union.

He admitted he wasn’t entirely sure whatwould happen if no agreement is reached bySept. 24.

If the contract is simply unilaterally modifiedon or after Sept. 24, then UDM professors wouldremain under contract, though the terms of thecontract might not be those the union bargainedfor, he said.

However, if the contract is terminated on orafter Sept. 24, UDM professors will be withouta contract.

The latter could potentially lead to a strike be-cause professors would no longer be workingunder a no-strike clause.

Abatemarco said the notice has served its in-tended purpose: bringing union representativesto the bargaining table more frequently.

“Meeting every week or every other weekwasn’t getting quickly enough to resolution (on)points we were still negotiating,” Abatemarcosaid. “It is not our desire or intention to unilat-erally terminate the contract or to bust the union.We are negotiating in good faith with them. Wewill continue to negotiate in good faith withthem. We requested the federal mediator to comein and provide the sides assistance in finding amiddle ground.”

Will there be a strike?Zarkowski, Abatemarco and Venugopal all

said they are looking to tomorrow’s planned ne-gotiations in hopes that an agreement on thefinal two issues can finally be reached.

StrikeCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Salary and retirement pay remain unresolved in the long-running contract talks.VN PHOTO BY IAN THIBODEAU

BY ANNIE MENDOZAVN STAFF WRITER

A UDM-created play, which had its world premier last weekendin Detroit, may be going on the road and into area high schools.

The college’s theatre company kicked off its season Sept. 6 and7, debuting “Jordan Anderson Writes a Letter” at the Wright Mu-seum of African American History in Detroit.

The play was researched by history Prof. Roy Finkenbine andwritten by theatre Prof. Art Beer.

Unlike most plays, this one features two live actors for merely20 minutes of the 60-minute production.

The remaining 40 minutes were filmed by a UDM crew led bycommunications Prof. Jason Roche.

The docudrama is based on the true story of Jordan Anderson,a former slave from Tennessee making his way with his family toDayton, Ohio.

After receiving a letter from his master demanding his return,Anderson writes a letter in response. That letter is at the heart ofthe production.

“I loved the script, and the acting was outstanding,” said Roche.Also on the film crew was recent communications graduate Re-

Shawn Wilder, who served as assistant director of photography. “I encourage the student body to see this because, unfortu-

nately, these are still touchy subjects,” he said. “Unfortunately,racism still exists, and I’ve seen it first hand. The problem is …many people aren’t educated about other races and things like that,so there’s a lack of communication, a lack of understanding oneanother.”

The UDM theatre company has high hopes for the production.Greg Grobis, an assistant professor of theatre, serves as the com-

pany’s managing director. He knows the ins and outs of each theater production, and sees

strong potential for this one to tour local high schools and, even-tually, the whole state.

“It was solely written and geared so it could go to high schoolsand so that we could provide art programming and educational op-portunities for high schoolers,” said Grobis.

The project was funded by the Art Council of Michigan, Michi-gan Community Council, National Endowment of the Arts and Na-tional Endowment of the Humanities.

Aside from last weekend’s “Jordan Anderson Writesa Letter,” UDM Theatre Company will be producingseveral other plays this season that artistically addresssocial issues.

“What we do is more social than just work,” saidGrobis. “We concentrate on issues in our communityand we try to bring them out.”

On the schedule:� “PVT Wars” is a dark comedy about Vietnam

vets who come back physically recovered but stilldealing with psychological wounds. It runs Sept. 27-29 and Oct. 4-6.

� “This Is How It Goes” portrays bigotry, an in-terracial marriage and the adversity it can bring. Setfor Nov. 15-17 and 22-24.

� “Somebody/Nobody” focuses on body-image is-sues and social norms with two main characters striv-ing to be someone else. It runs Feb. 7-9 and 14-16.

� “Memory House,” which will be performed inthe intimate Grounds Coffee House March 28-30 andApril 4-6, is a warm-hearted story about a teen girlwho is dealing with her parents’ divorce and the fearof going away to college.

The first three will be performed at Marygrove Col-lege on McNichols, less than a mile from UDM.

Students can also catch a free preview every Thurs-day before opening day. For regular performances, stu-dents pay half price – $5 per seat

For info, call 313-933-3270.– Annie Mendoza

Provocative workshighlight season

Theatre company hopes to take locally created ‘Jordan Anderson’on the road to Michigan schools

“It was solely written and geared to high schools so that we could provide art programming and educational opportunities for high schoolers.”

““WWee’’vveeddoonnee oouurrppaarrtt..””Prasad Venugopal

““WWee’’rree nneeggoottiiaatt--iinngg iinn ggooooddffaaiitthh......””Vince Abatemarco

SEPT. 11, 2013 PAGE 5

Regarding the October complaint, Paoletta saidfraternity members did not know whether the peoplecausing the noise were guests at the party, membersof the fraternity or strangers.

Paoletta said he usually runs the door, and has hadto turn away people who are too drunk or indecent.

He said fraternity members check for UDM stu-dent-ID cards, and at some events allow guests withstate IDs. Paoletta said it is easier when they knowthose guests are friends of UDM students.

He said he was not aware of any trouble on thenight in question until the fraternity received a reportfrom the university.

“Even if we knew who the people were in thestreets, I do not know what we would do to even stopthem because they are not on our property,” Paolettasaid.

Paoletta said he and his brothers have had multiplemeetings to try to figure out what happened and whothe perpetrators were, but so far nothing has come tothe surface.

Paoletta said the fraternity had people stationedthroughout the house, in the backyard, in the basementand in the front.

He said there was a 99 percent chance he was at thefront door.

“It came as a shock to me because I thought I wouldhave noticed it,” Paoletta said.

He said he remembers all kinds of events that nightbut did not see any problems.

Paoletta said he thinks the fraternity should only beheld accountable for what happens on its property.

“We cannot go up and down the streets to see if peo-ple are causing trouble,” Paoletta said.

Paoletta said he was upset at the whole initial pro-bation, wishing it had never happened, especially be-cause it meant a year without gatherings.

“We like to have a fun a time while giving UDMstudents something to do on the weekend,” Paolettasaid.

Fraternity members are working to restore their rep-utation by showing they are responsible and by host-ing safe events, he said.

“The only way is to be compliant the rest of proba-tion, and then prove it with our future events,” he said.

Paoletta said the neighbor who complained hasmoved out, and that both sides resolved the matterwith no hard feelings. He partly blamed a lack of com-munication.

After new neighbors moved in, Paoletta spoke tothem about the fraternity. He said he gave the neigh-bors his phone number in case problems surface.

Ronald Craig is one such neighbor.Craig said their relationship is fine, and that the fra-

ternity has not caused any disturbances.He said he does not plan to have any problems with

the fraternity, even though the upcoming party mightmake things a tad noisier for him and his wife.

Neighbor Eyevette Washington also said repeatedlythat she has not had any problems with her fraternityneighbors next door.

The Varsity News tried to get comments from vari-ous university officials but had no success.

Dorothy Stewart, associate dean of students, saidthat due to the Family Rights and Privacy Act shecould not discuss any sort of conduct hearing with thepaper.

Andrew Peters, assistant director of student life andcampus activities, reiterated Stewart’s thoughts, andwondered why the newspaper was interested in thetopic at this time.

UDM’s Media Relations Director Gary Lichtmanalso said that due to FERPA the university could notdiscuss the matter.

Keith Harshbarger, director of communications andmarketing for the national Phi Kappa Theta fraternity,also declined comment, directing the paper to top ex-ecutive Robert Riggs, who did not respond to The VNinquiry.

Fraternity President Paoletta said that during theirprobation fraternity brothers have put their focus onservice and extracurriculars.

He said they restructured their committees inter-nally, and it is unlikely things will revert back to theway they were.

The fraternity, according to Paoletta, has establishednew philanthropy efforts, one at a local school and an-other at College Core Block Club.

And members are looking forward to next month’sparty – their first in a year.

It will be limited, he said, and in the future the fra-ternity may have to turn away UDM students not onlyfor intoxication but for attendance capacity.

“We might say, ‘Come back in a half hour, and seeif anyone has left,’ ” Paoletta said.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Fraternity

BY MAGGIE JACKSONVN FEATURES EDITOR

When at the Detroit Institute of Arts, you have the ability to letyourself go.

Though the DIA is at risk of losing a selection of priceless artbecause of Detroit’s bankruptcy, UDM’s Introduction to World ArtHistory class (as well as other educational programs) is taking fulladvantage of everything the museum has to offer.

The DIA is home to over 60,000 works of art and is no doubtone of Detroit’s gems.

Since its renovation in 2007, the museum has offered variousoutreach and educational programs, allowing the community tolearn about the world-class art that is right in its backyard.

The millage that passed in August 2012 now allows citizen inWayne, Macomb and Oakland counties to visit the museums withno charge. It also enables the museum to have exhibits as well asan amazing educational program, said art history Prof. SarahStever.

“The basic art history course has been going on now for severalyears and the students have been able to learn about the art in themuseum firsthand from the curators themselves,” said Stever. “Itis important for the students to see these works of art firsthand inthe museum rather than on the computer. Hearing about the col-lections from experienced curators firsthand is just so special. It isalso important for them to learn how to go to a museum and reallyexperience the art.”

The DIA also offers programs for primary and secondary stu-dents, with tours adjusted depending on age level.

For other community members, there is Friday Night Live!, aweekly event that features a specific genre of music.

The galleries are open for drawing and art-making workshopswhile guided tours are available.

Lauren Buck, a third-year biology major who took Stever’sclass last semester, says that the DIA is a very special place to her.

“I really enjoyed Dr. Stever’s class, though I was a bit skeptical

at first,” said Buck. “I love the DIA and it is very special to me. Ididn’t want the class to change that. The class turned out to be oneof my favorites. Dr. Stever did such a great job and I learned a lotabout the art from the curators we had.”

The Introduction to Art History class will be offered on Wednes-days next semester, but a selection of famous works may be in dan-ger of not being visited in the class in the future.

Shortly before Detroit declared bankruptcy, Detroit emergencymanager Kevyn Orr said that some of the art could be consideredassets and possibly sold to pay back a portion of the city’s debt.

The DIA is unusual among major civic museums in that the cityretains ownership of the building and collection while daily oper-ations, including fund-raising, are overseen by a nonprofit institu-tion that helps to cover the museum’s operating costs.

“Detroit would be losing rather than gaining if some of the artwere to be sold,” said Stever. “The paintings owned by the citycan’t be sold because of trust. These works of art that they are look-ing at are irreplaceable. Oakland County even said that if this wereto happen, then they would repeal their millage, which wouldgreatly devastate the museum and the class.”

In a recent statement, the DIA said it supports Orr’s goal of re-building the city and will allow members of Christie’s auctionhouse to come in and appraise city-owned artwork, which will bedone in phases.

After specialists from the New-York based house evaluate thecollection, they will then “recommend ways for the city to realizevalue for the DIA collection without relinquishing ownership ofit,” according to a statement from the auction house. The city ispaying Christie’s $200,000.

Whatever fate is decided for the art at the DIA, Buck says thatthe city should take pride in the art and encourage people to see it.

“Detroit is known all over the world, and the DIA is one of thegood things that the city has to offer,” said Buck. “There is a lot ofculture and it is a great place to visit, something that you don’t geteverywhere. It is important that Detroit keeps the museum activeand running for many years to come.”

For UDM art lovers,threat to Detroit artworks feels personal

PAGE 6 SEPT. 11, 2013

BY TOMMY ZIMMERVN NEWS EDITOR

Just before the beginning of theschool year, university alum ElmoreLeonard – one of America’s best-known authors – died in his Bloom-field Hills home after a stroke.

A 1950 graduate of what was thenthe University of Detroit, Leonardwas 87 years old.

Though gone, his spirit looms largeover the university and those hetouched.

English Prof. Claire Crabtree notesthat when Leonard attended the uni-versity, she would have been a tod-dler.

Crabtree said that though Leonardwas not a literary writer, his style wasadmired by writers of all stripes.

His famous ten rules of writing,Crabtree said, included some shethought were memorable, such asusing only the verb “said” for dia-logue and ditching adverbs in clauseslike “she shouted impatiently.”

Dr. Heather Hill-Vasquez, an asso-ciate professor of English, recalls per-sonal interactions she had with him.(Leonard visited to campus severaltimes.)

Hill-Vasquez said her fondest mem-

ories of him were usually over a drinkor his willingness to offer advice,warm words or a wonderful joke.

He enjoyed interacting with stu-dents, especially those interested inwriting, she said.

Hill-Vasquez said she appreciatedhis realist, down-to-earth attitude

about the craft of writing.“He never seemed willing to admit

or praise his own talent but, instead,to emphasize the element of hardwork and responsibility,” Hill-Vasquez said.

Leonard’s crime novels sold mil-lions, attracting readers like Michael

Witkowski, associate professor ofcriminal justice.

Witkowski said he has read manyof Leonard’s novels, and has enjoyedfilms based on them, such as “GetShorty.”

Leonard was a prolific writer ofwesterns in the 1950s and 1960s but

when that genre dried up he turned hisattention to crime novels, includingseveral set in Detroit, Witkowski said.

“Dutch,” as friends called him,wrote his stories on legal pads,Witkowski said.

Among Leonard’s most recentworks were the FX television show“Justified,” centered in the town ofHarlan, Kentucky, and featuring cow-boy-cop U.S. Marshall RaylanGivens, a Leonard character knownfor his big white Stetson and quickdraw.

The show, Witkowski said, tapscriminal justice themes like hatecrimes, drugs, corruption, mob activ-ity and more.

Witkowski said he hopes Leonard’sinfluence remains present on theshow.

Lonnie Fleischer, a former theatreprofessor, said she recalls doing a lec-ture performance once with Leonard,and orally reading a children’s storyhe had written while then speaking tothe congregation.

The name of Leonard’s children’sbook was “A Coyote in the House.”

Witkowski said he hopes Leonardrests in peace. “You did good,” hesaid. “UDM and crime-fiction readerswill miss you.”

Alum Elmore Leonard had fans on campus

BY JACK WALSWORTHVN STAFF WRITER

It would be an understatement to say thatMark Denham, the new dean of the Collegeof Liberal Arts and Education (CLAE), en-joys social media.

In the few weeks since his first day on thejob, Denham has already created his ownFacebook page, called “Dean D in the D,” aswell as his own Twitter account @De-anDintheD.

Denham sees social media as a way tobuild community among students, faculty,staff and alumni.

In fact, Denham first heard about the jobopening at UDM on The Journal of HigherEducation’s website, where openings, espe-cially for the position of dean, are listed fromall across the country.

Denham had been selectively applying toa list of schools and decided to apply for theopening at UDM, a school he knew a littlebit about.

“When I first looked at UDM, I was takenby a lot of things,” said Denham. “UDM’smission statement was so clear and impor-

tant. I could tell that they cared about socialjustice and that they were urban oriented.”

Denham described his hiring process as along one, full of telephone interviews andcampus visits with search committees, fac-ulty, staff and, of course, students.

After accepting the job, Denham startedthe transition to becoming dean, which he ad-mitted has been a learning experience. (Alongtime professor, Denham held several po-sitions at the University of Toledo, includingacting associate dean of social sciences.)

“The first couple weeks have been prettysmooth,” said Denham. “I got to work withthe interim dean, Professor (Roy) Finken-bine, who really showed me the ropes. It hasbeen an important two weeks.”

For Denham, one of the most attractive as-pects of working at UDM was the fact thatUDM’s campus is in an urban setting.

“It’s exciting to be in Detroit,” said Den-ham. “There have been some hard times inthe city but one of the things that stands outto me is how friendly the people are here.Both the city and the suburbs are like that,which is amazing for how big of a city De-troit is.”

According to Denham, one of his majorroles is to be an advocate for more resources.

“My first year as dean will involve a lot oflistening and working with people,” said Den-ham. “I’ll see where UDM has to go. I hope tobuild connections between UDM and the com-munity and also promote social justice.”

While Denham has been on the job foronly a couple of weeks, he has already metmany of the faculty and staff.

“I really haven’t met any students butthat’s going to change,” said Denham.

Denham isn’t the only one excited abouthis new job, so are some CLAE students.

“I haven’t met him yet but I’m definitelylooking forward to meeting him,” said AdamBuysse, a criminal justice student. “Just bylooking at his Facebook page and Twitter ac-count, you can tell he wants to connect withthe students. He seems to be personable.”

Denham stressed that communicationamong students, alumni, faculty and staffwill lead to a broader community, somethinghe obviously is working toward.

“The stronger the community is and thehappier we are, we’ll become more effectivein what we do,” said Denham. Dean Denham: “It’s excited to be in Detroit.”

VN PHOTO BY IAN THIBODEAU

New dean takes to Facebook, Twitter

BY PAIGE ZMUDCZYNSKIVN STAFF WRITER

After three and a half years, FallOut Boy return from their indefinitehiatus with a fervor hardly seen by anyreunited band in recent years.

That same passion is clearly heardin their latest album, “Save Rock andRoll.”

The first song, appropriately named“The Phoenix” given the commercialbomb “Folie à Deux” and PatrickStump and Pete Wentz’s failed solocareers, kicks off the album with en-ergy and angst.

From there, it’s a turbulent ride up,with such upbeat songs as “My SongsKnow What You Did in the Dark(Light Em Up),” “Young Volcanoes”and “Miss Missing You.”

As with any album, there are for-gettable songs that make the skip but-ton useful. “Where Did the Party Go?” and “Death Valley” happento fall into that category.

It chalks up to a mix-ture of the lack of abil-ity to sing along andplacement on thealbum.

The former fallsshort of a transitionsong between the lightsounding “Alone To-gether” and the fairlydark “Just One Yester-day,” while “Death Val-ley” is right betweentwo poppy songs.

The first of two sur-prises that come fromthis album is how theband manages to out-shine all of its guestsingers.

This includes De-troit’s own Big Sean onthe hip-hop-infused

“The Mighty Fall,” Foxes on “Just One Yesterday,” CourtneyLove on the grunge heavy “Rat A Tat,” and, most impressively, Sir

Elton John on the ballad “Save Rock and Roll.”Though he mainly appears for half of a verse and the bridge, it

is a hard feat to make Elton John sound like a back-up singer, butthey managed.

The second, and perhaps the most shocking, surprise is howoften Stump addresses his fans.

He tells the “young bloods” to put on their war paint in “ThePhoenix,” asks if they’re ready for another bad poem in “Rat aTat” and, well, the title “My Songs Know What You Did in theDark (Light Em Up)” is self explanatory.

Stump delves deeper and more personally in “Save Rock andRoll,” crooning, “I’ll cry tears you’ll never see/So f*** you, youcan go cry me an ocean/And leave me be.”

With one line, Stump releases all of the anger he pent up whenhe was blamed for the hiatus, which made his solo career flop asbadly as it did, and he has every reason to.

As have their audience, the band has matured greatly since theirbreakthrough album “From Under the Cork Tree,” and it showswith this masterpiece.

Long past are the lengthy song titles, remixes and eyeliner, butthe band manages to stay true to their original sound.

Most of the tracks on the album sound more pop-punk thanrock and roll, however.

So the title begs the question: Where does rock and roll fall inthe music spectrum?

Fall Out Boy’s return avoids pitfalls of usual reunions

SEPT. 11, 2013 PAGE 7

BY JACK WALSWORTHVN STAFF WRITER

Known simply as “the Quads,” the University ofDetroit Mercy’s quadrangle has been home to upper-classmen since August 1969

Yet, like many of the buildings on the McNicholscampus, the Quads have seen their fair share ofchanges over the years.

The most recent of those changes came just thispast summer to the East Quad.

“We put in all new lights, sinks and shower stallsin the bathrooms of second, third and fourth floorsof East Quad,” said David Vandelinder, director ofFacility Operations.

New ceilings and floors were also put in eachbathroom, as well as new doors throughout the en-tire suite.

However, all of this work almost didn’t happen.“None of us thought any renovation was going to

occur over the summer,” said Vandelinder. “It wasn’tuntil some funding became available that we couldgo ahead and start working.”

Even though UDM received funding for the reno-

vation of East Quad, it still wasn’t enough to coverrenovating the first floor.

“The first floor is still on the radar,” said Van-delinder. “We hope to spread the funds around in thefuture but for now all that has changed on the firstfloor are the new doors.”

Last year’s renovation of South Quad served as amodel for the one in East Quad but Vandelinder stillhad to meet with other campus officials to discussideas.

“Basically, we had to meet with Residence Lifeand come up with a game plan and figure out the crit-ical areas,” he said. “We all worked as a team to getthe renovation done.”

Lanae Gill, director of Residence Life, was espe-cially happy with how the work turned out, consid-ering how the conditions of the bathrooms werebeforehand.

“Both structurally and aesthetically it was time torenovate,” said Gill.

According to Vandelinder, some students over theyears had placed contact paper in spots that neededwork, which left some bathrooms in extremely poorcondition.

Work in East Quad began right after graduation inMay and went all through summer.

“We started with the fourth floor and worked ourway down,” said Vandelinder. “As soon as we fin-ished with a floor, housekeeping would come in anddo a general cleaning as well wax the floors.”

Vandelinder and his crew didn’t run into anythingthey didn’t anticipate, mostly because of the recentSouth Quad renovation and the fact that each quad’sfloor plan is the same.

Despite not having any major issues, the renova-tion came down to the wire but was still completed aweek before move in.

When it came time for students to move in, somewere surprised to see the changes.

“I didn’t even know they were doing a renova-tion,” said 19-year-old sophomore Tim Gornall. “Thebathroom is very well done. It looks like somethingyou’d find in a hotel.”

“Overall, I’m very happy with how things turnedout,” said Vandelinder. “I wish we could do more butthe funds have got to be there. The changes we madeto East Quad should stay nice and durable for yearsto come.”

BY ANGELES GAVIAVN STAFF WRITER

On a recent day, MustansirHusain, also known as Moose,ran around the track with twoclassmates in the Titan FitnessCenter, his grey shirt soaked insweat.

“I like everything here,” saidthe 21-year-old biochemistrymajor. “It’s really spacious and ithas awesome locker rooms.”

September of last year, UDMkick-started the school year withthe grand opening of the TitanFitness Center. This year beginswith new fitness classes and aguest policy that officials saywill benefit members in the longrun.

College life requires hardwork and dedication, and ofteninduces major stress. The centeroffers a place for a bit of healthyrelease.

It’s become a popular spot oncampus.

Erin Thelen 18, of SterlingHeights has been working at thefitness center for almost a yearand enjoys the atmosphere.

“I like being very social, and Ifeel like I’m more interactivewith the students on campus,”she said.

Thelen has met a lot of stu-dents and often walks aroundcampus greeting those she hasmet because students recognizeher as the girl from the fitnesscenter.

Out of the six fitness classesavailable, Zumba is the mostpopular, but the Abs class justmight catch up to it.

The fitness classes do not coststudents extra money, but guestsmight.

Each member get two freeguest passes. Additional guestswill be charged $5, according toa policy introduced this fall.

Fitness center assistant man-ager Rob Latva said that mem-bers were bringing in guests toooften over the summer.

“Students are paying for thecenter indirectly and this newpolicy puts everyone on the sameplaying field. The guest fee willalso benefit students,” saidLatva.

Money collected from thesefees will help raise funds forphase II, the $6.5 million natato-rium.

Staff member Morgan Dziur-man, 19, a second-year nursingstudent, feels excited about theswimming pool addition al-though she might not be here bythen to enjoy it.

Dziurman recommends stu-dents who work out to pushthemselves and be consistentwhen trying to stay fit.

“It’s 20 percent in the gym and80 percent in the kitchen,” shesaid.

Dziurman also recommendsprotein shakes for those workingout vigorously who want to re-build strong muscle tissue.

VN PHOTO BY JACK WALSWORTH

East Quad students arrive to findnew doors, renovated bathrooms

Fitnesscenterexpandsclasses

New lights, sinks and shower stalls have been installed in the second, third and fourth floors of East Quad.

BY KAMARA FANTVN STAFF WRITER

From the outside, it’s a bi-colored brick building withthe large sign – Pied PiperMarket.

Next to the Chase ATMacross Livernois from UDM,the market is one of a fewlocal places that draws studentcustomers, offering the typicalitems you would expect tofind: canned food, pop, candy,wine, liquor and spirits.

Many days, a tall manstands behind the counter. Hisname is Ted. (He refuses togive his last name.)

With a half-graying beardand serious eyes, he seems in-timidating at first glance.

Ted started working at thePied Piper in 1996, and hisvoice is direct and clear.

Mention UDM students tohim, and he laughs and smiles

brilliantly.“They are great here,” he

said recently, gesturing andwaving to others in the store.“I love them.”

Many customers like the re-ception they get at the PiedPiper.

Malcolm Spicer, a seniormajoring in chemistry, can at-test to the hospitality.

“I have only ever been thereonce,” he said. “But they werevery friendly.”

Nicole Harrison, a senior,finds the people welcoming.

“Everyone is super nice andfriendly,” she said with a large

smile. “I love the ‘Pied.’ ”Harrison noted that the staff

looks out for students. “If something sketchy is

going on, they will tell you,”she said, nodding in approval.“They’ll look on their camerasto see if you get to the carsafely. If not, they’ll come outand help.”

Ted said UDM students be-come a major part of his com-munity as soon at they startattending school.

“I love them. It’s like theyare my students,” he says.

A. Nebden, a sophomoreaccounting major, appreciatesthe Pied.

“They are just really wel-coming when you walk in,” hesaid.

Students come to the storeto buy a variety of items –whatever they need at the mo-ment, Ted said.

“There is nothing in partic-ular that they get, ” he said.“Just the essentials. ”

Spicer recalled that whenhe walked in once, a workertried to get him to get subs andinteract with other things inthe store.

“I just told him I wanted mychips, but it was a nice ges-ture,” he said.

The Pied Piper Market hasbeen open for approximately34 years, according to Ted,and it has expanded over timeto include a jewelry area, slotmachines and more.

Harrison’s favorite memoryof the Pied is coming in oneday to see one of the workersby the slot machines.

“It’s right next to theirsmoothie machine, which isright next to their income taxarea,” she laughed. “Just sit-ting there and being friendlyas usual.”

Nebden feels the warmthfrom Ted and his co-workersas well.

“Whenever you walk in,they ask how you’re doing,”he said.

The start of the semester isa special time for Ted becauseof his student customers.

“I love seeing themaround,” he said.

Beyondthe GatesOne in a series of storiesabout the neighborhoodaround McNichols campus

Pied Piper: Drawing students since ’80s

VN PHOTO BY IAN THIBODEAU

A regular stop for some.

Michigan vs. Ohio State.Duke vs. North Carolina. Alabama vs. Auburn.UDM vs. Oakland?That’s right, folks. Oakland University has become the newest mem-

ber of the Horizon League –and the conference’s onlyother Michigan team.

Does this mean DetroitMercy has a new rival foryears ahead?

With rivalries like Michi-gan-Notre Dame (debatablein some people’s eyes) com-ing to a close, the world ofcollege athletics is in theprocess of becoming evenmore about the money.

That’s why we need anold-school-type rivalry tocome together right here insoutheast Michigan.

I believe the matchup of the Golden Grizzlies andthe Titans has all the makings of a decent rivalry in asolid mid-major conference. The two schools are only26.3 miles apart, a quick shot up or down I-75.

For both schools, the main athletic attractions arethe men’s basketball teams. Both programs scheduletough non-conference games and usually pull at leastone big-time team every year.

When the announcement leaked a few months agoabout Oakland’s shift, I got really excited.

“Why?” you might ask.Because I feel this is a move that should have been

made a long time ago. These two schools need tocompete against each other.

Another reason this will work is because thecoaches will now, more than ever before, battle forthe same recruits.

Supposedly, that was one of the obstacles whentalk of Oakland joining UDM’s conference surfacedabout a decade ago.

“About ten years ago, there was interest in us fromthe Horizon League and Detroit stopped it,” Oaklandcoach Greg Kampe told an AP reporter earlier thisyear. “I know that’s a fact because I called the athleticdirector then, Brad Kinsman, and he told me.”

In the AP story, Kinsman confirmed it.“The feeling back then was that it didn’t make

sense to share this market with another school in thesame conference,” said Kinsman, who retired in2006. “Times have changed, coaches have changed,but I don’t know what the thinking is now.”

UDM reportedly wasn’t crazy about Oakland join-ing this time around either, but the recent departuresof Butler and Loyola required that the HorizonLeague add members.

Oakland’s longtime desire to step into UDM’s con-ference and UDM’s reported effort to block the movemeans there might already be bad blood between theschools.

In addition, both schools have many students andstudent-athletes who are from the Detroit area andplayed against each other plenty of times. Nothingcan be better for igniting competitive dislike for eachother than starting at the high school level.

Sadly, though, this process takes time. All of the ingredients for a natural rivalry between

the schools are in the mix. But for this year, at leastfrom a men’s basketball perspective, I think the inten-sity will not be as high as it could be in years to come.

On the court, both teams are young. Detroit will be looking to find a way to replace

much of its offense. Nick Minnerath and Doug An-derson have graduated, Jason Calliste has transferredto Oregon and Ray McCallum was drafted into theNBA by Sacramento.

Oakland is looking to bounce back from a downerof a year and will be led by three-point specialistTravis Bader.

With that said, I still have Jan. 11 and Feb. 14marked on my calendar as marquee dates. I’m eagerto be a part of the first meetings for these two schoolsas members of the same conference.

Because one day, just maybe, the question markwill change to a period and a historic rivalry will beborn.

Pulliam is VN co-editor

THE VARSITY

NEWSSSppoorrttss PAGE 8 SEPT. 11, 2013

CurtisPulliam

BY CURTIS PULLIAMVN CO-EDITOR

The addition of the Oakland UniversityGolden Grizzlies to the Horizon League hassome UDM students enthused about the pos-sibilities.

“I like it,” said junior Vincent Gianino, anEnglish and political science double major.“It could be a fun rivalry.”

For the basketball teams, playing Oaklandwill be a new experience.

But several UDM teams in other sportshave been competing against the Grizzlies foryears.

“I think it is good for our track team be-cause we have seen them in meets through-out the previous seasons and know a lot abouttheir team,” said Stephanie Cuniberti, a senior

jumper for the women’s track and field team.“But for that same reason, it seems strange tocompete against them for Horizon Leaguechampionships now.”

While she likes the move for her team, Cu-niberti feels that the rivalry with Oaklandmight not flare immediately.

“To me it doesn’t seem like they are rivals,yet,” she said. “They still seem like the com-petitors that we are seeing in normal non-league meets. But maybe once the seasonstarts and we see each other frequently (if weboth go to the invitationals we have in thepast) and realize that we are going to com-plete against each other for a title, or place, itwill sink in. Once that hits, we (or at least I)will develop that rival feeling towards them.”

Adam Bedell, senior mid-fielder for themen’s soccer team, will have played Oakland

all four years he’s been here after this season. He believes the Golden Grizzlies are the

right fit for the Horizon League. “I think it’s a good thing for our conference

to add a quality team like Oakland,” said Be-dell. “We have always had a rivalry with themand now that they are in our conference it justkind of takes it to another level.”

But not everyone agrees.Steven Ivanics is a senior hurdler for the

Titans. He said Oakland makes the confer-ence weaker.

“It feels like collectively it’s taking a stepdown in the schools involved in the league,”he said. “We’re in a better position to winsome things but it’s not much of an accom-plishment with an easy schedule.”

And with those words, the rivalry may beoff and running.

BY VITO CHIRCOVN STAFF WRITER

As the leaves on trees changecolors, new faces have emerged oncampus – and on the basketballcourt.

The 2013-14 women Titans willfeature six freshmen from fourstates and one Canadian province.

Joining sophomore RosannaReynolds and senior Senee Sheareras backcourt players will be fresh-men guards Haleigh Ristovski,Reyna Montgomery and MinishaFrederick-Childress.

At 5-feet-4, Frederick-Childress,a native of North Mankato, Minn.,is listed as the shortest player onthis year’s team.

She holds the state record for as-sists in Minnesota, and takes pridein being a prototypical point guard.

“I’m a facilitator and only scorewhen I need to,” Frederick-Chil-dress said.

Montgomery is one of twofreshmen from Ohio. Her home-town of Gahanna has a differentfeel than Detroit.

“Back home, it’s much quieterand smaller,” Montgomery said.“There’s not as much action, and it’s notnearly as busy as it is around here.”

Additionally, being from the Buckeye state,she plans on staying true to her hometownties.

“I’m a proud fan of Ohio State, and I don’tplan on having that change despite going tocollege in the state of Michigan,” Mont-gomery said.

The lone freshman guard with ties toMichigan is Haleigh Ristovski of SterlingHeights.

She stands in at nearly six feet, making herthe team’s tallest freshman guard.

UDM’s religious roots played an integralrole in getting Ristovski to become a Titan.

“My Christian upbringing made me realizethe importance of playing basketball atUDM,” Ristovski said.

She wanted to have the chance to play at aschool similar in size to her high school (Uni-versity of Liggett). She believes UDM willprovide her with that unique experience.

She plans on taking advantage of being ableto play alongside Shearer.

“I’m looking forward to taking away as

much as possible from playing alongsideSenee,” she said.

Ristovski wants to become a better shooter,and she believes Shearer will help her getopen shots.

Joining senior Megan Hatter and redshirtsophomore Brie Wilcox in the frontcourt thisyear will be freshman forwards Tayla Gibb,Megan Galloway and Lizzy Connors, who iscurrently suffering from concussion symp-toms.

Galloway is the tallest member of the Titanfreshman class. She is the second in the classto reside from Ohio.

She would like to become the next SharetaBrown – last year’s leading scorer, who hastransferred to Wayne State – and the go-toscorer at the post.

She is also willing to shoot from long-dis-tance. “I’ve been working on my three-pointrange a lot this offseason, and I plan on con-tinuing to do so in order to improve on my all-around game,” Galloway said.

She believes that Detroit coach AutumnRademacher will help her become a more ver-satile player.

Rademacher landed perhaps herbiggest recruit, Tayla Gibb, fromnorth of the border.

From Ontario, Gibb played highschool basketball in Toronto forEastern Commerce Collegiate Insti-tute.

Gibb was the last freshmanplayer to arrive to campus for thefall.

“Being from Canada, she had toenroll as a full-time student for thesummer semester,” Rademachersaid. “This meant that while theother players would be taking threecourses and nine credits, shewould’ve had to take twelve cred-its.”

Rademacher and her staff thoughtthat would’ve been too tough onGibb.

Former assistant coach EmilyGeary recommended that Gibb re-ceive a tryout during the late sign-ing period.

“Coach Geary really liked whatshe saw, and we were able to bringTayla onto campus for a tryout atCalihan,” Rademacher said. “Taylahad the best attitude and showed offsome raw ability and great athleti-cism.”

Gibb comes into her freshman year alreadyhaving guided her high school Eastern Com-merce to three straight 4A city championships.

Gibb aims to achieve the same level of suc-cess as a Titan.

“I want to help get this team to a third-straight 20-win season plus to an appearancein the Big Dance (NCAA Tournament) nextMarch,” Gibb said.

As for the biggest difference between liv-ing in the United States and Canada, Gibb be-lieves it might be the quality of milk.

“I don’t know what it is, but the quality ofmilk is not the same here in the U.S.,” Gibbsaid. “I didn’t notice it until I started livinghere, but, man, it is certainly noticeable.”

While Rademacher may not share the sen-timent regarding milk, she does feel the sameabout the team.

“I think we can be more of a team, and havemore of a balanced attack than last year,”Rademacher said. “We have great shootersthis year up-and-down the roster.”

She believes her team can play up-tempo,like the men’s team did last year, and win 20games.

With a little encouragement,Oakland, UDM battles couldevolve into classic matchups

Fighting words: Let the OU rivalry begin

Six newcomers will givewomen’s team fresh look

PHOTO COURTESY OF UDM SPORTS INFO

Coach Rademacher celebrates last year’s championship.