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October 7, 2010 • www.OlympiaMediaGroup.comAnn Arbor, Michigan

Another Perfect Day at Michigan Stadium Photo Credit: Anna Milligan

Think Pink, Think Zeta, Page 3Know Your Rights, Page 5Date Party Do's and Don'ts, Page 11

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SALES REPRESENTATIVES

We Say: Go GreekCongratulations to all houses and their

new pledge classes for a successful rush process. These past few weeks have been wild, as we transition into the school year. It feels as though we are now getting in our routines for the semester and new pledge initiation seems to represent this.

To all freshmen, I welcome you to Greek life. We have fun, we give back to the community, and we do well in school. Joining our Greek community was one of the best decisions you will make in college.

This is going to be an exciting year for all of you. Get to know your pledge classes well because they will become some of your best friends, and valuable assets,

over the next 4 years. Just remember that you were given a bid because the house

wanted you to join them; don’t conform to anybody else’s views of how you should live.

For freshmen who are reading The Odyssey for the fi rst time, we are the nation’s largest publication for Greeks, by Greeks. We want you to feel that The Odyssey is just as much yours as anybody else’s in Greek life, and we encourage you to submit content. If you are interested in writing, or would like to make suggestions about how we can improve our paper, please send an email to Michigan@theodysseyonline.com.

Casey is a sophomore studying Business and Chemical Engineering. You may contact him at cgoldman@olympiamediagroup.com.

CASEY GOLDMAN

Phi Kappa PsiPublisher

Alex Perlman, Phi Kappa Psi • Matthew Goldstein, Phi Kappa PsiLeann Arcori, Alpha Phi • Ben Prouty, Phi Kappa Psi • Will Pappo, Phi Kappa Psi

Interested in writing or sales? Contact Michigan@TheOdysseyOnlline.com

Casey Goldman, Phi Kappa PsiPUBLISHER

Vol.1, No.6

"To all freshmen, I welcome you to Greek life. We have fun, we give back to the community, and we do well in school."

www.TheOdysseyOnline.com • 3STORYSTORYSTORYFeature

Each year throughout the fall, you see pink ribbons and clothing everywhere in support of beating breast cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month across the country and this year, Zeta Tau Alpha is helping spread awareness of this disease across the Michigan campus. Breast cancer affects everyone, whether they have personally been affected, or know others who have battled the disease. It is so prevalent, that 1 in 7 women will likely be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Read on to see what you can do to get involved this month, to promote Breast Cancer Awareness.

Save Lids to Save Lives: Zeta will be collecting Yoplait yogurt lids throughout the month to help raise money through the Save Lids to Save Lives campaign. Look for the pink lids on the Yoplait containers and save them so they can be redeemed for research funds. Each lid donated is worth ten cents toward breast cancer research. In its twelfth year of the campaign, Yoplait has donated over 25

million dollars to the Susan G. Coman Race for the Cure. This year they are looking to add over 1.2 million dollars to its donation—with your help! All you have to do is look for donation boxes that will be in each sorority house and at other

locations around campus.

Yogurt Eating Contest:

In conjunction with the Save Lids to Save Lives campaign, Zeta will be hosting a yogurt eating contest Tuesday, October 26th in the diag (weather permitting) from 12-3 p.m. Come stuff your face with yogurt to help support a fabulous cause. Find 3 friends and sign up! See which of your friends can eat yogurt the fastest and win some fabulous prizes. Teams of 4 have a $20 registration fee. To enter, email Carolyn Collins at cacolli@umich.edu.

Pink ribbons in full force: Come to the diag every Thursday from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. in October and receive a “Think

Pink” ribbon from the girls passing them out. Wear them throughout the month to show the campus that you support breast cancer awareness. Get ready to eat some yogurt, wear some pink, and save some lids to help spread awareness throughout the month in your sorority and fraternity houses. Don’t forget to Think Pink and Think Zeta!

Laura Raines is a sophomore studying Communications. You may contact her at lraines@umich.edu.

Think Pink, Think Zeta

LAURA RAINESZeta Tau Alpha

4 • www.TheOdysseyOnline.comTALK ABOUTTALK ABOUTTALK ABOUTSomething to

Now that everyone’s back into the swing of things and syllabus week is a thing of the distant past, the reality of work has set in among (most) everyone on Michigan’s campus. It’s becoming more and more diffi cult to fi nd the time to do the things we love, and even worse than that, the time to do the things we have to do. It’s back to the grindstone, the whirlwind life that makes Michigan what it is.

As I was walking to class the other day, something caught my eye and shook me out of the incredible daze I had fallen into as I trudged along. Right in front of me,

a student (freshman if I had to guess) was running full speed, backpack and all, through the masses of people in the diag. Backpack slamming up and down with each step, glasses bouncing off of his nose, and shoelaces untied; this kid was on a mission. As if the fact that he looked like he was training for a track meet was not strange enough, the fi nal and most peculiar thing I noticed about him was the massive smile smeared across his face. I have no idea where he was going or why he was sprinting there, but God was he happy about being on the way.

At fi rst, I smirked to myself in thinking how badly he was embarrassing himself, but then something occurred to me; in the sea of people, I myself was walking through, not a single person looked half as content as that kid did.

Yeah, he looked ridiculous, but good for him for taking a second out of his day to enjoy life. We’re all always moving

towards something, and oftentimes, it’s a diffi cult task just to make it through our busy days. But really, in the grand scheme of things, it will always be immensely

important to make yourself happy.

In this intense and competitive environment, it is all too easy to forget that there needs to be time for yourself to enjoy what makes life sweet. So no matter how much work you’ve got, no matter how far behind you feel, and no matter how late at night it is, remember to put yourself fi rst just for a few minutes every day. Whether you fi nd your happy place in the gym, in a book, outside in the arb, or curled up in front of the TV with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s; put the laptop away, hide your notes, and smile for a second.

Kylie Kagen is a sophomore studying Communications. You may contact her at knkagen@umich.edu.

Smile

"In this intense and competitive environment, it is all too easy to forget that there needs to be time for yourself to enjoy what makes life sweet."KYLIE KAGEN

Alpha Delta Pi

www.TheOdysseyOnline.com • 5TALK ABOUTTALK ABOUTTALK ABOUT

Something to Smile

When one thinks of the word, “college”, the fi rst images that pop into mind are not the late nights studying in the library, but the huge wild parties that are nothing like the parties most people were used to in high school. The thing that most underage students do not think about when going to these parties and drinking the large amounts of alcohol provided are the consequences of getting caught underage drinking. It does appear that college, especially at a school with as fun of a social life as U of M, is a free for all. But contrary to this belief, there are still police and people still do get MIPS (Minor in Possession).

This weekend, I got the chance to meet with an Ann Arbor criminal defense lawyer to speak with her about what our rights are as individuals and clear up some common misconceptions. Lawyer, Stacey Washington, started off our conversation by saying that underage drinking and using fake identifi cations is “Illegal, so don’t do it”. But if someone chooses to participate in these activities (which let’s be honest, many people do), there are certain things that are necessary to know.

Mrs. Washington said a good pointer for students is to always be cooperative with the police because the less cooperative one is, the guiltier they may seem. If the police come to a house, apartment or dorm and fi nd people drinking, they do not have the right to just search the premises. The police needs a search warrant; exception being if it is in pursuit of criminal danger. If someone at the party does answer the door that is not necessarily giving permission for them to come inside. The police intimidate many people because they are the authority. But, it is important to remember that you do have rights, so they do not take advantage of the situation. The police also do not automatically have the right to give a portable breath test. In the state of Michigan it is important to remember that your body is considered a container. You

can still get an MIP without holding alcohol or actually drinking at the time the police come to a party.

Besides MIPS, another major issue on college campuses is fake IDs. Washington said the consequences differ greatly depending on whether an individual is dealing with a university of city cop. The city cops normally will take your id, but fi nd some way to work something out and it will not go on your criminal record. The university cops on the other hand take a much tougher approach. An individual not only has to deal with the legal consequences

of being caught with a fake id, but also has to deal with the Offi ce of Student Confl ict Resolution (OSCR). In this case, a student would get in trouble with not only the law, but also with the school. Identity theft in some cases can be considered a felony.

It is important to be aware of the consequences of underage drinking and using fake IDs, but it is also important to know your rights if you do get caught in these situations. The three main things that you should take with you are:

Be cooperative with the police, this can only be in your favor.

You do not have to take a breathalyzer and in many cases it is smart not to because then there is no documented proof of your blood alcohol level.

In the case of fake IDs, be smart. You know you are doing something illegal and there are risks in any activity of that nature. If you get caught with a fake ID by the police, hope that it is not a university cop.

Dana Narens is a sophomore studying Communications and English. You may contact her at dnarens@umich.edu.

Know Your Rights

DANA NARENSDelta Delta Delta

www.TheOdysseyOnline.com • 7TALK ABOUTTALK ABOUTTALK ABOUT

Something to

So, it’s Saturday night. The football game ended about 4 hours ago, you are fi nally recovering from the coma nap you just awoke from, and shoot, you remember that online homework you haven’t started yet is due Monday. While many of us spend our Saturday nights at Skeeps or house parties, mine was quite the contrary. Seeing as I was ridiculously exhausted from waking up at 7:30 a.m. that morning I was not mentally or physically ready to put my party pants on, not to mention the list of things I had to do was so long it was making its way down to the fl oor.

After deciding to meet up with my friend to work on an assignment, I toss my rather large backpack over my shoulders, bundle up in some sweats (p.s. when did it become Fall?) and march over to Amer’s, everyone’s favorite spot for some fro-yo.

Let me tell you, parading through the Rick’s crowd with my “I’m going to study” get-up on was one of the nerdiest moments I have ever experienced. So, my friend and I get to Amer’s. We spend about 10 minutes deciding which toppings to put on top of our 9 or 10 oz vanilla frozen yogurt because we all know the key is to combine all of your favorite toppings without feeling completely obese when your total reaches a whopping $14.97. We then proceed to spend another 15 minutes looking for a plug for our computers, (don’t even try the one by the door, defi nitely doesn’t

work), and fi nally the last 20 minutes or so working on some of our assignments with the bass of Rick’s pulsating beneath us. Eleven p.m. rolls around and I’m sorry, but did any of you know that Amer’s closes at eleven on Fridays and Saturdays? Well, I didn’t and that’s absurd.

My friend and I are far from done with our homework so we pack everything

back into our bags, decide we aren’t in the mood for the library and head to Starbucks instead. It is at this point where we must sift through the Blue Leprechaun and Brown Jug scene, which I fi nd just absolutely humiliating as I look over to my friend who’s bopping her head to the blaring music and enjoying it. We make it to Starbucks and cozy up in some armchairs, unpack our bags, and start up our assignment again. About 50 minutes later, the barista tells us they’re closing in 5 minutes. 12:00 a.m. already? Our situation is quickly shifting from funny to annoying as we pack our bags for the umpteenth time, and decide where our next Wi-Fi venue will be. Like a message sent from the heavens, the neon lights of Momo Tea across the street catch my eye; so we check it out. FYI: it closes at 2:00 a.m. on Saturdays, in case you were wondering. Wi-Fi? Check. We awkwardly squeeze into a couch too small for the both of us and secretly hope they don’t make us buy anything since we’re using their internet. We once again whip out our laptops only to discover that the stupid wireless requires a password. Yup, we defi nitely have to buy something now. My friend slaps a lone Tootsie Roll, (Yes, they sell Tootsie Rolls there), on to the

counter and says, “What’s the password, please!” As we continue to work on our homework, extremely frustrated, we start to realize the noise factor is progressively getting louder. More and more people roll into Momo Tea like it’s the freaking Big House and Michigan is playing Ohio State; who knew Momo Tea was the place to be on the weekends? My friend and I look around and start bursting out in laughter at the hilarity of this situation. We’re actually shouting to each other to compare our answers for the practice problems we’re working on, yet we can’t leave because this is the only place that is open late enough, that has Wi-Fi, that ISN’T the library.

In one word, our night was bizarre. We may have fi nished our assignment, but I can’t get over how diffi cult it was to fi nd a place to study on a Saturday night. I hope this story can be a lesson for all of you, but I guess the moral of the story is: go to the library? Next time, I think I’ll just go to Rick’s.

Kendall Szczerba is a sophomore studying Pre-Medicine and Spanish. You may contact her at szczerba@umich.edu.

Not Your Average Saturday Night

KENDALL SZCZERBA

Delta Delta Delta

10 • www.TheOdysseyOnline.comFITNESSFITNESSFITNESSHealth &

Its diffi cult telling people what exercises they should be doing. Describing how to do a basic squat with good form in itself would take up a couple hundred of words. I am going do my best though to try and describe some ab exercises you should be doing because I always see people doing the wrong thing.

PS: I never tell someone when he or she is doing something stupid. Correcting someone’s exercise while they are doing it is a huge bruise to their ego. It usually results in the person getting very defensive and upset that you would criticize their fi tness knowledge.

Plank: Most people know how to do a plank and it seems pretty basic. In case you don’t its similar to a pushup but you are on your elbows instead of your hands. As your elbows and toes are on the ground, you should be trying to keep your body as stable/still as possible. Here is the part where everyone goes wrong. Just because your elbow and toes are the only parts of your body touching the ground, does not mean you are doing a plank right. Often times peoples stomachs will drop immediately, or their hips will start to rise in the air. A good way to make sure your doing planks right is to have a broomstick, or pole

on your back. The broomstick should be in constant contact with your butt and your head; if it's not it means you are not perfectly straight and are not doing the exercise properly.

Crunches: Stop doing crunches on the fl oor. Think about it like this. When lifting weights or doing resistance exercises, you should never bend your back. Most people when they come up for a crunch on the fl oor, lift their necks forward, bend their back, and then come up. Your back should always be straight and in a neutral position. Try doing crunches on a bosu/yoga ball, or on a dynadisc. These objects allow you to perform a crunch with your entire back kept in a neutral position instead of bending at the top. I am not sure bending at the top is the right word, but this motion does two negative things. One, it enforces bad posture; you're more likely to become hunched over when older if done repetitively. Two, it's bad for your spine, the vertebrae in your back is grinding against each other as you bend like that.

Cable hold: My camera is not working or else I would post a picture of this to make it look a thousand times easier. You basically grab a cable and hold it out

in front of you, resisting the cable from twisting you sideways. This is a good and safe exercise for the oblique’s, (side of abs) instead of all those stupid twisty things I see people doing that once again, causing the vertebrae in your spine to grind against itself.

Lastly, these exercises are for people with reasonably low levels of body fat that can not fully see their abdominals. If you have layers of fat covering your abdominals, no amount of crunches is going to change that.

Sean Yang is a sophomore in the Ross School of Business studying Finance. You may contact him at yangsean@umich.edu.

Breaking Down Abs

SEAN YANGSigma Alpha Epsilon

www.TheOdysseyOnline.com • 11ENTERTAINMENT

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Date Parties. We can’t live with them; we can’t live without them. While simple in theory, these nights invite an abundance of stress and complication into our lives. Girls- the same thoughts run through all of our minds when these dates get penciled into our calendars. “Who should I ask? I can’t bring the same guy too many times. Will he think it’s weird that I’m asking? When should I ask him? What should I wear?” Half of the time we don’t say them out loud, but these concerns are real and countless. These date party dilemmas consume us when they arise. While we worry so much about getting ready for the experience, it seems that we spend so much time envisioning our nights that when the actual date comes, we make mistakes along the way. The following include the two major Do’s and Don’ts of Sorority date parties.

DO: Get Set Up

There are very few times when we have

an excuse to be set up with someone other than the same guy that we always

seem to gravitate towards. Whether it be the outgoing and confi dent, frat boy, the geek, or the shy guy, we all have our preferences. Occasionally it benefi ts us to have a sister set us up with

someone outside of our comfort zone. Sometimes, surprisingly, it seems that our friends know us better than we do, and pick a guy with a new trait or take on life that gets us interested. Although not every set up winds up in love at fi rst sight and a long-term relationship, even a fl eeting few hours of fun with a new person can be worthwhile.

DON’T: Be a Date Thief

We all know how dangerous date swapping can be, or even worse, date stealing. It seems that many girls are plagued with kleptomania when it comes to date parties, as they trade in the dates they come with for a hotter model once they arrive. Note to

self: Not only does ditching your date break the heart of the boy who started the night by your side, but it will probably break the heart of your sister who showed up with Mr. Hottie as well. Date stealing is like a hot fudge sundae or an impulse buy- it may seem appealing in the moment, but you’ll wake up the morning feeling full of regret and guilt.

Erica is a junior studying Economics and Program in the Environment. You may contact her at esalmirs@umich.edu.

Date Party Do's and Don'ts

"Date Parties. We can’t live with them; we can’t live without them. While simple in theory, these nights invite an abundance of stress and complication into our lives. "

ERICA SALMIRSChi Omega

12 • www.TheOdysseyOnline.com

ENTERTAINMENTwww.TheOdysseyOnline.com

SAMANTHASCHARMETTSigma Delta Tau

The clock strikes 2AM, and drunken shouts across the bar that have barely been audible over the blaring speakers suddenly become publicized commentary. As the lights fl icker on, the shadowy faces you’ve been squinting to see all night become perfectly visible—black makeup circles underneath her eyes, sweat between his eyebrows (ew), and beer stains accessorizing the skirts, pants, and polos of everyone who has managed to accidentally walk into somebody with a full pitcher and unsteady hand.

As heaps of people stumble outside to hail cabs (or walk the scenic route, which I tend to do), the question looms: “Where do we go from here?” Well, thanks to Ann Arbor’s college-friendly set-up, the

possibilities are endless. Whether we regret it tomorrow or not, late-night cravings (and succumbing to them) are part of the college experience. I’d like to take this opportunity to give our new sorority and fraternity babies a peek into what has amounted to be the top four late-night spots:

4. Panchero’s: At Panchero’s Mexican Grill, located on South U, there is an assortment of options on the menu: from burritos, to tacos, to quesadillas and your choice of grilled meats and veggies, the

possibilities are endless. Junior Jesse Brauner considers their Mexican food to be “the best hangover prevention method out there” while junior Pat Stafford claims that he likes Panch late-night “because it offers everything a man needs: meat,

some veggies, and guacamole. It’s a killer combination.”

3. Backroom/NYPD: The former, located just a few doors down from Rick’s on Church Street; the latter on State Street. Both of these pizza joints offer inexpensive options to assuage your hunger. Although there’s been a bit of uproar surrounding the fact that Backroom upped its price per slice to $1.25 from $1 (oh no!), their takeout pizza is a quick fi x that hits the spot. NYPD is another cheap option that comes with a ton of seating and pizza toppings that range from peppers to BBQ chicken.

2. Jimmy Johns: Number two was my freshman year obsession, although all I ever ordered was a Slim 4 with provolone (yes, I know it’s just turkey and cheese). However, its convenient location on South U and its lightning-fast pickup/delivery time, make it a reliable late-night pick. According to junior Neil Rabinowicz, “nothing ends the night better than a fresh Jimmy Johns sandwich. I recommend #4,

the Turkey Tom.”

1. Pizza House: If you know me at all, you know I saved this for last because it is by far my favorite place on campus to eat late-night. I’m not a big fan of change, so I tend to stick to my staple meal of bruschetta: four fl uffy pieces of garlic bread topped with chopped tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, drizzled in balsamic vinegar… I’m actually getting hungry just thinking about it. For those with a broader palate than my own, there’s a wide variety of delicious food you can order, from cheesy bread to chipatis to deep-dish pizza. Not only is the food amazing, but the staff is as well. One night, my friends and I arrived just after 2:30am and started a fl oor-wide Pizza House sing-along… And instead of escorting us out, our waiter partook in the festivities (as well as other customers). Needless to say, Pizza House tops this list with fl ying colors. :-)

Samantha Scharmett is a junior studying Communications and French. You may contact her at samariel@umich.edu.

Late Night Munchies

www.TheOdysseyOnline.com • 13ENTERTAINMENT

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I recently went to see Best Coast perform at the Magic Stick in Detroit. I will admit that prior to the show I had a bit of a parasocial relationship with lead singer Bethany Cosentino: I laughed at what she wrote on twitter, adored her cat named Snacks, thought it was cute when her and her boyfriend in Wavves wrote back and forth to one another, and loved her big Asian bassist, Bob. She was funny in interviews, down to earth, and seemed like someone I would want to be friends with. Therefore, it is safe to say I had very high expectations for this show.

We arrived and watched the opening act, Male Bonding, a punk rock band from London. I proceeded to meet Bob at the merch table (and loved him, he’s so chill if you know what I mean). Finally Bethany came out on stage. She sang beautifully, the sound was great; the show went by without a hitch. This is impressive as low-fi sound is easy to mess up. In the words of my fellow concert-goer Chris Williams (since this is a Greek Life newspaper I suppose I will note that he’s in Fiji); “It

was like everyone knew exactly what to do, it was a very tightly performed show.”

Yet, I felt incredibly unsatisfi ed with the concert. I think the reason for this was Bethany herself; she was clearly in a bad mood (perhaps she was getting sick) and barely interacted with the crowd. As is standard, she thanked everyone for being there, which seemed genuine enough. However, I literally saw her smile only twice the entire set.

This concert made me realize just how incredibly important artist/fan relations are. Beyond the music there is a certain drive to connect with the artist on a deeper level. Because I connect with the music she is producing, I feel like I connect with her. If I wanted to simply hear the album then I would listen at home, in fact it is highly probable the sound would be better that way. A consumer does not go to a concert just to hear the album live. They go for real interaction, incredibly loud speakers, reverb, and sometimes the feeling of deindividuation (a psychology

term for losing a sense of oneself in a mass of people).

Furthermore, the way an artist behaves on stage and speaks to the crowd has such an effect on the fan’s view of the band as a whole. I’ve seen concerts that sounded ten times worse than Best Coast (We Are Scientists for example) but who were witty, looked like they loved being there, and had great stage presence. I left those shows feeling like I had a great time. I will admit, there are certain artists who can absolutely get away with little to no stage presence simply because their music is that amazing/profound/renowned. Best Coast is simply not one of them. Though her music is fun, catchy and certainly good, it’s not something that will stand the test of time. It is purely feel good music, and if you don’t feel good while you sing it, I don’t feel good while I watch it.

Don’t get the wrong idea; I by no means dislike Best Coast now. I still love every song on her album. I still enjoyed the concert immensely. I still think Bethany is great and most likely had a bad day. However, her demeanor very dramatically affected my experience. Still, listen to a couple of tracks and see some wonderful low-quality pictures/videos I took on my little camera at http://umich-music.blogspot.com/.

Upcoming Concerts:

10/9 Barenaked Ladies at St. Clair College, Windsor

10/10 The Walkmen at Magic Stick, Detroit

10/14 Sufjan Stevens at Royal Oak Music Theatre (he just released a new album!)

10/16 Guster at Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak

10/16 Josh Gracin at Jackson Community College, Jackson

10/16 Mike Posner at the Fillmore, Detroit

Kristine Colosimo is a junior studying Communications and American Culture. You may contact her at kacolosi@umich.edu.

Concert Review: Best Coast

KRISTINE COLOSIMO

Sigma Kappa

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