emYOU! December

DECEMBER 2010 1WWW.EMYOUTHEMAGAZINE.COM

Caring More About Youhuronview-apts.com

UnDormably YoursNo Mystery food...

No room checks...No smelly hallways

2, 3 roooomate-size homes

Right near campus

Media/WI Fi Center

PRIVACY! Yes!

Great Prices

Pizza, nearby

734-483-6007

Huron ViewAPARTMENTS

December 6th-16th library OPEN 24 hours

no cover. ever.

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December 6thkickoff Party & Late night breakfast

free massages

December 6th-16thall floors 24 hours

124 Pearl St. Suite 307 Ypsilanti, MI 48197.

www.pakmode.com

PUBLISHER, CO-FOUNDER: TIM ADKINS CO-FOUNDER: BILAL SAEED

EDITOR IN CHIEF: AMANDA SLATER

STAFF WRITERS:

AMANDA SLATER [email protected] ZIEGLER [email protected] IDALSKI [email protected] STROMSKI [email protected] MCNEES [email protected] PLACE [email protected]

DESIGNER: ASHLEY CRAWFORD PHOTOGRAPHERS: RAJ MEHTA & JONATHAN KNIGHT

SALES: [email protected]

DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING SALES: LILY DUEVEL [email protected]

on the coverStudent Spotlight: p. 8

Alumni Spotlight: p. 17

WEMU: p. 22

Business Spotlight: p. 10

Dec. 2010

spotlights08. Student Spotlight: Kaylan Mitchell

14. Professor Spotlight: Gary Evans

17. Alumni Spotlight: Rois and Nathalie Savvides

10. Business Spotlight: Crossroads Bar & Grill

athletics24. In Memory of Leonard Drake

25. Harris Joins the Lady Eagles

28. Green and White Comradery On and Off the Court

29. Girl Talk

arts & entertainment20. Around YOU!

32. The Buzz

34. Rate It!

college life12. Taste of the Season

22. WEMU

30. Holiday Gift Ideas for a CollegeBudget

fashion37. Style Watch

38. Holiday Styling Tips


2010 was an exciting year for us here at emYOU! The Magazine.

I'd like to thank you all for reading and supporting our little magazine on behalf of our entire staff. The students, faculty, alumni and everyone at EMU have become a part of our extended family and words really can't describe how appreciative and thankful we are to have been touched by all of you. We've been able to develop some great relationships purely on the intent of bettering EMU and the Ypsilanti community. In the process advertisers, coaches, professors, community members and just random people with no relation to the university have supported us along the way.

January 2011 will mark our 3 Year Anniversary, and we wouldn’t be able to say that without your support. As a business, sometimes difficult and challenging decisions have to be made, and we’re in the process of making one. Coming next month, emYOU! will be joining another Pakmode Media + Marketing product, iSPY. Combined, it will be THE publication for all things entertainment for the Washtenaw County area. Inside, you’ll find information on all the local

hot spots, reviews of music and movies, interviews with local, regional and national artists, and so much more! You’ll also find an emYOU! section dedicated to exclusively EMU content—including student, professor and alumni spotlights, as well as athletics and various entertainment events.

We’re very excited for the launch in January and hope you continue to read, support and give us feedback on what you’d like to see. Join us on our social networks to stay current with everything around you or drop by our new website at www.ispyypsi.com. Thanks again for everything, and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

On behalf of the emYOU! team

Tim AdkinsPublisher

6 DECEMBER 2010 WWW.EMYOUTHEMAGAZINE.COM

NOVEMBER RECAP

COLLEGE NIGHT

@ THEO’S

WE WERE THERET H E M A G A Z I N E


EMU BASKETBALL

FOR GUESSING THE CLOSEST AMOUNT OF MINI FOOTBALLS IT TOOK TO FILL UP THE

2010 JEEP WRANGLER SHE WON!! SPECIAL THANKS TO EMU ATHLETICS.

CONGRATS TO ARLENE PRYSON


studentspotlight

by Ryan M. Palce POWERED BY

Major Electronic

Media & Film Studies

Minor Art

Year Senior

(Graduating Dec. 2010)

Favorite bookKafka on the

Shore by Haruki Murakami

Favorite movie The Bicycle

Thieves

you in 3 words Creative,

adventurous, determined

If you could have any

superpower, what would it be Teleportation

spotlight . . .


”

“

Wonderful humans will always be in short supply. It’s the nature of our world and why great people like soon to be EMU grad Kaylan Mitchell will never go out of style. I think this as I sit outside of the Ugly Mug Café with the lovely bohemian Mitchell on an oddly warm November day.

“Ypsi is a really terrific area to create in,” she muses. “You know, it’s just run down enough and delightfully dilapidated. There’s an incredibly strong underground here in terms of music, art and film.”

Ever appreciative of her city, Mitchell is genuinely polite and modest despite her accomplishments. She is both an exceptionally talented cellist who plays in the Juliets as well as an electronic media and film studies major at EMU. She grew up in various Metro Detroit cities and was classically trained in the cello at Wayne State University under Marcy Chanteaux.

“I moved to Ypsi in 2006 and was playing in an Ypsi band called Canada. Then I decided to go to EMU,” she says. “Talking with EMU faculty, particularly Henry Aldridge, was the deciding factor in my choice to attend EMU.”

Her interests revolve around the cello and film. “They both really cross-reference each other for me and definitely intermingle,” she says.

In fact, Mitchell and her EMU film group are currently shooting a short movie in Ypsi about a “symphony cellist about to commit suicide.” Mitchell laughs as she adds, “It’s a real bright and sunny topic.”

However, when it comes to Mitchell’s music, this absurdly talented young woman has single-handedly made playing a 17th century instrument cool. Her interest in the cello sprouted in high school.

“While playing the violin in a school orchestra at Troy Athens High School, I picked up the cello by proxy due to my sad envy of how talented the cellists were,” she says, laughing. “Then came joining a band post-high school. I enjoy composing my own music and the freedom to move. Orchestra is too restricting. I have a huge appreciation for classical music, but being a

symphony musician was very rigorous and uncomfortable.”

Mitchell’s personal taste in music is very diverse and strongly influenced by cellist Jacqueline du Pre, Arthur Russell, The Zombies, early David Bowie and The Auteurs.

In the Juliets, Mitchell oscillates between playing either a full-sized cello or a sweet Yamaha electric cello, which she says, “allows me to sound electric guitar-ish with loop and reverb pedals, phase shifters and that sort of fun stuff.”

The Juliets are an Ypsilanti-based five-piece baroque pop band with impressive live energy and a rapidly growing fan base.

“We’re rock music with heavy classical influence, due to the strings being so prominent in everything we do,” Mitchell says.

The Juliets formed in October 2008. “I met Jeremy after moving to Ypsi,” says Mitchell. “My band, Canada, had parted ways and Jeremy’s songs appealed to me the most. Our violinist, Sarah Myers (who also goes to EMU), myself and Jeremy were the Juliets’ original foundation. Since then we’ve added Ashton Hopkins on bass and Jax Phillips on drums. The group as a whole has become very cohesive, very productive. It’s a great mix of people and talent.”

I’ve recently had the immense good fortune of seeing the Juliets live at The Savoy and was very impressed by

their stage presence and magnificent performance, as well as the quality of their songwriting.

“Jeremy Freer is the principal song crafter, but our entire group contributes to the songwriting,” Mitchell explains. “Our writing definitely has film elements in it, too. It’s like we’re consciously or unconsciously writing pieces that would be great future film soundtracks.”

However, Mitchell’s music has not made her an outsider to EMU events and activities. In fact, in July of 2010, she went on EMU’s “Film and Italian Culture” study abroad trip to Rome, Italy with Henry Aldridge, Brooke Dagnan and various EMU film

students. “It was my first trip

to Europe, one of those wonderful fairy tale excursions,” she says. “We went to dinner one night, and on the wall of the restaurant were framed napkins of little elephant creatures hand drawn by Fellini when he was a kid! And, on our last day, we went to Porta Portese in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome where they shot The Bicycle Thieves! Overall, it was an outstanding trip and I highly recommend it.”

Kaylan will be graduating in December 2010 with a Bachelors of Science in Film Studies. She will then continue to finish up the Juliets’ second album (which

will be recorded in January 2011), then she and the band will be hitting the road on a national tour.

Be sure to take some time over the holiday break to see Kaylan Mitchell and the Juliets play live! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

The Juliets will be playing at the Mittenfest from 10:50 p.m.—11:20 p.m. on Thursday, December 30, 2010 at The Savoy.

Special thanks to Andy, Birdman and Keith for hosting this month’s student spotlight photoshoot at The Savoy.

Ypsi is a really terrific area to create in. You know, it’s just run down enough and delightfully dilapidated. There’s an incredibly strong underground here in terms of music, art and film.

. . . spotlight


businessspotlight:

crossroads bar grill

now open!

spotlight . . .


”“

The Ypsilantian take-no-shit entrepreneur spirit is still alive and well, as evidenced by the management team at Crossroads Bar and Grill, located at 517 West Cross Street between Perrin and Ballard. Cross Street Bar and Grill is here to not only fill the vacant space left by the Screaming Eagle, but is also committed to helping Cross Street flourish—while filtering out the rabble.

Crossroads is all ages all night long with an anything goes dress code. Run by three Ypsilanti residents, Jesse Thomason and husband and wife team Mike and Vanessa Harvey, Crossroads Bar and Grill’s management team is making a point to distance itself from the Screaming Eagle’s unsavory reputation. In fact, Mike made it very clear that underage drinking will not be tolerated.

“We just want people to know that Crossroads is something completely different with a full bar, brightly colored interior, relaxed atmosphere and a friendly waitstaff,” says Mike. “It took us three, Jesse, Vanessa and me, five months to renovate this place. We put our blood and bank accounts into it.”

Crossroads aims to be a creative platform for free expression, and they’re off to a good start. All the art on the walls inside Crossroads is for sale and people are encouraged to display their art inside.

Co-owner, Thomason, says, “The people in Ypsi are genuine, real people, and, with Crossroads, we’re trying to help bring out people’s good sides, the fun aspects.”

The motivating force in opening a bar and grill on Cross Street was to create a “student destination spot” and a “multi-purpose venue that’s also a friendly place for locals and appeals to a wide variety,” explains Vanessa.

Crossroads offers a full kitchen,

generous portion sizes, affordable prices, a great crew of three bartenders and an eight person waitstaff, combined with a very colorful, clean interior and people-friendly atmosphere. Even the bathrooms at Crossroads are exemplary and have been completely remodeled.

One thing that the Crossroads Bar and Grill management team takes pride in is their food.

“Everything is homemade from scratch. Everything’s hand dipped and breaded in house with 100% vegetable

oil, no animal fat. We use 100% Angus beef and all locally grown produce,” says Mike.

A quick glance at the menu reveals Crossroads’ 100% Black Angus beef BBQ burger with bacon and melted cheese, Slider Basket of Black Angus burgers with fries and a pickle, Fire-House Chili, homemade soups and some healthy alternatives like salads and a kickass veggie burger.

As far as drinks go, Crossroads Bar and Grill has a fully stocked bar and also features the Corner Brewery’s Ypsi-Gypsi pale ale, as well as other Michigan feature products.

“We’ll be running different specials daily, like 25 cent wings on Tuesdays, […] and we’ll have $2 specials on drinks. Every Friday is Powerhour from 11pm—Midnight with $1 bombs, $1 pints and $1 well drinks.”

Crossroads is currently 1,500 square feet but will soon add another 1,500 square feet—doubling the amount of space and allowing it to accommodate up to 200 people.

“Very soon, we’re going to expand next door into a poolhall with a stage for live music, a DJ booth and more.

We already revamped it. We just need to finish up the framing and drywalling,” says Mike.

In addition to being a great place to eat or grab a drink, Crossroads features comedy, art showcases, live music, a lounge area and high speed Wi-Fi internet. Crossroads will be hosting fun events like a monthly theme night, with themes ranging from Catholic School night to Graffiti party night (currently scheduled for January—come dressed in a white t-shirt, and bring your highlighters). Also, at some point in the near future, Crossroads will be having a

contest to name their mascot, a weird blue creature kept behind the bar (the winner gets an unspecified prize).

Vanessa says that, at Crossroads, customers are the number one priority.

“Ypsi is a tight-knit community. It’s very interconnected here, and we generate a lot of energy together. Here at Crossroads, we try to be great listeners, and we take feedback seriously—so please come in, check us out and let us know what you think. Comment cards are available, and we greatly appreciate the feedback.”

The people in Ypsi are genuine, real people, and, with Crossroads, we’re trying to help bring out people’s good sides, the fun aspects.

Crossroads Bar and Grill is located at 517 W. Cross in Ypsilanti.

. . . spotlight


After thoroughly searching and gorging ourselves on Ypsi’s fantastic array of holiday offerings and decadent comfort foods, we feel that the following Holiday-specific items are worth leaving your toasty apartment to sample.

of theT aste season

emYOU! Goes Hunting for Holiday Food and Drink Specials in Ypsiby Ryan M. Place

The Ypsilanti IHOP4221 Ellsworth

IHOP is every night-owl’s favorite destination since it’s open 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays. Gotta love those midnight bar rushes! Drop in for a delectable syrup-drenched stack of New York Cheesecake pancakes ($7), Double Blueberry Pancakes ($6.70), Swedish crepes with lingonberry butter or a Spinach Mushroom Omelet ($8.30). EMU students get a 10% discount.

Ugly Mug Cafe317 W. Cross Street

In addition to having an Eggnog Latte, an extraordinary Chai Tea brewed in-house and hot chocolate, the Ugly Mug has THE best coffee in Southeast Michigan. I am a jittery rabid coffee junkie, and I think they have absolutely phenomenal Brazilian, Ethiopian Harrar and Guatemalan coffee. Store manager, Meg Webb, informed me that, during the month of December, the Ugly Mug will be taking charity donations for Volunteers of America, and encouraged those who are interested to drop in for more details.

Corner Brewery 720 Norris Street

My personal favorite, the Corner Brewery, features a solid all year round specialty that particularly shines in the winter months: $8.50 one liter bathtubs of Red Snapper amber brown ale. They’re also going to be releasing a tasty winter seasonal Phat Abbot Tripel 10% ABV Belgian Trappist beer. If that weren’t enough, once a month the Corner Brewery releases small batches of criminally good experimental beers brewed in their Rat Pad homebrew system. All of these things and more make me love the Corner Brewery like a tax cheat loves offshore banking!

college life . . .


Sidetrack 56 E. Cross Street

You can’t go wrong with chicken and dumplings, a slice of pumpkin pie with Guernsey’s vanilla ice cream and one of the following seasonal beers: Eddie Fitz Christmas Ale, Bell’s Winter White Ale or Short’s Liberator Double IPA. $2.95 for 25oz glass during Happy Hour (every night from 9 p.m.—2 a.m.).

Cafe Luwak 42 E. Cross Street

Looking for some comfort food? Café Luwak features great breakfast food all day and an $5.95 all-you-can-eat soup bar featuring six soups on Wednesday nights from 5 p.m.—9 p.m.

Aubree’s Saloon39 E. Cross Street

Start with a 20oz Frog Island

Christmas Ale ($4) or a 22oz Frog Island Spiced Winter Cider ($4.95) and a lunchtime pizza buffet or full turkey dinner. Top it off with a $5.95 Mint Russian (mint chocolate Bailey’s, vodka and cream over ice) or a delicious $5.95 Chocolate Hazelnut Coffee with Godiva chocolate and Hazelnut liqueur.

Biggby Coffee3354 Washtenaw (Ann Arbor)

The hot chocolate here is so good that it makes warm interstellar cosmic waves wash over my entire body. Get a tall 16oz Dark or Double Dark hot chocolate for $3.79 or a tall Peppermint Stick Mocha for $4.19.

Golden Egg Family Restaurant2660 Washtenaw

The Markos work hard, providing excellent breakfasts, grinder sandwiches and hearty family meals. At Golden Egg Family Restaurant, December is the month for stuffed cabbage, stuffed peppers and delicious pies like noted customer favorites: pumpkin pie and caramel pecan pie. During my last visit, a woman at the counter told me, “I eat here daily--twice a day for breakfast and lunch. I can’t help it! They have THE best breakfast in Washtenaw County!

Tower inn701 W. Cross Street

EMU pride runs deep at the Tower Inn. Both Rois and Nathalie Savvides graduated from EMU in 1990, and their son is currently an EMU student. The Savvides have run the Tower Inn since 1997, and every Christmas they hand out an envelope to every single customer with a gift certificate inside. Each envelope is different; hopefully you’re one of the five who snags a $200 in-store gift certificate! Aside from delicious pizza and pastas, the Tower Inn will be featuring Great Lakes Christmas Ale and eight other beers on tap during Tower Hour for $2 a pint or $4 for a 34oz tower mug. Tower Hour is from 2 p.m.—4 p.m. and 10 p.m.—1 a.m. Disclaimer: Rois is secretly a skilled matchmaker, so watch out. You could be leaving with a date for your next holiday party!

Beezy’s Cafe20 N. Washington

This winter, Beezy’s is offering a delicious Biscuits and Sausage Gravy with Scrambled Eggs special. Get a half order for $4.50 or a full order for $7.35. Or, if you go on a Saturday between 7 a.m.—10 a.m., get the outstanding Saturday-only Baked French Toast for $6.95, and be sure to get something with the in-house Caramel drizzled on it—trust me, it makes everything taste better.

Haab’s Restaurant 18 W. Michigan Ave

An Ypsi institution since 1934, Haab’s will be featuring holiday-themed weekend specials and is having a special Christmas Eve and New Years Eve dinner. Every Monday through Friday from 4 p.m.—7 p.m., all drinks and appetizers are $2. Haab’s also features incredibly tasty fresh lobster, whitefish, salmon, filet mignon, prime rib and New York strip steak.

Wolverine Grill228 W. Michigan Ave

Drew Barrymore’s film, “Whip It” shot a scene here in 2008. However, this has been a popular spot for EMU students since 1963. Drop in for some homemade $1 Christmas Coney dogs and a cup of chicken lemon rice soup. EMU students get 10% off.

emYOU! Goes Hunting for Holiday Food and Drink Specials in Ypsiby Ryan M. Place

And, when all else fails and when your extra loan money is gone, remember ‘tis the season for Candy Cane Colored Liquefied Elves Treacle--that’s holiday jungle juice EMU-style. Convince your friends on Normal Street to throw a party, get everyone to contribute loot, bust the Treacle out in a

giant cooler or trashcan, dispense with a ladle into red plastic cups, and you’ll be flying high like a G6 gettin slizzard!

Recipe: Combine fifths of Grey Goose, Everclear, Hypnotiq, Bacardi Razz, Captain Morgan, some diced lemons and limes and a hell of a lot of blue and red Kool Aid.

For more holiday fun:Thompson’s Christmas Tree Farm7850 Tuttle Hill RoadOwner: Gary ThompsonStarted in 2008 by EMU grad Gary Thompson, this seven acre residential Christmas tree farm featuring some seven thousand Evergreens has become hugely popular. Gary’s family has lived

in this splendid farmhouse since 1937, and he currently offers six varieties of Evergreens—with bestselling White Pines going for $25 each (they’re 7—12 feet tall, have the softest needles and are the longest lasting). The other trees are sold for $5 a foot. Thompson’s Christmas Tree Farm is open every weekend from 9 a.m.—5 p.m. from November 27 through December 19.

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. . . college life


PROFESSORSPOTLIGHT

GARYEVANS

RETIRES AFTER 46 YEARS

by Marissa McNees

Favorite bookGrapes of Wrath

Favorite movie Cool Hand Luke

you in 3 words Husband, father, and professor

Where do you see yourself in five years

I’m hoping that I’ll be writing some material and studying. I like to be outside, so I’m hoping I can

bike and canoe and kayak and do some of those things I once

did—just not at the same pace I once did them.

Favorite music gospel and folk

Favorite thing to do in spare timeSnowmobile, boat, spend time with his

grandchildren, spend time outdoors and

garden.

spotlight . . .


”“

”

“

Upon first meeting Professor Gary Evans, it’s no mystery that he has a passion for teaching.Actually, you don’t even have

to talk to him—just take a look around his office. You’ll see awards, honors, pictures and so much more acknowledging his passion for EMU and its students.“[EMU] was a good fit

between me and the students,” Evans said. “When I came here to teach, I only had a Bachelor’s degree, and I saw students working and struggling just like me—I could really relate to them.”For someone who says he was

not fond of the idea of becoming a teacher, let alone a professor at a university, Evans has really found his home at Eastern.“After that first semester of

teaching, I just absolutely loved it,” Evans said. “My colleagues became some of my closest friends. If [my kids] were sick, my colleagues would put three chairs together and look after them for the day. It just became home to me.”After 46 years of service to EMU,

Evans is retiring at the end of the year, and, while there are hundreds of professors who come and go throughout the years, Evans has made his mark in the Ypsilanti community.As a professor in the Communication,

Media and Theater Arts department,

Evans had made it his mission to educate his students about diversity and communicating with others—something he says is a real struggle in most places.“Compared to most places we go,

[EMU] is a breath of wonderful air,” Evans said.

“The real advantage of Eastern is not that you can come here simply to educate your head, but that you have black students in class, you have gay students in class, you have men and women in class, and you have poor people and rich people in class,” he said. “That’s the real strength of

Eastern—I learn a lot about the world by listening to what students are saying.”These lessons don’t go unnoticed.

Several years ago, Evans and his wife created a “Peace Prize”— a $1,000 annual award recognizing students who strive to enhance diversity on campus.

“The vast majority of people you will meet in your life are good people who may not see the world exactly like you, and that doesn’t make them bad, that only makes them different,” Evans said. “I couldn’t help but feel very, very strongly about people who were not given fair chances, based on something they had no control over, and I wanted to do something about that.”Though he is retiring, there is

one lesson Evans wants Eastern students to always remember: “Most of the people I have

contact with are trying just as hard as I am and you are to live a good life,” he said. “I don’t have any doubt that you are trying just as hard as I am to live a good life. When we have conflict, it is not because someone doesn’t care

at all, it’s because it may not be the same for both of us in terms of how we solve it.”“If you want to understand the world

in which we live, sometimes you have to walk the streets around you.”

The vast majority of people you will meet in your life are good people who may not see the world exactly like you, and that doesn’t make them bad, that only makes them different.

deptartmentCommunication,

Media & Theater Arts

schools attendedWayne State University

(undergraduate), University of Michigan

(Master’s and PhD)

Courses TaughtOrganizational

Communication, Intercultural Communication, Communication for Readers,

Small Group Decision-Making, Peace Communication, Public

Speaking, Fundamentals of Speech, Interracial

Communication

Compared to most places we go, [EMU] is a breath of wonderful air.

. . . spotlight

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DECEMBER HOME GAMES:


. . . spotlight

alumni

Rois Nathalie

savvidesowners of the

tower inn


”“

There are many standout former EMU students, but some rank among the very top of our alumni. Rois (pronounced Royce) and Nathalie Savvides (pronounced Sav-veed-iss) are two such individuals. They have great personalities and are both authentic and generous human beings who are well suited for one another. In fact, their love for each other is inspiring. The Savvides are married best friends and business partners who work together side by side each day in the bustling intensity of a popular restaurant—and they haven’t once tried to peck each other’s eyeballs out.

Their tale is a feel good story of falling in love in 1986, graduating from EMU in 1990, and purchasing the Tower Inn Cafe in 1997. Both are widely regarded and well loved, and their playful energy and legendary affection for customers combined with the Tower’s relaxing ambiance have endeared many. Rois was born in 1963 in Pafos, Cyprus, “the birthplace of Aphrodite,” and Nathalie was born in 1966 in Curacao, a Caribbean island off the coast of Venezuela. They’ve both lived very interesting lives. Rois was present for the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, and, in 1984, Nathalie was on Aeropostal Flight 252 from Venezuela to Curacao when the flight was hijacked by two Haitians for 36 hours (both gunmen were killed).

“My sister and I tried to become as small as possible, and we jumped out of the emergency exit when the plane landed,” she says, regarding the incident.

Rois’ uncle used to teach psychology at EMU, and Rois came to America in 1983 hoping to attend EMU. The Savvides both agree that, when they first came to Ypsilanti, it felt like home. “I loved it here,” Rois says, and Nathalie concurs, saying, “I’ve spent more time here than on the island where I grew up!”

The two met in October 1985 at EMU’s former library.

“We were introduced by a mutual friend. We had our first real date at

the Tower Inn in February 1986, and were married in December 1988,” says Nathalie. Rois graduated in 1990 with a degree in Business Administration and is now an adjunct professor at EMU, where he teaches HRM 350 (Hospitality Management). Nathalie also graduated in 1990 with a degree in Language and International Trade. She speaks Dutch, Spanish, French and Papiamento (Portuguese Creole) fluently.

The Savvides have two children, Christopher (15) and Andrea (18). Andrea attends the University of Michigan, and Christopher is part of the Early College Alliance at EMU, an accelerated high school program involving college-level coursework.

Choosing to reinvest in the community where their romance and higher education sprouted, The Savvides have honored their ongoing commitment to help love blossom in Ypsilanti and realizing Rois’ dream of owning a restaurant.

“When the Tower Inn became available, I seized the opportunity to buy it in 1997, and I’ve been very glad ever since,” he says.

The Tower Inn indeed plays a big role in both of their lives. Affordable for the college budget, this heavily awarded EMU hangout frequented by a diverse cross-section of locals offers a $4.99 pizza buffet (try the Pizza Blanca), calamari, Greek pitas, souvlaki and spinach cheese triangles, among other delicious offerings.

The Tower has 42 employees

(mostly EMU students), and their two most popular attractions are Tower Hour, which is every day from 2 p.m.—4 p.m. and 10 p.m.—1 a.m. and features $1.99 pints and $3.99 34 ounce tower mugs, and Wednesday night karaoke from 10 p.m.—2 a.m. Rois’ personal cell phone number is on every receipt—the Savvides love feedback and work hard to incorporate suggestions, which has created very high levels of customer satisfaction and local loyalty. Nathalie says, “The satisfaction of our customers is our greatest goal,” while Rois adds, “Our priority is that, unlike chain restaurants, we want every customer

to be satisfied by getting exceptional treatment.”

The Tower Inn delivers anywhere in Ypsilanti and also caters events. They were even asked to cater for President Bill Clinton at EMU’s Convocation Center when he came to town. Rois explains, “When I first bought the Tower amid declining sales, I invested in the love story here, thinking with my heart not my brain. We had two very hard years but always made our employees and customers top priority, and we prevailed. Our

cooks are very experienced, and the food is prepared with care. Our head chef, Jesse Hernandez, has been here since 1998! The usual restaurant has an annual turnover rate of two-hundred percent—not us.”

The Savvides are also well known donors to the Ypsilanti Public School District, the nonprofit EMU Foundation, the Ypsilanti Band Association, Ronald McDonald House, Huron Valley Lions Club and more.

“We love this town. We get very upset when outsiders bash Ypsi,” warns Rois. “The level of local enthusiasm here is off the charts! I love it!”

Nathalie adds, “Ypsi has a lot to offer, and we’re deeply honored to give back to the community that’s been so very very good to us.”

We were introduced by a mutual friend. We had our first real date at the Tower Inn in February 1986, and were married in December 1988.

spotlight . . .

The Tap Room 201 West Michigan Ave.,Ypsilanti MI 48197 734-482-5320 W W W. TA P R O O M Y P S I . C O M

Lunch Special 11am-3pm weekdays. 5 great menu items for $5! Including the world famous Tap Room Burger!

... Mondays ...High Life Bottles $2.00 Molson Bottles $2.25 and

Pinnacle Drinks $2.75Free WII Bowling

... Tuesdays ...Absolut Drinks $2.75 Bud/Bud light/Miller Lite Pints $2.00

Live Jazz with Alexander Graham

... Wednesdays ...Well Drinks $2.00, Mexican Beer Bottles $2.75

... Thursdays ...Stoli Drinks $2.75, All 25 oz. Drafts $3.25

Open Mic with The Martindales

... Fridays ...Bacardi Drinks $2.50, Bell's Pints $2.50

Dec. 10th The Shelter Dogs, As the Crow Flys & the Tsars

... Saturdays ...Well Drinks $2.00, Killians/Labatt Pints $2.25

Dec. 4th Ann Arbor Music Center Show Case 6pm Cross Raods Music Fest Fundraiser 9pm

Dec. 18th The Martindales 9:30-1:30

... Sundays ...Get Your Can In Here! 24oz Cans of Bud, Bud Light,

Miller Lite, MGD and Labatt $2.25 Noon – 7pm.Clear Calls $2.50, Michigan Beer Bottles $2.75 All Day.

Stooʼs Karaoke 9:30-1:30

FREE POOLMon-Thu 7pm-10pm

ALL DAY SundayNEVER A COVER

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GREAT FOOD SERVED UNTIL MIDNIGHT

YPSIʼs BEST HAPPY HOUR!Mon-Fri 4pm-7pm 24oz Cans of Bud, Bud Light, Miller Lite, MGD and Labatt $2.25, and discounts on all beer and drinks!


12/3: O n c a m p u s :Fusion Winter 2011, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Halle LibraryTraditional Shabbat, 6:30 p.m., Hillel House“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” 7:30 p.m., Pease AuditoriumFriday night movie: “The Expendables,” 8 p.m., Student Center Auditorium

E M U a t h l e t i c s :Men’s and Women’s Swimming, EMU Invitational, 3:30 p.m.Wrestling vs. Cleveland State, 7 p.m.

12/4: O n c a m p u s :International film series: “Tortilla Soup,” 8 p.m., Student Center Auditorium

E M U a t h l e t i c s :Men’s and Women’s Swimming, EMU Invitational, 10 a.m.

A r o u n d c a m p u s :Trapt, 5 p.m., Harpos, DetroitYoung Buck, 7 p.m., Hayloft, Mt. ClemensMurderdolls, 7:30 p.m., Majestic Theatre, Detroit

12/6: E M U a t h l e t i c s :Women’s basketball vs. Green Bay, 7 p.m.

12/7: O n c a m p u s :No-Limit Texas Hold’em, 7 p.m., Rec/IMEMU Honors College Star Lecture Series, 7:30 p.m., Downing Hall main floor loungePercussion and Jazz ensemble, 7:30 p.m., Pease Auditorium

A r o u n d c a m p u s :Thriving Ivory, 6 p.m., The Loft, Lansing

12/8: O n c a m p u s :Women’s basketball vs. Detroit, 6 p.m.Men’s basketball vs. Drake, 8 p.m.

A r o u n d c a m p u s :Rodney Atkins, 7:30 p.m., Fox Theatre, Detroit

12/9: A r o u n d c a m p u s :Peace Concert, 7:30 p.m., The Ark, Ann Arbor

12/10: O n c a m p u s :Friday night movie: “Eat, Pray, Love,” 8 p.m., Student Center AuditoriumUniversity choir and chamber choir: “Adoration and Praise III,” 8 p.m., Pease Auditorium

E M U a t h l e t i c s :Women’s track: Rocket Holiday Meet

A r o u n d c a m p u s :Minus the Bear, 6:30 p.m., Clutch Cargo’s, PontiacThe Verve Pipe, 8 p.m., Magic Bag, Ferndale

12/11: O n c a m p u s :International film series: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” 8 p.m., Student Center Auditorium

E M U a t h l e t i c s :Men’s basketball vs. Detroit, 2 p.m.Women’s basketball vs. Canisius, 4:30 p.m.

A r o u n d c a m p u s :Kevin Hart, 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., Fox Theatre, Detroit

12/12: A r o u n d c a m p u s :Russell Peters, 8 p.m., Fox Theatre, Detroit

12/13: O n c a m p u s :Snack and Study, 9 p.m., Student Center Grand Ballroom

12/14: O n c a m p u s :Snack and Study, 9 p.m., Student Center Grand BallroomFusion Winter 2011, 9:30 a.m., Halle LibraryNo-Limit Texas Hold’em, 7 p.m., Rec/IM

12/15: O n c a m p u s :Fusion Winter 2011, 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Halle Library

12/16: A r o u n d c a m p u s :Foxy Shazam, 7 p.m., Shelter, DetroitRelient K (acoustic) with Sherwood, 7 p.m., Eagle Theater, PontiacJoe Satriani, 7:30 p.m., The Fillmore, Detroit

12/17: A r o u n d c a m p u s :The Night 89x Stole Christmas featuring My Chemical Romance, 6 p.m., The Fillmore, DetroitTwiztid, 6:30 p.m., Clutch Cargo’s, PontiacDashboard Confessional: Swiss Army Romance Tour, 7 p.m., The Crofoot Ballroom, Pontiac

12/18: A r o u n d c a m p u s :Ekoostik Hookah, 8 p.m., Magic Bag, Ferndale

12/21: E M U a t h l e t i c s :Women’s basketball vs. Temple, 7 p.m.

12/22: O n c a m p u s :Every Avenue, 6 p.m., Saint Andrews Hall, DetroitCarrie Underwood, 7:30 p.m., The Palace of Auburn Hills

12/23: E M U a t h l e t i c s :Women’s basketball vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.

A r o u n d c a m p u s :Insane Clown Posse, 7 p.m., Saint Andrews Hall, DetroitMayer Hawthorne, 8 p.m., Majestic Theatre, Detroit

12/26: A r o u n d c a m p u s :Big Sean, 7 p.m., The Fillmore, Detroit

12/28: E M U a t h l e t i c s :Women’s basketball vs. Niagara, 7 p.m.

12/30: A r o u n d c a m p u s :Trans-Siberian Orchestra winter tour 2010, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., The Palace of Auburn Hills

12/31: A r o u n d c a m p u s :Fantasia Barrino, 9 p.m., Fox Theatre, Detroit

you!december by Amanda Slater

aroundfind out what’s going on

calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . EMU Theatre presents

Pippi Longstocking!This children’s classic will be playing December 3,4, 9 and 10 at

7 p.m. and on December 4, 5 and 11 at 3 p.m. at Quirk Theatre. Tickets are $15 for regular admission, $12 for students, $9 for Mainstage patrons and $7 for youth (ages 6—12) and can be purchased at the Convocation Center, Student Center ticket office and the Quirk box office or at www.emich.edu/emutheatre.

12/23: mayer hawthorne

12/17: the night 89x

stole christmas

12/10: minus the bear


ON THE AIR AND GOING STRONG SINCE DECEMBER 1965!

On the fourth floor of King Hall, in a retrofitted dormitory sits a treasure that is often overlooked by EMU students and other members of the campus community: WEMU (89.1 FM). Radio station functionaries are oft neglected in print. And, while the show goes on, the inner workings of a station such as WEMU are usually hidden. This enormously important and creative station, this wonderful sonic garden, is lovingly tended by executive director Arthur J. Timko and general manager Mary V. Motherwell or, as they’re better known, Art and Molly.

Under Timko’s 29 years of leadership, WEMU has flourished, in terms of dedicated employees, high-quality programming, local loyalty and creating partnerships in the community. Born in 1946 in Detroit, Timko has been at WEMU since graduating from EMU with a Masters in Communication in 1971 and currently lives in Ypsilanti. Motherwell grew up in Haslett, graduated from the University of Michigan in 1982 and has been with WEMU since 1991. She currently lives in Ann Arbor. Timko oversees the entire operation, and Motherwell is second in command.

“It’s an exciting field,” Timko says. “There’s a certain magic to radio, and it’s great serving Washtenaw County, [a] very vibrant community that attracts interesting, hard working people.”

Motherwell agrees, saying, “There’s a fierce sense of independence here, this refusal to let our identity get absorbed into Detroit.”

Motherwell got into radio by accident. “I was selling advertising for

CELEBRATING THE 45th ANNIVERSARY OF

by Ryan M. Place

college life . . .

the old Ypsi Press and [the] local rock station 102.9 was a client who offered me a job in sales there. It’s where I learned I hated commercial radio, so I applied for the Marketing & Development Director position at WEMU.”

From 1965-1974, WEMU was located at 129 Quirk. It then moved into 426 King Hall, where they began stockpiling a collection of over 40,000 CD’s and vinyl donated by various record labels (thanks to Music Director Linda Yohn submitting airplay reports to trade publications). Here WEMU accrued a wonderful staff consisting of 10 full timers, 2 half timers, 16 part timers and 15-20 students. This ensemble included a 5-person management team consisting of Executive Director, GM, Program Director, Music Director and Chief Engineer. This crew labors incessantly to ensure that the 15,000 omnidirectional watts blasting from the 330ft high tower located on Clark Road, north of EMU campus, attracts a weekly listenership of 45,000 people in the Washtenaw County Target area, where Ypsi-Arbor is the primary demographic.

WEMU features primarily NPR and local news and locally produced jazz and blues. Regarding their NPR involvement, Motherwell states, “We’re an NPR affiliate. We pay dues and program fees to NPR in exchange for their international news content. Our most popular program is Morning Edition, [which] airs Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. until 9 a.m. [and features] local and NPR news. [After that,] our various jazz programs are quite popular.”

“Public radio is about balanced news coverage. We focus on local Washtenaw County news, and it’s our responsibility to present a variety of viewpoints. So, in doing this, our role as a helpful public service is what I enjoy the most,” says Timko.

Regarding his various responsibilities, Timko jokes, “I spend money and Molly raises it.” He adds, “No, seriously, [I’m responsible for] just keeping the station financially solvent and focused on radio as a public service.”

“WEMU has two primary goals:

to build audience and raise money,” Motherwell says. “Primarily, we’re a public service, a component of EMU, but we’re also forced to rely on fundraising money. Thus, it’s important to build a loyal following, and we have a very supportive, loyal core audience.”

In the studio, WEMU is in the process of updating their classic 16-channel analog mixer, “[We are] working towards making our conversion from analog to digital. We’re currently broadcasting in both HD and analog, and there’s no deadline for conversion. We also have two digital stations, WEMU-1 and WEMU-2 available on H-D radio,” explains Timko.

When asked what kind of changes the radio industry has seen over the

past 30 years, Motherwell ponders for a moment, “Well …we stopped using tape!” She laughs and Timko chimes in, saying, “The advent of the computer and it’s sophistication meant no more razorblades splicing tape, squeezing two hours of info onto small DAT cassettes. It used to be that we had eleven DAT recorders that became useless overnight. They went from being vital to our operation to being doorstops. Digital is far more efficient.”

“Yeah, we used to get NPR via satellite recorded onto tape, now NPR comes via satellite as a .WAV files and can be edited on the computer,” says Motherwell.

Washtenaw County is the most crowded public radio market in the country with six non-commercial stations and what Motherwell refers to

as “our tiny station.” “WEMU [has] the smallest coverage

area of this market and has managed to raise almost $600,000 last year from a market that numbers fewer than 350,000 people, which is incredible!” says Motherwell. “WEMU’s on-air fall 2010 pledge drive raised a record $150,000!”

According to Timko, WEMU’s funding consists of approximately 40% appropriation from EMU, 40% listener and business donations, 10% federal grant and 10% from leasing rental of the station’s tower space.

In terms of FCC (the radio frequency police) regulations, “FCC inspectors arrive once in a great while to make sure our donor records are public and make sure our public file is up to date, but

we’ve never had a problem,” says Timko.

“[Although] our broadcasting license is held by EMU, we’re not a campus station. We’re a community radio station,” says Motherwell. “One challenge is getting the campus community to understand that we’re not a campus mouthpiece. We’re more of an EMU ambassador in Washtenaw County.”

EMU has its own student station: Eagle Radio, formerly WQBR. However, WEMU is not affiliated with them. “They’re the result of the dorm transmitters to online streaming transition,” Timko explains.

Not many people know that WEMU is the primary Washtenaw County alert station.

“We automatically alert other stations via EAS (the Emergency Alert System), and we have a weather station on Clark and Leforge,” says Timko.

Over the past 45 years, WEMU has established great partnerships with various organizations in Washtenaw County to help promote the quality of life here, and December 2010 will mark the ongoing results of those efforts. The beginning of 2011 will see major studio renovations, Timko’s retirement, and a new executive director, so tune in and continue supporting WEMU 89.1FM! And congratulations, Art. You will be missed!

“PUBLIC RADIO IS ABOUT BALANCED NEWS COVERAGE. WE FOCUS ON LOCAL WASHTENAW COUNTY NEWS, AND IT’S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PRESENT A VARIETY OF VIEWPOINTS. SO, IN DOING THIS, OUR ROLE AS A HELPFUL PUBLIC SERVICE IS WHAT I ENJOY THE MOST.”

. . . college life


The members of the women’s team have round “LD” patches on the upper right part of their jerseys this season as a tribute to Drake. They have dedicated this season to his memory and have written a poem as a way to pay tribute to Drake, which goes as follows:

Today we lay a great man to rest, Who gave our team his very best. He always showed care and concern, Even as he yelled, he taught and we learned. From crab walking in the gym, To falling asleep in film. We never knew what his true age was, He changed it every day just because. From 65 one day to 75 the next, The day we knocked him down in practice had to be the best. On road trips while we were sleeping with our legs in the aisles, Coming back from the bathroom, he would say “my daddy woulda been proud.” He was always there whenever we called, To say “the guards have to get the post the ball.” He was wise and well respected, And to this game, he’ll always be connected. His dedication was never questioned and his pain never did show, He came to shoot around after surgery and we didn’t even know. We stand here to reminisce, On all the times we will miss. You may be gone, however, You will always soar with the eagles forever. We will think of you in all we do, Coach Drake, we dedicate this season to you.

EMU Women’s Basketball:

In Memory of

Leonard Drake1954-2010

In March, Leonard Drake was an assistant coach for Eastern Michigan’s women’s basketball team. In June, he left EMU to start a new life as athletics director for Evansville (Ind.) Central High School.

On September 29, that life was cut short as Drake died unexpectedly at the age of 56.

While no cause of death was announced, Drake battled health problems in the latter stages of his career. He was head coach of Lamar University’s women’s team until he resigned in February of 2007, citing chest pains after a game. One of the Eagles’ memories of Drake from last season was when he surprisingly showed up at practice the day after surgery.

“He was a good man. Loved basketball, loved kids,” said EMU assistant Yvette Harris, who replaced Drake. “[He was] very much a gentleman.”

Harris coached against her in 2005 as head coach of Central Connecticut State while he was at Lamar in a tournament at Eastern.

While the loss hit everybody, Harris knew her players would feel it more, having known him better. The timing could not have been worse for the program, as it came just after the school was investigating the program for violating NCAA rules on practices.

“This thing starts on Monday, with the investigation, and then he passes away on Wednesday. I’m looking at those kids thinking, ‘How much more can they take?’” Harris said. “But they are resilient, and they have worked hard. They’ve rebounded very well, I think.”

Drake spent more than 30 years coaching, starting as an assistant men’s basketball coach at his alma mater, Central Michigan (1978-79). He was an assistant men’s coach at NAIA Xavier (La.) from 1979-1985, also acting as head women’s coach in his final year there. He was associate men’s head coach at Ball State from 1985-1993 and was head coach at CMU from 1993-1997. From there he moved to Beaumont, Texas, being associate head coach of the men’s team from 1997-2002 and returning to the women’s game as head coach of the Cardinals from 2002-2007. His last three seasons as coach were as an assistant at Eastern.

athletics . . .


Eastern Michigan women’s basketball assistant coach Yvette Harris wasn’t supposed to coach this season. In fact, she wasn’t supposed to coach at all.

When she graduated from Detroit-Mercy in 1982 with a degree in business, she figured she’d get her MBA and go from there. But Rita Horky, the coach at rival Wayne State, went to Northern Illinois and offered Harris a graduate assistant position. Horky left after one season, but Harris stayed for five.

After a coaching odyssey including stops at Ohio State, Michigan and Central Connecticut State, she spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Western Michigan. She left WMU in March, thinking she’d sit out the year, but when Leonard Drake left, the assistant’s job at EMU was a great fit for her. Drake coached the post; Harris has a post background as she towers over just about everybody on the bench. Plus, she owns a house three miles from the Convocation Center.

She hasn’t regretted the decision, calling her “boss,” head coach AnnMarie Gilbert, the most impressive thing about her short time at Eastern.

“She’s a player’s coach, but she’s also a great person to work with. I actually feel like I work with her, not for her,” Harris said. “I feel fortunate that

I work with people I don’t mind going to have dinner with. It’s not torture when your boss says, ‘You want to go get something to eat?’”

Harris also likes her team, which she says can duplicate Bowling Green’s 2007 run and

make the Sweet Sixteen.“I think this team has the talent to do

that if they put the time in and the effort, which, for the most part, they do,” she said. “They have all the pieces; they have, I think, really good chemistry. […] They like each other and they work hard for each other.”

Harris’ role as an assistant focuses on coaching the post players—a bit of a thankless job. The Eagles are led by Tavelyn James, Cassie Schrock and Sydney Huntley, who are all guards. But Harris predicts a “bust out” year for Paige Redditt and says young players like India Hairston are coming along.

“Our goal this year is for people to know more about our post,” she said.

Harris also is the recruiting coordinator, a job she held for four years at Ohio State, including the team that went to the Final Four in 1993. While recruiting in the women’s game isn’t as competitive (or shady) as the stories heard about the men’s game, Harris voiced concern that women’s basketball is headed down that path. As exposure increases and the money for coaches increases, competition increases and the temptation to skirt the rules increases.

“The NCAA is cracking down and weeding out a lot of those things, but

there’s still, I think, females that make improper phone calls and stuff like that,” Harris said. “I look at it this way: You got to have integrity about yourself. You ask for integrity and character from your players, so, like I tell them, if I can look myself in the mirror every morning and know I didn’t do anything wrong, I’m good with that.”

Harris’ biggest coup as head coach at Central Connecticut State, a job she had from 2002-2007, was recruiting Gabriella Guegbelet

from Africa. Guegbelet is the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder; she and Harris keep in touch via Facebook.

“She’s telling me she wants to get back to the States,” Harris said. “And I told [my nephew] one time, ‘You’re going to have to marry her. We got to keep her here. Take one for the team.’”

Most assistant coaches are biding their time until a head coaching opportunity pops up. And yet Harris said that when people ask if she wants to be a head coach again, she says no.

“I enjoyed that time, being my own boss. But some things about being your own boss isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be,” she said. “I like recruiting. I like working with my players. I can sit here and have meetings […] that maybe coach (Gilbert) can’t have because […] she’s got so much on her plate— […] she probably has a platter; I just get a plate.”

She also praised Gilbert for letting her assistants have the freedom to really teach in practice, as opposed to some head coaches who want all the authority and have the assistants just watch.

“I feel like I’m extremely fortunate and blessed to be in a situation where I have real input,” Harris said. “So, as long as I’m in that situation, I’m good being an assistant.”

And surely Eastern’s good with having an assistant with Final Four and head coaching experience.

EMU Women’s Basketball:

Harris joins the lady eaglesby Jason Idalski

. . .athletics

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Everybody knows the University of Michigan and Michigan State are rivals. And rivals don’t do favors for other rivals.

The head coach at one school won’t be a friend to, a mentor to, reach out to a former assistant at the rival school. Especially when that assistant then becomes a head coach at a smaller school in the same state, when there may become turf wars in recruiting.

Right?

green &white Comraderyon and off the courtby Jason Idalski

But in the case of Eastern Michigan men’s basketball coach, Charles Ramsey, and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, it doesn’t matter whether one school starts with Eastern or one school ends with State. What matters is the Michigan. And Izzo and Ramsey (who was an assistant at U-M from 2001-2005) are both Michigan guys.

“He definitely is a Michigan guy,” Ramsey said about Izzo before the season. “And us Michigan guys, as we say, we stick together. We’re a pretty close-knit group in that regard. We root for each other when we’re not playing each other.

“It goes deeper than that. […] I don’t know what it is. It’s almost like our own little fraternity. If you were born in the state of Michigan [and] you’re coaching, there’s a certain bond that you have with the other Michigan guys, no matter where they are.”

Ramsey’s relationship with Izzo is in part strengthened by their mutual ties to MSU assistant coach Mike Garland. Garland and Ramsey grew up together, even going to the same church as children. Izzo called the two “best friends growing up.” Izzo and Garland were roommates in college at Northern Michigan.

“There’s a lot of connections and similarities,” Ramsey said. “Tom has been a friend/mentor for a long, long, long time.”

Izzo voiced his respect for Ramsey after each team’s season opener, a 96-66 Spartans win at the Breslin Center on Nov. 12.

“Even when he was at Michigan, I had great respect for Charles,” Izzo said. “I’m a big fan of Charles Ramsey and all his assistants, they’re all great guys.”

In what could be an important year for the Eagles and Ramsey, Izzo supported the job he’s done his first five-plus years as head coach.

“I think he’s got the demeanor and he’s getting that program turned. It’s not an easy program to turn. And it’s going to take him some time,” Izzo said. “I think he’s got a tough job, but I think he’s making some progress in that job.”

There’s no doubt Ramsey inherited a mess from former coach Jim Boone when he took over in the 2005-06 season. Progress has been slower than some might have hoped, with a 17-14 record last year—the only time the Eagles were over .500 under his watch. Eastern has yet to finish above .500 in the Mid-American Conference, although they were a heartbreaking loss at home to Central Michigan from winning the MAC West last season.

Ramsey’s respect for Izzo is reciprocal.“I think he’s a bright spot for the state,” Ramsey

said. “He’s been good.”And when the two met at midcourt after the game for

the traditional post-game handshakes, the two could stop being competitors and start being friends again.

“Only for 40 minutes,” Ramsey said before the season opener about the rivalry between him and Izzo. “Other than that game, I’ll be honest with you, I root for them.”

athletics . . .


Well folks, this is it—the last lesson from Girl Talk Football 101. Before I begin to talk about overtime and wrapping things up, I wanted to say it was a pleasure learning football and reporting back to you all. I found myself at a handful of games this year; all of the EMU home games, the OSU vs. EMU game, Lions vs. Jets (to watch my husband Mark Sanchez), Iowa vs. OSU, and, with each game, I learned more and was able to cheer and yell obscenities at all the right moments. Without this column looming over my head, I don’t know if my boyfriend would have truly been enough motivation for me to learn the intricacies of this fascinating sport, so I want to personally thank you for reading and fueling my football-learning fire.

For our last lesson, let’s discuss overtime. Overtime is that gut-wrenching moment when the clock has run out and the score is tied. It is then that the referee does a coin-toss, and the team

who wins the coin toss decides whether they want to be on defense or offense first. Both teams have the chance to possess the ball during each overtime period, starting at the opponent’s 25 yard line. (It is common for the winner of the coin-toss to choose defense, which allows them to know the exact amount of points they need to put up once they are on offense.)

If, after the first overtime period, the score is still tied, the game goes into a second overtime period, and the team who was on defense first in the first overtime period will now be on offense first. The same rules apply for the second overtime period, however, once the third overtime period is reached, the rules change a bit.

In the third overtime period, the teams switch offense and defense once more, but, this time, if a team scores a touchdown, they must go for a two-point conversion (they cannot kick a field-goal for the extra point—they must run or

pass into the end zone for two points). This goes on until there is a winner.

The most important thing, as women, to know about overtime is that it is definitely not time to switch over to Grey’s Anatomy. Watching one team annihilate the other isn’t considered a “good-game,” but, if the game makes it into overtime and everyone is on the edge of their seats to see who will win, the sport of football becomes more exciting than ever. So, don’t touch that remote!

There is still more to learn about this sport, so try not to let your quest for information end with my column. Push yourself further—10 yards further, 50 yards further. Then you might find yourself winning a fantasy league, outsmarting your next boyfriend and scoring more than just points on a scoreboard. Thanks again for reading and may your favorite team win—and, if not, may the men playing look damn good trying.

Girl Talk: final editionby Joey Brandt

. . .athletics


yes, it's that time of year again. on top of studying for finals and scheduling classes, we now have to worry about christmas shopping on top of it all.if the cost of buying

gifts stresses you out, don't worry, you're not alone. i mean, we live off macaroni and cheese and pizza rolls—expensive gifts are not exactly the first thing on our mindthere is still hope.

thankfully for all of you, we have come up with some good, cheap ideas so that your families and friends don't open up the sweaters that looks surprisingly like the sweaters you got them last year ...and the year before that.

cheap giftsby Marissa McNees

ideas for every broke college student

college life . . .


1. shot glasses (Target.com—Blue Isles Shooter set of 4, $5.98)What says holidays more than a nice set of shot glasses? They’re useful, they’re inexpensive, and, surprisingly, not a lot of college students own them. And you might even get to break them out and throw back a few if you throw in some liquor. (We’ll get to that later.)

2. liquor (Mini patron, $6.36)If you read the last gift idea, you might be thinking, “There’s no way I’m buying anyone a bottle of expensive liquor as part of their holiday gift.” …But what about a mini bottle? More and more party stores are now carrying mini bottles of liquor that range in price from a little over a dollar to around seven dollars. And we’re not talking about Five-o-Clock Vodka—we’re talking mid to top shelf stuff (like Grey Goose and Patron). It’s the perfect way to brighten anyone’s holiday.

3. baked goodsAlright, alright—I know this one might seem a little cliché, but what could be better than baking some cookies for those distant relatives you only see on Christmas anyway? They’re probably not expecting much more, and, if you’ve been keeping up, you know that everyone loves something homemade or something that looks like it took a bit of effort. Put the treats on a holiday plate, wrap them with red or green plastic wrap, and there you have it—a cheap, foolproof gift.

4. cheap & on-sale Fashions(Forever21—Women’s Knit Open Cardigan, $6.80, Men’s Winter Top, $13.90)Don’t turn up your nose to the sale rack just yet. Some stores offer great deals on their overstock or items from last season. Or, if you’re not determined to only buy designer threads, you can find some great deals at stores like Forever21. Their selection is great and, if you do a little digging, you can almost always find a hidden gem buried somewhere.

5. emu basic t-shirt(Ned’s Bookstore, $9.99)An essential for any Eastern student (or friend or relative of an Eastern student), you can’t go wrong with an EMU tee. Ned’s Bookstore has plenty of different colors to choose from, and, at that price, you can pick one up for your family members, friends, coworkers and any other Eagle fans in your life.

. . . college life


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Procrastination Those who are finishing up last minute projects and are cramming for

final exams just might appreciate this video. In this edition of “Tales of Mere Existence,” Lev gets his stuff done—sort of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P785j15Tzk.

MattyBRaps The latest rap sensation is seven years old, and he’s taking YouTube by storm

with rap covers of some of the most popular songs on the radio. Check out

www.mattybraps.com .

In the news: Graeme Taylor

Howell, Mich. made national news when 14 year old Graeme Taylor spoke out at Howell’s public school board meeting, defending Howell teacher Jay McDowell, who had recently been disciplined over asking students who were making anti-gay remarks to leave the classroom. Graeme’s eloquent presentation of his position on the issue caused him to land an appearance on “Ellen” shortly after. Graeme Taylor speaks at school board meeting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJBvdfdAQjsGraeme Taylor on Ellen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOIIwmVbzw

The Buzz

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RATEIT!If asked to describe the emotion Matt & Kim’s newest

release, “Sidewalks,” elicits, I would have to say, “Anything I felt during my sophomore and junior years of college.”

Let me explain myself. During my sophomore and junior years at Eastern, I learned more about myself, partied harder and was more confident than I’ve ever been—and “Sidewalks,” even though it’s a tad too late, brings back all of those experiences from that time of my life and puts a big smile on my face that stretches from ear to ear.

That being the case, you’ve no doubt by now been able to conclude that I absolutely love, love, love “Sidewalks.” But what would a review be without the nitty-gritty? So here it is: Auto-tune. I have a love-hate relationship with auto-tune, and it goes a little something like this: While auto-tune can positively impact the finished product, it also can completely disguise the original—and, because of it, I’ll never know if Matt & Kim are really talented musicians or if they’re just really good on the production end of things.

But auto-tune aside, this album is just plain fun to listen to. It’s the type of album that makes you just want to get out of your chair and dance around like nobody is watching. “Sidewalks” is an absolutely priceless must-own.

The days of King James are over. Ohio and the rest of the universe, please help me as I welcome King Cudi.

In November, Kid Cudi (Scott Mescudi) officially began his journey to become an international superstar with his second full length release, “Man on the Moon II.” With the larger than life success of his debut album, “Man on the Moon,” critics and fans alike were dubious about how Cudi could deliver another great album. But, without a doubt, Cudi has exceeded all expectations and has once again shown why he is here to stay.

Not only is Cudi a great story teller, with the help of his melodic rhymes, but the combination of an indie vibe and creative beats make this album one of my top recommendations for the year. Cudi gets some love from G.O.O.D’s Kanye West as well as Chip Tha Ripper and Mary J. Blige. “Mojo So Dope” even samples a track from Denmark’s Choir of Young Believers who are signed to Ann Arbor’s Ghostly International. Overall, this is an album that can be played straight through from beginning to end that will only leave you wanting more.

Favorite Tracks: “Ashin Kusher,” “Marijuana,” “Trapped in my Mind,” “Mojo So Dope,” “Revofev”

album: Man on the Moon IIartist: Kid Cudi4/5 towers: by Bilal Saeed

album: Sidewalksartist: Matt & Kim5/5 towers: by Joseph Stromski II

arts & entertainment . . .


Even before “The Hangover” was given a proper chance to be forgotten about, director Todd Phillips has secured his place as one of the best comedy directors on the scene today.

His newest film, “Due Date,” pits uptight, yet cool and collected Peter (Robert Downey Jr.) and aspiring actor Ethan (Zach Galifianakis) and his dog, Sonny, against each other on a cross-country trip after the two of them land themselves on a no-fly list as the result of an awkward encounter aboard an airplane just moments before take-off. During the journey home, the duo encounter everything from clambakes and car accidents to a masturbating dog and a daring rescue at the Mexican border.

Being a Phillips flick, you can expect the same vulgarity and humor as

you’ve come to know and love from his other films like “Road Trip,” “Old School,” and, yes, “The Hangover.” But, unlike his past pieces, “Due Date” focuses on the relationship between two-polar opposites, as opposed to a long-time group of friends. The result is a movie that feels like Phillips, but is a refreshing break from his usual.

RDJ gives a performance unlike any he’s ever given before—that of a serious adult who isn’t a superhero or drug addict. Crazy, right? Galifianakis, on the other hand, is his same quirky self, but with an even bigger beard.

The only thing about this movie that isn’t up to par with Phillips’ other work is that it doesn’t easily lend itself to becoming a college classic, as the one-liners and crazy characters are few and far between.

Set in affluent London, “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger” is Woody Allen’s latest cynical microscope view of the complexities of deluded self-interest.

Alfie (Hopkins) dumps wife of 40 years, Helena (Gemma Jones), while Helena’s daughter, Sally (Watts), splits from her husband Roy (Brolin) and falls for smooth art gallery owner Greg (Banderas), as Roy goes for his peeping tom wet dream, Dia (Pinto). Alfie and Sally pursue romantic dead ends while Roy’s dark deeds manifest. In the end, only dizzy, empty-headed Helena ends up romantically content with an (occult bookshop owner) because, essentially, no one in this film really knows what the fuck they want.

One thing that stands out in this film, though, are the characters. The list includes: a lazy whiner posing as a professional writer, Hannibal Lecter popping Viagra in a white prison, Nietzsche’s occult Theory of Reincarnation taking hold in the mental sludge of a daft cash machine who enjoys being

swindled by a prognosticating huckster, a gold digging peroxided tart and an exceptionally beautiful quasi-exhibitionist

Indian honey. Allen’s characters are insecure; they equate happiness with delusion and are trapped in cynical mindsets. They are empty, directionless people seeking love and hope, yet opting to falsely pursue illusions. By depicting how easily people drift apart and together and how pointless all our strivings are, this film’s bitter, pessimistic core suggests that humans are vain and self-deluded, at best, and are only able to succeed in life through luck—which seems to conveniently favor the undeserving.

Overall, the film was a rather disappointing comedy-drama. Allen is a one-man workaholic powerhouse and, as a devout fan who knows what he’s capable of, I hold him to higher standards than most filmmakers. Needless to say, I expected better. The scope was too broad, the dysfunction too unredeeming, the narrator too inappropriate. On the plus side, the film features an outstanding cast. Banderas did a great job, as did Hungarian cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, and the soundtrack was pure Allen. At best, “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger” is a good one-time watch.

film: Due Datedirector: Todd Phillips4.5/5 towers: by Joseph Stromski II

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis and Michelle Monaghan

film: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Strangerdirector: Woody Allen2/5 towers: by Ryan M. Place

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Freida PintoMichelle Monaghan

. . .arts & entertainment

cut I colour I texture I style

To be free to be you . . . be Blondi

36 N. Huron Ypsilanti MI 48197 734-961-8152 www.thomasblondisalon.com


Black Under Pinnings Tunic $30 (Available at Bella Mia Dressed Up or www.bellamiaonline.com)Black slip-like tunic with sheer neckline and back (runs small).

Pretty Trimmings Cardigan $44 (Available at Bella Mia Dressed Up or www.bellamiaonline.com)Lace & pearl zig zag down the bodice of this butter colored button-up cardigan

Banded Zip Mini Skirt $24 (Available at Bella Mia Dressed Up or www.bellamiaonline.com)Versatile black pencil skirt with edge exposed zipper. Try sporting this look with the zipper in the front OR the zipper in the back! (Item runs slightly small.)

123

Local Boutiques

Adrianna Papell Illusion Bodice Pleated Dress $158 (Available at Select Nordstroms stores)

Banana Republic Merino Rosette Trim Cardigan $89.50 (Available at select Banana Republic Stores)

BCBG Bandage Skirt $138 (Available at www.bcbg.com and Select BCBG Max Azria stores)Seductive Power Skirt

1

23

national / chain stores

Holiday StyleWatch

by Lily Duevel

. . . fashion


how to DressHolidays by Lily Duevel

for the

Whether you need a sophisticated, work appropriate outfit for a holiday office party, or a whimsical dress that you can be sure to get lots of use out of for years to come, try these great pieces that will add some sparkle to any of your holiday functions this December!

Now, for those of us who are on a budget (especially during the holidays), adding accessories to an outfit you already have in your closet is a terrific way to 1. save money and 2. change up something simple you want to wear several times within a short period of time. Try adding a pair of great teardrop chandelier earrings (available at www.forever21.com for $4.80) to something as simple as a LBD (little black dress, for those of you who aren’t familiar with fashion slang just yet). Just make sure you don’t over-do it or it may make your outfit look cluttered!

Girls! Night Out! With all of your old high

school gal pals coming back into town around the holiday season, you better look spectacular! Whether it’s for New Year’s Eve or just for a night on the town, try Armani Exchange’s sequin dress (Available at Select A/X Armani Exchange stores for $150). This tunic looks great paired with patterned tights and ankle boots or, if you can bear the cold, try it solo with high peep toed stilettos!

Family GatheringsIf you are anything like

me, your family holiday get-togethers may not be that glamorous, however, you still want to ensure that you look your best if that family photo opportunity suddenly arises. Pairing a classic cardigan or jacket over something as simple as a pair of jeans is a great way to dress up any casual look. Investing in something such as the LC Lauren Conrad jacket (see below) is also a great way to transition your day to night look without having to splurge.

Office PartiesFor a work appropriate

outfit that is sure to turn heads amongst your co-workers, try Max and Cleo’s two piece dress (available at Select Nordstrom Stores for $58.90). The ruffles on this dress make it fun and flirty without it being too revealing. You can also turn it into separates and mix and match with other pieces you may already have in your closet in order to save some extra cash this holiday season if you have multiple events to attend!

photo courtesy of hauteliving.com

fashion . . .

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