Unoffical Guide to SNRE

The UnOfficial Guide to SNRE

snre & the university of michigan:

web-info:

• SNRE has a brand new website! Let this be your go-to guide for everything a SNREd might dream to know. Hopefully, you’re already painfully familiar with the site. But if not, check it out at www.snre.umich.edu. You can check out who’s doing what research-wise, learn who’s who among our brilliant faculty and staff and, under the “current students” option, you’ll find school info, university info, and community info, rendering this little guide pretty much worthless. But we’ll carry on anyway, in hopes that we might give you a slightly more fun-loving and decidedly biased view of things….

Register for classes, view your tuition bills, check your grades, order transcripts, change your address and other personal information and view your financial aid details online at http://wolverineaccess.umich.edu, by clicking on “Student Business.” Despite its 1990s appearance, you can get a whole lot done on this site, we promise.

• More fun is available online at www.ctools.umich.edu. Here you’ll find “tabs” for all of the classes for which you’re registered. By clicking on these so-called “tabs” you can access, download and/or print things like a “syllabus” and possibly even “assignments”. Ctools’ relevance and usefulness has everything to do with the individual classes that you are taking, and the professor’s inclination to post things online, accept assignments online, etc.

• Details, details…not so fast. Just like Vanessa Williams, we saved the best….err, the most obvious, for last, hoping that you wouldn’t need us to remind you. www.umich.edu is, of course, the university website. Oftentimes, the most useful aspect of this matrix-like site is simply the “directory” feature, whereby you can stalk –er—look up people to find their email addresses, phone numbers, residences, the email groups they belong to, etc. Under the “search” function, just choose “directory.” Alternatively, just type in http://directory.umich.edu.

snre student groups

(just a smattering – we inevitably missed a few, or a few new ones will arise):

• This bullet point is intended to be a shameless plug for student government. Please don’t interpret it as anything but such. Student government has several functions within SNRE, not the least of which consists of publishing our monthly newsletter, the “Compostable Times,” in which you can read of the exciting and not-so-exciting updates and changes within the school, see what your fellow classmates are up to, get updates from the dean, and stay current on upcoming school-wide events. Additionally, student gov organizes twice-monthly happy hours, traditional school-wide parties, and consults and acts as a liaison between faculty, staff, and students. Much like the US Congress, we don’t all bail ship at once, and elections are held twice yearly for full-year positions. Think about it.

• The Environmental Justice Group is a multicultural, multidisciplinary student group dedicated to promoting environmental justice for all communities affected disproportionately with environmental burdens, especially those communities of color and low income. Undergraduate and graduate students from all departments are welcome to join us at weekly meetings. EJG plans, hosts, and takes part in activities such as sponsoring speakers, hosting panel discussions, lobbying & legislative activism, petitioning, volunteering in communities and with other ej groups, and teaching junior high & high school students. To find out more, email ej.info@umich.edu.

• The Michigan Biodiversity Project is a group of concerned students and citizens who are working to enhance protection of native biological diversity in the Great Lakes bioregion. Our efforts focus on the protection of endangered species, their habitats, and larger wilderness areas because these are the natural elements critical to the maintenance of native diversity with the state and the greater overall bioregion. We seek to achieve these goals by means of public advocacy and education, surveys of the biota, and oversight of the state and federal land management activities. To join the Michigan Biodiversity Project, email the group at MBP@umich.edu or visit their home page at http://www.umich.edu/~biodiv/biodiv.html.

• The Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) serves to unify interested graduate Landscape Architecture students in an effort to combine interests and desires toward fulfilling educational and social needs as well as broadening the understanding of the profession and the Society. The primary goal is to promote supportive educational activities reflecting student interests and visibility of ASLA and of the profession by developing workshop, and contact with practicing professionals. Interested students can contact Professor Bob Grese by email at: bgrese@umich.edu.

• The Endangered Species Update, published by the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, is the leading forum for information on scientific and political aspects of current threatened and endangered species protection efforts. In its 23 years of publication, the UPDATE has established itself as the primary forum for government agencies, conservation organizations, private consulting and law firms, zoos, museums educational institutions, and others to exchange ideas and information on endangered species issues. For more info, check out http://www.umich.edu/~esupdate/

• The mission of cUltivating coMmunity is to develop and adopt a closed-loop food system using gardening, composting, education, and research to improve human, community, and ecological health; access to local food; and diversion of waste. The organization operates from the Matthai Botanical Gardens, and sponsors several food and gardening events each year. Contact Julie Cotton at cottonja@umich.edu for more info.

• The Ecosystem Management Initiative (EMI), housed on the 3rd floor of SNRE, is a group that focuses primarily on promoting sustainable natural resource management through ecosystem-based teaching, research, and outreach, based primarily on collaboration/negotiation and evaluation/adaptive management. Steve Yaffee (yaffee@umich.edu) is the director of EMI. More info at http://www.snre.umich.edu/ecomgt/index.htm.

• The Center for Sustainable Systems (CSS), also located on the 3rd floor, advances concepts of sustainability through interdisciplinary research and education. CSS collaborates with diverse stakeholders to develop and apply life cycle based models and sustainability metrics for systems that meet societal needs. CSS promotes tools and knowledge that support the design, evaluation, and improvement of complex systems. Check it out at http://css.snre.umich.edu/index.php or contact css.info@umich.edu for more info.

ann arbor

maps

Oh, lovely Ann Arbor

You can be so confusing

How I need a map!

U of M campus map: http://www.umich.edu/news/areamap.html

Map of downtown AA: http://www.annarbor.org/downtown/images/walkmap.gif

housing

• Perhaps you’ve already found a perfect place to live. Well, good, because classes start in a week and a half. But if not (or if you are of a future generation reading this un-updated newsletter in several months time), here are a few gems of advice regarding the character of different areas, where to look for housing, etc.

o Far be it from us to suggest an ideal living area, but the Old West Side (OWS) is always a good place to start if, that is, you don’t mind a 15-20 minute walk or 10 minute bikeride to school. Most of the apartments in this area are older (read: entirely energy inefficient. boo.) homes, so it might behoove you to find a few friends to rent with. Landlords in this area tend to be a bit more pet-friendly, and yards generally lack the hallmark busch light cans and soggy couches commonly spotted on front porches in the student section.

o Kerrytown can be a rockin’ spot, depending on what you’re into. Apartments here are generally within easy walking distance to the Farmers’ Market, People’s Food Co-op and, if you happen to be sporting a healthy trust fund, Zingerman’s Deli.

o Directly south of South University, along Church, Forest, Packard, and near to East Quad, is a healthy mix of well-maintained grad-student (often business and law) and family housing and, of course, the undergrad ghetto. Depending upon the particular street, this area tends to be more hit or miss than the rest: you may have excellent, neat, quiet neighbors, or you may live next to 6 19-year old hooligans who enjoy trying to throw sneakers around telephone wires at 2 in the morning. You can usually get a good sense of what you’d be in for just by checking out the house / apartment in person.

o Burns Park, also south of South University and dangerously close to the student ghetto, has a completely different feel: bougie. Don’t get us wrong – this area pretty much rocks, though it tends to be slightly more expensive than housing found elsewhere.

o A good place to start your housing search is on the UofM housing page at (http://www.housing.umich.edu ), but don’t overlook the fun to be had on craigslist ann arbor (http://annarbor.craigslist.org/hhh/).

o Depending upon your personality and preferences, you might want to give co-op housing a thought. Ann Arbor has one of the country’s largest co-op networks, the ICC – check them at http://www.icc.coop/.

furniture

• Whether you’re looking to completely furnish a place, or just pick up a fan, coffeemaker, or one of those 1950s vibrating-belt jiggle exercise machines, check out these awesome places before buying new. And, by all means, donate your old stuff (in good or decent condition) to these places, rather than chucking it!

o Recycle Ann Arbor’s ReUse Center

2420 S. Industrial, 662-6288, www.recycleannarbor.org

Accepts and sells salvaged building materials, working appliances, furniture, electronics, and household items.

o Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor - Downtown, open Saturday mornings only 9-12pm

200 S. First at Washington, 665-0450.
Accepts and sells clothing, furniture, tools, toys, books and small appliances. Will schedule free pickups.

o St. Vincent De Paul Society

1001 Broadway (just on the other side of the Broadway bridge on N. Division), 761-1400.

Accepts and sells clothing and household items.

o Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop

2289 S. State, 996-9155.
Accepts and sells small household goods, clothing and toys.

o Salvation Army

1621 S State, 332-3474
Accepts and sells furniture, electronics, clothing, small household goods, and toys.

o Military Order of the Purple Heart

Westland, (734) 728-4560.
Accepts and sells clothing, household articles, working portable TVs, cars. Will schedule free pickups.

o Treasure Mart (a consignment store--some stuff here is much nicer)

529 Detroit Street in Kerrytown north of Zingerman's

662-9887

o Of course, there are always the furniture, household, and general listings on craigslist (http://annarbor.craigslist.org/) as well as UofM listings on the marketplace (http://marketplace.umich.edu), for which you need your uniqname and password to access.

food

• Right in downtown Ann Arbor, you’ll find the People’s Food Co-op (216 N. Fourth, www.peoplesfood.coop, open Sun-Fri, 9am-10pm; Sat, 8am-10pm). You don’t need to be a member to shop here, but membership is often worth it ($60 for a lifetime, no other fees), and fully refundable if for any reason you decide to ditch out. Lots of local, organic, and bulk foods. Slightly pricier than your typical grocery store, but you can pat yourself on the back for walking, rather than driving, to the grocery store.

• The Farmer’s Market is open from the break of dawn-ish till 3ish (though many start to pack up earlier) on Wednesday and Sat (May-Oct) and just Sat during the rest of the year. Abundant in summer, and adorable but slightly pathetic in winter, this is where you live the dream: buy local, and support your local farmers! The food and flowers can’t beat, and prices are generally very reasonable.

• Other grocery stores within biking, busing, or driving distance include: fun, funky, oftentimes organic, and kinda cheap Trader Joe’s (2398 E Stadium, www.traderjoes.com), rip-off-ville Kroger (1919 S Industrial, just off of Stadium), cheerful, manageable Busch’s (2240 S. Main St), and Walmart-inspired Meijer (3145 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd). Also, if you’ve got some spare change laying around, there’s always Whole Foods, right down from Trader Joes on Wastenaw.

bars, restaurants, and nightlife

• Ann Arbor has a bunch of class, both high and low, as we’re confident you’ll discover for yourself. But, if you need a couple suggestions on where to start, or what not to miss, see below (note that listed specials were valid at the time of printing; please don’t be in a fight with us or tell all your friends to be mad at us if something changes)

o Arbor Brewing Company or ABC, if you want to be instantly hip. (114 E. Washington St, www.arborbrewing.com), is where it’s at. Local microbrews, some of which won’t even necessarily give you a headache in the morning (note we said necessarily). Monthly beer tastings, awesome food, and happy hour all day on Mondays.

o The Ark (316 S. Main, www.theark.org) hosts well-known and up-and-coming folk, country, blues, and you-name-it musicians. It is “Ann Arbor’s non-profit home for acoustic music” and among one of the top music clubs in the world. Seriously. Intimate, fun, small theatre. Amazing shows go down here.

o The Aut Bar (315 Braun Ct, in Kerrytown) is Ann Arbor’s only official gay bar. Featuring outdoor seating on a beautiful patio in the warmer months, a pool table upstairs, and excellent southwestern-style brunches, this bar is a fun place, regardless of your status.

o Babs Underground Once you find it, you may never want to leave

o Café Felix (204 S Main, www.cafefelix.com) is not to be missed. Hit this place up early and often, especially in the warmer weather when you can sip your martini with style and grace outside. Mondays are half-price martini night. But you didn’t need us to tell you that, cause we saw you there last Monday night – way to start off your grad school career.

o Café Zola (112 W Washington, www.cafezola.com). Yo, we’ve heard of peeps getting engaged at this joint, it’s that “mood-setting.” A debonair choice for dinner, though they should be equally highly praised for their wicked breakfasts. No specials to speak of here – it tends to be slightly pricey.

o Dominics (812 Monroe Ann Arbor). Not the least expensive place in town, but there isn’t a better place to pick up a late afternoon glass of Sangria or Oberon (a Michigan favorite.) Get there early though since its packed after six.

o The Fleetwood Diner (300 S. Ashley), like its name suggests, it not a bar, but rather a diner. But who needs beer when you have Hippie Hash (arguably the best-tasting grease-laden food you will EVER have). Plus this place is open 24 hours. Cash only.

o Grizzly Peak Brewing Company (120 W Washington) is, no question about it, a sweet bar and restaurant, with a killer 80s playlist for sidewalk patrons in the summer. Great burgers, fresh pasta, and wood-fired pizza. Don’t miss it.

o Ok, we’ll let you in on a tightly-held secret. The Jefferson Market (609 W. Jefferson) is probably the coolest little neighborhood coffeeshop, bakery, and sandwich spot around. Tucked in among the houses of the Old West Side, the market has a separate entrance for fairies (a ‘fairy door’ if you will – look for other fairy doors on businesses throughout AA – we’ll give you a couple of hints: The Ark, and Sweetwaters).

o Leopold Brothers (523 S. Main St, www.leopoldbros.com) Who said environmentally-responsibly crafted microbrews have to taste good? If you haven’t yet been here, stop what you’re doing and go now. Many SNREds may tell you that the beer is shady, but we still can’t get enough of the place. Monday & Tuesday the beer is half price after 9pm, and Thursday is “flip-night” – toss a coin and call it correctly, your beer is half off.

o The Necto (516 E Liberty, www.thenecto.com,, Studio 4 (514 S Fourth Ave, www.studio4club.com), and Oz (210 S Fifth Ave, www.ozannarbor.com) are some of Ann Arbor’s best…er, only clubs. Each can be charming, in that booty-shaking, sweat-drenched kind of way. Oz is known for its ethnic flair, and you can jam to excellent reggae, mid-east, Bangra, and top-40 tracks while watching live belly-dancing and hitting the hooka; Wednesdays are gay night. Studio 4 tends to be the hotspot for grad student “mixers”…don’t worry, you’ll get the emails. And Necto’s essence can’t be distilled in a single sentence, but we’ll try: Sunday, house and techno; Monday, industrial; Thursday, college…i.e. top 40; Friday, fabulously gay; Saturday, club…i.e. top 40 again)

o Purple Rose Theater http://www.purplerosetheatre.org/ A 20 minute drive down to the quaint town of Chelsea and you will find one of the best “off broadway” theaters in the country. (It is owned and operated by Mihcigan native Jeff Daiels Now remember, this is really off broadway, but

o Zingerman’s (422 Detroit St, in Kerrytown, www.zingermans.com) is not to be missed, so start saving your pennies. Sandwiches have 2020’s prices, but are absolutely delicious. Their bakery and deli are also fabulous. Definitely an Ann Arbor landmark.

sports & recreation

• Ok, brace yourself: Ann Arbor has 147 parks. This is just one of many reasons why this hot little town is so special. We dare you to visit at least 30 of them. Get the lowdown at http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/CommunityServices/Parks/index.html.

o As you’ll soon discover, some of these aforementioned parks are great for bbqs, softball games, and Frisbee-madness, including Burns & Allmindinger Parks.

o Others, like the Nichols Arboretum, are perfect for picnics, jogging, sledding, and generally wallowing in the beauty of nature.

o Bird Hills, Barton, and Eberwhite Woods are also great trail-running parks, and perfect places to bring your k-9 friends (on the leash, of course…)

o Did we mention public pools? How fun is that?!? There are four of them (Buhr Park, Fuller, Mack, and Veterans) Check out the details under “pools” on the aforementioned website.

• Or, get organized, and join a team sport – meet peeps from other departments, or some real, live, non-UM affiliated Ann Arbor residents!

o Outdoor soccer leagues in Ann Arbor--no need to have a team; individuals are assigned to a team. http://www.aasaweb.org/

o Ann Arbor ultimate league--no need to have a team; individuals are assigned to a team. http://www.a2ultimate.org/

o Running, fitness, rowing, ski clubs in Ann Arbor. http://www.tortoiseandhare.com/links/clubs.htm

o U of M sailing club. http://www.umich.edu/~umsc/

other useful info

• Post Offices are located at 200 E Liberty and 1214 S. University in downtown, while Ann Arbor’s main post office is at 2075 W Stadium.

• The Amtrak Station (325 Depot St, 994-4906) is just north of campus and has several daily trains to Chicago, Detroit, Jackson, East Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo, among others.

great lakes, great times: Michigan & beyond

afternoon, day & weekend trips

• There are lots of great places to check out within Michigan, outside of Ann Arbor. Despite any bad-rap you might have heard, Detroit is an extremely interesting and dynamic city worth visiting. Check out a Tigers Game at Comerica Park, a Lions Game at Ford Field, or a Redwings Game in Hockeytown. The city also has the Detroit Institute of Arts, excellent restaurants in Greektown and Mexican village, and big-name concerts at the State and Fox Theatres on Woodward St. The Detroit Zoo, which despite its name is actually not in the city, is also one of the best in the country.

• The Henry Ford (www.thehenryford.org) is located 40 minutes east on 94, in Dearborn. Besides featuring a spectacular Museum of American history and culture, the Henry Ford offers Greenfield Village, an historic village featuring seven unique districts that take you to different eras in America’s cultural history, and the Rouge Factory, where you can tour the famous and newly-greened manufacturing facility that makes some of Ford’s most famous vehicles, including the F-150.

• Just a half hour from downtown, past Dexter, is Pinckney State Recreation Area (8555 Silver Hill Rd, 426-4913, http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/ParksandTrailsInfo.aspx?id=484), providing over 11,000 acres of hiking, biking, canoeing, kayaking, or swimming on one of many lakefronts, etc. It remains virtually undiscovered by many U of M students who rarely leave Ann Arbor, and is a provides a perfect afternoon getaway by the lake in the summer, early fall, or late spring.

• The Dexter Cider Mill is a perfect, though sometimes crowded place to spend a weekend afternoon in the fall, eating fresh donuts and drinking warm cider. Located at 3685 Central St in Dexter, it is a beautiful 11-mile bike ride from downtown, along the scenic Huron River Drive.

• Sleeping Bear National Dunes (http://www.nps.gov/slbe/) is one of America’s, and certainly Michigan’s most impressive National Parks. Located in western Michigan, and spanning 35 miles of the lakeshore, the park offers beautiful scenery, hiking, biking, and camping, and is approximately a 4 hour drive from Ann Arbor.

• Who knew: a car-free paradise in Michigan, of all places! Mackinac Island (http://www.mackinacisland.org/), located between Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas, provides a beautiful, scenic, east-coast-type island getaway, that’s especially charming in the warmer months. Cars are not allowed on the island, of which close to half is a state park. Common forms of transportation on the island include horses, bikes, and good ol’ walking.

• And what grad school career in Michigan is complete without a trip to da UP, eh? (That’s the “Upper Penninsula” for those not yet familiar with MI lingo). The UP is where all your cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, atv-riding dreams can come true. While you’re up there, check out Pictured Rocks (http://www.nps.gov/piro/), another of Michigan’s beautiful parks, this one on the frigid shores of Lake Superior. 73,000+ acres sandstone cliffs, waterfalls, sand dunes, beaches, inland lakes, and forests await.