ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Monday, February 17, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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CAMPUS LIFE
Week of events to recognize body image VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
LSA junior Haley Pfeil, LSA seniors Mara Rubin and Mark Byron play with Johntez Williamson at Dance Marathon. The event raised money to improve the quality of life for children with disabilities at the Indoor Track and Field Building Saturday.
Over 17 years, $5M raised Dance Marathon participants stand for 30 hours for charity By EMILIE PLESSET Daily Staff Reporter
For 30 hours this weekend, University students busted a move. The University’s Dance Marathon held a two-day party this weekend at the Indoor Track Building, where 700 students stood on their feet for charity. Dance Marathon is the larg-
est student-run nonprofit organization in Michigan, with over 1,000 student participants throughout the year. With 17 years on campus, the organization raises money and promotes awareness for rehabilitation therapies at the University’s C.S. Mott Children’s and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital and Beaumont Children’s Hospital in Royal Oak. Throughout the year, and over the course of the 30-hour event, Dance Marathon members raised $446,399.57, which was less than last year’s $516,701.13 total. Last year, the event took place in April, giving the organization more time to raise funds.
However, this year the group reached its all-time goal of raising $5 million throughout its 17 years at the University. “The goal is to establish a solidarity between the participants of our organization to really show our support for the kids that we stand for, who maybe can’t stand for themselves, while putting ourselves as much as we can in their shoes,” LSA senior Molly VandenBerg, Dance Marathon communications chair, said. Many dancers form Marathon teams with various other organizations on campus. Teams raise money and earn team points by participating in
Marathon events throughout the year, including a pumpkin carving event and a charity ball, where participants interact with the families and kids benefiting from the organization. While many other universities hold Dance Marathons, the University’s Marathon maintains a tradition of standing for 30 hours. Northwestern University’s marathon also lasts 30 hours, and the University of California, Los Angeles’ event lasts 26. Brownstown Township resident Laura Calvin, whose family benefited from the funds raised from the Marathon, said See MARATHON, Page 3A
Body-Peace Corps creates Eating Disorder Week to raise awareness By SHOHAM GEVA Daily Staff Reporter
The Body-Peace Corps, a student-run organization, along with MBody and University Health Services, kicked off this year’s Eating Disorder Awareness Week with a Valentine’s Day-themed event on the Diag Friday, and a Twitter campaign Sunday. The campaign for awareness comes a week before National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, which is Feb. 23 to March 1. It also falls during a larger month-long push — February is Eating Disorders Awareness Month. On campus, the week has
been held consistently for the past decade, though its sponsors have changed from year to year. In the past, it’s been run through Counseling and Psychological Services and the University. LSA sophomore India Peterson, Body-Peace Corps event chair, said the week is necessary at the University because it helps remove some of the stigma surrounding eating disorders and helps students form more positive body images. “It’s really important because a lot of people have the wrong view of eating disorders and they don’t know all the facts,” Peterson said. “It’s just important to promote positive body image because I know that especially with the media, especially on college campuses, a lot of people struggle with having a positive image.” The Valentine’s Day event, called “Trash Your Trash Talk,” was sponsored in partnership See BODY-PEACE, Page 5A
BUSINESS
HOSPITAL
3D printing business opens in Ann Arbor
Transplant recipients set world record
By RACHEL PREMACK Daily News Editor
Most 3D printing businesses cater to engineers, hobbyists and other tech-savvy folks with thick wallets. However, this is not the case at the recently opened Thingsmiths. Owner Owen Tien said he opened the State Street business last month to cater to anyone with an interest in 3D printing. “It doesn’t matter if it’s sketched on a napkin,” Tien said. “We’ll do our best to make sure it’s good for our customer.” Napkin-sourced designs are not hypothetical. Art & Design sophomore Rachel Snyder, who assists with 3D modeling at Thingsmiths, said she recently helped a customer produce his napkin schemes in two weeks. “I find it actually really exciting,” Snyder said. “I think the big responsibility that I
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 34 LO: 25
have as a designer is to make someone’s creative idea a reality and help them make exactly what they wanted, exactly what they envisioned.” Few 3D printing stores exist to serve the average consumer. Even fewer exist in brick-and-mortar forms. Thingsmiths fulfills both of those rarities. Thingsmiths opened last month and joined what Tien estimated to be fewer than 50 physical 3D printing shops in the United States. Tien said the Ann Arbor location was ideal for attracting tech-aware customers. He also considered Bloomfield Hills and Grand Rapids as potential locations. Most 3D printing shops are online. They won’t explain how the 3D printing process works, how to submit your ideas in the requisite computer-aided design format or a host of other techie complications. There are barriers for the Average Joe to explore the much-hyped world of 3D printing. “It seemed to me that there See PRINTING, Page 5A
PATRICK BARRON/Daily
Ann Arbor residents William and Sarah Dodds watch the newly opened Snake vs. Dinosaur exhibit at the Museum of Natural History Sunday.
Ancient fossils from India on display in ‘U’ museum 67 million-year-old specimens include primitive snakes By TOM MCBRIEN Daily Staff Reporter
A young dinosaur pokes out from its shell, only to be met by an 11.5-foot-long snake rearing back to devour it. Just at the climax, both are almost instantaneously covered by a mudslide, preserving them for millions of years. This may sound like a B-movie plot summary, but
thanks to a University paleontologist’s discovery, it was an actual event that happened 67 million years ago. Jeffrey Wilson, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, delivered the William R. Farrand Memorial Lecture, this year titled “India before the Himalayas: When snakes ate dinosaurs” about his fossil discovery, which is now a permanent exhibit at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. The exhibit includes a lifesize model of the scene by artist Tyler Keillor, who reconstructs
paleontological items, and a touchable cast of the fossil slab. The fossil’s journey to the University was a long one. Wilson’s colleague, Dhananjay Mohabey, discovered the fossil in western India in 1981 but did not realize that snake bones were present. Decades later, Wilson heard about the piece and, upon examining it in 2001, was the first to notice the distinctive snake spine bones. “From this time in history, we only have about five examples of snakes with bodies, and this is going to be the sixth,” See FOSSILS, Page 5A
A Badgering day
Another dimension
Wolverines rally in second half but fall to Wisconsin 75-62 » INSIDE
3D printing finds a home on State Street INSIDE
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Highest number of heart beneficiaries honor American Heart Month By KAITLIN ZURDOSKY Daily Staff Reporter
More than 100 heart transplant recipients set the Guinness World Record Friday for the most heart transplant recipients gathered together. The University of Michigan Health System partnered with Donate Life Coalition of Michigan to assemble the 132 recipients, transplant staff and families at Art Moran Buick GMC in Southfield, Mich. The date was set in observance of American Heart Month and Valentine’s Day. “It’s a great way for us to share with the world how positive organ donation can be,” said Sherry Johnson, director of the gathering and volunteer at See TRANSPLANTS, Page 5A
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 69 ©2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A SUDOKU.....................2A OPINION.....................4A
CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A S P O R T S M O N DAY. . . . . . . . . .1 B