I’ll Be Here All the Time, I Can Never Quit
Judy McGovern is concerned that new downtown development will lead to “trendy downtown living for the affluent, or for University of Michigan students - who are a welcomed part of the community but very different than year-round residents.” Well, if students are so different from year-round residents, why are we still stuck here at the end of June? (That is, “we” as in the writer of this weblog.)
When I “click for bio,” hoping to learn the names and ages of Ms. McGovern’s cats and whether she likes chipotle, all I get is a terse two-sentence rundown of her move from New York to AA. Bit of a letdown.
posted by Laura on June 28th, 2004 at 6:50 pmShrug, to be fair, McGovern is sometimes spot-on. It depends on the issue.
posted by Brandon on June 28th, 2004 at 7:52 pmAdmit it, you’re stuck here at the end of June because after considering your alternatives, Ann Arbor isn’t so bad after all.
posted by mucho gusto on June 29th, 2004 at 6:43 amMucho is right, AAIO. Staying in AA during the summers allows you to get work done and get your degree finished faster. Moving away permanently is the best alternative of all.
posted by Nick on June 29th, 2004 at 10:08 amIf all undergrads were year-round residents, taking Spring/Summerr classes would enable them to finish an entire year sooner. I’m sure AA would embrace this, if they didn’t demand things like apartments in town, convenient bus service past 11, and shops where they could buy such frivilous things as “groceries” and “clothes”.
posted by Anna on June 29th, 2004 at 10:18 amWaaaaaaaaaah.
posted by Elizabeth on June 29th, 2004 at 1:41 pmI suspect Ann Arborites would be not at all happy about such a plan. Year-round residency is the only thing that separates townies from (many, but not all, as a lot of people seem to think) students. If students lived here during the summer, it would be hard to argue that they aren’t real residents.
I know a lot of resort towns resent the summer visitors as not being real residents - I’d be curious if these vacationers’ winter towns regard them the same way A2 does students.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on June 29th, 2004 at 3:02 pmI have a suggestion: channel the energy you put into this web site into your studies instead. That way you’ll be able to leave this place as quickly as you seem to desire.
That you are in Grad School at Michigan makes you luckier than most. It might benefit you to count your blessings, rather than complaining about a life that’s really not so bad.
posted by Mr. Man on June 29th, 2004 at 9:49 pmNo, it makes AAIO *smarter* and *harder working* than most.
And only someone who has never gone to graduate school thinks that there’s a relationship between effort and how long it takes. You’re a prof’s bitch until she’s done with ya.
posted by Dan on June 30th, 2004 at 3:51 pmMy mom used to live in one of those summer vacation towns and yes they have the same attitude towards the people that come in the summer that Ann Arbor has towards students. They don’t mind the money but they do mind the people that brings that money. Sad part, if it weren’t for the Universities (plural because there is EMU), the Ann Arbor area wouldn’t have the ammenities that it does.
posted by Kozzie on June 30th, 2004 at 4:11 pm