Letter from the AD and Dean

U-M students:

We are sure you are as excited as we are about Saturday's football
game against the Ohio State University.  We are counting on our
student section within Michigan Stadium to add to our home-field
advantage.  Your support, enthusiasm - and NOISE - will help give
the Wolverines an edge.

At the same time, we anticipate that you will join other fans and
residents in welcoming our opponents to Ann Arbor by being
gracious hosts to our visitors.  While Michigan students are known for
good sportsmanship, that reputation has occasionally been tarnished
by some students using offensive behavior and language toward
opposing fans, and throwing objects at people and onto the field.  This
behavior is not consistent with Michigan pride, our tradition or our
reputation.

Games with intense rivalries can sometimes heighten fan concerns about
safety.  As always, the safety of our team, students, fans and visitors will
be our first priority.  To ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable
experience, law enforcement agencies will respond swiftly to any
dangerous or illegal behavior within Michigan Stadium and surrounding
areas.  Laws regarding drunken driving, underage drinking, and other
safety concerns will be strictly enforced.  If you will be hosting a
gathering, here are recommendations from Student Legal Services to
help minimize risks and maximize fun:

Be considerate of neighbors.
Monitor how much people are drinking.
Control the noise level.
Be respectful of the police.
Leave your drinks behind when you leave a party.
Use bathrooms, not bushes.
Use trash containers, not the ground.
Make sure those under 21 are not drinking.

Things not to do:
Do not walk in the streets with open alcohol.
Do not allow drunk people to drive.
Do not play music, etc. loudly between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

While at Saturday's game, to report a crime, disorderly conduct or
suspicious behavior to the University Police, call 734/763-1131 or send
a text message to 377911.  As always, in an emergency, call 911.

You can start the weekend by attending any number of exciting events.
U-Mix kicks off the weekend on Friday from 10 p.m.-2 a.m. in the
Michigan Union.  Come check it out: -Performance by ComCoat 10
followed by a showing of "The Final Destination: Rest in Pieces" at 11 p.m.
in Anderson, performed by NBH Unplugged at 11 p.m. in Pendleton,
ThinkFast put on by Phi Mu in the Ballroom, Karaoke all night in the UClub
with a Nacho-Bar coming out at midnight.  For more information, see the
U-Mix website at http://www.umich.edu/~umix/.  For a schedule of other
U-M events, see http://events.umich.edu/

Go Blue!

Bill Martin, Athletic Director
Laura Blake Jones, Dean of Students

I always find these funny.

Forget Belmont, Party at Willard

So this Thursday is Belmont, a bar night for AKPsis. Normally, this is a great opportunity to go out and have a good time at a bar with fellow brothers. However, my house is having a party on Thursday night paid for by the Snowboarding Club, so I'm not going to miss it. In fact, I had paid money to go, decided not to go and got my money back instead. I loved Belmont the first couple times I went, but it's really lost its luster on me. Anyway, parties at Willard are always a good time. AND it's OSU weekend.

Go Blue!

Tuesday November 17th

I started this blog to post random things I see and random thoughts I have through out the day. I encounter so many things that I find interesting and that I want other people to see. However, as much as I want people to see these things, I don't want to clog up people's Facebook feeds with my posts. So this is the new one-stop destination for all things Shep. This is Shep's Universe.

So as some of you might know, I've gone more than two weeks without a phone. To be honest, it's been kind of nice. A mini-vacation, you might want to call it. However, I'm so disconnected from the world. I don't know how many people have smart phones which send emails straight to your phone, but having gone without one, I've missed a lot. I'm used to having emails at my disposal as soon as they're sent. I haven't had that liberty these last couple weeks, and I've missed out on events and announcements as a result. It's been unfortunate.

Anyway, I was finally able to go to Verizon on Friday to get my new phone. They didn't have a replacement phone in stock, so they shipped one to me. She said it would be here Monday. Not that I was awake for most of Monday, but the phone didn't come. I went to my noon class and came home, still no phone. I updated my Facebook status:

Dear Verizon, where is my phone? You said it would be here Monday, it's Tuesday and still absent from my life. I haven't had a phone in two weeks, and I would like to reconnect with the world. I've been so lost without my phone, my housemates sent out a search party, my parents filed a missing persons report, I fired a SOS flare. Dear Verizon, please get me my phone asap.

Soon after I made that status update, the door bell rings. Indubitably, it's the FEDEX guy with my phone. It was incredible. I was in the middle of cooking so I couldn't do anything. Additionally, I needed to get a synch cable in order to save my contacts, more on that later. I was elated that I got my new phone, but I haven't been feeling well. I took a nap instead of immediately trying to activate my new phone.

So I IMed my housemate to see if he had a synch cable that I could use. I don't have mine in Michigan. He said he had one, but he wasn't going to be back until 7, so I had to wait. No biggie, I'm a patient guy. I didn't get to try to activate my new phone until after a student organization meeting. Anyway, I first had to download blackberry desktop. No biggie, but when I went to try and synch up my phone, I realized that the cable didn't fit. Apparently, the Tour and the Storm have different synch cables. The Verizon lady said that I shouldn't have problems if there are other Verizon users in my house. Well, I have a problem.

Then I went to set up my Verizon account. Account name, email, no more problems, until they decided to text my "temporary password" to my phone. Hey Verizon, I'm making an account so that I can activate my new phone. My old phone is broken. How the fuck am I supposed to get a text message on my old phone if it's broken? Why can't you email me my temporary password like normal people?

Basically, I can't activate my phone. I have to go to the Verizon store to activate my phone, and I'm exceedingly angry right now. I'm eating Reese's Miniatures and M&Ms in the Stacks, trying to make myself feel better. I'm steaming harder than Mike Matusow though.