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June 23, 2008
Those neon sea creatures are actually dying photoreceptors in the human retina. And that intense blue-green hot air balloon-looking thing, complete with gondola, is really a salamander sperm cell. (Photo by Scott Soderberg, U-M Photo Services) These images are among those collected through the nearly matchless BioArtography project, which celebrates microscopic tissue photography as art.…
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May 27, 2008
Riding in President George H. W. Bush’s motorcade is just one of the perks of working as a vehicle mechanic for the University, if you’re Gordy Peters. (Photo by Lin Jones, U-M Photo Services) The heavy equipment mechanic, a University employee 33 years, was asked to transport a van of press people in that motorcade…
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May 12, 2008
The slate kitchen countertops, hard wood floors and cherry wood cabinets in Kurt Thoma’s Ypsilanti home reveal something of the Hill Auditorium house technician. (Photo by Scott Soderberg, U-M Photo Services) Thoma, who sometimes runs sound and lights at Rackham Auditorium, the Power Center for the Performing Arts and other University venues, appreciates quality. This…
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April 28, 2008
From the moment Dr. David Jacobson walks through the door of the Patient Admitting and Emergency Services (PAES) Clinic at the School of Dentistry, his to-do-list never ends. “This isn’t a job for someone who doesn’t own a good pair of sneakers,” says Jacobson, director of the clinic. A staff dentist for 20 years, Jacobson…
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April 21, 2008
With a list of names draped behind her like a wedding dress veil, Lynne Peirce stood in a field at Washtenaw Community College following the American Heart Association’s Start! Heart Walk. (Photo courtesy Lynne Peirce) In a pair of sweatpants and her long-sleeves rolled up to her elbows, Peirce received a congratulatory hug from her…
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April 14, 2008
The Yugoslavia that Natasa Gruden-Alajbegovic and her husband emigrated from in 1990 has splintered, leaving the couple with no single country to go home to. (Photo by Scott Soderberg, U-M Photo Services) Gruden-Alajbegovic, from Serbia, and her husband Ales, from Slovenia, moved to the United States in 1990. They expected to stay until he finished…
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April 7, 2008
Jackie Simpson doesn’t hesitate to call herself an activist. “I consider myself an activist and an educator,” says Simpson, director of The Spectrum Center, formerly the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs. “I believe that both activists and educators are engaged in the transformation of hearts and minds. So in some way, for…
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March 31, 2008
Jennifer McJunkin feels a bond with the international students she helps as a volunteer community aide at the Northwood Community Apartments on North Campus. That’s because she learned English for the first time as a third-grader after attending kindergarten and first grade in Taiwan. “I’m able to relate to a lot of the international students;…
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March 24, 2008
One of Pam Palmieri’s earliest memories is dancing around her living room to the Peter Pan soundtrack on LP. “Much to everyone’s chagrin, I would listen to the song ‘I’m Flying’ and pretend I was flying,” she says. “My younger sisters probably enjoyed it the first five times.” (Photo courtesy Pam Palmieri) When she got…
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March 17, 2008
When Hospital Communications Operator Roger Banks starts his workday at U-M Hospital, there’s no time to ease in; he just dives headfirst. (Photo by Lin Jones, U-M Photo Services) “It’s really rewarding to help the customers who are upset or need assistance,” he says. “In most cases, the person is appreciative that someone has taken…
