Archive for October, 2008

The Ann Arbor Business Review has a Q&A with John Denniston, a venture capitalist who invests in green technology. Denniston will be in town for UM’s Oct. 23 TechKnow Forum at the Power Center, which will feature a range of speakers, including David Cole of the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research. [Source]

For its Motor City Cribs feature, Detroit Metro Times profiles local musician Matt Jones, who lives in Ypsilanti. “Jones’ home away from the stage since last August is a very funky house in Ypsilanti that he shares with his girlfriend (and fiddle-playing bandmate) Carol Catherine Gray, and their cat Ping. It’s not just funky because it’s a cool, older home; you see, the owner is one Jason Ledbetter.” [Source]

View of Thurston Pond looking east.

Heading east out of downtown Ann Arbor, by the time Plymouth Road nears the 200-foot-high, 500,000-gallon water tower – painted with blue sky and clouds – west side Ann Arbor residents who stick mostly close to their own neighborhoods could easily forget this is still Ann Arbor. A couple of weeks ago The Chronicle headed up that direction, turning left just before the water tower onto Georgetown Boulevard. We were meeting Neal Foster, a neighbor of Thurston Pond and retired scientist, who had agreed to give us a tour of this 8.5 acre pond, which is a major feature of the Thurston Nature Center. [Full Story]

By the end of city council’s Monday evening meeting, which concluded at 1:15 a.m. Tuesday, the full range of brownfield credits for the 601 S. Forest project had been approved. [Full Story]

The address of a property under discussion for appointment of a study committee to examine possible removal from the Old Fourth Ward historic district was given incorrectly in our original report.  It’s been corrected to 412 E. Huron St.  We note the error here and in the original piece.

A Detroit News article about the possible merger of GM and Chrysler quotes David Cole of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. Cole told the News that the deal is a “90 percent certainty,” adding: “The banks are pushing hard. They want to see a consolidation. A combined GM-Chrysler becomes too big to fail from a policy standpoint.” [Source]

Three of five pieces that form "Orion," a steel sculpture by Mark di Suvero that was installed Monday in front of the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

The Chronicle understands that art can require heavy lifting, but usually that’s meant in a metaphorical sense. Not so on Monday, when workers hoisted 23,000 pounds of steel sculpture in front of the University of Michigan Museum of Art’s new wing on South State Street.

The work being installed was “Orion” by artist Mark di Suvero. It’s the first of two large outdoor sculptures by di Suvero that will be on long-term loan to UMMA – the second, “Shang,” will go up later in the plaza between the old museum and its new building. [Full Story]

Discussion of the possible design of a new downtown library building took up much of Monday night’s relatively short Ann Arbor District Library board meeting. [Full Story]

US News & World Report’s HealthDay column reports on a study by UM researchers showing that photodynamic therapy, which uses a light-activated medication, appears to rejuvenate aging skin. [Source]

The Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice posts a video of a Sept. 9 speech given by Fr. Roy Bourgeois in Ann Arbor. Bourgeois is founder of School of the Americas Watch. [Source]

Anyone want to claim this pickup truck?

Long-time Chronicle readers know that we’re always on the lookout for mobile art. So we were delighted to come across this pickup truck in the wild – or, more accurately, in front of the UM Credit Union on William just east of Fifth.

Unlike our previous encounter with an embellished vehicle, this time we didn’t catch the owner so we know very little about the genesis of this piece – other than, we’d hazard to guess, it’s making some kind of political statement. [Full Story]

EMUtalk.org posts a video of the Ypsilanti Greenman: “Now, I don’t know if today and tomorrow’s symbolic and educational tent ‘about our commitment to diversity and the various programs through which we express it’ is in part an effort to celebrate or criticize the Ypsilanti Greenman. But I still thought the Greenman was kinda funny. [Source]

Topics addressed by residents at Sunday night’s caucus with council ranged from 601 S. Forest to fluoride. Comments at caucus revealed that residents opposed to the 601 S. Forest development believe that city council has a decent hand to play even if the developer holds a trump card – a matter-of-right 25-story project. [Full Story]

The Wall Street Journal looks at what might happen if GM merged with Chrysler, and notes that “Chrysler’s Chelsea testing facility could be combined with GM’s nearby proving grounds in Milford.” The article also quotes Sean McAlinden of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor: ”The average age of the Chrysler hourly worker is like 42, 43 – about four or five years younger than those at GM. And they don’t want to leave anymore. That’s one barrier to a merger even happening.” [Source]

The Detroit News interviews several UM researchers about the need to pass Proposal 2, a ballot initiative that would ease restrictions on stem cell research. Says Sean Morrison, director of UM’s Center for Stem Cell Biology: ”Right now what we do at the University of Michigan is very much limited by state law in a way that other major research universities are not limited because almost nobody else in the country has laws like Michigan.” [Source]

Barns on the Ludwig Farm in southern Washtenaw County, seen from a hill on their property.

If you live in a city or suburb and don’t travel off your beaten path, it’s easy to forget how rural much of the surrounding area is. Protecting this land – including farms to relatively untouched natural areas – is the mission of the Washtenaw Land Trust, and on Saturday afternoon about 50 people boarded a bus to see some of the work they’ve done toward that goal. The Chronicle went along for the ride. [Full Story]

Writing on his blog, Ben Abler evaluates Michigan business schools as he considers getting his MBA: “University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business is a 60 credit (most MBA programs are 36 to 45), extremely expensive program which will probably cost around $90,000 or more to go part time, and take 5 to 8 years to complete. I cannot justify that cost or effort required at this point in my career, and I would never realize a positive ROI.” [Source]

Google’s Ann Arbor office ranked first in The Detroit Free Press Top Workplaces survey, for the category of medium-size businesses. The results were determined by surveys of employees. Say Grady Burnett, head of the Ann Arbor office: “The thing that sticks with me about Google is that the people we hire come from a lot of different backgrounds and are encouraged to challenge ideas. We debate things and come to better decisions and … it’s a fun environment.” [Source]

The New York Daily News reports on a UM study that found parents were more concerned about bullying than obesity in their children. Matthew Davis, director of the National Poll on Children’s Health, says: ”Since bullying is known to be a problem for children with increased weight, bullying prevention programs will need to be mindful of obesity as a potential trigger for bullying behavior, and of parents’ concerns surrounding this issue.” [Source]

Gibran Nicholas of the CMPS Institute in Ann Arbor is quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle article about mid-level mortgages: ”It’s kind of like purgatory. It’s not heaven, and it’s not hell. It’s somewhere in between as far as rates go.” [Source]

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