Media Watch Section

Russ Collins, executive director of the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, has been named to Indiewire’s 2013 inaugural list of “influencers” in the independent film industry. Collins has led Art House Convergence, an annual conference of art house owners, for six years. From an Indiewire interview with Collins: “Coming together for movies in a social context happens because we’re social creatures. It’s a profound psychological experience, and just like there’s a different impact listening to a musician in real life, so it is with film.” [Source]

Writing in the New York Post, columnist Jonathon M. Trugman criticizes the University of Michigan for “cheating” individual investors. Trugman writes: “Last week the university admitted that it releases market-moving consumer-sentiment data to business partner Thomson Reuters’ high-paying clients five minutes before everyone else gets the information. And the data are given to higher-paying high-frequency trading clients two seconds earlier than that. It’s all quite legal, but it certainly isn’t fair. And if it isn’t fair, then it isn’t a free market – and that’s the point.” [Source]

In advance of this year’s Ann Arbor Summer Festival – which starts on Friday, June 14 – local photographer Myra Klarman reflects on what she and her son Max love about it. She writes: “My batteries – the ones in me and the ones in my camera – are fully charged and ready for this milestone season. Festival executive director Robb Woulfe and Amy Nesbitt have truly outdone themselves this year. The lineup, which seems to be even meatier than usual, makes me feel like a kid in an exotic candy store. I’m looking forward to experiencing totally new (to me) artists, and getting reacquainted with longstanding favorites.” [Source]

In a post on the Friends of the Ann Arbor Skatepark site titled “Where’s the @#$%! Skatepark?!” FAAS president Trevor Staples describes the project’s progress. He writes: “We’ll be building this summer. Would we have liked to have started in May? Yes. The fact is, we’ve done the work that it takes to get a 30,000 square foot skatepark built in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There’s still a ton of work to do, and the handful of volunteers who have busted their butts to get us this far are continuing to work their fingers to the bone to do what’s needed to make it happen.” [Source]

In an essay published on The DOMA Project’s website, Patricia Davenport of Ann Arbor argues against U.S. immigration laws that discriminate against the foreign spouses of U.S. citizens. Her son is engaged to a Turkish man, and the couple currently live in Istanbul. Davenport writes: “Any law that discriminates in this way against my son, also harms our entire family. This is not a gay issue, this is about American families. And it is time for this to come to an end, so my son and his partner can come home to us.” [Source]

Billboard magazine published a day-in-the-life column that followed Theo Katzman, a former member of the popular Ann Arbor band My Dear Disco, during his current tour with Darren Criss: “Katzman is joined by the majority of Vulfpeck, his instrumental group formed in 2011 after the members met in a 19th-century German literature class at the University of Michigan. After they filled out with more members of the Michigan music scene, the group began breakneck rehearsals to get ready for the tour, figuring out how to integrate Criss’ back catalog of music in with new tracks he’d be testing on the road.” Criss and Katzman will be playing at the June 13 Sonic Lunch concert in Ann Arbor. [... [Full Story]

The University of Michigan Hospital is holding a contest to name the four peregrine falcon chicks that were born recently on the hospital’s roof. A similar contest for last year’s brood yielded these names: Lloyd, Bo, Fritz and Yost. [Source]

State Sen. Rebekah Warren of Ann Arbor (D-District 18) co-authored a column published by the Detroit Free Press about proposed legislation that would let Michigan voters overturn the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Warren is a co-sponsor of the legislation. “Michigan would become more business-friendly by embracing marriage equality. By upholding discriminatory state policies, we are undermining our state’s ability to attract talent in the 21st Century. Denying two people the right to get married based solely on their gender violates the principles of equality our country was founded on and defies the values of fairness and freedom.” [Source]

In an op-ed published by the Lansing State Journal, Steven Norton of Ann Arbor – executive director of Michigan Parents for Schools – criticizes Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration for its approach to education reform. Rather than students sitting in front of computers, Norton writes, real education involves a dynamic community of learners guided by skilled teachers: ”It’s hard not to notice that this kind of education is the one the governor has chosen for his own child, at a well-regarded private school in Ann Arbor. We certainly don’t blame him for seeking the best for his children, as all parents hope to do. But why, then, do the policy initiatives from the governor’s office seek to push public education in … [Full Story]

Bryan Rogers, who served as dean of the University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design from 2000 to 2012, died on May 28 after a lengthy illness. A post on the school’s website quotes current dean Guna Nadarajan: “For those who worked closely with Bryan, he is remembered most for his wry and often wicked sense of humor, his grace and devoted friendship, his love of music and reading, and the many acts of kindness that he performed without an expectation of thanks or recognition.” [Source]

The Lansing State Journal reports on opposition to Michigan Flyer adding more routes between Lansing and Ann Arbor, reportedly because of federal grant dollars that would be used to subsidize the business. The company runs the route – known as AirRide – to the Detroit Metro airport. According to the report, opponents of awarding the federal funding say it would “give bus operators a leg up on airlines and other transit services that don’t receive similar money to buy fuel and pay workers.” [Source]

Ugly Things – a national magazine covering “the overlooked music of the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s & beyond” – has published an article by Frank Uhle about The Fifth Dimension, a downtown Ann Arbor teen nightclub that operated from 1966-1968. From the article: ”In contrast with most venues of its type, it was an architect-designed psychedelic showplace with trippy pulsating lights, a huge spinning op-art wheel at the entrance, splatter-painted wall panels, carpeted sitting mounds, a sunken (soda) bar, and a mod clothing store.” [.pdf of Fifth Dimension article cover page] The print edition of Ugly Things is sold locally at Wazoo Records and Literati Bookstore.

On his website last month, photographer Mark Bialek published a collection of photos of LED street lights on Main Street Ann Arbor. “These beautiful LED lights really are worth photographing over and over again.” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports that Esperion Therapeutics, founded by Ann Arbor entrepreneur and scientist Roger Newton, has filed this week for an initial public offering. According to the report, Esperion’s filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission states that the firm intends to raise $70 million and would be listed on Nasdaq with the symbol ESPR. [Source]

As activists seek decriminalization of marijuana in Michigan, Metro Times looks at the city of Ann Arbor, where voters in 1974 passed a revision to the city charter that decriminalized marijuana by making possession of less than 2 ounces a civil infraction. The article quotes state Rep. Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor, who has introduced a bill to decriminalize marijuana statewide: “The decriminalization that the community enacted decades ago, I think is a good example of how a local community can address these issues in a more reasonable and successful way. Marijuana is in communities all over Michigan and governments are completely impotent in addressing that.” [Source]

On her blog, Ann Arbor Public Schools trustee Christine Stead posts a list of budget questions that she has sent to the AAPS administration in preparation for an upcoming study session. Many of the questions focus on finding ways to make budget cuts without impacting the classroom and programs. [Source]

University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman is the sixth-highest paid public university president in the U.S., according to a compensation study by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Coleman earned a total compensation of $918,783 during fiscal 2012. The New York Times reports on the study, noting that four public university presidents topped $1 million in total compensation. [Source]

Writing on Ann Arbor Schools Musings, Ruth Kraut takes an in-depth look at the Broad Foundation and its influence on school systems nationwide, including in Ann Arbor. The current Ann Arbor Public Schools superintendent, Patricia Green, attended a training center funded by the foundation, and the search firm that’s helping to find Green’s replacement has ties to the center. Kraut writes: “It’s not just that I don’t agree with the Broad Center’s agenda; it’s that I don’t think that most Ann Arborites do either. Further, and even worse, I don’t think that the Broad Foundation is honest about their agenda. I believe that their agenda is to privatize, and profit-ize, public schools.” [Source]

Forbes and Mashable are among the many media sites that have posted a video of Twitter CEO Dick Costolo’s speech at the May 4 University of Michigan commencement. Mashable notes: “Costolo, a graduate of UM who pursued comedy after earning his bachelor’s degree for computer science in 1985, started his speech by tweeting a photo of the crowd and ended it saying, ‘hashtag go blue!’” [Source] [Source]

Crain’s Detroit Business reports on the expansion of Ann Arbor-based Pot & Box, which is opening a “pop-up” version in the D:hive space on Woodward Avenue in Detroit. According to the report, owner Lisa Waud “is the first entrepreneur signed to Pilot, a new program offered by D:hive that will give a rotating cadre of small businesses two months of free rent as well as marketing and design support.” Waud plans to open a permanent location in Detroit later this year. [Source]

State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-District 53) participated in a recent segment of the Fox 2 News talk show “Let It Rip,” focused on decriminalizing marijuana. Irwin, an Ann Arbor Democrat, has proposed legislation – House Bill 4623 – to significantly reduce the penalties for recreational use of the drug. [Source]

On Recycle Ann Arbor‘s 35th anniversary, Barbara Lucas of WEMU looks at the history of the city’s curbside recycling, and interviews several of the people who helped start the program. Among those are Dan Ezekiel, who’s now a science teacher at Forsythe Middle School and chair of the city’s greenbelt advisory commission. [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports that Paul Dobrowolski has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Ann Arbor and police chief John Seto, alleging that his Constitutional rights have been violated. Dobrowolski, an anti-abortion activist, has been ticketed for violating city code that prohibits parking a vehicle on a street with the purpose of displaying advertising. Dobrowolski was ticketed for parking outside of Planned Parenthood in Ann Arbor with a sign in his car that included information about a facility that provides free ultrasounds. [Source]

Bridge Magazine reports on disparities in health between neighboring Washtenaw and Wayne counties: “The health gap is best summed up in one piece of data: The average Wayne County resident dies at a younger age than residents of any other county in the state. Washtenaw men live an entire U.S. Senate term – six years — longer than Wayne men; the average Washtenaw woman lives 2.7 years longer than her counterpart to the east.” [Source]

James David Dickson, op-ed editor of The Detroit News, reflects on how a University of Michigan degree became more financially inaccessible during president Mary Sue Coleman’s tenure: “There are serious blemishes on Mary Sue Coleman’s record at Michigan. That she tried to eliminate racial disparities in access to higher education, disparities that were consciously created and studiously maintained in Metro Detroit for decades, is not one of them. That the University of Michigan has only become tougher to afford for the broke family of a smart kid during Coleman’s tenure is.” [Source]

WEMU reports on a clash between an update to Ypsilanti’s master plan regarding the long-vacant Water Street site, and a possible Washtenaw County recreation center, which has been proposed for the northwest corner of the property. From the report: “The design team that’s taking public input and converting it into recommendations for council recommends locating the proposed recreation center further south on the parcel, mostly due to the building’s large size and parking requirements.” [Source]

A $110 million donation by Charles Munger will fund a 600-occupant, 8-story graduate student dorm and academic complex at the University of Michigan. The donation is the largest ever received by UM. The dorm will be located on the north side of East Madison Street between South Division and Thompson. As a point of reference, the area covers the location of the current Blimpy Burger building on the west. [Source]

University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman has announced her intent to retire in mid-July of 2014, when her current contract expires. She plans to keep a home in Ann Arbor. The news came during the April 18 meeting of the UM board of regents. [Detroit Free Press] [Detroit News] [University Record]

A post on Discover Michigan features Bill’s Beer Garden, located in the courtyard of Downtown Home & Garden in Ann Arbor: “This is the type of beer place parents can bring their kids to and not feel weird about it. This is a place to simply bring one’s child, hang out with your friends, take in the sunshine, and people watch.” The beer garden opens for the season on May 2. [Source]

In a column published by Bridge Magazine, Natalie Burg writes about her reasons for living in Michigan – despite the belief by many that “the well-educated, career-driven, creative-class Millennial like myself is not found in the wild here in Michigan.” She continues: “Living in Ann Arbor, I’m a quick drive from four major media markets. And lucky me, I write about growth in the state with the most growth potential. As she writes in her book, ‘Lean In,’ Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg believes in choosing employers by their growth potential. Being self-employed, the market in which I work is my employer of sorts, and there couldn’t be a better one than Michigan.” [Source]