Rebekah Warren of Ann Arbor, the Democratic state senator representing District 18, is featured in a Detroit Free Press report about the declining number of women in the Michigan legislature. She talks about how women are treated: “You catch little things that happen, like I’ll be sitting at a table with a bunch of male Senators and whoever is leading the meeting will address the men as Senator and then call me Rebekah. It just feels patronizing.” [Source]
WEMU’s Issues of the Environment features an interview with Jason Frenzel, co-chair of the planning committee for the 6th annual Homegrown Festival. The event takes place on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 6-10 p.m. at the Ann Arbor farmers market. [Source]
Several members of Ann Arbor’s Workantile are quoted in a Forbes article about co-working as an option for employees who work remotely from their firm’s main offices. Workantile’s co-owner Bill Tozier: “Everybody keeps talking about the changing relationship between employee and employer. Co-working sort of offers an out, a gradual easement of that crisis. Rather than just sending people home, this remote employee relationship is a compromise that can work.” [Source]
The Wall Street Journal has published an excerpt of “Fourth and Long: The Fight for the Soul of College Football,” a new book by Ann Arbor author and sports columnist John U. Bacon. The online version includes a video of WSJ’s Rachel Bachman interviewing Bacon about his experience following four college football teams: Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State and Northwestern. [Source]
National Public Radio reports on the debut album of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, a community of nuns who live north of Ann Arbor. The album, titled Mater Eucharistiae, was released on Aug. 13. The report quotes Sister Maria Suso: “Usually when we’re singing, it’s just us and God. But with the CD, we were able to bring other people into that space of prayer when we’re singing. And that’s something that is humbling and makes us a little vulnerable. These are our special songs.” [Source]
A Bloomberg Businessweek report about the impact of Detroit’s bankruptcy on bonding in Michigan quotes Erik Gordon, who teaches at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business: “Investors can’t price a bond in Saginaw or Genesee or Battle Creek if they don’t know what a general-obligation bond means. When somebody changes the rules of the game, there’s not much you can do about it, and you don’t want to play again.” [Source]
Charley Sullivan, the University of Michigan associate men’s rowing coach, is quoted in an Associated Press article about how anti-gay laws are impacting the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Sullivan – described in the article as “one of the first openly gay coaches of a major-college sports team” – suggested that athletes could protest the Russian laws by wearing gay pride pins and carrying rainbow flags to the closing ceremonies. Sullivan said athletes have “a moral imperative not to let their efforts, their body, the images of what they do, their names, to be hooked to legitimizing of the host country without their consent.” [Source]
WEMU reports that the Ann Arbor Public Schools board has offered the job of superintendent to Jeanice Swift, who has agreed to enter contract negotiations. Swift currently is an assistant superintendent at a school system in Colorado Springs. The AAPS board’s first choice, Brian Osborne, turned down the district’s offer a few days ago. [Source]
Publishers Weekly reports on Peter Blackshear’s plans to open a new independent bookstore in Ann Arbor in August. Bookbound, to be located in the Courtyard Shops complex at 1729 Plymouth Road, will focus on bargain books and children’s books, with a small used book section. The article quotes Blackshear, a former Borders bookstore employee: “I’d dreamed for many years of having a store of my own. When Borders closed, I thought maybe there was a window of opportunity to start my own business.” [Source]
The Detroit Free Press is among the media outlets reporting that a University of Michigan medical student’s death is being investigated as a homicide. Paul DeWolf was found dead in the Phi Rho Sigma house on Wednesday morning, July 24. If you have information about the incident, contact the Ann Arbor police department’s tip line at 734-794-6939 or tips@a2gov.org, or call Crime Stoppers at 800-773-2587. [Source]
Mark Hodesh, owner of Downtown Home & Garden in Ann Arbor, is featured in a Forbes magazine column about how to grow a business while respecting the historic integrity and character of the building where it’s located. In the case of Hodesh, it’s through ventures like Mark’s Carts and Bill’s Beer Garden. From the column: “With a little bit of innovation and a focused vision, Hodesh has been able to pull off growth through what he calls a ‘non-building way to develop.’ And best of all, that development happened without having to abandon the heart and soul of Downtown Home & Garden. In fact, the new businesses have not only created new revenue in and of themselves, … [Full Story]
The Detroit News reports that a search committee has been appointed to help select the next University of Michigan president, following Mary Sue Coleman’s retirement next year. Members include the eight UM regents and seven professors: Alec Gallimore, David Ginsburg, Timothy R.B. Johnson, Jeffrey MacKie-Mason, Tiya Miles, Rebecca Scott, and Lynn Perry Wooten. The regents have hired the executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates to help with the process, and a website with information about the search has been posted. [Source]
Tom Fricke, chair of the University of Michigan’s anthropology department, writes a remembrance of Karl Pohrt, published by the Ann Arbor Observer. He writes: “Karl and the [Shaman Drum Bookshop] were vital parts of the life of this University, representing a vision of the tapestry, community and academy, into which we need to be woven. It is a threatened, perhaps irreproducible, reality approached so closely by this simple bookstore. … And Karl presided over it all with delight. This was what he wanted. This is what he would never compromise.” [Source]
The University of Michigan board of regents will consider a proposal offering in-state tuition to undocumented students who meet certain qualifications, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. If approved, the proposal would also offer in-state tuition to any member of the military currently serving or honorably discharged. [.pdf staff memo of proposed new qualifications for in-state tuition] The regents meet on Thursday, July 18 at 3 p.m. in the North Atrium of Building 18 at the North Campus Research Complex (former Pfizer complex). [Source]
An obituary in Publishers Weekly marks the passing of Karl Pohrt, who founded and ran the Shaman Drum Bookshop in Ann Arbor for nearly three decades before closing it in 2009. Pohrt, 65, died on July 10 from anaplastic thyroid cancer. Deb Leonard, executive director of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association, described Pohrt as “the godfather of bookselling in Ann Arbor and Michigan. He’s already missed.” A memorial service will be held Sunday, July 14 at 2 p.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, 3257 Lohr Road in Ann Arbor. Donations can be made to the church or to the Children’s Literacy Network. [Source]
An article in the Detroit Free Press features the Brides Project, a wedding gown resale shop operated by the Cancer Support Community of Greater Ann Arbor. The article quotes Patrycja Much, who donated a Vera Wang gown to the shop: “Instead of sitting in closet, it’s passing it forward. It has more meaning behind it, it makes it more special.” The shop is open by appointment only at the Courtyard Shops, 1689 Plymouth Road. [Source]
The Detroit News reports on University of Michigan stem cell research that holds promise for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The article quotes Eva Feldman, a UM professor and neurologist who’s leading a clinical trial using stem cells to treat patients: “I am extremely hopeful that we have found a way early in the course of the disease to make a true difference. Any treatment that can slow the progression of the disease is truly a home run for Lou Gehrig.” [Source]
The Detroit Free Press reports on U.S. District Judge David S. Lawson’s decision to block Michigan from enforcing a law that bans public employers – like school systems or local governments – from offering benefits to same-sex couples. The article quotes Peter Ways, an Ann Arbor Public Schools teacher who was affected by the law: “We’re breathing a sigh of relief right now. This law was clearly meant to target families like ours and to make us feel as though we didn’t count.” [Source]
The Lansing State Journal reports that Michigan Flyer will be adding four daily trips between Ann Arbor and East Lansing, following approval this week by the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. The bus service will be funded through a federal grant. It will increase the number of daily trips between the two cities from 8 to 12 starting this fall. The service continues on to Detroit Metro Airport, branded as AirRide. [Source]
In an op-ed piece published in the New York Times, former University of Michigan president Lee Bollinger weighs in on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on affirmative action. Bollinger writes: “As a law professor, and as the named defendant in the last two major affirmative action cases decided by the Supreme Court (in my capacity as president of the University of Michigan at the time), in 2003, I breathed a slight sigh of relief on Monday. But I worry that the new ruling will empower lower courts and, no doubt, litigants to challenge benign considerations of race — those that seek to advance legitimate goals of diversity in education — more easily than ever.” [Source]
Chris Engle, the outdoor columnist for the Gaylord Herald Times, writes about his experiences fishing on the Huron River while in Ann Arbor for his 1-year-old daughter’s heart surgery at Mott Children’s Hospital. In the river he found the bowl of a manmade clay tobacco pipe. Engle writes: “Ann Arbor was founded in 1824, so my pipe may have belonged to one of the area’s first settlers, a clumsy fisherman who probably cursed when he accidentally snuffed his pipe in the river.” [Source]
Chicago Magazine published 34 images taken by photographer George R. Lawrence – panoramic views shot from his 17-kite Lawrence Captive Airship. One of the photos is from a 1904 football game at the University of Michigan’s Ferry Field, with 13,500 people in attendance. [Source]
The Detroit News reports on the University of Michigan’s decision to raise tuition by 1.1% for the 2013-14 academic year. It’s the lowest tuition increase in nearly 30 years. The increase was approved at the June 20 UM board of regents meeting, but was opposed by regents Andrea Fischer Newman and Denise Ilitch. The article quotes Ilitch, who has voted against tuition hikes in previous years: “The business model must change. The continuing raising of tuition is not sustainable. This is not a university problem. This is a national problem.” [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]
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]
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]
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.
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]
