Media Watch Section

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]

Mark Maynard has announced that this year’s July 20 Shadow Art Fair in Ypsilanti will be the last. He writes: “Yes, after discussing this eventuality for the past several years, my fellow organizers and I have finally come to a consensus and decided to invoke the nuclear option. It’s been a hell of a run, but, like old Ben Kenobi, we’ve decided that the time is right for us to step aside so that others might flourish in our absence, experiencing the full intensity of the force, which has motivated us these past several years, for themselves.” The fair runs from noon to midnight at the Corner Brewery. [Source]

The Regional Transit Authority (RTA) is seeking applications for its citizens advisory committee. The four-county authority – which includes Wayne, Macomb, Oakland, and Washtenaw counties was established through an act of the Michigan legislature and signed into law in late 2012. The application is available online. [Source]

The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair is sending out a clarion call for volunteers to help out at the fair this year – 2013. It runs from July 17-20. The need for volunteers includes the Townie Street Party on July 15. [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 a guest commentary for The Bridge, Chris Rizik – CEO of Renaissance Venture Capital Fund in Ann Arbor – describes the entrepreneurial and venture funding landscape in Michigan, giving an optimistic outlook. He writes: “Of course, Michigan hasn’t completely turned the corner; it will take years to establish sustained, diversified growth. But it is important to take stock of where we are in the process, and a look at the last five years shows Michigan has come a long way. Young people are flocking to downtown Detroit, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor. Entrepreneurship is no longer a rarity but something for which hundreds of thousands of us are striving.” [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]

Writing on The Celebrity Cafe, Francis Vachon reviews restaurants in Ann Arbor, Detroit and Hamtramck after a recent trip to Michigan. Ann Arbor eateries included in the report are Seva, the Blue Nile, Amadeus, Frita Batidos, Mark’s Carts, Café Zola and Zingerman’s Deli. Vachon writes: “Walking downtown, I did not see any ‘big chain’ fast food restaurants and only one Starbucks. This is usually a good thing when you are a foodie.” [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]

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]