Old Media Watch Section

The Detroit Free Press looks at a dispute between state legislators and the boards that manage Detroit’s two public pension funds. Lawmakers have introduced bills to bring the pension funds under the control of a Lansing-based nonprofit trust, the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System. The article quotes Bob Stevenson, an Ann Arbor-based pension attorney, who says the Bing administration should restructure the existing boards: “Undoubtedly, the Detroit pension systems have been poorly run, but I don’t think the answer in my view would be to transition to MERS. I would find some means to keep these pension plans autonomous.” [Source]

CBC News reports on new findings from the Cassini space probe, which reveals more information about the rings of Saturn. The report includes an interview with UM aerospace engineering professor Tamas Gombosi, who’s been studying the data: “We learned from Cassini that the Saturnian magnetosphere is swimming in water. This is unique in the solar system and makes Saturn’s plasma environment particularly fascinating.” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports on a local woman whose letter to Barack Obama elicited a handwritten note from the president, who writes several such notes each week. The article quotes Michael Traugott, a UM communication studies professor, who said one of the motivations for Obama’s letter-writing is political: “Without casting any aspersions on his campaign, it would be interesting to track where the letters are going by state and congressional district. Are they going to districts with wavering or persuadable members of Congress on health care?” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports on plans to reform Detroit’s public schools, as laid out by Robert Bobb, the system’s emergency financial manager. The article quotes UM education professor Susan Neumann, who described Bobb’s goals are too ambitious and who said the plan lacks specifics regarding changes to curriculum, instruction and professional development: “These are very generalized goals.” [Source]

In a case study of how the nationwide lending crisis is affecting small businesses, the Wall Street Journal looks at the complex relationship between Michigan Ladder in Ypsilanti, home builder James Haeussler and the Bank of Ann Arbor. The bank’s president, Tim Marshall, describes how even healthy banks like his are being cautious lenders: “It’s kind of a vicious cycle. Anytime you’re in an economic environment like we are, bankers are going to be more conservative.” [Source]

Bloomberg reports on a UM study that found students who regularly eat school-provided lunches are more likely to be overweight and have higher cholesterol levels than those who eat meals from home. The article quotes UM medical professor Elizabeth Jackson, one of the study’s authors: “We need to partner with schools to help kids in a prevention way, so we don’t have to wait until they’re patients in the cardiologist’s office as adults.” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports that Ann Arbor attorney Douglas Mullkoff has been appointed to represent former Detroit city councilwoman Monica Conyers in an appeal of her recent prison sentence. Conyers wants to withdraw a guilty plea she had previously entered for her role in a bribery scheme involving the city of Detroit and Texas-based Synagro Technologies. [Source]

Business Week publishes a Q&A with Tom Kinnear, executive director of UM Business School’s Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. He speculates on the entry of the millenial generation into B-school: “The millennials confronted a shock to their system with the economic downturn, because they grew up in pretty good times and have not been confronted with this kind of trauma before. There is a tendency among millennials to think they are entitled, but you are starting to see some breaking free of that. Many are smart enough to recognize what is going on and are realizing they have to make their own go of it. For many of them, entrepreneurship is a logical thing to pursue.” [Source]

The New York Times poses the question “Does school size matter?” and asks several experts to weigh in, including UM education professor Valerie Lee: “In my research using data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. high schools and controlling for prior academic ability as well as other characteristics like social background, we found that there is an ideal size for high schools – ideal in terms of students learning more in mathematics over the four years of high schools. Students learned more in schools enrolling 600 to 900 students, and less in either larger or smaller schools. The relationship between school size and student learning is, thus, not linear.” [Source]

According to a Detroit Free Press report, state Sen. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) opposed a provision in the state budget bill for higher education that would require universities conducting embryonic stem cell research to report details on how many human embryo stem cells they’ve used for research. The provision is in the budget bill approved by the Senate subcommittee on higher education funding, on which Brater serves. [Source]

Auto Week reports on Toyota’s efforts to fix the “unintended acceleration” in its vehicles. The article quotes Kristen Tabar, general manager of electronic systems at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor: “We don’t think there is a ghost issue out there,” she said, adding that “we need to verify claims, facts and evidence. Until we do that, we can’t say there is nothing.” [Source]

The Wall Street Journal reports on Jeff Daniels taking on a new role – of a hardware salesman – in the Tony Award-winning play “God of Carnage”: “Mr. Daniels has grown a goatee for the part, saying he was inspired by the look of contractors he has known in the small town of Chelsea, Mich., where his family runs a lumber company.” [Source]

Responding to a March 2 Detroit News article comparing the University of Michigan’s financial situation favorably to Michigan State University, UM president Mary Sue Coleman writes that it didn’t tell the full story: “For the past several years, U-M and other institutions have been managing through state budget cuts in myriad ways. We have streamlined purchasing, aggressively increased energy efficiency, reduced health care expenses, and eliminated staff positions. In all, at U-M we have reduced $135 million from our budget in the past six years, and our work continues. This has not been easy. Our staff and faculty have sacrificed, and we have worked relentlessly to reduce costs.” [Source]

Crain’s Detroit Business reports that U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick is shifting her support from commuter rail projects, like the proposed Ann Arbor-to-Detroit route, to high-speed rail projects. In a letter sent to Crain’s, Kilpatrick wrote: “I have questioned both publicly and privately why, after more than six-and-a-half years of hard work by me and my staff; a total of $6.5 million in appropriations for this project since 2005; and the strong support of the members of Michigan’s congressional delegation, Southeastern Michigan is still without even the genesis of much-needed commuter rail.” [Source]

The Lansing State Journal reports on a proposal by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to replace the Michigan Promise Scholarship with a $4,000 tax credit. The article quotes Susan Dynarski, a UM professor of education and public policy: “If the goal is to ease the sting of college costs or reward students for good academic performance, then the tax credit is a good solution. If the goal is to get more students into college, the evidence indicates a tax credit won’t do the job.” [Source]

On his last day as UM’s athletic director, the Detroit Free Press profiles Bill Martin, who talks about what he might do when he retires: “Do I have a bucket list? Yeah. There are a lot of places in the world I’d like to visit by water or land. I haven’t been back to Sweden since I graduated (from a 1960s business program at the University of Stockholm). Have you ever driven coast-to-coast? I’d like to do that and see some of our country. And I’d like to do some nonprofit work.” [Source]

The Detroit News reports on actions by state regulators aiming to expose what one regulator called “a multi-headed Ponzi hydra.” From the report: “During a 14-month investigation of an alleged multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme run by Michael Winans Jr., as well as his father, Michael Winans Sr., that targeted members of the Genesis New Beginnings Church in Detroit and others, investigators said they have uncovered $5 million in new Ann Arbor-based scams run by one of the Winans victims. Now officials of the state Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation are warning investors to stay away from Ann Arbor’s Mark Carpenter and his company, TGBG Financial. Investigators also are asking people and others who dealt with Carpenter, TGBG or the Winans’ … [Full Story]

A Detroit Free Press article looks at the departure of auto industry “icon” Bob Lutz, who is retiring as GM’s vice chairman on May 1. The article quotes Gerald Meyers, a UM business professor and former CEO of American Motors: “I think he felt underappreciated. He’s a freewheeling guy in a highly disciplined situation.” [Source]

Cody Walker of Ann Arbor won the most recent New Yorker cartoon caption contest with this caption: “There’s a cure – but it’s light-years away.” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports that the U.S. Dept. of Justice is suing the owner and property manager of Ivanhoe House apartments in Ann Arbor, alleging that they discriminated against prospective black renters. From the report: “The allegations came after a series of housing tests by the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan, a private nonprofit organization in Ann Arbor. Testers pose as applicants for housing and report on their results.” [Source]

Rick Snyder’s campaign is alleging that radio attack ads by groups with ties to state attorney general Mike Cox violate campaign finance laws, according to a Detroit News report. Snyder, of Ann Arbor, is seeking the Republican nomination for governor. From the report: “The Snyder campaign filed two complaints Tuesday with the Secretary of State and sent a letter to Attorney General Mike Cox, a fellow Republican candidate for governor, drawing links between the groups and former Cox staffers and campaign donors. The letter asks why the attorney general hasn’t responded to an earlier request to investigate and requests that Cox recuse himself if he’s not going to pursue the matter.” [Source]

The Detroit News compares conditions at the state’s two largest public universities – the University of Michigan and Michigan State University – and finds that MSU is struggling while UM thrives: “Both are public universities. Both have fiercely loyal alumni and are a few thousand apart in numbers of students. Yet MSU is enacting painful program cuts and layoffs, while U-M is adding staff and is in the midst of one of the biggest building booms in school history. The budget gap between the two schools has ballooned to almost a half-billion dollars per year and is growing.” [Source]

BusinessWeek reports on recently released IRS data showing a drop in capital gains and in American incomes last year. The article quotes economics professor Joel Slemrod, director of UM’s Office of Tax Policy Research: “This is stark and fresh look at the ramifications of the stock market crash on the fiscal situation in the federal government and states.” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports on an increased demand for massage therapists in Michigan, despite the economy. The article quotes Deb Zager, a part-time massage therapist at Google’s Ann Arbor office and president of the American Massage Therapy Association’s Michigan chapter. Zager describes the profession’s attributes: “I’m never bored. Every person that comes in has a different issue that they want addressed. When somebody leaves my office, they are usually happy.” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports on a naturalization ceremony Friday morning at the American Macedonian Cultural Center in Sterling Heights. One person who became a new U.S. citizen is Tom Ousman, who’s from Syria and is now a barber at Royal Cut in Ann Arbor: “To become a member of this great nation is something I’ve long dreamed of.  … The doors of opportunity are open to me now, and I have choices that I’ve never had in the past.” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press interviews Doug Kalitta of Ann Arbor, who races for Ypsilanti-based Kalitta Motorsports. He reflects on the death of his cousin, Scott Kalitta, who died in a 2008 racing accident: “Scott is still with us. He’s still out there, and we miss the heck out of him. We want to make him proud of what we are doing.” [Source]

Neighborhood Senior Services of Ypsilanti has merged to become a program of Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County, according to a Crain’s Detroit Business report. Barbara Penrod, former NSS president, now serves as director of the program. [Source]

Bloomberg News reports on a judgement issued Thursday in a federal court in Ann Arbor against former Kmart CEO Charles Conaway: “A federal jury in June found that Conaway hid information about Kmart’s cash shortage, aiding and abetting the company’s misstatements. U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Pepe in Ann Arbor, Michigan, upheld the finding last month and today fined Conaway $2.5 million and ordered him to return a $5 million retention loan, plus interest of almost $2.7 million.” [Source]

Heritage Newspapers reports that Adam Zemke, a 27-year-old mechanical engineer, will be running as a Democrat for the District 1 seat on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners. The seat, representing the northwestern part of the county, is held by Republican Mark Ouimet, who’s running for state representative. Says Zemke: “I would like to continue Mark’s work. Often I hear people tell me, ‘Mark is everywhere.’ That is what a good public servant should be doing. You can’t make effective decisions without talking with the people you represent.” [Source]

Richard Weigel, assistant superintendent at Ypsilanti Public Schools, is being hired as superintendent of the Niles, Mich. school system, located just north of South Bend. From a report in the Niles Daily Star: “There were some concerns about Ypsilanti High School, which is in its sixth year of not meeting state standards, is on its third principal in five years and has only a 70 percent graduation rate. But [trustee Michael] Waldron said through the visit, he concluded Weigel didn’t have much to do with the high school. Waldron also said … ‘Every place he’s been he’s passed a bond.’”[Source]