Old Media Watch Section

Writing in The Atlantic Cities, Micheline Maynard reports on the recent dust-up over changes to Ann Arbor’s pedestrian ordinance. Maynard writes: “Ann Arbor, Mich. is the smartest city in the country – at least according to a new study by The Business Journals. But all it takes is an ordinance governing cars and pedestrians to get all those brainy people in a tizzy.” The article also quotes Ann Arbor Chronicle editor Dave Askins: “I’d say none of this is surprising. The basic idea that ‘I’m smarter than you’ is one that I think defines the character of Ann Arbor better than anything you might read in a brochure.” [Source]

Michigan Radio reports that the Ann Arbor A.V. Club, a publication with content from the satirical franchise The Onion as well as arts & entertainment features, is closing. It started publishing locally in September 2011 and was run by Bobby Mitchell and his company Bopper Media, according to the report. Mitchell told Michigan Radio that ”there’s a slight possibility The Onion corporate might want to take over the Ann Arbor A.V. Club and publish it.” [Source]

CNBC publishes a report on how Pfizer is trying to keep hold of revenues in the face of losing its patent for its cholesterol- lowering drug Lipitor on Wednesday. The article quotes Erik Gordon of University of Michigan Ross School of Business, who says that Pfizer’s tactic “spits in Congress’s face.” The company is cutting deals with insurers and pharmacies to cut the price of Lipitor, in exchange for agreements that would prevent the use of lower-cost generics. [Source]

The New York Times published an op-ed piece by Christopher B. Leinberger, a professor of practice in urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan, who writes about the negative impact of America’s “suburban fringe”: “For too long, we over-invested in the wrong places. Those [suburban] retail centers and subdivisions will never be worth what they cost to build. We have to stop throwing good money after bad. It is time to instead build what the market wants: mixed-income, walkable cities and suburbs that will support the knowledge economy, promote environmental sustainability and create jobs.” [Source]

Michigan Radio profiles John Harnois of Harnois Farms in Webster Township, who raises heritage turkeys: “These birds, the heritage breeds, were real close to dying out. It’s funny… you’ve gotta eat ‘em to keep ‘em going. To keep their genetics in the gene pool, there has to be a market for them.” [Source]

The Detroit News reports that a Nov. 29 speech by  former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at Eastern Michigan University is being opposed by some students, including those who have created a Facebook page called Stand Up Against Kwame Kilpatrick @EMU. The speech is sponsored by B.L.A.C.K., Black Leaders Aspiring for Critical Knowledge, and Kilpatrick is expected to talk about “second chances.” Kilpatrick will go on trial next year on public corruption charges. [Source]

Michigan Radio reports on the Paint for Kids program, founded by Gene Firn of Ann Arbor: “Firn, who teaches a DIY painting class, was looking for practice walls for his students when he learned that the Ann Arbor school system doesn’t have a painting department. He thought he could help, so he submitted a proposal. The concept is simple: an experienced painter supervises parent volunteers as they transform hallways and classrooms over holiday weekends.” [Source]

A column in the Des Moines Register reports on the University of Michigan’s plan to invest up to $25 million of its endowment in startups spun out of the university, and looks at how some faculty at Iowa public universities would like to see the same thing happen there. The column notes that UM president Mary Sue Coleman served as president of the University of Iowa from 1995-2002. [Source]

An article by James Tobin, published in the latest edition of Michigan Today, looks at the history of University of Michigan scoreboards, beginning with the first scoreboard on the football field in 1899. ”In the 1890s, many of the football fans at Michigan’s Regents Field spent at least part of every game in a state of desperate uncertainty about what, exactly, was happening down on the field. ‘It is impossible,’ the Michigan Daily noted, ‘for everyone on both sides of the field as well as in the grandstand and bleachers to keep track of the number of downs, yards to gain, etc., as their only method of information is through the referee, who can not be heard all over the field.’” … [Full Story]

University of Michigan economists are forecasting that nearly 32,000 jobs will be added statewide during 2012, with another 45,000 during 2013, according to a Detroit News report. The article quotes George Fulton, director of UM’s Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics: “For Michigan, 2011 will go down as a year of solid job growth and one that saw the higher-wage segment of the labor market grow more rapidly than the economy overall.” [Source] The forecast was presented Friday morning at an annual UM economic outlook conference.

Experts from the University of Michigan are among those quoted in a Michigan Radio report about how income disparities are shaping neighborhoods. June Manning Thomas, a professor at UM’s Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning, observes: “We’ve created laws that essentially make it clear that purposefully setting up racial segregation is illegal, but we haven’t done that for class segregation. So, it’s perfectly legal for people to refuse to live near someone of a different social-economic status. And it’s not only legal, it’s enabled and it’s even praised.” [Source]

Former University of Michigan president James Duderstadt is quoted in a column by Joe Nocera in the New York Times about the role that institutionalized college sports played in the Penn State sexual abuse scandal: “College football and men’s basketball has drifted so far away from the educational purpose of the university. They exploit young people and prevent them from getting a legitimate college education. They place the athlete’s health at enormous risk, which becomes apparent later in life. We are supposed to be developing human potential, not making money on their backs. Football strikes at the core values of a university.” [Source]

Ann Arbor author John U. Bacon is interviewed for an item in the Inside the List column, to be published in the Nov. 20 New York Times Sunday Book Review. Bacon – whose recently released book “Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football” is on the Times bestseller list – was asked what advice he’d give Penn State in the wake of a child sexual abuse scandal with links to the athletic department there: “Confess, fire and punish – then begin a transition to a brand-new regime. Few schools have done this very well, partly because they don’t realize coaches are not interchangeable parts. Las Vegas weddings tend to end in Las … [Full Story]

One of the women who accused GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment in the 1990s – and who received a settlement from the National Restaurant Association as a result – has ties to Ann Arbor, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. Karen Kraushaar, who initially did not want to reveal her identity, spoke publicly after her name was leaked by the online news site The Daily. Under her maiden name Karen Grassmuck, she grew up in Ann Arbor, attended graduate school at the University of Michigan, and worked for the former Ann Arbor News in the 1980s. [Source]

The Michigan Daily reports that the University of Michigan plans to close Baits I Residence Hall on UM’s north campus, which houses about 570 students. The dorm will be closed at the end of this academic year because of infrastructure issues, according to the report, and it’s unclear it if will be reopened. The article quotes Peter Logan, a UM housing spokesman: “If after assessing the situation we determine that having Baits I is extremely necessary, then I’m sure we’ll see what it would cost to make that happen. … We need to do more assessment of what it would require to not only bring it up to a level of infrastructure reliability, but then going beyond and making it a … [Full Story]

Members of the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council, representing about 4,000 nurses at the University of Michigan Health System, have voted to ratify a three-year contract, according to a report in the Detroit News, ending a months-long dispute over terms of the new agreement. The contract includes ”a phasing in of health insurance premium increases and includes 3 percent wage increases the first and second years and 4 percent the third year of the contract, plus step increases,” according to the report. [Source]

A report in the Detroit Free Press looks at how rising tuition and other costs are putting some of the state’s public institutions – like the University of Michigan – out of reach for many middle class families. The article quotes Eric Cole, a fourth-year student at UM in Ann Arbor: “It’s scary to open that tuition bill and see how much money I owe them. It’s either work a ton to pay them off now, or get a lot of loans and have to pay them off later, but I think the degree is worth it, so you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get through.” [Source]

The Nov. 3, 2011 edition of the New York Times features an op-ed by University of Michigan associate professor of history Matthew Lassiter. Lassiter, who is author of the book, “The Silent Majority: Suburban Politics in the Sunbelt South,” offers some historical perspective on current presidential campaign politics. Writes Lassiter: “Mr. Obama’s challenge in 2012 is not the ideological fervor of Tea Party conservatives, but rather the recognition by many working-class and middle-class voters that both parties favor Wall Street over Main Street. While activist groups on the right and left compete to portray big government or big business as the enemy, the silent majority is still out there in the volatile political center, up for grabs.” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports that Michael Finney, former CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK, is a potential emergency manager for the city of Detroit. [Source] Detroit mayor David Bing has said the city could run out of money as early as February 2012. A recent report by the accounting firm Ernst & Young shows that Detroit will be in the red by roughly another $20 million by June, on top of its accumulated $200-million deficit. [Source]

The Livingston Daily Press & Argus reports that Ann Arbor SPARK would use $230,850 for salary and benefits for two staff members – part of the $335,880 annually that Livingston County would pay SPARK to run economic development in the county. In addition, SPARK’s contract with the county – which the Press & Argus obtained after filing a Freedom of Information Act – includes $50,380 for support from SPARK staff in Ann Arbor, $19,100 for information technology, $10,000 for marketing and recruitment, and $25,550 for office expenses. [Source]

The Ann Arbor bluegrass group Bill Bynum & Co. were featured on Detroit’s Fox TV affiliate for a “Fox Beat” segment, prior to last month’s performance at the Scarab Club in Detroit. In addition to Bynum, members include Chuck Anderson, Mary Seelhorst and John Lang. [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports on the speech by U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican House majority leader, delivered Monday afternoon at UM’s Michigan League. Cantor focused on themes of self-reliance and limited government, according to the report. The talk was given against a backdrop of protestors: ”About two dozen stood up with their backs to Cantor during the question-and-answer time. They repeatedly interrupted Cantor with shouts, including heckling him on gay marriage and health care. Supportive members of the audience repeatedly applauded to cover the protesters. The crowd of protesters started outside. They were loud enough that their chants could be heard inside during Cantor’s speech.” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press profiles Tiya Miles, one of three University of Michigan recipients of the MacArthur Foundation “genius” award this year. Each award comes with a $500,000 no-strings-attached grant. The article quotes Miles, chairwoman of UM’s Afroamerican and African Studies Department, describing her reaction: “This incredible gift that falls out of the sky. I haven’t had much time to think what I could do. It’s such a massive amount of money. I never imagined. …” [Source]

The Detroit News reports that a federal judge has harshly criticized the U.S. Justice Department’s handling of a fair housing case filed against landlords in Ypsilanti. From the report: “U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff accused federal agents of lying and trying to entrap a husband and wife who own a 13-unit apartment complex and who were accused of discriminating against renters with children. The couple has repeatedly said they don’t rent to people with children because the complex lacks a play area and it is dangerous to play in an adjacent parking lot. Zatkoff rejected a consent order reached between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and apartment complex owners Gerald and Shirley Brown. The consent order would have resolved the civil … [Full Story]

An editorial in the Detroit Free Press supports Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposal to create a regional transit authority that would oversee a 110-mile rapid transit bus system, funded by an increase in local vehicle registration fees. “The option of raising vehicle registration fees would be available to all counties or regional authorities seeking more money for transportation investments. Now it’s up to the leaders of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw Counties to drive this plan home, while moving forward with a planned light rail line on Woodward and – perhaps most important – fixing the service crisis facing bus riders in Detroit and its suburbs.” [Source]

The Metro Times publishes a Q&A with actors Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez, who were in Ann Arbor recently to promote their new film, “The Way.” From the intro: “Pulling up in Ann Arbor, at the tail end of their trip, the father and son are … well … bubbly. Sheen has a big, throaty laugh that fills the room and it doesn’t take much to get him going. Emilio is cheerful but low-key. Both are incredibly gracious, asking as many questions as they answer. And though father and son have spent nearly two months on a bus together, they are clearly having a great time, offering up stories about people they’ve met on the road and finishing each others’ … [Full Story]

The Detroit News reports that the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council, representing about 4,000 nurses in the UM Health System, has reached a tentative contract agreement with the university. The news was originally posted on the council’s website. The previous contract expired June 30, and supporters have held rallies and attended UM regents meetings to lobby for better benefits than the university was offering. The tentative contract will require ratification by its members. [Source]

The Detroit Free Press looks at how the auto industry is working with the University of Michigan’s solar car team to leverage technology that students develop into possible industry applications. The article quotes Chris Hilger, a senior from Northville and the team’s business director: “The team works closely with industry in Detroit and with the university. The technologies in the car are things we expect to see on the road in the next decade, such as a super-lightweight carbon-fiber body, a high-performance battery, and a motor that’s 98% efficient.” [Source]

The Livingston Daily Press & Argus reports on concerns raised over a closed-door meeting on Tuesday between Ann Arbor SPARK and the Economic Development Council of Livingston County’s board of directors. A press release issued the next day stated that a tentative agreement had been reached for SPARK to take over Livingston County’s economic development programming. Livingston County Commissioner David Domas called Tuesday’s closed meeting “inappropriate,” according to the report. [Source]

The Detroit News published a feature on Selma Café, the popular Friday breakfast salon held at the home of Lisa Gottlieb and Jeff McCabe on Ann Arbor’s west side. The article calls it “a cheerful, do-it-yourself operation that raises money to help local organic farmers buy hoop houses…” [Source]