Archive for July, 2008

The Freep’s education reporter writes about the Elementary Mathematics Laboratory, a two-week course developed by the UM School of Education to improve math teaching skills. [Source]

The New York Times’ The Price of Beauty series notes that “Even academic institutions like the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor are openly catering to beauty consumers.” [Source]

Newsweek picks up the UM study looking at whether statins can reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s. UM prof Mary Haan, the study’s lead author, says: “It suggests that if you took statins before dementia set in, you might be 50% less likely to develop the condition. That’s a really big effect.” [Source]

At Citym.org/ue, this Ann Arbor blogger shows how the Google translator parses Zugesagt – you’ll want to use it at your next opportunity. [Source]

A posting on the Progressives South Bend blog describes the writer’s experience attending the opening of the Obama HQ in Ann Arbor. [Source]

Celebrity sighting: “just stood in line behind michael cera@ b&n in ann arbor. He paid with a benjamin.” [Source]

An op-ed by Tom Vanderbuilt in today’s LA Times talks about rules – and myths – of the road. He quotes two UM researchers: Daniel Blower, who’s research “has shown that in a majority of cases, it’s the car (as opposed to large trucks) that bears the largest brunt of responsibility for the crash”; and Michael Sivak, who “has argued a lot of what we do on the road is based on what’s been called ‘bounded rationality’ — in essence, we make decisions based on what we think we know.” [Source]

Hugh Stimson applauds the “binning” he’s starting to see in Ann Arbor: “Bring on the binners. If Ann Arbor’s economy is supporting this degree of specialization, maybe it means it is really a city.” [Source]

The Freep gives favorable reviews to Bill’s Drive-In and the Chick-In, both of Ypsilanti. [Source][Source]

Jim O’Donnell of the Chicago Sun-Times writes about Rich Rodriguez’s appearance at the 2008 Big Ten media days: “He is hero and varmint, Mountaineer football savant and bubbling-crude charlatan, pigskin carpetbagger and the next great hope for valiant, conquering victor at the University of Michigan.” [Source]

Ruadhan J McElroy writes about the fictional Ripley Haggarty, who first appeared in McElroy’s novel “Simple Man.” Both McElroy and Haggarty are Ann Arborites, apparently. [Source]

In a letter published in today’s Wall Street Journal, Stephen Oldstrom of Ann Arbor responds to a review of William S. Patten’s book “My Three Fathers.” He writes: “The review left me convinced that what we need in this country is a voraciously ‘progressive’ estate tax to put an end to such antics and wasted lives.” [Source]

The ubiquitous David Cole of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor is quoted in a Reuters article about Chrysler’s financing division. Cole says that automakers’ finance arms were previously profit centers, but have been put under enormous pressure by the credit crisis. (Poornima Gupta, one of the article’s authors, is a former Ann Arbor News reporter.) [Source]

A Detroit News article about Michigan’s fruit crops mentions that Ann Arbor was one area where spring frosts and hail did significant damage earlier this year. Hazen’s Blueberry Farm in Howell, for example, lost three acres of peaches, two acres of cherries and 1 1/2 acres of plums. [Source]

Sonny Schindler, who runs a fishing boat charter in Ann Arbor, is interviewed for an NPR Weekend Edition piece about the economy: “We have no complaints, but not enough sleep.” [Source]

In a Freep letter to the editor, Justin Gawlik
of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters in Ann Arbor argues that “The push for new coal is shortsighted and outdated as an energy policy.” [Source]

“Seen on the streets of Ann Arbor”: blue phone booth, red plastic cup. [Source]

Autumn Thunder is wicked with PhotoShop, this time doing a number on Bill Martin (aka “Big Billy Dollaz”), Rich Rodriguez and John Beilein. Ouch. [Source]

John Dingell is key to an effort to ban chemicals used in certain plastic toys, according to an article in the Free Press. “Dingell has the key vote,” Mike Shriberg, policy director for the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center, told the Free. “The issue is very simple to us. It’s all about whether the congressman is going to take one of the most potentially hazardous toxic chemicals out of toys, or whether he’s going to side with the chemical and oil industries.” [Source]

John Boshoven, in a letter to the Detroit News, advocates for more and better trained guidance counselors. Boshoven is a counselor at Community High, and Director of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. [Source]

Jacquelynne Eccles, a UM psychology prof, is interviewed for an NPR report on a study comparing girls’ and boys’ math skills. [Source]

Gongwer News Service reports on action in the state Legislature that might expand Michigan’s hate crime law to include, among other things, intimidation of gays and lesbians and people with disabilities. The article quotes Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie, who was in Lansing lobbying for the change: “If someone is a target because of how they look, that is an assault on the entire community.” Michigan ranks third in the nation for reported hate crimes, according to the article. [Source]

An LA Times article reports on Medpedia, a site modeled after Wikepedia but maintained by medical professionals. The article mentions that University of Michigan Medical School is encourage their faculty to participate. [Source]

Columnist Terry Foster of the Detroit News profiles Danielle Mitroi, a 10-year-old Ann Arbor girl who’ll compete in table tennis at the AAU Junior Olympic Games this weekend. [Source]

NetWorld reports on UM’s study finding that design flaws in online banking sites undermine security. The lead researcher was Atul Prakash, a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, who said he first noticed problems with his own (unnamed) bank. [Source]