Archive for September, 2008

A dishrag knitted up in less than the time it took for planning commission to meet.

At the Sept. 4 planning commission meeting, the resolution to recommend City Place project – proposed along South Fifth Avenue as a PUD by Alex de Parry – failed with only two votes for it.

Under-reported generally, and specifically about that meeting, is the volume of knitted material that is produced during Ann Arbor public meetings by folks in the audience. And knitting is a great metaphor for framing some of the general issues laid out at the planning commission meeting with respect to the specific project. [Full Story]

The Freep takes a long look at the contentious embryonic stem cell debate, in light of the November ballot proposal that, if approved by voters, would let Michigan researchers use excess embryos donated from fertility treatments. The article quotes several UM researchers, including Sean Morrison: “We cannot make our own lines in Michigan. This delays the research and creates an inhospitable climate for recruiting people who study ES cells to Michigan. People who specialize in embryonic stem cell research don’t even apply to U-M for jobs. It puts the state at a profound disadvantage.” [Source]

Just to be clear: You can't park here ... but love and kisses to you anyway.

When I am faced with tough choices about what to invest The Chronicle’s time in covering, sometimes an interesting sign beats an emailed press release.

[Full Story]

Design on T-shirts and tote bags sold at Middle Earth on South University.

One fine early autumn day this week, The Chronicle strolled into Middle Earth looking for anything Ann Arborish. We had come to the right place.

Just this summer, the iconic South U shop started selling T-shirts and tote bags with an Ann Arbor design they’d come up with themselves, and had printed down the street at Underground Printing. The items were in response to demand, says store manager Hope Meadows.

During the summer art fairs, she said, shoppers would come into Middle Earth looking for something distinctly Ann Arbor – and not with the ubiquitous University of Michigan logo. Not having anything to offer and not wanting to lose those potential sales, they decided to make their own Ann Arbor-centric line.

That’s why the “Ann Arbor for Obama” bumper stickers were created, too, and pins with sayings like “I’d rather be in Ann Arbor.” [Full Story]

The Video Game Librarian blog reports that UM’s Computer & Video Game Archive is now open to the public. Its official grand opening will happen in November. [Source]

UM students won this week’s ONE Campus Challenge, “a competition among American college students to prove that their campus has the most creative and effective extreme poverty fighters in the country.” The OCC blog has pictures of the UM team, and a description of their efforts. [Source]

In our report on the council meeting of Sept. 22, we spelled an instance of  councilmember Marcia Higgins’ last name incorrectly.  This was not the first time we’ve done that.  We know how to spell it.  We regret the repeated error. We note the mistake here and in the original report.

On Wednesday, Sept. 24 on WEMU, 89.1 FM at 8:20 a.m. Linda Diane Feldt will be talking about the positive impact of increased numbers of cyclists on cyclists’ safety.

Public Commentary

Tom Partridge. Partridge makes clear who he’s talking to: “Members of the public at large, representatives of the media, I am Tom Partridge.” Media. That’s us, The Chronicle. When people speak directly to us, we listen. Partridge stressed the importance of electing Democrats in November, saying, “We need to support candidates who stand for progress – true progress.”

John Floyd. Floyd did not coin the phrase Charm Zone – he heard it at a recent planning commission working session – but he has embraced this term for the part of Ann Arbor built before World War II. He contends it’s what makes Ann Arbor different from Royal Oak or Novi and what gives Ann Arbor … [Full Story]

A Wall Street Journal article looks at how the nation’s financial crisis is affecting business schools, specifically their finance programs. Al Catrone, career services director at UM’s Ross School of Business, says: “In a typical downturn the students will kind of clamor to us in career services and ask us to find other companies. … This time around it’s been so deep that students aren’t even asking,” [Source]

The Freep profiles Ypsilanti-based RealKidz, which makes clothing for plus-size girls. Says Merrill Guerra, RealKidz’s CEO and founder: ”We have the product. Now we need the funds to push it into the marketplace because nobody knows about us.” [Source]

Tamara Real, head of the local Arts Alliance, is guest blogger this week for Concentrate. In Post #4, she writes about how the arts can help us understand our world. “By using arts and cultural activities as tools, folks in our county are teaching us about the horrors of the past so that we don’t repeat them, building creative thinking skills in our children, developing new skills among arts practitioners, and identifying community needs and developing new activities to address them.” [Source]

Entrance to the current Humane Society of Huron Valley on Cherry Hill Road.

A buried chewtoy, some chicken broth and a friendly pit bull named May are ready to play a key role in Tuesday’s long-awaited groundbreaking for the Humane Society of Huron Valley‘s new $8.6 million facility.

Seeking a behind-the-scenes peek at preparations for the event, The Chronicle dropped by HSHV on Monday afternoon and found staff there holding tryouts for the honor of digging the ceremonial hole – a task normally reserved for muckety-mucks with golden shovels.

[Full Story]

Any idea who this is?

Last Saturday, the Ann Arbor Skate Park Action Committee followed up its August Skate Jam with a September event. Laid out with a variety of portable ramps and obstacles, the cordoned-off area of Westgate Shopping Center drew more than a hundred skaters, plus some prominent politicos – a couple of them skaters, and some non-skaters.

As it turns out, the skater-politicos we saw on Saturday are not the ones Chronicle readers might be thinking of. Trevor Staples, member of the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee, is also the newly-elected Democratic delegate for Precinct 4 in Ward 5. Trevor was still basking in the glow of his election to this post by dint of his four (possibly five) write-in votes. [Full Story]

On the UM Teaching Fellows Community blog, Erik Yusko writes about his challenge to teach biology to 9th graders at Ypsilanti High School. “In addition, to keeping students focused I was trying to remember what 9th grade was like for me with my limited views of science at the time. I realized that any activity or concept that could relate what scientists actually do, what other tools they may have, and in general what types of questions scientists are really addressing may help motivate these students or at least elicit appreciation.” [Source]

An article in The Voice, Washtenaw Community College’s student newspaper, describes the relationship between Car and Driver Magazine and WCC’s automotive services program. Russel Ferguson, a WCC faculty member in the department, says: ”We helped them work on many projects, and just regular stuff [for their magazine]…They always bring a car first day of class when we got a barbeque. So we’ve got a real close relationship. They like working with our [students].” [Source]

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on The Glove, a device used by the SF 49ers to stop cramping and overheating, though it has broader applications. It was developed by Stanford scientists but is being distributed and redesigned by Avacore Technologies of Ann Arbor. Says President Chuck Hixson: “This is beneficial in medicine because when you have a heart attack or a stroke, if you can lower the core body temperature below 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) in the first hour, you will substantially eliminate the chance of permanent damage of the heart muscle or brain.” [Source]

The Detroit News has an article about young voters, and how both presidential campaigns are courting them. UM student Shelley Vinyard was helping register voters on the Diag recently: “Our generation is so activism-minded. We’re really coming into our own. That’s why there are so many people out here registering people.” [Source]

Dwight Lang, a UM sociology lecturer, has an op/ed essay in the Freep about how McCain and Obama need the working-class vote in order to win the presidency. “Who wins this competition for millions of blue-collar votes may very well depend on who’s seen as capable of solving economic problems: bringing jobs back to America, reducing home foreclosures, and securing certain and bright futures for hardworking families.” [Source]

As part of a series on university football towns, TravelGolf.com takes a look at golf courses in Ann Arbor, plus a selection of local restaurants and bars. “So, instead of sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Michigan alums who will grumble for three hours about the ugly new ‘spread offense’ – that’s about as Michigan Football as if late Bo Schembechler had gone on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ – watch the blowout via Blackberry updates on an area golf course.” [Source]

Four councilmembers (Sabra Briere, Stephen Rapundalo, Mike Anglin, Marcia Higgins) heard from interested parties on four different topics: the sidewalk repair program, the 133 Hill St. site plan, the merger between Avalon Housing and Washtenaw Affordable Housing Commission, and City Place. [Full Story]

Dan McConnell with a prized piece of concrete. What's so special about it?

When The Chronicle spots a single chunk of concrete lying lonesome on the grass, we’ll generally swing back around for a closer look. Around Eberwhite is an area where we’d noticed sidewalk replacement in progress on a neighborhood scale over the last couple of days, but the busted up slabs had generally been stacked up and carted off. Why was this lonely chunk still sitting there? It was as if someone had set it aside as something extra special. [Full Story]

Currency for the Dexter-Miller Community Co-op. Each note is embossed to prevent counterfeiting.

In many ways, Saturday’s gathering of neighbors was ultra-ordinary – a friendly potluck on Arborview, brats sizzling on the grill, wine and soda in plastic cups, kids running around while their elders relaxed on lawn chairs.

But this group – all members of the Dexter-Miller Community Co-op – had something more revolutionary at its heart: To strengthen their neighborhood bonds in ways both practical and personal.

So far, 34 households are part of DexMil, more or less within the boundaries of Miller Road to the north, Dexter Road to the south, Maple to the west and Seventh to the east. They’ve got their own currency, directory of services and newsletter.

And that’s just the start, says Al Feldt, the co-op’s driving force. [Full Story]