Archive for September, 2008

Carsten Hohnke is ride number 160 on Teeter Talk. [Full Disclosure: Editor of The Ann Arbor Chronicle, Dave Askins, and HD of Teeter Talk are one and the same person.]

Dominick’s second-story balcony was originally reserved at 6:30 p.m. Thursday for Michael Moore, whose reception for the world premiere of his movie “Slacker Uprising” was to take place there. That was the “hard stop” Jessica Rauch and Eli Savit faced for their own mid-afternoon celebration – until Moore’s party changed their plans. That gave the boyfriend-and-girlfriend team at little extra time to bask in the glow of Jessica’s $10,000 cash prize that her charitable startup company, The Generation Project, had won. [Full Story]

The Christian Science Monitor, on its Patchwork Nation blog, interviews Cynthia Wilbanks, UM’s vice president for government relations, for a post about how the recent Wall Street crisis is affecting various parts of the country. “In a college community … so many citizens rely on TIAA-CREF and Fidelity for all or most of their retirement nest egg. [T]here are concerns by at least those affiliated with the University about what the recent Wall Street news means for their portfolios and financial planning.” [Source]

Though they speed-talked through their regular board meeting, before that Washtenaw County commissioners had spent more than two hours in session as the Ways & Means Committee, focusing mainly on budget challenges, including proposed job cuts to help reduce a projected $5 million shortfall. [Full Story]

Freep reporter Todd Spangler speculates on where Barack Obama will be the day after the Sept. 26 presidential debate. “The campaign couldn’t say where or exactly when Obama will be in Michigan on that Saturday. Here’s a guess though: That Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor about 110,000 or so people will be gathered to watch the University of Michigan football team play the University of Wisconsin Badgers.” [Source]

A phone survey of Jewish voters in Michigan by the Republican Jewish Coalition is linking Barack Obama to extremists. Judy Shapiro of Ann Arbor got one of the calls. “The questions were very misleading and race-baiting. The whole purpose was to turn one ethnic group against another, which we really don’t want in this country. … I don’t like the idea that they are trying to drive a wedge between Jews and African Americans. It seemed very manipulative.” According to the Freep article, a New Republic editor living in Ann Arbor got a call and reported on the poll. [Source]

The Prague Post previews a show there on Saturday by Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and interviews the band’s co-founder Ron Asheton, who lives in ann Arbor. “I have to watch my head; I’ve been hit by a mic stand that punctured my amp. And when [Iggy] swings the microphone, it sometimes just misses my face. In Japan once, if I hadn’t moved my head, I would have gotten a mic stand right in the face. Another time he disappeared from the stage and I’m going, ‘Where is he now?’ And I look up and see he’s already climbed 25 feet up the light tower. I’m like, oh no!” [Source]

The EcoGeek blog writes about a UM project funded by a five-year, $10 million Army grant. “Imagine a six-inch spy plane that sends back visual and chemical data in real time, runs on vibrations as well as sun and wind power – and looks like a bat!… The renewable robot will be developed at U-M’s newly created Center for Objective Microelectronics and Biomimetic Advanced Technology a mouthful also appropriately known as COM-BAT.” [Source]

It was hard to find any bad news at the AATA board meeting held Wednesday night – unless it was the misfortune of board chair, David Nacht, being forced to call time on Tom Partridge’s public speaking turn just as Partridge was favorably comparing Nacht’s education and intellect to that of Governor Granholm’s. Even though with each agenda item, Nacht probed for signs of trouble, he was met time and again with positive reports: on ridership, on the fiscal year 2009 operating budget, on the fuel budget, and on his fellow board members’ willingness to take a small step towards helping make WALLY (Washtenaw and Livingston Line) a reality. [Full Story]

Gil Omenn, a UM professor of internal medicine, human genetics and public health, has been picked as part of “a small but well-regarded inner circle of science advisors” for Barack Obama, according to Wired magazine. Omenn is also former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and previously served as UM’s first executive vice president of medical affairs. [Source]

A post on the Pooling Resources blog slams the Livingston County Board of Commissioners for deciding recently not to fund the proposed Howell-to-Ann Arbor commuter rail. “The board’s lack of foresight will ensure we stay a bedroom community where we have to leave the county to work, to go to college or even to take in recreation.” [Source]

The WORK Gallery, located on South State Street and run by the UM School of Art & Design, made a “group movie” with the help of people attending the opening reception for Edibles, a show about food. The gallery show runs through Oct. 3. The video will be on YouTube forever. [Source]

We gave an inaccurate description of “Rocket Boys” by Homer Hickam, a book being considered for the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads program. We note the error here and have corrected the original story.

Andrew Dunn, an editor at the Daily Tar Heel – the University of North Carolina’s student newspaper – has blogged extensively about the Chapel Hill group’s recent trip to Ann Arbor. Highlights of his posts include a video of the Michigan Daily newsroom, photos of a party at Zingerman’s Roadhouse and summaries of panel discussions about Ann Arbor. {Source]

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that UM’s Institute for Social Research is helping Qatar University develop a similar institute. “The new institute at the Persian Gulf emirate’s national university will be among the first research units in the region to focus on conducting local social-science research.” [Source]

Ann Arbor Business Review’s Nathan Bomey will be live-blogging from Thomas Friedman’s speech today at the Washtenaw Economic Club lunch, starting around 12:30 p.m. The event, held in conjunction with an “Innovation” forum, is happening at Eastern Michigan University’s Convocation Center. Friedman, columnist and author of “The World Is Flat,” recently released a new book, “Hot, Flat and Crowded.” [Source]

Organizers for the 2009 Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads program picked a pretty ambitious theme – “The Universe: Yours to Discover.” (Oh, they mean literally the universe, not as in “a universe of possibilities.” Got it.)

A committee has narrowed the choice of books to three, and is asking people in the community to give feedback before they select the official 2009 title. Here’s what made their short list (the quoted texts are excerpts from descriptions of the books on the AAYR website):

• “Seeing In The Dark: How Amateur Astronomers Are Discovering the Wonders of the Universe,” by Timothy Ferris. AAYR says this book is “a poetic love letter to science and to the skies,” but it’s clear his work is also stuffed with … [Full Story]
  

YpsiNews.com posts a report and video from Tuesday night’s Ypsilanti City Council meeting. Topics included the housing commission, a contract for legal services and a leaf ordinance. [Source]

UM law prof David Moran is quoted in a Freep article about whether Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will testify against his ex-lover, Christine Beatty. “Certainly a prosecutor would list him as a witness, but whether you’d call him is another matter. As a defense attorney, there’s not much more fun than questioning someone who’s made a deal. And it’s even more fun when they’ve pleaded to a crime involving honesty.” [Source]

A Freep article about Detroit Metro Airport’s new North Terminal reports that Ann Arbor-based Borders will have a 1,431-square-foot store and a 710-square-foot newsstand there. [Source]

IndustryWeek reviews the latest book by UM prof Jeffrey Liker, “Toyota Culture,” co-authored by Michael Hoseu. Liker is best known for his 2004 book, “The Toyota Way.” [Source]

Michigan finance prof Amiyatosh Purnanandam is interviewed for a Crain’s Detroit Business article on fallout from recent turmoil on Wall Street. “The Fed cannot be in the business of bailing out private businesses. It raised the issue of moral hazard. If they get bailed out today, they’ll expect to be bailed out tomorrow, and they’ll continue to go out and take too many risks.” [Source]

Farewell, 408 – The Link diesels on down Church Street.

I’ll admit – I’m not a regular rider of those purple buses that circle downtown Ann Arbor. In fact, this summer when I thought, “Hey – I’ll ride The Link!” I was revealed to be an idiot, unaware that the fleet went on haitus as soon as UM students dispersed. (Even though AATA posted signs to that effect at each stop. When you aren’t looking, you don’t see.)

Now, like the students, The Link is back. So when I set off for a chat with Ken Nisbet of UM’s Office of Technology Transfer, which sits above the Starbucks on South University, I decided to grab a free ride. [Full Story]