Archive for April, 2009

United Press International reports on a UM study that finds eating tart cherries could boost anti-oxidant activity. Says Sara Warber, principal investigator and co-director of UM Integrative Medicine: ”More research is needed, (but) what’s really great is that a reasonable amount of cherries could potentially deliver benefits, like reducing risk factors for heart disease and inflammation.” [Source]

On her blog cúisle mo chroí, Kate McCabe writes about a recent Today Show segment featuring Max and Ari Sussman. The brothers were promoting “Freshman in the Kitchen,” their cookbook published by Ann Arbor-based Huron River Press. Max Sussman lives in Ann Arbor and is a chef at eve restaurant. Writes McCabe: “I had a couple of our friends over to watch the show when it finally aired here (the teasers were great, and you can’t see those anywhere else), and yes, I took a picture of the boys on the television screen. I am so happy and proud of them both!” [Source]

Jeff Kass, rehearsing his poem "Build" at the Liberty Athletic Club.

When Jeff Kass contacted The Chronicle about his upcoming one-man show, “Wrestle the Great Fear: A Performance Poetica,” we were particularly intrigued by this statement in his email: “The piece includes a lot of physicality in the performance, including a great deal of wrestling.”

A one-man poetry performance with a great deal of wrestling? Yep, we were hooked. So we met with Kass recently at the Liberty Athletic Club, where he showed us exactly what he meant.

Kass has been a leader in local poetry circles – he teaches creative writing at Pioneer High and works with the Volume poetry program at the Neutral Zone, where he serves as literary arts director. But this is the first time he’s attempted a full-length, continuous narrative, complete with music, video, directors and intricate choreography. This ain’t no three-minute poetry slam. [Full Story]

Former Ann Arbor mayor Ingrid Sheldon, speaking to a leadership forum at Huron High School.

Some facts that students learned about former Ann Arbor mayor Ingrid Sheldon on Saturday: 1) She spent the first part of her schooling, through 7th grade, in a one-room schoolhouse on Earhart Road, 2) she thinks a large part of the mayor’s job entails cheerleading for the city, 3) she doesn’t take herself too seriously. This last fact was demonstrated as she pulled items out of a large “gift box” she’d brought, full of things she said would be useful for students in leadership roles – including a pair of yellow pompoms. And yes, she gave a little cheer.

Sheldon was keynote speaker at a leadership conference held Saturday at Huron High School. The event was organized by the school’s Interact Club, a service organization for  teens that’s affiliated with Rotary International. (Sheldon is a member of Ann Arbor Rotary, which sponsors Huron’s Interact Club.) About 40 students attended from Huron, Pioneer High, and several other local schools. [Full Story]

The Freep publishes a column by Bruce Horovitz that looks at Domino’s Pizza’s public relations response to a YouTube video showing two employees tampering with a customer’s sandwich. Horovitz writes that the Ann Arbor-based chain “is getting fairly high marks from social-networking and crisis-management gurus about its response.” He quotes Domino’s spokesman Tim McIntyre: ”Nothing is local anymore. That’s the challenge of the Web world. Any two idiots with a video camera and a dumb idea can damage the reputation of a 50-year-old brand.” [Source]

In a report on the April 16 University of Michigan regents meeting, we stated that one of the speakers at public comment, Claire Herbert, paid tuition as a graduate student. Herbert is a graduate student instructor, and her tuition is covered by that position. We note the error here, and have corrected it in the original article.

The blog for WSG Gallery features an interview with former Ann Arbor city attorney Elizabeth Schwartz, whose work is currently on exhibit there: “There’s never a plan, but a relationship develops with the paint and the painting. . . I start making marks and become part of the painting.” [Source]

The Style of Design blog highlights a video of UM engineering students and their work on projects focused on social responsibility. [Source]

Marianne Rzepka

Winter is so over. And what was all that about, anyway?

Gardeners have no time to fret over winter anymore. The time for looking at catalogs and polishing up pruner blades is over. It’s also past time for cruising through garden stores, peering at seed packets and picking through boxes of gladiola bulbs.

It’s time for getting out, for appreciating the early spring flowers (note to self: more crocuses and chinodoxia next year), clearing out the debris of leaves, windblown newspapers and fallen branches, maybe even cleaning out the garage on a warm day. It’s a maddening time of year: One week snow is covering your daffodils; the next temperatures hit 70s. You can’t be fooled by either extreme.

On those cold, wet days, you stay home and swear. On those warm and sunny days, you just have to get outside. In the past few weeks, I’ve been knocking around my yard like an outdoor Roomba, peering at the buds and new leaves on my lilac and redbud tree. I squint along the ground, looking for the first signs of emerging bloodroot and hepatica – the cutest of the cute spring blooms. [Full Story]

A New York Times feature on Callaway Gardens, a 13,000-acre resort with planned communities in Pine Mountain, Georgia, quotes Ypsilanti resident Bob Bonner, who owns a vacation home there. The article reports that their home was built to be environmentally sensitive, including landscaping with a mat of pine needles. Says Bonner: “With the pine straw, there’s no turf to manage. It makes it very nice for a part-time resident.” [Source]

In our most recent UM regents meeting report, we mis-reported the amount of a Gold permit for FY 2010.  They’ll cost $1,443.  We note the mistake here and have corrected it in the [original story.]

The fundraiser drew visitors from across the region, including the woman in this photograph, who said she drove down from Lansing. Terry Jackson, foreground, is a member of the Peace Neighborhood Center drum corps, which was on hand to perform. At right is Bonnie Billups, Jr., executive director of the center.

When former University of Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr arrived Thursday evening at the Zingerman’s Raucus Caucus fundraiser to benefit the Peace Neighborhood Center, he had no linemen blocking for him.

So Michael Hedin – whose Townie’s Two Step team was competing in the fundraiser’s sandwich design contest – wheeled around from his conversation with us to pitch to Carr the virtues of his team’s two-meat sandwich. The coach was there to help judge the sandwich design contest at the heart of the fundraiser – and he was wise to Hedin’s angle: “Yeah, I always used to talk to the officials before the game, too!”

A few minutes later, Gov. Jennifer Granholm delivered remarks that kicked off the event, which raised around $18,000 for the neighborhood center, according to Rick Strutz, a managing partner of Zingerman’s Deli.   Located on Maple Road near Miller Avenue, Peace Neighborhood offers after-school programming and tutoring for elementary and middle school students.  [Full Story]

At least one student in Regents Plaza on Thursday appeared uninterested in the protests.

University of Michigan Board of Regents (April 16, 2009): A warm spring day brought out more than 100 undergraduates, graduate students and lecturers for a rally at Regents Plaza on Thursday, hoping to get the attention of University of Michigan regents on three separate issues: rising tuition, a change in policy for graduate studies, and a pay disparity between lecturers and tenure-track faculty.

Those same issues were addressed at the regents’ monthly meeting that afternoon, though speakers during the public comment session did not use quite the same level of rhetoric as they’d employed outside – no picket signs were carried inside the Fleming Administration Building, and no one raised their voices. But the board room was packed and regents spent more time responding to speakers than they typically do, extending the meeting to two hours – about twice its usual length. [Full Story]

What does “Michael Phelps” think about legalizing pot? How does he achieve his amazing caloric intake? This “exclusive interview” gives some answers. [Source]

The author of the Kibbles & Knits blog, a former Ypsilanti resident, describes some of the city’s highlights before lobbying an American Idol finalist – Matt Giraud, who grew up in Ypsi – to sing “Back to Ypsilanti” for his final Idol performance: “Ypsilanti is also well known from the smash 1983 hit song “Back to Ypsilanti” by native Lee Osler. You can download and listen to that song here. I love the dotcoms and the fact that you can find randy crappy music about obscure towns from 26 years ago.” [Source]

According to a release from the Catholic News Agency, the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Homeland Security, asking for information that was the basis for the department’s recent “Threat of Right-Wing Extremism” report. Says Richard Thompson, the center’s president and chief counsel: “This is not an intelligence report but a diatribe against those who oppose the policies of the Obama administration. It is a declaration of war against the American people and our constitution. It is a prelude to extreme gun control legislation and hate speech laws targeting Christian churches and others who oppose abortion and same sex marriage.” [Source]

The Toledo Free Press runs a feature on Davy Rothbart, publisher of Found magazine. Rothbart is promoting his new book, “Requiem for a Paper Bag,” a collection of articles by contributors like Seth Rogen, Jim Carroll and Sarah Vowell, describing their own found items. Rothbart describes where he keeps submissions for Found: “My basement in Ann Arbor looks like the place at the end of ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ or maybe the house in ‘A Beautiful Mind,’ with all the scraps of paper everywhere.” [Source]

Public art commissioners Connie Brown, Jim Curtis and Elaine Sims at their April 14 meeting.

Ann Arbor Public Art Commission (April 14, 2009): Much of Tuesday’s meeting focused on issues related to communication, and in particular how it related to the controversial Herbert Dreiseitl project for the city’s municipal center.

And though his visit wasn’t discussed at length, the German artist is coming to Ann Arbor on July 20 to present his designs to the commission and city council. Using funds from the Percent for Art program, the city is paying $77,000 for his preliminary design work, but would still need to sign off on the entire project, which is estimated to cost around $700,000.

There will be a public reception for him, said Margaret Parker, chair of the art commission. It’s not clear whether the commission will see his designs before he arrives, but they might try to vote on the project and take it to city council for approval while he’s here, she said, adding that details about his visit have yet to be finalized. Before he arrives, the commission also plans to have an open house for the public on May 21, to talk about their mission and goals. [Full Story]

On the blog for Google Grants, Elyse Guilfoyle of the Ann Arbor AdWords Team writes about her work with the local nonprofit 826 Michigan: “In college, I helped 826michigan with various projects and volunteered at odd hours. But after graduating and finding a job, it became more difficult for me to find time to man their Robot Supply & Repair Store (a clever storefront facade that camouflages the tutoring sessions that happen in the back) and support their in-school initiatives. I didn’t realize at the time that I might be able to marry aspects of my new job to the nonprofit initiatives I cared about – and then I discovered Google Grants.” [Source]

A photo gallery in the Freep features artist Amy Sacksteder, working in her Ypsilanti studio. A caption states that the Freep’s Sunday entertainment section will include an article about Sacksteder. [Source]

On the blog My Porch, this post is titled “Who Said Scientists Don’t Have a Sense of Humor”: “The following is an abstract for a study done at the University of Michigan on the efficacy of nasal irrigation. The study concludes that nasal irrigation does work better than saline sprays. But the really interesting bit is the test they use to determine symptom severity is called the 20-Item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test or better known as SNOT-20. I checked out the etymology of the word snot, to make sure it didn’t actually derive from this acronym. Turns out that the word derives from the Old English word gesnot. So, cheers to the scientists/doctors who clearly love their jobs enough to create this funny and slightly disgusting acronym.” [Source]