A Bloomberg News article about the upcoming Mars landing quotes Nilton Renno, a mission scientist and University of Michigan professor of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences: “You can see in the eyes of the students how excited they get by working on something like this mission. It’s mind-blowing that we can send an instrument to another planet and operate it from earth, understanding something so far away.” [Source]
A Michigan Radio report looks at cleanup efforts of the MichCon site along the Huron River in Ann Arbor, where manufactured gas was made in the late 1800s and early 1900s by burning coal. The report quotes Kevin Lund, a senior geologist with the Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality’s remediation division, regarding contamination in the river bed: “We were just collecting samples along the way and were finding exactly this all the way through here. And one of the locations that we dug, a hole in the bank, it filled with oil.” [Source]
The Detroit Free Press reports on the health of Ann Arbor’s economy, focusing on its low unemployment rate – the lowest in Michigan. The article quotes experts like economist Richard Florida, who states that “Ann Arbor is the new growth engine of the greater Detroit region.” Other experts cite the area’s highly educated workforce, the University of Michigan, and industries like technology and health care. But the only actual job seekers quoted in the article are Tyler Mettie, who found a part-time job washing dishes at Tios restaurant, and Keely Ann Kaleski, a software training manager who’s still out of work. [Source]
The Washtenaw Community College board of trustees has given WCC’s president, Rose Bellanca, a one-year contract extension and 2% raise, according to a report in the Washtenaw Voice. Her annual salary after the raise is $198,900 and her contract now runs to 2015. Bellanca was hired in 2011 to replace long-time WCC president Larry Whitworth. [Source]
In the wake of NCAA-imposed penalties against Penn State related to the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal and cover-up, the Detroit News interviewed officials at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University about the balance of athletics and academics. UM athletics director David Brandon is quoted: ”Yeah, we play football, we play basketball, we have rabid fans who enjoy that. … We’re pleased we’ve got people that really love it and are passionate about what we do. But if we ever get to the point where we think it’s more important than the real important things that take place on a college campus, we have lost our way.” [Source]
The Detroit Free Press curated photos from participants of the Color Run in Ypsilanti, which drew about 15,000 people. The event involved runners getting powdered with colored corn starch at intervals throughout the 5-kilometer course. [Source] The publication also posted a short video from the race. [Source]
David Brophy, a University of Michigan business professor, is featured in Forbes magazine in a column about the future of venture capitalism. He notes that deals have been slow this year: “Partners are pulling back because they don’t trust the future – nobody does at the moment – and venture capital is a big bet on the future.” [Source]
An article in the science journal Nature reports on questions raised about the research of social psychologist Lawrence Sanna, who has recently resigned from the University of Michigan. Another researcher, Uri Simonsohn, identified “odd statistical patterns” in Sanna’s research, which linked physical height and virtue. From the article: “The reasons for Sanna’s resignation are not known, but it followed questions from Simonsohn and a review by Sanna’s previous institution, the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (UNC). According to the editor of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Sanna has also asked that three of his papers be retracted from the journal. … UNC did not release the results of its review, and the University of Michigan will not explain why … [Full Story]
The Detroit Free Press reports that Eastern Michigan University president Susan Martin received a letter in May from the EMU board of regents’ executive committee, warning her that she could be fired if there are additional incidents involving public alcohol consumption and inappropriate behavior. The letter was in response to an incident earlier this year in Washington that involved an EMU alumni member. Martin sent an email on Tuesday, July 10 to the university community, describing the situation, apologizing and vowing that “this will not occur again.” [Source]
On NPR, David Greene interviews University of Michigan physics professor Gordy Kane about the bet that Kane won with Stephen Hawking. Hawking bet Kane $100 that the Higgs boson subatomic particle wouldn’t be found. Kane tells NPR that he hasn’t yet received a check – if he does, ”I might put it on my wall and not post it.” [Source]
Tova Neugut and Kate Rosenblum of the University of Michigan’s Strong Families program are among the co-authors of a guest commentary in the Detroit Free Press that suggests ways to support Michigan veterans and their families: “Consider signing up and offering a few hours of your time volunteering with one of the handful of nonprofit organizations in Michigan that are working hard to bridge this disconnect between our civilian and military families.” [Source]
The Atlantic magazine interviews University of Michigan law professor Samuel Bagenstos about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down part of the federal health care law related to an expansion of Medicaid: “The $64,000 question as to Medicaid is how many states are going to decide that they don’t want to cover this expanded population, even with the very substantial financial incentive. I think the bigger concern is for other cooperative federal spending programs. This is the first time the Supreme Court has ever invalidated a condition on federal spending on the grounds that it coerced the states. That’s a big deal. That’s a really big deal.” [Source]
Former University of Michigan president Harold Shapiro is quoted in a Washington Post report about the role of public universities, in light of recent turmoil at the University of Virginia, where president Teresa Sullivan was asked to resign. [Sullivan is a former UM provost.] Shapiro states: “It’s very easy to focus on what’s popular or profitable. But corporations and universities have different social functions. State universities like Virginia need to ask the people of their state, do they really want a university of great quality?” [Source]
Inc. magazine published a column by Mark Hodesh, owner of Downtown Home & Garden, who describes why he supports the federal Affordable Care Act: ”I’m very interested in offering health care – in part because it’s the right thing to do, but that’s not really my motive. Really, it’s just pragmatic. We’re a small downtown store, and we compete with the national chains. You know, the ones with the huge parking lots. Well, we have six parking spaces. We remain competitive by offering an attractive benefits package. And a big part of that benefits package is health care.” [Source]
A report in the New York Times looks at how study abroad programs in Florence for several universities, including the University of Michigan, treat their faculty. UM is being sued by Lucrezia Sarcinelli, who taught courses for the university’s Center for Global and Intercultural Study program at Villa Corsi-Salviati near Florence. From the report: “In April, Ms. Sarcinelli learned that the University of Michigan was closing the program. Despite her long service of 22 years, she was offered no severance pay. And because her employer was a U.S. school, if she decided to retire, her state pension would only pay about €100 a month. So Ms. Sarcinelli decided to file suit asking for the benefits that would have been due her … [Full Story]
Writing in an opinion piece published by the Detroit News, Jennifer Fike – executive director of the Ann Arbor-based Food System Economic Partnership – advocates for funding in the federal farm bill to support “programs designed to boost jobs through rural entrepreneurship and invest in the future of American agriculture…” She describes local efforts like the Tilian Farm Development Center, which “provide training and remove barriers for aspiring farmers.” Fike concludes: ”By ensuring continued investments in rural economic development and in the next generation of farmers, we can ensure that the farm bill is a jobs bill that underpins and enables economic growth in rural communities throughout America.” [Source]
The Associated Press reports on the death of medical illustrator Gerald Parker Hodge, a University of Michigan professor emeritus. He was 91 and lived in Ann Arbor. From the report: “He was a longtime professor at the University of Michigan, where he founded the master’s program in medical and biological illustration in 1964. His medical and biological illustrations appeared in hundreds of journals and books and won repeated recognition from the Association of Medical Illustrators. The students who came out of Hodge’s program at Michigan came to dominate the field so much that five of the six accredited programs in the late 1990s were led by its graduates.” [Source]
The Detroit Free Press reports that 54-year-old David Lee Gavitt was released from prison this week after 26 years. Based on work by the University of Michigan Law School’s Michigan Innocence Clinic, prosecutors determined that Gavitt “was convicted with faulty evidence and outdated science,” according to the report. The Ionia man had been convicted of murdering his family in a house fire. [Source]
The Detroit News reports on Thursday’s forum of five southeast Michigan leaders who discussed regional issues at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual policy conference on Mackinac Island. An animated exchange between Washtenaw County board chair Conan Smith and Oakland County executive L. Brooks Patterson highlighted tensions. Responding to Smith’s support of regional taxes, Patterson said “…you don’t have any skin in the game. Until you pay your way in, I don’t think you have a whole lot to say about how it’s done.” [Source]
Crain’s Detroit Business columnist Tom Henderson writes about a billboard campaign by Bank of Ann Arbor that used social media to generate ideas from the community. From the column: “The bank had a custom Facebook app built so its Facebook fans could write headlines on virtual billboards that bank officials later translated into real billboards, which mocked the lack of local institutional knowledge in out-of-state banks with local branches.” [Source]
The Livingston Daily Press & Argus reports on state Rep. Bill Rogers’ view that state funding for the University of Michigan should be cut unless UM fully complies with an embryonic stem cell research reporting requirement. The article quotes Rogers, who chairs the state House’s K-12 budget and Dept. of Education budget subcommittees: “The principle is that as a legislative body, we are only as good as the information we can attain. They basically thumb their nose at the (Legislature). They want to be autonomous, but they still want state taxpayer money. That is where I think a lot of this debate occurs.” [Source]
The Detroit News published a column by Jenn McKee, entertainment writer for AnnArbor.com, about why she’s not participating in Saturday’s Race for the Cure, a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen Foundation: ”This past February, when news broke about the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision to pull grants from Planned Parenthood – grants that fund breast cancer screenings for low-income women – I felt angry, betrayed and disappointed by an organization I’d supported for years. Even though Komen eventually reversed its decision, after days of heated debate and pushback, I didn’t feel elated about, or even satisfied with, the reversal. Not because I suspected that the fight wasn’t over for good but because I lost my innocence regarding an organization that … [Full Story]
Michigan Radio reports on a rally held in support of Camp Take Notice, an encampment of about 65 homeless people located on state-owned land in Scio Township, near I-94 and Wagner Road. The Michigan Dept. of Transportation, which owns the property, has told residents they’ll need to relocate. The report quotes David Williams, who lives at the camp: “If we lose this camp it would be difficult for me to find another safe environment to live. And I hope that people understand that. Anyone can be homeless.” [Source]
Channel 4, Detroit’s NBC affiliate, reports that an experimental plane crashed in Pittsfield Township on Friday, injuring two people. [Source] The Pittsfield Township Dept. of Public Safety has issued a press release on the crash, which occurred in the 7000 block of Warner Road: “Crews arrived to find a two seat airplane that had crashed into the ground with the two occupants trapped in the wreckage. There was moderate damage to the airplane and an active fuel leak. Fire fighters extricated the victims and they were both transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital in critical condition.” Another experimental plane had crashed in April 2012 at the Ann Arbor Airport, which is located in Pittsfield Township. One person was injured in that … [Full Story]
The new Argo Cascades are featured on a segment by Channel 7 Action News, Detroit’s ABC affiliate. The report mischaracterizes the drop pools of the Argo Dam bypass as whitewater rapids – the whitewater feature will be added later, on the Huron River – but Ann Arbor parks manager Colin Smith notes that the speed of the water is about 60 cubic feet per second. The city’s canoe liveries will be open daily starting Saturday, May 26. [Source]
Concordia University Wisconsin will take over the “troubled” Concordia University campus in Ann Arbor, according to a report in the Business Journal of Milwaukee. The move was approved this week by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. From the report: “The two campuses will continue to operate in their current locations, but will be managed by the CUW board of regents and led by CUW president Rev. Patrick Ferry. The resolution still requires the approval of the Higher Learning Commission.” [Source]
David Carr of the New York Times reports on changes in the works at the New Orleans Times-Picayune: “Newhouse Newspapers, which owns the Times-Picayune, will apparently be working off a blueprint the company used in Ann Arbor, Mich., where it reduced the frequency of the Ann Arbor News, emphasized the Web site as a primary distributor of news and in the process instituted wholesale layoffs to cut costs.” [Source]
The University of Michigan is paying a $50,000 stipend to Suellyn Scarnecchia, UM’s general counsel who is resigning that position, which she’s held since 2008. According to a report in the Detroit Free Press, the pay is in addition to her $312,000 salary as general counsel, which she will retain until May 2013. She will remain a special advisor to Coleman until then, when her contract as general counsel ends. She’ll return to teach in the law school in January 2013 after taking a semester off. [Source]
Larry Whitworth, former president of Washtenaw Community College, is a semi-finalist for the presidency of Edison State College in southern Florida, according to a report in the News-Press. Whitworth, 71, was WCC president for 13 years before retiring in August of 2011. He had announced plans to retire the previous year, and at the time said he planned to return to teaching. [Source]
The New York Times profiles Maya Stein, a poet who has embarked on a venture that combines cycling and typing: “She plans to ride 40 miles a day, typewriter in tow, for 40 days until she reaches Milwaukee, where the design for the first mass-produced typewriter was developed in the 1860s. Along the way, she is delivering the manual typewriter to public spaces and inviting people to take a turn at the keys.” Stein’s itinerary – posted on her Type Rider blog – brings her through Ann Arbor on June 3. [Source]
