Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

DDA outlines controversial development proposal

Posted by Murph on 8. March 2005

Tonight at 6pm, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority will present it’s recommendations for three city-owned parcels to the City Council. The presentation is meant to be informative, precedes the regular Council meeting, and is not an actionable part of the meeting.

The recommendations, as outlined in the Ann Arbor News, include:

* Selling the existing parking lot at South Ashley and William streets, behind the former Kline’s Department Store, for private, mixed-use development, including retail, office and residential. Officials said boutiques and even a movie theater are possible uses for the lower floors of what could be up to a 10-story development.

  • Razing the crumbling parking garage at First and Washington streets and selling the property to someone who would construct a retail and residential building of up to six stories. DDA officials said that development would include affordable housing aimed at young professionals and a city work force. It could also include some subsidized units.
  • Building a parking structure of up to six levels at First and William streets. DDA officials said the idea is not to add parking, but to consolidate the nearly 500 existing spaces from the three sites into one.
  • A park a little larger than Liberty Plaza along railroad tracks at the northeast corner of First and William streets.

Opposition to the plan has already lined up in the Friends of the Ann Arbor Greenway and the local chapter of the Sierra Club, who would like the entirety of the First and William site to be turned into parkland, along with two other city-owned sites, as part of an Allen Creek Greenway. The Friends’ webpage includes a notice reading,

The Downtown Development Association (DDA) will present it’s high-rise development plans for three city properties on Monday, March 7th @ 7:30 PM in City Council Chambers. Come and join us in support of the full-scale Greenway, not a 22 millon dollar taxpayer-funded unnecessary parking structure and development in floodplains.

The presentation should be televised on CTN (channel 16) at 6pm tonight, and is open to the public, though I don’t think there is a public input session scheduled.

Comment [1]

Maine College Serves Alcohol, Responsibly

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 8. March 2005

In contrast to the many anti-drinking programs at many US colleges and Universities, Colby College in Maine is taking a different tack. On Fridays, they offer beer and wine in the cafeteria for students of legal drinking age, with a two drink limit. The intention is to promote responsible drinking and have upperclassmen serve as role models for younger students.

U-M President Mary Sue Coleman is a recognized leader in anti-drinking campaigns on US campuses.

> Portland Press Herald: Beer & Wine 101? Dining hall hopes to teach moderation

Michigan Departs MATRIX

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 8. March 2005

Bending to pressure from the ACLU and other privacy advocacy groups, the Michigan State Police have left the MATRIX (Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Exchange program. They state that lack of participation by other states make the program less valuable.

> Detroit Free Press: Michigan State Police drop out of anti-terrorism network
> Previously at AU: ACLU Versus the MATRIX

PIRGIM Delays

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 7. March 2005

Today’s Daily features an article on the delays a student PIRG chapter is facing in MSA, and an editorial denouncing those delays.

From the article (‘Public interest groups hopes for student chapter’):

An MSA vote to grant Student PIRGIM the money was scheduled for Feb. 21, but MSA Chief of Staff Elliott Wells-Reid filed an injunction to halt the vote, citing concerns that the group would threaten MSA’s tax-exempt status because part of its parent group is involved in lobbying efforts. Student PIRGIM, though, has said they will not be involved in lobbying and are instead an advocacy group—a difference based on the fact that lobbyists address legislators directly. A trial Wednesday in front of MSA’s Central Student Judiciary will decide whether the vote can go through.

Wells-Reid did not return phone calls.

Unless Wells-Reid drops the injunction, the earliest the vote could occur is March 15.

From the editorial (‘Red Tape’):

Wells-Reid should withdraw the injunction on the PIRGIM vote. PIRGIM is a unique student group tied to a powerful national organization with branches in 35 states that has proven its ability to galvanize student power regarding pressing issues like the high costs of housing and textbooks. Squabbling over groundless legal technicalities will only postpone these efforts and, in the end, prove detrimental to student interests.

This Week in Ann Arbor: An Audio Smorgasborg

Posted by Brandon on 7. March 2005

WEDNESDAY, March 9:
Rachel’s
University of Michigan Museum of Art
Doors 8:00
FREE

Feeling arty? If you haven’t before, attending a concert at the museum is a must-try.

Louisville-based band Rachel’s have been called “the foremost purveyor of forlorn and lamentations orchestral arrangements in the indie world.” Their music has been inspired by such disparate sources as Pablo Neruda’s poetry collection “The Sea and the Bells” and the art of Egon Schiele (serendipitously, the University of Michigan Museum of Art will display a gallery of Egon Schiele’s work concurrently with the concert). Currently, Rachel’s are touring with a film installation, which will accompany the performance. This concert is the second installment of the WCBN concert series at the University of Michigan Museum of Art.


THURSDAY, March 10:

Great Lakes Myth Society (CD release party)
Starling Electric
Zach Brooke
Blind Pig
Doors 9:30
$8

Put on your finest attire and celebrate the long-awaited release of the debut album from the best maritime-indie-prog-folk-pop-rock-Michigania-whatever band north of the Maumee.

Rising from the ashes of The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love, Ann Arbor’s Great Lakes Myth Society deliver a sparkling debut album that more closely captures the urgent cryptic romantic energy of their live shows than TOBASOL’s two records ever did. This epic effort is a sweeping journey through our collective Michigan psyches; whispered secrets from deep in our lost white pine forests, poems carved in Lake Huron driftwood, and whiskey ghosts from abandoned Keweenaw mining camps. The Great Lakes Myth Society combine intricate harmonies and ambitious, multi-part songsmanship, melding everything from dreamy, polished pop to Celtic folk music and stomping rock; they sounds like nobody else, and this album deserves more than two sentences.


FRIDAY, March 11:

Nomo
His Name is Alive
Blind Pig
Doors 9:30
$8

Orchestrated joy from two of southeast Michigan’s premiere purveyors of sound.

Live, Nomo is an incredible experience. Their vigor cannot be contained to the confines of a stage. The 15+ members of the band frequently spill off the stage and into the audience: roving horn sections incite ecstatic cries from sweaty dancers. Nomo is capable of sending a roomful of stationary indie rock enthusiasts into a percussion induced dance craze.


SATURDAY, March 12:

The Bang!
Blind Pig
Doors 9:30
$6

Burn-off all the energy you’ll have left over on the dance floor.

SATURDAY MARCH 12!
THE BANG! YOUR #1 LEGENDARY DANCE PARTY
AIMS IT’S MAGICAL BOOGIE LASER BEAM
RIGHT AT YOUR ASS & MAKES YOU MOVE!

HOT, WET & DRIPPIN’ & DRIPPIN’ WITH SATURDAY NIGHT SWEAT!
THE BANG! FEATURES THE BEST IN ROCK & ROLL, SUPER POP, RAW SOUL, BRITPOP, GLAM, MOD, 6ts GOLD, HIP HOP, DISCO, PUNK, BOYS, GIRLS, DRINKS, MAKEOUTS, DANCE DECADENCE!

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE LAST BANG & SEE THE NEW POSTER & GET YER SONG REQUESTS IN TODAY AT www.thebang.net


SATURDAY MARCH 12
AT THE BLIND PIG
www.blindpigmusic.com
THE ACTION STARTS AT 10pm
ARRIVE EARLY! DON’T WAIT IN THE COLD!
IT’S 18 & UP!
DRESS CODE: LOOK AWESOME!

THE BANG!
MARCH 12!
DON’T FIGHT IT, FEEL IT!

Coke Campaign: Monday Action

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 7. March 2005

Take heed:

******Pack The Room!*********

The Purchasing Department will make it’s recommendation to the Dispute Review Board on Coke tomorrow,

Monday, 3:30pm, Anderson Rm. (union)

It is critical to show student support at this meeting! The meeting was even moved to a bigger room by the administration in anticipation of huge student turnout-

so we better come!

Wear red! Be ready to tell the board what you think!

also, don’t forget, meeting Sunday night in the banner making room on the fourth floor of the union.

peace,

bates

ps:
the purchasing department is in charge of buying stuff for the university. the ethical purchasing dispute review board is in charge of making sure that all purchasing and licensing decisions made by the university are in line with our codes of conduct, and making recommendations to the President as to those codes. Purchasing makes a recommendation to the board after an investigation. This is one of the first steps in disputing a contract.

UPDATE – 3/7 2:10pm
previous ArborUpdate stories on the Coke Campaign:
> Coke vs. Killer Coke
> VALIDATING THE SCRUTINY: The Straight Dope on Coke
> PROTEST COCA-COLA’S LABOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL ABUSES
> Killer Coke, Rally and teach-In

Comment [4]

Drive for union starts at U-M

Posted by MarkDilley on 7. March 2005

“Office workers at the University of Michigan, prompted in part by fears of the university curtailing benefits and cutting more jobs, are reviving an old idea and conducting a membership drive to form a union.”

via Ann Arbor News (local home of a scab problem)

Dissent Reports on U-M Lecturer Organizing

Posted by Ari Paul on 6. March 2005

We look at the situation of nontenure-track faculty where we teach, the University of Michigan. We explain why the university’s approximately 1,500 nontenure-track faculty formed a union, the Lecturers’ Employee Organization (LEO), MFT&SRP/AFT, AFL-CIO, and briefly outline what we achieved in our first collective agreement, ratified in June 2004. We argue, first, that the conditions under which nontenure-track faculty typically work are problematic-not only for those who do the work, but for the university and society-and, second, that the best way to respond to these problems is to organize inclusive, democratic unions.

U-M Lecturers Jennet Kirkpatrick and Ian Robinson write extensively on the organizing of lecturers at U-M in the latest issue of Dissent magazine.

Free WiFi Locations in Ann Arbor

Posted by clroy on 6. March 2005

As listed at the free wi-fi in Michigan page
Amer’s Deli – 312 S. State St. – 734-761-6000
Arena Bar & Grill – 200 block of Washington
Cafe Verde – 214 N. Fourth Ave. – 734-769-0095
Cappo’s – 3139 Oak Valley Dr – (734) 332-7845
Cava Java – 1101 South University
Conor O’Neill’s Traditional Irish Pub – 318 South Main Street – (734) 665-2968
Cubs’ AC Sports Bar/Restaurant – 1950 S. Industrial Hwy – (734) 665-4474
Espresso Royale Caffe – 214 S. Main St.
Espresso Royale Caffe – 324 S. State St.
Espresso Royale Caffe – Corner of Main St. and Ann Arbor Saline Rd., in Woodland Plaza.
Euphoria Oxygen Bar – 620 Briarwood Circle – inside Briarwood Mall
Meijers gas station – Ann Arbor Saline Road
Panera Bread – 903 West Eisenhower Parkway
Panera Bread – 3205 Washtenaw Avenue
Panera Bread – 5340 Jackson Road
Portofino Coffee – Corner of Jackson and West Stadium
Rendez-Vous Cafe – 1110 S University
Scorekeeper’s Sportsgrill – 310 Maynard (across from Border’s Books) – 734-995-0100
Uptown Coney Island – 3917 Jackson
also listings for
wi-fi sites on campus
and info for accessing wi-fi at Ann Arbor District Library

Comment [5]

. . . A one woman show by Ingrid Rivera

Posted by MarkDilley on 5. March 2005

The LGBT caucus of SCOR (Students of Color of Rackham) presents…

Lágrimasde Cocodrilo/ Crocodile Tears

. . . A one woman show by Ingrid Rivera

Tuesday 3/8
8:00pm
RC Theater in E. Quad
FREE ADMISSION

Ingrid Rivera, Activist & Performance Artist, presents monologues on one woman’s struggle with childhood sexual abuse, lesbianism, and raising a female child in the midst of recovery.

*also brought to you by rad.art *

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