Arbor Update

Culture

Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the World of Leo Africanus

Posted by MarkDilley on 8. February 2005

University of Michigan’s Jonathan Glasser Discusses Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the World of Leo Africanus
Thursday, February 10, 2005, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Downtown Library Multi-Purpose Room

Using visual materials, music, and original documents, Jonathan Glasser of UM Near Eastern Studies Department will provide an historical and cultural context for the overlapping and sometimes conflicting worlds inhabited by Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Western Mediterranean during the post-1492 era.

This event provides an excellent framework to view the book chosen for the 2005 Read, “Leo Africanus”, written by Amin Maalouf and translated by Peter Sluglett. The 2005 Read explores the Cultural Treasures of the Middle East – its many shared and diverse histories, memories and traditions of creative expressions.

Glasser is in the M.A./Ph.D. program in the UM Department of Near Eastern Studies and is a graduate student instructor for the Introduction to Islam course. He received his B.A. from Cornell University in the Near Eastern Studies and College Scholars Program.

via Ann Arbor District Library

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Local

Farmer's Market Update & Journalism Quality

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 7. February 2005

Local food blogger Micha Hershman at Relish! updates us on the state of plans to upgrade the Farmer’s Market, which will include a reconfiguration to improve foot-traffic flow, additional stalls, and other improvements:

The Arbor Farmers Market will not receive it’s long-needed face lift any time soon.

...

The majority of folks on the City Council oppose the changes as stated, as do some of the vendors. Everyone seems to agree that change must come, but a 7-4 vote shows that the people in power aren’t supportive of the current plan.

Ah well. Another season of delicious farm fresh produce at reasonable prices- another season of bumping into shambling hippies reeking of patchouli and pushing double wide strollers.

He also takes a dig at the quality of journalism at our University daily:

Here’s a link to the preposterously-lacking-in-facts-but-ripe-with-pithy-quotations Michigan Daily article. Link

Here’s a better link to the Ann Arbor News story. Link

Note the radical disparity in journalistic prowess.

(Image from Relish! )

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Campus

History of Activism at Michigan

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 7. February 2005

Lambda Theta Phi will present presented a history of activism at U-M tonight, 7pm in the Anderson Room on Tuesday at the Union:

Have you ever heard of the Black Action Movements?

What about the United Coalition Against Racism?

Do you want to learn how both are related to the Michigan Union Tower Occupation by the Students of Color Coalition?

Come learn about how three periods of social activism changed the University of Michigan forever.

The Untouchable Brothers of Lambda Theta Phi present:

THE HISTORY OF ACTIVISM AT MICHIGAN

In the past 35 years student activism has shaped University policies, come learn how students in the past set the foundations for our future. Hear first hand accounts from people who were there in the struggle for equality at the University of Michigan.

Monday February 7
Anderson Room D
7:00 pm

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Local

Zoning Extravaganza at City Hall This Week

Posted by Brandon on 7. February 2005

The Ann Arbor News reports:

The Ann Arbor Planning Commission will have a work session at 7 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the series of zoning changes being looked at to encourage more residential development downtown.

The meeting will be in the sixth-floor conference room at city hall, 100 N. Fifth Ave.

The discussion will look at possible areas for development downtown.

The commissioners will also talk about the time line for developing recommendations on rezoning, which are due in April to the City Council.

Moreover,

The Ann Arbor City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Monday in the second-floor council chamber at city hall, 100 N. Fifth Ave.

The council is expected to appoint a committee to address changes in the city’s zoning that were part of the report released by the Downtown Residential Task Force.

Mayor John Hieftje said the committee needs to be appointed to keep the recommendations on track and to make sure they are addressed by the council in a timely fashion.

Arts

Affordable art space opening in Ypsi

Posted by Murph on 7. February 2005

The A2 News notes the opening of Depot Town Art Studios, which hopes to provide space for the people displaced by the closing of the Ann Arbor Tech Center and the 555 Studio.

Mike Marino and Jacob Casteel are opening the 10,000-square-foot former machine shop under its new name: Depot Town Art Studios.
. . .
“I would like to assist some of these people in creating their dreams,” he said.

To achieve that goal, Marino and Casteel know they have to keep their studio affordable and are working on setting it up as a nonprofit organization.

“We’ve decided, hey, why don’t we just do this thing of the people, for the people? Do it for the right reasons,” Casteel said. “It’s not about making money, it’s about creating culture in Ypsilanti.”

Space is expected to rent for around half of what similar space in Ann Arbor would go for, and with an added cultural benefit:

“A lot of artists have moved to Ypsilanti because it’s much more supportive than Ann Arbor,” said Akasha Fluegge, a local artist involved in painting, photography and dance. “Ann Arbor is a lot more competitive. People guard their secrets, whereas in Ypsilanti they share. I think the working class solidarity of Ypsilanti translates into how the artists behave.”

Regional

"The Other Side of Ossie Davis"

Posted by MarkDilley on 6. February 2005

“My father told me that the Detroit News ran a story about Ossie Davis that reveals his more progressive side. Now most of us in the know KNEW a bit about this side. We knew for example, that Davis eulogized Malcolm X at his funeral (“he was our shining black prince”, Davis noted). But this story gets a bit deeper. Earl if you’re checking this out you should link this to your post. As an aside, I have written about Grace Boggs before. She’s one of the last true revolutionaries left. Her Center is powerful and needs support.”

via lkspence at Vision Circle

Regional

President in area

Posted by MarkDilley on 5. February 2005

George W. Bush is scheduled to address the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday, February 8 at Cobo at noon. On the DEC website Bush is described as follows: “2004 Time Magazine Person of the Year, leader and voice of the global war on terror, steward of the American Republic at home and promoter of freedom and democracy around the globe.”

“This is praise worthy of a Kim Jong Il. Demonstrate against this warlord and robber baron at 11:30am on the Jefferson Ave side of Cobo Arena on Tuesday.”

via Peter Werbe

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Regional

"Follow the Money" examines subsidies for sprawl

Posted by Murph on 4. February 2005

The Michigan Land Use Institute has released a special report, Follow the Money, examining the subsidies they believe are driving sprawl in southeast Michigan. A much shorter article, Greenfields, Brownfields, and Red Ink sums up the report, rebutting the L. Brooks Patterson school of sprawl:

When someone tells you that sprawl is the free market at work, don’t believe it. Sprawl cannot exist without massive public spending for roads, water, sewers, public buildings, and business development. These taxpayer-financed market intrusions distort the landscape, ruin central cities, harm the environment, and reduce the quality of life.
. . .
For example, the Legislature established the state Transportation Economic Development Fund in 1987 to invest in highways, roads, streets, and other infrastructure that support new jobs. Of the $382 million spent since 1988, 78 percent, or $297 million, went to new suburbs and rural areas; just 22 percent, or $85 million, went to core cities.

The longer report is intended in part to provide policy recommendations to Governor Granholm, who campaigned in part on reducing subsidies to sprawl and maintaining existing infrastructure. Granholm’s “State of the State” address is schedule for Tuesday, 8 February, and is probably the first place she’d address any such reforms.

Campus

Sign up for '2005 Symposium on Community-Based Work"

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 4. February 2005

You are invited to showcase your community-based work at the 3rd Annual Project Fair, March 15th, from 1:00-2:30pm in the Michigan League Ballroom. The 2005 Symposium on Community-Based Work: Partnerships that Prosper, was developed to provide an opportunity for students, faculty, and community partners to share and showcase their collaborative work. This event showcases the myriad of faculty and student projects in local, national, and international communities.

Work can include, but is not limited to, courses that involve community projects and civic engagement, community-based research, student-initiated projects, community-focused student organizations and groups, and short or long-term collaborative projects. Showcased work may take the form of a poster, video, exhibit, or other format. The Ginsberg Center provides free poster boards (available now), and easels and tables at the Project Fair. Last year, more than 70 posters, exhibits, and organizations were represented. You are also welcome to join us at noon for the keynote address. This year we are honored to present Ismael Ahmed, the co-founder and Executive Director of ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services). Based in Dearborn, MI, this organization is now the nation’s largest social service agency for the Arab community. For more information and to register for the Project Fair, please visit our web site:
http://www.umich.edu/~mserve/news/events/sympos_fair_05.html. The Symposium is sponsored in part by the Edward Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning; Arts of Citizenship; the Division of Student Affairs; Imagining America; the Institute for Research on Women and Gender; the Michigan Community Scholars Program; the National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good; the Office of the Vice-President of Government Relations; the Program in the Environment; the School of Engineering; the School of Information; the School of Information; the School of Literature, Science, and the Arts; the School of Nursing; and the School of Social Work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miss S.D. Jemison
MCC AmeriCorps VISTA—University of Michigan
1024 Hill St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734.764.0577
http://www.umich.edu/~mserve

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Local

Corner House Lofts developer buys Zanzibar building

Posted by Murph on 3. February 2005

According to this week’s Business Direct Weekly, West Bloomfield-based developer Howard Frehsee bought 212 S. State Street, the building housing Zanzibar restaurant, this past September. (Is a six month lag really so “direct”?)

Frehsee is the developer of the Corner House Lofts building, and the BDW article sounds some ominous notes:

“I feel it’s an underutilized property,” Frehsee said of the two-story building that also includes a ceramics studio and upper-level offices.

“But I do have a tenant there that has a lease,” he said of Zanzibar. “And that affects what I can and cannot do with the property.”

“Underutilized” is quickly (though not explicitly) given a definition:

Jeff Hauptman of The Oxford Co. owns property at State, south of Liberty, and he manages the buildings adjacent to Zanzibar. That includes Starbucks Cafe, which reportedly pays among the highest leasing rates among Ann Arbor retailers outside of a regional mall.

Zanzibar, meanwhile, makes an attempt to sound unconcerned:

“Our retail mix isn’t as broad as it was five years ago,” said Roger Hewitt, owner of Zanzibar and member of the Downtown Development Authority.

The cure, he said, could be increased residential density – if that includes a mix of incomes that spans students and professionals. In the meantime, Hewitt said, “we have a long-term lease, so we’re not going anywhere.”

To sum up, the developer who brought us Buffalo Wild Wings and an apartment building of questionable aesthetics has purchased Zanzibar, and is counting down the minutes until he can hike the rents on that space and put it to “better” use.

Add in the recent closings of Kiote and Suwanee Springs around the corner, Harry’s deciding not to renew its lease, and Noodles & Co. taking over the Decker Drugs location after Decker closed in the face of increasing rents, and Hewitt would seem to have reason to be worried.

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