Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

Detroit Nation's Most Sleepless City

Posted by Murph on 14. November 2004

The New York Times “Style” section reports that Detroit is the worst American city for sleeping in:

One of the big causes of insomnia is stress,” said Dr. Meir H. Kryger, a former president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and now a professor of medicine at the University of Manitoba. “Right now in the United States, there is a lot of stress for various reasons: the election, the war in Iraq, the economy. People are watching the news constantly, and most of it is bad.”

Detroit has no shortage of stress inducers. Its rates of poverty and crime and divorce were all factors in its ranking at the bottom of the new sleep report. The report was compiled by a company called Sperling’s BestPlaces, in partnership with the makers of Ambien.

Somewhat more information on the study is available at Sperling’s website. See also Ann Arbor is Overrated’s comments on Sperling.

Tragic News

Posted by MarkDilley on 13. November 2004

Mary Beth Doyle, MB to friends, who was an amazing community environmental activist working at the Ecology Center was killed in an automobile accident last night.

Friends will gather at the Old Town at 4pm today.

Her energy and zest for life will be missed…

City Hall: "No explosive devices were located."

Posted by Murph on 13. November 2004

CTN is now reporting,

Early AM on 11-13-04, there was a bomb threat at Ann Arbor’s City Hall located at 100 N. Fifth Ave.

After a thorough search of the building, City Hall was reopened at Noon, as well as the streets surrounding the area. No explosive devices were located. There is an ongoing investigation by the FBI and the Ann Arbor Police Department.

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BREAKING: Bomb Threat at City Hall

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 13. November 2004

Radio has reported a bomb threat at City Hall in downtown Ann Arbor. All CTN channels (Ann Arbor’s public access television stations) are broadcasting this message:

Early AM on 11-13-04 there was a bomb threat at Ann Arbor’s City Hall located at 100 N. Fifth Ave.

The City Emergency Managers have evacuated three (3) square blocks surrounding City Hall and seek your cooperation.

If you are affected by this evacuation, the designated shelter location is Slauson Middle School located at 1019 W. Washington. The school is open and available for this purpose.

Please AVOID travel in the vicinity of downtown Ann Arbor/City Hall!
Please DO NOT call 9-1-1 unless you have an immediate emergency situation.
Stay Tuned to CTN channels for further updates.

More to come…

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One-Worlders Take Over Ann Arbor?

Posted by Brandon on 12. November 2004

It seems a United Nations flag inadvertantly flying higher than Old Glory at City Hall has become national news in conservative circles, apparently as further evidence that Ann Arbor is an unpatriotic Leftist hotbed.

The U.N. flag made Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly’s national radio show on Thursday after a caller questioned if it was a slap at the United States, said Scio Township’s Marion Pennock. Pennock said she heard it discussed on O’Reilly’s radio show while she was driving Thursday.

Pennock wondered why on a holiday that honored veterans, the city would fly the flag of an organization that didn’t participate in the Iraqi war.

“There are so many people, at least in Ann Arbor, that want to be under the U.N. rather than our own government,” Pennock said. “This attitude is shown by flying the U.N. flag.”

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Cobb, Badnarik Call for Ohio Recount

Posted by Murph on 12. November 2004

Presidential Candidates David Cobb (Green) and Michael Badnarik (Libertarian) are jointly calling for a full recount of the Ohio presidential vote, and are soliciting donations through their campaign websites to raise the estimated $110k filing fee for the recount request.

From the Cobb campaign’s press release:

“Due to widespread reports of irregularities in the Ohio voting process, we are compelled to demand a recount of the Ohio presidential vote. Voting is the heart of the democratic process in which we as a nation put our faith. When people stand in line for hours to exercise their right to vote, they need to know that all votes will be counted fairly and accurately. We must protect the rights of the people of Ohio, as well as all Americans, and stand up for the right to vote and the right for people’s votes to be counted. The integrity of the democratic process is at stake,” the two candidates said in a joint statement.

The candidates also demanded that Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican who chaired the Ohio Bush campaign, recuse himself from the recount process.

The campaigns are taking donations towards the recount fee at http://www.votecobb.org/ and https://badnarik.org/

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Desire For Change, Continued

Posted by Murph on 12. November 2004

Last week’s meeting in the Union’s Tap Room (see To all who have felt a desire for change)is to be continued (or replayed for those who couldn’t make the first, it’s unclear) this Saturday.

There will be another gathering of people ready for change in our world. Thevfirst step is to create connections across the widespread similarities of desire for this country and beyond. Come discuss how to do this, and what future steps might be.

Only in solidarity,
7 pm, Saturday, the 13th, Tap Room, Basement of the Union.

The organizer of this meeting, as the last one, is Oren Goldenberg, ogoldenb@umich.edu, 248-224-9063

Meanwhile, according to the Daily, more traditional campus political groups are also expecting increased participation in their organizations in the wake of the election.

GEO RALLY FOR WORKERS RIGHTS ON CAMPUS

Posted by MarkDilley on 12. November 2004

At Noon on FRIDAY on the Diag . . .

Representatives from All Campus Unions will be speaking in Support of:
GEO workers contract platform
Proposal 2 won’t stop them,
the University’s hardline positions won’t stop them
from demanding their rights!
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT AT NOON

Bargaining begins tomorrow on a contract including issues such as:

*no increased cost to heath care

*Eliminate transgender exclusions in health care

*Eliminate disparities in eligibility for health care for domestic
partnerships

*a living wage for all employees

*include “gender identity” and “gender expression” in the
non-discrimination clause

*make International GSI training more flexible and prohibit threats of
deportation

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Greeks Go BYO

Posted by Murph on 11. November 2004

The Michigan Daily reports that the IFC and Panhel will be voting by Dec 1 on a new social policy that would require all guests to Greek parties to bring their own alcohol and check it at an alcohol depot within the house.

All alcohol brought into parties could be checked at a depot inside the fraternity, where it would be held for the partygoer. Since the fraternity member is storing, not serving alcohol, they are not liable for an overly intoxicated person, said the members of the executive boards of IFC and Panhel.

Currently, the insurance company for all fraternities says that houses must have partygoers bring their own alcohol, but this provision has not been followed. The proposed policy aims to align party actions with the insurance company’s rules.

The amount of alcohol allowed in the houses would be primarily based on how much a person can consume, effectively setting a limit of a 12-pack of beer or a single pint of 80-proof alcohol per person.

For safety reasons, only plastic bottles would be allowed. Drinks would be checked at the door and marked with a sticker, which would verify that alcohol is brought in from outside.

The policy would also set size limits on parties, and define the number of Social Responsibility Committee monitors required for each size.

Meanwhile, the Daily editorial staff has decried the investigation of hazing in the Greek system, suggesting that the University has not successfully shown cause for an investigation.

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Justice Scalia to Address Law School, Nov. 16th

Posted by Ari Paul on 11. November 2004

From the U-M Press Center:

EDITORS: No audio or videotaping will be permitted during the lecture. The question-and-answer session following the talk will be the only time reporters can ask the speaker questions.

DATE: 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004

EVENT: U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia will give the DeRoy Lecture for the University of Michigan Law School.

President Ronald Reagan nominated Justice Scalia to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986. Justice Scalia had previously served on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel.

A well-known conservative jurist, he has also served as a professor of law at the University of Virginia and the University of Chicago, a scholar in residence at the American Enterprise Institute and a visiting professor of law at Georgetown University and Stanford University.

PLACE: Rackham Auditorium, 915 East Washington, Ann Arbor.
Central campus map: http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/ccamp.html >

CONTACT: Nancy Marshall, (734) 764-6375

SPONSOR: The DeRoy Fellowship Program, which was established to bring distinguished lawyers and public figures to the Law School to support its educational mission. The Detroit-based DeRoy Testamentary Foundation funds the program.

WEB LINKS:
For more information about the Law School:
http://www.law.umich.edu/

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