Arbor Update

Campus

U-M e-mail is sh*t; will flush by 8PM

Posted by Brian Kerr on 23. September 2004

A mysterious U-M e-mail outage began at 10:30 AM; approximately thirty minutes ago, a resolution time of 8:00 PM was posted to the web mail splash page.

Time for an Arbor Update gmail invite exchange?

Comment [7]

Local

Beth Israel Raises Money for Magen David Adom USA

Posted by Ari Paul on 23. September 2004

Beth Israel, which has been the target of protests from the anti-Israel group Jewish Witnesses for Peace, has currently raised over $65 per picketer per week, which will be given to the Israeli Red Cross.

“As of today, we have 146 donors who have given $6007.50,” a Beth Israel official said in an email. He says he wants to “Transform this negative into a positive by raising money for Magen David Adom USA, the Israeli Red Cross, turning our frustration over the picketers into constructive action.”

JWP has weekly protests against Israeli occupation of Palestinian land outside Beth Israel. The temple argues that it has no official ties to the Israeli government.

Comment [1]

Local

Planning Commission Tables North Main Condo Proposal

Posted by Brandon on 22. September 2004

“We just want this project to die and go away.”
-Chris Crockett, Old Fourth Ward Association president.

A story from the print edition of today’s Ann Arbor News documents last night’s meeting of the Ann Arbor Planning Commission:

A plan that was said to be an early test of the city’s ability to attract more residents to downtown Ann Arbor stalled Tuesday night after the Ann Arbor Planning Commission agreed with concerns of neighbors and business owners who said it was just too big.

The commission voted 8-0 to table a decision on the North Main Condominiums development, which would have brought a 14-story tower and a nine-story tower to what is generally a two-story neighborhood. The ambitious project would have put 150 multiple family residential units on North Main Street, north of Catherine Street and south of Kingsley Street.

At the meeting, NIMBY and other opposition to the project was strong:

About 50 people attended the meeting. All but one of the seven speakers during the public hearing opposed the plan. Residents and business owners attacked the project as out of character and too big, and they said it would overwhelm the neighborhood and squash the small-town charm of Kerrytown.

In the wake of voters’ approval of the “greenbelt” millage last year, there has been a general agreement among most city leaders and residents that to protect open space outside of Ann Arbor, more housing must be created within the already-urbanized area. As yesterday’s Planning Commission meeting shows, pro-density advocates will continue to face stiff neighborhood opposition to any sizable changes in the cityscape.

Comment [8]

Labor

Borders workers achieve tentative contract

Posted by MarkDilley on 22. September 2004

“It’s a basic contract – it’s a start,” said Don Seaquist, president of UFCW Local 789. He said the proposal includes a grievance procedure, seniority language and annual raises.

The 20 Borders employees have been waiting almost two years for an acceptable contract offer; they first won a National Labor Relations Board election to join Local 789 in October 2002.

Workers at the flagship store in Ann Arbor, Mich., ratified a contract in January after a seven-week strike.

via Workday Minnesota – thanks shaun!

Campus

"U" servers experience service interruption

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 22. September 2004

UPDATE – 2:04 AM: The servers are back on. The hour-long e-mail crisis for the technologically dependant is finally at an end.

Several minutes before 1:00 AM today (Wednesday, 9/21), the umich.edu web domain and all of its subdomains went offline without warning. This includes all access to mail – through web, pine, or 3rd party application.

This outage is espcially peculiar because of the subdomain outage (X.umich.edu – e.g. directory.umich.edu, engin.umich.edu). It is impossible to say whether this is simply a web connectivity problem or a problem with the internal functioning of the servers.

We’ll keep you posted…

Comment [1]

Campus

MSA brings Michael Moore to campus

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 22. September 2004

The Michigan Student Assembly’s Peace and Justice Commission has secured Michael Moore to speak September 29 at 7:30 pm in U-M’s Hill Auditorium.

[upcoming.org entry – notice the URL – very eerie]

Tickets will go on sale the morning of September 23 at 9:00 AM. They will only be available from the Michigan Union Ticket Office. Admission is $4 for students with ID and $5 for community members, with a limit of 4 tickets per person.

Questions about the event should be directed to pj.chairs@umich.edu.

Comment [3]

Campus

AATA seeking University feedback on service

Posted by Murph on 21. September 2004

In order to direct service expansions to improve the MRide service, AATA is seeking the feedback of University of Michigan staff, students, faculty, etc. Feedback will be used to direct service changes in January.

AATA is hosting four Drop-In Sessions to gather input on how AATA might improve our bus service to better meet your needs. The drop-in sessions are scheduled for:

• Monday 9/20 2-5 p.m. 2315 Towsley Center (upper level classroom located near Dow Auditorium)
• Thursday 9/23 4-7 p.m. Michigan Union – Crofoot Room (main floor – center hall near U Club)
• Tuesday 9/28 2-5 p.m. Michigan League – Room #4 (main floor – main hall) Wednesday 9/29 3-6 p.m.
• Pierpont Commons – Atrium (across from the Campus Information Center)

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) will make service changes and additions designed to improve service to the University of Michigan campus beginning January 23, 2005, as a result of its new five-year agreement with the University.

Please stop by and offer your suggestions for improving our bus service. If you are unable to attend, you may e-mail your ideas to AATA Manager of Service Development Chris White at cwhite@theride.org.

For further information on AATA service, go to AATA’s web site, www.theride.org

Local

CodePink: Women, Peace and Power

Posted by MarkDilley on 21. September 2004

A talk with international peace and human rights activist Medea Benjamin at the Common Language Bookstore

Wednesday September 22, 2004 – 7:30pm

Special guests, The Raging Grannies

via Ann Arbor Area Committee for Peace

Campus

U-M Students Launch Voter Registration Drive

Posted by Matt Hollerbach on 20. September 2004

With the modest goal of 15,000 new registrations before the fast approaching October 4 deadline, Voice Your Vote is taking unprecedented steps to get results. VYV, a commission of the Michigan Student Assembly, has linked itself with administrators and student organizations across campus in order to consolidate voter registration efforts on campus.

Starting last Friday, VYV is going door-to-door in the residence halls in what they are calling “Dorm Storm.” Dozens of volunteers with pre-prepared registration forms will knock on every single door over the next two weeks. Additionally, VYV is setting up shop on the diag to catch students as they cros campus on their daily routines.

And in an attempt to broaden the network of students working to register potential voters, VYV is offering student organizations $1 for every registration card turned in to the VYV office. This student org incentive is expected to yield major results.

So far, VYV has reported 3000 new registrations since school began, so they’ll have to work hard and fast to meet their goal by the Michigan registration deadline of October 4. After that, VYV will refocus to “get out the vote,” and ensure that every student on campus participates in the November 2 election.

Important Registration Info (from the VYV website):

• in Michigan, you must register by October 4
• out-of-state students can register in Ann Arbor
• anyone, including first time voters, may vote absentee

for more information, visit the Voice Your Vote website at www.mgovote.com

National

Help Utah Miners Win a Fair Election!

Posted by MarkDilley on 20. September 2004

Since October 2003, Utah JwJ has been building community support for the 74 workers at the Kingston-owned Co-Op mine who were illegally fired from their jobs. In July, the National Labor Relations Board ordered the Kingston family to reinstate the fired workers with back pay. Now, the NLRB is deciding who gets to vote in a union election – the workers who are being exploited, or members of the Kingston family who also work in the mine. Please take a moment to urge the NLRB not to allow Kingston family members to vote in the union election.

via Jobs With Justice