Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

LEO members ratify contract!

Posted by dilleym on 17. June 2004

By a huge margin

“The agreement provides significant raises in the minimum salaries paid to non tenure-track faculty, institutes a system of annual and promotional raises, and puts in place real job security for full-time and part-time lecturers alike, along with a system of layoff and recall based on expertise and seniority. The contract also extends summer health benefits to more lecturers. ”



Name a dozen "good restaurants" ...

Posted by Rob Goodspeed on 17. June 2004

The benefits of variety also help explain why many people are willing to pay more to live in big cities. Thanks to greater variety, urban dwellers get more for their money.

Professor Weinstein, who used to teach at the University of Michigan, explains it this way: “In Ann Arbor, you have maybe a dozen good restaurants to choose from, and in New York you probably have several thousand good restaurants to choose from. Yet when you compute the price of a meal, you don’t take that at all into account.”

> NYTimes: “The economic value of variety”

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Sidewalks, Not Freeways

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 17. June 2004

The Metro Times (Detroit’s alternative weekly paper) has a great feature this week titled Driven to destruction. It discusses the many positive developments in the city recently, including increasing average income, decreases in the numbers of children living in poverty and the growing influx of talented young people. It juxtaposes the plans to expand Detroit’s freeways and its drive-in/drive-out urban “renewal” strategies with other approaches having positive impacts in the city (and other cities) and the proposed rail line between Detroit, the airport and Ann Arbor.

News

Posted by Rob Goodspeed on 16. June 2004

Here are some stories of note from the Ann Arbor News:

> AANews: “Suspected drug dealer charged in fatal overdose”
> AANews: “U-M athletes’ house burns” (Photo of house)
> AANews: “Eastern President Resigns”

This from the Freep story already cited on this site:

“Death’s specter grows

Ann Arbor Detective Bill Stanford never knew Jennifer Andrews during her short, troubled life. But it is his job to investigate Gardenhire’s alleged role in her death.

Andrews had lived in foster care in her native Alaska and been adopted as a teenager, Stanford said. She moved to Adrian and had been studying to be a paramedic. But recently Andrews had been living at a treatment center for women addicts on South State Street, about five blocks from the Packard house, until shortly before her March 14 overdose.

“We believe her death is directly related to Gardenhire’s illegal narcotics business,” Stanford said. “She never caught a break. She was a young girl who didn’t deserve to die the way she died. She was trying to do well.”

Glynis Anderson ran the drug rehabilitation center where Andrews had been staying. She declined to comment on Andrews, citing client confidentiality policies. But Anderson is alarmed by the resurgence of heroin. Five clients or former clients have overdosed in the last six months, she said.

“Heroin is on the rise in the last four years all over, not just in Washtenaw County,” Anderson said. “But prevention programs are targeting lower classes and it’s the middle-class kids who are buying and selling it.

“That house is getting attention because it’s next to U-M,” Anderson said, referring to the Packard house. “But there are plenty of other drug houses in Washtenaw County not getting attention. If we’re going to clean it up, we need to clean it up all over.”

"The Michigan Difference"

Posted by Rob Goodspeed on 16. June 2004

The college of LSA recently sent a link to this Flash animation, titled “The Michigan Difference,” to a group of alumni as part of the University’s fundraising campaign.

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Republican National Convention

Posted by Rob Goodspeed on 15. June 2004

This year’s Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York city from August 30th through September 2nd. Holding their annual meeting in the heart of a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 5 to 1, and moving the event back to be closer to September 11th has made it the target of an unusual amount of protest planning. One group, called United for Peace and Justice, applied for a permit with the New York City Police department seeking permission to hold a march of 250,000 people up Seventh Avenue to Central Park where they would hold a massive rally. While police have denied that permit, many others are pending Other groups planning protest actions include Counter Convention and RNCNotWelcome.org.

Convention organizers are working closely with the New York City Police and a variety of federal agencies to create the tightest security of any convention in U.S. history, an effort which will put over 10,000 uniformed NYPD officers on the streets for the days of the convention. The convention organizers are spending over $100 million on the television spectacle.

U-M students are, of course, planning to send a delegation. To learn more, contact nphelps at umich.edu or emmallen at umich.edu.

To read more about the event, see Newsday’s “When terrorism fears, delegates, protesters, toursits and commuters converge in August, the results will be steamy – to say the least”

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Ann Arbor Voters Approve Bond, Levy

Posted by Scott Trudeau on 15. June 2004

From the Ann Arbor News :

Ann Arbor school district voters resoundingly approved two tax levies Monday that will pay for a new high school and a host of other school improvements and purchases over the next several years.

Voter turnout – 14.4 percent of registered voters – was the highest for an Ann Arbor school election since 1993.

The $205 million bond to build a new high school and fund a host of other projects passed with a 61% majority. The sinking levy passed with 73% of the vote.

Also in the News:

> Ann Arbor schools millage details
> Unofficial voting results

The unofficial results published by the news indicated incumbent Helen Gates-Bryant defeated incumbent Theresa Han-Markey by a margin of 1085 votes with 54% for the open school board seat.

Library board winners are incumbents
Edward Surovell (7,433), and David Cahill (5,962), and newcomers Margaret Leary (7,484) and Rebecca Head (6,504). Bill Finch (4,105) and incumbent J.D. Lindeberg (4,582) lost.

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MacKaye's New Project to Rock Teen Center

Posted by Ari Paul on 15. June 2004

The Evens, the new project of ex-frontman of Fugazi and Minor Threat Ian MacKaye, will be performing at the Neutral Zone, Ann Arbor’s teen-oriented (read: drug-free) fun spot on June 20th at 6:30 pm.

For more info contact radart at umich.edu.

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SAPAC event time change

Posted by on 15. June 2004

Show your support for stopping the SAPAC “reoganization” at the…

BOARD OF REGENTS MEETING
Thurs, June 17th at 3PM (time change!)
Great Lakes Room
Palmer Drive Commons Bldg
~~ SHOW UP DRESSED IN BLACK ~~

OVC has recently made progress in working with the administration! This is encouraging, but now we need to prove that students still care. We have several powerful speakers lined up. Now we NEED YOU! We need to pack the room on June 17th with supporters dressed in black.

COME AND BRING ALL YOUR FRIENDS ON JUNE 17th.
COME DRESSED IN BLACK TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!

Not sure where the Palmer Drive Commons Building is?
Go to this page for directions

Comment [2]

New Writers Wanted!

Posted by Rob Goodspeed on 15. June 2004

Arborupdate.com is a community-based, group-edited news blog targeting the Ann Arbor and University of Michigan communities. Since two of our core editors will be moving away from Ann Arbor at the end of the summer, the site is accepting applications for new writers. We are looking to recruit a first, second, or third year U-M student interested in working on an innovative and exciting project. No advanced computer skills are required. We are also interested in broading the diversity of interests and backgrounds of our writers. If you are interested, please send your name, a brief bio, and a brief description of why you would be a good addition to the group to arborupdate at umich.edu.

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