Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

The Daily's sex/race/taste problem

Posted by David Boyle on 3. December 2005

     Although the Daily’s had improvements lately, including timely corrections, e.g., admitting they spelled UM regent Katherine White’s name wrong (“Kathryn”): the recent Michelle Bien anti-affirmative-action cartoon (“white kid surrounded by blacks who have privileges he doesn’t”), even if not as bad as D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film “Birth of a Nation” racist iconography…well.
     Some questions:
     1. When was the last Daily editor-in-chief who wasn’t a white male? or a white person, period? Has there ever been one?
     2. On October 11, the same day the Daily noted “Survivors of Rwanda genocide to reunite” at the Raoul Wallenberg lecture, the Daily Arts section had on page 8 the blurb “WE’RE THERAPISTS AND ANALYSTS. ANALRAPISTS, IF YOU WILL.” Would survivors of Hotel Rwanda, the Holocaust, or Abu Ghraib think anal rape is funny?
     Could the blurb maybe also offend rape survivors or other people on campus? D’ya think?
     3. When is the next boycott of the Daily scheduled? (rhetorical question(?))
     Anyway, if the MD spent less time on its new “”blog”” etc. and maybe paid more attention to producing a decent paper on a consistent basis, that could be good. New media of communication are hardly of use, if you have little worthwhile to communicate in the first place…

Comment [65]

Living Economy Network launches new website for Buy Local Day

Posted by Murph on 1. December 2005

LEN has launched a new, much shinier website in time for Buy Local Day (this Saturday):

The over fifty local businesses that are part of the Living Economy Network have declared December 3rd Buy Local Day. They know that when locally-owned independent businesses do well, the community benefits from an increase in the money that stays circulating in the community, and an increase in nonprofit support. During the upcoming holiday season, LEN would like to encourage our community to support these businesses, and has released a directory of locally-owned businesses to make it easier to do so. This directory contains business listings, information about the benefits of supporting locally-owned businesses, and profiles of businesses and organizations that exemplify LEN’s Seven Reasons to Think Local First. Some participating businesses include Arbor Brewing Company, People’s Food Co-op, Shaman Drum Bookshop, and Kerrytown Market & Shops. See our website at www.ThinkLocalFirst.net for more information and a list of participating businesses.

EDIT: relatedly, retail consultant Robert Gibbs gave a lecture at the AADL on Tuesday, 29 November, addressing topics like Ann Arbor’s advantageous position in the retail market – we are about to be targeted by a very large amount of retail development, he says, retail development that would prefer to locate downtown, but will build malls in the townships if we block it out of downtown. Ann Arbor, he says, has the ability to push and pull this incoming development around and shape it how we want it to a significant extent, but we can’t stop it from coming.

Much of his talk was in a fairly open question-and-answer format – he was asked to talk about parking (important), about appropriate open spaces for downtown areas (smaller is better), about the role of affordable housing downtown in the success of local businesses (beneficial), about the ways that large anchor retailers can benefit the small local retailers around them (spillover business from new downtown shoppers), and about the need for Ann Arbor to actively market itself to retailers, in order to ensure that the ones we get are the ones we want most, and not the default that comes if we do nothing.

The prime quote of the evening came when he was asked just how much of a region’s retail activity might be located downtown. He reiterated that he’s not all that familiar with Ann Arbor’s specific desires, but that “some cities decide they want to bring all the retailers downtown and eliminate suburban strips entirely – other cities say, ‘We just want to buy kites and scented candles downtown; for anything we need, we’ll go out to the mall.’”

I recorded the lecture on my iPod – please excuse the occasional whine audible as the iPod spins up its hard drive – and we’ve uploaded it as a 90 minutes, 20MB mp3: Robert Gibbs at AADL, 29 November 2005.

Comment [9]

MSA's performance, respectability questioned by new parties

Posted by Murph on 1. December 2005

The Daily reports that several students are in the process of creating new parties to challenge the dominant “Students 4 Michigan” in the Michigan Student Assembly:

Nowinski, a former member of MSA’s Budget Priorities Committee, is forming the Michigan Progressive Party and planning to run on a platform based on “better housing and better classes.” The “better housing” end of the platform entails the maintenance of better MSA relations with the city in order to have an influence on housing issues, including lease dates and parking restrictions.

“MSA has a tremendous amount of lobbying power to change these things,” he said.
. . .
With its entire executive committee already assembled and its platform almost entirely formulated, MPP is well on its way to developing a full slate for the April 2006 MSA elections.

Radina, a member of the College Democrats, is forming the Michigan Students for Progress Party. The party is still in the works, with only a handful of students involved in its development, but Radina plans to field candidates for every position in this April’s elections.

(The Progressive Front of Michigan and the Michiganian Progressive Front could not be reached for comment.)

Clark Ruper, an LSA sophomore and vice chair of Young Americans for Freedom, has also expressed interest in forming a new party. The Abolish MSA Spending Party would run on the platform of “decreasing funding and controlling spending with the end goal of eliminating MSA discretionary spending,” Ruper wrote in a letter to the Daily. Ruper could not be reached for comment.

Comment [24]

Darfur gallery opening 7 p.m. tomorrow December 1st

Posted by David Boyle on 30. November 2005

     Tomorrow night, UM STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) will be having a gallery opening at 7 p.m. in the Art Room of the Michigan Union. Should be interesting and informative.
     In the gallery, there will be art drawings by Darfurian refugee children. Also, there will be more information, not to mention ways to get involved in the effort to stop the genocide in Darfur; t-shirt order forms; and buttons for sale.
     As for divestment: UM has recently claimed it has no investments in Sudan and “no plans” (?) to invest there, but that doesn’t tally with the UM financial office previously saying merely that they weren’t invested in a particular couple companies that operate in Sudan. Have asked them when they determined they were fully divested, haven’t heard back yet… Nor have the Regents pledged not to invest in Sudan, despite the MSA request for such a pledge, a la New Jersey and other states passing laws preventing investment in Sudan. “Oh well, it’s just mass genocide.”

Comment [3]

Calthorpe to present recommendations to City Council, Monday 5 Dec

Posted by Murph on 30. November 2005

Calthorpe Associates will be presenting their recommendations to City Council on Monday, 5 December, at the beginning of the Council meeting (7pm at City Hall). The consultants’ draft report (pdf) is available on the City’s website.

Comment [125]

Tuesday Nights - Goodnight Gracies

Posted by MarkDilley on 30. November 2005

Wow, what a cool scene Tuesday night at Goodnight Gracie – (below Live at PJ’s). Spinning the beats were the atmosphere dj’s: Scotty Styles, Robert Lowell and Aarnio. (on the local music label – Ghostly International)

> the flier

Comment [3]

U-M Hillel Bans Coke Products

Posted by Ari Paul on 30. November 2005

A little belated, but still newsworthy. The University of Michigan Hillel, a Jewish student center, has banned Coca-Cola products.

The Michigan Daily has the story:

Coca-Cola is also under fire at the University, where the campus chapter of Hillel voted last week to ban all Coke products at Hillel-sponsored events, saying Coke’s labor practices in India and Colombia are not in line with Jewish values of labor rights and environmental justice.

“As a member of the (Coke Campaign) coalition and of the Jewish community, I am excited that Hillel is taking a stand on this issue,” said RC junior and Hillel member Jory Hearst. “I think it will serve as a great influence in the Michigan community.”

Comment [7]

Hunger Strike in Flint

Posted by MarkDilley on 29. November 2005

I learned about this from Blackbox Radio when going there to check out their report regarding the new Mott Children’s Hospital.

In Flint, students are entering a 2nd week of protest outside the Michigan School for the Deaf. Ryan Commerson, a former teacher at the school, began his hunger strike named “starving for access” last week to call for better education for students, the hiring of a deaf principal, and employing staff members who are fluent in American Sign Language. The local protest has gained national attention and has been joined by a deaf and blind man from Minnesota and a deaf school counselor from Washington, D.C.

On Monday, 43 out of the 160 students at the school were suspended for participating in the protest. Senior-class President Tar Burt says the school needs to change but is resistant to calls for better conditions. Earlier in the week school officials said they had offered to talk with Mr. Commerson but that he canceled a meeting. Commerson has been on a diet of juice and water since last Monday. Updates of the ongoing protest can be found at starvingforaccess.blog.com

for the Mott Children’s Hospital info:

Since April of this year, plans have been underway to build a new Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan. The building plans have drawn criticism, however, due to environmental and health concerns. On fliers that have been circulating throughout Ann Arbor, opponents of the building plans explained that “the hospital system is the largest consumer of power in Ann Arbor. Emissions from the U of M power plant blow east over low-income Ypsilanti and Detroit Neighborhoods, where asthma rates are through the roof. Our children’s hospital has a special responsibility to provide healthcare without harm.”

The flier went on to explain the benefits of a greener facility, such as cleaner indoor air and natural light to help kids heal while they are hospitalized.

Mott’s peer institution in Pittsburgh, which is currently planning on a green built facility for about $200 per square foot less than U of M’s proposed structure, was also cited as evidence of green building’s economic feasibility. Residents are urged to contact Mott leaders and show their support for an environmentally friendly Mott Children’s Hospital.

Bravo folks… nice work.

Comment [4]

Downtown Parking Survey

Posted by Juliew on 28. November 2005

From the Ann Arbor District Library Director’s Blog:

The Main Street Area Association is sponsoring a parking survey to find out how YOU feel about parking in the downtown. The survey will be active Friday, November 18 until December 10.

In addition to survey forms and boxes placed in downtown businesses, including the lobby of the Downtown Library, an online survey will be available at the Chamber of Commerce website.

The survey is short and to the point. Responses will help us all understand how our community currently perceives downtown parking.

I haven’t seen many of the forms and boxes downtown and I can’t find the survey linked off of either the Chamber site or the Main Street Area Association site. Thanks to the Library for posting this information!

Comment [13]

Graduate Worker Strike at NYU

Posted by MarkDilley on 25. November 2005

If you haven’t seen the new show on Comedy Central, The Colbert Report, you should. (it is on the internet too) One of the segments is great, as it does a little free association. Here I present that for you. NYU—> Graduate Employee—> UM.

The education system, the media, religious institutions, and the labor movement itself have all failed to properly draw attention to the importance of unions or even accurately portray what a union is. First of all then, I’ll share some thoughts on unions to illustrate why I believe the workers’ cause at NYU deserves your support.

Brushing aside the jargon, legalese, and rhetoric, a union is simply a group of workers looking out for each other in the face of a highly organized employer. Certainly, forming a union is partially about bread and butter and GSOC at NYU has fought for significant gains in wages and health care. It should be axiomatic that a worker deserves decent compensation whether or not that worker is also a student. However, NYU doesn’t see it that way and without a union presence sooner or later it will make a move to roll back these material gains.

But forming a union is about much more than bread and butter. Organizing a union is how workers move towards democracy on the job and away from the notion that we shed our right to liberty when we walk through the factory, shop, or university door. John Sexton attempted to enfeeble the union by offering to enter into a contract regarding financial issues but not over working conditions. He primarily wanted to do away with the independent grievance procedure that enables union employees to meaningfully redress problems that arise on the job. GSOC rightly scoffed at Sexton’s public relations-driven offer, as he must have known they would.


via IWW

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