In the News

UM team places 3rd in world in solar powered car race

Source: Great Lakes IT Report, 11/5/2009

A bunch of University of Michigan kids just traveled 1,880 miles through Australia. Not backpacking, however, but powering a solar powered car in an international race. And, as if that wasn't enough, the UM team came up third.

Excerpt:

Though the students who raced Infinium hoped to be the best in the world, or at least the best in UM history, they say they're happy sharing statistics with impressive cars from the past. Michigan finished third in the World Solar Challenge in 1990, 2001, and 2005 and is the reigning North American Solar Challenge champion. The team has won that race five times.

"We still ran a great race," said interim project manager Steve Durbin, a senior aerospace engineering major "We have a reliable car. We didn't meet our overall goal of finishing first, but we proved we are one of the top teams in the world by placing so well in the competition."

Durbin credits the team's dedication and technology for the solid performance. Through the summer, a core of 20 team members worked 80-hour weeks to get the car ready to race. And a state-of-the-art lithium battery donated by A123 Systems helped Infinium achieve a high average speed approaching 60 mph.

Read the entire article here.

Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor bicyclists and motorists need mutual respect

Source: AnnArbor.com, 11/5/2009

Bicycles and cars are both vehicles, it's just that one is a lot more lethal than the other. So, as Ann Arbor looks to add another 26 miles of on-road bike lanes over the next few years, car drivers will need to keep an eye out, and an eye on, cyclists.

Excerpt:

On the AnnArbor.com Web site, this has been one of the most commented-on topics, and the discussion has been unsettling in what it has revealed about the lack of tolerance between those who travel on four wheels and those who travel on two.

Given that Ann Arbor plans to add another 26 miles of on-road bicycle lanes over five years, along with other efforts to encourage more bike use, it is essential that we as a community improve our level of bicycle and automobile safety.

If you ride a bike, you need to know the rules of the road, and obey them. The failure to stop at traffic lights or signal before you turn is not only unsafe, but results in ill will by motorists toward all cyclists.

Read the entire article here.

Biking

Ann Arbor

Women's lifestyle magazine launches in Oakland County

Source: Crain's Detroit Business, 11/5/2009

In a time when print media seems to be waning, a new mag pops up in Oakland County. It's a women's lifestyle magazine and its latest issue is out on newsstands now.

Excerpt:

Its owner and publisher is Marlanea Chestney of Royal Oak, formerly of the Hillsdale Daily News and Greater Media Detroit.

Maria Galloway of West Bloomfield is the editor and was most recently in advertising with Greater Media Detroit, a subsidiary of a Boston-based radio giant that owns three local stations.

"Our goal is to present a magazine that every woman can pick up and see herself within the pages," Galloway said in a statement today. "During these tough economic times, we count on our attitude and courage to get us through the challenges. We want to provide some positive inspiration to our readers."

Read the entire article here.

Oakland County , Quality Of Life

University of Michigan has Internet mojo

Source: Great Lakes IT Report, 11/5/2009

Got mojo? The University of Michigan does... on the Internet. In a national analysis of universities, UM beat out some pretty prestigious schools (that's not to say UM isn't prestigious) to get the No. 1 ranking when it comes to net coverage, traffic, and social media shout-outs.

Excerpt:

The University of Michigan has topped Harvard University and all other universities in the United States for the amount of public interest measured by media coverage, Internet traffic and social media mentions, according to an independent national analysis released this week.

Michigan (previously ranked fourth) was followed by MIT, Harvard (previously No. 1), Columbia University, the University of Chicago, the University of California-Berkley, the University of Wisconsin, Stanford University, the University of North Carolina and Cornell University.

The survey was part of Austin, Texas-based Global Language Monitor's newest Predictive Qualities Indicator survey using word analysis to measure media trends and "buzz.''

Global Language Monitor President Paul Payack attributed the shift in public sentiment to the 2008 financial markets meltdown that cost Harvard's endowment $11 billion, forcing Harvard and other elite privates that relied on endowments to make major cuts in 2009.

"There's been a flight to quality with increased interest in the Public Ivies like Michigan and Wisconsin as well as more interest in technology, which helped MIT climb from 16th in the previous survey,'' Payack said. "We look at this as a branding analysis, looking at the perceived attributes people are most interested in."

Read the entire article here.

Internet , The University Of Michigan

Ann Arbor

Michigan film incentives worth fighting for

Source: The Michigan Daily , 11/5/2009

There are people on both sides of the Michigan film incentive issue, but the bottom line for Michigan is that they've been successful. The Michigan Daily sits down with director Mike Manasseri to talk about what these incentives are worth to the state.

Excerpt:

Michigan's Film Tax Incentive is a provocative piece of legislation that has incited passion in many film buffs -- friends and enemies alike. The incentive's 40-percent tax-refundable credit for filmmakers is currently the highest offered in any state and has attracted many Hollywood-based and local productions. Famously, Clint Eastwood's film Gran Torino was shot in Michigan after the incentives were passed. Drew Barrymore's Whip It, a more recent example, was filmed in the greater Detroit area as well.

Some lawmakers, however, claim the state can't afford to keep making big payouts to filmmakers. There's a possibility that the incentive could be decreased or capped to curb state spending. Advocates of the bill in its original form argue that changes will only flaunt Michigan's economic instability, which could cause Hollywood to look for greener pastures.

Michigan director and producer Mike Manasseri shares these sentiments. But what sets him apart from other voices in the debate is his unmatched devotion to a simple cause: keep the incentive from changing.

Read the entire article here.

Film

Applications for Kresge Artist fellowships now available

Source: Kresge Foundation, 11/5/2009

Step right up, step right up! Are you a performing artist? Are you involved with literary arts? Well the Kresge Artist Fellowship is just for you... if you apply... and if you're accepted. Emerging or established artists in Metro Detroit can now apply for one of 18 $25,000 fellowships administered by the College for Creative Studies. Get your art on and apply.

For more information go here.

Arts & Culture

'Red Dawn' producer says films are good for business

Source: Fox News, 10/29/2009

Who needs California or New York when you have Michigan? Sure the winters are better on the west coast and the nightlife is dialed in at ten over in New York, but for a film production, Michigan has it all: Water, four seasons, rural, urban, and, more importantly, filming coupons (so to speak).

Excerpt:

It may surprise some people that filmmakers would want to shoot a movie in Michigan, instead of California or New York, though producers say the state's four seasons, great lakes and big city setting, make it an ideal location. But the biggest incentive: Cash. In April of last year, the state of Michigan enacted a special tax rebate of 42%, the largest in the country. Since then, the Michigan Film Office says business is booming. That means jobs--hundreds of them--both as part of making the films, or in supportive ways, such as set design, catering, or security.

"I think there is a big financial impact that we have on any location we're in. Whenever you bring in a couple hundred people with disposable income to a city, it's going to have an impact. Our people go to restaurants, they go to bars, they go to grocery store, they go to the mall on the weekends. They spend money and aside from that, we also employ people." says Tripp Vinson, Red Dawn's producer. Jobs are something the city of Detroit desperately needs right now, as the auto industry winds down. While Vinson wouldn't say exactly how much money is being saved by the tax incentive, he did admit that its in the millions.

Michigan Film Office Director Janet Lockwood says that's a major draw. "In 2007 when we did not have any incentives worth mentioning we took in perhaps, with creative mathematics, 2-million dollars for feature films. In 2008, in the 9 months that the incentives were in place, 125-million dollars"

Read the entire article here.

Film

Baltimore Sun discovers Metro Detroit is not a food desert

Source: Baltimore Sun, 10/29/2009

A Baltimore Sun writer visits Detroit and finds more than this empty city plastered across headlines. He saw restaurant after restaurant piled upon each other and discovered there is no food desert here.

Excerpt:

I went into Detroit, however, expecting to see much worse. I wasn't expecting to see crowded museums, or rush hour traffic in a city with such high unemployment, or restaurants of all types filled with diners. Nevertheless, that's what I saw. ...

It was probably the filled restaurants that surprised me the most. A lot has been written about how Detroit is a food desert, insofar as the city has no grocery stores. I figured a city that couldn't support grocery stores probably couldn't support its restaurants. But I visited restaurants throughout the city, the suburbs and the countryside. Every place I went had decent crowds.

Read the entire article here.

Dining , Food