Obama to give speech at Michigan’s most expensive public university about “college affordability”

Posted on January 26, 2012 by | 5 Comments

Look, I’m definitely going to vote for Obama in this election and I am definitely a supporter.  But I have to say that I would have had a different headline to the story as it was posted on annarbor.com, “Roughly 3,000 tickets for Obama speech up for grabs today at 9 am.”  I realize that U of M is the big draw, but you would think this might be an opportunity for a more affordable university– say, one that had a 0/0/0% campaign– to have the chance to be on the national stage as a model for keeping costs down.

Just goes to show you what incentives places like EMU really have to be the cheapest game in town….

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Posted in Ann Arbor, Budgets, In the media..., University of Michigan

Something I will NOT be doing– but a good cause

Posted on January 25, 2012 by | 1 Comment

I came across this via Facebook here and then discovered this web site for the annual Ford Lake Frozen Leap, http://frozenleap.com/ This is an annual fundraiser that involves, as the name might suggest, jumping into a frozen Ford Lake.  This year’s event is going to benefit SOS Community Services.

The “Leap” itself will be on February 11, but the great local restaurant Beezy’s is going to be donating 10% on the Saturday before this, February 4 to SOS and I suppose as a kick-off to the Leap.  Now, this I might do.

Given the weather this winter, it might be just the unpleasantly cold Ford Lake leap, but a good cause nonetheless.

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Posted in College Fun, Ypsilanti

In more library plumbing news…

Posted on January 22, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Once again, Provost Kim Schatzel has sent around an update about the busted pipe in the basement in Halle (which I include below), and it would seem that the library and physical plant people are on top of it all and making good progress on the repairs.  Two things that occur to me now:

  • I’m pretty impressed with Schatzel’s swiftness and directness about keeping people informed about all this.  It bodes well, IMO.
  • There’s been some kind of problem with water, plumbing, leaking, etc. in the auditorium in the library for years, and along with this issue, I do have to wonder if there isn’t some kind of serious contractor/construction issue that is now making itself visible.  I’m not sure there’s much recourse at this stage since the building has been open for at least a dozen years now, but this might be something to follow.

Schatzel’s message after the jump:

Continue reading →

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Posted in Administrator Life, Buildings and Grounds, Halle Library

“Shit goes down” in Halle

Posted on January 19, 2012 by | 11 Comments

When I received new Provost Kim Schatzel’s email about the busted plumbing in Halle Library last night (see below for the full text of the message), I was reminded of a conversation I had with a neighbor of mine once.  This guy is a retired foreman from the Ypsilanti Community Utility Authority, Ypsi’s water and sewer provider.  For some reason, we were having an “over the backyard fence” conversation about remodeling basements and he was explaining to me why it’s never a good idea to spend a lot of money on a project like that.  ”We got a saying in the sewer business, Steve,” he said: “Shit goes down.”

The short version is it it seems a big drain pipe fell off of some supports in the basement and bad things happened.  Among other things, Provost Schatzel’s email says that the repairs are estimated to take a month (which I interpret as meaning at least a month, maybe more), and, during this reconstruction period, we can expect noise and “possibly odors.”  Ugh.  It sounds like it is just one of those terrible things that sometimes happens, but it also sounds like it’s going to be pretty unpleasant in Halle for a while.

Anyone working over there have any more insight?

By the way, I think this is the first email I’ve received from our new provost.  Welcome aboard, Kim!  See the full text after the jump.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Administrator Life, Buildings and Grounds, Halle Library

FWIW: EMUTalk.org is going on strike tomorrow

Posted on January 17, 2012 by | 3 Comments

In support of the Internet protest against the crazily dangerous/bad/insane legislation known as SOPA (and the only slightly less evil PIPA), EMUTalk.org is going on strike tomorrow.  Or at least that’s my intent– hopefully I installed the code correctly.  Anyway, if it doesn’t work, it’s the fault of my technical inabilities.

Click those links above to learn more, or read through this press release from the Wikimedia Foundation (aka Wikipedia, which is also going dark tomorrow), this helpful Q&A from CNET, this Cory Doctorow post on Boing-Boing, and the STRIKE AGAINST SOPA page.  Though you should look at these things today….

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Posted in EMUtalk.org News, In the media...

“Dear Student…” (solid advice every grade-hungry student should read)

Posted on January 17, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Via the Facebooks comes “Dear Student:  I don’t Lie Awake At Night Thinking of Ways to Ruin Your Life,” a piece published on Forbes.com.  It’s thoughtful and even-keeled advice for students who think that grades are something more than they are, an evaluation of how well someone does (or doesn’t) do in a class.  For example, there’s this:

I’m here to be a mentor and instructor. This means that our relationship differs from the relationships that you have with your friends and family. Please don’t infer from this that I don’t care about you, because I do. A lot. I want to see you make good choices. I want to see you understand basic economics because I hope it will rock your world as it continues to rock mine and because the human consequences of lousy economic policy are enormous. That said, you should never take grades personally. I don’t think you’re stupid because you tank an exam, an assignment, or even an entire course.Economics is hard. A D or an F on an economics exam does not diminish your value in God’s eyes (or in mine) or indicate that economics just isn’t for you. It probably means you need to work smarter, and I’m here to help you with that.

 

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Posted in Academics, Faculty Life, In the media..., Student Life

Halle closed due to water pipe break in the basement

Posted on January 16, 2012 by | 4 Comments

This just in from Geoff Larcom:

Halle Library is closed for the rest of today (Monday, Jan. 16) due to a major water pipe break in the basement. This closure also includes the IT Help Desk. Anyone needing to report a critical IT issue before 5 p.m. today can call the IT Office at Pray-Harrold at 7-3141.

The status of the library will be updated later today or early Tuesday.

Oh-oh.  And this is not the first somewhat suspicious water pipe break incident in that building, either.

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds

“Michigan’s public universities see 24% increase in ‘unrestricted’ net assets”

Posted on January 16, 2012 by | Leave a comment

From the freep.com comes “Michigan’s public universities see 24% increase in ‘unrestricted’ net assets.”  Maybe it’s just me, but this seems to be a pretty muddled and confusing article to me.  It seems to be saying that public universities in Michigan have a lot of extra cash on hand, but then it points out that this extra “unrestricted” money is being used for one-time expenses.  In fact, the picture leading this story is of the renovated Pray-Harrold.

So maybe it’s my simplistic sense of money, but I am not completely seeing what the point is here.

I will say two things though.  First, remodeling/renovating Pray-Harrold has been in the work for years and years, certainly over more than one budget cycle.  And I also don’t think you’re going to find anyone on campus who thinks that the work that was done was somehow frivolous, as I think the article is implying.  Second, I suspect that this argument will come back this year in contract negotiations, as well it should.

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Posted in Administrator Life, Budgets, Buildings and Grounds, In the media..., Pray-Harrold Renovation Pool, State Government

“Romney Offers Praise for a Donor’s Business”

Posted on January 16, 2012 by | 1 Comment

An alert EMUTalk.org reader sent me a link to this Sunday New York Times story, “Romney Offers Praise for a Donor’s Business.”  I had seen the same piece and just kind of shook my head.  Let me quote at length the opening paragraphs:

At a town-hall-style meeting in New Hampshire last month, listeners pressed Mitt Romney on the soaring cost of higher education. His solution: students should consider for-profit colleges like the little-known Full Sail Universityin Florida.

A week later in Iowa, Mr. Romney offered another unsolicited endorsement for “a place in Florida called Full Sail University.” By increasing competition, for-profit institutions like Full Sail, which focuses on the entertainment field, “hold down the cost of education” and help students get jobs without saddling them with excessive debt, he said.

Mr. Romney did not mention the cost of tuition at Full Sail, which runs more than $80,000, for example, for a 21-month program in “video game art.”

Nor did he mention its spotty graduation rate. Or, for that matter, that its chief executive, Bill Heavener, is a major campaign donor and a co-chairman of his state fund-raising team in Florida.

You know, I wouldn’t have voted for Romney under any circumstances anyway.  But this is the sort of attitude/sliminess that worries me a lot about a President Mitt.

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Posted in Academics, In the media...

MLK day at EMU events

Posted on January 15, 2012 by | 1 Comment

I was just emailing a friend of mine and explaining that for Martin Luther King day tomorrow, EMU does not have classes but it is open for a “campus-wide celebration.”  You know, it occurs to me that maybe we should be open for classes tomorrow with more of an effort to try to get students to attend some of the various celebration events when they’re not in class, or to get folks who would be teaching tomorrow to do things that are MLK oriented.

I don’t know, just a thought.

Anyway, about what is going on tomorrow:  among other things (check out the link for various activities), the keynote speaker at 10 am is Lani Guinier who I know only as a controversial Bill Clinton nominee (she’s obviously known for a lot more than that).

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Posted in EMU Events