Seems our neighbors down west had some unclaimed homework assignments:
”That’s not what’s meant by extra credit”
ANN ARBOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Students in a University of Michigan biology project had been assigned to grow herbs, vegetables, annuals and perennials. Police are trying to find out whether someone’s green thumb also was being used to grow pot. ….
Posted in In the media..., Security and Safety
Look up to the sky tomorrow night and witness the last total lunar eclipse until December, 2010! Tomorrow night, the moon will start to be eclipsed at 8:43PM and enter totality at 10:01PM. It’ll exit totality at 10:51PM. During totality it should appear as a nice reddish-orange moon in the sky. If you catch it right as it’s entering or exit totality you might even witness some shades of blue and turquoise!
Sherzer will be open during this event, so come on up and take a look at the moon during the eclipse through one of our telescopes. It’s going to be quite cold out, so make sure you bundle up for the event.
Posted in College Fun, EMU Events, Student Life
Eastern Michigan University is as much governed by rumor as it ever has been these days, despite the promises of transparency by VP Don Loppnow and members of the Board of Regents. One of the current rumors, which I’ve heard from sources inside and outside the Administration, is that due to the reported enrollment shortfall, the Administration is going to implement mid-year budget cuts, and that they will amount to $3 million or more to reductions in expenditures within the Division of Academic Affairs (yeah, the unit of the University that provides what students come to college for – learning and academic credit for learning). So, here’s an open post for everyone in EMUTalk’s orbit and in the wider university community: What have you heard about these cuts? Are they gonna happen? Are the cuts going to be the excuse for drastic reorganization of the university into “mega-departments” with little or no faculty input? Are the cuts mere rumors, or proposals from the Business & Finance Division that are not going to materialize? If there’s nothing to these cuts, why are so many lower level and mid level administrators so convinced that they are coming soon – and so demoralized about having to cut further? One version of the rumor is that these are cuts to the fiscal 2007-08 budget (yes, the year we’re in now), and another rumor is that they are proposed cuts to next year’s budget. I don’t know what the actual truth is. I do know three things: EMU’s finances are strong enough that no drastic budget cutting is necessary (last year’s cuts were costly mistakes that harmed EMU’s ability to compete); second, the officials in charge of EMU’s budgetary processes have a proven record of failure and cannot be trusted to manage the University’s finances and spending decisions; and third, that the current rumors over the cuts are extremely costly in terms of morale in all ranks of the university. And faculty, staff, and administrative morale is one of Eastern’s most scarce resources; it’s been under attack by Welch Hall officials almost continuously for two years. What say you all about more budget cuts when the university officials cannot even accurately project costs or revenue? And if you object to an open discussion based on what I admit are undocumented rumors — well, then your objections are better directed at the officials who started this cycle of rumor and fear, and who cannot publicly put forward facts to settle the rumors and calm the fears.
Posted in Academics, Board of Regents, Budgets
There is an interview of African American Studies professor Ron Woods in the Ann Arbor News today. See
“Q&A: Black History Month’s History”
By LIZ COBBS
February is Black History Month, which recognizes the achievements of black people and those of African descent. While it’s now a month-long celebration, it was first observed as a week. Ronald C. Woods, professor of African American Studies at Eastern Michigan University, and president of the board of the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County, discusses the history behind Black History Month. …
Posted in Faculty Life, In the media...
I am actually on the road right now– a long story I will spare for now. I know someone on a mailing list who teaches there, so I heard some of the bits and pieces of the story before today, and in the course of about 16 hours of driving, I listened to several bits of news of the Northern Illinois University shootings. I’m sure you’ve all heard these things already too.
Anyway, I know all of our thoughts go out to folks at NIU, and I thought I’d post in the “read more” section a few stories here from the Chronicle of Higher Education’s blog coverage.
Continue reading
Posted in In the media..., Security and Safety
Another fine EMU theater production is underway this weekend (and last weekend too, when I saw it). It’s a musical review, a Broadway hit from a generation ago, but this production includes excellent dancing (by EMU students Matt Andersen & Emily D’Annunzio). The music is American popular music from the 1930s & 1940s, and quite well done by the vocal ensemble (Maxim Hunt, Kelley Stonebraker, Gannon Styles & Jenny Tocco). From the first number, “Chattanooga Choo-Choo,” and on thru many others, including a terrific “Facinating Rhythm” and “Ain’t Misbehaving” and a medley of WWII popular songs, it’s a great performance. “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” was fun, and I loved the gospel number “Operator”, as well as the Saturday night blues piece “Give me a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer”. Oh, also, a “Fine Romance”, and the dancing – of many types, including tap – was a creative addition to the original review’s design. Directed by Prof. Wallace Bridges, who last year directed a great Brecht production, “The All Night Strut” is scheduled to be performed this summer at the Idlewild Theater in Baldwin, Michigan, which Prof. Bridges started up a few years ago, as a tribute to the great Afro-American resort community that flourished up there a half century ago. And the 3 piece band did an unbelievable job of recreating the sound and feeling of a “big band”: R. MacKenzie Lewis was the leader and on piano, Ted Ribbens on bass, and “Mike “El Nino” Draffen on drums. And a terrific stage design – art deco! Get your tickets now – just three more Ypsilanti performances before this show goes on the road! EMU box office 487-2282, or www.emich.edu/public/cta/ted.
Posted in Academics, College Fun, EMU Events, Faculty Life, Student Life
This is actually a post I had thought about doing for some time now, but I was inspired to do so after an entry on the blog of a local-yokel friend of mine over at Visions of Ypsi. These are slightly cleaned-up, a slightly revised version of what I would humbly propose as “The Rules for Riding the Elevators in Pray-Harrold Hall.” Of course, this is a draft; feel free to comment.
Continue reading
Posted in Buildings and Grounds, College Fun, Faculty Life, Student Life
Check out “New magazine spotlights EMU” on the AAN Blog (and probably in the paper yesterday or today, but I’m just guessing). It’s a nice piece about one of the new magazine’s founder (and I believe the chief editor-type) Balil Saeed. Besides doing a good thing with this start-up magazine, it sounds like Saeed is on the way to being an Ypsi entrepreneur/mogul.
Posted in In the media..., Student Life
See this link on academic dress: http://insidehighered.com/views/2008/02/08/jensen
I support the notion of an academic uniform — lab coat, academic regalia, whatever. I’m all for simplifying, but not when it comes to losing presence. Note, the rules for female academics: 1. avoid poufy sleeves, 2. dress frumpily, 3. act like an old fart. That’s me.
There is a lot to the premise that one must dress properly in order to be taken seriously. Human nature cannot be educated away.
The poll is now open for the worst dressed department on campus. I vote for computer science.
Posted in Faculty Life
This info, in a mass email from Ward Mullens:
February 8, 2008
To: Members of the Eastern Michigan University Campus Community
From: Regents Jim Stapleton and Roy Wilbanks, Co-Chairs of the
Presidential Advisory Search CommitteeDear Members of the EMU Community:
Earlier today, the Presidential Advisory Search Committee (PASC) conducted its sixth meeting, and second of 2008, in a continuing effort to identify the next leader for Eastern Michigan University. The Committee met for three hours and reviewed the applications and qualifications of several individuals who submitted their interest to the Compass Group (the firm retained by the Board of Regents to assist in the Presidential search). The meeting was quite productive and a significant step in the process.
It is the intention of the Committee (with the assistance of the Compass Group) to identify those candidates the Committee intends to formally and personally interview for the position before the end of this month.
Posted in EMU President Search
