Monthly Archives: January 2009

Work related injury at EMU? Drive out to Romulus

Posted on January 31, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Sorry again it’s been so quiet around here lately; I’m still super-duper busy with that whole work thing, though the project I’m working most intensely on is about to wrap up– with a happy ending, I suspect.

Anyway, I received an email just the other day about changes in workman’s comp insurance that I thought I would bring up here. Apparently, an email recently went around (I presume from Human Resources) informing personnel of the following:

“Effective immediately, any Eastern Michigan University employee who suffers a work-related injury and who requires non-emergency medical treatment should go to Midwest Health Center. Midwest Health Center is now the University’s designated health care provider for all work-related injuries. The health center is located at 9301 Middlebelt Road, in Romulus.”

Now, the form on the HR web site for “Occupational Illness or Injury” does make it clear that the seriously injured should “seek medical attention immediately” at the nearest emergency room, which I take to mean that if there is an emergency on campus at work, it’s okay to go to St. Joe’s or U of M.

Still, it’s pretty easy to imagine all kind of complications here. As the policy states, a non-emergency medical situation needs to treated at this place, which is out by the airport. Who is going to pick up the mileage for that trip? What if the medical situation is a little fuzzy, somewhere between “obvious emergency” and “non-emergency?”

And really, what sorts of “non-emergency” work-related injuries/illnesses would an employee treat with this service and not their regular insurance anyway? I mean, in my own line of work, I have a hard time drawing a line between work-related and life-related injuries of any sort, but suppose I had work-related pain in my hands from typing all day or back pain from my crappy office chair. If these things were an issue, I’d probably go and see my regular doctor at my convenience. If I had a real and honest to goodness work-related emergency (“ARG! I caught, mangled, and/or gashed my hand in the department photocopier!”), then I’d go to the emergency room. So really, is there such a thing at a place like EMU as “non-emergency” work-related injuries/illnesses?

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Posted in Faculty Life, Staff Life

Farewell, Don Loppnow

Posted on January 28, 2009 by | 1 Comment

I think this was something that was probably coming for a while now, but Provost Don Loppnow made it official in a letter sent out to EMU folks yesterday: he is stepping down as provost this coming May and, after a year off, he’ll wrap up his career in the classroom. By the way, this “retooling/sabbatical” year is standard stuff for administrators who have been out of the classroom for a long time, and it seems perfectly reasonable to me.

When I was a student, I never even knew what a Provost was; as a faculty person, I think it’s fair to say that the Provost and the associated staff pretty much run the academic side of things. So given that– along with the fact that Loppnow has been around EMU for a LOOONNNG time and has occupied some key roles in his time here– his stepping down is definitely a pivotal moment at EMU.

I’m not sure if President Martin is going to begin a search for a new Provost right away, if there is going to be an interim, or if she’s just going to appoint someone. My hope is that she chooses the first option since interims can be problematic and it would go over quite poorly with faculty and staff at EMU if she just picked someone. Don’s letter is after the “Read More” part.
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Posted in Academics, Administrator Life, Faculty Life, Staff Life

Suspect in the Sellers Hall stick-up

Posted on January 27, 2009 by | Leave a comment

I’ve been a tad busy today, so I am just now getting to some of my email updates. Here’s some news from the EMU DPS on those robberies in Sellers Hall:

The Eastern Michigan University Police Department has identified the suspect who used a gun during the armed robbery at Sellers Hall Jan. 23. An arrest warrant charging the suspect with armed robbery and felony firearm violation has been authorized by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office. The EMU Police Department is working closely with other area police agencies to attempt to locate and arrest this person.

The suspect has been identified as Michael Allen Johnson (date of birth 8/11/87). Johnson is not an EMU student and is believed to be somewhere in the Detroit area. He should be considered armed and dangerous.

The other two suspects in the case have not yet been identified.

The EMU Police Department has posted images of Johnson and the other suspects at the following link: http://www.emich.edu/publicsafety/robbery_jan09

Please call the EMU Police Department (734.487.1222) if you see Johnson or the other suspects or have additional information about any of them. Information can be left on the EMU Tipline 734.487-4TIP or 734.487.4847.

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Posted in Security and Safety

Cady’s Grill closes; new BBQ restaurant planned

Posted on January 27, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Via Eric 3.0, I learned this morning about this AANews article, “Cady’s Grill & Bar in Ypsilanti closes; new BBQ restaurant planned.” The owners, Bill and Sandee French (who I believe are related to Sidetrack owner Linda French), are going to convert the location into a BBQ placed they are going to call “Wild Willy’s.”

Personally, I am in the same camp as the first commentator on this AANews article: Cady’s went wrong when they tried to make the menu more “upscale” but then were not able to deliver on that.

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Posted in Blogosphere, In the media..., Ypsilanti

Bill Ayers at EMU?

Posted on January 26, 2009 by | 3 Comments

I know that Bill Ayers– the education professor and former 60s radical who was accused of being a terrorist who “paled around” with Obama– is going to be speaking at U of M today as part of a book tour. But I also read on Mark Maynard’s blog that he is going to be at EMU this afternoon, in the Kiva Room of the Student Center, from 2 to 4 pm. Anybody out there know anything about that?

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Posted in Blogosphere, EMU Events

Martin on the recent dorm armed robberies

Posted on January 25, 2009 by | 1 Comment

EMU spokesperson Ward Mullens sent around an email last night/this morning (12:30 am, I believe) as a “message from the president” about the recent armed robbery in the lobby of Sellers Hall. My basic take on this is Susan Martin’s philosophy for dealing with crime on campus is very straight-forward: simply do the opposite of our previous president, the “What would John Fallon NOT do?” approach.

By the way, there was also another crime alert about an off-campus armed robbery by three men. Kind of scary stuff out there.

After the “Read More” is what Susan Martin said:
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Posted in Buildings and Grounds, EMU President, Security and Safety

WCC might buy WCC

Posted on January 23, 2009 by | 6 Comments

Or, just to be a bit more clear: Washtenaw Community College might take over the Washtenaw Country Club, according to this article in the AANews. Here’s a quote:

“We’re not looking for a golf course, we’re not shopping for one and we’re not going to buy one,” [Washtenaw Community College President Larry] Whitworth said. “But given the fact that it’s right here and the debt is relatively small, we think it’s a smart thing to do.”

Should a turnover occur, the changes could be drastic.

Most notably, Whitworth said, the club would cease to be private and would start accepting public memberships and selling rounds of golf to non-members. Likewise, the club’s dining facilities would be open to all customers, enhancing opportunities for culinary arts students and presumably cutting down on paid staff since students work for class credit.

For the college, access to the golf course could mean the birth of a new transfer program in turf management to universities such as Michigan State and Ferris State.

The idea of moving its Culinary Arts program into the club’s kitchen has been tossed around as WCC’s on-campus fine-dining restaurant, Garrett’s, has struggled to attract outside patrons.

Now, as a golfer, I’m all for this. I’ve never played there and, given that I drive by the course nearly every day and it is almost within walking distance from my house, I am curious to see what it’s like.

But I do have to wonder. Why isn’t EMU involved in this at all? Where exactly is WCC getting the money to do this, even if it is just a matter of assuming the debt? And isn’t this perhaps a really great opportunity for a little collaboration/cooperation between WCC, EMU, Ypsilanti, and Ypsi Township?

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Posted in In the media..., Sports, Washtenaw Community College, Ypsilanti

Ypsilanti Local Calendar via the Ypsi Citizen

Posted on January 23, 2009 by | Leave a comment

I received an email from the folks who run the fine site the Ypsilanti Citizen the other day about their new calendar set-up, which is at http://ypsiciti.com/calendar/ Here’s part of the info about the calendar:

“The Ypsilanti Citizen’s Calendar covers news and events in the City of Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, Superior Township and surrounding areas. Come to us first for information on area sporting events, meetings and community events. Your news, your city, our home.

“To post your event email editor@ypsiciti.com or click here to contact the editor. In addition to the title of the event please include the time, day and location as well as a brief description. Contact information of the person submitting the event is also appreciated.”

Great idea, folks. Maybe something we should do here….

BTW, I believe that the Ypsilanti Citizen is an enterprise by students who graduated from EMU’s journalism program, so be sure to give them your support!

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Posted in Blogosphere, Ypsilanti

Where were you when Pres. Obama was sworn in?

Posted on January 20, 2009 by | 1 Comment

In the spirit of celebration, I just thought I’d ask. Me, I was in my department’s faculty/staff lounge because of some meetings/business I had to attend to most of the day. I managed to bring up radio coverage and then a video feed on my laptop computer. Me and three colleagues crowded around. Somehow, I think watching the first president to post YouTube videos on a laptop is highly appropriate.

So, where were you?

And good luck, President Obama. Now get to work!

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Posted in College Fun, In the media...

MLK day and inauguration day festivities at EMU

Posted on January 19, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Quite the busy couple of days on campus here at EMU: First, for Martin Luther King day today, EMU has a bunch of stuff going on, as listed in the EMU MLK Day web site: basically, there are speakers, “learning beyond the classroom” opportunities for students, the whole nine yards. Though I have to say that if I had the time, I’d probably try to go see Larry Wilmore from The Daily Show talk over at the U of M Ballroom. Here’s a link to a AANews article about local events.

And then on Tuesday, you might have heard we get a new president. There is a list of activities at EMU on the EMU homepage here (it’s a PDF). One highlight for me they’ll be showing a televised version of the proceedings in the EMU Student Center Ballroom from 11 am to 1 pm.

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Posted in Academics, College Fun, Faculty Life, In the media..., Staff Life, Student Life, University of Michigan