This might be more Ann Arbor/U of M than Ypsi/EMU, and it might be more interesting to me as a book fan/reader/English major type, but I thought I’d post it here anyway: according to Mark Maynard, Shaman Drum is closing up at the end of this month. But I guess the good news is that Shaman Drum owner Karl Pohrt is trying to transform the store into a non-profit called the Great Lakes Literary Arts Center.
Thanks a bunch to Shaman Drum; I know I’ll be making a couple trips there yet this month.
Posted in Academics, Ann Arbor, Blogosphere, University of Michigan
From the front page of today’s AANews: “Whitmore Lake company’s Mag-Lev train concept: Mass transit solution or idea that won’t get off the ground?” Here’s a quote:
Picture a rail service in southeastern Michigan that runs along a track suspended above the freeway, traveling at speeds up to 200 mph.
Imagine getting from Ann Arbor to Detroit in 10 minutes – and taking your car with you on the rail.
And envision that service with on-demand cross-country travel that has personal suites with kitchens, as well as the ability to rent onboard space for commercial offices and private parties. Such a service also could have the ability to dispatch medical equipment and full teams to the scene of a car accident by rail.
Those are the visions of a Whitmore Lake company pushing a proposal to build a rail system using magnetic levitation – or maglev. The technology would be faster, more environmentally friendly and cheaper than most other forms of transportation available in the U.S. today.
Jeesh.
I got an idea: why don’t we see if we can actually get the light rail connections between here and Detroit to work? Or maybe we should throw money at this guy?
Posted in Ann Arbor, In the media..., Ypsilanti
No kidding. Here are the opening paragraphs:
The Ann Arbor News will close in July after publishing as the city’s daily newspaper since 1835, publisher Laurel Champion announced today.
Heavy losses in revenue drove the decision. Champion said the current “business model is not sustainable.”
“This isn’t about abandoning local journalism, it’s about serving it up in a very different way,” Champion told employees.
A new Web-based media company called AnnArbor.com LLC will be launched later this year. In addition to publishing continuously online, AnnArbor.com will publish a print edition twice a week.
Champion, who will be executive vice president of AnnArbor.com, told News employees they can apply for positions with the new company, although job losses are inevitable.
It’s weird to hear about this for me for two reasons. First, this past weekend, a kid came to my door asking me if I was interested in subscribing to the Ann Arbor News. Since I already subscribed, I declined. Second, in a more academic turn of events I was going to post about eventually, U of Michigan press also has decided to go digital. It would seem the combination of a bad economy and new technologies are making for some rapid changes.
Needless to say, I’m sad for all the various people who are going to be losing their jobs, including some people who I know directly and indirectly. But I’m also interested in seeing where this next experiment in online publishing takes things. Eighteen years ago, Jay David Bolter told us in the first edition of his book Writing Space (this link is to the 2001 second edition, by the way) that “Today we are living in the late age of print.” It took a while, but it is beginning to look like “today” is arriving locally in full force.
Slight update 1: See this post on Michiganliberal.com.
Slight update 2: MLive.com has various self-reflective pieces on the end of the AANews. For example, there’s “AnnArbor.com will offer more than local news to an Internet savvy community,” which suggests where this brave new world might be going:
AnnArbor.com will likely be a free, advertisement-supported news and local content aggregator published online. It will also publish a print publication two times a week, Thursday and Sunday, which will likely include more news analysis and information about what could be found online, Chief Content Leader Tony Dearing, a former Ann Arbor News managing editor and a former editor of the Flint Journal said.
“This is a completely new model that we are building; something from the ground up that has not been done before,” Dearing said.
AnnArbor.com’s coverage area will primarily focus on Ann Arbor, but will also offer information more broadly about the county in the future, he said.
The Web site will aggregate both content produced by trained journalists employed by the company and content created by local residents, such as bloggers. It would also include information and statistics compiled about the community.
For example, if someone is looking for information on child care in Ann Arbor, they might find stories produced by the company with links to local blogs and information on which local child care companies are licensed, Dearing said.
Cooking, eating, dining and wine are all examples of examples of particular interest for some people in the Ann Arbor area, Dearing said.
What I think is potentially interesting about this model is it is more or less acknowledging that the amateur blogosphere of community journalists– kinda like EMUTalk.org, for example– is the future, which is both promising and scary.
Posted in Ann Arbor, In the media..., Ypsilanti
While linking to the article about the rape at the Kappa Omega Alpha house, I came across a couple of other articles that connect to some previous posts/news-bits here at EMUTalk.org. First, there is the front page story in today’s AANews, “Officials say proposed acquisition of country club by Washtenaw Community College tempting, but doubts remain.” Here’s an example:
Michigan already has more public golf courses than any other state in the nation.
“It’s the operating costs we’re concerned about at this point,” said WCC President Larry Whitworth. “And we certainly have a responsibility if we do take it over that we maintain this as an important community asset. Can we do that? That’s what we’re trying to determine. And, can this break even?”
Judging by other golf courses, that will be hard to do. Last year, Eastern Michigan University, which owns the Eagle Crest Conference Center and Golf Course in the Ypsilanti area, hired new managers. After years of losing money, the facility earned a net income of $94,875 last fiscal year.
And then there is this less than brilliant comment: “[Richard] Landau, the trustee leaning in favor of the deal, said the college runs lots of programs and services that don’t break even, citing the campus library as an example.” Yes, because a golf course is as essential to the mission of WCC as a library…. Knucklehead.
The other story that caught my eye is “Ave Maria law school gets Bar Association approval to move to Florida.” Apparently, courses are going to start in Florida this August, though not on campus yet since this is what the law school currently looks like:
This news from the AANews this morning: “Shaman Drum Bookshop– in danger of closing– seeks investors.” Here are the opening paragraphs:
Karl Pohrt and his Ann Arbor literary institution, Shaman Drum Bookshop, need help.
Pohrt is looking for investors to give the South State Street shop the cash it needs to survive while it waits for its application to become a nonprofit to be processed by the government.
Otherwise, the store could close.
“We are in trouble,” Pohrt said Friday.
“We are in trouble,” he repeated, “as are many stores in downtown, a lot of small, locally-owned businesses. … I suddenly find myself in this unenviable position of having run out of money.”
I think it would be a real shame if Shaman Drum were to close. I buy lots of books online (just like everyone else), but whenever I can, I do buy local and Shaman Drum is one of the great local book stores in this country let along this area. Perhaps it is a sign of the times with the current economic downturn, but I guess the small and local bookstore model has been suffering a slow death ever since amazon.com started making money and proved itself a more viable and long-term business plan.
I don’t have any money to invest (maybe someone out in EMUTalk.org land does?), but I might make a point of at least buying a book there this weekend. And good luck becoming a nonprofit….
Posted in Ann Arbor, In the media..., The Market Crash of 2008
Not that I was ever that “gone,” since my internet access was better than I thought it might be. But now I have returned to the EMUTalk.org world headquarters, where I am sure to spend much of the next few days a) being cold and damp, and b) working to get ready for the winter 2009 term teaching I’ll have to do as part of my day-job.
But at the risk of disclosing the location of my in-laws’ home, I thought I would post a link here to a post I wrote on my own blog about a topic of Ypsi-Arbor interest. My wife and son and I took a little tour of Ave Maria, the town and university founded in Ypsi-Arbor and (in the process of being) moved down to the middle of the swamp in southwest Florida, a place where you will rarely see the words “zoning laws” in the same sentence. It was, um, strange.
Posted in Ann Arbor, Blogosphere, Ypsilanti
I found this via this post at Mark Maynard’s blog: “Ypsi: the other college bar scene” ran in the Michigan Daily almost a month ago, but since I’m far from a regular reader of the Michigan Daily (while I do read Mark’s blog often enough), I am just coming across it now.
As I’ve said before and I am sure I will say again, I like and live in Ypsilanti, and I like and often visit Ann Arbor, and I don’t really have the “us versus them” thing I have seen in some in these parts, especially among folks who have lived here their whole lives. Having said that, Kristen Steagall’s opening paragraph kind of set a tone that found her take on her visit to Ypsi a little dubious to say the least:
I’m not from Michigan. But like many University students, my views on Ypsilanti were shaped before I had ever visited it. Degenerate, dirty and scary are just a few of the adjectives my peers have used to describe it. But I figured the home of Eastern Michigan University must have its own college nightlife. I decided to check Ypsi out for myself. So last Saturday, a few of my friends (emphasis on few seeing as many of my friends scoffed at the idea of going to Ypsilanti) set out to experience the city’s bar scene first hand.
Oh, good lord, U of M kids. Use some of that fine education you get over there to buy yourselves a clue.
Anyway, I think Mark’s take on the rest of the piece is pretty good so go and read that.
Oh, and the subject line for Mark’s post is about the upcoming Mittenfest III, a rock and/or roll show at The Elbow Room December 26, 27, and 28. Sounds like fun and it is a fund-raiser for 826 Michigan, but I am a bit too old and a bit too opposed to smoking to make it.
Some interesting you-know-what is hitting the fan over at Ann Arbor News that is not likely to be reported there: this might be a slight exaggeration, but it would appear that the paper is being all but closed down by the company that owns it.
A couple of interesting links to blog posts below the “Read More” part:
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Posted in Ann Arbor, Blogosphere, Dickinson Murder, In the media..., Ypsilanti
As the AAN reported, “Students pour into downtown Ann Arbor streets to celebrate as Washtenaw County helps elect Obama.” Go ahead and follow the link– there’s a cute little video with it, too.
Mark Maynard has a post here about a little live blogging/celebrating around Ypsi last night; any EMU campus political bashes?
Posted in Ann Arbor, Blogosphere, In the media..., University of Michigan
Last week, it was the “M Edition;” this week, it’s “EMU & You” in the Ann Arbor News. Here are some links/quotes/brief thoughts on at least some of the articles:
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