Saturday, December 29, 2007
The DIGITAL GENIE is OUT of the BOTTLE!
Friends and Colleagues:
Please visit the blog-site Students 2.0 http://students2oh.org/ and witness the beginning of something extraordinary......the World of Education as WE knew it will never quite be the same. AND this is a GREAT THING!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Detroit Film Festival & Flint ART Project
Surprise from the streets: Art!
Detroit is like a big canvas
December 18, 2007
CREATION OF COLOR: With an artistic storefront, the artist known as Dabl attracts customers to his store, Dabl's African Bead Gallery, at Vinewood and Grand River. He sells thousands of African beads, some more than 300 years old, he says. (ERIC SEALS/DFP)
BY BILL McGRAW
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Shards of glass arranged randomly on a wooden utility pole. A jaunty human body carved out of a dead tree, wearing a tire as a hat. Ceramic benches in a vacant lot. The face of an elf painted on the base of a streetlight. Elaborate graffiti in countless places across the city.
Art is one of the last things outsiders associate with Detroit. But drive the streets and you quickly realize the city possesses an energetic, grassroots creative class that not only spreads color, whimsy and provocation across the landscape, but also serves as an engine of redevelopment.
True, not everyone considers all of it art, especially when it comes to graffiti.
And the underground nature of some of the work helps keep it off the radar of many people, even art lovers.
But it's evident that the city's far-flung artistic community extends many levels beyond the Detroit Institute of Arts, which reopened in November after a $158-million renovation.
Last year, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) opened in an abandoned car dealership on Woodward Avenue and received praise from the New York Times for its "guerrilla architecture ... that accepts decay as fact."
This year, the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID) expanded in a variety of directions from its 3-year-old home in an 1889 grocery store-turned-billiards-hall-turned auto-parts-outlet in a deserted area of Rosa Parks Boulevard.
While a number of local artists seek their fame by moving to the coasts or Chicago, those who have stayed say they are attracted to Detroit because of its ample workshop space, cheap rent, creative community and the city's laissez-faire attitude toward street art that allows a wider range of freedom of expression than would be tolerated in the more tightly regulated suburbs.
The artists
Mitch Cope, 34, is a Detroit artist and curator. He and wife Gina Reichert run a Hamtramck store, Design 99, that sells quirkily fabricated household items. Collaborating with two German artists, Cope has made benches out of Detroit's ubiquitous tree of heaven, also known as the ghetto palm and ailanthus tree.
"When we talk to artists from out-of-town, we mostly talk about opportunities that don't exist elsewhere," he said. "You can come to the city, take over land, do whatever you want."
Aaron Timlin, CAID's executive director, added: "There's a pioneering attitude. There are so many things artists can do in Detroit because it is so spread out. Throw up a sculpture on a vacant lot. Performance art. Detroit is a big empty canvas."
The spiritual godfather of the grassroots art scene is Tyree Guyton, whose internationally known installation around Heidelberg Street on the near East Side attracts visitors every day. Guyton's artwork deals with how abandonment affects a neighborhood -- and decay is central to the work of a number of artists.
In Detroit, there are people who draw attention to abandonment by painting gutted homes orange or attaching orange traffic cones to them. There is Larry Zelenski, who produces greeting cards with lovingly enhanced photos of abandoned houses. And there is Kevin Joy, who paints cartoons, Mayan-style hieroglyphics and other wacky images on abandoned houses and in the windows of vacant downtown buildings.
Flamboyant artwork was one aspect of the popular Theatre Bizarre, an annual underground Halloween carnival near the State Fairgrounds that this year featured goth, punk and rockabilly music, a burlesque show and a skin-piercing exhibition.
The graffiti was so interesting and extensive on bridge abutments in the below-grade rail line east of downtown, known as the Dequindre Cut, that city officials decided to preserve the images as they transform the area into a greenway and recreation path that will open next year.
In dozens of locations, countless anonymous metro Detroiters have fashioned artistic-looking street shrines of candles, stuffed animals, liquor bottles, photos and written tributes that memorialize the dead -- mostly the victims of gun violence.
Artists also contribute to the city's revival, though their improvements are usually small scale and rarely the subjects of news conferences.
In October, for instance, Zi Walls, a 29-year-old graphic artist and musician, and two partners, cleaned up an abandoned store on Michigan Avenue near Tiger Stadium and opened Communique, a space for video, film, music, poetry and other alternative media.
Artists also have taken their galleries and work spaces to a variety of old buildings that might otherwise sit empty.
Among those outposts are the Pioneer Building, a former factory on East Grand Boulevard; the 4731 Gallery, a four-story brick building on Grand River and 15th, and, perhaps most notably, the Russell Industrial Center, an immense complex of seven buildings at Russell and Clay.
FROM FACTORY TO ART HOUSE: Christian Unverzagt, 36, a designer from Detroit, shows off a party space in November at the Russell Industrial Center, where he has a studio. The complex, at 1604 Clay St. in Detroit, is one of several old industrial buildings that artists have taken over to use as their galleries and work spaces. (SUSAN TUSA/DFP)
The art factory
With its dingy brick, uneven windows, bulky water tower and the rambling vastness, the six- and seven-story Russell Industrial Center looks like a throwback to Detroit's smokestack past. Passing it on the Chrysler Freeway north of East Grand Boulevard, you might not even be sure whether it's occupied.
But when you pull into its inner parking lot, you realize this is no ordinary old factory.
First indication: There are a lot of people walking around and considerable vehicle traffic.
Second indication: Walking through the hallways, you see bright lights and fat red elephant sculptures amid the sawing, hammering and eclectic music.
Third indication: The "no parking" signs are fastened to metal that is bent into whimsical humanlike shapes.
Chris Bell made the figurines.
By day, he is a mechanic for the Detroit Department of Transportation. After hours, Bell calls himself the "man of steel," and works on the third floor of Building No. 2, soldering and welding spare parts and sheet metal into the shapes of animals, people and things.
He's an artist, and the Russell is his home.
"This place is like a sanctuary," he said. "This is my family. I'm among like-minded people. There is nothing but positiveness."
The Russell is home to 120 tenants, about 80 of whom are artists, said Eric Novack, the center's leasing agent who writes novels in his spare time.
The tenants are attracted by an authentic industrial design of thick concrete and mammoth elevators, plus rents that run about $550 a month for 1,000 square feet -- considerably cheaper than in much of suburbia. The artists and others occupy about 650,000 of the Russell's 2.2 million square feet.
"You can do whatever you want as long as it's legal," Novack said. "We have two rules: Respect the community and respect the building."
The tenants are a diverse group with specialties like photography, music, painting, interior design, architecture, metal work, glassblowing, graphic design, cabinetry, clothes manufacturing, candle-making, posters and a company -- Sensitile Systems -- that makes acrylic material that reconfigures shadows and light.
The Salt-Mine Studio offers what it says is the only fine-arts foundry in the city. The Detroit Industrial Projects is a modest-size gallery that undergoes a total transformation for each show.
Designed by renowned architect Albert Kahn in the World War I era, the Russell was a busy manufacturing center of auto parts and bomber wings during Detroit's heyday. Home to some 130 print companies in the 1970s, it experienced financial problems in the 1990s, and Dennis Kefallinos, who owns Nikki's Pizza and other ventures, bought the complex in 2003.
Spreading the word
In September, the Russell held a one-day People's Art Festival that attracted more than 150 visual artists, performance artists, filmmakers and musicians from inside the building and beyond.
Novack said the fair was so successful plans are in the works for next year's event. He says the complex also will add a year-round screening area for videos and films.
The Russell event joins two other summer festivals in central Detroit -- Dally in the Alley south of Wayne State University and the Fourth Street Fair north of campus -- that are offbeat and focused on music and art.
"People from out of state say, 'There's nothing going on in Detroit,' " said Mark Arminski, who rents space in the Russell and is a well-known designer of posters for rock bands. "I tell them, 'Come here for a summer. Go to galleries and festivals. Even clubs. A lot of clubs are hanging art these days.' "
Said Jeannette Strezinski of the Detroit Industrial Projects: "If you're in the suburbs and you're only paying attention to the big galleries, you're kind of going to miss a lot."
Contact BILL McGRAW at 313-223-4781 or bmcgraw@freepress.com.
Monday, December 10, 2007
IDEAS 2007
The 7th Annual Year in Ideas
For the seventh consecutive December, the magazine looks back on the passing year through a special lens: ideas. Editors and writers trawl the oceans of ingenuity, hoping to snag in our nets the many curious, inspired, perplexing and sometimes outright illegal innovations of the past 12 months. Then we lay them out on the dock, flipping and flopping and gasping for air, and toss back all but those that are fresh enough for our particular cut of intellectual sushi. For better or worse, these are 70 of the ideas that helped make 2007 what it was. Enjoy.
Alzheimer’s Telephone Screening
Best Way to Deflect an Asteroid, The
Hope Can Be Worse Than Hopelessness
Iconic-Performance-Network Player, The
Office-Chair Exercise (for Men and Women)
Right to Medical Self-Defense, The
Rock-Paper-Scissors Is Universal
Two-Birds-With-One-Stone Resistance
Unadapted Theatrical Adaptation, The
International Film Festival
MITCH ALBOM
If we rebate it, movies will come
December 9, 2007
BY MITCH ALBOM
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
By now, some of you know that tonight, a movie of my book "For One More Day," produced by Oprah Winfrey, will air on ABC. People this past week have been saying congratulations. And this is indeed a lucky, wonderful feeling. But I have one regret.
I wish it had been made in Michigan.
It wasn't, as many films are not, largely because of money. The film is set in a small town, with modest houses and baseball fields, and we certainly have those in Michigan. The producers were not against the idea.
But in the end, the film was shot in Connecticut. That state offers a big tax rebate to filmmakers, about 30%. As a result, one report estimated Connecticut's film and TV business grew from $1 million in the first six months of 2006 to more than $300 million since.
Similar acts have been passed in states such as Louisiana and New Mexico, and you'd not believe how many movies are shooting there.
Meanwhile, Michigan sits largely untapped. Mike Binder, the wonderful filmmaker behind such movies as "Reign Over Me" and "The Upside of Anger," is from Michigan. He loves Michigan. He has an upcoming movie called "The Emperor of Michigan."
He may have to shoot it in Connecticut.
The war of the states
A few weeks ago, Binder and I spoke before the Legislature about our frustrations in trying to bring film work home. Many were shocked to learn how movie producers work. The conversation goes like this:
"What kind of rebate does Michigan offer?"
"Well, it's not as good as (xxxxxxx)."
"Sorry. We're going to (xxxxxxx)."
Now, I can think of a dozen reasons why films should be interested in Michigan, including our varied landscape -- from hot urban to frozen wilderness -- and low cost of housing.
But I can think of 100 reasons why Michigan should be interested in films. One, money. Two, it's a clean business -- no smokestacks. Three, it's a huge growth industry, with digital and Web-based production increasing. Four, it needs young, creative minds, the kind leaving our state every day. Five, movies can be good for image -- and business. Look at Mackinac Island and "Somewhere in Time."
A few years ago, New Mexico, when it came to films, was as barren as its landscape. Then its new governor got aggressive, a 25% rebate was passed, and, according to Variety, not only did the state see film revenue jump from almost nothing to $428 million in 2006, but a 26-acre soundstage has been built. Support businesses are opening there. Money. Jobs.
If New Mexico, why not us?
And roll the credits ...
If Michigan could pass an aggressive rebate program -- one that would lead the nation -- movies and TV would flock here overnight. We thought we passed a decent rebate early this year. But it wasn't competitive with top states (ours is a max of 20%). As a result, only two major movies partly shot here this year, "that brought in about $4 million," said Janet Lockwood, director of the Michigan Film Office.
That's nowhere near what it could be. You can argue that we shouldn't give breaks to moviemakers if we don't give them to everyone. You may be right. But they're going to get them somewhere. And they'll go where that is. And a portion of something is better than a whole bucket of nothing, right?
Until recently, many movies were shot in Canada because of rebates and the exchange rate. My previous book/movie, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," was shot in Vancouver, and many crewmembers told me they'd moved there "to get into the film business."
Well, if they can move there, they can move here -- where the exchange rate now favors us.
Understand, this does not financially benefit people like Binder, Jeff Daniels or myself. We're paid the same either way. But with so many film-related Michiganders who prefer to bring the work back home, doesn't it make sense to capitalize on that?
Our lawmakers are considering action. If it had been in place, the movie tonight on ABC -- and the names in the credits -- might have looked more familiar. Meanwhile, I am scheduled to have a movie shot next year. It's about a homeless man, a casino and the Detroit River.
I hope we don't make it in Albuquerque.
Contact MITCH ALBOM at 313-223-4581 or malbom@freepress.com. He will sign books at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Barnes & Noble in Rochester Hill and 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Borders in Farmington Hills. .
Monday, December 3, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
BREAKING NEWS: On Two Fronts (U of M-Dearborn and the City of Detroit)
U-M might tap Detroit as a living classroom
November 29, 2007
BY DREW PHILIP
FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER
Instead of studying abroad in England, Taiwan or Chile next year, University of Michigan students might spend a semester living, learning and working in downtown Detroit.
The program, expected to begin in fall 2008, would have students hold internships with community organizations, take classes taught by U-M professors at the school's Detroit Center and participate in community service and events.
Organizers of the program, who believe it would be the first of such a scope in Detroit, say it would immerse students in the life and culture of Detroit while fostering relationships between community organizations and the university.
The program would allow students to experience Detroit with city residents and leaders, not simply read about the city while in classrooms.
"It was conceived and is being created with the idea of being mutually beneficial to the city and the university," faculty adviser Stephen Ward said last month.
Local planners are creating the model for this in-depth type of service, but it draws from similar programs elsewhere in the country. Louisiana State University routinely sends students and faculty to rebuild hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, and the University of California, Los Angeles offers students service learning opportunities and internships in Los Angeles.
But the U-M program would be unique because students would forgo the societal comfort of a college campus and go home blocks, not miles, from where they work.
A budget has not been set, and the plan is working its way through channels to formalize it as a sustainable program, but U-M Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Lester Monts said the program is "a sure thing."
Organizers say they hope the program will open channels between the university and the Detroit community to help further the revitalization of downtown.
The program also has been pitched as a way to promote diversity at U-M after the passage of Proposal 2, the statewide affirmative action ban that bars the use of race and gender in admissions and financial aid decisions by public universities.
Ward said the program is a manifestation of a larger movement in the university and the nation to stop looking at inner cities as laboratories for study and to begin to partner with citizens and organizations for social change.
Alumna Rachael Tanner, 21, of Kalamazoo, a former student in Ward's Urban and Community Studies class, proposed the idea of a Semester in Detroit as a final class project. Fellow students formed a planning committee in January. Professors and administrative staff helped put the program into motion.
"We have a semester in Washington, D.C. Why not have a semester in Detroit?" Tanner asked. "The culture is so rich, but students spend so little time there."
The program would support 20 to 30 students and cost about the same as a semester at the Ann Arbor campus. Students would take 15 to 18 liberal arts credit hours studying subjects including the development of urban areas and grassroots responses to urban challenges.
Nick Tobier, a professor in the School of Art and Design who takes university students into Detroit elementary classes, plans to teach in the program.
Tobier said he thinks of Detroit as among the "most productive cultural ecosystems" and wants to bring more students into that atmosphere.
Students would spend the bulk of their time earning class credits at internships with community organizations. Guided by faculty, these students would be expected to secure the internships themselves. In preparation, a student planning committee is working with the university's Ginsberg Center to contact community groups that might be willing to host internships.
Tim Duperron, interim chief executive officer of Focus: HOPE, said the university's relationship with his organization has always been positive, and he would love to have Semester in Detroit's students intern there.
"They certainly have the right mind-set and the right spirit," he said. "I'm encouraged by this, because it will be done well, not superficially."
Classes would take place at and internships would be coordinated through the university's Detroit Center at Woodward Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard. The center serves as a university base in the city to conduct research and meet with community partners.
Organizers expect to buy a home near Wayne State University, where students in the program would live.
Western Michigan University has programs sending students to study internships in major U.S. cities, and Michigan State University sends students to Washington, D.C., in a program with internships and class time. None has programs of this scope in Detroit.
"That's something we're going to strongly consider in the future," said Karen Reiff, director of experiential learning at MSU.
Some see this as a way to bridge two disparate communities.
"Having a program would make a big statement that the university is committed to investing in the city," said senior Megan Hanner, 21, of Whitehall. "I have no doubt that the program would teach students the appropriate way to be invested in a city they're not from."
If he weren't graduating, senior Tom Szczesny, 20, of Bloomfield Township said he would want to spend a semester in Detroit.
"It makes a lot of sense because we're connected geographically, but there's a big disconnect between the university and Detroit," he said. "If you have something like Semester in Detroit, it brings a new awareness of the city."
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
BEGIN with the END in MIND!
FIRST LOOK AT MOTORCITY LUXURY
Going for the bold
As casino's hotel opens today, those in charge already have bigger plans
November 28, 2007
BY HEATHER NEWMAN
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Detroit's second permanent luxury casino hotel opens this afternoon, and early tours Tuesday showed off the funky flair of the MotorCity Casino Hotel that contrasts nicely with competitor MGM Grand Detroit's smooth elegance.
The permanent casino complexes are part of the required payback for the money Detroit's three casinos take in (more than $1.1 billion in the first 10 months of this year). The hotels were required as part of the agreements that allowed the casinos to open in temporary facilities at first.
The MotorCity complex's directors have even grander dreams than just looking funky. Hotel Chief Executive Gregg Solomon sketched out the footprint of a second tower, a mirror to the first, that could be built if the hotel is a success. Owner Marian Ilitch spoke optimistically about adding a People Mover stop for the building, which would link it to the downtown -- and also to other Ilitch entertainment enterprises such as the Fox Theatre and the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.
It's not a coincidence that two of the hotel's confirmed guests are the Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators hockey teams.
"We get the beat of Detroit," Marian Ilitch said. "We all work here, live here, and most of us are from here.
"I think the odds are good," Ilitch said of a People Mover expansion, suggesting it could link to Eastern Market as well. "If it was expanded, it would bring us all closer together." Her remarks are noteworthy because People Mover alteration has largely been dismissed over the years as an expensive pipe dream.
Detroit mayoral spokesman James Canning said Tuesday there are no official plans in the works to alter the People Mover route.
Small ceremony, big flash
The 400-room hotel opens in a tower attached to the existing casino at 3 p.m. In direct contrast to MGM Grand's glitzy opening gala almost two months ago, the event will be low-key: In a small ceremony, officials will speak and the first guests (a couple getting married at the casino) will check in.
Unlike the MGM, MotorCity has elected to unveil its permanent facility in stages. In June, the new high-rollers area and poker room opened to the public; today is the hotel's debut; at the end of the year, the new Iridescence restaurant and a lounge will open on the tower's top floor, and by the end of March, the rest of the renovated gaming areas, convention and banquet space and the concert area will be open.
The $300-million project included a complete face-lift for the existing gaming areas plus the additions to the old Wonder Bread factory site at Grand River and the Lodge.
The contrast between it and the MGM building is obvious, even from the outside. MGM's building is a smooth-edged, stainless-colored construct, easy on the eyes and elegant.
MotorCity's razzle-dazzles: It's wrapped in nearly 4,800 programmable LED light tubes that ring the building from the third to the 15th floors. The roof is bordered with a nearly impossible swoop of solid stainless steel intended to look like the drip rail from a Chevy Bel Air, created by automotive design legend Chip Foose.
"We've always been the party place," said Chief Operating Officer Rhonda Cohen. "We're not trying to import people to somewhere else."
Said Solomon, the hotel's chief executive: "We're going to be the entertainment destination. We're going to have a theater that will blow people's socks off. If Prince is playing at Ford Field, I want him staying at my hotel. We have a recording studio in the theater.
"We have not been subdued with anything that we've done. That style of delivery is Detroit, proper. It wasn't designed 2,000 miles away."
Finding a niche
Solomon wasn't above taking potshots at his competitor. But he said the market has grown since MGM opened its permanent facility, proving that the two don't necessarily share the same clientele.
"Our best customer is a different person than their best customer," he said.
Where MGM impresses with ultrafine finishes and materials, smooth backgrounds and soft color schemes, MotorCity brings on the funk: Every light fixture is an art piece, every carpet a mesmerizing combination of flames or geometric patterns, every super-fuzzy throw pillow an invitation to bury your fingers in new touches and textures.
Prices start at $299 for a basic room and go up to $5,500 for the Presidential Suite, which overlooks the Ambassador Bridge and includes amenities like dual walk-in closets and a private exercise room.
High-tech touches include wireless phones that you can carry with you anywhere in the hotel to receive your in-room calls and a menu of options on the television that includes checking on your departing flights and even printing your boarding passes.
See www.motorcitycasino.com or call 866-782-9622 for reservation information.
Contact HEATHER NEWMAN at 313-223-3336 or hnewman@freepress.com.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Novi Library (Technology Initiative)
TURNING THE PAGE
A new book boss in town Novi
Building a library is among exciting changes for director
November 27, 2007
BY KORIE WILKINS
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
In the midst of learning everyone's names and getting a handle on her new duties as director of the Novi Public Library, Julie Farkas also is learning about blueprints and construction timelines.
On Nov. 6, voters approved a $16-million bond for a 60,000-square-foot library that could open as soon as spring 2010. On Nov. 12, Farkas stepped into her role. But instead of being overwhelmed, Farkas said she's relishing the challenge.
"This is an opportunity to do some interesting work," said Farkas, a 35-year-old mother of three. "It's exciting. I'm up for it."
Farkas replaces longtime director Brenda Lussier, who left in February. Mary Ellen Mulcrone, currently the assistant director, had been the interim director.
Farkas came from the Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham, where she was the associate director of public services for five years.
"She's bright and energetic and tough but fair. All qualities you need in a library director," said Marti Custer, executive director of the Baldwin Public Library.
As a student at Michigan State University, Farkas studied English and worked in the library. She liked helping people find information and loved the learning environment of a library.
After earning a master's degree in library science from Wayne State University, she worked at a library in Monroe before moving to Aurora, Ill. There she met her husband, Jason, also a Michigan native. They now live in New Boston.
Farkas eventually landed in Birmingham and loved her job there. She said she wasn't looking for a new job but was approached by a recruiter for the Novi position.
The Novi job was appealing because of the growing and well-educated community. The fact that the library bond was coming to a vote and looked likely to pass didn't hurt either, she said.
She also hopes to guide the library and help it meet the changing needs of the community with more computers and technology updates -- although Farkas believes traditional books are not going away anytime soon.
"The support is there for the library," Farkas said.
Vicky McLean, president of the Novi Friends of the Library group, said the new library is bringing a lot of excitement to the city. She said Farkas has an energetic personality and enthusiasm -- assets that will help raise the library's profile and weave even tighter into the community.
"This is a big, big step," said McLean. "And she's right in the beginning of the planning process."
Contact KORIE WILKINS at 248-351-5186 or kwilkins@freepress.com.
Monday, November 26, 2007
21st Century Digital Learning Environments
TECHNOLOGY CLICKS WITH KIDS
Raising the Bar: What a difference a decade of "digital discourse" makes.
Computers transform classrooms
Gadgets get students excited to learn
November 26, 2007
BY LORI HIGGINS
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER
The kids grab small voting devices on their desks, then punch in their answer to a question posed on the screen above them: "¿Cual es verde? "
In an instant, teacher Nancy Conn pushes a button and up pops a chart showing the correct answer -- the green square -- among six squares of varying colors.
All of this is happening on a large interactive white board -- a cross between a blackboard, computer screen and projector -- that Conn uses in her Spanish classroom at Hickory Grove Elementary School in Bloomfield Township.
The boards -- which will be in every classroom in the Bloomfield Hills Schools district by the beginning of next year -- are among the ways schools in metro Detroit are using technology to teach and capture the minds of a generation growing up in a digital age.
At Lottie Schmidt Elementary School in New Baltimore, students in Jim Alvaro's fifth-grade class create podcasts of their lessons, broadcast for anyone on the Web to hear. Rob McClelland, a teacher at the Oakland Technical Center campus in Wixom, has created computer games that help solidify students' understanding of key lessons.
And at Fisher Elementary School in the South Redford School District, students are learning Chinese and interacting with pen pals in China via a webcam, computer, projector and software.
"You always learn something new by using technology," said Natalie Joniec, 10, a Fisher fifth-grader.
Technology boosts performance
While some schools are pushing forward with plans to fully integrate technology, others struggle to do so in ways that engage kids and help them learn, said Ledong Li, an assistant professor of education at Oakland University.
And that's a problem, he said.
"If we deliver information like we used to do in the traditional way, kids are bored in the classroom," said Li, who organized a workshop in June on using video games in the classroom. "They don't feel they are engaged."
Li said technology can be intimidating to teachers who aren't familiar with how to use it, or how it can benefit their lessons. And so much is focused today on improving test scores that it's easy to see technology as an extra. Yet, Li said research shows technology can improve student performance.
Still, some teachers "look at the requirements for raising test scores as the kind of signal that they have to do things in a traditional way," Li said.
State Superintendent Mike Flanagan has announced proposed changes to teacher preparation programs, and he's making the integration of technology into teaching practices a priority. Last year, Michigan became the first, and still the only, state in the nation that will require students to take an online class or have online experience to graduate high school.
Ric Wiltse, executive director of the Lansing-based Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning, said budget crunches have impacted how schools integrate technology.
But, Wiltse said, "teachers are getting more and more creative about how they use the technology tools students have these days."
That includes Alvaro, whose classroom has a blog called the Skinny as well as the podcasts. The students worked on a project that had them research and write about when their ancestors arrived in the United States.
Games that teach
Today's kids are steps ahead of their teachers, in many cases. They instant message, text message, play video games, blog and use social Web sites like MySpace and YouTube.
"Everything we do is about technology," said Kala Kottman of Commerce Township, a senior at Walled Lake Western High School and the Oakland Technical Center campus in Wixom. "It's a big deal."
Kala, 17, is enrolled in the culinary arts program at the technical center. She was among a group of students in a computer lab playing a game created by McClelland, who provides support to fellow teachers.
There are about 100 culinary tools students must memorize, and while they still use rote memorization tricks, McClelland's game gives them a fun way to test their knowledge. McClelland has produced a similar game for two other technical center programs.
In the game, which is timed, students must quickly match a picture of a tool with its correct name.
McClelland programmed the game using popular phrases familiar to kids. For instance, if they click on the wrong answer, they're likely to hear the "D'oh!" popularized by Homer Simpson. If they get it right, they might hear a "Woo hoo."
Instant feedback
The Bloomfield Hills district is making a significant investment in the Promethean white boards. About $2.1 million has been committed to put them in all of its classrooms.
Conn was among the first to try them, and she said they make a difference in the classroom. The screen is connected to a computer, and it takes just a few clicks for her to call up lessons. The board also is interactive, allowing students to manipulate it.
The voting system allows Conn to constantly assess students, asking them to record correct answers on the hand-held device.
The instantaneous feedback means that instead of waiting until she grades a quiz to see who is struggling and which concepts students aren't getting, Conn finds out "just like that," she said with a sharp snap of her fingers.
It also means she can do some re-teaching on the fly if she sees many students answering a question wrong.
Mitchell Shults and Destiny Lynch, both 8-year-old third-graders, said the boards make classes more fun.
"You can play games on it and learn a lot of stuff," Mitchell said.
The voting, Destiny said, gets kids excited, especially when the whole class records the correct answer.
Technology makes it possible
At 7:45 on a Tuesday morning at Fisher Elementary, Deborah Reichman and her students were sitting around a table in a small conference room learning to speak the Chinese language. Reichman, the school's intervention specialist, doesn't know how -- she's learning with her students.
They go over a worksheet, practicing saying words and numbers in Chinese. When they get to a word they're unfamiliar with, Reichman has a plan.
"We may have to change or alter how we pronounce it when Mr. Nemo gets online," she said.
Nemo Ma is a teacher at the Nanao School in Guangzhou, China, and he is usually online when the kids meet to provide assistance and give them a chance to interact with a native Chinese speaker. Often, he places his mouth close to the lens of his camera and slowly enunciates the words so the students in Redford Township can see how his mouth moves. His image is projected on a large screen in the conference room.
The two schools are partnered through a program they call A Classroom Without Walls. The idea here isn't to create fluent Chinese speakers, Fisher Principal Brian Galdes said.
"Our goal is for the students ... to be global citizens, to interact with students from another culture one-on-one," Galdes said.
About 30 kids are involved in the program, in which they also use an online program to learn the language. And they have pen pals at the school in China. They chat with their e-pals, exchanging stories about their lives. But they also work on projects together.
Without technology, "we wouldn't be able to communicate," said Bradford Thomas, 10, a fifth-grader. "We'd have to write letters. And it'd probably take too long for them to reply."
Contact LORI HIGGINS at 248-351-3694 or lhiggins@freepress.com.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Variations on a THEME!
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Tribute Visual LLC was established in January by David Hurrell and his family. Hurrell says the idea for his photo frames came out of a slide show he prepared for the funeral of a friend. "We did a little slide show on a laptop computer and it turned out great, but I wanted to make it something you could put up on the wall," Hurrell said. The result? 17- and 19- inch digital photo frames with slots for computer storage cards that play .mpeg video, .jpg photos and .mp3 and .wav audio files. While the display itself is imported, Hurrell said he's trying to keep as much of the frames made of United States components as possible. They're assembled in Holly. "I try to keep it as much U.S. content as I can," he said. The graphics chip contained in the device includes firmware for setup, and offers a maximum resolution of 1,280 by 1,024 pixels, a 170-degree viewing angle and a 50,000-hour life. There are two small 2-watt speakers included in the device, and an output jack if the user wants better sound. There's also a real-time clock with battery backup that can be programmed for automatic startup and shutdown. The frames were designed to be as easy to use as possible -- out of the box, plug in your storage card and go. The price? From $469 to $1,249 depending on size and internal storage. For more information, visit www.tributevisual.us, e-mail info@tributevisual.us or call (248) 627-5112. For information on how you can sponsor content in the Blue Box, contact Dan Keelan at (248) 455-7380 or dkeelan@cbs.com. |
A Holly electrician is hitting the market with large digital picture frames intended for everything from home to corporate use.Thursday, October 18, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
URGENCY, Convening Power, K-12 Education!
Ann Arbor conference focuses on economic transformation
Posted on 10/15/2007 10:33:47 AM
More than 200 people are taking part in a two-day conference in Ann Arbor to discuss how Michigan’s public universities can be leveraged to improve the state’s economy and drive global competitiveness.
University of Michigan Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest told attendees the conference is meant to “challenge us to think hard about how to move faster toward economic diversification.”
Forrest says the University Research Corridor, linking the University of Michigan, Michigan State, and Wayne State, needs to focus on Michigan’s strengths, which he identified as Advanced Manufacturing, Health Sciences, Energy, and IT. To do so, he says, will require building stronger relationships with industry, in what UM President Mary Sue Coleman has called “partner or perish.”
Forrest says Michigan’s universities have traditionally been conservative, but the changing times require more comfort with intellectual risk-taking and more efforts on campus to encourage entrepreneurial activity from faculty and students.
He also says there is a critical need for funding to support what he called the “critical gap” between the formulation of an idea and validating it’s marketability.
Forrest’s views were echoed on video by Norman Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin, who serves on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Augustine says three times as much money is spent on litigation as on research, with the result that the U.S. has now fallen from first to seventh in its ability to take advantage of new developments in IT.
While the federal America Competes Act was passed to help address those shortcomings, Augustine says it’s really up to state and local officials to help companies adapt so they can be more competitive in the worldwide marketplace.
Dingell to conference-goers: educate your lawmakers
Democratic Congressman John Dingell told a conference in Ann Arbor that they have a critical role to play addressing the issues facing Michigan’s economy, but their role is not well understood by many lawmakers in Lansing. Dingell told the “Role of Engaged Universities in Economic Transformation” conference that procuring adequate funding for basic research and technology means convincing Lansing that providing funds for Michigan’s public universities is, in his words, “not expenditures, but investments.”
According to Dingell, some lawmakers don’t understand the role universities play in developing new products for the marketplace and spinning off new businesses and new jobs for the economy. He says research work at universities has also been hampered by philosophy, citing religious points of view that have imposed restrictions on stem cell research at the University of Michigan.
Pointing to Route 128 in Massachusetts, Dingell says the climate was right for an explosion of growth in IT industries. He challenged the University Research Corridor to lead a similar effort in Michigan. “You have the ability to create that climate,” Dingell said, saying government is looking for the best programs and support from the private sector to help build American competitiveness against the larger world.
But he also warned them that getting a program passed, like the federal America Competes Act, isn’t enough. The program, approved overwhelmingly by Congress this summer, has not yet been funded. Dingell says a key is to convince lawmakers, both in Lansing and in Washington, that the future of the Michigan and U.S. economies is based on technology and innovation.
Dingell says while “lean and mean” is the prevailing point of view in Lansing, he doesn’t think that view serves public universities well. He says the universities, and the URC, need to step up and show that they can lead Michigan out of the current mood of doom and gloom, and provide the will to address the economic issues facing the state.
Speaker Urges Stronger University-Business Partnerships
Charles Vest is clear.
"The mission of a public university is to create opportunities," he says.
And he told a conference in Ann Arbor the universities must become serious partners with government and industry to fuel research, transfer knowledge, and help create new businesses.
Vest is the President of the National Academy of Engineering and President Emeritus of M.I.T. and keynoted the “Role of Engaged Universities in Economic Transformation” conference in Ann Arbor, which continues Tuesday.
Vest says in the 20th Century, technology was focused on physics, electronics, high speed communication and high speed transportation. He sees the 21th Century emphasizing biology, energy, environmental, health and information issues.
One frontier, he says, is “microscopic,” where biotech, nanotech and IT are seeing a merger of science and engineering and an emphasis on smaller, faster, and more complex.
The other frontier, says Vest, is “macrosopic,” with an emphasis on worldwide issues like energy, water, sustainable resources, and health care. Here, the emphasis is on larger and more complex and science must work hand-in-hand with the social sciences and the humanities to develop bio-based materials, biofuels, and personalized predictive medicine.
An avowed supporter of an “open source” approach, Vest called for the creation of “Knowledge Integration Communities”, where people from government and the entrepreneurial community are engaged in the early stages of university research. He says such groups can help develop new technologies for market more quickly.
While he says most new jobs will come from small and medium-sized companies, Vest also encouraged a limited number of strategic alliances between university researchers and large companies, citing M.I.T.’s alliance with DuPont in biological research. He says trust and communications are keys to making such partnerships both productive and rewarding.
Vest told the conference that public universities play an important role providing what he called “convening power” – a place where people can come together to talk through issues and network with each other. He identified a second role as knowledge transfer, by producing graduates and sharing faculty. He also says public universities have the potential – largely unexplored – to elevate the quality of K-12 education in the community.
Public school education is a key concern for Vest, who said only 15% of high school graduates in the U.S. are prepared to pursues science and engineering degrees at the university level. He says more teachers are needed in the classroom who have math, science and technical degrees and who can inspire the next generation of students to pursue a career in technology.
Vest is also concerned about the state of connectivity in the U.S. He says the country is falling behind when it comes to broadband access, and needs to invest an additional $10 billion dollars a year to improve basic infrastructure if companies are to operate effectively in a global economy.
Elsewhere Monday, the three universities announced:
-- that the former Traverwood offices and laboratories of Pfizer Inc. have been converted into a wet lab incubator that is already filling up, and that MSU has similar plans for a former Pfizer facility in Holland. Also, Ann Arbor Spark is establishing two additional office incubators in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and is working with 31 startup businesses that have or plan to move into one of their three business accelerators.
-- That UM and Wayne State would join forces to form STIET (Socio-Technical Infrastructure for Electronic Transactions), a multi-disciplinary research-education program involving corporations like Google, Yahoo and IBM to train the PhDs who will transform the Internet into one that is speedier, more secure and spam-free. Simultaneously, they are developing new technology to make it easier for the best and brightest minds to collaborate, creating virtual classrooms and laboratories that enable faculty and students to share classes and laboratory assets seamlessly. Key to the effort is Michigan LambdaRail, an ultra high speed fiber optic network developed by the universities.
-- That all three universities are working to greatly expand research related to a highly promising industry: alternative energy. MSU this summer received a $50 million grant to help establish the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and this fall opened a $10 million alternative energy research center. Meanwhile, Wayne State has established the National Biofuel Energy Lab and lured NextEnergy to its TechTown development while U-M has established the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute, part of a $35 million per year investment in energy research.
Building upon a promise to increase partnerships, the URC has recently announced a number of outreach efforts across the state including:
--Working with 20 other Michigan colleges and universities to establish the Michigan Higher Education Recruitment Consortium to attract and retain talent in the state
--Partnering with community hospitals in the landmark National Children's Study.
--Establishing offices for UM and MSU Detroit-based research and outreach efforts. Their locations, close to the Wayne State campus, further aid the ability to collaborate.
The presidents Monday also released the first annual report on the progress of the URC. A pdf version of the report is available at: http://www.urcmich.org/commentary/2007AnnualReport.pdf
For more on the University Research Corridor and other URC initiatives, visit: www.urcmich.org
Who should shake state out of rut?
October 16, 2007
BY TOM WALSH
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Michigan has no excuse for not being a thriving leader in the knowledge-based, environmentally conscious global economy of the future.
We have fresh water and lots of other great natural assets.
We have a rich history of innovation and entrepreneurship, from automotive pioneer Henry Ford to pizza peddlers Tom Monaghan and Mike Ilitch.
We have a wealth of engineering talent and some of the top research universities in the world.
But we're lazy. Complacent. We have a sense of entitlement and no sense of urgency.
Watching the levees break
Those were but a few of the words and phrases used to explain Michigan's current sad state of economic affairs Monday during the first day of a 2-day conference in Ann Arbor entitled "The Role of Engaged Universities in Economic Development," sponsored by the University Research Corridor alliance of University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University.
"Our" Hurricane "Katrina has been out on the horizon for a generation, and we just watched it come," said Rick Snyder, CEO of venture capital firm Ardesta in Ann Arbor, and former president of computer maker Gateway Inc.
Of five things necessary to propel a local economy for takeoff, Snyder said, Michigan is well positioned in technology and has a decent infrastructure. But in the three key areas of capital, talent and culture, "We're flashing red for crisis. We must make major improvements."
The state lacks a well developed venture capital network to seed and nourish new business formation and growth, and even the state's major institutions invest much of their money out of state, Snyder said. And many graduates of Michigan universities leave the state after college.
Sense of entitlement
Culture, Snyder said, "is our biggest problem." Michigan's tremendous industrial success through much of the 20th Century left many of its people with a sense of complacency and entitlement, an assumption that good jobs and wealth always would be available. And even though the impact of automation and global competition has been evident for several decades now, Michigan's response has been tepid, he said.
Mark Murray, president and CEO of Meijer Inc., the Grand Rapids-based retail chain, echoed Snyder's assessment.
"I don't sense the state of urgency that's needed for Michigan to recover as well as it should," said Murray, a former state treasurer and budget director under former Gov. John Engler.
Snyder said the state's political leaders, as is clear from the recent budget battle and tax hikes, have shown virtually no leadership to help pull Michigan out of its no-growth economic stagnation of the past seven years.
Therefore, Snyder said, it's important that the state's major universities show economic leadership by boosting their community involvement.
Derrick Kuzak, group vice president of global product development for Ford Motor Co., made a similar point on a national scale, suggesting that academia join with the automotive industry to push for a rational U.S. energy policy, since the politicians in Washington, D.C., have failed to do so.
"The auto industry will make fundamental changes to reduce its carbon footprint. It's a social responsibility and a business imperative," he said, but it would be much better to have scientists armed with data making key decisions rather than politicians acting on whims.
Filling the leadership void
Are Michigan's major universities ready to step up to a more activist role in fostering economic growth, including a more direct role in local and national politics?
It's not something that comes naturally.
The University of Michigan has long existed as an intellectual outpost, in many ways a world apart from the hurly-burly of industrial Detroit, although Ann Arbor and downtown Detroit are virtually the same distance along I-94 from Metro Airport.
And MSU, WSU and all the other state universities depend in part on the largesse of government for financing. Can they afford to take bold, sometimes controversial positions on issues in those many areas where business and economics meet public policy?
If not our big prestigious universities, who will step forward to lead Michigan's complacent people and hapless politicians out of the economic wilderness?
Contact TOM WALSH at 313-223-4430 or twalsh@freepress.com.
Posted on 10/15/2007 10:33:47 AM
More than 200 people are taking part in a two-day conference in Ann Arbor to discuss how Michigan’s public universities can be leveraged to improve the state’s economy and drive global competitiveness.
University of Michigan Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest told attendees the conference is meant to “challenge us to think hard about how to move faster toward economic diversification.”
Forrest says the University Research Corridor, linking the University of Michigan, Michigan State, and Wayne State, needs to focus on Michigan’s strengths, which he identified as Advanced Manufacturing, Health Sciences, Energy, and IT. To do so, he says, will require building stronger relationships with industry, in what UM President Mary Sue Coleman has called “partner or perish.”
Forrest says Michigan’s universities have traditionally been conservative, but the changing times require more comfort with intellectual risk-taking and more efforts on campus to encourage entrepreneurial activity from faculty and students.
He also says there is a critical need for funding to support what he called the “critical gap” between the formulation of an idea and validating it’s marketability.
Forrest’s views were echoed on video by Norman Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin, who serves on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Augustine says three times as much money is spent on litigation as on research, with the result that the U.S. has now fallen from first to seventh in its ability to take advantage of new developments in IT.
While the federal America Competes Act was passed to help address those shortcomings, Augustine says it’s really up to state and local officials to help companies adapt so they can be more competitive in the worldwide marketplace.
Dingell to conference-goers: educate your lawmakers
Democratic Congressman John Dingell told a conference in Ann Arbor that they have a critical role to play addressing the issues facing Michigan’s economy, but their role is not well understood by many lawmakers in Lansing. Dingell told the “Role of Engaged Universities in Economic Transformation” conference that procuring adequate funding for basic research and technology means convincing Lansing that providing funds for Michigan’s public universities is, in his words, “not expenditures, but investments.”
According to Dingell, some lawmakers don’t understand the role universities play in developing new products for the marketplace and spinning off new businesses and new jobs for the economy. He says research work at universities has also been hampered by philosophy, citing religious points of view that have imposed restrictions on stem cell research at the University of Michigan.
Pointing to Route 128 in Massachusetts, Dingell says the climate was right for an explosion of growth in IT industries. He challenged the University Research Corridor to lead a similar effort in Michigan. “You have the ability to create that climate,” Dingell said, saying government is looking for the best programs and support from the private sector to help build American competitiveness against the larger world.
But he also warned them that getting a program passed, like the federal America Competes Act, isn’t enough. The program, approved overwhelmingly by Congress this summer, has not yet been funded. Dingell says a key is to convince lawmakers, both in Lansing and in Washington, that the future of the Michigan and U.S. economies is based on technology and innovation.
Dingell says while “lean and mean” is the prevailing point of view in Lansing, he doesn’t think that view serves public universities well. He says the universities, and the URC, need to step up and show that they can lead Michigan out of the current mood of doom and gloom, and provide the will to address the economic issues facing the state.
Speaker Urges Stronger University-Business Partnerships
Charles Vest is clear.
"The mission of a public university is to create opportunities," he says.
And he told a conference in Ann Arbor the universities must become serious partners with government and industry to fuel research, transfer knowledge, and help create new businesses.
Vest is the President of the National Academy of Engineering and President Emeritus of M.I.T. and keynoted the “Role of Engaged Universities in Economic Transformation” conference in Ann Arbor, which continues Tuesday.
Vest says in the 20th Century, technology was focused on physics, electronics, high speed communication and high speed transportation. He sees the 21th Century emphasizing biology, energy, environmental, health and information issues.
One frontier, he says, is “microscopic,” where biotech, nanotech and IT are seeing a merger of science and engineering and an emphasis on smaller, faster, and more complex.
The other frontier, says Vest, is “macrosopic,” with an emphasis on worldwide issues like energy, water, sustainable resources, and health care. Here, the emphasis is on larger and more complex and science must work hand-in-hand with the social sciences and the humanities to develop bio-based materials, biofuels, and personalized predictive medicine.
An avowed supporter of an “open source” approach, Vest called for the creation of “Knowledge Integration Communities”, where people from government and the entrepreneurial community are engaged in the early stages of university research. He says such groups can help develop new technologies for market more quickly.
While he says most new jobs will come from small and medium-sized companies, Vest also encouraged a limited number of strategic alliances between university researchers and large companies, citing M.I.T.’s alliance with DuPont in biological research. He says trust and communications are keys to making such partnerships both productive and rewarding.
Vest told the conference that public universities play an important role providing what he called “convening power” – a place where people can come together to talk through issues and network with each other. He identified a second role as knowledge transfer, by producing graduates and sharing faculty. He also says public universities have the potential – largely unexplored – to elevate the quality of K-12 education in the community.
Public school education is a key concern for Vest, who said only 15% of high school graduates in the U.S. are prepared to pursues science and engineering degrees at the university level. He says more teachers are needed in the classroom who have math, science and technical degrees and who can inspire the next generation of students to pursue a career in technology.
Vest is also concerned about the state of connectivity in the U.S. He says the country is falling behind when it comes to broadband access, and needs to invest an additional $10 billion dollars a year to improve basic infrastructure if companies are to operate effectively in a global economy.
Elsewhere Monday, the three universities announced:
-- that the former Traverwood offices and laboratories of Pfizer Inc. have been converted into a wet lab incubator that is already filling up, and that MSU has similar plans for a former Pfizer facility in Holland. Also, Ann Arbor Spark is establishing two additional office incubators in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and is working with 31 startup businesses that have or plan to move into one of their three business accelerators.
-- That UM and Wayne State would join forces to form STIET (Socio-Technical Infrastructure for Electronic Transactions), a multi-disciplinary research-education program involving corporations like Google, Yahoo and IBM to train the PhDs who will transform the Internet into one that is speedier, more secure and spam-free. Simultaneously, they are developing new technology to make it easier for the best and brightest minds to collaborate, creating virtual classrooms and laboratories that enable faculty and students to share classes and laboratory assets seamlessly. Key to the effort is Michigan LambdaRail, an ultra high speed fiber optic network developed by the universities.
-- That all three universities are working to greatly expand research related to a highly promising industry: alternative energy. MSU this summer received a $50 million grant to help establish the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and this fall opened a $10 million alternative energy research center. Meanwhile, Wayne State has established the National Biofuel Energy Lab and lured NextEnergy to its TechTown development while U-M has established the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute, part of a $35 million per year investment in energy research.
Building upon a promise to increase partnerships, the URC has recently announced a number of outreach efforts across the state including:
--Working with 20 other Michigan colleges and universities to establish the Michigan Higher Education Recruitment Consortium to attract and retain talent in the state
--Partnering with community hospitals in the landmark National Children's Study.
--Establishing offices for UM and MSU Detroit-based research and outreach efforts. Their locations, close to the Wayne State campus, further aid the ability to collaborate.
The presidents Monday also released the first annual report on the progress of the URC. A pdf version of the report is available at: http://www.urcmich.org/commentary/2007AnnualReport.pdf
For more on the University Research Corridor and other URC initiatives, visit: www.urcmich.org
Who should shake state out of rut?
October 16, 2007
BY TOM WALSH
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Michigan has no excuse for not being a thriving leader in the knowledge-based, environmentally conscious global economy of the future.
We have fresh water and lots of other great natural assets.
We have a rich history of innovation and entrepreneurship, from automotive pioneer Henry Ford to pizza peddlers Tom Monaghan and Mike Ilitch.
We have a wealth of engineering talent and some of the top research universities in the world.
But we're lazy. Complacent. We have a sense of entitlement and no sense of urgency.
Watching the levees break
Those were but a few of the words and phrases used to explain Michigan's current sad state of economic affairs Monday during the first day of a 2-day conference in Ann Arbor entitled "The Role of Engaged Universities in Economic Development," sponsored by the University Research Corridor alliance of University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University.
"Our" Hurricane "Katrina has been out on the horizon for a generation, and we just watched it come," said Rick Snyder, CEO of venture capital firm Ardesta in Ann Arbor, and former president of computer maker Gateway Inc.
Of five things necessary to propel a local economy for takeoff, Snyder said, Michigan is well positioned in technology and has a decent infrastructure. But in the three key areas of capital, talent and culture, "We're flashing red for crisis. We must make major improvements."
The state lacks a well developed venture capital network to seed and nourish new business formation and growth, and even the state's major institutions invest much of their money out of state, Snyder said. And many graduates of Michigan universities leave the state after college.
Sense of entitlement
Culture, Snyder said, "is our biggest problem." Michigan's tremendous industrial success through much of the 20th Century left many of its people with a sense of complacency and entitlement, an assumption that good jobs and wealth always would be available. And even though the impact of automation and global competition has been evident for several decades now, Michigan's response has been tepid, he said.
Mark Murray, president and CEO of Meijer Inc., the Grand Rapids-based retail chain, echoed Snyder's assessment.
"I don't sense the state of urgency that's needed for Michigan to recover as well as it should," said Murray, a former state treasurer and budget director under former Gov. John Engler.
Snyder said the state's political leaders, as is clear from the recent budget battle and tax hikes, have shown virtually no leadership to help pull Michigan out of its no-growth economic stagnation of the past seven years.
Therefore, Snyder said, it's important that the state's major universities show economic leadership by boosting their community involvement.
Derrick Kuzak, group vice president of global product development for Ford Motor Co., made a similar point on a national scale, suggesting that academia join with the automotive industry to push for a rational U.S. energy policy, since the politicians in Washington, D.C., have failed to do so.
"The auto industry will make fundamental changes to reduce its carbon footprint. It's a social responsibility and a business imperative," he said, but it would be much better to have scientists armed with data making key decisions rather than politicians acting on whims.
Filling the leadership void
Are Michigan's major universities ready to step up to a more activist role in fostering economic growth, including a more direct role in local and national politics?
It's not something that comes naturally.
The University of Michigan has long existed as an intellectual outpost, in many ways a world apart from the hurly-burly of industrial Detroit, although Ann Arbor and downtown Detroit are virtually the same distance along I-94 from Metro Airport.
And MSU, WSU and all the other state universities depend in part on the largesse of government for financing. Can they afford to take bold, sometimes controversial positions on issues in those many areas where business and economics meet public policy?
If not our big prestigious universities, who will step forward to lead Michigan's complacent people and hapless politicians out of the economic wilderness?
Contact TOM WALSH at 313-223-4430 or twalsh@freepress.com.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
A little "3-Card Monte' Anyone?"
  |
High-Stakes Flimflam
It’s time to rein in the test zealots who have gotten such a stranglehold on the public schools in the U.S.
Politicians and others have promoted high-stakes testing as a panacea that would bring accountability to teaching and substantially boost the classroom performance of students.
“Measuring,” said President Bush, in a discussion of his No Child Left Behind law, “is the gateway to success.”
Not only has high-stakes testing largely failed to magically swing open the gates to successful learning, it is questionable in many cases whether the tests themselves are anything more than a shell game.
Daniel Koretz, a professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, told me in a recent interview that it’s important to ask “whether you can trust improvements in test scores when you are holding people accountable for the tests.”
The short answer, he said, is no.
If teachers, administrators, politicians and others have a stake in raising the test scores of students — as opposed to improving student learning, which is not the same thing — there are all kinds of incentives to raise those scores by any means necessary.
“We’ve now had four or five different waves of educational reform,” said Dr. Koretz, “that were based on the idea that if we can just get a good test in place and beat people up to raise scores, kids will learn more. That’s really what No Child Left Behind is.”
The problem is that you can raise scores the hard way by teaching more effectively and getting the students to work harder, or you can take shortcuts and start figuring out ways, as Dr. Koretz put it, to “game” the system.
Guess what’s been happening?
“We’ve had high-stakes testing, really, since the 1970s in some states,” said Dr. Koretz. “We’ve had maybe six good studies that ask: ‘If the scores go up, can we believe them? Or are people taking shortcuts?’ And all of those studies found really substantial inflation of test scores.
“In some cases where there were huge increases in test scores, the kids didn’t actually learn more at all. If you gave them another test, you saw no improvement.”
There is not enough data available to determine how widespread this problem is. “We know it doesn’t always happen,” said Dr. Koretz. “But we know it often does.”
He said his big concern is where this might be happening. “There are a lot of us in the field,” he said, “who think that if we ever really looked under the covers, what we’d find is that the shortcuts are particularly prevalent in lower-achieving schools, just because the pressure is greater, the community supports are less and the kids have more difficulties. But we don’t know.”
One aspect of the No Child Left Behind law that doesn’t get enough attention is that while it requires states to make progress toward student proficiency in reading and math, it leaves it up to the states themselves to define “proficiency” and to create the tests that determine what constitutes progress.
That’s absurd. With no guiding standard, the states’ tests are measurements without meaning.
A study released last week by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Northwest Evaluation Association found that “improvements in passing rates on state tests can largely be explained by declines in the difficulty of those tests.”
The people in charge of most school districts would rather jump from the roof of a tall building than allow an unfettered study of their test practices. But that kind of analysis is exactly what’s needed if we’re to get any real sense of how well students are doing.
Five years ago, President Bush and many others who had little understanding of the best ways to educate children were crowing about the prospects of No Child Left Behind. They were warned then about the dangers of relying too much on test scores.
But those warnings didn’t matter in an era in which reality was left behind.
“No longer is it acceptable to hide poor performance,” said Mr. Bush, as if those who were genuinely concerned about the flaws in his approach were in favor of poor performance.
During my interview with Dr. Koretz, he noted that by not rigorously analyzing the phenomenon of high-stakes testing, “we’re creating an illusion of success that is really nice for everybody in the system except the kids.”
That was a few days before the release of the Fordham Institute Study, which used language strikingly similar to Dr. Koretz’s. The study asserted that the tests used by states to measure student progress under No Child Left Behind were creating “a false impression of success.”
The study was titled, “The Proficiency Illusion.”
Clarion Call: Michigan's "Economic Competitiveness" Transformation
Conference to Look at Transforming Michigan
Presidents of the three universities that make up the University Research Corridor (URC) consortium will put some big brains together around the task of fixing Michigan’s economy.
They are hosting a conference called "The Role of Engaged Universities in Economic Transformation,” which will gather together leaders from academia, business, government and think tanks to explore ways they can best work together to transform and revitalize the state.
Action teams will work together to come devise the next steps they can take to speed of the development of Michigan's knowledge-based economy. Speakers include:
The conference is aimed at addressing the major competitiveness issues raised a recent National Academy of Sciences report called "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future.'' It will take place Oct 15-16 at Rackham Auditorium, 915 E. Washington, Ann Arbor, on the campus of the University of Michigan.
The conference is free and open to the public but registration is required. To register, visit: http://www.urcmich.org/events or http://cms.housing.umich.edu/urc
For a more complete agenda, click here.
DAY 2 AGENDA (See Below "Workforce Needs:" The Role of STEM Education in the Economy
The Role of Engaged Universities in Economic Transformation
Conference HomeDay 2 - Plenary Session, Rackham Auditorium
CONFERENCE WRAP-UP • WINE & CHEESE RECEPTION
Presidents of the three universities that make up the University Research Corridor (URC) consortium will put some big brains together around the task of fixing Michigan’s economy.
They are hosting a conference called "The Role of Engaged Universities in Economic Transformation,” which will gather together leaders from academia, business, government and think tanks to explore ways they can best work together to transform and revitalize the state.
Action teams will work together to come devise the next steps they can take to speed of the development of Michigan's knowledge-based economy. Speakers include:
- National Academy of Engineering President Charles Vest, president emeritus of MIT and a former University of Michigan provost.
- U.S. Rep. John Dingell, the dean of the House and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
- Assistant U.S. Secretary of Commerce Sandy Baruah, who oversees the department's Economic Development Administration.
- Derrick Kuzak, group vice president of global product development for Ford Motor Co.
- Rick Snyder, co-founder and CEO of Ardesta LLC and chairman of Gateway Computers.
- Meijer Inc. President Mark Murray, former president of Grand Valley State University and a former Michigan state budget director.
- The URC presidents: U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid and MSU President Lou Anna Simon.
The conference is aimed at addressing the major competitiveness issues raised a recent National Academy of Sciences report called "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future.'' It will take place Oct 15-16 at Rackham Auditorium, 915 E. Washington, Ann Arbor, on the campus of the University of Michigan.
The conference is free and open to the public but registration is required. To register, visit: http://www.urcmich.org/events or http://cms.housing.umich.edu/urc
For a more complete agenda, click here.
DAY 2 AGENDA (See Below "Workforce Needs:" The Role of STEM Education in the Economy
The Role of Engaged Universities in Economic Transformation
Conference Home
Day 2 - Plenary Session, Rackham Auditorium
and Conference Workshops, michigan League / Alumni center
See Day 1
REGISTRATION AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST, 7:30 AM - 8: 30 AM
PLENARY SESSION, 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM
Panel Discussion with
Stephen R. Forrest, Vice President for Research, University of Michigan
Tom Walsh, Business Columnist, Detroit Free Press
Michael Finney, President and CEO, Ann Arbor SPARK
Philip H. Power, Chairman and President, Center for Michigan
WORKSHOPS
10 AM - NOON and 1 PM - 3PM
Box lunch will be provided -- see Registration Form
CONFERENCE WRAP-UP • WINE & CHEESE RECEPTION
3PM - 4:30 PM
Program download (as of 10/5/2007)
Topics
Business/Economic Needs:
- University-Business Partnerships
- Doug Rothwell, President, Detroit Renaissance
- Marvin G. Parnes, Associate Vice President for Research and Executive Director of Research Administration, University of Michigan
Afternoon - Katherine E. White, Professor, Law School, Wayne State University
- Fred Reinhart, Associate Vice President for Technology Commercialization, Wayne State University
- Regional Economic Development
- Paul R. Dimond, Attorney, Miller Canfield
- James F. Hettinger, Battle Creek Unlimited
Afternoon
- David C. Hollister, President, Prima Civitas Foundation
- Grady Burnett, Director, Online Sales and Operations, Google, Ann Arbor
- Venture Capital
- Mary Campbell, Managing Director, EDF Ventures
- Cindy Douglas, Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Afternoon - Mark Weiser, Managing Director, RPM Ventures
- Kenneth J. Nisbet, Executive Director, Office of Technology Transfer, University of Michigan
- Great Lakes as an Economic Resource
- John C. Austin, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
- Paul N. Courant, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries
Afternoon - Soji Adelaja, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in Land Policy, Michigan State University
- Victoria Pebbles, Associate Program Manager, Great Lakes Commission
- Discussion Leaders
Morning
- Discussion Leaders
Morning
- Discussion Leaders
Morning
- Discussion Leaders
Morning
Sector Needs:
- Universities and Advanced Manufacturing
- Rick McHugh, Midwest Coordinator, Unemployment Insurance Safety Net Project, National Employment Law Project
- A. Galip Ulsoy, William Clay Ford Professor of Manufacturing, University of Michigan
Afternoon - Edward A. Wolking Jr., Executive Vice President, Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce
- Kenneth Chelst, Chair, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Wayne State University
- Universities and the Biotechnology Sector
- James R. Baker Jr., Director, Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and the Biological Sciences (M-NIMBS)
- John C. Greenfield, Executive Director, Core Technology Alliance
Afternoon (Biotech/biomed)
- Ramani Narayan, Professor, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University
- Brian Athey, Associate Professor of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Michigan
Afternoon (Biotech/bio-fuels/bio-economy) - Steven Pueppke, Director, Office of Biobased Technologies, Michigan State University
- Lawrence A. Molnar, Program Manager, Business & Industrial Assistance Division, University of Michigan
- Universities and the Energy Sector
- Gary S. Was, Director, Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute, University of Michigan
- Jim A. Croce, CEO, NextEnergy
Afternoon - Simon Ng, Professor of Engineering, Wayne State University
- Levi T. Thompson, Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan
- Universities and the Information Technology Sector
- Michael P. Wellman, Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
- Richard Sheridan, President, Menlo Innovations
- Harry Wan, Vice President, Engineering, Arbor Networks
- Philip K. McKinley, Michigan State University [TENTATIVE]
Afternoon - Thomas A. Finholt, Research Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, University of Michigan
- Farshad Fotouhi, Professor and Chair, Department of Computer Science, Wayne State University [TENTATIVE]
- Laurence Kirchmeier, Product Development, Merit Network [TENTATIVE]
- Betty H.C. Cheng, Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, Michigan State University [TENTATIVE]
- Discussion Leaders
Morning
- Discussion Leaders
Morning (Biotech/biomed)
- Discussion Leaders
Morning
- Discussion Leaders
Morning
Workforce Needs:
- Worker Retention and Skill Development
- Paul M. Hunt, Associate Vice President for Research, Michigan State University
- JaNice Marshall, Dept. Chair, Civil Technology Program, Lansing Community College
- Larry A. Good, Chairman, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
- TBA
- The Role of STEM Education in the Economy
- Joseph S. Krajcik, Professor and Associate Dean, School of Education, University of Michigan
- Maria M. Ferreira, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Science Education, College of Education, Wayne State University
Afternoon
- Thomas F. Wolff, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, College of Engineering, Michigan State University
- Cinda-Sue Davis, Director, Women in Science and Engineering Program
- Public attitudes/quality of life
- Lou Glazer, President, Michigan Future, Inc.
- Philip H. Power, Chairman and President, Center for Michigan
- Eric Cedo, President and Founder, BrainGain Marketing
Afternoon
- Donald F. Holecek, Professor, Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies, Michigan State University
- Discussion Leaders
- Discussion Leaders
Morning
- Discussion Leaders
Morning
The conference is being organized by the University Research Corridor. Funding for the conference is provided by the Richard Lounsbery Foundation.
Questions? Contact Conference Management Services, 734-764-5325 or conferences@umich.edu
Signaling a "Decade of Digital Discourse." SEE YOU THERE!
SCIENCE TEACHERS CONVERGE ON COBO
The National Science Teachers Association, the largest professional organization in the world promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning, announced that it will be in Detroit Oct. 18-20 for its 2007 Midwestern Area Conference on Science Education.
Participants from across Michigan and neighboring states will meet to discuss the latest issues in science education, learn about new teaching tools and techniques, network with fellow science education professionals, and hear thought-provoking presentations from world-renowned scientists and educators. The conference will be held at the Cobo Center and other area venues.
Designed to enhance professional development and provide networking forums for science educators, the three-day conference -- held in conjunction with the Metropolitan Detroit Science Teacher Association -- will feature hundreds of presentations about the latest breakthroughs in science and hands-on workshops covering every discipline, grade level and teaching focus.
Educators will discuss popular issues, including the No Child Left Behind Act, science literacy and the nation’s competitiveness, and the teaching of evolution and global climate change. In addition, attendees will hear about the hottest topics in science education from nationally renowned speakers, including Sally Ride, former NASA astronaut and president and CEO of Sally Ride Science.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to explore NSTA’s Exhibition of Science Teaching Materials. From the latest high-tech calculators to scientifically engineered container gardens, attendees will be able to examine and learn about the latest science education materials, laboratory equipment and computer hardware and software available.
For more information, visit www.nsta.org/conferences/2007det/registration.aspx.
Why Mac? TIME!
Forsee: WiMaxed Out
Sprint Chief's Bet Failed to Pay Off
Sprint Chief's Bet Failed to Pay Off
By Frank Ahrens and Kim Hart
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 9, 2007; D01
Perhaps someday, WiMax will be the key to turning around Sprint Nextel, the beleaguered Reston cellphone company. Perhaps someday, consumers will walk and drive across the country, enjoying uninterrupted, high-speed Internet service, watching video, e-mailing and talking on the phone over the Web, thanks to WiMax.
But Sprint chief executive Gary D. Forsee -- the man who committed $5 billion this summer to turn the company into the nation's No. 1 WiMax provider -- won't be around to oversee it.
Forsee resigned yesterday afternoon after running the company for four years. On his watch, Sprint stock steadily climbed, from $12 per share to a high of more than $25 per share in early 2006. But shares have slumped since then, closing down nearly 3 percent yesterday at $18.50, as Wall Street criticized Forsee's decisions.
Specifically, analysts and investors thought that Forsee was short-shrifting his company's core business -- phones -- while throwing a much-riskier, high-cost Hail Mary: building a WiMax network. So far, the expensive project has been met with delays and technical hurdles.
WiMax is like a much bigger WiFi. WiFi allows you to cruise the Web from your local coffee shop without having to plug your laptop into an Internet connection, but if you walk too far away, you lose your signal. WiMax promises high-speed Internet service hundreds of miles wide.
The ultimate dream is overlapping WiMax zones covering the country, letting subscribers stay connected to the Internet even as they travel, getting passed off from one WiMax zone to the next in the same way that cellphone towers pass callers from one phone to the next.
Sprint's $5 billion investment is aimed at slowing other big telecoms, such as Verizon and AT&T, from becoming big players in WiMax. Owning the WiMax space could prove lucrative enough to be a change agent for the troubled Sprint, enabling it to transform from a third-place cellphone carrier that's barely adding customers into the dominant provider of next-generation communications.
This summer, Forsee predicted Sprint would reach 100 million Americans with its WiMax service. In 2006, when Sprint announced plans to build a WiMax network, Forsee said: "We'll give customers the power to harness business information and personal entertainment easily and inexpensively -- and in ways that they will one day wonder how they lived without."
But the technology to make WiMax work has been slow to roll out, and analysts estimate it won't gain consumer momentum until late 2008 at the earliest. Sprint is still testing mobile WiMax technology. It announced during the summer that it would partner with start-up Clearwire, which was trying to build its own WiMax network, to combine forces and speed rollout. But Sprint said last week that the finalization of the Clearwire deal is being delayed.
Sprint is now in the position of figuring how to move forward with the WiMax plan -- without the man who dreamed up the plan. This far in, Sprint may be committed to building out the WiMax network but may not be able to do it fast enough to adequately transform the company to Wall Street's liking.
Sprint's WiMax predicament is like owning miles of pristine beachfront property and then being unable to build condos on your very valuable, exclusive property.
"The fact that they bought a $5 billion network without testing it was a violation of fiduciary duty," said Patrick Comack, senior equity analyst at Zachary Investment Research in Miami Beach. "It's like buying a $5 billion car without test-driving it first."
He added that the company is still struggling to perfect the network's ability to hand over traffic between towers as people move between coverage areas, which is necessary to stay connected while driving, for example.
Forsee found himself in much the same situation as Jean-Marie Messier, former head of Vivendi Universal. Like Forsee, Messier had a vision when he took over the company in 1996.
Messier envisioned that consumers from the Left Bank to Hollywood would pay to download music and videos to their cellphones and mobile devices. Messier spent Vivendi Universal into near-bankruptcy, buying telecom, movie and music companies, chasing the dream.
Messier was right but about five years too early. His company's stock plummeted, the disparate conglomerate never fit together and it ended up getting sold off in pieces. Messier was kicked out by his board in 2002.
Mike Nelson, an analyst with Stanford Group, said investors would not be so concerned about the big bet on WiMax if Sprint was also showing signs of fixing the core wireless business.
"If we were Sprint's CEO for a day, we wouldn't kill WiMax, since it could eventually be a competitive advantage, but would halve the spending in 2008," Philip Cusick, equity research analyst at Bear Stearns, wrote Friday in a note to investors. "We would re-emphasize the core business . . . over non-core distractions" like its prepaid Boost brand and WiMax, he wrote.
In August, Sprint gained new subscribers for the first time in a year but also warned it expected to lose subscribers in the third quarter.
Cusick added that he does not expect WiMax to gain momentum until late 2008 or 2009. A management shift could further delay Sprint in finalizing its contract with Clearwire to build out the network.
"We believe that Sprint is likely to de-emphasize the WiMax business, which could result in a slower rollout for WiMax in the U.S., lower economies of scale for Clearwire and shrink the ecosystem necessary to attract consumer electronics companies to WiMax," Cusick wrote.
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