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."

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.

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.

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.

Variations on a THEME!

Holly electrician building large digital picture frames

A Holly electrician is hitting the market with large digital picture frames intended for everything from home to corporate use. 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.