Posts by Gabe Nelson
U. Wisconsin sues Washburn U over similar ‘W’ logos
By Gabe Nelson, written on Dec. 6, 2007
The University of Wisconsin at Madison has sued Washburn University, a public college outside Topeka, Kan., based on concerns that the college’s logo is too similar to Wisconsin’s, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported yesterday.
Take a look for yourself at these images from the Capital-Journal.
It seems that the Wisconsin ‘W’ has more curves and is a little pointier. On top of that, they’re different colors. But both tilt to the left and have similar blocks at the top of the letters. Maybe Wisconsin has a case, maybe not, but there are some things only legal professionals can decide.
Now, if only Michigan would sue Delaware for stealing the fabled winged helmet.
Correction appended: Washburn University is a state university, not a private university.
Between football and academics, Big Ten fares well
By Gabe Nelson, written on Dec. 6, 2007
As the Ivy League might tell you, success on the gridiron and in the classroom doesn’t always overlap.
But according to an analysis of teams headed to bowl games released Sunday by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida, the Big Ten does pretty well on both fronts.
Michigan, headed to Orlando to play Florida in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1, had a 73-percent graduation rate for football players last year. That places it tied for 12th among the 64 teams competing in bowl games this season. Michigan was tied with Illinois and two spots behind Penn State, which had a 76-percent graduation rate last year.
With three schools in the top dozen, Big Ten bowl teams fared better than any other conference with regard to graduation rates. The Top 12 also includes two Atlantic Coast Conference bowl teams, one Big East team, one South Eastern Conference team and one Big 12 team.
Surprisingly, no teams in the Pac-10 — which includes academic heavyweights Cal, Stanford, UCLA and USC — made the list. Service academies, however, ranked highly. Navy and Air Force, both headed to bowls, had two of the three highest graduation rates.
The top three, in terms of graduation rates:
Navy — 95 percent
Boston College — 93 percent
Air Force — 92 percent
The bottom three:
Georgia — 41 percent
Texas — 42 percent
Michigan State — 43 percent
Across U.S., non-European language study on the rise
By Gabe Nelson, written on Nov. 15, 2007
According to a study released yesterday by the Modern Language Association, the number of college students studying Asian and Middle Eastern languages has increased dramatically in the last decade. Study of Arabic has increased by 127 percent over that time, while study of Chinese has risen by 51 percent and Korean by 37 percent.
Most of the increase in these languages can be attributed to economic globalization and the war on terror. The U.S. government, for example, needs thousands of Arabic-speaking employees for intelligence and other operations. Last January, the government announced the National Security Language Initiative to produce fluent speakers of languages crucial to national security.
Much of the rise in Chinese and Korean study could be because American businesses need employees who can speak those languages to conduct business with manufacturers and distributors in the booming “tigers” of East Asia.
The University is certainly following the trend. The Michigan Daily reported last month that the number of Arabic majors has doubled since Sept. 11, 2001.
If the results of the study are any indication, though, Arabic and Chinese won’t be the most popular languages anytime soon. Spanish, French and German still comprise more than 70 percent of foreign language study by college students.
Ohio college senior goes from intern to police chief
By Gabe Nelson, written on Nov. 8, 2007
Here’s one internship that led to more than fetching coffee and handing out mail.
Andy Winemiller, a 21-year-old political science senior at Heidelberg College in Ohio, was hired as the city of Lorain’s Service and Safety Director — the equivalent of the police chief — just a month after he started working at the police department as an intern, The Associated Press reported. Mayor John Romoser hired him after the first two people the mayor asked to fill the position declined the job offer.
However, since Rosmoser lost his seat in Tuesday’s election, Winemiller’s appointment isn’t expected to last for long.
Incoming mayor Tony Krasienko said he’ll name a replacement for Winemiller in January, after he takes office. Until then, Winemiller will earn $7,500 per month — not to mention a great story to tell when interviewing for jobs after graduation.
Romney endorsed by two University regents
By Gabe Nelson, written on Nov. 2, 2007
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, visiting Michigan this weekend, unveiled his University of Michigan and Michigan State University “leadership teams” today. His University of Michigan team includes endorsements from Andrew Fischer Newman, a Republican member of the University Board of Regents, and Domino’s Pizza CEO David Brandon, a former regent who lost his seat on the board in last year’s general election.
“I am pleased to endorse Governor Romney and support his vision for America,” Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R–Ann Arbor) wrote in a statement. “As a native of Michigan, Governor Romney understands the difficulties we face here and will be a powerful advocate and friend to Michigan at a time when we need it most.”
The Michigan State University team includes endorsements from three current regents, including Scott Romney, Mitt’s brother.
Mitt Romney has strong ties to the state. His father George Romney was governor from 1963 to 1969. Scott Romney, a lawyer at Detroit’s Honigman Miller Schwartz & Cohn, ran unsuccessfully for state attorney general in 1998, losing to current Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Mitt Romney will be attending tailgates at the Michigan-Michigan State football game tomorrow, followed by the game itself. Watch for live blog updates about what condiments he likes on his brats.
Final figures show drop in minority enrollment
By Gabe Nelson, written on Nov. 1, 2007
The University released its final enrollment numbers this year, and the statistics show a significant drop in underrepresented minority enrollment in this year’s freshman class.
According to the statistics, the proportion of black students in this year’s freshman class dropped by 8.8 percent, the proportion of Hispanic students dropped by 12.6 percent and the proportion of Native American students dropped by 13.5 percent. Notably, the proportion of black students is down 26.1 percent from the freshman class that entered two years ago.
In real numbers, black students make up about 5.6 percent, Hispanic students make up about 4.5 percent and Native American students make up about 0.8 percent of this year’s class.
In a statement released today, Undergraduate Admissions Director Ted Spencer implied that the University expects to see minority enrollment numbers drop again next year.
“The full impact of Proposal 2 is not reflected in the current year’s enrollment numbers because it took effect mid-way through the admissions cycle,” Spencer said. “We’ll have a more accurate indication of its potential impact in fall 2008.”
Facing a record 27,474 applications, the University admitted slightly more than half of applicants this year. About 43.3 percent of accepted students enrolled at the University.
While the University’s yield — the number of accepted students that enroll — has remained steady over the last three years, the percentage of students admitted is up from about 47.5 percent last year, which was itself a drop from 57 percent two years ago.
This year’s freshman class has 5,992 students compared with 5,399 last year. It’s a near return to the size of the classes that entered two and three years ago, which both included more than 6,000 students.
Regents roundup: October 2007
By Gabe Nelson, written on Oct. 23, 2007
The University Board of Regents will hold its monthly meeting at the University of Michigan-Flint this Thursday. The regents will consider the University’s financial report, which shows a 25 percent increase to the University’s endowment. For more information, read this story in today’s Daily. Also, be on the lookout for an in-depth story in Friday’s paper explaining what the endowment does and why colleges are under pressure to change the way they use them.
Here are other items included in this month’s regents agenda:
The regents will be asked to approve five-year extensions for Terrence McDonald, the dean of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, Peter Polverini, the dean of the School of Dentistry, and Jerry May, the University’s vice president for development.
Many people believe University President Mary Sue Coleman’s salary is too high. Coleman, though, has given much of that back to the University in the way of donations. For instance, after the regents voted to raise Coleman’s tuition by 3 percent to meet inflation, Coleman vowed to return the money as a donation to graduate programs. Coleman added to that by donating $120,000 to the University last month, according to the report on voluntary support included in this month’s regents agenda. Since the beginning of the 2006 academic year, Coleman has donated a total of about $160,000 to the University, according to regents proceedings.
The Regents are scheduled to consider schematic designs for a $15.7-million addition to the Thompson Street Parking Structure. The project will add 385 parking spaces, as well as office space for Parking and Transportation Services and the Office of Budget and Planning. For more details on the project, see this story published in the Daily in February.
Michigan Solar Car continues despite setback
By Gabe Nelson, written on Oct. 22, 2007
There was a story in Friday’s issue of the Daily about the Solar Car Team’s new vehicle and its hopes of winning the Panasonic World Solar Challenge, an 1,864 mile race across Australia. Those hopes were shattered less than an hour after the race started on Sunday morning when Michigan’s vehicle, Continuum, rear-ended the team’s support vehicle.
“After the Stanford Solar Car Team passed our Team, they stopped abruptly, causing our lead driver to stop, and Continuum to hit our lead vehicle,” read an entry posted by Project Manager Tom Carroll to the team’s blog on Sunday.
After a day of repairs, the team continued on Monday morning, passing one other team and arriving at Katherine checkpoint at about noon, according to the blog.
The Michigan team hoped to win the competition for the first time. It came in third in the last race, held in 2005. Now, after the accident, a great deal would need to happen for the Michigan vehicle to place high in the contest — five teams have already reached Tennant Creek, about 420 miles ahead of the Katherine checkpoint. For a map of the race’s checkpoints, click here.
Video: How is technology is changing the college experience?
By Gabe Nelson, written on Oct. 22, 2007
Michael Wesch, an assistant professor of cultural anthopology at Kansas State University, conducted a study using 200 students in one of his classes and used the findings to create a film about the effects of technology on the modern college experience. As of last night, it had about 140,000 views on youtube.com.
Among the findings, the students did 49 percent of the readings assigned to them, found 26 percent of reading relevant to their lives and estimated that they would read about 1300 Facebook.com profiles but just eight books in the next year.
Some of Wesch’s students admitted to using Facebook in class while pretending to be looking at class materials. That’s happening at the University of Michigan too — look at this story published in The Ann Arbor News earlier this month.
If you have trouble seeing the embedded video, it can also be seen here.
Ann Arbor, Raleigh both claim to be first LED city
By Gabe Nelson, written on Oct. 18, 2007
Within two years, every streetlight in downtown Ann Arbor will use LED bulbs, an eco-friendly switch that officials say will reduce the city’s energy costs by about $100,000 per year, The Ann Arbor News reported yesterday.
Mayor John Hieftje boasted in a Tuesday press conference that the city is the first in the country to pledge to use the light emitting diode bulbs in all of its streetlights.
Officials in Raleigh, N.C. might disagree.
In February, Raleigh launched a plan, called the “LED City” initiative, to replace many of the city’s incandescent bulbs with LEDs. The city said at the time that it would make a complete switch to LEDs if it would cut the city’s energy bill.
Both companies are working to implement the change with Cree, a Durham, N.C.-based LED company. It seems that Cree told both cities they were the first one to make the switch — Raleigh being the first to start the process, and Ann Arbor the first to pledge to complete it.
Raleigh, located in North Carolina’s Research Triangle, already has a reputation as a high-tech haven — not unlike Ann Arbor, the hub of the state’s newly created University Research Corridor. Both cities are also known for being eco-friendly: Raleigh’s nickname is “the City of Oaks,” while Ann Arbor’s is “Tree Town.”
Something tells me it’s about time for a showdown.