Posts by Jessica Vosgerchian
For the jobless
By Jessica Vosgerchian, written on May. 29, 2007
For students without a paid — or some otherwise fulfilling — internship, and who have already been turned down by every Jimmy John’s in Ann Arbor, there’s still hope for finding a summer job.
Washtenaw Community College and Michigan Works are hosting a Youth Career Expo and Job Fair tomorrow between 2:30 and 7 p.m. in WCC’s Morris Lawrence Building.
The expo features workshops meant to boost the employability of college-aged people, Michigan Works spokeswoman Martha Welsh said.
The clinics include a motivational speaker, a job interest survey, resume writing training, a panel of local employers to answer questions about hiring and a virtual video interview where participants can watch a video of themselves answering practice interview questions.
After the expo Welsh said participants are supposed to put their new skills into practice by talking with representatives of stores and companies located in Washtenaw County and looking to hire.
The job fair begins at 5 p.m. and is also open to people who did not attend the expo.
Companies like Express, the University of Phoenix, Circuit City and Border’s Express will set up tables at the job fair.
No health insurance? Have some vaccine
By Jessica Vosgerchian, written on May. 20, 2007
Washtenaw County women 19 to 26 years old with no health insurance can receive the HPV vaccine Gardasil for a $10 administration fee from the Washtenaw County Public Health Department.The immunization is made possible through state and federal funding, said Kathy Webster, the immunization nurse coordinator. The grant provided a limited amount of the vaccine, which the department began to distribute on May 1.*
This story in-brief from The Ann Arbor News may be of comfort to some student voters. In the scenario that state Rep. Rebekah Warren (D–Ann Arbor) sees her recent effort to repeal Rogers’s Law foiled, at least students who lose their health insurance by changing their permanent addresses to Ann Arbor can protect against HPV for $10.
*Offer available while supplies last.
For transgender community, House pleases where ‘U’ falls short
By Jessica Vosgerchian, written on May. 4, 2007
The House of Representatives passed a progressive addendum to hate-crime legislation yesterday that the University’s Board of Regents has avoided adding to the University’s own bylaws for years.
By 237 to 180, the House voted to cover crimes spurred by a victim’s “gender, sexual orientation, gender identity” or disability under the hate-crime designation, which currently applies to people who are attacked because of their race, religion, color or national origin.
Despite cries for similar revision from LGBT activists, students and faculty, Regents have refused to add the phrase “gender identity and expression” to the bylaw’s nondiscrimination clause.
Advocates for the addition have said the clause’s language doesn’t clearly extend protection to transgender people, but University administrators held that the word “sex” covers the phrase’s implications in the clause.
The movement on campus quieted down during the last year, but an example from Washington D.C. could incite it again.
Regent Julia Darlow, who was elected to the board last November, said she would support adding “gender identity” to the bylaws.
“I would like to see the University do the same thing and make the meaning crystal clear in the bylaws,” she said.
Man flees after assaulting student
By Jessica Vosgerchian, written on Apr. 24, 2007
The Department of Public Safety released a crime alert after a man assaulted a student near the Fuller-Mitchell parking lot on Fuller Road yesterday at about 4 p.m.
The student told police that as she was walking down a path behind the east end of the parking lot, an unknown man called out to her, grabbed her with both hands and tried to pull her toward the railroad tracks that run by the path, DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said.
The student struggled against the man’s grasp and was able to break free and run away.
After losing his grip on the victim, the man ran southeast toward the railroad tracks, Brown said.
DPS has no reason to suspect the man was armed, Brown said.
The path where the attack happened leads to the Nichols Arboretum and is well used by joggers and pedestrians, but partly concealed from the street by a slight hill.
Brown wouldn’t say whether DPS knows whether any people were in the area at the time of the attack or if witnesses have come forward.
The student told police that her attacker was about 30 years old, wore a grey T-shirt and had short blond hair and a pale complexion.
DPS is asking anyone with information to call the tip line at 734-763-1131.
Regents vote to increase housing rates
By Jessica Vosgerchian, written on Apr. 19, 2007
The University’s Board of Regents approved an average 4.9 increase in next year’s residence hall rates today 5-2.
Regents Andrea Newman (R-Ann Arbor) and Andrew Richner (R-Grosse Point Park) voted against the hike, and Regent S. Martin Taylor (D-Gross Point Farms) was absent.
A student in a standard double room and a 13-meal plan will pay $8,190 next year — $382 more than in the previous year.
Rising salaries and costs of utilities account for 2.1 percent of the increase.
Mary Sue Coleman’s Residential Life Initiatives project — which includes North Quad, residence hall renovations and the Hill Dining Center — will receive 2 percent of the increase.
The last .8 percent of the hike will go toward infrastructure repairs that can’t be delayed, University Housing spokesman Alan Levy said.
Rates for the University’s Northwood Community Apartments are increasing 2 percent.
The hike is almost entirely for rising utilities costs, Levy said.
He said rate increases for Northwood are kept as low as possible to try to stay competitive with off-campus housing that is often less expensive.
“We’re very committed — in a very competitive market — to keeping our apartments as low as possible,” he said. “We know students have other options.
The Regents also approved an average increase of 5.9 percent in 2006 and a 4.9 percent hike in 2005, making the standard housing plan $1,150 more expensive than when University juniors first unpacked in their standard doubles.