Features

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November 30, 2011

Galens Tag Days

Wearing red ponchos and carrying metal buckets, members of the U-M Galens Medical Society will take to the streets this weekend to raise money for the children of Washtenaw County. An Ann Arbor tradition since 1927 where red and green tags are given out for each contribution, Tag Days raises tens of thousands of dollars annually for local charities committed to helping area youth.

Photo: AnnArbor.com

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November 29, 2011

The art of recycling

ArtsEngine — a North Campus initiative promoting interdisciplinary creative work — recently conducted a student design challenge called “42 Hours of Re_Creativity.” The event inspired ten teams with members from areas as diverse as neuroscience, philosophy, physics, music, dance, architecture, engineering, and art and design to compete for prizes by creating entries using reused materials with a budget of $50 within 42 hours.

Photo: ArtsEngine

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November 28, 2011

Bringing millions to Michigan

Research at the U-M Medical School brought hundreds of millions of dollars into the state of Michigan in 2011—and could have a total economic impact of nearly $1.2 billion. The school rose to sixth among all medical schools in terms of total funding from the National Institutes of Health and second among medical schools affiliated with public universities. It is U-M's fourth consecutive year in the top 10.

Photo: Lin Jones, U-M Photo Services

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November 23, 2011

Roots of the rivalry

The Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes play each other on Saturday for the 108th time—a rivalry that ESPN viewers have voted as the best ever. It is believed that the roots of the hard feelings between the two sides may go back to 1833 when Michigan was making its pitch for statehood. Surveyors discovered that Toledo should actually belong to Michigan and Ohio refused to give it back.

Photo: Bentley Historical Library

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November 22, 2011

Inspiring the next generation

Two notable Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning alumni recently stopped by Renaissance High School in Detroit to talk about their roles in the creation of the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C. Edward Jackson, Jr. (left) was the executive architect and James Chaffers (right), a U-M professor emeritus of architecture, served as a senior design juror on the project.

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November 21, 2011

U-M tops Fulbright students

U-M has 29 students receiving Fulbright grants for the 2011-12 academic year, topping the list of U.S. institutions for the fifth time in the past seven years. As participants in one of the most competitive and prestigious awards programs in the world, the students will travel to 25 countries to do research, study or teach English for six to 12 months.

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November 18, 2011

The moon and beyond

Michigan Engineering recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 15 moon mission and its all-Michigan crew. U-M has been a key player in the American space program and still continues this tradition. In the “Michigan, the Moon and Beyond” video, astronauts, scientists and engineers share their thoughts about the past and the future of space exploration and Michigan’s role.

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November 17, 2011

Timeless figures

Angels appear just about everywhere in modern culture but interest in them is more than a contemporary fad. Ellen Muehlberger, an assistant professor of Near Eastern studies and history at U-M who is writing a book about angels in late ancient times, explains that these mysterious creatures have been stirring an intense interest since the early years of Christianity.

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November 16, 2011

Rainbow of pride

The Spectrum Center, a campus program that provides resources and support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students at U-M, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this weekend with events ranging from panel discussions to musical performances.

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November 15, 2011

Saving energy through social networks

U-M School of Information Professor Thomas Finholt and adjunct lecturer Erik Hofer are studying how social networks can be used to help individuals reduce their energy footprint. Among their areas of focus are the Internet, telephone systems and transportation networks, all of which are in turn tied to power and fuel-supply networks, such as electricity grids.

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November 14, 2011

U-M vs. OSU

The 30th annual Blood Battle to see which school can collect more blood donations is currently underway. In addition, “Be a Hero at the Big House,” is another challenge to see who can sign up the most organ donors. Participants can donate blood, sign up as an organ donor, and be screened for bone marrow donation at Michigan Stadium on Nov. 16.

Photo: Scott C. Soderberg, U-M Photo Services

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November 11, 2011

A toast to nature

The U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) recently had its annual campfire at the Sister Lakes in Ann Arbor, a tradition that traces its roots to the school's early "field days" in 1906. The gathering is an opportunity for SNRE students, faculty, staff, alumni and their families to get off campus and enjoy Michigan’s autumn weather, beautiful foliage and natural areas.

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November 10, 2011

Veterans Day 2011

U-M’s Ann Arbor campus is home to nearly 1,000 military veterans. On Nov. 11, these students, faculty and staff, along with their 250 compatriots at UM-Flint and UM-Dearborn, will be honored for their service. The celebration includes a series of academic, social, athletic and ceremonial events, including the annual Army-Navy Wheelchair Basketball game, preceded by a motorcade featuring U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn.

Photo: Daryl Marshke

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November 9, 2011

Dia de los Muertos

Students in a U-M Residential College sculpture course recently paraded around Central Campus wearing paper mache skulls they made as part of an exploration of cultural practices related to the tradition of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a Mexican holiday celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2 to remember friends and family members who have passed away.

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November 8, 2011

Music gatherers

The University Musical Society brings AnDa Union, a group inspired by the old and forgotten folk music of nomadic herdsman cultures of Mongolia, to the Michigan Theater on Nov. 9. The day before their appearance on Nov. 8, the Confucius Institute is hosting a lecture on Mongolian arts and culture at the Michigan Union and the U-M Museum of Art is screening a documentary about their work.

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November 7, 2011

What does a genius look like?

Tiya Miles, the chairwoman of U-M’s Afroamerican and African Studies Department is considered a genius, by virtue of the MacArthur Foundation fellowship that she just won, an award that is nicknamed the genius grant. She is one of three female U-M professors awarded the fellowship this year, and is the only African-American woman among the 22 MacArthur fellows across the country.

Photo: Madalyn Ruggiero, Detroit Free Press

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November 4, 2011

Sneak peek

After five years of construction, the public will finally get to see inside the new, state-of-the-art C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital before it opens for business in December when access will be limited to admitted patients and their families. There will be an open house celebration on Nov. 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Photo: Scott C. Soderberg, U-M Photo Services

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November 3, 2011

Rare Chinese papercuts discovered

Staff at the U-M Center for Chinese Studies recently made a stunning find while they were cleaning out a storage room. They ran across a long-forgotten collection of rare Chinese propaganda papercut images from the Cultural Revolution—a period of massive political upheaval in China that began in 1966 and lasted about a decade.

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November 2, 2011

Lots of leaves

U-M’s Ann Arbor campus has nearly 14,000 trees. It is recognized as a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. In order to achieve this status, universities must effectively manage campus trees, develop connectivity with the community to foster healthy, urban forests, and engage of students in campus and community forestry efforts.

Photo: Bob Kalmbach, U-M Photo Services

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November 1, 2011

Defining spaces

A U-M architecture graduate student works on a project adding a visitor’s center and caretaker’s home to the existing Miller House and garden, a mid-century modern designed by leading architects Eero Saarinen and Dan Kiley in Columbus, Indiana. The goal of the assignment was to explore the synthesis of modern spatial ideas including horizontality, the grid, and asymmetry.