University of Michigan

Solar car team at UM reveals its new car called 'Generation'

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:01:58 +0000

The Solar Car team at the University of Michigan unveiled its newest car today.

The car is called “Generation” and it will represent the U of M team in The World Solar Challenge this fall.

New poll shows Michiganders holding conflicting views of 'fracking'

Steve Carmody — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:21:00 +0000

A new poll shows a slim majority of Michiganders support natural gas fracking, though they want the industry to face more regulations and pay more taxes.

Michigan’s natural gas industry has grown as companies have used a technique called Hydraulic Fracturing, or fracking, to break up shale deposits releasing natural gas.

Critics complain fracking is contaminating drinking water and causing other environmental problems.

Building better security screening systems

Stateside Staff — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:48:17 +0000

In the aftermath of school shootings, theater shootings, and bombings, the question of security screening has become real and important.

How do we balance privacy concerns and rights with the need to screen for potential threats?

A University of Michigan professor is working on that challenge: building a better security detector.

Dr Kamal Sarabondi is a professor of electrical engineering, and he's the director of the Radiation Laboratory at the University of Michigan.

He's gotten funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and is developing a long-range radar technology as a means to detect a concealed object. He explains what it is and how it differs from what we have today.

Listen to the full interview above.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo at Michigan commencement #GoBlue

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Mon, 06 May 2013 21:07:07 +0000

This is what nearly 6,000 University of Michigan graduates look like (courtesy of commencement speaker Dick Costolo's Twitter):

Commencement @umich My view twitter.com/dickc/status/3…
— dick costolo (@dickc) May 4, 2013

U-M study: Most parents are distracted drivers

Steve Carmody — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:05:12 +0000

A new University of Michigan survey finds many parents are distracted behind the wheel.

The U-M researchers surveyed more than 600 parents to find out what distractions they face while driving with their children.

Twitter CEO tells University of Michigan grads to be bold, takes their picture and tweets it

The Associated Press — Sat, 04 May 2013 21:34:00 +0000

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo took a picture of thousands of graduates at the University of Michigan - and then tweeted it, of course.

Costolo joked to the crowd that it "should only take a second." The Michigan alumnus was back on campus Saturday to receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. He told graduates to be bold, figure out what they love to do and "go do that."

U-M students link Michigan to Brazil through music

Stateside Staff — Wed, 01 May 2013 19:06:09 +0000

Ethan Shirley and Alex Carney both hail from the University of Michigan and are co founders of the Pantanal Music Exchange.

Shirley founded the Pantanal Center for Education and Research is a non profit organization that focuses on science, technology and sustainable community development.

Last summer, Shirley and Carney were setting up some science and technology workshops at the Nazaré orphanage in rural Brazil when the director of the orphanage mentioned in passing that there was a room full of unused instruments.

The week in review: lowering auto insurance, drug testing the poor, immigration protests

Jack Lessenberry and Rina Miller — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

This week in review, Rina Miller and Jack Lessenberry discuss the possible plan to lower auto insurance rates in the state, a bill to require drug tests for welfare recipients, and the arrests made at the University of Michigan over immigration protests.

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman retiring

Kate Wells — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:20:53 +0000

The president of the University of Michigan is stepping down.

Mary Sue Coleman officially announced her retirement today:

The University of Michigan deserves the best in a leader, and I want to give the Board ample time to select the next president. I am committed to working with the Board members to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

The glory days of streaking in the 1970s

Stateside Staff — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:33:10 +0000

Every college has its traditions.

Some of them become popular nationally. That's what happened in March of 1974 on college campuses around the country.

What were college students doing? Streaking.

If you were in college or remember the spring of 1974, you'll remember that naked explosion on campus.

The streaking phenomenon at first was not widespread nor was it well known. The first news reports of these events had to define streaking. The earliest events happened on Florida's campus.

In February and in early March, news networks began reporting the story. It began to catch the attention of the New York Times and that's when streaking was in full swing.

Jim Tobin, a writer and historian, described the buildup of the campus phenomenon at the University of Michigan.

"The wildfire effect that happened in the first week of March was the week that Michigan students were on their spring break, so no one was in Ann Arbor, but all of the students were hearing about it and dying to get back in Ann Arbor to take part," said Tobin. "That Monday after spring break, there were announcements that there would be a couple of events that would take place."

Tobin describes that past streaks were more of a solo thing and that Michigan students wanted to introduce the idea of mass streaks.

By the Tuesday after Spring Break, and after announcements in the Michigan Daily, groups gathered at lunch and in the evening to streak. The groups had about 70 students Tobin explains, "The real crowd was the 1,000 of students who came to watch the streakers," he said.

With previous streaks being smaller and more spontaneous, Ann Arbor became home to the first mass streak.

Listen to the full interview above.

Gerald Ford statue dedicated at University of Michigan

The Associated Press — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:47:10 +0000

ANN ARBOR, Michigan. (AP) - The University of Michigan is home to a new statue of one of its most famous alumni, President Gerald Ford.

Former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft helped dedicate the Ford statue Tuesday in Ann Arbor.

The bronze statue created by sculptor J. Brett Grill now stands in the Great Hall at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

It's a scale model of the statue of Ford that stands in the National Statuary Hall of the Capitol Rotunda.

Wolverine guard Trey Burke leaving Ann Arbor for the NBA

Steve Carmody and The Associated Press — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 19:29:00 +0000

The Michigan Wolverines are losing a key player on their men’s basketball team.

Sophomore guard Trey Burke led the team to the NCAA championship this month. Along the way, Burke picked up multiple awards, including the Associated Press college player of the year. So it’s not really a surprise that he will forego his final years of college eligibility to possibly a big pay day in the NBA.

Burke considered going pro a year ago, but decided to come back for his sophomore season. He led Michigan to the NCAA title game, where the Wolverines lost to Louisville.

Wolverines play for NCAA title tonight

Steve Carmody — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 04:44:00 +0000

The Michigan Wolverines will play tonight for what would be the Ann Arbor school’s first NCAA men’s basketball title since 1989.

It’s been 20 years since the Wolverines last played in a national championship game. They lost that game to North Carolina. The year before the team lost to Duke.

In the two decades since, U of M has made quick exits from the March Madness tournament.

The Louisville Cardinals have been more successful lately in the tournament, but their last national title was in 1986.

Tip off for tonight’s game will be after 9.

Proposed federal funding could boost U of M brain research

Steve Carmody — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:19:53 +0000

Researchers at the University of Michigan are closely watching President Obama’s call for a big increase in federal funding for brain research.

President Obama is proposing a 100 million dollar increase in federal funding for brain research.

U of M has many different researchers studying the human brain. From Alzheimer’s disease to Depression, neuroscientists on the Ann Arbor campus are approaching the brain from a wide variety of specialties.

Michigan fans scrambling to find tickets and hotel rooms in Atlanta for the Final Four

Steve Carmody — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 04:22:00 +0000

The University of Michigan’s allotment of tickets to this weekend’s Final Four basketball games is going quickly.

The last of the more than three thousand tickets might be scooped up by season ticket holders and students by the end of today.

Wolverine fans are not only scrambling for tickets. They are also looking for places to stay in Atlanta for Saturday’s semi-final game against Syracuse and hopefully Monday’s national championship game.

Universities in Michigan and Qatar collaborate

Stateside Staff — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:55:54 +0000

U.S. media shape many Americans' perceptions of the Middle East.

The general lack of knowledge about the culture, society and economy of a part of the world that is so closely connected to the United States was the impetus for a joint effort between the University of Michigan and Qatar University.

Together, the schools have created the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute, charged with the mission of conducting state of the art social science research in the Arab Gulf.

Michigan Radio's Cynthia Canty spoke with Mark Tessler, a University of Michigan Professor of Political Science and a principal researcher at the Institute.

In this morning's news: Right to work, medical marijuana changes, Wolverines in Final Four

Emily Fox — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:03:53 +0000

Michiganders evenly divided over right-to-work law

"A Michigan State University poll finds state residents about evenly divided over whether the new right-to-work law will help or hurt the economy. 43 percent of those polled say the law will help Michigan's economy, while 41 percent say it will hurt," the Associated Press reports.

Medical marijuana law changes begin today

More changes to Michigan's medical marijuana law goes into effect today. As the Associated Press reports,

"The measures define the type of doctor-patient relationship that is needed before medical marijuana use can be certified. For example, a doctor must complete a face-to-face evaluation of the patient. . . Among the many other changes is that state-issued cards given to people who have a doctor's endorsement for medical-marijuana use will be good for two years instead of one."

University of Michigan makes Final Four

The University of Michigan will move on to the Final Four in NCAA basketball. Michigan beat the University of Florida 79-59. The U of M will play Syracuse University Saturday in the national semi-final.

Wolverines headed to the Final Four

Steve Carmody — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:55:08 +0000

There will be one Michigan team playing in the Final Four in next weekend’s NCAA’s men’s basketball tournament.

The Michigan Wolverines jumped to a double digit lead early in their Elite Eight game against the Florida Gators on Sunday. And they never relinquished their lead. The final score was 79 to 59.

Michigan is the only Big Ten team to reach the Final Four. Michigan State and Ohio State both lost tournament games over the weekend.

Commentary: Race and admissions

Jack Lessenberry — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:31:46 +0000

Twenty years or so ago, I got up the nerve to ask the late Coleman Young, the controversial and acid-tongued mayor of Detroit, why affirmative action was necessary.

Nobody ever thought of Mayor Young as shy, retiring or diplomatic, and I was fully prepared for a caustic and profane reply. But he instead grew almost philosophical.

He mentioned a case where white students were complaining that affirmative action in college admissions gave an unfair advantage to lesser qualified students of color.

Maps show U-M sweeping up MSU in Facebook madness

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:37:27 +0000

March Madness tips off for Michigan and Michigan State on Thursday at the Palace of Auburn Hills, but for fans of the two schools, the madness has already started online.

Earlier this week, Facebook unveiled a set of maps showing the most-liked college basketball team in every county across the United States. The map is based on more than 1 million Facebook likes.

And while U-M and MSU were pretty evenly matched on the court this year — the teams split two meetings during the regular season — Wolverine fans are delivering a butt-kicking on Facebook.

Only seven counties in the whole state support the Spartans over the Wolverines, according to a map comparing the two schools directly. Nationally, wide swatches of the country are painted maize, showing support for Michigan, with only a few patches of green.