Category Archives: Schools & Education

Obama brings full house to the Big House (President Obama at the University of Michigan Commencement)

By Jacob Wheeler President Obama at Michigan Stadium photo by Sam Wolson/Michigan Daily (video below) ANN ARBOR —  President Barack Obama took a break from the constant political storms in Washington, D.C., to address the University of Michigan (U-M) 2010 spring commencement ceremony today. And thunderstorms rolling across the Midwest rewarded him with a break [...]

Happy Earth Day, Michigan

Happy Earth Day, Michigan! Tina’s students took these photos. Over on Michigan in Pictures today we took a look at Michigan’s ties to the first Earth Day. 2010 is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, and the University of Michigan has some great stories about the roots of Earth Day in Michigan. In addition to [...]

Can we save our schools in Michigan?

Gray school1 by wardmac The Detroit Free Press reports that a group called Save Our Schools Michigan (SOS Michigan) is predicting a bleak future for Michigan schools: Michigan public schools will lay off thousands of employees and more than 100 districts could be insolvent if the state doesn’t find a way to plug a $400-per-pupil [...]

Michigan’s Rich African American Past

For years, February has been recognized as Black History Month. In nearly 250 years of living in Michigan, African Americans have made many important-and often overlooked–contributions to our state’s past. One of the earliest records of African Americans living in Michigan came in the early 1760s when the British replaced the French at Detroit. Two [...]

Smart Archaeology in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Pictured Rocks Panorama4609Res by Mike Hainstock Former NMU student Tyler Weesen getting a GPS point on an ancient shoreline feature Researchers from the Northern Michigan University geography department have completed a three-year project at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore that uncovered 23 new archaeological sites and reconstructed the Nipissing shoreline as it looked about 4,500 [...]

Congratulations Coach Izzo!

MSU head basketball coach Tom Izzo has surpassed his predecessor Jud Heathcote with 341 wins for the school record of all time wins following a 106 to 68 trouncing of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After having had served as the assistant head coach under Jud, Izoo was named head coach after his retirement following [...]

Generation Y in Michigan

“I am standing awkwardly by caterpillars Over half of all Michigan’s public university graduates leave the state within one year of graduation. Michigan Radio Intern Lauren Silverman will probably be one of them. Lauren has launched a new series for Michigan Radio called Generation Y Michigan that explores why young adults in Generation Y are [...]

Growing Stupidity: Will MSU Extension Be Shuttered?

Pumpkin Patch by Larry the Biker In his essay Threatening Agriculture, Michigan Radio’s Jack Lessenberry says that it looks as if Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm will veto funding for agricultural extension programs after witholding the October payment for extension. He quotes dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University Jeffrey [...]

AquaSWARM: MSU developing robot fish

Michigan State University researchers are developing aquatic robots that mimic fish movement to allow low cost and omni-present monitoring of harmful algal blooms in fresh water eco-systems. We at Absolute Michigan would like to welcome our robotic piscine overlords and invite you to watch this video! Share this:

of Farms & Folly: Michigan Department of History, Arts & Libraries

Over on Michigan in Pictures there’s a post this morning titled Farming in Michigan in the  1880s that features an excerpt from a Michigan farmer’s diary from the 1880s. It also looks at the proposed elimination of the Michigan Department of History, Arts & Libraries (HAL). In a move that lies somewhere between shortsighted and [...]