A friend recently sent me a link to this story on Salon.com about the Transportation Security Administration’s “No-fly” and “strict security” lists with either prohibit certain people from flying, or single them out for searches or detentions: “Grounding the flying nun”

“Evidence compiled in a series of interviews suggests that activists on the left and right have been affected, as have many Arab Americans. That has civil liberties experts warning that the airport security checks have a chilling effect on routine political activity that is unprecedented in recent times.”

Haddad’s family has been deported:
> AANews 6/27: “Family’s deportation closes one chapter”
> DetNews: “Supporters rally as Haddad’s wife, children deported”
> Freep: “Wife, children of Ann Arbor activist also deported”

Also, this on the RIAA’s crackdown on teens for file-swapping, something most musical artists encourage:

“The RIAA subpoena claims the Ann Arbor user violated copyright laws by offering up pop and rock songs, including Madonna’s “Material Girl,” No Doubt’s “Underneath it All,” and the Guns and Roses tune “Sweet Child of Mine.”"

> From AANews 6/25: “Recording industry subpoenas Comcast for local ‘swapper’” The article quotes University administrators who say the RIAA’s changing tactics mean they may be forced to divulge the identities of students caught file-swapping using university computers.

This week’s Michigan Daily, includes among its three news stories a lengthy write-up about the 6-year dispute between University administrators and Prof. William Kauffman: “Intellectual frad trial against ‘U’ postponed”

“The trial comes after at least one failed attempt between the parties to settle, in which the University offered Kauffman $300,000 on the conditions that he retire and sign a gag order.”

Another article wraps-up the Friday fire at the Ann Arbor Technology Center, a large warehouse-like building that had been the only place near downtown where an eclectic combination of bands, artists, and small businesses could afford rent. The fire sped the destruction of the building, further squeezing the small percentage of Ann Arbor that makes it unique. City leaders obviously haven’t read Jane Jacob’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities, where she discusses the need for unusual, older buildings to provide space for individuals that can’t manage the high rent new construction demands.

“Michelle Hinebrook, a painter who had a studio on the second floor, said the Technology Center was the home to many organizations, including the Five Five Five Galley, Flockworks Studio, and a dance studio.
…
Hinebrook added that she feels the Technology Center is something you don’t find in most cities, and its destruction represents a great loss to the community.

“It’s sad that things are just stopping for the creative community that existed there,” she said. “When all the artists leave the city, you are going to feel the after-effects of that.”

According to a complaint filed by civil rights organizations opposed to Ward Connerly’s anti-affirmative action initiative in Michigan, his group may be laundering the money used to run the campaign.

CONNERLY UPDATES:

“Some Republicans worry that a contentious battle over affirmative action could adversely impact President Bush’s chances of capturing Michigan in next year’s re-election bid. Bush applauded the Supreme Court’s admissions decision that Connerly and House Republican supporters are seeking to disallow in Michigan”
> From Booth Newspapers: “Drive to begin in September to put race admission ban on the ballot”
> AA News: “Connerly continues push”

Long overdue, the RIAA’s war on teens swapping the latest TRL hit has reached Ann Arbor:

“The RIAA has issued at least 911 subpoenas so far, according to court records. Lawyers have said they expect to file at least several hundred lawsuits within eight weeks, and copyright laws allow for damages of $750 to $150,000 for each song.

The AP tracked targets of subpoenas to neighborhoods in Boston; Chicago; St. Louis; San Francisco; New York and Ann Arbor, Mich.”

> From AP: “Music-sharing subpoenas target parents, grandparents”

Inspired by the post below, I’ve finally got my U-M Gallery of Shame online, which features the Frieze Building prominently. What am I missing?

Also, my exclusive U-M earnings spreadsheet has been downloaded 1,642 times since I posted it in May, over 800 times in July.

Ann Arbor News columnist Judy McGovern mentions efforts by graduates of the old Ann Arbor high school to preserve the Frieze Building in a recent column. She quotes from an article the class has sent to U-M presidents since the Bollinger days:

“Those of us interested in preserving the integrity of Ann Arbor streetscapes and the university campus would be pleased if you would enquire about this situation and bring us up to date as to the possibility of maintaining and preserving this important building.”

While Ann Arbor Sucks is sarcastic, I do agree with the class of ’51 – the Frieze Building is the only campus building I know of that the University seems to have decided isn’t worth repairing, painting, or maintaining in any way. Paint on external trip is badly blistered, in many places peeled down to bare wood. The antiquated heating system is so inadequate some professors use space-heaters in their offices for much of the year. And most of a second-floor men’s room was out of service for a period of months when I took a class nearby last year. Budget cuts aside, the University has not let any other campus building I know of deteriorate to such a pathetic state (except perhaps the Chinese Studies Center across the street) – and I believe it’s because of a conscious plan of university officials to wear the building out to such an extent they can deck it without protest and build some sort of MLB-like modernist monstrosity. Would it cost more to maintain and rennovate the Frieze Building? Probably. Would it be worth it? In my opinion, yes.

(Thanks to AASux who found the column and once again proves she has more patience navigating MLive than I)