THE FACE OF ANN ARBOR VOLUME 3, NUMBER 49

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Silent auction raises $13K for school

By Donna Iadipaolo
Special Writer

The first Haisley Elementary School Silent Auction, held Nov. 12 at the Lake Forest Country Club, just about doubled its goal of $7,000 and instead raised more than $13,000 for the students. The (Haisley) PTO (Parent-Teacher

Organization) wanted a fundraiser that would be a fun gathering for the parents while generating money to benefit the students of Haisley, said Haisley PTO Fundraising Coordinator Stacey Rzeszut. The auction replaced the traditional wrapping paper sales that have been held in the past. More than 150 people

attended the event. Local and national business, as well as families, students and teachers, contributed to the auction items. In total, we had over 180 items to bid on, ranging from local restaurant gift cards to an autographed Justin Verlander jersey, Rzeszut said. For instance, local chef Eve Aronoff of

Frita Batidos donated an autographed cookbook. Fustinis in Kerrytown donated a gift card, olive oils and vinegar. The Bouma Group Realtors donated two Ann ArborVisions of the Eagles photo books of Ann Arbor, valued at $120. Satchels Barbecue donated a gift card for southern-style barbecue at its restau-

rant. The University of Michigan School of Music donated a gift titled Do the Cell Block Tango! which included two tickets to the April 12 through 15 performances of the musical Chicago. Haisley Elementary School students also worked diligently to proPLEASE SEE AUCTION/5-A

On the RAIL

Moore speaks at Michigan Theater

By Sean Dalton
A2 Journal

Sports
Former Huron standout Dante Williams nds new role at Oakland University.

ilmmaker and activist Michael Moores recent visit to Ann Arbor at the Michigan Theater was originally billed as a book reading from his newest semi-autobiographical work Here Comes Trouble. But the nearly three-hour engagement ended up being a complex amalgam of stand-up comedy, political speaking, off-the-cuff dialogue and a one-on-everyone pep talk for liberals, die-hard Obama supporters and other disparate groups who may be disillusioned or, at least, have cause to be after the promise evident in the post-2008 election was squandered, in Moores opinion. Much of the time was dedicated to promoting the Occupy Wall Street movement that continues to grow across the country, and how to define the movements structure and participants. Who organized this? Moore bellowed in mock indignation speaking as one of the U.S. congressmen who asked that question on the congressional record after the movement became notorious in the mainstream media. You know who started it? The top floor of the Goldman Sachs building they started it, he answered, following up those comments by citing figures from studies and articles published in The New York Times and other credible sources. Moore pinned the movement and many of this countrys political and economic problems on the inequality that has grown to enough of a boiling point to send tens of thousands of dissatisfied citizens

Michael Moore speaks to a packed house at the Michigan Theater about the current state of affairs in American politics, society and the economy during an event originally planned as a book reading from his new book Here Comes Trouble. across the nation into the streets in protest, mainly the fact that there are 156 million Americans living just above, at or below the poverty line, while 400 U.S. citizens at the top hold more wealth than that relatively massive number of people combined. Moore cited the figure that 59 percent of those polled support Occupy Wall Street, and said that a pervasive sense of apathy and lack of confidence in the power of individuals is keeping the movement from getting even larger. We who are part of this movement do not have to work hard to convince our fellow Americans because they are already convinced, he said, noting that the day of his public engagement on Dec. 1 was also Rosa Parks Day. This day, Rosa Parks Day, is a day to honor nobodies who do something great, he said, after telling a story about how a New Jersey librarian single-handedly pressured publisher Harper Collins to cease destroying and burying Moores book Stupid White Men, which was critical of former President George W. Bush. The book was at a critical point in its production and distribution just a day before the Sept. 11, 2011, terrorist attacks. The publisher initially delayed the book, but ultimately threatened Moore to either tone down the Bush criticism or the book would be pulped. After sharing his plight and reading excerpts from his book at Rutgers University, a librarian from Edward, N.J., alerted her professional peers across the country of Moores plight, and the next thing they know, the publisher was being picketed. What the hell did you tell the librarians? Moore recalls the publisher representative blurting out over the phone. I dont know any librarians! Moore recalled responding. Yes you do they know the whole story! Moore

said back to himself in a frustrated, corporate tone that had the audience in stitches. Ultimately, the book sold more than 6 million, had its ninth printing five days after it was shipped and ultimately went through 62 printings, as a result of the demand of people who wanted to hear Moores perspective, despite the Harper Collins attempt to censor the material, because the content was deemed unsuitable for the publics consumption. My book and perhaps career were saved by a single unknown individual, Moore said, as a means of encouraging those listening to get over that negatively assumptive inertia keeping them from going beyond agreeing with a movement, by joining it in word or deed. Thanks to what this person did for me, I was able to write the next book and write the next film and all of this you can do what you think you can do. You can raise the ruckus that you think can be raised. Maybe you cant camp out Occupy Detroit because you have a bad back or something, but you can say, Im a part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Thats it! Youre in! And then you can figure out what it is you want to do. Occupy your nearest block, move funds in a savings account from Wells Fargo to a Michigan credit union, or pirate Moores film Capitalism and hand it out on the street all Michael Moore approved revolutionary actions. While Moore mocked the ultra-wealthy as being as stupid as they are greedy, as evidenced by the fact that the behavior that led
PLEASE SEE MOORE/5-A

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Board considers paying School board discusses MEAP prevailing wage over action plan, suspension data hiring lowest bidder percent of questions corapplying the new cut By James David Dickson
By James David Dickson
A2 Journal

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Ann Arbor Public Schools is looking to contract out its HVAC journeyman services, which in laymens terms means maintenance of its heating, cooling and ventilation systems. Johnson Controls has the contract now, but its up again for competitive bidding. The administration has recommended that the 2,000-hour contract, the equivalent of a full-time employee, be awarded to D.M. Burr Inc., a Flintbased company. Burr was thought to be the best of the 10 bids that made it to the

choosing stage, according to Randy Trent, executive director of physical properties for the school district. Officials and members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 252, and the plumbers and pipefitters union, the United Association, Local 190, have been at the last two school board meetings urging the Ann Arbor Board of Education to take a different course in awarding the contract. And judging by the results of the boards Nov. 30 meeting, their efforts are working.

A2 Journal

The Ann Arbor Board of Education planned to meet Wednesday to discuss the school districts action plan in response to the changes in the way Michigan grades standardized tests. It also planned to discuss recent suspension/expulsion data and the 2011 financial audit as part of its Committee of the Whole meeting. In September, the State Board of Education voted to increase cut scores for the Michigan Educational Assessment Program for third- through ninth-graders and the Michigan Merit Exam for high school juniors. While a student PLEASE SEE BOARD/13-A only needed to answer 39

rectly to be labeled proficient under the old scoring system, the new system would require students to answer 65 percent of questions correctly. This will produce a dramatic decline in MEAP and MME achievement data. A number of Washtenaw County school districts have attempted to warn parents about how the new numbers will look. Yesterdays meeting was to provide the first glimpse into the school districts response to the new cut scores. The state retrofitted recent MEAP and MME data to reflect the new cut scores. As a release accompanying the data explained,

scores to historical MEAP and MME data shows a dramatic decline in student test scores across the state. Third-grade math scores in 2010, for example, go from 95 percent proficient to 35 percent. The school board also planned to discuss recent suspension and expulsion data at the meeting, a discussion that had originally been slated for Feb. 8, 2012. But the data have been made publicly available via a Freedom of Information Act request, so the board is discussing the issue more than two months earlier than planned. Staff Writer James David Dickson can be reached at JDickson@Heritage.com.

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