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University Of Michigan

University of Michigan

:This article is about the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. You may be looking for University of Michigan-Dearborn or University of Michigan-Flint The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (U-M or "U of M") is a public coeducational university in Michigan, United States. The flagship and oldest campus of the University of Michigan is consistently ranked as one of the top academic institutions in the world, and is considered as a "Public Ivy." Spread over three major campuses in Ann Arbor, the university's professional graduate schools in the fields of information science, law, medicine, business, engineering, public policy, and education are consistently ranked by US News & World Report in the top 10 in the country. The U-M has one of the largest research expenditures of any university in the United States. It is a major contributor to advances in medicine, computer science, and engineering. It was the site of the announcement of the success of the scientific trials that led to the Salk polio vaccine (1955). The university has one of the largest numbers of living alumni of any American university. It is also known for athletic prowess—notably in football and hockey—and has a history of student activism. U-M was the site of the nation's first faculty led anti-Vietnam War "teach in" and the anti-war group SDS was founded by then U-M students, including Tom Hayden. The university was the first in America to employ the seminar method of study, as well as where President John F. Kennedy first proposed the concept of what became the Peace Corps. President Lyndon B. Johnson first announced his domestic poverty program known as the Great Society at U-M. More recently, the university successfully affirmed before the United States Supreme Court the principle that race may be considered as a factor in college admissions.

History

The University of Michigan was one of the nation's first public universities that was established in 1817 by the Michigan Territorial legislature on 1,920 acres (776 hectares) ceded through the Treaty of Fort Meigs by the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi peoples. The university moved from Detroit to Ann Arbor in 1837. Hoping to be chosen as the site for the new state capital, Ann Arbor had set aside 40 acres (16 hectares) that it subsequently offered to the university when Lansing was instead chosen as the state capital. The ceded land in Detroit was sold and the proceeds remain in the U-M's permanent endowment. The original 40 acres (16 hectares) in Ann Arbor became part of the current Central Campus. The first classes were held in 1841, comprising six freshmen and a sophomore, taught by two professors. Eleven men graduated in the first commencement ceremony in 1845. By 1865–66, the enrollment had increased to 1,205 students, of whom many were veterans of the Civil War. Women were first admitted in 1870. James B. Angell, who served as the university's president from 1871 to 1909, aggressively expanded U-M's curriculum to include professional studies in dentistry, architecture, engineering, government, and medicine. The first two decades of the 20th century saw a construction boom on campus that included facilities to house the dental and pharmacy programs, a chemistry building, a building for the study of natural sciences, Hill Auditorium, large hospital and library complexes, and two residential halls. The university's reputation for research gained momentum in 1920 with a formal reorganization of the College of Engineering and the formation of an advisory committee of 100 industrialists to guide academic research initiatives. During World War II, U-M's research output grew significantly, and included major initiatives on behalf of the U.S. Navy, in particular, breakthroughs in the development of weapons such as the proximity fuze, depth bomb, the PT boat, and radar jammer. By 1950, enrollment had reached 21,000, of whom 7,700 were veterans supported by the G.I. Bill. G.I. Bill As the Cold War and the Space Race took hold in the second half of the 20th century, U-M became a major recipient of government grants for strategic research, and was on the cutting edge of the development of peacetime uses for atomic power. In a 1966 survey of American universities by the American Council on Education, U-M was rated either first or second in graduate teaching in all 28 disciplines surveyed. On March 24, 1964, a group of academic staff members and 2,500 students held the nation's first "teach-in" to protest against American policy in Southeast Asia. In response to a series of sit-ins in 1966 by Voice—the campus political party of Students for a Democratic Society—the U-M's administration banned sit-ins, a move which in turn led 1,500 students to conduct a further one-hour sit-in in the administration building. During the 1970s, severe budget constraints hindered the university's physical development and academic standing, but the 1980s saw a surge in funds devoted to research in the social and physical sciences. Nevertheless, campus controversy arose over involvement in the anti-missile Strategic Defense Initiative and investments in South Africa. During the 1980s and 1990s, the university devoted substantial resources to renovating its massive hospital complex and improving the academic facilities on the North Campus. The university also emphasized the development of computer and information technology throughout the campus. In 2003, two lawsuits involving U-M's affirmative action admissions policy reached the U.S. Supreme Court (Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger). President George W. Bush took the unusual step of publicly opposing the policy before the court issued a ruling, though the eventual ruling was mixed. In the first case, the court upheld the Law School admissions policy, while in the second it ruled against the university's undergraduate admissions policy. In the early 2000s, the U-M also faced declining state funding as a percentage of its funding due to state budget shortfalls. At the same time, U-M has attempted to maintain its high academic standing while keeping tuition costs affordable. There were also disputes between U-M's administration and labor unions, notably with the Lecturers' Employees Organization (LEO) and the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), the union representing graduate student employees. These conflicts have led to a series of one-day walkouts by the unions and their supporters.

Academic profile

2000s The university has about 24,800 undergraduate and 14,900 graduate students in 600 academic programs; each cohort numbers about 6,250 students, although the university admits fewer than 50% of applicants. Students come from all 50 U.S. states and more than 100 countries. 98% of applicants have achieved a high school GPA of more than 3.0. The upper quartile of each U-M class is two to three times the size of the average interquartile class of the Ivy League institutions; with a minimum SAT score of around 1400, that quartile is academically competitive with the Ivy League average of 1430. As a result, the university's student body includes weaker students as well as those who are competitive with, and as proportionately large as those of the other Ivy League institutions. 15% of newly enrolled undergraduates are members of ethnic minority groups. About 65% of undergraduate students are enrolled in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LS&A). The university has a top ranking engineering school, which takes in about 20% of undergraduate students. Fewer than 3% of undergraduate students are enrolled in the highly selective Ross School of Business. The rest of the undergraduate students are enrolled in the smaller schools, including the School of Music, the School of Nursing, and the School of Art and Design. Most graduate students are enrolled in the LS&A, the College of Engineering, the Law School, the Ross School of Business, and the Medical School. The Medical School is partnered with one of the largest health care complexes in the world, the University of Michigan Health System. There are just over 5,000 faculty members, 73 of whom are members of the National Academy. The university consistently leads the nation in the number of Fulbright Scholars and has several Rhodes Scholars—its academic departments are consistently placed towards the top of college rankings. In one recent rankings summary, more than 70% of U-M's 200 major programs, departments, and schools were ranked in the top 10 nationally, and more than 90% of programs and departments were ranked in the top 20 nationally. In the areas of intellectual breadth and quality, the Philosophical Gourmet ranks U-M fourth. Similarly, in 2005 U-M was rated among the top 10 colleges in America in the annual rankings by the Washington Monthly. The School of Social Work has been ranked first by the US News and World Report every year since 1994. One concern about academics at the U-M is that many courses, including upper-level courses, are taught by Graduate Student Instructors — a problem facing many public and private universities in America. The Princeton Review ranked U-M seventh worst in the category of "teaching assistants teach too many upper-level courses." Another concern is the high level of educational expenses, especially for out-of-state undergraduate students, who pay about $27,000 annually for tuition alone. On the other hand, in-state undergraduate students pay about $8,500.

Research

The university has one of the largest annual research expenditures of any public university in the United States, totaling roughly $750 million in 2004. The Medical School has the largest research expenditures at nearly $300 million, while the College of Engineering, at more than $135 million, is second. U-M was at the center of the development of one of the first university computer networks and has made major contributions to the mathematics of information theory, notably through Claude Shannon. Other major contributions include the construction of the precursor to the National Science Foundation computer networking backbone, the virtual memory model, and computer databases. The university is also a major contributor to the medical field with the EKG, gastroscope, Jonas Salk's polio vaccine, and the extracorporal membrane oxygenation system. The National Election Studies and one of the nation's most watched economic indices, the University of Michigan's Consumer Confidence Index, are based at U-M. The university is also home to major research centers in optics, reconfigurable manufacturing systems, wireless integrated microsystems, and social sciences. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute is located at the university, and huge support was recently given to the life sciences with the establishment of the Life Sciences Institute and the construction of associated facilities. Undergraduate students are able to participate in various research projects through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) as well as the UROP/Creative-Programs. These programs are currently first in the national ranking.

Libraries and museums

Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program The U-M library system is one of the largest in the United States. It comprises 19 individual libraries with 24 separate collections—roughly 7.96 million volumes, growing at the rate of 150,000 volumes a year. U-M was the original home of the JSTOR database, which contains about 750,000 digitized pages from the entire pre-1990 backfile of ten journals of history and economics. The University recently initiated an innovative book digitization program in collaboration with Google. Two prominent libraries, the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library and the Shapiro Undergraduate Library (also called the UGLi, which is officially an acronym but was used by students as a reference to the building's uninspired appearance prior to its recent renovation), are on Central Campus and are connected by a skywalk. The Duderstadt Center on North Campus houses books on art, architecture, and engineering. The Duderstadt Center also contains multiple computer labs, video editing studios, and a 3D virtual reality room. North Campus is the location of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library The University of Michigan is home to a number of museums, whose focuses include archeology, anthropology, paleontology, zoology, dentistry, and art. The natural history public collections are housed at the University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History, which displays items from the collections of the paleontology, zoology, and anthropology museums. The Exhibit Museum also holds the largest display of dinosaur specimens in Michigan as well a specimen of the state fossil, the mastodon. One of the better-known museums is the University of Michigan Museum of Art, with a permanent collection of European, American, Middle Eastern, Asian, and African items, and temporary exhibits on a wide variety of subjects.

Campus

mastodon The Ann Arbor campus is divided into three main areas: the North, Central and South Campuses. The physical infrastructure includes more than 300 major buildings, with a combined area of more than 29 million square feet (3 km²). The campus also consists of buildings scattered throughout the city, many occupied by organizations affiliated with the University of Michigan Health System. The university also has an office building called Wolverine Tower in southern Ann Arbor near Briarwood Mall. All three campus areas are connected by free bus services, the majority of which connect the North and Central Campuses. There is a shuttle service connecting the University Hospital, which lies between North and Central Campuses, with other medical facilities throughout northeastern Ann Arbor.

Central Campus

Central Campus was the original location of U-M when it moved to Ann Arbor in 1841. It originally had a school and dormitory building (where Mason Hall now stands) and several houses for professors on land bounded by North University Avenue, South University Avenue, East University Avenue, and State Street. Because Ann Arbor and Central Campus developed simultaneously, there is no distinct boundary between them, and some areas contain a mixture of private and university buildings. Central Campus is the location of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts and the medical campus. Most of the graduate and professional schools, including the Ross School of Business and the Law School, are on Central Campus. Ten of the buildings on Central Campus were designed by Detroit-based architect Albert Kahn between 1904 and 1936. The most notable of the Kahn-designed buildings are the Burton Memorial Tower and nearby Hill Auditorium.

North Campus

Hill Auditorium North Campus is the most contiguous campus, built independently from the city on a large plot of land the university bought in 1952. It is newer than Central Campus, and thus has more modern architecture, while most Central Campus buildings are classical or gothic in style. The architect Eero Saarinen, based in Birmingham, Michigan, created one of the early master plans for North Campus and designed several of its buildings in the 1950s, including the Earl V Moore School of Music Building. North and Central Campuses each have unique bell towers reflecting the predominant architectural style of their surrounding architectural styles. The College of Engineering, the Schools of Music and Art and Design, the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and an annex of the School of Information are located on North Campus.

South Campus

South Campus is the site for the athletic programs, including major sports facilities, such as Michigan Stadium, Crisler Arena, and Yost Ice Arena. South Campus is also the site of the Buhr library storage facility (the collections of which are undergoing digitization by Google), the Institute for Continuing Legal Education, and the Student Theatre Arts Complex, which provides shop and rehearsal space for student theatre groups. The university's department of public safety and transportation services offices are located on South Campus.

Athletics

Yost Ice Arena The University of Michigan's sports teams are called the Wolverines, after the state's nickname. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except ice hockey, which competes in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. In seven of the past ten years, U-M has finished in the top five of the NACDA Director's Cup, a list compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, which charts the success of universities in competitive sport. NACDA Director's Cup The U-M football team won the first Rose Bowl game in 1902, and has won an NCAA-record 842 games through the 2004 season. The football team is the NCAA's all-time winningest program—in both total wins and winning percentage. The program is a model of consistency, because it is one of only two teams to have been ranked in the final "Top 25" poll every year since 1989. Since that time, the Wolverines have won outright or shared seven Big Ten titles and won a national championship. U-M football has won eleven national championships overall, the most recent in 1997, and has produced three Heisman trophy winners. Michigan Stadium ("The Big House"), is the largest college football-only stadium in the world, with a capacity of 107,501 and attendance typically exceeding 110,000. The NCAA's record-breaking attendance has become commonplace at Michigan Stadium, especially since the arrival of Bo Schembechler in 1969. U-M has fierce rivalries with many teams, including Michigan State and Notre Dame; however, its football rivalry with Ohio State is widely considered to be the fiercest in all of college athletics and has been referred to as the greatest rivalry of all time by ESPN. The men's basketball team, which plays at Crisler Arena, and the ice hockey team, which plays at Yost Ice Arena, are highly popular teams. A Harris Survey in 2003 found the U-M men's basketball program to be the second most popular in the nation and the women's program the third most popular in the nation. The men's ice hockey has won nine national championships, the most of any American university or college. The men's basketball team won the national championship in 1989, though during the 1990s the team was involved in a scandal involving payments from a booster, which led to the program's later relinquishing several championship titles won during that decade. The University of Michigan remains the only school in NCAA history to win at least one national championship in all four major sports: football, basketball, hockey, and baseball.

Student life

Residential life

Yost Ice Arena The University of Michigan has the sixth largest campus accommodation system in the U.S. and the third largest family housing operation, catering for up to 12,562 people. The residence halls are organized into three distinct groups: Central Campus, Hill Area (between Central Campus and the University of Michigan Medical Center) and North Campus. Family housing is located on North Campus and mainly serves graduate students. The largest residence hall has a capacity of 1277 students, while the smallest accommodates 31 residents. A majority of upper-class and graduate students live in off-campus apartments, houses, and cooperatives, with the largest concentrations in the Central and South Campus areas. The residential system has a number of "living-learning communities" where academic activities and residential life are combined. These communities focus on areas such as research, medical sciences, community service and the German language. The Residential College (RC), a living-learning community that is a division of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, has its principal instructional space in the East Quadrangle of the residence hall system. East Quadrangle is located on Central Campus.

Groups and activities

There are more than 900 student clubs and organizations at the university. With a history of student activism, some of the most visible groups include those dedicated to causes such as civil rights and labor rights. Although the student body generally leans to the left, there is a sizeable conservative and religious community. Fraternities and sororities, many of which are located east of Central Campus, play a major role in the university's social life. Intramural sports are popular, and there are three major campus recreation facilities, one for each of the three campuses. There are also several engineering projects teams, including the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, which placed first in the American Solar Challenge four times and third in the World Solar Challenge three times. The Michigan Union and Michigan League are student activity centers located on Central Campus while Pierpont Commons is on North Campus. The Michigan Union in particular houses a majority of student bodies including the student government. The William Monroe Trotter House, located east of Central Campus, is a multicultural student center operated by the university's Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs. Michigan Union The Michigan Daily is the student-run daily newspaper. Other student publications include the conservative The Michigan Review, the progressive Michigan Independent, and the humorous publications The Michigan Every Three Weekly and Gargoyle. WCBN (88.3 FM) is a freeform radio station; WOLV-TV is a student-run television station that is primarily shown on the university's cable television system.

Student government

Housed within the Michigan Union, the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) is the central student government of the University. With representatives from each of the University's colleges and schools, the MSA represents the voice of students and manages student funds on the campus. The Michigan Student Assembly is a member of the statewide Association of Michigan Universities. In recent years MSA has organized a shuttle bus to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and brought musical acts such as Guster and Ludacris to campus. The current MSA president is Jesse Levine. There are student governance bodies in each college and school. The two largest colleges at the University of Michigan are the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LS&A) and the College of Engineering. Students in the LS&A are represented by the LS&A Student Government. The University of Michigan Engineering Council manages student government affairs for the College of Engineering.

Michigan "fight song"

The University of Michigan's "fight song" is The Victors, written by student Louis Elbel in 1898, following a last-minute victory over the University of Chicago that clinched a league championship. The song was declared by John Philip Sousa as "the greatest college fight song ever written." It includes a reference to the university being the "champions of the West." At the time Michigan was part of the "Western Conference," which would later become the Big Ten Conference. The alma mater song is The Yellow and Blue. A common rally cry is "Let's Go Blue!", written by former student Joseph Carl, a tuba player and drum major. Although mainly used at sporting events, the fight song can be heard at other competitive events that U-M wins. The fight song is sung during graduation commencement ceremonies.

Famous alumni

There are more than 425,000 living alumni, among the largest number of living alumni of any American university. Campus tour guides and orientation meetings commonly report that the university is the only one with an alumni association represented on the moon, due to the U-M flag being one of only two placed there (the other being the U.S. flag), along with a charter for the U-M Alumni Association moon chapter. The items were placed there by the Apollo 15 crew. Famous alumni include former President Gerald R. Ford, playwright Arthur Miller, Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy, Google co-founder Larry E. Page, actor James Earl Jones, actress Lucy Liu, TV journalist Mike Wallace, former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg, actress Ruth Hussey, Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, Mayo clinic co-founder William James Mayo, Nobel Prize-winner (Physics) Samuel Ting, Nobel Prize-winner (Medicine) Marshall Nirenberg, screenwriter Judith Guest, Scopes trial attorney Clarence Darrow, authors Charles Major and Sandra Steingraber, and filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan. Several astronauts are U-M alumni, including the all-UM crews of Gemini 4 and Apollo 15.

Notes

#[http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005_Top100.htm Top 500 World Universities (2005)]. Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Accessed October 1, 2005. #Calculated with data from [http://thecenter.ufl.edu/research2004.html The Top American Research Universities (2004)]. TheCenter. Accessed October 1, 2005. #[http://www.umich.edu/%7Eoapainfo/TABLES/PDF/EnrollmentFA00toFA04.pdf Enrollment by Degree Type and School/College (2004)]. UM News Service. Accessed October 2, 2005. #[http://thecenter.ufl.edu/research2004.pdf The Top American Research Universities (December 2004)]. TheCenter. Accessed October 2, 2005. #[http://www.umich.edu/%7Eoapainfo/TABLES/PDF/UMAA_Rankings.pdf University of Michigan Rankings (7-13-2005). UMich.edu]. #[http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/hea/brief/sow_brief.php America's Best Graduate Schools 2006 - Health: Social Work (Master's)]. US News and World Report. #[http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/topresearch.htm Rankings: The Philosophical Gourmet Copyright 2004: by Brian Leiter]. #[http://sitemaker.umich.edu/obpinfo/files/umaa_tuitfee_rates.pdf Academic Year Tuition and Fees for Full-Time Students (8-18-2005)]. University of Michigan Office of Budget & Planning. Accessed October 7, 2005. #[http://www.research.umich.edu/research_guide/annual_reports/FY04/04regentsreport.html Ulaby, Fawwaz T. Annual Report on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity at the University of Michigan FY2004]. (February 17, 2005). UM Research. #[http://www.umich.edu/%7Eoapainfo/TABLES/PDF/UM_Research.pdf University of Michigan - Research (3-21-2005)]. U of M Office of Budget and Planning - Electronic Fact Pages. Accessed September 15, 2005. #[http://www.lsa.umich.edu/lsa/detail/0,2034,5377%255Farticle%255F7354,00.html UROP is First (2005)]. LSAMagazine. #[http://www.umich.edu/%7Eoapainfo/TABLES/PDF/Libraries.pdf University of Michigan Libraries (1-11-2005)]. U of M News Service. Accessed September 19, 2005. #Carter, Brian (2000). [http://www.tcaup.umich.edu/publications/dimensions/dimfourteen.html Eero Saarinen-Operational Thoroughness A Way of Working]. Dimensions Volume Fourteen. #[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/football/ncaa/specials/preview/2003/powerful.teams/ Top 10 Most Power Programs]. SI.com (8-18-2003). #[http://www.umich.edu/~bhl/athdept/football/misc/natchamp.htm University of Michigan Football - National Championships]. University of Michigan Athletics History (2002). #[http://www.mgoblue.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=13326 Michigan in the Heisman Trophy Voting]. MGoBlue.com (2005). #[http://espn.go.com/endofcentury/s/other/bestrivalries.html The 10 greatest rivalries (1-3-2005)]. ESPN.com #[http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=363 The Harris Poll - College Basketball]. HarrisInteractive. #[http://www.housing.umich.edu/general/factsheet.html Housing Fact Sheet]. UM Housing (2005). #[http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/Profile/umprofil.html University of Michigan System Profile]. July 2001. #[http://alumni.umich.edu/info/um/famous_alumni_abc.php About the Association - Famous U-M Alumni (2005)]. UMAlumni.com.

References

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External links

- [http://www.umich.edu/ Unversity of Michigan Home Page]
- [http://alumni.umich.edu/ UM Alumni Association]
- [http://www.mgoblue.com/ University of Michigan Athletics Site]
- [http://www.photos.ns.umich.edu/Public/Standard/RecordView.jsp Various images of the campus]
- [http://www.johnwcooper.com/annarbor-michigan.htm College Students' Guide to University of Michigan's Campus]
- [http://www.umich.edu/~info/maize.html The Yellow and Blue lyrics]
- [http://www.everythreeweekly.com/ The Every Three Weekly, student-run parody newspaper]
- [http://www.wolv.org/ WOLV-TV, the University of Michigan's student-run television station] Category:Association of American Universities Michigan Category:Universities and colleges in Michigan
- Category:Space-grant universities ja:ミシガン大学

University of Michigan, Dearborn

Motto	Artes, Scientia, Veritas (Latin, "Arts, science, truth")
Established	1959
School type	Public University
President	Mary Sue Coleman
Location	Dearborn, MI, USA
Enrollment	8634
Faculty	511
Campus	Suburban, 196 acres (793,000 m²)
Sports teams	Wolves
Website	[http://www.umd.umich.edu/ www.umd.umich.edu]

The University of Michigan-Dearborn, located in Dearborn, Michigan, is part of the University of Michigan system. It was established in 1959 after a gift of 196 acres (793,000 m²) from the Ford Motor Company. On the campus there are approximately 70 acres (283,000 m²) of nature preserve. The University is also steward to 120 acres of Wayne County property. Since 1992, the [http://www.rrbo.org Rouge River Bird Observatory] has operated on campus. Also located on campus is Henry Ford's last home, Fair Lane, also known as the Henry Ford Estate, which is [http://www.henryfordestate.org/ open to the public]. The school serves as a "commuter" school to the metropolitan Detroit area and does not have any student housing, but may feature on-campus housing in the future. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Computer Science, Education, and Management. The University of Michigan-Dearborn was rated among the top six master's-level public universities in the Midwest in the annual guide to American colleges published by [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php U.S. News]. In addition, the campus's College of Engineering and Computer Science was rated among the top 10 undergraduate engineering programs in the country with a top 5 spot in the undergraduate industrial/manufacturing focus.

External links

- [http://www.umd.umich.edu/ Official UofM Dearborn Website]
- [http://www.engin.umd.umich.edu/ UoM-D College of Engineering and Computer Science]
- [http://www.rrbo.org Rouge River Bird Observatory]
- [http://www.henryfordestate.org/ Henry Ford Estate, Fair Lane] Category:University of Michigan Category:Dearborn, Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 114,024, which includes about 30,000 students. Supposedly named for the spouses of the city's founders and for the stands of trees in the area, Ann Arbor is best known as the location of the main campus of the University of Michigan, which moved there from Detroit in 1837. The city's economy, which once centered on the production of agricultural implements, carriages, furniture, pianos and organs, pottery and flour, is now dominated by education, high tech, and biotechnology. Average home prices and property taxes are well above the state and national medians. The city is also well known locally as a destination for dining out and entertainment, as it contains a wide and eclectic variety of restaurants and performance venues.

History

Ann Arbor was founded in January 1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey, both of whom were land speculators. There are various accounts concerning the origin of the settlement's name, but one states that Allen and Rumsey decided to name it "Annarbour," for their spouses, whose names were both Ann, and for the stands of burr oak in the 640 acres (2.6 km²) of land they had purchased for $800 from the federal government. The Native Americans of the region knew the settlement as Kaw-goosh-kaw-nick, after the sound of Allen's grist mill. Native Americans bookstore #1, and several buildings of the University of Michigan]] Ann Arbor later became the seat of Washtenaw County in 1827, and was incorporated as a village in 1833. The town set aside 40 acres (162,000 m²) of undeveloped land and offered it to the State of Michigan as the site of the state capitol, but it lost the bid to Lansing in 1836. In 1837 the unused land was sold to the University of Michigan, forever linking Ann Arbor and its history with the university. The town became a regional transportation hub in 1839 with the arrival of the Michigan Central Railroad. Ann Arbor was chartered as a city in 1851. During World War II, Ford Motor Company's nearby Willow Run plant turned out B-24 Liberator bombers and the population of Ann Arbor exploded with an influx of military personnel, war workers, and their families. The city gained a reputation as an important center for liberal politics over the course of the 1960s and 1970s. Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy unveiled his Peace Corps proposal in 1960 at the University of Michigan, and in 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson first called for a "Great Society." The city also became a locus for left-wing activism, serving as a hub for the civil-rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and the student movement. The first major meetings of the national left-wing campus group Students for a Democratic Society took place in Ann Arbor in 1960, and in 1965 the city was home to the first U.S. teach-in against the Vietnam War. Over the course of the ensuing fifteen years, a plethora of countercultural and New Left enterprises sprang up and developed strong constituencies within the city. These influences washed into municipal politics during the early and mid-1970s when three members of the local, progressive Human Rights Party (HRP) won city-council seats on the strength of the student vote. During their time on council, HRP representatives successfully fought for measures ranging from pioneering antidiscrimination ordinances to measures decriminalizing marijuana possession to a rent-control ordinance – many of which remain in effect in modified form today. Alongside these liberal and left-wing efforts, a small handful of conservative institutions were also born in Ann Arbor. These include Word of God (est. 1967), a charismatic Catholic movement of national scope; and the Thomas More Law Center (est. 1999), a leading religious-conservative advocacy group. The economy of Ann Arbor underwent a gradual shift from a manufacturing base to a service and technology base over the course of the 20th century, a shift which accelerated in the 1970s and 1980s. At the same time, the downtown has transformed from one dominated primarily by retail establishments dealing in staple goods to one comprised mainly of eateries, cafés, bars and clubs, and specialty shops. Over the past several decades, the city has increasingly found itself grappling with the effects of sharply rising land values and gentrification, as well as urban sprawl stretching far into the outlying countryside. On November 2, 2004, voters approved a greenbelt plan under which the city government would buy up the development rights to large swaths of land adjacent to Ann Arbor in order to prevent sprawling development. Since then, a vociferous local debate has hinged on whether, and how, to accommodate and guide development within city limits.

Geography and climate

greenbelt According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.7 mi² (71.7 km²). 27.0 mi² (70.0 km²) of it is land and 0.7 mi² (1.7 km²) of it is water. The total area is 2.42% water, much of it being part of the Huron River. Ann Arbor is approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Detroit, a 45-minute car ride on I-94. Ann Arbor Charter Township is adjacent, on the city's north and east sides. Ann Arbor is situated on the Huron River, in a productive agricultural and fruit-growing region. The landscape of Ann Arbor consists of rolling hills and valleys, with the terrain becoming steeper near the Huron River and more level elsewhere. The elevation ranges from about 750 feet (230 m) along the Huron River to about 900 feet (275 m) above sea level in southern and northeastern Ann Arbor. The elevation is about 839 feet (256 m) at Ann Arbor Municipal Airport, which is located at .

Cityscape

Ann Arbor's "Tree Town" moniker stems from the dense forestation of its parks and residential areas. The city holds almost as many trees as residents, with more than 50,000 trees sited along city streets and an equal number in city parks. In recent years, the emerald ash borer has destroyed most of the city’s approximately 10,500 ash trees, necessitating their replacement. The city contains 147 municipal parks, ranging from neighborhood vest-pocket parks to large recreation areas, with several large city parks and a university park bordering sections of the Huron River. The largest are Argo Park, Riverside Park, and Gallup Park (near the Huron Parkway), while Fuller Recreation Area, near the University Hospital complex, contains sports fields, pedestrian and bike paths, and swimming pools. The University of Michigan's Nichols Arboretum (known locally as "The Arb"), a 123-acre (50 hectare) preserve near the city’s center, contains hundreds of plant and tree species. Commercial zones include the downtown, the area of southern Ann Arbor surrounding Briarwood Mall, the area surrounding the I-94/M-14 juncture in the western part of the city, the southeastern area along Washtenaw Avenue and Carpenter Road, and the northeastern area along Plymouth Road. The downtown contains a mix of 19th and early 20th-century structures and modern-style buildings, as well as a farmers' market in the Kerrytown district. The city’s commercial districts are mostly comprised of two to four-story structures, although the downtown and the area near Briarwood Mall contain a growing number of high-rise buildings. Ann Arbor's residential neighborhoods contain a range of architectural styles, from classic 19th and early 20th-century designs to ranch-style houses. More contemporary-style houses are located further from the downtown district. Surrounding the University of Michigan campus are houses and apartment complexes occupied primarily by student renters. The 19th-century buildings and streetscape of the Old West Side neighborhood have been preserved virtually intact; in 1972, the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it is further protected via city ordinances and a nonprofit preservation group.

Climate

Ann Arbor has a typically Midwestern temperate seasonal climate, which is influenced by the Great Lakes. There are four seasons, with winters being cold with moderate snowfall while summers can be warm and very humid. The area does experience lake effect primarily in the form of increased cloudiness during late fall and early winter. The highest average temperature is in July at 83 °F (28 °C) while the lowest average temperature is in January at 16 °F (−9 °C). However, summer temperatures can top 100 °F (37 °C), and winter temperatures can drop below 0 °F (−17 °C). Average monthly precipitation ranges from 2 to 4 inches (44 to 92 mm), with the heaviest occurring during the summer months. Snowfall, which normally occurs from November to April, ranges from 1 to 10 inches (3 to 25 cm) per month. The highest recorded temperature was 105 °F (40.6 °C) on July 24, 1934, while the lowest recorded temperature was −22.0 °F (−30 °C) on January 19, 1994.

Demographics

1994 As of the census ² of 2000, there are 114,024 people, 45,693 households, and 21,704 families residing in the city. About 30,000 university students are added to the population each September. The population density is 4,221.1/mi² (1,629.9/km²). There are 47,218 housing units at an average density of 1,748.0/mi² (675.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 74.68% White, 8.83% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 11.90% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.21% from other races, and 3.05% from two or more races. 3.34% of the population are Hispanic American or Latino of any race. There are 45,693 households out of which 23.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% are married couples living together, 7.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 52.5% are nonfamilies. 35.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.22 and the average family size is 2.90. In the city the population is spread out with 16.8% under the age of 18, 26.8% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 17.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 28 years. For every 100 females there are 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 96.4 males. The median income for a household in the city is $46,299, and the median income for a family is $71,293. Males have a median income of $48,880 versus $36,561 for females. The per capita income for the city is $26,419. 16.6% of the population and 4.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 7.3% of those under the age of 18 and 5.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Government and politics

poverty line Ann Arbor has a mayor-council form of government. The mayor, who is elected every even-numbered year, is the presiding officer of the City Council and has the power to appoint all Council committee members as well as board and commission members, with the approval of the City Council. The City Council has ten members, two from each of the city's five wards, with the mayor wielding the tie-breaking vote. Council members serve two-year terms, with half the council elected in annual elections. Ann Arbor is located in the 15th Congressional district, and is represented by Representative John Dingell (D), the longest-serving member of the U.S. House. On the state level, the city is in the 18th district in the Michigan Senate. In the Michigan State House of Representatives, the city of Ann Arbor is in the 53rd district, while northeastern Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor Township are in the 52nd district. As the seat of Washtenaw County, the city is the location of the county's trial, civil, and criminal courts. Ann Arbor is also the site of a United States district court, whose downtown building also houses a post office. Left-wing politics have been particularly strong in municipal government since the 1960s – an orientation evident in the passage of rent-control and strong antidiscrimination ordinances as well as voter-approved charter amendments that have lessened the penalties for possession of marijuana (1974) and that aim to protect access to abortion in the city should it ever become illegal in the state of Michigan (1990). In 1974, Kathy Kozachenko's victory in an Ann Arbor city-council race made her the country's first openly gay or lesbian candidate to win public office. In 1975, Ann Arbor became the first U.S. city to use instant-runoff voting for a mayoral race. Adopted through a ballot initiative sponsored by the local Human Rights Party, which feared a splintering of the left/liberal vote, the process was repealed in 1976 after use in only one election. As of 2005, Democrats hold the mayorship and control the council by a 9–1 majority. Ann Arbor is the sister city to various municipalities around the world, including Tübingen, Germany (since 1965); Belize City, Belize (since 1967); Hikone, Japan (since 1969); Peterborough, Ontario, Canada (since 1983); Juigalpa, Nicaragua (since 1986); and Dakar, Senegal (since 1997).

Economy

The University of Michigan plays a major role in shaping Ann Arbor's economy, both through its role as the city's largest employer (with approximately 15,000 workers plus an additional 6,000 at its medical center), and by attracting companies through its graduates and research and development work. Aside from education, high tech, health services and biotechnology are major components of the city's economy, with numerous medical offices, laboratories, and associated companies located within the city. Companies associated with the automobile industry, such as General Motors and Ford, also employ a large number of residents. Nevertheless, the city's economy remains relatively stable due to the major presence of the University of Michigan. Ford There are a number of high-tech companies located in the city. Ann Arbor Terminals, during the 1980s, was the manufacturer of the famous video-display terminal, the Ann Arbor Ambassador. Other high-tech companies in the area include Arbortext (provider of XML-based publishing software), Harris & Baseview (provider of newspaper publishing software and ASP services), and ProQuest, which includes UMI. Websites and online media companies located in the city include All Media Guide, Everything2, and the Weather Underground. Ann Arbor is also the site of the Michigan Information Technology Center (MITC), whose offices also house Internet2 and the Merit Network, a nonprofit research and education computer network. Pfizer operates a large pharmaceutical research facility on the northeast side of town. It was previously operated by Warner-Lambert and, before that, Parke-Davis. The city is the home of other research and engineering centers, including those of General Dynamics and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Other research centers sited in the city are the Environmental Protection Agency's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory and the Toyota Technical Center. Ann Arbor serves as the headquarters to several major companies. The original Borders Books was opened on Ann Arbor's State Street in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis Borders, and began operating other outlets around the region beginning in 1985. The Borders chain is still based in the city, as is its flagship store (although not in its original location). A little-known fact is that dogs are allowed inside the flagship store, and the cashiers have a stock of doggy treats for canine visitors. Domino's Pizza's headquarters are in Ann Arbor on Domino's Farms, a massive 271-acre, Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired complex in the northeastern portion of the city. Flint Ink Corp., another Ann Arbor-based company, was until recently the world's largest privately held ink manufacturer (in October 2005 it was acquired by Stuttgart-based XSYS Print Solutions). Another Ann Arbor-based company is Zingerman's Delicatessen, which serves sandwiches and Jewish foods, and has derived and developed a variety of businesses under different brand names. Many cooperative enterprises were founded in the city during the 1960s and 1970s; among those that survive today are the People's Food Co-op and the Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan, a student-housing cooperative. There are also three cohousing communities located just outside the city limits to the west.

Education

cohousing" pedestrian plaza, with East Hall (right) and Dennison Hall (tower on the left)]] The University of Michigan is the dominant institution of higher learning in Ann Arbor, providing the city with a distinctly college-town atmosphere. Much of the campus is adjacent to and intermixed with the city's downtown district. Because the campus and the city expanded side-by-side, there is often no firm divide between the two, with university buildings scattered through much of the city center. Other colleges and universities located in the city are Cleary University, a private business school; Concordia University, a Lutheran liberal-arts institution; and Washtenaw Community College. Ave Maria School of Law, a Catholic institution established by Domino's Pizza cofounder Tom Monaghan, opened in northeastern Ann Arbor in 2000. There were plans to establish Ave Maria University on land occupied by Domino's Farms. However, due to conflicts with local zoning authorities, the new campus is under construction near Naples, Florida. The Ann Arbor Public School District – which enrolls a total of 16,724 students as of 2005 – consists of twenty-one elementary schools, five middle schools, and four high schools (two traditional, Pioneer and Huron, as well as two alternative including Community High). Due to overcrowding problems at the two traditional high schools (Pioneer and Huron), a third major high school is under construction as of fall 2005. Students in the district participate in the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) and other standardized tests.

Culture

Michigan Educational Assessment Program Ann Arbor has a number of cultural attractions and events, many sponsored by the University of Michigan. Numerous performing arts groups and facilities are located on the university's campus, as are museums dedicated to art, archaeology, and natural history and sciences (see Museums at the University of Michigan). The Matthaei Botanical Gardens, located on the northeastern edge of Ann Arbor, is operated by the university. The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, located in a historic downtown fire station, contains more than 250 interactive exhibits featuring science and technology. Artrain, located on North Main Street, bills itself as the nation's only traveling art museum on a train. A number of other art galleries exist in the city, notably in the downtown area and around the University of Michigan campus. Near the State Street area are three major theaters: the Michigan Theater, a renovated 1920s movie palace now hosting live performances, independent films, and classic movies, and serving as home base for the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra; the State Theater; and the University's Hill Auditorium. In the Main Street area, the Ark hosts folk and acoustic music, while a number of smaller venues and nightclubs serve up jazz and other live music. The Main Street area, as well as South State Street and South University Avenue, is also the center of a large restaurant scene in the city. Performing arts groups not associated with the university include the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre; the Arbor Opera Theater; the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra; the Ann Arbor Ballet Theater; the Ann Arbor Civic Ballet (est. 1954), which was Michigan's first chartered ballet company ; and Performance Network, which operates a downtown theater offering frequent new or nontraditional plays. Among U.S. cities, Ann Arbor ranks first in the number of booksellers and books sold per capita. The Ann Arbor District Library, named Library Journal's national "Library of the Year" in 1997, has three branch outlets in addition to its main downtown building. The city is also home to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Ann Arbor is known for college sports, notably at the University of Michigan, a member of the Big Ten Conference. Several well-known college sports facilities exist in the city, including Michigan Stadium (whose seating capacity rivals the entire population of Ann Arbor), Crisler Arena, and Yost Ice Arena. Concordia University, a member of the NAIA, also fields sports teams.

Events

A number of annual events – many of them centered on performing and visual arts – draw visitors to Ann Arbor from around the state and the region. The Ann Arbor Folk Festival, an annual benefit concert held in late January for the Ark, features many of the world's best-known folk musicians. The Ann Arbor Film Festival is held for six days in March at the Michigan Theater. EdgeFest is a multi-venue festival of avant-garde and progressive jazz, held each autumn since 1997. More unorthodox annual events include the Hash Bash and the Naked Mile. Held on the first Saturday of April since 1971, the Hash Bash is an event in support of the reform of marijuana laws, and includes speeches, live music, street vending, and occasional civil disobedience. Since 1986, the notorious Naked Mile has featured students running naked through the streets in late April to celebrate the end of the winter semester. Originally police blocked off the streets to allow the run, but beginning in 2000, a crackdown by university and city police citing safety concerns has forced participants to adapt, with the event appearing in various reduced forms since. Many large-scale events occur during the summer months. These include the Taste of Ann Arbor, a one-day event held during the first week of June in the heart of downtown; and the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, a three-and-a-half-week series of concerts, plays, and films typically held from mid-June through early July at the Power Center and atop the adjacent parking structure, which is host to the free "Top of the Park" events. The Ann Arbor Art Fairs, a set of four concurrent juried fairs held on downtown streets, began in 1960. Scheduled on Wednesday through Saturday in the third week of July, the fairs draw upward of half a million visitors from across the nation. The oldest and most competitive of the four fairs, the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, was dubbed the country's top art fair by American Style Magazine in October 2004. Other summertime events include the Blues and Jazz Festival (est. 1969), which is usually held in mid-September at Gallup Park. The Dexter-Ann Arbor Run is a running race from Dexter, Michigan to downtown Ann Arbor along the Huron River. In late August is the Shopping Cart Race, an unofficial and somewhat underground competition held since 1998 as part of the annual Seize the Week series of events (known through 2004 as "Punk Week").

Media

The Ann Arbor News, owned by the Michigan-based Booth Newspapers chain, is the major daily newspaper serving Ann Arbor. Other established publications in the city include the Ann Arbor Observer – a monthly magazine with features covering local culture, politics, family life, business and history – along with the Current, an entertainment guide, and the Ann Arbor Paper, a free monthly with columns, fiction, humor, reviews and profiles. The campus area is served by a variety of student publications, including the independent Michigan Daily. The three major Ann Arbor–based AM radio stations are WAAM 1600, a news and talk station; WLBY 1290, an Air America Radio affiliate; and WTKA 1050, which is primarily a sports station. The city's FM stations include NPR affiliate WUOM 91.7; country station WWWW 102.9; adult-alternative station WQKL 107.1; and WCBN 88.3, a noncommercial, student-run station with eclectic music and public-affairs programming. The city has more public radio broadcasters available on its airwaves than any other U.S. listening area, including NPR affiliates from Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, East Lansing, Detroit and Toledo. CBC Radio One and CBC Radio Two affiliates from Windsor, Ontario, can also be heard in Ann Arbor. WPXD channel 31, an affiliate of the i television network, is licensed to the city. Community Television Network (CTN) is a city-provided cable television channel with production facilities open to city residents and nonprofit organizations. Detroit-area radio and television stations also serve Ann Arbor.

Terminology

A person from Ann Arbor is called an "Ann Arborite." The city itself is often called A2 ("A two") or A² ("A-squared"), and less commonly Tree Town (or, usually tongue-in-cheek, The People's Republic of Ann Arbor). Recently, some youth have taken to calling Ann Arbor Ace Deuce or simply The Deuce.

Infrastructure

Health and medicine

The University of Michigan Medical Center, the preeminent health facility in the city, is the world's largest university medical center and is considered one of the nation's best hospitals, taking the #11 slot in the 2005 U.S. News & World Report rankings. The University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) includes University Hospital, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital in its core complex. UMHS also operates out-patient clinics and facilities elsewhere in the city. The area's other major medical centers include a large facility operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor and Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in nearby Ypsilanti.

Transportation

Ypsilanti The city is served by three highway-grade roadways: I-94 (which runs along the southern portion of the city), US 23 (which primarily runs along the eastern edge of Ann Arbor), and M-14 (which runs along the northern edge of the city). The streets in downtown Ann Arbor conform to a grid pattern, though this pattern is less apparent in the surrounding areas. Several major roads branch out from the downtown district like spokes on a wheel to the highways surrounding the city. Some of the major surface arteries lead to the I-94/M-14 juncture in the west, US 23 in the east, and the city's southern areas. Also, a large and expanding network of bike paths crisscrosses the city. The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA), which brands itself as "The Ride," operates public bus services throughout Ann Arbor and nearby Ypsilanti. A separate free bus service operates within the University of Michigan campuses. Plans have been floated several times to operate a trolley service between downtown and Briarwood Mall along disused rail tracks, although these have not come to fruition as of 2005. For out-of-town bus service, a downtown bus depot is served by Greyhound Lines, and is the city's only remaining example of the Streamline Moderne architectural style. Ann Arbor Municipal Airport is a small aircraft general aviation facility located south of I-94. Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the area's large international airport, is located about 28 miles (45 km) east of the city, in Romulus. Additionally, Willow Run Airport in nearby Ypsilanti serves freight, corporate, and general aviation clients. The city was a major rail hub, notably for freight traffic between Toledo and ports north of Chicago from 1878 to 1982, though the Ann Arbor Railroad also sold 1.1 million passenger tickets in 1913 alone. The city was also served by the Michigan Central Railroad starting in 1837. Currently, Amtrak provides passenger rail service from Ann Arbor to Detroit and Chicago, Illinois via the Ann Arbor Train Station; the present-day station neighbors the city's old Michigan Central Depot, which was renovated as a restaurant in 1969. There have been plans to build a commuter rail link between Ann Arbor and Detroit, with the U.S. federal government providing $100 million to enable its development.

Utilities

$ The city provides sewage disposal and water supply services, with water coming from the Huron River and groundwater sources. There are two water-treatment plants, one main and three outlying reservoirs, four pump stations, and two elevated tanks. These facilities serve the city, which is divided into five water districts. Along with these facilities, the city's water department also operates four dams along the Huron River, two of which provide hydroelectric power. The city also offers waste management services, with recycling being handled by Recycle Ann Arbor. Other utilities are primarily provided by private entities. Electrical power and gas are provided by DTE Energy, Consumers Energy, and MichCon. SBC Communications, the successor to Michigan Bell and Ameritech, is the primary telephone service provider for the area. Cable service is primarily provided by Comcast.

Notes

#Information obtained from [http://www.topozone.com TopoZone.com]. #[http://www.annarbor.org/aboutannarbor/funfacts.asp Fun Facts (2005)]. Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau. Access September 6, 2005. #[http://www.michiganvacations.com/regions/Ann-Arbor-Michigan.html Ann Arbor]. MichiganVacations.com. Accessed August 18, 2005. #[http://www.wunderground.com/NORMS/DisplayNORMS.asp?AirportCode=KYIP&SafeCityName=Ann_Arbor&StateCode=MI&Units=none&IATA=DTW Average High/Low Temperatures for KYIP]. Weather Underground (wunderground.com). Accessed August 17, 2005. #[http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/USMI0028_f.html Records and Averages - Ann Arbor]. Ann Arbor Weather Forecasts on Yahoo! Weather. Accessed August 31, 2005. #[http://www.arborweb.com/entindex.html City Guide - Dance]. arborweb.com. Accessed August 18, 2005. #[http://www.ecurrent.com/ag/2003/shop/list.php#boo Ann Arbor Guide 2003-4]. Ecurrent.com. Accessed August 17, 2005. #[http://www.goodspeedupdate.com/naked-mile-data-4-10-03.html Naked Mile Data Page]. goodspeedupdate.com. #[http://clarke.cmich.edu/michrailroads/building.htm Michigan's Ann Arbor Railroads - Building the Ann Arbor]. Central Michigan University - Clarke Historical Library. Accessed September 1, 2005. #Mulcahy, John (August 28, 2005). [http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-14/112522397069040.xml&coll=2 Is commuter rail finally on fast track? Federal grant gets Ann Arbor-Detroit link moving]. Ann Arbor News. Accessed September 1, 2005. #[http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/PublicServices/Water/WTP/int-treat.html Water Treatment (2005)]. City of Ann Arbor. Accessed September 7, 2005.

References

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- [http://moaa.aadl.org/PictHistory/PictHis.php Pictorial History of Ann Arbor (2003)]. Ann Arbor District Library
- Encyclopedia of Michigan. (1999). St. Clair Shores, MI: Somerset Publishers.
- Michigan Gazetteer. (1991). Wilmington, DE: American Historical Publications.
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External links

- [http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/ City's official website]
- [http://www.johnwcooper.com/annarbor-michigan.htm Ann Arbor / University of Michigan Guide]
- [http://www.annarbor.org/ Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau]
- [http://arborweb.com/ Arborweb.com] - Contains listing of events in Ann Arbor
- [http://www.annarborpaper.com Ann Arbor Paper] - Web version of the music, art and commentary magazine
- [http://www.annarborisoverrated.com/ Ann Arbor is overrated.com] - Irreverent blog on the city's foibles and shortcomings
- [http://www.arborblogs.com/ ArborBlogs] - Index of popular Ann Arbor community weblogs
- [http://hvcn.org/ The Huron Valley Community Network] - Nonprofit informational network for Washtenaw County
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Ann_Arbor Ann Arbor Wikitravel guide] - Similar in format to this article, but with a more casual, less encyclopedic emphasis Category:Washtenaw County, Michigan Category:Cities in Michigan Category:University towns Category:County seats in Michigan

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded¹ from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

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