LA Dave

Don't even think I have that map anymore. It dated from about 1970, though. Sorry.

The Trib's interest in GR is new, but not surprising. There are a lot of Chicagoans who vacation on Lake Michigan. And, for years, the Trib has defined "Chicagoland" pretty broadly. I have an old map of "Chicagoland," and it includes GR on the northeastern edge.

The author of the piece, Roger Rapoport, is a well-known activist, writer and former editor of the Michigan Daily. As a senior at Michigan in 1968, he published a book entitled "Is the Library Burning?," an examination of the turbulent youth politics of the 1960s. Mr. Rapoport is a Detroit native who grew up, and now lives in, Muskegon.

I think that the relationship between the University of Michigan and Grand Rapids has historically been a little distant. U-M has been tied to the Detroit area, geographically and financially, for most of its history. Plenty of Grand Rapids kids have attended the U over the years, but the growth of MSU in the 1950s siphoned off some of that stream and anyway, kids from the GR area were always a small percentage of the overall student population. I think that GR is perceived in Ann Arbor, rightly or wrongly, as provincial, overly religious and conservative. (Of course, that could define how Ann Arbor folks perceive much of the state.) With the revitalization of GR, and the growth of the Medical Mile, perceptions can change, and we may see a different attitude from the "arrogant -ssholes," especially now that an ugly green "S" blazes in the night sky from Casa Secchia.

What a terrible aesthetic stateMent! It can be remedied only by painting the entire building a restful combination of maize and blue.

Yeah. To paraphrase an old Chrysler Corporation ad, "suddenly, it's 1955!"

The Silver Line looks very much like the LA MTA's Red Line buses, which run on a limited run faster schedule than the regular MTA orange buses. There are no dedicated bus lanes, so the buses need to run on city streets, which makes them not a lot faster than the orange buses in traffic. The Red Line is popular, as is the Orange Line, which is a dedicated bus route on an old railroad right of way. The Orange Line travels from the Warner Center business park in the Western San Fernando Valley to the North Hollywood Red Line (subway) station. It has been very popular, though the ride from North Hollywood to the West Valley is still pretty slow; the buses have to obey cross-traffic signals, and the dedicated line goes through a heavily residential area near the North Hollywood station, which slows it considerably. However, the Orange Line's paved right of way is already starting to deteriorate, just a few years after opening; too bad that light rail wasn't installed instead, with grade crossings and thus a faster travel time.

Unbelievable. I didn't know that anyone had captured that on film. That was one scary and devastating tornado. Ironically, almost the same area was hit in 1965 by the Palm Sunday Tornado.

I liked that quote about "swagger."

How true, how true. Lot's of nostalgia in those pictures for this expat, but they are lovely in any event.

From collegedata (can't vouch for the source, but it seems to cover all schools): Central Michigan entering freshmen, fall 2007: 73% admit rate, composite ACT range for the 25-75% range of class: 20-24 Western Michigan: 86% admit rate, ACT 25-75 range: 20-25. So, GVSU compares favorably to all three of the "regional" universities (I didn't include Northern because it really isn't a major player for Lower Peninsula students). EMU had a major scandal relating to campus security, and their president (who also had other issues) was fired. By contrast, GVSU seems to have had strong leadership over the years (including the very long term leadership of President Arend Lubbers, who probably will be remembered as the John Hanna of GVSU). The current president, a Coast Guard veteran, seems to be highly regarded, though I don't know what the current faculty and students think. When I drove through the Allendale campus recently, I was impressed by the donor's names on many of those shiny new buildings. I don't know if that is as true of WMU, CMU and EMU (which have older, state-funded campus buildings), though I am sure that those of you who went there are probably getting dunned by alma mater on a regular basis.

When you compare the admitted freshman class starting in 2007 between GVSU and EMU, there really is no comparison. The 25-75 percentile range of composite ACTs at EMU was 18-24, compared to 22-26 at GVSU. The admission rate at EMU was about 75%, higher than GVSU's 69%, but roughly comparable to MSU's. (Facts from CollegeData.) What is interesting that of the folks admitted to EMU, 64% accepted. This is very high; a lot of schools are happy to get 50%.

I know that Ypsi has its charms (I lived in Ann Arbor for seven years, so have some familiarity with the area.) And, my comment about the regional universities and GVSU probably has more to do with Central and Western being affected than Eastern, which still draws most heavily from metro Detroit kids. I think that the reality of Allendale is that the campus is fine; kids who want to have a good time either party in their dorm rooms or get in their cars (or their friends' cars) and drive to GR. There is nothing to do in Allendale, and Lake Michigan Drive is not Washtenaw Avenue -- yet. But GVSU has another draw that Eastern lacks -- quick access to Lake Michigan. In the early fall, that may be something that a kid from, say, Lansing or Jackson would find attractive.

Of course you're right. MSU had a very late start in the medical school business, so moving the school largely to GR gives them a ready-made partnership with the established medical centers and institutes of Pill Hill and the St. Mary's campus.

The freshmen profile, based solely on GPA and ACT scores, at MSU is slightly more impressive than at GVSU, but not by much. That said, I don't see GVSU being true competition to MSU for most kids. No big-time sports, fewer majors, a campus in the middle of Ottawa County -- these are not draws. On the other hand, GVSU is competing very well with the regional universities, Western, Central and Eastern, and has significant advantages over them. A newer, brighter campus; a more interesting city (Mt. Pleasant or Ypsilanti, anyone?) to live near; and some very fine programs. I think that the key to maintaining GVSU's growth will be local philathropy. You have seen that already, and it will be crucial, especially given the likelihood that the Legislature will not be funding higher education very well in the foreseeable future. Also -- how about a MAC membership? MSU built itself on Biggie Munn's football success.

It's not a medical center, it's a medical school. And not the entire thing, as I understand it, but only for upperclasspeople. Grand Rapids has more medical facilities at which to intern/train than Lansing. In addition, there probably was a desire by the MSU administration to strengthen ties with the most successful part of the state, economically speaking. And, didn't Secchia give them a pail full of money?

Hold the Presses. This just in from a (chagrined) LA Dave. According to US News, the acceptance rate at MSU during the fall of 2007 was: about 74% The acceptance rate at GVSU for the fall of 2007 was: about 69% The stats of admitted freshmen are a little better for MSU, but the acceptance rate for GVSU was lower. This tells me that GVSU is trying to shape a better class. Good. Simply accepting any Tom, Dick or Mary is not the way to build your University.

No, Michigan wins that one easily. The average Michigan Tech ACT for entering freshmen is 25.6. At U-M, it is 30. For the 2008 freshmen class, there were 29,000 plus apps, and only about 11,000 acceptances, a 37% acceptance rate, the lowest in Michigan's history. It is the only international research university in the state and the only one with a significant national and international student body. Folks, I can say with complete confidence (as an out-of-state resident and the husband of a private college counselor) that only the University of Michigan has a real "profile" for out of state kids. I hope that other Michigan public universities can reach that plateau.

Sorry folks. From their own websites: GPA of middle 50% of admitted freshpeople: MSU -- 3.44 to 3.85 GVSU -- 3.3 to 3.8 (Close, but MSU wins) ACT scores of middle 50%: MSU -- 23-27 GVSU -- 21-26 (Not quite as close, but MSU still wins) Mind you, GVSU's numbers are better than WMU, CMU or EMU, their peer institutions, and are darned close to MSU, which is a major research university. I think that is very impressive, and especially impressive given the fact that GVSU is 105 years newer as an institution. And I am also frosted by the poor state support for GVSU (probably a combination of GVSU being a relatively new institution plus being ignored by metro Detroit legislators/Governor). But I am as appalled by the fact that Wayne State per student appropriations are higher than U-M's. That is really ridiculous given the quality difference between those two schools. I would love shaving some of WSU's appropriation and splitting it between U-M and GVSU. And when I am King of Michigan, that is what I will do.

Huh?? I would think that Michigan State folks might have something to say about that. Still, I do find it amazing that GVSU has grown so much and so well over the past 20 years. When I was a kid, GVSC (as it was then known) was the sort of place you went to if you graduated high school with any kind of grades. Plainly not the case now, and it looks like GVSU has replaced Western and Central as the go-to alternative for GR kids who aren't interested in Ann Arbor or East Lansing. Now, if only GVSU could move more of its operations into downtown. How about that excellent music program? There are good concert venues in GR (DeVos Hall, St. Cecilia Society).

The piece in the New York Times that I read on Sunday was a lot gloomier. Don't have a ready link, but it was datelined Fennville and detailed the struggles of a lady there and others to make it in the current economy. The point of the story was that this was happening in Western Michigan, far from Detroit. I was shocked about two statistics in that story. First, that nearly one in five Michigan residents is on some form of government assistance. Second, that Michigan is 35th in the US in the per capita number of college graduates.

Boy, you can say that again. Also, Harry Weese was a fantastic Chicago architect, but his original work on DeVos Hall was a joke. Unless, of course, you really loved gray concrete. On the other hand, Solon Beman's Michigan Trust Building and Henry Cobb's St. Cecilia Auditorium still shine over a hundred years after they were designed by those great Chicago architects.

I have bypassed GRR for a number of years, and it is getting easier as there are fewer flights and smaller aircraft serving the airport. The last time we visited Michigan, my family flew to ORD on Jet Blue (fantastic!) and drove all the way to Ann Arbor. Going back, we drove from GR to ORD. We were able to fit in some time in Chicago, one of our favorite cities, on both ends of the trip so that routing made sense. If I were a business traveler in GR, it wouldn't probably make a lot of sense to drive either to ORD or DTW to catch a plane. But for the vacation traveler, it is a viable option.

You're right, which is another reason why I don't see GRR becoming Lansing's airport. Lansing is connected with metro Detroit in an historic economic sense (Oldsmobile) and politically (as the seat of government of a state where most people live in the tri-county area) and educationally (MSU, with U-M and WSU in the southeast, are the three big research Us). Heck, I think that metro Detroit is actually closer to Lansing (certainly East Lansing is) than to metro GR. There is no reason for a Lansing person to drive 65 miles to GRR when by driving somewhat further to DTW, he/she can pick up direct flights to half the globe. All that said, on a GR board, you can expect folks here to be GR partisans. So don't take it personally.

While I agree that GR has more of a shot at being a successful 21st century city than say Flint, Jackson or Dearborn, Lansing does have the advantage of proximity to MSU. As a world class research university, MSU should be giving back to the Lansing area in terms of high-tech startups associated with university research. This is certainly happening in Ann Arbor, which is the other Michigan city that probably has the best shot of success. Lansing is also a government city, which tends to attract business (or at least lawyers) who need/want to be close to the lawmakers. Taking these facts together, there should be a market for flights from the capital city that would not necessarily be served by driving to GRR or DTW.