"Environment" is the buzz word at The University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor this semester. Following a trend among universities nationwide, faculty and students from all different departments here joined together to pay a tribute to planet earth with an Environmental Theme Semester. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Edelson Halpert attended one of the events and has this report:
Tag: michigan
A Treasure Hunt in an Unlikely Place
For many people, it’s a spring ritual: cleaning up after dogs who’ve left their calling card in your yard all winter long. But for one man, this dirty job turned into a treasure hunt. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson explains:
Radium Girls
It’s not unusual for authors to feel a bond with the people they write about. But that connection is especially strong between a modern-day university professor and a group of working class women in the early 1900’s. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson has more:
Great Lakes CD-ROM
Chances are when you were in elementary school, you saw your fair share of film strips. They weren’t much more than a boring lecture, with pictures…And the only good thing about them was getting chosen to run the projector. But today, computers in the classroom can really jazz up a lesson. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports on some new software that’s helping kids learn about the Great Lakes:
Drinking Water Linked to Miscarriages
A new government-sponsored study of three California towns has turned up a potentially serious finding: that some tap water could be dangerous for pregnant women. The study is the first to find that high levels of chemicals used to disinfect water could increase the risk of miscarriage. That’s raised a red flag at the Environmental Protection Agency. And now the EPA’s moving quickly to see if the California findings hold true elsewhere. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Edelson Halpert reports:
Synthetic Wine Corks Popping Up All Over
The art of wine-making is thousands of years old, and the practice of closing the bottles with cork has been the industry standard for at least three hundred years. But corks can crumble or leak and for years, wine-makers have been looking for alternatives. Now, they may have one. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson has the story:
Low-Flush Toilets Make a Splash
It’s one of the most private, intimate parts of our lives — in fact, most people talk more readily about sex than they do about what goes on in the bathroom. But now, toilet talk is heating up over a federal mandate requiring all new toilets to flush with no more than one-point-six gallons of water. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson has the story:
Recycling Faces a Set-Back
This year, the Environmental Protection Agency highlighted Ann Arbor, Michigan as one of the most progressive recycling communities in the country. The city was on the forefront of recycling PVC plastics, however, recently, Ann Arbor discontinued the program and some worry that sets a negative precedent nationwide. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mary Boyle has more.
Anti-Freeze Recycling
The recycling of anti-freeze has been around for eight years, but its not that common. However, some folks in Michigan hope to change some people’s minds. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mary Boyle has the story:
The Dare-Devil Sport of Luge
Wintertime in the Great Lakes offers exceptional recreational activities – everything
from ice fishing, to skiing, to snowshoeing. But if the dare-devil sport of luge
captured your imagination during the recent Winter Olympics, you’ll be glad to
know that you, yourself, can take a run. While there are only four luge facilities in
the entire country, the Great Lakes region is home to three of them. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson visited one, and has this report: