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Catalyst Radio: VSA Michigan GR

Catalyst Radio
Catalyst Radio
4/29/11 11:58am
culture Nonprofit Dispatches

in collaboration with Linda Gellasch and Denise Cheng and WYCE Radio 88.1 FM

This dispatch was added by one of our Nonprofit Neighbors. It does not represent the editorial voice of The Rapidian or Community Media Center.

Executive Director Michele Suchovsky shares how the arts made it possible for a quadraplegic man to sign his name for the first time in 20 years to their 25th anniversary that will bring hundr

/VSA Facebook album: Hand painting (click to see more)

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About Catalyst Radio

Catalyst Radio is the weekly public affairs radio program of Community Media Center, with producer and host Linda Gellasch, along with Denise Cheng. The program is a feature of WYCE and The Rapidian and includes interviews with organizations and people working on social change and community support, examines media and free speech issues, and takes a look at the behind-the-scenes of Rapidian reporting. You can catch it on air at noon every Friday on WYCE 88.1 FM or streaming on the Grand Rapids Community Media Center Website.

Past Catalyst Radio episodes are archived on The Rapidian.

The GRPS Arts & Mentoring class journeyed to the GR Ballet Company for a tour of the stage, prop room and costume shop.

The GRPS Arts & Mentoring class journeyed to the GR Ballet Company for a tour of the stage, prop room and costume shop. /VSA FB album: Visit to GR Ballet Company

On Sept. 24, 2010, Van Andel Arena teamed up with the circus (elephants!) and VSA arts to decorate a city bus with paint.

On Sept. 24, 2010, Van Andel Arena teamed up with the circus (elephants!) and VSA arts to decorate a city bus with paint. /VSA's FB album: Elephant painting

INTERVIEW (11:03)

The Electric Junkyard Gamelan is traveling to GR for a Monday Hat Trick show to benefit VSA Grand Rapids. Executive Director Michele Suchovsky shares how the arts made it possible for a quadraplegic man to sign his name for the first time in 20 years to their 25th anniversary that will bring in hundreds of students with disabilities to express themselves through art.

 

ANALYSIS (0:00)

FOIA request still pending after three years
The ACLU has filed a few Freedom of Information requests in Michigan since 2008 to access information about a device used by police to extract data from drivers' cell phones. The device is used to gather information about location when drivers are pulled over for minor traffic violations but could also be pulling SMS, media and call histories.
[More: The Newspaper]

Update: iPhone geolocation data
In last week's Catalyst Radio, we shared the recent discovery of how recent versions of the iPhone have been recording longitudinal and latitudinal points as phone users travel. It turns out that the two technologists who created tools for the public to visualize this data from their phones were not the first to discover its existence. A researcher in Western New York who discovered it much earlier and in previous versions of the iPhone says that there's no evidence that the info is getting harvested by Apple, and it's already being used by national and international law enforcement agencies.
[More: GigaOm]

Amazon now has lending system
Amazon has been a big player in the ebooks field, and it announced a lending library earlier this month. The details about who owns the content and for how long each item can be borrowed are murky. Publishers who own the rights to certain versions of books have set the cap at different numbers. 
[More: GigaOm]

Coffee shops: Why are some people more productive with a cup of coffee?
In an Atlantic column, associate editor Conor Friedersdorf wonders whether there is a correlation between productivity and coffee shops over productivity in the office. Cobbling together insights from various interviews with novelists and film producers he has conducted for The Atlantic, Friedersdorf puts forth four theories about why some people work better outside of the home and office.
[More: The Atlantic]

 

CALENDAR (27:05)

[ARTS] Charlotte's Web at the Civic Theater
7 p.m. on Friday, April 29 till May 1 at the Civic Theater (30 N. Division)
Playwright Joseph Robinette adapted E.B. White's Charlotte's Web for the stage. Named "the best American children's book of the past two hundred years" by the Children's Literary Association, the show runs through early May.
[More]

[FILM] Queeries Film Series: Out in the Silence
8 p.m. on Friday, April 29 at Wealthy Theatre (1130 Wealthy SE)
GVSU's LGBT Resource Center puts on a monthly film series called The Queeries. This month's screening is "Out in the Silence," which captures the chain of events when the announcement of filmmaker Joe Wilson’s wedding to another man ignites a firestorm of controversy in his small Pennsylvania hometown.
[More]

[ENTERTAINMENT] May Day 2011 at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park
11 a.m. - 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 1 at MLK Park (1200 Franklin SE)
May Day is an international worker's holiday and last year, the celebration brought out 200 members of the community of all ages and affiliations. There will be a community potluck, Really Really Free Market, kids' activities, and information about community resources. This year will also see a wide range of entertainment acts from rock to rap to dance troupes.
[More]

[TRANSPORTATION] Grand Rapids Bicycle Summit
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the Eberhard Center (201 W. Fulton)
2011 Grand Rapids Bicycle Summit is a bicycle advocacy conference featuring national keynote speakers and practical action-oriented workshops. This National Bike Month event is oriented toward Complete Streets advocates, bike club members, elected officials, public health experts, community planners, civil engineers, and all bicyclists!
[More]

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