Are you a policy wonk? Then you should enter this contest!!

This Year's Theme: Message to the President

C-SPAN is asking students to consider what issue the president should address in 2013, and create a video documentary explaining why it's important.

This Year's Theme is : Message to the President

What do you think is important and should be addressed by the president? Make a short film and enter it in this contest for a chance to win some cash!!. It will be fun to do and a great item to put on your resume (some day!).

Now in its ninth year, C-SPAN's national competition invites all middle school students (grades 6-8) and high school students (grade 9-12) to produce a five- to eight-minute video documentary using C-SPAN programming.

This year, students will have the opportunity to produce a documentary focusing on "A Message to the President: What's the most important issue the president should consider in 2013?"

The C-SPAN Education Foundation supports the contest by awarding 75 student and 11 teacher prizes, totaling $50,000 in cash.

Entries must represent varying points of view, and incluide C-SPAN video that supports the documentary's topic. Students, working alone or in groups up to three, must upload their videos by January 18, 2013, and winners will be announced in March. A full list of guidelines, FAQ's and past winning videos can be found at studentcam.org.

If enough students enter from Ann Arbor we can reserve a night to run the documentaries and you can invite all your friends!!

The 2012-13 Dawn Farm Education Series begins this month with the first of its series Addiction 101. Presented by James Balmer, this session will examine the dynamics of drinking and drug use; addiction as a brain disease and the basic recovery process. All programs are free and ALL are WELCOME. Tuesday, September 18 from 7:30-9:00 PM at the SJMH Education Center

Sunday, September 9 | 1:00-3:00 p.m. | Downtown Library | Multipurpose Room

Join us for a little world building even if it’s out of this world! Cartoonist James Anderson will show you how he has created a world full of alien flora and fauna for his web comic strip Ellie on Planet X!

Join the Forum to get fresh ideas for your next comics or graphic novel creation and/or feedback from fellow cartoonists. Drawing supplies will be provided, so drop in to draw, learn, and network with other cartoonists.

Detroit is a city that has been reviving itself for decades, as new generations bring new life to the city. With the city’s growth has also come growth in urban agriculture, as people are turning vacant lots into fertile land. Some call it the greening of a gray city.

The documentary film Grown in Detroit focuses on a group of students at Detroit’s Ferguson Academy for Young Women, a high school for pregnant teens, as they work in the school's urban garden and learn how to grow nutritious food for their children. One of only three schools in the country for this population, the curriculum focuses on helping these teens care for themselves and their children, and uses urban farming as a means to teach them.

The students featured in Grown in Detroit are at first underwhelmed by the amount of physical labor required for farming. The teen moms eventually realize that they can profit from the food they are growing, as well as provide nutritious food for their children and themselves, all stemming from the fruits of their labor. It’s a beautiful film that places an eye on this unique opportunity happening for these girls -- right here in Detroit.

In addition to being available on DVD at AADL, the film is also available for instant online streaming to logged-in AADL cardholders here! You can also watch it on the Grown in Detroit website, where you pay whatever denomination you want in order to view it.

Personal Effects is a well-written, highly engaging, debut novel by E.M. Kokie, an attorney in Madison, Wisconsin, who has long been drawn to teen literature. Readers will find humor, compassion, excitement, and a memorable coming-of-age story in these pages.

The story opens as 17-year-old Matt Foster is trying to recover from the death of his older brother, T.J., in Iraq. Matt is failing classes at school, fighting with classmates, and trying to tune out his father's command that he follow T.J.'s steps to the military after high school. When T.J.'s stuff -- some of the “personal effects” in the title -- are shipped home, Matt thinks sneaking to go through them will help put closure on his grief. Instead, he unearths letters and secrets about his brother's identity, strength, honor, and bravery that show him that he did not know T.J. as well as he thought he did.

As Matt comes to terms with his brother’s life and death, he begins to better stand his ground with his dad and to become the hero of his own unfolding young-adult life. Matt’s high-school girlfriend, Shauna, is an intriguing and charming character who contributes much to the page-turning magnetism of the narrative. I hope Ms. Kokie is writing more books!

Fans of the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer can enjoy a special treat this week at Starbucks. For the first time, the ubiquitous coffee shop chain, in partnership with Apple’s iBookstore, is offering a children’s book as part of its Pick of the Week promotion. Customers can receive a free download of Artemis Fowl: Book One from iTunes when they use a code found on the Pick of the Week cards distributed in Starbucks stores. The giveaway arrives on the heels of the publication of the eighth and final book in Colfer’s series, Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian.

Wednesday, August 29 | 7:00-8:30 PM | Downtown Library | Multipurpose Room

Learn how nationally-known graphic novelist Shawn Martinbrough became a graphic artist, illustrator, and novelist and about his approach to art.

Shawn's works include DMZ, Vol. 11: Free States Rising with Brian Wood; Batman: Detective Comics; Luke Cage Noir; a new monthly series, Thief of Thieves with Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead); and How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling. If all the above isn’t enough, check out an interview regarding Shawn’s latest project The Ren.

The bulk of Shawn's work has been done for Marvel Comics, Vertigo and DC Comics. His client list includes Coca Cola/POWERade, The Hershey Company, The Topps Company, Cricket Wireless, Vibe, Bad Boy Entertainment, Penguin Books and McGraw-Hill.

Vault of Midnight will sell Shawn's books, and the event includes a book signing.

P.S. Summer Game Code Fans, here's a chance to get one of the last event game codes!

Learn how to use Adobe Photoshop Element to clean up your art, fill in line work with colors and half tones, create cool lettering, prep the finished page for printing, and more. Cartoonist Jerzy Drozd will be your instructor. Art will be provided for you to work with or we can scan your art for you to work on.

Select from one of the time slots listed below. Both sessions are identical. Registration is required. Register at any AADL location, online at aadl.org or call 327-8301.

Wednesday August 22 -- (3:00-5:00 PM) OR (6:00-8:00 PM) -- Downtown Library -- 3rd Floor Training Center

Learn how to use Adobe Photoshop Element to clean up your art, fill in line work with colors and half tones, create cool lettering, prep the finished page for printing, and more. Cartoonist
Jerzy Drozd will be your instructor and guide.

Choose from one of the time slots below. Both sessions are identical. Registration is required. Register at any AADL location, online at aadl.org or call 327-8301.

Tuesday August 21 -- (1:00-3:00 PM) OR (4:00-6:00 PM) -- Downtown Library -- 3rd Floor Training Center

Scott McKenzie, forever tied to the unofficial anthem for San Francisco's 1967 Summer of Love, San Francisco (Be Sure to Where Some Flowers in Your Hair, died Saturday at his Los Angeles home.

His iconic song, written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, was a big hit at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival, which is the subject of Monterey Pop (1968), the first filmed rock festival.

McKenzie, who had been in fragile health for quite some time with Guillaine-Barre Syndrome and a possible heart attack, died at home at age 73.