LOCAL/S TATE .First year a tough one for African American museum i DETROIT (AP) - As the Museum of African American History prepares to celebrate its first anniversary in its new building tomorrow, it faces budget shortfalls, lagging attendance and a floundering permanent collection. First-year attendance was projected at 600,000, a massive leap from the pre- vious year, when just 75,000 people came. But attendance is under 400,000, the Detroit Free Press reported yester- day. And of that, only 225,000 paid for admission. "The rest were there for free events. The museum faces a similar problem w~ith memberships. It now has more than 6,000 dues-paying members -- a huge jump from the 900 it had one year ago - but budget projections called for more than 10,000 members. To offset the lower-than-expected attendance, the museum has trimmed its operating budget to $4.7 million from $6.8 million. The museum, renamed two weeks 0ago in honor of Dr. Charles Wright, the retired obstetrician who launched the institution 33 years ago in his medical offices, has also had successes in its new $38.4 million home. Perhaps most visible was when for- mer Detroit Mayor Coleman Young lay in state in the museum's glass-domed rotunda. Thousands of people waited on long lines outside the museum to pay their respects to Young. Museum President Kimberly Camp says she is buoyed by the first year. "I think we have raised the bar for what museums should be to communi- ties' Camp told the paper. "There was a lot of concern prior to this museum opening of it being able to serve as a community gathering place, as an exhibition space, as a place for scholarly discourse, as a place for school kids to come. There was the expectation of us being a lot of things to a lot of different people, and despite it not being a perfect year, I think we've been able to accomplish a lot of that with a fair amount of grace" she said. However, some say the museum has created rifts in the local black commu- nity. "This is no longer a self-determined project of African American people, says Millard Porter, founder and direc- tor of Pitch Black Poetry, which pub- lishes Pitch Black Detroit, an anthology of Detroit poets. "We don't feel it to be ours anymore" said Porter, who also blamed Camp for paying more attention to corporate sponsors. But Camp has her supporters, too. "Yes, she has some strong ideas;' for- rner museum board Chair Eugene Gilmer said. "But that's what we need- ed. We needed a person who had the professional expertise and could come in there and not operate this museum out of someone's hip pocket." Even Wright, who admits to having reservations about the museum's direc- tion, has become more vocal in his sup- port. "This is a different time and a differ- ent group of people running the muse- um, and there are bound to be changes," Wright said. "Not all of those changes are bad, but they're not all good, either. I would hope there is some understand- ing on the part of the current manage- ment that there remains a need for some remedial measures."~ He is most critical about the muse- um's reliance on traveling, exhibitions instead of self-made ones. Business Prof. E. Han Kim discusses Korea's economic probler present was SangMok Suh, a member of the National Assembl! Intern-ationgal ex on KoreV,,.an ecor The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 16, 1998 - A EMILY NATHAN/,Daly ns at a forum last night at the International Institute. Also ly of the Republic of Korea. Lpers speak iomic crisis clue of the won, high unemployment rates were~ ,urrency, in com- among the consequences. "encies. For the past seven months, the igh value, when Korean economy has been struggling onal panic, Kim to keep its head above water. Unemployment has risen from rd of living, the 469,000 at the beginning of the funemployment downturn to 1,235,000 in February,- inlpride have and corporate bankruptcy has tripled, acitizens to clas- over that time period. a crisis. "If the current interest rates stay for ce and loss of for- long, Korean corporations will be rced the Korean wiped out,' Suh said. vfrom the interna- Suh said the key to turning the sit- id. Due to the sit- uation around lies in the hands''of lature, Korea was Korean corporations. He said that if' noney from the Korean corporations can resolve} ry Fund at annual "how to deal with unemployment 30 percent. while trying to maintain efficiency" y' was forced to the situation will improve. was "a day of Although the numbers have begun' 'or Korea,' said to stabilize in recent months; member of the investors remain apprehensive about° )f Korea. Korea's economic future. coverage of the When asked if Kim, as a foreign vectors to panic investor, would invest in Korea, he )ummet. answered with a 'yes.' "We can a ripple effect. expect high returns if we take high bankruptcy and risks:' GM expands rebate offers DETROIT (AP) - What price is loyalty? For General Motors Corp., it could run in the millions as it offers rebates on new cars and trucks to people who bought new GM prod- ucts as long ado as 1986. The incentive program, called Loyalty First, is designed to shore up the No, I automaker's sagging market share with rebates worth $500 or $1,000. The offers already are going out to original owners of GM vehicles from the 1986 to 1998 model years. Valid until June 30, the rebate certificates can be used by the original buyer, a spouse or children living in the same household. The rebates also can be used to lease a vehicle but don't include Saturn models and aren't being offered to Saturn owners. The automaker sold about 60 million cars, minivans, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks in the United States from 1986 to 1998. How many of those vehicles remain with their original owners isn't clear, the Detroit Free Press said in a report yesterday. GM hasn't estimated the cost of the Loyalty First program, _but it will fall within the automaker's marketing budget, spokesperson Donna Fontana said. ,:Loyalty First rebates can be used in conjunction with exist- ing rebates that already average $1,600 per GM vehicle, according to industry analyst David Mealy of Burnham Securities in New York. "I guess GM was more appalled than we thought by the 28.6-percent market share,' Healy said Tuesday. GM had 35 percent of the domestic new-vehicle market in 1990. But its market share has fallen every year since then, bottoming out at 28.6 percent in January and February before a new round of rebates and low-interest loans on its small cars raised GM's market share to 32.2 percent for March. "Owner loyalty programs do work if you want to move vehicles;' said auto analyst Jim Hall of the research firm AutoPacific in Southfield. Mark Montante, general manager of Bill Rowan Oldsmobile Cadillac in Southgate, agreed with Hall -- and praised the new program. "They want to get their" market share up;' he said, "I think they are moving in the right direction"' Montante cited the example of a $37,000 Oldsmobile Aurora - which could be had for as little as $25,000 by using the Loyalty First rebate, a discount already in place, the maximum discount on the General Motors credit card and a $5,500 discount available to GM employees. By Melissa Andrzejak Daily Staff Reporter In response to the instability of the South Korean economy, Ann Arbor residents and members of the University community gathered last night for a meeting wvith two experts who have first-hand experience with the crisis. The economic downturn that is plaguing many Asian countries and worrying U.S. investors hit particular- ly hard in South Korea. "This is the biggest recession the economy in Korea has ever wit- nessed," said Business Prof. E. Han Kim, who served as the finance adviser to the South Korean govern- ment during the recent negotiations to resolve Korea's economic crisis. During September of last year, while political leaders were busy with a close presidential election, the Korean economy took a turn for the worse when inflation, unemployment rates and interest rates skyrocketed. In an act of arbitrage - the buying and selling of a country's currency for profit - the Korean government overestimated the va the Korean unit of ct pani son to other curre The artificially hi deflated, caused nati said. 'The lower standar heightened rates of and the loss of nati caused many Korear sify the situation asa The financial panic eign investments for government to borrow~ tional market, Kim sai uation's unexpected r forced to borrow r- International Monetai interest rates of up to When the country borrow money, it national disgrace ft Sang-Mok Suh, a7 National Assembly c Excessive media situation caused in' and stock prices to pl The events had Increased corporate & .1 hMere ouse ! c , rAROs .1 E U JOAN BAEZ -one from dan CF renaissances of recent years." THE TIMES (THE LONDON TIMES) Joan Baez has returned with a wonderful album, Gone From Danger. Gone From Danger finds Joan teaming up with a talented group of young songwriters (including Dar Williams, Richard Shindell and Sinead Lohan) to create an album of all-new material which many are calling THE album of her illustrious-career. - phone: 663.5800 S fri. & sat.: 9:00a°1 1:00p I1'OQa'800p rbeej y SrQie OVc specital Vrief systeVwt41~e5 a weekor Its norrk Sty c ck'ibs " c~ ot oft IS9 [ 5 'e j o.e Cq ~ S~ z ~ C %'r~r-491e -99 q' Sje gc fiet C S . 4. 97- ..DASEFE w~rwwM~rt w,..' M ".. nii :a:.. .. ::"'1 s'yy.:; . +'S.#'. : "''§ " x:2>t - _ 4' . c ; .,r +t ^.".a'".:....,: