LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 6, 2004 - 3A
CAMPUS
Hill Aud. reopens
0 with ribbon-
cutting ceremony
Hill Auditorium will reopen at 1
p.m. Thursday after renovations
began in May 2002. University Presi-
dent Mary Sue Coleman will partici-
pate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Speakers from Albert Kahn Associ-
ates and Quinn Evans Architects will
discuss highlights of the renovation.
Musicians will be performing
pieces by Stravinsky, Ginastera and
other composers. Local fiddle player
Jeremy Kittel will also present his
own composition, "Lost Time." Self-
guided walking tours of the renova-
tions will continue until 7:30 p.m.
Music school now
offers daily
carillon concerts
The University School of Music
will open the playing room to the
public at. noon and 1:30 p.m. every
weekday beginning this week in the
Lurie Tower on North Campus. The
concerts, in the room, will feature a
carillonist playing Lurie Tower's
treasured set of 60 Dutch bells.
These bells create a sound typical of
Holland's world-famous carillons.
Director discusses
film on Cuba's
Sephardic Jews
Anthropology Prof. Ruth Behar will
showcase her 2001 documentary "Adio
Kerida," (Goodbye, Dear Love), at
noon today in the Osterman Room in
Rackham Building. The film examines
the search of Sephardic Jews with
roots in Cuba for their Jewish, Cuban
and Latino identities. In the film, she
underlines themes of expulsion and
departure at the core of the Sephardic
heritage.
The film will run for about 58 min-
utes. Behar will lead a discussion about
the documentary after the viewing.
This film viewing is part of the Brown
Bag Lecture series, sponsored by the
Institute for the Humanities. Partici-
pants should bring a bag lunch.
Choir kicks off
first meeting of
the year
Student singers may be interested in
joining the official choir of the College
of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
The Arts Chorale will hold its first
meeting at 4 p.m. today in Lecture
Room one of the Modern Languages
Building.
Art museum
screens two
Surrealist videos
The University Museum of Art will
show two Surrealist shorts at 12:10
p.m. tomorrow in the museum's audio-
visual room. The two art videos are
Rene Clair's "Entr'acte" and Marcel
Duchamp's "Anemic Cinema." The art
videos are part of the museum's exhibit
on Surrealism.
U.S. imperialism
symposium begins
with film viewing
A free film screening of Catherine
Benamou's "Cine-Tropes and Gazas
of Empire, 1898-2000" will start at
7:30 p.m. tomorrow in 3512 Haven
Hall. Benamou is an American culture
and film and video studies professor.
The screening will open the Universi-
ty Atlantic Studies Initiative' sympo-
sium "Covering American Empire."
The symposium will examine the
imperial extent of American history
and culture. Scholars from the Univer-
sity and around the nation will gather
for panel discussions and other pre-
sentations.
Mass meeting
held to recruit
orientation leaders
Students who are thinking about
spending the summer on campus
have the opportunity to assist with
new student and parent orientations.
The Office of New Student Pro-
grams will hold a mass meeting for
students who are interested in apply-
ing for summer orientation leader-
ship positions at 7 p.m. on Thursday
in the Kalamazoo Room of the
Michigan League.
Students can try
___ ft1,1w w
Commencement speech inspires graduates
By Ashley Dinges
Daily Staff Reporter
As many students left school for winter break,
others celebrated a greater form of closure: com-
mencement. Friends and family members filled
Crisler Arena on Dec. 14, supporting the graduates
as they culminated their academic careers.
"As graduates of the University of Michigan, we
can help our nation overcome fear and ignorance
again," said Jessica Burstrem, an LSA graduate
who spoke at the ceremony.
Burstrem was chosen to speak on behalf of the
graduating students.
"At the University of Michigan, we have learned
the very real sense of freedom that comes with the
ability to ... express our ideas openly and freely,"
Burstrem said.
Burstrem's accomplishments at the University
include several awards, such as the Dean's Merit
scholarship and Regents' scholarship. Also, several
of her poems have been published.
"Not everyone knows what it means to be able to
speak freely without fear of punishment. We must
speak with ... the mouths of those who do not
speak," Burstrem said.
She also offered her time volunteering as a youth
counselor, and was involved in the University's K-
Grams program - which pairs University students
with elementary school students in a pen pal
exchange.
Thomas Miller, U.S. ambassador to Greece and
University alum, gave the commencement speech.
Miller received four degrees from the University,
including three in political science and one in Asian
studies.
"Try as hard as I can, I cannot remember my col-
lege graduation," Miller said, as he joked with stu-
dents and shared his memories of the University.
"When I was a student here, I thought getting
good grades was the most important thing. Today,
as I reflect on my experiences, I know that critical
problem solving and thinking ... serve as ends in
themselves;' Miller said.
At the ceremony, Miller was awarded an hon-
orary Doctor of Laws degree. Before becoming the
ambassador to Greece, he served as the U.S.
ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina for two years.
University President Mary Sue Coleman also
spoke and offered congratulatory praise to the win-
ter graduates.
"This is a day to remember that the world is bet-
ter because ... we continue to make a difference,"
Coleman said.
Coleman related the students' experiences at the
University to those of another alum - journalist
Mike Wallace. Coleman stressed that Wallace faced
many of the same obstacles as current students
today, such as a need for financial aid. She closed
her speech with advice to the class of 2003. "We
must all remember to keep the quest for knowledge
alive."
While many students leave to pursue careers or
continue their education, roommates and LSA
graduates Sarah Studley and Ed Keogh said they
plan to stay in Ann Arbor until August.
Studley is hoping to join the federal Teach for
America program after graduation, to tutor children
in low-income areas of the country. Both graduates
stressed their love for Ann Arbor.
"I don't plan on leaving," Keogh said.
"Ever" Studley added, with a laugh.
Pre-game jitters
Auto companies record low sales
last year, hope for gains in 2004
Fans tailgate outside the Rose
game.
B ETMOUNAIN/Daiy
Bowl stadium before the big
DETROIT (AP) - U.S. sales of
new cars and trucks dropped to their
lowest level in five years in 2003, but
analysts and executives say a strong
finish to the year, a bevy of new vehi-
cles and an improving economy bode
well for business in 2004.
Despite record levels of consumer
incentives, total U.S. sales were 16.7
million in 2003, about 1 percent lower
than the previous year. New car and
truck business hasn't been that low
since 1998, though annual tallies have
reached all-time highs in the past few
years.
General Motors Corp. fell short in
its bid to increase U.S. market share
for a third straight year in 2003 as the
world's largest automaker, along with
Detroit rivals Ford Motor Corp. and
DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group,
saw sales decline.
At the same time, some foreign
automakers posted record results,
including Toyota Motor Corp., Honda
Motor Co. and BMW Group. A variety
of new vehicles helped several foreign
brands expand their stake in the U.S.
market in 2003, but analysts say an
upcoming product offensive by
Detroit's Big Three could make such
gains more difficult this year.
"I think Detroit will continue to lose
market share in '04, but at a much
slower rate," said David Healy, an ana-
lyst with Burnham Securities Inc.
"They have a pretty good pipeline of
new product in the works."
Another positive for GM, Ford and
Chrysler, Healy said, is they continue
to sell of lot of higher-priced sport util-
ity vehicles and premium-brand cars.
"The profit implication of what
they're selling is pretty impressive," he
said. "Americans apparently are taking
their price cuts and buying up"
GM, which will launch 13 all-new
models in 2004, said yesterday its sales
fell 9.5 percent in December from the
same period a year ago, when it poured
on consumer incentives to meet year-
end market-share targets and sparked
extraordinarily high volume. Such a
decline in sales last month was expect-
ed among analysts.
Truck sales were down 11 percent;
car volume was off about 6 percent.
For the year, GM sales were down
2.4 percent, though it set an industry
sales record for trucks. In an interview
Monday during media preview days at
the North American International Auto
Show, GM chairman Rick Wagoner
said the industry as a whole rebounded
well from sluggish sales in the first
half of 2003.
"That gives both the industry and us
a good base to run into this year,"
Wagoner said. "What I don't want to
do is what we did last year, which, I
hate to say, was kind of fall asleep in
the first quarter and you get yourself in
a big hole."
Toyota's American arm said its 2003
"I think Detroit will
continue to lose
market share in '04,
but at a much slower
rate ... They have a
pretty good pipeline
of new product in the
works:~'
- David Healy
Analyst, Burnham Securities Inc.
sales rose 6.3 percent to more than 1.8
million vehicles - the company's best
performance in its 46-year history. For
the second year in a row and the sixth
time in the past seven years, Toyota's
Camry was America's best-selling
vehicle.
Toyota said the record year also
increased its market share to an all-
time high and established Japan's No.
1 automaker as the best-selling car
brand in the United States, leaping
ahead of Ford and Chevrolet for the
first time.
"Industry sales will continue to
grow in 2004, spurred by a healthy
economy and steady growth in con-
sumer confidence," said Jim Press,
executive vice president of Toyota's
Granholm signs bills
to help tool-and-die
industry hire students
LANSING (AP) - Legislation that
would help the tool-and-die industry
recruit students and allow the state
broadband development authority to
make loans to certain tool-and-die busi-
nesses was signed by the governor yes-
terday.
The bills were part of a plan by state
House and Senate Republicans to
encourage job growth in the state and
help certain industries.
The broadband bill would allow the
Michigan Broadband Development
Authority Act to offer loans to qualified
tool-and-die businesses if those busi-
nesses were located in a recovery zone.
It was tied to another bill signed by Gov.
Jennifer Granholm yesterday that would
allow the establishment of tool-and-die
recovery zones, which are similar to ren-
aissance zones and would offer tax
breaks to companies covered by them.
The third bill would give skilled
trades groups the same access to.stu-
dents for recruiting purposes as colleges,
universities and others.
U U
WELCOME STUDENTS
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The popular history of the Vietnam War often borders on urban legend.
I am a private businessman in Ann Arbor and a Vietnam Vet. I run ads
in the Michigan Daily called Food for Thought. I seek no business from
the ads, but am simply trying to dispel some of the myths of the Vietnam
War. Those myths are not just an insult to we who served, but more
importantly, to those who died. Many of my ads will hopefully cause you
to contemplate the ramifications of protesting. No sane person favors
war. Where honest people may disagree is in how to prevent war. While
protesting may give the participant a feel-good emotion, many have
come to the conclusion that protests not only ensure war, but prolong
it once it begins. How did I personally come to that conclusion? By
reading all that I can get my hands on; not about Vietnam, but coming
out of Vietnam. Here is a nugget: "The Western anti-war movements
had contributed much to our victory." A Viet Cong Memoir, Truong
Nhu Tang, co-founder of the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong). My
comparisons of the Vietnam War to current events may differ from
those commonly portrayed. They may make you feel uncomfortable,
but, hopefully, will give you food for thought. The UM prides itself on
diversity; diversity of thought ought to be part of it.
Gary Lillie & Assoc., Realtors
www.garylillie.com
K*
REC
SPORTS
IN TRA MUR AL S
The University of Michigan
Department of Recreational Sports
Intramural Sports Program
www.recsports.umich.edu
734-763-3562
REC
SPORTS
IN'rRAMURALS
Entries taken:
Wed, 01/07 ONLY
11:00AM - 5:30PM
IM Building
Entry Fee:
$85.00 per team
Manager's Meeting:
MANDATORY
Wed, 01/07
6:00 PM or 9:00 PM
1M Building
Play begins:
Thurs, 01/08
IM Building
Basketball
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Entries taken:
Tues, 01/06 ONLY
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
IM Building
Entry Fee:
$435.00 per team
Manager's Meeting:
MANDATORY
Tues, 011/06
6:00 PM
IM Building
Play begins:
Wed, 01/07
Yost Ice Arena
Ice Hockey
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Entries taken:
Wed, 01/07 ONLY
11:00 AM-5:30 PM
IM Building
Entry Fee:
$50.00 per team
Manager's Meeting:
MANDATORY
Wed, 01/07
7:15 PM
IM Building
Play begins:
Thurs, 01/08
IM Building
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Entries taken:
Wed, 01/07 ONLY
11:00 AM-5:30PM
IM Building
Entry Fee:
$75.00 per team
Manager's Meeting:
MANDATORY
Wed, 01/07
8:00 PM
IM Building
}A Play begins:
Thurs, 41/08
IM Building
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