NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - 3
ON CAMPUS
Talk to address
AIDS intervention
School of Social Work Prof. Larry
Grant and Dr. Vineeta Gupta will
speak about HIV and AIDS inter-
vention in the United States and
across the globe today from 7:30 to
9 p.m. in Room 140 of Lorch Hall.
Their talk, titled "Acting as if HIV
Really Mattered," will be followed
by a discussion.
The event is part of World AIDS
Week, a campaign to raise awareness
about the disease around the world, in
the United States and in the Ann Arbor
area. The talk is sponsored by the World
AIDS Week Coalition and AIDS in
Black and Brown.
Film shows fight
for HIV/AIDS drugs
The World AIDS Week Coalition
and the Student Global AIDS Cam-
paign/Open Your Eyes is screening
a documentary titled "Pills, Prof-
its, Protests" in Auditorium 3 of the
Modern Languages Building today
from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
The film looks at the struggle of those
living on the margins of society to gain
equal access to HIV treatment and the
ways in which their efforts conflict with
the interests of corporations, govern-
ments and the multinational drug indus-
try. Admission is free.
Film to confront
masculinity in U.S.
The Office of LGBT Affairs is spon-
soring a screening of a documentary
today from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in Room
3200 of the Michigan Union. The film,
"Tough Guise," addresses the connec-
tion between gender and violent crime.
The filmmaker, Jackson Katz, ties
trends in domestic violence, rape and
school violence to the conception of
masculinity presented in popular cul-
ture through fictional icons such as the
Terminator and Rambo and real-life
icons Howard Stern and Andrew Dice
Clay. Masculinity, he argues, "should be
designated as a public health hazard."
CRIME
NOTES
Orgo book stolen
from South Quad
TheDepartmentofPublic Safety report-
ed that an organic chemistry textbook was
stolen from South Quad Residence Hall's
library early yesterday morning. There
are currently no suspects.
a Package turns out
to be false alarm
DPS reported that it was called to
assist the Ann Arbor Police Depart-
ment in investigating a suspicious
package in Briarwood Circle at
about 3:45 p.m. Monday.
After assistance was provided, the
authorities determined that the there
was no problem with the package.
'U' Hospital treats
dog bite victim
A subject who had sustained a dog
bite was treated in a University Hos-
pital Emergency Room late Monday
night.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Cottage Inn Pizza
feeds A2 homeless
Nov. 30, 1992 - It's not pretty being
homeless.
"We (homeless people) freeze, get
rained on, are kicked in the foot by cops,
are hauled off to jail, and we don't know
why," said Greg Justice, who has been
homeless for the last three years.
But this Thanksgiving, things perked
up a bit.
Cottage Inn Pizza and the Ann
Arbor Hunger Coalition hosted a
Thanksgiving dinner for the home-
lae servin, htween 200 and 300
Workers protest Delphi executive bonuses
Auto parts supplier says
compensation package is needed
to keep executive team aboard
DETROIT (AP) - Delphi Corp. hourly
workers protested the company's executive
compensation plan in pickets yesterday at
the auto supplier's plants, saying it's unfair
to pay generous bonuses to top management
while proposing drastic wage cuts for hourly
workers.
At a brake plant in Dayton, Ohio, about
40 people held up signs and cheered as pass-
ing motorists honked in support. The Dayton
area has five Delphi plants that employ about
6,000 people.
"We're kind of like the sacrificial lambs,"
said Tony Currington, vice president of Unit-
ed Auto Workers Local 696. "We're trying to
stand up for what we think is right."
Delphi filed for bankruptcy last month. As
part of its restructuring plan, the company has
proposed cutting production workers' hourly
wages from $27 to between $10 and $12.50.
Delphi also is asking the bankruptcy court
to approve a plan that would give stock options
and cash bonuses for about 600 executives
when the company emerges from bankruptcy.
The UAW estimates Delphi's compensation
plan is worth more than $500 million.
Delphi originally was scheduled to defend
its compensation plan in bankruptcy court
yesterday, but the company asked to delay the
hearing until Jan. 5 so it could consider objec-
tions from the UAW and others. UAW spokes-
man Paul Krell said local unions decided to go
ahead with their protests.
Krell said the UAW was encouraging its
23 Delphi local unions to hold informational
pickets. In Kokomo, Ind., workers picketed at
plant entrances for most of the day, while a
rally was planned for today in Lockport, N.Y.,
according to union Web sites.
Delphi says the compensation plan is neces-
sary to keep its executive team in place dur-
ing the bankruptcy process. Delphi Chairman
and CEO Robert "Steve" Miller, who exclud-
ed himself from the compensation plan, said
recruiting new executives would be costly and
time-consuming.
Delphi's argument makes little sense to Bob
Nelms, 53, who has worked at the brake plant
in Dayton for nearly six years.
"They seem to be rewarding incompetence,"
Nelms said. "The same people who bankrupt--
ed the organization are now being rewarded? I
see a conflict there."
Miller told employees in a voice mail mes-
sage that picketing might take place.
"Our unions have the right to share their
"They seem to be rewarding incompetence. The
same people who bankrupted the organization
are now being rewarded? I see a conflict there."
- Bob Nelms
Employee at Delphi brake plant in Dayton, Ohio
point of view with their membership, and
while we certainly disagree on some major
points, we understand that these are to be
for information only and we don't expect any
disruptions to our operations," Miller said in
the message, which was posted yesterday on
a union Web site and confirmed by a Delphi
official.
The protests came a day after Delphi
announced it was stepping up negotiations
with its former parent, General Motors Corp.,
on a deal that could avert a strike at Delphi
by giving the company financial assistance.
Delphi had planned to ask a judge to reject its
union contracts Dec. 16 but said it will delay
that until Jan. 20.
The UAW said those negotiations are posi-
tive but chastised Delphi for continuing to
propose wage cuts of up to 62 percent.
The UAW and other unions aren't alone in
protesting Delphi's compensation plan. Last
week, a group of investors including public
pension funds in Oklahoma and Mississippi
filed an objection to the plan in bankruptcy
court. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.,
the federal corporation that ensures pension
plans, also has filed an objection.
"Debtors have presented to the court virtu-
ally no evidence establishing that the (plan)
is a sound business decision that will aid in
debtors' financial recovery," the PBGC said
in a court filing.
COU RANT
Continued from page 1.
Another $200 million of the Uni-
versity's budget is generated by non-
academic units such as athletics and
housing. After these and other expens-
es are subtracted, only $1.2 billion
remains in the University's general
fund, a sum that is used to cover Uni-
versity operations, from teachers' sala-
ries to heating bills.
"In regard to combating tuition
increases, we have already done every-
thing possible, from expanding Univer-
sity businesses to rationalizing classes to
streamlining maintenance operations,"
Courant said. "However, we still need
tuition hikes because we're already at
great risk to lose faculty to other institu-
tions and industries."
But to help alleviate the University's
budgetary woes, it hauls in slightly more
than $800 million in revenue from exter-
nal sources. Of those sources, sponsored
research is by far the largest, contributing
$700 million.
Courant said that for a complex institu-
tion with so many endeavors, the Univer-
sity is doing quite well. The University
funds items ranging from undergraduate
and graduate courses to applied research
and health care.
Courant said the University's expendi-
tures are justified by the numerous ben-
efits stemming from the University as an
institution.
"We produce highly skilled workers
who earn the higher wages in society,"
he said. "Our higher education improves
the quality of life and makes it more fun
and interesting."
But despite his defense of the Universi-
ty's budget and tuition increases, Courant
provided some reassurance to concerned
students, saying, "I could definitely see
tuition increases going back to 6 or 7 per-
cent in a couple of years."
Until then, students and their families
will have to be patient and hope Michi-
gan's eventual economic recovery leads
to a restoration of state appropriations.
formally
objects to
recount
DETROIT (AP) - Lawyers for
newly re-elected Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick filed a formal objection
yesterday to his opponent's request
for a recount.
Challenger Freman Hendrix asked
for the recount last week, saying he
suspected fraud in the Nov. 8 election.
In his objection, Kilpatrick said
Hendrix failed to meet the legal
requirements for a recount because
he did not pinpoint specific instances
of suspected fraud.
The mayor's office has estimated
the cost of a recount at more than
$500,000 at a time when the city is
grappling with an enormous deficit
that could push it into receivership.
"This extreme and unwarranted
fiscal burden, when included in the
totality of the circumstances, weighs
heavily against granting the Peti-
tion," Kilpatrick's lawyers wrote.
Hendrix who had been ahead of
Counterfeit goods
undercut auto
industry profits
National lawmakers
propose bill to alleviate
losses from counterfeiting
WASHINGTON (AP) - When
Carter Products Co. developed a tool
to help woodworkers cut tricky, con-
toured shapes, it decided to add a layer
of protection for its product.
The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based
company spent more than $15,000 to
obtain patents for the stabilizer band
saw guide in the United States and
Canada - no small sum for a manu-
facturer with 15 employees. But pretty
soon, the realities of globalization set
in: a knockoff product appeared in the
United States after being shipped from
Taiwan to Canada, violating the patents
and siphoning off sales.
"They actually copied our instruc-
tions - including the photos," said Peter
Perez, Carter Product's president.
The small company discovered
the perils of counterfeit goods, which
has caused major problems for a
wide-ranging assortment of Ameri-
can industries such as auto suppliers,
electronics, pharmaceuticals and toy
manufacturers.
Automotive suppliers estimate coun-
terfeiting causes $12 billion in annual
losses and say they could hire 200,000
additional workers if the problem was
eliminated. It comes at a time when the
nation's largest auto supplier, Delphi
Corp., is grappling with bankruptcy
protection and trying to reach an agree-
ment with labor unions on sweeping
reductions in wages and benefits.
Congress is nearing completion on a
bill that would require the destruction
of equipment used to make counterfeit
goods. The current statute directs law
enforcement only to destroy the pirated
products when a counterfeiter is con-
victed.
The bill also would toughen laws
to prevent the trafficking of labels and
patches. Under the current law, the
trafficking of trademarks is barred
only when the labels are attached to
goods. Lawmakers say the counterfeit
products are typically shipped into the
United States without the labels to take
advantage of the loophole.
"Ultimately, and sooner than later,
it will make a big dent," said Rep. Joe
Knollenberg, a Republican from Oak-
land County's Bloomfield Township
who helped guide the measure through
the House.
The bill was approved by the House
last May and won passage in the Sen-
ate earlier this month. Negotiators from
the House and Senate now need to rec-
oncile minor technical language in the
bill but lawmakers expect it to reach
President Bush's desk for his signature.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)
said product counterfeiting fits into a
larger list of trade woes that includes
allegations of currency manipulation
by China. She has been critical of the
Bush administration's handling of the
currency issue while pushing a mea-
sure to create a special trade pros-
ecutor to target countries that violate
trade laws.
STEVEN TAI/Daily
Former provost and current economic professor Courant speaks on tuition
increases at the U-Club in the Union yesterday.
rn
14
YTicket to Ckivc
English Teaching Program in
Shenzhen, China
Spend a year in Shenzhen teaching English and
learning Mandarin Chinese. This well-established,
government-sponsored program is now in its 8th year.
* Training in English teaching methods and in Mandarin
Chinese language (at 4 levels) for 3 weeks in August in
Beijing, with housing and tours
* Free apartment at a Shenzhen public school where you
will teach oral English, 12 classroom hours per week,
Sept. 1 to June 15; one or two participants per school
* Monthly salary, paid vacation, and travel bonus
* Chinese classes continue in Shenzhen, a Mandarin-