NEWS Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - The Michigan Daily - 3 ON CAMPUS Translator to discuss role of English in India Rita Kothari, an English teacher and translator at St. Xavier College in Ahmedabad, India, will address the role of the English language in India. The lecture will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. today in room 2022 of the Thayer Building at 202 S. Thayer St. Engineering group hosts * mass meeting BlueLab, a student engineer- ing organization that works to find practical solutions to developmen- tal problems around the world, will have its first general meeting from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. today in room 1010 of the Herbert H. Dow Building. Workshop coaches novice backpackers Members of the Michigan Outdoor Leadership Semester program will hold a clinic on the basic fundamentals of fitting a backpack and preparing for a hike today from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Elbel Building. The cost of the clinic is $10. CRIME NOTES Stockwell Residence Hall evacuated Stockwell Residence Hall was evacuated at about 8:45 yesterday morning after smoke funneled through a tunnel adjoining Stock- well and Mosher-Jordan, the Ann Arbor Fire Department reported. Welding for the Mosher-Jordan renovations is suspected to have caused the smoke. Residents were allowed to return to their rooms at about 9:20 a.m. after police and fire officials determined the smoke would not cause a fire. Student found in restroom given MIP A student was cited for minor in possession after being discov- ered in a Mary Markley Resi- dence Hall restroom yesterday morning, the Department of Pub- lic Safety reported. An ambu- lance transported the student to the University Hospital, where he received treatment. THIS DAY In 'U' History a Minority student enrollment falls Sat 'U' Sept. 19, 1989 - Total minor- ity enrollment among first-year and transfer students at the University is down 6 percent, said Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Charles Vest. Eight hundred and ninety-nine students of color attending the University in 1988. This fall only 880 minority students are part of the entering class. Yesterday afternoon, Vest restated the University's pledge to improve racial and ethnic diver- sity and asserted that minority enrollment has increased over the past 10 years. Vest announced that 45 new faculty members from three minority groups, including 21 blacks, 15 Asian Americans and nine Hispanics, were hiredthis year, up from 32 during the last academic year. Although Vest reaffirmed "a commitment to community, civility and respect for others," some students disagreed that the University implements policies aimed at retaining minority stu- dents. Kim Smith, a second-year medical student and member of the United Coalition Against Racism steering committee, called the figures "a manipula- tion of statistics." HOT ROD Bipartisan group calls for more stem-cell research State is losing out on cures, economic benefits by restricting stem cell research, group says LANSING (AP) - Cathy Coury looks forward to the day when researchers may find a cure for the juvenile diabetes that makes her young sons' lives a constant round of insulin shots and blood-sugar moni- toring. Yesterday, she joined with researchers from the University of Michigan and Michigan State Univer- sity, elected officials and policy makers to formally kick off a bipartisan group that plans to make the case that Michigan's tough restriction on embryonic stem cell research is blocking important medical gains and hurting the state's economy. "I want to know researchers are out there exploring every option," said Coury, who lives in Grand Rapids and is the legislative chairwoman of the West Michi- gan Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. The stem cell advocacy group doesn't plan to endorse any lawmakers or any specific legislation. But it does hope to make its case with the public that the state is losing out on potential cures and economic benefits by restricting embryonic stem cell research. It already has a website and plans an electronic newsletter, a speaker's bureau and future public forums. "If we don't use embryos that are going to be dis- carded anyway ... it pushes the cures farther and farther away," U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said during a Lansing news conference unveiling the non- profit group Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research and Cures. Added U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz, a Republican from Battle Creek: "A state like Michigan ought to be right out there among the leaders in embryonic stem cell research and not have laws that create barriers ... There is nothing more pro-life than helping the liv- ing." Right to Life of Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference are opposed to legislation being sponsored by state Rep. Andy Meisner (D-Ferndale) that would allow more embryonic stem cell research in Michigan. They say it would allow human embryos tobe destroyed to harvest their stem cells. Supporters of embryonic stem cell research say the embryos are left over from fertility treatments and would be disposed of anyway. The opposition of Right to Life and the Catholic Conference is one reason legislation has passed in Michigan encouraging the creation of a network of stem cell banks for umbilical cords and adult stem cells donated by patients, but the restrictions on embryonic stem cell research remain. Some suspect link between job cuts and Mulally hiring Ford will cut 10,000 jobs and offer buyouts to 75,000 workers SEATTLE (AP) - Ford said it hired Alan Mulally because of his skill at turning around Boe- ing's commercial airplane busi- ness. Not so loudly mentioned was another skill: his ability to cut jobs, tens of thousands at a time, and a knack for showing empathy even as he shows work- ers the door. Ford Motor Co. announced a plan last week to cut $5 billion in costs by the end of 2008 by slash- ing 10,000 white-collar workers and offering buyouts to all 75,000 unionized employees. The moves, part of a massive restructuring that also includes revamping Ford's product line and shuttering some plants, came just over a week after Mulally announced plans to leave his job as head of Boeing Co.'s commer- cial airplanes division to take the chief executive job at Ford. While Mulally is new to the auto industry, the situation isn't unfamiliar. Just one week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks dev- astated the jetliner industry in 2001, Mulally told workers he would need to cut tens of thou- sands of jobs at the company's commercial airplane plants. The grueling series of layoffs would extend for more than a year and chopped Boeing's payroll by 30,000. "He certainly does have a lot of experience with it," said Dick Conway, a regional economist in Seattle, where Boeing's commer- cial airplane operations are head- quartered. Although the cuts would leave thousands of workers unem- ployed and adrift, representatives from two of Boeing's big unions say Mulally managed to maintain goodwill among employees even during the worst of the cuts. Connie Kelliher, a spokes- woman for the Seattle-based Machinists Lodge 751, which represents Boeing production workers, remembers Mulally as being a tough talker in meetings with union officials, refusing to make concessions that the union thought might save some jobs. But at the same time, she also remembers how well Mulally was received at Boeing's assembly plants, where the executive often had a smile and pat on the back for workers. "He is very, very personable when he goes out on the shop floor. There's no doubt about it - he's charismatic," she said. Charles Bofferding, executive director of the Society of Profes- sional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, said the post-Sept. 11 layoffs were particularly tough on his union's white-collar work- ers because they came as Boeing was outsourcing more work to cut costs. He said some workers naturally blamed Mulally for the cuts. Still, Bofferding praised Mulally - an engineer and for- mer member of SPEEA - for doing a good job of explaining why the cuts were necessary, and what the long-term plan was to turn Boeing around. To succeed at Ford, Bofferding thinks Mulally will have to show the same willingness to commu- nicate with workers that he did with Boeing engineers. "It's incumbent upon Ford's leadership to transmit a plan to employees that they can believe in," Bofferding said. Attention Students! Meet the Regents! You are invited to meet informally with members of the Board of Regents at a RECEPTION Thursday, September. 21, 2006 10:30 -11:30 a.m. Wolverine Rooms Michigan Union Light refreshments will be served p ~ More men and women on the front lines are surviving life-threatening injuries than ever before for one reason: We have the most elite nurses in the world. As a U.S. Air Force nurse, you receive the most advanced training and have access to the best medical technology on the planet. And whether you're treating Airmen on foreign soil or their families on bases here in the U.S., you can put all of that training to use. If you're interested in learning more about a better place to practice medicine, call or visit us online. 1-800-588- 5280 * AIRFORCE.COMIHEALTHCARE -s k