NEWS
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - The Michigan Daily - 3
ON CAMPUS
Lecture to
focus on issues
in crime, justice
Dan Van Ness,executivedirector
of the Centre for Justice and Recon-
ciliationwill deliveralecturetoday
titled "To Understand the Right
Thing: The Appeal for Restorative
Justice." Restorative justice is an
international movement focusing
on allowing victims, offenders and
communities to respond to crime in
ways that challenge typical notions
about crime and justice. The event
will take place from 12:15 to 1:15
p.m. in room 116 of Hutchins Hall.
Panelists to
discuss 'Julius
Caesar'
Panelists will analyze William
Shakespeare's "Julius Ceaser" at
a roundtable discussion today at 7
p.m. in the Rackham Building. Pan-
elists from throughout southeastern
Michigan will be present to offer
their perspectives and insights on
the play. Michael Schoenfeldt, an
LSA associate dean, will moderate
the discussion.
IRON CHEF
Deadline approaches
for GM to join alliance
GM facing pressure from
billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian
to ally with Renault-Nissan
DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Corp.'s board
should have plenty to talk about when it meets
today.
An Oct. 15 deadline is fast approaching for evalu-
ating a proposal to join the Renault-Nissan alliance
- an idea that has the backing of a major sharehold-
er but has met with skepticism from management.
Meanwhile, the shareholder behind the idea, bil-
lionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, has ratcheted up
the pressure by announcing his intention to increase
his stake and pushing for an independent evaluation
of the alliance proposal.
But deadline pressure and one active shareholder
won't necessarily force the board to take action. The
study period for the alliance proposal could always
be extended, as Chairman and Chief Executive Rick
Wagoner last week suggested might happen.
GM spokesman Brian Akre said today's meeting
is a regularly scheduled monthly event. He declined
to comment on the agenda.
Kerkorian, whose private equity firm, Tracinda
Corp., is represented on the board by Jerome York,
said in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Com-
mission on Thursday that he wants to buy up to 12
million more shares of GM. That would boost his
current 9.9 percent stake to as much as 12 percent.
Kerkorian said at the end of June that France's
Renault SA and Japan's Nissan Motor Co. were
interested in the possibility of GM joining their alli-
ance. GM's board agreed to start exploratory discus-
sions, and Wagoner and Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos
Ghosn later set an Oct. 15 deadline to weigh the
potential benefits.
Wagoner and Ghosn met again Wednesday in
Paris. Afterward, GM officials voiced skepticism
about the proposed linkup, saying Renault-Nissan
stands to benefit more than GM.
In its SEC filing Thursday, Tracinda urged the
GM board to continue analyzing what the invest-
ment firm called "a strong opportunity" and to hire
independent advisers to look at a potential three-way
alliance.
Wagoner said Thursday that the Oct. 15 deadline
could be extended. "Our primary focus has to be
doing what's right for General Motors," he said.
Meanwhile, Kerkorian will need regulatory
approval to increase his stake beyond 10 percent
because of banking and insurance interests that GM
owns.
In a letter to Wagoner included in Thursday's SEC
filing, Tracinda asked him not to stand in its way as
it moves through the regulatory process.
"We believe additional investment by Tracinda
in GM would be viewed positively by investors, and
your support will maximize the likelihood of obtain=
ing regulatory approval," Tracinda said.
Peter Henning, a former SEC attorney who teach-
es at Wayne State University Law School, said GM
could slow things down for Kerkorian if it doesn't
want him to increase his stake.
"They don't have to commit themselves, and, in
fact, they can be cooperatively uncooperative," he
said.
By the same token, Kerkorian doesn't have to
buy more shares even if he gets the approval, which
would likely take months, Henning said.
"A lot of this is posturing," he said.
MORGAN BAKEc/For thi
Chef Rob Cutch instructs students as part of a program
called "Cooking 101" yesterday in the Michigan Union.
Group to discuss
former governor's New car to have
new bok
The office of Lesbian Gay
Bisexual and Transgender
Affairs is holding a discussion
today on former New Jersey Gov.
James McGreevey's book, "The
Confession." The event will take
place from 7 to 8 p.m. in the
Rackham Amphitheater.
CRIME
NTS
Homeless
woman escorted
out of Fishbowl
A homeless woman was discov-
ered in the Fishbowl in Angell Hall
yesterday, the Department of Pub-
lic Safety reported. The woman
was escorted from the building.
Laundry goes
missing at
South Quad
A resident's clothing was sto-
len from a laundry facility in
South Quad Residence Hall yes-
terday, DPS reported. The stu-
dent said he will check with the
cleaning staff to make sure they
didn't pick it up before filing a
police report.
THIS DAY
In 'U' History
Board supports
independent
Dearborn campus
81 mirror options
U.S. Supreme Court sides with
Detroit newspaper unions
Mirrors are one
reason state carmakers
make $2,400 less per
vehicle than competitors
TROY (A P) - One of Detroit's
automakers is about to come out
with a new model that has 81 dif-
ferent side-view mirrors.
A comparable model built by
Honda Motor Co. has only two.
According to a new study of
the domestic auto industry's
woes, the mirrors are one costly
example of why Detroit-based
carmakers made an average of
$2,400 less per vehicle last year
than their Japanese competitors.
The study, released Monday
by the Royal Oak-based Harbour-
Felax Group, also blames high
labor costs, huge employee- and
retiree-benefit expenses, bad.
pricing strategies and the low
value of the yen to the dollar as
factors that make the Big Three's
vehicles more expensive to pro-
duce than those made by Japa-
nese competitors.
The domestic automakers are
at a point where they must quick-
ly reduce their labor and manu-
facturing costs or they may not
be in business over the long term,
company president Laurie Har-
bour-Felax said.
"If they don't do this, they have
their own problems to deal with
in terms of long-term viability,"
she said.
The key to making more money
is common components and car
underpinnings used on multiple
models, similar to what Toyota
Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co.
and Nissan Motor Co. already are
doing, said Jim Harbour, founder
of the consulting company known
for its annual report that tracks
auto-plant productivity.
By using common platforms,
body architectures and compo-
nents, Toyota has saved about
$1,000 per vehicle over the last
five years, the report said. In
addition, when fewer unique parts
are needed for each vehicle, qual-
ity improves, reducing warranty
costs, it said.
Domestic manufacturers have
yet to fully grasp the savings
from such commonality,ithe
report said. One manufacturer
has 41 different seat frames,
compared with five for the most
streamlined carmaker, Laurie
Harbour-Felax said. Another
U.S.-based automaker has 100
different catalytic converters
in its exhaust systems; the most
efficient company has five.
Employees were
fired over U.S. media
strike in mid-1990s
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
Supreme Court sided yesterday
with Detroit newspaper unions
and some employees who were
fired for their actions during
an 18-month strike in the mid-
1990s.
Justices declined to hear the
newspapers' appeal of a National
Labor Relations Board ruling
ordering the partnership that
prints, distributes and sells adver-
tising for The Detroit News and
Detroit Free Press to reinstate
fired employees.
The court's decision ended
years of litigation over the firings.
More than 100 workers, mostly
involving newspaper production,
were originally involved in the
case, but most of them reached
negotiated settlements from 2001
to 2003, said Lou Mleczko, presi-
dent of The Newspaper Guild of
Detroit, Local 34022.
A Gannett Co. spokeswoman,
Tara Connell, said settlements
were being worked out with two
former workers connected to the
court's decision. She estimated
it would result in "less than a
couple hundred thousand dollars"
in total financial impact for the
company.
The University of Michigan Class of 2010 would like to thank
the following donors for helping make our transition to college
life more memorable!
WE APPRECIATE YOUR GENEROSITY
DURING WELCOME WEEK!
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Oct. 3, 1970 - In an effort
to force the University to grant
independence to its Dearborn
campus, the State Board of
Education has asked Attorney
General Frank Kelley to issue
an opinion on the legality of To play:
state universities maintaining
branches. and
Last year, the University's
Board of Regents voted to grant
autonomy to the Dearborn and d.
Flint campuses, but decided to jusl
maintain the branches as part of
the University. D
But the Board of Education
said they believe the Dearborn
campus would be stronger if it
gained independence from the
University.
According to a spokesman
from Kelley's office in Lansing,
it might take a while for a ruling
to be issued.
"(The request) hasn't even
found its way into here yet, and
we have a lot of federal litiga-
tion which we have to deal with
first," the spokesman said.
The University's Dearborn cam-
pus is one of the few in the country
that exclusively admits juniors and
seniors. But Dearborn administra-
tors said they would consider admit-
ting freshman and sophomores next
fall if the state provides them with
enough funding.
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every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.
There is no guessing or math involved,
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iication.com
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