Vintage finds and space-style garb collide in the B-Side. lie Mdigan &zil www.michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan "Harmon, Howard, Woodson, Markovits." - Political Science and German Prof. Andrei Markovits jokingly compares winning the Golden Apple Award to winning college football's Heisman Trophy A SPORTING LIFE Thursday April12, 2007 THE UNIVERSITY AND THE BIG THREE First in a three-part series about how the American auto industry's troubles affect the University A MAGNET IFOR GRADS NO M.\.ORE Markovits gives 'last lecture' By AMINA FARHA For the Daily Standing in front of Rackham Auditorium last night, Political Science and German Prof. Andrei Markovits remembered his first connection with the University of Michigan. On Nov. 22, 1969, Markovits watched Bo Schembechler's Wol- verine squad upset then number one ranked Ohio State from his Columbia University dorm room. From then on, Markovits said, he was a Michigan fan. Last night, Markovits, recipient of the 17 h Golden Apple Award, gave his ideal last lecture, titled "Sports as Culture on Two Con- tinents: Metaphors for My Life." The Golden Apple is an award pre- sented by a committee of students for outstanding teaching. During his lecture, Markovits couldn't help compare winning the Golden Apple to winning col- lege football's Heisman Trophy, which is awarded to the best col- lege football player every year. "Harmon, Howard, Woodson, Markovits," he said, referring to the three Heisman winners from the University. Markovits said he never truly felt at home until he started teach- ing at the University in 1999. He joked that after teaching for only three weeks at the University of California at Santa Cruz, he met a University of Michigan professor and asked for help finding a job in Ann Arbor. Markovits grew up in Soviet- controlled Romania as the son of Jewish-Hungarian parents. He came to America as an 11- year-old, and the first thing he encountered was a customs work- er chewing Juicy Fruit and listen- ing to a New York Yankees game on the radio, said Markovits's friend, Opthamology Prof. Jona- than Trobe, in an introduction to the lecture. For his lecture, Markovits, who teaches a popular sociology course As financial troubles worsen, carmakers struggle to draw top talent By EMILY BARTON Daily StaffReporter Engineering junior Nidhi Shah grew up around cars. When she was younger, she would often accompany her father to work at automotive parts maker Delphi. That piqued her interest in cars, she said. Shah, a mechanical engineering major, has had internships with Delphi, Toyota and Dow Automo- tive. Despite her professed love of cars and a major that would make her a strong candidate for a job with an automaker, Shah does not plan to go into the automotive industry when she graduates next year. "I really like cars," Shah said. "But I'm not looking to work in an industry that's not doing so well." Overthe past few years, the high- profile restructurings and massive layoffs at the Big Three automakers in Detroit has led many students at the University to reconsider pur- suing careers in the automotive industry, a sector that has driven Michigan's economy for decades. And even though there are still some jobs available in the indus- try, the Big Three - Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler - are finding it increasingly difficult to lure top talent to work at their ail- ing companies. Shah said that if the compa- nies recover from their slump, she would "definitely" want work in the automotive industry. Today, though, she is worried about job security. "No one wants to be out of a job five years after they graduate," she said. Of course, many University students still take jobs in the auto industry after graduation. Prof. Dennis Assanis, chair of the mechanical engineering department, said the University has always supplied a large amount of students to the auto industry. Assanis admitted that in recent years,the number ofstudents going to work at the Big Three is probably decreasing. But he said he doesn't think there has been a dramatic decrease because there are still jobs available despite the troubles at the companies. Graduates who are trained well still find good jobs, he said. Unlike in the past, though not all those good jobs are with the Big Three in Detroit. With foreign companies like Toy- ota taking an even largerslice of the American worldwide auto market, the Detroit companies are not the only focus for aspiring engineers. "The ratio is changing some," Assanis said. "But still the majority goes to the Big Three," According to the Engineering Career Resource Center's annual report for the 2002-2003 school year, 19 percent of University engi- neering students intended to work in the automotive and transport equipment industries after gradu- ation. A year later, only 11.5 percent said the same. Last year, the numbers have rebounded a bit: 13.7 percent of students said they planned to work in the automotive and transport industries. Eric Olson, assistant director of the office of career development at the Ross School of Business, said that while automotive companies are still coming to campus, stu- dents are often unsure about jump- ing into the auto industry. Ten years ago, the auto indus- See BIG THREE, Page 8A Prof. Andrei Markovits holds his Golden Apple Award before giving his "ideal last lecture" in Rackham Auditorium last night. called Sports and Society, talked about the many purposes sports have served in his life: a connection to his father, an assimilation tool in America, a tie to his European roots and a topic that he has taught and studied throughout the world. Markovits's students were enthusiastic that he had received the award. Engineering junior Joel Seh- weitzer said part of what makes Markovits a great professor is his knowledge and ability to under- stand people. "I've yet to miss one of his lec- tures," he said. In an interview after the lec- ture, Markovits said part of what makes being a professor so special is that it's never boring. Even if you're teaching the same subject, he said, every class has different individuals. "I love learning," he said. "I love communicating about what I learn." MUSI INDUSTRY LAWSUITS Students sent lawsuit threats ENVIRO-ART Trade group sends letters to 'U' accusing 23 students By KATHERINE MITCHELL Daily StaffReporter The Recording Industry Asso- ciation of America issued letters yesterday notifying the Univer- sity that it intends to sue 23 of its students for alleged copyright infringement. The notices, which the RIAA calls pre-litigation letters, offer students the opportunity to settle out of court before a lawsuit is filed. The University has been tar- geted in the trade group's recent crackdown on college campus peer-to-peer file sharing. On Feb. 28, the trade group, See RIAA, Page 8A LEGAL TROUBLE The top recipients of pre-itigation let- ters from the RIAA this month: * Ohio University:50 letters * UMass-Amherst: 32 letters * Indiana Unioetsity: 21 letters SU. of Maryland system: 25 letters * Central Michigan U.: 25 letters * U. of Mich.-Ann Arbor: 23 letters . U. of Rochester- 22 letters * Cornell U.: 19 letters 4 Keene State U.: 19 letters Charges dropped in Duke case By DUFF WILSON accused of gang-raping a stripper been wrongly accused by an and DAVID BARSTOW innocent of all charges yesterday, "unchecked" and "overreaching' TheNew York Times ending a prosecution that pro- district attorney who had ignorec n "T RALEIGH, N.C. - North Car- olina's attorney general declared three former Duke University lacrosse players who had been vokedbitter debate over race, class and the tactics of the Durham County district attorney. The attorney general, Roy A. Cooper, said the players had contradictoryevidence and instead relied on the stripper's "faulty and unreliable" accusations. "We believe that these cases See DUKE, Page 8A PETER sCHOTTENFELS/Daily Architecture junior Sydney Talcott participates in a critique for an environmental art class on the Diag on Tuesday. Students in the two-credit minicourse have completed projects meant to integrate art and nature. The projects are scattered around Central Campus. TODAY'S HI. 44 WEATHER LO: 38 HAVE A NEWS TIP? Call 734-763-2459 ore-mail news@michgandaily.com and let us know. ON T HE DAILY'S BLOCs Mary Sue Coleman on the SOLEsit-in MICHIGANDAILY.COM/THEWIRE INDEX NEWS.......... VolCXVII, No.134 S0007TheMichigan Daily 0 ...... mivhiooodaily.com OP I NI O N. . 2A OP- E................A...5A . 3A SPORTS...................9A . 4A THE B-SIDE. ..................... 1B , ..< .,3 F ,v . d: .,,.r x.,.k :x '4,r . . ' ", . sk, ;n 4.c " ' t, rl. A'-.,3..s _a .+"I t