0 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, September 18, 2008- 7A
FRIEDMAN
From Page 1A
man asked Friedman how he would
deal with the state's problems if he
were the "leader of Michigan."
Friedman responded by criticiz-
ing Michigan's elected officials for
not supporting stricter fuel effi-
ciency standards for American cars
- something he said he'd do if he
were in Gov. Jennifer Granholm's
shoes.
"Because if you create that mar-
ket for clean, efficient power and
challenge your industry, that's
UNEMPLOYMENT
From Page 1A
cleaner cars, a package he'd previ-
ously looked at with a skeptical
eye.
Obama, the Democratic nomi-
nee,alsosupportstheloan planand
has said he would back $50 million
in loans, if needed. On Monday,
Democratic vice presidential nom-
inee Joe Biden toured the Mazda
Motor Corp.-Ford Motor Co. joint
auto assembly plant in Flat Rock,
telling workers and managers
that the auto industry is crucial to
America's economic future.
"The management, the rank-
and-file workers - this is what
built the middle class in America.
We let these jobs go, well, shame
on us. Shame on us," he said.
During McCain's visit, Demo-
crats were reminding Michigan
voters of the ways they say McCa-
in would be bad for the economy.
They brought Harley-Davidson
motorcycle riders and drivers of
American-made hybrid cars to
America," he said. "We love a chal-
lenge."
EMU senior Michelle Barcey
said she was encouraged by Fried-
man's challenge.
"I was surprised by some of
the stuff and I thought it was very
interesting," said Barcey, who
hadn't heard of Friedman prior to
the lecture. "I thought that the call
to serve for the United States was a
good deal."
Don Carpenter, a professor of
Civil Engineering at Lawrence
Technological University and Uni-
versity of Michigan alum, said he
liked Friedman's talk but didn't
Grand Rapids to criticize the Ari-
zona senator for opposing many
"Buy American" proposals.
Sen.DebbieStabenow(D-Mich.),
an Obama supporter, told reporters
in a conference call yesterday that
it was "an insult" for McCain to
talk about helping workers when
he supports trade policies thathave
cost the state jobs.
Stabenow also criticized what
she called his sudden get-tough
policy on Wall Street firmhs, not-
ing that McCain has called him-
self a "deregulator" in the past
who "wants government out of the
way" and has opposed more regu-
lation for the financial sector.
"There is absolutely no reason
that we can't continue to be the
manufacturer of these products ...
if we have a president who gets it,"
Stabenow said.
Republican U.S. Rep. Candice
Miller, of Macomb County's Har-
rison Township, said in a confer-
ence call that McCain's comments
were a signal to President Bush
and Republicans on Capitol Hill
that supporting the $25 billion
think it would hold most people's
attention.
"The average person doesn't
care about the melting icecaps and
the polar bears," he said. "I think
most average people are just going
about their day-to-day lives, if they
don't see it, if it doesn't touch them,
they're not interested."
He added, "I'm not sure they've
been hit hard enough yet. Depends
upon how many hurricanes we
have and how much money we have
to spend fixing Houston and New
Orleans and Miami. I think that
almost wakes up people more than
anything else."
loan program for the domestic
automakers is a good idea.
"It really is pivotal in making
a reality these $25 billion in auto
loans that we must do," Miller
said.
Donald R. Grimes, a senior
research associate at the Univer-
sity's Institute for Labor & Indus-
trial Relations and an expert on
the Michigan economy, said the
rise of the state's unemployment
rate isn't a surprise - and the per-
cent of jobless workers isn't likely
to decline anytime soon.
He said the sudden jump could
be attributed to the recent exten-
sion on unemployment insurance
benefits in the state, so people who
previously claimed "self-insured"
may now be identifying as unem-
ployed to claim those benefits.
"Clearly, we're not at the end of
this economic downturn," Grimes
said.
- Daily Staff Reporter Julie.
Rowe, Daily News Editor Kelly
Fraser and The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
Investigators examine the wreckage of the train crash that killed 25 people in California list week.
ngineer in traincrash
-may h ave been fatigued
DAHM
From Page 1A
He will officially begin his new
post at the Pentagon Oct.1 and take
a one-year leave of absence from
the University.
"It's going to be tough to leave
that," he said, "but it's such an
unnatural opportunity."
Dahm, whose research focuses
on fluid dynamics, turbulent flows,
propulsion and combustion, has
ISRAEL
From Page 1A
Israelis.
"It's not only a religious war, but
a clash of civilizations," Eldad said.
"The (Arab) culture does not sanc-
tify life, but death."
LSA junior Eitan Ingall, the pres-
ident of Israel Initiating Dialogue,
Education, " and Advocacy - the
group that organized last night's
event - said they invited Eldad
to speak because it was a historic
opportunity.
"The reason he's here," Ingall
said, "is because there has never
been at the University for 23 years.
He said he has committed to the
job for one year. Due to the intense
nature of the job, scientists typical-
ly don't stay in the position for more
than a year or two, he added.
The chief scientist job typically
goes to an academic or private-
sector official, because the post's
independent status is crucial to
providing a frank and unbiased
recommendation, Dahm said.
This is not the first time Dahm,
who also heads the Laboratory for
been a member of Israeli Parlia-
ment on this campus."
One audience member angrily
shouted during the speech that
Eldad's plan for the elimination of
a Palestinian state was "bullshit"
and "bigoted," and said Eldad was
suggesting that "all Arabs are ter-
rorists."
LSA senior Eric Rosenbloom said
he was surprised by some of Eldad's
comments.
"I wasn't expecting, necessar-
ily, that Dr. Eldad did not support a
Palestinian state outright," he said.
"His stands overall, are farther
right than my own, but he also is a
very powerful speaker who made
Turbulence & Combustion in the
College of Engineering, has worked
closely with the Air Force. Before
being offered the post this sum-
mer, Dahm had been a member of
the Air Force Scientific Advisory
Board, a committee of about 50 aca-
demics, industry professions and
scientists who make research and
development recommendations to
the Air Force.
Dahm has also worked on multi-
ple research projects for the armed
services branch.
very convincing arguments."
Thewaytoreachpeace,Eldadsaid,
is to make sure the other side under-
stands Israel will not be defeated. He
saidbothIsraeland Palestine need to
acknowledge their need to coexist,
with the underlying idea that Israel
will notgive up its land.
He has on multiple occasions
called for Israelis to continue build-
ing in the West Bank as a show of
civil disobedience.
"We are not going to have peace
withthe Arabs forever, but they will
respect us and we will respect them
when convinced they won't destroy
us and we won't destroy them," he
said.
Investigators say
long hours may have
contributed to crash
LOS ANGELES - Federal inves-
tigators are trying to determine
whether back-to-back, split shift
workdays that began before dawn
and ended at 9 p.m. played a role in
a Metrolink engineer's failure to
heed warning lights in last week's
crash that left 25 people dead.
Engineer Robert M. Sanchez's
regular five-day work week was
spread over nearly 53 hours,
according to authorities. He would
have been near the end of that
schedule on Friday afternoon
when he sped his train through a
red light and collided head-on with
a Union Pacific freight train.
National Transportation Safety
Board member Kitty Higgins told
the Los Angeles Times that she
was "very concerned" about San-
chez's schedule, noting a "human
performance team" will pursue
evidence that might shed light on
the possible effects of Sanchez
work hours.
"It's a long day," she said.
Sanchez had worked four days
of identical shifts before Friday:
He began his day justbefore 6 a.m.,
worked until almost 9:30 a.m. and
took a 4 1/2-hour break before
beginning a seven-hour shift at 2
p.m., according to the NTSB. The
crash occurred at 4:23 p.m.
The conductor on Sanchez's
train told federal investigators
Tuesday that Sanchez took a two-
hour nap during his break Friday,
Higgins told reporters. The con-
ductor, who had been working
with Sanchez since April, said he
had no problems with the way the
engineer operated the train.
Fatigue caused by the irregular
and often long work schedules of
train crews has been a persistent
and deadly problem in the railroad
industry despite decades of study.
Safety regulators have called for
measures that would require rail-
roads to provide longer rest peri-
ods between shifts.
The NTSB has warned that
operating a train without sufficient
rest "presents an unnecessary risk
to the traveling public" and lists
reforms to address fatigue as one
of its "most wanted" rail safety
improvements.
However, Metrolink's top exec-
utive told Congress last year that
proposals to increase minimum
off-duty time for rail workers were
unnecessary for commuter sys-
tems. David R. Solow told a Senate
subcommittee that commuter rail
had a good safety record and that
existing practices provided ade-
quate assurance "that fatigue does
not affect safety," records show.
Commuter train workers often
work split shifts because of morn-
ing and evening peak passenger
loads, he noted. He argued that
that unlike long-distance freight
workers, commuter line workers
often have interim rest hours of at
least four hours and are also able to
return to their homes each night.
Additional limits on work time
would likely force commuter rail
systems to hire more crews, driv-
ing up costs that would be passed
on to riders and taxpayers, he said.
The fare hikes, he added would
"drive ridersback to commuting by
automobile," undermining efforts
to conserve energy and reduce air
pollution and traffic congestion.
Solow called for more study of
fatigueasitrelatestocommuterrail
systems before new work schedule
restrictions were imposed.
His comments last July were
made during the same appearance
before Congress in which he asked
that systems such as Metrolink be
given flexibility in choosing the
technology they employ to avoid
collisions, at a time when federal
regulators and some lawmakers
were pushing to mandate automat-
ed train-stopping devices.
AMetrolink spokesman said the
agencycould not comment on engi-
neer work schedules; Solow did not
respond to a request for comment.
Last year's proposed changes
were not approved, but Congress is
again considering a similar bill that
would increase the minimum time
anengineermustbe offdutybefore
a new shift from eight tol10 hours.
That type of change apparently
would have required a change in
Sanchez's schedule, to give him
more time off overnight.
Tired crews have caused some
of the deadliest and costliest
freight train wrecks of the last 20
years, accordingto federalaccident
reports. NTSB records show that'
entire crews have nodded off at the
controls ofmile-long freighttrains,
including some carrying hazard-
ous materials.
But federal studies show that
passenger train crews face chal-
lenges in obtaining adequate rest
even if they work more predictable
schedules near their homes.
Split shifts in particular can
.result in long days that leave little
time for adequate rest, according
to research by the Volpe National
Transportation System Center in
Massachusetts.
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