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New Student Edition - 3F

Students, admirers and protesters
flock to Crisler for Dalai Lama's talk

By ANDY KROLL
Daily StaffReporter
April 15, 2008 - Crisler Arena's
maize-and-blue-themed interior
was transformed into a sea of bur-
gundy and gold as the Dalai Lama
gave his first of four lectures in
Ann Arbor this morning.
Souvenir shops on the arena's
concourses usually offering bas-
ketballs and replica jerseys instead
sold Buddhist prayer flags and
brightly colored "Victory" and
"Good Luck" banners.
In his first lecture with the
theme of "Engaging Wisdom and
Compassion," the Buddhist spiri-
tual leader said that while differ-
ent religious views and beliefs are
better suited to certain kinds of
people, it's important to respect all
traditions and practices.
"We cannot say among these
different traditions, 'This is best,"'
the Dalai Lama said during this
morning's lecture, which drew a
crowd of about 8,000. "We have
to judge according (to) individual
case(s)."
Although the Dalai Lama said
it was "more suitable" and "safer"
for individuals to stick to their
own religious traditions, he said
that shouldn't preclude them from
learning about other religions.
"Efforts to promote genuine
harmony on the basis of mutual
understanding, mutual respect
among the different traditions is
very, very essential," he said.'
The Dalai Lama, who is a Nobel
Peace Prize winner and Tibet's
14th Dalai Lama, cited his own
efforts to learn more about Islam,
Christianity and Judaism, which

he said came through "personal
contact" with people who prac-
ticed those religions.
"My attitude (is) genuine admi-
ration, respect and appreciation
for those traditions," he said.
The Dalai Lama delivered his
opening remarks in English, but
then slipped into his native Tibet-
an when he began the lecture. The
speech focused on Buddhism's
Four Noble Truths, one of the
religion's most fundamental set
of teachings about the nature of
human suffering.
This weekend's lectures, which
include the University's annual
Peter M. Wege Lecture on Sustain-
ability, mark the Dalai Lama's first
visit to Ann Arbor since 1994.
The set-up inside Crisler Arena
resembled that of a music concert
with a large stage on the floor,
where the Dalai Lama sat along
with about 30 fellow Buddhist
monks.
Large posters depicting Gelek
Rimpoche, the founder of Jewel
Heart, a local Tibetan Buddhist
cultural and educational organi-
zation that sponsored the Dalai
Lama's visit, hung next to banners
commemorating past Michigan
All-American basketball players.
Although the purpose of the
Dalai Lama's visit to Ann Arbor
was to share his teachings on
faith and compassion, the exiled
Tibetan leader's involvement in
the international controversy with
China and its alleged suppression
of political and religious freedom
in Tibet was not felt this morning.
Many in attendance wore T-
shirts bearing the message "Free
Tibet" in the red and blue colors of
Tibet's flag.

CLIFREE/Daily
The Dalai Lama spoke at Crisler Arena last April to a sold-out crowd. Students lined up inside the Michigan Union the night before free tickets were given out.
Outside of Crisler Arena, about demonstrators wore T-shirts that nese perspective. China, but he said that right now
15 pro-Chinese demonstrators read "Support Beijing2008." "There is no absolute right and that's almost impossible to do.
carried signs questioning current Rackham student Youjian Chi, wrong," Chi said. "We should get "It's fine if you give us all of the
human rights practices in Tibet who was among the demonstra- all the news no matter (whetherit information - the positive and
and accusing the mainstream tors, said he believed the main- is) negative or positive, all of the negative perspectives on China,"
media of overly critical, anti- stream media wasn't presenting opinions." he said. "But right ntw they're
China coverage of recent riots in balanced coverage of the conflict Chi said it's up to the public to only giving the negative perspec-
Tibet's capital, Lhasa. Many of the from both the Tibetan and Chi- decide whether to support Tibet or tive on China."

'U'helps Ann Arbor deal with state recession
By JAKE HOLMES windows. It could be because most
Daily StaffReporter students are only able to work
part-time.
Feb. 8, 208 - The University At the Red Hawk Bar & Grill
could be providing the Teflon coat- on State Street, manager Matt
ing that's protecting Ann Arbor Pietrygasaid employingmany stu-
from an otherwise crumbling dents on a part-time basis means
statewide economy, local business the restaurant is frequently look-
experts say. ing for more help.
- Although the state of Michigan As students's schedules and
hasthehighestunemploymentrate availability change with each
in the nation, the city has been an semester, Pietryga said, he usually
exception to the statewide trend of has to hire more staff.
S economic recession. He said about half of Red Hawksa dan tee eow
According to the Michigan employees are University students n.) Pizza House's perfect combination of salad and sandwich ,(se below)
Department of Labor and Eco- Pietryga said that while he Add turkey, tuna, chicken, or feta chseese if you like
nomic Growth, the state's unem- hasn't seen a drastic difference in
ployment rate has steadily climbed job applications, high unemploy- gFt , c"? q O1
from 6.5 percent in March to 7.6 ment rates haven't created the Y " V __ - riEr
percentin December. But over that stream of applicants that might be " i opvg t o - _11t- LAVQ S)450).
same period, Washtenaw County's expected.
unemployment rate has hovered "We don't have people flying in
around just 5 percent - the lowest the door either," Pietryga said.
in the state. The University helps local small MM\ t9oN4s5
Jesse Bernstein, president of businesses by attracting people to P i
the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Ann Arbor, Bernstein said.
Commerce, said the University He said the families of Univer-
deserves much of the credit for the sity employees add to Ann Arbor's N A!
city'srelativelylowunemployment workforce for retail and restau- t
rate, having created a wealth of job rant jobs.
opportunities in the area. "There's probably a larger pool
Between Jan. 2006 and Jan. of people to fill those jobs," Bern- " p~iy 1z5 f'tSsZ
2007, the University and the Uni- stein said.
versity Hospital system created Bernstein said he's confident
427 new full-time jobs, according Ann Arbor's mix of a research
to Crain's Detroit Book of Lists. University and high-tech compa-
Bernstein said the real number nies will keep the city out of eco-
is even larger, because Crains's nomic trouble.
numbers don't include part-time "I'm pretty sure that we're
positions like residence hall staff going to stay strong," he said.
positions or jobs created by the
University's construction proj-
ects.
Elizabeth Parkinson, the
director ofpublicrelations at Ann
Arbor Spark, a local economic
development organization, said
the draw of the University com-
munity partly explains why Ann
Arbor hasn't suffered as much
as other Michigan cities that are
more dependent on the manufac-
turing or automotive industries.
In addition to the jobs cre-
ated directly by the University,
Parkinson said the presence of a h
prestigious research institution
and high-tech industries like
biotechnology help bring new
companies to Ann Arbor.
Even though drug giant Pfizer
relocated out of the city last year p 1 0 1
- a move that affected 2,100
workers - Parkinson said she 1 " ' *
thinks the Ann Arbor job mar-
ket will continue to grow. She
said high-tech companies are
attracted to Ann Arbor because
the city has many employable
college graduates and because .w tbburrito.COm
companies can partner with the
University on research projects.
Last year, Spanish aeronau-
tics firm Grupo Aernnova chose
nearby Pittsfield Township as its
North American headquarters.
The firm will bring more than "GA
400 jobs to the city, Parkinson
said.
Ann Arbor's Google office,
which is located on South Divi-
sion Street and opened last year, A
is expected to employ more than
1,000 workers by 2012.
Near campus, though, many
campus businesses still display
"Help Wanted" signs in their

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