her life around, but if it's anything like her =.
,x
new album, it's still a train wreck. R
See Arts, Page;
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It'3aaiIj
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
michigandaily.com
CROWNING MR. ENGINEER
DETROIT THREE IN CRISIS
Picture
darkens
for GM,
Chrysler
ANE CESRE/uaiy
Karan Patel, a graduate student in the School of Engineering and member of Theta Tau, is crowned as Mr. Engineer 2009 at Stamps Auditorium last night. Contestants
solved brain teasers, competed in a talent competition and were asked to solve an ethical dilemma. Proceeds from the event will benefit specialized engineeringgroups.
STEM CELL RESEARCH AFTER PROPOSAL 2
'preparingtoexpandeffort
Two of state's
largest employers
say they need cash
by Christmas
By ANDREW GROSSMAN
Editor in Chief
The future of General Motors,
Chrysler LLC and their contribu-
tions to the southeast Michigan
economy grew darker Tuesday.
GM executives told Congress
that the venerable carmaker will
run out of cash before Christmas
if it doesn't get a $4 billion loan
immediately.
Chrysler said itneeds $7billion
to keep operating.
Even if theygets thoseloans and
the billions more that that they're
asking for early next year, the two
automakers intend to make deep
cuts in spending. Those cuts will
be painful for the region that sup-
plies the University of Michigan
with a huge number of students
and employees.
The automakers had to sub-
mit to Congress by Wednesday
plans for how they would spend
taxpayer money to overhaul their
businesses.
"The cost of failure in this
instance would be enormous for
everyone, given the broad impact
of GM and the domestic auto
industryonthe present and future
U.S. economy," GM said inits sub-
mission to Congress. "Regionally,
a failure at GM would devastate
Michigan and other Midwest
states that are already reeling
with high unemploymentand low
economic activity."
Ford Motor Co. is in a slightly
stronger position than its fellow
domestic auto giants. In its sub-
mission to Congress, it requested
access to a $9 billion credit line
but said it didn't expect to use the
money unless another automaker
goes bankrupt.
If one automaker runs out of
cash and can't pay its bills to sup-
pliers, some of those suppliers
could be forced to stop building
and shipping parts altogether
- even to healthy automakers.
That's because many suppliers
only have three or four large cus-
tomers. If a supplier were to lose a
quarter of its revenue, it could be
forced to shut its plants.
Still, Ford said it expects to at
least break even by 2011.
. GM said it needs $18 billion
available from the government.
See AUTOMAKERS, Page 3A
Passage of Prop. 2
will loosen state's
restrictions on
the practice
By ELAINE LAFAY
Daily StaffReporter
After waiting years for changes
to the state's restrictive stem cell
research laws, University research-
ers are content waiting a few more
weeks before starting to study the
stem cell lines now available to
them.
Last month, state voters passed
Proposal 2, a ballot initiative that
loosened the state's restrictions on
embryonic stemcell research. Since
then, University researchers have
been busy planning wide expan-
sions of research projects.
Prof. Sue O'Shea, director of
the University's Center for Human
Embryonic Stem Cell Research,said
she hopes the expanded research
will begin in early 2009. In prepa-
ration, a new lab and microscope
have to be put in place for deriving
the stem cell lines.
"We're really excited to be able
to do research," O'Shea said. "Right
away we wanted to start getting the
paperwork going and start making
new embryonicstem cell lines."
O'Shea said University scien-
tists hope to derive stem cells from
embryos with neurological diseas-
es, like Huntington's chorea.
The proposal, which officially
takes effect Dec. 19, will allow
University researchers access to
hundreds of donated embryos
that otherwise would have been
discarded from the University's
medical system. Last month's vote
overturned a 1978 law banning the
practice of obtaining stem cell lines
from discarded embryos from fer-
tility clinics.
LSA senior Carly Collins, who
does research on epilepsy in a neu-
rology lab led by Medical School
Associate Prof. Jack Parent, said the
passage of Proposal 2 would enable
researchers to do more extensive
work studying the progression of
diseases.
Though Proposal 2 doesn't
have an immediate impact on the
See STEM CELLS, Page 7A
UNIVERSITY LITIGATION
Expelled student wins lawsuit
Prof. ties welfare, mental health
Jury awards former
'U' dentistry student
$1.72M for expulsion
without cause
By LINDY STEVENS
DailyStaffReporter
Former School of Dentistry stu-
dent Alissa Zwick was awarded
$1.72 million in a lawsuit with the
University yesterday.
Claiming she was forced to leave
the Dental School without cause in
2005, Zwick filed the suit in May
2006 after Marilyn Lantz, associ-
ate dean of the Dental School, and
three instructors claimed she was
unfit to practice dentistry.
During the 13-day federal trial in
Detroit, Zwick's attorney, Deborah
Gordon, presented evidence that
Lantz encouraged dental school
faculty to write letters outlining
their concerns about Zwick, which
led to her dismissal.
Among the concerns cited by the
faculty members were tantrums,
behavior problems and poor per-
formance in clinical classes. Zwick
was officially dismissed during her
third year at the school in June
2005.
According to court documents,
Zwick claimed shewas "retaliated
against" for exercising her First
Amendment rights and also alleged
that her dismissal violated due pro-
cess of law.
Zwick did not immediately
return calls for comment Tuesday
evening.
Although students recommend-
ed for dismissal from the school are
subject to an appeal process, Gor-
don said the decision was unfair.
"Once you're admitted to a pub-
lic school, you have a property
interest," Gordon told The Associ-
ated Press yesterday. "You can't be
See LAWSUIT, Page 3A
Danziger warns that
assistance programs
could fall by wayside
during recession
By CAITLIN SCHNEIDER
Daily StaffReporter
During a talk on campus yes-
terday, welfare policy expert Shel-
don Danziger said the nation's
recession could put much-needed
government assistance reforms in
jeopardy.
Danziger, director of the
National Poverty Center and a
professor in the Ford School of
Public Policy, began his lecture
with a brief overview of the wel-
fare system in the United States.
He devoted particular attention
to the Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconcilia-
tion Act of 1996, more commonly
known as "welfare to work,"
which ended the automatic right
to cash assistance for poor single
mothers and mandated work par-
ticipation for aid recipients. The
1996 reforms sought to encourage
personal initiative and prevent
people from relying completely on
monetary government assistance.
Danziger said he opposed the
policy when it was first proposed
and expected increased poverty in
a "post-welfare world." He said he
has since changed his stance.
"In general, the 1996 reform
was much less negative than I
thought and in fact, was probably
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
MSA urges Musharraf to come to 'U'
Assembly welcomes
new reps, elects
new chairs
By MATT AARONSON
Daily StaffReporter
The Michigan Student Assembly
wants former Pakistani President
Pervez Musharraf to speak at the
University of Michigan in January
while he's in the state to give a lec-
ture in west Michigan.
Musharraf will be in Grand Rap-
ids on January 14th to speak at an
anniversary dinner for the World
Affairs Council of Western Michi-
gan. The Pakistani Students' Asso-
ciation came to MSA for help in
trying to attract Musharaff to the
University while he's in the state.
Musharraf, who took power in a
bloodless military coup in 1999, has
always been a controversial figure.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept.
11, 2001, Musharraf pledged sup-
port to the United States in its fight
against radical Islamic terrorists,
angering many of his own people.
In November 2007, Musharaff
suspended Pakistan's constitu-
tion, jailed political opponents
and dissidents, and replaced the
entire Supreme Court with his own
appointees.
Threatened with impeachment,
he resigned lastAugust.
MSA Rep. Hamdan Yousef, who
is Pakistani and said he has met
Musharraf on multiple occasions,
opposed the resolution. He said
that the Human Rights Watch once
called Musharraf a "military dicta-
tor," and cited other examples of
human rights abuses committed by
See MSA, Page 3A
ANGELACESERE/Daily
Sheldon Danziger, director of the National Poverty Center and a University profes-
sor, spoke on the mental composition of welfare recipients yesterday.
a good thing," Danziger said.
Increased employment rates
were hard for Danziger to argue
with, and while he admits he was
wrong about the reform on a broad
scale, flaws still exist. Danziger
presented results from his "Wom-
en's Employment Study," which
focused on mental health issues
among single-parent women on
welfare. These women represent-
ed a population of what Danziger
calls "disconnected" people -
individuals who often get lost in
the system.
"Unless your disabilities are
so severe that you can qualify for
See MENTAL HEALTH, Page 7A
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