The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
NEW YORK
Nov. auto sales
worst since 1982
U.S. auto sales plunged 37 per-
cent in November to their worst
level in more than 26 years, dash-
ing expectations that this dismal
year for vehicle demand had found
a bottom, and adding more ammu-
nition to the Detroit automakers'
case for a congressional lifeline.
"Our industry is in a much more
severe situation than the rest of
the economy," said Mike DiGio-
vanni, General Motors Corp.'s
executive director of global mar-
ket and industry analysis. "We
cannot continue at these levels or
else the entire industry is going to
go down."
U.S. autosales inNovemberfellto
746,789,accordingto AutodataCorp.
On aseasonally adjusted basis, auto-
makers reported an annual sales
rate of 10.2 million units, the lowest
levelsince October 1982.
Automakers and analysts
blamed the crumbling economy,
less access to vehicle financ-
ing, and a wait-and-see approach
among consumers more preoccu-
pied with the value of their homes
and the fate of their jobs than the
lure of a new car.
ATLANTA
Chambliss wins
runoff in Georgia
Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby
Chambliss handed the GOP a
firewall against Democrats eager
to flex their newfound political
muscle in Washington, winning
a bruising runoff battle yesterday
that had captured the national
limelight.
Chambliss' victory thwarted
Democrats' hopes of winning a 60
seat filibuster-proof majority in
the Senate. It came after a bitter
monthlong runoff against Demo-
crat Jim Martin that drew politi-
cal luminaries from both parties to
the state and flooded the airwaves
with fresh attack ads weeks after
campaigns elsewhere had ended.
Minnesota - where a recount is
under way - now remains the only
unresolved Senate contest in the
country. But the stakes there are
significantly lower now that Geor-
gia has put a 60-seat Democratic
supermajority out of reach.
With 92 percent of the precincts
reporting, Chambliss captured 58
percent to Martin's 42 percent.
Chambliss' win is a rare bright
spot for Republicans in a year
where they lost the White House
as well as seats in the House and
the Senate.
WASHINGTON
Gates: Military
looks to accelerate
Iraq pullout
India Defense Secretary Robert
Gates signaled a willingness Tues-
day to forge ahead with two key
priorities for the incoming Obama
administration: accelerating the
U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and
shutting down the Guantanamo
Bay detention center.
As the only Republican Cabi-
net member asked to stay on by
President-elect Barack Obama,
Gates told reporters that military
commanders are looking at ways
to more quickly pull troops out of
Iraq in light of the 16-month time-
table that was a centerpiece of the
Democrat's campaign.
He also said it will be a high
priority to work with the new
Congress on legislation that will
enable the U.S. to close the deten-
tion center at the U.S. naval base in
Cuba, where about 250 terrorism
suspects are still being held.
WASHINGTON
US official blames
Pakistani group for
attack
National Intelligence Director
Mike McConnell says the terrorist
group U.S. intelligence believes car-
ried out last week's attack in Mum-
bai is the same one that attacked
Mumbai trains in 2006.
McConnell did not name the
group during a speech at Harvard
University. However, the Indian
government has attributed the
2006 attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba,
a Pakistani terrorist group, and
the Students Islamic Movement of
India.
McConnell is the first U.S. offi-
cial to publicly identify Lashkar as
the likely perpetrator.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
MSA
From Page 1A
Musharraf while president.
"We must not endorse and dig-
nify such an individual," he said.
Rep. Alex Serwer pointed to
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech
at Columbia University last year
as an example of how a reviled
figure can provoke conversation.
"Things like this are really
important for the educational
experience," he said.
"Personally, Musharraf makes
me feel incredibly uncomfort-
able," MSA Vice President Arvind
Sohoni said. "And I think that's a
good thing."
After about 30 minutes of
procedural maneuvering, the
authors of the resolution finally
agreed to create a committee
that will revise a letter of invita-
tion and make it clear that MSA
only intends to invite Musharraf,
not to glorify or support him. The
resolution passed with a vote of
25-7-1.
For the majority of the meet-
ing, the body was taking care of
"in/out" business-that is, out
with the representatives whose
terms expired and didn't run for
reelection, and in with the new
and reelected representatives. No
incumbent representatives were
defeated.
After congratulating the new
representatives, MSA President
Sabrina Shingwani issued a stern
ultimatum.
"You were chosen by the stu-
dents to represent them," she
said. "If you're going to come
here every week and sit at the
table and do nothing, get up and
leave right now."
"You're notjusthere represent-
ing students," she said. "You're
representing U of M students.
And we're the best damn univer-
sity in the world."
Student General Counsel
Michael Benson warned the
body about attendance rules. A
representative who accumulates
12 absences is removed from the
assembly and has two weeks to
appeal at an MSA meeting.
MSA has long been plagued by
attendance issues. Every semes-
ter, at least a handful of repre-
sentatives are removed from the
assembly for failing to fulfill their
responsibilities.
MSA Chief of Staff Ashley
Schwedt said in an interview
after the meeting that she thinks
representatives end up dropping
out or being removed because of
expectations.
"I think that a lot of people
get really excited to win things,
and to do things well," she said.
Also, says Schwedt, people tend
to underestimate their course
loads. She added that some just
"realize too late that MSA is not
for them."
The new representatives were
given a handbook with back-
ground information about the
role. The packet included infor-
mation about the assembly's
committees and commissions,
the procedure for proposing a
resolution, the structure and
conventions of meetings, and
the rules for debate during
meetings.
The assembly held elections
for 27 chair positions and vice
chair positions for its committees
and commissions.
Many of the elections were
uncontested, but a few led to
debate. Perhaps the most heated
and topical contest was for the
Rules and Elections Commit-
tee chair position. Reps. Jason
Raymond, Ashley Schneider and
Tim Hull were nominated for the
spot.
Schneider, the incumbent
chair, boasted that fall election
turnout increased by 80 percent
under her leadership.
Raymond, who won the seat,
noted that while turnout may
have increased, it was still only
9.6 percent, a figure he called
"absolutely pitiful."
"We shouldn't be spending
time at meetings debating code
amendments or things that are
internal in nature," he said, add-
ing that he thought he could
bring the tangible progress that
has been lacking in the past year.
Raymond won the chairman-
ship.
- Vanessa Nunez
contributed to this report.
AUTOMAKERS
From Page 1A
The company plans to use that
money to keep the lights on, but
also to restructure so GM has
fewer dealers, brands and employ-
ees; in other words, a smaller
payroll and less onerous debt
payments. All three companies
are trying to shrink to return to
profitability. Their plant capacity,
workforces and dealership ranks
are all sized to build and sell far
more cars than the Detroit Three
are selling or will likely be able to
sell inthe near future, excecutives
said.
It's the reduction in payroll and
employees - things that will hap-
pen even if GM gets federal loans
- that will hurt the University
and southeast Michigan.
The Detroit Three's problems
were driven home yesterday when
automakers reported their sales
for November. The numbers were
bleak.
U.S. auto sales dropped 37 per-
cent, and Chrysler sold just over
half as many vehicles last month
than it did in November 2007.
GM sold just 59 percent of its total
sales lastyear.
Things were almost as bad for
foreign automakers like Toyota
andHonda,whosawsalesdeclines
of at least 30 percent.
GM now employs 96,537 people
in the United States. It's telling
Congress that it aims to shed a
third of those, employing between
65,000 and 75,000 in 2012. In
2000, 191,465 people worked for
GM in the U.S.
At the end of 2007, GM had
more than 30,000 workers
in Washtenaw, Macomb and
Macomb counties, according to
Crain's Detroit Business.
Many of those workers have
University ties.
LSA sophomore Joseph Sut-
kowi's father is a former GM
employee. Sutkowi currently
receives a scholarship from GM.
"There's a fairly good chance
that I won't be getting another
$2,500 scholarship next year
from GM," he said. "They're
going to - in all likelihood - cut
that out."
-Kyle Swanson
contributed to this report.
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