THESEASON FORGIVING
s Forget Chia Pets and the Clapper. Daily Arts runs down
, wthe gifts you should really buy this holiday season. No
anny Harns.need to include the gift receipt this year.
A 'See the B-side, inside
~I~e Lidilgan at
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, December 4,2008
michigandaily.com
LIGHTING UP STATE STREET FOR THE HOLIDAYS
AFTER THE AUTO INDUSTRY
Carmakers
struggles
hit home
As relatives lose income.
That would leave 29-year-old
jobs, students put Emery, a journalism and pho-
tography double major, with the
in financial bnd responsibility of helping support
her family, assisting her mother
By ANDY KROLL to make payments for not only
Daily News Editor her own house but Amanda's
grandfather's home in Kentucky
Amanda Emery, a junior at the and providing some form of
University of Michigan-Flint, health care for Amanda's aging
was born and raised in a General parents. Her father would be able
Motors family. to pick up work somewhere, but
Her parents both logged more her mother would not.
than 30 years on the job for the "Somebody would have to pick
automotive giant - her mother, up the slack, and I'd have to fig-
Cathy, as a skilled welder in a ure something out," she said. "I
Flint, Michigan, truck plant and would have to drop down from
her father, Gary, as a company [studying] full-time to part-time
electrician and supervisor. because I'd have to work more -
Her uncle worked on the for sure."
assembly line in a GM plant in With executives from the Big
Flint, and a cousin works on the Three automakers rebuffed in
assembly line at the same Flint their attempt to obtain critical
factory. rescue loans from the federal
Nowretired from GM, Emery's government, the crisis engulfing
parents live off their company the American auto industry has
retirement packages, which deepened, and its effects can be
include monthly income and felt throughoutcMichigan as more
health insurance for them and plants shut down and workers
their children, among other ben- lose their jobs.
efits. And what about the impact on
"Basically, you're talking students? For them,, the future
about people that are assured looks increasingly uncertain,
that they're getting their retire- with parents subject to layoffs,
ment money," she said. "They've tuition assistance and scholar-
worked for it for 30 years; they're ship programs gettingcut, and an
thinking their money is safe." already weakened work force set
But with GM burning through to lose even more jobs should the
its cash reserves and teetering auto industry falter even more.
on the edge of bankruptcy, the We spoke to more than a half-
Emery family is facing the possi- dozen students whose parents
bility that GM veterans Cathy and work for one of the Big Three who
Gary could soon lose most of their See AUTO FAMILIES, Page 3A
Three of the six tenants of 927 State Street, LSA senior A.J. Dixon, LSA junior Ryan Duman, and LSA senior Andrew Gonyea, in front of their house, which they recently
decorated using a combination of their families' donations and personal investments. "We know some people might think its obnoxious, but we get a kick out of it," they
said. "It's really a lot of fun. People stop by all the time now and they want to talk about it."
INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES
Program tiesarts,bnsiness
Dual MFA/MBA
degree plan to be
launched next fall
By LAUREN DANTZER
Daily StaffReporter
This time next year, graduate
students with business savvy and
artistic talent will be able to kill
two birds with one stone.
University officials announced
yesterday plans to offer a dual
program combining the Master of
Fine Arts and Master of Business
Administration degrees in Fall
2009.
Coordinated between the Ross
School of Business and the School
of Art and Design, the program
allows for increased flexibility so
students can take courses in both
schools.
Though the School of Art and
Design had been toying with
the notion of collaborating with
another school, it wasn't until a
MBA student brought up the idea
of such a degree that the program
became a reality, Brad Smith, asso-
ciate dean for graduate education
in the School of Art and Design,
said.
The University one of the
nation's first schools to implement
the program. New York University
and Yale University offer similar
joint degrees.
Smith said the new program
will help business students be
more competitive as they enter
into the job market.
"I think the business students
will learn an appreciation for the
creative process," he said. "Par-
ticularly in marketing, students
will learn what affects consumers
and what the visual culture is all
about."
He said the program will also
benefit art students by helping
them understand the commodity
market in which they operate.
See DUAL DEGREE, Page 3A
Former football team doctor,
UHS director remembered
Journalists look to future of industry
Anderson, 80,
described as friendly
'home physician'
By THOMAS CHAN
Daily StaffReporter
A memorial for Robert Anderson,
the longtime University Health Ser-
vice director and Athletic Depart-
ment physician, was held yesterday
at First Congregational Church,
near central campus. Anderson
was 80.
Often called
"Doc A,"
Anderson died
Thursday after
battling pul-
monary fibrosis
since for more
than two years.
Anderson ANDERSON
became a team
physician for the Michigan football
team in 1966, and was the director
of UHS from 1968 until 1980, when
he opened a private practice.
He retired in 1998 from the Uni-
versity and in 2000 from his private
practice. He retired "reluctantly,
because of his own health issues,"
his nephew, Michael Anderson,
said. Even after his retirement,
Anderson was still giving medical
consultations and writing prescrip-
tions at his home until at least 2004,
his nephew said.
Friends and family said Ander-
See ANDERSON, Page 8A
ACADEMIC FREEDOM LECTURE
Law prof to talk Web, democracy
Michigan media say
economic solution
could.spur 'golden
age' of journalism
By ELIN BERGMAN
Daily StaffReporter
Several prominent members of
the Michigan-based media dis-
cussedthe futureofthejournalism
industry and the media's coverage
of the American auto industry's
downfall yesterday at a forum co-
sponsored by the National Press
Club and the Gerald R. Ford Presi-
dential Library.
Gil Klein, a former NPC presi-
dent and the forum's moderator,
kicked off the evening's discussion
by asking everyone in attendance:
"Where the heck is this news busi-
ness going?"
Despite all of the problems fac-
ing media today, with declining
advertising revenue and jobcuts and
downsizing throughout the indus-
try, Klein said today is a time of tre-
mendous innovation in journalism.
"This could be the golden age of
journalism," he said, "if we could
only find the way to pay for it."
Panel members also discussed
the coverage of the crisis engulf-
ing the Big Three automakers and
the Michigan media's close con-
nection to the daily drama unfold-
ing in Detroit and Washington.
"It's not just a business story; it's
MAXC COLLINS/Daly
Owari Gardner of The Detroit Free Press and Jonathan Wolmon of the Detroit
News discuss the future of journalism last night as part of a panel sponsored by
the National Press Club held at the Gerald R. Ford Library.
Sunstein, an Obama
adviser, studies
constitutional law
By CAITLIN SCHNEIDER
Daily StaffReporter
Superstar legalscholar Cass Sun-
stein, author of more than 30 books
and one of the most widely cited
legal experts today, will deliver a
lecture titled "My University.com;
My Government.com: Is the Inter-
net Really a Blessing for Democra-
cy?" on campus at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Sunstein's talk is 18th annual
Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture
on Academic and Intellectual Free-
dom, and will be held in the Law
School's Honigman Auditorium.
While his main focus is consti-
tutional law, Sunstein, a professor
at Harvard Law School, has also
written books on avariety of topics,
including cloning and Bob Dylan
lyrics. Sunstein is friends with
President-elect Barack Obama, and
advises him on policy matters from
time to time. He is also reportedly
on the short list of potential United
States Supreme Court nominees.
Peggie Hollingsworth, president
of the Academic Freedom Lecture
Fund, said in an e-mail interview
that the annual lecture serves to
remind students of the value of
intellectual liberties, a topic that
Sunstein can speak well to.
"Cass R. Sunstein currently is
the most frequently cited consti-
tutional scholar in our country,"
Hollingsworth said. "Like many
See LECTURE, Page 3A
a community story," said Omari
Gardner, the Detroit Free Press's
news editor of digital media. "It's
our top priority right now."
Gardner also said how coverageof
the Big Three was increasingly diffi-
cult due to lack of cooperation from
the autoindustrycompanies, adding
that General Motors "is notorious
for being an insular institution."
However, Marla Drutz, vice-
president of WDIV-TV in Detroit,
emphasized that the ongoing auto
industry crisis has proven benefi-
cial for local news outlets as ithas
given these outlets an opportunity
to win back viewers who hadn't
tuned into the station for a while.
"We've become the local outlet
for (the auto industry coverage),"
she said.
Vincent Dqffy, news director
for Michigan Radio, said he too
had noticed a resurgent interest
amonglisteners regardingthe auto
industry crisis. More specifically,
Duffy said he's seen a great need
among the public to discuss their
own experiences of the crisis.
He said he was surprised to see
the intense feedback from the pub-
See JOURNALISM, Page SA
WEATHER HI 24
TOMORROW Lo 20
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