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 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-763-2459 ore-wail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. ON THE DAILY BLOGS Three recipes to practice for next Thanksgiving THETABLE.BLOGS.MICHIGANDAILY.COM INDEX NEWS ............2 A SUDOKU............................. A Vol. CXIX,No.64 OPINION...........................4A CLASSIFIEDS............... .6A 8a The Michigan aly SPO RT S............................ 5A TH E B-S l .........................18