I e fili6FC1 i a in 4,3at1 Ann Arbor, Michigan Friday, December 5, 2008 michigandailycom ENGINEERING BETTER BRAKES AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT CEOs make aid case on Hill Leaders from GM, Chrysler and Ford defend plans before Senate committee By CAITLIN SCHNEIDER Daily Staff Reporter In a final attempt to keep at least one of the Detroit Three from being forced to file for bankruptcy, the chief executives of General Motors, Chrysler and Ford appeared before the Senate Banking Committee Thursday to ask for a combined $34 billion in loans. "I recognize that this is a significant amount of public money," Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli said in the automakers' second round of congressio- nal hearings in the last two weeks. "However, we believe this is the least costly alternative consider- ing the depth of the economic crisis and the options that we face." Chrysler is asking Congress for a $7 billion loan, and For is asking for a $9 billion line of credit, though CEO Alan Mulally said the company probably won't need to use the money. But GM - whose vehicle sales plummeted 41 per- cent last month - asked for $18 billion total, including $4 billion by the end of the month and another $4 bil- lion in January. During his testimony, United Auto Workers Presi- dent Ron Gettelfinger stressed GM's need for immedi- ate financial aid. "Ibelievewe couldlose GMbythe end of this month unless something happens," Gettelfinger said. In an effort to rally support for the bailout plan, UAW officials announced earlier this week that the union will suspend the "jobs bank," which gives wages to workers who were laid off. Roland Zullo, an assistant research scientist at the University's Institute for Research on Labor, Employ- ment, and the Economy, said suspending the jobs bank wasn't a particularly drastic move, but would reflect well on the industry. "At this point, what the UAW is doing is strategi- See BAILOUT, Page 7 CLIF REEDER/Daily College of Engineering senior Jason Muccioli displays a regenerating brake launching system for a bicycle during the College of Engineering Design Expo in the Duderstadt Center yesterday. The regenerating brake uses hydraulic circuits to store power when the bike brakes. The power can then be used to power motors in the front wheel when the bike is moving. LIFE AFTER GRADUATION To ride out slumpit back to sco With economy shrinking, more head to grad school By TREVOR CALERO and ESHWAR THIRUNAVUKKARASU Daily StaffReporters With the economy in recession, an increasing number of Univer- sity students are considering going to graduate school to avoid enter- ing the job market altogether. As a result, graduate business, law and liberal arts programs are becoming increasingly appealing, according to officials at test preparation com- panies. LSA sophomore Lucy Amaro said that hearing her friends' job- -hunting troubles during the eco- nomic pinch could affect her plans for after graduation. "I have a lot of friends who just graduated last year and they still haven't found a job," she said. "They are more than likely going back to grad school." In a report issued last month, test preparation agency Kaplan noted a 45 percent increase in stu- dent interest in its business, law and graduate school preparation programs since Sept. 1. The report said that from Janu- ary to September, the number of students taking the GMAT - the admissions exam required by most MBA programs - was up 5.8 per- cent in the United States and 11.6 percent worldwide, compared with the same period last year. The Kaplan-sponsored World Grad School Tour, a multi-city function where prospective graduate students can meet with admissions officers from graduate See GRAD SCHOOL, Page 7 BY THE NUMBERS Percentage increase in GMAT test-takers in, the United States this year 1.1.6 Percentage increase of GMAT test-takers globally this year. sOuRcE uKAPLAN WINTER WEATHER City to foot plowing . bills after state cuts. Sunstein: Internet can cause intellectual isolation Snowy weather last winter busted road budgets statewide By JILLIAN BERMAN Daily StaffReporter With recent state budget cuts taking a bite out of road mainte- nance funding, some in Ann Arbor are worrying about slick streets for the winter ahead. Michigan Department of Trans- portation Spokeswoman Keri Arend said the cuts have forced lawmakers to change plowing poli- cies. She said if a storm has ended the state will no longer pay driv- ers overtime or reimburse the city to plow and salt secondary roads, like Washtenaw Avenue and Main Street. Instead, plow drivers will wait to finish clearing the street until their next shift. But Arend noted that during an ongoing storm the state will con- tinue to pay drivers to work over- time. "If we get another storm over- night, if we get a refreeze, we could send our trucks out there again," she said. "During a storm, motor- ists are not going to see any dif- ference. Just on these secondary routes, you could see a little more snow than in past years." However, Ann Arbor City Coun- cil member Leigh Greden (D - Ward 3) said the city is responsible for making sure all roads are clear, not the state. He said the state will no longer reimburse the city for plowing major roads such as Washtenaw Avenue and Main Street, as it had done in the past. Greden said the city of Anh Arbor is prepared to continue pay- ing truck drivers to work overtime to make sure streets are as clear as they have been in the past. "You almost always use over- time when you plow the streets because you can't just plow it nine to five, it doesn't work that way," he said. Greden said that even in these difficult financial times, the See ROADS, Page 7 Harvard law prof warns of Internet's effect on democracy By BENJAMIN S. CHASE Daily StaffReporter In a speech to students and fac- ulty at the University Law School yesterday, Cass Sunstein, a lead- ing constitutional law expert and advisor to President-elect Barack Obama, warned that the Internet might not be as great for democ- racy as it's cracked up to be. Sunstein's speech - titled "My University.com, My Government. com: Is the Internet Really a Bless- ing for Democracy?" - was the 18th annual Davis, Markert, Nick- erson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom. Inthe lecture, Sunstein stressed the importance of avoiding the dichotomization of ideas, arguing that the Internet can lead people to become too insulated from the variety of beliefs and opinions needed for rational political dis- course. Diversity of thought is crit- ical to the success of democracy, he said, citing a study he conducted in which liberals and conservatives were separated into groups and told to discuss issues including CLIFREEDER/Dail Cass Sunstein speaks at the Eighteenth Annual University of Michigan Senate's Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom yesterday. climate change, affirmative action and gay marriage. Over the course of the study, the groups became increasingly radi- calized in their respective views on the issues. "Social pressures can create polarization machines," Sunstein said."It was as if the groups occu- pied two different political uni- verses." Through his research, Sun- stein has developed a theory that if people are only exposed to news and information targeted at their preexisting interests and political beliefs, society will become polar- ized along ideological lines. Sunstein said his theory, "The Daily Me," has potentially harmful effects for dissent and open politi- cal discourse because it promotes the radicalization of viewpoints on both ends of the political spec- trum. The explosion of Internet news See LECTURE, Page 7 WEATHER TOMORROW HI: 26 LO: 17 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and letus know. ON THE DAILY BLOGS When your coffee cup becomes a paint brush THEFILTER.BLOGS.MICHIGANDAILY.COM INDEX NEWS........... Vol, CXIX, No. 65 SUDOKU...... (2008The Michigan Daily OPINION. michigandaily.com ......... .2 SPORTS................ ...........3 CLASSIFIEDS.............. ............4 A R T S ............ .............. . .. . . .. .. .. ... . . 9 I