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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Friday, March 6,2009 c

michigandaily.com

AFTER GRADUATION DAY
On-campus
recruiting
shrinks with
economy

ARIEL BOND/Daily
Gov. Jennifer Granholm discusses the future of Michigan's alternative energy industry yesterday at "Switching Gears," an event put on by The Climate Group in the League.
Granhoim welcomes Danish
ie i
inpu one nryids

As job availability
dwindles, corporate
recruiters make
fewer college visits
By ESHWAR
THIRUNAVUKKARASU
Daily StaffReporter
University students looking
to benefit from the usually vast
pool of recruiters who come to
campus each year will be forced
to impress a smaller crowd this
year as companies try their best
to survive the current economic
downturn.
The United States Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported a 7.6
percent national unemployment
rate as of January - the highest it
has been since 1992. According to
figures released yesterday by the
Michigan Department of Energy,
Labor and Economic Growth,
unemployment rose to 1L6 per-
cent in January in the state. A
tougher job market exacerbated
by company layoffs nationwide
has left in its wake a significant
reduction in internships and full-
time position opportunities for
students.

Director of Career Develop-
ment and Student Affairs at the
Ross School of Business Al Cotro-
ne cited the financial crisis as
one major factor underlying the
reduced recruiter presence on
campus.
"We have seen a decrease in the
number of on-campus interview-
ing schedules offered this year,"
Cotrone said. "That has been led
by the investment banks."
He said students now faced
with the pressures of a strained
job market must rely on a self-
directed search and leverage the
University's vast alumni net-
work.
Cotrone also said that large
companies have often come to
campus during stronger econom-
ic times with specific recruitment
goals in mind, but smaller and
midsize businesses offer signifi-
cant opportunities for job seekers
in today's market.
The reverberations of the eco-
nomic downturn have also been
felt at other universities which
are reporting lower recruitment
numbers compared to past years.
Theda Rudd, associate direc-
tor in career cervices at Michi-
gan State University, said that no
apparent reduction in recruit-
See RECRUITERS, Page 3

Gov, says Michigan is
uniquely positioned
to build a renewable
energy sector
By MALLORY JONES
For the Daily
Gov. Jennifer Granholm teamed
up with Danish officials yester-
day as part of a joint program to
increase the number of renewable

energy jobs in a state that has long
relied on a troubled auto industry
to power its economy.
Denmark's Minister of Climate
and Energy Connie Hedegaard co-
signed a Memorandum of Under-
standing with Granholm yesterday
afternoon in the Michigan League
Ballroom, pledging to share infor-
mation and technology with the
state to help jump-start the ailing
economy with a new energy indus-
try.
Up until the early 1970s, Den-
mark was almost 100 percent

dependent on imported fuel. In the
aftermath of the Oil Crisis of 1973,
when the price of oil more than dou-
bled because of the OAPEC embar-
go, officials in Denmark noticed
the country's need for alternative
sources of energy.
Denmark then began major ini-
tiatives to break its dependence on
oil.
The country now boasts unem-
ployment figures of only 2.2
percent, and is spearheading a
movement to help Michigan - with
an unemployment rate of 10.2-per-

cent - experience similar results.
During the summit, Granholm
explained to a crowd of business
leaders and experts on renewable
energy that Michigan is uniquely
positioned for new business in the
renewable energy sector - much
like Denmark in the 1970's.
The state's advantages, Gra-
nholm said, include a large work-
force, 3,288 miles of shoreline
- prime real estate for wind farms
- and experience handling an
emerging industry.
See GRANHOLM, Page 3


BRINGING CAMPUS TOGETHER
Greeks LGBT to host joint event

NYPD plans to close its
South University doors

Workshop meant to Ofiafomterum C
build unity between of LGBT affairs, will lead a work-
shop designed to teach members of
traditionally all four Greek councils about what
it means to be both Greek and gay.
divergent groups The Greek-LGBT workshop was
developed through a collaborative
By NICOLE ABER effort between the Spectrum Cen-
DailyStaffReporter ter and the Lambda Alliance - a
student organization serving as a
As part of an increased effort to supportive partnership between
bring the Greek community and LGBT students and their allies in
the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and the Greek system.
Transgender community together, Kristefer Stojanovski, co-chair
members of the respective groups of the Lambda Alliance, which was
will meet Sunday to create a stron- founded by members of the four
ger support system on campus. Greek councils - the Interfrater-

nity Council, the Panhellenic Asso-
ciation, the Multicultural Greek
Council and the National Pan-hel-
lenic Council - in the fall of 2007,
said the idea for a Greek-LGBT
workshop has been in the works for
about a year.
Stojanovski said the workshop
is going to address situations that
arise in the Greek community
involving LGBT members, like
when a member of a fraternity or
sorority comes out to his or her
brothers or sisters.
"Primarily if you look on cam-
puses, there are two primar-
ily homophobic groups that aren't
See WORKSHOP, Page 3

CARBON-FREE CARS
Business owner discusses the prospect
of an America running on electric cars

James Ortiz waits for a customer to enter the usually-packed New York Pizza Depot on South University yesterday afternoon.

Speaker from Better
Place pushes plan
to decrease global
dependence on oil
By DEVON THORSBY
For the Daily
Last night in the Rackham
Amphitheatre, a crowd of about 150
students and community members
listened to a proposal to use elec-

tricity in a way the likes of Benja-
min Franklin and Thomas Edison
never could have envisioned.
Michael Granoff, the head of Oil
Independence Policies for Better
Place - an innovative new company
working to integrate zero-emission
cars into society - talked about the
steps his company has taken to cut
back on oil dependence around the
globe and the need for the United
States to follow its lead.
Better Place is already at work in
various countries including Israel,
Denmark, Australia and Canada -

and regions including California
and Hawaii - and hopes to extend
its reach to the entire United States
to make electric cars a reasonable
alternative to gas-powered cars.
Granoff spoke yesterday of Bet-
ter Place's desire to decrease world-
wide oil dependence and make a
shift to a more renewable, cost-
effective and eco-friendly way to
power cars.
"You can move the country off
oil, you can really move people very
quickly out of their gas cars and into
See ELECTRIC CAR, Page 3

Owner says move in
April will allow the
company to focus on
other franchises
By JILLIAN BERMAN
Daily NewsEditor
At about 2 a.m. on most week-
end nights, students pour out of
the bars and stumble down South

University Avenue looking for a thought it would be a good time to
late nightsnack. Fortunately, there close so they could focus more on
are a variety of greasy spoons their other franchises.
where students can get their fix. "I needed more physical help,"
But the quest to satisfy the "drunk he said. "Instead of having several
munchies" is about to get a little employees split up, I needed to
bit harder. have more time for my managers."
The NewYork Pizza Depotloca- Though the closing will bring
tion on South U. will be closing its more manpower to NYPD's other
doors, when its lease expires on locations, especially the restau-
April 14, co-owner Maurizio Gril- rant on East William Street, Grillo
lo said yesterday. said it will be hard to say goodbye
Grillo said that with the expi- to South U.
ration of the lease the owners See NYPD, Page 3


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