The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, March 30, 2009 - 3A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, March 30, 2009 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS LANSING, Mich. State employees resist budget cuts State workers who didn't get a raise this fiscal year while see- ing their health care premiums double are resisting talk of more concessions. But they may not be able to dodge the bulls-eye on their backs as the state's financial situation, already shaky, grows worse. With hundreds of millions of dollars to be made up, one of the places state government is looking to save is labor costs. State employees have been here before, enduring furlough days and other concessions earlier in the decade. None of the state's 52,600 employees are eager to relive those times. "We've given and given and given. That's the thing that's so frustrating," said Steve Gilroy, 53, who does billing and reimburse- ment at the state's Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital. House Republicans caused a stir last week by proposing to reduce state workers' wages 5 percent in the current budget. They also want to freeze a 1 percent raise this October and a 3 percent raise in October 2010 and boost workers' share of health premiums from 10 percent to 15 percent. WASHINGTON Tobacco prices rise in lieu of new tax However they satisfy their nic- otine cravings, tobacco users are facingabighit asthe single largest federal tobacco tax increase ever takes effect Wednesday. Tobacco companies and public health advocates, longtime foes in the nicotine battles, are trying to turn the situation to their advan- tage. The major cigarette makers raisedpricesacoupleofweeksago, partly to offset any drop in profits once the per-pack tax climbs from 39 cents to $LOl. Medical groups see a tax increase right in the middle of a recession as a great incentive to help persuade smokers to quit. Tobacco taxes are soaring to finance a major expansion of health insurance for children. President Barack Obama signed that health initiative soon after taking office. Other tobacco products, from cigars to pipes and smoke- less, will see similarly large tax increases, too. For example, the tax on chewing tobacco will go up from 19.5 cents per pound to SO cents. The total expected to be raised over the 4 1/2 year-long health insurance expansion is nearly $33 billion. KIRKUK, Iraq UN mulls power- sharing plan for Iraq Seeking to head off an explo- sion of ethnic violence, the United Nations will call for a power-shar- ing system of government for Iraq's deeply divided region of Kirkuk in the oil-rich north. A draft U.N. plan, outlined to The AssociatedPressbytwo West- ern officials, aims to defuse dan- gerous tensions. Kurds, a majority in the region, have been trying to wrest control from Arabs, Turko- menand otherrival ethnic groups. If open warfare breaks out, it could jeopardize the U.S. goal of stability across Iraq before elec- tions at year's end. Peaceful elections are criti- cal to reducing the U.S. presence in Iraq, promised by President Barack Obama. The U.N. has played only a minor role in Iraq since 2003, when its Baghdad headquarters was destroyed by a truck bomb. Now, officials in Kirkuk say the U.N. efforts may be the last chance for a peaceful outcome. CARTHAGE, N.C. Shooter kills six at nursing home A gunman opened fire at a North Carolina nursing home yes- terday, killing six and wounding at least two others, police said. The gunman was also injured before he was apprehended by police after the 10 a.m. shooting at Pinelake Health and Rehab in the town of Carthage, Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie told television stations WRAL in Raleigh and WTVD in Durham. A police officer was also among the injured. - Compiled from Daily wire reports On campus, Pandora founder talks of life's work Westergren aims to transform the way people listen tomusic By MALLORY BEBERMAN Daily StaffReporter When Tim Westergren, the founder ofthe Internetradioservice Pandora, asked a packed Stamps Auditorium on Friday afternoon, "how many people here have used Pandora?" all the hands in the room went up. The Pandora phenomenon has been sweeping the nation since it launched in 2005. The free web- site allows users to discover new music based on the artists they already like. Westergren said that through Pandora - as an established radio service with about 600,000 songs in its collection - he aims to reinvent radio and help lesser-known artists gain the publicity they deserve. Westergren, who was brought in by the campus entrepreneurship group MPowered, said he aspires to change today's radio, which "is very limited in the music it plays," and transform it to "something that's much more satisfying and personalized." Seventy percent of Pandora's music library belongs to artists without a record label, Westergren said. He explained that as long as the quality of the recording meets Pandora's standards, any music is entered into the database. He said that he hopes to "turn Pandora into a massive promotional channel for tens of thousands of oth- erwise invisible workingmusicians." In 2007, when Pandora's exis- tence was threatened by sky high performancefees,Westergrensolic- ited the help of the website's mil- lions of users. Westergren said he sent an e-mail to subscribed users asking them to write to Congress. He said the overwhelming response kept Pandora in business. "Washington received 400,000 faxes in three days and eventually about 2 million calls, faxes, and let- ters to Congress,' he said. In the near future, Pandora plans on going global so that music lovers and musicians all over the world can enjoy the benefits of Pandora radio, Westergren said. After studying political science at Stanford University, Westergren's idea for Pandora was born from his experience as a struggling musi- cian, he said. As he played in bands and hung around fellow musicians, Wester- gren said he noticed a discouraging problem. "What I saw was a tremendous number of very talented musicians who nobody knew about," he said. After reading an article about a semi-well-known artist whose record company refused to release another one of her CD's, Wester- gren decided to create a solution that would expose lesser-known artists to the ears of the world. I kind of put this thing all together and thought, 'well there's a genome thing,' " he said. " 'Maybe if I can marry that to technology, some kind of algorithm, I could deliver (the artist's music) to the Web asa recommendation tool.'"' After sharing the idea with a friend, renting office space, hiring engineers and finding investors, Westergren's Music Genome Proj- ect was put into action. Yet the road to success for Pan- dora was far from smooth. Wester- gren said that in mid-2001, after the investors' money ran out and ;. some of the technology collapsed, employees' paychecks shrank until they were non-existent. He said that for three years, about 50 people worked without pay. "We were really in a pretty deep dark hole," Westergren said. "I had 11 maxed-out credit cards and I owed I think a couple hundred thousand dollars to friends and family." Now with 25 million registered U.S. listeners - a number that grows by 50,000 people each day - Pandora has finally reached the SAID ALSAL AH/Daily e Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora online radio, spoke at the Stamps Auditorium level of success that Westergren o North Campus oFriday. knew it could. The event was part of MPow- ered, said that to most students the neer or business major to pursue ered's Entreprelliance conference word "entrepreneurship" is very entrepreneurship. this weekend that brings together intimidating. She said her group "Pandora is used by students on students involved in entrepreneur- aims to make it less frightening. campus at Michigan from every ship from colleges across the nation She said that having Tim Wester- major," Cheng said, "and we really to discuss, share and collaborate on gren as a speaker enabled MPow- invited Tim because we thought he entrepreneurial ideas. ered to bring students with varied would connect with so many stu- Michelle Cheng, an Engineering interests together to demonstrate dents, share his story and what he's senior and the president of MPow- that you don't have to be an engi- learned." North Korea to test rocket this week, despite warnings In this June 26, 2008 file photo, then-Sen. Barack Obama talks with General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner. Wagoner will step down immediately at the request of the White House. Obama gives G Crysler an ultimatumo n vfutueaid GM's Rick Wagoner forced out, Chrysler required to partner with Fiat in final plan WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House says neither General Motors nor Chrysler submitted acceptable plans to receive more bailout money, setting the stage for a crisis in Detroit and putting in motion what could be the final two months of two American auto giants. President Barack Obama and his top advisers have determined that neither company is viable and that taxpayers will not spend untold bil- lions more to keep the pair of auto- makers open forever.Inalast-ditch effort,theadministrationgaveeach company a brief deadline to try one last time to convince Washington it is worth saving, said senior admin- istration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to more bluntly discuss the decision. Obama was set to make the announcement at 11 a.m. Monday in the White House's foyer. In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" broadcast Sunday, Obama said the companies must do more to receive additional financial aid from the government. "We think we can have a suc- cessful U.S. auto industry. But it's got to be one that's realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge - at the other end - much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is," Obama said. Frustrated administration offi- cials said Chrysler cannot func- tion as an independent company under its current plan. They have given Chrysler a 30-day window to complete a proposed partnership with Italian automaker Fiat SpA, and will offer up to $6 billion to the companies if they can negotiate a deal before time runs out. If a Chrysler-Fiat union cannot be completed, Washington plans to walk away, leave Chrysler destined for a complete sell-off. No other money is available. Shawn Morgan, a Chrysler spokeswoman, said the company wants to work with the Treasury Department and Obama's auto task force but declined to comment on the White House's plans. "With the administration's announcement on the restructur- ing of the automotive industry imminent, it would be inappropri- ate to comment on speculation," Morgan said in a statement early Monday morning. For GM, the administration offered 60 days of operating money to restructure. A frantic top-to- bottom effort began Sunday after CEO Rick Wagoner resigned under pressure from the White House. Fritz Henderson, GM's presi- dent and chief operating officer, became the new CEO, a Treasury Department source said. Board member Kent Kresa, the former chairman and CEO of defense con- tractor Northrop Grumman Corp., will be interim chairman of the GM board. One official said a majority of the GM board was expected to step down. Obama advisers saw public out- rage come to an ugly head in recent weeks, as populist anger escalated over bonuses paid to American International Group executives. They realized Americans are frus- trated with the economy and its business leaders; they also said they would not invest one dollar more than was necessary to keep the companies alive and would walk away if it looked impossible. Officials said GM had not made good on promises made in exchange for $13.4 billion in gov- ernment loans, although there are no plans to call in those loans. Administration officials still believe GM's chances are good, given its global brand and its research potential. Officials say they are confident GM can put together a plan that will keep pro- duction lines moving in the com- ing years. U.S. says testing would violate U.N. security resolution SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's plans to launch a rocket as early as this week in defi- ance of warnings threatens to undo years of fitful negotiations toward dismantling the regime's nuclear program. The U.S., South Korea and Japan have told the North that any rocket launch - whether it's a satellite or a long-range missile - would violate a 2006 U.N. Security Council Reso- lution prohibiting Pyongyang from any ballistic activity, and could draw sanctions. NorthKoreasaidsanctionswould violate the spirit of disarmament agreements, and said it would treat the pactsas null and void if punished for exercising its sovereign right to send a satellite into space. "Even a single word critical of the launch" from the Security Council will be regarded as a "blatant hos- tile act," a spokesman with North Korea's foreign ministry said Thurs- day, according the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency. "All the processes for the denucleariza- tion of the Korean Peninsula, which have been pushed forward so far, will be brought back to what used to be before their start and necessary strongmeasures willbe taken." That would be a sharp reversal from June 2008 when the North made a promising move toward disarmament, dramatically blow- ing up a cooling reactor at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex. But the regime routinely back- tracks on agreements, refuses to abide by international rules and wields its nuclear program like a weapon when it needs to win con- cessions from Washingtonor Seoul, analysts say. "History has shown them that the more provocative they are, the more attention they get. The more attention they get, the more they're offered," Peter M. Beck, a Kore- an affairs expert who teaches at American University in Washing- ton and Yonsei University in Seoul, said Sunday. Despite years of negotiations and impoverished North Korea's grow- ing need for outside help, it's clear the talkshave done little to curb the regime's drive to build - and sell - its atomic arsenal, experts say. "Ifthis is Kim JongIl's welcoming present to a new president, launch- ing a missile like this and threaten- ing to have a nuclear test, I think it says a lot about the imperviousness of this regime in North Korea to any kind of diplomatic overtures," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview broadcast on "Fox News Sunday." 1- 77777771