The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 _ 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, September16, 2009 - 7A
.Administration
unveils rules for
fuel efficiency
Standards call for
new vehicles to
average 35.5 miles
per gallon by 2016
WASHINGTON (AP) - With
global talks on climate change
looming, the Obama administra-
tion sought to gain momentum
yesterday by unveiling its plan to
require better gas mileage for cars
and trucks and the first-ever rules
on vehicle greenhouse gas emis-
sions. 1
Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood and EPA Administrator
Lisa Jackson released the proposed
regulations at the White House,
the follow-up to President Barack
Obama's announcement in May
that the government regulations
would link emissions and fuel econ-
omy standards.
"This action will give our auto
companies some long-overdue clar-
ity, stability and predictability,"
Obama said Tuesday during a visit
to a General Motors plant in Lord-
stown, Ohio.
"This marks asignificant advance
in our work to protect health and
the environment and move our
nation to a sustainable economy in
the future," Jackson said.
The new standards call for the
auto industry's fleet of new vehicles
to average 35.5 miles per gallon by
2016.
The proposal will cover vehicle
model years 2012 through 2016,
allowing auto companies to comply
at once with all federal require-
ments as well as standards pushed
by California and about a dozen
other states.
The administration estimated
the requirements would cost up
to $1,300 per new vehicle by 2016
- but that it would take just three
years to pay off that investment and
that the standards would save more
than $3,000 over the life of the
vehicle through better gas mileage.
Jackson said the new standards
will have the effect of taking 42
million cars off the road.
The proposal is expected to
increase vehicle fuel efficiency by
about5percentannuallyandreduce
greenhouse gas emissions by nearly
CIRCLE K
From Page 1A
"I felt bad for all the members
having to repaint, but it did bring
a lot of our members together,"
she said. "It's a fun activity, and
most of the people that were
painting had the chance to see
another aspect of what our orga-
nization is about."
Circle K repainted the stolen
Diag boards. Goelz said each one
took approximately five to six
hours to paint.
"It's a monetary loss," he said.
"We also put a lot of time and
effort into doing this. A lot of the
members help out and its really
hurtful for them to see their work
just ripped down."
In addition to the money lost
and hurt feelings, Goelz said
there have also been other psy-
chological effects on members.
"It's caused a kind of obses-
HALFWAY INN
From Page 1A
healthier menu options.
The expanded menu, which
included organic pizza, popcorn,
pattie melt, specialty coffees, na-
chos, salads, sandwiches and par-
faits, was well received by students
when tested during winter term of
last year, Logan said.
Sophomore Ionut Gitan, a mem-
ber of the East Quad Music Co-op,
appreciates the basement's exclu-
sive function as a lounge because
his group can play a couple times
POST OFFICE
From Page 1A
will come down to USPS "dollars
and cents."
The post office's recent
decline in profits has been a
result of a number of issues. In
addition to the effects of a down
economy, many people have
simply stopped sending letters
through the mail, opting instead
for e-mail.
"Things you could do at the
post office, you could do right at
home at your home computer in
950 million metric tons. The plan
would also conserve 1.8 billion bar-
rels of oil,Jacksonsaid.
Administration officials noted
that the new standards are four
yearsaheadofa20071awthatwould
have required the auto industry to
meet aS3 mpg average in 2020.
The proposed rules are expected
to provide automakers some flex-
ibility in meeting the requirements
in exchange for building advanced
vehicles. Some luxury automakers
and foreign manufacturers who
sell a limited number of vehicles
in the United States could meet a
less-stringent standard in the early
years of the regulations.
The agencies must finalize the
proposal by March 30 to give auto-
makers enough planning time for
the regulations to take effect in the
2012 model year.
Yesterday's announcement could
provide the Obama administration
momentum on climate change in
advance of a series of high-level
talks on a new international agree-
ment to curb heat-trapping gases
and a speech by the President next
week on global warming at a special
U.N. summit.
The administration'sleadclimate
negotiator just last week acknowl-
edged that negotiations have so far
failed to bridge the divide between
developed and developing nations,
sayingthat action on the part of the
U.S. by passing legislation to limit
greenhouse gases was urgently
needed. But with the bill delayed in
theSenatebythehealthcare debate,
the chances that Congress will act
before more than 180 nationsagather
in Copenhagen, Denmark in early
December to work on a new treaty
are growing dimmer.
The new fuel economy stan-
dards, in the meantime, could serve
as a placeholder - a concrete step
that the Obama administration is
taking to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
In another prelude to Copen-
hagen, the Obama administration
announced Tuesday that the U.S.,
Mexico and Canada would ask 195
nations that ratified a U.N. ozone
treaty to enact mandatory reduc-
tions in hydrofluorocarbons, or
HFCs, powerful greenhouse gases
used as coolants in refrigerators
and air conditioners.
sion," he said. "There was a false
alarm. The SORC e-mailed us tell-
ing us that ourDiag board was sto-
len again, so we went out and ran
around lookingfor it. But it turned
out it wasn't stolen. It's just get-
ting into everyone's head."
Goelz said though it has been
affecting the group emotion-
ally, members hope the incidents
aren't a demonstration against
the organization's goals.
"It's really hurting our morale,
and we're confused as to why
someone would be targeting us,"
he said. "We think what we're
doing is good so we hope it's not a
reflection on our organization."
Kittikul said she tries to walk
past the group's Diag boards as
often as she can to make sure
they're still there.
"I hope it doesn't happen
again, but you never know," she
said. "We didn't think it would
happen again when the school
year started, but it did."
a month without encountering any
scheduling difficulty.
Despite a natural resistance to
change, Logan has seen a generally
positive response.
"Students and staff seem posi-
tive about the change because
Halfway Inn remains a great com-
munity space," Logan said. "Plus,
they have a better caf6 operation
upstairs that also serves as a place
for community activities."
Stauffer validated Logan's per-
ception.
"It's going to be a lot better,"
Stauffer said. "(The old place) was
called 'the Half-ass' for a reason.
the middle of the night even if you
wanted to," said Ed Moore, man-
ager of communications for the
Detroit district of USPS.
"Postal services across the board
are looking at offices we could con-
solidate to make things more effi-
cient," he continued. "We steadily
have experienced a decline in mail
volume and we just have way too
many facilities across the nation to
sustain the number of post offices
that we have."
- Nicole Aber, Olivia
Carrino and Jenna Skoller
-contributed to this report.
cHRis DZOMBAK/Daily
Bill Weihl, the 'Green Energy Czar' for Google, speaks to students and faculty yesterday in the Dana Building.
Goo e's 'Green Ener Czar'talks
COmpany's projects in campus visit
Bill Weihl talked
about the role of
private companies in
future of energy
By VALIANT LOWITZ
Daily StaffReporter
Google "Green Energy Czar" Bill
Weihl gave the keynote address at the
University's 14th annual Energy Fest
yesterday. The lecture, titled "Invent-
ing aClean Energy Future at Google,"
focused primarily on Google's newly
launched green initiatives.
Weihlheadsthegreenenergydivi-
sion at Google, which means he over-
sees the research and development
of new technologies with which to
reduce not just Google's carbon foot-
print but also world's carbon impact
at large.
The speech began with a discus-
sion of Google's latest energy pro-
gram, RE<C. The program focuses
on engineering ways to reduce the
cost of producing clean energy.
The point of the project, accord-
ing to Google's website, is "to cre-
ate renewable energy cheaper than
coal (and) will focus on advanced
solar thermal power, wind power
technologies, and enhanced geo-
thermal systems."
Weihl also spoke about Google
PowerMeter, which, if put into oper-
ation, would provide detailed infor-
mation about a specific household's
energy consumption.
"If you give people this kind of
data," Weihl said, "just through
simple behavior changes, with peo-
ple now aware of how much they're
using, they will on average reduce
their electricity use between 5and 15
percent."
Other initiatives Weihl talk-
ed about in the speech include
RechargeIT, aimed at accelerating
the adoption of electric vehicles
and Clean Energy 2030, a project
to find "a potential path to weaning
the U.S. off of coal and oil for elec-
tricity generation by 2030 (with
some remaining use of natural gas
as well as nuclear), and cutting oil
use for cars by 40 percent," accord-
ing to Google's official blog.
Weihl said he hoped Google's
leadership would drive innovation in
the clean energy sector. Areas Weihl
mentioned specifically included
solar, thermal, high-altitude wind
and enhanced geothermal energy.
Business senior Akash Jaggi said
he found the lecture to be "pretty
informative," but would have like to
have heard more about "what under-
graduates could do aboutstudying or
personal initiatives."
Rackham student Greg Buzzell,
who holds a Master of Business
Administration from the Business
School and a Master of Science from
the School of Natural Resources and
Environment, said that the big take-
away point from the lecture was that
"the private sector is going to have to
take the lead in this effort in order to
see results."
He added: "It'sgreatthat...Google
is tackling this problem, even if it's
not their core competency."
"We have an opportunity, no an
obligation, to take a stand," Weihl
said to the crowd.
-Alex Kirshenbaum
contributed to this report.
Lutz: GM changed course with commercials
GM's new marketing
guru aims to change
company's image
HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP,
Mich. (AP) - Bob Lutz, General
Motors' new marketing guru, jok-
ingly wants to put a new ending
on a much-panned ad featuring
a movie director hugging a new
Buick LaCrosse sedan and treating
it like a model on a beach.
In Lutz's version, a tidal wave
would crash over the ad set, wash-
ing everything away but the car,
which is where the focus should
have been, he says.
Vice Chairman Lutz, formerly
head of product development, says
GM has spent too much time and
money on advertising that hasn't
changed with widespread percep-
tion that the company's.vehicles
aren't as good as its competitors.
Speaking yesterday at an event
north of Detroit, Lutz said mem-
bers of the government's auto task
force and new board Chairman
Edward Whitacre Jr. agreed and
also pushed for change.
Whitacre, who is featured in
the first round of ads, as well as
task force members, told GM
executives that the company had
made great strides in product
development and manufacturing
quality, "but we were seriously
deficient in getting the word out,"
Lutz said.
GM emerged from bankruptcy
protection in July and has received
$50 billion in federal aid. The com-
pany is 60.8 percent owned by the
government, which ousted the old
CEO and has been pulling other
strings despite statements that
it doesn't want to run a car com-
pany.
The old ads, Lutz said, showed
happy families washing their cars
and GM vehicles on winding roads,
but did little to change the pub-
lic perception that the automaker
builds inferior vehicles.
Lutz has scrapped the direc-
tor and other ads in favor of those
focused on vehicles. GM kicked off
the campaign last weekend with
spots featuring Whitacre chal-
lenging people to try the compa-
ny's vehicles and offering a 60-day
money-back guarantee. A new
wave of ads starting Sept. 21 will
compare new GM vehicles directly
with competitors.
"Where we are competitively
superior we will say so," Lutz said.
He spoke at a dealership where
he marked the arrival of the new
GMC Terrain. It's a midsize cross-
over vehicle designed to take on
the Toyota RAV-4, Honda CRV
and the BMW X3.
Lutz said GM will greatly
increase its ad spending, making
claims that its products are better
than models from topflight brands
such as Lexus, BMW or Acura.
GM's corporate and brand
advertising have gone to a large
number of different ad agencies
over the years. Leo Burnett cur-
rently has Buick and GMC and
had Pontiac until GM decided to
shed the brand. Campbell-Ewald
has had the Chevrolet account for
years. Modernista now has Cadil-
lac.
Jack Nerad, executive market
analyst for Kelley Blue Book, said
GM's strategy will give more pub-
licity to competitors, but GM has
little to lose because it wasn't on
the consideration list for many
buyers anyway.
"That might at least pique some
curiosity," he said. "I think one
of the keys with General Motors
is getting butts into seats. Once
people sample, I think they will be
impressed."
GM's newer products are com-
petitive with the best automakers,
Nerad said, but some older vehicles
are mediocre and may not impress
people.
FINANCIAL AID
From Page 1A
anteed student loan program sim-
ply wasn't efficient for taxpayers or
operating in the best interest of stu-
dents and families," Miller said.
"Lenders and banks had a great
deal," Miller continued. "They
received taxpayer subsidies for
doing business that has become
highly profitable to them, but the
subsidies continue."
An analysis of the legislation by
the non-partisan Congressional
Budget Office found that by end-
ing the guaranteed loans, the new
program would save taxpayers
about $87 billion in mandatory fees
owed to lenders over the next 10
years, while only adding $7 billion
in discretionary spending - mostly
administrative costs - for the fed-
eral government.
Hence, the CBO estimates that
the net impact on federal spending
of the proposed changes would be a
reduction of about $80 billion over
the next decade.
With thatsurplus, Congressional
leaders have big plans for revamp-
ing the nation's higher education
landscape with more financial aid
being available to students of both
public and private institutions.
Most notable among the new
spending would be a $40 billion
investment in the Pell Grant schol-
arship program. With that money,
the maximum annual Pell Grant
scholarship would increase from
$5,550 in 2010 to $6,900 by 2019.
Additionally, starting in 2011, the
amount of the award would be like-
ly to outpace rises in the Consumer
Price Index by 1 percent.
On the conference call, Duncan
stressed the long-term impact these
Pell Grant investments could have
on the aspirations of young people
around the country.
"To me that's so important not
just for our current college stu-
dents, not just for our juniors and
seniors who are about to go to col-
lege," Duncan said of the additional
Pell Grant investments, "but reilly
for our fifth and sixth graders who
are smart, who are working hard
but because mom and dad might
have lost a job or because they've
taken a huge pay cut that dream of
college too often starts to die at a
very early age."
For the 2007-2008 academic
year, 3,349 University students
received more than $9 million in aid
from Pell Grants, Margaret Rodri-
guez, senior associate director of
the office of Financial Aid told the
Daily in February. That means that
each student receiving a Pell Grant
got an average of $2,776.
Another aspect of the legisla-
tion, that Duncan termed a brand-
new program that he's "never seen
anything like ... before," is $3 billion
to strengthen college access oppor-
tunities and programs to help stu-
dents complete their degrees.
"The goal here is to dramatically
increase attainment," Duncan said.
"The presidet has drawn a line in
the sand. He said by 2020 we have
to again be the country that leads
the world in the percent of college
graduates."
According to the Organiza-
tion for Economic Cooperation
and Development's Education at
a Glance 2008 report, the United
States ranks behind nine other
industrialized countries in the per-
centage of the population aged 25
to 34 that has attained a post-sec-
ondary education.
"We're convinced that we
have to educate our way to a bet-
ter economy," Duncan said, "and
that college access and completion
fund will reward those states and
those schools that are dramati-
cally increasing not just access but
attainment."
According to Duncan, the legis-
lation will also funnel an additional
$6 billion to the Perkins Loan pro-
gram - a campus-based program
that provides low-cost federal loans
to students, according to the com-
mittee's website.
Additionally, the legislation will
simplify the well-known FAFSA
form, which dictates how much a
family is expected to contribute
financially to their child's costs for
college.
The most ardent opponent of the
legislation is, not surprisingly, the
lending industry itself.
In a Chronicle of Higher Educa-
tion article from last week, Martha
Holler, a spokeswoman for Sallie
Mae, the largest financer of student
loans, downplayed the importance
of the CBO's analysis of the pro-
posed legislation.
"This CBO score confirms that
mandatory savings of $87 billion
are achievable," Holler said, ref-
erencing that such gains could be
attained by both the House bill or
through a proposed bill that the
industry has been pushing.
The lending industry's Student
Loan Community Proposal, which
was drafted as an alternative to
the House Democrats' legislation,
would result in net federal savings
of $67 billion in the next decade,
compared to $80 billion in the
Democrats version.
Despite their objections to the
House proposal, Holler said lenders
would "continue to work with the
(Obama) administration and Con-
gress to create the best program
for students, families, schools and
taxpayers."
Rep. Miller said that the House
would start taking up the bill today
and complete the amendment pro-
cess tomorrow afternoon.
The legislation would then go to
Senate, where Miller said there is "a
lot of anticipation" about the bill.
"Some people say it's going to be
more difficult in the Senate," Miller
said. "But I think we're relying on
students and others to persuade the
Senate that this is the right thing to
do."
He added: "And I think we're
goingto be successful."
Ultimately,Millersaidhe expects
the legislation to be on "the presi-
dent'sdesk before the holidays."