The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
*Detroit city staff
face perfume ban
City employees in Detroit will be
urged not to wear perfume, cologne
or after-shave as a result of a settle-
ment in a federal lawsuit.
Officials plan to place warning
placards in three city buildings.
The signs will warn workers to
avoid "wearing scented products,
including ... colognes, aftershave
lotions, perfumes, deodorants,
body/face lotions ... (and) the use of
scented candles, perfume samples
from magazines, spray or solid air
fresheners..."
Other notices will go in the new
employee handbook and be men-
tioned in Americans with Disabili-
ties Act training.
WASHINGTON
White House
" defends Obama
criticism of Court
The White House yester-
day defended President Barack
Obama's scathing criticism of
a Supreme Court decision that
allows unions and corporations to
funnel unlimited dollars to politi-
cal campaigns.
Senior adviser David Axelrod
and press secretary Robert Gibbs
refused to retreat from criticism
Obama leveled during his State of
the Union address, with six of the
nine members of the court sitting
a few feet in front of him. The two
White House officials defended
Obama's statement that the ruling
was seriously flawed.
"Under the ruling of the Supreme
Court, any lobbyist could go in to
any legislator and say, 'If you don't
vote our way on this bill, we're
going to run a million-dollar cam-
paign against you in your district.'
And that is a threat to our democ-
racy," Axelrod said.
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico
3 with ties to U.S.
government killed
on Mexican border
Three people with ties to the
American consulate were killed in a
drug-plagued Mexican city, includ-
ing a U.S. couple shot to death with-
in sight of the border with their
baby in their back seat, officials said
9 yesterday.
President Barack Obama
expressed outrage over the kill-
ings, and Mexican President Felipe
Calderon promised a swift investi-
gation.
Several U.S. citizens have been
killed in Mexico's drug war, most
of them people with family ties
to Mexico. However, it is rare for
American government employees
to he targeted.
The three died during a particu-
larly bloody weekend in Mexico,
with nearly 50 people killed in
apparent drug-gang violence. Nine
people were killed in a gang shoot-
out early yesterday in the Pacific
resort city of Acapulco, one of Mex-
ico's spring break attractions.

The U.S. consulate employee and
her husband were shot to death Sat-
urday in their car near the Santa Fe
international bridge linking Ciu-
dad Juarez with El Paso, Texas,
said Vladimir Tuexi, a spokesman
for Chihuahua state prosecutors'
office.
Their baby was found unharmed
in the back seat. Tuexi estimated
the child was about 1 year old.
TBILISI, Georgia
Hoax news report
on Russia invasion
panics Georgians
Georgians have been panicked
by a hoax television news pro-
gram announcing the Russian
army had invaded and killed Pres-
ident Mikhail Saakashvili.
Russia and Georgia fought a
brief but bloody war in 2008, a
conflict still fresh in the minds
of Georgians who have since seen
two de facto independent prov-
inces erect firm borders.
The private television station
Imedi - Georgia's No. 3 channel
showed the faux report Satur-
day night.
A few media outlets picked up
on the story, and the channel ran a
ticker during a subsequent enter-
tainment show stating the report
"did not correspond with reality."
There was no explanation.
Tbilisi resident Gocha Khachi-
uri, 43, said he had to take heart
pills after hearing the news.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports

Pelosi says she
is confident
health care bill
will pass House

Speaker declines to
say when reps will
vote on legislation
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
said Saturday she's confident the
House will pass health carelegis-
lation and dismissed Republican
criticism that she did not have
enough votes for the measure.
"We're very excited about
where we are and will not be
deterred by estimates that have
no basis in fact," she said during
a dedication of the renamed Lim
P. Lee Post Office in San Francis-
co. The post office was renamed
after the nation's first Chinese-
American postmaster.
Pelosi declined to say when
House members would vote on
a health care bill, or how many
votes that she had secured.
Although she added that law-
makers were "on the verge of
making history."
She also dismissed criticism
by House GOP leader John Boeh-
ner of Ohio that she did not have
sufficient votes.
"I'm never dependent on Con-
gressman Boehner's count. I
never have," she said to a smat-
tering of laughter from the
WEBSITES
From Page 1A
want to stay in Michigan post-
graduation but, despite their
interest in staying in-state, many
find jobs elsewhere.
To find a job in Michigan,
Sebille-White said it takes "net-
working" and "dedication." She
described how many students are
forced to look for jobs outside the
state, which contributes to the
much-discussed "brain drain"
phenomenon.
"It depends upon field and area
of expertise and where you want
to live," she said. "Certainly every
state is suffering (from the econ-
omy), but Michigan, obviously, is
sufferingmore."
University alum James Wahls,
who is president of DetroitInt-
ern.com, LLC, wrote in an e-mail
interview that his website is "a
response to the young profes-
sional brain drain that is affect-
ing Metro Detroit," and added
that the website provides access
to internships, job opportunities
and career resources.
Wahls founded DetroitIntern.
com in 2006, which has since
grown to include 10 major cities,
including New York City, Chicago
and Atlanta. Each city has its own
internship and job-posting site
operating under the DetroitInt-
ern network.
. Wahls said expanding Detroi-
tIntern to other cities has pro-
vided economic opportunities
for Michigan because it helps "to
virtually link Detroit's businesses
and workforce with other major
metropolitan areas."
Wahls and his business part-
ner Tarik Green, also a University
alum, are working with Idealist.
org to further expand the number
of job listings on DetroitIntern
into the thousands.
More than 3,000 students and
professionals are currently regis-
tered with DetroitIntern, most of

whom reside in Michigan and the
Midwest. Nearly 40 Michigan
colleges and universities direct
students to the site via their
career services websites, accord-
ing to Wahls.
InternInMichigan.com is a
state-wide initiative that is a
partnership of government enti-
ties and other organizations that
aims to attract college graduates
to the state.
Jennifer Goodin, spokeswom-
an for Intern In Michigan, wrote
in an e-mail interview that the
goal of the site is "to connect cur-
rent college students and recent
graduates seeking internships
with Michigan-based employers
looking to hire them."
More than 10,000 students are
registered with Intern In Michi-
gan - about 1,250 of which attend
the University of Michigan,
according to Goodin.
Another resource, available
exclusively to University stu-
dents, is the Career Center Con-
nector - a job posting site linked

crowd.
House Democratic leaders are
pressing for a vote on their bill as
early as this coming week.
The legislation would pro-
vide health care to tens of mil-
lions who currently lack it. It
would require almost everyone
to obtain coverage and subsidize
the cost of premiums for poor
and middle-income Americans.
It would also ban insurance
companies from denying cover-
age on the basis of pre-existing
conditions.
The health care bill appeared
to be on the verge of passing in
early January before Democrats
lost a special election in Massa-
chusetts to fill the seat of the late
Edward M. Kennedy and with it,
their filibuster-proof majority in
the Senate.
In the weeks since, the White
House and Democrats have
embarked on a rescue strategy
that would require the House to
pass legislation that cleared the
Senate in December before both
houses approve a second bill that
makes changes to the first.
But some anti-abortion Demo-
crats in the House have balked
at the bill, and it's not clear they
will vote for final passage. The
bill needs 216 votes to clear the
House.
on the center's website. Many of
the postings include jobs in Mich-
igan and users are able to search
for jobs by location.
University alum Vinal Desai
utilized job posting websites like
the Career Center Connector
in her pursuit for a job last year.
Desai wrote in an e-mail inter-
view that she recently found a job
at Google's headquarters in Ann
Arbor.
While Desai wrote that she
might leave the state for graduate
school in the future, she said she
knew she wanted to stay in Mich-
igan for a while after completing
her undergraduate degree. '
"Michigan is my home," she
wrote. "Having grown up here,
I have a strong support system of
family and friends. This support
system has been invaluable to me
throughout the transition period
followinggraduation."
Margaret Dewar, professor of
Urban and Regional Planning at
the University, wrote in an e-mail
interview that she thinks Michi-
gan's weak economy is to blame
for the "brain drain."
She added that these websites
and other resources are ways
companies in the state are look-
ing to boost Michigan's economy.
Despite some of the new job
opportunities, she wrote that her
students have been struggling to
find jobs in Michigan.
"My students would love to
stay here," she said. "They can't
because they have to find jobs,
and this region has few. They
hold out for a job here as long as
they can, but finally, they have to
go elsewhere."
LSA senior Joseph Holberg
said the University's Department
of Economics helped him find a
job via e-mails sent to students in
the program.
He said that not only would he
be willing to take a position out-
of-state in order to secure a job,
but if he were presented with two
equal job opportunities - one in

Michigan and one out-of-state -
he would most likely not choose
the one in Michigan.
"I would like to accumulate an
array of experiences in terms of
location," he said.
Sebille-White said she thinks
the "brain drain" is partly caused
by students looking to live in an
environment with a large young-
er professional population like
New York City or Chicago.
"There are a lot of different
cultural opportunities, social
opportunities and some of the
things that make living attractive
(in larger cities)," she said.
Sebille-White also noted that
while online job posting boards
are helpful, students may not
want to rely solely on those
resources.
"Probably a good 70 percent
of jobs that are available at any
given time are never advertised -
they're filled by word of mouth,"
she said. "So if you're not con-
nected, you may not know about
those opportunities."

BUSINESS
From Page 1A
cash flow issues, and this program
is designed to help give relief to
small businesses that are having
trouble getting their loans that
they used to get quite routinely
(and) are now drying up," Brater
said. "I think this a good proposal
and will be effective."
Amer Bathish, owner of Amer's
Deli, said he likes the concept
of the Financing Alliance, but
$20,000 is not enough money to
help an established business like
his.
"I would need more for float
money, like $50,000 to $100,000,"
Bathish said. "$20,000 will not
take you far."
Bathish said if he received a
loan from the Financing Alliance,
he would use the money to make
improvements in his restaurants
instead of hiring more employees.
Bathish said government assis-
tance to Ann Arbor businesses
should help with sky-high rent
costs because he and other local
business owners are paying large
sums on rent.
Bathish said he is paying
$15,000 a month for his State
Street restaurant location and
compared the price to rent in
downtown New York City.
"The rent in this town is abso-
lutely ridiculous," he said. "Why
are we paying Manhattan rent for
little Ann Arbor?"
He added that unlike New York,
Ann Arbor businesses only make
revenue when students are in
town, which is only seven months
out of the year.
Village Apothecary owner
Garry Turner said Financing Alli-
ance program is a "step in the
right direction" and that he would
consider taking a loan from the
program for his drug store. But he
said the program is not enough,
adding that he thinks public poli-
cies should focus on relieving the
tax burden on small businesses.
"I think there are a lot of busi-
nesses, small and large, in the state
that are holding back hiring right
now because there are a lot of costs
involved," Turner said.
EVENT
From Page 1A
Since the ballot initiative
passed in 2006, the percentage
of underrepresented minority
students in incoming freshmen
classes at the University has
declined every year. In the fall
semester of 2005, 812 under-
represented minority students
enrolled as freshmen at the Uni-
versity. The number declined to
604 students who enrolled in
fall 2009, and this year's under-
represented minority enrollment
fell 11.4 percent from last year to
535 students.
James Holloway, associate
dean for the College of Engineer-
ing, spoke about the history of
affirmative action and specifi-
cally the 2006 ballot initiative.
Holloway said Proposal 2 has
placed limitations on the Univer-
sity and has made it harder for
the University to attract under-
represented minority students.
"In terms of applications and
admits, we are close to where we
were in 2005," Holloway said.

"In terms of getting those stu-
dents to come, it is getting more
and more difficult."
other panelists who spoke at

Turner suggested that the state
should provide a tax credit for
each newly hired employee to help
offset the cost of training and new
payroll taxes - an idea he thinks
would help both current business-
es and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Kyle Mazurek, vice president
of government affairs for the Ann
Arbor Area Chamber of Com-
merce; which recently merged
with the Ypsilanti Area Chamber
of Commerce, said he also thinks
that reformingtaxes is a necessary
step to help small businesses, but
that lawmakers should take a dif-
ferent approach.
"The goal of many state-wide,
small business associations is to
develop a more competitive tax
structure," Mazurek said.
Mazurek said he knows many
small business owners are con-
cerned about taxes - citing the
22-percent surcharge on the
Michigan Business Tax as a pri-
mary concern.
But Porter, the lecturer, said he
thinks reducing the tax burdens
on small businesses is unrealistic
given the state's current economic
situation.
"Reducing the tax burden (on
business) is always a good idea,
but given the realities of our gov-
ernments ... we have to be honest
about their financial condition
and where they're going to get the
capital to meet all the needs of the
citizens," he said. "I don't think
it's realistic to think about reduc-
ing taxes."
Porter added that the lack of
access to credit - which is what
Granholm's program is aiming to
address - hampers small busi-
nesses from expanding more than
the burden of taxes.
Mazurek, the official from the
Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce,
said he also thinks unobtainable
credit is specifically preventing
small businesses from expand-
ing, but that the Financing Alli-
ance program will "significantly
improve small business access to
capital."
"One of the barriers is access to
capital, and (businesses) are find-
ing that traditional institutions
just don't have capital available to
them or aren't willing to lend it,"
the event included Lester Monts,
senior vice provost for Academic
Affairs, John Matlock, director
of the Office of Academic Mul-
ticultural initiatives, Sharon
Burch, director of Undergradu-
ate Recruitment Initiatives and
Derrick Scott, program director
of the Multicultural Engineering
Programs Office.
At the talk, students contrib-
uted to the discussion - giv-
ing advice to the panelists, and
expressing concerns about the
University's academic and social
environment.
One student said the Univer-
sity should implement a program
to educate students about vari-
ous multicultural issues. Anoth-
er student proposed a system to
track students' educational prog-
ress to prevent students from
"falling through the cracks."
Many minority students at the
event agreed that after the pas-
sage of Proposal 2, they have felt
like they have had to prove their
academic potential to theit peers
and professors.
Students also expressed sur-
prise by the levels of admis-

sion and matriculation rates for

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 3A
Mazurek said.
Mazurek added that he hopes
Financing Alliance "will be a win-
win for small businesses" and that
Ann Arbor area businesses will
take advantage of the program.
In addition to the Financing
Alliance, Granholm announced
state funding for FastTrac, which
will be run by The Ewing Marion
Kauffman Foundation in partner-
ship with Wayne State University's
TechTown program. It's expected
that the program will be offered at
12 small business assistance cen-
ters throughout the state.
Michigan Economic Develop-
ment Corporation - an organiza-
tion created through a partnership
between state and local govern-
ments - is expected to provide
$200,000 for 1,000 entrepreneurs
to attend FastTrac.
Brater said FastTrac will help
to expand start-up companies in
Washtenaw County, adding that
the program will also benefit the
area's universities.
Mazurek said he thinks Fast-
Trac isthe type of program that is
necessary to help rebound Michi-
gan's economy.
"The conventional wisdom at
the Chamber (is that) the key to
Michigan's economic recovery
is going to be jump-starting our
entrepreneurial spirit and encour-
aging small businesses' growth,"
Maurek said. "My understand-
ing of this program is that it is
designed to do exactly that by giv-
ing would-be entrepreneurs the
training they need to be success-
ful."
But some, like Porter, still
believe Granholm's initiatives to
help small businesses don't go far
enough to create new jobs and
transform Michigan's economy.
"Public policy must aim to
replace (the lost jobs) and creating
a new economy in Michigan," Por-
ter said. "I think if we're trying to
replace the automotive companies
that have pulled out of the state,
and if we're to be competitive as a
state ... we need to have a knowl-
edge-based economy to establish
new companies and industries,
and Michigan will need much
more substantial programs than
(those outlined by the governor)'
underrepresented minority stu-
dents at the University.
Business senior Julia Hawley
said in an interview after the
event that she felt low matricula-
tion rates for minority students
were cause for concern.
"I think that one of the most
important discussions today was
not only the admissions, but also
the matriculation rates," Hawley
said. "I think that this is some-
thing that not only the adminis-
tration needs to work on, but the
student body needs to be aware of
as well."
College of Engineering junior
Aisha Harris, an organizer of the
event, said in an interview after
the discussion that she felt com-
pelled to raise awareness about
affirmative action and Proposal
2's effects because the issues
have not had much attention in
recent years.
"My class was the last one to
come in with affirmative action,"
Harris said. "There were a lot of
years of silence and people had a

lot to say. I wanted to give that
opportunity to people - a com-
munication between the Univer-
sity and its students."

H--, OK

The Tomcha & Vlasch Project
Unusual Music for
Unusual People
tomchavaschproject.com

-----------------=-===========

a