the importance of manufactur-
ing for the economy, and said it
affects not only the employees
of an individual plant, but also
the local economy and ulti-
mately the U.S. economy.
“Plants like this one didn’t
just build cars,” he said. “They
built the middle class.”
Continuing to build up the
middle class through econom-
ic stimulus was a key point
throughout the event, which
also
included
Secretary
of
Labor Thomas Perez and Ford
employee Mia Dew.
“We have to make sure these
rising tides lift all boats, and
not just the yachts,” Perez said
in his opening remarks.
Along with his discussion
of the auto industry, Obama
also highlighted his admin-
istration’s efforts to increase
apprenticeship programs. Last
year, Obama called on more
businesses to create and expand
apprenticeship programs, and
recently, the Obama admin-
istration invested $100 mil-
lion in an apprenticeship grant
competition. Obama said these
efforts have contributed to the
largest increase in apprentice-
ships in nearly a decade.
“We want young people to
see that they have opportuni-
ties,” Obama said. “They don’t
all have to go to a four year col-
lege; they can get an appren-
ticeship, save some money, start
working, build a family, buy a
house.”
He added that nationally,
87 percent of apprentices are
employed after they complete
their apprenticeship program,
with an average starting wage
of fifty thousand dollars.
Perez
also
emphasized
apprenticeships as “the other
college, except you don’t have
any of the debt.”
Apprenticeships
are
also
an idea Republican Gov. Rick
Snyder has focused on during
his tenure. Last May, Snyder
announced the creation of the
Michigan Advanced Techni-
cian Training Program.
The program started this
September and currently works
with 11 companies. Snyder
has stated he hopes to expand
enrollment to 90 students next
year, as well as the number of
companies involved.
In his speech, Obama spe-
cifically praised the UAW-Ford
Joint Apprenticeship Program.
The program is not affiliated
with the Michigan Advanced
Technician Training Program,
but both focus on encouraging
technical training.
As he ended his speech, the
president echoed his support
for Detroit, as well as his faith
in an economic recovery.
“We may not all root for the
(Detroit) Lions, but America is
rooting for Detroit,” he said.
“America’s
coming
strong.
America’s coming back. And
I’m going to be on your side
every step of the way.”
In response to Obama’s
remarks,
Michigan
GOP
Chairman
Bobby
Schostak
issued a statement Wednes-
day evening criticizing what
he
called
the
president’s
attempts to take credit for the
auto industry’s recovery.
“It is not surprising that the
president chose states with
Republican governors for his
‘three-city national tour,’ ”
the statement read. “In the
wake of Republicans sweep-
ing victory in Michigan and
across the nation, President
Obama should take note of the
commonsense,
responsible
policies that are driving the
economies in the states like
ours.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, January 8, 2015 — 3A
DETROIT
WSU adds voter
education program
Wayne State University said
Wednesday that it plans to boost
an effort to educate Detroit
residents about local government
and to get more of them involved
in public policy issues.
The expansion of CitizenDetroit
is supported by $750,000 from
the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation. The move follows
Detroit’s historic bankruptcy, the
largest by a government in U.S.
history, and comes after nearly
two years of a state-appointed
emergency
manager
making
decisions usually left to local
elected leaders.
COLUMBUS, Ohio
Airport authorities
shoot armed man
A man who tried to buy an air-
line ticket using a fake ID was
fatally shot Wednesday after
returning to his illegally parked
car, where he lunged at an airport
police officer with a knife during
a confrontation, police said.
The man had multiple knives
on him and suspicious items in
his car that led to a bomb squad
investigation, Columbus police
Sgt. Rich Weiner said. The man
was identified only as a Colum-
bus-area resident in his early 40s
pending notification of his rela-
tives.
WHITE SPRINGS, Fla.
Abused girl shoots
older brother
Police say a 15-year-old girl
who killed her 16-year-old broth-
er accused her family of years of
physical and sexual abuse.
Police
documents
released
Wednesday said the girl’s uncle
was convicted of molesting her in
2010. They also say the children’s
mother discovered the siblings
having sex.
The girl told investigators after
the shooting that her parents rou-
tinely kept her locked in a room
with only a blanket and a bucket to
urinate in.
The shooting happened Mon-
day. Police say the father is a truck
driver and his wife goes on trips
with him, leaving their children at
home. While they were away, the
girl broke into her parents’ bed-
room and got a handgun while her
11-year-old sister kept watch.
SANTA ANA, Calif.
Disney tourists
contract measles
Seven Californians and two
people in Utah have confirmed
cases of measles likely contract-
ed on trips last month to Disney
theme parks in California, state
officials said Wednesday.
Three more California residents
are suspected of having measles.
All patients with confirmed or sus-
pected cases of the illness visited
Disneyland or Disney California
Adventure between Dec. 15 and
Dec. 20, according to the state’s
Department of Public Health.
They likely got the airborne
illness at one of the parks then,
officials said, adding people with
measles can be infectious for nine
days.
SANAA, Yemen
Suicide bomber
kills 37 in capital
A suicide bomber rammed his
explosives-laden minibus into a
gathering of recruits outside a
police academy in the heart of
Yemen’s capital on Wednesday,
killing at least 37 people in the lat-
est high-profile attack to hit Sanaa.
No one immediately claimed
responsibility for the attack, but
Yemen’s local al-Qaida branch has
carried out similar assaults in the
past against the army and police in
this impoverished Arabian Penin-
sula country, viewing them as U.S.
proxies.
—Compiled from
Daily wire reports
adapt their product and opera-
tions moving forward after the
recession.
Ford spokeswoman Chris-
tin Baker said in a statement
to the Daily that the company
was proud both to host the
president and to contribute to
a growing U.S. economy. Ford
has added 24,000 jobs since
2011.
Obama also made sure to cel-
ebrate Ford and other Ameri-
can auto companies. Speaking
at the Ford Michigan Assem-
bly Plant, which has added
1,800 new employees since
2011 to reach over 5,000 now,
Obama rallied the crowd while
announcing the United States
has experienced 57 consecu-
tive months of job growth and
11 million jobs have been added
overall during that period. He
said growth in manufacturing
jobs has played a significant
role in reducing Michigan’s
unemployment rate, which now
sits at 7.1 percent, an improve-
ment from 2010’s 14.6 percent.
Additionally, Obama noted
that the auto companies have
repaid the bailout money in full
as of December 2014.
“America’s
resurgence
is
real,” he said. “Don’t let any-
body tell you otherwise. We’ve
got the best cars and we are
doing better than just about
anybody else on earth. And
now that we’ve got some calm-
er waters, now that the worst of
the crisis is behind us, if we all
do our part, if we all pitch in,
then we can make sure that this
rising tide is actually lifting all
the boats.”
The president also noted the
cooperation between manage-
ment and labor, lauding each
side’s willingness to make sac-
rifices during hard times.
“We rejected the false choice
that either unions or businesses
could succeed but not both,” he
said.
Multiple reports show the
auto industry on a steady
incline. Fiat Chrysler Auto-
mobiles US finished the year
with a 16-percent increase in
sales from 2013 and General
Motors’ sales jumped 5 per-
cent from last year. Ford Motor
Company saw a 1-percent drop
in growth in the year, but had
a better December in 2014 than
in 2013. On Monday, the Detroit
Free Press reported that the
auto industry closed 2014 with
its fifth consecutive year of
growth. The industry sold 16.52
million vehicles, the best per-
formance since 2006.
Additionally,
Kelley
Blue
Book reports show U.S. auto-
mobile prices increasing last
month, with FCA US increas-
ing 2.3 percent from December
2013, GM up 4 percent and Ford
up 3.4 percent.
Don Grimes, a CLMR senior
research area specialist for
the University’s Institute for
Research on Labor, Employ-
ment and the Economy, said
automobiles are still a “prod-
uct people want.” He said he
expects to see the industry con-
tinue to grow — though it is still
subject to ups and downs over
time.
“They weren’t making a
product that was going away
— it wasn’t like they were mak-
ing carriages after they’ve been
replaced with the auto indus-
try,” Grimes said. “You were
going to get a cyclical rebound
and recovery in the auto indus-
try because they were still
making products that people
still wanted to buy.”
Grimes said a positive sign
has been the Big Three stabi-
lizing their market shares, now
controlling almost 45 percent
of the market after a period of
post-recession decline.
In his speech, Obama com-
mended Detroit on Wednesday
for its handling of the munici-
pal bankruptcy as a sign of the
city’s resilience.
Obama has made several
trips to Southeast Michigan
during his presidency, includ-
ing stops in Ann Arbor and
Detroit. Obama’s most recent
trip to Detroit in November
aimed to rally support for Dem-
ocratic congressional-level and
state-level candidates for the
2014 midterm elections. He
also emphasized the industry’s
resurgence then.
“I don’t have to tell you the
auto industry that was on the
brink of collapse is back on its
feet, making better cars than
ever, right here in Michigan,”
he said in November. “It’s a tes-
tament to the grit and the resil-
ience of American workers.”
Secretary of Labor Thomas
Perez spoke briefly before the
president
arrived
Wednes-
day, and echoed a similar sen-
timent. Perez said the auto
industry wasn’t ready to die
when Obama came into office,
and Obama didn’t let it happen.
“The future is unquestion-
ably bright because of your guts,
your grit, your determination,
your stick-to-itiveness, your
partnership, your resolve,” he
said, speaking to the mostly
Ford-employed audience.
opening ceremonies of the
World Future Energy Summit,
a meeting of policymakers and
business leaders.
Engineering junior Pavan
Naik is the project manager
for the Michigan Solar Car
Team, and leads the building
of the team’s vehicle, “Quan-
tum”. Naik said he joined the
team early his freshman year
because of the variety of oppor-
tunities offered within the pro-
gram.
“I was looking to do some-
thing hands-on outside of the
classroom,” Naik said. “The
solar car team was particularly
interesting because of the wide
variety of fields you can go
into.”
Naik said members of the
team, which draws students
majoring in anything from
engineering to art, spend more
time working on their solar car
than they do in class.
“We like to joke around that
we go to Michigan for the solar
car team and we’re part-time
students on the side,” he said.
“It really varies for the amount
of work that people do for the
team. An easy week can be 40
hours a week and that can go
up to 100.”
The team has competed in
other
international
venues
before. Since 1990, they’ve
traveled to Australia for the
World Solar Challenge, where
they placed 9th in 2013.
Naik said this race differs
from other races the team has
done. In addition to racing stu-
dents from Abu Dhabi Univer-
sity, the participants will also
help their Abu Dhabi counter-
parts create a solar car team.
“Normally, we’ll build a car,
we’ll go to Australia and we’ll
race it. But in this race, we’re
partnering
with
the
team
from the Abu Dhabi Univer-
sity,” Naik said. “We’re going
there to teach them how to
start their own solar car team.
We’re racing with them as
well, so it’s a learning oppor-
tunity on both ends.”
And the students from Abu
Dhabi University are looking
forward to working with the
Michigan Solar Car Team.
“I am looking forward to
gaining valuable experience
from the U-M Solar Car Team,”
said
Mohammed
Ziauddin
Mohammed Habeebuddin, a
mechanical engineering stu-
dent at Abu Dhabi University,
in a press release. “I hope that
it will be an unforgettable
learning experience for me.”
sore throat and nasal conges-
tion — to avoid the hospital if
they’re not seeking treatment,
it also provides guidelines for
those who choose to visit. Visi-
tors with symptoms who must
visit the hospital are required
to wear a mask. UMHS initiat-
ed a similar protocol last year.
The
policy
also
main-
tains a year-round procedure
designed to protect young visi-
tors. No child younger than 12
years old is permitted to enter
the room of a patient who is
known or suspected to have
the flu.
The main strain of flu cur-
rently circulating is Influenza
A, or H3N2. UMHS epidemi-
ologist Laraine Washer said
the number of hospitalizations
for those who have contracted
this strain is high.
“As of this week, we have
almost
500
lab
confirmed
cases and about 200 patients
are hospitalized,” Washer said.
Some experts have deemed
the current flu season as more
severe than in recent years.
The Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention announced
in December that flu vaccines
may not be enough protection
against the strain.
Even so, experts still con-
sider flu shots important for
protecting against the virus.
U.S. News reported in Decem-
ber that flu shots remain the
“single most effective way to
protect against flu.” In addi-
tion to flu shots, several anti-
viral
medications
such
as
Tamiflu and Relenza have
proven effective for fighting
the flu.
Eden Wells, associate pro-
fessor
of
epidemiology
at
the School of Public Health,
encouraged all University stu-
dents to get vaccinated.
“If you are not vaccinated,
start and be aware that the
vaccine takes some time to
build up immunity in your sys-
tem,” Wells said.
Susan
Ringler-Cerniglia,
public information officer at
the Washtenaw County Pub-
lic Health Department, said
UMHS is on the right track
with the Healthy Visitor Policy.
“As a health department,
we encourage anything that
reduces the spread of illness,”
Ringler-Cerniglia said. “When
things are circulating, it cer-
tainly makes sense for them to
restrict their policy and try to
reduce the spread.”
Flu vaccines are still avail-
able and Washtenaw County
residents can obtain $25 vac-
cinations through the county’s
public health department.
Daily Staff Reporter Quan
Nguyen
contributed
to
this
report.
WHITE HOUSE
From Page 1A
FLU
From Page 1A
look, the brand on a napkin
actually one time,” Carlson
said. “I still have the original
file.”
After designing the ini-
tial template, Carlson taught
Tetteh InDesign, Adobe Pho-
toshop and Adobe Illustrator
so that they would have the
ability to move forward with
the company.
Tetteh sends his designs to
a variety of printers, includ-
ing Dynasty Artistic Designs,
Underground
Printing
and
Ann Arbor T-shirt Company.
He also assembles his own
customized
clothing
using
iron-on heat transfers at home.
The company’s most popu-
lar items are the “pom beanie”
colored winter hats. Other
products include sweatshirts,
T-shirts and pins. Tetteh said
he also meets with customers
to make personalized custom
designs upon request.
“I hope to be at the point
one day where I can just walk
down the street and see some-
one wearing Cool Club that I’d
never met before,” Tetteh said.
Tetteh was quick to add,
however, that the company’s
“personal feel” is important
to him. While a lot of his sales
occur online, much of his
business network comes from
in-person connections with
friends and friends-of-friends.
“A lot of the people that I
sell to, I get to know them and
I know who they are,” Tetteh
said. “I still love the fact that I
know people and that it’s gen-
uine support that they have for
me.”
For a semester in 2013,
Tetteh networked through an
executive board he set up for
the enterprise — a strategy he
used to get the company up
and running.
Though at the time he
was unsure if there would
be strong interest, 14 people
applied and joined the semes-
ter-long project.
In addition to running a
handful of “pop-up shops” on
multiple occasions — the St.
Patrick’s Day sale being one of
the most notable — the team
also held an event with Denard
Robinson, former quarterback
of the Michigan football team.
Tetteh said he ran into Rob-
inson one day in the Union,
and a friend convinced him to
go talk to Robinson about Cool
Club.
“He was really friendly,”
Tetteh said. “He was like, ‘I
really like what you’re doing, I
really support this, I like peo-
ple who are doing their thing.
If you ever need anything, just
let me know.’ “
Robinson gave Tetteh his
number and the two later con-
nected to schedule an event he
called “The Hangout” in the
Michigan Union’s basement.
“It was just a great day; we
sold a lot of items,” Tetteh said.
“People came from all over.
People were lined up at the
event to see Denard and they
bought clothes like Denard.
He really helped me out.”
Though the semester-long
executive board project ended
two years ago, much of the
team still remains very sup-
portive.
LSA senior Paige Blessman
served as the vice president of
Cool Club Clothing during the
project. She said that the Cool
Club team still functions as a
group of people who support
each other in their personal
dreams.
“I love Cool Club Cloth-
ing,” Blessman said. “We like
to support individuality, we
know that everyone has their
own separate dream — Cyrus
started his own company and
he likes to support other peo-
ple’s dreams. One dream that I
know I have is I look forward
to having my own magazine
one day or some of the people
want to have their own law
firm or their own clothing line
and whatnot.”
It’s this mutual support that
Cool Club aims to build on as
it strives to create the new
startup fund that would help
fund individuals — particular-
ly students — in their personal
endeavors.
Tetteh said he plans to cre-
ate the startup fund soon,
which he hopes will raise the
profile of Cool Club Clothing.
He plans to leave a representa-
tive of the company here at the
University when he graduates
to promote the company and
manage the startup fund.
Carlson forecasted an opti-
mistic future for the com-
pany. He referenced both the
startup fund, as well as future
increased advertising efforts.
“If you don’t know about
Cool Club Clothing, you will
within the next six months,”
he said.
STARTUP
From Page 1A
AUTO
From Page 1A
RACE
From Page 1A
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