plus 4, GM stabilizing despite leadership shuffle; Chrysler plan stalling out - Detroit Free Press

GM stabilizing despite leadership shuffle; Chrysler plan stalling out - Detroit Free Press
Click here..to view Snow/Holiday Pictures - WWL First News
Bungling burglar trying break-in at Michigan auto repair shop busted ... - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Three kids among 7 buried alive - Tribune
Train derailment near Keene - Tehechapi News

GM stabilizing despite leadership shuffle; Chrysler plan stalling out - Detroit Free Press

Posted: 06 Dec 2009 02:18 PM PST

Ralph Gilles, Chrysler's young design chief now in charge of the Dodge car brand, said when the top 25 leaders meet for dinner every three or four weeks, "it's almost like Thanksgiving dinner."

"Sergio expects us to rely on each other. The analogy I like to use is he sees us as the X-Men," said Gilles, referring to the Marvel comics superheroes.

Whitacre's strategy

At GM, meanwhile, a turnaround that has been years in the making is well under way -- delivering strong products like the Buick LaCrosse -- but Whitacre's plan for GM is just beginning to unfold.

Vice Chairman Bob Lutz will advise Whitacre on product matters. Mark Reuss, son of a former GM president, will lead critical North American operations.

Sales and marketing chief Susan Docherty will report directly to Reuss and play a critical role as GM tries to rebuild the image of its four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.

"If this doesn't move the needle in 90 days, he will do something different," said Gerry Meyers, a management professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

Despite all the talk of culture change, the government rescue slashed billions of health care costs and debt. That makes Whitacre's mission a lot easier to achieve.

His main objective is to keep bringing to market vehicles such as the 2010 Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac SRX and to make sure he can retain and attract talented employees even as the shakeups continue to unfold.

"The bankruptcy has taken $5,000 to $6,000 out of the cost of each vehicle," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research. "For Whitacre or whoever comes in, this is a very fast track to run on."

The biggest challenge GM faces is changing perceptions of GM, especially on the East and West coasts, as it continues to deliver standout cars and trucks.

"Their products are improving a whole lot," said U-M's Meyers. "But people still believe that Buick is what your father drove."

Contact GREG GARDNER: 313-222-8762 or ggardner@freepress.com

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Click here..to view Snow/Holiday Pictures - WWL First News

Posted: 06 Dec 2009 01:20 PM PST

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Bungling burglar trying break-in at Michigan auto repair shop busted ... - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Posted: 06 Dec 2009 12:30 PM PST

TALLMADGE TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Authorities said a man trying to burglarize a southwestern Michigan towing and auto-repair shop got a surprise when he found tow truck drivers inside still on the job.

The Grand Rapids Press reported the Marz Collision Services drivers were drinking coffee around 8 p.m. Friday in Ottawa County's Tallmadge Township when they heard noises in another room.

Owner Bob Marz said a man had just broken a window and was attempting to enter the building. The man took off on foot, and driver Todd Hodges pursued in his wrecker — calling police with his cell phone.

Authorities arrested a 45-year-old Grand Rapids man. He's expected to face burglary charges.

The drivers, who had spent the day pulling cars from snowbanks, stayed on the job after the arrest.

___

Information from: The Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/grand-rapids

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Three kids among 7 buried alive - Tribune

Posted: 06 Dec 2009 12:16 PM PST

Open House Response
Private, govt schools are different

IT has been very rightly contested by Sanjeev Singh Bariana in the Open House debate as to why administrative officers at the helm of affairs in managing schools do not put their own kids in government schools in case they argue that everything is normal there. At the same time, no comparison can be made between the two school streams.

Only a welfare state can take care of the poor. A majority of private schools are being run as simple business ventures for profit. The clients of both streams are different.

Before sitting in judgement over the pitiable conditions in government schools, one needs to understand the social backgrounds of students and their parents. While the parent of a student at private schools is concerned about even how the teacher talks, parents of wards at government schools do not even know their sections or teachers.

Anil Dhankad

No clear policy

Even after more than six decades, we do not have a clear education policy. Successive governments have been making experiments such as opening of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, model schools, adarsh schools, smart schools and public-private partnership, besides others.

The government, in reality, does not seem to have taken serious steps to improve the existing school education system. In fact, not only should sections of acts concerning education be put in dustbins, but the education system needs to be completely overhauled.

SK Khosla

Don't interfere

Private schools, for years, have been engaged in educating children and have helped the government in its responsibility to provide education to all. With the exception of a few model schools, we all know about the pathetic condition of government schools and their abysmally low annual results. It is time one reflects on the reasons for their deplorable state. One wonders if there is a lack of will or expertise.

The annual hue and cry over the increase of fee structure by private schools is unfair and unjustified, keeping in view the infrastructure, amenities and salaries and other expenditure. Interference and enforcement of tough rules on private schools is not only unjustified, but also discouraging.

S Walia

Right thing to do

The article 'Independence of private schools needs to be assessed' by Sanjeev Singh Bariana (Open House, Chandigarh Tribune, November 23) is apt and timely. It is really shocking that children of a private school in Chandigarh are being taught pornography. This indecent act of the teacher in question is unacceptable.

If the parent of a child has complained to the authorities against such teaching, which is vulgar in nature, he has done the right thing. This matter must be given a serious thought and all steps should be taken by the authorities concerned to curb this social evil.

It does not matter whether the school under reference is government-aided or not. The administration has every right to act and take action against the school for encouraging vulgarity and corrupting young minds.

RK Kapoor

Mere excuse

I have been a teacher with a private school for the past six years. Teaching at a private school is more demanding than at a government school. At least this is what one of my friends who has been teaching at a government school for the past 10 years tells me.

It is interesting that she chose to put both her children at my school. She said, "I do not want to spoil my children's future by putting them at a government school."

I hear that the government is spending about Rs 22 crore on mid-day meals. One must taste the food to have an idea of the horrible taste and poor quality it has.

Unnecessary interference of the UT education department in the affairs of private schools is a mere excuse. All it wants to do is to divert the attention of the people from its own malfunctioning so that no one gets a chance to see the ugly picture of the government schools.

Namrata Jaani

Wrong practice

It is a wrong practice on the part of the Chandigarh administration to meddle in the affairs of private schools as it has failed miserably in improving the standard of education at government schools. My ward, who is a student with a private school, is better equipped to face the challenges of world than her counterpart at government schools.

Despite financial constraints, private schools in Chandigarh have been doing an excellent job in improving the standard of education. The administration should suitably compensate those financially rather than unnecessarily interfere in their day-to-day matters.

Naveen Malhotra

Pressure tactics

In 2002, the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgement concerning the TMA Pai Foundation, held that a private unaided institution should have the maximum autonomy in its day-to-day administration as bureaucratic or government interference in the administration of such an institution would undermine its independence. The essence of a private educational institution's autonomy is that the institution must have its management and administration.

The essential ingredients of the management of a private institution include enrolling students and recruiting staff. State agencies have the power to lay down conditions for the grant of recognition or affiliation. This is very difficult to accept for people wielding power, political or bureaucratic. The reasons are not difficult to fathom.

Which officer will not like to oblige someone with some 'help' in admission or recruitment. In fact, pressure tactics by state agencies on private schools has reached such a level that even recruitment, service conditions and discipline governing the staff of private schools are being indirectly dictated by state agencies.

Hemant Sarin

Biased trial

It is right that private institutions are providing excellent teaching facilities. At the same time, those cannot claim absolute independence from the government.

In case the school administration is under question, how can the complainant be sure of a trial not being biased? The administration is bound to interfere and it has every right to do so.

In the name of freedom, the private schools want to run a parallel administration in terms of charging high fees and exercising total control. The tragedy of the situation is that government schools are not delivering as per expectations, which has resulted in nearly all officers, who can afford it, sending their children to private schools.

Om Prakash Mahajan

Don't manage

Independent schools are separate identities under CBSE rules. Quality education, good results and excellent infrastructure are government parameters before granting CBSE affiliation.

The government's role is to govern and not manage private institutions. Management is an internal affair of an institution. Independent unaided schools have no way to raise finances except fees, which the government should understand.

Sarabjit Singh

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Train derailment near Keene - Tehechapi News

Posted: 06 Dec 2009 11:04 AM PST

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Train derailment near Keene
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Railroad first responders were kept busy this weekend with first an auto vs. train accident in the fog near Monolith and an hour later at 1:30 am Dec. 6 this derailment near Keene.

Fifteen cars of an east bound B.N.S.F freight train rolled over on their sides while rounding a sharp curve near the Rowen siding. All 15 cars, located near the middle of the train were empty and were used to transport new automobiles. Initially Kern County Firefighters from Keene and Tehachapi responded as well as a Haz-Mat unit from east Bakersfield. After an inspection by railroad First Responders and county fire personnel, it was determined there were no chemicals or hazardous materials involved.

Visible from the west bound lanes of Highway 58 the derailment took place in an area where the allowable train speed is 25 MPH. Train traffic was not interrupted and the Hulcher Company, an independent contractor, was brought in with heavy equipment to shove the de-railed cars off the track. Railroad workers will inspect the track for damage, repair if necessary and clean up the whole mess at a later date. Cause of the low speed accident is still under investigation.

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