I Eighty-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Are kids' cothes safe? Friday, February 18, 1977 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Mikhigan Fare wel Frank! Let'S find a good replacement AS FRANK RHODES prepares to as- sume the presidency of Cornell University, The Daily staff extends him its sincere congratulations. We wish him success and satisfaction in his new responsibilities. The University of Michigan now faces the task of choosing Rhodes' successor as vice-president for aca- demic affairs. We have some seri; ous reservations about the way the search seems to be shaping up. President Robben Fleming got off on the wrong foot by indicating he opposed the creation' of a broad- based search committee to review candidates for the post. Instead, Fleming said he planned to be "heav- ily involved" in the selection process from the very beginning. The way the University picks its new vice-president will determine the type 'of person it gets. In addition to administrative ability, an academic affairs vice- president should be sensitive to stu- dent interests. He or she should have a. real commitment to student par- ticipation in University decision mak- ing - in setting policies that affect students directly. THESE ARE QUALITIES generally absent in the higher levels of the. present University administration. The way to assure these qualities are found in the next academic af- fairs vice-president is to set up a search committee with sufficient stu- dent membership, along with faculty, staff and administrators. In ,the past, students have often been inadequate- ly represented on such groups. It is also important that the search process go public with the names of those under consideration. This would be potentially embarrassing to indi- viduals eliminated in early stages of the selection, however, once the list has been narrowed to a handful of names, it should be publically re- leased. A public airing enables the diverse University constituencies to examine the qualifications of the various can- didates and express their preferences among them. We feel this would as- sist in selecting the most representa- tive and most broadly acceptable person for the job. Unfortunately, the first steps Rob- ben Fleming has taken seem to lean in the opposite direction - toward a secret and closed vice-presidential search process. We hope he decides to broaden the search, and also hope the Regents insist this be done. By PAUL A. EISENSTEIN Second pf two parts 'THERE ARE FEW who would disagree that there is a need to set some standards for fabric flamm- ability, particularly for children's sleepwear. Though national statistics have not been kept, there is strong evidence that the sleepwear standards are helping to reduce serious injuries and death for children who wear them. "The actual number of deaths from flammable fabrics is low, but there seems to be a trend down," comments Hans Grigo, a technical consultant at the National Safety Council. "We're seeing less deaths and less severe injuries, and that's a good sign." A study made in 1971 by the National Institute for Burn Medicine in Ann Arbor utilizing over 4500 burn cases compared the consequences of similar type burns for persons wearing and not wearing flame resistant clothing. Twenty-four percent of the victims whose clothing cauught fire, died. Only six percent of those whose clothing did not ignite later died. The extent and severity of burns were also greatly reduced, as was the final doctor bill. BUT THE TRIS DILEMMA has caused many long- time supporters of strong flammability standards to take another look. One of them is Sara Bolieu, Direc- tor of Burn Prevention at the Shriner's Burn Institute in Galveston, Texas. Bolieu notes that in a number of cases where children wore flame retardant garments "the injury was greatly minimized," but she criticizes the CPSC standards as being too drastic and "unreal." "I've proposed that standards be modified to elim- inate the need fo rtris, or any chemical treatment. One hundred percent polyester and nylon could pass the test standards with a few minor modifications. A few of the modacrylics could pass right now." Wool is another garment that is inherently flame resistant, Bolieu added, but one of the CPSC's require- ments is, that fabrics be tested in a bone-dry state (they are heated in an oven and then placed in a dessi- cant chamber before testing). This removes moisture found in the material in any condition it would nor- mally be worn, and makes wool unnaturally flammable. "RIGHT NOW WE'RE seeing the results of stand- ards that were stricter than they had to be," she says. Caught in the middle is the CPSC. On one side are requests to ban tris from use and relax flammability standards. On the other side are petitions to extend the laws to cover a number of new items including all chil- dren's and adult's clothing, tents, sleeping bags, cur- tains and upholstery. "We should make all fabrics flame resistant. I don't think industry would have any problems meeting the standards. It's a matter of getting together and saying, 'Let's do it. now,' " argues Dr. Irving Feller, a professor of clinical surgery at the University, and president of the National Institute for Burn Medicine. Feller was one of many who successfully lobbied for the children's sleepwear standards. The same day that the Environmental Defense Fund released its report on tris, the CUSC was holding the first of several hearings on whether or not to grant an exemption of federal flammability standards to the state of California. CALIFORNIA WAS seeking the exemption not to reduce its coverage, but to extend it to other children's clothing. The hearings are expected to continue for some time. If the CPSC ever intends to extend the coverage of the flamihability standards, co-author Ames, of the "Science" article on this cautions, ''The CPSC must think about the wisdom of putting that much of any chemical on the skins of so many kids without conduct- ing adequate testing before hand." Until now, industry was free to choose what chemi- cals and fabrics they would use to meet the flammabil- ity standards. "We set performance standards and do not necessar- ily require the use of flame retardant chemicals;" ex- plains Lawrence Kushner, one of the five CPSC com- missioners. Other than the required flammability tests, industry has been unwilling to conduct the lengthy and expen- sive tests on flame retardent (and other) chemicals un- less required. The Toxic Substances Act which went into effect in January, will now require such tests for all new chemicals to be put on the market. Respon- sibility for the registration and testing of new chem- icals was given to the Environmental Protection Agen- cy (EPA). MARLIN FITZWATER, 'director of public affairs at the EPA says that, "Under the new law, any company that comes out with a new chemical must give us a pre-test report and' we can then order further tests. Most chemicals will be tested, unless we already know (what to expect from them). "We want to know if they will hurt the environment or cause cancer . . . We want to keep off the market chemicals like PBB which were sold for years before anyone suspected how much of a danger they were," Fitzwater -continues..r A number of supposedly safe chemicals have been targeted for EPA testing. In most cases, flame retard- ant additives for clothing have been given a clean bill of health, but the tris scare is not the first. Towards the end of'1975 scientists also began to wor- ry about what type of compounds would form if chlor- ine bleaches and formaldehyde came in contact in the home washer. Formaldehyde, that noxious smelling chemical from high school biology class, is found in all the flame retardents processes used for 100 percent cotton, as well as in the proceses- to make clothes per manent press. The first indications were that chlorine and formaldehyde could combine toform one of t1e deadliest carcinogens known, BCME. A number of frantic studies followed. The EPA report released just a year ago indicated there was no danger; most, but not all reports since then have come to the same conclusion. In theory, BCVtE can be formed. "AS YET, THERE is no indication that BCME has been formed under the conditions (found in a home washing machine). Research may show that BCME might be formed, but there has been no demonstrable danger," says Fred Fortess, of the Philadelphia School. "The danger in using chlorine bleach," Fortess con- tinues, "would be that a mother presumes that the cotton garment is still flame retardant, but it may be easily ignited." Consumers can come closer to guarantee their child- ren's safety, Fortess says, by taking a little precau- tion - by taking the time to read and follow the re- commendations sewn into the garment on the fabric care label. Precaution is the key word in preventing unnecessary fire losses. Both the National Institute for Burn Medi- cine and the National Safety Council have proposed major programs aimed at teaching the public the rules of fire safety. But education is only one precaution, insist CPSC Commissioners Kushner and R. David Pittle. They insist that the children's sleepwear standards (and pos- sible extensions of the coverae to clothing for child- ren and senior citizens) are absolutely necessary. The problem, then, is, in Kushner's words, "a balanc- ing of risks." Authors Blum and Ames put it differently, "The r risk of the exposure of tens of millions of children to a large amount of a chemical must be balanced against the risk of fire. "Flame retardants either have not been tested or have not been tested adequately for carcinogenicity. The use of untested chemicals is unacceptable in view of the enormous risks. Paul A. Eisenstein is a Daily staff writer. 1 £ I I Things may now be what they Seem; milk won't masquerade as cream WHEN WAS THE last time you or- RUT AS LAUDABLE as MRA's act dered cream with your coffee is, It isn't enough. Misrepresenta- only to be served something akin to tion on restaurant menus has white paint? Or, do you remember plagued us for many years, and has drooling over the picture in the menu been practiced by more than the of a plate overflowing with french 1,500 MRA members. What of all the fries but finding only 10 of the cris- other restaurants in the state, those py delecasies on the plate brought to not associated with MRA? Will these your table? Likewise, the "ground establishments be permitted to con- round" or "fresh scallops" you tinue their deceitful ways? thought you were getting may have The issue of false advertising in been just plain old hamburger and menus is not a matter to, be gov- slice up manta ray. erned by the MRA, and honesty Well put your fears aside - those should not be confined to those who days are over, are MRA members. Protection of the Starting Monday - George Wash- consumer is the responsibility of the ington's birthday - the 1,500 eat- state legislature. It is not sufficient eries that are members of the Michi- that the MRA members are trying gan ,Restaurant Association (MRA) to be honest. Misleading the public will follow in the footsteps of our should be a crime, and the only body first President and put honesty back that can deem it one is the legisla- into their menus. What you see will ture, not MRA. be what you get-no more margarine In typical style, the legislature masquarading as butter, nothing pre- will probably consider the matter in tending to be something it isn't. the near future (once an issue gets How refreshing to find some 1,500 in the paper, it seems the legisla,- entrepreneurs acting with such in- ture wakes up to the problem), and tegrity and out of concern for the we hope it will act to protect all con- public. They have nothing to gain sumers. But in the meantime, we sug- from this act but self-respect, and gest a boycott of all non-MRA res- it is inspiring to know that that is taurants. still enough for some people. Per- May we all eat with more confi- haps all business persons aren't the dence - bon appetit! profit hungry ogres we sometimes TODAY'S STAFF: make them out to be. News: Phillip Bokovoy, Eilene Daley, Lani Jordan, Mike Norton, Jim Tb- Editoral positions represent a in, Margaret Yao Editorial: Marnie Heyn, Ken Parsigian consensus of The Daily Editorial staff. Arts: Lois Josimovich, Karen Paul Photo: Andy Freeberg (I _. ,1 I- I' Letters to The Daily NUBS To The Daily: I don't mean to overreact or be defensive, but I have never read any piece of journalism as inaccurate, down right wrong, clinched, biased, and stylisticly poor as your February 10, 1977 front page story, "Computer students go nuts at NUBS," by Brian Blanchard. That this was represented as truthful reflects to me, a concentrator in com- puter and communication 'sci- ence, the quality of your news- paper, editorial staff, and Blan- chard. Please consider the fol- lowing criticism and act as you will. Throughout the article Blan- chard uses "loaded words" (I assume your familiarity with this term). Granted, more "col- orful" words often add some- thing to nonsubstantive space- filler, misleading loaded words do harm, perhaps unintention- ally. Consider the title. People very weary and bummed out, people highly involved with their work, and people who'd give anything to leave NUBS but won't, I've seen. People becom- ing mentally disturbed or chang- ing into almonds, no. This seems trival and reactionary, superfici- ally. Let me give more examp- les, "while normal students ... computer students" implies computer students are abnor- mal. "Pamper" ("to treat or gratify with extreme or exces- sive indulgence" - Revised ed- ition of Random House College Dictionary) "their addiction to humming machines." Sometimes people "drift" into their "own computerized flings." Closely related are Blanchard's cliched, stereotypical, erroneous, unper- ceptive descriptions, "drawn like lemmings" - people are not animals and don't act like them. "Master" "God like-MTS" - any computer student knows computers, machines, are about as far from either a god (be- ing very unintelligent) or a mas- ter (it does exactly everything and all you say). The same goes for "special effection" (and the implied normal effection?) and "worship" people have for a machine. "Surreal sanctuary," "rivited," "stark," "behemoth" In short, I feel the mere words Blanchard uses are be- sides stylistic poor and exag- gerated, misrepresentative and harmful. Harmful in that this article, presumably written for (and by?) people who know lit- tle about computers and com- puter students, reinforces the pre-conceived, stereotyped views people have about computer stu- dents. Negative PR would be OK if it were true PR, but this isn't. Perhaps more important and concrete are the inaccurate and least anyone who could write a program containing an infinite loop. "Good news" that is good. output, isn't seen in a "stack of cards" since they are for in- put to the computer. Wires don't run from NUBS to the computer on North Campus anymore then thev do from The Michigan Daily office to the White House. Both are telephone connections. Those "new, gray machines" are deckwriters. Blanchard is so well informed, $5 wouldn't get a neophyte very far, how- ever, their print-outs rarely cost 35 cents a shot. I can see the BS here and the article isn't really all that important. But what about arti- cles which give facts on rele- vant, important subjects? If five or 10 errors get by the editors on a small article what of a large? Just as important is the stereotyped views pro- moted by bad writing. Is the same BS, stereotyped attitudes, doled out for blacks, women, Jews, etc. as for computer stu- dents? Obviously not. That would not be cool. But is that the criteria which you use= to determine what sort of opinion- making process, either an open- minded one or a prejudgmental one, your use? Isn't stating that computer students are addicted to machines, slaves to master machines, whichtheymworship like gods, etc., etc. much like saying Jews are greedy or blacks have a lot of rhythm? My grievance isn t really with Blanchard. He can be taught how to write and think (for writing ability generally reflects thinking). I suggest English Composition 125, Philosophy 201, elementary logic, or any jour- nalism course for him. Your paper, though, and it's editor- ial staff - I don't know what to suggest. As - to undo this particular article's harm I do suggest the following; another article written by anyone compe- tent, perspective, knowedgable ... enough to write an accurate, sensitive, and well-written arti- cle. This seems mandatory. An apology by Blanchard and/or the editor would also be appro- priate. (It makesano difference to me what you actually do. I know what's happening at NUBS or else will learn. Also, I wouldn't ever read the further article or apology, or anything else in The Daily. You've cer- tainly won my distrust. I'm for- tunate to have read the article after having taken some CCS courses and discovering that was my field of study, not be- fore and perhaps be discouraged from taking any courses and ever finding my proper field of study. As I said at the start, act as you will. K Brian Smith P.S. Anyone who calls me a "NUBSite" to my face will get his face wasted, that label is so repugnant. - B.R.S. EDITOR'S NOTE: Daily read- ers should know that every ar- ticle appearing in the paper goes through the hands of at least two editors, and changes + are often made. In the case of+ "Computer students go nuts at NUBS," an editor inserted some material for which Brian ; Blanchard had no responsibility. Nonetheless, The Daily stands by the facts reported in its story. Waterman To tthe Daily: The Commission for Women wishes to reiterate our strong support for the preservation of Barbour-Waterman gymnasiums. One of tht concerns expressed at the December meeting of the Regents was that those favoring preservation had not proposed alternative uses. Certainly many ideas have been proposed both before and following that meet- ing and, as President Fleming stated, many more uses can be found. One of the uses that the Commission for Women would' support very strongly would be to return the Barbour building to its historic purpose and make it a women's center. Women's o f f i c e s, organiza- tions, services, and groups at the University of Michigan are scattered across campus with some offices out of the main stream of campus activity. The Barbour site would be ideal for access. from campus, from stu- dent areas, and from the , hos- pital area. An argument has been made that this use is not on a priority list. But how will a center for women's services and activities get' to the top of a priority list even if it ever got on one? This type of use will almost invar- iably be placedin an old build- ing as is, for example, Continu- ing Education for Women. This Center is doing a tremendous service for the University and is housed in less than ideal quarters, both from a geograph- ical location and the amount of space available. Are they or any similar group on the priority list? The Central Campus Plan of the mid 1960's is mentioned as a reason for demolishing the build- ings. Any master plan should be revised periodically. Policies, needs, public opinion change over time and certaini ythere is a different atmosphere and there are different needs in 1977 than there were in the mid 1960's. , -j, ft~ THE MALE ROLE AND IMAGE by NIC and KAREN TAMBORRIELLO TRUE OR FALSE? Many young men are choosing to marry, maintain a home, and raise children while the wife works outside the home. Do you know any men who have chosen this option? It seems that freedom of choice is greater than ever, but upon closer observation we find that men are still limiting them- selves to one option only: the role of breadwinner. If you're a woman, you may be asked, "Do you work?" This implies that what is done inside the home is something other than work. In actuality a woman can choose to work inside or outside the home or both. What does it mean to be man without a job in a society that asks everyone upon introduction, "What do you do?"-a "question that assigns you value depending upon the prestige and earning capacity of your job? How many of you felt an ever-increasing burden the longer you had to answer, "I'm unemployed?" The first level of job decision-making is whether to live by brains or brawn. Each is attributed its own brand of mas, ctline worth. The construction worker, coal miner, and truck driver are glamorized as hardy, virile specimens of men living by their sweaty toils and, wrenching out a livelihood through brute strength. Supposedly, he strides into his home and uses the same strength to embrace his wife and play ball with his children. Or has his strength been sapped for the day as he col- lanses anpreciatively only to have his family admonish him for not being involved with them, or is he excluded from their activities because they realize he is tired? What about the cumulative physical consequences of a life- time of operating a jack hammer or driving a truck? Is the toll of occunational injuries and deaths justified? After long hours and hard work each day, how many blue collar workers find time, energy, or sensitivity for developing individual interests or meet- ing individual needs? The "professional" male worker discovers that its not enough to have just any job; he's supposed to get "a good job." But once he lands that good job, more messages come down saying, "Strive for promotion." "You don't want to be a flunky all your life." Before you know it, you've made sacrifices you never expected anvone should have to, played office politics ad nauseum, and you still haven't quite reached the level of employment you'd like. You often want to throw up your hands and just walk out. Over and over you get the feeling. "I, really need a change." But changes aren't easy to make. The woman you married "to help you along the way" depends on you for economic support. Not only her, but there are the kids to think of. You can't quit "just yet." You love your wife and family and want them to'have the best of everything. By now you've provided a solid economic base for them and assume that that translates into emotional support. But-your wife doesn't seem to have any common interests . with you now. Your children say that when they want to talk, you wan to lecture. They have a different set of values than you and you have no idea where they got them. The changing titles on your business cards tell everyone of your success, but meanwhile you have the beginnings of an ulcer, smoke too much, have forgotten what regular exercise is, and your are a prime candidate for heart disease. Perhaps you begin to doubt that the extra money was ever worth the time and relationships lost. You always believed that- well-being was proportionate to wealth but the former seems to have gotten lost in your pursuit of the latter. Once again you ask yourself, "'Where do I go from here?" Next week: MEN AND WORK PART II-ALTERNATIVES From nor Malehox: