Page 4- The Michigan Daily -Wednesday, September 12, 1990
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I
e £id~ian BaiIy
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
I
0
NOAH FINKEL
Editor in Chief
DAVID SCHWARTZ
Opinion Editor
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other cartoons,
signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
Election '90
bon't waste your vote by
ON NOVEMBER 6, ALL AMERICAN
citizens will have the chance to exercise
their constitutional right to participate in
the electoral process. Unfortunately,
many will forego this right simply be-
cause they are not registered voters.
This year in Michigan, voters will
elect several representatives on both the
state and federal level. Ann Arbor vot-
ers in particular will elect a U.S. sena-
tor, a U.S. and state representative,
and a governor. The only way in which
the democratic process can be success-
ful in these and all elections is through
the participation of as many people as
possible. And that participation is fea-
sible only through voter registration.
Voter turnout has been decreasing
over the past 20 years. Statistics show
a large and increasing number of citi-
zens are not even registered to vote.
Student Vote '90, a growing coali-
tion of student groups, hasbeen
working on campus to combat this
trend. In 1988, through a similar voter
registration drive, 5,000 students regis-
tered to vote. This number constituted
.10 percent of the first-time voters in
Michigan.
neglecting to register
Every day on the Diag, workers for
Student Vote '90 will be registering
students to vote. The process takes less
than five minutes, and all students
should take advantage of this oppor-
tunity.
Student Vote '90 was begun this
year by the College Democrats, but
getting students to vote is a non-parti-
san effort. The College Republicans
and other political groups on campus
are likely to get involved with the voter
drive in the coming days.
Unfortunately, citizens who are not
registered 30 days before elections are
not allowed to vote. Citizens should be
able to show up on election day with
proper identification and be allowed to
vote, regardless of registration. But
that does not in any way diminish the
importance of registering and voting.
Too often, the freedoms we enjoy as
citizens of this nation are taken for
granted. The lack of voter registration
and voter turnout are examples of this.
Students at this University are urged to
take advantage of the right they are
guaranteed by the Constitution.
Register by October 5 and vote in
elections November 6.
._--
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'U' Housing restricts free trade during move-in.
Jennifer Jean Casolo
.Peace activist can help educate
After last fall's rebel offensive in El ons burie
Salvador, the most successful since the dor- wh
beginning of the 11-year war, the level by the go
of attention given to the war-torn coun- prosecute
try has once again slipped. Now, stu- detention
dents have a chance to hear first hand from wit]
information - and participate in dis- released;
cussion on the current situation - at a States foi
series of three events taking place today Althou
'U' students
d in her backyard in San Salva-
hich she maintains was planted
vernment- and threatened to
e. But after a relatively brief
, marked by a storm of protest
hin the United States, she was
and deported to the United
r lack of evidence.
gh Casolo's punishment was
and tonight.
When the Fara-
bundo Martf Na-
t1;onal Liberation
Front (FMLN)
alaunched the offen-
dive in October,
whcir success within
.toe capital city of
S~n Salvador de-
nded largely on
their ability to move
weapons and sup=
lies into the city in
advance.hThis ex-
,posed a huge net-
Work of support
ithin the city -
confirmed by active
dssistance from
:arge groups of the
city's poor popula-
tion during the fight-
ing.
.The Salvadoran
JemierJa ao wl
m~n infoma unl
theingat u.
::.:: $ 2:~knr ea
meagre on the scale
of detention, torture
and assassination
which has been per-
petrated by the Sal-
vadoran government
- including tens of
thousands executed
by para-military
death squads - her
arrest sent a strong
message to interna-
tional advocates for
peace and justice in
El Salvador: Keep
out.
And the refusal of
the U.S. government
to come to her aid -
based on the assump-
tion that she was
guilty - redoubled
the warning to activ-
ists in the United
By David Bruce Weiss
I am writing this as a concerned parent
regarding the illegal and unethical practices
perpetrated by the University of Michigan
Housing Department by Alan Levy, his
Supervisor Robert Hughes, Director of
Purchasing Ervin McDonald, Manager of
Housing Security Joel Allan, and their
employees.
My son Stephen Weiss, a senior at the
University's School of Business Adminis-
tration, wanted to sell carpeting to the in-
coming students. He and his other part-
ners, Craig Menuck and Mark Menuck,
who are also seniors at the University,
have sold carpeting in the past to help pay
their tuition and other college expenses.
Last year Alan Levy, assistant director
of Housing, gave an exclusive contract to
Eric Lefkofsky, of Apex Industries, to sell
carpeting to the incoming first-year stu-
dents. My son and Craig and Mark
Menuck felt that was a violation in re-
straint of trade and monopolistic in nature.
They retained an attorney at their own ex-
pense to file a restraining order to prevent
this. Levy, through the advice of house
counsel, relented and allowed Stephen
Weiss, Craig and Mark Menuck to sell
carpeting.
This year Levy decided to ask for bids
for the exclusive right to sell. There were
only three bids submitted for the carpet-
ing. My son's company Wolverine Car-
pets, Apex Industries, and another com-
pany. We felt all along that the bid would
go to Apex Industries since Alan Levy and
Eric Lefkofsky were more than business
acquaintances.
Contained in the bid was a kickback
clause which required the bidder to provide
a percentage of sales back to the Univer-
sity Housing. This amount had to be more
than 10 percent and Apex's bid in order to
win was 17 percent. This 17 percent kick-
back to the University was most likely
absorbed by the students and not the ven-
dor. This appears highly ironic, especially
considering the fact that the University
maintained the primary purpose of the bid
was to better serve the students.
When the Housing Department was
questioned as to why the University de-
served any money from these vending ac-
tivities, their reply was so they could
cover administrative expenses. Despite
admitting that such costs were only min-
imal, they still proceeded with the bidding
plan and even expanded this kickback pro-
gram to milk crates, T-shirts, and other
various venders, seven in total. It was es-
Weiss is the father of University Business
senior Stephen Weiss.
timated that the University was to collect
anywhere from $25,000-$100,000 for
simply offering students a chance to earn a
few dollars.
Apex Industries did receive the exclu-
sive right to sell carpeting as expected on
campus during move-in weekend. They
obtained this privilege despite the fact they
offered the University a smaller kickback
than Wolverine Carpets, about 4 percent
less. Upon discovering this, Wolverine
Carpets inquired as to what other possible
criteria were used to evaluate the bid pro-
posals. Ervin McDonald, Director of Pur-
chasing, failed to provide any concrete rea-
son as to why the bid was awarded to
Apex.
However, Wolverine Carpets acquired
the list of all incoming first-year students,
and prepared a brochure offering the in-
coming students carpeting at lower costs.
Free delivery and installation was also of-
fered. The carpeting was of similar or bet-
ter quality and able to meet and exceed the
University's safety and fire standards.
Alan Levy and John Ketelhut, Office of
General Counsel, contacted me saying that
Wolverine Carpets was unethical in ob-
taining the list of entering students, when
in fact that list can be obtained by anyone
under the Freedom of Information Act.
They also claimed that there were misrep-
resentations in the brochure.
weekend was recorded on a Camcorder.
University Housing and Apex Indus-,
tries put fliers under the doors in the
dorms of the incoming students indicating
that Wolverine Carpets would not deliver
from September 1-3 and that their carpet-
ing might not meet University safety and'
fire standards. In fact, University Housing
had already consented to allow deliveries
by Wolverine during that period.
As for meeting fire and safety stan-
dards, University Housing knew from'
Wolverine's bid that all carpeting was to
be sprayed with No-Flame at no extra cost
to the incoming students. No-Flame,
when sprayed on the carpeting, will render
that carpeting incapable of catching on
fire.
It is important to know that the owners-*
of Wolverine Carpets spent their entire
summer preparing for this endeavor, one
which they have operated successfully in
the past. The owners, for the most part'
had no other source of income for the
summer. A sad aspect of the entire situa-
tion is that the University prohibited
Stephen Weiss from developing what the
Business School has always encouraged -
entrepreneurship, creativity, planning, hard
work, and good customer relations.
As a result of the illegal actions per-
formed by the University Housing and
their employees, Wolverine Carpets lost
On Sept. 1-3, Wolverine Carpets and their employees
were physically prevented from delivering carpeting
to the dorms by the countless security guards hired by
the University.
I
Wolverine Carpets received pre-orders
of carpeting for delivery during Sept. 1-3,
1990. Levy and Ketelhut told them that
under no circumstances would Wolverine
Carpets be allowed to deliver carpeting
during the above mentioned period. As
stated, this was done solely to penalize
Wolverine Carpets.
On Sept. 1-3, Wolverine Carpets and
their employees were physically prevented
from delivering carpeting to the dorms by
the countless security guards hired by the
University. Furthermore, the guards pre-
vented Wolverine from meeting the cus-
tomers in front of the dormitory to transfer
the carpeting.
The employees were also prevented
from entering the dorms to use the bath-
room facilities even though they were stu-
dents at the University and proved so.
They were also required to cease and desist
from selling carpeting on a fraternity
house's property with which they had an
agreement. Much of what transpired this
tens of thousands of dollars in actual 'ex-
penses and a great deal more as a result of
Li
the unreasonable restraint of trade, kick-
backs, interference with economic contrac-
tual relations, libel, slander and other pos-
sible violations.
The University of Michigan is a public
institution but seems to be operating un-
der a different method. I hope they will be
held responsible for their actions. They 0
are, as far as I know, the only University
to implement this type of monopolistic
practice and allow their employees to pur,
sue personal vendettas on University time,
and money.
A university in Ohio tried to grant art
exclusive contract to a vendor to sell re-,
frigerators to incoming student. A lawsuit.
was filed and the University was held li-,
able for unreasonable restraint of trade.
I would like the public to know what V
type of unethical and illegal practices the
University of Michigan is performing.
government was
enraged, as was its guardian angel the
U.S. military. U.S. and Salvadoran
planes dropped 500-pound bombs in
the poor barrios ofthe city, where FMLN
support was most prevalent, and Salva-
4oran police forces followed up with a
crackdown on political opposition.
.One of those arrested was U.S.-
American pacifist and peace-activist
Jennifer Jean Casolo. The government
claimed to have found a store of weap-
States, who have built a strong network
in solidarity with the people of El Salva-
dor.
Casolo's visit -- sponsored by the
Latin American Solidarity Committee,
the Interfaith Council for Peace and
Justice, the First Unitarian Universalist
Sanctuary Committee, and others -
offers students an opportunity to hear
about her case and judge for themselves,
and to become involved in an important
debate on campus.
_. _
Soviets must learn to adapt to their changing world
a
By Charlie LeDuff
a..
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coti /1va~1
With the happenings of the Middle
East once again dominating the headlines,
it is easy to forget about the most dra-
matic changes of the world structure in our
time. Namely, the dismantling of the So-
viet super structure.
As a recent graduate, I was able to
spend time and live among the Russians.
It was a rich and valuable experience. I re-
alize that I was witnessing the gradual dis-
appearance of hardship and fear, to that of
excess and obedience to Western standards.
Upon returning to the West, I've heard
such simplistic statements such as, "The
capitalist-democracies have beaten com-
he sees rich American tourists in his coun-
try.
As there are shortages of goods in the
USSR, both Soviet and Western, it is
natural to want more. I maintain that ma-
jor changes emanating from the East were
generated through economic considera-
tions, not political.
The Soviets now find themselves in a
long-term trap. As Russia tries to inte-
grate into the world economy, it finds it-
self with no prior experience in either cap-
italism or democracy. It also finds itself
with an infrastructure unable to compete
with that of the Western powers.
For the Soviet Union to assimilate
will stagnate.
This, in my mind, would lead to joint
ventures where multi-national corporations
would be present in the Soviet Union, to
garnishee extensive profits from the Sovi'
ets, for their share holders in the West. A
move toward such a system is evident now
with the introduction of Pepsi and Mci
Donald's (where a Big Mac costs 5 rubles;,
approximately 2.5 days salary per average
worker).
While on a train from Moscow to'
Leningrad, I conversed with a man whop
wrote for one of the many new burgeoning'
free publications. I explained my concep-
tion of the American educational system.