Page 4- The Michigan Daily -Wednesday, September 12, 1990 0 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. ._-- t* r :.: { r, 1. b '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.. w' C-" ' 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.