The Michigan Daily- Friday, January 15, 1993-Page 5


at the University

By Marc Olender Daily Environment Reporter

Lessons of
war don't
need to be
repeated
Every 20 or so years, the
United States seems to be
involved in a war. Whether it be
World War I, World War II or
Vietnam, American troops are
sent abroad to fight for some

The Diag may be dangerous to your health.
The University maintains its trees and lawns -
in addition to the University of Michigan.Golf
Course and the Matthai Botanical Gardens -
with careful gardening skills and a touch of
pesticides.
Chemical spraying on the University cam-
pus is a reality. Staff and students agree that
many residents of Ann Arbor should become
aware of its presence.
The Students' Perspective
Susan Sampson and Joseph Keller, both
LSA first-year students, wrote a report for their
environmental studies class on pesticide use at
the University.
"I thought people needed to be aware,"
Sampson said. "We didn't just want to do a
superficial project. Our hearts were in this."
The two students said they found more than
they expected.
They met with Marvin Pettway, University
forester and grounds supervisor, in early No-
vember. They requested information on pesti-
cide use around the campus area.
Keller said, "He seemed a little reluctant to
give us the more dangerous stuff the first time
we came in."
Sampson saidshe thought Pettway was hold-
ing back information.
"I asked him for everything, and he only
disclosed what he did," Sampson said. "We
didn't think we had a project."
Next, the students went to their teaching
assistant (TA), Shannon Sullivan, who pro-
vided them with articles and information on
pesticides. They thenobtained information from
Public Interest Research Group In Michigan
and the Ecology Center.
Looking back, the students admit they should
have been better-prepared before speaking with
Pettway.
In their report, they wrote, "This would have
saved us from being manhandled by Mr.
Pettway's condescending mannerisms."
Sampson and Keller returned to the Univer-
sity Grounds Department to "acquire more in-
formation about the pesticides they use by in-
vestigating the spray records without Pettway's
supervision."
This visit, the students said, confirmed their
suspicions that they hadn't gotten the whole
picture.
Sampson said she learned that pesticide
spraying took place all over the University
campus - a lot closer to home than she had
thought.
"It is toxic and they're spraying it on the
Diag. And if you spray it on the trees, it falls on
the ground," Sampson said. "We find it kind of
weird, seeing as how people play on the Diag."
University Grounds Services spraysachemi-
cal on the north corner of the Diag called
Dursban.
"With the EPA not having finished testing
on it, Dursban can't be safe," Sampson contin-
ued. "Light exposure to pesticides can affect
brain waves for months."
And if a pesticide can do that much to
someone walking by it, she pointed out, what
would happen after repeated exposure?
The students put up fliers around campus
listing the dangers of exposure to pesticides.
Keller said people took an immediate inter-
est. "People would come up, check it out, and
ask what it was all about. A majority of people
wanted to know more about it."
The students stood out on the Diag and
surveyed a random sample of 85 people to find
out how much they knew about pesticide use.
Their report shows that three-quarters of these
students did not know pesticides were being
used on the University campus.
"A lot of people I've been talking to can't
believe that something like that can be happen-
ing on our campus," Sampson said.
The students stressed that they are not criti-
cizing the Grounds Department's procedures.
"I'm sure they take all the precautions,"
Sampson said. "All we're saying is that pesti-
cides are not safe, no matter how they're
sprayed."
Sampson said people do not know enough
about the long-term effects of pesticides to use
them.

"Proper testing hasn't been done. If we
don't know how they are affecting people -
why are we taking that risk?"
Their TA Speaks
Sullivan, the students' TA inEnvironmental
Studies, has worked for the Natural Defense
Studies Council in Washington, D.C., for two
years. She coordinated research on agricultural
andpesticide policy. When Sampson and Keller
came to her forhelp with their project, she gave
them information from some files she kept after
she left Washington.
"I didn't encourage Susan and Joe to do this
project, but I know that a lot of this information
is obscure and hard to find," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said the students' project on pesti-
cides ispart of alargermodel called community
problem solving.
"By defining itas aproblem, they're kind of
taking a side," she said.
Sullivan said she does not believe this means
they are slanting their findings.
"You have to be realistic - it's a compli-

which mandates that any institution storing
hazardous chemicals must keep files of its in-
ventory - does not require companies to list
inert ingredients so they can protect trade se-
crets.
"If you look on the label, it tells the active
ingredients," Sullivan said. "These are maybe 1
percent of the product, but99.9 percent are inert
ingredients. People assume that they're safe.
'Safe' is implied in the word 'inert."'
Sullivan said pesticides are an invisible
threat.
"People have a natural tendency to defend
thatthey do notbelievethey're harming people,"
she said.
However, she added thatpesticide use isjust
one problem among many.
"I don't have any interest in promoting this
problem more than other problems, butI do feel
that this is one area that doesn't get enough
attention."
Sullivan said the students broughtthatatten-
tion to their work.
"That's why I thoughttheprojectwas a good
one. It initiated a dialogue. That's what's sup-
posed to happen with universities."
The other side
The University Grounds Department is very
proud of its work.
"We ain't got anything to hide," Pettway
said, "We've done more lawn-cutting in one
week than in four years of spraying pesticides."
Michael Gaubatz, assistant manager of
Grounds Services, said he's proud of his job.
"Controversy goes with the ropes," he said.
Frances Jaede, manager of Grounds Ser-
vices,also takes pride in her department's work.
"I've been at the Ann Arbor Zoo and at
Wayne State (University) as grounds manager.
I've been a number of places and I'm really
proud of where we are here," she said.
Her pride comes from overcoming the chal-
lenges the grounds department faces in its work.
"People are our biggest customer and our
biggest challenge," Pettway said. "A person
can do more harm to a plant in 15-20 minutes
than a flock of leaf beetles in a whole feeding
season."
Jaede said her office is always incorporating
new options into its program.
"You have 100 options before you get to a
herbicide or pesticide. I think we've done really
well in our program with limiting - and hope-
fully, in the near future -eliminating anumber
of pesticides," Jaede said.
Pettway said the grounds department ex-
ceeds the safety requirements mandated by
state and federal legislation.
"There are more smokers out there to harm
people's health than our spraying," Pettway
said.
The grounds department follows a system
called Integrated Pest Management (IPM) -
using alternatives to chemical pesticides.
"It's a handy handle to put on an intelligent
approach," said Mike Hommel, superintendent
of the Matthai Botanical Gardens. "IPM means
thinking about things. It has become more popu-
lar with the 'greening' of the United States."
Pettway agreed that1PM translates intocom-
mon sense.
"There is no way to eradicate any pest. It
doesn't do us-good, or the environment."
Pettway said the obvious way to keep plants
healthy is to leave them alone, since they nor-
mally take care of themselves. He maintains the
natural vigor of plants through a system of
watering, weeding, pruning, and fertilizing.
It is also necessary to "ultimately realize
there are some plants not able to be saved," he
said.
Jaede said, "We have the added challenge
here of preserving a historic campus. We do
that in a very safe & sound way. It's so easy to
just spray a chemical. It's harder to look at the
big picture."
Pettway said the grounds department's sys-

Marvin Pettway, University forester and ground supervisor, protects a tree from
University development projects.

tem of monitoring insect populations reduces
the amount of chemicals it needs to use on pests.
"We can use a thimbleful if we get them in
their young, vulnerable stage, as opposed to
needing a bucketful when they are adults in
their protected stage. If you wait, you won't get
squat-diddly," he said.
Pettway said his department makes sure to
notify people at University locations when pes-
ticide spraying is going to be done.
"There is at leasf one contact per building.
We explain the situation to that contact. We
figure out how to work the timing and dosage to
get the most effective management."
Once an area is sprayed, the grounds depart-
ment leaves signs and flags around the site.
"We leave a sign with a warning on it. It tells
the chemical sprayed and what it was used for."
Pettway pointed out that the University is
not required by law to do such extensive notifi-
cation. He said the grounds department goes
above and beyond required safety.
"We welcome investigative inquiries,"
Pettway.said. "I want to show you how good I
am. Find all the dirt you want on me - and
when it's all said and done, I come out looking
pretty good."
Pettway said all employees of the grounds
department have been educated in natural re-
sources.
"The major reason we do what we do is that
we love the environment," Pettway said. "I
would welcome those same students back again,
standing on the table, shouting in my face."
He said again, "I ain't got nothing to hide."

Toxicology
The toxicity rating system is sometimes as
questionable as the pesticides themselves. Pes-
ticides are assigned a rating called the LD0,
based on oral toxicity tests. The lower the rating
is, the more toxic the chemical. Jim Roland, the
University Golf Course Manager, sprays a
chemical called Touche on his fairways. Touch6
carries an LD50 rating of more than 5,000,
which is considered to be non-toxic.
However, Roland recalls a day when the
chemical was more dangerous.
"One time, there was aperson outhere-he
was just on the practice range one night. That
morning, we had gone out and sprayed fungi-
cide (Touche) on the fairway," Roland said.
"He was chipping when it happened. He expe-
rienced dizziness and sweating. That night, he
had cold flashes and wasn't feeling well."
The man who became ill had seen the signs
on the golf course warning that the course had
been sprayed, and called Roland.
"He called his doctor aboutit. Ithappened in
July of this year. It's the only time something
like that everhappened while I've workedhere,"
Roland said.
Dursban has an LD50 rating of 225 in
Pettway's files. However, the students found a
Consumer Union Fact Sheet that gave it an
LD50 of 163. Sullivan said she was appalled the
University would use something so toxic. She
was especially concerned about its use on the
grounds of the University Hospitals.
"I can't imagine any rationale for using
Dursban on campus," Sullivan said.
Pettway pointed that out the LD50 ratings
are rated for the ure chemical, while the Uni-
versity Grounds 8ervices uses diluted mix-
tures.
"Our Dursban is a 2 percent of the pure 100
percent," he said. "Also, at the front of the
hospital, it's a contained unit, a secure area with
officers. I did a quick computation. Dusban is
most toxic at an LD50 of 225. I broke it down
for a 110-pound student. They would have to
take in 20 pounds of what we use for it to affect
them."
Gaubatz added that homeowners can pur-
chaseDusban for theirown use. Non-paid spray-
ers do not have to be certified to use a pesticide.
"It's used more indiscriminately by
homeowners in the whole Ann Arbor area than
what we'll do in a whole year. I would be much
more worried about what my neighbor's do-
ing," said Gaubatz.
Conclusions
Sampson and Keller said they would like to
see people become more involved in control-
ling the use of pesticides. In their report, they
called for a complete ban of pesticides on the
University campus.
"We should have a say in it. The people
living here year-round should especially have a
say," Sampson said.
Keller said he wants the University Grounds

cause.
These wars have ramifica-
tions that
last
much Josh
longer Dubow
than
their
respec-
tive
battles.
Each
genera-
tion of
Ameri-
cans is
some-
how defined by its war.
The Baby Boomers were a
product of World War II. The
tranquility of the 1950s was
also a reflection of the war. The
1960s and early 70s were
characterized by Vietnam and
the distrust of government that
resulted from it.
The way wars shape
people's characters was even
evident during the presidential
campaign. World War II
veteran George Bush tried to
make war and service to his
country a major issue in the
campaign. He had been a hero
in his generation's war; Bill
Clinton did not fight in his.
This issue struck a chord for
some - mostly those who had
served in the armed forces -
and was discounted by many
others. This difference of
opinion was determined by
when and under what circum-
stances people were raised.
Our generation hasn't really
been involved in a war yet -
except for our brief excursions
in Grenada and Panama, and the
Persian Gulf War. Our lives
have not been shaped by war.
The idea and threat of war does,
not have the same impact on
most of us as it does on people
who fought in a war or grew up
in a wartime era.
On Wednesday, the United
States and allied forces bombed
Iraqi missile launchers in
Southern Iraq. This came
almost twoyears to the day
after the onset of the Persian
Gulf War.
The potential starting of a
war did not have much of an
impact on me. Watching it was
no different than seeing a
television show or movie. You
turn the TV on, watch some
highlights of bombs hitting their
targets, hear officials talk about
a successful mission, commer-
cial comes, flip the channel to
MTV.
* On Tuesday, Pittsburgh
Penguin star hockey player
Mario Lemieux announced that
he suffers from Hodgkins
Disease - a very curable form
of cancer. That news had more
of a personal affect on me than
the bombings in Iraq.
I've watched Mario
Lemieux play hockey for years.
I have seen himgrow as a
person as well as a hockey
player. I've known who he was
before anyone outside of
Arkansas had heard of Bill
Clinton.

The news about Lemieux
affects me more because I don't
know anyone who is fighting in
Iraq. I don't know anyone who
has gone to war. War has had
no personal affect on me.
My experience with war
does not go far beyond televi-
sion and movies. To me, war is
not much more than numbers
- or almost a game.
That idea is frightening,
because if war stops affecting
people, we will no longer fear
the horrors of war. As the years
go by, fewer and fewer people
will have experienced the

if