LOCAL/STATE jHIGHER ]EDUCATION L" Condoms given with pizza order at Rutgers U. 0Adding a new twist to restaurant freebies, a pizzeria at the Rutgers University New Brunswick campus is including one free condom with each pizza it delivers. The bonus item serves as a way for La Nova Italian Kitchen and a local AIDS foundation to promote Condom Awareness Month. Accompanied by literature contain- ing information about HIV/AIDS pre- vention as well as hotline numbers, the ondoms are given only to Rutgers stu- dents, who comprise about 80 percent of the restaurants customers. Owners said following their distribu- tion of more than 400 condoms, they have received many positive responses from students and pizza sales have increased by 20 percent. The pizzeria hopes to distribute more than 2,000 condoms during the month. Proposal would require computers or Ohio U. students Ohio University Interim Associate Provost for Information Technology Douglas Lawrence presented the Ohio University board with details of a pro- posal requiring students entering in the year 2000 to own personal computers. W Lawrence contends students need to own a computer to stop the problemat- ic long lines at computer labs and pre- pare for jobs in which computer litera- cy is a necessity. An Information Resource Council ctmprised of faculty and administra- tors has been created to look into the cost and benefits of the proposal. Lawrence said possible ways to #nplement the plan would be raising tuition and supplying students with a computer or maintaining current tuition rates while letting the students take responsibility for obtaining a computer. The proposal will be voted on in April. Villanova sends fraternity rush letters to parents Administrators at Villanova University have sent letters to parents about potential problems associated with fraternity rush on campus. The letters were sent to inform par- ents that three fraternities participating in the current rush season are not rec- ognized as chapters because of their poor standing with Villanova. University administrators say the let- rs are intended to warn parents of the .danger" students may encounter if they choose to rush these fraternities. Two of the three addressed fraternities are also unrecognized by the national chapters. Although administrators have sent similar letters in the past, this mailing is the first in several years. Student runs for Florida faculty ainion president A University of Florida doctoral stu- dent is the first student to run for pres- ident of the United Faculty of Florida. The union represents the faculty at 10 state universities, eight community colleges and several other institutions. Marcus Harvey, the student candi- date, contends he has more experience than his opponent - an education pro- -Ossor at the University of Central Florida - because he has been chief negotiator for the Graduate Assistants United, president of the University of *FArida's GAU chapter and one of four UFF vice presidents for bargaining. Harvey said the position would allow him to lobby for health care and stipends for graduate students - a group that comprises only 5,000 people of the 14,000 he would be representing with the presidency title. * - Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Nika Schulte Maynard strcture to be repai.red By Kelly O'Connor Daily Staff Reporter Customers and employees of Ann Arbor's downtown shopping district may have one less option in the scramble for convenient parking as renovations to the Maynard Street parking structure are scheduled to begin this spring. In response to the concerns of Ann Arbor residents, the Downtown Development Authority hosted an informational meeting and question-answer session at the Michigan Theater yesterday. A handful of people attended, taking advantage of free popcorn and a chance to learn about the details of the project. The 44-year-old structure, which contains 800 parking spaces, will undergo repairs to salt-damaged concrete and steel slabs during a five-phase project extending from March to August. Approximately 135,000 square feet of concrete will be removed from the structure. DDA Executive Director Susan Pollay and Mark Postma of Carl Walker, Inc., a company helping the city with the project, answered a variety of questions including where customer and employee parking will be available when the structure is under construction and how the DDA plans to inform regular parkers of Maynard renovation schedule 3 Phase 1: March 8 - April 3 Up to 100 spaces out of service 8 Phase 2: April 4 - May 1 Up to 250 spaces out of service # * Phase 3: May 2- Aug. 31 Entire structure closed 8 Phase 4: Sept. 1 - Nov. 12 Upto150 spaces out of service Phase 5: July 24 Aug. 31, 2000 Entire structure may be closed The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 17, 1999 - House considers new ethics code QLOUIb BROWN/Daily Mark Postma speaks at the Michigan Theater yesterday during an informational meeting about the Maynard Street parking structure repairs. the construction and temporary closing. Pollay said Maynard Street permit holders will be able to park free of charge in the Fourth and East William streets structure once the project begins. In recent years, the DDA has changed the funding process to ensure that taxes will not have to be raised to pay for the renovations. All money collected from parking fees now remains specifically earmarked for parking projects. The goal was to create a parking system that pays for itself, Pollay said. "The people using the system are paying for the sys- tem," she said. When asked about excessive noise and dust result- ing from the construction, Postma said attempts will be made to forewarn merchants and residents of inconveniences. "We want to make this happen in a way that makes a structure that lasts, but also that we get through this construction period," Postma said. Although the current problems have existed for some time, only short-term "band-aid" fixes have been applied, Pollay said. The Maynard Street structure project is part of a $30 million dollar plan to renovate all seven of the city's structures during the next 10 years. Proposed Government Ethics Act would prohibit accepting gifts for duties LANSING (AP) - A law profes- sor told a state House committee yesterday that Michigan should develop a clearly defined code of ethics for government officials. The meeting of the House Constitutional Law and Ethics Committee came only days after a national watchdog group ranked Michigan last in the strength of its ethics laws. The Center for Public Integrity wrote the report. "I don't think the response to this report should be that Michigan should rush out and require a very full, onerous disclosure on the part of public officials," Detroit College of Law Prof. Michael Lawrence told the committee. But Lawrence said Michigan laws are inadequate. For example, state lawmakers don't have to disclose conflicts of interest when casting votes. The state also doesn't have any penalties for ethics violations. Lawrence said he spent a year studying disclosure laws in other states and crafting a recommended ethics code for Michigan. The Michigan Law Revision Commission, a nonpartisan state group, worked with Lawrence. Lawrence's proposed Government Ethics Act would include specific prohibitions against receiving gifts in exchange for official duties. The code also would require legislators to excuse themselves from votes if they have a conflict of interest. The act would also establish an ethics board appointed by the gover- nor to review complaints and exam- ine lawmakers' conflict disclosur statements. Lawrence said such a code wouk put Michigan in the middle of state: in terms of state ethics codes. State: at the top of the list generally have strict financial disclosures -- some- thing Lawrence doesn't recommenc because he said it requires excessiv bureaucracy. "We need to approach the idea of r code of ethics from the standpoin that public officials would have nothing to fear from a code of ethics," he said. Local governments and officials it towns of less than 25,000 would be able to opt out of the code as long as they developed ethics laws meeting state standards, Lawrence said. Richard McLellan, chair of the Michigan Law Revision Commission, said his group will examine Lawrence's report and decide whether to endorse it. McLellan praised the vigilance of former Attorney General Frank Kelley for keeping ethics violations to a minimum in Michigan. "Michigan is an extra-clean state," he said. House Constitutional Law and Ethics Committee chair Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) said the proposed act would be a priority for his committee, "It's too bad that we've come to the point where we have to legislate common sense. Someone who's run- ning for office knows what's right and wrong," he said. "If we had more comprehensive laws on record that we can follow, we'll be better off in the future." I IU officials discuss Chillin' in the warm weather sweatshop labor By Jason Stoffer Daily Staff Reporter Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equity, a student group that is part of a nationwide movement to end the production of licensed colle- giate apparel in overseas sweatshops, met with University officials yesterday in an attempt to gain University support of a code of conduct for overseas appar- el manufacturers. The Collegiate Licensing Company, which oversees the licensing of college logos to apparel manufacturers for more than 150 schools including the University, is in the process of drafting such a code, but SOLE believes the proposed draft does not go far enough. "These companies have a history of employing labor in countries where workers have the least power, said Andy Cornell, a SOLE member. "We understand these people are dependent on this work but we want to hold these companies fully responsible for these workers' lives" The group said it wants the University to advocate an inclusion in the code pro- visions that would stipulate a living wage for workers, and public disclosure of the factory locations and addresses of manufacturers and subcontractors. University consultant Keith Molin said the University has not taken a posi- tion on whether the current draft code is too weak, and would not comment on SOLE's demands. "We've been involved in the drafting of that code and have been doing so with other institutions, the Department of Labor and apparel manufacturers," said Molin, a former senior associate athletic director at the University. "Our efforts are directed at creating oversight and monitoring for manufacturing facilities overseas." For SOLE members, the University's actions can be summed up in one word - frustration. "We've been talking to the University since September, and while we appreci- ate their willingness to meet with us, they haven't even come up with an internal process that determines who will decide yes or no on our demands," Cornell said. Cornell said he is not yet sure whether SOLE members would con- duct a sit-in to force the University to capitulate to the group's demands. Georgetown University, Duke University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison adopted propos- als similar to SOLE's after high- profile student sit-ins. "We're not ruling it out as a possible course of action," Cornell said. While it is hard to dispute that sweat- shops are undesirable, some econo- mists think groups like SOLE are approaching the issue from the wrong perspective. Business Prof. Gunter Dufey said regulating sweatshop conditions is not likely to be successful and may do more harm than good. "The people who pursue these objec- tives have no idea what is going on in these countries," said Dufey, an expert on international business and finance. "This is largely to satisfy someone's political correctness and compensate for their guilty feelings." Dufey said higher wages in third world nations may cause some workers to lose their jobs and could raise apparel prices. "With their well-intentioned objec- tives, the protesters are making the sit- uation worse," Dufey said. "The way to get their demands is to show these countries (where the sweatshops are located) the benefits of a social and economic system where equal rights are protected." LSA sophomore Julie Fry, a SOLE member, said she doubts a living wage provision will affect employment. "These companies are making gross profits and it wouldn't cost them much more to pay their workers a living wage" Fry said. "Workers have the right to make enough money for rent, food, dwelling and transportation." SOLE members said they will bring their concerns to the University Board of Regents during the public comments portion of the meeting tomorrow. LSA first-year student Scott Burk, LSA sophomore Lindsay Spolan and LSA first-year students Tracy Bortnick and Dana Kukes sit near the Diag yesterday on an unusually warm February day. Temperatures yesterday afternoon neared 50 in Ann Arbor. I hat'sQALeNL All What's happening in Ann Arbor today GROUP MEETINGS U Peace Corp General Information Meeting, International Center, Room 9, 7-9 p.m. Q University Christian Outreach Prayer Meeting, Michigan League, Room D, 8:30 p.m. EVENTS Lectureship in Manufacturing, H.H. Dow, Room 1017, 4:30 p.m. U "'Perspectives on Hatred' Panel Discussion," sponsored by Social Work Organizations Collaborative, School of Education, Schorling Auditorium, 9-11:30 a.m. U"Regina Morantz-Sanchez on 'Historical Reflections on the Figure of the Difficult Woman'," Soonsored by Michigan Initiative Auditorium C, 7 p.m. 'SERVICES O Campus Information Centers, 763- INFO, info@umich.edu, and www.umich.edu/-info on the World Wide Web C Northwaik, 763-WALK, Bursley Lobby, 8 p.m.- 1:30 a.m. .1 I m~w. ~ £ - I