4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 23, 1999
laynard Street HEATHER KAMINS
bor, MI 48109 Editor in Chief
420 M
Ann Ar
daily ettersgumich.edu
Edited and managed by JEFFREY KOSSEFF
students at the DAVID WALLACE
University of Michigan Editorial Page Editors
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the
Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect
the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
FROM T H E DAY
Just do i
Athletic apparel industry must up standards
O n Friday, members of Students adopted environmental, health and safety
Organizing for Labor and Economic standards that equal or exceed those set out
Equality voiced their ' concerns to by the Occupational Safety and Health
University President Lee Bollinger over Administration.The report states it has
alleged sweatshop labor conditions in ath- also terminated its contracts with eight
letic apparel factories. SOLE members factories in four countries for failing to
argued that the College Licensing meet requirements set forth in its Code of
Company's code of labor practices stan- Conduct.
dards are not strict enough. SOLE mem- In addition, Nike claims it is establish-
bers proposed that the CLC's code ing independent monitoring for its
must include two main initiatives F factories - the most important
- public disclosure of factory aspect of its plan. But these state-
locations and owners and a living <v ments are all made by Nike in its
wage requirement. report, which only tells the compa-
These proposals are crucial to ny's side of the story. Watchdogs
improving factory working environments. are necessary to ensure that the company
Corporate responsibility is an integral part carries through with their promises.
of doing business, and humane treatment Nonetheless, Nike and the industry as a
of workers across the world and adequate whole have a long way to go.
conditions should not be privilege, but For example, certain Nike factories
practice. Basic human rights must be employ workers for 60 hours per week,
upheld at all costs and Americans must and the revised minimum age require-
not ignore the plight of workers across the ments do not apply to workers hired in the
globe - especially in underdeveloped past in countries where the minimum age
countries. With this in mind, SOLE's cutoff is lower.
'objectives seem quite' admirable. The Concerned individuals have definitely
'yurgency by which they have characterized captured public attention and made it nec-
:their latest initiative seems to show their essary for businesses to clean up their
deep desire to bring about positive labor practices. Rather than boycotting
change. individual companies and thus creating the
While Nike is a leader in athletic appar- incentive for factory owners to skimp even
-el, to dismiss substandard labor practices further on labor conditions and wages,
as solely Nike's doing is a sweeping gener- pressure for corporate responsibility must
alization - they are not alone. But Nike be applied. As the number one collegiate
has received the most media attention, label in the world, the University is well
which undoubtedly led to its recently quest poised to exert pressure on Nike to change
of positive change. According to Nike's its practices, especially since its contract
1998 Annual Report, the company has with the University expires next year. By
raised the minimum age of footwear facto- giving companies the incentive to hold
ry workers to 18 and the minimum age of themselves accountable, labor conditions
apparel workers to 16. It claims that it has can be improved across the globe.
An ethical Dian
Lee C. Bollinger: The students 'president?
H e let us into his house after the Penn clean record. Bollinger has, by and large, she went. All
State game. He had us run with him in appeared to be the type of person with took place dur
a presidential jog before his innauguration. whom your average student wouldn't mind in Fleming.
He invited first-year students who couldn't sitting down to lunch, throwing back a And Bolling
get full season tickets into the skybox for a pitcher or discussing current events. His stu- He alwayss
football Saturday. dent-friendly image may or may not be open person,v
And Lee something that he sought out - but for bet- change themv
Bollinger's list of stu- ter or worse, many on campus look at him as embrace of th
dent-friendly activi- their buddy in Fleming. And by and large, teristic of wha
ties don't end there: -' most of what he has done has supported In taking u
Following FDR's 9 that. think he hasc
lead, he held fireside t x That is until recently. Bollinger recently but the "comp
chats in the Michigan - let his stance on the Code of Student one that is tout
Union to talk with Conduct, an issue about which he had including Bol
students about cam- remained notoriously silent since the begin- same line of B
pus issues. He wants -ning of his tenure, be known. In a move that Mandela's mo
to build a bridge. He I guess shouldn't have been much of a sur- and his decisi
has a Master Plan for prise, he voiced support for the University's sumptuous for
campus. And depend- Jack four-page legal system in a Feb. 16 Daily a top-heavy d
ing on your political Schillaci article. can really bea
leanings, his defense This shouldn't surprise me, but it does. we mere peon
of affirmative action After all, Bollinger is an administrator. In Bollinger s
is either one of the The Left supporting the Code, he has adopted the has been give
greatest or one of the administrative line, however faulty. As a First or so of his p
worst things that he could do for students. Amendment scholar and lawyer that teaches of sorts. And d
And he's probably the most photogenic a class entitled "Freedom of Speech and that.
person I've ever seen. I have, to date, seen Press," I guess I expected something differ- Now that he
one picture of him that was less than flatter- ent than a claim that the Code is "a good set Code, Boling
ing, and that's because he wasn't looking at of common laws." A colleague of mine once the students' p
the camera. wrote about how Bollinger's true test would is open to c
He is so dedicated to student contact that come when he took a stand on the Code. remains to be
he wanted to move from the stuffy, fortress- Test is over, pencils down. Oops, you he will allow.
like Fleming Administration Building to failed. The Michig
Angell Hall so that we could all hang out The Code's roots lie in the Statement of and inviting ft
with him more easily. Student Rights and Responsibilities, its pre- student-friend
Oh wait, allow me to bite my tongue. That descessor, and in an earlier hate speech code so, the facad
didn't exactly go over too well. It seems that was thrown out by a federal judge. The changing fronr
Bollinger thought too much of how students Statement was a result of an administrative neighbor, the
needed him and underestimated their need push to implement a code of non-academic Bollinger wan
for silly little things like Academic conduct on campus, which also brought It's time fo
Advising. Maureen Hartford to campus for her history How Tolerant
But in many ways, the Angell Hall affair of hopping from campus to campus, planti- - Jack Sc
stood alone as a blemish on a relatively ng the seeds of administrative pretension as
of these predicating evenlt'
ring James Duderstadt's reign
ger is not James Duderstadt..
struck me as a very friendly,
willing to evaluate things and
when they needed fixing. His
e Code is simply not charac-
t his public image dictates.'
p the administration's logic, I
defied that image. I'm sorry,
munity values" argument, the
ted by many Code proponents,
linger, would sound like the
S even if it came frorr Nelson
outh. I respect the president
ions, but isn't it a little pre-
'the University to assume that
Definition of right and wrong
an accurate definition of what
students value and hold dear?
eems to like the image that he
n. Perhaps the first two years
residency were a honeymoon.
he Code issue marks an end to
holds the power to amend the
er will have to prove that he is
resident. He has stated that he
hanging the Code - what
seen is what kind of changes
gan Union puts forth a warm'*
acade. Perhaps Mr. Bollinger's
ly image is also a facade. If
de is beginning to crack -
that of the Union to its ugly
e Fleming, the place that:
ts to get away from.
or a new test. First question:
will your Society be, Lee?
'hillaci can be reached over e-
mail atjschilla@umich.edu.
DviEWPOINT
Dartmuth roves o endsoc9a segrgatio
(U-WIRE) NEW HAVEN, Conn. - As
rumors spread through Hanover this past
week that the Dartmouth administration was
abolishing single-sex fraternities, most stu-
dents and alumni reacted with outrage.
Fraternities and sororities were an instrumen-
tal part of Dartmouth life and traditions, they
objected, and the actions of the president and
trustees were a direct assault on the history of
their school. Rather than holding the annual
Winter Carnival events last week, students
gathered to demonstrate against the recent
administrative decision to reform campus life,
and alumni coordinators were swamped with
angry phone calls, reminiscent of the reaction
when Dartmouth went co-ed in 1973.
But despite the sentiment of protests that
have consumed the Hanover campus - an
outrage that put a stop to even the annual keg-
jumping contest - the Dartmouth adminis-
tration should not be condemned for its
actions. While the administration certainly
deserves criticism for the way the news was
released and the panic it spread through the
Dartmouth community, the move itself should
not.
Dartmouth College President James
Wright has said that, contrary to rumors, he
does not plan to abolish all fraternities with-
in the next weeks or months. Rather, he said
diminishing the fraternity scene on campus
would be only one part of his commitment to
creating a less socially segregated school.
He will not take action today or tomorrow to
kick out fraternities, but he and the adminis-
tration are prepared to build residence halls,
create additional social space and revise the
college's dining system to foster a new type
of campus life that would make single-sex
houses superfluous.
If Wright truly takes this type of con-
structive action - as opposed to the
rumored sudden destruction of the existing
social system - to move his school to a
more integrated campus in terms of sex,
race, interest, and other qualities, it would
be a move in the right direction. Yalies have
long enjoyed the benefits of living in resi-
dential colleges with a wonderfully diverse
group of students. The actions of the
Dartmouth administrators show that they,
too, recognize the importance of interacti@
with people from different backgrounds
and viewpoints.
Dartmouth administrators should not
shy away from their social revision. Their
action against the trend of students' self-
segregation is important for their institu-
tion,. but it also combats the tendency
toward division by interest, nationality, and
affinity group in higher education. While
we feel it is essential that Wright maintain
his promise to include students in the de '
sion-making process and to maintain t
fraternities until viable alternative options
are in place, we applaud his recent actions
and announcements. ,.
- This editorial ran in the Feb. 19
issue of The Yale Daily News.
TENTTIVELY SPEAKIN
y' THOMAS KULJURGIS
Ethics code for government officials needed Bases exist against
gnKurdish ponle
etroit College of Law Professor
Michael Lawrence recommended that
Michigan's House of Representatives
Constitutional Law and Ethics Committee
develop a clearly defined code of ethics for
government officials. Lawrence, working'
with the non-partisan Michigan Law
Revision Commission and studying disclo-
sure laws in other states for about a year,
deemed the legislature's current code inade-
-quate. The code of ethics.for Michigan gov-
-ernment officials is necessary for efficient
--lawmaking and preventing corruption in
elected offices.
Ethics in government affects everyone.
Michigan, ranked last out of all 50 states in
the strength of its ethics laws by the Center
for Public Integrity, has many flaws in its
current ethical standards. Some of the prob-
lems Lawrence suggests to change include
preventing public officials frombeing able to
represent people's interests for compensa-
tion, using their office to take or fail to take
any action in order to obtain items of value
and voting without disclosing conflicts of
interest.
If elected officials lack integrity, the repre-
sentative democracy is compromised, and
public interests are not upheld. The more
influence individuals and self-interest groups
have over politicians, the less the public's col-
lective needs are met. These problems defeat
the purpose of elections and undermine the
effectiveness of state government. In addition,
this gap in the ethics law binding state offi-
cials could lead to misappropriations of tax
dollars and other resources meant to maxi-
mize the benefits to our respective communi-
ties.
Lawrence's recommendations are insight-
ful and provide a reasonable solution to a
growing problem in today's political system.
If action is not taken, it may not be long
before Michigan's citizens are looking for
answers to a major scandal, trying to figure
out what went wrong along the way. Citizens
shouldn't have to cross their fingers and rely
on the good faith of our politicians to be hon-
est. The perfect time for such a measure is
now, implementing change as a preventive
guide for our public officials, not as a cor-
rective action.
Such steps toward the enforcement of an
ethical administration also set positive exam-
ples for the rest of the workforce and the state
as a whole. Tolerance of weak moral fiber in
our public officials promotes the opposite of
this desired effect.
Because Michigan ranks last in the
strength of its ethics code, and prosperity is
dependent on government integrity, it is
imperative that legislators support a plan to
implement changes to the code and catch up
to the ethical precedent set by other states.
To THE DAILY:
We've just witnessed a global collabora-
tion to end the Kurd issue forever. CNN, the
world's most "reliable" news source, has
labeled the captured Abdullah Ocalan and
his cause as pure terrorism. Never mind that
some people might consider him a freedom
fighter for the Kurds in Turkey.
Never mind that he fought against a
Turkish military regime that bans the
Kurdish language and refuses to recognize
13 million Kurds as a minority. Never mind
that the Turkish shadow government has sys-
tematically used land scorching tactics
against the Kurdish people. Such actions by
the Turkish government must not be dehu-
manizing at all.
WP chnir nrd at iih liria in all
DEBEN D
AFFIRMIfVE
ACTION! ITU17INK f
DISAGREE WINl
! REAC I Nt'GTOL ERAWCE A4
AFFIRMIATIVE
AC-TICmi'
RAC 1ST!r
i c r t p o w-
we snoua accept si
parts of the world. Ne
American media has bla
30,000 casualties, alr
claimed by the war for it
downtrodden people. N
world community has j
the issue of a Kurdish
under the rug forever wi
gauntlet of the "rebel lea
who tried to liberate a na
look, V'ONTACT'THEM
LEE BOLLINGER
UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT
EMAIL: leecbol@Umich.edu
PHONE: 764-6270
Dining halls
build comm
To THE DAILY:
I picked up the Da
something drew me to t
I read the Feb. 17 editor
I live in Mosher-Jordan
the topic pertains to mt
ished, I was left with ot
has the Daily ever even1
dining halls, much less li
had to eat in the dining
When news brokea
new collective diningt
rants, etc. I was thrilled
around here long enoug
the improvements, but h
the food here (barely) I
definite room for impro
Facilities are old an
over crowded and many
laid out right to handle I
Jordan's cafeteria isn't
weekends or for breakfa
is "too small to justify it
ring center that is proposed would make
ver mind that the things more fair for everyone who lives on
med Ocala Kurdish the Hill. 'Consistency for all residents and
ndependence of this hopefully, better food.
ever mind that the The argument that moving the dining
ust voted to sweep halls out of each respective dorm would
iautonomous state hurt the closeness of the living and learning
th the unquestioned communities is flai out preposterous. Think
der" and "terrorist" about it, I eat maybe 2 hours out of the day,
ation. butI am in my dorm probably an average of
NIKO VOUTSINAS 12-15. Is eating really where most of the
BUSINESS JUNIOR bonding is taking place? If the programs are
truly doing their jobs, then students have
other venues to interact and bond. And with
the new facility, living and learning students
do not would have the chance to, and I know I am
uni.es going out on a limb now, interact closely
nitLis with other living and learning students.
Everyone scream with me. Together now on
three.
aily last week and By taking out the dining rooms in
he editorial section. Mosher-Jordan, Couzens, Alice Lloyd and
ial, "Out to Eat," as Stockwell there will be room for classrooms,
Hall and therefore advising offices and other things that are
e. When I was fin- currently absent, like recreation rooms.
sly one question - Perhaps living and learning students could
visited the Hill area grow closer together in that environment as
ived on the Hill and well by offering classes exclusive to those
rooms everyday? groups in their building. Gosh, that is such a
about the projected radical thought. Everyone scream with me
center with restau-
N. oth I will be again.
. (hopeth Il tose gBuild the new facility and put all you've
l (hope r f . tosee
aving lived through got into it. The Hill dining facilities need
can say that there is heIp bad. I am sure that the prospective liv-
vement. ing and learning students would be much
d dirty, very often more excited to join the programs if they
are sitnply just not knew they were getting decent food options.
he traffic. Mosher- I'd walk outside in the dreaded snow for that.
ev n used on the NATHAN PROVOST
st because the dorm
." But this new din- ENGINEERING FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
Resolution is
'anti-democratic'
TO THE DAILY:
The resolution being put forward by
Engineering Rep. David Burden to eliminate
parties on MSA ballots is anti-democratic,, It
would deny student voters information abd*
the candidates. It would also deny candidates
the right to on-ballot association with like-
minded candidates.
Freedom of association and the right to
form political organizations are fundamental
to democracy and so is every voter's right to
know the sort of information Burden istrying
to keep from them. The Burden resolution
threatens to shift the elections more in the
direction of popularity and superficial anm
recognition contests and away from electi,
based on where candidates stand on issues'of
importance.
Last November, the Defend
Affirmative Action Party won six seats not
on name recognition or social popularity,
but on the basis of how people should win
election to representative bodies; we won
on the basis of where we stand on substan-
tive issues.
Happy coincidence for Burden and
other opponents of affirmative action
passing this resolution would weaken t
chances of students who, like the Defend
Affirmative Action Party, run not on the
basis of personal name recognition and
popularity, but run to stand up for their
beliefs. The resolution to ban parties from
the ballot should not be passed; if it is; it
will weaken student government at our
school.
ERIKA DOWDE
LSA REPRESENTATIV
i IANY
A