4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 15, 1999 Ghb Btirigu t!Dilg Welfare and drugs -A lesson in 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 daily. letters@umich.edu Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan HEATHER KAMINS Editor in Chief JEFFREY KOSSEFF DAVID WALLACE Editorial Page Editors Making laws is by no means an easy job. Legislators must make sure that each law they draft and is complete- ly fair, impartial and just. This often proves difficult - especially when they Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Dailys editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. allow stereotypes and prejudices to blunt their decision- making abilities. Just look at the lat- est troubles of the Michigan govern- ment. Last Wednesday, a U.S. district judge placed a temporary stop on a month-old Michigan policy that makes drug screening mandato- ry for all welfare applicants. Deemed by the judge to be "probably unconsti- Northworst Scott Hunter Through the , Airline competition would help students But, in drafting the new regulation, the Congress overlooked the little detail of civil rights. The legal issue with the screening policy is that it lets the government to invade a person's privacy just because he has a spell of financial misfortune. This is because, frankly, below the 20-percent tax bracket hardly constitutes probable cause to believe that a person gets high on smack every day. After all, several studies have shown that the rate of drug use among welfare users is essentially no different than among anyone else. In fact, of the people tested under the law so far, only 8 percent have tested positive for drug use: A cou- ple potheads and crack users here and there. Alongside the legal dimension of the case, the whole welfare regulation points to the problem of pervasive stereotypes corrupting the lawmaking process. Think about it: Welfare is only one of the many forms of financial assistance that the government provides. But the government does not make it a point to test people applying for other forms of financial assistance. Can you just imagine, for instance, if the government all of a sudden began administering drug tests to each student who applied for college loans? (The cam- pus shudders collectively.) A couple of students - and you know who you are! - would be out of luck. But, even worse, most of us would get pretty ticked off about the whole thing: Does our age, our educational goal or our financial situa- tion make us really likely to smoke crack? Probably not. Okay, maybe that doesn't convince you. Then think about what would hap- tereotypes pen if the government tested your parents or grandparents before forking over their social security checks. Chances are that we will not see that happening any time soon. Somehow, these scenarios seem a little ridiculous. But they are no less ridiculous than the latest welfare policy. if you think about it. This latest law only survived because it was based on false stereotypes. You all know what I'm talking about: The black welfare mother who smokes crack, the convulsive junkie who is too addicted to hold a job and the lazy guy who thinks of a welfare check as a government-backed voucher for a free dime bag. Had law- makers looked toward statistics rather than toward their preconceptions, they would have found that these sorts of peo- ple are relatively few in the welfare sys- tem. Most people are not on welfare because it is "free money" or because it ensures a constant supply of ganja. It's usually because there's no better alterna- tive. 0 W hat's your greatest fear? Death? Taxes? Flying Northwest? Unfortunately for many University stu- dents going home for the holidays, travel- ing on Northwest Airlines has been raised to this standard of universal certainty. Fewer than one in four flights out of Metro are on another airline, leaving many passengers with the dubious choice of purchasing a Northwest ticket or wear- ing out their walking shoes. The Wayne County Executive's Office and Wayne County Commission should open up the airport to other airlines and foster the kind of competition that we believe it so desperately needs. Northwest's recent tenure at Detroit Metro has been dogged by disaster. A pilot's strike last year shut down the air- line for 15 days, disrupting vacations, stranding passengers and mauling the state economy. As many as 560,000 pas- sengers were unable to complete their travel plans, costing the state an estimat- ed $323 million in lost worker wages, tourism and business activity. Comerica Inc. put the costs even higher, at $350 million for metropolitan Detroit alone. And in January, as many as 5,000 Northwest passengers were stranded on the tarmac for anywhere from two to eight hours, lacking food, water and adequate bathroom facilities. A number of University students, including members of the Michigan Marching Band, were among those passengers trapped against their will. In contrast, passengers traveling from competitive markets are more likely to enjoy a comfortable flight. They experi- ence less congestion when traveling than do their fellows at hub airports, typically spending less time parking their car or standing in line. Service is generally bet- ter than at hub airports, and alternate flights are easier to get if yours is can- celled. According to a June article in the Wall Street Journal, delays are reported as little as 10 percent as often as the industry average. Fares in competitive markets are 30 percent lower than compa- rable flights from hub airports, on aver- age. Competition saves passengers time, money and aggravation. Proponents of hub airports point out dominant carriers are more likely to offer nonstop flights to more destinations if passengers can be funneled through a sin- gle airport for connecting flights. This frequency of service helped contribute to economic growth in such hub cities as Charlotte, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Atlanta. International conferences that stimulate the local economy are more likely to take advantage of the conve- nience of hub cities in planning their next event, proponents claim, and businesses are more likely to set up shop in a city where travel is convenient and easy. Opponents of hubs are quick to point out that while putting all your economic eggs in one basket may spur short-term economic gains, it also holds that eco- nomic growth hostage to the whims and difficulties of a single carrier. Favorable commerce can be shut off like water from a spigot should a strike occur or the air- line pack its bags for better pastures. They doubt that restricting customer ser- vice is worth the higher fares, the incon- venience and the long waits on the tar- mac. And so do we. tutional," the law denies benefits to any- one refusing testing as well as to any users refusing to enter a rehabilitation program. After all, proponents argue, no cost- efficient government should dole out dollars to support the vices of welfare recipients. Just imagine, say the well- compensated congresspersons, how much more efficient the entire system would be if all those consumptive little serfs did not burden all the perfectly righteous taxpayers with all their addic- tions. Superficially, this reasoning seems cogent enough: The government should- n't pay for a welfare recipient's drugs because it will only make the person less likely to move off the state aid program. That is why most of the people who wind up on welfare at some point receive aid only for a little while before realign- ing their finances and moving off the program. But instead of looking at this fact, legislators unfairly stigmatized all people who earn below a certain amount of money and are forced into getting aid. Lawmakers need to devise a new way to develop laws: Perhaps by basing them on evidence, rather than on stereotypes. Maybe then, they could actually do some good for the welfare system. This is def- initely preferable to expending energy on a problem that doesn't really exist. - Scott Hunter can be reached over e-mail at sehunter1umich.edu. TENTATIVELY SPEAKING' THOMAS KULJURGIS ' e PENN + rs" : M cW GaN; °'' . Pdeceless donations Students should support Blood Battle vs. OSU The football team has its chance to defeat the Buckeyes this weekend. For two weeks, non-athletic students have the opportunity to shed a little blood off the field in the 18th annual Michigan vs. Ohio State Blood Battle. The competi- tion kicked off Nov. 7 in University residence halls MICI and continues through Nov. N:. 19 in the Union. SThe Blood Battle is a Nov. competition sponsored by the.1-7 University and OSU chapters of Alpha Phi Omega, a ser- N' 'ice fraternity, and the 9 American Red Cross. Set up - in the Union this week, stu- dents should find donating blood conve- nient. It only takes one pint to save up to four lives. About 1,000 pints of blood are used each day in Southeastern Michigan, and crisis shortages are frequent. Nationwide, blood is in short supply. Hospitals prefer to keep a three-day supply of blood avail- able, especially for emergencies and blood transfusions. Due to the blood shortage, especially in Southeast Michigan, hospitals must ration them- selves to a one-day supply. Such a dan- gerous alternative could affect doctors' decisions regarding large procedures. The Red Cross relies on emergency drives to replenish blood stores and without enough donations, it imports blood from another region. rr - - - -1 -- _ - * I-- - -L -- _ I Donors are checked for diseases or abnor- malities that could make them ineligible in a confidential pre-screening procedure. There are no health risks, as new, sterile instruments are used for each ATE .. person and the Red Cross THE volunteers are well-trained. .Additionally, after donating [GAN blood, donors are replenished ON. with free juice and cookies. The Red Cross requires S-18 that donors are older than 17 years of age, weigh more than 110 pounds and recom- 19 mends eating a healthy meal 7. £ before donating. OSU has many more stu- dents, and has won the battle for the last six years, so every eligible University student should give blood. The majority of students fulfill the require- ments for potential donors, and everyone should be able to sacrifice the mere hour it takes to make such an important dona- tion. The blood battle is an excellent way for University students to help save lives and gain a victory over Ohio State in the process. The results will be announced during half-time of the Michigan vs. Ohio State football game on Nov. 20. The win- ner receives the "Blood Drop" trophy. Falling just before the holidays, when community blood supplies often drop to critical levels, the battle is a fun and com- petitive challenge between old rivals that also benefits an important cause. To 'M' fans should buy MSU game tickets TO THE DAILY: Attention all Maize Ragers, today, Nov. 15, tickets for individual home basketball games go on sale at the athletic ticket office. I am writing to encourage all Michigan basket- ball fans, including those who who are already season ticket holders, to purchase tickets to the Michigan State game, Feb. 1. I have been a season ticket holder for four years now, and I'll be honest, the quality of basketball I've seen in that time has been something less than one would expect from Michigan. Despite this, I have always been proud to support our team, but never have I been more embarrassed with my school than when I attended the "home" game against Michigan State last year. The 4,000 or so MSU fans that were present that night literally took over the arena, booed our team over the rest of our cheers and basically made Crisler a home away from home for the Spartans. The reason MSU was able to do this was simply because no one bought tickets last year, and seats that would otherwise have been occupied by Michigan students weretaken by a Michigan reject (hence, an MSU student). That is why I'm asking my fellow Maize Ragers to step up and buy a pair of student tickets to that game. Of course I have season tickets as well, but I do plan to purchase tick- ets to that game if only to keep one or two more State fans out of the arena (believe me, they will already be sending enough fans with the normal visitor ticket allotment). Do what- ever you want with the tickets, give them to relatives, friends ... throw them away if you want, just don't give them to anyone who plans on wearing green and white to that game. I'd much rather have empty seats that night than see them filled by Spartan fans. For your school, your team and your fel- low Maize Ragers, spend a few bucks to keep the State fans out of Crisler Arena this year. I can't think of a better way to support the bas- ketball team than to deny an MSU fan a chance to go to that game. WILLIAM PULLANO LSA SENIOR Rogers's bill may help him next year TO THE DAILY: It is unfathomable to the reasonable thinker that state Sen. Mike Rogers (R- Brighton) dare show his face on our campus. Rogers' career in anonymity has been given a shot of publicity, as he is the author of the infamous Senate Bill 306, which John Engler recently signed into law. This law, the reader may well know, will require all Michigan voters to match their vot- ing addresses to those found on their driver's licenses, beginning April 1, 2000. The stated purpose of this bill is to cut down on voter fraud, though little evidence of current fraud exists. Seemingly benign, Rogers' sinister bill is actually designed to dilute and diminish stu- dent voting. Rogers, you see, is running for es do not match their campus addresses (and whose do?) will have to drive home on a Tuesday, or vote absentee - both unrealistic options. Many students will simply not vote. I will not guess what Rogers is doing on our campus save pandering to a minority of conservative students who one day hope to follow in his footsteps to a world in which the voices of young people do not matter. I write not for fear that someone on campus will take him seriously (students are perceptive, after all), but for fear he judges his visit here suc- cessful. JOSH COWEN LSA SENIOR Facts support labor activists' argument TO THE DAILY: TheDaily article on Nov. I1 presented the libertarian views of Ohio University Economics Professor Richard Vedder. Vedder asserted that sweatshops have played a role in many developing countries and he also said that governments should not restrict develop- ment in countries like Indonesia where gar- ment workers earn 15 cents an hour. Vedder, who made a number of false his- torical and empirical statements, erroneously assumed that Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality and other anti-sweat- shop activists are asking the U.S. government to enforce a worldwide minimum wage. But after hearing the cold hard facts about the anti- sweatshop movement, Vedder expressed his agreement with SOLE's demand that the University and companies using our logo enter a voluntary contract with provisions including full public disclosure of factories, women's rights and a living wage. He learned that SOLE is in favor of investment and develop- ment, but against the paying of misery wages to children and young women. Under close scrutiny of the economics of sweatshops and the policies that United Students Against Sweatshops and SOLE are asking universities to adopt, Vedder conceded to virtually every point that anti-sweatshop academics and activists offered on last Wednesday night. SOLE members picked apart Vedder's unsupported economic claim firms would take a loss in profit and not pass on the increased labor costs to consumers. 4) Consumers and firms will also ben- efit - since a better paid workforce will produce higher quality garments and at a faster rate - economists call this effi- ciency wage theory. While conservatives often accuse progres- sive activists of making only moral arguments and not pragmatic economic -arguments, SOLE showed last night that our policy sug- gestions to the University make sense within a centrist-to-right neo-classical economic frame- work. SOLE cares about workers rights, eco- nomic development and sound economic poli- cy. We should all continue to ask the critical questions, because facts, not hyperbole, will guide us to the correct and just outcomes. PETER ROMER-FRIEDMAN LSA JUNIOR Mascot would help Crisler Arena's fans TO THE DAILY: After scanning The Michigan Daily and Tipoff '99 (11-11-99) I have repetitively read articles discussing a site I too have witnessed far too many times at Crisler arena - a lack of fans. As a season ticket holder, I keep on dreaming that each game will finally be the one where a multitude of fans appear to sup- port Asselin, Vignier and the rest of the Wolverines. First off, why doesn't this University have a mascot? Most smaller, lesser known schools have a mascot that parades around on campus and at sporting events motivat- ing the crowd, turning everyday fans into wild, rabid fanatics. A simple task like dressing up an enthusiastic student in a stuffed wolverine costume can do wonders and can only lead to one thing -needed noise. Next, all we need to do is look at the Spartans and what they have done at the Breslin Center to get fans involved. Coach Tom Izzo has created the "Izzone" in which students cheer loudly and erupt with excite- ment during the games. It is easy to see that Brian Ellerbe wants students to be involved by reading his letter to the Daily. Why don't +0 I