4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 4, 2000
i e Blitiguu ailg
Witches and warlocks? Ban this, biyaaatch!
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
daily.letters@umich.edu
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
MIKE SPAHN
Editor in Chief
EMILY ACHENBAUNI
Editorial Page Editor
A recent development in the local communi-
ty of Whitmore Lake caught my interest a
couple of weeks ago. Apparently, the good citi-
zens of this small village were outraged at cer-
tain books made available to their children by
the school library and took steps to have these
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majoritv of
the Dailv's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not
necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
books banned. Headlin-
ing the list were the
Steinbeck classic /Aflice
And Men as well as the
entire series of Harry Pot-
ter books.
Now, for those of
you who been living in a
cave, the Harry Potter
books, written by J. K.
Rowling, are about a
young boy in modern-
day England who one
day finds out that his
deceased mother and
father were, in fact, a
witch and a wizard and
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Pri e wer
'U' needs to use independent monitors
Sanz
presence of witches was just too much for the
puritanical ethos of a simple place like Whit-
more Lake. Of course, this is not an isolated
incident. Harry Potter has been banned all over
the country, most notably in one the larger
school districts in Los Angeles. To all you
would-be banners out there, I have one very
simple question: Are you kidding me?
We are constantly moaning about the cur-
rent state of education in America (or lack
thereof) and what we can do to improve it. I'll
let you in on a little secret. Anything - an-
thing - that gets children to read of their own
volition is a good thing, witches and wizards
included.
A little bit about myself: I like to read. My
current book collection is just shy of 200
books, most of which I've read more than once.
If I had to guess, I'd say that in my life I've
probably read more than 1,000 books. What do
I read? Well, pretty much anything. In the last
week, I've read David Copperfield, Zen and the
Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, two fantasy
novels by Robert Jordan and I just started
Dante's Inferno yesterday.
One reason I read so much (beyond the fact
that I enjoy it) is because I suppose I'm good at
it. Given a book with small type and a complex
plot, I average about 110 pages an hour. I read
Goblet of Fire, all 734 pages, in 4 hours. War
and Peace? Two days. I do not mention my
reading prowess for self-aggrandizement, but
rather to illustrate a point. I don't believe the
ability to read has much to do with actual intel-
ligence. Rather, it's a learned skill, much like
driving a car or shooting a rifle. The more you
practice, the better you get.
Furthermore, I am of the firm belief that
my reading ability is one of the primary rea-
sons I am here at the University right now and
not working construction for 12 bucks an hour
in Hicksville, Nevada. You see, reading not
only expanded my mind and increased my
knowledge, but it gave me one of the greatest
gifts of all: The ability to dream. By the time I 0
was 12 years old. I had traveled to both Japan
and Hong Kong with James Clavell, visited Ire-
land and Israel with Leon Uris and seen 18th
Century America with James Michener. Those
authors made the people and places they wrote
about so real, so alive for me that I knew I just
had to go there someday.
But what started me down this path? Where
did I get my insatiable appetite for books? I
remember it exactly. I was eight years old. and
after seeing the animated movie for the 10th
time I begged my Dad to go out and buy me a
copy of The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. I was
instantly transported to a magical world both
fair and terrible. I was enchanted by heroes,
wizards, elves, goblins and dragons. The day
after I finished The Hobbit, I started on the
Lord of the Rings and from there it was, as they
say, all over but the crying.
So perhaps you can understand my refusal
to believe that, just because a kid reads Harry
Potter, he's going to grow horns and fangs, start
drawing pentagrams in blood and begin pray-
ing to the spirits residing in a dead tree.
Horsepuckey. I say. I absolutely dare you to
look at me with a straight face and tell me that
a ten year-old reading a 700-plus page book is
a bad thing.
Maybe Harry Potter does for some kid what
Lord ofthe Rings did for me: Takes them away
to another world; makes the think and dream
about places they've never been and things they
haven't seen. Maybe - but only if the kid
actually has a chance to read the book. The
people who ban books are not protecting their
kids - they are simply denying them some-
thing that might be the key to unlocking a
whole new universe.
- Branden Sanz can usually be reached at
Davids Book Store (his second home) or over
e-mail at hamrhead aumich.edu.
n an investigation partially funded
by the University, the auditing
firms that examine factories overseas
to determine whether they are sweat-
shops have come under scrutiny
themselves. A report by Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology Prof.
ter ouse rke cla m tat ricew a-
terh ou lam ta Coopers, the firm investi-
gating these factory abuses, is biased
towards management, failed to
expose unsafe working conditions
and generally paid
more attention to The Uni'
things like timecards
and relative wages than n to
to human rights abus-
es. inAa m Il
) I
The University was
initially one of the five
institutions to ask
Pricewaterhouse, along mo ri
with several other
groups, to inspect thee
plants that manufac-
ture its official appar- workers'
el. The study was
conducted inuthis way: respec
Inspectors from Price- te0
waterhouse toured two
randomly chosen factories in each of
the seven countries that produce the
most trademarked collegiate mer-
chandise.
At one factory in each country,
they were joined by other consultants,
including O'Rourke. His independent
report, scheduled to be published this
week, reveals many problems with
the Pricewaterhouse inspectors'
analysis - and consequently some
alarming things about the Universi-
ty's involvement with sweatshop
labor.
Clearly it is unacceptable for the
University to allow human-rights
abuses to be perpetuated by selling
products made in sweatshops. And it
G
I'
r
is also clear that the University
knows this, as it has taken steps to
end the problem, such as joining the
Workers' Rights Consortium and
financing investigations of factories.
But it has also put its money behind a
firm with a conflict of interest. Price-
waterhouse has unmistakable corpo-
rate ties - it is the world's leading
inspection firm for companies inves-
tigating their own practices. This
connection with corporate interests
makes Pricewater-
house's evaluations
inherently problem-
us -bth atic.
Another problem
at and of the Pricewater-
house investigation
is its inspectors' fail-
ure to recognize
some of the danger-
ous practices at these
factories. For
instance, inspectors
ri hts are at one plant in Seoul,
Sogt Korea, over-
looked the fact that
r. workers used a spot
remover containing
benzene, which is a carcinogenic
chemical. They also failed to note the
lack of proper protection for workers
performing dangerous tasks and
relied primarily on management for
information rather than the people
who are subjected to such hazardous
conditions.
Oversights such as this prove that
effective factory monitoring requires
more than just examination of wages
and hours worked. The University's
efforts in the fight against sweatshop
labor are certainly commendable;
however, to do this effectively it must
ensure that those chosen to monitor
factories are attuned to the conditions
for those who work in them.
that the boy. Harry, is a
powerful. if untrained
wizard in his own right. The first four books
of this series detail the adventures of Harry
at The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. We meet Harry's good friends, the
poor but good hearted Weasley brothers, the
buck-toothed and brilliant Hermione and the
gentle half-giant Hagrid. We see goblins and
dragons, talking snakes and foul sorcerous
villains.
I've read the Harry Potter books and they
are very good. While easy to read and techni-
cally "children's" books, they are quite long,
well written, with good plots and great charac-
ters. Of course, that might explain why the lat-
est edition, Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire,was the fastest selling book in the history
of the world.
Yet it appears that the use of magic and the
el
'I think Gore won, but Bush beat the spread.'
- LSA senior Zack Schram's take on last night's presidential
debates between Al Gore and George W Bush.
Real shady
Studios should not sell violence to kids
D o you remember where you
where on April 20, 1999, when
you heard the news? It started out as
a relatively calm day but before
nightfall every television network,
radio station and newspaper in the
country would be carrying word of a
tragic shooting spree at Columbine
High School.
The shootings were not shocking
because high schools were the target
of violence - there had been a string
of lesser incidents at
schools throughout the Tera
nation before .the
calamity in Littleton. Who Shoi
The idea that terrified
the public was thattw on this i
high school students,
at the tender ages of 17 COrnorati
and 18, could wantonly
walk into a nice subur-
ban high school after
over a year of planning a respOn
and ruthless murder 1
students, shoot a protecti
teacher and kill them-
selves. In the aftermath children.
of the debacle, the
question on the lips of
Americans everywhere was simple:
"Why?"
Of course everyone had their
ideas: From a lack of religion, to
inadequate security, to mental illness,
there was endless discussion as to
what could have motivated the
killings. Of the many explanations,
pop culture and the entertainment
industry came under harsh fire for
promoting a climate of violence.
In Washington, politicians were
hard pressed to explain why the inci-
dent had occurred and more impor-
tantly, what steps the government
would take to prevent another disas-
ter from taking place.
Without directly resolving the
highly debatable issue of what role
entertainment has in violence, Presi-
dent Clinton asked the Federal Trade
Commission to determine whether
the films, music and games that have
been deemed questionable for kids by
the entertainment industry are still
being targeted at them.
After mnre than a vear of studv
i
kh
the FTC recently concluded that the
entertainment industry does in fact
market items they themselves have
deemed to be unsuitable for children
directly to children. As the report,
states, "the answers are plainly, yes."
The report further noted specific
instances such as R-rated films being
advertised in high school newspapers
and advertised on television pro-
grams with a primary audience of
children.
Other unethical
)eople procedures included
distributing flyers for
d focus R-rated films to
youth groups like
ue are Camp Fire Boys and
Girls.
The President of
Sony, Mel Harris,
(ho have was recently forced
to acknowledge a
ibLity to "lapse injudgement"
when the comp any
ieir own tied to run adXs on
the children's net-
work, Nickelodeon,
for the violent PG-13
movie "The Fifth
Element"; Nickelodeon refused to
run the ads.
As explained by the First Amend-
ment, members of the entertainment
industry, as Americans, enjoy a right
to free speech and expression. They
ought to be allowed to freely dissemi-
nate information without any sort of
direct or indirect government censor-
ship.
Hopefully the presidential candi-
dates will realize that inappropriate
entertainment being marketed to kids
should not be a campaign issue. The
real people who should focus on this
issue are corporations and parents
who have a responsibility to protect
their own children from violent or
objectionable material.
The entertainment industry has
voluntarily used labeling systems,
which were expedited by public pres-
sure, to warn parents about content
that is inappropriate for their chil-
dren. It is extremely hypocritical for
the same industry to target this con-
tent directly at youth.
SOLE protesters
ignore middle class
students' needs
TO THE DAILY:
Okay, so apparently now Students
Organizing for Labor and Economic
Equality is upset that the University
replaced 58 cafeteria workers with cheaper
laborers despite the fact that the original
employees were all offered equal or
greater paying jobs in different depart-
ments in the University. So, am I right in
assuming that SOLE has now become an
expert organization in both health care and
cafeteria management? I do not understand
how this organization can devote countless
hours to such an unimportant matters,
especially when they know nothing about
the organizations they attack. This latest
complaint just shows that the group will
protest anything simply for the sake of
protest, without thinking about what they
are doing.
A better example of this is their efforts
to end Nike's sweatshop labor practices.
Not only did they fail to end Nike's
actions, but they made matters much worse
for the University. Instead of receiving S24
million from Nike, the Athletic Depart-
ment now has to pay an additional S3 mil-
lion!
Thanks a lot for looking out for us blue
collar families. I can't really say that I am
surprised though. While blindly bashing
globalization is the "in" thing to do and
while you might be able to brag to your
friends that you "worked" in a factory for
(gasp) a month, you ignore the difficulties
that many working class students face on
this campus. I mean sure caring about
"trailer trash" from places like Jackson,
Flint and Taylor is not as "hip" as defend-
ing the sweatshop-nation-of-the-week, but
should that matter?
Rather than invading offices and
screaming at those who oppose you, while
covering your ears at the voice of reason,
why not try to objectively learn about the
institution you are about to bash? Further-
more, please try to put reason over emo-
tion when you act, and fully explore the
consequences of your actions. I mean, it
might not be as fun, or "radical," and you
might get mocked by your other "activist"
friends, but if you truly cared about work-
ers' rights, then that should not be an
issue.
CHRISTOS MICHALAKIS
LSA JUNIOR
'U' affirmative
action policies don't
include women
TO THE DAILY:
I am writing to express my disappoint-
ment in the Daily's running of Scott Newell's
opinions on affirmative action ("Affirmative
action deserves support," 10/2/00). Newell's
letter displays his ignorance not only of the
affirmative action lawsuits brought against
the University, but also of the University's
admissions policies in general.
Newell states that he supports the Univer-
sity in its fight against the lawsuits because,
"without affirmative action, a great many of
the teachers on this campus simply would
not be here." Newell obviously has not been
paying attention to the lawsuits, as they
involve affirmative action admissions poli-
CHIP CULLEN .RINNDIN}rTHEB
cies, not hiring processes as Newell implies.
Newell blindly charges on to state, "Without
affirmative action, if you are female, you
wouldn't be here either."
Before Newell chooses to make dastardly
and insulting statements such as this one, he
might be interested in viewing the Universi-
ty's admissions policy as revised in 1997. To
summarize for Newell's benefit, the Univer-
sity's current policy is a "scorecard" which
assigns points based on GPA, quality of high
school, difficulty of curriculum, test scores,
geography, legacy, essay, personal achieve-
ment, leadership and service and a category *
entitled "miscellaneous," which includes
socioeconomic disadvantage, under-repre-
sented racial ethnic minority, men in nurs-
ing, scholarship-athlete and Provost's
discretion. Gender is not a consideration in
the admissions process.
While Newell's enthusiasm for support-
ing affirmative action may be admirable, his
lack of consideration for factual information
certainly casts a pallor on the character of
his argument. I fail to understand why the
Daily would even consider printing such a
clearly uninformed, un-insightful and rea-
sonless viewpoint such as Newell's.
CARRIE LAPHAM
UNIVERSITY STAFF
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:.ting animal products perpetuates suf
You are what you eat, and what you eat
might be much more than you bargained for.
From anesthesia-free castration to being liter-
ally skinned alive, farm animals worldwide
suffer from maltreatment.
Next week we celebrate World Farm Ani-
mals Day, and we ask citizens to consider the
facts of animal farming. We are asking stu-
dents to not only consider the cruel treatment
of animals, but also their own health and the
promotion of a healthy environment, both hav-
ing strong links to animal farms.
are being subjected to the toxins of husbandry,
ranging from dangerous antibiotics to seda-
tives.
For the sake of profits, living conditions for
animals have been reduced to the barest mini-
mums to ensure that enough animals survive to
reach market to maintain profitability. For
example, chickens will have their beaks - a
major sensory receptor on birds - burned off
to prevent them from pecking each other a nat-
ural response to living in a literal sea of chick-
ens. Likewise, pigs will have their tails snipped
farming. Other concerns include veal crates,
the non-enforcement of the Humane Meth-
ods of Slaughter Act on 1978 and general
beatings. The connections between animal-
based diets and human disease are certain.
With increases in chemical use in farming,
these trends will only become stronger. Envi-
ronmental problems in farming animals are
also well documented. To grow a pound of
meat, perhaps a dozen pounds of vegetable
protein which is more suitable for the human
diet will be consumed. As well, animal farm-
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