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NEWS: 76-DAILY
CLASSIFIED: 7640557
www michigandaIIy. cam
Tuesday
March 19, 2002
I I
An Aror Miciga 02,2 e ichgnal
T
New Era
contract
may not
continue
Dy OS Sprow
Preliminary findings from the Work-
er Rights Consortium against the New
Era Cap Company's health and safety
practices and the company's indiffer-
ence toward those findings have
caused the University's Committee on
Labor Standards and Human Rights to
recommend that the University not
extend their contract.
"The lack of response suggests bad
faith in their dealings with the Univer-
sity," committee member and Law stu-
dent Kevin Kolben said.
"If there are preliminary findings
that the actions of the agency violate
the code, and the agency doesn't fully
respond to those findings, then the
University doesn't have any other
choice," he added.
The committee is looking for ways
to cut ties between the company and
the University. But University Assistant
General Counsel Stanley Bies said the
contract cannot legally be suspended or
terminated before it officially expires
in October.
The committee, which began under
former University President Lee
Bollinger to investigate labor issues, is
also looking at ways to avoid similar
contractual problems in the future.
During Friday's meeting, the com-
mittee unanimously voted to recom-
mend a change in future contract
language to include provisions allow-
ing the University to terminate con-
tracts if there is a breach with the Code
of Conduct for licenses.
The potential provisions could
also be adopted by the College
Licensing Company, which handles
the licensing agreements for more
than 180 universities.
"If this comes up again, it will give
us a basis for stopping a contract if
there is a problem and it is not recti-
fied," Social Work Prof. and committee
chair Lawrence Root said.
If the CLC were to accept the provi-
sions, it would make it easier for every
university to end unacceptable business
relationships, he added. "It could be a
real contribution to moving this for-
ward," Root said.
Bies said, if the provisions are
added, they would not affect the cur-
rent contract between the University
and New Era.
"That contract is what it is, he said.
"We can make sure that the issue is
raised and that we learn from our expe-
rience.".
The University has been debating
its relationship and future with the
company since the WRC released its
preliminary report dealing with its
Derby, N.Y. factory in August. The
WRC also released a report on the
company's Kukdong, Mexico facto-
ry in January 2001.
The WRC's investigations of the
factories found "substantial credi-
ble evidence that New Era has not
See NEW ERA, Page 9
Just hanging around
A f
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JONATHON TRIEST/Daily
Mark LeVigne (left) and Andy Trusler of MJ Window Cleaning, Inc. wash the windows of Tower Plaza
on East Williams Street yesterday afternoon.
fCommiteeope
to end.,NakedIMile
City set to raise
ticket numbers
issued per day
By Louie Meizlish
Daily Staff Reporter
Citing a need to enhance traffic and parking
enforcement and offset the effects of a $1.6 million
budget deficit, Ann Arbor city officials plan to
present a proposal to the City Council that would
potentially increase the number of moving viola-
tions issued daily.
The plan includes adding three parking
enforcement officers and three traffic
enforcement officers, as well as an additional
clerk, to the police department's staff to bet-
ter monitor city traffic.
Though the proposal would cost the city
$302,000 in annual salary, it would also gen-
erate $1.36 million in revenue from fines,
according to the Ann Arbor News.
Interim City Administrator Ronald Olson
downplayed the idea that the city is simply
looking for an easy way to generate revenue
and stressed the need for more monitoring.
"The number one complaint the police
receive is about speeding cars," he said.
The City Council plans to discuss the pro-
posal as part of the annual budget, which the
council will be considering at one of their
bimonthly meetings in May.
Mayor pro-tem Jean Carlberg (D-3rd Ward)
said she is not opposed to the idea.
"The main interest here is we get so many
complaints about people speeding, speeding
through traffic lights and generally creating
unsafe situations," Carlberg said. "I think it's
reasonable for someone to ask themself, 'Was
I driving too fast?"'
Councilwoman Marcia Higgins (R-4th
Ward) said traffic enforcement needs to be
enhanced for safety purposes.
"People should (have to) stop and think
where they are," she said. "Children are
crossing these roads."
"We get so many
complaints about people
speeding, speeding
through traffic lights and
generally creating unsafe
situations,"
- Councilwoman Jean Carlberg
(D-3rd Ward)
The city currently employs five full-time
officers and one part-time officer for traffic
enforcement. It also employs 11 parking
enforcement officers. Ann Arbor Police
Department's Sgt. Michael Logghe said the
AAPD receives more than 3,000 complaints
for traffic and parking violations annually.
"The city is saying it's not going to hire
anyone unless it's a revenue generating proj-
ect," Logghe said.
Olson emphasized that the added enforce-
ment will pay for itself and said the revenues
could offset the costs of other public safety
measures that are not revenue generating.
LSA junior Molly McCord, who received a
$105 ticket for driying straight in a right turn
only lane last year from the city, said she
does not think added traffic enforcement offi-
cers are warranted.
"I've seen a plethora of cop cars already,"
McCord said. "I just don't see the need."
Ann Arbor is one of many cities currently
facing a budget deficit this year. It must also
cut $3 million from the budget for the next
fiscal year to help recover. The new fiscal
year begins on July 1:'
By Rob Goodsp.d
Daily Staff Reporter
Although winter term has typically concluded
with the running of the Naked Mile, a committee
organized to coordinate the University's response to
the run hopes to curb participation in the event,
which they see as a safety hazard.
"Many involved in planning have had a growing
sense of discomfort and concern for those
involved," University spokeswoman Julie Peterson
said, who cited assaults and other violations in the
crowd, including weapons violations in past years.
The event traditionally occurs on the last day of
classes, which falls on April 17 this year.
The committee, which began meeting last
month, plans to take a similar approach as they did
to the event last year - a publicity campaign to
advertise the dangers associated with the event and
coordination of the enforcement of indecent expo-
sure and alcohol laws.
See NAKED MILE, Page 9
UNCF president will gve
commencement address
By Kara Wenzel
Daily Staff Reporter
Strong supporters of higher educa-
tion were chosen to speak at this
spring's commencement exercises by
the University Board of Regents.
William Gray, president and chief
executive officer of the United Negro
College Fund, will speak at the under-
graduate ceremony, and Donna Sha-
lala, president of the University of
Miami and former U.S. secretary of
health and human services for Presi-
dent Clinton, will deliver an address
at commencement exercises for Rack-
ham Graduate School.
Gray and Shalala, along with Don-
ald Glaser, professor of physics and
molecular and cell biology at the Uni-
versity of California at Berkeley, and
John Rich, television and film direc-
tor and producer,
will be receiving
honorary degrees
at the commence-
ment ceremonies.
Rackham Assis-
tant Dean Homer
Rose said the
process for choos-
ing commence-
ment speakers and
Gray honorary degree
recipients can take several months.
"The regents' bylaws mandate the
membership of an honorary degree
committee chaired by the dean of the
graduate school," Rose said. "Anyone
can nominate someone and the Presi-
dent's Office solicits nominations
from the University community."
The honorary degree committee
meets two times a year to gather
information about the nominees and
decide whether or not to recommend
individuals to the regents, Rose said.
The President's Office then puts
together slates with a mixture of peo-
ple for degree recipients and speakers
for the regents to approve.
"We want to have some balance -
such as not having all Supreme Court
justices one year," Rose added. "These
are busy people. They can't all come
whenever we want them to. It's that wide
kind of balance that we value."
Gray will receive his honorary
degree as Doctor of Laws. As a facul-
See SPEAKERS, Page 9
Interim University President B. Joseph White spoke last night about the concerns
of women on campus yesterday.
White addresses
fe-male concerns
Panel discusses South
Asian ethnic violence
By Kaa Wenzel
Daily Staff Reporter
By Shabina S. Khatri
Daily Staff Reporter
As the Indian state of Gujarat burns in a fit of
religious violence, members of the University
community gathered yesterday to discuss South
Asia's increasing vulnerability to ethnic intoler-
ance. The open forum discussion, titled "The
Hate Bomb: Interrogating Ethnic Violence in
South Asia," featured a panel of speakers who
discussed the causes and possible solutions to
the conflicts caused by religious and nationalis-
tic tensions in South Asia.
Rackham student Irfan Nooruddin said the
recent violence in Gujurat is the handiwork of
government-supported extremist groups within
and outside of India.
"I see the cause of this as being political. We
need to reject the notion of this conflict being
derived from some primitive hatred. My con-
the World Hindu Counsel responsible. As a sec-
ular democracy we try to avoid pointing fingers,
but India failed as a democracy because it did
not protect the minority from the tyranny of the
majority," he added.
Vishnu Patel, vice president of the World
Hindu Council Michigan chapter, a right-wing
political organization, said the intolerance of
both Islamic and Hindu groups are to blame for
the violence.
"The Indian government is a secular govern-
ment. The politicians in India are using religion to
make people fight each other, but it's not about
religion," Patel said. "Each side is equally wrong.
I think Hindus and Muslims get along very well
except when you violate their rights. We believe in
non-violence, but if you come and hit me, be pre-
pared. I will hit you twice," he added.
Director of the Center for South Asian Stud-
ies Ashutosh Varshney disagreed with Patel and
Interim University President B.
Joseph White said he wants more
women in executive offices at the Uni-
versity, during a talk with women facul-
ty, staff and students yesterday.
"We need to have substantial critical
mass representation of women at every
leadership level as well as senior ranks
of our faculty," White said.
The President's Advisory Commis-
sion on Women's Issues invited White
to speak. "We've done so with each of
the last two presidents, so we felt it
was more than appropriate to ask inter-
im President White to speak with
women on campus," Center for the
Education of Women Director Carol
Hollenshead said.
White told the audience his female
colleagues are "simply invaluable."
"It would be impossible for you to
imagine how much they enrich my life,"
he said. White expressed his concerns
for the experiences of women at the
University departments. "We need to
make sure there is equal pay for equal
work," White said. "The data I've seen
says that the gap might be a little smaller
than in the country at large, but it's still a
gap." Climate issues for the acceptance
and support of women range from
warm, supportive and fully inclusive in
some departments to marginally chilly
in others, White said.
Women in the audience were given
note cards to write questions to anony-
mously ask White and representatives
from women's support networks about
their problems. In response to a question
about the lack of childcare options,
White cited "the very intensive efforts in
the last 72 hours in the University's
negotiations with the Graduate Employ-
ees Organization."
"(Interim Provost) Paul Courant and I
didn't need much convincing on the
importance of child care ... we are com-
mitted to an ongoing, mutual effort on
the issue of child care capacity."
If people do not see women in leader-
ship roles at the University, there will be
...,