4A -The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 15, 2004 OPINION 420 MAYNARD STREET ANARBOR, MI 48109 £pinion. michi gandaily .com tothedaily@michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 JORDAN SCHRADER Editor in Chief JASON Z. PESICK Editorial Page Editor 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. NOTABLE QUOTABLE He's the best dad anybody could ever have." - Serafino Wesson, on his father, Marcus Wesson, who was charged with nine counts of murder, including those of two children he fathered with his daughters, as reported yesterday by cnn.com. ~j44eC$~l SAM BUTLER THE SOAPBOX The Floridian facade ZAC PESKOWITZ TINE LOWER FREQUENCIES remember when the souped up with a vitamin aisle. At the Ann worship of celebrity, buzz and physical beauty first natural-foods Arbor Whole Foods there is no mere vitamin where the more pedestrian concerns of the supermarket opened aisle - there is a vitamin honey comb, swarm- poor and the unemployed are forgotten. This near my childhood home. ing with innumerable patented medicines prom- seems to be the pattern in New York, where a It was called Fresh Fields ising a life free of stress and filled with vitality, high-flying financial sector has initiated a and within a few years These are some of the most powerful advances revival of eating out, catered parties and the would be acquired by in consumer psychology since Gustavus Swift high-end housing market. The Washington .u. Austin-based Whole Foods realized he could get Americans to buy all sorts Post's Michael Powell had a fascinating dis- Market, Inc. For us square of horrid cow parts if he packaged them in patch from New York in yesterday's paper that East Coasters, this was a appealing shapes and invitingly displayed them chronicles the plight of Gotham's working strange trip. Goodbye Wonder Bread and at the front of a butcher shop. Whole Foods has poor during this supposedly buoyant time. Ovaltine. Hello focaccia with caramelized not only built a buying machine, it has built a Gauging economic health by the concentra- onions and Ghirardelli hot chocolate. way of life. The contented shoppers noshing on tion of the young, the rich and the fabulously On a lark, I recently went to Ann Arbor's kalamata loafs and Yemeni mocha in the caf6 educated and supporting the creative class's mega-Whole Foods on Washtenaw Avenue. area, the macrobiotic cooking lessons and the tendency toward narcissistic self-importance The genre has upgraded itself in the interim. At lectures on living a healthy lifestyle give the in the process can only exacerbate this trend. the neighborhood store back home, the maga- sprawling store the look and feel of a self-con- Florida, to his credit, recognizes these net- zine racks overflowed with ditzy magazines tained polis. Jane Jacobs comes to the strip mall. tlesome contradictions. "Affluent Creative promising valuable fashion tips. How gauche. In fact, the lessons of Whole Foods and Class people who move into racially, ethnical- Ann Arbor's Whole Foods sports Mother Jones the other companies that have made a killing ly or economically diverse neighborhoods and Utne magazine. Behind the marble cus- by selling design as the centerpiece of a holis- cannot simply assume that their presence tomer service counter you not only find beam- tic consumption experience are being applied automatically 'revitalizes' these places. For ing associates who are happy to help you to cities. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has turned many Working Class and Service Class resi- navigate through the massive store, you also to the ideas of Richard Florida, a public poli- dents, it doesn't. Instead, all it usually does is have Whole Foods's latest stock quote, with cy professor at Carnegie Mellon University, to raise their rents and perhaps create more low- NASDAQ ticker symbol WFMI, which closed restore Michigan to long-term economic end service jobs for waiters, housecleaners at 73.98 for modest gains on Friday. vibrancy. Florida's popular 2002 book "The and the like." Florida offers a few half-baked These strange juxtapositions aren't the secret Rise of the Creative Class" has a broad scope; solutions, but, on the whole, his book offers a to Whole Foods's success, the aesthetics are. The everything from regional industrial organiza- grim picture. Mickey Kaus writes in his won- store is a marvel of lighting, with an intricate tion to the cultural repercussions of the 1960s derful book "The End of Equality," "What array of fixtures beating down their light to is grounds for discussion. One aspect of the was striking about the American 1980s ... accentuate the warm displays. The produce sec- book in particular has caught Granholm's was not that people with money affected tion effortlessly spills out toward the floral sec- fancy: urban economic revitalization. Florida superiority. People with money will eventual- tion, obligating customers to stroll about the is an enthusiastic supporter of government- ly make that attempt. The question is whether store aimlessly. Whole Foods's design team has private sector cooperation to improve the these affectations are rejected or affirmed by engineered the environment so that you actually local music scene and create "third places" the larger society." There is no need to reaf- feel guilty if you refrain from buying, as if you where people can congregate between work firm those pretenses of greatness. are neglecting your civic responsibility. That and home. At its best, this is a promising organic, granola, hippy-dippy supermarket of model for constructive civic participation and Peskowitz can be reached at my youth was nothing more than a grocery store innovation. At its worst, it is recipe for the zpeskowi@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR WOLV-TV strives for WOLV-TV news editor Lauren Averitt, Angell Hall flyers were with no definitive questions. Galardi was fairness in programming, not going to release the questions, but hoax; story was not clear MSA debate no different rather just let us know if we were making clear and appropriate questions from the TO THE DAILY: TO THE DAILY: position of someone who has gone through Last week, the Daily published an arti- Your article regarding the Michigan our debate process in the past. The goal cle about some flyers that were posted Student Assembly debates sponsored by was simply to make the best questions around campus in the early hours of WOLV-TV (Candidates for MSA to debate possible so we could really do a service to Thursday morning ('U,' DPS finish flyer on television, 03/10/04) was well-written, the community. Unfortunately, in the end, investigation, 03/12/04). These flyers con- yet the spin put on the issue was unfair this was misunderstood. As servants of the tained accusations of sexual harassment by We at WOLV News strive for one goal and community, we feel this needs to be recti- a member of the faculty. Although you one goal alone - fairness. We go above fied. We did try to solve any problems by included details that might help the readers and beyond to try to accommodate every sending the same e-mail to all candidates of the Daily understand that this was a the at had confirmed their attendance at the rank - you described people wandering University. We are also dedicated to mak- debate, so that if the questions were map- around in the bushes at 3:15 in the morn- ing the best product possible, which is how propriately leaked a level playing field ing, to which one might add that three this issue began. MSA President Angela would be maintained. Furthermore, Averitt women who were connected with the flyers Galardi and WOLV were under an agree- was removed as a commentator and served were also seen in Alice Lloyd Hall dressed ment for her to take an advisory position, as the host of the debate. Questions were in dark clothes with masks on - you did because there was concern over the cre- asked by a WOLV member and a Daily not make it clear that this flyer was a hoax. ation of questions in last year's debate. editor that were not on Averitt's list, and Because you named the faculty member, She was already overseeing the debate's had never been prepped with Averitt prior you should also have made it clear that no development by securing a room and giv- to the debate. We also worked hard to give complaint has ever been filed against this ing us the candidates' contact information. everyone an equal chance to talk, and we person. By naming him, you were exposing She had asked to see the questions before- feel that in the end, we produced a debate him to unnecessary embarrassment, and, by hand so that she would feel more comfort- that the student body deserves. We cordial- doing so, simply forwarding the aim of the able with her involvement. From her ly invite each and every student to tune in perpetrators of this cruel hoax. suggestions, we would decide whether or on Comcast channel 22 or channel 70 in DAVID POTTER not to make any revisions based on the the Residence Halls, tonight at 10 p.m. Director, Lloyd Hall Scholars Program validity of her point. The list that she EXECUTIVE BOARD MARTHA VICINUS received was a sample list, written by WOLV-TV Director, Sweetland Writing Center VIEWPOINT Let's kill democracy! BY STUART WAGNER, JANU LAKASHMAN AND ANDREW YAHIND Democracy has always rested on two pil- lars: representation for all and ethical leader- ship that abides by notifying constituents. Both are being threatened by possibly your last fully elected government. LSA Student Government teeters narrowly on the edge of sleaze, moving toward replacing democracy with autocracy and injustice. As such, the end of our democracy is unquestionably in view. The lingering question, however, is not if our government will crumble to democratic faiir _huft ifu an an e it. tion: you. Furthermore, when "your new presi- dent" meets with the president, regents and other leaders of the University, they have no obligation or accountability to uphold your interests, effectively undermining the entire point of government. Underrepresented minorities will have significantly more trouble making it to the top. Corruption and political favors will take the place of true democracy. Ultimately, the people who are supposedly rep- resented, you, get screwed. As if disenfranchising you from the two highest positions on government is bad enough, the situation intensifies severely. Without receiv- ing the input of a single constituent, the presi- dent appoints the executive board, give voting memhers .rantino him full control over the fun- your government. Amidst five president- appointed votes and two more indirect votes, an effective voting bloc will form, holding more than 25 percent of all yotes in the assem- bly with 50 percent needed to pass most motions. Thus, the problem that the amend- ment attempts to solve, conniving politics, will be exacerbated to a new high concurrently as full democratic representation is eradicated. As representatives and members of this constituency, we will not take this sitting down, and we implore you to do the same. In possibly your last election for president, it has become most imperative that you vote. On March 17 and 18, VOTE NO on the pro- posed amendment in the LSA-SG election to steal your renresentation out from under your Fr ;{ ' ,I.UFJ :i t~; WWAT;' : WWAQ 4tUU UAW X "ULS'-: 4 .,: