COMMENTARY The Michigan Daily - New Student Edition - Fall 2005 - 7B When (and why) will it end? ZAC PESKOWITZ THE LOWER FREQUENCIES OCTOBER 14,2004 "If something cannot go on for- ever, it will stop." - Stein's Law as postulated by Herbert Stein, the late chair- man of the Council of Economic Advisers. or those of us who don't fol- low the vicissitudes of the fashion world, the Lance Armstrong LiveStrong bracelet is the most highly visible trend in apparel. More than 8 million of the bracelets, which retail for $1 a piece with the proceeds going to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, have been sold, and the University com- munity is certainly responsible for a disproportion- ate share of those sales. The bracelets make a great case study in the adoption of social trends, and their popularity raises a dilemma that most commentators have ignored: When will we reach the other tipping point? Namely, when will people stop wearing the seemingly ubiquitous bracelets? Giving up on the LiveStrong bracelet isn't exactly as simple as switching in your pair of UGG winter boots for the comforts of spring's flip-flops. The bracelets bill themselves as a symbol for deep val- ues, and merely giving up on them would suggest callousness to the plight of cancer survivors. For most causes celebres that generate an apparel-based sign of support there is a tangible sign that a wrong has been remedied and the symbol can be dropped. A war ends. A political prisoner is freed. A corpo- rate tax bill is vetoed, etc. If Emile Zola had asked the dreyfusards to wear pins featuring a drawing of Devil's Island they would have known to end their effort when Dreyfus was eventually pardoned by the French government. Of course, cancer isn't going away within any of our time horizons despite the best efforts of groups like the Lance Armstrong Founda- tion. So are we obliged to wear them ad infinitum? The first and most pressing concern is olfactory in origin. It's true that the LiveStrong bracelet is made of 100 percent synthetic silicon rubber and unlike, to give an example, a hemp lanyard, the LiveStrong bracelet is less susceptible to this fetid threat. But while the stench threshold of the LiveStrong bracelet is substantially higher than in the case of other, less synthetic wristwear, it is nonetheless an unavoid- able reality. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but someday soon a foul cloud of odor will hover around everyone still wearing their bracelets. From a social welfare perspective, continuing to wear the bracelets after this fail-safe date would be simply disastrous. Fortunately, the Michigan winter provides an excellent, low-cost escape opportunity. As soon as the bitter cold mandates the donning of long-sleeved shirts and bulky coats the bracelet can be tastefully, and unnoticeably, removed. Six months later, when you can once again allow your wrists to be exposed to open air without fear of frostbite, the bracelets will be gone and no one will be the wiser about this abandonment of principle. The accumulation of debris and body odor clear- ly presents an insuperable barrier to the perpetual popularity of the bracelets, but there are other con- siderations that suggest the bracelets may have to be thrown off before nature works its noisome course. Obviously, no one wears them for social acceptance or to get a hot date - that would be wrong and self- interested and all the things that the Lance Arm- strong Foundation stands against. But let's just make the highly speculative assumption that there are actually some people depraved enough to wear the bracelets for conformity pressures. So while seeing that Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Bono, Angelina Jolie and John Kerry were all wearing the bracelet might have encouraged some people to go to their nearest Niketown, plop down a dollar and do their part in the fight against cancer, seeing that the googly-eyed kid in your stats lecture wears one might not result in the same behavioral response. Actually, market research has definitively shown that no one has purchased one of the bracelets because of John Kerry. But the greatest obstacle of all remains the one first articulated by the great, self-loathing Groucho Marx. "I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member." Eventually and despite our best efforts, we are all forced to accede to the logic of this tragic conclusion. LETTER TO THE EDITOR OCTOBER 20, 2004 Peskowitz should attack a less honor- able 'fad' than LiveStrong bracelets TO THE DAILY: In his article on Oct. 14, When (and why) will it end?, Zac Peskow- itz attacks the "fad" of wearing the Lance Armstrong LiveStrong bracelets. It's a $1 rubber bracelet that has raised millions of dollars for cancer research. Not only have they raised millions of dollars, these little yellow bracelets have raised awareness about what is probably one of the most uncontroversial charitable causes: cancer. If Peskowitz is so against fads, I suggest he write an article criti- cizing something that is not doing anyone any good. Perhaps he could attack the very UGG boots he mentions in his article. Leave the little rubber bracelet that is doing so much good alone. One of Peskowitz's main arguments against the bracelets is that they may one day give off a "foul cloud of odor." I doubt that rubber bracelets will ever give off such an odor, but maybe it would be good if they did. Then everyone who has been wearing a bracelet can go out and buy another one, raising another $12 million dollars for cancer research. As for the celebs that Peskowitz has noted have submitted to the "conformity" of wearing the bracelets, I think it is amazing. These people could go out and buy themselves diamond bracelets, but instead they're sporting yellow rubber in support of an impor- tant cause. I personally do not care if the $1 for the bracelets comes from John Kerry, Peskowitz or anyone else, or what their reasons are for buying the bracelets. It is one more dollar going to fight cancer. I am very moved by the show of support the yellow bracelets have created for cancer victims and survivors. Shame on you Pes- kowitz, go pick on a fad that deserves it. Stacy Dodd LSA senior The letter writer is the president of Students Against Cancer. Peskowtiz can be reached at zpeskowi@umich.edu. 314 E. Arbor, 734-66 0 I