4A - Wednesday, February 21, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 40
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KARL STAMPFL IMRAN SYED JEFFREY BLOOMER
EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles
and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
No sweat
Students call for oversight, University should comply
Masked students once again paraded across campus on
Friday, but unlike the pink-clad Valentine's Day prank-
sters, they were protesting, not passing out candy. While
the protest against the University's partnership with companies that
might use sweatshops to produce University branded apparel was
far from perfect, it did bring attention to an important issue: the lax
enforcement of the University's own Code of Conduct for Licensees.
Whether or not licensees are actually employing sweatshop labor,
administrators have little to lose from allowing third-party over-
sight to ensure that this is not the case.
He's not an ordinary soldier, of course, but it looks
like he's got his way over Iraq."
- An unidentified British military official on the possibility that Prince Harry, a recent graduate of the prestigious
Sandhurst military academy, may go to Iraq with his unit in April, as reported Monday by the Daily Mail.
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JOHN OQUIST|
WHAT ARE WE DOING
HERE? I'M FREEZING!
/WE'RE MAKING A
DIFFER ENCE ... IT'S TIME
YOU DO REALIZE YOU'RE SPRAY-PAINTING
A PICTURE OF DICK CHENEY EATING A DOG
ONTO A PRE-SCHOOL, RIGHT?.
IT'S S'
G
------ ------
a
Green goes green
The spectacle was organized by the
Sweatfree Coalition - sponsored by Stu-
dents Organizing for Labor and Equal-
ity and the University chapters of Amnesty
International and the American Civil Liber-
ties Union. Members wore facemasks and
donned attire with witty slogans like "Fuck
Sweatshops." But aside from providing these
rather vague clues, the protesters did little
to inform onlookers about what they were
actually protesting. The event seemingly
culminated with the procession's arrival at
the Fleming Administration Building, but it
turned out the fun was just getting started.
There, at the site of the office of Universi-
ty President Mary Sue Coleman, protesters
waited for more than 15 minutes to hand
deliver a letter to the president (who was
unavailable) before dispersing. The letter
urged administrators to sign onto the Des-
ignated Suppliers Program, which would
limit production of University apparel to
businesses that do not, according to the
group, use sweatshop labor. It expressed
concern that the University has been lax in
its oversight of clothing product suppliers.
While the occasional conservative econ-
omist may hail the use of sweatshops -
which involve long hours under dangerous
conditions to make less in a day than most
Americans do in an hour - by saying that
they're better than no work, most would
agree that it is appalling for a university
with the storied progressive history of this
one to still have its logo emblazed upon the
products of exploitative labor.
The University has taken action on this
topic before, and the University's Code of
Conduct for Licensees already bans the use
of forced or child labor by affiliated busi-
nesses. Unfortunately, the code can easily
be neglected, because there is little over-
sight and its application to some sweat-
shops is ambiguous. The University can say
that it will not partner with corporations
that exploit workers, but it means very
little if administrators fail to monitor the
activities of manufacturers to enforce their
own rules.
As such, the University should adopt the
Designated Suppliers Program. Adminis-
trators have rightly expressed a commit-
ment to boycotting the unethical treatment
of labor, and they should honor that pledge
by allowing a third party to monitor suppli-
ers' labor practices.
The Designated Suppliers Program can
accurately provide the sort of judgments
that are necessary in order for the Code
of Conduct for Licensees to carry weight.
Joining it will allow for necessary over-
sight that the University sorely lacks. The
President's Advisory Committee on Labor
Standards and Human Rights considered
this very action less than a year ago. The
time has come to implement it.
magine never having to endure
the stink of gasoline or the pain
of paying at the pump. Imag-
ine cities that smell as clean as the
countryside and towns that pump
electricity back to the cities from
solar plants and wind farms. Imag-
ine energy so cheap and machines
so efficient that an energy crisis will
seem as antiquat-_--.
ed as a flat Earth.
Now stop imagin-
ing. The technol-r
ogy to do this is
already here. The
only thing Ameri-
ca is missing is the_
nerve to take it. T
With a sleek alu- TOBY
minum and carbon MITCHELL
fiber body, a 250-
mile range and the ability to accel-
erate from 0 to 60 as fast as your
average Ferrari or Porsche, the Tesla
Roadster shatters the stereotype that
paints electric cars as little more than
golf carts. Powered by 900 pounds of
batteries, it has a two-gear transmis-
sion, zero emissions and a gas pedal
without the gas.
Not surprisingly, Tesla Motors
wasn't founded in Detroit. The
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs-gone-
automakers behind the company
could never have got started in the
land where dinosaurs still stalk the
roads - and the boardrooms. Unfor-
tunately, many Americans share the
same view as Michigan's shockingly
imbecilic auto executives; it's either
environment or economy, golf carts
or gas guzzlers, and never the twain
shall meet.
Al Gore summed up the dinosaur
view in "An Inconvenient Truth." On
one side of a balance, there are some
gold bars. On the other side, there's
the entire planet. This picture is as
inaccurate as it is ridiculous. As the
Tesla Roadster shows, economic and
environmental progress aren't mutu-
ally exclusive but complementary.
For an example of what this could
mean for the energy business, con-
sider GreenFuels. This tech start-up
produces bio-fuel from algae at a
rate 40 times greater than the man-
ufacture of corn-based ethanol. The
algae itself feeds on exhaust from
fossil-fuel power plants, reducing
those plants' carbon emissions by 40
percent. GreenFuels already has $11
million in venture capital, but future
profits from green energy will make
that figure look like chump change.
More ambitious schemes are in
development. The Solar Chimney
channels hot air from a huge des-
ert greenhouse through a mile-high
concrete tower, driving a 200-mega-
watt turbine at a total cost only
somewhat greater than coal. Even
nuclear power has a green side: Tho-
rium reactors can burn plutonium
waste left over from Cold War-era
weapons programs, turning a long-
standing problem into a source of
power. They have political advan-
tages as well, because they can be
engineered to work without urani-
um or plutonium. That means Iran
could pursue this technology all it
wanted and never be able to build a
bomb - removing any opportunity
to use nuclear power as an excuse to
develop nuclear weapons.
Now that even the U.S. Army is
researching hybrid electric tanks,
it may finally be time to admit that
so-called alternative energy has
gone mainstream. Supplies of solar
panels can't keep up with demand.
Wind turbines now pay for them-
selves within a few years in many
states. There's a lot of money to be
made in green energy - it'll just be
different people making it.
Oil companies have seen the
writing on the wall. They've poured
millions into propaganda outfits
like the Competitive Enterprise
Institute, an Exxon-Mobil-funded
think-tank whose manufactured
experts appear in the media to
denounce alternative energy as a
wasteful government subsidy. This
is pure hypocrisy - there never
was a free market for energy. The
entire nuclear industry was literally
engineered by the government, and
the oil companies' primary market
was created by the largest continu-
ing federal subsidy in history - the
interstate highway system. The real
debate isn't over whether or not
to subsidize, but whether to keep
subsidizing the status quo and face
diminishing profits or to ; make a
leap to technology that pays far big-
ger dividends in the long run.
Liberals who want others to want
to protect the planet need to get real.
Unless going green starts to pay
some green, it won't happen. Fortu-
nately, profitability is almost a real-
ity. The government just needs the
courage to make traditional energy
America needs
to diversify its
energy portfolio.
industries pay their own bills. Imag-
ine how much better the econom-
ics of green energy would look if
some of the estimated $58 billion
in federal dollars that will be spent
on nuclear waste storage in Nevada
went to green energy instead.
Bull-headed fiscal conservatives
will be repulsed by the idea of a
Green New Deal, as suggested by
New York Times columnist Thomas
Friedman. Democrats should do
what Republicans did with global
warming and simply call the idea
by a different name. What America
needs is a broad array of perfor-
mance-driven energy initiatives
that foster the best solutions for
individual cities and states. After
all, even the most uneducated inves-
tor can tell you that the surest way
to good returns is through a diversi-
fied portfolio.
Toby Mitchell can be reached
at tojami@umich.edu.
Editorial Board Members: Emily Beam, Kevin Bunkley, Amanda Burns,
Sam Butler, Ben Caleca, Brian Flaherty, Mara Gay, Jared Goldberg,
Emmarie Huetteman, Toby Mitchell, Rajiv Prabhakar, David Russell,
Gavin Stern, John Stiglich, Jennifer Sussex, Neil Tambe,
Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Wagner, Christopher Zbrozek
CHRIS KOSLOWSKI I ________ ________
Sfound out yesterday that my Eher the campus is beut .
4 K'-
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SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU
University surveys fail to
gauge student attitudes
are not surveys that provide new insights.
These are junk surveys that serve to con-
firm the agendas of University adminis-
trators by making the University's plan
look like a home run with students - even
TO THE DAILYY if it isn't.
Reading Monday's article regarding
the University's push to keep upperclass- Edward Santos
men in dorms ('U' aims to keep upper- LSA senior
classmen in dorms, 02/19/2007), I was
saddened to see that the meal credit stopwhim
policy may change as a result of a survey
given to students. This actually shows snow this1
that University administrators are not o
touch with students. As part of the Divi-
sion of Student Affairs Advisory Board, I TO THE DAILY:
have seen University administrators with Contrary to w
an agenda report survey results that are editor claimed, A
skewed. a foot of snow in
For example, a survey designed to safety's sake, st
gauge opinions about the Hill Dining roads plowed, 02
Center gave respondents three choices: maybe six inches
1) I would prefer to have a small, dining ally does get a fo
operation in my residence hall, even if the roads are plon
that means I have less variety of foods to falling, I'll join in
choose from for each meal 2)I would pre- that the city neec
fer to eat in a conveniently located, larger policy.
dining operation that serves more than Although ther
just my residence hall so that it could offer slush and snow
a wider variety of food options for each around town, I d
meal 3)I would prefer to have a snack bar I drive down to
or convenience store in my residence hall, day for class and
plus have access to a conveniently located in question, like+
larger dining operation that serves more Street and Eastt
thanjust my residence hall sothat it could the main roadsV
offer a wider variety of food options for the storm. It is
each meal. the roads where
Any student who has taken Stats 350 travel at higher s
can tell you that these questions are ter- ion, the streets w
rible. "Small" and "even if it means IShave their cars are bet
lessvariety" arethe qualifiers used for our so there isn't a ti
current dining operations, while "conve- drive over to get i
nient" and "wider variety" are the qualifi- We live in Mi
ers used for the Hill Dining Center. These should be expect
ing about the
is Michigan
hat Friday's letter to the
nn Arbor did not receive
last week's storm, (For
udents deserve to have
/16/2007). We got five,
. When Ann Arbor actu-
ot of snow, and none of
wed after the snow stops
with the others and say
ds to change its plowing
re was a few inches of
on some of the roads
id not encounter any ice.
Central Campus every
park on the very streets
Church Street, Oakland
University Street. All of
were clear the day after
important to first clear
a high number of cars
peeds. Also, in my opin-
'here a lot of people park
ter off not being plowed
wo-foot wall of snow to
into a parking spot.
chigan. Driving in snow
ed. If drivers would just
be cautious and not freak out at the sight
of snow on the ground, everyone would
stay safe and people wouldn't need to
complain just to have something to com-
plain about.
Ryan Mitchell
LSA senior
Protest unfairly vilifies
natural history museum
TO THE DAILY:
I am writing in response to Monday's
story, With art, students draw attention to
Native American dioramas (02/19/2007).
Students' awareness and engagement
with social and political controversies is
a necessary and vital part of campus and
community life. However, when the art
students featured in this article chose to
create an art installation protesting the
Exhibit Museum of Natural History for
its Native American dioramas, they vili-
fied a museum that has worked for years
with the local Native-American com-
munity to change those exhibits. Many
artifacts considered offensive to the
Native-American community have been
taken off display and are in the process of
repatriation.
The Exhibit Museum of Natural His-
tory is fully aware of the controversy
surrounding the dioramas and is sympa-
thetic to the offense these displays may
cause Native Americans. While many at
the museum and in the community may
favor the dioramas' removal, the cost and
labor is problematic for a museum that
has a very small staff and relies almost
entirely on donations. For students to
imply that the museum is irresponsible
and culturally insensitive is damaging to
the image of a museum that relies on the
support of the Ann Arbor community. If
these students are truly concerned with
the removal of these dioramas, I implore
them to consider fundraising for the
endeavor, an act significantly more help-
ful than protesting an institution fully
aware of the necessity of the proposed
changes.
Erin Cosens
The letter writer is an LSA senior and a docent of
the Exhibit Museum ofNatural History.
In class, women treated
differently than men
TO THE DAILY:
I was disappointed that Tuesday's
front page story (Solving the gender equa-
tion, 02/20/2007) failed to mention the
treatment of women in math and science
courses at the University. It does not take
much effort to discover that men treat
women differently than they treat other
men. I found that most of my female peers
in my science courses agree.
I mostly noticed the treatment in my
calculus and physics courses because of
the group work. In my calculus classes,
where my groups were composed entirely
of men, I was constantly treated like an
idiot. There were several occasions when
I was not invited to the group homework
meetings, and my answers were never
considered. Even in my biology classes I
have found that males are very unrecep-
tive when I ask questions. They usually
claim they don't knowthe answer (but it's
hard to believe them when they got A's on
the last exam) or they pretend like they
didn't hear me at all.
I would say that it's just me, except that
these instances only occur with interac-
tions with males.When I work with other
women, I am treated with respect and
always given the benefit of the doubt.
The research shows that people believe
women are not usually science majors
because of stereotypes, but they fail to
consider the reason those stereotypes
exist. Those who believe the research
can encourage all young women in this
country to major in math or science, and
they're welcome to go on thinking it will
make a difference. However, I live in a
world where women are constantly dis-
couraged by animosity from their male
peers.
Aimee Denovchek
LSA senior
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