4A - Monday, September 17, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu 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. FirsM HE 1AM' Farming a solution Harnessing wind power requires state-wide effort Energy Fest 2007 - held last week on the Diag - was geared toward educating the community about the benefits of har- nessing wind energy, and it brought to light proposals for building wind farms here in Washtenaw County. While they would be better built here than not at all, there are other places in the state where such farms would be more efficient. Ann Arbor's commit- ment to using more renewable energy is commendable, but making renewable energy a statewide priority would have a significantly greater impact. Achieving this goal requires a cooperative effort and forward thinking throughout Michigan, especially in Lansing. People have been going inside, taking pictures of the stall, taking pictures outside the bathroom door - man, it's been crazy." - Royal Zeno, grandson of a shop owner at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, speaking about the sudden popularity of the bathroom stall where Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) reportedly made sexual passes on an undercover cop. Shouting at the devil I veryone is tired of hear- ing about the antics of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Michael Vick, myself included. As the cable tele- vision/tabloid media blitz shows us, nothing about young celebrities has changed in the previous decades,( but we're still MIKE impelled to hear MIKE all about it. EBER Hope for true Hollywood penitence is not far off, however. A book and album combi- nation from a certain former young bad-boy poster child, scheduled for release this week, will prove to be a model example of entertainment icons promoting more than just cul- tural decadence. Whereas people like Hilton and Vick neglected their duty to use fame to work for change in our society, rock legend Nikki Sixx is silently making amends for his past recklessness. Sixx, the bassist from Motley Crte (and the man sometimes said to have taught Tommy Lee how to party), put Hilton to shane back in heavy metal's heyday. A book about the band titled "The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band"says ofSixx: "Nikki overdosed, rose from the dead, and then OD'd again the next day." A recovered heroin addict who has shed his former epithet, Sixx is set to release a tell-all autobiography to accompany his rock album, The Heroin Diaries, as a way of rightingthe wrong left in his hairspray's wake. Building on his appearance on Capitol Hill as a speaker at the 18th Annual National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, 25 percent of the book's prof- its will go toward preventing youth homelessness. With the omnipresence of enter- tainment media, the coverage of the complete nothingness involved in celebrity arrests gives credence to these charades. Retrospectively, such vapid distractions probably would not have been available to the casual consumer of MTV's monopoly in the eighties, but with cable news and the Internet, this boutique niche is now mainstream. Seemingly more misbehavior per- vades the entertainment world, but in reality the electronic media explo- sion just allows us to see what we want to see - voyeuristic indulgenc- es that make us feel that we are better than those legends we see on TV. If we want to see the carnival of sin, you can bet the media outlets will pro- vide the entertainment. Sixx's new book, however, grants an all-access pass into the reality of glamorized decadence that a 30-second news bite never could. It is easy for the naive to ambiva- lently idolize Lohan when her arrest is an afterthought to a high-energy montage underscoring her chic fash- ion, hot cars and epitomized Holly- wood glamour. Arguably, most people long for the same status, clothes and cars as presented by electronic media, but the devastation of drug addiction can never be realistically portrayed by a talking head on CNN. Sixx'srepentant memoirs delve more deeply into and give more perspective onthe downside of drugs than E!News ever could. Matter-of-factly mention- ing Sixx's struggles with heroin in conjunction with platinum albums just fails do the topic justice. Such detailed biographical narratives accompanied by cathartic hard riffs pack the punch that can paint the picture of rock real- ity. In an excerpt posted online from the forthcoming autobiography, Sixx describes with harrowing detail the struggles of his addiction: A former celeb n'er-do-well is making amends. "If you read this book, you will never do drugs. Shitting your pants and throwing up all over yourself, and the detox, and the psychosis, and a lot of the other stuff in this book is just not glamourous." Paris found God within the first week in county jail and now aspires to do something better with her fortune. I look forward to reading her repen- tant memoirs one day. Sixx is helping prevent drug abuse by sharing his story, but on a broader level, his new book highlights the big- gest problem with electronic media's blogs and bite - an adequate focus on deathly real consequences. That real- ity, though, still lives in books and music. Mike Eber can be reached at mieber@umich.edu. As of June 27, the amount of energy that wind farms produced nationally was 11,961 megawatts. Wyoming, the least populated state in the country, produced 288 mega- watts, while Michigan contributed only 3 megawatts. Clearly, to make a significant environmental impact, the wind power movement needs to spread beyond Ann Arbor - and it will require the commit- ment of legislators, energy providers and customers to make it work. The state legislature must require that energy companies provide a minimum amount of alternative energy to their cus- tomers - an action that 25 other states have already taken. The lack of such a require- ment in Michigan has slowed progress in the state. As Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, said of Michigan's largest energy company, "DTE Energy has not been proactive with obtaining (renewable) energy. I just don't see them being interested in wind energy." According to DTE spokesman John Austerberry, the company is willing to supply more renewable ener'gy, as long as customers agree to pay more. Slightly elevated energy costs are a small but wise investment for consumers, given the many potential benefits renewable energy offers Michigan. Even so, in the long run, the state must be proactive in encouraging energy companies to find ways to bring down the price of renewable energy. Local advocates of wind power have to be careful not to isolate the cause to Washt- enaw County, where wind conditions are marginally adequate at best. Wind energy should be harnessed from areas where such efforts are most viable. More energy would be generated from wind farms built on the coasts of Michigan's Great Lakes than from turbines in Washtenaw County. This makes the idea a statewide cause. Gov. Jennifer Granholm's 21st Century Energy Plan loosely outlined require- ments for furthering the state's involve- ment in discovering, using and protecting sources of cleaner energy. Some legislators are hesitant to put those types of plans into action because of concerns about what that would mean for the state's econ- omy, which has taken devastating blows in recent years. Rather than wait until Mich- igan's economy pulls itself out of this hole, however, the legislature should act right away because renewable energy can actu- ally create jobs in the state. In 2004, the Renewable Energy Policy Project asserted that wind power could create more than 8,000 Michigan jobs. Wind power could very well be a step toward a better economic and environ- mental future for Michigan. Legislative action requiring energy companies to provide a certain amount of wind energy would not only help the environment, but also provide jobs in the construction and maintenance of wind farms. Ann Arbor has the right idea. It just needs to act in concert with the state, energy companies and consumers for wind power's full potential to be realized. ND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU ironic that those who urge us never to forget have themselves forgotten that this is what the terrorists wanted in the first place. Bryan VanDuinen STUDENTS ORGANIZING FOR LABOR AND EQUALITY $ 11EWNT Still not confronting sweatshops In 1999, a group of University of Michigan students landed one of the first big victories in the anti-sweat- shop movement-theyconvinced the University to adopt the Vendor Code of Conduct. The code stated that the University would no longer do business with companies that used sweatshops. A year later, the same students convinced then-University President Lee Bollinger to help cre- ate an organization to monitor code compliance, called the Worker Rights Consortium. Virtually all public and most private universities have codes of conduct now, and there are nearly 200 universities affiliated with the WRC. However, sweatshop production of University apparel remains ram- pant, and even students who are willing to be arrested are unable to change this grim reality. Since 2000, hundreds of cases of abuse have been reported to the Univer- sity and no action has been taken' to augment or enforce the code so that it has an impact. For the past two years students have presented a solution to the problem of enforce- ment, but their lobbying efforts have been met with closed doors, indefi- nite time in committees and even arrests (12 students arrested in Flem- ing, 04/04/2007). Why would stu- dents whose protests and research led to the creation of the WRC and a code of conduct be met with such a cold shoulder? If there is anything we have learned through meetings with big- shot apparel companies and stacked University committees, the appear- ance of progress seems to be much more important than progress itself. The amount of money spent by a big apparel licensee like Adi- das on a "corporate social respon- sibility program"- a euphemism for a media relations department - could easily increase the wages of its workers several times over. Instead of being spent on improving sweatshops, these profits are fun- neled into some black hole social responsibility program. Sure, general awareness on this issue has increased, but the only tangible results are flashy corpo- rate websites. Corporations have responded to the student demand of sweat-free factories by pouring money into deception programs meant to create an appearance of progress. Progress is so hard to accomplish on our campus because University President Mary Sue Coleman and her staff operate with this corporate paradigm. Students aren't a constitu- ency to them, so they could care less about what issues are important to us. Howeverbecause ofthe Universi- ty's history, they know the danger of turningtheir backs onstudents. Thus they attempt to placate and stall stu- dents through useless meetings with low-level, no-power administrators, and they force us to trudge through committees. And when push comes to shove, Coleman would rather have students arrested than confront issues of human rights. The bottom line is that prog- ress on this issue will be very hard to achieve until President Cole- man finds another job. She doesn't answer to us. The climate she has created at the University has atro- phied the University's leadership on issues of social justice, and we've fallen behind in the ranks to some- where near the back of the pack. Aria Everts and Blase Kearney are LSA juniors and members of SOLE. 4 4 Remembering shouldn't mean living in fear TO THE DAILY: YEngineeringfreshma On the Diag last Tuesday, the sign by the flags memorializing the victims of Sept. 11 displayed one simple message: "Never forget." M oving up Nearby were depicted various "terrorist" acts leading up to Sept. 11. While challenging dilutes theC these words is sometimes viewed as unpatri- otic, this simple phrase, "Never forget" has TO THE DAILY: always struck me as clich6, unnecessary and This letter is in offensive. column last we Could anybody really forget what hap- 09/11/2007) and is pened six years ago? There are doubtlessly trend toward the f some people for whom the attacks were espe- calendar. cially traumatic: families of victims, rescue All that this frt workers and those.people who luckily decid- states will do is g ed not to go to the office that day. But no one nations for front will forget. ton, Mitt Romney Perhaps I wouldn't be as bothered by the seem arbitrary a phrase "Never forget" if the message meant, New Hampshire, "Let's remember and honor those who died representative of: on Sept. 11 and unite as a country against and give moments our common enemy." But the phrase is used thing worse, tho more often than not by fearmongers who big states - wher seek to politicize the tragedy. "Never forget" stage and getting t then implies something else: Remember the sible. By moving: terror you felt on that day, trust us with your gan and Florida w civil liberties and trust us to make the com- television advertis plex foreign policy decisions that are beyond and concern by cs your understanding. If anyone challenges us, who can campaig they are not true patriots. We can and will are those who out keep you safe like no one else can. avoid issue-based That may be an exaggeration, but take for Having the abi example the poster on the Diag depicting mean a candidate the six terrorist acts. It showed pictures of ple of a state. For three acts perpetrated by Al Qaeda: the 1998 has policy propos bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and health care, endt Tanzania, the 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. erty and stand up Cole off the coast of Yemen and Sept. 11. The labor unions. The poster also showed an image from the 1979 gan Democrats s Iranian hostage crisis and a group of Iraqis Clinton, with the burning an American flag in 1998. hype, leads curre The last is not even an act of terrorism. On the Republics Surely I could be forgiven if I forget that folksy combinatit five Iraqis burned a flag nine years ago. The and social conse effect of the poster is to meld Persians with with many Michi Arabs and Sunnis with Shiites, portraying an the money to com America under attack from Muslims world- Huckabee will lik wide who would all gladly kill us if they had pan's primary. the chance. Iowa and New Whether the creators of the poster were imperfectsystem, deliberately racist or merely careless is represent the bes debatable, but the poster is fear-inducing chance for all cant propaganda. This fear stifles dissent, dis- courages debate and paralyzes the decision- Matthew Taylor making process of our nation. It is cruelly LSA sophomore in primaries debate respons to Robert Soave's ek (Good for Michigan, s more generally about the rontloading of the primary ontloading of delegate-rich guarantee the party nomi- runners like Hillary Clin- or Rudy Giulani. It does nd unfair that Iowa and states that aren't exactly the entire country, go first um to candidates. The only ugh, would be moving up e retail politics take center o know the voters is impos- their primaries, up, Michi- ill see millions of dollars in sing, but not real attention andidates. The only people gn in these massive states spend their opponents and elections. lity to buy TV ads doesn't is in touch with the peo- r example, John Edwards als to guarantee universal the war in Iraq, end pov- p for the middle class and ese are the issues Michi- seem to care about. Yet, most media attention and nt polls by double digits. an side, Mike Huckabee's on of economic populism ervatism would resonate gan Republicans. Lacking pete in such a large state, ely get creamed in Michi- Hampshire representan Lbut their primaries also t way to guarantee a real didates and ideas. WYMAN KH UU 0 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR JOIN DAILY OPINION. Come to our mass meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 420 Maynard St., just northwest of the Union. Or e-mail opinion@michigandaily.com. i MORE ONLINE a Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be under 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. The Daily reserves the right to edit letters for clarity, grammar and space, and all submissions become property of The MichiganDaily. Send letters to: tothedaily@umich.edu. BLOGS Read more updated opinion at michigandaily. com/thepodium. Editorial Board Members: Ben Caleca, Mike Eber, Brian Flaherty, Kellyn Jackson, Gavin Stern, Jennifer Sussex, Neil Tambe, Radhika Upadhyaya 4 A t