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November 28, 2007 - Image 1

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 2007-11-28

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The Statement
die dlian datIl

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

michigandailycom

ST

STADIUM CONTROVERSY
Coleman:
'U' can't
comply
with ADA
President says 'U' would need
dramatic overhaul to add 1,000
accessible seats to Big House
By GABE NELSON
Daily News Editor
University President Mary Sue Coleman said yes-
terday that the decades-old structure of Michigan
Stadium makes it impossible to add wheelchair-acces-
sible seating anywhere besides the entrance portal,
meaning the University couldn't make 1 percent of all
seats in the stadium bowl wheelchair-accessible with-
out performing a major overhaul.
That's the standard laid out in the Americans with
Disabilities Act that the Michigan Paralyzed Veterans
of America and the Department of Justice say the Uni-
versity should have to meet. They're suing in federal
court to force the University to comply with the ADA.
"You can't get more than something like 350 seats
plus companion seats," Coleman said. "It's not physi-
cally possible unless you destroy the bowl and start
over."
Coleman said in an interview yesterday that she
was disappointed by the University's inability to reach
a settlement with the Office of Civil Rights over how to
make Michigan Stadium accessible to disabled fans.
The office, which conducted an eight-year investiga-
tionofthe stadium, referred thecasetotheU.S.Depart-
ment of Justice last week. The Justice Department was
granted permission the next day to become a co-plain-
tiff in a federal court case filed by the MPVA, saying
the University should be forced to upgrade Michigan
Stadium to comply with Americans with Disabilities
Act standards.
"We were working diligentlyto come to a settlement
with the Department of Education. When that didn't
happen, the next logical thing was to turn it over to
the Department of Justice," Coleman said. "There's a
See STADIUM, Page 7A

MSA Rep. Kenneth Baker (LEFT) slammed MSA President Zack Yost for creating a Facebook.com group that mocked MSA Rep. Tim Hull (RIGHT
ity," prompting an outcry, because Hull has Asperger's syndrome.

Pres. draws fire

Quiet elections to
begin at midnight

for Facebook group
Yost apologizes for was created by Yost a little more
than a year ago - when he was the
mocking MSA rep in assembly's student general counsel.
In the group's description Yost wrote,
offensive group "I'll give that kid a fucking disability
he can write home about if he keeps
By SCOTT MILLS sending these code amendments to
Daily StaffReporter everyone."
Hull has a mild form of autism
An insulting Facebook.com group called Asperger's syndrome. Until
created by Michigan Student Assem- this semester, when it was disbanded,
bly President Zack Yost that makes Hull was the co-chair of MSA's stu-
fun of MSA Rep. Tim Hull was made dents with disabilities committee.
public at last night's MSA meeting by An image attached to the Facebook
MSA Rep. Kenneth Baker. group consists of the scribbled words,
The secret group, titled "I waste "SHUT UP TIM!"
more time reading Tim Hull's code Hull has proposed dozens of
amendments than I do on Facebook," See FACEBOOK, Page 3A

Ruling party faces
little opposition
By DAVE MEKELBURG
Daily News Editor
The Michigan Action Party is run-
ning a virtually uncontested slate in
the student government elections
that begin at midnight tonight, ensur-
ing that it will maintain its hold on
the Michigan Student Assembly and
LSA Student Government, which rep-
resents students in the largest college
at the University.
The most contested races will
be for the LSA seats on MSA. There

are 10 available seats up for election,
and both MAP and the Defend Affir-
mative Action Party have fielded 10
candidates each. There are also two
independent candidates and two can-
didates running with the Michigan
Independent Party. In contested elec-
tions, DAAP candidates rarely garner
a significant number of votes.
DAAP promotes affirmative action
and vocally opposes racism on cam-
pus.
Some key incumbents up for reelec-
tion in the LSA races include MAP
candidates current MSA Treasurer
Sabrina Shingwani, an LSA junior, and
current MSA Rep. StellafBinkevich, the
chair of the Budget Priorities Commit-
See ELECTION, Page 3A

MARKING AIDS WEEK

Adidas executive defends
company's labor practices

New 'U' apparel
supplier has come
under fire at other
colleges
By ANDY KROLL
Daily Staff Reporter
The man in charge of overseeing
Adidas's labor and environmental
standards outlined the company's
factory assessment programs and
rules designed to protect workers
last night in a presentation at the
Michigan League.
The University signed a $7.5 mil-
lion per year contract with Adidas
in June to make the German com-
pany the University's exclusive ath-
letic apparel provider. Adidas has
come under fire at the University of
California at Berkeley and the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin at Madison for
alleged labor violations.
Gregg Nebel cited Adidas's
improved Key Performance indica-
tor - a ratingsystem that evaluates
a factory's level of worker-manage-
ment communication, factory com-
pliance and industrial relations - as
evidence of his company's tougher
labor monitoring standards.
Nebel fielded questions from
the audience about the Desig-
nated Suppliers Program, which
requires universities to use facto-
ries approved by the Worker Rights
Consortium, an international

Eight sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt are hanging in the Michigan Union Ballroom this week to mark World AIDS week.
The quilt is a memorial to people who have died from AIDS-related illnesses.
As deadline looms, primary fight goes on

Gregg Nebel, an Adidas executive who oversees the company's labor pt
defended the company's treatment of its workers in a speech last night.

Democratic ballot
likely to include only
half of the candidates
LANSING (AP) - The battle
over what Michigan's presiden-
tial election will look like was
still being fought yesterday, even
as deadlines loomed for getting
absentee ballot applications to
those overseas.

The GOP-controlled state
Senate declined to take up a bill
restoring the names of Demo-
cratic candidates John Edwards,
Barack Obama, Bill Richardson
and Joe Biden to the Democratic
ballot.
The lack of action angered some
Democrats who wanted to have
all eight of their candidates on the
ballot and left some Republicans
worried that Democrats might
skip the Democratic primary to

vote in the Republican one.
Senate Majority Leader Mike
Bishop (R-Rochester) said infight-
ing among Democrats scuttled the
vote, but Senate Minority Leader
Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek)
called the decision a missed
opportunity.
The four Democrats withdrew
their names to satisfy Iowa and
New Hampshire, which were
unhappy Michigan was challeng-
See PRIMARY, Page 7A

national labor-monitoring group,
for the production of their licensed
products.
In response, Nebel said he does
not support the DSP, and he ques-
tioned the consortium's right to
approve certain factories for the
program and not others.
"The factories under the DSP
won't last, and it's not a sustainable
program at all in the textile indus-
try," Nebel said.
In April, Members of Students
Organized for Labor and Economic
Equality urged the University to
adhere to the standards of the DSP,
but University President Mary Sue
Coleman decided not to align with

the program.
Adidas has come under fire this
year at several large public univer-
sities for instances of labor rights
violations in factories subcontract-
ed to Adidas throughout the world.
Student activists at the Univer-
sity of California at Berkeley pro-
tested Adidas in February after a
report issued by United Students
Against Sweatshops found that the
company threatened to reduce pro-
duction at a subcontracted Indo-
nesian factory where workers had
unionized.
In October, students at the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin at Madison
See ADIDAS, Page 7A

04 wm ,

TODAY'S
WEATHER

H': 43 GOT A NEWS TIP?
LO: 26 Call 734-763-24s9 or e-mail
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Canadian scare tactics
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/THEFILTER

INDEX
Vol. CXVI S, No.58
02007 The Michigri
icighandoilycom

NEW S......,
OPINION..
ARTS......

.2A CLASSIFIEDS. ..

6A

.4A SPORTS.. . ..A........8A
.5A THESTATEMENT..................1B

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