Illic1 t aIi 1u
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
michigandaily.com
CULTURES DOC
'U -licensed
apparel line
competes on
conscience
ERIN KIRK.AND/Daily
Research fellow Aasia Rehman works at the McAllister-Lucas lab at the Biomedical Research Building yesterday. As part of her post-doctorate fellowship, Rehman works
on a project expanding cells by growing B-Cell lymphomas in culture media.
CAMPUS WATERING HOLES
A 2 t
S1C s: Fifth Quarter
club is a publicnuisance'
Alta Gracia, sold at
Barnes & Noble, pays
workers a living wage
By SARA BOBOLTZ
Daily StaffReporter
Students in the market for a new
Michigan sweatshirt may take sev-
eral factors into consideration: blue
or maize, fitted or loose, hooded or
crewneck. But at least one store on
campus has introduced another
option to think about, urging cus-
tomers to buy ethical University
clothing the same way they might
"buy organic."
New collegiate apparel label
Alta Gracia, named for the Domin-
ican factory where the clothing is
-constructed, is now available at
the Barnes & Noble College Book-
store in the Michigan Union. The
label claims to be the first of its
kind because workers at the Alta
Gracia factory earn a living wage
- the equivalent of $115 per week
- instead of the legally required
minimum wage, which is $34 per
week in the Dominican Republic.
The living wage arrangement is
the result of negotiations between
the factory's management and
its workers' union. Officials at
Knights Apparel, which operates
the factory, say they maintain a
strong relationship with the work-
ers' union to foster a comfortable
and humane environment for
employees.
Knights Apparel operates a
number of other factories, but is
operating Alta Gracia using this
experimental business model in
hopes that the company and other
apparel manufacturers can learn
from the model.
As of now, the Barnes & Noble
College Bookstore is the only store
on campus that sells Alta Gracia
apparel. Karen Discala, spokes-
woman for Barnes & Noble College
Bookstores, said the Alta Gracia
line of apparel received a "tremen-
dous amount of enthusiasm" from
students since the stores began
selling the products in September.
Discala said the stores priced
the apparel in line with other simi-
lar items, so as not to pass on much
of the increased labor costs to con-
sumers.
Rishi Narayan, co-owner of
Underground Printing and Moe
Sport Shops, which has stores in a
variety of locations near campus,
said that because selling Alta Gra-
cia apparel in their stores would
require negotiations with Knights
Apparel, the owners would only
consider sellingthe merchandise if
See APPAREL, Page 3A
Complaint filed with
city attorney's office
alleges fights at bar
spill onto sidewalks
By JENNA SIMARD
Daily StaffReporter
City officials filed a complaint
with the city attorney's .office
last month against Fifth Quarter
nightclub, alleging that the bar
known for its drink specials and
mechanical bull is a public nui-
sance. -
Senior AssistantAttorney Kris-
ten Larcom, who is handling the
case, said the complaint stems
from a variety of issues associated
with the bar.
"(The complaint) is based on
a number of incidents (showing
that the bar has) caused more
problems than other bars," Lar-
com said.
Larcom added that the com-
plaint, which was filed on Nov. 4,
has not progressed further than
the issuing of the complaint itself.
A public nuisance is defined as
anything that "annoys, injures,
or endangers the safety, health,
comfort or repose of the public;
offends public decency ... or in any
way renders the public insecure in
life or property," according to Ann
Arbor's city code.
The complaint states that
between the dates of Jan. 1 and
Oct. 25, 2010, the Ann Arbor
Police Department received over
89 calls requestingservice at Fifth
Quarter. The police received half
as many calls from the bar in all
of 2009.
"The calls for service to the
Fifth Quarter include, but are
not limited to, many fights, com-
plaints that bouncers and other
Fifth Quarter employees have
assaulted and/or injured patrons,
other assaults that have caused
See FIFTH QUARTER, Page 2A
LIVING IN WASHTENAW COUNTY
As area homelessness spikes,
shelters say resources lacking
County had 4,618
homeless in 2009, up
from 3,940 in 2006
ByJEFF WARANIAK
Daily StaffReporter
As the number of people expe-
riencing homelessness in Washt-
enaw County grows, shelter
officials and homelessness activ-
ists are saying the resources in
place aren't enough to adequately
address the issue.
The number of homeless indi-
viduals registered in the county
grew from 3,940 in 2006 to 4,618.
in 2009, according to the Washt-
enaw County Office of Commu-
nity Development..
Though the reasons for this
increase are specific to each
individual, the escalation may
be attributed to an increase in
the number of homeless people
who are coming to Ann Arbor
from areas outside of Washtenaw
County.
Social service providers like
Ellen Schulmeister, executive
director of the Shelter Associa-
tion of Washtenaw County, are
aware of the incentives that
attract people to the city. Schul-
meister said that for panhandlers,
the University's campus can be a
profitable place.
"The generosity of students
certainly is a factor for pan-
See HOMELESSNESS, Page 2A
MICHIGAN STUDENT ASSEMBLY
MSA introduces resolution to help dual
John Corvino, a professor of philosophy at Wayne State University, gives a talk yesterday called "What Makes Gay Life Worth Living?"
LGBT activist to crowd: Your
degree students use Wolverine Access choices make life worth living
At pair of meetings,
MSA also welcomes
new members, says
goodbye to old ones
By RACHEL BRUSSTAR
Daily StaffReporter
At last night's pair of Michigan
StudentAssemblymeetings -one
featuring goodbyes from depart-
ing representatives and one wel-
coming new representatives to
WEATHER HI: 32
TOMORROW LO- 25
the assembly - MSA introduced
a resolution to endorse the imple-
mentation of transcript and audit
system reform for cross-college
dual degree and degree minor
students through Wolverine
Access.
The resolution would aim to
address some of the unique logis-
tical challenges cross-college
dual degree students face when
using Wolverine Access.
Arshabh Sarda, an Engineer-
ing and Business dual degree
student, discussed the resolution
during the community concerns
GOT A NE WS TIP?
Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us
portion of the first meeting.
Sarda said students like him-
self who are pursuing degrees
in two colleges at the University
often struggle because they don't
receive comprehensive advising
that spans the two colleges.
Sarda added that dual degree
students often have trouble
retrieving their academic infor-
mation on Wolverine Access, cit-
ing issues viewing a cumulative
GPA and trouble verifying pro-
gram requirements.
At the meeting, MSA represen-
See MSA, Page 3A
At
Co
may
Speo
and se
the crc
Amphi
lecture
Life W
Rackham, John Corvino, a philosophy professor
at Wayne State University, struck
rvino also talks a balance between humor and
solemnity while discussing the
ay benefits of sex theme semester, "What Makes Life
Worth Living?" through the lens of
By CLAIRE HALL the LGBT community. The lecture
Daily StaffReporter was sponsored by the University's
Spectrum Center, the Institute for
aking frankly about sex Research on Women and Gender
xuality, John Corvino kept and several other campus groups.
owd laughing at Rackham "I'd never done a talk on this
theatre last night during his subject before," Corvino said
called "What Makes Gay during his speech, "and so I did
orth Living?" what any serious philosophical
researcher would do - I put (the
question) on my Facebook status."
But Corvino, who is openly gay,
ultimately found a focus for his
talk, saying in an interview before
the lecture that the aim of it was
to influence the way people think
about the agency they have over
their own lives.
"As a philosophy professor, I
want to challenge people to think
about their fundamental assump-
tions and presuppositions," he
said. "This provides me an oppor-
See CORVINO, Page 3A
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM
Report: Harbaugh won't be at 'M' football banquet.
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS/THE GAME
INDEX NEWS......
Vol. CXXI,No.58 OPINION..
02010 The Michigan ay ARTS .......
michigandoily com
..2A CLASSIFIEDS.....
..4A SPORTS ..............
..5A THESTATEMENT.
.......6A
.... .8A
.......B
I