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. 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