4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, May 10, 2004
420 MAYNARD STREET
ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 NIAMH SLEVIN SUHAEL MOMIN
tothedaily@michigandaily.com Editor in Chief Editorial Page Editor
EDITED AND MANAGED BY
STUDENTS AT THE Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of e
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN the mnajonty of the Daily's editorial board. All other pieces do not
SINCE 1890 necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
B eginning the week of May 13, the expectation of working with a budget that
University will kick off its latest D* 1 e re rc suffers from legislative budget trimming. In
campus-wide fundraising campaign A d lLf ereftIorder for the state of Michigan to continue to
known as "The Michigan Difference." The boast one of the top public schools in the
goal of the extensive campaign is to raise Budget for ULI' should not be contingent on donations county, Lansing must prioritize and reallocate
$2 billion dollars through private dona- _- - -- -----its budget to either maintain or increase the,
tions by the end of 2008. In remarks made tributed to the budget crisis faced at the age of any public university in Michigan. At current levels of appropriation.
to the University Board of Regents, University. This stemming of state funds the other extreme is Wayne State University, Already, the University is feeling the
University President Mary Sue Coleman has forced the University to search for which receives 57 percent of its revenue from sting of hindered finances. The departure
expressed optimism in the campaign, alternative sources of funding such as appropriations. This "increased reliance" on of Fawwaz Ulaby, the University's Vice
highlighting it as an integral part of the "The Michigan Difference." While the sources of income, such as private donations President for Research, could be a harbin-
University's quest to maintain itself as one University's fund-raising efforts, intended or tuition, is highly unstable and does not ger of the effects of a restricted budget.
of the nation's premier public universities. to alleviate budget problems through pri- place the University in a financially secure Citing a significant monetary commitment
This effort mirrors that of the "Campaign vate donations, should be applauded, the situation. The state of Michigan has not only made to Purdue University by the state of
for Michigan," a five-year program that University should also seek to alleviate the an obligation, but a vested interest to provide Indiana, Ulaby will leave the University to
began in 1992 with a target of $1 billion need for such efforts: that is, to reverse the adequate appropriations to the University. become Vice President for Research at
dollars. The program eventually brought in decline in state appropriations to the The University, when liberated from a depen- Purdue. The Indiana state government
over $1.41 billion, well-exceeding its goal. University. dency on high student fees, can provide lower understands that by giving public universi-
Twenty years ago, state appropriations, As stated in an internal report from the tuition to in-state residents, thereby increas- ties the necessary resources to fully realize0
money given to the University by the state Office of the Provost, "While state appropri- ing the overall education level of the state's their needs, they are equipping their
government, made up 50 percent of the ations represent a cornerstone to the population. Private institutions such as schools with the necessary tools to stay
University's general fund. During the cur- University's strength, there has been Harvard do not receive state funding and are academically competitive. If state revenue
rent 2004 fiscal year, only 29 percent of increased reliance on student fees, gifts, and not required to discriminate tuition levels continues to drop, it is merely a question
the general fund comes from the state of departmental activities." The University based on state residency. As a public institu- of how long the University's competitive
Michigan. This alarming decline has con- receives the lowest appropriations by percent- tion, the University should not have the edge will remain sharp.
No more Michael Moore
Corporate political censorship a growing problem
Unwelcome company
Wal-Mart's excessive expansion a threat to communities
0
Michael Eisner, the Chief Executive
Officer of Disney, has decided to
pull the plug on Michael Moore.
This summer, the controversial filmmaker
was set to release a new movie, "Fahrenheit
9/11" though Miramax Pictures, which is a
subsidiary of Disney. The film explores the
underground financial and political connec-
tions between both Bush administrations, the
Saudi royal family and the Bin Ladins.
Excited about the film, Miramax had
signed the deal with Michael Moore and was
receiving $6 million from Disney for its pro-
duction. But late in the project's develop-
ment, only months before the summer
release of"Fahrenheit 9/11," Eisner and other
Disney executives buckled under growing
apprehension about fiscal backlash. At a
recent board meeting, Disney voted not to
distribute the movie.
Concerned about public image, Disney
executives have claimed that their company
should not produce films with politically
partisan views that do not correlate with the
usual family friendly orientation or carry the
potential to offend viewers. Unfortunately,
this reasoning seems hypocritical at best..
Disney affiliates bring us political pundits
such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh,
who are both vociferously conservative, as
well as the violent content of previous
Miramax blockbuster hits such as Kill Bill
and Pulp Fiction. These offerings both fail
to. meet either the "family oriented" or
"politically neutral" criteria used to quash
Moore's documentary.
While it is dangerous to speculate, it is
highly likely that politics played a role in
Disney's decision. Even though no solid
proof exists, an examination of the circum-
stantial evidence strongly hints towards this
conclusion. The Disney Corporation receives
millions of dollars in tax cuts from the State
of Florida for its theme parks, hotels and
movie studios. If these tax breaks were
revoked, Disney would suffer serious finan-
cial pain. Since the governor of Florida, Jeb
Bush, is the President's younger brother, the
release of Moore's movie would do little to
curry favor with the state government. Thus,
releasing a film which aims to raise aware-
ness about potential scandals of the previous
and current Bush Administrations could
jeopardize such tax cuts, hurting Disney's
bottom line. Coupled with the Disney execu-
tives' sloppy explanation for the sudden can-
cellation of Moore's movie, these financial
links bolster claims of corporate censorship
for political purposes.
Corporate censorship is a phenomenon
which has pervaded our current media
milieu, and Disney's attempted repression of
Moore's film is merely one example. Five
months ago, CBS refused to air an advertise-
ment sponsored by Moveon.org, a liberal
political group. More recently, the Sinclair
Broadcasting Corporation, which controls
eight ABC stations, preempted an edition of
"Nightline" which they deemed to be "anti-
war." This particularly egregious example of
censorship demonstrates the power that cor-
porations have to limit and control the views
presented on television and radio.
Television, radio and film are intended
to be mediums for the free dissemination
of information and opinion. Luckily, in
this nation, this right to speech is protect-
ed from government intrusion through the
First Amendment to the federal
Constitution. However, the recent plague
of corporate censorship and the close
interplay of politics and corporate deci-
sion-making, threatejas to destroy this fun-
damental freedom.
Wal-Mart, the largest private employ-
er in the world, is continuing its
assimilation of retail markets
across America. The Arkansas-based mega-
lith recently announced plans to open 225
new stores, including 18 in Michigan. While
Wal-Mart may claim that it merely seeks to
bring consumers low, low prices, it glosses
over the fact that its continued expansion
depreciates life for workers and communities
nationwide.
Sam Walton's creation has built its identi-
ty as a discount chain in part by providing
low wages and few, if any, benefits to work-
ers. Wal-Mart "associates," as employees are
called, earn significantly less than those
doing similar work at traditional retail out-
lets. Wal-Mart associates are powerless to
demand higher wages; while many discount
stores are unionized, Wal-Mart is notorious
for union-busting. Since 1995, the National
Labor Relations Board has investigated Wal-
Mart for over 250 alleged violations of laws
protecting workers' right to form a union.
Only one group of Wal-Mart workers has
ever successfully unionized: Ten butchers in
a store in Jacksonville, Fla. voted to join a
union, only to have their department prompt-
ly eliminated and their store supplied with
pre-cut meat instead. It is well-documented
that Wal-Mart further hurts workers at other
businesses by depressing overall wages and
benefits in local labor markets.
Wal-Mart also harms the communities it
enters by damaging traditional downtown
shopping areas and promoting urban sprawl.
Simple economies of scale dictate that local
mom-and-pop enterprises cannot compete
with a gigantic corporation whose annual
revenue exceeds the gross domestic product
of most nations. These local businesses are
often the most colorful, interesting stores and
the ones that contribute most to community
life. Indeed, several communities have suc-
cessfully fought the expansion of Wal-Mart
through zoning laws, petitions, and ballot
proposals. In some cases, Wal-Mart has
resorted to purchasing television ads in an
attempt to buy voters over to their side.
Marine City, Michigan, may soon be the nex4
locale to have blocked a Wal-Mart; residents
recently filed a lawsuit to overturn a zoning
decision that would allow Wal-Mart's expan-
sion into their town.
Wal-Mart's business plan calls for ware-
house-like "supercenters" with over 100,000
feet of floor space. Sufficient land for these
stores is generally only available on the out-
skirts of town, and other large retailers often
develop in the same area, knowing that con-0
sumers will be forced to travel to Wal-Mart as
local retailers go out of business. The need
for roads and freeways linking residential
centers with outlying retail plazas exacer-
bates the problems of urban sprawl. Huge
tracts of forest and farmland are thus
devoured while traditional downtowns starve
for capital.
In the end, Wal-Mart contributes to the
homogenization of America, ravaging local
stores and destroying the downtown districts
that are the essence of many towns and cities.E
Through licensing deals, Wal-Mart carries
only a few brands of each product, meaning
those companies who do not sell through
Wal-Mart are squeezed out of markets. While
Wal-Mart superstores offer low prices, they
fail to provide the options a downtown dis-
trict with multiple small stores could.
Overall, while Wal-Mart is the pinnacle of
capitalist success, its brings little benefit to
those around it. The burgeoning growth of anE
already massive corporation simply threatens
the quality of life in areas which it enters.