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.