4i Monday, June 14, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com *14cfihct-ga DA Prioritizing ethics Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu ANDREW LAPIN EDITOR IN CHIEF RYAN KARTJE MANAGING EDITOR ALEX SCHIFF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations representsolely the views of their authors. The LEEDers and best Silver certification should be a baseline, not the final goal The University has a subpar record on environmental friendliness. But last week, the administration took a positive step in announc- ing that all of its future construction projects would meet at least a LEED-silver certification level. This commitment is commendable, but con- sidering that some colleges and corporations are committing themselves to carbon neutrality, it's clear the administration could still do more. If the University is to be a world leader in both research and social responsibility, it should aim to attain the highest standard of environmental sustainability. When I learned that law- makers on Capitol Hill were seeking to gut the Office of Congres- sional Ethics, only{ one thing crossed< my mind: It's about damn time.1 I realize that I might be in the ' minority on this, but bear with me. I, like most Ameri- NOEL cans, believe that all GORDON of our elected offi- cials should be held to a higher ethical standard because of the power entrusted to them by our votes. At the same time, I also know that politicians are human and that there needs tobe some type of mecha- nism in place to ensure that abuses of power are punished to the fullest extent of the law. But it seems to me as though many of the offices and com- mittees charged with this simple task are failing their mission. The Office of Congressional Eth- ics is an independent, non-partisan committee charged with reviewing allegations of misconduct against members of the House of Representa- tives and their staff. It's governed by an eight-person Boardof Directors of private citizens that cannot work for the government or serve as members of Congress. While I think the Office of Congressional Ethics is a good idea on paper, for a number of reasons, it just doesn't seem necessary. First and foremost, the OCE refers all appropriate cases to the United States House Committee on Stan- dards of Official Conduct, which essentially does all of the same things as the OCE. So, in effect, there are two separate entities perform- ing the same exact jobs, doubling the cost of ethics oversight to taxpayers. Moreover, the OCE has an absurd amount of discretion when it comes to handling allegations of abuse and misconduct that the official House committee does not. It can initiate investigations based on unsubstanti- ated complaints or news reports and publicize its findings even if a case proves to be fruitless. These privileges alone should be cause for alarm, as it essentially means that I could make up an alle- gation about a representative I don't like, submit it anonymously to the OCE and wait for the reputation- damaging circus that is an eth- ics investigation. Though I'm sure this isn't something that happens every day, the fact remains that this amount of leniency lends itself quite easily to both wasteful investigations and wasted taxpayer dollars. But above all else, my biggest issue with the Office of Congressional Eth- ics is one that can be applied elsewhere in Washington. Investigators need to do a much better job of distinguish- ing a professional ethics violation from a personal one. Nothing irritates me more than seeing a member of the House of Representatives request a hearing because someone from the opposing party cheated on his or her spouse. Suchaction, whilehorrible and worth condemnation, are not grounds for an ethics probe. Professional and private violations are not the same. Now I'm not saying that we should suddenly ignore the fact that a con- gressman or senator cheated on his wife. After all, such an act suggests a disregard for honesty and virtue, both of which are characteristics I think most of us want in a politician. But a clearer line needs to be drawn between what is and is not an ethics violation. It was definitely the right call to launch an investigation into allegations made against Represen- tative Eric Massa (D-N.Y.), since he allegedly used his position to sexually harass and then intimidate his aides. But I think that is completely differ- ent from the huge deal being made about Senator John Ensign (R-Nev.), who cheated on his wife because he apparently had other things on his mind than legislation. Ethical probes should only be launched when an elected official is suspected of either breaking the law or hiding his or her actions. But that doesn't seem to be happening these days. Investigations seem to be start- ing at the drop of a hat in this con- tentious political climate, and that is simply unfair to both the American people and our elected officials. We deserve a government that works tirelessly to fix the problems facing our country. But we are enti- tied to a government that is prudent about which allegations it spends its precious time and money investigat- ing. I suspect there'll be a lot of talk about cleaning up Washington in the coming weeks as Election Day draws nearer and nearer. I just hope that those same people start realizing that some ethical lapses must take priority over others. - Noel Gordon can be reached at noelaug@umich.edu. A project of the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council, Lead- ership in Energy and Environ- mental Design (LEED) provides its certification to buildings that meet its eight standards of envi- ronmental friendliness at the certified, silver, gold or platinum levels. These standards include energy and water use as well as materials used and location. Two University buildings, the Ross School of Business and the Dana Building, are already silver and gold certified, respectively. The new Mott Children's and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital and the law school addition are also expected to meet some level of LEED certification. North Quad, however, is not. The University is right to rec- ognize the importance of envi- ronmental sustainability. The threat of climate change is a pow- erful reminder of the very real impact humans can have on the planet and its resources. An insti- tution of the vision and prestige of this university should know that, in the long-term, sustainability won't be a choice - protecting the environment now is the only way to be able to continue using it later. As Michigan's flagship of higher education, the University should act as a model, setting an ambitious and unparalleled stan- dard for environmental steward- ship. Adopting a policy of LEED certification is an important step toward doing just that. But avague policy for silver cer- tification on "major" construction projects won't make the Univer- sity the leader it needs tobe. Uni- versity policy should clearly and forcefully dictate what consti- tutes a "major" construction proj- ect and have similarly stringent policies for more minor projects. And whatever the language of the policy, administrators should consistently seek to go above and beyond its requirements. If the University is to be an environ- mental leader on the internation- al stage, it must relentlessly strive to out-green its own standards. That's why silver-certification should be the University's base- line, not its final goal. It's true that the University has made an impressive commitment to green building by this recent action. Even before the adoption of its new LEED-silver policy, the Uni- versity plans to exceed national energy use standards by 30 per- cent. But other colleges, like Mid- dlebury College in Vermont, for example, have committed to com- plete carbon neutrality. LEED- silver is a great stepping-stone, but it falls far short of placing the University at the forefront of the environmental sustainability movement - a place an institution with the University's resources should invariably hold. Only setting that kind of inter- national example is acceptable for this institution. And the way to do that is by striving for the top certification on all construc- tion projects, not settling for third-best on most.