Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

"New campaign to combat sweatshops"

Posted by Ari Paul on 5. February 2006

The Students for Labor and Economic Equality are off again to keep University apparel from being made by sweatshop labor.

The Michigan Daily has the story:

The campaign submitted to the University last fall a proposal to require brands to only use factories that meet the requirements of the Designated Suppliers Program – a program under the watchdog group United Students Against Sweatshops, which maintains a list of factories with good labor practices.

The proposal is still under consideration, said RC sophomore Adri Miller, a SOLE member.

Members of the Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights could not be reached for comment.

According to the USAS website, the factories that meet the requirements of the Designated Suppliers Program have been “determined by universities to have affirmatively demonstrated full and consistent respect for the rights of their employees.” Two other main stipulations regard rights of association and livable wages.

This is not the first time SOLE has campaigned on Michigan apparel.

In March 2001, the University implemented a supplier code of conduct that required all factories producing licensed University attire to enforce a set of labor standards, including a limit on work hours and fair pay.

Comment [5]

Muhammad cartoon controversy

Posted by David Boyle on 4. February 2006

Partially inspired by my seeing “Syriana” (good movie, but has basically nothing to do with Syria) tonight and thinking about the Mideast: today’s Guardian, “Cartoons and their context”, notes,

”...The right to freedom of speech which allows newspapers to publish such provocative cartoons has been hard won, is inextricably essential to liberty, must be robustly defended….

But that is not the end of the matter. There are limits and boundaries – of taste, law, convention, principle or judgment. ...In any case, the right to publish does not imply any obligation to do so. ...It would not be appropriate, for instance, to publish an anti-semitic cartoon of the sort that was commonplace in Nazi Germany. Nor would we publish one which depicted black people in the way a Victorian caricature might have done. Every newspaper in the country regularly carries stories about child pornography, yet none has yet reproduced examples of such pornography as part of their coverage.

...Context matters very much in the case of the cartoons of Muhammad too. It is one thing to assert the right to publish an image of the prophet. ...But it is another thing to put that right to the test, especially when to do so inevitably causes offence to many Muslims and, even more so, when there is currently such a powerful need to craft a more inclusive public culture which can embrace them and their faith. ...There has to be a very good reason for giving gratuitous offence of this kind. ...What is the message that is being sent…by insisting on publishing such images? ...”

In any case, we can (I hope) agree that a free press is good, but a free press with some taste and dignity is even better.

Comment [179]

Super Bowl Super City Weekend

Posted by Juliew on 3. February 2006

Yes, sports fans, it is Super Bowl Weekend in Ann Arbor. The Super Bowl is this Sunday in Detroit and Ann Arbor has been designated one of eight Super Cities.

You may have noticed the fiberglass football Pigskins on Parade downtown. These will remain on the streets (under 24-hour police surveillance) through June, when they will be auctioned off to benefit the Ann Arbor Community Foundation. There is also a whole roster of events ostensibly related to Super Bowl XL.

So don’t miss Sciencepalooza at the Hands-On Museum, a Madden Bowl tournament at the Ann Arbor District Library, the Chinese New Year’s Lion Dance on Main Street, tours of Michigan Stadium, or a ride on the Responsible Driving Bus for your “Blues Cruise” tour of downtown bars and enjoy this Super weekend.

Comment [6]

Happy Black History Month!

Posted by David Boyle on 3. February 2006

MSN.com has up a series of great photos of famous African Americans, from Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King to Tupac Shakur, to commemorate Black History Month.

Black students file discrimination complaint vs. UM

Posted by David Boyle on 3. February 2006

See in today’s Free Press, “Group files discrimination complaint against University of Michigan: Students say African-Americans don’t get fair treatment”,

“A group of black students at the University of Michigan has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights claiming that African-American students are recruited to graduate and undergraduate programs at the university to inflate enrollment numbers but are not given enough academic counseling or financial support to allow them to graduate.

Black graduate students are abused and demoralized, told they are not PhD material and advised that their best option is to leave after completing master’s level requirements, the 13 students, known as the Coalition for Action Against Racism and Discrimination say in the complaint.

...U-M spokeswoman Julie Peterson said officials had not yet seen the complaint. She declined to comment on the students’ individual situations, siting [sic] privacy laws.

University President Mary Sue Coleman sent three of the students letters on Jan. 17 saying she was working with other officials to resolve their concerns, Peterson said. ...”

Comment [2]

Daily on Alex Moffett; Coretta sidelined; dirty classified; parasites

Posted by David Boyle on 2. February 2006

Was not going to write for while about Daily; but updating some old stuff: following my previous post “Student complaints about Daily at 12/15 Regents’ meeting” which mentioned Alex Moffett, I note that the Daily, in Monday’s “Amid controversy, NAACP VP resigns: Prompted by state NAACP chapter, divisive vice president Alex Moffett steps down”, calls Moffett “divisive” with little reason, perhaps—as she herself notes at her Xanga website,

”...but in light of recent events i’ve realized that certain powers that be at the university of michigan (namely the michigan daily) have devoided me of every inch of privacy i had left. my personal phone number has been recklessly abused by the majority of their staff. countless requests to please stop calling have been ignored. between the calls on my personal phone, the emails, intrusion onto my facebook page… and finally… quoting my XANGA on the front page of the michigan daily. i have had enough…”

The Daily has actually done some good work recently, e.g., their editorial condemning Michigamua’s racist ethos. Still, their Moffett article (I hope it was not at all in reprisal for her condemning the Daily at a UM Regents’ meeting) makes me wonder. ...Also, today they put the Coretta Scott King obituary on page 2, not the front page, and consigned her name to the smaller print, “Martin Luther King’s wife passes away at 78: Coretta Scott King became a civil rights leader after her husband’s death”. (Shouldn’t she have been front-paged???)
(Re respect for women, let me also toss in an item from today’s Daily classifieds,

“NEED MONEY FOR spring break? Attractive females wanted for nude and semi nude [sic] modeling. Great pay, flexible hours. 734-[ ]-[ ].”
I wonder how many women have been drugged/raped/killed over the years after answering ads for nudie stuff. A slutty and dangerous monstrosity, certain ads are.)

Well, I hope Donn “Gripped as if by the pangs of some insatiable parasitic beast” (from the 1/27 Daily’s Jeopardy, uh, “Silly Senior Salute Something” issue) Fresard is looking around for a worthy female and/or minority successor.

God bless you Coretta. We need you more than ever.

Comment [73]

Ann Arbor schools under lockdown: All Clear

Posted by Murph on 1. February 2006

Rumors abounded earlier this afternoon about lockdowns at a number of Ann Arbor schools. The District’s webpage notes that the “police situation” in the area was controlled, and the situation declared safe at 3:10pm. All is okay.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Due to a police emergency near Haisley school, many of the surrounding elementary and middle schools in the area were in lock down this afternoon including Haisley, Abbot, Wines, Forsythe, Slauson, and Ann Arbor Open at Mack.

When the emergency situation was under control, at approximately at 3:10 p.m., the police gave the all clear to release students.

Your student may have arrived home late today due to this emergency. The safety of our students is our number one priority. At no time was student safety compromised.

Letters will be sent home with students on Thursday.

Thank you,
AAPS

Comment [15]

Do Not Call Registry now for cell phones! Spoof.

Posted by MarkDilley on 1. February 2006

JUST A REMINDER…. Starting February 1, 2006, all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS….

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222 or go to http://www.donotcall.gov/. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years.

P.S. I got caught… this is a spoof… see: http://www.timesnews.net/article.dna?_StoryID=3595651

Comment [3]

Coretta Scott King dies at 78

Posted by David Boyle on 31. January 2006

See, e.g., CNN, “Coretta Scott King dies: Widow of civil rights leader called ‘matriarch of the movement’”,

“Coretta Scott King, the widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., died Monday night in Baja California, Mexico…

...Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue has ordered flags at all state buildings to be flown at half-staff until Mrs. King’s funeral. He also has offered to have her body lie in state at the capitol building rotunda….

...She spoke out ‘on behalf of racial and economic justice, women’s and children’s rights, gay and lesbian dignity, religious freedom, the needs of the poor and homeless, full employment, health care, educational opportunities, nuclear disarmament and ecological sanity,’ according to her biography.

...’I believe what Coretta Scott King would want us to do is continue this march toward progress when it comes to disability rights, women’s rights, civil rights—and not retreat from it,’ said Sen. Ted Kennedy….

‘She wore her grief with dignity,” said the Rev. Joseph Lowery, former president of the SCLC, who worked on civil rights with Dr. King in the 1950’s. “She moved quietly but forcefully into the fray. She stood for peace in the midst of turmoil.’”

I’m not going to bother to say anything about the symbolism of her death happening during the confirmation of Samuel Alito.

RIP CSK.

Comment [8]

Dance for the Earth, benefit concert

Posted by MarkDilley on 31. January 2006

What?:
Dance for the Earth
An Earth Day benefit concert and costume party for the Ecology Center’s Mary Beth Doyle Environmental Health Fund

When?:
Friday, April 21, 2006 (8-11p.m.)

Where?:
Downtown Home & Garden
210 S. Ashley, Ann Arbor

More Info…
Join us for live music, dancing, costumes, refreshments, door prizes, and more! Tickets are $25 plus cash bar. All proceeds benefit the Ecology Center’s Mary Beth Doyle Environmental Health Fund.

The Ecology Center is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization that works for safe and healthy communities where people live, work, and play.

The Mary Beth Doyle Environmental Health Fund is named after the Ecology Center’s Environmental Health Campaign Director of 12 years who was tragically killed in a car accident in November 2004. Mary Beth was a tireless advocate for the environmental movement and lived her life with courage, hope, and a gloriously infectious joy. The Fund will be used to support Ecology Center campaigns that are exceptionally important and urgent but could otherwise not be funded, focusing on environmental health issues that were important to Mary Beth, such as working for clean air, safe consumer products, and women’s and children’s health.

To learn more or purchase tickets, contact Stephanie Feldstein at (734) 761-3186 ext. 110 or stephanie@ecocenter.org

Keep reading: next previous