ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Friday, April 4, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
ADMINISTRATION
A N D W E DA N C E D
Coleman says ‘U’ backs worker safety accords
JAMES COLLER/Daily
University will call on licensees to sign agreement on working conditions
Outrage Dance performs at the upstART festival Thursday at the Power Center.
By MAX RADWIN Daily Staff Reporter
CAMPUS LIFE
SpringFest to include several musical acts MUSIC Matters announces official plans for annual event By MICHAEL SUGERMAN Daily Staff Reporter
The Windy City keeps blowing musical acts into Ann Arbor. First, Chance the Rapper performed in Hill Auditorium March 22. Now, another up-and-
coming Chicagoan rapper will make an appearance for MUSIC Matters’ end-of-year celebration, SpringFest: Vic Mensa. Mensa will open for 2 Chainz, who MUSIC Matters announced last week would headline their capstone concert. Engineering senior Shankara Bharadwaj, MUSIC Matters’ talent and concert chair, said signing Mensa as a SpringFest performer was a reflection of the artist’s increasing popularity –
following a “huge” set at Austin’s 10-day South by Southwest festival, among others. “With 2Chainz, we identified that we wanted someone who was at the peak of his career right now,” Bharadwaj said. “When we were sitting down and talking about opening acts, we wanted to bring in an act that was on the rise in the hip-hop world. And Vic really fits that bill.” LSA senior Gianna Marx, the See SPRINGFEST, Page 3
A day after a handful of protesters convened in the Fleming Administration Building to protest the University’s contracts with apparel suppliers, University President Mary Sue Coleman announced a new set of guidelines designed to ensure worker safety in Bangladesh — a major textile producing country. Coleman stated Tuesday that all University licensees — companies that produce products using the University’s branding — must adhere to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety or present their own guidelines that are of an equivalent rigor. The accord is an agreement between the nation’s trade unions and factory managers designed to improve safety at manufacturing facilities. Over the past several years,
the University’s chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops has been working to increase the awareness of working conditions in Bangladesh’s factories. The student organization has hosted “die-in” protests on the Diag, talks by Bangladeshi and Indonesian sweatshop workers and led a “naked” protest Monday to raise awareness of the conditions of worker unions and garment factories both locally and overseas. In the fall, Coleman referred the issue to the President’s Advisory Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights, which advises the University about its policies regarding the companies that manufacture all items with the University’s emblems. The committee that recommended that “the University of Michigan reiterate to ALL its licensees the importance of honoring its code of conduct including the guarantee of health and safety of workers.” “When (companies) produce their apparel, they don’t really look out for their workers’ rights there at all,” said Public Policy junior Maya Menlo, USAS Worker Rights Consortium
GOVERNMENT
ACADEMICS
Schauer picks Oakland official as running mate County Clerk Lisa Brown advocates for women’s, LBGTQ rights in the state By ALLANA AKHTAR Daily Staff Reporter
With November’s gubernatorial election a few months away, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s Democratic opponent Mark Schauer has officially selected a running mate. Schauer, a former congressman from Battle Creek Mich., chose Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown to join his ticket as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor. Though she had been the speculated choice for several weeks, Schauer held three separate press conferences in Southfield, Flint and Grand Rapids Thursday to officially announce his pick. “Lisa shares my values and priorities for making education our top economic priority, and working to make Michigan’s economy fairer for the middle class,” Schauer wrote in a press release. “Make no mistake, Lisa Brown will make a terrific Lt. Governor.” Brown was elected as the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds this past November. Prior to that, she served as a state representative for Michigan’s 39th district from 2009 to 2012. Brown was born in Detroit
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 48 LO: 23
and attended Andover High School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a J.D. from the Detroit College of Law. State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D–Ann Arbor), who served with Brown during her time in the House, said her affability is an important asset for the campaign. “I’ve seen her smart savvy wit, her dynamic personality– I like her a lot, personally,” Irwin said. Brown is perhaps best known for her June 2012 remarks on the state House floor when she was silenced by the state Republican House leadership for using the word “vagina.” In a speech denouncing legislation that would place additional restrictions on abortion providers, she said, “Mr. Speaker, I’m flattered that you’re all so interested in my vagina, but ‘no’ means ‘no.’” Brown garnered national media attention from the incident and received praise from a host of pro-choice and women’s rights advocates. She was also one of four county clerks who granted marriage licenses to same-sex couples after a federal judge overturned Michigan’s constitutional same-sex marriage ban, despite the threat of a stay on the ruling from Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. State Rep. Adam Zemke (D– Ann Arbor) said, throughout her career, Brown has fought See BROWN, Page 3
Board representative and member of the President’s Advisory Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights. “It’s something that we try to mobilize students around because we don’t want, for instance, a U of M T-shirt being produced in a factory that’s about to collapse. We don’t want blood on our hands. And more than that, we care about the equality of workers in general.” The poor and unsafe working conditions in many of Bangladesh’s factories came to international attention last April when an eight-story facility collapsed and killed more than 1,000 workers. In a release Thursday, Coleman lauded organizers for thoughtful consideration of the issue. “We expect that all licensees provide workers a safe and healthy working environment regardless of what country they are working in to produce goods,” Coleman said. “I am impressed by USAS’s commitment to the wellbeing of the workers in Bangladesh.” The release also noted that the University joins nine other See APPAREL, Page 3
New minor will look at law, justice relationship Sociology-based program provides new options for students JAMES COLLER/Daily
NASA researcher Al Globus discusses possible future of orbital space settlements Thursday at Chesebrough Auditorium. The discussion was part of a speaker series by the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space club.
By BRIE WINNEGA
NASA researcher explores idea of space colonization
Combining interests in law and social justice just got easier. Beginning in Fall 2014, the University’s Department of Sociology will offer students the opportunity to pursue a minor in Law, Justice and Social Change. The new minor will give students a way to explore the relationship between law and society, as well as the ways in which society is affected by the interactions between institutions and social groups. Requirements for the minor include a prerequisite introductory course and the completion of 15 credits from a combination of other available courses. However, those barred from pursuing the Law, Justice and Social Change minor include sociology majors with a subplan in Law, Justice and Social Change, Crime and Justice minors and Community Action and Social Change minors. Sociology Prof. Sandra Levitsky, who teaches two of the minor’s main courses, said she was surprised when multiple students expressed an interest in both her Law and Society and Social Movements courses. “When I first started teaching these courses I expected to see See MINOR, Page 3
Discussion looks at feasability of the futuristic endeavor By AMABEL KAROUB Daily Staff Reporter
Space: the final frontier? Well, that’s what Al Globus, a NSA researcher, thinks, anyway. Globus is a strong advocate of space colonization. At a lecture Thursday night hosted by Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, he told students why living in space is the next step for humanity. At the beginning of the lecture, Globus pulled up space residence designs from the 1970s. The plans looked like they were taken directly from the science-fiction film “Elysium” – fully equipped with
GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
mansions and a peaceful river. Globus said, technology wise, such proposals are not ridiculous, but a matter of cost. “This is the place to live,” Globus said, referring to the renderings. “There’s a baseball field and a golf course!” Globus gave three main reasons why space settlement would be worth the high cost: survival, growth and wealth. In terms of survival, Globus said it is only a matter of time until an asteroid or some other fatal event wipes out humans on Earth. “Someday, something really bad is going to happen to the Earth and we’re all going to die,” Globus said. “Before then, we’d like to have space settlements so that not all of humanity is exterminated.” Discussing the possibility for growth, Globus referenced how the land on Earth is virtually all owned by someone, but
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Social Disorder: Organizing for student change MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS
INDEX
the area available for orbital settlements is practically limitless. “Somewhere between 100 and 1,000 times the surface area of the Earth — that’s how much living area you’d get,” Globus said. “The solar system could easily support trillions of people this way.” As for power and wealth, Globus said there were great possibilities to generate energy and materials. In space, solar energy is equal to 625 million times the amount available on Earth. Thousands of small asteroids in our solar system, contain materials worth tens of millions of dollars each, Globus said. Having articulated the reasons space colonization should be a priority, Globus proposed funding opportunities that would also advance technology, tourism, solar power and See SPACE, Page 3
Vol. CXXIV, No. 95 ©2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
Daily Staff Reporter
NEWS............................ 2 SUDOKU........................ 2 OPINION.......................4
ARTS............................. 5 CL ASSIFIEDS.................6 SPORTS.........................6