4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 20, 2001 OP/ED I aloe irbiman 3iaug 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 daily. letters@umich.edu EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 GEOFFREY GAGNON Editor in Chief MICHAEL GRASS NICHOLAS WOOMER Editorial Page Editors NOTABLE QUOTABLE The government of Tonga has lost $26 million. Now, that is nothing to the U.S. government, which can waste $26 million in a single day merely by launching a drive to eliminate government waste." Syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry in his Sunday column, "Another U.S. ally is rocked by a scandal." A L// \,-.~NE~j Nckr ?+perC'" l- Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. _- "...- f c...zATh* Nth W C A-p~'4 .4 W. t x x i i.+'S' 1 i . '4 U + U I Growing old (these are the lessons of today) DUSTIN J. SEIBERT T MANFESTO his past summer, I had the "privilege" of working with a construction company as a general laborer, assigned to all the dirty work that goes into building condomini- ums. Many of my dear read- ers would probably much sooner inhabit these condos than go anywhere near the god-awful shit that I had to endure in order to help build them. For those of you who undoubt- edly wonder how anyone could tolerate such means of employment, let me tell you... with 11-hour shifts spent primarily in searing 90- degree heat, it was the hardest, most enduring job that I ever had, but it also succeeded in being the most character building. Being enveloped in the raw blue-collar ele- ment for four months shone lights on so many important things that I once took for granted. Most of these men know of little more than how to use their hands to make money, and working 70-hour weeks is second nature to them. Many of them will never see a college lecture hall, some have jail or prison records and many of them lead rather unsa- vory lifestyles. However, these gentlemen man- aged to provide me with a savvy. that I wouldn't really be able to acquire with the "soft" collegiate life. Hearing them wax poetic with a street smart edge is highly different, and oftentimes more use- ful, than a professor boring you out of your senses for an hour-and-a-half regurgitating from a text that you used your whole damn life savings to pur- chase. They also strengthened a resolve that I got at 15 when I began my work life: Never condemn a person because of their job; if it is putting food in your mouth and a roof over your head, then play on, playa. Also, for those who frown on dead-end, lousy shit jobs, understand that someone has to do it. College life would be much different if no one was willing to clean your community dorm bath- rooms or cook and serve your food for a biweekly paycheck. You see, all of these experiences and realiza- tions help shape the person that I am, and the per- son that I am to become. I'm growing old, but I am not yet grown. My 20 years on this planet have yielded an understanding of things that are perhaps ahead of my time, but I would be playing myself if I denied that I have so much more to learn. I am sure that much of my undergraduate audience assumes that they are grown because they are over 18 and off to college to live on their own. Legally speaking, age 18 equals adult status in our country, but reaching that age in no way equates being a grown-up; being able to stand on your own two feet signifies the end of childhood, and only then are you truly an adult. Imagine if your folks took everything from you ... tuition, allowance, credit cards, vehicle ... imagine if they were to just kick you the hell out of the house altogether. Would you fold or would you be able to maintain yourself on your own? Most of the people close to my age that I worked with at the job are truly independent; they may not have what we have, but they work damn hard for everything that they do have and no one dictates what they do with their time or money. Sure enough, I caught monumental amounts of hell as the token "college boy," but they made me think long and hard about where I do and do not want to be when I reach certain periods in my life. I do have a healthy fear of the future; as I draw closer to my senior year at college, I can't help but to sweat the idea that this "good life" thing is almost over. I hate bills, I can't cook, full-time jobs are like kryptonite, and the walls are closing in fast on the days in which I don't have to sub- merge myself into these things. The most gratify- ing aspect of my situation is the fact that I am gradually working my way out of the depths of childhood into my independence, as opposed to being dropped face first without a safety harness into the real world like some people. I do most things on my own these days, but I ain't too proud to admit that my folks remain my safety net, at least for the time being, anyway.... So what constitutes growing old? Growing old is about understanding your pri- orities, and realizing that oftentimes the little things in life matter more than the big things. Growing old is recognizing that there are two sides to every story. Growing old is knowing that the measure of a mian is not determined by the strength of his punches, but by the strength of his wit to dis- solve a situation sans violence. Growing old is realizing that there are always two sides to every story. Growing old is realizing that the menial bullshit that we concerned ourselves with in high school actually has little weight in the real world. Growing old is knowing when to accept cer- tain people into your life, and when to distance yourself from others. Growing old is realizing that, when all is said and done, no one can tell you what to think or believe. Growing old is accepting nothing at face value. Growing old is the constant expunging of naivete. Growing old is when the world begins to make a lot more sense, only for you to realize that it really makes no sense at all. Growing old is a lifelong process that doesn't stop at adulthood or parenthood ... hell, it won't stop until you are dead. If I ever find myself in a moment of lamenting reevalua- tion shortly before death, I would wish to con- elude that the growing I did in the time that I spent here was relevant to myself and others ... if not, then what was the point? Knowledge. Lost causes and lost partners PETER CUNNIFFE ONE FOR THE ROAD here was a time when I was known as the liberal one. In high school I was even voted "class liberal" in our mock elections, having to settle for that over the more coveted "most likely to succeed" and "best body" titles. Then there was a time I somehow became known as the conservative one amongst a group of college colleagues, my support of gun control, affirmative action, unions, abortion rights, nationalized health care, assisted suicide and environmentalism notwithstanding. Where did I go wrong? I think it was when I said I supported free trade and refused to condemn consumerism. There was even a little row over genetically modi- fied foods. But that was mere quibbling we could all laugh about before the subject of foreign policy suddenly came up. Then, bombs started to fall on Afghanistan and the sky started to fall on my more leftist compatriots. They said we shouldn't fight because it would only create more bin Ladens. They started complaining about how we were just paying the price for not appreciating other cultures enough. They said millions of Afghanis would starve because of what we're doing. And they pointed to civilian casualties as evidence our actions were wrong. Of course, if our war really does create more bin Ladens, they'll be bin Ladens without the money, organization, celebrity status, fundraising ability and Afghan government protection. We may not understand their cultures, but arguing we should turn the other cheek shows a remarkable lack of understanding of our own. It turns out that vastly more food is going into Afghanistan now than in any period before Sept. 11. And if some- one's really worried about bombs hitting innocent people, they should dedicate themselves to design- ing more accurate bombs. You'll save a lot more lives doing that than protesting. It's also ironic to be told this is our fault for not understanding other countries by people whose day job is advocating cutting our economic links with them. War isn't always bad and peace isn't always good. Reflexively adopting an anti-war stance is a rather conservative view of liberalism and an unre- alistic one. Opposing a certain war for good rea- sons is admirable. Being anti-war generally is politically and morally illogical, not to mention dangerous, in our violence-plagued world. It's too bad some think that's a conservative view. Campus "liberals" used to be at the van- guard of social justice. But after listening to them tell us we can accept terrorism and that bombing a demonstrably insane totalitarian regime makes us cold blooded murderers, what can they say they stand for except calling Americans nasty names? What's going on at the extreme left is almost as bad as what's happening on the right. One side defends the killers of Americans, while the other casually dispenses with the principles that have defined Americans. George W. Bush managed to move to the right of modern-day Torquemada, Rep. Bob Barr by setting up military tribunals because the U.S. jus- tice system wouldn't execute foreigners efficiently enough for his taste. John Ashcroft decided to end attorney client privilege for whomever he decides falls into his very broad definition of a terrorist suspect. And Bush then buried Reagan administra- tion records that would likely make some in his administration look bad; and maybe even look like war criminals. C'mon Nader. Shrug and tell me there's no difference who wins now. The reason I'm so annoyed with far left types is that things could be going much more to their liking, and mine, if they were realistic. If they had voted rationally last year, Bush wouldn't be classi- fying trade protesters as terrorists and I doubt Gore would've managed to out-conservative Bob Barr. We now have a real injustice being perpetrated against terrorists and everyone else in the civil lib- erties that we seem to be losing by the hour. Those on the far left could have played a constructive role in the fight for our liberties, which, unlike the fight to save the Taliban, is winnable. But I fear they may have blown their credibility with the public at-large thanks to their shifting and continu- ously misinformed defense of those who hate us. As it becomes ever more clear that those on the far left are unwilling to work with others to get outcomes closer, if not all the way, to their goals and are enamored of loony foreign policy posi- tions, they are only marginalizing themselves. I won't be so condescending as to say, "grow up already," but they need to realize where they are placing themselves and that they are only making other things they care about worse and harder to change when they spend time banging their heads on lost and pointless causes. The way things are going, we may be looking at 21st Century Alien and Sedition Acts before long. It would have been nice to have my more leftist friends as credible partners in fighting them instead of having to rely on Bob Barr. Peter Cunniffe can be reached via e-mail atpcunni#@umich.edu: 41 Y IN PASSING AIRPORT SECURITY: ANOTHER REASON NOT TO FLY For those of you planning to travel the friendly skies over Thanksgiving, I suggest you show up two hours early and leave your rights at home. While the events of Sept. 11 have been described as an attack on freedom, this clich6 could be as aptly applied to our response. In the name of defending our country from future terrorist attacks, we have allowed the government to impose Draconian restric- tions on air travel that do much more harm than good. We want to say that we're doing something - that we've taken steps to ensure that this cannot happen again. But there is no reason to believe that the increased security already implemented in every American airport even curbs the instances of hijacked planes. Terror- ists as motivated as these are bound to find a weakness in any system we can devise - espe- cially considering that most of the terrorists at the airports that day were not on the planes. Rather than put an end to the threat of ter- rorist hijackings, the new security measures have only succeeded in making travelers uncomfortable and crippling the airline indus- try. Americans can not accept public searches, confiscations of their belongings, and other authoritarian security procedures for long. Every time a citizen is forced to watch security guards pick through his or her private belong- ings or suffer an invading pat-down, the level of discomfort with flying increases. Beyond the fate of the airline industry, our modern, global economy relies on swift air travel to continue trade. With fewer people willing to fly, is it any wonder that the national economy has taken a hit? Rather than suffer through autocratic levels of security, we must accept a certain level of danger to be involved with flying. Despite the fact that driving is still statistically much more dangerous than flying, until airport security relaxes again, I am more than willing to take that risk and preserve my dignity as a citizen of a free state. - Seth Fisher In Passing views are those of individual members of the Daily's editorial board and do not necessarily represent the views of The Michigan Daily. V LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ROTC offers 'most intense leadership course' at University To THE DAILY: Obviously, Eric Moberg is a bit confused about the activities of the Reserve Officer Training Corps programs here on campus ("ROTC promotes conformity, damages integrity of 'U,"' 11/16/01). Please allow me to explain it to him. Moberg also mistakenly argues that besides money, ROTC offers nothing that cannot be found elsewhere on campus. ROTC is the most intense leadership devel- opment course this university has to offer. The average ROTC cadet will spend a mandatory four to fifteen hours a week in either class or physical training, depending on what year and that does not include study or preparation time. Need I remind Moberg that ROTC does not count for degree credit in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Not onlv do we rock climb and renel but long hours. They deserve the best leaders in the nation. These leaders definitely should be of the caliber and stature of the University. MATTHEW HORNING Engineering junior LETTERS POLICY The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all of its readers. Letters from University students, faculty, staff and administrators will be given priority over others. Letters must include the writer's name, phone number and school year or I niversirv affiliation. The Daily will not orint I