4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 18, 2005 OPINION ahj ffidifgmu &zlg JASON Z. PESICK Editor in Chief SUHAEL MOMIN SAM SINGER Editorial Page Editors ALISON Go Managing Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com NOTABLE QUOTABLE 4 4 Those jihadists who survive will leave Iraq experienced in ... acts of urban terrorism." - Central Intelligence Director Porter Goss, testifying to the Senate Intelligence Com- mittee, as reported yesterday.by Fox News. T- a" C- Wjea f ;,4i'i ?ro\jla4r!5 -the. ive "sn elllnenc&. I -I GO -ro W A ~ ' hsae SAM BUTLER TiE sOAPW)Y - e. I he"1A~ I N A Real men cry JEFF CRAVENS JAYHIAWK BLUES a ecently, I have seen more and more people cry- ing. I noticed it last year as I sat in Angell Hall looking at the pictures of the 100 Americans killed in one week of combat. When I saw the ages of these men and women - 18, 19, 21 - tears came to my eyes. I realized that the war was, and is, being fought by our generation. And it's not just the war. Many of us have mourned for the thousands of people killed by the tsunami and the thousands who died in the after- math to curable diseases. For the generation of orphaned children that might have been saved by an advance warning system. For the people suf- fering around the world, whose plights we do not know because they don't have the media appeal of a tsunami. But for every person that cries or sym- pathizes, there are many who cold-heartedly say, "Not me, not my problem." The things that make us cry reveal something essentially human about us. Allen Ginsberg, the renowned beat poet, seemed to agree in this state- ment: "I (weep) when I write something that I know is the truth." During a film last semester, I watched a mother, the victim of social and eco- nomic inequity in this country, be executed: she was screaming in anguish, strapped to a body board, had a black bag forced over her head and was hanged. As soon as I left the film I burst into tears. I am not ashamed to admit it, because I literally had no choice in the matter. What I saw and felt in that film betrayed my deepest sense of humanity, and afterwards I knew I would never be able to support the systematic killing of our fellow citizens by our government, period. By now you may think I'm just a big crybaby; probably you're feeling a little uncomfortable. That reaction is understandable. Somewhere in childhood most of us learned to stop crying, espe- cially us boys, but I am convinced that becoming a man or woman is directly linked to our emotional revival. Dry eyes are just a symptom of the real problem, which is moral numbness and a lack of compassion in this country. Last month I went to the first church service outside of Christmas Eve I'd attended in years. The minister, Kenneth Phifer, suggested that we have enough wisdom and compassion as chil- dren. He read gems from "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten": share your possessions, don't take more than you can use, don't hit people, say you're sorry when you hurt somebody and hold hands. We all know these moral virtues, as do our leaders, but why aren't we acting on them? Jonathan Kozol argues in "The Night Is Dark And I Am Far From Home" that schools contribute to our moral numbness. Children are given watered down, impersonal accounts of the poor and oppressed. Atrocities such as slavery, war and genocide are taught as cold facts, located in a historical context, explained with statistics. Kozol says, "Numbers can explicate - but numbers cannot make us cry." We must show children the hard truths about suffering and show them opportunities to alleviate it. Perhaps a few tears will be shed, but maybe then children would wish to be social workers and not rock stars or athletes when they grow up. But schools and rigid ideas of masculinity are not the only culprits. Here is what I wrote in my journal about a high school friend I saw this summer: "He never before wanted to kill some- one until he met his drill sergeant. Once he got his ass beat by his drill sergeant. He had to hide his emotions and now has a problem showing his emotions or being touched or pointed at. He broke a kid's finger for pointing at him. He worries what he might do if provoked drunk, because he's a deadly weapon now. He already beat up a couple dudes. This is a guy that used to sing with me, who got accused by our friends of being effeminate. He said being in Marines has brought out a different side of him ... He told me he doesn't necessarily believe in the Iraq war, but he believes in support- ing the commander in chief ... He expects to pos- sibly be called to action in December but as we spoke he knocked on wood. I did the same." He got shipped off a month ago. That our government does this to our men and women enrages me. That potential teachers and healers and friends and lovers are being manufac- tured into emotionless killing machines is tragic. And yet, if we're going to fight wars, this condi- tioning is necessary. How else do you convince humans to kill other humans? Whether the government, media, schools or our families are responsible for our emotional numb- ness, we need to begin reversing the process. Only when we feel the injustices and suffering of oth- ers will we be motivated to act. For the real work comes, and I have done far too little, when all the tears have dried up. CORRECTION: In my last column I men- tioned "James" Brown, but the man I intended to reference was "John" Brown - the abolitionist. Cravens can be reached atjjcrave@umich.edu LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Holman wrong to priviledge Horton over the victim To THE DAILY: While I understand Josh Holman's attempt to restore dignity to a talented ath- lete (Think about what this means to Horton, 02/16/2005), I believe his framing of the current status of Horton's situation is biased and vastly disappointing. Holman's theory that Horton's emotional turmoil somehow merits a return to the game invalidates the source of the charges brought against him. In asserting that "regret" could restore Horton to his prior role on the team, Holman endorses the pardoning of high- profile (and highly valuable) public figures at the expense of the victim's own suffering and stress. "His accuser," the acidic name used to refer to the young woman who has apparently been a victim of some form of domestic violence, seems to hold a negligi- ble role in this "nasty episode." As a member of the University community, I am appalled that your comments so inadequately bring new perspective to this situation. Holman's opinion is one that glorifies admission of guilt as noble instead of identifying Horton's actions as unacceptable. Having a leadership role on the University's basketball team is not therapy, it is a privilige. Kelly Bixby LSA junior The Review was unethical in its GEO coverage To THE DAILY: I was walking to my dorm room yesterday when I saw an eye-catching front page of The Michigan Review in the dorm lobby. The front page was a photo of the Rackham Building with the word exposed printed on top of it in bright orange. Wondering what the issue was about, I took the paper and read the article on the third page, "Exposing GEO." I was more shocked that never when I realized that the article named five graduate school instructors and exposed what they had said in private e-mails between top graduate employee organization committees. For a moment, I could not believe that I was reading a publication by a group of Uni- versity students. It looked more like a cheap tabloid, distributed in revenge against the GEO committee for not granting the Review an interview. The Review accused a GSI of breaching confidentiality, but that is not the issue here. Publishing e-mails on a publication that is dis- tributed widely on campus is a blatant viola- tion of privacy. I find that issue of The Review a shame to have in a university like this. Huey Fang Lim LSA sophomore VIEWPOINT The vagina discrepancy BY WHITNEY Dmo This Sunday, the much-anticipated produc- tion of "The Vagina Monologues" returns to the Power Center stage. Thirty of the Univer- sity's finest "Vagina Warriors" will perform Eve Ensler's acclaimed pieces that range in topic from the mystery of the female orgasm to reclaiming the taboo word "cunt." The mono- logues also delve into tougher, more upsetting issues facing women - such as the reality of widespread rape, genital mutilation and oppres- sion. The cast is a diverse group of motivated students committed to achieving Ensler's mis- sion: ending violence against women. The show is just one part of the larger nation- al Vagina Day campaign started from Ensler's monologues. During the month of February, the show will be preformed at over 700 college campuses and promises to raise between $4 and $5 million for women's organizations around the globe. Last year, the University alone raised roughly $20,000 in ticket sales and donations. This is clearly not your average show; it is a movement that has benefited over 1,000 organi- - the abuser women must continually fight against. On the contrary, I believe the show to be deliberately pro-female, a celebration of female sexuality and a condemnation of sexual violence. According the U.S. Department of Jus- tice, one in four American women is sexually abused between the ages of 14 and 25, and 99 percent of the perpetrators are male. Despite that glaring reality, Ensler does an admirable job of creating a balance between the stories of sexual abuse and the stories sexual discovery and lib- eration. No more than six of the 13 monologues in the show can be construed as anti-male. Another similar complaint is that the mono- logues focus so heavily on violence and brutal- ity that the message of female empowerment is lost. Yet this argument misses the point - the show's central purpose is to end violence against women. The show would not have been able to galvanize thousands of women if it were purely demoralizing and hateful. It is the feminist ide- alism radiating from the monologues and the pledge to end violence that has moved people to get involved across the country. One criticism I can sympathize with, and Ensler takes a more Westernized approach to this monologue, representing only those women who feel stifled by the custom. While this objection is valid, it must be under- stood that "The Vagina Monologues" simply cannot be all things to all people. Ensler has cre- ated an immensely successful production and has covered a lot of ground along the way. There are monologues devoted to older women, younger women, married women, lesbian women, women of different race and ethnicity, but inevitably, cer- tain people will be both underrepresented. In addition to raising an enormous amount of moneyffor women's organizations, the V-Day campaign has re-ignited the feminist movement. It has touched the lives of so many people across the country - actors and audience members, men and women, old and young alike. It may be uncomfortable, particularly if you are male sex, to purchase a ticket to "The Vagina Mono- logues." The show is not politically correct, and it is not mild. However, it is extremely important to recognize this show is not about the shock value of the word vagina. Rather, it is a fearless and unabashed attempt to end sexual abuse and :. >: