4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 4, 2006
OPINION
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DoNN M. FRESARD
Editor in Chief
EMILY BEAM
CHRISTOPHER ZBROZEK
Editorial Page Editors
ASHLEY DINGES
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
I can't raise
them to be gay any
more than I can raise
them to be tall."
- Actress Rosie O'Donnell, responding to
questions about her HBO documentary, 'All
Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise," which fol-
lows gay families on a Caribbean cruise, as
reported yesterday by The New York Times.
COLIN DALY TtE MiCHIGAXN LDRaY
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All
other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their author.
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What I've learned
DAVID BETTS 2ONTIF(A-TIONS
el
College is sup-
posed to be the
greatest time of
our lives. Students are
supposed to have more
fun than they've ever
had before, more fun
than they'll ever have
again. We are supposed
to learn more than we
ever have before, be
exposed to things we've never fathomed. Col-
lege may be the closest thing American society
has to a rite of passage into adulthood.
Scoop Jackson is one of my heroes in life. For
the one-year anniversary of his being a writer
for ESPN.com, Scoop talked about the things
he had learned in his year of service. Join me
as I essentially steal his format for that column
while sharing some of the things I have learned
during my four years.
I have learned that life is a perpetual testos-
terone contest. I realize estrogen is the major
hormonal influence in women, but women still
have to compete with and deal with men in the
workplace. Thus, women have to participate in
the testosterone contest that we men go through
on a frighteningly regular basis.
I have learned that diversity is the key to
enjoying pizza on a regular basis. I eat way
too much pizza - several times a week
when money is right. Thus I have realized
that humans cannot survive on Pizza House
alone. We must also consume Cottage Inn, In
and Out, Bells, Mr. Pizza, NYPD and Hello
Faz's.
I've learned that people get really, really
angry with Daily writers for reasons too
numerous to discuss. Many times the anger
is justified. Other times the anger is so irra-
tional, so off-the-charts venomous that I have
to wonder if it comes from the type of people
who will one day commit hate crimes. You've
never seen most of the really irrational com-
ments; they usually come directly to writers'
inboxes.
I have learned that many of my classes may
be really useful, even the ones I've failed. Now,
I am a liberal arts major who avoids math and
hard sciences like the plague. Instead, I have
tried to take classes based on how cool I think
they are. I also hang out with people who, for the
most part, are completely comfortable discuss-
ing social issues that are related to the classes
we are taking. But for some reason I feel like
a lot of the classes I have taken over the years
are applicable to life outside of the extent of my
social sphere on this campus.
I have learned that moving back home after
college may not be the end of the world. I kinda
have to accept this, as after graduation I am
moving back home.
I have learned that I love walkability. Living
on Central Campus for the last four years, I have
realized that I love being able to take a quiet
stroll through downtown Ann Arbor.
I have learned that North Campus is where
walkable Ann Arbor goes to die. It's the begin-
ning of where Washtenaw County thinks it's still
rural and tries to hide its development behind
pine trees and manufactured wetlands. No one
should believe in the rural nature of Ann Arbor
anymore - especially while driving at least 45
miles per hour down a four-lane road toward a
freeway.
I have learned that having a hold on your stu-
dent account is stressful.
I have learned that very few people under-
stand how racism manifests itself in modern
society. There are very few people who will just
come out and blurt a racial slur.
I have learned that editing a movie is real-
ly, really time-consuming. I have a newfound
respect for film students.
I have learned that Ralph Williams is more
of an entertainer than a lecturer. He still con-
veys pertinent information, but he does so in a
style so charismatic that he deserves to teach in
an ornately designed, gold-paneled auditorium
- not just in the Natural Science building.
I have learned that being in a student group
in college is a bit like spring training in base-
ball. The games count and people play hard,
but really it is just an opportunity to work on
various skills and iron out how to handle situ-
ations.
I have learned that Seasonal Affective Disor-
der is real. One would think that I, having lived
in Michigan my entire life, would be used to
the crazy weather and the perpetual gray skies.
But most of grade school is spent indoors with
little concept of how much the sun is showing.
Now that I have to go outside to get from class
to class, the weather is really getting to me.
I have learned that being a residential advi-
sor is difficult - even in a relatively small resi-
dence hall.
I have learned that this page is pretty power-
ful. I think that it may have more influence than
the Michigan Student Assembly does in regard
to showcasing student opinions.
M
0
Betts can be reached at
djmbetts@umich.edu.
VIEWPOINT
Why you should care about Darfur
BY COLIN DALY
Since 2003, the Sudanese government has
been waging a campaign of genocide against
targeted African communities in Darfur. Bru-
tal murders and rapes continue as government-
backed militias attack refugee camps. Disease
and malnourishment are rampant in the camps.
More than 2 million people have been dis-
placed, and 400,000 people have died.
The United States acknowledged that geno-
cide is taking place in Darfur in Sept. 2004
but has yet to take the action necessary to stop
the violence. The African Union is failing to
keep the peace with its limited number of
poorly trained and poorly armed troops. The
United Nations continues to talk about sup-
porting AU troops with its own forces without
taking action. Meanwhile, 500 people contin-
ue to die every day.
I want to share why I think it is important
to take action on this genocide and on all
injustices and hatred in the world.
We need people to fight injustice because
it is those people who have been changing
the world for the better throughout history.
There's always an alarmist notion that soci-
ety is going downhill, but the opposite is true.
Think of how far our own country has come
since our own genocide and the enslavement
of our brothers and sisters. Our progress is the
direct result of the hard work of millions of
dedicated people who refused to give up.
We need people who triumph over hatred
with love. We need individuals with a passion
within them that drives them to keep fight-
ing, even though the world may never see a
day when hatred doesn't exist. It drives them
to keep going when they fail over and over
again, when change seems impossible, when
the world calls for their crucifixion.
We can all be one of these people. It
requires a conscious decision to strive to love
others and ourselves. It requires a commit-
ment to continue fighting hatred with love any
way that we can until our death. It takes prac-
tice, patience, persistence and sacrifice. There
will always be the temptation to give up. It is
never easy, but it is always worth it.
April 6 will mark the 12th anniversary of
the Rwandan genocide. More than 900,000
people were slaughtered as most of the world
looked on and did nothing. The world needed
people to step up - but few did.
Genocide is happening again, but you can
step up. From April 3 to 7, the University's
chapter of the national group Students Taking
Action Now: Darfur will be hosting a nation-
al week of action on campus. We will be edu-
cating ourselves and our community about
what is happening in Darfur, demanding that
our leaders stop the genocide now and rais-
ing money to send to humanitarian agencies.
I hope you will join the fight. For more infor-
mation, e-mail darfuraction@umich.edu.
Daly is a Rackham student.
He is a cartoonist for the Daily and a member
of the University's chapter of STAND.
0
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Send all letters to the editor to
tothedaily@rmichigandaily. com.
Daily coverage of DP Day
misleading on many levels
TO THE DAILY:
We are writing on behalf of The Detroit
Project planning team in regards to yester-
day's article, Detroit Project sweeps away urban
blight (04/03/2006). We are wholeheartedly
disappointed with the way in which our orga-
nization, its mission and the communities in
which we work were misrepresented, and we
would like to clarify any misconceptions.
The goal of The Detroit Project is to connect
the community in Ann Arbor with the greater
Detroit communities. We do this through a
wide variety of programs, including more than
35 weekly projects with more than 25 different
Detroit-based partner organizations. We do this
through on-campus educational activities. We
end our year with DP Day, the largest-scale ser-
vice-learning event on campus. DP Day is not a
day to "sweep away urban blight." DP Day is the
culmination of an entire year's worth of dedi-
cation to strengthening connections between
cities with the overarching goal of strengthen-
misrepresented the attitudes and intelligence
of those quoted, as well as the sentiments of
all DP Day participants.
In the future, we hope that the Daily's cov-
erage of our programs will more accurately
reflect the goals of The Detroit Project and the
partner organizations with which we work.
Paul Teske
Rachel Pultusker
The letter writers are LSA seniors and are the
external director and youth programs director
of The Detroit Project, respectively.
Columnist looks beyond
the one-sided issues
TO THE DAILY:
Over the past four years, I have regularly read
the opinions of the Daily's editorial board and
its columnists. Some I have agreed with, oth-
ers I have not. Regardless of how I felt about
them, I was interested in what ideas were float-
ing around campus. Typically, however, the col-
umns have been heavy with left-wing ideologies
nr ove.fat s -a ..h -o-nn sn nh n~-- .
thank him for going beyond trite, partisan rhet-
oric and one-sided rants in his columns. I also
hope that future columnists see his work as an
example of intelligent dialogue.
Scott Rudolf
Engineering senior
Daily is to blame for the
flag on the moon rumor
TO THE DAILY:
Is the Daily right? Is there no Michigan
flag on the moon, as it claims in Debunking the
moon myth (03/29/2006)? Maybe, but it is also
responsible for spreading the story about the
flag. Most recently in an article titled The right
stuff (02/14/2006) the Daily states the Michi-
gan flag was famously planted by the Apollo 15
crew. Again, in University Alumni Association
courts larger classes, (10/22/1998) it is mentioned
that there is a Michigan flag on the moon. The
Daily follows this article with another article in
the Friday Focus section (11/20/1998) that says
the rumor about the Michigan flag on the moon
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Editorial Board Members: Amy Anspach, Andrew Bielak, Kevin Bunkley, Gabrielle D'Angelo,
Whitney Dibo, Milly Dick, Sara Eber, Jesse Forester, Mara Gay, Jared Goldberg, Mark Kuehn,
Frank Manley, Kirsty McNamara, Suhael Momin, Rajiv Prabhakar, Katherine Seid, Gavin
Stern. Ben Taylor. lessica Tend, Rachel Wagner, Jason Yost.