. . w '" . . 4 4A - Thursday, March 19, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. "x Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tathedaily@umich.edu GARY GRACA ROBERT SOAVE COURTNEY RATKOWIAK EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position oftthe Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views ofttheir authors. .rM THE DAILY On-the-go blue City proposal gives opportunity for better transportation What has two wheels, four tires and chugs along a track? The answer is Ann Arbor's proposed Transportation Master Plan Update, which was approved Tuesday night by the City Planning Commission. The plan features myriad improvements to city transportation options that focus on conve- nient, environmentally friendly alternatives to owning a car. Better mass transit options are essential for maintaining the city's walk- ability, protecting the environment and maintaining socioeconomic diversity. City Council should uphold these ideals by swiftly passing the Master Plan. I'm sure if you went downtown and polled ten people, nine would have no idea." - Stacy Robertson, a business owner in Wilton, Conn., commenting on the fact that few people in Wilton knew that AIG had an office there, as reported yesterday by the Los Angeles Times. Abusing the system n his column one week ago, my so affordability was a non-issue to us. care provider the federal government fellow Daily columnist Mat- But free-of-charge care is what led my will use for veterans, and the system is thew Green said healthcare is an family to abuse the emergency room frequently lauded for its excellent care "inherent human and use it for headaches. Predictably, and ability to negotiate lower pre- right' (A sick U.S. my family stopped this practice when scription drug prices for its patients. healthcare sys- our insurance began to charge us for tem, 03/09/09). I the emergency room. thought his ]an- As I look at the national discussion guage was intense, to provide affordable health care for The downside of but nonetheless, all, I worry that the same abuse could his opinion is not occur. If there is no disincentive from free health care unique. The elec- going to the emergency room for rou- tion of President tine care, then why not use it? It was in the U.S. BarackO bama, PATRICK only afterthe emergencyroomwasn't who promised to ZABAWA so affordable that my family stopped provide afford- abusing it. Emergency rooms are able health care already overcrowded, and some are But one of the reasons the system access to all barely able to handle the patients that is so successful at negotiating lower Americans, shows many Americans come in, so bringing in patients with drug prices is because it purchases believe health care should be a right. non-life-threatening ailments will older drugs instead of newer ones. A This belief is partially based on the only prevent fast treatment for those 2005 report by Columbia University many horror stories told through- who more desperately need care. ' professor Frank Lichtenberg found out the country about people unable Providing affordable health care thatheVHA administers older drugs to cover their medical expenses or" for everyone allows everyone to then to its patients much more frequently afford treatments even when they abuse their affordable health care. than the rest of the medical indus- have health insurance. A 2005 Har- But it may also allow the healthcare try, which results in worse patient vard University study of over 1,700 providers to abuse their patients. care. According to Lichtenberg, this bankruptcies showed that medical Just last month, I went on an Alter- practice has resulted in a decrease problems caused half of them, even native Spring Break trip to Baltimore, in average patient life expectancy though three-quarters of those bank- Maryland. One of the sites at which of two months since 1997. The VHA, rupt people had health insurance. I worked was Gallagher Services, a the only choice the veterans have for I myself was always lucky to have home for the mentally handicapped. their healthcare, is abusingthem. excellent health insurance. A visit to Gallagher Services is an aspect of As Green and others around the the doctor only costs me five or ten Catholic Charities that started in the country begin to think of health care dollars in copay charges, and I was 1980's because of the abuse the state- as a right, it's important to note that free to visit the healthcare providers run institutions performed on their this right can be easily abused and of my choice. When I was young, my patients. Because the patients were can cause abuse itself. In any health- family's insurance completely cov- living in cells in the institutions, Gal- care system, both disincentives from ered almost all medical expenses. lagher was designed to give the men- patient abuse and choice are essen- This even included emergency room tally handicapped a home, education tial. For my own family, the way to visits, so my family abused this privi- and meaningful work so that they prevent us from abusing the emer- lege. Anything from acough to anear- could be respected as people instead gency room was simply to charge ache resulted in a short drive to the of simply patients. us for its use. To prevent systems emergency room where we received The mentally handicapped in from abusing their patients, patients immediate treatment at a time of Maryland are lucky that an alterna- need the ability to choose their own our choosing instead of making an tive to their state-run institutions healthcare provider so that they can appointment and working around our opened. Others are not so lucky and move to another if their current pro- family doctor's schedule. We did this are trapped within the system given to vider isn't providing - because in the so often that to my young mind, a trip them. This is the case with the Veter- end, the system itself should not be a to the doctor was synonymous with a ans Health Administration, the divi- patient's cause of death. trip to the emergency room. sion of the federal government that is My family's health insurance is dedicated to caring for the health of - Patrick Zabawa can be reached provided by my parents' employers, military veterans. It is the sole health at pzabawa@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be less than 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. Letters are edited for style, length, clarity and accuracy. All submissions become property of the Daily. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tohedaily@umich.edu. 4 The new 20-year update will be the first serious revision to the city's transit infra- structure since 1990. It aims to encourage city development and create higher density residential living through expansive pub- lic transit overhauls. The plan proposes to improve local highway interchanges, create more bicycle lanes, build new train stations and construct an Ann Arbor-Detroit rail line that will eventually expand to incorporate Dexter, Jackson and Chelsea in an effort to reduce transportation congestion. This new vision for transportation is among many other programs being funded through the Obama administration's Omni- bus Appropriations Act. The $410 billion provided by the act will delegate funding in packages to local applicants for projects to renovate and modernize areas vital to city infrastructure. And developing better options for mass transit is crucial to maintaining Ann Arbor's walkability. There simply isn't enough avail- able parking for every student to have a car - and the spaces that are available should be saved for commuters. Decreasing traffic and allowing for easy transportation across the city is important for all residents. Devel- opments like bicycle lanes are great ways to propose alternatives for getting around. Better mass transit systems are also neces- sary to combat the effects that urban sprawl can have on socioeconomic diversity. A city like Ann Arbor demands that those on the fringes of the city have the same access to downtown businesses and University insti- tutions that other residents have. The plan will also link Ann Arbor to other cities via rail lines - a vital way to promote intercon- nectedness between different cities. Another example of city efforts to improve transportation options is Zipcar. Although relatively new to the rental car market, Zip- car has become quite popular and useful among .students and Ann Arbor residents alike. By covering the cost of insurance, gas and initial parking, Zipcar offers students an alternative to bringing individual cars to campus. It is this very expediency that the DowntownDevelopmentAuthorityis hoping to advance by supporting the company's pur- chase of their latest cars. City Council should recognize the great potential that ideas like this have and support these efforts. An Ann Arbor transportation overhaul will work to counter the growing congestion and pollution within the city, while effective- ly creating a more sustainable infrastructure for the future. Improving public transit and pedestrian traffic ways, along with offering more personalized options such as Zipcar, is at the very core of a community already invested in green technology and sustain- able living. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Nina Amilineni, Emad Ansari, Emily Barton, Elise Baun, Harun Buljina, Ben Caleca, Satyajeet Deshmukh, Brian Flaherty, Emmarie Huetteman, Emma Jeszke, Sutha K Kanagasingam, Shannon Kellman, Jeremy Levy, Edward McPhee, Matthew Shutler, Neil Tambe, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder LESLIE ZAIKIS AND BRENDON MIKA VIEWPOINT The Provost's panel Violent gender roles If we hope to maintain the quality of our edu- cation and the quality of student life the Univer- sity of Michigan is going to have to make cuts in its budget. As students, we are keenly aware of the effects of the current economic situation on our personal lives. Many of us are aware of our expenses, some of us are struggling to find jobs or internships and others are being forced to make some difficult financial decisions with our families right now. Our college experience and the University are also not immune to the economic downturn and its ramifications. In response to the economic situation, Pro- vost Teresa Sullivan formed a small ad hoc group, called the Prudence Panel. The purpose of this group is to identify cost-cutting opportu- nities in the academic operations of the Univer- sity. With the state budget outlook appearing grim for the next few years, the Provost wants to identify meaningful ways to cut costs with- out affecting the highest priorities of the Uni- versity. The goal is to maintain the quality of the University while being financially prudent. HARUN BULJINA As the student representatives on the panel, we want to bring your ideas, thoughts and experiences to this group for consideration. Students experience the day-to-day operations of this University and know the ins and outs of campus better than anyone. Students also have the ingenuity and the knowledge to craft creative and innovative solutions to this prob- lem. What things should the University stop doing? What things can we do less of? What things can we do more efficiently or cheaply? Your input and suggestions will be vital to this process. Please send ideas, questions, and con- cerns to the email addresses listed below. Our first meeting is Monday, and we will be able to present ideas that are sent by the night of Sun- day, March 22. We genuinely hope to hear from you. We can be reached at lzaikis@umich.edu or mikabren@umich.edu. Leslie Zaikis is the president of LSA-SG and Brendon Mika is a Law student. E-MAIL HARUN AT BULJINAH@UMICH.EDU Even though most of the con- versation about violence in relationships over the past few weeks has been dedicated to Chris Brown and Rihan- na, I'm glad the dis- course is surging.. It's interesting how. often the romantic lives of everyday people intersect ; with public policy. This week, Depart- ROSE ment of Justice AFRIYIE made available to offer $43 million of recovery act funds to women in violent domestic relationships who need transitional housing. But government can only go so far. The key to addressing violence in relationships is linked to questioning the obsolete attitudes often expressed in the discussion on violence. To my dismay, many of the good old gender norms have reemerged, and these gender social norms are worth exploring and analyzing as we pursue healthy relationships. There are two gender norms in particular that I would like to grapple with. The first is that a man should never hit a woman. The subtextual element to this gender social norm is that women are, with respect to physical strength, biologically infe- rior. It would then follow that since women are physically inferior, they cannot commit violence in their rela- tionships. It's not my intention to take on the scientific community. But it seems that research on the physicalstrength difference between the sexes and how it correlates with the capacity to commit violence is lacking. Beyond the data, I can't help but feel bothered that an element of sexism is the driving force behind restraining oneself from intimate partner violence. Updated norms should reflect that women deserve to live violent-free lives not because they are women but because they are human - and it's morally wrong to commit violence against another human being. It's not only straight women who experience violence. Lesbians and men of all sexual orientations are often victims as well. But we need to recognize that women in hetero- sexual partnerships disproportion- ately experience this crime and that there is an element of discrimination involved that requires thoughtful government intervention. The second, perhaps more con- troversial, gender norm is that there are two types of men: the violent and the non-violent. This is particularly problematic considering that vio- lence exists on a continuum and not in two columns. It's true that there's a difference between the man who hospitalizes their partner on more than one occa- sion and the man who thinks that it is perfectly okay to use their drunken- ness as an excuse to grope a woman's behind on a Friday night. But charac- terizations that only recognize vio- lence after the worst-case scenario occurs allow socially acceptable forms of violence togo unnoticed and unpunished. Andrea Dworkin, an author and activist, once said she believed "in the humanity of men against all the evidence." Color me optimistic. I believe in the humanity of men who have been physically violent, no mat- ter how deeply buried that human- ity may be. We have gone to a very dark place when we say that there are crimes people can commit that rob them of their ability to rehabili- tate. Faith in rehabilitation is not in opposition to the often-reported high relapse rates of violent offenders. It simply hopes to envision a world where people aren't doomed to be battered or a batterer after one act of violence has occurred. Exploring social norms in relationships But it all starts with us. We may win brownie points in our social net- works by polarizing the debate and making it about how much we can stick it to domestic violence offenders in the public eye. But these actions don't get women any closer to heal- ing, men any closer to questioning their sexism on multiple levels or our society any closer to rethinking con- flict resolution in partnership. These constructive activities aim to stifle violence and lead us on the path to healthy relationships. When pursuing healthy relation- ships, these gender social norms are highly problematic because they often imply gender is destiny and that behaviors can't be changed. Violence can happen in relation- ships and is harder to escape and pre- vent for some more than others. But we should be reminded that beyond our political affiliations or gender loyalties, we are responsible for our own growth and development after the storm. - Rose Afriyie is the Daily's sex and relationships columnist. She can be reached at sariyie@umich.edu. 0 0 { dry 0 As the Michigan Student Assembly examines its own future on campus, the Daily would like students to voice their opinions on what should be a part of its agenda. E-MAIL YOUR IDEAS TO ROBERT SOAVE AT RSOAVE@UMICH.EDU