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4A - Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@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 oftheir authors.
A promise to the students
Continuing a 119-year history of editorial freedom
ver the past 12 months - The Michigan Daily's 118th
year of editorial freedom - the spirit of campus activism
was truly reinvigorated as students became increasing-
ly involved in a climactic presidential election. Students decided
that the direction of the nation had to change and fought for that
change more energetically and aggressivelythanwe had in decades.
Thanks to our successful efforts to alter our political reality, the
ears of the nation are now listening to what college students think
"changing for the better" really means.
I look at the governor's problems
as his problems:'
- Ronald Burris, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's nominee for Illinois junior senator, explaining why he
should be allowed to be seated in the U.S. Senate, as reported yesterday by CNN.
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The fairer sex?
Because of these developments, college
students' ideas are as relevant as ever. Now
that students have once again demonstrated
that their activism can have historic results
on the world around them, it is critically
important to discuss how we want our world
to change. The Michigan Daily's opinion
page is one of the forums in which that dis-
cussion is most vital.
Throughout the paper's history, the Daily
has fulfilled a dual purpose: sponsoring the
debate over how our society can and must
change and providing an informed view from
the paper itself on the changes that are most
urgently needed. The opinion page's method
for revealing its thoughts about relevant top-
ics are the editorials that appear on the left
side of the page. They contain the historical
wisdom of editors and the fresh ideas of the
paper's current and diverse staff. I promise
that the Daily's editorials will provide essen-
tial guidance for campus discussion.
Traditionally, the Daily's voice has been
thought of as liberal, but that is a mislead-
ing label. We argue passionately for the con-
servation of the world around us. We stand
firmly behind social equality for all people
regardless of race, gender or orientation. We
critically and independently evaluate the
actions of the institutions around us - be
they University administrators or our local,
state and national governments.
My goal is to address the issues that are
most relevant to the University and Ann
Arbor. In the pursuit of this goal itwill some-
times be necessary to discuss national issues,
especially in light of the effect that overarch-
ing problems - like our faltering economy -
can have on students.
But this is only half of my promise on
behalf of the Daily. It is equally vital that
the opinion page is a forum for debate that
includes people from all parts of campus
and all angles of the political spectrum. It is
important to me that no viewpoint feels left
out from the Daily. Columnists have been
chosen specifically to represent alarge cross-
section of backgrounds, interests, topics and
agendas, but if none of our regular columnists
get across the message that's most important
to you, you should write a letter or submit a
viewpoint of your own.
In this historic time for the nation and for
student involvement in its affairs, it is up to
us to determine what changes we want to see
in the coming months at all levels of govern-
ment and facets of society. I promise that the
Daily's opinion page will serve as a vital tool
for hosting that debate. In return, I ask that
you, the readers, utilize this resource to its
fullest extent and help create something that
reflects your sentiments. This is - and will
continue to be - a paper that belongs to the
students of the University of Michigan.
Robert Soave
Editorial Page Editor
(tereotypes are funny things.We
know some are based on igno-
rance and hate. Whenthere was
an influx of Polish
immigrants com-
peting for jobs
around the turn
of the 20th cen-
tury, for example,
other disgruntled
workers claimed
that "all Poles
are dumb." SomeE
stereotypes are EILEEN
based on what is STAHL
perceived to be
true. Many Asian
cultures place a very high priority on
education, so the "Asians are smarter
than everyone else" stereotype was
born.
Whether good or bad, "fact" or
fabrication, stereotypes are unfair
because they are shortcuts. True,
some white people can't dance, but
I'm dating a white boy with the most
amazing sense of rhythm I've ever
seen. "Positive" stereotypes are just
as bad because they place unreason-
able expectations on people who hap-
pened to be born into a certain family.
How would you like to be the Asian
kid who sucks at math?
So this week, I'm going to do my
civic duty and tackle a "positive"
stereotype that is pervasive, unfair,
and - perhaps most importantly -
affects me personally: girls are neat
and tidy.
I cannot begin to describe how
untidy I am. You're fortunate that
you're reading this article in print
because my handwriting looks like it
belongs to a third grader on a sugar
high. My room looks like a combat
zone in which it was strategically
viable to plant a land mine in an
underwear drawer. Sometimes - and
I know this may shock readers - I do
not smell good.
It wasn't as if I didn't try to be neat,
but my childhood attempts always
ended in failure. When my class-
mates and I had to cut out pictures
for collages, mine came out looking
like they'd been attacked by paper
clip-sized wolverines. It was depress-
ing because I thought I was the only
messy one; I eyed the other girls'
papers enviously, marveling at their
flawless bubble letters, complete with
perfect tiny hearts dotting their I's.
Sometimes, in secret, I would prac-
tice "girl writing" in my journal,
desperately trying to reproduce that
beauty. No matter how long I spent,
my little hearts came out looking like
butts.
I thought I was one of an unfor-
tunate few, although girls I knew
well all seemed to have secret sloppy
habits. But it wasn't until I began to
frequent various online humor com-
munities that I began to suspect the
opposite. A common topic was the
horrific sights and smells found in
public restrooms, and there was no
shortage of input from people who
had at one point been forced to clean.
them.
On multiple occasions, the con-
sensus was that the ladies' room was
much grodier. I realized they could
be onto something. I've experienced
disgusting bathrooms from middle
school to Angell Hall: paper every-
where, water in places it should not
be, and God knows what sorts of
bodily substances in and - if you're
truly "lucky" - around the toilets.
But since I'd always assumed that
men's room had to be 10 times worse,
I decided to run an experiment. My
boyfriend and I visited a series of
public restrooms in his hometown
and took notes comparing the nasti-
ness of the men's and ladies' rooms.
The worst thing we ever found in the
men's room was water around the
sinks and ascrawled assurance on the-
wall that "TOY STORY2 WAS OKAY."
Meanwhile, the women's rooms were
filled with unflushed toilets, soggy
paper strewn about, and some truly
horrible sights that I'm confident you
don't want to read about.
Of course, this isn't enough to
prove that women are the grosser sex
(and according to my guy friends, the
men's room can be nasty, too), but it
certainly goes to show that we're
capable of being vile. But why, then,
did all of the girls seem to be so per-
feet when I was a kid?
My theory is that, while some
ladies (and dudes) are naturally neat,
girls are conditioned to act like we're
cleaner from a young age (as it hap-
pened, I had a slight motor disorder
that prevented me from doing so).
Women can be
just as disgusting
as men.
But as someone in a recent discus-
sion on the humor website Something
Awful put it, people are "completely
inconsiderate of anything they do"
in public restrooms. Hey, you're busy
and you've got to go. No one's going to
know if you don't flush!
I'm not sure if I truly believe that
women are naturally messier than
men, but we've certainly got the
potential. It might just be that after a
day of pretending to be pristine prin-
cesses, the anonymity of the restroom
is the girls' chance to be a slob.
We should probably stop that. It's
nasty.
Eileen Stahl can be reached
at etstahl@umich.edu
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Nina Amilineni, Emad Ansari, Emily Barton, Elise Baun, Harun Buljina, Ben Caleca,
Satyajeet Deshmukh, Brian Flaherty, Matthew Green, Emma Jeszke,
Shannon Kellman, Edward McPhee, Emily Michels, Matthew Shutler,
Jennifer Sussex, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder
PATRICIA BRADLEY I
The legacy of white privilege
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 Eothedoiiy@umich.edu.
SUJAL PARIKH AND HASAN SIDDIQI I
Campus diversity provides students with an
education far beyond what they receive in the
classroom alone, and that's because diversity is
not something that can be taught - it's some-
thing that must be experienced. And where
could be a better place to experience diversity
than in the heart of a progressive town like Ann
Arbor?
But let's face it - we aren't always going to
be living in a place like this. Even if we do end
up staying around campus after graduation,
the "real world" isn't quite so pretty. Here's
something you may not be aware of: racism and
white privilege still exist here at the Univer-
sity.
The Sociology 102 discussion I was a part of
last semester, entitled "Race and Class Inequal-
ities in Detroit, the USA, and Beyond," had a
very unique way of taking attendance. Instead
of raising a hand to signify one's presence, we
were expected to turn in a one-sentence exam-
ple of white privilege.
This idea came from Peggy McIntosh, a
professor at Wellesley College. She created
the "White Privilege Backpack," a collection
of examples of the general benefits that white
people unwittingly experience. My class's
"backpack" differed slightly because the exam-
ples of privilege were supposed to be things
that students saw on campus or within the city.
The goal of the backpack project was to raise
awareness of the prominence of white privi-
lege, because it is only possible to change the
way we think about a problem after we become
aware of it.
At first, I found it difficult to determine
what exactly qualified as white privilege. But
then, after hearing what my fellow classmates
thought, I realized there were privileges all
around me that I had never noticed. The exam-
ples made me think about something I hadn't
before, and I gained a new understanding of
the reality of social inequality.
It wasn't just the big things, like being able
to walk around late at night without receiving
suspicious looks. For me, the little examples
had the most profound impact, such as, "No one
ever asks me what to call the people of my race,"
or "As a white person, I can attend a prestigious
school and no one will wonder what sport I
play," It's a simple example, yet sadly true - a
white person has the privilege ofliving without
having their opportunities questioned.
Some other examples included, "People don't
automatically assume that I'm from Detroit,"
"No one questions if I was admitted to the Uni-
versity because of affirmative action," "I can
be in a group with peers of my own race and
no one thinks we're a gang," and, perhaps most
importantly, "I have the privilege of not think-
ing about my privilege." These examples show
that white privilege still exists on our campus.
Here's where you, the average University
student, come in, My class created a mural that
expresses many of the ways white privilege has
affected our lives. It is now located across from
Amers in the Union. It will be hanging there
through the month of January.
Next to the mural, there is a blank poster.
This space is for all of you. Add your ideas and
see what other students have to say. It might
just surprise you. Perhaps soon you'll find
yourself considering that you're never told your
accent is hard to understand. It might make you
realize something about the world in which we
live, and maybe it will even give you the moti-
vation to do something about it. After all, end-
ing white privilege is up to us.
Patricia Bradley is an LSA freshman.
Celebrating I
On December 10, 2008, the world celebrated Human
Rights Day. This holiday marked the 60th anniversary
of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights by the United Nations General Assembly. The
UDHR's first sentence boldly states, "Recognition of the
inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights
of all members of the human family is the foundation of
freedom, justice and peace in the world."
In thirty articles, the UDHR outlines people's univer-
sal rights, such as the right to life, liberty, and security
of person; the right to participate fully in cultural life;
the right to an education; freedom from torture or cruel
treatment or punishment; and the freedom of thought,
conscience, and religion. In setting the global defini-
tion for the words "fundamental freedoms" and "human
rights", this document has not only given human rights
advocates around the world hope, it has provided a moral
claim against governments to respect, protect, and fulfill
the rights of their citizens.
The UDHR was adopted in 1948 in the aftermath of
World War II. The terrible atrocities committed during
that war exposed the lack of an international consensus
on individual human rights. The document arose out of
an understanding of the need to have a universal proc-
lamation that would serve as a constant reminder of the
unique and inalienable rights of their citizens. As a result,
it serves as a safeguard to ensure the rights of people
around the world are upheld and made explicit to all.
Though not legally binding, the UDHR has spurred
the creation of many legally binding treaties, such as the
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cul-
tural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, collectively known as the International
Bill of Rights. Many of its articles have been incorpo-
rated directly into national constitutions, and its tenets
of respect and dignity have become the cornerstone for
rights movements around the world.
However, as we look at recent events around the world
and in our own country, it is sometimes difficult to believe
"I
iuman rights
that we have come very far from the days when these
rights had yet to be fully articulated. Israel's recent, dis-
proportionate attacks on Gaza have resulted in hundreds
of deaths, most of which were civilian. For the past eight
years, our government has openly pursued policies of tor-
ture and illegal detainment. China and Burma deny their
citizens a full range of civil and political rights. Rape con-
tinues to be used as a weapon of war in the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
A striking example has developed in just the past few
weeks as the medical and public health infrastructure
of Zimbabwe collapsed. A cholera epidemic has claimed
the lives of at least 1700 people, with many more dying
each day. The Zimbabwean government chose to respond
by arresting and detaining teachers, doctors, and nurses
rather than addressing the real problems at hand. It is
terrifying that the government would respond to the
situation by denying even more rights. A month later,the
Zimbabwean government finally declared the epidemic a
national emergency. It must now take concrete steps to
provide support to its hospitals and medical school so that
patients can receive the care they need. For its part, the
international community must not only deliver humani-
tarian aid but also demand that a responsive and legiti-
mate government is in place in Zimbabwe.
Though Human Rights Day has passed, we should
continue to celebrate the decisive victories won over the
last sixty years. We should also keep in mind that the
UDHR will become little more than words on paper if we
ignore our responsibility to demand that governments
respect, protect, and fulfill their citizens' human rights.
Only through our individual and collective actions can
we truly realize the noble intentions and fundamental I
assertions of this historic document that we commemo-
rate today.
Sujal Parikh and Hasan Siddiqi are students
at the University of Michigan Medical School and
members of Physicians for Human Rights.
TheDailyislookingfor adiversegroup ofstrong,informedwriterswithan
interest in campus issues to be editorial board members next semester.
E-MAIL ROBERT SOAVE AT RSOAVE@UMICH.EDU
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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