4 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. a MAX FABICK | E-MAIL MAX AT FABICKM@UMICH.EDU AND I Dou8T RoD 6LAGoJeVICH CAN SEE 4 JTHAT HAIR. AD ~ AL AePIoG N1ts 'rND NAVE AtoThuMG FN To HIDE. I 4 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 A