4A - Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
C74C firichigan wily
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AFFE
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GARY GRACA ROBERT SOAVE COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles
and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
A duty to veterans
State legislature must pass bill to allow vets in-state tuition
A fter serving their country in the armed forces, some vet-
erans face a tough readjustment to civilian life. These
struggles often translate into a difficulty affording col-
lege. But a proposal under consideration by the Michigan legis-
lature could ease veterans' concerns. The proposal would qualify
U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for in-state
tuition at Michigan colleges, even if they're not originally state
residents. The bill would give veterans a much-needed break and
counter some of the challenges they face after military service.
The state legislature has a duty to support this cause.
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A playdate with my inner child
Last Tuesday, University student veter-
ans spoke to the Senate in support of the
new proposal. In addition to giving veter-
ans in-state tuition, the proposal, created by
the national organization Student Veterans
of America, would create campus programs
to help veterans acclimate to student life
after spending several years in the military.
Other changes include easing deadlines for
veterans to fill out applications and pay fees
as well as permitting the transfer of more
credits for military training. The goal of
the bill, according to SVA President and Air
Force veteran Derek Blumke, is to ease the
difficult transition from military to civilian
life that veterans often face.
For veterans, reentering the civilian
world after military service can be jar-
ring. They are forced to adapt from a very
structured lifestyle to a more relaxed social
setting. After the active life required in the
military, staring at a blackboard for two
hours can be a challenge. Counseling can
be required to overcome the culture shock
and this bill would help give veterans the
support they need by giving them a tuition
break and creating some helpful programs.
Luckily for the state, helping these vet-
erans won't even cost any extra. That's
because the money to pay for veterans' in-
state tuition costs is provided by the GI Bill,
which stipulates that the federal govern-
ment can pay veterans' tuition. The lack of
a financial burden on the state makes this
proposal an even more appealing change.
Encouraging veterans to enroll at the
University is also valuable because they
bring a kind of diversity that is often over-
looked. This diversity is grounded in the
different experiences and points of view
that veterans offer. Making it easier for
veterans to attend the University broadens
students' understanding and exposes them
to a life that most will probably never expe-
rience themselves.
The University has already shown a
commitment to assisting veterans. In Jan-
uary 2008, the Office of New Student Pro-
grams created a special council devoted
to veterans' affairs. The Student Veterans
Assistance Program aims to help veterans
apply to college and transition to the col-
lege environment. And other universities
around the country also have programs to
help veterans - Ohio State University and
Minnesota State University at Moorhead
both have offices of veterans' affairs simi-
lar to the one at the University of Michi-
gan. These policies are an encouraging sign
that veterans' needs are being addressed
in Michigan, and this new proposal will
expand Michigan's efforts.
The University can certainly do its part
to make this change as smooth as possible,
and passing the proposal will push other
universities to help out, too. This bill would
go a long way toward managing veterans'
needs more responsibly and the state legis-
lature should recognize its importance by
approving it without delay.
As a University student, it may
be dawning on you that you
are evolving into a Real, Live
Adult. Whether
you're almost done
with your educa-
tion or still have
to slough through
grad school, the
reality is that your
childhood is offi-
cially a sentimen-
tal glimmer behind
you. In the next EILEEN
five to ten years, STAHL
you'll likely have
your first real job,
your own bills to
manage, possibly a wedding to plan
and - as the few lingering remnants
of your former hipness dissipate -
even children of your own. Person-
ally, I reacted to this realization by
sprinting to the nearest Toys "R" Us
in the hope I could bury myself in
nostalgia and maybe snag a plastic
dinosaur or two.
I found myself surprisingly dis-
heartened. Rather than the store
consisting of the rows and rows of
magic I remembered from my child-
hood, everythingseemed to be cheap,
commercialized plastic. Boxes of
board games with prominent cartoon
characters slathered all over them
greeted me as I walked in, peppered
by the occasional sexist play set (as
a friend of mine puts it, "Hey, little
girl! You wanna mop, don't you?!").
And I couldn't locate a single plastic
.dinosaur without a brand name or
twelve slathered all over it.
It occurred to me somewhere
between the World Wrestling Enter-
tainment action figures and the eye-
assaulting wall of pinkthatsignals the
pony aisle that I was probably roman-
ticizing my childhood. If I think
hard enough, I can faintly recall the
deluge of toy commercials that over-
whelmed me between cartoons - and
most of the programs themselves had
a line of cheap collectible merchan-
dise. I remember that whenever I was
playing with the latest plastic mon-
strosity, I would cheerfully serenade
my family with the television jingle,
complete with a rushed "Batteries not
included." I even invented my own
commercials for fictional products.
But after an hour or two, I'd promptly
lose interest and the precious item my
parents had paid $19.95 plus tax for
would be banished to the wasteland
of my closet floor.
Despite this, I still think Toys "R"
Us is at fault for lacking childhood
magic. There were toys I adored for
years when I was a child, and they
tended to be the simplest. When I was
five years old, for example, I picked
out a fat stuffed dragon I named
Dragulot. He lacked a television tie-
in or a popular brand name, but he
had a cuddly fat belly and doubled as
a puppet - a promising companion
for an only child inclined to theat-
rics. I imbued him with a personality
and the two of us remained insepara-
ble all the way through grade school,
and (should I be admitting this in a
campus-wide paper?) he'll be moving
in with my boyfriend and I this sum-
mer. When I went to Toys "R" Us, I
found a $300 animatronic dragon
with flashing lights and roaring nois-
es. He did not look cuddly.
Capitalism may not be a demonic
specter that desecrates all it tpuch-
es, but I do think that aggressive
advertising can diminish the worth
of a toy. What a good toy should boil
down to is one that lets kids fulfill
their own creative urges. Children
are easily persuaded - as my devo-
tion to singing jingles in the bath-
tub can attest - and it isn't difficult
to wow them into wanting to buy a
product with a cartoon, bright adver-
tisement or clever song. But the toys
I have the fondest memories of were
ones I picked out myself, with no tie- 4
ins and downplayed brands. With all
the trimmings stripped away, I could
pick a toy that genuinely appealed
to me and my interests. Arts and
crafts booklets, stuffed animals
and nondescript playsets featuring
whatever animal or fantastical era I
What happened
to the great toys
of my childhood?
was enthralled with at the time all
enjoyed many devoted weeks of play.
But if I was merely wooed by a prod-
uct's advertising, I'd find myself los-
ing interest a few hours later when
I realized the colorful world of the
commercial wasn't easily reproduced
by a six-year-old.
Fortunately, there are more low-
key stores out there - like Tree Town
Toys in Briarwood and Mudpuddles
in Kerrytown - that offer the sorts 4
of wondrous doodads I remember
fondly. A lot of them encourage cre-
ativity, but most importantly, they're
simple. The brand names are subtly
indicated for the grown-ups on the
tags, but when a child wants a stuffed
animal, she'll only have to figure out
whether she really wants a teddy 4
bear or a cuddly tiger - not choose
which has the best jingle. It's a good
lesson in learning how to make your
own choices, and that's what grow-
ingup is all about.
- Eileen Stahl can be reached
at efstahl@umich.edu.
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, Erika Mayer, Edward McPhee,
Matthew Shutler, Neil Tambe, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Laura Veith
ST O @
T ER STO H EDTOR SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@ctUMICH.EDU
Birth control and abortion
provoke difficult questions
they can reasonably choose among the differ-
ent options.
Lea Wojciechowski
LSA junior
The Daily is looking for a diverse group of strong, informed writers to be columnists
during the spring and summer semesters. Columnists write 750 words
on a topic of their choice every other week.
E-MAIL RACHEL VAN GILDER AT RACHELVG@UMICH.EDU FOR MORE INFORMATION.
TO THE DAILY:
I've been hearing a lot about birth con- Daily do
trol lately - give us more access to it, make it
cheaper, put comprehensive sex education pro- Of Studoaen
grams in high schools and so forth (Back under
control, 04/02/2009). In response, I'd like to
point out a very simple fact that seems to TO THE DAILY
get lost in the topic of sex, contraception and I recently rea
pregnancy. minor in posses
Every time you have sex, you could get (or alcohol-poisone
make someone else) pregnant. No matter what ing up the systen
precautions you take and no matter how infal- how much long
lible you think birth control methods are, sex nonsense liketh
between a man and a woman can result in preg- Apparently,i
nancy. drinking, if und
Once a woman is pregnant, the birth control and drink exces
argument is irrelevant - the pill or a condom everyone should
certainly won't do anything to undo the preg- do make a right
nancy. insinuate that w
What's a woman to do once she's pregnant? take a seriously
If she feels alone, scared, desperate, unready out of fear ofam
and unable to care for a child, she may feel fault for mainta
forced into an abortion. Most people will say The law nee
that it would be ideal to reduce the number of priorities? Real
abortions. believe that dri
But when conventional birth control meth- in trouble? May
ods fail, does abortion become another form place isn't in the
of birth control - last resort, certainly, but that normalizes
nonetheless a method to get rid of an unwanted ates egregious i
pregnancy? If the Daily
There is a certain danger in making abortion drinking law re
into a method of birth control chosen by scared grownup when
and lonely women. Most women who have an for the actions
abortion feel they have no choice - and if abor- blamingthe "m
tion is the only "choice," it's not a choice.
Give women a choice - give them sup- Adam Ajlouni
port, love, resources and accommodations so LSA senior
esn't address issue
t responsibility
ad the Daily's editorial regarding
ssion amnesty for those who take
d friends to the hospital (Sober-
sm, 04/07/2009). I was wondering
er we are going to have to hear
is from the Daily.
in the magical world of college
derage students consume alcohol
sively to the point of passing out,
d get off scot-free. So two wrongs
t? Then the Daily has the gall to
when underage drinkers refuse to
ill friend to the emergency room
isdemeanor, it's the government's
ining draconian drinking laws.
ds to change instead of students'
lly? Do college students really
nking laws exist just to get them
ybe the change that needs to take
legislation but rather the culture
s dangerous behavior and toler-
rresponsibility.
wants to make an argument for
form, it can start by acting like a
it comes to taking responsibility
of underage drinkers instead of
alevolent establishment."
4
ROBBY SALDAAA I
Ending hate speech on campus
4
This past Friday, as I was walking to my residence hall
and talking to my mother on the phone, a car full of people
drove by. One of them poked his head out of the window
and shouted to me, "Hey, homo!" The car then sped away.
A few hours after this incident, I was in the Michigan
Union with a friend, standing near Mrs. Fields. As I stood
there chatting, someone behind me said the phrase, "That's
so gay!" and walked away.
It gets worse. Last Saturday, as I stood in the brunch line
at the Mosher Jordan residence hall cafeteria, the person
next to me in line said, "Breakfast here is so gay," to a per-
son next to him. When the person to whom he was speak-
ing didn't hear, he repeated, "Breakfast here is so gay." Last
Monday, when I was in South Quad for lunch, a person
yelled, "That's so gay!" to something a friend of his had just
said. Later that evening in South Quad, a person used the
phrase "fucking faggot" as I stood a few feet from him.
In the minutes following the first incident, my reaction
was to laugh at the situation - to laugh at the thought
that someone who did not know me would make assump-
tions about my identity and yell it from a passing car.
But as I walked to my dorm, I became more perturbed.
Questions about my personal safety passed through my
mind. Would those shouted words turn into actions at
some point? I thought about this in the following days as I
heard phrase after phrase that were laden with homopho-
bia and ignorance, and I became increasingly frustrated
and concerned.
For me, homophobic language is nothing new. I have
endured this from family members and strangers alike.
But for some reason, these particular incidences - espe-
cially the fact that for the first time, someone yelled an
epithet at me from a passing car - have eaten at me. Since
the day of the incident, I have worn a purple wristband.
It reads, "Erase Hate" and www.MatthewShepard.org.
It's a wristband that was given out at an event I helped
organize this past October - the Matthew Shepard Vigil.
The purpose of this vigil was twofold. First, to commemo-
rate the lives of LGBT individuals and who were killed
or assaulted simply because of their lifestyle. Second, to
draw attention to the fact that there is neither federal nor
state legislation in 14 states that prohibits anti-LGBT dis-
crimination and violence.
I would be lying if I said that these incidents have not
affected me. They take a toll on me because I, along with
countless others, am their target. I could say that these
instances are indicative of the society in which we live
- a society that condones and in many ways supports
homophobic language. But I've realized something else:
This language is indicative of a climate that exists on this
campus. The message that hate speech is not acceptable
and will not be tolerated is missing on this campus. We
need a strong, public campaign against hate speech at the
University.
Rather than merely be upset and frustrated, I have
decided that something must and can be done. First, I am
urging all of us as community members, as students and,
most importantly, as human beings to challenge incidents
of bias thatwe hear. Second, I willbegin to collaborate with
various Michigan StudentcAssembly committees, Universi-
ty offices and student organizations to start a strong, public
campaign against hate speech. The motto of the campaign
will be "Check Yourself." That means that we should think 4
before we speak and check our personal biases and preju-
dices. Many times, we may not know that what we say can
be hateful, which is why this campaignis aneeded medium
of education. I ask that you all "check yourselves" in your
own speech and be aware of what you say.
Robby Saldana is an LSA sophomore.
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