4A - Wednesday, April 8, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com C74C firichigan wily ROSE AFFE E-MAIL ROSE AT ROSEJAFF@UMICH.EDU 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 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. -0 O a ~Y ws . 4 14 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. 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 tothedaily@umich.edu.