0 4A - Wednesday, October 7, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com C C ic igan,40albl 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 of their authors. R :Pot X State must make medical marijuana readily available ast November, residents of the state of Michigan demonstrated that the protesters who appear on the Diag every April 20 aren't the only ones in favor of marijuana. By approving Proposal 1, which legalized the use of medicinal marijuana, voters signaled a new tolerance for mari- juana - namely, that it should be available as a painkiller for the sick. But despite Proposal l's approval, marijuana law is confus- ing and has in some cases prevented sick people from exercising their legal rights. To remedy the hastily assembled law's lack of precision, the Michigan legislature must create legal channels for the acquisition of the drug. inresponsetoincreasingmedicalevidence illustrate the need for clarification of the that marijuana could be a more effective and medicinal marijuana law, because police less disruptive treatment for pain than drugs response is only a symptom of a larger like morphine, an initiative to legalize the problem. Though the legalization of medic- use of marijuana for medicinal purposes was inal marijuana was an leap forward in pain placed on the November 2008 ballot. Michi- management, laws haven't created an ave- gan voters approved the initiative with 63 nue for patients to actually use the drug. percent of the popular vote. Patients with the Now the legislature needs to backtrack and correct prescription and paperwork are now approve a framework for patients looking legally allowed to grow and use marijuana to to buy medicinal marijuana. manage severe pain. Luckily, there's an example Michigan But in practice, enacting the initiative could follow. California, which legalized has proven to be more difficult, as many medical marijuana in 1996, has set up several have experienced difficulty in obtain- nonprofit "dispensaries" where patients buy ing marijuana while navigating the law's the drug. This kind of system makes acquisi- requirements. On Sept. 10, according to the tion safer and easier, and would make sense Bay City News, police confiscated seven for Michigan, too. marijuana plants from the porch of Ron But just as Michigan's drug policy starts to Klug's home in West Branch, even though catch up to other states, California is already Klug possessed the proper paperwork showing signs of legalizing marijuana for all and was not in violation of the law (West people, and may have a ballot initiative on Branch man says police seized legal mari- this issue in 2010. This development comes juana plants, investigators say little about as national policy appears to be easing up as ongoing probe, 09/17/2009). Incidents like well, with the Obama administration's drug this show that police attitude has yet to czar, Gil Kerlikowske, deciding to leave drug catch up to the law and the general public's matters mostly up to the states, focusing on attitude - and that's unacceptable. The rehabilitation and safety rather than punish- poliicg peed torpcggnize that the votersof ment. Thgg 9llpnges indicate that efforts to Michigan approve of medical marijuana legalize recreational marijuana nationwide and that sick people who want to use it are are forthcoming. not breaking the law or harming anyone. Michigan shouldn't be behind this trend. Similar police action has led the Michi- While the legislature should, for now, deal gan Medical Marijuana Association to with the ambiguities of the medical marijua- lead a march on the state capitol today to na law, the end goal should be legalization. ROSE JAFFE E-MAIL ROSE AT ROSEJAFF@UMICH.EDU es5nonv, uEVPc' (DO e -~ -. - - Bison meat and eternal lif 0 0 ell, my faithful readers - my devoted fans, my lov- ing audience (in short: Mom) - today, I am angry. And it's notthesissy, liberal elitist, I'm-going- to-make-a-Face- book-page-about-' this-injustice kind of anger. Not this time. This time I actually hit a wall. WILL (With my fist.) Hit- ting the wall hurt a GRUNDLER LOT and reminded me why I usually just make Facebook pages when I'm angry. What happened was I had finally written a compelling article about a real issue - the future of the Michi- gan Promise Scholarship, which I know every student on campus is worried about. Yet, when I gave it to my editors, they told me it was com- plete garbage and that I needed to stop being an utter failure at life. But who am I kidding? I can't stay mad at people for long. (They were probably joking anyway.) And now I get to write about this fascinat- ing Oct. 4 headline from the Associ- ated Press about South Dakota: "SD town gets rid of 44 tons of stinking bison meat." (This is a real headline! Google it!) Actually, I don't have the privilege to write about such a controversial subject. Today's exciting and relevant topic that I decided to write about the last possible moment in the Fishbowl late at night is - you guessed it - mutant babies. According to Maria Cheng of the Associated Press, "Most babies born in rich countries this century," - sorry, America - "will eventually make it to their 100th birthday, new research says" (Most babies born this though less catchy, would be a pretty century will live to 100, 10/01/2009). big deal. Hey, this is some good news. That's Well, so much for that. There's about thirty years more than the only so much you can do with that average lifespan today. This is great kind of news. Unfortunately, I don't news! But whose new 'research was have enough room now to talk about it? Probably the University of Michi- the Promise Scholarship, so here are gan's, right? some facts about the Fishbowl late at This is the alarming part. The night: research comes not from our pres- tigioustuniversity but from Danish scientists like James Vaupel of the Max Planck Institute. That's right Let's talk about the - once again, the University is let- ting groundbreaking discoveries go Michigan Promise to countries whose last major con- tribution to humanity was the pas- ... at some point. try. Come ON, Michigan! The polio vaccine was great, but it's been fifty years! Just what is our $7.6 billion endowment going toward? 1. At 2 a.m., there are still enough Cheng's article continues with people around that somebody gets some astonishing information from annoyed when you scoot around on a David Gems, an aging expert (prob- chair-break. ably the easiest area in which to gain 2. No matter how long you keep expertise, all things considered) at your arm raised, the tech guys won't University College London who says, come over. "Improvements in health care are 3. Spinning in place on your chair leadingto ever slowing rates of aging, and looking up at your reflection in challenging the idea that there is a the windows is amusing, but the more fixed ceiling to human longevity. ... A Monster energy drinks you have had, pill that slowed aging could provide the less amusing it is. protection against the whole gamut 4. After blasting Ricky Gervais' of aging-related diseases." "Freelove Freeway" for the 73rd time Now, I'm no Biology or Health on YouTube, it's still awesome. major - I'm pursuing Honors Theo- 5. Around 4 a.m., you start to won- retical Particle Physics and a French der about the few people left, and if minor, if you're wondering - and I they're wondering about you, and if may not know what a "gamut" is, but love exists. it's possible that extending our life- 6. At about 5 a.m., a person comes times may NOT be such a great idea, around whose job is to spray all the as it could allow the actors of "Cats" keyboards with a bottle of com- to take the stage AGAIN. However, pressed air, and at this pointyou real- that doesn't change the fact that the ize thatno ,matter how littlp sleep you University needs to step it up if it get, your situation could always be wants to remain competitive. Can you worse. imagine the amount of press it would receive if it developed the pill of eter- - Will Grundler can be nal life? Even the pill oftextended life, reached at wgru@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Nina Amilineni, Emad Ansari, Emily Barton, Ben Caleca, Brian Flaherty, Emma Jeszke, Raghu Kainkaryam, Sutha K Kanagasingam, Erika Mayer, Edward McPhee, Harsha Panduranga, Asa Smith, Brittany Smith, Radhika Upadhyaya, Rachel Van Gilder, Laura Veith The Daily is looking for a diverse group of strong, informed, passionate writers to join the Editorial Board. Editorial Board members are responsible for discussing and writing the editorials that appear on the left side of the opinion page. E-MAIL ROBERT SOAVE AT RSOAVE@UMICH.EDU FOR MORE INFORMATION. ERIKA MAYER| The ghost of my life yet to come SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@UMICH.EDU Reid's article fails to note Republican Party needs to problems of overtime rules embrace moderate members TO THE DAILY: In response to Andy Reid's article supporting college overtime rules, I have to disagree with a few of his points (You gotta love college football overtime, 10/04/2009). While college overtime is indeed exciting, arbitrarily starting with the ball on the 25-yard line completely alters the strategy of the game. Special teams (aside from mid to short-range field goal kicking) are thrown out for overtime and teams with game-changers on special teams are put atla disadvantage. The possibility of a kickoff return for a touch- down or blocked punt is nonexistent with the college rules. Though coaches always preach that special, teams are just as important as offense and defense, the overtime rules fully contradict that. Similarly, college overtime rules alter the nor- mal play calling of both offenses and defenses. Offenses with the ball first in overtime play much more conservatively, rarely running plays where they could lose yardage knowing that they have to score at least three points to stay in the game. Defensive play calling is altered as well because of the small margin of error defenses have by starting on the 25-yard line. Certainblitz packages and plays incorporating deeper over- ages are rarely utilized given the starting posi- tion of the offense. While the college overtime system makes sense in that it gives each team a chance to have the ball, a new system should be created taking the positive aspects from both the college and NFL overtime systems. A coin toss can decide who gets possession first. But just like the beginning of the first quar- ter, one team should kick off to another, meaning special teams are not disregarded. If the team with the ball first scores, then it has to kick-off to the other team, and the game isn't over until each team has an equal number of possessions. While the college overtime rules do create excitement, the so-called "football" played in overtime is not true "football." All aspects of the game should be incorporated while giving both teams a fair chance at winning. Jay Schwab LSA junior TO THE DAILY: The Republican Party has been engaged in an image debate that has become increasingly more public since Barack Obama's election. Should the party stick to its "core values" or potentially compromise to attract new voters? Paul Green, director of the Roosevelt University Institute for Politics, said ina profile of Chicago Young Republicans in the Chicago Tribune on Aug. 12, "Young people coming up aren't going to be excited by a party that is against abortion, stem cell research and gay rights." This is absolutely true. The GOP can not and will not become the party of "No," nor is itcur- rently. But some members of the party seem not to mind the label. You know the ones I talk about - the ones who seemingly cheered Chi- cago's Olympic loss and worsening unemploy- ment figures on the same day, and the people who want Obama to fail so they can capitalize in 2010. This is not the way to curry favor with the electorate. To avoid that detrimental label, the party needs to realize that people with moderate views regarding health care, abortion, etc., are still Republicans. These members should not be cast aside or labeled as not "real" Republi- cans - they should be embraced. These kinds of Republicans offer the best shot at growing the party and winning over independent Amer- ica. And in a country where more people label themselves as independents then Republicans or Democrats, the independents hold the key to Congress and the White House. This drama recently played out on our cam- pus, in our own Republican Party, and the out- come saddened me. A chairman with moderate views in regard to abortion, the death penalty, gun control and gay marriage was forced out of office because his views didn't represent those of the group. When elected members are removed from office because their views are not in accord with "the norm," it is a cause for concern. I worry about the future of my party if this is the path we choose to take. Matthew Schaible LSA freshman Everyone is afraid of something - even that macho guy who says he isn't (and it's usually something harmless like bunnies). According to President Franklin Roosevelt, the only thing we should fear is "fear itself." You've heard it in school and from every adult you've ever known. Just conquer your fear and you will be master of your own life, blah blah blah. If you let fear run your life, you are just giving in. Just because most college students can recite this advice like a Sunday school catechism doesn't mean that we actually live it. Sure, we don't stay inside just because we might fall and hit our heads outside - I'm talking about sensible fear, not paranoia. But uncertainty about the future is a different story. I'm quickly approaching my 20th birthday. And though I never thought of myself as Peter Pan, I find myself dread- ing my birthday for the first time. Shedding my teenage identity is quite possibly one of the scariest things I've ever done. Responsibility and adulthood are staring me in the face, and I'm not ready. The weird thing about actually being in college is that my path isn't already laid out for me. Throughout high school, I was focused on graduating and getting into a good college. For most people where I grew up, attend- ing college wasn't even really a decision. It's just what happened after high school. Even during high school, I had very few real decisions to make about my education. I took this math class and that English class and followed the logical progression. Nowadays, my parents just look at me blankly when I ask them what they think about my proposed classes for next semester. I tell people that I am a Political Science major as if I've already declared, but I haven't. I feel like if I declare, I'm accepting the responsibility to actually be an adult some day. Like my reluctance to turn 20, the simple act of declaring represents the inevitable march toward gradu- ation and a real job. I really don't know what I want to do with my life. Even a little bit. I could be a lawyer or a politician. Maybe I want to be a speechwriter, or I guess I could be a teacher. Diplomacy has always sounded interesting. Public rela- tions has been thrown on the table. To be honest, if my theoretic table was real, it would probably take up more space than Angell Hall. To make matters worse, I'm surrounded by .examples of people growing up. My best friend's sister has a job, a house, health insurance and a cat. Patrick Zabawa, a for- mer Daily coworker, now has a real job where he wears dress clothes to work every day - except for casual Fri- days - and has the power to fire people. My friends insist on graduating and entering the real world with ridiculous things like jobs and yearly salaries. This should make me feel like I'm being left behind, but instead it just makes me want to fight the inevitable pull out of Neverland into adulthood. And my advisor emailed me with a gentle reminder to all sophomores that we should be thinking about declar- ing a major soon. Great. I have no idea where my life is going, and that's a scary thought. But I can't let that fear stop me from actually growing up. I don't really want to live with my parents forever. One of these days, I'll have to actually get over this fear and face my future. But for now, I guess I'll apply to law school. And going to school for the rest of my life isn't really an option. Theoretically, I want to have a job and a family at some point. Erika Mayer is an LSA sophomore. 4 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. 40