4 - Friday, April 9, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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DANIEL GOLD
JACOB SMILOVITZ
EDITOR IN CHIEF
RACHEL VAN GILDER
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
MATT AARONSON
MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles
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A timely donation
Students should give back to their community
U niversity students have relatively little to worry about
most of the time beyond the next exam. But that isn't
the reality for many Michigan residents, 14.4 percent of
whom live below the poverty line as of 2008, according to statis-
tics by the U.S. Census Bureau. Fortunately, community service
organizations attempt to combat social problems with the help
of volunteers. And students are prime candidates to volunteer.
Organizations like the Detroit Partnership have launched initia-
tives that provide easy, accessible opportunities for students to
give back to their communities. And with many options available
that require little time and no cash, students should take advan-
tage of opportunities to give back to the state.
The more I
drink, the
better
'T you look.
BTB
Redefining the elite
On Saturday, the University students
participated in the 11th annual Detroit
Partnership Day. The Detroit Partnership
pairs University student volunteers with
schools, churches and community groups
in Detroit to aid efforts to restore and
improve the city. During this year's Detroit
Partnership Day, 1,000 students worked
at 30 sites around the city to demolish
abandoned homes, clean parks and paint
murals. This year's Detroit Partnership
Day put 200 more students to work than
last year's event.
Most students are sheltered from the
most adverse effects of the current econom-
ic recession by attending college instead of
entering the labor market. Students should
utilize opportunities provided by organi-
zations like the Detroit Partnership to take
a day to learn about and donate time to
local communities. It is encouraging to see
that the participation rates have hit new
highs this year, but the need for volunteers
is as high as ever. But students are in a key
position to help Michigan communities.
With opportunities for service so varied in
time commitment, cause and activity, stu-
dents should be able to find the time and
the organization with which to volunteer.
Help need not take the form of monetary
donations or giving clothes and posses-
sions to charity. For students who often
don't have extra cash, donating a few hours
instead of a few bucks to service organiza-
tions is an easy way to connect with the
community and help others. This can take
the form of tutoring at a local school a cou-
ple of times a week or spending a few hours
volunteering at a shelter or food bank.
These opportunities can utilize students'
skills - or simply their spare time - to
make a big difference for real people and
the community.
The Detroit Partnership is just one orga-
nization that facilitates easy access to ser-
vice opportunities. There is a rich array
of volunteer and service organizations
to choose from ranging from cleaning up
parks to mentoring children without stable
role models. On Maize Pages alone, stu-
dents can find a list of 140 organizations
devoted to community service, many of
which allow them to experience first-hand
the problems afflicting those not protected
by the University's ivory towers.
Opportunities for service are plenti-
ful, and the variety of options on campus
makes giving back to the community easy,
accessible and affordable. Students should
take advantage of their removal from the
labor market to help those most damaged
by its collapse.
William F. Buckley, founder
of the conservative news
magazine National Review,
said he'd rather be
governed by the
first 2,000 people
listed in the Boston
phonebook than
by the faculty of
Harvard Univer-
sity, having more
faith in the com-
mon man than the
intellectual elite. LIBBY
Recently, I've heard ASHTON
liberals empathize
with that senti-
ment, recognizing
the failure of some of society's most
intellectually prestigious institutions.
Typically divided, members of the
electorate are united in their disillu-
sionment with the current system of
determiningsociety's leadership.
But when I hear people complain
about the unwarranted control of the
intellectual elite, I wonder what qual-
ities they would look for in choosing
the leaders of finance, government
and business. History has shown us
that wealth, social status and political
connectedness shouldn't be among
them. Beyond that, I'm not sure how
useful history is in telling us where to
look for leaders because the terrain
of the 21st century is vastly different
than anything before it.
As the next generation of society's
leaders, our well-roundedness will
have to surpass that of the genera-
tions before us. Many of the qualities
that will be necessary for success
in this next phase of American life
haven't been necessary before. It
seems as though the game is chang-
ing so we should learn the rules
before we're thrown into it.
I suppose intelligence - at least
the kind we traditionally measure
through the system of higher edu-
cation - doesn't necessarily equip
someone with the potential to lead.
Many of the Wall Street brokers,
whose financial irresponsibility
and lack of foresight facilitated the
nation's worst economic downturn
since the depression, hold fancy
diplomas from top universities.
So should we value a high emo-
tional intelligence over book smarts?
After the 2008 election, New York
Time columnist Maureen Dowd con-
trasted President Barack Obama's
role as "the Convener" to Presi-
dent George W. Bush's role as "the
Decider." She celebrated Obama's
self-deprecating allowance of others'
expertise to guide his decision-mak-
ing. Even if our leaders don't have
all the answers, we want them to be
socially competent enough to work
together and figure them out. Hope-
fully, public policy students learned
something from Congress's nearly
debilitating reluctance to compro-
mise on the health care bill.
The emotional intelligence of our
leaders is also important insofar as it
strengthens their resolve to work for.
the betterment of all people. Lead-
ers of finance must strike a balance
between the moral integrity that pre-
vents their succumbing to greed and
the ambition for profit that promotes
economic growth. Our business
school graduates should look for-
ward to being celebrated for enhanc-
ing widespread prosperity, not being
sneered at for playing the market
game to their advantage.
Daniel Pink, an alumnus of myhigh
school and author of The New York
Timesbestseller"AWholeNewMind,"
suggests that we're transitioning away
from the "Information age" and into
the "Conceptual age," wherein a per-
son's ability to create will be valued
over a person's ability to calculate.
According to this picture of the future
in which the most innovative people
will be the most successful, maybe we
should have more creative expression
requirements than natural science
requirements at the University.
Those who stick with the natu-
ral sciences will be responsible for
restructuring society's treatment of
the environment. As the green move-
ment becomes less politicized, the
most successful industries will be
those that are the least environmen-
tally disruptive. Alternative energy
research is valued for its potential to
drastically enhance American self-
sufficiency, along with its environ-
mental benefits. Innovation in the
sciences is crucial to the success of
almost every facet of our society.
If technology continues developing
at the same pace as it did over the last
decade, computer science will likely
become more commonplace than nat-
ural science. I expect the professions
that are now considered the most
lucrative - medicine and law - to
become less attractive in comparison
to computer engineering. They'll be *
making the most money while work-
ing for forward-thinking companies
that function more like workplace
playgrounds than offices.
Leaders need to *
have more than
just intelligence.
The technological leap forward has
carried us into a globalized world.
Business executives will be work-
ing regularly face-to-face with their
international counterparts, as Skype
becomes the new conference call. Not
only will knowledge of foreign lan-
guages become a crucial element of
success, but cultural awareness will
as well. We'll have to take strides
away from the narcissism that's soiled
America's image internationally.
Criticisms of the intellectual elite
got me thinking about what quali-
ties should be valued in the leaders
of society. Although I maintain that
intelligence is among those qualities,
the others are equally as important.
If creativity, social consciousness
and personal integrity are the deter-
mining factors of Harvard's future
faculty members, maybe Bill Buckley
would prefer them to the phonebook.
- Libby Ashton can be reached
at eashton@umich.edu.
UMAIR QURESHI I
The evolution of Pakistan
For a country of its geopolitical stature, Pak-
istan remains a mystery to Western nations.
On campus, there is little discussion of Paki-
stan outside of history classes, even at a time
when the United States is aligning itself ever
closer to the country. For those who view it
from the lens of the international media, Paki-
stan is a land of religious extremism, perpetual
violence, nuclear proliferation and the root of
global terrorism. But Pakistani students on
campus urge others to look at the nation closer
and seea country exploring values like democ-
racy and judicial independence and evolving a
progressive culture - exhibited by an interna-
tionally acclaimed cast of writers, musicians
and filmmakers.
To understand Pakistan, one need not rec-
oncile these alternating views but instead view
the trajectory of its character from an orphan
of colonial India to the nuclear-armed state
of today. While many blindly term it a terror-
ist state, Pakistani students argue otherwise.
They see Pakistan as a complicated country
of 170 million people, divided along ethnic,
linguistic, political and economic lines. It is a
country yet to settle on being a secular state -
as envisioned by its founder - or a religious one
the successive politicians found more conve-
nient. More importantly, it has yet to decide on
its system of governance. Its 63 years have been
divided among military dictators and civilian
democrats - all of whom nurtured a ruling
elite that manipulated the masses and shaped a
policy that served their own interests.
These trends shape the country's fragile, but
increasingly crystallized, identity. It is national-
ist and conservative in terms of country and reli-
gion. Beyond that, it is diverse and pluralistic,
best personified by the 70-plus television chan-
nels that brew a mixture of political talk shows,
Hollywood movies and religious programs.
Crucially, Pakistan's identity is becoming
more assertive, perhaps as a result of a grow-
ing comfort with its unique nature or with the
perceived injustice that the country feels was
meted out from the West. Today, Pakistanis
criticize the Taliban's brutality, the incom-
petence and corruption of successive govern-
ments and discrete American operations in
their country with equal measure. A dichotomy
has emerged: The ruling class looks to the West
for support while the lower classes insist focus
should shift to domestic problems like electric-
ity shortages and education reform.
The only thing more complicated than this
dichotomy is the actual relationship between
Pakistan and the U.S. During the Cold War era,
Pakistan nestled itself in the American camp,
using the relationship as a defensive hedge
against India. However, just as the Soviet dis-
integration signaled a completion of the United
States' short-term interests in the region, the
marriage was over. The military hardware and
billions of dollars of aid were replaced with
suffocating sanctions and international isola-
tion during the 1990s.
Sept. 11, 2001 changed all of that. Pakistan
was recalled to reprise its role as the weapon of
choice during George Bush's 'War on Terror.'
However, two things were different this time.
First, the enemy in the region was the Taliban,
an entity Pakistan had nurtured to protect
its interests in the region during its isolation
phase. And second, the Pakistani generals, who
ran the country at the time, had learned a thing
or two from the time when the Americans had
'deserted' them. They played a delicate dance,
differentiating between the Taliban who were
on their side and those they felt were dispens-
able. The reward was more than $18 billion in
military and civilian aid, which jumpstarted
a fast but uneven economy. The price was the
development of a domestic insurgency, fueled
by an irate section of the Taliban who felt Paki-
stan had sold them out.
Today, Pakistan stands at the crossroads.
The three major issues it needs to tackle are
how to reconcile its infant democratic project
with the burgeoning economic crisis, counter
its domestic insurgency while controlling the
ungovernable parts of the country and deal
with the U.S. At stake is the potential of 170
million people and the peace and security of
the international community.
This Saturday in Hutchins Hall, for the first
time in Ann Arbor, speakers from across the
country will come together to discuss Pakistan
and its relationship with the United States. Pre-
sented by the Pakistani Students Association
on campus, the 2010 University of Michigan
Pakistan Conference provides a window into
multiple issues,. initiating dialogue and debate
between students and experts in the field. My
hope is that this knowledge will enable stu-
dents to forge a more objective understanding
of a country so critical to American foreign
policy at this time and provide future leaders
greater context as they influence policy related
to Pakistan and other developing countries.
Umair Qureshi is the newsletter editor
for the Pakistani Students' Association.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Nina Amilineni, Jordan Birnholtz, William Butler, Nicholas Clift,
Michelle DeWitt, Brian Flaherty, Jeremy Levy, Erika Mayer, Edward McPhee,
Emily Orley, Harsha Panduranga, Alex Schiff, Asa Smith, Brittany Smith,
Robert Soave, Radhika Upadhyaya, Laura Veith
0
AIDA AlAI
Get out of my Facebook
Sitting in my economics lecture hall, I couldn't help but
be irritated by the flashing Facebook pages in front of me.
Let's face it, Facebook is what gets us through our lec-
tures. It's the first page we open each morning and the last
one we exit. But hearing about a friend's death through
someone's Facebook status about a week ago shattered all
my illusions of the purpose of using it. In this age, com-
munication in the form of social networks has increased,
engulfing most people and beckoning the rest into a world
of gossip, drama and pretension. But while many look at
this blessed monstrosity as a way of keeping in touch, I
see the idea of privacy fly out the window.
Facebook is definitely the premier source of news for
many of us. Status messages like "Earthquake in Haiti,"
"Manchester United fails yet again," etc. make me Google
this information and help keep me updated with what's
happening in the world. But a status publicly announcing
grief over the death of a friend is an insensitive move that
is surprisingly accepted as commonplace among Face-
book users. This is one case where I wish I had received
the phone call before the declaration on Facebook.
There are more common instances of tactlessness and
drama on Facebook. For about a month, I watched two
friends exchange wall posts filled with romantic declara-
tions and things that made me blush. The couple even met
through Facebook. It's not that Facebook doesn't provide
us with enough options to have private, personal con-
versations. Everyone just chooses to talk about intimate
affairs in public instead.
It is also replacing text as the more insensitive way to
send invitations, apologize and even to break up. I could
not think of a better way to end a relationship with a jerk
that cheated on me than to simply declare my relationship
status as single and unfriend him. But that isn't a mature
way to end a real relationship.
Facebook has become a channel for users to broadcast
their social networks without being judged as boastful.
Whoever said popularity was only important in high school
was absolutely wrong. Facebook has reinforced the occur-
rence of high school cliques - but on a global level. Even
parents have begun to engage in the "who is more popular"
game. It's all about the number of friends, the number of
pictures, the wall posts, etc. We have essentially built an
alternate personality in this subtlety-deprived network.
And let's consider profile stalking - a creepy but fun
way of passing time. It is easy for anyone to follow a per-
son's life through their Facebook profile. Just consider
the claims of Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls
Gaza, which believes that personal information on Face-
book is making it easier for Israelis to recruit the perfect
spies for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Through a look
into the personal life and issues of users plastered all over
Facebook, one can see why it wouldn't be hard to build reli-
able profiles of people and lure them into working as spies.
But there's the direct threat of Facebook stalking as
well. About a month ago, 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall added
a stranger without knowing his true identity.After posing
as a 17-year-old boy, he turned out to be her 33-year-old
sex offender and murderer. It is mistakes like these that
cost dearly. It is a matter of not accepting friend requests
from unknown people, regardless of whom they say they
are. But however much we stress this issue, social net-
working sites still provide us with a weapon that we can
easily turn on ourselves if not used responsibly.
Facebook is definitely one of the innovations that has
defined the 21st century so far. But all it requires is a little
bit of responsible use, so that we don't lose ourselves in
this fabricated, virtual world. Let's keep with Facebook's
purpose of reinforcing our social life, not defining-it. As
for me, sure, I feel a little bit of resentment and disgust
towards Facebook right now, but I know I will soon get
over it and continue to build my cyber image.
Aida Allis an LSA freshman.