4A - Thursday, October 14, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com C NI iigan Bal'hj Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. A.420 Maynard St. yAnn Arbor, MI 48009 tothedaily@umich.edu I come here tonight to go to bed! But I also come here tonight to ask you to join in the effort:' - President John F. Kennedy on the steps of the Michigan Union at about 2 a.m. on Oct. 14,1960 in the speech that was the inspiration for the Peace Corps. 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 and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. Rlde on in After grant to build, AATA must expand service The Ride is getting an upgrade. Recently, an increasing num- ber of riders have frequented the Ann Arbor Transporta- tion Authority buses. In response, it has decided to improve its main bus stop facility. At an Oct.10 press conference, Ann Arbor city officials discussed renovation plans for the Blake Transit Cen- ter, one of the main hubs of the AATA in downtown Ann Arbor. Rebuilding the Blake Transit Center will benefit the city by encour- aging the use of public transportation. AATA shouldn't lose momen- tum here - the city should follow this improvement with further expansion of the public transportation system of Ann Arbor. Always expect respect' mhis year's Coming Out Week couldn't have been more aptly timed. As the wound of Rut- gers University freshman Tyler Clementi's tragic suicide still burns in our collective consciousness - and the abhor- rent attacks on. Michigan Student Assembly Presi- dent Chris Arm- MATTHEW strong continue GREEN to affect our own campus - the gay community cer- tainly deserved an affirmation of sup- port. And I've got to say that during this week of increased tolerance and awareness, an unusual feeling of pride has come over me. I'll admit, when it comes to displays of gay pride, I'm not always the loud- est in the crowd. Sure, I write columns from time to time expressing support for gay causes. I'm more than com- fortable with my sexual identity. But I've never worn a rainbow pin, nor have I adorned a bedroom wall with a pride flag. I don't take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Spec- trum Center and I've only peripherally been involved with organized gay life. I guess I've just never felt the need. In high school, I was blessed with an unusually large gay community. My family, friends and teachers were all supportive. My life as a gay man at the University has been a continuation of my complacent high school experience. But walking around campus these days and seeing the words "Expect Respect" emblazoned on bulletin boards and backpacks, has roused me from complacency and filled me with pride - for my fellow Wolverines. In the past few weeks, this campus has come alive with support for the LGBTQ community. Viewpoints in the Daily, Monday's vigil in the Diag to commemorate several recent sui- cides of gay teens and statements by University President Mary Sue Cole- man have all championed tolerance and equality. Such support has played into a national discussion on homophobia currently underway among politi- cians and the media. 'As gay rights leaders take the spotlight on the national news and concerned colum- nists pen their opinions in influential newspapers, more Americans are starting to understand the imminent danger of homophobia. Revealing the viciousness of intolerance will surely result in increased acceptance of gays and lesbians. And with a string of recent legislative and judicial vic- tories for gay rights, members and allies of the LGBTQ community have reason tobe optimistic. On Tuesday, Federal District Court Judge Virginia Philips ruled that the ban on gays serving openly in the mili- tary is unconstitutional. This ruling is the latest in a promising sequence of milestones for gay rights advocates. In the past six years alone, gay mar- riage has been legalized in five states and the District of Columbia, and fair employment and anti-hate crime measures continue to be introduced in state legislatures across the coun- try. It's increasingly likely that within most of our lifetimes, institutional discrimination against the American LGBTQ community will become a thing of the past. Society is certainly moving in the right direction. But, of course, even amidst impres- sive political victories, homopho- bia still takes its toll. And in spite of all the publicity, I'm skeptical of homophobia's staying power in pub- lic discourse. I sadly suspect that the fascination with gay identity is just the media's pet topic this month. In the coming weeks or months, after the news has shifted to other things, will Americans continue to focus on important questions of sexuality in society? Probably not. That's why it's imperative that as citizens and community leaders, we don't take for granted the progress we've made. We can't rest on our forward-thinking laurels and assume that the rest of the country is just like Ann Arbor. Once all the contro- versy surrounding Michigan assistant attorney general Andrew Shirvell's blog dies down - and hopefully, that'll be soon - we must not forget the les- sons it has taught us. For even in the 0 best of times, there are always thorns in the side of progress. The push for gay rights should be more than a fad. On Oct. 7, the pro-life student group, "Students for Life," invited Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s niece, Dr. Alveda King, to speak at the University. Billed as a civil rights leader continuing "the dream" of her inspirational uncle, King used her time to rail against abortion and suggest that gay people are friends of Satan. Far from an advo- cate of progress or civil rights, King used her invitation to the University to further a radical religious agenda and spew intolerance. While King's views may seem more extreme than the norm, she represents the views of a significant fraction of Americans still opposed to gay rights. As educated citizens, it's our responsibility to counteract such narrow-mindedness. The past few weeks have proven that as members of a community, we're capable of join- ing together to promote tolerance and respect. And during this week of pride, that fact gives all of us at the University something to be proud of. - Matthew Green can be reached at greenmat@umich.edu. According to a Daily article on Tues- day, Congressman John Dingell (D-Mich.) helped secure a $1-million federal grant -- the State of Good Repair Grant - for the construction of a larger, $4-million, 2-sto- rey Blake Transit Center. CEO of AATA Michael Ford stated in an interview with the Daily after Sunday's press confer- ence that the remaining $3 million for the project will be funded through different sources, including state dollars and district grants. Charles Griffith, secretary of the AATA board of directors, also said at the press conference that about 5,000 people use the Blake Transit Center on a daily basis and the demand for public transportation in Ann Arbor is growing at a rate faster than the statewide growth. Public transportation is an often-over- looked part of the city, but it has a large impact on the environment and economy. Besides providing affordable, convenient travel options, increased public transport will help to reduce road traffic and the amount of air pollution caused by cars. And public transportation is vital for Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti residents who can't afford their own transportation. An increase in the size of the Blake Tran- sit Center should also create a few new jobs in Ann Arbor. Building the new transit cen- ter will create business for contractors and construction companies. A larger building will require more employees like janitors and office staff. And since the rebuilding of the Blake Transit Center is being funded by government grants and not solely from municipal funds, the construction won't drain Ann Arbor's bank account. But the AATA bus system could be bet- ter. Thousands of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti residents depend upon AATA to get to and from work. And for many University stu- dents, AATA is the only way to venture outside the boundaries of campus. While expansion in the form of this renova- tion is welcome, the AATA should look to increase the number of routes that it offers and destinations available. Increasing the frequency of buses would also be benefi- cial. And AATA should also bring back the full Link bus service that was eliminated in 2009 due to a lack of funds. The new Blake Transit Center's facilities will make using public transportation more pleasant for area residents, which should entice them to increase their use of AATA buses. AATA should continue to improve its facilities and service to aid the economy and the environment. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Jordan Birnholtz, Adrianna Bojrab, Will Butler, Eaghan Davis, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Will Grundler, Jeremy Levy, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Harsha Panduranga, Tommaso Pavone, Leah Potkin, Asa Smith, Laura Veith ALAN GUSKIN, PH.D. I Reflections on the Peace Corps, 50 years later The Peace Corps began in the midst of a light driz- zle at 2 a.m. on Oct. 14, 1960, near the end of a tumul- tuous presidential campaign. John F. Kennedy won the election a few weeks later, the hopes of a new gen- eration began to unfold and the Peace Corps became a reality on Mar. 1, 1961. The idea that would lead to the creation of the Peace Corps came from an impromptu speech that challenged 10,000 University students to aid developing countries. The birth of the Peace Corps owes much to the context of the times: the spirit of social justice embodied in the Civil Rights Movement, students' stirrings for change on campuses throughout the nation, the emergence of young leaders in newly independent nations of Asia and Africa and the incredible optimism of a new decade sparked by the presidential campaign of John Kennedy. I was present on that rainy night 50 years ago. Along with a few others, I helped to form a group that showed that students would respond to Kennedy's challenge, which asked if we were prepared to serve in developing nations. It's said by Peace Corps chroniclers that Ken- nedy was moved by the University student response. A short time after his speech on the steps of the Michigan Union, on Nov.-2 --just six days before the election -he gave a major campaign address committing himself to the creation of the Peace Corps and mentioned the reac- tion of the students at the University of Michigan. He met privately with a small group of University students - including me - on the following day. Robert Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps, wrote in his memoirs: "It might still be just an idea but for the affirmative response of those Michigan students and faculty... Possibly Kennedy would have tried it once more on some other occasion, but without a strong popular response he would have concluded the idea was impractical or premature. That probably would have ended it then and there. Instead, it was almost a case of spontaneous combustion." Eleven months after the meeting with Kennedy, I entered the Peace Corps, spent three months in train- ing at the University and then served two and a half years in the first group to Thailand. The Peace Corps reflected the spirit of Kennedy. In fact, in many countries, volunteers were called Ken- nedy's children. Kennedy was not radical, nor revolu- tionary. Neither was, or is, the Peace Corps. Kennedy represented a new spirit and style domestically and internationally; so did the Peace Corps. THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER The real success of the Peace Corps, I believe, was and is the people-to-people, non-political nature of its programs and its specific assignments. For the volun- teers, the Peace Corps was a noble and humble under- taking. Returned volunteers will tell everyone who will listen that we gained much more than we gave. Peace Corps volunteers didn't create broad-scale changes; they impacted individual people's lives. The Peace Corps today is doing what it always did well - creating programs in which host country individuals and organizations are served well and Peace Corps vol- unteers are deeply affected by their service. The results reflect the best of what early leaders like Sargent Shriv- er, Bill Moyers and Harris Wofford - and some of us who were younger, but just as idealistic - hoped would happen to the volunteers and those they served. I have had the good fortune of knowing many volun- teers over the last five decades, some of whom weren't born when I served as a volunteer from1961 to 1964. But somehow, the experience in one of the last five decades in vastly different countries created a bond that unites those of us who served and differentiates us from those who haven't. It's as if the experience overseas seared itself deeply into the volunteers' consciousness and became a formative part of their identity. For most of us who have served, the Peace Corps represents the single most significant risk of our lives. At a young age, we left the comforts of school and society to enter a world of uncertainty in which our coping and survival skills were brought into question, underwent change and then re-stabilized. The cues that enable us to understand other people and how we should act had to be altered. Concerns for physi- cal safety and illness became significant for people of an age group that often considers itself invulnerable. These are profound adjustments, and the more suc- cessful the volunteer was overseas, the more likely it was that these psychological changes were significant. The impact of re-entering the United States on the volunteers was enormous and unexpected. The assumption throughout the Peace Corps was that a successful volunteer was defined by the strength of personality and character. The reality was that while these were important traits, the defining character- istic of success was much more determined by the volunteers' ability to integrate themselves into the customs, norms and lifestyles of the individuals with whom they worked in host countries. Returning to the United States required an abrupt return from this cultural integration. Ironically, success overseas often bred difficulty in reintegration into U.S. society. It's hard for many who haven't served as a volunteer to fully appreciate the depth of the experiences of the volunteers and the feelings generated by those experi- ences. The overwhelming majority of the early groups of volunteers were recent college graduates for whom the Peace Corps was their first meaningful job. And it was no ordinary job. We were very special people given responsibilities far beyond our peers. Being a Peace Corps volunteer meant heeding a call to make a real difference in the world. You're pioneers, the early volunteers weretold, in a bold venture the goal of which was to change the world, even if we knew that goal seemed much too ambitious. We were doingthings rarely done before by Ameri- cans. Not only did we speak the language and live like host country peers, we actively wanted to become part of our new culture. We came to work and live with the people. The more we integrated ourselves into the culture, the more special we were to our neighbors and new friends. It seemed as.if our pres- ence in a classroom or village enhanced the sense of pride of those whom we served. The people in the U.S. loved the volunteers. The press was uniformly positive. The president met with many of the groups. In 1986, on the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Peace Corps, the late Ted Kennedy summed up the words we heard over and over again in the early 1960s: "You have reminded us anew - as you did with your example 25 years ago - of what is best in ourselves, and what is best in our country." Volunteers were living our ideals. We were serv- ing others and asking for nothing tangible in return. To have acted in a concrete way on one's beliefs was a heady experience. To have done so in concert with hundreds and thousands of others and to be told by importantpeople that this was a model for others had an important psychological impact, even if we were embarrassed by the adulation. Our sense of being important, while being sincerely humble about our work, was a profound transcending experience that doesn't often occur in a lifetime. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL HUMILITY Whatever the problems that the Peace Corps expe- rienced as successive presidents supported, rejected or neglected it, the experience of the individual vol- unteers in the field continued to be powerful and, in many cases, life transforming. Individuals served others in people-to-people programs in developing nations. And individuals continued to put themselves at physical risk in small villages and large cities. They continued to act on their idealism. While many more volunteers in recent years have been much older than in the early 1960's, and in some cases more skilled, the overwhelming majority of vol- unteers of all ages still acquire the most potent and basic lesson to be learned during the Peace Corps expe- rience: the development of a sense of cultural humility. Volunteers develop this sense of cultural humility as a result of the psychological changes that occur as they integrate themselves into another culture. Volunteers identify with friends and colleagues who don't share American ways of expressing personal emotions, norms regarding appropriate behavior, or meaning of individual and group pride. Volun- teers learn and internalize the fact that people from other societies view their own culture as valid as we do ours and must be respected for doing so. And volunteers realize that effective human interaction requires people to appreciate and respect the simi- larities and differences in cultural perspectives. Developing a sense of cultural humility may well be one of the necessary requirements for peace between people and among nations. It is, I believe, the lasting contribution of the Peace Corps to Ameri- can society, as embodied in the growing number of influential volunteers. THE LEGACY OF THE PEACE CORPS In the 1986 celebration of the 25th anniversary of the l\ 1~ Illustrtion by Rose Jaffe Peace Corps, Bill Moyers - its first deputy director and now one of America's foremost social commentators - summed up the Peace Corps experience in this way: "We are struggling today with the imperative of a new understanding of patriotism and citizenship. The Peace Corps has been showing us the way...To be a patriot in this sense means to live out of a recognition that one is a member of a particular culture and soci- ety, but so are all other human beings, and their kinship and bonds - their sacred places - are as important to them as ours are to us. Love of country, yes. Loyalty to country,yes,butwe carrytwo passports - onestamped American, the other human being... "We knew from the beginning that the Peace Corps was not an agency, program or mission. Now we know - from those who lived and died for it - that it is a way of being in the world. It is a very conservative notion, because it holds dear the ground of one's own being - the culture and customs that give meaning to life - but it is revolutionary for respecting the ground revered by others. This is the new politics and the new patriotism that may yet save this fragmented and dispirited age, and it is the gift (the volunteers) gave us." 0I Dr. Alan Guskin is a University alum. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand from 1961 to 1964. He served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside from 1975 to 1985 and president and chancellor of Antioch University from 1985 to 1997. He is presently destinguished university professor in Antioch's Ph.D. Program in Leadership and Change.