4 - Friday, March 18, 2011 , The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4 - Friday, March 18, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom 0 C4 ichigan atlv Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com MICHELLE DEWITT STEPHANIE STEINBERG and EMILY ORLEY KYLE SWANSON EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS 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. Professional integrity Attorney General needs to support what's lawful Many employees struggle to separate where their profession- al lives end and their personal lives begin. In 2009, Julea Ward was dismissed from Eastern Michigan University's counseling program after she refused to counsel a gay student seeking help. According to the Detroit Free Press, Ward informed her supervi- sor that because of her religious beliefs she thinks that homosexual- ity is immoral and she couldn't support a gay student's relationship as part of her training. Following her dismissal, Ward sued EMU, citing religious discrimination. She claims the university infringed upon her First Amendment rights, and her removal from the program was cen- tered on her unwillingness to change her beliefs. JEFF ZUSCHLAG E-MAIL JEFF AT JEFFDZ@UMICH.EDU 1e.7 - 1-.8 = ? a 0 f o r a g u y w it h t h re e d e g re e s... 1.7-1.8=? j > . Mata.? ~ ~*Snyder sure needs is brash a on his math He passes legislation So let's getthis straight: cateringto rich cEo's... Governor Snyder hopes to balance the budget by ..while ticking off teachers, increasing senior and students, senior citizens, working-class taxes by unionized labor, the middle $1.7 million...class and the working class all at once. a .and then giving coprationsba $. All "grown up" According to a March 14 AnnArbor.com article, a federal court dismissed Ward's case in July. Though Ward and her attorneys are within their rights in asking the United States Court of Appeals to reconsider the case, the court's original decision should be upheld. EMU adheres to the Code of Ethics of the American Counseling Association and the Eth- ical Standards of the American School Coun- selor Association. The American Counseling Association's "Layperson's Guide to Counselor Ethics" states "professional counselor(s) will treat (patients) with respect and dignity, espe- cially in regard to age, color, culture, disability, ethnic group, gender, race, religion, sexual ori- entation, marital status, or socioeconomic sta- tus" By these standards, Ward clearly did not adhere to her responsibilities as a counselor. Ward's case isn't about religious discrimi- nation. EMU is within their rights to dismiss agraduate student who wouldn't represent the professional integrity the school expectsgrad- uates to uphold. Counselors have an obliga- tion to behave in a proper way - obviously one which befits the open-mindedness required in their profession. Ward herself was clearly discriminating against a demographic of stu- dents, which is wrong regardless of her rea- soning. Would a medical school allow students to graduate if they informed their supervisors they would not provide medical treatment to African-American patients? The answer in that case, as it is in this case, is clear. No one is questioning Ward's rights to her personal religious views. The issue is her unwillingness to perform her job as she was expected to, and because she failed in her responsibilities, she was dismissed. The judi- cial system has recognized this once, and the appellate court should do the same. What's most troubling is Michigan Attor- ney General Bill Schuette's decision to release a statement in support of Ward. He claimed that religious freedoms don't fall by the way- side on college campuses and that EMU is setting a dangerous precedent that threatens all students of faith. This statement ignores the professional standards that Ward refused to uphold. Even more concerning is Schuette taking a stance at all: After former Attorney General Mike Cox's questionable handling of the Andrew Shirvell incident - in which the assistant attorney general accused Michigan Student Assembly President Chris Armstrong of having a "radical homosexual agenda" - Shuette's statement continues an alarming trend of discrimination against homosexuals. Contrary to Schuette's beliefs, Ward was not dismissed for being a Christian, but rather for failingto perform her job duties. It's impor- tant that the First Amendment not be used as a safety net for discrimination. Irecently had an out-of-body experience. Let me set the scene for you. I've been student teaching at Brigh- ton High School for a little more than two months now. At this stage in the game, I'm doi"g most of the teaching every day. I'm planning lessons, setting rules and trying RACHEL to ensure that VAN GILDER learning is actu- ally happening. For the most part, it's going really well. Like with any job, there are good days and bad days. There are students who I really appreciate and students who I just can't figure out. But overall, I'm beginning to figure out what kind of teacher I am. But back to my out-of-body expe- rience. It happened when I made a pit stop in the restroom - which probably isn't the most idyllic setting for a revelation. I was wearing what Kathryn Young, the coordinator for the Undergraduate Secondary Teacher Education Program in the School of Education, calls "teacher clothes" - which consist of sensible slacks and a blouse - and a little bit of makeup. After I finished washing my hands, I looked up into the mir- ror above the sink to check my hair. I stopped and had to stare at myself for a few seconds. The young woman in the mirror who was looking back at me was a professional. I didn't have a lot of time to con- template the feeling at the time. There were 28 high school seniors waiting for me to talk about "All Quiet on the Western Front." But when I got home after school, I took a few moments to consider what had happened. I remembered that scene in "Finding Neverland" when Johnny Depp, portraying the author of Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie, tells the character George Llewelyn Davies, "Some- where during the last 30 seconds, you've become a grown-up." The moment I experienced felt something like that. It was kind of like getting a kick in the face. Bam! You're an adult. Or, perhaps more accurately, other people think you're an adult. That's a pretty terrifying thought when those other people are high school seniors. The students who I teach are gen- erally a rambunctious bunch. They are energetic, witty and never give me a break. At 17 and 18 years old, they think they're wise in the ways of the world and that there's nothing anyone can teach them about any- thing. It wasn't that long ago that I was these students. When I was 17, I thought I knew everything too. But, of course, I was wrong. Now, at 21 years old, I'm about to graduate. I spent a year as the editorial page editor of a fantastic college newspa- per discussing tense, controversial issues with some very bright people. I think I know a fair amount about the way the world works. But when I get that feeling, I wonder what I'll think of 21-year-old Rachel when I'm 25and 29 and 34. Graduation gets a little nearer and more real every day. I'm looking toward the future with a mixture of excitement and blind terror. After May, I'm going to need to have a job lined up, I'm going to need a loan to buy a car and I'm going to need insurance. But at the same time, though I had that feeling in the restroom, some- times I still feel like I'm just playing dress-up when I walk into the class- room each day in business casual. I look back at my senior year of high school and wonder if I'll ever actu- ally grow up or if I'll be clinging to the second starfromthe rightfor the rest of my life. One day we will all realize that we are adults. The purpose of college is for us to start to become grown-ups. We learn about chemistry, economics and ourselves. But for the most part, we still think of ourselves as kids. Many of us are still dependent upon our parents. As much as we want to show how smart, sophisticated and well-prepared for the world we are, we're still just a bunch of college kids. At some point, we're all going to have an epiphany that we're grown up. Maybe this already happened for you. If it hasn't, prepare yourself now, because it's coming. It might not happen until you get engaged or you get your first promotion, but it's going to happen. And you'll realize that you are not Peter Pan, and you are goingto have to grow up. -Rachel Van Gilder was the Daily's editorial page editor in 2010. She can be reached at rachelvg@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Will Butler, Ellie Chessen, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Melanie Kruvelis, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Harsha Panduranga, Teddy Papes, Asa Smith, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner ASA SMITH I Beware of feral pigs --the The Best of The Michigan Difference: Look at The Podium to odi msee this Week's top five MichDiff.com posts. p IJ U I1 Go to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium TOBIAS FRANZ| Snyder, I'm disappointed There is a large issue in this state that very few in Lansing are doing anything about. The economy can wait - that comes and goes in cycles. The prison system? Someone else can handle that problem. I am talking, of course, about the massive amounts of feral pigs run- ning around this state, not to mention this very county. I know what you're thinking: Asa, this is a ridiculous premise. There is no feral pig prob- lem. You are clearly not putting enough time into researching your work. I say to you, dear reader, that you are wrong. Accordingto a Feb. 5 article in the Detroit News, anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 of these dangerous pigs are roaming around Michigan, possibly in your own backyard. The issue has gotten so out of hand that these pigs have been given the ultimate in hunting go-ahead. According to Depart- ment of Natural Resources and Environment spokesperson Mary Detloff, "Basically, our policy is shoot first and ask questions later." That's right, if you see one of these pigs you can shoot to kill. But this isn't just an inconve- nience for the state - the pigs are lethal. They dig three feet into the ground, they destroy acres of farmland and they can hit speeds of 30 mph. These sometimes 200-pound boars can annihilate your land, eat your food, mate with your sows and be gone before the rooster crows to wake you up in the morning. Not only are they large, nasty and pesky, they also apparently are becoming wary of our attempts at putting them down. One enterpris- ing family had to build traps over the course of a month because the pigs were catching on to the movements of their enemies. We are offi- cially at the point where we can stop being concerned about Watson - the IBM computer that competed on Jeopardy - killing us all, and we can fear the true enemy of the future - the hyper intelligent wild boar. Nothing is more frighteningthan a 200-pound beast with tusks moving 30 mph straight at you. Luckily, there are some who are braver than I. One particularly confident hunter claimed in the Detroit News story that all the state needed to do was put a bounty on the head of the pigs. Throwing down the gauntlet, this hunter said that ifa bounty was instituted the pigs "wouldn't be a problem for very long." The Detroit News has for years run articles about the danger of the Asian Carp and the risk they pose to the Great Lakes. However, according to Dennis Fijalkowski, the execu- tive director of the Michigan Wildlife Conser- vancy, our fears have been misplaced. In the same Detroit news article, he said, "People are concerned about Asian Carp entering the Great Lakes, but these pigs are already here." So there you have it. The real danger animal in the state is not some carp from Chicago, but the pigs we have roaming our land right now. I am going to let Fijalkowski have the last word in this article due to his magnificent way with words: "They are the enemy and should be shot on sight." Asa Smith is LSA Junior. I wanted to give you a chance, Gov. Rick Snyder. I really did. Your campaign as "One Tough Nerd" made me chuckle. You seemed to be more moderate than your Republican counterparts. You were a fresh face in a dated crowd. But something about you just wasn't right. Something about you was off, so I proceeded to vote for your opponent Virg Bernero. When you won, I told myself, "Whatever. I'm not too upset. He seems capable. Let's give him a chance." Today, I realize I was wrongto do so. I have lost all faith in you, Governor Snyder. Sadly, it only took less than two months for me to feel this way. It first started with your tax modifications. Logic would say that, in order to balance the budget, you would need to raise taxes. ButI don't think you thought this through properly. You proceeded to raise taxes for the poor and our senior citizens, which left me confused. Where's the logic in that? Shouldn't those who can actually afford to pay taxes be the ones to pay taxes? I'm not saying we should raise taxes on the rich or middle class by dramatic measures, but don't you think it's a bit bizarre to make those who are suffering suffer even more? Then came the budget cuts. I knew they would be harsh like you promised in your campaign, but even with that anticipation in mind, I was left appalled. Due to your massive cuts to education, Detroit Public Schools is closing 70 of its 142 schools next school year. Classroom sizes will swell to 60 students a class (that is, if kids actually attend school in those horrible condi- tions). Your logic is that charter schools will come in to fill the void, but can you really expect this to happen in a matter of months? DPS has been in a state of chaos for years. Instead of trying to fix the problem, you decide to cut education, which in turn will lead to more kids not attending schools, higher crime rates and a lower graduation rate - if it can go any lower. I know this is cliche, but if we want to fix our future, shouldn't the one thing we invest inbe education? According to you, apparently not. And, I found out you passed the Financial Manager Bill? This law gives you the power to remove elected local officials from power and place your own staff in their place. Also, when you exercise this power, you will be able to nullify collective bargaining agreements. Are you even watching what's going on in Wisconsin? Don't you think that this bill gives you too much of an iron fist? Weren't you complaining about President Barack Obama abusing his power? Where's the respect for the demo- cratic process?It's one thingto provide strugglingtowns with financial aid, financial experts and suggest alterna- tive measures. It's another thing entirely to sidestep the electoral process and dictate to a town you don't live in. Enough is enough, Snyder. Iam sick and tired of your destruction of our state. You have gone too far. It's only been two months, but I think a little bit of change is in order - whether that is in your mindset as governor, the mindset of the people who have been content with your failure or maybe even a change in who should be in the governor's chair. I don't have all the answers to our state's problems - they are complex and confusing issues that don't have perfect answers. But I do know that the solutions and methods you have used to address our problems, thus far, make about as much sense as burning our state to the ground with kerosene and Zippo lighters. Actually, that might be a bit less destructive at this point. Tobias Franz is an Engineering sophomore. 0 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be fewer than 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@michigandaily.com