4A - Monday, November 7, 2011 4 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 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 NICK SPAR 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. Imran Syed is the public editor. He can be reached at publiceditor@michigandaily.com. FROM T I No excuse for bullying Bill must protect students from all attacks B efore last week, Michigan was one of three states without an anti-bullying law. Now, a bill passed by the Michigan Senate B would require Michigan public schools to put anti-bullying measures in place. However, the new bill will likely do more harm than good because it includes a provision that prohibits restric- tion of statements of "sincerely held religious belief(s) or moral conviction(s)." This clause is unacceptable and could potentially excuse certain types of bullying. The Michigan House should not pass the bill and should instead put in place a policy that protects students from all types of bullying. JEFF ZUSCHLAG E-MAIL ,JEFF AT JEFFDZ(0UMICH.EDU The bill, which is named after Matt Epling - a 14-year-old boy who committed suicide after being bullied by classmates in 2002 - is called "Matt's Safe School Law." It was passed in a party-line vote by the state Senate on Nov. 2. Senate Republicans added the concerning clause before the bill went to a vote, and many people, including the father of the student after whom the bill is named, have spoken out strongly about the potentially negative effects of the legislation. The bill is especially concerning for students in the LGBT community. Religious beliefs are often citedas rationale behind bullying gay or transgender students. With the proposed law, students- could claim bullying is OK because they are simply expressing a religious belief that is opposed to homosexuality. But that is never an excuse for harming another student, and a law that justifies that defense is shameful. The decision by the Legislature to enact an anti-bullying law is certainly progress. There have been multiple students who have com- mitted suicide in Michigan in the past decade becausetof bullying at schools. Anti-bullying laws and policies can help to protect these stu- dents by clearly outlining what bullying is and how it is handled. While bullying legislation is needed in the state, an anti-bullying law should prohibit all kinds of bullying and contain no legal excep- tions or excuses. School should be a safe envi- ronment where students learn to be tolerant and respectful toward all students, regardless of one's religious beliefs or moral convictions. But the proposed bill could make it easier for students and their parents to defend bullying. Anti-bullying legislation should be aimed at protecting all students from bullying in school and teaching students who bully that target- ing other students is not an acceptable course of action. Like most government debates, the anti-bullying bill came down to a partisan vote. But bullying is not a debatable issue. It's a safe- ty issue that should not be minimized by petty, partisan disputes. Bullying can be extremely harmful and dangerous, and the state Legisla- ture needs to show a commitment to combating it by putting aside political disagreements and passing a comprehensive anti-bullying law. The proposed bill began as a positive attempt to fight bullying in Michigan, but the addi- tion of the controversial amendment seriously derailed the effort. There is never a moral or religious justification for students to bully one another, contrary to what the writers of the bill may think. The state House needs to vote down the bill immediately and go back to the draw- ing board to protect Michigan students from all types of bullying. Mr Cain, in add tion to yor dubious *rumble* WarnigiveI.lsapproachincrtcl pl tical qualifcations,certain question *rumble* Candidate selfdestruct sequence about sexual harassment charges iiitd have recently come to light. 'rumble* nialed Any -- comments? LLBO.no run! *rumble*'- FROM THE PUBLIC EDITOR| Improving columns I wouldn't quite support ban- on much anymore. And it's a shame will get more than 20 words into ning the words "Democrat" because without columnists writ- that thing. and "Republican" (or the ing creatively about local issues My basic rule is this: If your euphemisms often interchanged for that matter to students, this page column practically writes itself them), from Michigan Daily opinion loses what makes it special. If col- after 15 minutes of Googling, you columns, but I'd come very close. umnists choose only to write about haven't done your job. Either you Of several themes I've picked up the idiocy of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, picked a topic that's too easy (and from becoming a full-time read- the hypocrisy of President Barack has therefore been written about er of this paper for the past two Obama or the fallacy of Republican in every other paper), or you have months, among the most disturb- rhetoric, this page is nothing more not thought enough about a topic to ing is the trend of one-dimension- than a weak, inconsequential imita- craft a unique, illuminating view- al columns that provide general, tion of a national newspaper. point that rises beyond tired cable unoriginal commentary on nation- It's true that the Daily should news diatribes. al political issues. Many opinion aspire to be like a great nation- This is a college paper, and we are columnists seem to have either lost al newspaper - The New York all students. While writing for the sight of, or never been advised of, Times, for example. However, Daily is not coursework, it is still an the unique character of the Daily's what is to be valued and emulated educational experience, and opinion editorial page - and the wealth of is the Times's strong, passion- columnists are in a better position possibilities it provides, beyond ate editorial voice, its top-notch than any other staffer at this paper just stale talking points gleaned reporting and its clean, straight- to try something new and grow as from some MSNBC primetime forward writing style. The Daily writers. There are many interest- news commentary show. should focus on improving those ing things happening in Lansing, Since about the late 1980s the same basic tools and apply them Detroit, Ann Arbor - even on the Daily's editorial page has had an to the topics it is best positioned Diag or North Campus - that are unwritten policy of avoiding inter- to cover. It does no one any good, fodder for exceptional commentary. national issues, except in very however, for the Daily to copy the If you must write about national rare, special situations. National Times to the level of writing about politics once in a while, at least do issues are addressed often, of precisely the same issues covered us all the service of thinking about course, but editors are reminded in national newspapers. As well- the issue enough to find a unique or every year that the Daily's focus informed and creative as Daily col- local ideological component. is local, campus and state issues umnists may think they are, there Whatever you write about and that students are unlikely to learn is no Paul Krugman here. howeveryou do it, the main purpose about elsewhere. I do not mean to imply that Daily of a Daily columnist's work should While that policy mainly targets columnists are incapable of writ- be to add something worthwhile the Daily's unsigned editorials, ing interesting and noteworthy col- to the jumble of words floating in columnists are also encouraged to umns. My point is only a bit ofadvice our general discourse. And to do think locally. Simply put: However to columnists who I think will really so, I recommend you take the easi- interesting the esoteric issues you improve their work: Don't stack the est path, and use the advantage you learned about in some international deck against yourselves. have in being close to andfmost qual- relations lecture might be, most You want to write a great col- ified to comment on local issues. of that is not what readers of this umn? You want to show your paper care about, or what you are friends, parents, readers and poten- -The public editor is an independent really qualified to write about. tial employers that you are a capa- critic of the Doily, and neither the editorial Columnists used to also be pushed ble thinker and skilled advocate? board nor the editor in chief exercise away from writing about national That's great, but believe me, you control over the contents of his colurPns. political issues with no local hook or aren't going to accomplish that by The opinions expressed do not necessarily consequence. But judging by what writing yet another column bash- constitute the opinion of the Daily. I find on the editorial page these ing the Republicans in Congress. Imran Syed can be reached at days, apparently that isn't harped It's very unlikely that most readers publiceditor@michigandaily.com EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Nirbhay Jain, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Teddy Papes, Timothy Rabb, Vanessa Rychlinski, Caroline Syms, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner SEAN WALSER | Learn about MForward's goals 4 4 LETTERS TO T" [ E DITOR SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM Let GSRAs make their own decisions on unionization TO THE DAILY: Graduate student research assistant Ste- phen Raiman misinterprets what the Michi- gan Student Assembly resolution regarding the rights of GSRAs to form a union is all about. (QSRA group against union asks assem- blyfor support, 10/26/11). The resolution does not take a position on how GSRAs should vote inan election. Instead, it supports holding an election and requests that the election campaign take place in a way that keeps GSRAs free from intimidation as they make their choices. We also wish to clear up confusion sowed by Raiman's statement that GSRAs "already have the right to form a union in which membership is voluntary and no election is required." This statement is incorrect. Before a union is recognized, a large portion of the potential bargainingunit (usually amajority) must either formally vote to joina union or sign cards indi- cating that they wish to form one. An election is the process that GSRAs and the Graduate Employees' Organization are currently nego- Analyze the bullying issue, andfind a suitable solution tiating with University administrators and the Michigan Employment Relations Commission. Raiman also thinks that current procedures in place provide adequate protection for GSRA pay, benefits and other on-the-job concerns. However, the mediation process he suggests is available at Rackham Graduate School does not carry the force of law that arbitration under a collective bargaining agreement provides. Currently, the University can unilaterally cut pay or health-care benefits for GSRAs at any time, whereas administrators would have to bargain for any cuts under a union contract. Those protections are well worth union dues, as the recent experience of graduate employees at the University of Wisconsin shows. After anti-worker legislation eliminat- ed the right to collectively bargain for health care for public employees in the state, health- care premiums for graduate students nearly tripled - a cost shift that roughly equals dues payments in itself. Overall, we know that tens of hundreds of GSRAs support unionization. All we ask is that they have the freedom to vote without interference. Samantha Montgomery Graduate Employees' Organization president adult world. In alliance with what Levy says about the ineffectiveness of the "zero-tolerance theo- ry," bullying is not something that can eas- ily take on a black-and-white definition. Of course, it is often quite obvious if bullying is occurring or not. Yet, we must remember how frequently bullying is seen in the adult world (politics, sports, etc.) to which we expose children to incessantly and often encourage them to look up to. Also, the way in which celebrities are employed to help prevent bul- lying is not beneficial to the cause. Instead of using non-expert celebrity figures we should be using experts who actually have an edu- cated background on this issue. Anti-bullying legislation is a huge prog- ress for our society. But if something is obvi- ously not working we must take the time to sit down and analyze why. Let's start pushing for quality anti-bullying legislation. Bullying is something that no one should ever have to suffer through, especially when we have the power to put an end to it, as we do now. Leela Denver LSA freshman TO THE DAILY: I am writing this in support of the recent Michigan Daily article by Jeremy Levy, (Change Anti-Bullying Attitudes, 10/25/11). There has been much legislation in recent years in an attempt to put an end to bullying. Yet, this legislation does not seem to make the powerful impact we are looking for. In his article, Levy takes the time to logically question the reasons why many anti-bullying initiatives are not effective. With an issue like this, it is easy to assume that, because the goal is to get rid of bully- ing, there is nothing that can be changed and revised in order to make it more effec- tive. But Levy lists in his article five main arguments against anti-bullying tactics used today. He refutes the effectiveness of the "zero-tolerance theory," avoiding social media, using celebrity figures to address bullying, punishing children like adults and forgetting how prevalent bullying is in the In less than two weeks, the Michigan Student Assembly will be holding its fall elections to fill college vacancies. On Nov.16 and 17 students will have a choice of who they want to represent them on their assembly. They will decide who will be their voice in arbitration with the University. Since its creation a year and a half ago, MForward has been proud and grateful for the opportunity to advocate on behalf of all students. So just what is MForward? MForward is more than just a political party - it is a mindset, a way of thinking and an approach to addressing student problems, both big and small, more effectively and creatively than any student party before it. At its core, it is a diverse set of leaders and representatives, bound together by a com- mon goal of both aggressive and progressive policy, a strong ideal of transparency and inclusiveness and a foundation of advocacy for student interests. MForward has worked hard to continually better the relationship between individual students and the University. Our numerous accomplishments have spo- ken for that. We have implemented the recently ratified MSA constitution - solidifying three distinct branch- es and bringing greater efficiency to the structure of MSA. In a collaborative effort with other student organizations, we have worked toward making open housing a reality and creating University policies that are more accommodating and fair to transgender and gender non-conforming students. We have also taken our advocacy abroad and fought for student interests in Lansing and Washington D.C. in collaboration with the Student Association of Michigan and other organiza- tions. But MForward doesn't confine itself either. We work to address every spectrum and range of student issues. Under MForward's leadership, student organizations have not only been able to sponsor assembly resolu- tions, but will also see a rolling funding process that encourages creativity and creating convenience for student groups. Dining halls became open Saturday nights, giving more options to cash-strapped students, and Lupe Fiasco was brought to campus to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps. Finally, MForward members developed a new MSA website and online petition software at no cost to students. For this election, we have selected another fantastic slate of candidates who we feel will adequately repre- sent the needs and desires of students across campus and uphold our values of ideas, action and community. We believe these candidates will be a wonderful addi- tion to our current representatives and executives as we continue to enact the actions and reforms promised in March. We've also worked diligently to identify can- didates who represent students whose voice often goes unheard in student government. For example, for the first time, we will be running a School of Information candidate since the school has not been adequately represented on the assembly in the past. As you see our candidates campaigning around cam- pus in the coming weeks, I encourage you to stop them and ask them why they are running for a position on the assembly. Start a conversation with them regarding what student government can do for you. Too often, stu- dents choose not to actively engage in the activities of their student government, and that is bad for everyone involved. MSA and MForward grow stronger together with the constant feedback of students across campus. While more issues lie ahead, most importantly, MForward sees solutions to these as well. We want to work with campus leaders and organizations to hear your concerns and your ideas. We want to make sure that the innovative ideas from our students and our candidates are acted upon and realized and that the Michigan Student Assembly isn't a useless or inef- fective institution. With your help and your vote this month, MForward will continue to make the Univer- sity of Michigan a stronger, better community. Sean Walser is the MForward chair. i r