4A - Monday, November 21, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com dl 4A - Monday. November 21, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom * Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. - n420 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. P 1 Passive politics Voter turnout a problem for University elections Last week, the student body voted for new representatives in the Michigan Student Assembly, LSA Student Govern- ment and several other student governments on campus. The fall elections took place on Nov. 16 and 17 and suffered from low voter turnout - an unfortunate trend in the past few years. The issue indicates that student government elections are not being taken seriously on either side of the ballot box. Students and candi- dates need to recognize the significance of elections on campus and increase their participation. FROM THE PUBLIC EDITORf Blogs are different id you know that The Michigan Daily has blogs? Lots of them? All accessible through the Daily's homepage? My guess: Despite the fact that blogs have permeated the national journalistic ambiance to the point of perhaps becoming the most popular mode of getting informa- tion, most readers are probably not familiar with the Daily's blogs. But they are an integral part of the purpose and product of this news- paper. And I am pleased that an incident a couple of weeks ago con- cerning a post made on the Fashion blog, The Fashion Voyeur, allows me this chance to discuss this over- looked section of the Daily. The incident involved a post made on The Fashion Voyeur that was taken by some readers to be unacceptably mean, unprofes- sional and uncalled-for. I largely disagree with that assessment, but we'll get to the specifics of that post and its aftermath ina minute. The Daily's blogs began about six or seven years ago. Initially, the news, opinion, arts and sports sections each had a blog, but many others have been added since. As I recall, in the early days, our blogs were not very exciting. Experi-' mental and somewhat scattered, they lacked character while Daily staffers worked out the kinks of the blog format. Eventually, at least some of the blogs took off. The sports blog (The Game) is probably the most popular, and the news blog (The Wire) is perhaps the most essen- tial. But for me it was always the arts blog (The Filter) that was the most interesting. Even aside from my own background as an arts writer for this newspaper, I felt that The Filter, while inconsistent and sometimes badly off-tone, had the character and creativity that is a hallmark of the blog format. Launched this fall, The Fashion Voyeur embodies a niche previ- ously covered by The Filter, and borrows more than a little of its cheeky-declarative voice. I had not read this blog until the appar- ently flagrant post in question was brought to my attention. Reading some of its posts since then, I find The Fashion Voyeur to be appro- priately judgmental and preten- tious. Its tone may most readily be defined as "douchy," but I expect that from a decent fashion com- mentary blog. And that brings us to the entry on that blog titled "Spotted: Poshh-turing," which was posted on Oct. 23. It features a man and woman, both dressed a little too overwhelmingly for me to compre- hend. The Fashion Voyeur broke it down for philistines like me, including this descriptive excerpt: "It's possible to look like you're try- ing too hard while trying to look like you're not trying too hard. See, it's like this person read a few articles on how to wear a tie casually and then replicated GQ's conception of what a cool guy looks like." Catty? Yes, but also funny. Mean? Maybe, but not unaccept- ably so. I just don't see a problem with it. Let me explain. I've written a handful of col- umns this term stressing the importance of this newspaper and the seriousness with which Daily staffers must approach their task. But all of that commentary was intended for sections of the news- paper whose job it is to produce excellent, serious news and com- mentary. However, journalism is a field that encompasses much more than just solid news coverage, con- sidered commentary and in-depth magazine and feature stories. There are other niches in this pro- fession where the purpose varies, and thus the execution should too. One such niche is arts commen- tary. This paper has long recog- nized that good writing on things like film, theater, food and fashion involves tone and style that has no place in, say, a news story. (Indeed, the Daily's very bylaws allow the arts section special latitude in cre- atively captioning photos.) None of this is to say that arts writers can use the license of creativ- ity to produce shoddy work:,Get- ting sarcasm, humor and satire right is a huge challenge and most attempts fail. But understanding a difference in purpose and point is important. It's a similar situation with blogs: They are different, and readers have to understand that. While there was negative backlash to the apparently offensive post on The Fashion Voyeur, I find most of it missed the point. It makes no sense to criticize the Daily's journalistic integrity just because a post on the paper's fashion blog may have been a tad impudent. Many things are perfectly called- for in a fashion commentary blog that would be inappropriate in, say, an editorial. To those who panned the blog entry in question because it was blithely critical, possibly involved misleadingthe subjects or was just poorly thought-out: Those are fair, and perhaps even valid, criticisms. I wouldn't necessarily trust every- thing written in the comments under the blog post, but the Daily should look into the allegation that the photo was obtained under false pretenses because that's clearly unacceptable. But beyond that, for those who used that moment to criticize this paper for "poor journalism," I have no sympathy. I vehemently disagree with the expectation expressed by some readers that a fashion blog should stick to posi- tive commentary. No section of the Daily should be afraid to be critical. And when this paper pro- duces critical commentary that is flawed, we should all welcome negative feedback. Above all, it's important to remember that journalism is a wide and diverse field - and it has more than enough room for sassy fashion commentary and curt blog posts. -The public editor is an independent critic of the Daily, and neither the editorial board nor the editor in chief exercise control over the contents of his columns. The opinions expressed do not necessarily constitute the opinion of the Daily lmran Syed can be reached at publiceditor@michigandaily.com 6 0 6 0 Only 10 percent - or 1,658 students - in LSA voted in LSA student government elec- tions. This was a 2-percent decrease from the election last fall. According to the U.S. Cen- sus, only36percent of 18 to 24 year olds voted in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. This number is in stark contrast to the 72-percent voter turnout among adults ages 65 to 74. Obviously, elections for MSA and LSA Stu- dent Government exist on a much smaller scale than presidential elections. However, the statistics show that voter apathy is not strictly an issue with student government elections, but rather a larger issue. There was also little visible campaigning from candidates. Student government candi- dates should make a stronger effort to reach out to students. Through more campaigning, voter turnout could increase significantly. The ballot should not be the first place vot- ers see candidates' names. If students know -ho they are voting for and what the candi- d&es' impact will be on campus, they will have greater incentive to participate. Debates or open panels, which did not take place this election, would be a good way for students to get to know candidates. They would allow students to analyze and compare candidates' platforms and put faces to the names on the ballot. Many students have a notion that student government elections do not seriously affect them, and therefore, are unimportant. But $7.19 of each student's tuition goes to MSA, which is small on an individual level but adds up to over $190,000 - based on statistics from 2010 - for the group to spend or allocate to other student organizations. The election also decides the students who become the representatives on the Department of Pub- lic Safety Oversight Committee, which acts as a check on the campus police and hears grievances filed against officers. Thus, while elections may seem trivial, in actuality they determine important aspects of student life. Elections are the most direct and simple exercise of democracy that students engage in at the University. Beyond students voting, there needs to be a sufficient number of candidates. This fall, there was only one candidate on the ballot for Rackham's 10 vacant seats in MSA. If voters are going to take elections seriously, there must be candidates for them to vote for. Winter elections will be held next semes- ter, and students should break the trend of low voter turnout and a lack of involvement. The next election is especially important because it will decide the next MSA president, who becomes the voice of the student body. Stu- dents should take advantage of participating in elections to ensure that their goals and con- cerns are represented on campus. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Nirbhay Jain, Jesse Klein, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Teddy Papes, Timothy Rabb, Vanessa Rychlinski, Caroline Syms, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner MICHELLE DIMUZIO Living on $1.50 each day FOLLOW DAILY OPINION ON TWITTER Keep up with columnists, read Daily editorials, view cartoons and join in the debate. Check out @michdailyoped to get updates on Daily opinion content throughout the day. ADRIANNA BOJRAB A 'GoodGuide' for consumers Throughout the week of Oct. 24, members of the ONE Campaign at the University partic- ipated in a voluntary challenge to live on $1.50 per day - the projected amount those living in extreme poverty in Africa and throughout much of the developing world rely on to sur- vive. This experiment was part of a Campus Challenge to raise awareness of the escalating famine in the Horn of Africa and the incred- ible potential of Feed the Future - a lifesav- ing program under the United States Agency for International Development that works to reduce poverty and hunger by training farm- ers and equipping them with the necessary skills and supplies to help better feed their families and entire communities. The challenge coincided with the present budget debates in Congress, where less than 1 percent of the budget goes toward proven pro- grams like Feed the Future, which are at risk of being cut. We became even more passion- ate about the devastating effects these cuts would have after realizing the difficulty of surviving on $1.50 a day. We would like to note that before participating in this challenge, we were aware that it would only serve as a model and was not a realistic interpretation of what living in extreme-poverty is like. The start of the experiment proved to be the hardest for most. Participants frequently complained of eating rice and cooking beans for hours. I personally became sick half way through the experiment and was forced to stop. However, in my first two days, I noticed that I was perpetually tired, experienced mood swings, found it difficult to pay atten- tion in my classes and had no energy to take part in my daily activities. Some ONE mem- bers had similar responses. "When you go shopping with only $10.50 for the whole week, you realize quickly that you have to sacrifice good, quality ingredi- ents for the cheapest option you can find. When the last two days came around and food was running really short, I started get- ting a panic feeling that I may not be able to feed myself," said Mary Kate Cartmill, an LSA senior and student leader of the Uni- versity's ONE Campus chapter. "By the third day, I was having trouble staying awake in class and a three-hour shift at work drained my energy. I didn't realize how huge of an impact diet has on concentration and produc- tivity, which are both essential as a student." At the end of the experiment, we reflected on our experiences and had similar respons- es to the effects of the challenge. We agreed that it made us more aware of the famine and food crisis currently taking place and allowed us to better understand the difficulty faced by the inconceivable number of people living on this amount or less every day. "I can't say that at the end of this chal- lenge I know what it's like for the 1.4 billion individuals around the world living on $1.50 a day because I always had the comfort of knowing that at the end of the week I was able to revert back to 'life as usual."' Cartmill said, "but I think the first time seriously ask- ing yourself 'What am I eating tomorrow?' really makes the plight of those individuals sink in a little deeper and brings the entire issue a little closer to home." Since this project, ONE members have made phone calls, written letters and col- lected petition signatures to help stop cuts for programs that are saving and improving lives throughout the developing world - all for less than 1 percent of the entire U.S. budget. Our experiences from the $1.50/day challenge are driving us to engage University students and inform them of this escalating crisis. Michelle DiMuzio is an LSA freshman. While making any sort of transaction in the Ameri- can marketplace, everyone must inevitably make deci- sions between competing companies and products. There are so many elements to consider. I consider energy efficiency, whether or not the manufacturing company supports the American economy and labor force, whether environmentally sustainable practices are employed, the content of ingredients - organic and non-toxic - and more. These make up a portion of the criteria I use to evaluate competitor products and com- panies while making a purchase - ensuring that my purchases reflect my ethical concerns, preferences and values, including my health and environmental impact. These are also the elements that make up my personal filter on GoodGuide.com. GoodGuide is a relatively new online database - it was launched in 2008 - that aids consumers in mak- ing more informed decisions in the marketplace and provides an easy, comprehensive and novel approach to product review. University of California-Berkeley Enviornmental and Labor Policy Prof. Dara O'Rourke, the co-founder and chief sustainability officer of the company, has said that his mission is to make it easier to find products that are safe, healthy, green and social- ly responsible. GoodGuide is funded by social venture investors and traditional venture capitalists, and part- nered with an extensive network of non-government organizations, academics and large companies. How does GoodGuide work? Researching prod- ucts and their origin can be an incredibly lengthy and time-consuming process. GoodGuide employs a crew, composed of chemists, nutritionists, environmental life cycle assessment experts and toxicologists, that has analyzed more than 120,000 products (household, personal, food, etc.) and the companies behind the product. They also use information based on more than 1,000 different sources: the companies themselves, governmental databases about the policies and practic- es of big publicly-traded firms, private research firms, NGOs, policy practices, political partisan endorse- ment, media sources and academics. Once analyzed, the product analysis is broken down into three main sub-scores: 1. Human health impact - how the product affects the physical body. 2. Environmental impact - how the product is pro- duced and manufactured as well as the supply chain, potential consequences, raw material origin, distribu- tion, sale and disposal of a product. 3. Social responsibility - the impact on society the product or company has. The product is then assigned a rating ranging from zero to 10 - the highest score indicates superb perfor- mance, and the lowest indicates subpar performance. * GoodGuide doesn't stop there. You can install a tool- bar onto your browser free of charge and utilize your personal filter and GoodGuide ratings on e-commerce sites in the online marketplace. Thus, when you are browsing, the bottom portion of your screen will show how the product matches your personalized filter, the GoodGuide rating and suggestions for alternative 0 products that can better meet your standards, along with pricing and consumer ratings. Additionally, the new, cost-free smartphone app (iPhone and Android) scans the barcode of a product and sends all the online information straight to your phone. Your preferences and filter can be used virtually wherever you go. GoodGuide empowers consumers by showing exactly what their capital is supporting, which leads to smarter, healthier and more environmentally friendly purchases. Why does this matter? As more and more consumers start to employ GoodGuide into their daily lifestyles, we will see a gradual change in the marketplace. Consum- ers' preferences will become more defined, and large retail and manufacturing companies will feel the pres- sure and incentive to supply and meet the standards of this new market demand by making more environmen- tally sustainable products and producing them using ethical sourcing of raw materials and labors, according to O'Rourke. O'Rourke sees GoodGuide as a more trans- parent and sustainable marketplace that cuts through S marketing and advertising - revealing the truth through the multilayer process and numerous players that go into the raw material, production, labor, politics, supply chain, manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sale of a product. O'Rourke hopes to see GoodGuide send a signal to companies that business as usual means business as sustainable. Adrianna Bojrab is an LSA senior.