4 - Friday, February 24, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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ASHLEY GRIESSHAMMER
JOSEPH LICHTERMAN and ANDREW WEINER JOSH HEALY
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.
Boundaries overreached
NYPD's student surveillence was unwarranted
t has come to light that the New York City Police Department
has been secretly spying on Muslim student groups at colleges in
New York and across the East Coast. Officers were even placed
at universities to monitor and report on the activities of Muslim stu-
dents without justified cause of wrongdoing. The NYPD unfairly
targeted hundreds of innocent college students in violation of fun-
damental liberties. It's frightening to see the abuse of power caused
by Islamophobia. A thorough investigation is needed to ensure such
unwarranted surveillance never occurs again.
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The stories statuses tell
On Saturday, the Associated Press report-
ed that the NYPD had conpiled a 60-page
report on Muslims living in Long Island and
New York City. The reports detailed con-
versations and contained video recordings
of mosques and other community events, in
addition to personal information about indi-
viduals. Later, the AP also divulged that the
NYPD monitored Muslim college students
along the East Coast. Every week Police
Commissioner Raymond Kelly was updated
with information. These reports included
names of students, how many times a day
they prayed and their organizations and
activities.
In a bizarre case in April 2008, one under-
cover NYPD officer traveled to upstate New
York with 18 Muslim students of the CityCol-
lege of New York's Muslim Student Associa-
tion. The students prayed, discussed Islam
and went white-water rafting - all of it was
recorded daily by the undercover officer.
Without cause, their names were reported
back to the NYPD for further investigation.
This is alarming in a country where freedom
of religion, civil liberties and the notion that
someone is innocent until proven guilty are
all encouraged.
It's especially alarming that the cities and
universities where this monitoring occurred
weren't informed beforehand. The NYPD
initially began surveillance only within New
York City, but soon expanded as far as the
University of Pennsylvania, Syracuse Uni-
versity, Yale University and Rutgers Univer-
sity. Not only are these universities outside of
NYPD's jurisdiction, but they were unaware
of the secret surveillance happening on their
campuses. The NYPD clearly overreached,
and this breach of policy and power is alarm-
ing, especially considering the strength and
size of the NYPD.
Police spokesman Paul Browne defended
the actions taken by NYPD by saying that 12
individuals convicted and arrested on terror-
ism charges in the past had been members
of Muslim Student Associations. Browne's
argument nowhere near justifies the surveil-
lance of an innocent group of college students
without any cause of suspicion. The NYPD's
actions take racial profiling to a new level,
instilling suspicion and fear among commu-
nities, infracting upon the rights of Muslim
Americans and perpetuating Islamophobia.
Muslim Americans are constantly being
forced to defend their personal religion and
heritage, and demonizing an entire religion
for the actions of an overwhelming minority
is irrational.
The surveillance of these students is
shameful for the NYPD. It had no right
or jurisdiction to vilify innocent students
across the United States for no reason, beside
their religion. To work toward an inclusive
and diverse America, public officials should
be working toward, not against, tolerance.
S pring break starts today.
For those of us not going
anywhere - myself includ-
ed - this can
be quite a sad --
experience. It's
especially bad
when you open
up Facebook and
are suddenly
bombarded by
beaches, tans
and people hav- ADRIENNE
ing more fun ROBERTS
than you some-
where far warm-
er, far away.
In comparison to some of my
friends, my Facebook is quite lack-
luster. I have yet to upload one pic-
ture, my information section is
severely incomplete and the last
status update is from 11th grade
when I thought it was appropriate to
say, "Long car ride...txt me please."
Maybe the word "tragic" is more fit-
ting than "lackluster."
I'm in the minority in this disre-
gard for properly updating my Face-
book page. Many of my Facebook
friends have lovely statuses each day
describing how great their relation-
ship is, how everyone should be a
little less cynical about love or, my
personal favorite, look how smart I
am, I got this amazing internship.
Seeing all these updates, it's quite
possible to leave Facebook feeling
depressed and inadequate.
So, it was no surprise when a recent
study from the University of Hous-
ton found a link between college
students' time spent on Facebook
and depression symptoms. Another
study similarly found that the more
time Facebook users spent on their
news feed, the lower self-esteem
they had afterwards.
At its core, Facebook is a tool forl
social connections. Timeline, pages,<
groups, chat and messages all serve]
to aid dialogue between individuals
and groups. Users have a multitude
of options to communicate with
family members, specific friends and
various acquaintances.
With all these options available, I
find it astonishing that the statuses
are still relevant. Facebook friends
aren't always exactly friends. From
accepting a friend request from that.-
person you talked to once in a lec-
ture, to begrudgingly adding your
bratty 13-year-old sister, friends
may not be the appropriate word for
those who have access to our page. ,
Then why do people feel the need1
to share every thought with them?
The answer is that Facebook is oneI
of the easiest places to cast yourselfi
in the best light possible. Want toI
be perceived as funny? Spend a few1
minutes crafting a status from the
script of today's Daily Show. Do you
wish your family and old friendsI
from high school thought you were.
really successful? Well then, high-i
light all of your accomplishments
and never, ever mention any failures.
Perhaps the easiest way to rid oneself
of these overly, enthusiastic Face-
book users would be to just delete
them. However, this may not always
be an option. Sometimes, FacebookI
is the easiest way to communicate
with someone, and to keep the chan-
nel open we tolerate their boasting
and complaining.
It's quite easy to get engrossed ini
the stories that statuses tell. But
that's just it - statuses are merelyI
a fabricated and often false biogra-
phy of one's life. A status must be
taken with a grain of salt because
that annoying couple that professed
their undying love through their
keyboards is probably currently
arguing, hiding behind a public
Facebook mask.
Facebook posts
are often false
biographies.
In an ideal world, Facebook
wouldn't really matter much for
most people. Communication
would be direct, and you would
have to do more than just stalk
someone's information page to
know his or her life story. But this
isn't the case in today's world. Face-
book is now an important social
tool used for sharing world news,
maintaining contact with people
from other countries and bringing
people together for valuable causes.
We need to take a step back some-
times, and think about what sepa-
rates truth from fabrication, and
what is appropriate to express to
every single one of our 'friends.'
Statuses are becoming irrelevant
and if we can all treat them as such,
Facebook might just become a little
less annoying.
This week, as I spend spring break
at home, you can find me applying
ample amounts of self-tanner and
crying myself to sleep while look-
ing at old vacation photos. But you
wouldn't know that from my Face-
book.
-Adrienne Roberts can be reached at
adrirobe{&umich.edu. Follow her= on
Twitter at @AdrRoberts,
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Aida Ali, Laura Argintar, Kaan Avdan, Ashley Griesshammer, Nirbhay Jain, Jesse Klein,
Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Harsha Panduranga, Timothy Rabb, Adrienne Roberts, Vanessa
Rychlinski, Sarah Skaluba, Seth Soderborg, Caroline Syms, Andrew Weiner
W. ETHAN EAGLE I
GSRAs should look to RSG TIM RABBI
I am 100 percent in favor of graduate stu-
dent research assistants having a voice on
campus and standing up to the University if
they need to, but where is there open debate
about the value, the cost or the alternatives
to unionization? All I hear are two sides, one
loudly shouting principally about the down-
sides while ignoring the benefits, the other
proclaiming the benefits while never address-
ing the costs.
The situation, for me, comes down to this:
Some students are in a good advising situ-
ation, but what are we willing to do to pro-
vide for students who aren't? Meanwhile, the
conversation has divided students into two
groups: those worried about cost and those
worried about protecting our collective inter-
ests. There are two questions being discussed.
First, are GSRA employees - and does this
distinction matter? - and second, who do
GSRAs want to protect them?
Regarding the first question, if we "win"
this fight to call graduate students graduate
employees then no one really wins. As employ-
ees first and studentssecond, it becomes all too
clear we are actually the University's GEARs
(Graduate Employee Assistant Researchers).
Let's face it. The University couldn't oper-
ate without GSRAs. Talk of "employee" sta-
tus really takes the focus away from whether
GSRAs need protection. If we do need protec-
tion, and we can't get it, we would need to be
employees to force the University to allow it.
So, whom do we need protection from and
who should do the protecting?
Well, we need protection when other
groups decide what's best for us. For example,
the will of all students to unionize shouldn't
have been assumed by Gradate Employees'
Organization when it attempted to accrete
GSRAs without a vote, and the Senate and
SAGU should likewise stop their attempts to
prevent a vote from happening.
So, if you want effective, efficient sup-
port and protection for students, it probably
seems like the only options so far are either
to be anti-union (let the University decide
what's best) or pro-employee union (hire a
negotiator to fight for us). I reject this false
dichotomy in favor of a student run 'union'
that already exists. It's called the Rackliam
Student Government.
Right now do we just let the University
decide what's best? When was the last time
the University made students really worry?
Remember continuous enrollment? Through
it all, it was collaboration between RSG, GEO
and the University that enacted the Continu-
ous Enrollment Dispute Resolution Board and
the Continuous Enrollment Working Group
to resolve student concerns. So far as I know,
the roll out process has gone more smoothly
than predicted. So, GEO, what's changed? Is
the University suddenly deaf to the concerns
of GSRAs and RSG?
I thank GEO and the American Federation
of Teachers of Michigan for the work they
have done to bring to light the issues in the
current system. In particular, their campaign
has demonstrated that students benefit from
direct classroom or lab outreach. Moreover,
it's clear we need a system to protect students
from academic disputes just as we did during
the continuous enrollment. I hope that GEO
and RSG will work with departments around
the University to adopt fair and transparent
procedures for students 'who must dispute
being let go for academic reasons. Such a pol-
icy should come from collaboration -there
is no academic distinction between GSIs and
GSRAs.
As students, we should alhstand in support
of each other. If you know, or you are, a GSRA
that needs support please speak up. Don't
keep itto yourself. RSG and GEO only work for
you if you talk to them first. We all understand
that things break occasionally and require
work to maintain.
Just how much does it cost to negotiate
with the University? GSRAs could start pay-
ing $400 a year for professionals to come
and make contract adjustments every three
years. But if we don't demand a guarantee, if
we just want to be heard, we could continue
paying $3 a year to RSG. And even though
we're not spending our own money - the uni-
versity ultimately pays these fees either way
- doesn't it make sense to use the $3 fix 'til it
stops working?
W. Ethan Eagle is a Ph.D. candidate
and GSRA in the Aerospace Engineering
Department and former Rackharm Student
Government Division II representative.
Silence is still complicity
As a junior high student, I was privileged to travel
to North Carolina with my choir, where we recorded a
few songs at a pastoral studio in Chapel Hill. After lay-
ing down some tracks, we stopped at a migrant farm that
acts as a supplier to the Mt. Olive Pickle Company, which
controls the largest market share for pickles inthe United
States. The trip was organized at the behest of the Farm
Labor Organizing Committee, alabor union that champi-
ons wage increases for Midwestern farm workers.
The trip included a tour of the workers' living quar-
ters, which were rickety wooden shacks with bunks and
kitchenettes housed in a single room. The air indoors
was as dank and muggy as the climate outdoors, with
no air conditioning to mitigate the sweltering heat. The
ancient stoves, over which the workers' wives cooked
dinner, raised the indoor temperatures to unbearably
hot levels and were thus used sparingly. Watermarks
covered all four walls, permeating the wood; they made
us anxious to leave for fear that the whole rotten struc-
ture might collapse on our heads.
The union organizers told us that many of the undoc-
umented immigrants who work at the camps are lured
to the U.S. with promises of a country overflowing with
money and a home for each man and his family. Upon
arriving, however, the workers are met with a far less
pleasant reality. Many are forced to pay a substantial fee
from their weekly paycheck, lest the smugglers report
them to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
The fee effectively prevents any upward social mobil-
ity and strands the men in the camps with no money to
send home and no means to bring their families across
the border.
As you can imagine, the short-lived visit to the farm
was by far the most moving aspect of the choir trip -
one that I was rudely reminded of after reading about
the working conditions at the Foxconn plant in Shen-
zhen, China. If you didn't read the New York Times
article that started the latest upheaval over the plant,
Foxconn is the company that manufactures consumer
products for Amazon, Apple, Dell, HP, Intel, Micro-
soft, Nintendo and thousands of other electronics com-
panies worldwide.
Many workers inthese complexes are women who earn
barely $50 a week and some forced to spend half their sal-
ary on room and board within the complex. Room and
board apparently means sharing a room with one hun-
dred other workers, having only a bucket to wash your
clothes in, and being prohibited from hosting any visitors.
.Ifthat'snot enough, Foxconnlaborers -manyof whom
are underage - often work 15-hour, seven-day weeks and
have been exposed to toxic chemicals that cause nerve
damage. Others die in factory explosions or commit sui-
cide due to what they've come to deem a "meaningless"
life with virtually no working relationships. The New
York Times couldn't have summed it up better with its
headline: "Human Costs Are Built Into an Pad."
Much of this information has been available since
2006 - Apple published a company press release on its
web page promising to audit working conditions at the
plant following a brutal wave of media criticism. In the
wake of the Times' latest write-up, they've done the
same thing, this time with a little follow-through, and
the audit apparentlyreported"tonsofissues." Surprised?
At the very least one might argue that in the Mt.
Olive case, among others, the workers enjoy a compara-
tive advantage over their past conditions. An Aug. 2,
2005 article in the Christian Science Monitor reported
that the average apparel worker in Honduras, in spite of
sweatshop conditions, makes more per day than the aver-
age citizen. The comparative advantage argument may
hold weight in selectcases, but not when conditions drive
employees to take their own lives. That's no advantage.
There's a serious problem with our ownership of
these products and our continued willingness to buy
them. It's an insidious form of complicity that silently
tells our generation and those that follow: "It's O.K.,
what you don't know can't hurt you." It's our responsi-
bility as consumers to boycott all electronics companies
supplied by Foxconn, lest we continue in our current
state of unconsciousness.
Tim Rabb is a senior editorial page editor.
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