The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 5A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 5A Learning wisdom A new kind of travel The end is near for us graduates to be, and in the next few weeks, we'll be getting lots of advice. With anecdotes, aph- orisms and earnest looks, those who have been where we are now will share their hard-earned wisdom. Some of it will be idle speculation. Any- one who's seen "The Graduate" remem- SETH bers the neighbor's SODERBORG prophecy to Dustin Hoffman - "Plas- tics!" - and knows that such suggestions are worth less than the effort it takes to make them. But some of these things will change our lives. If we listen carefully, we Mpight manage to catch a little of our anteced- ents' wisdom without having to earn it. That would be a wonderful thing, for much of what they will share are lessons learned from mistakes. In theory, at least, the people who will speak with us are full of wisdom we do not yet possess. The prospect of hearing them has led me to wonder about those people and what it is they know. What does it mean to be wise? What kinds of things might a wise person tell us? And, vexingly, if the lessons they share with us were drawn from their lives, will it really be possible to apply them to our own? Most of us know the refrain "You don't know what it's like!" with which ado- lescents distance themselves from their 0 parents. There's a part of me that worries that, in fact, those around us don't know what it's like to be us, here, now. One of the main themes of the speech- es will be our pending entry into the "real world." The speaker's wisdom is, one sup- poses, that he or she knows something of this other world that we do not. If that is what makes them worth hearing, perhaps we should be worried about our futures. In one of the saddest moments in our country's history, shortly after the death of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rohert Kennedy spoke to a disconsolate Indiana crowd ahout the kind of nation we are and where we might want to go. His own difficult life was very much on his mind. In his brief remarks, Kennedy quoted Aeschylus's "Agamemnon," one of the first books I read in college. The line he chose said that wisdom comes through suffering: "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God." There's a whole genre, call it the Great American Novel, that tells stories of men - the ones about men seem to win more prizes - who wake up in the morning and realize they've done it all wrong. This is the Aeschylus kind of wisdom - pain- ful knowledge, slowly accumulated, that leaks from regret-filled people. Stories like these are popular, and that should give us pause. Do most people wake up one morning certain that the preceding 25 years were a waste? Are we on track to do the same? Advice will come our waybecause our elders hope that wis- dom can be transferred, less painfully, to those who will listen. Listen to people who were once in our shoes. At Kenyon College in 2005, author David Foster Wallace told graduating seniors that a liheral education gives con- trol over "howand whatyouthink."Incthe real world, where the way one sees what happens is the product of patterns that "you gradually slip into, day after day, get- ting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value with- out everbeing fully aware that that's what you're doing," control over what and how one thinks is a kn of freedom. Being trained in thought means that if we put in the time, we can figure out what it i we're trying to achieve. Itngives us the chance to understand what's pushing us to chase our goal. The choices we make now will set the course of our lives more than many others - it would be prudent, maybe even wise, to make such choices conscious of our reasons. Choose to think about why you want the things you are pursuing. Use your freedom to examine your motivations. Do your due diligence - know the costs of whatcyou hope to achieve and weighethem carefully. Then move forward, confident in the knowledge that if someday in the middle ofyourlife you,like Dantewake to find yourself in dark woods you'll at least know why you're there. Self-knowledge, kept, is a sure bulwark against regret. - Seth Soderborg can be reached at sethns@umich.edu. Follow him on twitter at @thedailyseth. met this guy who liked to talk about infinity. He was tall, healthy, 6 foot 2, and he thought about things 4 - a lot. Everything , was a question; noth- ing could be solved. Well, unless he pro- posed the ideas. We must talk about life, he said. Liberty. The MELANIE Pursuit of Happy- KRUVELIS ness and other Will Smith movies. "Don't you realize we're all infinite?" he yelled, sloshing beer all over my shoes. A real prophetic Buzzed Lightyear. And the strangest thing - well, besides the fact that I was awake at 5 a.m. in Valencia, Spain, watching the entire city burn alive for a festival that celebrates man's right to ignite - was that I didn't hate him. This man of the- ory and meaning and all those terrible things - this man was not hated. In the 72 hours I spent in his normally nause- ating, pseudo-intellectual presence, I never considering grabbing that hemp necklace around his neck and strangling him until there was no tomorrow. Au contraire. I fell in love. And I fell hard. I promise, this is not a love story. Nor is this a poorly written Carrie Bradshaw rant about how great sex is in Europe - after all, as an empiricist I couldn't make such a claim in good consciousness. No, the subject matter of this poorly writ- ten rant is CouchSurfing. And why this website made me stop brushing my hair and start believing in humanity. My lover's name was Miguel, by the way. Or, more precisely, Miguel was the name of my feigning prophet lover. But he wasn't the only inamorato I made that weekend. There was the girl with the dolphin laugh. The girl with the dragon tattoos. The feisty blonde Ger- man who was last seen looking for her pants. And the kind of smelly Italian kid who was never ten centimeters away from a bottle of hair gel. In just a matter of hours, this free floor to crash on, this free shower to neglect to use and these people - these strange, wonderful, shiny happy freaky people - became to me what peanut butter is to jelly. Which is to say, a sandwich. Before Igo off and grabmy cake of rain- bows and smiles from the oven, I'd like to address your concerns about CouchSurf- ing, because I have a hunch that no mat- ter how much weed you're smoking right now, you must be wondering how much weed I was smoking when I signed up for this freak show. The answer is a lot but that's really not the point. CouchSurfing is an online community where members can create profiles to either host guests or find a couch to drool on for a couple of nights - for free. And yes, of course, Mom, the site is teeming with thieves, axe murderers and Ponzi schemers.After all, with more than a million users and reviews in The New York Times, Time magazine and now the world-renowned Michigan Daily, we can only presume that the Hitlers of the world congregate here to do bad things to weird people. But in all seriousness, we all know that the neo-Nazis aren't really good with computers, and if you just use a bit of common sense, it's not hard to be a safe surfer. For instance, do you request to surf with a 35-year-old man who, accordingto his profile, only has a couch for blonde women between the ages of 18 and 22 with bra sizes between 34C and 38DD? Perhaps. But if you'd rather not wake toa large man friend smelling your hair, pick the vegetarian. The vegan. The macrobiotic tree bark eater. Anyone who describes themselves as looking for their place in the universe. These are the people you want. These are the people who will make you breakfast (tree bark tea with a side of stick), who will give you space, tell you whatto do and where to go - probably somewhere with trees. But sometimes, you decide to stay CouchSurfers look for new people and new things. with the guy who "likes to party" and doesn't own any yoga mats. And that's okay too. Because maybe you'll end up sleeping on the floor with ten other surfers. Ten other Brits. Californians. Swedes that are far too attractive to even be in the same room as you. Ten other nomads who just want to figure out how to see everything with the ten bucks they've got. You wouldn't think something as trivial as frugality would bring people together, but after our first meal together, well, we kind of became inseparable, this non-functional unit of sorts. I guess that's called a family. It was more than just people looking to drop their crap off in some random dude's apartment while they go get hammered in a new city. They were looking for new people and new things. And that's the story of how traveling can change and should change. Ad infi- nitum. - Melanie Kruvelis can be reached at melkruv@umich.edu. FRANK QUINONES AND LENA CINTRON I Fighting to win, and not afraid to lead CAROLINE SYMS| Oh the places you'ii go The Defend Affirmative Action Party stands for restoring affirmative action, defending and expanding public educa- tion and fighting for the DREAM Act and in-state tuition for undocumented stu- dents. We are the longest-standing party on campus and we have proven in action that we have a strategy to win - building an independent, student-led movement and leading by example through direct action. We are the only party prepared to hold the University accountable for abandon- ing its defense of affirmative action, refusing to lead the fight to increase public funding for education, becoming more the creature of its corporate donors and less a place that stands for academic freedom. Student-led struggles have made the University a standard-bearer for inte- gration and equality. When affirmative action came under attack in Michigan in Grutter v. Bollinger, we as the student interveners led the fight to defend affir- mative action as co-defendants with the University. In 2003, DAAP led the cam- pus and the nation in mobilizing 50,000 students to march at the Supreme Court as the arguments were heard in the Uni- versity affirmative action cases. That mobilization won a historic victory upholding affirmative action. The challenges we face and the oppor- tunities we have now stem from the con- tradictions coming out of the Grutter case and the increasing conflict between the two poles of leadership in the fight for affirmative action: the student move- ment and the University administration. The University's defense of affirma- tive action was based on their First Amendment rights to create a diverse student body, rather than the rights of minority students to obtain equal- ity. This emphasis on the power and the rights of the University has created a climate in which minority students are made to feel dependent on the adminis- tration to defend their right to be on cam- pus. Now, the University has abandoned its defense of affirmative action both by refusing to express public support for the legal effort to overturn Prop 2 and restore affirmative action, and by allow- ing minority enrollment to drop precipi- tously. It is becoming increasingly clear that we cannot depend on the University, and we mustbuild an independent move- ment in order to win now. The University's abandonment of this fight is tied up with its increased privati- zation. Anticipating defeat in the Grutter case, the University raised large sums of private money to use for minority schol- arships in order to mitigate the effects of the loss of public scholarships. Through this process, the University has become the most privatized public university in the nation. Those private donors, who are now calling all the shots, are no lon- ger interested in maintaining affirmative action because they are trying to lower living standards and want to bury issues of racism and inequality. This privatiza- tion has caused an erosion of academic freedom and has distorted the mission of the University. The only way to restore the public character of the University now is to win a definitive victory for affirmative action. Students who want to defend affir- mative action and public education now must turn to the power of the student body. We need student leaders who are prepared to speak the truth about rac- ism. Thevastmajorityofstudents oppose racism and want an integrated campus, but if we don't speak up, we allow the small number of blatantly racist people to determine the climate on campus. The burden of speaking out against racism cannot be placed solely on the shoulders of minority students. We want a University where everyone can develop to their greatest potential, where research is driven by the needs of humanity, not profit, and where our dreams are not crushed and our talents are not squandered. We are not just asking for your vote; we are calling on you to act and join the new civil rights movement. FrankQuinones is DAAP Social Work candidate for CSG representative and Lena Cintron is DAAP LSA candidate for CSG representative. In referencing Dr. Seuss's light- hearted children's story, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!," a meaningful message about the importance of seizing new opportu- nities, keeping an open-mind, and try- ing new things stands out. I've learned that life is certainly one huge adventure, jam-packed with unexpected twists and turns. The excitement, adventure and craziness of these experiences, how- ever, make life special and create long lasting memories. This underlying message about tak- ing chances and pushing beyond your comfort zone has inspired me to take advantage of the country I live in by experiencing the United States' unique culture and distinguishing geographi- cal features. There's so much waiting at your fingertips, so adventure beyond the borders of Michigan this summer and broaden your horizons. As college students, we're young, full of energy and passion, and we possess a strong sense of adventure. Be responsible, make good choices, but most of all, have fun while you explore and dis- cover the hidden gems in the Land of the Free. Once you get behind the wheel or find your seat 14C on the airplane, the adventure begins. Whether you're head- ed north, east, south or west, you'll be exposed to new scenery, authentic cui- sine and diverse lifestyles. To kick-start your tour of the United States, there a few destinations that should receive top priority on the travel list: ""I left myheart in San Francisco." Get a taste of the laid-back West Coast atmosphere by visiting San Francisco, home of the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf. "San Fran" is a popular tourist destination filled with California sunshine, high spirits and wonderful adventure. Take a tour of Alcatraz and see the prison cells that the Anglin brothers and Frank Mor- ris busted out of nearly 50 years ago. Spend some time at Pier 39 to see hun- * dreds of enormous sea lions barking and lounging all day long. Walking along the Golden Gate Bridge - the ultimate symbol of the city - is a must. Take lots of pictures so you can look back on this experience ten years from now. *"It's up to.you, New York, New York." If you've never been to the "city that never sleeps," the glamorous lights of Broadway await you, so prepare to submerge yourself in a hectic city that bustles around the clock. From the mon- umental Statue of Liberty to the famous American Museum of Natural History, New York City is a magical place filled with plenty of energy and entertain- ment. There's quite a lot of culture to explore in this chaotic yet one-of-a kind East Coast hot spot. ""Welcome To D.C." Visiting our nation's capital, though a less leisurely and more educational trip, will be a rewarding and enriching experience. Take a stroll through The National Mall and touch the Washington Monument, one of the classic symbols of American government. Spend hours at the Smith- sonian museums where you can explore American history, wildlife or aeronau- tic exhibits. While you're out and about sightseeing, be sure to snap photos by the White House, the U.S. Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. If you're adventurous enough to think outside the box even further, experience America's natural beauty by visiting the Grand Canyon or immerse yourself in American pop culture while dancing at a live country music "honky- tonk" in Nashville. There really are no limits or bound- aries. It's important to take advantage of all the opportunities that allow us to experience things we wouldn't nor- mally be exposed to on a daily basis. Gaining a rich and diverse cultural understanding and appreciation of our country can go a long way, so these des- tinations across the United States mark the beginning of your traveling expedi- tions. An open mind can get you all the way to San Francisco. Caroline Syms is an LSA sophomore ALLISON SHERMANI Support LSA-SG's new constitution While Thomas Jefferson may not have been at the Constitutional Con- vention in 1787, he believed that the document should be rewritten every 19 years. While the U.S. Constitution has prevailed for more than 220 years, LSA Student Government's Constitution, written in 1993, has reached its 19th birthday. LSA-SG's founders created a strong foundation for our organization, but a lot has changed since then, nearly two decades later. This semester, LSA- SG decided to amend their constitu- tion. The amendment process happens by and for the students, and in order to adopt the new constitution, LSA-SG needs the approval of the majority of student voters in the winter election. LSA-SG has made tremendous devel- opments over the years, and we have decided to update our constitution accordingly. While these changes serve to benefit our organization, the moti- vation behind making them is student driven: we want to reach out to each indi- vidual, and the revised constitution lays the foundations to do so. One of the largest changes is to our mission statement. Old and dated, the original was long, repetitive and ambig- uous. Collectively, we agreed to make it more succinct, focusingon ourone, main purpose: "LSA Student Government shall be the democratic government representing the entire Student Body of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. The Government shall actively seek the voices of LSA students and advocate their interests to improve academic and non-academic life." We wanted to guarantee that our statement became short, simple and translatable by every student in the college, and we truly believe that we have succeeded in doing so. Our responsibility as a student government is to serve the students in whatever way possible. It's important for LSA students to know that not only do we speak up to administrators, we are a resource to improve the college in a multitude of realms. We want to interact more with student organiza- tions and different parts of campus. We are able to do this by awarding students money for events and simply listening to students' desires. Additional changes include elimi- nating the LSA Judiciary - which has not been represented in LSA-SG for more than four years - and expand- ing legal disputes through the Central Student Judiciary. Also, many terms, government positions and actions were phrased in a confusing manner. The new constitution is streamlined, orga- nized and clearly defines these posi- tions and procedures. Members of LSA-SG approved the new constitution on Feb. 22 during our gener- al meeting. During the All-Campus elec- tions on March 21 and 22, we encourage LSA students to approve updates to our constitution. In addition, drafts of the improved constitution are available on the LSA-SG website (www.lsasg.umich. edu) for LSA students to review. We want you to know that these changes do not just benefit our organization but will improve the LSA community as a whole. Thomas Jefferson once said, "Democra- cywill cease to existwhenyou take away from those who are willing to work." Let us work for you to improve the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Please take the time to support the amended constitution and other LSA-SG projects by voting in the winter elections. Allison Sherman is a member of LSA SG Counsel and is an LSA junior.