0I 4A - Monday, March 26, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com El I idiigan Bal Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com 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. F RO0M T HE D A ILY Thlnk before hitting send Use intelligent dialogue, not accusatory rhetoric tudent government elections had a greater than usual pres- ence on campus during this year's Central Student Gov- ernment campaign cycle. From chalking on the Diag and supporters donning party t-shirts to Facebook events and debates, the numerous candidates' campaigns left few stones unturned. In the midst of these elections, an accusatory e-mail targeting one can- didate went viral after circulating among the Greek community for several days. An e-mail sent out to multiple sororities on campus accused LSA sophomore Omar Hashwi, now vice president-elect of CSG, of being anti-Semitic and homophobic. Some of these accusa- tions were baseless and inflammatory. In the Internet age, informa- tion travels at lightning speed, and as a result words and accusations carry great weight. Dialogue is always more beneficial than one-sid- ed arguments, where untruthful and defamatory statements can be disguised as fact and seriously damage a person's reputation. This week in news... T he University was put on high alert last Thurs- day when a "suspicious animal," possibly a cougar, was reportedly seen roaming North Campus. And no, I'm not talking about a middle- aged woman hoping to meet a nice Engineer- ing student. (Bet DANIEL you hadn't heard CHARDELL that one before.) The alleged cougar sighting may have captured the attention of students for a few hours, but it wasn't the most ridicu- lous piece of news to make waves this week. Here are some other sto- ries that, like Cougargate, caught my attention for their sheer absur- dity. Except, for better or for worse, these stories actually matter. 1. The true cause of Trayvon Martin's death? According to Fox News' Geraldo Rivera, the 17-year- old's hoodie. Of course. Because when you see a "dark-skinned kid walking down the street," shooting to kill is simply a "reflexive action." We all know that murder is bad. But murdering someone wearing a hoodie? Well, Rivera seems to think that's a reasonable thingto do. Rive- ra has received considerable back- lash for his insensitive statements, and rightly so. There's a way to talk about stereotypes and their deadly consequences with integrity. And then there's Rivera's tactic: blame the victim of those stereotypes, thereby reinforcing them. 2. The newest star in the Repub- lican presidential primaries? The Etch A Sketch. On Wednesday, senior Romney adviser Eric Fehrn- strom said he wasn't worried that Romney's extremist rhetoric would alienate moderate voters come November. "It's almost like an Etch A Sketch," he said on CNN. "You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again." Pouncing on the opportunity to discredit Romney's claim to conser- vatism, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich made the Etch A Sketch a centerpiece in their public appear- ances over the next couple days. Both candidates could be found holding up the toy as they con- demned the "inevitable" candidate's inevitable flip-flop. I enjoy picturing the interns who were sent on a wild goose chase to track down an Etch A Sketch - almost as much as I enjoy Santorum and Gingrich's attempts to brandish the Etch A Sketch casu- ally in the middle of their speeches, as if they just happened to have one on hand. That's a political gimmick at its finest. Who would've thought that the decades-old toy would be making headlines in the 2012 race for the White House? Call me crazy, but I'd say the Etch A Sketch is this year's most surprising comeback in national politics. 3. Who's getting a new lease on life? Dick Cheney. The former vice president received a heart trans- plant on Saturday. Still no word on whether Cheney's new heart will make him a decent human being or, given the series of car bombingsthat devastated Iraq last Tuesday, any more capable of expressing shame and regret for the futile war he helped to manufacture. The attacks marked the ninth anniversaryofthe 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Appar- ently, violence lingers even after war officially ends. Who would have guessed that? Back in October, for- mer presidential candidate Michele Bachmann argued that "Iraq should reimburse the United States fully for the amount of money we've spent to liberate these people." Aside from the backwardness of her morals, I wonder if Bachmann still subscribes tothis pay-per-liberationlogic. Now that Cheney has a heart, maybe he'll convince Bachmann and her fellow Republican presidential nominees to do some soul-searching of their own. Or maybe she'll just get the Iraqis to reimburse Cheney for his surgery. The North Campus cougar and other stories. A heart transplant, an Etch A Sketch and a hoodie. It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. Worse: it's a recipe for bad news, bad politics and bad people. - Daniel Chardell can be reached at chardell@umich.edu. 0 Last Tuesday, an e-mail began circulating in the University's Greek community claim- ing that Hashwi was an anti-Semite and a homophobe. The e-mail urged students not to vote for Hashwi, citing fear of what he could do in a leadership position. The e-mail was forwarded to many other members of the Greek community. Leibach cited Hash- wi's behavior at CSG meetings as proof of his anti-Semitism. She claimed that Hashwi had repeatedly voted to allow an individual who vehemently portrayed anti-Israel views to have more than the allotted three minutes to speak at meetings. Hashwi and his running mate, Business junior Manish Parikh, repeat- edly asserted their support of the Jewish and gay communities. Beyond the initial sendingof the e-mail, it's discouraging that students receiving it didn't read more critically. It's also disap- pointing these claims were forwarded quickly and extensively. In a time when the Internet allows people to spread information rapidly, it's more than necessary to pay attention to what you send. The accusations made against Hashwi were supported by little evidence - reading the entirety of the e-mail made that clear. It's important not only to filter this type of rhetoric, but also to separate rumor from fact. Instead of being forwarded, the e-mail should have been condemned. Small commu- nities on campus can create an echo chamber, turning rumors into fact. It may be cliche, but the University's "Expect Respect" motto sets an appropriate goal for campus dialogue. Students should foster an atmosphere deserving of the leaders and best by giving the respect they'd expect from others. Hashwi was a candidate run- ning for office, putting himself ina position to be criticized. Criticism, however,-is separate from hearsay and rumors. Any potentially valid critiques of Hashwi's policy positions were invalidated by the strong rhetoric. Espe- cially since it was broadcast to a large campus community, the e-mail was unprofessional and petty. When this type of sensationalized rhetoric is passed around as fact, it's essential that students speak out against it. Emotional- ly-charged and politicized claims pit students against each other and divide our campus. Listening to someone's perspective doesn't mean you support his or her views. The-fact that Hashwi allowed someone to engage in free speech is in no way grounds for the accu- sation that he believes those views. When dealing with controversial topics - be it the Iraq War, the Arab/Israeli conflict or abortion - it's necessary to have open dialogue with all perspectives represented. People can and should advocate their viewpoints, backed up with evidence, and hearing other perspectives is a benefit to all. Attacking people like Hash- wi for simply listening to another individual's opinion makes it impossible to have produc- tive and insightful conversations about highly divisive topics. The campus environment is what we, as students, make it. If we want an environ- ment where people feel safe and comfortable expressing their views, it's important to pro- mote dialogue based in fact. 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. JESSE KLEIN W Clicking'delete' on memories It was inevitable that everyone on campus would forget St. Patrick's Day, but most of us would have paid to forget the morning after. According to an article in the March issue Wired magazine, the time where this is possible is within reach: "In the near future the act of remembering will be a choice." Scientist Karim Nadar conditioned a group of rats to fear a sound by electrically shocking them. After reinforcing their fear for several weeks, Nadar inject- ed the rats with a protein synthesis blocker just as he played the noise. Suddenly the fear was gone. The rats forgot the memory of the shocks associated with the noise. Nadar proved memory reconsolidation. Memo- ries are not videos or pictures in the mind, static and never changing. They are chemically and electrically recreated every time they are remembered. Timing is everything - "to get people to forget something. just ask them to remember it." If memories are recreated with the act of remember- ing, the highly sought after eyewitness account in the justice system might be worth nothing more than awork of fiction. Witness recounts of illegal activity are the most persuasive to juries and cause the most unanimous convictions. But according to Nadar's research, these shouldn't be trusted. The witness isn't lying, rather cre- ating a memory where the events have been indoctri- nated with their own emotions,justifications and biases, without their knowledge or conscious consent. But while the discovery reveals cracks in the justice system it is working to fill them in the medical field. Nader's research is a huge step for the cure and treatment of PTSD, a disease of memory. People who have experienced a traumatic event are haunted by the memories they can't forget. But it's not the memories that cause their stress, but the negative emotions that are injected into the memory as it is being remem- bered. In time scientists will. and should, be able to erase the memories that are haunting PTSD patients. Pain is a good teacher - didn't you decide to never drink again after March 17? It's hard to argue with this. The past is gone as soon as it happens and only lives on through our memories. But as Nadar proved with his research, those memories are not true repre- sentations of reality. Instead, our minds reconstruct them while insert- ing false realities and emotions in the process. Our memories are the basis for who we are. Without them we would lose ourselves. Being able to delete certain memories gives us unprecedented power over our lives; past, present and future. And this can be as dangerous as it could be helpful. Imagine a dictator who could erase the memories of his subjects, or an abusive parent, erasing memories of the abusive relationships with his family. If the power of wiping memories becomes commercial, we create a society that allows the average person to delete every bad or painful event in their lives. How will we as a population learn and grow into better people if we can't remember the times when we were at our worst? With every passing year, it seems we get closer to the science fiction advances of books and movies and with each passing year we get closer to dystopias these books warn against. Jesse Klein is an LSA freshman and assistant editorial page editor. 0 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 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM 'U' Chapter of Red Cross with the Chapter. You can also reach the Club supports tornado relief Chapter via phone (734-971-5300) or look through our website for more details: www. wc-redcross.org. TO THE DAILY: I personally was able to see the damage on behalf of the Washtenaw-Lenawee and devastation that these tornadoes caused County Chapter of the Red Cross, the Ameri- to so many homes in Dexter. The number of can Red Cross Club at the University of Mich- displaced people and the amount of debris igan would like to extend our commitment to and fallen trees was simply shocking. The the relief efforts of the Chapter. While the most miraculous thing about this storm majority of the damage of the recent tornado was that not a single life was lost and not a was in Dexter, a town west of campus, there single person was injured. To know that a was flooding and damage in the Ann Arbor tornado could wreak such havoc so close to area, even on campus. We encourage anyone home should be a reminder for all to know affected by these storms to contact us for how to be prepared for when disaster strikes, help and support so we can work together because it truly can happen to anyone, any- to help you re-establish your daily routine. where, anytime. The Red Cross offers pre- There were four University graduate stu- paredness education for clubs, organizations dents who stepped up to offer their help to and Greek life, which would increase readi- the Chapter, and their support is very much ness for situations like these. appreciated. We are happy and committed to help- The flooding on campus ruined the home ing everyone bounce back from this disaster. of two University graduate students here. Please do not hesitate to contactus with ques- These students are engaged to be married tions, comments, concerns and/or fundrais- this July, and lost everything. In addition, ing ideas you may have. *I CONTRIBUTE TO THE COVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and viewpoints. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while viewpoints should be 550-850 words. Both must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. Send submissions to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. many University students were residents of the homes destroyed in Dexter. If anyone was affected by the flooding or storms, please do contact us for help and we will connect you U.S. should support afreer Syria TO THE DAILY: March 21st was Mother's Day in the Middle East. Normally, mothers and grandmothers would be busy collecting gifts, cards and roses from family members. This year was different. This year, the Syrian dicta- tor murdered those women, ordered the rape of those women, and ensured that this beautiful day turned into a day of tragedy and mourning. Modest estimates put the death toll in Syria at 11,000. Tens of thousands more are being detained and tortured. Homes are being destroyed. For what? What could possibly make a dictator lash out in such an inhumane way? All of this is because the people of Syria are asking for freedom, democracy and just a little bit of dignity. The world has failed to respond. In the United Nations, Russia and China continue to veto any resolution that does more than tell Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad that he's doing something bad. President Barack Obama has been dragging his feet, only to condemn Bashar al-Assad in a few sound bites here and there. Words are no longer enough. As humans, we have an ethical responsibility to support each other. We should be encouraging humani- tarian intervention in Syria. Something as basic as send- ing medical equipment and food would go a long way in a place where people are dying for lack of access to hos- pitals. It's also in our interest to gain an ally in the region for diplomatic reasons. If we support Syria, Syria will support us in our attempts to encourage security in the area. Iran is only a border away. Israel is right around the corner. Iraq is right next-door. Syrians would be greatly appreciative of U.S. support in such a critical time. They will not forget it. Just like we were on the right side of history by liberating Jews in the concen- tration camps of Hitler, we can be on the right side of history again by encouraging the democratic move- ment in Syria. Imran Abdulrazzak Law student Aparna Ghosh LSA senior and vice president of the Univer- sity's chapter of the Red Cross Club. 0 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be fewer than 350 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@michigandaily.com