4A - Thursday, September 27, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com. 4A-ThrdaSpbe 2721 Th MchganDil mchgadaly Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com TIMOTHY RABB JOSEPH LICHTERMAN and ADRIENNE ROBERTS ANDREW WEINER 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. 4 4 Jumping the gun Colorado should repeal concealed weapon ruling n March, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the Univer- sity of Colorado must allow students to carry registered guns on their college campuses. Advocates of the ruling claim cam- puses will be safer if students can defend themselves. However, the beliefs in fighting violence with violence and that students should resort to guns are incredibly misguided. Colorado and other states need to repeal laws permitting concealed weapons at colleges and reject this example, while deeply discouraging weapons on campus. Fun damentally different Gun violence made headlines again this summer during the theater shooting in Auro- ra, Col., as did the Columbine school shooting that occurred 13 years earlier. With students now allowed to carry concealed weapons, many Colorado officials hope this new law will make everyday life safer. But permitting students to have guns on college campuses does not prevent attacks. This law potentially lessens the obstacles preventing those wish- ing to do harm from bringing guns to large gatherings of people - classrooms, dining halls and auditoriums. College students are not police officers, nor do they have extensive experience with fire- arms. From 2007 to 2011, there were approxi- mately 300 deaths caused by concealed gun carriers. The average civilian does not know how or when to properly use a gun, and when the inexperienced are permitted to carry guns, it increases the risk of harm for bystanders in violent situations. Universities do not have the resources to control the use of guns on cam- pus. Although the University of Colorado has restricted gun holders to off-campus housing, if students wish to use a gun, the university will have very little power to stop them given the size of the student population. At the University of Michigan, there is a policy against carrying concealed weapons on campus. The fear is that this law may be repealed. Gov. Rick Snyder is not quiet in his support of gun owners, saying in an interview, "We have a long tradition in our state of sup- porting gun rights...and I would continue to support that tradition as Governor." However, gun rights should not get in the way of creating a safe learning environment for students. The Second Amendment stands for the right to bear arms, but when it comes to educational institutions, there should be laws restricting concealed weapons for the safety of the stu- dents. School shootings are a deep concern but there are many other methods to prevent violence than promoting self-defense with firearms. Police alone are trained to safely deal with issues of violence. They should not allow the students to shoulder that responsibility. B OWLING GREEN, OHIO - It's not hard to figure out that we live in an increas- ingly polarized country. From energy policy to how we tax citizens, Romney and Obama can't agree on much. At his rally on Sept. 26 in Tole- do, the phrase ADRIENNE "my opponent" ROBERTS was used in more than a few instances. Obama singled out Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney several times, explain- ing how Romney believes this or plans to do that. Obviously partisan and obviously effective. But there was one statement Obama made that may have shed more light than he realized on the fundamental difference between today's Democrats and Republicans.' "Here in America, we believe we're in this thing together." At first glance, that might seem like an idea both parties would agree with. But inaNew York Times article published in early August, Firmin DeBrabander, an associate professor of philosophy at the Maryland Insti- tute College of Art, Baltimore, argues that Republicans hold onto the idea of self-determination. Depending on the government is unfathomable, and a spirit of individualism always prevails. One line in particular stuck with me. "We are not the sole authors of our destiny, each of us; our destinies are entangled - messily, - unpredictably." I think a substantial percentage of our country would dis- agree with that statement. Trust in the federal government always hovers somewhere around 60 percent. Most peoples' feelings about our government - myself included - aren't particularly favor- able. So there's a tendency for many to dismiss the government's role in our lives. We can't survive in this world without at least some govern- mental assistance, but the penchant of some to believe they can pull themselves up by their own boot- straps is almost admirable in a way. And that same way of thinking applies to the most recent Romney- Obama spat. A week ago, at a forum hosted by Univision, Obama said, "The most important lesson I've learned is you can't change Wash- ington from the inside. You can only change it from the outside." Romney then turned Obama's statement'into his rallying cry, and at an event later the same day, he changed his speech to say, "I can change Washington, I will change Washington. We'll get the job done from the inside. Republicans and Democrats will come together. He can't do it." Obama's response at today's speech: "We have to change Wash- ington from the outside, with the help of ordinary Americans making their voices heard." That statement may seem like a simple sound bite from a pandering politician, but I think it reflects a fundamental difference in the way most Republicans and Democrats view themselves. Romney believes it's the president's job, and the pres- ident's job alone, to change Wash- ington. Like many Republicans, he hangs on to this outdated idea of pure individualism and presidential effectiveness. Contrast this with Obama, who openly admits he needs help. To him, "ordinary Americans" include everyone living in this country. From young, debt-ridden college students to wealthy Wall Street bankers, changing Washington is a process everyone needs to work toward. Every person affects another somehow. For example, the Affordable Care Act may be Obama's way of helping those who have pre-existing conditions get insurance, and they, in turn, can Unbridled individualism is an aging ideal. make their voices heard and par- ticipate to make our government change for the better. 4 Coping with competition 4 In his speech, Obama vowed to never turn Medicare into a voucher program, to create more manu- facturing jobs in America and to reduce the deficit by calling on those making more than $250,000 a year to pay a greater share of taxes. These are basic principles of today's Democratic party, but they reflect completely different val- ues as well. Obama fully acknowl- edges that his role as president doesn't necessarily mean he's solely responsible for changing Washing- ton into what we want it to be. This sentiment was clearly reflected in his speech today. Romney and the Republican par- ty's individualistic goals are admi- rable. It's a way for me and other people disillusioned with politics to see the current Republican party in a more favorable light. But this "bootstrap" quality is simply unre- alistic for today's world. We need every citizen's political participa- tion to influence the policies that help us pay off our loans, buy houses and receive medical treatment. We shouldn't have to face this. world alone, especially in today's econom- ic state. President Obama gets this. Romney, however, is still stuck in a mindset that doesn't apply to the problems we face today. - Adrienne Roberts can be reached at adrirobe@umich.edu. Follow heron Twitter @AdrRoberts. Graduating from a high school class of only 40 students, I looked forward to Michigan for more reasons than the welcome change of a new student body and a famous football program - I was excited to begin a new phase of my life where constant comparisons and competitions for grades would be absent. With more than 26,000 undergraduate students SARAH at the University, many ROHAN unknown to one another, I assumed that comparing the decimal points of a grade after every test would be a thing of the past. And, for the most part, that assumption has proven true. How- ever, I've noticed a different type of competi- tive practice emerging in college - one that feels more threatening than the battle for grades I experienced at a competitive high school. This competition is that of the pres- tige of achievement.4 Let me provide an example which illus- trates what I mean by prestige of achieve- ment. Before starting college, I had little interest in studying business. However, when I noticed that many of my classmates were applying to the Ross School of Business, I briefly believed that I, too, should apply. After all, it's a competitive program and it seemed that admission would validate my intellect. In other words, my brief desire to be in the Business School was ignited by the prestige I thought the program would afford me. Of course, there's nothing wrong with studying business or any other competitive major. What's troubling is that the impetus to do so is often the result of the race for recog- nition. The prestige of achievement isn't strictly limited to areas of concentration. It also applies' to internships, job opportunities, study abroad programs and even extracurricular activities. A pre-med student who spent her summer shadowing a doctor feels threatened by the classmate who spent his summer doingmedical research at a university. An art major who stud- ied abroad in Florence feels inadequate next to her friend, a history major, who studied abroad at Oxford. A writer for The Michigan Daily feels like a joke compared to the kid in lecture who's been published in a national paper. We've all been there. The idea of making choices based on prestige is not a new one - many of us took into account a school's reputation when applying to college. However, its pervasiveness in the university world is unique to our generation and due to a few different factors. One contributing factor to the stressful trend is social media, a frequently cited and often guilty culprit of our time. Never before have we been so aware of our friends' profes- sional achievements. Networking tools like LinkedIn allow us to see another's resume instantaneously. Facebook allows us to see the enviable sum- mer job or research opportunity that our best friend's cousin just locked down. It's right there on our homepage. When comparing GPAs gets old, students find new ways to compete. Unfortunately, many of us forget that peo- ple never publish a failure on their resumes or Facebook profiles. All we see through oth- ers' successes are the opportunities we never had and the prestigious awards we never won. The competition of prestige belittles our own accomplishments (no matter how great), makes us second-guess our choices and breeds fear for our futures. The feeble job market also accounts for our widespread preoccupation with others' achievements. When we hear of a friend getting a new job, many of us feel a pang of jealousy or alarm at our ownunstable futures - there goes the job we could've had. Needless to say, the air of prestige-based competitiveness doesn't make for a bet- ter academic environment. Not only does it diminish one's self-esteem, it inhibits our ability to be happy about our peers' achieve- ments. We must resist the urge to use other students as a yardstick for measuring our own accomplishments. I didn't consider the Business School just because I viewed it as prestigious. I'm an English major, for God's sake! I considered it because everyone else held it in such high regard. The student who shadowed a doctor probably doesn't want to work in a lab, but she still feels bad about it since others seem to value lab research more highly. In moments of doubt, we surrender to ideas of prestige that we don't personally hold. This game of comparison is bound to leave us all dissatisfied - even when we're doing what we want, it makes us feel like we should be doing something else. It's important, there- fore, to strive for achievements which make us proud and avoid succumbing to the tempt- ing comparisons our environment creates. - Sarah Rohan can be reached at shrohan@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Eli Cahan, Nirbhay Jain, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Patrick Maillet, Harsha Nahata, Timothy Rabb, Adrienne Roberts, Vanessa Rychlinski, Sarah Skaluba, Michael Spaeth, Gus Turner DRAKE BAGLIETTO| Political participation is our duty 4 4 Waking up one morning, you begin the arduous process of mak- ing that first cup of coffee, throw- ing together some semblance of an outfit and then you look at your phone and see the headline "United States Reinstates Draft." The real- ization dawns upon you that, even though you didn't vote, you have the possibility of getting drafted. This is an extreme example of the inevitable if voter apathy amongthe youth continues. We've all heard the objections to voting. One is that as a result of Con- gress'extreme platforms, many peo- ple feel alienated because they don't support the views of either of the parties. Unfortunately, what's mis- understood by these individuals is that if they do not demonstrate their views through active suffrage, their opinions will continue to be ignored. It's understood that the main goal of political parties is to win elections. Accordingly, they have nothing to gain by appealing to the views of people who will not help them win these elections. By excluding them- selves from the voting process, youth are confirming the long-held belief of political organizations that they aren't worth including in the political process. A second objection to voting is that a portion of the population still believes their vote doesn't really mean anything. This justification of voter apathy is nothing but circular logic. By choosing not to vote, you're wasting your ability to participate in the political process and, conse- quently, are making your opinion meaningless. This, however, isn't the full extent of the issue. Not only are you making your own opinion less valuable, you are decreasing the chance that the opinions of others in yourdemographicwillbe addressed. Nowhere is this more clearly reflect- ed than in the youth vote. . The third major objection to vot- ing is that the government is system- ically inactive by nature, and that there's nothing anyone can do about it. However, through representation, the U.S. government is designed to reflect the will and positions of its people. If the government is inac- tive, it's simply a reflection of the will of the people. If people wanted the government to be industrious, they themselves would be tirelessly involved in the political process. The best method for expressing this involvement is through suffrage. Far-reaching measures must be enacted in light of these precari- ous circumstances. Many people advocate voting as a civic duty that everyone ought to exercise. While this is a step in the right direction, it's akin to a pile of well-meaning sand attempting to hold back the ever-rising tide of voter apathy. Therefore, in order to influence politics and make the youth voice a force to be contended with, we must extend what we view as a civic duty. It's not enough to simply go and vote. In order to remake the politi- cal environment we must go above and beyond the status quo. There- fore, it's not only your civic respon- sibility to vote, but your duty to go out and persuade others to exer- cise the same privilege. As John D. Rockefeller, Jr. put it, "every right implies a responsibility." So, if your responsibility is to influ- ence the political process through your suffrage and your influence is being restricted by voter apathy, you have an obligation to motivate others. This election season, it's not only the right thing to educate others, but a moral necessity. Drake Baglietto is an LSA freshman.