4A - Monday, January 28, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4A - Monday, January 28, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.coh CJbe 1idigan al Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. Old, white and on the right 420 Maynard St. Ann.Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com MELANIE KRUVELIS and ADRIENNE ROBERTS MATT SLOVIN EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR ANDREW WEINER EDITOR IN CHIEF 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. Acknowledged service Women in combat is progressive, but precautions needed The United States military has once again taken a progres- sive step in the continuing conversation on inclusion of more Americans in the armed forces. On Jan. 24, out-going Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, chairmgn of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, signed an order to lift the military's 1994 ban on women in combat. The decision to include women on the front line comes a year after the repeal of the Penta- gon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Though the action to be more inclusive and accommodating of female soldiers is honorable, cer- tain precautions need to be made in order to ensure the well-being of all military personnel. The Republican Party has spent the past few months licking its wounds and taking a long, hard look at the man in the mirror. For the second straight presi- dential elec- tion, the GOP was trounced - largely due to its uncanny ability to solely appeal to old, white men. The JAMES Republican BRENNAN Party has dug its own grave by taking a far-right stance on religion, women's health, the envi- ronment, the military, gay rights and a myriad of other key issues. While this may have gotten Presi- dent George W. Bush to the White House twice, it's clear that the country's electorate has changed. From what I can tell, Republi- cans of my generation feel little to no compassion for the policies of the Bush era. Despite this change, the GOP platform continues to deny science, belittle women, ignore minorities and denigrate gay rights. This year's election is proof that the socially conservative Republican is a dying breed. Younger Republicans, as detailed in an article in The New York Times, are predominantly less conservative when it comes to abortion, gay rights and other social issues. As a whole, the Unit- ed States supports gay marriage - a fact expressed in poll numbers and recent state ballot initiatives. Moreover, the younger generation has embraced access to contracep- tion, the end of the war on drugs and less military involvement over- seas. Finally, what's most indica- tive of the changing guard of the Republican Party is the country's changing views on religion. 16 to 20 percent of Americans are affili- ated with no religion at all, a num- ber that increases to 25 percent in young people. The religious right was integral in the elections of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, but Christianity is losing political sway in young people. What all this means is that the current structure of the Repub- lican Party - one dominated by far-right social conservatives - is inherently flawed. Economic issues still draw sharp divides, but the country is slowly uniting around civil libertarianism. Young con- servatives do not see former GOP hopefuls Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum as ideal candidates com- pared with someone in the mold of Ron Paul, one of the nation's most influential libertarians. There is a growing demand in this country for politicians who want to limit the government's social and fiscal sway - for people *who believe in both civil liber- ties and deregulated free market capitalism. College libertarian clubs have sprouted up all over the country, while college Republi- cans are increasingly more open to social freedom. This past year, Mitt Romney did not win the major- ity of women's votes and almost completely failed to attract young people and minority voters. Presi- dent Barack Obama did an excel- lent job rallying his supporters, but the GOP has failed to embrace the changing political ideologies of America. What the Republican Party needs to realize is that social prog- ress has come, apd it stops for no one. Gay marriage is here to stay. So is reform of the war on drugs, women's access to birth control and further secularization of gov- ernment. The party will die if it does not accept these changes,just as Democrats would have died had they tried to battle against civil rights for years after the 1960s. The Republican Party has reached a reckoning point. Many conservatives are angry that Mitt Romney wasn't genuinely far-right enough. Had he been a real conser- vative, they claim, people would have embraced his message and voted Obama out of office. The socially conservative republican is a dying breed. 4 But as I said, this type of repub- lican is a dying breed. Poll numbers show that hardcore conservatism is a major detriment to candidates in the new demographics of America. Obama won the youth, Latino and female votes 60 percent, 71 per- cent, and 53 percent, respectively. Holding archaic stances on immi- gration, race, sex, war and religion is killing Republicans, as the num- bers show. Libertarianism, whether through the Republican Party or some other channel, will one day soon come to have major political power in this country. The GOP can either choose to embrace a long-term strategy for the future, as the Democrats did, or they can continue to be upended time and again in national elections. Many pundits and writers have embraced the idea that Republicans just need to reach out to minorities a little more if they want to bounce back, but that alone isn't enough. The far right's view on the role of govern- ment is dying. An embrace of lib- ertarianism would shrink the gaps in key demographics, while finally giving libertarians - a large, underrepresented political group - somewhere to go. If the GOP plans on surviving, they have to accept the changing face of conservatism or see their brand go extinct. - James Brennan can be For years, women have been serving in combat without acknowledgment. Due to the blurring of front lines during recent wars and the shortage of troops, female members of the military often participate in combat without the title or credit men receive. The decision to repeal the ban - though delayed - will finally give women the recognition they deserve. Women will have a better chance at career advancement in the military with approxi- mately 237,000 combat-related positions now open to female applicants. Better financial compensation and benefits will also be avail- able to women in combat. Before women are allowed on the battle- field, the military must first make some cul- tural changes. For decades, reports of rape and sexual assault by military personnel have plagued the United States' armed forces. The documentary, "The Invisible War," chronicles the abuse of women in the military over many years. Many assaults are reported to authori- ties but only 16 offenders have been convicted from 2001 to 2011. Often times war zones are in areas in which women are not on equal grounds as men. The fear that women may be specifically targeted by enemies on the front line deterred the armed forces from allowing females in com- bat. However, women in the military may face more risks from other U.S. service people. Women on the front line are often an added bonus to their unit. Civilians are often more likely to cooperate with a female soldier than a male.Women are also able to conduct searches on female citizens in areas where it is cultural- ly unacceptable for men to touch women who aren't their wives. According to Panetta and Dempsey, the standards for combat soldiers won't change, but women will now have the opportunity to apply. "Not everyone is going to be able to be a combat soldier but everyone is entitled a chance," Panetta said at the order signing. The Pentagon's repeal of the ban works to share the burden of national defense and allow ability, not gender, to dictate roles. Now, the military's next step is to make proactive changes within their infrastructure to ensure the physical and mental well-being of each soldier. 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. Send the writer's full name and University affiliation. to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, James Brennan, Eli Cahan, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Patrick Maillet, Aarica Marsh, Jasmine McNenny, Harsha Nahata, Adrienne Roberts, Vanessa Rychlinski, Paul Sherman, Sarah Skaluba, Michael Spaeth, Derek Wolfe CRAIG LAURIE Beyond blood "l don't like that man. I must get to know him better." the - Abraham Lincoln pod lu fl Lincoln Logs: Harsha Nahata discusses how we avoid conversa- tions with those we disagree with, but we're actually just passing up opportunities to learn and understand. Go to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium to read more. The art of concise articulatiton S 6 I urge the student body and University administration to consider, discuss and reflect on the social, political and psychological implications of participation in and promotion of a blood drive that prohibits donations from gay and bisexual men. Across the United States, businesses, non- profit organizations, churches, universities and hospitals regularly hold blood drives to meet the persistent need for blood for trans- fusions. According to a recent e-mail sent to all University students, staff and faculty from Vice President for Student Affairs, E. Royster Harper, the donation of blood is a humanitar- ian act, a civic duty, a way to show your school pride and the gift of life itself. The Ameri- can Red Cross, which collects 40 percent of donated blood in the United States, encour- ages organizations to hold blood drive events in order to increase goodwill in communities, provide an avenue for individual altruism and save lives. After natural disasters, when cop- ing with the death or illness of a loved one, or simply looking for a way to "give back," people are encouraged by their friends, families and institutions to donate blood. Maybe you've given blood, volunteered at a blood;drive, even spearheaded an event like the Blood Battle against Ohio State University. Good. You understand the personal signifi- cance of participation and you've likely saved lives. Take a second to consider the following: Imagine that you are banned from donating blood startingnow and for the rest of your life. Your vital blood and your civic contribution are unwanted and rejected. You are excluded. You are banned. You are unworthy to donate. The ban on your blood has nothing to do with any blood-borne illnesses (you aren't liv- ing with any) or because of sexual behavior that puts you at particular risk for a blood- borne illness (at University-sponsored blood drives and at blood drives around the coun- try, a man is barred from donating blood if he has had any form of protected sexual contact with another man even once). You are banned because you are a man who once had a boy- friend or who comes home every night to a husband instead of a wife. How does this feel? Do you feel useless? Unwanted? Hated? This feeling is the unexamined stigma rei- fied by the quiet complicity of institutions like the University and schools across cam- pus, including the School of Social Work. If we remain silent about the downsides inher- ent in holding blood drives and if we refuse to incorporate discussions about advocacy and awareness into our promotion of and partici-' pation in blood drives, then we will continue contributing to the oppression of gay and bisexual men. At the University, we frequently approach social justice issues from all-or-nothing perspectives. Things are good or bad - and right or wrong. There are rarely, if ever, open conversations about the nuances and para- doxes inherent in many of the activities. The current and ongoing University-wide blood drive, held in classrooms and common areas all over campus, represents this aversion to dialogue and self-reflection. Conversations are limited to the idea that blood drives are inherently and unassailably good. No ques- tions, comments or concerns are welcome. No criticisms or analyses allowed; no education necessary. Most things in life are rarely perfect. That doesn't mean we can't work to make them bet- ter. We don't have to ignore the stigmatizing and marginalizing effects of blood drives. We can promote the incredible benefits of blood drives without relying on shaming those who do not or cannot participate in them. We should hold these events while holding trans- parent conversations about our complicity in structural oppression and ways we can work to oppose it. It's time for us to reflect. Craig Laurie is a graduate student in the School of Social work. D escribe yourself in three sentences that are no more than eight words each." Excuse me, internship appli- cation: Did you just give me all of 24 words to paint a picture of the awesome- ness that is me? A personal statement is one HEMA thing, but being KARUNA- forced to cut KARAM down so much into so little is obnoxious. How doI pick just the right words to use? I could just list 24 adjectives about myself - but that's too boring. I could twist the rules of grammar and write three sentences that are not really sen- tences - butI don't think I should be experimenting too much on an application like this. So, where doI draw the line? Dilemmas like mine aren't iso- lated. It seems that the desire for brevity as a way to measure think- ing abilities is becoming more wide- spread. And why not accomplish two things at once by asking for a sort of personal statement? A friend recently shared a question from a leading company that asked the applicant to describe, in 100 words or fewer, why he or she wanted to work there. While the company gets the desired information about the applicant's interest from this, it's also able to see how creative the applicant can be in such space limits. But this forced conciseness seems a bit counterintuitive to our edu- cational methods. So much of our time in school is spent describing, expanding and developing ideas in order to meet word or page require- ments. We'll flip between online thesauruses trying to find the longestword that means what we intend and add all kinds of "fluff" to take up space. Even as I type this column, my eyes are glancing down to the word count every few min- utes. While we've been taught not to ramble and to stick to the point, we're still encouraged to explain our ideas as much as possible. And now, suddenly, it seems that what- ever we learned from our 25-page final reports and 5,000-word liter- ary analyses has gone to waste. Perhaps this argument that less is more is about more than just measuring our creative ability. In our fast-paced world, people don't have time to read through anything longer than a few sentences at a time. Take the Twitter culture, for example. With over 200-million monthly active users, the San Fran- cisco-based company is one of the largest online forums - despite the fact that its users are only allowed to post 140 characters at a time. Personally, I feel stifled every time I'm tweeting and see that little red counter closing in toward 'zero. I'm that person struggling to eliminate characters until I can make it down to exactly 140; some- times, I'm forced to spread my ideas across multiple tweets at once. On principle I refuse to abbreviate "you" to "u" and "before" to "b4" - I won't budge when it comes to good English. But being the word nerd that I am, it's suffocating to have to replace a longer, more apt word with one that is shorter and more succinct. (And can we take a moment to acknowledge that "suc- cinct," at eight letters, is hardly a succinct word?) Giving in to the demands of modern culture shouldn't have to mean compromising vocabulary. But maybe, even from a language- oriented point of view, being short on space means finding innovative uses for punctuation or communi- cating multiple entendres where appropriate. It's an exercise not just in creativity, but, perhaps, also in mastery of language. When we're cramped for space, every letter means so much more. Maybe you've yet to face a task that requires you to drastically cut down on words. But if and when you do come across such a situ- ation, embrace it as a challenge. Finding the right words to describe who we are or what we feel is never easy, but when we have to do so in such a small space it turns into an opportunity to truly find the root of what we're tryingto say. For all the Twitter fiends out there, think about what's really important in every tweet you compose. When we're cramped for space, every let- ter means so much more. As for me, I've tried to turn what was initially an annoyance into an exercise in figuring out what I'm really about. There's some- thing almost poetic about trying to describe ourselves with just the bare minimum. So, here Iam, stripped down to the root. Quick-witted, sharp, passionate: just "no" isn't an answer. From ben- zene to Bharatanatyam, my bases are covered. My words may be small - my dreams aren't. - Hema Karunakaram can be reached at khema@umich.edu.