4A - Monday, February 4, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com _ [ e icl igan +. ai1y Take action on poverty Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 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. FRO)M TE D [iLY InterVarsity inclusion Regardless of faith, club leadership should be open to all ast week, reports surfaced that the University had revoked the Asian InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's designation as an official student organization, a move group members and the media called discriminatory. According to the club, a non-denom- inational campus ministry, the University kicked the group off cam- pus due to AIVCF's policy requiring those seeking leadership to sign a statement confirming their Christianity. The University denied these claims in a statement released Friday, saying the club wasn't removed, but instead had neglected annual registration deadlines. While the University may not have ousted AIVCF, the club's constitution violates nondiscriminatory policies and prevents students from participating in leadership roles. If the club truly wants to maintain a "spirit of open- ness," AIVCF should modify their constitution and give all students the opportunity to get involved in the organization. N early 50 years ago, Presi- The White House has also pointed dent Lyndon Johnson out that the Affordable Care Act declared an "uncondi- will greatlyimprove millions of low- tional war on pov- income Americans' access to afford- erty in America." able health coverage. Speakingbefore However, a White House official a joint session admitted a few weeks ago that "the of Congress, he president hasn't brought poverty to said, "It will not the forefront of his agenda." Meizhu be a short or easy Lui, director emeritus of the Clos- struggle ... but we ing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative, shall not rest until MICHAEL added "the president hardly talks that war is won. SPAETH about the poor at all." The richest nation So we know that poverty is a on Earth can problem. Here's a more basic ques- afford to win it. We cannot afford tion: Why should we care? We go to lose it." to an elite public university - why Despite the bold rhetoric and should we spend any of our valuable some successes, poverty hasn't gone time helping poor people? After all, away. In 2011, 49.7 million - or 16.1 they're just lazy "takers," right? percent - of Americans lived below First of all, high poverty hurts the the poverty line - the highest pov- economy we'll be entering after we erty rate since the 1960s. In Michi- graduate. "When children grow up gan, 17.5 percent of residents of all in poverty, they're somewhat more ages and 24.6 percent of children likely than non-poor children to lived below the poverty level. For have low earnings as adults, which some perspective, compare these in turn reflects lower workforce numbers to the national unemploy- productivity," according to research ment rate of 7.9 percent. from the Center of American Prog- Several factors drive the high ress. If fewer children grow up in poverty rates. According to the 2013 poverty, more children can get a Kids Count in Michigan Data Book valuable education and develop the "low wages, unemployment and cuts high-level analytical and abstract in social programs" contribute to reasoningskills thatwill make them increased child poverty in michigan. more likely to prosper in the new The problems are similar on a nation- knowledge-based economy. When al level. According to Georgetown we have more people doing jobs that University Law Prof. Peter Edelman, computers can't do, innovation can low-wage jobs, single-parent house- grow and our economy will grow holds, reductions in welfare, and with it. race and gender issues have impeded Secondly, many of Michigan's progress on reducing poverty. impoverished children could be President Barack Obama has future students of our University if taken some steps towards helping we improve their basic living condi- Americans living in poverty. Last tions. Poverty forces many children year, Obama's campaign pointed to attend lower-quality schools or out that the American Recovery and worsens their academic perfor- Reinvestment Act kept millions of mance due to stress at home. If liv- people out of poverty, giving "a sig- ing conditions improve for poor nificant tax cut to low-income fami- children in Michigan, it's entirely lies with children, and support(ing) possible that more of them would be crucial unemployment insurance admitted to the University on aca- for those who were hit hardest." demic merit, making a positive con- tribution to the community. On a broader level, we have a moral obligation to help other human beings who are in need. A PBS Frontline documentary in November provided a heartbreaking account of several families that are trying as hard as they possibly can to have a decent life and give their children a chance to succeed - yet no matter how hard they try, pover- ty continues to be a huge challenge to overcome. When people try so hard and still can't get ahead, they deserve our help. 4 When people try so hard and still can't get ahead, they deserve our help. There are several ways we can help. We can volunteer. We can review the facts and the poli- cies being proposed to solve the problem and hold our lawmakers accountable. At the very least, we can "just start talking about it," as advocates for the poor have called for Obama to do. Particularly after the 2012 election, politicians are paying attention to our generation's opinions and advocacy efforts. As Millenials, we should raise aware- ness of this issue everywhere we can and show that we're united in our concern. Michigan's poor residents are part of our larger Michigan fam- ily. Poor Americans are part of our larger American family. And Mich- igan's poor children might be part of our University family someday. Family members look out for each other - we should never forget that. - Michael Spaeth can be reached at micspa@umich.edu. The University's nondiscrimination policy clearly states that Michigan "is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate onthe basis of... religion." Preventing non-Christians from occupying leadership positions is therefore discrimination according to the University's policy, regardless of the nature of the student organization laid out in the AIVCF statement of purpose. Remov- ing the group's campus affiliation reaffirms the University's commitment to nondiscrimina- tion. AIVCF was also informed in December that there was a problem with their constitu- tion and that they would need to revise it, and so far the group has failed to do so. However, there are two other InterVarsity groups currently recognized by the Univer- sity whose constitutions include a statement of faith requirement for student leaders, sim- ilar to AIVCF's constitution. This indicates that the Center for Campus Involvement, the arm of the University that deals with student organization applications, needs to ensure that it consistently applies its policies across all student organizations. It should pay par- ticular attention to member and leadership selection processes, while remembering that student group disaffiliation should only occur after full consideration of the group in the context of how the University has treated similar issues in the past. The University's enforcement of its policies cannot be construed as an "attack on religion" as several news articles have asserted. It's true that the organization won't have access to some student-group funding and can't reserve space for meetings until it registers a consti- tution that complies with University policies. But this is well within the University's normal procedures, as it requires student organiza- tions to re-register every year. Accordingto the University's press release, leaders of AIVCF and University officials are meeting this week regarding the group's re-registration process, indicating the University's commitment to reli- gious diversity and free speech. Thenearly70 studentreligiousorganizations at the University- like Christians on Campus and the Muslim Student Association reflect the vibrancy of Michigan's religious community. The Asian InterVarsity Christian Fellowship can easily remain among them through submit- ting a constitution that complies with the Uni- versity's nondiscrimination policy. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, Eli Cahan, Nirbhay Jain, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Patrick Maillet, Megan McDonald, Jasmine McNenny, Harsha Nahata, Timothy Rabb, Adrienne Roberts, Vanessa Rychlinski, Sarah Skaluba, Michael Spaeth, Gus Turner, Derek Wolfe "Whenever I hear arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." i u M Lincoln Logs: The war on inequality didn't end in the 1960s. It still needs to be fought, even if it feels like an archaic battle. Go to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium Dresdto distress 0 LUCHEN (LOU) WANG Dissecting C-sections The Caesarean section is by far the grand- est way for a person to enter the world. If it weren't for C-sections, many babies wouldn't have been born. Shakespeare's "Macbeth" would have been a very different kind of trag- edy if Macduff hadn't been ripped from his mother's womb. In fact, some of us can attri- bute our existence to this procedure. Our mod- ern acceptance of the C-section is remarkable because of historical aversion to it. In the past, only brave souls performed C-sections in order to save an infant from a dying mother. C-sections posed a dangerously high risk of infections and hemorrhage. In the 1970s, C-sections accounted for only about five percent of deliveries in the United States, even after the invention of antibiotics, anesthesia and suturing that prevent hemorrhage. Obste- tricians instead delivered with forceps. Only ten years later, the landscape for deliveries began to change dramatically. According to the National Institutes - of Health, by 1988 nearly one in every four babies was delivered by C-section. By 2010, obstetri- cians delivered 32.8 percent of babies by C-sec- tion, and virtually none by forceps. Many critics suspect these numbers are exaggerated. Like all surgeries, C-sections come with complications. They increase the chance of infection, hemorrhage, re-hospitalization and the likelihood that the uterus will rupture in subsequent pregnancies. Even the expenses are higher. According to the CDC, hospital charges for a Caesarean delivery are almost double those for a vaginal delivery. Critics attribute this trend to physi- cians' growing fear of malpractice lawsuits. We can also contend that we've reached a point in medicine where, for many mothers, the risks of surgical delivery are equal to, or less than, those of vaginal delivery. According to the authors of "Elective Primary Caesar- ean Delivery," a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, "accumulating data have suggested increasing potential ben- efits and decreased risks associated with its (C-section's) performance." The likelihood of a Caesarean is also increased due to maternal age, bigger babies and obesity. In addition, 90 percent of wome'n who have C-sections end up repeating the pro- cedure for subsequent births because of high risks associated withvaginal birth at that point. This trend is on the rise in the developed and industrialized world. There's a key message in our shift towards Caesareans best illustrated by the decline of the forceps. At one point, obstetricians employed forceps in 40 percent of deliveries in the United States. Forceps were actually asso- ciated with equal or better outcomes for the baby and mother compared to C-sections - but only in the hands of talented obstetricians. Learning how to use forceps required a kind of intuition that didn'talways come naturally to trainees. As-thrilling as it might be to perform a skill accessible only to a select group, leaders in obstetrics needed to improve the skills of every obstetrician in the country, and thus improve the health of every baby and mother. obstetri- cians, as well as patients, need reliability and consistency. The C-section has become the answer to this dilemma. Once uncommon, the Caesarean section has - in just 10 to 20 years - become a staple in obstetrics. In the near future, C-sections may be even safer for both the mother and child. Would more mothers prefer C-sections without trying vaginal delivery? The authors of the New England Journal of Medicine article seem to suggest that this will become increasingly acceptable. "Although the evidence doesn't support the routine recom- mendation of elective Caesarean delivery, we believe that it does support a physician's deci- sion to accede to an informed -patient's request for such a delivery. "Will our society ultimately choose to forgo our natural ability to give birth for what may in the future be an equally safe or safer process? And what will be the effects of that decision? In "Macbeth", Macduff - a man untimely ripped from his mother's womb by a C-sec- tion - kills Macbeth at the end of the play, fulfilling the witches' prophecy that no one born of woman could kill Macbeth. If Mac- beth took place in a world where Caesareans were common, Macduff would have still ful- filled the prophecy and slain Macbeth, but the prophecy would be a lot more mundane. And for good or for bad, there would be a little less drama. Luchen (Lou) Wang is an LSA senior. As a student in the School of Education, part of my class requirement involves practicum at middle and high schools. Conse- quently, I've been thrown back to the days of using numbers to spell out words on Texas Instru- KATIE ments calcula- STEEN tors, lunch lines and, of course, dress codes. Dress codes are a bit different for me as a teacher than they were as a student. I'm expected to look "pro- fessional" to stress the fact that I'm a mature, responsible, soon-to-be teacher and to differentiate myself from the students, some of whom are only a few years younger than I. A couple days before practicum began, I panicked - realizing I had zero articles of professional cloth- ing - and took a trip to Briarwood. I spent over $200 on pencil skirts, button-up shirts and a pair of heels, only to drive back to the store later and return some of it ina self-loath- ing, shopping-spree hangover. I did keep most of my new ward- robe, and as I walk into the school each day donning my uniform next to a fellow male student teacher, I notice several things. I really, really like being tall(ish). My steps are a lot shorter than his due to constric- tions of my heel-skirt combo. I walk up stairs substantially slower than he can. I get more compliments from housemates on the days I'm dressed "like a .teacher" than the days I'm not. And pencil skirts real- ly "accentuate the female shape,'" i.e. my ass. This flattery is particularly con- fusing since now I'm back in the same environment of dress codes that tries to cover up the female body as much as possible to reduce "distraction" in the school environ- ment. I'm dressing like a "young female professional," which so far has translated into "sexy but cov- ered up and not too sensible." This isn't the first time I real- ized that how women dress, or are expected to dress, often doesn't make any sense. Like many other people, I've grown up in the gray area of dress codes, abiding some- what by the rules that either aren't a big deal if they're broken or serious crimes, depending on who catches you. Shorts and skirts had to be below your fingertips, but more importantly, if guys tried to look up your skirt when you walked up the stairs, your skirt was too short. It was your fault, not theirs. Shirts couldn't be too tight, and necklines couldn't be too low. It was a rule that really varied based on cup size. There was also the spaghetti-strap rule. That is, spa- ghetti straps weren't allowed, but lasagna-straps were fine. Of course, the point was not to let your bra straps show because bra straps are a massive, obscene secret that no one knows about. The school dress codes were never about looking nice or neat or representative of the school cul- ture. They were about covering up our bodies and making us feel like shit if we disobeyed them. Come May and June, you'd begin to notice the reappearance of girls who had to change into their gym shorts in the middle of the day after being hunted down, chased throughout. the school by hall monitors wield- ing flaming sticks, while screaming, "witch." Or worse, "slut.' Guys,however, simply had to cover up their crack and not wear shirts advertising alcohol. Easy enough. Anyway, as I continue with life in the real world and continue to clothe myself in the contradictory bizarreness of feminine profession- al apparel, I've become more aware of how sensible, if not streamlined, men's clothes are and how strange- ly sexy women are expected to be. It's as though everything you were taught about how to dress grow- ing up has been slowly, confusingly reversed. Why is it that women are expected to wear the outfit that slows us, makes us walk a little more carefully, requires crossed legs and often costs substantially more than men's attire? 0 Of course, bra straps, are an obscene 'secret. I'm not saying that women who wear heels and cute skirts are anti- feminist dummies. That would only. be promoting the same kind of mindset that says "bra straps are sinful," "women cannot make their own decisions as to how they should dress" and " she asked for it." It's pretty confusing and strange, and it's something that could potentially affect hiring decisions, respect from students and, in many instances, sal- ary. It's something to be aware of. It's a tricky line to walk between professional and risque, sensible and cute - especially when you're wear- ing heels. - Katie Steen can be reached at katheliz@umich.edu.