4 - Friday, September 20, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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}c Mihigan aily
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Have an extra point, sweetheart
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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.
FROM THE DAILY
in funding to income
The Texas State Technical College's plan is detrimental to education
Due to budget changes within the Texas State Technical College
system, the state's 12 technical colleges will receive state fund-
ing in proportion to the future incomes of their graduates as of
September 2015. This is part of a growing trend in which the allocation
of state funding to colleges is based upon graduates' success. While other
states have appropriated college funds based on performance factors such
as degree completion and graduate career fields, the state of Texas will be
the first to directly correlate funding and graduate income. Although this
approach to funding may have limited value, it will be detrimental to educa-
tion if states continue to equate graduates' success to their salaries.
Texas' new fund appropriation formula future performance, it should distribute
applies only to the state's technical schools, funds based on job placement rather than
not the University of Texas system. The sys- income. Income is affected by a number of
tem will replace all funding based on enroll- uncontrollable variables including career
ment; when the new funding formula is in field, surrounding job market, and economic
place, technical colleges will receive 26 cents and individual temperament, and thus is an
for every dollar graduates make above the ineffective means of measuring colleges' effi-
minimum wage. Comparatively, the state of cacy. Income-based funding would encour-
Michigan appropriates college funding based age schools to cut valuable yet inherently
on factors including graduation rates, degree lower-earning programs in education, health
attainment in critical fields, and research care and the humanities. Technical colleges
and development expenditures. are generally focused on direct employment,
Although technical colleges focus more so funding based on job placement is a more
directly on employment than more tradition- accurate and effective option for the state.
al four-year institutions, it's wrong to punish Texas' new program is, in some respects,
them by cutting funding because of gradu- similar to President Barack Obama's national
ates who don't make enough money. Doing so initiative to tie college performance to stu-
doesn't take into account the value of knowl- dent aid. The president's plan would rate
edge attainment and personal growth. Espe- colleges based on access, affordability and
cially if adopted by larger universities, which "student outcomes," allocating aid accord-
is unlikely, this policy of heightened empha- ingly. Such a system would be preferable to
sis on future income is a dangerous trend aid based only on graduate income. However,
that could lead to the neglect of less profit- any system of fund allocation based on grad-
able academic pursuits, like social work, uates' future performance must be careful to
for example. foster all kinds of learning and prevent dis-
If Texas sees value in tying funding to crimination of any academic programs.
Making a megalopolis
y teammates and I pulled
up to Mitchell Field,
crammed in an assort-
ment of vans and
cars. The field
looked ghostly
and bleached
under the flood-
lights, filled
with dozens of
jittery figures
darting around, KATIE
echoing "mine" STEEN
and "push up!"
I approached
the referees - two tall, skinny guys
wearing black - confirmed I was
captain of the co-rec B intramural
soccer team "Blurples" and stood
staring at an indiscriminate region
of space between the two of them as
they reviewed the rules. No offsides,
no slide tackling, subs go in at the
halfway line. But they didn't men-
tion the one I was most interested in.
"So,there'sarumorgoingaround,"
I said. "Is it true that goals scored by
women are worth two points?"
"Yeah, girl goals are worth
double."
"OK - just wanted to confirm."
I could have questioned them
about why that's a rule. I could have
rolled my eyes. I could have been
blatantly pissed. Instead, I skipped
off into the floodlights to tell all
my female Blurples to play offense
and to shoot as much as possible.
Because, I want to win, so if girl
points are double, then we might as
well take advantage of it, yeah?
Truth is, I wasn't mad. I realize
the rule is indisputably insulting
to women, but it's hard to com-
plain when the rule is, after all,
benefitting me.
I'm reminded of a certain soccer
game I played during my shrimpy,
self-conscious days as a sixth-grad-
er. I was on an all-female travel
team, and we played all-female
teams. Any hostility toward the
other team was typically limited to
the ever-so-passive-aggressive fail-
ure to shake a certain player's hand
after the game. "Bad game," I'd
mumble under my breath instead
the standard "good game,
my hand hang limp next t
instead of offering it to t
player like a true sportswo
But for one game - just
mage - we played an all-m
and a new form of hosti
introduced.
I was better atsoccer tha
the boys on that team. That
truth. In a standard game, if
nent becomes frustrated,
expect some shoving, a fev
in the side. Maybe the dirty
perate jersey pull. But, "you
a girl," so they adopted an
form of frustration and
jeering at one another: "You
the ball to a girl!" "You're slo
a girl!" "You play like a gir
last one always gets me -
you play like a girl if you'
outperformed by
a girl?) Though
the insults were W
delivered to a
male teammates, any
I highly doubt An
those male play-
ers are writing asE
about that game
nine years later
letting moves to "The Cha-Cha Slide"),
o my side the fact is that these gendered
he other insults and assumptions still exist.
man. The supposed need to give females
a scrim- extra points for their effort is con-
ale team, descending and has been met with
ility was reactions along the lines of "Are
you f-ing kidding me?" from almost
n some of every non-Blurples person I've told.
's just the But I can't say it's terribly surpris-
anoppo- ing. The point system, in short, is a
I might form of benevolent sexism - a type of
w elbows sexism that permeates many aspects
and des- of modern society. It has good inten-
can't hit tions, but is motivated by underlying
indirect assumptions about females that are,
hostility, y'know, sexist. No, I'm not one of
u just lost those feminists who gets pissed off if
'wer than a guy opens a door for me. Being nice
1!" (That (er, "chivalrous") to women is lovely,
how can but please don't patronize us.
were just What the two-point rule basi-
cally says is
that females -
omen don't need regardless of
kind of advantage. how good we
kmd f avantge- are at soccer -
d it's insulting to are inherently
less skilled at
sume that we do. the sport than
males. I, as a
woman, need
in a newspaper, still annoyed by
those comments.
Later, in seventh-grade gym
class, I would play soccer against
boys again. This time, their hostil-
ity was a little more direct. "Bitch,"
I'd hear in between throw-ins and
goal kicks.
When a boy plays poorly, he's just
"playing like a girl." Playing poorly
is the assumed default for a female
athlete. If that female athlete out-
performs a male, she's a bitch. We
can't win.
I realize that the whole "bitch"
incident occurred back in middle
school, when nights were spent
harassing Smarterchild on AIM and
almost everything was fair game for
a "that's what she said" joke. They
were stupid, obnoxious years.
But though we've grown up and
have since forgotten the moves to
"The Cha-Cha Slide" (who am I
kidding - I will never forget the
that extra point for every goal I
score, because heaven forbid I break
a sweat trying to compete against my
male opponents. It's the same reason
there's always the awkward pause
when I get pushed over in a game - I
am female. I am fragile and weak and
suck at soccer. Here, have an extra
point, sweetheart.
Anyway, it's a stupid rule to be
sure, but my fellow female Blurples
took advantage of the extra points
just like I did - and why shouldn't
we? There are much more blatant
and offensive forms of sexism out
there, which can make it easy to let
stuff like this slide - after all, it's
an advantage!
ButI - and the rest of the female
members of my team - don't need
it. And it's insulting to assume that
we do.
- Katie Steen can be reached
at katheliz@umich.edu.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, Eli Cahan, Eric Ferguson, Jesse
Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Maura Levine, Patrick Maillet, Aarica Marsh, Megan
McDonald, Harsha Nahata, Adrienne Roberts, Paul Sherman, Sarah Skaluba,
Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe
Our bodies, our donations
A
An original - though
innovative - idea is
in light of Detroit's c
crisis involving a munici-
pal merger of Detroit into
some combination of the
surroundingtri-county
area of Wayne, Oakland
and Macomb counties.
Edward McClelland's
article on Salon and Jack
Lessenberry's Metro
Times equivalent are
two recent examples of
arguments favoring the
creation of a new Detroit-
Wayne-Macomb-Oakland
mega city-county.
What the megalopolis wo
like is open to wild speculat
dation has immense poten
Detroit. The merger would p
diate tax-base expansion fo
cal political entity and sten
decline that has been long s
Detroit's biggest compoundi
Adding to the appeal,
pal expansion-mergers have
work in major metropolitan
country - Nashville, Indiana
being the most frequently cit
There are several problem
this idyllic proposal, not
least of which is its com-
plete impracticality given
the region's political and
social context.
Detroit is certainly
not Miami, Indianapolis
or Nashville. Many resi-
dents in the tri-county
area already dread paying
off Detroit's massive debt
and unfunded liabilities of n
Furthermore, to a greater
Detroit than anywhere else in
tensions have torn the area a
Metro Detroit arguably rema
regated region of the United
quently mentioned 2011 stud
of Brown University and Bria
State University, Detroit-]
is ranked the most segregate
sample of50 similar areas.
This isn't to mention that D
County's historical records
tal incompetence and corr
reformed by simply conjoini
wiping the slate clean.
Let me be clear here: I dox
that the city of Detroit - an
whole - wouldn't benefit fr(
mergers. At this point, how
aren'tready for it.
not necessarily Small gains in regional cooperation over
gaining traction the last several years - such as the Detroit
urrent financial Institute of Arts millage and the long-over-
due creation of the regional transit author-
ity - don't imply that city leadership, county
officials and their constituencies are ready to
get hitched overnight.
Instead, continued incremental improve-
ments in regional cooperation represent a more
compelling and realistic approach to solving
the larger, more immediate problems we face
in the area, especially if these improvements
lead to internal political reform and a reduction
ALEXANDER in racial animosity. Only then does a Detroit-
county merger seem feasible.
Wayne County has already engaged in
some expanded regional cooperation. Admin-
istrative, policing and other duties across the
uld actually look 43 municipalities that make up the county are
ion, but consoli- combined, thus sharing the associated tax
tial for healing burden and easing the pain of the more dis-
'rovide an imme- tressed communities.
r the hypotheti- Municipalities immediately surrounding
a the population Detroit can do their part, as well. Many cit-
een to be one of ies bordering Detroit have their own finan-
ng problems. cial difficulties. But those with resources to
similar munici- spare - Grosse Pointe, Dearborn and Livonia
been proven to immediately come to mind - can help stabi-
areas across the lize the Detroit neighborhoods along their
apolis and Miami borders by providing an increased police pres-
ed examples. ence in those areas. Program goals don't have
is, however, with to be entirely altruistic. Creating an expanded
"buffer zone" into Detroit
might raise property val-
We can make ues, attract residents and
reduce criminal activity.
important strides in The Jefferson-Cadieux
area in Detroit is a perfect
place to create this "buf-
cooperation. fer zone." West of Cadieux
you'll find housing vacan-
cies, rampant blight and
other devastating issues
early $20 billion. most commonly associated with the city's
degree in Metro neighborhoods. But within a short distance to
the nation, racial the east, you'll find the beginning of Lake Shore
part for decades. Drive and one of the most opulent communities
ins the most seg- in Grosse Pointe, and perhaps all of Michigan.
States. In a fre- Often, when travelling west to east along Jef-
y by John Logan ferson, you'll spot a Grosse Pointe police officer
n Sults of Florida parked directly in front of a sign greeting driv-
Livonia-Dearborn ersentering the suburb - sending a mixed mes-
d metro area in a sage of warning, welcome and antagonism to
Detroit residents.
etroit and Wayne Contrasting this border of exclusion,
of governmen- Grosse Pointe and other surroundingsuburbs
uption won't be could create a more permeable perimeter,
ing the two and expanding their police and fire protections to
areas within Detroit and relieving distressed
n't mean to argue parts of the city - all while making important
d the region as a strides in the realm of regional cooperation.
f we are anything, we are our
bodies. From infancy to infir-
mity, our
bodies are the
bounds of our
inner worlds
and the probes
we use to expe-
rience all oth-
ers. They are
our only means
and mediums BARRY
of experience BELMONT
and expression.
If we don't hear
it, feel it, taste it, smell it, see it or
sense it, there is very little we can
do to contemplate, understand or
convey our existence. Our bodies
are ourselves.
On Wednesday night, the Uni-
versity of Michigan's Department
of Medical Education held a memo-
rial service for the friends and
families of its anatomical donors.
These donors are individuals who
decided to give their bodies over
to the University after their death
for use in medical education, sci-
entific research and technological
development. Those in attendance
heard stories of gratitude from
medical students, doctors and engi-
neers who have all directly benefit-
ted from these donations. It was an
emotional night, with the heart
pangs of sorrow and the full body
warmth of thankfulness palpably
clear for all in attendance.
Anatomical donations have come
a long throughout the history of
medical education: from an era
when the thought of human dissec-
tion was inconceivable (and anat-
omy was learned strictly through
centuries-old texts) to the reign
of body snatchers (where admis-
sion to medical was conditional on
an applicant having an anatomi-
cal specimen) through to the pres-
ent day where a single body may be
used to educate a thousand students
throughout the course of a semester.
As a bit of historical trivia, there
was a time when medical schools
were so desperate for anatomi-
cal specimens that they would pay
top dollar for just about anything,
no questions asked. University of
Michigan Medical School alumnus
Herbert Webster Mudgett - bet-
ter known by the moniker H. H.
Holmes - seized upon this to con-
struct a huge mansion during the
1893 World's Fair in Chicago for the
sole purpose of killing people, dis-
secting their bodies and then sell-
ing their skeletons. In so doing, he
became America's first serial killer.
Mudgett's/
Holmes's pic-
ture can still beh
viewed on the Wha
second floor commemo
connector of the
University of the very dE
Michigan hospi- our hur
tal between the
Cancer Center-
and the Main
Hospital. Class of 1884. Number 38.
Today the procedures for body
donation, procurement and treat-
ment are all covered in the United
States under the Uniform Anatomi-
cal Gift Act, a set of laws designed
to curb human trafficking, eliminate
the black market sale of organs and
ensure that the dignity, respect and
privacy due to such donors are held
in the highest esteem.
There is no dispute that such
donations are hugely beneficial to
nearly everybody involved. There
are statistics out there that show
students taught anatomy with
access to real anatomical speci-
mensvastly outperform those with-
out such exposure; there are lots of
studies that show how necessary it
is for doctors-in-training to work
with real anatomical donors before
treating patients; and it is undeni-
ably true that much of the progress
made in medical device design and
manufacture is due in large part to
anatomical donations made across
the world.
Arguably the only people who do
not benefit from anatomical dona-
tions are the donors themselves.
They are helping medical students,
they are helping doctors, they are
helping future patients and all at a
time when these students, doctors
and patients cannot help them. So
why do they do it?
It was the individual, unspoken
answers of the donors that were
commemorated yesterday. For a
brief moment,
students and
doctors, friends
t was and family,
rated was paused to reflect
S of on the genuine
imtion of altruism of such
nanity. people. Chari-
table in life and
in death, they
,I
.t
:
e
n
are truly some
of the best this world has to offer
- they are the best of us. What was
commemorated were the people
helping other people for no other
reasons than that they could and
that they thought it was the right
thing to do. We shall be forever in
the debt of such individuals, only
hoping to pay forward what we can
with better science and medicine,
with better education and technol-
ogy, with a greater appreciation for
the kindness of others and a gen-
erosity that aspires to the heights
attained by those willing to give
even beyond the mortal world to
help this one. What was commemo-
rated, what was celebrated, was the
very definition of our humanity.
- Barry Belmont can be reached
at belmont@umich.edu.
INTERESTED IN CAMPUS ISSUES? POLITICS? SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK'N'ROLL?
Check out The Michigan Daily's editorial board meetings. Every Monday and Wednesday
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write editorials. E-mail opinioneditors@michigandaily.com to join in the debate.
om the proposed
never, we simply
- Alexander Hermann can be
reached at aherm@umich.edu.
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