4A - Friday, October 4, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4A - Friday, October 4, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom l e Mchinan [ 43atlp I bitch, therefore I am 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. No city left behind The state of Michigan needs to take the lead in repairing Detroit In a press conference Friday, President Barack Obama announced a $320-million aid package for the city of Detroit. The package is not aimed at relieving Detroit's $18-billion debt and is by no means a bail- out for the city. Instead, this allocation includes federal, state and private aid that will go toward improving several aspects of the city's infrastruc- ture. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and the state of Michigan have done lit- tle to help Detroit financially, a fact that needs needs to change if the city is going to improve. Investing in the city is a logical policy that will not only encourage Detroit's recovery, but also benefit Michigan as a whole. itch" can be a pretty harmless word. For instance, when trying to fig- ure out what to write about for my column, I went around ask- ing my people, "What should I { bitch about this week?" I write a KATIE feminist column, STEEN so I realize that in asking that, I'm half-jokingly admitting to being a bitch. I bitch, therefore Iam. I'm not trying to be self-depre- cating, but rather I'm using "bitch" in a way that isn't negative. I've reclaimed it - along with plenty of other women (I'm talkin' about you, Meredith Brooks). What used to be an insult has become somethingthat a woman can now be proud of - a label that signifies strength, outspo- kenness and all those other "unlady- like" qualities. Of course, the reclamation of "bitch" is nothing new, but it's still in the process of being reappropri- ated. It's because of this reason that the 2008 Saturday Night Live sketch where Amy Poehler and Tina Fey declared, "Bitches get stuff done" is still resonant and funny (it's funny 'cause it's true). But at its core, "bitch" is a misogy- nistic word, and the problem with "bitch" doesn't only arise when it's used disparagingly. "Bitch" screamed into a cell phone, yelled out a car window, delivered with a slap across the face, scrawled ona scrap of loose leaf and handed to a frenemy in Mrs. Collins' third hour - these are all moments when "bitch" is indis- putably a not-nice word to use. The more subtly problematic usage of "bitch" arises when peo- ple who aren't women - or per- haps more specifically, not bitches - say the word, especially if it's not being used in a de insulting manner. I'm thinking, in part a conversation I had wi friends the other day. One a male - was talking abc cert that got out of hand were thrown, bodies wer and "bitches were broug the stage to dance and h poured all over them." L look the discussion of v stage props for a second,; about the fact that he felt able labeling women ast the presence of a woman say anything, partly beca only half-listening to the tion, but also because I di to be labeled as that-girl- can't-say-"bitch"-around- labeled one, for thatmatter. And the conversa- At tion continued on its course. an The fact that But he used that word seems to funn say something that's simulta- neously reassuring and tro He's comfortable enough it ence to use that word arou also, it says I am not part of of women known as "bitt least in his use of the wo ing dumb-bitches-who-i poured-all-over-them. It's way some friends feel co talking to me about howe girls are "sluts" - hell, eves sorority girlscan sting if sai right tone. I'm not "one of it's cool if we criticize and ly overgeneralize women friend groups, their Bodyc and "walks of shame," righ The answer, by the way still misogynistic, even if y ing to a female. I have another friend w use the term "white bitche record, he's white, so the< liberately that's really differentiating him from these stupid white girls he's talk- icular, of ing about is the fact that he's not a ith a few female). I wouldn't anecdotally refer e friend - to a male as a "white dick." I realize out a con- "dick" is hilariously not interchange- . Punches able at all with "bitch," which again e bloodied shows how rooted in misogyny the ght up on whole existence of the word is - ave vodka there simply isn't a male equivalent! et's over- So why is "bitch" an appropri- women as ate general term for females? I real- and think ize there's the fact that "bitch" can t comfort- be used on males as well, but really bitches in you're just equating men to females n. I didn't and implying females are weak/stu- use I was pid/whatever else, so it's still sexist. conversa- Moving on. idn't want But, after all this bitching about -who-you- the word "bitch," there's stillthe part - or to be of me that really truly does think the word has its uses. "Bitch" can its core, "bitch" iS be funny, "bitch" liSOgyniStiC Word. canhbe clever, "bitch" can be "bitch" can also be useful. "Bitch" Sc adu ful.is a verb and a y, clever and usefu-noun and even an adjective. Really, who could 'ublesome: argue that "bitchin' " as an adjec- n my pres- tive is offensive? Who actually gets nd me. But offended when told that their outfit 'the group is "bitchin' " today? No one! But seri- hes" - at ously, "bitch" just works sometimes, rd, mean- and that's whyI use it. With caution. get-vodka- The debate over the word "bitch" the same has been written about and talked imfortable about countless times. Hell, there's sorority even a piece in The Michigan Daily n the label from 2008 that more or less sums up d with the a lot of what I'm trying to say here. them," so Some vilify the word; others defend d massive- it as a God-given right to identify as for their a bitch. I'm not aiming to reach any on dresses overarching conclusion here regard- t? ing "bitch." I'm only hoping to point , is no. It's out some things I've noticed and ou're talk- hope that it increases our mindful- ness over how we use the word. ho likes to s" (for the -Katie Steen can be reached only thing at katheliz@umich.edu. Instead of paying for the city's debt, the fed- eral aid will help fund city services that will help Detroit's citizens. The aid distributes $25 million to Detroit's firefighters, $24 million to repair the city's bus system and more than $90 million - from both public and private sources - to demolish and refurbish abandoned build- ings. This gesture demonstrates that Detroit is not merely a bankruptcy project, but a city where families and communities live and work - and aid from the government can positively impact lives. However, it does overlook the city's school system. Detroit Public Schools is a district that has been plagued with ineffective teachers. A portion of the funding could go to attracting better teachers to the district. Snyder and the state of Michigan need to fol- low Obama's lead and invest in the Motor City in order to create jobs and make it a more attractive city to live in. Once a city peopled by 1.5 million, Detroit has seen its population decrease by more than 50 percent in just 60 years, with only about 700,000 residents remaining. Detroit is Michi- gan's responsibility and the state needs to take the lead in constructing its recovery. President Obama's aid package illustrates that Detroit and its residents is important to our nation. This view directly counters Congress' sentiments about Detroit - for they seem to feel no obligation to help a city whose popula- tion serves no political benefit to them. In fact, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced an amendment earlier this summer that would pro- hibit government bailouts of municipal cities like Detroit. Bloomberg reported on Sen. Richard Shelby's (R-Ala.) disapproval of a Detroit bailout: "What's happening to Detroit is going to happen to a lot of our cities," Shelby said. "They're losing their tax base, have eroding schools. It's a tough situation." Because Obama couldn't garner the support of Congress in compiling federal aid, he had to scramble to collect the several grants and private aid sources to generate $320 million. Hopefully this aid package serves as a stepping- stone in the revival of what was once the nation's industrial powerhouse. Slighted student fans Ithought I'd follow the Michigan men's bas- shift from 2,700 to 3,000 seats. T' ketball team anywhere. And proudly, for a represent nearly 24 percent of time, I can say I did. panty - admirable, to be sure. T To Atlanta, I went. refusal to allocate more seating to I stayed three nights, University claims they have other in three hotel rooms, with - alumni, fans, donors - to accou three different groups of student show rate was a paltry 46 F people in what can only be entire season and 67 percent durin described as a whirlwind of I've been with you until now, At an April weekend to cheer ment, but here I have to scratch my on the Wolverines in their For last year's nonconferen first Final Four appearance ALEXANDER against big-time opponents Clevel in nearly 20 years. And I'm NN Indiana University-Purdue Univ no bandwagon fan either. napolis - or really, most bad to m To Brooklyn, I went. every year- you couldn't tell me a Why travel over 600 face that the general basketball- miles early last season to watch a seemingly tion filled their seats at a significan meaningless game against West Virginia at the than students. Students, however i Barclays Center? Well, umm, why not? occupy Crisler at a rate similar to e To Crisler Arena, I went. Practically, a better alternative For four years as an undergraduate at the Uni- policy would've expanded the st versity, I attended nearly every game. My first a small amount - another 400 sea two years, the student section almost never grew one year to justly accommodate beyond courtside. And even before I was a stu- purchased tickets under false pret dent,I'dtraveldownI-94severaltimeseverysea- scenario, the Athletic Departmei sonfromthe'burbsofDetroittowatchBrent"Air utilized the merit-based system Georgia" Petway - a future Harlem Globetrotter attending the most games get prior - throw down massive dunks for early-arriving ited seating for games highest in de fans while the rest of the team was warming up. appropriate. And with this seas( If you don't know what I'm talking about, let's weak home slate, I doubt that woul just say there was rarely much to cheer for back tional two games. when Crisler was still an "arena" and Beilein was If this system worked unsatisf just some coach at West Virginia University. year - say, the University had to t But now, in my first year as a graduate student, dents unexpectedly at several gam I've decided to return my season tickets because letic Department could then unve of the new student-ticket policy instituted earlier policy next year before students bu this year. The current policy - only a m For those out of the loop, due to unheard-of nience for die-hard fans -unfairly] demand following Michigan's best season since students who don't make basketba the Fab Five, the Athletic priority. Thro Department has divided bothersome n the season into six differ- The current policy and the assoc ent "claim periods" where, ments that con at some predetermined punishes students who ing games,n time before each "claim don't make basketball will be incenti period," the 4,100 students go attendingg who bought season tickets games a top priority. really the way will have to login online student section to call dibs on a maximum tedlylacking? of 3,000 tickets per game. Claiming tickets and That brings me to my last point. missing games incurs different penalties. Four the University is adamant the ne missed claimed games, and you're out. No more driven by revenue. But after anal basketball for you. similar student-ticket policies acro To be fair, this isn't an entirely egregious sys- cited by the Athletic Department,c tem. The Athletic Department clearly did its due price is higher than Michigan's -a diligence, showing in a recent e-mail to student State's $250 ticket package alsoi ticket buyers that several universities across the ball. Tradition-rich University ofC nation - including some basketball powerhouses Angeles ($99), Indiana University ( - use similar systems. Anticipating backlash, the University of Kansas ($150, who Athletic Department even addressed two alter- football), don't approach Michiga native solutions. How fair would it be to disallow son-ticket price. incoming freshmen from purchasing tickets, or If creating a more formidable dividing ticket packages into two different sets? which necessitates bolstering the Not fair at all, clearly. tion, is truly the genuine concern( But a third alternative, expanding the size of sity, then adopting new student-f the student section, isn't discussed until later. policies is an absolute must. The University claims that a 10-percent increase in the size of the student section was already -Alexander H planned before the policy change, representing a reached at aherr ose seats now Crisler's occu- o justify their students, the r stakeholders nt for, and the percent for the g Big Ten play. hletic Depart- y head. ce matchups and State and versity India- iddling games with a straight going popula- tly higher rate mperfect, still veryone else. student-ticket udent section ats or so - for students that tenses. In this nt could have -- students ity on the lim- mand - when on's relatively d add an addi- factorily for a urn away stu- nes - the Ath- 1i a new ticket y their tickets. inor inconve- punishes busy ll games a top ugh both the ew procedure iated punish- me from miss- many student ivized to fore- games. Is that 'to build up a n that's admit- In the e-mail, w policy isn't yzing the five ss the country only one ticket and Oklahoma includes foot- alifornia, Los ($120), and the also includes n's $200 sea- home arena, student sec- of the Univer- friendly ticket ermann can be rm@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, James Brennan, 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 To anyone who's ever grown up When we were very young, California summers were my vision of infin- ity. I remember asking from under the covers one night at bed- time how long it would take to count to infinity. Dad said it was impossible. No JULIA one ever could. ZARINA Not even if the first person on Earth started counting and each subsequent per- son picked up where it left off when he died. I tried to imagine the con- cept of everything there had ever been to count. I pictured the hills from the back deck. I pictured every blade of yellowing grass. I pictured the sepia sunlight that illuminates every memory I have and is the only real way I know to distinguish what was reality from what was a dream. That was truly the only uncountable thing I knew. Sunlight. It was noth- ing and it was everything. Growing up, I thought people existed with a singularity of pur- pose. That the universe was wholly utilitarian and the unending strug- gle against entropy was largely tipped in favor of order. Our physi- cal lives are geometric construc- tions set starkly against a wild and organic backdrop, and I believed that our internal lives could be con- ducted in much the same way. I guess at some point every per- son realizes that a life drawn in neat lines is untenable. Just as water and wind erode buildings poured in sturdy concrete, growing up erodes the belief that we are predestined towards order in who we are, what we do, who we love. Maybe it's acute- ly destructive, like an earthquake, the sudden jolt of losing everything. Maybe it's the steady drip, almost imperceptible until the day you find yourself drunk and untraceably lost in the cab on the way home from the bar, reflecting on the vast "why" of disappointment under a staccato ticking of passing streetlights. Night day night day night. We fail. We win when we shouldn't. The universe is reckless and arbitrary when we ne orderly and kind. We fall in the wrong person, or the rid at the wrong time. The b you know would be per comes around, the girl n' the stars never align. After you lose everythi first time (or everything you), you latch hard and f worldview. Something i un-losable, permanent. S that you think will forever, in a place inclined towar That nothing in existence l sic value; that everythingc self-respect means being ing; that self-respect mea ing which places and peop away from. That no one understand us exactly in tl want them to; that we wan ever fullyunderstand us.VW must be." We know "it mus What we don't expect is of infinite magnitude in o mean nothing in another per- son's. Please, I In c need this job. at ae You made me want to die. a ball You are liter- he ally all I have. I the love you. I hate you. Met with the blinking eyes, the turn the implosive silence not o who cares enough to oppo of someone who will never, take ownership of what yi Communication is inheren uous. We choose only word they will be received. Show me pictures of 11 and I will pick out the one son among the 99 who are every time. It's somethingi that says "I always knew." died, I couldn't look at thos The eyes consumed me. I for days at a time, trying t alive with my tears. Then I tried to will m with my anger. It's not that I wanted to 1 but I wanted a physical res the way I did. It was a str bination of infinite andn all. I checked my pulse pe Sometimes I swore I hear ed it to be but echoes. When neither worked, love with I got up. I smashed the frames of all ght person the pictures. I screamed until I for- 'est friend got who I was, until I forgot I was fect never human. I drove too fast down empty ever calls, roads, flirting with reckless abandon, teasing death. Sometimes I wished ng for the I would get caught just to appease a has lost misplaced desire for justice; I never ast onto a did. I destroyed everything in my ntangible, power. I stopped when I reached a Something line at which I would have to proceed define you inwardly or not at all. She had a per- rds chaos. sonality like autumn sun and smooth has intrin- stones in a river. I could not destroy does. That that. I could not define that unambig- unyield- uously, universally, perfectly. ns choos- Now I'm older and I still don't le to walk know if I know better - if I've ever will ever done anything unquestionably right he way we - but there are a few mistakes I'd t no one to be willing to make twice. In college, re think "it everyone is at a crossroads, stuck in t be." a balancing act between a past they for words cannot change and a future they're ur lives to desperate to. The challenges seem to increase every year: grow- ollege, everyone is ing up, moving crossroads, stuck in away from home, meeting people, ancing act between losing people, ir past and future. trying to con- stantly define yourself as some- thing unique in ing cheek, a world where everyone must be f someone special to fit in. It's easy to become se you but nostalgic and to feel more safe in can never the past than secure in the future. ou've said. Things that were difficult in the tly ambig- past seem bittersweet; as though s, not how everything was sand then, rough on the knees and golden to the eyes. 00 people, The best lesson we learn in grow- dead per- ing up is also the one we are most still alive hesitant to use. People are inher- in the eyes ently resilient, far beyond what we After she give ourselves credit for, but we're e pictures. afraid to fail. We learn that almost lay in bed nothing is so permanent that the o will her future will not change the course we've set, and yet we're afraid to yself dead make mistakes. Balance isn't stat- ic. It's a constantly tipping scale kill myself, between order and chaos. son to feel Everything and nothing has ange com- changed. 0 0 nothing at riodically. d nothing -Julia Zarina can be reached atjumilton@umich.edu.