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4 - Tuesday, October 22, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
4 - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
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Danger for the Great Lakes
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
AUlnsign ed editorials reflect the offcilrepostsofthe Daily's editortialor.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
FRyO M I HE D AILY
Don't get testy
A bill to tie unemployment to drug testing goes too far
The Michigan state Senate approved a bill Thursday that would revoke
unemployment benefits for a person who fails a drug test (as a part
of the application process for public-sector jobs in Michigan). While
the bill wouldn't mandate that employers report applicants who either refuse
or fail a drug test during an application process, it proposes revoking ben-
efits for those reported as failing or refusing testing. This practice is further
burdening Michigan's unemployed residents and violates the privacy of those
who receive unemployment benefits.
The wind had begun to pick
up as my cousin and I made
our way across the five-
mile expanse
of the Macki-
naw Bridge this
past July. There
wasn't a cloud
in the sky as we
headed north,
the deep blue a
waters of Lake KATE
Michigan and LARAMIE
Huron churning
below us as we
drove.
The Great Lakes, carved and
shaped by the glacial retreat of the
last ice age, are the-second-largest -
polar ice caps are the first - source
of freshwater in the world. They
contain roughly 84 percent of North
America's fresh water and 21 per-
cent of the freshwater for the entire
planet. The Great Lakes Basin is an
ecological system like none other
on this earth, one characterized not
only by a unique environmental leg-
acy, but also by the human culture
that has formed around them: for
thousands of years.
Yet, as I drove across the bridge
that day in July, I wasn't think-
ing only about the complex his-
tory, beauty and legacy of the Great
Lakes: I was also thinking of the
lurking danger that lies beneath
them - an environmental disas-
ter in waiting, one often associated
with the catastrophic destruction of
aquatic ecosystems from the Gulf of
Mexico to the beaches of Alaska.
You probably already guessed
it: oil - hundreds of thousands of
gallons of oil. For instance, did you
know there's an oil pipeline that
runs under the Straits of Mackinaw?
I didn't, and the more digging I did,
the more fearful I became of the
dangers that this particular pipeline
poses to the Great Lakes.
The question is not if it will ever
rapture and spill heavy crude into
the lakes. It's when.
Before you call me a pessimist you
should understand a few things that
I didn't know until recently. The
pipeline under the straits is owned
and operated by a company called
Enbridge. Heard of them? On July
26, 2010, one of Enbridge's pipelines,
known as 6B, ruptured in Marshall,
Mich., spilling - on Enbridge's esti-
mate - 843,000 gallons of oil into
the Kalamazoo river. It was the larg-
est inland oil spill in the history of
the United States. Itis estimated that
Enbridge has yet to clean 180,000
gallons of oil that still remain in the
Kalamazoo River. The U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency esti-
mates that even after such a cleanup,
somewhere between 162,000 to
168,000 gallons of_
oil will remain in
the river, pollut- The ques
ing the water and
surrounding land. if the oil
Enbridge's line
under the Straits Will rap
is old, too, hid-
den beneath the rather
waves since 1952, -
five years before
the Mackinaw Bridge opened to
traffic in 1957. Now, I'm not sure if
you've ever been to the Great Lakes
or seen them in action, but they're
massive bodies of water that oper-
ate under intense force and pressure
from storm patterns, currents, and
freezing and thawing in the winter
and spring. All of these factors help
weaken and degrade such pipelines
over such a long amount of time.
Yet, despite the concern over
Enbridge as a company or the age
and integrity of the line, there's a
more urgent and pressing need to
call attention to the Straits Pipeline
now: Enbridge plans to expand the
pipeline's capacity, transporting a
great amount of crude beneath the
lakes in the form of tar sands oil -
some of the heaviest, dirtiest, dens-
est crude there is.
While tar sands has, until recent-
ly, beentreated like anyothertype of
oil that we transport through pipe-
lines across the United States, the
EPA has begun arguing that stan-
dards for tar sands oilltransportation
should be changed. Why? Because
it was tar sands oil that spilled into
the Kalamazoo River in 2010, and
the EPA has come to realize follow-
ing the disaster that cleaning up tar
sands is, well, almost impossible.
So on July 14, as my cousin and I
crossed the Mackinaw Bridge into
the Upper Peninsula, we headed
toward St. Ignace. We met up with
protestors led
by Bill McKib-
tion is not bon and 350.
org, an environ-
pipeline mental coali-
tion working to
ture, but build bridges
between grass-
when. roots envi-
ronmental
campaigns all
over the world. We sat on the grass
with more than a hundred others, lis-
tening to stories about Enbridge and
oilspills, ecology and community.We
went because Michigan is our home,
and Michigan has been shaped,
defined and identified by the water
that surrounds us. The Great Lakes
are ours to protect and defend. They
are precious, and we have the power
- and the need - to fight for them.
- Kiate Laramie can be reached
at laramiek@umich.edu.
1
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The lawmakers in Lansing who support
the bill do so on the basis that those who con-
sume illegal drugs are not suitable for work
and therefore don't deserve benefits from the
government. State Sen. Mark Jansen, a Repub-
lican, bluntly equated failing a drug test to
turning down suitable employment. In a state
House Commerce Committee testimonial,
Rep. Ken Goike, the bill's sponsor, argued "the
law currently states that in order to receive
unemployment benefits an individual must be
actively looking for and able to take suitable
work ... if you are not able to pass a drug test,
you are not suitable for work."
Other states have implemented similar
legislation with poor results. The Michigan
bill is similar to a 2011 Indiana law dealing
with drug testing and benefits. The Indi-
ana law allows for secondary testing should
the applicant fail the initial drug test; the
Michigan bill replaced this option with an
appeals process. Those who fail the drug test
could potentially be forced to release medical
records during an appeals process to defend a
positive drug test, which would further vio-
late their privacy rights.
A total of 29 states have proposed or enacted
drug-testing legislation, including Utah, Ari-
zona and Florida. These states' policies were
enacted to save the state money by revoking
benefits from those rule-breakers. Utah imple-
mented its law in 2012, and, in the first year,
spent $30,000 enforcing it only to find that 2.6
percent tested positive - well below the 8.9
percent estimated to use illicit drugs. In 2009,
Arizona enacted its drug-testing bill, claiming
it would save $1.7 million per year, but only one
person tested positive for drug abuse and the
state saved a mere $560. Florida's testingpolicy
was short lived and had similarly poor results
- only 2.6 percent of those tested failed, and
the tests actually cost the state $45,780.
Despite the presumption that the unem-
ployed are likely drug users, these results show
that residents receiving benefits from the gov-
ernment are not necessarily more prone to
illegal drug use. Additionally, precedent shows
that Michigan is not poised to save any money
by implementingthe bill.
Applicants who fail drug tests because of a
false positive could be kicked off of unemploy-
ment benefits before obtaining a job. This not
a constructive or admirable way of conserv-
ing state and federal benefits, nor is it helping
vulnerable populations. The state House of
Representatives should table this legislation
and focus on promoting recovery by uplifting
residents, not penalizing them.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, James Brennan>
Eli Cahan, Eric Ferguson, Jordyn Kay, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis,
Maura Levine, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Victoria Noble,
Adrienne Roberts, Paul Sherman, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe
Discriminatory blood policy
JOHN D'AMOS, MEG SCRIBNER AND DANIEL MORALES
Work left undone
This month we celebrate the two-year
anniversary of the Coalition for Tuition
Equality and reflect upon all that we have
accomplished. Two years ago, student leaders
recognized an injustice at the University of
Michigan in its policies toward undocument-
ed students. Consequently, student organiza-
tions from across campus came together to
fight for a more accessible and representative
University, demanding changes in University
policy and campus culture. At the heart of this
goal was achieving tuition equality - reform-
ing University tuition policy to allow undocu-
mented Michigan students to pay in-state
tuition. And, finally; in July, we made history
when the Board of Regents, responding to the
voices of the University community, voted to
extend in-state tuition to undocumented stu-
dents who attend three years of and graduate
from high school after two years of middle
school in Michigan.
With the passage of tuition equality, the
University of Michigan has spearheaded a
statewide movement. One week after the Uni-
versity, Washtenaw Community College passed
its own version of tuition equality. Less than a
month ago, the Wayne State University Board
of Governors made the incredible step of pass-
ing tuition equality as well. These bold actions
have opened doors to a college education for
undocumented students across the state.
With our successes and the successes of
other campuses, it may seem to many that our
work is finally done. However, while it's true
that the University has made considerable
progress since our founding, such an assump-
tion speaks to the lack of understanding and
acceptance that undocumented students still
face. This leads us to our continued mission
for the year: to work with the administration
and the community to raise awareness of the
University's new policies, secure financial aid
for undocumented students and create a more
welcoming campus environment.
While the passage of tuition equality has
become common knowledge on campus, the
community to which this issue is most impor-
tant remains less informed. We look forward
to working with undocumented communi-
ties throughout Southeast Michigan to raise
awareness of the new guidelines and encour-
age undocumented students to apply to the
University of Michigan. Furthermore, our
support will not end with awareness: We're
committed to helping undocumented stu-
dents navigate the application process, rec-
ognizing the complications that a lack of
documentation can present.
However, undocumented students' chal-
lenges don't end with the application process.
Tuition remains unequal, as undocumented
students still must pay more than their peers.
Unable to qualify for federal loans, undocu-
mented students must pay out-of-pocket or
rely on the scarce private aid that is avail-
able to them. With an average household
income of $36,000 per year, the in-state cost
of attendance of $26,240 remains out of reach
for most undocumented students who lack
financial assistance. It's an obligation of the
University to meet the demonstrated finan-
cial need of undocumented students. With
an upcoming capital campaign and recent
record-breaking donations, we'll work to
urge the University to direct funds towards
the students who need it most.
Undocumented immigrants face constant
discrimination and marginalization through-
out the country. With a history of such treat-
ment at the University of Michigan, to many,
our campus reprepents yet another oppressive
environment. We're dedicated to changing
this climate, and that process begins with the
administration. The University has a respon-
sibility to ensure that undocumented students
are treated no differently than their peers. This
requires employee training, safe spaces on cam-
pus, the provision of student legal services arid
psychological services, and access to University
Health Services. It's our responsibility to raise
the consciousness of undocumented students'
unique needs on campus and ensure that the
administration recognizes them.
We're proud to have accomplished so much
in our two-year history. That we have come
so far is a testament to the power of student
voices and the compelling nature of this cause.
However, our work is far from over. The new
guidelines for qualifying for in-state tuition
take effect in January. Thus, it's with great
urgency that we call on the University to work
with us in removing these additional barriers
to undocumented students.
John D'Amo and Meg Scribner are LSA
juniors. Daniel Morales is a Public Policy junior.
Under the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration's current policies
that govern blood donation, any
male who has had sexual contact
with another male - also referred
to as MSM - since 1977 is perma-
nently banned from donating blood.
While the intention of this catego-
rization is to identify risky behav-
ior, the reality is that the policy is
discriminatory and inadequate.
While the. MSM population has
been linked to higher prevalence of
diseases such as HIV, the current
health questionnaire singles out
this issue while failing to address
other riskier behaviors among indi-
viduals of all sexual orientations,
such as unprotected sex and having
multiple sexual partners. Discrimi-
nation against the MSM popula-
tion is a social injustice that can be
addressed in safe, effective ways.
Current policies target and discrim-
inate against a number of donors in
the gay and bisexual community,
while still allowing a number of
high-risk individuals to donate.
The Chinese Ministry of Health
has lifted a ban on lesbian blood
donation that also allows celibate
gay men to donate. Canada has
adopted a five-year deferral fol-
lowing any sexual contact between
two men, and the United Kingdom,
Sweden, Japan and Australia have
adopted one-year deferrals fol-
lowing homosexual intercourse
to align with deferrals for other
risky behaviors. Although these are
moves in the right direction, these
changes still address the donor's
sexual orientation.
The American Association of
Blood Banks and America's Blood
Centers have concluded that the
lifetime deferral of MSM is "medi-
cally and scientifically unwarrant-
ed." They support a change to the
current policy that would reduce
the deferral period to one year, har-
monizing with the deferral period
for other high-risk sexual behaviors.
The American Medical Association
additionally opposes the lifetime
ban on blood donation, concluding
that existing data and models sup-
port change to a reduced deferral
policy.
Blood Drives United, the Univer-
sity of Michigan student organi-
zation that runs the annual Blood
Battle competition against Ohio
State University, is launching an
initiative to petition the Food and
Drug Administration to reevaluate
and improve this outdated policy.
The proposed policy change seeks
to include newly eligible, safe-
donor populations while reinforc-
ing the safety of the blood supply
via the alteration of the question
addressing MSM to, "Have you had
unprotected sexual contact with
a new sexual partner in the past
12 weeks?" An affirmative answer
would result in a scientifically rea-
soned 12-week deferral, based on
the HIV-window period where an
HIV-afflicted individual can trans-
mit HIV without testing positive
for the virus. However, this deferral
could be extended to a maximum
of one year for consistency with
other behaviorally based deferral
periods. This proposed question
eliminates reference to and dis-
crimination against sexual orien-
tation and strengthens restrictions
on risky behaviors of all popula-
tions that are presently overlooked.
With the advent of existing,
improved biological testing along-
side the implementation of ratio-
nally based questions, policy change
can help save lives, secure the safe-
ty of the blood supply and create
greater equality amongst donors.
Regardless of sexual orientation,
an individual should be allowed to
donate blood if they otherwise pass
all of the FDA's eligibility require-
ments, including, but not limited to,
a disease-free status.
Join us during Blood Battle for
the initiative "Bleeding for Equal-
ity," whether to donate blood to
beat Ohio State University or to help
address this policy. Helping out with
our sponsor drives, which, at both
the University and OSU, will pro-
vide the opportunity for presently
ineligible individuals to recruit oth-
ers to donate on their behalf, visu-
ally demonstrating that we could
potentially have two times as many
donors. We will collect information
on how many people affected by this
policy could be potential donors and
present the information, along with
our petition, to the FDA following
the competition.
Sign our petition, which will be
available at all blood drives, vari-
ous campus events and online via
the White House's "We the People"
forum fromNov. 3 to Dec. 3.We must
collect 100,000 signatures within
those 30 days, so please inform oth-
ers of this discriminatory policy and
how to get involved to change to this
social injustice. Visit www.blood-
battle.org to find out more.
Betsy Gast is an Engineering senior.
Chelsea Fournier and Kevin Weiss are
LSA seniors. Sara Fritz is a Kinesiology
junior. Samantha Rea isan LSA junior.
N LE QUOTABLE
I'm working on just owning the fact
that I looked ridiculous because there's
nothing I can do about it.".
- LSA junior Janine Huelsman said in an e-mail regarding to the gif of her reacting to the
Michigan v. Indiana game went viral over the weekend.
6
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