4A - Wednesday, April 9, 2014
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
4A - Wednesday, April 9, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
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MEGAN MCDONALD
PETER SHAHIN and DANIEL WANG KATIE BURKE
EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR
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.
Investing in safety
The University should promote and enforce ethical business practices
University President Mary Sue Coleman renewed her pledge that all
University licensees - companies that brand their products with
University-licensed logos - must ensure safe factory conditions
for their workers. Under Coleman's instruction, all licensees must sign the
Accord on Fire and Building Safety or provide equal or superior solutions
to protect workers. This agreement between Bangladeshi factory managers
and unions makes great strides in protecting workers' rights in the
country. Last April, a factory collapse in Bangladesh killed 1,000 workers,
prompting the University's chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops
to raise awareness about difficult and often unsafe working conditions. The
University has a responsibility to protect the workers from whom it directly
or indirectly profits. While it is commendable that Coleman renewed this
effort, the University needs to take further action to promote worker safety.
The least boring story ever told
In my memory, there is a place
where sun-bleached hills
fade into darkening skies and
nothing but wild
grass and the
slow surrender
of late August
exist for hours in "
any direction.
I am seven
years old and I
hope the mem-
ory of that day JULIA
never fades. ZARINA
From the win-
dow I carefully,
comprehensively commit every
detail of the scene to heart, to a long
and frequently revisited internal
encyclopedia of everything I think I
need to be a person. "Summer, noun
(verb??)" means eternal petitions to
be taken to the swimming pool and
barefoot investigations of pressing
neighborhood mysteries (when you
are seven years old there are always
pressing neighborhood mysteries).
My entry for "what I want to be
when I grow up" is "ASTRONAUT",
followed by a long, crossed-out list.
"Favorite animal" also has a defini-
tion ("ELEPHANT," no crossed-out
list), as do a number of other items I
consider to be life defining.
Some words I don't quite know
how to define.
Here, along with the word "love,"
are four golden and pristine passport
photos - Mum, Dad, brother, sister
- and a picture of the Graceful and
Mysterious Andromeda Galaxy,
carefully gleaned from a class trip to
the planetarium.You can'tlove space,
a teacher tells me, you can really like
space, but you can't love it. Love is
something you have for people. I
think I understand and respond in
turn by categorizing my love, but I
keep my memory of the Andromeda
Galaxy just in case.
Memory to me is an activity, not
an incidental occurrence, and I am
obsessed with remembering. As
someone trying to be permanent in
a life that refuses to be, it is how I
have always defined myself.At seven,
I have never lived in one city for
longer than 18 months; I learn new
rules and languages as quickly as I
unlearn old ones. At each new school,
I have a quiet contempt for the other
kids whose first memories were
only a few years ago. I tell myself I
remember because they don't have
to. If they want to go home, they can
walk out of the classroom, through
the neighborhood where they took
their first steps, and into the house
they've known since birth. "Home"
to me is another concept I don't quite
know how to define - it exists in the
present only when I call it to mind,
a patchwork collage of desert cities
and crowded souqs, colored-in after
the fact with Technicolor hues that
represent my best estimate of reality.
Inside the house that day, dust
specks flash lazily in the last rays of
dusk, like fireflies drunk on the lon-
gest days of summer. I stop focusing
on the scene outside and turn to plas-
tic biscuits on tiny porcelain and tea
dispensed in equal measure with the
wisdom of my grandmother.
I am certain she was born from
the pages of my favorite fairy tale.
I am Cinderella and she is my fairy
godmother, saving me from the
wicked injustices of the playground,
delivering me from the death grip (a
medically debatable self-diagnosis)
of the summer flu with magic soup
concocted from ancient recipes,
transforming the kitchen into a
ballroom and sending me off to dance
away the night in thrift store skirts
and heels five sizes too big.
At seven years old, I am prone-to
perfectionism and wild temper and
she alone lets me rage when these
two qualities inevitably conflict:
when something I've worked on
doesn't go according to plan or when
I feel somebody has wronged me.
Through her I come to understand
the contradiction of life, singular in
its truth, that in the struggle is the
validation and satisfaction.
She aloneis responsible forhelping
me define many of the ideas I keep in
my memory. She tells me how to dye
eggs (wrap in onion skins and boil
in water). She tells me about fashion
(sales at Nordstrom, if you can find
them), about strategies for beating
her in Riu Rau (impossible, there
are none), about boys (stay away from
them until MUCH older) and about
her childhood (war).
She is endlessly complex - grace-
ful and tough, funny and grieving,
brilliant and loyal. She is a refugee,
butshe is no one'svictim. Shehas lost
everything - her home, her parents,
her country, her child - but still she
is capable of a love stronger and more
impartial than any other. I picture
us in the future, laughing together,
drinking tea from tiny porcelain,
remembering, as always. I am older
but she is the same, my universal
constant in my ever-changing world.
In America, death doesn't happen
in polite company. It happens in
stale, shuttered rooms, in lowered
voices that fall heavy on hands held
over children's' ears, and in distant
countries far beyond the reach of
our manicured suburbias. Dying
is the bitter flaw in the American
dream, our final concession, our
ultimate shortcoming. We remain
optimistic about our immortality, as
though this possibility alone gives
meaning to our work. If we can't live
forever, we will create something
that does. Would we exist as boldly
and determinedly if, instead of the
familiar words "I am the master of
my fate; Itam the captain of my soul",
"Invictus" had been written instead:
"I am the interpreter of my past; Ilam
the master of my present; I am the
captain of my soul, but I will die"?
As a child, I never had to be told
about death. No long talks or kind
euphemisms precipitated my under-
standing of the matter. It seemed a
foregone conclusion and I accepted it
as the inevitable outcome of an exis-
tence not unlike any other. The leaves
fell at the end of summer, the sun sets
at the end of the day and fairytales
always concluded with an elegantly
flourished "happily ever after." My
contention, my rage, my tears at
my grandmother's death were not
directed at the reality of death but at
the inexplicable injustice in timing I
believed the universe had commit-
ted. She was invincible, she was my
constant. We deserved longer.
Under "life," I filed a single
thought: sometimes you don't get
to finish the story; you just have to
close the book.
With the first real days of spring
blooms the inevitable realization
that everything comes full circle.
Today, I sit inthe new and wonderful
sunlight and listen to my friends
reflect on our time here at Michigan,
a countdown that runs faster with
every passing day.
Weren't we just 18, scared and
excited to unpack our cheap, coor-
dinating dorm decorations? Did
we waste our time here? Did we
join enough clubs and take the
life-changing classes we'd always
planned? How much smarter and
worldly would we be if we had paid
attention in lecture? Did we stay up
talking until sunrise enough times?
Are we the people we wanted to be?
We are caught in the balance of an
uncertainty that stretches as far into
our pasts as it does into our future.
There's an unspoken understanding
that somehow, at 22, poised precari-
ously on the brink of some unknown
future, our lives as we know them
are sealed fates. We need more time
to spend all night celebrating and
telling our friends we love them. We
need more time to figure things out.
We need more time.
Today, I still struggle with
definitions. It is the rare concept that
can be precisely and permanently
summarizedinasingleword.Butthis
uncertainty no longer bothers me. In
order to have a neat and predictable
definition for every occurrence - a
life with no revisions, amendments
or reconsiderations - we would need
to be born with all the knowledge
and experiences of every person who
has ever lived and will ever live in the
future. And even then?
When I think about being seven
years old, living in stories and memo-
ries, the alternative to our uncertain-
ty is an existence more terrible than
any other. Ourlives would be a book
with no beginning, no plot and an
infinite, repeating ending. It would
be the most boringstory ever told.
- Julia Zarina can be reached
at jumilton@umich.edu.
While this particular accord is limited to
conditions in Bangladesh, and it exists basically
to promote a greater human-rights and labor-
rights awareness. In 2011, Nike, which is one of
the more popular vendors of licensed college
apparel, was accused of deceiving laborers in
Indonesia about the working conditions, wage,
overtime laws and the implementation of
higher costs of living near factories. Nike also
allegedly illegally forced laborers to work more
than 40 hours per week with extremely low
wages. In 2013, Adidas, one of the University's
main licensees, was accused of worker abuse
by USAS. The company refused to reimburse
$1.8 million in legally mandated severance to
the 2,800 former workers in Indonesia after
one of its contractors closed under suspect
circumstances. In addition, many factory
workers are young women and girls who are
exposed to hazardous working conditions. By
creating standards by which companies must
treat their employees, and by threatening to
not do business with those that do not adhere
to them, Coleman has set a high bar for other
colleges and universities.
Thoughthe University'sdirectiontoaddress
human-rights and labor-rights issues seems
appropriate, makingcompanies signthe accord
may not be enough to ensure compliance. The
President's Advisory Committee on Labor
Standards and Human Rights advises "the
University concerning policies and practices
to ensure that corporations engaged in the
manufacture of licensed goods, bearing
the University of Michigan name and/
or logos, are not engaged in unlawful or
unconscionable labor practices." While an
advisory committee is important, there also
needs to be a mechanism that the University
can use to investigate suspected human rights
and labor standards violators perpetrated by
major business partners. The University must
monitor companies that have signed and will
sign the agreements to abide by approved
standards to ensure their factory workers'
labor conditions and minimum-wage issues
have been appropriately remedied.
While the University may not have
sufficient market power to coerce labor rights
violators to comply with our standards, it,
does have a responsibility to only support
ethical companies. The University should
continue to set positive examples in ethical
business practices.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Barry Belmont, Edvinas Berzanskis, David Harris,
Rachel John, Nivedita Karki, Jacob Karafa, Jordyn Kay,
Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Victoria Noble,
Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman,
Paul Sherman, Allison Raeck, Linh Vu,
Meher Walia, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe
MEHER WALIA I
Evaluating GSJ training
BLOOD DRIVES UNITED|I
Bleeding for equality
I walked into my classroom on the first
day of classes. It's at an annoying time, 6 p.m.
to 8 p.m. twice a week. My GSI introduced
himself. He seemed nice; I was just thankful
he spoke fluent English. The next class,
there were four or five new students in my
class. They introduced themselves and my
GSI asked them out of curiosity why they
transferred to this inconveniently timed
class. They said that their former GSI had
told them, no, encouraged them to transfer to
a different section. They explained how their
GSI said that he didn't know English well and
that he had never taught Calculus before. He
said there were parts of the course he did not
like to teach, so he was just going to skip them
over. He warned that they better transfer to
another section if they could.
This may have been one example, but it is a
widelyknownfearthatapplicants are scared to
enter a section or class in which their GSI does
not speak English, or has had little experience
teaching. At atop university like the University
of Michigan, considered a "public Ivy" and
being rated as #22in universities worldwide, it
is a shame that students are afraid they might
enter a classroom where their GSI does not
speak English. Especially in a difficult class,
such as Calculus I, it is vital that a GSI not only
speaks understandable English, but also can
effectively teach. The math department is one
of the best in the country, but with its stellar
reputation comes a tendency to be extremely
difficult for even the best mathematicians. If
students cannot even rely on having a decent
teacher to teach them, the chances for them to
succeed in that class are not high.
Students at the University are smart and
capable, as only 36.5 percent of students are
accepted. They are obviously hardworking.
Students deserve to feel safe signing up for
any section, and not nervous that they might
not get a good grade because are they not
properly being taught. In addition, University
tuition is extremely high, especially for out-
of-state students. Students deserve to know
they are going to have good GSIs.
One solution to this is possibly altering the
way GSIs are trained. The University claims
their goals in training GSIs are to "ensure
that the information GSIs receive and the
skills they are taught apply specifically
to their fields" and that "to stress the
importance of good teaching by using skilled
faculty, the GSIs' role models, to develop and
run the training sessions." Though these are
important, because the University is a diverse
school, GSIs come from diverse backgrounds
as well. University needs to ensure that GSIs
not only are highly skilled in the subject they
are teaching, but that they are proficient in
English so they can effectively communicate
with their students. Hopefully if the
University takes a better-rounded approach
to teaching their students, students will be
more successful in their courses.
Meher Walia is an LSA freshman.
Every two seconds someone in the
United States needs blood, meaning
that more than 41,000 blood
donations are needed daily. In fact,
the number of Americans needing
blood each day is roughly equal to the
number of students attending this
University. An estimated 38 percent
of the U.S. population is eligible to
donate, but only about 10 percent of
the population actually does so on an
annual basis.
Under the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration's current policies
that govern blood donation,
any male who has had sex with
another male (MSM) since 1977 is
permanently banned from donating
blood. This policy dates back to
1983, when some patients being
treated for hemophilia started
displaying AIDS-related symptoms
after receiving routine blood
transfusions. The FDA did what
it could at the time: ban the group
of people most likely to spread the
HIV virus. Today, MSM remain the
group most heavily affected by HIV
in the United States, estimated to
represent approximately 63 percent
of new HIV infections each year.
While the MSM population has
been linked to a higher prevalence of
certain diseases like HIV, both blood
testing efficacy and methods have
greatly improved since 1977. It is
estimated that the HIV transmission
risk from a unit of blood has been
reduced to about one per two million
units of blood. Every pint of blood
collected in the United States is now
tested for at least eight different
diseases - including HIV, HTLV,
hepatitis B and C, West Nile virus,
Chagas disease and syphilis. The
health history questionnaires and
blood tests may not seem adequate
independently, but they represent
some of the many layers of screening
methods that exist to further reduce
the risk of transmitting diseases.
These methods must continuously
be improved in order to increase the
safety of the blood supply.
While the intention of the
current policy is to identify risky
behavior, the reality is that it is
discriminatory and inadequate. The
current health questionnaire used
during the prescreening process
before donation specifically singles
out those who identify as MSM,
while failing to address other risky
behaviors among individuals of
all sexual orientations, such as
unprotected sex, anal intercourse
or having multiple sexual partners.
The FDA considers risky behavior
to be associated with MSM as an
entire social identity, which is why
it is included in the behaviorally
based questions. Though the MSM
population is at a greater risk for
HIV, there are low-risk individuals
who identify as MSM who should be
allowed to donate if they otherwise
meet the eligibility criteria
of the FDA.
Blood Drives United, the
University student organization
that runs the annual Blood Battle
competition against the Ohio State
University, as well as the Face Off
competition against Michigan State
University, is taking action to create
greater public awareness about the
policy and the need for reevaluation
of donor eligibility criteria. It is
our hope that revised prescreening
questions canserveto deferhigh-risk
individuals while including low-risk
individuals without an explicit focus
on sexual orientation. BDU seeks
to educate students, faculty, staff
and community members about the
policy and build support for a broad
movement addressing this injustice
by providing a productive way for all
to participate.
BDU will host a sponsor
blood drive in partnership with
various student and community
organizations from 2 to 8 p.m.
Tuesday, April 15 in the Michigan
Union. This drive format, which
allows individuals ineligible to
donate because of the policy to
bring an eligible individual to
give blood on their behalf, serves
as a productive way for all to
participate. This will demonstrate
that without this policy, potentially
twice as many pints of blood
could be collected, and thus a
greater number of lives could be
saved. A sponsor drive promotes
awareness about this policy and
advocates for policy improvement
while still placing an emphasis
on the overarching goal of
collecting blood.
The day after the sponsor drive,
Wednesday, April 16, BDU will be
holding an informational discussion
at the Ginsberg Center regarding
the MSM policy in order to continue
raising awareness and progress
with this initiative. All who have
questions, comments or an interest
in this social issue are encouraged
to attend. If you are unable to attend
these events but would still like to
be informed about our campus and
community efforts, please contact
blooddrivesunited@umich.edu.
This viewpoint was written by
members of Blood Drives United.
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