4 - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4 - Tuesday, January 28, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom i idigan &Ualy Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com MEGAN MCDONALD and PETER SHAHIN 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. Fueling Detroit's comeback Gov. Snyder should not allow Detroit to flounder without state aid n Jan. 22, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder proposed redirecting $350 million over 20 years from Michigan's tobacco settlement revenue to the city of Detroit. The reallocation of funds was pledged in order to help bolster city pensions, estimated to be underfunded by $3.5 billion. Snyder stressed that his proposal is not a bailout, but rather a settlement focused on mitigating the impact on retirees. By allotting this money to the city, Snyder is crossing party lines and showing the rest of the state that Detroit is worth the investment. The proposed plan will undoubtedly aid pensioners; however, future funding from the state should be allocated by the city itself. Hunger for answers Jrg T he Center Eating Disorders indistinguishable other houses on for is from With the announcement of his proposal last week, Snyder demonstrated his commitment to Detroit. Designating much-needed funds to city pensions will potentially benefit the entire state by speeding up the bankruptcy process and reducing legal expenses. However, the proposed plan must first be approved by the legislature before reaching the bankruptcy mediation table. Both Democratic and Republican leaders are on board with the solution, voicing their support for Snyder's proposal. Though, some Republicans are wary of the plan, calling for some type of professional oversight of the pension funds. The key component of this plan is guarantee- ing the money will actually fund city pensions. Many city employees worked their entire adult lives paying into their pensions. These pen- sioners deserve to live out their retirement in financial security and dignity. Even with the state's proposed financial assistance plan and privately pledged donations reaching $330 mil- lion from nine local and national foundations, pensioners could see a sharp reduction in their monthly benefits. It's imperative that Snyder's proposed money go to Detroit's retirees. Snyder and the state government need to continue supporting Detroit - financially and beyond. The city is not only a vital part of Mich- igan's history but also its future. Detroit offers many incredible attractions -the DetroitInsti- tute of Arts, Belle Isle Park, Detroit Eastern Market, Greektown and the Motown Histori- cal Museum, to name a few. However, Detroit's charisma lies not in its physical- structures but in the unique cultures and spirit created within the city. Every day, people are moving to Detroit, workinghard alongside currentresi- dents to rebuild an iconic American city. Gov. Snyder has taken steps in the right direction with his plan to help city pension- ers. Detroit has a long way to go before it can become what it once was again. In order to get back to its full potential, the city needs con- tinued support from the state and businesses alike. General Motors, the industrial behe- moth of the Motor City, pledged to upgrade their Detroit plant helping to create and retain jobs in the city. With increasing inno- vation, investment and job creation, Detroit has the ability to revitalize its economy and propel Michigan into the future. its street, save for a small sign in front of the driveway that reads "Therapist Parking Only." The sign seems like classic Ann SOPHIA Arbor kitsch, USOW but the cement patch it rests on grows shrink cars like steel weeds on weekdays. I walked past it earlier this evening while meandering my way to meet friends for dinner. I almost forgot it existed, which is strange because I've been thinking a lot lately about the time in my life when I used to go there almost once a week. I'm hungry for answers - answers I tried to find at the center and even before that, since the first time I pushed back the flesh- pink trigger and wondered at the weakness of my fingers, buried so far down my throat I couldn't even taste the salt on my skin. I was 16 the first time I made myself throw up. My mom was upstairs and I'd just eaten a whole grocery list, one item after the other, until my stomach felt like there was a blue-ribbon hog rolling inside of it. I'd binged before and it was getting to the point where I was tired of going to bed sugar-sick and ashamed. There may have been a moment of decision, a long silence at the doorwayof our small downstairs bathroom. More likely, however, I knew as I was eating that despite every public-service announcement or guidance-counselor lecture about the evils of bulimia, I had SOPHIA USOW / Daily been destined to flirt with the ting upstairs watching late-night TV disease since the firsttime I'd looked in blissful ignorance. I'd cry because in a mirror and thought "ugly." her hugs are soft and warm, and Do you know what bulimia is? when Iask her if I look ugly she says, Bulimia is getting used to toilet "Sweetie you look beautiful." water splashing up on your face. It's been a year since I last made It's learning to return to the dinner myself throw up and about four table, or class, or birthday party like months since I last visited the nothing happened, daring others not Center for Eating Disorders. I won't to ignore the smell of vomit wafting tell you about what goes on in there, off you like curdled perfume. It's that's for the people who need to looking at food as a test that can know to find out. Suffice it to say, be failed. It's the specter of beauty there are good people inside and a pageantspast, present and future. It's warm, dimly lit waiting room that's a subplot in a Jodi Picoult novel. It's perfectfora quick, pre-appointment the chubby skeleton in the closet. It's nap. If you want literature about suburban tragedy. It's self-hate and unhealthy relationships with food the pursuit of happiness. or how to chew properly, they have There are people out there starv- it there. There are no scales in the ing, eating dirt, dreaming of a little bathrooms. They do not send you sweetness. There are people who e-mails about herbal supplements toil until they that will make bleed in order your waist shrink to provide all You've got to get help, two sizes for the sustenance only $15.99. I they can for not succumb to appreciate that. their families. yur unhappiness I'd tell you how There are peo- yo s I learned to chew, ple for whom like it's something but I don't have food is (as the enough words nutritionists you deserve. for that. The will urge) sim- few I have left ply fuel. There I'd like to use on are people who overdo it sometimes, one of the only answers I've found underdo it other times, love cook- through my experiences to which I ies and carrots and complain about can hold fast - whether it's alcohol, their waistlines. Then there are food or kisses that you use to Band- people who devour and expel like I Aid the wounds of memory, their did, as if it wasn't our fault, as if they gauze will only make you feel more poisoned our nachos, as if Grandma's lost. You've got to get help, not suc- cookies were filled with bones. cumb to your unhappiness like it's I love you like a fat kid loves cake, something you deserve. You've got I say to my reflection. There's snot to let those injuries breathe. pooling with chocolate stomach acid Why? Because even when life's on the crease of my upper lip. There ugly, sweetie, it's beautiful. are tears of exertion in my eyes, but I'm not crying. If I was going to cry - Sophia Usow can be reached for anyone, it would be my mom, sit- at sophiaus@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Barry Belmont, Rima Fadlallah, Nivedita Karki, Jordyn Kay, Kellie Halushka, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Victoria Noble, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Paul Sherman, Allison Raeck, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe JACOB KARAFA| Looking down on hooking up Let's talk about libido "Hooking up" may refer to many activities, ranging from casual kissing to intercourse. The term itself has a certain ambiguity that appeals to the college environment where - unless you live in close proximity to your acquaintances - you too can benefit from remaining somewhat ambiguous. The issue is thus: hookup culture continues to become more prominent in universities. This culture holds the potential to instill damaging morals into the minds of students who may eventually have trouble developing real relationships later in life. The 1970s proved essential to motivating the explosion of this culture when birth control and various birth control methods became more mass-produced and readily available. Some argue that these innovations essentially made obsolete the need for relationships in college. Many students may now ask, "What's the point in being committed to one person?" College is a system that fosters individualism, independence and the right to further one's own educational and moral development. It's no surprise that between the periods of 1980- 1990 and 2000-2010, the percentage of college studentsreported to have "had sex with a friend in the previous year" rose from 56 percent to 68 percent - based on a General Social Survey of 2,000 students from different universities. The institutions themselves provide a basis for hookup justification: this is the student's world, and these are the student's decisions. For new college freshmen from smaller high schools, exposure to the hookup culture of larg- er universities can prove especially intimidat- ing. Many of these students find the transition difficult and feel pressured to make rash deci- sions. It is this blend of hookup-accustomed freshmen and those who were raised in more conservative environments that proves most dangerous. For example, one student pursues another not solely for physical desire, but rather for the establishment of a real emotional con- nection. The other party wants nothing of the sort. The one who wants something real is crushed; we have seen it countless times. Also dangerous is the intricate, fragile web of connections made by hooking up with several people. Thoughts of past and current hookups may plague those newly influenced by the culture withjealousyor fear. "Whyisshe kissing him if we hooked up last week?" and "he told everyone that we hooked up," are commonly heard phrases schoolwide. Considering many hookups take place while one or both parties are under the influence of alcohol, there is also room for regret and remorse. Impaired judgment clashes with the fuel of desire and sparks the resulting hookup. It is a kiss. It is an exchange of words. It is atrip to a bedroom followed by early-morning disappointment. It is whatever you want it to be. A study done at Stanford University surveyed about 17,000 college students during their time at their respective universities and reported that by senior year, 72 percent of both sexes had hooked up at least once. The average male reported having nine to 10 hookups, the average female about seven hookups. This means, for example, that Boy A has a history with 10 girls. He may see relationship potential in some, and he may desire the complete avoidance of others. He may see them as objects; he may see them as friendswithbenefits. Butultimately,heremains unsure. Boy A is a victim of this spreading culture and these increasing percentages. His views of women are distorted; he has forgotten the value in dating and now pursues the facility of more selfish, individual physical desires. This is not to argue that the hookup culture lacks advantages. With busy class schedules and accelerated course work, University of Michigan students may not have time to adequately maintain relationships. However, despite the benefits of relative ease and convenience, statistics show that preference- wise, both genders still prefer traditional dating. In a study done with males and females from a Southern public university, only 2 percent of women and 17 percent of men showed a strong preference for hooking up over traditional dating. This is positive; however, the difference in percentages proves alarming. This statistic essentially suggests that there are women, internally desiring a real relationship, settling for hookups merely because a significantly bigger population of men won't settle for relationships. Despite the alarming percentages and stats, at least we can safely determine that the dating relationship, while preferred less now than in recent years, is still more desirable than the hookup. And it should be. The emotional damage, jealousy, general uneasiness and sense of remorse that may exist after a hookup is enough to turn many students away; however,; the concepts of college independence and ease keep the practice alive.Are college relationships dead? No. Are they in a losing battle with the ever-risinghookup? Let us hope not. Jacob Karafa is an LSA freshman. ike Huckabee, former Arkansas Governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate, has a message for all you women out ' there: the GOP's war on women is not against you, butfor you. That's right PATRICK ladies, the GOP's MAILLET efforts to ban your legal right to an abortion, fight against equal pay legislation, limit your abilities to access contra- ception and the countless derogatory statements from major Republicans, such as conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh and former Mis- souri Congressman Todd Akin, have in fact all been an attempt to fight for "the recognition of the equality of women and the capacity of women" accordingto Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor declared the war's end last week at the Republican National Convention winter meeting where he accused Democrats of taking advantage of women for political gain: "If the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control, because they cannot control their libido or their reproduc- tive system without the help of the government, then so be it." Huckabee totally blew the Democrats' cover last week when he went on to say, "Women I know are outraged that Democrats think that women are nothing more than helpless and hopeless creatures whose only goal in life is to have the government provide for them birth control medication." Fellow Democrats, how could we have been so diabolical? So cold- hearted and downright malicious to have taken advantage of women like that? All the columns I've written heads of the GOP. It's a lot like about protecting a woman's right to calling a Black person "articulate" choose, or that a woman deserves because they might be well-spoken. equal pay for equal work or that a Why use descriptive adjectives woman's insurance should cover her that infer an exception or that for birth control, have all been one giant some reason it can't be assumed sham. My fellow liberals and I meet without clarification that women quite often and have decided that are entirely "capable" of doing the only way to get our candidates anything that a man can do? elected is by pretending to actually It's not that the only issue that care about women. matters to women voters are Of course, Huckabee may be reproductive rights and that any glancingover a few details about this pro-choice candidate simply wins alleged grand plan that we Demo- every female vote automatically. crats have. Aside from the sheer fact Like their male counterparts, that 66 percent of women support a women voters are just as likely to federal mandate use platforms for employers such as foreign to offer insur- policy, energy ance that covers The GOP considers or taxes as a birth control, basis for voting. according to a women an inferior instead, women CBS News Poll, votingbloc whose are voting the Center for Democratic Disease Con- basic liberties are because they trol states that are constantly four out of five not a priority. being reminded sexually active that the GOP women from considers them ages 15 to 44 an inferior have used birth control before, and voting bloc whose basic liberties are that 58 percent of birth control users not a priority. Nothing exemplifies do so for non-contraceptive purpos- this trend more than the 18-point es, women are just playing right into gender gap in the 2012 presidential the Democratic scheme. election in favor of President Butthenagain,maybe-justmaybe Barack Obama. - Huckabee mayhave somehowkept I'm not trying to speak on our cover alive. Women, just like behalf of women, but rather make men, don't exactly like being told a statement based off public polls that they are stupid and being taken and conversations with female advantage of for political gain. While family members and friends. Unlike Huckabee thought he was advocating Huckabee, I don't try to sum up the for the equality of women,he actually political ideologies of an entire was taking a giant step back in the gender in one sound bite. fight for women's rights. Huckabee Unfortunately, the very fact stated, "Women I know are smart, that Huckabee was invited to give educated, intelligent, capable of an RNC speech reflects that many doing anything that anybody else within the GOP leadership share his can do." Women have known this. comically out-of-touch ideologies. Democrats have known this. In fact, While some may claim that peace most level-headed Republicans have has finally come, it appears that the known this. Unfortunately, the only war on women continues to rage. people who have to state this as if it is a bold, new revelation in the fight - Patrick Maillet can be for civil rights are the out-of-touch reached at maillet@umich.edu CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and viewpoints. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while viewpoints should be 550-850 words. It I t