4 - Tuesday, April 15, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

4 - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 The Michigan Daily - nichigandaily.com

hEdited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
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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.
Awarding artistic expression
The University should continue recognizing its student groups
T he University of Michigan is home to more than 150 arts
organizations that enhance culture on campus. Friday, many
of these groups will come together at the Lydia Mendelssohn
Theatre for the first-ever Accolades Achievement in the Arts Awards. The
Accolades will recognize the accomplishments of student arts groups by
announcing the winners of 18 different award categories as determined by
studentvotes. Winners will receive various prizes including advertisement
space vouchers and Student Organization Account Services funds. In
addition to award delivery, the event will include group performances and
special guests. The awards ceremony will commence at 8 p.m. with free
admission. The event is a positive way to promote and recognize student
arts groups, and similar events should be considered in the future.

Goodbye, lovehounds
Youicee Sxvi WEL.AI"' S!'A6i~T. P ENRno 0Yoqu
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The Accolades was developed by
Arts at Michigan and its organizational
collaborators. Arts at Michigan organizes
events and opportunities for students to
experience various forms of visual and
performing arts at the University and in the
Ann Arbor area. SAOR is a forum that meets
monthly to unite student arts leaders from
across campus, working to address topics
in student arts and, overall, advocate and
promote student-initiated art. Some of the
organization's most popular offerings include
the Passport to the Arts, Art Outta Town and
Welcome Week's Artscapade.
The Accolades is an effective method for
giving arts groups the attention they deserve.
Though the University includes a number
of talented arts organizations, many are
often overlooked by students. The Penny W.
Stamps School of Art and Design - one of
the University's most competitive schools
- offers a variety of notable exhibitions and
has an impressive alumni network. Likewise,
the University of Michigan Museum of Art
is home to many notable pieces and exhibits
that change throughout the year and in, the
past has featured works by famed artists such
as Picasso. Still, many students tend to ignore
these opportunities.
In addition to reaching out to students, the
Accolades promotes positive relationships
between student art organizations. Among

a somewhat spread-out campus, the awards
provide aspaceto unite students andcelebrate
artistic culture. Though many of these
groups hold their own, separate concerts,
the ceremony is an opportunity to juxtapose
these performances, giving students a
sampling of what arts organizations at the
University have to offer.
Though Arts at Michigan has a stable
marketing base - with a weekly newsletter
e-mails and a prominent online presence -
transparency could be increased between arts
programs and the general student population.
This might include a student-driven website
where arts groups or individual students can
post announcements about events or promote
theirownachievements.Atransparentwebsite
would give individual students inside and
outside of arts organizations the opportunity
to engage with peers in art culture.
Among the constant academic and
organizational engagements of campus
life, it's important that students and faculty
recognize the opportunities provided by
arts programs at the University. Visual
and performing arts provide campus
with necessary artistic culture and new
perspectives through the achievements of
peers. The Accolades Awards praise, unite
and promote student groups, and similar
events should be continued in the future to
foster apositive community at the University.

came out in my very first Daily
article. No, I don't just mean
that it was my debut as a writer
venturing into
the realm of
print media.
I mean that I
gave a detailed
account of my
desire to take
ladies out for 1
dates and then EMILY
touch their PITTINOS
naked bodies
- as long as
the feeling was
mutual, of course.
Looking back, it was an odd
choice. I'd hardly even come out
to myself at the time, let alone my
friends and family. Perhaps slipping
"I want to put my mouth on both
men and women" into casual
conversation was too ham-handed
and uncomfortably earnest for me,
so I just put that information on
the Internet where all my future
lovers and employers could unearth
it with a simple Google search.
Sure, it was a reckless move, but
definitely efficient.
Right after the essay was
published, I crossed paths with my
editor at the Daily Jeopardy party,
which was churning with drunken
lovehounds on the scent of Daily
Points. In one breath fortified by
giggles, she shrieked, "I love your
writing; my entire staff wants to
sleep with you."
She wasn't the only person to have
this giddy response to my openness
about dildos and bad gaydar. Women
weren't lining up around Kerrytown
to kiss my hand, or pelting my
window with pebbles by moonlight,
but my Facebook inbox gathered
messages from ladies thanking me
for my bravery and looking for coffee
dates. People were asking me for sex
advice. It was nuts.
But honestly, thoughI enjoyed the
attention, I was confused by these
exuberant reactions. I didn't think
the essay was sexy at all; inmy mind, I
was merely confessing my ignorance
and fear about my own identity. In

MEGGIE RAMM/ Daily
fact, when I revisit it now, I'm still to grab a guy and have all kinds of
seized by anxiety flashbacks - partly straightforward, hetero sex.
because not much has changed in the It's a ride; it's distracting; it's
last few semesters. exhaustingly exhilarating, and I'm
Of course, the events of my life not the only one who thinks so.
have progressed since then. My After I wrote that first essay,
gaydar has improved. I came out to I befriended a young woman
my parents, who basically replied, who asked me out for coffee and
"we're not surprised; just' don't identifies in my same realm of queer.
mention it to your grandmother." I I interviewed her for a project on
had an affair with a dazzling roman bisexuality and toward the end
candle of a woman. We made our she shook her newly buzzed head,
romance highly visible, holding sighing, "It's not going to get any
hands and kissing in public, and less confusing." In the interview's
it felt good to be so exposed and recording, her voice sounds exactly
unashamed after those years of like mine does when I take that
internal suspicion. look into my own eyes - rapid and
But my pilgrimage to openness stammering through attempts to
came with its own strings. It turns articulate desire, laughing off the
out that when people see two cute resulting frustration. "Yeah," she
brunettes "together," they take said, "if you figure out the magic
notice. One night at a bar, a guy formula to not be confused, please
followed my date back to our table, let me know."
calledus"unicorns"andofferedupan Well, I didn't have the formula
invitation to guest star in a foursome then and I definitely don't have it
with him and his wife. (It also turns now. I've learned a lot of lessons at
out that being openly bisexual leads the University, buthow to be gay, and
to a lot of group sex proposals; I've how often, is not one of them. Now
had seveninthelasteight months,not I'm graduating, and every aspect of
including the anonymous messages mylifeisinastateofdisarray.I'vegot
accumulating to pack up four
in my OKCupid years of trinkets
inbox.) These and clothes
kinds of and creations; I
experiences - In a way, my sexual have to decide
the ones that uncertainty has where I want
make me feel to stumble
targeted because prepared me for these through the
of whom I choose next phase of
to enjoy - help radical transitions. my saga. I'm not
keep that old sure what I'll be
caution and doing, or whom
confusion alive. I'll be with, in
This uncertainty also stems from just a few months from now. My
the nature of my identity. My desire mind is cluttered with more doubt
is ever-expanding and fluid, which than ever, but ... I'm not panicking.
is not always as fun as it may sound. In a way, my sexual uncertainty
When I'm walking down State has, prepared me for these radical
Street and my head turns to follow transitions. Instability is scary as hell,
a beautiful body, it usually belongs but tackling that monster again and
to a woman. Even if I'm totally in again has proven that not knowing
love with a man, instincts like that has always helped me discover new
leave me staring into my medicine pleasures, and the incredible leaps I
cabinet's toothpaste-splattered am capable of taking.
mirror and asking aloud, "What
if you're just super gay?" Other - Emily Pittinos can be reached
times, I'm overtaken by the urge at pittinos@umich.edu.

PAUL PARKER I
Greeks and giving

When I was a freshman entering the
University, the idea of rushing a fraternity
never even crossed my mind. However, by
impulse and the nudging of a friend,Ihappened
to stumble upon the table for Beta Theta Pi.
After hearing more about this organization, I
decided to push aside any and all reservations
or concerns about joining a fraternity and went,
through with the rushing process. Today, two
years after my initiation into the fraternity, I
have grown as a leader and a young man. I've
servedinofficerpositions,donejustaboutevery
job possible and made some great friendships.
In one of my officer capacities, I was charged
with overseeing a unique part of our fraternity:
our Men of Principle Scholarship.
The Men of Principle Scholarship is one
sponsored by our national fraternity, For us
here at the University, it's a $1,000 scholarship
awarded to a non-Greek male who best
embodies our values and ideals. Our fraternity
has five core values: mutual assistance,
intellectual growth, trust, responsible conduct
and integrity. We look for these qualities in
young men here at the University, and seek
to reward them for their honorable sense
of morals we share. The process consists
of a preliminary application, interviewing
applicants, the selection of finalists and an
awards banquet to announce the winner.
The funding for the scholarship comes
twofold: $500 from our general fraternity
and $500 from dues collected from our own
brothers. Many Beta chapters across the
country do this scholarship with the $500;
we are somewhat unique in adding additional
moneytomakeitmoreofaworthwhilefinancial
reward. And yet, why should fraternity
brothers give part of their own money just to
give a scholarship to a guy who's not even in
their chapter? We dothis because inour minds,
the qualities of these young men who apply to
the scholarship prove the merit and caliber of
their worth, and to that end we seek to reward
them for their values. When we conduct these

interviews and actually meet these guys, we
find so much more than just an application can
read. Personal stories of working several jobs
to afford the cost of college, balancing several
commitments with difficult family life and
doing everything possible to be the best young
men they can be are relayed to us; I assure you
these young men represent some of the finest
this University has to offer.
We are not alone in our commitment to non-
Greek students who embody our values. Sigma
Phi Epsilon has a similar initiative through
its Balanced Man Scholarship. The Greek
community here at the University is committed
to giving back; funding through scholarships
such as these can make a significant difference
in a young man's life. Many of us are unaware
of the stresses of affording college. While I pay
for things such as gas and groceries myself, I
am fortunate and blessed to say my parents
saved enough money to finance my tuition and
housing. Weat Beta, and the Greek community
at large, recognize that many students here
at the University struggle not only with the
stresses of class, student organizations and
family life, but with the stresses of finances
and other costs. To that end we extend financial
support to these individuals who reflect our
values: people who pay for their own education
and still embody fine qualities and morals.
With the recently started Victors for
Michigan campaign, we see the scholarship as
relevant to our mission as a fraternity as ever.
Giving for the sake of advancing education
and promoting values worthy of a Michigan
Wolverine, are what we and others inthe Greek
community seek to accomplish. We hope to
continue giving back to the men that make this
University the prestigious institution it is today,
and work toward giving so that, as former
University President James Angell said, "an
uncommon education for the common man,"
can be made the reality of any who seek it.
Paul Parker is an LSA and Engineering junior.

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
HALEY GOLDBERG I
About that bucket list...

I sat down with a blank piece
of paper and a black Sharpie last
month, determined to curate a list of
adventures I needed to have before
graduating in May. It included the
expected - a trip to Maize and Blue
Delicatessen, Washtenaw Dairy ice
cream, breaking into the Big House
- as well as the creative: a "Karaoke
Krawl" that involved four nights in
a row of karaoke at four different
bars and a wobbly rendition of "No
Diggity" by Blackstreet.
With one monthleft in my college
career, I've started crossing off
those adventures. Sunday brunch
at aut BAR in Kerrytown? Check.
Tea at Crazy Wisdom Bookstore
and Tea Room? Done. But as I've
started striking a line through
each item on the list hanging on
the light blue wall in my room, I've
realized something: I think I made
the wrong bucket list. I should have
made a "bucket list" of people.
What I've learned to hold most
precious in Ann Arbor and at
the University is the people and
community around me. After four
years at this University, I've found
my place, my friends and a support
system that's there for me at the drop
of a text with a sad-faced cat Emoji.
It's the idea of losing that chance
to run into a friend at the Union or
at Backroom Pizza early Sunday
morning that scares me the most.

And it's the fear of the "We should
get together soon" finally having
an expiration date that makes my
bucket list seem all wrong. The
phrase that often accompanies my
run-ins with an old friend from
freshmanyear intheDiagnow comes
with an awkward pause afterward
as I realize "soon" is slowly winding
away - "soon" we'll no longer be
able to just meet at Espresso Royale
to catch up over coffee.
That's why I want to make a list
of people, not ranked in the "Top 8"
style of Myspace but rather gathered
together on one piece of paper to
remind me of the conversations
and interactions I still need to have
before I leave this place. I want to
talk with my friend in Computer
Science about what really happens
at a Hackathon, my classmate in
the Public Policy school about how
he plans to revitalize Detroit after
he graduates, my professor on
what makes her passionate about
studying the media.
The adventures on my current
bucket list serve more as a vehicle
of bringing people together, but
why not focus on what I want itself?
I want to be with people, to talk to
them and learn from them one last
time in the way that I have learned
or wanted to learn in the past four
years. I want to take in more of the
words that helped me grow from

the nervous girl who pushed a big
blue bin overflowing with clothes
into a small room in Mosher-Jordan
Residence Hall to the girl I am
today - still slightly nervous about
what happens next, but excited and
confident Ican handle whatever the
"real world" entails.
I find myself not wanting a
minute alone this last month. I
want to soak in the people and
the ideas that surround me at all
times. And it doesn't matter the
activity, whether the adventure is
something on my original bucket
list or just a conversation with my
roommates over wine and Magic
Mike. To me, the real "bucket list"
isn't what I do with my last month
in college, it's who I do it with.
When I leave for the West Coast
in May, sure, I'm going to crave
the #73 "Tarb's Tenacious Tenure"
from Zingerman's and a craft brew
from Mash, but I'm going to long for
the people more: a diverse group of
thoughts, perspectives and ideas
that scatter across the country and
the world at the mere throw of a
graduation cap.
So I'm putting them all on my
"bucket list" for one more moment
together in Ann Arbor, not out offear
it will be the last, but to appreciate
what I will really miss most.
HaleyGoldberg is a an LSA senior.

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