4A - Thursday, January 9, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

4A -.hrdy.aur , 04TeMcia aiy-mciadiyo

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.
Risk without reward
Michigan's DEQ needs to redefine its environmental standards
requent patrons of Michigan's sand dunes may soon find them
littered with cul-de-sacs and vacation houses. On Monday,
Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality released a
public letter indicating its intention to permit the construction of a cluster
of houses on the Saugatuck Dunes. Located in Saugatuck, Michigan, the
state park is a fragile ecosystem that plays a significant role in Michigan's
tourist industry. The DEQ needs to reconsider its position and halt the
construction project. Preserving the Saugatuck Dunes is in the best
interest of the state and risking environmental integrity for a few houses
is an unnecessary gamble.

KARA ARGUE

E-MsALI. KARAX AT KAlRGUt, UIcIlCIl.EI)li.

-~~~IU JUST- DOWT KN'sOW JHOWA -
2PYYou HAVSE IT" 1
SEat~us51, .

My dad's bar

The proposal to build 18 houses and a road
comes from realty company Singapore Dunes.
Stephen Neumer, the managing director of
Singapore Dunes, said a permit from the DEQ
"is key to making the land usable and devel-
opable." Despite the limited initial plans,
Neumer has admitted that the company aims
to eventually construct condominium build-
ings, a resort and marina. Earlier plans even
called for a golf course. Critics have warned
against the potential economic repercussions
of disrupting the dunes. In a statement, the
Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance argued
that the construction project will cause
"devastating and irreversible damage" to the
"globally rare and fragile dune system."
Coastal dunes are a vital part of the state's
environment. Primarily, they act as a natural
barrier to high winds and destructive waves
that could otherwise reach areas further inland.
Dunes are able to maintain their size by mov-
ing inland in response to water level changes;
however, buildings constructed close to dunes
prevent this reaction and slowly reduce the bar-
riers' width. Furthermore, the dunes are host to
a wide arrayof wildlife, which in turn help keep
their sand and structure in place. Plants such
as lichens, mosses, grasses ,and wildflowers
have adapted over time to the extreme weather

dunes are subjected to. High foot and vehicu-
lar traffic on dunes destroys these life forms,
decreasing the stability of the dunes' structure
and increasingthe risk of flood.
Dunes also attract tourists - a huge part of
Michigan's economy. In 2010, the state earned
$964.2 million in tourism-related revenue and
152,600 thousand jobs were created by the
tourism industry. Saugatuck itself, where the
dunes are located, depends on tourism. With
the degradation of the Saugatuck Dunes, not
only will the city's economy suffer, but the state
will lose revenue from taxes as well.
Rather than protecting Michigan's ecologi-
cal gem, the DEQ's standards are actually the
basis for allowing the encroachment of the
dunes. After reviewing its internal require-
ments, the DEQ is planning to grant a permit
for constructingtwo cul-de-sacs and 18 houses.
DEQ director Dan Wyant has said that its own
Sand Dunes Protection and Management stat-
ute allows for the construction plans proposed
by Singapore Dunes. "We are compelled to
issue the permit," said Wyant. As it stands, the
DEQ's regulation of the dunes is too relaxed and
needs to be amended. With such few protec-
tions in place already, the DEQ must take seri-
ously its responsibility to protect Michigan's
sand dunes.

ver winter break, I went
to a bar with some friends
because I can do that now.
The bar sits on
the border of
Grosse Pointe
and Detroit. It's
a cute, hole-in-
the-wall type
of place called
"My Dad's Bar,"
equipped with KATIE
a dart board, STEEN
Guinness on
tap and a mini
Christmas tree
with twitchy string lights. I went
with afew friends from high school,
and just like in high school, my dad
drove us.
It was pretty weird having my
dad drive us to the bar (albeit fitting
- my dad drove us to "My Dad's
Bar!" Ha!). It was even weirder at 2
a.m., when the bar was closing and
my dad wandered into the place -
clearly the oldest, tallest and bald-
est person there - and towered over
our table to tell me, "Hey sweetie,
just letting you know I'm here. The
car's just around the corner!"
OK. I didn't ask for this. I have a
driver's license. I wasn't planning
on drinking. I was more than capa-
ble of being the designated driver
for the night. But alas, my father
insisted, in his typical nice-yet-
controlling manner.
He had good intentions, but
these intentions were grounded in
fear. He had assumed I was driving
by myself and meeting my friends
at the bar. This, of course, would
have meant that I would have had
to walk the whole 15 feet from the
parking lot to the bar, in the dark, in
Detroit, alone.
Which is silly, and not because

I was planning on picking
friends on the way anyw
because I've walked alone
dark on multiple occasion
life, including in Detroit, as
in Ann Arbor (what am I s
to do - take a cab back hot
classes that get out after 5
the winter?).
His fear has some legitit
it. I realize this. Women are
assaulted and abducted eve
My mom loves to watch
about it (I can't tell you the
of times I've heard the bum
the Law & Order: SVU int
from our living room TV). N
also loves to worry about
horrible things on the sho
pening to me. It's a tired tr
young woman in the big cit
Red Riding Hood lost in the
or the damsel in distress tie
train tracks - females as
It's entertainment when it
screen, but it's
also a horrify-
ing, nightmarish
reality that every At
parent hopes
they can protect
their daughters inde
from their whole
lives. whot
I get that it's w-
natural for par-
ents to want to
protect their chil-
dren, but at what age do we
"strong, independent wome
can go out at night without s
- preferably a male - on our
While more importantly,
trying to protect his one dau
noble, it's not actually solvi
thing. It temporarily assua
fear, but it doesn't fight the
of the fear.

up my It's a dangerous world for a
vay, but woman to be in, but fighting these
in the dangers doesn't mean keeping us
s in my from leaving the house alone. I'm
well as not entirely sure what the solution
upposed is, but it's not drawing the blinds
me from and locking the doors after dark.
p.m. in Quite the contrary, events like Take
Back the Night and SlutWalk call
macy to for loud resistance - a spread of
robbed, awareness and a reclaiming of our
ery day. communities. This is a call to get
shows out there - people of any gender -
number and show that we do not live in fear.
-bum of You don't have to participate in an
tro play organized walk to send a message
qy mom against the violence and harassment
all the of women. It can be speaking out
w hap- if you see someone being harassed
ope - a on the street - letting the harasser
y, Little know that this is not OK (because a
e woods lot of the time, catcallers don't real-
d to the ize how harmful they are being). It
victims. can even be as simple as not talking
t's on a to a stranger on the bus or the sub-
way, because
even if you're
just trying to
what age do we make small talk,
it can come off
Come '"strong, as threaten-
'pendent women" ing. (Seriously,
you never know
can go out at night when "Hey,
thout someone? how's it going?"
can turn into
"Fine, don't talk
to me. Fucking
become bitch.") It's really just a matter of
n" who being mindful and aware.
omeone We should be constantly challeng-
arms? ing the entire culture against women
one dad that threatens our dignity and safety
ighter is in public - not simply tryingto shield
ng any- one daughter at a time.
ges the
source - Katie Steen can be reached
at kathelizgumich.edu.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, James Brennan,
Rima Fadlallah, Eric Ferguson, Nivedita Karki, Jordyn Kay,
Jesse Klein, Kellie Halushka, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDon-
ald, Victoria Noble, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman,
Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe
CARLY MANES '
Changing UHS condom brands

Aforum for biased discussion

All condoms are equally effective if used cor-
rectly. Whether it's Lifestyle, Trojan, Kimono
Microthin or Durex, all the contraceptives seen
in drugstores, on campus and at Planned Parr-
enthood are FDA-approved and equally likely to
protect against STI's and HIV. But just because
all condom brands have the same effectivity
rate does not mean that they are all equally pre-
ferred. Many people are influenced by majorly
marketed brands such as Trojan or Durex, and
therefore have a preconceived notion that these
brands provide the best protection.
I've been distributing condoms since I was
16, handing out every variety of contraception
on the market. Each and every time the same
thing happens - if it's not Trojan or Durex,
most students won't take it. As a freshman,
I was a sexual health peer educator for the
group PULSE in East Quad. Every weekend,
I would put the University Health Service
provided LifeStyles on my door for students
to take. That same year, I was a member of
the Great American Condom Campaign, a
program run by Advocates for Youth that
sends 500 Trojan condoms to a student to
distribute on campus. In two months of con-
dom distribution, I had zero Trojan condoms
left, and almost my entire stack of Lifestyles
untouched.Accordingto aBMC Public Health
study, patrons are much more likely to make
use of free condoms when there are a variety
of brands and styles available. "The provision
of assorted brand-name condoms, over a sin-
gle brand name, can serve to increase condom
acquisition," the study contends.
As stated before, all condoms are equal-
ly effective. Educating students about the
importance of contraception and the effec-
tivity is crucial, but even with the incred-
ible education efforts and outreach by UHS
groups such as PULSE and Sexperteam,
reducing the stigma around contraception
takes time. In order to best address student
health needs we must provide contraception
students will use.
No one is denying the merit of the amaz-
ing work that groups such as PULSE and
Sexperteam do on campus. Both groups are

dedicated to educating our campus community
about safe sexual health practices and distrib-
uting UHS-provided contraception to students
in residential halls as well as off campus. What
PULSE students do is integral to providing
information on contraception to students, but
tasking 30 students with changingcampus cul-
ture is a timely process.
What we need is a culture shift, which takes
time. We need to reduce the stigma around con-
traceptive use and ensure that all students have
access to information on safe sexual practices
as well as a variety of contraceptive options.
A culture change doesn't happen over night,
however, STI and HIV infections do. As sexual
educators, we know that regardless of what
contraceptive you may use, or what contracep-
tive UHS provides, they are all equally effective
at preventing STI's and HIV infection as well as
unintended pregnancy, as long as they're used
correctly. Because of marketing and cultural
norms, not every student feels comfortable
using lesser-known contraceptives, like the
ones that UHS provides (e.g. Kimono Microthin
and LifeStyles). While we advocate for better
education around the effectivity of these con-
traceptives, we recognize that cultural change
is a long process, and with over half of all new
STI infections are occurring in young people,
we must be proactive now to deliver the contra-
ceptives that students want, to ensure that all
young people are protected themselves.
We fully support a variety of options for stu-
dents, seeing as every individual has personal
preferences and needs. We support the contin-
ued availability of female condoms, dental dams
and non-latex condoms at UHS, but we believe
that to best serve the majority of students' sex-
ual health needs, a student requested brand like
Trojan or Durex is the best short-term solution.
We are calling on UHS to provide Trojan
condoms as one of the main contraceptives for
students. Please sign our petition to show UHS
that sexual health is important to our campus
community. If the Spartans already use Tro-
jans, why can't we?
Carly Manes is a Public Policy junior.

n the midst of last semester's with d
"#UMMockEviction" flyering, or inti
a handful of viewpoints were the "s
printed in The deman
Daily express- an ech
ing utter outrage Israeli
over the tactics it then
and information out cat
used by Stu- The
dents Allied for dentsc
Freedom and to anyo
Equality. These zationl
pieces heav- JAMES "dialog
ily criticized the BRENNAN Israel/
group's one-sid- not tru
ed portrayal of lookini
life in the Gaza Strip as well as the versity
tactics of the group, which can uni- about I
versally be seen as a clear violation similar
of University Housing's anti-solici- for figl
tation policy. The repeated critique sonabl3
that stuck out most to me, however, Palesti
came in calls for "safe spaces" and an explici
"open and honest debate." Students speake
spoke out about feeling"threatened" divest,
and "intimidated," especially if they More
held Zionist views. vaguel
While I can certainly understand ize" Isr
the unease it would give a student to Hill
wake up to an eviction notice - albe- debate
it a fake one - during finals week, it gets
there is a huge conflict of interest this ist
being ignored here. Almost all of the campu
writers who criticized SAFE and the The
Mock Eviction are active in Michi-' ofleft-
gan's chapter of Hillel, which also who w
hosted an event where many of these from
criticisms originated. time,
From what people have told me, vast
Hillel seems to be a nice place for ity of
Jewish students to continue cultivat- can m
ing their culture while connecting govern
with a community of other students are
on campus. And there is absolutely with
nothing wrong with that. However, tional
Hillel is also an organization known to one
for its uncompromising support of one s
Israel, best articulated through their TheF
motto "Wherever we stand, we stand Israel
with Israel." Affair:
On college campuses all across tion th
America, Hillel often functions as Hillel
the unofficial center of the Jewish power
community. The organization has getting
been criticized for pushing hard- billion
line political views on its students, everyy
sometimes making individuals Israel]

iffering ideas
midated. Ins
afe spaces" t
nd, Hillel ist
to chamberw
voices areA
looks to prol
mpus.
viewpointst
wrote should
one, but the fa
like Hillel wou
gue" or "tolera
Palestine -
ae. The very la
g for on a camp
is an honesta
Israel and Pale
r organization
hting againstE
y criticize Is
ne. Hillel's na
itly prohibit t
rs who sup
ment and bo
troubling, h
ban on speake
rael.
el does not
- it wants a
to personally
the situation o
ses as well.
re may be a s
wing activists
till speak ba
time to
but the
major-
f Ameri-
edia and
ment
saturated
uncondi-
devotion
side and
ide only.
American
Public
s Committee
at has recent
- is easily o
ful lobbies i
g the United
s of dollarsi
year. Politicia
know they w

feel threatened attack by this and other groups,
tead of building while even shaky support for Pales-
hat its students tine by the President of the United
contributing to States was attacked as "naive" by
where only pro- his critics.
welcome, voices Palestinians are labeled as terror-
iferate through- ists and rarely given the chance to tell
their own stories in US media, where
that Hillel stu- articles in the New York Times and
n't be surprising other publications consistently fail
ct that an organi- to bring a truly objective approach to
uld ever promote issues like housing demolition. Both
nce" concerning political parties in the US constantly
well that's just argue over who supports Israel more,
st thing Hillel is with neither side having the gump-
pus like this Uni- tion to take a reasonable stance in the
and open debate face of a powerful special interest - a
stine. Hillel and special interest that many accuse of
ts are notorious supporting human rights violations.
events that rea- Hillel and other pro-Israel orga-
rael or support nizations on campus are college's
tional guidelines version of the one-sided lobby that
he invitation of dictates debate about Israel/Pales-
port sanctions, tine. In a place where open debate
.ycott of Israel. and exploring new ideas should
owever, is the be more prevalent than anywhere,
,rs who "demon- we're instead obligated as students
to act like pro-Palestinian groups
want an open are "threatening" and "intimidat-
idiscussion that ing." I can't personally take a side in
regulate. Sadly, this debate - I don't know enough
utside of college about the history of the conflict to
make a proper judgment. What I do
mall contingent know, however, is that the discus-
s and journalists sion of Israel/Palestine in America
dly about Israel is far from fair. According to an
organization like
Hillel, safe spac-
es and places to
To create an open have a dialogue
are apparently
dialogue, Hillel only available for
people who stand
needs to allow both with Israel in all
situations.
sides to speak. As a free
thinker, this is
not the kind of
campus I want to
- an organiza- be on. Dialogues require both sides
tly teamed with to speak - if students in Hillel want
ne of the most the dialogue they discuss, they
in Washington, need to let those who disagree with
States to send them have a chance to talk.

in aid to Israel
ns who criticize
ill get a full-on

- James Brennan can be reached
at jmbthree@umich.edu.

4