The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.com
Page 3A - Wednesday, November 5, 2014
0 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Page 3A - Wednesday, November 5, 2014
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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.
My application for Athletic Director
T saw it with my own eyes. Last Fri- to lose faith in me. A 25-cent glass, now and
1 day, I watched University President forever. To top it off, I've never sold terrible
Mark Schlissel take the podium in pizza. I think that wins a few H.A.I.L. points.
the Regents Room and Schlissel also mentioned that the next
announce he had accepted athletic director doesn't have to have
former Athletic Director Michigan ties. He reiterated this point in an
Dave Brandon's resigna- interview with the Daily on Monday, "I'm
tion. He also appointed always open to the idea that someone from
former Steelcase CEO Jim the outside might help us be even better. I just
Hackett as the interim want to get the best person."
Athletic Director - key Clearly, this is where I'm at a little bit of
word interim. a disadvantage. I am a "Michigan Man"
That got me thinking and DEREK after all - if having a University e-mail
actually pretty excited. As WOLFE account makes you one. However, I contend
of right now, I don't have I would bring a nice balance to the Athletic
any plans for next summer Department.
and should probably start working on intern- First off, I never played for legendary
ship and job applications sometime soon. The football coach Bo Schembechler. In fact, I
search process for the next athletic director neverplayed football.Thatbeingsaid,I'vestill
* hasn't begun yet either and anything you see, succeeded in athletics. Though you might not
or hear on the news is just hearsay at this be able tell by looking at me, I was an integral
point. So before this opportunity slips away member of a championship basketball team
from me, I am officially announcing myself as on my hometown's local recreational league
a candidate for the Athletic Director position - there were only seven players and my dad
at the University of Michigan. was the coach. For this, I am, and will always
Before I get written off as unqualified, let be, a winner. Sure, the last guy may have had
me explain. Mr. Hackett, feel free to use this three Big Ten championship rings, but I'm
as a cover letter if it suits you. also confident I got more playing time than
At the press conference, Schlissel said the he did.
new athletic director must be "a person of While I've never worked in an athletic
unquestioned integrity, not just integrity to department before, I've been to my fair
the level of NCAA rules." share of football and basketball games. That
For starters, I've never allegedly e-mailed should suffice. I'm also proficient in addition
an alumnus passive-aggressively telling them and subtraction so the budget stuff is no
to "have ahappylife" or "stop drinking and go big deal. Also, in case you forgot, I've run a
to bed." lemonade stand before. Can you say business
Second, one of my professors referred to experience?
me as a "great guy" in office hours. If those I would bring a solid understanding of the
two examples don't represent "unquestioned student voice. Heck, when I want student
integrity," I'm not sure what does. However, input on an issue all I'll have to do is think.
for those still unconvinced about my qualifi- No other candidate will be able to say that.
cations, please read on. With that, I feel I've covered all the bases.
If you're worried about my leadership I might be the "unorthodox" candidate, but
skills, there's nothing to fear. Six peoplef that's wsat the University needs right now:
a have endorsed me on LinkedIn for "leadier- Someone who's not afraid to tell it how it is
ship," anE admittedly, I'm' pritty proud 6f and enact necessary change. Someone with
that. Small sample size, yes. But I know those vision and relevant experience.
people didn't hesitate for a second when LastFridaywhenaskedaboutwhatqualities
they hit the endorse button. That counts for he envisioned in the future athletic director,
something. Schlissel responded, "I have excellence
If you're looking for someone who knows a in mind."
. thingor two about generating sales and build- If that's the case, and considering how the
ing a brand, look no further. I have more than previous Athletic Director performed, then I
530 followers on Twitter - although most of must be the man for the job. Some might even
them think I play for the Denver Broncos. In say I'm overqualified. Just don't forget I can't
the business, we call that a dedicated follow- start until the summer.
ing. In my younger days, I ran some pretty Academics come first.
successful lemonade stands. And I never once
considered raising the price to maximize rev- - Derek Wolfe can be reached
enue because I didn't want the community at dewolfe@umich.edu.
ROBERT SCHWARZHAUPT I
Inclusive language, only part of the solution
When I abandoned beauty for strength
started weightlifting for all the
wrong reasons.
I heard it will give me
the toned look
of Gisele.
I heard it will
give me the ass
of J. Lo.
I heard it
will give me
the arms of
Jennifer Aniston.
I heard it AWA
will give me the TOSIC
slender legs of
Heidi Klum.
I heard it will give me the flat abs
of Rihanna.
I heard it will give me a body
other than my own.
A year ago, I listened to the
magazines, movies, celebrities,
friends and family that told me
exercise could move my body far
away from its current form. I pored
over the advice and tips that detailed
how to lift small weights to achieve
the beauty ideal of the perfect
female celebrity. They all directed
me toward the same end goal - thin
and toned. Alone with these voices,
I had become fogged by the pursuit
of changing my body beyond its
normal form.
Creating my exercise plan started
with opening the expanding pull-
outs from the middle of women's
magazines. Each pull-out displayed
a sequence of exercises done by
wispy white women. They had no
sweat, no creases, no fat and were
holding only two-pound weights.
A TV remote could have replaced
the weights they happily clutched.
Nowhere had I seen images
of women lifting weights that
demanded real strength.
ThoughI consumed these images
wholeheartedly, they sent me dan-
gerous messages. They informed me
that lifting weights should be done,
ironically, to not gain visible mus-
cles. They told me that I should not
be "bulky" or "big" or "muscular."
They led me to believe that I should
want the opposite. I should not want
to inhabit three-dimensional space.
I should want to be thin and lean
enough, soI appeared defenseless.
Besides the visible messages that
the fitness media was imparting, I
found underlying lessons between
the aspiration of thigh gaps. They
told me that by consuming less.
space, Iwould receive more love and
worth. The areas my body left blank
could be filled with more points on
an attractiveness scale designed by
men. As I peered into the images
of perfectly toned women in
fitness magazines, I saw their eyes
hinting to me that a woman's body
should never reveal real power nor
intimidate men. It was hard to look
away. Their stare was gripping, and
soon I came to see what they saw.
Each day, I followed the sequenc-
es that were supposed to burn more
calories than cardio. I religiously
did very little weight at high rep-
etition in order to build leanness
instead of big muscles. The fear of
becoming unattractive sustained
my resistance of looking strong.
Soon weightlifting became some-
thing Idid for others - to allowoth-
ers to find me attractive and worthy.
After months of revisiting the
same routines and the same corners
of the gym, I still was very removed
from the body I was promised. And
I was exhausted. I was exhaustedby
the need to constantly adhere to one
ideal and to exercise feebly. I decid-
ed to listen to my exhaustion and to
abandon what I was supposed to do.
As I wished to switch to new rou-
tines, I found very little knowledge
on how a woman can become strong
instead of beautiful.
My journey to find new ways
of lifting weights led me to see
the obvious.
It's no wonder that so many
women of all ages wish to adhere to
a singular beauty ideal. And it's no
wonder most women believe they
will become massive bodybuilders if
theybeginto liftweights.And itno
wonder that the image of a woman
bodybuilder is unattractive,because
of its "threatening" demeanor to
men. And it's no wonder that there
is little knowledge circulating
women's minds on how to safely
and properly lift weights. And it's
no wonder that the free weight
section of every gym lacks women
while men are overpopulating
it. And it's no wonder I was
afraid to ignore norms by
becomingstrong.
And it's no wonder when a
woman's worth is labeled, by her
need for the strength of men.
After learning the hidden
obviousness, I let my strength truly
reveal itself. I let my body move
toward the gravitational pull it
desired. I longed to be strong for
myself and honored my body as it
morphed into unforeseen molds.
Through my journey, Ihave come to
appreciate my ability to grow to its
own tune.
- Maja Tosic can be reached
at tosimaj@umich.edu.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Devin Eggert, David Harris, Rachel John, Jordyn Kay, Aarica
Marsh, Megan McDonald, Victoria Noble, Allison Raeck,
Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman,
Mary Kate Winn, Jenny Wang, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe
JAIKOB DJERF AND DANIEL MADION I
A culturally transmitted disease?"
I think we need to have a talk about inclusive
language and its relation to social justice here
at the University. With the new inclusive
language campaign kicking off, it's time we
make sure to keep things in perspective. First
of all, I want to recognize my place of privilege
in this area. I am a white presenting, middle
class, cisgender male who largely does not face
the mounting burden of micro-aggressions.
As always, it is important to keep that in mind
as I only face micro-aggressions for my queer
identity, which does play a role in how I view
this topic. However, I'd like to move forward
as a student of social science, which will
inform my thoughts.
The more social justice circles that I've nav-
igated through, the more I have come across
a fixation on making sure language is inclu-
sive. People actively make an effort to correct
each other in order to make sure their diction
is properly inclusive. And while this prac-
tice is valuable, and certainly necessary, I am
beginning to worry. Yes, language has a pow-
erful effect in perpetuating unfair and unjust
systems, dynamics and institutions. Yes, lan-
guage can be powerfully racist, sexist, bigoted
and unintentionally hateful. Yes, language is
a subtle and subversive form of problematic
conditioning. Andyes, understanding and cor-
recting problematic language is one step in
creating an equitably functional society. How-
ever, this newlygrowingmodern view of strict
inclusive language is proving more and more
dangerous. Simply put, this massive amount
of energy focused on only inclusive language
in social justice spaces convinces people social
justice issues can be fixed simply by applying
strict scrutiny to our words. Monitoring lan-
guage to be more inclusive, while comforting,
actually does very little to help fix the larger
oppressive macro-systems and institutions
that plague America and fuel injustice. Rath-
er, inclusive language can be used to create a
space where interpersonal dialogue may lead
to generating potential solutions to larger
social problems. Inclusive language is simply
one method to facilitate the creation of spaces
where diversity is at the center of the dialogue.
However, in and of itself, inclusive language
does very little to solve the larger problems
that fuel injustice in society on a mass scale.
Before I go on, I would like to be clear that
making people comfortable in social settings
is very important. However, let's not conflate
this with fixing systemic injustice. This
modern fixation on strict scrutiny of language,
while well-intentioned, takes the focus away
from realities of fixing our larger society and
the complex tasks associated with it. Fixing
social justice issues will require complex
advocacy, coalition-building, research and
a real understanding of social dynamics,
psychology and politics. It is unfortunate
that policing language is where social justice
starts and ends from many people, because
it does nothing to help the real, pressing
needs. The modern practice of language
policing to be "inclusive" fails to recognize
the social politics of interpersonal education,
motivating political support and coalition-
building. Simply put, it turns many people
away from social justice issues in a way that
does nothing to build support or solve them.
Again, let me be clear in saying that
people should be held accountable to their
words. Language has a real effect on social
interactions, and everyone should strive to
understand how their language can make
people feel, butwe should be waryon its actual
efficacy in solving the problems that have
huge effects on people's lives such as cyclical
poverty and the achievement gap.
Ultimately, policinglanguage is asubtle form
of slacktivism and does very little in creating
actual change in the way marginalized groups
are institutionally oppressed.
Robert Schwarzhaupt is an LSA senior
and a Programming Board Member in
the Trotter Multicultural Center.
On July 11, the World Health
Organization announced its
recommendation for all men who
have sex with men (MSM) to begin
taking antiretroviral drugs as a
precaution to combat the spread of
HIV/AIDS worldwide. This came
as a shock to many Americans who
in recent years haven't read or
heard many news stories about the
HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Since the initial HIV/AIDS
epidemic started in the 1980s, rates
of HIV transmission in the United
States have generally remained
stable. According to the Centers for
Disease Control, it's estimated that
1.1 million Americans are living
with HIV, and that one out of six
don't know that they have HIV.
The group in the United States
that remains most affected by HIV/
AIDS is MSM. HIV infection in
the United States has declined in
every group except gay/bisexual
men. Rates of HIV infection have
actually been increasing among
this group. From 2008 to 2010,
the rate of new HIV infections for
MSM climbed 12 percent. In 2010,
MSM made up approximately 4
percent of the U.S. population, but
accounted for 63 percent of all new
HIV infections.
In 2010, women accounted for 20
percent of all new HIV infections,
and 84 percent of these were
attributed to heterosexual contact.
In that same year, "white MSM
continued to account for the largest
number of new HIV infections,"
according to the CDC.
There are twostigmas atplayhere:
the assumption in the heterosexual
population that HIV/AIDS is a gay
disease, and the assumption in the
white MSM population that HIV/
AIDS is a disease associated with
minority MSM. The mainstream
media today portrays HIV/AIDS
in the gay community or in IV
drug users. People assume that as
long as they aren't having sex with
people from these communities
that their risk for HIV isn't very
high. These stigmas, along with the
lack of a legitimate sex education,
then lead to unsafe sex and not
being regularly tested for sexually
transmitted infections. In order to
stop this unsafe trend, the myths
surrounding HIV/AIDS must
be dispelled.
One-fourth of new HIV
infections occur in youth ages 13
to 24; most of those infected are
unknowing, not getting tested/
treated and potentially infecting
more people. HIV after contraction
may or may not produce symptoms.
Within two to four weeks after the
initial exposure, people may feel
flu-like symptoms, but eventually
these symptoms subside.
Many people will live years
before being diagnosed with HIV
or AIDS. In a campus survey our
Program on Intergroup Relations
class group conducted, only 20
percent of respondents have been
tested for STIs in the last three
months, and of that 20 percent only
11 percent were also tested for HIV.
Common responses for not being
tested were that no symptoms are
present, or that respondents did
not think that they were at risk.
Another common response was the
stigma that goes along with being
tested for HIV. Respondents didn't
want their doctors to think they
were gay or having risky sex. This
is especially true for bisexual men
who, because of society, choose not
to get tested and not to tell partners
about their encounters with men.
The misconceptions aroundcampus
about HIV/AIDS are apparent.
HIV/AIDS affects people indis-
criminately, and although the only
sure way to avoid contracting HIV
is through abstinence, there are
many ways to greatly reduce your
risk. These include using latex or
polyurethane condoms/barriers,
using water-based lubricant, ask-
ing your partner about their sexual
history, avoiding alcohol or drugs as
they alter the decision-making and
choosing lower-risk sexual activi-
ties. Frequent STI screenings (that
include HIV) are also essential.
Although HIV/AIDS is most promi-
nent today in the MSM and African
American community, all sexually
active people are at risk. Especially
when involved with casual sex part-
ners who may not have been tested
themselves, or may have lied about
their sexual histories. Sleeping with
someone is like sleeping with every-
one that they've ever slept with too.
Transmission of HIV is fully
preventable; most of the new cases
contracted are due to a lack of
knowledge and lack of precaution.
There are many great resources in
Ann Arbor for both STI testing and
safe sex. For more information about
STI testing and HIV/AIDS statistics,
please visit the CDC website or the
UHS website.
Jaikob Djerf is an LSA sophomore
and Daniel Madion is an LSA freshman.
I am proud to say that after 23 or (24) years on the
radio we have learned absolutely nothing. It's
absolutely the truth. People say, 'Tell us about radio!'
We have no idea. We sit in front of the microphones
and we know nothing about radio. Nothing!"
- Tom Magliozzi said during an appearance on NPR's Fresh Air in 2001. Known for his
co-hosting of NPR's Car Talk, Tom passed away Monday.
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