Tuesday, July 5, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com JULIA SMITH-EPPSTEINER I Kids of Cudi Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu BETHANY BIRON EDITOR IN CHIEF MARK BURNS MAANAGING EDITC TEDDY PAPES )ITORIAIL PAGE EDITC 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. Reversing iscrimination The repeal of Proposition 2 should be upheld At a time when certain states are passing uncompromising anti-immigration laws and others are striving their best to effectively make abortion illegal, it's reassuring that Michigan is leaning toward a civil rights victory. Last Friday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-to-1 to overturn the Orwellian Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (commonly known as Proposal 2), ruling that the ban on considerations of race and gender in public-university admissions and government hiring.is unconstitutional. This ruling was the first step to restoring affir- mative action in Michigan. For the sake of equality and diversity, it must be upheld in the likely future appeal process. Ladies and gents, it's not just Kid Cudi that's on the "Pursuit of Happiness." Thomas Jefferson was too. Along with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and 53 other men work- ing to gain freedom from King George III in July of 1776. The Declaration of Independence said it with a bit more Congressional style than Cudi, but the same ulti- mate desires are there: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The last few decades have seen a diminishing of such pursuits in the name of safety, moderation, deferred gratification and political correctness; our recklessly behav- ing athletes and celebrities were often chastised, while the Lance Armstrong-type role models were rewarded. Today, it seems the reins might be loosening as Kid Cudi and his contemporaries are happily wielding their bad boy behaviors. I admit, I was an attendant of the 2011 Cud Life Tour. And fur- thermore, I definitely enjoyed swaying with the crowd, but I also found myself wowed at the rapidly changing course of society - and not necessarily the good kind of "wow." Standing on the linoleum floor of San Diego's Valley View Casino Center in a confluence of mixed demographics, I became increas- ingly aware of our generation. The house thundered Cudi with full throttle sing-along and palms as he sang, "Pretty green bud all in my blunt / Oh, I need it ... Oh, do you wanna smoke?" As Cudi performed "Marijuana" live, the green lights were flash- ing in our retinas. Images of 1970s Haight-Asbury in combination with a marijuana plant flashing repeatedly upon the screen, only intensified the energy of the audi- ence. It seemed possible that in the year 2068, American Culture majors, along with studying hip- pies, beatniks and punks, could be reading "21st Century: The His- tory of the Cudians." I question if in the light of all this glorious freedom, by stray- ing from moderation, we might risk losing some clarity and direc- tion. Overindulgence comes to the forefront during many American holidays - tryptophan on Thanks- giving, green bagels and beer on St. P iricks Day - but annually on the Fourth of July, hot with indepen- dence, many celebrate the freedom to pursue happiness by saturating themselves in family, alcohol, UVB rays and barbequed anything. Oscar Wilde opined on the sub- ject: "Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess." If you're a human who enjoys life, y probby :grd IthNiWcile on souse occasion to ease your sat- urated mind of guilt. More com- mon is runningto hot vinyasa yoga class to extinguish your doubled- over toxins once the fireworks no longer linger in the sky. A current of moderation runs through Americans' veins, or at least through the minds of their better selves, but when freedom is the American dream (along with rags to riches and an infin- ity pool on the side), its easy to live in excess. Perhaps our genera- tion finds its niche in pushing the boundaries that restrain us, allow- ing desire to flourish through to the extremes. My enthusiasm for loosened reins and unbridled freedoms is unfortunately tempered by the buzz created from Kid Cudi's popu- lar lyric, "I'll be up up and away / cuz they gon' judge me anyway so whatever." This isn't the most respectable or well-rooted mental- ity to advertise; "whatever" is too easy. Pushing a different and more respectable ideology was Jack Ker- ouac with, "If moderation is a fault, then indifference is a crime." Overindulgence isn't new, our Google generation is just overin- dulging in a fusion of avenues that frighten the soul: marijuana and Twitter. We're somehow both lazy and overexcited at the same time, teetering on an edge that has yet to be explored. But only time will tell whether Cudi's coaxing will speak louder than declarations of D.A.R.E. If moderation truly is a fault, I hope you chose to indulge in your pas- sions on this Fourth, whether that was reading by a river or chugging Four Loko. To an always-changing world! To Jefferson! Julia Smith-Eppsteiner is the managing arts editor. Affirmative action is one of the means to make our society more equal, and attempts to block it are attempts to maintain an unacceptable status quo. Minori- ties continue to suffer from huge social and institutional disadvantages due to historical and contemporary prejudices. A disproportionate amount of minority students receive subop- timal educations in underfunded school systems. Income equality among races is still a dream. These problems require more than one solution, and revers- ing Proposal 2 won't solve all of them. But while politicians fail to address other problems that lead to differences in socioeconomic status, it will be devastating to already disenfranchised racial groups if Michigan institutions are forbidden from mitigating the societal factors that limit the suc- cess of minorities. Yet when it comes to affirma- tive action, it's not just equal- ity that matters. "Diversity" has become a buzzword these days, but it doesn't lessen the impor- tance of interacting with people of different backgrounds, beliefs and experiences. Diversity is part of what makes our experience at the University so rewarding. Being around people who are different from ourselves allows us to critically evaluate our own opinions and beliefs and compare them to others who are different. In order to provide a meaningful education, and to stimulate the intellects and the values of under- graduate students, an admissions system needs to be based on more than just SAT scores. It's not just the University that believes this - the United States Supreme Court does too. In Grut- ter v. Bollinger in 2003, the Court upheld the admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School, which allowed for the con- sideration of race in combination with academic and extracurricular achievements. The majority rul- ing stated that the United States Constitution "does not prohibit the law school's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body." Proposal 2 put this ruling on hold, but it may not last much lon- ger. It potentially has to survive a likely appeal in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court in which all sixteen judges vote (instead of just three) before reaching the Supreme Court. Legal experts say the case could go either way in each court. In the interest of racial equality and diversity in the face of unchanging socioeconomic status, each court should uphold the reversal of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.