Monday,August 8, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 5 "We have nothing invested in the continuation of a regime that must kill, imprison and torture its own citizens to maintain power." -Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on Syrian leader Bashar Assad's deadly crackdown on protesters in Hama. SEND LETTERS TO TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM Singer doesn't understand complexities of crime prevention TO THE DAILY: mind that offering safety Daniel Singer claims to advice is tantamount to blame, "applaud" the efforts of the DPS a logic as addled as it is flawed. in preventing crime ("Shirking Criminals cause crimes, as Mr. Duty," 07/24/2011). In fact, Singer well knows. But it is also he does these efforts little the job of DPS, indeed duty, to justice. His "applause" is a weak identify factors correlated with rhetorical gesture in a letter I can these crimes - namely, factors only characterize as slip-shod or by which criminals target and willfully distorting. select victims. Are they wrong Mr. Singer would have it to caution us about these that DPS suggests, instills the factors? Is this victim blaming, opinion or even holds that in other words? To my mind, victims are to blame for crime. no. DPS is only advocating we Which of these is it? A proper make ourselves less susceptible distinction is never made. As targets. Having little room, I the reader proceeds, they are can say no more, except that this told that DPS "is represented as sort of advice is sensible and in having the attitude" of victim no way accusatory or oppressive, blaming; that they "instill the as the author suggests. attitude" of victim blaming; and I trust that DPS is genuinely that they "suggest" the same. concerned with student safety. Finally, DPS simply "tells" I must also assume its staff, victims they are to blame, the working in crime prevention, effects of which Singer likens knows something more about the to terrorism. This language is subject than the average Daily at best slippery and at worst, I hack, even one with a degree in think, in bad faith. philosophy. But the larger issue is whether DPS in fact blames Ethan Menchinger victims. Singer seems of the Rackham Student LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be fewer than 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@michigandaily.com JEFF ZUSCHLAG E-MAIL JEFF ATxJEFFDZ@UMICH.EDU well, the economy might be come again? down, but at least employment was up for Well the way statistics work, July. even though the UNEMPLOYMENT RATE is down, the number of You know you're in a tough people working in July is actually spot when even the good news well, that's not SMALLER than the number in June is bad news. eactly true. Awareness abroad When students go abroad to vol- medical research laboratory. unteer, what are their motives? I While he did not directly perform can think of a few: to build their procedures on patients, he inter- resumes, to acted with them by asking ques- receive hands- I - tions and helped collect samples. on experience Though he wasn't a doctor, his lab in career fields coat and position earned him the and simply as treatment of one. He said "anyone a way to travel who wears that lab coat is treated and see the like a relative god." world. Addi- This story is reminiscent of tionally, it's a my own experience last sum- good way to ANNA mer teaching English to children practice speak- CLEMENTS in Mexico City. As a part of our ing skills while study abroad program, we taught learning a sec- a few class sessions to students in ond language and many say that it the community where we stayed. and satisfies the need for a higher Though ill-prepared to teach, we calling. came up with a few exercises for But if students go abroad for the kids - mostly teaching them any of these reasons without con- basic vocabulary, and then doing sidering the bigger picture, then activities surrounding these the way in which they carry out words. I had never learned about their jobs may be problematic. A teaching ESL, and so most of the host of temptations often arise, ideas I came up with - such as a corrupting the altruistic desire scavenger hunt to practice using to make a difference. There is the new vocabulary - came from my American privilege - that is, the experiences as a summer camp respect people are given based counselor and as a language stu- soley on the fact that they live in dent myself. When I took a course a powerful, wealthy country (this on teaching ESL a year later, I is more relevant in some coun- realized how useful it would have tries than others). There is also been to take that class before going the job-related status - teach- to Mexico. But as college students, ing English as a second language we often feel like we are already may seem like an unimpressive qualified for almost anything. profession here (and this is not to I know that the English classes say that it is or that it should be), that my friends and I taught in but in some countries and regions, Mexico were useful. This was the teachers are respected with ardor, first exposure that some of these and English teachers in particular kids had to English besides on TV, are given special treatment based and knowing some English will on the high utility of the language undoubtedly open up opportuni- they offer. Overtime, the positive ties for them, however small they reception of someone's services may be. Likewise, the service that can become the driving force to my friend in Kenya provided was continue them, rather than the highly useful to the community altruism that inspired them in the he served. Nevertheless, while first place. we held these positions, we had A friend of mine was in Kenya to suppress hubris and remind recently and volunteered in a ourselves not to get caught up in the idea that we provided a much- needed service. Volunteering abroad can be ben- eficial to everyone involved, but it can also hurt people. In Mexico, I became very close to a ten-year- old girl in the class I taught. Upon leaving, she gave me her address and I promised to write. After writing one letter and not hearing back, I forgot about my promise, Altruistic motives can be lost overseas. and became too caught up in col- lege life to write again. Since then, I've thought about the possibili- ties that such brief friendships can have, both for better and for worse. When we volunteer abroad as stu- dents from the U.S., we are promot- ing this country's image, earning it the reputation of a nation that reaches out to help others. Mean- while, we are also promoting our- selves. It can be difficult to interact with people abroad without seem- ing like a politician, only making friendships out of convenience or for personal gain. Going abroad to study or volun- teer is, for the most part, a posi- tive experience. I do not mean to undermine that truth. It will become even better, though, once the organizations that send stu- dents, as well as the students them- selves,travel with the awareness of the their position, and the interests of those they interact with. Anna Clements can be reached at asiobhan@umich.edu.