Monday, May 16, 2011~ r The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com E-MAIL WILLAT WGRU@UMICH.EDU Expand experience WILL GRUNDLER 0 I was driving back home from Detroit last week after a day at the Tigers game. Sitting in the back seat with a car full of friends, I looked out the window at the houses that lined Grand Avenue just south of Interstate 94 and thought to myself MAX how incredibly LEVENSTEIN lucky I am to not live in such pov- erty. House after house was van- dalized, abandoned, boarded up, burnt down - you name it. I feel lucky because I will graduate from an excellent university, most likely earn a decent salary, fulfill many of my dreams and not have to con- stantly worry about crime in my neighborhood,but thesame cannot be said for many in this country. I turned to my friend sitting beside me in the car and mentioned these thoughts. She agreed and also feels lucky that she has been able to grow up comfortably, both of us realizing that poverty severely limits many opportunities for suc- cess. This friend is the same person who I had a discussion with about income inequality in America just a week earlier. I had just finished my political philosophy paper on the moral justifications of income transfers from the rich to the poor. I'll spare you the details of the argument, but I asked her, "Why does a man deserve to be poor just because he is unlucky enough to be born into poverty?" Considering the question, she told me that it may be unfortunate that he is unlucky and poor, but that's the way it is. Did a week change her views of poverty in America? Absolute- ly not. Rather, it was her small glimpse of poverty passing through Detroit. Talking with residents or actually living there may have enhanced her experience, but just taking in the view as we passed by was enough to influence her atti- tude toward poverty. Every day there are political debates about welfare, health care, illegal immigration and the wars overseas. But the people debating the issues are stuck in the world of politics and theoretical policy. Republican members of Congress fight every word of welfare leg- islation, but would they think differently if they experienced poverty? My guess is yes. With the Sparknotes for Adam Smith in hand, they religiously praise the free market and small govern- ment. But if these people actually lived in the poverty they refuse to help alleviate, they would realize that the free market often fails to benefit everyone and leaves many in unfortunate situations. They would see that the poor are not poor because they are lazy or stu- pid, but often times because they were not given an equal chance to succeed. They would realize that the poor are people, not a spe- cial interest group that wishes to destroy capitalism. Politicians need a fresh perspective. This idea must be applied to more than just welfare. How can politi- cians argue about war when they have never experienced it firsthand? How can they debate illegal immi- gration when they have never met an immigrant and listened to their story? The fact is, politicians must expand their experiences in order to make good and informed deci- sions and not just rely on what their rationality tells them. This should not just apply to our Congressmen, but to all who have an opinion. It is not enough to read newspapers or listen to punditry on television to make an opinion. There is no way to form a complete understanding of anything simply from hearing oth- ers speak about it. You must change your perspective and enter into real experiences to develop fair opinions of others and their desires. I am not espousing that we become communists or allow an open door policy for all immi- grants, but learning from indi- viduals and their experiences can assist our policymakers in making truly representative and effective decisions. Let's not be afraid to separate from cold logic and move closer tothe warmthofcompassion for others. We ought to reevaluate the conventional wisdom about economics, politics and people to improve our understanding of the important decisions we make in the future. Max Levenstein can be reached at medl@umich.edu. Just saw somebody walk by a homeless man and completely blow him off, then kneel down to feed a piece of bread to a squirrel. TMD That's the difference! 83 You're not a Wolverine! 4 is this sl0ghty disturbing to anye? 0 A boy likes me, but I'm too busy to even consider if I like him back. TMD Havy ou conisid ered te possibinktyZ That's the difference! 95 You're not a Wolverine! 10 that you're 0a lesbian? 0 Go to the DUDE after 9pm and every single person there is Asian. TMD ND sanyone eusgwan o exe this peron That's the difference! 57 You're not a Wolverine! 8 to Asia, or punch them in the mouth? 1 East Quad is home to the Resi- dential College, commonly known as "The RC." If you aren't familiar, the Residen- tial College is "one of the lon- gest running undergraduate living-learning communities in the United States," accord- ing to its VANESSA website. It is RYCHLINSKI certainly an interesting com- munity with perhaps overly-strong liberal arts academics - only in the RC can a student enroll in courses that teach Afro-Cuban drumming, Javanese dance or Slavic cinema. Denizens of East Quad are known as "RCers." They sport multi-colored hair in a variety of styles and are vintage stores in human form. You may even spot one resident in a sombrero, known by his alter-ego appellation "Pan- cho Villa." Famed for once housing the Unabomber on the third floor, the building features live music in the basement and free art exhib- its, plays and yoga classes. It's a place where you can't throw a rock without hitting a girl, and where straight boys are a hot commod- ity. East Quad, the best location on campus. East Quad, where every kind of person iswelcome. Well, not every kind. In the program, it is mandated that a student lives in East Quad for two years. This is impractical for many people due to financial or health-related reasons, so a student may be forced to beg to live else- where for their second year. If one can provide sufficient proof of such a reason, then the office will issue a waiver, though they are notorious- ly hard to receive. Last year a cyni- cal RC peer told me that if I didn't live out of state, I was screwed. Discouraged by this information and unorganized as usual, I never got around to obtaining "proof" for my reasons. At the end of my freshman year, however, a friend told me a secret: You can move out while remaining in the program if you just "go talk to them." I decided to try it. In the RC office I was prompted to explain why I wanted to live elsewhere. To my surprise, I was rewarded with a smile and a computer override. In mere minutes I had accomplished what was supposedly impossible - apparently the need for cheaper housing was a good enough reason. At the outset of the fall semes- ter, I learned that for most of my sorority friends, the impossible had remained as such. In order to stay in the RC and also complete the required year in the sorority house, several had submitted waiver forms. Others had even employed the additional method of simply talking to the gatekeeper in the RC office. In both cases, the girls were denied. Apparently, living the Greek life was not only considered a banal excuse, it was also suffi- cient grounds to dismiss them from the program iftheydidn'tfulfillthe two-year requirement. To be quite honest, I don't really care about this small disparity. It's more of a snub than a real hin- drance, considering most classes in East Quad are pretty accessi- ble. What's more, those in Greek life have their own social club to belong to and be welcomed by. If that's your cup of tea, go ahead and drink it. I find it interesting that sombrero-wearing muchachos are encouraged and those of Omega Toga Whatevers are objects of disapproval. I even had a profes- sor that often condemned those who were members of sororities and fraternities for not possessing enough individuality. Every person isn't welcome in the RC. In a place where differences are encouraged, it's interesting that it's possible to not be "differ- ent" enough. However, despite the "Revenge of the Nerds" style poetic justice, I do think that if the aim is to create a place that is welcoming to all, then the place should welcome everyone, with- out exception. Despite theirslight- ly embarrassing choices in rain boots or game-day activities, frat boys and sorority girls are prob- ably real people with souls and everything. Think of the good we could accomplish through assimi- lation! We could familiarize them with Value World, teach them apathy regarding the direction of the "masses", nourish them prop- erly with seitan and soybeans, and finally, convert them to the reli- gion of Pitchfork and NPR. In all seriousness, the RC prides itself on being a haven for the diversity of its members: devi- ants, artists, language geeks, the occasional physicist, social and political thinkers, world travelers, writers, crazies like my dear Pan- cho and, of course, me. If your fla- vor of nuts includes neatly labeling yourself with a lettered t-shirt, you shouldn't be excluded. Vanessa Rychlinski can be reached at vanrych@umich.edu.