41 Monday, May 14, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arboyr MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu "Real" experience JACOB AXELRAD EDITOR IN CHIEF GIACOMO BOLOGNA MANAGING EDITOR ADRIENNE ROBERTS EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely theviews of their authors. FRMTE AL Marriage equality President Obama's comments reflect changing views History was made Wed. May 9, 2012 when President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to publicly support same-sex marriage, sparking the conversation about the legalization of same-sex marriage once again. Obama's comments indi- cated that he believes all U.S. states should legalize same-sex marriage. While some states have taken the initiative and given same-sex cou- ples the right to marry, Michigan, unfortunately, has not. In light of Obama's monumental announcement, Michigan should take steps to make his message a reality and legalize same-sex marriage. Twenty-five strangers, dropped off in a foreign country, forced to live together in one hotel for five weeks as they acclimate to the language, the culture and each other. Sounds like something you'd watch on MTV, right? Well, in this version of "The CAITLIN Real World" MORATH I'm contestant number one. And there's one major twist: I'm earning seven col- lege credits. In just a few days I will depart for my study abroad program in Rome. I'll spend the next five weeks studying social science and immersing myself in history and red wine. Despite having an Ital- ian best friend and an undying love of pasta, my knowledge of Italian language and culture is limitedto "The Godfather," and whatever Giada De Laurentiis tells me. I'm culturally aware that mobsters and food don't even begin to cover the essence of Italy. But as for everything else, I'm in for a sur- prise. (Okay, I take it back. Maybe I'm hoping that food really does account for half of Italian culture.) The first half of each week is scheduled with class, but the rest is left for traveling either alone or with classmates I have yet to meet. Sorrento, Florence, Berlin; get ready, here we come. For better or worse, I'm set to travel Europe the only way I know how, with a group of strangers. And, quite frankly, I think that's the best way to go. Some find comfort in traveling in the company of friends or fam- ily, but I prefer my companions to be as new as the surroundings I'm discovering. The first time I traveled abroad was with the student-ambassador group, People to People. The pro- gram combined high school stu- dents from all over Michigan into one group, and then sent us away for three weeks to tour England and France. I'd never been the type of kid to go away to camp, so the idea of spending three weeks over- seas with complete strangers terri- fied me, even as a teenager. I quickly realized that the ano- nymity between my cohorts and I was a blessing of sorts. We had no shared history and could reason- ably assume that we wouldn't be seeing much of each other after the trip was over, so there was no pretense to act like anything other than myself. It wasn't as if the group lacked camaraderie. In fact, we all seemed to fall into an easy friendship. The distinct difference between traveling with loved ones and traveling with near strangers is that I had the freedom to pursue my own interests. Anonymity is a blessing for studying abroad. I rarely stayed with just one group of friends throughout the day; instead, I preferred to jump from clique to clique. Not being tethered to just one or two com- panions gave me the freedom to interact with all sorts of people, and to let their personalities and interests color my own experience. I toured the Louvre with an art teacher, saw the beaches of Nor- mandy with a veteran's grand- daughter, practiced ballet with dance students on the Englishwsea shore and even broke away from the group entirely in Gravesend to shop with some local schoolgirls. I wouldn't have had the opportu- nity to jump as easily from group to group if I had been tied to a select few from home. My high-school experience proved that heading into travel groups without a companion is the most rewarding and free way to go. And hey, this is college, right? So why not up the ante? Make it five weeks instead of three, and toss ina language barrier for good measure. I'm even studying abroad through another university, so there's really no chance I'll get to know my class- mates before we board the flight to Rome. Things are about to get Real (okay, so maybe Ishould come to terms with the fact that I'm not actually going to be on an MTV show). Caitlin Morath can be reached at cmorath@umich.edu. Blue advances to Sweet 16 again By BEN SEIDMAN Daily Sports Writer Texas A&M took the Michi- gan women's tennis team to the brink, bending but not breaking at the Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor this weekend. With the dual score tied at three, the only athletes left on the courts were Michigan sophomore Brooke Bolender and Aggie Naz- ari Urbina. In order for Michigan win a third consecutive bid to the NCAA Sweet 16, Bolender would have to dig deep in the third set to pull out a victory against her stiff competition. And Bolender did just that. Only two weeks ago, Bolender was put in an identical situation but failed, as Michigan lost, 4-3, to Purdue on April 29. "Unfortunately I had one of those two weeks ago," Bolender said. "I've accepted that it's going to be me. Basically, I have been in that situation. It's kind of a rare situation and regardless of wheth- er I have won or lost in the past, I know what it feels like." Bolender credited junior Mimi Nguyen for staying on the courts as long as she could, but when Nguyen couldn't hold off any lon- ger, Bolender stepped up for the team. The crowd was crucial in push- ing Bolender to fight through any doubts she may have had as she helped claw her team back to vic- tory. "We had an awesome crowd here today," Bolender said. "It was a very intense dual match. It was a little nerve-racking but fortunate- ly we worked hard enough to pull it off." Bernstein was both relieved and excited. She was relieved for Bolender to come through in another tough spot and also excit- ed to make it to the Sweet 16 for the third year in a row. "We've had a few disappoint- ments this year, which I think is a sign of being young, but it was huge for everyone to step up today after losing a tough doubles point," Bernstein said. "We were a little deflated and I got on them and they stepped up to take four sin- gles points." Being at home was huge for Ber- nstein and the team. At this point of the season, the team was not ready to give up. "I'm looking at the scoreboard and I'm like, we got to turn one of these around," Bernstein said. "The way they competed, I'm proud of the girls and I'm happy for them. It helps being at home and having fighters. We just didn't want our season to end. "I'm so happy for (Brooke). I was standing there and thinking to myself, 'You want to win for the team, but I just wanted her to win, more just because I didn't want her to have to go through the feeling that she had against Purdue."' The team circled Bolender to celebrate the victory on home turf. "You've got to stay on the court as long as you can," said Bern- stein. "We've had different people stepping up. That's what a team is. That's what is so special about college tennis. It is an individual sport but in the college format, it's a team and you need everybody." The only senior on the team, Michelle Sulahian, defeated her opponent, Janine Erasmus, win- ning 12 of her 16 games played Sat- urday. "Texas A&M gave us a run for our money today," Sulahian said. "They're a good team. Every week- end we're fighting and everyone's starting to play together as ateam. We can hang with anybody really." Michigan men't basketball coach John Beilein was in atten- dance Saturday for the final matches after watching the soft- ball team finish a sweep of Purdue. "It was a great atmosphere here with the way it unfolded," Beilein said. "The drama was incredible so I am really happy for (Michigan) coach (Ronni) Bernstein and the team because they had to go' all the way to win this one. There is a great appreciation on this campus with the high-level athletes that are on the other teams and not just your own." Next week, Michigan will face off against a tough Florida team, ranked number two in the nation. By GREG GARNO lowing height (17-feet, 7-inches), he Daily Sports Writer was still pleased with his improved performance after he finished seniors Nick Neuman and Matt Campbell, who ran their fastest time. Monday, May 14, 2012 (x T The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD Forys, Greenlee shine for Wolverines at Big ens Finishing in ninth place would fourth in the Big Ten Indoor LaPlante said he was disap- normally be a good reason for Championships in February. pointed in his team's occasional Michigan men's track and field "It feels great," Greenlee said. setbacks, like a failed handoff in coach Fred LaPlante to be worried. "It hasn't quite sunk in yet, but I've the 4x100 meter relay or freshman Instead, he has reason to relax. done all I can do to help the team. Herman Washington tripping in The Wolverines finished with "I've been working on a lot of the 110-meter hurdles. 50 points in the Big Ten Outdoor technical stuff, but have been Regardless, the "role-players" Championship, well behind cham- really fortunate with our assistant got a taste of the spotlight and pion Wisconsin - who had 121 - pole-vaulting coach (Shean Con- watched fellow teammates success but had two first-place finishers in lon). We've done work with my run over the weekend, which LaPlante junior pole-vaulter Jack Greenlee and take-off, and its still a work in said he hopes will stick in their and senior distance runner Craig progress, but the better that gets minds. Forys. the better the vault gets." "It was a very encouraging per- "Obviously you'd always like Redshirt sophomore Ethan Den- formance for us," LaPlante said. to be higher, but this is one of the nis also shined on Friday, finishing "Our team sees our guys have best-contested Big Ten meets in runner-up in the hammer throw, some really big performances and history," LaPlante said. "There with his toss of 59.65-meters (195- I think that's going to give every- were phenomenal performances, feet, 8-inches). body a boost. We're pretty close and we were a part of that." The Wolverines also had stand- to being an upper-division team in The meet was highlighted by out performances from sophomore the conference and we're going in senior Craig Forys, though, who Ali Aratsu, who finished second the right direction." ran the fastest time in the nation in the 400-meter hurdles with a Michigan travels to the NCAA this year in the 3000-meter stee- time of 49.3 - the third fastest in East Regional for those individuals plechase. He won ina time of 8:28, the country this year - and the that qualified, where they will look which also set a Big Ten meet 4x400-meter relay team of Aratsu, to qualify for the NCAA National record and met the automatic "A" freshman Phillip Washington, and meet. standard for the U.S. Olympic tri- als later this year. "I couldn't wrap my head uH around whether I should be more excited about winning the race o setting the meet record, or quali- fying for the trials," Forys said. "So it was kind of hard to pinpoint where my happiness should be." 8 5 Forys came back and captured third inthe 5000-meterrunonthe 3 2 final day, after finishing second in the Indoor Championship this 7 8 9 2 year. The key factor in his success has been his health and consistent training for the past two years 3 8 9 2 5 4 allowing him to stay focused o- improving without distractions. 2 3 9 But for Forys, years of experi- ence taught him to-take advantage 9 7 3 5 6 2 of the moment. "I was still buzzing off the steeplechase, so it was easy t 7 get excited for the (5000-mete race)," Forys said.1 9 Greenlee highlighted day on- of the weekend with a height o 8 4 5.26-meters (17-feet, 3-inches) on his first vault, beating out two other competitors who needed multiple tries to clear the height. Despite failing to clear the fol 1 t l On Wednesday, Obama went on national television for an interview with Robin Roberts on ABC. He stated that his views on same-sex marriage have evolved throughout his term as president. While originally in support of equal benefits for same-sex part- ners through civil unions, Obama announced that his stance on the issue has changed and he now believes same-sex couples should have the right to marry. This statement came a day after North Carolina banned gay marriage in their constitution, showing the rapidly-changing yet still-divided national stance on the issue. Obama's comments represent the changing political climate of our country. In the past 10 years, Americans' views on same-sex marriage have changed quickly as the acceptance of same-sex mar- riage increases. Pew Research Center found that among regis- tered voters, support for same- sex marriage has grown from 35 percent in 2001 to 47 percent this year. While some states, such as North Carolina, have banned same-sex marriage in their con- stitution, there is an overall trend toward support of same-sex marriage among Democrats and Republicans. Michigan needs to take the initiative and legalize same-sex marriage. In telephone inter- views with 600 likely Michigan voters, 44 percent said they sup- port same-sex marriage com- pared to the 43 percent that oppose it. Our state has advocat- ed gay rights for years, with Ann Arbor being the first city in the U.S. to pass a gay rights ordinance in 1972 and then electing the first Openly gay city-council member in 1974. We should continue this history of acceptance and support of gay rights by legalizing same- sex marriage, thereby setting a precedent for other states to fol- low. The legalization of same- sex marriage is not a partisan issue, nor is it a "liberal" policy that most of the U.S. is strongly against. Same-sex marriage is supported by people of all dif- ferent ages, political parties and backgrounds. If Michigan wants to look back with pride on its support of same-sex marriage, it should take steps to allow these couples to marry. Obama has made it clear that if the president of the United States is allowed to come out in support of gay marriage, the people of the U.S. should rally behind him and push for the legalization of this basic human right:. WANT THE DAILY ON THE GO? Now you can access your favorite Daily opinion content on your phone. Keep up with columnists & read Daily editorials. Check out the Daily's mobile website at m.michigandaily.com.