Thursday, May 29, 2014
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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Thursday, May 29, 2014
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
It's time for action
IAN DILLINGHAM
EDITOR IN CHIEF
AARICA MARSH
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
STEPHANIE SHENOUDA
MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect theofocial position of the Daily's editorialboard.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solelythe views of their authors.
Amending allocations
Ann Arbor had both gains and lossses in its 2015 fiscal budget
Last Monday, the Ann Arbor City Council reviewed
17 amendments to the $334 million fiscal year 2015
city budget. The council voted to reallocate funds to
numerous areas in need of assistance such as transportation,
animal management, clean energy and affordable housing.
Unfortunately, efforts to redirect funds from the police force
to drug rehabilitation assistance were thwarted with only two
councilmembers voting in favor of the amendment. While the
city council acted commendably by distributing much needed
funds to road management, road repair and clean energy, failing
to provide further provide resources to those suffering from
substance abuse is a misstep on the council's behalf.
'll say it up front: I do
To be honest, I'm
sentiment was one
existed, or if it rose
up after various
moments in my life.
The first time
I noticed it was
when my high
school went under
lockdown for over
four hours due to aH
gun on the prem-
ises that was never K
found. My body
seized with fear as a
SWAT team patrolled our
police barged throughc
warning. The time I re
vividlythough, of course,
Nazi man entered my ch
of worship, the Oak Cree
Wisconsin, and killed si
the community.
Since then, the sound
even if in a show, mov
makes my heart stop. TI
moments, walking hom
Ann Arbor, where I drov
convincing myself
that any car that was
driving by might
try to shoot me. My
fear was absolutely
irrational and
borderline insane.
Yet, there were times
when I couldn't find
the logic to convince
on't like guns. chooses to prostitute the coverage of
not sure if the certain shootings while completely
that always ignoring others? Is it the assumptions
that are made about a shooter based on
the color of his skin? White man, men-
tally ill; brown man, terrorist. Is it the
way that we use mental illness as an
excuse for killing and suffering, as if
all mental illnesses lead to deadly ram-
pages? Or, most recently, why a man felt
that a gun and the deaths of many indi-
- viduals was the appropriate solution for
LARLEEN his feelings of rejection?
AUR All these conversations have
happened, and yet, they're still not the
right one. Somehow, the mass shootings
roof and state keep happening and we've yet to do
doors without anything to prevent another one. Our
member most reality has become one of violence,
iswhen a neo- death and excuses, even though our
ildhood house Constitution calls for "life, liberty, and
k Gurdwara in the pursuit of happiness." Without any
x members of real action or call for justice, this may
just become the new "normal."
of a gunshot, Richard Martinez, the father of
ie or musical, University of California, Santa Barbara
here had been shooting victim Chris Martinez,
e at night in summed up the impatience of most of
e myself crazy Americans as mass shootings become
more and more
common: "Don't call
me and tell me you're
Stop pretending sorry about my son's
,t death. I don't want
We can't prevent to hear it from you!
these murders. I don't want to hear
that you're sorry
about my son's death,
I don't care if you're
istic, quiescent thingamajigness.
Before writing this column, I
made a rookie mistake, doing the
first and only thing that should
be avoided while preparing to
word-vomit about any particu-
lar film, let alone what I already
considered Singer's masterpiece.
I read Scott's review. At the
time, it seemed like a carefully
reasoned decision - even that
crotchety old shit had to have
liked this 130-minute dedica-
tion to every, single. thing that
made comic-book adaptations
great. The heavy-hearted per-
formances. The explosions; That
sexy retroactive continuity (ret-
con for the geeks). And the '70s,
baby, *softer voice* the '70s. This
film had it all - there was no
possible way whatsoever that his
review could be anything less
than fawning. All I wanted was
to check what kind of Wolverine
jokes the highbrows at The New
York Times thought would work.
'Was the word "bub" used at all?'
But my boy Scott and his fore-
head never fail to disappoint.
It was like beinglowered head-
first into a chilling tub of lique-
fied Macklemore albums, every
desperate gasp for breath a dis-
appointing confirmation of my
willingness to overlook simplic-
ity just so I could buy into this
superficial, bandwagon mental-
ity. Was I really too stupid to pick
apart the obvious plot-holes?
All the ham-fisted imagery -
anchored around Magneto's diz-
zying display of power in lifting
the entirety of RFK Stadium and
dumping it at President Nixon's
feet, thus setting the stage for our
climax - was I wrong in reacting
by silently mouthing "symbol-
ism, bitches" at the theater?
Being a film critic, however
fledgling, should I have seen it
as the "gratuitous, imagination-
deficient grandstanding" that
Scott described? I stayed up
half the night thinking about it,
tossing and turning in a boiling
vat of existential doubt thicker
than Toad's adhesive spit. But
then something occurred to me.
I fell into a deep, peaceful sleep
and haven't thought about Scott
since.
Forehead never grew up
watching these films. To him,
feeling Spidey slow down time
just to avoid a bully's punches
will never register on the same,
personal level it would for some-
one of our generation because,
plainly put, he wasn't nine years
old when he saw it happen. He
wasn't being bullied when he
saw it ha
Parker so
on his1
than jus
a thrillin
way for:
one day,
strengths
ter.
And lo
traveling
breathin
intertwin
a blip of
tion that
is groun
human co
how unb
This f
14 years
ning sequ
kind tha
where it
S
St
tho
up
Avengers
of 120-mi
to specifi
suits beh
bring th
together
Pulling i
forced m
of PapalJ
product,
best ent
has or wi
in this ge
film han
admitted
work to
mentality
road for£
was secur
"X-Me
It's a th
our socie
the unkn
I'm talkin
comic-bo
presented
throught
the min
coat lies
This is a
many ot
understan
long, I'v
terms wi
jected, fu
vinyl scre
a man wh
appen. Witnessing Peter dium - means I'm not alone or
forcibly turn the tables helpless, that others understand.
tormentors was more The series derives its inspira-
t cathartic escapism or tions from The Holocaust - its
ng experience: It was a main antagonist is a survivor,
me to hope that maybe, molded into rage-stricken mon-
if I played to my own strosity by the merciless bru-
s, things could get bet- tality he faced as a child at the
hands of his Nazi captors. Yet,
:oking past all the time- the jargon he uses to justifyhis
super soldiers, fire- calls for a mutant rebellion is
g robots and imposing, lifted directly from Hitler's own
ned plotlines, there's. philosophy of a single, excep-
silence in the realiza- tional race, destined to inherit
t "Days of Future Past" Earth from its less-evolved
ded on this same basic, oppressors. The crucial differ-
oncept - pain, no matter ence, of course, is that Mag-
earable, compels hope. neto is right. Mutants, with
ranchise is unique. It's their abundance of superhuman
old, the longest run- abilities, and a knack for so poi-
uential film series of its gnantly influencing history, can
it hasn't diverged from be construed as the homo sapi-
took originated. "The ens to the humans' homo nean-
derthalensis. But should that
truth vindicate violence, even if
it is in the name of retribution,
even though its justification
il matter to shares roots with the thinking
of a madman? If not intriguing,
se who grew it's an essential question, and
ultimately, the reason why this
with them . particular series continues to
remain so timeless - words not
typically thrown around when
discussing comic book charac-
had an added benefit ters.
inute lead-ins dedicated The cynicism that so often
ic characters before the meets these films is presented
:ind the curtains dared in sentences such as "So much
ose stand-alone heroes has already been done, so much
under a single banner. is supposedly demanded by fans,
t off required a lot of that any given installment in a
anufacturing on the part multi-sequel enterprise can feel
oss. So despite the final like the hysterical pursuit of
featuring some of the diminishing returns. In the case
ertainment Hollywood of 'Days of Future Past,' the plot
ill ever produce, at least is as overelaborate and muddled
nre, we spent the entire as some of the effects."
mmering away at an An unbiased perspective
ly mundane "if we don't might confirm a lot of truth in
gether, we're fucked" these words. And above all, it's
in order to make sure a worth noting that this cynicism
future sequels/prequels is cyclic in nature, incubating
re. inside each of us until we too
n" raises the stakes. reach a point in our lives where
inly coated critique of we can't or are unwilling to
ty's inability to accept emotionally relate, from a first-
own, but for once (and person perspective, to some of
ng about more than just the art we examine. Until that
ok adaptations here), time comes, I'm not budging. I'll
d almost exclusively lie here, pancaked in this dream-
the eyes of the victims, world of Quicksilvers and Mag-
ority. Underneath that netos. So I can stay naive. So I
a deep, roiling anger. can hope.
Innop nlr with
The city council passed two
separate road amendments
that are slated to enhance
the Ann Arbor community
for both students and
local residents. The first
amendment places $75,000
into services for managing
deer and other animals.
Michigan drivers experience
40,000-50,000 deer-vehicle
collisions each year. These
populations must be managed
in order to promote the safety
of residents. The second
amendment proposes that
city administrators outline
a plan for alternative street
repair funding. Given the
consistent dissatisfaction with
Ann Arbor roads coupled with
the University's bus services
and commuting students, this
amendment proves vital to
enhancing an impactful facet
of student life.
The council voted against an
amendment that would invest
$100,000 from the Affordable
Housing Fund into a warming
center for the homeless.
Recently, University students
have worked to increase
accessibility to affordable
housing for students with lower
socioeconomic backgrounds.
With the campus climate in
support of cheaper housing,
choosing to maintain the
affordable housing budget could
helpprovide studentswithmore
leverage in the conversation.
Furthermore, the council
intends to expand warming
shelters this winter with intent
to discuss suggestions with
community partners deterring
negative impacts to the city's
homeless populations.
Unfortunately, the city
council voted against an
amendment to reallocate
$95,000 from police staffing
toward programs that help
prevent and treat addiction.
The amendment would have
decreased the number of new
police officers being added
from three to two. Nine
council members opposed the
amendment, believing funds
were better used towards. a
proactive police force and
court-ordered treatment.
These beliefs, however, are
seriously flawed. Crime rates
in Ann Arbor are at historic
lows while drug and alcohol
use are higher than average
for Washtenaw County
adolescents. Instead of
focusing on patrollingcitizens,
Ann Arbor should help further
fund addiction prevention for
young residents and addiction
treatment in order to the
enhance the mental wellness
of its citizens.
myself otherwise. I, in part due to
the media and inaction on the part of
United States politicians, had allowed
gun violence to become normal, an
expected part of daily life.
However, I've been able to reflect
and realize the difference between a
gun and the person behind it. I've seen
that ignorance can lead to hate-driven
violence, that our society accepts anger
as a reaction to rejection, that some
individuals are not given the proper
care and facilities they need. However,
most of all, I've seen and learned that
there is not one blanket solution to
mass shootings. Each shooter has had
their own reasons for their actions,
and although taking the lives of others
is never justified, I think we have
learned that simply limiting access to
guns won't be enough.
So, what's the conversation we really
needtohave?Isitthewaythatthemedia
sorry about my son's death. You go back
to Congress and you do something, and
you come back to me and tell me you've
done something, then I'll be interested
in talking to you."
It's time to stop accepting mass
shootings as an everyday reality and
question how our. nation even got to
this place to begin with. Allowing a
person to carelessly end the lives of
others should never be allowed, nor
should it be a consideration for anyone.
And mostly, it's time to stop pretending
that we have no way to prevent these
senseless murders. It was unbelievable
after Columbine, it was heartbreaking
after Sandy Hook and now, after the
UCSB shooting, it's absolutely absurd.
We've been waiting for action long
enough, and it's time that Congress
finally answers the call.
- Harleen Kaur can be reached
at harleen@umich.edu.
HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO SOCIAL LIFE WHATSOEVER?
Come to the Michigan Daily's summer editorial board every
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islation, the University administration, state affairs, the superiority
of certain dog breeds over others and various other issues!
an anger 1, along wit
her people of color,
nd: One which, for so
e struggled to come to
th. But watching it pro-
illy realized on a giant
een - used to puppeteer
io can lift an entire sta-
Seth is still thinkng about
A.O Scott's forehead. To chat,
e-mail akse@umich.edu.