Thursday, June 19, 2014
The Micihigan Daily - michigandai!y.cnm
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Thursday, June 19, 2014
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
MAURA LEVINEI
It's time to stop
'GoT' season four finale
IAN DILLINGHAM AARICA MARSH STEPHANIE SHENOUDA
EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIA L PAGE EDITOR MANAGING 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.
Alleviating injustice
Michigan must provide better protection sexual assault survivors
L a st week, the Michigan legislature recommended
a $37.5 billion budget for the state that included $3
million allocated towards prosecuting sexual assault
cases from unprocessed rape kits. Similarly, the state
government recently put time limits on the retrieval and
processing of rape kits. While it's commendable that the
legislature is taking several steps towards the protection
of sexual assault survivors, the fact that several thousand
rape kits are still unprocessed five years after being found
is deplorable. The state - and the University - must work
harder to ensure sexual assault survivors receive justice.
U.S. President Barack Obama gave
America a harsh reality check on June
10. In the wake of two new public
shootings in the past couple of weeks,
Obama said in a tired, frustrated voice,
"We're the only developed country on
earth where this happens." He went on
to say that Congress refuses to budge
on the gun control laws and that,
"This society has not been willing to
take some basic steps to keep guns
out of the hands of people who can do
unbelievable damage."
During his presidency, Obama has
witnessed countless deaths of innocent
Americans inflicted by other civilians.
't'wenty children and six educators
alone were killed in the Sandy Hook
Elementary School shooting a year ago.
Obama feels trapped - unable through
the powers of the president to use the
tools necessary to make "as big a dent as
we need to."
Though his speech was political in
asking Congress to finally relent and
pass some legislation that will aid in
restricting gun use, it was also social.
Obama pleaded with the American
people to change in order to alleviate
the violence. He said, "The only thing
that is going to change is public opinion.
If public opinion does not demand
change in Congress, it will inot change."
Unfortunately, Obama is right.
First of all, Americans have a warped
conception of what the Second Amend-
ment really means. When the Founding
Fathers wrote that the people should
have the right to "keep and bear arms"
they weren't talking about free gun
ownership across a vast country with
few restrictions. They were referring to
the chaos that ensued before the Revo-
lutionary War and the fear of not being
able to protectoneself. The Constitution
writers were concerned with small mili-
tias being able to support themselves
and carry weapons for protection.
They never dreamed that America
would grow to the size it is today. The
territory west of the Mississippi and
south to Texas was acquired long after
the Founders wrote the Second Amend-
ment. Had they known that this amend-
ment would be interpreted so loosely
and affect so many people in the future
(across such a vast geographic region),
they would have amended the language
to make it safer and more specific. The
point of the Bill of Rights was to protect
people - not to put Americans in dan-
ger or fear of frequent mass shootings
because of a loophole in the language.
Yet indeed, Americans have wrongly
interpreted the meaning of the Second
Amendment to satisfy a desire to own
weapons freely. The problem isn't that
people own weapons - the problem
is the lack of restrictions. Each state
varies, making it easy for someone to get
around the system. The ambiguities in
the organization also allow for a vibrant
black market, which funnels guns to
anyone who wants one. Congress needs
to crack down on this aspect of the
legislation to bring order and discipline
to America. While we live in a "free
country" that does not mean you can do
whatever you want.
Second, we have a deep cultural issue
embedded in America now that the
mass movement of public shootings has
started. When I was little, Columbine
was the big name that everyone
talked about it in fear. It was rare and
exceptional and horrifying. Children
nowadays are growing up in a society
where school shootings are the norm.
They might hear about one every couple
of months. That's a frightening world to
grow up in.
The Tipping Point, as Malcolm
Gladwell has so eloquently explained,
is a phenomenon whereby changes are
influenced by mass culture and by an
effect that spreads ideas, desires and
movements like a virus across the
country or acros s the world. He uses
this Tipping Point to explain the steep
drop in the New York City crime rate
in the 1990s and the huge popularity
of Hush Puppies shoes in the 1990s.
But his theory could also explain the
growing prevalence of mass public
shootings. People see the horror on
TV and get the idea that they can do
the same. They're only egged on more
when they see the shootings pick-
ing up in frequency. Before you know
it the idea of a mass shooting doesn't
seem so unrealistic because we have
become used to it. As disgusting as
that sounds, it makes it easier for
criminals and crazy people to pursue a
mass shooting when ten years ago they
may not have because it simply wasn't
"popular" yet.
I don't know the answer to this
problem. It's clear that the growth rate
of the mass shootings is continuing
to escalate and that several factors -
including gun control - need to be
tackled before that rate can decrease.
But it also takes human will and
cultural norms to change. People need
to start reporting bizarre behavior
of their neighbors and discourage
the violence that has become so
mainstream and accepted in American
society. As Obama put it, we are the
only country that puts up with this
and it's time that we stop.
Maura Levine is an LSA senior.
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
In 2009, Michigan State
Police were informed of 11,000
unprocessed sexual assault
kits in an abandoned Detroit
Police Department crime lab.
Since their discovery, about
2,000 kits have been processed
with another 8,000 to be
tested "soon."
While it's admirable that the
legislation allocated funds to
both speed up the processing of
rape kits and prosecute offenders,
still having the majority of
abandoned kits unprocessed
- some kits dating back to the
1980s - is a disgusting failure
by the state government. Given
the large percentage of rape
cases that go unreported, leaving
over 10,000 kits unprocessed
only further affirms the lack
of sexual assault convictions.
Not only does this emotionally
traumatize survivors, but it
allows serial rapists - like the
i00 already identified from 1,600
rape kits - to continue their
patterns of sexual assault. Given
the vast number of cases in an
abandoned storage facility, the
state government must remain
vigilant of similar potential
oversights at other locations.
The volume of unprocessed
rape kits is unacceptable, yet
efforts made by politicians
demonstrate initiative to
prevent this injustice from
ever occurring again. The state
legislature passed a bill that
will limit rape kit retrieval
and testing to further support
survivors. Law enforcement
officials must retrieve the kits
within 14 days of receiving
notice from health department
agencies. The law enforcement
agency must then submit any
sexual assault evidence for
lab analysis within 14 days of
possession. Then, the evidence
must be processed within 90
days by the labs. Enforcing this
new protocol will guarantee
future survivors the safety
of knowing their efforts to
prosecute are pursued with
due promptness.
Given new legislation to more
effectively prosecute rape cases
and increased sexual assault
awareness surrounding recent
campus events, it's imperative
that we educate women about
rape kits. Sexual assault cases
are oftentimes difficult to
process given the potential for
no evidence.A rape kit can solve
this difficulty by providing
survivors the ability to store
evidence that can then be
used to prosecute aggressors.
Through educating and
providing resources to women,
genuine strides can be made to
end the consistency of sexual
assaulters going unpunished.
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ons and Tyrion faces another family
betrayal.
ByCHLOE GILKE But amid the excitement, there
DailyArts Writer was a palpable sense of hesitance
and fear. Sure, this season of"Game
e its humble inception, of Thrones" was action-packed, but
of Thrones" has become how long can it sustain this degree
han just a TV show. During of vigor? Although Lady Stoneheart,
season, an entire dormi- a resurrected and vengeful Cate-
nor can fall lyn Stark, was supposed to appear
on a Sun- in this episode (as per the pages of
ight, with George R. R. Martin's "A Storm of
ception of G Of Swords"), she was noticeably absent.
sh of steel Fan favorites Sansa Stark and Petyr
el playing ThrOflS Baelish were entirely missing from
;h attentive Season 4finale the last two episodes of the season.
s. A dozen And, the tragedy of poor Reek has
Buzzfeed HBO remained undeveloped for several
o live, list- weeks. Obviously, the writers are
relve times choosing to save some of the events
ys Targaryen was the bad- of the third "Song of Ice and Fire"
tch." "Game of Thrones" has book for future seasons, but under-
urpassed "The Sopranos" lying that decision is a troubling
O's most-viewed series, and thought. As GRRM takes his time
d the HBOGo site more times writing the sixth book in the series,
'd like to count. "Game of there's a very real possibility that the
es" is a Gregor Clegane-size show could catch up to the events of
l phenomenon, fueled by the the novels, and "Game of Thrones"
at its hungry viewers must could run out of material to adapt.
most of the year waiting for The finale was also ashowcase for
sonths of million-dollar fiery another flaw that haunted the fourth
pectacular. season. Jaime Lannister, former
any respects, "The Children" chivalric Kingslayer, has never been
satisfying capper to a whirl- the same since his disturbingrape of
eason. Some characters ended his sister/lover. Again, the violence
son by starting down new of this scene was not present in the
- Tyrion escaping in a barrel; book, and continues the disturbing
ading Jaqen's coin for a spot tendency "Game of Thrones" has
zip. Beloved characters (San- toward gratuitous sexual assault.
gane, Jojen Reed) lost their Nikolaj Coster-Waldau did won-
nd there was no shortage of derful work with the additional
ic villain deaths (Tywin Lan- material he was given, but Jaime's
was slain on the toilet). A few sugary-sweet brotherly caretaking
es that have been languish- toward Tyrion seemed insincere
season (Jon Snow and Bran considering his past transgressions.
dull adventures north of the In the finale, Cersei spited her father
Tywin by gleefully admitting to the
"twincest" affair, but the follow-
ing passionate scene between the
siblings was viscerally unsettling.
Hopefully, time heals the injury
to what used to be one of the most
unique relationships ontelevision.
Tyrion's heartbreaking journey
from circling the outskirts of Lan-
nister approval to being impris-
oned was one of the best threads of
the season, but his raging murder
spree in this episode was unnerv-
ing. Tyrion ruthlessly choked Shae,
a kind prostitute and the supposed
love of his life, with a necklace.
Though Shae was a relatively minor
character, her confidence with
Tyrion was refreshing and his ten-
derness toward her always sweet.
Between the loss of Shae and Jon
Snow's spunky lover Ygritte, "Game
of Thrones" may actually run out
of unconventional and interesting
female characters before the book
material runs dry. Tywin's death
was no surprise, but since he was
the instigator of so much of the Lan-
nister conflict, I worry that the show
might have offed a crucial catalyst
just to add to the body count.
The fourth season of "Game of
Thrones" took interesting risks,
but with mixed results. Every epi-
sode was punctuated by stunningly
directed action sequences and
buckets of carnage, but cheap gasps
don't always make for groundbreak-
ing television. The best parts of the
season - Arya and The Hound's
fraught friendship, Tyrion's struggle
to prove his innocence, Dany learn-
ing that there's more to being a true
Khaleesi than some cool CGI drag-
ons - used minimal shock tactics.
"Game of Thrones" may sit atop the
Iron Throne of prestige television
for now, but to remain the nonpareil
that it is, "Thrones"has to step up its
game.
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