Opinion
JENNIFER CALFAS
EDITOR IN CHIEF
AARICA MARSH
and DEREK WOLFE
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
LEV FACHER
MANAGING EDITOR
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 —Tuesday, January 13, 2015
T
welve years ago, “student
ghetto” meant Greenwood
Avenue
—
the
one-way
street
home
to
hanging sneakers
and the Ann Arbor
Police
Depart-
ment’s
favorite
block party. Even
former
Mayor
John
Hieftje
agreed with the
label, telling the
Daily
in
2003,
“That’s what it’s
called,
and
it’s
part of being in a
university town.”
More than a decade later, Hief-
tje still sees symptoms of a student
ghetto at Greenwood, but recently
shifting real estate trends could
change this. What were previously
student neighborhoods, Hieftje told
me, are beginning to see families
and non-students move in. In Ann
Arbor, the term “student ghetto”
may only last as long it takes to build
a luxury high rise.
In the last decade, the area sur-
rounding Central Campus has seen
a development boom, as lofts like
Zaragon, Landmark and Varsity
have elbowed their way into the Ann
Arbor skyline. Ann Arbor Blu, cur-
rently a hole in the ground next to
Pizza House, should be finished and
open for business in the fall of 2015.
Given the increasingly wealthy
makeup of Michigan’s student body,
it’s hard to see the number of lofts
staying stagnant for long, especially
as the University continues to reno-
vate dorms potentially, creating
short-term housing shortages.
Many residents of Ann Arbor,
including less wealthy students,
supported the development of these
monstrous
apartment
buildings,
largely in the hopes of lowering rent
costs. For non-student residents,
this hope may soon be realized.
As wealthier students move into
high rises, landlords owning mod-
erately expensive housing shift
their focus from the remaining stu-
dent renters (who would require
reduced prices) to new families or
young professionals. These non-stu-
dents can afford rent close to cam-
pus, which is lower than a house
or an apartment near Main Street.
As these neighborhoods become
increasingly non-student, value-
lowering factors like trash, noise
and poor maintenance will peter
out, raising overall prices.
For now, low-income students
can still afford a limited amount
of housing near campus, often by
splitting rooms, packing houses, or
accepting shoddy living conditions.
If the above prediction plays out, it
will limit options for low-income
students even more, pushing them
as far away from campus as Ypsi-
lanti (from where some low-income
and otherwise frugal University
students are already commuting).
In the big picture, these trends
are troubling for several reasons.
One issue that has already begun to
play out is greater campus segrega-
tion and polarization. For poorer
students, this means living only
near other low-income students
while being forced to commute to
campus by car or bus. Conversely,
lofts like Landmark concentrate
large numbers of wealthy students
all in one place, while their close
proximity to campus means that
residents rarely leave their comfort
zone for much of anything.
This residential polarization also
has snowball-like political conse-
quences. According to Ann Arbor’s
City Charter, City Council wards
are to be drawn like slices of a pie,
with the pieces converging near the
center of the city, i.e., the center of
campus. This layout divides the stu-
dent vote across each ward, mean-
ing no single district is likely to elect
a student or a candidate focused on
student issues. With heavier con-
centration in the city center, this
problem may only become worse.
Rather than a diabolical ger-
rymandering scheme (my original
theory), Kestenbaum believes the
city wanted to avoid creating one
ward with only a few likely voters.
According to Kestenbaum, who is
also an attorney and history blog-
ger, the layout of the city wards
was decided before the voting age
was reduced to 18, meaning most
students couldn’t vote anyway. The
fear, Kestenbaum explained, is of
a ward with so little voting activ-
ity that its elections could be easily
manipulated.
Given the current boundaries of
City Council wards, the student vote
is set up to be watered down for any
City Council election. If wealthy
students continue to crowd even
closer around the center of the city
while poorer students are forced
into the outskirts or out of the city
completely, the student voice may
suffer even more, especially for
those who need it the most. And as
student voices dissipate, city gov-
ernment will have fewer and fewer
incentives to craft policy favorable
to both students and non-students.
Many of the necessary pieces for
the above scenario are already in
place. For future low-income stu-
dents, their time on campus does
not look particularly promising
— and let’s not forget that the only
important City Council elections in
Ann Arbor, the Democratic prima-
ries, are held in August, when most
students are gone.
However, there is one glimmer of
hope: general elections, which are
held in November, include ballot
proposals. Hieftje noted that many
candidates won office running on
hugely popular issues in the 1970s
thanks to students. What kind of
issues galvanized the student vote
forty years ago? According to Hief-
tje, it was decriminalizing marijua-
na possession to a $5 (now $25) fine.
The student ghetto may soon be a
thing of the past, but in Ann Arbor,
some things may never change.
— James Brennan can be
reached at jmbthree@umich.edu.
Gentrifying the student ghetto
Edvinas Berzanskis, Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Devin Eggert, David Harris,
Rachel John, Jordyn Kay, Aarica Marsh, Victoria Noble, Michael Paul, Allison
Raeck, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Mary Kate Winn,
Jenny Wang, Derek Wolfe
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
I
t was a new semester. New
professors and new classmates
and new subjects and greater
enlightenment
waited
ahead.
I filed into my
500-person
lec-
ture early, eager
to
make
new
friends as the term
started anew, and
anxious to pro-
ceed through the
course with a new
study buddy.
Luckily,
a
plain-looking guy
plopped this bags next to mine, and
we easily struck up a conversation.
He was amiable, eloquent in speech
and seemingly open-minded. We
were all Michigan liberals in a Race
and Ethnicity requirement class that
heightened a sense of progressivism
inside us all.
He started by asking about the
classes I was taking — standard.
I was taking blah, blah, blah and
Working Women’s Class Literature
— the one class that stuck out to him.
“Oh, so you’re a feminist,” he sud-
denly chuckled — scoffed.
Confused, I rebutted with waver-
ing confidence, “Yeah … Yes. I am.”
I probed further. “Is that bad?”
I asked.
“Well, I guess not. But you’re
a feminist. You’re one of those,”
he answered, as if the title was
a disease.
Reflecting
in
retrospect,
he
turned what is, at the core, sim-
ply the support of gender equality
into a pejorative concept that the
media often portrays negatively.
His understanding of feminism
was based on the rants of Tumblr
extremists, the angry Facebook
posts of his “feminist friends”
and radical perspectives brought
to light by the news. Feminism to
him only had one degree: extreme.
It equated to a hatred of men and
a disavowal of anyone who dis-
agreed. Feminism has now become
a concept people love to hate — an
idea stigmatized by people’s igno-
rance on the subject.
As shocked as I was by his lack
of understanding, I realize that as
a feminist, labeling or condemning
people for being “dumb” or despi-
cable is neither a solution to the
problem nor a way to demonstrate
my support for feminism. That day
in lecture, I could have berated him
for his gross misconceptions, and
then indoctrinated him with what
I believe to be correct. However, I
most likely wouldn’t have inspired
him to change his outlook by belit-
tling his intelligence. In his eyes, I
probably would’ve exemplified the
exact social-media radical feminist
that he envisions.
Rather, it is important to under-
stand that some people are simply
misled about the subject of feminism.
Thus, where better to implement
this education than in college? It is
becoming increasingly necessary for
universities — namely, Michigan —
to have a gender studies requirement
as part of the core distribution.
Historically, racial progress has
typically come before progress of
gender equality. Most prominently,
African-American men were ini-
tially granted the right to vote in
1865, about 55 years before the 19th
Amendment was ratified. This is not
to overshadow the significance of
any civil rights advancement. How-
ever, in similar fashion to the prec-
edent history has set, it seems like
an appropriate progression to extend
the University’s Race and Ethnic-
ity requirement to a Gender Studies
course as well.
The University currently requires
every student to take at least one
Race and Ethnicity course for a min-
imum of three credits. As the LSA
page explains, an approved Race
and Ethnicity requirement discusses
“the meaning of race, ethnicity, and
racism; racial and ethnic intolerance
and resulting inequality as it occurs
in the United States or elsewhere;
(and) comparisons of discrimination
based on race, ethnicity, religion,
social class, or gender.”
Even though the University’s
Curriculum Committee requires
courses to be re-certified as a Race
and Ethnicity requirement every
five years, there is a reason these
courses are labeled as they are,
where discussion of gender study
is limited. Though many Race and
Ethnicity requirement classes do
sometimes address feminism, stu-
dents can only be provided with a
fractional understanding — super-
ficially
glazing
over
women’s
rights
and
skimming
over
transgender issues.
Just as with accepting racial and
ethnic equality, gender equality
is not — or should not be — a revo-
lutionary concept. Especially at a
college that prides itself on its diver-
sity, we must reflect that through
our academic courses. As students,
we learn about the oppression, the
history and the gradual improve-
ment of different cultures in our
country. Yet we often overlook the
struggles of half of our population.
Essentially, discrimination to differ-
ent ethnicities feels different from
oppression of different sexes. Every
identity feels social struggle and
social advancement differently.
Our society is becoming increas-
ingly aware of feminist issues,
especially with recent campaigns
promoting female equality, such
as the United Nations He for She
and the White House’s It’s On Us
this past September. We are college
students with malleable mindsets
before the real world hardens us;
we are young adults at the peak of
fighting for what we are passionate
about. It is the prime opportunity to
teach us about injustices, inequali-
ties — or simply, diversity — in the
world so we have the opportunity to
ameliorate them in our lifetime.
Even as students at a reputable
college such as Michigan, there is
still so much we do not understand.
We represent some of the “leaders
and best” in the nation, yet not all
of us are equipped with a complete
understanding of all facets of the
society we will soon lead.
We are all uneducated about our
own respective topics. We can’t all
be radical feminists who will lead
to the reform of the entire system
of societal thinking. But we can at
least equip students with the litera-
ture and tools to develop their own
opinions, which hopefully will be for
greater equality in our society.
— Karen Hua can be reached
at khua@umich.edu.
KAREN
HUA
Improving the pre-med curriculum
The University offers over 75 majors and
over 100 minors — and that’s just in its Col-
lege of Literature, Sciences, and the Arts.
Ranging from majors in English and micro-
biology to minors in oceanography and eco-
nomics, the University has everything. Well,
almost everything. While 40 LSA programs
rank among the top 10 in their field, the Uni-
versity lacks a degree program that caters
to its future doctors. Instead, the University
encourages its future doctors to acquire a
balanced and challenging liberal arts educa-
tion. The liberal arts education that lies at
the core of the University’s LSA graduation
requirements includes courses focused in the
humanities, race and ethnicity, and quantita-
tive reasoning.
Students who aspire to become doctors
must take courses toward a major, courses
toward the distribution requirements and the
medical school prerequisite courses. Many
of the classes required to apply to medical
school, such as introductory science courses,
count merely as prerequisites toward LSA
degree programs.
Being in LSA is awesome; I get to major
in Spanish, while also completing minors in
biochemistry and business through the Ste-
phen M. Ross School of Business. While I love
the diversity of my education, the breadth of
knowledge comes with vast requirements,
forcing many premedical students to take
courses during spring and/or summer terms.
To better serve its pre-medical students,
while also maintaining its integrity as a com-
prehensive liberal arts education, LSA should
create a program designed for pre-medical
students. Ideally, this program would allow
the required courses needed to apply to medi-
cal school to count toward a degree. In this
fashion, pre-medical students would be able
to both learn everything they need to know
to apply to medical school and take advantage
of the wide variety of programs ranked so
highly. Just as being a doctor requires more
than just medical and scientific knowledge,
so should being a pre-medical student. A
well-rounded education would produce doc-
tors who are better able to connect with and
holistically treat patients.
The course requirements for applying to
medical school continue to increase for class-
es applying after 2016. New requirements,
which are also tested on the new Medical Col-
lege Admission Test beginning in April 2015,
include sociology, psychology and biochemis-
try, an extra 11 to 12 credits designed to cre-
ate future doctors with broad knowledge. The
American Association of Medical Colleges, the
governing body of medical schools and admis-
sion, has also created a list of 15 core compe-
tencies to evaluate potential doctors. Among
these competencies are scientific inquiry,
teamwork and social skills. As the landscape
changes regarding what courses and experi-
ences medical school admissions committees
desire and expect, so too should the under-
graduate education of the future doctors.
Pre-medical students at the University of
Michigan look like elementary students con-
torting their bodies while playing a game
of Twister. At times, the balancing act is
impressive. At other times, students collapse
to the floor.
Marc Schlessel is an LSA junior.
Expanding gender education
MARC SCHLESSEL | VIEWPOINT
ARE YOU EXCITED TO HEAR THAT MITT ROMNEY IS LIKELY RUNNING FOR PRESI-
DENT IN 2016 AND NEED AN OUTLET TO TALK ABOUT IT? ARE YOU SO READY
FOR HILLARY THAT STRANGERS SHOULD HEAR WHY?
Check out The Michigan Daily’s editorial board meetings. Every Monday and Wednesday
at 6 p.m., the Daily’s opinion staff meets to discuss both University and national affairs
and write editorials. Also, you might meet people who like Dick Cheney. But probably not.
E-mail opinioneditors@michigandaily.com to join in the debate.
FROM THE DAILY
T
he Michigan Department of Education announced on
Jan. 7 that starting in spring 2016, the state will require
high school juniors to take the SAT instead of the ACT,
the state’s college-entrance test of choice since 2007. The College
Board, a nonprofit organization that administers the SAT, and
ACT, Inc. engaged in a competitive bidding process to decide
which test would be administered to students. The College Board’s
bid of $17.1 million over the course of three years was chosen
over the ACT’s $32.5-million bid. While the shift could prove to
be beneficial in saving the state money and creating uniformity
throughout the education system, the suddenness of the change
raises questions about the MDE’s motivations and potentially
adverse effects.
According to the College Board, more than
3.6 million students take the PSAT, the SAT
preparatory exam, each year. Therefore,
high schools administering the SAT ensure
consistency of students’ learning trajectories.
Most prominently, the change saves the
state money, potentially allowing for more
investment in resources — including teachers
and curriculums — to continue to prepare
students for the SAT. Similarly, Michigan
high schools will retain one important aspect
of the old system: the ACT’s WorkKeys
exam, which holds a $12.2 million three-
year contract. The exams tests general job
skills for all high school juniors, including
assessments in applied mathematics, locating
information and reading for information.
According to University spokesperson Rick
Fitzgerald, “the University has accepted both
tests for many years, so this will not have a
significant change.” While this change may
not affect University applicants directly,
several challenges could present themselves
to high school students during the transition
process between tests. Michigan’s short,
three-year contract with the SAT could create
future difficulties, as there’s no guarantee
the state will not switch back to the ACT or
another exam. These switches have potential
detrimental effects for both schools’ and
students’ test preparation prior to the exam.
The switch from the ACT to the SAT also
presents challenges for long-term educational
data collection in Michigan. It will be difficult
to compare SAT exam scores, as the state
collected data on the ACT for eight years. The
decision was seemingly made for monetary
reasons, without much input from students
and educators. “They just pulled the rug out
from under us, with absolutely no warning,”
Michael Boulus, Executive Director of
the Presidents Council, State Universities
of Michigan, told the Detroit Free Press.
“It’s very clear from the news release that
this was done purely out of cost savings,
with little concern for the students and the
admissions
process
we’ve
been
using
for years.”
Currently,
there
are
many
resources
dedicated to ACT preparation, including
courses and tutors. However, there are
virtually no state-issued or curriculum-
based preparation resources for the SAT. The
transition process for tutors and students to
learn a whole new test and set of strategies
presents must be monitored closely in order to
avoid creating a learning gap between tests.
Despite possible benefits to this switch, the
decision to switch to the SAT was first and
foremost for the state’s economic benefit; it
was a decision that seemingly did not take into
account the difficulties families and students
will face during the transition process. While
the switch saves the state money that could
potentially be invested in bettering elementary
and secondary education, Michigan should
have been more transparent in its decision
and included community input in the process.
However, since the state has already decided
to move forward with this change, close
monitoring of schools should be the next step in
the transition process.
A questionable ACT
Change to SAT in Michigan brings both positives and negatives
JAMES
BRENNAN