The embarrassingly minute coverage on
Boko Haram’s recent escalation in Nigeria in
both the media and on social media needs to
be discussed. It seems our national fixation
on the Middle East and Euro-centric ter-
ror attacks is blinding us from other pressing
humanitarian issues.
In a country where the epicenter of our inter-
national obsessions lies in the heart of the Mid-
dle East, we are ceaselessly bombarded with
coverage of ISIS push for dominion in Iraq and
Syria, usually innately partnered with some
grainy videos of overzealous jihadists spouting
their plans for world domination in the greatest
tradition of Stewie from “Family Guy.”
Nevertheless, while it’s reasonable to make
light of the ramblings of these mad men, what
they’re doing in Iraq and Syria is truly grue-
some and inhumane. Reports of hundreds or
thousands slaughtered seem to come rolling in
each week, and the psychology of the average
American’s current obsession with ISIS seems
to be at least somewhat rooted in the desire to
see these wolves brought to justice. No doubt
we have all seen the videos and read reports of
the beheadings and execution-style massacres,
and some viscerally American part of our col-
lective soul yearns for the opportunity to bring
these dirtbags to justice as the self-affirmed
messiah of the world.
But is that truly the whole story of our obses-
sion with the Middle East? The answer: no, not
even a little bit.
Without going into the tiresome and played-
out retelling of the history of the U.S.’s Iraqi
occupation and our other various endeavors in
the region, suffice it to say that we can agree it
was clearly our political and economic interests
that took us down those often-mistaken paths.
At first glance, even the title of the opera-
tion in Iraq —“Iraqi Freedom” — itself seems
to intimate the aforementioned obsession with
bringing an end to the struggle and trauma the
Iraqi people dealt with each day. But if we care
so much about the slaughter or displacement of
innocents, why doesn’t anyone in the media or
on Twitter seem to be fired up about the cur-
rent state of affairs in Nigeria?
Oh, right, because we don’t exactly have any
pressing interests there.
You have probably heard of Boko Haram
at least once in the past year, and it was likely
during the coverage of their abduction of 276
girls from a school in the village of Chibok. Like
ISIS and other garden-variety jihadist groups,
Boko Haram’s modus operandi is essentially
the same: the establishment of a Shari’a-based
Islamic state in Africa with the lion’s share of
attacks carried out against state institutions
and local police and military forces.
The group was fractured — some “experts”
believed the fracture to be beyond repair at
the time — in 2009 after a Nigerian security
raid on a Boko Haram compound, in which a
significant amount of their leaders was either
captured or killed. However, what was left of
the group recollected to lick its wounds with
the help of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, and Boko
Haram has since slowly escalated its attacks
with its quickly growing forces and significant
aid from AQIM.
The numbers are frankly disturbing. Since
2010, where there were just 75 Boko Haram-
related fatalities during the low point of their
fracture, the amount has increased each year
with 569 fatalities in 2011, 1,646 fatalities in
2012, 2,973 fatalities in 2013 and an alarming
7,711 fatalities in 2014. In the month of January
2015 alone, well-known political scientist Ian
Bremmer reported that the group has already
slain upwards of 3,000 people in the region.
Where is the outrage and solidarity?
What is even more frightening is the corrupt
Nigerian military’s lack of any ability to stop
the streaking Boko Haram insurgents. Cur-
rently, Boko Haram is making a push into the
capital city of Maiduguri after taking control of
many of the towns and villages surrounding the
city. If successful, this push could spell the gen-
esis of the realization of an extremist Islamic
state in Nigeria.
If we’re being frank, the Nigerian military
is no match for the current force that is Boko
Haram, but luckily, African leaders across the
region have agreed to send 7,500 troops to help
the ailing Nigerians fight back.
What further exaggerates the sheer weight
of the geopolitical importance of this issue
and the farce that is the lack of coverage in
the media is the possibility that at some point,
should Boko Haram find success in Nigeria, the
group could link with AQIM, which already has
a large presence in much of northern Africa.
Together, the pairing could wreak significant-
ly more havoc on the region in pursuing their
dream of a global Islamic caliphate.
All of this sounds like a pressing humanitar-
ian problem, right? Like, one that we might see
updated regularly on a nightly CNN or World
News broadcast?
Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The early-
January massacres in Baga — in which Boko
Haram forces sadistically executed more than
2,000 civilians over the span of a few days —
were severely overshadowed by coverage of the
Charlie Hebdo slayings in France. Though the
Charlie Hebdo murders were a clear affront to
freedom of speech and a wanton act of aggres-
sion toward the West, how can that one event
so heavily overshadow the systematic slaugh-
ter of thousands of innocents over a period of
four days? While the hashtag “Je suis Char-
lie” quickly became one of the most tweeted
hashtags in history, nobody seemed to pay any
heed to the increasingly burdensome daily exis-
tential struggle of innocent men and women in
Nigeria.
What’s ironic (since we are on the free
speech trope that was so heavily invoked in
the coverage of the Charlie Hebdo incident)
is “Boko Haram” is linguistically the embodi-
ment of anti-free speech: boko is the Hausa
word for “fake” and haram is Arabic for “for-
bidden.” When combined with colloquially, the
group’s common name translates to “Western
education is a sin,” a slam on our world and our
way of life. With all the brilliant artists of the
Charlie Hebdo response cartoons, you’d think
the media could get some pretty good content
out of that.
Even in our latest obsession with police
brutality (to which I take no importance from
and agree with its pressing nature) in Fergu-
son and New York, I see hypocrisy in its high-
est form. In the months of hearing about and
even participating in marches and vigils for
these tragically killed Black men, I thought I
had learned one thing: Black lives matter. Or
is it just that American Black lives matter?
Je suis Nigeria, anyone?
Matthew Jackonen is an LSA senior.
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
4A — Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Je suis Nigeria
Eliminate the Athletic Department
Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Devin Eggert, David
Harris, Jordyn Kay, Aarica Marsh, Victoria Noble,
Michael Paul, Allison Raeck, Melissa Scholke,
Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Linh Vu,
Mary Kate Winn, Jenny Wang, Derek Wolfe
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
E-mail HEidi at HEidimaE@umicH.Edu
HEIDI LIU
MATTHEW JACKONEN | VIEWPOINT
I
n what is a now fading spotlight
on our football woes, the Uni-
versity of Michigan still man-
ages to humiliate
itself in regards
to
our
Athletic
Department. Dur-
ing a press con-
ference to address
the “sports stuff”
earlier this year,
University Presi-
dent Mark Schlis-
sel stated that “we
admit
students
who aren’t as qual-
ified, and it’s prob-
ably the kids that we admit that can’t
honestly, even with lots of help, do
the amount of work and the quality
of work it takes to make progression
from year to year.”
Fast forward to last week, when
assistant football coach Greg Matti-
son allegedly told a potential recruit
that he wouldn’t be accepted to the
University if he didn’t play football.
At a time when we have groups
kicking down boardroom doors to
protest the lack of diversity on cam-
pus, Michigan is quietly accept-
ing students that shouldn’t be here
just because they play a game.
They then get a whole host of extra
advantages to which the average
University student just doesn’t have
access. Because of this, I think it’s
time we take a serious look at abol-
ishing the Athletic Department and
removing these semi-professional
sports from campus.
There is a major issue with the
amount of general resources certain
entitled “student-athletes” use up.
All over the nation, there’s a con-
cern about players “clustering” their
majors, with many athletes being
pushed toward one or two “special”
programs. Some schools create class-
es specifically for these athletes, and
in the past, Michigan has proven to
be no exception.
According to Schlissel, “very
few” student-athletes are enrolled
in
single-student
independent
study classes. The number of stu-
dents in these specialized classes at
any time is very low, and quite pos-
sibly zero. However, since Schlissel
decided to address these classes,
they are now relevant to this dis-
cussion, regardless of whether or
not we have students taking those
classes
this
semester.
Looking
at the entire picture, this would
mean we have students who aren’t
academically qualified taking up
classroom seats they don’t deserve,
utilizing systems that we maintain
only for the privileged elite, just
so many of these athletes can miss
time in the actual classroom to play
a game.
The system is only going to get
worse, not better. There are now
two colleges in the United States
that offer scholarships for play-
ing the computer game “League of
Legends.” It’s only a matter of time
until this program comes to our
University. You know that kid with
the puffy, red eyes who looks as if
he was up all night playing games,
hitting a bong and eating Doritos?
That’s possibly only months away
from being a University-sanctioned
event (the playing games all night
part, at least). They may even
qualify for a scholarship to do that.
Obviously, we need to put an end to
this nonsense. Stopping this insan-
ity won’t be easy, though, because
the
push
to
include these
programs
is
coming
from
outside
the
University.
Our
main
sports
pro-
grams
exist
as
they
do
today primar-
ily because the
professional
leagues cultivated them this way.
Why pay money to establish a farm
system when you have people will-
ing to pay the costs for you? There
are now billions of dollars in col-
lege athletics, but the vast major-
ity of that wealth does not go to
the schools. The NBA and NFL are
especially egregious in this regard.
To them, it’s win-win. They use
these schools to polish their own
brand, the universities get a lot
of publicity and TV time and the
NCAA gets to roll in the cash.
Only one group of people loses in
this: the students. College athletes
are essentially free laborers, and
the powers that be like it. That’s
why when a bunch of student-
athletes threatened to unionize in
Illinois, the Michigan Legislature
moved to block that from happen-
ing here. It’s just not “good busi-
ness” to allow students to get paid.
After all, the college football mar-
ket is possibly even bigger than the
pro market, and the NFL generates
about $9 billion in yearly revenue.
The monetary loss to the stu-
dent-athletes is enormous, but stu-
dents aren’t the only customers that
are buying this product. Michigan
Stadium isn’t filled with 100,000
students and alumni on Saturdays
during football season. From my
perception, it’s seems to be mostly
“Walmart Wolverines,” the fans of
the team that never attended the
University, making them the target
audience. Since they’re the primary
consumers, non-students and non-
alumni, University resources are
further privatized. The most valu-
able of those resources is the real
estate.
It’s impossible to overlook the
sheer amount of land the Athletic
Department uses. Michigan Stadi-
um, Yost Ice Arena, the Crisler Cen-
ter and many others athletic sites on
campus are all land hogs. Instead
of looking to some of the largest,
least populated areas of campus
when the University needed land
for an over-priced apartment com-
plex, they decided to reclaim the
five square feet
(approximate-
ly) occupied by
Blimpy
Burger.
Between the foot-
ball program and
the
restaurant,
only one of those
two
businesses
regularly puts a
smile on the faces
of its customers
(hint: it’s not the
football program). By freeing our-
selves from the burden of these
facilities, we’d have more land
available for student benefit.
In the end, it’s all about money.
The more our school gets pushed
toward a “business” and away from
a “university,” the more these things
will continue to happen. Our stu-
dents are being exploited for private
gain, and our state legislature has
shown it cares more about the inter-
ests of big business than students. It’s
time to say “enough.” The University
has enough money. It needs to step up
and put an end to this charade.
Closing the Athletic Department
would prove exactly how serious
the University is about protect-
ing its students and upholding the
integrity of the institution. Athlet-
ics would still live on at the Univer-
sity in the form of intramural sports
and extracurricular activities, but
without a financial motive. By tak-
ing the lead and either abolishing
or reducing the role of the Ath-
letic Department, we would show
the world the true meaning of the
“Michigan Difference.”
— Eric Kukielka can be
reached at ekuk@umich.edu.
W
illie
Filkowski:
Some
haikus about my room-
mate
Willie Filkows-
ki: Most days I
don’t
make
art
and here’s why
Willie Filkows-
ki: Follow me on
Twitter
Willie Filkows-
ki: Let’s talk about
my SAT score
Willie Filkows-
ki: Some pics of
me in the snow
Willie Filkowski: On trying to
become as tragic as Alan Turing
Willie Filkowski: Favorite dance
moves
Willie Filkowski: My student
debt would have only been $895 in
1915
Willie Filkowski: Trust me, you
love performance art
Willie Filkowski: Stop replying
all!!!
Willie Filkowski: Thirsty
Willie Filkowski: Life-ruiner
Willie
Filkowski:
Sardonic
queermo
Willie Filkowski: Refinancing my
student debt to pay for a third senior
year
Willie Filkowski: Band-Aids, a
sign of failure
Willie Filkowski: I took the
Oxford Shuttle once (by accident)
Willie Filkowski: Using chance
operations to determine your next
bibliography
Willie Filkowski: When I gradu-
ate, I’m moving to Stars Hollow
Willie Filkowski: There’s some-
thing about celery
Willie Filkowski: An unsolicited
commencement address
Willie Filkowski: Mary Sue Cole-
man:
Willie
Filkowski
Willie
Filkowski: Fol-
low me on Tum-
blr
Willie
Filkowski:
Nobody
cares
what you do
Willie
Filkowski:
“Happy Birthday from your student
loan servicer!”
Willie Filkowski: What we talk
about when we talk about Tinder
Willie Filkowski: Raymond Carv-
er swiped right (and so did I)
Willie Filkowski: Sundays are the
worst
Willie Filkowski: Here are all of
my drafted tweets
Willie Filkowski: I’m really hav-
ing no trouble keeping up in Physics
107, I promise
Willie Filkowski: I’d like to
retract my previous statements
about celery
Willie Filkowski: Living in a
basement is surprising
Willie Filkowski: I have extra
copies of the gay agenda if anybody
needs one
Willie Filkowski: ¯\_(‘-‘)_/¯
Willie Filkowski: 90 percent of
luck is just showing up
Willie Filkowski: Follow me on
Instagram
Willie Filkowski: There is more
than one way to skin a cat
Willie
Filkowski:
I
don’t look that
much like Mary
Sue Coleman
Willie
Filkowski:
Thank you for
being a friend
Willie
Filkowski: Life
after
Golden
Girls
Willie Filkowski: The Golden
Girls and me
Willie Filkowski: The Golden
Girls and the Gilmore Girls team up
to beat the shit out of Hannah Hor-
vath
Willie Filkowski: I left a sweater
in the lobby of the Walgreen Drama
Center, has anybody seen it?
Willie Filkowski: On phoning it
in
Willie Filkowski: In praise of the
Askwith Media Library
Willie Filkowski: I don’t know
about being a columnist, too many
deadlines
— Willie Filkowski can be
reached at willjose@umich.edu.
ERIC
KUKIELKA
WILLIE
FILKOWSKI
I don’t know
about being a
columnist, too
many deadlines
Only one
group of people
loses in this:
the students.
Alternative column ideas