I
’m sure that many of you have read the
recent column published in The Michi-
gan Daily titled, “Relative wealth.”
If you’ve read my previ-
ous columns, then you prob-
ably know how deeply I care
about socioeconomic issues.
You might think I read
the article and came away
shocked and horrified by
what was described as
middle class. To an extent, I
was. However, my eyes also
glazed over the words.
The author clarifies that
she’s “privileged” in a way
that she can afford more
than necessities; however, the way in which
she describes her finances makes me feel
like she believes she doesn’t benefit from
the privilege of a high-SES status — much
like many people do on this campus. When I
read someone arguing they’re middle class
because their $2 million house only has three
bedrooms and two baths, I can’t help but feel
frustrated. It’s the same type of complaint
that I hear all the time on campus. Someone
complains because they can’t afford another
Ralph Lauren Polo, or they’re angry that their
parents won’t pay for them to go on spring
break this year.
Typically, I would overlook these com-
ments, but they’re problematic because they
overshadow real financial problems experi-
enced by people on this campus. Real financial
problems are not being able to pay your rent.
They’re canceling dinner plans because you
don’t have the money in your bank account.
They’re the twinge in your gut when your
friends talk about past vacations because you
know that your family could never afford one.
Upper-class financial “problems,” perpetu-
ated by not just the author but many others
on this campus as well create a climate where
people with genuine financial difficulties
hide their struggle. Who wants to blow away
their friend group with their tale of poverty?
I know I don’t.
According to the Office of Registrar,
in 2011, 63 percent of incoming freshmen
reported coming from families earning over
$100,000, yet the median family income in
the United States is slightly over $50,000.
Earning over $100,000 constitutes a person
as upper-middle class, so this is indicative of
the fact that a majority of students on campus
come from upper-middle class families.
Though this climate makes low-SES stories
difficult to tell, this only makes them more
important. Within these narratives lie stories
of strife, heart, overcoming and oppression
that deserve a platform. They create a way for
people to empathize with genuine financial
issues, and this empathy is the start to social
change that this campus so obviously needs.
So, no matter how much I hate it, it’s time
for my story, and then it’s time for yours.
Until college, I lived with a single parent
and another relative. Both worked low-income
restaurant jobs, and one ended up with medical
conditions that left her unable to work. This
equated to serious financial issues. I never
owned a real winter coat until college. I looked
up in the shower every day to see plastic
covering the roof of our bathroom. I remember
the day our auto company foreclosed on our car.
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 — Friday, February 20, 2015
Using “Relative wealth” as a
launching point for change
Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Payton Luokkala, 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
PAYTON LUOKKALA | VIEWPOINT
A poet factory
It is well known that Ann Arbor is
popular for our world-renowned Uni-
versity, sports teams and traditions,
our first-class medical facilities, an
abundance of great restaurants, lib-
eral politics and our art. Is everyone
fully aware of the ART? It is a rather
ambiguous term, but what my focus
is and what I have come to know Ann
Arbor for is the poetry.
The city is basically a poet-grow-
ing factory. Although American clas-
sics like Robert Frost lived in Ann
Arbor for only a short time, we share
so many writers with the Detroit
area, and we have so many others
who visit our city. I am speaking of
the poets that are growing here now
— from seeds, the very beginning.
It is all relative to when you start,
of course, so I consider myself a seed.
I am 18 years old. There are so many
events that are always happening,
through the University and outside
of it, to help develop young poets.
The University’s Zell Visiting
Writers Series, in partnership with
UMMA, hosts free events, inviting
speakers (poets and other writers
too) to both read and have Q&A
sessions, allowing young writers-
to-be to pick the brains of those
more experienced.
Beyond the teachers in the Eng-
lish department — who are great
— there is the Lloyd Hall Scholars
Program, a Michigan Learning
Community focusing on writing
and the arts, where the teachers are
awesome in their own right. They
help us learn not only in the class-
room, but in the world that is the
Ann Arbor poetry scene. (Note to
others and myself: Write details of
the events down, because as much
as I would like to hope, we will
not remember them, and these are
events you do not want to miss!)
Educators are a great way of
tying together what is happening
within the University and what’s
occurring outside of it, because
although we may like to think we
are aware of both, we often don’t
attend these events as much as
we could.
Local bookstores frequently par-
ticipate in shaping young poets. Lite-
rati Bookstore often has writers read
their work. (I know this may sound
like a lot of listening, but there is so
much to be learned from listening
alone.) To see how your poems play
against an audience, Crazy Wisdom
Bookstore and Tea Room on Main
Street hosts a poetry open mic every
second and fourth Wednesday of
the month from 7-9 p.m. Sweetwa-
ters Coffee & Tea on Washington
presents the Skazat Poetry Series on
the third Tuesday of each month,
which includes an open mic to start
the night, and ends with a featured
regional reader (so it’s the best of
both worlds).
An event that I have attended
repeatedly is the Ann Arbor Poetry
Slam (which happens at 8 p.m. every
Sunday at Silvio’s Organic Pizza).
There is a suggested $5 donation, but
they are extremely understanding of
us poor college kids, and I just give
whatever change I have in my pock-
et at the time. The night starts with
an open mic for those who want to
share, but not compete. The compe-
tition, the main event, is next. Each
time I have been there, it has consist-
ed of six or seven people performing.
Some are more practiced than the
others, some clearly beginners. It is
apparent that it is a learning experi-
ence (I have not tried it yet, because I
am a chicken), but it is also just plain
fun: great pizza, snapping, clapping
and appreciation fill the air.
Although you might learn tech-
nique or emotion elsewhere, an
event like this one is where a poet
learns to be confident. So come on
down — maybe by then I will have
convinced myself to participate.
Payton Luokkala is
an LSA freshman.
MICHAEL
SCHRAMM
F
rom 2007-2011, I was kind of
a vegetarian. What I mean
is that I wanted to be a full-
on
vegetarian,
but since I was a
middle-schooler
who
couldn’t
make these sort
of
life-changing
decisions without
consulting
her
parents (and if I’m
being completely
honest, because I
had a deep passion
for my omnivo-
rous lifestyle), I just didn’t eat red
meat. My decision to become a non-
red meat eater was based on the fact
that I thought animals were cute
and the thought of eating dead pigs,
cows, etc. — regardless of how deli-
cious they are — filled my 11-year-
old heart with terror.
I’m not sure what shocked my
parents more: the fact that I even
wanted to give up my diet of ribs
and burgers and brisket (let me
reiterate, I loved eating meat), or
the fact that I kept up my red meat-
free diet for four years. What sur-
prised me the most was that once
I got accustomed to this pattern, it
was very easy to keep up. And even
though I started eating red meat
again in the summer of 2011, I defi-
nitely do not eat as much red meat
as I did before 2007. The reason I
started eating red meat again was
not because I gave into temptation
— honestly the burger I ate at camp
was probably one of the worst burg-
ers I’ve ever had (and it wasn’t even
a cheeseburger… the Jewish camp
struggle). I ate that subpar burger
because the image of a dead baby
animal was no longer as graphic for
me. My initial reason for taking up
pseudo-vegetarianism felt far away
and disconnected from my life as
well as from the overcooked burg-
ers that all my friends were eating.
And yet, in the last couple weeks
I’ve started thinking about veg-
etarianism again. And this time
it’s about more than just some cute
animals. After reading “The Omni-
vore’s Dilemma: A Natural History
of Four Meals” by Michael Pollan
and “Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food
Giants Hooked Us” by Michael
Moss, I learned that eating meat is
doing more damage than just kill-
ing innocent animals (although
this is a convincing argument on its
own). While a double bacon cheese-
burger sounds wholesome and deli-
cious, in reality, the system that
produces this delicacy goes against
the natural food system, releases
huge amounts of carbon dioxide
and other emissions into our atmo-
sphere and destroys the ecosystems
where grazing animals like cows
are mass-produced and slaugh-
tered. If all that isn’t enough, this
type of eating is killing us as well:
clogging our arteries, causing dia-
betes and numerous other health
problems that come from lack of
regulation and sanitation. Okay,
I’m done with my tirade for now,
but if you’re interested in learning
more about this broken system, I
thoroughly recommend the afore-
mentioned books, which are full of
information that is simultaneously
interesting and horrifying.
Having said all that, I would be
lying if I said I have taken up veg-
etarianism again — I’m still in the
early stages of contemplating this
life change and forgetting that I
want to make this change and eat-
ing a ham-and-cheese sandwich.
But I think I will do it, because
while it is horrifying to think that
eating meat can cause so many envi-
ronmental and health problems, it
is kind of amazing what a positive
impact cutting out or just eating less
meat can have on the world.
— Eliana Herman can be reached
at erherman@umich.edu.
Revisiting vegetarianism
ELIANA
HERMAN
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My childhood was spent in a
constant string of financial panic,
as I hid behind the rail of our
staircase to hear the next saga of
financial ruin. My heart raced with
anxiety that electrified my body
in horrifying ways. I overthought,
freaked out, cried. Poverty was the
scorching-hot glue that held my
childhood together. And it sucked.
There’s no silver lining in being
of a lower socioeconomic status.
It’s not some character-building
wonder to those struck by it. It’s a
terrifying roller-coaster ride.
That’s my condensed story, and
like I said, it’s time for yours.
We
can’t
spend
any
more
time bashing “Relative wealth.”
That’s not an effective use of this
notoriety. The reality is that many
high-SES people are more ignorant
than hateful or judgmental. We
need to use this energy proactively
to share the stories that need
to be shared.
If you are lower SES, I implore
you speak up the next time these
conversations surface. If you’re in
a group setting where this becomes
a topic, don’t shy away from your
story because it’s shameful at this
University. Be bold. If people don’t
speak up, upper-class perceptions
of financial strife maintain their
status as actual problems.
Additionally,
if
you
believe
your story needs to be shared in a
setting bigger than a conversational
context, I would highly encourage
you to seek out a publication or
speaking opportunity. From my
experiences, writing a column has
been crucial in helping me navigate
my experiences with low-SES.
Oh, and one more thing. I hope
— no, expect — that articles like
this get just as many reads and
shares as “Relative wealth.” If you
complained about that article and
give it more attention than ones like
this, you are just as problematic as
you believe the author’s viewpoint
is. It shows that you’re willing
to give more time, energy and
attention to the problem than to
the solution. It also shows that
you’re willing to elevate stories of
privilege over those of raw pain.
I don’t want this conversation to
end with a hateful flicker into the
wind. Let’s take this energy and turn
it into an opportunity to educate
and change our campus’ culture.
Read
Jenny
Wang’s
powerful,
candid,
poignant
response
to
“Relative wealth.” Listen up for
what your low-SES friends have to
say. Challenge yourself. And most
importantly, don’t allow yourself
to be part of the problem that
you hate.
— Michael Schramm can be
reached at mschramm@umich.edu.
I
n the past week, the Fall 2015 academic calendar has caused
uproar within the University’s student body. A petition created
by LSA freshman Lauren Siegel for her Organizational Studies
class, Activism, calls for the University to change the exam schedule.
As it stands, the last day for professors to give exams would be Dec.
23, and classes are set to begin Jan. 6, allowing only one day for
students with exams on Dec. 23 to travel home for Christmas Eve,
and shortening an already short break. As of 12:22 a.m. on Friday, the
petition has 5,443 signatures. While it is not feasible for the Fall 2015
calendar to change with such short notice, the late exam schedule
is expected to recur every time Labor Day falls in the second week
of September. Therefore, the University must reconsider the fall
schedule in future years to begin prior to Labor day resulting in
final exams ending earlier.
According to University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald, classes traditionally start after
Labor Day due to previous faculty and student
preference. In 2002, students requested the
fall break, pushing the exam schedule later.
Both of these factors have led to a later end
of the semester. This issue arose in 2004 and
2010, and is expected to arise again in 2020
as the result of a 2013 action request written
by University Provost Martha Pollack. The
request reads, “There are no conflicts with
religious holidays contained in this calendar.”
However, while exams may not end on
Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, there are
conflicts in this calendar. Ending exams
on the Dec. 23 prevents many students,
professors and GSIs from making it home in
time to celebrate the holidays and potentially
conflicts with religious obligations. The
late exam dates add stress and difficulties
for travel plans. December is often a time
of heavy snowstorms and weather-related
delays. If airline delays occur, or roads are
unsafe for travel, members of the University
community may not be able to get home safely
and in time for Christmas Eve.
Additionally, faculty are required to
complete all grades 72 hours after the final
exam is given. Therefore, if a final is given on
Dec. 23 and the faculty wants to avoid grading
on the holiday, there is effectively less than
24 hours to complete grading. Public Policy
Prof. Paul Courant, who was Provost of the
University from 2002 to 2005, agreed, saying,
“For many of my colleagues it’s really hard.
Not only is it that they have three days but
you know one of those days is Christmas Eve
and one of those days is Christmas and that
matters to a lot of people.” Put simply, the
University should be more understanding
of this concern as it directly conflicts with
academics and faculty well-being.
Despite the University being a non-
religious
institution,
University
Provost
Martha Pollack wrote in an action request,
“…we have made it a practice to make every
reasonable effort to help students avoid
negative
academic
consequences
when
their religious obligations conflict with
academic requirements.” In this situation,
this is clearly not the case. Due to strict exam
policy, students will not receive flexibility
from their professors to take the exam on a
different date unless approved by the Final
Examination Committee. In cases when the
exam schedule does end as late as Dec. 23, the
University should relax this exam policy to
accommodate student travel within two days
of Christmas Eve.
There are also glaring inconsistencies in
University scheduling decisions. Pollack’s
action request for change of the winter term
proposed that classes end April 18 instead of
April 20 to avoid overlapping with Passover.
Therefore, it is questionable as to why the
University wouldn’t recognize the same
concern with ending exams close to Christmas.
A change in the academic calendar with
such short notice would affect programs that
are already planned, such as new student
orientation, and therefore should not be
changed for the coming fall. At Thursday’s
meeting, the Board of Regents acknowledged
the options to amending the calendar are
shortening fall break or starting classes earlier
in the year. Since fall break gives a much-
needed respite to students and was highly
demanded in 2002 by the student population,
it should not be eliminated. Therefore, the
University should consider starting classes
a week earlier, before Labor Day. While
there would certainly be opposition to this
proposal, it is the best solution to fixing this
problem.
Scheduling
around
Christmas
should be of higher priority than beginning
school after Labor Day.
Change the schedule
University must fix policy to avoid late Fall final exam schedule
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