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, March 18, 2015

Finding our way there

Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Ben Keller, Payton Luokkala, 

Aarica Marsh, Victoria Noble, Michael Paul, Anna Polumbo-Levy, 

Allison Raeck, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew 

Seligman, Linh Vu, Mary Kate Winn, Jenny Wang, Derek Wolfe

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

I

magine, for a moment, the University 
suddenly devoid of women. All female 
students, 
professors, 
staff 
members 

and administrators vanish 
from campus. A multitude 
of seats in lecture halls 
and classrooms would be 
vacant. A number of classes 
would lack instruction from 
professors. 
Administra-

tive issues would remain 
unresolved. The progress of 
research projects and initia-
tives would slacken. Dining 
halls would operate under-
staffed. Portions of on-cam-
pus residences — without 
the contributions of staff members — would 
remain unkempt. Student organizations and 
committees across campus would struggle to 
function without a vast portion of their mem-
bers and their leadership. Without its female 
writers, copy editors, videographers, design-
ers, photographers and editors, the publi-
cation you’re currently reading would lack 
content to provide to the student population. 
In short, the University, as it currently stands, 
would struggle to function during this hypo-
thetical scenario.

Although the scenario I describe above is 

merely my own personal musing, March 8, 
on International Women’s Day, women van-
ished from advertisements, posters, publica-
tions and billboards throughout New York 
City in an effort to raise awareness of the 
gender inequality continuing to permeate our 
society. Sponsored by the Clinton Founda-
tion, the disappearance of female bodies, in 
combination with displaying the web address 
Not-There.org, was meant to call attention to 
data compiled by the foundation’s No Ceil-
ings initiative to measure and gauge the 
worldwide condition of all women. By enter-
ing the web address into a 
browser, members of the 
public were able to view 
a female celebrity-filled 
YouTube video explain-
ing the disappearances, 
and they were presented 
with the opportunity to 
discover alarming facts 
and figures regarding the 
contemporary magnitude 
of gender inequality.

Aptly titled, the cam-

paign illustrates that gender equality remains 
out of reach for women throughout the globe. 
Of the numerous facts given to describe the 
current state of inequality, the website notes 
that the United States stands as “one of nine 
countries worldwide that doesn’t provide for 
paid maternity leave.” Highlighting the danger-
ous prevalence of violence against women, the 
No Ceilings initiative provides the statistic that 
“one in three women suffers physical or sexual 
violence” within society. The site also address-
es issues surrounding the gender pay gap, inac-
cessibility to education, Internet service and 
child marriage. According to an estimate from 
the Clinton Foundation, “the Not There website 
had been viewed at least 104, 680 times” as of 
the evening of March 8.

Gathering data and promoting a forum of 

discussion is crucial to making progress for 
women’s rights. Succeeding in its attempt to 
capture attention and garner support for equal-
ity among genders, the Not There campaign is 
certainly a poignant and powerful one. Katie 
Dowd, the director of digital strategy at the 
Clinton Foundation, noted in an interview that 
one of the goals of the campaign was “to cre-
ate a moment that feels meaningful.” However, 
no matter how revolutionary the campaign was 

in its commencement last week, the commit-
ment to dismantling gender inequality must not 
remain limited to a single day. The effect of this 
campaign shouldn’t just be a noteworthy news 
event with a notoriety that fizzles out over time.

In addition to the mysterious departure of 

women from newsstands and advertisements, 
another component of the campaign featured 
erasing the voices of females from contempo-
rary music featured across roughly 186 radio 
stations owned by iHeartMedia across the 
nation. As a heavy critic of the usually over-
sexualized and over-photoshopped manner in 
which women are often portrayed in ads and 
magazines anyway, I found this removal of 
voices to be more significant. In my opinion, 
demonstrating the lack of voices is more impor-
tant than a lack of today’s societal depictions.

Providing spaces for women’s voices to be 

heard is instrumental to achieving true equal-
ity. In regards to remedying the ridiculous pay 
gap between men and women, I have often 
heard cultivating a larger number of women 
in STEM fields proposed as a solution. More 
women in STEM careers, as suggested by an 
article on the No Ceilings initiative’s website, 
would propel women into “some of the fastest 
growing, best paying, and highest-need fields 
in today’s economy.” Increasing the number of 
women in these careers would most likely aid 
in alleviating the pay gap as women with STEM 
careers earn 33 percent more than their female 
counterparts in other sections of the workforce.

However, the pay gap is merely one issue, 

and equality isn’t obtained from the shifting of 
a comma on a paycheck. Women, in numerous 
fields, are absent from positions of leadership. 
According to the Center for American Progress, 
they possess 52 percent of all professional-level 
jobs, yet only 14.6 percent of American women 
hold executive officer positions. Women, in a 
profitable sector of the economy such as the 
legal field, consist of 45.4 percent of associ-

ates. Yet just 25 percent of 
women maintain the sta-
tus of non-equity partners, 
while a mere 15 percent of 
women are equity partners 
at a firm. Returning once 
again to the influential mar-
ket of advertising, women 
constitute three percent of 
creative directors. In other 
fields where shaping mes-
sages and opinion is at the 
forefront, men continue to 

dominate. Women in the film industry com-
prise only 16 percent of the directors, executive 
producers, producers, writers, cinematogra-
phers and actors responsible for creating the 
most profitable films in 2013. If this percentage 
were increased, more complex, intriguing and 
independent female characters would appear 
in our narratives.

To move women toward our desired desti-

nation in society, we absolutely need to under-
stand the data, raise awareness of the issues to 
both men and women and recognize the role 
women play in our world. However, rather than 
take away images of women, the next step needs 
to involve re-imagining the role women play in 
our society. We need women in the advertis-
ing, marketing and communication realms to 
continue redefining societal notions of woman-
hood. We need female representation in gov-
ernment and public policy to enact legislation 
necessary to improve overall living conditions 
for women. We need women with vast techno-
logical knowledge to continue advancing soci-
ety. To achieve equality, society, overall, needs 
women in sectors and roles that are diverse.

 
— Melissa Scholke can be reached 

at melikaye@umich.edu.

MELISSA 
SCHOLKE

O

n Saturday, March 7, a video 
was leaked of students 
from the University of 

Oklahoma’s 
Sigma 
Alpha 

Epsilon fraternity 
chapter 
singing 

a 
racist 
chant 

in 
unison. 
The 

chant 
included 

claims that Black 
students 
could 

never be a part 
of the fraternity, 
using the n-word 
and 
making 
a 

reference to lynching: “You can 
hang him from a tree, but he’ll never 
sign with me. There will never be a 
***** in SAE.”

Since the incident, the University 

of Oklahoma’s SAE chapter has been 
suspended by the university and its 
national chapter. Two students who 
were identified as leading this chant 
have been expelled.

The video is blatantly racist. 

Students 
lightheartedly 
chanted 

about lynching, an act that is a 
reminder of America’s grim white-
supremacist past, making it clear 
that the sentiments are in no way 
eradicated from our present-day 
society. Lynching was a way to strike 
fear into the hearts of the Black 
community both during and after 
the post-Civil War, to make them 
feel weak and like they would never 
be equal. To bring such a gruesome 
image back into the minds of Black 
Americans is unsettling, especially 
in this day and age.

This incident was extremely 

shocking and eye-opening for many 
people 
throughout 
the 
nation, 

although in the eyes of many within 
the Black community, the only thing 
unique about this incident is that it 
was recorded. Megan Johnson, a 
Black student from the University of 

Oklahoma stated, “Personally I was 
outraged, I was upset, but shocked 
was not an emotion that I had … 
These 
racist 
situations 
happen 

every day and we encounter them. 
It took this group of students to be 
on camera and caught for it to get 
national attention.”

The incidence that was caught on 

tape goes beyond just the actions and 
beliefs of a few fraternity brothers 
on a bus. Rather, this was a small 
reflection of much of the racism 
that is still prevalent within the 
United States today. Although many 
Americans still deny that racism is 
a prevalent issue in America, racial 
inequality 
exists 
in 
education, 

the criminal justice system and 
finances, among others according to 
a Pew report.

Racism 
infringes 
upon 
the 

rights of Black 
Americans, even 
at a young age. 
Black 
children 

are more likely 
to be suspended 
for 
the 
same 

infringement 
as their white 
counterparts, 
— 
even 
in 

preschool — and 
are more likely 
to be placed in juvenile detention 
throughout their schooling. This 
severely limits their ability to reach 
higher education, which is already 
impeded by the history of racism 
in America, which includes slavery 
and Jim Crow laws.

The hope that many rely on is the 

idea that the upcoming generations 
are more racially accepting and 
open-minded than people of the 
previous 
generations. 
Although 

this generation is statistically the 
most diverse thus far, the reality, 
as highlighted by this incident, 

is that whites within upcoming 
generations may not be as racially 
accepting 
as 
many 
may 
have 

previously thought.

An evaluation of racial stereotype 

battery in the 2012 American 
National 
Election 
Study 
shows 

that 61 percent of white Americans 
under 30 view whites as more 
intelligent and hardworking than 
Black Americans, almost as much as 
their older counterparts; 64 percent 
of those 31 and older believe white 
Americans are more intelligent.

As a community, it’s important 

to realize that racism still is very 
much alive today, and that the Civil 
Rights Movement didn’t end with a 
happily ever after just because we 
have a Black president. It includes 
every instance of racism that occurs 
in society today and it begins and 

ends with our 
actions. 
Many 

people 
have 

ignored 
the 

institutional 
racism 
and 

police brutality 
prevalent 
in 

our time. We 
should 
learn 

from the stories 
of our past and 
present, and ask 

ourselves what we want to tell our 
grandchildren about.

I hope to be standing on the side 

of history that speaks for truth 
and justice. Malcolm X, a once-
misunderstood man, said, “I’m for 
truth, no matter who tells it. I’m 
for justice, no matter who it is for 
or against. I’m a human being, first 
and foremost, and as such I’m for 
whoever and whatever benefits 
humanity as a whole.”

 
— Rabab Jafri can be reached 

at rfjafri@umich.edu.

The ongoing civil rights movement

RABAB 
JAFRI

It’s important to 
realize that racism 
is still very much 

alive today. 

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN MAKING LIFELONG FRIENDS 

AND BONDING AT FLEETWOOD? 

DO YOU LIKE GIANT TEDDY BEARS AND BEVERAGES 

THAT COST A MERE 50 CENTS? 

Check out The Michigan Daily’s editorial board meeting. Every 

Monday and Wednesday at 6 p.m., the Daily’s opinion staff meets to 

discuss both University, state and national affairs. 

E-mail opinioneditors@michigandaily.com to join in the debate. 

The dangers of plastic

T

he 
week 
before 
Spring 

Break, 
my 
environmen-

tal psych class turned my 

whole 
world 

upside down. I’m 
sure 
any 
read-

ers out there who 
are familiar with 
environment 
or 

psychology class-
es know that a 
little information 
goes a long way to 
sending students 
down 
doomsday 

spirals. Now just 
picture these two 
topics combined into one and then 
drop in a passionate guest speaker 
and you have a clear image of what 
caused me to question everything.

Or, at least, everything I knew 

about plastic. And honestly, once 
the guest speaker opened my eyes, 
I realized I really didn’t know shit 
about plastic. Because who even 
thinks about it, really? It makes up 
my adorable reusable (and therefore 
eco-friendly, or so I thought) water 
bottle, my pitcher I use for water, my 
shampoo and conditioner containers, 
the knife-fork-spoon hybrid I eat all 
my meals with and god only knows 
what else. Plastic is everywhere and 
it’s wreaking havoc on our world and 
our bodies. No one even knows what 
it’s made of, because the people who 
make plastic do not have to disclose 
the ingredients that make it up.

For example, in the early 2000s, 

when numerous studies came out 
explaining that the chemicals in the 
BPA plastic that make up most water 
bottles and baby bottles disrupt hor-

mones and cause cancer, most people 
were quick to leap onto the BPA-free 
bandwagon. I know my family was. 
Basically, during my entire child-
hood, I instinctively knew that BPA-
free water bottles were safe.

According to a Mother Jones arti-

cle, BPA substitutes are unregulated 
chemicals made into plastic in pri-
vately owned businesses which do 
not have to release this information. 
Similarly, according to Journalist’s 
Resource, new studies have shown 
that the same endocrine-disrupting 
chemicals found in BPA can be found 
in its widely favored replacement.

This information is frighteningly 

hidden. Until plastic is more close-
ly regulated by the government, it 
will be impos-
sible to know the 
breadth of dan-
ger that comes 
from these mix-
tures of chemi-
cals. And plastic, 
the material that 
makes up throw-
away packaging 
and 
non-reus-

able 
grocery 

bags, will never 
decompose into nature because, 
“due to the nature of plastic (it) 
often can only be ‘downcycled’ rath-
er than recycled.”

Some plastic is sent to be recycled 

in developing countries, which often 
involves open-air burning. But most 
plastic doesn’t even enter the shoddy 
recycling system. Thirty-four mil-
lion tons of plastic were disposed in 
the United States in 2008, 86 per-
cent of which ended up in landfills. 

Landfills are deeply unsustainable 
and diminish land resources. Other 
options, such as incineration, dan-
gerously release carbon dioxide and 
other air pollutants.

It seems to me that the entire 

recycling and waste removal system 
needs to be revitalized. But until 
that day, try to creatively reuse plas-
tics, maybe for flower pots or pencil 
cases. However, do not eat out or off 
of them. As well as increasing our 
risk for cancer and disrupting our 
hormones when plastic leeches from 
our water bottles and plastic dining 
ware into our food and water, it’s also 
destroying the only home we have.

Change starts with a small step in 

the right direction, so switch from 

plastic to metal 
or glass today. 
I did, and my 
metal water bot-
tle holds water 
in basically the 
same way! I’m 
sure some people 
will 
read 
this 

and think I am 
crazy for putting 
so much empha-
sis on avoiding 

plastic. It’s easy to write off these 
findings as pieces of propaganda and 
insanity, but that’s just being will-
fully blind. Scientists aren’t lying. 
It’s better to take preventative steps 
now by cutting as much plastic out of 
our lives as possible. It’s the only real 
chance we have at saving this glori-
ous planet. And ourselves, too.

 
— Eliana Herman can be reached 

at erherman@umich.edu.

ELIANA 
HERMAN

Decreasing 
asthma 
and 

environmental pollution 

TO THE DAILY: 

Did you know that Michigan has an asth-

ma contraction rate 10 percent higher than 
the national average, and that southwest 
Detroit has the third-most polluted zip code, 
48127, in the nation? Environmentalists have 
established a link between environmental 
pollutants and adult-onset asthma. In addi-
tion, pollution frequently induces asthma 
attacks in those who already have the disor-
der. We all directly or indirectly have people 
we know who have asthma; obviously this 
issue is immediate.

The Clean, Renewable and Efficient Energy 

Act, which requires that electric companies 
in the state of Michigan, such as DTE Energy, 
have 10 percent of their energy come from 

renewable resources, expires at the end of this 
year. The issue is that once 2015 ends, the act 
expires, and electric companies lack incentive 
to continue using renewable energy.

In order to protect those close to us, we 

should all advocate for sustainable energy pol-
icies that keep us all healthy and worry-free. 
Gov. Rick Snyder recently announced that 
he hopes to expand energy policy so that we 
get 30 to 40 percent of our power from clean 
renewables by 2025. In order to persuade the 
Michigan Legislature to vote in the affirma-
tive, he needs our help. It’s imperative that we 
all contact our legislators in order to aid Sny-
der in the passing of a renewable energy act, 
which would reduce air pollutants and thus 
asthmatic prevalence in Michigan for those 
around us and our posterity.

 

Lotan Helfman
LSA Senior

Send letterS to: tothedaily@michigandaily.com
LETTER TO THE EDITOR 

The entire recycling 

and waste removal 

system needs to be 

revitalized. 

Without women, 

the University 

would struggle to 

function. 

