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 — Tuesday, September 8, 2015

T

his summer, I did one of the 
most childish things I could 
think of: I got my tonsils out.

Which was a 

mistake. A mas-
sive 
mistake. 

A 
humongous 

“why-did-I-do-
this-there-are-
so-many-other-ways-I-could-have-
spent-these-two-weeks-other-than-
as-a-miserable-vegetable” mistake.

And also not a mistake, but not 

for the obvious medical reason.

Technically, I needed it done, so 

even if I hadn’t wanted it, it would 
have happened anyway. But what I 
didn’t really know at the time was 
that not only would I be in terrible 
pain, but I would also be stripped 
of all independence during recov-
ery, which was a good thing and a 
 

bad thing.

Mainly a bad one (but silver 

linings exist).

For some background, getting 

your tonsils out as an adult is not the 
same as what a child goes through 
with the same procedure. Your ton-
sils are supposed to be pretty prom-
inent as a kid since they help with 
blocking germs and fighting infec-
tions, which children (i.e. dirt mon-
sters) are prone to. By maturation, 
however, the tonsils are supposed 
to be smaller in proportion to your 
adult throat and farther back and 
out of the way. Getting them out is 
more of a hassle, because they’ve 
basically taken a stronger root.

However, my tonsils touched in 

the middle and appeared to be gain-
ing some sort of sentience. They 
would growl in the night, and they 
seemed to be developing some very 
concerning opinions, such as “The 
Big Bang Theory” being a good 
show, so they had to go.

So out they came. And with that 

came two weeks of feeling like I 
was swallowing crushed glass, an 
inability to speak and eat most any-
thing, weakness from malnourish-

ment and a prescription for some 
hard drugs to help manage all this. 
This also took away my ability to 
handle large machinery (like the 
cool forklift I drive to work).

Naturally, this bedridden state I 

was in brought to mind all the par-
allels that my life now held to what 
life was like as a small child, com-
pletely beholden to my parents.

Which most of me hated. Not all 

of me, of course, since part of it is a 
sweet deal of being catered to, but 
it also meant I couldn’t go to the 
midnight monster truck rallies I 
host weekly.

It wasn’t just me seeing these 

child/adult-without-tonsils parallels, 
though: When I checked into the hos-
pital for the surgery, the receptionist 
gave me a side-eye and asked if I was 
looking for C.S. Mott Childeren’s 
Hospital. My post-operation instruc-
tions listed numbers of pediatricians 
to direct questions to. Google even 
kept trying to redirect me to chil-
dren’s health websites while I was 
doing research. (No, I did not mean, 
“Help me I’m an infant in an adult’s 
body,” Google. Rude.)

This weird mix of childhood and 

adulthood is an interesting mirror 
to my college experience, though. 
These four years are a strange 
time of outgrowing (but really not 
outgrowing) childhood ties and 
navigating new adult terrain and 
responsibilities, such as paying bills 
and learning the family trade of 
mummy hunting.

I think that many college stu-

dents feel somewhat alone once they 
leave home. For instance, person-
ally, calling Mom and Dad for help 
was definitely the easiest option 
to figure out most problems, but it 
began to feel like failure to me by 
my fourth semester; I kept feeling 
like the things I was calling about 
(“How do I get mocha out of my lap-
top’s CD drive?”) should and could 
be handled on my own. I’m sure for 
others, this idea is relatable, at least 

when it comes to graduation; avoid-
ing moving home after graduation 
is definitely a major source of fuel, 
at least subconsciously, in all post-
grad job hunts.

Should this be the case, though?
While I knew that my parents 

always enjoyed having me home for 
summers (I’m a delight) and looked 
forward to my constant calls and 
texts (can’t get rid of me that eas-
ily), letting go and handing over the 
reins during these two weeks was 
perhaps beneficial for both of us. 
It reminded me that for one, par-
ents miss you when you leave and 
they want to take care of you, and 
secondly, college is stressful, and 
relying on others is not weakness or 
immaturity. 

I feel closer to my mom than 

ever right now because we had to 
be so in sync to deal with my gross 
throat, and I know my dad is always 
ready to run out the door on a 
grocery run the minute I complain 
that a popsicle looked at me funny 
or isn’t the right color. They never 
once complained. We were a team, 
and I think that’s exactly how a 
lot of parents see their children’s 
college 
educations. 
Navigating 

the bureaucracy of administration 
and getting to graduation intact is 
often a two- or three-person job. 
Reaching out to parents, family and 
even your friends is only going to 
help. They’re there to support you.

So, while my time lazing around 

and not worrying about anything 
but my painkiller schedule like 
a successful drug lord wasn’t 
completely enjoyable, it was a good 
time to reconnect with the idea of 
depending on others and asking 
for help. Plus, now I know that 
family will take care of you once 
an obscene amount of blood comes 
from your mouth, so that’s also 
good to know.

— Sarah Leeson can be reached 

at sleeson@umich.edu.

Daycare for my inner child

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

Aarica Marsh, Victoria Noble, Michael Paul, Anna 

Polumbo-Levy, Allison Raeck, Melissa Scholke, Michael 
Schramm, Mary Kate Winn, Jenny Wang, Derek Wolfe

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Y

our first arrival to campus 
— an unofficial inaugura-
tion to your undergradu-

ate career — is 
usually steeped 
in expectation. 
Driving through 
unfamiliar 
streets, you excit-
edly survey the 
city that’ll serve 
as the stage for 
the next few 
years of your life. 
With a full back-
pack, welcome 
info packets at your feet and boxes 
(or alternatively, some unlucky 
sibling unwillingly enlisted as a 
member of your moving crew) sit-
ting in the car seat next to you, 
you anxiously stare out of the 
window. Every film depiction of 
college you’ve seen up until this 
point has filled your imagination 
with scenes of expertly landscaped 
quadrangles, verdant lawns, stately 
buildings and drab dormitories. It’s 
everything you expected it would 
be. As you venture toward the sec-
tion of off-campus student houses, 
you curiously search for any and 
all signs of the rumored crazy col-
lege shenanigans. However, among 
all of your preconceived images of 
the stereotypical rowdiness and 
ruckus, the last thing you may 
expect to see is a spray-painted, 
sexist phrase hanging from one of 
the balconies.

At Old Dominion University in 

Virginia, some of these college 
shenanigans grew too derogatory 
and recently ignited a controversy. 
Students — new and old alike — 
passing by the school’s chapter 
of Sigma Nu fraternities were 
welcomed by makeshift bedsheet 
banners with crudely scrawled 
lettering 
that 
designated 
the 

building as a “freshman daughter 
drop-off” site. Accompanying the 
message was a separate banner 
declaring, “Rowdy and Fun, Hope 
Your Baby Girl Is Ready for a Good 
Time.” Old Dominion University’s 
chapter of Sigma Nu even extended 
the invitation to the girls’ parents 
with a third and final banner that 
read, “Go Ahead and Drop Off 
 

Mom Too.”

These banners incited national 

media attention and immediate 

action from the Old Dominion 
administrators. The disrespectful 
messages prompted the suspension 
of the school’s chapter of Sigma 
Nu. Old Dominion University’s 
president responded quickly with 
a statement, and an investigation of 
the incident is pending.

Assigning disciplinary action for 

displaying derogatory messages, 
such as the ones seen at ODU, 
has initiated a troubling debate. 
The students and the words on 
these crudely designed signs are 
protected by the First Amendment. 
Some argue that the actions and 
media coverage so far have taken 
the situation out of proportion, 
while others claim these messages 
contribute to rape culture in 
environments with high prevalence 
of sexual assault.

These incidents, for the most part, 

were probably intended as highly 
inappropriate and poorly thought 
out jokes. Yet the overall messages, 
while they may not directly threaten 
or proposition a specific woman, are 
not something to toss aside lightly, 
especially when these are in no way 
isolated incidents. 

Signs toting sexist messages 

similar to the ones portrayed at 
ODU have emerged outside of 
various fraternities and student 
houses for years. A house at Ohio 
State University hung a banner 
marketing “Daughter Day Care 2.0” 
and another claiming “Dads, We’ll 
Take It From Here.” Variations of 
sexist phrases have appeared at 
numerous universities in the past, 
illustrating a disturbing trend.

The 
Atlantic 
wrote, 
“these 

immature 19-year-olds displayed 
bad judgement, but so do the adults 
who are reacting as if they were 
stockpiling GHB. Pop culture is 
filled with material far more vulgar 
and offensive, including content 
that 
does 
actually 
transgress 

against 
the 
value 
placed 
on 

consent.”

One can label these messages as 

a dumb and disrespectful tradition, 
but we can’t deny the fact that these 
messages, unintentionally offensive 
and degrading or not, contribute to 
a flawed culture that continually 
degrades and objectifies women on 
various platforms. If our society 
truly is filled with “material far 
more vulgar and offensive” already, 

then our goal should be to remedy 
this instead of dismissing slightly 
less demeaning material because it 
doesn’t cross a pre-existing line.

There’s an understanding that, 

to a certain degree, the humor of 
college students is expected to 
be immature, crass and crude. 
However, the annual appearance of 
mattresses, sheets and signs sporting 
these 
sexist, 
derogatory 
spray-

paint messages provides a subtle 
reminder to the undergraduate 
female populations that even while 
attending institutions of academic 
rigor, you’re not going to escape the 
possibility of being objectified and 
sexualized.

The vast majority of young 

women — if they haven’t already 
encountered it — become exposed 
to a world of crude comments, 
unsolicited propositions and often 
unshakeable concerns about the 
safety of the spaces they inhabit 
once they reach adulthood. Seeing 
signs 
thanking 
their 
parents 

for bringing them as if college-
aged women were products to be 
deposited and used only further 
proves 
the 
existence 
of 
this 

uncomfortable sphere.

As a woman far too accustomed 

to 
regularly 
being 
exposed 
to 

similar messages in the media 
or as I walk around Ann Arbor, I 
can acknowledge some realities. 
Removing some failed attempts at 
being funny will not instantly make 
me or other women feel safer. It 
won’t immediately circumvent the 
reception of derogatory solicitations 
or offensive, unnerving comments, 
nor can anyone realistically expect 
that to be the outcome. These 
banners and signs deserve media 
attention and heavy criticism not 
because 
they’re 
saying 
things 

students and worrying parents don’t 
want to hear; they deserve it because 
seemingly insignificant scenarios 
and attitudes contribute to societal 
problems as much as the larger ones. 
We, as members of active campus 
communities, 
should 
denounce 

sexist cultures and work to end high 
rates of sexual assault. But to do so we 
need to be aware of and challenge the 
problematic attitudes that continue 
to pervade society.

— Melissa Scholke can be 

reached at melikaye@umich.edu.

Problematic attitudes

MELISSA 
SCHOLKE

SARAH
LEESON

E-MAIL RACHEL AT RDAWSON@UMICH.EDU
RACHEL DAWSON 

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focus 
on 
wellness 
and 

caring, not enforcement and 
punishment — a key point 
not mentioned in the e-mail 
or Record article. This focus 
appears to lend itself toward 
a necessary changing of the 
culture surrounding alcohol 
on campus, but much needs 
to clarified.

Clarification should begin 

with the decision to notify 
parents in the event of 
certain alcohol violations. 
Mary Jo Desprez, director 
of Wolverine Wellness, said 
in the interview parents will 
be provided ways to have a 
conversation with their child 
that focuses on “constructive, 
non-judgmental 
early 

intervention.” 
The 
policy 

change appears to perpetuate 
the idea that our generation 
is 
immature. 
However, 

Desprez 
emphasized 
that 

the typical student values 
frequent 
communication 

with their parents, so the 
University is simply tapping 
into 
students’ 
support 

networks 
when 
trouble 

appears to be on the horizon. 
As it turns out, whether or 
not the University contacts 
a student’s parents is flexible 
and will be determined on a 
case-by-case basis, which is 
not said in Harper’s e-mail 
or the Record article. If 

contacting 
the 
student’s 

parents or other caregiver 
is likely to cause more 
harm than good for the 
student, as determined by 
Wolverine Wellness, then 
they will not be contacted. 
Why the University chose 
to not include this nuance is 
confusing given how crucial 
that point is.

Similarly, details are hard 

to find in UMPD’s initiative 
to 
increasing 
community 

policing efforts in regard to 
alcohol use in off-campus 
neighborhoods. 
Beginning 

immediately, UMPD will be 
partnering even more with the 
Ann Arbor Police Department 
to expand outreach.

“The Division of Public 

Safety and Security is now 
mobilizing in a way where we 
want to be more preventive, 
and the enforcement piece is 
more on the tail-end,” said 
DPSS 
Executive 
Director 

Eddie Washington in a Daily 
interview. “It’s more to be 
proactive, so if you’re at the 
party, the idea is that we’ve 
already talked to you ahead 
of time.”

These are noble intentions, 

but how this outreach will 
be executed is still fuzzy. 
Harper explained to the 
Daily that this engagement 
includes 
police 
officers 

educating the community 
about preventing “harmful” 
behavior. This week, UMPD 
officers knocked on students’ 

doors hoping to create a 
dialogue between officers 
and students about safe party 
and alcohol use procedures. 
However, questions as to 
whether organizations, such 
as Greek life institutions 
or 
co-ops, 
must 
engage 

with police first and the 
exact methods to be used 
for outreach still need to be 
answered. Also, according 
to 
Washington, 
another 

jurisdiction 
agreement 
is 

being 
assembled 
that, 
if 

signed, would allow both 
UMPD and AAPD to have 
the ability to educate and 
also ticket violators.

With 
45 
percent 
of 

students admitting to binge 
drinking in a 2014 National 
College 
Health 
Assement 

survey conducted by the 
University Health System, 
it’s clear that our campus has 
problems with alcohol. But 
right now, there are far too 
many ambiguities to know 
how this initiative will play 
out — and that’s the problem. 
The University needs to 
take steps to better describe 
the complete program to 
the general student body as 
to not leave students more 
confused than they would be 
on a drunken night at Skeeps. 
But if the University can get 
its act together quickly on 
this matter and figure out 
the nuances, there is the 
potential for positive change.

POLICY
From Page 1A

 

— President Barack Obama said yesterday during a Labor Day speech in Boston to labor 

leaders. Obama also signed an executive order requiring federal contractors to provide 

their employees with paid sick leave.

“

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

If I were looking for a good 
job that lets me build some 
security for my family, I’d 
join a union. If I wanted 
somebody who had my 
back, I’d join a union.”

