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, October 27, 2015
I
t’s a law of physics that, in liquid, the denser
object sinks lower. But this particular rule
doesn’t hold true in the building of cities.
Density doesn’t sink a com-
munity — sprawl does.
That’s because population
density makes sense. And it’s
the kind of sense that can
be measured in taxpayer
dollars saved, an economy
diversified and a city made
greener. Sustainable cit-
ies are the building blocks
of a sustainable nation,
one that can survive in a
changing world.
There’s a saying that goes
something like, “God was
good enough to give man the beauty of the
world, but cruel enough to give him the drive
to destroy it.”
Since 1981, the amount of farmable land in the
United States has dropped from about 20 to 16
percent of our total land area. While a drop of 4
percent may seem like a small change, it repre-
sents a loss of over 141,000 square miles of arable
land. That’s nearly the entire state of Montana.
I don’t write this to preach Armageddon, but
rather to check a reality that we so easily take for
granted. And land is a fleeting reality.
Concentrating population centers saves natu-
ral beauty and farmland. But more than that,
dense cities greatly reduce our dependence on
the automobile. A dependence that is responsible
for nearly one-fifth of all carbon emissions in the
United States.
The stark reality is our current mode of life
is not sustainable. Our generation will be faced
with many existential crises. Survival in our
changing environment will be the most critical.
Now I’m hesitant to speak in generalizations
about our generation. The media loves to pigeon-
hole Millennials as one of only a handful of
things. But as the largest generation ever, diver-
sity of thought is inevitable. That said, three of
the things the media tells us we are, I like.
First, we seek out cities. Second, we are eco-
nomically enterprising. And third, we try to be
socially conscientious. This is the segment of
Millennials that every city wants and Ann
Arbor needs. And, you guessed it, urban den-
sity can help.
Ann Arbor needs a next generation of resi-
dents, one that will respect and uphold our
remarkable values. As of 2010, people ages 20 to
24 make up more than 20 percent of Ann Arbor’s
population. If we bump up one age bracket, to
people ages 25 to 29, that number halves. It make
sense. After all, we are a college town and people
graduate. But how do we retain more of that 20
percent come commencement day?
When a city builds out, it cuts off its abil-
ity to create vibrant cultural and economic
centers or provide meaningful transit options.
Both elements are essential to our generation,
a whopping 86 percent of whom say that public
transportation is critical. When we single out
Millennials making less than $30,000 a year,
that statistic jumps to 92 percent. This sug-
gests that affordability is also imperative to
the Millennial equation.
Ann Arbor has one of the hottest real estate
markets in the country, with an average rental
room that costs a startling $1,118 per month.
There is clearly a huge demand for housing that is
not being met by supply. Denser housing develop-
ment provides more housing options with direct
access to awesome amenities, like a vibrant
downtown and public transit.
All that said, creating an affordable city
does more than allow young residents to pay
rent. It speaks to an inner drive to live in a
truly diverse community, not one sanitized by
forces of gentrification.
But Ann Arbor is still a rich community. With
the average price of a house hanging out north of
$300,000, it’s not uncommon for residents to be
paying $7,000 or more a year in property taxes. It
may be startling, then, that the city isn’t in great
fiscal shape — every year, our costs are rising
faster than our revenue. That’s a scary place to
be. Luckily, density can help.
The logic is pretty simple. Infrastructure costs
a lot of money. And suburban living requires a lot
of infrastructure. Just think about how much all
those winding roads must cost, not to mention
the pipes that run beneath. In fact, the marginal
cost of providing services to a new building is so
high that a dense, multi-use development costs
society between 38 and 50 percent less than a
single-family home.
Your local government isn’t just saving money,
though. It’s also tapping new revenue streams.
New neighbors mean everyone’s services keep
coming, but new taxes don’t need to.
Of course, all of this means change. But change
is inevitable, and when it comes to sustainability
and survival, change is necessary.
The desires of youth will likely shape the
future. But those desires must be refined by the
moderation and historical perspective of older
generations. For that reason, density can’t just
mean skyscrapers and subways; often it will sim-
ply mean townhouses and duplexes. Like every
generation that has preceded us, we will reshape
our nation. I hope ours will reshape densely.
—Zachary Ackerman is an LSA senior and the
Democratic nominee (Ward 3) for Ann Arbor City
Council. He can be reached at zdack@umich.edu.
T
his past weekend, the Mar-
tha Cook Building, one of the
University’s three remain-
ing
all-female
dorms,
cele-
brated its 100th
anniversary.
Both current and
former residents
attended
the
event, and Uni-
versity President
Mark
Schlissel
gave a keynote
speech that laud-
ed the building’s
“unique learning
environment, where everyone feels
equally included.”
The educational experience for
women at the University has cer-
tainly evolved in the 100 years since
Martha Cook opened. Though it’s
not obvious that all-women housing
fills the same niche in the campus
community that it once did, female
dorms continue to provide a sup-
portive community for residents.
When
the
University
began
admitting female students in 1870,
the co-education of women and
men was exceedingly controversial.
Though ultimately successful and
enduring, co-education challenged
not only classroom dynamics, but
also every aspect of the educational
structure. Housing female students
became a special concern.
Prior to construction of the first
all-women residence halls, female
students typically lived in boarding
houses independent from the Uni-
versity, or on occasion, in the homes
of University faculty members. The
first all-women residence halls
— the Martha Cook Building and
Helen Newberry Residence — rep-
resented the first major efforts by
the University to house female stu-
dents. A 1924 survey of all female
alumni evidences that the buildings
benefited residents by providing a
sense of solidarity and belonging
on campus.
But since the 1970s, women across
the United States have been attend-
ing college at higher rates than their
male counterparts, and men out-
numbered women by only 1 percent
in the University’s entering under-
graduate class in 2015. Accommo-
dating female students on campus is
no longer a special concern for those
charged with planning and pro-
viding student housing — it’s lit-
erally half of the students they’re
dealing with.
Today, most on-campus hous-
ing is co-ed, and fewer than 400
women live in one of the three all-
female residence halls. That trend
doesn’t seem likely to reverse any-
time soon, as co-ed housing has
become increasingly common on
campuses nationwide.
Based on recent trends in student
housing, it may seem that all-female
residence halls might be little more
than relics of the past, and lack sig-
nificant roles to play on campus. But,
even today, many residents find that
their time in all-female housing adds
significant value to their University
experience — at least I did.
I lived in the Martha Cook Build-
ing during my freshman and soph-
omore years. On the surface, I’m
not the first person anyone would
expect to live there. Across cam-
pus, the building’s culture seems to
be typified as old-fashioned, ultra-
conservative and unsocial. But
far from being backward or overly
traditional, the building’s culture
emphasizes personal and academic
achievement, and fosters a commu-
nity of students dedicated to help-
ing each other succeed.
In my experience, all-female
housing fosters an educational envi-
ronment unparalleled anywhere on
campus. I have never lived in a more
studious,
focused
environment.
Residents were more than willing
to help each other understand class
materials, and because many women
choose to live in the building multi-
ple years, older students were often
around to help freshmen adjust to
classes and campus life. The atmo-
sphere was in equal parts supportive
and serious.
Ostensibly, there’s no reason
why co-ed on-campus housing
couldn’t be restructured to provide
similar academic support. Even so,
all-women housing is unique in its
ability to support female students.
Fostering a community of women
dedicated to helping each other
achieve personal and academic
goals is in itself beneficial. Though
women and men attend the Uni-
versity in almost equal numbers,
women still face obstacles on cam-
pus that their male counterparts
don’t. For the women who choose
to live there, all-female hous-
ing can provide a support system
that can help residents overcome
common barriers.
In that respect, the Martha Cook
Building still serves the same func-
tion that it did 100 years ago. Far
from being outmoded and outdated,
all-women housing provides tangible
benefits for its residents by fostering
a supportive campus community.
— Victoria Noble can be
reached at vjnoble@umich.edu.
The benefits of all-female housing
Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Ben Keller, Payton Luokkala, Aarica
Marsh, Adam Morton, Victoria Noble, Anna Polumbo-Levy,
Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Stephanie Trierweiler,
Mary Kate Winn, Derek Wolfe
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
VICTORIA
NOBLE
E-mail joE at jiovino@umich.Edu
JOE IOVINO
Living densely
ZACHARY
ACKERMAN
Where is the line?
Halloween,
or
“Hallo-week,”
as it’s celebrated in Greek life, is a
seven-day romp in costume, a time
when otherwise sane students step
out as TV characters, tabloid anti-
heroes, celebrities of the moment
and perennial favorites like the
sexy kitten. As the ever-popular
cat ears vanish from store shelves
this week and many of us look for-
ward to our first experience of this
curious exhibition, it is time to talk
about which kinds of costumes
should be showcased in this year’s
festivities and which should not.
As the “liaison” for my sorority
to the Panhellenic executive board,
also known as a junior Panhel-
lenic representative, I have had the
opportunity, with approximately
30 other girls, to get an insider’s
look at these issues. For the past
two meetings, we have been dis-
cussing
cultural
appropriation,
trying to anticipate and help to pre-
empt the offensive language, cos-
tumes and behaviors that have too
often stained Greek life — and, let’s
be honest, American life.
After just one of these sessions,
I was appalled, not only because I
had now been aptly made aware of
how pervasive instances of cultural
insensitivity are, but also because it
made me realize just how easy it is
to perpetuate this behavior.
Cultural appropriation is when a
privileged group adopts a cultural
symbol, norm or behavior and takes
it for itself because it’s considered
funny, fashionable or cool. Kidada
Malloy, our discussion facilitator
and the Expect Respect program
assistant, said during her presenta-
tion and later reiterated in an inter-
view that cultural appropriation
is offensive because “it belittles a
culture or identity, in a way that
trivializes an entire way of life.”
An outrageous example of this was
popularized in 2012 when sorority
girls from Penn State University
wore sombreros and held signs say-
ing, “I don’t cut grass, I smoke it,”
and “will mow lawn for weed and
beer.” It goes without saying that
these girls crossed the line, but
where is it drawn?
Malloy made it clear in her pre-
sentation that there is no line. It’s
impossible to know if you’re offend-
ing someone without asking, so you
should simply err on the side of cau-
tion. She said something as small
as wearing a bindi as an accessory,
without acknowledging its historic
and cultural representation, is like-
ly to offend someone.
During the meeting, we pre-
dominantly
discussed
the
role
of celebrity influence in cultural
appropriation. Last year, Pharrell
Williams was showcased on the
cover of Elle magazine sporting a
Native American headdress. Selena
Gomez performed “Come and Get
it” at the 2013 MTV awards dressed
in a sari, saying later that it was
“fun” to incorporate the culture
into the performance. Katy Perry
also performed her song “Uncon-
ditionally”
wearing
a
kimono,
dressed as a geisha. In two of these
three cases, the artists apologized
almost immediately for their disre-
spect toward an entire culture.
Malloy deemed it essential to
recognize that cultural appro-
priation primarily happens when
people are unaware of how their
actions may be perceived as offen-
sive. Malloy urged us to “engage in
conversations with our peer com-
munity to expand our awareness
and understanding of different cul-
tures so that our actions match up
with our values.”
In practice, there’s no difference
between being outwardly offen-
sive, like those who participated in
the infamous “Bloods and Crips”
theme party at Dartmouth College
versus simply wearing a bindi as a
body jewel at your next party. In
both cases, you’re offending some-
one, and although the degree might
differ, we shouldn’t be inappropri-
ately or inaccurately portraying a
way of life.
One of the more prevalent occur-
rences of cultural appropriation
stems from sexualizing minori-
ties, which is something to keep
in mind when trying to scandalize
your costume this year. Try opting
for a sexy animal or a sexy mythi-
cal creature this time around. Trust
me, you’d be hard pressed to find a
racy dragon-fairy that feels dis-
criminated against, and you won’t
be perpetuating disrespectful ste-
reotypes in the process.
With that being said, for this
Halloween, let’s foster an inclusive
and welcoming environment by
opting to wear actual costumes and
not cultures.
Lillian Gaines is an LSA sophomore.
LILLIAN GAINES | VIEWPOINT
— Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh during his press conference yesterday on
hypothetical situations.
“
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
I’m not into the ‘if this, if that’ type of
scenarios. If worms had machine guns,
then birds (would) be scared of them.”
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION
Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and viewpoints. Letters should be fewer
than 300 words while viewpoints should be 550-850 words. Send the article, writer’s full name
and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.