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

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the University of Michigan since 1890.

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All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Monday, November 2, 2015

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

Supporting a sanctuary campus

JOSE ALVARENGA AND LAMIN MANNEH | VIEWPOINT

I 

was blessed with the chance to live the 
typical overscheduled suburban kid 
lifestyle. I say “blessed” because having 

the means to keep busy by 
over-scheduling my life 
was an absolute privilege.

Every year, I begged my 

mother to sign me up for a 
new after-school activity, 
never quitting the previ-
ous one. By sixth grade, I 
committed each week to 
nine hours of gymnastics 
practices, four hours of 
music lessons, two hours 
of all-city choir and at least 
an hour of drama practice.

I regularly ate dinner in a thermos, as some-

one’s parent in an elaborate three-way carpool 
shuttled me to my next activity. I often fell 
asleep doing homework and woke up early to 
practice violin. I remember collapsing onto a 
mat one night at gymnastics practice and ask-
ing my teammates if it was Friday yet. It was 
Monday. I was 12.

In a recent New York Times piece, Bruce 

Feiler explored where the 
true costs of busy, over-
scheduled 
childhoods 

lie. According to Feiler’s 
research, structure can be 
good for children. It helps 
them perfect new skills 
and keeps them out of 
trouble. The costs occur 
when children feel pres-
sured to succeed at these 
activities. Luckily for me, 
my parents never pres-
sured me to aim higher 
with my activities. If anything, in high school 
they frequently asked me if I would like to quit 
certain obligations so that I could get more than 
four hours of sleep per night.

The pressure I felt came from my peers rath-

er than my parents. Seeing everyone around me 
overbook themselves and do well in everything 
influenced me to keep going, even though I was 
starting to lose enjoyment and burn out doing 
my favorite activities.

As I entered college, I felt pressured to be 

busy doing less of what I loved and more of 
what I thought might look impressive on future 
applications. Initially I signed up for uninter-
esting academic clubs and tedious classes, hop-
ing their prestige might set me apart from the 
crowd. Since I cared so little for these obliga-
tions, I quickly became overwhelmed and had 
no sense of fulfillment to push me through the 
toughest days.

Being busy became more manageable when I 

started pursuing things I actually enjoyed. This 
year I’m the busiest I have ever been in col-
lege, but I’m also the happiest. No matter how 
little sleep I get, each morning I jump out of bed 
because there are so many exciting things to do 

throughout my day. I get to write, sing, teach, 
work, study and interact with amazing people 
along the way. Because I practiced being busy 
as a child, I finally know how to manage my 
time and prioritize my most important respon-
sibilities. Friends tell me that I exude a sense of 
joy and optimism that I never did before.

On the rare occasions when I still feel 

stressed out and overwhelmed, I try my best 
not to complain about how busy I am. For one 
thing, I would choose being busy over idleness 
any day. Last year, I had the rare experience 
of accidentally under-scheduling my life. A 
research opportunity fell through and classes 
turned out to be easier than expected, so I had 
several extra hours of empty time in my week 
that I hadn’t anticipated. Rather than using this 
time to study more or find a new hobby, I spent 
most of it sleeping and watching TV.

While those who oppose a busy lifestyle 

might applaud me for indulging in some valu-
able “me time,” I felt completely empty. Per-
haps my structured childhood influenced me 
to unhealthily crave it, but I truly felt that by 
sitting around doing nothing I was wasting my 
chance to explore all of the opportunities that 

the University offers.

Another reason I avoid 

complaining about being 
busy is because I don’t 
want to promote a sense 
of 
competition 
among 

my peers. As Tim Kre-
ider wrote in a New York 
Times opinion piece, pro-
claiming our busyness is 
often a “boast disguised 
as a complaint” because 
it lets others know that 
we’re going above and 

beyond to achieve our goals. Kreider then goes 
on to speak about larger themes surrounding 
the importance of idleness.

Though some University students are busy 

working full-time jobs out of financial neces-
sity, others choose being busy as a way to set 
themselves apart from the crowd. By discuss-
ing how busy our impressive-sounding respon-
sibilities leave us, we inadvertently make others 
feel inadequate or guilty for choosing a more 
relaxed schedule. 

I’m glad I grew up in a time when being busy 

was encouraged. This culture has allowed me 
to push myself past the limits of what I thought 
was possible to achieve in a single day, and it 
has given me the chance to learn a multitude of 
new skills. Even though our society can some-
times have an unhealthy, competitive obsession 
regarding busyness, I know that as long as my 
desire to fill my time is internally motivated 
I will always have the drive to explore new 
opportunities and carry out each of my respon-
sibilities with diligence and enthusiasm.

— Annie Humphrey can be 

reached at annieah@umich.edu.

ANNIE 

HUMPHREY

Happily over-scheduled

T

he Internet has become 
littered 
with 
marketing 

gimmicks. It’s bad enough 

that 
sidebar 

banners clutter 
the 
periphery 

of websites; just 
when 
you’ve 

trained yourself 
to ignore them, 
native 
adver-

tising 
ensures 

that you’ll find a 
few promotions 
embedded 
in 

your news arti-
cle as well that 
often match the format of other 
articles. But there’s a certain type 
of junk that’s more common than 
the rest — diet and weight-loss ads.

These ads pervade magazine 

shelves 
and 
commercials, 
too, 

and there’s no surprise why: it’s 
an extremely rewarding market. 
About one in seven Americans have 
used a non-prescription weight-
loss supplement at some point in 
their lives. This statistic is less sur-
prising when you consider that 38 
percent of individuals who make 
New Years resolutions make losing 
weight their first priority.

Besides that, anyone who has had 

as much as a passing thought about 
fitness has probably wondered 
what simple trick could be “mak-
ing nutritionists furious.” And for 
people who are serious about get-
ting fit (through whatever means), 
this passing curiosity can quickly 
become an intense obsession.

My fixation on being fit came to 

me during my senior year of high 
school. Having been out of shape 
for a majority of my life, I decided 
to finally make whatever changes 
were necessary. With college just 
around the corner, I was deter-
mined to reach my goals as quickly 
and efficiently as possible.

I can’t count how many nights 

I spent browsing not-so-reputable 
sources online trying to turn my 
fitness dreams into reality. Worse 
yet, I would usually pick up a diet 
or exercise routine for a few weeks, 
only to replace it with another one 
I thought to be more convincing. I 
spent Halloween on the Atkins diet; 
by Thanksgiving, I was no-carb. 
I alternated between lifting and 
jogging as my ideas about which 
one would allow me to get fit more 
quickly shifted.

All this was motivated by my 

self-imposed time constraint. I 
wanted to look as good as possible 
going into college. And eventually, 
stumbling through a host of diet 
and exercise regimens actually paid 
off. But at what cost?

I had paid 

hundreds 
of 

dollars 
for 

supplements 
I 
thought 

would 
hasten 

my 
progress. 

Countless 
hours 
were 

wasted 
“researching” 
(read: 
obsess-

ing) over what 
routine 
was 

best. Worst of all, I didn’t really 
learn anything. Which type of diet 
was most effective? What exercise 
is most important for losing weight? 
The answers to these questions 
were lost in my mess of a year.

Looking back, it seems the effi-

cacy of those fads stemmed from 
the fact that they’re advertised to 
be uniquely fast. Rarely do you see a 
diet ad that doesn’t promise results 
in a matter of weeks. As consumers, 
we’re naturally inclined to desire 
the product immediately. So how 
can we make ourselves immune to 
this damning temptation?

I think we need to change how 

we view diets and nutrition at a 
fundamental level. There’s a mis-
leading conception that the answer 
to “how do I lose weight” is some-
thing to be discovered, on the 
Internet or otherwise. But the third 
word of that question is I, and your 
experiences might differ dramati-
cally from someone else’s.

In truth, the “secret to losing 

weight” is a knowledge that comes 
from self-experimentation. We are 
nothing more than complicated, 
walking 
biochemical 
processes. 

Try changing one variable at a time 
and see how your body responds. 
Does eating carbs before hitting the 
gym help you lift more? Try it for a 
few weeks and find out. Would 30 
minutes of walking be sufficient to 

burn off that 
dessert you ate? 
Do it and see 
whether 
the 

effect on your 
weight appears 
or not, keeping 
everything else 
constant. When 
it comes to our 
own 
bodies, 

these personal 
experiments 
(when 
done 

correctly) can be more valuable 
than even scientific literature on 
 

the subject.

If I had been so structured with 

my progress, I may have delayed my 
goals by about a year. But the knowl-
edge I’d gain would have been well 
worth the wait. Next time you come 
across a fitness ad, see if its appeal 
comes from your own eagerness or 
impatience. Then exit out and know 
that the alternate course will be far 
more rewarding.

— Farid Alsabeh can be reached 

at falsabeh@umich.edu.

Resisting the fads

In truth, the “secret 
to losing weight” is 
a knowledge that 
comes from self-
experimentation.

FARID
ALSABEH

China’s one-child policy

TO THE DAILY: 

China just announced that it’s ending its one-

child policy. This is a monumental moment for 
me and many others who were directly affected 
by the one-child policy. When I was 6 months 
old, I was adopted from China and brought to 
the United States. For many years, I resented 
this policy. I blamed it for the lack of knowledge 
of my origins and the people I had come from.

But today, I see the policy was a blessing in 

disguise. For without it, I would not be able 
to call the wonderful woman and man who 
raised me Mom and Dad. I would not have my 
beautiful little sister, who also was adopted 
from China. The one-child policy gave me a 
wonderful life, full of loving people and great 
opportunities. But with its end, I am look-
ing forward to seeing China’s families grow 
 

and prosper.

 

Sophie Sproul
Engineering Sophomore

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

E-mail in Chan at tokg@umiCh.Edu
IN CHAN LEE

For the University to be the 

diverse, 
inclusive, 
representa-

tive and great campus it claims to 
be, it must stand with immigrant 
communities by opening access to 
education for immigrant students, 
defending sanctuary cities and 
declaring itself a sanctuary cam-
pus. The state of Michigan is a his-
toric place of refuge for immigrants 
from all over the world, including 
the world’s second-largest Arab 
and Muslim population outside of 
the Middle East (after Paris) and a 
growing Latino community. Refu-
gee children from Central America 
and more recently from war-torn 
countries like Syria are already 
residing in cities like Detroit, Grand 
Rapids and Dearborn with more on 
their way.

Immigration is the question of 

the day everywhere in the world. 
The globalized economy, free trade 
measures, global warming and the 
foreign policies of stronger pow-
ers exploiting poorer nations: these 
factors have combined to create one 
of the most massive relocations of 
humanity across national borders 
in all of world history. The United 
Nations reported in June that cur-
rently, one in every 122 people are 
refugees displaced by war, violence 
and persecution, the highest num-
ber of refugees since World War II.

In 2015, 700,000 immigrants 

are estimated to have arrived in 
Europe by sea, and 3,138 refugees 
are reported to have died this year 
in the Mediterranean. Last year, at 
least 68,541 unaccompanied children 
crossed the southern border into the 
United States from various Central 
American countries — El Salvador, 
Guatemala, Honduras — seeking 
to escape the gang violence, death 
squads and poverty. This worldwide 
mass migration is ongoing, and is 
profoundly 
transforming 
many 

nations.

Yet as we become a majority-

minority nation, there hasn’t been 
a corresponding increase in the 
rights of racial and ethnic minori-

ties. However, there has been a 
corresponding struggle and polar-
ization 
over 
immigrant 
rights. 

Under some of the most vicious 
attacks against immigrants in the 
United States, including a record 
high of more than two million 
deportations, the immigrant rights 
movement — led by undocumented 
youth with actions in the streets, 
college campuses, detention centers 
and Congress chambers — has won 
important victories. These include 
in-state tuition in more than 16 
states, state-sponsored financial 
aid like the California Dream Act, 
work permits for some undocu-
mented youth with Deferred Action 
for Childhood Arrivals and a work 
permit for immigrant parents with 
Deferred Action for Parents of 
Americans and Lawful Permanent 
Residents, which has been stalled 
by a right-wing legal challenge. 
The immigrant rights movement 
increases in strength with each vic-
tory, over and against each attack.

The student movement at the 

University has won recently impor-
tant victories for immigrant stu-
dents — in-state tuition and a small 
scholarship pilot program that 
allotted $450,000 for undocument-
ed undergraduate students for the 
2014-2015 year. But the conditions 
for undocumented immigrant and 
international students are still far 
from equal. The University must 
increase the number of undocu-
mented students.

The University of California, 

Berkeley has taken important steps 
to open access and support for 
undocumented students by creating 
an undocumented student center to 
provide financial aid, free legal aid 
and cover the legal filing fees to apply 
for DACA. Since the creation of the 
program, the numbers of undocu-
mented students at UC Berkeley has 
doubled. The University should fol-
low Berkeley’s example. The schol-
arship for undocumented students 
must be increased, expanded to 
include graduate students, and publi-

cized to prospective students. Over-
all, the University must guarantee 
the continuation of the program.

Both educational access and the 

safety of immigrant students must 
be a priority for the University. This 
means the University must publicly 
declare itself a sanctuary campus for 
immigrants. Currently, Ann Arbor 
and Detroit are sanctuary cities, 
meaning that local authorities aren’t 
supposed to turn over undocument-
ed immigrants to U.S. Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement.

A recent proposal in the Michi-

gan Legislature is threatening these 
sanctuary cities, forcing city offi-
cials to publicly defend the impor-
tance of these sanctuaries against 
a dangerous precedent of open 
anti-immigrant bigotry from gov-
ernment officials, institutions and 
racists, most clearly expressed in 
the xenophobic rhetoric of Repub-
lican presidential candidate Donald 
Trump’s campaign. The scapegoat-
ing of immigrants in Europe and 
the United States for the economic 
and environmental crisis on the 
part of politicians and national 
leaders is already creating a dan-
gerous situation similar to that of 
the 1930s, which led to World War 
II and the Holocaust.

These recent attacks necessitate 

the leadership of public figures and 
institutions like the University to 
defend the rights of immigrants in 
this country and prevent the anti-
immigrant bigotry on campus from 
becoming a real physical threat to 
immigrant students and commu-
nity members.

Central 
Student 
Government 

will be considering a resolution to 
support making the University a 
sanctuary campus this Tuesday. 
We encourage immigrant rights 
supporters to join us in support of 
the resolution.

Jose Alvarenga is an organizer 

with By Any Means Necessary. Lamin 

Manneh is a Rackham student and 

a Rackham representative on CSG.

LIKE OPINIONS? AND WRITING? 

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 writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.

Being busy became 
more manageable 

when I started 

pursuing things I 
actually enjoyed.

