Opinion
SHOHAM GEVA
EDITOR IN CHIEF
CLAIRE BRYAN
AND REGAN DETWILER
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MANAGING EDITOR
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Monday, January 11, 2016
Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Caitlin Heenan, Ben Keller,
Minsoo Kim, Payton Luokkala, Aarica Marsh, Anna Polumbo-
Levy, Jason Rowland, Lauren Schandevel, Melissa Scholke,
Rebecca Tarnopol, Ashley Tjhung, Stephanie Trierweiler,
Mary Kate Winn, Derek Wolfe
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
S
ince I was a naive middle-schooler,
eager
to
obtain
any
sliver
of
information that would aid me in
the
competitive
college
admissions process, I have
been told finding a passion
is the key to standing out —
in both life and through an
application. I was also told
it especially helps when one is particularly
good at whatever passion he or she pursues —
whether it be mastering the piano, becoming
fluent in Portuguese or receiving a scholarship
to play collegiate-level basketball. At first,
as most awkward and self-conscious eighth
graders are, I felt lost and like I had nothing I
particularly cared about or was talented at. I
loved to write, but after having fallen in with
the “popular and sporty” crowd (mind you,
this was self-designated), I felt like I could
no longer explore that aspect of myself. I
mentally packed up my well-worn notebooks
and remnants of poems and shoved them
far into the back realms of my mind to make
room for “new passions,” or rather, pursuits
that I deemed more exciting and cool.
Throughout middle school I had run cross
country for social reasons, but as I entered
high school, I realized I had some natural tal-
ent, and decided I wanted to take my train-
ing to the next level. After I started winning
races and setting personal records every
other week, I quickly, along with my family
and friends, began to identify myself as “the
runner.” I was the one who ate extremely
healthily, always left parties early so I could
get a good amount of sleep and could be seen
running through town at all hours of the
day. Though on the outside it looked like I
was achieving all of my goals, I was actually
spiraling deeper and deeper into unhealthy
behaviors. As I progressed through high
school, my eating habits became border-
line disordered, I would lash out or become
extremely irritated if an event occurred that
disrupted my workout schedule and I began
to stray from any interesting activities that
disrupted my running. After my debate team
won the state championship, I went as far as
to skip the celebration afterward so that I
could get a second run in that day. Running
consumed my life to the point that there was
room for absolutely nothing else.
Sadly, life has a funny way of working itself
out, and at the height of my obsession, I devel-
oped a stress reaction in my femur and was
forced to stop the very “passion” that fueled
my daily routine. Injuries are saddening to
anyone, but because I had chosen to so closely
tie my entire identity to being a runner, I no
longer knew who I was anymore. I cried for
days, withdrew from my friends, and lashed
out at all of my family members. Eventually
my bones healed, but it took me yet another
injury — during my last season of cross coun-
try — to realize I needed to change the way I
was living my life.
Though injuries took a lot away from my
high school running experience, I’ve been
so lucky to have the opportunity to run cross
country and track for the University of Mich-
igan. However, instead of continuing down
my previous path of single-minded obses-
sion, I have been much more comfortable
with attempting the so sought-after concept
of finding “balance”. I’ve finally realized that
academics are, indeed, much more important
than athletics, and I am not afraid to run a
workout on a few hours of sleep in order to
complete an assignment or feel confident
walking into a test the next morning. There
are so many interesting clubs I want to join
and people I want to meet. Luckily, I am only
a freshman and still have an entire collegiate
career ahead of me. Yes, I am a runner, but I
have realized that is only a small aspect of my
complete persona. I am so much happier and
healthier, and actually running faster than
ever before.
Obviously, running is the example that
is most pertinent to me, but this pitfall of
pigeonholing oneself into one particular role
can happen to anyone. I have friends who see
themselves as “the artist,” “the musician”
or “the partier” — and not much else. Pas-
sions are important and a major part of what
makes life so unique, yet your singular pas-
sion (or what you do to look good on an appli-
cation) does not define you. Human beings
have a multitude of interests that should be
explored, redefined and uncovered as they
grow and change. In recent years, we seem to
have settled into the dangerous thought pat-
tern that it is important to be “really, really
good” at one thing, rather than talented in
a wide variety of areas. But when that one
thing does not work out, we are left feeling
like we are nothing at all.
College is the perfect time to explore all of
these interests, especially in a community as
large and diverse as the University of Michi-
gan. The new year is the perfect time to take a
step back, slow down and explore some of the
interests and opportunities you thought you
didn’t have time for while you were too busy
being an athlete, business major or member of
Greek life. Continue to grow and succeed and
fail and experience all of the infinitesimal,
wonderful and tragic moments that combine
to make one’s college experience. We have
the freedom to follow an infinite number of
paths, and not get bogged down by others’ (or
even our own) expectations of us. This was
a concept that took me two broken bones to
realize. In the words of writer Thomas Mer-
ton, “Happiness is not a matter of intensity
but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.”
—Kaela Theut can be reached
at ktheut@umich.edu.
Balancing passion and sanity
The other gap
L
et’s talk about the “gap.” No,
not the wage gap that has
had everyone in a fuss lately
—
I’m
talking
about the orgasm
gap.
Hooking
up has become
increasingly
popular
among
people
in
our
generation, but there’s a major
disparity in what each gender is
getting out of the deal. Casual sex
can be great as long as there is
consent; however, when the main
goal is the Big O and only one side is
experiencing it, we have a problem.
Every day, women fight myriad
gender biases related to sex: The
media portrays them as shrewd —
simply tolerant of dicks rather than
having real agency — and women
who speak openly about enjoying
sex are labeled as crude or vulgar,
perpetuating the double standard
of sluts versus players.
Women are casually hooking
up, but losing the game. There’s no
such thing as being sexually pow-
erful and independent if you don’t
demand to finish. When women
are hooking up but not climaxing,
the double standard is perpetuated.
Women become playthings instead
of mutual partners in an agreement
for pleasure. How many times have
you had your head shoved “down
there” or just laid there thinking
about that project that’s due Fri-
day? If it seems like women don’t
want casual sex, maybe it’s because
the kind we’re used to having isn’t
cutting it. Why waste time having
sex when we can get more pleasure
out of a glass of wine and Netflix?
“But I’m a sex god and make
every girl I’m with scream” …
Yeah, ok. Let me just point you to
one of my favorite movies. Watch
“When Harry Met Sally.” Actu-
ally, you don’t even have to watch
the whole film — one pivotal
diner scene gets the point across.
Women are good at faking it. Plain
and simple. We do it to avoid hurt-
ing egos, we do it to end a boring
session, we do it all the time and
we’re damn good at it. But this is
not anything new — women read-
ing this column know that. The
question is: Why don’t men care
enough to change the way they act
toward us in bed? Men complain
and joke about us being prudes and
not ever being “in the mood.” Well,
the answer to the problem is clear.
To all the women out there, why
don’t we all just pull a Carrie Brad-
shaw and start having sex like men
— making sure we get what we want
then leaving them high and dry?
Amy Schumer did it in her movie
“Trainwreck.” She made a bro move
and just pushed his head down there
and fell asleep. But the fact of the
matter is if women start hooking up
like men, it’s just going to begin a
vicious cycle of taking without giv-
ing. Nobody is ever going to win this
battle for the ultimate prize, so why
don’t we all just agree that there is
a problem and make moves to fix it.
The orgasm gap is a fun one to fill
and it doesn’t take much effort. So
men, think about that next time you
casually hop into bed with some-
one. And ladies, climaxing is not too
much to ask for if you’re going to get
naked with someone.
— Olivia Puente can be reached
at opuente@umich.edu.
OLIVIA
PUENTE
KAELA
THEUT
We need affirmative action
I
f you’re white and you’re
against
affirmative
action
because you think it’s “racist,”
I
have
news
for you: This is
perpetuating
a
system
that
privileges
white
people.
And white privilege is a product
of racism. Have you ever thought,
“This
is
unfair!
Why
should
minority
students
have
an
advantage over me in the college
process?” Guess what, you have an
advantage over them in almost any
other area of life. Harvard sociology
professor Devah Pager conducted
a 2007 study that observed how
race and incarceration affect the
economy on a large scale for her
book titled “Marked: Race, Crime,
and Finding Work in an Era of Mass
Incarceration.” She found that a
white man who just left prison is
equally as likely to get hired as a
Black man with no criminal record.
Do you think that seems fair?
At the University, I have sat
in many a classroom marked by
homogeneity with a white major-
ity. According the University’s
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
site, University President Mark
Schlissel has a plan to combat this
issue. This plan involves teach-
ins, talks and guest speakers. To
be honest, I am skeptical this will
promote any true progress.
The
reality
is,
to
achieve
true inclusion, we must start by
increasing the diversity of our
student body’s racial and cultural
makeup. The University needs
affirmative action.
Last April, the Supreme Court
upheld a Michigan law that made
considering race in the admissions
process illegal for public universi-
ties. This decision focused on the
constitutionality of the issue. The
associate justices wrote more than
100 pages of opinion on this dif-
ficult decision. This is a sensitive
issue, and the justices displayed a
wide variety of opinions. Justice
Sonia Sotomayor famously wrote
that she believes affirmative action
got her to Princeton and to where
she is today. Her emotional piece
explains the experience of many
minority students who are given
the opportunity to succeed at a
prestigious university. Affirmative
action remains illegal in Florida and
California as well. Though many
want to believe we live in a post-
racial society in which everyone is
seen equally, we do not. So rather
than pretending we’ve made such
progress, we need to start working
toward better inclusion.
People of my generation are
extremely committed to promoting
inclusion and diversity. We have
seen this at Mizzou, Yale and many
other universities and institutions
over the past several months. Many
college students feel strongly that it
is time for a change and are willing
to fight for it.
I have seen this initiative for
change get brushed over at the Uni-
versity. There were a few student
demonstrations, many articles writ-
ten and a public statement from
Schlissel, who talks a lot about
improving diversity issues without
a lot of progress. The desire is there,
but not the action. I stand by and
watch as the University desperately
reaches for some kind of change, but
can’t seem to find it. The problem lies
within the makeup of the student
body. The Office of the Registrar
states that less than 5 percent of the
entire student body is Black, and less
than 5 percent is Hispanic. Mean-
while, according to the 2014 census,
the state of Michigan is 19 percent
Black and Latino, and the United
States is about 30 percent Black and
Latino. Without accurate represen-
tation of these minority groups, we
will never create the change we so
desperately need. In order for all
University students to have an aca-
demic experience that involves mul-
tiple perspectives and ideas, there
should be greater diversity.
Let me now address some of your
concerns. You might be under the
impression that affirmative action
makes the college process unfair,
as it gives people an advantage
just because of their race, some-
thing they have no control over. Is
it fair that some students get a full
scholarship based on their ath-
letic ability? What about having
an expensive ACT tutor or going to
a private school with smaller and
more engaging classes? In-state
versus out-of-state? Is any of this
fair? Some students may have spent
high school focusing on saving up
for their tuition rather than focus-
ing on their GPA. Nothing about
this process is fair. Some students
come from families wealthy enough
that the admissions office sees only
a dollar sign when they read their
application. Why stop at affirma-
tive action? Why stop where an
advantage in the process will allow
all students to grow by improving
the diversity of the student body?
None of this is to say that I think
that students of color do not have
the academic ability or drive to get
into prestigious universities on their
own. Rather, many are disadvan-
taged by their life experiences, and
deserve a leg up to compensate for
earlier obstacles. Students of color
often come from families less likely
to afford tutors and expensive testing
to receive much-needed extra time,
among many other disadvantages.
Our country has a history of
hundreds of years of enslavement,
torture and other horrors white
Europeans inflicted upon people
of color. We cannot even the play-
ing field by pretending it never
happened. We must work toward a
system of equality and change. If
the University of Michigan wants
to achieve a truly diverse stu-
dent body, we must begin with the
admissions process.
— Ali Schalop can be reached
at aschalop@umich.edu.
ALI
SCHALOP
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E-mail Dan at Dancp@umich.EDu
DAN PARK
“Women are casually
hooking up, but losing
the game.”
“If the University
wants to achieve a truly
diverse student body,
we must begin with the
admissions process.”
— Dr. Steven J. Daniels Sr., pastor of the Second Baptist Church,
at the Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Unity March on Sunday.
“
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
The diversity that we experience especially in the public
school system has been incredible ... But it is important
for my son to realize that this comes on the backs of
others. This is not a birthright, but this is something that
was earned and we’ve got to appreciate it.”