Opinion SHOHAM GEVA EDITOR IN CHIEF CLAIRE BRYAN AND REGAN DETWILER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS LAURA SCHINAGLE 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 — Monday, January 25, 2016 I f you were anywhere near the Michigan League over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, you likely noticed hordes of high school students running around in suits. What was going on? Had the career fair come early? Was the Univer- sity of Michi- gan promising admission to the best-dressed minors? Not quite. That weekend, more than 600 high school students trav- eled to Ann Arbor to participate in a Model United Nations conference called MUNUM. For four days, they assumed the roles of diplomats and world leaders from different coun- tries, and debated and attempted to resolve some of the world’s most pressing issues. The day after the conference ended, dozens of rightfully angry people gathered in Ann Arbor to demand justice for Flint. In the eyes of the protesters, justice seemed to imply that Michigan Gov. Rick Sny- der (R) be recalled due to his com- plicity in the Flint water disaster. Other calls for justice have included reparations for the damage to the property and people affected by the lead-tainted water. But money and personal conse- quences for the officials deemed responsible are necessary — but insufficient — components of justice for the nearly 100,000 people who were poisoned by their government. Justice is a dubious concept when so many people have been subjected to immeasurable long-term harm. The closest thing to justice that our state can deliver to the city of Flint, aside from monetary compen- sation — aid in dealing with long- term consequences of lead poisoning and punishment for the complicit officials — certainly includes policy reforms to prevent a similar situation from happening in the future. That’s where our government officials would be best served by taking a les- son from the idealistic high schoolers who flooded Michigan’s campus for the MUNUM conference. At MUNUM, I directed a com- mittee of about 80 high school students, and challenged them to reform a global trade agreement that requires almost every country in the world to adopt and enforce copyright, trademark and patent protection laws. If that issue sounds a bit dense, that’s only because it is. International trade law isn’t exactly a topic of casual conversations — especially among high schoolers. But there is an important reason to discuss this issue — the law in ques- tion often restricts low-income coun- tries’ abilities to provide affordable life-saving drugs to their citizens during health crises. Powerful, devel- oped countries claim the agreement is necessary for economic reasons. Low-income countries often counter that it prioritizes company profits at the expense of human health. The students in my committee debated this issue as if it affected them personally. They came to a resolution far more comprehen- sive than anything I’ve seen sug- gested elsewhere, least of all by the U.S. government. The reason they were so effec- tive in representing the interests of other people affected by an issue they probably hadn’t thought about before seemed to be their ability to empa- thize. Empathy is a skill Model UN tries to cultivate, prompting students to totally assume the mindset of dip- lomats with a national identities dif- ferent from their own. If there’s any single thing I could point to as a cause of the Flint water crisis, it’s the complete failure of Michigan leaders to empathize with the people they were appointed to serve. But this lack of empathy doesn’t necessarily stem from a personal fail- ure on the part of our leaders (though that certainly may have played a role). Rather, this total failure to understand and advocate for the interests of Flint residents is sys- temic, and therefore susceptible to repetition. It’s called Public Act 4, a 2012 law that strengthened the power of emergency managers. In 2012, Gov. Snyder remarked that “these new laws recognize the vital importance of financially stable, economically vibrant communities to Michigan’s future.” But by enhancing the authority of leaders far removed from the people they serve, it lowered the likelihood that these leaders would adequately value the interests of the people they were appointed to represent. Failure to empathize may sound like a pretty squishy explanation for what has surely become one of the most costly and highest-profile gov- ernment-made catastrophes of the Snyder administration. But the entire concept of American democracy is derived from the idea that the most effective and just leaders are those most able to understand, relate to and advocate for the people they serve. Emergency managers almost by definition don’t fit these criteria. They are supposed to override local interests with the goal of taking tough but necessary austerity mea- sures that elected officials are some- times too fearful to impose. This is deemed necessary, and may be appropriate for addressing budgetary concerns in a strictly financial sense. Public Act 4 gave emergency manag- ers power over most noteworthy city operations, and even the authority to renegotiate contracts. In Flint, the state had far more power than should’ve been neces- sary to restore fiscal solvency. This power is, in the most direct and fun- damental sense, what caused the Flint water crisis. It’s hard to imagine local leaders who wouldn’t react promptly to yel- low water flowing out of sinks, show- ers and fire hydrants throughout their city. It’s even less likely that local gov- ernment would have failed to respond immediately to concerns over lead poi- soning, the effects of which will con- tinue to impact their city for decades, long after state officials have turned their attention to other issues. But for nearly two years, more than 8,600 children in Flint have been exposed to water with elevated lead levels, irrevocably raising their risk of learning, behavioral and attention disorders. Despite knowing about the issue for months, the state failed to acknowledge or resolve the problem. They continued to deny the lead concerns until 38-year-old Flint pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Atti- sha studied data on the blood lead levels of child Medicaid beneficia- ries in Flint, and repeatedly alerted state officials that the numbers were extremely high. The Flint water crisis has since become a national controversy. Every- one from Cher to Ben Carson has weighed in. President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency. Sny- der himself has even admitted that he and his administration had failed the people of Flint. The state has promised money and profusely apologized for their mismanagement of the water cri- sis, but state leaders have yet to produce adequate solutions to the problems they created. The city still lacks adequate plans and funding to compensate victims and create special education and juvenile corrections programs for the more than 8,600 children now statistically more likely to need these facilities. I’ve seen no evidence that those plans are in the works. Soon, the 24-hour news cycle will find some- thing new to talk about. Cher, Bernie Sanders, Ben Carson, Michael Moore and the other celebrities who have thrust Flint into the national spotlight will focus their attention elsewhere. But the people of Flint will be liv- ing with the impacts of this govern- ment failure long after the bottled water donations and news trucks have stopped showing up in their town. The state officials, reporters and out- of-town advocates can all move on as soon as it’s convenient for them to do so. Those affected by the poisoned water don’t have that luxury. No amount of restitution or ret- ribution can change that basic fact. Justice for Flint requires that the state honor the legacy of the city and people it so monumentally failed by preventing a repeat incident else- where. To do that, our legislators must reform Public Act 4. —Victoria Noble can be reached at vjnoble@umich.edu. Justice for Flint E-mail Dan at Danct@umich.EDu DAN PARK Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Caitlin Heenan, Jeremy Kaplan, 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, Hunter Zhao EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS “H istory is written by the vic- tors” was perhaps Winston Churchill’s most well-known quote. Like many great quotes, it’s one that expresses a grand idea succinctly and elegantly: Those who win write not only their own history but also everyone else’s. While some apply this only to war, it extends to any type of conflict. When any two groups engage in competition, there are, by default, always winners and los- ers. From sports, to grades, to social situations, someone always has an edge. These competitions are often construed as being completely fair, as all participants engage in the same task, meaning one shouldn’t, hypo- thetically, confront any more difficulty than another during the task. However, this doesn’t take into account that people are shaped by their previous experiences, which are different for each person. These experiences are often dependent on social identity, with privilege and social capital playing a large part in life. The challenges I have faced as a white male of high socioeconomic status are profoundly dif- ferent (and overall, lesser) than those faced by any person of color. In certain aspects of society throughout his- tory, privilege has resulted in overrepresenta- tion of certain groups over others, one of the most privileged groups being males in leader- ship positions. We can see this effect across a number of professions: in education, business, the military and often government as well. This overrepresentation in the present leads to overrepresentation in history, and contributes to the prevalence of buildings and monuments dedicated to men. While you can see this all over, on gov- ernment buildings or sports stadiums, it is especially apparent in institutions of higher learning. Regarded as a bastion of liberalism, you might think the University of Michigan wouldn’t hold true to this common practice. And to a degree, it doesn’t, with four residence halls named after women (Martha Cook, Alice Lloyd, Mary Markley, Helen Newberry, Betsy Barbour) and one academic building named after a heterosexual couple (Betsy and Bob Beyster Building). However, there is current- ly no academic building named solely after a woman. And given that the University has more than 500 buildings spread over North, South, Medical and Central campuses, the buildings listed above constitute a paltry sum. Many feminists know too well the ways in which women have been erased from his- tory, and in response, they have created the aptly named “her-story,” in opposition to “his- story.” However, you can’t really construct buildings for the express purpose of naming them after women, which would be the physi- cal equivalent of writing her-story. While you could rename current monuments and build- ings, this is met with fierce resistance. That being said, three members of LSA Stu- dent Government — budget allocations com- mittee chair Nicholas Fadanelli, President Jason Colella and Vice President Reid Kloot- wyk — may have found an opportunity to rem- edy this problem. With construction underway for the new Biological Sciences Building, and no name currently assigned to it other than “Biological Sciences Building,” there is an opportunity to have an academic building at the University named after a woman. Colella, Klootwyk and Fadanelli sought to bring about this change by writing a resolution and trying to pass it through student government. What’s more, they have a perfect candidate to name the building after: our former University Presi- dent Emerita Mary Sue Coleman, one of only two former University presidents who do not have a building named after them. Mary Sue Coleman has been one of our most respected and distinguished former presidents. She earned many awards while in office, including being named one of the top 10 college presidents in the country by TIME. And even after leaving her job as president of the University, Coleman has continued to give the school a good name. Since her depar- ture, she has served as the president of the Association of American Universities and was appointed by President Barack Obama to help launch one of his initiatives. And these are just a few of the accomplishments she has achieved so far. As Fadanelli stated in an e-mail exchange with the Daily, “The fact that the University of Michigan does not have an academic building named solely after a woman is not only shock- ing, but it is also shameful. We, here, strive to push for diversity and inclusion in every field of study, and the lack of an academic building named after a woman does not send the image or the message that I believe the University of Michigan should.” LSA Student Government will be voting at their Jan. 27 meeting on this resolution that would put pressure on the University to name the building after Coleman. Following LSA Student Government’s consideration of the resolution, they will urge Central Student Gov- ernment to do the same. I believe naming a building after a distin- guished woman such as Mary Sue Coleman will start the University on the right track, and maybe even rewrite a little history itself. —Connor Kippe can be reached at conkip@umich.edu. Writing women into history CONNOR KIPPE When news of the Flint water crisis broke national headlines, I couldn’t believe the reports I was reading. The citizens of Flint had been drinking river water con- taminated not only by lead, but also with E. coli and trihalometh- anes, for more than an entire year. Worse yet, they essentially were poisoned in order to save the city money. Every article brought new testimonies — new tragedies — from victims of the crisis. This isn’t something that fami- lies in Flint can simply recover from. There is no bouncing back: Lead poi- soning, at any threshold, will cause irreversible damage to the body. Children from Flint are the biggest victims, given that lead exposure results in effects reduced IQ, anti- social behavior or immunotoxicity, to name a few. The most haunting images from this catastrophe are those featuring “elected” officials proudly toasting with cups of tap water to celebrate the switch from the Detroit water system to the Flint River. It’s so haunting because it is the same people captured in those photos who would turn a blind eye the next week to an unending stream of public complaints, jugs of putrid brown water brought to city council meetings and widespread outbreaks of skin lesions/hair falling out. Returning to Ann Arbor after Winter Break, I hesitated briefly at the thought of drinking a cup of water from the faucet. I kept ask- ing myself whether or not I could trust the tap water after reading about the tragedy unfolding just a one-hour drive away — a ridicu- lous thought in hindsight. Review- ing the depravity and failure of the Flint city government and Michi- gan state government didn’t give me any sense of reassurance. It only made me more skeptical and cyni- cal about whom to trust. Never- theless, I’m very certain my water isn’t contaminated (to the extent of Flint’s), but the question still lin- gers in my mind: What if the water here is poisoned, and I just continue to drink? The University of Michigan is Gov. Snyder’s alma mater; he received not only his bachelor’s degree, not only his master’s degree in business administration, but also his juris doc- tor degree here nearly 33 years ago. It is disturbing — no, humiliating — to know that the man at the epicenter of the Flint water crisis walked through the Diag, sat in one of the Angell Hall auditoriums or took a stroll through the Law Quad. Why do I mention his attendance at the University of Michigan? Well, to be frank, it boggles my mind that someone like him could come from this school — my school. The evi- dence for Gov. Snyder as an active villain of the crisis couldn’t be any more clear or well documented: Unconscionable shortcuts were taken, warnings were ignored or even refuted, and action was, and still has been, limited. Believe it or not, part of the University’s mission statement is “to serve the people of Michigan … and in developing lead- ers and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.” Though he is not completely to blame, Gov. Snyder, as an alum, has failed the mission of the University of Michigan, given what has unfold- ed in Flint. The community of Flint has been devastated from his admin- istration’s inaction and negligence. There is simply no excuse for what has happened. As a current undergraduate stu- dent here at Michigan, I can’t help but wonder how Gov. Snyder came to be able to make the unfortunate decisions he makes today. Was it during his first four years at Michi- gan that he began valuing money over the lives of children, was it when he began to work at Irvine or was it when he returned to Ann Arbor to create Ardesta LLC? The University of Michigan shouldn’t be attributed to the mis- takes of our governor. However, if men like Gov. Snyder can come from schools like the University, perhaps our degrees should begin requiring all students to take a course in eth- ics and morals. This might make it more difficult later on to devalue human life. While I recognize it is idealistic to say starting salary shouldn’t matter, our institution needs to reaffirm that our degrees mean we are not only educated, but also committed to the public good. If the world of money after college will try to corrupt us, our education should serve as a deterrence. Some- where along the way, Gov. Snyder forgot about what it means to be an alum of the University of Michigan. Somewhere along the way, he began to drink poisoned water. Hunter Zhao is a member of the Daily’s Editorial Board. Gov. Snyder, Michigan alum HUNTER ZHAO | OP-ED VICTORIA NOBLE CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and viewpoints. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.