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

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the University of Michigan since 1890.

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Wednesday, September 7, 2016

T

he beginning of a new 
semester 
here 
at 
the 

University of Michigan 

provides a wonderful opportunity 
to 
appreciate 
the 
amazing 

educational 
environment 
we 

share, surrounded by outstanding 
faculty members, expert staff and 
extraordinarily talented students.

Thanks to you, every moment 

at the University provides a 
precious opportunity to learn. 
Learning takes place in our 
classrooms, labs, performance 
halls and libraries. It takes place 
when we discuss ideas and issues 
in residence halls, over meals and 
while socializing.

Learning at the University 

is enriched by the intellectual 
breadth and diversity of our 
university 
community. 
The 

University is fortunate to include 
such 
a 
wonderful 
range 
of 

individual perceptions, scholarly 
viewpoints 
and 
people 
from 

every U.S. state and more than 
120 countries around the world.

In a place with so many 

diverse perspectives, however, 
disagreement is often inevitable. 
But it can also be invaluable.

The conflict of discordant 

ideas and opinions — even when 
it makes us uncomfortable — 
is an essential feature of an 
academic community. At the 
University, we are at our best 

when our discourse is inclusive 
and welcoming to conflicting 
ideas and diverse voices.

It 
challenges 
our 
way 
of 

thinking. It helps us grow. It 
teaches us how to work through 
problems in groups and express 
ourselves in ways that bring 
about positive change. It allows 
us to take advantage of the full 
breadth and benefits of a UM 
education.

Our ability to learn together 

is guided by core values of the 
University, including respect, 
civility 
and 
equality. 
These 

values are also essential to 
our educational environment. 
Speech 
that 
is 
hateful 
or 

threatening diminishes learning 
by inhibiting discussion, and it 
does not lift up our community.

For 
the 
last 
decade, 
our 

“Expect 
Respect” 
campaign 

has focused on these issues in a 
campus-wide partnership that 
emphasizes the value we derive 
from our similarities and our 
differences. 
Expect 
Respect 

states, “Together, we can create 
and 
maintain 
a 
respectful 

and 
inclusive 
environment 

that provides the support and 
opportunity necessary for each 
member of our community to 
prosper and achieve.”

The ability to respectfully and 

honestly engage with people of 

differing worldviews is one of 
the most essential skills we can 
learn — and teach. As part of our 
ongoing efforts to engage many 
views, we will continue to have 
conversations 
across 
campus 

about the complex intersection 
of free speech and respect.

We 
do 
this 
not 
just 
as 

educators and students on a 
campus, but as members of 
society who aspire to lead in the 
larger world. These are lessons 
that apply to the coming months 
and years, to this election cycle 
and beyond, as well as to all who 
pursue knowledge in service of 
the public good.

For 
nearly 
two 
centuries, 

we 
have 
drawn 
tremendous 

intellectual 
strength 
from 

the breadth and diversity of 
our community. I hope that 
the 
University 
community 

will always be an inalienable 
forum 
for 
discovery, 
debate 

and discussion, a place where 
respect and disagreement are 
complementary, 
where 
each 

makes the other stronger and 
where we all advocate for and 
learn from their confluence.

It 
is 
my 
honor 
to 
learn 

beside you, the members of the 
University community.

— Mark Schlissel is the 

president of the University. 

They’re both lying

D

onald Trump’s entrance 
into 
the 
presidential 

election has brought a 

couple of policy issues to the 
forefront — and one of those is 
trade. Trump has yelled at the 
top of his lungs against trade 
agreements 
like 
the 
North 

American Free Trade Agreement 
and 
the 
Trans-Pacific 

Partnership, 
while 
Clinton 

quietly tries to pivot away from 
the fact NAFTA was signed 
while she lived in the White 
House. While they both try to 
push their anti-trade rhetoric, 
history shows that they’re lying, 
and all in an attempt to woo the 
Midwest and the Rust Belt.

First, the facts on NAFTA and 

the TPP: NAFTA, signed by Bill 
Clinton, is a trade agreement 
between 
the 
United 
States, 

Mexico and Canada to eliminate 
barriers to trade and investment 
between 
North 
American 

countries. Supporters like the 
organization Council on Foreign 
Relations 
argue 
that 
“some 

fourteen million jobs rely on 
trade with Canada and Mexico,” 
while the opposition argues that 
the 
added 
competition 
from 

low-wage countries has caused 
increased 
unemployment 
and 

wage stagnation.

Both sides have their merits: 

Free trade and globalization 
can lead to wage stagnation, 
but these things also promote 
higher-paying and better quality 
jobs. In reality, the net effect 
was financially positive, but the 
advantages are widespread while 
the negatives are concentrated 
in one area — manufacturing. 
In addition, trade agreements 
in general facilitate improved 
relationships between countries.

The TPP aims to do something 

similar: increase trade in order 
to create jobs. But in addition 
it seeks to act as a stopper on 
China’s rising power in Asia. By 
promoting trade and becoming 
more involved in the area, the 
United States hopes to exercise 

its 
influence 
to 
fight 
back 

against China’s rising influence. 
While economically the same 
pros and cons exist, the check 
on China is a big advantage that 
supporters, including President 
Barack Obama, really hope to 
implement.

Now, onto the candidates. 

Trump 
has 
repeatedly 
said 

that he plans to “rip up” trade 
agreements. 
The 
candidate, 

through 
his 
rhetoric, 

purposefully 
creates 
the 

impression that he is against 
any trade agreement, but this is 
not true. Trump claims not to be 
against free trade, but for “fair 
trade.” His proposed solution 
is to re-negotiate NAFTA, stop 
the TPP and impose a tariff on 
imported goods from China. 
He says he believes the world is 
taking advantage of us, and we 
need to be stricter with our trade 
agreements and be willing to 
walk away from them — in order 
to protect American jobs.

In 
reality, 
while 
Trump 

does believe these trade deals 
are hurting us, he is (most 
likely) 
practical 
and 
aware 

of 
his 
limitations 
in 
doing 

so as president. In his 2008 
book, “Never Give Up,” Trump 
wrote: “The important thing to 
consider is that more and more 
there is an interdependence of 
world economies. No one can 
afford to be isolationist any 
more. Keep your focus global. 
Globalization has torn down 
the barriers that have formerly 
separated the national from the 
international markets.” Trump 
is a manipulator — he uses his 
rhetoric to portray himself as 
the defender of the American 
worker, but he knows he can’t 
do it, and by slipping in the idea 
of “fair trade,” which does not 
mean anything (he can claim 
anything he negotiates is fair), 
he keeps the window open for 
him to flip on the issue come the 
time he sits in the Oval Office. 

Clinton 
sat 
in 
the 
White 

House in 1993 when her husband 
signed NAFTA into law, and she 
has praised the bill in the past. 
As secretary of state, she sat by 
Obama’s side as he negotiated 
and attempted to fast-track the 
TPP agreement. In spite of all 
of this, she stands in front of 
her crowds and claims she is 
against these agreements. Terry 
McAuliffe, arguably one of the 
Clinton’s closest confidants for 
years, slipped and admitted that 
Clinton has said she supports the 
TPP during recess. It’s hard to 
believe someone who fought for 
free trade for so long, who helped 
negotiate the TPP and said back 
in 2012 that it “sets the gold 
standard in trade agreements” 
all of a sudden thinks it to be 
unworthy.

So this brings us to the 

question of why. Why are they 
lying? Well, in an election where 
Trump’s path to 270 electoral 
votes is as slim as ever, he needs 
to win the Rust Belt, which 
includes Pennsylvania, Michigan 
and Ohio. Trump’s game plan is 
to target white, working-class 
voters — the ones most affected 
by trade — and to claim that these 
trade agreements brought down 
the fall of the auto industry and 
the manufacturing Rust Belt. 
He hopes to win mostly white 
Western Pennsylvania to counter 
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to 
take the state, and to target the 
fears of those in manufacturing 
Ohio and Michigan. If he could 
win those three states, he could 
win 
the 
presidency. 
Clinton 

knows this, too: If all she needs 
to do to win these three states 
is to lie about her thoughts on 
trade, she’ll do it. We don’t know 
how they’ll act once one of them 
sits in the Oval Office, but both 
are playing smart politics on 
trade. In other words: They’re 
lying.

— CJ Mayer can be reached 

at mayercj@umich.edu.

Embrace the struggle

PRESIDENT MARK SCHLISSEL | OP-ED

An inalienable forum

Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Gracie Dunn, 

Caitlin Heenan, Jeremy Kaplan, Ben Keller, Minsoo Kim, 

Payton Luokkala, Kit Maher, Madeline Nowicki, 

Anna Polumbo-Levy, Jason Rowland, Lauren Schandevel, 
Rebecca Tarnopol, Ashley Tjhung, Stephanie Trierweiler 

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

JOE IOVINO 
 
 
Email JoE at Jiovino@umich.Edu

M

y 
first 
two 
years 
at 
the 

University of Michigan were 
incredibly 
difficult 
— 
not 

necessarily academically (at first), but on 
a personal level. I was struggling socially. 
I felt somewhat lost in 300-person, intro-
level lecture halls where reading the 
slides and binging on textbooks the night 
before a blue book exam was enough to 
secure a top grade. I was insecure around 
the people who, with such ease, seemed to 
have so much fun going out to fraternity 
parties and bars regularly — something 
that made me extremely uncomfortable 
and often landed me alone in my dorm 
room, armed with my 
computer and my family’s 
Netflix login. It didn’t 
help that our football 
team sucked.

There were, of course, 

bright moments. I drank 
for the first time and 
came to terms with the 
fact that it’s OK to do that 
(and even like it) every so 
often, provided that it’s 
calculated and not out of 
control. I befriended one 
of my psych professors, 
who likely doesn’t know the extent to 
which her kindness and eagerness to help 
me succeed buoyed me. I slowly solidified 
concrete friendships with people on this 
newspaper, in my classes and even some 
who I’d met by chance during the first 
weeks of school. It wasn’t all bad — far 
from it, actually. But it sometimes felt like 
the bad outweighed the good.

By sophomore year, though I didn’t 

admit it to myself, I was struggling with 
depression. It was hard to get out of bed 
some mornings and easier to sleep all day. 
I felt homesick. I considered transferring 
schools at one point. It was a culmination 
of feeling isolated in a place with so many 
people. I know that all of this doesn’t 
really feed the widespread enthusiasm 
that returning to one of the most glorious 
schools on the planet usually entails — so 
here’s the upside.

I certainly found that I was not alone in 

even my darkest struggles, and I want you 
to know that you won’t be either. Don’t 
be afraid or ashamed if college isn’t what 
you expect it to be. Embrace it. Of course, 
recognize and celebrate what goes well; 
but, if there is suckiness along the way, 
know that it’s completely normal — and 
rest assured that it will get better.

If you feel alone, lost, unsure of your 

future, existentially confused, angsty, 
depressed, exhausted … well, join the 
club. Know that it’s a big group with an 
infinite alumni base. Struggling feels 
awful while it’s happening, but it makes 
you appreciate the light at the end of the 
tunnel so much more.

Looking back, Michigan is a place that 

forced me to get out of my comfort zone. 
Its size made my drive to find smaller, 
engaging communities that much more 

important. I couldn’t have made it through 
without the Daily, without the Lloyd Hall 
Scholars Program and the Ford School. 
I was determined to feed my interests 
with smart people who challenged me and 
broadened my worldview, and the people 
I’ve met through those communities have 
gone above and beyond.

It is a place that gave me a platform 

to simultaneously enjoy an immersive 
liberal arts education and pursue my 
professional interests during the year. For 
example, interning for “60 Minutes” in 
Washington D.C. through the University’s 
Michigan in Washington program was a 

unique and life-changing 
opportunity 
that 
I 

wouldn’t trade for the 
world.

It is a place that built 

upon my understanding 
of diversity and inclusive 
language, and my ability 
to 
engage 
others 
in 

dialogue by truly listening 
before I respond, not just 
pushing my own agenda.

It 
is 
a 
place 
that 

humbled me by exposing 
me to students who dazzle 

with their intelligence and high potential 
to change this world for the better (yes, 
folks, the “Michigan Difference” is a real 
thing out there). This is certainly not a 
place to rest on one’s laurels.

Freshmen (and even sophomores), I am 

in no position to tell you that all four years 
of college will be the best of your lives. 
They might not be. But I can tell you that 
it’s going to be OK. All of this positivity is 
borne of, and strengthened in contrast to, 
the initial struggle to find and understand 
myself. That struggle persists (a fact of 
life to which any senior can attest), but I 
am undoubtedly better for it and grateful 
for the perspective it has given me. You 
will be, too.

This is the beginning of the end. You 

blink an eye, and suddenly you’re having 
conversations over drinks with friends about 
job prospects, rent, the economy, politics, 
etc. Sure, it’s just cheap sangria, but you 
start to have these out-of-body experiences 
in which you hear yourself talking and 
realize that you sound like an adult.

As that happens, you understand that 

college is where you really grow up 
and come into your own. The ensuing 
contentedness makes the struggle so 
worth it.

I guess the lesson here is, before you 

know it, you’ll blink, and it’ll be more 
bittersweet 
than 
you 
ever 
could’ve 

imagined. Maybe you don’t realize how 
much fun you’ve had until you’re nearly 
done having it — but that just means there’s 
always something to look forward to.

Welcome back.

— Michael Sugerman can be 

reached at mrsugs@umich.edu.

“Looking back, 
Michigan is a 

place that forced 
me to get out of 

my comfort zone.”

DO YOU LIKE DISCUSSING CAMPUS 

ISSUES?

STATE AND LOCAL POLICIES?
MAYBE EVEN THE ELECTION?

JOIN OUR EDITORIAL BOARD. 

The Daily’s Editorial Board meets Mondays and Wednesdays 

at 7 p.m. in the newsroom at 420 Maynard St.

