100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Download this Issue

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

This collection, digitized in collaboration with the Michigan Daily and the Board for Student Publications, contains materials that are protected by copyright law. Access to these materials is provided for non-profit educational and research purposes. If you use an item from this collection, it is your responsibility to consider the work's copyright status and obtain any required permission.

March 06, 2017 - Image 4

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

T

he
term
“supernova”

is used to describe the
extremely
dramatic

destruction of massive stars within
our
universe.
This

occurs in the final
stages of stellar life
as a star burns its last
amounts of helium and
hydrogen,
expanding

to an incomprehensible
size
and
increasing

the
temperature
of

its core to billions of
degrees.
The
outer

layers of the expanded
star
eventually

collapse
in
on

themselves,
producing

a final, absolutely massive and
catastrophic
explosion
that

destroys
the
star
completely.

Things go out with a boom.

The
Republican
Party
has

permanently chained itself to the
side of the Make America Great
Again Space Shuttle™, hurtling our
country out of earth’s reality.

The GOP decided at its 2016

national
convention
that
the

party
of
fiscal
conservatism

and anti-slavery would now be
dominated by isolationism and
ethnonationalism. The party of
the pragmatic, wise, morally just
words of Abraham Lincoln would
now be replaced by the scattershot,
misinformed, misspelled tweets of
Donald Trump.

This was a transformation that

was years in the making. From
the adoption of Barry Goldwater’s
radical nationalist positions in 1964
to President Reagan’s fiscally insane
“voodoo economics,” irresponsible
defense spending and military
misadventures, the party grew to
include the more fringe right-wing
ideologies, normalizing them in
the process. With the acceptance
of the anti-Obama Tea Party, the
GOP further incorporated beliefs
of science denial, xenophobia, blind
nationalism and a tribal mentality
that has a pathological hatred of
the U.S. government.

Yet as E.J. Dionne says in

his book, “Why the Right Went
Wrong,”
“no
conservative

administration — not Nixon, not
Reagan, not the two Bushes —
could live up to the rhetoric rooted
in the Goldwater movement that
began to reshape American politics
fifty years ago.”

Now,
the
consequences
of

elevating right-wing extremism
to
normal
political
discourse

have finally come to head. The
effects of the new Tea Party’s
Freedom Caucus in Congress,
and the constant commentary
of furious conservative pundits,
who, through cable news and talk
radio peddled pure nonsense of

the evils of Democrats and Obama,
leveled a further validation and
embracement of factually inept
beliefs. Millions truly believed the

Democrats were going
to
establish
death

panels,
take
away

all of our guns and
transform the country
into a “neo-socialist
Europe.”

This
dramatically

culminated
in
the

election of the physical
manifestation
of

an
angry
Facebook

comment,
President

Trump. His emergence

was
condemned
as

racist, xenophobic and not true to
conservative values. The “Never
Trump” movement desperately
tried to reign in his campaign that
had infected the party — or as
our secretary for the Department
of Energy, also known as man
who wanted to eliminate the
Department of Energy, Rick Perry
said, Trump’s candidacy was a
“cancer on conservatism.”

Yet this cancer had metastasized

and infected the members of
the party who decided to place
power ahead of country. They
nominated Trump and adopted
his ludicrous platform, heading
toward an election they believed
they would lose. And when the
Access Hollywood tape emerged
in which the nominee of the
party of traditional family values
bragged about sexually assaulting
women, many political pundits
began discussing the death of the
GOP — that this bubble of insanity
had grown to its limit with the
doomed candidacy of Trump.

While many Republicans began

jumping ship and preparing to
rebuild their party — the world
was stunned by Trump’s “massive”
electoral college victory. Suddenly,
these
spineless
Republican

politicians immediately flipped
their condemnations and came
scurrying back, blinded by the
thoughts of pursuing their own
personal agendas.

Cue
Speaker
Paul
“This

is
not
conservatism”
Ryan,

who pathetically defends the
administration’s insane proposal
for an ineffective $14 billion
border wall, all in the hopes of also
fulfilling his nighttime fantasies of
slashing upper marginal tax rates.

Cue Senate Majority leader

Mitch “I’m not a fan of the daily
tweets” McConnell, who, despite
getting screamed at during his
town hall events, plans his total
dismantlement of Obamacare.

And cue the countless other

Republicans who condemned the
lunacy of the xenophobic, racist

and ignorant Trump campaign,
only to defend and cozy up to the
new administration like pathetic
dogs. From Rep. Jason “can’t
look his daughter in the eye if he
votes for Trump,” Chaffetz, to
Senator Marco “Donald Trump
is a con artist, Donald Trump
will never be the nominee of the
party of Lincoln,” Rubio — these
congressmen, senators, pundits,
all now have capitulated to the
monster they helped create that is
Donald Trump’s GOP.

And now, chained to this

administration, the GOP is a
bubble growing ever larger —
a star becoming all the more
unstable. The problems that the
nomination of Trump exemplified
have been swept beneath the rug
by a smiling Paul Ryan and a
sweating Reince Priebus.

And
the
ever-increasing

temperatures
seen
before
a

supernova in the death of a star
mirror the inner chaos within the
Trump administration and the
defense mounted by the GOP. In
one month the 45th president of
the United States has managed to
attempt an unconstitutional travel
ban, dismissed federal “so-called
judges,” called the press the enemy
of people, appointed a right-wing
political hack as a permanent
member of the NSC and had to
force the resignation of his national
security adviser because of an
ongoing scandal.

And as Reince Priebus, Sean

Spicer and the GOP dance in
goddamn circles attempting to put
out these endless fires, a dotty old
racist continues to wander around
the White House in a bathrobe,
tweeting about his crowd sizes
and “The Celebrity Apprentice”
— allowing his sycophant white
nationalist advisers, such as Steve
Bannon and Stephen Miller, to
draft ludicrous executive orders
further engulfing the GOP in a
fiery hell.

This is what happens when

you
normalize
such
fringe

movements of ethnonationalism.
This is what happens when a
reality TV celebrity capitalizes on
free media and your party lacks
the constitution to dismiss his
populist rhetoric.

This is a bubble that was

supposed to pop in November — a
star destined to explode with the
defeat of Trump — that now, is
growing ever hotter, its stability
becoming all the weaker.

This is something that will go

“boom.”

A

couple weeks ago, I had
the opportunity to attend
TedxUofM’s
annual

conference
in
the

Power Center, and I
was struck especially
by Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s
talk. University alum
El-Sayed, the health
officer and executive
director of the Detroit
Health
Department,

told
the
crowded

audience
to
“think

upstream”
when

considering issues of
poverty and public health.

It’s true that poverty and poor

health go hand-in-hand, but the
story is bigger than that. It is
not a simple cause-and-effect
relationship
between
poverty

and poor health; rather, there are
several underlying factors that
cause and sustain poverty, and
poverty itself has several effects
that cause poor health.

Removed as many of us are

from poverty, most University
of Michigan students are at least
aware of it as a problem. However,
the problems of food scarcity and
lack of health education in America
seem even further removed from
our privilege. It can be difficult
to believe that there are people in
the United States — a developed
country — who do not have
access to a basic human need:
healthy sustenance.

However, these problems are

closer than we think. A USDA
“food desert” is defined as “a
low-income census tract where
either a substantial number or
share of residents has low access
to a supermarket or large grocery
store,” and a map of food deserts
in America shows a startlingly
large amount across the country.
Though they are more prevalent
in the rural South, there is a food
desert not less than an hour away
in our very own Detroit.

There are several factors that

culminated into Detroit being a
food desert. Built by carmakers,
Detroit is a large city with
highways in and out of the city, but
not a lot of public transportation
for those living within the city.

So, while many Detroiters may
realize that they should be eating
healthier, the grocery store is so

far away and only
about 40 percent of
people in Detroit have
regular access to a car.
Systematic racism in
the last century has
concentrated
people

of low income and
minorities in certain
areas
in
Detroit

where
the
crime

rate
is
especially

high. So, while many

Detroiters may want to take a walk
around the block for exercise, the
neighborhood isn’t exactly the
safest to stroll around at night.

For people in poverty in food

deserts, being healthy is not a
choice like it is for many of us. For
example, if I have poor health,
it’s because I didn’t visit the salad
bar in the dining hall, or I was
too lazy to cross the street to
get to the NCRB. However, for
those who are not as fortunate,
poor health is a condition they’re
forced into by their environment
and circumstances.

It is easy to judge people of low

income as lazy, not hardworking
and unhealthy, to tell them to pull
themselves up by their bootstraps
and dig their way out of poverty.
However, that is easier said than
done, because the poverty they
are in right now will keep them
in poverty. The unhealthy diet
maintained by a low income
leads to poor health that could
eventually lead to serious health
problems and a stay in the hospital.
Even with the Affordable Care Act,
health care carries a hefty price tag
that is a heavy burden for people
who already struggle financially.
Unable to work and having their
savings zapped by hospital bills,
people in poverty cannot “pull
themselves up by the bootstraps,”
because they are caught in the
vicious negative feedback loop of
poverty and poor health.

However, the cycle can be

stopped. The theme of this
year’s TedxUofM conference
was “Dreamers and Disruptors,”
which
certainly
encapsulates

El-Sayed: He works to disrupt
the current cycle of poor health
and poverty and he dreams of a
healthier Detroit. Public health
policy has failed poor people in
Detroit, but El-Sayed’s work with
the Detroit Health System is all
about stopping the vicious cycle
that has forced people into poverty,
so they have a chance to be healthy.
A few projects in Detroit have
sprung up as a result of his work,
including Sister Friends, which
mentors pregnant teens through
pregnancy and childcare, and a
partnership with Vision to Learn,
which offers free eye exams and
glasses to students in Detroit.
These programs strive to break the
cycle of poverty and poor health
that wracks people of low income
in Detroit.

In
the
meantime,
it
is

important to learn about the
importance of public health and
erase stigmas of poverty. It is
so easy to judge people stuck
in poverty without realizing
the extent of their situation
— a situation that leads to
poor
health
and
minimizes

the chances of upward social
mobility. Instead of shaming
those with low income, we must
strive to understand the whole
extent of their situation and be
cognizant of the uncontrollable
circumstances that have trapped
them
where
they
are.
We

must empathize and withhold
judgment, because there are
extenuating circumstances that
we do not understand.

With
the
fate
of
the

Affordable Care Act in the air,
it is more important than ever
to realize that while the law did
have its flaws, accessible health
care is a lifeline for people with
low income, who are trapped
in this awful feedback cycle of
poverty and poor health.

Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Monday, March 6, 2017

REBECCA LERNER

Managing Editor

420 Maynard St.

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

EMMA KINERY

Editor in Chief

ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY

and REBECCA TARNOPOL

Editorial Page Editors

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.

Carolyn Ayaub
Megan Burns

Samantha Goldstein

Caitlin Heenan
Jeremy Kaplan

Sarah Khan
Max Lubell

Alexis Megdanoff
Madeline Nowicki
Anna Polumbo-Levy

Jason Rowland

Ali Safawi

Kevin Sweitzer

Rebecca Tarnopol

Stephanie Trierweiler

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Good health isn’t always a choice

ASHLEY ZHANG | COLUMN

Things that go “boom”

MICHAEL MORDARSKI | COLUMN

Michael Mordarski can be reached

at mmordars@umich.edu.

MICHAEL

MORDARSKI

NIA LEE | CONTACT NIA AT LEENIA@UMICH.EDU

I

n a psychopathology class
I am currently enrolled
in,
discussion
on
the

manifestation of stress
arose, as stress is a
prominent
factor
in

mental illness. While in
many stress is apparent
and noticeable to its
possessor, there are
documented cases in
which stress manifests
itself
physically,

through twitches or
tics, or even in partial
blindness.
While

incredibly
rare,
this
disorder

(conversion
disorder)
was

particularly interesting to me, as
I was reminded of my own high
school experience.

In the classic, over-achieving,

well-rounded, doing-this-for-my-
college-application fashion, I was
involved in as many aspects of
high school as I could potentially
fit within 24 hours. I would often
wake up early to go to meetings
before school, and I would rarely
return home from school until 8 or
9 p.m. My days were busy and filled
with stress, but if ever I were asked
about my own well-being I would
respond positively, confirming my
own happiness and mental health.
Importantly, I believed it. I never
thought much of the constant
stressors in my life, and I enjoyed
being busy. This raised a very
important question for me: Why
was I striving in spite of all of this
stress, while many of my friends
and peers were not?

Stress is huge in college students,

and majorly affects one’s mental
health. This can be explained in
any number of ways, though the
exact etiology of stress in college
students
remains
unknown.

Particularly at the University of
Michigan, I have observed stress-
perpetuating behaviors such as
stress competition and rumination,
which many of us are unlikely
to even be aware of, or perhaps
perpetuate ourselves. I hope that
if we notice and acknowledge how
problematic these actions are,
we can perhaps decrease their
prevalence on our campus and
subsequently decrease our stress

levels through self-awareness.

I am a relatively relaxed person

when it comes to assignments

and exams. I was
lucky to be raised
by a teacher who
somehow
managed

to
simultaneously

promote
both
the

importance of doing
well in school and
the
importance
of

maintaining a healthy
level of stress. My high
school was not very
competitive outside of

the cohort of students who took the
same AP classes and participated
in
the
same
extracurricular

activities, so like most freshmen,
my experience at the University
my freshman year was incredibly
different from my experiences in
high school.

What startled me most about

the transition was not the rigor of
the course exams, or the number
of readings I was assigned per
week, but rather other students’
responses to these expectations.
Though I was completely without
studying skills or experience with
vast amounts of homework, I
adjusted quickly to the rigor and
though I was overwhelmed, I
found the transition not to be very
difficult. Other students from my
small, underfunded high school
who now attend the University
related similar experiences. I
was shocked. Friends of mine
who had attended prestigious,
rigorous
high
schools
were

spending hours in the library
every day, our conversations
revolved solely around readings,
classes, professors and incessant,
constant stress.

I was immediately concerned

that I wasn’t stressed enough, that
I was perhaps not putting in the
requisite number of hours each
week studying. But as time went
on, I realized more and more that
the excessive stress my peers were
experiencing was hurting them
more than it was helping. I think
the phenomenon of “unnecessary
stress” demonstrated by many
students at this university can be
explained through a variety of

social cues and norms, and if we
become aware of these, we can
perhaps end the vicious cycle of
their perpetuation.

Studying has become more of a

social activity than an individual
activity, and this often leads to
distractions.
While
studying

with friends can be beneficial
when the studying is low-stakes,
group study puts students at risk
for distractions and decreased
productivity.
What’s
more,

studying in public or with friends
can be a double-edged sword. For
some, being around friends can lead
to increased social disruption from
concentration, while for others
it can be easier to hold yourself
accountable for studying when
you’re among peers. However, it is
important to differentiate between
studying and socializing. This
multitasking of socializing and
studying diminishes efficiency and
attention abilities.

Outside of studying and classes,

when socializing or working, avoid
topics of school, stress or exams.
While it is helpful to discuss
your worries and stressors to a
degree and in certain situations,
constant
discussion
of
stress

logically leads to rumination and
increased stress. It is not a secret
that students at this university are
very competitive. Have you ever
found yourself in a conversation
where your friend complains to
you about their workload, or how
stressed they are for midterms,
etc.? Have you ever immediately
shot back with your own workload
or stress level in a subconscious
attempt to one-up them? Stress-
competition can be incredibly
toxic, and not only leads to
rumination and increased stress,
but is also just bad conversation.
The last thing you need to do when
you’ve finished studying is worry
about studying more.

Maintaining healthy stress

MEGAN BURNS | COLUMN

ASHLEY
ZHANG

MEGAN
BURNS

Read more at

MichiganDaily.com

Read more at

MichiganDaily.com

Ashley Zhang can be reached at

ashleyzh@umich.edu.

Megan Burns can be reached at

megburns@umich.edu.

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan