O
ver
Spring
Break,
I
had
an
Uber
driver
ask me, completely out
of
nowhere,
“How
long was your past
relationship?”
I
remember
thinking
to myself, “Why is he
asking me this? He
has no right to know.”
As a white female
college student who
was clearly out of her
element in southern
Florida, he probably
saw me as an easy
target. While I found
it very creepy, I responded with
something that I knew would end
the conversation: “Three years.”
And the fact is, I have never been
in
a
romantic
“relationship,”
but then again, what defines a
“relationship” anyway?
I have had many relationships
— none that have been socially
constructed as “romantic” —
but relationships nonetheless.
I have had relationships with
friends that have taught me a
lot about myself and have had
relationships with teachers that
have benefited me immensely
as a learner. I have had a strong
relationship with my mom all
my life and had an amazing
relationship
with
my
math
tutor that I would not change
for anything. Until college, I
did not really think much about
relationships; I have not been in
a socially constructed boyfriend-
girlfriend relationship and am
perfectly OK with that.
“How long was your past
relationship?” I said to the driver,
surprising my friends in the
back seat with my pursuit of the
conversation. He replied, “You
don’t need to know that.” When
I asked why, he said, “Because
you’re a girl; girls have vagina
power that men will never have.”
At this point, I was fuming.
Sitting in this Uber, I thought
about
why
on
earth
my
driver would ask me such a
meaningless question. I couldn’t
help but think of the labels
young women innately have just
by being women. In the women’s
studies classes I have enrolled in
since attending the University of
Michigan, I have learned about
the
stigmatizing
stereotypes
women
face
in
society
and
how
some
individuals
cannot see beyond
the binary. Not only
had my Uber driver
asked
me
about
something that was
strictly
dependent
on my gender, he
came to conclusions
that
ignored
the
obstacles
women
have
to
overcome
constantly in society.
It took every fiber of my
being to not go on a 20-minute
rant about socially-constructed
gender roles. I calmed myself
down and realized that as much
as I wanted to change this man’s
beliefs, there was no way that
would happen in the 10-minute
car ride back to the hotel.
It takes a lot of mental
strength to choose your battles
and move on. As sad as it is, it is
not often that you get into a deep
conversation with a stranger
that results in changing their
beliefs about an issue you
feel to be morally important.
Everyone is different, and our
experiences
throughout
life
shape the way we think and live
within our communities.
This Uber driver’s lifestyle
was likely vastly different from
my own, and though I did not
appreciate the way he talked to
me, he made a point to relay that
he was mildly joking. However,
in every joke there is some truth.
Though I did not feel threatened,
it saddened me that he thought
about women this way.
In 1848, the women’s suffrage
movement began at the Seneca
Falls Convention. It was more
than 50 years later that women
got the right to vote in 1920. A
right that female youth in the 21st
century often take for granted
took more than half a lifetime
to implement. In 1963, the Equal
Pay Act was passed, but we still
have a wage gap. In 1965, the
Weeks v. Southern Bell case
fought against restrictive labor
laws for women, but women are
still not treated equally in the
workforce. In 1973, Roe v. Wade
granted women the right to
be educated on contraceptives
and
obtain
legal
abortions,
but policymakers still try to
restrict women’s control over
their bodies. And in 2013, the
ban against women in military
combat positions was removed,
finally reducing restrictions on
women wanting to sacrifice their
lives to serve our country, but
they are still objectified by their
male counterparts.
Our history as women has
been strong. We have come a
long way to make waves in an
oppressive society, but we can’t
stop fighting and must always be
aware of how we can help enact
this change.
Transforming the ways our
society views women has not
and is not going to happen
overnight. Instances like the
one with that Uber driver in
Miami frustrate me and show
me that some people still don’t
know the meaning of feminism
and the true progress that
women have made.
As I got out of the car that
night in Miami, my final words
were “Thanks for the ride, but
you should look up a definition of
feminism and educate yourself.”
Unsure of what his response
was, I felt reassured knowing
that I at least tried. Did he look
up the definition? Probably not.
But at least I knew that I made
a conscious effort to plant the
seed in his mind on something
that needs to be reinforced in
our society.
In an age when women are
holding marches to support
unity and educating others on
ground-breaking reconstruction
of gender norms, there are many
small acts we can perform to
help make this change. I have
come to terms with the fact that
I can’t change everyone’s beliefs,
and in order to make a significant
difference, it is the small stuff
that really counts.
W
elcome to the post-
Spring-Break log-jam
of large assignments
and late midterm exams. I was
lucky enough not to be
saddled with the latter.
Of course, I didn’t want
to work on that project
assigned two weeks
ago, but lo and behold,
I have arrived at the
panic zone of three
days before the due
date without having
done any of the work.
I, of course, rushed to
finish the project that
I was certain I would
do well on, only to receive a grade
reflective of my effort.
This
is
a
common
procrastinator’s
problem,
brought
on
by
the
end-of-
the-year
fatigue
and
an
overwhelming desire to fast-
forward to summer, when some
of us will pursue professional
development, employment and
educational opportunities, and
not focus on schoolwork as
much. While March may be a
difficult time to find motivation
to put one’s best effort into
academic work, hopefully this
column can help my fellow
procrastinators find value in
starting
projects
and
exam
preparations early.
No matter what your class
standing is, using this time as
an opportunity to either create
momentum for next year or
cap off a good academic record
upon
graduation
will
yield
tremendous rewards (the very
least of which is a solidified
work ethic).
What
do
we
lose
when
we
allow
ourselves
to
procrastinate?
We
lose
the
ability to get ahead on projects
and develop relationships with
others, but, most importantly,
we lose the opportunity to
develop ourselves and grow
personal discipline that will
serve us throughout life. We
lose the chance to practice and
refine our skill set. A gifted
pianist who procrastinates his
practice may find himself falling
behind his peers. Moreover,
the
institution
of
personal
discipline
helps us all become
better at what we do,
be it writing, singing
or playing basketball.
A
graduating
senior may have the
impression that he or
she has little to gain
from putting effort
into his or her final
semester. You already
secured your dream
job or internship? You’re not
worried about your GPA dropping
because you already secured a
spot in graduate school? Surely, a
healthy dosage of senioritis is due,
right? Wrong. A slip-up in attitude
and academic performance could
bring significant consequences.
If your employer sees that your
effort dropped after accepting a
job offer, it may tell them that you
focus only on short-term goals
and don’t think about trying to
achieve
long-term
objectives.
They may anticipate that once
you get a promotion you want,
you may decide to stop putting
effort into tasks and could lose
your desire to be an effective
employee. Why would they want
to hire someone who is only in it
for themselves and is not invested
in
long-term
projects?
They
wouldn’t. According to Forbes
Reporter Susan Adams, GPA
matters quite a bit to employers,
because “it’s really one of the only
indications
(employers)
have
of a student’s technical ability
or competence to do the job.”
So not only do grades indicate
attitude and work ethic, they
also demonstrate competence,
something
essential
in
the
current job market.
So how does one maintain
the motivation to continue to
demonstrate
this
competence
and zeal to complete projects
successfully in the latter half of one’s
senior year? College admissions
counselor Kat Cohen has a few
recommendations,
the
most
important of which being taking the
time to relax and recharge.
Yes,
you
have
achieved
something
spectacular
that
required a great deal of effort,
preparation
and
sleepless
nights spent preparing resumes
and cover letters or studying
course material. You deserve
to relax. But instead of letting
this
become
permission
to
turn on auto-pilot, use it as an
opportunity to prepare for the
next chapter, which begins
now. How can you use the
remaining time in the year to
build your organizational skills
so you are successful at your
internship or job? How can
you take full advantage of the
opportunity to end the year on
a high note, whether that means
giving more of yourself to your
extracurricular
activities
or
challenging yourself to learn
a new skill in your classes that
may prove useful going forward?
Letting
success
get
to
your head will prohibit your
personal growth by keeping
you focused on staying in
the same place, instead of
finding ways to innovatively
move forward. Complacency
consequently grows out of this
self-satisfaction. Former Intel
CEO Andrew Grove once said,
“Success breeds complacency.
Complacency breeds failure.
Only the paranoid survive.” So
when you find success, after
briefly re-charging, take the
chance to ask yourself, “Now
what? Where can I go from
here? How can I add value and
challenge
myself?”
Because
the time we have to make
productive
contributions
to
society is inherently limited,
we mustn’t lose time during the
Ides of March being idle.
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Tuesday, March 14, 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
How to brave the Ides of March
ZACHARY COX | COLUMN
Better late than never
MICHELLE PHILLIPS | COLUMN
Michelle Phillips can be reached at
mphi@umich.edu.
Zachary Cox can be reached at
coxz@umich.edu.
MICHELLE
PHILLIPS
P
resident
Donald
Trump’s first month in
office came to an end
recently, and the world of
environmental policy is still
reeling from the dramatic and
counterproductive
changes
Trump’s
administration
has
made. The futures of critical
Obama-era
legislation
and
agencies, which were designed
to
protect
ecosystems
and
foster
sustainable
industry
practices amid the realities of
climate change, now appear
threatened by the potential
of executive orders aimed at
dismantling them.
One of the most troubling
changes has been Scott Pruitt’s
confirmation as head of the
Environmental
Protection
Agency on Feb. 17. Pruitt has been
a longtime adversary of the EPA,
having sued the agency 14 times
for its efforts to regulate mercury,
smog and carbon emissions from
power plants. But his history
of opposition to environmental
regulation extends beyond the
EPA: Pruitt has also developed
long-standing
ties
with
the
fossil fuel industry. During his
time as the attorney general
of
Oklahoma,
for
example,
he dismantled a specialized
environmental protection unit
and established a “federalism
unit” to counter what he referred
to as “unwarranted regulation
and
systemic
overreach
(by
federal agencies).”
This
aggressive
approach
secured him the approval of
many Republicans and the oil
and gas industries. Pruitt has
made numerous claims that he is
determined to eliminate the Clean
Power Plan, a critical climate
policy created under the Obama
administration that aims to reduce
carbon emissions in order to
combat climate change. However,
Pruitt’s continuous skepticism of
climate change data, evident in
his efforts to defend these interest
groups,
has
highlighted
his
willingness to compromise public
and environmental health in order
to further support the fossil fuel
industry, leaving even more room
for further dismantlement of key
climate change regulations.
To
make
matters
worse,
Trump has proposed substantial
cuts to the EPA’s budget, resulting
in the elimination of dozens of
core programs and reducing the
agency’s staff by 20 percent in the
first year alone. Additionally, the
cuts would shrink grants to states
— including those for air and
water programs — by 30 percent.
For
example,
restoration
efforts
in
the
Great
Lakes
are
expected
to
experience
a jolting stop, as the Great
Lakes
Restoration
Initiative
budget is facing a potential 97
percent cut. Jeffrey Reutter, a
special adviser of the Sea Grant
College Program at Ohio State
University, voiced the fears of
many environmentalists on how
“we’ve seen (Lake Erie) go from
the poster child for pollution
problems to the best example in
the world of ecosystem recovery.
Now it’s headed back again.”
Other restoration efforts in the
Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound and
the Gulf of Mexico are also at risk
of facing major cuts. Moreover,
Trump signed a repeal of the
transparency rule, a regulation
that required energy companies
to
disclose
their
payments
to foreign governments. The
repeal of this rule reduces the
accountability of the fossil fuel
industry. In response to this
decision, Sen. Sherrod Brown
(D–Ohio)
said,
“this
kind
of
transparency
is
essential
to
combating
waste,
fraud,
corruption and mismanagement.”
The president continued to
act on his skepticism of climate
change by signing a bill on Feb.
16 that ended Obama’s coal-
mining regulation, which was
implemented in order to protect
waterways from coal mining
waste and maintain public health.
With coal being the largest source
of carbon emissions and a major
contributor to global warming,
the reversal of this regulation
could
result
in
immense,
immediate and long-term water,
ecosystem and climate damage.
Moreover, despite months
of
protests
and
public
outcry, on Jan. 24, Trump
signed executive orders that
authorized the continuation
of the construction of the
Dakota Access Pipeline and
Keystone XL Pipeline. Today,
the
construction
of
DAPL
is nearly complete. Not only
does the pipeline encroach on
sacred indigenous land of the
Sioux Tribe, it also threatens
the ecological quality of the
land itself. The Standing Rock
and
Cheyenne
River
Sioux
Tribes have now filed a lawsuit
against the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers with the hopes of
ending the pipeline’s drilling.
The lawsuit details how, in
the event of an oil spill or any
damage to the lake, the water
supply and quality surrounding
the land could be compromised,
thus posing an enormous threat
to the food supply.
Last month alone was a
trying time for advocates of
environmental
stewardship,
and we now await updates
regarding the future of the
Clean Power Plan, the EPA and
climate regulation. However,
campaigns and organizations
founded to support scientific
research and data, including
the March for Science, are
now
even
stronger.
The
continuous growth of these
movements will require united
and steadfast support in the
face of such opposition in
order to continue fighting for
the implementation of strong
and effective environmental
regulations.
Last month in environmental policy
ENVIRODEMS | OP-ED
EnviroDems is the environmental
justice committee within the University
of Michigan’s chapter of College
Democrats.
ZACHARY
COX
Last month alone
was a trying time
for advocates of
environmental
stewardship.
— Engineering freshman Mario Galindez introducing a Central
Student Government resolution to make Election Day a
University holiday. The resolution passed last Tuesday.
“
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
This University has a
comprehensive history of civic
engagement, but this dedication of
citizenship is dependent on how
the University prioritizes students’
ability to vote and participate in our
democracy.
”
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