“O
h
my
gosh!
That
looks
so
complicated! You
are so smart; I could never
do that.” These are
often the responses I
get when my friends
look at my computer
while
I’m
doing
my
homework.
But, the truth is,
my
homework
really
isn’t
that
complicated.
Sure,
the lines of code may
look
intimidating,
but if you were to
see a male student
coding on his computer in the
library, would you think he
were exceptional? Or would
you think he were a genius?
No, you wouldn’t.
There is an extreme double
standard
between
men
and women in the field of
technology. When I was three,
I wanted to be a pop star, not
a computer scientist. Society
conditioned me to believe jobs
related to engineering and
science were only for men. I
would have never guessed that
I, a woman, would ever walk
into lecture halls to study
coding languages surrounded
by
male
students,
male
professors and male Graduate
Student Instructors.
I was never the smartest kid
in class. I constantly struggle
with
different
concepts
I
learn, and it takes a lot of
brainpower for me to master
them. Last year, when I came
to the University of Michigan,
a senior recommended that I
take a computer science class
(“You will learn so much! You
won’t regret it!”) and to this
day, I don’t. I learned more
in my first computer science
course than I did in any other
class I have taken thus far in
my academic career.
I worked really hard and
ended up being a successful
student.
Though
I
didn’t
receive an A, the knowledge
I gained in that course far
exceeds what you will see
reflected
by
my
grade.
I
learned that doing something
you actually enjoy allows you
to learn from your failures
and accept them as part of the
process. Studying a subject you
are passionate about enables
you to accept setbacks because
of your determination to do
better and benefit because
of
it.
I
experienced
this
firsthand while learning how
to code. Pushing myself to do
something I never
thought
I
would
has
allowed
me
to learn more and
work harder than
I ever imagined I
would when I came
to college.
When
I
first
enrolled
in
this
computer
science
class, I thought I
was
contributing
to
changing
the
stereotype
of
this
male-
dominated
industry;
that
I
would
help
change
the
reputation that only men can be
successful in STEM fields.
However,
I
was
wrong.
Disproving people’s prejudices
was and still is harder than
I thought it would be. I have
faced the harsh reality that
you can’t change the minds
of thousands of individuals
by simply enrolling in a class.
They assume things about
you, they think you won’t be
as successful as your male
counterparts and they give
you attitude for asking too
many questions.
The stigma that surrounds
women in STEM fields goes
far
beyond
what
female
students will experience on
the University’s campus. A
study from Girls Who Code
states that about 74 percent of
young girls express interest
in STEM fields and computer
science. Yet, research shows
that women earn only 18
percent of computer science
degrees
and
hold
only
11
percent of executive positions
in Silicon Valley. I wonder what
deterred the rest from pursuing
their childhood dreams?
Needless to say, there have
been countless instances in
which
women
have
faced
sexism in the tech industry.
Earlier
this
year,
Justin
Caldbeck resigned from his
venture capital firm, Binary
Capital,
after
six
female
employees accused him of
sexually
harassing
them.
Also in 2017, Susan Fowler
made news when she spoke
out about the sexism she
faced as a female working as
a software engineer for Uber.
The harsh reality surrounding
women
in
top
positions
at
corporate
technology
companies discourages young
girls from pursuing degrees in
those fields and taking jobs at
specific companies.
I know I am just as capable
as the next person, and I know
being a girl does not mean I
will accomplish less. In fact, it
makes me work harder, so that
I can show everyone that just
because I was born a specific
sex does not mean I will
amount to less.
The truth to all of this is
that everything is hard until
it gets easy. A good friend of
mine always tells me this,
which I have found to be
true: No matter which path
you choose, no matter which
class you take, you have to
put the effort in to actually
learn. Once you practice it,
it becomes easier. So no, my
homework really is not that
complicated, and no, I am not
a genius.
We
should
all
actively
encourage girls to pursue
STEM.
There
are
many
organizations
around
and
outside
of
campus
that
women in technology can
join to learn from others and
gain opportunities to grow.
The more we raise awareness
about these issues, the more
the gender gap will close
and the more women will
be able to prosper in male-
dominated workplaces such
as the tech industry.
T
his past week, chants
of “Hey hey, ho ho,
Richard
Spencer
has
got to go” rang on our campus.
Simultaneously, in Honduras,
the rallying cry of “Fuera
JOH” (out with Juan Orlando
Hernández) resonated in the
streets, the media and the
collective consciousness of a
burgeoning movement of mass
political resistance.
Hondurans
went
to
the
polls on Nov. 26 to decide who
would be the next president,
and still, a winner has yet to be
officially announced. The main
contenders were Juan Orlando
Hernández,
the
National
Party incumbent running for
a
constitutionally-disputed
second
term,
and
Salvador
Nasralla,
a
sportscaster
turned
politician
who
has
created an alliance between
anti-corruption
and
leftist
opposition parties.
On the night of the election,
both candidates declared their
respective victories despite the
unprecedented silence of the
Supreme
Electoral
Tribunal
(TSE), which did not release a
preliminary vote count until
almost 10 hours after the polls
had closed. When the TSE
finally broke its silence, Nasralla
was leading by a margin of 5
percent with 57 percent of the
votes counted.
Then, suddenly, there was
an electronic malfunction in
the vote counting technology.
After an eight hour pause, the
count resumed, and Hernández,
the candidate considered most
favorable
to
U.S.
interests,
began to bridge the gap and
eventually surpassed Nasralla
in the count. The TSE finally
finished the count Monday, and
the results show that Hernández
is leading with 42.98 percent of
the vote compared to Nasralla’s
41.39, a difference of only 52,347
votes.
However,
the
many
irregularities documented in
the voting centers, which have
prevented the announcement
of a winner, raise suspicion of
widespread electoral fraud.
With the exception of a few
U.S. Congress members who
denounced the way the election
was handled, our government
has not firmly addressed the
situation beyond calling on
everyone to respect the TSE’s
results.
The
day
after
the
election, I struggled to find
American
news
reports
on
the situation, and I drew only
blank stares on campus when I
brought it up. While the market
for international news reporting
and consumption is competitive,
the lack of attention to Latin
America is indicative of a larger
political project that encourages
ignorance of U.S. influence over
these countries.
The silence on U.S.-Latin
American relations supports
the implicit conclusion that the
irregularities in the Honduran
election are the fault of weak
democratic
institutions
resulting from a culture of
corruption. However, this view
obscures a long history of U.S.
intervention that undermined
Latin American democracies
at the price of protecting our
economic interests (Guatemala,
Chile,
Argentina,
Brazil,
Nicaragua,
El
Salvador,
to
name a few). Under the guise
of preventing the spread of
communism,
the
U.S.
has
propped
up
several
Latin
American dictators, providing
economic support and training
of military forces to weed
out
any
leftist
tendencies
that would block access to
multinational corporations.
While many shy away from the
term colonialism, throwing in the
“neo-” prefix accurately describes
the
economic
and
political
influence we have covertly, and at
times openly, maintained in Latin
America. Almost every Latin
American country bears the scars
of U.S. intervention.
Yet, the covert nature of our
actions
means
any
political
instability is always blamed on
Latin American culture, a form
of victim shaming that alleviates
any U.S. guilt. As a result, the day
following the Honduran election,
I was not surprised to find few
knew what was going on, and
even fewer felt the U.S. had any
responsibility to respond.
The
most
recent
coup
in Honduras was in 2009.
President Manuel Zelaya, who
implemented many progressive
reforms, was overthrown by
the military after proposing a
referendum to allow presidents
to serve two terms instead of one.
While the mere suggestion of
adding another term was enough
to get Zelaya overthrown, a year
into Hernández’s presidency,
the Honduran Supreme Court
ruled to allow him to attempt
reelection. Hernández, elected
in
2013,
aligns
with
U.S.
economic interests. We have not
questioned the legality of his bid
for reelection.
After the 2009 coup, we
recognized the government of
Porfirio Lobo Sosa, even though
other Latin American countries
refused,
and
we
continued
to support him despite the
increase in state repression. The
support for autocratic leaders in
Latin America has always cut
across U.S. party lines. Former
President
Barack
Obama
supported Lobo Sosa and what
he called the “restoration of
democratic practices.” Former
Secretary
of
State
Hillary
Clinton, at that time, denied
what had happened was a coup.
While the U.S. media reflects a
slight unease with Hernández’s
bid for reelection, we have been
slow to condemn the fraud. I
suspect this has much to do with
Nasralla representing a coalition
of leftist parties — some labeled
as socialist.
Given the allegations of fraud
and the mysterious electronic
complications in the vote count
that preceded the reversal of
the electoral trend, Nasralla
has refused to recognize the
results of the election should
Hernández
be
declared
the
winner. While the remaining 5
percent of ballots that showed
“inconsistencies” were counted
by hand, Nasralla’s Alliance
Against
the
Dictatorship
coalition is demanding a more
comprehensive recount of the
votes or a redo of the election.
Since the results are bound to
be close, the call for a recount
is neither unprecedented nor
unwarranted.
In light of the TSE’s failure to
consider a recount, which seems
to confirm corruption, many
Hondurans have taken to the
streets to protest. In response,
the government, still controlled
by Hernández, installed a curfew
from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and ordered
the military to shut down public
demonstrations. So far, at least 11
people have died and more than
1,000 have been arrested.
Despite the dangers presented
by this autocratic crackdown,
every
day
throughout
the
country
Hondurans
have
participated
in
marches,
blockades and cacerolazos, a
form of popular protest in which
people bang pots and pans in
the street. Many have united
behind the figure of Nasralla
to
combat
the
corruption
threatening their democracy. On
Monday, some factions within
the police refused to enforce
the curfew. The magnitude of
popular resistance proves that
one cannot fault the nation for
lacking “democratic culture.”
In response, Hernández has
assumed dictatorial-like authority
and is desperately trying to hang
onto power, drawing on any
internal or international support
he can muster.
This puts the U.S. public
in a familiar position. We can
choose to continue the practice
of turning a blind eye to the
questionable actions of our own
government in Latin America.
We can continue to tacitly
support
a
dictator
because
the
democratically
elected
alternative is leftist. We can
continue to pretend this election
does not concern us. But we
must recognize that this means
erasing our history just as much
as theirs. It empties out the
ideal of our national integrity by
putting all the blame elsewhere.
After all, it’s always easier to
continue with the status quo.
Or, we can choose to stand
in solidarity.
Drawing
from
our
University’s
conflict
over
whether or not to allow white
nationalist
Richard
Spencer
speak on campus based on
arguments of free speech, or
the recent revelations about
Michael Flynn and Russia, we
can
recognize
that
putting
democracy into practice isn’t
always easy. Our democracy has
a lot of problems too, including
the mandate we always give
our leaders to take neocolonial
actions that subvert democracy
in Latin America.
We can take a few seconds to
Google “Honduras elections,”
“Honduras
history”
and
maybe even “History of U.S.
intervention
in
Honduras.”
We can bring it up with our
friends and in our classes. We
can contact our representatives
and tell them we’re done being
bystanders and we’re ready
to recognize our share of the
guilt. We can tell them we don’t
want to recognize the results
of the election unless there is
a complete recount of all the
votes cast because we know
democracy is fragile enough
without
outside
influences
actively trying to subvert it.
We
can
learn
from
the
mass political mobilization in
Honduras, apply their tactics in
our own fights for democracy,
use their awakening of political
consciousness to spur our own.
And when we raise our voices
to chant “Richard Spencer has
got to go,” we can add our own
“Fuera JOH.”
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Wednesday, December 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.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Have you heard what’s happening
in Honduras?
ALLISON LANG | OP-ED
Carolyn Ayaub
Megan Burns
Samantha Goldstein
Emily Huhman
Jeremy Kaplan
Sarah Khan
Max Lubell
Lucas Maiman
Madeline Nowicki
Anna Polumbo-Levy
Jason Rowland
Anu Roy-Chaudhury
Ali Safawi
Sarah Salman
Kevin Sweitzer
Rebecca Tarnopol
Stephanie Trierweiler
Ashley Zhang
Allison Lang is an
LSA senior.
Support women in STEM
Michelle Phillips can be reached at
mphi@umich.edu.
MICHELLE PHILLIPS | COLUMN
MICHELLE
PHILLIPS
I have faced the
harsh reality
that you can’t
change the minds
of thousands of
individuals by
simply enrolling
in a class.
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Almost every
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