A
s
the
University
of
Michigan
football
season comes to an end,
students begin to worry about
where to keep their school
spirit — leaving behind boxes
of maize and blue apparel and
enthusiasm. In the wake of
last weekend’s final football
game of the regular season,
mourning is permitted, but
only until our next hockey
game.
If you frequent the hockey
games, you know the student
section’s unique dance moves,
unparalleled
volume
and
timely cheers. The Michigan
Daily
spoke
with
John
Bartman and “Tall Tom,” two
of the rowdy juniors that lead
cheers for the arena.
“Hockey is the best-kept
secret at the University of
Michigan,” Tall Tom said, as
he stands a staggering 6 feet 9
inches above the crowd.
His accomplice, Bartman,
strategically sits at the other
end of the front row, and
plays cowbell as the infamous
metronome for the stadium’s
cheers.
When the puck drops, we
stand shoulder to shoulder,
happily
chanting,
“The
Victors.” When Bartman and
Tom see fit, we unanimously
begin yelling at the other
goalie, with criticisms such
as “It’s all your fault,” “You
suck” or “Ugly goalie.” Others
tend to join in along the
way, resulting in an echo of
inventive
insults.
Further,
Tall Tom writes his own novel
cheers on a whiteboard.
“They’re
very
in
the
moment, they’re clever,” Tom
said.
When
Michigan
Men’s
Hockey
played
against
the University of Vermont
Catamounts last season, we
came back to win 3-2 after
fighting against a steady 2-1
head start. Tom spent the days
before the game studying up
on Catamount facts. In light
of
the
announcement
that
Vermont is finally opening
their first Target, the sign
read: “You may have lost a 2-1
lead, but at least you’re getting
a Target.”
Other
slights
include
photoshopping the opposing
team’s coach into demeaning
photographs, making claims
about the team’s local bars
and taking their opponents’
pictures off of dating apps,
calling
the
photos
“cute.”
In the moment, clever and
insulting. That’s the Michigan
school spirit.
Throughout the Nov. 9 game
against Notre Dame, Tom’s
sign asked the Yost staff to
play songs in high demand
among students.
“We know the people that
run the scoreboard and the
audio,” Bartman said. “At
the end of the year, we talk
about what we can do better,
what they want us to improve
on and what went well.”
By working with Yost, the
students are able to create
an
environment
comprised
of cowbells, loud voices and
passion, and one that draws
in fans of all ages.
There’s
something
about
the band’s placement adjacent
to the student section that
amplifies the excitement of
both parties. Since the director
of the band stands towards the
bleachers, he can conduct the
official band members while
keeping an eye on John and his
cowbell. This maintains great
communication between the
fans and the music, according
to Bartman.
“We can’t override them
— we kind of play off each
other,” he said, alluding to
the collaborative rendition of
the “SpongeBob SquarePants”
theme song sung the night
before.
The
teamwork
between
the band and the students is
arguably the most integral
part of the game, harnessing
the passion that distinguishes
Michigan spirit from other
schools.
What will happen when
these two graduate in 2020?
“I think it’s understood that
once we leave, someone will
fill our void, because that’s
what we did,” Tom said as he
reminisced on his freshman
year.
Bartman
agreed,
adding
that
his
energy
and
enthusiasm is what ultimately
recruited him to play the
cowbell. Though the crew
discusses
passing
down
the torch as an “organic”
process and rejects the idea
of a hierarchy, they have their
eye on a number of younger
students to fill their void.
“It’s free-flowing,” Bartman
claimed.
“We
consider
ourselves the children of Yost.
We’ve all kind of taken that
role.”
Michigan
spirit
never
dies, but instead, hibernates.
John Bartman and Tall Tom
proclaimed themselves as the
team’s “mascots,” with no
incentive except school spirit.
The hockey games have the
talent on the ice and passion
in the stands, but seem to lack
the numbers seen at the Big
House for football games. The
next home game is against
Michigan State on Dec. 1 at
7:00 p.m.
H
ow
can
we
conceptualize
what it means to be
sustainable? To start, we can
go by a definition: “pertaining
to a system that maintains
its own viability by using
techniques and resources that
allow for continual reuse.” We
can really ingest the words in
this statement, understanding
that to be sustainable means to
live for the future, but it’s truly
bewildering to consider how
we can be conscious of each
moment in the present in order
to allow our future to exist. The
glorified crux of sustainability
has been a very difficult reality
to achieve — perhaps even an
unrealistic effort at this point.
But I believe it’s equally as
monumental to ask ourselves
how we can each improve
our own lifestyles in order to
arrive that much closer to what
has been widely perceived as
impossible to reach.
Adopting
a
sustainable
lifestyle has likely been one of
the most radical phenomena to
be theorized over the past few
decades. We have been driven
to live a modernized life by
abiding to the constructs that
were formed with the birth of
industrialization in the 18th
century. For our entire lives,
we have eaten and thrown
away our meals, used and
thrown away clothes that have
been too worn out, bought new
vehicles and gotten rid of them
once they were replaceable
or irreparable and wore our
bodies out with a scattered
lifestyle until death. What we
have failed to realize today is
that those constructs can be
now changed in a less radical
way when their alternatives
are less stigmatized by money
and by the popular clique
that is our society. We can
eat natural meals that avoid
manufacturing and processing,
use clothes with more durable
and
less
lavish
material,
use vehicles that prioritize
efficiency
rather
than
convenience
and
maintain
ourselves
in
coexistence
with other organisms for an
enduring life.
We haven’t realized this
need to change various aspects
of our lifestyle because we’ve
been
able
to
survive
and
seemingly
thrive
for
this
long
without
considering
our future. Like any survival
measures, our lifestyle is not
meant for permanence. We
only use temporary techniques
to keep ourselves going until
we are able to find some stable
resolve. The problem is that we
fail to consider the future as
we survive, yet we have to now
more than ever so that it even
exists.
Our politicians have recently
not demonstrated a sustainable
mindset, as they merely rely
on technology and engineered
methods to solve the issues
that call for radical change.
For one, I want to defend that
conducting shooter drills or
arming
public
places
with
guards is not how we should
approach
reducing
civilian
deaths
by
gun
violence.
Promoting the use of portable
air filters as a substitute to
clean air when the areas in
which we live become engulfed
in
smoke
from
towering
wildfires is not how we should
approach improving the overall
air quality of our populated
areas. We should be taking
direct action at the cause of
these issues, being proactive
rather than reactive so that we
can create an enduring way of
life for ourselves.
Many will follow up this
argument
with
skepticism
towards the feasibility of a
sustainable society, claiming
that it’s impossible to plan
and implement a sustainable
lifestyle
that
works
everywhere. But what I believe
is more important than asking
how we will conquer this
massive ordeal is asking when
we will take it upon ourselves
to
even
try.
People
are
discouraged by the fact that no
one can say exactly how we can
all adopt a more sustainable
lifestyle for ourselves now,
for humankind in the future,
but there is no possibility of
even inching closer to that
world if we don’t make an
effort to advance towards it
through
understanding
and
collaboration. While we remain
unsure if the plans we propose
will completely follow through
despite
our
progressive
intentions, it’s necessary that
we sincerely begin this process
to overcome the contest we face
from a stagnant government
and society.
The young people of this
generation who have begun to
display their concern haven’t
completely figured out how
to execute our intentions yet,
but we have at the very least
begun to demand the answers
to the big questions that some
of our key politicians are
failing to address regarding
the
sustainability
issue.
As stated by young activist
Jeremy Ornstein in a rally for
the “Green New Deal” towards
the likely next speaker of the
House
of
Representatives,
“Speaker Pelosi, Democratic
leadership,
we
are
asking
you to grow up. When will
you come up with a plan to
stop the climate crisis and
defend the homes of millions
of would-be climate refugees?
When will you embrace a
Green New Deal? You know,
please, Speaker Pelosi, come
of age with us. But if you can’t,
if you’re too scared to try, if
you’re too corrupt or cowardly,
then get out of the way.”
The truth is that we can’t
conceptualize what it means
to be sustainable yet. We are
merely at the beginning of
a new era during which we
will discover a multitude of
techniques to adopt so that we
can lead a lifestyle that will
maintain humankind for ages
to come. As of now, I urge you
to contribute to the creation
of the era of sustainability
by
educating
yourself
on
the facts of climate change
like
various
university
professors have done with
the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change climate
report.
Support
policies
that demonstrate a potential
drastic enough to uproot our
society’s current constructs
like the Green New Deal,
and demand that our leaders
work to make sustainable
lifestyles, such as veganism,
more accessible to people
of
every
background
and
economic
disposition.
By
taking
action
against
the
status quo with a brute force
strong enough to deconstruct
it, an act as heroic as saving
the future of our world will
become
that
much
more
normalized and that much
more possible.
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Monday, November 26, 2018
Emma Chang
Ben Charlson
Joel Danilewitz
Samantha Goldstein
Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram
Jeremy Kaplan
Lucas Maiman
Magdalena Mihaylova
Ellery Rosenzweig
Jason Rowland
Anu Roy-Chaudhury
Alex Satola
Ali Safawi
Ashley Zhang
Sam Weinberger
DAYTON HARE
Managing Editor
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.
ALEXA ST. JOHN
Editor in Chief
ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY AND
ASHLEY ZHANG
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
School spirit never dies
Calling for an era of sustainability
KIANNA MARQUEZ | COLUMN
Julia Montag can be reached at
jtmon@umich.edu.
Kianna Marquez can be reached at
kmarquez@umich.edu.
N
ov.
19
is
marked
as
International
Men’s Day, devoted
to
the
positive
contributions
of
men
to
greater
society as well as
highlighting
men’s
well-being.
It
is
a
day
that
went
unrealized
and
unmarked. Perhaps
this
makes
sense
to
many.
After
all, why celebrate
the
advances
and
highlight the plights of a
historically privileged group?
Men as a demographic have
not typically had to fight
for rights on the basis of
gender. On the whole, they
have been less likely to be
victims of domestic violence,
sexual violence and human
trafficking. Worldwide, men
hold the majority of the wealth,
both in money and in land. It
seems as though society was
created for the male gender to
succeed, and thus the point of
an international day for men
should be moot.
However, even in the 21st
century, gender imbalances
still
prevail.
These
imbalances exist beyond those
perpetuated against women,
though these are the ones
most
apparent
in
society.
While
gender
inequalities
against women are egregious
and
apparent,
those
that
impact men still exist. They
are
under-discussed
and
often
overlooked,
possibly
because men are more often
encouraged
to
hide
their
problems and conform to social
standards.
Nevertheless,
men and boys still are held to
similar standards and suffer
under the same inequalities
that influence women, often
in much more discreet ways.
In
its
modern
form,
International Men’s Day began
in 1999, initiated in Trinidad
and
Tobago
by
Jerome
Teelucksingh.
In
contrast
with March 8’s International
Women’s Day, International
Men’s
Day
passes
rather
quietly, without marches or
media attention. This fact
is largely representative of
the gender issues that affect
men. For example, in much of
the Western world, there is
immense pressure to perform
all standards of masculinity.
This
largely
includes
providing for the family as
the
primary
breadwinner.
Marriages in which the female
partner outearns her male
counterpart are more likely
to suffer from infidelity and
end in divorce. Husbands who
earn less than their wives
tend to feel inadequate and
emasculated,
as
though they have
failed to live up to
their potential.
Such
feelings
of inadequacy can
contribute to men’s
failing
mental
health. Nationwide,
6 million men suffer
from
depression.
However,
this
condition
goes
largely undiagnosed in men.
This may be because men are
less likely to present with the
more widely known symptoms
of hopelessness and sadness,
and tend to demonstrate anger,
fatigue and loss of interest in
daily life activities. It also may
be the result of a general male
reluctance to seek help for
their disorders, owing largely
to a tendency to downplay
symptoms or to comply to
social norms of emotional
strength and stability. This
is a trend with disastrous
results. Male suicides have
been consistently rising since
2000, with men being four
times as likely to die by suicide
than women.
Typically
stigmatized
social behaviors are often
policed more harshly when
they appear in men. Gay and
bisexual men suffer harshly
from homophobia. According
to a 1999 study, gay men were
more likely than lesbians to be
deemed mentally ill by society,
and child adoption by gay men
was viewed less favorably
than by that of gay women.
While societal attitudes have
certainly shifted over the past
two decades, particularly with
the legalization of same-sex
marriage in 2015, instances
of homophobia still abound.
Men and boys are less likely to
engage in platonic touch with
friends, leaving them cut-off
physically and emotionally.
This
lack
of
friendly
touching between men and
boys contributes to deeper
emotional issues. Touch can
act as a means of reducing
stress
and
boosting
self-
esteem. Lack of touch affects
parenthood. Fathers tend to
be less involved parents than
mothers. This mostly stems
from
the
aforementioned
economic
pressures
that
lead
many
men
out
of
the
home
and
into
high-
pressure,
long-hour
jobs.
Furthermore, paid paternity
leave in the United States is
extraordinarily scarce. Even
when it is available, men
who take advantage of the
opportunity
are
criticized.
Take, for example, a 2014
instance involving New York
Mets second baseman Daniel
Murphy. Murphy missed the
opening game of the season for
the birth of his first child. In
the days following the birth,
Murphy received a series of
criticisms for using his three
days of paternity leave. Sports
radio WFAN hosts Boomer
Esiason
and
Craig
Carton
suggested
that
Murphy
and his wife should have
scheduled a C-section prior
to the season opener. This
anecdote is demonstrative of
the fact that men are often
shamed for engaging in typical
standards of parenting. The
manner through which men
are shamed for stereotypically
feminine behaviors prevents
men and boys from creating
and maintaining meaningful
relationships.
When the topic of gender
issues
is
invoked,
the
injustices
against
women
are
often
the
only
ones
discussed.
This
is
often
rightfully so, as these abuses
are particularly egregious.
However,
this
fact
does
not mean that men’s issues
deserve
to
be
completely
ignored. The gender-related
inequalities
that
impact
males, the immense societal
pressure to provide for their
families, the discouragement
of discussing their emotions
and the harsh policing of
potentially feminine behavior
have
overwhelmingly
negative impacts on the male
psyche. With rising suicide
rates and instances of male
substance abuse, it is evident
that something must be done
to alleviate this crisis. True
gender equality cannot be
achieved until all relating
issues
are
acknowledged
and combatted. In the era of
#MeToo and other feminist
movements, it is important to
remember that gender issues
affect everybody.
ALANNA BERGER | COLUMN
Why we still need an International Men’s Day
Alanna Berger can be reached at
balanna@umich.edu.
ALANNA
BERGER
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Even in the 21st
century, gender
imbalances still
prevail
JULIA MONTAG | COLUMN