W

hat 
began 
as 
a 
debate 
over 
the 
dinner table at the 
Mosher-Jordan Dining Hall 
festered 
into 
the 
ominous 
realization that we are all 
unsuspecting 
advocates 
for 
a consumerist society. Well, 
not necessarily all, but most 
of us. As we ate dinner with 
each other on a busy, work-
filled Sunday, my friends and 
I found ourselves engaged in 
an intense discussion over a 
rather odd controversy: green 
grass.
A friend of mine had pitted 
himself against the entire 
table of 11 people, voicing his 
individual acrimony toward 
the green lawns many of us 
had been raised to love. The 
rest of us were infuriated; 
we couldn’t fathom why our 
beloved green grass was even 
up for question. Many of us 
justified that lawns are good 
for the property boundaries, 
the multitude of recreational 
uses they can provide and 
for being one of the more 
admirable components of the 
suburban aesthetic. I, too, 
argued against him, but as I 
soon as I said, “We want it for 
the aesthetic,” I shuddered.
I know why he continued 
to 
argue 
even 
when 
we 
were 
so 
appalled 
by 
his 
ridiculousness. 
Intuitively, 
he knew that our concept 
of beauty should transcend 
beyond mere aesthetic. He 
was crying out for a society 
that values the natural beauty 
of our world instead one that 
orients our likings to the 
lifestyles we were raised with 
and leads us to avoid being 
independent, real and natural. 
What he realized is what 
many of us have not come to 
terms with: We will always 
uphold our culture before we 
give our attention away to our 
environment.
We interact every day with 
the people around us, waking 
up 
and 
eating 
breakfast, 
traveling to school or work, 
earning money at work and 
giving it back to our economy 
at the store, using social 

media 
and 
investing 
time 
in our physical and mental 
health. But we are never truly 
thinking in the best interest 
of our society each day we 
interact with it — we are 
merely using it, consuming 
it. Every day, millions of us 
consume the electrical and 
nonrenewable energy in our 
infrastructure, consume the 
satisfaction of data presented 
in all sorts of forms on our 
various social media apps, 
consume 
the 
conveniences 
of 
processed 
goods 
and 
acquiring necessities digitally 
and consume the idea that 
the way we serve back to our 

resourceful society is through 
money. As we spend money 
toward the irrigation of our 
green lawns, for instance, we 
are usually wasting 50 percent 
of our water in runoff and 
experience the consequences 
of dry spells in large regions 
like California as a result. 
Thus, what we should have 
come to realize by now is that 
this idea we have created for 
ourselves is dangerously far 
from the truth — the way we 
give back to our civilization 
is to act so that it may persist 
well into the future.
For 
some, 
the 
aesthetic 
of 
a 
manicured 
backyard, 
artsy social media account or 
display of wealth in the form 
of a house or a car is worth 
it. Our society has somehow 
ingrained in our psyche that 
we are missing out if we don’t 
have these things or if we are 
not striving to achieve these 
things in the future. When 
our 
circumstances 
put 
us 
outside of or away from these 

goals, we will naturally feel 
excluded 
and 
can 
develop 
depression 
because 
of 
it. 
When we are placed outside 
of an environment we are 
predisposed to prefer, we will 
naturally strive to become a 
part of that environment again. 
For instance, we are prone 
to changing cities with the 
mental goal of reigniting the 
chance for new opportunities 
to continue our growth if our 
current surroundings prevent 
that. Many physically travel 
to scenic, more pleasurable 
places 
during 
the 
winter 
to avoid seasonal affective 
disorder, a type of depression 
that reduces the body’s ability 
to feel mentally and physically 
energized 
during 
gloomy 
seasons.
I blame our materialistic 
society for causing us to orient 
ourselves 
toward 
material 
achievements and to do all that 
we can to avoid being excluded 
from that material lifestyle 
based on the hard feelings 
that would follow. Had we 
prioritized and normalized a 
society oriented around the 
health of our environment, 
we would be able to project 
a 
bright 
future 
for 
our 
civilization today because we 
would have understood that 
our future is inevitably more 
important than an aesthetic 
culture. In theory, we should 
be able to resolve what we are 
to blame for. But as we seek 
to discover ourselves and to 
be able to tell our individual 
stories, we will never truly 
stay connected with the power 
that exists in the masses and 
therefore will never be able to 
make a drastic enough change 
to our society’s ways.
At this point, I would just 
like to thank my friend, the 
rebel and the idealist in this 
society, 
for 
enlightening 
me on how to be a realist in 
that other world where we 
value the common sense of 
sustaining our future.

Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A— Monday, December 10, 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

Being a realist in another world

KIANNA MARQUEZ | COLUMN

Kianna Marquez can be reached at 

kmarquez@umich.edu.

L

ately, when people ask 
me how I’m doing, I 
explain how I’ve been 
pretty overwhelmed 
and 
stressed 
by 
my 
workload 
and 
commitments 
this 
semester. 
Either 
they 
respond 
sharing 
the 
same 
feelings and we gab 
on and on about the 
struggles of failing 
to juggle it all, or 
they say they hope 
I’m 
finding 
time 
to take care of myself. I’m 
relieved yet sad to know I’m 
not the only one experiencing 
all-consuming 
stress. 
But 
when 
given 
the 
second 
response, I’m often annoyed 
that people mention taking 
care of myself, because I’m 
trying to do that, I just often 
don’t feel like I have the time.
In my Community Action 
and Social Change classes, 
many of them have lessons 
on self-care. They mention 
how 
in 
professions 
where 
you are working with others 
or for causes where there is 
little immediate gratification, 
common in the social services, 
you need to take care of 
yourself. Self-care is crucial 
to avoid burnout, where you 
cannot do your work any 
longer due to not prioritizing 
your 
needs. 
Everyone 
has 
different self-care practices, 
from 
reading 
or 
watching 
some TV at the end of the 
day to journaling, listening 
to music, going on a run or 
taking a bath. These self-care 
practices 
are 
supposed 
to 
allow one to unwind and take 
some time out of the day to 
spend on oneself.
My professors encourage 
us to create some of these 
practices 
for 
ourselves. 
My practices are watching 
several 
NPR 
“Tiny 
Desk” 
concerts, 
re-watching 
old 
sitcoms 
like 
“New 
Girl”, 
taking a shower, going on a 
walk or playing my ukulele. 
But on nights when I have 
multiple assignments, a house 
emergency and an exam the 
next day, I do not prioritize 
taking care of myself. I put my 
commitments and obligations 
first, because I often worry 
about falling behind.
I see this competitive drive 
in my friends and fellow 
classmates at our university. 

Last week, a friend of mine 
with strep throat continued 
to go to her classes — even 
though 
the 
best 
way for her to get 
better was to stay 
home and rest — 
because she did not 
want to miss class. 
Observing this need 
to push through it 
all, I have noticed 
we have a really 
hard 
time 
taking 
a break from class 
and our obligations, 
even when we are physically 
sick or dealing with our 
mental health.
This message is not just 
fostered at our university but 
in our society overall. It is the 
framework of our economic 
system. 
Competition 
is 
what 
drives 
our 
markets 

and fuels economic growth 
in our capitalistic society. 
I 
remember 
learning 
in 
economics that competition 
has been known to create 
better goods and drive people 
to 
work 
harder, 
because 
they can compete with one 
another.
I think this competitive 
drive that is felt in the 
economic world generalizes 
to our academic world as well. 
This competition is damaging 
when 
students 
put 
their 
physical and mental health 
on the line to compete with 
their fellow students to get 
the best grade point average 
and impressive résumés to get 
into the best graduate schools 
and jobs. But there is the 
overarching ideal that we will 
not get into the best graduate 
school or job we want unless 
we are doing better than 
those around us.
This 
notion 
of 
always 
having to work and perform 
is 
fundamental 
to 
our 
society. People are not even 
guaranteed good health care 

unless they are a working 
person in our country. If one 
cannot work or compete at the 
same level as everyone else, 
there are real consequences 
in the resources one receives. 
This 
means 
even 
if 
one 
doesn’t care or doesn’t want 
to compete with others, one 
has to participate in a society 
where the reason one is doing 
better is because others are 
not as well off.
Throughout high school, I 
was always trying to do well 
in my classes so I could get 
into a competitive college, 
but now that I’m at this 
competitive college, I cannot 
turn off the need to perform 
exceptionally well in classes. 
Even though I don’t have 
any 
competitive 
graduate 
program driving me, I still 
feel this need to do my best or 
be better than those around 
me.
Last academic year, I made 
a promise to myself that I 
would focus on me first and 
my relationships, the things 
that bring me joy and my 
classwork 
second. 
I 
still 
performed well in my classes, 
but I felt so much happier. 
But this semester, something 
felt different. Maybe it is that 
my time is ending as a senior 
or that I have a harder and 
larger workload. Honestly, 
I think that I lost this 
promise I made to myself. 
I have begun to prioritize 
my classwork, commitments 
and obligations over my own 
wellbeing, and I’m not okay 
with it.
Now that the semester is 
coming to an end, I’ve been 
able to ref lect that I took 
on too many commitments 
and 
got 
caught 
up 
in 
our 
competitive 
college 
atmosphere. It is not easy 
to 
prioritize 
ourselves 
and 
make 
time 
when 
it 
can impact our ability to 
succeed in school or work. 
It is upsetting to me that I 
live in a society that values 
competition and work before 
well-being. And the truth 
is I don’t need to be the 
best or beat others to feel 
comfortable, 
happy 
and 
successful. I just need to do 
me.

ELLERY ROSENZWEIG | COLUMN

Are you taking care of yourself?

Ellery Rosenzweig can be reached at 

erosenz@umich.edu.

P

harmSci 
420, 
a 
new 
University of Michigan 
course beginning Winter 
2019, will explore all aspects of 
the medicinal use of cannabis. 
Legalization 
of 
recreational 
marijuana 
in 
Michigan 
indicates 
voters are interested 
in 
the 
idea, 
yet 
contradictory 
federal 
laws 
limit 
our ability to explore 
it 
academically. 
The 
University 
of 
Michigan is known 
for 
its 
variety 
of 
classes that present experiential 
learning opportunities, and it 
maintains the legacy with the 
new cannabis course that meets 
student demands and ends the 
disconnect.
The endocannabinoid system 
is versatile and ubiquitous. In 
an interview with The Daily, 
pharmaceutical 
sciences 
professor Gus Rosania explained 
how THC receptors are involved 
with stress and sleep, appetite 
and gastrointestinal function, 
even pain and inflammation. 
The endocannabinoid system 
is also the part of our biology 
that responds to cannabis, and 
according to Rosania, it “is 
just not taught in our curricula 
because of federal prohibition.”
Rosania 
began 
planning 
the class four years ago; he 
was encouraged by colleagues 
and distinguished College of 
Pharmacy professors Gordon 
Amidon and James T. Dalton, 
who is also the College of 
Pharmacy dean. Most faculty, 
however, believed the course to 
be a joke.
“A medicinal cannabis course 
is as relevant and real as a 
course gets for our students,” 
Rosania said. The course will 
teach the science, concepts and 
laws that ultimately amounted 
to cannabis prohibition and 
legalization, and exists thanks 
to student input.
Student 
organizations, 
such as cannabis club Green 
Wolverine, played a large role 

in introducing the College of 
Pharmacy to the larger interest 
in and benefits of cannabis. 
Earlier this semester, the Green 
Wolverine Science Symposium 
promoted discussion 
in 
the 
realm 
of 
business and politics 
by hosting a dozen 
leading 
experts, 
including 
Rosania, 
to speak at the event. 
The club exists within 
the Ross School of 
Business, 
and 
the 
club’s members are 
eager to take their 
well-respected 
business degrees to the cannabis 
industry. Undergraduates in the 
club, Rosania said, “showed me 
how serious they were about 
learning and that there was an 
unmet need that really needed 
to be addressed.”
A majority of states, Michigan 
included, have legalized access 
to cannabis in one form or 
another, 
leaving 
only 
four 
states with no public access. 
In Ann Arbor, legalization has 
spurred talk about recreational 
dispensaries in addition to the 
24 medicinal ones we already 
have. Still, cannabis remains a 
Schedule 1 substance, meaning 
our federal government does 
not justify its use as medicinally 
valid.
“A lot of what we teach has 
been mandated by the federal 
government 
and 
centralized 
accreditation entities,” Rosania 
said. 
“Clearly, 
there 
is 
a 
disconnect.”
The 
standard 
curriculum 
was, in Rosania’s words, “out of 
touch with reality.”
There are still open seats, and 
a diverse crowd of University 
students are already signed up to 
fill PharmSci 420’s first lecture 
room. Thus far, half the students 
are Pharmacy students, as the 
course is primarily designed to 
supplement the pharmaceutical 
sciences 
undergraduate 
program. 
The 
other 
half 
comprises 
undergraduates 
studying 
biochemistry, 
neuroscience, 
psychology, 

botany, engineering, computer 
science, public health … the list 
goes on. The only similarity 
among the enrolled is their 
interest in cannabis research.
“Our 
teaching 
needs 
to 
address 
the 
needs 
of 
our 
students,” 
Rosania 
said. 
PharmSci 420 does just that.
Other new classes for Winter 
2019 meet student demands 
and keep up with the times, 
including a psychology course 
“American 
Addictions”, 

American culture course on 
virtual reality, and Comm 408: 
“Understanding 
Self-Control, 
Media 
Habits 
and 
Media 
Addiction”. Though not the 
first school to offer a cannabis 
course, the University already 
offers 
unique 
classes 
that 
keep our curricula relevant 
and 
constantly 
expanding. 
This 
past 
fall, 
the 
School 
of Art & Design created an 
inspirational and entertaining 
“Voting is Sexy” campaign 
for the midterm election, and 
LSA offered an art history 
course called “Emoji Worlds” 
that discussed the trend that 
changed the communication of 
emotion. Communications and 
history courses examined fake 
news, the School of Education 
addressed inequalities among 
the homeless and one course 
currently 
investigates 
cold 
cases regarding racial crime 
and injustice in Michigan.
Some may call the course a 
sign of the times, others may 
find it controversial. Regardless, 
the vision Rosania has in mind 
supersedes that of the federal 
government.
“My teaching is not paid for 
by Congress, the Supreme Court 
or the White House,” Rosania 
said, explaining that his mission 
is to address the educational 
demands of our students, and of 
the U.S. citizens that live here 
in Michigan. “I can only hope 
that it is the beginning of an 
educational revolution.”

JULIA MONTAG | COLUMN

Next semester’s courses stay relevant

Julia Montag can be reached at 

jtmon@umich.edu.

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This notion of 
always having to 
work and perform 
is fundamental to 
our society 

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We will always 
uphold our 
culture before we 
give our attention 
away to our 
environment

JULIA
MONTAG

ELLERY
ROSENWEIG