Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Monday, March 25, 2019

FINNTAN STORER
Managing Editor

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St. 
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

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

MAYA GOLDMAN
Editor in Chief
MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA 
AND JOEL DANILEWITZ
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

W

hatever 
happened 
to 
predictability? 
No, 
seriously 
— 
what happened to 
it? Because there 
is no universe in 
which any of us 
predicted 
Aunt 
Becky would be 
charged 
with 
felonies, but life 
is funny that way. 
After 
everyone 
finished cracking 
jokes about the 
developments 
of 
the past week, it looked pretty 
bad for a lot of people and 
schools (thankfully, not this 
one. Go Blue).
There was a lot to be 
surprised 
and 
upset 
about 
— that parents were buying 
their students’ spots paying 
someone else to take their tests, 
that schools were letting their 
athletic directors work without 
almost any oversight and most 
importantly 
that 
someone 
would pay $500,000 to be 
admitted into the University of 
Southern California when they 
could light the money on fire 
instead.
However, there was one 
silver lining and it’s something 
important of which we cannot 
afford to lose sight (and it’s 
not because we spent our last 
half million at USC). It is that 
those schools are, to an extent, 
overrated. 
Having 
an 
Ivy 
League degree is no guarantor 
of success, but that idea is 
implanted in so many minds in 
high school, middle school and 
even elementary school.
I have heard from past 
middle school teachers of mine 
that sixth grade students were 
crying about a B because it 
might hurt their chance to get 
into Harvard. Whatever else 
that is, it is also wrong beyond 
words. This much stress only 
exists for one reason: It is 
because we have all lied to 
ourselves. We are the ones 
who decided that a Harvard 
degree is worth what it is — 
not Harvard. And the same is 
true for Stanford, Yale and this 
school too. Part of what makes 
these degrees so valuable is that 
the supply is so low.
According to Bloomberg, 

in 1999, Harvard’s full-time 
undergraduate enrollment was 
roughly 6,816 students. Turn 
the 
clock 
forward 
to 2017 and it was a 
grand total of 6,699 
students. For the sake 
of comparison, in 1999 
there were around 6 
billion people in the 
world and in 2017 there 
were 7.5 billion. The 
population of the world 
grew by more than a 
billion and Harvard’s 
enrollment 
actually 
shrunk by about a hundred. 
Another way of looking at this 
is that the population of the 
world grew by 25 percent and 
the 
Harvard 
undergraduate 
enrollment dropped about 2 
percent.

In addition to this, the 
number 
of 
students 
who 
applied to college grew as well. 
All of this is a polite way of 
saying we value these degrees 
so much because they’re so 
hard to get, and they’re so 
hard to get because so many 
apply for them. So many apply 
for them because of how much 
we value them. This is a self-
perpetuating cycle and will 
always be, unless, for some 
reason, we as a society begin 
to value these elite degrees a 
whole lot less.
I believe, after many years, 
we have found that reason. 
There’s an idea that not all fraud 
is caught. This may mean that, 
in some cases, scams could go 
on for years until it eventually 
blows up in someone’s face 
(see this college scam for one 
example — for another, look at 
Bernie Madoff). It also might 
not blow up at all — which is to 
say we have no idea what kind 
of fraud is being committed 
and we will not have any idea 

of this until it comes out in the 
paper. This is a clear example of 
Donald Rumsfeld’s “unknown 
unknown” — we assume there 
is fraud going on but we aren’t 
positive about it or about what 
it looks like until it’s staring us 
in the face.
However, once fraud of 
some type is revealed, there 
does tend to be more suspicion 
of those who let it happen. One 
example of this is how hated 
much of Wall Street was after 
the 2008 stock market crash. 
That wasn’t fraud as much as it 
was shady business practices, 
but the point stands. After the 
crash, a good number wanted 
to burn the CEOs of Goldman 
Sachs, Lehman Brothers and 
the like at the stake. I think we 
have found a reason to value 
these elite degrees a lot less 
because we do not know which 
students had their entrance and 
admission paid for and which 
students actually earned theirs.
There will be more suspicion 
of those degrees in years to come, 
and that is good. This is because 
having a Harvard degree doesn’t 
mean you’re a decent person or 
you’re super smart. What it does 
mean, though, is you got lucky. 
Whether it be lucky enough to 
have parents who could buy your 
way into the university (albeit 
unartfully), or be it the luck of 
getting your application read 
by someone on the admissions 
board sympathetic to you, it 
had a lot to do with luck. This 
is because there is really no 
academic difference between all 
the 4.0/36 kids who got the thin 
envelope and those who got the 
fat one.
There is nothing wrong 
with that, but now that this 
admissions scandal has forced 
us to examine how people got 
into these schools, maybe we’ll 
value those schools less since 
all it took was luck and money, 
and no one can be faulted for not 
having those. That devaluation 
is 
an 
unrequited 
positive 
good that has come from this 
mess. In other words, mission 
accomplished, 
ladies 
and 
gentlemen.

Anik Joshi can be reached at 

anikj@umich.edu.

I 

was sitting with my two 
best friends in a dorm 
room, laughing after an 
afternoon of St. Patrick’s Day 
celebrations, when one of us 
received the first text from 
a friend. “There’s an active 
shooter in Mason Hall,” he said 
to me. “That’s not a funny joke 
to make,” I responded, hoping 
he was kidding but knowing he 
wasn’t from the serious look on 
his face. This initial message, 
followed by many more, sent 
us into a frenzy of checking 
all our group chats, texting 
and calling everyone we knew 
and telling them to stay away 
from the Diag, stay indoors 
and stay safe. My brother was 
in the Shapiro Undergraduate 
Library, and I had to beg him 
in a series of texts to interrupt 
his exam studying and call me, 
thinking he was a minute away 
from an active shooting. The 
only sound among the three 
of us for the next 30 minutes 
was the tapping of our phone 
screens and the static of an 
online police scanner that we 
should not have been listening 
to.
Saturday’s 
false 
alarm 
was stressful and damaging 
for a variety of reasons — the 
University of Michigan’s blatant 
emergency response problems, 
the further trauma inflicted 
on the Muslim community, 
the spread of misinformation 
and conflicting rumors that 
heightened 
fear. 
But 
what 
struck me most deeply about 
this event was how, despite it 
being a false alarm, students 
were instinctively preparing 
for the worst. The second that 
an initial report went out, and 
before the University or the 
Division of Public Safety and 
Security or any news source 
addressed campus, students 
sprung 
into 
a 
variety 
of 
immediate, fear-driven actions. 
An unconfirmed report with 
no official comment gained 
instant credibility and led to 
prompt student response. But 

living in the United States, can 
you blame us?
Columbine. Virginia Tech. 
Sandy Hook. Parkland. Growing 
up in a country that from 
2009 to 2018 had 57 times 
more school shootings than 
other industrialized nations, 
is thinking that the University 
of Michigan could join the list 
of places national tragedies 
have occurred irrational? The 
recent, targeted shooting at 
two New Zealand mosques 
was the first mass shooting to 
occur in the nation in over 20 
years. Conversely, the United 
States has had a conservative 
estimate of 90 mass shootings 
since 1997, according to an 
open-source 
database 
by 
Mother Jones. In a study 
published earlier this month 
by The BMJ, it was shown 
states with weaker gun laws 
had more mass shootings, and 
there are more mass shootings 
in areas with higher rates 
of gun ownership. But even 
outside of these horrific stories 
that are oftentimes claimed 
by 
conservatives 
as 
being 
sensationalized, 
the 
United 
States still has the highest rate 
of murder and manslaughter 
by firearms in the developed 
world. It’s hard to not see the 
connection between access to 
guns and harm.
Being exposed to this scale 
of gun violence has pushed 
the threat of an active shooter 
situation to the forefront of 
my mind more than a few 
times, 
and 
that 
weekend 
made that fear all the more 
prominent, while making me 
more sensitive to an issue I 
have been culturally trained 
to tune out. This is something 
I know that many of my fellow 
students have felt too. This is 
the time to channel that fear 
and concern into productive 
dialogue about gun policy and 
emergency procedures.
The gun debate in the 
United States is tense and 
passionate. But as much as 

our current political climate 
has made us feel increasingly 
polarized on either side, the 
only way to achieve what 
should be a common goal among 
all Americans — decreasing 
deaths — is by considering the 
data, looking to international 
comparisons 
and 
enacting 
compromises that bring us 
closer to safe gun regulation. 
Because as of now, I see no 
reason why roughly a third of 
American gun owners have been 
able to buy their guns without a 
background check. So instead of 
screaming “no guns, yes guns” 
at each other from opposite 
sides of the chamber, why don’t 
we enact common-sense gun 
laws that will keep the volume 
of guns down while insuring 
that the remaining firearms are 
in the hands of nonthreatening 
citizens?
The 
events 
of 
last 
weekend have caused a lot 
of residual stress within our 
campus climate, but there 
is potential for it to be used 
for beneficial progress, both 
politically 
and 
within 
the 
University community. In the 
foreseeable future, continue 
to 
demand 
the 
University 
has a line of communication 
about its emergency response 
measures, and actually give 
your input on how they can 
be improved upon. Use these 
spaces 
to 
encourage 
the 
University to enact clearer 
and 
more 
comprehensive 
active shooter protocols to 
keep us safe in the instance 
of an actual emergency. And 
in a continuous push, contact 
your 
local 
and 
national 
representatives. 
Press 
gun 
control as a platform plank. 
Keep it at the forefront of the 
conversation and don’t wait 
for another tragedy to occur. 
Work so the next generation 
doesn’t have to be so afraid.

The upside of the college admissions scam

Erin White can be reached at 

ekwhite@umich.edu.

ANIK JOSHI | COLUMN

We’re afraid, and can you blame us?

ERIN WHITE | OP-ED

MARIA ULAYYET | COLUMN

The power of community following the false alert
T

he 
texts 
that 
bombarded 
my 
phone 
last 
Saturday 
afternoon will remain etched 
in my mind for the rest of 
my life. “Run. Hide. Active 
shoot (sic) on the Diag. RUN.” 
While I couldn’t comprehend 
what was happening in that 
moment, I knew this day 
would quickly become a day I 
would never forget.
For the next four hours, 
with each “ping,” my phone 
continued 
to 
make 
my 
heart 
drop 
even 
further. 
As I sat in the safety of my 
apartment, I was nowhere 
near comfortable, knowing my 
best friends and community 
members feared they may be 
living the last moments of 
their lives.
I sat in my living room 
frozen 
and 
expressionless, 
holding 
back 
tears 
every 
time one of my friends didn’t 
answer his or her phone. 
My heart raced each time 
I heard rumors the alleged 
gunman was getting closer to 
my apartment or where my 
friends were. I feared for my 
safety and dreaded losing the 
people dearest to my heart. I 
worried about getting to class 
safely and walking home late 
from the library. I stopped 
at the idea that our safety as 
students is not a guarantee 
and tomorrow is not promised.
Last 
Friday, 
two 
New 
Zealand mosques faced an 
act of terrorism executed by 
a white supremacist who took 
the lives of at least 50 people 
and wounded at least another 
50. The terrorist responsible 
for these acts of violence 
live-streamed his attacks on 
Facebook for the world to see. 
While Facebook had the video 
down within minutes, it has 
circulated to various online 
platforms and generated over 
one million views. In addition 
to his live-stream, the shooter 
also 
released 
a 
manifesto 
highlighting 
his 
white 
supremacist views, in which 
he praised President Donald 
Trump and voiced his support 
for Trump’s views.

The 
Muslim 
community 
around the world has been 
put under extreme pressure 
to openly express its identity 
during a trying time of bigotry. 
With 
popular 
figures 
like 
Trump continuing to fuel the 
energy and passion of white 
supremacists, xenophobia has 
continued to rise along with 
the daily fear of being openly 
Muslim in today’s society. 

Many 
communities 
have 
come 
together 
to 
express 
their support by acts of unity. 
The University of Michigan’s 
Islamophobia Working Group 
and 
the 
Muslim 
Student 
Association planned and came 
together for a vigil Saturday to 
express their solidarity for the 
community and pay respect 
to the lives lost to senseless 
violence. The vigil was quickly 
broken up by police shouting 
for the attendees to run. With 
no 
explanation 
or 
further 
instructions, 
attendees 
of 
the vigil ran for their lives, 
getting trampled and dropping 
belongings along the way.
Just 
as 
the 
Muslim 
community in New Zealand 
was attacked the safe space 
of their place of worship, the 
threat the Muslim community 
at the University felt was 
also in the safe space of their 
campus community.
While the reports of an 
active shooter threat were false 
alarms, the trauma that existed 
within the Muslim and Arab 
communities and their allies 
was certainly not a false alarm. 
The lack of response I saw from 
faculty 
and 
administration 
regarding the active shooter 
threat 
downplays 
the 

emotional trauma that a group 
of 
predominantly 
minority 
students felt that day. The lack 
of concern from these bodies 
made the University a place 
where students felt alienated 
rather than one where they 
could find solace.
Before the University had 
even officially issued an “all-
clear” to the active shooter 
threats, students had already 
began circulating and sending 
memes and jokes about the 
incident 
and 
completely 
undermining the real fear felt 
by many of their peers, some 
who were still barricaded in 
classrooms, hiding to save 
their lives.
The lives of my people are 
worth more than a meme. The 
emotional toll my community 
has faced deserves more than 
a “just get over it, nothing 
really happened.” The reality 
is the emotional trauma that 
minority 
groups 
face 
will 
simply continue to be ignored. 
Had this threat affected a 
predominantly white group of 
students, the University would 
not have reacted the same way. 
Muslim 
students 
and 
their 
allies were expected to carry on 
as normal in the days following, 
whether it was going to work 
the next morning or taking an 
organic chemistry exam less 
than 48 hours later. Official 
statements 
from 
University 
administration were scarce and 
the sentiment on campus was 
business as usual.
While the greater campus 
community may not have come 
through for us that weekend, 
I realized the strength and 
beauty in our smaller Muslim 
and Arab communities here on 
campus. Whether it was letting 
people hide for safety in each 
other’s apartments or simply 
offering to talk to affected 
students, 
my 
communities 
came together in a time of 
need 
and 
highlighted 
the 
importance of celebrating our 
unity in diversity.

Maria Ulayyet can be reached at 

mulayyet@umich.edu.

T

o our fellow students 
at 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan, 
the 
University of Michigan Chapter 
of alpha Kappa Delta Phi would 
like to sincerely apologize for 
the events that took place last 
Saturday as a result of our 
actions. Last week, a group of 
our members had planned a 
bonding event that involved 
team-building 
activities, 
including one that involved 
popping balloons that set off 
the false shooter alert. We are 
truly sorry to everyone who 
feared for their lives and had 
to experience the traumatic 
events of that day, especially 
to our fellow Muslim students 
and 
all 
those 
who 
were 
present at the New Zealand 
Mosques Solidarity Vigil. It is 
unacceptable to merely pass off 
our actions as a poorly timed 
coincidence. To do so would 
be to ignore the politically-
charged atmosphere that day 
and the many serious events on 
campus that preceded the false 

alarm. Failure to acknowledge 
these 
circumstances 
would 
only further enable us to benefit 
from the privilege that comes 
with a lack of understanding 
about the real dangers and 
fears that many of our fellow 
peers, students of color and 
Muslim students live with on a 
day to day basis.
We also want to acknowledge 
our 
silence 
and 
delay 
in 
responding to the events of last 
week. As part of a large and 
diverse community of color, 
we understand that everyone 
perceives 
and 
processes 
traumatic events in different 
ways and at different speeds. 
We have used this past week to 
not only process our feelings of 
guilt and disbelief, but to also 
reflect on our mistakes and take 
responsibility for our actions 
by reaching out to members of 
our immediate communities. 
We take this event as a stark 
realization that we need to 
further 
educate 
ourselves 
about 
Islamophobia, 
white 

supremacy and what it means 
to use our position as A/PIA 
students to participate in more 
meaningful coalition building 
on campus. Moving forward, 
we are committed to standing 
together in solidarity with our 
fellow Muslim students and 
marginalized communities on 
campus by holding necessary 
conversations and taking the 
right steps towards being more 
cognizant of our actions. While 
our words cannot undo the 
trauma that was experienced 
that day, we will use Saturday’s 
events as a way to further 
educate ourselves more about 
social justice and to empower 
and uplift our fellow Muslim 
community and communities 
of color.
Respectfully,
The University of Michigan 
Chapter of alpha Kappa Delta 
Phi

An apology from aKDPhi

ALPHA KAPPA DELTA PHI | OP-ED

The University of Michigan Chapter 

of alpha Kappa Delta Phi can be 

reached at akdphiexecs@umich.edu.

Once fraud of some 
type is revealed, 
there does tend to 
be more suspicion 
of those who let it 
happen

ANIK
JOSHI

The emotional 
trauma that 
minority groups 
will face will 
continue to be 
ignored

Zack Blumberg
Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz
Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram

Jeremy Kaplan
Magdalena Mihaylova
Ellery Rosenzweig
Jason Rowland
Anu Roy-Chaudhury

Alex Satola
Timothy Spurlin
Nicholas Tomaino
Erin White 
Ashley Zhang

