Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Thursday, November 7, 2019
Alanna Berger
Zack Blumberg
Emily Considine
Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz
Emily Huhman
Krystal Hur
Ethan Kessler
Magdalena Mihaylova
Michael Russo
Timothy Spurlin
Miles Stephenson
Nicholas Tomaino
Joel Weiner
Erin White
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EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
JOEL WEINER | COLUMN
Equality under the law includes the President
VARNA KODOTH | COLUMN
CHLOE PLESCHER | COLUMN
A major design flaw
‘Tis the season of ignored history
T
here’s
no
denying
that the University of
Michigan is a top-ranked
public institution —
not to mention the
No.1 public research
university. With the
ever-changing political
climate, social justice
issues
and
global
events, the curriculum
requirements
set
forth are no longer
fit to produce a well-
rounded,
globally
aware student. From a
student’s perspective,
there exists a gap between the
real-world skills required in
professional work environments
in 2019 and the distribution
requirements set forth by the
13 undergraduate schools and
colleges within this institution.
The majority of U-M freshmen
matriculate into the College
of Literature, Sciences and the
Arts. Currently, the LSA college-
wide requirements include, but
are not limited to, the following:
seven credits in the humanities,
a first-year writing requirement,
an
upper-level
writing
requirement, seven credits in
the natural sciences, seven in
the social sciences, seven in
the humanities, a quantitative
reasoning
requirement,
and
a single race and ethnicity
requirement — not to mention
other
obligations.
At
first
glance, this is a great spread of
courses and disciplines with the
intent to produce well-rounded
future professionals. However,
that’s only on paper. From the
administrative perspective, it’s
important to re-evaluate how
these distribution requirements
inform
the
thought
process
by which students select their
courses.
Four years ago, I committed
to attending the University of
Michigan in part due to the
flexible
degree
requirements
that made it possible for me
to pursue studies in both the
STEM and humanities fields.
However, I realized soon after
matriculating,
that
unless
you are taking the initiative
to explore a variety of course
subjects and majors that are not
specific to the defined major
courses or the pre-professional
track you belong to, you are not
receiving as well-rounded of an
education as you could be.
The distribution requirements
typically
elicit
groans
and
complaints
from
students,
who seek an “easy A” course
in order to graduate on time.
It’s especially apparent among
STEM majors in the first-year
writing requirement and the
upper-level writing requirement.
As per the writing requirement,
non-engineering
STEM majors must
take
one
writing
course
freshman
year and one writing
course
typically
during senior year.
If you hate writing,
there
are
plenty
of
options
that
technically
fulfill
this
requirement
but do not actually
fulfill
the
whole
objective behind a distribution
requirement.
For
example,
writing an Honors Thesis can be
considered upper-level writing.
Additionally,
taking
a
lab
course that requires extensive
laboratory
experimental
write-ups
also
potentially
counts toward the upper-level
writing requirement. Here’s
the reality: Writing a scientific
write-up versus a personal
statement for graduate school
applications versus an upper-
level
writing
requirement
essay are different from one
another. It requires a distinct
set of skills to accomplish each
task successfully. Therefore,
knowing how to write a lab
report does not mean you
know how to properly reflect
and write your own story in a
personal statement.
This is what I urge the
University to do: Implement
specific,
tangible
skill-based
competencies that are related
to each major and remove
the
widespread
open-ended
distribution requirements that
are often too overwhelming
to be useful. Through these
established
competencies,
students will be exposed to
diverse concepts, pushed to
think critically and shown the
cross-over that exists between
writing,
communication,
understanding of the justice
system and additional topics
outside of the discipline that
they’re pursuing. By doing so,
the
University
requirements
will encourage students to be
open-minded and to constantly
learn. Skills like writing or a
foundation in statistics will
prove to be helpful in their
future careers and will serve
as more than just a distribution
requirement to check off on the
audit checklist.
Another aptitude to consider
enforcing
involves
requiring
different types of writing every
single year. Let’s say freshman
year is an introduction to
literary analysis and college-
level interpretations of a wide
variety of texts. It is then
pointless to a non-English major
to take yet another literary-
analysis-heavy course. Instead,
the purpose of the sophomore
year
writing
course
would
be to explore another area of
the English language such as
creative writing or writing
about social change. In junior
and
senior
year,
it’s
most
useful if the English courses
are centered upon professional
writing — personal statement
writing, essays for summer
internships, CV/resume writing
for recruitment season, etc.
Additionally, undergraduates
on the pre-health track should
be required to develop an
understanding of global health
care
delivery
systems
and
introductory
public
health
concepts regardless of whether
or not they are a student in
the School of Public Health.
Our future doctors, nurses,
physician’s assistants, dentists
and
veterinarians
need
to
be
equipped
to
speak
on
topics related to health care
policies and interventions that
impact health in the greater
population. Public health and
medicinal work go hand-in-
hand. Therefore, it is essential
to provide future health care
professionals with experience
in that collaborative approach
rather than fulfill. On the other
hand, undergraduates on the
pre-law in LSA track should be
required to not only understand
public policy but also indulge
in courses related to gender
and health, race and ethnicity
and cultural studies to develop
a big-picture understanding of
the populations to be dealt with
as a professional.
Changing
the
course
requirements in this way will
prepare University graduates
to take on challenges in the
workplace
and
send
them
out into the world to pursue
innovative solutions to global
issues. As college students, we
are privileged to have unlimited
access to a diverse range of
courses,
departments
and
world-renowned professors. It
is incumbent upon us to take
advantage of all the University
has to offer. To only take
courses that strictly fit your
future vocation is a disservice
to yourself. So it’s worth asking
the question: At what other
point in your career will you
have the opportunity to explore
multiple paths?
Varna Kodoth can be reached at
vkodoth@umich.edu.
A
s
Halloween
ends,
Americans look forward
to the next major holiday:
Thanksgiving. Excitement for
a day full of family, football and
food fills the air and motivates
students and workers to push
through their stress for a day
or two off. However, while the
holiday is centered on gratitude
and food, its true history is
ignored — exchanged for the
colonized version prominently
told in classrooms and cartoons.
The traditional story goes
like this: in 1620, the Pilgrims
set
sail
on
the
Mayflower
for the New World. After a
difficult journey, they landed on
Plymouth only to barely survive
the winter. But with the help of
the Wampanoag tribe teaching
them how to cultivate the land,
the Pilgrims had a bountiful
harvest in 1621 and shared a
feast with the Wampanoags.
While a sweet story, it is riddled
with falsehoods — all wrapped
in a bow. There is no mention of
how the Native Americans had
already
established
autumnal
harvest feasts, how the Pilgrims
viewed the tribes as savages or
how the colonizers slaughtered
the Pequot tribe 16 years later in
the Mystic massacre.
The story is not completely
false, though. There was a feast
in 1621 seemingly shared with
the Wampanoag tribe. However,
it was likely due to the Pilgrims’
desperation for food or to draft
a treaty. The feast was not the
stereotypical, happy gathering
society depicts. In fact, there
was not another such feast until
1637 after the aforementioned
Mystic
massacre,
in
which
hundreds Native Americans were
slaughtered, with estimates as
high as 700, including women
and children. Survivors were
enslaved. Deemed by the leading
Captain Mason as an “act of
God,”
the
massacre
marked
the end of the Pequot War and
demonstrated a brutal future
for the Native people. The day
after the massacre, Governor
John Winthrop declared the
colonizers’ victory a “day of
celebration and thanksgiving for
subduing the Pequots.” As such,
historians have proposed this
celebration was a mixture of both
events.
Yet,
the
traditional
story
continues to be told. And it
makes consumer sense. The
story of Pilgrims, adventure
and gratitude is heartwarming,
especially when compared to the
truth. The whitewashed version
of Thanksgiving not only erases
the history of the holiday, but it
erases the entire history between
colonizers and Native Americans.
By telling stories about how
Native Americans and colonizers
got along, the history of genocide
is ignored.
We cannot change our history
or how it has been previously
told, but we can change how our
history is told going forward.
We can acknowledge the hurt
our government has inflicted
and the current crises Native
Americans are facing. There are
high suicide rates among Native
youth, a homelessness crisis,
violence against women and
land and human rights issues.
These are only a few issues Native
Americans face, yet almost all are
consistently not given adequate
coverage by the news and other
media.
This
does
not
mean
Thanksgiving needs to be spent
in shame and guilt. Instead,
we should strive to recognize
that traditional depictions of
Thanksgiving are not historically
accurate, and not everyone in
America celebrates it in that way.
For example, the United American
Indians of New England work to
educate others about the reality of
colonizer interactions, teach the
actual history of Thanksgiving
and honor those who were
slaughtered. They host a National
Day of Mourning in Plymouth,
Mass. The event is held on
Thanksgiving, and it was started
by Wampanoag leader Wamsutta
Frank
James.
This
event
contrasts with the traditional
Thanksgiving celebration, and
it does not necessarily mean
everyone in America needs to
participate. Rather, the National
Day of Mourning serves as an
educational example and as an
opportunity for people to reflect
on our nation’s treatment of
Native Americans. The event
reveals the history too many
choose to ignore.
The aforementioned Mystic
massacre was the first major
conflict between Native peoples
in America. English colonizers
paid no attention to who they
killed,
callously
murdering
American Indians in their path.
Our
American
Thanksgiving
marks the colonizers’ win and
one of the mass slaughters of
Native
Americans.
Obviously,
our Thanksgiving now does
not celebrate the brutality and
genocide of Native Americans.
However, it is still important
to understand our history and
acknowledge what our past people
and United States government
has done and continues to do.
The government continues to
mistreat Native American tribes,
as seen with the Dakota Access
Pipeline and federal control of
Native American land.
When we, as the victors,
distort history to our favor, we
are not only doing a disservice
to Native Americans, but we are
doing a disservice to ourselves.
We can never know everything,
but we can educate ourselves on
our American history and learn
from it. When we acknowledge
that the Pilgrims and Puritans
were not saints, and how the
American Indians were brutally
raped, murdered and enslaved,
we can start a process of healing
and reparations.
There
is
nothing
wrong
with celebrating a traditional
Thanksgiving. Eat your turkey,
cheer for your favorite football
team and relax with your family
or friends. However, remember
there is more to Thanksgiving
than gratitude and the sharing
of food. The U.S. has an
ugly history with the Native
Americans. So, as Thanksgiving
approaches,
remember
the
catastrophic history of the first
Thanksgiving.
Chloe Plescher can be reached at
chloebp@umich.edu.
A
s
the
House
of
Representatives proceed
with their impeachment
inquiry, more evidence has come
to light regarding a suspicious,
almost certainly illegal, deal with
Ukraine. While representatives
consider how they will vote if and
when the House holds a formal
vote of impeachment, they ought
to decide the same way they
would in a civilan grand jury
investigation.
In an impeachment inquiry,
the House’s role is similar to that
of a grand jury during a criminal
trial. It hears evidence and
decides whether to proceed with
charges – here called articles of
impeachment. Since grand jury
investigations are closed to the
public, the Republican outcry
about the House investigation
being
closed
is
completely
unwarranted, especially when
one considers that a Republican-
controlled House conducted a
similar closed-door investigation
into former Secretary of State
Hillary
Clinton’s
decisions
regarding
Benghazi.
In
any
other scenario relating to a
public official, a grand jury
would almost certainly decide
to charge the defendant, but
since this is the president of the
United States it makes sense that
the House is being so scrupulous.
That said, if they determine that
they have enough evidence to
indict, they absolutely should
because one of the most basic
tenets of democracy is equality
under the law.
The
understanding
that
a powerful politician is still
subject to the same laws as a
normal citizen undergirds our
criminal justice system. People
should have a reasonable level
of confidence that being charged
or not charged with a crime is a
result of the evidence and only
the evidence, and while the
current system often does not
actually follow this ideal, holding
our politicians accountable for
their actions is a step in the right
direction.
When people can flout laws,
tyranny
could
follow.
One
of the first steps in turning a
democracy into a tyrannical state
is to create a double standard
between lawmakers and regular
citizens. A distinction between
the two could elevate a leader to
a protected legal status that could
reduce their accountability and
thus would enable them to engage
in activites considered criminal if
done by normal citizens. This is
a stepping stone to authoritarian
rule because powerful leaders
can begin to disregard the entire
system of laws upholding our
country, which prevents them
from being responsible for the
laws they create. If a lawmaker is
free from answering to the rule
of law, they can use it as a tool for
their personal gain rather than as
a foundation for our society.
The
argument
that,
even
if there is enough evidence to
suggest that the president is
guilty, impeachment would be
too disruptive for the country
is absurd. We as Americans
are all expected to follow our
nation’s laws, and that includes
the president. The Office of
Legal
Council
policy
that
Robert Mueller cited during
his testimony to Congress this
summer says a sitting president
cannot be charged in a crime by a
federal prosecutor because doing
so
would
unconstitutionally
undermine the president’s ability
to fulfill his or her duties. That
does not mean the president
is above the law, rather that
there is a different process for
charging him or her with a
crime. That obligation falls not
on the Department of Justice
but on Congress to investigate,
impeach and ultimately convict a
president. This different process
alone accounts for the higher
responsibility of the president
than a normal citizen.
While being cautious with
impeachment
is
important,
failing to impeach because the
president is considered “too busy”
is a standard that protects every
other powerful person accused of
a crime. If anything, influential
people in our society should be
subject to more scrutiny than
others because their actions have
further-reaching consequences.
Above all else, their positions
are responsibilities, and that
responsibility
ought
to
be
insulated
against
potential
corruption.
Furthermore,
subjecting
these
influential
lawmakers to their own laws
will force them to examine any
potential legislation or policy
through a personal lens, which
creates a powerful incentive to be
an effective policymaker.
Impeaching a president does
not mean they will be removed
from office, nor does it mean
that they will be ineffective at
their job. Though two presidents
have been impeached in U.S.
history, neither was removed
from office. Impeachment is
simply an agreement to charge
the president with a crime, not
convict. Subjecting a president to
congressional scrutiny through
impeachment ensures that their
conduct does not betray U.S.
interests or citizens.
When the House evaluates
the evidence brought to light
by their impeachment inquiry
into Donald Trump, they should
disregard Trump’s status as
president. Working with foreign
governments
to
undermine
America’s democratic processes
is an offense that should be
considered
with
the
utmost
objectivity because it can be
so detrimental to our nation.
Allowing such crimes to go
uninvestigated because of the
president’s power could set a
far worse precedent for future
leaders
than
would
passing
articles of impeachment.
Joel Weiner can be reached at
jgweiner@umich.edu.
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VARNA
KODOTH
One of the most
basic tenets of
democracy is
equality under
the law.