T

his November, Michigan 
voters 
have 
the 
opportunity to protect 
reproductive rights by voting 
yes on Proposal 3. This vote 
is our chance to show that 
Michiganders support the rights 
of people to make their own 
decisions about their health care 
despite the recent regressive 
actions of the U.S. Supreme Court 
to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Proposal 3, which will be on 
the ballot for the Nov. 8 midterm 
election, establishes that every 
Michigander has a fundamental 
right to reproductive freedoms 
in the Michigan Constitution. 
These 
freedoms 
include 
the 
right to make and carry out 
decisions 
about 
all 
matters 
related to pregnancy, including 
birth control, abortion, prenatal 
care and childbirth, without 
government interference. The 
proposal 
was 
introduced 
by 
Reproductive Freedom for All, 
a group dedicated to protecting 
reproductive rights in Michigan.
The issue of reproductive 
choice in Michigan has become 
immensely important ever since 

the Supreme Court decision in 
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health 
Organization which overturned 
Roe v. Wade. Following the 
Supreme 
Court’s 
decision, 
support for Proposal 3 surged: 
Reproductive Freedom for All was 
able to collect an overwhelming 
750,000 signatures from voters 
across the state.
Codifying 
abortion 
access 
in the Michigan Constitution 
is critical due to an almost 
100-year-old statute in the state 
constitution that criminalizes 
nearly all abortions. The 1931 law, 
which had been invalidated by 
Roe v. Wade, makes performing 
an 
abortion 
a 
felony 
with 
accompanying jail time unless the 
mother’s life is in danger.
Currently, the 1931 law is 
not in effect, since a Michigan 
Court of Claims judge issued 
an injunction declaring the rule 
unconstitutional. However, the 
judge’s ruling could be appealed 
by 
the 
Republican-controlled 
legislature, 
meaning 
that 
abortion could be criminalized 
in almost all cases and health 
care providers could face years in 
prison for providing reproductive 
health care to patients. 

N

ot everybody wants the 
same thing once they’re 
out of college. Some want 
to keep studying — get a masters, 
maybe even a Ph.D. Others might 
decide to take a break and explore 
the world before they enter into 
their field of choice. However, with 
the unyielding pressure of student 
loans 
and 
everybody 
around 
you invested in the recruiting 
rigamarole, most students look 
for 
a 
job. 
Computer 
science 
and engineering majors are no 
different. So, when tech giant Meta 
announced that they would not 
be offering any of their summer 
interns the coveted return offers 
that most of their predecessors 
had received, it left not just them, 
but the entirety of the computer 
engineering and computer science 
student body stunned.
I remember the day so clearly. 
We were well into summer break, 
and I was far removed from 
everything college related until my 

roommate sent an article into our 
group chat about how companies 
like Twitter had done the same, 
and that there was a chance they 
would not extend full time offers 
for the following summer at all.
While 
the 
initial 
shock 
presumably left current interns 
scrambling and aspiring interns 
like myself worrying, once the 
dust settled, it was easy to see 
why this was happening. With 
rising inflation, the war in Eastern 
Europe and the economic effects of 
the pandemic lingering, sacrifices 
had to be made. However, such 
a decision by these firms reeks 
of short-termism and cuts down 
a usually guaranteed supply of 
future talent required for keeping 
the work space fresh and hungry. 
This suggests that while it may 
have been the easiest option to cut 
off the interns, it wasn’t necessarily 
the smartest.
Nevertheless, jobs at Meta 
and other big tech firms provide 
financial stability, and, to college 
students, that is priceless. When an 
already grueling fight for limited 
seats is dealt such a decisive blow, 

it begs the question: What other 
options are even there? Is it simply 
more hours of Leetcode grinding 
and trying to stand out in the 
crowd of applicants in any way you 
can? Potentially. But that isn’t, and 
hasn’t been for quite some time, 
the only option. The other is to 
create — to innovate.
It is easier said than done, 
I know, but in a world where 
converting your brainchild into 
something real has never been as 
easy as it is today, we need to take 
more advantage of it. Startups and 
organically grown businesses offer 
students of any ilk the chance to 
evade the ever-increasing barriers 
of entry into the industry they have 
always wanted to join. They allow 
students to create jobs as opposed 
to searching for them. Most of all, 
they give students the opportunity 
to leave their mark on the world. 
And that’s just the beginning.
Entrepreneurship 
is 
vastly 
different from what it was at the 
turn of the century. As startups 
grew in popularity, being the first 
to create and execute an idea was 
crucial to their success. Today, 

with new startups being set up 
every day, being first, while still 
important, isn’t as vital as the 
quality of the product. Moreover, 
their success depends on factors 
that go deeper than simply what 
they sell. Society is becoming 
more sensitive about social and 
environmental 
issues, 
and 
a 
startup from the 2020s will surely 
reflect that. Tech giants will be 
quick to relax any efforts towards 
creating a more diverse work 
environment the moment things 
get tough, and the same can be said 
for their responsibility towards 
the environment. Startups led 
by students of our generation, 
however, are unlikely to be as 
ignorant and would go a long way 
towards reversing some of the 
damage done to the tech industry 
by the larger firms.
Most startups don’t make it. 
Yes, I know the statistics, and I 
understand that a longshot is not 
an adequate replacement for a 
job that offers a stable salary, but 
something has to change.

Opinion

The myth of the dream job

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
10 — Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Vote ‘Yes’ on Proposal 3 to 
codify reproductive rights 
in Michigan

ISABELLE SCHINDLER
 Opinion Columnist 

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SPOOKY 
SHOWINGS
at your LOCAL THEATERS!

Hocus Pocus October 23
COSTUME CONTEST

Wear your costumes and run amok! Dress up as your favorite character for a chance 
to win prizes at our pre-screening costume contest. (All ages)

Prizes Include: Theater Memberships, Movie Tickets, Concession Vouchers, & more!

Nosferatu October 30

LIVE ACCOMPANIMENT

Stephen Warner plays the historic Barton Organ 
during the film.

Rocky Horror Picture Show October 27

Shadow Cast

The Leather Medusas perform a live shadow cast 
during the film.

STATE THEATER
OPEN TUES - SUN
MICHIGAN THEATER
OPEN TUES + THURS - SUN

michtheater.org (734) 668-8397

Frankenstein October 31

Direct From London

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch 
and Jonny Lee Miller.

RUSHABH SHAH
Opinion Columnist

Exam season back again A

merican democracy is 
failing, and people know 
it. Last month Americans 
with confidence in government 
institutions 
and 
democracy 
hit the lowest levels on record. 
Young Americans have felt this 
way for a while: 52% of young 
Americans reported negative 
feelings about the state of 
democracy in the U.S. last year. 
As the next generation to take 
over these institutions, it is up 
to us to decide how we want 
the next stage of American 
democracy to look. 
The 
discontent 
among 
younger generations comes as no 
surprise. Different age groups 
have different priorities, and 
those in power are generations 

apart from the youngest voters 
— and even a generation from 
the median voter. Despite the 
median age in the U.S. being 38, 
the average age in Congress is 
59 years old. Coupled with the 
fact that members of Congress 
routinely receive large amounts 
of money from vested interests 
and PACs, as evidenced by the 
2020 election cycle, the average 
young voter has almost no voice 
when it comes to policy making. 
Young people do not have the 
same influence in Washington 
as these groups, and yet, despite 
the still-growing cynicism in our 
political system, they are poised 
to come out in record-breaking 
numbers 
in 
the 
upcoming 
midterm elections. This begs 
the question: If youth feel their 
participation in the system is 
futile, why are they coming out 
at all? The answer is because 

they have no other choice. Faced 
with skyrocketing inequality, 
the climate crisis and racial and 
gender injustice — among many 
other issues — the youngest 
Americans cannot just sit by 
idly. The option to be apathetic 
is not one most young people 
can afford. So, despite their lack 
of faith in the system, they cast 
their vote and hope for the best. 
But we don’t have to relegate 
ourselves to hoping for the best. 
While we may not have influence 
in Washington, our universities 
do. The education industry spent 
over $80 million on lobbying 
in 2020 alone. According to 
OpenSecrets, the University of 
Michigan has spent over $8.6 
million in lobbying efforts since 
1998, with $160,000 directed so 
far to lobbying in 2022 alone. The 
University of Michigan is just 
one example of the tremendous 

influence 
universities 
have 
in our political system and 
on policy, but that influence, 
and some of the money they 
use, come from their students. 
Because of this, students have a 
great influence on universities — 
and we should use it. 
This is why organizations 
such as Un-PAC, a voting rights 
non-profit focused on youth 
empowerment, 
has 
shifted 
its focus from national voting 
rights policy to campuses across 
the nation. They know youth 
can influence their universities 
to enact a slew of policies on 
campus that protect the voting 
and political rights of students, 
such as canceling classes on 
election days and being more 
transparent about their lobbying 
efforts.

The case for student voting power on campus

PETER MATARWEH
Opinion Contributor

AMBIKA TRIPATHI | OPINION CARTOONIST

 Read more at MichiganDaily.com

 Read more at MichiganDaily.com

 Read more at MichiganDaily.com

