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Mr. Snyder goes to Washington

statement THE MICHIGAN DAILY

FE B RUARY 18 , 2015

Wednesday, February 18, 2015 // The Statement

Footnotes: Life in the MLB

Becoming a Townie: Living Local

BY IAN DILLINGHAM

BY EMMA KERR

our neighborhood — it’s more than a street name. If you live within walking distance of Hatcher, you’re most absolutely a student, and you almost certainly have positioned yourself based on the network in which you frequent. You live on Packard? You like a good party more than anything. Hill and Tappan? You’re a Ross kid. Kerrytown? Hipster … or engineer. Landmark? Zaragon? Frat star. Or … maybe not. When I was deciding where to live, it never felt like a decision at all. Yes, I chose to live in a certain neighborhood with a certain group of people, but off-campus housing feels a lot less like a rational decision and a lot more like a confusing blur of houses, apartments, and questionable landlords that all ends with you living in an overpriced closet. As enrollment rates increase and the number of on-campus rooms remains the same, freshman more often than not end up being forced to explore Ann Arbor for the very first time as they search for a place to live the following year. For the freshmen and upperclassmen who scramble to find off-campus housing, they are reaching out to landlords, talking to residents, visiting houses in different areas, and usually start by deciding: apartment or house? Apartment seems to be the easier option of the two. Houses are complicated, while apartments frequented by students are glorified dorms.

THE

These “glorified dorms” however, are remarkably unpopular among non-student residents. Townies are often angered by expensive, blocky buildings that neither meet the city’s announced goal of increasing affordable housing downtown nor the desire to preserve Ann Arbor’s unique character. For every apartment building that goes up in an effort to target students, local residents are almost always quick to respond. They challenge the proximity of the building to their parks and neighborhoods, full of fear and foreboding for the future of Ann Arbor. The tension between residents and students is not uncommon, but is particularly apparent in a college town with such vibrant and diverse experiences in the city and on campus. So let me tell you a story. The day I was born, while I was still at the hospital, my eight-year-old brother and father bought me a bear. I, creatively, named him Barry the Bear. My brother had had a similar bear named Fuzzy, given to him when he was born, that he loved and that can be found in my parents’ living room, all torn up and worn. My bear is there too, but he isn’t worn … actually, he looks entirely untouched. Exactly the way it had been given to me. Instead, in my bedroom here in Ann Arbor, you will find a flattened out, greenish Alligator, who I also very creatively named Allie the Alligator, laying on my bed. He has stains everywhere and his cloth teeth have wrinkled and torn over the years.

statement

Magazine Editor: Ian Dillingham Deputy Editor: Natalie Gadbois

Photo Editor: Luna Anna Archey Illustrator:

Editor in Chief: Jen Calfas Copy Editors:

Megan Mulholland

Hannah Bates

Design Editor:

Maggie Miller

Laura Schinagle

Jake Wellins

Managing Editor: Lev Facher

COVER BY JAKE WELLINS

Emma Sutherland

Barry was special to me. And because he was special, I wanted to take care of him. I didn’t take him with me outside, or to daycare, or on the bus, or with me to college. But Allie, who was just a meaningless alligator, came everywhere with me. Ann Arbor is special as well. And while my place is not to say what is right for this city, neither fearing change and desiring things to stay the same nor rushing to capitalize on students desperate for nearby housing with poorly thought out buildings seem like strategies the constituents in this city — both students and residents — desire. The truth is, we all have a lot to lose. The University has a lot to lose if the essence of Ann Arbor as a town is harmed, as do the students. And residents, who know and love Ann Arbor’s character, would undoubtedly feel an impact if the University was unable to bring such a large and diverse group of young adults to the city. The University enrolls over 43,000 students each year, and they all have to find somewhere to live. In the process each student will make some decisions that say a lot about him or her, whether they realize it or not: where you live, what kinds of people you choose to support, who you decide to live with. But you will, ultimately, call Ann Arbor your home. And in doing so, you join a much larger community, one that isn’t included in those enrollment numbers, that is worth exploring. Off-campus housing just may be your chance to do so.

IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE IT’S... THE LITERARY ISSUE COMING NEXT WEEK!

t’s always surprised me how many classes I have in the Modern Languages Building — at least one each semester since I started at the University. On such an expansive campus, one on which I’ve yet to enter a good number of the buildings, it seems odd to spend such a great deal of time in one auditorium. Sitting in a 400-person lecture halls, I am always tempted to surf the web, check my texts, and lose focus on the topic at hand — education. From a quick glance around the room, I would say that I’m not alone in that respect. Shelly Schreier and her GoldenApple-winning lectures can captivate an audience with the same flare as a Shakespearean performance, but I’ve found many professors, through no fault of their own, cannot. This isn’t surprising. The professors at this University weren’t hired because they are world-renowned public speakers, or because they have personalities that fill an auditorium. They were brought to Ann Arbor because they are simply the most brilliant minds in their respective fields of study. After delivering a lackluster lecture, many of these doctors of science and humanities will head back to their office and literally change the world through their academic exploits. Why then, do we expect them to stand in front of a lecture hall and keep the attention of college students — perhaps the most easily distractible demographic in recorded history? Freshman year, when I was in Schreier’s Psychology 111 class, I was concurrently enrolled in an Organic Chemistry lab. My GSI, who now works somewhere in the biotech realm of the Silicon Valley, was not particularly adept in teaching. Even so, I remember the class being valuable in seeing the practical applications behind the work we learned in lecture. Don’t get me wrong — organic chem lab is a special kind of Hell that I wouldn’t wish onto my worst enemy. Enrolling in the 8:00 a.m. Friday section of a four-hour lab doesn’t help either. But, at the end of the day, you learn a lot and gain an appreciation for the chemistry

ILLUSTRATION BY MAGGIE MILLER

behind basic science. Similarly, I remember volunteering in a lab at the medical school before I had even completed my intro bio sequence. Thanks to interactions with one professor and one patient postdoc, I learned more in some afternoons than I would in months of a standard lecture course. In case any students have missed the memo, this is one of the largest, most advanced research universities in the world. When I was applying to Michigan, I remember that some of the smaller colleges would market themselves based on their student-to-faculty ratio or the number of classes under thirty students. These are all valuable measures, but don’t necessarily assure a quality education. Having professors on campus doesn’t help students unless those professors are truly accessible. The University could make moves to reform its current systems. Some professors should not ever be placed in front of lecture halls. But that doesn’t mean students cannot take full advantage of their expertise in other ways. It’s up to those individuals on both side of the equation — students and teachers — to make sure the University is getting full use of the $1.3 dollar research enterprise that has developed over the last 198 years. Take teachers out of the lecture halls, and put them back in the labs where they are more comfortable. Let students develop meaningful connections with these experts and, at the same time, learn in the environment where they will eventually be working. Professors standing awkwardly on stage in the MLB doesn’t do anyone any favors.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015 // The Statement 3B

My Cultural Currency: On Trivia Crack and trivial facts B Y TA N YA M A D H A N I

ne fateful January night, I downloaded Trivia Crack — a smartphone app based around answering trivia questions in a variety of categories — and proceeded to beat several of my friends for ten straight games. Omg why are you so good? my friend Jessica asked in the app’s chat function. Lol, I replied, adding two nailpainting Emojis for good measure. It wasn’t until Trivia Crack that I realized how much useless information I had actually managed store in my brain from years of hardcore Internet-ing and my parents’ general lack of observation. Here’s the thing — my parents never monitored what my siblings and I read, watched, or listened to. It’s not like my parents didn’t care about what I was doing with my free time. I could tell you manya-tales about chilly Friday nights spent doing extra homework at the kitchen table under my mother’s watchful eye. However, they thought if I was reading a book that there was definitely nothing to worry about. To them, reading a book automatically translated to reading something educational and helpful. And they were right. Most of the time. Reading “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg when I was eleven years old? Probably not advisable, but definitely enriching and formative to my future literary interests in the Beat Generation. Reading “Much Ado About

S TAT E M E N T LG B TQ I N T H E M E D I A VIDEO How do students and faculty perceive recent changes to portrayals of LGBTQ individuals in popular media? Daily video staffer Andrew Zick takes a look at this topic from a social and academic standpoint.

Nothing” on my own and forming an ardent love for Shakespearean comedy and the name Beatrice? My dad would be hella proud. But both my parents would probably be horrified to learn that I had once locked myself in my room for seven hours the summer I was a thirteen-year-old to engross myself in a 200-page anthology of SpiderMan, of all things, cover-to-cover. The collection of comics, spinoffs, and character histories literally changed my life, and I now know more about the Spider-Man universe than any normal person ever cared to know. Did you know Venom eventually moved to California to become San Francisco’s superhero? But, like many of the things in my mom and dad’s brand of parent-

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MEGAN MULHOLLAND

ing, their lack of oversight when it comes to my reading material has been both a blessing and a curse to my life. Being able to absolutely pummel my friend Amy — a total baller at life outside of Trivia Crack — because she didn’t know what the name of Han Solo’s ship? Definite blessing with a much-needed boost to my self-esteem. And it’s the Millennium Falcon, if you were curious — but let’s be real, who, except Amy, doesn’t know “Star Wars?” Caring way too much about things that no one but myself gives a shit about? A curse I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. That is, if mortal enemies actually existed outside of movies and TV shows. Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures announced last week that they would be collaborating to include Spider-Man in the new Avengers movie. And I (figuratively) died. But as usual, I was the only one in the general vicinity that cared. It can definitely be disappointing when you excitedly turn to your roommate to share this news only to get the following reply: “Okay … I thought they already made that movie? With that guy from the Social Network?” It’s a lonely road, but then I remind myself that no one has to share my weird obsession with Spider-Man. Because, at the end of the day, I’ll still crush my roommate in Trivia Crack.

Women’s Studies Prof. NADINE (DEAN) HUBBS discusses issues of gender identity and gender expression at her office in Lane Hall

THE THOUGHT BUBBLE

LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/DAILY

“I really like Eleanor Roosevelt. She was very forward-thinking. She was kind of the first ‘First Lady,’ the first one to go out and make policies and have opinions on things instead of staying at the White House and throwing parties.” –LSA FRESHMAN ELENA HUBBELL

Wednesday, February 18, 2015 // The Statement

Could Snyder seek the Oval Office? By Katie Burke, Daily Staff Reporter

self-described nerd, Rick Snyder is more of an executive than a politician. After spending most of his career in the private sector, he made the jump to the governor’s mansion in 2010 and has since garnered national attention for his policy decisions. As the country prepares for the 2016 presidential elections, pundits statewide and across the country have been tossing around the question — will “the nerd” make the transition from Lansing to Washington? “Well, I don’t believe in playing traditional politics,” Snyder said in his 2015 State of the State address. “I’m not a career politician.” Snyder’s name has appeared on speculative lists of potential candidates for the 2016 presidential race alongside other Midwest governors, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. “There is a good deal of interest in the national media in governors as opposed to some of the establishment like (former Florida Governor Jeb) Bush and (former Massachusetts Governor Mitt) Romney,” said political syndicated columnist George Weeks, a member of the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame. In a Congress that has become infamous for gridlock and partisanship, the outside perspective a governor can provide is a major strength for potential candidates. “You look at the people we have leading Washington, and how much they bicker and fight — it would be nice to have someone who hasn’t grown up in that culture and isn’t used to that way of doing things,” said Law School student John Lin, who has served as Snyder’s assistant to the campaign manager, personal aide and assistant director of scheduling. While Snyder has the advantage of being a fresh face in D.C., if he were to run, he would be facing considerable competition from other governors, should they also decide to run. Susan Demas, a political columnist for MLive.com, said in the field of GOP governors in the Midwest — namely Walker, Kasich, and Pence — Snyder, due to his “aversion to really getting in the mix with politics” would be “fourth out of four.” While there has been mounting evidence Snyder is planning to stay in Michigan — Snyder and his wife bought a $2 million condominium in downtown Ann Arbor — he has yet to formally discount a presidential run. In an election that has already generated much speculation from both parties, Snyder’s presence on the list of possible Republican candidates turns the spotlight on his credentials and record in Michigan. An unlikely candidate A University alum — he received an undergraduate degree in 1977, an MBA in 1979 and a law degree in 1982 — Snyder’s original career path led in the opposite direction of politics. “I’m a CPA by training,” Snyder said. He worked as a tax accountant at Detroit firm Coopers & Lybrand, making partner in just six years. Snyder then moved to Chicago and, after meeting the co-founder of Gateway Computers, became executive vice president, then CEO. In 1997 he returned to Michigan to start a venture capital firm. In an interview with Lansing news channel WLNS, Snyder said the idea to run for governor first came up on a date with his wife, where she suggested he run for office after he listed off his solutions for the state’s many problems. In 2010, Snyder, who had never held a political office in his life, ran against Lansing mayor and Democratic candidate

Virg Bernero for the Michigan governorship. Running a camIn March 2012 and again in March 2014, Snyder met with paign that branded him as “one tough nerd,” Snyder beat Ber- auto manufacturers and suppliers in Europe to bring their nero by 18 points. business to the state auto industry. Public Policy lecturer John Hieftje, former mayor of Ann And, according to the Detroit Chamber of Commerce, his Arbor, said he knew Snyder before he became governor. Hief- efforts paid off. In 2013, Michigan more than doubled its auto tje said Snyder had continued to be accessible even after he production in 2009, moving from about 1.1 million vehicles assumed office. produced to almost 2.5 million, and created about 11,000 jobs In terms of his future career aspirations: “He certainly in the automotive sector. could go back into business,” Hieftje said. “He could be in the “Anyone that has seen his results should want to have that (U.S.) Cabinet. As far as I know, I’m taking the Governor on person leading the country,” Lin said. what he says now, which is to be governor.” Walking the party line Relentless positive action While Snyder’s résumé demonstrates his ability to enact Since taking office in January 2011, Snyder has operated positive change at the state level, his policy decisions haven’t under the motto of “relentless positive action.” always lined up with the national Republican party, which “It’s about being would prove difficult positive in the way in a presidential priyou conduct yourmary. self, it’s about being “His prospects in relentless at solving the Republican party problems,” Lin said. are relatively limited,” “No blame; no taking said Political Science credit. It’s just getProf. Mike Traugott. ting things done and “He’s not conservative getting results.” enough.” In his State of In September 2013, the State address in Snyder made MichiJanuary, the govergan one of three states nor discussed the in which Republicans improvements in hold the governorship state industries that and both legislative occurred during chambers that have his first term. Speapproved the expancifically, he pointed sion of Medicaid as a to an increase of part of the Affordable 30,000 new jobs in Care Act. In doing so, the private sector, a Michigan receives 40-percent decrease federal funding to in the unemployment extend Medicaid benJAMES COLLER/Daily rate and $2 million efits to residents under increase in tourism Snyder greets attendees at a viewing party in Detroit during the November 2014 elections. the age of sixty-five revenue. that are up to 133 per“We have made the old unbelievable, achievable, and cent of the federal poverty level. we have taken on many difficult issues,” Snyder said in the Unlike many of his GOP colleagues in Washington, Snyder speech. “We’re better, but to be open with you better is not has been aggressive on immigration. In his 2014 State of the good enough. We need to do more.” State address, he urged the U.S. government to allocate 50,000 As well as improving aspects of the statewide economy, visas to skilled workers to immigrate to Detroit. Snyder made the Detroit bankruptcy a primary focus of his “There’s no doubt that highly skilled, legal immigrants with first term. On June 2014, he authorized $195 million from the advanced academic degrees and entrepreneurial talents crestate of Michigan in addition to $366 million from foundations ate jobs for Americans,” Snyder said in a statement before his and $100 million from the Detroit Institute of Arts in a “grand 2014 speech. bargain” to lift the city out of bankruptcy. The deal replaced Most recently, Snyder released a statement in early Februcuts in city pensions and avoided the possibility of selling ary declining to appeal the 300 same-sex marriages that were DIA-owned works. performed before Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette “His record in Detroit and what he did there has been issued a stay on the decision to strike down the state ban on widely hailed and has gotten a lot of favorable press coverage gay marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments beyond Michigan,” Weeks said. “It’s certainly a strong point later this year on the legality of same-sex marriage. for him.” Not all of Snyder’s decisions have been moderate, and on Snyder’s efforts have extended beyond national borders, some issues, including domestic partner benefits and union forming global relationships to benefit the state. He traveled membership, he has taken a strong conservative stand. to China each year of his first term to work with Chinese com“Snyder has done a lot of things to please conservatives,” panies to expand business in Michigan. Demas said, citing the 2012 passage of the Right to Work law

and business tax cuts. “He has gotten a lot of respect for that.” Another hurdle Snyder would face as a presidential prospect is the political leaning of his own state. Though Michigan’s statewide elections have traditionally trended red — both houses have been dominated by Republicans since 2010, excluding the state Senate from 2007 to 2010 — it has voted Democrat in every presidential election since 1992. Even Romney, a Bloomfield Hills native whose father, George Romney, was Governor of Michigan, couldn’t carry the state in 2012. “I don’t see that Michigan is suddenly going to go Republican after six straight presidential elections voting for Democrats,” Demas said. “Especially after how Romney did.” In the most recent statewide midterm elections, Snyder achieved reelection by four points — after outspending his opponent, Mark Schauer, by more than $1 million between Sept. 13 and Oct. 19. Despite the close reelection and the state’s voting history, the possibility of carrying Michigan cannot be completely discounted. “The native son thing would definitely play in his favor,” Lin said. “(Michigan) is more purple than (it is) blue, so I think he has a good chance.” Washington bound? Despite media speculation, the oval office isn’t the only place in Washington where Snyder’s skills could be put to use. “The more serious talk would be in terms of a vice presidential role, though his wife has been very clearly not interested,” Demas said. “He’s a strong candidate for the Department of Treasury.” Traugott said the low possibility of Snyder swaying Michigan red would put him on the bottom of the list of potential vice presidential candidates, but said he also saw a possibility of a U.S. Treasury Department appointment. While Lin said Treasury or the U.S. Commerce Department may not be the best fit for the governor’s skill set, he said he believes Snyder would be a prominent addition to the Cabinet. “I think he’d make a great Cabinet secretary,” Lin said. “He’d make a great trade representative given his knowledge of working with other countries.” Weeks, citing past Michigan governors Soapy Williams and George Romney, said Snyder could be a candidate to serve in any Republican administration. “If he ends up supporting or endorsing a particular candidate who ends up as president, that’s always a possibility,” Weeks said. A Snyder presidential campaign has not officially been put out of the question, but it would face considerable obstacles. However, the fact that the Governor’s name is being discussed has statewide benefits. “When CNN mentions Rick Snyder, they always mention the bankruptcy, taking Detroit out of bankruptcy, our low unemployment rate, the fact people are now moving to Michigan,” Lin said. “Four or five years ago, talk about Michigan, everyone thinks it’s the worst state to be, but now because of the changed narrative, people are now thinking positive thoughts about Michigan. “There’s no reason to stop it.” RIGHT: Snyder participates in a cultural celebration in Holland, Mich. in May 2014. (RUBY WALLAU/Daily)

Wednesday, February 18, 2015 // The Statement

New app connects students with friends to promote campus safety by Taylor Wizner, Daily Staff Reporter

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY RUBY WALLAU

here’s a new Blue Light emergency phone on campus, and it’s in your pocket. Two University students have created a mobile app that allows students to stay safe while they travel alone around campus. The app, Companion, tracks the user in real time, estimating the period of travel needed to get to their destination and checking up on them if they fail to make it there. Informatics senior Nathan Pilcowitz and Business senior Danny Freed worked together to develop the app. The idea for Companion came to them while they were both working in Chicago over the summer and looking for an app that would really have an impact on campus. “On college campuses — because it’s a smaller area — you walk everywhere for the most part,” Freed said. “It’s become a bigger societal issue with (the prevalence of) sexual assault violence on campus.” Companion has some features akin to apps like Google Maps and Snapchat. The screen shows a map of the user’s location, indicated by a blue dot. The user can press a point on the map or type in the address to create their route. Next, from their contacts, the user adds a “companion,” who receives notifications via text message regardless of whether they have a phone with the app. The companions are automatically prompted to check in with their friend if the user doesn’t reach their destination by the predicted arrival time. As the user walks, the screen functions as a security interface — if he or she feels unsafe, the app can be used to “ping” friends or even call 911. Freed said the main purpose of the app is to make people feel protected with help only a touch away. “(An assault) might not happen 99 out of 100 times, but the fact of the matter is you provide peace of mind,” Freed said, of what the app provides its users. The seniors are working on updating the app to be able to interface with the University Police Department. The goal is to integrate predictive patrolling, which would allow police

officers to watch areas where most students are walking alone. “The more people using it, the better the monitoring system will get, the more data there is to keep them safer,” Freed said. Prior to downloading Companion, LSA senior Hailey Lefkofsky walked home from the library at night with her iPhone glued to her ear and carrying pepper spray as a precaution. But she said she never had a consistent and reliable safety system. “I usually called a friend, but a lot of times needed to call a few different people until someone was free to stay on the phone,” Lefkofsky said. “Otherwise I’d arrange to text someone when I got back but often times I’d forget and they didn’t hear from me.” Stressed from crime reports of students being assaulted in recent years, Lefkofsky said the app’s instant response features came as a relief. “The campus alerts that we get, a lot of times you get that the next day, but if I was walking down that same street where there was an attack at 1:00 a.m. that’s something I kind of want to know more immediately,” Lefkofsky said. “I like that (Companion) is really instantaneous and you can ping a friend or you can just call the police directly.” “This makes me feel 100 times safer and I didn’t really have an alternative,” she added. Lefkofsky said she has tried University-sponsored safety measures — like SafeRide and the Blue Light Emergency Phones — to help her get places at night, but found them difficult to use. “I remember hearing (about SafeRide) at freshman orientation and thinking that was awesome, and then going to use and it and being told I had an hour long wait,” she said. “Or you could only use it twice a semester. I don’t think its really helping the problem.” Public Policy senior Max Kepes uses the app on weeknights when he stays too late on campus working. He likes the app for its simplicity.

“This (app’s) much more efficient than having to stay on the phone with someone (and make) small talk for 15 minutes,” Kepes said. “You are able to walk home and alert your friends. It’s nice for (my girlfriend) to share her location when she’s walking home and for me to share mine just to make sure the other person’s home safely.” Given the app’s ability to track an individual’s location, concerns have been raised over personal privacy. But the founders said the visibility of the user’s location and user information all depends on what the user chooses to share. “They chose who is going to be their companion,” Pilcowitz said. “…And the police, they only would see points of data, they can’t tell who you are until you say you are in trouble.” The app also does not automatically select the same companion each trip, allowing for the user to change who they want to keep an eye on them, depending on where they are going. While Kepes said he doesn’t feel unsafe on campus, he still likes to use the app as a precaution. “If there is something that happens, it has the ability to notify someone quickly, and I think that is very comforting, despite already feeling safe on campus,” Kepes said. Kepes is also looking forward to the app’s upcoming predictive patrolling feature. “I think (UMPD) do a great job but there’s always room for improvement,” Kepes said. “Instead of having a safety officer on State Street, say there’s a concentration (of students feeling unsafe) near Hill Street or near (Shapiro Library) on South U, it would be a little more efficient.” When the weather is cold it becomes harder for students to speak on the phone, so being able to have the app active in your coat pocket is an added plus, Kepes noted. “I leave the library, I put in my location and put it in my pocket, get home and turn it off,” Kepes said. “It’s so simple and it doesn’t take any extra time to make sure you’re safe. The benefits are really worth it.” Companion is free in Apple’s App Store and is currently being developed for Android devices.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015 // The Statement

Personal Statement: Disappointment by Michael Sugerman, Daily News Editor

t’s 2:50 a.m., and I’m sitting in front of my computer. To my right sits an empty bag of nacho cheese Doritos and a bottle of diet Mountain Dew. I have a novel to start and finish reading in the next eight hours. It’s go time. Nights like these aren’t entirely irregular for many college students — running off fumes from the pre-packaged rocket fuel dispensed from vending machines, rushing to finish neglected schoolwork last minute. I’m going to be honest: I hate that we live this way. And I say “we” because I know I’m not alone. One glance at Yik-Yak is enough to tell me that I’m not the only one who procrastinates; I’m not the only one who feels lonely sometimes; I’m not the only one without a clue as to what I want to do “when I grow up”; and I’m certainly not the only one who is becoming increasingly aware how quickly time goes by and how little control I have over it all. ____________________ During the Fall 2014 semester, I took Political Science 315: Media and Public Opinion. The class was a crash course in understanding the psychology behind media persuasion, specifically through the lens of political campaigns. One of the biggest topics of the course was this idea of “mortality salience.” Mortality salience is, essentially, the knowledge that one day, we are all going to die. In the political sphere, this manifests itself in how we choose our leaders: because we’re doomed to death, while we’re alive, we look to the people who are going to keep us safest for guidance. I understood the term’s application in the context of our course. But it resonated with me because for a while now, I’ve felt that time is going by faster and faster, and as a result, my mortality salience has skyrocketed. All of this, I think, is just a part of growing up. And that’s what I really, really fear — that the older I get, the faster time will speed by. And that sensation isn’t helped by junk foodpowered all-nighters that seem to make each day blend into one murky continuum, in which there is no time to pause and simply take it all in. The astronomy class I’m in right now has also made me realize just how insignificant this all is. We live on a planet hurtling around a star, and that star is one of billions of stars hurtling through the galaxy, and the Milky Way is one of billions of galaxies in a universe that is slowly expanding every day. Relative to everything there is, we are equivalent to a fraction of a grain of sand. If we’re so insignificant, and one day each of us is destined to simply … cease … then what’s the point? I guess I’m just a little bit sad, that’s all. Or rather, I feel really overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the day-to-day stuff that seems so important — grades and internship applications — and overwhelmed by how unimportant some of it is in the long run.

ILLUSTRATION BY MEGAN MULHOLLAND

I realize that the most important thing is to recognize that, because time is limited, we must make the most out of every day. But therein lies another problem: I recently considered the idea that I haven’t been putting my all into everything I do. In my first semester of college, I was a straight-A student. I was confident in my academic abilities. The full effort? It wasn’t there, but it didn’t need to be. I was cruising, and cruising felt good. I was writing for the newspaper, and that felt good. I was struggling socially, but talking to my high school friends on a regular basis was a remedy for that. Eventually, that struggle disappeared. Everything was, overall, okay. But things aren’t as “okay” now. The more courses I’ve taken, the more I’ve become aware of the fact that I don’t know exactly what I’m passionate about. And because I don’t know what I’m passionate about yet, I worry that I’m wasting my time in some classes where the fire hasn’t been ignited. That’s a terrible feeling, and subsequently, I try to avoid it. The hardest part is, this whole college thing — I’m supposed to make some kind of return off the investment, right? And the investment is so much more than prioritizing the newspaper over class, surfing the Internet for hours and hiding behind the façade that I don’t have enough time for the homework. The reality is that I’m just not making time for it because I don’t know what I want and that scares me. ____________________ I was an anxious kid. I’d get restless, panicked and even nauseated just by sitting in the same place for too long. I was also very idealistic: I had a vision for how the world should work, and when people failed to meet my expectations, I very easily became disappointed and frustrated. It wasn’t fair, but when people didn’t agree with me, I saw it as a personal affront. So when, as an undersized fifth grader, pamphlets were presented to me in class about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, they really got to me. I went home crying that day, worried that there were substances that could impair my judgment and risk my safety. I was doubly appalled that, in the vague but not-too-distant future, at least a handful of my friends would apparently be doomed to use these “scary” substances — and would subsequently pressure me to join them. My heart would beat faster even when my parents had even one glass of wine at home — I didn’t want them to get drunk. Even after they explained to me that alcohol consumption is nuanced, and responsible adults know not to drink in excess, it took a while to sink in. By high school, little had changed. Some of my friends began drinking and smoking, and I was not subtle in my disapproval. I avoided weekend parties at all costs, because A: I feared that I’d be unwittingly presented with substances, and B: I worried that I’d be too uncomfortable to enjoy myself.

When I got to college, part B held true. During Welcome Week of my freshman year, I found myself in the basement of a fraternity house. I hadn’t wanted to go, but a friend had suggested it and I figured that if college was about getting out of one’s comfort zone, I might as well give it a try. After telling the drunk student manning the door that my friend Joe and I were “definitely going to rush” in order to gain entry, I stepped into a nightmare. The house was dimly lit by colored strobe lights. It reeked of marijuana and cigarettes. The floor was wet with spilled beer and cheap vodka. Red Solo Cups lined fold-out tables in the foyer, along with half-consumed handles of liquor and chaser. I couldn’t hear my friend above the music, which was so loud that I could feel the bass reverberating through my body. There were so many people packed into the home that there was little to no room to move. It was very humid. Less than 10 minutes after arriving, I left. I got drunk for the first time at a friend’s house toward the end of my first semester, sharing a case of Hamm’s beer — the cheapest and crappiest we could find — with three other guys. I had decided that if drinking was part of the process of becoming a college student, I was going to do it with a small group of people in a comfortable, contained setting. Here’s what shocked me: I liked the buzz. I liked how it felt. And liking it made me feel guilty. ____________________ We come into college believing that it’s where we’re going to find ourselves, make our closest friends, and have this epiphany where we realize our higher calling and pursue it with gusto. On top of that, I personally came to college with naïve notions about the “evils” of drinking and fears about other substances that I’ve since tried. So far, I’ve found that the idealistic, picture-perfect version of things doesn’t hold true. That’s what really gets to me. Because right now, the 10-year-old version of myself who wanted to be an author (or a professional baseball player) and thought that he’d never touch an alcoholic beverage is kind of disappointed in me. I get that it’s not rational, but I still feel that disappointment, and I’m deeply conflicted by it. The point here, going back to the beginning, is that I know I’m not alone. And I just wish people would talk about this more, beyond the confines of an anonymous mobile social media application. It’s the same logic behind the reason I love listening to melancholy Jackson Brown ballads when I’m feeling down: I’m comforted by the fact that someone else has, at one time or another, shared whatever pain I feel. We need to be more honest — the world isn’t always everything it’s talked up to be, but that’s okay. Frequently I feel shackled by either fear of what the future holds or my childhood idealism. But I’ve learned it’s about being in the moment. I just don’t want that moment to end.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015 // The Statement

VISUAL STATEMENT:

NORM

Norm Holtz stands in an outbuilding that he uses for storing excess produce.

Norm works in the field on his farm.

Photo Story by William Lynch

Norm loads heads of cauliflower for a delivery to Toledo, Ohio.

Farm hands assist Norm during a harvest.

Last November, I had the opportunity to photograph Norm Holtz, a farmer from Ida, Mich. I met Norm at Detroit’s Eastern Market, where he’s been selling produce since 1968. His hands were still dirty from that morning’s work on sixty acres of farmland that have belonged to his family since the late 19th century. Born and raised in Ida, he started working on the farm while in high school. Norm hasn’t stopped since and has no plans to retire any time soon.

Norm sits at the kitchen table in his home in Ida, Mich.