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Show OPINION Page 5 Tuesday, March 13,2007 EDITORIAL Women's Week is for men, too the drug last for just a short time. Soon these "meth moms" could no longer focus on anything besides getting another "fix." They began losing their ability to think, their teeth rotted and they picked incessantly at their skin. I was struck at the extent to which societal expectations—many of which are either passively supported or actively initiated by men—influenced these women's decisions to do meth. Although it may be easy to point afingerand say, "Well, that's their decision," we must realize that choices are not made in a vacuum devoid of outside pressures. Admittedly, my knowledge of women's issues is limited. However, it seems reasonable that more active participation among men in supporting women's causes would ameliorate' problems faced by both genders. But Women's Week is not just about challenges. It is also a celebration of women's struggles and contributions to society. It's a time for all people—male and female—to recognize the myriad facets of femininity. As often occurs with weekly celebrations, some may ask, "WTiy not a 'Men's Week,* too?" And then foliows the familiar response, 1 film explained that the drug "Because 'Men's Week happens 51 weeks a year." . helped them concentrate, lose weight, manage their But pushing rhetoric homes more effectively aside, it's obvious that and forget their worries. women have been uniquely Husbands noticed thinner marginalized throughout wives and cleaner houses. history. Equality and equity One woman even mendemand that we take a crititioned after losing weight cal look at the condition of her husband "couldn't keep women and put into effect his hands off of (her)." the appropriate societal However, the benefits of changes. PROPOSED SOLUTION . A trans-dimensional portal that transports cars to an off-campus parking lot. N m o matter how you spin it, men and women's lives are irreversibly interconnected, and this realMATT ity necessitates that HOMER we learn about—and support— one another. For many, perhaps most, this quest is a constant enigma. The study of gender is not an exact science, and even within feminist circles there is a considerable divergence of opinion. Each of us views gender—and the extent to which males and females are similar or different— from our own personal lenses. While forming our views, we cannot realistically expect to understand one another without first openIng ourselves to differing points of view and engaging ourselves in dialogues. Women's Week at the U affords just such an opportunity. The series of events kicked off last Friday with a showing of "Mother Superior." This short documentary explores Utah's high use of methamphetamines and its particular pervasiveness among women. To me, the film was eyeopening. I learned that many women use meth as a tooLto meet societal expectatio * " " Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of The Daily Utah Chronicle Editorial Board. Signed editorials, editorial columns and letters to the editor * are strictly the opinions of the author. The forum created on the Opinion Page is : one based on vigorous debate, while at the same time demanding tolerance and respect. Material defamatory to an individual or group because of race, ethnic background, religion, creed, gender, appearance or sexual orientation will be - edited or will not bo published. All letters to the editor will now be published online at www.daUyutahchronide.com. Letters that the editor deems best represent those received will be printed in the newspaper as well as online. Running on empty was excited to write my final debate analysis on the Greek Row debate, held Monday night in the LINDSEY James Fletcher Building. SINE I had hopes for a house packed with fraternity and sorority members eager to watch the candidates duke it out in what was going had literally zero chance of to be a real debate—with swaying votes in front of rebuttals this time. this "crowd." If you haven't caught on In reality, this column to my disappointment by was meant to inform those now, here not attending it is—there of what hapwere, at most, pened in the 35 people at debates this year. the debate. I wrote about Half were who slammed FUSE Party whom, who was members and too goofy, who half were FUSE presidential was perfect and who looked and vice presidential candi- like he or she would win. dates Spencer Pearson and This is a different column Basim Motiwala's fraternity because no one was goofy brothers from Sigma Chi. and no one was perfect. No The two are basically the one was there. same thing. The debate was, at its I mean, I thought the very core, a completely Forward Party would have useless waste of the time it tough because of the people spent at it. No one home court advantage said anything new or revoFUSE would have in a greek lutionary, and at this point, crowd, but wow! Forward I doubt that there is anyone I JV?or space for parking Immediate car retrieval it looks way cool JEREMIAH DARAIS; The Dailv Uuh Chronicle The U got something right Stem cells from umbilical cords may treat diseases inally, a step forward! We owe a warm thanks to the U for helping the nation take this step. The national debate over embryonic stem cells has always been heated, and that debate won't settle anytime soon. But there is some common ground surrounding stem cells on which both liberals and conservatives can stand: stem cells harvested from umbilical cords. Within the next two months, the U is planning to open a public umbilical cord stem cell bank where mothers can donate the blood from their children's umbilical cords to collect stem cells for the public's use. Linda Kelly, director of cell therapy at the U, said, "(Donating) is a wonderful thing for Utahns to do—the tissue would be discarded anyway." The blood from umbilical cords has uses that far exceed your run-of-the-mill transplants and infusions. This blood is rich with adult stem cells that have the potential to treat diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease and some types of cancer. Currently, cord blood stem cells have been used as an alternative for bone mar- F helps to ensure that everyone has access to a potential treatment for his or her ailment. "With enough donations, 100 CLAYTON percent of those who need a NORLEN transplant could potentially get a match," Kelly said. Currently, there are more than 20 public banks for cord blood row, and peripheral blood is also across the nation that collective^ ly house up to 50,000 donations. capable of reconstructing blood According to the National Cord * cells. Blood Program, these donations I can think of individuals in my life who have been diagnosed have helped treat numerous forms of leukemia, lymphomas with some of the ailments listed above, and I'm sure you wouldn't and genetic diseases such as severe combined immune defihave to think long before you ciency. could, too. Cord blood has the potential to help treat these disBut this is only the beginning. eases if patients canfinda match. Scientists hypothesize that the Although the full potential of potential range of illnesses cord cord stem cells is still under destem cells can treat doesn't combate, the potential alone is reason pare with those treatable with enough to support these banks embryonic stem cells. But until wholeheartedly. Dubya is out of office, well try to help who we can right now. Compared with bone marrow, stem cells from cord blood are As a nation, our health-care easier to collect and transplant. woes aren't anywhere near The typical turnaround from diperfect or fair, but at least with agnosis of a disease to delivery of scientists taking new steps with bone marrow is up to six months, stem cells, we are getting closer but with cord blood, treatment to preserving our health for could begin within a couple longer periods of time. Thanks weeks. Also, cord blood stem should go to the U for being on cells offer a broader range for po- the forefront of providing cures tential matches in patients than and treatment for the people. bone marrow. This larger pool letters@chronicle.utah.edu it even a debate if no one shows up to hear it? who doesn't know whom he or she will vote for. It is no secret that only a speck of the nearly 30,000 students on this campus votes, and those who do basically pick a party—preferably one that their friends are in—and stick with that party. I guess that's what we get when $21.40 a semester isn't enough to coax one from Associated Students of the University of Utah apathy— it's not even enough money to buy two movie tickets and some popcorn. It's because of these reasons that ASUU will be the same next year as it was the year before, and as it will CHRIS PEDDECORD/ The Daily Utah Chnnictt always be as long as the voting trends and interest in it FUSE candidates Basim Motiwala and Spencer Pearson prepare themselves for the Greek Row debate in front of a stay as they are now. sparse crowd at the James Fletcher Building last night. Optimists and idealists root for the More 4 Us and ASUU, I see the bad and for them to keep up with elections are open and close Ninja Ks of our campus, good in this trend. Continu- the pack, the students with Wednesday at 10 p.m. I but optimistic thoughts and ity can be positive because fresh ideas and drive will could tell you who will win underground parties aren't it allows for progression rarely be incorporated. the elections, but I won't enough to reckon with the in implemented ideas. The day this will turn because you're all smart forces of apathy and popuHowever, when the same around is the day more enough to already know. larity working against them. continuity dissuades people than 5,000 students vote in They will do a good job. As someone who spent from involving themselves ASUU elections. letters@ two years working at by making it impossible For now, the polls for final chronicle.utah.edu |