Friday, January 2, 2026

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Columns

COMMENTARY

America relies too much on use of technology

What would you do if technology ceased to exist? It seems like every day there’s a new cell phone or laptop being advertised during the commercial breaks of my favorite TV programs. Technology is growing faster than some of us can learn how to use it.

COMMENTARY

Candidates share similar politics

News flash: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are not different. When this stupid primary started, I seem to recall that being the general consensus. Disturbingly, a few months of verbal excrement from the candidates has severely polarized many Democratic voters.

COMMENTARY

Goals vary for pope, Dalai Lama

For the past two weeks, the attention of American media has been largely focused on religion, spirituality and philosophy as the country hosted two of the world’s most revered spiritual leaders: the pope and the Dalai Lama. I think their experiences here illustrate how great of a distance exists between their worlds.

COMMENTARY

Lots of lessons learned at MSU

This is the time of year most seniors would choose to eulogize their college experience with a teary farewell. But I somehow doubt the impact of sappy senior goodbyes — especially when they all tend to say the same things.

FEATURES

Being healthy involves more than nutrition, exercise

Dr. D., I am a parent from Clarkston, Mich., whose son was just accepted to MSU. I happened to read one of your columns online about health, and I wonder what advice you would give to a parent on how to advise an incoming Spartan about staying healthy. It is hard to let go and also know they will stay healthy. —KT (worried parent)

COMMENTARY

Youth use web as source of action

Every time I hear a sentence that starts with “Kids these days ? “ a negative assumption about Generation Y is sure to follow. Some parents, professors and peers think society has taken a dive into immorality rather than into progress within the past 20 years.

COMMENTARY

New state energy plan is sketchy

The big news out of Lansing last week was that a bipartisan, comprehensive and long-term energy plan was passed by the Michigan House of Representatives. Those are some adjectives that we don’t see coming out of Lansing too often. Should we, as citizens, merely accept this as a good policy on the basis of its boldness and bipartisan support?

COMMENTARY

Take back your right to vote

Given the events of the past two weeks, it’s time we take a break from the infringements on the supposed “right to party” and focus instead on a disturbing trend affecting a more fundamental right: voting.

COMMENTARY

Controlling caffeine habit good for health

It was a tensely silent moment. There I was, sitting in an Olin Health Center examining room a couple of months ago answering the doctor’s perfunctory questions regarding my general health. One question, however, said it all.

COMMENTARY

Victims, community need to speak up

People wonder why I didn’t scream or try to get away. He grabbed me from behind and fondled my breasts, my crotch and my butt. Panic set in. I was in shock, paralyzed in the place where I stood. I didn’t even know what was happening. Ten other men stood around, watching, doing nothing to help me. One of them called out to him, “Hey, do you know this girl? What are you doing?”

COMMENTARY

Olympics doesn't outshine Issues

As of late, the Olympic torch has looked more like a celebrity being chased by paparazzi or a controversial politician on the run than a historic symbol of a global athletic competition. In Paris, Olympic officials extinguished the flame and put it on a bus to avoid the crowds before they canceled a leg of its tour of Paris. Before the torch arrived in San Francisco, daring protesters climbed the Golden Gate Bridge to unfurl a giant banner that read “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet.”

COMMENTARY

Grads flee Mitten for better jobs

One of the many joys college graduates are facing — or will face in the coming weeks and months, depending on the amount of procrastination — is the inevitable job hunt.

COMMENTARY

Net neutrality nixes Web freedom

Telecommunications giant Comcast Corp. got itself into trouble at a Feb. 25 Federal Communications Commission hearing. It became apparent the corporation had hired people off of the street to fill seats in the hearing, ostensibly to “hold places in line” for its employees.

COMMENTARY

Science, religion don't always mix

Dr. Kenneth Miller is a biologist I admire for his work promoting evolution and debunking creationism. However, he also encourages public acceptance of evolution by arguing, unconvincingly, that it’s compatible with religious belief.