COMMENTARY
Unique feel of small downtown spots replaced with corporations
Do you ever get that feeling like something really and truly authentic is missing? You're in a restaurant.
Do you ever get that feeling like something really and truly authentic is missing? You're in a restaurant.
For a long time, I've aspired to be like my grandfather. He's a veteran of World War II, has a mean bowling average and almost never missed an election since he first started voting. He makes sure to get there every November, and for a long time volunteered at the polls. My grandfather of course, is a member of one of the largest voting demographic groups.
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in class examining a photograph that was pretty intriguing. Taken at some sort of carnival, the dark background shows a merry-go-round ride with a bunch of two-person seats.
What are you doing tomorrow? How about Wednesday? The answer better be voting. ASMSU, the undergraduate student government, is holding elections online at studentelections.msu.edu from 7 a.m.
Joshua Romero's recent letter, "Manuscripts support many Bible passages" (SN 3/02), contained some fictions. First, Romero mischaracterized my column "Truth of Bible can't be believed" (SN 2/21), making it appear that I was arguing something I wasn't. With regard to New Testament manuscripts, Romero claimed I had indefensibly asserted, "We can't know what the originals said." In reality, I wrote, "It's impossible to know with certainty what the original manuscripts said." Rephrasing a person's assertion to make it easier to attack is a popular and effective strategy, albeit intellectually dishonest. More annoying, however, was that Romero skirted my central point.
Slender vegetarians were the last people I would have expected to be flashing their udders. I recently viewed a commercial that was created by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, to air for the Super Bowl.
Unlike a lot of the more, let's call them "ranting, raving liberals," who get published here, I'm really not the worst. As I have gotten older, I've found myself leaning a little more toward the middle of the political spectrum. I believe in the right to bear arms, and I have lots of arms to bear.
In a recent column, "Evolutionary theory, science needed to vaccinate irrational beliefs" (SN 2/16), John Bice promoted science as a way of protecting us from irrational beliefs, such as belief in God. For him, religion is a disease from which only scientific rationality can save us.
I am appreciative of Adrian Pichurko's letter, "Vengeance against preachers not sweet" (SN 2/21), saying, "These people have become known for their closed-mindedness, arbitrarily judging passersby and spreading bad vibes to the public." Recently, I was passing through Wells Hall and I saw the "Wells Hall Preachers" screaming loudly and condemning students to hell. Suddenly, I heard "all Muslims are going to hell; Muhammad will not save you," "Islam is a false religion" and "accept Christ, and you will be saved." What is wrong with this guy?
On Tuesday, the MSU Muslim Students' Association peacefully protested the publication of the caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist. Students engaged in discussions over the issue and later that night the MSA hosted a question-and-answer session with a student panel to help answer questions that the MSU/East Lansing community had. A common question brought up was why Muslim religious leaders or clerics don't condemn violence and terrorism. The answer is simple: They do. The leading Shia and Sunni (the two major sects of Islam) scholars have condemned such terrorism.
It was the most beautiful object I had ever seen. I held my new plastic driver's license in the air and stared at it in disbelief.
In California, a college radio host was pulled from the station and censured for sexual harassment after calling a member of student government a "bearded feminist" on air. In Texas, an anti-abortion group wasn't allowed to distribute pamphlets on a college campus because the pamphlets didn't list a student group sponsor on them.
A couple weeks ago, I could have sworn someone stole my wallet. I was on a bus ride home when I set my wallet on the seat next to me, making a mental note to pick it up when I got off the bus. The mental note failed when I realized I left it on the bus as soon as it pulled away, splashing me with mud. As soon as I got home, I called my boyfriend, crying.
Last week, a guy attacked my porch. Really. Last Wednesday night I heard a noise outside my door, and when I looked out the window there was a guy fighting with my porch, yelling at it and ripping the balusters out one by one. The porch seemed to be losing, since it was not fighting back.
Vagina. Va-gin-a. Say it with me. It's OK. Some people might not be comfortable thinking about basic parts of human anatomy, let alone reading or naming them. Vaginas.
I have finally come to terms with what makes me different from 90 percent of the population. After a multitude of art projects and papers smudged with partial handprints and far too many shirts with stained left sleeves, I have finally accepted the fact that I'm left-handed. It all started back in elementary school. It never failed.
A new round of images of Abu Ghraib prisoners in Iraq was broadcast last week in Australia. The images show some of the prisoners naked, with hoods on their heads or in sexual positions. The whole situation is extremely disheartening and makes me wonder how we are ever going to win the war in Iraq with this hanging over our heads.
I recently walked by the hilariously entertaining Wells Hall preachers and heard one proclaim "the Bible is truth; everything else is lies." After laughing, I remembered that such bibliolatry is disturbingly common.
Let me be honest — I don't really drink pop (or soda or whatever else you want to call it) on any sort of regular basis.
In John Bice's columns, "Lazy analysis of scandal, government spending gives narrow view" (SN 1/24) and "There must be balance between government, personal responsibility" (SN 2/06), he explained libertarian ideas and then commented on why they are "the most radical, simplistic and generally unappealing answer of all." I hate it when someone tries to tell you what to think and why you're wrong without consulting you first.