The view from Spartan Stadium's upper deck was spectacular. Sun shone on Beaumont Tower. It was warm, but not so warm that you couldn't feel chills when the band exploded through the tunnel. The Spartan offense was potent; the opponent overmatched.
The cameras have gone, the newspaper articles have stopped and the debacle that was the Terri Schiavo right-to-death case has ended.
I turned 23 today. That's right, as 17 and 18-year-olds clock another year and search for the biggest, craziest party, and as 21-year-olds drown themselves in alcohol, I'm bursting the East Lansing bubble - the one that keeps young kids and old people out of our college lifestyle. I'm skewing the average age on campus. I'm searching for familiar faces and spending a lot of time reliving memories from the past. I'm trying to keep up with the latest styles, but refuse to spend any money on new clothes.
Until Welcome Week, I forgot everything from my freshman orientation. It was only last year, too.
On the surface, Welcome Week 2005 looked much like those from years past. There were dozens of parties, and thousands of partyers.
A recent letter to the editor, "Bice column lacks biblical knowledge," (SN 8/4) took issue with my last column, "Homosexuality as a sin one more example of Bible's primitiveness" (SN 8/1). In that column, I offered several examples of savagely intolerant and archaic Old Testament moral laws that share the same willful ignorance and small-minded bigotry as modern religious-based homophobia. My favorite aspect of the critical letter was the certitude with which the author proclaimed the Old Testament laws I referenced were "done away with" by the arrival of Jesus, as though it were an objective fact.
In no country in the world do all citizens agree on everything. Iraq should hardly be expected to be the exception. As the troubled nation sends a signed draft constitution to parliament this week over the heads of the objecting Sunnis, it makes sense to take a look at the issues being argued, and a look at another document that also endured a long fight and a lot of compromise - the U.S.
A friend of mine painted a wedding proposal on the side of his barn in big letters facing the highway. I'm guessing anyone driving past his farm either sighed with romantic appreciation or gagged at the cheesiness of it. But it's not just him.
Students of Michigan State University, citizens of East Lansing, I'm sorry. When I left in the spring, I wrongly raised a white flag over the future of your relationship. "With all possibilities exhausted and the likelihood of this problem [April 2-3 disturbances] being glossed over imminent, where do we go from here?...I am at a loss," I wrote in my April 21 column.
Two weeks ago, the local station of the Indian Trails bus line confiscated my suitcase in a precautionary procedure stemming from the war on terrorism.
For those students who've stuck around the whole summer, squeezing in a few extra credits in hopes of graduating a little quicker or making the fall semester load a little lighter, final exams week has come.
In a constitutional democracy, there is no more important event than that of an amendment to the Constitution.
Forget baseball: Cars, booze and cigarettes are the real American pastime. The rule of thumb is if there's not a significant risk for severe injury or death, it's not fun. For instance, consider diving boards at the pool.
I need to clear something up. There's a rather common misconception I've become aware of via e-mail and word of mouth.
Strange ramblings in East Lansing … I find myself wanting to impart a few random observations and comments as the semester draws to a close: • Damn, it's muggy out.
Robert Frost penned a few lines that have struck me in the last few weeks as important. "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." What struck me as important in such lines is in regard to the state of American society.
An interesting religious conversation took place recently in the letters section of The State News. The discussion, on sin and homosexuality, reminded me of a quote from the brilliant British philosopher Bertrand Russell, "When two men of science disagree, they do not invoke the secular arm; they wait for further evidence to decide the issue.
As horrific and paralyzing as the July 7 and 21 bombings are for London commuters, the British government seems to be more concerned about showing resilience than understanding why their largest city is being bombed. As reported by Sarah Lyall in the July 27 edition of The New York Times, "Prime Minister Tony Blair promised on Tuesday not to 'give one inch' on British policies in the Middle East, and he said Britain's three main political parties were moving closer to introducing stricter anti-terrorism laws for Parliament to consider in the fall." Rather than not giving an inch, maybe Blair should try to understand these terrorist acts and the people behind them instead of discounting them as senseless acts of destruction.
In my last column ("Campus radio station should diversify its daytime music rotation" SN 7/19), diversity was the topic, but judging from some of the responses it received, it seems that race might have taken the spotlight instead. Race is an imprecise way to describe a person, or a radio format for that matter.
I would like to thank Tom Cooke for the years he has spent as a loyal Impact listener, and I would like to extend the same thanks to all of you in the Lansing area who continue to make the Impact (88.9-FM) one of the highest-rated rock alternative stations in Mid-Michigan.