Sunday, September 22, 2024

Take a peek behind the curtain and test drive the NEW StateNews.com today!

Commentary

COMMENTARY

MSU's tuition increase understandable, painful

The State News’ reaction to the MSU Board of Trustees increasing tuition by 2.5 percent: Meh. It’s less than the original 4.9 percent proposed increase, with the rest of the increase proposed for summer of 2011. We want to be angry about it — plenty of students and their families are unhappy.

COMMENTARY

License comes with some unreasonable amendments

Kudos to the East Lansing City Council for passing a special use permit — a tavern license — that allows for the sale of beer and wine at What’s up Dawg?, 301 M.A.C. Ave. Granted, the license comes with a few conditions. Some of those conditions, such as a 50 percent food requirement in sales, no less than 10 food items on the menu and no service of beer after midnight, are reasonable. Others, such as security cameras and a security guard on Friday and Saturday nights, are unreasonable.

COMMENTARY

Attitude defines good instruction

Sometimes I wonder if anyone really cares about the opinions, attitudes and feelings of students on campus. I have spoken with a number of students over spring semester and the beginning of summer semester.

COMMENTARY

Interest in Izzo should extend to budget

The outpouring of support for MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo offers conclusive evidence that there are issues that can motivate the MSU community. It is our hope that this current level of interest in university matters will continue as the MSU Board of Trustees begins its discussions of the school’s budget.

COMMENTARY

Izzo has done enough for MSU

There is one thing on the mind of most Spartans fans right now: What will MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo do next? The mania has swept the area. Fans have held at least two official rallies — one at Breslin Center and another at the Marshall Street Armory in Lansing.

COMMENTARY

Izzo's legacy diminished by periodic flirtations with NBA

I have been a fan of MSU basketball since the days of Greg Kelser, Jay Vincent and Earvin “Magic” Johnson. I have been a fan of MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo since he started long ago as an assistant coach. Over the years, coach Izzo has again and again shown his dedication to the state and to the university in his words and actions.

COMMENTARY

We should live for "the right now"

When was the last time you did something for the first time? As my 20th birthday approaches, I keep finding myself thinking about “firsts.” Every year of my life, I try to accomplish as many firsts as I can. This summer, my first internship has filled up my days.

COMMENTARY

Stem cell debate distracts from pressing issues

Michigan legislators are once again playing politics at a time when there are more pressing concerns. Several legislators last week said disagreements over whether to include language requiring Michigan universities to report information about research done with human embryonic cells delayed passage of the state House’s higher education budget bill.

COMMENTARY

Demonstration Field landscaping offers good criterion of MSU

After the installation of “The Funambulist” in the courtyard between Snyder and Phillips halls, we raised the question of whether MSU was picking art pieces based on their contemporary status instead of how they contributed to the campus aesthetic. However, in choosing the type of tree to place around Demonstration Field, university officials have created a reasonable criterion by which to judge future changes to campus.

COMMENTARY

Is the Internet making us stupid?

I came across an interesting article in the June 4 Wall Street Journal by Clay Shirky entitled “Does the Internet Make You Smarter?” Although its roots lie in the journalistic tenet of raising questions ultimately too great or too ambiguous to answer, the growth of the argument had its own value in asking the world to recognize the genesis of a media culture too young to have boundaries and, even if they existed, too powerful to heed them.

COMMENTARY

Higher education bill is a baseline for state budget

If for no other reason than showing interest in the future of Michigan, we are glad to see legislators voted to maintain funding at its current level for public state universities for fiscal year 2010-11. The 55-51 state House of Representatives vote amends the state Senate version that proposed a 3.1 percent decrease in funding.

COMMENTARY

Lack of empathy might be due to lack of curiosity

An article published by USA Today reported a recent study from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, concluded college students today are less empathetic than past college students. The study — which looked at 72 empathy studies, including 14,000 students over a 30-year span — indicated a 40 percent reduction in empathy from students in the 1980s and 1990s.

COMMENTARY

Comics section lacking in content and local artists

Sometime during the summer somebody had the brilliant idea of cutting almost all of the comics — except one — and replacing them with a giant-sized crossword puzzle, an Octo puzzle, a word finder (are we in grade school now?) and a Pathem puzzle.

COMMENTARY

Let's use better moral judgement

Gallup released a poll May 25 that suggests more than 50 percent of Americans think homosexuality is “morally right.” The statistic is the most recent in a trend that shows increasing acceptance of same-sex lifestyles. The same poll also shows 43 percent of Americans believe homosexual lifestyles are “morally wrong.”

COMMENTARY

Allowing pets in dorms could hurt students

After reading a recent New York Times article about some colleges allowing incoming freshmen to keep pets in their dorm rooms, we wonder whether it made sense to do that at MSU, or even in general. The first year of college typically is not an easy one. It requires taking into account things such as time management, personal choices, self-motivation and socializing. It also offers a chance to learn firsthand about other people. That doesn’t necessarily mean someone who is completely different in terms of politics or values — though that wouldn’t hurt — but simply people who might not have had the same upbringing.