Monday, December 30, 2024

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

BMI score doesn't define your health

I’m “overweight,” according to the body mass index. At 5 feet 2 inches, 140 pounds, I fall just above the cutoff of healthy at 25.6 body mass index, or BMI — 18.5-24.9 is normal, and 25 is overweight.

COMMENTARY

Protest by gun activists sends wrong message

You’re sitting at Espresso Royale, enjoying a cappuccino and studying for a big exam. In walk 40 men with guns holstered to their sides. Do you fear for your safety and consider running out the door or ducking for cover? Or do you thank your lucky stars someone is exercising their Second Amendment right to bear arms?

COMMENTARY

Affirmative action not just about racial inequality

When many people hear the phrase affirmative action, the first word that comes to mind is inequality. The word minority has even been misinterpreted as only relating to race. But just as the word minority is inclusive of race, sex, religion and sexual preference, so are affirmative action programs.

COMMENTARY

Possible Edwards affair needs press

What do you think about the giant sex scandal that is currently rocking a major potential vice-presidential pick? You haven’t heard about it? It’s probably because the mainstream media seems to be running from the news like it’s the plague.

COMMENTARY

Give Libertarian Party closer look for 2012 election

Dan Jakeway’s letter, Overhaul of Republican Party will help win election in fall (SN 7/24), was well-written and addressed some important points. I, too, would like to see the presence of classical conservatism return to politics in this country. However, Jakeway comes up short on practical solutions for the Republican Party’s flaws.

COMMENTARY

Reading online can have benefits when balanced

Parents find it easy to complain about the way their children are learning today. They say teenagers spend too much time online and not enough time with a book in their hands. Research no longer necessarily involves a library and a card catalog. But that doesn’t mean the Internet has killed education or reading.

COMMENTARY

Race issues reach beyond TV special

Anger. That is the most accurate way for me to gauge how thought-provoking the documentary “CNN Presents: Black in America” was. At approximately 10:05 p.m. Wednesday night, I realized I was in fact angry with the material being presented in front of me. Mainly because it reminds me that, despite the colossal strides this country has taken towards the goal of racial unity, there’s still immense work to be done.

COMMENTARY

Tobacco campaign could be effective abroad

Most Americans are aware of the dangers cigarettes and other tobacco products pose to our health. For people in lesser developed countries, Bill Gates is going to make sure they’re knowledgeable about the damage tobacco products can do to their body.

COMMENTARY

Iraq's future ruined by past

It is becoming increasingly clear with each passing day that Iraq has been broken and it will not glue back together. And with each fresh report of a militia attack or bombing, it seems less and less likely that Iraq will be able to continue as it was. The country is now divided bitterly against religious lines that are thousands of years old. The Shiite-Sunni rivalry was only barely contained by Baathist totalitarianism, and Iraq’s current power vacuum has given rise to a battle for power centuries in the making.

COMMENTARY

Overhaul of Republican Party will help win election in fall

The Republican Party, originally associated with the likes of Abraham Lincoln, is in shambles today. Its underlying philosophy, practiced by people like former president Ronald Reagan, has been completely undermined by the new crop of neoconservatives who rather resemble statist totalitarians than anything else. The republican brand needs to be repackaged anew if it’s to have any significance in American politics for the next generation.

COMMENTARY

Plan to revise state constitution needs work

Some genius thought it would be a great idea to post a detailed PowerPoint presentation on the United Auto Workers Web site outlining the Democrats’ plan to take over Michigan. Now, their secret has been exposed to the world.

COMMENTARY

Lots of things to consider when planting rain garden

As a gardener, I absolutely loved the article Rain gardens filter stormwater (SN 7/21) and think it was really well written and written with a lot of enthusiasm. I loved the quote from Ann Hancock especially, and the fact you went straight to the sources of Patricia Pennell and Dan Christian. I have one exception with the article.

COMMENTARY

Chain texts too annoying, costly

Many cell phone users have mastered the art of text messaging. Even my parents — who are well over 50 — have learned how to contact me by text when they can’t reach me by phone. It might take them 20 minutes to compose the text message and they might correctly spell out every word, but eventually I receive their “I love you” and “good luck” wishes.

COMMENTARY

Human-animal studies try to understand humans, too

There is nothing “extremist” about seeking to reduce and eliminate suffering, whether on behalf of people or animals (Extreme animal rights group not good fellowship sponsor, SN 7/8). The scholars involved in the human-animal studies field seek to understand and evaluate the many complex relationships people have with animals of all kinds and in all settings.

COMMENTARY

D.C. gun ban not unconstitutional

This past week, residents of the District of Columbia began to line up to apply for permits to carry handguns. It has been a few weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the D.C. handgun ban was unconstitutional, and finally, the debate over the operative clause of the Second Amendment has yielded policy results. I still wonder, however, if the majority opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia correctly interprets the 221-year-old amendment.