Monday, September 23, 2024

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Storing medical records online seems dangerous

It can be a hassle trying to transfer your medical records from one doctor to another but Microsoft Corp. and Kaiser Permanente, a health care organization based in California that provides insurance and other services, have partnered to create what they hope will be the future filing cabinet of medical records.

COMMENTARY

Phone polls skew number of student voters

Polls are supposed to give people a glimpse of what the future holds. They are a common sight on news programs and in newspapers. There’s even one at the top of this page. But, like politicians, polls can lie — mainly because an unbiased random sample can almost never be produced.

COMMENTARY

Prison reform could help Mich.

If I told you that one out of three state employees works in a given department, and then asked you to guess which department I was talking about, what might your response be? The Michigan State Police? The Department of Human Services? The Department of Environmental Quality?

COMMENTARY

Superdelegates vital to election

When Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., had more pledged delegates but fewer superdelegates than Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Obama supporters as well as others were outraged. They questioned the democratic process of nominating candidates for the presidential election. The last thing any of them wanted was a candidate chosen by so-called “party elites” that strayed from what the people wanted.

COMMENTARY

Higher standards don't create better students

Making students take the same classes with the same requirements should mean everyone gets the same education. But is that really possible? Four years of math and English and three years of science and social studies are some of the requirements that make Michigan’s standards for high school graduation among the toughest in the country.

COMMENTARY

Unpaid internships don't help improve Mich. economy

Educators, government officials and business leaders at the Mackinac Policy Conference announced a possible solution to the mass exodus of Michigan’s talent to other states: internships. In the rush to talk about how great these internships are, they forgot one very important detail: interns aren’t paid.

COMMENTARY

On anniversary of Kennedy's death, professor remembers

Robert Kennedy is dead, the victim of an assassin’s bullet at the very moment of his biggest victory. At 1:44 a.m. he died. One can still hear the words of his press secretary, Frank Mankiewicz: “Robert Francis Kennedy died at 1:44 a.m. today, June 6, 1968. With Senator Kennedy at the time of his death were his wife, Ethel; his sisters, Mrs. Stephen Smith and Mrs. Patricia Lawford; ... and Mrs. John F. Kennedy. He was, ahh, 42 years old.”

COMMENTARY

Candidates should address poverty

Finally, after over a year of constant campaigning, suspect primaries, undemocratic caucuses, questionable party rules, and in-party division, the Democrats have chosen their presumptive nominee for the presidency.

COMMENTARY

Time for Obama to focus on bid for White House

In 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified to give black men the right to vote. It wasn’t until 1970 that literacy tests were banned allowing blacks to fully exercise their right to vote. Now, nearly four decades later, history has been made once again.

COMMENTARY

Gay marriage ban in Calif. unjustified, unlikely

It’s not surprising that nearly three weeks after the California Supreme Court overturned the voter-approved ban on gay marriage, people are already working to revoke the ruling. A coalition of religious and conservative activists have collected 1.1 million signatures to get an initiative barring gay marriage on the Nov. 4 ballot.

COMMENTARY

Criticism helpful for rude people

The reason jerks exist is because nobody ever calls them on their BS. This is why I can’t stand polite people. Infinitely tolerant of even the most egregiously inappropriate and insecure behavior, they outright ignore sexist, racist, selfish, or overcompensating behavior, usually only to rip into the poor sap the moment they’re out of the room.

COMMENTARY

Media's idea of beauty is wrong

When you look in the mirror, are you content with the image you see staring back at you? Everyone has their own personal standards for what they think is beautiful. Many people let the media decide those standards for them. The magazines, movies, Internet and other media can sometimes distort a person’s idea of what beauty truly is.

COMMENTARY

Perceptions of Iran inaccurate

Tuning in to the American media nowadays is a bit like opening a time capsule to 2002. The propagandists seem to have reached into their file cabinets and pulled out the exact scripts they used during the run-up to the Iraq war.

COMMENTARY

Reliance on oil, subsidies for unemployed hurt Mich.

Last Friday’s State News editorial titled Bill leaves too many questions unanswered (SN 5/30) displayed the editor’s poor understanding of economics and who is responsible for the woes of the nation. The best way to raise the standard of living is to create new wealth, not wastefully and inefficiently, not to mention amorally, attempting to redistribute existing wealth.

COMMENTARY

Short work weeks might be more costly than gas

The rising cost of gas is not only forcing people to veer away from the norm but making businesses look for new ways to help employees cut back. Some businesses are offering their employees the option of a four-day work week to cut back on commuting and energy costs.

COMMENTARY

MSU Police Department should 'go green'

I opened The State News the other day and read yet another article about the steps the university is taking to reduce its environmental footprint (Campus conservation, SN 5/30). I applaud their efforts to go green, but again question why the MSU police department isn’t on board.

COMMENTARY

Apportionment of delegates skews vote

After months of fighting, the issue of Michigan’s Democratic primary and its delegates has finally been settled. Given everything that came before, it’s perfectly fitting that the solution is just as much of a mess as the road that brought us here.