COMMENTARY
Clinton's run inspirational
I’ve learned from many women throughout the years, each of whose struggles and accomplishments have taught me that I can pursue and be anything I desire.
COMMENTARY
Activism harder for generation Y
While the 1960s and 1970s were full of political activism, the same cannot be said for the 1990s and 2000s. People complain that our generation is apathetic and politically unmotivated by comparison to our parents. By comparison to the baby boomers, it is true that we are not a politically active generation, however that is not a fair comparison.
COMMENTARY
Bill would benefit homeowners facing eviction
During this harsh economic period, it wouldn’t be surprising to know that some families have fallen on hard times. Every day, families are losing their homes to bank repossession.
COMMENTARY
New graduation rate may draw in minorities
In the midst of another tuition increase, it’s nice to receive some good news regarding MSU. Although MSU’s minority enrollment rates were slightly down in 2007, the minority graduation rate is the highest it’s been in the past 10 years, according to a report presented to the MSU Board of Trustees on Friday.
COMMENTARY
Consumers must research claims
To grow up in America is to navigate a world where the line between scam and legitimate business is so blurry, it almost doesn’t exist.
COMMENTARY
Board should think about impact of increase
Powerless — that is how most students feel when they see that the cost of tuition is constantly rising and it seems nothing can be done about it. If tuition keeps climbing at the rate it’s going, it won’t be long before students look elsewhere to pursue a higher education.
COMMENTARY
Using Blackwater in Iraq dangerous
“Mercenaries … are useless and dangerous,” runs a passage in Niccolo Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” “and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe.” The chapter goes on to seriously caution against the employment of mercenaries, whom the author considers “disunited, ambitious, without discipline,” and liable to change sides at the first opportunity.
COMMENTARY
Parking permit increase unneeded, unjustified
Up — that seems to be the direction the price of everything is going. As if inflated gas prices aren’t enough, when faculty, students and staff buy their parking permits next year, they’ll be paying 19 percent more than what they paid this year.
COMMENTARY
Gas money trumps gadget upgrades
It’s funny how the simple act of your once top-of-the-line phone becoming outdated causes you to re-examine society.
COMMENTARY
Clinton supporters should still vote Democratic this fall
Why is there such a disconnect between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that Clinton supporters are unsure whom to vote for?
COMMENTARY
More information about bike registration needed in future
As a student on a limited budget, I commute to class by bicycle. Recently, my new $25 U-lock was cut and my bike impounded by MSU campus police due to non-registration.
COMMENTARY
Minimum wage not enough to live on
Everything is just so expensive. The national average for a gallon of regular gas is $4. The cost of food is expected to rise by 5 percent this year — the largest increase since 1990. The housing market is struggling as people are having their homes foreclosed on faster than someone can bid on them. Unemployment rates are up and it won’t be long before our energy bills rise in cost.
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
Professor should research organic farming techniques
In regards to the asparagus article entitled Keeping it growing (SN 6/4), I suggest that MSU associate professor of horticulture Mathieu Ngouajio and this asparagus research project consider researching organically-grown asparagus.
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.”