Friday, April 4, 2025

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Boasting drunken behavior unnecessary, annoying

Is it just me, or can anyone else think of better ways to enjoy the college experience than being drunk, talking about how drunk you are, how often you get drunk, and making sure everyone sees how drunk you are? I will never understand the need some people have to advertise the fact they are drunk.

COMMENTARY

Proposed tax rebate small fix for big problem

Go shopping, America. It’s on the government. In an agreement between Congress and the White House, tax refunds — granting rebates of about $300 to $1,200 — would be distributed as early as May to help stimulate consumer spending and give the economy a much-needed boost.

COMMENTARY

Future of state depends on higher education

We think the secret entrance is around the bronze “Sparty” statue. Through dark, clandestine tunnels underneath campus, there lies a huge safe where MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon heaps huge burlap sacks of money with big, green dollar symbols (cleverly using the Spartan “S,” of course).

COMMENTARY

Spaying and neutering helps preserve other animals

In response to the entertainment blog PETA compares teen pregnancy to neutering pets (SN1/21), it was encouraging to see that Whitney Gronski agreed that spaying and neutering animals is an integral part of the effort to help reduce the number of dogs and cats euthanized in shelters.

COMMENTARY

Splurging now bad for future

There they were. The most adorable shoes I’d ever seen for only $5 — regular price: $25. I had to have them. Then the guilt set in because I had promised myself I wasn’t going to buy anything, but I did anyway.

COMMENTARY

Poor decisions by drinkers not city's responsibility

I was appalled to read Jon Erickson’s column E.L. developments enable drunken driving offenses (SN 1/22). Although he so thoughtfully mentions at the end of his article that he “is in no way supporting or excusing drunken driving,” that seems to be exactly what he’s doing. Living farther from the bars is no excuse to drive drunk, period.

COMMENTARY

Media material based on what you click, watch

“Untraceable,” a film that comes out Friday, has an interesting premise — a serial killer uses www.killwithme.com to stream a live video of his victims being killed. Every visitor to the Web site triggers a reaction that gradually kills the victim — the more people watching, the faster he or she dies.

COMMENTARY

Current programs stomp on Founding Fathers' freedoms

I recently came across a graphic on the Internet that has a picture of classic Uncle Sam and a few lines of text that read: “I want you to wake up. To wake others up. To know you are free. To think for yourself. To protect your rights. And to resist against tyranny.”

COMMENTARY

Endowment funds needed for future projects

Wait. MSU is sitting on more than $1 billion? Students might be interested to know that according to recent estimates by the Detroit Free Press, some university endowment funds in the state are growing by leaps and bounds.

COMMENTARY

Teaching assistants essential to university, deserve fair pay

We teach two-thirds of the classes and do one-third of the grading. We lead review sessions, we answer questions and we help break down big classes into smaller recitations and labs. We are the personal connection between students and instructors in large lectures. We are the 1,300-plus teaching assistants of MSU, organized as the Graduate Employees Union, or GEU.

COMMENTARY

Radical feminists' actions mistaken, have sex lives too

As a radical feminist, I feel the need to clarify two points for Thea Neal and the MSU community. Firstly, feminists would never criticize The State News for allowing Neal to write something, as she claimed in her column, “Women should embrace sex life” (SN 1/18). Neal is exercising her right to free speech — rock on Neal.