Friday, January 10, 2025

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Child health care bill should pass

President Bush vetoed a child health care bill last week that would expand federal health care by billions of dollars to poor children because, in his words, the government should focus on helping poor children. It seems he may be confused about the bill — many Democrats feel he is.

COMMENTARY

Marijuana is no different than alcohol or tobacco products

I am patiently waiting for the floodgates of marijuana prohibition to burst open so that the fallacies of the entire endeavor can be laid to rest. How many resources, how many lives, how many people flooding our criminal justice system will it take to make it clear that prohibition is a failed policy?

COMMENTARY

Remove drug question from financial aid form

Last year 830,000 people were arrested in the U.S. for marijuana-related incidents, the highest number in the country’s history. Of those arrested, 90 percent were for possession. Most of the people arrested in East Lansing are between the ages of 17 and 25.

COMMENTARY

Use resources to help Myanmar

A picture is worth a thousand words. Actually, a picture has capabilities extending past that description — as I put on my flip-flops before class this week, I found myself haunted by one image in particular.

COMMENTARY

MSU alumnus running for city council needs your support

Every time a City Council election rolls around, there is a lot of talk in the pages of The State News about how to make sure students are represented in our city government and every election comes and goes without electing a councilmember with our interests in mind. It is not enough to pick a candidate who cares about student issues. Students need to get behind an electable candidate with credibility.

COMMENTARY

Campus community support creates positive city image

In Changing the trend (SN 10/2), the writer references the student exodus to out-of-state jobs. To combat this trend, the city of East Lansing has shown the foresight to actively pursue the redevelopment of many residential and commercial projects. Demographics are changing and to remain a viable city, East Lansing must view itself competitively with cities like Chicago and Seattle – both are urban hot spots attracting young professionals.

COMMENTARY

Capitalism versus socialism

The recent decade has been an era of almost unrestricted capitalism, with the added bonus of a government sometimes working directly with corporations to cheat citizens. So it is natural to see people disgusted with the current economic situation and gazing at Europe and its attractive government-sponsored programs.

COMMENTARY

In state opportunities available for grads

For many students looking to stay in Michigan after graduation, it won’t be easy — the state is losing jobs and money and companies are fleeing. Michigan needs to retain graduates to inundate the state with young, skilled workers, but if the jobs aren’t available, the possibility of that remains unlikely.

COMMENTARY

Fifteen months is too far away

If you’ve read some of my previous columns in this paper, you may have guessed that I am not the biggest fan of George W. Bush. I could list the reasons for this, but you are likely quite familiar with them, as two-thirds of the country already recognizes that he’s doing an awful job. Of course, the frightening part of that is that somewhere around 30 percent of the country thinks he is doing a good job, but that’s another story.

COMMENTARY

Important to register to vote in E.L. City Council election

There are only days remaining for MSU students to register to vote here in East Lansing for the City Council election on Nov. 6. The deadline to register is Oct. 9. Why should you register to vote in East Lansing? Because the decisions made by the City Council affect MSU students every day. We are part of this community and we need council members who will represent us.

COMMENTARY

E-mailing crime reports heightens awareness

After school officials at Eastern Michigan University allegedly attempted to cover up the on-campus rape and murder of a 22-year-old student, the university has started sending out campus crime reports which details the time, location and type of campus police calls.

COMMENTARY

Unions cannot be only blame for state's problems

I do not believe that eliminating unions will save Michigan. Liz Kersjes argues that the brief UAW strike last week benefited the UAW workers, but “in the end … they severely undercut the company paying them at an eventual disadvantage to themselves.” (Eliminate unions to save Michigan, SN 10/1).

COMMENTARY

MSU alumni needs support for upcoming City Council election

As part of the city of East Lansing’s centennial celebration, a discussion was held on “The Future of a University Community.” One of the panelists, Lou Glazer, the president of Michigan Future Inc. talked about the pivotal role that preparing, retaining and attaching young talent to a community plays in its success.