Monday, December 15, 2025

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

FOIA policies must be updated

Technology has changed the landscape in and out of government. The backlog of FOIA requests is huge – The Seattle Times has a pending request with the Department of Energy dating to 1995.

COMMENTARY

Leaning to the right

You know it’s tough being a conservative these days when Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani’s own daughter is backing Barack Obama.

COMMENTARY

Granholm has done her part in improving state

We take exception to comments by Matt Marsden, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, in “Legislature faces ridicule for latest tuition increase” (SN 8/1). In it, he states, “The Democrats continue to push for tax increases, but they refuse to accept any support for reforms in government.”

COMMENTARY

No-name schools

But schools named after leaders are a dying breed, according to the Manhattan Institute, a New York-based think tank.

COMMENTARY

Foot baths not mix of church, state

The construction came after Muslim students and visitors resorted to using sinks in public restrooms to wash their feet. Those using the sinks were at risk of slipping on wet bathroom floors and hurting themselves, students and faculty complained about sanitation issues and the bathroom facilities themselves endured more wear and tear, in part from years of washings.

COMMENTARY

Healthy choices

In 2005, total national health spending reached $2 trillion, or about $6,700 per person, a 6.9 percent increase from the year before, according to the National Coalition on Health Care, a nonprofit alliance organization working to achieve better and more affordable health care for U.S. citizens.

COMMENTARY

Obama has valid point on terrorism

The Illinois Democrat said in an address Wednesday the U.S. should focus its military toward Islamic extremism, wherever that may be, and pledged to send U.S. forces to eradicate terrorist camps in Pakistan if Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, didn’t take action.

COMMENTARY

Perks for coaches a standard practice

Many students are up in arms about the extravagant benefits provided for coaches of revenue sports at MSU. It's understandable - men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo makes $2.06 million per year, not including the Lexus, Chevrolet Tahoe and country club membership MSU grants him. Along with Izzo, new head football coach Mark Dantonio, men's ice hockey head coach Rick Comley, new women's basketball head coach Suzy Merchant and athletics director Ron Mason all receive memberships to a local country club and the Michigan Athletic Club. These coaches work for "revenue sports," MSU spokesman Terry Denbow said, and their club memberships come with an obligation to schmooze with affluent community members. And while many people receive rights to one company car through their job, high-level coaches at MSU receive two - one foreign vehicle and one domestic.

COMMENTARY

God does not condemn all nonbelievers to hell

I can understand the outrage many would have after reading Isaac DeVille's article, "Tyranny of faith" (SN 7/31), simply because he compares Christianity with Nazism and Jesus to Hitler. However, as twisted as the logic was behind his thoughts, it is not entirely inaccurate.

COMMENTARY

High fructose corn syrup not an unhealthy choice

Drew Robert Winter's advice to avoid high-fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, because it is harmful, metabolizes differently than other sugars and contributes to obesity in "Weight problems" (SN 8/1), is misleading. Recent scientific studies have shown the human body appears to metabolize HFCS and sugar in much the same way. Kathleen J.

COMMENTARY

Morality conflict

The Michael Vick dogfighting case, and all of the attention on dogfighting and its attendant practices, show one thing very clearly: As a society, we have no idea what we think about animals.