Sunday, July 5, 2026

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

State funding delays are dangerous

More than a month after Gov. Jennifer Granholm's pledge to invest in higher education, a delay of $73 million in funding is looming in the distance. The state faces a $344 million cut if Granholm's executive order to reduce Michigan's combined $3 billion deficit is approved by the state House Appropriations Committee. If passed, Granholm has proposed to postpone higher education payments — totaling $73 million for Michigan schools — until the next fiscal year, which starts Oct.

COMMENTARY

Protesters are against Iraq war, not U.S. troops

I found that veteran Matt Patton's letter, "Protests are not only way to voice opinions" (SN 3/22), implied frankly that the methods of the anti-war protest March 20 on Grand River Avenue were not only incoherent, but also disrespectful to the troops.

COMMENTARY

Second time around

From both sides of the political aisle, and from all across the country, people are speaking out with urgency in support of embryonic stem cell research. Last week, the National Institutes of Health's director, Elias Zerhouni, testified before a Senate appropriations subcommittee, where he was asked if scientists would have a greater opportunity to develop new treatments and cure chronic diseases if President Bush's harsh funding restrictions were lifted.

COMMENTARY

Former letter partially misrepresented leader

I wish to retract and clarify part of my letter, "Letter writer's history harms black community" (SN 3/16), in which I accidentally stated that Gary Glenn, president of the Michigan American Family Association, or AFA, referred to an American Indian official's religion as "animism." The conservative Web site Americans for Truth ran an excerpt from Peter R.

COMMENTARY

Sending a message

On an otherwise beautiful afternoon one fateful spring day, thousands of students went about their day-to-day tasks, whether it was listening to a lecture on molecular biology or spending a day in a warm bed. Some students made a personal choice to publicly protest an immoral war, a wrong to be redressed — a right guaranteed to them by the First Amendment to the U.S.

COMMENTARY

Contributions of hoops seniors were meaningful

Tom Keller ended his article "Izzo: 'We gave them a hell of a game'" (SN 3/19), about MSU's loss to North Carolina with a quote from Coach Izzo that said, "Anybody that was a Spartan tonight should have been proud of our effort." I have to question whether Keller is a proud Spartan, though, when just a few lines above he wrote that the team "will return every meaningful contributor next season." While Jake Hannon, Bryan Tibaldi, Brandon Darnton and DeMarcus Ducre (as well as Deon Curry, but he's not a senior and could return) didn't have gaudy statistics or play extended minutes, to suggest that they were not important parts of this team is flat-out wrong. What member of the Izzone doesn't remember the first time Darnton saw the floor?

COMMENTARY

Separate consideration appropriate

As Michigan continues to struggle with a combined $3 billion budget deficit, a squabble has broken out between lawmakers and universities about funding. As it stands, Michigan's "Big Three" universities — University of Michigan, Wayne State University and MSU — receive 57 percent of state funding, with the remaining 43 percent to be divided among the 12 remaining schools. And while those numbers will remain constant, Gov.

COMMENTARY

A liberal underdog

For an election that hasn't even hit the primaries, the 2008 run for the White House has been quite a show. The undisputed stars of that show, getting more press and sparking more speculation than all other candidates combined, are Sens.