I am writing in response to Ryan Dinkgrave's article "Definition of marriage should not be based on sexual orientation" (SN 2/7). Dinkgrave states that he cannot "understand and appreciate" the views of those opposed to same-sex marriage.
ASMSU passed a bill Friday removing Great Issues, a group from its programming board, after an argument about a speaker the group paid to visit MSU. The speaker, Joe Carr, reportedly made anti-Semitic and other hate speech comments last year, spurring the Jewish Students Union and the Arab Cultural Society to introduce a bill calling for the removal of Great Issues from the undergraduate student government. After a meeting that wore on until after 2 a.m., ASMSU's Student Assembly removed the group for bringing "events which actually promote mistrust, hatred and even violence toward minorities on campus," the bill stated. Great Issues was a 17-member facet of the programing board.
It's no secret that anti-abortion proponents are a spectacularly uncool group of people. Statistically speaking, outside of "American Idol" enthusiasts and motorists with "Love Wins" bumper stickers, pro-lifers rank among the most uncool segments of the American population. "Jay and Silent Bob" creator Kevin Smith can't write a movie script without satirizing a pro-life character.
Attending MSU sporting events during the past decade or so, I've had to stifle more than a few moans at the juvenile antics of the student section.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm delivered her State of the State address Tuesday and confirmed what most of us had already concluded: The state of the state?
I am writing in response to Pete Nichols' opinion piece, "Bomb scare points out country's susceptibility for overreaction" (SN 2/5), about the city of Boston's reaction to the ill-planned marketing efforts of Turner Broadcasting System Inc. I am an MSU alumnus now living in Boston.
Thank you for your coverage of Steve Japinga's campaign for chairman of the Michigan Federation of College Republicans, or MFCR, in "Preparing to run for political office" (SN 2/5). Japinga is going to be a fantastic chairman of this important group. Japinga represents a remarkable MSU story.
"I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me." These could quite possibly be the most powerful and most offensive words ever spoken on Earth.
As we enter ASMSU's election season, the organization has 32 vacant seats — leaving every MSU college except James Madison and Social Science underrepresented in the Student and Academic assemblies.
I am writing in response to "Definition of human life needs to be determined" (SN 1/30). The logic of the presented argument is deeply flawed.
I was on campus when the IM Sports pools opened, and they were state of the art, but that was almost 50 years ago.
I must commend your paper on the recent article "Unlikely threat from China may not be improbable, far-fetched" (SN 1/22), by opinion columnist Pete Nichols.
I must say that Alex Lishinski wrote an interesting criticism about people of faith in his letter to The State News, "Belief in god wasteful, necessitates blind faith" (SN 2/1). A letter in which he completely degrades anyone who isn't as socially enlightened as he has proclaimed himself to be.
I am writing in response to the letter "Recycling does not save resources, reduce costs," (SN 1/22) by Steve Sutton.
Another blow was delivered to same-sex couples Friday, with the state court's decision to ban same-sex health care benefits. The ruling follows the state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage from the 2004 election — it passed with 59 percent of the vote. According to the court, when Michigan voters approved the ban on gay marriages, they also banned domestic partner benefits as well. During the run-up to the election, proponents of the gay marriage ban stated early and often that same-sex couples retain all the rights afforded to them.
With every issue I have an opinion about, I make a concerted effort to understand those who disagree with me — their motives, feelings, reasons — because without mutual understanding, I do not believe problems can really be resolved or gaps ever bridged. However, there are a few issues of which I truly do not understand the "other side." I try, but I cannot seem to find a common ground on which I agree with, or at least understand and appreciate, the views of those who disagree with my opinion.
Much has been written lately in The State News about atheism and Christianity. To me, Christianity and atheism are like two bars of metal. The surface of the atheistic bar is golden, shiny and aesthetically pleasing while the Christian bar appears soiled, dirty and unattractive.
In response to "Tax plans could start political feud" (SN 1/30), I think The State News is both hypocritical and a bit confused.
Thanks for your editorial, "Israeli use of cluster bombs unjust" (SN 1/29). Indeed, Israel always has been renowned for using excessive force and extreme measures of brutality.
If you followed the 2006 elections, you witnessed a few "ceilings" fall. If you watch the 2008 presidential election, you'll hopefully see what's left of the "marble ceiling" crash to the ground. As Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House in United States history, so proudly proclaimed after the Democratic majority took over, "for our daughters and our granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling." The United States is unmatched in political inequality in terms of racial and gender under-representation.