I feel an obligation to respond to the column written by Vanessa Notman, "Contraceptive choices expand, should be available for everyone," (SN 8/30). Her comment stating "there isn't time for morals to get in the way of a woman's choice" might be the most disturbing thing I've ever read. In life, there is always time for morals — regardless of gender.
I'm writing in regards to Kyle Jubenville's letter "Katrina response wasn't about race, but poverty," (SN 8/31). People of all races may live in poverty, but it would ignore all facts to say race doesn't have anything to do with it.
As a former night receptionist coordinator at MSU for 2-1/2 years, I feel that I have an obligation to write to express the concerns I have with the new guest check-in process for residence halls.
Last week, ASMSU announced a revised tailgating policy allowing 100 students to be chosen from a lottery for seasonal tailgating passes. The new policy guarantees season tailgate pass-holders a spot at the tennis courts near Wilson Hall before every home game without entering a weekly lottery or paying a weekly fee.
It's a question that has been asked repeatedly for the last five years. A question that invokes an eerie sense of loss and confusion.
When she commented on Lauren Spencer's Green Party candidacy for the MSU Board of Trustees, it appears that Trustee Dee Cook's 16 years of service don't take her memory back far enough in "'Represent the Students,'" (SN 9/5). In 1976, I was an MSU student, working on a master's degree in sociology and a candidate for the MSU Board of Trustees as a member of the Human Rights Party.
Every student at MSU can lament our tuition costs are high. The Republican-led legislature would like to see them higher; so would Republican gubernatorial-candidate Dick DeVos. Why?
The Democratic Party, which controls more than 90 percent of the black vote, realized long ago that the votes it receives from cities with large black populations have enabled it to stay in power during every major election. For years, these elected officials have been promising to bring relief and liberation to the inner cities of our country, yet it is sad and discouraging to point out with overwhelming evidence that the Democratic Party has done absolutely nothing — let me repeat, NOTHING — to improve the conditions of black America.
Not too long ago in our painfully stupid political history with President Bush, he made a speech that was so clueless it bordered on ignorant eloquence.
The East Lansing City Council members have a big decision ahead of them. With Mark Meadows' resignation effective Sept.
In addition to shamelessly invoking sophomoric partisan clichés, Andrew Mutavdzija's dire predictions of the effects of repealing the Single Business Tax in his letter "Single Business Tax needed for state funding," (SN 8/29), defy logic and suggest that he lacks even a passing appreciation of economics.
I am writing this in response to the editorial cartoon that ran in The State News on Monday concerning the new policy changes to the night receptionist program.
Once again, the White House and its mouthpieces are criticizing the judicial branch for ruling against a Bush policy; this time it's their warrantless wiretapping program. U.S.
Sadly, MSU has moved further away from the "Green Campus" it could be. For years, MSU has been building large, beautiful parking ramps, doing all it can to make it easier for cars and SUVs to dominate campus.
On Aug. 24, U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris said a few interesting things. She said the separation of church and state is "a lie we have been told," "God is the one who chooses our rulers," and "if you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin." The fact that Harris, a senatorial candidate for the 13th Congressional District in Florida, has demonstrated such blatant ignorance of the Constitution and the very ideals on which this country was founded is appalling. To its credit, the Republican Party has made endeavors to distance itself from Harris.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm introduced a new plan on Tuesday to improve the environment while boosting Michigan's economy. The governor said a $250,000 grant program will be used to either produce new or convert old pumps into what she hopes will be 1,000 alternative fuel pumps by 2008. In order to initiate this new form of environmentally friendly fuel and make it a feasible option for people to access, government support is necessary. Granholm is doing an exceptional job encouraging and introducing this new fuel option to our state. Just this July, she signed a bill that lowered the state tax for both ethanol fuel and biodiesel fuel.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Since elementary school, students have had this adage pounded into their heads.
I have to say that reading Stephen Roth's letter to the editor, "Conservative movement ideas are contradictory," (SN 8/28), made me chuckle.
I am writing in response to Darrell Hughes' "Government's Katrina reaction shows America's underlying racism," (SN 8/29). The Hurricane Katrina situation is a direct result of structural violence, which is a form of violence that is unintended but still occurs because of the nature of the "system" or the environment. It isn't directly the government's fault that these Americans are poor, though it does play a part.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged the troops fighting in Iraq in his speech Tuesday at the American Legion's annual convention.