COMMENTARY

Eliminating affirmative action wrong message

I am sick and tired of listening to people spout out lies and myths about affirmative action in attempts to justify their false idea that eliminating it will be creating "equality." In Shane Krouse's recent State News column ("Affirmative action promotes inequality; college acceptance should be hard-earned," SN 5/24), he presents two glaringly incorrect assumptions: Affirmative action is a point system, and it is truly just racial quotas. Both of these statements are, quite frankly, blatant lies. In the 2003 Supreme Court decision, Gratz v.

COMMENTARY

Cruel, unusual punishment

Where do we, as citizens, begin to draw the line between vengeance and justice? This is a very important question to ask while taking a stand on the death penalty. Whether or not people support the death penalty, it is imperative that limits and boundaries are established concerning the issue. Without setting limits and boundaries, how do we distinguish what is cruel and unusual punishment and what is not? On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to consider a lethal injection case.

COMMENTARY

Erasing system creates damaging effects for all

Shane Krouse's column "Affirmative action promotes inequality; college acceptance should be hard-earned" (SN 5/24) shows how grossly misinformed some students are about the affirmative action debate. Affirmative action doesn't promote inequality, but I can see how one could make that misjudged inference. Yes, it does separate people based on ethnicity — but it's a separation that needs to be discerned in many cases. The objective of affirmative action is to provide minorities, who come from a lower socio-economic class, an equal opportunity in higher education.

COMMENTARY

Being neighborly creates quieter city, less tickets

Andrew Cooper's letter ("Can't complain if you're not registered to vote here," SN 5/19) regarding the noise ordinances in East Lansing shows his ignorance and total lack of understanding of the problem that the students have with the ordinances and their enforcement. In the second sentence of his letter, he uses a totally unrelated problem to illustrate his point.

COMMENTARY

Lawsuit could help separate fact from fiction

In the world of corporate business and messy politics, the media is often referred to as society's "watchdog." The media is responsible for relaying what's going on in the world as accurately as possible to the public.

COMMENTARY

Affirmative action promotes inequality; college acceptance should be hard-earned

Affirmative action, or "positive discrimination," as they call it in Britain, needs to be completely banned in the state of Michigan as a means of considering college admittance.

COMMENTARY

Professor will be missed; MSU suffers great loss

This weekend the MSU community experienced a great loss with the passing of Professor Douglas Hoekstra.

COMMENTARY

Donate responsibly, check pro-science stance first

When Microsoft Corp. became a multi-billion dollar enterprise, I used to talk about how much I despised Bill Gates.

COMMENTARY

Democracy not only policy

The United State's influence can be seen in Iraq's new government. Just as President Bush wanted, democracy is now being practiced in Iraq.

COMMENTARY

Bush's plan to secure border risky, poverty should be main concern

President Bush announced last week that he will send nearly 6,000 National Guard troops to secure the U.S.-Mexico border in an attempt to stem the constant flow of thousands, if not millions, of illegal immigrants coming into the country.

COMMENTARY

Women more than baby-machines

Picture this — A woman is attempting to buy liquor. The salesperson asks for her license, and then for her pregnancy card.

COMMENTARY

Conspiracy theory hurts SN, university credibility

The State News editorial board has finally gone off the deep end. Now, I realize that, seeing as how this is a college newspaper, it's expected that its opinions will be slanted to the left.

COMMENTARY

Massive police force out of control, worse than Nazis

Attending the April 22 Nazi rally in the state capital gave me a lot to worry about. But the small group of quaintly clad National Socialists was not one of them. The really disturbing aspect of the event was the close-to-500, helmeted, black-clad and fully armored police force who used the event to showcase the new police state being built around us.

COMMENTARY

Immigrants negatively affect American jobs

I'm writing in response to the "Immigration larger problem for U.S." editorial, (SN 5/18). I take issue with the notion that "much of the economy depends upon the work of immigrants," as if they are an intractable part of our societal fabric. These jobs were done before illegal immigrants arrived en masse, depressed wages and forced Americans out. Does anyone really believe that prior to the 1986 amnesty and subsequent explosion of illegal aliens entering our country, that there were no hotel rooms cleaned, no lawns mowed or no dishes washed? Also, the failure to embrace the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, and the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, by Latin American governments is irrelevant to this argument, as the massive waves of illegal aliens preceded these agreements. Nothing these governments do can create a better life for their people in those countries than they would otherwise have in the United States, and that is why they continue to come and why we should bolster our efforts to keep them out. Geoff Woliner 2002 graduate

COMMENTARY

Professor's derogatory e-mail misses target, accidentally promotes diversity

Before addressing Professor Indrek Wichman's statements in both his e-mail to the Muslim Students' Association, or MSA, and his letter printed in The State News ("Prof.

COMMENTARY

Taking closer look at disturbing, real images of war is beneficial to society

Nicholas Richer

May 19, 2006

Some stories are told to inform, and some stories are told to entertain. For example: Hoping to slow down a slaughter that has claimed more than 200,000 lives, a cease-fire was signed by Sudan's largest rebel group earlier this month.

COMMENTARY

9/11 Pentagon footage released

Sometimes truth has so much power over our emotions that it weighs heavily on our beliefs. And whether you believe it or not, truth works in the same way with our government.

COMMENTARY

Can't complain if you're not registered to vote here

Am I the only student at MSU who doesn't object to East Lansing's noise ordinance? There's not a constitutional right to have your party spill out onto the street or onto your neighbor's property.

COMMENTARY

Riding bike helps avoid driving in construction

The construction mess on campus doesn't have to be such a huge hassle for folks. How? Ride a bike, and you can find lots of faster alternate routes through campus to that meeting or lunch appointment. Don't want to ride a bike to MSU for class or work?

COMMENTARY

American dream meant for all, immigrants too

Your "snowball" ("Immigration larger problem for U.S.," SN 5/18), that you claim results from immigration is really just a puddle of water.