Monday, December 15, 2025

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Men marching will spread awareness

I commend the Take Back the Night Planning Coalition for including men in this year's march from Beaumont Tower, through campus, to 54B District Court — described in "Men also affected in many ways by rape, must help end violence" (SN 4/03). This is a monumental step in bringing an end to sexual assault, moving from a reactive approach to a more proactive method by showing an entire community unified against sexual violence. I understand and respect that Take Back the Night is traditionally a day of women's empowerment that shifts the blame of rape from the survivor to where that blame rightfully resides: on the perpetrator.

COMMENTARY

ELPD disrespectful toward MSU students

The East Lansing Police Department never seems to understand why MSU students hold such a grudge against it. However, this past weekend I experienced firsthand why the police don't have the respect they think they deserve. While standing in my friend's garage, talking on my phone and drinking a beer, a police officer shouted at me to come out and talk to him. Since I am 21, I was not worried about speaking with him, and tried to have a conversation with him.

COMMENTARY

Writer takes Conley way out of context

This letter is in response to Hunter Ignatoski's "All women's sports demeaned, trivialized" (SN 3/31). First off, I have to clarify that in no way am I saying women's sports are at all inferior to men's sports.

COMMENTARY

Coming together

Students might have thought they knew the general racial makeup of dorms on MSU's campus. And as it turns out, they were right. There's been a lot of talk recently about segregation in MSU's residence halls. Most students will tell you Hubbard Hall is where the most black students live, Chicano and Latino students live in Akers Hall and McDonel Hall has the most international students.

COMMENTARY

Affirmative action promotes inequality

In response to Josh Jarman's column, "MCRI promises equality for all, but proposal won't eliminate racism" (SN 4/04), on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, or MCRI, I feel compelled to point out a few things. To begin, Jarman's piece starts off by saying that the problem with the language of the MCRI is that it "disregards centuries of abuse and discrimination against people of color and other minorities by an entrenched white establishment." I see.

COMMENTARY

Fixing schools will best help minorities

It seems that Josh Jarman, "MCRI promises equality for all, but proposal won't eliminate racism" (SN 4/04), and most of the students I've talked to, have fallen into the same trap. Although the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, or MCRI, will do nothing to fix the discrimination against minorities in this country, neither does affirmative action; if anything, it only intensifies racial prejudices. You say there have been "centuries of abuse and discrimination against people of color and other minorities by an entrenched white establishment," and yet the solution you promote is simply giving someone 20 points on an admissions application. To get to the root of the problem, we must address the disparity in funding for public schools in black and minority communities compared to those in white communities.

COMMENTARY

Movie too soon?

For a lot of us, the memory of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is still fresh in our minds. There are reminders everywhere of what happened. Every Sept.

COMMENTARY

Article doesn't give credit where it's due

As a member of the University Activities Board, or UAB, who has been involved with Battle of the Bands competitions for the past four years, I was excited when I saw the headline "Shake, battle & roll" (SN 4/03) on the front page of The State News. However, this excitement faded as I read the article.

COMMENTARY

Video games not cause of moral decay; politicians must dig deeper

I love to shoot people. Rain of bullets. Blood everywhere. The dull thud of a fallen body. Screaming in the background. It's pretty fun. But some people aren't as fond of video games as I am. I hear a lot about video games and how such satanic playthings are destroying our American youth. Despoiling our children's innocence. Making young people everywhere dangerous criminals ready to pounce. Advocates for decency overestimate the powers of virtual reality and make human beings sound incompetent and easily swayed by flashy things. The more I hear the ridiculous rhetoric — which just so happens to be the latest moral crusade — the more exasperated I become. Surely, welfare, child abuse, sexual assault and our faltering economy are more worthy of our politicians' time. In the wake of the "Hot Coffee" modification that unlocked graphic sex scenes in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Gov.

COMMENTARY

People distinguish between fact, fiction

Oh, Andrew Stamp, I do hope you were kidding about "Axe promises results, but doesn't deliver" (SN 4/05). No product is strong enough to make hoards of horny college students jump even the most beautiful man in the world, although the beautiful man probably wouldn't need it anyway. Let me explain the joys of creating an advertisement — exaggeration works rather nicely.

COMMENTARY

Accomplished sport omitted in preview

After reading The State News that included a preview, "Spring forward" (SN 3/31) of all spring sports teams, I was inspired to ask a trivia question to all those who read the article. In 2005, what MSU spring sports team produced the Big Ten Freshman of the Year (Anne Cowan), Big Ten Coach of the Year (Matt Weise), Big Ten Athlete of the Year and All-American first team (Erin Robertson) and captured a Big Ten Championship? Give up? The answer is the Spartans women's rowing team.

COMMENTARY

Meet our E.L. mayor

Sam Singh is making the effort to meet with students. And his effort is much appreciated. The mayor of East Lansing has held a dinner and discussions on campus to meet more students. He also was part of a discussion on campus last week with students and East Lansing police officers to talk about student concerns and will host three more free dinners on campus. Singh also wants people to learn more about biodiesel fuel, which is why he and band member of rock 'n' roll band Guster were on campus Thursday to talk about the fuel.

COMMENTARY

Pay per emergency

In the struggle to balance the city's budget, Lansing officials might tell neighboring communities to pay up when Lansing firefighters and police help them out in emergencies.

COMMENTARY

Ramsey should look up issues he draws

I am writing in response to the editorial cartoon that appeared on the Opinion Page (SN 3/28). Although I'm impressed with Ramsey's artistic abilities, I am equally astonished with his inability to follow current events. As has been repeated time and time again by the Dick DeVos campaign, DeVos did not outsource jobs to China while he was Amway CEO and evidence that Ramsey might point to in order to support his drawing is completely bunk. As any responsible CEO would do, DeVos expanded the company into China while continuing to invest in Michigan to the tune of $700 million more! Those profits coming from China allowed Amway to create nearly 300 more jobs in Michigan! I might also add that investing in China is not by any means unique in today's global market economy. Companies such as Visteon, General Motors, Ford and Compuware that have poured thousands of dollars into Gov.

COMMENTARY

Giving advantages won't mean success

Josh Jarman's anti-MCRI column, "MCRI promises equality for all, but proposal won't eliminate racism" (SN 4/04), once again proves that both MCRI supporters and opposition are focusing on the wrong issues when it comes to affirmative action. Black college students graduate at a much lower rate than their white counterparts. Why?

COMMENTARY

Students should act, not just complain

Jeff Rector, "ASMSU not worth it, should be disbanded" (SN 4/03), thinks that because of low election turnout, we should execute his letter's self-explanatory judgment on our student government. Rector's argument runs like this: There is low student participation in ASMSU elections, but this is not because of apathy, it is because it is not worth the students' time to participate in the election.