I am writing partially in response to Armon Mahajerin's letter, "'Crash' not great; doesn't stop racism" (SN 3/20). I agree with Stefanie Spiro's letter, "Brilliant films deserved recognition at Oscars" (SN 3/13), in that "Crash" was a well-written film that featured strong performances by a spectacular cast and delivered a powerful message.
Erik Green, in "Differences must be known, embraced — not ignored by majority" (SN 3/21), reveals how affirmative action has become twisted during the years.
Both an editorial, "Long-awaited raise" (SN 3/16), and a letter, "New wage increase won't help economy" (SN 3/16), slam the proposed Michigan minimum wage hike. They said this might hurt those it is intended to help and might hurt our already fragile economy. As one who tried to live on minimum wage for a number of years after graduating from college, I heartily disagree. I dare to say that slave owners in the past said the same thing about the abolition of slavery, that the country would fall to pieces if the labor had to be paid. Sure, I could start my own business if I could pay employees 10 cents an hour because I can't afford more than that.
ASMSU and RHA want you to vote in their elections this week. MSU's undergraduate student government and the Residence Halls Association are making it incredibly easy for students to vote for this year's student elections. They can vote either today or Wednesday. And it's online. ASMSU plans on having laptop computers stationed around campus so students can vote between classes for candidates to represent different colleges, halls and on a proposed $3 tax increase. Members of ASMSU say their tax increase, which would bring the ASMSU per-semester tax to $16.75, would help them continue and expand vital services. It's clear our student government is trying to make voting as easy for students as possible.
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in class examining a photograph that was pretty intriguing. Taken at some sort of carnival, the dark background shows a merry-go-round ride with a bunch of two-person seats.
I would like to respond to the letter from Charles Szafir "New wage increase won't help economy" (SN 3/16). He says, "there are more efficient ways to do it (help poor people) (such as tax breaks for those in lower income brackets)." Tax breaks to low-income people will not do anything.
I find it interesting that John Bice's latest column, "Readers missed point in column; Bible not literally true, unchanging" (SN 3/17), does not address real evidence and merely spouts out his opinions. He does not address the fact that we have a great abundance of manuscript copies of the New Testament, but merely quotes an opinion unsupported with evidence. Consider this: We have more than 24,000 copies of the New Testament.
John Bice's column, "Evolutionary theory, science needed to vaccinate irrational beliefs" (SN 2/16), falls short on several points: • Bice determines truth by popular opinion.
East Lansing's parks and facilities are good already. Improvement and public involvement will make them even better. The Community Parks and Recreation Plan steering committee met with the public last week to gain input on the development of a new five-year parks and recreation plan.
Small universities should have the chance to increase their funding, but MSU has more bang for its buck. A Republican proposal by a Senate panel last week might mean 11 Michigan universities would see a funding increase of less than 2 percent this fall.
In the never-ending quest to keep students safe in residence halls and keep trouble-makers out, MSU officials are considering a change in how students are checked in after midnight. A new policy would require night receptionists to take residents' guests' ID cards, which could then be reclaimed when they leave the hall.
In response to the State News editorial, "Taxing workaholics" (SN 3/13), regarding a University of Michigan professor of economics' proposal to levy a workaholic tax on higher-income earners who might be placing their own physical and mental health in danger by working excessive hours, I wholeheartedly agree that this idea is ridiculous. People working too hard in order to make more money is by no means one of the major economic concerns of our era.
What are you doing tomorrow? How about Wednesday? The answer better be voting. ASMSU, the undergraduate student government, is holding elections online at studentelections.msu.edu from 7 a.m.
I am writing partially in response to Stefanie Spiro's letter, "Brilliant films deserved recognition at Oscars" (SN 3/13). I agree with Ryan McCormick's column, "'Crash' doesn't deserve best picture nomination" (SN 3/02), in that the film was a shallow attempt to produce strong sentiment regarding various differential issues in society. Regarding the highly debated character portrayed by Sandra Bullock, the whole turning-to-her-maid-in-desperation affair was indeed pretty weak.
Hey, Mike Ramsey: You are entitled to your own opinion on the war in Iraq. If you don't support it, fine.
This is in response to "New trucks don't help parking woes" (SN 3/14). Will everyone quit complaining about getting tickets?
This letter is just to correlate with Rudy Bernard's excellent column "Scientists don't need to dismiss religion to be credible, accurate" (SN 3/14), which he wrote in response to John Bice's column, "Evolutionary theory, science needed to vaccinate irrational beliefs" (SN 2/16). Bice quotes from Elaine Ecklund's survey of 1,646 professors and drew the conclusion that "Natural science faculty were less likely to believe in God than social scientists." However, a careful reading of Ecklund's paper shows that isn't what she said.
I am writing in response to Abdulahi Sufi's statement made in his column, "Wells Hall preachers don't consider what they say or who they judge" (SN 3/13), stating that Jesus never claimed to be God. Although Jesus never blatantly said "I am God" in the New Testament, his claims to be God are quite obvious. Sufi says John 10:30 is not a claim to Christ's deity but further study of the context makes it much clearer; "I and the Father are one." "Again, the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, 'I have shown you many great miracles from the Father.
Sunday, this country will have another monumental anniversary, although it's doubtful we'll celebrate it.
Joshua Romero's recent letter, "Manuscripts support many Bible passages" (SN 3/02), contained some fictions. First, Romero mischaracterized my column "Truth of Bible can't be believed" (SN 2/21), making it appear that I was arguing something I wasn't. With regard to New Testament manuscripts, Romero claimed I had indefensibly asserted, "We can't know what the originals said." In reality, I wrote, "It's impossible to know with certainty what the original manuscripts said." Rephrasing a person's assertion to make it easier to attack is a popular and effective strategy, albeit intellectually dishonest. More annoying, however, was that Romero skirted my central point.