Tuesday, November 12, 2024

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Taxing workaholics

Workaholics beware; an economist at the University of Michigan thinks taxing you might make you work less. Joel Slemrod, a professor of business economics and public policy at U-M, along with another researcher at the University of Texas in Austin, found that people who are highly educated and earn a high salary can become addicted to their work. This can lead to a myriad of health-related problems, like stress and high blood pressure.

COMMENTARY

SN's sudden religious sensitivity peculiar

I suppose I understand why some people would be upset that The State News is refraining from printing the cartoon depictions of Prophet Muhammad, but I don't see how anybody could be surprised. After repeatedly dismissing Christianity, and religion in general, as a crock of fairy tales throughout my collegiate career, of course this newspaper would suddenly have enough conscience to refrain from offending religious people. This is The State News in its purist form, giving preferential respect to the students of this university. When I attend my last few classes at MSU, I will be pleased to see copies of this publication exactly where they belong — strewn across the floor. Next year, I would appreciate it if you could change the title of the paper from The State News to the name it has finally earned: The Sudoku Daily. Bryan Dahl communication senior

COMMENTARY

Student behavior hits new low; not helpful

It blows my mind how impolite and unfriendly some students can be. Call me overly sensitive, but when it comes to simple acts of kindness, a blatant lack of courtesy can be excruciatingly frustrating. I can tolerate the small stuff. When people fail to respond when I say hello, fine.

COMMENTARY

Teaching others to think

Although MSU students spent last week tanning or lounging over spring break, a Denver high school teacher had a different kind of hiatus from school.

COMMENTARY

SN afraid to defend all right violations

If The State News so loves free speech, why then has it remained silent on the conviction of David Irving? Irving must now spend three years in an Austrian prison because in 1989 he said that there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz. It doesn't matter if you consider Irving a "Holocaust denier" or if you feel that making statements about the architecture of Nazi WWII facilities is anti-Semitic, Irving has a right (yes, even non-Americans have rights even if their governments indicate otherwise) to say so. The State News has been more than happy to condemn Islamic reaction to free speech; let it now condemn Austria.

COMMENTARY

ASMSU services don't warrant tax increase

I am writing in response to recent articles regarding ASMSU and its desire to leech another $3 per student, per semester. I cannot comprehend what additional services this extra money would provide for the average student.

COMMENTARY

Wells Hall preachers don't consider what they say or who they judge

I am appreciative of Adrian Pichurko's letter, "Vengeance against preachers not sweet" (SN 2/21), saying, "These people have become known for their closed-mindedness, arbitrarily judging passersby and spreading bad vibes to the public." Recently, I was passing through Wells Hall and I saw the "Wells Hall Preachers" screaming loudly and condemning students to hell. Suddenly, I heard "all Muslims are going to hell; Muhammad will not save you," "Islam is a false religion" and "accept Christ, and you will be saved." What is wrong with this guy?

COMMENTARY

DPPS makes poor car owners bleed green

I read with shock the numbers published in "Showdown at the meter" (SN 2/28). The Department of Police and Public Safety's Parking Services Division grossed $2 million from parking tickets alone in the 2005 fiscal year.

COMMENTARY

Celebrate sexuality; can't deny sex happens

In response to "Silence 'Monologues;' keep indecency out" (SN 2/24): Are you kidding me, Katie Wilcox? One has to wonder if Wilcox's libelous claims against Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" came straight from the mouth of Pat Robertson. I am sick of hearing women's sexuality be demonized over and over again by conservatives on our campus. From the ludicrous comments (mostly by men) about choice, to this latest attack on an organization attempting to end sexual violence against women, the conservatives on our campus are far from "right." News flash: Women have sex!

COMMENTARY

YAF pursuing antics, should move away

I'd ask why a group calling itself Young Americans for Freedom would be trying to put the kibosh on a politically charged stage play, as suggested by Katie Wilcox's "Silence 'Monologues;' keep indecency out" (SN 2/24). However, having dealt with a particularly nasty cell of that group at my alma mater, back in the 1990s, I know the answer to that all too well. There is, as Wilcox says, a growing movement on college campuses — a sickening attempt to label progressive and leftist politics as nothing less than communist, America-hating treason.

COMMENTARY

Free speech has limits; Muslims ask for respect, don't impose beliefs

On Tuesday, the MSU Muslim Students' Association peacefully protested the publication of the caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist. Students engaged in discussions over the issue and later that night the MSA hosted a question-and-answer session with a student panel to help answer questions that the MSU/East Lansing community had. A common question brought up was why Muslim religious leaders or clerics don't condemn violence and terrorism. The answer is simple: They do. The leading Shia and Sunni (the two major sects of Islam) scholars have condemned such terrorism.

COMMENTARY

Talking it out

This isn't just about cartoons anymore. They have sparked something much bigger. Across the world, people are protesting caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Islam forbids any material depiction of Muhammad. Since their original publishing in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the cartoons have been republished in other places — recently by SpartanEdge.com here on campus. The State News has chosen not to reprint the cartoons. Several protests have appeared on college campuses in this country, including the University of California and right here at MSU.

COMMENTARY

Remember boring AOP?

For many incoming freshmen, MSU's Academic Orientation Program isn't at the top of the list of fun things to do during summer vacation. Yet, freshmen are required to attend the program whether they'd like to or not. The program is held to help ease the transition to life at MSU by introducing new students to the campus and providing lectures about student life. But the Freshmen Class Council is hoping to make this transition even easier by renovating the program. The council has created a bill that details how to make the program more effective at preparing students for college life.

COMMENTARY

Will pay for reader to see 'Monologues'

After reading the letter from Katie Wilcox, "Silence 'Monologues;' keep indecency out" (SN 2/24), I must respond to such ignorance. Last year was the first year that I saw (and read) "The Vagina Monologues," a play that has been put on by thousands of schools across the United States, including MSU, for over five years. Never did I find the content to be indecent or degrading to men or women. In fact, I found it to be powerful, and it opened my mind to some of the thoughts and ideas of actual women who have encountered rape and other sexual violence.

COMMENTARY

Protest intolerance, violence, not images

I learned to ignore provocation in kindergarten. Where are the protests against violence? Why is it the West's duty to cater to the intolerance of the Islamic world? Yes, the cartoons are a horrible insult to people's religion, and there is no rational person who believes otherwise.

COMMENTARY

Production funds go toward good cause

Being a member of this year's production of "The Vagina Monologues" has been without a doubt one of the best experiences in my four years at MSU. I asked my father to come see it, and although he was a little uncomfortable, he loved the fact that a local charity, MSU's own Eve's House, would be benefiting. It is insulting that women and men, who have never read Eve Ensler's book or seen the play, think they know what it represents.

COMMENTARY

Paying the price

No one likes getting parking tickets. That sense of dread when you see the white paper flapping on the windshield.