Friday, April 4, 2025

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Preachers not best shepherds for flock

I must confess, I've been delighted by all the attention that the Wells Hall preachers have been receiving lately. At first, I reacted to their vitriol with anger and irritation, but after hearing enough people react to them, I must say I couldn't be happier. As a born-again atheist, I'm almost gleeful that the fire and brimstone does more to turn people to the side of rationality in one week than I could possibly hope to do in a lifetime. Unbeknownst to the fundamentalists, they have become parodies of themselves. I couldn't possibly count the number of times I've seen their shameful lack of comprehension on basic and simple matters of doctrine.

COMMENTARY

Photo misleading, no LBGT side of it

After almost a week, I decided that I really should respond to the State News article "Web Extra: Students: LBGT community comfortable celebrating Valentine's Day at MSU" (SN 2/14). As an e-board member of Respecting Individuals on Neutral Ground, or RING, it's always great to get some coverage, especially when our issues have been invisible in North Complex due to apathetic mentors, despite all we've done.

COMMENTARY

College boredom might explain porch attack; maybe was deserved

Last week, a guy attacked my porch. Really. Last Wednesday night I heard a noise outside my door, and when I looked out the window there was a guy fighting with my porch, yelling at it and ripping the balusters out one by one. The porch seemed to be losing, since it was not fighting back.

COMMENTARY

People ignore races besides black, white

Reading the front-page articles for Feb. 22, it just struck me as funny how everyone thinks that there are only two races: white and black. Everyone gets so caught up in the notion of black equality, black rights, black history and black achievements — no one's stopped to think about any other races that, yes, do exist. Don't get me wrong — I don't think that the accomplishments and struggles of either whites or blacks should be diminished.

COMMENTARY

Primarily low turnout

It isn't really shocking that few MSU students voted in Tuesday's special Senate primary. Out of the more than 6,110 registered voters on campus, only 35 voted in nearby residence halls for the primary of the special election, which will be held to fill the Senate seat vacated by Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero. The importance of voting has been drilled into our minds.

COMMENTARY

Talking about sex

Let's admit it, talking about sex can make us uncomfortable. From the often painfully awkward conversations with parents about where babies come from to the class most of us had in high school, talking openly about sex can make us squeamish. Despite living in a more explicit society, in which we hear about sex everyday from television and music, sex is still a taboo topic — something many people, unfortunately, can't seem to talk about. If there ever was an opportune time to talk about sex, Healthy Sexuality Week, which started Monday, would be it.

COMMENTARY

Everyone should do own Bible research

This letter is in regard to the columns by John Bice. I have long been a fan of his articles because they offer great arguments against Christianity. Being a follower of Christ myself, I use his articles to challenge my beliefs, to do the research and see for myself if his arguments are right or not. Most times, his arguments fall short, based on the sole fact that his columns are spun in such a way to destroy the concept of faith, which is absurd anyway because faith is just that — faith.

COMMENTARY

Embryonic stem cell research needless

It is time to set the record straight: Embryonic stem cell research is a dead end. Despite all the time and money invested, embryonic stem cells produce one thing — tumors. The plain and simple truth is that there is little or no value in continued embryonic stem cell research.

COMMENTARY

Primaries unneeded in election process

OK, we just completed phase one of the "special election" for the open Michigan Senate seat. And we get to do it all over again in a few weeks. Why are we voting twice when we could vote once, if the Ingham County commissioners would adopt instant runoff voting?

COMMENTARY

State of our MSU future

ASMSU, the undergraduate student government, has stepped up. The State of the Student Address on Tuesday night laid out ASMSU's future goals for MSU and students — including program proposals, projects and lobbying activities.

COMMENTARY

Right-handed people need to be considerate of left-handed minority

I have finally come to terms with what makes me different from 90 percent of the population. After a multitude of art projects and papers smudged with partial handprints and far too many shirts with stained left sleeves, I have finally accepted the fact that I'm left-handed. It all started back in elementary school. It never failed.

COMMENTARY

Keep eyes open

At least we know where our socks are going when we find one missing from the dryer. Laundry, among other items including cell phones and laptop computers, is among the $20,000 worth of personal property that has been stolen on campus since the spring semester began. MSU police Sgt.

COMMENTARY

Writers should know abortion procedures

In the letters to the editor that have attacked my argument against abortion, no one has countered my points with factual evidence. In this letter, I will counter their rhetoric with the facts of abortion and leave it up to you to decide whether you think it is acceptable for America to allow abortion on demand to continue.

COMMENTARY

Big Easy summer

Not all students spend their summers at the beach or working full-time jobs. A group of MSU students will travel to New Orleans for about four weeks to work with summer school programs.

COMMENTARY

People will have sex; help educate others

In response to "Fetus is human, not merely 'wad of cells' (SN 2/10) by Kyle Coveart: Of all the anti-abortion arguments in The State News in the last few weeks, yours alone represents the epitome of ignorance to fact above all the others. A direct quote from your letter states, "The left in this country is usually against the killing of other humans and are usually the ones standing up for basic human rights and liberties, but because pregnancy is such an inconvenience to their promiscuous sexual lifestyles, they need to somehow justify having an abortion without compromising their beliefs of 'not killing.'" Your assumption of a "promiscuous sexual lifestyle" is an outrageous statement. Please, tell me, are you a virgin? And if you are not, like the vast majority of people in college, did you practice safe sex? Because condoms break, birth control isn't 100 percent effective and never can be, and rape happens every day. People who have had sex even once have become pregnant.

COMMENTARY

Torture wrong; U.S. must be leading example of freedom, decency

A new round of images of Abu Ghraib prisoners in Iraq was broadcast last week in Australia. The images show some of the prisoners naked, with hoods on their heads or in sexual positions. The whole situation is extremely disheartening and makes me wonder how we are ever going to win the war in Iraq with this hanging over our heads.