Sunday, April 12, 2026

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Mayor needs to stop with politics, decide

After reading Mayor Mark Meadows' statement on the April 2-3 disturbances, one thing seems obvious: Meadows would rather play politics than do his job. He defends his lack of a conclusion into the matter by laying out all definitions of the word "blame." According to him, the disturbances were everyone's fault and no one's fault. Meadows blames the students for throwing rocks at officers.

COMMENTARY

Hateful state

What is going on in Michigan? A study done by the FBI of 2004 crime statistics found Michigan ranked as the third worst in the country in hate crimes, despite the fact Michigan ranks only 6th in total population. Michigan was behind California and New Jersey. We didn't see this one coming. Here we are in the Midwest, a place many people think of as full of people who are tolerant.

COMMENTARY

Mariucci last person needed for Spartans

I am disgusted by all of the suggestions that ousted Lions coach Steve Mariucci would somehow be the answer to our football woes. One of the reasons Mariucci got fired from his NFL job was his inability to develop young talent.

COMMENTARY

Writer's statements are ignorant, wrong

Ryan Townsend's letter, "Only two genders, demands are bogus" (SN 12/2) regarding gender identity and Y chromosomes shows that he is ignorant of both the social construction of gender and the biological reality of sex differentiation. First of all, "gender" is a societally determined set of physical and behavioral characteristics.

COMMENTARY

Writer intolerant of diversity, isolated

Regardless of Mr. Ryan Townsend's claim in "Only two genders, demands are bogus" (SN 12/2), that he holds no hatred or contempt for the transgender community in his response to "Identity right" (SN 11/16), his comments would suggest otherwise, or at the very least, ignorance and intolerance. His belief that "God created two genders: male and female" and that "There are no genders outside of these and there are no gray areas in between" is yet another example of how some people use religion to create divides between themselves and people who are different.

COMMENTARY

Take action

Affirmative action has always been controversial, with many advocates on both sides. And next fall, with the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative on the ballot, the issue is once again brought to the forefront. If passed, the initiative would make it unconstitutional to have hiring or university admissions preferences based on gender or race — effectively ending the practice of race-based affirmative action in Michigan. When it comes down to it, this will affect college enrollment and hiring in the state.

COMMENTARY

Not over yet

Give him a fair chance. People who are calling for head coach John L. Smith to be fired need to slow down.

COMMENTARY

Multiple genders is not new, common

I disagree with Ryan Townsend's statement in his letter "Only two genders, demands are bogus" (SN 12/02), that there are only two genders. Townsend mistakenly conflates sex and gender as the same thing, which they are not.

COMMENTARY

Still waiting

And to think, the East Lansing City Council will take this seriously. Seven months worth of meetings to come to the conclusion that no one is to blame for the April 2-3 disturbances and produce recommendations that look fine on paper, but aren't earth shattering. But at least it was a diverse commission. According to independent commission and City Councilmember Mark Meadows, the split decision of the commission on whether or not to assess blame demonstrated "that the commission was truly independent and diverse." So? What is the point of being independent and diverse if it's impossible to bring those diverse opinions together to reach some sort of conclusion?

COMMENTARY

Trustees inaccurately portray MSU board

I read in The State News, "Student: Trustees 'dodge' questions at meeting" (SN 12/01) and "Deaf ears" (SN 12/02), that members of the MSU Board of Trustees had not taken the time to read the report of the independent commission regarding last spring's disturbances.

COMMENTARY

Police SUV almost broadsided student

Ian McNabb is not alone in near accidents with MSU police vehicles blatantly violating the laws they so tyrannically impose, "Police should practice laws, give right of way" (SN 12/2). Early this semester, I was nearly broadsided at the Shaw-Bogue traffic circle.