Friday, November 15, 2024

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Theory not suitable inside classrooms

A letter, "MSU profs oppose intelligent design as science" (SN 10/5), was published regarding an article about a trial in Dover, Pa., and I would be delighted to answer Kim Beaubien's questions. Scientists are fighting a losing battle in America because of persistent attacks from the religious right, with fewer Americans entering the sciences and the ignorance of the general public.

COMMENTARY

Last stand

Everyone deserves a fair trial, even when the person is Saddam Hussein. On Wednesday, the former dictator pleaded not guilty to charges actions during his reign as president of Iraq.

COMMENTARY

ASMSU retreat part of serving students

In response to "Paid getaway" (10/14), is it really that unfeasible for a student group to spend its budget on itself and still be benefiting those students it serves at the same time? Publicly traded companies invest in themselves for employee enrichment and developmental trips all the time with little argument from any shareholders.

COMMENTARY

Viagra anyone?

Spam. We all get it and we all hate it. Unfortunately, there is very little we can do about it. It is time for the government to come up with a solution. The recent seizure of financial records, computers and disks from the home of a West Bloomfield, Mich., resident demonstrates just how large a problem this has become. One person operating from home had a collection of more than 150 million e-mail addresses. The same person was sued in 2001 by Verizon Communications Inc., who claimed that he shut down the company's network with spam. This clearly would increase the cost of doing business by taking up time and manpower to fix the situation. Many people do a significant amount of their communication using e-mail and having an inbox full of junk doesn't facilitate efficient work ethic. If it is possible for the government to organize and implement a program such as the National Do Not Call Registry, why is it not possible to do the same for e-mail? Spam filters and laws attempt to protect our inboxes, yet they are still overcrowded on a daily basis. Aside from the annoyance of receiving large amounts of e-mails that have little or no use, many of the solicitations have offensive content. Penis enlargement devices.

COMMENTARY

Smoldering

Companies have a responsibility to make information about their products available to the public. However, consumers also need to take personal responsibility for their actions. On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to allow the Bush administration to go after a $280 billion penalty for tobacco companies that supposedly mislead consumers about the harms of smoking.

COMMENTARY

Stemming cures

Imagine, in the not-too-distant future, a prospective mother walking into an in-vitro fertilization clinic, checking a box before the procedure that would allow the practitioners to remove a single cell from a fertilized egg. The single cell will be used to further medical research. The embryo wouldn't be harmed. It's not science fiction.

COMMENTARY

Erasing lines

A recent study suggesting women are more likely to engage in a sexual encounter with a member of their own sex points to a larger question of how sexuality is defined in our society. Can you define someone in one sexual category? Nearly twice the percentage of women, compared to men, said they had at least one sexual encounter with a member of their own sex.

COMMENTARY

Oct. 26

Do you remember what happened? You should and you should care. Following MSU's loss to North Carolina in the NCAA Final Four on April 2, the streets on and near campus were packed with students leaving the bar or their friends' homes.

COMMENTARY

Victimized woman, says Liebler unfair

Imagine you are a woman living in a house with four other people, two blocks away from campus. One night, you are awakened from a deep sleep by a strange man standing in your bedroom doorway with his pants around his ankles, asking if you want a piece of him.