Friday, November 15, 2024

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Student witnesses aftermath of recent London terrorist attacks

Less than 24 hours after the confetti had been thrown into the air and the cheers could no longer be heard at Trafalgar Square, the mood of London changed. I am staying in central London as an MSU student on study abroad, and I witnessed two international breaking news days back-to-back. First, my study abroad experience will be marked with the excitement of July 6 when London narrowly beat Paris to become the host of the 2012 Olympic Games. The following day, London's beaming smile abruptly disappeared after the worst terrorist attacks in Britain's history jabbed the nation in the mouth. I was able to see firsthand the excitement that the announcement of London winning the games' bid brought to the city.

COMMENTARY

Republicans aren't helping higher-ed

Michigan needs to get serious about higher education. If we want to build a high-performance economy for the 21st century in the Great Lakes state, we need to invest in colleges and universities.

COMMENTARY

Alert abroad

In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks on the city of London, MSU's Office of Study Abroad should be proud of itself for doing its job.

COMMENTARY

Film critic vague in panning of movie

I would be interested if the writer of the article "Despite bad ending, rest of 'War of the Worlds' excellent" (SN 6/30) could elaborate a bit more on why he thinks that the end of "War of the Worlds" was a let down.

COMMENTARY

Flag represents our freedom, history

I'm writing in response to Carl Armstrong's letter ("Flag burning is part of our free speech" SN 7/7). I do not understand why anyone would want to burn something that represents the freedoms we all have (and take advantage of, I might add). Armstrong states we are allowed to burn the flag because "this nation is not owning up to its promise of freedom and respect for its constituents." Desecrating the flag can only contribute to the "lack of respect." You say the leaders don't have respect for the citizens and then you turn around and burn something our founding fathers would - and did - die for.

COMMENTARY

Stickin' to it

Just as there is a code of confidentiality between physicians and patients or attorneys and clients, so too is there a code among journalists that anonymous sources will be protected.

COMMENTARY

Exclusive 8

Spanning three days in lush Scotland, the conference between the leaders of the Group of Eight, or G8, nations will attempt to tackle some of the world's biggest problems, such as poverty in Africa, global warming, peace in the Middle East and nuclear proliferation.

COMMENTARY

Police should not be blindly believed

I could not believe what I read in the article concerning the arrest of Cortney Woycik ("Cloudy night in the city" SN 6/30). First of all, the level of intelligence between students and the East Lansing Police Department is clearly shown from the statements they make.

COMMENTARY

Real research

MSU is known for many things. Football, basketball, agriculture, the Red Cedar River and, of course, the generalized social behavior of its students.

COMMENTARY

Flag burning is part of our free speech

This letter is in response to Richard Ivans' letter, in which he states that flag burning is not an acceptable form of free speech ("Flag burning isn't accepted speech" SN 6/30). I would like to disagree, and point out that the reason that flag burning is an acceptable form of protest, for me, is in Chief Justice William H.

COMMENTARY

Bice columns lack intrigue, surprise

I am writing in reflection of the numerous articles I have read by John Bice. After reading his latest masterpiece, ("Scientology's wild claims no stranger than those of major religions" SN 6/28), I couldn't help but come to the realization that John Bice always seems to have some ax to grind, and his rhetoric has become all too predictable. If you see a column written by him in The State News, you almost always know what the conclusion will be just by looking in the title for "religion," "capitalism," "politics," etc.

COMMENTARY

Faith needs reason, not blind beliefs

In John Bice's article "Scientology's wild claims no stranger than those of major religions" (SN 5/28) he asks: "What's the difference, rationally speaking, between believing in body-infesting souls and ancient galactic confederations, or in the stories of virgin birth, Vishnu, the Garden of Eden, transubstantiation, Noah's ark, judgment day, or the baseless concept of the Trinity?" His own answer: "Not much." Unfortunately, Mr. Bice's article tells us more about himself than it does about religious beliefs in general, and Christianity in particular.