Currently, during times when journalism as a profession is accused of reporting false information and withholding information, we at The State News have to be careful about what we say and print.
As an employee of the Michigan Education Association, I was appalled at Wednesday's column by Bryan Dahl, "Teacher's unions are to blame for lax improvement in public schools" (SN 12/1). I personally believe he is wrong on a variety of points, but I believe wholeheartedly he has a right to have and express his opinion. However, as a journalism instructor at MSU and a former State News employee, I cannot ignore the shoddy reporting techniques shown in the column.
The first step in understanding how the Residence Halls Association could dump its dorm recycling program is knowing how recycling at MSU works. The contents of those big plastic newspaper recycling bins outside of classrooms and the recyclables coming out of MSU's cafeterias are processed by the Office of Recycling and Waste Management.
I am a die-hard MSU fan who graduated in 2000 and was a varsity MSU cheerleader for four years. I have literally lived the highs and lows of MSU sports.
This is in response to Bryan Dahl's opinion column "Teacher's unions are to blame for lax improvement in public schools" (12/1) and the subsequent letters to the editor.
We felt compelled to write in response to Bryan Dahl's column, "Teacher's unions are to blame for lax improvement in public schools" (SN 12/1). Dahl's article contained gross inaccuracies based on overzealous opinions.
I taught composition at Eastern Michigan University for a few years, and I hated when my students started a paper by quoting the dictionary.
It's true that abstinence is a 100 percent effective way to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancy.
I'm writing in response to Lindsey K. Anderson's column on jeans sizes and self-esteem ("Jean sizes put weight on esteem" SN 12/1). I agree with most of what she said in her column. There is certainly an excessive amount of pressure being put on people, especially women, to be a certain size.
In the letter, "Critics of liberals need to 'lighten up'" (SN 11/30), Andy Keast refers to "little nuggets of hypocrisy on the right" while applauding columnist John Bice for labeling religious individuals as "ignorant," "less intelligent" and that the reason they voted for President Bush is because they are "uninformed." I have a little "nugget of hypocrisy" for both of you.
Bryan Dahl needs to do his homework before criticizing teachers' unions and advocating school vouchers and charter schools ("Teacher's unions are to blame for lax improvement in public schools" SN 12/1). In 2000, 69 percent of Michigan voters convincingly defeated a ballot proposal that would have allowed school vouchers.
The Dec. 1 column lambasting teachers unions for holding back school improvement "Teacher's unions are to blame for lax improvement in public schools" (SN 12/1) was shoddy and irresponsible. While Bryan Dahl is entitled to his opinion, he is not entitled to lie - or to fail to check his facts. Among the many errors in the column is the statement that Gov.
At this time last year, a federal grand jury was told what the rest of us had been wondering since home-run records began shattering seven seasons ago: Who in baseball is using performance enhancing drugs. In December 2003, some Major League Baseball players were subpoenaed to testify about their involvement with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative - known as BALCO, but better known for being to baseball what Enron Corp.
With all of the talk that has been flying around over the last week or so about ASMSU, I feel that I need to clarify a few facts about the organization.
I used to love the environment - then I started driving my dad's sport utility vehicle. It started simply at first.
This is in response to Brandon Sethi's letter, "Student groups can benefit from funds," (SN 12/1). In your letter, you mentioned that you are not too familiar with how ASMSU does things, and clearly this is true.
There needs to be some clarification on what ASMSU's risk management account is and what ASMSU is doing with that $600,000.
Sept. 6 was a particularly dark day for "Jeopardy!" champion Ken Jennings. He only won $10,001.
In response to the editorial "Burn one down" (SN 11/30), I think there is a huge misconception presented here.
Michigan Rep. Ken Bradstreet, R-Gaylord, is calling for outright discrimination by moving to exclude domestic partner benefits from state employee contracts. Unfortunately, Proposal 2 passed in Michigan, but the exact language of the amendment is vague, leaving individual interpretations to determine if domestic partner benefits get thrown on the chopping block. A piece of legislation this vague might not have been the best thing to pass.