COMMENTARY

Everybody should get marriage rights

An unfortunate number of Americans are very homophobic. The response of the president and other high-profile politicians toward what is happening in San Francisco, the "activist" judges in Massachusetts and a county in New Mexico suggests Americans are (at the moment) incapable of accepting one simple fact: Gay people are not going away. Creating an amendment banning gay marriage is not going to benefit anyone.

COMMENTARY

Simon needs to address theater

I am a senior theater major, and I am worried. Stated in a recent installment of "Liberal Arts Reorganization" was the fact that Provost Lou Anna Simon still hasn't decided what she is going to do with the Department of Theatre.

COMMENTARY

Same-sex marriage not for everybody

A proposed constitutional amendment would make same-sex marriages illegal. If you do not favor same-sex marriage, by all means, do not have a same-sex marriage.

COMMENTARY

'Teen Wolf,' time travel to blame for so-called 'left' media

There are some rumors floating around that newspapers and the mass media at large are ravenously liberal and unapologetically Democrat.

COMMENTARY

Group's terrorist tactics stifle speech

On the evening of Feb. 25, a business meeting of the MSU College Republicans hosting Barbara Grutter (Grutter v.

COMMENTARY

Fundamentalist views divide world

I'm writing in response to Lee Ehlers' article "Christian speaks up for religion, tries to end atheists' rants" (SN 2/27). What a glib supposition you make to equate atheism with those who abhor the religious right. I am very much not an atheist, an agnostic, yes, but not so far up on my soapbox that I am unwilling to allow the possibility of my views being incorrect - the same of which cannot be said for you and your ilk. Moreover, lumping a portion of the scientific community in with atheists - because of their ridiculous belief in the Big Bang - is beyond absurd.

COMMENTARY

Listen up

Students talk, but do administrators ever listen to them? Provost Lou Anna Simon held a forum Thursday supposedly to receive student feedback about her plans to restructure the liberal arts programs.

COMMENTARY

Religious beliefs personal choices

Once again, John Bice "Religious affiliation based on parents' faith, geographic regions" (SN 2/26) has used a poorly contrived argument to attack the Christian faith.

COMMENTARY

Double take

The State News would like to expound on our opinion of why instant replay in Big Ten football is a bad idea.

COMMENTARY

Allen makes good point in bad way

I wanted to write in support of Alice Dreger's comments ("Cartoon offensive to LBGT community" SN 2/25) pertaining to Ed Ronco's editorial justifying the publishing of Nate Allen's cartoon (SN 2/23). Ronco makes a perfectly valid point that the continued occurrence of homosexual marriage does nothing in any way to taint heterosexual relations.

COMMENTARY

No respect

This is the true story of MSU College Republicans and a group of pro-affirmative action activists, picked to share a room at the Union to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting rude. In a move that overstepped reasonable discourse and essentially spat on manners and maturity, about 25 pro-affirmative action protesters - from campus groups, other Michigan universities and the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN - disrupted a meeting of the College Republicans on Wednesday night. They jeered guest speaker Barbara Grutter and the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative to the extent that MSU police were dispatched to disperse the crowd. Grutter, a plaintiff in the Supreme Court case against the University of Michigan Law School's racial-preference practices, is a supporter of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, an organization seeking to ban racial preferences by means of a state constitutional amendment.

COMMENTARY

Uneasy comfort

Pap smear. Period. Stirrups. Speculum. Vagina. These words should be a part of society's everyday discussions on women's health, but sadly, most Americans - men, you're included - don't feel comfortable talking about what goes on down there. This week, The State News looked at some of the biggest health and sexuality issues concerning women, including diets, body image, emergency contraceptives, pleasure, sexuality and sexual health.

COMMENTARY

Reader didn't define anti-feminism well

To Erica Drozdowski, the self-proclaimed "anti-feminist" (

COMMENTARY

Wrong message sent on body image

I am writing in regard to the Feb. 26 article "Skin-Deep: Group Fights Myths About Body Image." Although I think any press to get the word out on eating disorders in women is noble, I found Thursday's article to be completely incoherent. It begins by discussing how the media places unrealistic standards on women and men's bodies but then ends in what amounts to an advertisement for Weight Watchers. I also found it incredibly ironic that on the front page we see women expressing the pain caused by these standards, and then on the back page, there is a full-page advertisement selling "aerobic striptease." I suspect this is simply a symptom of how deeply rooted this problem is in our society, but we need to move past the idea that weight is the only factor that matters when it comes to one's health. As a society that supposedly celebrates diversity, we still are not ready to except the fact that everyone really does come in different sizes, and that the one size that everyone is rushing toward does not fit all. Marshall Poole 2003 graduate

COMMENTARY

Nader best choice in 2000, not Gore

For the past four years, I've endured all sorts of whiny pseudo-liberals like Patrick Walters slagging Ralph Nader and his supporters for "costing" Al Gore the 2000 election ("Nader needs new hobby; running for president getting old" SN 2/24). The truth is that Gore sold out liberal causes to appeal to the moderate mainstream and it hurt him big time.

COMMENTARY

Christian speaks up for religion, tries to end atheists' rants

Apparently, for reasons more ambiguous than Wayne Brady, The State News Opinion column has been renamed "Religion Sucks and Abortion Rules!" In the last few weeks alone, many of my beliefs have been called "cute," "unscientific" and about as realistic as an episode of "VIP." These articles also have labeled my beliefs as dangerous, and small disagreements between Christian sects have been blown way out of proportion. All of this has been done in order to depict religion as a naive, prude-infused, ugly people-only club that the world would be better off without. Ironically, while these opinions have been printed on a daily basis, they barely represent the views of anyone.

COMMENTARY

Slam dunk

For the record, The State News always has had a powerfully sound belief that Chris Hill actually could dunk.

COMMENTARY

Religious marriages different from legal

I am not sure what all the fuss concerning gays getting married is all about. It appears that many people are confusing the legal concept of marriage with the religious concept.

COMMENTARY

Educating students on sex noble cause

I would like to take a moment to commend The State News for publishing an article that so many young woman should read ("Break glass in case of EMERGENCY" SN 2/24). So many MSU students are unaware of all the options that exist for them.

COMMENTARY

Same-sex marriage won't alter society

Tuesday morning, President George Bush made a speech declaring that we must protect the vital and ancient institution of marriage, which is recognized by every religion (nice way to include everyone in your ridiculous stance, Dubya), because apparently he feels that same-sex marriages will ruin that institution. All one has to do is watch "The Ricki Lake Show" for about five minutes to see that degenerate men and women everywhere do a damn good job at disgracing that institution themselves.