Monday, December 22, 2025

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Commentary

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

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

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.

COMMENTARY

Gay debate chance to expand rights

After reading the opinion page on Monday, I, too, was shocked at the choice of word Nate Allen chose to use in his editorial cartoon (SN 2/23) about the gay marriage issue. After thinking about it, I, too, realized that this is a word that people use every day as an insult to describe homosexuals and even heterosexuals.

COMMENTARY

Hate to do it

With rebel violence escalating in Haiti, U.S. officials are expecting refugees fleeing the war-torn country to try and make the United States their sanctuary.

COMMENTARY

'U' requirements valuable, increase quality of any degree

Usually, I do not respond to letters to the editor printed on The State News' Opinion page. On most controversial subjects, letters from both sides of the debate pour into my editor's e-mail box, and thus, I have no reason to continue the debates in my columns, leaving my opinionated ire free to focus on some other political controversy. However, after reading two separate letters that compare Michigan State University's mathematics requirements to monumental atrocities in history (including slavery, segregation and communism), I am going to join this debate.

COMMENTARY

Deserving citizens

Ask yourself a question: How will gay marriage affect peoples' lives? If two women and two men, who are truly committed to one another, marry will people's lives alter or are they against gay marriage because the issue just makes them uncomfortable? Today, the most commonly cited reason for outlawing same-sex marriage is the desire to protect the American family.

COMMENTARY

'U' should voice concerns about arts

I know that change can be tough and even downright scary. Many of us would rather maintain the status quo that is our daily lives rather than face the unknown. Unfortunately, divestment from higher education by the state of Michigan has forced MSU and other universities around the state to rethink how they provide the students of Michigan with an education. The restructuring of liberal arts, although indirectly connected to budget reductions, is just one avenue that the university has to reduce costs and maintain, although difficult, the quality that all of us expect.

COMMENTARY

Reclaim faith

Across the globe today, Christians are observing Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten season of abstinence from temptation.

COMMENTARY

Reorganization is devaluation of arts

Provost Lou Anna Simon's new reorganization plan (College of Communication, Arts, Languages and Media, or CALM) would be a disaster for the liberal arts program and the university in general.