After reading numerous articles written on the debate over the recent affirmative action decision, I find myself very upset. I believe there is too much of a focus on how the decision will have an affect on African Americans.
I have one question in response to the edit "Late advances" (SN 6/30). I am not disagreeing with the viewpoint that sodomy shouldn't be touched by the government. However, on the same platform, shouldn't marijuana be legalized?
Many of you who read The State News are MSU students. You didn't get there solely because you're a minority or a majority.
Elissa Bretz's criticism of State News columnist Jason Miller wasn't true ("Columnist lacks research in writing," SN 6/30), because she misses the reality of what race-based admissions do to applicants.
Creating additional jobs in Benton Harbor is a step in the right direction of rectifying the underlying issues that fueled the city's riots. But it's a shame it took such an uproar to call attention to the severe economic problems that encompass the area.
In trying financial times, it's not good public policy to also deny aid to those who need economic support, but needlessly forfeit money to the federal government. But Michigan is apparently doing both.
A while ago I wrote a column about the tragically growing trend of young murder victims due to their real or perceived gender transgressions ("Day offers remembrance, reflection on life's struggles", SN 11/21). The numbers are ever soaring, the victims and perpetrators alike getting younger, the murders ever more brutal. One of the many transgender hate crime victims was 17-year-old transwoman Gwen Araujo of Newark, Calif.
Andrew Goetz was off the mark in his column dealing with affirmative action ("Conservatives inconsistent with policy," SN 6/26). What most Democrats and some Republicans do not realize is that affirmative action, and other similar programs, are fundamentally flawed.
I find Kevin Hasse's interpretation of Puritan history, ("Puritans not to blame for problems," SN 6/25), to be morally reprehensible.
After reading Jim Bradley's letter, "Unobjective column negative to males" (SN 6/25), I felt compelled to respond.
I would like to inform Jason C. Miller that under the University of Michigan point system, a "white poor student from a failing school in Lansing" would receive the same 20-point advantage given to a "rich black student from excellent schools in Oakland County." The 20 points awarded for race also was awarded to white students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and white students who attend high schools, like the public Lansing high schools, where the majority of students are minorities.
Today I want to echo the heartfelt sentiments of a wise woman I know. Hell yeah, America. This Friday is the Fourth of July.
A statewide nursing shortage treated with limited enrollment at MSU's College of Nursing can't make anyone feel better. The projected 6.5 percent cut in higher education funding has forced MSU and other Michigan universities to make detrimental cutbacks and freezes in needed programs such as MSU's College of Nursing. MSU's College of Nursing reports an 80 student-limit for the past few years while turning away 150 students this year. Health care and other like educational programs are too important for the future of our nation.
If the United States is a country that truly believes in not establishing a national religion or the free practice thereof, it shouldn't attempt to make and enforce some laws dictating morality. Thankfully, one such law was struck down by the Supreme Court on Thursday.
June is an important month for the lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender population. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has declared it Pride Month, and the Supreme Court made a ruling on a case based on the discriminatory sodomy laws (one of which exists on the books in the Michigan Legislature), and Canada is in the process of legalizing gay marriage. It is sad to see just across the lake, our more progressive neighbors are fully embracing diversity, and it's times like these that make me wish I wasn't American.
This is in response to the conflicting attitudes on the Supreme Court's landmark jurisdiction and stellar preservation of protecting our university's interest in increasing diversity in higher education.
U.S. Supreme Court justices said public libraries must use Internet filters to prevent users from looking at pornography or lose federal funding in a ruling Monday.
With the doldrums of summer bringing rise to intense heat and even greater boredom, students are destined to find outdoor activities that beset the norm.
Those of you who are in support of affirmative action, I would like you to consider a few things. I believe affirmative action in its pure form is great for our society.
The talking heads of the right wing claim they want to run the government like a business, yet they oppose an affirmative action program specifically supported in briefs by Fortune 500 companies. They claim to support national security, yet they oppose affirmative action policies which high-ranking military officers assert are essential to national security. In short, when dealing with affirmative action, the right wing is consistently inconsistent. On Monday, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S.