COMMENTARY

Numbers up

While our counterparts in Ann Arbor are witnessing tempers rise on account of the affirmative action lawsuit concerning their admissions policy, MSU is witnessing historic highs in minority enrollment. The Office of Affirmative Action, Compliance and Monitoring released its 2001-02 statistics Tuesday, and found that while Native American enrollment decreased 14 percent, Hispanics increased by 8 percent, Asian Pacific Islanders by 6 percent and blacks by 4 percent.

COMMENTARY

Anti-war protesters confused about war

Don't the anti-war protesters see that most of the Iraqi people are welcoming our military? So much good is coming out of this campaign: the ousting of a brutal dictator, the liberation of millions who have survived his tyranny, the democratization of an Arab nation and the revival of the Iraqi oil industry (which means cheaper gas for everybody). We're not going to occupy Iraq for 20 years, and we're not permanently seizing their oil wells.The people who protest along Grand River Avenue now would be the same people protesting government inaction in 10 years after Saddam's cronies plant anthrax in New York City, or after the dictator once again uses weapons of mass destruction on his own people.Anybody who doesn't see the logic behind the war has no comprehension of international affairs.The nature of modern warfare has changed so that a threat need not necessarily show up at our doorstep; our military is so advanced that we can meet the challenges of the future before they arrive.

COMMENTARY

Councilman wrong for riot solutions

I was pleased to see East Lansing officials are taking the weekend's disturbances seriously, but their solutions were a mixed bag of good and thick-headed ("Council to seek strict punishment for participants" SN 4/2). The idea that the Big Ten would forego tournament revenue in order to punish a school is simply ludicrous, and Bill Sharp should be embarrassed that he said it in public.

COMMENTARY

Reporter wrong for categorizing band

It is unfortunate Joseph Montes, out of a lack of truly interesting insight into the band Flatfoot's debut album, resorted to sophomoric complaints about the album's incapacity to fit into an "indie rock" category ("Flatfoot needs to make music to match its indie rock image," SN 4/8). While he astutely noted two of the members of the band wear thick-rimmed glasses, he obviously neglected to stop and ask himself, or anyone else with an inkling of knowledge about the band, whether the band is, in fact, trying to be an "indie rock" band.

COMMENTARY

God's not just getting stones thrown through his window

There is a Jewish proverb that says if God lived on Earth, people would break his windows. But the sad reality is that God is alive on Earth and we do far worse things to him every day. When we see him hungry, we let him starve.

COMMENTARY

Officials shouldn't dole out rewards

First, I must say I am appalled at the students involved in the riots and their actions. But I am even more appalled our university is not doing things to boost our reputation.

COMMENTARY

War, not basketball, should get 'U' riled

It's really a shame that basketball and alcohol seem to be the only way to get a big group of students out into the streets to make a scene.

COMMENTARY

Riot does damage to 'U' reputation

I am a graduate of MSU and am proud of our basketball team. How great is it that they have made it to the Elite Eight four out of the past five years?

COMMENTARY

Destruction isn't good way to party

I am writing to vent my incredible disgust for some of my fellow students here at MSU. In my sociology class this week we had a discussion about the riot.

COMMENTARY

Of course Saddam wouldn't fight fair

After reading the editorial "Unfair fight" (SN 4/2), I am in a state of disbelief.

COMMENTARY

Surprise me more

As far-fetched as it might be for Pennsylvania lawmakers to ask citizens for more money during tax season, at least the cash-strapped state Legislature is willing to "think outside the box." Pennsylvania state Rep.

COMMENTARY

Good press

The U.S. News & World Report released Friday that four of MSU's colleges are among the top 25 schools in the nation - a refreshing reminder this campus is a place for quality higher education. In light of the university community's recent press for a weekend riot, playing the stage for a Girls Gone Wild stunt and being announced as a destination for a Playboy college photo shoot, it's comforting to know the university is gaining recognition for things other than earning points on the Princeton Review's top 20 party school list, where it places on a regular basis. In all, 17 MSU graduate programs were included in the U.S.

COMMENTARY

Police presence didn't cause riot

It is quite surprising to me that the editorial staff of The State News and other MSU students have forgotten the meaning of free will.

COMMENTARY

New York City sure to offer different lifestyle from Midwest

On a winter Friday night last year, I found myself in a dark and impossibly loud nightclub in the Chelsea district of Manhattan called Suite 16.

COMMENTARY

Police shouldn't be blamed in 'U' melee

This is a response to the letter to the editor

COMMENTARY

Treadwell column neglected facts

Am I the only one who sees the blatant hypocrisy in Matt Treadwell's columns/tirades? He claims that he is proud to be a Roman Catholic, yet he hangs his head in shame when mentioning his American nationality ("Church learns from mistakes, country continues to make same ones" SN 4/2). The treatment of Native Americans, African slavery and other past American deeds are the cause of his shame.

COMMENTARY

Current events warrant letter

I have never written to the editor, but I have a few things I would like to get off my chest. First, about the war.

COMMENTARY

Trial and error

Most of us are familiar with the central point of our judicial system here in the United States of America and in most democratic countries worldwide: you're innocent until proven guilty. Yet there are those who need to be made aware of this policy, the ones who are not named and sit behind closed doors, labeled only as "university officials." On Friday, these officials suspended two students for their alleged involvement in the activities last weekend.

COMMENTARY

Cross judgment

Despite critics who say a 50-year-old Virginia statute that makes it a crime to burn a cross as an act of intimidation compromises First Amendment freedoms, a divided Supreme Court ruled justly Monday when it upheld the law. "The protections afforded by the First Amendment

COMMENTARY

Riot effects extend outside of campus

I am sick to my stomach after hearing MSU's name being dragged through the mud all last week. Unfortunately, all of the negative press was justified by the morons who participated, and those who came out and watched last Sunday.