Officials in charge of the safety hazards plaguing the Northern Tier community should quickly finish up planned construction and put students' fears to rest. After nearly five years of existence, the Northern Tier is only now constructing new sidewalks and installing lights that should have been in place when the community first opened.
This is in response to "Protesters were wrong on Iraq; now it's time to help out" (SN 4/14). I am one of the "anti-war agitators," but I never said things such as "Saddam Hussein should remain in power," "Hussein's crimes were illusory" or "We won't be welcomed into Baghdad." I have never said Saddam is a good man or a good leader, and I would never protest to keep him in power. Instead, I was questioning Bush's motives for going to war.
"Get it together children," "You should be ashamed," "Grow up," "You're embarrassing us." Wow, I guess flipping to the Your Voice section in The State News really does get more interesting everyday. Except wait, that isn't our voice - these are comments printed and signed by our very own 1998 and 1999 local alumni ("Perception of 'U' goes down with riot" and "All students hurt by campus disturbance" SN 4/14). Are these people serious?
In his recent column, Jason C. Miller would like to announce his victory in the ongoing pro-war/anti-war debate ("Protesters were wrong on Iraq; now it's time to help out" SN 4/14). I can picture him writing the column while pumping his fist in the air and occasionally exclaiming, "Boo-ya!" Did Miller have money riding on this war? Miller makes a valid argument when he calls liberals "hippies," which is a term you really never hear in regards to liberal-minded people.
The pain and embarrassment that was the Spartan 2002 football season just won't seem to stop haunting MSU's reputation. It was revealed on Monday former MSU star Charles Rogers used a substance to dilute his drug test at the NFL combine in February. It's now highly possible the consensus top-three pick in the April 26-27 NFL draft will be subject to the professional football league's drug evaluation program upon signing a contract with an NFL team. MSU doctors say urine-diluting substances are often used to hide the presence of illegal drugs.
In response to Jason C. Miller's column about the anti-war liberals being wrong, I must point out that Miller makes many mistakes in criticizing the liberal stance ("Protesters were wrong on Iraq; now it's time to help out" SN 4/14). Just because liberation of the Iraqi people is the shoe that fits, that does not mean it is the shoe the Bush administration was shopping for.
Now that Iraq has safely been turned over from Saddam Hussein's regime to liberated looters, it seems the United States is setting its cross-hairs on Syria. In virtually the same breath the White House declared the fall of Iraq, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer labeled Syria "a terrorist state." And The Associated Press reported that President Bush laughed when he was asked whether Syria was a good candidate for his "axis of evil," saying, "We will deal with each situation as it comes." It's troubling that Bush feels such delicate foreign affairs are a laughing matter.
A recent editorial by The State News has asserted that our office is involved in an "overbearing witch hunt" with regard to student riots ("Seize the day" SN 4/14). I strongly disagree. The State News editorial states that "police are flirting with limits of the Fourth Amendment." It quotes the Fourth Amendment, stating "the rights of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, shall not be violated, but upon probable cause." In this case, we secured a search warrant to obtain evidence, which is precisely what is required by the Fourth Amendment.
Jason C. Miller remarked tongue-in-cheek in Monday's paper that he was "tempted to write a column that says, 'See, I told you so' to all the anti-war leftists at MSU" ("Protesters were wrong on Iraq; now it's time to help out" SN 4/14). It seems like "The State News' conservative writer" got what he wanted from his tirade.
As the war with Iraq is in a phase that could be described as consolidation, we who originally opposed the military invasion find ourselves in a bit of a pickle.
A newspaper's staff should always question what purpose it serves to the greater community. This week, The Reporter, a student newspaper from Stetson University in Florida, was shut down after a highly offensive April Fool's Day issue was published.
Police are flirting with limits of the Fourth Amendment and attempting to set a dangerous precedent as they embark in an effort to seize private computer hard drives they believe could contain evidence against lawbreakers during the March 28-30 disturbances. Last week, police obtained a warrant to confiscate a computer from an on-campus student.
I am writing in response to Marcella Rosen's "Ads present often neglected viewpoint" (SN 4/7). I feel there is no need to be so concerned with the "misinformation" campaign of the anti-Israeli side of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
There are some amazing things going on at MSU but, sadly, you probably wouldn't know it by glancing at the headlines of our student newspaper.
My one piece of advice for the MSU students who think their behavior in the riot was appropriate: grow up.
I'm tempted to write a column that says, "See, I told you so," to all the anti-war leftists at MSU.
To those students who took part in the riots - even those who were only "watching" - you should be ashamed.
After years of seeing issues of great importance to the university community tabled by trustees, we applaud the hundreds of students who gathered together to let the board know they won't back down. Congregating in a large cluster outside the Administration Building last Friday, a number of student groups, including the Alliance of Lesbian-Bi-Gay-Transgender and Straight Ally Students and Coalition for Social Responsibility, came together to protest during the final Board of Trustees meeting of the semester.
Regarding the lengthy campustruth.org opinion statement in The State News ("Ads present often neglected viewpoint" SN 4/7), I would like to offer a reply on behalf of the Students for Palestinian Human Rights at MSU.
As the outgoing programs committee chair of ASMSU's Freshman Class Council and the incoming College of Natural Science representative on ASMSU's Student Assembly, I have become familiar with the business of ASMSU as a student body.