Nonviolence can cause great change
I personally am disheartened that a government so unprecedentedly large and prolific as ours cannot learn the simple lesson that Mohandas K.
I personally am disheartened that a government so unprecedentedly large and prolific as ours cannot learn the simple lesson that Mohandas K.
Showing silent support for the people affected by war and for the soldiers fighting for the liberation of the Iraqi people, students at MSU can help in a huge way to send aid to those affected by violence with donations of blood.
Protesters do not understand the meaning of peace. I can't understand how protesters can protest for peace when protesting is not a peaceful act.
I am responding to something that was said in the March 20 paper by a civil engineering senior about his support for the war ("Students, residents absorb initial visions of war" SN 3/20). He was quoted saying, "American patriotism lies in the fact that we won't back down." This got me thinking, to put it lightly, and I felt a need to respond in this time where open communication is exactly what we need more of.
The United States and its coalition cannot afford to come up short or late when it comes to getting humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people they are claiming to liberate. The first sizable relief convoy rolled into Iraq during Wednesday's sandstorm, three days after President Bush promised "massive amounts" of humanitarian aid would be delivered. Missing such important self-imposed deadlines is unacceptable for the nation that paved its way for war with Iraq.
Amidst the fighting in Iraq, prayers for our brave troops and the protesting in the streets, another less publicized controversy emerged last week when graduate student Carolyn O'Laughlin resigned as the Mason Hall assistant hall director after fighting against a policy that prohibits same-sex domestic partners from living together in university housing.
This is in response to "Inconveniences caused by protesters minor in context," (SN 3/24). This is America and everybody has the right to protest.
As if the price of American lives wasn't already too much to pay for the Bush administration's war with Iraq, now the president is asking Congress for billions of dollars the country doesn't have to finance the endeavor. President Bush is seeking $74.7 billion as a down payment for the war with Iraq.
This letter is a response to all the anti-war demonstrations and letters pinpointing oil as President Bush's reason for declaring war on Iraq. Using oil as Bush's purpose for declaring war is a very cheap way to find a reason to be against the war. Iraq supplies about 5 percent of the world's oil.
With many worries of terrorism flooding Americans' minds every day, the people of MSU do not need to dwell on the phenomenon known as agri-terrorism.
In response to TJ Jourian's column "Inconveniences caused by protesters minor in context" (SN 3/24), I would like to voice my opinion on the paragraph in regard to Demonstration Hall and the ROTC cadets who train there.
Unfortunately, I read John Bice's whiny column in The State News, "First Impression of Bush was apparently off target," (SN 3/25). His mind is what is off target.
TJ Jourian wrote Monday we live in a "system that forces college students to resort to joining the army just so they can pay their tuition," after a protest stop took her by Demonstration Hall, home of the Army ROTC program ("Inconveniences caused by protesters minor in context" SN 3/24). As a senior and a fourth-year cadet in MSU's Army ROTC program, I am forced to disagree with Jourian. First of all, I would like Jourian to know not all of the cadets enrolled in our battalion are on scholarship.
They wanted war and now they don't want to face its horror. America's warmongers make me sick to my stomach.
Free Speech? Yeah, you're allowed to say anything you want to, which is exactly what I'm going to do.
This response is in reference to TJ Jourian's column on Monday ("Inconveniences caused by protesters minor in context," SN 3/24). This is an "open" letter to you and your contradictory column.
As it turns out, I was wrong in my original assessment of President Bush. Initially, I thought him to be a spoiled rich kid with surprisingly limited intellectual capacity and a penchant for malapropisms, whose achievements in life can be traced predominantly to lucky parentage.
During the past few years, MSU's March Madness performances have been up and down. And after this weekend's games, the tournament is looking up. On Sunday, the Spartans once again demonstrated they should be more feared than The Crocodile Hunter by downing Florida 68-46 and reminding the Gators why it was MSU who was the NCAA National Champion in 2000. It is indeed sweet to be among the top 16 men's basketball teams in the country, especially when so many had been counting it out. The success of the men's basketball team speaks volumes about the leadership abilities of head coach Tom Izzo, who for the first time in his MSU career began to find himself under serious scrutiny from his fans and supporters. But his team's performance and success in the first two rounds of the NCAA tourney plainly illustrate why he is a head coach and his critics are not. There is a reason that Izzo's name tops the winning-percentage list of active coaches in the 2003 NCAA tourney right above Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. The Spartans had their share of ups and downs this season as strong players fell off the radar screen and late-comers began to develop.
The U.S. troops fighting in Iraq have publicly gained the attention and support of the state Legislature, but Americans should be thinking of the soldiers who are protecting our nation without the push of lawmakers. A senator and representative introduced resolutions in their respective houses which supported Michigan troops in the war and operations in Iraq.
There's a war going on against an oppressive regime that has been consistently stripping its populace of their rights and their voices, and one needn't turn on CNN to witness it.