When I was in second grade my best friend was Jewish. She was the only other girl in my class who had dark features and understood concepts like war, Saddam Hussein, nuclear weapons and death.
The opinion column by TJ Jourian was simply infuriating ("Inconveniences caused by protesters minor in context" SN 3/24). First, The State News allowed Jourian to call some of its readers "imbeciles." She then continued to cast aspersions, accusations and assumptions on how the rest of us feel. Saying ROTC students are "trained" to support our troops was ridiculous.
Yes, it's a fact. Yesterday, we were nothing more than war-mongering right-wing oil grubbers. But what a difference a day makes.
Regarding Andrew Goetz's column about MSU's policies toward same-sex couples ("Recognizing same-sex marriages would solve 'U' problems" SN 3/27), I would have to agree that the standards for faculty and graduate students need to be on par. Whether one views a homosexual's private life as "yucky," "abnormal" or sinful (which in some cases undoubtedly affects their reasoning) is irrelevant in this matter.
In his vitriolic rant in response to John Bice's excellent column, alumnus William Perod falls into the usual trap of the fascist right ("Columnist's choice of discussion awful" SN 3/26). He tells us what a great country the United States is and that all should support the president and military as they fight for our freedoms.
With U.S. troops closing in on Baghdad and the timetable of military leaders growing ever more vague, Americans only can expect the U.S.-led war on Iraq to get bloodier. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Sunday he is unsure about the timetable of this war - especially its ending.
Who actually likes war? No one. Isn't war hard enough (whether you support it or not) without plastering pictures of dead people on the front page of Tuesday's State News?
John Bice's column pointing out the reality of Bush's presidency was great ("First impression of Bush apparently off target" SN 3/25). William Perod's letter, on the other hand, made me sick ("Columnist's choice of discussion awful" SN 3/26). Calling the article "whiny" and "unpatriotic" was way off base.
And I thought reality TV couldn't go any further. People are being married by the audience, kicked off islands, rushing fraternities and sororities and now this. Live war. Late Saturday night, CNN and many other news networks around the world aired a battle near Umm Qasr in Iraq, live for our viewing pleasure. Sure, I'll admit I was frozen to the TV watching the events unfold, which is the goal of any TV network. And sure, it was a great show of journalism, especially after the tragic events that some journalists have already encountered in the war. But come on, you can't just go broadcasting live battle scenes.
When hearing Professor Fayyaz Hussain describe his experiences of being sneered at to "Go back home," a reasonable person might think he was reminiscing about being teased in elementary school. Sadly, that is not the case.
This letter is in response to a letter to the editor ("Columnist's choice of discussion awful" SN 3/26). The person who wrote the letter complained about a columnist not "supporting his country, his troops and his president in times as important as they are right now." The columnist is later called "ultraliberal" and "unpatriotic." The kicker here is when the writer of the letter says, "I hate people who use their First Amendment right to spout off about our nation in a time when there is no room for it." What?
This letter is in response to Patricia V. Griffith's letter "Protests disrespect government, troops," (SN 3/27). Of course they do.
I never thought I'd open up the paper that I so faithfully read every day at lunchtime to see step-by-step instructions for rolling my own cigarettes
ASMSU has taken themselves too seriously once again with its disqualification of 45 students from its recent election.
I have witnessed with some alarm a growing number of incidents that demonstrate either a woeful lack of knowledge or a callous disregard for our national flag.
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.