COMMENTARY

Catholic missed the point of Lent ritual

I read with great interest Allison Thompson’s letter describing the difficulties she faced attempting to observe her religion’s Lenten restriction on eating meat on Fridays, given the food choices available in her residence hall cafeteria (“Observing religion hard to do in cafs,” SN 4/4). Thompson criticized what she characterized as unappetizing vegetarian dishes, fish covered with plastic wrap, and macaroni and cheese as not meeting her need for “good, warm sustenance.” Apparently she feels the Friday Lenten menu should substitute lobster for burgers. Thompson complained about “suffering through 40 days of Lent as a Catholic” just before explaining the purpose of the Catholic tradition is “to remember the suffering Jesus endured.” It sounds like she missed the point. Katie Donnelly 1981 graduate

COMMENTARY

More blacks, Latinos needed in education

This is to request a full investigation of how many Latinos and blacks have been rejected, have dropped or have not graduated from the MSU College of Education in the last five years.

COMMENTARY

Making sense of Middle East violence is impossible

Rishi Kundi

April 4, 2002

Today, I surrender. One of the more annoying things about traveling abroad is foreigners, upon learning that you’re American, assume you are fit to bear responsibility for national policy and action across the globe.

COMMENTARY

Student government doesnt do anything

I find the lack of a quorum at recent ASMSU meetings reflects on how much campus as a whole really doesn’t give a damn (“Quorum trouble plagues ASMSU,” SN 4/1). There are more than 35,000 people attending or affiliated with MSU.

COMMENTARY

Housing help

It’s nice to know East Lansing city officials are keeping students in mind while making its rental buyback program a No.

COMMENTARY

Inform the public

While the Residence Halls Association deserves some credit for making changes to become more accountable for how it spends its money, it still has not come clean to students about the mismanagement of their tax dollars that necessitated the change in the first place. The association’s general assembly approved a bill last week to create an events board responsible for RHA Movies and RHA Special Events.

COMMENTARY

Walkout option is necessary for union

Your editorial “Unwarranted” (SN 3/29) says, “To have the option to strike is understandable.

COMMENTARY

Observing religion hard to do in cafs

Thank you Amy Bartner. Your column about the cafeteria’s meals being subpar is right on the money (“Cafe Passover meals not on par with mom’s kosher home cooking,” SN 4/3). While I am not Jewish, I suffered through 40 days of Lent as a Catholic attempting to choke down the meals the cafeteria served.

COMMENTARY

Caf Passover meals not on par with moms kosher home cooking

My mother makes a mean matzah lasagna. Even with the limited selection of delectable (yes, that’s sarcasm) kosher-for-Passover foods available in grocery stores, I take comfort in knowing there will be homemade matzah-ball soup and matzah lasagna at home waiting for me.

COMMENTARY

Take action

If one wants to change the world, it cannot be done by talk alone. Talking about it is just one step, but action is where the answer lies in making ideas reality. Minority students and other university leaders met Monday evening in the Union Ballroom for an annual town hall meeting to discuss important issues concerning MSU’s minority community.

COMMENTARY

SN stance on union talks one-sided

Throughout the five-month negotiation process between the Graduate Employees Union and the administration, I have been consistently disappointed by The State News’ editorial stance.

COMMENTARY

Day off needed to honor Jesus life

Each spring semester at MSU, I am bothered by the university’s choice of vacation days. MSU is closed only for six days throughout the spring semester and five of them are given for spring break.

COMMENTARY

Pedophila not just concern of church

It is very unfortunate that the focus of media attention on pedophilia has centered on Roman Catholic priests for the past several weeks.

COMMENTARY

Book review lacked informed opinion

I am writing concerning Dan Julian’s book review of “How to Quit Church without Quitting God” (“‘How to Quit Church’ thoughtful, provocative,” SN 4/2). I understand The State News is trying to gain some cultural capital by reviewing books, but perhaps it should just stick to what it knows.

COMMENTARY

Training required

When things get out of hand at large public events, there need to be measures that will keep people safe.

COMMENTARY

Taylor ought to keep commitment to U

Marcus Taylor’s announcement to enter the NBA Draft was yet another in a disturbing trend of athletes exiting school early because of the almighty dollar. I remember Taylor as he donned an MSU hat as a high-school senior.

COMMENTARY

Alcohol attitudes are in need of changing

First, I would like to question the intentions of The State News when it published the mug shots of the four students charged with providing alcohol to Eric Blair (“Case could change ‘U’ parties,” SN 3/28). If this is a new policy, I expect the mug shots of every local person arrested to be printed in the police briefs.

COMMENTARY

File-sharing hurts all in music industry

I read with interest Kristen VanDusen’s attempt to justify using music-sharing services like Napster, Gnutella and Music City (“File-sharing is wave of the future, music industry can’t stop it,” SN 3/25). It’s odd an advertising senior would begrudge people making a profit from their products. VanDusen seems to have a common misconception.

COMMENTARY

Helping out

Greater Lansing offers community service programs for everyone from teenagers to retirees. Individuals who are taking an active part in their community should be commended. If change starts with the young, members of the Youth Action Team are paving the way to the future.

COMMENTARY

Candidates should be profiled in SN

I must say I found The State News’ coverage of ASMSU elections most disappointing. The State News should have interviewed and listed the candidates before the election with information such as their political backgrounds so we could get some sort of idea who to support.