I must point out that no matter how much one may disagree with such negative stereotypes, they are protected, and must be protected under the Constitution.
MSU’s undergraduate student government should better define its criteria for footing the bills that help bring public speakers to campus. On Thursday, representatives from ASMSU’s Student Assembly engaged in more than an hour of heated debate concerning whether to allocate money to bring ultra-conservative extremist David Horowitz to campus in March to speak about his experiences with student activism. In the end, it was agreed the organization would allot $2,948 for Horowitz’s appearance at MSU. The University of California at Berkeley graduate’s extreme anti-affirmative actions and anti-reparation view have often been the centerpiece of many heated debates. Last year, controversy arose after an ad that ran in numerous university newspapers outlining “Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery is a Bad Idea - and Racist Too,” to promote Horowitz’s book “The Death of the Civil Rights Movement.” The State News refused to run that advertisement. Much of the ASMSU debate centered around whether Horowitz’s appearance would be something that could benefit the university as a whole. An earlier decision by the group not to support a Black Student Celebratory, an event to honor select black graduates, was used as precedent for the argument against Horowitz. ASMSU did not fund that event because it was not open to all students. Horowitz’s appearance will be brought through the Young Americans for Freedom, a student activist group, whose event will be open to all students. Despite the openness of the speech, Horowitz’s views do not appeal to a larger mass of individuals.
While the Task Force on Student-Police Relations made a number of worthy recommendations in its final report, the group missed the chance to comment on a critical point. They failed to address the incident which led to the task force’s formation in the first place - the infiltration of an undercover officer into the student group United Students Against Sweatshops, now Students for Economic Justice.
Although crackdowns on aviation security have made travel noticeably safer since Sept. 11, it should ease all wary flyers’ minds to know the federal government is now in charge of protecting the skies via the nation’s airport terminals. The U.S.
In Tuesday’s State of the University address, MSU President M. Peter McPherson made it clear his priorities include issues of employee health care and salary increases.
During a weekend when women in sports were honored, your paper decidedly left out highlights of one of the best women’s basketball games ever played on this campus.
In response to Andrew Goetz’s column “Affirmative action opponents pose one-sided, racist argument” (SN 2/15), it is completely ignorant to assume those who oppose racial preferences are all racists. The use of race to decide who does and does not get admitted into a university is, in itself, a racist proposition.
The unionization of MSU’s faculty would not be the best method to protect professors’ health care interests. Last week, more than 20 faculty members met with organizers from the Michigan Education Association to discuss the possibility of unionizing MSU’s more than 2,700 ranked faculty members. A possible decline in the university’s health care coverage is a main reason some faculty members are considering forming a union to protect their interests. The university’s health care costs could be raised up to 20 percent this year, which could mean faculty members will have to pay a larger share of their premium. University faculty members have considered forming a union on two other occasions during the last 30 years - both attempts were unsuccessful. No Big Ten university hosts a unionized faculty.
Brian Riester wrote in his letter “Don’t dwell on old topics in SN letters” (SN 2/15) that “it is time people realize that no matter how much you believe in something, or don’t, nothing is going to change certain issues.
Call it compassion or plain old sympathy, but I have always likened myself to root for the underdog.
MSU’s 2020 Vision is not complete so long as it doesn’t specify for the construction of a free-standing multicultural center building. On Wednesday, representatives from the Council of Racial Ethnic Students met with the MSU Board of Trustees to push for the center’s inclusion in the 2020 plan. The 2020 Vision is the university’s master plan for campus building projects for the next 18 years.
Day after day, I pick up a copy of The State News hoping to read interesting opinions in my favorite section, “Your Voice.” I really wonder why the publication staff thinks all of us want to hear the same people complaining about abortion, Nate Allen and the detainees in Cuba.
President Bush is making the rounds around the country trying to convince everyone his multitrillion-dollar budget is a good idea.
Maybe five times I have said something positive about the University of Michigan. Like with many rivalries, sporting events elicited this bias, which was eventually directed against the university’s students, its academic quality, and even the school as a whole. Soon the 6th Circuit Court will issue a ruling on affirmative action at U-M, a ruling with broad implications on the admissions policies of all public universities. The ruling may break from the Supreme Court’s precedent in University of California v.
It was a good move for the state Senate to end decades of slant drilling under the Great Lakes. The state Senate passed a bill banning directional drilling on Michigan’s Great Lake shorelines by a vote of 28-5 on Wednesday.
Iraq is not a danger to U.S. security, and any military attack on Iraq is inappropriate. There is no evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, and there is no evidence Iraq was in any way tied to al-Qaida or any other radical militant organization.
This is in response to Ellen Conser’s letter “Stereotype contains factual information”(SN 2/7). I am utterly appalled by the racist views that were expressed.
We’re in that long stretch of gray and featureless time between winter and spring breaks in which the days of class and work seem to smear together into one long slouch festooned in banners of dirty slush. It’s a time during which I can’t go home to stock up on food.
The Ingham County Board of Commissioners’ made the right decision Tuesday in passing a ban on smoking in most county businesses. The proposal was passed by a vote of 11-2, and would require businesses that allow smoking to create a separate room with ventilation directed to the outside. Enforcement of the proposal will be done on a by complaint basis. Originally, bars, bingo halls and restaurants were a part of the smoking ban proposal, but they were excluded after owners of such establishments argued the smoking ban would negatively impact business. We agree.
Romando J. Dixson’s column (“A lot of tears, time needed in getting over the death of a loved one,” SN 2/8) spurred me to take the time to write a response. Three years ago, I awoke in my darkened Holden Hall room to receive a phone call that would alter my life, perceptions of life, and beliefs forever.