Saturday, September 21, 2024

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Foreign policy change helps US

Since the end of World War II, the United States kept a tradition of making bilateral agreements with Asian countries. American policymakers have had an incredibly successful track record of advancing our economic and security interests, building upon these relationships to adapt to a fast-changing world.

COMMENTARY

Smoking ban good idea, difficult to execute

Smoking on campus can be bothersome to students who are nonsmokers. When walking to class, it is common for students to be hit with a whiff of cigarette smoke — a smell that can be very irritating for some — or have to walk behind someone with a cigarette in their hand.

COMMENTARY

Students need more mental health help

In a time when money isn’t in abundance at MSU, university programs are going to have funds cut. It’s an unfortunate reality ­— one that is affecting the mental health and well-being of the university’s students. The Counseling Center has provided assistance to a record-breaking 3,050 students and counting this academic year, in comparison to the 2,750 students during the 2010-11 school year.

COMMENTARY

Divided, United Nations too weak

Conservative politicians often portray the United Nations as a powerful monster, poised to gobble up the United States and other countries and put them under alien rule. The reality, of course, is quite different.

COMMENTARY

A beautiful lady for Valentine’s Day

To meet the requirement of becoming a journalist, I have to complete one English course before I graduate. And since I have a sincere love for poetry, I decided to take the English 129, Introduction to Reading Poetry course offered by professor Maurice Pogue.

COMMENTARY

Protests don’t need focus, goals

I read with some amusement a recent editorial in the State News where the writer contrasted recent protests with those of the past — opining that Occupy Wall Street and those students who would like to improve our health by getting rid of coal burning on campus are not serious protesters because, unlike the successful protesters of the 1960s, they have “no clear goals.”

COMMENTARY

This break, heed open road’s call

If you’re like me, then it’s getting to that point in the semester where spring break can’t come soon enough. As midterms, papers and more creep up, break has become my light at the end of the tunnel. Unlike many students, thoughts of the tropics aren’t what’s pushing me onwards at this point.

COMMENTARY

Safety, not acrimony, goal of card system

When it comes to student life at MSU, safety on campus should be a top priority. University officials seem to agree, as demonstrated with the card-scanning security systems in residence halls, but undergraduate student government groups are hoping to make the system more convenient for students — an unnecessary change.

COMMENTARY

Election day, go beyond party lines

Being a college freshman and just turning 19, the upcoming presidential election will be my first opportunity to vote for the country’s next president. I always have proclaimed myself to be a Democrat, so at first there seemed to be no question of who I would vote for: President Barack Obama.

COMMENTARY

Stadium upgrades ignore climate

At a time when climate scientists are sounding alarm bells around the world, as glaciers melt, severe weather events disrupt cities and farms and earth’s living things face extinction because of global climate change, the MSU Administration and Board of Trustees have shirked their responsibilities. Last week the MSU Board of Trustees failed to discuss transitioning the largest coal-fired power plant on any American college campus, removing such discussion from their agenda.