COMMENTARY
Shady deals
Every week it’s another company, another financial problem, another screw up from the folks up top.
COMMENTARY
Old man river
Kudos to researchers in the MSU-WATER program, or Watershed Action Through Education and Research. The four-year, $1.4 million program designed to develop a watershed management program for the Red Cedar River, is an important effort to undertake, and it is only fitting that it originated at MSU. With the Red Cedar River as one of the foremost landmarks of MSU’s campus, it is important for the university to lead the charge to clean up the historic body of water whose banks it calls home.
COMMENTARY
Missed merit
Student leaders from across Michigan are preparing to join a battle against a November ballot initiative.
COMMENTARY
Plenty of potty
Women often are flushed with indignation about public bathrooms. There just aren’t enough places to answer nature’s call. For years, men have enjoyed the in-and-out nature of their bathrooms and biology, but women, generally, need more time and space.
COMMENTARY
Lawful cussing
Few people today probably think the 1897 Michigan law against cursing in front of women and children was worth being enforced.
COMMENTARY
Minimum mess
Mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes haven’t solved the drug problem we face. It’s time Michigan began to use a more balanced system to reform drug users. Many times, incarceration has been the only option for these drug-related crimes, and treatment is not given enough consideration, possibly sending people to prison when rehabilitation would be much better suited to their case.
COMMENTARY
Flown butterflies
It is undeniable: MSU’s campus is beautiful. On any given summer day, students can wander through numerous gardens, listen to the bells toll from Beaumont Tower or sit under the shade of a mighty tree. All of these aesthetic extras are important to our campus.
COMMENTARY
Lost lifeguarding
One drowning and another near drowning in the span of three days is more than enough turn the heads of area residents and park commissioners - and rightfully it has. An 11-year-old boy drowned Saturday at the Grand River’s Bunker Road Landing, and Mohammad Sohaib Fida, 13, nearly drowned July 4 at Lake Lansing Park South.
COMMENTARY
Valid Concerns
Michigan voters may soon have the opportunity to voice their opinion on where the remainder of Michigan’s $8 billion portion of the tobacco settlement money goes.
COMMENTARY
Binge barriers
The Responsible Hospitality Council’s efforts to curb binge drinking in East Lansing are likely well-intentioned, but sadly, they are quite misdirected. As a college town, East Lansing is populated by a large number of citizens who routinely enjoy consuming alcohol.
COMMENTARY
Last-minuet land
The debate between East Lansing and Meridian Township rages on as East Lansing approved yet another revision to a nearly 100-acre plot-sharing deal. The fourth proposal was approved by the East Lansing city council last Wednesday, only days after Meridian Township rejected the city’s previous revisions.
COMMENTARY
Vapid Voting
A note to college students: You are lazy and apathetic. That statement may sound mean and accusatory, but the numbers speak for themselves.
COMMENTARY
Tough dealings
The recent deal to share 1,056 acres in Bath Township with East Lansing was not as much of a voluntary agreement as it was an unwilling submission.
COMMENTARY
Tenacious testing
The U.S. Supreme Court has sent public schools down a dangerous road that leads to infringing the rights of thousands of middle and high school students.
COMMENTARY
Expanding space
Buffalo Wild Wings may face some unexpected opposition to its seemingly innocent proposal to expand its Albert Avenue location. In recent months, the East Lansing City Council has pushed an effort to reduce the number of seats in downtown available at businesses serving alcohol.
COMMENTARY
Ill allegiances
The federal appeals court ruling declaring the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional is, despite popular opinion, one of the most responsible decisions made in recent history.
COMMENTARY
Protected info
Campus safety advocates hope a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court will begin to open the doors to disciplinary records and proceedings at colleges and universities. The ruling prevents students and parents from suing universities that violate the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, which protects students’ educational records from public disclosure.
COMMENTARY
Ridiculous rioting
Raphael Adley wants people everywhere to incite a riot. With the publication of his card game, “Riot!,” he takes a jab at campus riots everywhere, though the game was loosely based on the riots at MSU in the late 1990s.
COMMENTARY
Red-eye residents
After debating the necessity of requiring long hours to train new doctors, the organization responsible for accrediting the nation’s teaching hospitals approved new rules last week that prohibit medical residents from working more than 80 hours a week. The new policy by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education is a step forward for doctors-in-training and the quality of care for patients. Medical residents have not been restricted in their work hours, although a recommendation for no more than 80 hours has been in place for some time.
COMMENTARY
Second opinion
Disputes between landlords and tenants are commonplace in college towns. Fortunately, most spats are on a relatively small scale, dealing with problems such as getting leaky faucets fixed or covering minor damage to a property.