COMMENTARY
Slippery slope
As good and decent people, we would all love to put those guilty of domestic abuse behind bars for as long as possible.
COMMENTARY
Strike out
While it is commendable for student groups like Direct Action and Students for Economic Justice to support MSU’s Graduate Employees Union in its efforts to negotiate a contract with administrators, calling for a one-day undergraduate strike from classes is not the best way to show it. The two student activist groups are calling for a one-day strike March 11, in which they ask all students to abstain from attending classes. Members of the groups met with union officials on Monday to discuss terms of the union’s support for the one-day strike.
COMMENTARY
Silenced
Although many ASMSU officials talk about working for the best interests of students, the undergraduate government’s recent actions tell another story. Last week, ASMSU officials refused to release proposed guidelines for undercover police work at MSU to The State News, even though the guidelines were passed out to Student Assembly members at a public meeting. The student guidelines were finally released to The State News on Sunday, and officials released the administration’s guidelines Monday. Jeff Ziarko, ASMSU director of university governmental and budgetary affairs, said it is in the best interest of students not to be aware of such proposals until a policy is finalized.
COMMENTARY
No refuge
Would somebody please tell President Bush that the oil fields in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are not the solution to the United States’ long-term energy problems? Calling fuel cells and hybrid cars “the wave of the future,” Bush, at the White House on Monday, pressed the Senate to pass his controversial comprehensive energy plan, which is highlighted by plans to drill in the refuge to increase domestic oil production. Bush said more oil production within the United States will decrease the country’s dependence on foreign oil. The president’s conclusion is oxymoronic. If the government invests more resources into the production of affordable hybrid vehicles and fuel cells, the United States’ dependency on oil will be reduced, and dependency on foreign oil will also decrease. Depleting the globe of more finite natural resources is not the solution for America’s energy future.
COMMENTARY
Its a shame
Worries that university officials may be moving to eliminate the Department of Religious Studies seem awfully valid unless the College of Arts & Letters can provide more assurance to the contrary. If the college’s leaders go ahead with the discipline’s deletion, they will be doing the university a capital injustice. Since 1998, College of Arts & Letters officials and faculty have debated the merits of downgrading its Department of Religious Studies to a program.
COMMENTARY
Toughen up
The recent agreement between state Attorney General Jennifer Granholm and Walgreen Co. will have the drugstore chain honing in on tobacco sales regulation in efforts to help curb underage smoking.
COMMENTARY
Life lessons
University officials should remember the importance of having - and maintaining - a diverse campus. College is a life opportunity. More minority students are enrolling into colleges and universities - including MSU - but an high dropout rates also have continued to plague the schools despite recruiting methods.
COMMENTARY
Park it
The trend of creating larger plots for black, endless seas of pavement in the far reaches of campus has offered little solution to the parking problems on campus.
COMMENTARY
Pay up
Facing certain budget deficits, 22 states, including Michigan, are looking to squeeze a few extra pennies from the backs of smokers.
COMMENTARY
Good move
Having a united database system to link the efforts of the Ingham County law agencies and prosecutors, the FBI and the U.S.
COMMENTARY
Sober decision
Committing criminal behavior while under the influence always is inexcusable. Those responsible enough to drink should own up to their actions and not expect a slap on the wrist in court. This is why state representatives were correct in supporting the “under the influence” bill sponsored by Rep.
COMMENTARY
Tryout
Athletics officials should give serious consideration to the women’s ice hockey club’s request for varsity status. This year’s petition marks the third time since the club was formed in 1995 that the team has attempted to become varsity. There are 69 schools in NCAA divisions I to III that host varsity women’s hockey teams.
COMMENTARY
Why him?
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.
COMMENTARY
Not enough
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.
COMMENTARY
Unlikely union
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.
COMMENTARY
Build it
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.
COMMENTARY
Dont drill here
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.
COMMENTARY
Beneficial ban
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.
COMMENTARY
Bright ideas
MSU President M. Peter McPherson has a knack for looking to the future despite present economic hardships. “The economic downturn increases the challenges MSU faces in maintaining the momentum achieved over the years of extraordinary progress,” he said during his ninth annual State of the University address on Tuesday at Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre. “MSU is better able to respond to these and other challenges because we have been working for increased high quality and cost control for a number of years… MSU’s long-term planning is producing long-term benefits.” The next year could prove the heftiest budget crunch McPherson has had to deal with in his tenure at MSU.
COMMENTARY
Awareness
When MSU police Officer Ann Stahl joins the Department of Police and Public Safety’s Detective Bureau on March 1 as an alcohol education officer, we hope she is up to a tough challenge before her. Stahl will be charged with working alongside Olin Health Center, the Residence Halls Association and mentors to educate MSU students.