COMMENTARY
Big goodbye
It seems Gov. John Engler is confused. In his final State of the State address Wednesday evening, the Republican leader said, “Our state is strong.
COMMENTARY
United voices
Members of MSU’s undergraduate student government are right to throw their hats in the ring to lobby for adequate levels of state funding. ASMSU’s Academic Assembly approved a resolution Tuesday to lobby for increased state appropriations and against a proposed tuition increase cap.
COMMENTARY
A step backward
There is no such thing as being too safe. MSU students who walk around campus late at night need programs like StateWalk to ensure they arrive at their destinations safely.
COMMENTARY
Be prepared
It’s comforting that people are remaining calm about the death of a 25-year-old graduate student from bacterial meningitis.
COMMENTARY
Lame talk
I t seems Gov. John Engler’s goals are too lofty as he plans for his 12th and final State of the State address tonight.
COMMENTARY
Bad calls
East Lansing residents should be more neighborly to one another so the city’s police force can turn its attention to more important matters. The State News reported last week that an increase in calls to handle petty theft, noise violations and vandalism are directly related to hindering the East Lansing Police Department’s ability to curb drunken driving and other serious crimes. In 1990, East Lansing police arrested 581 drunk drivers.
COMMENTARY
Cash pangs
News from the state Capitol about higher education appropriations has been grim - to say the least. State Sen.
COMMENTARY
Live the dream
Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday should be a day of reflection and celebration. Students should keep this in mind during Monday’s holiday. The university canceled classes during MLK Day for a three-year trial period, which ended last year.
COMMENTARY
No guarantees
The Tuition Guarantee is dead. It’s been dead. Somebody please bury it so we can move on to better things. In the face of the dismal state budget forecast released Tuesday, it is unlikely MSU will receive a preferred level of funding from Michigan lawmakers.
COMMENTARY
Class cuts
It’s agitating that a major university can’t do a better job managing class scheduling and show more respect to its students who enroll in them. More than 350 spring semester classes were canceled by university officials, and many sections within departments have been combined.
COMMENTARY
Lab limits
Restricting the hours off-campus students have access to computer labs will create a variety of inconveniences. Beginning this semester, computer labs are no longer being monitored by lab assistants.
COMMENTARY
Shorter retorts
The public’s right in a democracy is the ability to speak its opinions to its elected officials.
COMMENTARY
Police pals
The new Student Support Division at the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety sounds as if it has the potential to be a positive bridge in the relationship between police and students. But we fear the new division may end up being nothing more than lip service - another wedge in the relationships among members of the MSU community.
COMMENTARY
Costly credits
As a land-grant institution, MSU should do all it can to make itself accessible to students of all economic backgrounds. A study released last week by the Lumina Foundation for Education said that four-year public colleges in 45 states, Michigan included, are not affordable to low-income students without financial aid. Even after utilizing all the financial-aid options available, many students still cannot afford to attend college, but one of the founding principles of a land-grant university is to provide education to the everyday man.
COMMENTARY
Running away
Perhaps it’s unsettling that a week before we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. a recent Detroit News/WDIV survey indicates 55 percent of whites and 52 percent of blacks in the Detroit area think segregation is sometimes, usually or always a very good idea. The survey results remind us the civil rights leader’s dream has yet to come true.
COMMENTARY
Cash crunch
While budget woes can lead to heated debates over government spending, East Lansing city officials are doing a commendable job in trimming the city’s planned expenditures for the next fiscal year. The city council will vote Tuesday on $695,875 in proposed cuts to the East Lansing budget, which could eliminate police overtime, delay city sidewalk plans and stop the airing of planning commission meetings on cable television.
COMMENTARY
Poor sports
Children’s sports should never become a matter of life or death. The case of Thomas Junta, the Massachusetts hockey dad who beat another father to death at their sons’ practice, illustrates that point. Junta, 44, was found guilty Friday of involuntary manslaughter for the death of 40-year-old Michael Costin, who died as a result of a ruptured artery in his neck.
COMMENTARY
Added voice
The Residence Halls Association should be commended for welcoming more voting representation for lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender students into its representation. RHA already hosts a representative from the Alliance of Lesbian-Bi-Gay-Transgendered Straight Ally Students.
COMMENTARY
Sad Goodbye
T.J. Duckett has given MSU football a good ride since stepping onto the field at Spartan Stadium. It will be sad to hear his early decision to rush away from the sidelines. A source close to Duckett told The State News the junior running back will announce his plan to forego his senior season and enter the NFL Draft at 4 p.m.
COMMENTARY
Watch and wait
MSU students may be envious of University of Michigan students now that they will have a two-day semester break every fall.