COMMENTARY

Open campus

Tuesday, when many students watched and wondered how we could go on, MSU President M. Peter McPherson decided we can and we must. While the University of Michigan, Central Michigan University and other state universities closed their doors, this campus stayed open and held classes. Some may have seen this decision as a threat to the safety of students and faculty or disgraceful to the memory of the countless victims of Tuesday’s blasts.

COMMENTARY

A swimming idea

Chances are if you visited some of Michigan’s numerous public beaches this summer, you may not have been able to enter the water because of unsafe bacteria levels. On campus, we have our own nasty environmental pollution history with E.

COMMENTARY

Key to safety

In the wake of two sexual assault cases at Williams Hall, residence hall officials are urging students to lock their doors.

COMMENTARY

Message lost

Universities are traditionally - and proudly - known for activism. But there are times when protesters wielding pride, justice and equity stand up and proudly, justly and equitably shoot themselves in the foot. About 100 protesters marched from the Union to Spartan Stadium on Saturday, denouncing the presence of freshman tight end Eric Knott and redshirt freshman quarterback Damon Dowdell on the Spartan roster.

COMMENTARY

Right-of-way

Stop. Go. Yield. Crash. It’s inevitable that on a campus of some 40,000 students - many of which have to commute to campus daily - there’s going to be an accident every now and then.

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Football frenzy

Saturday marks the start of one of college life’s greatest and most time-tested traditions - football season. There isn’t a college student - past or present - who doesn’t know the feel of the electricity that pervades campus on those crisp autumn days featuring a game at their home stadium.

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Wasted month

It’s College Savings Month in Michigan. Well, at least if you ask Gov. John Engler and Lt.

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Reel problem | Not shark attacks

Duh dum. It’s not safe to go into the water. Duh dum. Well, at least that’s the message we’re getting from the national media which has decided one of the most important stories of August is people getting attacked by sharks.

COMMENTARY

U.S. tantrum

Like an upset child who hasn’t gotten her way, the United States has packed up its toys and left the United Nations conference on racism Monday, citing efforts on the part of other nations to condemn Israel as a racist state in the meeting’s proposed declaration. It doesn’t matter if our delegates agreed with the path the discussions were taking, simply boycotting the conference accomplishes nothing. Before it even began there were concerns that the strife between Palestinian and Israeli representatives would carry over into the in South African conference - and take away from the myriad of other issues the conference was intended to address.

COMMENTARY

A new equation

It’s gratifying to see the labors and trials of so many beginning to pay off as people become more aware of those who come from different social backgrounds. A recent survey of high school seniors - next year’s college freshman class - found students more tolerant of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgendered people than ever.

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Clear view

While representatives of the undergraduate student government work through university bureaucracies, a unique and valuable program remains idle for new enrollment. Representatives from ASMSU are fighting to reinstate the visual impairment program in the College of Education.

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Strange bedfellows?

A peculiar alliance continued to develop during Labor Day weekend. President Bush visited Michigan on Monday - his fourth stop in the state since he took office - to visit Teamsters in Detroit.

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Envy with green

Once again, MSU’s faculty will receive an increase in their salaries in October. But the question many are raising is if this increase will be enough. Despite lower-than-average state appropriations, for the third year in a row, the university has increased faculty salaries by 5 percent across the board.

COMMENTARY

Mister Rogers | Neighbors say bye

He got into television because he hated the medium. Children, he felt, were allowing their minds to decay because of it.

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Diversity lesson

Whatever the reason, Michigan has become one of the four most segregated states in the nation in terms of education. The origin of this trend ranges from simple misinformation to the more serious threat of residential segregation.

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Is smarter better?

It

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Chance at peace

Another day in the West Bank ends amid tank shelling and the crackle of rifle fire. Having seen the destruction and strife plaguing the Middle East firsthand, Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers has decided the United States needs to take a larger role in peace negotiations. As a respected up-and-coming GOP lawmaker, Rogers, of Brighton, needs to use the influence he’s gaining to prod the Bush administration to take a more active role in the Middle East conflict.

COMMENTARY

Sidelined

It’s unfortunate academic trouble has sidelined MSU cornerback Cedric Henry for this season, but his situation teaches an important lesson to all students involved in athletics and other activities. The merchandising management senior was ruled academically ineligible after he failed a summer class, coach Bobby Williams said this week. Henry, who holds a scholarship from the university, will have to sit out this season but could return to play a final year of athletic eligibility next year - if he can fix his academic trouble. It’s a privilege to play football - or any varsity sport - at a Big Ten university.

COMMENTARY

Distracted

Some members of MSU’s undergraduate student government have a plan to enable students who feel underrepresented among the university’s leadership. At the Aug.

COMMENTARY

No mistake

Something must have touched the heartstrings of MSU’s parking enforcers during Welcome Weekend.