Michigan’s gubernatorial elections are three weeks away.The first and only scheduled debate between candidates Rick Snyder and Virg Bernero was Sunday night and no matter who ends up winning, the impact on the state will be substantial.
ASMSU’s “Higher Education, Higher Priority” rally Oct. 22 at the Capitol is, in theory, a step in the right direction. It’s a way to capture the attention and exposure for the name and message of ASMSU. There is a slight problem: The budget was approved and finalized by both houses on Sept. 29.
When one looks at the legislation proposed by state Sen. Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood, to prohibit withdrawing money with an Electronic Benefit Transfer, or Bridge Card, from ATMs in Michigan’s 22 operating casinos, it immediately makes sense.
The East Lansing Police Department, or ELPD, received $693,000 in grant money from the U.S. Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, to hire three more police officers. Congratulations, that’s awesome. The grant is meant to help East Lansing maintain a level of quality service in spite of the budget cuts it’s suffered over recent years, according to East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert.
These days, everything on the grocer’s shelf is labeled fresh, even when it has been frozen and thawed, frozen and steamed or frozen and sauteed to reach its commercial state of “freshness.” That’s not a rub to the industries that create these foods, but it does raise an issue as to what “fresh” and “local” actually mean.
There is a chance Michigan residents could follow drinking on Saturday night with a Sunday morning refill if a new bill is signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm. The true price of such legislation, which would allow stores to sell liquor as early as 7 a.m. on Sundays, might not immediately be known because the 50 or so other pages of the bill were added “in a matter of a few hours,” according to Granholm spokeswoman Katie Carey.
It seems tests to the First Amendment never sleep. Michigan’s Asst. Attorney General Andrew Shirvell recently was interviewed on CNN about his blog, “Chris Armstrong Watch.” The blog describes Armstrong, president of the University of Michigan’s student assembly, as a “RADICAL HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVIST, RACIST, ELITIST, & LIAR.” It appears in all-caps on the website as well
Overcrowding in Ingham County jails has pushed officials to adopt a more financially and socially friendly alternative to serving traditional jail time. The alternative is rooted in restricting movement without incarceration using tether bands.
With more than 46,000 student spots to fill in the Spartan pie each academic year, MSU has taken to harvesting fruit outside of state lines. In last year’s freshman class, 20.9 percent of MSU students were not from Michigan — the highest percentage this decade.
Even though some might be slightly older and have different goals than undergraduates, graduate students still are part of the student body here at MSU. In other words, they still need the kinds of programs and spaces the university provides for underclassmen.
State Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade, said it all with a simple and single “nay” concerning the ban on the synthetic cannabinoid K2 last Thursday. Amash hit the nail on the head when he wrote in his Facebook status that despite health concerns, using the substance constituted a victimless crime and that banning it should not be the government’s priority.
As things go these days, everyone is demanding accountability from the government. The ratio of money being spent to actual results isn’t exactly in a place where people feel they have gotten a good return on their tax dollars.
Ann Arbor businessman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder seems to have charmed potential voters with his outsider appeal. In the latest poll released by Lansing-based polling firm EPIC-MRA, Snyder has 53 percent of the vote and the Democratic candidate, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, has 29 percent. The reasons for the separation stemmed in part from Snyder’s business experience.
Having an education with a brand name attached to it is part of the college experience. The other part of education is what a student can take away and apply as a professional.
Stealing is stealing. No matter if it’s a song that’s been on the radio repeatedly, or even if it’s a song that we’ve danced to at the eighth grade formal. It’s stealing even if it’s a song we’ve only liked for a week and then never listened to it again until it randomly comes up in a playlist. Illegal downloading is, by definition, illegal. The important question is: Is it really something MSU needs to address?
Who would have thought trash could bridge the divide between the permanent residents of East Lansing and MSU students? MSU’s Community Relations Coalition, or CRC, invited MSU students, as well as long-term residents, to clean up the streets and yards of East Lansing on Sunday after MSU’s victory over Notre Dame.
During the past year or so, there has been a great deal of talk about illegal immigrants. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has spent plenty of time in the media spotlight defending her state’s relatively new immigration policies against organizations such as the ACLU and even the U.S. government.
MSU has taken heed to the complaints about cafeteria food on campus being lackluster and has provided students with a dining experience known as Brody Square. Attacking the square in droves, students are acting such as a child in a candy store would: “I want this and that. Oh, and that.”
Even though Florida Pastor Terry Jones did not burn any Qurans, his message was alive and well at the Islamic Center of Greater Lansing on Harrison Road where the allegedly feces-smeared pages of a burnt Quran were found.
Simply put, the right to vote is an essential feature of any democratic government. Another essential — although less acknowledged — factor, is that the more people who vote, the more likely the candidate or policies will represent the entirety of the interests of the constituents. Of course, the point is moot if one is not registered to vote.