Saturday, September 28, 2024

Take a peek behind the curtain and test drive the NEW StateNews.com today!

Editorials

COMMENTARY

2nd primary not worth state's money, time

Well, well, well. Now the Democrats might need Michigan’s help. Our state and Florida — the only states punished by the Democratic National Committee for holding primaries before Feb. 5 — could be the tiebreaker for the now closely matched Democratic contenders, Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill.

COMMENTARY

Politicos must be held to highest standards

Things are looking bleak once again for ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government. Nigel Scarlett, ASMSU vice chairperson for external affairs, was arrested last week and charged with third-degree criminal sexual assault.

COMMENTARY

GEU has right to health, parking, better pay

The Graduate Employees Union and MSU are in closed negotiations for a contract to replace the one that expires May 15. Although neither side has released its full bargaining platform to the media, it’s apparent that struggles in the bargaining process have kept both sides unsatisfied.

COMMENTARY

Small habits can make environmentalism stick

Even the Vatican has gone green. Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, the Roman Catholic Church’s secondary authority on sins and penance, listed “ecological” offenses along with genetic manipulation and drug use as modern sins in an interview last week with a Vatican City newspaper.

COMMENTARY

Waterboarding contradicts U.S. ideals, intent

President Bush’s veto of a bill banning waterboarding last week emphasized the flexible morals and hypocrisy of his administration. Bush said Saturday that he vetoed the legislation — which would limit CIA interrogations to the 19 techniques permitted in the Army Field Manual — because it would ban practices that have prevented attacks.

COMMENTARY

MSU should revoke Mugabe's honorary degree

No one would consider giving honors to a ruthless violator of human rights. But that’s the position in which MSU has been placed. One of the university’s honorary degrees is held by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe — a man who is thought to have killed a number of innocent citizens in his own country.

COMMENTARY

Invisible fence wastes cash, border resources

A 28-mile stretch of the U.S. border seems to have become our government’s latest “shiny object” — distracting both lawmakers and citizens from the underlying immigration issue. The stretch of land in the Southwest has been the testing ground for a virtual fence intended to improve border security while reducing personnel.

COMMENTARY

Federal funds needed to fight war on drugs

Before the “war on terrorism,” there was the “war on drugs.” While the former continues to receive more and more funding, the latter is sinking further down the priority list. Funding for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant — a federal program that supplements state and local governments’ law enforcement efforts and prevention and treatment programs — was reduced from $520 million to $170 million this January.

COMMENTARY

E.L's local businesses not alone in struggle

Even for people who haven’t lived in the area long, there seems to be an obvious exodus of local businesses. And spaces recently vacated by Ria Malaysian Restaurant, 321 E. Grand River Ave., and Burger Down, 529 E. Grand River Ave., remain vacant.

COMMENTARY

African nations in peril need U.S. leadership

It shouldn’t take another full-scale genocide to pay attention. And the current administration shouldn’t take all the time in the world to do the right thing — especially when it comes to Kenya and Darfur. Africa has had its fair share of bloodshed and violence, especially along the eastern portion of the continent where Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan are located.

COMMENTARY

No room for superdelegates in democracy

If superdelegates could shoot laser beams out of their eyes, run really fast or fly, things might be different. But apparently few people have heard of them until now. They’ve come under close scrutiny at a time when they could have a definitive say in who will officially be the Democratic Party’s 2008 presidential nominee.

COMMENTARY

Kosovo's independence finally a reality

Serbia and Russia stood around like pouting big brothers Sunday as Kosovo declared its independence. Kosovo, which was a province of Serbia, has a high concentration of ethnic Albanians, and has been under U.N. and NATO administration since the end of a war there in 1999.

COMMENTARY

Campus security goes beyond building safety

At a time of year when most college students are busy planning their spring break getaways or cramming for midterms, Thursday’s Northern Illinois University campus shooting had a way of making everyone pause, take a short breath and wonder: Could this ever happen here?

COMMENTARY

Despite improvements, ASMSU still needs work

With ASMSU snagging front-page headlines recently, the editorial board met with Michael Leahy, the organization’s student assembly chairperson, to talk about the recent issues and projects the undergraduate student government is undertaking. Here’s our take on the situations we discussed.

COMMENTARY

Distracting gadgets dangerous for drivers

Omg. Don’t text and drive. People engage in distracting behaviors every day when they hit the road — from putting on makeup, drinking coffee, talking on cell phones, grabbing a few spare seconds of last-minute studying to sending a text message.