COMMENTARY
Shaken
It's starting to feel like the Apocalypse. Day after day we hear about disaster after disaster.
COMMENTARY
Fired up
We're all grown up now. Let's act like it. This means being responsible: Taking care of your belongings and making sure you don't catch anything on fire - such as your dorm room. A lit candle was left unattended, which caused a small fire in Bryan Hall on Friday.
COMMENTARY
Visual tactics
Bloody and torn-apart fetuses on giant posters are shocking and disturbing. But it's an effective tactic. Missionaries to the Preborn, an anti-abortion group, used gory, post-abortion images to show their stance on campus Thursday. We support the right of women to choose to have an abortion, but we also hold the right to free speech in high regard.
COMMENTARY
Buyer beware
There's no way drug dealers can take the blame for purchasers' overdoses. Are they supposed to hold the buyers' hands? A new Michigan law mandating tougher sentences for drug sellers whose drugs cause people to die from an overdose was signed into legislation on Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Taking names
Crime doesn't pay for identity thieves. Denita Dorsey, an MSU graduate, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $100,000 from local residents two years ago.
COMMENTARY
We've got mail
Student inboxes have recently received a stream of e-mails from MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. Although corny at times, the e-mails are a refreshing attempt by the university president to stay in touch with the student body. Simon's first e-mail urged students to behave during the weekend of the U-M game.
COMMENTARY
Bad activism
Anyone walking near Wells Hall this week was greeted with a large display that placed images of slavery side by side images of animals in cages, as if to say the two are equally disturbing. The exhibit was put on by the animal rights advocacy group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA. PETA representatives said the purpose of the exhibit wasn't to suggest that human rights violations and animal cruelty are equal, but that's not the message that comes across. A quick glance at the exhibit would lead one to believe that PETA thinks putting chickens in cages is just as cruel as human slavery, a premise that is both ridiculous and offensive. Rather than trying to sway popular opinion by explaining who they are and what they stand for, PETA far too often relies on trying to shock people into adopting its beliefs. PETA's approach only serves to turn people away from its cause.
COMMENTARY
Fiscally cheap
The entire city of New Orleans was destroyed and now Mayor C. Ray Nagin announced the layoff of 3,000 "nonessential" government employees.
COMMENTARY
Dark horse
Trust me, he says. "I have proof of weapons of mass destruction. Trust me." "We'll only look through your library records if you're a national threat.
COMMENTARY
Quiet time
Every fall, the tension between residents and students rises as students move back to campus to resume the activity they do best: Party. This year the tension is even greater, as the rise in noise complaints filed with the East Lansing Police Department shows. The problem started in 2004 when MSU administrators made a decision to ban drinking games at the tennis courts on game days. The ban came after an MSU game against Notre Dame - the last warm-weather rivalry game of the year.
COMMENTARY
Council counts
Just a reminder: You have one week left. Oct. 11 is the last day to register to vote and change your address to East Lansing before the City Council election in November.
COMMENTARY
Black gold rush
With no relief in sight, gas prices continue to hover around $3 a gallon. Americans are struggling to find ways to conserve energy, yet vast amounts of oil are available in the North Slope of Alaska. As a solution to the oil shortage, the Bush administration has proposed putting the entire North Slope up for lease for development.
COMMENTARY
Burning Bush
Terrorism. War. Scandal. Hurricane disasters. What's next, Mr. President? Blow up the moon?
COMMENTARY
Stunning loss
Everything seemed to be falling into place for the MSU community as Saturday's game against Michigan approached. The Spartans came in riding high, ranked No.
COMMENTARY
Village rally
When people are forced out of their homes, it's never a good thing. In fact, it's almost universally a bad thing.
COMMENTARY
Beating assault
Sexual assualt. It can be a gray area. These incidents happen more than they are reported. Last year, 13 cases were reported, but if you go out to parties on the weekend, 13 rapes could be just one night in East Lansing. This is a major issue for a university campus, because most of the victims are young students.
COMMENTARY
Political pinch
How much more conspiracy, secrecy and controversy can Washington take? Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, along with two associates, was indicted Wednesday, on charges of conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme.
COMMENTARY
One more step
It's sad that we're excited over the small steps taken to get back to where we should already be in terms of gay rights. An Ingham County judge ruled Tuesday that public universities and governments have the option of extending health insurance to employees' same-sex domestic partners. Circuit Court Judge Joyce Draganchuk made the distinction that health care benefits for a spouse or partner were the result of employment, not marriage.
COMMENTARY
Smoke alarm
The East Lansing City Council shouldn't burn local business when it comes to changing the smoking ordinances that govern the city. A proposed amendment to the council seeks to make local business owners have to keep a nonsmoking section open at all times within their establishment.
COMMENTARY
Root of evil
Trust is a key component in a functioning society. It's the glue that holds a civilization together.