COMMENTARY
Tragic ritual
Sometimes there's a fine line between fun and foolishness - other times, there's no question that an incident should have never happened.
COMMENTARY
Student view
The city of East Lansing is a divided city - half is students and the other half residents. Cliché as this might be, many problems result from this simple fact.
COMMENTARY
Live movie
Like white, there are different shades of black. In many movies, blacks are portrayed in prisons and ghettos, with boisterous attitudes, slick motives and other most commonly associated situations. "Barbershop," "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" and "Bad Boys," to name a few, all have a limited view of blacks. MSU Assistant Professor Jeff Wray, who is directing a film called "The Soul Searchers" this summer, is trying to move away from such hackneyed roles in the movie. "We rarely see black folks depicted in a way that's expansive about humanity," Wray said in Thursday's story in The State News.
COMMENTARY
Test case
Many students at MSU have been at a party that's gotten broken up by the police, or at least have heard stories about one from a friend.
COMMENTARY
Future fuel
A responsible energy policy backed by the White House - can it be true? In light of such things as Vice President Dick Cheney's closed-door meetings with energy company executives, and the Bush administration's suggestion to drill for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it would come as a surprise if the White House walked the straight and narrow path on energy policy. On Monday, President Bush signed energy legislation that purports to take a long-term approach to solving problems such as reliance on foreign oil, high gas prices and the environmental effects of burning fossil fuels. Some of the main points of the plan include $14.5 billion in tax breaks for energy companies in hopes they will work to further development of renewable energy sources and the promotion of efficiency, an extension of daylight-savings time, new efficiency standards for commercial appliances, $1 billion for coastal environmental management for states where there is offshore oil drilling and a $1.8 billion program to promote clean coal research and development. At 1,724 pages, the bill is quite complicated.
COMMENTARY
Tough love
She might just be one mother, but she's got the opportunity to represent thousands of them. Californian Cindy Sheehan showed up at President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch with one goal in mind - getting some answers.
COMMENTARY
Board battle
Although the members of the MSU Board of Trustees are well into adulthood, they could use a little motherly advice.
COMMENTARY
Off the ball
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, nearly everybody, regardless of political bent, acknowledged that terrorism is a problem the United States must deal with.
COMMENTARY
Keep it out
The strong influence of religion on President Bush is well-known, but it still is a surprise that he recently advocated the teaching of intelligent design alongside evolution in public schools.
COMMENTARY
Battle zone
The ongoing war between the city of East Lansing and student housing has reached yet another childish obstruction.
COMMENTARY
Global trade
On Tuesday, President Bush signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement bill, or CAFTA. The bill had passed Congress by a narrow margin. This agreement between Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic will create a free trade zone similar to the one created by the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.
COMMENTARY
Need to relieve
A seemingly universal media phenomenon is the farther away from home a story hits, the bigger it has to be to receive coverage.
COMMENTARY
Fast lane
Michigan's representatives in the Legislature are bringing home the bacon to MSU with a $286 billion highway and mass transit spending bill, of which $16.8 million will go toward a railroad underpass on Farm Lane. MSU President Lou Anna K.
COMMENTARY
Tickets, please
During any other summer, getting MSU football student vouchers in the mail is one of the reminders that fall - and the beginning of the next school year - is coming.
COMMENTARY
Police probe
The State News has been discussing the April 2-3 disturbances for quite some time now, and often the topic has been whether police officers acted improperly.
COMMENTARY
Party spot
The city of East Lansing asserts the Cedar Village area is a poor place for students to gather after NCAA Tournament basketball games because it's congested and hard to effectively police.
COMMENTARY
Drug decision
State House Democrats planned to announce legislation that would allow Michiganians to buy about 150 brand-name drugs from Canada and other countries at significantly lower prices than in the United States. The legislation would aim to allow Michigan to take part in the I-SaveRx program, which is limited to brand-name drugs for treating chronic and long-term conditions.
COMMENTARY
Dead wrong
The recent London case of mistaken identity which resulted in the murder of an innocent Brazilian citizen is an atrocious, yet cutting example of trigger happiness and fear that runs rampant in today's world. Jean Charles de Menezes was killed last week when he was shot eight times by London anti-terrorist police.
COMMENTARY
False findings
A commonsensical conclusion would be that misconduct in scientific research wouldn't be lucrative enough for anyone to partake in it at all.
COMMENTARY
High-priced
The expected tuition hike for MSU has finally come, and at 13.5 percent for new students and 9.3 percent for returning students, it's a hefty one.