Friday, January 2, 2026

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Opinion | 1000

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COMMENTARY

Elitist and proud

Every so often, national news outlets turn their complete attention to a group of college men and women that are, more often than not, recognized for their negative contributions to university life. It's true, greek life on campuses once had its heyday, but has since been moved to the fringes of the "acceptable" norms. Fraternities are demonized for their involvement in drinking, parties and hazing rituals, while sororities are dishonored because certain girls aren't able to find a place in a "prescribed" social atmosphere.

COMMENTARY

Despite Dems' status, progress still lacking

Seriously, how bad do the Democrats want to lose the 2008 election? Democrats did not win Congress because America suddenly became progressive, socially-conscious and color-blind. They won the House and the Senate last November because bitter, disillusioned conservatives stayed home, refusing to vote for a reckless and dishonest administration.

COMMENTARY

Current voting guidelines for students acceptable

Despite Mr. Triplett's confusion and the misleading headline by The State News, "University students deserve the right to vote" (SN 5/23), university students already have a "full and unfettered" right to vote. It is reasonable and logical that one's voter registration card and driver license match in order to vote.

COMMENTARY

Protection for all

Americans are being bombarded with different plans to fix the nation's health-care system. After a decade-long dry spell, almost every politician, every large employer, every consumer and industry association and, of course, every presidential candidate, has a health-care reform idea. Isn't it wonderful?

COMMENTARY

Economic problems reveal government flaws

There is a major budget crisis going on in Lansing, and the last thing Michigan needs right now is a tax hike. Michigan continues to be an environment that is unfriendly to businesses and continues taxing our hard-working families.

COMMENTARY

Markets making way

Farmers market season is up and running, and I couldn't be happier. It feels like Michigan is finally waking up from the long, cold winter and blossoming into the glorious green days of early summer. I believe in the United States we've grown far too removed from the land.

COMMENTARY

Columnist's claims about oil were misinformed

In "A world beyond oil" (SN 5/22), Chris Matus reflected what's been drummed in the media, there was nothing new said. This is the problem: We have a nation of technologically savvy young people who are only really talented at consuming.

COMMENTARY

University students deserve the right to vote

The Michigan House of Representatives is currently considering a pair of bills - HB 4447 and 4448 - that would give university students back their full and unfettered right to vote, which has been denied since 2000 and the passage of Public Act 118, otherwise known as the Rogers' Law. Currently, Rogers' Law requires that the address on your driver's license and voter registration card match.

COMMENTARY

College expansion is a good choice

Nobody likes to share, and now that the College of Osteopathic Medicine is expanding to the Detroit Medical Center, some cannot stop complaining. The decision to select both DMC and Macomb Community College's University Center as satellite sites for the college was made Friday by the MSU Board of Trustees.

COMMENTARY

Women still face employment inequity

Women have certainly come a long way in the workforce, but their pay hasn't yet caught up. In fact, the gender gap in earnings has remained unchanged for the past decade despite the fact there are more women in the labor force than ever before and they are more productive and better educated than they've ever been. Full-time working women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar men earn for doing the same work.

COMMENTARY

Science education faces opposition

We all have seen the cars adorned with "Jesus fish." Likewise, we've seen them countered by cars with a similar icon sprouting legs and sporting Darwin's name. The debate between evolutionists and supporters of intelligent design is nothing new. But when this debate leaves the bumpers of cars and emerges in public schools, real ramifications can occur.

COMMENTARY

Immigration bill must work out flaws

Immigration has been the topic of discourse for years, and today a new bill will go to the Senate regarding the issue. The bill is a bipartisan deal with the White House and is a step toward resolving the problem of illegal immigration.

COMMENTARY

Fire department's response was justified

As East Lansing fire chief, I have been reluctant to comment on the 2001 Linton Hall anthrax scare and the subsequent lawsuit due to an acute awareness that any response I give could easily be interpreted as insensitivity to the individuals who underwent the decontamination. In response to "E.L.

COMMENTARY

Articles require more input from professionals

I'd like to advocate for The State News hiring some sort of science advisor to work with you on your scientific articles. Perhaps it is because I am a physics major and am more familiar with the topics discussed in articles about the Cyclotron, but it always seems to me that those articles are the largest festering grounds for inaccuracy - not only in content, but also in language. For example, in your latest article "Researchers design improved Cyclotron magnet prototype" (SN 5/18), it is stated that, "A cyclotron is a device that spins around faster than half the speed of light." I would be horrified to go near the Cyclotron building if that were the case, because the equipment would fly apart and kill people.