COMMENTARY

New downloading option

More legal options for popular illegal activities can't be a bad thing. This isn't about underage drinking or common illegal substances, it's about another, perhaps safer, form of entertainment. Amazon.com Inc. is conversing with several Hollywood studios about creating an online service for consumers to download and copy television shows and movies. The possibility of Amazon.com entering the business of digital downloads puts it up against a serious rival, Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes.

COMMENTARY

Media perpetuating confusion on issues

Tim Olster's letter, "Cartoons not only offensive possibilities" (SN 3/1), and many news stories diminish and confuse the issues surrounding the recent controversy. I cannot claim to speak for all Muslims, but I have been all too aware of the deep-rooted contempt for Islam and Muslims inherent in both popular and classical culture, all the way from Dante's Inferno to contemporary crude jokes about "sand-niggers." Offensive expression is not something new. I submit that the issue is not one of freedom of speech, but that of political realities.

COMMENTARY

Fowl predictions

What happens if the H5N1 strain of the Avian (bird) flu, comes to America? Will we be able to control it?

COMMENTARY

Scientists don't need to dismiss religion to be credible, accurate

In a recent column, "Evolutionary theory, science needed to vaccinate irrational beliefs" (SN 2/16), John Bice promoted science as a way of protecting us from irrational beliefs, such as belief in God. For him, religion is a disease from which only scientific rationality can save us.

COMMENTARY

MSA statements on free speech insulting

MSU Muslim Students' Association President Farhan Abdul Azeez's claim that "anybody's right to say anything ends where another person's dignity begins" in "Cartoons continue to evoke debate" (SN 3/01) is antithetical to free speech. Free speech is speech not subjected to restriction or control — regardless of someone's dignity.

COMMENTARY

Publishing cartoons insulting, needless

I am amazed that, despite what has been happening in the Middle East for the past few weeks, SpartanEdge.com has decided to post the cartoons for all to see. I know that the debate on freedom of speech is likely to explode on campus in coming weeks, but why would anyone decide to do that?

COMMENTARY

New trucks don't help parking woes

I was totally outraged to see new shiny silver parking-enforcement trucks rolling around campus. MSU parking is horrendous. Many students have racked up hundreds of dollars in tickets because of the lack of available parking on the campus. Where does that money go?

COMMENTARY

Brilliant films deserved recognition at Oscars

I am writing in response to Ryan McCormick's article, "'Crash' doesn't deserve best picture nomination" (SN 3/02). I feel as though his judgment of the film is unjustified and that he does not give adequate support for his claims. First of all, how can he make any sort of comparison between "Crash" and "Brokeback Mountain" if he, as he states in the very beginning, hasn't seen the latter film? As someone who has seen both "Crash" and "Brokeback Mountain," I will say that both films are excellent and deserved to be the front-runners of the Oscars race this year.

COMMENTARY

Taxing workaholics

Workaholics beware; an economist at the University of Michigan thinks taxing you might make you work less. Joel Slemrod, a professor of business economics and public policy at U-M, along with another researcher at the University of Texas in Austin, found that people who are highly educated and earn a high salary can become addicted to their work. This can lead to a myriad of health-related problems, like stress and high blood pressure.

COMMENTARY

SN's sudden religious sensitivity peculiar

I suppose I understand why some people would be upset that The State News is refraining from printing the cartoon depictions of Prophet Muhammad, but I don't see how anybody could be surprised. After repeatedly dismissing Christianity, and religion in general, as a crock of fairy tales throughout my collegiate career, of course this newspaper would suddenly have enough conscience to refrain from offending religious people. This is The State News in its purist form, giving preferential respect to the students of this university. When I attend my last few classes at MSU, I will be pleased to see copies of this publication exactly where they belong — strewn across the floor. Next year, I would appreciate it if you could change the title of the paper from The State News to the name it has finally earned: The Sudoku Daily. Bryan Dahl communication senior

COMMENTARY

Anatomy commonly referenced everywhere

I actually laughed out loud when I read Katie Wilcox's letter, "Silence 'Monologues;' keep indecency out" (SN 2/24), informing us how indecent "The Vagina Monologues" were.

COMMENTARY

Writer is affront to women's rights, issues

Equating a witty educational tool such as "The Vagina Monologues" to pornography, such as in "Silence 'Monologues;' keep indecency out" (SN 2/24), is both simplistic and an affront to the women's rights movement.

COMMENTARY

Student behavior hits new low; not helpful

It blows my mind how impolite and unfriendly some students can be. Call me overly sensitive, but when it comes to simple acts of kindness, a blatant lack of courtesy can be excruciatingly frustrating. I can tolerate the small stuff. When people fail to respond when I say hello, fine.

COMMENTARY

Teaching others to think

Although MSU students spent last week tanning or lounging over spring break, a Denver high school teacher had a different kind of hiatus from school.

COMMENTARY

SN afraid to defend all right violations

If The State News so loves free speech, why then has it remained silent on the conviction of David Irving? Irving must now spend three years in an Austrian prison because in 1989 he said that there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz. It doesn't matter if you consider Irving a "Holocaust denier" or if you feel that making statements about the architecture of Nazi WWII facilities is anti-Semitic, Irving has a right (yes, even non-Americans have rights even if their governments indicate otherwise) to say so. The State News has been more than happy to condemn Islamic reaction to free speech; let it now condemn Austria.

COMMENTARY

ASMSU services don't warrant tax increase

I am writing in response to recent articles regarding ASMSU and its desire to leech another $3 per student, per semester. I cannot comprehend what additional services this extra money would provide for the average student.

COMMENTARY

Wells Hall preachers don't consider what they say or who they judge

I am appreciative of Adrian Pichurko's letter, "Vengeance against preachers not sweet" (SN 2/21), saying, "These people have become known for their closed-mindedness, arbitrarily judging passersby and spreading bad vibes to the public." Recently, I was passing through Wells Hall and I saw the "Wells Hall Preachers" screaming loudly and condemning students to hell. Suddenly, I heard "all Muslims are going to hell; Muhammad will not save you," "Islam is a false religion" and "accept Christ, and you will be saved." What is wrong with this guy?

COMMENTARY

DPPS makes poor car owners bleed green

I read with shock the numbers published in "Showdown at the meter" (SN 2/28). The Department of Police and Public Safety's Parking Services Division grossed $2 million from parking tickets alone in the 2005 fiscal year.

COMMENTARY

Celebrate sexuality; can't deny sex happens

In response to "Silence 'Monologues;' keep indecency out" (SN 2/24): Are you kidding me, Katie Wilcox? One has to wonder if Wilcox's libelous claims against Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" came straight from the mouth of Pat Robertson. I am sick of hearing women's sexuality be demonized over and over again by conservatives on our campus. From the ludicrous comments (mostly by men) about choice, to this latest attack on an organization attempting to end sexual violence against women, the conservatives on our campus are far from "right." News flash: Women have sex!

COMMENTARY

YAF pursuing antics, should move away

I'd ask why a group calling itself Young Americans for Freedom would be trying to put the kibosh on a politically charged stage play, as suggested by Katie Wilcox's "Silence 'Monologues;' keep indecency out" (SN 2/24). However, having dealt with a particularly nasty cell of that group at my alma mater, back in the 1990s, I know the answer to that all too well. There is, as Wilcox says, a growing movement on college campuses — a sickening attempt to label progressive and leftist politics as nothing less than communist, America-hating treason.