Friday, April 24, 2026

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Opinion | 1000

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COMMENTARY

Charging foul

There's a long tradition of superstars receiving special treatment just because they're famous, especially when it comes to legal matters.

COMMENTARY

Turnover margin in Hawaii is suspect

Do our sports writers actually bother to watch the games they write about? Over and over, I've seen nonchalant columns with a pretentious level of caring and thoughtfulness about football games. I cannot imagine a single soul who is not outraged by the enormous disparity in officiating fairness experienced by the Big Ten in the last two Saturdays.

COMMENTARY

Teachers deserving of better column

In response to Bradley Wilson's letter on Wednesday defending Bryan Dahl's editorial regarding the public school system in Michigan ("Columnist's writing style is appreciated" SN 12/8), there is good reason to respond to this attack on not only our public schools, but to the wonderful teachers we have in this state. For as long as I can remember, public school teachers and their unions have been used as a scapegoat for the flaws in a school district.

COMMENTARY

Insecurity tax

The way it stands now, no matter what happens with Social Security, our generation will bear the brunt of the burden. Right now there are major problems with Social Security that can't be ignored, so it's good that President Bush is on top of it - even if his plan might leave something to be desired. It stands to reason that a system the government devised to take care of a changing demographic doesn't seem to cut it, but having something in place to debate and work from will instigate the first crucial step to reform. Bush's new plan splits the taxes, funneling some into regular Social Security and the rest into a personal account for people to invest or save.

COMMENTARY

Columnist's writing style is appreciated

Although I'm sure the outraged masses are sick of beating a dead horse over Bryan Dahl's column about injecting choice into schools ("Teachers' unions are to blame for lax improvement in public schools" SN 12/1), I'd like to voice my support of the author. I'm certain Dahl had his facts straight - it's not like he said anything extremely off-the-wall.

COMMENTARY

Unicameral ASMSU idea long overdue

In regard to the State News editorial "Legitimacy" (SN 11/30), there is a historical perspective to be considered regarding how ASMSU became the bicameral organization that it is today. Prior to 1991-92, there were two organizations that represented students on campus: ASMSU's Student Board, the elected student government with taxing authority; and the Student Council, the appointed body of voting student seats on the Faculty Academic Council, chaired by the president and the provost. When the constitutional revision process began in 1991, the main intent was to have the voting student seats of the Academic Council be elected, not nominated by chairpeople of different academic departments to further their respective agendas.

COMMENTARY

Ride the 'wave'

The first obligation of a journalist is to the truth and their first loyalty is to his or her fellow citizens.

COMMENTARY

Clear as mud

For quite some time, news on the FOX Network has been perceived - rightly or wrongly, depending who you listen to - as a conservative mouthpiece in broadcasting.

COMMENTARY

Standardized tests aren't benchmarks

In response to Bryan Dahl's opinion column, "Teacher's unions are to blame for lax improvement in public schools" (SN 12/1), I have a few comments. Did you know private and charter schools are not required to administer the same standardized tests that public schools are mandated to administer? Since the tests are not the same, comparison of test scores is equivalent to comparing apples to oranges. Did you know that private schools carefully select their students? They do not provide education for all.

COMMENTARY

Kyoto calling

President Bush has a few good reasons to change his mind about the Kyoto protocol, especially if he wants to make good on his campaign-end promise to bring Democrats and Republicans closer. By having the United States sign back on to the Kyoto protocol, Bush has an opportunity to right his wrongs with the United Nations.

COMMENTARY

Enormous U.S. deficit is another invite to international unpopularity

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently warned, "Given the size of the U.S. current account deficit, a diminished appetite for adding to dollar balances must occur at some point." Greenspan, in his adorably cryptic way, was explaining that foreign investors will eventually grow weary of lending money to the United States. The Los Angeles Times reported that in September foreign investors finally balked at taking on more U.S.

COMMENTARY

Assault survey is catalyst for change

Thank you, Jim Hines, for articulating what I have been preaching all semester ("Results of Holden Hall survey surprising, if not troublesome" SN 12/6). It is about time we as a campus look at who the perpetrators of rape are and why they feel entitled to rape women.

COMMENTARY

Two sided

Currently, during times when journalism as a profession is accused of reporting false information and withholding information, we at The State News have to be careful about what we say and print.

COMMENTARY

Charter schools are lagging far behind

As an employee of the Michigan Education Association, I was appalled at Wednesday's column by Bryan Dahl, "Teacher's unions are to blame for lax improvement in public schools" (SN 12/1). I personally believe he is wrong on a variety of points, but I believe wholeheartedly he has a right to have and express his opinion. However, as a journalism instructor at MSU and a former State News employee, I cannot ignore the shoddy reporting techniques shown in the column.

COMMENTARY

Clean campus

The first step in understanding how the Residence Halls Association could dump its dorm recycling program is knowing how recycling at MSU works. The contents of those big plastic newspaper recycling bins outside of classrooms and the recyclables coming out of MSU's cafeterias are processed by the Office of Recycling and Waste Management.