“When does it become OK to ignore our Constitution?” (“Detainees deserve basic human rights,” SN 2/5) It always becomes OK to ignore the Constitution when the Constitution has no rules set forth for the treatment of prisoners of war.
In response to “Detainees deserve humane treatment” (SN 2/6), all I can say is Mara Wolke should be utterly ashamed of herself.
Kudos to MSU athletics officials for doing the footwork required to honor more than 300 female athletes with long-overdue varsity letters. After nearly a year of searching via e-mail, word of mouth, print advertisements and a special university Web page, athletics officials have found hundreds of Spartan women who played at MSU before 1980. Female athletes from as far back as the 1930s were found and will be honored Saturday during halftime at the women’s basketball game against Illinois and at a special ceremony Sunday at Kellogg Center. Although not all of the athletes tracked down will be in attendance, more than 200 will be on hand to receive their individualized plaques with the trademark Spartan “S” in the middle. MSU began recognizing women varsity athletic participants in 1975 - three years after the gender equity legislation Title IX was enacted.
This has been a tough year for The State News editorial cartoon department. They lost a very talented and very astute artist last year and had to find someone to fill his shoes.
The recent article, \"“Groups discuss gender identity,” (SN 2/1) seems to me to give the impression the protection of gender identity expression is primarily a student issue.
I don’t agree with U.S. Rep. Nick Smith’s bill at all (“Bill introduced in Washington could make service mandatory,” SN 2/4). To force young Americans to serve their country in the form of military service is not a democratic policy.
Now that Super Bowl XXXVI has come and gone, the sports world can turn its attention to the Winter Olympic Games. With that, the world spotlight pivots to focus on Salt Lake City - the Mormon Mecca of the United States. I make that reference because it seems I have yet to see an Olympic preview about the host city in which its dominant religious influence isn’t mentioned. Through this second point, I have found the inspiration to write this column.
It’s disgusting the author of “Cuba detainees are being treated fairly” (SN 2/4) believes the al-Qaida and Taliban captives don’t deserve civil rights because they aren’t human.
The rumblings between state legislators and governors to crack down on the availability of public records to hinder terrorist actions is not the correct solution. Governors and state legislators are worried terrorists could use information from public documents and meetings to attack the United States. Michigan is one of eight states seriously considering restricting access to government documents and meetings. Some issues being considered for restrictive measures include water supplies and sewer systems, ongoing criminal investigations, evacuation plans and bioterrorism response assessments. The Michigan Senate introduced a bill in December that would restrict public records and security plans from Freedom of Information Act requests. Lawmakers across the country are in favor of local governments meeting secretly to discuss terrorist prevention plans for water, sewer and electric utilities.
When does it become OK to ignore our Constitution just because others have done it? Michael Ratkovich would have us believe that any time is perfectly acceptable (“Cuba detainees are being treated fairly,” SN 2/4). Apparently, because those being held at Camp X-Ray in Cuba did something deplorable and reprehensible, this gives us permission to do the same.
A bill introduced in Washington that would force all young men to serve in the military has good intentions, but is a bad idea. U.S.
Somewhere in between Britney Spears’ final bounce through the decades and the E*Trade monkey, you may have noticed a barrage of advertisements during Super Bowl XXXVI designed to change the way you think about poisons millions of Americans ingest every day. I’m not talking about beer commercials. Truth, the “anti-drug,” is infectious, or something.
Rishi Kundi is much too cautious in determining when we can know truth and when we cannot (“Abortion debate often fueled by emotions, not facts,” SN 1/31). For example, he says he sometimes thinks we are “slabs of matter” and other times thinks we are ensouled, but presumably sees the question as unanswerable.
It’s not the Residence Halls Association’s fault the Toughman Contest it traveled to last month lacked common decency. On Wednesday, RHA representatives from MSU’s lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender community raised concerns about the organization’s role in sponsoring a trip of more than 25 students to attend the slugfest at the Palace of Auburn Hills. During an intermission session between boxing bouts, the fight’s promoters put on a “homosexual” mock match.
I was truly impressed by watching our men’s Spartan basketball team play against and score a win over Illinois on Sunday.
In the editorial “Engler Games,” (SN 2/1) the bias of The State News comes out once again. I wonder if the newspaper’s editorial board is comprised equally of Democrats and Republicans, as it wants the MSU Board of Trustees to remain.
In response to the recurring concern by media and political cartoonists of the mistreatment of the detainees at Camp X-Ray in Cuba, I feel it is necessary to express my disappointment in these forums for completely misconstruing the type of people they are defending.
Sometimes the clock drives me crazy. It just doesn’t stop. We are so controlled by time that I find myself wasting too much precious time or trying to kill time while I’m waiting to do something more exciting. But what bothers me more than the endless ticking of my watch is wondering if I’m making the wrong choices.
I found the editorial “Engler games,” (SN 2/1) laughable. The State News clearly fears a GOP majority on the MSU Board of Trustees yet admitted in its own editorial that “votes typically are not made along party lines.” If that’s true, why does it matter what party the next trustee is from? The State News cries for the governor to maintain “partisan equilibrium.” Did this newspaper seek “partisan equilibrium” when Democrats held the majority?
If the leaders of MSU’s undergraduate student government want students to shell out an extra $3 in taxes each semester, they need to explain themselves. A joint session of ASMSU’s Student and Academic assemblies on Thursday approved measures to increase the organization’s student tax by $3 per semester.