COLUMNS


5/3/2015, 11:24am

Why realism and compromise trump police intervention

I believe that a realist perspective is required to solve the qualms of conflicting ideologies. When amid a public relations disaster you must focus on the practical, pragmatic and probable, not the ideological, as this may add fire to the flame with further political foolishness.


4/19/2015, 12:23pm

Society is not as inclusive as it should be

A news story came out of Midland, Michigan earlier last month about a woman suing Planet Fitness over having her membership revoked after she complained about a transgender woman sharing the women’s locker room.


4/15/2015, 2:51pm

'American Sniper' glorifies violence of war

Chris Kyle was the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history with over 160 confirmed kills. He was honorably discharged from the military in 2009 and went on to write an autobiography about his experiences.


4/15/2015, 11:39am

Hillary Clinton unfit for presidency

The presidential elections are coming, and once again we’re wrought with a colossal number of candidates who have enveloped themselves in the flames of fundamentalism, extreme conservatism and globalist-capitalist rhetoric.


4/12/2015, 6:07pm

Letter to the Editor: Timely Warnings

Dear Editor, The March 29 column in the Eastern Echo headlined “Are we getting all the Timely Warnings we should?” offers a good chance to clarify when the Eastern Michigan University campus community will receive such a notification and the circumstances that prompt such a message to be sent.


4/6/2015, 12:05pm

Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act protects rights of business owners

By now I’m sure you’ve heard about the happenings in the state of Indiana. But in case you haven’t heard yet, the state legislature of Indiana passed a bill stating business owners have the right to refuse service to individuals based on religious beliefs, or more specifically, refuse service to homosexual consumers. The aftermath has created outrage and has spawned campaigns to “Boycott Indiana.” The campaign has been spreading like wildfire over social media. I support the state of Indiana on this legislation. At around the same time Indiana created the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a florist in the state of Washington faced a lawsuit after she refused to provide flower arrangements for a gay wedding. According to ABC News, Barronelle Stutzman was fined by the state of Washington for $1,001 after a judge ruled she violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act, which protects the consumer against acts of discrimination by businesses, after declining to provide flowers for a gay wedding.


3/29/2015, 1:53pm

Are we getting all the Timely Warnings we should?

Monday, March 23there was a disturbance near the Tower dorms here at Eastern Michigan. Lauren Stewart, a junior apparel and textile merchandising major and resident of Hill Hall, was woken up early Monday morning. “I woke up around 2 a.m.


3/29/2015, 1:21pm

Michigan should legalize marijuana

As support for recreational marijuana legalization in Michigan increases, the likelihood of a ballot proposal to enact the necessary legislation is becoming a reality. According to MLive, a new poll conducted by EPIC-MRA of Lansing reports that 50 percent of Michigan voters would be likely to support a future ballot proposal to legalize the possession or cultivation of marijuana by adults 21 years of age or older and allow taxable sales at state-licensed stores. The Michigan Comprehensive Cannabis Law Reform Initiative Committee plans to start its fundraising drive by May using both paid and volunteer workers to collect the needed 250,000 petition signatures. I believe that ending marijuana prohibition in Michigan would reduce violent crime and drug-related crime, while keeping the millions currently spent on incarceration and enforcement in the pockets of taxpayers. According to the Marijuana Policy Project, since Colorado stores started selling recreational pot in January of 2014 after voters chose to legalize it, drug-related crimes remained steady or dropped statewide. In addition, there has been no spike in traffic fatalities from drugged driving, according to the Washington Post. And the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting data shows that violent crime is down 5.2 percent statewide.