Opinions

People can handle information excess

By Neil Weinberg · Monday, May 17, 2010

When President Obama spoke at Hampton University on May 9, he took some heavy shots at the modern media environment.

Marriage should not be test-driven

By Michael Cassar · Monday, May 17, 2010

In an April 7 opinion piece published in The Echo, Ms. Hannah Schwab suggested adding an expiration date to marriage would be an improvement over its current state.

Opinion: Harwell holds special place

By Neil Weinberg · Monday, May 10, 2010

Long before I could tune into every Major League game on my Blackberry for $14.99 a year, I had a boxy gray radio that looked like a small suitcase with two round dials. It was perched next to my bed on most of the summer nights of my youth and was tuned to the smooth voice of Ernie Harwell.

Oil spill reveals GOP hypocrisy

By Sammy DeMarco · Monday, May 3, 2010

“Drill baby, drill” became the Republicans’ 2008 presidential campaign motto. Now one has to wonder if it will be “drill baby drill ‘til it spills baby spills.” The drill advocates are as silent as a swamp cricket laced in raw crude.

Letter: Animals that reach PETA 'often beyond hope'

Sunday, April 18, 2010

I would like to clarify statements made in “Pet Stores, Puppy Mills Cause Bad Behavior” (7 April). The animals who come through PETA’s doors — not counting the thousands we sterilize at our low-cost clinics and return to their guardians — are only a tiny fraction of the estimated 6 to 8 million homeless dogs and cats who enter shelters every year.

Colleges less liberal than you'd think

By Tim Barker · Wednesday, April 14, 2010

ST. LOUIS – It’s tempting to think of college campuses as islands of enlightenment, places where students embrace new ideas, people and cultures without the specter of hate hanging overhead.

Big 3's decline could restore public transit

By Chris Hoitash · Wednesday, April 14, 2010

So the idea for a rail between Ann Arbor and Detroit is being delayed. It’s technically for Michigan as a whole, which has had a long history of not having decent public transportation.

Children have no 'return to sender'

By Hannah Schwab · Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Torry Ann Hansen made international headlines last week when she returned her adopted son, Justin, to Russia.

A little taste of everything

By Chris Hoitash · Sunday, April 11, 2010

Spring has arrived, in all it’s depressing, beautiful glory. With the semester coming to a close I find myself working to prepare for final exams, and yet at the same time so many obscure things are happening that I have an opinion on. So I have compiled several of them to get them out to the world efficiently while I prepare for finals.

Why does everybody in Washington fight?

By Hannah Schwab · Sunday, April 11, 2010

For the past few weeks, rumors have been circulating in Washington, D.C., that Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens was making his way toward the door and into the land of retirement.

New nuclear plan changes nothing

By Neil Weinberg · Sunday, April 11, 2010

A lot of speculation has been made about the president’s recent announcement regarding the American nuclear strategy

Letter: Polite's impact felt across EMU

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Eastern Michigan University’s Dean of the College of Education, Vernon Polite (1949-2010), will be remembered as a scholar, mentor and activist – particularly for his groundbreaking work on the education of African American males. While Polite had many accomplishments before and during his time at EMU, the ones that had the most powerful impact on me, and I believe on many others, were the summits he organized: the first was on “The State of the African-American Male in Michigan,” the second was on African-American women.

Letter: Teachers' skill needs probing

By Zachary Zeid · Wednesday, April 7, 2010

To Whom It May Concern, I have a question for you. Why are there never any articles about the quality of teachers at Eastern?

Congress should be pursuing civility

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The GOP should be ashamed of itself. You would think the Republican Party would get a clue, but unfortunately that is not the case. When the House passed healthcare reform just a few short weeks ago, members of the tax Tea Party were outside the chamber hurling racial slurs at members of Congress.

Marriages should add expiration date

By Hannah Schwab · Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Marriage is a nerve-racking idea for both men and women. Men are taught to run screaming from the idea, while women are fed fairy tales of knights on white horses who will scoop them up and make every wish come true. Neither idea leaves people with a very strong idea of what they’re really getting themselves into when they say, “I do.”