Opinions - The Eastern Echo

Presidency: a frustrating career choice

By Hannah Schwab · Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010

WANTED: Male or female, preferably male, minimum 35 years old, who wants to help others. Position consists of long hours, travel, relocation, time away from the family and absolutely no privacy. Your past, present and future will become everyone’s business, so those with skeletons in the closet need not apply. Everyone around you will critique and judge everything about you, from your ethics to your razor burn. Everyone will be overanalyzing every word and hand gesture for hidden meanings. Trust no one, they are all waiting to stab you in the back while they shake your hand. You will start off wanting to leave a legacy and make changes, but none of it will come true. Everyone will know your name and your face. You will be talked about in every history and civics class from here to eternity, no matter if you succeed or fail. Interested parties should apply within.

Comic books do contain literary value

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010

I said last article that the discussion on whether comic books constituted proper literature was a topic for another article. Three guesses for what this article will be about. The problem is the art – the words alone do not a piece of literature make, as the argument goes. But literature is art, so therefore comic books are literature. Somewhere a professor of logic is yelling at the paper. So sue me, politics are slow right now. Sure, I could write about the Senate position in Massachusetts, but I’ve done Democratic incompetence to death for now, so I’m moving on.

Democrats get a wake-up call

By Neil Weinberg · Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010

It’s Ted Kennedy’s seat no longer. Scott Brown walked into the Lion’s Den and defeated Martha Coakley, spoiling the Democrats’ chance at a filibuster-proof Senate on Tuesday. The Democratic Party would like you to believe that this was an isolated event, but it wasn’t. This election was a referendum on the president and the party he leads.

GOP can't expect to win in 2010 without overhaul

By Donald Stuckey II · Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010

For the last few weeks, I have been sitting around listening to the right-wing, truth-distorting machine talk about how the American people are upset with the president and how people are tired of tax increases in government-run healthcare.

U.S. imperialism hurting Pakistan

Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010

Earlier this month, the Pakistani English-language daily “Dawn” reported U.S. drone-missile attacks have claimed the lives of more than 700 people in Pakistan in 2009. The report was based on statistics compiled by Pakistani authorities and has been virtually ignored by the U.S. media.

Stop texting and driving, make roads safer

By Marcus Teklemariam · Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010

You’re driving down the road, on your way to class, when your cell phone goes off. You take a quick glance to find it’s a text message. It’s just a friend letting you know where you’ll be meeting at the movies tonight. Knowing you’re going to be in class for most of the day, you reach over and try to text him back before you pull up to the student parking lot. Suddenly, you hear a loud car horn. Then you notice your car is traveling in the wrong lane and you quickly move to miss the other car by only a few feet. Feeling relieved and a little embarrassed, you begin to wish you had parked your car before you picked up the phone.

Archive binges lead to lost time

Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010

Wikis have an irritating habit of being addictive. You read an article, see some links you like and suddenly you’re reading four or more articles at once. One site I like to do this with is tvtropes.com. Now while reading articles on this site I came across an often-quoted web comic called The Order of the Stick. I decided to read this web comic from the start

Palin suited for talk shows, not politics

By Neil Weinberg · Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010

She’s charismatic. She’s attractive. She plays by her own set of rules and has a massive following. Will she cash that in on a serious run for the White House? Of course not.

GOP turn focus on Yemen and its link to terrorism

Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010

Apparently, Yemen is the new front in the War on Terror. It was a rather obscure country to most Americans before recent events – much like any country that doesn’t have terrorists, or plans to nuke us to the Stone Age.

This is hard to learn: Why do good deeds always turn out bad?

By Hannah Schwab · Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010

Starting from day one, parents constantly teach their kids lessons about life, big and small. They teach us how to tie our sneakers, how to apologize and how to look both ways before crossing the street.

Nation's veterans need help

By Ingrid Mitchell · Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010

One tends to assume, once a military member has returned from a combat zone alive, whether harmed or uninjured, all should be well once the member is removed from the hostile sector.

Obama's change stalled during '09

By Neil Weinberg · Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010

Electoral success doesn’t always translate to executive greatness and our president is learning that first hand.

Media influence our perception of 'beauty'

By Hiba Baghdadi · Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

According to Leonard Eron, senior research scientist at the University of Michigan, “Television alone is responsible for 10 percent of youth violence.” This is only 10 percent, and not including the effect it has on body image, sexuality and eating disorders.

Tax big bankers

By David Gomez · Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

While 2009 is still fresh in our minds, it is important that we start 2010 right. Just like in 2009, the huge banks are propped up with taxpayer dollars.

Bachelor's degree weak in educated workforce

Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

Hello again. Welcome back from break, hope you enjoyed it and that you were happy with your grades. With the holidays over I can proceed to bring you back to reality with all the grace and civility of an elephant high on Acid. With more and more people going to college, those undergraduate degrees that many students end up in debt for are becoming less valued in the work environment, mainly because there are so many of them now.

High expectations curse resolutions

By Hannah Schwab · Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

After all the balloons have been released, the confetti has been thrown and the kisses shared, ringing in the New Year puts pressure on those who subscribe to the rules attached to resolution.

Christmas retail shows holiday horrors

By Hannah Schwab · Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009

What does the holiday season really mean? A time of family togetherness? No. A time to give and receive?

Giving gifts can be cheap

By Chris Hoitash · Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009

Well, Christmas is drawing near, for those who care anyway. This means it is time to shop for presents.

Extremism is not the solution to problems of U.S.

By Neil Weinberg · Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009

Being a student of history, I find reflecting to be an extremely useful part of the learning process.

Letter: EMU athletics aren't what they once were

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009

As an alumnus, former walk-on football player and sports editor of The Eastern Echo, I am almost speechless when looking at the state of the Eastern Michigan University athletic department as it pertains to the revenue sports of football and basketball.