Opinions - The Eastern Echo

Detroit should tax pollution

By James Tatum · Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Economic development in Detroit will take money the city doesn’t have. A report by The Atlantic showed overall Detroit had $444 million in unpaid taxes and penalties owed to it. Since the crash on Wall Street in 2008, the property tax base has collapsed and state law says municipalities cannot collect sales tax.

Rejection of science makes GOP stupid

By James Tatum · Sunday, March 10, 2013

“We must stop being the stupid party,” said Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana about his beloved Grand Old Party in a speech to the Republican National Committee.

Congress needs to solve budget

By Chris Hoitash · Sunday, March 10, 2013

Sequestration is upon us. Congress has failed to prevent massive federal spending cuts, which is only the latest in its continued efforts to prove a troop of baboons would be more capable of serving as members of the U.S. government.

Reform prison to help minors, mentally ill

By Rose Carver · Sunday, March 10, 2013

The U.S. justice system is harsh when handing out life sentences, and when the convicted criminal is a juvenile, the possibility of an undiagnosed mental illness is common. The atrocious nature of the present prison system subjects the freshly convicted minor to extreme and inhumane treatment, such as solitary confinement, which severs one’s hope for personal growth and development.

Letter to the Editor

By Michael Marotta · Sunday, March 10, 2013

By EMU alumnus Michael Marotta I finished a Bachelor of Science at Eastern Michigan University in 2008 and a Master of Arts in 2010. According to EMU IT policy, my student email account should have been disabled six months later, but I was lucky enough to keep it until January 21 of this year. Why not longer?

Detroit needs care, attention to reform

By Robert Uldricks · Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013

So, it looks like an independent Detroit’s days are numbered. The city is pretty much guaranteed to hire an emergency financial manager soon and everyone is pointing fingers. I, for one, blame Henry Ford. Had he set up shop in Toledo, we could all be complaining about how poor Ohio is while the current Detroit metropolitan area could function as a giant suburb.

Religion should not be defined by its followers

By Jumanah Saadeh · Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013

If I asked you to close your eyes and picture a religious person, who comes to mind? Chances are, it is some angry, judgmental, overbearing person who you dislike immediately.

Detroit needs help from MI to rebuild

By David Konarske · Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013

After the second financial review in recent memory, there are rumors of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder taking action to appoint an emergency financial manager to fix the City of Detroit.

Challenge Styrofoam use for its damaging effects

By Patrick Seick · Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013

There are many perks to living on Eastern Michigan University’s campus: The people are life-changing, everything is within a 15-minute walk and the squirrels are friendly. Yet one of the biggest and, in my very humble opinion, underappreciated perks is Golden Wall, the Chinese restaurant just off campus at 421 W. Cross St.

Dallas mayor encourages rally for women against domestic violence

By Jodi F. Bullock · Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013

I have to admit: When I imagine an activist fighting to make violence against women a thing of the past, a man from Texas is not who immediately comes to mind.

Get a fake internet girlfriend for $750

By Jodi F. Bullock · Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013

If any of you single guys have ever wished you could pay a stranger to write nice things about you on your Facebook page or go on raids with you in “World of Warcraft,” a new service called Fake Internet Girlfriend might be just the thing you need.

Is US still the ‘land of opportunity’?

By Chris Hoitash · Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013

America: The land of opportunity. At least, it used to be. These days, such mantras as “land of opportunity” or “the American dream” seem like the platitudes of a bygone era, etched into the ruins of some ancient empire, ebbed away by the sands of time. Or in our case, it has been eroded by the stagnating and declining middle class. The solution to this problem is simple to state and hard to implement: Public education needs to be widely available and useful.

US should rethink drinking law

By Leo Romyn Fabbri · Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013

On Wednesday evening my friends and I began a small celebration. It was our friend’s 20th birthday and he spent his night—since he is a fellow Brit—not in a pub or at a club, as on his 19th or 18th, but in our apartment clasping a red cup.

Republican Party needs to reform

By James Tatum · Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013

Republicans may take solace in a recent Gallup poll that showed 40 percent of Americans identify as conservative, 35 percent as moderate and only 21 percent identify as liberal—but those numbers provide a false sense of comfort.

Televisions take away from intimate feel in restaurants

By Jodi F. Bullock · Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013

Americans enjoy watching TV. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans aged 15 and older spend about half of their leisure time watching TV—an average of 2.8 hours a day. But when was it decided, seemingly en masse that we are incapable of eating a meal at a restaurant without a television looming in the background?

Horsemeat scandal in Europe shouldn’t be such a big issue

By Robert Uldricks · Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013

Recently I was reading the German magazine Der Spiegel, just checking the value of my bratwurst stocks, when I saw there’s a big scandal in Europe over beef. More precisely, what is in the beef: Apparently there’s horsemeat in there, people!

Say no to minimum pay raise

By David Konarske · Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013

I do not know anyone who is for poverty in the U.S. In fact, I am confident most Americans are against poverty in general. As odd as it may sound, poverty is one of the reasons Americans should be against raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour as proposed by President Barack Obama in his recent State of the Union speech. As nice as eliminating poverty by giving low-income workers more money sounds, it has many unintended consequences attached to it.

Stop oversimplifying people

By Patrick Seick · Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013

During the 2012 presidential election, there was much debate about immigration policy and the rapidly shifting American population. Specifically, the quickly growing Latino population. According to the Pew Hispanic Research Center, Latinos made up 17 percent of the American population in 2011. By 2030, Latinos are expected to make up a quarter of the American population.

Obama’s State of the Union addressed nothing

By Chris Hoitash · Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013

President Barack Obama has given the first State of the Union address of his second term. The State of the Union? We’re frakked.

Florida Republican senator delivers awful union speech

By James Tatum · Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013

Marco Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, delivered his party’s response to President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address of his second term—and it was awful.