Religious Discrimination on MSU's Campus?

Discrimination on campus is more racial rather than religious said Ravitch. According to him, there is much more discrimination by excuse of religion against homosexuals than against any religion itself on college campuses.

Catholic, Jewish, and Agnostic MSU students all felt as if they had not been discriminated against because of their religion, with only a plea that the university possibly be more inclusive.

The university has a strict anti-discrimination policy where all forms of discrimination are strictly prohibited and also has an Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives, with a job of foremost promotion of racial, religious, and ethic inclusion on campus.

Catholic MSU student Mary Kate Tantillo said she has not been personally discriminated against but feels as though people in general are not fond of the Catholic Church.

Ravitch explains that many social issues in greater society are not as prevalent on college campuses due to their size and cultural dynamics.

Christmas Lights on MSU's campus

Many students, myself included, feel a sense of warmth and delight the first time we see the Christmas lights on MSU's campus. But, I, with the many others who enjoy the decorations, celebrate the Christian Christmas holiday. And as all of us know, the entire student population at MSU is not Christian.

According to Frank S. Ravitch, MSU professor of law and law and religious expert, said though the decorations on campus are within constitutional law, this does not make them right and free from discriminating against other religions.

Santa Clauses, Christmas trees, and even menorahs are considered constitutional, where as crosses and nativity scenes are not, said Ravitch.

Ravitch also makes a point to say he can see where the line gets blurry when it comes to Santa's and trees, those figures are at least not associated with the religious aspects of the holiday. Menorah's however, are associated with Hanukkah. You say a prayer every time you light a candle.

MSU students of varying religious backgrounds said they are not opposed to the Christmas lights and do actually enjoy them.

Justin Sucher, Jewish student at MSU, says he wishes the university were more accommodating to other religions.

Renewable Energy and the T. B. Simon Power Plant at MSU cont.

Though coal has undoubted negative health effects, experts including Michigan State University's spokesperson on renewable energy have a different and more feasible approach to the issue on campus.

Sustainable energy expert and President of Bluefield Engineered Services, Mark Blauvelt, said the key to maintaining a healthy environment is to lower the use of all energy in general, rather than completely shifting to renewable resources.

Jennifer Battle, renewable energy expert and MSU's spokesperson on the topic said "The biggest bang for our buck is in conservation."

Blauvelt said though coal is one of the dirtiest energy sources, it is also one of the cheapest and that the technology is not here yet for campus to run entirely on renewable energy.

Battle sums up the universities stance and said, "Every energy source, renewable and non-renewable has positives and negatives. The key is to consider variables such as environment, capacity, cost, health, and reliability and make the best decision about the fuel mis and the larger campus energy structure."

Renewable Energy and the T. B. Simon Power Plant at MSU

Many students have recently been bombarded with emails from the group Beyond Coal, discussing the major negative effects coal can have on their health and the environment. The group is referring to the T. B. Simon Power Plant at Michigan State University and the campus's dependency on using coal as an energy source.

Beyond Coal has correlated with MSU Greenpeace, with goals to ultimately retire the power plant and shift the university to be 100 percent reliable on renewable energy.

Tayla Tavor, Beyond Coal President, said the reason they have this goal is because "coal is one of the most dangerous energy sources, being one of the biggest causes for global warming."

The groups have had peaceful relations with university administration said Tavor, but now they have hit a brick wall.

President Lou Anna K. Simon has allegedly refused to meet with the activist groups said Tavor.

So the groups have began to rally and protest the Hannah Administration Building at MSU.

Tavor acknowledges that coal has the cheapest raw cost of energy, but she says the negative health effects far outweigh any economic burden.

glee2! jrn200!

Just finished the episode. And finished my tweets. They didn't leave viewers unsatisfied thats for sure! The theme of the episode was obviously sex, but the show had never gone so far in depth before within the subject. It talked about the motives, consequences, feelings, everything, accept for the actual act. They left that part out. Thank goodness. Would have been way too much for "family" tv.

In the end both Rachel and Finn, and Blaine and Kurt, do the deed. Both supposably in love and ready. Some say way too controversial. Is America ready to acknowledge gay teenage boys having sex? Well ready or not Glee was going to give it to us. And honestly I feel it's about time.

The show is known for questioning boundaries and flirting with the controversial topics teens have been involved. This was just one of many for the series.

glee! jrn200!

There has been a lot of buzz about tonights glee episode. They are supposedly showing two sex scenes on the show, adding lots of controversial conversation concerning the straight scene and also the gay scene. There was an actual TV14 rating disclaimer before the show started. Something very unusual for the teen tv phenomenon...keep you posted!