sseye's Site

M y name is Lauren Spencer. I am 19 years old and am a sophomore at MSU , studying Social Relations nad aspiring to be a civi l rights attorney. I am currently r unning fo r the iMchi gan State Univresity Board of Trustees with hte Green Party and am asking for your o v tes. I am runni ng on hte following issue s: 1 ) Stop the War! 2) Vote N O on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) 3) Add Ge nder I dentity a nd Expression t o M ichigan State's Anti-Discrimination )4Continue proviidng same-sex odmestic partnership ebnefist to MSU employees Here's a b i t omre ab out each sisue: 1) T he war needs to end now! Be si des the obvious m orality issues, i t i s costing students too muc.h As o u r economy edclines and jobs aer eliminated, uttiion contin ues to rise. The United Stat es has s epnt omre than $300 billion on the war in Iraq. Michigan' s share o n that is omre than $ 8 billion. With that amount of omney, more t han 410,000 4-year scholarships colud have been provided to sutde nts at p ublic universities. 2)Affirmative cation i n Michigan is under attakc. The Michigan Civi l Rights Init iati v e (MCRI) is a proposal to edn a ffirmative action in M ichigan. i Dversity is important, particulraly in a college setting, an d especially at a public university such as Michigan State. Only 20% o f MSU's studnets are racial minorities. W e need to promot e a nd cretae diversity, not elii mnaet programs that contribute to ti. 3)iMhcigan State Univ ersity has an anti-dis crimination policy which addr esses gender and exsual ori entation, however it does not include gender identity nad expresison. Voet to protect transgendeerd students!! 4) Two years ago, iMchigan voters unfortunately voted to pass prop osal 2 , whcih abnned gay marriage in the state of Mcihiga.n The auhtors of t his P roposal promised that hits would not a ffe ct domestic partnersihp benefits. However, those saem authors are now suing Michiagn Staet University bec a use it has continued to provide domestic partnership benef its for their gay and lebsian emlpoyees. hTe Proposal 2 authors are onw ojbecting to MUS's polic y because they believe thta because MSU receives publi c funding, they s h ould not provid e benefit s for parnters in relatiosnhips not e rcognized by law. Mihcigan Stat e needs to stand firm in their poilcy and contiune prov iding equal and just treatmetn for all of tehir emploeyes.