Libyan international students remained in the U.S., fearful their return would mean their death. Students in the Visiting International Professional Program live in uncertainty about their certification — the temporary government in place has not yet finalized plans about continuing the program.

For Libyans, much of the violence ended after Gaddafi was killed Oct. 21 by rebel fighters.
For Egyptians, protests in January were just the start of the struggle.

International relations junior and Cairo-native Hussein Yasser Kazem was safe from the violence, but one of his friends from Cairo was injured from a tear-gas canister and rubber bullet during the Nov. 21 protests at Tahrir Square.

“You get a sense of the danger that you put yourself into by going into the square,” Kazem said.

The Japan earthquake
Waves of emotional devastation caused by the March 11 earthquake that hit Japan were felt thousands of miles away at MSU.

No students studying abroad in Japan were injured, but international students feared for the safety of their families.

MSU alumna Eiko Hatagawa, who left Japan hours before the earthquake hit to visit a friend in East Lansing, waited helplessly for her family to call from their home in Tokyo.

When she finally reached her mother, she realized the enormity of the earthquake’s devastation.
“My mother said all the glass is broken,” she said. “My father was blocked in the house for three hours. It didn’t feel real.”

U2 at Spartan Stadium
Three decades after the then-obscure Irish rock band U2 played at an East Lansing bar, they returned to greet 70,000 screaming fans in Spartan Stadium on June 26.

This was the second concert performed in Spartan Stadium since it was built almost 90 years ago.

Cindy Gomez, an MSU alumnus and Lansing resident, danced on stage with Bono at Dooley’s — now Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub, 131 Albert Ave. — in 1981.

“I never thought they would be as big as what they are now,” Gomez said. “Little did (I) know they’d come back and play Spartan Stadium.”

A patriotic year
As news spread like wildfire on Twitter, Americans waited for President Barack Obama to confirm the news — that Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda terrorist and mastermind of Sept. 11, had been killed by U.S. forces on May 1.

“For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies,” Obama said during the press conference.
“The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.”

A few months later on the 10-year anniversary of Sept. 11, advertising junior and New Jersey native Jen Garavaglia revisited the uncertainty she felt as she waited for her father to return home from his job in New York City.

It took him more than a day to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and catch a ride home to his family.
Sept. 11 did more than scar the New York City skyline, it brought Americans together, Garavaglia said.

“My thoughts have changed over the years. My eyes are more open,” she said.

“It took me until … now to remember all the little things and how weird it is to see how far we’ve come.”
Tuition increase confusion
The MSU Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition by 6.9 percent for the 2011-12 academic year during its July 17 meeting.

Although the board said the cut was below the 7.1 percent limit set by the state, a House Fiscal Agency investigation found MSU raised tuition 9.4 percent. Some legislators said MSU knowingly tampered with the academic year in an effort to keep the tuition raise deceptively low.

MSU officials testified in court, and Michigan Budget Director John Nixon determined MSU is in compliance with the state’s tuition restraint language on July 28. The decision means the university will receive its full $18.3 million in state appropriations.

Racism on campus
Students took action after a series of racist incidents, such as the phrase “No Ni***rs Please” being written on the door of a 20-year-old female student in West Akers Hall, were reported on campus.

The Black Student Alliance hosted an emergency meeting, held a silent march and used one of its monthly meetings to address the MSU Board of Trustees.

Students and administrators are working to prevent further racist incidences on campus through education.

“As an administrator at MSU and as a black man, I am disgusted,” said Joshua Gillespie, an assistant director in the Department of Residence Life for East Neighborhood. “There are insensitive, asinine people in our world, and it is our job to try to educate and inform them. (Racism) is a problem on campus and we’re going to address it.”

Sexual assaults on campus
Administrators and students looked for ways to further protect students from sexual violence on campus after two sexual assaults were reported this fall.

An 18-year-old female student allegedly was sexually assaulted Oct. 29 by another student’s guest in a men’s restroom at Armstrong Hall, and a 19-year-old female student reported she was sexually assaulted Nov. 12 somewhere between South Neighborhood and the Main Library.

ASMSU representatives showed support of carrying pepper spray on campus for protection, and President Lou Anna K. Simon stressed the importance of exercising caution when inviting guests on campus.

Administrators also advocated not blaming victims and forcing perpetrators to take responsibility for their actions. Vice President Joe Biden held a press conference on the topic in November.

“No means no whether the woman is drunk or sober. Whether she is in the dorm or on the street,” Biden said. “Whether she says yes first then says no, rape is rape is rape, assault is assault. There is no excuse for any of it.”

Occupying Wall Street
In October, MSU students and other community members joined the Occupy Wall Street Movement, which began in New York City this September in protest of the wealth gap and class influence on politics.

Some students gathered outside the Capitol on Oct. 15.

“As much as I wanted to be with my friends and celebrate the (U-M game), I think I have a personal responsibility — if I’m upset with the way things are — to take a part in (changing) it,” finance and statistics junior Lindsay Allen said.

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero gave protesters permission to camp in Lansing’s Reutter Park. The protesters will be leaving the park this week because of the weather, but will continue to hold events throughout the winter.

Spartan Spirit
From a close defeat during the inaugural Big Ten championship game, to playing for the first time at the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic in San Diego, Spartan athletics have broken new ground in 2011.

Despite losing at the hands of No. 1 North Carolina on the USS Carl Vinson, the MSU basketball team is headed for a marked improvement with better team chemistry compared to last season, men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo said.

Senior quarterback Kirk Cousins earned his place as the winningest quarterback in program history. He surpassed former quarterback Jeff Smoker (2000-03) with 26 victories during his career, including 21-5 record for the last two seasons.

The MSU football team defeated U-M for the fourth year in a row for the first time since 1959-62, and beat OSU on its home field for the first time in 13 years. Its record this season is 10-3 and its headed to play Georgia in the Outback Bowl Jan. 1 in Tampa Bay, Fla.

“We worked to stand alone at the top,” head football coach Mark Dantonio said. “We talk about finishing everything that we do, and this is a great example of that. You wonder why I’m excited … because it’s so much better when you do it this way. It means so much more to everybody.”
City changes
The faces of the East Lansing city government have changed drastically from last year.
Juli Liebler took Tom Wibert’s place as head of the East Lansing Police Department, and Fire Marshal Bob Pratt plans to retire in January 2012.

Former Councilmember Roger Peters was replaced by Don Power during the Nov. 8 election, and former Mayor Pro Tem Diane Goddeeris took Councilmember Vic Loomis’s place as mayor in a vote during the Nov. 21 city council meeting.

“Everybody has to get used to each other,” Power said.

“Will the council be looking like Kumbaya? No. It’s going to take a different kind of effort and a different kind of dynamic.”