Crinkled foreheads and questioning looks adorned the faces of students in MSU's Italian Club as a Scopa tournament developed.
A corner of the Multicultural Center in the Union overflowed with chatter as students sought information from others on how to accurately play the Italian card game.
"So, can I pick it up?"
"Yeah, it's a Scopa, I think."
Club president Achille DiNello said the group focuses more on social activities than cultural ones, but he's trying to change that. With just three semesters under the group's belt, the Italian club is relatively young compared to other cultural associations on campus.
"About one out of four of our meetings is a cultural event," he said. "We had a Roman party where we had a spread of cheese and grapes and olives and stuff like that. We play scopa. We want to introduce the language more."
Older MSU cultural groups focus more heavily on language.
La Societe Francaise, which promotes the French language and culture, has existed for about five years, club president Rachel Lantzy said.
"We have events once a month," Lantzy said. "Our members are encouraged to speak French during our events."
Lantzy said not everyone involved in the club is in the French department. Members vary from those who are majoring in French to those whose language proficiency is limited to high school. She said local French teachers even participate in some of their events.
"Attendance kind of comes and goes," Lantzy said. "We don't have any dues or anything, so there's no obligation. It can be hard trying to plan an event when people aren't going to be busy."
As a budding group, the Italian club encounters a similar problem, members say.
"Keeping people interested is our biggest problem," DiNello said. He added that the group has grown from five or six members in the spring of 2005 to about 50 now. Half of the members show up to events, he said.
"Attendance to social events is a problem, too," he said.
Marc Kuder, president of La Casa, a student group that promotes Spanish language and culture, said his organization of 15 core members speaks Spanish every chance they can.
"There's a floor where you can live," Kuder said of the third floor in West McDonel Hall. "We have dinners on Tuesdays and Thursdays."
La Casa was started three or four years ago by professors in the Spanish department, Kuder said. The group shows a Spanish movie every Monday and holds Latin dance lessons on some Thursdays that draw 35-40 people.
All three of these groups are open to everyone, despite a student's heritage.
After searching for a campus Italian club, founder and MSU alumnus Mike Mastroianni decided to start his own.
"If you're proud of your culture and heritage, you should have some sort of legacy there," DiNello said. "If you're proud to be an MSU student, you want that to be here because that's part of you."
