Watching the news is becoming increasingly difficult for businessman Boulas Ghraib.A Palestinian, Ghraib said it saddens him to watch TV reports about the violence and conflict that continue between Israelis and Palestinians.Ghraib joined another Palestinian man and two Israeli men in a discussion at MSU-Detroit College of Law last week.
MSU Muslim students will begin their holiest month today.Ramadan, a Muslim holiday observed through prayer and fasting - abstaining from food and drink - during the daylight hours, begins today.Umbrin Ateequi, a member of MSU’s Muslim Student Association, said the holiday is a time for personal improvement.“Ramadan is a time to reflect and be thankful for things we take for granted,” she said.
The Spartan Child Development Center doesn’t look like a place that would house 90 children each day.Put together by five white trailers and covering about 6,800 square feet, the nearly 30-year-old facility near Spartan Village apartments sees children from 60 different countries within its cramped walls.“It was started in response to a need for child care for university employees,” said Robin Zeiter, the center’s executive director.
Students can savor a sampling of Native American culture Tuesday. Hubbard Hall is offering a Native American dinner, the second of four culinary events focused on bringing diversity to residence hall dining rooms. “It’s to give the students on campus the ability to experience authentic cooking from various cultures,” Food Services Coordinator Bruce Haskell said.
For Delia Koo, supporting international programs at MSU is more important than all the money in the world.Koo, who received a master’s degree from MSU in 1954, donated an undisclosed sum for the addition of a third floor to the academic wing of the International Center.
In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, North Complex Black Caucus will host its second annual Kwanzaa Program on Tuesday. The program will feature a keynote speech by Kimberly Ellis, author of the “Kwanzaa Song,” as well as a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” - also known as the “Black National Anthem” - various cultural performances and an appearance by Amka Afrika dance troupe. The event is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Student government representatives from all but one of Michigan’s publicly funded universities journeyed to Ann Arbor last weekend in hopes of re-establishing ties between their institutions. Delegates from 14 schools, including MSU, met at the University of Michigan for the first official Association of Michigan Universities session.
Three high-profile men were selected to give commencement speeches to MSU’s graduates for December’s ceremonies.Raymond Kurzweil, developer of the world’s first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, Alejandro Junco de la Vega, a journalist and newspaper publisher from Mexico, and Jeffrey N.
A Santa Claus collection is coming to town.The annual exhibit of Val Berryman’s expansive Father Christmas collection will go on display at the MSU Museum today.“I started picking things up in 1983,” the curator of history for the MSU Museum said.
Some university officials wonder: Are students concerned about receiving public information about sexual perpetrators at MSU? A small group of students and staff met last weekend to discuss whether students need to be better informed about the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry, a Web site that lists the names of convicted sexual offenders in Michigan. The information is organized by ZIP code and includes an offenders’ address, physical description, date of birth and some data about the type of crime committed. Ann Bolger, director of Residence Life, said the university’s current policy is to make MSU staff members aware that the site can inform students.
As MSU joins the ranks of universities that are paving the way in African American studies, the journey will now be made a little easier.The university is slated to share a $600,000 grant from the Ford Foundation - an organization committed to providing grants and loans to projects that advance human achievement - with four other universities that are part of the Midwest Consortium for Black Studies.The consortium consists of a group of research and teaching faculty at MSU, the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.MSU will use its share of the grant to develop undergraduate- and graduate-level African American studies programs.“African American studies is a growing dynamic field of academic inquiry,” said Curtis Stokes, a James Madison College professor.Stokes is one of the project directors who will be overseeing the use of the grant.
With their undergraduate careers drawing to a close, MSU seniors Eric Stoddard and Ben Kronk figured they had been through it all.That is, until they were selected as the student speakers for their Dec.
ASMSU is going to Disneyworld - well, members will be in the same vicinity anyway.Two representatives from the university’s undergraduate student government will be accompanying Rick McNeil, the assistant director of Intramural Sports and Recreative Services, to Orlando, Fla.
The campus’ student-run newspaper will be steered by some new leaders this spring. A new editor in chief and new-media manager have been selected for The State News.
Do you want to share your poetry with others? Maybe you would like to see a short story that you are proud of in print.
Comedian Charlie Hill will highlight a month of events commemorating MSU’s Native American Heritage Month at 7 p.m.
The MSU Extension will undergo a changing of the guard of sorts next semester when Margaret Bethel takes over as the acting director.Extension is the university’s statewide initiative that offers educational and informational resources to residents in dozens of Michigan communities.
The Union swelled with families, Girl Scout troops, community members and students Sunday, as they sampled a chunk of MSU’s cultural pie at Global Festival 2000.The event showcased information and traditions of 24 countries and three regional groups with performances, exhibits and hands-on activities in an attempt to represent MSU’s international population, which is nearly 2,800 students deep.“This event promotes international awareness,” said communication junior Valentina Halimin, a master of ceremonies for the festival’s performance section.
It’s never too early to start spreading holiday cheer. At least, that’s the attitude at Shaw Hall.Members of the hall’s senate and black caucus along with Kahlil Wasson, the dorm’s community policing officer, are distributing food baskets and canned foods today to five campus families to make their Thanksgiving holiday brighter.“Feeding hungry people, especially around the holidays, is always important,” said Cheryl Allie, vice president of the senate and co-organizer of the can drive.
That the United States still doesn’t have a president-elect is not news. Little has changed in the past week.But what effects the new president - when elected - will have on the state and national courts remains to be seen.