East Lansing police Sgt. Mark Vande Wouwer has rescued children from burning buildings and pursued criminals on foot, and now he’s being recognized for his work.
Frank Ambrose, one of the environmental activists convicted for participation in the Agriculture Hall arson New Year’s Eve in 1999, had his sentence reduced by about three years on April 9 in the U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, a court spokeswoman said.
To Samuel Atangana, running a 5K while being sprayed with paint sounded like a silly idea at first. But as he got sprayed at the first paint station on Sunday afternoon, the run turned out to be a lot more fun. The physiology junior was one of more than 350 people to participate in the first Spartan Splatter on Sunday to help raise money for the MSU chapter of the international organization Engineers Without Borders — a group that does a variety of engineering projects to help a community in El Salvador with sanitation problems.
Six years ago, graduate student Rachel Battaglia wanted to celebrate coming out during Pride Week, so she attended The Official MSU Drag Show to experience something new.
The East Lansing Public Library was packed Friday night as residents and city leaders gathered at a fundraiser to offer vocal and financial support for the center, stressing the institution’s importance to the community. More than 200 people attended the library’s Books, Bites and Bids silent auction at the library, 950 Abbot Road, the topper on a week of events that ran in conjunction with National Library Week.
Jogging or walking through 5 kilometers of campus Sunday afternoon, hundreds of students and community members took part in the 18th annual Race for the Place, an event meant to raise funds for MSU Safe Place. The race raised at least $18,000 in sponsorship dollars alone, not counting money coming in from participant fees, said Jonathan Kermiet, a health educator at Olin Health Center and one of the event coordinators.
With DJ Kap Slap rocking at Sparty’s Spring Party, horticulture sophomore Colin Dick wasn’t afraid to bust it loose on the dance floor alongside dozens of fellow Spartans.
Women of all ages, as well as a lone man, were comfortably spread out in a parlor at the Union when Ashley Robinson finally had the opportunity to tell her thoughts on the topics of peace, unity and social justice at the Successful Black Women’s first annual Peace Summit on Sunday.
Kristen Flory said she watched child after child plunge their hands into the stomach of a cow on Saturday at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
For comparative cultures and politics freshman Tommy Kladis, there’s more to school than hitting the books and studying day in and day out. Kladis has a passion for writing his own lyrics to express his thoughts through rapping. “What I’ve learned from James Madison (College) is you should do what you can to change the world, and I feel I could be the most effective influencing the world through music,” Kladis said.
Looking up at the words she had written across a wall in Morrill Hall, Melissa Downing could not help but feel nostalgic. Morrill Hall is scheduled to be torn down in March 2013, and the English Department hosted A Literary Graffiti Project on Thursday to celebrate National Poetry Month and the department’s place in Morrill Hall.
Just in time for summer, a new ice cream shop will open its doors for business at 2850 E. Grand River Ave., in Okemos, on April 20. The shop, Twisters Soft-Serve Ice Cream, will be the eighth in a franchise that was started 12 years ago by owner Joe Spadafore, his brother and his father.
Emily McKay sees room for growth in urban farming, and she’s been cultivating her education to start her own plot. “There are so many opportunities that are popping up,” said the horticulture senior, who volunteers at a local children’s garden. “I’m not worried about finding a job.”
When Sarah McPharlin was 11 years old, she almost died. After catching an autoimmune virus that caused her body to attack her heart, she was hospitalized and eventually placed on the organ donation wait list — she needed a new heart. After 38 days on the list, the kinesiology senior underwent a heart transplant. Although McPharlin realizes how lucky she was to have her life saved by organ donation, many others still are waiting for that chance.
This weekend, MSU’s campus will be invaded by curious visitors and students of years past for the College of Natural Science’s third annual Science University event. Beginning Friday, about 140 alumni, faculty, staff, students and visitors are expected to make their way to MSU to attend an awards program for the college, tours of campus buildings and courses and presentations about the latest scientific happenings at MSU, Elizabeth Wheeler, College of Natural Science alumni relations coordinator, said in an email.
Lansing’s second annual Capital City Film Festival began rolling Thursday evening, with leaders and filmmakers gathering downtown for a red carpet opening celebration.
Born in Somalia, biomedical laboratory operations junior Salman Muridi holds the country close to his heart. But that’s not the only reason he cares about the famine currently affecting Somalians nationwide. “It’s not just the fact that that’s my homeland, it’s the fact that people are dying and nobody (is) doing anything about it,” he said.
An attempt at cooking dinner got a little out of hand at about 5:51 p.m. Wednesday when a kitchen fire erupted on the third floor of Building D in the 731 Burcham Apartment Complex, East Lansing Deputy Fire Chief Troy Brya said.
A giant 18-foot-tall inflatable hand holding an inhaler swayed in the wind next to the rock on Farm Lane on Wednesday afternoon while members of MSU Beyond Coal rallied against the Energy Transition Plan by singing songs, sharing stories and holding up 10-foot-tall wooden sunflowers.
Family community services junior Nikki Noel believes drinking and driving is one of the most preventable causes of death, yet in 2010 there were more than 600 DUIs given out by the East Lansing Police Department — an increase of nearly 200 from 2009. Noel is a member of Spartans Against Drunk Driving, or SADD, and Wednesday they joined MSU Police near the rock on Farm Lane to help raise awareness of the consequences of drunken driving.