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Economy, employment gives college appeal to freshmen

Alex McClung

January 28, 2013

A record number of college freshmen think attending a university will help them get a better career, a recent survey shows. The results of the 2012 Freshman Survey were released Thursday by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, part of the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles. The 2012 survey, which nearly 200,000 freshman across the country participated in, found 88 percent of those surveyed said the ability to get a better job was a very important reason to go to college.

MSU

Butterfield renovations approved by MSU trustees

Samantha Radecki

January 27, 2013

At Friday’s MSU Board of Trustees meeting, the trustees unanimously approved a few construction, renovation and expansion projects on and off campus. Here’s a guide to what was approved.

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Campus fitness centers reopening

Robert Bondy

January 27, 2013

Avoiding cold weather and saving a few bucks are a few of the advantages finance sophomore Collin Stauder listed when hearing the news of the neighborhood fitness centers reopening in the upcoming week. “I’d like it because in the winter I wouldn’t have to walk to IM West since its so cold,” Stauder said.

MSU

Spartasoft hosts annual Global Game Jam location

Alex McClung

January 27, 2013

While some gamers spent their weekend at home playing “Halo” or “Call of Duty”, some Spartans challenged themselves to create video games of their own. Spartasoft, an MSU student organization that develops video game software, hosted its own version of the Global Game Jam, or GGJ, this weekend in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building. Students created game concepts and designed their own video games with peers during the worldwide event, where teams challenge themselves to create a new video game based on a theme within 48 hours.

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Miss Greek crowned during charity show for Lyme Disease

Simon Schuster

January 27, 2013

Under flashing lights and throbbing music Friday night, Miss Greek was crowned at Secrets Nightclub, 244 S. Washington St., during Sigma Pi’s annual charity event. Genomics and molecular genetics sophomore Chandler Stimach of Kappa Alpha Theta will hold the title for 2013 after facing off in a field of contestants representing 10 of MSU’s 13 sororities.

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Hundreds of students attend comic hypnotist

Isabella Shaya

January 27, 2013

Amy Savoie named an imaginary bluebird Wiz Khalifa — a rapper she never listens to — and laid on two strangers’ laps because she believed she was a seat belt. She barely remembers a thing. For more than an hour, the animal science sophomore fell under the spell of comic hypnotist Daniel James on Friday at the International Center. More than 500 students and guests filled the room to see James perform hypnosis on about 20 student volunteers.

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ASMSU votes in support of adding fitness access fee to tuition

Christine LaRouere

January 24, 2013

ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, voted in support of a fitness plan fee included in students’ tuition, with an opt-out option, at its general assembly meeting Thursday night.

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‘The League’ live show to come to wharton

Robert Bondy

January 24, 2013

Fantasy football and plenty of laughs will be on tab for MSU students this weekend, courtesy of the Residence Halls Association or RHA, and FX’s “The League Live.” RHA booked FX’s “The League Live” to come at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the Cobb Great Hall at Wharton Center. Tickets for the event went on sale Friday, Jan. 18, with student tickets going for $17 and $27 for non-students. Students are limited to two tickets per MSU ID. Tickets were still available for purchase as of Thursday night and also will be available for purchase at the door, if the event does not sell out, RHA Director of Public Relations Abigail Bhattacharyya said.

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Board of Trustees considers upgrades to campus

Samantha Radecki

January 24, 2013

Many campus construction projects top the list to be discussed and voted upon by the Board of Trustees at its 9:30 a.m. Friday meeting in the boardroom at the Administration Building.

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Mich. schools help boost economy with research

Samantha Radecki

January 23, 2013

According to the 2012 Economic Impact Report of the URC, the universities generated $15.5 billion toward Michigan’s economy — a number URC Executive Director Jeff Mason said is spread throughout the state in company development and the growing number of working professionals.

MSU

Hidden on campus

Isabella Shaya

January 23, 2013

For many students, the facilities located south of Mount Hope Road are unknown. But there are many research sites south of main campus where MSU students and faculty are learning and conducting research.

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Fair to host 137 companies, 2000 students

Christine LaRouere

January 23, 2013

With some students worried about job prospects after college, MSU is offering steps to get ahead by networking early. Students of all majors can attend MSU’s Diversity Career Fair 5:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday at Kellogg Center to talk to companies about future internships and jobs.

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Neighborhood fitness centers to open next week

Robert Bondy

January 23, 2013

Neighborhood fitness centers will open in each neighborhood across campus next week, Director of Residence Education and Housing Services Kathy Collins at the Residence Halls Association, or RHA, general assembly meeting Wednesday night.

MSU

Law applicants, job placement down

Samantha Radecki  and  Robert Bondy

January 23, 2013

Despite declining application and placement rates, the decision to go to law school was never in question for law student Bobby Smith. Smith is one of many law students at MSU who are looking to pursue careers in the law field, previously unaware of the steadily decreasing employment rate. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported the job market for law school graduates has been declining in recent years. To combat those ratings, MSU’s College of Law limited its enrollment numbers by making its incoming 2013 class 6 percent smaller than in 2012, said Charles Roboski, assistant dean for admissions and financial aid at MSU’s College of Law.

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Israel ‘much more than a battleground’

Lilly Keyes

January 23, 2013

As a student with a Christian upbringing, Chris McClain never thought his first trip abroad would be to Israel. McClain, a political science and pre-law junior, admitted that he had never given the country much thought.

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Pres. Simon lays out Bolder by Design plan for future

Alex McClung

January 22, 2013

MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon began to unveil her new plan on how to move the university forward during the next 10 years and beyond at Tuesday’s University Council meeting.

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Transgender activist Rebecca Kling helps educate MSU community with visit

Christine LaRouere

January 22, 2013

Some MSU students reconsidered gender and personal identity in art Tuesday by attending a workshop hosted by transgender activist and performer Rebecca Kling. With an extensive educational background in theater and performing arts, Kling was able to use her education to develop her identity, and when she visited MSU to run the workshop and perform for students, she encouraged her audience to do the same. “I used the tools as an artist to explore for the first time my experience as a transgender person on stage,” Kling said. “The reason we make art is to see ourselves. I used storytelling to share and fully understand who I was as a person.” Kling used what she has learned as a performer and a transgender person by talking to students and community members Tuesday in Snyder Hall about how to act and adapt to transgender people, and allow those people themselves to become comfortable in their own skin.

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Students celebrate MLK Day through service, marches

Lilly Keyes

January 21, 2013

Even though classes were cancelled Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, human resource management freshman Princess Harmon and 214 other students sat at desks in N130 Business College Complex and awaited their assignments.

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What fiscal cliff bill means for students

Kellie Rowe

January 21, 2013

To many students, the term “fiscal cliff” means a whole lot of nothing. But buried in the jargon and minute details of the bill Congress passed early this month to “avoid an economic disaster are some positive signs for Michigan industries ­— and for students looking for jobs in those industries.

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Students celebrate Yalda during coffee hour

Lilly Keyes

January 21, 2013

Among all of the tables set out for the Office for International Students and Scholars, or OISS, weekly Coffee Hour, one table stuck out vividly among the rest. While other tables offered different coffee varieties on simple black tablecloths, the Yalda table was festively decorated to reflect Persian traditions with purple and gold candles, and traditional food and drink such as pomegranate seeds, a specially-carved watermelon and Persian tea — all set on decorative red, blue and gold fabrics. “The difficult part was designing the watermelon, you see,” Persian Student Association president Fariborz Daneshvar said, who skyped with his family on the actual holiday — the Persian equivalent of Thanksgiving — which took place Dec. 21. Daneshvar, along with roughly 70 other Iranian students at MSU, celebrated the holiday away from his family. While it was disheartening for Daneshvar to be so far from home, he said he was happy the OISS helped him celebrate his Iranian culture on campus.