The 42nd annual MSU Holiday Arts and Crafts show will be held this weekend at the Union. Featuring goods from more than 200 artists, the show is free and open from 9 a.m.
For three days this weekend, 400-500 teams will be competing in "Cowboy Christmas" at the Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education. The event features timed team penning and sorting competitions with groups of 30 cattle each.
By Gabrielle Russon Special to The State News Ben Hamlin has his drivers and his putters in his disc golf bag.
On a volunteer trip one month after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Ashley Wright couldn't believe the town of Pass Christian, Miss., was still in ruins. "I felt like I got dropped off in the woods and had to pick up trash," the economics senior said.
After decades of working with hunger and the poor, animal science professor Sam Varghese has focused on his home country of India this last year. Last month, he returned from another trip to India, where he worked with relief efforts for the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in December 2004.
For some MSU students, the theme of this holiday season is "students helping students." The Graduate Employees Union, or GEU, began a food drive at the start of November for the MSU Student Food Bank.
Luke Massie, co-chairperson for the national Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN, will discuss the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative at 7 p.m.
The Alliance of Lesbian-Bi-Gay-Transgender and Straight Ally Students, with the help of other on-campus groups, is making use of a new resource to raise awareness for World AIDS Day on Thursday. An interactive Web site, www.spreadthis.org, will be launched Thursday and will be accessible to everyone. The alliance is trying a simulation with their site so students can virtually see how the AIDS virus can spread. About 60 students working with the alliance will arbitrarily hand out 3,000 red business cards around campus, which students can use to access the site.
A nursing shortage has plagued the country for the last five years, so the MSU College of Nursing started a new program to help alleviate the problem. Allowing students who have already received their bachelor's degree to return and train to be a nurse in one year, the Accelerated Second Degree BSN program cuts the time it usually takes to train in half. The first group of students in this program started in September. The students in the program have already had other careers, so it is harder for them to commit the time to returning, said Marilyn Rothert, dean of the College of Nursing, adding that this is much more efficient. "We wanted to look at creative ways to bring folks who are inclined to help people and have a strong science background into the field," Rothert said.
Black power is a sense of community — this is the definition Ashley Hall keeps with her in her everyday life. "(Black power) is a term used to express a sense of pride and to rejoice in the ethnic roots we have accomplished so far," the journalism senior said.
ASMSU and the provost's office both made plans to create a Web site listing undergraduate research opportunities without realizing they had the same idea. Members of ASMSU's Academic Assembly passed a bill last week calling for the creation of such a Web site, but administrators have already set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars for a similar project. Administrators hope to have the site — which would offer specific research opportunities for undergraduate students and possibly be sorted by college — running next semester, said June Youatt, assistant provost for undergraduate education and dean of undergraduate studies. Youatt added that administrators want to have a planning meeting with students and faculty before the end of this semester. "It's great ASMSU is thinking — it's wonderful that we're converging on goals," Youatt said.
The first Satrang 2006 meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Erickson Hall Kiva. Students must attend in order to choreograph or participate. A $10 membership fee is due at the time of sign-ups. Satrang includes the singing of both the U.S.
The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity is calling for submissions to an annual essay contest that awards about $10,000 in prizes. An MSU student was recognized with an honorable mention in a 2001 contest sponsored by the New York-based organization. In its 17th year, the essay contest asks students to write about an ethical issue relevant to today's world.
Child development junior Andrea Gillis received one of the Bright Horizons Family Solutions' annual Bright Futures Scholarship. The scholarship is in the amount of $2,500, and is given to three undergraduate students who are in the field of early education and child development within the education program. The scholarship committee looks for people who have overcome obstacles and are viewed as deserving by their peers and teachers. Gillis has made the Dean's List every semester. Last year, she worked with first graders and showed an ability to connect with diverse groups of children.
A cross-disciplinary conversation about engaged learning and how it is manifested in various fields will take place Saturday. The event's organizers encourage participants to bring their ideas, experiences and questions on the topic. The discussion will be held from 10 a.m.
For Chicano and Latino students aspiring to enter the health field, a new group on campus has been formed to assist them. The group — Chicano/Latinos in Health Education, or CHE — is a support, networking and advocacy organization targeting undergraduate students with health-related majors. Several branches of the organization exist in the western part of the country, but the MSU group is the first CHE in the Midwest. Third-year medical student Francisco Dorado founded the group about a year ago as a member of the Latino Midwest Medical Student Association, which is a graduate student support group. "I knew there was interest and I knew a lot would lose that interest in their first year," Dorado said.
One month into the Spartan Kids child care grant program, reservations for day care providers are filling fast. The grant for undergraduate students with children has been available since Nov.
With winter well on its way, more people have been turning to Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, buses instead of their cars, bikes and feet, according to CATA officials. Officials recently reported that record numbers of people are using the system, which includes numerous buses on and off campus, as well as other special services.
Sunday marked the beginning of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas that the Rev. Mark Inglot calls a "time warp" for those in the Catholic community. "It's a celebration of the fact that Jesus has come, does come to each of us and will come again," said Inglot, pastor at St.
Fewer than half of the medical residency programs in Michigan provide formal training in end-of-life care, according to a recent MSU study. The results showed 46 percent of the residency programs in the state provided formal training in end-of-life care, and 19 percent required training in patient care.