Last spring, Eastern Michigan University student Zoe Piliafas spent an entire semester dressed as a Muslim woman. Piliafas, who is of Greek descent, went by the name Zhooda, adopted a Middle Eastern accent and wore a burqa - a dark shroud that covers everything except a woman's eyes.
For Michael Handley, taking quizzes during his summer zoology classes required him to get in a Jeep and drive to a field in search of the animals. The zoology junior was on a study abroad trip in Kenya for three weeks this summer and said the experience taught him more than he would have learned in a traditional classroom setting. "I am a hands-on learner and this helped," Handley said.
The Automotive Research Experiment Station will upgrade its facilities from a 9,000-square-foot laboratory located about five miles from campus to a state-of-the-art site on south campus. The new 30,000-square-foot location will be off Bogue Street and Service Road, south of the existing research Complex. The project's contractor was appointed by the MSU Board of Trustees on Friday.
A Residence Halls Association executive position is open following the resignation of RHA Vice President David Sahlin on Wednesday. Sahlin has held the position since being elected in March.
Several students lined the sidewalks of Farm Lane on Wednesday afternoon in protest to National Conservative Coming Out Day activities planned on campus. The group of about 30 protesters stood outside Bessey Hall - one of the sites conservative groups intended to use for the event - waving signs and voicing their concerns about the use of the words "coming out" to describe the event. Professional writing sophomore Ben Rubinstein, a member of the MSU Stonewall Democrats, was among the protesters and said the terminology was offensive. "We were there to help show our side of the story and our feeling that their calling this a national 'coming out' day was mocking," he said.
Gary Wood has dreamed of having a paperless advising system for the last 10 years, but it wasn't until the Undergraduate University Division teamed up with the Office of the Registrar that his dream became a reality. Students in three MSU colleges will no longer have to lug an academic folder across campus when meeting with an adviser, following the creation of the Electronic Student Academic Folder, a program designed to eliminate paper in the advising system. "We had wanted a paperless system for a number of reasons," said Wood, coordinator of the Undergraduate University Division's office in Bessey Hall.
ASMSU's Academic Assembly has grown sizably in the last two weeks - 10 out of 11 student group spots have been filled and the total number of college representatives has doubled. Although the group had to add more tables to fit all the new members during its Tuesday meeting, about half of its college representative seats remain empty. Despite the open seats, Academic Assembly Chairperson Robert Murphy said he is happy with the group's progress. "I'm really pleased with what we've done so far," Murphy said.
Interested students are invited to a Teach For America information session, to be held at 7 p.m. today and Thursday in Room 101 of North Kedzie Hall.
Golf course designer Jerry Matthews will speak about environmentally friendly designs at the next meeting of the Red Cedar Chapter of Wild Ones Native Gardeners. The meeting is at 7 p.m.
University of Memphis philosophy Professor Bill Lawson will speak at 11:30 a.m. Friday in Room C-106 of Holmes Hall. The presentation is part of a Lyman Briggs School speaker series about environmental inequity.
On Tuesday, MSU's campus was the backdrop for a Sundance Channel series featuring the life of an MSU student. T.J.
Construction workers drilling on Dormitory Road near Snyder and Phillips halls hit a gas line at about noon on Tuesday, causing a gas leak that kept running for roughly five hours. "It just shoots out because it's forced gas," said Lt.
Aspiring MSU comedians gathered in the Union's Ohio State Room on Tuesday night, hoping to extract a chorus of belly laughs from a University Activities Board judging panel. The comedians were auditioning for a slot in the upcoming "Last Spartan Standing" competition, the MSU version of the "Last Comic Standing" NBC television series.
An identity theft workshop will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today in the third-floor conference room at the Nisbet Building, 1407 S.
On Wednesday, several MSU conservative political groups will have a chance to make an announcement - they are proud of their political affiliation. The opportunity is part of the first-ever National Conservative Coming Out Day, an event aimed at raising awareness about the conservative presence on college campuses. At MSU, informational tables and a mock closet for participants to come out of will be set up at the Brody Complex and Bessey Hall, as well as a possible location on East campus, political science and pre-law senior Luke Pelican said. "The purpose of this day isn't to go after anyone or have an aggressive agenda," Pelican said.
Members of ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government, feel that selling alcohol in the suite area of Spartan Stadium is unfair to students and gives more privilege to those who pay extra for season tickets. "It's ridiculous.
It is not uncommon for Niharika Joglekar to be the only female in her classes. It's this observation - among others - that has led the computer science and engineering senior to start a new group on campus called MSU Women in Computing. "Women don't feel as comfortable as they should in this male-dominated major," Joglekar said.
By Erica Richards Special to The State News The peaceful lawn of the Administration Building turned into a medieval battlefield Saturday afternoon - but fighters wore T-shirts and used weapons made of wood, leather and duct tape. A small group of students and instructors from the Aegis Sword Academy in Pinckney took turns fighting within a ring of green rope as part of a swordsmanship demonstration.
Student Parents on a Mission will have a welcome meeting from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday at the Spartan Child Development Center, located at 1730 Crescent Road. Free dinner and child care will be provided, and a children's craft activity will start at 7 p.m. The organization was founded in 1995 with the Family Resource Center to provide an environment for student parents to come together and learn about resources MSU provides for them, such as assistance in finding employment and financial aid.
In a unanimous decision during Friday's MSU Board of Trustees meeting, board members approved the sale of MSU's Merillat Equine Center, an 80-acre farm in Adrian that specializes in breeding. The farm was given as a gift to the university in 1996 by the Merillat family.