Imagine you're the director of public relations for a professional sports franchise. Your team has just lost its star player to free agency.
The third provost candidate to visit campus might soon be able to sing the MSU fight song - in five different languages. Uday Sukhatme, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo, can speak Italian, French, two Indian languages and English.
Juan Ibanes was searching for subleasing opportunities last week on the message board www.allMSU.com, a free online forum for MSU students to share housing options, professor ratings and other information. Sifting through hundreds of postings with ambiguous titles such as "CHEAP SUBLEASE!!!" and "cute house for the summer!," Ibanes said he became increasingly frustrated. "There was about 40 every hour that keep getting added on all the time," the telecommunication, information studies and media junior said.
Derek Wallbank, College of Communication Arts & Sciences representative for ASMSU, believes there are options other than alcohol for students during the Welcome Week celebrations at the beginning of each school year. Welcome Week is the first few days before classes begin, when freshmen have the opportunity to become used to the college lifestyle. "Some people have weird ideas of what happens in college," Wallbank said.
Joe Greiner's Friday wasn't starting out as easily as he would have liked. A power drill he was using completely failed to bite into the painted screw heads of the loft he was tearing down. "Are they keeping this one?" said Greiner, a food industry management junior.
Six MSU students in a management class toured a Lansing company Friday afternoon for insight into the business world. The class field trip to the international headquarters of Two Men and a Truck, 3400 Belle Chase Way in Lansing, gave the students a firsthand account about how corporations train their employees, said Garth Motschenbacher, the class instructor and an academic advisor in the College of Engineering. The out-of-classroom opportunity, he said, allowed students to see a local example of a company that has developed an entire on-site training facility for its personnel. The company, which was formed in 1985 in Lansing, by Mary Ellen Sheets, has grown into 152 franchise locations in 27 states. Marketing senior Kate Padden said she wanted to learn more about the process of turning a small business into a franchise. "I'm interested in entrepreneurship," Padden said.
Members of the Graduate Employees Union moved one step closer to striking last week by unanimously approving a strike platform. The strike platform is a statement of the issues members will not give up on in negotiations with the university for a new contract.
MSU's undergraduate student government chose leaders Thursday, with some controversy about who is the best person for the job. ASMSU selected its only candidate for the student funding board vice chairperson, and after three votes, made a decision for the leader of the student programming board, which will be for the entire 2005-06 school year. English junior Brandon Hicks was the sole candidate for the Student Funding ballot and was unanimously voted vice chairperson.
Every year, about 1,500 bicycles are abandoned on campus. These bikes are picked up by the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety after students leave to go home.
A mini British invasion swept through campus on Saturday as mtvU's Campus Invasion 2005 Tour made a stop at Breslin Center with performances by London-based bands Razorlight and Muse.
The smells of ocean rain and cactus flower and the sounds of a trickling forest stream drifted through the International Center on Saturday as students relieved the stress of finals preparation. Dozens of students braved the chill outside to attend the "Chill at the I.C." inside, a University Activities Board-sponsored event that featured free massages, yoga lessons, Pilates and other tension relievers. UAB communications officer and advertising sophomore Tiffany Weber said the event was part of the group's extended "Just Chill Weekend," which included a craft night, open-mic night and free ice skating at Munn Ice Arena. "It seemed appropriate with finals coming up to have just a whole week of relaxation," Weber said. At the event, students also could enjoy free ice cream cones, paint their nails, create their own massage oils or play a quiet game of Yahtzee or Guess Who. The featured speaker for the night was social work graduate student Beth Krenek, who discussed ways students could cope with the multitude of exams, term papers and lab reports. Krenek said the average person has more than 50,000 thoughts a day, which can often overwhelm and frustrate them to the point where they shut down and stop focusing on each individually. "A lot of times, when we have something to do, we waste time worrying about the thing instead of just doing it," Krenek said.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, insurance lawyer Shereef Akeel said more Muslim clients from Iraq who were discriminated against came to him for legal help.
Several scholarships will be awarded to students at the 21st annual Awards and Appreciation Reception today from 2 p.m.
Guitarists of the world unite. Members of the MSU Guitar Club descended on the Union on Thursday as part of the University Activities Board's Noontimes performance. During the event, zoology senior and club member Ivan Orlic played some songs from his native Peru, as well as songs such as REM's "Losing My Religion." Orlic, who started playing classical guitar while growing up in Lima, Peru, said the instrument helped him make friends when he came to the United States to study at MSU. "I meet anyone who is playing a guitar," Orlic said.
Professor honored for teaching skills Richard Zinman, a university distinguished professor in James Madison College and the Department of Political Science, is this year's recipient of the seventh annual Honors College Award for Distinguished Contributions to Honors Students.
The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory will host its first open house on Saturday. The event is from 1 p.m.
With signs to reduce, reuse and recycle, members of campus environmental groups said they will try to remind students of some things they might have forgotten from elementary school. Both the Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment, or RISE, and Eco will join forces at the rock on Farm Lane today to celebrate Earth Day. "Every day is Earth Day, but it is important to have an Earth Day to remind people who might be too busy to think about it," said zoology senior Sowkya Rangarajan, who is a member of RISE and Eco. Members will collect petition signatures today for a comprehensive recycling program at MSU and inform students of ways they can be more Earth-friendly. Members also stood on campus Wednesday and Thursday and said they received a good response from many people who checked out their information. The campus needs a facility to sort and bail recycled material, rather than having to pay to send it off campus, Rangarajan said.
Brian Foster is a first-generation college student who believes education needs to be accessible, especially at a land-grant institution.
A century ago, little was known about the world of physics. In 1905, Albert Einstein changed the way people viewed the science of matter and energy when he published five papers challenging previous scientific thought.
MSU physicists recently completed an experiment that would enable scientists to learn more about the origins of chemical elements. Findings from the experiment, which recreated an isotope of nickel, were presented earlier this week at a meeting of the American Physical Society in Tampa, Fla. "A lot of people have tried to do this experiment, and we're the only ones who have finally succeeded," said Hendrik Schatz, an associate professor of physics.