New Panhellenic Council members announced

For the 2015 school year, nine new sorority women will assume positions on the Panhellenic Council for sororities.

Alpha Xi Delta sisters experience first time being bigs and littles

Leading up to the reveal, education senior and Alpha Xi Delta sorority member Alex Sekulovski  left clothing, handmade crafts and other goodies for her soon-to-be little sister. 

Two MSU students' documentaries honored in East Lansing Film Festival

http://elff.com Elizabeth DeCesare; Senior; HPS: History, philosophy and sociology of science (Lymann Briggs major) Took a senior seminar within the Lyman Briggs college and we had to create a film of our choice...something controversial sort of debunking it (or a thirty day project where you “lived the life” "I am honored. Being a part of that movie building experience and having someone watch your film and find some meaning out of it is great.” “Obviously social media is a huge part of our lives, but to let it take over our lives is where we have conflict." “This is a great opportunity to give students sort of this leg up in the East Lansing community. It’s so exciting that our student film was chosen and that they thought it was a new and upcoming topic that people would be interested in.” Her and three others and put into a group in the seminar Michelle Abraham...digital editor Ashley Staley...cinematographer Bartosz Gawarecki....MOF Director (Making of our Film) LB 492....Run by Dr. Luckie Had to submit the film to the festival as a requirement Took this class over the summer...found out in August or beginning of September On top of doing the experiment, we did a vlog everyday about what they were feeling and the impact of not using our social media and you can really see our progression which is really fascinating (not unbearable, to having really bad days where we need “you can really see the progression which is really fascinating because we go from being fine within the first couple of days, to having horrible days where we needed to contact other people. And how the impact of not At the end of the film we challenge people to put their phones away, go outside and do something “Obviously social media is a huge part of our lives, but to let it take over our lives is where we have conflict. I see people today who can’t sit at a dinner with their friends without checking their phone five times.” 15 days without social media...took us about 2.5 weeks to put it together Had to build a trailer for the film as well I thought that I got really lucky with my group...we worked together beautiful everyone brought together all of their knowledge to build this film into what it became. I used to do plays and musicals since I was young as I can remember. And that has always been a love of mine. Movies are something that that my family and me really enjoy and are captivated by. To be able to be a part of that movie building experience is great. Hoping to go to graduate and become a speech pathologist....maybe in recreational film. That would be really cool. Syazana Amirulmokminin; Senior; Media and information; Concentration in film, radio, TV also studying Anthropology as well My film is about race and identity...how people identify themselves like for Asian-Americans, whether they identify as Asian or American and how their family and the community has affected this 5-minutes, short documentary Spring semester...taking senior research methods class for anthropology so it was a 400 level class...have to do research paper and interview people and decided to do a documentary Entered into a lot film festivals...got rejected by a ton. Got accepted into the East Lansing Film Festival, the Made in Michigan Film Festival, and the Philadelphia Asian America Film Festival (sponsors are Comcast and HBO) "I've always been interested in photography, but I don't like taking still pictures. I wanted to do something more dynamic I guess." “It’s really weird for me because I have not been doing this for a long time. All of this kind of just fell into my lap.” I want to go into the film industry so it might help with that "For me, it's just about getting a feel for what the industry is like, specifically the what the culture of these film festivals is like. It feels awesome and overwhelming, but this opportunity inspires me to improve." Saw how people interacted with each other with different races and classes...born in Singapore, came to the US when she was 9 or 10 years old 

Face time with Shalee Blackmer, MSU student and travel blogger

By Meagan Beck mbeck@statenews.com At the age of 18, she traveled to Australia alone to stay with a foreign exchange student friend.  She created "The Michigan Bucket List" on her blog which has acquired more than 175,000 views.  Advertising junior Shalee Blackmer has a case of wanderlust and The State News talked to her about her blog, past adventures and what she has planned for the future.  The State News: When did you start your blog, "Shalee Wanders," and where did the idea come from? Shalee Blackmer: I started my blog on Feb of this year, 2014 after last October I joined a website called glypho and created a blog on how to go to NYC for New Years on a budget.

Students hit Dublin Square Irish Pub in their Halloween best

Gearing up for Halloween as anything from Paul Bunyan to a glamorous skeleton, Spartans took their spirit to Dublin Square Irish Pub   Wednesday night.

Good Eats: Experience fall to the fullest at local cider mills

In the midst of the fall season, students of MSU travel throughout Michigan in search of the best cider, doughnuts and fall activities. These are four of students' favorite cider mills.

Pi Kappa Alpha slaps the puck with Special Olympics team

bick - a lot of fundraisers happen through greek life but getting into the community is just as importantComing out and doing this, you get to see the direct effect.”It’s a cool experience to say you did something like thisIt’s something a lot of people don’t know about and whenever they do hearing people doing it, it’s coolgoudie - when we can expose people to persons with intellectual disabilities … maybe as they become leaders in the community they’ll be the ones who will go out and embrace these athletes and maybe hire some of them or work with them

Students, residents channel deceased lyricists at Dead Poets' Contest on Tuesday

Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Sylvia Plath and Tupac were just a few of the dead poets resurrected at Dublin Square on Tuesday night. Not literally of course, but through the Dead Poets’ Contest, which was hosted by the Old Town Poetry Series and the MSU Center for Poetry.

Cheap last-minute homemade costumes

By Ian Martin Not feeling the Halloween spirit this year?

17th Annual East Lansing Film Festival begins this weekend

Hitting the high notes

With seven distinct voices and one common bond, the MSU a cappella community has a long history of creating harmony.

Show your MSU and Halloween spirit with Spartan jack-o'-lanterns

By Meagan Beckmbeck@statenews.comAs Halloween draws near, carved pumpkins are lining the sidewalks and windows of houses in East Lansing.

Kellogg Center will host free screening for "America the Beautiful 3" at 7 p.m.

The Kellogg Center will be hosting the special event, “Sex Sells… But at What Cost? A Free Screening For America The Beautiful 3,” on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.

Friends for Inclusive Sport works to change the lives of special needs children

“She’s my miracle girl,” Mabel Menadier-Thomas said of her daughter, Caroline Thomas. Caroline was addicted to cocaine and alcohol at birth.

Serengetee representatives offer customizable clothing, give back to worldwide causes

While anxiously waiting for her latest online shopping order to arrive in the mail, spanish senior Skylar Taylor said she finds

Good eats sweet and sour: American Chinese restaurants in East Lansing

By Ian Martin ian.martin@statenews.com Panda House“This is my first time here.

MSU English Language Center teacher a contestant on Jeopardy this week

For 200, name a classic game show, that consists of three contestants and a series of trivia questions.

For MSU cycling guru, proper maintenance remains a constant lesson

TIM POTTER:MSU Bikes part of MSU Sustainability, this is Sustainability weekwhat MSU bikes is doing is every day of the week we’re in an diff residential neighborhood offering minor maintenancebrake, shifting, oil for chainsother things like offering my advice helping students with proper fit or talking with them where they ride or bike safety advceI try to make sure people are safe and help them with other issues while working on their bikelast year was first year we’re short staffed this fall so I do as much as I can on my ownI helped about 15 people yesterday with their bikeshopefully I can help even more students with their bikesa lot of times they don't know they need air or oil, I see them ride by and see their tires are soft so I suggest giving them air i can do the same things with bikes as doctorsseats to low, squeaky chains free - it’s a way to give back to community and introduce people to the concept of to maintaining their bikes eventually we may charge through wifi or something but right now it’s free so students should take advantage of itwithin 5 or 10 minutes i can help a bike with minor thigns but minor thigns can turn to major things if the bike has been neglectedit’s good to get it checked out before it falls apart because then it gets bicycling is a great way to get around, you’re not impacting environment at all.enjoy the speed of it and healthcontributes a lot to our whole mission of sustain for the campus and part of the reason w’ere part of sustainability for campus a lot of students don’t ride because it’s getting colder, can stay warmer because it’s exercising it’s not as big of an issue to ride in the cold as people may thinki like to encourage people to keep riding through bad weathergenerally freeVANDENBIL- It’s in a really convenient location I think with the halls over here,” Vandenbil and it's nice and only takes a few minutes out of your day and it lengthens the life of your bikeSITAR- I like riding my bike to class because it’s a lot quicker than walking

MSU anthropology professor dedicates career to studying organ trafficking

Human organ trafficking is not exactly the most frequently talked-about issue.

Graduate student has an entire room in Kresge Art Center for his art

For studio art graduate student Samuel Bennett, art isn’t a passion -- it’s an instinct.Bennett’s studio is blank walls plastered with artwork, floors covered in cutouts for collages, and chairs and shelves vanished beneath scraps of magazines and book covers.As a child, he was constantly drawing and creating and that continued as he grew older.Bennett came to MSU as an undergraduate student because he had lived in Michigan his whole life and wanted to be near his family while he studied.