Thursday, January 1, 2026

Take a peek behind the curtain and test drive the NEW StateNews.com today!

Multimedia

MSU

MSU officials: Zipcar program a success

About five months after its implementation at MSU, campus officials said the Zipcar program has been successful. Jennifer Battle, assistant director of campus sustainability, said the car sharing program — originally launched in January through a partnership with Cambridge, Mass., company Zipcar — has been well-received among MSU students and faculty. “I would generally say we’re on a successful track,” she said.

NEWS

MSU among leaders in giving

Among the nation’s wealthiest schools, MSU stands out in terms of some aspects of the financial aid they distribute. MSU specifically ranks high in terms of the amount of Pell Grants they distribute to undergraduate students, according to recent data from the Department of Education.

Rachel Jackson ·
NEWS

New students first experience life at MSU

A number of incoming freshmen began their introduction to campus on Monday, when the MSU Academic Orientation Program, or AOP, kicked off its first session of the summer. AOP started in the early 1900s and helped incoming freshmen and transfer students with the transition to life in East Lansing.

NEWS

Council to discuss green initiatives

The East Lansing City Council is scheduled to discuss possible infrastructure changes that would shift the city in a green direction and encourage residents to do the same. The council likely will discuss updates to a city climate sustainability plan at their work session tonight at 7 p.m.

NEWS

Libyan VIPP aid to cease June 30

Libyan student members of the MSU Visiting International Professional Program will receive aid from the university until June 30, university spokesman Kent Cassella said. MSU will continue to provide temporary housing and food assistance to 20 Visiting International Professional Program, or VIPP, participants and their dependents for about two weeks after their academic program is scheduled to end, Cassella said.

NEWS

Pump breaks in Breslin Center

An ejector pump overheated at about 5 p.m. Monday in the mezzanine level of Breslin Center, East Lansing fire Deputy Chief Patrick Nakfoor said. An ejector pump drains water and waste from buildings.

NEWS

Summer classes begin at Hannah Community Center

Before Laura Wise became a yoga and Pilates class instructor at Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road, she took fitness classes there herself. Wise said a good thing about the center is someone can try a class for six weeks without having to join an official gym, and the center is good at accommodating schedules.

COMMENTARY

East Lansing City Manager: ‘A little personal initiative would help’

I am writing in response to Opinion Editor David Barker’s column A little diversity would help (SN 6/6). His column essentially states there is nothing to do in East Lansing but go to the bars and drink, when, in fact, there are thousands of things to do here for all ages — from students to young professionals to families to seniors and everyone in between. It all depends on an individual’s interests and, most importantly, his or her personal initiative.

COMMENTARY

Why advisers play it safe

The summer Academic Orientation Program, or AOP, kicked off this week, and one of my good friends is working as a full-time staff member. In addition to his duties as presenter and tour guide — for which, apparently, the training truly is Spartan — he’ll be helping new freshmen navigate the online schedule builder to sign up for their classes.

NEWS

School's Out?

Located just off Harrison Road near a remote southwest corner of the MSU campus — far from the day-to-day bustle of the dorms, accompanied only by the occasional rumble from a nearby set of train tracks — Red Cedar Elementary has ties that run deep with the student body here.

NEWS

Stabenow, MSU Democrats call for more alternative fuel options

With a shiny new Chevy Volt charging next to her, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., spoke at an East Lansing gas station Friday, calling for more alternative fuel options as gas prices linger around $4 per gallon in the Lansing area. Stabenow gave a press conference at the family-owned H&H Mobil station, 1500 Haslett Road — the first service station in Michigan to install an electric-car charging station — lambasting major oil companies and calling for an end to taxpayer subsidies for the industry.

NEWS

MADD recognize E.L., MSU police officers

For East Lansing police Officer Dean Kelley, seeing the damage drunken driving can cause firsthand is a reminder to remain vigilant as he patrols the city streets. “Anytime you work one accident scene where someone (has) been killed by a drunken driver, it sticks with you,” Kelley said.

Britteny Dee ·
NEWS

Lansing hosts weekend of LGBT pride

For Battle Creek, Mich., residents Angela Sisk and Patti Gazette, marriage is not an option, which is why they traveled to Lansing this past weekend. They were one of many same-sex couples to participate in the commitment ceremony held on the steps of the Capitol Saturday.

NEWS

Program lets parents prepay for college credits

For some students, as the years spent at MSU pile up, so does the mountain of debt stemming from tuition costs. However, helping students and their families manage that debt is something the Michigan Education Trust, or MET, program has been doing for 23 years.