Sunday, January 4, 2026

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SOFTBALL

Complete shutouts

The MSU softball team used two complete game shutouts from its starting pitchers to sweep a home doubleheader Sunday against Indiana. In the first game, junior Rachel Turney went the distance for the Spartans (27-11 overall, 6-0 Big Ten) and pushed her record to 12-5.

SPORTS

Front and center

The State News caught up with MSU senior cornerback Demond Williams, who MSU head coach John L. Smith said has been emerging as a leader in spring football. • On how he has changed … "There's no secrets, just knowledge.

FOOTBALL

Secondary works to improve struggling image

In John L. Smith's three-year tenure as head coach of MSU football, it's been no question that the offense has dominated the program's ambitions. Players like senior quarterback Drew Stanton and sophomore running back Javon Ringer have soaked up the highlights while defensive players have been touted as the "team goats" by much of the public. In 2005 alone, the defense surrendered an average of 28.7 points per game and 5.8 yards per play while being the culprit of most passing offenses en route to a subpar 5-6 season which kept the Spartans out of a bowl game for the second straight year.

MICHIGAN

Smokin' win

By Danielle Grondin For The State News Despite chilly temperatures, MSU's men's Ultimate Frisbee team was on fire this past weekend.

COMMENTARY

Affirmative action promotes inequality

In response to Josh Jarman's column, "MCRI promises equality for all, but proposal won't eliminate racism" (SN 4/04), on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, or MCRI, I feel compelled to point out a few things. To begin, Jarman's piece starts off by saying that the problem with the language of the MCRI is that it "disregards centuries of abuse and discrimination against people of color and other minorities by an entrenched white establishment." I see.

SPORTS

Debacle receiving too much hoopla

The talking heads from the NBA's pregame shows and broadcast booths gathered on Sunday to discuss Ben Wallace's recent dispute with Pistons head coach Flip Saunders, in which Wallace refused to re-enter a game in the waning moments.

NEWS

Mixed identity

Pick the racial group that you fit into: white, black, Chicano, Latino, American Indian, Asian. For many students this is an easy question, but for some multiracial students at MSU, picking one can be a choice between pieces of their heritage. At MSU, 316 undergraduate students have identified themselves as multiracial this semester, according to admissions data from the Office of the Registrar.

COMMENTARY

Coming together

Students might have thought they knew the general racial makeup of dorms on MSU's campus. And as it turns out, they were right. There's been a lot of talk recently about segregation in MSU's residence halls. Most students will tell you Hubbard Hall is where the most black students live, Chicano and Latino students live in Akers Hall and McDonel Hall has the most international students.

COMMENTARY

Writer takes Conley way out of context

This letter is in response to Hunter Ignatoski's "All women's sports demeaned, trivialized" (SN 3/31). First off, I have to clarify that in no way am I saying women's sports are at all inferior to men's sports.

MICHIGAN

Congress to consider lake protection act

Help for the Great Lakes is making its way through U.S. Congress. The Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act, introduced by lawmakers Wednesday, could help clean up contaminated sediments and alleviate problems with invasive species and sewage overflows in the Great Lakes. The bipartisan act, cosponsored by Michigan Democrat Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow and Republican Congressman Vernon Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, is asking for more than $23 billion as part of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration recommendations, a planning process initiated by President Bush. "Invasive species are destructive to our ecosystem and create tremendous costs for communities and businesses throughout the region," Gov.

NEWS

MSU may follow suit, add diversity sessions to AOP

MSU officials are considering a mandatory diversity program as part of summer orientation for incoming freshmen, but other universities across the country already employ similar sessions in a variety of ways. The University of Michigan's freshman orientation lasts about two-and-a-half days, and diversity discussions begin at the first session and continue throughout the program, said Samuel Robinson, associate director of the Office of New Student Programs. In particular, a theater troupe performs skits on diversity and a variety of other campus issues and resources, Robinson said. "We've always had diversity as one of the core values of the program," he said.

MSU

Officials seek student input on smoking

University Housing officials are seeking more student input on smoking in residence halls by conducting a paper survey to be released Tuesday. Employees will be in residence hall cafeterias across campus during dinner, passing out the survey and using candy bars as an incentive for completing and turning it in on the spot. "That's our way of thanking them for participating," University Housing Director Angela Brown said. Students also will be able to pick up the survey at the front desk of residence halls until Friday. The survey will be on Scantron sheets, and students will be able to bubble in their answers.

NEWS

Broken wooden chairs, torn newspapers, about nine 40-oz. bottles of beer and bulletin board papers lay strewn about North Hubbard Hall's ninth floor late Thursday night, after a student employee was fired, police confirm. One bulletin board had been replaced by pornographic pictures and crude comments.