Sunday, January 4, 2026

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NEWS

Design for E.L. center surpasses older plan

East Lansing officials said revisions on the plans for the East Lansing City Center II project - slated for the corner of Abbott Road and Grand River Avenue - will be released later this week. Planning and Community Development Director Jim van Ravensway said that is when the changes will be presented to him from developers. "It's still in its very preliminary phase.

NEWS

Grad enters 'Ultimate Fighter' competition

By J. Ryan Mulcrone The State News Shirley Evans is watching the second season of the sports reality series "The Ultimate Fighter," which began on Monday, with great interest. Evans' son, Rashad, a Lansing resident and MSU graduate will be featured on the Spike TV series this year.

COMMENTARY

Tragic ritual

Sometimes there's a fine line between fun and foolishness - other times, there's no question that an incident should have never happened.

COMMENTARY

Affirmative action promotes racism

I'm writing in response to Ross Hammersley's letter on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative while also responding to all other articles printed about race/gender affirmative action ("Initiative is a step back for equality" SN 8/15). I am in total agreement that the treatment of African Americans in this country throughout history has been unfair and disheartening.

COMMENTARY

Student money is misused by MSU

Here we are nearing the start of a new semester at MSU. Recently there has been grumbling by the administration at MSU that tuition needs to be raised again because the state does not provide enough funds to run the university.

FEATURES

Grad enters 'Ultimate Fighter' competition

Shirley Evans is watching the second season of the sports reality series "The Ultimate Fighter," which began on Monday, with great interest. Evans' son, Rashad, a Lansing resident and MSU graduate will be featured on the Spike TV series this year.

MICHIGAN

'Alien' author tours U.S. in motor home

Robert Farrell believes we're not alone in the universe. In his book, "Alien Log," Farrell said he relates his theories to the reader through a fictional story. "One day, I came to the realization that there was other life in the galaxy," Farrell said.

COMMENTARY

Student view

The city of East Lansing is a divided city - half is students and the other half residents. Cliché as this might be, many problems result from this simple fact.

NEWS

Harvesting millions

David Morris sat behind a worn card table piled with papers, magazines and photo albums as he recalled exact years in his life. In 1945, he received his aviation license. Poultry was raised on his Grand Ledge farm until 1958. And this year, at MSU's Ag Expo, Morris announced that more than $7.5 million from his estate would go into endowment funds for future MSU agricultural-based research upon his death. "I can't take any of it with me," Morris said.

COMMENTARY

Initiative is a step back for equality

I must take issue with columnist John Knowles' characterization of affirmative action as "offensive," and the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, or MCRI, as an "inevitable impending victory for justice" (SN 8/11). As we all know, for roughly 400 years, Europeans uprooted and enslaved Africans by bringing them to the colonies and eventually portions of the United States, forcing them into atrocious conditions and attempting to instill in them an attitude of racial inferiority.

NEWS

MSU officials: Police 'breached trust'

Police actions on the night of April 2-3 were unnecessarily forceful and likely increased student distrust, MSU administrator Lee June told the independent commission looking into the disturbances. On Friday, the commission heard testimony from Vice President for Student Affairs and Services June and eight of his colleagues, who gave their firsthand accounts of the events they witnessed after the men's basketball team's loss to the University of North Carolina. The nine colleagues were part of a group of about 15 university officials who took to the streets of East Lansing on April 2 to observe student reaction to the loss. "There was nothing that I would qualify as disruptive or violent behavior," said Cathy Neuman, assistant director of Student Life at MSU, who was downtown near the corner of Albert and M.A.C.

MSU

Athlete to do community service, pay fine for DWI

An MSU football player was sentenced by the 54-B District Court on Friday morning to serve five days of community service and pay $738 in fines for driving while impaired. Aaron Alexander, a senior wide receiver, pleaded guilty to charges of driving while impaired and must now participate in a victim impact panel run by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Web site, a victim impact panel is a group of people who share stories about how impaired driving has affected their lives.

MSU

MSU students compete for oil jobs

Last week, seven MSU students had their business skills put to the test as they were eyed by oil company executives for potential jobs. They were some of only 46 students from across the country who were handpicked to participate in a weeklong program hosted by Shell Oil Company at the Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif. But the week at the exclusive resort was no vacation, said MSU chemical engineering senior Peter Klemm. The students took part in Shell's Gourami Business Challenge, in which they were split into teams and given a case study asking them to develop a five-year business plan for oil production on the fictitious island of Gourami.