Tuesday, May 26, 2026

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

Multimedia

SPORTS

Spartans fans to get season tickets outside of Izzone

Izzoned out? Now there's a place for you. A section of upper bowl seats will be set aside this year for students who want season tickets for men's basketball but aren't interested in the Izzone student section. "It will be a reserved section - reserved in more ways than one, I guess," senior associate athletics director Mark Hollis said. The new section will give students another seating option but won't change the way the Izzone is run, Hollis said. "The Izzone is our student section and that's something we want to support for the long term," Hollis said.

COMMENTARY

Talk to me

Human-to-human interaction is becoming less cool. The Internet continues to expand and immensely popular social tools, such as MySpace, have become substitutes for actual relationships between people.

VOLLEYBALL

Defense big part of victories

It didn't take long for volleyball head coach Cathy George to get her first win at home - it came Saturday in a sweep against Kent State. But after this weekend, it'll be awhile before the Spartans come back to Jenison Field House.

NEWS

Freshmen rebellion fills tattoo parlor, over 18-dance club

Chris King's approach to bartending is like one of the mixed drinks he hands out to eager customers. It's one-third pouring tasty tonics, one-third chatting up the ladies at the counter and one-third bouncing to the hip-hop tracks bursting from the DJ stand. But the 24-year-old Lansing barkeep's greatest secret isn't his signature drink, the Panty Dropper - a mix of sour apple and watermelon Schnapps, Bacardi 151 and raspberry vodka.

NEWS

Grand River rising

Piles of brick and a construction excavator mark the site of a new four-story apartment and retail building slated for the intersection at Bailey Street and Grand River Avenue. The former home of Sidestreets Deli, Murasaki Restaurant and most recently Peking Express, now at 611 E.

MSU

Events recruit mix of minorities

Several minority student groups on campus are seeking new members in freshmen and returning students through informational receptions, which are currently being held. The receptions are a way for interested students and returning members to become acquainted with the organizations, and members say the gatherings are successful recruitment tools. On Sunday, the Office of Racial Ethnic Student Affairs held an open house in the courtyard behind Student Services as its introductory reception. Several university and office officials were on hand for students to meet. Tammye Coles, coordinator for the Black Student Alliance, or BSA, was at the event and said the connections made at these receptions are important. "There has been work done showing (that) students who are, in some way, connected to campus are more likely to seek information or assistance via a professor or student organizations," Coles said.

NEWS

Local terrorist activity suspected

Some political groups that have operated on campus were "involved in terrorist activities" according to an FBI document released by the American Civil Liberties Union on Monday. Three groups, the East Lansing Animal Rights Movement, Direct Action and BAMN, or The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary, were all referred to in the document called "Domestic Terrorism Symposium." The ACLU obtained it through a Freedom of Information Act request. "Nothing that Direct Action has ever done has been violent," said Direct Action member Tommy Simon, an English and social relations junior.

NEWS

Kite Runner 'surpassed hopes'

Khaled Hosseini describes the writing of his book, "The Kite Runner," as an "act of resurrecting the dead." The Afghan doctor and author used his own childhood experiences of growing up in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, to craft the novel, which chronicles the life of an Afghan boy alongside the history and politics of his country. The best-selling book is being used in the One Book, One Community program, which urges MSU freshman and East Lansing residents to read the book and then discuss it at various events throughout August and September. Hosseini was born in Kabul in 1965, but moved to France in 1976 after his diplomat father was assigned to the Afghan embassy in Paris.

MICHIGAN

MSU helps Sparrow find pediatrician

MSU and Lansing's Sparrow Hospital have formed a partnership to bring in a pediatric hospitalist, a new addition that will improve care for children with serious illness and disease in Michigan, Sparrow officials said. A hospitalist is a doctor who practices exclusively with the hospital, Sparrow spokesman John Lux said.

COMMENTARY

Backup plan

Say, for whatever reason, a contraceptive failed. Then what? Time for Plan B. The Plan B pill, also known as the morning-after pill, is an increased dosage of birth control, which will reduce the chance of pregnancy by as much as 89 percent if taken within 72 hours of intercourse. In 1999 The Food and Drug Administration approved prescription use of the drug.

MSU

Value of 'One Book' event examined

The idea of MSU's "One Book, One Community" requires freshmen to read one book to unite the students and East Lansing residents by having a common interest, but some professors and students differ on the value of the annual program. This year's book assignment, Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner," is mandatory for all freshmen and encourages East Lansing residents to participate in book-related events from Aug.

FOOTBALL

Senior poised for return

The swagger is finally back for Ashton Watson. After a trying first three years, the senior cornerback has finally regained his confidence and the results have shown on the field. He is expected to be starting at left cornerback when MSU opens its season Saturday against Kent State. "I'm stronger mentally," Watson said.

NEWS

Welcome home

East Lansing quickly became alive this weekend as an influx of nearly 50,000 students moved back into town.