So here I am, writing this on the last day of my time here at The State News, the last minutes before the deadline hits, and it hits me. I am no longer going to be a student at MSU.
In the golden age of the 1970s, singer/songwriter Luther Ingram said "If loving you is wrong, then I don't want to be right." Jeff Byrd's "King's Ransom" will receive no love.
Some people run marathons or sell pizzas to raise money for a good cause, but prenursing freshman Rene Rodriguez seized the chance to jump out of a plane. Rodriguez is participating in Operation Freefall, a national program to raise awareness about sexual assault. The program raises money for two national organizations created to raise awareness about sexual assaults: Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network and Speaking Out About Rape. "Sexual assault is one of the most common things that goes unreported," Rodriguez said. Without clear awareness and resources out there, sexual assault victims will not get the help they need, she said. More than 250 people across the nation will be jumping out of planes for Operation Freefall on Saturday, said Kellie Greene, the founder of Speaking Out About Rape. She said she came up with the event as a way to reclaim a day that had become marked by her own tragedy. It falls on the anniversary of the day she was raped and it takes something extreme like skydiving to counteract the consequences, she said. "It's no longer the day I was raped, it's the day I went skydiving," Greene said. Issues surrounding sexual assault need attention and a bold statement is made by skydiving, Greene said. "When people are throwing themselves out of a perfectly good airplane, people are going to take notice and say 'Wow they must really believe in what they're doing,'" she said. Even though she is afraid of heights, Rodriguez said she wanted to do something to help. She heard about the event through Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention, an MSU sexual assault awareness group, and decided to create a Web site asking her friends and family for help in raising money, she said.
With story-telling, people-molding and ad-libbing games, the student group Your Mom Improv is shaking students out of the study doldrums this weekend. Your Mom Improv has three shows this weekend, but each night has a different layout of games, and culminates with a roast of three senior members on Sunday. "Improv is about coming and seeing something new," said Phil VanWagoner, a telecommunication, information studies and media senior.
During the past semester, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon has traveled across the country delivering speeches, attending meetings and promoting MSU. The traveling and the external events she attends have been among the biggest adjustments for the former provost who now is MSU's 20th president.
The university opened its arms to a group of potential future Spartans on Thursday as more than 100 employees brought their children to the annual "Take Your Child to Work Day." The day's activities included tours, informational displays and a ceremony where the children got to meet Sparty and receive a certificate of completion.
Fourteen teams of students from electrical and computer engineering senior design classes displayed posters and prototypes of their projects in the International Center on Thursday for Design Day 2005.
Today's MSU baseball game against Michigan at Oldsmobile Park in Lansing at 7 p.m. will feature a "Study Break Special" at $1 for MSU students, faculty and staff with an MSU identification. In addition, MSU men's basketball players Tim Bograkos and Andy Harvey will throw out the first pitch. The Spartans are coming off a 9-8 comeback win against Central Michigan on Wednesday.
Video games have reached phenomenal acclaim - mostly among adolescents and teens - and widespread acceptance in the U.S.
From the triumphs of titles to the heartaches of defeats, MSU sports teams rewrote history, hung various banners and gave fans countless memories.
Tyler Whitney sat at attention listening to gubernatorial candidate state Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, R-Kalamazoo, talk about the need for tax re-structuring and pro-life policies in Michigan on Thursday.
The ice has melted, the grass is green and Michigan's motorcyclists are revving up and riding their bikes out of hibernation. More than 30 motorcyclists and about 20 other Michigan residents gathered behind the Capitol on Thursday to celebrate May as "Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month." Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and some of the state's top trainers spoke about the importance of all drivers working together to keep each other safe.
By Krista Reaves Special for The State News Many East Lansing area restaurants are following the nationwide trend of adding healthier selections to their menus, and students are taking advantage of these low-carbohydrate, low-calorie and low-fat options. Norman Hord, an associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, said the offering of healthier choices at restaurants is "a step in the right direction." He suggested trying local restaurants that serve Mediterranean foods such as Woody's Oasis or any Chinese, Japanese or Korean restaurants. Woody's Oasis Bar and Grill, 211 E.
T.J. Leyden, a reformed neo-Nazi skinhead activist and recruiter, will speak at noon May 5 in the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety Community room. The presentation, for police, students and staff of MSU, "Turning Away From Hate," is about the neo-Nazi skinhead culture and the nature of hate. Leyden has spoken at more than 100 high schools, and to various military groups, including the Pentagon.
On top of a hill in Lansing's Potter Park there is a small area cleared with a few small, young trees.
I was pretty wary about writing in response to Scott Cendrowski's "Students should look to past protesters for ideas on causing change" (SN 4/28). I was hesitant because I honestly couldn't tell if the article was satire or not.
Imagine parents putting in the movie "Titanic" to entertain a young child while they go off to do work around the house.
The No. 21 MSU men's golf team hopes to conclude its regular season the way it started it - on a winning note. MSU head coach Mark Hankins credits much of the team's success to his five starters. Seniors Jimmy Chestnut, Andrew Ruthkoski, sophomores Mitch Pierce and Matt Harmon and freshman Ryan Brehm are the Spartans' starters that have been able to come through shooting low numbers this season, Hankins said. "I think in the past we've had two, three, maybe four guys, but we actually have all five guys that can really shoot a good number and when you have that it really makes you a dangerous team," he said.
In the annals of MSU history, Fall 2004 to Spring 2005 will go down as a bad school year for the students, university and city. During that time, this Opinion Page has tackled an assortment of unsavory relationship issues. The school year began with an uneasy shakeup of the liberal arts college, and faculty in arms about not being a part of the decision.
Protect and serve whom? The MSU students who make up the majority of the population in East Lansing?