Monday, January 12, 2026

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FEATURES

Student play a must-see

Quirky characters and body parts in the freezer make “Betty’s Summer Vacation” a good choice for entertainment of a different breed this weekend. The show, presented by a student production team of MSU’s Department of Theatre, is a humorous thriller with a variety of eccentric people involved, including a serial killer, a flasher and a sex manic. Director Khalid Bhatti, a theater sophomore, said the characters in the play are a bunch of oddballs vacationing in a beach house owned by a bizarre landlady.

FEATURES

Check out Studiotone at Ricks

Lansing band Studiotone has been going through some changes lately. “We’ve basically been working on breaking in our two new members, Jeff (Graham, guitarist) and (bass player and physiology junior) Brock (Elsesser) and working on new tracks,” vocalist Brent Nuffer said.

COMMENTARY

Rodeos do nothing but hurt animals

I was very disappointed to see The State News paint such a positive portrait of the Spartan Stampede (“Rough riders,” SN 2/15). The article did nothing to address the horrifying reality of a rodeo. The abuse these animals are forced to endure is criminal.

ICE HOCKEY

Future Spartans discuss Siberia; tiebreaker favors U-M

MSU recruit Corey Potter, upon returning from Siberia, both verified and discredited the mental image most Americans have about the frosty central Russian region. “It was really cold, but it wasn’t that bad,” said Potter, who signed a National Letter of Intent with MSU in November.

MSU

U hosts civil rights leader

Although Dorothy Cotton is not as well known as some of her male counterparts, George Rowan can’t wait to hear the civil rights leader speak on campus today.

NEWS

Graduate students question parking

After hearing their parking spaces on central campus might be threatened, more than 60 graduate students expressed concerns to parking officials Wednesday night at a Council of Graduate Students meeting. The All-University Traffic Committee is considering a recommendation to move graduate student parking from areas such as the intersection of Farm and Shaw lanes to outlying campus areas, such as Farm Lane and Mount Hope Road. That move would be part of recommendations made by committee members in response to a request by university officials to increase green space on campus as part of the 2020 Vision plan, MSU’s 20-year campus master plan. Traffic committee members plan to base recommendations on concerns of faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students. “Twenty years from now the goal is that central campus will be dedicated much more to academic mission and green space,” said MSU police Deputy Chief Mike Rice, who also is a member of the traffic committee.

MSU

Clouds have U down in dumps

When snowy winters approach, Heather Gibbons tries to stay happy - but it doesn’t always work.“When it’s really snowy, I get depressed because it seems like it’s never going to stop,” the family community services junior said.

MSU

RHA Web site returns

Campus residents won’t have to look any farther than their computer screen to see what their Residence Halls Association representatives are working on. RHA’s Web site is operating again after its server crashed during winter break.

MICHIGAN

Businesses weigh pros, cons of filing taxes online, by hand

As April 15 nears, businesses as well as individuals are examining the options they have for filing their tax returns.For businesses, the questions often outweigh the normal individual decision of a computer program or filing by hand.Larger businesses are required to file electronically, oftentimes prepared by a professional accountant, Internal Revenue Service spokeswoman Sarah Wreford said.“If you send in a paper return, we have to hire individuals to input the data,” she said.

NEWS

Spartan defense fails against Hawkeyes

The women’s basketball team was caught out of its element Wednesday night against Iowa. The Spartans (15-11 overall, 5-10 Big Ten), a defensive-minded team, attempted to run with the Hawkeyes (16-9, 9-6), which resulted in a 69-59 loss. MSU had been holding its opponents to 60.6 points per game, the second best in the Big Ten. “We gave up a lot of points in the first half - far too many for our defense,” MSU head coach Joanne P.

COMMENTARY

ASMSU correct to fund speakers visit

The State News editorial on David Horowitz (“Why him?” SN 2/19) said, “MSU’s undergraduate student government should better define its criteria for footing the bills that help bring public speakers to campus.” The fact is, ASMSU does have a clear set policy for allocating funds to bring speakers to the university.

MSU

Picket held to quicken GEU negotiations

After picketing for five hours, Jessica Goodkind and her sign needed a break.Both of them looked tired.Goodkind, president of MSU’s Graduate Employees Union, had been marching since 7:30 a.m.

FEATURES

Album satisfies craving for solid musicianship

As with any trend in music, there are going to be leaders and followers. For emo (short for emotional) rock, the leaders are bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate and the somewhat late-comers, the Get Up Kids. Many bands try to follow the lead of these greats, but come up short. But local group Ettison Clio clearly leads as the best example of this genre to come out of East Lansing in quite a while. The band consists of interdisciplinary humanities junior Stephanie Gunther (vocals), telecommunication junior J.P.