Wednesday, January 14, 2026

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NEWS

Students can vote in E.L.

Students living in East Lansing for most of the year can vote here as well and have their voices heard.Julie Pierce, spokeswoman for the secretary of state, said students can easily become registered to vote in the Lansing area.“It is a very simple process,” she said.

NEWS

Workers finalize Trowbridge project

After a year of construction, the $4 million project to extend Trowbridge Road to Red Cedar Road is nearly complete. Project planners have opened a visitor center and added a traffic signal, but they forgot one thing - a chariot crossing sign. Decked out in a full Spartan costume, animal science Assistant Professor Brian Nielsen drove a chariot complete with two horses across the untouched pavement, becoming the first vehicle to officially drive down the extension. Nielsen’s ride was part of the road extension’s official opening Tuesday. “They wanted a fun vehicle to be the first, and there’s nothing more special in Spartyland than a chariot,” Nielsen said. The Trowbridge Road extension slices through the southern portion of campus between Stadium and Service roads. The extension links the road to Red Cedar Road, making travel to Farm Lane easier on drivers.

NEWS

Infiltration panel to report

The panel appointed to investigate MSU police’s infiltration of a registered student organization has compiled its findings. And they will be released Friday. Norman Abeles, a panel member and psychology professor, said he is satisfied with the results. “We tried to cover all of the important bases to the best of my knowledge, and I think we have come up with some reasonable answers,” he said. The results of the panel’s four-month investigation will go before MSU President M.

MSU

Officials urge students to combat meningitis

It was almost two years ago when thousands of students lined up in IM Sports-West, waiting to receive a free meningococcus vaccine. Music education sophomore Adam Busuttil had come down with the Y strain of bacterial meningitis that left him without portions of his fingers. Busuttil was given a clean bill of health in January. In 1997, MSU saw similar lines after two students died from the disease, a potentially fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. But after two years without a case of meningitis reported on campus, some people fear the need for a vaccination may not be taken as seriously. “It’s just human nature,” University Physician Beth Alexander said.

NEWS

$11 million Shaw Hall renovation continues

After three years of residence hall living, Nick Gordon packed up his single room in Shaw Hall and moved off campus.But he wasn’t happy about it.“The dorms really appeal to me,” the general business and pre-law senior said.

NEWS

Pucker Up

Contrary to the jokes and stereotypes many believe describe men and women’s inability to understand each other, there is at least one thing they have in common.They both love to kiss.It’s just that women really, really, really love kissing - a lot.There are hundreds of Internet sites that mention kissing, and dozens of Web-based surveys on the subject.And many of these surveys suggest most women consider the activity more intimate than having sex.“Kissing is more intimate than a hug and more personal than sex,,” Lyman Briggs sophomore Rebecca Jurrens said.

NEWS

Fans waver between gridder teammates for starting position

The MSU quarterback controversy between sophomore Jeff Smoker and senior Ryan Van Dyke has been an overplayed saga throughout the summer, Van Dyke said.“I think people try to blow it up more than it is and really we’re just going to both do whatever it takes to help the team win,” he said.

NEWS

International students have unique experience adjusting to college life

I’ve truly lived an international life.Born in Rome, spent most of my toddler years in my home country of Nigeria, most of my mischievous childhood in Canada, went through my teenage years in Kenya, then moved back to Nigeria as a “mature adult,” and I use that term loosely.You may think it’s not that hard for me to adjust to different cultures, but admittedly, it took me awhile to get used to college life in the United States.Sure, the majority of freshmen don’t exactly have an easy first few weeks, but for the international students lucky enough to have the opportunity to study in the United States, it’s a lot harder.Don’t get me started on the months it takes your admission letter and housing contract to reach your hometown.

NEWS

CATA buses take U for a ride

On a large campus with minimal parking, students can have a hard time getting around. Whether on bikes, Rollerblades or even on foot, with the fall comes a flurry of students rushing from building to building. And when the all-too-familiar Michigan winter rolls around, even the most sturdy Michiganian needs a warmer way to get to class. That’s when all kinds of students flock to the Capital Area Transportation Authority bus system, riding the bus becomes a necessity for students in a hurry who don’t want to pay to park around campus. “In the past few years, ridership has increased from 800,000 to 125 million,” said Kathy Lindahl, MSU’s assistant vice president for finance and operations.

NEWS

Hockey to start regular season with Cold War

It’s only August, but area hockey fans can already start planning out their winter months.The Spartan hockey team’s 2001-02 season schedule was released mid-July and is highlighted by the team’s Oct.

NEWS

Sights set high for spikers

The MSU volleyball team has its eyes on winning the 2001 Big Ten championship and disproving the league coaches who picked the Spartans to finish fifth in the conference in preseason rankings.This year’s squad, led by co-captains Lisa Ashton, a senior, and sophomore Nikki Colson, wants to avenge last year’s second-round NCAA Tournament loss to UCLA with a mix of experience and young talent.“We have the physical talent (to win the Big Ten),” head coach Chuck Erbe said.

NEWS

Faster technology changes how students are taught

In 1966, the Mathatron calculator helped students solve problems involving decimals, square roots and even power-of-10 exponents for the price of $5,000. Although the desktop-sized calculator exists mostly in museums and mathematicians’ basements, it was a step toward modern education, where being a student requires computer savvy and availability. “I think technology is changing education,” said William Junkin, a physics professor and dean of Learning and Technology at South Carolina’s Erskine College.

NEWS

Track star named All-American

MSU senior decathlete Paul Terek earned the All-American tag for his efforts at the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Men’s Track and Field Championships in May in Eugene, Ore.Terek’s first-place performance in the decathlon pole vault and his third-place finish in the 1,500-meter run helped him earn fourth overall at the competition, with 7,645 points.The MSU co-captain, who also competed in the pole vault, stood in eighth place following day one of the decathlon.

NEWS

Local Flavor

Part of the experience of college is seeing really good bands for free, or at least for less than $5.

NEWS

Welcome back

Welcome freshmen and welcome back veterans to MSU. Welcome, most of all, to The State News. This editorial is geared toward incoming freshmen but some returning students would do well to get a clue also.

NEWS

State teachers receive new laptop computers

Several East Lansing teachers gathered Thursday afternoon for something that resembled Christmas coming early - just a little more high-tech than the Christian holiday.As part of a new state program, Michigan teachers are able to sign up to receive new laptops from the state for use in their classrooms and homes.Several East Lansing elementary teachers received their new computers Thursday, along with a training session on how to use them.The teachers all opened their bags at the same time, littering the desk with plastic bags and cardboard.

NEWS

Company gives millions in software

Tim Rechtien has just more than a month before he moves to Chicago and begins his new job designing power plants.But if the spring mechanical engineering graduate had worked with the $60.7 million worth of software recently donated to the College of Engineering, he said he’s not sure he would have that job.The software - the largest noncash donation in MSU’s history - came from Ann Arbor-based Mechanical Dynamics Inc., and includes support, training and unlimited site licenses for the Automatic Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems software.“If I’d been trained in it, I might have done something different,” Rechtien said.

MSU

Few know: Culture available at Union

At the Union, students can do more than just bowl or check their e-mail in the computer lab.Students can get some culture.The Multicultural Center, located in the Union’s basement, is the home of many minority students and groups.Maggie Chen Hernandez, the center’s coordinator, said there are resources for students to learn or to just hang out and read.“Just by stopping by there, students get to learn and meet people,” she said.

MSU

Bikes left behind can get U around

Students might notice them sitting locked up next to buildings and fences on campus.Rust might have started to cover the bars, a wheel might be bent or a flat tire might be hugging the ground.These are the bikes that get left behind by students.