Saturday, April 18, 2026

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

Multimedia

FEATURES

Films chosen for Cannes festival

By CLAR NI CHONGHAILE The Associated Press PARIS - It promises to be deja vu all over again at Cannes, as directors long favored by the festival’s organizers tussle for the top prize, which many of them have won before. Organizers announced the official selection of films for this year on Thursday, calling up Cannes perennials like Joel and Ethan Coen, David Lynch and Japan’s Shohei Imamura. Among the 23 selected films are four films by American directors.

NEWS

Greeks unite for annual stepshow

The Auditorium was alive with the sound of loud music, clapping hands and fancy footwork Thursday night. A crowd of more than 1,000 cheered as members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council performed in its annual stepshow.

FEATURES

Artist brings solo act to Lansing

Brooks Williams admits he doesn’t know any of the rules when it comes to playing guitar - but in his opinion, that’s a mixed blessing. “It’s a great thing to actually know that since I don’t know any of the rules, then there’s no right or wrong way to go about it - it’s very free,” he said. Williams will perform at The Creole Gallery, 1218 Turner St.

COMMENTARY

Original messages were offensive

In Tuesday’s paper, Michonne L. Omo stated in her column that the students who had altered existing Campus Crusade for Christ sidewalk messages were inconsiderate and disrespectful by changing statements like “Jesus loves you” to “Jesus wants you” (“Message shouldn’t have been tampered with,” SN 4/17). However, the original CCC messages were as offensive to non-Christians as the altered ones were to Christians.

MICHIGAN

Local businesses, organizations prepare for Earth Day activities

When the first Earth Day was born April 22, 1970, Americans were slurping leaded gasoline through oversized sedans. Thirty-one years later, Americans are slurping unleaded gasoline through road-wide sport utility vehicles. While there have been improvements in the way people treat the environment, there’s still work to do, said Kyle Tisdel, a member of the East Lansing Commission on the Environment. “We’re taking some steps back in some areas, but I think it’s changing as well,” the international relations senior said.

COMMENTARY

Institution of marriage is for heterosexuals

I wonder how many readers of this column would object to the legal recognition of incestuous relationships, including states allowing a person to marry one of his/her first cousins or even a sibling. I do not refer to those relationships in which one person forces another to engage in sexual relations with a family member.

MSU

T-shirts outrage students

Protesters gathered in front of Bessey and Wells halls on Thursday to circulate petitions asking MSU to stand by its anti-discrimination policy. The demonstrators were upset about T-shirts that contained slogans they found offensive. The shirts, distributed as part of a Citibank credit card promotion, contained the words “Freshman girls, get ‘em while they’re skinny.” April Herndon, an American studies graduate student, teaches American Thought andLanguage 140, Women in America, in Bessey Hall, where one of the T-shirt stands was set up. “All week long my students and I had to walk up the stairs to get to our classroom past him,” she said.

SPORTS

Lugnuts look for big turnaround tonight

LANSING - The first few weeks of the season have not been kind to Julio Garcia. The Lansing Lugnuts’ manager has watched his team suffer through plagues of errors and impotent hitting and win only three of its first 12 games. Tonight, the Lugnuts will close their four-game series with the Dayton Dragons at Oldsmobile Park, still searching for some consistent play.

FEATURES

Ridiculous reality show goes bad

Welcome to the bizarre world of animal reality TV. The plot goes a little like this: This is the true story of too many animals picked to be in a segment, and have their human mishaps taped to find out what happens when they stop being polite and start being real - “When Good Pets Go Bad 2.” Some may call “When Good Pets Go Bad” low-quality television - and it is.

FEATURES

Weekend Guide

Friday: “Ladies First,” MSU’s all-women a cappella group, will perform its annual spring show.

NEWS

GEU gains collective bargaining power

The Graduate Employees Union gained collective bargaining power Friday afternoon, when graduate students voted in support of the newly formed labor organization.“We’ve worked really hard and we’re glad that everybody was really supportive,” said Chris Oliver, president of the union.The union, affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO, presented a petition to the Michigan Employment Relations commission on Feb.

MSU

Event awards outstanding diversity

Various MSU students, faculty, staff and departments were commended for their commitment to multiculturalism Thursday afternoon.Nearly 300 people filled the Kellogg Center Auditorium for the All-University Excellence in Diversity awards convocation.

FEATURES

Pasttimes offer enjoyment, relief from stress of school

It’s no secret that Americans are obsessed with playing games.The frenzy caused by gaming consoles such as the Sony PlayStation 2, the widespread use of online games and even the enduring popularity of classic board games such as Monopoly are all evidence of blind gaming passion.And the numbers back it up:In 2000, about 60 percent of Americans - 145 million people - played interactive games, accounting for more than $6 billion worth of sales.In contrast, only about 70 million people attended Major League Baseball games in 1999.Video games for consoles such as Nintendo 64 or Sony Playstation are bigger sellers than computer games, for several reasons.“It’s easier to hook a game machine up to a television than it is to own a PC,” said Russ Howard, vice president of Babbage’s, a game retailer.

FEATURES

Hall-of-famer comes to U

Jerry “The Iceman” Butler was anything but cold Thursday afternoon as he mingled with MSU faculty and staff outside 191 Communication Arts and Sciences Building.The 61-year-old rhythm and blues icon, best known for the song “Moon River,” spoke of his accomplishments with warmth, wearing a dark suit and a wide smile.In 1958, Butler formed a group called the Impressions with R&B legend Curtis Mayfield.“In 1959, I went solo,” he said.