COMMENTARY
Vagina Week is important to U
Women are a societally oppressed group. It is simply a fact. Ever since we were little girls we were taught to repress our sexuality.
MSU
Student takes honors at photo contest
David McCreery was cheering in silence when he noticed the judges looking at his photograph. “I was rooting like a mime,” the computer science seniorsaid.
MICHIGAN
Increased sales make merchants optimistic
Cory Curtisis hoping once again his sumo wrestler clocks will pull their weight in sales.The owner of Cool Creations, 209 M.A.C Ave., said the novelty items, which are sumo wrestler figurines with working clocks attached on the front, are among some of the items that are selling.And according to The Michigan Retailers Association’s Michigan Retail Index released this week, getting that kind of weight off the shelves can be expected.The report predicted sales during the next three months will increase, which will be a pleasant change from the sales slump experienced in January.“I’m being optimistic,” Curtis said.
COMMENTARY
Music industry releases same old song and dance
I love music. To me, music at its very best can be described as poetry amplified with a combination of awe-inspiring talent, intelligence with an edge, and sass with a purpose.
FEATURES
Monster Madness
Back in the mid-1980s, monster trucks were clunky, heavy contraptions. Now, they’re lighter, high-tech racing machines that can be kicked into reverse with the toggle of a switch, and their fiberglass beds withstand thousands of pounds of rollover pressure. Mike Nitzke, the laid-back, somewhat shy driver of Rambo - and a 2000 Thunder Nationals Champion - spent last weekend at MSU’s Breslin Student Events Center.
MICHIGAN
Legislature redraws districts
Michigan legislators are beginning to look at redrafting the state’s political boundaries when Michigan’s new census figures are released next month.According to Michigan law, after every census is completed, the political districts must be examined by state lawmakers and adjusted to meet the needs of the population.
COMMENTARY
Enlighten U
If the university has the financial means, it should make efforts to provide more lighting along campus walkways.The Student Assembly of ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, is considering a measure encouraging university officials to provide more consistent lighting on campus.Lights have recently been added and faulty ones replaced along the trail that runs past the Kellogg Center.
FEATURES
Musician alumnus comes back to U
Joel Mabus admits he was born to be a musician. The MSU alumnus folk musician has released 13 albums during the course of 25 years and will debut his 14th, “Six Of One” tonight at the Erickson Hall Kiva as part of the Ten Pound Fiddle Coffeehouse music series. “The current (album) has been on the burner for quite a while,” he said.
SPORTS
Baseball team to face tough competition in Florida
The MSU baseball team will get a stiff early season test this weekend when it travels to Tallahassee, Fla.
FEATURES
Theater students prepare for upcoming shows
At 10 p.m., most MSU students would be kicking back, maybe studying or vegging out to endless banter on “SportsCenter.” But in the basement of the MSU Auditorium this week, the casts and technical crews of “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “Sylvia” were hard at work. “I think 99 percent of people have no idea that plays were ever rehearsed,” said theater Professor Frank Rutledge, director of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Tuesday night, the cast and crew rehearsed using a mix of mattresses, desks and chairs as a set. Rutledge estimated that actors and technical crew members each spend between five to five and a half hours a day working on the show, which is in its second week of rehearsal. Marcus Olson, theater professor and director of “Sylvia,” agreed. “Of course when we get close to opening the show, that number goes way, way up,” Olson said. The actors spend their hours rehearsing, memorizing lines or researching.
FEATURES
Weekend Guide
Friday: Ramon’s Restaurant and Lounge South, 1146 S. Washington Square in Lansing will host First World Fridays: International Dance Party.
NEWS
Student joins city commission
The East Lansing Commission on the Environment has gone green.In hopes to bring in a fresh perspective, the environment commission - the cities task force on the local environment - has added Kyle Tisdel, an international relations senior at MSU.“I basically joined the commission in hopes of gaining experience for myself in terms of how local governments work,” Tisdel said, adding that he wanted to bring a student, and thus younger, perspective to the commission.The commission, which focuses on environmental issues in East Lansing, has had students volunteer on the commission since it began in October 1989, Councilmember Sam Singh said.“Students are an active part of the city,” he said.
NEWS
Cagers bow out of tournament
GRAND RAPIDS - It was a symbolic 52-48 loss for the women’s basketball team Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament’s first round matchup against Ohio State.It capped a season that began with fumbling play and stinging losses and ended with the emergence of a brighter side - a team which could battle defensively with anyone in the pack.But despite that positive end to their regular season, the Spartans (10-18 overall, 4-13 Big Ten) learned one more time that defense alone can’t win championships, head coach Joanne P.
NEWS
E.L. demolishes Byrnes Building to make room for City Center
Twelve firm swings with chrome sledge hammers still wasn’t enough for East Lansing officials to make the slightest chip in the bricks of the Byrnes Building on M.A.C.
MICHIGAN
Nurses open new clinic in Lansing
LANSING - Gail Harvey and Vicky McAree said they have always wanted to own their own business but never knew whether their dream would become reality.But this week, when the two former Olin Health Center nurses opened the doors of the Travel Wellness Clinic, 416 Frandor Ave.
SPORTS
Big Ten could make or break grapplers
For the MSU wrestling squad, its version of March Madness is about to begin. The Big Ten Wrestling Championships will take place this weekend in Evanston, Ill., while the NCAA Championships are March 15-17 in Iowa City, Iowa.
NEWS
Issuing black berets upsets Rangers
William Green is upset with the U.S. Army. Green, a fisheries and wildlife senior, is angry at Chief of Staff of the Army Gen.
MSU
2002 Porsche raffle to benefit Executive Development Center
MSU students, faculty and alumni now have a chance to win a 2002 Porsche Boxster for only $100. The Eli Broad College of Business, along with Porsche Cars North America Inc., are raffling off a Porsche in order to benefit the new Executive Development Center under construction on the southwest side of campus. Michael Rishell, senior director of development at Eli Broad College of Business, said the new center will greatly benefit MSU. “It’s really an extension of the land-grant mission,” Rishell said.
NEWS
McPherson leery of WRC
While an MSU anti-sweatshop group continues pressuring administration to change its affiliation with its current labor-condition watching organization, other universities have compromised on the issue.The University of Illinois recently became the third school in the Big Ten to become a member of both major organizations, the Fair Labor Association and the Worker Rights Consortium.The consortium, started by students and human rights activists, appoints independent monitors to oversee labor conditions at overseas factories.
SPORTS
W-hoops seniors finishing strong
For five MSU women’s basketball seniors, today marks the beginning of the end.Guards Christie Pung and Donita Johnson and center Erin Skelly will have at least one more chance to finalize their career totals and make a mark in Spartan history, as MSU begins Big Ten Tournament play today against Ohio State.But no matter what the outcome will be, all three, along with forward Becky Cummings, have ended their careers listed in the top 10 in at least one category.