As the girls circled, the commentator’s mid-ranged drone echoed across the track, his words impossible to decipher from the near-hysterical screams of derby-girls melding with the referee’s periodic whistles. At times, the girls’ voices take on an almost religious, speaking-in-tongues-type fervor; the shrillness piercing fans’ ears with the fury and energy of the Almighty Himself.
The Department of Theatre housed its seventh annual Freshman Showcase this weekend with several showings of “Off With Her Head,” a play inspired by the classic children’s tale “Alice in Wonderland.” The cast, consisting of 17 freshman along with a production team, collaborated to devise a storyline, create a set and present an hour-long performance to introduce themselves to the faculty and staff of the MSU Department of Theatre.
About 70 members of the MSU community spent Saturday at the Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing to help cultivate a new generation of potential scientists. Volunteers educated children from preschool through fifth grade about the human body in an event called PhUn Day. MSU undergraduate, graduate and medical students, as well as staff and faculty, were present to help.
Veterans now can receive in-state tuition at Michigan’s public universities, the organization representing the state’s 15 public universities announced Friday. MSU joined the list of colleges offering the benefit of in-state tuition for all veterans about a week ago, said Mike Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan.
Very few students would sacrifice sleep on a non-football Saturday morning, but this week some Spartans stepped up to the plate for a good cause. Take It To The Streets featured students giving back to the community by cleaning up parks, removing old school supplies at an abandoned school and assisting at a local haven house.
An off-site university research facility slated to open its doors in Midland, Mich. next year will pair MSU with two of the state’s largest corporations. The facility, dubbed the Midland Research Institute for Value Chain Creation, will be funded in large part by Dow Chemical Co., Dow Corning Corp. and various foundations related to the two companies. An initial $15.5 million from corporate and philanthropic donors is committed to the establishment and first five years of operation.
The U.S. Department of Education is hoping to eradicate some of the misunderstanding around ways to pay back student loan debt with a new outreach program designed to teach graduates about more affordable options when paying back their loans. In a statement released this week, the department said it will be ?sending emails about loan payment options to about 3.5 million recent graduates.
Several environmental films will be screened at the East Lansing Film Festival, and MSU officials and local community members will be speaking about the films in a panel discussion on Saturday. The films being shown are “Trashed,” about the impact of littering; “More than Honey,” about the importance of honeybees and “Food for Change: The Story of Cooperation in America,” about food cooperatives.
Students might not to have to serve their jury duty during college semesters if the state Senate approves a new state bill the House OK’d last Wednesday. Rep. Kevin Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant, introduced the bill, which would let full-time college students postpone duty until the end of the school year.
The year 2003 was a rough one for East Lansing resident Ricard Taylor. He was going through a rough divorce when his older brother, Taro Taylor, convinced him to try street performing with him in Detroit.“He said, ‘Let’s try it for a year. See what we can do, see what we can make of it,’ and we did it on the streets there and we got a lot of love shown to us,” Ricard Taylor said.
MSU officials are looking to encourage creativity and entrepreneurship among students across multiple colleges with the renovation of Wilson Hall room C108 into a creative commons.
In 2009, MSU alumnus Ryan Riess started his job sitting in a booth, collecting loose change from people paying for their parking on campus.
As East Lansing Mayor Diane Goddeeris adjourned the city council meeting on Wednesday, the sun set on a city council that has had a varying legacy. On Wednesday, the council finished the mandatory five-year code review as part of the comprehensive plan, passing five ordinances to finish the process. It’s the group’s last meeting before newly-elected members Ruth Beier and Susan Woods fill the seats of Kevin Beard and Vic Loomis, both of whom chose not to run for reelection.
A group of MSU students known as the Nate Woodring Trio jazzed up (SCENE) Metrospace Wednesday night, bringing musical life through the drums and bass East Lansing. The show featured jazz studies senior Nate Woodring on drums, jazz studies sophomore Runere Brooks on bass and jazz studies graduate student Corey Kendrick on piano.
As November settles in, MSU students and faculty members will come together to raise awareness about American Indian Heritage Month. MSU’s North American Indigenous Student Organization, or NAISO, will be hosting a series of events to spread awareness of the culture and key in on issues usually associated with the American Indian culture.
Okemos resident Connor McCowan was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison Wednesday morning for the murder of MSU student Andrew Singler. McCowan was convicted of second-degree murder last month for fatally stabbing Singler, his sister’s boyfriend, during an argument on Feb. 23 that came to physical blows. Singler, 23, was left with two wounds in his heart and arm. Defense attorney Chris Bergstrom asked Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Clinton Canady III to remain lenient on McCowan’s sentence. Bergstrom maintained McCowan acted in self-defense that night, fearing for his life after Singler struck him in the head.
The Energy Transition Plan’s central goal is for campus to have a renewable energy portfolio of 15 percent by 2015, and MSU officials say they’re more than halfway there.
If it wasn’t for Jeff Nardone, professional writing sophomore Emily Cervone would not have come to MSU. The MSU alumnus, also the adviser for Grosse Pointe South High School’s weekly student newspaper “The Tower,” saw Cervone’s writing abilities when she was a staff writer for the paper and encouraged her to study at MSU. “He was just so vibrant and passionate about not just teaching journalism, but life,” Cervone said. “I learned so much in that class — how to handle people, handling deadlines, just like a regular job.”
Following a second-degree murder conviction, Okemos resident Connor McCowan will be sentenced Wednesday morning. After an argument between two friends turned violent on the morning of Feb. 23, McCowan, 19, fatally stabbed MSU student Andrew Singler, 23. It is possible McCowan could receive life in prison. Given McCowan’s lack of prior offenses, his attorney, Chris Bergstrom, said he plans to ask the judge for the lightest sentence possible.
Tuesday, squads of military units were sent out on a tactical mission in Okemos, Mich. Luckily, this only was a training exercise. The MSU Army ROTC held one of their many training exercises on a large woodland area off Dobie Road. While their field exercises can focus on many things, such as navigation, this exercise was a combat mission.