From the moment Gretchen Whitmer entered the room, Kelly Rossman-McKinney knew she had make a mistake. When the then-29-year-old arrived at the East Lansing Rotary Club event to campaign for the 70th district seat in the 2000 election, the Democratic candidate’s charisma was palpable.
Robert Spiegel called his mom to make sure she was doing OK after hearing reports of a tornado in Dexter, Mich., on March 15 — about 65 miles from MSU. “It hit our neighborhood, and the house right across the street from us was completely gone to the foundation,” the finance junior said, adding his mom was safe in the basement.
Efforts by the Black Student Alliance, or BSA, and other student groups to create a freestanding multicultural center might be stalled in the face of logistics, such as cost and space availability, officials said. When MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon spoke at a Residence Halls Association, or RHA, meeting last month, students addressed the issue with her, but she said she hasn’t formed a position on how to proceed without looking at all the facts, including cost and space.
An about 4 percent increase for residence hall housing rates for the 2012-13 academic year was announced at the Residence Halls Association, or RHA, meeting on Wednesday night.
On Wednesday, medical student Jon Vandenberg rolled across the tennis court in a wheelchair, racquet in hand, and passed a tennis ball to 15-year-old Katie Frayer from Dewitt, Mich., who was born with Arthrogryposis, a congenital disorder that has left her in a wheelchair.
MSU is extending the reach of one of its top-ranked programs this summer with the launch of new online master certificate programs.
Instead of buying Aquafina bottles, Lauren Weber, an interdisciplinary studies in social science senior, totes a refillable water bottle with her on campus to make water conservation a daily priority. Although MSU promotes water conservation on campus, some universities, including Seattle University, have taken the practice further by ending bottled water sales on campus.
On Tuesday night, the East Lansing City Council approved a predevelopment agreement for the City Center II project near the intersection of Abbot Road and Grand River Avenue.
Starting this fall, resident mentors will be trading in their single rooms and will be required to have a roommate.
A 53-year-old female employee reported her purse stolen between 5 and 6 p.m. on March 30 from her office in Olin Health Center, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.
After spending hours at the bottom of the Red Cedar River last week, a 2007 Buick Lucerne probably suffered from its foray into campus waters, according to the East Lansing Police Department.
East Lansing resident and MSU alumna Anji Reynolds picks lettuce mix Tuesday at the Hunter Park Community Garden House, 1400 E. Kalamazoo St., in Lansing. Reynolds volunteers as part of the Lansing Urban Farm Project. “It’s refreshing to get your hands dirty,” Reynolds said.
As the midpoint for ASMSU’s election week approaches, the 20 ballot candidates running for positions in ASMSU’s General Assembly next year have been launching campaigns to encourage students to vote. But despite ASMSU’s efforts to increase voter turnout, not all of MSU’s 13 undergraduate colleges have student candidates on the ballot.
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon stressed the importance of not increasing the cost of higher education while also protecting the health of students during her remarks at Tuesday’s Steering Committee meeting. During the meeting, Simon said the policy implemented this academic year that requires new students to carry health care insurance or be enrolled in a university health care plan affects a relatively small number of students at MSU, with 86 percent of students entering the university with their own health care.
To help graduate students find their place and feel appreciated at MSU, local organizations are teaming up to celebrate the university’s first Graduate & Professional Student Appreciation Week. The Council of Graduate Students, or COGS, Graduate Student Life and Wellness and various sponsors in the Lansing area are hoping to show graduate and professional students that they matter to the MSU community through the events.
The Roial Players will be performing “Red: An Evening of One Acts” from Thursday to Saturday in the RCAH Theatre in the basement of Snyder and Phillips halls. The show will begin at 9 p.m. Thursday and at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The traffic circle at Bogue Street and Farm Lane has served its purpose for several years and tentatively has been green-lighted to be replaced with a traditional intersection next summer because of safety concerns, officials said. The estimated cost of the project is $4 million and construction is aimed to occur during summer 2013, university engineer Bob Nestle said in an email.
East Lansing officials were among a handful of people who joined at the Lansing City Council Chambers on Tuesday morning announcing their support of legislation guaranteeing nondiscrimination of the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender community. The Local Electeds Against Discrimination statement, or LEAD, calls for protection for LGBT against discrimination.
Alexandra Pew, an 18-year-old high school senior from Ann Arbor who fell from the sixth floor of North Case Hall last week, has been released from Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman confirmed.
A major development project in the city is at a crossroads. After years of varying levels of activity, the East Lansing City Council is scheduled to discuss and vote on a predevelopment agreement for the controversial City Center II project.