Tuesday, May 26, 2026

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

News | Msu

MSU

MSU research builds tight relationships in search of Parkinson's cure

Caryl Sortwell didn’t have any first-hand experience with Parkinson’s disease when she began her research, but the relationships she’s made since then have kept her motivated to work toward a cure. Sortwell, an MSU professor in translational science and molecular medicine, is working with the school’s College of Human Medicine, Van Andel Research Institute and the Translational Genomics Research Institute to see if the drug Fasudil could not only deal with the symptoms of Parkinson’s, but treat the progression of the disease as well. The team’s work is being sponsored in-part by a $400,000 grant from the Michael J.

MSU

New engineering major set to take off in fall

The MSU College of Engineering is moving forward with its plans to launch a new environmental engineering major this fall. Students who previously only had the opportunity to take a concentration in the field now will have the chance to earn an undergraduate degree, with very little deviation from the previous specialization’s benchmarks. “The class requirements for the concentration as opposed to the degree are really pretty similar,” said Richard Lyles, a professor and the associate chairman for undergraduate studies in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The university had offered graduate programs in environmental engineering for more than four decades, but new demand from employers for environmental engineers pushed them to move the undergraduate degree program forward. Increased student interest also necessitated the creation of the program. “As the demand for graduates increases, there are employers interested in hiring these people,” said Tom Voice, a professor of civil and environmental engineering who spearheaded the undergraduate degree program’s creation.

MSU

Ramadan begins with new moon

Monday, Muslims around the world exchanged the phrase “Ramadan mubarak,” meaning “blessed Ramadan” in Arabic. The new moon was sighted, which signals the start of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

MSU

Music camp takes center stage

At 7 p.m. Friday, about 100 yellow-clad performers marched onto the stage at the MSU Community Music School auditorium and launched into a rendition of “Be Our Guest,” from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

Beau Hayhoe ·
MSU

Research forum held in Bessey Hall

The normally quiet first floor corridor of Bessey Hall turned into a bustling exhibition Thursday, as more than 200 people packed the building for MSU’s first annual Summer University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum. More than 125 student research projects and poster boards lined the narrow hallway during the event’s two-hour walk-through session, many drawing large crowds.

MSU

Legislative intern gains valuable understanding

When considering applicants for the Victory Congressional Internship program — a new leadership program that gives lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender college students a chance at a Washington, D.C., internship — Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute, or GLLI, Program Director Samir Luther said he and his fellow reviewers did not limit their acceptance only to students with aspirations of working in public office. They looked for students with an appetite for leadership, he said, and MSU social relations and policy senior Mitchell Rivard demonstrated that hunger. “It’s rare to find young people who already have so much experience while they’re still in college,” Luther said.

MSU

Workshops help aspiring performers

Local aspiring performers gathered at Wharton Center Monday for the first day of a weeklong series of interactive workshops for youth interested in pursuing a career on Broadway.

MSU

Future Spartans sell ice cream

Like many students preparing for college, incoming freshmen Alex Wrobleski and Jon Drury were looking for a summer job to earn money before beginning college.

MSU

Potter Park Zoo welcomes Charlie

Alongside about 30 other families who have been helped by the Michigan chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, 3-year-old Charlie Waller ran through Potter Park Zoo Sunday and played with his 7-year-old sister, Esther.

MSU

Teaching programs on the decline across the nation, according to report

A controversial education council released a new study Thursday showing that many student teaching programs across the nation are failing to produce good educators. The report, which was published by the National Council on Teacher Quality, shows that roughly 75 percent of the 134 programs it rated were sub-par — it did not rate MSU’s program — but included three others in Michigan.

MSU

Teenagers preview future careers at media camps

Middle school and high school students from across the state are getting a hands-on crash course in three different types of media technology through summer camps held this July by MSU’s Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media. The first of three weeks of camps kicked off July 11, with high school students taking a course of their choice, geared toward either television production, music recording or video game design.

MSU

MSU colleges engage in blood drive battle

The MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine and the College of Veterinary Medicine went head-to-head Wednesday during their second annual Red Cross Blood Challenge. The challenge is organized by the Red Cross in order to get more people to donate during the summer when their blood supply is at its lowest.