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MSU

Michigan Indian Day celebrates heritages

Sitting around a 3-foot-wide handmade drum covered in horse and buffalo hide, six American Indians drummed in unison while they sang in different notes as part of a victory song. The song, which represents the victories American Indians have had in the past as well as those to come, was the closing event for Michigan Indian Day at the Union on Friday. The drummers are members of Little Stone, a group of American Indians who play the drums and sing songs native to their culture.

MSU

Councilmember candidates will hold open forum

Members of the MSU and East Lansing communities will get an opportunity to meet the four candidates running for East Lansing City Council in an open discussion forum tonight. The Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience, or MRULE, is hosting the event, which will be held at 7 p.m.

MSU

Sports festival caters to disabled athletes

By Amy Oprean Special to The State News Susie D'Mello crouched in the center of the Demonstration Hall ballroom Saturday afternoon, listening for a ball that jingled as it rolled her way. Playing goal ball, a sport adapted for the visually impaired, the psychology sophomore dove like a volleyball player to block the ball before pushing it back across the small court. Goal ball was one of nine sports - including swimming, hand cycling and wheelchair basketball - that were part of the first MSU Adapted Sports Festival held by the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities at Demonstration Hall and IM Sports-West on Saturday. In an attempt to block the goal, D'Mello's opponents sprawled horizontally to create a wall with their bodies, but missed the ball. "When I first started playing I was pretty bad at it," D'Mello said.

MSU

Students drill with MSU Drumline

By Katie Looby Special to The State News The deafening sound of the MSU fight song echoed throughout East Lansing this weekend - despite the fact that the Spartans football team was on the road. Members of the Spartan Marching Band's drum line kept the beat with members of high school drum lines from across the state.

MSU

ASMSU, city officials convene to address relationship with students

At two large tables in the back of Lou & Harry's Grille Room, 20 East Lansing officials and student leaders met Wednesday evening to become acquainted and discuss issues in an attempt to improve city and student relations. Leaders of ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government, contacted city officials about meeting for dinner at the restaurant, 235 Ann St., and the two groups were able to find some common ground, said Melissa Horste, director of community affairs for ASMSU's Student Assembly. "It humanized both groups, because there is this sort of tension ... there's some misunderstanding between the city and the university," Horste said.

MSU

Islam week to raise religion's awareness

As part of a national project through the Muslim Students' Association, Sept. 26-30 is Islam Awareness Week. At MSU, several activities are planned for each night of the week, and it ends Friday with a tour of the Islamic Center of East Lansing, 920 S.

MSU

History of MSU, state is conference topic

MSU and Michigan history will be the main topics of discussion at a conference being held Friday and Saturday by the Historical Society of Michigan. Speakers include Provost Kim Wilcox and former state Gov.

MSU

American Indians will be honored at event

Michigan Indian Day will be celebrated from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Union's Gold Rooms A & B. The free event will include speakers and cultural activities. An elder advocate of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Warren Petoskey, will provide the keynote address.

MSU

Student tells of life as 'Muslim'

Last spring, Eastern Michigan University student Zoe Piliafas spent an entire semester dressed as a Muslim woman. Piliafas, who is of Greek descent, went by the name Zhooda, adopted a Middle Eastern accent and wore a burqa - a dark shroud that covers everything except a woman's eyes.

MSU

Fair showcases study abroad tradition

For Michael Handley, taking quizzes during his summer zoology classes required him to get in a Jeep and drive to a field in search of the animals. The zoology junior was on a study abroad trip in Kenya for three weeks this summer and said the experience taught him more than he would have learned in a traditional classroom setting. "I am a hands-on learner and this helped," Handley said.

MSU

MSU will construct $8M facility for auto research

The Automotive Research Experiment Station will upgrade its facilities from a 9,000-square-foot laboratory located about five miles from campus to a state-of-the-art site on south campus. The new 30,000-square-foot location will be off Bogue Street and Service Road, south of the existing research Complex. The project's contractor was appointed by the MSU Board of Trustees on Friday.

MSU

Conservatives 'come out' despite protests

Several students lined the sidewalks of Farm Lane on Wednesday afternoon in protest to National Conservative Coming Out Day activities planned on campus. The group of about 30 protesters stood outside Bessey Hall - one of the sites conservative groups intended to use for the event - waving signs and voicing their concerns about the use of the words "coming out" to describe the event. Professional writing sophomore Ben Rubinstein, a member of the MSU Stonewall Democrats, was among the protesters and said the terminology was offensive. "We were there to help show our side of the story and our feeling that their calling this a national 'coming out' day was mocking," he said.

MSU

MSU electronic advising system created

Gary Wood has dreamed of having a paperless advising system for the last 10 years, but it wasn't until the Undergraduate University Division teamed up with the Office of the Registrar that his dream became a reality. Students in three MSU colleges will no longer have to lug an academic folder across campus when meeting with an adviser, following the creation of the Electronic Student Academic Folder, a program designed to eliminate paper in the advising system. "We had wanted a paperless system for a number of reasons," said Wood, coordinator of the Undergraduate University Division's office in Bessey Hall.

MSU

ASMSU positions remain unfilled

ASMSU's Academic Assembly has grown sizably in the last two weeks - 10 out of 11 student group spots have been filled and the total number of college representatives has doubled. Although the group had to add more tables to fit all the new members during its Tuesday meeting, about half of its college representative seats remain empty. Despite the open seats, Academic Assembly Chairperson Robert Murphy said he is happy with the group's progress. "I'm really pleased with what we've done so far," Murphy said.