One day after the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, filed 405 lawsuits for illegal file sharing at 18 colleges and universities - including 20 at MSU - members of the university community are beginning to react. "It's kind of ridiculous because I know a lot of people who do it," education freshman Colleen Goergen said.
Almost two months after the university's surprise decision to shut down Channel 12 at the end of the semester, university officials and student-produced programs are looking for ways to salvage the channel but also prepare for life without it. The channel broadcasts free movies and student-produced programming to MSU's campus and surrounding cities. Residence Halls Association and University Housing have been looking into options to keep the channel afloat, but RHA President Kevin Newman said nothing has developed enough for him to be optimistic about the channel's short-term future. "At this point, I wouldn't expect anything next year to be different from the decisions the university has already made," Newman said. RHA pays about $15,000 a semester for the movies that air on the channel. One option being evaluated is a digital media player system that would substantially cut the channel's labor costs by enabling a month of its programming to be done in 30 minutes. But RHA Campus Center Director James Henderson said evaluations of the program are very preliminary, and he will meet next week with representatives of the company that makes the system to see if it is a feasible option. "We're looking at possibilities, but that's it," Henderson said.
Destiny's Child, 50 Cent and Usher will shake their stuff at the Breslin Center in a funky battle for hip-hop fame.
About 150 people attended the 2005 Student Employee of the Year recognition program on Tuesday, hosted by the Student Employment Office in the Union ballroom.
Faculty want a salary increase of 4.25 percent next year, and they are willing to pay more for their health care to get it. At Tuesday's Faculty Council meeting, the University Committee on Faculty Affairs presented the proposed increase as part of a five-year plan begun three years ago by MSU President Lou Anna K.
Some students will go through the day with duct tape on their mouths. They will stand in front of buildings on campus today with fake bruises on their faces.
Four MSU officials stood atop a wooden raft Tuesday, wearing orange life jackets as it floated down the Red Cedar River. As it drifted along, someone walking along the banks called out, "Which one's Tom Sawyer and which one's Huck Finn?" The tiny wooden raft was launched in the river to see if it could float.
Students who received nominations for Student Employee of the Year will be honored during a reception at 4 p.m.
A national health official will speak at graduate commencement ceremonies next month. Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, will speak at 7 p.m.
A fire in bushes outside of East Akers Hall was extinguished at about 5:20 p.m. Monday by the East Lansing Fire Department and a few residents who grabbed fire extinguishers after smelling smoke. There they said they saw fire on the underside of a patch of bushes.
By the numbers, minority student enrollment is down slightly at MSU, but according to the Office of Affirmative Action, Compliance & Monitoring, the university's minority retention rate is above the national average. Each year, MSU publishes a report on the progress of initiatives that support diversity.
By all rights, human biology senior Tom Mikulski said he shouldn't have survived the initial medical treatments for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma his mother received when she was pregnant with him 21 years ago. But a little more than a year ago, Mikulski was able to return the gift of life to his mother, Ellen Mikulski, by donating stem cells for a bone marrow transplant that was needed to cure her lymphoma. "I was awestruck and unbelieving that I could have a good, strong donor so close to my heart," said Ellen Mikulski, 58.
Thirty-two MSU programs were ranked among the best in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's yearly evaluation of graduate programs. The elementary and secondary education programs ranked first in the nation for the 11th consecutive year. One reason for the high score is the faculty research done at the college, said Cassandra Book, associate dean of the College of Education. "Faculty brings cutting-edge knowledge to the students," Book said.
Following the events of April 2, ASMSU officials sent out e-mails to residence hall directors asking students to fill out a survey about their experiences with the disturbances.
The fifth-annual Multicultural Xtravaganza, was presented by the Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority Inc., to a packed audience at Fairchild Theatre on Saturday night.
It will cost students an extra $286 to live in residence halls next school year. Those who choose to reside in University Apartments will have to pay either $29 or $32 more per month depending on the number of bedrooms.
Student groups addressed the MSU Board of Trustees on Friday, urging trustees and MSU President Lou Anna K.
Only one Kent State player remained. He clung to his red rubber ball like a life preserver, quivering nervously as the half-dozen remaining MSU players danced around him like wolves ready to pounce. On some unspoken signal, the Spartans players fired in unison on their helpless target, knocking him to the ground in a flurry of red rubber, giving MSU a victory during this weekend's Spartan Dodgeball Invitational. Teams from DePaul University, The Ohio State University and Delta College also traveled to MSU for the event, which was the nation's first-ever intercollegiate club dodgeball tournament. MSU's win over Kent State turned out to be one of few bright spots for the team, as it came in last place in Sunday's tournament.
Hugging his parents, MSU Student Cancer Support Network student coordinator Jeremy Koenemann fought back emotions after looking at hundreds of luminaries honoring cancer patients at the MSU's Relay for Life. Luminary bags with the names of people who have battled cancer were lit to honor those people. "Everyone has been affected by cancer in some way," he said. Koenemann attended the American Cancer Society fund-raiser Saturday with the MSU Student Cancer Support Network - a group that offers support to students who have either had cancer or have known someone with cancer. At the relay, the network's presence served as a wake-up call to how real the disease is on campus, said Relay for Life event chairwoman and political science and pre-law senior Dana Dzwonkowski.
In a final push to get MSU to finalize a student-drafted code of conduct for joining the Worker Rights Consortium, members of Students for Economic Justice, or SEJ, and Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan, or MEXA, staged a "die-in" protest Thursday afternoon in front of the Administration Building. Last week, the student groups were informed that MSU President Lou Anna K.