Michigan State opens student-only vaccine site

The Michigan State Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education has had a drive-through vaccination clinic for a few months now, but the university created a student-only site. Students can now receive the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the MSU Pavilion. Students can sign up for an appointment on the Ingham County Health Department website. Appointments are regularly added. MSU Deputy Spokesperson Dan Olsen said appointments are booked all through next week.

Michigan State Theatre Department returns to in-person learning

The Theatre Department at Michigan State has allowed classes to return to in-person learning with COVID-19 safety measures in place. Theatre isn’t the only department to bring students back into classrooms, but with acting, singing and dance classes, it makes sense that it would be one of the first departments to do this. Normally, drama and singing classes would take place in the MSU Auditorium, but the Wharton Center for Performing Arts is allowing students to do their theatrics in its various theaters and spaces this semester. While the Wharton isn’t the typical classroom for the students, they were excited to be able to practice on stages that professional actors normally use. Students with in-person classes are required to participate in the Michigan State “COVID-19 Early Detection Program” and fill out a health screening prior to vising campus.

High school athletes protest winter sports delays

Last Saturday, high school athletes protested winter sports delays at the Capitol with their parents and coaches. High school sports have been delayed multiple times since August. This time, it was winter sports that were delayed until February 21st. Teams could practice, but only with non-contact activities. The protest was effective as Governor Whitmer announced today that winter contact sports can resume, with some precautions, starting on Monday, Feb.

Campaign volunteer spends election day thanking people for voting

While many voted early or voted by mail this year, the polls were open in-person voters. Voters who went to the Hannah Community Center were greeted by a passionate campaign volunteer. Alan Shulman is a senior international relations student at Michigan State. He at the community center from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. thanking people for voting and encouraging them to support Democratic candidates including Joe Biden, Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin. “If people care about proper representation, they have to go and make their voices heard on the issues they care about,” Shulman said.

Michigan State loses an iconic voice… a crosswalk speaker

In 2015, Michigan State students made a dubstep remix of the distinctive Farm Lane crosswalk speaker voice. Farm Lane and Auditorium Road being one of the busiest intersections on campus, the remix spread, and nearly every Michigan State student and alumni understood the joke. But now, the joke is a memory; the voice that tells students when to walk changed. The MSU Facilities Twitter account announced the change, causing a slight uproar by students both current and past. “It’s just sad just to lose that little thing that just everyone remembers,” said MSU student Mark Bruey.

An increase in social gatherings leads to an increase in social distancing

While in-person classes are canceled and moved online, several students still moved into their off-campus apartments and houses leading to several large social gatherings. There are restrictions placed on an East Lansing area of houses and apartments largely mostly rented by Michigan State students. These restrictions prohibit gatherings of no more than 10 people inside and 25 people outside. Several gatherings were held that went against the restrictions, leading to the largest spike in COVID-19 cases Ingham County has ever seen. The recent spike saw two days reach 100+ cases, roughly tripling the single-day record of cases that occurred in June when several positive tests were linked to the breakout at Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub.

High school seniors struggle with spring sports canceled

Lake Orion High School senior Lilly Snyder had waited until her senior year to start on the varsity softball team. She was called up as a freshman and sat back watching the upperclassmen take the field, and she did the same thing her sophomore year, and the same thing for her junior year. This was going to be her year until life threw a nasty curveball her way. Many high school athletes, including Lilly, were holding out hope that the Michigan High School Athletic Association wouldn’t cancel spring sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A few weeks after postponing all winter sports tournaments, it seemed inevitable that both winter and spring sports would be canceled and the MHSAA made it official on April 3.

For college seniors, getting a job seems out of reach

Getting a job is hard enough for college seniors and when a worldwide pandemic is thrown into the mix, it seems almost impossible. Gloria Kobler has applied to 100 jobs in the past three weeks alone and has had several interviews canceled, and even a job offer rescinded. For many companies, hiring new employees is on hold, putting many college seniors and graduates in a tough place as they enter the job market. As many states continue to enact stay-at-home orders, it’s unclear as to when many of those entering the job market will be able to start working.

Plagiarism conflict between Michigan State researchers unwraps

It took nearly a year of investigating for a Michigan State panel to find MSU Museum Director Mark Auslander guilty of plagiarism. Auslander was suspended from his position. The researcher who had his work plagiarized, William Lovis, is a retired professor. Lovis was doing research on a 500-year-old Bolivian mummy and he claims that when Auslander became the museum director, his research was interfered with. The mummy was returned to Bolivia before any investigations took place