East Lansing

Zeke the Wonderdog: More Than Just a Frisbee Catching Mascot Dog 

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Zeke the Wonderdog, known for his high-flying frisbee catches at Michigan State Football games, has left the Spartan Stadium crowd in awe and cheers with his performances during halftime and between plays at football games. It is a more than 45-year-long tradition and a staple hood of Michigan State football games in the fall. The tradition started in the 1970s when Gary Eisenberg, an MSU sophomore, competed with his yellow Labrador, Zeke, in several frisbee competitions. Zeke was just an ordinary dog at the time, but that would soon change. 

“He was just Zeke, there was no Wonderdog there, he was just my dog,” said Eisenberg. 

The two were noticed by Michigan State University when Gary and Zeke finished runner-up in the World Championship in Pasadena. After their impressive performance, they were asked to perform at an MSU home football game, and the tradition was born. 

“The response was overwhelming, the students went wild they just went bananas, they would stomp the bleachers chanting Zeke Zeke Zeke,” said Eisenberg. 

The original Zeke the Wonderdog performing at Spartan Stadium.

Diversity Issues

Breaking Barriers: Latinx Journalists Speak Out on Media Diversity Struggles, Demand Change for a Representative Future.

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By Camila Bello

Nov. 21, 2023

According to a report made in 2023 by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), the proportion of Latinos in the highest ranks of the U.S. journalism sector does not align with the demographic composition of Latinos in the overall U.S. population. “There is not a lot of support or resources for people like me in media and it makes me feel like I am behind,” said Sofia Mireles. Mireles is a Mexican-American MSU journalism student in her junior year. “At first, when doing interviews via phone call it was really hard to understand their English over the phone.

News

Michigan residents weathered a summer of poor air quality

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Nicoline BradfordHaze from the Canadian wildfires hung over Brody neighborhood at MSU in July, 2023. This summer Michigan residents saw the real consequences of climate change. In early June and throughout July, Michiganders woke up to hazy days and air quality warnings. Robert Wahl, an environmental epidemiologist at Michigan State University, said the levels of air pollutants this summer are very unusual for Michigan. The Air Quality Index, AQI, is used to measure levels of air pollutants on a scale of “good” to “hazardous.” While AQI measures multiple pollutants, the most concerning is particle pollution smaller than 10 micrometers.This is called fine particulate matter and is a direct result of the wildfires raging through Canada.

Business & Economy

Strange Matter Coffee comes to East Lansing

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Popular, local coffee chain Strange Matter fills the space left by Biggby at the MSU Student Union. 

“I’m excited to have another non-MSU food option at the Union,” said Grace Densham, an MSU undergraduate. “I’m especially pleased with the fact that it is a small, local business. It was really sad to see Biggby go and be replaced by vending machines for so long.”

Strange Matter owner Cara Nader, understands the difference small businesses can make. “We are small, but very efficient at what we do,” she said. “I can’t speak to other coffee shops in town, but we pay a livable wage.

News

Behind the mask

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For her final project in Journalism 410, Samantha Sebestyen produced a video, “Behind the mask,” documenting how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced almost every aspect of students’ lives. Among her peers, she saw mental health issues rise because of the many months of isolation and the additional layers of stress that negatively affected already chaotic lifestyles. “In the past two years, college students have had to deal with the pandemic on top of continuing their education,” Sebestyen said. “On the campus of Michigan State University, a school that went fully online for two and a half semesters and has ever changing COVID policies, students still work to find that balance between working and keeping their mental health in mind.” “Throughout the course of a few weeks, I was able to discuss with several of my close peers to see exactly what they did when things took such a heavy toll on their mental and physical well beings,” she continued.

Article

One Student Organization uses the Wharton Center to celebrate Black Achievements

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The Wharton Center can be easily recognized for its Broadway musicals and performances. Flyers for Mean Girls and Hamilton can be seen all throughout the city of Lansing. As graduation season approaches, The Wharton will be expecting a different type of crowd. 

On April 24, the African American Celebratory will be hosting the Certified Black Graduation for the 2022 academic year to celebrate the achievements of black graduates at Michigan State. 

“This is the first one since the pandemic has started so we’re just excited to come back and just to celebrate all the black grads on MSU campus because it was a momentous experience to have,” said Kennedy Walters, Vice President of African American Celebratory. Students can register through the link in the organization’s Instagram bio. The registration fee allows for graduates to receive a kente print black grads matter stole.

News

Spartans are still finding a way to swim, amidst the battle to bring back the Swim and Dive team.

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It has been a year since Spartans were able to compete at the varsity level on Michigan State University’s Swim and Dive team. In October 2020, President Samuel Stanley announced in an email to Spartans, that the swim and dive team would be discontinued after the 2020-2021 season. Since then, former members of the team and supporters have been pleading to President Stanley and the Board of Trustees to reinstate the team. Women took their efforts to the courts and are currently waiting to be reheard in court due to incorrect calculations in their first case. One of the plaintiffs in the case is Sophia Balow, she is also a lifeguard at MSU and a swim club member.

Article

Intramural Basketball Returns to MSU

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Basketball is back, but it’s not what you think. Intramural basketball has been absent for nearly a year because of the pandemic. “It’s great, we haven’t experienced it since freshman year,” said Andrew Vogel, an MSU Freshman. “I can’t imagine without it. It’s given us a great thing to look forward to.”

For the people behind the scenes at IM sports, they made sure to take a stepback for a clear shot this season.