“At its core, a library has always been the same thing,” Salem tells Beekman. “A library provides people with the resources they need to learn, either in a structured environment like a university or on their own in a public library. It provides the space, either physical or online space, to use those resources and to create new information or knowledge with those resources. And then this is the really important part, it wraps all that with expertise that can be in the form of technology enabled...
Aug 26, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 61
“We have 27 acres of outdoor recreation like intramural fields and tennis courts,” McNeil says. “We have a gorgeous campus for outdoor activities like biking, walking, and running. “We want to remind people that we're continuing our virtual activities. We've been virtual since the 1st of April, and we've actually expanded on that. It’s a membership-based system where Spartans across the globe can have access to our fitness offerings and our virtual platform, and they can get their exercise that ...
Aug 26, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Michigan State University has put in place a new relationship violence and sexual misconduct (RVSM) and Title IX policy following new federal regulations that took effect on August 14. MSU’s new policy replaces the university’s previous RVSM policy. Changes to MSU’s policy were made in accordance with new Title IX regulations released in May by the U.S. Secretary of Education and govern how K-12 schools, colleges, and universities must respond to reports of sexual harassment and assault under Ti...
Aug 25, 2020•11 min•Season 1Ep. 59
While farmers and food producers struggle with supply and demand issues, consumers are continuing to see rising grocery prices. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery bills shot up by 2.6% in April, the largest spike since 1974. And those price increases haven't let up. From farm to table COVID-19 has placed added stress on everyone's plate. To help us better understand these complex issues, I’m joined by Spartan alumnus Dustin Baker , Class of 2012 from the College of Agriculture ...
Aug 24, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 58
As the world continues to battle the coronavirus, Michigan residents are giving Gov. Gretchen Whitmer high job performance marks while describing their personal finances as more depressed, new results from the State of the State Survey show. President Donald Trump drew lower marks in the results of two sets of cell phone made in February and May 2020. Each survey was answered by 1,000 people, and carried a margin of error of 3.1%. In February, 36.6% of Michigan’s residents gave Whitmer “excellen...
Aug 21, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 57
“Wow, it’s been amazing,” says President Stanley . “The welcome and support I’ve had from the campus community and from so many different constituencies has been extraordinary. People have offered their ideas and their work to help me succeed and move Michigan State University forward. “And I continue to be impressed by the concept of ‘Spartans Will.’ Our ability to get things done and be tenacious and resilient under the most difficult circumstances has really shone through in so many ways.” St...
Aug 04, 2020•15 min•Season 1Ep. 56
“ The garden ’s origins go back to about 1987 or 88, and the founding curator, Jane Taylor, who also worked for the Michigan 4-H Foundation, had the idea that she wanted to create a a garden for children,” Lownds explains. “And what she meant by that was an idea that no one else had really had up until that time. She wanted a place like a botanical garden, but one that was for kids so that when you went in it, you didn't just walk in and follow the pathways and all you could do is look at plants...
Jul 30, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 55
“I've been going to MSU football games since I was probably six or seven-years-old,” Beekman says. “And to me, every football season when the band comes out of the tunnel and they do the kick step and they come out in the same sort of way every single year, it just sends a shiver down my spine. To me, that's sort of the first moment to me that you feel like the season’s begun and we're really at a football game. The band is a much larger part of our culture here on campus than many of us maybe e...
Jul 30, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Michigan State University will continue providing much needed assistance to students who are children of migrant farm workers with a U.S. Department of Education grant renewal of more than $2 million. MSU's College Assistance Migrant Program Scholars initiative, better known as CAMP , has served more than a thousand eligible migrant and seasonal farm worker students during its 20 years. The CAMP initiative identifies, recruits, admits and enrolls migrant and seasonal farm worker students and pro...
Jul 29, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Two Spartan alumni are working to empower Black students in Michigan through mentoring and leadership development. Ongoing mentoring relationships have a powerful impact on young people. Research shows that students who have mentors in their lives are 55 percent more likely to enroll in college and 130 percent more likely to hold leadership positions in the future. Rhonda Walker is a 1991 graduate of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, and Detroiters may know her as the co-anchor of ...
Jul 23, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Phil Hart earned master’s and Ph.D. degrees in sociology in 1970 and 1974 respectively from MSU’s College of Social Science. Hart has dedicated his career to studying race in America through the lenses of sociology, urban planning, and social justice. He's authored more than 100 books and articles on race in America and has served as a leader both on campus and around the country on race-related initiatives. Hart talks about his time as a student activist on campus and offers his perspective on ...
Jul 16, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 51
It's always my pleasure to welcome Dennis Martell to the MSU Today microphones. Dennis is executive director of the National Social Norms Center and is in the Health Promotion Department at MSU. And it's great to welcome Monique Mitchell Turner to MSU Today for the first time. Dr. Turner is professor and chair of MSU's renowned Department of Communication . “What's challenging about this situation, Russ, is that in my 35 years of being at MSU, I've never had a situation where we're constantly ch...
Jul 15, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 50
“Sending waste to landfills is more expensive than it seems," a recycling advocate told Michigan lawmakers recently, "It costs money to store and manage trash, it also takes valuable material like plastic and aluminum out of the supply chain and away from manufacturers who could reuse it." Michigan Recycling Coalition Executive Director, Kerrin O'Brien went on to tell legislators that a package of bills recently introduced in the state house aims to reverse that by rewriting Michigan solid waste...
Jul 07, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 48
We're all spending a lot more time in virtual spaces and that's likely to continue well into our future, even as we might be slowly moving back towards more in-person meetings and classes. But virtual spaces aren't void of harassment. Harassment can show up in these spaces of learning and working just like in-person. Here to define and talk about virtual harassment are Lydia Weiss from Michigan State University's Prevention Outreach and Education Department ( POE ), and Erin Martin with MSU’s Of...
Jul 07, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Bill Beekman, Michigan State University vice president and director of athletics, welcomes Barb Kranz to MSU Today. Kranz is the director of Facilities Planning and Space Management at MSU and a person who many people at outside the university may not be familiar with. “But I can assure you that everybody inside the university knows Barb's name because she's the point person on all issues related to space, and space is a very critical issue at a university,” Beekman says. Facilities Planning &am...
Jul 07, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 47
The relative losses have been larger in the Great Lakes region than in any other region in the U.S., and larger in Michigan than in any other state, economists Charles Ballard and John Goddeeris found. They shared results of their work in the latest State of the State Podcast, hosted by MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research in the College of Social Science . The research began a year ago before the coronavirus pandemic and the death of George Floyd focused heightened public atten...
Jun 26, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 46
The major cities include (most of) Lansing, East Lansing, Brighton, Howell, Clarkston, Lake Orion, Rochester, and Rochester Hills. That would include then, of course, Michigan State University. Representative Slotkin describes how September 11 led to her “unusual” and apolitical path to Congress as part of our country’s national security team. She quips that she met her husband in Iraq “where every good girl meets her husband – in Saddam Hussein’s palace.” She explains how ultimately she was mot...
Jun 22, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 45
The task force is acting in an advisory capacity to the governor and studies the causes of racial disparities in the impact of COVID-19 and recommends actions to immediately address such disparities and the historical and systemic inequities that underlie them. There are two Spartans on the task force. Debra Furr-Holden is an epidemiologist and the associate dean for Public Health Integration at Michigan State University and the director of the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions. Randy Ras...
Jun 17, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 44
“We have a family room, where people are often found napping or watching endless YouTube videos, but mostly just hanging out and connecting with one another and finding community because chosen community is so important to us in the LGBTQA+ community. We do a lot of trainings and workshops. “At the end of the day, we affirm that LGBTQA+ people on our campus, and in particular, our students, are perfect and whole and complete exactly as they are. And we celebrate, affirm and empower them.” “We ar...
Jun 16, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Each year honeybee colonies in the United States decline an additional 30 percent, according to research published by the nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership and Apiary Inspectors of America. But did you know honeybees and other pollinators produce more than 30 percent of the world's food supply? Last year, Ford launched a global beekeeping program with honeybee hives at its Dearborn World Headquarters. And now Ford has partnered with Michigan State University to help the university with its Hero...
Jun 16, 2020•12 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Henry Ford Health System and Michigan State University have announced the two organizations have signed a letter of intent (LOI) to significantly expand their long-term partnership, a unique primary affiliation among the first of its kind for the region between a fully integrated academic health system and major state university. Committed to redesigning care around our patients and communities through education, research and clinical care, the enhanced collaboration will focus on radically impr...
Jun 09, 2020•3 min•Season 1Ep. 41
“We’re living during a time of profound hurt and frustration and, for many, a sense of deep disappointment and despair at the state of what’s happening with Black America in our country,” says Stanley. “Our challenges with systemic racism have never been more important to deal with. We need healing. We need people to come together. And we need to have real plans for what we’re going to do to address the problem of racism and the consequences of it for so many people in our nation.” Stanley talks...
Jun 02, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Brand talks about the 2020/2021 schedule at Wharton Center and how it’s been impacted by the pandemic. “As Covid-19 started to look like it was going to take a while to get under control and for a vaccine to be developed, we decided to move our entire fall schedule to the following winter and spring. That gives us more time to prepare our facilities for a safe experience. And now we’re just waiting for the industry to say it’s OK for all the actors and musicians to resume productions. Moving for...
Jun 01, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Coach Knull describes the challenges of coaching her team remotely. And Barker talks about some of her favorite memories playing for the Spartans, like winning the Big Ten Tournament in front of friends and family in her hometown of Columbus Ohio. And she talks about her career path into health and medicine. “Once I found out what a physician’s assistant is and was able to shadow some PAs and get some experience, it resonated with me,” Barker says. “I always knew I was going to go into medicine ...
Jun 01, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Rhonda Walker has been helping Detroiters get motivated and ready for the day with her incredible energy, enthusiasm, impeccable style, and passion for her hometown for the past 20 years. A confessed morning person, this award-winning talented and versatile journalist starts her day at 2:00 a.m. to co-anchor the weekday morning news cast at WDIV Local 4 news, Detroit's NBC affiliate. In 2003, Walker founded the Rhonda Walker Foundation. “The mission is to empower inner city teen girls towards be...
May 28, 2020•15 min•Season 1Ep. 37
“If someone Googles MSU CAPS, they might see an advertisement to buy a baseball cap,” Patishnock quips. “Actually it's what we're commonly known as. Counseling and Psychiatric Services is the primary mental health service for all MSU students. We are charged with being accessible and providing quality care to all 50,000 plus enrolled students. We have a bevy of resources, and we're here for students and faculty.” Patishnock and the CAPS team have created a Summer Care Kit for our growth and well...
May 22, 2020•15 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Claudia Finkelstein is the Director of Wellness, Resilience and Vulnerable Populations. Jennifer Johnson is the C.S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health and Professor of OB/GYN, Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine. And Julia Felton is Assistant Professor in the Division of Public Health and Pediatrics and Human Development. “It's a very different experience for many different people, depending on how their lives were before and during the pandemic,” Finkelstein says. “There's a pervasive sens...
May 21, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 35
“Forgotten Harvest is Southeast Michigan's food rescue organization,” Mayes says. “Our specialty is to find food from groceries, food manufacturers, agricultural outlets, anywhere we can find it that would've actually ended up going to waste because it doesn't meet the manufacturer's specs or doesn't meet the retail specs. Then we turn it around and give it to about 250 organizations in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb County for free.” Mayes says two challenges to the mission during the pandemic are ...
May 12, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Michael and his partners at Gypsy Vodka take a community first approach to their business. They've routinely donated their hand sanitizers to hospitals, healthcare facilities, and first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 effort in the greater Petoskey area. “We were following the COVID-19 situation pretty closely,” Kazanowski says. “We're in a small town, and everyone works with one another and sticks together. We started hearing from doctors and nurses at the hospital that they were ...
May 12, 2020•11 min•Season 1Ep. 33
“The MSU Broad has a tremendous reputation in the art world,” she says. “The contemporary art programs they do are absolutely top notch. The staff is very talented and professional.” Ramírez-Montagut brings nearly 20 years of arts and culture experience to the MSU Broad, in addition to her background as a trained architect. Throughout her extensive career, her approach to art is known for being both publicly engaged and socially conscious. “Being trained as an architect affords me the perspectiv...
May 08, 2020•14 min•Season 1Ep. 32
