MSU Fencing Team practices for tournament

An MSU fencer stands in the en garde position as they wait for their opponent

Michigan State Table Tennis Team returns after hiatus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkh_q7WeAPg

After being on hiatus for a few years, the Michigan State University Table Tennis team has returned.

Mike Mehl, an accounting senior and treasurer of the club, said that after playing table tennis with some friends over the summer, he was interested in trying to get the club started up again.

“We found out that there was a club a couple years back and we contacted some of the administrators from that club,” he said.

Now the club, about 25 members strong, meets every Monday and Wednesday in IM West. The team finished fourth at the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association’s Ohio Division Tournament.

Finance freshman Jingting (Sammy) Hu faired well at the regional tournament, finishing 4-2 in his first NCTTA tournament.

Hu learned to play table tennis in primary school in China and says he was surprised when he came to MSU to find that a lot of Americans enjoy table tennis.

“I think playing in America is very good, (it’s) just for fun. We don’t have any pressure,” Hu said.

The club is currently practicing for another regional tournament at the end of the month and Mehl hopes that a good finish there will be enough to qualify the team for the national tournament.

“We got some really good players this year. We placed fourth last semester and hoping to finish first or second in the one coming up,” Mehl said.

For those interested in joining the team, the club has open membership and encourages players to join. Mehl said that the team has grown pretty rapidly in membership and hopes that it will continue to grow.

I think the biggest thing about the table tennis club is that anyone can play, it doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter if you’re in shape, you can just come hang out and have fun,” he said.

For more on the MSU Table Tennis team visit the team’s Web Site or check them out on Facebook.

MSU Students and Faculty React to MSU Hockey Incident

The MSU hockey team has the been the subject of local headlines this week, after an incident last Saturday. During the final minute of a 5-3 loss to Michigan, U-M’s Steve Kampfer hit MSU forward Corey Tropp will a legal open ice check. MSU forward Andrew Conboy then went after Kampfer, sending him down to the ice while Tropp came over and slashed Kampfer in the neck area. Two days later Conboy and Tropp were suspended for the season. MSU faculty and students reacted to the news.

Shot sequence- MSU Dairy Store

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtsD7f3eA3U

Michigan State’s Brody Complex prepares for major renovations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmNZAx2nOAM

In preparation for major renovations which will reshape its landscape, the Brody Complex at Michigan State University has begun making adjustments to its facilities.

The first phase of the renovation will begin in the first floor Brody Hall, where many of the things students are used to seeing will no longer be there.

“We’re still adjusting to the changes, emptying out the first floor of Brody was the prime responsibility because that’s where the work is going to begin,” Brody Housing Manager Tim Knight said.

Sparty’s convenience store, the first floor classrooms and the University Housing office are among the usual mainstays that have been moved. Classes won’t be held in Brody Hall until 2011.

The University Housing Office for instance, has moved to the first floor guest area of Butterfield Hall. The Residence Hall Association movie office is now in the Rather Hall music room.

Brody Complex is one of MSU’s oldest dormitory areas and was built between 1954 and 1956. Knight says construction for the entire complex will be done around 2017.

After the renovations to the first floor of Brody Hall, the cafeteria will also be worked on and remodeled to resemble the university’s newer eateries like the Gallery at Snyder-Philips Hall.

Though Brody Complex boasts a large cafeteria with several food options, political science senior Chris Fort says it leaves a little bit to be desired.

“They do something that’s like Snyder, with different choices for food, but they don’t have the facilities that Snyder has so sometimes the food is cold,” he said.

Knight says that even with all the changes, students seem to be adjusting well to the slight transformations of the complex, although he says that some still walk around Brody Hall expecting to see things in their familiar spots.

“We’ve got some students aware of where we were, and then they told others, but we still find students wandering around the first floor of Brody going, ‘where is everything?’”

MSU senior James Andersen takes JRN 400 class to expand knowledge of multi-media journalism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08ZPR6yVeS4

My name is James Andersen and I am a 20-year old journalism senior at Michigan State University. I hail from Southfield, Michigan, which is just outside Detroit. My Dad helped me develop an interest for writing at a young age and I’ve been pursuing journalism since I was about 15. Before coming to MSU, I wrote my high school paper and served as editor and chief.

When I came to MSU, I wrote for SpartanEdge.com my freshman year before moving onto The State News during my sophomore year. I’m taking JRN 400 mainly to make myself more marketable as a journalist. In today’s world of journalism, everything is multi-media and internet oriented. Journalists are expected to be able to snap photos, take video and write stories, so this class will definitely help someone like me who hasn’t has much experience in photo and video shooting.

After graduation, I’m hoping to go into some kind of print journalism, whether it is newspaper, magazine, online writing etc. My ideal journalism job is some kind of sports writing position, but I’m also open to the idea of doing some other type of writing such as news. Whatever happens in journalism, I’m interested in the changes and challenges I’m sure to face in the coming years.

Feel free to get in contact with me through any of the following sites:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1263840022&ref=profile

Twitter: http://twitter.com/JamesAndersen

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/andersenjames1