Albert EL Fresco: Making downtown East Lansing a place for people

Community members can look forward to the return of the pedestrian-friendly area in downtown East Lansing known as Albert EL Fresco.

The grand opening of Albert EL Fresco will take place on Thursday, May 12, and will feature performers, games and giveaways to help kick off the summer of activities.

Both lanes of Albert Avenue will be closed between Abbot Road and M.A.C. Avenue to make room for the space. Picnic tables, rocking chairs and hammocks will be available, in addition to games like cornhole and giant Connect 4.

Take-out food and non-alcoholic beverages can also be enjoyed in the space. Matt Apostle, community and economic development specialist for the City of East Lansing, said community members can expect weekly events at Albert EL Fresco like game nights, live performances and collaborations with local businesses.

He said the project represents a larger effort to bring more people to downtown East Lansing. “Getting people in the streets and making downtown a place for people versus a place for cars has been a big effort,” Apostle said. “When you bring people downtown, a presumption would be that they’re more likely to patronize our downtown local business.”

The Albert EL Fresco space will be open until Sept. 11, meaning that even students who don’t live in East Lansing during the summer will still be able to enjoy the space for a few weeks once they get back on campus.

MSU researcher says light therapy may improve sleep quality for cancer survivors

Michigan State University research says light therapy may improve sleep quality for cancer survivors.

College of Nursing Associate Professor Horng-Shiuann Wu noticed that her breast cancer patients were fatigued during the day, but still had trouble sleeping at night.

Fatigue is one of the most common side effects of cancer and it may occur both during treatment and long after, according to a 2014 study done by Dr. Julienne E. Bower.

Sleep issues are common among cancer survivors, with more than a third experiencing significant residual symptoms after treatment completion.

It is hypothesized that these sleep problems could be related to cancer’s effects on the body’s circadian rhythm, the cycle that tells the body when to go to sleep and when to wake up, as cancer is known to disrupt circadian rhythm and over time, this disruption could cause a cumulative effect.

Inspired by her colleague who was using light therapy to help Alzheimer’s patients in nursing homes reset their circadian rhythm, Wu wondered if the same treatment could help her patients not only with sleep issues but also with other residual cancer symptoms, specifically depression and cognitive dysfunction.

She created a study that would monitor the effects of a chrono typically tailored light therapy on fatigue and sleep disruption in female stage I to III breast cancer survivors 1-3 years after completion of chemotherapy or radiation.

For the study, each patient was given a light therapy visor to wear for 30 minutes a day for two weeks.

The visor used the highest intensity light within the blue-green spectrum, as blue-green light has proven effective in resetting circadian rhythms.

MSU baseball suffers series sweep to rival Michigan

Michigan State baseball continued their struggles against rival Michigan, suffering a series sweep including two blowout losses.

The Spartans found themselves trying to dig out of quite a hole in Saturday’s game after the Wolverines busted it open with a five-run inning. They ultimately lost 8-2.

The Spartans gave it everything they had in Sunday’s game to avoid the sweep, but to no avail. Michigan stayed hot, winning 6-3 and ultimately taking the series.

They’ll look to bounce back when they take on the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at home on Tuesday.

Based on original reporting by Finn Hopkins, Madison Rose and Jenna Malinowski. Script by Shakyra Mabone.