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The ultimate cost of the war in Ukraine: “It’s never just about that one place,” U.S Rep. Elissa Slotkin speaks out

U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin of Michigan’s eighth congressional district spoke to town hall attendees about the importance of military, financial and humanitarian support for Ukraine on Sept. 1.

The town hall was hosted in collaboration with the Ukrainian-American Crisis Response Committee of Michigan, Michigan State University’s Ukrainian Students Organization and the MSU Center for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies or CERES.

She said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the most bipartisan issue she’s worked on in Congress and this bipartisanship played an important role in pushing President Joe Biden’s administration further than they originally planned.

In July, Slotkin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine with a small bipartisan delegation.

“This is a leader who is meeting the moment for his country,” Slotkin said. “It is a country in war … and this is a man who despite having a very unusual history in getting him to the presidency, has risen to the occasion.”

Although there is no direct American presence in Ukraine, Slotkin said the war is personal for Michiganders and Americans. She said if the U.S. doesn’t stop an authoritarian government from attacking neighboring democracies, it will “pay now or pay later.”

Lansing-area Chipotle becomes first in nation to unionize

The Chipotle on West Saginaw Highway in Lansing is now the first unionized branch of the chain in the country after a vote on August 25th.

The branch’s employees filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, on July 5.

The affirmative vote to join Teamsters Local 243 comes amid a wave of unionization efforts in chain establishments in Lansing and across the country. In June, three Lansing-area Starbucks locations voted to unionize.

“Today’s victory is an amazing moment for our team that has worked so hard and spent many months organizing,” said crew member Samantha Smith in the statement. “We set out to show that our generation can make substantial change in this world and improve our working conditions by taking action collectively.”

The NLRB has documented 13 other Chipotle locations in the midst of unionization efforts, all in New York and Maine.

IM Sports: What’s available, how to play

This year at Michigan State, things are back in full swing at IM West, IM East and IM Circle for IM Sports after being off in 2020-21 and with restrictions in 2021-22 with masks and other precautions.

“We’re going full bore,” Assistant Director of Recreational Sports and Fitness Services Ross Winter said. “Last year, we played all of our outdoor activities in the fall, full bore. We started with masks in the spring semester, but that got removed later on. We dealt with that as it went on. We don’t anticipate any hang-ups this semester or this year either.”

The cost of participation is relatively low at $10 a person and $25 to enter as a team, in addition to the $10 individual cost.

You can participate in activities such as tennis, indoor and sand volleyball, basketball, soccer, and more!

Visit The State News website for the full rundown of everything IM Sports at MSU will be offering this fall for students.

Based on original reporting by Wajeeha Kamal, Lily Guiney, and Eli Mckown.