The State – 11/18/22

Rachel Fulton


Today’s weather forecast is predicting cloudy with snow with a high of 32 degrees and a low of 18 degrees. For the weekend, both Saturday and Sunday look to be in the high 20’s with Saturday possibly bringing snow and Sunday with a mix of clouds and sun.


‘What a great ride it’s been,’ MSU seniors prepare for one last game at Spartan Stadium

Michigan State football’s matchup with Indiana already has a deeper meaning behind it. In addition to granting bowl eligibility should MSU come away with the win, Saturday’s game will also serve as senior day for the Spartans.

The graduating class has certainly been through more than they bargained for when they signed as recruits. They’ve had their share of ups and downs such as coaching changes as well as the COVID-19 pandemic that forced changes to day-to-day football operations.

Now, as their time as players comes to an end, the team is preparing to send them off in the best way they can.

“It’ll be a good wrap on their career, last one here,” redshirt junior quarterback Payton Thorne said. “We’re looking to send them out the right way so we gotta prepare this week in a good way in order to do that and then have a good time with these guys on Saturday.”

Despite having one year of eligibility left, redshirt senior linebacker Ben VanSumeren will be one of the players honored Saturday, having made the decision a few weeks ago that this season will be his last.

Although he’s aware the pregame honors sometimes become emotional, preparation for the matchup remains the same.

Redshirt senior running back Elijah Collins said, “It’s kind of crazy, I kind of remember the first day that I came on visit and I was standing up here and there was a podium right here and I just remember thinking about all the possible chances after games speaking and stuff like that and now those moments happened and it’s like it’s coming to an end. What a great ride it’s been, just enjoyed the whole thing.”

Despite the emotions that come with playing at home in front of fans for the last time, they are currently in the hunt for bowl eligibility. A win over either Indiana or Penn State would automatically qualify MSU for a bowl game.


MSU library and surplus store team up for sustainable Clothing Repair-a-Thon

On Tuesday students and community members gathered on the second floor of MSU’s main library for a Clothing Repair-a-Thon. The event aimed to educate attendees on how repairing their old items could reduce garment waste and make clothes more unique in the process.

The event was a collaboration between the MSU Library’s Makerspace and the MSU Surplus Store. The Makerspace provided sewing machines, needles, thread and a space for the event. The Surplus Store – the retailer where MSU sells used and unneeded furniture and apparel – provided tattered garments and fabric for students to mend or combine into something wholly new.

The largest focus of the event was visible mending. Based on Japanese tradition and growing in popularity across the world, it’s a type of mending that adds patterns and designs to holes and rips in clothing.

Attendees learned to add designs and even new patterns and fabrics in their mending.

Fueled by social media, thrifted clothing has exploded into mainstream popularity in recent years and is just one of the ways organizers of the event hope students can make more sustainable fashion choices.


Environmental student, researcher and activist has hope for a more sustainable MSU future

At 14 years old, environmental studies and sustainability senior Lauren Sawyer went on a backpacking trip in Washington. As she made her way across the region – which has, in recent years, been hit hard by heatwaves, wildfires and the requisite poor air-quality – she began learning about climate change and its effects.

But as she grew older, her experiences gave her a more nuanced view of what climate activism can look like.

With this crisis in mind, Sawyer found herself becoming an activist who views climate issues through an intersectional lens. She believes that more of the conversation about climate change needs to center on climate justice, with an understanding that a warming Earth will disproportionately hurt disadvantaged communities.

At MSU, she’s a member of the Student Sustainability Leadership Council, Honors College, Bailey Hall Government, Committee on Undergraduate Education and MSU chapter of the Sierra Club.

Sawyer said her generation is empowered by social media, connected to the issues and each other in ways other generations couldn’t be.

Like many in her graduating class, Sawyer feels much of her Spartan experience was “gutted” by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left her especially sad to be moving on. However, she is optimistic about where her work will take her next.

“I think we all have a part to play,” she said. “I think we all have a responsibility to take care of the earth and to undo wrongdoings.”


Based on original reporting by Jenna Malinowski and Alex Walters.


To end our last episode of the week, here are a few announcements!

Here is the MSU Home Athletic line-up for the weekend…

Today

  • Men’s basketball will go against Villanova at 8 P.M. at the Breslin Center.

Tomorrow

  • Football will be taking on Indiana at 12 P.M. at Spartan Stadium and is scheduled to air on the Big Ten Network.

For our last announcement, due to Michigan State University’s Thanksgiving break occurring next Thursday and Friday, next week’s episodes will air Monday-Wednesday only.