ASMSU proposed bill advocates for MSU to transition from fossil fuels to renewables – Anastasia Pirrami: Last Thursday, ASMSU held several committee meetings discussing bills that will be voted on in the upcoming General Assembly meeting. After the three committees, Finance, Academic and Policy, all of which discussed their own agendas. The Policy Committee discussed 18 proposed bills, one of which being Bill 57-89 Divest from Fossil Fuels. Bill 57-89 is the first step towards Bill 57-45, which committed ASMSU to declare a climate emergency and advocated that the University do the same. Bill 57-45 was approved by the ASMSU General Assembly in December of last year. Bill 57-89 will advocate for Michigan State University to step away from the use of fossil fuels. The MSU Energy Transition Plan and the MSU Energy Transition Steering Committee (ETSC) proposed that the university transition to 100% renewable energy.

UK coronavirus variant detected at Michigan State University – Sara Tidwell: Via email, President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. stated that Michigan State University confirmed the presence of the B.1.1.7. coronavirus variant in East Lansing on Tuesday. It is important to note that viruses are always mutating and this can often lead to new variants of COVID-19. The B.1.1.7. strain of coronavirus, which originated in the United Kingdom, has been called more contagious and more likely to cause severe symptoms in early studies, according to Stanley’s announcement. There are 616 active cases of the U.K. variant in Michigan, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Petition asks to let summer graduates walk at spring commencement: – Wendy Guzman: In early March Michigan State University announced that Summer 2021 graduates would not be able to participate in the upcoming spring graduation ceremony, despite historically being able to, due to COVID limitations. Since MSU announced this after the deadline to register for classes for the Spring 2021 semester, many students were outraged due to the fact that they were no longer able to adjust their schedule and add their summer classes to their spring semester, making them eligible for the Spring ceremony. This sparked a petition to allow Summer graduates to walk in the Spring 2021 ceremony. As of March 15th, the petition has gained over 1,400 signatures.

Script writer: Kelly Winters

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