The State News

Taking the plunge of study abroad brings about many events and emotions for students and packing a pair of headphones can help bring you back to surface. Music can serve as a soundtrack to battling the chaos of travel, transit, countless tourists and complicated feelings.

The State News has compiled a playlist of songs to accompany that journey as students navigate long rides on public transportation, take day trips, visit famous landmarks and settle into their new home away from home.

5 songs to add to your study abroad playlist this summer - The State News This five-track assortment was selected to accompany the adventure of going abroad and provide a backdrop for the life-changing trip that you are bound to reference for the rest of time.

On Friday, June 12, Michigan State University Board of Trustees intensified its debate over recent changes to its code of conduct. I watched as five of the eight board members ultimately decided to censor two of their fellow trustees for failing to sign on to their new free-speech destroying litmus test. I was less surprised that these rules were being enforced than I was that five trustees seemed to have no concept of how representative government works.

The through-line arguments for the changes, primarily made by trustees Rebecca Bahar-Cook and Renee Knake Jefferson, were twofold. First, that it is a “governing body governing itself,” preventing the minority from being able to challenge majority decisions in the name of unity; that trustees have a “duty of loyalty to the university.” Second, from Jefferson, that she (and the MSU Board of Trustees) is not beholden to the voters of Michigan. At least in part, the board does not understand its most basic duty: to represent the taxpayers of Michigan.

GUEST COMMENTARY: MSU Board of Trustees' censure vote sets troubling precedent - The State News Our system is built on the idea that the people give power to the government. Five of the members fail to grasp this and seem to purport that, once elected, trustees should become cogs in the system, unable to bring issues with it to public light. If we allow this model to become normalized in our c...

Education doesn't stop behind prison walls. Through Michigan State University's Write On! program, undergraduate students travel to Parnall Correctional Facility to assist incarcerated college students with writing.

Students enrolled in one of MSU’s WRA 491 special topics classes are driven 36 miles to Parnall by Professor Kirk Astle each week to aid incarcerated students in their various writing endeavors, hold workshops and peer review sessions.

MSU students cross prison walls for a different kind of classroom - The State News Through Michigan State University's Write On! program, undergraduate students help assist incarcerated college students with writing.

President Kevin Guskiewicz's decision to stay at Michigan State University comes with a newly extended contract extending his presidency through 2031, a $1.5 million salary and added benefits such as private jet travel, as he seeks to rebuild trust with faculty and the broader campus community.

On Monday, Guskiewicz rescinded his May announcement that he would be taking the top job at Clemson University, saying he would remain MSU's president following a “period of deep personal reflection.”

In a community letter sent the same day, Guskiewicz said he was “sincerely sorry” for any uncertainty he created.

MSU rewards Guskiewicz for staying as faculty remain split - The State News The president's new contract comes days after he reversed course on Clemson, prompting both praise and skepticism across campus.