Some MSU teams find success

MSU Football team Shared the title of Big ten champs. Women’s basketball recently took home the title as Big Ten champs. But there are other programs on MSU’s athletic team that, although often hidden from the spotlight, that have had their share of success.

Women’s Cross Country and Track and field have both found their stride on the big ten and national stage in recent seasons.

Women’s cross country raced passed competitors in the 2010 fall season placing high among their others teams throughout the regular season. 

However, when post season began, the team turned up the heat by topping the podium at the Big Ten Cross Country championship  with a first place finish by Senior Emily MacLeod. 

They followed up their victory at Big Ten’s by taking top honors at NCAA Great Lakes Regional with another first place finish from MacLeod. 

The Women’s Track and Field showed a strong indoor season with three first place finishes, including two from Emily MacLeod  and many top ten finishes at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships and a fourth place finish 

Both teams were together ranked recently by the USTFCCCA as 21st in the nation. 

Colleges scraping away food waste

The world of buffet style cafeterias and "late night" options can be a college kids dream come true, but may be adding to food waste numbers across the nation, not to mention the waistline of students.
Many colleges in the US have decided to take the tray-less approach as a way to save money and cut this food waste epidemic.
Going tray-less can have multiple benefits including reduced chemical use from washing the trays, reduced overhead costs from buying new trays and less food waste.
Trays were invented as a tool to help students cary more food and helping to make less trips. These days, however, they are contributing to, in addition to food waste, laziness and obesity.
By opting out of the tray and taking just what you need, knowing you can come back for seconds if need be, could help students health, and cut down on waste and money spent for the dining halls, says Carla Lansiti.

Whats left on your plate?

Have you ever been to a buffet or a cafeteria where you can't quite seem to narrow down your options, opting to just sample it all and are left with a pile of food untouched?
You are not alone! 
According to data found by anthropologist, Timothy Jones, 40% of all food produced goes uneaten. 
Americans waste about an average of 1 pound of food a day.
Saving only five percent of leftovers in the US households could feed four million people a day, according Suite101.com.  
Here at Michigan State University, Residential Dining Halls are trying to do combat this problem, Culinary Services Sustainability Officer Carla Lansiti said.
Some of these methods include serving smaller portions, providing educational resources and offering volunteer tray-less options. 
MSU already has one tray-less cafeteria, Yakeley dining hall.
Not all cafeterias, however, can afford to go tray-less due to size and traffic of students, Lansiti said. 
Shaw hall, at the center of campus sees a lot of traffic during the day due to location and can serve up to 1000 people in one hour, said Lansiti. 

I love cake

Party was a success. Kids had fun and I have cake coming out of my ears plus leftovers to bring back to the roomies. I'm hoping it will be a good bribing tool.
It was a blast being "Uncle Elliot" for the afternoon because I'm away at school most of the time.
Madisyn was struttin' the toothless look as she lost 5 teeth in the last month. Lucky for her the tooth fairy brings $2 for every tooth. Looks like she's more generous these days. According to my niece, since the she has lost her teeth, she can't say "thistle" anymore. (didn't know 6 year olds said had to say thistle a lot haha) My nephew was very pumped for the day and greeted everyone at the door and showed off his favorite action figure.
About 20 people showed up for the big "horrah", and now the kids have a whole new set of toys as you can imagine.
We feasted on subway and my mom's famous chicken chili.
The biggest surprise was the cakes. This year the kids decorated the cakes, not my sister. They were still delicious. I mean you can go wrong with cake and ice cream.
The kids favorite gifts were for ballet shoes and a tutu for Madisyn and a Toys story remote control car for Landon.
All and all it was a great day, but I can't believe they are another year older.
Have a great day!

It's birthday season!

Come March, my family starts to gear up for the two "biggest" days of the year. You might say "Christmas is not in march!" and your right it isn't Christmas. It's my niece and nephews birthday party... Sadly my birthday got booted off the "biggest day of the year list" when these two tykes came along, but nows not the time to steal their thunder ;) . The whole family gathers for one day of combined fun for these two's birthday. The big bash is this Saturday and the stars of the show are Landon (left) and Madisyn (right). Landon turns the big 4 and Madisyn turns 6. What I'm looking forward to the most (outside of seeing the joy of these two seeing me walk through the door haha) is seeing and EATING my sister's cake. She loves making cakes for these types of occasions. She doesn't dilly dally around when it comes to their birthday cakes. Last year, she made a princess and cars cake. Let the partying begin!