Ferris State University spends extra money to keep cam­pus clean

Ferris State University spends a large amount of money every week to main­tain a litter-free cam­pus, which has war­ranted con­cern from many.

According to Mike Hughes, Associate Vice President of the Ferris State University Physical Plant, the uni­ver­sity spends approx­i­mately $1,000 every week on labor to pick up all of the trash on campus.

Ferris’ grounds crew, which includes stu­dent work­ers, spends the first hour of every day pick­ing up trash around the cam­pus. These work­ers begin their trash pickup at 7 a.m. before the cam­pus gets busy to min­i­mize the amount of garbage peo­ple will see. (more…)

The hol­i­days are a sea­son of dras­tic change and upheaval from our reg­u­lar lives.

School comes to a close, final grades are posted. We leave col­lege friends to reunite with our old friends and con­tinue to par­tic­i­pate in var­i­ous fam­ily tra­di­tions from gift giv­ing to car­ol­ing and every­thing in between that makes up the spirit of the sea­son. Come January we’ll charge our­selves with a res­o­lu­tion for the next year.

With all of this activ­ity, it can be stress­ful. We all share, at some level, in that weari­ness that the hol­i­days can bring. But it’s impor­tant to remem­ber a few things.

As we come together with those we love to eat, drink and be merry we need to be safe. While bear­ing in mind that over­do­ing it one night only makes it more dif­fi­cult to cel­e­brate prop­erly the next.

Don’t miss an oppor­tu­nity to make your affec­tion known. Mistletoe or not, who knows what could hap­pen in a year.

Most impor­tantly, this is a time for cel­e­brat­ing. Wasting a minute being unhappy, angry, stressed or bored is just unac­cept­able. For the next three weeks you are free to be pam­pered by par­ents, rem­i­nis­cent with friends and devoid of many adult responsibilities.

From all of us at The Ferris State Torch, good luck on exams, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.

The Ferris hockey team is ranked 13th in the nation after two vic­to­ries this weekend

The Ferris State hockey team is ranked 13th in the nation after a sweep of the then No. 18 nation­ally ranked Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks.

The team is unbeaten in its pre­vi­ous eight games, includ­ing two shootout vic­to­ries over No. 1 Miami University. The Bulldogs improved to 10−0−0 at home this sea­son with its fifth con­sec­u­tive sweep at Ewigleben Ice Arena.

The Bulldogs are 11−3−2 over­all this sea­son and 6−2−2−2 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). Ferris earned six points in the con­fer­ence over the week­end is now third in the CCHA stand­ings with 22 points.

Ferris defeated Nebraska-Omaha shut out Nebraska-Omaha 2–0 on Friday night. Sophomore goalie Taylor Nelson recorded his first shutout of the sea­son for the Bulldogs as he saved all 28 shots he faced. Sophomore defense­man Brett Wysopal said the team con­tin­ues to play hard each day.

Oprah Winfrey is on the move; are you prepared?

Editors note: Due to the mag­ni­tude of Oprah Winfrey’s grasp on seem­ingly every facet of the media as well as her influ­ence in the per­sonal lives of mil­lions of peo­ple, she will be referred to as “The Oprah” through­out this arti­cle. A title, rather than just her name, bet­ter con­veys her omi­nous pres­ence.
On Nov. 19, rumors that Oprah Winfrey was step­ping down as talk show host were con­firmed by her pro­duc­tion com­pany, Harpo.

The Oprah, who has played the role of TV show host in some form or another for over 25 years is call­ing it quits in 2011.

Besides ABC freak­ing out about the announce­ment and already scour­ing the enter­tain­ment com­mu­nity for a suit­able filler for her time slot, I can imag­ine that middle-aged women every­where are in a tizzy. (more…)

Candy Gram Fundraiser

Ferris STARs is hav­ing its annual Candy Gram Fundraiser. Send a per­son­al­ized mes­sage to wish some­one good luck on their exams or let them know you’re think­ing about them. Candy Grams are $1 and all pro­ceeds will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Ferris STARs will be in the Rankin Atrium and the IRC Connector from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 7 to 9. For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact Brittnay Gillett at gilletb@ferris.edu.

Warm Up with a Cup

On Dec. 9 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Student Government is team­ing up with Dining Services to bring a day of warmth. There will be tables set up in front of the IRC and in the quad that will be serv­ing cups of hot choco­late and hot apple cider for $1. Names will be entered in a draw­ing to win prizes at the end of the day. Six tick­ets can also be pur­chased for $5. All pro­ceeds will go to the United Way cam­paign. For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact Danielle Balmer at balmerd@ferris.edu. (more…)

“Thanks to every­one for par­tic­i­pat­ing,” said Liz Cottrell, stu­dent gov­ern­ment event coor­di­na­tor. “This will mean a lot to fam­i­lies in need.”

A total of 30 cam­pus orga­ni­za­tions, includ­ing every res­i­dence hall, par­tic­i­pated in the food drive that began Nov. 9. All pro­ceeds will be donated to Project Starburst and the greater Big Rapids area.

According to Western Michigan Food Banks, over 38 mil­lion Americans do not have enough to eat. Western Michigan Food Banks are also antic­i­pat­ing a multi-million pound short­fall between the need for food and food inven­to­ries this year.

Students, fac­ulty, and res­i­dents brought non-perishable food items to var­i­ous loca­tions includ­ing the stu­dent gov­ern­ment office, Rec Center, Timme Center, and FLITE dona­tion boxes. (more…)

A round-up of the past two weeks of crime on the FSU campus

Smelly Substance

On Dec. 2 at 10 p.m., offi­cers assisted hall staff with a mar­i­juana com­plaint in Ward Hall. Three stu­dents were referred to the Office of Student Conduct.

Marijuana Complaint

On Dec. 3 at 1 a.m., offi­cers assisted hall staff in Bond Hall with a mar­i­juana com­plaint. Three stu­dents were referred to the Office of Student Conduct.

Car/Pedestrian Accident

On Dec. 1 at 9:25 a.m., offi­cers assisted the city police with a hit and run car/pedestrian acci­dent at Perry and State Street. A stu­dent was cross­ing on East State Street walk­ing south bound when they were struck by a vehi­cle mak­ing a left turn into cam­pus. The dri­ver fled the scene with­out being iden­ti­fied. Anyone with infor­ma­tion please con­tact the Department of Public Safety at 231−591−5000. (more…)

Ted Evans is the cre­ator of the work being fea­tured in the gallery. He is from Vancouver, British Colombia and moved to Michigan to become the Director for Artworks in down­town Big Rapids. He is cur­rently a full time stu­dio artist.

Evans received his bach­e­lors degree in fine arts at the Emily Carr Institute of Fine Art and Design. He went on to attend the University of Windsor, Ontario where he earned his mas­ters degree in fine art.

Carrie Weis, Rankin Art Gallery Director, said, “Ted is a con­cep­tual artist and his work addresses the idea of ‘dwelling,’ a state of being or a loca­tion to be lived in and observed.” (more…)

University College and the SCHOLAR Program are hop­ing to coor­di­nate a Students with Children Network

University College and the SCHOLAR Program have been work­ing col­lab­o­ra­tively over the fall semes­ter to address the needs of Ferris stu­dents with children.

Karen GreenBay, coor­di­na­tor of the Socio-Cultural Holistic Learning and Retention (SCHOLAR) Peer Mentor Program and William Potter, Dean of the University College, are work­ing together to coor­di­nate the prospec­tive Students with Children (SWC) Network.

“The major goal for imple­ment­ing this net­work is to attract, engage, and retain stu­dents with chil­dren who are enter­ing or return­ing to col­lege,” said GreenBay. (more…)