Tattooing has been an art form and means of expres­sion through­out his­tory. However, the trend of tat­too­ing has taken on a whole new means of expression.

Colorful arm sleeves and elab­o­rate back art are now replac­ing small tat­toos. Areas once thought as for­bid­den for body ink are now accept­able places for mark­ing. The idea of “it’s alright as long as no one sees it” has become a thought of the past. Facial tat­toos, hand art and stretched ear­lobe plugs are part of a sub­cul­ture influ­enced by self-expression and fash­ion. (more…)

February is African-American his­tory month and Ferris State University stu­dents and staff mem­bers are putting on events to acknowl­edge the achieve­ments of Black Americans through­out his­tory. These include dis­cus­sions on the Black urban rebel­lions of the 1960’s, the story of the Greensboro four and a look into the social impact of Idlewild.

As a cam­pus com­mu­nity made of stu­dents from dif­fer­ent eth­nic back­grounds and beliefs, col­lege should be an oppor­tu­nity to learn racial accep­tance and become edu­cated on the dif­fer­ences of oth­ers. (more…)

A com­mon phrase spo­ken by Ferris State University stu­dents is “I never have enough time.” For most col­lege stu­dents, after the assign­ment dead­lines and text­book read­ing, any spare time is spent rest­ing up for the next day’s rou­tine of rushing.

Though it appears either our days are get­ting shorter or our respon­si­bil­i­ties are over­whelm­ing, we can­not ignore the amount of time we spend con­sumed in the lives of oth­ers. (more…)

Any Ferris State University stu­dent watch­ing the news can see a large amount of polit­i­cal cov­er­age and social action.

From web­site blocks and occupy move­ments to another pres­i­den­tial elec­tion, we are wit­ness­ing a promi­nent power-struggle between every­day peo­ple and gov­ern­ment. Controversial bills such as the Stop Online Piracy Act seem to have Americans fear­ful of a poten­tial George Orwell “1984” future soci­ety. (more…)

A deci­sion to can­cel classes at Ferris State University dur­ing the recent bomb threat would have been an inap­pro­pri­ate method of ensur­ing cam­pus security.

Shortly after being informed of the bomb threat via phone mes­sage at the Timme Center for Student Services’ Business Office, pub­lic safety offi­cials began inves­ti­gat­ing cam­pus build­ings. After a com­plete inves­ti­ga­tion of cam­pus build­ings, uni­ver­sity offi­cials did not find any evi­dence of explo­sives nor did they receive any more com­mu­ni­ca­tion regard­ing the bomb threat. (more…)

With the first week of classes over, I hope Ferris State University stu­dents are get­ting set­tled in the rou­tine of class work and quizzes. In addi­tion to a new semes­ter of classes, the uni­ver­sity has begun work­ing to cre­ate a series of new cam­pus events.

Throughout cam­pus a num­ber of stu­dents and staff are work­ing together to put on Ferris’ annual “Carrying on the Dream” MLK cel­e­bra­tion. No mat­ter how we choose to get involved in the cel­e­bra­tion, the most impor­tant idea is acknowl­edg­ing the influ­ence Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has made in our per­sonal lives. (more…)

Ferris State University crim­i­nal jus­tice grad­u­ate Clarence Tariq Hammond III was shot and killed in a botched rob­bery near his home in Madison Heights.

The shoot­ing occurred Jan. 14 at approx­i­mately 12:30 a.m. in the park­ing lot of his apart­ment com­plex. Graduating in 2001, 33-year-old Hammond worked as a state prison cor­rec­tions offi­cer. (more…)

It’s become a tra­di­tion to have a res­o­lu­tion step­ping into a new year. New Year’s res­o­lu­tions sig­nify per­sonal growth and change in the lives of mil­lions of peo­ple. 2012 is already shap­ing up to become a year of change. The coun­try is prepar­ing for another United States pres­i­den­tial elec­tion, Kim Jong-un is the newly appointed leader of North Korea and the Mayan spec­u­la­tion of dooms­day is still loom­ing in the back of people’s minds. (more…)

Jim Crank, FSU grad­u­ate and owner of Cranker’s Coney Island, said the deci­sion to cre­ate a micro­brew­ery in Big Rapids came from a desire to expand the local cul­ture in the com­mu­nity. (more…)

Ferris State University’s Physical Plant and Consumers Energy have sched­uled a campus-wide power out­age for Dec. 23, 2011.

The power out­age will occur around 9:00 a.m. with power expect­ing to be restored to the pri­mary switchgear within 4–6 hours. Power will be fully restored to the cam­pus on or before 8:00 p.m. (more…)