Landon Hall just went under the renovation knife as it begins its complete internal makeover, slated to finish in August 2014. The residence hall, built in 1947, will have various new features added to the resident rooms in addition to a dramatic transformation within the dining hall.
After being established last year, the Michigan Angel Fund, a $2 million professionally managed account geared toward helping new Michigan businesses, has given its first funding venture, according to MSU Today. BioPhotonic Solutions Inc., or BSI, is a spin-off of MSU created by professor Marcos Dantus in 2003. The company specializes in improving lasers for biomedical use. The Michigan Angel Fund is based in Ann Arbor and recently closed its doors to new investors, with more than 70 already placed.
It’s not only seasoned Spartans on campus fending off the heat this summer. From mid-May through the first week of August, close to 30,000 guests stay on campus for various camps and conferences, said Laurin Gierman, the manager of destination state conference management for Residence Education and Housing Services.
Every year on July 21, National Junk Food Day is celebrated all over the nation, giving people an opportunity to consume their favorite high-calorie foods often containing little nutritional value without the feeling of shame or guilt.
Answers to alien landings and moon missions will be postponed until the fall semester for Abrams Planetarium, as the star station held its final summer show Sunday afternoon. The planetarium, which will resume shows again in mid to late September, offers two types of public shows: one directed toward older audiences, and another toward families.
Dinosaur Day at the Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden on Thursday ushered in the next generation of paleontologists and child dinosaur lovers.
When it comes to setting budget and tuition rates, MSU Trustee Brian Mosallam said raising tuition is looked to as a final resort; but this year, even after cuts to faculty health benefits, their backs were against the wall. “Raising tuition is the absolute last option with what we want to do,” Mosallam said.
An estimated 18,000 to 20,000 farmers and agriculture enthusiasts attended MSU’s campus for the 34th annual Ag Expo that ran from July 16-18. “An event like this takes us back to our roots and helps us engage with a group of people who are important to us,” Eileen Gianiodis, communications manager with MSU Extension, said. “We have everybody from seasoned farmers with their families to people who live in the city and suburbs. We hope visitors learn something new about agriculture and the industry surrounding it in Michigan.”
Picture this, it’s July 21, moving trucks are everywhere and chaos is in the air. MSU students are forced out of their apartment, and face the possibility of being homeless for a month before the fall school semester begins. DTN Management, among other local leasing agencies around MSU’s campus are ending their leases July 21, and for some people a little too soon.
A team of MSU researchers might have found a crucial link between peptide levels in the brain and the escalation of Alzheimer’s disease. For the project, professor Christina Chan and MSU alumna Hirosha Geekiyanage experimented with mice, which were genetically altered to be more likely to develop symptoms of the disease. The team injected a compound called L-cycloserine into the mice and later found it decreased levels of peptides that have been shown to lead to the plaques on the brain associated with Alzheimer’s.
Saturday’s verdict of Florida resident George Zimmerman, who was found not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin has resulted in MSU students and faculty weighing in on the high-profile ruling.
As an agricultural school, MSU certainly has been sticking to its roots during the past few days. The fifth annual Michigan Livestock Expo, or MLE, was hosted at the MSU Pavilion for the fourth-straight year this past weekend. The MLE started on Thursday and included competitions for lambs, swine, beef and goats throughout the weekend. The Swine and Beef market shows took place on Sunday, and the MLE will continue until Tuesday.
Tucked in among several of the oldest buildings on campus, there stands Chittenden Hall. It is not being used and has gone unused for more than a decade. Formerly known as the Forestry Building, Chittenden Hall has been vacant since 1999. The Council of Graduate Students, or COGS, has worked to bring the historic building back to life and use it for its own services.
July marks International Zine Month, and people gathered Thursday at the Main Library to create, share and celebrate during the 24-Hour Zine Thing. Event participants tasked themselves with creating a zine in 24 hours or less.
After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1954, and working for U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Levin as a law clerk, George T. Roumell Jr. joined the Detroit College of Law as an adjunct professor in 1957. Now, nearly 60 years later, Roumell Jr. is the longest-serving faculty member at MSU College of Law.
MSU scientists recently made discoveries about the biology of insects that will aid in the ongoing fight against summer’s peskiest pests. Ke Dong, MSU toxicologist and neurobiologist and senior author of the paper, which appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has a lab in MSU’s Department of Entomology that has been dedicated to the study of insecticides for the past 15 years.
Child’s play takes on a whole new meaning at the Robotics and Nanotechnology Camp offered for children in kindergarten through 12th grade. The program, directed by Dean Aslam, MSU professor of electrical and computer engineering, strives to introduce children to cutting edge technology while allowing them to get a hands-on experience. “The idea is to teach these new technologies to children — future scientists, future engineers,” Aslam said.
This August, MSU’s campus will play host to a world of champions for the 2013 World Dwarf Games. The games will include more than 400 athletes, with more than half from the United States.
As economics senior Ayush Gupta explored the streets of Egypt last month, a rebel tour guide in tow, he took in two things: the illegal street vendors who lit up the night and the contempt many Egyptian people had toward their government.
This week, children grabbed their pens and paper and headed to the Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden for inspiration during the fifth annual Garden Writers Workshop. The program went on from July 9-11, with each session packed with writing activities, exploring nature and snack time.