Ray Ott was dousing a blazing inferno amid a grass field beside the Pavillion for Agriculture and Livestock Education, only to realize that the hose had sprung a leak.
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon will meet with East Lansing residents today in the second of four meetings designed to improve communication with East Lansing residents. The meeting begins at 7 p.m.
Since Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans in August, the rich culture of the region has kept the spirit of the city alive.
More Michigan engineers, architects and contractors may soon have the opportunity to work in Eastern Europe, but not before getting a lesson or two in Eastern European culture. The MSU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is planning a two-year study abroad program with Michigan companies that would help former Soviet countries build new roads and buildings and undertake environmental cleanups.
MSU students can participate soon in a new online project in which they will collect and report information on issues concerning the Great Lakes. Beginning this fall, the Great Lakes Wiki project will allow students to do research on contaminated areas in the Great Lakes that have been identified by the U.S.
Political science professor Doug Hoekstra died Sunday from knee surgery complications. Hoekstra worked at MSU since 1969 and was a James Madison College faculty member. His funeral will be held Friday at the Okemos Presbyterian Church, 2258 Bennett Road, in Okemos.
The freshly painted pink and green walls of MSU Dairy Store's new branch in the Union are ready to welcome waves of ice cream lovers during the upcoming hot summer months. The store opened Saturday and already welcomed a crowd during the East Lansing Art Festival this past weekend.
Three years ago Loren Roslund wasn't concerned about heavy rains or high winds affecting his soybean plants.
An archaeological dig to uncover the remains of Saints' Rest, the first MSU dorm — which burned down in 1876 — will receive the Governor's Award for Historic Preservation. "This is not just an honor for this dig," said Jodie O'Gorman, an assistant professor of anthropology who was in charge of the Saints' Rest dig.
The MSU Formula Racing team unveiled its new race car on Monday after more than a year of design, construction and testing. The green and white race car, No.
Prancing around MSU sports games, spending quality time with the community or just hanging out at the library, Sparty is everywhere. And the Mascot Hall of Fame may be the next place he'll be hanging out.
Silence filled the kiva, the classrooms and most of the hallways in McDonel Hall on Sunday afternoon. On the eve of the first day of summer classes, a fraction of the number of students who would be on campus August through April were settling into their dorm rooms and preparing for a quiet summer. McDonel and Owen Graduate halls are the only dormitories housing summer semester students for the next couple of months. Business and general management sophomore Jamie Clements is looking forward to the summer silence. "I'm here because it's quieter," he said. Clements is embarking on his first summer at MSU and plans to enjoy being away from home and having fewer students on campus.
The new residential college in the arts and humanities already has an acting dean selected and its curriculum approved — but no official name. University officials said the college won't receive a formal name anytime soon, since it won't open for another 16 months, but they are looking at options. "It probably is, at this point, just important to give it some time and spend some time thinking about it because once colleges are named, they don't very often get renamed," said June Youatt, associate provost for undergraduate education and dean of undergraduate studies. Construction begins May 8 on the residential college, which will be housed in Snyder and Phillips halls.
This school year saw racially charged events in residence halls and a growing concern about an initiative that could eliminate affirmative action agencies. As it draws to a close, many on campus hope the issues they have highlighted will continue to spark dialogue in the MSU community. Paulette Granberry Russell is one of those people. As the senior advisor to MSU President Lou Anna K.
Carmen Lane means a lot of things to many people. When asked to describe Lane, an MSU advocacy coordinator, colleagues described her as "dedicated," "articulate," "committed to social justice" and "a visionary." Traits such as these are what earned Lane widespread recognition by receiving the National Award for Outstanding Response to and Prevention of Sexual Violence from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center in Enola, Pa., earlier this month. "Carmen's probably the best trainer I've known," said Ann Flescher, associate director for multicultural and clinical services at MSU's Counseling Center, where Lane coaches sexual assault advocates.
With "passports" in hand and ready to get a view of the real world, children of MSU faculty and staff took over the second floor of the Union on Thursday for the annual Take Your Child to Work Day. Roughly 200 faculty members and their children participated in the event, which introduces children to the workplace, family responsibilities and community involvement, said Jodi Roberto Hancock, education program coordinator for the MSU Women's Resource Center. The national Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day also was Thursday, launched by the Ms. Foundation for Women in 2003. It originally was designed for daughters to explore career options, Roberto Hancock said. "People's values are changing," Roberto Hancock said.
Name: Assistant Professor Laura Symonds Department: Psychiatry and radiology Title of research project: The Effect of Mood on Pain Perception Date of research: Symonds has been working on this project, which looks at depression and chronic pain, for the past five years, and it is continuing to evolve into new studies. Basics of the project: Symonds is looking at why people who have depression are at risk for developing chronic pain and why people who have chronic pain are at risk for developing depression. The study involves inducing moods and pain stimuli in people and watching how their brains react using a magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, machine. Her research team has found that when a sad mood is induced, chronic pain feels more intense than when a happy mood is induced, even if the stimulation is set at the same intensity. "The brain is telling them it hurts more, and what we are trying to figure out is how does the brain do that," Symonds said. As the subject reacts to the pain, the researchers watch how the brain modifies it, Symonds added. "One thing it's leading us toward is a real interest in how people can consciously change how a sensation feels," she said. Social impact of research: The goal of the project is to help people at risk for chronic pain disorder or depression, Symonds said. She also hopes to decrease that risk as a result of her research by understanding how the disorders are connected. "Hopefully we will be able to give people ideas on how to modify pain and depression," she said. Grants and funding: The cost of the project is about $100,000 per year.
Four days before the start of her freshman year, human biology junior Sarah Schrauben flipped her car seven times, broke her neck and pelvis and suffered a severe brain injury. In recovery, Schrauben was taught how to formulate sentences and she had to re-learn other basic tasks most people do without thinking.
While most 18-year-olds are preparing to leave their high schools to start new lives as undergraduates, Taraz Buck will be leaving MSU to begin working on his doctorate. Buck was one of the youngest full-time students to enroll at MSU at age 14.
A recommendation to raise the amount of money available for faculty salaries by 4.7 percent for the 2006-07 school year would help MSU stay competitive with other Big Ten institutions, university officials said. The proposed salary increase was calculated to make up for a smaller increase than other universities last year and overcome anticipated salary hikes at other universities, said Ross Emmett, chairperson of the University Committee on Faculty Affairs, which proposed the salary increase. "The Big Ten essentially represents our competitive pool of similar universities," Emmett said.