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$1.7M grant awarded to MSU microRNA researcher

Alanna Thiede

July 18, 2010

An MSU researcher will study links between arsenic exposure and lung cancer to determine new treatments using a recently secured $1.7 million grant. The National Institutes of Health awarded Chengfeng Yang, a physiology assistant professor with the College of Veterinary Medicine and MSU’s Center for Integrative Toxicology, a five-year general grant to study the roles of small ribonucleic acids called microRNAs in cell transformation caused by direct exposure to arsenic.

MSU

Local children catch butterflies at Strolling with the Storyteller event

Alanna Thiede

July 14, 2010

Paul Roose lead the group participants through the gardens and shared facts about the surrounding nature mixed with stories as part of the Strolling with the Storyteller event. Each month during the summer, there is a event featuring a different garden where a guide tells educational stories as they walk through the gardens.

MSU

MSU selling cows to reduce costs

Meagan Choi

July 14, 2010

Driven by the absence of future research projects and budgetary pressure, MSU will sell one of its three dairy cow herds from the Upper Peninsula Experiment Station, or UPES, this fall. The UPES — located in Chatham, Mich. — is one of 15 field stations in the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, or MAES, which is restructuring after $400,000 was cut by MSU’s Board of Trustees last month and state appropriations still are uncertain.

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Student garden between Kedzie halls grows unrestricted

Aseel Machi

July 14, 2010

Plant growth in a student-maintained garden in the middle of North and South Kedzie halls has grown uncontrolled since the students who started the garden have gone home for the summer. Signs have been broken, garbage has not been removed and the plant life has grown without maintenance.

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MSU sustainability program given 'outstanding' approval

Ashley Brown

July 12, 2010

Planting trees across the world, MSU’s Carbon2Markets, or C2M, program has gained praise from the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research for attempting to raise the standard of living in developing countries, while slowing down global warming. C2M was unanimously deemed “outstanding” by the organization’s board in recognition of the program’s five years of efforts in sustainability and third-world economics.

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MSU professor finds sustainability lacks ethics

Anthony Odoardi

July 12, 2010

Ethical issues are being neglected when researching and teaching sustainability, according to a research paper co-authored by an MSU professor, published in this month’s journal, “Bioscience” and entitled “Sustainability: Virtuous or Vulgar?” Michael Nelson, an MSU associate professor of environmental ethics and John Vucetich, an assistant professor of wildlife biology at Michigan Technological University, collaborated to create the argument and asked what the authors call a vitally important question regarding ethics in sustainability.

MSU

MSU Community Music School hosts rock camp

Aseel Machi

July 12, 2010

Banging a variety of drums and singing a range of notes, participants at the MSU Community Music School’s, or CMS, Rock Camp rocked out Monday afternoon at the beginning of the week-long camp that will conclude with performances at Common Ground Music Festival. The camp features workshops for musically experienced participants ages 12-18, where participants learn how to perform in front of groups, how to form a band, how to market and promote a band and how to work together to form a final project.

MSU

Whooping cough exposure reported during MSU event

Emily Wilkins

July 11, 2010

An undiagnosed case of pertussis, or whooping cough, might have been exposed to the 900 people who attended Grandparents University at MSU from June 29 to July 1. The Michigan Department of Community Health, or MDCH, identified 20 individuals Friday who attended the event who are at a high risk for contracting pertussis.

MSU

4-H Discovery Camp introduces teens to green careers

Meagan Choi

July 11, 2010

Nine students attended the first Michigan 4-H Discovery Camp last week, which offered Michigan students ages 15-19 opportunities to learn about bioenergy and green solutions. At the camp, students visited MSU faculty member’s labs and took interactive field trips across the state while experiencing dorm living in Shaw Hall.

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MSU professor named national Cherry Industry Person of the Year

Meagan Choi

July 8, 2010

MSU horticulture professor and researcher Amy Iezzoni was honored as the 2010 Cherry Industry Person of the Year by the Cherry Marketing Institute on Wednesday at MSU’s Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station in Traverse City. Iezzoni was chosen for the award because of her commitment to cherry growers through her research.

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MSU analysis could be helpful in rape cases

Andrew Krietz

July 7, 2010

An MSU-assisted analysis of 10,500 sexual assault evidence kits from the city of Detroit might be used to prosecute hundreds of alleged rapists if results prove conclusive to investigators. The MSU Center for Statistical Training and Consulting, or CSTAT, the Michigan State Police, the Detroit Police Department and others are coordinating the effort to process the kits in an attempt to understand how a rape happened and who committed it. A $600,000 allocation by the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board was given to the various agencies to begin the study to assist the defunct Detroit Police Crime Laboratory, said John Collins, the forensic science division director for the Michigan State Police.

MSU

MSU finds link in undernutrition, brain health

Anthony Odoardi

July 7, 2010

An MSU-led study has found undernutrition and a poor early life environment can lead to cognitive disabilities later in life. Zhenmei Zhang, an MSU assistant professor of sociology, started the project with two other professors in 2007 and found males and females who grew up undernourished were more likely to develop mental deficiencies, such as memory loss, when they are older.

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MSU welcomes high schoolers for Future Science Program

Emily Wilkins

July 1, 2010

Ten area students participated in the pilot run of the Future Science Program this week at MSU. The program is meant to target younger students and help them develop an interest in scientific research. The eight-week program began June 28 and ends Aug. 20. The students will work 40-hour weeks and receive a $2,000 stipend.

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MSU ranked by magazine as 14th best place to work in academia

Alanna Thiede

July 1, 2010

Job satisfaction, tenure and promotion are strengths that recently helped make MSU the 14th best place to work in academia, according to The Scientist magazine’s annual workplace survey. MSU’s weaknesses were listed as peers and research resources.

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MSU Weed Tour educates Mich. growers

Meagan Choi

June 30, 2010

More than 250 farmers, growers and chemical company representatives sat with their feet dangling off the sides of wagons Wednesday as tractors pulled them into corn and soybean fields for the 2010 MSU Weed Tour. The annual tour, sponsored by MSU’s departments of Crop and Soil Sciences and Horticulture, took place in fields near the MSU Plant Pathology Field Lab on College Road and allowed growers from across the state to look at research plots and make comparisons for weed treatments.

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MSU public access station WKAR secures funding for new tower

Alanna Thiede

June 30, 2010

MSU-owned public TV station WKAR’s TV and radio broadcasting power soon will increase as the station’s 57-year-old tower will be replaced at the Dobie Road, Okemos site this summer. The station’s original tower, built in 1953, now is considered outdated, making WKAR eligible for federal grants to fund a replacement.

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MSU Carillon Series honors founder Milton Muelder

Aseel Machi

June 30, 2010

This year, MSU Carillonneur Ray McLellan will be performing with a special purpose in mind. McLellan’s performance will feature a dedication to Milton Muelder, an MSU faculty member and carillonneur who died recently, as well as compositions by two of his other musical influences. The summer series kicked off Wednesday evening at the Beaumont Tower with a performance from Steven Ball, a carillonneur from the University of Michigan.

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CMS Jazz Camp returns to MSU

Aseel Machi

June 28, 2010

This year will be the second year the CMS Jazz Camp returned to MSU, with day and night programs available to high schoolers throughout Michigan. The camp is being held during the week, with an ending concert Friday from camp attendees. The camp features a number of programs for people who are interested in expanding their skills in playing jazz instruments.

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MSU Fossil Camp educates Mich. youth

Anthony Odoardi

June 28, 2010

Children circled through numerous stations to examine fossils of fish, bugs and several other organisms and learn about their significance on the first day of a fossil camp hosted by the MSU Museum. The annual Fossil Camp at the MSU Museum began Monday with a class of 12 students.

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MSU alumnae launch eco-friendly Lonny magazine

Meagan Choi

June 28, 2010

When MSU alumna Michelle Adams was a senior at MSU, she took a course about sustainability in the production of apparel and textiles. The class showed Adams she could combine her passion for sustainability with design, and it inspired her to start her own textile company, Rubie Green, in 2007.