Thursday, January 1, 2026

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MSU

Innovations: Mite zapper

Name: Zachary Huang, associate professor Department: Entomology Type of research: Entomology Date of research: Huang has worked with bees since 1982, after he received a scholarship to conduct research in Canada.

MSU

Lawsuit filed against MCRI

By Any Means Necessary, a political activist group in favor of affirmative action, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against legislation eliminating gender and race-based preferential treatment in university and other public institutions. The state's constitution will now be amended to include the new legislation, which bans affirmative action in certain cases. The proposal will go into effect Dec.

MSU

Innovations: Bird beaks

Name: Pamela Rasmussen, assistant curator of Mammalogy and Ornithology Department: Zoology Type of research: Ornithology, the study of birds Date of research: Rasmussen has been working with birds since she was a doctoral student but has had an interest in them since she was a child. Basics of research: The size of a bird's beak or how long its tail is may be the difference in two species of birds that were thought to be of the same species, Rasmussen said. "It is often very difficult," she said.

MSU

MSU looks to purchase Grand Rapids property

University officials are taking a step forward in their plans to expand MSU's College of Human Medicine into Grand Rapids. The MSU Board of Trustees will decide on the purchase of about one and a half acres of property in Grand Rapids at its monthly meeting Friday.

MSU

Ongoing construction updates MSU housing

Newly renovated Snyder and Phillips halls and the new student apartment complex, University Village Apartments, plan to open their doors to students in August. The projected cost of the Snyder-Phillips project is $37.5 million and University Village Apartments is estimated to cost $16 million. Renovations in dorm rooms for Snyder and Phillips halls include higher ceilings, new lighting, new fire suppression features and fire alarms.

MSU

Top 20 Spartan Idols to perform Friday for free

Spartan Idol, a singing competition among MSU students, will be held 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday in the Union Ballroom. The event is free to all MSU students and one guest. On Friday, the top 20 Idols will perform, and audience members will vote to determine the five who will advance to the final round on Saturday. Guests have a chance to various prizes. Last year's Spartan Idol, David Bailey is hosting the event.

MSU

Library might carry fewer journals

In an effort to save money, MSU's libraries could stop subscribing to materials students use for research papers because of a drastic increase in the price of literary journals. This could make it difficult for students to get the information they need to pull that all-nighter. Commercial publishers that produce these journals have raised the prices of subscriptions, according to the MSU Libraries, Computing and Technology department.

MSU

MSU's Eli Broad, partner make bid for Tribune Co.

MSU's College of Business is named after him. And with his latest bid, he could own the Chicago Cubs baseball team, among dozens of television stations and newspapers nationwide. MSU alumnus Eli Broad and supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle teamed up and submitted a bid for Tribune Co., according to The Associated Press.

MSU

Word on the street

"Yes, I voted at 7:29 this morning. I voted for Granholm. I was impressed with how hard she fought for universal health care.

MSU

MSU center awarded for high CUTCO sales

The Lear Corporation Career Services Center and MSU Career Services and Placement Center won a combined $3,500 in College Bowl checks for their success in the Vector Marketing College Bowl competition.

MSU

$550 raised for charity competition

Patients at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., will receive about a $550 donation from MSU's Senior Class Council, which raised the money at its ninth annual Charity Bowl. Teams composed of students from campus organizations and their friends competed for the charity of their choice in a coed touch-football game.

MSU

Phi Beta Sigma Sleep Out

People walking down Grand River Avenue on Friday night were bombarded by students outside the Union with signs and requests for spare change — all for the homeless. Members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. stayed outside for 12 hours, starting at 8 p.m., and raised $300 in cash, food and clothing for the City Rescue Mission of Lansing, a local homeless shelter. The event, which is called Sleep Out with the Homeless, is an annual program held by the national fraternity and members of the MSU chapter, said Cortez Robinson-Starks, president of the MSU chapter. Participants want to experience what it is like to be homeless, while collecting money, food and clothes to donate to the shelter, Robinson-Starks said.

MSU

Student organizations rally against Proposal 2

With one day to go before elections, student government officials are pushing to educate students about the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which is known as the MCRI or Proposal 2, will eliminate preferential treatment based on race, class, gender and ethnicity in Michigan if passed Tuesday. ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government, will hold a rally at 4 p.m.