About 35 students marched from the Brody Complex to the steps of Hubbard Hall in protest of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, or MCRI, on Friday. The group of students call themselves S.T.E.P.S.
For the first time since 2003, live emcees hosted Satrang, an annual Indian cultural show put on by the Coalition of Indian Undergraduate Students on Saturday at the Auditorium. In the past few years, the organization had opted to use videotaped segments to introduce each new dance.
Judy Harris was alarmed when doctors informed her of a possibly cancerous spot on her breast after her annual mammogram. Harris, 64, said she was particularly concerned about developing breast cancer because of the high occurrence of the disease in her family, although a biopsy on the spot revealed it was only a calcium deposit, a potential precursor to breast cancer. Harris then was asked by doctors to participate in one of the largest breast cancer prevention clinical trials ever conducted that would test the effectiveness of the breast cancer prevention drugs Tamoxifen and Raloxifene. Researchers released the results of the international study Monday, showing that both drugs lowered the risk of developing breast cancer by 50 percent.
After July 1, students who borrow money to pay their college expenses will notice an about 2 percent increase in interest they will pay on those loans. After the deadline, Stafford Loan interest rates will increase from 4.7 percent to 6.8 percent.
The MSU Safe Place "Race for the Place 5K" will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at Jenison Field House.
Paul Ehrlich, the Bing Professor of Population Studies at Stanford University, will speak at the commencement ceremony for graduate students on May 5. "I am going to say something about needed changes in the structure of universities and things that (the graduates) can do to help themselves and help other people deal with the information explosions that we have," Ehrlich said. When he was asked to speak at the ceremony, he said he was pleased because he has close colleagues at MSU. One of his MSU colleagues is Jack Liu, a distinguished professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. "He and I were standing together when the second plane hit the World Trade Center on Sept.
The second annual Spartan Celebration Day will be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Kellogg Center. The program, which is sponsored by MSU's Office of Admissions and Scholarships, is to welcome incoming students of color and their families. A student organization resource fair will be included in the program, where students can learn more about different groups on campus from current members.
The fifth annual Sparty's Spring Party will be from noon to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at IM Sports-West.
Tiny toys on fishing wire hang down from the ceiling. The cash register has a small fortune from a fortune cookie taped to the front of it that reads, "You love Chinese food." Tucked away in Kresge Art Center, the Spartan Art Store, also known as the Kresge Art Store, has been a crucial part of art students' lives since 1969. Much like an MSU book store sells everything a student could need, the Kresge Art Store sells almost everything artistic, from canvas to paints to sketch pads. "They have most everything you'll need for class in stock," art education senior Arielle Popkey said. Popkey said she comes into the store a few times every day and gets coffee every morning. Last year, she bought her roommates toys from the store for a gift exchange, Popkey said.
About 20 MSU students wearing blue shirts gathered in and near the public bathrooms in Wells Hall on Wednesday afternoon in an attempt to raise awareness about transgender issues on campus. The students — members of TransAction, a discussion group for transgender individuals and allies, and Phi Tau Mu, an organization for female-to-male transgender students — were part of a "bathroom crawl." They traveled to a number of bathrooms across campus spreading information about such issues as creating gender-neutral bathrooms in university buildings. Mathematics senior Courtney Couvreur helped spread pamphlets at the event.
The final reports of five committees looking to increase faculty input in university decisions will be assessed by one new committee — lengthening the amount of time before the committees can impact the Academic Governance system. Faculty Council approved the formation of an integration committee Tuesday, which will begin looking at reports released this week from four of the committees. The five committees, called the Faculty Voice Task Force Groups, were created last fall to address faculty's role in specific issues — such as restructuring the Academic Governance system, reviewing administrators and academic programs, defining the role of fixed-term faculty and improving communication within the system. Four committees presented their final recommendations at Tuesday's meeting, and the task force looking at the structure of the Academic Governance system is scheduled to issue its final report in October. The proposal of an integration committee came on behalf of the Executive Committee of Academic Council, which now has the responsibility to form the new committee. Although the proposal passed without any formal discussion, several faculty members voiced their concerns throughout the meeting about having an integration committee. "Having an integration committee is counterproductive," said Wolfgang Bauer, chairperson of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and chairperson for the communications task force. "We have an opportunity to occupy a leadership position here, so let's not send it to another committee," Bauer said of his task force's recommendations. The integration committee will look at combining the task forces' various recommendations into a single package and assess the costs of carrying them out.
In 1855, MSU helped to define what it meant to be a land-grant institution, teaching agriculture, technical skills and a variety of other studies to the working classes. Now, more than 150 years later, members of the MSU community are looking to extend the university's international reach, and are attempting to define what it would mean for MSU to be a world-grant institution. "We've built a university to serve not only Michigan, but the world," said Jeffrey Riedinger, acting dean of International Studies and Programs.
By Toshira Johnson For The State News A day of swing dancing got the Comm Arts Dance-Nic celebration off on the right foot by wowing the crowd with jumpin', jivin' and swingin' routines.
Name: Assistant Professor Eric Freedman Department: Journalism Title of research project: After the Tulip Revolution, Press Freedoms, Constraints and Competition in Kyrgyzstan Date of research: Freedman has been researching journalism-related topics involving Central Asia since 2002 after he returned from teaching in Uzbekistan. Basics of the project: Freedman is looking at how the press environment has changed in Kyrgyzstan after the Tulip Revolution in March 2005, during which the president of the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan was overthrown. Freedman will be studying press coverage and press freedom as some of the topics for the project. Since the Tulip Revolution, the government in Kyrgyzstan has become more democratic, he said.
When Alex Hill began a project to become an Eagle Scout, he didn't know he would still be working on it five years later.
April 8 was an important day for MSU graduate student T.J. Jourian. The advocate for transgender awareness was in Los Angeles accepting an award from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, for his involvement with the documentary "TransGeneration." During the acceptance speech in the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, he knelt down to one knee and proposed to Staci Gunner, his girlfriend and MSU student. Charlize Theron and the cast of "Will & Grace" gave the couple a standing ovation as Gunner accepted the proposal. "We were looking at each other and there was yelling and clapping and screaming," Gunner said.
Beneath the large garage doors backstage in the Breslin Center, Nicole Mancuso restarted Aerosmith's song "Dream On" on her iPod and began practicing a dance routine again. With intense concentration, the communication freshman punched her arms outward before throwing her body into a graceful spin on tiptoe to the music as she and 26 other women warmed up for the MSU Dance Team tryouts last week. Moments later, each would perform before a panel of judges at center court. Each would have a chance to dance alongside others, and, finally, by themselves. "I've done everything I can, so hopefully I have a good one," Mancuso said before the tryouts began. It was the second round of tryouts hosted by the student-managed MSU Dance Team, an about 15-member team that has performed routines to music at all football and men's basketball games and some special events for four seasons, team captains Jennifer Chiroyan and Justine Richards said. The team has no coach, no official choreographer, no home-practice area and no official sponsor to send them away to competition, although it does receive money for uniforms and training camps from the athletic department, Richards said. Captains and current team members managed the tryouts and gave team-hopefuls a day to learn two routines and a day to practice before putting each dancer to the test. This year was the first time incoming freshmen were able to audition for the team. "It's very stressful," Chiroyan said.
With a campus as beautiful as MSU's, all Spartans should be environmentalists and care for their surroundings, U.S.
The power to elect undergraduate students to academic committees is now in the hands of student government officials. The MSU Board of Trustees approved a proposal Thursday transferring power from faculty to ASMSU members to select student representatives to the Academic Governance system. The proposal amends the bylaws of the Academic Governance system that affect ad hoc committees, which are temporary committees formed by administrators to discuss specific issues that arise throughout the year. The Academic Governance system reviews university legislation and takes action on issues, such as adding academic minors to the university's curriculum and other academic issues. This proposal should "strengthen the hand of students in governance," said Jon Sticklen, chairman of the Executive Committee of Academic Council. "Like every other part of governance, it really is dependent on the grassroots folk to let their representatives know what they think," Sticklen said.
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon will join Gov. Jennifer Granholm and others today to announce a new federally-funded, $15-million plan to create more jobs in Michigan. Simon and the governor will be joined by former Lansing Mayor David Hollister and Emily Stover DeRocco, U.S.