Sunday, December 21, 2025

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Campus

MSU

Officials seek student input on smoking

University Housing officials are seeking more student input on smoking in residence halls by conducting a paper survey to be released Tuesday. Employees will be in residence hall cafeterias across campus during dinner, passing out the survey and using candy bars as an incentive for completing and turning it in on the spot. "That's our way of thanking them for participating," University Housing Director Angela Brown said. Students also will be able to pick up the survey at the front desk of residence halls until Friday. The survey will be on Scantron sheets, and students will be able to bubble in their answers.

MSU

WEB EXTRA: 2 students chosen to participate in 8-week scholars program

Two MSU students will participate in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars' Distinguished Scholars Program, which is designed to place students in internships that match their career goals. Na-Yeong Kang, a telecommunication, information studies and media junior, and Ashley Waldorf, a professional writing junior, will live, work and study for eight weeks.

MSU

WEB EXTRA: Open house aims to teach patrons about animals

The annual open house for the College of Veterinary Medicine will be held Saturday. The open house, "Vet-A-Visit", will feature demonstrations and exhibits for guests, including how-to sessions on such things as milking cows and determining the age of a horse. Another feature of the open house will be the Stuffed Animal Clinic, which features student doctors fixing stuffed animals, as well as collecting stuffed animals for charity. The open house begins at 9 a.m., and it will be held at the Veterinary Medical Center on the corner of Bogue Street and Wilson Road. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public.

MSU

College leads nation in black graduates

The MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources has been recognized by Diverse magazine as the top school in the country to graduate black students in agriculture-related studies. "We found out when the University of Georgia at Athens called and told us that they wanted to come and visit to see what we do because we were No.

MSU

Two-day campus religious forum begins today

An on-campus conference, called "Understanding Wahhabism," will focus on the methodology and origin of Wahhabism, a religious establishment and the model for the Saudi Arabian regime, international relations Distinguished Professor Mohammed Ayoob said. The conference will begin at 9:30 a.m.

MSU

Bill could end dorm smoking

Cigarette smokers living on campus might have to take their butts outside if a bill introduced last month in the state House of Representatives becomes law. The bill, introduced by Rep.

MSU

Forum to address African studies

MSU is one of only seven universities in the nation to have an African American and African Studies program, university officials said. The program, which was implemented in 2003, will be discussed at a conference, "The Black Scholar and the State of Black America." The conference begins today to bring together faculty, students and the public to discuss the direction black studies programs are taking. "It will be a forum for dialogue on black studies programs and the future," said Gloria Smith, acting director of the program.

MSU

WEB EXTRA: MSU College of Law students hold debate on Solomon Amendment

Speakers both for and against a controversial military recruiting amendment debated in front of about 20 people Tuesday at the MSU College of Law. The Solomon Amendment allows the federal government to deny federal funding to colleges and universities if they deny military recruiters access to campus. The military has a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with regard to the LBGT community, stating that recruiters and other military officials cannot ask or pursue any rumors about a person's sexual orientation. The Supreme Court ruled last month that the Solomon Amendment is constitutional after some schools challenged the amendment because they felt it is discriminatory. Gerald Walpin, a director at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Individual Rights, debated in support of the Solomon Amendment and Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan's LBGT Project, debated against it. The MSU Triangle Bar Association and the MSU College of Law Federalist Society cohosted the debate. Walpin said he believes having military recruiters on campus is a form of free speech and that they should not be banned from coming. "The federal government has the right to condition its grants or funds on universities not implementing military recruiting," Walpin said.

MSU

MSU coordinates teaching of Arabic

MSU will coordinate the Michigan arm of a national language initiative to teach more people to speak Arabic. The National Strategic Language Initiative, first announced at a conference of U.S.

MSU

Innovations: learning linguistics

Name: Professor Barbara Abbott Department: Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages Type of research: Analyzing what words and sentences mean Date of research: Abbott started the research during graduate school in 1970.

MSU

Author Chris Mooney to speak on campus

Author Chris Mooney will speak on campus at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Wilson Hall Auditorium. The event will be open to the public. Mooney wrote the best-selling book, "The Republican War on Science." He also works for Seed Magazine and The American Prospect. Mooney's books will be for sale after the event, and he will do a book signing. The program is sponsored by MSU's Science, Technology, Environment and Public Policy Specialization.

MSU

Sparty's to help finance Katrina relief

Sparty's Convenience Stores will begin selling donation cards on Monday to raise funds for an MSU volunteer program in New Orleans. The program, called the MSU New Orleans Summer Project, will send about 30 MSU students, faculty and volunteers to four New Orleans-area school districts this summer, where they will tutor K-12 students and help rebuild the teachers' homes affected by Hurricane Katrina last August. "It's a new effort, and it really appears to be an effort that pulls together a number of issues that are important to the university and Sparty's," said Ken Deneau, Sparty's general manager. The projected cost of the project is about $800 per person, said Joyce Grant, an associate professor of teacher education who is coordinating the trip. Volunteers will drive down in rented vans on May 29 and return to Michigan on June 25, she said. "There are a lot of things that are going on to raise money," Grant said, including efforts to earn support grants.

MSU

ASMSU orients new members

Student government officials are working this week to transition ASMSU's organization into its next term, which begins today. ASMSU is MSU's undergraduate student government. The group is introducing new assembly members to the organization and preparing old members for their new positions, among other things, as this week is labeled "Orientation Week" by ASMSU officials. "We're going to have to get the organization functioning with the new positions that have opened as a result of the tax increase, integrate them and do that as quickly as possible," said Roger Ludy, vice chairperson for internal affairs for ASMSU's Student Assembly.