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MSU

Professional program spreads diversity

Justin Kroll
June 29, 2006

A program through MSU is helping professionals from other countries connect with those in the workforce in the United States. The Visiting International Professional Program, has been teaching foreign professionals for more than 15 years about business, culture and other global issues that help make them more diversified. "We are helping people who are employed in various degrees, from journalism to business, and teaming them up with one of our own professionals to help understand more about their working area from another point of view," said Sung Soo Chung, head of operations and planning for the program.

MSU

Medical simulation comes to MSU

Stephanie Pittman
June 29, 2006

First-year doctors can find out how they will fare in real-life medical situations by working with actors and mannequins at MSU. Faculty of the MSU College of Human Medicine are using standardized patients — actors trained to exhibit symptoms of any ailment — and computerized dummies with programmable vital signs to assess the strengths and weaknesses of residents. Residents are doctors who have completed medical school and work in hospitals while pursuing further studies in their preferred areas of specialization. About 250 residents will be participating in the Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation program of the MSU College of Human Medicine. The program began on Friday and will continue on selected days until August at the new Learning and Assessment Center in Fee Hall. "When residents have a clear idea of their skills sets, they can feel more comfortable in their new roles as doctors," said Dr. Dianne Wagner, associate dean for Graduate Medical Education for the MSU College of Human Medicine. Wagner worked closely with other doctors from area hospitals during the past year and a half to develop the evaluation program. Participants are videotaped and evaluated as they go through 10 different stations and perform basic medical procedures on a standardized patient, such as performing a medical examination, evaluating symptoms and recommending treatments, Wagner said. She added that in these scenarios, the actors who stand in as patients also provide feedback to MSU faculty on the interaction skills of the doctor. "This is a good way to take knowledge we learned in school for the past four years and apply it to clinical situations," said Dr. Tracy Riddle, who went through the program and is a physician at the Ingham Regional Medical Center. The doctors also get the chance to save SimMan and MegaCode Kelly. SimMan is a computerized mannequin that can cough, wheeze, gasp and produce different heart and lung sounds. It can be programmed to mimic a critically-ill patient with changing vital signs and can even say, "I'm going to die," Wagner said. MegaCode Kelly is a less sophisticated version of SimMan with changeable parts that can make it either a male or female patient. It got its name because "Kelly" can either be a man or woman, Wagner said. "Working with the dummies gives you a chance to interact with a patient that was not really dying but has serious respiratory and cardiac issues," said Dr. Andrew Riddle, another physician at Ingham Regional Medical Center.

MSU

3 new languages could enter MSU's curriculum

Khmer, Indonesian and Uzbek could be additions to the course catalog as new language programs this fall if funding from the federal government is approved, said Marilyn McCullough, assistant director of the Asian Studies Center. Uzbek is the official language of Uzbekistan, and Khmer is spoken in Cambodia.

MSU

Partnership to create Big Ten TV Channel

Justin Kroll
June 28, 2006

A new deal between Big Ten universities and ABC and its affiliates could not only bring more financial help to schools like MSU, but exposure as well. The deal, announced June 21, would extend coverage of men's football and basketball, women's basketball and volleyball to ESPN and ABC sports for another 10 years.

MSU

Drugs' environmental impact to be studied

Stephanie Pittman
June 27, 2006

What happens when a fish ingests Viagra? Scientists aren't sure, but MSU researchers are looking for ways to prevent pharmaceuticals from reaching unintended patients, specifically, marine life in lakes and rivers. An MSU study on how microbes break down pharmaceutical components that are discharged into the environment received a grant of more than $375,000 from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Inc. "Pharmaceuticals are reaching the environment because it's used in humans and animals; yet, in some cases, we do not know about the environmental fate of these chemicals," said James Tiedje, director of the Center for Microbial Ecology and one of the principal investigators for the study. Hui Li, an associate professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, and Mary Beth Leigh, a research assistant at the Center for Microbial Ecology, are also helping lead the study. When a person ingests medicine, what is not absorbed into the blood stream passes out of the body with stool and urine that is flushed down the toilet, said Amy Perbeck, a toxicologist at the Water Bureau of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The waste water then goes to a treatment plant and is released into streams and rivers or is sprayed out to fields or sand basins, Perbeck said.

MSU

MSU hosts 4-H exploration

Andrea Byl
June 22, 2006

MSU's campus began flooding with people Wednesday as more than 2,500 4-H members and chaperones lined up to sign in for the 36th annual 4-H Exploration Days youth development conference.

MSU

Linguistics group assembles at MSU

Amy Oprean
June 22, 2006

The nationwide summer meeting of the Linguistic Society of America is being held on campus beginning today and runs through June 25. About 70 graduate students and professional linguists are expected to attend the event, which kicks off at the Kellogg Center, society president Sally McConnell-Ginet said. The event will include more than 30 graduate students presenting their papers and attending panels on finding jobs, receiving grant money and getting published. "It's a chance to present your work to some people who are going to be your colleagues throughout your career," she said. McConnell-Ginet said the event is more intimate and less intimidating than two other events the society holds — its annual meeting in January and an institute held every two years.

MSU

Innovations: Economical engines

Mara Deutch
June 22, 2006

Name: Professor Harold Schock Department: Mechanical Engineering Location: MSU Automotive Research Experiment Station, 3361 Hulett Road in Okemos Type of research: Research to improve engines, making them more fuel-efficient and economical Date of research: The research, which is done for the U.S.

MSU

Innovations: Understanding West Nile

Stephanie Pittman
June 19, 2006

Name: Professor Ned Walker Department name: Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Type of research: Determining why there are higher rates of West Nile virus infections in certain types of communities. Date of research: The study began in 2004 and will end in 2007.

MSU

2-Bdrm: No furniture

Andrea Byl
June 19, 2006

As students move into the university apartments this fall, furniture may not be in the picture. And some say a lack of furniture may be especially hard on international students.

MSU

Trustees, committee to vote on scholarship

Amy Oprean
June 16, 2006

A scholarship for English majors studying creative writing will be voted on for recommendation by the MSU Trustee Finance and Audit Committee today. The scholarship came in the form of a $30,000 donation by Arthur Athanason, an English professor who died at 70 years old in September 2005 after battling pancreatic cancer. Athanason, who taught playwriting and other literature classes, wrote in his will that he wanted to establish a scholarship for students with strong academic and professional goals in creative writing. "He was diagnosed with terminal cancer and knew this was a legacy he could establish after he passed away," said Kristin Peterson, director of development for the College of Arts and Letters.

MSU

MSU to study spirituality's effect on cancer patients

Amy Oprean
June 15, 2006

Finding a possible link between spirituality and health will be the focus of a study by MSU researchers beginning in September. Michael Boivin, associate professor of neurology and ophthalmology and principal investigator in the study, will use a $1 million grant from the Templeton Advanced Research Program to study the connection between spirituality and breast cancer patients' resilience throughout chemotherapy. "I think we are finally at a point in human history where we have the tools to adequately explore the relationship between (spirituality and health)," Boivin said.

MSU

MSU exhibit heads to Smithsonian

Andrea Byl
June 14, 2006

One MSU Museum exhibit is bound for the nation's capital. More than 1 million people are expected to view the MSU Museum's American Indian basket weaving exhibit, "Carriers of Culture: Living Native Basket Traditions," at the 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, June 30-July 4 and July 7-11 in Washington, D.C. The festival is an annual event held by the Smithsonian Institution at the National Mall featuring three main exhibits showing different cultural traditions.

MSU

Mosquito population climbs to 30-year high

Stephanie Pittman
June 14, 2006

When Natalie Warrick moved to MSU for the Summer Research Opportunity Program, she didn't expect a rousing welcome — from a platoon of blood-thirsty mosquitoes. After her first night at Owen Graduate Hall, Warrick woke up with five red lumps, the result of mosquito bites. "It's irritating me.

MSU

Ground grown energy

Stephanie Pittman
June 12, 2006

In the search for alternative energy sources, MSU researchers have discovered switchgrass as a valuable resource in producing other forms of fuel. At the MSU Extension in Presque Isle County, researchers are studying how to make fuel pellets out of switchgrass, which is a variety of prairie grass that grows quickly and can survive harsh weather conditions.