MSU
Young cadets learn ROTC skills
By Justin Kroll For The State News Cadet Jay Knight paid close attention as he observed Cadet 1st Lt.
MSU
Students win turf war
Police vs. students sounds like a familiar rivalry, but this time the issue wasn't parking tickets or party noise. They brought their game to the football field. Residents of Brody and West Circle complexes joined MSU police officers Sunday at Duffy Daugherty Football Building to compete against each other in a friendly game of touch football. The game was played as a fundraiser for the American Red Cross. Lorrie Bates and David Isabell, both MSU police officers, began planning the inaugural game three weeks ago.
MSU
Student earns award to study slave trade
To Sowande Mustakeem, a library full of historical documents is like a playground for children. And in her playground, this MSU Comparative Black History Program doctoral student rifles through letters and logs related to the transatlantic slave trade — an era she believes should be further explored.
MSU
Redesigned MSU.edu site launches today
The new MSU home page is set to launch today between 6 - 8 a.m. The design will be "snappier" and the site will adhere to current Web standards, said Rich Wiggins, senior information technologist for Academic Computing & Network Services. "We want to take advantage of new standards and be as current as we can, but we want to make sure it works on most of the Web browsers people have," Wiggins said. The new Web site has been tested with more than 90 percent of popular browsers, he said, including Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla and Firefox. Among the changes is a photo with another inset photo — usually a professor or student, but in one case a panda — with a story to go along with the visual, Wiggins said. The actual transition to the new site should be very brief, he said. "It's like one minute you're on the current site, the next minute on the new one," Wiggins said.
MSU
Food for the soul
For nearly six years, Todd McFadden and his sister Pam McFadden have been trying to get soul food on the menu at the Union's Heritage Cafe.
MSU
Commission to evaluate MSU accreditation process
After almost two years of preparing data on its programs, MSU has just two days to make its case for re-accreditation — which could bring more federal funding to the university in the future. A 13-person site team from the North Central Association's Higher Learning Commission will meet with more than 100 administrators, faculty and staff members when they come to campus Monday and Tuesday. The association is an Arizona-based accrediting organization for K-12 schools and universities. "It's the end of a two-year process of looking at ourselves, collecting data from a whole set of sources and trying to pull it together to tell the MSU story," said Karen Klomparens, dean of The Graduate School and co-coordinator of MSU's accreditation self study. Federal financial aid is based on an institution's accreditation status, which is decided every 10 years, Klomparens said. The site visit is meant to personally verify the university's self study, which was submitted two months ago, Provost Kim Wilcox said. "It's to confirm what we've written is accurate, and also for them to get a sense of how we put the goals into action on campus," Wilcox said. Universities are required to meet five criteria in the self study — defining their mission and integrity, preparing for future opportunities, providing evidence of student learning and teaching effectiveness, supporting creativity and social responsibility and maintaining a commitment to engagement.
MSU
Profs: E-mail aids student learning
Several MSU faculty members agree that e-mail has increased the ability of students and professors to communicate, even if the volume of that communication can prevent instant answers to questions. Some professors say, however, that poor e-mail etiquette can confuse a student's meaning, and can make it harder for an instructor to respond with a clear answer. "Some students do expect immediate responses at all hours, and are unskilled at using e-mail effectively to communicate," said Robert Wiseman, a management associate professor who, incidentally, responded via e-mail. He said student e-mails that have an inappropriate tone or word choice hinder the intent of the communication.
MSU
Task forces to reform Academic Governance
Five committees began working this semester to restructure the Academic Governance system, review administrators and academic programs, define the role of fixed-term faculty and improve communication within the system. To improve the presence of faculty input and voice in the Academic Governance system, the committees were formed last fall through Faculty Council. The idea for the committees came about last spring, after faculty members revealed their concerns about their input in important university decisions. Faculty members were upset with the administration following the release of then-Provost Lou Anna K.
MSU
Human Ecology program to relocate this summer
Better collaboration among faculty and students will be possible with the Department of Family and Child Ecology's move to the College of Social Science this summer, faculty administrators said. The department, currently located in the College of Human Ecology, and its move is part of MSU President Lou Anna K.
MSU
Candlelight vigil to be held on campus today
MSU Students for Life will host a candlelight vigil about legal abortion at 7 p.m. today at the rock on Farm Lane. The Rev.
MSU
Jazz band to perform for dinner guests Fri.
The Black Student Alliance will host its annual Jazz Dinner at 8 p.m. Friday in the Lincoln Room of the Kellogg Center. "Souls of Black Folk" is the dinner's theme and the MSU Jazz Band will perform. Tickets are $10 for the event.
MSU
Human Ecology dept. to transfer in summer
The Department of Family and Child Ecology will be transferred from the College of Human Ecology to the College of Social Science, effective this summer. Academic Council approved a report Tuesday from the University Committee on Curriculum, which included this and a number of other program and course changes. June Youatt, acting dean of the College of Human Ecology, assistant provost for undergraduate education and dean of undergraduate studies, said this is just another step in transferring the department, because it was already approved by the University Committee on Academic Policy. The seven programs affected in the transfer will remain unchanged, Youatt said. Also, Jon Sticklen, chairman of the Executive Committee of Academic Council, told Academic Council to prepare for a lot of movement in the Academic Governance system by the end of the semester, as several working groups and committees move ahead in their tasks.
MSU
Protesting pop
Luis Cardona said Tuesday he witnessed the murder of a Coca-Cola Co. worker in Colombia, and connects the murder to the company's business practices in the country. Cardona, who is from Colombia, spoke to a crowd of about 50 people at a rally Tuesday on the steps of the Administration Building, put on by Students for Economic Justice, or SEJ. He also said he witnessed bottling managers drinking and mingling with paramilitary members, who forced employees of the Sinaltrainal Union to resign.
MSU
New grant criteria undetermined
MSU officials will have a hard time awarding the $4,000 some students could receive from a new federal grant without more information on who qualifies, and now a new lawsuit could further complicate the process. President Bush signed the Deficit Reduction Act on Feb.
MSU
Alumni to create MSU 'Chicken Soup' book
By Missy Kayko For The State News Many college students grew up reading or hearing about the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books. Now, MSU's Student Alumni Foundation, or SAF, wants to give students and alumni the same experience of college memories.
MSU
Free speech in question for college newspapers
Advocates of student journalism are saying college newspapers should get a written understanding of who controls their editorial content after the U.S.
MSU
Innovations: Analyzing allergies
Name: Assistant Professor Venu Gangur Department: Food Science and Human Nutrition and MSU's National Food Safety & Toxicology Center Type of research: How and why people develop food allergies Date of research: Gangur has about four ongoing projects, and most of them began in 2001. Basics of the project: Allergies begin with a process called "sensitization," which can potentially occur when a person's immune system comes into contact with certain food proteins for the first time. A certain antibody can react with these food proteins, which increases the likelihood of an allergy developing, Gangur said.
MSU
Civil rights initiative forum to be held Wed.
A forum will be held at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the McDonel Hall Kiva to discuss the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, or MCRI. The program will include a panel of speakers that will discuss the impact the MCRI would have, if passed, on MSU and the state. MCRI is a proposal to amend the state constitution to ban affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin for public employment, education or contracting purposes. The event is hosted by the Briggs Multiracial Alliance, Holmes Hall Black Caucus and McDonel Hall Residence Life staff.
MSU
WEB EXTRA: Group hosts rally, speaker in campaign against Coke
Students for Economic Justice, or SEJ, will hold a rally on campus at noon today in support of removing Coca-Cola products from MSU's campus.
MSU
Details announced in New Orleans program
Nine committees that will handle everything from fundraising to food preparation for an MSU summer volunteer program in New Orleans were introduced Monday at an organizational meeting. Joyce Grant, an associate professor of teacher education, told the 15 potential volunteers present that she wanted to make fundraising a priority. The projected cost of the trip is about $800 per person, she said. "I have every faith that we'll have the money to go," she said. Grant has been organizing the four-week MSU New Orleans Summer Project trip for the past several months. For the project, faculty, staff and student volunteers will assist with summer school programs in four school districts — St.