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MSU

Students fast for Sudan effort

Several MSU students will participate today in an International Solidarity Fast for Darfur - an effort to raise awareness about genocide occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan. Members of Spartans Taking Action Now: Darfur, or STAND, will set up informational tables in several residence halls for students to get information about the situation in Darfur. The group will be encouraging students to fast from a meal or luxury item during the day and donate the money saved to the effort, said Lindsey Hutchison, international relations junior and president of STAND. "The fast is not the standard fast you think of when you hear the word," Hutchison said.

MSU

Researchers use grant to examine plant mechanisms

Jennifer Toland
October 6, 2005

MSU researchers believe if they can unlock the secret behind how simple plant mechanisms work, they can engineer almost anything for people - from vitamins to new bio-fuels. Last month, 10 MSU faculty members received a $4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study how plant genes make nutrients, said Rob Last, a biochemistry and plant biology professor.

MSU

MSU profs oppose intelligent design as science

Laura Collins
October 5, 2005

For the last 15 years, Robert Pennock has spent his time researching and exploring the controversial scientific theory of evolution, looking at its truth in comparison with the theories of creationism and intelligent design. As the debate has carried on about what topics are appropriate to teach in public schools, Pennock was recently called to testify as an expert witness in a Dover Area School District trial in Dover, Penn. The case concerns a decision the Dover school board made in October 2004, requiring the reading of a brief statement about intelligent design before any class teaches evolution. "Intelligent design is not science, but is a disguised religion," said Pennock, a professor in the Lyman Briggs School. Parents in the Dover school district were upset because they felt the policy didn't maintain the legal requirement of separation between church and state. The Pennsylvania court case is just a sampling of the controversy this area of science has caused in education. But MSU professors from both natural science and religious fields said the teaching of such theories as creationism and intelligent design in the classroom doesn't make sense. "Intelligent design is based on biblical faith rather than scientific," said Roger Bresnahan, acting chairman of the Department of Religious Studies.

MSU

PETA display riles some

Ken Osborne
October 5, 2005

Banners with graphic images of animals being mistreated stood alongside images of past human rights violations near Wells Hall on Tuesday. The pictures were an exhibit created by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, as part of a 28-campus tour, said Sangeeta Kumar, a spokeswoman for the group.

MSU

Statewide student groups lobby for higher ed funding

Melissa Domsic
October 5, 2005

Like many students, Julielyn Gibbons worries about paying for college - she works, takes out loans and her parents are dipping into their retirement fund to help Gibbons and her siblings. "We're having to pay through the nose for tuition," said Gibbons, the director of legislative affairs for ASMSU's Student Assembly.

MSU

MIPA unchanged by embezzlement charges

Margaret Harding
October 4, 2005

Some advisers, students and officials agreed that the thousands of dollars allegedly embezzled from the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association haven't affected any programs, including the fall conference held at the Lansing Center on Monday. "It's upsetting, but it hasn't affected the program that I can see," said Gayle Martin, adviser for The Source, the student newspaper at Stoney Creek High School. Raye Grill, a former MSU employee, is charged with taking more than $20,000 from MIPA and between $1,000 and $20,000 from the MSU School of Journalism. Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, or MIPA, President Brian Wilson said the organization has been able to meet its budget every year. "When we were looking at the budget, we were essentially setting the budget based on money we had in the account," Wilson said.

MSU

Group responds to race-related assault

Bob Darrow
October 4, 2005

The floor where Elvia Gonzalez lives in East Akers Hall no longer has a bulletin board. After racist slurs were repeatedly written on the board, it was taken down. The same goes for the message board Gonzalez used to keep on her door. That kind of harassment isn't unusual on the floor where she lives with a number of other students who come from migrant families. But those slurs were mild compared to a Sept.

MSU

Software upgrade causes sluggish Webmail

Laura Collins
October 4, 2005

Andrea Campain said she wishes MSU Webmail was operating as usual. Right now, Campain said she has several different group projects in the works, all of which use an MSU e-mail account as a main communication form. "It's been really hard to keep up with everything going on in the group project because we can't communicate," the advertising senior said. For the last 10 days, Campain and anyone else who uses Webmail have found themselves waiting longer than normal for the server to load. Due to an upgrade in software this summer, the new e-mail system in use is not working properly at the correct speed, said Rich Wiggins, senior information technologist for Academic Computing & Network Services, adding that network users have called trying to figure out the problem. The system was upgraded in order to increase capacity, but the new server couldn't keep up with the increased amount of traffic during the fall semester. "We anticipated we needed more space to hold the amount of e-mail people are sending and receiving," Wiggins said. He said during mid-mornings and mid-to-late afternoons, he and his team have noticed that Webmail slows down significantly. To fix the problem, the office has been conducting conference calls with the software vendor.

MSU

MSU groups unite to aid relief

Melissa Domsic
October 3, 2005

Walking out of the tunnel only moments after the Spartans football team had raced onto the field, members of three campus groups carried their fundraiser for hurricane relief to the center of about 75,000 fans' attention Saturday. About 30 members of ASMSU, the Residence Halls Association and the MSU chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary brought out a 40-yard-long banner, decked with signatures of fans who raised money for universities in areas hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

MSU

Dash appeals to athletes, young and old

The inflatable dinosaur was ready, the course was drawn out and the weather was perfect as the Dinosaur Dash got in full swing Sunday morning in front of the MSU Museum. The events, which included a 5K Run-Walk, the Museum Mile and a Mini-Dash, attracted runners, walkers and families from throughout the state. "I've been looking forward to this for a year," said Travis Asher, a fourth-grade student at Murphy Elementary School who participated in the event's Museum Mile catered toward children under 12.

MSU

Religious studies to update curriculum with expert's aid

Although its curriculum dates back centuries, the Department of Religious Studies is giving itself a facelift with help from a noted religious scholar. This week, Charles Long, retired professor of the history of religions and former director of the Center of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will present lectures on the study of religion.

MSU

First-class animal care site opened

Bob Darrow
October 3, 2005

Friday's dedication of a new campus veterinary facility was punctuated by swanky jazz, distinguished guests and a photo-friendly ribbon-cutting. It was an elegant ceremony for a center that will soon house critically ill and contagious large animals. "The animals we get to see here are particularly ill, often critically ill," said Fred Derksen, large animal clinical sciences professor.

MSU

ASMSU urges E.L. to party responsibly

Melissa Domsic
September 30, 2005

As ASMSU members met with city residents on their front porches - or even inside their houses - they reminded people to be responsible this weekend during the University of Michigan football game. "We need to explain to people what it means to be a Spartan," said Andrew Bell, vice chairperson for external affairs for ASMSU's Student Assembly. Members of ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government, went to neighborhoods off Grand River Avenue on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, talking with residents and passing out fliers from Olin Health Center about partying safely.

MSU

Events raise disability awareness on campus

Bridging the awareness gap between students with disabilities and their peers was the focus of this week's MSU Disability Awareness Week on campus. The Council for Students with Disabilities sponsored several activities this week, which were aimed toward informing people of the disability issues prevalent on campus and in society. Next week, a national Disability Awareness Week will be observed. Val Erwin, history junior and president of the Council for Students with Disabilities, said the week shined light on issues many don't know about. "A lot of people on campus feel students with disabilities are nonexistent," she said.

MSU

Provost open to student concerns at ASMSU meeting

Melissa Domsic
September 29, 2005

Provost Kim Wilcox is still new to his job - he admits he doesn't know everything about MSU - but plans to learn more about students' issues, Wilcox told ASMSU's Academic Assembly on Tuesday. This is the first time Wilcox has attended a meeting of ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government. "It gave me a chance to appreciate the breadth of concerns students have, and gave me some direction on things I need to be following up on," he said. Academic Assembly Chairperson Bob Murphy said he regularly meets with Wilcox, who Murphy said is receptive to students' interests. Wilcox provided detailed answers to some of the questions ASMSU representatives raised, such as the issue of academic minors or how the university will spend money to improve education. But when Wilcox wasn't familiar with an issue, such as ASMSU's interest in a student fee for IM facilities, he told the representatives what he knew based on past experience and said he would look further into each issue. "I liked the fact that when he didn't know the answer, he just said he didn't know and said he would follow up with that person later," said Steven Ambrose, the assembly's representative for the Alliance of Lesbian, Bi, Gay and Transgender Students. The addition of academic minors has been on the forefront of assembly discussions.

MSU

Residential college approved by council, awaits nod from trustees

Laura Collins
September 28, 2005

The committees have spoken and a new residential college for the arts and humanities that has been in draft stages for the past year will now move on to becoming a reality. Committee members in the Academic Governance system have expressed support for the college, slated to make its debut in fall 2007, after the proposal was approved by Academic Council on Tuesday. MSU President Lou Anna K.

MSU

Green genes

Laura Collins
September 28, 2005

Andrea Amalfitano said he bleeds green and white. "Heck yeah, I'm glad to be back," he said. Arriving at MSU on Sept.