MSU

Faculty, students dig up university's past

Laura Collins

September 12, 2005

For more than 100 years, students have been walking on top of history. Hidden just a few feet beneath the sidewalks lying east of the MSU Museum, artifacts like padlocks and keys, pieces of champagne bottles and a stove were discovered within the remains of the first MSU dormitory, Saints' Rest, by a group of students and faculty. On Friday and Saturday, the findings were shown to the public for the first time as part of the Sesquicentennial Academic Convocation weekend. This event showed some of the spots the group worked in this summer, accompanied by posters and displays of some of the discovered artifacts at the Saints' Rest excavation, which was launched in early June and recently completed. "It gives people a very good sense of the history of the institution," anthropology Professor Bill Lovis said.

MSU

Vet students hold drive for pets affected by hurricane

Melissa Domsic

September 12, 2005

A truck of pet food and supplies collected by MSU veterinary students is en route to Louisiana State University, where more than 1,000 pets of Hurricane Katrina evacuees are being housed. Veterinary technology sophomore Amy Schupska and others from the College of Veterinary Medicine put on a pet food and supply drive last weekend.

MSU

ASMSU to advocate lower meter rates

Melissa Domsic

September 12, 2005

MSU has the highest on-campus parking meter rates in the Big Ten, but ASMSU hopes to change that. Student Assembly members of ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government, voted Thursday to advocate for lower parking meter rates on campus. It costs $1.50 per hour to park at most metered parking spaces on campus - 50 cents more than the average price at Big Ten schools, and 90 cents more than the student meter rate at the University of Iowa. "It's ridiculous that we pay more than a quarter dollar for a quarter hour," said Derek Wallbank, Communication Arts and Sciences representative for the assembly. Wallbank introduced the idea to ASMSU after he was surprised to notice meters were cheaper at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, because it's in a downtown area. Last school year at an All-University Traffic and Transportation Committee meeting, Wallbank raised the issue at but it was too late in the semester for committee members to do anything, he said. The committee, or AUTTC, is made up of students, faculty and other representatives from the university and makes recommendations to Vice President for Finance and Operations Fred Poston. There are two representatives from ASMSU on the committee, including Wallbank, who plans to work with the MSU police to come up with a proposal to give to the All-University Traffic and Transportation Committee. "ASMSU hasn't proposed much to AUTTC in the last few years, so we don't have any institutional memory of how best to do it," Wallbank said.

MSU

MSU hosts horse competition

By Melissa Kayko Special to The State News Horses neighed sporadically and hooves clomped against the hard cement floor as Jodi Pepper gave her horse a quick pat at the MSU Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education on Saturday afternoon. While closing up the pen for her horse, Camera Loves You, which already displayed a first-place ribbon won in an earlier competition, Pepper relaxed and waited for the competition to wrap up and for the results to be announced. "I put in a lot of hard work," the high school senior said, adding she took care of the horse for a year for the annual competition at MSU. After raising them for a year, teenagers from Michigan gathered to present their horses, with names such as Benns Navigator and Northern Moon, at Saturday's 4th Annual Michigan 4-H Standardbred Show and Sunday's Great Lakes 2005 Yearling Sale. Pepper was one of 12 students who competed in the Michigan 4-H Standardbred Program, which offers an opportunity for Michigan 4-H members to look inside the harness racing industry and work with Standardbred race horse breeders while they complete tasks in taking responsibility for a horse that could later be sold at the Yearling Sale. The program is organized by the Michigan Harness Horsemen's Association, the Michigan Standardbred Breeders Association and the MSU Extension.

MSU

Traffic survey deems Sparty crossing safe

Bob Darrow

September 12, 2005

Any questions about the safety of the restructured intersection in front of the new bronze Sparty statue on campus have officially been put to rest, civil and environmental engineering Associate Professor Tom Maleck said. "Whatever problem there was, it went away," said Maleck, who wrapped up a traffic study at the new intersection of Kalamazoo Street and Red Cedar and Chestnut roads last week. Maleck, who works with the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety on traffic issues, said he was asked to conduct the study at the new intersection by deputy police Chief Mike Rice.

MSU

Deadline to change password approaching

Margaret Harding

September 12, 2005

As much as half of the MSU community has yet to update MSU NetID passwords, and the deadline to change them is quickly approaching, said Rich Wiggins, senior information technologist for Academic Computing & Network Services. "We're really concerned about having a large number of folks who don't know why they can't get in and overwhelming our help desk," Wiggins said. MSU upgraded its authentication system and one of the requirements is a "strong password," Wiggins said, which is one that has at least one capital letter, one lowercase letter, one numeral and is at least eight characters long.

MSU

Documentary explores MSU history

Bob Darrow

September 12, 2005

Holmes, Williams, Morrill, Snyder, Hannah, Wharton. They aren't just names of buildings around campus - they're characters in an hour-long documentary on MSU's history scheduled to air on local Public Broadcasting Service affiliate WKAR in October. The documentary was created as part of the sesquicentennial celebration, which marks MSU's 150th anniversary.

MSU

MSU hosts extreme sport event

Ken Osborne

September 9, 2005

When most people think of dodgeball, two things come to mind - an elementary school gym-class activity or a 2004 movie starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. Students who came out to watch Thursday's Extreme Dodgeball competitions at the rock on Farm Lane got something in between. The competitions, which were brought to campus by Comcast and the Game Show Network, or GSN, featured a Thursday afternoon matchup between teams from MSU and the University of Michigan. "It's the same game we played in elementary school, but with attitude," said Jerome Espy, Comcast's Michigan spokesman.

MSU

Homeland Security courses offered

Laura Collins

September 9, 2005

Radford Jones brought his expertise from working as a Secret Service agent to MSU and created a series of Homeland Security classes, to better equip communities in handling emergency situations and threats of disaster in today's world.

MSU

Financial matters pose challenges for foreign students

When Uruguay native Mauricio Kaufmann was trying to decide which college to attend, he had some standards for his future school. The economics junior wanted to attend college in the northern United States so he could improve his English and meet more people. After being accepted to MSU, Kaufmann discovered that receiving financial aid would not be an easy task. "As an international student, it's really hard to get financial aid," he said.

MSU

Film shown as part of 'One Book' program

Kristen Daum

September 9, 2005

The film "Kandahar" is showing at 7 p.m. today in the North Conference Room in the Main Library, as part of the Friday Night Film Series and the One Book, One Community program. The film follows the character, Nafas (Nelofer Pazira), and her return to her homeland of Afghanistan after receiving a suicide proclamation from her troubled sister, who was left behind when the family fled the country when Nafas was a child.

MSU

MSU recycling provides dorms with paper bins

Jennifer Toland

September 9, 2005

Although a recycling program has been in place at MSU for many years, it has been expanded this fall to include bins for various other paper products in the residence halls, said Pete Pasterz, manager of the Office of Recycling and Waste Management. "Students have been asking for an expansion of the types of things they can recycle," he said.

MSU

$750K awarded for psychology research

Kristen Daum

September 9, 2005

The National Science Foundation recently awarded MSU researchers a $750,000 grant to study the effect technology has on children. "Children are spending more and more time using technology," psychology Professor Linda Jackson said.

MSU

'Blow-a-Kiss' to hurricane victims

Melissa Domsic

September 9, 2005

After hearing about a fundraising campaign for Hurricane Katrina victims that's spread to 14 schools across the country, Hazel Atienza decided to get MSU involved in the effort. The chemistry freshman started the MSU chapter of the Blow-a-Kiss campaign with the help of some friends, the Facebook Web site and advertisements posted around campus. Grace Kim, a student at Rutgers University in Newark, N.J., started the campaign after she saw news coverage on television. "I found it horrifying, I started crying because it was so awful and I was completely traumatized that the government wasn't doing much," Kim said. She decided selling T-shirts would be a good way to raise money and named the project the Blow-a-Kiss campaign because it's optimistic and hopeful. "It's just a very happy little thing that can bring light to a horrible situation," she said. At MSU, Atienza is selling Blow-a-Kiss T-shirts for $12, with proceeds going to the American Red Cross. "In addition to giving money, you also get a shirt out of it," she said.

MSU

Leadership meeting series to hone skills

Kristen Daum

September 9, 2005

The Executive Leadership Series will hold the first of five sessions at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in the Union's Green Room. The series, sponsored by the Department of Student Life, is intended to further develop leadership skills in students.

MSU

150th anniversary event to highlight MSU initiatives

Bob Darrow

September 8, 2005

MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon will unveil a series of plans for university growth during a public address today, with the goal of making the university the leading land-grant research institution in the United States by 2012. The announcement of a new strategic initiative Simon has titled "Boldness by Design" will come as part of a two-day academic convocation celebrating the university's sesquicentennial - or 150th anniversary - that kicks off this afternoon in the Kellogg Center. Simon's speech, scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

MSU

Commemorative pillows to benefit band

Kristen Daum

September 8, 2005

The Spartan Marching Band is putting a new twist on recycling this fall. Every 10 years, the band orders new uniforms, leaving the old ones out of commission.

MSU

ASMSU bill to aid hurricane victims

Melissa Domsic

September 8, 2005

As a group that focuses on serving students - not only at MSU, but outside of the university - ASMSU's Academic Assembly unanimously passed a bill to honor and aid Hurricane Katrina victims as well as advocate taking in evacuated students at its Tuesday meeting.

MSU

MSU gets grants to study causes of ADHD

Jennifer Toland

September 8, 2005

Most people are exposed to small amounts of harmful chemicals every day, but MSU researchers will soon delve into the role people's genes play in developing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. The researchers will use two grants, a total of more than $3 million, to conduct a study of children's behavior, environment and genetic makeup to determine possible correlations, said Joel Nigg, associate professor in the Department of Psychology and lead researcher in the study. "The genetics part is important, but it's not in a vacuum," Nigg said.

MSU

Press secretaries to give lecture at MSU

Five current and former press secretaries of Michigan governors will speak at 5:30 p.m. today in the Big Ten A room of the Kellogg Center. "Meet the Press Secretaries" is the 2005 Edward Zabrusky Public Relations Lecture.