MSU

Baseball field to be replaced

Bob Darrow

August 11, 2005

When Mark Collins watches an MSU football game, he pays attention to something many others might give little thought - the grass. Collins, farm manager at MSU's Hancock Turfgrass Research Center, was involved in growing the grass that now sits in Spartan Stadium and said the results give him a sense of pride in his work. "I expect this will be the same way," he said Wednesday, standing in the 4-acre plot of grass that will become the new home turf of the Lansing Lugnuts this September. The field, planted last September, is being grown by MSU employees at the turfgrass center, a 56-acre site south of the main campus. The new field to be located in Oldsmobile Park is part of a long-term arrangement by both the Lugnuts organization and the city of Lansing, which owns the ballpark.

MSU

Impact assists Gov. with podcasts

Daniel Thai

August 9, 2005

MSU students are helping Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who recently returned from Japan, prepare for another journey. This time her destination is the Internet. The governor released her first radio address and podcast this weekend through a partnership with MSU's student radio station WDBM (88.9-FM), the Impact. Impact Production Director Jeremy Whiting and General Manager Gary Reid head the team producing the governor's podcasts. "It's a great experience for a young student to get involved and know how broadcasting works on a professional level," Reid said.

MSU

Professor teaches class on spy technology

Bob Darrow

August 9, 2005

Kristie Macrakis described East Berlin in the late 1980s as a drab, black-and-white city, where the East German secret police operated behind the scenes. "It was kind of like 'spy city,'" she said.

MSU

MSU campaign raises more than $1B

Amy Davis

August 9, 2005

The MSU fundraising effort to raise $1.2 billion for the university before 2007 has surpassed the billion-dollar mark, university officials are expected to announce today. The Campaign for MSU, which began in 2000, seeks to raise gift support for research and teaching, support for students, scholarships, new facilities and building renovations, maintaining programs and faculty recruitment.

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MSU project works to provide poor with shoes

Daniel Thai

August 8, 2005

The MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine is lending a hand to cover impoverished children's feet. Heart and Sole is a project that collects moderately worn and new shoes for needy people around the world, project organizer and College of Osteopathic Medicine Graphic Designer Ann Cook said. She said the project started in 1999 after a secretary who returned from a trip to Malawi in Africa recalled the children's desperation. "When she went to the streets to buy trinkets, the kids would do anything for shoes," Cook said. Currently Heart and Sole is collecting tennis shoes and school shoes.

MSU

Professor studies malaria in Africa

Bob Darrow

August 8, 2005

In sub-Saharan Africa, it's common for a person to contract malaria as many as five times a year. The disease is so common, medical students in Malawi find it boring, said Dr. Terrie Taylor, an MSU professor who is considered one of the world's leading researchers on malaria in children.

MSU

Diabetes walk raises $75K

Bob Darrow

August 8, 2005

After Saturday's Walk To Cure Diabetes on campus, walk organizer Tom Brennan owes Karen Breen a bottle of wine. Breen, executive director of the Detroit chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, or JDRF, bet Brennan a bottle of wine that donations would break $50,000 and won handily when Brennan announced Saturday afternoon that the walk had raised $75,000. The walk, which benefited the international JDRF, kicked off from Ralph Young Field, west of Spartan Stadium, and covered 1.5 miles through campus, featuring head football coach John L.

MSU

Camp teaches children about German culture, language

Nick Pelton

August 4, 2005

The sounds and smells of Germany can be found on the third floor of Wells Hall this week. Two German studies graduate students, Jeannine Mickeleit and Angelika Kraemer, are running a camp to teach children aged 6-11 years old German language and culture.

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College of Medicine to gain acting dean

Bob Darrow

August 4, 2005

After more than a month without an administrative leader, the College of Human Medicine is expected to take on Dr. Marsha Rappley as acting dean. Rappley has assumed the responsibilities on an interim basis since the departure of former Dean Glenn Davis on June 30. MSU President Lou Anna K.

MSU

U-M places 1st in solar car race

Lindsey Poisson

August 2, 2005

It's a 2,500 mile race - powered by the sun. The University of Michigan placed first in the 2005 North American Solar Challenge, or NASC, a race that included 20 competitors and their solar cars from universities and colleges across the nation. "We had 10 days of racing," said Michael Brackney, project manager for the U-M solar racing team.

MSU

New students learn about college life

Amy Davis

August 2, 2005

Incoming freshman Thurman Stanton Jr. spent the last five weeks learning how to be a college student. He's one of 26 new students hailing from all over the state who enrolled in MSU's Summer University Program: Excellence Required, or SUPER. The program, created in 1988, is designed to help a diverse group of students gain the academic, social and interpersonal skills needed to succeed in the university setting. Stanton said he's glad he applied for the SUPER developmental course because it's prepared him to adjust to the college workload. "It's tremendously needed," he said.

MSU

Coach Smith heads local diabetes walk

Bob Darrow

August 1, 2005

The day before MSU football players report for practice, head coach John L. Smith has taken on the task of rallying support for an entirely different cause. This Saturday, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, or JDRF, will hold a Walk To Cure Diabetes on campus, kicking off at Ralph Young Field.

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Local radio remains popular despite competition

Daniel Thai

July 28, 2005

Despite the recent emergence of alternate music sources, people are remaining loyal to their local radio stations, according to a local report. The Communications Research Institute of East Lansing, or CRI, conducted a project to determine whether radio interest is being replaced by the high-tech world of satellite radio, personal MP3 players and Internet radio, CRI research team member and MSU Chair of the Department of Communication Charles Atkin said. "In each case, the total size of the audience isn't as large as for radio," he said.

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Friends celebrate late student's life

Daniel Thai

July 28, 2005

A memorial service for Jiang Wei Lim will be held at 4 p.m. today in the McDonel Hall Kiva. Tyler DeBruler, Lim's former roommate and friend, said some people who knew him well will make presentations, and a spiritual leader will be present as well. "(We're) going to put up a couple of photos and tell stories about him and basically just tell how loved he was, when it comes right down to it," he said. Lim, a 20-year-old computer science and engineering senior and international student, was spending the weekend at a friend's home when he drowned last weekend in a swimming accident in Lake Michigan.

MSU

New site offers forum for fans

Lindsey Poisson

July 26, 2005

The topics of campus, sports, East Lansing and anything else are all possible forums people can post replies to on the new MSU forum site, www.msufans.com. And you don't have to be from MSU to log in. Advertising and sociology senior Justin Sailor created the site two months ago and said there are already more than 500 users. "I was basically looking for a summer project," he said.

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MSU receives $2M grant for lab renovations

Bob Darrow

July 26, 2005

A $2 million grant to MSU will be used to help finance renovations in the Lyman Briggs School and to create an endowment in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. The grant was given by the Midland, Mich., Rollin M.

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Word on the street

"I think any type of celebration (the university) puts on isn't going to be what we want it to be." George Konstantopoulos accounting senior "It would be nice to do something like that if it got down to the Elite Eight or Final Four, but I don't think it would defer anything riot-wise." Colleen Duff kinesiology senior "That'd be fun.

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State gives MSU nursing grants totaling about $1.8M

Bob Darrow

July 25, 2005

A series of grants announced Wednesday will mean more than $1.8 million in funding to train nurses for MSU's College of Nursing. The four grants could mean more students will be admitted, said Teresa Wehrwein, assistant dean for professional partnerships and faculty practice in the college. Michigan will be in need of an extra 7,000 nurses by 2010 and 18,000 nurses by 2015, said Jeanette Klemczak, chief nurse executive in the Michigan Department of Community Health. MSU is one of six universities developing an accelerated second-degree program to get more nurses into the workforce quickly. Gov.

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Student creates writing game

Darrell Hughes

July 25, 2005

Forget "Super Mario Brothers" and "Grand Theft Auto." An MSU graduate student is working to create an online text-based video game called "Ink" for student writers to compete against one another. Kym Buchanan presented his educational version of "You Got Served" to MSU's Writing Center and Writing In Digital Environments Research Center, or WIDE, in the spring after using the game's format for a telecommunications course's final project.

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Student wins cherry crown

Lindsey Poisson

July 21, 2005

A queen will be attending MSU as a student this fall. Biological sciences senior Courtney Fountain was named the 2005-06 National Cherry Queen at this year's National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Mich.