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MSU

People with disabilities take part in sports

Alex Abate
May 23, 2005

Like many other kids, 13-year-old Anthony Town enjoys playing table tennis and cycling. This weekend, he had an opportunity to do these events and more as he participated in the Michigan Sports Festival for Athletes with Physical Disabilities. Town was one of many people with cerebral palsy who competed in the festival on campus at IM Sports-West and Demonstration Hall, put on by the Michigan Disability Sports Alliance. The athletes are members of teams that compete in various events such as bocce ball, table tennis, cycling and swimming. "This event gives me a chance to play sports that I would not get to do in school," Town said. Town has a less severe case of the disorder, which disrupts the development of motor skills and can be a result of a brain injury. "I feel very fortunate that I can do most of the things that normal people do," said Town.

MSU

SmartZone aids local technology companies

Lindsey Poisson
May 23, 2005

MSU faculty members will benefit from the Ingham County regional SmartZone, which will help them research and start their own companies and support businesses in early stages. The regional SmartZone is a designated area in which developing, technology-based businesses are "incubated," or fostered, by established corporations.

MSU

Eateries to move into campus food courts by mid-August

Bob Darrow
May 19, 2005

Two food courts on campus are in the midst of a makeover that will bring four new restaurants to MSU by fall. The Taco Bell and Wendy's located in the International Center announced in February that they would not rebid their contracts, which expired at the end of the semester.

MSU

New fitness area opens at IM West

Nick Pelton
May 17, 2005

After about a year of construction, IM Sports-West opened the doors to a brand new fitness and exercise area on Monday and is offering free visits to MSU community members until Friday. The room is 12,000 square feet and features more than 180 new weight and cardiovascular machines for students, faculty, staff and alumni to use. Weight machines are positioned on the large first floor, and cardiovascular machines are on the second balcony level - a far cry from the small fitness room with dated machines IM Sports-West used to have. Most of the machines in the previous fitness room are from the 1970s, and there were few cardiovascular options, IM Sports-West intern and kinesiology senior Greg Haverlock said. Among the new equipment are 24 elliptical running machines and 24 treadmills, and each machine features a personal TV screen.

MSU

2005-06 tuition rates await state budget

Amy Davis
May 17, 2005

MSU's budget and tuition rates for the 2005-06 school year are waiting on one thing - the state's long budgetary process in Lansing, university officials said. Next month, the university will set its tuition rates for the new school year, but MSU Board of Trustees member David Porteous said the board is at a standstill until the state determines its higher-education funding for its 15 public universities. At this point, Porteous said it would be "premature and impossible" to predict what is in store for MSU's tuition rates.

MSU

Dorm cleanup yields surprises

Daniel Thai
May 17, 2005

Sex toys and a gorilla-masked mannequin are a few of the stranger things manager Tim Knightfound while doing dorm room cleaning. "The mannequin scared the living daylights out of you because you thought something with a hairy face was behind you," he said. Many students could not fit everything they have acquired throughout the year into the bags and boxes Mom and Dad brought to them in the spring.

MSU

Low blood-drive donations prompt Red Cross campaign

Nick Pelton
May 16, 2005

The Michigan chapters of the American Red Cross have the lowest blood supply levels in a decade. MSU students leaving for the summer and high school classes coming to a close give the Red Cross fewer possible donors. A new campaign called "Strive for Five" started on Friday to help increase blood donations for the summer. It encourages sponsors to give five more pints of blood than their original goal, American Red Cross Marketing Manager Kelly Rogers said. The campaign began because this summer is projected to be the lowest blood-drive turnout in years, said Justin Looyenga, donor recruitment representative for the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross. "We're really going to be struggling this summer," Looyenga said. The summer always is a problem for the organization, Rogers said.

MSU

RHA takes control of Channel 12, keeps it on air

Tom Keller
April 29, 2005

Channel 12 is back on. The channel, which broadcasts free movies and student-produced programming to MSU's campus and surrounding cities, was scheduled to be taken off the air at the end of the school year due to declining viewership. But the Residence Halls Association announced this week that it will assume control of the channel after a division of Housing and Food Services gives up control of it next month. RHA President Kevin Newman, who during his campaign stressed improving amenities as the key to keeping students on campus, said keeping Channel 12 a part of residence hall living should be a priority. "This is another program that RHA can bring to the on-campus community that they can't get anywhere else," Newman said. The move became possible after Swank Motion Pictures Inc., the company from which RHA purchases the movies for Channel 12 and its Campus Center Cinemas, agreed to provide them with a digital media player system at no charge for at least a year. The system will substantially cut the channel's labor costs by enabling a month of its programming to be done in 30 minutes. "There's been some technical issues, but the new digital media player will alleviate that," RHA Director of Technology Tom Wolf said.

MSU

Contract negotiations continue for grad union

Thursday was the third continuous day of bargaining in negotiations between MSU and the Graduate Employees Union, which are attempting to establish a contract for the union before the current one expires May 15. About 40 members of GEU held a "grade-in" today at the Nisbet Building, where the bargaining meeting was being held.

MSU

Study finds Americans' lifestyle not healthy

Starting a campaign for his co-workers to take the stairs instead of the elevator was a step in the right direction toward a healthier campus community, said Matthew Reeves, an epidemiologist. But after discovering only 3 percent of Americans are fulfilling the recommended behaviors that add up to a healthy lifestyle, Reeves said there needs to be a cultural shift in the way people take care of themselves. Reeves looked at four indicators of healthy lifestyles: not smoking, eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily, exercising 30 minutes five days a week and maintaining a healthy weight.

MSU

Reformed neo-Nazi skinhead to speak

Lauren Phillips
April 29, 2005

T.J. Leyden, a reformed neo-Nazi skinhead activist and recruiter, will speak at noon May 5 in the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety Community room. The presentation, for police, students and staff of MSU, "Turning Away From Hate," is about the neo-Nazi skinhead culture and the nature of hate. Leyden has spoken at more than 100 high schools, and to various military groups, including the Pentagon.

MSU

MSU employees bring children to work

Josh Jarman
April 29, 2005

The university opened its arms to a group of potential future Spartans on Thursday as more than 100 employees brought their children to the annual "Take Your Child to Work Day." The day's activities included tours, informational displays and a ceremony where the children got to meet Sparty and receive a certificate of completion.

MSU

Dorms unable to donate leftovers

By Jason Chapman Special for The State News An opportunity for MSU to regularly help the homeless and poor in Lansing with food donations has come up, but university officials said legal and food safety concerns keep MSU from participating. Food Movers, located in Lansing, is an organization that rescues leftover perishable food from restaurants and other local businesses, supplying it to food shelters in the area.

MSU

Granholm attends Habitat for Humanity banquet on campus

Kristi Jourdan
April 28, 2005

The Kellogg Center hosted the Habitat for Humanity of Michigan Awards Banquet on Wednesday. Gov. Jennifer Granholm spoke and received the Public Official of the Year award. The banquet was held to honor the work done by members of the group this year. "She's a large supporter of low-income housing," Ken Bensen, president of Habitat for Humanity of Michigan, said of Granholm.