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MSU

Med school plans to be announced today

People involved in the move of MSU's College of Human Medicine to Grand Rapids met Tuesday to discuss a set of commitments for the project. The commitments indicate what the group members intend to do on the project and were formally decided upon at the meeting, said Steven Heacock, chief administrative and legal officer of IdeaSphere Inc., a David Van Andel-run private company that manufactures and supplies dietary supplements. Heacock also serves as a discussion facilitator of the group of leaders in the expansion.

MSU

Students, ASMSU weigh proposed tax hike

Darrell Hughes
February 10, 2005

Some undergraduates support a new ASMSU tax that will create a scholarship fund, while several student government members oppose the idea. In a meeting last week, Academic and Student assemblies for MSU's undergraduate student government voted to increase student taxes by $3 to fund a scholarship account.

MSU

Expert offers information on preserving collections

Josh Jarman
February 9, 2005

An expert in preservation taught about 10 people how to protect their personal collections over lunch on Tuesday. Jeanne Drewes, the assistant director for access and preservation at the MSU library, gave the presentation in the Ohio State room of the Union.

MSU

Trustees' meeting to focus on traffic

Two projects that would change the way motorists drive and park on campus are among the issues to be discussed at Thursday's MSU Board of Trustees meeting. A redesign of the intersection near Sparty and the construction of a parking ramp near Morrill Hall with access from Grand River Avenue are both part of the university's 2020 Vision plan. The plan is a way for university officials to outline and expand the growth of MSU by the year 2020. The parking structure near Morrill Hall was identified as needed to reduce a deficit of parking on north campus, said Jeff Kacos, director of Campus Planning and Administration. The ramp is expected to add about 525 parking spaces and will be designed to look similar to the existing buildings in the area, Kacos said. Because this is the first time Trustee Melanie Foster has seen the plan, she said she has some questions and concerns about the ramp. "I have fresh eyes," Foster said.

MSU

Simon adjusts to new role as president

After her first week as MSU's 20th president, Lou Anna Simon said a good assessment of her administration would come after her first month in office. Now that the time has come, Simon says her presidency has gone relatively smoothly in the first month. "I've been working hard to look at Michigan State through fresh eyes, and to see Michigan State through a fresh perspective," she said. Something Simon didn't anticipate when taking over MSU's top role was the struggle between her personal and professional lives among those who have known her for years, she said. Colleagues were used to addressing her as "Lou Anna," and now have a hard time adjusting to her formal title of President Simon. "There's President Simon and then there's Lou Anna with a new job," Simon said.

MSU

Committee discusses liberal arts college

Margaret Harding
February 9, 2005

The Executive Committee of Academic Council heard feedback from the standing committees on the final report of the Committee on College Reorganization. Only the University Committee on Faculty Affairs endorsed an option laid out in the final report - the recommendation that MSU improve liberal arts and sciences education, without significant college reorganization now. Investment in liberal arts and sciences must wait for new resources, rather than shifting funds from other programs, said Susan Melnick, co-chairwoman of the University Committee on Faculty Affairs. "We are arguing in favor of strengthening liberal arts, not diminishing it," Melnick said. The other option mentioned would establish a Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences institution that would include the Colleges of Arts & Letters and Social Science. Vinayak Prasad, chairman of the University Committee on Student Affairs, said his committee felt strong reservations about the option because it did not include the College of Natural Science. "We are hesitant to say reorganization is necessary to fix the problems," Prasad said.

MSU

Chinese New Year celebrations begin today

Josh Jarman
February 9, 2005

Groups on campus are getting ready to bring some of their culture to MSU students by throwing festivities for the Chinese New Year, which begins today. Historically, the event is marked with 15 days of celebration throughout Asia. "The first night is a lot like Thanksgiving in America," said Mark Wong, president of the Singapore Student Association.

MSU

Campus groups hold protest

Amy Davis  and  Sarah Norris
February 8, 2005

Two student groups staged a sit-in protest Monday at the Administration Building in their latest attempt in a five-year campaign to encourage MSU to join a union for workers' rights. About 35 members from Students for Economic Justice, or SEJ, and Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan, or MEXA, sat in the lobby in front of administrators' offices and held signs that read "Justicia Ahora", or "Justice Now," and "No Justice, No Peace, Join the WRC!" "We want the university to take some responsibility for workers' rights," SEJ member and international relations sophomore Maggie Corser said as she made signs before the protest. "We want to send a clear message to the administration that there is a lot of student support for the (Worker Rights Consortium)." The WRC is a monitoring body that investigates the labor conditions under which university clothing is made.

MSU

Law journal hosts foreign policy forum

Margaret Harding  and  Jennifer Toland
February 8, 2005

Focusing on the history of U.S. involvement in a global world, Richard J. Goldstone gave the keynote address during Monday's daylong international law symposium, "From Nuremberg to Abu Ghraib: The Relevance of International Criminal Law to the Global War on Terror." "The people in this country must realize that their best interest is in international relations," Goldstone said to a full crowd in the Castle Board room of the MSU College of Law. The conference, hosted by the Journal of International Law, featured speakers from around the world, including 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Michael Scharf. Scharf, who was selected by the Bush Administration to train the judges for the trial of Saddam Hussein, told the group how he came to be chosen. "I wrote a paper about how the Iraqi tribunal would be criticized because it looked like a puppet court of the U.S.," Scharf said.

MSU

Dorms switch to wireless Internet

Tom Keller
February 8, 2005

With funding from the Residence Halls Association and some technical know-how from MSU computer support staff, Case Hall is the first dorm on campus with a wireless Internet access point. Last year, RHA budgeted $5,000 toward the installation of wireless access points in five residential areas on campus, including Case.

MSU

Students travel to D.C., focus on activism in Sudan

Josh Jarman
February 8, 2005

A group of 12 MSU students traveled to Washington on Friday to learn how to turn their concern about the current conditions in Darfur, Sudan, into activism. The students attended the conference "A Call to Action for Darfur, Sudan," sponsored by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

MSU

Team grows, gains experience

Emily Sorger
February 7, 2005

In the six years since it was established, the MSU Polo Club has grown from a few players using a wooden horse for practice to almost 30 members with a stable of 15 horses at its disposal. Coach Tom Wisehart said the team began when the Detroit Polo Club approached the MSU Horsemen's Association and offered to help them form a team. "We focused on starting from the fundamentals and going from there," said Wisehart, who played polo as an undergraduate at the University of Connecticut.

MSU

ASMSU assemblies to stay separate

Darrell Hughes
February 7, 2005

ASMSU officials decided at a joint meeting to pass its amended constitution Thursday to keep the two assemblies separate, despite one representative's plea not to. ASMSU's constitution is a blueprint of how colleges, minorities and progressive students are represented within its system.

MSU

Free AIDS tests offered

Amy Davis
February 7, 2005

To participate in the fifth annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness and Information Day, the Black Student Alliance and the Lansing Area AIDS Network, or LAAN, are offering free testing in the Union's Multicultural Center today from 6-9 p.m. The day was created to urge blacks to "get educated, get tested and get involved" with HIV/AIDS activities in their communities said Philip Hilton, senior vice president of fund development and communication affairs at the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. Hilton said statistics show that blacks have been disproportionately infected and affected by HIV/AIDS since the epidemic's beginning. "African Africans comprise 12 percent of the nation's total population and 54 percent of all newly reported HIV or AIDS cases," Hilton said.

MSU

Readers cram to 'Midnight'

Josh Jarman
February 7, 2005

This weekend, James Madison College students turned cramming into a collaborative art form. The MADhouse at James Madison College sponsored a marathon book reading of Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" on Saturday.

MSU

UAB, Pink Floyd tribute band bring 'Moon' to Oz

By Daniel Thai Special for The State News On Saturday night, munchkins marched to the beat of Pink Floyd. More than 500 students came to the International Center as the sounds of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" meshed with the sights of Victor Fleming's "The Wizard of Oz" to create the "Dark Side of the Rainbow." Urban legends have been floating around for years about the coincidental occurrences of events when the album and movie are played simultaneously.