Four veteran activists will visit MSU in February to contribute to a lecture series honoring those who fought civil rights battles in the 1950s and 1960s.
By Lydia WeissSpecial for The State News About 20 voices echoed through the Union Ballroom Saturday night.
Students aren't the only ones who use Weblogs anymore. Now, university administrators are jumping on board. MSU President Lou Anna Simon created a blog on her university Web page, which will allow her to communicate with students and the rest of the MSU community and allow for feedback via e-mail. "We do know that students are using this type of technology, as are others around the country, and we thought we'd try it and see how it worked," Simon said. The blog is a way to increase discussion before major university decisions are made, Simon said. Blogs such as LiveJournal and Thefacebook have recently taken college campuses by storm, allowing their users to post information and photographs.
The sound of drums and a children's tale about slavery kicked off the Black Student Alliance's celebration of Black History Month. The performance, featuring members of Sankofa Shule Academy, a Lansing kindergarden-through-eighth charter school, began the event. Seventh-grader Deyonta Wilmot said he was excited to participate in the drumming performance because practicing for it helped him learn how to convey the struggles of important figures in Black History Month.
Writer and columnist Julianne Malveaux will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Kellogg Center. Malveaux will spend three weeks at MSU as a John A.
Due to a misunderstanding between ASMSU and its constituents, more than 50 minority students protested against the student government Wednesday night. Students held signs that read "What would 'U' know about being a Minority," "No Taxation without Representation." Minority student groups from across campus decided to protest after several students received an e-mail from a Student Assembly representative that stated ASMSU officials were in the process of changing the group's constitution and were discussing removing minority representatives from the assembly. Last semester, ASMSU discussed combining its Student and Academic assemblies to form one governing body - or a unicameral system. Currently, the group runs on a bicameral system where the Student Assembly oversees student life issues, while the Academic Assembly discusses academic issues such as course structures and faculty issues. During last semester's discussion, Brian Forest, a College of Arts & Letters representative, drafted a new constitution to make the assembly unicameral.
Rubbing shoulders with Wall Street's finest are 16 members of MSU's Student Investment Association, or SIA.
The Black Student Alliance, or BSA, is presenting a program to address the importance of Black History Month at 6 p.m.
MSU President Lou Anna Simon is working to increase MSU's presence locally and nationally. In response to budget cuts and a reduced population in schools, Lansing Mayor Tony Benavides appointed Simon and another co-chairperson to create the Special Commission on Schools and Neighborhoods. Benavides appointed Simon during his 2005 State of the City address Monday. The group will be composed of Lansing-area leaders and administrators from local schools.
When MSU President Lou Anna Simon introduced former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dennis Ross at Kellogg Center Monday, it was one of two firsts. It was the first time Simon introduced a speaker as president of the university, and Ross was the first speaker in the "Conversations on U.S.-Israel Relations" series. His visit kicked off the series of speakers sponsored by the Hillel Jewish Student Center and the Greater Lansing Jewish Welfare Federation.
Okemos High School senior George Karagoulis said he's fortunate because he already knows what he wants to do with his life - he wants to be an engineer. Which is why Karagoulis, 18, is excited to be a member of Team 1504-Spartan Robotics, an engineering-inspired club that is gearing up to build a 120-pound robot capable of moving 9-pound weights to a designated goal. "It's a major undertaking," Karagoulis said of the group challenge.
ASMSU's programming and funding boards received additional money this year, some student government officials are concerned about the two committees' financial stability. In past years, both undergraduate student government boards used up their budgets before the end of the spring semester. In fact, in 2004, the groups spent their entire funds before March and requested an additional $10,000 from the Student Assembly because they ran out of money. To ensure that student groups have money to hold events, and to give to student organizations in 2005, the boards have been given about $30,000 more, and officials say they are confident they won't run out of money. The programming board funds specific student events on campus, and the funding board provides money to registered student organizations. On the programming board, about 20 students represent various campus groups or organizations, such as the University Activities Board.
MSU faculty from multiple areas of study discussed the Dec. 26 tsunami and its impact at an educational forum on Tuesday. At the event, students and the general public asked questions, and faculty addressed misconceptions concerning the disaster.
The task forces on Integrated Studies, writing and quantitative literacy presented Academic Council with their final reports at Tuesday's meeting. The task forces were created to make recommendations to improve programs in the three areas. "MSU is already strong in all these areas, but we have to keep moving forward," acting Provost John Hudzik said. Jim Porter, chairman of the Writing Task Force committee, outlined the committee's findings and recommendations about the Tier I and Tier II writing programs. In the Tier I program, the task force committee recommended extending the writing requirement from one semester to a year-long course.
Laser physicist turned origami master Robert J. Lang taught the basics of the ancient paper-folding art to a crowd on Tuesday night in the Main Library. The group learned to make a duck out of a single piece of paper. "For a beginner workshop, you have to start with something simple," Lang said.
MSU students who want to study abroad in Israel just got a big break from the university. Kathleen Fairfax, director of the Office of Study Abroad, said MSU officials decided on Monday to lift the ban on students applying for financial aid to study in Israel. In October 2000, all MSU-sponsored study abroad trips to Israel were suspended after several security warnings from the U.S.
MSU President Lou Anna Simon will speak to area businesswomen tonight during one of her first speeches since becoming president Jan.
After a 26-year absence, Barbara Conley, a graduate of the MSU College of Human Medicine and a Michigan native, is returning to teach. On Feb.
With ASMSU elections nearly two months away, student government officials are preparing election blueprints, geared at getting more students prepared to vote. A three-phase election plan outlines three possible ways of informing students of the March election - sending out fliers, advertising on the student government's Web site and printing advertisements. The marketing and publicity plan, created by Joanna Lankerd, ASMSU's constituent activism director, was introduced to the Student Assembly last week. Last year, only 4.7 percent of undergraduate students voted in the student government election.
With horns blaring and streamers waving in the frigid air, a caravan of cars wove their way - slowly - through campus Monday morning. But some say the noise was unheard by those they were trying to reach. The cars carried Graduate Employees Union members protesting the administration's proposal to take parking rights out of the new GEU contract during a negotiating session. "Right now, we can park south of the river, but what they're proposing is to strike any mention of parking rights from the contract," GEU President Deborah Wilson said.