By Joshua Carr Special for The State News A team of MSU doctoral and graduate students and professors are hoping to help NASA search for life on other planets by studying soil and bacteria on Earth. The MSU research group, at the Center for Microbial Ecology, is one of the 16 teams that makes up the Astrobiology Institute of NASA, whose sole purpose is to search for life on other planets.
Presidents from the state's two biggest public universities will discuss Michigan's budget deficit and its effects on higher education tomorrow via the airwaves.MSU President M.
Students and legislators will discuss how statewide budget concerns will affect higher education at a public forum hosted by the Coalition of Labor Organizations at MSU.Coalition chairman Wayne Cass said nine Lansing state representatives and senators were extended invitations to answer questions about how public universities will be affected by budget cuts.The coalition created the forum in response to Gov.
When Jared English found out he had been awarded a prestigious international award, he was elated."I couldn't believe that I had won," said English, an international relations and finance senior.English was one of two MSU students who will spend the next two to three years in England.
MSU students and area residents don't have to spend a lot to give a lot, according to the MSU School of Social Work.
MSU police are investigating a series of fights that stemmed from a racially charged remark exchanged between friends in Snyder Hall on Thursday. When an 18-year-old white student couldn't reach a friend on his phone at about 2:30 a.m., he uttered a derogatory comment to a 17-year-old black student, sparking a day-long feud - which included a knifepoint threat - MSU police Sgt.
Concern of statewide budget cuts hung heavy at the 28th annual AutumnFest on Saturday morning as festival participants encouraged visitors to support programs that could be eliminated. The celebration of natural resources and agriculture was held at the Pavilion for Agricultural and Livestock Education and featured more than 60 booths of MSU groups, Michigan crop growers and agricultural research organizations.
A group of faculty members hope to raise concerns about MSU President M. Peter McPherson's role in the economic development of Iraq during a speech Monday at the Union. The Open Faculty Forum, formed in September, consists of about 40 faculty members, Associate Professor of English Scott Michaelsen said.
In contrast to the football game that proved victorious for the Spartans on Saturday, the students of MSU were defeated by Penn State this year in the 10th annual MSU-Penn State Blood Donor Challenge. The group only collected 1,633 pints of blood throughout the MSU community in conjunction with the challenge, far below the 1,990-pint goal for the American Red Cross. The 35 drives, beginning on November 5 and concluding last week, were conducted on campus, throughout East Lansing and at the Red Cross Donor Room, 1800 E.
MSU and Michigan Harvest Gathering are hoping that football fans will save some food after tailgating this Saturday, especially the canned and non-perishable kind. From 8 a.m.
The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies will present the PBS documentary "Terrorists Among Us: The Jihad in America" on Monday.The film details investigation of journalist Steve Emerson about the existence of terrorist groups in America.The film will be played at 7:30 p.m.
Determining the lead-poisoning risk level of children in the United States can now be done over the Internet, as MSU researchers developed a predictive Web site that aids in the process. The site allows users to enter contributing factors of lead poisoning, including the child's address, housing condition, family history of lead poisoning and socioeconomic status, and provides the user with a risk-assessment evaluation. The Web site already has gained acceptance from various Michigan lead-poisoning awareness groups, including the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, a group that supports the coordination of lead-poisoning prevention and testing services for children in Michigan. "The ideal result would be that medical clinics use this as the means of deciding who should be tested," said Stan Kaplowitz, MSU professor of sociology and one of the Web site's creators.
An MSU student environmental group will again be lobbying for renewable energy through a proposed student tax.Eco hopes once again to gain support for a plan to implement a $5 increase in ASMSU's per semester tax to fund either wind turbines or a solar panel system, which are both considered environmentally friendly sources of energy.Amy Gregory, a general science senior and Eco member, said the tax was introduced to MSU's student government last year, But because than 50 percent of the MSU student population voted in the election, so the issue it must once again be brought to a student vote in March.For each student at MSU, the university burns about 24.4 pounds of coal each day, Gregory said.More than 44,000 students attend MSU, and the renewable energy tax would provide $220,000 each semester.
Events with catered food tend to feature lukewarm mostaccioli and bland chicken. This was not so at Lechonada on Thursday night at the Puerto Rican pig roast, which featured traditional staples such as baked pork, flan and arroz con gandules, a rice dish. "We have culture to share with everyone," said Natalia Mercado, Puerto Rican Student Association vice president.
Members of the MSU Council of Graduate Students elected a focus group Wednesday night to discuss the restructuring of the colleges with MSU Provost Lou Anna Simon.MSU administrators are planning fundamental changes to six of MSU's colleges for the spring semester to make up for the drastic funding cuts from the state.Nine members were selected to attend the Dec.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, an MSU alumna, will return to her alma mater in December as one of three speakers to address graduates at this semester's commencement ceremonies.Stabenow will be joined by Lewis Coleman, president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and Bernard Kerik, who served as Iraq's interim minister of interior.The ceremonies will be held Dec.
MSU-DCL College of Law officials elected a new member to the MSU-DCL board of trustees. Louis Kasischke is a nationally recognized lawyer, businessman and mountaineer.
The English Language Center is hosting a meeting for provisionally admitted international students interested in admission to a U.S.
School of Journalism Associate Professor Folu Ogundimu will host a forum titled, "Freedom of Speech, The Media and Democracy in Africa," on Thursday.Ogundimu was an award-winning journalist with Nigeria's WNBC and the Nigerian Television Authority.
Conservationist and television personality Jeff Corwin brought his charm and expertise to MSU, speaking in front of a packed Auditorium on Tuesday night.The lecture is this year's second installment of the M.