Thursday, January 16, 2025

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News Briefs

'U' student dies after electrocution accident Civil engineering junior Brad Hilberg died Tuesday after being electrocuted. Hilberg, an Alpena native, was painting a home in Oneida Township with another student when the aluminum ladder he was lowering hit a power line, Eaton County Sheriff's Department said in a written statement.

MSU

Travel director honored

Timber, tourism and travel have become the lifestyle Donald Holecek has become accustomed to living. Sitting among stacks of papers, books and maps detailing Michigan, the founding director of MSU Travel, Tourism and Recreation Resource Center didn't find the room to hang the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award he received from the Travel and Tourism Research Association.

MSU

News briefs

Professor awarded for research in Germany An MSU faculty member was recently recognized for his research and contributions in veterinary medicine.

MSU

Journalism director to start work

Bath - It's Friday morning and Jane Briggs-Bunting is sitting in the middle of her new condominium surrounded by open space, a few boxes filled with pictures and a rocking chair - one of the two places to sit in her canary yellow living room.

MSU

Test results poorer in urban areas

The majority of Michigan schools that failed to meet annual state standards on the MEAP test are located in urban areas around the state, according an MSU study released Thursday.MSU's Education Policy Center conducted the study by analyzing a list of 216 priority schools issued by the state in April.

MSU

Kresge features Inuit artwork

Three brightly colored fish captured the eye of Virginia resident Martha Ruehlmann as she walked through the Kresge Art Museum Wednesday. "Three Fish" is the title of the Jessica Oonark painting which features fish colored in blue, orange and yellow, positioned one on top of the other. "I kind of like the one with the fish because it's not really colored in," Ruehlmann said.

MSU

Employees to nominate 'U' bosses for sensitivity leadership award

For years Lori Strom received phone calls from MSU employees eager to complain or praise their supervisors.So two years ago Strom, a coordinator of the MSU child and family care resources, decided to create a way to reward bosses and supervisors across campus for their understanding, sensitivity and dedication to their employees with the annual MSU Supervisor Recognition Award."It was one of those light bulb moments," she said.

MSU

Board gives highest honor to 10 professors

The MSU Board of Trustees approved the designation of 10 MSU faculty members as university distinguished professors. The title is the highest honor a faculty member can receive at MSU.

MSU

Staff member selected to agricultural council

A staff member from MSU Extension has been selected for the Michigan Agricultural Electric Council. Roxanne Pillars, a dairy agent for MSU Extension, will sit on the 10-member council, which serves as a resource for farmers, veterinarians, Extension agents and Michigan agribusiness's.

MSU

Faculty member leaves 'U' to teach in Germany

A MSU faculty member will be leaving the green and white when she takes off for Berlin in September. Mei Zhuang, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, was named a Fulbright Senior Scholar and will live in Germany for 10 months, teaching and researching at the Technische Universitat Berlin. Her research will focus on developing computational aeroacoustics tools to be used in the noise prediction systems of turbofan engines.

MSU

Credit union creates study abroad fund

When religious studies senior Marie Shepherd took off for a study abroad program last summer, she figured she had enough cash to get by for the next six weeks. But after her Italian Language, Literature and Culture program in Florence, Italy, finished, Shepherd found her wallet empty. But a $2.5-million donation to the MSU Study Abroad program could help students such as Shepherd cover the cost of an education outside of East Lansing. The MSU Federal Credit Union donated the money for the MSUFCU Study Abroad Scholarship, which awards qualified students with $500 to $2,000 for any of the programs offered by MSU, said Inge Steglitz, assistant director of MSU Study Abroad. In the 2001-02 academic year 1,819 MSU students participated in study abroad programs, she said. "It ensures students from every part of the class can take an opportunity to study abroad," said Lou Anna Simon, MSU Interim President In April students participating in study abroad accompanied university officials to meet with the credit union board, Simon said. "We really sold this idea by taking the students," she said, adding they were able to give firsthand experience about how study abroad affected their college experience. Although there are several scholarships available through the program, Shepherd says she didn't apply for any because she was under the impression she would be able to afford her trip to Italy.

MSU

Board approves lighting project, building renovations

Construction and endowment projects were issues at the MSU Board of Trustees' last summer meeting. Although Trustee Colleen McNamara was the only trustee able to physically attend the Friday meeting, the other seven trustees chimed in their votes through a teleconferencing system.

MSU

Trustees to discuss upgrades

Installing energy-saving light fixtures, renovating the Physics-Astronomy Building and engineering a livestock research facility are some of the issues up for discussion at the MSU Board of Trustees meeting Friday. About half of the university's fluorescent lights will be replaced with high efficient lighting if the board approves the project, said Bob Nestle, university engineer.

MSU

GEU members protest

Dozens of Graduate Employees Union members picketed on Grand River Avenue on Tuesday to voice their discontent with MSU decision-makers. The demonstration, dubbed "Afternoon of Action," aimed to bring public awareness to the recent decision by the university to alter graduate student's titles from teaching assistants to instructors.

MSU

'U' computer program earns national award

What started out as a computer program for a physics class has spawned into an award-winning network with about 120 universities and high schools nationwide as members. LearningOnline Network with CAPA, or LON-CAPA, started in 1991 when a conversation between a couple of MSU faculty members sparked the idea for an interactive learning tool for the classroom.