University officials met with members of the Graduate Employees Union on Monday to address concerns about an anti-union campaign. “In the course of our discussion, the union raised some particularistic concerns about material (circulated by the graduate school),” said Bob Banks, assistant vice provost for Academic Human Resources.
MSU faculty, students and visitors walking into the Union Station Cafeteria will be greeted by 13 faculty members who have been part of the university since 1855.While the people will not be able to shake the visitors’ hands, they will be present in a 55-foot mural on the north wall of the cafeteria.“These 13 individuals are some of the most influential faculty members since the beginning of the university,” said James Sheppard, director of the Union.
Nick Kowalczyk wants Soviet troops to pull out of Afghanistan.The senior at Novi High School was one of more than 80 students participating in MSU’s first-ever Model United Nations conference, which puts high school students in the roles of U.N.
As MSU’s undergraduate student government continues efforts to fill its representative seats, the time has come for the election of new leaders as well. During business meetings Tuesday and Thursday, ASMSU representatives will elect chairpersons and vice chairpersons for both the Academic and Student assemblies’ new sessions.
Students in the School of Hospitality Business were able to showcase their talents Saturday evening with the 50th anniversary of Les Gourmets.Les Gourmets, an annual student-run event, offers guests a fine dining experience put on by students and graduates.
Educators and professionals from across the country joined MSU students on campus this week to delve into issues of race and ethnic diversity in the new millennium. The event, “Race In 21st Century America: A 2nd National Conference,” is put on by James Madison College and the Midwest Consortium for Black Studies, a group that includes MSU. Curtis Stokes, an assistant professor in James Madison College and chairman of the conference planning committee, said in its second year, the event has blossomed. “We crafted this idea and it has become a national phenomenon,” he said.
Nick Kovacic’s term as the new president of the Residence Halls Association doesn’t begin until Wednesday, but his goals for the 2001-02 year are ready for action.Among them, Kovacic said he wants students to view RHA as an organization committed to serving and representing them.“If students have issues or concerns about anything, they should be able to come to us,” Kovacic said.
Some of the world’s biggest problems are about to be placed in the hands of high-schoolers.More than 80 students from across the state will participate in MSU’s first Model United Nations conference at the Kellogg Center this weekend.The conference, sponsored by the International Relations Organization, gets under way at 7 p.m.
The Spartan basketball team isn’t the only program at MSU showing consistency in Final Four appearances.Last week, two members from MSU’s debate team reached the semifinals in two National Championship debate tournaments for the second consecutive year.
Some of MSU’s best and brightest students will soon have their day in the sun.The third annual University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum will take place from noon to 5 p.m.
Agency executives from around the country made a stop at MSU on Wednesday to discuss the current challenges facing natural resource management in the United States.Nearly 100 people attended the seminar, “Emerging Issues Confronting Natural Resource Agencies in the 21st Century,” in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building.Seven panel members came from as far as Florida, Arizona and Massachusetts, where they are executives of federal or state management and conservation agencies.
One campus organization got money from the Internal Revenue Service a little early this year.The MSU-Detroit College of Law Tax and Rental Housing clinics recently received a $100,000 grant from the IRS.“It is funding that is provided for us in order for us to provide the services that we do,” said DCL Professor Michele Halloran, director of the Tax Clinic.Halloran co-wrote and submitted the grant request.
Although the 2nd Annual Madison Charity Ball is a little different from last year’s event, its purpose remains intact - raising funds for charity.The event, which takes place from 7 p.m.
While the ASMSU landlord-tenant ordinance has East Lansing City Council’s attention, the council’s view on the issue is still unclear.Last week, the undergraduate student government sent a letter to the city council laying out the ordinance’s plan, but East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows said initial discussion with council members last week hasn’t provided any insight.“I don’t think they have any impression on the ordinance at all,” Meadows said.The ASMSU proposal would prohibit landlords from showing an apartment or home to prospective tenants or forcing renewal of a lease until one-third of the lease has passed.However, at its meeting last week, the council raised concerns about ASMSU’s lack of landlord input and referred to East Lansing city staff as one of the reasons behind the proposal’s delay.When ASMSU officials began working on the ordinance in December, they requested the help of city staff, but said they obtained little results or feedback.“ASMSU could have sent that letter at any point and time,” Councilmember Sam Singh said.
It’s not about the face that breaks the most mirrors on campus, or students who have really low self-esteem.The “Ugly Man” on campus at MSU is cancer - and the purpose of the Ugly Man on Campus contest, sponsored by Alpha Phi Omega and Modern Skate and Surf, is to beat him.The annual contest, which began Monday and ends tonight, hopes to raise as much as $1,000 for the American Cancer Society.Nine contestants paid a $25 entry fee to have their faces posted on brightly colored buckets, each to collect as much pocket change and donations from passersby as possible.Members of Alpha Phi Omega set up tables with the buckets daily from 10 a.m.
The members of the MSU Homecoming Committee are searching for a theme for the 2001 homecoming celebration to be held in October. And they want the input of MSU students. Committee member Tami Kuhn, who is also the manager of the Campus Center, said the group saw a need for different input. “One of the things we talked about when we met was getting more student input,” she said.
Today Students for Economic Justice will model clothing that sports not the latest fashions - but highlights clothes the group claims are made in factories with unfair working conditions. Student members will walk the runway in the Sweatshop Fashion Show at 12:15 p.m.
More than 25 state legislators sent a letter to MSU President M. Peter McPherson on Monday accusing university administration of conducting “an anti-union campaign against its graduate student employees.”The letter alleges that during special informational meetings regarding graduate unionization, MSU administration attempted to “sway votes by providing prejudicial information.”McPherson said he had not seen the letter Tuesday night but was looking forward to reading it.The letter makes clear that officials did not violate statutes which prohibit voter intimidation, but also said their actions “tarnish the spirit of the law.”State Rep.
Members of MSU’s Alliance of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender community and its supporters will be silent today, as part of Pride Week’s National Day of Silence.The day is designed to draw attention to those who have been silenced by hatred, oppression or prejudice.“There’s so many LBGT people who are silent and invisible everyday,” explained Doug Copeland, president of Spectrum, a caucus group that represents the east campus LBGT community.
Language and lifestyle may have been barriers but Adam Szlachetka, along with other students nationwide, learned they had one thing in common with Mexican workers - they were all fighting for a difference.Along with 14 other people, Szlachetka, an MSU political economy senior, traveled to Metepec, Mexico, two weeks ago for five days to speak with striking workers who work for the Kukdong Factory - one location Nike Inc. uses to produce clothing for many universities, including MSU.“The biggest thing about this trip was knowing that all the work we are doing is being noticed by the workers,” said Szlachetka, who is a member of Students for Economic Justice, a student-led movement against unfair labor conditions and universities involved with companies tied to sweatshop involvement.