I’ve always been of the mind that education is about understanding. A student takes the materials provided and seeks to understand their application and meaning.
What do you think of when you hear the word “valedictorian”? I assume most of us know the title typically means “a student who has earned their spot as having the highest grade point average, GPA, in his or her graduating class.” Lately it has been a growing trend among high schools in the U.S. to sprinkle a few more students in there. And by “a few,” I mean anywhere ranging from three to 94 students.
On Tuesday, the university announced the two-year endeavor that was MSU Dubai’s undergraduate program is at an end. MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said the decision was based on “a lot of factors, many of which … were out of our control.” The news means a few summer classes in Dubai will finish, but undergraduate fall classes will be canceled and MSU Dubai will not accept new undergraduates. The students will have the option of attending class on the East Lansing campus, Simon said.
There is nothing like almost being killed by someone who isn’t paying attention while he or she is driving. In the majority of those cases, I have been (un)lucky enough to see the driver focusing on some cell phone-related activity that has nothing to do with actually driving. It seems that problem could be remedied on Thursday when it becomes illegal to text while driving. Hooray?
Most students who have walked across campus have seen at least one of the more than 140 emergency phones that make up the Green Light Telephone System. The phones are connected to the MSU police dispatch and can be used for students during emergencies and for the university to convey warnings about the weather or an emergency situation, such as a shooting.
It seems the powers that be are going to go easy on an offender. The aptly named “Akers Hall panty raider” will not face criminal charges after being found with 79 pairs of thong underwear in April, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said Thursday.
According to Gunn, soccer fans are all unemployed, ignorant, drunken slugs who don’t care about global warming, the troubles in Darfur or Joran van der Sloot (I wonder where Gunn got his data on this). His opinions are based on soccer fans he saw getting on a train in Europe. Judging from this article, Mr. Gunn has never been to a professional soccer game.
I enjoy going to games each fall, as well as to the occasional basketball or hockey game, but I’m really disappointed that MSU Concessions does not offer veggie burgers and veggie dogs for vegetarians and vegans at most of the sporting events.
An MSU professor has released a new State of the State Survey that shows Michigan residents are showing signs of increased optimism with the state’s economy, while at the same time losing faith in their political leaders.
As a special part of MSU’s land grant university atmosphere, it seems like everything should be coming up roses for the MSU Extension and Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, or MAES. The opposite, unfortunately, is true. Both programs receive a large portion of their funding through ever-shrinking state appropriations. On top of that, MSU’s Board of Trustees reduced Extension’s budget by $1.6 million and the MAES budget by $400,000 at its June 18 meeting. Those numbers might not seem like much to students because the nature of Extension and MAES involves a great deal of work in the community.
The state House overwhelmingly passed legislation last Wednesday that would make it illegal to sell or possess JWH-108, a key substance in the product K2. I am laboring under the assumption that state legislators are attempting to ban this substance because they are afraid it could harm the general populace.
Thursday is the end of summer’s first session. That means this week is finals week, sort of. Summer grades count like any other. Today we want to throw out some personal and professional opinions that could help make this last week a little easier.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Congress has requested a “yearlong review of what the federal government can do to help ensure the long-term health of the nations’ research universities.”
I was appalled when I read Craig Gunn’s column (Soccer deserves a better class of fan,” SN 6/21) about soccer fans. Was he being serious? Soccer is the sport of the world — like it or not. Name one other single sport that can bring so many nations together in celebration, and yes, even fights.
Ah, marriage. A beautiful commitment of love, a consummation of desire and the cultural recognition of two people’s coupling — how has it become so disdainful, so wrought with seclusion and denial?
MSU plans to spend nearly $500,000 for a complete makeover — hair, nails, the works. Specifically, it wants to project a consistent image. To create that image, it has asked alumni across the country and world to submit stories of their contributions and accomplishments.
The proposed demolition of 110-year-old Morrill Hall is bittersweet. The $38 million project, which includes adding onto Wells Hall and renovating the Old Horticulture Building, is scheduled to begin in September, when construction on Wells is slated to start.
A student recently ran into me breathless, asking if I had spent my weekend watching, cheering and going crazy over soccer. The way he talked, I imagined it was like the second coming of Christ, Buddha, Mohammed or King Benjamin.
The idea behind MSU’s newest social networking plan, SpartanConnect, is not bad. The online service seeks to deliver “numerous links to connect with other members, students’ blogs, a personal calendar, videos and discussion forums.” As Nicole Ellison, an assistant professor in the MSU Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, points out, the service can help reduce students’ uncertainties before the semester starts.
Due to its unemployment rates, Lansing finally qualified as an EB-5 Regional Center. Essentially, it is the worst way to have a chance to attract investors. EB-5 is a designation given by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, to immigrants “seeking to enter the United States in order to invest in a new commercial enterprise that will benefit the U.S. economy and create at least 10 full-time jobs,” according to the USCIS website.