As MSU’s Board of Trustees heads off to Detroit for its three-day retreat, it seems like a strange place to conduct talks about the future of the university.
The outpouring of support for MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo offers conclusive evidence that there are issues that can motivate the MSU community. It is our hope that this current level of interest in university matters will continue as the MSU Board of Trustees begins its discussions of the school’s budget.
The East Lansing City Council has already exhausted all the iterations of “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on you.” Now, it seems, council members are taking a page from The Who in an attempt to not get fooled again.
Michigan legislators are once again playing politics at a time when there are more pressing concerns. Several legislators last week said disagreements over whether to include language requiring Michigan universities to report information about research done with human embryonic cells delayed passage of the state House’s higher education budget bill.
After the installation of “The Funambulist” in the courtyard between Snyder and Phillips halls, we raised the question of whether MSU was picking art pieces based on their contemporary status instead of how they contributed to the campus aesthetic. However, in choosing the type of tree to place around Demonstration Field, university officials have created a reasonable criterion by which to judge future changes to campus.
If for no other reason than showing interest in the future of Michigan, we are glad to see legislators voted to maintain funding at its current level for public state universities for fiscal year 2010-11. The 55-51 state House of Representatives vote amends the state Senate version that proposed a 3.1 percent decrease in funding.
An article published by USA Today reported a recent study from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, concluded college students today are less empathetic than past college students. The study — which looked at 72 empathy studies, including 14,000 students over a 30-year span — indicated a 40 percent reduction in empathy from students in the 1980s and 1990s.
After reading a recent New York Times article about some colleges allowing incoming freshmen to keep pets in their dorm rooms, we wonder whether it made sense to do that at MSU, or even in general. The first year of college typically is not an easy one. It requires taking into account things such as time management, personal choices, self-motivation and socializing. It also offers a chance to learn firsthand about other people. That doesn’t necessarily mean someone who is completely different in terms of politics or values — though that wouldn’t hurt — but simply people who might not have had the same upbringing.
It is fitting MSU officials chose “The Funambulist” as the new piece of artwork on the north lawn of Snyder and Phillips halls. Sculptor John Van Alstine said his piece, installed last Thursday, represents the balance college students must maintain in their lives as they seek to graduate. It would be prudent of MSU to balance the aesthetics of campus when considering future pieces of art.
The city of East Lansing’s last foray into significant development wasn’t a paradigm of successful execution. The $116.4 million mixed-use project has only recently begun to show signs of life, and even those are feeble. Therefore, we feel a touch of trepidation when we say the two proposed developments that were set for a July public hearing last Tuesday sounds like a good idea.
A study commissioned by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce recommended increasing the state gas tax and vehicle registration fees to create jobs and net money for state infrastructure. The study was conducted by the East Lansing-based research organization Anderson Economic Group.
Most MSU students who have passed through East Lansing are aware of the Lot 10 Colorful Garage, on Division Street between East Grand River Avenue and Albert Street. It’s the ugly parking ramp … the colorful, ugly parking ramp. An East Lansing firm is circulating an exploratory petition to secure support for a plan to paint the ramp green and white. Robert Russell, the lead organizer of the movement, said the success of the project would be a way to bring the city and MSU closer together.
good news for anyone who did not want to trek out to the MSU Clinical Center on the southern border of campus for a routine check-up. The Olin Health Center will stay put for the near future while MSU explores the possibility of offering health, as well as academic services, in each of the university’s residential neighborhoods.
Now, the university is performing an informational study that gauges how prepared students are for a potential switch to e-books and other digital courseware. It makes sense from an environmental standpoint to utilize advances in digital technology to reduce paper waste. Moneywise, it wouldn’t hurt to find an alternative to the fleecing students receive when they purchase course textbooks.
A recent compromise between lawmakers and the Department of Defense has put the U.S. one step closer to repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Good for us.
In an atmosphere rife with tension over which programs are valuable and viable to the university in the future, MSU’s seemingly innocuous decision to add a sustainability specialization is the right choice for several reasons.
As Academic Technology Services, or ATS, upgrades the computer labs around campus this summer, it will be investing in the university’s top commodity: Students.
As the budget season gets underway, we would like to commend the city of East Lansing on the 2010-11 fiscal year budget. Although there is news of market rebounds and an economic turnaround, city officials took a conservative approach to deciding how to allocate funds. In this case their estimates take into account a multimillion dollar deficit and reduced revenue from the state and property taxes.
There are a lot of problems with Michigan, but State Rep. Kim Meltzer, R-Macomb Township, clearly has a different perspective on what ails Michigan.
For the better part of the last century, Michigan has been synonymous with cars. It is home to the Big Three — Ford, General Motors and Chrysler — and the “Motor City” of Detroit. At least, it was. The state is at a crossroads after the implosion of the auto industry and the loss of a sizeable chunk of manufacturing jobs. We are facing an identity crisis. Case in point: There are already tax incentives meant to make the state a “Hollywood-lite.”