Downtown housing perfect for students

If you build it and price it for them, they will come. And in numbers large enough for twelve stories worth of buildings.

New details released on graduate student's alleged dog killings

Graduate student Andrew David Thompson admitted to beating all but two of his Italian greyhounds to death during an interview with an investigator, court records show.

Alleged dog killer pretrials rescheduled

Both pretrials for graduate student Andrew David Thompson, charged with 13 counts of dog killing, were rescheduled Tuesday. The pretrial and preliminary examination dates for three counts of animal killing in East Lansing Thompson faces were rescheduled to give his new lawyer time to prepare. Thompson, 24, temporarily was represented by attorney George Zulakis but now is represented by attorney Kimberly Savage. The change was finalized before Thompson went to court Tuesday morning when his pretrial first was scheduled. Thompson was held in the East Lansing jail and was unable to make it on time for his pretrial in the 55th District Court — scheduled for 1 p.m.

Lansing doctors plan new cancer center

A group of Lansing area doctors are planning to build a facility geared to offer new options for cancer patients in the area. The affiliated physicians and businesses — collectively named Compass Health Care — are amid securing approval to open an outpatient cancer treatment center and will be ready to serve patients by late 2012 or early 2013, said Joe Wald, a spokesman for the physicians and an instructor in the MSU College of Communication Arts and Sciences.

University researchers create all-in-one microwavable pie à la mode

For Hunter Gartner and his teammates, creating Minute Escape, a pie à la mode dish, was not as easy as pie. Minute Escape is an all-in-one apple pie and custard ice cream dessert prepared in one minute by microwaving it. Gartner, a recent graduate, used patent-pending technology he designed to heat the pie up while keeping the ice cream portion of the product frozen. “It’s an interesting, intriguing concept to think that you can throw ice cream into the microwave and that it will be kept frozen,” alumna and team member Rebecca Watts said. The product was created to compete in the Institute of Food Technologists’, or IFT, National Product Development competition. IFT is a nonprofit scientific society whose members are professionals engaged in food science and technology. One of the main purposes of the competition is to afford food industry representatives the opportunity to spot talented students for potential employment, IFT’s director of media relations Mindy Weinstein said in an email. Minute Escape took first place out of six finalists in the competition, which took place in New Orleans June 11-14. “Finding out that we won, there was a huge sense of pride,” Watts said.

MSU smartphone app set for release

Students interested in learning more about the environment surrounding them have something to look forward to in coming weeks when a smartphone application that turns MSU into a virtual museum will be released. The application, titled msu.seum, was developed for both Android and iPhone operating systems and will allow users to explore the history and archeology of areas on campus.

Spartan Stadium office construction underway

Unfinished storage space on the second and third floors of Spartan Stadium will be renovated this month to make way for additional offices for University Advancement officials. Roughly 7,000 square feet of unused space adjacent to the stadium’s tower addition will receive new lighting, wall treatments and ventilation in the process of converting the area to office space, university engineer Bob Nestle said.

Rockets Red Glare

Law allows crime record clearance

From getting in a fight to drinking in public, one wrong turn as a young adult can haunt students for the rest of their lives. Slip-ups can mean more than a few days in jail — they might mean roadblocks to graduate school or careers, Lansing area attorney George Zulakis said. “Virtually all jobs and all schools are asking about criminal convictions,” Zulakis said.

Residents, students find ways to celebrate Independence Day

Classes were not in session, there was no firework show and the streets were empty. But despite the ghost town-like appearance, the students and residents who remained in East Lansing to celebrate Independence Day found ways to make the holiday as festive as possible.

Affirmative action ban overturned

A lawyer who led the opposition charge to overturn Michigan’s ban on affirmative action said the consequences of the vote likely will not affect MSU drastically. George Washington — an attorney for the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN, a national advocacy group — said a decision by the U.S.

Program provides bikes to E.L. residents

For the past four years, Dick Janson has enabled East Lansing residents to have jobs and children to build relationships ­— just by giving them a bike.

Survey shows less recent graduates employed

MSU alumnus Jesse Ellwood, who graduated this past spring, recognizes the problems that come with entering the workforce during a time of economic instability. The percentage of unemployment has risen by as much as 7 percent since 2008 in Michigan, and the state currently ranks fifth in the country with more than 10 percent unemployed, according to the Department of Labor. The numbers for recent MSU graduates also have seen significant decline with only 46 percent of 2010 graduates reporting employment following graduation, a 9 percent drop-off from two years prior, according to the Graduate Destination Survey conducted by Career Services & Placement. Ellwood, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education, will participate in a one-year certification program this fall, but finding a job the following year is something he admits could become a struggle. “Right now, I don’t have to worry about it because I have that year planned out,” he said.

Green space to replace aged apartments

Demolition of Cherry Lane Apartments and the Faculty Bricks complex will begin Tuesday as the university looks to replace the aging structures with green space.

City to host outdoor movies, concerts

Next week, the City of East Lansing will kick off its free Moonlight Film Festival in downtown East Lansing.

Play in the Park series to begin Tuesday

Tuesday marks the summer’s first occurrence of East Lansing’s Play in the Park series, a weekly event that runs through the month of July. The sessions will occur every Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Pump House to host ice cream social

The 37th annual Bailey Ice Cream Social will take place Wednesday 5:30-8 p.m.

Farmers' market begins Sunday

The East Lansing Farmers’ Market will kick off its summer season this weekend, bringing together vendors and patrons from the Lansing area for farm-grown food. The market, entering its third year, will offer a variety of Michigan-grown produce and products every Sunday.

Lansing celebrates 4th of July with downtown parade

Hundreds of people lined the streets of Lansing — a route which started down Allegan Street to Capitol Avenue and concluded on Ottawa Street — to take in the Independence Day Parade in downtown Lansing on Monday. With the silhouette of the Capitol as the backdrop, parade participants were greeted with “The Star Spangled Banner” and people waving American flags in unison.

Lubahn returning to MSU as men's golf head coach

Former MSU letterwinner and assistant coach Casey Lubahn has been named head men’s golf coach. Lubahn becomes the program’s 10th head coach after former coach Sam Puryear resigned from his position to care for an ailing family member in late June.