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SOFTBALL

Construction begins on softball stadium, set to finish in December

Jeremy Warnemuende
July 21, 2010

With 16 experienced players returning from last season’s roster, the MSU softball team has a chance to make some noise in the Big Ten next spring. Add in the fact they’ll be playing in a newly renovated, $2 million stadium, and the Spartans have a lot to look forward to in 2011. The renovations to the softball stadium, which include 120 chair back seats, a new press box, backstops and handicap-accessible seating, are expected to be finished in December, making it ready for next season.

NEWS

City Council approves numerous E.L. projects at lengthy Tuesday meeting

Pat Evans
July 21, 2010

After lengthy discussions, the East Lansing City Council came to a conclusion on several proposed projects in the city at its meeting Tuesday night that started at 6:15 p.m. and ended after 11:45 p.m. In a night full of public hearings, the council approved several of the projects, denied another and sent another back to the East Lansing Planning Commission.

COMMENTARY

Vote 'yes' on CATA millage

On Aug. 3, the Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, will ask voters to approve a measure that will combine two millages that go toward funding CATA services. Voters passed a millage of 2.22 mills in 2004 and an additional 0.787 mills in 2008; if the Aug. 3 millage is approved, it will combine the two and add an additional 0.0362 mills lost under a constitutional provision. Millages, according to the State of Michigan website, are the rate at which property taxes are levied on property. A mill is 1/1000 of a dollar. Approval of CATA’s millage would mean individuals with a home valued at $100,000 will pay a little more than $300 a year.

MSU

MSU-assisted website allows tracking of invasive species

Emily Wilkins
July 20, 2010

In 2002, the emerald ash borer killed tens of millions of trees in the state of Michigan. Now, a new website created by an MSU professor identifies areas vulnerable to invasive species, such as the emerald ash borer, in an attempt to prevent outbreaks and damage to the environment. The site, metroinvasive.info, contains maps showing “hot” areas for exotic species, information useful to researchers who are interested in the human mediated dispersion of pests.

MICHIGAN

E.L. Kiwanis member elected club international trustee

Alanna Thiede
July 20, 2010

After speaking to a crowd of 7,000 Kiwanis at the 95th annual Kiwanis International Convention in Las Vegas last month, attendees voted Sue Petrisin into the international trustee position. She will serve a three-year term as a trustee and member of the governance and leadership education committees beginning Oct. 1. Kiwanis International is a service-oriented organization focusing on assisting children on a local and global scale.

NEWS

Police Brief 07/21/10

Andrew Krietz
July 20, 2010

A 41-year-old female from Albion, Mich. reported damage to her vehicle Monday morning while parked in a handicap spot outside South Case Hall, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.

FEATURES

Frontier Ruckus hits solid note with newest LP

Cole Bertsos
July 20, 2010

From the familiar billboards on the highways to coming-of-age landmarks we all experience, Frontier Ruckus has made a CD that feels so close to home it would make anyone who’s kissed the mitten state goodbye want to pack up their bags and return home. As the band’s second full-length LP since they released “Orion’s Songbook” in 2008, the follow-up leaves nothing to be desired — which is more than impressive for a band still in the midst of building itself.

NEWS

Ag Expo to kick off Tuesday at MSU

Emily Wilkins
July 19, 2010

The 31st annual Michigan Agriculture Expo, or the Ag Expo. The event is being held Tuesday through Thursday at the corner of Farm Lane and Mount Hope Road, behind MSU’s Lot 89. The Ag Expo features a variety of presentations and farm equipment vendors. The expo attracted 16,000 visitors last year, and is expected to increase the number this year with new exhibits.

NEWS

Police Brief 07/20/10

Andrew Krietz
July 19, 2010

A 26-year-old male MSU Landscape Services employee reported multiple tree irrigation bags stolen across campus throughout the past two weeks, MSU police Sgt. Dan Munford said.

MICHIGAN

Poll reveals narrow race for GOP primaries

Karen Confer
July 19, 2010

As Attorney General Mike Cox and U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, are locked in a statistical tie for the lead going into the Republican gubernatorial primary Aug. 3, Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder has been gaining ground, according to a poll released Friday by Glengariff Group Inc., of Chicago. After surveying 500 voters across Michigan, the poll shows Cox with 26.4 percent of the vote, Hoekstra with 25.6 percent and Snyder with 20.2 percent.

MSU

MSU center uses methane gas to study waste, energy

Meagan Choi
July 19, 2010

The MSU Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center — completed in April from a private grant — studies optimal ways to convert waste into energy by harvesting naturally occurring methane gas. Using methane — a greenhouse gas — also will reduce the negative effect it would have on the environment if left untreated.

MICHIGAN

Mich. unveils ballot tracker

Karen Confer
July 19, 2010

Voting by absentee ballot in elections might now be easier for students living away from home. The Michigan Secretary of State announced Monday voters now can track their absentee ballots online.

MSU

MSU medical students to research at Kenyan hospital

Alanna Thiede
July 19, 2010

MSU medical students and faculty will be able to study and complete research at Chogoria Hospital in Kenya as part of a new agreement through the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine and Institute of International Health, or IIH. The partnership was announced Monday and sets up a program for fourth-year medical students in the College of Osteopathic Medicine to study in Chogoria, Kenya for six weeks as part of an international elective program.

FOOTBALL

Where to put the Big Ten Championship

When Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany welcomed Nebraska as the conference’s 12th member June 11, he also said a conference championship game soon would be in the works. The game would not be played until the 2011 season, as Nebraska doesn’t officially join the conference until then, but as possible locations for the game are being discussed, here are my top five options for the Big Ten Championship.

COMMENTARY

Students should thank teachers

When I drive by East Lansing High School or MacDonald Middle School, I often have to resist the temptation to pull into the parking lot and seek out my former coaches and teachers. I think it comes from a place I’ll call “The Reunion Zone.” I call it “The Reunion Zone” because I think the only reason to attend a class reunion is to either flaunt what one has become or try to hook up with former classmates.

COMMENTARY

Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication

For those who haven’t heard, there will be a new study in the fall that tracks recycling in Anthony Hall. Stuart Gage, a professor emeritus at MSU and the study’s principal investigator, said the study will use about 170 sensors to discover data about recycling habits — such as which bins fill up fastest or the point during the semester of highest use.