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NEWS

Sign of the times

Nichole Hoerner
August 12, 2009

At 8 a.m. every Saturday there is a line behind the East Lansing Fire Station No. 1, 1700 Abbot Road. Lansing residents clutching their papers browse the bicycles lining the two large red trailers until volunteers arrive to distribute them at 9 a.m. The Share-A-Bike program began in 1994 when founder Ron Sprinkel took it off the hands of Mae Tanner. Since then, the program has been providing free bicycles to members of the community who cannot afford to purchase one on their own. “Here everything is free.

COMMENTARY

Moving out leads to new beginnings

Forgive me if I seem a little sweaty writing this week’s column; it’s been a long day. I’ve been up since about 8 a.m. this morning, generally doing more organizing than actual work.

COMMENTARY

State should move to prevent poor teaching

There are a lot of strict ways a government can punish an organization. And to those who don’t know the context, those punishments often can seem unwarranted. But there are times when organizations repeatedly have ignored government wishes, which almost always means penalties will come.

NEWS

New college loan repayment program aims to help students

Kayla Habermehl
August 11, 2009

A new program aims to give recent college graduates a safety net if they aren’t able to pay student loans back right away. SafeStart will provide financial literacy training during college, personal debt counseling after college and loan repayment protection, said Carlo Salerno, the principal at BridgeSpan Financial LLC, SafeStart’s parent company, co-founder of SafeStart and executive vice president of external relations. “Basically, it’s private deferment, and the whole purpose of private deferment is to let you shift your student loan payment to a time when you’re better able to afford them,” Salerno said.

NEWS

Airline ticket buyers to be required to give birth date, gender

Meredith Skrzypczak
August 11, 2009

Airline passengers might help identify known and suspected terrorists by simply providing more information when booking flights. The second phase of the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA’s, Secure Flight Program will begin Aug. 15 and will require travelers to give their date of birth and gender when purchasing tickets.

NEWS

MSU professor builds online West African Muslim library

Megan Hart
August 11, 2009

An MSU professor is creating a Web site drawing attention to some of the world’s almost 1.2 billion Muslims who live outside the Middle East. MSU professor of history David Robinson is teaming up with professors from Indiana University to build an online library about Muslims in West Africa with a $250,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

COMMENTARY

Digital textbooks not without problems

The country’s slow transition to an entirely digital world has made its way into the education system, as more universities begin to offer online courses and digital textbooks for classes. President Barack Obama proposed funding online courses at community colleges as part of an effort to improve higher education, and it appears colleges nationwide soon might no longer need paper books. But that doesn’t mean this new technology won’t have some drawbacks.

NEWS

Optimism high for MSU football season

Matt Bishop
August 11, 2009

Coming off a 9-4 season and an appearance in the Capital One Bowl, optimism for the upcoming season was high Tuesday during the MSU football team’s annual media day at Spartan Stadium. Entering his third season as head coach, Mark Dantonio said one of the biggest things his team did last year was come back from disappointment.

FOOTBALL

MSU football begins fall camp, Dantonio returns to basic skills

Matt Bishop
August 10, 2009

At the beginning of the MSU football team’s fall camp, everybody wears a name tag — even Mark Dantonio. With a “Coach Dantonio” written on tape across his stomach, Dantonio kicked off his third season as MSU head coach with the team’s first practice Monday and noted not much has changed from his first two fall camps in East Lansing.

NEWS

MSU to collaborate on sustainability program with Costa Rican university

Megan Hart
August 10, 2009

MSU is looking to increase its ties to a sustainable university in Central America with a new graduate program. José Zaglul, president of EARTH University in Costa Rica, spoke at the International Center on Monday morning about his university’s efforts in sustainability and entrepreneurship. Gordon Guyer, who was president of MSU in 1992 and 1993, helped select 8,000 acres in the midst of the rainforest that became EARTH University.

NEWS

Federal stimulus funds youth worker program in E.L.

Kate Jacobson
August 10, 2009

A new program funded by stimulus money gave young people the chance to work in East Lansing this summer. The Youth Workforce Development Program allows young people ranging from 16-24 to gain work experience with East Lansing’s Department of Public Works.

NEWS

MSU assistant professor develops teacher-training program

Zane McMillin
August 10, 2009

Teachers in the K-12 range will have the opportunity to participate in research at MSU under a program designed to refine classroom teaching methods and inspire innovative curriculum changes across the state. With the help of $500,000 in federal stimulus money from the National Science Foundation, Xiaobo Tan, an MSU assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been developing the Research Experiences for Teachers in Engineering, or RET, program, with a focus on bio-inspired technology and systems. The program officially will begin training teachers by next summer, Tan said. “We’re going to have these teachers working in individual faculty members’ labs, participating in … cutting-edge research projects,” Tan said.

NEWS

Squirrel deemed culprit in local power outages

Kate Jacobson
August 10, 2009

Mother nature was responsible for a power outage that caused more than 400 East Lansing residents to lose power, but not in the way one might expect. A squirrel chewing through fuses caused blackouts in the neighborhoods surrounding Trowbridge Road and Lilac Avenue near the south side of campus.

NEWS

Blue Cross funds program to address childhood obesity

Kayla Habermehl
August 10, 2009

MSU, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Grand Rapids Public Schools are hoping to make Grand Rapids children more FIT. The collective is working on a project called the FIT initiative, which is funded by a $1 million grant from Blue Cross. Tracy Thompson, director of the FIT program and outreach specialist in the MSU College of Human Medicine, said the program aims to help all children, regardless of body size. “The directive is to address childhood obesity and we’re trying to be aware of the fact that it’s not just taking those who happen to be overweight but children of all sizes,” Thompson said.

NEWS

U.S. Postal Service might cut Saturday delivery

Meredith Skrzypczak
August 10, 2009

Letters might be signed and sealed, but delivery could be up in the air if a United States Postal Service, or USPS, proposal to cut Saturday delivery is successful. Last week, before Congress, Postmaster General John Potter suggested eliminating delivery service on Saturdays to address the decline in mail volume, which decreased by 9.5 billion pieces in 2008.

NEWS

Area bordering south campus without power

Kate Jacobson
August 10, 2009

Power outages have been reported in the neighborhoods surrounding Trowbridge Road and Lilac Avenue, across the street from campus. Consumers Energy has reported 466 customers are temporarily experiencing power failures because of some tripped fuses at a substation located near the neighborhood.

NEWS

Detainees might be moved to Mich.

Meredith Skrzypczak
August 9, 2009

The possible move of Guantanamo Bay detainees to a Standish Maximum Correctional Facility is inciting debate among state officials as they weigh its pros and cons. Last week, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., confirmed the prison, which is set to close Oct. 1, is a potential facility for the detainees. “Sen. Levin believes that the idea should be considered if the arrangements are acceptable to state and local officials,” Levin officials said.

NEWS

Raising beer tax possible solution to budget crisis

Meredith Skrzypczak
August 9, 2009

A plan to increase the state’s beer tax might seem like a buzz kill, but some state officials are hopeful the increase would alleviate the budget deficit. “By adding less than a quarter to a six-pack, we could save some of these programs that we believe are very important to our future,” said Judy Putnam, spokeswoman for the Michigan League for Human Services, or MLHS.

NEWS

ELPD apprehends suspect in local explosions

Kate Jacobson
August 9, 2009

The East Lansing Police Department has identified a suspect for at least two of the five explosions that occurred during the summer months. Police said they identified a 20-year-old male MSU student from Linden, Mich., who might have been responsible for two of the recent series of explosions. On May 25, the first explosion at the intersection of Grove and Elizabeth streets was reported.