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COMMENTARY

Campaigns play out like playoffs

Drew Winter
May 15, 2008

If the mainstream media wants to reduce the presidential election to a sporting competition, they should have their sports reporters covering it. Obsessing over the candidates’ political strategizing and voter reception of their talking points doesn’t expand anyone’s understanding of the issues at stake. Journalists are not living up to their responsibility to shape the discussion on their own terms, rather than the terms of the nominees. The news media’s failure allows politicians to turn this campaign into a competitive spectacle.

COMMENTARY

City Center II plans could work with small changes

I am an East Lansing homeowner excited about the proposed City Center II development. There needs to be more residential units and other offerings in the Valley Court area of the city. However, the question is how much more, and what type of development?

NEWS

'O-ba-ma'

Marilyn King
May 14, 2008

Warren, Mich. — Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., received a boost to his campaign with the official endorsement of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards when Obama made his first visit to Michigan.

MICHIGAN

Roadwork creates headaches, lease incentives for residents

Joy Walter
May 14, 2008

Some students looking for apartments for the summer or fall are being faced with a tough decision: $1,000 Visa gift cards or a dependable route home. As construction continues on Abbot/Chandler Road, some surrounding apartment complexes are offering incentives to help draw in residents in spite of the roadblocks and long detours.

MICHIGAN

Former students, teachers to share memories on elementary school

Kara Paliokas
May 14, 2008

Clarice Thompson, a student at Bailey Elementary School in 1936, said one of her fondest memories of the school was around Christmas time when all the students would gather in the basement to sing carols. “It was exciting because the music teacher would have us sing carols and we thought we sounded great because it was echoing off the walls,” said Thompson, who attended the East Lansing school from age four until sixth grade in the years 1936 to 1942.

MICHIGAN

MDOT to cut back on summer projects

Nich Wolak
May 14, 2008

The Michigan Department of Transportation will be offering fewer road maintenance activities such as lawn mowing, shoulder and curb sweeping and litter pickup for the rest of the fiscal year. These cutbacks will amount to about a 20 percent decease in the department’s summer maintenance budget, according to a press release.

MICHIGAN

Program commutes smart

Katie Koerner
May 14, 2008

Walking, biking, carpooling or even taking the bus are all ways Jessica Yorko said contribute to a cleaner planet and a healthier body. Since May 2005, Mid-MEAC has promoted a program called Smart Commute, in the hopes of assisting community members find alternative modes of transportation that will help save the planet as well as human lives.

ICE HOCKEY

New MSU hockey assistant rewarded for 'job well done'

Alex DiFilippo
May 14, 2008

From the frosty banks of Alaska to the humid wetlands of Florida, Brian Renfrew has followed his love for hockey across the United States. Now, it looks like the well-traveled hockey coach finally has a home. After five years as an assistant coach for the MSU hockey team, head coach Rick Comley announced Friday the promotion of Renfrew to associate head coach. “Look at my track and how quickly it’s gotten here, it doesn’t happen like this for a lot of guys,” Renfrew said.

COMMENTARY

Peer-to-peer loans seem risky lending option

As the cost of getting an education goes up with each passing year, it seems as though it’s getting harder for students to get loans unless their credit is in near perfect condition. Some students are looking for new ways to pay for college other than borrowing from banks and government agencies.

COMMENTARY

Ban on smoking benefits state

Cookie-cutter political philosophy and party-line votes are the norm in Lansing. Doctrinaire legislators rule the day mostly because they lack the experience in statesmanship to see beyond simple ideological or partisan ideologies.

NEWS

Police Brief 05/14/08

Marilyn King
May 13, 2008

A 56-year-old female victim with no university affiliation reported her purse stolen from her parked vehicle on Friday at the Alumni Memorial Chapel, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.

NEWS

City council works for Kilpatrick's dismissal

From staff and wire reports
May 13, 2008

Detroit City Council approved two measures Tuesday aimed at removing Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office. Council members voted 5-4 to begin forfeiture of office proceedings against Kilpatrick. On a separate 5-4 vote, they approved asking Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to terminate Kilpatrick’s hold on the mayor’s office. A third vote aimed at censuring the mayor passed on a 7-2 vote.

MICHIGAN

E.L. police captain up for position in Kalamazoo

Marilyn King
May 13, 2008

The city of East Lansing’s loss may be Kalamazoo’s gain. East Lansing police Capt. Kim Johnson, who is being considered for chief of the Kalamazoo Public Safety Department, will speak at a public forum with the two other final candidates at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the City Hall Commission Chambers in Kalamazoo. Other candidates include David Headings, the current Battle Creek chief of police, and Jeffrey Hadley of the Fort Wayne Police Department in Indiana.

BASEBALL

MSU struggles to find big hits in demanding CMU victory

Alex DiFilippo
May 13, 2008

Mount Pleasant — The MSU baseball team slugged 14 hits and forced seven pitching changes Tuesday night – usually indicators of a blowout victory. This time, it was anything but. Central Michigan had 15 hits and forced nine pitching changes, as they outlasted MSU, 14-6, in an offensive battle at Theunissen Stadium.

MSU

Barreled over

Joy Walter
May 13, 2008

From the images of Spartans lining the halls of the Duffy Daugherty Football Building to the railings on the walkways of the new Farm Lane, construction projects across MSU are working toward a changed campus within the next year. While 34 buildings deemed too expensive to repair are being demolished at Spartan Village, Wharton Center is receiving its first repairs in 25 years.

MSU

Service dogs get free eye checkups from MSU vets

Kara Paliokas
May 13, 2008

Valarie Franklin made a lifelong friend when she met Sunny in high school. Since then she and Sunny, an 8-year-old golden retriever mix, have been inseparable. Franklin, a pharmacy senior at Ferris State University, brought Sunny to the MSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital Tuesday for an event that offered free eye exams for service dogs. The event helped special dogs that do services for individual people and the community. “He has definitely changed my life,” said Franklin, who was born with brittle bone disease and uses Sunny for assistance wherever she goes.