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NEWS

Virginia Avenue plan under further review

Ryan Beene
July 26, 2007

The East Lansing Planning Commission is holding onto a plan to redevelop the 600 block of Virginia Avenue after reviewing it at a meeting Wednesday night. Staff members from the city's planning department were met with a flurry of questions from commissioners and residents about the plan. The block that contained 23 homes is being redeveloped into about 30 homes and condominiums, which will house permanent residents.

MICHIGAN

Children learn healthy habits

Lauren Talley
July 26, 2007

Rows of colorful, fresh produce decorated picnic tables Wednesday as children selected the best they could buy with $5 of Monopoly money. They arrived to the Meridian Township Farmer's Market, 5151 Marsh Road, in Okemos, in neon-green T-shirts at 1:30 p.m.

MSU

Professor's discovery repels plant invaders

Sarah Harbison
July 26, 2007

For Sheng-Yang He, being a professor and a researcher is the perfect career - he wouldn't change it, not even if he was given the chance. He, 44, came to MSU in 1995 because of the reputation of the Department of Plant Biology. "(MSU) is an attractive place for many excellent plant scientists," He said. He's latest research hits a little closer to home.

SPORTS

MLB GMs: Make these deals now

With the July 31 MLB nonwaiver trading deadline fast approaching, teams should be shipping pieces in and out, gearing up for a pennant run or a rebuilding process.

COMMENTARY

Non-Christian teachings cause of world tragedies

John Bice devotes nearly half of "Benefits of faith" (SN 7/13), to the proposition that life has no evident meaning beyond "biological reproduction." The "unique benefit" of religion, he asserts, is to soothe the resulting anxiety by supplying a "human-centered" master scheme in which our endeavors may find purpose.

COMMENTARY

Gouging residents for sports coverage unfair

Shame on Comcast for wanting to bump up Big Ten Network games to a higher tier. They already charge too much because they have a lock on cable in East Lansing, Lansing and Meridian Township. It's too late, but this is an example of what happens when you are the only cable provider and have a contract with the local unit of government.

MICHIGAN

Horse therapy offers healing power

Craig Trudell
July 25, 2007

Dansville — Joshua Pinkelman's life was hanging by a thread from the moment he was born eight years ago. His parents, Keith and Aimee, helplessly watched as Joshua experienced multiple seizures and went the first 20 minutes of his life without oxygen.

FEATURES

Lying can keep a relationship together

There is nothing wrong with a little white lie. When your girlfriend asks you if she looks fat and sloppy in those jeans, you wouldn't tell her, "Yes baby, you look like Shamu's distant cousin." Sometimes, people are left with no other option than to fabricate the truth.

NEWS

Single hearts

Jennifer Orlando  and  Rachael Zylstra
July 25, 2007

Chris Steele has played the roles of matchmaker and heartbreaker. He's witnessed the lamest pick-up lines delivered and had admirers try to pick him up by leaving phone numbers on their checks. Welcome to the life of a bartender. Working as a server and bartender at Harper's Restaurant and Brewpub, 131 Albert Ave., during the past two years, the 23-year-old has seen the good, the bad and the just plain creepy of the East Lansing dating scene. Along with all of the odd encounters, the Lansing Community College student said East Lansing is a great place for singles to live, no matter their dating preferences. "We have such a diverse area here that there is someone for everyone it seems like - or more," he said. In fact, a CNNMoney.com poll shows that 67.1 percent of East Lansing's 47,000 population is single, giving it the seventh highest percentage of singles in the country.

COMMENTARY

Federal student funding trumps private lenders

The House and Senate have passed bills that could dramatically refigure the financing of a college education. Out: The $18 billion to $19 billion in subsidies the federal government would have doled out to companies that provide student loans. In: $17 billion to $18 billion in aid to students. Differences between the House and Senate bills will have to be worked out in a conference committee.

FEATURES

Little white lies add up

Dear men: You lie. We will catch you. Women aren't stupid. Granted, we've all been a little airheaded and blinded by that almighty thing called "love," but as soon as our female intuition switches into gear, your "white" lie will be sunk faster than you can say "Battleship." I have a personal tale of one certain ex-boyfriend who thought lying was a paid profession.

NEWS

Council discusses safety ordinance

Ryan Beene
July 25, 2007

Inciting fear in an East Lansing school could land someone behind bars if the City Council amends laws for conduct on school grounds. Students could face up to 90 days in jail for intentionally inciting fear, a misdemeanor offense. The proposed ordinance, discussed at Tuesday's City Council meeting, would apply to a person who intentionally causes others to fear for their safety and the safety of others by making violent threats, having or creating plans for an attack on a school, publishing attack intentions electronically or supporting the actions or methods of a previous school shooting. The City Council sent the ordinance to the East Lansing School Board and Human Relations Commission for review. The ordinance comes in the wake of the Virginia Tech University shootings, where 32 students and faculty were killed.

MICHIGAN

Plan will offer incentives to retain state graduates

Pete Nichols
July 25, 2007

When it comes to their plans after college, some students aren't so sure they'll stay in the Great Lakes State. There's Trinidad Esparzo, who plans on returning to his Texas home after he graduates in two years with his food industry degree. And then there's Kim Stemp, an interdisciplinary studies and heath studies senior, who knows one thing for certain - "I'm going to leave Michigan," she said. These MSU students are part of the state's "brain drain," a term that describes the mass exodus of Michigan college graduates to out-of-state jobs, said Gabe Basso, spokesman for Rep.

NEWS

Limited campus parking creates ticket hot spots

Cash Kruth
July 25, 2007

Parking on campus can be a horror, especially for students who prefer commuting from dorms and apartments. Take the Shaw Ramp, located behind the Capitol Area Transportation Authority transit center between North and South Shaw lanes - in 2006, MSU parking enforcement issued 25,232 citations there. "Logically, the areas that have the heaviest enforcement don't have gates, and the second thing is they are the areas with the most spaces," MSU police Deputy Chief Mike Rice said.

COMMENTARY

Cause of decline

People have long complained about the supposed decline of American morality. They play a game of connect the dots with pornographic images, newspaper headlines of school shootings, rampant sex in high school, bad manners and the swindling coworkers to an overall picture of Sodom and Gomorrah.

MICHIGAN

Program 'launches' in Lansing

Rachael Zylstra
July 24, 2007

Summer Schriner knew Old Town, in Lansing, was missing something. So when it came to starting another business in the area, she filled the void when she opened Grace, a women's clothing boutique, 115 W.

COMMENTARY

Abstinence-only education must end

It should be common knowledge that performing the same task time after time will not garner new results. Many schools are teaching abstinence-only education in hopes of preventing teenagers from having sex. The New York Times reported last week that, despite the prominence of abstinence education, there has been no sign that teenagers are waiting to have sex.