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MSU

Professors find ways to predict student success

Kathleen Polesnak
July 31, 2006

Grade-point averages and SAT scores can only do so much to predict student success at college. That's why two MSU professors researched other ways to anticipate how student life beyond the books plays into college performance. After looking at students' interests, background experiences and motivational characteristics from 10 universities during a four-year period, psychology professors Neal Schmitt, Frederick Oswald and a team of undergraduate and graduate students found predictors for student potential, including their likeliness to cheat, drop out of school and attend classes regularly. The College Board approached Schmitt and Oswald about conducting the study, which it plans to use to enhance college admissions.

FEATURES

'Vice' entertaining, original crime thriller

Justin Kroll
July 31, 2006

Michael Mann just may be one of the last great auteurs left in film today. Audience members know they won't be let down when they walk into the theater because this is a man who puts real effort into every shot of his film. From "Heat" to "Collateral," Mann has never been the type of director who really cares about how much money his film makes, and this might be why so many people respect his work. At least this is why, when I heard he was planning on doing a film version of the popular TV show "Miami Vice," I was both excited and nervous about the idea. I was excited because no director makes a crime thriller better than Mann, but worried because this film had a little more box-office appeal than Mann is used to. The film begins in a nightclub scene — which is quite reminiscent to the one seen in "Collateral" — and introduces Miami undercover cops Sonny Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx). These two actors do not come together to create the regular cliché buddy-cop pairing, where the two would seem more like a comedic duo than actual police. In "Miami Vice," Mann decides to portray these two as officers who are strictly business and 100 percent serious.

MICHIGAN

Riding to raise awareness

Andrea Byl
July 31, 2006

Lansing — Family and friends waved signs and shouted outside the Capitol as the 21 cyclists from the Journey of Hope ride arrived on their bikes Sunday. The 19th annual ride — which travels from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., — is a part of Push America, a nonprofit organization of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, dedicated to serving people with disabilities through raising awareness and funding, according to the organization's Web site. Soaking wet from the continuous downpour, supporters and riders crowded into a small corridor at the entrance of the Capitol to listen to a letter from Gov.

COMMENTARY

Krouse right, unborn baby can't choose

This is in response to Shane Krouse's column "Wad of cells does not equate to human life, abortion isn't murder," (SN 7/26). Very few college students can "sustain life outside the womb" without lots of help from mommy and daddy. Would it be OK to abort them, too? The most important message in Krouse's column, which I agree with wholeheartedly, is that the unborn baby doesn't have the ability to choose for itself. Isn't it ironic that everyone in favor of abortion has already been born? Tim Olster 1989 graduate

NEWS

Dispute result of drawn-out hostilities

Lindsey Poisson
July 31, 2006

An alleged Feb. 23 assault in South Hubbard Hall could have been the result of prior arguments and scuffles, according to East Lansing district court proceedings Friday for two men charged in the incident. During preliminary examinations for the two defendants — MSU student Albert Reginald Robinson, 19, and nonstudent Joel Ross Hamlar, 17 — two alleged victims testified about the incident.

FEATURES

Last shows make mark

Erik Adams
July 31, 2006

Lansing — Steve Lambert and Hood Booking bid farewell to Lansing this weekend, but not before throwing one heck of a going away party. Spread across two nights, two venues and eight bands, the final Lansing-based Hood shows were a testament to the diverse swath of artists Lambert brought to town and to the fact that people will show up for a concert in Lansing, given the right prompting. Night One: Calliope, The Hard Lessons, NOMO, Tight Phantomz and Vega at Mac's Bar Thursday night's bill at Mac's Bar, 2700 E.

NEWS

Mich. could face heat advisory

Mara Deutch
July 31, 2006

As the summer trudges forward, today and Tuesday's weather will reach heights that might force the National Weather Service to send out heat advisories. According to the service's Web site, today's forecast of 96 degrees will have a heat index that could reach up to 104, which could cause heat-related illnesses, such as heat exhaustion, heatstroke or dehydration. The Heat Index is the temperature the body feels when heat and humidity are combined, according to the service's Web site. "Higher levels of humidity combined with high temperatures create it; it's the combined effects of the two," said Ernie Ostuno, a forecaster for the weather service in Grand Rapids. During days with high heat indexes, it is suggested that people watch what they do outside. "(Heat Index) means that if you are doing something outdoors where you're going to sweat a lot, you're going to become dehydrated if you don't drink enough water," Ostuno said. To prevent heat-related illnesses from occurring, Ostuno said that it's important to participate in physical activity toward the evening when the sun is coming down. "The problem is that people get dehydrated from overdoing it outside," he said.

COMMENTARY

Abortion column even offends pro-choicers

I am neither pro-life nor religious, yet the column written by Shane Krouse, "Wad of cells does not equate to human life, abortion isn't murder," (SN 7/26), appalls me. Not only are his points offensive, they lack any type of reasoning or medical or political background.

COMMENTARY

There is infallible truth; Fish's column wrong

Cat Fish's opinion column "Reality is, we're all secretly agnostic," (SN 7/27), tries, and ultimately fails, to convince the readers that they are actually agnostic. Fish does this by trying to use the argument that there is no way to determine or perceive infallible truths in our world. Picture this: If a man or woman were to stroll into a random house in a random town and kill the house's occupants for absolutely no reason other than their own personal pleasure, is this right or wrong?

NEWS

Owners to city council: Go slow

Kris Turner
July 28, 2006

There's widespread unrest in the Cedar Village area. No, students aren't rushing into the streets, overturning cars and lighting fires. And no, police aren't launching cans of tear gas to break up late-night revelers. The mounting tension stems from property owners upset with the city of East Lansing's swift passage of portions of the East Village project — which calls for a massive overhaul of the entire 35-acre area. "The process in which they are going about it is at odds with the taxpayers and citizens of East Lansing," said Joe Maguire, president of Wolverine Development Corp., which owns the McDonald's restaurant at 1024 E.

COMMENTARY

The best of Lash Larrowe: Get me to Iran on time!

Reprinted from the May 2, 1980 edition of The State News I'm slithering on my belly commando-style through the bushes over by Beaumont Tower with a broomstick for a rifle last night, this campus cop spots me and comes charging on over. "OK buddy," he snarls, stickin' his .44 Magnum in my face.

MICHIGAN

Wayne State to host event protesting MCRI

A group of MSU students will travel to Detroit Saturday to participate in the Community Action Day to Defeat MCRI. The MCRI, or Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, is a proposal that would end preferential treatment for minorities in government and university programs if it's passed in November. The event will be held at Wayne State University and is organized by University Students United, or USU, a group of college students throughout Michigan concerned about the initiative. Erik Green, an MSU graduate student and member of USU, said the event aims to inspire others to speak out against the MCRI. "Our goal is to defeat the MCRI this fall," Green said.

FEATURES

The bartender

Erik Adams
July 28, 2006

When not professing his inability to drive at posted speed limits — usually 55 mph — pop-metal wailer and erstwhile Van Halen front man Sammy Hagar is quite a fan of the sauce.

MSU

MSU to teach graphic media

Andrea Byl
July 28, 2006

After the planes crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, a graphic appeared in the New York Times showing where they hit and which floors were damaged.

FEATURES

Happenings

Friday Ted Leo and The Pharmacists The Jai-Alai Savant and Thunderbirds Are Now!