MSU hosts 27th annual agricultural exposition

Tractor competitions, ice cream sampling and a petting zoo are just a few things the MSU Agricultural Equipment Exposition, or Ag Expo, will offer this week. This summer will mark the 27th year MSU has hosted the event, said Laura Probyn, spokeswoman for the Ag Expo. The expo begins today and continues until Thursday, and is sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, opens at 9 a.m.

Should the U.S. be involved in the Mid East conflict?

"Honestly, we have our own problems to deal with. We've already gotten involved in Iraq and Afghanistan.

City may upgrade downtown parks' design

A few parks throughout East Lansing could be getting spruced up thanks to funding from a Cool Cities grant and a private donation. The park on the corner of Albert Avenue and Abbott Road will receive a fountain and a new fence.

Stem cell research good idea

Imagine a cure for spinal cord injuries. In 1995, Christopher Reeve, the man who popularized "Superman," fell from a horse and broke his neck.

WEB EXTRA: Lake Lansing Park hosts free Irish music concert

Rare Combination, an Irish/Celtic group, will be giving a free performance at 7 p.m. Friday at Lake Lansing Park-South, located at the corner of Pike Street and Marsh Road in Haslett. The concert will be held at the Lake Lansing Community Bandshell.

'Little Man' is big disappointment

(Sigh) … ahhh, "Little Man." If you were to put together a list of the worst ideas for a movie in the past two decades, green-lighting a project with Marlon Wayans' face transposed on baby-like bodies might rank pretty high.

Globalism, 'World Tax Fund,' can help to eliminate dire poverty

Let's recognize that we have it good here in the land of the free. We wear fancy, expensive clothes made in factories by people working for almost nothing a day.

Don't judge majority by small portion of extremists

Daniel Piedra's letter "United States supports Israel with good reason," (SN 7/17), is a reasonable defense of Israel's actions against Hezbollah except for his opinion of Islam as a whole.

If you want employment, DeVos should get your vote

David Wishinsky seems to think that Gov. Jennifer Granholm's economic plan for Michigan is working, based on his letter, "DeVos may have political tool, but it doesn't work," (SN 7/17). If this is the case, why do we have 6 percent unemployment while the nationwide average is 4.6 percent?

WEB EXTRA: Goss will not return to Spartans' fall roster

Placekicker John Goss will not return to the MSU football roster this fall. Goss recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies in social science and human resources.

Student trapped in Lebanon

Waleed Brinjikji took a tense taxicab ride along a bomb-riddled road in Lebanon with his mother, aunt and three younger cousins Sunday. The ride from the small town in which they were staying to Beirut cost his family $1,300 and put them under the constant threat of attack. But Brinjikji, an MSU physiology senior, said the ride, its cost and the stress it caused his family was well worth it, since it allowed them to leave the Lebanese town that was devastated by Israeli bombings in the past week. "We had to leave this place because psychologically, it was too hard to stay there any longer," Brinjikji said. Brinjikji was in Syria studying and spending time with his family when they decided to take a trip to Lebanon to visit his mother's birthplace.

Author to speak at community center

Jeannette Walls, author of the book "The Glass Castle," which has been chosen for the "One Book, One Community" program, will speak at 7:30 p.m.

Police briefs 07/18/06

Republican candidate to meet with public

Michigan Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Keith Butler will meet with the public at 8 a.m. Wednesday at Beaner's Gourmet Coffee, 6439 S.

MSU raises fall tuition, creates aid program

Students will pay more for classes this fall as a result of a tuition increase set by the MSU Board of Trustees at its meeting Monday. To balance the 5.9 percent tuition increase for in-state undergraduate students and 6.9 percent increase for out-of-state undergraduate students, financial aid was expanded by 8.5 percent and the new Spartan Advantage program, which will help finance incoming freshman at or below the poverty level, was implemented. Even though MSU is seventh in the state for education costs, the university is seeking ways to expand the number of potential students, MSU President Lou Anna K.

Breathalyzing boaters

Michigan boaters may soon have to be more aware of how much alcohol they consume. A bill that was introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives in June could drop the legal blood alcohol content, or BAC, of motorized boat drivers from 0.10 to 0.08, the same as that for automobile drivers. Sgt.

Buffett's donation will make world better place

In response to Bonnie Shaw's letter "Population control not good use of Buffett's cash," (SN 7/13), it would be nice if people could look at the positive side of one man's donating of more than $30 billion to charity. Warren Buffett is a man who has stated he would donate all of his money upon death to charity and found the one charity that he felt confronts the major global issues that concern him.

Students return from Israel as Middle Eastern conflict escalates

MSU students studying abroad in Israel could be cutting their trips short soon because of continued fighting with Lebanon.

United States supports Israel with good reason

The Israeli offensive against the Hezbollah regime is a surprisingly swift course of action for the sake of the two Israeli soldiers captured by the Iran-backed Islamic radicals.

DeVos may have political tool, but it doesn't work

We have an election coming up, and one of the candidates has a magical object. This candidate is Dick DeVos. He has a political Magic 8 Ball — it provides answers to all of Michigan's problems.