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NEWS

Meet your new teaching assistant

Corinne Devries
June 12, 2006

Yellowcard. Carrie Underwood. Ludacris. Class lectures? During the spring semester, video iPods and podcasting provided three MSU courses with class materials to help students with their studies. MSU Interactive Video Services loaned iPods to nine students for an experiment that tested the effectiveness of using the new devices for learning and how students and faculty felt about the technology. The iPods, however, were not used in class.

NEWS

Not following dorm rules could leave you up in smoke

MSU has become my home — the place where I bravely took chances and tried new things. Plugging my nose, I made the plunge and took risks without looking back. Coincidentally, MSU has also been the place where I have made millions of mistakes and learned lesson after lesson at the expense of my dignity. One of the greatest lessons occurred during the winter of my freshman year at MSU. I finally discovered why toasters are illegal in the dormitories. My profound learning experience did not take place on any normal, mundane day.

MICHIGAN

Free-flying smiles

Justin Kroll
June 12, 2006

Mason — Local pilots gave children from around the area the opportunity to experience their first plane ride Saturday on Young Eagles Aviation Day. The event which was held at the Mason Jewett Field Airport, was started in 1992 to promote aviation education among children.

NEWS

Bills could restrict gay parenting

Rebecca Mcnulty
June 12, 2006

Mary Boudreau and her partner Susan Grettenberger have four children. All of the Lansing residents' children are teenagers, and this weekend they celebrated Antonio Grettenberger's — who at 18 is the oldest — graduation from high school. Boudreau said she and her partner were lucky to find a judge who approved both of them to be legal parents of the children. For members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, adopting children can be a struggle, she said. Many fear it's going to become even tougher with the introduction of several bills into the state House of Representatives. The bills, both sitting in the House Family and Children Services Committee, would allow agencies that place children in adoptive homes to refuse to place them if the situation violates the agency's written religious or moral convictions.

MSU

Ground grown energy

Stephanie Pittman
June 12, 2006

In the search for alternative energy sources, MSU researchers have discovered switchgrass as a valuable resource in producing other forms of fuel. At the MSU Extension in Presque Isle County, researchers are studying how to make fuel pellets out of switchgrass, which is a variety of prairie grass that grows quickly and can survive harsh weather conditions.

NEWS

Your guide to get out & get down

Movies: NCG Eastwood Cinemas 2500 Showtime Drive in the Eastwood Towne Center in Lansing Student tickets are $6.50. www.ncgmovies.com Celebration Cinema 200 E.

NEWS

Take your studies overseas

Gabrielle Russon
June 12, 2006

The world has become a giant classroom now that MSU sends students to all seven continents, including Antarctica, for study abroad. Last year about 2,400 MSU students left East Lansing to study in a foreign country, said Cheryl Benner, the communications manager at the Office of Study Abroad. The most popular destinations were English-speaking countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom, Benner said. However, some students have misconceptions about study abroad and skip out on the foreign experience altogether. There are three myths about study abroad — finances, fear and fit, said Inge Steglitz, assistant director at the Office of Study Abroad.

NEWS

Hearings adjourned in Hubbard Hall case

Lindsey Poisson
June 12, 2006

The preliminary examinations for two men arrested in connection with the alleged Feb. 23 Hubbard Hall assault are adjourned until June 23. A preliminary examination determines if there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial.

NEWS

Faculty keeps eyes on students to stop plagiarism, cheating

Kristen Daum
June 12, 2006

With increased reports of student plagiarism and cheating, MSU professors are using various techniques to prevent these acts from happening. Plagiarism, which is taking someone else's work and passing it off as one's own, goes against MSU's policy regarding academic integrity, along with cheating on exams, homework assignments and essays. "Faculty members are reporting incidents of cheating more frequently then they have in the past," MSU's Ombudsman Stan Soffin said.

NEWS

Cougars in Michigan?

Every morning, Laura DeJune would hear the quacks from her pet duck. But when the Battle Creek resident woke up to silence a month ago, she knew something was wrong.

COMMENTARY

Police report should be public

That's scary. And it allegedly happened in Hubbard Hall last February. MSU thinks the details surrounding the vicious incident should be withheld from the public.