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NEWS

MIDDAY UPDATE: Fast food restaurants to leave MSU locations

Tom Keller
February 16, 2005

The Wendy's and Taco Bell restaurants in the International Center and the Wendy's and Little Caesars in the Union have decided not to rebid on their current locations, said Jim Sheppard, manager of the Union. The restaurants will close when their contracts run out at the end of this school year. Sheppard said all other restaurants in the Union and International Center, including Panda Express, Subway and Blimpie, have rebid on their current locations, but that doesn't guarantee that any of them will return next year. Those decisions should be made by early next month, Sheppard said. Taco Bell and both Wendy's locations have been in their locations since 1995, and Little Caesars is the longest-running restaurant on campus, open since 1987, Sheppard said. For more on this story, please see Thursday's edition of The State News.

NEWS

Coexistence

Tom Keller
February 16, 2005

Beginning next fall, MSU students will have the option to live among their male and female friends when the first floor of Holden Hall becomes coed by suite. Holmes, McDonel, Case, Wonders and Wilson halls currently are the only dorms on campus to offer coed housing. Fred Kayne, associate director of University Housing, said men and women in MSU residence halls were almost completely isolated from one another as recently as 35 years ago, when the first coed floor on campus was implemented. Now, MSU has more than a dozen coed floors that house more than 900 students, which is about 6 percent of all students that live in residence halls. Joshua Gillespie, director of Holden Hall, said students had been requesting coed housing for several years, and he hopes the new arrangement will encourage more interaction between residents. "It will be a facsimile of apartment living," Gillespie said.

NEWS

Legislators opposed to $30M Mich. budget cut

Rebecca Mcnulty
February 16, 2005

The Senate and House appropriations committees returned Gov. Jennifer Granholm's executive-order budget with hopes they could work to remove a $30 million cut to Michigan's public universities. Both committees - headed by Republicans - met Tuesday and said they won't vote on the budget, which was released last week, until they had revised it with Granholm. The budget would cut $5 million from MSU's operating budget, and was developed to close a $375 million shortfall for this fiscal year. The executive order has to be approved by both the House and Senate appropriations committees before it is put in place. Ari Adler, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, R-Wyoming, said the committees were concerned with part of the budget that cuts $30 million in operating costs for public universities and gives them up to $200 million in maintenance during the next two years.

NEWS

Demolition, mixed-use projects approved

Kris Turner
February 16, 2005

A Grand River Avenue building is in the clear for demolition. A plan to construct a mixed-use facility on the Bailey Street site near Taco Bell was approved by the East Lansing City Council at its meeting Tuesday. "This has been a long process," said David Krause of Corey Partnership, the project's developer.

ICE HOCKEY

Winter ruined thanks to NHL's Bettman, Goodenow's inabilities to negotiate

During the past few days, I've developed a severe case of sailor mouth. Sailor mouth, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, is when you start cursing like a sailor. I can't even begin to speak of NHL "commissioner" Gary Bettman or NHL Players Association Executive Director Bob Goodenow without letting loose "f-bombs" strung together in an incoherent sentence with names intertwined.

COMMENTARY

North Korea cannot be bartered with

In Monday's editorial, "Tact needed" (SN 2/14), The State News editorial board managed to present a poorly researched, factually incorrect editorial that suggested the United States should be acting more like Santa Claus than a global hegemon toward North Korea.

MICHIGAN

Governor clarifies opinion of Ten Commandments' place in Capitol

Rebecca Mcnulty
February 16, 2005

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is saying 'no' to having a monument of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the state Capitol, days after saying she wouldn't mind having one. Granholm had said on the WKAR television show "Off the Record" that having a statue of the commandments in the Capitol wouldn't bother her. "I know that will make some people mad, but I think they are universal values," Granholm said.

COMMENTARY

Lobbyists should not have say in new government health guidelines

America is fat, and it doesn't care. It's evident by the lack of concern over the fact that while the government was planning new health and nutrition guidelines, it's paid no attention to the blatant meddling of food company lobbyists in the process. Released in January, the new nutritional guidelines call for an hour of exercise, attention to reducing calories, a large increase in fruit and vegetable consumption and acknowledgment of the value of eating whole grains.

MSU

University officials discuss alcohol ban

Preliminary meetings began Tuesday among members of MSU's administration to create guidelines for exceptions to MSU's new open-alcohol ban. The process to establish discussion is still in its early stages, said Sue Carter, secretary to the MSU Board of Trustees. More information will be available next week, Carter said. A ban on open alcohol was approved by the board Thursday by a vote of 7-0.

COMMENTARY

Olin patients need access to new ramp

In regard to your editorial "Campus clutter," (SN 2/11) I have a question for you: Are you aware that not a single parking place in the planned parking structure will be available for students during the day?

SPORTS

Team competes in Big Ten Championships

Jennifer Toland
February 16, 2005

With the possibility of it being her last meet of the season, senior Tammy Jones is putting more pressure on herself than ever before to do well in the swimming and diving Big Ten Championships beginning today in Bloomington, Ind.

COMMENTARY

War chest

What is the cost of war? The figure in President Bush's requested 2006 budget to Congress would put it at $419.3 billion in military funding. An additional $82 billion, added on Monday, was requested prior to the $2.5 trillion 2006 budget Bush initially submitted.

MSU

Students compete for cultural heroes

Amy Davis
February 16, 2005

A group of students will compete today to prove which famous hero is worthy of being inducted into the MSU Multicultural Heroes Hall of Fame. For the last month, five student teams, which are made of three members, have been gathering information about famous figures in history such as Nelson Mandela, Princess Diana and Rosa Parks.

MSU

Former Black Panther offers insight

Josh Jarman
February 16, 2005

David Hilliard, former chief of staff for the Black Panther Party spoke on campus Tuesday about the history of the group and the misconceptions surrounding it. Jeremy Nufer, the Black Caucus liaison to the Wilson Hall government, which helped bring Hilliard to campus, said it was important for people to learn more about the movement. "So many people see the Black Panthers as violent thugs," Nufer said.