Crowds fill downtown to see festival acts, taste cuisine

Lansing - Common Ground shook the capital city's dirt for the past two nights with high-energy musical acts coupled with brew and soda-pop chugging crowds. The Adado Riverfront Park, host of the fourth annual seven-day fun-food-and-jam fest, brought a crowd that packed the downtown, clogging city streets and waterways on top of covering festival grounds. The festival already has sold all of its 7,500 week-long passes, leaving only single-day passes available for the general public, a festival first. "Can we squeeze another person in here?

Staff, students in same boat fighting for parking, privilege

If you did, you would have discovered the many cries concerning the have and have-nots on campus are ill founded.

Take the test

At first, kids would jump at the idea of a four-day school week. But if you told them it would mean they'd have to be in school longer per day, they would take time to think about the tradeoff.

Learning to shop

Sending K-12 students to malls for field trips is a good idea as long as it's an appropriate group being sent, such as one that teaches students how businesses market their products. But field trips need to be more than entertainment - rather, infotainment. The Oakland Press reported for a Saturday story that some Michigan educators believe students can benefit from field trips to retail centers. "So much is required of the schools and students these days that any time spent away from the classroom would have to have a valuable academic purpose," Kay Cornell, assistant superintendent for instruction with the Royal Oak School District, told The Oakland Press. But students who aren't of the right age to appreciate the inner workings of the consumer-driven economy shouldn't be expected to grasp the value of hands-on education in the mall.

Lansing man charged in E.L. shooting

A 36-year-old Lansing man was charged with assault with intent to murder in the June 26 shooting at an East Lansing pizzeria.

State legislatures too incompetent

In response to "Frist opposes gay marriage" (SN 6/30), Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., doesn't sound compassionate or conservative saying: "Generally, I think matters such as sodomy should be addressed by the state legislatures." Sorry Frist, but Michigan's legislature, as one example, seemed to not have the backbone to touch our state's outdated law that made oral and anal sex between adults, straight and gay, illegal. Yet the state Legislature can update its salary regularly. They meet three days a week and earn $77,260 a year.

Board gives highest honor to 10 professors

The MSU Board of Trustees approved the designation of 10 MSU faculty members as university distinguished professors. The title is the highest honor a faculty member can receive at MSU.

Senate decreases legal blood alcohol level from .10 to .08

The Michigan Senate passed legislation Thursday to reduce the blood-alcohol level from 0.10 to 0.08, which could redefine the conditions of legal intoxication.

Common Ground schedule

Tickets are available on a first come, first serve basis. Tickets ordered in advance cost $22 per day.

Sports briefs

'BasketBowl' tickets available on Tuesday Tickets for the "BasketBowl", the MSU-Kentucky basketball matchup at Ford Field in Detroit, will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday. MSU ticket manager Chris Besanceney said 50,172 tickets have been ordered through private sales to Spartan donors and season ticket holders.

Witherspoon keeps this dumb 'Blonde' alive

While Reese Witherspoon shines as the smart yet ditzy Elle Woods in "Legally Blonde: Red White & Blonde," her pursuit of Washington, D.C., does not quite measure up to Elle's fun-filled journey at Harvard Law in the first flick. The sequel tells the story of Elle Woods traveling to Washington to oppose future testing on animals after she finds the mother of her precious Chihuahua Bruiser is being used as a cosmetic test subject.

Police briefs 07/07/03

Music, games on common ground

Lansing - What do you get when you mix a blues prodigy, some boys from down south, a Woodstock veteran, a side of Meatloaf and a dash of Hootie and plop it all in the middle of Lansing? The fourth annual Common Ground festival is set to take over Adado Riverfront Park tonight, with classic-rockers Boston and Larry McCray and Celtic musicians The Lash slated to kick off the weeklong festival. "We try every year to have a little bit of everything," Common Ground spokeswoman Melissa Steelman said. Steelman said the festival will include performances by recognizable acts such as The Allman Brothers Band and Joe Cocker, as well as lesser known acts.

Iraq sees creation of local governments

By Hector Tobar Los Angeles Times Baghdad, Iraq - In occupied Iraq, the signature of L.

Wal-welcome

Company officials of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Wednesday their antidiscrimination policy has been amended to include homosexuals.

AM Radio blares on

Derivative and uninspired though at times oddly appealing, AM Radio's "Radioactive" wears its influences on its sleeve.

Lugnuts defeat Battle Creek

Lansing - In his longest outing of the season, Lansing starting pitcher Carlos Vasquez (7-8) went eight strong innings, scattering two runs and four hits over 71 pitches en route to a 4-2 victory over the Battle Creek Yankees on Sunday at Oldsmobile Park. "It was a good game for me," Vasquez said.

Departing faculty member valuable

In response to "Faculty member leaves 'U' to teach in Germany" (SN 7/2), I would like to state MSU is extremely fortunate to have Mei Zhuang as a faculty member. She is an excellent teacher of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics or advanced engineering mathematics.

Bill to alter funding of motorcycle safety programs for state

With the help of legislation passed in the Senate on Thursday, motorcycle safety programs might be able to continue.

Quiet, Lovely compels

In today's predictable record industry, Texas-based Quiet, Lovely manages to sound somewhat different.