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BASKETBALL

Spartans in need of a victory

Patrick Walters
January 22, 2003

Following three straight road losses, the MSU men's basketball team is limping back to Breslin Center with a do-or-die attitude for tonight's contest against Penn State at 6 p.m. The Spartans (9-7 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) are losers of five of their last six games and on the brink of starting the Big Ten season 1-4. Don't think it hasn't gotten to head coach Tom Izzo. Izzo again cited MSU's costly turnovers, spotty free-throw shooting and inconsistent field-goal percentage as thorns in the Spartans' side Monday.

NEWS

Council slashes about $600,000 from city budget

Brian Charlton
January 22, 2003

The city of East Lansing went on a low-fat diet Tuesday night. Council members trimmed more than $600,000 from the city's budget by reducing overtime wages, minimizing training and putting the breaks on supplies buying. But they stopped short of severing vital services in balancing the city's nearly $50 million budget at Tuesday's city council meeting. Although the cuts affect city administrators, residents of East Lansing won't directly feel the effects of the reduced spending, Mayor Mark Meadows said. "We really did not have much of a choice," he said.

COMMENTARY

Media does not slant to the left

This is in response to two letters, "Column uses free speech to bash U.S." and "SN misrepresents 'U' as all liberals" (SN 1/17). It is perplexing how some Americans persist in believing - despite all evidence - that the media "has a liberal bias." Not only is this clearly false of television reporting, but also false of the majority of print media.

NEWS

State missing out on Internet taxes

Kurt Ludke
January 22, 2003

Microbiology junior Jonathan Lenz owes Michigan about $6 in taxes for purchases he made online last year, but he and his fellow Web shoppers don't have to pay it.The reason, said David Zin, an economist at the Senate Fiscal Agency, is the tax is paid on a voluntary basis."Not surprisingly, a lot of people don't do this," he said.

NEWS

Students to vote on environmental fee

Renewable energy might be in the future if students choose to pay $5 a semester to support a switch over from the fossil fuel system currently being used.Environment friendly energy sources such as solar and wind turbines would replace fossil fuel emissions on University Farms, said Terry Link, representative for the University Committee for a Sustainable Campus.After much debate, ASMSU passed the bill that Eco, an environmental student group, proposed, allowing for a student vote on the issue in March.

NEWS

Students lobby 'U' for partner benefits policy

When Kendra Kearney wanted to transfer schools about two years ago, she was careful to examine the domestic partner benefits available at MSU. But the family community services senior didn't know MSU's policy on domestic partner benefits doesn't apply to students. A policy enacted by the MSU Board of Trustees in 1997 allowed domestic partner benefits for faculty and staff.

MSU

'U' outperforms colleges in endowment return

MSU gained money from endowment investments during the 2001-02 fiscal year, while many universities around the United States spent the year trying to recover losses.Glen Klein, director of investments and financial management for MSU, said the university saw a 2.3-percent return in 2001-02, compared with the national average college endowment loss of 6 percent, as surveyed by the National Association of College and University Business Officers.Endowments are funds donated to the university but not spent all at once.

NEWS

State rep. joins alliance to remove professor's Web site

State Rep. Susan Tabor, R-Eaton County, is lending her voice in opposition against an MSU-Detroit College of Law professor's animal law Web site, claiming it provides support to anti-hunting views. The site, created by Professor David Favre, includes information about 120 statutes and 100 cases involving animal rights. "I am surprised a representative of the people is willing to seek to censor information available on the Web and to not allow the exercises of free speech," Favre said. However, the U.S.

BASKETBALL

Lorbek adjusts to college basketball

Patrick Walters
January 21, 2003

On the court, in the classroom and in the locker room, MSU freshman forward Erazem Lorbek is making the adjustment from life and basketball in Europe to the spotlight of the Big Ten. The gangly 6-foot-10 native of Ljubljana, Slovenia, has worked himself into head coach Tom Izzo's rotation since coming to America in August, combining the finesse game he honed playing for Slovenian junior national teams with crashing Big Ten style. While Lorbek is soft-spoken because of the language barrier - sometimes he swears in what looks and sounds like equal parts of English and Slovenian after making the occasional mistake - he said that his adjustment to MSU basketball has been trial by fire. "It's a higher level," Lorbek said of the conference.

MSU

'U' works to mend bones

When Ian Smith was 15 years old, his father gave him an article on bionic eyes - glasses that connected to the brain allowing a blind person a chance to see shapes and colors for the first time.

NEWS

Gatherings honor King's legacy

A chill breeze glided through the night air as hundreds of people injected warm remembrances of Martin Luther King Jr. Candlelit faces gleamed brightly as the cumulative voices of groups and organizations such as Black Student Alliance, Alpha Phi Alpha and the Alliance of Lesbian-Bi-Gay-Transgendered and Straight Ally Students penetrated the darkness with laughter and songs of freedom and equality such as "We Shall Overcome" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing." As students poured in from three march starting points, they firmly grasped onto lights swaying them proudly in the air in what seemed to be an endless band of unity. Officials led the procession of about 300 gatherers to the intersection of Shaw and Farm lanes.

NEWS

Deep cuts to balance books

Brian Charlton
January 21, 2003

Officials hope halting road repairs, eliminating vacant jobs and reducing employee training will serve as stitches in the city's belt-breaking budget troubles. The axed expenditures will help the city survive slashed state funding revenue, rising health care costs and an expensive first year for the East Lansing Hannah Community Center.

SPORTS

Winning on road still a problem for young squad

Dawn Klemish
January 21, 2003

University Park, Pa. - The Spartans' youthful roster has overcome many obstacles this season, yet the MSU women's basketball team is still in search of success on the road, which has eluded it from the beginning of the season.The Spartans (9-7 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) have gone 6-2 defending their home court, but dropped five of eight when playing away from the friendly confines of Breslin Center.Junior forward Julie Pagel said failure on the road is not from lack of talent, but the inability to hold down the fort under pressure."We know that we have to play all 40 minutes of defense to win games," she said.

FEATURES

'Departed' provides comedic relief

Megan Frye
January 21, 2003

A full house sat attentively as it was hit by the first dark-humored joke of the play.The theatergoers, seated in the classy blue auditorium of the Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road, didn't exactly know what they were getting into when they purchased their tickets for "Dearly Departed."Presented by the Lansing Civic Players, "Dearly Departed" was written by David Botrell and Jessie Jones and directed by Linda Granger.

FEATURES

EP could prove band's breakthrough

Elysia A. Smith
January 21, 2003

With only $600 in their budget, members of East Lansing's the giveaway didn't have much to work with in the production of their new EP "wake up." The album's seven tracks could see the giveaway get a foot in the door much the same way as bands such as Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers have done - with a low-budget album and a local following. Financed with the help of family members and recorded in just a few takes or less, "wake up" is a creative statement with plenty of raw feeling. A floating melody of four gentle keyboard notes, an obvious acoustic guitar and just the right touch of drums lead into the EP's first song, "Undeveloped." The vocals on the track interlink with the flow of the music, especially in the chorus, but aren't always as strong with the backing music of the verse.