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COMMENTARY

Life lessons

University officials should remember the importance of having - and maintaining - a diverse campus. College is a life opportunity. More minority students are enrolling into colleges and universities - including MSU - but an high dropout rates also have continued to plague the schools despite recruiting methods.

MICHIGAN

Senate passes bill to help suffering farmers

Aaron Johnson
February 22, 2002

After a tough summer, local farmers are receiving some help from the government - or at least that’s the plan. The state Senate passed a bill 35-1 Wednesday providing more than $200 million for farmers in the form of five-year zero-interest loans to help make up for a poor situation. “The agricultural economy is experiencing severe losses that they have not seen since the Great Depression,” said Sen.

SPORTS

Desert Classic begins season in Las Vegas

Ryan Wallace
February 22, 2002

Starting a season with 17-straight road games may be a strain for most sports teams, but the MSU baseball team is ready to except the challenge. The Spartans open the season with games against UC Santa Barbara, UNLV and Creighton this weekend in Las Vegas at the UNLV Desert Classic.

NEWS

Man arraigned in hacking case

Shannon Murphy
February 22, 2002

A former computer network administrator for the East Lansing School District was arraigned Thursday on two counts of computer hacking. Jason Sharp, who resigned from the district in July, is charged with breaking into the school district’s computer system in October from his home. Damage to the system was estimated at $18,000 and much of it was down for more than two months, Superintendent Thomas Giblin said. “We lost everything,” he said.

MSU

Rally promotes grad student rights

Chad Previch
February 22, 2002

April Herndon’s pockets are empty. Herndon, a member of MSU’s Graduate Employees Union, ended a rally at the International Center that culminated the union’s two-day informational picket.

MICHIGAN

Mayor pushes for change in process

Shaun Byron
February 22, 2002

Mark Meadows has been with East Lansing City Council since 1995. In 1997 he was elected by council to take the gavel at their meetings as mayor. This spring, Meadows hopes to change the process of who takes the gavel next. By allowing East Lansing citizens to vote for their mayor he’ll not only change the city’s charter, but the role the people in East Lansing play in their government. “I think the mayor, for good or bad, tends to be a representative of the city,” he said. If the election system does change, Meadows said there will still be a city manager and the city council will carry on the same. He’d just like to give the people in East Lansing a stronger voice, Meadows said. “For the most part in East Lansing, you can knock on any door and be treated with respect here,” he said. Having a role in government was not new to Meadows when he took center seat at the council meetings. Meadows serves as assistant attorney general for the state of Michigan. But he still finds time to enjoy being an East Lansing official. “It’s nice to be able to make decisions and to interact with citizens in the community,” he said. While Meadows is a popular figure among the city’s officials, the change has met with some different opinions. “I don’t always agree with him and he doesn’t always agree with me, but he has done a good job,” Councilmember Bill Sharp said. One issue Sharp doesn’t agree with Meadows on is the city’s election process. “It would make it too political, it is supposed to be nonpartisan,” he said. Councilmember Beverly Baten said it is no secret why the mayor has been effective. “He has done an excellent job with organization abilities and bringing people together and the leadership he has exemplified,” the council member said.

NEWS

State pushes for less underage smoking

Elissa Englund
February 22, 2002

Fourteen-year-old Joel Chamberlin walked into a convenience store, plunked some money on the counter and successfully purchased a tin of chewing tobacco. The now 25-year-old mathematics senior said he thinks stores’ regulations on checking IDs have become more strict since he was a teen.

FEATURES

Check out Studiotone at Ricks

Dan Julian
February 22, 2002

Lansing band Studiotone has been going through some changes lately. “We’ve basically been working on breaking in our two new members, Jeff (Graham, guitarist) and (bass player and physiology junior) Brock (Elsesser) and working on new tracks,” vocalist Brent Nuffer said.

FEATURES

Student play a must-see

Tanee Elston
February 22, 2002

Quirky characters and body parts in the freezer make “Betty’s Summer Vacation” a good choice for entertainment of a different breed this weekend. The show, presented by a student production team of MSU’s Department of Theatre, is a humorous thriller with a variety of eccentric people involved, including a serial killer, a flasher and a sex manic. Director Khalid Bhatti, a theater sophomore, said the characters in the play are a bunch of oddballs vacationing in a beach house owned by a bizarre landlady.