NEWS
Economy, globe focus in address to U
Maintaining quality education in difficult economic times and MSU’s role on a global scale are two of the topics MSU President M.
MSU
Play tickets available for purchase
Tickets for “The Vagina Monologues” are available through the Wharton Center box office. The play, based on interviews with a diverse group of women, will be performed Feb.
MSU
ASMSU seeks out more applicants for elections
ASMSU has been advertising to create a competitive mid-March election, but has only received 14 applications. Undergraduate student government representatives said they’ve received an average number of applications, and are expecting more next week. This year, there are about 50-elected open seats on Student Assembly and 24 on Academic Assembly.
COMMENTARY
Abortion fueled by casual sex culture
Rishi Kundi is much too cautious in determining when we can know truth and when we cannot (“Abortion debate often fueled by emotions, not facts,” SN 1/31). For example, he says he sometimes thinks we are “slabs of matter” and other times thinks we are ensouled, but presumably sees the question as unanswerable.
NEWS
Women to be honored with varsity letters
After nearly a year of searching, athletics officials will honor more than 300 female athletes Sunday with varsity letters - decades after they played for the Spartans. The women, who played sports before 1980 that now have varsity status, were tracked via e-mail, word of mouth, print advertisements and a special Web site set up by the university athletics department. “This is a nice gesture and it makes you feel important,” said Holt resident and former MSU softball player Linda Asciutto.
BASKETBALL
Taylors status questionable
When sophomore guard Marcus Taylor left Sunday’s game early in the second half, things looked bleak.But after the final buzzer sounded, the MSU men’s basketball team recorded more than a 67-61 win over No.
MICHIGAN
Land-exchange suit expands
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians added another plaintiff and defendant Friday to its search to stop the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ South Fox Island land exchange.The exchange would be between the state and landowner David Johnson.The amendment to the lawsuit named Johnson, an MSU alumnus, and his Mirada Ranch as defendants and the Michigan Land Use Institute as co-plaintiff in the tribal group’s lawsuit.The changes came from a recommendation by Circuit Judge Thomas G.
FEATURES
Touch the Wall tonight at BoarsHead Theater
In a tribute to Vietnam veterans and the Michigan Vietnam Monument, BoarsHead Theater continues its Dark Night Series in a tribute called “Touch the Wall” tonight.
NEWS
Students upset over RHA trip
Chris Beer left the Toughman Contest on Jan. 11 at The Palace of Auburn Hills unimpressed. In the middle of the contest, which put current and former MSU and University of Michigan students in a boxing match, promoters put on a “homosexual match,” pitting two “homosexual” men in a mock bout.
FOOTBALL
Spartans stay in state, add to receiving corps
The key ingredients to a passing attack are a quarterback with a strong arm and wide receivers with speed and height.And the Spartans didn’t have to look far for the speed and height, with three Michigan wide receivers among MSU football’s 2002 recruiting class.The 6-foot-7 Matt Trannon joins Kyle Brown and Agim Shabaj, who have both been clocked 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash.Brown and Trannon are ready to sign Wednesday, but Shabaj is having second thoughts.
COMMENTARY
Commercials were nothing more than propaganda
Somewhere in between Britney Spears’ final bounce through the decades and the E*Trade monkey, you may have noticed a barrage of advertisements during Super Bowl XXXVI designed to change the way you think about poisons millions of Americans ingest every day. I’m not talking about beer commercials. Truth, the “anti-drug,” is infectious, or something.
COMMENTARY
Forced forces
A bill introduced in Washington that would force all young men to serve in the military has good intentions, but is a bad idea. U.S.
FEATURES
Collateral Damage comes to U early
Movie fans have a chance to catch Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new movie “Collateral Damage” a few days early on MSU’s campus. The movie will be shown 7 p.m.
MICHIGAN
MEAP protested at Capitol rally
Picketers will be taking a stand against standardized testing today in front of the Capitol. The event, organized by Parents Voice for Children, will run from 1-5 p.m.
MICHIGAN
Booklet could list tax credits
The process of filing taxes could soon be much easier, especially if state Rep. Nancy Cassis has anything to do with it.Joined on Friday by about 20 representatives from both sides of the aisle, Cassis, R-Novi, unveiled what she calls a taxpayer empowerment bill.
NEWS
Grant could accelerate scientific discoveries
Sitting at a bank of monitors, an operator stares at his control panels. The monitors display dot graphs and a sterile white row of panels bristle with dials, switches and keys that the technician toggles and presses to get a stream of charged nuclear particles running again.
COMMENTARY
Detainees deserve basic human rights
When does it become OK to ignore our Constitution just because others have done it? Michael Ratkovich would have us believe that any time is perfectly acceptable (“Cuba detainees are being treated fairly,” SN 2/4). Apparently, because those being held at Camp X-Ray in Cuba did something deplorable and reprehensible, this gives us permission to do the same.
FEATURES
Friends is quality money-grubbing entertainment
Since I was 12, one show has been the center of my entire life. OK, so it’s not that dramatic, but I have seen nearly every single episode of “Friends” in the past eight years. And my life doesn’t get much more exciting than being able to lounge on the couch for three hours of “Friends,” “Will & Grace” and the increasingly far-fetched story lines happening on “ER.” But unlike “ER” becoming more and more of a ridiculously over-dramatic show every year, my love of “Friends” only increases with age. And with possible negotiations between NBC and Warner Bros.
MSU
Education conference discusses language
A conference in the nation’s capital informed participants of the future of distance learning of less commonly taught languages at MSU and other universities.The Distance Learning of the Less Commonly Taught Languages Conference held last weekend drew more than 150 people, including faculty and students from various universities.The focus of the conference was to view examples of innovative distance learning programs and discuss them with their developers, as well as to develop the teaching of less commonly taught languages.Less commonly taught languages include all world languages except English, French, German and Spanish.Margo Glew, coordinator of MSU’s Program of Less Commonly Taught Languages, attended the conference.“It’s important to make plans, to work together and collaborate on planning to develop some new courses,” she said.Glew said the number of people with experience and the desire to expand distance learning options made the conference a success.“When we had a chance to look at courses and materials that others around the country were developing, I think it inspired positive thinking about what can be done on their own home campuses,” she said.Glew is working to design a second-year Portuguese language course for distance learning that will be available to all Big Ten schools and possibly others.
MICHIGAN
Experts say Rocky faces uphill battle
For state Rep. Andrew “Rocky” Raczkowski, R-Farmington Hills, the road to Washington may be a long and arduous one.“You can achieve anything if your heart is in the right place and you believe in what you’re doing,” Raczkowski said.Raczkowski will challenge Sen.