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NEWS

Convenience impedes safety

Jamie Gumbrecht
September 10, 2001

When Melissa Winchester was warned to lock the door when showering in Williams Hall, she tried to follow the safety warning.But the doors don’t have any locks.Winchester, an international relations junior, said she was worried when she heard about the two accounts of criminal sexual conduct in her residence hall in late August - and even more worried about the suggested safety measures.“I’m really concerned that something is going on,” she said.

MSU

Salmonella cases spur ban on reptile, amphibian sales

Shaun Byron
September 10, 2001

Reptiles may never be man’s best friend.The Humane Society of the United States released a report Thursday that called for the sales of reptiles and amphibians to be banned, citing cases of reptile owners who have contracted salmonella.Salmonella can be carried by reptiles without the animals showing the symptoms.

NEWS

Best bang for your buck, U 36th among 55 schools

Rachel Wright
September 10, 2001

MSU students seem to be getting their dollars’ worth.In the 2002 U.S. News & World Report college rankings, MSU was 36th among 55 schools - and second among Big Ten schools - for best value nationally.America’s Best Colleges, containing all of the U.S.

COMMENTARY

Alumnus wrong to give up on Spartans

I could not disagree more with Les Nixon’s choice to stop supporting MSU football (“Alumnus withdraws football support,” SN 9/6). I don’t care what he does, but I am disappointed to hear he is basing his decision on MSU’s admittance of two athletes involved in a crime. The cases of Eric Knott and Damon Dowdell have been resolved to the satisfaction of the state of Michigan.

FOOTBALL

Special teams suspect in win

Justin A. Rice
September 10, 2001

As special teams hampered the MSU football team during Saturday’s season opener against Central Michigan, it was the one weak spot that carried over from last season - despite an entire summer of troubleshooting.Central linebacker James King was the catalyst of the Spartans’ special teams debacle when he blocked senior punter Craig Jarrett in the first quarter.But when he blocked three more punts in the second half, he took his performance to another level by tying the NCAA Division I-A individual and team record for most punts blocked in a game.MSU head coach Bobby Williams said the problems with the punt team need to be rectified immediately.“The blocks all came off of the edge.

BASKETBALL

Cleaves waves bye to Pistons, traded for Barry , draft pick

James Jahnke
September 10, 2001

One of East Lansing’s most beloved sports heroes will no longer be just a stone’s throw away from the MSU campus. The Detroit Pistons traded point guard Mateen Cleaves, who guided MSU to a NCAA men’s basketball national championship in 2000, to the Sacramento Kings on Friday. For Cleaves, Detroit acquired swingman Jon Barry, 32, and a first-round draft pick that cannot come before 2004. Ironically, the deal consummated on Cleaves’ 24th birthday, a year and a day after he signed a 3-year, $4.1 million contract with Detroit. Cleaves, a Flint native, played only one season for his childhood favorite Pistons, but his reputation as a local kid with a big heart and an incredible work ethic instantly made him one of the Pistons’ most popular players. That’s why many in the area were shocked to hear the news that Cleaves was being shipped to the West Coast after only one year in Motown. “It’s an obstacle for him,” said former Spartan cager and 11-year NBA veteran Steve Smith, who was traded to the San Antonio Spurs this summer.

SPORTS

Toloff earns Big Ten athlete of week

Jason Giddings
September 7, 2001

It didn’t take long for freshman Chris Toloff to earn Big Ten honors. After his first collegiate race ever, the cross country runner was named this week’s Big Ten cross country athlete of the week, by posting a second place, 20:24:27 performance in the four-mile at the Grand Valley State Fall Classic on Aug.

NEWS

Lack of rain hurts local farms

Shaun Byron
September 7, 2001

A fifth generation farmer, Mason resident Gary Haynes said he chose this path and knows what it is to struggle. “We’ll make her, my great, great grandfather made it,” he said. Haynes is just one farmer whose crop was hurt by summer drought conditions in Michigan. Summer rainfall was less than usual, making it difficult on some Michigan farmers.

VOLLEYBALL

Erbe: respect for opponenets key in tournament

Dan Woike
September 7, 2001

Listening to Spartan volleyball players and coaches talk, you’d think they were rehearsing an Aretha Franklin song. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.” Head coach Chuck Erbe knows those seven letters are embedded in the minds of his players as they look to make it two tournament titles in a row at the Coca-Cola Spartan Invitational this weekend. “I’ve always told them the first rule of war is to respect your opponent,” Erbe said.

SPORTS

Smith, Heathcote among seven athlete hall of fame inductees

James Jahnke
September 7, 2001

Homecoming is arriving about a month early for Sue Ertl. The 1979 MSU golf All-American, who now teaches at a Florida country club, will visit East Lansing for the first time in years for today’s MSU Athletics Hall of Fame induction. Ertl, the only female athlete in the seven-member 2001 induction class, said her brother and three sisters are coming in from Grand Rapids to share the induction with her. “It’s going to be a great time to reminisce the past and remember the great times I had around campus,” said Ertl, a Big Ten medalist in 1977 and 1978.