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MICHIGAN

Impression 5 event introduces kids to science

About 70 members of the MSU community spent Saturday at the Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing to help cultivate a new generation of potential scientists. Volunteers educated children from preschool through fifth grade about the human body in an event called PhUn Day. MSU undergraduate, graduate and medical students, as well as staff and faculty, were present to help.

MICHIGAN

Michigan public universities to offer in-state tuition for veterans

Veterans now can receive in-state tuition at Michigan’s public universities, the organization representing the state’s 15 public universities announced Friday. MSU joined the list of colleges offering the benefit of in-state tuition for all veterans about a week ago, said Mike Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan.

MSU

Students participate in community service on Saturday

Very few students would sacrifice sleep on a non-football Saturday morning, but this week some Spartans stepped up to the plate for a good cause. Take It To The Streets featured students giving back to the community by cleaning up parks, removing old school supplies at an abandoned school and assisting at a local haven house.

MSU

MSU to create supply chain research institute in Midland

An off-site university research facility slated to open its doors in Midland, Mich. next year will pair MSU with two of the state’s largest corporations. The facility, dubbed the Midland Research Institute for Value Chain Creation, will be funded in large part by Dow Chemical Co., Dow Corning Corp. and various foundations related to the two companies. An initial $15.5 million from corporate and philanthropic donors is committed to the establishment and first five years of operation.

MICHIGAN

Feds implement new programs to help student loan borrowers

The U.S. Department of Education is hoping to eradicate some of the misunderstanding around ways to pay back student loan debt with a new outreach program designed to teach graduates about more affordable options when paying back their loans. In a statement released this week, the department said it will be ?sending emails about loan payment options to about 3.5 million recent graduates.

MICHIGAN

Film festival features environmental themes

Several environmental films will be screened at the East Lansing Film Festival, and MSU officials and local community members will be speaking about the films in a panel discussion on Saturday. The films being shown are “Trashed,” about the impact of littering; “More than Honey,” about the importance of honeybees and “Food for Change: The Story of Cooperation in America,” about food cooperatives.

MICHIGAN

State bill could exempt students from jury duty

Students might not to have to serve their jury duty during college semesters if the state Senate approves a new state bill the House OK’d last Wednesday. Rep. Kevin Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant, introduced the bill, which would let full-time college students postpone duty until the end of the school year.

MSU

Living City- Drumming to a new beat

The year 2003 was a rough one for East Lansing resident Ricard Taylor. He was going through a rough divorce when his older brother, Taro Taylor, convinced him to try street performing with him in Detroit.“He said, ‘Let’s try it for a year. See what we can do, see what we can make of it,’ and we did it on the streets there and we got a lot of love shown to us,” Ricard Taylor said.

MICHIGAN

Council leaves trail of legacies and questions

As East Lansing Mayor Diane Goddeeris adjourned the city council meeting on Wednesday, the sun set on a city council that has had a varying legacy. On Wednesday, the council finished the mandatory five-year code review as part of the comprehensive plan, passing five ordinances to finish the process. It’s the group’s last meeting before newly-elected members Ruth Beier and Susan Woods fill the seats of Kevin Beard and Vic Loomis, both of whom chose not to run for reelection.

MSU

MSU students, jazz group perform at local venue

A group of MSU students known as the Nate Woodring Trio jazzed up (SCENE) Metrospace Wednesday night, bringing musical life through the drums and bass East Lansing. The show featured jazz studies senior Nate Woodring on drums, jazz studies sophomore Runere Brooks on bass and jazz studies graduate student Corey Kendrick on piano.

MICHIGAN

Connor McCowan sentenced to minimum of 20 years in prison

Okemos resident Connor McCowan was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison Wednesday morning for the murder of MSU student Andrew Singler. McCowan was convicted of second-degree murder last month for fatally stabbing Singler, his sister’s boyfriend, during an argument on Feb. 23 that came to physical blows. Singler, 23, was left with two wounds in his heart and arm. Defense attorney Chris Bergstrom asked Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Clinton Canady III to remain lenient on McCowan’s sentence. Bergstrom maintained McCowan acted in self-defense that night, fearing for his life after Singler struck him in the head.

MICHIGAN

Influential journalism adviser, MSU alumnus passes away

If it wasn’t for Jeff Nardone, professional writing sophomore Emily Cervone would not have come to MSU. The MSU alumnus, also the adviser for Grosse Pointe South High School’s weekly student newspaper “The Tower,” saw Cervone’s writing abilities when she was a staff writer for the paper and encouraged her to study at MSU. “He was just so vibrant and passionate about not just teaching journalism, but life,” Cervone said. “I learned so much in that class — how to handle people, handling deadlines, just like a regular job.”

MICHIGAN

McCowan to face sentencing in case

Following a second-degree murder conviction, Okemos resident Connor McCowan will be sentenced Wednesday morning. After an argument between two friends turned violent on the morning of Feb. 23, McCowan, 19, fatally stabbed MSU student Andrew Singler, 23. It is possible McCowan could receive life in prison. Given McCowan’s lack of prior offenses, his attorney, Chris Bergstrom, said he plans to ask the judge for the lightest sentence possible.

MSU

Video: I need a soldier

Tuesday, squads of military units were sent out on a tactical mission in Okemos, Mich. Luckily, this only was a training exercise. The MSU Army ROTC held one of their many training exercises on a large woodland area off Dobie Road. While their field exercises can focus on many things, such as navigation, this exercise was a combat mission.

MSU

Committee created to deal with in-class social media presents latest research

The committee created after English professor’s anti-republican rants to address the best practices on the use of social media and technology in classrooms, has begun its research — with few findings so far. Committee Chairman William Donohue said he’s looked at about 12 universities and none of them have policies on how to use social media in a classroom.