Tuesday, December 30, 2025

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MSU

Army ROTC adds new defense minor for cadets

In addition to the physical preparations for Army life, the Spartan Battalion is adding academic ones to its list. For the first time this semester, the Army ROTC program put a defense studies minor into place, which is meant to prepare students in a range of studies for a career affiliated with the military.

MSU

College professor ranked least stressful career

When music education professor Cynthia Taggart heard university professors have the least stressful jobs of any career; it made her laugh. “If professors do what the university expects of them, then the job is highly stressful,” Taggart said. “(Professors) are trying to balance our own creative scholarship with our commitment to students.”

MSU

MSU shows support for Sandy Hook School

Even though East Lansing is more than 700 miles away from Newtown, Conn., the location of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, MSU students and local organizations in East Lansing have been reflecting on the tragedy.

MICHIGAN

MSU Evening College cuts courses, focus turns to web

Last semester, people inside and outside the MSU community learned about everything — from cheese to ballroom dancing — through more than 75 Alumni Lifelong Education/Evening College noncredit courses. This semester, program changes have knocked that number down to four, a trend that might continue next fall, a program official said.

MSU

Fishing now legal in the Red Cedar

Within the hidden woodlands of MSU’s campus lies a virtually untouched resource: fishing. When the snow melts this spring, MSU students and community members finally will be able to let their fishing lines fly and cast away from the banks of the Red Cedar River— something the university had previously banned in a 1960s ordinance.

MICHIGAN

Fewer police in E.L., statewide than a decade ago

Six fewer officers are patrolling the streets of East Lansing today compared to a decade ago, a trend which also can be seen across Michigan as budget cuts hit law enforcement. In 2003, there were 64 officers with the East Lansing Police Department, or ELPD, East Lansing police Capt. Jeff Murphy said. Currently there are 58, he said.

MICHIGAN

Fiscal cliff negotiations hit home for local businesses, student workers

Small businesses were saved from most automatic tax increases from the fiscal cliff thanks to a last minute deal from Congress, but some local stores and working students still might face increased taxes. If no deal had been made by the midnight deadline on Jan. 1, 97 percent of small businesses would have been hit with the tax increases. MSU economics professor Charles Ballard said most economists believe that without the deal, the economy would have plummeted further into a recession.

MSU

Study shows brief interruptions can cause errors in work

MSU researchers found brief interruptions of even three seconds, such as the time to silence a ringing cellphone, can increase the potential for errors when completing a task. In the study led by Erik Altmann, associate professor of psychology at MSU, 300 people were asked to perform tasks on a computer, according to a university press release.

MICHIGAN

Experts predict mild winter, local businesses face effects

After a mild start to the season, local winter sports businesses are finding ways to keep snow lovers on the slopes and spending money. This winter has been significantly milder than previous years, according to the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids. In December 2012, Lansing experienced an average temperature of 33.5 degrees — 5.2 degrees above the normal of 28.3 degrees.

MICHIGAN

East Lansing City Council to discuss banning additional hookah lounges

The East Lansing City Council will kick off the new year discussing a potential ban on more hookah lounges downtown and the future of the boarded-up site for the failed City Center II project during Tuesday’s work session. One of the hot topics that might drum up conversation at the regularly scheduled work session at City Hall, 410 Abbot Rd., is a proposed public ordinance to ban any additional hookah lounges from opening in East Lansing.