When interdisciplinary studies in social science senior Peter Croce first arrived at MSU, he was surprised by the limited number of students using skateboards to navigate campus.
When Michigan banned smoking in indoor businesses more than a year ago, Patrick Kent, owner of Blue Midnight Hookah Lounge, immediately saw his shop’s profits drop more than 15 percent. But the tobacco-based portion of his business still was thriving. Rather, Kent’s losses were more edible in nature: The new law outlawed the food service portion of his business, banning him from selling malts, wraps and smoothies in the same location as tobacco smoking.
More than a year after Michigan’s Dr. Ron Davis Smoke-Free Air Law was adopted, some state lawmakers have introduced legislation that once again would allow smoking in East Lansing bars and restaurants. Four separate bills have been introduced by state Reps.
Lisa Campion was once an 11-year-old girl attending her first session with 4-H Exploration Days at MSU. Through five or six years with the 4-H Exploration Days program and her continued participation with 4-H, Campion learned about her love for environmental sciences, something that helped her decide what she wanted to do with her life. Campion, now 24, graduated from MSU in 2007 with a degree in environmental science and management and a degree in fisheries and wildlife.
As Redbox progressively adds more video games to its selection of available media, the company could pose a threat to local video game stores. The movie rental kiosk company announced this past weekend that they will be making video games available to rent at more than 21,000 of their locations. Although movies will continue to be rented out for $1 a night, video games will cost twice that. Redbox is owned in part by McDonald’s Corporation and Coinstar Inc. Together, the companies have distributed more than 27,000 kiosks nationwide in locations such as grocery stores, retailers, drugstores, restaurants and convenience stores. Since its launch in 2003, Redbox, along with other new movie renting and streaming alternatives, have put a strain on the movie rental industry. Blockbuster, for example, has closed thousands of stores worldwide, and Hollywood Video has gone out of business. Tom Leach is the owner of Video to Go in the Frandor Shopping Center, in Lansing, a video rental store that once also carried video games.
Last month, an injured bald eagle was rescued from the Saginaw River and was sent by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to MSU’s Veterinary Medical Center. Since then, the bird has been rehabilitating under the watchful eye of James Sikarskie, associate professor of small animal clinical sciences. Sikarskie was looking to send the bird to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden when they were in need of another bald eagle. However, the bird wasn’t quite what they were seeking and still is in need of a home. “There are so many eagles that Cincinnati wants someone younger who’s easier to tame down,” he said.
MSU researchers have been awarded a $5 million grant from the Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Researchers in the MSU Department of Animal Science will use the grant to study genetics related to the efficient production of milk in cows, said Rob Tempelman, professor of animal science and member of the research initiative. “We have these genetic markers we can apply,” Tempelman said.
Nutritionists often refer to breakfast as “the most important meal of the day,” but the numbers show MSU students have been eating much less breakfast than they did four years ago. From July 2006 to June 2007, students in the MSU cafeterias ate 68 tons of cereal, and since then, the number has dropped dramatically.
The Spartans welcomed a lion on campus this past weekend, but you won’t catch him with a football. An African male lion was sent from John Ball Zoo, in Grand Rapids, to Potter Park Zoo, in Lansing, then to MSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital to undergo an MRI.
Although summer officially begins Tuesday, the East Lansing City Council is set to approve an ordinance that would dictate the way off-campus students respond to winter weather. After more than a year of discussion on the issue, the council likely will approve a new snow removal ordinance that would require residents to shovel sidewalks within a set time frame, subjecting them to a tiered fine system for failure to clear their sidewalks of snow, ice and other debris — including broken bottles and other trash.
Plant biology professor Sheng Yang He was named one of the nation’s most innovative plant scientists by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, or HHMI, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, or GBMF.
It’s not often that an a cappella group enjoys being booed, but the Accafellas aren’t your typical a cappella group. They’re an all-male, nine-member singing group, made up of MSU students ranging across a variety of majors.
MSU’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, appears to be the latest program to fall victim to funding cuts at the federal level. Last week, the U.S.
Friday marked the 40th anniversary of the U.S. “war on drugs,” a policy of zero tolerance first declared by then-President Richard Nixon in 1971, but members of the MSU branch of Students for Sensible Drug Policy hope that this anniversary will be the country’s last. MSU Students for Sensible Drug Policy, or MSU SSDP, held a candlelight vigil at 8:30 p.m.
Musicians from all ages and abilities convened in East Lansing this weekend for the ninth annual Eric “RicStar” Winter Music Therapy Camp, an opportunity for people with special needs to explore musical expression.
Two MSU graduate students have been chosen as members of the 2012 National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A.
This Saturday, Potter Park Zoo will be celebrating summer by hosting a number of activities for people of all ages. The day starts with the Wild 1-Mile race, where children 12 and under will have the chance to run through the zoo, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., in Lansing, and see exotic animals up close. TV personalities Evan Pinsonnault from WLNS and Tim Nester from WILX will be on hand to host the event. There will be games, a bounce house and face painting, along with other activities put on with the help of the zoo’s community sponsors, including Impression 5 Science Center, Meridian Historical Village, MSU Science Theatre and more. Potter Park also will be hosting the eighth annual Volks Folks at the Zoo, featuring various types of Volkswagen cars, which will be located just outside the zoo. General admission still will be charged for the day’s events, although participants in the Wild 1-Mile will have their fee waived after registering for the race. Dads who attend the zoo on Father’s Day, June 19, will receive free admission. The zoo is open daily year-round, with summer hours from 9 a.m.
State residents have the opportunity to recommend regulation reform that would make Michigan’s rules more conducive to job creation and more user-friendly. Michigan’s Office of Regulatory Reinvention, or ORR, currently is accepting applications for citizens to join their Advisory Rules committees, which will assess regulation concerning natural resources, occupational licensing and liquor control in the state.
Michigan’s first hydraulic excavator using hybrid technology is being operated at a construction site on MSU’s campus. AIS Construction Equipment Corporation, a 50-year-old Michigan-based company, is the supplier for what will be the Bott Building for Nursing Education and Research located on Bogue Street south of Service Road.
After trying several different dating websites without much luck, Columbia University senior Lara Hirner signed up for a new site, datemyschool.com, hoping for the best. When using other dating sites, Hirner said she had difficulty meeting normal people with interests similar to her own.