The Center for Integrative Toxicology received a $16-million grant from the federal government's Superfund Basic Research Program to study a group of chemicals linked with cancer and birth defects. The program, which is administered by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, will fund the research for the next five years.
Silence filled the kiva, the classrooms and most of the hallways in McDonel Hall on Sunday afternoon. On the eve of the first day of summer classes, a fraction of the number of students who would be on campus August through April were settling into their dorm rooms and preparing for a quiet summer. McDonel and Owen Graduate halls are the only dormitories housing summer semester students for the next couple of months. Business and general management sophomore Jamie Clements is looking forward to the summer silence. "I'm here because it's quieter," he said. Clements is embarking on his first summer at MSU and plans to enjoy being away from home and having fewer students on campus.
People in the market for a Hummer will soon have one less option for their off-road excursions. The 4-ton H1 Hummer, introduced in 1992 as a civilian version of the U.S.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard has officially added his name to the list of Republicans who want to challenge U.S.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm left for a trip to Japan on Sunday as part of what she called an investment mission to bring more jobs by foreign businesses to Michigan. Granholm will stay in Japan for three days to talk to business leaders, said Granholm's spokeswoman Heidi Hansen. In her weekly radio address, Granholm said she will meet with 19 companies in Japan that could benefit Michigan. Granholm also said meeting with business leaders could convince companies to come to Michigan. "Japan might be half a world away, but the results of our previous investment mission can be seen in communities all across the state," Granholm said in the address. After the governor's 2005 trade trip there, 10 Japanese companies said they would be expanding in Michigan with investments of $116 million.
The new residential college in the arts and humanities already has an acting dean selected and its curriculum approved — but no official name. University officials said the college won't receive a formal name anytime soon, since it won't open for another 16 months, but they are looking at options. "It probably is, at this point, just important to give it some time and spend some time thinking about it because once colleges are named, they don't very often get renamed," said June Youatt, associate provost for undergraduate education and dean of undergraduate studies. Construction begins May 8 on the residential college, which will be housed in Snyder and Phillips halls.
The April 22 neo-Nazi rally cost the Michigan State Police and Lansing police a total of $258,390.55, most of which was related to overtime expenses for police officers. In addition, the city-sponsored diversity rally cost about $13,000 to hold, said Randy Hannan, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Virg Bernero. About $5,000 of that money will be paid for through private fundraising, with the rest paid by the city of Lansing, Hannan said. "It was worth every penny," Hannan said.
Citizens from across the state of Michigan will meet at the Capitol building at 2 p.m. on Saturday to march for the American dream. "The rally is to impress upon our elected officials to stop the outsourcing of American jobs, the need for universal health care, a secure life for our senior citizens and a better future for our children and grandchildren," said organizer Art Reyes, of Flint.
This school year saw racially charged events in residence halls and a growing concern about an initiative that could eliminate affirmative action agencies. As it draws to a close, many on campus hope the issues they have highlighted will continue to spark dialogue in the MSU community. Paulette Granberry Russell is one of those people. As the senior advisor to MSU President Lou Anna K.
Carmen Lane means a lot of things to many people. When asked to describe Lane, an MSU advocacy coordinator, colleagues described her as "dedicated," "articulate," "committed to social justice" and "a visionary." Traits such as these are what earned Lane widespread recognition by receiving the National Award for Outstanding Response to and Prevention of Sexual Violence from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center in Enola, Pa., earlier this month. "Carmen's probably the best trainer I've known," said Ann Flescher, associate director for multicultural and clinical services at MSU's Counseling Center, where Lane coaches sexual assault advocates.
With "passports" in hand and ready to get a view of the real world, children of MSU faculty and staff took over the second floor of the Union on Thursday for the annual Take Your Child to Work Day. Roughly 200 faculty members and their children participated in the event, which introduces children to the workplace, family responsibilities and community involvement, said Jodi Roberto Hancock, education program coordinator for the MSU Women's Resource Center. The national Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day also was Thursday, launched by the Ms. Foundation for Women in 2003. It originally was designed for daughters to explore career options, Roberto Hancock said. "People's values are changing," Roberto Hancock said.
At a crime scene, it appears to be just a table. Yet with the MSU police department's new technology, it could hold key evidence invisible to the naked eye. On Thursday, crime scene investigators learned how to use a mini crime scope — a bright light with a pair of goggles designed to find hidden evidence.
Students and area residents with impending court cases: The trials of MSU student Albert Robinson and nonstudents Roy Holt and Joel Hamlar will begin May 10 with jury selection.
Name: Assistant Professor Laura Symonds Department: Psychiatry and radiology Title of research project: The Effect of Mood on Pain Perception Date of research: Symonds has been working on this project, which looks at depression and chronic pain, for the past five years, and it is continuing to evolve into new studies. Basics of the project: Symonds is looking at why people who have depression are at risk for developing chronic pain and why people who have chronic pain are at risk for developing depression. The study involves inducing moods and pain stimuli in people and watching how their brains react using a magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, machine. Her research team has found that when a sad mood is induced, chronic pain feels more intense than when a happy mood is induced, even if the stimulation is set at the same intensity. "The brain is telling them it hurts more, and what we are trying to figure out is how does the brain do that," Symonds said. As the subject reacts to the pain, the researchers watch how the brain modifies it, Symonds added. "One thing it's leading us toward is a real interest in how people can consciously change how a sensation feels," she said. Social impact of research: The goal of the project is to help people at risk for chronic pain disorder or depression, Symonds said. She also hopes to decrease that risk as a result of her research by understanding how the disorders are connected. "Hopefully we will be able to give people ideas on how to modify pain and depression," she said. Grants and funding: The cost of the project is about $100,000 per year.
When you follow Aaron Preston's big brown eyes in conversation, whether it's about his trips to Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Mississippi or his upbringing on a farm in Quincy, Mich., you notice they twinkle. Then you notice that the environmental and economic policy junior talks with his hands, moving them up and down, from side to side, rhythmically, to articulate his points.
Four days before the start of her freshman year, human biology junior Sarah Schrauben flipped her car seven times, broke her neck and pelvis and suffered a severe brain injury. In recovery, Schrauben was taught how to formulate sentences and she had to re-learn other basic tasks most people do without thinking.
Nicole Ellefson's wristwatch alarm goes off at 7 p.m. everyday — sometimes she forgets that she set it in the first place. "I always tell my daughters that it's seven in the morning in Beijing," Ellefson laughs. Beginning next fall, both East and West will overlap in the same classroom. A Chinese Immersion Program for Lansing, East Lansing and Bay City schools will be established for preschool-aged children.