MSU student sets up gas-saving business

The terms Alari Adams learned in business classes - market principles, systematic risk, cost of capital, sales forecasts - are good in principle, she says. But as she introduces a new fuel-saving business venture to East Lansing, it's time to put them to work. Adams, a general business administration and pre-law senior, will begin to market and sell fuel conditioners out of her East Lansing apartment, targeting MSU students, faculty and staff, she said. Advertised as gasoline saving and environmentally conscious, the fuel conditioners are ceramic magnets that attach to the fuel line on cars, trucks and boats - basically anything that burns gas, Adams said. After hearing students complain about high gas prices keeping them from traveling on Labor Day weekend, she talked with her father about franchising his distribution business of Magnon Energy Group Inc. products into East Lansing. She has about 50 units for sale in her apartment, each about $100. "I heard how discouraged (students) were, how they couldn't go anywhere for Labor Day weekend," Adams said.

Magazine gives minorities a voice

During his free time this summer, Cyrus McNeal didn't thumb through magazines. He created one geared toward MSU minorities. "I sat down and thought about the ups and downs and what it would take," McNeal said.

Police briefs 09/14/05

Faculty approves task forces at council meeting

It is a season of change this fall for MSU faculty, which approved five new task forces that will examine such university components as the Academic Governance system, communication and evaluation of academic programs and administrators at a Faculty Council meeting Tuesday. The approval of these task forces is a step toward solving problems that some faculty members say have been bothering them for years - namely, their role in important MSU decisions. All five of the approved committees, composed of faculty, students, administrators and MSU Board of Trustees members, will now begin to look at these issues.

Award-winning Israeli film shown tonight

The Jewish Studies Program will hold a screening of the film "Walk On Water (Lalechet Al Hamayim)" at 7:15 p.m.

Dove hunting will be on Nov. ballot

Michigan's second dove hunting season has yet to take flight because of a ballot initiative to create a statewide ban on the sport, and groups who want to be able to shoot the birds are fighting back. Now, Michigan voters will decide the fates of the law and doves living in the state when they cast their ballots in the November 2006 general election. Because of the ballot initiative, the 2005 and 2006 seasons have been canceled. In June 2004, Gov.

Students finish Ironman race

To prepare for last weekend's Ford Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon, MSU students Joshua McCallum and Andris Roze rode their bikes from East Lansing to Petoskey - a nearly 210-mile journey that took the pair 14-and-a-half hours to complete. It was just one component of a rigorous training schedule - twice daily, six days a week since May - to prepare for Sunday's Ironman race in Madison, Wis. In an event where 19 percent of the 2,076 competitors dropped out, both McCallum, a microbiology senior, and Roze, a finance senior, finished the event.

Police briefs 09/13/05

Task force looking to reform Academic Governance

Bob Murphy is worried about the future of his involvement in the higher levels of the Academic Governance system. The main feature on the agenda for today's Faculty Council meeting includes discussing and voting on five different task forces, one of which could have major implications on Murphy's role in Academic Governance. The task forces are geared to improve areas highlighted in the Faculty Voice Report, a result of a committee of faculty that met last year to troubleshoot ways to give the faculty more voice in university issues. The Faculty Voice Report recommended that a task force restructure Academic Governance by creating a new executive group, called the Faculty Executive Committee. This group would be composed of only six faculty members. A committee made of solely faculty members has Murphy, chairperson of ASMSU's Academic Assembly, wondering where he gets to participate. "It completely destroys any sort of student input we have as part of (Academic) Governance," Murphy said.

Mich. launches suicide prevention plan

With more deaths caused by suicide in Michigan than homicide and HIV/AIDS combined, the Michigan Surgeon General's Office has released its first-ever suicide prevention plan. The plan, announced by Surgeon General Dr. Kimberlydawn Wisdom has many goals, said Tiffany Menard, spokeswoman for the Surgeon General.

Minority program requests upgrades

Staff and students from the Chicano/Latino studies program are calling for an increase in future funding and office space, guaranteed positions for various staff members and a comprehensive plan for Chicano and Latino student admissions and retention rates. Members of the program met with Provost Kim Wilcox a second time on Monday and presented him with a list of these concerns, which also includes making the program into a department. Interdisciplinary studies in social science and community relations junior Claudia Gonzalez works in the Chicano/Latino studies office and said the office's budget projections arrived late and appeared to allocate about $77,000 less than the year before. On Friday, several members from the program attempted to speak with President Lou Anna K.

Center seeks goods for hurricane victims

The Central United Methodist Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and International Family Care Services have created the Katrina Response Relief Distribution Center in Lansing to collect personal care items and other supplies to help with the relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims.

Campus garden often sees theft

When botanical technicians Hope Rankin and Peter Murray arrive at the Beal Botanical Garden every day to work on the more than 5,000 different plants found there, their duties don't always include routine upkeep of the grounds and plants. The 5-acre garden, which is always open for public access, is occasionally the site of vandalism or theft. The garden's curator, Frank Telewski, said garden technicians have to make repairs about once a month because of vandalism. The amount of time and money it takes to repair the garden depends on what was stolen or damaged, Telewski said. "Damage to our structures is probably our biggest problem because of the amount of labor involved in taking care of it," Telewski said.

Car causes gas spill, station to be closed

Ten to 15 gallons of gas spilled at the Speedway gas station at Abbott and Lake Lansing roads on Sunday after the driver of a Plymouth Sundance backed into a pump.

Local crisis center seeks volunteers

The Listening Ear Crisis Intervention Center is looking for new volunteers to help operate its crisis phone lines and run the center.

Commission to hold meeting about melee

The independent commission will meet to receive public testimony regarding the April 2-3 disturbances at 7 p.m.

Lecture offers advice on avoiding identity theft

By Tara Thoel Special to The State News About 3,000 Detroit business executives were victims of identity theft in 2000, which lends evidence to a trend that many identity theft crimes happen in the office, an MSU associate professor said Saturday. Criminal justice Associate Professor Judith Collins, who also is director of the MSU Identity Theft Partnerships in Prevention, spoke at the Kellogg Center on Saturday as part of the "Saturday Seminar" lecture series.

Walk aims to support research of cancer

A walk will be held on Saturday, Oct. 15 to show support in fighting against breast cancer. The walk will be put on by the MSU Women's Resource Center and will start at the Capitol.

Faculty, students dig up university's past

For more than 100 years, students have been walking on top of history. Hidden just a few feet beneath the sidewalks lying east of the MSU Museum, artifacts like padlocks and keys, pieces of champagne bottles and a stove were discovered within the remains of the first MSU dormitory, Saints' Rest, by a group of students and faculty. On Friday and Saturday, the findings were shown to the public for the first time as part of the Sesquicentennial Academic Convocation weekend. This event showed some of the spots the group worked in this summer, accompanied by posters and displays of some of the discovered artifacts at the Saints' Rest excavation, which was launched in early June and recently completed. "It gives people a very good sense of the history of the institution," anthropology Professor Bill Lovis said.

Vet students hold drive for pets affected by hurricane

A truck of pet food and supplies collected by MSU veterinary students is en route to Louisiana State University, where more than 1,000 pets of Hurricane Katrina evacuees are being housed. Veterinary technology sophomore Amy Schupska and others from the College of Veterinary Medicine put on a pet food and supply drive last weekend.