Students fast for Sudan effort

Several MSU students will participate today in an International Solidarity Fast for Darfur - an effort to raise awareness about genocide occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan. Members of Spartans Taking Action Now: Darfur, or STAND, will set up informational tables in several residence halls for students to get information about the situation in Darfur. The group will be encouraging students to fast from a meal or luxury item during the day and donate the money saved to the effort, said Lindsey Hutchison, international relations junior and president of STAND. "The fast is not the standard fast you think of when you hear the word," Hutchison said.

Local eateries donate profits for hurricane relief

Almost 430 restaurants in Michigan participated in Dine for America on Wednesday, with each restaurant donating money to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief efforts. Local restaurants joined the more than 17,000 national restaurants that participated in the event. Chris Simpson, a manager at BD's Mongolian Barbecue, 2080 W.

Researchers use grant to examine plant mechanisms

MSU researchers believe if they can unlock the secret behind how simple plant mechanisms work, they can engineer almost anything for people - from vitamins to new bio-fuels. Last month, 10 MSU faculty members received a $4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study how plant genes make nutrients, said Rob Last, a biochemistry and plant biology professor.

Technology, business and communication jobs focus of gallery

Recruiters from companies across the state and country will be available for students to meet with at a Career Gallery in Breslin Center today and Thursday. The career fair is put on by the Eli Broad College of Business. The CommSciTech Exchange is today from 3-8 p.m.

MSU profs oppose intelligent design as science

For the last 15 years, Robert Pennock has spent his time researching and exploring the controversial scientific theory of evolution, looking at its truth in comparison with the theories of creationism and intelligent design. As the debate has carried on about what topics are appropriate to teach in public schools, Pennock was recently called to testify as an expert witness in a Dover Area School District trial in Dover, Penn. The case concerns a decision the Dover school board made in October 2004, requiring the reading of a brief statement about intelligent design before any class teaches evolution. "Intelligent design is not science, but is a disguised religion," said Pennock, a professor in the Lyman Briggs School. Parents in the Dover school district were upset because they felt the policy didn't maintain the legal requirement of separation between church and state. The Pennsylvania court case is just a sampling of the controversy this area of science has caused in education. But MSU professors from both natural science and religious fields said the teaching of such theories as creationism and intelligent design in the classroom doesn't make sense. "Intelligent design is based on biblical faith rather than scientific," said Roger Bresnahan, acting chairman of the Department of Religious Studies.

PETA display riles some

Banners with graphic images of animals being mistreated stood alongside images of past human rights violations near Wells Hall on Tuesday. The pictures were an exhibit created by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, as part of a 28-campus tour, said Sangeeta Kumar, a spokeswoman for the group.

'Above normal' temps not record-breaking

October has begun and students and Michigan residents have had to keep tank tops and sandals out longer than usual as temperatures reach the 80-degree range, which is warmer than usual for the month. This weather, however, is not record-breaking, said meteorologist Bob Dukesherer at the National Weather Center in Grand Rapids.

E.L. nonprofit group gives 'HOAP' to residents

For 13 years, a local nonprofit group has been working to help low- to middle-income families, including many recent MSU graduates, purchase homes in certain East Lansing neighborhoods. The federally-funded Homeownership Opportunity Assistance Program, or HOAP, has helped about 75 people who wouldn't usually be able to purchase homes in East Lansing, said Ruth Geller, program coordinator for HOAP, which is part of East Lansing Housing and Neighborhood Services Inc. "One of the program's goals is to promote a balance between owner and rental properties in the selected neighborhoods," Geller said.

Religious rite

As a part of Rosh Hashana, psychology sophomore Samantha Dresser throws bread into the Red Cedar River during a tradition called tashlich on Tuesday afternoon.

Campaign funds disputed

Officials at the Michigan Department of State are investigating a complaint that Lansing Mayor Tony Benavides received illegal campaign contributions in excess of $7,000. The building in which the Benavides re-election campaign is located normally rents office suites for $1,200 a month.

Police briefs 10/05/05

Statewide student groups lobby for higher ed funding

Like many students, Julielyn Gibbons worries about paying for college - she works, takes out loans and her parents are dipping into their retirement fund to help Gibbons and her siblings. "We're having to pay through the nose for tuition," said Gibbons, the director of legislative affairs for ASMSU's Student Assembly.

MIPA unchanged by embezzlement charges

Some advisers, students and officials agreed that the thousands of dollars allegedly embezzled from the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association haven't affected any programs, including the fall conference held at the Lansing Center on Monday. "It's upsetting, but it hasn't affected the program that I can see," said Gayle Martin, adviser for The Source, the student newspaper at Stoney Creek High School. Raye Grill, a former MSU employee, is charged with taking more than $20,000 from MIPA and between $1,000 and $20,000 from the MSU School of Journalism. Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, or MIPA, President Brian Wilson said the organization has been able to meet its budget every year. "When we were looking at the budget, we were essentially setting the budget based on money we had in the account," Wilson said.

Group responds to race-related assault

The floor where Elvia Gonzalez lives in East Akers Hall no longer has a bulletin board. After racist slurs were repeatedly written on the board, it was taken down. The same goes for the message board Gonzalez used to keep on her door. That kind of harassment isn't unusual on the floor where she lives with a number of other students who come from migrant families. But those slurs were mild compared to a Sept.

E.L. reports rise in noise complaints

East Lansing council members say they have received an increase in the number of noise complaints in neighborhoods, and East Lansing police say a ban on drinking games on campus has led to the increase. "I have had substantially more e-mail and telephone calls this fall than I have had the three previous falls that I've been on council," Councilmember Vic Loomis said.

Software upgrade causes sluggish Webmail

Andrea Campain said she wishes MSU Webmail was operating as usual. Right now, Campain said she has several different group projects in the works, all of which use an MSU e-mail account as a main communication form. "It's been really hard to keep up with everything going on in the group project because we can't communicate," the advertising senior said. For the last 10 days, Campain and anyone else who uses Webmail have found themselves waiting longer than normal for the server to load. Due to an upgrade in software this summer, the new e-mail system in use is not working properly at the correct speed, said Rich Wiggins, senior information technologist for Academic Computing & Network Services, adding that network users have called trying to figure out the problem. The system was upgraded in order to increase capacity, but the new server couldn't keep up with the increased amount of traffic during the fall semester. "We anticipated we needed more space to hold the amount of e-mail people are sending and receiving," Wiggins said. He said during mid-mornings and mid-to-late afternoons, he and his team have noticed that Webmail slows down significantly. To fix the problem, the office has been conducting conference calls with the software vendor.

Chinese restaurant from Ann Arbor opens new location in Northern Tier

Three years ago Kai Zheng decided it might be time to look outside the blue and maize mindset. He had worked at his father's Panda House restaurant in Ann Arbor as a dishwasher, cook - almost every job at the restaurant - for four years and wanted his own piece of the restaurant business. So Zheng and his father started to look at locations in East Lansing to open another Panda House. They gravitated toward the Northern Tier area because of its high-traffic volume from student apartments.

Police briefs 10/04/05

MSU groups unite to aid relief

Walking out of the tunnel only moments after the Spartans football team had raced onto the field, members of three campus groups carried their fundraiser for hurricane relief to the center of about 75,000 fans' attention Saturday. About 30 members of ASMSU, the Residence Halls Association and the MSU chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary brought out a 40-yard-long banner, decked with signatures of fans who raised money for universities in areas hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

American Indian history taught at museum event

By Jenni Lewis Special to the State News People got the chance to learn about American Indian history Saturday by tossing spears and touching stones that were once made by American Indians at Michigan Archaeology Day at the Michigan Historical Museum. October has been proclaimed Michigan Archaeology Month by Gov.