MSU event focuses on Israel

Although Israel is thousands of miles away from East Lansing, a little piece of the country was at the rock on Farm Lane on Thursday night. At Israel Fest - put on by the Jewish Student Union and Spartans for Israel - guests were given an opportunity to learn about Israeli culture and politics. The free three-hour event included Israeli food, demonstrations on Israeli military self-defense and different musical acts ranging from an MSU student to Jewish rapper Remedy, who is affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan. Cindy Huey, adviser for the Jewish Student Union, said the group planned the event to celebrate and showcase an Israel different from what is portrayed on the news. "When most students hear about Israel they hear about the political aspect of the conflict (in the Gaza Strip and West Bank)," she said.

$5M instrument will aid research

A group of MSU administrators, state authorities and scientists had a first look at a new facility built on campus to house a cutting-edge nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, spectrometer on Thursday. A dedication ceremony was held at MSU's Core Technology Alliance Biomolecular NMR Facility, a part of the Engineering Research Complex, to introduce the new instrument, which uses powerful magnets to help scientists determine the structures of large molecules and monitor the interactions of drugs and proteins - important applications for biological and medical research. The 900-megahertz spectrometer, which arrived on campus in May, is part of the Michigan Center for Structural Biology, a group of shared instruments housed at facilities in the state and other parts of the Midwest, including MSU. The spectrometer provides state-of-the-art speed and sensitivity, said Shelagh Ferguson-Miller, chairperson of MSU's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It is one of only five such machines in the nation. MSU's instrument is intended to be used by scientists at a number of institutions around the state, country and world, said J.

Officials: Free-roaming felines shouldn't be fed

Just like when Garfield the Cat tried to mail Nermal to Abu Dhabi, East Lansing officials are trying to eradicate a city wide cat problem. The city's feral and "free-roaming" cat populations are steadily on the rise because of food left outside to feed the feline floaters. Jamie McAloon-Lampman, Ingham County's Animal Control director said the cars are a problem. "Feral is a cat that's never been held by a human being.

Closing of Union Beaner's affects workers

The Beaner's Gourmet Coffee location in the Union closed before school started and remains closed after the franchise owner developed "a very serious personal issue," said Union Director Jim Sheppard.

MSU groups aim to aid universities in ravaged area

While many Hurricane Katrina fundraisers are geared toward general relief, some MSU student groups are keeping the universities located in the devastated area at the forefront of their relief efforts. "As students, it was very important for us to help the affected students who are going through this," Residence Hall Association President Kevin Newman said. On Monday, RHA, ASMSU and the MSU chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary began their program of selling donation cards for $1.

Local bars scrutinize out-of-state IDs

Local bars are on the look-out for out-of-state IDs, especially after receiving information listing the number of MSU students that are actually from outside of Michigan. The Responsible Hospitality Council has created a list of the top ten out-of-state pieces of identification bar employees have noticed and passed it around to all the council's members. "We want to make all the establishments aware that if you see an out-of-state ID, there's a good chance it's fake," said Joe Goodsir, president of Rick's American Cafe, 224 Abbott Road, and director of the executive committee on the council. Goodsir said that there are 1,094 MSU students from other states that could be 21, and he said he also knows the breakdown of how many students are from each state. "If you're working and you see eight IDs from Arizona, there's only seven that are possibly from MSU," Goodsir said.

E.L. food co-op widens selection

An East Lansing store offering a variety of organic produce has expanded its products to include more than just pesticide-free vegetables. The East Lansing Food Co-Operative, 4960 Northwind Drive, will now carry bread, cheese, pastries, cookies and black magic brownies, which all come from an Ann Arbor deli.

Club prepares for annual raft trip

Before joining the MSU Outing Club, education junior Sarah Hughes said she hadn't experienced many outdoor sports, but now considers ice climbing one of her favorite hobbies. Last year, Hughes signed up to go whitewater rafting in West Virginia with the club even though she didn't know anybody on the trip, she said. "By the end of the drive there I had become really good friends with the people in my car," she said. The club is about learning and experiencing outdoor activities by taking trips to hike or climb rocks and ice, Hughes said. In addition to the whitewater rafting trip, the club has already planned tentative trips listed on its Web site that allow people to experience the outdoors, said interdisciplinary studies in social science senior and club President Allison Solka. "The club allows people to try things they normally wouldn't," Solka said, adding that one of the features of the club is that members can rent gear such as backpacks for free. The MSU Outing Club has about 200 members.

MSU group aids in pet rescue

As Valerie Chadwick watched the relentless news coverage of the devastation following Hurricane Katrina, a few images remained with her. Chadwick, assistant professor for the College of Veterinary Medicine, said scenes such as animals stranded on top of submerged cars or swimming as boats full of people passed, have prompted her to take part in a relief effort with the college. "It's frustrating," she said.

Study finds hearing loss in youth

A new study being conducted at Purdue University shows that people who listen to loud music on headphones might be damaging their hearing. Robert Novak, director of clinical education in audiology at Purdue University said they are researching the sound levels produced by iPod and MP3 music players at their clinic. "We are seeing young people that have a head start on the hearing aging process," Novak said.

Lansing cemetary to host graveyard tour

A graveside tour known as "Ghostwalk 2005" will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Mount Hope Cemetery in Lansing.

Board to discuss new parking area

Friday's MSU Board of Trustees meeting could result in the approval of a new parking lot in protected campus green space. At the meeting, the first this semester, the trustees will discuss the possibility of straying from an MSU zoning ordinance that prohibits development in specific green areas on campus by constructing a 20-space parking lot at the Clarence E.

Sparty visitors restricted

From keeping watch so Wolverines don't paint it maize and blue to moving it indoors and building a new one outside, the MSU community is protective of the Spartan statue - a university symbol for 60 years. The original terra cotta statue was recently moved into the new Spartan Stadium addition, which left some fans wondering how accessible the familiar landmark will be. The statue's new home is in a lobby that serves as a gateway to the new reserved area for club-seat and suite ticket holders, as well as the media, on home football Saturdays. Access is restricted for about five hours each game day, but there are opportunities before and after games for the public to see the statue, said Greg Ianni, senior associate director of athletics.

Police briefs 09/15/05

Israel event to feature former Wu-Tang rapper

The Jewish Student Union and Spartans for Israel will hold Israel Fest around 6 p.m. today at the rock on Farm Lane. The free event will include performances from local bands and singers, as well as a performance from Remedy, who is affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan.

E.L. firefighters assist with hurricane relief

East Lansing Fire Marshal Bob Pratt and firefighter-paramedic Dawn Carson drove nearly eight hours on Tuesday to Baton Rouge, La.

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.