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MSU

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.

MICHIGAN

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.

MSU

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.

MSU

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.

MSU

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.

MICHIGAN

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.

MSU

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.

MSU

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.

MICHIGAN

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.

MSU

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.

MSU

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.

MICHIGAN

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.

MSU

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.

MICHIGAN

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.