MSU's acappella groups will hold two Accapalooza shows at 8 p.m. today and Saturday at Wharton Center. Capital Green, The Spartan Dischords, Ladies First and the Accafellas will perform, followed by the premiere of a new campus group, State of Harmony. Tickets are available at Wharton Center box office or by calling (800) WHARTON.
Two days after the election, the MSU Board of Trustees race is finally over. With 100 percent of the state's precincts reporting, Republican Melanie Foster edged out Democrat Phil Thompson by more than 17,000 votes. Democrat Joel Ferguson, a 15-year veteran of the board, was declared winner of his seat on Wednesday, as he held about a 125,000-vote lead over second-place Foster. Nine candidates from six parties were vying for two open seats on the eight-member board.
Holiday shopping will be made easier with a one-stop shopping event sponsored by the Lansing Jaycees to benefit Toys for Tots. The event, which will offer products by a variety of vendors all in one location, will be held from 11 a.m.
Ingham County was a disaster Thursday. A woman was left paralyzed when debris from an exploding building crushed her car.
Lansing-area hospitals are making an effort to encourage MSU medical students to remain in the tri-county area with job opportunities. Increasing field experience for nursing students, changing curriculum for physician residents and jointly hiring medical specialists were several goals discussed in a recent series of meetings between MSU and Lansing-area hospitals. "We look forward to working together to ensure excellent health care for the people of Mid-Michigan," said Lorri Rishar, spokeswoman for Lansing's Sparrow Hospital. Members of the College of Human Medicine, the College of Nursing and the College of Osteopathic Medicine met with officials from Sparrow Hospital and Ingham Regional Medical Center for several months and are scheduled to continue conferences during the school year. The objectives are meant to address problems, such as the nursing shortage, that are facing Michigan health care. The College of Nursing, the Career Ladder Nursing Program at Lansing Community College and area hospitals agreed to ensure job placements in the medical community after graduation. "It should go a long way to keeping nurses in the area - with any luck, they will take up residence here long-term and keep working in this community," said Sherry Tompkins, spokeswoman for the College of Human Medicine. Nursing junior Kathi Padilla said she thinks the new partnership is a good idea and will further her education. Currently, there is little communication between clinical sites and professors, but a closer partnership might amend this problem, Padilla said. "Sometimes, you walk into the hospitals for the clinicals and they don't have any idea what level you're on - they will either not trust you to do anything or expect too much and give you assignments above your head," she said. Measures have been taken to alter the current community-campus education model for medical students. "I wouldn't say there are problems, but (the schools) know there can be changes in the current model," Tompkins said.
The MSU student accused of raping an 18-year-old Emmons Hall floormate will stand trial, according to the Ingham County Prosecutor's office. Travis Eichten will be tried in front of Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Brown.
College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Lonnie King has been elected to the Institute of Medicine, an honor ordinarily given to physicians and researchers who study human health. King said this rare honor is probably due in part to the increasing number of zoonotic diseases, which are passed onto humans from animals.
A farewell banquet for MSU President M. Peter McPherson will be held at 4 p.m. Friday at Kellogg Center. Members of the campus community are invited to discuss McPherson's 11 years at MSU and McPherson and his wife, Joanne, will be honored for their service to the university. McPherson was named MSU's 19th president in 1993 and is currently the longest-serving president at a Big Ten university.
The National Science Foundation granted a $4.1 million grant to an MSU project to improve math and science learning instruments in the classroom. Problem-Based Learning Model of Professional Development is working to create a model that will advance a teacher's ability to teach math and science to improve students' problem-solving skills. Faculty from MSU, Western Michigan University, Lansing Community College and classroom teachers throughout Ingham County are expected to work together over the course of a year. The program will be based at MSU's Division of Science and Mathematics Education, which includes the College of Natural Science and the College of Education.
A day after being re-elected to the Michigan House of Representatives for her third and final term, state Rep.
Lansing - Standing on playground equipment and speaking into a bullhorn, members of activist group Direct Action protested President Bush's re-election, war and the government Wednesday night at Foster Park. Liz O'Brien, a senior at Okemos High School who helped organize the event, said the group had planned to protest regardless of who won the presidential election. "We don't accept Bush as an acceptable representative," O'Brien said.
Congressman Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, will head back to Washington, D.C., after winning the hearts of Republicans and Democrats in the 8th District. Rogers, who took more district votes than President Bush, skipped past his nearest House competitor, Democrat Bob Alexander, by about 80,000 votes on Tuesday.
A line curved around a corner and down the hall of the basement in West Holmes Hall as about 50 hungry students waited to eat their first meal of the day.
ASMSU's offices will updated by the end of the year with about $36,000 worth of new technology and furniture. It is the second of three upgrades this year.
East Lansing retailers might be bursting with holiday cheer in the coming months as most Michigan retailers expect a bustling and profitable shopping season. Last week, the Michigan Retailers Association announced in a report that sales optimism was spreading through more than two-thirds of the state's businesses, including those in East Lansing and surrounding areas.
Construction began this week to make a section of Coolidge Road a two-way street, which East Lansing officials say is going to help traffic problems in the area. But some East Lansing residents in the neighborhood are wary of the change. "It's going to cause a real headache," said Chris Reimann, a Glencairn Neighborhood Association representative.