COGS to support student domestic partner benefits

A committee supporting benefits for student domestic partners will have one more voice in their corner.MSU's Council Of Graduate Students unanimously passed a resolution Monday to support the committee comprised of ASMSU, the Residence Halls Association and family community services senior Kendra Kearney.ASMSU is MSU's undergraduate student government.COGS President Jim Ciszewski said the organization's next action is to take the discussion to the administration."The next step is to start a dialogue between the student government and the administrators and the trustees and see if we can reach an agreement," he said.

Street lights added in E.L.

The city of East Lansing and surrounding areas are beginning efforts to make the Northern Tier community safer for pedestrians and residents, starting with street lights. Lights were constructed along the stretch of Abbott Road between Lake Lansing Road and the Clinton County line last month and were turned on over the weekend, East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said. Staton said the new street lights were part of a plan to increase safety on the roadway ever since the land north of Lake Lansing Road came into the city. Staton stressed the importance of the lights and wondered when they will be added north of Clinton County. "The volume of traffic out there just requires it," he said. Two female MSU students were hit by a car in the area, one of them killed, while walking along the unlit streets in October.

Police briefs 02/18/03

Unpaid taxes could be trouble for The Dollar

Lansing - The owner of The Dollar Nightclub is not responsible for the $80,000-$90,000 owed to the city in back taxes, council members say. Lansing City Councilmember Brian Jeffries said the person who owns the property The Dollar stands on, not the club owner, is in debt to the city.

'U' photographers take top awards in contest

The State News claimed honors in the 2002 Michigan Press Photographers Association's annual Picture of the Year contest. Former State News photographer Megan Spelman, an international relations senior, was named College Photographer of the Year. Spelman's portfolio showcased 10 pieces, which included nine single images and a photo story titled "Finding Home." "I'm flattered," she said.

Anti-war march cost city more than $16,000

Lansing - The statewide peace march on Saturday cost the city about $16,600 in extra officers and firefighters but the cost was necessary, Lansing police Lt.

Tracking system monitors international students

International students who have crossed the planet to seek an education at MSU will now have their personal information traced wherever they venture - and available on the Internet.On Saturday, the Immigration and Naturalization Services, or INS, released an updated tracking system allowing faster access to information on foreign college students.SEVIS, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, will now have a quicker version of long-standing procedures requiring colleges to monitor the academic status and address of foreign students online.SEVIS requires colleges to forward personal information - such as an international student's failure to enroll or arrest record - to a national computer database.

Lecture tells importance of diversity

For Harold Strong, the key to getting ahead in business is diversity.Strong, a senior consultant with Siemens Health Services in Malvern, Pa., stressed the importance of all organizations diversifying the workplace Monday in the Eppley Center.He said there are many facets of diversity organizations should seek to employ, and race is only one of them."Diversity covers more than just race," he said.

Librarian remembered for kindness, activism

Beth Wellman and her mother, Anne Tracy, stood in the center of the North Presbyterian Church last year singing a duet to "Dona Nobis Pacem."It was a song Tracy's four children often sang on the trip to their grandmother's house.

RHA to collect cans for SIDS

MSU's Residence Halls Association will go door-to-door in residence halls on Sunday collecting cans to raise money for research into Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Impression 5 offers learning, fun experience on Saturdays

Lansing - Children can try combine playing with bubbles and learning at a science exhibit at the Impression 5 Science Center inLansing on Saturdays. The exhibit will explain the phenomenon of bubbles - including why they pop in the air and how they form. Visitors at the center, 200 Museum Drive, will be surrounded by bubbles and adults and children can explore the opportunity to discover the mysteries of the soapy concoctions. "We have different programs every Saturday to promote hands-on activity and this Saturday will be the Phil Ginotti Super Bubble Mania Saturday," said the center's interpretive program manager Erik Larson. The Phil Ginotti Super Saturdays are made possible through contributions made to the center in memory of Ginotti who was a past vice president of the center.

Crews work on water mains

Two water main breaks in the last week have kept MSU work crews busy, said Gus Gosselin, manager of the Physical Plant maintenance department. Pipes broke on Farm Lane near the Auditorium, closing the northbound lanes of the road. Another break was discovered Monday near Giltner Hall.

Recycling program reuses 'U' materials

About 600 pounds of shredded paper sit inside gray plastic bins on the floor and shelves inside a dusty, dark warehouse in the southwest corner of campus.A garage door opens as a pair of workers begin unloading the day's haul.In the middle of it all is Bill Clark.A truck driver for MSU's Office of Recycling and Waste Management, Clark spends his days collecting materials faculty and students recycle - office papers, pizza boxes, phone books, magazines, brochures, newspapers and books.He said about 60 to 70 percent of the paper that can be recycled is actually collected - the rest gets thrown out with the trash."A lot of people aren't aware most buildings on campus have recycling facilities," he said.

ASMSU might offer free notebooks to students

School supplies are getting cheaper these days.ASMSU is hoping to expand its services to students by offering one-subject notebooks with MSU's undergraduate student government's logo on the front."It's an interesting program to investigate," Academic Assembly Chairperson Matt Clayson said, adding the program has yet to be finalized, but the assembly will be reviewing the proposal."It all depends on finances," he said.The notebook program surfaced after the organization had success with distributing about 10,000 bluebooks to students around campus."This would not replace the bluebook program," said Steve Lovelace, Academic Assembly representative for the College of Arts and Letters.ASMSU would save money by using the same design in the notebook's front page, which includes a list of services provided by the organization as well as its phone number and the Web site address, Lovelace said."They have to look at them everyday," he said.

Cause for fire killing twin boys unknown

A fire Monday afternoon on Martin Street in Lansing killed 2-year-old twin boys, Lansing fire Capt. Marvin Helmker said.Firefighters responded to a fire call on the 1600 block of Martin Street and when they arrived they saw "heavy fire coming out of a second-story window," Helmker said.Firefighters first searched the house for residents inside the home and found the twin boys dead in an upstairs bedroom.

ASMSU-sponsored group to rally students against tuition increases, university funding cuts

Students showing apathy to possible tuition increases and university cuts are about to get an education.On Friday, members of Students Protecting and Representing Education, or SPARE, discussed going door-to-door, mailing fliers, presenting slide shows before Campus Center movie presentations at Wells Hall and passing out membership bracelets in an effort to rally support against tuition increases and university cuts."We have to keep putting pressure on (students)," said Jared English, director of university governmental budgetary affairsfor ASMSU.

'U' hosts V-day dance

Maggie Roso and Michael Simyn sat at a table in the corner of the Union Gold Rooms on Sunday afternoon playfully laughing at each other, eating brownies and waiting for the perfect song."Maggie said that all of her dances are for me," Simyn said.

Capitol Update

Children's Caucus will address quality of life Rep. Michael Murphy, D-Lansing, and three fellow Michigan legislators will co-chair the Children's Caucus in order to "protect and promote children's interests in the Legislature." Gov.

Charity to aid abused kids

A year and a half ago, Patti Roost went to work for three children she had never met.A 4-month-old infant, his teenage mother and her 13-year-old brother had been raised in a fatherless home by a drug-addicted mother who was so paranoid she didn't allow her children to attend school."Pretty much for their whole lives, these children have been with no real home, mainly taking care of their mother," said Roost, a volunteer for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Ingham County.The children were placed in foster care with a relative.

German author addresses 'War and Modernity'

MSU's peace and justice studies specialization program hosted its first lecture Friday, featuring author and teacher Hans Joas.Joas is director of the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt in Germany and a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago.