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MSU

Board to discuss breakup of language department

A proposal to split the Department of Romance and Classical Languages into two smaller units moved on to the next stage of debate.The Executive Committee of Academic Council decided Tuesday to send the plan to the MSU Board of Trustees.

MICHIGAN

Winter wellness

Audrey Brockhaus walks to class with socks on her hands. The advertising junior lost her mittens and said she can't stand the cold without her hands covered. "That's how I keep warm," she said.

MSU

One-woman show embodies diversity

The lobby of Wharton Center's Pasant Theatre was full of anxious people waiting for the doors to open for the one-woman performance of "Faces of America."The show, which only ran on Tuesday, starred Fran de Leon portraying six different people.

MICHIGAN

Engler takes first job in private sector working for Texas data company

Former Gov. John Engler is moving from the executive branch of Michigan government to an executive position with the state's largest high-tech employer. Engler announced Monday he is Electronic Data Systems Corp.'s new president of state and local government and vice president of government solutions for North America. As governor, Engler created the Department of Information Technology, which worked to provide new online government services on the state's award-winning Web site, www.michigan.gov. "This position allows me to draw from my technological experience to meet the needs of state and government business and the citizens who depend on those government services," Engler said in a written statement. Engler, an MSU alumnus, will be responsible for directing the services EDS offers in government-based information technology.

MICHIGAN

Capital City Airport sees travel increase during holiday season

Lansing's Capital City Airport experienced record passenger travel during the month of December, although totals for 2002 were lower compared to the previous year, officials announced Wednesday.According to the Capital Region Airport Authority, 47,405 passengers made their way through the airport in December - an increase of 15 percent compared to the same period in 2001.However, total passenger travel for 2002 declined just less than 2 percent.Robert Kolt, spokesman for Capital City Airport, said business was poor at the beginning of last year, but the airport recovered by slowly gaining more travel each month."The numbers dwindled toward the end of the year, but we had a really strong December," he said.

MSU

Underpass project could improve safety

Anyone who has to venture to the south side of campus knows what it's like to wait.The university estimates about 60 trains, sometimes up to two miles long, chug along the CSX and CN railroads on tracks crossing Farm Lane between Trowbridge and Mt.

MSU

New director for group wants to rejuvenate position

Vikas Menon is full of ideas.As the new director of human resources for ASMSU, the computer engineering junior said he plans to streamline the way MSU's undergraduate student government operates."I want a human resource department, not just a person who hires and fires people," he said.Menon recruits students, coordinates hiring committees and maintains a database of applicants."I just love human resources," he said.

MSU

Fieger to speak at DCL, reflect on career as trial lawyer to students

Attorney Geoffery Fieger will be speaking at 8 p.m. Thursday in Room 343 of the MSU-Detroit College of Law Building. The program, "Champion and Advocate: Reflections On My Life as a Trial Lawyer," is part of the Geoffery Fieger Trial Practice Institute lecture series. Fieger, a 1979 DCL graduate, ran for governor of Michigan in 1998 but lost to then-Gov.

MICHIGAN

MLK Day volunteers head Into the Streets

Lansing - To some MSU students, Martin Luther King Jr. Day means a day without classes and a chance to sleep in - but the volunteers at Monday's Into the Streets community service project made the day mean much more. "We felt that since we didn't have classes we should make good use of our time," communication freshman Stephanie Gooch said. Gooch joined about 280 student volunteers to donate time to various locations around the Lansing community, said English senior Andrea Hart, chairwoman of the Into the Streets group. "We were really pleased with the turnout," Hart said.

MSU

ASMSU fights financial aid drug law

ASMSU is implementing a plan of attack against a federal rule which bans financial aid to students convicted of drug crimes.MSU's undergraduate student government condemned the drug provision of the Higher Education Act at its Thursday meeting.The provision states students convicted of a drug crime will not be eligible for financial aid for a minimum of one year, depending on the severity of the crime.The policy has been denounced by several universities and national organizations since it was added to the Higher Education Act in 1998."Judges punish people, not federal programs," said Andrew Banyai, representative for Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

MSU

'U' works to mend bones

When Ian Smith was 15 years old, his father gave him an article on bionic eyes - glasses that connected to the brain allowing a blind person a chance to see shapes and colors for the first time.

MSU

Professor's animal law site stirs controversy

The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance is up in arms over an animal law Web site created by an MSU-Detroit College of Law professor. Beth Ruth, a spokeswoman for the organization, said the DCL site is "anti-hunter." "I think it is OK to have your own ideas on things, but I don't think a public university should be supporting this sort of material," Ruth said. The site, created by Professor David Favre, has been available for public viewing since October.