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MICHIGAN

New law might permit electronic ballots for citizens overseas

New state legislation might make it easier for Michigan residents serving abroad in the military to cast absentee votes and to have them counted in time for Election Day. Operation: Make Our Troops Count is a proposal that would allow service men and women abroad to receive absentee votes electronically via e-mail and then mail them to their local county clerk.

MSU

Federal grant given to MSU plant ecologist

An MSU researcher could unlock genetic factors that contribute to plant invasions with the help of a $630,000 grant awarded by the National Science Foundation. The grant, which will be distributed during the next four years, was awarded last month to Jennifer Lau, a plant evolutionary ecologist with the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station’s Kellogg Biological Station.

MSU

GVSU students admitted to MSU Med School

Six premedical students from Grand Valley State University have been admitted to the MSU College of Human Medicine under an agreement geared toward students from and wishing to practice medicine in areas with low medical accessibility.

MSU

Sculpture walk held at MSU

For Franklin, Mich.-based sculptor Russell Thayer, MSU is a family tradition. And for that reason, he said he’s delighted to have one of his sculptures featured on campus.

MICHIGAN

Jazz lives on in East Lansing

Whenever Carl Cafagna hits a note on the sax, clarinet or another instruments he’s mastered, he is carrying on his father’s passion for jazz. “My son became what I always wanted to be,” said Al Cafagna, Carl’s father and a retired MSU philosophy professor.

MICHIGAN

Scrapfest takes off in Old Town

With the purpose of highlighting the importance of recycling and the concept of making art out of trash, 12 teams of varying sizes hastily sorted through a scrap yard Saturday at Friedland Industries, 405 E. Maple St., in Lansing’s Old Town, to collect up to 500 pounds of scrap metal each for the first-ever Scrapfest event.

MSU

CSI camp teaches forensics to kids

After a week of research, 50 forensic science hopefuls were given the chance to apply their skills Friday at the mock murder scene of Bad Choice, a dummy with two X’s for eyes drawn on his Styrofoam head.

MSU

Professor receives money to hire researchers

An MSU professor received more than $100,000 in federal stimulus money to hire summer researchers. Chemistry associate professor Dana Spence said his lab is still looking for an undergraduate student and a high school teacher to work as researchers this summer.

MSU

Mich. Promise fund cut by Senate subcommittee

Michigan college students who rely on the Promise Scholarship may need to find another way to come up with cash for school. On Tuesday, a state Senate appropriations subcommittee voted to eliminate the Michigan Promise Scholarship and drastically cut funding for need-based grant programs. The bill came before the full Senate appropriations committee Wednesday.

MSU

MSU to offer new graduate specialization

MSU graduate students interested in both education and economics won’t have to choose between passions anymore because of a new interdisciplinary program combining the two, set to start in the fall.