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News | Michigan

MICHIGAN

Book helps bridge languages

Gabrielle Russon
January 24, 2006

Two different languages from opposite ends of the world share something in common. Dr. H.C. Tien decoded the Chinese and English language and discovered a link between them — that there are similar pen motions to form the letters in the two languages. Tien said that there are only 10 strokes that a person makes with a pen to write the letters in both languages. Tien's alphabet simplifies the Chinese language in his book, "Little Dot," so it is easier to teach children how to write Chinese characters.

MICHIGAN

Council approves office park site plan

Bob Darrow
January 23, 2006

New office buildings are planned to join the explosion of recent developments in East Lansing's Northern Tier. A roughly 140-acre plot of marshy land covered by leaning oaks, the overgrown remnants of a pine tree farm and plowed earth could make way for a new road as soon as early summer. The site is located west of Coolidge Road, near the Chandler Crossings apartment complexes, and south of East Lansing's Department of Public Works, 1800 E.

MICHIGAN

New rentals at risk in 2 E.L. neighborhoods

Bob Darrow
January 20, 2006

Sara Liberacki likes where she lives. The neighborhood is quiet, it's close to campus and her immediate neighbors also are students. The kinesiology senior and three of her friends rent a house on the corner of Linden Street and Hagadorn Road — on the edge of an area that could soon be unwelcoming to such properties. In response to a petition signed by residents of the Southeast Marble Neighborhood, the city is considering blocking any new rental properties in the area bounded by Burcham Drive to the north and Hagadorn Road to the west. A similar proposal for the Walnut Heights neighborhood, directly to the north, is heading to the East Lansing Planning Commission. The East Lansing City Council is seeking public input at its Feb.

MICHIGAN

Gift of Life challenges MSU

By Caitlyn Kienitz Special for The State News Frank Ferro, 47, plays volleyball four nights a week. The game had been his hobby for years, but the games put on hold two years ago when he received a kidney transplant. The Lansing resident received the kidney from his brother Patrick Ferro on January 19, 2004. "Our family's really close," said Ferro, a state of Michigan employee.

MICHIGAN

MCRI proposal sent to Mich. Supreme Court

Kathleen Polesnak
January 19, 2006

A proposal to halt the ballot measures made by the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative was submitted to the Michigan Supreme Court this week by Operation King's Dream. The submission was driven by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, & Immigrant Rights And Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN, a civil rights campaign that supports affirmative action. The motion aims to disallow the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, or MCRI, from appearing on the November ballot.

MICHIGAN

WEB EXTRA: House rep. candidate criticizes government at MSU Democrats meeting

Ken Osborne
January 18, 2006

Jim Marcinkowski, a candidate for the 8th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, criticized the policies of the government at an MSU College Democrats meeting Tuesday night. About 40 students had the opportunity to ask Marcinkowski questions about his stances on issues that mattered to them — the goal of the event, according to MSU College Democrat President Stephen Purchase. "One of the things our organization focuses on is bringing politics to campus," Purchase, an international relations and political theory and constitutional democracy senior said. Marcinkowski, a former CIA agent, criticized the handling of the war in Iraq, but acknowledged it will be difficult to leave. He was also critical of the effect the controversies surrounding secret prisons, prisoner abuse and torture are having on the intelligence community. "When you go to recruit an agent overseas, you have to stand for something," he said. He hopes to see a change in the way lobbying and campaign finance are handled. "This is legal money laundering," he said.

MICHIGAN

WEB EXTRA: CVS obtains beer, wine permit

Corinne Devries
January 18, 2006

CVS/pharmacy, 240 M.A.C. Ave., is now permitted to sell beer and wine. The East Lansing City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to grant CVS a beer and wine permit. But CVS must follow conditions — they cannot sell kegs, advertise liquor in the windows, or sell alcohol through the pick-up window.

MICHIGAN

Improvements made to accelerate Amber Alert

Gabrielle Russon
January 18, 2006

Michigan's Amber Alert system, intended to find abducted children faster, will be updated following a grant from AT&T Michigan. The $77,000 grant will be used to update technology so the emergency broadcast alert will be automatically sent over radio or television during an Amber Alert, and eliminate manpower needed in newsrooms to physically put out the alert, said Karole White, president of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. "It can go directly to the television set," White said. In the previous system, local law-enforcement agencies contacted the Michigan State Police after an abduction.

MICHIGAN

Running to represent

Ken Osborne
January 18, 2006

Since announcing his candidacy in December, MSU College of Law student John Knowles has learned how much work campaigning for a seat in the Michigan House of Representatives involves. "It's been tremendously exhausting," Knowles said. Balancing his campaign and other commitments has 25-year-old Knowles typically working from 8 a.m.