LANSING - With the November election debacle still a not-so-distant memory, Michigan election officials are thinking of ways to improve the state’s voting process.Voting equipment vendors from across the nation gathered to show their systems to lawmakers and clerks at the Michigan Department of State Voting Technology Fair on Wednesday at the Lansing Center, 333 E.
Americans are not getting enough sleep and going through life being drowsy, according to the results of a study released this week by the National Sleep Foundation.As part of National Sleep Awareness Week, which continues through Friday, the foundation released the poll reporting 63 percent of Americans do not get the recommended eight hours of sleep needed for good health, safety and optimum performance.Marsha Stein, spokeswoman for the National Sleep Foundation, said people are not making the connection between sleep and health.“The proper amount of sleep is needed to get the health benefits people are looking for,” she said.
Students and legislators are joining efforts to repeal a ban on federal financial aid to students with drug convictions.The law, which went into effect July 1, denies students federal financial aid who have been convicted of drug possession for one year from the date of the conviction, and two years from the second offense.
The Capital Area Transportation Authority Board decided unanimously Tuesday to raise the single-ride bus fare for students, senior citizens and people with disabilities from 25 cents to 50 cents.The increase will take effect a week before the start of the fall semester.Prices for student bus passes also will rise in 2002, with monthly pass prices moving from $12.50 to $14, semester passes from $40 to $45 and annual passes from $60 to $70.CATA Executive Director Sandy Draggoo said the board’s decision didn’t come as a surprise, following a year of heightened gas and insurance costs.“You don’t have any public transit system that covers all expenses,” she said.
KALAMAZOO -President Bush spoke about revitalizing a slowing economy Tuesday on the campus of Western Michigan University - it was his first trip to Michigan as the nation’s chief executive. Bush outlined his economic goals of broad-based tax relief, paying down the national debt and ensuring the future of social security to business leaders, politicians and a handful of students that made-up roughly 1,000 people in attendance. The stop was the 16th on a national tax-cut tour aimed at gaining grassroots support for Bush’s economic plan, which he presented to a joint session of Congress last month.
LANSING - Because of a slowing national economy, cities around Michigan may have to cut back on their spending budgets - but not Lansing. Lansing Mayor David Hollister proposed a $102.5 million budget plan Monday for fiscal year 2001-02 - a 3.1 percent increase from last year’s budget - to the Lansing City Council. “We were able to avoid cutbacks,” Hollister said.
President Bush will visit Michigan today for the first time while in office to give a speech on his economic plan at the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.Bush is the first sitting president to visit Kalamazoo since 1911, when William Howard Taft served as president.“This is part of the president’s effort to build support for his economic agenda that includes tax relief, funding our priorities and paying down the national debt,” White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.The stop will be Bush’s 16th appearance on his national tax-cut tour since addressing a joint session of Congress on Feb.
The East Lansing City Council will discuss the operations for the city’s new Family Aquatic Center at today’s work session. Although representatives from the East Lansing Parks and Recreation Department will be making recommendations about entrance fees, council members will make the final decision. “I think that what they’ve presented us with is reasonable,” Mayor Pro Tem Beth Schwarze said.
Ingham County’s new No. 2 prosecutor sees her job as something more than locking criminals up and throwing away the key.Instead, Joyce Draganchuk says she has a duty to do what is fair and just - whether that means pursuing life in prison or a plea to a lesser charge.“People think all the prosecutor wants to do is put everyone in jail,” said the 13-year veteran of the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office.
Michigan lawmakers will be belting out ideas to encourage Michigan motorists to buckle up. The state Senate is scheduled this week to discuss bills that would increase penalties for those guilty of not using their safety belts.The bills would limit the number of passengers in a vehicle to the number of safety belts available, and would make a safety belt violation a two-point penalty on a person’s driver’s license.
A growing number of campuses are telling students that their peers drink more responsibly than they may think, but little information is available to show if such efforts result in safer drinking practices.But a Massachusetts-based education policy group is collecting data from 34 colleges nationwide to prove such campaigns - known as social norms programs - lead to more responsible drinking by college students.“To date the effectiveness has been largely anecdotal,” said Helen Stubbs, a spokeswoman for the Education Development Center Inc. “Certainly it’s been shown to work on some campuses.”Studies show most students think other students drink heavily, when in reality most abstain or drink moderately, Stubbs said.
State Rep. Doug Hart, R-Rockford, introduced a bill Thursday that would create “rebuttable presumption” in custody cases involving perpetrators of domestic violence. “It makes sense that perpetrators of domestic violence should not have custody of their children,” Hart said in a written statement. Hart hopes the bill will increase the protection available to victims of domestic violence.
Although the entire student population of Washington & Jefferson College could live in Hubbard Hall, school officials have found that MSU and the Washington, Pa., college have a lot in common.Both schools, as well as the State University of New York at Geneseo and Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., have been working to teach each other how to improve relationships with the communities surrounding the schools through a collaborative program sponsored by the Knight Foundation and the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania.The participants in the collaborative effort are meeting for the last time today in Philadelphia, where they hope to discuss how to implement the ideas and programs they saw while visiting each of the college campuses.“I think we’re in a better position to see what the common ground is,” said MSU zoology Professor Don Straney, an assistant to the provost and MSU’s coordinator for the collaborative.
Wall Street investors saw a bear awake from a long hibernation, as slowing growth, especially in technologies, has impacted the economy.The Dow Jones industrial average, the most widely used index to the New York Stock Exchange, slipped into bear market territory - a 20 percent decrease from a previous high - before a late Thursday rally and a strong day on Friday, which contributed to the market’s 9,505 points close.Thursday’s low of 9,107 was down roughly 22 percent from the market’s all-time high of 11,723 on Jan.
Although studies suggest members of fraternities and sororities may drink more frequently and more heavily than most college students, researchers say greeks are not more likely to use alcohol after graduation.The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia, questions what leads greeks to drink more in college.
Professor James Rainey is going out with a bang.Rainey will be the guest of honor at a party thrown by the members of Alpha Kappa Psi from 4 p.m.
Lansing - Legislation calling for stronger penalties for motorists who use cellular phones during traffic violations is on hold - for now.A bill introduced by state Rep.
Although an election for two seats on the East Lansing City Council isn’t until November, City Clerk Susan Donnell has had a busy week.Two candidates picked up petitions to run for two open East Lansing City Council seats late this week, bringing the total of possible candidates up to seven.Urban planning senior David Jirikovic also grabbed an application Monday.“We were kind of surprised that we have three in a row,” Donnell said.Donnell said it’s uncommon to have several candidates express interest during one week.Nicholas D’Isa, who stays at home with his two children, and Mark Van Remortel, a substitute teacher in the Lansing area, are the latest additions to the candidate pool.D’Isa, 34, has been a city resident for eight years.
The East Lansing Recreation & Arts program has become the first organization in the state to receive accreditation from the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies.The program had to meet 154 standards set by the national agency for its human resources, finance, facility safety, program and instructor quality and diversity.“We had a lot of stuff in place already,” Executive Director Jim Crisp said.
LANSING - Water, tea and fruit drinks will be the newest items included in Michigan’s 10-cent deposit law if new legislation is approved.State Rep.