MSU
Japanese researchers come to MSU after earthquake
When a 9.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the Miyagi Prefecture in Japan in March, Masaru Nakata didn’t feel a thing.
MSU
Behaviorist hired by MSU vet hospital
Amanda Rigterink has always had an interest in behavior when it comes to animals and a passion to share her knowledge with others. Rigterink, MSU’s first veterinary behavior resident, started seeing exclusively behavior cases at the MSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital, or VTH, in June. “My overall goal with the behavior service is to enhance the human/animal bond and to teach students about behavior,” she said. Chairperson of the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences Charles DeCamp said having an animal behaviorist resident is significant.
MSU
Student finalist in contest to meet Warren Buffett
When marketing junior Shannon McGreal-Miller heard she was one of 10 finalists in a contest to meet billionaire industrialist Warren Buffett, she was ecstatic.
MSU
Undergraduates awarded for research presentations
Six MSU undergraduate students have received top honors for research presented through the school’s Spring University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum during this past school year.
MSU
Starbucks to be built in Wells Hall
Starbucks Coffee Co. will open a new franchise location in late September or early October on the first floor of Wells Hall, Sparty’s Convenience Stores service manager Joe Garza said today.
MSU
Program orients foreign teaching assistants to American culture
On Monday, future educators from 25 countries gathered at MSU for the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, or FLTA, Orientation Program.
MSU
Campus gardens prepare for plant tour
Benjamin Cuddeback started visiting the MSU Horticulture Gardens on the corner of Bogue Street and Wilson Avenue during his breaks from classes. Cuddeback, a horticulture senior, said he liked the gardens so much he decided he wanted to become a summer intern.
MSU
Lending drive provides assistance to international students
When mechanical engineering sophomore Yizheng Wang came to study at MSU from China, he knew he wouldn’t be able to bring everything he needed.
MSU
MSU faculty member to serve as presidential adviser
Assistant professor Lisa Cook began her first day of work Monday — at the White House. Cook was selected as a member of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors.
MSU
MSU Museum creates online registry of Michigan’s stained glass
In 1992, Betty MacDowell was fresh off of a doctoral degree from MSU when the idea struck. She had heard about an effort on the East Coast to archive local stained glass windows, and after completing a dissertation about female stained glass artists in Michigan, she decided to start a similar project on her own.
MSU
Emmons Hall to reopen after extensive construction
As the university moves forward with a master plan for campus living accommodations, a newly revamped and renovated Emmons Hall will open up to students for the first time later this month.
MSU
Surplus store to hold sale
For the past few months, Tom March has helped collect usable school supplies left behind in desks and file cabinets from MSU’s campus.
MSU
Professors partner with marketing firm to increase volunteer awareness
A group of MSU professors has partnered with East Lansing-based marketing company Netvantage to begin Every Child is Yours, a program to increase awareness for volunteer opportunities in Greater Lansing. Every Child Is Yours is targeted toward presenting volunteer opportunities to the millennial generation, or those between the ages of 18-30.
MSU
Professor to study fundraising
An MSU professor plans to study new and improved ways of online fundraising, research that could have implications for the university’s donation and fundraising efforts. Rick Wash, an assistant professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, will use a $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, or NSF, to explore crowd funding sites — applications that provide researchers or project sponsors with an outlet to receive donations geared specifically to their project. “I look at these sites as an electronic system that matches two sides,” Wash said. Examples of popular crowd funding sites range from dating sites to job-searching outlets, but Wash said the tactic also can be applied to various forms of university and college fundraising. Using computer simulations of different funding websites, Wash plans to develop the best possible approach to crowd funding, a tactic that he eventually hopes to apply to an MSU-themed donation site. On the site, students or people associated with the university could post various projects or ideas, and interested donors could contribute funding. The method even could extend to research projects being conducted at the university. “This is actually giving power to the donor,” said the university’s director of annual giving Kathleen Deneau, when discussing the potential for crowd funding at MSU.
MSU
Cost of health care at MSU decreases
Even as health care costs at institutions across the country climb, university officials said this week that employee benefits have remained stable this year at MSU.
MSU
Summer study abroad successful despite international turmoil
During the past year, a nonstop series of natural disasters, political uprisings and economic devastation occurred throughout the world.
MSU
MSU research builds tight relationships in search of Parkinson's cure
Caryl Sortwell didn’t have any first-hand experience with Parkinson’s disease when she began her research, but the relationships she’s made since then have kept her motivated to work toward a cure. Sortwell, an MSU professor in translational science and molecular medicine, is working with the school’s College of Human Medicine, Van Andel Research Institute and the Translational Genomics Research Institute to see if the drug Fasudil could not only deal with the symptoms of Parkinson’s, but treat the progression of the disease as well. The team’s work is being sponsored in-part by a $400,000 grant from the Michael J.
MSU
New engineering major set to take off in fall
The MSU College of Engineering is moving forward with its plans to launch a new environmental engineering major this fall. Students who previously only had the opportunity to take a concentration in the field now will have the chance to earn an undergraduate degree, with very little deviation from the previous specialization’s benchmarks. “The class requirements for the concentration as opposed to the degree are really pretty similar,” said Richard Lyles, a professor and the associate chairman for undergraduate studies in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The university had offered graduate programs in environmental engineering for more than four decades, but new demand from employers for environmental engineers pushed them to move the undergraduate degree program forward. Increased student interest also necessitated the creation of the program. “As the demand for graduates increases, there are employers interested in hiring these people,” said Tom Voice, a professor of civil and environmental engineering who spearheaded the undergraduate degree program’s creation.
MSU
Ramadan begins with new moon
Monday, Muslims around the world exchanged the phrase “Ramadan mubarak,” meaning “blessed Ramadan” in Arabic. The new moon was sighted, which signals the start of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
MSU
Reports show MBA program candidates younger, less experienced
More students are entering MSU’s full-time Masters of Business Administration, or MBA, program with less work experience than in years prior, a trend that could change expectations of employers as younger graduates enter the job market.