Imagine a world where a plant could be engineered for a specific job. It might sound like a scenario out of a science fiction novel, but biochemistry and molecular biology professor Robert Last is working on just that.
About 10,000 college students from around the nation, including about 70 from MSU, will travel to Washington, D.C., on Feb. 27 to engage in Power Shift ’09 — a youth conference to influence Congress and the Obama administration to enact legislation to combat global warming.
A week after his job performance came into question, Christopher Kulesza resigned from chairperson of ASMSU’s Academic Assembly on Tuesday night. Kulesza planned to become the Director of University Budgets, but the assembly did not confirm him to that position.
If you’ve spent enough time on MSU’s campus, chances are you’ve crossed paths with Bill Brooks. Maybe it was on a Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium, where Brooks attended every home game. Or maybe it was when Barack Obama came to East Lansing last year, with Brooks sitting in the front row, listening attentively to the future president.
The Arab Cultural Society will hold its annual Hafla at 8 p.m. Thursday at Club Rush, 131 Albert Ave. Hafla is Arabic for a party.
The MSU Career Services Network is hosting the Summer Employment & Internship Fair from 5-8 p.m. today at the Kellogg Center.
The budget crunch, music therapy program and academic integrity had the attention of MSU’s Faculty Council at the body’s Tuesday meeting. MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said the university needs to do what is right not only for today, but for tomorrow, in terms of the budget and future cuts. “It is my personal view that everything we do is valuable, almost every thing we do is better than someone else and a case can be made for almost anything,” Simon said.
Students struggling to pay their way through MSU could benefit from the $787 billion stimulus package that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday. But questions still remain about how the funding will affect tuition costs. About $32 billion of the package is expected to go toward higher education. Part of that will be used to increase the maximum Pell Grant from $4,731 to $5,350 in 2009, and to $5,550 in 2010, according to The Associated Press.
If MSU receives any federal or state stimulus money for infrastructure improvements, the administration will be “shovel-ready.” At last week’s meeting, the Board of Trustees approved a resolution identifying several construction projects that could be ready to begin within 90 days of receiving any stimulus funds. Any construction on campus must be approved in the planning and construction stages by the board.
More wintry weather is expected in East Lansing for the remainder of the week, said Wayne Hoepner, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service station in Grand Rapids.
Orange signs and large inflatable rats have led to honking cars and a lot of questions for protesters at the Birch Road construction site. The use of nonunionized workers by Sandborn Construction Inc. for the groundwork on Birch Road has prompted protest from Laborers Local 499, a union that stated it feels that the Sandborn workers deserve better benefits.
The MSU Campus Bands, a program of the College of Music, will hold a concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Auditorium. Tickets are $9 for the public, $7 for senior citizens and free for students and those under 18. The Campus Bands will be split into two different bands that will perform different pieces during the concert. Music education senior Sarah Aungst, a band member, said while the band is affiliated with the College of Music, members aren’t all music students. “All kinds of students are in it and want to do it,” she said.
The MSU Alumni Lifelong Education Evening College began its spring semester this week and will offer new courses every week throughout the semester.
ASMSU’s Academic Assembly voted down a bill last week to create a committee that would have reviewed the performance of assembly Chairman Christopher Kulesza.
When animal science and preveterinary medicine junior Jennifer DeVries was studying for her economics exam, she thought it would be a normal day of reviewing her notes in the Union.
More than 200 members and friends of the MSU International Students Association, or ISA, gathered at the East Lansing Marriott at University Place ballroom, 300 M.A.C. Ave., Friday night in a blur of dresses, finger foods and laughing couples.
Residence Halls Association President Mark Dobson was named President of the Year this weekend at the Michigan Organization of Residence Hall Associations, or MORHA, conference at Western Michigan University. MORHA is comprised of 11 Residence Hall Associations.
MSU malaria prevention group Students Taking on Malaria Prevention, or STOMP, entered an international competition Thursday to secure a $25,000 donation to equip about 135 homes in Kenya with mosquito netting.
For the University Activities Board, comedy is another way for students to get into campus happenings. Last Tuesday, UAB held auditions for Last Spartan Standing, a comedy competition for aspiring campus comedians.
An MSU professor hopes to teach students to do just that — teach. Diane Ebert-May, professor of plant biology, received a $2 million grant via MSU from the National Science Foundation to host workshops that will help postdoctoral students learn effective methods for teaching science.