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MSU

Groups encourage fair trade

Sonia Khaleel
October 20, 2004

A visit from two Mexican coffee farmers Tuesday helped some MSU students explain why it's important to make fair trade coffee available in campus cafeterias. The speakers, Jose Vasquez, president of the Las Abejas Civil Society, and Macario Arias Gomez, president of the Maya Vinic Coffee Cooperative, which is part of the society, spoke of hardships they faced growing coffee beans in Chiapas, Mexico before organizing into cooperatives and selling to fair trade companies in the United States, Canada, Japan and Switzerland. "We are organizing as a cooperative so that we can organize and work toward a better life," Vasquez said. In the mid-'90s, the Mexican government wanted to take the coffee farmers' communal land and sell it to private oil and timber companies, but the farmers peacefully protested.

MSU

Campus safety bill drafted

ASMSU officials said they are concerned with campus safety because of the recent sexual assaults on campus, so much so they wrote a bill to increase lighting and emergency phones on campus. The bill, written in the middle of its Student Assembly meeting Thursday, advocates for a safer campus and to support the Residence Halls Association's safety report issued last year. "One incident near the tennis courts, and tailgates are changed," said Derek Wallbank, a representative for the Council for Students with Disabilities.

MSU

Olin to provide cold, flu packs

Maddie Trier
October 19, 2004

With cold and flu season underway, and only about two-thirds of the flu vaccine expected to be available nationally, Olin Health Center officials are scurrying to provide this year's cold and flu kits. Jon Kermiet, an Olin Health Educator, said students will need to pay more attention to their hygiene practices this year to prevent sickness because the flu shot will not be made available to them. According to the 2004 National College Health Assessment, 82.3 percent of students contracted the cold or flu.

MSU

Jewish studies films show Israeli culture

Maddie Trier
October 18, 2004

The Jewish Studies Program is showing \"Desperado Square\" at 7:30 p.m. Monday in 147 Communication Arts and Sciences Bldg. Ellen Rothfeld, an MSU Hebrew lecturer, will introduce the film. Rothfeld said the purpose of the film series, which is in Hebrew, is to introduce students to the Israeli culture. \"Most of these films are not religious oriented, it\'s more the culture, although of course most of Israel is Jewish,\" Rothfeld said. The other film in the series, \"Broken Wings,\" will be shown at 7:30 p.m.

MSU

Student government stands against gay marriage proposal

ASMSU has taken a stand on the proposal to ban gay marriage and it's in resounding opposition. MSU's undergraduate student government's Student Assembly passed a bill Thursday night to make a public statement against Proposal 2, which would amend Michigan's Constitution to recognize marriage as a union between a man and woman. The assembly debated for more than an hour about the proposal and whether ASMSU has the right to chime in on what has been called rigidly partisan. "ASMSU needs to act on this," said Derek Wallbank, representative for the Council for Students with Disabilities.

MSU

McPherson commits to provide African aid

Jaclyn Roeschke
October 18, 2004

MSU President M. Peter McPherson and Alpha Oumar Konare, head of the African Union, have called for a generation-long commitment to Africa - a continent both leaders said is crying out for help. At the annual meeting of the World Food Prize Foundation in Des Moines, Iowa, McPherson announced that he and Konare will work together on the project, called \"Partnership with Africa.\" McPherson said short-term emergency support offered by the United States is not enough to help improve the security, finance, technology and infrastructure challenges Africa is currently facing.

MSU

Former candidate's daughter to visit 'U'

Sonia Khaleel
October 18, 2004

Chrissy Gephardt, the daughter of former presidential candidate Dick Gephardt, will visit campus today to promote change for the LBGT community. The director of the National Stonewall Democrats grassroots campaign core, Chrissy Gephardt said her primary goal is to create visibility of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender issues for college students. "They're just not brought up knowing discrimination, and bigotry and hatred the way older generations have," she said. Gephardt will address the MSU chapter of Stonewall Democrats at 8:30 p.m.

MSU

Briggs, Madison duke it out in annual battle

By Kristin LongleySpecial to The State News An MSU rivalry was renewed on Sunday when the university's two residential learning programs competed in their second annual Olympic Showdown. Lyman Briggs School and James Madison College students and faculty braved the cold weather at the rock on Farm Lane in an effort to win the coveted green-and-white, Stanley Cup-esque trophy.

MSU

Program addresses bisexual, social issues

Sonia Khaleel
October 15, 2004

Feeling marginalized by the LBGT community was the focus of Getting Bi, a session addressing issues faced by bisexual women. Discussion included fear of being ostracized by lesbian and gay people and acknowledging fluidity in both orientation and gender. Julie Hartman, a graduate student in sociology, said bisexual people often feel they have to act differently around gay and straight friends. "You come out of one closet to go in another," she said.

MSU

'U' to train health students

Maddie Trier
October 15, 2004

With mechanical mannequins, standardized patients and computer scenarios, MSU is taking steps toward joining top medical schools such as Northwestern University with advanced technology. The MSU Board of Trustees recently passed a measure to start the design phase for a new Learning and Assessment Center, which will be built in East Fee Hall. "The Assessment Center is an important element for not only the feedback to our students, but also will play an important role in research and development regarding new educational approaches," said President-designate Lou Anna Simon. The center is a joint project between four MSU colleges - the College of Human Medicine, the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Nursing.

MSU

Law students debating COGS membership

Margaret Harding
October 15, 2004

The Council of Graduate Students is looking to give MSU College of Law students more of a voice in school policy. Associate Dean for Student Affairs at MSU College of Law Connell Alsup said COGS would help law school students become better represented. "Law school students are subjected to the decisions made by committees and by judicial proceedings," Alsup said.

MSU

RHA taste tests international dorm foods

Margaret Harding
October 15, 2004

The taste buds of Residence Halls Association members traveled to Spain, Italy and the Middle East in the Williams Hall test kitchen on Wednesday. The annual taste test featured food developed for International Education Week, which begins Nov.

MSU

Day depicts life with a disability

Sonia Khaleel
October 14, 2004

Rather than walking from class to class, Danielle Cole made her way around campus Tuesday in a wheelchair. Cole, a special education in learning disabilities sophomore, was participating in an all-day simulation Tuesday for an assignment which required her to use a wheelchair for one day in order to understand the issue of accessibility. The simulation was one of the activities offered during the second annual Accessibility Awareness Week at MSU. Cole said not only did she notice inaccessibility issues, but also the reactions of those around her. "They either look very intensely at you or they try not to make any eye contact at all," she said.

MSU

ASMSU raises issues with new residential college

ASMSU has questions they want answered about the proposed new residential college. To voice its concerns and get answers, the Academic Assembly of MSU's undergraduate student government passed a bill Tuesday night listing unresolved issues with the proposed college, tentatively named the Nelson Mandela College. The bill calls for a letter to be sent to Marcellette Williams, chairwoman of the New Residential College Program Planning Group and President-designate Lou Anna Simon.