The Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves use American Indian symbols or caricatures as their mascots, but some say they are stereotypical and offensive to American Indian communities.
MSU's acappella groups will hold two Accapalooza shows at 8 p.m. today and Saturday at Wharton Center. Capital Green, The Spartan Dischords, Ladies First and the Accafellas will perform, followed by the premiere of a new campus group, State of Harmony. Tickets are available at Wharton Center box office or by calling (800) WHARTON.
Two days after the election, the MSU Board of Trustees race is finally over. With 100 percent of the state's precincts reporting, Republican Melanie Foster edged out Democrat Phil Thompson by more than 17,000 votes. Democrat Joel Ferguson, a 15-year veteran of the board, was declared winner of his seat on Wednesday, as he held about a 125,000-vote lead over second-place Foster. Nine candidates from six parties were vying for two open seats on the eight-member board.
Lansing-area hospitals are making an effort to encourage MSU medical students to remain in the tri-county area with job opportunities. Increasing field experience for nursing students, changing curriculum for physician residents and jointly hiring medical specialists were several goals discussed in a recent series of meetings between MSU and Lansing-area hospitals. "We look forward to working together to ensure excellent health care for the people of Mid-Michigan," said Lorri Rishar, spokeswoman for Lansing's Sparrow Hospital. Members of the College of Human Medicine, the College of Nursing and the College of Osteopathic Medicine met with officials from Sparrow Hospital and Ingham Regional Medical Center for several months and are scheduled to continue conferences during the school year. The objectives are meant to address problems, such as the nursing shortage, that are facing Michigan health care. The College of Nursing, the Career Ladder Nursing Program at Lansing Community College and area hospitals agreed to ensure job placements in the medical community after graduation. "It should go a long way to keeping nurses in the area - with any luck, they will take up residence here long-term and keep working in this community," said Sherry Tompkins, spokeswoman for the College of Human Medicine. Nursing junior Kathi Padilla said she thinks the new partnership is a good idea and will further her education. Currently, there is little communication between clinical sites and professors, but a closer partnership might amend this problem, Padilla said. "Sometimes, you walk into the hospitals for the clinicals and they don't have any idea what level you're on - they will either not trust you to do anything or expect too much and give you assignments above your head," she said. Measures have been taken to alter the current community-campus education model for medical students. "I wouldn't say there are problems, but (the schools) know there can be changes in the current model," Tompkins said.
College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Lonnie King has been elected to the Institute of Medicine, an honor ordinarily given to physicians and researchers who study human health. King said this rare honor is probably due in part to the increasing number of zoonotic diseases, which are passed onto humans from animals.
A farewell banquet for MSU President M. Peter McPherson will be held at 4 p.m. Friday at Kellogg Center. Members of the campus community are invited to discuss McPherson's 11 years at MSU and McPherson and his wife, Joanne, will be honored for their service to the university. McPherson was named MSU's 19th president in 1993 and is currently the longest-serving president at a Big Ten university.
The National Science Foundation granted a $4.1 million grant to an MSU project to improve math and science learning instruments in the classroom. Problem-Based Learning Model of Professional Development is working to create a model that will advance a teacher's ability to teach math and science to improve students' problem-solving skills. Faculty from MSU, Western Michigan University, Lansing Community College and classroom teachers throughout Ingham County are expected to work together over the course of a year. The program will be based at MSU's Division of Science and Mathematics Education, which includes the College of Natural Science and the College of Education.
A line curved around a corner and down the hall of the basement in West Holmes Hall as about 50 hungry students waited to eat their first meal of the day.
ASMSU's offices will updated by the end of the year with about $36,000 worth of new technology and furniture. It is the second of three upgrades this year.
MSU business graduate students are challenging their counterparts at colleges around the country in the battle against communal hunger. MSU Eli Broad Graduate School of Management students launched the ninth annual "MBA Food Fight" on Saturday, which pits 16 master's degree programs in business administration from colleges throughout the United States against each other.
The big football game between the Nittany Lions and the Spartans isn't until Nov. 20, but the competition between the two schools began Friday with the first blood drive of the MSU-Penn State Blood Challenge. Entering its 11th year, the blood challenge was based off the sports rivalries in an attempt to gather more donors, said Justin Looyenga, donor recruitment representative for the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross. "The Red Cross was looking for new ways to gain interest in donating blood, and creating new challenges is always a good way to do that," Looyenga said. However, the competition gimmick did not influence education senior Audra Hunsberger's decision to donate blood. "The rivalry didn't make me want to donate," Hunsberger said as she munched on the remaining quarter of her glazed doughnut after giving blood Tuesday.
Lindsey Bock wasn't surprised when she caught a 30-inch salmon in the Red Cedar River behind Kellogg Center and she said other students shouldn't be either. The fisheries and wildlife senior said she catches everything from rock bass to salmon in MSU's featured waterway and, as part of the Fisheries and Wildlife Club, works to make students realize the river isn't a "toxic dump." Bock is involved with cataloging fish and other species in the Red Cedar River as secretary for the club that also takes part in river cleanups.
Group B Strep (GBS) can be fatal to newborns, but with a new test designed in part by an MSU researcher, the specific strain can be recognized and treatment can begin within 40 minutes. "This test can be done quickly and effectively - that's why this is so important," said Dele Davies, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development. Research for the new test was a collaboration with faculty members of several North American universities including the University of Texas, the University of Calgary in Canada and the University of Pittsburgh. The molecular diagnostic test magnifies and identifies DNA specific to Group B Strep, which is naturally present in women, but can infect infants during birth. Both tests involve a strep culture, using a large cotton swab similar to the ones employed in strep throat tests.
Five MSU economics students attended the College Fed Challenge competition in Chicago on Monday. The competition, which had never been held in the Midwest, required participants to understand the Federal Reserve System, analyze the economy and make policy recommendations.
ASMSU re-elected two vice chairpersons in charge of its funding and programming boards on Thursday. Incumbents Jason Bucholz and Kristen Daddow kept their seats on each respective board, although the vote total is unknown because ASMSU's general assembly closed its meeting to the public during debate about the vice chairperson candidates. ASMSU can close a meeting to the public with a two-thirds vote.
ASMSU is working on an affirmative action plan that would document its hiring procedures and ethnic makeup, and later evaluate the association's racial background. R.J.
A commemoration of the dead will take place at 6 p.m. today at the rock on Farm Lane. Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is traditionally a time when families in Mexico set up alters and give offerings to symbolically celebrate their deceased family members' lives - how they lived and their accomplishments.
Witnessing MSU President M. Peter McPherson announce his retirement from the university and spending a day with the vice president of El Salvador are some of the moments The State News Deputy Managing Editor Amy Bartner said have been the most memorable during her time at the newspaper.
With the help of a search and rating committee and a search firm, university officials hope to have a permanent provost picked by spring. Current Provost Lou Anna Simon will take over the university's top position on Jan.
The gnarled toothed witch, jack-o'-lanterns with a menacing glare and trays of caramel apples are all Halloween traditions, but many people don't know the symbols of this fright night began with religious intent. "Halloween is All Hallows Day, a holy day, and people should notice that," said Father Mark Inglot, a priest at St.