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MSU

'U' examines safe, recyclable packaging materials

Meghan Gilbert
January 21, 2004

Paul Singh keeps up to date on the popular peanuts and popcorn craved by the masses - for their mailing packages. Singh, a professor in the MSU School of Packaging, conducts research and testing of the best loose-fill materials stuffed in boxes to protect gifts and fragile items. "When companies want their products tested, they send them to Michigan State," said Singh, also director for the Consortium of Distribution Packaging Research. After the environmental movement in the late '80s, Singh performed a large-scale comparison research project among loose-fill packaging items ranging from starch- and paper-based packaging peanuts to expanded polystyrene, a Styrofoam-like material.

MSU

Forum to highlight ethics

Scandals in business, such as those involving Enron and WorldCom that took place in 2002 are nothing new, but emphasis in ethics education might help to make them less common in the future, officials say. Recently, the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration began work on creating a new ethics institute, which also is sponsored by the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers.

MSU

Human Spirit: Student belts praise, writes with heart

Tara May
January 20, 2004

Lateena Dinkins spends hours practicing her vocal performances. She stays in studios until 3 a.m. sometimes, writing music. She works on scales, she trains her voice and her career has been years of hard work in the making. But a gospel song comes from her heart. "I don't practice a gospel song at all," said Dinkins, a graduate student in music performance.

MSU

Future of liberal arts programs in jeopardy

Meghan Gilbert
January 20, 2004

Month-long focus group conversations concerning the future of the liberal arts and sciences programs at MSU have culminated into a 15-page summary proposal for Provost Lou Anna Simon's review. The report included recommendations to merge departments within colleges, use more electronic communications and evaluate broad cost-cutting ideas and course overlaps. Marcellette Williams, an MSU alumna and retired MSU English and comparative literature professor, submitted the summary Thursday and said participants were passionate during focus group conversations. "It was extraordinary faculty and toward the end, the provost will find extraordinary support," Williams said.

MSU

ASMSU to visit U-M conference

Representatives from ASMSU will be heading to a conference at the school down the road at the end of January for the first time in two years. On Jan.

MSU

Nickel & dime

Earvin "Magic" Johnson, step aside. There are two new all-time great Spartans on campus - hospitality business professors Ronald Cichy and Michael Kasavana. The two are inaugural members of a sort of vending machine industry hall of fame.

MSU

Nuclear Reaction

Steve Eder
January 20, 2004

If anyone should understand the depths of Iraq's nuclear capabilities - past and present - Imad Khadduri believes it is himself. For 30 years, Khadduri, 59, collected and processed the information that fueled Saddam Hussein's controversial nuclear program.

MSU

'U' trustees voice 4 major goals for 2004

Amy Bartner
January 20, 2004

The MSU Board of Trustees announced its New Year's resolutions Friday to address the Capital Campaign, the impending budget challenges, the push to secure the Rare Isotope Accelerator and the expansion of MSU's College of Human Medicine. Trustee and board chairman David Porteous named the four initiatives at the meeting, beginning with the university's Capital Campaign. "It's just a top, top priority of this institution," Porteous said. Trustee Randall Pittman said the campaign, which is an effort to raise $1.2 billion by 2007, doesn't only help MSU. "This Capital Campaign really helps with the quality of Michigan State University and the quality of education for tomorrow," he said.

MSU

Officials: Focus on moon travels could harm NASA

Meghan Gilbert
January 16, 2004

President Bush announced Wednesday his goals for another manned moon landing and other space exploration, but university officials say that although this is important for science, they worry other NASA programs will suffer. Bush's proposal laid out a timetable for a robotic mission to the moon by 2008, the first manned flight of a new spacecraft by 2014 and a manned lunar mission between 2015 and 2020. Mark Voit, an associate professor of physics and astronomy and former employee at NASA's Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, said the moon's surface would be an ideal environment for research. "There are certain types of radio telescopes we would like to build here on Earth, but wireless communication creates a lot of what we call 'noise,' and we can't observe the universe the ways we'd like to," he said.

MSU

College Bowl, talent show top UAB events

Agnes Soriano
January 16, 2004

The University Activities Board is welcoming back students by offering various events on campus. All events are free of admission to students: The College Bowl Tournament application fee of $20 is due today.

MSU

No plans for Napster 2.0 to be provided at 'U'

Meghan Gilbert
January 16, 2004

Pennsylvania State University has taken a stand to curb illegal file sharing by offering Napster 2.0 to students, but MSU has no plans to follow suit, officials say. About 5,300 Penn State students have signed up for the music-sharing service that allows them to listen to unlimited streams of songs. David Gift, vice provost for libraries, computing and technology at MSU, said the idea is good in principle, but there are too many concerns for the application at MSU. Gift said the money spent on a music program would take funds away from other university technology needs. "We're not sure this is the most effective use of money we would otherwise spend on classroom technology," Gift said.

MSU

Snow falls on 'U'

Laura Collins  and  Agnes Soriano
January 15, 2004

As if a broken foot isn't difficult enough for a student trying to get around campus, 3 inches of snow doesn't make it any easier. English junior Lindsay Kosmala broke her foot last Saturday and spent Wednesday wrestling with her crutches on the snowy sidewalks. "Having to get books and go to class with a broken foot in a snowstorm is way more than I wanted to do in the first week of school," she said. Three days into the spring semester, students are not only adjusting to a new schedule of classes, but to Michigan's typical winter weather.

MSU

Residency requirement revised for non-U.S. citizens; 'U' affected

Because of a Michigan statute that kept all non-U.S. citizens from receiving his or her law certification, Melanie Capobianco, a Canadian citizen and MSU-DCL College of Law student, might not have been able to enter the Michigan bar last May. The statute required a student to possess a green card or documentation proving they were permanent resident aliens.

MSU

Dorms change housing contract

Joseph Clark
January 15, 2004

A revised university policy will ensure students deciding where to live next year make up their minds quickly. For the first time, University Housing has revised the rules for breaking a housing contract.