MSU

Some rooms overbooked as students move in to 'U'

Amy Davis

August 25, 2003

With her hair pulled back and arms wrapped around a Dell computer, Jessica Katz and two of her friends battled the warm Friday sunshine as they moved her belongings from her over-booked triple room in Abbot Hall into her new room in Mason Hall. While most incoming freshmen were adjusting to the stress and anxiety of moving into dorm rooms on campus, the no-preference freshman had to deal with it twice.

MSU

Students review laptop capabilities

Amy Davis

August 15, 2003

Some students say purchasing a laptop instead of a desktop might be the best way to save a little space during a year of cramped dorm rooms and cluttered desks.No preference sophomore Cheryl Brodowski said she was drawn to the versatility and space-saving attributes of a laptop.

MSU

Road work fills summer semester

Evan Rondeau

August 15, 2003

Returning MSU students will notice significant aesthetic changes around campus as a result of summer-long construction to improve campus roads and buildings.Farm Lane was closed between Wilson and Auditorium roads from May through the beginning of July.

MSU

Downloads could result in discipline

Sarah Frank

August 15, 2003

MSU officials have a warning for students who try to illegally download music and movies - do it and pay the price."We have to change the way students look at file-sharing and change the way they think about it," MSU network administrator Randall Hall said.File-sharing programs, such as KaZaA, have become a bigger problem for the MSU networks in the past year, causing about 200 complaints per week from companies such as record labels, Hall said.Computer Center officials are working to develop a more specific addition to clarify the university's Acceptable Use Policy, which better explains punishments for file-sharing."We need to get a document that spells out in black and white, 'you can do this, you can't do this,'" said Hall, who has recently become the policy's compliance administrator.The policy attempts to lay out a better framework for company complaints as well as a step-process for students who file-share.Hall and his staff handles about 35 file-sharing cases per day.Companies can scan files on a network by using a simple and legal program, Hall said.

MSU

SARS stranded students

Antonio Planas

August 15, 2003

For many, a typical trip to a hardware store consists of buying plywood, tools and home fixtures. But for two MSU students, their shopping cart included 500 surgical masks intended to help prevent the spread of SARS, a deadly virus.

MSU

New journalism director takes office

Bath - Jane Briggs-Bunting sat in the middle of her new condominium surrounded by open space, a few boxes filled with pictures and a rocking chair - one of the two places to sit in her canary yellow living room.

MSU

'U' offers updated Web site for upcoming academic year

When thousands of students and faculty members flock back onto campus in August, they might notice a change to MSU's green and white Web site. The university officially launch its updated Web site on Aug.

MSU

Housing rates raised for the fall

The MSU Board of Trustees unanimously approved a proposal in June to raise housing rates across the board by 6 percent starting this fall.

MSU

Campus store offers discount prices

Joseph Clark

August 15, 2003

Buying computer hardware and software can leave your pocketbook pretty bare, but there's an outlet on campus to help ease the pain. To help students who need to bargain shop, the MSU Computer Store, located in the Computer Center next to the Administration Building, offers hardware and software at discounted prices for MSU students and faculty and staff members. Allan Evans, Computer Store sales associate and electrical engineering junior, said everything the store sells is new. "We have Dell, Apple, Compaq, IBM, Gateway and Toshiba" as far as computers go, he said, adding the store carries both desktop and laptop computers. Since 2001, incoming freshmen are required to have an Internet-ready computer, able to connect to MSU's Ethernet.

MSU

ASMSU seats open, students endorsed

Empty seats in ASMSU's conference room will be a theme this fall, despite the reinstatement of 10 representatives to MSU's undergraduate student government.

MSU

Study: students study less but receive better grades

According to a study, high school seniors are slacking on homework time but still pulling off high grades - a sign that grade inflation might be taking over.

MSU

'U' classes offer more than work

Sailing the fresh waters of Michigan or curling up with "The Lord of the Rings" doesn't have to just be a hobby anymore. There are several old and new classes available at MSU allowing students to enjoy their hobbies in a classroom atmosphere. But some of these classes are filling up quickly such as Criminal Justice 210, Introduction to Forensic Science with Jay Siegel. "It's open to anyone who can get in," said Siegel, director of MSU's Forensic Science Program.

MSU

Prof. helps China reserves

Antonio Planas

August 15, 2003

When Jack Liu travels to China, he is fighting to save the country's depleting forests and wildlife.

MSU

'U' offers students work opportunities

Imagine getting paid to watch basketball games, travel with the team and witness every practice. That's the kind of work general management senior Justin Squires gets to enjoy as a manager for MSU's men's basketball team.

MSU

E-mail system flawed, not yet ready for users

Upgrading to MSU's new e-mail system won't be a possibility for students coming to the university this fall.The e-mail home base, mail.msu.edu, officially launched in March.

MSU

Orchid study may improve flower's appeal

Wake up and smell the orchids. That's the idea a team of MSU researchers have been working on in an attempt to get people more interested in growing and buying the flower.

MSU

Bike impoundment policy disputed

A meeting between three students and MSU Department of Police and Public Safety about the bike impoundment policy has left the issue unresolved and the students unsatisfied. Anthropology graduate student Angela Jancius, her husband Daniel Sturm and genetics graduate student Paolo Struffi met with MSU police Deputy Chief Mike Rice on Thursday to discuss ways MSU police's bike impoundment tactics could be improved. "He observed everything with a cost-benefit analysis," Jancius said about Rice.

MSU

'U' professors refuse obligation to use books

Reviewing textbooks is an easy way for professors to find course material and make some extra money on the side, MSU officials say. The university does not deal with North West Publishing, which has recently been criticized for its policy of contractually obligating professors to make the reviewed textbook mandatory for their classes.

MSU

News briefs

Researchers work to fight wind, soil erosion Researchers at MSU are working on a lower intensity tillage system which will help to maintain a crop's nutrients and combat wind and soil erosion. When liquid manure is placed on fields, the substance slides through wormholes and other permeable surfaces.

MSU

News briefs

Funding decrease for universities set as law The state of higher education is officially law as of Tuesday when Gov.