An MSU history professor and avid skydiver, David Walker, died earlier this summer in a sky diving accident.Peter Beattie, a fellow Latin American historian at MSU, said Walker was born in Louisiana but spent much of his life in Texas.“David was a real character,” said Beattie, an associate history professor.
The search to find environmentally-friendly solutions for the diminishing oil supply and increasing oil consumption in the United States may end right on MSU’s campus.MSU researchers are trying to find ways to make tough and versatile materials that can be fabricated into items such as automotive parts and a variety of plastics - all from plants and agricultural products.
Financial aid applicants no longer have to sign, seal and deliver their forms. Seeking assistance is as simple as a click away. Students have used the Internet for several months, but for the first time, the entire system is paperless, said Keith Williams, assistant director of the Office of Financial Aid. “From the beginning to the end, students can complete the financial aid process,” he said.
The grass in Spartan Stadium will be growing green next fall, but after football season, the soil all over the rest of campus could be as hard as concrete.To prevent the demise of campus greenery, MSU officials are prohibiting parking on any grass surface north of the Red Cedar River, leaving parking areas on south campus designated for gamegoers.“Over six football games a year, and especially when it’s wet, it would continue to cause the trees to go into a decline,” said Paul Swartz, the campus arborist in charge of tree maintenance.
Mad Cow disease is expected to take a toll on blood donations this year, and the American Red Cross is asking for students’ help.Following the outbreaks of the disease in Europe, a blood shortage is expected because of precautions to prevent the disease from spreading into the United States.“We will lose between six-to-eight percent this year because people who have traveled to the UK could have come in contact with the Mad Cow disease and not know it,” said Carol Lovelady, a donor recruitment representative for MSU with the American Red Cross, 1800 E.
Minorities face greater challenges obtaining quality mental health care, a recent report conducted by U.S.
Student enrollment numbers may not have increased much from last year, but the academic talents may have.Although exact numbers won’t be available until a quarter of the way through the first semester, more than 6,800 students have enrolled at MSU, and the grade-point averages and ACT scores were at an all-time high.“This is academically the strongest group we’ve ever had,” said Director of Admissions Gordon Stanley.According to statistics, the average freshmen GPA is 3.5 or higher, and the average ACT score was 24.
When Joseph Clark locks the door to his Williams Hall room at night, he wouldn’t be afraid.The journalism sophomore said although he was surprised to hear about two instances of criminal sexual conduct in his residence hall, he’s not worried.“I don’t lie awake at night scared,” he said.
MSU’s oldest Chicano student group, Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan, or MEXA, is sponsoring its first annual Brown Pride Picnic to reach out to students interested in the organization.
Kelly Downey racked up $53 in parking ticket charges while moving in this Welcome Week.Oops.But MSU’s Department of Police and Public Safety introduced a system to warn and inform parents and students about illegal parking without the cost: the “oops ticket.”“I’d rather have that on my car than a ticket,” said Downey, an advertising sophomore who ended the week with four parking tickets.
It’s a new semester and that means new faces, goals and attitudes for MSU’s Residence Halls Association’s executive board. The university’s RHA is the largest residence hall association in the country and the second largest student organization on campus behind ASMSU, the university’s undergraduate student government. Jeff Donofrio, the new director of public relations for RHA, said its main goal is to address the concerns and to be the voice for more than 14,000 undergraduate students throughout the 20 residence halls on campus.
When Party at the Aud ended Saturday night, the Auditorium’s lawn was littered with fliers, the rock on Farm Lane had a fresh coat of paint welcoming the map-toting freshmen and more than 230 student groups and activities had recruited a year’s worth of members.“This is the biggest and best time to recruit people,” said special education sophomore Shelley Carlin, a member of MSU Best Buddies.
ASMSU is taking the first of what would be many steps in creating a voting student seat on the MSU Board of Trustees tonight with a forum discussing the possibility.The bill was introduced during an August 8 academic assembly meeting, but was tabled until this session.
For the second year the Red Cedar Log yearbook is available to all students at MSU - and anyone else who wants to pick one up.The Red Cedar Log is the largest college yearbook in the country with more than 20,000 copies available this year. In 1996 the yearbook was shut down for financial reasons.
Knock knock. Who’s there? Students living in the dorms can now have the satisfaction of knowing who’s knocking at their doors now that peepholes have been installed in just about every dorm room.The installation of the peepholes took place over the summer and was a result of careful deliberation among the Residence Halls Association, Residence Life and University Housing said Angela Brown, director of University Housing. “We discussed safety awareness and created a safety committee, which reviewed night receptionist safety and overall dorm safety,” Brown said, adding that students have been asking for peepholes for years. “(The peepholes) are great,” said Emmy Gregory, a pre-vet freshman.
The Appaloosa Classic Horse Show held this past weekend at the Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education received a smaller turnout than last year, but the show must go on, and it did with an exhibit of well-groomed horses and their equestrians. There were 662 entries in the weekend long show, about 100 fewer than last year, said Leslie Zobel, Chairwoman for the Michigan Appaloosa Horse Association horse shows.
To kick off the school year, minority organizations are welcoming students with programs that will allow them to gain information about their groups.Asian Pacific American Student Organization will be sponsoring a Welcome Back Banquet today at 6 p.m.
The freshman class is getting snap-happy this week.As this year’s freshman class will graduate in 2005 - the university’s 150th year - the department of Libraries, Computing and Technology gave each incoming freshman a disposable camera to capture their first moments at MSU.“These pictures will literally be a snapshot of the class that will mark (the 150th) benchmark of the university,” said Don Straney, assistant to the provost for faculty development.
It was almost two years ago when thousands of students lined up in IM Sports-West, waiting to receive a free meningococcus vaccine. Music education sophomore Adam Busuttil had come down with the Y strain of bacterial meningitis that left him without portions of his fingers. Busuttil was given a clean bill of health in January. In 1997, MSU saw similar lines after two students died from the disease, a potentially fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. But after two years without a case of meningitis reported on campus, some people fear the need for a vaccination may not be taken as seriously. “It’s just human nature,” University Physician Beth Alexander said.
After three years of residence hall living, Nick Gordon packed up his single room in Shaw Hall and moved off campus.But he wasn’t happy about it.“The dorms really appeal to me,” the general business and pre-law senior said.