Students and area residents with impending court cases: The trials of MSU student Albert Robinson and nonstudents Roy Holt and Joel Hamlar will begin May 10 with jury selection.
Name: Assistant Professor Laura Symonds Department: Psychiatry and radiology Title of research project: The Effect of Mood on Pain Perception Date of research: Symonds has been working on this project, which looks at depression and chronic pain, for the past five years, and it is continuing to evolve into new studies. Basics of the project: Symonds is looking at why people who have depression are at risk for developing chronic pain and why people who have chronic pain are at risk for developing depression. The study involves inducing moods and pain stimuli in people and watching how their brains react using a magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, machine. Her research team has found that when a sad mood is induced, chronic pain feels more intense than when a happy mood is induced, even if the stimulation is set at the same intensity. "The brain is telling them it hurts more, and what we are trying to figure out is how does the brain do that," Symonds said. As the subject reacts to the pain, the researchers watch how the brain modifies it, Symonds added. "One thing it's leading us toward is a real interest in how people can consciously change how a sensation feels," she said. Social impact of research: The goal of the project is to help people at risk for chronic pain disorder or depression, Symonds said. She also hopes to decrease that risk as a result of her research by understanding how the disorders are connected. "Hopefully we will be able to give people ideas on how to modify pain and depression," she said. Grants and funding: The cost of the project is about $100,000 per year.
When you follow Aaron Preston's big brown eyes in conversation, whether it's about his trips to Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Mississippi or his upbringing on a farm in Quincy, Mich., you notice they twinkle. Then you notice that the environmental and economic policy junior talks with his hands, moving them up and down, from side to side, rhythmically, to articulate his points.
Four days before the start of her freshman year, human biology junior Sarah Schrauben flipped her car seven times, broke her neck and pelvis and suffered a severe brain injury. In recovery, Schrauben was taught how to formulate sentences and she had to re-learn other basic tasks most people do without thinking.
Nicole Ellefson's wristwatch alarm goes off at 7 p.m. everyday — sometimes she forgets that she set it in the first place. "I always tell my daughters that it's seven in the morning in Beijing," Ellefson laughs. Beginning next fall, both East and West will overlap in the same classroom. A Chinese Immersion Program for Lansing, East Lansing and Bay City schools will be established for preschool-aged children.
While most 18-year-olds are preparing to leave their high schools to start new lives as undergraduates, Taraz Buck will be leaving MSU to begin working on his doctorate. Buck was one of the youngest full-time students to enroll at MSU at age 14.
Drive down Grand River Avenue and you'll see a narrow strip of one- and two-story brick buildings — bookstores, bars, bong shops and burrito joints — about what you'd expect in a midsize college town. For better or worse, that's been the character of East Lansing's downtown for decades. Not for much longer.
East Lansing was awarded a $1.5 million Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, loan guarantee on Wednesday to redevelop the 600 block of Virginia Avenue. The loan guarantee means that the U.S.
A recommendation to raise the amount of money available for faculty salaries by 4.7 percent for the 2006-07 school year would help MSU stay competitive with other Big Ten institutions, university officials said. The proposed salary increase was calculated to make up for a smaller increase than other universities last year and overcome anticipated salary hikes at other universities, said Ross Emmett, chairperson of the University Committee on Faculty Affairs, which proposed the salary increase. "The Big Ten essentially represents our competitive pool of similar universities," Emmett said.
Books are just one of many expenses college students have to meet as they pursue their education. However, students could be receiving at least a little relief — 6 percent to be exact — if a bill providing a sales tax exemption on college textbooks becomes law. House Bill 5568 provides for an exemption for the sales tax on a textbook required for taking a course at any institute for post-secondary education. Rep.
Two new collaborative technology labs were added to the Main Library on Tuesday that will offer new high-tech equipment to the MSU community. The labs are located in the Digital & Multimedia Center on the fourth floor of the library's west wing, and were converted from existing rooms.
An MSU John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor received one of the highest honors in science Tuesday when he became a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Richard Lenski has appointments in MSU's Departments of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Zoology and Crop and Soil Sciences, and received a call Tuesday notifying him of his election to the academy. "It was a huge surprise," Lenski said.
Posters with pictures of aborted fetuses and some with the words "Students for Choice" adorned the lawn of the Michigan Capitol on Tuesday for the 2nd annual Michigan March for Choice rally. The rally aimed to show legislators that the majority of Michigan voters are pro-choice, said Sarah Scranton, executive director of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Michigan, one of the groups that sponsored the event. MSU international relations and economics senior Katie Wilcox held pro-life signs with the MSU Students For Life protesting the rally.
The Wal-Mart in Okemos is trying to expand into a Super Wal-Mart, but many residents in Meridian Township are worried an even bigger version of the retailer will push out smaller businesses in the area and add traffic to an already congested area. Wal-Mart employee Roxanne Launstein, 22, hopes the store will be able to expand. Wal-Mart has requested a permit from Meridian Township to allow the store to expand by nearly 49,500 square feet, stay open 24 hours a day and also add a drive-through pharmacy to the store.
Police and university officials hope to start a university chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, to get students involved in prevention and education activities. "It's one thing for the police to talk about the dangers; it's another thing to hear it from your peers," MSU police Inspector Kelly Beck said. East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert said he hopes to establish a student organization with police officers as resources. Wibert and Beck met with Mary Ann Bair, the MADD Michigan program director, earlier this month to discuss starting a UMADD chapter at MSU. Bair could not be reached for comment. When Wibert became police chief last May, he said he made drunken driving prevention a priority.
Made flash cards of vocabulary words? Check. Read study terms in textbook? Check. Played online video game with friends?
East Lansing announced Monday the winners of the 2006 Crystal Awards for enhancing the quality of life. This year's recipients are: Howard Ballein, owner of the Student Book Store, 417 E.