Officials: Closure will not have long-term effects

Although General Motors Corp. officials announced Tuesday the upcoming closure of its Lansing Car Assembly plant, city officials and union members say the negative impact will be short-lived. The plant, which produces the Pontiac Grand Am and the Chevrolet Malibu Classic, is set to close in May - about half a year earlier than was expected. A new plant in Delta Township will open sometime late this year or early next year, and Lansing Car Assembly employees are likely to fill positions there, said Glenn Kirk, Lansing's director of finance. "We were hoping to be able to phase out the closing of the Lansing Car Assembly operation and dovetail that into the opening and start of production for the Lansing Delta Township plant," he said. GM spokesman Stefan Weinmann said the company made the decision in response to the company's sales, which have dropped more than 12 percent from last year's numbers. "We had to make a business decision based on our current situation, the current order intake and market performance," Weinmann said. The plant employees are represented by United Auto Workers Local 602 and UAW Local 652. "Every single (employee) is covered by the GM UAW agreement; they provide a very comprehensive safety net," Weinmann said. UAW Local 602 will represent the Delta Township plant, so many members are expected to move there from the Lansing plant, he said. The UAW Local 652 covers employees at three other facilities in Delta Township and Lansing, where workers likely will move. All Local 652 members at the Lansing Car Assembly plant should be able to find new jobs at area plants and facilities, said Michael Belsito, chief financial officer for the UAW chapter. "We have a very good chance anybody who is employed today will be employed in 2006 with the new and coming work we believe will be in the Lansing area," Belsito said. In the meantime, employees will receive unemployment and supplemental unemployment benefits for as many as 48 weeks, Belsito said.

Student to study world's legumes

This summer, nutritional sciences senior Doug Gibbons will visit Jamaica, England, Tanzania and five other countries during a free trip around the world. Gibbons won an $8,000 scholarship to travel around the world from the Michigan chapter of the Circumnavigators Club.

'Women in Struggle' chronicles life of Palestinian women, plays on campus today

The MSU Students for Palestinian Human Rights is sponsoring a film viewing today to increase conversation on campus about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The documentary "Women In Struggle" will play at 7:30 p.m.

RHA to elect new president

Members of the Residence Halls Association's General Assembly will elect the group's new president at 7 p.m.

Academic Senate meetings discussed

At its Tuesday meeting, the Executive Committee of Academic Council passed a motion to hold all Academic Senate meetings in future years on the last Thursday of regular courses during the fall and spring semester. "We need to set these meetings way in advance," said Muralee Nair, horticulture professor and member of the Executive Committee. The decision was prompted by the difficulty Executive Committee members had in setting this spring's second senate meeting around both faculty and administrators' schedules. Academic Senate is a faculty-wide forum that met for the first time in eight years last spring.

RUBI raises awareness of eating disorders

There's more to eating disorders than eating. MSU graduate student Tiffany Titus knows this firsthand after suffering from both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa for more than five years, she said. "It's a way to deal with emotions I don't want to deal with," Titus said. This week, she is helping the group Respecting and Understanding Body Image get attention for the problem as part of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

U.S. life expectancy reaches record high

According to the latest data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, Americans are living longer than ever. Average life expectancy rose 0.3 years in 2003 to a record high of 77.6 years, according to the center. Women still live longer than men - an average of 80.1 years compared to 74.8 years - but the gap between the genders decreased for the 23rd consecutive year. The top 15 causes of death remained the same, except assault left the list and was replaced by Parkinson's disease.

Snow complicates area travel

A winter storm Tuesday created several problems for Lansing and East Lansing residents traveling in the area. As of 1 p.m.

Web site offers free credit report

Starting Tuesday, people can get a free credit report online, allowing them to see who has previously seen the reports and make sure all the information is accurate. Three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, charge about $9 for the reports but will now provide them once a year for free under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. People can get a report from each company by going to www.annualcreditreport.com.

CRU meets, discusses minority grad rates

Culturas De Las Razas Unidas, or CRU, and the Chicano/Latino Association held a reception Tuesday night at the Union for discussion between faculty members and students to find ways to improve graduation and retention rates for minority students. Increasing communication between Chicano/Latino faculty and students helps ensure that students will make it to graduation day, said CRU co-Chair Isaias Solis.

Word on the street: What are you doing for spring break?

"I'm going on an alternative spring break to D.C. We're working in a soup kitchen, helping out the homeless and taking a class on social responsibility." Andy Sciamanna advertising and international relations senior "I'm working on campus and back home, probably on the weekends.

Police briefs 03/02/05

Police briefs 03/01/05

Council to debate Burcham construction plans today

Education senior Joseph Becker likes the idea of building new rentals - as a renter on the 700 block of Burcham Drive, he supports the development of new housing targeted at students in the area. If a plan to construct five new apartment buildings on his block is approved by the East Lansing City Council tonight, Becker's wish might become a reality. But before plans to redevelop the area can move forward, the home where Becker resides, along with another rental home and a parking lot, would have to be demolished to make room for the new structures. "Everyone has the choice to live in the dorms, but most students after their freshman or sophomore years don't want to do that," Becker said.

U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments on commandments

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear two cases this week examining whether the Ten Command-ments should be allowed on government property. The issue of whether the commandments violate the principles of separation of church and state also is a divided issue in Michigan, where both sides of the argument said they hope the court rules in their favor.

New exhibit reflects on 150 years of MSU history

When East Lansing residents Patricia and David Brogan were MSU undergraduates in the 1950s, they experienced events firsthand that are now history. They remember the annual "Water Carnival" on the Red Cedar River and David Brogan's attendance at the 1954 Rose Bowl as a sophomore, during which MSU defeated the University of California, Los Angeles. Photographs of these events are part of "Memories of MSU," an exhibit that opened Sunday at the MSU Museum and will continue through December. The exhibit is a look back at the last 150 years of MSU through photographs, artifacts and timelines from students' perspectives. "It's fun to see it," Patricia Brogan said.

E.L. house 'totaled' after fire

Four MSU students lost their home, at least temporarily, on Monday after a fire broke out in the third-floor crawl space of their Grove Street rental house. All the tenants left the house safely, although three were sleeping as the fire filled the top floor and broke through the roof.

MSU students win photography awards

State News photographers swept the category for the Michigan Press Photographers Association's College Photographer of the Year award at the organization's annual conference last weekend. The category contains first, second and third ranking and two honorable mentions. The MPPA honors professional and student photographers from across the state for submissions in categories ranging from feature photos to sports photos.

Buffalo part of 'bold new design' on nickel

Bison soon will be showing up in wallets and cash registers across the country as the U.S. Mint's new American bison nickel, released Monday, makes its way into circulation. The coin is the first buffalo nickel released since 1938 and features a new obverse, otherwise known as "heads," design of former President Thomas Jefferson. "It's a bold new design of Jefferson," said Joyce Harris, deputy director of the U.S.

Conference unites Filipino Americans

About 250 students attended the Midwest Association of Filipino Americans, or MAFA, conference this weekend. The annual assembly, which is held at a different school every year, brings together students from a variety of Midwestern colleges and universities to promote unity and educate them about Filipino American history and culture. "The Filipino American population in the Midwest is very small," said MAFA co-coordinator R.J.