With less than a month left for people to register to vote in Michigan, Lansing-area organizations are utilizing every means necessary to get people to the polls on Nov.
At its first meeting of the new school year, the MSU Board of Trustees will discuss renovations to two residence halls which could change the presence of the student population on campus. The board will discuss changing the plans for the renovation of Snyder and Phillips halls to include space for a new residential college, and the construction of a 300 resident apartment-style hall in the Brody Complex. "It will be a very exciting change once everybody gets where they are comfortable with the structure of it," Trustee Dee Cook said. Friday will be the first time the board will look at any aspect of the construction of a new liberal arts college on campus.
Emmons Hall residents are pulling their IDs out of their wallets more frequently this semester. When the students moved into their dorm rooms, they found themselves on the site of the first security improvements to a residence hall in more than 10 years. The hall is now equipped with several swipe card machines on two exterior doors and all floor wing doors.
Workers in toxicology suits visited the Food Safety and Toxicology Building Wednesday to investigate an unknown irritant that sent a 38-year-old university employee to Lansing's Sparrow Hospital.
MSU professors of physics and astronomy will hold "Astronomical Horizons" lectures once a month throughout the school year. "This is a little bit more of an interactive, scientific level for the general public," said Horace Smith, a physics and astronomy professor who started the series.
East Lansing officials are seeking students who could represent the college population to city government. The University Student Commission is accepting applications for three students who are not affiliated with a university organization to serve as at-large members for one-year terms. The 11-member group, which meets every other Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., has eight students representing various MSU organizations.
In the shade of the Capitol building, Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb blew bubbles of green chewing gum and smiled. Without armies of security guards or an entourage of campaign spokespeople, Cobb was comfortably approachable.
President Bush's twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, will visit MSU today to rally the MSU Students for Bush group. The event is open to group members only and will be held at the Union at 3 p.m. Barbara and Jenna Bush, 22, pledged to participate more in their father's campaign after their joint speech at the Republican National Convention.
As Eytan Kenter led the Kiddush Wednesday night students holding glasses of grape juice joined in with the prayer, their chanting voices filling the acoustical room.
Emily Showalter, a Wonders Hall mentor, decided to participate in Olin Health Center's Condom Connection program because she wanted students to have "positive sexual health habits." "Even though the parents don't think the residents (have sex), mentors know what happens when parents aren't around," said Showalter, a general business administration and pre-law junior. According to the 2004 National College Health Assessment, 76 percent of MSU students are sexually active, which Dennis Martell, Olin health education services coordinator, defines as having intercourse. Martell helped create Condom Connection about five years ago, and since then data have shown the number of students using condoms has increased. In 2002, the health assessment showed 49 percent of students always or mostly used condoms.
Hostesses behind a polished, round front desk greet customers as they walk through the front doors of Gilbert & Blake's Seafood and Steak Grille in Okemos.
Okemos author Jack Spencer will sign copies of his new novel at 6 p.m. Thursday at Schuler Books & Music at Meridian Mall in Okemos His book, "Melvin Smallman: A Tale from the Forest Floor," is a fictional story of a mouse named Melvin and his battles with an invading enemy.
The National Endowment for the Humanities named MSU a recipient of the $500,000 challenge grant to help fund the LeFrak Forum. MSU is one of 17 grant recipients across the country.
Customers at Yvonne Joseph's gun shop can now purchase assault weapons equipped to hold larger amounts of bullets or that have mounted bayonets. As of Monday, Classic Arms Company, 1600 Lake Lansing Road, in Lansing, can stock its shelves with an array of gun types and accessories that have been banned for 10 years.
For those caught driving without proof of auto insurance over the past year, deadlines to pay a $300 state bill are approaching. In the beginning of September, about 19,000 drivers received a bill for $300 from the Michigan's Department of Treasury under the Driver Responsibility Law passed last October.
The Executive Committee of Academic Council spent the majority of their meeting Tuesday talking about where to send a proposal that would change what colleges hold the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.
An MSU marketing freshman is in jail awaiting his pre-trial court date for allegedly raping a fellow student earlier this month. Travis Eichten was charged with one count of third degree criminal sexual conduct Tuesday, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said.
When deciding between using birth control pills or condoms to protect her during sex, Dina Tashjian, a pre-medical freshman, chooses both. "I'm not sleeping around, I have a boyfriend, but it seems safer - a double protection - to use condoms as well as pills," Tashjian said. According to a study, paid for in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Tashjian is right to be careful.