Meeting focuses on budget

About 40 people attended an East Lansing City Council meeting and public hearing regarding the city budget Tuesday. Though the meeting was held on campus at the Union's Gold Rooms A and B and allowed for public discussion of the coming year's budget, no MSU students were on hand to address the council during the public comment time. During the meeting, the city's Human Relations Commission presented the council with recommendations for allotting the city's general fund money that comes from taxpayers. Although cuts in city projects were suggested in order to balance the city budget, the commission did not recommend an increase in property taxes. Due to an expected 2005 state budget deficit of $1.3 billion, local governments have received less funding.

Children, 'U' paint river trash cans

Undergraduate students, staff and children from the Lansing School District met Wednesday to discuss the importance of keeping Michigan water clean through artwork.

ASMSU officials attend House Appropriations meeting

Lansing - Rifling through a budget lit by sunlight from a side window in the state House Appropriations room, Andrew Bell checked line by line to make sure higher education appropriations hadn't changed. Wednesday morning, Bell, ASMSU's director of legislative affairs, attended the first of four state House higher education subcommittee meetings to determine next year's Michigan college and university funding. "We're going to make sure we're not left out of anything, that nothing slips by us," Bell said.

Students participate in silent protest

Kristin Dunn, dressed in black shorts and a black T-shirt, might have blended into the steady student foot traffic along Farm Lane on Wednesday - if it weren't for the giant silver strip of Duct tape plastered across her mouth. As a participant in MSU student groups' recognition of National Day of Silence, the communication sophomore stood on the sidewalk handing out fliers to passersby.

Business as usual for reopened pizza shop

Gumby's Pizza recently reopened after a four-month hiatus, and while its manager says business is better than ever, some former customers aren't returning. The pizza shop closed in December when a water pipe burst in its building, 311 W.

Police briefs 04/22/04

Class to guide future politicians

Some students have run for public office in the past, but little success has been claimed by the younger generation when it comes to winning elections. But the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, a nonpartisan public policy network at MSU, is trying to help young politicians get elected.

Students gauge political views for class with online polling

Although Marley Groskind's ultimate goal is to get a job in advertising or public relations, she has spent the entire semester researching bills that are before the Michigan House. The advertising senior is enrolled in Arts & Letters 331: Writing in the Public Interest, a class that requires students to create online questionnaires aimed at ascertaining how their peers feel about the political issues facing them. "A lot of laws that would potentially be passed will affect college students," Groskind said.

Police briefs 04/21/04

Bill aims to teach abstinence

Some Michigan legislators are pushing to change the way sex education is taught in public schools, switching the focus of programs to abstinence, rather than safe sex. Sen.

Sexual assault survivors speak out against abuse

At the foot of Beaumont Tower on Tuesday, hundreds of brightly colored T-shirts on a clothesline flapped in the wind, each bearing the hand-written words of female sexual assault survivors.

Student charged with fraud, theft seeks bond reduction from judge

The MSU student accused of fraud and identity theft will be in court today for a second bond-reduction hearing.

Skater's paradise

Matt Wein stands tall in a land of giants. The curly-haired 12-year-old stretches to almost five feet next to his older skatepark friends, but he warns that his skateboard skills are separate from his height. On a recent late afternoon, he waited among the silhouetted crowd for another chance to frontside boardslide the angled rail posing in front of them. Wein skates almost every day with his friends at the Ranney Skate Park, 300 Frandor Ave.

Accused murderer of prof set to begin trial

The man accused of the November killing of an MSU professor will stand trial today, when a judge is expected to decide if he is not guilty by reason of insanity. Bramlett Hamilton, 36, is accused of killing his mother and MSU professor Ruth Simms Hamilton.

Police briefs 04/20/04

Diversity among faculty increases

The total number of faculty members at MSU has decreased, but women and ethnic minorities make up a larger percentage of the group, according to a 2002-03 university report released last week.

Prof reflects on past ties to eco-underworld

Rik Scarce still refuses to reveal exactly what he knew about the militant environmentalists suspected of raiding and destroying animal research centers in the early 1990s. More than 10 years ago, a grand jury investigating a raid at Washington State University demanded the former MSU professor divulge information he obtained while researching radical activist groups. Scarce, then a doctoral student at Washington State, said he'd rather go to jail than betray the trust of his research subjects, who were suspected in attacks at MSU and elsewhere.

ASMSU members to elect new officials

Members of ASMSU will hold elections for Academic Assembly chair positions at 6:30 p.m. today on the third floor of Student Services. Assembly representatives and the public will question and debate the new assembly chairperson, internal vice chair and external vice chair for MSU's undergraduate student government.

Bill might ban 'tempting treats' in schools

Michigan's public school students might have to say goodbye to junk food and pop if one local lawmaker can gain support for his bill.

Engineers prepare for off-road tourney

The MSU Mini-Baja Team will compete at the Society of Automotive Engineers Mini-Baja West Competition from Thursday through Saturday in Portland, Ore.