Groups rally for sexual orientation rights in Michigan

LANSING - MSU students and community members held a rally Tuesday on the steps of the Capitol Building to voice support for legislation that adds sexual orientation as a trait that cannot be discriminated against. The Alliance of Lesbian-Bi-Gay and Transgendered Students, an MSU student group, organized the rally to bring awareness to the issues that face their community and the legal challenges they face in Michigan. Alliance member Jeremy Grzymkowski said his group is supporting a proposed amendment to the state’s Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act that makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

Students form teams to battle against cancer in Relay for Life event

The battle might be coming to a close on Saturday, but for some students the war on cancer continues.The Relay for Life, co-sponsored by Battle Against Cancer and the American Cancer Society, marks the close of this year’s battle which officially began Feb.

Fluctuating temperatures frustrate local residents

Students and locals may not have been dreaming of a white April, but that’s what they woke up to Tuesday morning. Saginaw resident Scott Seeburger expressed the thoughts many Michigan residents had as they ventured out of their homes to face temperatures between the mid-20s and mid-40s. “I wasn’t anticipating it being this cold,” Seeburger said.

Coaches to speak at commencement

Men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo and men’s hockey coach Ron Mason will be this year’s undergraduate commencement speakers May 4. Izzo and Mason will speak at 1 p.m.

Council to discuss location of cellular phone tower

Although Amanda Machovsky has owned a cellular phone since she began college four years ago, she never noticed any of East Lansing’s nine cellular phone towers. Toting her brand-new, pale green cellular phone, Machovsky, an elementary education senior, says the communication tool can be a necessity - or an accessory. “The other one I had was attached to my car,” she said.

Economy hurts savings program

As some parents and students have difficulty saving for college, many look to the Michigan Education Savings Program.

Police briefs 04/17/01

Senator to return to session after being jailed; state may take further action

State Sen. David Jaye is supposed to return to session today after spending part of his weekend in a Florida jail for allegedly assaulting his fiancée during the two-week break for Michigan legislators.Jaye, R-Washington Township, denied the charges, but spent Thursday night in jail and was released Friday on a $2,500 bond.

ASMSU elects new chairperson; members confident in decision

Despite competing against four candidates, Quinn Wright said his confidence in winning ASMSU’s Student Assembly chairperson election never faltered.

COGS adopts tax increase

Despite a low turnout at the polls, graduate students approved a tax increase beginning in the 2001-02 school year.

Lawmakers seek tougher construction zone penalties

Michigan’s construction workers may feel a bit safer on the shoulders of the state’s roads.A bill proposed by state Sen.

Department sponsors bowl-a-thon for cancer

The Department of Communication is working to defeat cancer - at the bowling alley. The department is hosting its eighth annual Bowling For Scholars - A Strike Against Cancer bowl-a-thon from noon until 5 p.m.

Psychology project examines language

If you ever wondered, um, why people, uh, have trouble understanding you, well so have some of MSU’s top psychologists.Fernanda Ferreira, a professor of psychology, is researching the development of a theory into how people are able to understand the sentences we hear in the real world that are full of corrections, mistakes and disfluencies.“The question I am interested in is how people, mainly adults, understand language,” she said.

City officials may receive pay raises

LANSING - Lansing officials are slated for a raise in July and then again in mid-2002, unless city council members vote to oppose the increases. If the council doesn’t vote before April 28, Lansing Mayor David Hollister, City Clerk Steve Dougan and Lansing City Council members will see salary increases ranging from 2 percent to 13 percent. Lansing’s Elected Officers Compensation Commission approved the increase in March.

U hosts quiz bowl championships

MSU students will soon be surrounded by some of the top students in Michigan - and they’re not even out of high school.More than 500 high school students from across the state will compete in the 14th annual State Championship High School Quiz Bowl on Friday and Saturday in the Union.

Michigan senator forms election reform task force

Michigan state Sen. Dianne Byrum, D-Onondaga, announced the formation of the Michigan Task Force on Election Reform on Friday.

DCL program trades cans for participation

MSU-Detroit College of Law students spent last week telling their professors to “can it.” The Journal of International Law at DCL sponsored its fourth annual Can-a-Professor Program, which allows students to bring in a canned good or other nonperishable food item in exchange for not having to participate in class. Professors who agree to participate in the program may not call on students who bring cans of food to class. For some law students, the program, which began last Monday was convenient. Daniel Olson, a second-year law student who participated in Can-a-Professor, said the because he was out of town two weeks ago, the program saved him both some reading and from answering questions. “I was at a law review symposium in Washington, D.C., got back late in the week and didn’t feel like reading a lot,” he said. Olson said being able to avoid questions “especially took the stress off for exams in a week and a half.” That’s exactly why the program is so popular, said Connell Alsup, DCL assistant dean of student affairs.

Civil rights advocate to speak to U about activists of the 1960s

The Rev. Edwin King, a peace and civil rights activist will address an audience at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Auditorium. In his second trip to MSU since 1999, King’s address will be on “A Rumor of Freedom, A Rumor of War: The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam.” King, who teaches at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, also served as a chaplain and dean of students at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Miss.

Parks serve tastier foods

LANSING - Amy Thompson is a huge Lansing Lugnuts fan, but one of her favorite reasons for visiting Oldsmobile Park is the wide array of foods she can fill up on. “It’s usually food you can’t have at your house,” said Thompson, an eighth-grader at Holt Junior High School, while munching on her giant New York Pretzel. And at Oldsmobile Park, 505 E.

Partnership helps educate South African students

It all started with a visit from two Zulu artists.And now, Sally McClintock and other mid-Michigan teachers are launching a project that could send many children in an impoverished region of South Africa to school.McClintock, a retired East Lansing Public Schools teacher and administrator, is the founder and director of Linking All Types of Teachers to International Cross-cultural Education, or LATTICE, a partnership that allows mid-Michigan teachers to collaborate with international students in the MSU College of Education.The organization is selling baskets made by women in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, and using the proceeds to send the artists’ children to school.“Public schools are not free in South Africa,” McClintock explained.