Local businesses, organizations prepare for Earth Day activities

When the first Earth Day was born April 22, 1970, Americans were slurping leaded gasoline through oversized sedans. Thirty-one years later, Americans are slurping unleaded gasoline through road-wide sport utility vehicles. While there have been improvements in the way people treat the environment, there’s still work to do, said Kyle Tisdel, a member of the East Lansing Commission on the Environment. “We’re taking some steps back in some areas, but I think it’s changing as well,” the international relations senior said.

Groups give day attitude

LANSING - Michigan environmental groups, including ECO, an MSU environmental club, gathered on the east steps of the Capitol on Thursday to condemn Gov.

Take Back the Night makes students aware

Hundreds of women are expected to unite against sexual violence Friday night as the highlight of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.The Take Back the Night March aims to empower women who have survived acts of sexual violence and allow them to voice the need to stop this type of violence.“We need to raise awareness that there is a problem,” said Alyssa Baumann, events coordinator and The Listening Ear center coordinator.

Panel examines undercover officer investigation

When a three-member panel convenes to review a campus police undercover investigation of a campus activist group, it will have more than the facts of the operation to examine.MSU President M.

Civil rights activist speaks to U

As a civil rights activist in the south, the Rev. Edwin King said there were many times he thought he was going to die fighting for the rights of Americans.King presented “A Rumor of Freedom, A Rumor of War: The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam” on Wednesday night to about 200 people in the Auditorium.

CATA hopes to implement railway; reviews options

The Capital Area Transportation Authority is moving along the tracks toward its proposed $85 million Lansing to Detroit Passenger Rail System.CATA secured the next step in a needed rail study for the project, which will review all transportation alternatives to the system that would have stops in Lansing, East Lansing, Howell, Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Detroit.

Skateboarders request funds for city project

When Dave Spruit was a high school senior in Grand Rapids, he and his friends were ticketed while skateboarding.As a human resources management senior at MSU, Spruit fears it will happen again.“I’ve worried about that in East Lansing,” the MSU Skateboard Organization member said.

U-M woman assaulted near Mile event

ANN ARBOR - A woman who was walking across the University of Michigan’s campus was sexually assaulted Tuesday night, the same time as the “Naked Mile.” She was not participating in the annual nude celebration that marks the end of spring semester classes, said Ann Arbor Police Sgt.

New area codes to be added this fall

Katya Koganova is not a stranger to area code changes. In her hometown of Troy, the area code has changed three times since 1993, and another code will be added soon.“It is the way it is going to be, we just have to get used to it,” the marketing and Spanish sophomore said.

City Center brings new era for E.L. businesses

As East Lansing enters a period of vibrancy beginning with the construction of the $30 million City Center Project, the signs of the city’s last revitalization are disappearing, brick by brick.Demolition of the University Mall, 220 M.A.C.

Student to buy vowel, spin wheel

After years of watching from afar, Alia Fox will soon have the opportunity to buy her own vowel.Selected from a group of 2,000, the medical technology senior will leave today for California to be a participant on Wheel of Fortune - a feat she has tried to accomplish for years.“Last summer the ‘Wheel Mobile’ was touring the nation, and stopped in Kalamazoo,” Fox said.

Graduates encouraged to vote in GEU election

Graduate employees head to the polls today and Friday to decide the fate of the Graduate Employees Union. Chris Oliver, president of the union, said he is optimistic. “We feel confident,” he said.

Police briefs 04/19/01

International experts to address U

Wendy Baldwin, deputy director of extramural research at the National Institutes of Health, will be delivering an address to advanced degree candidates at advanced degree ceremonies May 4. In addition to speaking, Baldwin will be receiving an honorary doctorate of science at the ceremonies, which will take place at 7 p.m.

ASMSU to restart yearbook battle

A proposed ASMSU measure is once again sparking debate within the university’s undergraduate student government about editorial power of the Red Cedar Log yearbook.Bryan Newland and Crystal Price are seeking ASMSU Student Assembly approval of a measure that would establish a yearbook editorial board and give first priority for space in the publication to minority student groups above other registered student organizations.

New senators set records

LANSING - The state Senate convened Tuesday morning to swear in its two newest members. The two new members happen to be the state’s first Mexican American senator and the sixth female senator, who brings the highest number of women ever in the senate. “I remember taking the oath of office,” said Lt.

Event serves up taste of area eateries

The Faculty Folk Club and the Mildred B. Erickson Board of MSU are inviting the public to eat some food for thought. The annual Taste of the Town will be held from 6 p.m.

Archer wont seek third mayoral term

Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer announced early Tuesday he will not run for re-election in 2002. “I love this city.

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.