Wednesday, December 10, 2025

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MSU

Professors receive rare grants

Two MSU professors are were selected to receive grants from the U.S. Office of Naval Research. Farhad Jaberi, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Aaron Odom, an assistant professor of chemistry, are among 26 scientists nationwide who will share $8 million in grants. Each will receive $300,000 from the government agency as part of the Young Investor Program.

MICHIGAN

Event will kick off reconstruction of Hannah Middle School

The City of East Lansing will mark the beginning of Hannah Middle School’s shift into a community center tomorrow with a Reconstruction Kick-off. The event will include speeches by several city officials and a slide presentation by construction officials from The Christman Co. and architects from Mitchell and Mouat.

MSU

University evaluates recreational facilities

ASMSU’s Student Assembly has posed a question to students: To build or not to build.The undergraduate student government approved a bill Thursday which allocates $10,000 for a professional evaluation of the university’s intramural recreational facilities.

MSU

Students to help construct homes during spring break

Scott Ross is packing a hammer for spring break. Ross, a microbiology junior, will join 40 students from MSU and 9,000 students from across the country on the Habitat for Humanity International’s Collegiate Challenge: Spring Break 2001. The students will be on a mission to construct houses during trips to Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and Virginia.

MSU

Olin offers free safe-sex Valentines gifts

Two condoms, lubrication and a Valentine’s Day card.While these items could possibly make for an interesting evening, they are also what the Olin Health Center Sexual Health Promotion Team will be distributing today from 1 p.m.

MICHIGAN

Task force examines solutions to voting problems

A task force designed to fix problems with East Lansing’s voting system met for the second time Tuesday to discuss revisions.After a hazardous election in November, city officials who are anxious to correct errors and residents frustrated at the process joined together to make improvements.East Lansing city officials appointed nine members to the task force in hopes that the next election will not be as traumatic.Bill Hollister, a member of the task force, was also a candidate for a state House seat in the November election.“We have to make sure that any system is as near perfect as we can get it,” Hollister said at the meeting.Over the course of the two-hour session, members discussed proposals regarding voter registration and renovations at the polls.

MICHIGAN

State lawmakers look at pay process

The state House finds itself with the responsibility of debating the process of pay raises after the state Senate passed a resolution changing the way raises would take place in the future.“It’s in the oversight committee, and we have a couple resolutions here,” said House Speaker Rick Johnson, R-LeRoy.

MSU

Bill asks for braille on emergency phones

ASMSU’s Student Assembly approved a bill Thursday that requests the university place braille writing on all green light emergency phones across campus.“(The measure) basically sends a message that we care about persons with disabilities and their safety,” said Matt Weingarden, the assembly’s Council of Students With Disabilities representative.About 100 emergency telephones are placed in specific parts of MSU’s campus for students to use if they require police assistance.But Weingarden said because the phone booths do not provide adequate light for those who are visually impaired, it is necessary for the numbers to have braille markings on them.“The (current safety) program itself is not inclusive as is,” he said.

MSU

Diversity promoted through cultural art

Maggie Chen Hernandez, coordinator for MSU’s Multicultural Center, said while students often work for racial diversity, they seldom receive recognition for their endeavors. “A lot of the effort to push for multiculturalism at Michigan State comes from students and students should be recognized for some of their outstanding contributions and efforts,” she said. Chen Hernandez and MSU’s Office of Affirmative Action Compliance and Monitoring hope to change that. The Excellence in Diversity Recognition and Awards Program will provide cash awards to individuals, teams, organizations and students who have shown a commitment to promoting and supporting diversity at MSU. As many as three individual students and three student teams will be awarded $2,500 through the “Excellence in Diversity” and “Excellence Within Community” categories.

MSU

Students celebrate Vagina Day in New York

The 19,000 people who filled Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday were asked to stand if they, or someone they knew, had been a victim of sexual assault.“Everyone in the entire place stood up,” international studies junior Melanie Olmsted said. “It was an extremely moving experience.”According the National Organization for Women, 132,00 women are sexually assaulted each year.Olmsted and 14 other MSU students traveled to New York for Vagina Day and the showing of the “Vagina Monologues”. Written by Eve Ensler, the monologues feature 15 stories women perform about experiences with sexuality.“The “Vagina Monologues” are so wonderful because they explore taboos that aren’t normally expressed,” Olmsted said.