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News

NEWS

Murder trial continues, lawyers argue testimony

Katie Abdilla
October 4, 2013

Hours of police questioning had passed since MSU alumnus Tyler Aho rushed his roommate, nutritional sciences senior Andrew Singler, to the hospital after he was stabbed on the evening of Feb. 23 — and Aho still had no idea his friend had died. It took him about ten minutes to drive Singler to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, with Singler fading in and out of consciousness, groaning in pain and holding a towel to his chest.

NEWS

Unreported

Katie Abdilla
October 3, 2013

It happened before she knew what was going on. On a rainy football weekend last September, Residential College in the Arts and Humanities senior Kary Askew went to a fraternity to watch the game on television and visit with friends.

MICHIGAN

Portion of Albert Avenue to temporarily close for construction

Simon Schuster
October 3, 2013

A portion of Albert Avenue will be closed from about 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday for construction, East Lansing officials said in a statement. City employees will be repairing sewer lines underneath a portion of Albert Avenue encompassing Gunson, Ann and Durand streets, according to the East Lansing Department of Public Works.

MICHIGAN

University Student Commission discusses couch burnings, party litter

Derek Gartee
October 3, 2013

MSU and East Lansing has had a bad reputation for couch burnings in the past, so this year, the University Student Commission plans to put in extra effort to eradicate the issue. The University Student Commission is a commission of MSU students who make proposals and suggestions to the East Lansing City Council addressing the problems students face. Their second meeting of the school year was Oct. 1, when members met to outline their initiatives for the semester. Issues included the rise in tuition costs and the continuation of party litter policy, but the main topic of conversation was couch burnings.

MSU

University officials look to address cheating methods in online courses

Justine McGuire
October 3, 2013

Offering online courses is relatively new at MSU, and the campus community still is working toward the best solutions for academic problems that can arise, officials said. Online courses generate increased complaints of academic dishonesty that warrant different kinds of investigation and communication, University Ombudsperson Robert Caldwell told the Steering Committee earlier this week.

MSU

Living City-Inside the fish bowl

Margaux Forster
October 3, 2013

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in your own personal aquarium? Welcome to the life of fisheries and wildlife junior Heather Burke. She has a concentration in fisheries biology, and it shows. Burke comes home everyday to more than 40 fish tanks that are tucked away into every free corner of the small house she shares with her younger sister.

MSU

Divine Nine fraternity hosts week of events highlighting African-American history

April Jones
October 3, 2013

In an effort to bring together MSU’s student community to address problems often associated with African-American heritage, MSU’s Alpha Phi Alpha designed a full eduactional week informing students on various issues. Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity created a week of events, with a theme of “We the People.” With only 16 active undergraduate members, Keyon Clinton, chapter president and electrical engineering senior, said the events were focused on redefining themselves in the African-American community, with programs explaining African-American worth in the U.S. and establishing an agenda to become a proactive race.

MICHIGAN

Trial of Okemos man charged with fatally stabbing MSU student continues

Katie Abdilla
October 3, 2013

The murder trial of Okemos resident Connor McCowan continued Thursday morning with additional testimony and recorded police interviews from the roommate of his alleged victim, MSU student Andrew Singler. Singler, a nutritional sciences senior, was fatally stabbed in his apartment Feb. 23 after he and McCowan allegedly had a disagreement over a series of text messages, culminating in McCowan showing up at the apartment. McCowan’s trial began this week in Ingham County Circuit Court.

MICHIGAN

Police: Student sexually assaulted in Chemistry Building

Katie Abdilla
October 3, 2013

A sexual assault reportedly occurred between 3 and 4 p.m. on Sept. 25 in the Chemistry Building, according to the MSU Police Department. A 20-year-old female student told police on Oct. 1 she met a man while sitting outside of Wells Hall Sept. 25. The man walked her to the Chemistry Building and allegedly assaulted her in a stairwell, MSU police said in a statement.

MICHIGAN

Poll: those under 30 tend to trust federal government more

A recent Gallup poll shows public trust in the government is at an all-time low, but, perhaps counterintuitively, those under the age of 30 tend to be much more trusting than those over 30, according to a study earlier this year from the Pew Research Center. At MSU, the trend seems to hold true according to some student political leaders. Lucas Joncas, president of MSU’s College Libertarians, said he thinks younger people tend to not pay as close attention to politics and policy as their older counterparts might.

MSU

Group protests Kellogg Company

Celeste Bott
October 2, 2013

MSU students are imploring Kellogg’s food company to stop doing business with Wilmar International, a palm oil supplier destroying rainforests and threatening the endangered Sumatran tiger. Student volunteers spent hours Wednesday on Grand River Avenue sidewalk outside Espresso Royale recruiting passersby to call Kellogg’s and make their voices heard.

MSU

University officials discuss free Wi-Fi in residence halls at RHA meeting

Nolly Dakroury
October 2, 2013

The university is working on brining free wireless service into residence halls for students, starting with Wilson Hall this fall. During Wednesday’s Residence Halls Association, or RHA, meeting Ray Gasser, senior associate director for the Residence Education and Housing Services, or REHS, said the organization is working on educating residents of Wilson Hall not to use routers in their rooms since the additional routers distort the connection.

MICHIGAN

New phone repair store opens

Brian Palmer
October 2, 2013

Students will have another option when it comes to mobile device repairs with Genius Phone Repair creating a new home on Grand River Avenue. The new business, which originated in Grand Rapids, deals with solving physical and hardware malfunctions and provides more options for student who have encountered phone troubles. Genius Phone Repair conducts mostly physical damage such as replacing cracked screens, button repairs, headset jacks, charger outlets and internal hardware and water damage. It is independent from all other carriers, such as Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint, though they work closely with one another, making the business unique from other options in the area.

MICHIGAN

Face Time: East Lansing City Council candidate Ben Eysselinck

Geoff Preston
October 2, 2013

Ben Eysselinck has been many places in his life, but he said as soon as he entered East Lansing’s Glencairn neighborhood eight years ago, he was “instantly in love.” Now, he wants to make his mark on the city by running for one of the four-year term East Lansing City Council seats that will be vacated by incumbents Vic Loomis and Kevin Beard after the Nov. 5 election.

MSU

ASMSU looking to launch new bike rental program

Nolly Dakroury
October 2, 2013

ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, approved a bill last week allowing the allocation of $52,800 to fund a bike share pilot program on campus, providing students and faculty members initially with 40 bikes to rent throughout the school year. The program would allow students to rent from stations across campus, mostly located in front of residence halls.

MICHIGAN

Mobile app would pair drinkers with drivers

Simon Schuster
October 2, 2013

A new smartphone application will attempt to cut down on drunk driving by having MSU students get rides from an unlikely resource — their fellow students. Sobrio, which will begin offering regular rides this weekend, connects riders to drivers through the app’s interface.

MICHIGAN

Former roommate describes night of Singler's death

Katie Abdilla
October 2, 2013

A series of offensive text messages exchanged between Okemos resident Connor McCowan and MSU stabbing victim Andrew Singler kicked off McCowan’s murder trial Tuesday morning. “I have no problem finding you just to whoop your ass,” Ingham County Assistant Prosecutor John Dewane read, quoting a text McCowan sent to Singler the evening of Feb. 23. “Then you wouldn’t have a problem if I showed up at your apartment then, huh?”