art

Turning damaged trees into products

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On campus known for it’s natural beauty, one MSU organization is making sure that beauty stays here and the MSU Surplus store is helping. Their big “Shop Everything” event gathered vendors all over campus for this holiday’s gift giving season. MSU Shadows, an organization at the event, re-purposes trees that are damaged on campus and creates chairs, oars, coasters, and all kinds of products. “We had trees that grow on campus, we loved them, people sat underneath them, there was marriage proposals underneath some of these trees, and they died,” Daniel Brown, coordinator of Wood Recovery Program, said. Normally, these dead trees would be used for mulch or as a bio fuel, but in this case, they’ll live again.

Business & Economy

Auditors raise concerns about State Surplus inventory tracking

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By PERRY PARKS
Capital News Service
LANSING – The D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans in Marquette was looking to unload a Chevy transport van with a wheelchair lift. A medical transportation company in Flint was looking to pick one up. Buyer and seller met Jan. 20 on MiBid, an Internet auction site overseen by Michigan’s State Surplus program. The van, a 2006 Chevy Express 3500 LS with 48,000 miles, sold to On the Move Transportation for $10,177.

Business & Economy

Debate looms over dividing state surplus

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By BECKY McKENDRY
Capital News Service
LANSING – Tax cuts or a tax rebate? Pensions or a bailout for Detroit? While there isn’t a simple way to get lawmakers to agree about what to do with an expected $971 million surplus in state revenue, economists have a simple message:
Don’t get too excited. “The amount involved is quite small relative to the whole budget,” said Doug Roberts, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University. “It won’t have a major impact either way.