Issue 62

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Lanthorn G R A N D VA L L EY

T H E S T U D E N T- R U N N E W S PA P E R S AT G R A N D V A L L E Y. W W W. L A N T H O R N . CO M INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

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LIFE’S A BEACH: THE LANTHORN’S GUIDE TO THE LAKESHORE

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NEWS I A2

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LAKER LIFE I B4

M O N DAY, M AY 2 1 , 2 01 2

FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN INTEREST RATES SET TO DOUBLE JULY 1 Courtesy Photo / gvsu.edu

Finish line: Teen’s present at the final day of last year’s Teen Entrepreneur Summer Academy.

Registration for Teen Entrepreneur Summer Academy approaching BY ANYA ZENTMEYER GVL MANAGING EDITOR

Grand Valley State University will play host to high school students from across West Michigan June 18 to 22 for GVSU’s sixth-annual Teen Entrepreneur Summer Academy, which aims to equip students with knowledge about the business startup process and career opportunities in the field. TESA, sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation alongside the Seidman College of Business, culminates with a showcase at the end of the five-day academy, where teams will have a chance to win an iPad and cash prizes totaling at $1,000. Throughout the week, students will learn about creative idea generation, problem solving, marketing techniques, management philosophies, financial strategies and presentation skills through interactive seminars, team building activities, hands-on research and networking with local entrepreneurs. In a press release, TESA’s organizers state that the “skill sets learned at TESA are rarely taught in-depth during high school, and preparing each student with an arsenal of entrepreneurial tools will be advantageous for college admissions and resume building.” Students entering ninth grade through freshman year in college at the Fall 2012 semester are eligible to attend the academy, which is held at GVSU’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. the week of June 18.

SEE ENTREPRENEUR, A4

Rate raise, loss of grace period would translate to additional $1,000 in debt BY Samantha BUTcher GVL Editor in Chief

Despite debates, protests and a Senate vote, interest rates on subsidized Stafford student loans are set to double July 1. In addition to doubling rates, students would also lose a sixmonth grace period, during which the holder does not have to pay interest on the loan and interest does not accumulate. “I need the grade period to find a job, find someplace to live,” said Molly Waite, a senior writing major at Grand Valley State University. “If I had to pay immediately, my parents would try to help, but they’re just as much in debt as I am from medical bills. ... I likely won’t be able to find work fast enough to pay back those loans without the grace period. That grace period was part of the reason I chose federal loans.” According to a release from the White House, the increase would costs students an average of $1,000 in additional student loan debt. A study released in the Federal Reserve Bank’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit valued Americans’ current outstanding student loan balance at $870 billion, a number that is expected to exceed $1 trillion this year. “I’m poor — extremely poor,” Waite said. “I plan on going on a poverty diet after I graduate so that I can pay off my loan without having to sell my organs.”

GVL / Eric Coulter

Assistance: Financial Aid Counselor Detwann Johnson helps a student over the phone. Interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans are set to double July 1 after a four-year reduction.

According to data collected by GVSU’s Institutional Analysis, the average “per-undergraduate-borrower cumulative principal borrowed” averaged at $26,912 for GVSU students who earned a bachelor’s degree between July 1, 2010, and June 20, 2011, and borrowed at any time during their enrollment. That number includes Stafford loans as well as other federal and private loan debts. In 2007, lawmakers passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act to decrease interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans through 2011. Although Senate Republicans and Democrats have both expressed a desire to extend the 3.4 percent interest rate on Stafford loans for another year, lawmakers have yet to agree

S E E S T U D E N T LOA N S , A 4

Buoy begins mid-lake research BY Samantha BUTcher GVL Editor in Chief

After a 58-day trial and months of waiting for ideal weather, a WindSentinel research buoy collecting offshore wind data for Grand Valley State University was placed in Lake Michigan earlier this month. The $3.3 million research project is a collaboration between GVSU’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center, the Annis Water Resources Institute, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. Researchers are using the 20-by-10foot, six-ton buoy to collect real-time data on wind, water quality and the flight paths of birds and bats over the Great Lakes, and hope the platform will

help determine whether off-shore wind farms are a viable source of alternative energy. Using LiDAR, a new laser technology, the buoy can collect measurements of wind up to 175 meters high, the same height as next-generation wind turbines now on the market. The mid-lake plateau, where the buoy is placed, is predicted to have a high potential for wind energy, said Jim Edmonson, project manager of the study. “The data collected with have considerable shelf life value for research purposes,” said Arn Boezaart, MAREC director. “Using a floating research platform to collect wind measurements that high up has never been done before on the Great Lakes or in North America. This is also the first time a research

Courtesy Photo / gvsu.edu

buoy of this type will operate this far offshore. Project supporters across North America are eagerly waiting for the research results.” In addition to the research institutions involved, results from the study will be used by the NOAA’s National Weather Service for marine forecasts.

SEE MAREC, A4

Campus tours attract future GV students By Morgan Miller GVL Staff Writer

GVL Archive

On display: GVSU student Patrick Brown leads a tour group.

As students take a less-duty workload during the spring/ summer semester and enjoy the beautiful spring weather, Grand Valley State University admissions work around the clock to draw in potential Lakers, especially during its busiest months in late July, August and weeks leading up to the May 1 application deadline. With the increase in number of prospective students and families requesting tours, admissions has increased the frequency of tours in the Monday through Friday rotation from three to five times a day in order to avoid an increase in length, which currently caps off at 1 hour and 15 minutes and usually hosts around 15 or fewer people. Melanie Retberg, associate director of admissions, coordinates the campus tours and trains the tour guides. She and a group of admissions professionals established the route

that visits GVSU’s most popular buildings like Kelly Family Sports Center, the Recreation Center, Fieldhouse Arena and housing units. “Our campus is very impressive so we’re just trying to show it off,” Retberg said. Retberg said admissions also takes into consideration guests’ feedback when planning the tours. Although she said that most of the feedback is positive, most families mentioned they wanted to see student life and really enjoy visiting the dining halls, the classrooms, lecture halls, Kirkhof and the different styles of housing. To add to the student life display, a bus route has been recently added to the tour. Under the front desk management, GVSU student tour guides lead the tours. Austin Langlois, a junior who has been a tour guide for two years, said student tour guides play an important role

S E E C A M P U S TO U R S , A 4


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