statenews.com | 6/23/14 | @thesnews
Police briefs
Lottery balls
An MSU student from China was found dead in an apartment Thursday
Gary Harris, Adreian Payne eye 2014 NBA draft
campus+city, PAGE 5
Michigan State University’s independent voice
State News file photo
campus+city, PAGE 5
Festival frenzy TOP LEFT: Lansing resident Elijah West, 9, is taught how to play the tuba during the Lansing Juneteenth Freedom Festival on Saturday, at St. Joseph Park. TOP RIGHT: The United States Air Force puts on a show Saturday at the Jazz Festival on Albert Rd. BOTTOM LEFT: Lansing resident Dennis Preston plays on a drum kit made out of scrap metal during Old Town Scrapfest on Saturday
in Lansing’s Old Town. The drum kit, titled “Heavy Metal Band” and created by the team Scrap On My Mind, took third place. BOTTOM RIGHT: East Lansing resident Tia Longo tastes wine during the 15th Annual Festival of the Moon and Sun on Saturday, at Turner Street and Grand River Avenue in Lansing’s Old Town. The festival featured a wide selection of Michigan wines and brews.
Hayden Fennoy/ The State News
Hayden Fennoy/ The State News
Danyelle Morrow/ The State News
statenews. com To experience each festival firsthand in sights and sounds, view and listen to multimedia coverage spanning the weekend.
T
he Greater Lansing area was abuzz last weekend with a plethora of festivals in East Lansing, Lansing and Old Town. There was music at the East Lansing Jazz Festival and the Festival of the Sun and the Festival of the Moon in Old Town, which simultaneously marked the beginning of the Lansing Beer Week. At St. Joseph Park in Lansing, residents also celebrated the anniversary of the abolition of slavery.
Juneteenth page 3
Scrapfest page 5
Festivals of the sun and moon page 3
East Lansing Jazz Festival page 6
Corey Damocles/The State News
Budget
Trustees approve tuition increase By Casey Holland cholland@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
Spartan students will have to pay more green during the upcoming school year as the Board of Trustees approved a budget of $1.2 billion and raised tuition between 2.6 and 3.6 percent at their meeting Friday. Freshman and sophomore in-state students saw a raise
of 2.6 percent, $11.25 more per credit hour. There will be a 2.9 percent increase of $13.75 more per credit hour for upper division in-state students. Out-of-state undergraduate students will see a tuition increase of 3.6 percent, which amounts to $41 more per credit hour. In-state lower division students who take 30 credits next year would pay about $13,200 overall and in-state upper divi-
sion students with 30 credit hours will pay about $14,708. An out-of-state student taking 30 credit hours will pay $34,965. T he same increase was applied to the College of Engineering, though many students voiced concerns about the tuition hike coupled with the college’s programming fees, which adds $524 to the overall tuition total. “It’s always a concern when
tuition increases, our goal is to have our students graduate with as little debt as possible and make sure that tuition goes down,” the Associated Students of Michigan State University president and human biology senior James Conwell said. “So of course it bothers me. That’s why the state needs to value education more — is because students simply cannot take more debt.” The tentative budget for the
2015-16 school year was also released at the meeting, which included a possible 4 percent tuition increase for both lower and upper division in-state students. The 2014-15 budget also included a 5.9 percent increase in state appropriations. It increased the overall allocation of funds to financial aid 4 percent, while graduate assistants were allocated an additional 1.5 percent. Four per-
cent more will go to utilities and an additional 3 percent to health care. Faculty salaries included 2 percent for general merit, which is distributed by the dean and department chair to faculty members based on their reviews. The college market, a raise given to faculty members who are particularly valuable or at-risk of being See TUITION on page 2 u