Thursday, March 11th, 2010Fritz Klug (Western Herald)When Darius Machado heard that an earthquake shook Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he said at first he was shocked, then he realized that he needed to do something. As president of the Western Michigan University International Programs Council, Machado began organizing a fundraiser. As he started talking to other Registered Student Organizations about it, more [...]

Thursday, March 11th, 2010Megan Higdon (Western Herald)The second presidential debate for the Western Student Association took place yesterday in the Chemistry building, where Presidential candidates Andrew Ladd and Aaron Booth faced off for the final time before next week’s election. The debate was held in a “town hall” format where students were able to submit their questions on notecards [...]

Thursday, March 11th, 2010Fritz Klug (Western Herald)Western Michigan University’s new mass notification system is something that students may never experience. The system of indoor and outdoor speakers has the ability to alert and notify students, faculty and staff of a tornado warning, active shooter on campus, or another type of emergency. The system is something Cam Vossen would never like [...]

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010David Alexander (Western Herald)Risk expert and former president of the Royal Society of Canada, Professor William Leiss, will speak about the dangers of unsound economic practices during his lecture “Risky Business: Living with Catastrophe.” The lecture will take place from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12 and will be in room 1260 of Western [...]

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010Elliot Novess (Western Herald)The Kalamazoo community is rallying around two Western Michigan University students who will take on a monumental challenge: biking 3,600 miles across America and building affordable homes. Psychology major Jennifer McGinnis and elementary education major Zack Sidall are participating in the 2010 Bike and Build.  Both are involved with the Kalamazoo chapter of [...]

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010Josh Holderbaum (Western Herald)A candidate for governor wants to make government more customer friendly, reform regulations and help young people find work in the state. Gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder held a town hall meeting Monday evening at  Western Michigan University’s Fetzer Center. “We’re at a defining moment,” Snyder said. “We’re 50 out of 50. We ran out of [...]

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010Katie White (Western Herald)The Academy Awards are definitely about the movies, but a bigger part of the presentation is the fashion. The day of the Oscars, television is inundated with Red Carpet preshows. It’s all about who is wearing what and how they look in it. The Oscars tend to come after the major fashion weeks. [...]

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010Fritz Klug (News Editor)Retard: 1 “a holding back or slowing down : retardation 2 “a retarded person; also : a person held to resemble a retarded person in behavior” The term, as defined by Webster’s Dicitonary, is, for some, an old time word. For others, it is an offensive slang describing those with cognitive impairments. For the second [...]

Monday, March 8th, 2010Elliot Novess (Western Herald)Two Western Michigan University graduates will speak at the Haworth College of Business this Thursday to talk about what it has been like to work in a business – as a family. Thomas and Robert Trainor Jr. ’s lecture “Entrepreneurship in a Global Economy: A Family Experience” will be held at 5 p.m. [...]

Sunday, March 7th, 2010David James (Western Herald)The upcoming Democratic primary for the 60th district of the Michigan House of Representatives is set to have a strong Western Michigan University connection, as former Western Student Association presidents Sean McCann and Chris Praedel vie for attention leading up to the Aug. 3 vote. While the two candidates agree that issues such [...]

Sunday, March 7th, 2010Erin Kaplan (Western Herald)Close your eyes and picture East Campus — back in 1927. This was the year that Merze Tate walked out of East Hall with a degree in education as one of the first black women to graduate from Western Michigan University. Tate went on to be the first black to receive the Honorary [...]

Sunday, March 7th, 2010Josh Holderbaum (Western Herald)Western Michigan University wants input from students and faculty to make sure it’s ready to be reaccredited later this year. A comment session for WMU’s Higher Learning Commission self-study report will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Bernhard Center’s Martin Luther King, Jr. room. The report offers examples about [...]

Sunday, March 7th, 2010Josh Holderbaum (Western Herald)There’s something other than money that can be counterfeited — Western Michigan University merchandise. A cease-and-desist order has been issued against a Texas company looking to produce WMU merchandise that may have violated trademark laws. Jam Sports Marketing had been calling businesses in Kalamazoo to solicit advertising on a WMU T-shirt they would distribute [...]

Saturday, February 27th, 2010By Alex Paul (Western Herald)Wednesday night’s lecture “Why People are Gay?… and Why It Matters” was rather, to quote speaker Marvin Overby “Why Americans Believe Some People are Gay… and Why It Matters.” For 15 years Overby, a professor at the University of Missouri, received a call from friend Jay Barth have conducted surveys on the size [...]

Thursday, February 25th, 2010Fritz Klug (News Editor)Ondraya Dixon and Danielle Royster sat in front of a group of cameramen, photographers and a journalist to be tested for HIV Friday. Their goal was not to know if they themselves had the virus (they both knew they were negative) but to raise awareness of getting tested within the black community. Dixon, [...]

Thursday, February 25th, 2010Fritz Klug (News Editor)For over three hours and countless glasses of water and cups of coffee, Kalamazoo County commissioners grilled the vetting committee about the feasibility of building an arena in the Arcadia district of downtown Kalamazoo. The Board held a special meeting Tuesday night to discuss the second vetting report for the proposed $81.2 million [...]

Thursday, February 25th, 2010Joe Stando (Western Herald)Students in Western Michigan University’s “Little Three” (French, Zimmerman, and Davis) residence hall complex will need to head elsewhere for meals starting Friday, as the Davis Dining Hall will begin a renovation project lasting the next few months. “We started the planning for this project in the fall of 2009,” said Judy Gipper, [...]

Thursday, February 25th, 2010Jason Koole (Western Herald)On Tuesday night, Aaron Booth and Andrew Ladd squared off in the first debate for the presidential election of the Western Student Association. The 7:00 p.m. debate was held on the stage in the Bronco Mall of the Bernhard Center and many people quickly filled up seats to watch the debate, including the [...]

Thursday, February 25th, 2010Alyssa Herter (Western Herald)Melancholy, dark, and macabre – Alkaline Trio is widely known for their brooding musical history, however, the band’s latest release, “This Addiction,” might be better described as “hopeful.” Though lyrics on most tracks remain pretty hyper-depressive, the album is fresh with lively tempos and up-beat melodies. It escapes falling into an “emo” realm, [...]

Thursday, February 25th, 2010By Alex Paul (Western Herald)“What can you do about al-Qaida?” According to Eric Larson, a senior policy researcher of the RAND Corporation, there are several options: remaining resolute and demanding persistence and accountability in government efforts to eliminate the threat, and helping local imams and the American Muslim community in preventing al-Qaida’s efforts to corrupt Islam. “Don’t despair, [...]

Thursday, February 25th, 2010Elliot Novess (Western Herald)Spring break gives Western Michigan University students motivation to do their taxes early; but some student’s tax returns are being used for simpler things in a recession. Some students use their tax returns to fund their spring break vacations. The downturn in the economy has forced many students to put their fun on the [...]

Thursday, February 25th, 2010Josh Holderbaum (Western Herald)Students and staff will be able share their thoughts on the fate of newspapers in the digital age at a paper contest and a conference in March. Western Michigan University will host the “Conference on the Future of Michigan Newspapers and Society: Can an Educated Society be Sustained Solely by Digitization?” all day [...]