Record number of MSU researchers named as 2021 AAAS Fellows

Nine Michigan State University researchers were elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS, in 2021.

This is the highest number of MSU AAAS Fellows named in over 10 years and tied to the 2011 class for most MSU researchers to be named as an AAAS Fellow in a single year.

The researchers have each discipline but each of them have made outstanding contributions to their field.

The first fellow is Associate professor emeritus Mark Urban-Lurain and named in education. Urban-Lurain taught introductory computer science courses for non-computer science majors before going into research around STEM education.

Urban-Lurain said improving STEM education will improve science as a whole. He hopes to help prepare STEM researchers for a career in teaching.

The next fellow, we have Professor Eunice Foster who is in the department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences. She was named fellow in agricultural, food, and renewable resources for her contributions to the field of agronomy.

Foster came to MSU in 1982 as the first female and person of color in her department. She earned the title of first female and person of color serving as Associate Dean and Director of the Institute of Agricultural Technology in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

A couple of years later in 1986, Foster and a student formed an organization named Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences. She served as the first president and the leadership team for 10 years.

Foster continues to be heavily involved with the organization, which have 65 chapters in 35 states.

What’s going on with inflation, and why is it happening now? MSU experts respond

You may have noticed the price of everyday goods, like food and gas, has risen in recent months.

This price increase can be attributed to many things, including a lack of spending money caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain issues and shortages in labor.

Michigan state economics professor Charles Ballard said. “The economy is pretty complex, kind of like a spider web. If you touch a spider web over here, the whole thing shakes.”

Because of people spending their stimulus money on activities such as traveling back in 2020 and 2021, that contributed to an uphill rise in prices and it calculated a 7% increase over the last year according to the Consumer Price Index.

Ballard also said the demand for products were high and the U.S. and China were able to keep up.

Due to COVID-19, the death of baby boomers and retirement are other contributing factors to the labor shortages.

Students express excitement and frustration over Oscar nominations

The nominations for the 2022 Academy Awards were announced on Feb. 8. “The Power of the Dog” leads the Best Picture nominations with 12 votes.

Controversy has fallen between students and critics alike; students have agreed that “Dune” should not win.

One thing they did agree on though, is their shared love for Andrew Garfield and his performance in “tick… tick… BOOM!” Another note students agreed on is the continued lack of diversity in the Oscar nomination, behind the camera and within the industry as a whole.

Another agreement, the animated feature Encanto should win due to its representation and students were delighted that King Richard, and West Side Story were nominated for Best Picture with their great representation as well.

Even though the academy became better at recognizing representation, many agreed the industry needed more improvement.

A first year student said, It’s difficult for people of marginalized communities to make it big enough to be awarded for their hard work and creativity in the entertainment industry. Films are being looked over for a low-grade film.

Based on original reporting by Madison Rose, Myesha Johnson, Amalia Medina. Script by Shakyra Mabone.