Republican Congressman Dave Camp recently came to Ferris State University to speak to stu­dents and the Big Rapids com­mu­nity about his expe­ri­ences as a mem­ber of the House of Representatives and the polit­i­cal issues that are fac­ing our coun­try today.

As a rep­re­sen­ta­tive from the fourth con­gres­sional dis­trict, where Mecosta County falls, he has been serv­ing in con­gress since 1991.

Camp’s speech focused mainly on tax­a­tion and fun­da­men­tal reform to the cur­rent tax sys­tem that is imposed upon Americans. He advo­cates some cuts to the sys­tem and a gen­eral reform toward a sim­pli­fied tax code. (more…)

An unau­tho­rized account was cre­ated on the Ferris com­puter sys­tem in an appar­ent attempt to hack the school’s servers.

The account was noticed and deleted by uni­ver­sity staff the same day it was created, Monday, March 22. (more…)

The Birkham Health Center recently reported a case of tuber­cu­lo­sis in a Ferris student.

According to health cen­ter offi­cials, the uni­ver­sity was informed of the TB diag­no­sis by a health depart­ment in another county. Director of Birkham Health and Counseling Center Paul Sullivan said he feels the chance of mul­ti­ple stu­dents becom­ing infected is minor. (more…)

An unau­tho­rized account was cre­ated on the Ferris com­puter sys­tem in an appar­ent attempt to hack the school’s servers.

The account was noticed and deleted by uni­ver­sity staff the same day it was created, Monday, March 22.

(more…)

Two Ferris stu­dents have been charged with bur­glary for an inci­dent that occurred on Feb. 14 at a house in Mecosta Township.

Tyler Eggleston, 19, of Howard City, and Justin Chabeneau, 20, of Saint Clair Shores, were arraigned in the 77th District Court. They are cur­rently being held in the Mecosta County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

A flat-panel T.V. is among the items that were taken from the home.

The Mecosta County Sherriff’s Office and FSU Department of Public Safety worked together in response to this incident.

More infor­ma­tion will be posted as it becomes available.

The Pedestrian Safety Task Force has been work­ing to improve the safety of cross­walks and vis­i­bil­ity of sig­nage around campus.

In addi­tion to the vis­i­bil­ity of cross­walks, other options are being looked into. Student Government com­piled a study of cam­pus inter­sec­tions and cross­walks that was very help­ful to the task force, accord­ing to task force chair and vice pres­i­dent of admin­is­tra­tion and finance Jerry Scoby. (more…)

In light of the recent earth­quake in Haiti, Ferris has devel­oped an effort to help send dona­tions and aid to the dev­as­tated country.

Three of the orga­ni­za­tions that are help­ing lead the effort include Student Government, the Office of Multicultural Student Services, the Student Affairs office and the Athletic Department. The money gath­ered by these efforts will go to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. (more…)

Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD) is look­ing for­ward to newly ren­o­vated facil­i­ties as Ferris con­tin­ues with plans for the Old Federal Building in down­town Grand Rapids.

The plans went to the next level after approval by the state House and Senate for $10.6 mil­lion in tax cred­its for the project, leav­ing around $20 mil­lion to be raised by the university.

Constructed in 1911 and home to the Grand Rapids Art Museum in recent years, the Old Federal Building needs repairs includ­ing a new roof, foun­da­tion repairs and updates to the mechan­i­cal sys­tems. (more…)

Employee part­ner health benefits

Ferris State, along with two other west Michigan uni­ver­si­ties, recently voted to grant unmar­ried part­ners of uni­ver­sity employ­ees health benefits.

The Ferris Board of Trustees recently voted unan­i­mously to pass the mea­sure, which does not dis­crim­i­nate by gen­der and will be clas­si­fied as “Other Eligible Adult.” Grand Valley State University and Western Michigan University are the other two uni­ver­si­ties in West Michigan who have passed sim­i­lar measures.

Two of the cur­rent Ferris fac­ulty, Jim Rumpf and Marc Sheehan, have stated that they believe this will help to retain and attract new qual­ity employees.

One of the stip­u­la­tions is that the part­ner has to have lived in the same res­i­dence as the employee for 18 months and not as a ten­ant. (more…)

The Ferris State hockey team improved its unbeaten streak to 12 games in con­fer­ence play with a sweep of Notre Dame.

Five dif­fer­ent play­ers scored for the Bulldogs as they out­shot the Fighting Irish 31–20 in a 5–2 vic­tory on Saturday. Junior for­ward Mike Embach recorded a goal and two assist for Ferris. Four other play­ers added two points in the vic­tory. (more…)