As President Bush's cabinet members played another round of musical chairs Monday, a former Spartan found himself out of work. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, Michigan's former Republican senator, resigned from his post and will not be serving in the Bush cabinet's second term.

Although the news is centered in Washington, D.C., as Bush cabinet members jump ship like Jack and Rose in "Titanic," there could be implications of Abraham's resignation here in East Lansing. MSU researchers are still chasing a $1 billion federal grant to secure the Rare Isotope Accelerator project here at home, and without an MSU graduate helming the nation's Department of Energy, we may have lost a foothold.

Luckily, there are plenty of Spartans to keep up the fight. Abraham was a proponent of the RIA project coming to MSU, but so are Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, can also carry the torch in Washington, as can Bush crony and conveniently-retired MSU President M. Peter McPherson. We might have lost a key player in the battle for the RIA, but we've got reserves to call in.

Designating the RIA project to a specific laboratory - the Cyclotron here on campus would be our host - is still a high priority on the federal level. Not only would it bring $1 billion of research grants to a research university - which actually lags in attracting research grants - such as the RIA program would draw additional investment, create jobs and put MSU back on the same funding footing as some other universities in the state we could mention.

This university needs the RIA project. The man at the wheel of our nation's Department of Energy might be looking for new work, but we're still the favorite candidate. It'll be up to Michigan's other public servants to carry the workload to make the RIA reality.