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MICHIGAN

City offers support for East Village project in memo

Darrell Hughes
June 23, 2005

City council members had a shorter meeting on the first day of summer but still managed to take the East Village redeveloping efforts a half step further into the planning process. The council passed a Memorandum of Understanding at its Tuesday meeting for the master developer of the Cedar Village overhaul and city officials. The document demonstrates the city's support of the East Village redevelopment plans.

MICHIGAN

LBGT march to protest hate crimes

Jason Worthy
June 23, 2005

All over the world this month, the gay community is celebrating in many ways, from parades to floats to drag queens. However in Michigan, the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender community plans to focus on a more serious theme this weekend - to protest for civil rights for all homosexuals across Michigan. The 17th annual Michigan Pride Weekend will concentrate on hate crimes, among other issues, officials said. Pride spokeswoman Sarah Mieras said, in Michigan, there is no law to prevent anti-gay hate crimes. "There has been in an increase in hate crimes in Michigan, and this year we plan to focus on ways to prevent these crimes, among other things," Mieras said. She said she predicts that about 15,000 people will participate in the civil rights protest at the Capitol on Saturday. "We plan to march from Grand River Avenue all the way to the state Capitol to protest fair treatment for gays and lesbians," she said. Mieras said the rally this weekend will celebrate the lives and achievements of the LBGT community.

NEWS

Reviewer asks for teargassing

Kris Turner
June 23, 2005

The independent commission reviewing the April 2-3 disturbances should be teargassed to know what people on the streets of East Lansing went through, said commission member Derek Wallbank. "I don't think we have been exposed to chemical munitions," the journalism junior said. Exposing healthy members of the independent commission to tear gas was just one of the ideas discussed at the group's meeting on Tuesday morning. The request to teargas the 11 members was sent to the city attorney's office for review, said East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows, who heads the commission. A police-estimated crowd of about 3,000 people poured out into the city after the men's basketball team loss to the University of North Carolina in the Final Four.

MICHIGAN

Summer festival promotes E.L. businesses

Darrell Hughes
June 23, 2005

Although the ninth annual Summer Solstice Jazz Festival will fill downtown East Lansing with community interaction and live music, the event could also bring downtown businesses more money in the future. The Arts Commission, which planned the event, has several objectives: One is to expose people in the community to various forms of culture and art, said Ami Van Antwerp, East Lansing community events coordinator. Under a huge tent located on the east half of Lot 1 on Albert Avenue, Summer Solstice patrons will have two stages for viewing jazz acts. A musician who grew up in East Lansing, Carl Cafagna, will be playing in the festival with his group, North Star Jazz.

MICHIGAN

Student arrested for being verbally abusive to firemen

Bob Darrow
June 23, 2005

MSU student Scott Posthumus watched as his East Lansing home was ravaged by fire on Saturday. By 4 a.m., he had landed in jail, he said. Posthumus, a finance junior, was arrested early Saturday morning on charges of being loud, boisterous and disorderly, his mother Cindi Posthumus said. "I stood right there and watched the whole thing in disbelief," she said of the arrest. A faulty electrical outlet was the probable cause of the fire that started in the garage of the house at 404 Evergreen Ave.

NEWS

Finals fever

Megan Homanick  and  Alex Abate
June 23, 2005

For the first time in 11 years there will be a Game 7 in the NBA Finals. Pistons and Spurs fans in the East Lansing area are getting ready for what could be one of the most memorable Game 7s in the history of basketball. "The game is going to be close and go down to the wire," physiology senior Ryan VanElslander said.

COMMENTARY

Talk it out

Most problems in the world is essentially caused by miscommunication. Miscommunication often stems from - or leads to - misunderstanding.

COMMENTARY

Identity alert

In a trade-based economy, theft is physically limited to what can be carried away from the rightful owner.

MSU

MSU: Rep. needed on state budget committee

Amy Davis
June 23, 2005

Members of the state House of Representatives and the Senate will soon meet with Gov. Jennifer Granholm in a conference committee to compromise on three proposed methods to fund the state's 15 public universities. But some MSU officials said past committees have been biased, and universities with members on the committees have received higher portions of the state's budget. For more than 30 years, many public universities in Michigan have been funded in ways that did not reflect their enrollment levels or the costs of academic programs, said Steve Webster, MSU's vice president for governmental affairs. Whoever controls the politics of the committee controls the direction of university funding, he said. As a result, Webster said there is a significant disparity in the per-student funding of universities across the state. MSU is funded at about $1,400 less per student than other research universities in the state.

SPORTS

Win would make Detroit best ever

I'm not going to predict tonight's Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but I will remind people of just how impressive the Detroit Pistons have been in the playoffs over the last two years. With a record of 16-7 in the playoffs last year and a suspect 15-9 this season (compared to the Lakers 15-1 a few years back), one might not look at the Pistons as a dominant team. But looks can be deceiving - it's how the Pistons have accomplished two straight trips to the NBA Finals and possibly two titles, which has been almost unthinkable. In both 2004 and 2005, the Pistons disposed of an unworthy opponent in the first round, beating Milwaukee 4-1 last season and Philadelphia 4-1 to begin their current playoff run. In round two against the New Jersey Nets last season, Detroit faced a 3-2 deficit against a team with arguably the best point guard in the NBA - Jason Kidd.

BASKETBALL

Brown to try out for national b-ball team

Alex Abate
June 21, 2005

MSU men's basketball junior guard Shannon Brown accepted an invitation to attend the Under 21 National Team Trials in Dallas on July 21-23. The trials are used to choose the members of the 12-player team that will defend the gold medal for the United States in the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championship in Mar de Plata, Argentina in August. During his sophomore season, Brown averaged 10.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists.

NEWS

Officials discover cause of house fire

Bob Darrow  and  Kris Turner
June 21, 2005

A faulty electrical outlet was ruled as the probable cause of a fire that destroyed one home and damaged two others Friday night. East Lansing Fire Marshal Bob Pratt said the fire, which began in the garage of a home at 404 Evergreen Ave., was unusually large.

COMMENTARY

Scare tactic

Every few months or so, our nation's high and mighty in command drop a certain name into the pool of media for hungry journalists to eat up.

MSU

MSU works on robotic arm for breast exams

Daniel Thai
June 21, 2005

A robotic arm might replace doctors' hands in future breast exams. MSU's Department of Surgery and researchers in the College of Engineering are working together to develop a robotic arm that could give women living in remote areas access to breast exams. The technology is called telemedicine because examinations will occur over long distances, but human doctors will still play a significant role in the exam, said Ranjan Mukherjee, associate professor of mechanical engineering, who is leading the team building the arm. "It shouldn't sound like robots are doing it alone because that's not what it is," he said.