On Jan 21 more than 1,200 people will step out of the Lansing Center ready to live according to Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream.
New York - Paul Graham was within minutes of missing his flight home last week. After four frigid hours in a viewing platform line, the Minneapolis resident said he would rather reschedule a flight than miss his chance to stare at the stretches of tearful remembrance and glimpse at the sand pit in downtown Manhattan. Years ago, he saw World Trade Center towers that scraped the sky at 1,350 feet. This time, he wanted to see the rocky remains - the posters of missing people, the burning candles, the children’s handprints and misspelled wishes for happiness and the rubble of seven buildings. “You know what to expect from pictures, but pictures don’t show the whole impact,” he said, looking for warmth under his winter clothing near a collection of red, white and blue memorial signs.
Waiting until another tragedy like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to donate blood could cause a severe shortage in blood supply around the country. Jim Rummel, a spokesman for the Great Lakes region of the American Red Cross, said California, Arizona, New York and Chicago all experienced shortages in the last few weeks, but not Michigan - yet. “We personally aren’t having a problem yet in the Great Lakes region,” Rummel said.
The new year brings new honors for two MSU freshmen. After being selected as second-team Freshman All-Americans by The Sporting News last month, offensive guard William Whitticker and linebacker Ronald Stanley made the Football News Freshman All-America teams. Whitticker received first-team honors after starting 11 of 12 games this season.
The new year found three new faces in the Spartan lineup searching for, well, new beginnings.MSU head coach Ron Mason used a nonconference series against overmatched Quinnipiac to insert freshman goaltender Matt Migliaccio, junior left wing Steve Clark and redshirt sophomore forward Pat Brush into the Spartan lineup.Each played one game of the series - Clark in Friday’s 4-1 win and Migliaccio and Brush in Saturday’s 3-1 victory - but all hope the appearances won’t be their only cameos of the 2002 campaign.“I try to approach every weekend as if I was going to play,” said Brush, who had played in one previous game on Jan.
Junior running back T.J. Duckett will hold a press conference Thursday, presumably to discuss whether he intends to enter the upcoming NFL Draft. Teammate Little John Flowers, a running back who attended Loy Norrix High School with Duckett, confirmed that Duckett will talk to the media but wouldn’t say what the star Spartan’s future plans are. “He’s leaving everybody in suspense,” Flowers said. An NFL official said Duckett has yet to file to become eligible for April’s draft, but the Kalamazoo native has until Friday to turn in his paperwork. Analysts have said if Duckett returns, the Spartans could make a serious run at winning the Big Ten title - with fellow offensive threats in wide receiver Charles Rogers and quarterback Jeff Smoker. If he turns to the draft, many predict he could be a late first-round or early second-round selection. Duckett ran for 1,420 yards this season, a year capped with a 184-yard performance in MSU’s 44-35 New Year’s Eve Silicon Valley Football Classic victory over the Fresno State Bulldogs. For updated information on this article, check back to www.statenews.com throughout the day.
After a week of trying to find money that was not there to send the Spartan Marching Band to the Silicon Valley Football Classic, the administration decided there was enough money to give Bobby Williams a pay raise and a contract extension (“Not worth it,” SN 1/7). What has Williams done to deserve a raise?
American citizens are Constitutionally protected from double jeopardy - being tried twice for the same crime.
Mental health advocates and drug companies won a decision in Ingham Circuit Court Monday to push back a plan set forth by the Michigan Department of Community Health. Under the plan, a list of particular medications created by state doctors and pharmacists will not be available to low-income patients unless they show evidence they need the drug. Geralyn Lasher, spokesperson for the department, said they will appeal the decision. “If we are not able to move forward with the plan we feel there will be irreparable harm,” Lasher said.
Joe Namath he’s not, but that didn’t stop Charles Rogersfrom making a bold prediction after a 44-35 victory over Fresno State in the Silicon Valley Football Classic.
Jeff Smoker will certainly have a different offense to coordinate if running back T.J. Duckett decides he’s ready to enter April’s NFL Draft. But the sophomore quarterback told The State News on Tuesday afternoon, “I can’t blame him” for going pro. “He also has to look out for himself and realize this is one of the reasons he came here,” Smoker said.
Erie Twp., Mich. - For as long as he can remember, Brian Thomas has loved to run. And the December 2001 MSU graduate will have all the opportunity he needs to enjoy that love - while helping a cause - for about 20 miles a day for the next three months. Thomas, 22, set out from Lake Orion, Mich., on Jan.
The Senate Technology and Energy Committee will meet Wednesday to begin preparing a program to increase the availability of broadband Internet access in Michigan.Chaired by Sen.
The recent tuition hike approved by the Central Michigan University Board of Trustees is unreasonable and despicable. In December, the Central Michigan board voted to raise the school’s undergraduate tuition rate by 28 percent beginning in fall 2002 - which will cost full-time in-state students $498 more per semester on average.
Students returning to Akers and Hubbard halls will take part in an experimental food service project this semester.MSU food service officials consolidated the two cafeterias Monday, meaning 2,200 students will see more options and extended hours for spring semester.“It is an improvement and realignment of food services,” said Bruce Haskell, food service coordinator.
A fall semester study break at the University of Michigan has left some Spartans green - with envy. The U-M Board of Regents approved the idea, brought forth by U-M students, to have a two-day break each October, starting this year. MSU Assistant Provost Barbara Steidle said a midsemester break also has been brought up to university officials before by the University Committee on Academic Policy.
As much as I would like to write one of my typical columns in which I quote political leaders and shove facts and statistics down your throat to prove my point, I think I’m going to lay off this week.
Two weeks ago the Catholic Diocese pulled the plug on plans to run the Lansing Civic Players’ “Breaking the Code” at Lansing Catholic Central High School auditorium. “Breaking the Code” tells the story of 1940s mathematician Alan Turing, who was convicted of homosexuality and committed suicide at 42.
The MSU football team’s blue chip recruit says he’d certainly enjoy the opportunity to learn from junior tailback T.J.
State lawmakers have removed Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides health care to men and women of low-income families, from being a priority in receiving state and federal family planning money.The bill, which was passed Dec.