The art of being blue: Blue Man Group comes to E.L.
City commission discusses E.L. parking rules
MSU v. Indiana, how counterparts matched up
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CAMPUS+CITY, PAGE 3
SPORTS, PAGE 6
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Weather Partly cloudy High 26° | Low 20° Michigan State University’s independent voice | statenews.com | East Lansing, Mich. | Thursday, February 21, 2013
A D M I N I S T R AT I O N
OSTEOPATHIC COLLEGE MAY HAVE ADVISORY
Three-day forecast, Page 2
MSU: 20 wins for 10th-straight season
BOARD ENDED By Samantha Radecki radeckis@msu.edu THE STATE NEWS ■■
After a unanimous vote by the Michigan House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon, MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine is one step closer to attaining independence after legislators passed a bill to eliminate the college’s state appointed advisory board — a mandate that has been in place since the 1960s. According to Pat Grauer, the College of Osteopathic Medicine, or COM, public relations director, throughout the past few decades advisory committee members were appointed by the state to provide guidance and advocate for the college. This state connection was part of the original public act of 1969, which allowed a private institution of osteopathic medicine in Pontiac, Mich., to move and become a part of MSU, which now is known as COM, she said. “That was huge — it was the fi rst time that a college of osteopathic medicine had ever been affi liated with a public institution or major university,” Grauer said. “And this was the fi rst time t here were t wo dif ferent medical schools on the same campus.” COM Dean William Strampel said the college will keep an advisory committee, but it now will be directed from within COM, rather than by the state government. He said the college reports and abides by the rules appointed by the Board of Trustees. Reporting to both was an unnecessary and outdated procedure, he said. The bill results are an administrative change and likely will not directly affect the college, he said. “It will absolutely have no impact on the students in the college,” Strampel said. “I will See OVERSIGHT on page 2 X
PHOTOS BY DANYELLE MORROW/THE STATE NEWS
From left, freshman guard Mariah Harris, red shirt freshman forward Akyah Taylor, and sophomore center Maddison Williams cheer from the sidelines during the basketball game against Northwestern.
Despite Spartan’s win, Merchant unhappy with performance By Stephen Brooks brook198@msu.edu THE STATE NEWS ■■
There were two records on Suzy Merchant’s mind head i ng i nto We d ne s day’s home MSU 54 matchup NW 45 with Northwestern – one evoked nerves while the other evoked pride. The fi rst, the Wildcats’ losing record on the season, made the sixth-year MSU women’s basketball coach nervous because she knew the number wasn’t indicative of how good Northwestern was. The second was the fruit of MSU ’s 54-45 v ictor y Wednesday night, which marked the Spartans’ 10thstraight season of 20 wins or more. “Those are always important numbers and you know how important it is to get t here,” Merc ha nt sa id. “Hopefully, we continue it because we still have three games to go. But it is definitely a number we aim at for a lot of reasons. “… I ’ m n o t h a p p y with the way we played today, though. I feel like we got beat by 20 and didn’t play well, which is disappointing.” Me r c h a nt ’s c onc e r n s
about the Wildcats heading into the contest were warranted, as the Spartans had to overcome a 10-point fi rst half deficit and a poor shooting start to earn its 19th-straight win against the Wildcats in a game they couldn’t afford to drop. With three games remaining in the regular season and positioning in the Big Ten up for grabs, a home loss to conference bottom-dweller Northwestern (12-14 overall, 4-9 Big Ten) could have proven detrimental.
… a home loss to conference bottomdweller Northwestern could have proven detrimental Sophomore forward Becca Mills – who rejoined the starting lineup after coming off the bench the previous six games – had a game-high 15 points to lead the Spartans (20-6, 8-5). But it was senior guard Jasmine Thomas who fi lled the stat sheet with 10 points, six rebounds, three steals and three blocks. “Without Jasmine Thomas, I don’t know where this team would be,” Merchant said. “We would not have won the game without her.” At the media timeout with
How to stay safe during fires
Senior guard Jasmine Thomas goes for a jump shot despite defense from Northwestern center Anna Cole and guard Karly Roser on Wednesday at Breslin Center. MSU beat Northwestern 54-45, of which Thomas scored 10.
7:20 to play in the fi rst half, the Spartans were down 16-7 and shooting just 3-for-19 from the field. Mills then broke a scoring drought of more than six minutes after the timeout with a pair of free throws that kickstarted the MSU offense.
THE STATE NEWS ■■
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See BASKETBALL on page 2 X
Pell Grant changes could affect MSU rowekell@msu.edu
— Justin Wan, SN
determination coming into these last few games, just the whole stretch,” said Thomas, a captain, who scored a careerhigh 21 points in a one-point loss to Michigan on Saturday. “We got our 20th win tonight
ACADE M ICS
By Kellie Rowe
Lieutenant Dawn Carson, left, and Captain Jeff Alleman go through the details of a firetruck run on Thursday at East Lansing Fire Station 2 near Wonders Hall. There were three reported couch fires and a dumpster fire reported in the Cedar Village area after the men’s basketball game Tuesday night.
A 3-pointer from sophomore guard Kiana Johnson followed up by a three-point-play by Thomas tied the game at 24 with 2:20 to play in the fi rst half. Mills then hit a 3-pointer to give MSU its fi rst lead since the game’s opening minute. “It’s definitely a different
Without a Pell Grant, Hanna Reed wouldn’t be able to call herself a Spartan. “If I didn’t get enough fi nancial aid, I wouldn’t be coming to MSU,” the psychology sophomore said. Reed’s not alone. Thousands of students across the country utilize federally-funded Pell Grants, or money generally granted to students from lowincome families. But after new governmental-eligibility restrictions, recent studies show Pell Grant funding is at an all-time low. A study released this week from the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center found changes in Pell Grant eligibility decreased enrollment at colleges and universities in the southern region of the U.S. MSU financial experts are questioning if similar
results could take effect at MSU. Pell Grants are issued on a need basis, and many eligible students come from low-income families. The full Pell award is $5,500. MSU distributed more than $39.3 million in Pell Grants to 8,685 students in 2010, according to the MSU Office of Financial Aid. Congressional budgeting battles resulted in changes to Pell Grant eligibility in 2011. The federal government reduced the time allotted for students to use the grants to fund a full-time college education from 18 to 12 semesters, or about six years to four, and eliminated grants for summer semesters. Further changes in Pell Grants could lower funding for students who make $23,000 a year, both dependent and independent of parents. “Congress and presidential administrations have been unable or unwilling
Percent of undergraduates at Big Ten universities receiving Pell Grants
17% University of Wisconsin 21% University of Illinois 21% Indiana University 21% University of Iowa 24% Purdue University 25% University of Nebraska 26% University of Minnesota 27% Michigan State University SOURCE: U. S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT 2011
to increase the maximum award to keep the purchasing power of the Pell Grant constant over the years,” MSU College of Education Dean Donald Heller said. Heller said eliminating Pell Grants would be “catastrophic” for lower-income students who rely on Pell Grants to make it through the academic year, such as Reed. See PELL on page 2 X