Experience counts
statenews.com | 3/27/14 | @thesnews Michigan State University’s independent voice
Men’s basketball team hopes to advance using senior talent
East Lansing taps into summer with Oberon East Lansing resident Linda Erspamer drinks Oberon at Beggar’s Banquet Danyelle Morrow/The State News
sports, pG. 5
campus+city, pG. 3
Vets of a
C O U RT
SNYDER: GAY MARRIAGES VALID, BUT NO BENEFITS YET
different breed
By Sergio Martínez-Beltrán smartinez@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
Gov. Rick Snyder declared the marriages of about 300 same-sex couples married in Michigan valid Wednesday, but newly weds shouldn’t expect to see full marriage benefits yet. In a statement, Snyder said the state would recognize the legality of the same-sex marriages that took place on Saturday after U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman’s ruling struck down the ban. Snyder made clear the state thought the marriages — conducted between the ruling and the stay — were legal, but did not go so far as to grant the newly-married couples full marriage rights in the state.
Snyder said the same-sex marriages conducted were legal, but that state agencies would not offer benefits Betsy Agosta /The State News
Licensed veterinary technician Kelli Geisen comforts a horse during its examination Wednesday at the MSU Veterinary Medical Center. They were trotting him up and down the hall for a lameness exam, which checks the physical health of the horse.
Veterinary Medicine program gains national reputation for its up-to-date technology and expertise
By Sara Konkel skonkel@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS
W nn
hen long-time MSU Veterinary Medical Center client Cory Russell trailered her horse Ben to East Lansing from her home in Chelsea, Mich., for surgery, she had little hope he would pull through. “He was (laying) down in the trailer on the ride up there and the vet said to me, ‘Cory, it’s not looking good. I need to warn you,’” she said. After Russell arrived at the hospital, Ben got up
and walked out of the trailer and into the exam room before laying back down on the ground. The veterinarian immediately sent him into emergency surgery. A team of surgeons performed a major abdominal surgery on the horse, which was successful. Ben made a full recovery. Russell and other large animal owners have placed their trust in the center, which continues to rise in national rankings and bolster its reputation as one of the best veterinary destinations in the country. National reputation In the most recent rankings by U.S. News & See VETERINARY on page 2 u
To watch a video of the Veterinary Medicine program at work, visit statenews.com/multimedia.
h e a lt h
C AP I TOL
EVENT BENEFITS STACY BLAKESLEE Fiancé Brandon Childers prepares to move MSU graduate Stacy Blakeslee to her bed March 11, 2014, at Spectrum Rehab and Nursing Center in Grand Rapids.
By Olivia Dimmer odimmer@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
Julia Nagy/ The State News
By Casey Holland cholland@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
Stacy Blakeslee’s story has spread through the East Lansing community and beyond, and has continued to inspire people outside of her own family to reach out to help. During December 2013, Stacy was diagnosed with a severe staph infection on her heart
house SUBCOMMITTEE approves increase to higher education
“This is the kind of thing I’ve been wanting to do ... Music is an important part of Stacy’s life.” Kelly Blakeslee, Stacy’s sister
that later spread throughout her body and caused aneurysms to form in her brain. When one of the aneurysms burst, Stacy suffered from a stroke that sent her into a
semi-responsive state. After spending two months in the Ann Arbor University of Michigan Health System hosSee BLAKESLEE on page 2 u
LANSING — A near $77 million increase is in the works for Michigan’s higher education institutions and soon will head to the House Appropriations Committee for further approval. T he House Appropr iations Subcommittee on Higher Education approved the increase to higher education funding in the 2015 fiscal year at its meeting Wednesday morning. Subcommittee Chair Al Pscholka, R-Stevensville, introduced House Bill 5312 in February, but said this has been something he and others have worked on for a long time. P s c hol k a note d t h i s will be the third straight increase to higher education. “At the end of last year a number of us … have had lots of discussions on how
we could do better,” Pscholka said. “How we could end what is really a decade of disinvestment in higher education.” Gov. Rick Snyder recently recommended a 6.1 percent increase to higher education funding in early February.
Snyder recommended a 6.1 percent increase to higher education funding in early February T he f u ndi ng wou ld be offered only under the condition that universities will have to limit tuition increases to 3.2 percent or less in order to receive the additional money referred to as performance funding. T he pr op o s e d f u nd i ng increase would still leave Michigan universities with much less funding than before Snyder took office in 2011, when he cut education spendSee FUNDING on page 2 u
After Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette’s request for a temporary stay was granted Saturday evening, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to continue the motion until a decision is made by the higher court. “A f ter comprehensive legal review of state law and all recent court rulings, we have concluded that same-sex couples were legally married at county clerk offices,” Snyder said in the statement. However, the couples’ marriage benefits are suspended until “further court rulings are issued on this matter,” the statement said. The state’s current stance on the matter will prevent couples from taking on the usual benefits of married couples, such as filing taxes as a married couple, joint insurance coverage and employee benefits for the time being. “If you are married and you own a car and you transfer ownership to your spouse, there is no tax to pay. Samesex couples have to pay,” MSU law professor Mae Kuykendall said. “The governor didn’t want to say (Saturday’s marriages are) invalid and will be ignored, but he didn’t want to treat them as full marriages.” According to Kuykendall, Michigan’s same-sex marriages would still be recognized in other jurisdictions where gay marriage is legal, such as New York, even if they are not yet recognized in Michigan. A similar incident occurred in the United States v. Windsor case last year, Kuykendall said, where Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg referred to the marriages under the new ruling as “skim milk” marriages. In a statement released Wednesday, Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum asked Snyder and Schuette to “put Michigan on the right side of history.” “When it comes to making Michigan a forward-looking state, Governor Snyder and Attorney General Schuette need to lead or get out of the way,” Byrum said in a statement.