weekend Michigan State University’s independent voice
statenews.com | 9/27/13 | @thesnews
(Top) Lansing residents Diego Love-Ramirez, left, and his partner Kent Love-Ramirez, right, play with their son Lucas, 2, Thursday in their Lansing home. Georgina De Moya /The State News
The couple laughs as Lucas falls to the ground while playing with a soccer ball Wednesday. Danyelle Morrow/The State News
Like fathers, like son By Katie Abdilla kabdilla@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
I
t was Christmas Eve in 2005.
Kent Love, the communications director for the MSU College of Law, had spent the evening unwrapping gifts with Diego Ramirez, his partner of five years. But unbeknownst to Ramirez, his last gift from Kent would hold a meaning he’d never forget.
acade m ics
From East Lansing to the White House, partners advocate for same-sex parent rights in Michigan
He opened his last present — a box containing the foam outline of a cross-shaped ornament — and was instantly thrown. He looked up to the tree and found the ornament, placed in the middle of the tree and holding two rings. “I got down on one knee and proposed,” Kent Love-Ramirez said. “I don’t remember exactly what I said, but there was a lot of crying.” Since their ceremony in the Alumni Memorial Chapel two years later, the couple has remained dedicated to building a family, as well as advocating for the right of others in the LGBT community to
To see a video of the family, visit statenews. com/ multimedia.
See PARENTS on page 2 u
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New specialization gives students Med. students to help coverage in rural north a chance to study LGBT issues By Celeste Bott
cbott@statenews.com
By April Jones ajones@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
Students and faculty members will celebrate another milestone for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community — a new LGBTQ and sexual studies specialization implemented at the
beginning of this semester. From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday at Snyder-Phillips Hall, the Center for Gender in Global Context is hosting a series of events celebrating and thanking those who contributed to creating the new LGBTQ and sexuality studies specialization. The specialization is designed
to provide opportunities for undergraduate students to obtain a comprehensive, global interdisciplinary academic experience, according to the specialization's website. Lisa Fine, co-director of Center for Gender in Global See LGBT on page 2 u
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MSU's College of Human Medicine has launched the Rural Community Health Program, a new program to draw more aspiring doctors to rural communities. MSU is partnering with Charlevoix Area Hospital, McLaren Northern Michigan in Petoskey and the Alpena Regional Medi-
cal Center. Interested students can commit to one of those communities, where they train in rural hospitals, said program Director Andrea Wendling. "Students who are accepted to the program spend their clinical years at medical school — their third or fourth years with the College of Human Medicine — working at MSU campuses in one of these locations," Wendling said. "It's a track for medical students
interested in rural health, in any specialty." Students also will be working with local medical communities and the public health departments of their chosen city. "The Rural Community Health Program builds upon the core strengths of our college's history of community-focused programs for underserved popula-
See RURAL on page 2 u
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Features, page 6
opinion, page 4
Through layoffs and odd jobs, cousins stick together Coming north, pair finds work in MSU steam tunnels campus+city, page 3
Danyelle morrow/The State News
Georgina DeMoya / The State News
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