By H. L. Mencken “Giants at the Bar” in “Days of Innocence” The New Yorker magazine May 24, 1941, Issue Photograph from Bettmann / Getty Not infrequently I am asked by young college folk, sometimes male and sometimes female, whether there has been any significant change, in my time, in the bacchanalian virtuosity of the American people. […]
News
PODCAST: Schuette Takes Big Hit/Capitol Portrait of First Black Legislator/Boycotting Brands
Bad two weeks for Bill Schuette, who is blasted by John Engler, Jim Blanchard, Brian Calley and Sam Singh for Attorney General’s handling of MSU sex predator imbroglio. Long-overlooked major 19th Century political figure William Webb Ferguson, the first African-American elected to the MI Legislature, will be honored Feb. 28 with a permanent portrait in […]
Scrub Elected University Boards? Ain’t Gonna Happen
The Larry Nassar turmoil at Michigan State University has sparked renewed demands to refom the way Michigan governs its major state universities. Amidst all the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments, will anything actually result in change to the current system? In a word, no. Legislation has been introduced in the state capitol to […]
Jeff Daniels Play “Flint” Opens in Chelsea
ADVERTISER for Purple Rose Theater, Chelsea, Michigan Feb. 6, 2018 As the set darkens at the conclusion of “Flint,” a spotlight pierces the center of the kitchen table where there’s a glass of toxic, brown water. The lasting image punctuates the intense 75-minute play by actor Jeff Daniels, now being performed at The Purple Rose Theatre […]
PODCAST: Should Female High Schoolers Apply To MSU?/Race to Succeed Congressman Conyers
Should current MSU undergraduates warn applicants that campus isn’t safe? Has Sparty been blind and deaf to cries of sexual assault at MSU? Will the blowback from MSU faculty and students against the appointment of interim President John Engler persist? In politics, the race for the Democratic nomination to succeed ex-Congressman John Conyers in […]
PODCAST: Is Engler a “Victory for MSU”?/Rosemary Aquilina for Supreme Court?
The blowback against Engler as MSU interim president is intense. Does his appointment take Snyder and Legislature off the hook about purging university’s board? Abdul El-Sayed may not qualify as gubernatorial candidate because of MI/NY residency issues. Should he be scrubbed from ballot? Sponsored by Deadline Detroit. https://soundcloud.com/user-595768561/is-engler-a-victory-for-msurosemary-aquilina-for-supreme-court/s-GcVut
NEW YORK TIMES: Time to Clean House at MSU
Editorials | It’s Time for Michigan State to Clean House by New York Times Editorial Board Feb. 1, 2018 A protester outside the Michigan State University administration building on Friday, as the trustees met inside. Credit Nick King/Lansing State Journal, via Associated Press Larry Nassar had a day of reckoning last week for his years […]
Engler’s MSU Presidency Fits an Historical Pattern
The appointment of former Gov. John Engler as interim president of Michigan State University may be controversial, but it was also entirely predictable — especially under the political circumstances. After all, this is the first time in modern history that a MSU Board of Trustees has had to pick an interim president following a resignation […]
NEW YORK TIMES: Larry Nassar is a Familiar Monster
by Frank Bruni New York Times Jan. 27, 2018 When Judge Rosemarie Aquilina handed down her sentence on Larry Nassar last week, she spoke to and of him as a kind of monster we rarely see. She was wrong. I know this because I remember Penn State, where an assistant football coach named Jerry Sandusky […]
DETROIT FREE PRESS: Snyder May Act to Remove MSU Trustees
by Paul Egan and Kathleen Gray, Detroit Free Press Jan. 26, 2018 LANSING – Gov. Rick Snyder is considering action against the MSU Board of Trustees, a spokeswoman said Friday. Spokeswoman Anna Heaton said Snyder is considering unspecified action against the board amid the ongoing sex abuse scandal involving former MSU doctor Larry Nassar. “The governor is […]