Michigan Sun news

West Pointer busted for taking nude photos of cadets

WASHINGTON — A soldier at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point has been charged with crimes for taking nude photos of female cadets without their consent, extending the military's sex-scandal crisis to the hallowed ground of its premier training academy, the Army announced Wednesday.It is the latest in a steady stream of sex scandals to hit the military this month as it grapples ...
Detroit 11 Cleveland 7 Verlander struggles again but picks up win

Starting pitcher Justin Verlander #35 of the Detroit Tigers runs off the field in a downpour just after officials called a rain delay during the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field on May 22, 2013 in Cleveland, Ohio. / Jason Miller/Getty ...
Plymouth-Canton Livonia voters say yes to technology upgrades

Voters in Plymouth-Canton Community Schools and Livonia Public Schools said yes today to technology upgrades, school renovations, school bus purchases and other projects.All but one of the eight school-related proposals on the ballot passed tonight, with the exception being a $12.9-million bond proposal in Richmond Community Schools in Macomb County.■ Election ...
Your Mike Vote for the winner of our cartoon caption contest on the IRS and the Tea Party

You pick the winner! Cast your vote for your favorite entry in our cartoon caption contest on the IRS and the Tea Party! You have until Thursday at 3 p.m. to vote. Look for the winning reader submission/rough sketch combo on Friday right here online and in the Friday print edition of the Detroit Free Press. Good luck to our finalists!Become a fan of Mike Thompson ...
IRS supervisor denies wrongdoing

Lois Lerner appears Wednesday before a House panel hearing into the targeting of conservative groups by IRS agents under her supervision. She refused to answer questions after denying she broke laws or lied to Congress. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated ...

Movie Review

Clean, Shaven [DVD]

Lodge Kerrigan's directorial debut, Clean, Shaven, is a daring and disturbing cinematic experiment that takes us inside the mind of a struggling schizophrenic for an unrelenting 80-minute ride. Kerrigan mixes a shaky narrative filled with gaping holes begging to be filled by the ... ...

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Group seeks to block insurance coverage of abortion in Michigan

Lansing - Political powerhouse Right to Life of Michigan is seeking a voter-initiated ban on health insurers covering elective abortion procedures in basic insurance plans in an attempt to bypass a Gov. Rick Snyder veto. Last year, Snyder struck down a bill he supported that would have changed the legal structure of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan after the GOP-controlled Legislature tacked ...
Former aide sues Harper Woods lawmaker Brian Banks claims sex harassment

Detroit - A former aide for a state lawmaker says the representative forced him to have sex and gave him a raise in an attempt to forge a romantic relationship. Tramaine Cotton, 29, is making his allegations against freshman state Rep. Brian Banks, D-Harper Woods, in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court. In his complaint Cotton also says he was subjected to a ...
Activists consider second Mich. wolf referendum to target game animal designation

Lansing - Animal rights activists are considering putting two questions before voters in 2014 about whether wolf hunting should be legal after the Legislature effectively rendered their first referendum meaningless. A planned hunt of gray wolves in the Upper Peninsula has been put on hold - for now - after the law authorizing the harvest was suspended Wednesday pending a statewide vote next ...
Political insider Govs staff emails have scent of skunk works

Under state law, the only time the public gets to peek inside the inner workings of the Governor's Office is when its staffers send emails to employees of other state agencies, which are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Records obtained by The Detroit News through an FOIA request to the Department of Technology, Management and Budget included the correspondence of Gov. Rick ...
Pfizer takes its shot at a vaccine for evasive superbug

Kathrin Jansen, senior vice president of Vaccine Research and Early Development at Pfizer Inc, poses for a portrait in one of her labs at Pfizer headquarters in Pearl River, New York, April 19, ...

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Making the news

Nothing will ever completely replace playing the game I love, however I feel like I'm starting a new adventure and I'm genuinely excited about what lies ahead. I'm fortunate to have been given many opportunities throughout my career and now I feel it's my time to give back.

David Beckham

The world's best known footballer was speaking after formally announcing his retirement.

Hotel Review

New York Marriott Financial Center Hotel

I arrived by taxi to the hotel which is just a block from the former World Trade Center site. The ...

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Potential brain 'switch' responsible for our behavioural change identified

A new study by investigators at the University of Michigan and Eli Lilly may reveal the "switch" that helps our brains to make the shift from current behaviours to new ones.

They measured levels of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which is involved in attention and memory, while rats monitored a screen for a signal. At the end of each trial, the rat had to indicate if a signal had occurred.

Researchers noticed that if a signal occurred after a long period of monitoring or "non-signal" processing, there was a spike in acetylcholine in the rat's right prefrontal cortex. No such spike occurred for another signal occurring shortly afterwards.

"In other words, the increase in acetylcholine seemed to activate or 'switch on' the response to the signal, and to be unnecessary if that response was already activated," said Cindy Lustig, one of the study's senior authors and an associate professor in the U-M Department of Psychology.

The researchers repeated the study in humans using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures brain activity, and also found a short increase in right prefrontal cortex activity for the first signal in a series.

To connect the findings between rats and humans, they measured changes in oxygen levels, similar to the changes that produce the fMRI signal, in the brains of rats performing the task. ...