According to the report, McMillion ran for over a mile before stopping at a Burger King on 8 Mile near Dequindre to knock on the drive-through window for help.

The men chasing McMillion caught up with him by beating, kicking and stomping on him. Shortly after the abuse, McMillion died of a heart attack.

Ray, a student in the Honors College, admitted to the Mount Clemens Circuit Court that he was involved in the attack by punching McMillion several times. He pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges which could lead to up to three years in prison.

In an interview with Fox2 News, McMillion’s mother and great-aunt described Ray’s apology as a “miscarriage of justice.”

“To slap someone on the wrists while I’m still grieving and trying to figure this out … it makes it worse for me and my family,” Monique McMillion, the victim’s mother, said. “I can never move on or forget about it or ever let it go.”

An autopsy revealed that McMillion died not of the abuse from the men, but from a heart condition, which was stimulated by the attack. The stress of the chase and physical abuse lead to a heart attack, which caused his death, the story stated.

“We just want justice to be stern in this because we are a family and we stick together and we need to know that justice will be taken firmly,” Louise Burrell, McMillion’s great-aunt, said.

The Oakland Post will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

President Barack Obama announced his revised decision for support of same-sex marriage on May 9 in an interview with ABC News.

During his 2008 campaign, Obama mentioned his opposition for same sex marriage, but in the past year and a half he mentioned his feelings changed.

“I have been going through an evolution on this issue … at a certain point I just concluded that, for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama said in the interview.

His announcement came a day after North Carolina approved an amendment banning same-sex marriage — defining marriage between a man and a woman only — and banning same-sex civil unions.

It also came after Vice President Joe Biden showed his support for same-sex marriage days before.

With Presidential elections coming up this November, some Oakland University students shared their thoughts on his stance.

Robbie Willford, Oakland University Student Congress vice president, supports the president’s decision.

“I think that it is a huge gain for the entire country,” he said. “It takes a lot for somebody of his stature to say the same things he said, that is a huge step in our direction.”

As far as the election votes, Willford believes Obama will win the election and get the same amount of votes.

Others see a different side to Obama’s announcement and feel the announcement was made solely to gain votes against his opponent, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

“Now in 2012, months before the election, he is in favor of same-sex couples getting married,” Trpko Blazevski, a junior majoring in information technology, said. “He is just stating this to gain votes. If he truly believed in the mannor he would propose a bill to allow same-sex marriage.“

According to Elisa Malile, former OUSC vice president, regardless of votes, the issue of homosexuality should have been addressed years ago.

“I think it’s a positive change, but I also think he will get a little bit of a backslash from Christian groups,” she said. “I don’t think God would want people being hated and discriminated against.”

On May 4, Oakland University President Gary Russi announced via email that former Senior Associate Provost Susan Awbrey has been appointed as interim senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. 

“The process to select an interim senior vice president and provost involved soliciting suggestions from faculty and consulting with OU’s Distinguished Faculty on the selection criteria and the process for a national search,” Russi said in an email to faculty. “I am pleased to announce that Senior Associate Provost Dr. Susan Awbrey has been named interim senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, effective immediately.”

According to the Oakland University website, Awbrey joined the university in 1991. Before coming to OU, Awbrey had been a faculty member and administrator at the University of Illinois, Michigan State University and the University of Texas Medical Branch.

“She has outstanding leadership abilities and has spent most of her career in various key academic and administrative roles,” Russi said in the email. “I’m confident that Dr. Awbrey will do a tremendous job during this important transition period.”

Russi also stated in the email that OU will conduct a national search to find a permanent senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, and he will discuss more information about the search as it becomes available.

Virinder Moudgil, former OU senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, was recently appointed as president of Lawrence Technological University.  In his email to faculty, Russi discussed plans for a reception to honor Moudgil that will take place at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30.

The era actually began just over a decade ago when Bryan Singer’s “X-Men” (2000) and Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” (2002) flung from the decaying and confusing corpse of the retro Superman and Batman films.

These films, and the many others that followed suit, arose from that corpse bringing to life a tried and weary genre that was a step ahead of technology. The original animated superhero cinema has been outstanding, however, having created such giants as “Batman: The Animated Series” and “Superman: The Animated Series” among many others.

For those raised in the 90’s and having watched special effects in movies gradually increase throughout the years, it was and is hard to watch the old Superman live action movies and take it serious. No disrespect intended to Christopher Reeve and all of those who made those movies possible. The Batman series from the 90’s, however, is not comparable in anyway. No respect for them.

Thank you Christopher Nolan, for allowing us to forget the 90’s batman.

Thus, for superhero fans (especially the CGI and iPhone generation), the arrival of the 2000’s and the ‘golden age’ couldn’t have come soon enough.

The latest flick from Marvel, “The Avengers,” has confirmed the golden age is as strong and ambitious as it ever has been. It is a culmination of five major Marvel films and a thrilling climatic milestone for both Marvel and all superhero series, having captured and unified six incredibly diverse characters in one coherent movie.

Despite beginning with a rather cliché evil alien who-is-devising-an-evil-plot intro, the film immediately rockets out of the scene and never returns to cliché characters or lazy screenwriting.

It is immediately brought to the audience’s attention that something more sinister is brewing. Scientists at a remote research facility have lost control of an energy source called ‘the Tesseract,’ who’s power and abilities are unknown. In the ensuing confusion, the Tesseract creates a portal to another dimension which brings over none other than Loki, the outcast son of Odin, ruler of Asgard, and a fountain of rambunctious aliens.

Loki’s arrival causes immediate chaos that gets worse when he escapes with the Tessaract. This leads Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (a high-tech government organization), to assemble a band of painfully diverse superheroes.

Called “The Avengers Initiative,” the plan was previously canned because of the heroes themselves. There is a martial arts virtuoso who carries a bleeding backpack of guilt (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow); a master archer who struggles with his place in his job (Clint Barton/Hawkeye); a throwback, classy WW2 hero who is dazzled by the modern world he now lives in (Steve Rogers/Captain America); a self-described narcissist, genius and ladies’ man who has the emotions of a child (Tony Stark/Iron Man); a proud and stubborn god of an alien world who strikes first then speaks (Thor), and finally, an intensely intelligent scientist who suffers from an inner monster who craves to escape when touched off by anger (Bruce Banner/The Hulk).

Yea, I wouldn’t want to tell these guys (and girl) to keep their hands and feet to themselves, either.

But, as Nick Fury said, war has started, “and (the earth and humanity) are hopelessly outgunned.” They must come together.

Director and screenwriter Joss Whedon, previously famous for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” masterfully portrayed the desperation of Nick Fury and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. as they scramble to locate the superheroes and convince them to give the Avengers idea a chance. This is no easy task, and it is powerfully portrayed through verbal, emotional, psychological and most enjoyably physical confrontations. Ever wondered what happens when Thor’s hammer slams into Captain America’s shield or the panic that ensues when Bruce Banner feels too much pressure from the rest of the gang whilst on a ship (that is flying)?

The first half of the movie focused on the electrifying clashes such as these between the superheroes. However, the viewer is fed with plentiful doses of action from every angle.  Essentially, “The Avengers” is a movie of two wars: the civil war that threatens to tear the group apart and, of course, the war against earth.

“We’re not a team,” said Bruce Banner, “we are a time bomb.”

Just as much as the ‘civil war’ represents only half of the movie, the aggravating and bickering characters of the heroes are only one side of their intriguing personalities. Whedon’s writing draws out their worst and blends it in with the gravity of the situation and offers an immensely satisfying conclusion, leaving out most of those nagging clichés. No spoilers here, but let’s just say each character conquers a new mountain, all while keeping to what their fans know them as.

Loki, who was introduced in Kenneth Branagh’s “Thor” in 2011, was the ironically the glue that held flick together. His role was essential to the success of the film, as he continually brings a central conflict, from the gnawing problem of the Tesseract to the more destructive inner war he creates between the heroes.  He sets the time bomb which Dr. Banner alluded to and we see the raw jealously and revenge ooze out of the pores of his ghostly white skin as he basks in his success. With Loki, there are no forced lines or motives but a sincere desire to prove to earth and especially his archrival brother Thor, and he does so with utter cruelty.

A surprise performance on the heroes’ side was Agent Coulson, who previously played two-dimensional roles in the previous Avenger-linked films. Here he is thrust into, literally and figuratively, a three-dimensional and crucial role in both the plot and the film. His character doesn’t bask in the attention grabbing scenes that the heroes have, but his well-paced entrances and exits draws the heroes from Loki’s destructive magnet one conversation at a time. He believes—more than Nick Fury who suffers a spell or two with doubt—that the earth will be saved, because, as he courageously tells Loki, “you lack conviction.” Coulson saw what each hero was capable of becoming long before the films conclusion.

But perhaps the most impressive feat Whedon pulled off aside from the believable villain, the character development and the heart-pounding action was the character and portrayal of Bruce Banner and “the other guy,” the Hulk. Finally, amidst the disappointing cloud of the previous two portrayals of the Banner/Hulk alter-egos, the Incredible Hulk is finally incredible. He is funny. He is likable. He has a personality. In this flick, the Hulk is more than a simple brute who says “hulk smash” and freaks out about the next time he will turn green and mean.

Iron Man doesn’t disappoint, peppering the dialogue with his usual relentless witty humor. Captain America plays the role of the peacekeeper fueled by 40’s morals, and his character lives up to his name during the toughest fighting as he takes command of the battlefield. Finally, Thor’s ego still matches his swing, and his naivety of earthly things brought fresh humor to the dialogue that complimented Captain America’s delayed knowledge of modern times. Action and dialogue from the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) fills in any gaps and delightfully compliments.

The special effects were breathtaking and seamless. One could count the times a scene was obviously CGI, and everything from the Hulks eye-popping transformation to the panoramic shots of a crippled New York City (I did say there were some clichés) appeared as real as if the screen were but a mere window.

Though I am highlighting the drama and the characters in this review, do not think for a moment the film lacks explosions and high-flying action.

In the end, the golden thread was the unity, achieved by the plot, the characters and the resolved conflicts. “The Avengers” brought six heroes with six opposing personalities, five major films in the past four years and an enormous burden to succeed with 12 years of live action superhero films behind it. It transformed that burden into a satisfactory prize for the fans of each individual superhero while uniting each personality in the middle of a chaotic, explosion-filled earth; a textbook example of the marriage of action and dialogue in film.

It is quite honestly the most ambitious and meticulous portrayal of a superhero film since Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight.”

The best part is there is more to come.

The phrase, “utterly useless and makes me question the competence of my (apparently) criminally moronic species” is thrown around a lot these days. It fits best, however, in a rant about the ridiculous things that can be found for sale on the Internet and what it says about the future of our kind.

Though it might seem like I’m quoting product pitches I found on stolen note cards of the desk of the alarmingly erratic Gary Busey, I’m not. The following products are 100 percent real, and I am sure you can find them with a quick Google search.

For centuries, books and literacy have been a sign of at least slight competence. But when you can actually go out and purchase a book called, “How To Avoid Huge Ships,” there is something wrong. I’d like to think the title is a metaphor for drifting through the shipyard that is metropolitan life, but unfortunately, it’s not. It’s literally a hardcover book about what precautions you can take to avoid crashing into huge ships. Not just ships, mind you, but ships so big that they require the word ‘huge’ and the majority of the picture on the cover.

Hey parents! Do you like horses? Or are you into weird kinky sex stuff that my editor has informed I should stick away from describing on a public forum? Great! Do you also have kids? Great! Do you want to traumatize them and make their inevitable psychotherapy sessions much more interesting for the therapist? Great! Then you should buy the awesomely named ‘Daddle.’

What is the Daddle, you ask? Well, allow me to explain. It is a saddle you can place on the back of a father, that the children can ride and ‘have fun.’ And by have fun, I of course mean feed their subconscious with content to fill their nightmares with. If you don’t have kids, that’s perfectly alright! If you own the Daddle, you are probably the sort of guy who doesn’t mind the occasional kidnapping!

How about a product that fights your ineptitude?

Are you so inept that you commonly find yourself asking the day of the week and also happen to own ZERO devices that show you the date? Then grab your credit card, hop on the Internet (which can inform you of the date pretty quick. Just saying.), and shell out about $40.00 + tax for the day of the week clock! This SkyMall-endorsed product (so you know it’s legit) is a clock that is separated into seven sections, one for each day of the week. I’m not kidding.

Are you an alcoholic and do you commonly lose things? No, I’m talking big things, like full size wine glasses. Oh you actually do lose things like that? That’s a wee bit sad. Well, the internet has got you covered. Meet the wine glass necklace! This un-genius — I mean ingenious — product hangs around your neck and holds your wine glass around your neck so you can’t lose it, much like when your mother would staple the field trip check to your shirt so your teachers can see how stupid you are. (It got awkward around junior year of high school.)

I don’t even have a pitch for this next item, because it doesn’t really make any sense. It is essentially a branding iron that you use on steaks on the grill. Because who doesn’t like the taste of melted douchebaggery in their food?

Quick science quiz, (who am I kidding? If you’re still reading this, your sense of humor is like mine and you’re probably not a chemistry major), what are the two things that makeup the majority of the air you breathe? The answers are oxygen and carbon dioxide. You actually don’t really want the carbon dioxide as much as the oxygen, but it’s a good thing that there is plenty of oxygen to go around.

But, if you’re the kind of selfish jerk who insists, “No! I want my own personal supply of oxygen!” Then you’re in luck! In my recent trip south of the border, I read a lot of SkyMall and remember commenting to the big fella next to me about how stupid the personal oxygen supply system is. He responded, and I quote, “zzzzzzzzzz” *snore* “zzzzzzzzz.” Whatever, I thought it was funny.

Are you a golfer? Do you have no qualms with public urination, but only if nobody knows? Well, enjoy the UroClub! This empty, prosthetic club serves as an empty chassis for your pee while on the golf course. Just hold it like you’re putting and do your business. It’s not like there’s a ton of trees around or anything. (I refrained from the multiple Tiger Woods jokes that should have gone in between every sentence in that paragraph.)

If you own the UroClub, you probably would also be interested in the Privacy Scarf. This ‘scarf’ wraps around your head and encases the area between your head and a screen you are looking at in a shroud that hides ‘whatever you don’t want to share with the world’. The ‘privacy scarf’ should be renamed to the ‘watch porn in public scarf’ because I guarantee that nobody is using it to hide their credit card numbers from the people around them, as the product suggests.

From Russia, with sarcasm,
Dylan

The Golden Grizzlies are looking ahead with their eyes set on the horizon — the Horizon League that is.

Oakland University’s athletics department has recently expressed a strong interest in joining the Horizon League if an invitation is offered.

“We are interested in the possibility of going to the Horizon League, but have not been contacted,” said OU Assistant Athletic Director Scott MacDonald. “So for now, everything is speculation.”

MacDonald’s comments were reiterated by Athletic Director Tracy Huth, who spoke with The Detroit News.

“Absolutely, we would definitely be interested,” Huth told The Detroit News. “ We have enjoyed our affiliation with the Summit League over the years, (but) it makes sense.”

Huth continued to explain the monetary and geographic benefits to joining Horizon as opposed to remaining with the Summit League.

The Horizon League is a Great Lakes regional conference in NCAA Division 1. Member schools of the conference are located in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and also includes the University of Detroit-Mercy in Michigan.

The league is looking to replace Butler, who will be leaving the conference in the 2013-14 seasons for the Atlantic-10 conference. The league, which will be down to nine members after Butler leaves, is looking for up to three universities to bring into the conference. Oakland has been rumored to be amongst those in talks.

The change in conference would greatly benefit Oakland in this respect, as the Summit teams are spread between Michigan and the Dakota’s after this year.

The travel for the athletics teams has been costly on the university due to this geographical issue. A switch to the Horizon would create a less costly travel schedule for Golden Grizzly teams. If Oakland does leave the Summit League, it would be common sense for all sports to move to the new conference, instead of just one, basketball for example.

Looking past the seemingly obvious benefits, a conference move could create a strong local basketball rivalry with the University of Detroit-Mercy. Another possible rivalry Oakland brings to the table is with Valparaiso, who once belonged to the Summit League.

The Horizon has a rich history in the sport of basketball. Multiple teams have made appearances in the later rounds of the NCAA men’s tournament, with Butler advancing to the championship game in both 2010 and 2011 but in a losing effort.

“Competitively, the premier sport is basketball and that suits us,” Huth told The Detroit News.

Huth said that the switch to the Horizon League with be a positive for the Oakland fan base as well, leading to a better turnout at games both home and away. The possibility of the men’s basketball team playing a team a couple hours away may lead to better fan turnout at away games.

One issue facing Oakland if an invitation is offered is in the bylaws of the Horizon League charter. A member school that is located within 25-miles of a possible new member can veto the offer, making it void. This is a problem with Detroit Mercy located roughly twenty miles from the OU campus.

While there has yet to be any official talks, OU athletics are optimistic about the possibility of playing in a more name-brand conference with regional value.

Oakland University is leaning towards the possibility of joining the Horizon League — if an invitation is offered by the conference, that is.

While there is no indication that the Golden Grizzlies will even be offered an invitation to the Horizon League, those in the athletics department are strongly interested in the chance of moving to a more regional league.

“We are interested in the possibility of going to the Horizon League, but have not been contacted,” said OU Assistant Athletic Director Scott MacDonald. “So for now, everything is speculation.”

Athletics Director Tracy Huth reiterated these same feelings to The Detroit News, citing the geographical benefits to be of general interest.

“We have enjoyed our affiliation with the Summit League over the years, but it makes sense. Geographically, it makes a tremendous amount of sense,” Huth said.

The Horizon League is losing staple member Butler to the Atlantic-10, which will leave the conference with only nine schools. While Oakland’s possible move is just speculation, the Horizon League has yet to meet with any OU officials on the matter.

Virinder Moudgil, senior vice president for academic affairs and Oakland University provost, has been selected to serve as president of Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, according to a press release issued by the university. He was approved by the LTU Board of Trustees at their Friday meeting.

Moudgil has worked at Oakland since 1976, and is known for his devotion to his research, often times working in the Dodge Hall labs with students for hours after dark.

As he transitions into his new job, Moudgil will be stepping down from all of his current positions at OU and has been granted an administration leave starting May 1.

“One simply cannot overstate the meaningful impact Dr. Moudgil has had both as a professor and as our chief academic officer,” University President Gary Russi said in an email to faculty. “We will face a great challenge in finding someone as insightful, accomplished and passionate to fill his position. At the same time, I’m confident that all who’ve come to know Dr. Moudgil will be pleased to see he has this opportunity to achieve even greater levels of success. Perhaps most importantly, students from throughout the region, the state and beyond will continue to benefit from his academic leadership.”

Russi asks students, faculty and anyone who has worked with Moudgil in his years at OU to use this form to commemorate his tenure and time at the university and said the university is planning to acknowledge him throughout the next few weeks.

He also said he plans to announce an Interim Provost later this week and is seeking nominations from faculty members.

The Oakland Post will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

It’s a known fact that college students live busy lives, but that doesn’t stop students from taking interest in the things happening around them.

Danielle Kaminski, a senior majoring in occupational safety and health at Oakland University, recently won the American Society of Safety Engineers national student paper competition, taking a $500 cash prize and a $700 stipend.

After a month of research, she was ready to present her award-winning piece that dealt with environmental problems to the American Society of Safety Engineer’s national student paper competition.

Kaminski submitted her paper for many reasons, but was enticed by the travel stipend to attend the ASSE Professional Development Conference in Denver, Colo. that came with the award.

Her paper, “The Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone,” talks about the area where the Mississippi River feeds into the Gulf of Mexico and the inner and mid-continent between the river and the northern Texas coast known as the “dead zone.”

The name reflects the low oxygen level concentration in the area that does not allow aquatic life to be sustained, otherwise known as hypoxic water.

In her paper, Kaminski said the primary cause of hypoxic water is altered fertilizers that boost their oxygen used by farmers along the Mississippi River. This alteration causes the fertilizer to have a higher concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus. When the nitrogen-rich fertilizer runs off from the river into the Gulf of Mexico, it causes algae growth and oxygen reduction, restricting the lives of bottom dwellers such as worms, snails, crabs and clams that are not mobile enough to move away.

The “dead zone” results in increased travel for fisherman, increased fuel use and increased seafood costs, since the mobile sea life move further away from the shore, she said.

Kaminski spent a month researching all of the information, which she says was because there were a vast amount of opinions about “dead zones” available.

“Danielle’s paper presented a very complete view of the benefits as well as the unintended consequences of one of the current ‘green’ initiatives of using bio-fuels in relation to how the environment is impacted,” Frank D’Orsi, chair of the Editorial Review Board, said.

Kaminski said she wanted to focus on something that pertained to the clean water act because she feels there is a lot that could be changed and improved on.

Kaminski attended Dakota High School in Macomb before enrolling at Michigan State University to obtain a bachelor’s degree in communicative sciences and disorders. After graduation, she had two options: either earn a master’s degree in special education, or a master’s degree in occupational safety and health. She elected to earn a degree in occupational safety and health and enrolled at OU.

“I fell in love with it and everything safety related,” she said.

Kaminiski currently serves as the vice president of the OU Student Section American Society of Safety Engineers and will graduate from the university in August with her second bachelor’s degree  in occupational safety and health.

She will intern with General Motors in May and hopes to remain with them after her internship for additional experience in her field of study.

“I would love to one day work for the government, like MIOSHA (Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration) or the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency),” Kaminski said.

Immediately following her bachelor’s degree, Kaminski plans to get a master’s degree in safety management. She also hopes to get her certified safety professional certification.

I can taste the vodka already. I’m so glad no campus staff monitors the contents of my “water” flask.

For those of you who had the extreme luxury of having lazy instructors who avoid finals week, you can go lay down in front of a speeding Bear Bus. For the majority of students who have an endurance test of piles of final exams, I’m here to help construct a solid study plan, now that last week’s vomit sessions have been systematically purged.

This is my first serious battalion of real exams. Having been a student at a community college, I can say truthfully Oakland University isn’t as big of a joke in comparison.

Perhaps if I didn’t spend the first five years after high school getting high in the back of an Astrovan, I would have set better goals and been cramming for tests earlier in life than cramming hash pipes.

I’ve come to find it’s nearly impossible to get any studious work done on campus, although I find having ass cancer more rewarding than studying. The racket of rabblerousing kids and teen moms inane speech, encouraging pregnancy and the monetary rewards of televised humility. So many distactions prevent important information from seeping into my mind.

The closest I’ve come to a successful study session has been barricading myself into a grandiose study room of Elliot Hall. Sweating profusely with intense focus, cramming every nook and cranny with passion, I was nearly done when some diabolical bastard had to come barging into the room, breaking my concentration.

Those study rooms really need locks.

The best place to plunge into books is void of all light. Take for instance the Oakland Center basement, which will also cut off your phone signal, secluding you into insecurity and prompting work to be done.

That or questioning the loyalty of your Hanging with Friends when multitudes of games have not updated in two hours. It isn’t that difficult, just play a word, damn it! Cue the tears of loneliness.

Unless you really need to get on Moodle, it’s best to put away your laptop so you don’t surf YouTube and get sucked into the holographic Tupac videos. Then again, you’ll be forced to use GrizzNet, so a working Internet connection really isn’t a viable option.

The best way to buckle down involves crumpling up this page immediately and tossing it aside. Quit being a crybaby and go find a dark corner to hit the books hard.

Distractions are aplenty at Oakland and there are only so many shady corners to curl up in. Find one quick, since the other three people who read this article might beat you to one.

I had a great year assisting you during your scholarly quests and venting my pessimistic perspectives. Enjoy your summer break brimming with booze and sun basking.

I hope to write for you next year. That is if I don’t get kicked off staff for having sexual innuendos busting out of every article I’ve had published.