Did you ever wonder what it takes to become and attorney in Michigan?

By David McClelland

Did you ever wonder what hurdles a person must clear to become an attorney in Michigan? Well, I did and I learned about it first hand. Here is the route one must take.

To be accepted to a law school in Michigan, college graduates must have done well academically during their undergraduate years, pass the LSAT (the law school entrance exam) and satisfy specific requirements of the school to which they apply.

Once in law school, the first year is the most challenging and it isn't unusual for as high as 50% to drop out before their second year begins. Students who are fortunate enough to be able to attend law school full-time during the day, can usually graduate in three years. Students who must work during the day and attend law school classes at night, as I did, usually take four years to graduate.

Night law students have a limited social life during those four years. The routine for me was to play racquetball each day at 6:30 a.m. (to give me the stamina I needed), to work all day and then head down to the University of Detroit Law School by 6 p.m. and attend classes from 6 – 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday each week. Friday evening and the weekends were spent studying and briefing cases for the following week since that was no time to study on Mondays –Thursdays.

Then, three or four years later, if students have successfully passed all of the classes and graduated, are they ready for the Michigan Bar Exam? Not quite.

The Bar Exam is a two-day affair in Lansing. The first day is a 15-question essay exam on Michigan law and it is most challenging. The second day is the Multi-State exam, a 200 question, multiple-choice exam given all over the country on that day. Piece of cake, right? Not quite.

There were no law school courses that used multiple-choice questions and no courses that were devoted to Michigan law. Amazing, but true. So, students all take expensive and demanding Bar Review courses for several weeks to have a chance to pass the all-important Bar Exam.

Then, everyone heads over to Lansing in late July for the two-day, grueling exam. It is also given in late February each year for those who failed the July exam or who graduated from law school at an unusual time.

The secret for me was to order the PMBR (Preliminary Multistate Bar Examination (8 hours of cassette tapes) during my third year and listening to the 200 multiple-choice questions and answers over and over again as I drove between Bloomfield Hills and U. of D. Law School in downtown Detroit across from the Ren Cen.

On the Bar Exam, one needs a score of 135 to pass and that is an average of the two exams. If one scores 150 on the Multi-State exam, he or she passes as long as they made a good faith effort on the state essay exam. The Mult-State was where I excelled.

The other, somewhat surprising thing, was that one doesn't specialize on any area of the law in law school and it isn't until joining a firm or company that one specializes.

If you ever wondered about becoming a lawyer in Michigan, now you know.

Did you ever wonder which island chains contain the most islands and the most people?

By David McClelland

Did you ever wonder which island chains contain the most islands and the most people?
Well I did and was I ever surprised at the answer and amazed by the number.
1st - Indonesia has 17,508 islands and the world's 4th largest population with 228,248,538 in 2008.
Its largest islands are Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, New Guinea and Sulawesi.
2nd - The Philippine Islands contain 7,107 islands, about 4,000 of which are inhabited and all 7,107 all have been named.
The population was just over 92 million people in 2009.
3rd - The entire Caribbean Plate has just over 7,000 islands, islets, reefs and cays and has a population of 750,000.
4th - The Hawaiian Islands contain 132 islands, reefs and shoals and have a population of 1,212,000.
5th - The Galapagos Islands, part of Ecuador and located 600 miles west of the mainland in the Atlantic Ocean contains
15 main islands, 3 smaller ones and 107 rocks and islets. Its population is 23,000.
Now you know which island chains contain the most islands and the most people.

Did you ever wonder where the sport, lacrosse, originated?

Well, I did and I would have guessed that it was somewhere in Europe. Was I ever wrong? Would you believe that it began as a team sport of Native American origin in the United States and Canada. I’m not putting you on, it really did. In fact, Lacrosse began among the Huron and Iroquois tribes. It began as a ball sport as part of a religious ritual, played to resolve conflicts, heal the sick, develop strong, virile men and to prepare for war.

Just what is Lacrosse, you ask? It is a team game played with a solid rubber ball and long-handled racquets called a crosse or a lacrosse stick with loose netting designed to “hold” the lacrosse ball. The stick is used to catch, carry and pass the ball so as to eventually score a goal by hurling it into the opponent’s net.

Lacrosse is now played in high schools, colleges and even by professional leagues in the United States. Locally, the Ultimate Soccer Arena at 867 South Blvd. in Pontiac has an indoor Lacrosse field that is quite popular and admission is free to spectators.

If you ever wondered about Lacrosse, now you know more and can even see it locally.

Did you ever wonder if Michigan's Safe Delivery Law is working?

First, what is this law? Michigan's Safe Delivery of Newborns law took effect on January 1, 2001. The law targets desperate parents and encourages the placement of their newborns in a safe environment. The law allows for the anonymous surrender of newborns within 72 hours of their birth to an Emergency Services Provider (ESP); i.e., to a hospital, a police or fire station or to a 911 responder. The intent of the law is anonymous, safe surrender of newborns without fear of prosecution and to make the child available for adoption. Private adoption agencies assume responsibility for the child as soon as medical authorities determine that the child has not been abused or neglected, that the infant is not more than 72 hours old and that the 28 day waiting period has passed as described below.

An important part of this law is that the parents have the right to again assume custody and parental rights for their surrendered babies if they do so within 28 days of surrender. There has been only one mother who has reclaimed her baby by filing a petition in court for return of custody. That occurred in Oakland County in 2007.

One other case may be of interest and is not counted in the Safe Delivery statistics. It occurred in Wayne County in 2009 when a 19 year old woman surrendered her newborn. It was later determined that the baby was eligible for Indian tribal membership in a federally recognized Indian tribe and this case did not result in legal proceedings under the Safe Delivery of Newborns law.

What happens when the mother and/or father of a newborn arrives at an ESP to surrender the infant under this law? They may do so without identifying themselves, but would be asked to provide a family medical history so that they baby may be properly cared for. They may decline to provide the medical history. They would also be asked to sign a parental release form that makes it clear that they are giving up parental rights and that the baby will be put up for adoption, but they are not required to sign this form.

Back to the question: Is this new law working in Michigan? The actual results from the nine full years that the law has been in effect may help us decide. Through December 31, 2009, there have been a total of 70 babies surrendered under this program. That is an average of about 8 babies per year. The most, 13, were surrendered in the first year and the least, 1, was surrendered in the second year. In 2009, there were 5. In Oakland County, there have been a total of 26 or an average of nearly 3 per year. Wayne County had 13. Of the 70 babies surrendered, 66 were surrendered at hospitals, 3 at fire stations a 1 at a police station. There were none surrendered to 911 responders.

One would have to conclude that the program has shown some success. 70 babies have either been adopted by loving parents or are in the process of being so adopted. We continue to read about babies being abandoned that could have been safely delivered under this law. Why weren't they? It is this writer's belief that the program would be more successful and that more babies would be delivered under the Safe Delivery of Newborns law if it were better and more frequently publicized by the media.
The public should become better educated on this law and be reminded more frequently about its content. It is a good law and all young mothers should be made aware of it.

Now, you know more about Michigan's Safe Delivery of Newborns Law and whether it is working.

Did you ever wonder?

By David McClelland


Did you ever wonder how "Satchel Paige" got is nick name?

Leroy "Satchel" Paige was born sometime around 1903 - 1906. When asked about his age, he would reply, "Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." He pitched the first major league baseball game I ever attended in 1948. It was his first year on a major league team after decades in the old Negro Leagues. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947 and Bill Veeck brought Satchel to the Cleveland Indians in 1948. In my first game, Satchel pitched a 1-0 shutout against the old St. Louis Browns (1901 - 1953) and he pitched the complete game.
When Leroy was about 7, he earned money by carrying bags and satchels at the local train station in Mobile, Alabama. He began to dangle several bags at a time from a pole. The kids started calling him "Satchel Tree" and that name was later shortened to "Satchel". He also had a job cleaning at a ball park and that sparked his interest in baseball.
He couldn't afford a baseball and threw rocks for practice. Then, he got in trouble and spent time in a reform school where a coach helped him refine his pitching style and taught him the fine points of the game. He grew to be over 6 feet tall and had long, dangly arms, perfect for a pitcher.
He joined the Indians in 1948 and pitched in the World Series that year. Satchel pitched until 1965 when he was 59 or 62, depending on when he was born. He later played for the St. Louis and the Kansas City and was the pitching coach for Atlanta. In 1971, he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Joe Dimaggio called Satchel "the greatest and fastest pitcher I ever faced." Now, you know how "Satchel Paige" got his nick name.

Did you ever wonder where the term "blog" came from?

By David McClelland – Special to The Oakland Press

Did you ever wonder where the term "blog" came from?

Well, it turns out that "blog" is a contraction of the term "web log" and is a type of web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events or other material such as videos or graphics. Blogs are usually shown in reverse order, the latest first.

OK, but where did blogs originate? I found that the modern blog evolved from the online diary where people would keep a running account of their personal lives. Tim Berners-Lee, father of the World Wide Web, first posted a web page in 1992. Justin Hall is credited being the first to begin a personal blog in 1994 and is considered one of the earliest bloggers while a student at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, when he launched "Justin's Home Page".

A typical blog contains text, images and links to other blogs, web sites, etc. Then, there is micro-blogging where very short messages are posted. The ability of readers to leave commentary about blogs is usually an important element of this form of communication. At the end of 2007, there were already 112,000,000 blogs posted online. The number has to be many, many times that today. Now, we better understand blogs.

Well, I have and here is what I have learned. The standard tracks are 8' 4" apart. Each track or rail is 6 ¼ - 7 5/16 inches high and 7 inches wide. They are 39 or 78 feet long. And, since the trains' wheels must mate up with the track to keep the trains on the tracks, even at their highest speeds, the top of the track has a "crown" which means that is higher in the middle than on the sides. That crown is critical when the train is traveling at high speeds.
However, the friction caused by the wheels travel over the rails, especially at high speeds, causes the crown to wear down over time. Usually it takes a few years, but, eventually, the crown begins to "flatten" and is no longer safe for travel and must be replaced.
That is bad news because new rail is expensive. The good news is that the worn out rail isn't worthless as one may imagine. Of course, it could be sold a scrap metal for recycling, but it turns out that there is a market for used rails even though their crowns have been worn down.
Who would want them? My brother-in-law is retired from A&K Railroad, the largest U.S. railroad company, and his job was to sell used tracks and switching equipment to companies in 3rd world countries whose factories were near railroads. They needed "sidings", or short-distance tracks, that could be used to transport their products to the main track for shipment. Since those distances were relatively short and the trains would travel slowly, the used track works just fine. Hence, the market for used track.
The next time you ride a train, say to Chicago to shop on the Miracle Mile, think about the rails upon which you train is moving and take comfort in their design.

Well, I did and you may be interested in what I leaned on the subject:
A local, Oakland County man, has an unusual cane. His said that his adult son plays baseball and that his son was on a business trip to Louisville, Kentucky. While in Louisville, he decided to tour the H&B Louisville Slugger manufacturing plant located in downtown Louisville. He wanted to see the process used to make the bats used by major league baseball players. At the end of the tour, he visited the gift shop and bought his father, who must use a cane to get around, an official, 35” Louisville Slugger personalized walking cane. The cane is made such that the bat handle is on the bottom, has a cork base and an adjustable cane handle that sticks out of the thick part of the bat. He had his father’s name inscribed below the Louisville Slugger logo on the bat. His father smiled when he said, “This bat cane makes a great conversation piece and the best part is, NO ONE messes with me!” To learn more about the bat cane, visit the H&B web site at www.personalizedbats.com. In Salisbury, Maryland, seniors are learning to defend themselves with their canes in a class called “Cane-Fu”. To view avideo of some Cane-Fu fighting, visit: health.usatoday.com. Now, you know more about using canes in self-defense.

I did while vacationing in Hilton Head, South Carolina in July with my family. My wife, Joyce, our 16 year-old grandson, Josh, and I were out to our 5th floor balcony early to eat breakfast prior to playing tennis. The skies were clear except for one large, dark cloud that was moving from north to south over the Atlantic Ocean. While we were eating, rain began to fall and, at about 7:30 a.m., Josh exclaimed, “Look, a tornado!” We looked east and saw what none of us had ever seen before. It was most unusual, but didn’t look exactly like the tornado we had seen in “The Wizard of Oz” or the ones in “Twister”. There was a column that dropped straight down from the cloud and reached almost to the ocean. We viewed the phenomenon with binoculars and took a short video. By viewing the video, we could see what appeared to be water swirling in a clockwise and upward direction within the down-cloud, lending credence to the theory that it was, in fact, a waterspout. As we watched, the rain began to come down harder and the waterspout began to slowly rise or to be sucked up into the main cloud. Within about 10 minutes, it had been reabsorbed and was gone from our view. We looked up “waterspout” on the Internet and saw photos and a video which showed what we had viewed in real time and confirmed that our sighting was, in fact, a waterspout. Apparently, if it had been over land, it would have been a tornado. On the Internet, a woman in the video said that, in her 40 years of sailing, she had never before seen a waterspout. Although we didn’t get to play tennis that morning, the waterspout made getting up early most worthwhile and a vacation memory that we won’t soon forget. And now, you know the difference too.