The Top 5 stories of the Week | Feb. 22-26

DKS Editors

1. January assault victim dies

A Kent State graduate student died Sunday, one month after suffering head injuries in an assault in downtown Kent.

John T. White, 28, of Delaware was assaulted at about 2:30 a.m. Jan. 23 near the intersection of South Water and West Main streets.

Two people, John H. Ragin Jr., 21, of Akron and Hallie E. Nuspl, 21, of Akron, were arrested in connection. Ragin pleaded not guilty to felonious assault, a second-degree felony, while Nuspl pleaded not guilty to obstructing official business, a fifth-degree felony, and assault, a first-degree misdemeanor.

White is the second Kent State student in three months to die after an off-campus assault. Christopher M. Kernich, 23, died in November.

2. National Register of Historic Places adds May 4 Memorial site

The National Register of Historic Places added the May 4 Memorial site to its register Tuesday, about two months before the 40th anniversary of the campus shootings.

A group of four Kent State professors began the nomination of the site three years ago, receiving endorsements from Gov. Ted Strickland and the Kent State Board of Trustees, among others.

The register waived its usual 50-year waiting period to add the May 4 site.

“America knows about (May 4),” said English professor Laura Davis, part of the nominating group. “The world knows about this. This is a story that marks an important turning point in American history.”

3. Kent State hires dean of public health college

Yesterday, Kent State named Mark James, professor of tropical medicine at Tulane University, as its dean for the College of Public Health.

James replaces Provost Robert Frank as head of Kent State’s newest college. Frank had served as interim dean of the college.

James has taught at Tulane since 1994 and is chair of the Biomedical Institutional Review Board for the Tulane University Health Sciences Center.

4. Ravenna man arrested for heroin trafficking

The Portage County Drug Task Force arrested a 28-year-old Ravenna man Friday for allegedly trafficking heroin outside the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.

Roderick Wheeler is charged with trafficking heroin, a third-degree felony; possession of heroin, a fourth-degree felony; and possessing criminal tools, a fifth-degree felony.

Commander Pat Burns of the task force said Wheeler’s arrest is unrelated to two on-campus heroin busts in November.

5. Basketball team wins 20th game

For the 11th time in 12 years, the Kent State men’s basketball team has reached the 20-win plateau.

The Flashes took advantage of a late-game comeback to beat Western Carolina 74-72 Saturday at the M.A.C. Center in their ESPN BracketBusters game. Sophomore Justin Greene scored 21 points in the victory.

Kent State won at least 20 games in 10 straight seasons, running from 1998-2008. The streak ended last season, when the Flashes ended with 19 victories.

The Flashes (21-8, 11-3 Mid-American Conference) followed up Saturday’s triumph by winning 75-69 at Bowling Green Wednesday night.