I want to thank Dr. J for finding this. I wanted to do a short critique of this article.

Ok, to start with:

It's only got two sources. It's got a professor, and a student. What about another professor who has the same policy? Or an academic dean that is working on this?

This article also doesn't have any direct quotes. I know it's a short article, but come on!

Student Cory Winsett says if he must continue without his laptop, he'll transfer to another school. Winsett says he won't be able to keep up if he has to rely on hand-written notes, which he says are incomplete and less organized.

This could become--and im gonna use Senior as an example:

Senior Cory Winsett says that if he must continue without his laptop, he'll "transfer to another school".

"My handwriting is horrible, and my notes would be incomplete because I'm trying to hang on to her every word," Winsett said, "they would also be less organized."

That's about it. That's school that i actually learned something from him (see other blog entry.)

Others aren't.

Some are going to miss how I can point out the obvious, try to make a few suggestions to fix it, and still get slammed.

Others won't.

Now let's get down to the fact of why im writing this entry. Simple, it's my way of saying goodbye once and for all.

10. Getting shut out of Eye Contact twice in a row.

Claim what you want. I personally find it suspicious that it's my entry, it's blind judging and yet the editor is also the chairman of the CR. Call me a conspiracy theorist (you'd be partially right..) but it's still highly suspicious. *shrugs* take from that what you will, but when you're going up against a political person who doesn't agree with your politics in a non-political environment, there's going to be something fishy going on.

9. Football.

Ah yes. The creme de la creme. The coup de grace. I LOVE Football. So much so I still watch SuperBowl XL on my DVR. When SHU announced football about the time I started to go here, I was estatic. I was happy. Then...I was dissappointed. 1-10!? Come on! The Cleveland Browns could beat you guys!

8. Writing Fiction

This class, I thought was going to be awesome. I can't even remember the name of the original professor. All I remember is hoping Dr. Arnzen was teaching it, so I could learn more in a productive environment from a man that I had already been asking for advice from on a one on one basis. Dr. A, if you read this--I would definitely like to keep chatting with you and corresponding with you about my writing career. (and please don't take any offense to #10--it has nothing to do with you.)

7. The Computer Labs

For the most part, the computer labs rocked. T1 connection, DVD- and CD-RWs, color printers..oh no..wait those went away, which was a shame. Enough said.

(ok, im skipping 6-2, because it's nearly 3 AM (DST--Duh!)

So...

Wait..

Wait for it..

Almost there..

1. Having Professors accuse you of plagarism--one of them with your own brother!

Yeah, it feels real good to take a class that you didnt want to take, you despised and then find out that you "plagarized" on an "article" from your 16-year-old brother after looking in his notebook 30 minutes AFTER you left the class and you were already in Latrobe, Pennsylvania (thereby having no access to the Internet, or a printer, a damn computer--or the BLOODY PROFESSOR'S DESK FOR THAT MATTER to turn anything in.) Go figure. Then, the last day of classes, you're not on campus and am actually getting ready to LITERALLY walk out of your door to go on vacation for the winter break when your Mj. Brit. Writers professor calls you on your home phone to CLAIM that he's looking at your paper at the paragraphs you wrote on the INTERNET, knowing full well that there's nothing you can do about it, and you can't call him on it because your not on the campus to see what he is seeing.

Yeah, I only got two words for those professors: FUCK YOU

If anyone has a problem with these or any other comments i made, please email me at louiegagliardi@gmail.com or lgagliardi29@yahoo.com. I might actually give a damn. KEYWORD: might.

This is too funny to even write about! that's EXACTLY how you get over with people and the "liberal media" today! WOO-HOO! So I love when people (except myself) make asses of themselves and it gets plastered all over the news!

on the writing scene: my mss got rejected; however, one of the editors liked the potential I had to ask me to do another type of book. So we'll see how that goes.

Right now im getting some research done (trying to find pics of what my hero/ine looks like, a setting, etc.) so..

I'm gonna keep an online journal (on this site) that is also mirrored on this site.

--Lou

Cherry Creek School District administrators were investigating whether geography teacher Jay Bennish violated a policy requiring balancing viewpoints in the classroom, district spokeswoman Tustin Amole said.

"After listening to the tape, it's evident the comments in the class were inappropriate. There were not adequate opportunities for opposing points of view," she said.

Sophomore Sean Allen recorded about 20 minutes of Bennish's class during a Feb. 1 discussion about Bush's State of the Union speech and gave the recording to his father, who complained to the principal, Amole said.

Other than a 20-minute tape, how do they know how long the discussion was? How long are the classes at this High School? If they were like mine, 1 hr 45 minutes, then there's plenty of time.

Ok, if a teacher/professor can't speak his mind--then I don't really care what Jerz's opinion on journalism is (I really don't either, by the way.). I don't care what the College Republicans have to say either--and speaking of that, if a teacher can't have his say then neither should there be a CR, ESPECIALLY at a religious instution like Seton Hill University.

The students did protest peacefully, that I will agree with. But protest over what? A teacher doing what I do on a daily basis? So what? Big fucking deal! I had a teacher, Mr. Rutter, who supported on particular canadiate--as it became closer to the election, Mr. Rutter would push this guy down our throats and if we brought up other candidates then we were proven wrong--with actual evidence.

So people, in conclusion, shut up about it. and get a life.

Also..TO SHU:

Dear sirs and madames,

I hope you had a fun semester. Now, I know it's not the end of the semester yet, but it is the end of my tenure here. I hope to see you all being successful in what you do. Except three people, but they, along with the rest of the world, know who they are. I personally hope those three people rot in Hell, or some other equally unnice place.

Peace.

To them I say this:

Tough shit. I'd rather save my own ass and take down what's offense than have someone force me too. Sometimes a writer, both in journalism and in the creative writing field, needs to realize that enough is enough and it's a good idea to save your own skin.

To the rest of you, as end of the Semester, my last semester at SHU, draws to a close--I want to leave with my favorite quote:

A mind not to be chang'd by Place or Time. The mind is its own place, and in it self Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.

I say goodbye and good luck to everyone.

--Lou

Just in time for St. Villiansti..I mean St. Valentine's Day! A short story to warm your hearts from the guy that hates lovey-dovey crap. Enjoy!

The Annual Fund is upon us, and I saw this letter in my mailbox. I'm thinking, "great. i got the letter from Anna." (well we broke up anyways--so it wasn't that big of a deal trust me.) No, it was the Annual Fund. Where they raise money for "Seton Hill students."

I tell you what, if anyone should be given money, it's me. After the way I got treated by certain professors (you know who you are.) and I got treated and "listened" to by people that are supposed to help, I think I deserve a little restitution.

Hey Mr. Norris, or anyone for that matter, when something like this comes up, skip my mailbox. ok? I'm not even going to look at it like I did this time, im just gonna rip it up immidately.

Oh, and the nice thing about not having to blog academically? I dont have to leave the comments on!

wait for it...

wait for it...

wait for it...

THEY DID IT!

Now..if you know me from the last few semesters, you'll know that I LOVED it when Seton Hill got a football team. I cheer for the Golden Lions and Pitt Panthers everytime. I watch the National Championship (all of them actually--Division I-A, I-AA, II, and III.)

So..for all of you from out of the country (that includes Hempfield Township btw), this won't make sense to you. For those of you from out of the Pittsburgh area, if you're city or the one nearest to it, you'll understand. For those of you that are slow (ie, Clevelanders, Oaklanders, and Dallasers...) I'll go slow.

For those of you from Seattle, I apologize in advance, you're team is a fine team don't get me wrong. I also have an uncle that lives in Seattle. During the NFC post-season, I was rooting for the "underdog" 'Hawks (I'll explain that one later.) Below are my 3 keys to Success:

1.) The fans. The city of Detroit has been come Blitzburgh Part II. The Seahawks and Red Raiders want to use the term 12th man? Well so will I. The Steelers fans are THE 12th man, be-otch! When the Hawks get the money, I encourage the Steelers fans from as far away as Japan to right here in the heart of Black and Gold Country to yell at the top of their lungs--That will rattle a few bird cages.

2.) Jerome Bettis. The Bus. "The wheels on the bus go round..and round.." Whatever way you want to look at this--this maybe Jerome's last game. MAYBE. Hey, when the Steelers win tomorrow he may decide that he wants to defend his world heavyweight championship, as it were. I can also imagine the dialogue tomorrow:

Hilgrove: The Steelers on the Seattle 10 yardline...10 seconds to go..the handoff to the Bus..can he do it? Block by Alan Fancea...the 5...the 3...1....TOUCHDOWN STEELERS! THE STEELERS WIN!

Myron Cope (if the petitions got to him): Yoi! Double Yoi! Quadruple Yoi!

Hilgrove: Ladies and Gentlemen, you're 2005 World champions...the Pittsburgh Steelers!

3.) Ben Rothelis..Rothelis..oh hell, you know, what's his name? Last year, we as a people of steel, were struggling to pronounce this young man's last name (well except me, but strangely I also got a running backs and a safety's (Troy Polamalu's) last name right on the first try). This year, we're writing "In Rothelisberger We Trust" on our currency. The Rookie has become a Legend rather fast. Just around this time last year, Pittsburgh was playing the "what-if" game. "What if Maddox hadn't gotten hurt?" "What if Ben would have made the Superbowl." Now, this year, we're playing the "when" game. "When Big Ben wins the Superbowl." "When is Big Ben gonna finally snap under.." nevermind! wrong "sport"

There...three simple things..you get the fans involved early and often, you get the ball to Jerome, and you make sure Big Ben is having a good game. If you can't do that, I'm sorry to say Blitzburgh, that you don't deserve to be in the Superbowl then.

Now..for the otherside of the coin. The Seahawks. A good team. I just have one problem that every other writer has with them. As I play this song (Unforgiven-Metallica), I can't help but think of the Seahawks.

New blood joins this earth
and quikly he's subdued
through constant pain disgrace
the young boy learns their rules

Sure their not "new"--in fact their 30+ years old. But they are new on the playoff winning field. Another problem I have with them is that they constantly bitch about an East coast bias. Puh-leeze! Sure, the New England Patriots have won the SuperBowl...and sure, the Steelers will in 4 1/2 hours...but there is no East Coast bias.

Also, please stop with the "yeah, we played in the shitty NFC. Pity us." bull shit. That's all it is. Is bullshit. You, the #1 seed in the NFC (old NFL) are the UNDERDOG to an AFC (old AFL) #6 seed. Deal with it.

The End.

Steelers 24 Seahawks 20.

See..the whole thing started in 1898...Greensburg-Salem (All Hail GSHS!) wasn't creatd yet, but it's predecessor was, the Greensburg Athletic Association. It was called the Golden Lions. The played against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club and the Latrobe Athletic Club, earning the Pennsylvania State Football Champions (PSFC), beating LAC 6-0.

Then in 1933, Art Rooney Sr., otherwise known as the Chief--god rest his soul--bought an NFL franchise for reportedly 2,500 dollars, reportedly from race track winnings. Anyways, he named the franchise the Pittsburgh Pirates, after the succssful MLB franchise--his franchise felt failure. While home games were played at Forbes Field, Rooney often took his team to such cities as Johnstown, Latrobe, Youngstown, New Orleans, and Louisville in the 1930s due to competition with baseball and college football.

Then, according to steelers.com:

1940s: In 1940 Rooney changed the team name to the Pittsburgh Steelers, representing the heritage of Pittsburgh. The first winning record in the organization’s history came in 1942 when head coach Walt Kiesling led the Steelers to a 7-4 finish with the league-leading rushing of rookie Bill Dudley. But the next year Dudley joined the Armed Forces along with many other NFL players as the nation went to war. With rosters depleted, Rooney merged the Steelers with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1943 (Phil-Pitt "Steagles") and with the Chicago Cardinals (Card-Pitt) in 1944.

Rooney hired legendary Pitt coach Jock Sutherland in 1946, and Dudley returned from the war to earn NFL MVP honors, leading the league in rushing, interceptions, and punt returns. Today, Dudley is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Sutherland led the 1947 Steelers to an 8-4 record for a share of the Eastern division title, but they lost their first-ever postseason game, 21-0 to Philadelphia. Sutherland died suddenly the following spring while on a scouting trip.

1950s: Succeeding Sutherland, John Michelosen was head coach for the 1948-51 seasons, compiling a 20-26-2 record. In 1952 Joe Bach returned for his second stint with the Steelers, having coached the team previously in 1935-36. The Steelers became the last team to abandon the single wing for the T-formation in 1952.

Bach resigned for health reasons following the 1954 season and was replaced by assistant coach Walt Kiesling, who had been the Steelers’ head coach twice previously. Kiesling’s three stints covered the 1939-40, 1941-44, and 1954-56 campaigns.

1960s: Buddy Parker was named head coach in 1957 and over the next eight years he led the Steelers to five non-losing seasons. Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne quarterbacked the team through three of those campaigns, leading the Steelers to a 9-5 mark and a playoff game vs. Detroit in 1962, which the Steelers lost 17-10. Parker completed his tenure with a 51-48-6 record and ranks third among all-time Steelers coaches for career wins.

Brief stints by Mike Nixon in 1965 and Bill Austin from 1966-68 preceded the hiring of the 37-year-old Chuck Noll on January 27, 1969. Noll began to rebuild the Steelers through the draft, starting with the defense when he selected defensive tackle Joe Greene with his first choice in 1969. Today Greene is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It wasn't until after going 1-13 in 1970 that the steelers as we know them came to be:

1970s: A 1-13 record in 1969 gave the Steelers the first overall choice in the 1970 draft, with which Noll addressed the offense by selecting quarterback Terry Bradshaw, another Hall of Famer, after the Steelers won the first selection by winning a coin toss with the Chicago Bears. Cornerback Mel Blount was added in the third round that year, followed by linebacker Jack Ham in 1971 and running back Franco Harris in 1972. In all, Noll drafted six players who are now enshrined in the Hall of Fame including three in his first 20 picks and four of his first 38.

Two significant changes took place in 1970, when the Steelers moved from the NFL Century Division to the AFC Central with the merger of the American Football League and the NFL. The Steelers also moved into a new home as Three Rivers Stadium opened. Previously, the Steelers had played home games at Forbes Field from 1933-57 and at both Forbes Field and Pitt Stadium from 1958-63. From 1964-69 the Steelers played at Pitt Stadium until Three Rivers opened in 1970.

Gradual improvement in the early 1970s resulted in the team’s first division title in 1972 with an 11-3 record. In the first playoff game at Three Rivers the Steelers defeated the Oakland Raiders 13-7 with Franco Harris’ "Immaculate Reception" in the final minute. Despite a 21-17 loss the following week to the undefeated Miami Dolphins, the Steelers had reached a new plateau.

It took 40 years for the Steelers to finally win their first division title, but over the next decade they achieved a level of success unprecedented in professional football.

In 1973 the Steelers won a wild card playoff berth with a 10-4 record. Oakland avenged their loss from the previous year, however, with a 33-14 defeat of the Steelers in the playoffs.

The Steelers won their first of six consecutive AFC Central titles in 1974 and marched past Buffalo (32-14) and Oakland (24-13) en route to their first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl IX. The fierce Pittsburgh defense led the way to a 16-6 victory vs. the Minnesota Vikings, and Art Rooney was presented the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the first time.

In 1975 the Steelers won 11 straight games to finish 12-2 and claim their second consecutive division crown. After defeating Baltimore (28-10) and Oakland (16-10) in the playoffs the Steelers became the third team in NFL history, joining Green Bay and Miami, to win back-to-back Super Bowls with a 21-17 win versus the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl X.

The 1976 Steelers struggled to a 1-4 start before reeling off nine straight victories including five shutouts to win the division with a 10-4 mark. They defeated Baltimore 40-14 in the playoffs, but lost to Oakland, 24-7, after both starting running backs, Harris and Rocky Bleier, were injured. The following year the Steelers dropped a 34-21 decision to Denver in the first round of the playoffs after posting a 9-5 regular-season record.

In 1978 the Steelers made history after a league-best 14-2 regular season and playoff wins versus Denver (33-10) and Houston (34-5). Their 35-31 Super Bowl XIII win versus Dallas made the Steelers the first team to win three Super Bowls.

Yet another standard was set the following year when the 1979 Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 31-19, in Super Bowl XIV to make them the first team in history to win four Super Bowls and the only team to win back-to-back Super Bowls twice. The Super Bowl victory followed a 12-4 regular season and playoff wins versus Miami (34-14) and Houston (27-13). With six consecutive AFC Central crowns, eight straight years of playoff appearances and four Super Bowl championships, the Steelers were tagged the "Team of the Decade" for the 1970s.

Then the 80s and 90s:

1980s: As the 1980s opened the Steelers stumbled, failing to make the playoffs in 1980 and 1981 with records of 9-7 and 8-8.

In 1982 the Steelers celebrated the team’s 50th anniversary by qualifying for the playoffs with a 6-3 finish in a strike-interrupted season. During the season an anniversary banquet was held to commemorate the team’s first 50 seasons and to honor the Steelers’ all-time team as selected by fan voting. Thousands of fans were attracted to Pittsburgh for a week of activities and exhibits before the anniversary season was ended by San Diego’s 31-28 win in the playoffs. This would be the last playoff game at Three Rivers until the 1992 season, a span of 10 years.

The 1983 Steelers won their eighth division title with a 10-6 record, but fell in the postseason, 38-10 to the Los Angeles Raiders. The following year the Steelers won their ninth division crown and the team advanced to the AFC Championship game with a 24-17 playoff win at Denver. A 45-28 loss to Miami in the AFC Championship game prevented the Steelers from a fifth Super Bowl appearance.

The Steelers’ streak of 13 consecutive non-losing seasons came to an end in 1985 with a 7-9 finish, followed by 6-10 in 1986. Playoff hopes remained alive in 1987 until the Steelers lost their last two games to finish 8-7 during the strike-shortened season.

In 1988 the team suffered through its worst campaign in 19 years with a 5-11 record. The next season got off to a similar start with losses of 51-0 and 41-10 in the first two games as the offense failed to score in the first month of the season. But the young team fought back to finish 9-7 and earn a wild card playoff berth on the season’s final weekend. An exciting 26-23 overtime playoff win in Houston was followed by a heartbreaking 24-23 divisional playoff loss at Denver in which the Steelers led until the final minutes.

1990s: A 9-7 finish in 1990 left the Steelers in a three-way tie for the AFC Central lead, but they were eliminated from playoff contention by a 2-4 division record. The 1991 team finished second in the division despite a 7-9 record, winning the last two games under Noll at home against the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns.

On December 26, 1991 Noll announced his retirement from football after 39 consecutive seasons, the last 23 as the Steelers’ head coach which made him one of only four men to coach the same team for 23 consecutive years. He left as the fifth-winningest coach in NFL history with an overall record of 209-156-1, and as the only coach to win four Super Bowls. Noll was rewarded in 1993 with his election to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

A new era began in 1992 with the retirement of Noll and the arrival of 34-year-old Bill Cowher, the National Football League’s youngest head coach at the time he assumed control. In the first season of the new era, the Steelers won the AFC Central division crown for the first time since 1984 with an 11-5 record. While the team enjoyed newfound success, Cowher was recognized by the Associated Press as the NFL’s Coach of the Year and six Steelers played in the Pro Bowl, the most in more than a decade.

Under Cowher the Steelers became the first AFC team since the 1970 merger to claim its 10th division title. Their 11-5 record equaled the best in the conference and gave the Steelers the home field throughout the playoffs, but in the first postseason game at Three Rivers in exactly 10 years the Steelers were defeated by eventual AFC champion Buffalo, 24-3.

In 1993, the Steelers earned a wild card playoff berth, marking their first consecutive playoff appearances since the 1983-84 seasons. A 9-7 record was good for second place in the division, but the season ended in a 27-24 overtime loss in Kansas City in the AFC wild-card game.

The 1994 Steelers won seven of their final eight regular-season games for their strongest finish since 1978. They captured their second division title in three years with the AFC’s best record of 12-4. After a 29-9 victory over the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the playoffs, Pittsburgh hosted their first AFC Championship game since 1984. The game went down to the wire and the Steelers lost to the San Diego Chargers, 17-13.

At 38, Bill Cowher became the youngest head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl. Along the way, Cowher’s team captured their third AFC Central division title in four years, made their fourth straight playoff appearance, and won the Steelers’ first AFC title since 1979. After a first-round bye, they defeated the Buffalo Bills (40-21) and the Indianapolis Colts (20-16), before losing to the Dallas Cowboys 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX in Tempe, Arizona.

In 1996, injuries forced Cowher to use 40 different starters during the course of the season. But the Steelers’ "never-say-die" attitude led to a 10-6 finish and their fifth consecutive trip to the playoffs. Cowher earned his 50th regular-season win Nov. 3, 1996 in his 73rd game to become the eighth fastest to reach 50 wins. He ended the season with 57 career victories ranking him as the second winningest coach in team history, behind his predecessor Noll.

The Steelers captured their fourth consecutive AFC Central title in 1997, while posting an 11-5 record. They were one play away from earning their sixth Super Bowl appearance and lost to Denver, 24-21, in the AFC Championship game.

In 1998, the Steelers finished a disappointing 7-9, losing their last five regular-season games and missing the playoffs for the first time under Bill Cowher. It marked the first time that Cowher had been associated with a team with a losing record during his 14-year coaching career.

Then, everyone knows the years 1999-2006. Struggling to get that one for the thumb. Making it to the AFC championship game, only to be stopped the Patriots (who I think are more hated than the Cleveland Browns around here now.) Now finally we're on the drive for five!

So as you can see the football tradition started here in 108 years ago. It's continued since. and to quote a t-shirt:

If you ain't a Steelers Fan, you ain't shit

(oh, and for those of you who think im gonna be more PC, and nicer, not say the things I used to, well, you all can kiss my ass!)

"The officers made a good faith, but mistaken effort to enforce an old unwritten interpretation of the prohibitions about demonstrating in the Capitol," Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said in a statement late Wednesday.

So basically the police interpretated the law on their own, there's a big surprise...

Sheehan was taken away in handcuffs before Bush's arrival at the Capitol and charged with a misdemeanor, while Young left the gallery and therefore was not arrested, Gainer said.

"Neither guest should have been confronted about the expressive T-shirts," Gainer's statement said.

1. If Sheehan was arrested, Mrs. Young should have been too. 2. Just like Iraq, there's another preemptive strike..funny..what is it with the Bush Administration and preemptive strikes? Seriously.

Y'know, I know I said I was going to vote Republican or what not. Then Puffy made a good point about party politics. I normally vote for the best candidate, and don't go based on record or party. For example, if Joe Smith said "I'm for the legalization of pot, as long as it's government controlled." But then John Doe said, "I'm for it as well, but without another government agency to regulate it." Then I'm gonna vote for Joe Smith--because he has a good head on his shoulders.

The same thing in real life, in the beginning Bush seemed like a good guy, and I did vote for him vs Gore. Now however, if I knew what I know now, I would have to vote for Gore.

Everything seems like one big mess for the Administration. Mr. President, I hope for you that everything works out in the end. I hope that your legacy is not tarnished too much, and that people will see that you while you tried to help the American people, and the residents of the world--you ultimately did the wrong things to help.

Flags at the King Center were lowered to half-staff Tuesday morning.

"We appreciate the prayers and condolences from people across the country," the King family said in a statement. The family said she died during the night. The widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. suffered a serious stroke and heart attack last August.

"It's a bleak morning for me and for many people and yet it's a great morning because we have a chance to look at her and see what she did and who she was," poet Maya Angelou said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

"It's bleak because I can't — many of us can't hear her sweet voice — but it's great because she did live, and she was ours. I mean African-Americans and white Americans and Asians, Spanish-speaking — she belonged to us and that's a great thing."

Gov. Sonny Perdue ordered flags at all state buildings to be flown at half-staff and offered to allow King to lie in state at the Capitol. There was no immediate response to the offer, the governor's office said.

King died at Santa Monica Health Institute, a holistic health center in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, south of San Diego, said her sister, Edythe Scott Bagley of Cheyney, Pa.

She had gone to California to rest and be with family, according to Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, who broke the news on NBC's "Today" show.

At a news conference, Young said Coretta King's fortitude rivaled that of her husband.

"She was strong if not stronger than he was," Young said. "She lived a graceful and beautiful life, and in spite of all of the difficulties, she managed a graceful and beautiful passing."

She was a supportive lieutenant to her husband during the most tumultuous days of the American civil rights movement, and after his assassination in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968, she kept his dream alive while also raising their four children.

"I'm more determined than ever that my husband's dream will become a reality," King said soon after his slaying.

She goaded and pulled for more than a decade to have her husband's birthday observed as a national holiday, first celebrated in 1986.

King became a symbol, in her own right, of her husband's struggle for peace and brotherhood, presiding with a quiet, steady, stoic presence over seminars and conferences on global issues.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was with her husband when he was assassinated, said Tuesday that she understood that every time he left home, there was the chance he might not come back. "Like all great champions, she learned to function with pain and keep serving," he said. "So her legacy is secure as a freedom fighter, but her work remains unfinished."

King wrote a book, "My Life With Martin Luther King Jr.," and, in 1969 founded the multimillion-dollar Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. She saw to it that the center became deeply involved with the issues she said breed violence — hunger, unemployment, voting rights and racism.

"The center enables us to go out and struggle against the evils in our society," she often said.

She became increasingly outspoken against businesses such as film and television companies, video arcades, gun manufacturers and toy makers she accused of promoting violence. She called for regulation of their advertising.

After her stroke, King missed the annual King holiday celebration in Atlanta two weeks ago, but she did appear with her children at an awards dinner a couple of days earlier, smiling from her wheelchair but not speaking. The crowd gave her a standing ovation.

At the same time, the King Center's board of directors was considering selling the site to the National Park Service to let the family focus less on grounds maintenance and more on King's message. Two of the four children were strongly against such a move.

Also in the news recently was a new book, "At Canaan's Edge" by Taylor Branch, that put allegations of her husband's infidelity back in the spotlight. It said her husband confessed a long-standing affair to her not long before he was assassinated.

Coretta Scott was studying voice at the New England Conservatory of Music and planning on a singing career when a friend introduced her to Martin Luther King, a young Baptist minister studying at Boston University.

"She said she wanted me to meet a very promising young minister from Atlanta," King once said, adding with a laugh: "I wasn't interested in meeting a young minister at that time."

She recalled that on their first date he told her: "You know, you have everything I ever wanted in a woman. We ought to get married someday." Eighteen months later — June 18, 1953 — they did, at her parents' home in Marion, Ala.

The couple moved to Montgomery, Ala., where he became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and organized the famed Montgomery bus boycott in 1955. With that campaign, King began enacting his philosophy of direct social action.

Over the years, King was with her husband in his finest hours. She was at his side as he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. She marched beside him from Selma, Ala., into Montgomery in 1965 for the triumphal climax to his drive for a voting rights law.

Only days after his death, she flew to Memphis with three of her children to lead thousands marching in honor of her slain husband and to plead for his cause.

"I think you rise to the occasion in a crisis," she once said. "I think the Lord gives you strength when you need it. God was using us — and now he's using me, too."

The King family, especially King and her father-in-law, Martin Luther King Sr., were highly visible in 1976 when former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter ran for president. When an integration dispute at Carter's Plains church created a furor, King campaigned at Carter's side the next day.

She later was named by Carter to serve as part of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations, where Young was the ambassador.

In 1997, she spoke out in favor of a push to grant a trial for James Earl Ray, who pleaded guilty to killing her husband and then recanted.

"Even if no new light is shed on the facts concerning my husband's assassination, at least we and the nation can have the satisfaction of knowing that justice has run its course in this tragedy," she told a judge.

The trial never took place; Ray died in 1998.

King was born April 27, 1927, in Perry County, Ala. Her father ran a country store. To help her family during the Depression, young Coretta picked cotton; later, she worked as a waitress to earn her way through Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

In 1994, King stepped down as head of the King Center, passing the job to son Dexter, who in turn passed the job on to her other son, Martin III, in 2004. Dexter continued to serve as the center's chief operating officer. Martin III also has served on the Fulton County (Ga.) commission and as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, co-founded by his father in 1957. Daughter Yolanda became an actress and the youngest child, Bernice, became a Baptist minister.

On the 25th anniversary of her husband's death, April 5, 1993, King said the war in Vietnam which her husband opposed "has been replaced by an undeclared war on our central cities, a war being fought by gangs with guns for drugs."

"The value of life in our cities has become as cheap as the price of a gun," she said.

King received numerous honors for herself and traveled around the world in the process.

In London, she stood in 1969 in the same carved pulpit in St. Paul's Cathedral where her husband preached five years earlier.

"Many despair at all the evil and unrest and disorder in the world today," she preached, "but I see a new social order and I see the dawn of a new day."

My condolenses go out to Ms. Haines for having to write this article. Writing about the death of anyone is difficult. Especially someone as affluental as the King family. First Dr. Luther was assissinated, and he was survived by his wife. Now she died. Ashame. My prayers and thoughts go to the King family as they grieve this loss...