State and National News

The University of Southern Mississippi announced that it took disciplinary action against five of its pep band members today.

The five students were involved in one of the more controversial moments of the NCAA tournament, when they chanted "Where's your green card?" as Angel Rodriguez, a Latino player from Kansas State, took a free throw.

Maybe Robert De Niro didn't know. Or maybe he forgot.

But when the superstar actor joked at a New York Obama campaign fundraiser Monday evening which Michelle Obama attended about the country not being ready for a white first lady, he got into dangerous territory for President Obama.

According to an Obama campaign pool report, De Niro deadpanned:

"Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?"

The rising civilian death toll in Syria is accompanied by mounting calls to arm the Syrian opposition. And Turkey, a NATO country that shares a long, rugged border with Syria, is often mentioned as a likely transit point.

Turkey has become increasingly critical of the Syrian regime, but Ankara is thus far reluctant to send significant arms across the border or use its large military to create a humanitarian corridor inside Syria.

Few 20th century thinkers predicted the 21st century era of social media and the Internet better than Marshall McLuhan. Beginning in the 1960s, the Toronto-based philosopher and scholar began to theorize about how television and radio were changing society, creating what he termed the "global village."

Doctors often let patients decide how much sedation they'd like when they have a colonoscopy.

But whether you're put under by an anesthesiologist may depend a lot more on where you live and who gets paid than patient preference, according to a new study.

Big bucks are involved. It would cost an extra $8 billion a year if anesthesia services were used for all 20 million endoscopies and colonoscopies performed each year, because an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist has to be paid, too.

There has been a lot of talk about what's wrong with food deserts. First lady Michelle Obama, for one, says far too many people can't access the fruits and vegetables they need to be healthy.

As Illinois Republicans vote in their presidential primary, only one GOP candidate is expected to be in the state. Mitt Romney planned what he hopes to be a victory party Tuesday night in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg.

Newt Gingrich is campaigning in Louisiana, which votes on Saturday.

Ron Paul is in California, which doesn't vote until June.

And Rick Santorum is in Pennsylvania, his home state, which votes on April 24.

We hear a lot about juvenile offenders when they commit a crime — and again, when they're sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison. But not much is known about what happens after the prison gates slam shut.