Procrastinomic

I wouldn't say that the gay climate in Lansing/East Lansing is the best in the world, but it's certainly a lot nicer that other places I've lived in the state. MSU offers insurance for same-sex couples, there's just a lot of clever wording in the contract to make it legal under Michigans ridiculous laws. Even when Michigan made their laws more homophobic a couple years ago, MSU rewrote the contracts again to keep including everyone it had included before. I believe (though I'm not 100% certain) that the graduate union has the same language; so if you have an assistantship, your long-term partner would be eligible. Since there are something like 30,000 people on campus, there are always a handful of intolerant people, but as far as I can tell, they're outnumbered by people who are either actively supportive, or who at least think it's none of their business. I assume that the gay bar in Old Town that was mentioned is the Spiral. I've been there several times, and while they do cater more to men, there are plenty of lesbians; and more than a few straight people who just like the place; it's a really fun time, they have theme nights and all sorts of entertaining things. There's also 505, which is the town lesbian bar, but I haven't been there for ages, so I'm not entirely sure it's still open. As for non-bar, non-campus people, there's a wide range; but on the whole I think it's towards the progressive side.

This is sort of related...my undergrad loans have been in repayment for a few years, but now I'm starting a phd program in August. A friend who just graduated medical school told me that there is new legislation that forbids loan deferment for some graduate programs. Has anyone else heard of such a thing? I've looked at my loan websites and I don't see any changes, so I don't know if I'm missing it, or she's mistaken, or if it's something specific to medical school that wouldn't apply to me anyway. Any insights?