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By SAIT SERKAN GURBUZ  ¦   AJ Miller of Rock Bridge High School performs a pole vault in the 9th Annual Missouri Relays in Audrey J. Walton Stadium on March 28.

By SAIT SERKAN GURBUZ  ¦   Hammers lay on the ground next to the feet of a competitor on March 28 at the 9th Annual Missouri Relays Men's Elite Hammer Throw.

By SAIT SERKAN GURBUZ  ¦   Kristin Klaus of Sullivan High School performs a long-jump in the 9th Annual Missouri Relays in Audrey J. Walton Stadium on March 28.

By SAIT SERKAN GURBUZ  ¦   Emma Booth of Helias High School performs a long-jump in the 9th Annual Missouri Relays in Audrey J. Walton Stadium on March 28.

By Missourian File Photo  ¦   Linas Kleiza declared for the NBA draft after his sophomore year at Missouri, and was taken 27th overall, eventually ending up with the Nuggets.

MIKE BECKER

PHYLLIS FUGIT

MIKE McMILLEN

JOHN SAM WILLIAMSON

DAVID GRIGGS

By BEN DILLON/Missourian  ¦   Wendy Liu, an MU senior in Personal Financial Planning and a member of the Taiwanese Student Association, plays a matching game Wednesday during the Taiwanese Night Market on Lowry Mall.

By BEN DILLON/Missourian  ¦   Members of the Taiwanese Student Association clean up after the Taiwan Night Market on Wednesday afternoon. The market offered free Taiwanese food and activities such as Chinese calligraphy.

By BEN DILLON/Missourian  ¦   Mu senior Wendy Liu uses Chinese calligraphy to create a nameplate for an attendee of the Taiwanese Night Market on Wednesday.

By HEATHER MCGUIRE/Missourian  ¦   Former mafia boss Michael Franzese speaks to a crowd in Conservation Auditorium at MU on Wednesday. Franzese is the founder of the Breaking Out Foundation, dedicated to protecting at-risk youth from gambling addictions.

By MICHAEL STONACEK/Missourian  ¦   Missouri's Ryan Lollis slides safely back to first base on a pickoff attempt.

By HEATHER MCGUIRE/Missourian  ¦   Gale "Hap" Hairston talks with Jim Ritter, left, and David Keller, right, about the proposed tax levy at Hairston's campaign kickoff on March 17.

By ALEX LEWIS  ¦   Wayne Brekhus, left, an associate professor of sociology at MU, reacts after being awarded one of the 2008 William T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence and a $10,000 check during one of his classes on Tuesday. Chairman Jim Schatz, right, laughs after Brekus' first comment after receiving the check was, "Well, it is April 1st."
This was only the first of five of the awards to be distributed to other MU professors this year.

By ALEX LEWIS  ¦   MU Chancellor Brady Deaton, from left, Chairman Jim Schatz and Deputy Chancellor Mike Middleton walk into Middlebush Hall on Tuesday to surprise Wayne Brekhus, an associate professor of sociology, with one of the 2008 William T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence and a $10,000 check. This was the first of five awards to be distributed this year.

By Photos courtesy Great Lakes Aviation, Hawaiian Island Air and Northwest Airlink  ¦   Great Lakes Aviation, top, Hawaiian Island Air, middle, and Northwest Airlink, bottom, have all bid to take over services at Columbia Regional Airport and have asked for substantial federal help in financing their proposed operations.

By SALLY MORROW  ¦   Tom Rose examines a cat in June 2007. Rose is running for one of three open seats on the Columbia School Board.