GRAND VALLEY
A L L E N D A L E & G R A N D R A P I DS , M I C H I G A N ST U D E N T- R U N P U B L I C A T I O N S // P R I N T · O N L I N E · M O B I L E // L A N T H O R N . C O M
M O N D A Y, F E B R U A RY 2 5 , 2 0 1 9 // VO L . 5 3 N O. 2 5
M. BASKETBALL The Sawyers held Michigan Tech to 20 points in the first half, as the Huskies only shot 33.9 percent from the field all day. The scoring was spread out, as Hale led the way with 14 points with Justin Greason, Ferguson and Van Tubbergen all reaching double digits. Hale, who also had seven steals in the game, emphasized how important it is for GVSU to remain a defensive force down the stretch. “We’re coming down to the final stretch and we’re about to start the GLIAC tournament,” Hale said. “We got to set the tone with our defense because our offense will come when our defense is great.”
BY KELLEN VOSS SPORTS@LANTHORN.COM
Cutting down the competition READY TO RIM RATTLE: Grand Valley State sophomore Jake Van Tubbergen goes up for a dunk in warm-ups as he is rebounded by head manager Zak Spryszak. Van Tubbergen and the Lakers have won their last four games. GVL | DAN PACHECO
The Grand Valley State men’s basketball picked the perfect time of year to start playing their best brand of basketball, as after previously losing to Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech this season, they dominated at the Fieldhouse Arena, beating Northern 85-62 on Thursday, Feb. 21 before beating Michigan Tech 71-53 on Saturday, Feb. 23. After what’s been a bit of a roller coaster season, the Lakers came back home for some dominant wins this week, as they didn’t trail at any point in either of the two wins. Thursday’s win saw the Lakers start off the game on a 7-0 and never look back, as four Lakers scored in double digits, with Hunter Hale (23 points), Jake Van Tubbergen (18), Jeremiah Ferguson (13) and Isaiah Brock (12) all able to find the bottom of the net more than a few times. Being that it was Military Appreciation night at the Fieldhouse Arena, Thursday’s game was especially fulfilling for Brock, a veteran who served for years with the Army taking multiple tours in Afghanistan. “I had a lot of friends in the stands that are fellow vets, and I figured I was just going to give them a show,” Brock said. “I appreciate them all showing up, and I appreciate GVSU for setting up the whole event.” Brock wasn’t the only one celebrating on Thursday, as head coach Ric Wesley earned his 300th win as the head honcho at GVSU. Wesley wanted to credit all his former players, coaches and everyone at GVSU involved in the success the program has seen in his 15-year tenure, and a little motivation to win on Thursday. “In 15 years, we’ve had some amazing guys come through this program, and I’ve had great guys helping me out along the way,” Wesley said. “It feels good, but I look it as more of a program thing that we can all share. It takes a lot of people to get to where we are, and my dad’s in the hospital, so I just wanted to get a win to make him feel better tonight.” GVSU kept the dominant play rolling into Saturday, as despite them transforming into the Sawyers, their improved defense remained stout.
It takes a lot of people to get to where we are, and my dad’s in the hospital, so I just wanted to get a win to make him feel better tonight. RIC WESLEY Head Coach
FINANCE
Subscription inflation, enrollment dips cause library budget cuts BY NICK MORAN NEWS@LANTHORN.COM
Grand Valley State University’s library is in the preliminary process of cutting over $800,000 for its collections budget to combat the rising prices of subscription-based services and an absence of bonus funds from the Provost’s office. In a January 2019 memo from University Libraries, the process will include the collection of feedback from students and faculty to ultimately make cancellations to journals and databases by January 2020. Associate Dean of Curation, Publishing and Preservation Services Jeffery Daniels said that out of the library’s approximate budget of $12 million, there is little wiggle room in finding ways to cut costs. Nearly $6 million of those funds supports faculty and staff and approximately $5.2 million is set aside for collections, with the remaining funds being used for library upkeep and support, such as furniture and technology maintenance. Of that collections fund, 90 percent of it is allocated toward subscription-based services,
POLICE
As GVSU grows, GVPD expands patrol in downtown Grand Rapids BY LAUREEN HORAN ASSOCIATE1@LANTHORN.COM
which have caused budgeting stress due to annual inflation. According to the January memo, the mean price of an Ebsco title has increased 5.6 percent on average over the past four years. “The Provost’s office has protected us as much as they possibly can, but when they are being asked to trim a significant amount of money, all of their units are asked to trim as well,” Daniels said. “So even when we have a flat budget — which they were able to accomplish for us for a very long time — because of these inflationary increase, if the Provost came to us tomorrow and said, ‘You can have the exact same budget as you had last year,’ we’d still need to cut.” University Libraries leadership is negotiating with companies, setting a firm line to not sign with companies that inflated prices over five percent, Daniels said. Thought cuts of all kind, as cancellations become effective in January 2020, Daniels said that visible decisions will be made. SEE BUDGET | A2
After the successful week, GVSU improves to 16-11 on the season, as they are above .500 in the GLIAC (109) and have won the past four. Wesley and the team hope that they can continue to play quality basketball as the season draws to a close. “It’s always about how you finish. We had our bumps along the way, and we’re hoping to be one of those teams that catches fire and makes something special,” Wesley said. “Our guys have a lot of fight and determination, we got a tough one coming up against Davenport, but I’m proud of how the guys have continued to fight, because we’ve given ourselves a chance for this type of success to happen.” GVSU will host Davenport on Thursday, Feb. 28, for their final home game of the season. The matchup with the Panthers tips off at 8 p.m., with the GLIAC tournament scheduled to start the following Tuesday.
Grand Valley State University’s presence in downtown Grand Rapids has been amplified in recent years with the addition of Finkelstein Hall, the proposed construction of a parking ramp shared with Spectrum Health and the ongoing expansion of the engineering school. As the Laker community continues to grow in the big city, Grand Valley Police Department recognizes the subsequent need for increased security. GVPD now has two officers on duty near the Grand Rapids campuses, the first step in their plan to establish a downtown GVPD unit. Upon the opening of Finkelstein Hall in fall 2018, GVPD assigned officer JP West to patrol the Grand Rapids campuses weekdays between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Starting this week, officer Andrew Dusendang will start his new job patrolling in the evening. “Between the Pew Campus and the expansion of the health campuses, along with other ongoing construction, we recognized the need for more GVPD officers to be present downtown,” said Capt. Kourosh Khatir, who oversees the downtown unit. INFLATION PREPARATION: Working on assignments for class, students study in the Mary Idema Pew Library. Students may feel the effects of budget cuts come 2020. GVL | ARCHIVE
SEE GROWTH | A2
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