April 14, 2017

Indiana Statesman For ISU students. About ISU students. By ISU students.

Indiana Statesman

Friday, April 14, 2017

@ISUstatesman

isustatesman

Volume 124, Issue 73

Submitted photo

Young Americans for Liberty hosted a event on Thursday advertising their right for free speech on campus around the fountain.

Young Americans for Liberty fight for free speech Rileigh McCoy News Editor

Young Americans for Liberty hosted an event to advocate for free speech on college campuses on Thursday.

YAL set up by the fountain with copies of the constitution, sharpies and a nine-foot diameter beach ball to advocate for free speech on campus.

Students could sharpie anything they wished to say onto the beach ball to have their voices heard.

“We are a non-partisan organization,” said Cody White, president of YAL. “We don’t fall into Republican, Democrat, or the Libertarian party itself, but we fight for liberty on college campuses all across Amer-

ica.”

White explained that it was important for YAL to get out on campus and make sure that students know that they can have their voices heard.

“Because of a certain kind of culture of political correctness on college campuses, a lot of students feel as though they do not have the ability to express their views, especially political views that may be more slightly controversial,” White said. “There’s nothing wrong with political correctness.

You are always allowed to tell people they shouldn’t say something, but you can never tell people they can’t say something.”

White also explained that college plays a role in not allowing free speech when that’s not what college is about.

“College is about expressing ideas and

exploring new ideas,” White said. “And ultimately, that’s what we’re trying to do, to allow students to express and explore new ideas.”

White explained that while student’s ideas may be controversial, students should still be allowed to express their opinions.

“We just want students to understand that college is about exploring controversial ideas,” White said. “And, yes, sometimes there are things you shouldn’t say, but we’ve got to remind them that they still can say it.”

Terrence Williams, a graduate student, explained that free speech on college campuses is important to him.

“It’s extremely important,” Williams said.

“Especially when you have disagreements.

Just because you have a disagreement doesn’t mean that one opinion is stronger

than the other.”

Williams noted that the free speech ball was a creative way to get students involved to have their voices heard.

Rashad Crawford, a graduate student, also thought that it is important for students on a campus like ISU’s to have their opinions noticed.

“I think the ability to speak openly and freely about various different topics is extremely important,” Crawford said. “It shows that voices can be heard, and it is important that they are taken into account when making decisions. It creates a more open environment, especially being on a diverse campus like Indiana State. It speaks volumes to what people think is morally and ethically important.”

One Million Stars project comes to ISU, aims to end violence Grace Harrah Features Editor

A unique project that promotes an end to violence and crafting of paper stars is happening at Indiana State University, hosted by the office of Multicultural Services and Programs. The project is called One Million Stars to End Violence, which started in 2012

by Maryann Talia Pau who resides in Auckland, New Zealand.

Pau’s initiative to end violence started when a young woman in her community was raped and murdered. This global movement has reached the ISU and Terre Haute community, supporting the cause of the project. This movement is described as “Peaceful global start weaving project encouraging communities to engage in a conversation about ending all forms of violence,” according to their official website.

ISU has taken steps to contribute to the global project. Mary Fisher, an advocate for the campaign and the lead student assistant for Multicultural Services and Programs, leads the project and is determined to send 10,000 stars back to Queensland, Australia.

The overall goal for the project is to display 1 million stars as the art and cultural display for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Queensland.

Stars will be there from all around the globe, including those that ISU students have created.

Fisher sees a positive impact that will benefit the students and the community from crafting the stars and being a part of an enormous awareness and project.

Career Connections encourages students meet face-to-face Anthony Goelz Reporter

Submitted photo

Indiana State University hopes to meet a goal of 10,000 stars to send to Australia.

“My hope is that this project will bring the ISU community together like it brought Ms. Pau’s community together. We need to work as a community to end violence to ensure that every student, faculty, and staff member that steps on this campus feels wanted and safe. The ISU community and Terre Haute deserves to know that we all stand against all types of violence,” Fisher said.

Fisher and the department of MSP are hosting an event on April 18 that will promote this campaign and give students the chance to be a part of it.

“The small goal is to make as many stars as

possible. We still have a long way to go before we reach our star goal. However, the larger, and maybe more important goal, is to shed light into someone’s world by letting them know that there are people out there who are standing up against violence. This brilliant display of stars will be an exhibit that shows how people throughout the world can come together to end violence,” Fisher said.

Violence of any aspect is a topic that is relatable to everyone, even here at ISU. One of the unique aspects of this project is that students will be able to promote awareness

SEE STARS, PAGE 3

On Wednesday, ISU students got the chance to learn from alumni on how to network with possible employers at Sycamore Career Connections.

“This event was born out of the need to teach our current Sycamores the networking basics,” said Danielle Burgess, the marketing and event coordinator at the Career Center.

Career Connections is of course about fostering connections. It is an event for students to practice speaking with a possible employer face-to-face. Participating student were broken up into small groups and given the basics of what to do. These groups were then sat across from alumni to practice what they had just learned.

Interactions with alumni were similar to speed dating, where students spent a short amount of time with multiple alumni.

“Students are lacking in face to face conversation,” Burgess said.

“They don’t know how to go up to somebody, stick out their hand and say ‘Hi, my name is Danielle. How are you?’ it’s like

SEE STUDENTS, PAGE 3

Indiana State researchers’ new species discoveries published by journal

Indiana State University’s department of earth and environmental systems was the first to publish research from a large project in East Africa describing three new species found in the sediments from an ancient lake in Ethiopia, Paleolake Hadar.

Joseph Mohan, a second-year graduate assistant, worked under Jeffery Stone, assistant professor of environmental geosciences, to identify and describe the new species.

“The Hominid Sites and Paleolake Drilling Project is an international project with around 80 scientists. We are working together to explore six different ancient lake sediments and their implications for past climates that were located near where early humans lived,”

Stone said. “Paleolake Hadar was depositing sediments about 20 kilometers from where the skeleton of ‘Lucy’ (Australopithecus) was found.”

Mohan and Stone were the first researchers on the project to come out with a research paper presenting new data they published the article in Phytotaxa, a journal that specializes in publishing new algal species.

“Essentially, we wanted to reconstruct climate and our fossil tools for doing this are diatoms.

When we looked at that tool, we saw that the species were new to science. To name and describe them is the first step in figuring out what your tools means,” Mohan said.

“Our intention is to inform pa-

leontologist about climate changes using different fossils of many different types, diatoms are just one of many different types,” Stone said. “It was a big accomplishment. This is a huge project and it is a very expensive project. There is a lot of pressure on us to get and publish results. One advantage of having this publication is that it showcases that we are advancing science with this type of research.

This is really the start of many new scientific papers that will come out this year from our project.”

Mohan and Stone are in the process of describing several more new species from these ancient lake sediments. Mohan recently visited IUPUI to use the scanning

SEE RESEARCH, PAGE 3

ISU Communications and Marketing

Joseph Mohan, left, a second-year graduate assistant, and Jeffery Stone, assistant professor of environmental geosciences at Indiana State University.

Page 2

Trump’s tax overhaul keeps Congress waiting as questions pile up Sahil Kapur and Lynnley Browning Bloomberg News (TNS) Eight weeks ago President Donald Trump said he would be releasing a “phenomenal” tax plan within two or three weeks.

But there’s no sign of a plan yet, and mixed signals from the White House are imperiling Republican promises of speedy action.

The administration hasn’t yet publicly answered the most basic questions about what a possible tax reform plan would look like.

Will it pay for itself with offsets or add to the deficit? Trump hasn’t said.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has emphasized that job creation and economic growth are priorities — an indication that controlling costs may not be Trump’s primary concern.

That could render any tax cuts temporary, meaning they’d expire after 10 years under Senate budget rules.

If the plan must pay for itself, where will that money come from? That too is unclear.

There’s also broad disagreement among Republicans and within the White House over whether to move forward with a border-adjusted tax on companies’ domestic sales and imported goods. House Speaker Paul Ryan strongly favors such a tax because it would encourage domestic manufacturing, and help pay for lower rates for companies and individuals. It has the backing of Trump’s senior adviser Steve Bannon, but the president himself hasn’t weighed in, and other senior advisers, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council head Gary Cohn, are said to oppose it.

Amid that disagreement, the administration has begun reaching out to Democrats to seek

support — a move that might only aggravate Republicans’ discontent.

Last week, Trump was briefed by his top economic advisers on a variety of other potential tax measures, including a carbon tax and a valued-added tax, which are highly unpopular among Republicans. The White House issued a statement this week saying those taxes weren’t really under consideration — an indication of just how early in the process the administration is.

“I think what we’re trying to sort out is whether the president has a deal in mind or if he wants to cut any deal and declare victory,” said Doug Heye, a former aide for House Republican leadership and the Republican National Committee. “Tax reform is an enormous challenge on its own. More consistent direction from the White House would certainly help congressional efforts.”

White House spokeswomen didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment.

Initial market euphoria that Trump’s election would lead to a once-in-a-generation opportunity to completely rewrite the tax code has begun to give way to more sober assessments, especially following GOP divisions that thwarted the Obamacare repeal effort. Kevin Brady, head of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said in November that Congress would be ready to act on tax legislation in the first 100 days of the new administration.

Now, Brady is saying that while his committee still intends to introduce legislation in the spring, there isn’t a specific deadline for action.

“Tax reform is incredibly difficult. It is not easy,” Brady told reporters earlier this week. “It is

TRUMP CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

NEWS

Friday, April 14, 2017

ISU Communications and Marketing

Bill Mackey, an ISU professor, teaches students about the importance of cyber security.

Cybersecurity firm trains, prepares Sycamores for high-tech heroics With newscasts regularly portraying a menacing picture of cyber crime, Indiana State University Professor Bill Mackey — and the students he teaches — is almost guaranteed job security.

Perhaps the biggest news story this spring involves the Russians, the Democratic National Committee and, possibly, the Trump White House.

It also involves exactly the focus of Mackey and his cyber security company, Alloy.

“A Russian cyber security team, part of the Kremlin ... basically phished John Podesta’s (former chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign) email,” Mackey said. “It was a fake email, trying to get somebody to click on it. It looked like a Google email, saying somebody is trying to access your account, you need to change your password immediately, click here to change your password.”

Podesta did take the time to show the campaign’s IT experts the email because something didn’t look quite right.

“So the IT guy sends an email back saying, ‘This is a legitimate email.’ But the IT guy, he committed a typo. What he meant to write was, ‘This is not a legitimate email.’ To his credit, it appears that he told Podesta to go through official Google channels to change his password, but he used the phishing link instead.

“That’s how Russia gained access to all of the Democratic National Committee files, gave them to Wikileaks, who then distributed them,” said Mackey, a 2012 graduate of Indiana State.

Preventing the human missteps is exactly what Mackey’s enterprise does that’s different from almost everyone else: They marry the technological part (the computer-code breaking) with the human element for a mixture of tech and cybercrim-

inology.

“That human element is what we focus on,” Mackey said. “There’s still plenty of people out there writing code, but the vast amount of hacking now takes place through the human element.”

Like the human mistake made by Podesta and his associate, when Mackey is hired by a business that wants better cyber protection, he looks for the weakest link — human beings.

Beginning in the 1990s, the defense against cyber attacks began to grow, he said. Big cyber walls got put up making most systems pretty safe, particularly banks and other financial institutions.

“You can break into those systems, but it’s tough, and it takes time and the chances of getting caught are a lot higher,” Mackey said.

So the hackers found that the weakest part of a system is the person sitting at the computer, Mackey said. Hackers think “Why should I go to all that trouble, with all of that risk, to get illegitimate access to a system, when I can just phish the assistant over there, log into their system with those credentials, and be there as long as I want to, and nobody knows it because I’ve got legitimate access,” he said.

Mackey said his company goes about protecting a company in three steps: Social engineering, which is pure behavioral penetration testing, which Mackey takes care of; individual differences, provided by Joe Nedelec, assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati; and the computer/technical end by Mark Stockman, associate professor of IT at the University of Cincinnati.

Lastly, they get businesses demographics. Those demographics are then compared to Mackey’s large database of businesses that have suffered data

CYBERSECURITY CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Senator plots bill to prevent a repeat of United Airlines episode Niels Lesniewski CQ-Roll Call (TNS)

Tom Williams | Congressional Quarterly | Newscom | Zuma Press | TNS

U.S. Senate aide Bill Dauster, center, talks with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, right, and Sen. Kamala Harris during the Senate Budget Committee confirmation hearing for Rep. Mick Mulvaney as director of the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON — A Maryland senator is drafting legislation to make the forcible removal of passengers from commercial airlines illegal.

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter Wednesday, seeking co-sponsors for what he is billing as the “Customers Not Cargo Act.” “It is outrageous that airlines can bodily remove passengers after boarding rather than providing appropriate incentives to encourage volunteers. Airlines should resolve these common overbooking issues prior to boarding,” Van Hollen wrote to his fellow senators.

The draft bill would direct the Department of Transportation to update current regulations on how passengers are compensated for being bumped from commercial flights in the event of overbooking or the need to make seats available for crew.

It’s an obvious, direct response

to the forcible removal of a passenger by aviation security in Chicago from a United flight earlier in the week.

“We were all shocked and outraged this week when United Airlines forcibly and brutally removed Dr. David Dao from Flight 3411,” Van Hollen wrote.

“That is why I’m introducing the Customers Not Cargo Act to prohibit airlines from forcibly removing passengers after they have already boarded the plane due to oversales or airline staff seeking to fly as passengers.”

Van Hollen is not alone in seeking answers and changes.

His announcement follows a Tuesday letter from 20 Senate Democrats to United CEO Oscar Munoz questioning the airline’s policies. That group included Illinois Sen. Richard J. Durbin, who is the minority whip, and Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York.

“At a time when the airline industry is earning record profits, it is our hope that the industry can make great strides to im-

SENATOR CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

First lawsuit filed to block Trump border wall that would start in San Diego Joshua Emerson Smith The San Diego Union-Tribune The Center for Biological Diversity, a nationally known environmental group, on Wednesday filed a legal challenge against the Trump administration over its proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall that would start in San Diego County.

This is the first lawsuit concerning the president’s border wall plan.

Joining the center in the litigation is Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., who serves as ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources.

The small but influential wildlife conservation group argues that construction of a barrier from San Diego to Texas would have “disastrous” impacts on

jaguars, wolves and more than 100 other species in the border region.

President Donald Trump’s “ugly wall will do little more than divide and destroy our magnificent borderlands,” Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “If we’re going to stop it, we have to make a stand right now.”

The lawsuit specifically targets the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which would oversee the wall project. The agency declined to respond to the litigation, citing standard policy.

Currently, the entire U.S.-Mexico border has 653 miles of fencing.

In San Diego County, where the border with Mexico is 60 miles long, there are 46 miles of barriers. That includes 13 miles

of double fencing in areas along the San Diego-Tijuana corridor where nightly mass crossings of hundreds of immigrants were once common.

Trump is asking Congress for nearly $1 billion to begin construction of his envisioned border wall, including money for the 14 remaining miles of terrain in San Diego County that currently don’t have fencing as well as 14 other miles in the region slated for replacement work.

The Center for Biological Diversity, which prides itself on its legal strategies, said it’s gearing up for a court battle and has launched an online fundraising page to help pay for its efforts.

The group has filed more than a half-dozen other lawsuits against the Trump administration, including cases seeking to

Carolyn Cole | Los Angeles Times | TNS

A rare sighting of a bobcat near the U.S.-Mexico border, one of the many animals that would be affected by the reinforced border wall.

protect coyotes from pesticides and to prevent wolves from be-

ing shot at bait stations in Alaska’s national wildlife refuges.

indianastatesman.com STUDENTS FROM PAGE 1 a foreign concept. Put them behind a computer — they’re great.”

As the world slowly marches into the digital sphere, the art of conversation is slowly becoming a thing of the past.

One of the alumni, Angie Lansing, seconded Burgess’ thought.

Graduated in 1998 Lansing is the Senior Associate Athletic Director.

“Students are very mobile driven, very social media oriented so it’s hard for them to concentrate and engage,” Lansing said.

Engaging in longer conversations was another weakness that Lansing noticed. She spoke about the importance of grammar and professionalism in a networking setting.

This was not the first time Syc-

RESEARCH FROM PAGE 1 electron microscope and develop new research from the Lake Turkana site, which will likely produce up to four new diatom species.

Stone was recently awarded a grant from the University Research Council help fund imaging of the new species using this type of microscope, which typically costs about $100 an hour.

By next year, they expect to describe six or seven new species, including species from Turkana Lake and the Baringo Basin, which will be the focus of their research this spring and summer.

“Our research sites are located in places where no one has previously explored,” Stone said. “These samples are three million years old and found in ancient lake sediments from Africa. It is pretty easy to distinguish when we see a new species.”

Mohan used a scanning electron microscope in Tucson, Ariz., for the three newly discovered species. Indiana State collaborated

CYBERSECURITY FROM PAGE 2 breaches. His unique data set combines information about each breach with a substantial amount of business demographics, which allows Alloy Cybersecurity to find the most common vulnerabilities based on various business demographics.

“The basic idea,” Mackey said, “is that we do what others don’t — we use evidence-based practices to tailor our recommendations for optimal cybersecurity from behavioral threats.”

Friday, April 14, 2017 • Page 3 amore Career Connections was held. This event was first held last semester. Burgess said that 50 students attended last semester’s event. Wednesday had 75 students registered for the event.

She also hopes that this event will continue to grow.

“I learned how to act at an interview, they definitely gave me a lot of tips on networking,” said Samantha Brady, a freshman aviation major.

Brady went on to say that just meeting people and making connections was a major plus of attending the event. She said that there were not many attendees who were in her career path.

However, some alumni knew people who were in her field.

This allowed her to make connections even when there was no one present in her field.

In the professional world, a with the University of Arizona to use the microscope free of charge.

“Using the scanning electron microscope was super cool. You keep zooming in until you get one little speck, it is really powerful,” Mohan said.

“It is startling for people who haven’t used one before. What you might perceive as scale becomes confusing because you can keep getting closer and closer,” Stone said.

Stone’s next part of the project involves using these diatoms to describe landscape changes and determining how that potentially influenced early humans and their evolution.

Mohan is currently working on a paper where the diatoms he described are being used for ecological reconstruction.

It is likely Stone and Mohan will have three or four more papers submitted for publication on this research project within the next few months.

Story by ISU Communications and Marketing.

The good news is Mackey is teaching the next generation of cyberwarriors by helping to build the two new Indiana State classes, Intelligence Analysis and Cybercriminology.

“We’re teaching students about the behavior behind cybercrime, how to apply criminological theory to that, prevent it and the lingo of computers. It’s important that they can work alongside current IT staff in the field,” he said.

Story by ISU Communications and Marketing.

SENATOR FROM PAGE 2

ISU Communications and Marketing

Students networked with alumni to improve communication skills.

good face-to-face interaction is paramount. That and a firm

handshake can lead to infinite possibilities in life.

STARS FROM PAGE 1

Australia. This project works to try and bring the world together through weaving stars and raising awareness about ending violence,” Fisher said.

The event will take place on April 18 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Dede I. All students are invited to craft their original stars to contribute to the project.

along with crafting of a star that represents a cause.

“This project starts the conversation about ending all types of violence by having students weave a star out of ribbon. They also get the satisfaction of knowing that the star they made will soon be on display across the world in

TRUMP FROM PAGE 2 for lawmakers and Congress and the White House, the challenge of a lifetime.”

“I think what they’re going to do is play ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ tax-reform style,” said Harold Hancock, who served as tax counsel for six years on the Ways and Means Committee before joining law firm McGuireWoods LLP last month. “They’ll see what the House does, see what the Senate does,” then make a decision about what to do, he said.

Spicer has tried to manage tax timing expectations during recent press conferences. “We’re at the first stages of the process”

and “beginning to engage with Congress,” he said on March 30, adding that the timeline could be “several months.”

One thing complicating the administration’s tax overhaul efforts is that it’s unclear who’s taking the lead.

“I don’t think there’s clarity yet on who’s running the train,” said Stephen Shay, a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School, who was a senior tax official at Treasury during the last big tax overhaul under President Ronald Reagan.

Referring to the current administration, Shay said “there’s nobody inside who has the knowledge base to put together tax reform.”

prove customer service and implement best practices. Consumer trust and confidence are critical to ensure this industry continues to thrive, and we hope United Airlines will work diligently to immediately address this incident and make necessary improvements to ensure it does not occur again,” wrote the senators.

In a separate letter, also dated Tuesday, the bipartisan leaders of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation and its subcommittee with jurisdiction over aviation matters asked a series of questions to Munoz about United’s policies on involuntary rebooking.

Their questions included how frequently law enforcement personnel are used to remove passengers from flights that they’ve already boarded.

“The last thing a paying airline passenger should expect is a physical altercation with law enforcement personnel after boarding, especially one that could likely have been avoided,” wrote GOP Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and Roy Blunt of Missouri, with Democratic Sens.

Bill Nelson of Florida and Maria Cantwell of Washington.

Their questions included whether additional incentives could have been offered by United personnel to get people to agree to voluntary re-booking.

Munoz promised that an incident like the one aboard the United Express flight from O’Hare to Louisville, “will never happen again,” during an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Munoz said that police will not be used to remove passengers in such circumstances in the future.

“It was a system failure,” he said. “We have not provided our front line supervisors and managers and individuals with the proper procedures that would allow them to use their common sense.”

FEATURES

Friday, April 14, 2017

Page 4

Library hosts Exposium to show off academic accomplishments Ian Bonner-Swedish Reporter

The Cunningham Memorial Library events area was full of students showcasing their research and talent Thursday morning at the Exposium, a program that celebrates and encourages academic and creative work and accomplishments.

“Last semester we were given that topic, so that’s where the inspiration came from. Really we didn’t have choice. But after doing research and such, we felt that it was necessary to spread awareness to the campus on HIV and STD’s. Fifty percent of college students has an STD, and everyone was shocked about that,” said Shaneil Beckford, an Indiana State University student who was part of the team whose project was called ISUse Condom Sense, which hoped to spread awareness about sexually transmitted disease and sexual safety.

Another group hoped to tackle eating habits of ISU students and hope that by informing them they can make better, healthy decisions.

Ashley Logan, the spokesperson for her project, explained the mission of the project.

“Eating Uncommon in the Commons is a nutrition program to educate students on the healthier options in the commons,” Logan said.

According to Logan, there were 148 people who took their assessment and became more knowledgeable of their choices in the commons, but it wasn’t a boring

Fox’s Bill O’Reilly takes vacation amid harassment allegations

Paige Carter | Indiana Statesman

The Cunningham Memorial Library hosted an event where students showcased their achievements.

panel discussion; it was much more interactive.

“So we did a program on what was the better option between the restaurants. We quizzed students on whether an Einstein’s pizza bagel or a pizza from Pizza Hut was healthier. In the end, Einstein’s Bagels is much healthier. We had a chicken sandwich from Burger King and a chicken sandwich from Krispy Krunchy (Chicken), and Burger King was the healthier option,” Logan said.

The Exposium was not made for the sole purpose of students’ well-being. Seniors

citizens were also taken into account. ISU student Ginny Phillips was part of a project that focused on the quality of senior drivers who live in rural areas.

“We are required to do research for our master program. And we have a need for education on rural driving in the area. We know more education on driving nationwide actually, so our director said that this might be a good project for us and we volunteered to take it on,” Phillips said.

Their goal was to improve the safety of senior drivers. Senior drivers are much more likely to die in an accident rather

than cause it, and to be a senior in a rural area can be problematic.

“Our qualitative data suggest that to be successful in rural driving you have to know the area, and if you aren’t able to drive in a rural area, you might lose your freedom and independence, and you might rely on family and neighbors to get you to the places you need to go,” Phillips said.

Those with mental disabilities were also included in the project.

“The purpose of our project is to assess a preexisting activity based program designed for individuals with Down syndrome, so we wanted to see what affects it could have on job readiness,” said Shelby Bennett, an occupational therapy student.

Her group is pretty optimistic about the results.

“As a group there was no big difference … but individually each participants improved in at least one of the free testing areas. So although they say it is not significantly different, we at least helped them improve in one area,” Bennett said.

Bennett was also motivated by the passion of helping others.

“So when we started doing research, we came across unemployment rate of Down syndrome population is significantly larger than the normal population I would say.

For OT it is really important for us to help individuals live life to the fullest, so contributing to society is really important to us … It’s really important to find an intervention to target those skills and get out in the work force and be involved,” she said.

Springtime Painting

Samantha Masunaga Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said he will take a previously planned vacation as he faces mounting pressure over multiple sexual harassment allegations.

O’Reilly announced his plans during his Tuesday night broadcast of “The O’Reilly Factor” on the Fox News Channel, saying he typically takes a vacation around this time of the year.

“I grab some vacation because it’s spring and Easter time,” he said. “Last fall, I booked a trip that should be terrific.”

O’Reilly wouldn’t say where he was headed, only that he would have a “full report” when he returned.

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that O’Reilly and Fox News paid about $13 million over the years to settle several claims of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior toward women at the company.

Since then, dozens of sponsors have withdrawn their commercials from the program. Advocacy groups like the National Organization for Women have called for O’Reilly’s dismissal.

O’Reilly has acknowledged the settlements made between 2002 and 2014, but denied the merits of all the sexual harassment claims made against him. He has said the payouts were made to spare his children from negative publicity that would be caused by any prolonged legal battles.

Students took part in a canvas painting activity at Dede Plaza to enjoy the spring weather and de-stress.

Danielle Guy | Indiana Statesman

SEE O’REILLY, PAGE 5

Are you crossing the line with your work spouse?

Danielle Braff

Chicago Tribune (TNS)

She’s the first person you look for when you step into the office, and the last person you see before you leave. You often eat lunch with each other, and you take coffee breaks together every chance you get.

He knows everything about your kids and your spouse, and when you’re out for post-work drinks, many assume that you’re dating.

This is your work spouse: a co-worker with whom you have a super-close platonic relationship, modeled on a marriage.

You support and bicker with each other at work about office and non-office issues.

Today, 70 percent of people in office jobs have or have had work spouses, according to a 2017 study by Office Pulse, which analyzes office professionals. This is up from 65 percent in 2010 and 32 percent in 2006.

They’re becoming more prevalent because men and women are putting in

more hours at the office. Americans work an average of 47 hours per week, which is 1 1/2 hours more than they did a decade ago, according to Gallup. As a result, co-workers are depending on their work partners more than their real partners, said Chad McBride, professor and chair of the Department of Communication Studies at Creighton University, and co-author of a 2015 study on work spouses.

Those with them are happy they have them. Sixty eight percent say this pseudo-marital relationship contributes to their happiness in the office.

Chris Chatman, co-manager at Fountainhead bar/restaurant in Chicago, said he’s thrilled about the work spouse he’s had for nearly two years. He and Susan Rosentreter see each other about 50 to 60 hours a week.

“Susan is a whiskey broad, tough as nails, tattooed, and my real wife is very nurturing,” Chatman said. “Most weeks, I see Susan more than I see my wife in terms

of dedicated, conscious time.”

According to the Office Pulse study, 29 percent of the work spouses said they’d done something to make their work spouse look better at work, and 16 percent have done their co-worker’s job.

But for the most part, a work spouse — like a real spouse — has served as another support system.

“A work spouse can be the support system someone needs to handle the stress that comes from heavy workloads, workplace politics and job instability,” said Dion Metzger, psychiatrist and co-author of “The Modern Trophy Wife.”

Rosentreter and Chatman said they see eye-to-eye on the policy issues at work, and they jell even when it gets stressful at the bar.

“We understand each other,” Rosentreter said.

And work spouses may understand aspects of office life that actual spouses don’t fully comprehend, Metzger said. They

frequently end up turning to each other rather than the spouse at home when they want to vent about their day.

When this happens, it’s normal for the real spouse to feel jealous, even if there’s nothing suspicious going on with the work spouse.

“Any time we feel that our partner is spending all this time with someone, we don’t feel great about it — it’s a normal response,” said Nikki Martinez, an Illinois-based psychologist. “They realize the role that this person plays.”

Sometimes, they envy the qualities that the other person has — which the real spouse may be lacking.

Lauren Chatman said she loves her husband’s work wife and appreciates that she helped him become a better husband.

Chatman tended to let issues slide, while the work wife doesn’t let anything go.

“She wags her finger at him and gives

SEE SPOUSE, PAGE 5

indianastatesman.com

Friday, April 14, 2017 • Page 5 SPOUSE FROM PAGE 4 him the death stare look that she gives her own husband,” Chatman said. “He literally jokes that he gets it from two wives 24/7,” Chatman said.

At the same time, she sometimes gets jealous.

“We got into a recent tiff about how he is funnier with her than with me,” Chatman said of her husband, who spends all day with his work wife and then comes home and continues texting her.

He told Chatman, “She fixes my hair — you never do that — you just let me walk around looking like a dork.”

McBride found that 20 percent of the real spouses were jealous of the work spouse, and the Office Pulse study found that 7 percent of work spouses have crossed the line into sexual relationships.

No lines have been crossed with Chris Chatman’s work spouse, and the small tiffs haven’t evolved into bigger issues.

But if a relationship with a work spouse becomes more than platonic, the problem can be larger than anticipated.

“When they cross the line into a sexual relationship, then that can lead to sexual harassment charges if things go wrong,” said Donna Ballman, a Florida em-

O’REILLY FROM PAGE 4 On Monday, network parent company 21st Century Fox said it was launching an investigation into a claim made by Los Angeles radio personality Wendy Walsh, who said she was denied the chance to become a contributor to Fox News after rebuffing O’Reilly’s sexual advances.

Walsh spoke to the Los Angeles Times this week about why she went public with

her claim against O’Reilly.

After O’Reilly announced his vacation, New York Magazine reported that there’s a split inside the Murdoch family — which runs 21st Century Fox — over whether O’Reilly should remain with the network.

21st Century Fox declined to comment on that report. Fox News confirmed that this was a planned vacation and that O’Reilly is due back April 24.

Nancy Stone | Chicago Tribune | TNS

Susan Rosentreter and Chris Chatman at their workplace, The Fountainhead in Chicago where Chatman is the general manager and beer director and his “work spouse” Rosentreter is the bar manager and spirits director.

ployment attorney and author of “Stand Up for Yourself Without Getting Fired.”

Even without a sexual relationship, there can be emotional infidelity if the relationship gets too personal or intimate.

You may be able to tell if you’re crossing that line if you’re doing something you know you wouldn’t be happy with your spouse saying or doing if he or she were in a similar situation, Martinez said.

“If you feel like you’re getting out of line, you should pull back little by little, not to where it’s highly noticeable, but you need

to get back in the zone where it’s appropriate,” Martinez said.

But overall, work spouses tend to stay in that appropriate zone, McBride said.

“Based on our data, work spouse relationships are strictly platonic,” he said. “When work spouses are open and honest about their relationship with their actual spouses, it seems to go well for the most part.”

Often, work spouses become friends with the actual spouse, and McBride said he’s seen couples socialize outside of work and even going on vacations together.

OPINION

Page 6

Friday, April 14, 2017

Trumpism doesn’t exist Ramesh Ponnuru

Bloomberg View (TNS)

In 2016 we found out that conservative elites didn’t speak for Republican voters.

Think tankers may have hungered for entitlement reform and valued free trade, but a large group of Republican voters disagreed, and another large group had no strong views on these issues. When Donald Trump won the primaries and then the November election, many people who considered themselves conservative leaders found out that Republican voters weren’t who they thought they were.

Now it turns out that Trump’s prominent early supporters don’t speak for the Republican masses either. Many of these luminaries are unhappy about Trump’s airstrike against the Syrian government. “Those of us who wanted meddling in the Middle East voted for other candidates,” tweeted Ann Coulter.

Republican voters, on the other hand, overwhelmingly approve of Trump’s action. A Washington Post poll found that 86 percent of them support it.

To the extent these high-profile Trump fans are now disillusioned, it’s because they overread what the president and his voters stand for. As McKay Coppins points out in the Atlantic, Trump did not campaign as a consistent skeptic of military intervention abroad. “Instead, Trump entered the Oval Office with a bone-deep belief in vengeance, a tendency toward impulsiveness, and a history of saber-rattling rhetoric.”

Intellectuals, whether they are for or against Trump, want to construct an “ism” into which they can fit his politics: an “ism” that includes opposition to free trade, mass immigration, foreign interventions that aren’t necessitated by attacks on us, and entitlement reform. But Trumpism doesn’t exist. The president has tendencies and impulses, some of which conflict with one another, rather than a political philosophy.

That’s also true of most voters, especially when it comes to foreign policy. An adviser to President George W. Bush once remarked to me that a lot of people thought Republicans backed Bush because of the Iraq war, when in reality Republicans backed the Iraq war because of Bush. In the absence of detailed and deep convictions on a foreign-policy issue, voters will side with the politicians whose side they usually take.

Some primary voters surely backed Trump because they

TRUMPISM CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

Sheneman | Tribune Content Agency

Trump’s selection for army secretary is anti-humanity Whitney Slaton Columnist

Trump’s pick for Army Secretary, Mark E. Green, is an unsuitable nominee for Secretary of the Army. I believe Green is anti-LGBT, anti-Muslim, anti-Latino and anti-liberal; what he is for is white, heterosexual, American men. I would say men and women, but his views on abortion, birth control and women’s health care leads me to believe that he is anti-women as well.

Due to his long list of anti-minority positions, I am going to start with the LGBT community. As Army Secretary, one of the many jobs Green will have is providing programs for military members and their families.

However, as more and more families are becoming LGBT friendly or LGBT themselves, Green will not be able to provide support programs for these soldiers and their families. According to On the Issues, some of Green’s stances include believing marriage should be between a man and a woman only, married same-sex couples should not receive the same benefits as oppo-

site-sex couples and LGBT parents should not be able to adopt children.

More recently, according to the New York Times, Green was against allowing transgender people to using the bathroom of the gender they identify as.

He deemed transgender people using the correct bathroom as allowing people of the opposite sex into bathrooms that would lead to people in the bathroom needing to be armed to protect themselves.

Even more concerning, the New York Times stated that Green believes being transgender is a disease. This means that when a hate crime against a transgender person occurs, Green could call the aggressor a victim and the transgender person the aggressor. LGBT support is something that is needed in the military, as there is a stigma around the military and LGBT soldiers due to the effects of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.

According to Slate, Green is intolerant of everyone from Muslim to Latino. If this does not seem concerning, then there are bigger problems to be dealt with. Slate also says that Green

agreed that Obama was not a citizen and then questioned whether he was Muslim or not. Then, to make matters worse, Green stated that Muslims do not belong in the United States.

Green would be a leader of America’s military, a military that is composed of people of all races because we live in America where people of all races and cultures are supposed to be able to come for freedom. Green would ultimately be a terrible leader of any kind if he refuses to work with people that are not white. According to Business Insider, 32 percent of soldiers are non-white minorities; if Green chooses to discriminate against these soldiers and their families, there is plenty of them, their families and supporters, that would petition and protest against him.

The next problem on this list that is too long, is sexism. This is a long-debated topic for the simple reason of people like Green. These people are, for the majority, straight, white males that believe they are entitled to make decisions about women’s lives. According to On The Issues, Green is pro-life regardless

of what the mother wants. She must keep the baby.

Green is also against birth control, which means that he (emphasis on he) has decided that women no longer get to choose if they want to have a baby or not. Both of these stances are concerning as, according to Business Insider, 16 percent of soldiers are women. These women would have to be under the leadership of a man that does not believe they should get to choose if they want a baby or not.

This list sadly covers a large portion of the population of America, who I am sure will happily support the LGBT community, non-white people and women in the military even if the Army Secretary does not.

The soldiers of this country risk their lives to defend us; they deserve to be treated with the utmost respect after all they give up for us. The least Trump could do for soldiers and their families is to nominate an Army Secretary that is not homophobic, racist and sexist and will not openly discriminate against, according to Business Insider, the 40 percent of the military that is not a straight, white male.

Marrying young is easier with the support of family Leah Kennedy Columnist

My articles have a pattern recently. That pattern is that they are about love of some sort — self-love, family love and military love.

This week is no different as I made one of the most important decisions of my life — to finally marry my sailor.

I already rambled about my opinion on getting married young, but that was before I was actually doing it. I have grown. I have matured. (That was a joke — laugh a bit.)

Now, my proposal was a little bit untraditional, and by a little

bit, I mean a lot. There was no down on one knee profession of love because you cannot have that when your fiancé is far away, but there was a calm discussion and a question asked. We decided as a team, as a unit, to take this step in our life.

So, in turn, the past few days I’ve spent a lot of time taking steps. I stepped into a jewelry store to find the perfect ring. I had to ask three of my favorite people to stand with me on the happiest day of my life, but the most important thing I had to do — the scariest step — was telling my family.

I’m not going to lie. I was intimidated. My fiancé and I have a colored past sprinkled with

some heartbreak, and I knew a lot of people would be mad. I was worried most about my parents. I could handle anyone else, but if my main support system didn’t agree with my decision, I didn’t know what I would do.

So, like any good daughter, I started with my mom. I paced in circles as I blurted out my story and tried to slow my heart because, I assure you, it was beating crazily fast. And all she said was “ok.”

And when I questioned her answer, she replied, “If you don’t think I am the only person on this planet who loves you the absolute most, you are crazy. I want your happiness, and if this is it, then ok.” My mom, as I have al-

Editorial Board

Friday, April14, 2017 Indiana State University

www.indianastatesman.com

Volume 124 Issue 73

Marissa Schmitter Editor-in-Chief statesmaneditor@isustudentmedia.com Rileigh McCoy News Editor statesmannews@isustudentmedia.com Joe Lippard Opinions Editor statesmanopinions@isustudentmedia.com Grace Harrah Features Editor statesmanfeatures@isustudentmedia.com Zach Rainey Sports Editor statesmansports@isustudentmedia.com Danielle Guy Photo Editor statesmanphotos@isustudentmedia.com Hazel Rodimel Chief Copy Editor The Indiana Statesman is the student newspaper of Indiana State University. It is published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the academic school year. Two special issues are published during the summer. The paper is printed by the Tribune Star in Terre Haute, Ind.

ways said, is my heart.

So, she told my dad. I had planned to, but she beat me to it, and his answer as well shocked me. He said, “I knew it was coming, so ok, but I’ll study it,” which in my dad’s language means that it’s ok. He doesn’t say much, but I know that he loves and supports me no matter what.

My siblings were another difficult step. I knew my sister wouldn’t take it well, and she didn’t. We didn’t speak for nearly four days and only are barely speaking now. She’s protective, and I respect that.

My brother, on the other hand, was very loving and supportive saying that “It’s my job as your brother and protector to be real,

so I will be, but if this is what you want, I’ll stand behind you every step of the way.” So that was easy-ish.

I don’t really care about the reactions from others. His family is 100 percent supportive and loves me deeply. Anyone else will fall into place. Like I always tell my mom, “If they love me, they’ll be there.” And they will.

Plus, my family knows I have a plan for school and my church, so as long as Jesus has my back, I know I’ll be just fine.

So, to sum it up, because my word count climbs so quickly — I’m getting married, guys, to the love of my life and my very best friend, and I could not be more excited.

Opinions Policy The opinions page of the Indiana Statesman offers an opportunity for the Indiana State University community to express its views. The opinions, individual and collective, expressed in the Statesman and the student staff’s selection or arrangement of content do not necessarily reflect the attitudes of the university, its Board of Trustees, administration, faculty or student body. The Statesman editorial board writes staff editorials and makes final decisions about news content. This newspaper serves as a

public forum for the ISU community. Make your opinion heard by submitting letters to the editor at statesmanopinions@isustudentmedia.com. Letters must be fewer than 500 words and include year in school, major and phone number for verification.

Letters from non-student members of the campus community must also be verifiable. Letters will be published with the author’s name. The Statesman editorial board reserves the right to edit letters for length, libel, clarity and vulgarity.

indianastatesman.com TRUMPISM FROM PAGE 6 thought he would be less prone to Mideast “meddling” than other Republicans, and some people who don’t always vote for Republicans in presidential elections may have found him an attractive choice for the same reason. His stance on trade drew other voters to him.

But trying to figure out what “Trump’s voters” wanted in any detail is a fool’s errand. Take, for example, this argument that “the people who elected Trump” would love for him to embrace a single-payer health-care plan.

People backed him for a lot of different reasons. Some primary voters thought it was time to have a successful businessman in the Oval Office. Some liked Trump’s style.

And millions of regular Republicans who detest the single-payer idea voted for him, mostly because they thought he was likely to govern a lot more to their liking than Hillary Clinton would have — just as they had voted for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama. He wouldn’t

Friday, April 14, 2017 • Page 7 have been elected without them.

Is it also true that he wouldn’t have been elected without working-class white voters who want an anti-interventionist foreign policy, protectionism and the rest of what his intellectual vanguard is selling? Maybe.

But many Republican candidates who campaigned on a more conventionally conservative platform ran ahead of him in their states.

I’m one of those voters who don’t have strong views on what to do about Syria. I’m inclined to oppose the airstrikes along with Coulter et al.

The fact that a lot of Republican voters seem to be indifferent or opposed to the ideas of prominent Trump supporters, just as they were to the ideas of the conservatives those supporters seek to supplant, isn’t an indictment of those ideas.

They should just keep in mind that most voters don’t have ideological commitments — which helps explain why politicians will almost always disappoint those who do.

To place a classified ad call: (812) 237-3025 fax us: (812) 237-7629 stop by the office: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Room 143, HMSU or send us an email: Stacey.McCallister@indstate.edu

FOR RENT

ONE BLOCK FROM CAMPUS 3 or 4 bedrooms $300 per student Available May 15 10 or 12 month lease 812-236-3716

NEAR CAMPUS 915 N. 6th St. 5 bedroom, 2 bath central air, dishwasher washer/dryer hookup $1400 / month 812-841-3805

Some Close to Campus!

- NO PETS ALLOWED Call Gibson Apartments 812-234-4884

AVAILABLE IN MAY 1027 S. 5th St. 4 bedroom, 2 bath & porch Utilities included Call to see this gem. sharpflats@gmail.com or sharpflats.com 812-877-1146

Trees are a perfect 15-0 when leading after eight innings.

When it comes to picking up extra bases, ISU has no problem getting it done. The squad ranks third in the MVC with a .411 slugging percent. As a team, the Sycamores have 52 doubles, nine triples and 24 home runs on the season. Tony Rosselli leads the Trees with a .701 slugging percentage off of six doubles, five triples and a trio of home runs.

4, 5 & 3 BEDROOM HOUSES CLOSE TO CAMPUS Nice houses for rent Lower rent for additional people.

Call 812-232-6977 Please leave phone # VERY NICE 7, 5, 4, 3 and 2 bedroom houses.

Close to campus.

W/D, stove & refrigerator.

Plenty of room for grilling out.

LSM Investments, LLC. Call Shane 812-483-2497

Rates Per Issue 20 words or less Classified Rate is $7 Frequency Discount $6 ISU Organization $5 Extra words are 15¢ each.

CHECK IT OUT

In print and on online for one low PRICE!

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT LOCAL STUDENT WANTED FOR SUMMER JOB WITH CONTRACTOR! Mowing & Misc.

Could be part-time now.

Full time in summer.

812-894-2028

NOW HIRING

All HAIRCUTS $7 Ernie’s Old Time Barbershop Sutdents Welcome 8 am - 5 pm, Mon.- Sat. No appointment necessary!

1803 Wabash Ave. 812-243-7151

this season. The shortstop has been retired on K’s just six times in 84 at bats this season while boasting 25 hits for the Trees.

His 14 at bats between strikeouts rank tops on the squad.

Indiana State senior outfielder Tony Rosselli leads the MVC and ranks fourth nationally with five triples this season. Michael Haun of Central Arkansas, Andrew Moritz of UNC-Greensboro and Kody Ruedisili of Wofford lead the nation with six triples.

Deadlines For Monday Issues: 3 p.m. Thursday For Wednesday issues: 3p.m. Monday For Friday issues: 3 p.m. Wednesday

Bake Shop Cafe´

Part-Time Positions CLOSE TO CAMPUS NO SUNDAY SHIFTS APPLY ONLINE AT CLABBERGIRL.COM OR BY PERSON Equal Opportunity Employer (Minority/Female/Disability/Vet)

900 WABASH DOWNTOWN TERRE HAUTE • 812-232-9446

ISU Students! Want a “Cool” Job this summer?

ISU Students! Want a "Cool" Job this summer?

Home City Ice Co. is now Hiring Delivery Drivers!

Weekends and Holidays in summer are a must, as well as a clean driving re Flexible schedule, pay averages $8 - $14 per hour.

Apply online @ www.homecityice.com

GET AHEAD THIS SUMMER! BE A GUEST STUDENT AT IVY TECH. SUMMER CLASSES START JUNE 5. ivytech.edu/guest

Home City Ice Co. is now Hiring Delivery Drivers!

Weekends and Holidays in summer are a must, as well as a clean driving record.

Flexible schedule, pay averages $8 - $14 per hour.

Apply online @ www.homecityice.com

The Samurai of Puzzles by The Mepham Group

ISU STUDENT HOUSING

1-4 Bedrooms, Close to Campus Starting at $400 per month Call: 812-232-5083 Pfister & Co.,Inc.

www.pfister-and-co.com

Equal Housing Opportunity

Summer or Fall 4 bedroom house Central air Studios, 1,2 & 3 bedroom Some close to campus.

812-894-2028

One thing the Sycamores have done well this season on the mound is record strikeouts. As a team, ISU has struck out 258 opposing batters, led by senior right-hander Jeremy McKinney who has 51 K’s in 34 innings.

The team ranks 24th in the country with 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings while McKinney has struck out 13.50 per nine innings, good enough for 6th nationally.

Junior Tyler Friis has been a tough out for opposing pitchers

CLASSIFIEDS

FOR RENT

1-4 BEDROOM APARTMENTS

BASEBALL FROM PAGE 8

Sudoku answers from Wednesday’s issue

SPORTS

Friday, April 14, 2017

Page 8

Western Conference teams take their places on the bracket Austin Vanlandingham Reporter

The NBA regular season will finish up on Wednesday night, and the Western Conference playoff picture is taking shape.

Here we will take a look at each of the eight playoff teams representing the Western Conference Golden State Warriors: No. 1 seed Owners of the NBA’s best record for the third straight season, the Warriors will open the playoffs with a first round matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers. Golden State appears to be hitting their stride at the right time. Kevin Durant is returning to good health. Steph Curry has reemerged significantly since the all-star break. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have given solid support in Durant’s absence. The Warriors are certainly in the fast lane for the Western Conference Finals.

San Antonio Spurs: No. 2 seed The Spurs seemed to fly under the radar for much of this season,

but then again that’s not unusual. Nonetheless, they find themselves firmly entrenched in the number two spot in the Western Conference. San Antonio has finished 2017 with their third consecutive 60-win regular season.

Kawhi Leonard has done a magnificent job taking on the leadership role in San Antonio. The league hasn’t seen many players improve so dramatically as Leonard. He will be ready to show what he can do with the Spurs on his back. Greg Popovich can usually bring the best out of his team is the postseason.

Houston Rockets: No. 3 seed The Houston Rockets have exploded on to the scene this year and have transformed themselves into a legitimate threat to the Golden State Warriors. James Harden had an impressive MVP type campaign this season in the Mike D’Antoni’s offense. With their supporting cast of Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Lou Williams and Trevor Ariza, the Rockets have the pieces to make a deep playoff run.

Los Angeles Clippers: No. 4

seed The Clippers have been regulars in the postseason for the last several years, but have failed to reach the conference finals.

Austin Rivers has had a breakout season under his father and coach Doc Rivers. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin have dealt with nagging injuries throughout the season but will look to shoulder the weight for the Clippers in the playoffs. DeAndre Jordan must carry his spectacular defensive season in to the postseason for the team to be successful. The big question concerning the Clippers is consistency.

Utah Jazz: No. 5 seed The Utah Jazz are a quiet underdog in the west. The Jazz are about as dominant on defense as the Rockets and Warriors are on offense. The Jazz have held teams under 100 points per game on average, and much of that is because of Rudy Gobert. Gobert has made a strong case to bring home the Defensive Player of the Year award. Gobert has become the league’s premier defender and is developing into a force on the

offensive end as well. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Jazz give the Clippers a run for their money in the first round.

Oklahoma City Thunder: No. 6 seed Led by the likely MVP Russell Westbrook who did the impossible, averaging a triple-double on the season, the Thunder is possibly the most intriguing team in the west. Most counted the Thunder out in the preseason with the departure of Durant in free agency. Playing the Houston Rockets will certainly be a challenge. But this team made some moves to get players with experience, like Taj Gibson, and has seen Victor Oladipo grow more comfortable in his roll. Westbrook going against Harden will certainly be a lot of fun to watch as this could be the most entertaining series in the playoffs.

Memphis Grizzlies: No. 7 seed They’ve been so consistent as a playoff-bound team through the years, but so inconsistent in their playoff performances. Last year the Spurs swept the Grizzlies in the playoffs. Armed with Mike

Conley, who signed the NBA’s biggest contract last year, and loads of experience in Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, they look to play an inspired performance in the first round and move on.

Marc Gasol will be extra-motivated playing against his brother Pau and the Spurs.

Portland Trail Blazers: No. 8 seed The Portland Trail Blazers are undoubtedly a good and electrifying team. They may not be elite or have the defensive ability to truly contend, but they’ll give everything the Warriors can handle in what will be a great first-round series. This series is definitely for anybody who enjoys point guard matchups with Lillard and Curry.

When he and his backcourt mate C.J. McCollum are lighting it up, these two are among the best backcourts in basketball. Midseason acquisition Jusuf Nurkic, who has finally found a great fit in Portland, will provide a spark in the postseason. The Trail Blazers probably won’t advance out of the first round, but they’ll keep the series interesting.

Pacers sneak into Eastern Conference playoffs after rough season Garrett Short Reporter

The NBA regular season has concluded and only eight teams remain standing in the Eastern Conference.

They include Boston, Cleveland, Toronto, Washington, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Indiana and Chicago.

The Pacers snuck into the playoffs to the surprise of many. The team lost six of seven games in the home stretch of the season. With no momentum, Indiana’s hopes of playing postseason basketball looked glum.

Some may not call the return of Lance Stephenson a miracle — but it’s no coincidence that a slumping team turned things around and won their last five games. The “Lance Effect” has been seen in every game since his return to the Pacers, even in their double overtime loss to their first-round opponent Cleveland.

The No. 2 seed Cleveland stifled Indiana in the regular season series, leading it 3-1. But Lebron James and the Cavaliers aren’t playing very impressive basketball. Losing four straight and a 4-6 record in their last

10 games isn’t ideal, but this is still a team with Lebron James.

Taking a look at the rest of the Eastern Conference, Boston stole the No. 1 seed away from Cleveland who may still be considered the favorite.

The Celtics take on the No. 8 seed Chicago. These teams tied the season series 2-2. Dwyane Wade is back for the Bulls, but Isaiah Thomas and Boston’s top 10-ranked offense looks like they’re in cruise control.

The other teams in the top half of the bracket are the No. 4 seed Washington and the No. 5 seed Atlanta.

Washington, at one point, looked like it could challenge Cleveland and Boston in the East thanks to the guard-duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal.

The two combine for 36 PPG and will be tough for any team to guard.

Thankfully for Atlanta, they have a matchup nightmare of their own in Paul Millsap. Washington was redhot at one point this season, but now that they’ve returned to reality, this series is posed to be very competitive.

The final series in the Eastern Conference has the No. 3 seed Toronto

taking on the No. 6 seed Milwaukee.

The Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo, but who else is a weapon?

The Greek Freak led his team in PPG, RPG, APG, BPG and SPG. Toronto has a tandem that challenges Washington for the league’s best with Derozan and Lowry.

The two have proven to be all-stars in the regular season but haven’t had much success in the playoffs. If Jabari Parker hadn’t torn his ACL earlier this year, this series would be much harder for the Raptors.

One thing stands out when examining the teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Only Boston and Toronto had road records over .500 this season.

This post-season, more than ever, home-court advantage may be the key to making the finals.

The Pacers begin their series against Cleveland Saturday at 3 p.m.

ET. Early in the 2016-17 season the Warriors and Cavaliers were the clear favorites to return to the NBA Finals. The Eastern Conference doesn’t seem to be as clear now that all roads run through Boston.

Michael Chritton | Akron Beacon Journal | TNS

The Indiana Pacers’ Paul George goes to the basket ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Channing Frye, left, in the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Softball team set to battle Wichita State this weekend Andrew Doran Reporter

ISU Athletic Media Relations

ISU takes an easy victory over Fort Wayne, and on Friday will play Southern Illinois.

Indiana State cruises to 8-2 victory over Fort Wayne Tyler Wooten

ISU Athletic Media Relations

The Indiana State baseball team hosts Southern Illinois at Bob Warn Field this weekend beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s action will begin at 2 p.m. while the series will wrap up Sunday at 1 p.m.

Tony Rosselli (.414) and Tyler Friis (.298) lead the Trees at the plate while Dane Giesler and Brandt Nowaskie are hitting .295 and .294, respectively.

Giesler leads the team with 21 RBI and six home runs. As a team, the Sycamores are hitting .266 and have hit for 52 doubles, nine triples and 24 homers.

ISU pitching has struck out 258 batters and hold a combined 4.52 ERA. Indiana comes into play with a 1717 overall record and a 4-2 mark in MVC play. The Salukis are coming off a win over SEMO Tuesday but dropped two of three at Wichita State over the weekend. The team is led offensively

by Connor Kopach (.314) and Dyllin Mucha (.306). As a club, the Salukis are hitting at a clip of .262 while the pitching staff holds a 4.60 ERA. The Sycamores trail the all-time se-

ries with the Salukis 78-95 in a series that dates back to 1967. Indiana State took two of three in Carbondale a year ago.

Senior Tony Rosselli has been one of the strongest contributors to the Sycamore offense this season, leading the team in batting average (.414), slugging percent (.701) and triples (5).

In all, Rosselli has 11 multiple hit contests, including one four-hit game. He has six multiple RBI games and the team’s longest hitting streak at eight games. Rosselli leads the MVC in both batting average and is second in slugging percent.

Following a phenomenal defense outing a year ago, ISU has picked up where it left off. The Sycamores sit atop the Missouri Valley with a .977 fielding percent and have committed just 24 errors in 29 games, which is four fewer than the next best club.

Both Indiana State and its opponents have scored 149 runs each this season, but the Sycamores have been strong in the ninth inning, outscoring the opposition 27-10 in the final frame. The

SEE BASEBALL, PAGE 7

The Indiana State University softball team will travel to Wichita State on Friday for a three game set. The Sycamores will look to get back to .500 as their record sits at 18-19 on the season and 3-9 in the conference.

On Wednesday, the Sycamores came out victorious in their road match up against Fort Wayne winning 8-2. Indiana State racked up 11 hits as Kylie Stober and Della Gher combined to shut down the Mastodons of Fort Wayne.

The Sycamores soared out to a 3-0 lead right out of the gate and never looked back. They managed to only allow just one earned run and five hits the entire game. Three different Sycamores had multi-hit games. Rylee Holland was three for three on the afternoon, Mary Turitto 2-3, 2B, RBI and Gabi Carter 2-4. Turitto and Shaye Barton (1-2) both collected doubles in the contest.

Wichita State is riding high in the final season in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Shockers are 23-14 on the season and 8-4 in MVC play. Wichita State owns the conference’s best record but sit in second place behind Illinois State.

The Shockers are coming off a very strong showing against in-state rival Kan-

sas, defeating the Jayhawks by a score of 6-0. Katie Malone got the start and recorded her 20th win of the season, and she struck out five batters and allowed zero runs. Senior Jenni Brooks received the win in 2016 against the Jayhawks but entered the game in the seventh to finish the game.

The Shockers opened up the scoring in the second inning, scoring three runs on three singles from Macklin Hitz, Cassidy Kelsheimer and Kelli Spring, to make the score 3-0 early. In the fourth inning, Kelsheimer led off with a double.

After being moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Ashley Johnson, Mackenzie Wright singled to left field to push the lead to 4-0. With one out in the sixth inning, Mackenzie Wright drove a ball deep to left field that cleared the fence for her third home run of the year, tying her career high for home runs in a season, giving Wichita State a 5-0 lead.

Adams singled in the top of the seventh, and Hitz drove her in with a double to the right-center gap to push the game out of reach, giving Wichita State the 6-0 win.

This will be Indiana State’s final trip to Wichita State as the Shockers will be leaving the MVC for the American Conference next season. The action will kick off Friday at 4 p.m. when the Sycamores take on the Shockers in the first of two games on the day.