March 01, 2018

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

Indiana Statesman

Friday, March 2, 2018

@ISUstatesman

isustatesman

Volume 125, Issue 59

Police chief explains safety procedures Patrick Chavis Reporter Assured safety on campus is crucial to providing a healthy learning environment for the campus as a whole.

The tragic events happening across the nation in recent months have prompted debate over safety on school grounds.

Many responses to these emergency situations have been proposed in the hopes of minimizing the negative effects that are a result of these situations. The university police department works to prepare the campus for emergency situations.

Joseph Newport, the Public Safety chief of police, said.

“Our belief is that keeping our staff trained and in tune with the likelihood of an all campus emergency occurring is one of the best ways we can be prepared,” said Newport.

“The ISU Public Safety Department conducts drills that simulate different emergency events annually. In the next few months, the department will be involved in four separate training sessions: a shelter in place drill in March; an active shooter drill in collaboration with off campus first responders in April; a Fed-

eral Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) sponsored active shooter response seminar hosted

by ISU Police in June; a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sponsored University Response Team Joe Newport Training in August. These training sessions help us keep current with changing trends in emergency response.”

Newport went on to explain how often the Emergency Response and Preparedness Plan are reviewed for accurate responses.

“Annually, university representatives from multiple offices on campus will review the Emergency Response and Preparedness Plan to make sure it is current and accurate,” said Newport. “This plan can be found at www.indstate.edu/pubsafety/.”

As far as letting students and faculty know when an emergency has occurred,

Newport explained the different systems that are in place to notify people almost immediately as a situation is occurring.

“We advise the campus of emergency events or other important safety information through RAVE test messaging, emails, the All Hazards siren, computer pop ups, CCTV scrolling and local news agencies,” said Newport.

Newport explained that along with these alert systems, the University tests the alarms monthly.

“Each month, the University tests the different layers of the Emergency Notification Systems to ensure their capability,” said Newport. “Prompt and reliable information sharing is essential in maintaining a safe campus.”

Public Safety seems to have effective systems in place to inform people of an emergency situation transpiring on campus.

However the question remains; are students adequately prepared to respond to these situations in an effective manner?

Are students who live on campus able to react accordingly when an emergency situation occurs in their building?

Courtney Sledge, a freshman living in Erikson stated, “It really depends on

the kind of emergency that is occurring.

For example, due to the fact that the fire alarms go off periodically without there actually being a fire, this in turn has led many of us to not take the alarms very seriously.”

Sledge goes on to explain some of the consequences that stem from fire alarms going off in a non-emergency situation.

“I have even heard of some students just staying in the dorms while the alarms are going off,” said Sledge. “I think this most certainly increases the risk of harm that could fall upon students, because some students will just assume that the emergency isn’t real.”

When asked how Sledge would respond in active shooter situations, Sledge explained some thoughts on what should happen.

“When it comes to active shooters on campus or in the building, we have not been formally taught what to do in that particular situation,” said Sledge. “I am not sure whether this is ethical or not, but I think having an active shooter scenario that would test students ability to respond effectively would go a long way in making sure that students would be ready to secure their safety.”

Controversial Mizzou student president speaks Jada N. Holmes Reporter Shaking the foundations of Leadership rests as a strong suit for activist, influencer, and public speaker, Payton Head, who was presented as the 2018 Black History Month keynote on Monday, Feb. 26.

Reflecting upon the adversities of leading a student collective in the heat of injustice, the young dynamic—dedicated and fearless in redirection—aspired to inform the Indiana State community of motivations that manifest equitable change.

Charles E. Brown African-American Cultural Center Director, Brice Yates, initiated the speech with a brief introduction of the event and speaker, which would be followed by a formal greeting from current Indiana State SGA President, Tanner Smith.

The audience, met with an unanticipated twist, was instructed by Head to work the room, meeting someone that they might have encountered daily without interaction. According to Head, the activity caused a shift the energy in the room.

What would be an equally inspirational and informational occurrence provided an emotional stimulus as Head’s presentation of Mizzou moments transitioned into a viewing of his controversial 2015 Facebook post—outlining the discriminative experiences that even he had faced in his undergraduate attendance.

Recalling a moment at which he was referred to as the n-word by white fraternity students passing by in their vehicle, to being criticized for his sexual orientation, Head read—word for word—the post that set the Mizzou and surrounding community ablaze.

“Words like that symbolized a culture that needed to change,” he stated.

The audience, who seemed to bask in a silent shock, eventually demonstrated their appreciation of Head’s strength, applauding him for his poise through his conveying of hardship.

Such a presidency entailed, as told by Payton, questions of institutional allegiance, doubt, adversity; nothing comparable to the resilience displayed by a united Mizzou student body, one in which Head worked impressively to build. The audience had the privilege of listening to the revelations of Mizzou hunger strikes, protests, and demonstrations—especially after the 2014 death of Mike Brown.

Concluding the presentation were messages of unsettled hope as Payton Head encouraged

students and leadership to understand the privilege of having a platform at an institution of higher education. It would have been remiss not to mention the probability of media outlets exploiting student experiences to inaccurate measures.

Leaving with an opportunity for Q&A, students and faculty were able to present clarifying questions, and acquire advisement that would be applicable in future pursuits of justice, inclusion, and promptness at Indiana State University.

“Mr. Head was very informative and educational, and spoke to different demographics of students,” Richard Solomon, senior Communications major said. “As underclassmen, we may not have a way of attracting new approaches with the type of speakers we have. Being that he is within our demographic, he attracted a lot of the students’ attention.”

Brice Yates proved to be satisfied with the outcome of the evening, believing that students finally had an opportunity to hear what they have not yet heard on this campus.

“A lot of times, we have the conversations—students want to see things happen,” Yates stated. Confirming that our University students are indeed concerned with the implementation of processes, Yates affirmed Payton Head in his accomplishment of telling them just how they can “make things happen.”

“It is all about following through as well, too. So, understanding when you get one door closed, or you get told no, that does not have to be final,” said Yates.

The event also accomplished sufficient representation, attracting the presence of Willie Banks, Andy Morgan, Mary Howard-Hamilton, Valerie Hart-Craig, members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and more.

“I wanted to promote a platform of inclusion on campus, because I did not feel included,” said Head, summing up the motivation to run for a well-deserved seat as Mizzou’s student government president.

This time, for Payton, was a time of real conversations that would yield real results.

Championing for academic excellence, collegiate involvement and advocate for institutional rectitude, Head also spent his time first engaging with students during a facilitated Lunch & Learn, on behalf of the African-American Cultural Center.

The gathering took place the morning of Feb. 26, from 11:30

MIZZOU CONT. ON PAGE 5

Students have fun by singing their favorite songs on karaoke night.

Kabrisha Bell | Indiana Statesman

Students display their musical talents during Karaoke Night Kayla Rogan Reporter On cool night at 7 p.m., some ISU students gathered in Dede I to watch and listen to people sing. This karaoke night consisted of people singing their favorite love songs. There were light refreshments for the students at the event. The people who wanted to sing had to sign up, and they either had to choose from the list or pick a song they wanted. Many of the songs were Rhythm and Blues songs by Usher, Alicia Keys, New Edition, John Legend, Beyoncé, and the list continues. However, this was not the only style of genre peo-

ple choose to sing. Some people choose to sing some Pop songs.

People also danced to some of the songs that were being played.

Some students started doing the electric slide with their friends.

The room was full of laughter that seemed to lift the stress from classwork, homework, and jobs away. Some students were quite shy at first, but later they started seeing how fun it was, they signed up to sing their favorite song. Each song had to be about love because that was the theme of the event. The students realize the importance of spreading love to their peers.

“It is a good time to engage with others and to see that there

are others that like the exact same songs that you like also,” Teaundra Smith, karaoke chair, said.

Furthermore, the people over the program played old Disney channel songs. Many of the songs came from High School Musical and the Cheetah Girls.

Everyone got up and start dancing because these songs brought back memories from their childhood. Many of the students miss the old Disney. The old Disney songs consisted of many of the different shows and movies that relates to their personal lives.

These shows had many parents

KARAOKE CONT. ON PAGE 5

ISU holds inclusive excellence fair AJ Goelz Reporter University College is holding its first ever Inclusive Excellence Resource Fair in the Normal Hall Rotunda starting at 10 a.m.

Friday.

“The Inclusive Excellence Fair is an opportunity for students, and staff for that matter, come to University College and go to the different tables that we have with different organizations we have represented and find out the kind of programs and opportunities that are available regarding inclusiveness and diversity,” said Hope Williams an advisor, the coordinator for Inclusive Excellence Initiatives for University College and the chair of a committee of university advisors.

She expressed a want for students to break from the tribalism that is inherent in mankind and meet someone new.

“It’s important for all of our students especially, but for everybody on our campus to really, in my opinion, have a wider perspective on diversity and inclusion and this is one of those opportunities,” said Williams.

ISU Communications and Marketing

Hope Williams, an advisor and the coordinator for Inclusive Excellence initiatives for University College.

The point of this event is not necessarily to get every attendee to have a life changing epiphany, although it certainly is welcome, but is an “opportunity to increase exposure, provide some information and for students to see where they can go to get additional information, programming, meet some people that are not like you,” said Williams.

This is a new event at Indiana

State University and was created from the idea from Katelunn Duby-Edwardson, an academic advisor for University College and part of the Inclusive Excellence Committee. According to Williams, the committee meets once a month.

“She (Williams) had asked us to come in and think of ideas of

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NEWS

Page 2

Friday, March. 2, 2018

San Diego State changes course title implying that Trump should be impeached Gary Robbins The San Diego UnionTribune (TNS) San Diego State University on Wednesday changed the name of one of its courses after the school was criticized by the public for implying that President Donald Trump should be impeached or removed from office.

The one-unit course, which begins Friday, was titled “Trump: Impeachment, Removal or Conviction?”

Following the outcry, the name Trump was dropped from the title.

“In retrospect, we realize the title of the course, “Trump: Impeachment, Removal or Conviction?” is inconsistent with the course content described,” SDSU said in a statement.

“As a result, the title will be amended to accurately reflect this course offered now and for future offerings of this course.

“The course presents an overall framework of impeachment, removal or criminal investigation of a president and rather than focusing on President Trump, reviews all 19 impeachments in U.S. history. The one-unit, weekend class is not a requirement for graduation and is not paid for by state funds.”

The course is offered through SDSU’s extended studies program and is meant for the general public. However, students can take the course and earn credit toward graduation.”

The course description says the class will focus “on the two constitutional grounds: impeachment and removal (25th Amendment), and the possible charges of the independent counsel, the powers of the president, a history of the creation of that office and the comparison of divine right and rule of law leadership, presidential impeachments, including Nixon’s de facto impeachment, practically limitless grounds for impeachment, presidential immunity from indictment, and grounds for impeachment, removal, or indictment covering: conflict of interests, foreign emoluments,

Carolyn Cole|Los Angeles Times|TNS

The mountain town of Juyaya, Puerto Rico, is one of the most remote on the island, and help was slow to arrive due to roads blocked by landslides and fallen trees. This is the road from Ciales to Jayuya.

Hurricane Maria stripped Puerto Rico’s forests bare Ann M. Simmons Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Howard Lipin|The San Diego Union-Tribune|TNS

Students leave Hepner Hall and other buildings on the campus of San Diego State University, flowing onto the Campanile Walkway. San Diego State University on Wednesday changed the name of one of its courses after the school was criticized by the public for implying that President Donald Trump should be impeached or removed from office.

climate change, racism, religious bias, improper influence, nepotism and a host of crimes, including conspiracy, false statements and obstruction of justice.”

The required textbook for the course is “The Case for Impeachment,” by Allan J. Lichtman, a history professor at American University in Washington, D.C. In late 2016, Lichtman predicted that Trump would win the presidency.

He has correctly predicted the winning presidential candidate in every election since 1984.

Lichtman published “The Case for Impeachment” in April 2017. The book examines the circumstances under which Trump could be impeached or removed from office. It also explores impeachment efforts that have been waged throughout American history.

Lichtman is deeply familiar with the electoral process. In 2006, he ran for the U.S. Senate in Maryland, running as a Democrat.

The SDSU course is being taught by John Joseph Cleary, a lecturer who could not immediately be reached for comment.

Brandon Jones, an SDSU student who chairs the school’s College Republicans group, told Fox News on Wednesday, “San Diego State seems to sending a very clear message … They’re making a very strong claim that the president has sort of committed crimes of treason or bribery and that he has allegedly been accused of violating Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution …

“We see this all the time. College campuses, especially San Diego State University, there’s tons of liberal bias.”

When Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico last September, the physical destruction was not limited to houses, buildings, the electricity grid and other infrastructure.

The storm also toppled or stripped bare an estimated 480 million trees, or a third of all the forests.

Green buds, ferns and grasses have started to sprout in the understory of the forests, though it is expected to take much longer for higher elevations to regain their lushness.

“In some areas at the top of the mountains it might take more than 50 or 100 years” to recover, said Grizelle Gonzalez, a scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, a program of the U.S. Forest Service.

To give Mother Nature a hand, various reforestation efforts are underway across the U.S. territory.

Trees will be replanted in the organization’s nurseries, in many cases using fallen foliage as compost and downed branches and wood chips as mulch.

Armed with bags and notepads, volunteers will fan out across forests, picking through the undergrowth in search of seeds to be replanted, said Fernando Lloveras San Miguel, executive director of the Conservation Trust.

“The tough part is going to be trying to walk through different forested areas, because there’s a lot of dead trees … and it’s going to be very hard to ac-

cess these places,” he said.

Communities near the island’s nature reserves are being encouraged to participate in the efforts, with the aim of preserving 33 percent of Puerto Rico’s land for nature by 2033, said Lloveras San Miguel.

The island currently has legal protections in place for 8 percent of its area.

“We believe ecology recovery goes hand in hand with human recovery,” Lloveras San Miguel said.

“That’s the biggest importance of this effort. We don’t think any Puerto Rican can recover fully without having (the) surroundings, nature, the landscape fully recovered. Each one has to support the other.

So that’s why the engagement of the community in the reforestation will really bring on a symbiotic relationship with their own recovery process.”

Still, humans are going to be secondary players in helping nature rebound.

“The greatest re-foresters are bats and birds,” Lloveras San Miguel said.

“They are the key farmers on Earth. They are going to be doing most of the work.”

But only once these wildlife species recover themselves.

Scientists are still gathering the data, but avian life is believed to have taken a major hit, said Gonzalez, the forestry service scientist.

Birds started dying after the hurricane because seed, berries and other food sources were diminished, Gonzalez said.

Other species, including insects and lizards, lost

shelter and places to feed and hide.

Some wildlife has started migrating toward the coast and lower elevations where the vegetation is recovering much faster, Gonzalez said. Iguanas and other reptiles prefer a forested environment but can easily adjust to uncovered open spaces. But conservationists are concerned about the possibility of runaway population growth — and the ecological imbalances that could result.

One area of particular concern to conservationists is El Yunque National Forest, a tropical rainforest that is the island’s second-most visited tourist attraction and a key source of water for nearby communities.

“Immediately after the hurricane it looked like a dry landscape,” Gonzalez said. “Instead of green, it was brown. During a dry spell it was very crunchy.

But now the greens are heavier. You see that the vegetation is recovering.”

The revival is due in part to the “ecological memory” of forests, she said.

If there is any good news from the hurricane, it is that the stripping of the forests to their bare bones has given scientists a rare chance to study nature.

“We need to take advantage of the opportunity to document the impact on the environment and the ecosystem, and the services the environment provides to the people,” Gonzalez said.

Self-driving cars with no in-vehicle backup driver get OK for California public roads

Ethan Baron The Mercury News (TNS)

Self-driving cars with no human backup behind the wheel will be legal on California roads for testing and transporting the public starting April 2.

“This is a major step forward for autonomous technology in California,” DMV director Jean Shiomoto said after the state’s Office of Administrative Law approved new regulations Monday.

“Safety is our top concern and we are ready to begin working with manufacturers that are prepared to test fully driverless vehicles in California.”

Robot cars have been allowed on the state’s public roads for testing since September 2014, but a safety driver behind the wheel has been required.

A form of backup will still be mandatory, for a time.

“Under these regulations, driverless cars being tested on public roads must have a remote operator monitoring the car, ready to take over as needed,” Recode reported Monday.

Andrej Sokolow|DPA/Zuma Press|TNS

A Google self-driving car moves along the roadway at the company’s headquarters on May 17, 2016 in Mountain View, Calif. Self-driving cars with no human backup behind the wheel will be legal on California roads for testing and transporting the public starting April 2.

“That remote operator — who will be overseeing the car from a location outside of the car — must also be able to communicate with law enforcement as well as

the passengers in the event of an accident.”

California’s move was immediately attacked by Consumer Watchdog, which said the “disengage-

ment reports” companies file with the DMV when human backup drivers have to take over show the technology isn’t ready for remote control. Oper-

ation of the vehicles from afar would transform the testing of autonomous cars into “a deadly video game that threatens highway safety,” the consumer ad-

vocacy group said.

When companies are prepared to put their self-driving cars to use in transporting the public, “the remote operator is no longer required to take over the car, just facilitate communication while it monitors the status of the vehicle,” according to Recode.

In order to transport members of the public, a robot car must have a data recorder, defenses against cyber attack and “false vehicle control commands,” plus “the ability to display or transfer vehicle owner or operator information in the event of a collision,” the DMV said in a news release.

Fifty car makers and technology companies — including Google spin-off Waymo, GM, Tesla, Ford, BMW, Toyota, Honda, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen — have permits for testing autonomous vehicles with safety drivers on California public roads, the DMV reported.

Waymo late last year be-

SELF CONT’D ON PAGE 5

FEATURES

Friday, March. 2, 2018

Event of the Week: Pie a Chi

Theta Chi fraternity memebers were pied on Feb. 28 as a fundraiser for their chapter.

From top clockwise: Cole Ryan getting pied by Haley Martin, Michael Branam getting pied by Nicole Babcock.

Organization of the Week

The Signing Sycamores Jack Gregory Reporter

Anna Bartley | Indiana Statesman

Page 3

There are many clubs on campus available for students to join and that much variety can make it difficult for people to make up their minds about which club or clubs to join. For any students considering joining a club whether it’s because they want a way to socialize, want to become more of a well-rounded individual, or just because they have too much time on their hands, consider the Signing Sycamores American Sign Language club!

Currently boasting 29 members, the SSASL is always looking for new members, from students with zero prior knowledge or experience with the language to those who are fluent.

The club is focused on increasing awareness of American Sign Language and deaf culture as well as helping to enhance their members’ usage and fluency of ASL. “We accept all levels of learning,” Rebekah Goodrich, SSASL co-president, said, “If you don’t know any sign language or if you

know a lot. We go over the alphabet every meeting; we learn how to question and how to answer… non-verbal communication is the most important part.”

“There are lots of reasons to know [about deaf culture],” Devin Morlan, SSASL president, said, ”Some people have a hard time to understand other people because they can’t hear. It’s not just about hearing or other disabilities. It’s about everyone being equal.”

“The communication and, like, knowing that when you’re talking to a deaf person, you’re practically talking to someone who knows a different language.

Deaf people don’t want to be separate…they just want to be equal,” Goodrich said.

Members of the club get to enjoy taking part in ASL-related games and activities, learning fun new vocabulary, and staying up to date on ASL and deaf events.

Morlan said the club was only made official this past January and before that, it was meeting unofficially in the Lincoln Quads. He was the Hall Council President and after getting a few

interested students on board, he and Rebekah decided to take it to the Treehouse and make it a fully legitimate student organization.

“We had actually started two different organizations and then we combined them over Winter Break,” Goodrich said, “I didn’t even know that Devin had started his club at first.”

Student organizations are an important part of our community here at Indiana State. They give students an opportunity to get more involved and also to help us broaden our horizons by teaching us new skills and helping us reach out to and meet others with similar interests that we want to promote.

If any students are unsure of what club they should join, if any, consider joining SSASL to learn and practice an interesting and important form of communication as well as the history and community surrounding the language. The organization meets every Monday from 7 to 8 p.m. in HMSU 307 and next week, they are also hosting meetings on Wednesdays at the same time, although the location is yet to bet decided.

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BuzzFeed Quizzes:

OPINION

Friday, March. 2, 2018

Procrastination’s friend, motivation’s enemy

Emma Osowski Columnist

Ever since coming to college I have been obsessed with Buzzfeed.

At one point, I thought I wanted to work for BuzzFeed.

I don’t necessarily know why I wanted to, but I did, and I think a part of me still is very interested in the idea. Nonetheless, I love looking at their selection of news coverage, or random and funny posts. I love watching their videos (Try Guys, Ladylike) and just scrolling through their site to pass time.

However, the thing that really makes the time pass is BuzzFeed’s quizzes. I know this because that’s what I was doing rather than finding something to form an opinion on for today’s article.

I don’t know how or why these quizzes are so amusing, but they have become a trap for me, keeping me from being productive and mindful of what I need to do. Instead, I click on the quiz that will apparently tell me which underrated kid’s movie I need to watch based on the waffle I build, what I’ll be doing in my “adult life” based on the future I create for myself or which 00’s show theme song I should walk down the aisle to. In no way are any of these quizzes important, they don’t have any purpose and they are usually never correct. If they are right, it’s usually sheer luck.

How are they going to find things out about myself, help me learn about myself, when all they ask me is which bed I would rather cuddle in, which dog is the cutest or which color I like best?

Now obviously BuzzFeed is really good at what they do. so when they do get it right and tell me something I already know

about myself, I get excited and think that they’re so clever. I wonder, “How’d they do that?” or “How’d they know?” But I have to remind myself, that’s where the luck has come in.

There’s no science to this whole quiz making thing. It’s just a random selection and if they get it right they get it right, but don’t get your hopes up. And that’s the thing.

I know what I’m getting myself into when I click on the quiz. I know they’re going to ask me the same questions as the last ten quizzes did, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t want to know which Winter Olympic sport I’d win gold in. It’s curling, by the way.

I don’t want to go as far to say the quizzes are addicting, but I honestly think they are. I mean, an addiction is “the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity.” That means that BuzzFeed can in fact be addicting because I’m taking these quizzes during class, when I should be doing homework, on my downtime. There was one time where I ran out of quizzes. I know I am definitely not the only one who has gotten themselves into this mess.

We sit in rows, people – I can see what you’re doing. Just like I know that the people behind me can see exactly what I’m doing, and that’s seeing what kind of pizza matches my personality (which, in my opinion, isn’t a spicy pizza). I want to know, is it just a thing to do in the class where the professor doesn’t know what they’re talking about, or do they have the same problem as me? Does everyone have a BuzzFeed problem?

I wouldn’t necessarily say I need an intervention by any means whatsoever, but I do think that maybe getting rid of my BuzzFeed app would be a smart decision.

Overall, here’s a word to the wise, just stay away from BuzzFeed. It’ll help you in the long run.

Sheneman | Trubune Content Agency

Gun control Bill goes slightly too far, still doesn’t take guns away

Joe Lippard

Opinions Editor

After every shooting, there are renewed calls to enact common-sense gun legislation nationwide.

Things like a national gun registry, universal background checks and a mandatory waiting period for gun purchases are all things that, according to a February 2018 national poll by Quinnipiac University, a majority of Americans support.

For example, 97 percent of Americans support universal background checks, while 83 percent support a mandatory waiting period. On top of that, 63 percent of Americans support a ban on selling assault weapons.

Well, it seems like Representatives David Cicilline and Ted Deutch are taking the initiative to actually enact some form of gun control reform. It just so happens that that legislation is just a little over-the-top.

The Assault Weapons Ban of 2018 does exactly

what it purports to do.

It does indeed ban all “semiautomatic assault weapons;” however, it’s the definition of “semiautomatic assault weapon” that’s the problem. It defines an assault weapon multiple ways, including naming the AR-15 specifically, among others. Some of the things that are considered a “semiautomatic assault weapon” as defined by this law include any semiautomatic pistols “that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any 1 of the following: a threaded barrel, a second pistol grip, a barrel shroud or the capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip.”

This is an issue for me.

Things like barrel shrouds are often after-market modifications made to guns. You can purchase a Beretta pistol barrel shroud on their website, for instance. So even if the gun is being sold without the shroud, based on my reading of the law, it would still be illegal. If that’s the case, why are we not banning the sale of those after-market modifications rather than banning the sale of the actual gun? It doesn’t make sense to me.

The bill also bans the sale of all semiautomatic rifles with fixed magazines

for more than 10 rounds, except for extended capacity .22 rifles. The 10-round magazine portion applies for all semiautomatic firearms.

The problem with this is that most modern semiautomatic rifles have a capacity greater than 10 rounds, as do many handguns. For example, according to Glock’s website, their standard 9 mm pistol has a magazine for 13 to 17 rounds. Many high-profile shootings are perpetrated with highercapacity magazines. The Aurora, CO shooter used a 100-round drum magazine, for instance.

I don’t think many people would argue that a Glock 9 mm is an “assault weapon,” yet under this law, it would qualify as one to be banned. Now, while I think that no one needs an assault rifle like an AK47, banning a 9 mm handgun just because it accepts three more rounds than the bill specifies is a little ridiculous.

It is worth noting that the bill does not call for the confiscation of any guns. No one is calling for any guns to be taken away from any lawabiding citizens. As a matter of fact, those who lawfully own the banned guns when this law would hypothetically go into effect are automatically

grandfathered in with the new law. All this law is proposing is a ban on the sale of these weapons. This means that you wouldn’t be able to walk into a gun store and buy an AR-15, but you would be able to buy one before the law went into effect and keep it.

I agree with the idea that there are some guns that we are now able to buy that we shouldn’t be able to. After all, the Federal Assault Weapons ban expired in 2004 without a replacement in place. Since the ban expired, deaths in mass shootings have risen exponentially, according to Mother Jones. In 1999 for instance, the worst year for shooting deaths during the assault weapons ban, 42 people were killed in mass shootings. By comparison in 2017, 13 years after the ban expired, 117 people were killed in mass shootings.

I think that it’s very clear that Cicillline and Deutch’s bill will very likely not pass.

It’s just a little too broad, even for me. However, I do think that this bill will open the door to actual gun control debate. The Representatives are likely using this bill as a starting point for compromise.

I can only hope that the debate doesn’t die on the House floor.

Facebook could do a lot more on Trump-Russia Cathy O’Neil Bloomberg View (TNS) The world now knows, thanks to Facebook’s disclosures, that Russians bought a lot of ads in an effort to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. But that still leaves the more important question: Did they succeed?

I think Facebook could do a lot more to find an answer.

To measure the impact of Russia’s meddling, one needs to know whether people who saw the ads acted differently than those who didn’t. The best approach would be a randomized experiment, in which researchers would expose a randomly selected group of people to the ads, then compare their behavior to a control group that wasn’t exposed.

Unfortunately, that’s not possible, because the election has already passed.

The second-best approach is what economists call a natural experiment. In this case, it would involve finding some event or circumstance that arbitrarily prevented some people from seeing the ads, but had no correlated effect on their voting behavior. It could be a difference in the way ads are served to mobile devices and PCs, or a difference in the particular times of day people used Facebook, or just the luck of the draw. With enough data, one could then use them as a control group to tease out the impact of the ads on those who did see them.

I’m pretty sure Facebook has enough data. It knows who clicked on the ads, and probably also knows who saw them (“ad impressions” in the lingo). As a

business matter, Facebook would keep such records to convince customers — including Russian trolls — that they’re reaching the desired audience. This is why politicians such as Mark Warner can call for users to be notified if they were exposed.

Facebook can also get access to records of who voted, as can anyone with the necessary patience and resources. And now that it requires users to provide their real names (except in Germany), it can relatively easily figure out which of them voted.

The next step would be to identify “similar” users — that is, users whose traits suggest a similar propensity to see a Russian ad. They’d have the same “Russian ad propensity scores,” or something along those lines. Then find the random thing

that caused some of them to nonetheless miss the ads, and compare the voter turnout of the exposed and unexposed groups.

How likely is it that Facebook could find such a natural experiment? My guess is pretty likely, given how many Americans use the service. The company is not exactly starved for data, and the more data you have the more likely it is that such opportunities will pop up.

A further, more involved study could also look at how users voted. Facebook has tons of data on people’s political bents, which would be highly predictive of their choices in the 2016 election.

But even barring that, a turnout analysis alone could be super interesting — as Facebook’s famous “I Voted” button experiment demonstrated.

Editorial Board

Friday, Mar. 2, 2018 Indiana State University

www.indianastatesman.com

Volume 125 Issue 59

Grace Harrah Editor-in-Chief statesmaneditor@isustudentmedia.com Rileigh McCoy News Editor statesmannews@isustudentmedia.com Joe Lippard Opinions Editor statesmanopinions@isustudentmedia.com Claire Silcox Features Editor statesmanfeatures@isustudentmedia.com Andrew Doran Sports Editor statesmansports@isustudentmedia.com Danielle Guy Photo Editor statesmanphotos@isustudentmedia.com Ashley Sebastian 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.

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

Friday, March. 2, 2018 • Page 5

KARAOKE FROM PAGE 1 watching the shows and movies as well. People in the audience started doing the dance movies to High School Musical and the Cheetah Girls. The hosts were really involved in the event by singing along and dancing.

Nevertheless, the people who were there were really supportive of the people on the stage.

They would record them singing, sing along to the sound, and cheering them on. People in the audience gave them words of encouragement when the performer was nervous. The audience show respect for each performer because it takes a lot of courage to get on stage, and sing in front of people they don’t know.

This was a great night to bring the campus together regardless of the differences the students have.

gan testing autonomous minivans in Arizona with no safety driver behind the wheel and it plans to run an autonomous-vehicle ride-sharing program there.

Uber said in September that its robot-car testing program had seen the vehicles travel two million miles, and the San Francisco ride-hailing giant suggested in January it would start carrying passengers in autonomous vehicles some time next year.

The firm’s Advanced Technology Group chief Eric Meyhofer said Uber wouldn’t deploy driverless cars without human backup until the technology was proved

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“Once we can check that box, which we call passing the robot driver’s license test, that’s when we can remove the vehicle operator,” Meyhofer told the paper.

“We’re going aggressively, too.”

However, Uber in February settled a lawsuit by Waymo accusing it of using stolen Waymo self-driving technology, in a deal that requires the ride-hailing company to work to ensure it doesn’t use any of Waymo’s technology.

Uber has denied it had Waymo’s technology, and it remains unclear whether the lawsuit and settlement may have affected Uber’s autonomous-vehicle program.

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SELF FROM PAGE 2

According to Williams, the committee meets once a month.

“She (Williams) had asked us to come in and think of ideas of things we could do with our students and with our faculty and staff here in the department, and I just thought that because a lot of students don’t know about these programs or organizations on campus that it would be nice to expose the students to them,” said Duby-Edwardson.

Some of the organizations and offices involved with the fair are Equity ISU, the Study Abroad Office, International Student Resource Center, the Title IX Office, Public Safety and even

more. Williams said that along with all of the organizations in attendance there will also be food at the event.

“It’s the kind of event that everyone is welcome to come to,” said Williams. “We want students to come and I really want students to meet new people and stretch a little bit out of their comfort zones, speak to some people that you don’t know.

I think sometimes, especially younger students, are afraid to go up to a new person and just introduce themselves and start talking asking “Where are you from? Tell me about yourself,” they don’t really have to be so nervous about that and this kind of environment promotes that ability to reach across the aisle.”

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since day one and he is great to work for.

Question 3: What contributed to your team’s success this early in the season?

The biggest thing that has helped our success so far has been our commitment to the team concept. We have 18 players that are concerned more about our team then they are about themselves and their personal stats. We have gotten contributions from virtually the entire team and that is how we are going to keep winning. We try to keep the game simple and not get wrapped up in results, we are always talking about the process and playing the game pitch by pitch.

Question 4: Who on your team has been stepping up so far this season?

We have had quite a few players step up in different games for us. One thing that helps us is that we are not relying on one or two players every time. We have depth in the batting order so that makes us dangerous to the opponents, they can’t just try to stop a few hitters, we are solid from 1-9. Our pitching staff has done a good job keeping us in the games. The staff is able to let

FAIR FROM PAGE 1

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a.m. to 1 p.m.

With diligent grace, Head urged students, predominantly freshman, to practice the prioritization of being familiar with their surroundings as a tool to propel their potential to be catalysts of evolution wherever they are.

Students, intrigued and attentive, took heed of the tribulations of maintaining such influence at a critical time, while employing resources and support bases to remain consistent in the twisted appearance of division and apathy. Head, athirst to instill an undying passion for humanity in each individual present, needlessly accomplished the driving of self-growth conceptually to expand the road for new avenues of activism.

Leadership at Indiana State University is bred anew annually, each year with the promise of “more.” Those participant in ISU’s Payton Head experience have surely taken away the following: Support must be acquired from an abundance of collectives when attracting attention to any University shortcoming or grievance; in organizing and speaking directly to such shortcomings, a Leader is bound to face inflictions of micro and macro aggressions from opposition; there is always an opportunity to create real change.

“Students ask, “where do you get your drive from?” My drive is really just my love of people.

The ability to understand that, we have a lot to do if we are going to move forward,” Payton Head said.

us play defense and they focus on getting outs and letting our offense get going.

Question 5: How do you intend to bounce back from the three-game losing streak this season?

We didn’t end last weekend at Western Kentucky very well.

We need to get off to a better start both on the offensive and pitching side of things. Our last three games our first innings were pretty bad. The main thing we need to do is be able to score in the first inning. If we can do that we can play with the lead and that changes things completely. Offensively we left way too many runners on base each game. So we have to be able to come through with a quality at bat with runners in scoring position.

Question 6: What do you hope to accomplish by the end of the season?

One of our goals we plan on accomplishing is to qualify for the Missouri Valley Tournament.

We have not made that the past couple of years and that is something our team really wanted to do when we set some goals. If we play like we are capable and stay healthy, I think we will surprise a lot of teams.

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COACH FROM PAGE 6

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MIZZOU FROM PAGE 1

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

Sudoku answers from Wednesday’s issue

The Samurai of Puzzles by The Mepham Group

SPORTS

Page 6

Friday, March. 2, 2018

Sycamores go head-to-head with Redbirds in MVC Tourney Garrett Short Reporter

The Indiana State men’s basketball team starts their postseason in St. Louis with a game against Illinois State Friday night in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

The end of the season went just as planned for ISU as they finished out the regular season with two wins against Evansville and Bradley. The two wins, along with Missouri State dropping their last two contests, pushed ISU out of the play-in games on Thursday.

Perhaps more importantly for ISU, the team is confident and on the right track when the games matter most.

The Sycamores may have not needed a confidence boost before they take on Illinois State, as last time the two teams met, Indiana State clobbered the Redbirds 84-54 at home.

Despite the 30-point win in their last game against Illinois State, senior guard Brenton Scott believes that

Collin Markle | Indiana Statesman

Brenton Scott (4) discussed the stradegy for theteam for the upcoming game against the Redbirds.

his team still has to play with a chip on their shoulders.

“We understand we had a good victory against them the second time we played them, but our mindset is we’re still motivated and we still have something to prove,” said Scott.

Both teams won their regular season game at

home this season with Illinois State narrowly edging out Indiana State 8481 in overtime in the first game of the year. This time around, home court-advantage won’t exist, as the conference tournament will be played on a neutral court in the Scottrade Center.

Friday night’s game has no shortage of

game-changers.

Each team was represented well in the postseason All-Conference awards.

Illinois State junior Milik Yarbrough earned First Team All-MVC honors while his teammate Phil Fayne joined ISU sophomore Jordan Barnes on the MVC Second Team. This year, his final season at Indiana State, Brenton Scott

was named to the Third Team All-MVC. After four successful seasons in an Indiana State jersey, the conference is aware of what Scott can do on the hardwood. However, the keys to the tournament could be the young guns for the Sycamores.

This season Barnes as well as freshmen Tyreke Key and Clayton Hughes

have played vital minutes for Head Coach Greg Lansing. The future for Indiana State appears bright as Barnes was named the MVC’s Most Improved Player and Key was placed on the MVC All Freshmen Team. The more the future faces of ISU basketball contribute this weekend, the further the Sycamores will go.

The last time Indiana State took on Illinois State in the MVC Tournament was the 2015-16 season.

The Sycamores defeated the Redbirds 65-57 in what is senior center Brandon Murphy’s favorite memory of Arch Madness. In that game the teams were seeded the same as this year: Illinois State third and Indiana State sixth.

Whether it is the 30-point blowout back in January or the MVC Tournament win over Illinois State two seasons ago, Indiana State will look to repeat history this Friday night at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time with a win over the Redbirds.

Q & A with Coach Perniciaro Jay Adkins Reporter

Athletic Media Relations

Romero Harris and Dane Giesler led the way for the Sycamores.

Sycamores unable to hold off Red-Hot No. 12 Vanderbilt Tim McCaughan

Athletic Media Relations

Indiana State baseball dropped its midweek matchup to No. 12 Vanderbilt 8-5 at rain-soaked Hawkins Field Wednesday night in Nashville.

Romero Harris and Dane Giesler led the way for the Trees at the plate.

Giesler finished 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and two RBI while Harris belted a home run and drove in three.

The Sycamores (5-3) wasted no time getting on the board as Harris opened the game with a three-run blast over the high wall in left field -- his fourth home run of the season. Clay Dungan scored on the homer after walking to open the game as well as Jarrod Watkins, who singled.

Indiana State added another run in the fourth when Giesler hammered a ball to right-center to make it a 4-0 lead for the Trees.

Vanderbilt’s offense began to click in the middle innings as the Dores scored one run in the fourth, two in the fifth and four in the sixth to take a 7-4 lead.

Vandy’s Pat Demarco doubled in a run in the fourth and led off the fifth with a solo homer. Demarco finished 2-for-4 in the game with two RBI and a run scored. Alonzo Jones led the Commodores at the plate with a 3-for-4 night, including the goahead three-run homer in the sixth inning.

Giesler sparked the Sycamores in the eighth with a solo home run to right -- his second of the night, but ISU would be held scoreless the remainder of the game.

Sycamore starting pitcher Tyler Ward (1-1) was dominant throughout the outing, picking up a career high eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings. The Commodores scattered seven hits throughout the night on the junior.

Jake Ridgway entered for Ward in the fifth inning with two runners on and Vanderbilt wasted no time jumping on the freshman as Jones took the second pitch he saw deep for a three-run blast. Ridgway would get in a grove though, striking out three batters in 1.1 innings.

Sophomore Tyler Grauer retired all three batters he faced in the eighth.

Indiana State scattered three hits and scored four runs on VU’s starting pitcher Jake Eder as he picked up the no decision.

Aaron Brown (1-0) was credited with the win after tossing two innings and giving up one hit while Reid Schaller picked up his first save of the season in two innings of work, striking out three.

The Sycamores return to action this weekend with a three-game series at Austin Peay. First pitch Friday is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET from Raymond C. Hand Park.

Question 1: What got you into coaching softball?

I grew up around sports, my dad is a Hall of Fame high school baseball coach in St. Louis, and so I basically grew up on either a baseball field or football field. I played college baseball and started coaching as a volunteer assistant while getting my master’s degree at Western Illinois. That led to getting my foot in the door during an internship at Centenary College in Shreveport, LA. I was in the right place at the right time and I was fortunate to get a chance to work with the softball team. I was able to relate to the hitters on the team and had some success working with them. Then I was able to get in to the S.E.C. when they added softball back in the late 1990’s. I was given the chance to prove that I was a good coach and my career began.

Question 2: What

Athletic Media Relations

ISU softball coach, Mike Perniciaro.

brought you to Indiana around here and the way we are being looked at by State University?

The biggest attraction the rest of the Missouri to ISU was our adminis- Valley teams in our contration, led by our athletic ference. He enables coachdirector, Sherard Clink- es to coach and does not scales. Sherard has a great get in their way. Sherard vision for our athletic has been supportive of me department. He is really changing the environment COACH CONTINUED ON PAGE 5