January 13, 2022

TODAY

Dance team onto

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13

22˚

Just another January day in Minnesota.

Nothing special.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022

Campus ready to take on Omicron COVID-19 numbers on the rise, reflecting the initial 2020 outbreak in Minnesota

Stu Gov fills vacant atlarge senate seat

By JULIA BARTON

By MAX MAYLEBEN

News Director

With COVID impacting Minnesota State University, Mankato since March of 2020, the university has taken numerous measures to keep students on track and learning.

The newer Omicron variant has been spreading quickly in the state of Minnesota, similar to when COVID first started.

This time around, however, MSU staff and students are more prepared having the COVID vaccine now available for all ages as well as mask mandates and social distancing requirements.

“When COVID first started we had no idea how to treat it and we didn’t jump right into the masking. Now we do know how to prevent spread like masking, vaccination, and social distancing,” said Tammy Neiman, Associate Professor a part of the School of Nursing College of Allied Health and Nursing.

“We know how to prevent it and take care of it but recently looking at the data, our spike now is very similar to when COVID first started as this variant spreads so much easier,” Nieman said.

Nieman is also an active nurse taking on about three shifts a month at a hospital in Woodbury.

Understanding how people can protect themselves from

Editor in Chief

MADDIE BEHRENS • The Reporter

The Clinical Sciences building is where many students at MSU study to join the healthcare field.

COVID is a huge factor that many are curious about.

“Vaccines give our body an idea of what the disease is and lets our body know what we are trying to protect ourselves against. No vaccines are 100% and the point is so that if we do catch it our body can kick into gear right away. As for boosters our immunity may wane after a while and so we need a little extra kick and remind it to fight against a certain thing just like the flu shots we get every year.”

As far as campus support, Student Health Services has stepped up being at the forefront in battling COVID and meeting with the Minnesota

Department of Health one on one regularly.

“There was no COVID case manager two years ago, and since then there is definitely a lot the university and administration has done to help control the spread,” Wendy Schuh, Director of Student Health Services and Assistant Professor of the Department of Health Science, said.

Having the resources on campus is a huge asset to students and staff if they find themselves needing healthcare support.

“We are trying to provide opportunities for people to protect themselves as much as pos-

sible which includes education of the vaccine, there can be a lot of misinformation out there so having accurate information is very important as well as having vaccines available for them if they want it.”

The university has offered many resources through Student Health Services such as free COVID testing, offering vaccines, and having a covid hotline to name a few.

Student Health Services offers both a COVID reporting hotline and healthcare hotline as well as equipped with other healthcare resources like flu shots.

Students talk about dealing with student debt

By CLAIRE BRUNEAU Staff Writer

College debt is something that is always on a student’s mind, whether they’re paying their way with two jobs while taking full-time classes or they’re taking out a ton of loans. Spending this amount of money usually leads to student debt and is not supposed to be taken lightly. When it comes to talking about college debt, most Minnesota State University, Mankato students have a lot to say.

“I have worked hard these last two years to save all my money so that I could pay off this school year and not have

to worry about debt or working while being a full time student.

It was really hard at times but I’m very grateful for it now. I may get a small job this semester to help give me some extra cash,” Paige Peterson, a freshman at MSU, said.

Although Peterson has been hard at work to be financially stable as a student, she feels comfortable with where she’s at now. “There is no stress or urgency and that is a great feeling.

It’s something not many students get,” Peterson shared.

Hanna Maxwell, a freshman at MSU, has gone through a different experience and expressed her frustration with how the WORKERS on page 2 

File photo

Many students at MSU work different campus jobs, such as on Mav Ave and other food service providers.

The Minnesota State University, Mankato Student Government met yesterday for the first time of the semester to discuss Hockey Day Minnesota, the upcoming budget season and the vacancy election for an at-large senator seat.

Darlington Sehgbean ran for a vacant at-large senate seat.

Transferring from Augustana College, Sehgbean also served in leadership positions at his previous university.

Sehgbean was elected to join the Student Government and will serve as an at-large senator.

During the open forum, Interim Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Education Jennifer Veltsos encouraged students to remain diligent with mitigating the spread of COVID, as urged senators to reach out to her for any sort of assistance throughout the semester.

Scott Nelson from athletics also welcomed the Student Government to start the conversation on a committee for the Student Athletics fee.

Nelson asked for one senator for the committee, but was open to more students to join as well.

David Cowan, the secretary treasure of the Ice Hockey Blue Line Club, attended the meeting to discuss the upcoming “Hockey Day Minnesota” that will be on campus next week.

The campus is hosting a week of events, including the MSU Men’s Hockey game next weekend.

During her officer report, President Reauna Stiff started the conversation on the upcoming budget season, including asking for volunteers for various committees.

Vice President Kara Svercl spoke to the senate about President Edward Inch’s request for feedback on several issues, as well as congratulated the senate for achieving the goal of having feminine hygiene products in all bathrooms on campus.

2 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Army ups bonuses for recruits to $50K, as COVID takes toll

MADDIE BEHRENS • The Reporter

WORKERS from page 1 government chooses to help pay for college.

“It is very frustrating how the government expects your parents to pay for your college.

My parents are still struggling to pay off their own debt, much less mine. I’m left with my only option of taking out loads of loans. I also have to pay thousands of dollars for electives that have nothing to do with my major. That doesn’t seem very fair and I know many other people feel the same way,” Maxwell stated.

Similarly, freshman Emma Rea has taken out loans through her college career to pay for tuition while also trying to balance money for food and other activities.“I took out a ton of loans for this school year as I will with the rest of 

CHARLES DHARAPAK • Associated Press

This March 27, 2008, file photo, shows the Pentagon in Washington. The U.S. Army, for the first time, is offering a maximum enlistment bonus of $50,000 to highly skilled recruits who sign up for six years.

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press

The U.S. Army, for the first time, is offering a maximum enlistment bonus of $50,000 to highly skilled recruits who join for six years, The Associated Press has learned, as the service struggles to lure soldiers into certain critical jobs during the continuing pandemic.

Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen, head of Army Recruiting Command, told AP that shuttered schools and the competitive job market over the past year have posed significant challenges for recruiters. So heading into the most difficult months of the year for recruiting, the Army is hoping that some extra cash and a few other changes will entice qualified young people to sign up.

“We are still living the implications of 2020 and the onset of COVID, when the school systems basically shut down,” said Vereen. “We lost a full class of young men and women that we didn’t have contact with, face-to-face.”

Two years of the pandemic has made it more difficult to recruit in schools and at public

events, and the competition for quality workers has intensified as young people weigh their options.

Some, said Vereen, are taking what he calls a gap year, and “are making the decision that they don’t necessarily need to work right now.”

The annual recruiting goal fluctuates as currently serving soldiers decide whether to reenlist or leave. In the last two years, as the pandemic raged, many decided to stay in, lessening the pressure on recruiting to help keep the Army at its full strength of 485,000. Last year’s recruiting goal was 57,500, and Vereen said it will be about the same this year.

To entice recruits, those who sign up for a six-year enlistment in one of several high-demand career fields can get bonuses that total as much as $50,000.

Given the high standards, it will be difficult for many to qualify for the top bonus.

The final figure depends on when they agree to ship out for training, if they already have critical skills and if they choose airborne or ranger posts. Certain careers — such as missile defense crew, special forces,

signals intelligence and fire control specialists who coordinate battlefield weapons operations — can often come with the maximum bonuses. But other key jobs include infantry, intelligence analyst, combat medic specialist, military police, combat engineer and several others.

And those may change every month, based on available spots in the training pipeline and other service needs.

Until now, the Army has offered a maximum bonus of $40,000.

“We’re in a competitive market,” said Vereen. “How we incentivize is absolutely essential, and that is absolutely something that we know that is important to trying to get somebody to come and join the military.’

Sgt. 1st Class Mary James has been working as a recruiter in Ohio since November 2020, and she said the early months — when COVID-19 was surging and there were no vaccines — were challenging. “Money isn’t always the first thing that they talk about, but it does come into play,” said James, who’s been in the Army for 15 years.

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my three years. It does worry me a little knowing I have debt waiting to be paid off, but I’m confident with my major that I will be able to pay it off comfortably. I work 10 hours a week just to help out with groceries and gas money,” said Rea. The cost of college is another factor some students consider when selecting a college that is right for them.

“One of the reasons I chose Mankato is because it was one of the cheaper options. My parents went to a very expensive private school for college and still worry every day about all the money they still have yet to pay. I didn’t want that to be me. So I am working to pay off some of my loans while I’m in college,” Brady Weinberger, a freshman at MSU, said.

The Department of Theatre & Dance is seeking a

Class Room Accompanist Pay is $20/hr.

Seeking an accompanist for ballet classes.

All skilled musicians with improv skills are encouraged to apply.

Email: nicholas.wayne@mnsu.edu

Thursday, January 13, 2022

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4 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, January 13, 2022

COVID-19 cases renew US debate masks

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press

Officials across the U.S. are again weighing how and whether to impose mask mandates as COVID-19 infections soar and the American public grows ever wearier of pandemic-related restrictions.

Much of the debate centers around the nation’s schools, some of which have closed due to infection-related staffing issues. In a variety of places, mask mandates are being lifted or voted down.

The changes come as the federal government assesses the supply of medical-grade respirator face coverings, such as N95 or KN95 masks. During a briefing Wednesday, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said officials were “strongly considering options to make more high-quality masks available to all Americans,” noting the government has a stockpile of more than 750 million N95 masks.

The best mask “is the one that you will wear and the one you can keep on all day long, that you can tolerate in public indoor settings,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Monday, officials in Wy-

NOAH BERGER • Associated Press

Teachers protest for stronger COVID-19 safety protocols outside Oakland Unified School District headquarters on Jan. 7, 2022, in Oakland, Calif.

oming’s capital city voted to end a mask mandate for students and teachers that had been in place since September. The Cheyenne school district also reduced COVID-19 isolation requirements, voting to require that only people with symptoms

and positive tests — not just those exposed — need to stay home for five days and mask for five days thereafter.

The University of Missouri’s governing board on Tuesday rejected the university system president’s request to temporarily

require masks on the Columbia campus, as well as a mandate specific to classrooms and labs.

A school board meeting was canceled Monday in Wichita, Kansas, after three new members refused to wear masks for a swearing-in ceremony. Mean-

while in the Topeka area, elected officials rejected a plea to mandate masks, urging people to be cautious but saying they were not ready for a requirement.

Some jurisdictions are making the move on their own toward more stalwart masking policies, including requiring higher-grade mask materials.

Last week, the University of Arizona announced it would require a medical-grade mask in indoor spaces where social distancing is not possible. The school said on its website that it no longer considers cloth masks to be adequate, although a cloth mask can be worn over a medical-grade mask to improve fit and increase protection.

A new indoor mask mandate takes effect Wednesday in New Orleans ahead of the Mardi Gras season. Louisiana’s statewide coronavirus daily hospitalization numbers have increased sevenfold in three weeks — a spike that has strained hospitals, where emergency room waits are sometimes as long as 12 hours, according to the city’s health director, Dr. Jennifer Avegno.

Health officials in Omaha, Nebraska, announced a temporary mask mandate on Tuesday, but the state has threatened to sue if the rule is imposed as planned.

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Thursday, January 13, 2022

News

MSU Reporter • 5

Kids’ low COVID-19 vaccination rates called a ‘gut punch’

By LINDSEY TANNER Associated Press

Distrust, misinformation and delays because of the holidays and bad weather have combined to produce what authorities say are alarmingly low COVID-19 vaccination rates in U.S. children ages 5 to 11.

As of Tuesday, just over 17% were fully vaccinated, more than two months after shots became available to the age group.

While Vermont is at 48%, California is just shy of 19% and Mississippi is at only 5%.

Vaccinations among the elementary school set surged after the shots were introduced in the fall, but the numbers have crept up slowly since then, and omicron’s explosive spread appears to have had little effect.

The low rates are “very disturbing,’’ said Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director for the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “It’s just amazing.”

Parents who hesitate “are taking an enormous risk and continuing to fuel the pandemic,’’ Murphy said.

Hospitalizations of children under 18 with COVID-19 in

the U.S. have climbed to their highest levels on record in the past few weeks. Many have other conditions made worse by COVID-19, though many aren’t sick enough to require intensive care.

The low vaccination rates and rising hospitalizations are “a gut punch, especially when we’ve been working so hard to keep these kids well,’’ said Dr. Natasha Burgert, a pediatrician in Overland Park, Kansas.

The vaccines have proved highly safe and effective at reducing the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death.

Overall, 63% of Americans are fully vaccinated. Among children 12 to 17, the rate is 54%.

COVID-19 shots for young children have been authorized in at least 12 countries.

In Canada, where Pfizer shots were cleared for ages 5 to 11 in November, just 2% are fully vaccinated.

Snowstorms, tornadoes and other heavy weather in December are believed to have slowed the pace of vaccination in the U.S., along with the busy holiday season.

Also, some parents are distrustful because the vaccine is

JAE C. HONG • Associated Press

Elsa Estrada, 6, smiles at her mother as pharmacist Sylvia Uong applies an alcohol swab to her arm before administering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a pediatric vaccine clinic for children ages 5 to 11.

so new, and many have other concerns.

Chicago mother Kendra Shaw has resisted shots for her two school-age children, saying

she worries about possible risks and isn’t convinced the benefits are worth it.

But this week, her 10-yearold daughter pleaded to get

vaccinated so she wouldn’t miss school, and her soon-tobe 7-year-old son asked for his shots so he could have a big birthday party.

6 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, January 13, 2022

SPRING 2022 EDITOR IN CHIEF:

MAXWELL MAYLEBEN

maxwell.mayleben@mnsu.edu

Peterson: Why being COVID cautious matters

MADISON DIEMERT

madison.diemert@mnsu.edu

Opinion

By JENNA PETERSON Staff Writer

After a much needed winter break, students at Minnesota State University are getting started with classes again.

This semester more students and professors are ditching the old ways of Zoom and instead are utilizing the in-person class option to gain back some sense of normalcy.

While this may be great for class productivity, COVID-19 is still looming above our heads and we need to be prepared. The Omicron variant is believed to be the dominant variant of COVID-19 in Minnesota, with case numbers on the rise.

This variant is easier to spread around, and with large numbers of students returning to campus it’s likely that COVID-19 cases will shoot back up.

If the number of positive cases rise too high, we could easily be moved back to a completely online format again.

After dealing with online classes for almost two years, it’s doubtful that anyone wants to go back to that style of learning.

It creates a distance between classmates and professors, and makes it feel as if the time spent for the class isn’t as beneficial as it could be in-person.

With this, we as students need to be held to some responsibility to suppress the

NEWS DIRECTOR: Julia Barton julia.barton@mnsu.edu SPORTS EDITOR: Kole Buelow kole.buelow@mnsu.edu VARIETY EDITOR: Emma Johnson emma.johnson.5@mnsu.edu MEDIA/DESIGN DIRECTOR: Mansoor Ahmad mansoor.ahmad@mnsu.edu

DYLAN ENGEL • The Reporter

numbers of COVID-19 cases on campus to enjoy the college student activities we just earned back and enjoy the most. These activities include sporting events, club ventures, and, of course, graduation ceremonies.

The University already has a mask mandate implemented, meaning that anyone, regardless of vaccination status, must be properly wearing a face mask while inside campus buildings in order to help stop the spread of the virus.

This is a step in the right direction, but there’s more

that students and faculty alike can do to prevent COVID-19 from overtaking the campus.

If you are able to, getting vaccinated is the best way to keep yourself and others safe.

There are multiple locations in the Mankato area that offer the vaccine, as well as the booster shot, to those who wish to receive it.

If you aren’t able to travel far from campus, do not worry.

There will be a vaccine site set up in Carkoski Commons, where the old Dining Hall was once at, with shots available for everyone on Jan.

20 and 21. More information about the vaccine clinic can be found on the Student Health Services website.

If we as students want to continue striving for a normal college experience we need to put in the work for it.

Getting vaccinated, wearing a mask on campus, and getting tested when necessary will help keep the campus community safe and healthy.

In result, this will allow the college activities we really enjoy and love to continue happening.

“How are you protecting yourself from COVID-19?”

Compiled by Dylan Engel

ADAM LEIBKE, JUNIOR

ISIAH JAMES, FRESHMAN

JACI HEINIS, SENIOR

“Wear my mask when I’m close to someone, usually when I’m confined space.”

“Weekly tests that the school provides and keeping clean.”

“Limiting travel and using online shopping vs in person.”

ASM RIZWAN CHOWDHURY, SOPHOMORE

“Social distancing and managing my activites like staying home if I’m sick.”

ZOLIA DABET, FRESHMAN “Clean everything constantly, hangout with select people who are also vaccinated.”

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Thursday, January 13, 2022

News

US shoppers find some groceries scarce due to virus, weather

MSU Reporter • 7

When am I contagious if infected with omicron?

PETER HAMLIN • Associated Press

When am I most contagious if infected with omicron?

By MATTHEW PERRONE

Associated press

GENE J. PUSKAR • Associated Press

MA shopper walks past partially empty frozen food coolers at a grocery in Cranberry Township, Pa., on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022. Shortages at U.S. grocery stores have grown in recent weeks.

By DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press

Benjamin Whitely headed to a Safeway supermarket in Washington D.C. on Tuesday to grab some items for dinner.

But he was disappointed to find the vegetable bins barren and a sparse selection of turkey, chicken and milk.

“Seems like I missed out on everything,” Whitely, 67, said.

“I’m going to have to hunt around for stuff now.”

Shortages at U.S. grocery stores have grown more acute in recent weeks as new problems — like the fast-spreading omicron variant and severe weather — have piled on to the supply chain struggles and labor shortages that have plagued retailers since the coronavirus pandemic began.

The shortages are widespread, impacting produce and meat as well as packaged goods such as cereal.

And they’re being reported nationwide. U.S. groceries typically have 5% to 10% of their items out of stock at any given time; right now, that unavailability rate is hovering around 15%, according to Consumer Brands Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman.

Part of the scarcity consumers are seeing on store shelves is due to pandemic trends that never abated - and are exacerbated by omicron.

Americans are eating at home more than they used to, especially since offices and some schools remain closed.

The average U.S. household spent $144 per week at the grocery last year, according to FMI, a trade organization for groceries and food producers.

That was down from the peak of $161 in 2020, but still far above the $113.50 that households spent in 2019.

A deficit of truck drivers that started building before the pandemic also remains a problem.

The American Trucking Associations said in October that the U.S. was short an estimated 80,000 drivers, a historic high.

And shipping remains delayed, impacting everything from imported foods to packaging that is printed overseas.

Retailers and food producers have been adjusting to those realities since early 2020, when panic buying at the start of the pandemic sent the industry into a tailspin.

Many retailers are keeping more supplies of things like toilet paper on hand, for example, to avoid acute shortages.

“All of the players in the supply chain ecosystem have gotten to a point where they have that playbook and they’re able to navigate that baseline level of challenges,” said Jessica Dankert, vice president of supply chain at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, a trade group.

Generally, the system works; Dankert notes that bare shelves have been a rare phenomenon over the last 20 months.

It’s just that additional complications have stacked up on that baseline at the moment, she said.

As it has with staffing at hospitals, schools and offices, the omicron variant has taken a toll on food production lines.

Sean Connolly, the president and CEO of Conagra Brands, which makes Birds Eye frozen vegetables, Slim Jim meat snacks and other products, told investors last week that supplies from the company’s U.S. plants will be constrained for at least the next month due to omicron-related absences.

Worker illness is also impacting grocery stores. Stew Leonard Jr. is president and

CEO of Stew Leonard’s, a supermarket chain that operates stores in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

Last week, 8% of his workers - around 200 people - were either out sick or in quarantine.

Usually, the level of absenteeism is more like 2%.

One store bakery had so many people out sick that it dropped some of its usual items, like apple crumb cake.

Leonard says meat and produce suppliers have told him they are also dealing with omicron-related worker shortages.

Still, Leonard says he is generally getting shipments on time, and thinks the worst of the pandemic may already be over.

Weather-related events, from snowstorms in the Northeast to wildfires in Colorado, also have impacted product availability and caused some shoppers to stock up more than usual, exacerbating supply problems caused by the pandemic.

Lisa DeLima, a spokesperson for Mom’s Organic Market, an independent grocer with locations in the mid-Atlantic region, said the company’s stores did not have produce to stock last weekend because winter weather halted trucks trying to get from Pennsylvania to Washington.

That bottleneck has since been resolved, DeLima said. In her view, the intermittent dearth of certain items shoppers see now are nothing compared to the more chronic shortages at the beginning of the pandemic.

“People don’t need to panic buy,” she said. “There’s plenty of product to be had. It’s just taking a little longer to get from point A to point B.” Experts are divided on how long grocery shopping will sometimes feel like a scavenger hunt.

When am I contagious if infected with omicron?

It’s not yet clear, but some early data suggests people might become contagious sooner than with earlier variants — possibly within a day after infection.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people with the coronavirus are most infectious in the few days before and after symptoms develop.

But that window of time might happen earlier with omicron, according to some outside experts.

That’s because omicron appears to cause symptoms faster than previous variants – about three days after infection, on average, according to preliminary studies.

Based on previous data, that means people with omicron could start becoming contagious as soon as a day after infection.

With previous variants,

people became contagious two to four days after infection.

And people remain contagious a couple days after symptoms subside.

Researchers say it’s too early to know whether that shorter incubation period for omicron translates into earlier contagiousness.

But it would help explain the variant’s rapid spread.

Dr. Amy Karger of the University of Minnesota Medical School recommends that people test themselves at three days and five days after exposure if possible.

“A lot of people are turning positive by day three,” Karger says, referring to omicron.

“There’s basically an opportunity here to catch people earlier than you would with the other variants.”

If you only have one test, it’s fine to wait until day five, Karger says.

People who have COVID-19 symptoms should get tested immediately if possible.

Applications now being accepted for the 2022-2023 school year for the following position:

Reporter – Editor in Chief APPLICATION DEADLINE: Thursday, February 17th, 2022 at 12:00 p.m.

For more information or to pick up an application, stop in the Reporter Office (CSU 293) or call 389-1776.

8 • MSU Reporter

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Thursday, January 13, 2022

News

Families lay to rest 17 fire victims

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN

MSU Reporter • 9

Biden pays silent tribute as Reid lies in state at Capitol

Associated Press

Calls to prayer rang out from a Bronx mosque Wednesday as a bereaved community prepares to bury its dead — 17 souls — in the coming days and families seek closure from New York City’s most devastating fire in decades.

Among those who await funeral rites are a 2-year-old boy, a mother who perished with three of her children, and a family of five, as well as a husband and wife whose four children were now orphans.

“This community, these people have gone through so much,” said Sheikh Musa Drammeh, a spokesperson for a community with a deep Muslim faith. At least a dozen victims worshipped at the Masjid-Ur-Rahmah mosque, just blocks from Sunday’s devastation.

“Now they are mourning, but they are very understanding that if it happened, it had to happen,” he said. “And they have no right to question why it happened.”

Community leaders were expected to huddle Wednesday afternoon to plan out funeral arrangements and decide if any of the dead will be repatriated.

The vast majority of those who died in the fire at a Bronx apartment complex had ties to Gambia, Africa’s tiniest country.

“The most important thing is really giving each other support. We are all members of the same community, so we are like family,” said Haji Dukuray, whose niece, Haja, died in the fire with her husband and their three children — Fatoumata, 5,

MARY ALTAFFER • Assocated Press

Members of the Masjid Ar Rahman pray, in the Bronx borough of New York, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. The Mosque is a place of worship for some of the residents who suffered the deadly fire.

Mariam, 11, and Mustafa, 12.

Mustafa had just celebrated his birthday, the night before the fire.

“Such beautiful angelic eyes,” neighbor Renee Howard, 68, had said about Mustafa earlier in the week.

The medical examiner’s office said all the victims suffocated from the thick smoke that poured out of a third-floor apartment, where officials say a malfunctioning electrical space heater sparked the deadly fire.

The fire itself didn’t spread far, but it produced plumes of thick black smoke that streamed into the hallway before filling the stairwell.

People ran down the darkened steps, some from the top floor of the 19-story building.

Many escaped, but others collapsed and perished on their way down.

A list of names of the deceased from New York City

police included eight children.

The dead ranged in age from 2-year-old Ousmane Konteh to 50-year-old Fatoumata Drammeh, who died along with three of her children — Foutmala, 21, Nyumaaisha, 19, and Muhammed, 12.

Ishak Drammeh arrived at the mosque Wednesday to join in prayers, and make funeral arrangement for his wife and three children, who he plans to lay to rest in the United States.

Drammeh was drained, but calm as he spoke outside the mosque.

“I try to deal with it,” he said. “I try to take it from God. Every time I think of them, I pray for them.”

He was thankful that another daughter survived and hopes his son Yacub, 16, will soon be released from the hospital.

He was away for work in Columbus, Ohio, when a cousin informed him of the fire.

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ALEX BRANDON • Associated Press

The flag-draped casket of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, lies in state in the Rotunda of the U.S Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022, in Washington.

By LISA MASCARO Associated Press

The late Harry Reid was remembered Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol as a “legendary leader,” a hardscrabble Democrat who rose from poverty in a dusty Nevada mining town to deliver landmark legislation from the Senate’s most powerful position.

President Joe Biden, who has called Reid a “great American,” paid silent tribute, stopping by briefly as Reid lay in state at the Capitol Rotunda.

Biden made the sign of the cross and let his hand linger for a moment on the flag-draped casket. Reid’s family and colleagues joined for an earlier ceremony that was almost as succinct as the senator’s own dry-humored style of hanging

up the phone rather than engaging in lengthy goodbyes.

He was recalled as one of the Senate’s more memorable, leaders and a soft-spoken “force of thunder.” Reid, who had pancreatic cancer, died last month at age 82.

“Harry Reid made the world a better place,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

“To see him lead and legislate was to see a master at work,” said Pelosi, who worked side by side with him when they were the top two Democrats in Congress. She called Reid “a legendary leader of great integrity.”

Reid served longer in Congress than anyone from his state and was Senate majority leader alongside two presidents.

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Thursday, January 13, 2022

Men’s hockey travels to Marquette

The Minnesota State men’s basketball team and wrestling teams will not be in action at home this week due to COVID-19 related protocols.

By KOLE BUELOW Sports Editor

The No. 1 Minnesota State men’s hockey team had an impressive winter break from classes on campus, winning six of six games over that span. The streak of wins does not only include those wins however, as it also extends into the month of Nov. where the team defeated Lake Superior State on Nov. 27.

The Mavericks have collected nine wins in their current streak, winning every game in the month of Dec. Most notably, the team took both games in a series against previously ranked No. 6 Minnesota Duluth shortly after Christmas, and they are now on their way to extending that streak against Northern Michigan this weekend.

The two teams previously met this season on the Mavs’ home ice, where MSU took care of business against the Wildcats. The Mavericks won both games of the series, 4-2 and 7-0, and will look to continue their dominance over the Wildcats in Marquette this weekend.

Junior forward Brendan Furry had himself a weekend last time the two teams met, totalling three goals and three assists in the series. Senior goaltender Dryden McKay also collected a shutout in game two of that series, and will surely look to add another to his total this weekend.

Minnesota State still sits atop the CCHA standings going into the weekend, leading the field with 41 points on a 14-2-0 re-

Women’s hoops back home

By KOLE BUELOW Sports Editor

MANSOOR AHMAD • The Reporter

Nathan Smith (8) leads all NCAA Division I hockey players in points up to this point in the season. The Mavericks and Smith travel north to Marquette, Mich. to face Northern Michigan this weekend.

cord. Northern Michigan sits far behind the top ranked Mavs at sixth in the CCHA with a conference record of 6-7-1, totaling out at 18 points.

“We really want to get off to a good start in their building…

Our discipline and our start are going to be two things we want to focus on” said coach Hastings on what the team needs to do to be successful on Northern Michigan’s ice this weekend.

It is impossible to reach the top-ranked Mavs in a lone series

sweep due to their massive lead in the CCHA standings, but the Wildcats can surely gain some ground on Lake Superior State and Michigan Tech if they come out on top this weekend. It is not looking probable for Northern Michigan, however, who have only won two of the last 12 meetings between the two teams since 2017.

Junior forward Nathan Smith remains the team leader in points for the Mavericks, doing so behind a team lead-

ing tie at goals with 13 to go along with his 20 assists. It is going to be hard for anyone to catch up to Smith for the team lead in points, as he leads all of NCAA Division I men’s hockey in points up to this point in the season.

On the other hand, Northern Michigan has an impressive duo of their own who sit inside the top ten in points. Junior forwards Hank Crone and AJ Vanderbeck both sit at No. 2 and BATTLE on page 13

Frank, women’s hockey to face No. 4-ranked Golden Gophers

By KOLE BUELOW Sports Editor

It has been nearly a month since the last time the Minnesota State women’s hockey team has competed in a collegiate hockey game, and with their home and home series coming up against Minnesota this weekend, that streak of no games will come to an end. The team’s last series dates back to Dec. 17 and 18 of 2021, where the Mavs split the series against Bemidji State.

The Beavers got the most of the Mavericks in game one, defeating the team 2-3 despite being down one goal entering the third period. BSU scored on the powerplay with 7:58 remaining in the third period and the Mavs could not respond before time expired.

Game two was taken by Minnesota State, where the team was able to get it done in overtime. The two teams fin-

SCHEDULE U P DAT E

ished off regulation tied at one thanks to a game-tying goal by Mavericks’ freshman forward Madison Mashuga with 7:27 remaining.

The two teams were not able to decide the game in overtime, and therefore, took the game into a shootout. The Beavers and Mavericks struggled to find the back of the net in the shootout, but MSU’s sophomore forward Sydney Langseth got the scoring done right away as she buried the one and only goal to go home victorious.

The game counts as a tie in official team records but the Mavericks gain an extra point for an overtime win in the WCHA standings. The Mavs then were scheduled to play out-of-conference opponent Syracuse in the new year, but those games were cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within the Syracuse program.

With the cancellation, the

MANSOOR AHMAD • The Reporter

Calla Frank (77) was named the National Women’s Hockey Co-Goaltender of the Month during the month of Dec. while having a .959 save percentage in six games played.

Mavericks now move on to play No. 4 Minnesota in a home and home series this weekend.

Minnesota State comes into the series with an overall record of

9-10-1 and a WCHA record of 5-10-1.

The Gophers come into the matchup as one of the best PUCK on page 14 

After starting their season off with an 11-0 start, the Minnesota State women’s basketball team has dropped their past three games.

The losses came from three NSIC opponents in Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State.

Next up on the slate of games for the Mavericks include Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston, two teams who fall on completely opposite sides of the NSIC standings.

Bemidji State currently sits fifth in the NSIC with an overall record of 8-5 and a conference record of 6-3.

Although the Beavers find themselves below the current third place team, Minnesota State, the team brings a threegame winning streak into the contest while the Mavericks are on a three game skid. BSU has beaten Minot State, Minnesota Crookston, and Winona State in that stretch, winning by double digits in each of those games.

MSU has done historically well against Bemidji State, winning 11 of their last 12 meetings. In those meetings the Mavericks have taken care of the Beavers handedly, despite their most recent contest being a 76-82 loss.

The Beavers current scoring leader is sophomore forward Rachael Heittola, who averages 16.4 points per game and 7.3 rebounds.

The following day the Mavs play Minnesota Crookston, who currently sit last in the NSIC standings with zero conference wins. The team is HOOPS on page 15 

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Sports

Mavs dance team onto nationals

By JENNA PETERSON

MSU Reporter • 13

Georgia snaps 41-year title drought with win over ‘Bama

Staff Writer

After two years, the Minnesota State University, Mankato dance team will be returning to Orlando, Florida for the College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship.

The team hasn’t been able to compete since January 2020, and is looking forward to showing off the hard work they have put in over the past two years.

In the past, the team has won four national championships in both the poms and jazz categories, and this year they’re looking to extend those numbers in similar categories.

This year the dance team will be competing in poms, jazz and game day, which is new for the team.

“Game day category is us showing our school spirit,” said fifth-year captain Paige Paquette. “We start off by showing our fight song and then we go into a little spirit thing and then go into a chant.

The judges will announce something and then we’ll have to call a chant according to what they announce.”

“After that we will go into a sideline and then we do a game-day routine and pom routine, showing just a little extra skills.”

Added junior team captain Karyley Odella, “Our game day routine is kind of everything we do during our game day season for football.”

Preparing for nationals begins before the school year starts, with the team participating in the Universal Dance Association camp in the summer.

“We have UDA camp, which we attend in the beginning of August, and after that camp we have a full two weeks of practicing every day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. In that time you really get to bond with the team, working on our skills and techniques, and getting us ready for the season,” Odella stated.

Junior team captain Reese Schwarzentraub discussed what the team’s practice schedule looks like once the school year begins.

BATTLE from page 12 No. 6 with 32 and 28 points respectively.

The two play much differently on paper, where Crone finds most of his points off assists, while Vanderbeck totals more points getting the puck in the back of the net. The two will definitely cause havoc for the Mavericks this weekend, and it could be a chance for us to see a change in the total points standings for skaters.

In net, the Mavs continuously rely on McKay to take care of business. McKay has started and played in 23 games this season, supporting a 20-3-0 record for the Mavericks. 

Courtesy photo

After a two-year absence from the College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championships, the Minnesota State dance team looks forward to competing in Orlando, Florida.

“We usually meet two times a week on Mondays and Wednesdays 6 to 9 a.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

We also do gymnastics, usually every other week, sometimes every week, where we can work on those acrobatic skills,” Schwarzentraub commented.

“We then start to work on football game day stuff. Usually on football game days we are out on the field with the cheer team as a spirit squad. We do the tunnel with the football team and then we do sideline routines, and we will usually do a halftime routine as well.”

Once the first semester has wrapped up and everyone is finished with classes for the next month, the dance team goes back to everyday practices in order to prepare for nationals.

“Once winter break hits we have practice every day. On Mondays and Wednesdays we do two a days where we are literally just drilling our routines constantly for either four hours a day or six hours a day,” Paquette stated.

Returning to Florida for the nationals competition is something the dancers have been looking forward to since their last appearance.

“I am personally looking forward to just being back at UDA. Competing my freshman year and then not being able to compete my sophomore year because of COVID was, I

think, really hard on all of us,” Schwarzentraub stated. “I’m really excited to be back and for the rest of the team to experience our time in Orlando and just really bond as a team. I’m excited to show everyone what we’ve got.”

In addition to this, Odella commented, “My freshman year was my first year competing at nationals and it was the most unreal experience I’ve ever experienced. I’m just ready for that again, especially since we have been practicing for the past year and a half with no performances and now we finally get to perform. I think I’m most excited to put out our routines that we worked so hard on and for all of us on the team to experience that together.”

In recent weeks, Paquette has suffered an ACL injury, resulting in her not being able to perform this year at nationals.

Despite this setback, she is still ready to cheer on her teammates and watch the girls give their performance their all.

This injury is one of many the team has gone through this year, along with other challenges as well.

Odella explained some other setbacks the team has experienced this season.

“I think one of our biggest challenges this year has been the unknown that we kind of had to go through. With Paige DANCE on page 15 

The MSU goaltender has been impressive between the pipes once again this season, currently holding a .935 save percentage to go along with eight shutouts. McKay’s eight shutouts is tied for first in NCAA Division I hockey with Northeastern goaltender Devon Levi.

In recent news, MSU head coach Mike Hastings recently got named to the USA hockey coaching staff for the 2022 winter olympics in Beijing.

Hastings will be joining fellow collegiate head coach, Brett Larson, as an assistant coach for the Olympics alongside others.

Hastings noted in a press conference on Wed., “They were very supportive and happy for myself to have the opportunity to represent our country.” when asked about how the locker room handled his USA hockey announcement.

Hastings gets the opportunity to coach under New York Rangers head coach David Quinn in the hopes of bringing home a medal for team USA in Feb. Hastings has appeared as a coach for the United States before, as he most recently served as the head coach of the 2019 World Junior team in which the team went home silver medalists.

DARRON CUMMINGS • Associated Press

Georgia’s Stetson Bennett celebrates after the College Football Playoff championship football game against Alabama Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, in Indianapolis. Georgia won 33-18.

By RALPH RUSSO Associated Press

Confetti rained down on Georgia. The Bulldogs fans chanted “Kir-by, Kir-by!”

Four decades of pentup emotion were unleashed Monday night as the Bulldogs snapped a frustrating national championship drought by vanquishing their nemesis.

Stetson Bennett delivered the biggest throws of his storybook career and Georgia’s defense sealed the sweetest victory in program history, beating Alabama 33-18 in the College Football Playoff for its first title in 41 years.

“I’ve never been around a group of players that really wanted it so bad and wouldn’t

be denied,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “I told the guys in the locker room, just take a picture of this.”

Smart, a Bulldogs defensive back in the mid-1990s, returned to his alma mater in 2016 after helping Nick Saban build a dynasty as an assistant at Alabama.

Georgia has become an elite program under Smart, but has not been able to chase down its Southeastern Conference rival.

Until now.

“This was for all the glory, we took it,” defensive tackle Jordan Davis said.

And they did it the way Alabama has broken their hearts so many times in recent years: Coming from behind and finishing with a flourish.

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14 • MSU Reporter

Sports

North Dakota State wins FCS title over Montana State

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Olympians fear manmade snow

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press

MICHAEL AINSWORTH • Associated Press

North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz holds up the championship trophy as he celebrates with linebacker Jasir Cox (3) after the FCS Championship.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS NDSU began practice more than a year ago for an unprecedented spring season that ended without a championship.

Things felt much more normal for the Bison this time.

Hunter Luepke ran for three touchdowns in the first half, plowing over a defender going into the end zone on the first one, and NDSU won its ninth FCS national title in 11 seasons with a 38-10 win over Montana State on Saturday.

“Everything went our way,” Luepke said. “Everything we drew up happened.”

The Bison (14-1), who also got a 76-yard TD run from Kobe Johnson, have never lost when making the trip from Fargo to Frisco for the final Football Championship Subdivision game.

They are 9-0 since the 2011 season at the MLS soccer stadium north of downtown Dallas.

The Bobcats (12-3) struggled after losing standout freshman quarterback Tommy Mellott to an ankle injury on the game’s opening drive.

“It definitely changed us,” said first-year Bobcats coach Brent Vigen, a former NDSU player and longtime assistant

coach.

Luepke, a 236-pound junior fullback who finished with 82 yards rushing, took a direct snap for a 6-yard TD just before halftime that put NDSU up 28-0. He also had an 11-yard TD after that powerful 8-yard scoring run on the first Bison drive.

“It’s a tone setter,” Bison coach Matt Entz said. “I know it’s an intangible and you can’t measure it, but we want to lead the country in physicality.

And when you have a back like that, it sure helps.”

This championship game came less than eight months after Sam Houston State, after a playoff win over NDSU, beat SDSU for the title last May in a season pushed back to the spring because of the pandemic.

Montana State was in its first title game since 1984, when they won the championship then referred to as NCAA Division I-AA. The eighth-seeded Bobcats won each of their first three playoff games by at least two touchdowns after Mellott took over as the starter, including victories over Sam Houston and South Dakota State.

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A British skier crashes through wooden fencing on a downhill corner and slams into a pole, breaking his leg. An American hits an icy patch at the bottom of a hill and crashes into a fence, breaking one ski and twisting the other, also breaking his leg.

Another American, training before a biathlon race, slides out on an icy corner and flies off the trail into a tree, breaking ribs and a shoulder blade and punctures a lung.

These were not scenes from high speed Alpine or ski cross events. They happened on cross country ski and biathlon tracks made with artificial snow.

Many top athletes say crashes like these are becoming more common as climate change reduces the availability of natural snow, forcing racers to compete on tracks with the manmade version. Olympic and World Cup race organizers have come to rely on snow-making equipment to create a ribbon of white through the hills since natural snowfall is less reliable.

Johanna Taliharm, an Estonian Olympic biathlete, said racing on manmade snow comes with risks.

“Artificial snow is icier, therefore faster and more dangerous,” she said. “It also hurts more if you fall outside of the course when there is no fluffy snowbank, but a rocky and muddy hard ground.”

“It can be really rock hard

out there and falling can feel like falling on concrete, and so it does make it a little bit more dangerous than if it was natural snow conditions,” said Chris Grover, head cross country coach for the U.S. Ski Team.

Some venues even make snow and then store it under wood chips through the summer and spread it around a track when it gets cold.

PUCK from page 12 teams in NCAA Division I women’s hockey, supporting a 16-5-1 overall record. The team is also 11-4-1 in WCHA play, only losing to top ranked teams in Ohio State and Minnesota Duluth.

The two teams played earlier in the season, with Minnesota taking both of the games handedly. The first game of the series was much closer than the

next, with the Gophers taking both games by scores of 3-0 and 6-2.

Minnesota State remains led by senior forward Brittyn Fleming, who leads the team in points with 24, and assists with 17. Junior forward Kelsey King is the leading goal scorer for the Mavs at 10 and is the only Maverick to reach the double digit goals mark this season.

Junior goaltender Calla

Frank proves to be an important piece in finding wins for the Mavericks, as she supports a team-leading .908 save percentage through 18 games. Frank was also named the National Women’s Hockey Co-Goaltender of the Month during the month of Dec. thanks to a 4-11 record, .959 save percentage, and 0.99 goals-against average in six games played.



MATTHIAS SCHRADER • Associated Press

Russia’s Alexander Terentev, right, and Czech Republic’s Michal Novak, left, crash during a men’s cross country sprint quarter final race at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.

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Thursday, January 13, 2022

Sports

MSU Reporter • 15

USA hockey eager to take on rival Canadians

By JOHN WAWROW Associated Press

Forward Brianna Decker was unable to contain her enthusiasm in being selected to represent the U.S. in hockey for a third Olympics. She then bluntly declared the team’s one and only objective heading to the Beijing Games next month.

“Our business isn’t finished until we come back with a gold medal,” Decker said.

Though she didn’t have to say it, Canada — who else? — is standing in their way.

“I don’t know if it’s unfinished business, we’ve got business,” Canada coach Troy Ryan said when informed of Decker’s comments. “We’re going there as business as usual and we’re trying to win the gold.”

One of sports’ fiercest rivalries is set to resume when the 10-nation tournament opens on Feb. 3.

The United States is the defending Olympic champion after beating Canada in a nail-biting 3-2 shootout win in South Korea in 2018 to end Canada’s run of four Olympic titles.

And yet, Canada is the reigning world champion after punching back with a 3-2 overtime win in August to end USA’s run of five consecutive titles.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve lost to them,” Decker said. “It’s really a sad thing, but you know, sometimes you’ve got to lose to get a little bit more out of your team and out of yourself.”

“To be honest,” countered Canada’s captain Marie-Philip Poulin, “it’s going to be fun.”

It was no surprise to any-

FRANK FRANKLIN II • Associated Press

United States players celebrate after winning the women’s gold medal hockey game against Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Feb. 22, 2018.

one when the pushing, shoving and cross-checking resumed almost immediately at Allentown, Pennsylvania, in October in their first meeting after the world championships.

“Yeah, and you know what the best part is? We have them eight more times,” American forward Kendall Coyne Schofield said with a laugh, referring to what was supposed to be a nine-game Rivalry Series. It was cut to six games after the Canadians experienced a COVID-19 breakout.

Canada finished the shortened series going 4-1-1 against

HOOPS from page 12 1-14 overall this season, with their one win coming against Chaminade University on Nov. 24.

History has also been kind to the Mavericks against the Golden Eagles, with the team winning 20 of the 27 total contests between the two teams since 1995. The Mavs are currently on a five-game winning streak against the Golden Eagles and will look to make that streak six with a win on Sat. Minnesota Crookston follows closely behind their senior guard Kylie Post and freshman forward Abi Fraaza. The two each average 10.3 and 10.2 points per game as well as 4.1 and 5.4 rebounds per game respectively.

Both players shoot very well from the field. Post has maintained a 51.1 percent shooting percentage from the field this season while Fraaza shoots 47 percent.

The Mavericks are led by sophomore guard Joey Batt, who averages 17 points per game on 42.7 percent shooting. Batt continues to also be great from the free throw line, shooting above 80 percent along with three other teammates.

Freshman guard Destinee Bursch continues to be great off the bench for the Mavericks, as she is the team’s second leading scorer despite only starting two games this season.

Bursch averages 10.9 points per game in her role.

DANCE from page 13 tearing her ACL, we have to rework formations and everything. I think that was one of our biggest challenges as a team,” Odella stated.

“I also think that all of the practices we have gone through were mentally challenging. It’s a lot to practice that much together every single day, so it’s

just as mentally challenging as physically.”

The dance team will be performing in the game day category at 12:45 p.m. Friday, the poms category at 4:05 p.m. and the jazz category at 8:32 p.m. on Saturday, EST. Anyone is welcome to watch the livestream on VarsityTV.





the Americans, with four games decided by one goal, and three in overtime.

Encouraging as the results were, they meant little to Ryan, who noted: “If you look at the history of these events and the results at the Olympics, there’s no positive correlation often.”

At first glance, Canada appears to have the advantage with speed and experience, playing an up-tempo, transition attack Ryan introduced upon taking over in August 2019. His system places an emphasis on play-making defenders turning up ice and finding open play-

ers in the neutral zone to set up odd-man breaks.

The U.S. relies more on a puck-control offensive style to set up in-close chances from Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter, who returns after being left off the 2018 roster.

Barring what would be considered a major upset, the rest of the field continues playing catchup at the women’s level, with Finland, Switzerland, Russia and potentially the up-andcoming Czech Republic vying for bronze.

The Finns beat Switzerland to win bronze at the world

championships. At the 2019 world championships on home soil, Finland upset Canada in the semifinals and came a disallowed goal in overtime away from beating the Americans before settling for the silver.

“If we play 10 games in a row, we’re not going to be the winning candidate in all of them,” Finland GM Tuula Puputti said. “But then we showed two years ago, when the right game comes in the right moment it can happen. So I think it was really a confidence booster.”

The U.S. and Canada have met in the final of 19 of 20 world championships, with Canada winning 11 titles to America’s eight. Twelve gold-medal games have been decided by one goal, with nine in overtime or shootouts.

The two nations have met in the final of five of six Olympic tournaments, with the exception of the 2006 Torino Games, when Canada defeated Sweden, and the U.S. won bronze.

Denmark and the Czech Republic will make their first Winter Games’ appearances after winning qualifying tournaments in November. The Czechs, who went 3-0, are considered strong contenders with a youth-laden roster that includes six players currently at U.S. colleges.

Sweden is making its sixth Olympic appearance. It defeated France 1-0 to clinch its pool after facing relegation following a ninth-place finish at the 2019 world championships.

An ankle injury that sidelined Swiss star forward Alina Muller at the world championships in August could be the boost the team needed.

CORRECTION: Apologies - The Reporter regrets having the wrong expiration date on the River Ridge Chiropractic ad on page 14 of the 2021-2022 Gold Mine couon book. The correct expiration date is July 31, 2022.

The coupon is still valid, and will be accepted.

507-387-7463

320 Stadium Road Suite 300, Mankato

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(next to Jake’s Pizza) DR. ANTHONY MOLDAN

16 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, January 13, 2022

How to beat those winter blues in Mankato

By EMMA JOHNSON Variety Editor

With the freezing cold, chilling winds and piles of snow, it can be hard to find the fun in the midst of winter.

While it may be tempting to stay inside, there are a multitude of activities to participate in; some only being available a few months out of the year.

Instead of sitting on your couch and binging the latest series, bundle up and explore what Mankato has to offer.

First, it’s a must stop to go to Mount Kato to hit the slopes.

With multiple trails ranging in difficulty, this is the place to bring your skis and snowboard.

If you have zero experience, lessons are available to make you a pro in no time.

Stop by the tubing park for more relaxed fun, especially on Glow Nights where the lanes are lit up.

If you are looking for a cheaper option for sliding down the snow, the answer is easy!

Find a big hill, pick up a cheap sled from Target or Walmart, and go for a ride. While you might not have a handy chairlift to bring you back up the hill, the ride down is always worth the walk up.

Courtesy photo

Mount Kato is sure to bring an afternoon of fun on the slopes. Bundle up and get ready for thrills.

If you still want to get out and enjoy nature without the adrenaline rush, stop by Minneopa State Park.

Both beautiful in the summer and winter, walk by the waterfalls for memorable photo ops.

Make sure to be careful when walking around the park as most of the paths are not cleared of snow and ice.

On the other side of the park there is a bison path for visitors to drive by. The buffalo are much easier to spot this time of

year as they contrast with the mounds of snow.

Enjoy watching them roam from the safety and comfort of your warm car.

If the weather cooperates and you can’t get enough of hiking, bring snowshoes or cross country skis to one of the surrounding parks or nature areas.

Rasmussen Woods and 7-mile Creek County Park have a mixture of flat land and hills, making for quite an adventure.

If you’re looking for a

date night idea or want to get off-campus with your friends, go ice-skating at one of the outdoor rinks, such as the ones in Dotson and Alexander Park.

If the temperatures are below freezing, All Seasons Arena is an indoor rink with slightly warmer temperatures.

Bring your own skates or rent a pair from the rink for only a few dollars.

Ending the night with a cup of hot cocoa is the idea of a perfect date.

While summer is the time to get out and enjoy the warm weather and all that nature has to offer, take the time in the winter to go out and shop.

With plenty of boutiques, gift shops, and book stores in Mankato to visit, everyone is guaranteed to find something.

Both downtown and Old Town have shops to entertain everyone If the cold doesn’t appear to you but you want to get out of the house, stop by one of the many coffee shops in town.

All offer warm, unique drinks that are pleasant to sip. Grab a pastry and curl up in a big chair while watching the snowfall.

Even though the cold is raging outside, get out and have some fun. It’ll make you appreciate the summer a lot more.

THE CARICATURE CRAZE

Students lined up to get their caricatures drawn on the first floor of the Centennial Student Union Wednesday afternoon.

There are many activities being held on campus as part of the first week festivities to welcome students back to campus.

Photo by EMILY LANSMAN • Staff Photographer

Students welcomed to Winter Wonder Week

By SYDNEY BERGGREN Staff Writer

Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Residential Life welcomes back its students with a variety of activities that run through Tuesday for its annual Winter Wonder Week.

From A Night at the Sports Dome to Maverick Skate Night at Blakeslee Stadium, Residential Life has coordinated an event for everyone to enjoy.

The headline event running throughout all of Winter Welcome Week is the virtual scavenger hunt, the SNOlympics.

This event, orchestrated through the GooseChase app, encourages students to visit and engage with different offices and services around campus through various challenges the hunters must complete.

This event, which started this past Monday, ends 4 p.m. today. Students can complete different challenges all over campus, such as taking pictures with different campus landmarks or getting a secret password from the worker at the front desk of different campus offices.

Each challenge is awarded a different amount of points to go toward the prizes. Winners will be announced at Hybrid Bingo tonight.

Other challenge locations include the Student Events Team office, Student Health Services, MAVPASS and more. Prizes include items such as a $100 Kwik Trip gift card and $45 in gift cards from Walmart, Target, and Barnes and Noble.

To play, students only need to download the free GooseChase app, enter the game code of “91K947” and start completing challenges.

The rest of Winter Welcome Wonder Week features various opportunities for students to explore campus.

A Great Time for Change is a grab-and-go activity in the Women’s Center on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. where students can decorate a piggy bank and WINTER on page 19

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Variety

MSU Reporter • 17

Will Smith, Lady Gaga score SAG nominations

By JAKE COYLE Associated Press

The Oscar race may be missing in-person glitz this year, but it doesn’t lack for star power.

Will Smith, Lady Gaga and Ben Affleck landed individual nominations for the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards on Wednesday, while the casts of “Belfast” and “CODA” were among those nominated for the guild’s top award, best ensemble.

The nominees were announced Wednesday by actors Vanessa Hudgens and Rosario Dawson on Instagram Live.

While the nominations were conducted virtually due to the surge in COVID-19 cases, the streamed announcement still represented one of the most meaningful mornings in an awards season largely snuffed out by the pandemic.

Joining Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical “Belfast” and the coming-of-age drama “CODA” for best ensemble were the casts for Ridley Scott’s true-tale, high-camp “House of Gucci,” Adam McKay’s apocalypse comedy “Don’t Look Up” and the family tennis drama “King Richard.” Notably left out were the casts of Steven Spielberg’s lavish “West Side Story” revival (which landed a supporting nod for Ariana DeBose) and Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog.” Campion’s gothic drama, though, landed individual SAG noms for Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

The SAG Awards have more of the awards season spotlight this year since the Golden Globes — usually the kickoff party to final Oscar stretch — made barely a peep. The Globes were unceremoniously announced Sunday on Twitter

CHRIS PIZZELLO • Associated Press

Finished solid bronze Actor statuettes are displayed during the 25th Annual Casting of the Screen Actors Guild Awards at American Fine Arts Foundry. The 2022 SAG Awards are scheduled to take place on Feb. 27.

in a private ceremony due to Hollywood’s boycott of the beleaguered Hollywood Foreign Press Association over diversity and ethical issues. The omicron surge also prompted the Critics Choice Awards to postpone its January 9 in-person gala. For the second straight year, Oscar season has gone virtual — and struggled to make much noise.

But the SAG nominations suggest that plenty of famous faces are in the hunt this year.

Along with Will Smith (“King Richard”) and Cumberbatch, the nominees for best male lead actor are: Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”), Andrew Garfield (“Tick, Tick ... Boom!”) and Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”).

Up for best female lead are: Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci”), Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) and Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”).

Joining Dunst and DeBose in the best female supporting category are Caitriona Balfe (“Belfast”), Cate Blanchett (“Nightmare Alley”) and Ruth Negga (“Passing”). The best male supporting nominees are: Affleck (“The Tender Bar”), Bradley Cooper (“Licorice Pizza”), Troy Kotsur (“CODA”), Jared Leto (“House of Gucci”) and SmitMcPhee.

Kotsur is the first deaf actor to land an individual SAG nom-

ination.

The SAG Awards, presented by the actors guild SAG-AFTRA, are among the most reliable Oscar bellwethers. Seldom does a movie or performance not nominated by the screen actors end up winning at the Academy Awards. Actors make up the biggest percentage of the film academy, so their choices have the largest sway.

But last year, SAG and the academy diverged more than usual. Only one of its acting winners — Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) — repeated at the Oscars.

(The other SAG winners were Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and Yuh-Jung Youn

in “Minari.”) The Aaron Sorkin courtroom drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7” won best ensemble at a virtual SAG Awards while Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” — which included many nonprofessional actors and went unnominated for SAG’s ensemble award — triumphed at the Oscars.

That history will give hope to supporters of Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”), maybe the most notable performer overlooked Wednesday. Others that missed out include Peter Dinklage (“Cyrano”), Ciarán Hinds (“Belfast”) and Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”).

While some have rooted for some of the year’s most popular blockbusters to give the flagging Oscars a populist jolt, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Dune” and “No Time To Die” received no major nominations from the actors guild. “Dune” and “No Time to Die” did, though, join “Black Widow,” “The Matrix Resurrections” and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” in the stunt ensemble category.

Yet possibly the most popular TV series of 2021 did haul in plenty of recognition. Netflix’s much-watched “Squid Game” was nominated for four SAG awards including best drama series. The television nominations were also led by HBO’s “Succession” (four nods including best drama series and best actor for Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox); “Ted Lasso” (five nods including best comedy series); and “The Morning Show” (four nods including best drama series).

The 28th annual SAG Awards are to be held Feb. 27 and will be broadcast on TNT and TBS. The Oscars are scheduled for March 27.

Giuffre’s Prince Andrew suit goes ahead despite Epstein deal

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

A judge has — for now — refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Britain’s Prince Andrew by an American woman who says he sexually abused her when she was 17.

Stressing Wednesday that he wasn’t ruling on the truth of the allegations, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan rejected an argument by Andrew’s lawyers that Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit should be thrown out at an early stage because of an old legal settlement she had with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier she claims set up sexual encounters with the prince.

Kaplan said the $500,000 settlement between Epstein and Giuffre didn’t involve the prince and didn’t bar a suit against him now.

Giuffre sued the 61-year-old Andrew in August, saying she was coerced into sexual encounters with him in 2001 by Epstein

and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell. Giuffre said she was sexually abused by Andrew at Maxwell’s London home, at Epstein’s New York mansion and his estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Andrew’s lawyers had said the lawsuit lacked specificity and was disqualified by the deal she reached in 2009 with lawyers for Epstein. They also attacked Giuffre’s credibility and motives, saying in October that the lawsuit was aimed at achieving “another payday at his expense and at the expense of those closest to him.”

“It alleges discrete incidents of sexual abuse in particular circumstances at three identifiable locations. It identifies to whom it attributes that sexual abuse,” he wrote.

The judge included in his ruling facts alleged by Giuffre, including that Epstein and Maxwell were guests at the prince’s 40th birthday party in 2000 and that Andrew invited

NEIL HALL • Associated Press

Prince Andrew will face a civil sex case trial after a US judge dismissed a motion by his legal team to have the lawsuit thrown out, it was reported on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022.

Epstein to his daughter’s 18th birthday party in 2006, a month after Florida state prosecutors charged Epstein with procuring a minor for prostitution.

The prince’s lawyers have said that Andrew never sexual-

ly abused or assaulted Giuffre and that he “unequivocally denies Giuffre’s false allegations against him.”

The prince himself has strenuously denied Giuffre’s allegations. In late 2019, Prince

Andrew told BBC Newsnight that sex with Giuffre “didn’t happen” and he has “no recollection” of ever meeting her. His statements led critics to say he seemed insensitive to Epstein’s victims. Afterward, the prince stepped back from royal duties.

His lawyers did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Wednesday.

Buckingham Palace told The Associated Press that it would not comment on the “ongoing legal matter.”

Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for Giuffre, said in a statement that Kaplan’s ruling “is another important step in Virginia’s heroic and determined pursuit of justice as a survivor of sex trafficking.”

While Andrew denies the allegations, Buckingham Palace will want him to settle the case so Queen Elizabeth II can move on without more sordid headlines that weaken the monarchy and taint every member of the royal family.

18 • MSU Reporter

Variety

Grand Ole Opry under fire due to Morgan Wallen

EVAN AGOSTINI • Associated Press

The Grand Ole Opry, country music’s most historic and storied stage, is getting heavy criticism for an appearance by the country star. Wallen was caught on camera last year saying a racial slur.

By KRISTIN HALL Associated Press

Morgan Wallen stepped on country music’s most historic and storied stage over the weekend, a sign that many interpreted as the Grand Ole Opry giving the troubled star its blessing and a path to reconciliation after he used a racial slur on camera.

While the country star’s return to the public eye seemed inevitable, a tweet from the Opry about Wallen surprising fans at its regular Saturday broadcast show led to heavy criticism of the mostly white institution and its history as a gatekeeper.

Performers ranging from Yola, Allison Russell, Rissi Palmer, Noelle Scaggs of Fitz and the Tantrums, Joy Oladokun, Chely Wright, as well as Grammy winners Brandi Carlile and Jason Isbell, weighed in on how the Opry’s decision could have troubling consequences for artists of color in country music.

“Morgan Wallen’s thoughtless redemption tour is the nail in the coffin of me realizing these systems and this town is not really for us,” wrote Oladokun on Sunday.

Wallen was caught on camera last year using a racial slur and while some organizations banned him temporarily, he has returned to the airwaves and remained the most popular artist of 2021 across all genres.

He resumed touring arenas last year and has been releasing new music, including collaborations with rapper Lil Durk, who is Black, and country artist ERNEST. Wallen made an unannounced appearance on the Opry, which has been broadcasting for nearly 100 years, to sing with ERNEST. This time the criticism centered more on the silent signaling by the Opry than Wallen himself.

“It’s the idea of a young Black artist walking into that venue and wondering if ANYBODY is on their side,” wrote Isbell. “What a lot of us consider to be a grand ole honor

can be terrifying for some.”

In 2021, writer Holly G started a blog called the Black Opry to create a home for Black artists and fans. It has since grown in less than a year to a fully-fledged community and performances at venues around the country.

Enthusiasm for what she created has grown so much that venues have been reaching out to book shows.

She met with the Opry’s talent director with a proposal to host a show next month for Black History Month in conjunction with the Black Opry.

She said the Opry’s rep stressed that they were carefully selecting who appeared on their stage.

Following Wallen’s appearance, Holly G wrote a letter asking for an explanation of how the Opry felt that Wallen met their standards.

“They have figured out they can invite a few Black performers to the stage and give them debuts and that will quiet or calm people down for a little bit,” she told The Associated Press on Monday.

“But if you look at the structural set up for the institution, nothing has changed.

They have two Black members over the entire history of the institution.”

A publicist for the Opry did not return a request for comment from the AP, and Holly G said she also had not received a response to her letter as of Tuesday morning.

Soon after the video of Wallen was published on TMZ, the country singer apologized and told fans not to defend his racist language. But his fans have galvanized their support for him, boosting his streaming numbers when radio stations were pulling him off playlists.

Wallen himself acknowledged a lack of awareness when asked on “Good Morning America” in July of last year about whether country music had a problem with race.

“It would seem that way, yeah.

I haven’t really sat and thought about that,” he replied.

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Man charged for Dolph’s death

By ASSOCIATED PRESS A Tennessee man wanted in the fatal shooting of rapper Young Dolph in his hometown of Memphis was captured Tuesday in Indiana, while another man was indicted on murder charges, authorities said.

A grand jury indicted Cornelius Smith, 32, on first-degree murder and other charges in the shooting that killed Young Dolph, the Shelby County, Tennessee, District Attorney’s Office said.

Smith, who was arrested last month on an auto-theft warrant involving the vehicle used in Young Dolph’s killing, was being held without bond.

Separately, the U.S. Marshals Service said Justin Johnson, 23, was arrested, after a murder warrant was issued for him earlier this month.

The agency did not say where in Indiana that Johnson was found.

Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was gunned down in a daylight ambush at a popular cookie shop on Nov. 17.

The shooting stunned Memphis and shocked the entertainment world.

City officials and community activists pointed to the killing as a symbol of the dangers of gun violence in Memphis, where more than 300 homicides were reported last year.

Known for his depictions of tough street life and his independent approach to the music business, Young Dolph was admired for charitable works in Memphis.

He organized Thanksgiving

U.S. Marshals Service via AP

An arrest warrant has been issued for Johnson, 23, in connection with the the Nov. 17, 2021, shooting fatal shooting of rapper Young Dolph, who was gunned down in a daylight ambush in Memphis.

food giveaways, donated thousands of dollars to high schools, and paid rent and covered funeral costs for people in the Castalia Heights neighborhood where he was raised. When he was killed, the 36-year-old rapper was in Memphis to hand out Thanksgiving turkeys and visit a cancer center.

A private funeral was held on Nov. 30 and a section of a street in the neighborhood where he grew up was renamed for him Dec. 15.

He also was honored at a public celebration at FedExForum, the home of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzles and the University of Memphis men’s basketball team.

Young Dolph was born in Chicago and moved to Memphis with his parents when he was 2.

He released numerous mixtapes, starting with 2008’s

“Paper Route Campaign,” and multiple studio albums, including his 2016 debut “King of Memphis.” He also collaborated on other mixtapes and albums with fellow rappers Key Glock, Megan Thee Stallion, T.I., Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz and others.

He had three albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, with 2020’s “Rich Slave” peaking at No. 4.

Young Dolph had survived previous shootings.

He was shot multiple times in September 2017 after a fight outside a Los Angeles hotel.

In February of that year, his SUV was shot at in Charlotte, North Carolina, more than 100 times.

That was the inspiration for the song “100 Shots.” He said he survived because he had bulletproof panels in his vehicle.

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Thursday, January 13, 2022

Variety

Singer Ronnie Spector dies at 78

MSU Reporter • 19

Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox are engaged

CHRIS PIZZELLO • Associated Press PETER KRAMER • Associated Press

Ronnie Spector appears in the press room after performing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on March 15, 2010, in New York. The cat-eyed, bee-hived rock ‘n’ roll siren who sang such 1960s hits as “Be My Baby,” and “Walking in the Rain” has died. She was 78.

Megan Fox, right, and Machine Gun Kelly are engaged. The actor and rapper decided to legalize their dramatically eccentric coupling, according to Instagram videos that each posted Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Associated Press

By MARK KENNEDY Ronnie Spector, the cateyed, bee-hived rock ‘n’ roll siren who sang such 1960s hits as “Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love You” and “Walking in the Rain” as the leader of the girl group the Ronettes, has died.

She was 78.

Spector died Wednesday after a brief battle with cancer, her family said.

“Ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye, a spunky attitude, a wicked sense of humor and a smile on her face. She was filled with love and gratitude,” a statement said. No other details were revealed.

The Ronettes’ sexy look and powerful voices — plus songwriting and producing help from Phil Spector — turned them into one of the premier acts of the girl-group era, touring England with the Rolling Stones and befriending the Beatles.

Spector, alongside her sister Estelle Bennett and cousin Nedra Talley, scored hits with pop masterpieces like “Baby, I Love You,” “Walking in the Rain,” “I Can Hear Music” and “Be My Baby,” which was co-written by Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich.

“We weren’t afraid to be hot. That was our gimmick,” Spector said in her memoir.

“When we saw The Shirelles walk on stage with their wide party dresses, we went in the opposite direction and squeezed our bodies into the tightest skirts we could find.

Then we’d get out on stage and hike them up to show our legs even more.”

Spector, born Veronica Bennett, and her multiracial bandmates grew up in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan.

They began singing and dancing in clubs as Ronnie and the Relatives, becoming noteworthy for their liberal use of eyeliner and mascara.

“The louder they applauded, the more mascara we put on the next time,” she wrote in her memoir. “We didn’t have a hit record to grab their attention, so we had to make an impression with our style. None of it was planned out; we just took the look we were born with and extended it.”

In March 1963, Estelle Bennett managed to arrange an audition in front of Phil Spector, known for his big, brass-anddrum style dubbed the “wall of sound.” They were signed to Phillies Records in 1963. After being signed, they sang backup for other acts until Spector had the group record “Be My Baby” and “Baby I Love You.” The group’s debut album, “Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica,” was released in 1964. Five of its 12 tracks had made it to the U.S. Billboard charts.

“Nothing excites me more than just being onstage, having fun and flirting and winking to the guys and stuff like that,” she told People magazine in 2017.

“I just have so much fun. It’s just the best feeling when I go out and they say, “Ladies and gentlemen…” —my heart stops for a minute—“…Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes!” Then I just go out there and the crowd reacts the way they react and I can go on singing forever.”

After touring Germany in 1967, the Ronettes broke up.

Spector married Ronnie in 1968, then she said he kept her locked in their Beverly Hills mansion.

Her 1990 autobiography “Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts And Madness” tells an unhappy story of abuse. The couple divorced in 1974. Phil Spector was sent to prison in 2009 for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson and died in 2020.

Martin Scorsese used “Be My Baby” to open his 1973 film “Mean Streets” and the song appears in the title sequence of “Dirty Dancing” and the closing credits of “Baby Mama.” It also appeared on TV in “Moonlighting” and “The Wonder Years.”

When the Ronettes were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones remembered opening for the trio in England in the mid-1960s.

After the Ronettes broke up, Spector continued to tour and make music, including “Take Me Home Tonight” with Eddie Money, recording Joel’s “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, and recording the 1999 EP “She Talks to Rainbows,” which included her first ever recording of “Don’t Worry Baby,” written for her by Brian Wilson. In 2006, she released “Last of the Rock Stars,” her first album in 20 years and it featured appearances by the Raconteurs, Keith Richards, Patti Smith and the Raveonettes.

She is survived her husband, and two sons.

WINTER from page 16 learn about qualifications for state and federal financial resources.

MSU junior Caitlyn Loya has already scoped out which events she’d like to participate in. “The Women’s Center activ-

ity looks really cool! I’m going with a couple of friends,” Loya commented.

On Friday night, there will be a Trivia Night taking place in Julia Sears Residence Hall where winning teams get free appetizers from the Julia Sears

Grill. Junior Zoe Macklanburg plans on participating in this event and said, “If I win, I really want to get the mozzarella sticks.”

Information on the activities can be found on blue posters all throughout residence halls.

Associated Press



Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly are engaged.

The actor and rapper have decided to legalize their dramatically eccentric coupling, according to Instagram videos that each posted Wednesday.

Fox shared video of Kelly taking a knee at the top of a flight of outdoor stairs under the tree where the two say they fell in love in July of 2020.

“Somehow a year and a half later, having walked through hell together, and having laughed more than I ever imagined possible, he asked me to marry him,” Fox wrote in the post.

“And just as in every lifetime before this one, and in every lifetime that will follow it, I

said yes.”

An Instagram video from Kelly shows Fox wearing the two merged rings he had made for the occasion, with a diamond and an emerald that form “the obscure heart that is our love.”

Fox ended her post with, “and then we drank each other’s blood,” a moment not shown in the video.

It’s the second marriage for Fox, the 35-year-old star of the “Transformers” films.

She was married to actor Brian Austin Green from 2010 to 2021.

The two have three sons together.

It’s the first marriage for the 31-year-old Kelly, who has a daughter from a previous relationship.

20 • MSU Reporter

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