January 14, 2016

THURSDAY JANUARY 14, 2016

Get smart with the Textbook Reserve Program

INSIDE

MSU’s library service offers free rentals to all students.

NEWS:

GABE HEWITT Staff Writer With the spring semester underway, students may be feeling the all too familiar stress on their bank accounts.

Tuition, rent, food, and a variety of other expenditures often leaving students peering at their bank statements with a downcast face.

One of the biggest financial strains is textbook purchases. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the prices of new textbooks has risen 1,041 percent between 1977 and 2015. More often than not, professors require

Maverick resolutions for a better semester

Page 05

SPORTS: Photo Courtesy of the MSSA

If these numbers hit home, students at Minnesota State University, Mankato, have an excellent resource for an alternative.

“The titles span across over 25 different majors including Mathematics, Biology, Physics and Psychology.” students to have the most recent and most expensive versions of their course textbooks and result in a large bill. According to the National Association of College Stores, the average college student pays $655 a year for textbooks.

Students can save money on textbooks by taking advantage of the Maverick Textbook Reserve Program, a service offered at the Memorial Library.

Started in 2008 by the Minnesota State Student Associ-

ation (MSSA) in cooperation with Library Services, the reserve offers over 50 different titles for free rental. The titles span across over 25 different majors including Mathematics, Biology, Physics and Psychology. It’s currently funded through the Barnes and Noble Bookstore on campus. In fall 2015, 837 students used the service.

Students can visit the Memorial Library circulation desk, see if their course’s textbook is available for checkout and check it out for two hours upon presenting their MavCard. A renewal is possible once the time limit has passed. Books not returned after two hours can result in a late fee of $15.50. Every hour after, 50 cents is added on.

Late fees are returned to Memorial Library.

Nearly all the textbooks available in the reserve are for 100 and 200 level courses that don’t require students to have them in class. If a student believes their course should have its textbook on reserve, they’re encouraged to speak with their professor.

“It’s saving you some money,” MSSA Vice President Sam Al-Mohamadi said. “I’m a big fan of this project and program because it’s about how much money students are already paying for textbooks.”

So this semester, save a few dollars and rent your textbooks from the Textbook Reserve Program.

Dogsledding: A vibrant Minnesota tradition

ELLYN GIBBS Staff Writer On Jan. 11, a chorus of barking drew numerous Minnesota State University, Mankato, students to the

west library lawn. Even with the temperature in the negatives, students stood in line to take their turn riding or driving a string of sled dogs. The dogs in line to join the string were more than happy to be hugged and pet. Their presence added a dose of extra enthusiasm to the first day of the semester.

Driving these dogs for myself made me curious about the sport of dogsledding. It doesn’t seem to be the most efficient way to travel in mod-

ern times, but it is still widespread through the northern part of the country.

Dogsledding began as much more than a sport. In areas locked with snow and ice, planes disabled for the winter and a lack of roads for vehicles, dogsleds were the only mode of transportation. In 1925, there was an outbreak of diphtheria in Nome, a remote Alaskan village, but the closest cure was 670 miles away in Anchorage, Alaska. Dogsled teams made

this journey in under six days to save the dying residents of Nome. Today, resident Alaskans still use dog sled teams to travel.

Minnesota has a vibrant history of dogsledding as well. Those who reside on the North Shore realize that the area can feel like the Alaskan wilderness. Similar

SLEDDING page 4

2015: A Season to Remember for the Vikings

Page 19

A&E:

Star Trek Beyond releases new trailer.

Page 13

INDEX: EDITORIAL...............6 A&E...........................13 SPORTS.................19

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2 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Six reasons to learn a language in 2016 Despite the difficulty, mastering a language has numerous benefits.

LUKE LARSON Staff Writer I’ve been thinking a lot about language recently.

Though I can’t be sure, I think it started right around last Saturday when I left Minnesota for the city of Cuenca, Ecuador where I am studying abroad this semester.

I took Spanish through elementary, middle, and high school, but it wasn’t until I started college that I really decided that I wanted to become fluent in Spanish.

We Americans are notoriously monolingual, and understandably so. In Minnesota, we speak English, the world’s most powerful language, and live hundreds of miles from any substantial region where another language is predominant.

The process of becoming bilingual has been an undoubtedly positive experience in my life, and an experience that I wish more Americans took advantage of.

Maybe it’s too late to make this a New Year’s resolution, but that’s okay because no one ever keeps New Year’s

resolutions anyway, and this resolution is one worth keeping. So, without further ado, these are six reasons based on my own experience for why every person should endeavor to learn a foreign language.

1. To meet new people Language is an inherently social activity. Language is the way by which one human person is able to share their own thoughts with others.

When you learn a language, you are preparing yourself for future conversations you will have with people you have yet to meet.

Languages are very difficult, perhaps even impossible, to master on your own.

Real world practice with others is essential to gain fluency. Language is meant to be shared. Because of this, language learning offers the opportunity to make new friendships and social connections in a way no other activity does.

In my own experience, I can say that I’ve met many people I never would have met had I not been interested in language learning. Whether it be the Spanish conversation tables I’ve attended, the weekly Korean class I took last spring, or learning Portuguese informally during meals with Brazilian students at Carkoski, I’ve met so many of my friends during my time

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Photo by Luke Larson at MSU through language learning. Every single person I will meet over the next three months, in fact, will be someone I would not have met had I not decided to learn Spanish, because I would not have

ever come here to Ecuador.

While in many of the classes I’ve taken I don’t even know the name of the person sitting next to me, I’ve made many connections in my Spanish classes. That’s

because being social in class is one of your main duties.

LEARN page 4

Thursday, January 14, 2016

News

MSU Reporter • 3

Searching for sweet savings in the food aisle A few simple tricks can help you save money and eat better.

ELLYN GIBBS Staff Writer With glowing fast food signs everywhere, promising crispy chicken or turtle mocha custard, it’s hard to resist making a purchase when out running errands or meeting friends. A common statement I hear among my peers is, “I spend most of my money on food.” I have the same issue.

It’s depressing to add up how much I spend on edible items in a single month. Because we’re supposed to be living like poor college students and not young tycoons, here are some ways to cut back on food purchases.

BYOL – Bring Your Own Lunch.

Plan enough time in the morning to pack food you can bring along to class or

“Wall_Food_10091” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Michael Stern the hunger and resist the temptation of food, you may not need to bring food every day. But for me, the struggle of getting “hangry” is real.

Know your limits.

Eat high-fiber foods.

Make the meals you eat count. Foods rich in fiber “stick” in your stomach, mak-

“I’ve tried to go without bringing food along to campus, but I always cave and buy something, because I have to eat.” work, so that you are prepared when the mid-morning munchies strike. I’ve tried to go without bringing food along to campus, but I always cave and buy something, because I have to eat. You know your body. If you can handle

ing you feel satisfied longer.

I like to sprinkle frozen raspberries and chia seeds on top of yogurt in the morning.

The extra fiber here keeps my mind off my stomach for longer into the day, so I don’t even look twice at fast food

when I walk by. For lunch, I like to spread hummus on a sandwich for another dose of fiber. Soups that include lentils or barley are great as well, and apples, pears, broccoli, and almonds are another great way to incorporate fiber to your diet.

Don’t buy brand-name groceries. Shopping somewhere like Aldi is a lot cheaper than larger grocery stores, which sell brand name items.

Sometimes brand names do make a difference if you’re looking for organic food or even just a specific taste, but most of the time you won’t be able to tell the difference.

Suggest alternative dates.

The most common thing I do with friends is go out for coffee. Depending on how much of a social butterfly you are, and the kind of coffee you consume, this can be an expensive habit. Americans view food as a necessity for any social interaction, but see if you can switch things up.

Instead of going out to lunch

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or coffee, go on a walk together, go on a drive, or have them over to your apartment or dorm. If you have them over, there’s a chance they’ll bring food to you. If this happens, you know that friend is a keeper!

Learn to tell yourself “no.”

I heard that the concept of distinguishing a want from a need is something we teach kindergartners now, but I still don’t have it down. Before you get in line to order a snack, even if it’s something healthy like a sandwich or wrap, ask yourself if you really need that food item to survive. Will it add to your quality of life? Probably, yes. Will it make you happy? Yes. Do you need it? If the answer is no, walk away.

Over the last year, I’ve seen how quickly little purchases add up. By being frugal with food, you’ll be able to save a lot of money and lead a healthier lifestyle. And who doesn’t need that?

Do you have any tips for spending less on food? Share them with us on the MSU Reporter Facebook page or on Twitter at @MSUReporter, hashtag #spendless.

4 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, January 14, 2016

LEARN Continued from page 2 As more of an introvert (I’m an INTP on the Myers-Briggs personality test), learning foreign languages has given me the initiative to develop relationships with people I otherwise would not have.

I’ve found that if you show an interest in someone else’s language, they will show an interest in you, no matter how bad you are at speaking it.

2. To gain discipline Language learning stands out as a stark contrast in a society like ours that is obsessed with instant gratification. It is a slow, gradual, and oftentimes frustrating process. You often don’t even realize that any growth is occurring as it happens. It’s only every once in a while that you will realize “hey, I just ordered my whole meal in Italian! I couldn’t do that three months ago!”

The sense of satisfaction that that feeling of accomplishment gives you is much greater than the satisfaction of, say, scrolling through your Facebook news feed or watching another movie on Netflix. Is it always fun? No. Does it give you an invaluable skill that is much more worthwhile in the long-run? Absolutely. While many may be daunted by the idea of mastering a foreign language, just think of how much time the average college student spends, for example, playing video games each day. If only a fraction of that time was spent practicing foreign languages, we’d all be multilingual by now. Discipline allows you to do amazing things, be

it speaking a language, playing an instrument, or becoming a better person. Learning a language is a great way to develop that skill.

3. To learn another culture Language and culture cannot be separated. Culture is so deeply embedded in language that to learn a foreign language is to learn a foreign culture. If you were to learn Japanese, for example, you would not merely be learning the grammatical rules, the vocabulary, and the pronunciation. You would be looking through a window into Japanese culture. You would be given a glimpse understand what the Japanese people value, how they operate, how they interpret different phenomena. And as you met more and more Japanese people and perhaps traveled to Japan, you yourself would become increasingly immersed in that culture.

Many of the world’s problems are born of a lack of cultural understanding between people. Learning other cultures is not only important, it’s also enjoyable. Experiencing a foreign culture is an inherently new and exciting experience. Why limit yourself to nothing but your own culture when there are so many other beautiful expressions of human experience to encounter?

4. To have fun While you may not be a linguistically-minded person who finds things like phonology, semantics, dialect,

SLEDDING

Continued from page 1 to the Pony Express in the wild west, mail carriers in Northern Minnesota used dogsleds in the winter to deliver their important cargo. John Beargrease was a famous mail carrier in this area, and from 1879-1899, he and his brothers used dogsleds for their mail route from Two Harbors to Grand Marais, MN. This route was 28 hours at its fastest. Today, the longest sled dog race in the lower 48 commemorates John Beargrease, and runs from just outside Two Harbors to Duluth. This annual race will begin on Jan. 31, 2016.

The longest and most well-known dogsled race is the Iditarod in Alaska,

which began with the purpose of preserving sled dog culture and the Alaskan husky. It began in 1973 and continues to this day, running from Nome to Anchorage. One of the sled dogs that visited MSU on Monday had actually completed the Iditarod before his retirement.

Dogsledding may seem irrelevant in the modern world, but it is a fascinating part of northern culture.

With heated vehicles, and medical help available at the tap of a button, it’s easy for northerners to forget how we used to travel and weather the frozen landscape for simple necessities of life.

“thank you note for every language” (CC BY 2.0) by woodleywonderworks and morphology fascinating, that doesn’t mean that language-learning will not be fun for you. The word “challenge” carries with it a certain negative connotation. But challenges, really, are the essence of fun. Every hobby, be it a sport, an art, or an addictive cell phone game, is a type of challenge that we willingly submit ourselves to. Learning a language is, if nothing else, one big challenge, consisting of many levels and different missions to complete along the way. Every new word is like a point to be scored, every new grammatical rule is an opportunity to level up. In the course of the journey, you will meet new people, encounter a new culture, and explore new places. When you look at it this way, language is anything but a chore.

5. To create opportunities for yourself While the previous points may have sounded fairly idealistic, the ability to speak more than one language is certainly practical, as well. It can allow you to more easily travel in another country or even attend a foreign university. It can allow you to communicate with relatives from foreign countries. It broadens the amount of media you can take in, whether it be books, magazines, or websites.

Above all, perhaps, is the advantages it can give you

in your career. The Economist magazine estimates that knowing a foreign language could result in about an extra $70,000 by retirement. Think of it this way: if we assume that it takes roughly two years to learn a language fluently and we also assume, as the Economist’s calculations did, that the average person will spend forty years working, that divides out to about $96 a day for the next two years.

Not too shabby.

6. To experience your own humanity The study of language is a study of the human person.

It’s a study of how we interact and how our minds operate.

The ability to have complex thoughts and ideas and to be able to express them through something as complex as language is one of the things that sets us apart from animals. It’s a remarkable gift that we take for granted. When you learn a language, you come face to face with your own humanity.

You come to appreciate the superpower you have to be able to interpret the connections and meaning behind an array of seemingly arbitrary sounds and to use those same sounds, produced by minute movements of the tongue, jaw, throat, and so on to convey your thoughts to others.

It’s incredible! In the process of learning Spanish, I’ve thought to myself a number

of times how amazing it is that words that I didn’t know a few years ago are now so natural to me that I can use them to express my own thoughts on the spot without any effort.

Though we may not remember it at all, we’ve all been through the language-learning process at least once before. I highly recommend the eye-opening experience of going through it again.

So where do you start?

While I’m not qualified to write a thorough explanation on how to learn a language most efficiently, I can point to a number of great and easily-accessible resources where you can begin the language-learning journey.

Duolingo.com is a fairly new website that offers fun and completely free online courses in sixteen languages (and counting). In addition to classes, the Spanish, French, and German departments at MSU all offer conversation tables open to speakers of any level.

There is also a group on campus known as the World Language Organization, which you can inquire about in the Kearney International Center, which offers informal classes in a variety of languages taught by international students.

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News

MSU Reporter • 5

Maverick resolutions for a better semester

NICOLE SCHMIDT News Editor The dropping of the ball in Times Square, popping of champagne, and loud choruses of “Auld Lang Syne” undoubtedly bring in the feeling of the New Year. The arrival of 2016 means more than taking down the old calendar and putting up the new; this New Year brings a clean slate. A slate that each person holds in hand.

Most New Year’s resolutions are made with confidence; a slimmer body, less cursing, quit smoking, a promotion, and more commonly to mind when setting resolutions. Here at here at Minnesota State University, Mankato, we all may have different

are people, too!).

3. Add one skill to your resume If your resume has been in a gridlock for a while, change it! Work on one useful and applicable skill throughout the year and master it (or at least become proficient). Dabble with month-long tutorials of software programs and see what you can do in that time.

Even having some shred of knowledge of a particular skill will help you feel more confident if an employer may ask about it.

If you don’t have a resume to add your skills to, make one! Every professional college student should have a digital copy saved and ready to print at a moment’s notice—you never know when you might need it.

4. Eat better Walking MavAve and U-Square can seem like a special kind of hell for people trying to eat healthier. Despite the temptations, resist.

Changing your eating habits

“Changed Priorities Ahead sign” (CC BY 2.0) by R/DV/RS Setting a resolutions should not be unattainable; make it something challenging that you can achieve with effort! year, which in some ways is surprising. Seeing other parts of the world isn’t just enjoyable for you, but beneficial.

Visiting new cultures and seeing things you may have only

“It’s really surprising how we have lost the finesse of conversations. Not too long ago, speaking and articulating were considered an art.” resolutions. Here are my top eight resolutions for college students this year: 1. Get more sleep You’ve heard it all before, right? Sleep is important. It’s easy to brush off the importance of sleep in our lives while in college. Days get long, and nights get even longer. But before you continue in 2016 with the same bad habits, fix it! Sleep has such a pivotal role in our lives as budding professionals, so treat it with importance. Don’t watch that extra episode of “American Horror Story,” turn it off. I promise you it will still be there tomorrow.

2. Expand your marketing web This year, make a conscious effort to grow your promotional web. In today’s competitive job world, connections are often key in getting your name out there or even your first job or internship. That being said, each MSU student should strive to gain more connections. Don’t be shy or afraid to introduce yourself to professors and show some of your unique personality (they

this year will not only make you feel better, but give your more energy for your laborious days at school and work.

Bear in mind that this change will not be easy (changing bad habits rarely is). However, this New Year should inspire better eating habits to build on for years to come.

5. Make your bed So simple, yet so difficult.

Give it a try and see how many days in a row you can last.

6. Volunteer Monthly With all of the time in our lives spend our own interests, giving back to the community will feed your soul this year. I am by no stretch of the imagination suggestion you become the next Mother Teresa, but one small day a month is a reasonable goal.

Volunteering not only satisfies your conscience, but also looks good on a resume. Who knows? You may meet some new friends along the way as well.

7. Vacation Vacationing is definitely something most people aren’t swearing they’ll do this

ever heard about will make you grow as a person this 2016.

Going on a trip does not have to mean flying to Paris (though if you have the money…). Simply exploring the Twin Cities for a day, or even road tripping to Mount Rushmore can certainly qualify as a good vacation. Just make

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8. Put down your phone Hang on, I just need to finish this text…ok. Done.

Sorry about that! Anyway, this year, focus on putting down your phone. We have become so accustomed to going on our phones any time a situation when potential awkwardness or silence may ensue. What a sad way to treat our friends and peers.

So this year, don’t sit on your phone while waiting for class or getting your hair cut; talk to people!

It’s really surprising how we have lost the finesse of conversations. Not too long ago, speaking and articulating were considered an art. I

am sure if we took the time to work through awkward silences and boring moments, we would become much better rhetoricians. This will inevitably put you ahead of your competition in job fields. Plus you will impress everyone around you with your effortless banter.

What are some of your resolutions for 2016? Share them with us on the MSU Reporter Facebook page or on Twitter at @MSUReporter, hashtag #MavResolutions.

6 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Editorial & Opinion

#StopResolutions2016 Everybody has one, so why do so few succeed?

EMAIL THE EDITOR IN CHIEF:

RAE FRAME

alyssa.frame @mnsu.edu OR AT reporter-editor @mnsu.edu

FALL 2015 EDITOR IN CHIEF: EDITOR IN CHIEF: Rae Frame.............................389-5454 Rae Frame.............................389-5454 NEWS EDITOR: NEWS EDITOR: Nicole Schmidt.......................389-5450 Nicole Schmidt.......................389-5450

RAE FRAME Editor in Chief

SPORTS EDITOR: SPORTS EDITOR: Luke Lonien............................389-5227 Luke Lonien............................389-5227

A cursory Google search of “how to stick to a New Year’s resolution” yields over five million results.

Some of the first Pinterest options under “New Year’s resolutions” include a checklist that will help keep resolutions “indefinitely,” apps that will help keep you on track through the year, and lists of habits that “will change your life.”

All these internet tips, tricks, and schemes are the proof for something many of us already know—it’s tough to keep up with a New Year’s resolution, but it’s not impossible. There are annual success stories to go along with the re-ups and the unfulfilled promises that, in my opinion, show that resolving to change

VARIETY EDITOR: VARIETY EDITOR: Matthew Eberline................... 389-5157 Matthew Eberline................... 389-5157 ADVERTISING SALES: ADVERTISING SALES: Mac Boehmer........................389-5097 Mac Boehmer........................389-5097 Brandon Poliszuk....................389-5453 Brandon Poliszuk....................389-5453 Josh Crew..............................389-5451 Josh Crew..............................389-5451 Jacob Wyffels........................ 389-6765 Jacob Wyffels........................ 389-6765 Huy Nguyen.......................... 389-1079 BUSINESS MANAGER: BUSINESS MANAGER: Jane Tastad............................ 389-1926 Jane Tastad............................ 389-1926 AD. DESIGN/PROD. MGR.: AD. DESIGN/PROD. MGR.: Dana Clark............................ 389-2793 Dana Clark............................ 389-2793

“Wicker Paradise Photo Archive: Superbowl” (CC BY 2.0) by Wicker Paradise your life has very little to do with actually fulfilling one’s goals. If I were an expert (and I’m not), I would say that the three tools for maintaining a resolution are developing discipline, committing time, and creating achievable goals for day-to-day life.

The two most mentioned resolutions I found in my research and in the past three weeks were improving diet and/or exercise so I’m going

to share my thoughts on a few myths about resolutions that I think have embedded themselves a bit too deeply in our generation’s subconscious such as….

“New year, new me” This attitude is what New Year’s resolutions are built upon, and can sometimes be the reason they fail. In my experience, the fastest way to build diligence is to adopt the idea that each day is a

new chance to either continue or begin a more desirable behavior—that’s why many anti-smoking campaigns talk about taking it “one cigarette at a time.” Starting your resolution in the middle of the month forces you to act immediately, become

RESOLUTIONS page 7

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Pulse

“What is your New Year’s resolution?”

POLICIES & INFO • If you have a complaint, suggestion or would like to point out an error made in the Reporter, call Editor in Chief Rae Frame at 507-389-5454. The Reporter will correct any errors of fact or misspelled names in this space. Formal grievances against the Reporter are handled by the Newspaper Board.

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“Doing more homework on the weekends.’

“Study better and spend time with family.”

“Spend time with family.”

“Quit smoking/increase GPA.”

“Eat less pizza.”

Thursday, January 14, 2016

News

MSU Reporter • 7

RESOLUTIONS Continued from page 6 “Achieving a goal means that you were able to stick to your plans most of the time, not that you followed it perfectly, so it’s okay to indulge, but it will get out of hand without the development of self control.” established today instead of dreaming of some date in the future when you reach for the stars. Don’t wait till the New Year (351 days away at the time of writing), instead, embrace an attitude of “do it now” to eliminate procrastination as acting immediately on even the smallest to-do items. Make goals you can meet every day and start any day, which brings me to the next sentiment that may be holding you back…

“It’s my cheat day” The idea of a “cheat day,” or day where you can take a break from whatever diet or exercise regimen you are currently subscribed to, has become popular within my

dulge on something sweet or time to enjoy a hobby, I more frequently see it as an excuse to binge-drink, binge-eat, or binge-watch far beyond what could be considered cheating—it’s a full-blown affair on your goals. Achieving a goal means that you were able to stick to your plans most of the time, not that you followed it perfectly, so it’s okay to indulge, but it will get out of hand without the development of self control. It also helps when you aren’t being mislead by advertisements that say…

“Healthy for you, tastes great!”

I recently stumbled across a recent Cosmo article by

“All these internet tips, tricks, and schemes are the proof for something many of us already know—it’s tough to keep up with a New Year’s resolution, but it’s not impossible.”

lifetime along with the idea of setting achievable, incremental goal—like the kind you find in Couch-to-5k programs.

Though I’ve seen cheat day practice be very helpful in allowing people a chance to in-

Yvette D’Entremont titled “Why your Detox is Bullsh*t.”

I was surprised to see such an article in the magazine famous for making thin promises of a better bikini body and the like, but the gist of the

“Start diet today” (CC BY 2.0) by Alan Cleaver article was filled out with research and critical questions.

Among other things, the author exposed the fact that a lot of these “delicious, nutritious” foods are high in sugar and rather pricy to boot. Sugar is one of the obvious ingredients to consume in moderate amounts when improving diet and fitness and often can be listed in several different forms by several different names. Learning to read and understand food labels can go a long way in helping people eat things that are as healthy as they claim to be. It is also important to be brave in the culinary department: learning to cook and dismissing cracks about “rabbit food” or “cardboard” until you’ve had the

opportunity to eat or cook the meal yourself—you never know what delightful dishes you might be able to whip up out of healthy foods.

“It’s completely up to you.”

This is one I really believe in. One day in September I decided to spend time in the weight room at Otto Recreational Center here on campus, and six months later I’m there every weekday. There was no ceremony to that first day, not promises, no goals (yet), I just showed up and I kept showing up. Whatever your goals are, I encourage you to be accountable to yourself and motivate yourself, starting today.

It’s difficult to stay on track, to stay positive, to always surround yourself with people and behaviors that make you a better person, but if I may close this article with the words of Yvette D’Entremont: “…there’s no fairy godmother, no magic wand, and you can’t turn back last night’s partying with kale after the clock strikes midnight. But you can cleanse your life of bullsh*t.”

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8 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, January 14, 2016

President Obama’s final State of the Union Address The president challenges Americans to compromise and change.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With Americans soon to begin choosing his successor, President Barack Obama is casting his seven divisive years as a time of positive change, implicitly asking voters to replace him with a Democrat who would continue his hardwon policies on health care, climate change and Iran.

Addressing a hostile Republican-led Congress and a country plunged in a tumultuous, at times angry presidential campaign, Obama used his final State of the Union address to summon an affirmative vision of his administration and for the future. He rebutted critics, naysayers and the GOP White House hopefuls, but also acknowledged his own failure to transform the country’s bitter politics and unite the nation.

With a year left in office, he presented that task as more urgent than ever and pleaded with voters to turn away from harsh voices and come together.

“Democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to compromise; or when even basic facts are contested,” Obama said. “Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get attention.”

Conceding that changing Washington was not the job of one person, Obama called on voters to change the system itself by demanding less money in politics, fairly drawn congressional districts and easier access to voting.

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press

cans running to replace him, though without mentioning them by name, just weeks before voting in Iowa and New Hampshire. He countered the negativity of Donald Trump, who promises to keep out Muslims and “Make America Great Again,” and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s vow to “carpet bomb” the Islamic State group.

“When politicians insult Muslims ... that doesn’t make us safer,” he said. “It’s just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals.”

At another point, the president said, “Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in

“‘Democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to compromise; or when even basic facts are contested,’” “There are a whole lot of folks in this chamber who would like to see more cooperation, a more elevated debate in Washington, but feel trapped by the demands of getting elected,” Obama told a Congress unlikely to follow his lead, though many lawmakers might agree with his call.

“It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency - that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better,” the president said.

At times, Obama referred sarcastically to the Republi-

decline is peddling fiction.”

And he also declared: “The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. It’s not even close.”

Referencing terror threats around the globe, Obama defended his own efforts fighting Islamic State militants, and said: “Our answer needs to be more than tough talk or calls to carpet bomb civilians.

That may work as a TV sound bite, but it doesn’t pass muster on the world stage.” Cruz skipped the speech, though his primary opponent, Sen.

Marco Rubio of Florida, was present.

Shortly before the speech began, news broke that Iran was holding 10 U.S. Navy sailors and their two small boats that drifted into Iranian waters after experiencing mechanical problems. The development, which Obama did not mention, prompted criticism from Republicans about Obama’s hard-fought Iran nuclear deal, which the president extolled, arguing that “the world has avoided another war.”

Trump had his own rebuttal over Twitter, remarking: “The #SOTU speech is really boring, slow, lethargic - very hard to watch!” Congressional Republicans began filing out even before it was over.

Obama addressed a Congress now run by emboldened GOP majorities already planning their agenda under a potential Republican successor, starting with repealing the president’s health care law. Behind Obama sat a new House speaker, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who last week celebrated sending legislation to Obama’s desk for the first time uprooting the health legislation.

Ryan reacted dismissively to Obama’s remarks, saying in a statement, “I can’t say I was disappointed by the president’s speech, but that’s because I wasn’t expecting much.”

Obama defended his health measure Tuesday night, claiming that millions have gained coverage “and our businesses have created jobs every single month since it became law.” Delivering the GOP response, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley re-

iterated the party’s pledge to “end a disastrous health care program, and replace it with reforms.”

However, striking similar notes to Obama, Haley also warned against strident voices in the GOP railing against immigrants and others, a measure of the party’s profound divisions as it struggles to unite to keep Hillary Clinton or any other Democrat from replacing Obama.

“During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow

the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation,” said Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants.

While Tuesday’s speech was light on the lists of proposals typical in such addresses, Obama had some, even confronting a Congress largely hostile to his agenda.

He mentioned initiatives that are dead on arrival, including immigration reform and closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But Obama held out hope that compromise could be possible — even from divided government in a campaign season — on issues like criminal justice reform and helping people addicted to prescription drugs.

And he boasted of the Paris agreement on climate, refuting his critics by saying: “Look, if anybody still wants to dispute the science around climate change, have at it.

You’ll be pretty lonely.”

Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, sat behind him.

Obama alluded to Biden’s own loss of his son to cancer this past year in tasking the vice president to lead a new national effort to conquer the disease.

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Star Wars fans are asking, “Where’s Rey?” Disney says more Star Wars heroine toys are on the way.

ATTENTION. Spoiler in the 5th paragraph.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Where’s Rey? Disney says it’s working hard to get more of the new “Star Wars” heroine in stores.

Following a social media firestorm over the lack of Rey in a new “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Monopoly game, Disney says it is unveiling a raft of new merchandise that puts more of Rey front and center — including toys featuring her gripping a blue lightsaber.

Twitter erupted over the holidays using the hashtag #wheresrey at the dearth of Rey merchandise in stores, despite her playing a key role in the film. Last week, days after an 8-year-old girl wrote Monopoly maker Hasbro, saying “girls matter,” both Disney’s Lucasfilm and Hasbro decided to add a Rey piece to future editions later this year.

Paul Southern, head of licensing for Disney’s Lucasfilm, said part of the problem was high demand for hundreds of products featuring Rey meant some shoppers couldn’t find her on store shelves. Target spokesman Lee Henderson said Rey toys and apparel are selling “exceptionally well” and most stores are selling as

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press fast as they can stock shelves.

But Disney had also planned for more than a year to hold back certain toys to avoid giving away the key plot point where she picks up the lightsaber wielded

by Finn in order to duel new baddie Kylo Ren. Also, some merchandisers always hold back some product for big franchises— like the Hot Wheels-made speeder ship that shows Rey as she was seen in movie trailers — to keep up excitement about the brand.

“The fact that she was the ultimate heroine of the film

was one of the significant plot points we did want to protect,” Southern said in an interview.

That meant keeping Rey out of Monopoly, which featured legacy characters but only two characters from the new film — Kylo Ren and Finn. If Rey had been a piece instead of Finn, “we would be revealing she was the main protagonist,” Southern said.

The Monopoly game came out on Sept. 4, which Disney had dubbed “Force Friday.”

Jim Silver, the CEO and editor of toy review website TTPM.com, says another fac-

tor behind the perceived lack of Rey was unexpected demand. After all, throughout “Star Wars” merchandise history, evil lord Darth Vader has outsold any other character by at least three to one.

“We assumed Kylo Ren was going to be the next great villain,” he said.

Silver also said Disney was following through on a plan to release a huge batch of products on Force Friday, another set of toys that would have revealed spoilers on the movie’s release date Dec. 18 — including a lightsaber-wielding Rey that was exclusive to the Disney Store — and another batch in January.

Steve Sansweet, president

of the “Star Wars” memorabilia museum Rancho ObiWan near Petaluma, California, says Disney, Lucasfilm and the retailers are still adapting to the fact that “Star Wars” isn’t primarily a boy’s brand like before.

“I think Hollywood and merchandisers are waking up to the fact that it’s not just women and girls who want to buy Rey figures, it’s guys too,” he said.

Sansweet added that the conundrum creates an interesting collector’s item: the Monopoly game with Rey and the one without. “I want to get both versions,” he said.

Is this the last verse of “God Save the Queen?”

England debates the traditional sporting event song LONDON (AP) — Will England bid goodbye to “God Save the Queen?”

British lawmakers agreed Wednesday to consider replacing the royalist song that serves as England’s anthem at sporting events.

“God Save the Queen” is the national anthem of the United Kingdom — made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — and is played at the Olympics and other events where the U.K. fields a single team.

At contests where the four areas compete separately, such as the soccer World Cup, England and Northern Ireland generally use “God Save the Queen,” but Scotland and Wales have their own official songs — “Flower of Scotland” and “Land of My Fathers.”

Labour Party lawmaker Toby Perkins said adopting an English anthem would

“re-establish the idea that the United Kingdom is a union of four separate nations with their own identities.”

Perkins told the House of Commons that said “Jerusalem,” regarded by many as England’s unofficial anthem, was the most obvious choice.

The song, whose words are by mystical 18th-century poet William Blake, vows to transform a country of “dark satanic mills” into a “green and pleasant land” like the ancient England that, legend says, was once visited

by Jesus Christ.

Opposing the motion, traditionalist Conservative legislator Jacob Rees-Mogg said an English anthem would divide Britain by encouraging “individual nationalism.”

“What greater pleasure can there be for a true-born Englishman or true-born

Englishwoman than to listen to our own national anthem —a national anthem for our whole country, our whole United Kingdom,” Rees-Mogg said.

Under Perkins’ proposed change, “God Save the Queen” would continue to be sung at British team events. Northern Ireland could either stick with the status quo or choose its own anthem.

Lawmakers agreed to hold a full House of Commons debate in March on Perkins’ bill, which calls on the government to consult the public on a new anthem.

Perkins said his own canvassing had produced suggestions including “Land Of Hope And Glory,” ‘’There’ll Always Be An England” — and even “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” by The Smiths.

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ATV riders challenge longtime bans on use of public roads Concerns of safety still remain a legitimate counterpoint to ATV road use.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — When she crashed on an all-terrain vehicle, Megan Cratsley was hurt so badly that doctors had to amputate much of her right arm, a life-altering surgery that launched the teenager on a personal mission to change New York traffic laws to protect other ATV riders.

The buzzy, open-air vehicles are supposed to be banned from roads in New York and many other states.

But small communities across the nation are increasingly bending the rules under pressure from riders who want to go wherever they please, even though ATV manufacturers warn that the vehicles are unstable on flat terrain at high speed, and accidents on roads kill more than 300 riders each year.

The trend appalls public health officials and is opposed by the manufacturers.

“We’ve seen too many people die,” said Jen Kruzicke-Cratsley, Megan’s mother, who lives near Buffalo, New York, and joined in her daughter’s legislative efforts to make ATVs safer.

ATV enthusiasts acknowl-

allow ATV use on most roads other than highways. Utah lawmakers voted in 2015 to allow street-legal ATVs on the shoulders of all roads except interstate freeways.

In New York, ATVs are banned from public roads except for small stretches between off-road riding areas.

Yet small communities often grant unrestricted access if riders demand it, said Peter Bauer, executive director of the group Protect the Adirondacks, which often fights such efforts.

ATV manufacturers say the vehicles are designed only for off-road use. Many models have a higher center of gravity than cars. That design allows them to roll easily across uneven ground but also makes them more likely to topple over at high speed. They also have low-pressure tires that can make handling difficult on paved, dirt or gravel roads.

Studies show that more than half of fatal ATV crashes happened on roads. From 2003 to 2013, that number ranged from a high of 377 road deaths in 2008 to 301 in 2003.

Charles Jennissen, an

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press

opening up public roads as a common-sense move that carries little risk and can spur desperately needed economic growth in rural areas by attracting riders and increasing vehicle sales.

Michael Rygh, who coowns an ATV shop in Algona, Iowa, said a recent decision

“ATV manufacturers warn that the vehicles are unstable on flat terrain at high speed, and accidents on roads kill more than 300 riders each year.” edge the vehicles can be dangerous if not driven properly, but they say the risks are overstated.

Thirty-five states allow local jurisdictions to authorize ATVs on some roads or road shoulders, according to a study by the Consumer Federation of American. While no one tracks how many local governments have offered ATVs access to local roads, the number is rising, as are ATV sales.

In Iowa, at least 17 counties allow all-terrain vehicles on public roads, and a state official said that number could climb to 30 counties by next fall. It’s a similar trend in Minnesota, where at least a dozen counties permit some ATVs on roads, and in Indiana, where about half of counties do so.

West Virginia and Montana

emergency room doctor at the University of Iowa hospital in Iowa City, has studied the issue and travels around the state to discourage officials from legalizing ATVs on public roads. He’s losing far more fights than he’s winning.

The biggest issue is speed, Jennissen said. The most powerful all-terrain vehicles can travel 80 or 90 mph, but it’s nearly impossible to reach these speeds except on roads, so riders race down rural lanes without realizing the risk.

“We see lots of accidents that are totally preventable,” Jennissen said. “It’s devastating to families and devastating to communities, and they don’t need to happen.”

Riders say manufacturers’ warnings are more about limiting liability than averting serious danger. They regard

to open up Kossuth County roads to the vehicles has already boosted sales. He’s confident accidents will be rare.

In Iowa’s Louisa County, Tim Gerst said he had little trouble rounding up 400 signatures on a petition asking supervisors to permit ATVs on county roads. He acknowledges that people get hurt on the vehicles but insists “there’s nothing you can do in life that doesn’t carry risk.”

County supervisors are still studying the matter.

“I wish we didn’t have this decision to make,” Supervisor Randy Griffin said. “I’ll feel terrible if we do something and someone goes out and gets killed.”

Officials faced a similar choice last year in Lake County, Oregon, and opted to open up 700 miles of roads in the vast, sparely populated

high plateau region.

County Economic Development Director Rob Thornton said the goal was to generate money from tourism and possibly convince some tourists to come back to stay.

The scenic county of roughly 8,000 people has been hit hard by a decline in logging, and its remote location makes it hard to attract other industries.

The hope is to take advantage of the wide-open space by attracting riders not accustomed to so many miles of empty roads. Many people will “travel a long distance to come to a place they can ride,” Thornton said.

David Downing, who over-

sees ATV programs for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said the key to preventing accidents is education, not limiting access.

As long as riders receive proper training, Downing said, he doesn’t expect increased use of roads to result in more crashes. He acknowledged that riders who drive too fast can suddenly find themselves in trouble.

“It all comes down to how you operate them,” Downing said. “It will get you if you do something stupid.”

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A&E The Hateful Eight in review MSU Reporter

Tarantino’s latest film is entertaining but loses speed by the end.

“Sorry” by Justin Bieber

SHAWN CLOSE Staff Writer I get excited for things. I just can’t help it. I see a particularly good trailer or hear about a new movie with one of my favorite actors/directors/properties, and I tend to let my expectations spiral out of control until nothing on earth can satisfy me (except Mad Max: Fury Road, but that movie is otherworldly.) This has happened more times than it should have, turning movies that I should love into movies that I just kind of like, due to no fault of the movie itself.

I jumped hard onto the hype train for The Hateful Eight almost two and a half years ago, back when it was just a rumor of a rumor of

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something that might happen, and with every new bit of information and every trailer spot, the hype train kept moving down the track. The Hateful Eight is a western, a genre I love that almost never gets made anymore, by Quentin Tarantino, one of my favorite directors, with a full double fisted handful of iconic actors. So for two full years the hype train just kept

picking up speed. But something happened over the past couple of months. I started to worry. I was not certain that The Hateful Eight was going to be amazing, I just wanted it to be amazing very, very badly. I don’t know why my perspective changed—maybe I had too much time to think about it—but two and a half years is a long time to stay hyped. Maybe it fell to close

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to other movies I really wanted to see (such as Star Wars, The Revenant, and Creed.)

Maybe the whole “70mm true edition” threw me off. However it happened, my hype train started to slow down, so instead of crashing into

EIGHT page 15

Star Trek Beyond reveals new trailer Latest teaser showcases new characters, destruction of Enterprise.

“Stressed Out” by twenty one pilots

NOW PLAYING IN KATO: Star Wars: The Force Awakens The Revenant The Hateful Eight Concussion The Forest The Masked Saint

WES HUNTINGTON Staff Writer Over the Christmas break, and in particular if you saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens, you may have seen the Star Trek Beyond trailer. This article will attempt to analyze exactly what’s going on this film from the minute and a half trailer director Justin Lin put together to set us up for the third entry in the rebooted film series. Right from the get-go we are treated to a rendition of Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” which, if you recognize it, was the song that played over the scene where young Jim Kirk (Jimmy Bennett in that scene)

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CC BY 2.0 by kennymatic drove his uncle’s antiquated car through a dirt road in Iowa and crashed it into a ravine below (and possibly destroyed it too upon impact).

The music plays throughout the entire trailer, which is un-

usual for a Star Trek film, but if you have only seen the previous two films in the franchise, than it shouldn’t be.

The trailer shows the Enterprise being utterly destroyed by a swarm of ships

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that act like a swarm of bees stinging you everywhere. The only person seen in an es-

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Reviewing horror-comedy film Krampus MSU Reporter

This Christmas-themed thriller makes the naughty list.

MARYSA STORM Staff Writer Some pretty big movies came to theaters over winter break. There was Star Wars, of course, Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, the well-reviewed The Big Short, and then there was Krampus.

Yeah.

Krampus, a festive comedy-horror, is best described as National Lampoon’s

FEATURing: krampus

Henson. It’s also one of those movies that leaves you won-

Krampus, directed by Michael Dougherty (Trick ‘r

“The film is grim but not nearly dark or scary enough to reach the status of horror. Sure, the creatures may have jagged teeth and tormented faces but any horror they bring is short-lived. The film, much like the characters by the end, is in a strange sort of limbo.“ Christmas Vacation mashed up with some really dark Jim

dering, “What the hell did I just watch?”

Treat) is based off a German folk tale about a demonic

TREK Continued from page 13 cape pod is Kirk (Chris Pine) who sees his pride and joy being destroyed all around him and crashing on the surface of a nearby planet.

Right from the get-go you know something isn’t right when the Enterprise is destroyed and actually crash lands on a planet. Granted, the mighty starship has been destroyed twice before in 1984’s Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and 1994’s Star Trek Generations, but we have never seen it destroyed by an outside force. Instead, in those two instances, they were the result of either defeating an enemy force (as was the case in The Search for Spock) or the result of severe damage from a battle and forced to separate and crash land on an alien planet (as was the case in Generations). At least from this

trailer, we get to see some alien force destroying the Enterprise instead of the other two methods mentioned.

However, the biggest reveal of the entire trailer was the alien force at work in this film. We get our first glimpse of the two main alien roles in the film—Jaylah, played by Sofia Boutella, first reported as one of the earliest Beyond castings—and Krall, played by very popular British actor, Idris Elba. You see both of them say lines in the trailer, which will presumably be in the film. The best line in the trailer comes from Elba’s character of Krall, when he says “This is where it begins, Captain. This is where the frontier pushes back!” While we don’t know his species just yet, it sure seems like he’s a brand-

new alien race, one that is unique to the rebooted film series. From the way the trailer was put together, we can definitely see some humor that seems reminiscent of the original Star Trek with the scene with Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) and Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto), and the last one with Kirk and Jaylah beaming into an unknown location and falling face-first into the floor. The only questions that remain are: what species are Jaylah and Krall? What causes the swarm to destroy the Enterprise? Star Trek Beyond—directed by Justin Lin and written by Simon Pegg, Doug Jung, Roberto Orci, John D. Payne, and Patrick McKay—will hit theaters on July 22, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Star Trek.

creature — Kr ampus — that punishes naughty children or, as the film puts it, is the shadow of Santa. In the film, Krampus and a bag full of demented toys pay a visit to a dysfunctional family on Christmas in order to punish them for their lack of holiday cheer. The film documents Krampus and his minions as they pick off the family members (including the dog!) one by one.

The film is a strange hybrid of horror and comedy.

Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation, Hot Tub Time Machine 2) and David Koechner (The Office, Anchorman) both star in the film and they do bring some chuckles but not quite enough. The film is grim but not nearly dark or scary enough to reach the status of horror. Sure, the creatures may have jagged teeth and tormented faces but any horror they bring is shortlived. The film, much like the

characters by the end, is in a strange sort of limbo.

Not everything is bad, though. Despite its flaws, Krampus, like most Christmas movies, is a bit relatable. The family dynamics are exaggerated but odds are that we all know one or two relatives that fit the role of the gun-happy redneck (Koechner) or alcoholic aunt (Conchata Ferrell).

The arctic tundra that Krampus turns the family’s street into is quite Minnesota-y as well. Another plus would be Krampus and his collection of “helpers.” Most of the monsters, with only a few exceptions, seem to consist entirely of puppets or animatronics.

It’s incredibly refreshing in a world where CGI reigns supreme and the special effects might just have one reminiscing about Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal. I’m not sure if I would go as far as to call the movie cool, but Krampus himself sure is.

Now, will Krampus change your life? No. Is it a good comedy? No. How about horror? Nope, it doesn’t pass there either. But it is a good Christmas movie alternative if It’s a Wonderful Life doesn’t quite do it for you.

Reporter Rating

2 5

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Thursday, January 14, 2016

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MSU Reporter • 15

EIGHT Continued from page 13 the station and bursting into flames it just limped along until all I could hope for was that something was still alive when it finally arrived, and that’s so much worse.

While attempting to bring outlaw Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to the town of Red Rock, bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) encounters Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) on the road. While John is suspicious of Marquis, he agrees to allow him to ride along until they get to Red Rock.

A blizzard starts to brew and John decides to hold up at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a trading post, until the storm blows over. On the way, they encounter another traveler, Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), who, despite claiming to be the new sheriff of Red Rock, John trusts even less than Marquis. After much deliberation, John agrees to let Chris tag along and they all arrive at Minnie’s, which is inhabited by a collection

of shady characters. As the storm grows worse, the travelers realize that they will be stuck at Minnie’s for a few days, if they survive the night.

When The Hateful Eight works, it works really, really well. The first 45 minutes or so are great, full of absolutely gorgeous panning long shots that make you think of the great spaghetti westerns in all the best ways. The harsh winter conditions are shot so beautifully, but you always have a sense of how unforgiving the landscape really is. The movie has good sense of humor about itself and, while mostly serious in tone, it manages to set up some very good jokes. A “who done it” mystery at its heart, The Hateful Eight manages to keep a pretty good sense of tension going for most of the film’s three plus hour runtime. For those not fond of Tarantino’s timeline jumping ways, The Hateful Eight only uses the gimmick once, and it does it for what is possibly my

favorite scene in any of Tarantino’s movies.

But when The Hateful Eight doesn’t work, it really, really doesn’t work. First off, if you didn’t like Quentin’s use of the N-word in Django Unchained, you’re really going to not like The Hateful Eight. Pretty much every character calls Marquis the N-word multiple times during the movie. It’s used as a descriptor, as a put down, as an insult, it’s used constantly, prominently, and for every use you could imagine. I understand that the movie isn’t inhabited by the most outstanding of characters but at a certain point you kind of just need to step back and wonder if you want your movie to have as many white people saying the N-word as you had in American History X. To add to the anti-PC cake, Quentin seems to think that punching a woman is really, really funny, so there’s that. I have always been of the opinion that Quentin Tarantino is

Refugee artist creates portraits of Paris victims AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — When Syrian war refugee Lina Mahameed saw TV reports of the recent Paris attacks, she recognized her own story reflected in the brutality.

The 41-year old artist is now drawing portraits of some of the 130 people killed in the Nov. 13 attacks in the French capital, for which the extremist Islamic State group claimed responsibility.

Mahameed said they fell victim to the same fanaticism that killed her 16-yearold son Yasser at the beginning of Syria’s civil war.

“When these French people died in Paris, I felt their pain,” she said in her living room in the Jordanian capital of Amman, wearing a speckled headscarf.

“I felt what every mother feels when she loses someone to such a criminal act,” Mahameed said, gesturing with a wine-colored pencil.

“Their tragedy is like our tragedy.”

Mahameed found photos of the victims on the Internet, and used print-outs for pencil sketches of their faces: a young blonde girl seated before a meal, a bespectacled man in a green jacket smiling calmly, a dozen people staring straight at the camera.

Mahameed is now filling in the portraits’ colors. She is working in her Amman

apartment, where the walls are covered with canvases of beauty and disaster: elks in a golden forest; a frowning clown with a handful of balloons; children behind barbed wire, screaming next to splattered blood; a man clutching a stomach wound; a half-finished painting of Damascus’ Umayyad Mosque, symbolic of home and the cultural heritage she, too, fears is targeted by extremism sweeping the world.

On April 24, 2012, Syrian government tanks shells blew up part of the family home in the southern town of Deraa, cradle of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad that quickly turned into a civil war. When the family fled across the street, a sniper killed Yasser.

Government forces kept the body for 15 days before the family could bury him.

Mahameed, left with three children, hopes the portraits will warm the hearts of the victims’ families, though she hasn’t figured out how to deliver the drawings. “We are martyrs, and they are martyrs,” she said. “Innocent people don’t have anything to do with politics or other countries.”

Mahameed was encouraged to paint by her father, an architect, and she had her first exhibition at age 14. She sold paintings in

Syria and the United Arab Emirates before marriage.

Motherhood slowed her career, but the war brought it to a halt.

After the death of Yasser, the family spent a year on the move, trying to evade street battles. The Mahameeds decided to flee Syria when government soldiers entered their lodging and saw a picture of Yasser with the label of “martyr.”

“They said he wasn’t a martyr, but a terrorist,” Mahameed said.

Troops poured gasoline in their rooms and set fire to the building.

The family left for Egypt where they lived for eight months before Mahameed decided to split from her husband. She flew to Amman in August 2013, along with 16-year-old daughter Ronza and sons Usama, 9, and Rayan, 6.

Mahameed hopes to leave Jordan soon because she is unable to work legally.

Through the tragedies, her art has remained. She believes it can chase away some of the dark images she says have infected the psyches of Syrian children, including that of Usama — whose notebooks are filled with war scenes.

“We must heal psychologically, and draw out these dark ideas from inside them,” Mahameed said.

the master of creating and killing his own momentum.

He just can’t seem to keep a good, steady pace in his movies, and the longer the movie goes (and The Hateful Eight is a long movie), the worse it gets. Quentin’s biggest strength and greatest weakness is that he simply does not give a shit about anyone else’s opinion but his own; he’s going to make the movie that he want’s to make, for better or for worse. At his best, Quentin’s movies have amazing scenes that no other director would have the courage (or more likely, arrogance) to include. But sometimes those scenes aren’t that great, and they have the side effect of slowing the movie down at bad times (almost every movie he’s ever made has at least one of these scenes) and unfortunately The Hateful Eight misses more than it hits, making the movie incredibly slow at times.

Pacing issues aside, the script just isn’t that good.

Quentin has a tendency to be really loose with actors he likes, giving them room to let the actor fill up their role. Un-

fortunately, the movie has too many actors that he likes, so large portions of the movie feel like it’s semi-improvised, filling up space in parts where there wasn’t a clear idea for the script. The actors are (for the most part) doing a good job with their parts, but without any sort of structure to put it in, all the long conversations that make up the bulk of the film’s run time just fall flat. It doesn’t help that most of the conversations follow the same structure. It goes something like this: Character 1: “Are you blah blah blah?”

Character 2: “Yes, I am blah blah blah.”

Character 1: “The blah blah blah that blah blahed the blah blah at blah? That blah blah blah.”

Character 2: “Yes, I am that blah blah blah.”

Character 1: “No way, I never thought I would meet the blah blah blah.”

That conversation happens like 20 times, some-

EIGHT page 16

16 • MSU Reporter

A&E

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Marvel’s Deadpool movie to release February 12 Ryan Reynolds to reprise role for upcoming action film.

KAARINA MAKI Staff Writer If you haven’t noticed lately, films about superheroes saving the day and struggling to do the right thing while making everyone happy seem to be just about everywhere.

These films might have some light, funny moments (like in Ant-Man, thanks to Michael Pena!), but overall they have a very brooding style. However, one superhero film is changing that.

Nearly everyone I’ve talked to who enjoys films about heroes with red capes or CC BY 2.0 by Dashu Pagla

“It was clear from the first trailer, though, that this film was going to be very different from any other Marvel movie. It was the first to have a red band trailer, which featured plenty of graphic images and frequent profanity.“

EIGHT

mythical hammers is excited about Marvel’s new Dead-

Continued from page 15

times multiple times in the same scene. It’s like Quentin is trying to weave together some kind of grand mythos of cool cowboys by having all the characters tell campfire stories about each other. It barely works and it gets old really fast. It’s the exact opposite of “show, don’t tell.”

In addition, I felt that the ending (just like Django) wasn’t a very good fit for the rest of the movie. For a movie that does such a good job of building slow tension, it’s a shame that it ends in such a sloppy, haphazard sequence that seems more interested in appeasing gore hounds and creating shock value than building off the rest of the movie.

If it feels like I’m dumping on the movie, it’s because I am. I feel like The Hateful Eight could have been so good and the fact that it’s

not hurts me. I want to give it a lower score, I really do. I don’t think it deserves a four out of five. There are movies that I enjoyed much more that I would give a four out of five. But I’m giving it a four out of five, not because I think it deserves it but because I trust Quentin’s track record, and I’m willing to admit that my feelings going into it might have hurt my enjoyment of the film.

So hopefully in a different time, in a different place, I can re-watch The Hateful Eight and enjoy it more. But for now it’s just a movie with a few fantastic scenes that gets lost in a whole lot of small talk.

Reporter Rating

4 5

pool film. It was clear from the first trailer, though, that this film was going to be very different from any other Marvel movie. It was the first to have a red band trailer, which featured plenty of graphic images and frequent profanity. And now, it’s gotten the rating that many people saw coming: an R rating for profanity, violence, and sexual

content.

The film stars Ryan Reynolds as Marvel’s most notorious anti-hero, and is set for release on February 12 of this year (in case you didn’t know what to do for Valentine’s Day). This isn’t the first time Reynolds has been the hero in a film. He played the Green Lantern in the 2011 film of the same name, and the film was a flop at the box office.

So, when fans of Deadpool became worried about the casting choice, Reynolds calmed everyone when in the red band trailer his character remarks, “…and please don’t make the suit green, or animated!” The most recent trailer, which was released on Christmas day, shows the film having a slight crossover with the X-Men films, since the film is being produced by 20th Century Fox. What does this mean for future X-Men films and possible future Deadpool films? Only time will tell.

But one thing is certain: this hero would be dropped by the Avengers in a heartbeat.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

A&E

MSU Reporter • 17

A student’s guide to campus-friendly cooking How to make the most out of the residence hall kitchen facilities.

RYAN NEIL Staff Writer First off, I would like to wish everybody a happy return to school here at MSU! I hope everybody got what they wanted for Christmas and has at least thought about upholding their New Year’s resolution. I’m sure there are some of you in the dorms that made it your resolution to cut back on going to the cafe at Carkoski to shake things up and cultivate your culinary techniques. Cooking for yourself is great, but

Taylor Kirby poses at one of the many stove tops in Julia Sears.

“Kirby admitted to me that last semester she did not use the floor kitchens even ‘once a week,’ but this semester she plans on cooking her own meals everyday. She cooks a wide variety of pastas and stir-fries with fresh ingredients on the stove top located in the kitchen on her floor.“ how much can you really do with what you are given in the dorms here on campus?

I never got the chance to live in the dorms so I sat down with Taylor Kirby, a freshman majoring in Law Enforcement, to take a look at what is cooking in Julia Sears. I met Kirby in the lobby of Sears where she checked out a variety of pots and pans along with some cooking utensils with

her MavCard. It was just a quick process to get all the items she needed to be ready to make a meal.

Kirby admitted to me that last semester she did not use the floor kitchens even “once a week,” but this semester she plans on cooking her own meals everyday. She cooks a variety of pastas and stir-fries with fresh ingredients on the stove top located in the kitchen on her floor. Since there

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are no heating elements allowed in the dorm rooms,

Photo by Ryan Neil these stoves are vital for making most dishes. During dinner hours, Kirby said that the floor kitchens can get a little hectic but most of the day it is just people running to the microwave to reheat leftovers and snacks.

Students are allowed to have fridges in their dorms to store their food in, which makes it possible to have a supply of veggies and meats to make dishes fresh. “Though they are not full size, obviously there is enough room to keep a couple items,” says Kirby.

Some students even have

mini-freezers for a wider selection of what you can cook.

The food in the cafe is good, says Kirby, but she has made the switch just so that she can make her food to order and in smaller portions.

The cafe offers a wide variety of foods and is always convenient for those students on the go. I was impressed with the selection of foods ranging from Italian to burgers to Mexican. There are definitely enough options to keep any student happy with what is on their plate. Some students would just rather make the meal in their own way.

Being able to have the option to make your own dish or to get something quick from the cafe or any of the other dining options on campus is great. MSU does a great job of accommodating all academic lifestyles and allows the students to choose how they get their grub on.

Whether you decide to run down to the cafe for coffee and a doughnut before your 8 a.m. or to marinate chicken overnight for a spectacular stir-fry, the options are here.

18 • MSU Reporter

A&E

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Jordanian movie short-listed for Oscar nomination Drama film, Theeb, explores Bedouin history and culture in 1916.

AL-SHAKRIYEH, Jordan (AP) — A coming-of-age drama set among Bedouin tribesmen roaming the desert emerged as the first potential Oscar contender produced by Jordan’s nascent film industry.

“Theeb” (Wolf), set in 1916, tells the story of a playful 11-year-old Bedouin boy of the same name who gets caught up in his tribe’s alliance with the British against Ottoman rulers during the era’s Arab Revolt.

Billed as a “Bedouin Western” and an authentic portrayal of Bedouin culture, Theeb is one of nine movies short-listed for best foreign language film nominations.

The final five will be announced Thursday.

For the amateur cast from a Bedouin clan and for two young Jordanians writing and directing their first feature film, making Theeb has already been a wild ride, climaxing in the 2014 world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. That marked the first time the actors left Jordan or saw the entire film.

“They got a 10-minute standing ovation,” said director Naji Abu Nowar, who won for best director in the “Orrizonti” (Horizons) category in Venice.

“The Bedouins, it’s a very macho culture, and you never see anyone cry, even the children ... and to see tears coming out of some of their eyes (during the premiere) was a really powerful moment,” he said, speaking from the Palm Springs International Film Festival, a last pre-Oscar opportunity to promote foreign films.

Theeb also won two nominations from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, or BAFTA, for its 2016 awards — for best foreign language film and for outstanding directorial debut for Abu Nowar, who is also British.

The actors have since resumed their lives in al-Shakri-

5

$

00

Photo Courtesy of The Associated Press yeh, a small Bedouin village nestled among striking rock formations rising from the desert floor of Wadi Rum, a protected landscape just north of the Red Sea and one of Jordan’s main tourist attractions.

Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, who played Theeb, is now 15, attends 10th grade and has revised his career plans, from police officer to actor. “I’m a celebrity among my friends now,” said Jacir, who has morphed from a boy with a sweet smile into a guarded teen.

His cousin, Hussein Salameh al-Sweilhiyeen, who played Theeb’s brother Hussein, is back to racing camels and working as a tourist guide. Since Theeb, he has appeared in a German TV documentary about Wadi Rum and a Jordanian tourism commercial, and said he would like to do more acting.

Al-Sweilhiyeen said being involved in Theeb made him aware of the need to protect traditions. Bedouin lifestyles in the area have changed dramatically in the last few decades, with nomads settling down, trading their camels for pickup trucks and living off tourists instead of goat herds.

“Sometimes I say the old life was better,” said al-Swei-

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lhiyeen, sitting on the floor of the carpeted family diwan, or traditional reception area for guests. “The desert teaches you how to depend on yourself. Now we have good services, but we need to protect some old customs.”

Jacir’s father, 42-year-old Eid, still remembers the old ways; he was born in a tent and as a boy rode camels over long distances as his family wandered the desert before settling down about 30 years ago. He dropped out of school as a 15-yearold, taught himself English, began guiding tourists and recently sold his last camels, saying he doesn’t have the time and space to care for them properly.

Al-Hwietat became the

local point man for the filmmakers, Abu Nowar and Bassel Ghandour, who produced the film and co-wrote the script. The pair lived in al-Shakriyeh for most of 2012, soaking up Bedouin culture, rewriting the script and holding acting workshops for the local cast.

Theeb was filmed over five weeks by veteran Austrian cinematographer Wolfgang Thaler, the most experienced crew member and praised by all involved as the bedrock of the production.

Ghandour said Thaler used super-16mm film in part because it captures the desert’s harsh sun and deep shadows more naturally. Theeb, also released commercially, was “definitely low-budget,”

Ghandour said, but wouldn’t reveal how much it cost to make.

Half a century before Theeb, scenes of the Oscar-winning epic “Lawrence of Arabia” about maverick British army officer T. E. Lawrence were filmed in Wadi Rum, just minutes from where Jacir and his family live.

Jacir’s grandfather was part of the local support staff for “Lawrence,” also set during the Arab Revolt, and the tradition continues. Jacir’s father, Eid, has worked on international productions, most recently as a location manager for “The Martian,” a 2015 science fiction film starring Matt Damon, which just won a Golden Globe Award for Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture.

Back in al-Shakriyeh, the Theeb cast members play it cool, despite what appears to be a mild case of Oscar fever.

If Theeb is nominated, four of them plan to travel to the awards ceremony in Hollywood — Jacir, his father Eid, cousin Hussein and the film’s villain, played by local resident Hassan Mutlaq al-Maraiyeh.

Like others in the film industry, they have already thought about what to wear for the big night — black robes, the Bedouin version of formal attire, instead of the beige ones for every day, said Jacir’s father.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Sports

MSU Reporter • 19

Sports 2015: A season to remember for the Vikings A NFC North title has put the Minnesota Vikings on the map.

SCORES: FOOTBALL NBA September January 12,3, 2016 2015 Thunder................................

Mavericks. ..............................

101 35 UMD..........................................

Timberwolves. ...................... 96 21

VOLLEYBALL

Rockets................................ 107 Grizzles..................................... 91 September 11, 2015 Mavericks............................... 35 Maryville University.......... 21 Wizards................................... 97 Cavaliers.................................. 85

TOMMY WIITA Staff Writer During his first press conference getting introduced as the new head coach for the Minnesota Vikings, Mike Zimmer said a statement amongst others that echoed through Viking fan’s ears.

“I fix stuff. I am going to… fix this.”

It has been two seasons now with Zimmer, as it has only taken that long to win the NFC North title and a couple plays away from a playoff victory. This season was a season to remember for the Minnesota Vikings, as most so-called experts had them finishing behind the Green Bay Packers at the beginning of the year. Although there were some saying the Vikings could be a dark horse with their star player in Adrian Peterson returning, the doubt was right in the face of the organization. An 11-5 record later, those doubts were quickly gone.

The defense improved by a vast amount, as they finished the season tied for second in the league in total defense.

The rookie linebacker out of UCLA, Eric Kendricks, was the pleasant surprise of the season for the Vikings’ resurgent defense, as he also recorded four sacks for the season as well. The line-backing tandem of Kendricks, Anthony

CROSS COUNTRY

September 20, 2015 Cavaliers. ...............................110 Mavericks............................

107 .............................

35 UMD.......................................... 21

GOLF

Pelicans.................................... 91 Lakers....................................... 95 September 11, 2015 Mavericks............................... 35 Maryville University.......... 21

Photos Courtesy of the Associated Press Stefon Diggs was second in reciving yards by a rookie in 2015. He was the 21st WR taken.

Barr and Chad Greenway mostly held their own over the middle. With the season over, Greenway made it known that he did not want to be finished.

“I can’t imagine seeing it end like this,” Greenway said after the Wild Card loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Greenway will be a free agent going into the offseason, so it shall be interesting to see if the Vikings make a move to keep him or move forward with their youth movement.

The defensive line was something to be proud of as well, as the defensive tackle duo of Sharrif Floyd and Linval Joseph performed at a Pro Bowl level at times. It Joseph

never suffered a lingering injury towards the end of the season, he would have most certainly made the Pro Bowl roster. Defensive End Everson Griffen was a force and should figure to be for a good amount of time, and the experienced Brian Robison had himself a nice year as well.

The defensive front seven was a key factor towards the Vikings’ success on defense against the rest of the league.

The secondary looked better than last year, but Harrison Smith again battled some injuries towards the end of the year. Smith is hoping to get healthy and stay healthy, as that as of late has been somewhat difficult for the star safety. Xavier Rhodes started to come into his own this season as well, as he was seventh on the team in total tackles and showed he could handle the best receivers in the league this season. His development should only get better from here, which could result in more success for the Vikings’ secondary.

As for the offense, it is something that can definitely be worked on. Not stating it was awful, as running back and 2015 Pro Bowler Adrian Peterson led the NFL in total rushing yards after missing almost a full season last year,

tallying 1,485 yards and 11 touchdowns.

The development of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is continuing to be a work-inprogress, as the second year Bridgewater threw for 3,231 yards, 14 touchdowns against nine interceptions and a 65.3 completion percentage. The decision making was shaky at times, but Teddy will be working hard this offseason to further his game at the level Minnesota would like to see.

Wide Receiver Stefon Diggs was an absolute animal this season, as his breakout rookie season did and will leave a lasting impression for years to come. The former Maryland Terrapin had a team leading 52 catches for 720 yards and four touchdowns.

At the beginning of the season, Diggs was not even seeing any playing time due to Charles Johnson having the job. Once Johnson went down with an injury, Diggs did not miss a beat in stepping up and showing out.

What can we say about this year’s Minnesota Vikings? All in all, it was a terrific step in the right direction, and Head Coach Mike Zimmer should only build on this success and inch closer to a Super Bowl next season.

NEXT UP: MEN’S FOOTBALL HOCKEY September 12, 2015

January 16-17, 2016 @ Northern State Aberdeen, SD Michigan Tech Houghton, Michigan

VOLLEYBALL WOMEN’S September 17, 2015 Winona State University HOCKEY Taylor Center January 16-17, 216 University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minn

CROSS COUNTRY

September 27, 2015

BASKETBALL @ Roy Griak Invitational Minneapolis, MN January 15, 2016

GOLF

Bemdiji State Taylor Center September 18, 2015 @ UNK Invitational Kearney, NE

EMAIL THE SPORTS EDITOR:

EDITOR MUGSHOT LUKE LONIEN

luke.lonien @mnsu.edu OR AT reporter-sports @mnsu.edu

20 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Timberwolves young talent is promising The franchise with the NBA’s longest playoff drought is producing a goldmine of talent.

COREY YUMAN Staff Writer The Minnesota Timberwolves are a goldmine of potential right now. This is a team that has plenty of young talent, mostly because of unusually great drafting by the Timberwolves. Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, and Karl Anthony Towns are the incredibly young core that will hopefully be leading the Timberwolves for an extensive time to come. When Muhammad was drafted in 2013, it was hard to imagine that this is the direction the Wolves would be in. Now fans wait patiently as they watch the young pups become wolves, but just how much have they developed, and are they developing quick enough?

Muhammad came to the Wolves in 2013 in a trade with the Utah Jazz. The trade also brought along Gorgui Dieng.

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press Zach LaVine is in a slump, but is looking to bounce back after an impressive 21-point nine rebound performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night.

in his rookie season. Neither man was able to make a big impression in the scoring category, averaging under five points a game each. While they didn’t initially blow peo-

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press Shabazz Muhammad is playing stellar basketball off the bench for the Timberwolves and is looking to get more minutes as the season goes one.

Neither came to the team with a significant role, Muhammad was even playing less than 10 minutes a game most nights

ple away with their play, both Muhammad and Dieng have become valuable members of the team coming off the bench.

Muhammad is averaging just over nine points, while Dieng is averaging eight points and six rebounds a game this season. If the development of Dieng continues the way it been there is no reason not to believe Wolves fans won’t be seeing a front court with Dieng and Towns. While Dieng’s stats are slightly down from last season, he’s also playing fewer minutes, but the fact that he is still being productive within those minutes is a very positive sign. He’s shooting above 50 percent this season, and is quickly turning into one of the best players coming off the bench.

Muhammad has spent a decent portion of his first two seasons dealing with injuries. The sky’s the limit for the young man that has shown plenty of skill on the court. Still, like many players that occupy the Wolves roster right now, the key to his future success is going to lie almost solely on staying on the court. On the bright side his shot selection has continue to improve, and is becoming one of the stronger parts his game. On a team in need of reliable scoring options this could be the way he makes his mark on a growingly crowded team of talent.

The 2014 draft came amidst controversy in the Wolves locker room. It was publicly known that Kevin Love was ready to leave, and during a time that appeared to have no hope in the future of the Wolves came LaVine.

LaVine became a viral sensation right out the gate when it

appeared that he was caught saying a terrible saying after it was announced he was being drafted by the Timberwolves.

The hopelessness on the franchise didn’t last long though, as Kevin Love was soon traded for the number one draft pick of that year, Wiggins.

LaVine’s apparent sour attitude towards playing in Minnesota seemingly washed away after the blockbuster trade. While a lot of his play went a bit overlooked in his rookie campaign due to Wiggins’ great play, LaVine still quietly had a great rookie year. He’s come into this season upping, or at least staying

on par with the averages he set last year.

The most alarming thing may be that his shooting percentages has went down, and is often seen chucking up shots that looked doomed from launch. He was originally set to have the starting spot in the shooting guard position, but that experiment was quickly cut short.

Wiggins made an instant impact, and was named rookie of the year in the 2014-15 season. That great play has continued into this year. In just his second season of play Wiggins is averaging 20 points per game on a 43 percent shooting average.

The biggest hole in Wiggins’ game right now is how often he isn’t able to fill up a stat line. He’s only averaging two assists a game between both years of play, and there is something left to be desired in his rebounding abilities.

Despite that, the Wolves still have a bonafide star on their hands, and will likely be the face of the franchise for quite some time to come.

Three of the stars of the Wolves, Wiggins, LaVine, and Towns, are all younger than a lot of the seniors that will be graduating this year. They still learning, growing as people, and adjusting to the high demands of the NBA. In a time where instant gratification is the norm a lot of people may not look at these young men and want to be patient with their growth, but as with anything that requires time to bloom patience will be key.

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Thursday, January 14, 2016

Sports

MSU Reporter • 21

NBA predictions and recap: Season well underway Golden State’s impressive start has put them in the conversation with the ‘96-’97 Bulls.

KELCIE RICHMOND Staff Writer This might be a shock to some but the 2015-2016 NBA season is already almost half over. While many sports fans have been focusing on the college football playoffs and recovering from the Vikings debacle last Sunday, they have missed some great games on the basketball court.

There are so many teams with similar records fighting for a spot in the playoffs.

However, with only half the season over there is plenty of time to jump ahead. So what are some mid-season play predictions?

The reigning NBA champions are playing outstanding basketball. The Golden State Warriors currently hold

point to matching the historic 1996-1997 Bulls record of 72-10. The question is if the Warriors can keep this type of high-energy basketball up for the rest of the regular season.

They are a lock for the playoffs and can easily contend for a repeat championship.

The West is struggling more than usual this year.

In the top eight spots in the West two teams have a below .500 record. However, the San Antonio Spurs are right behind the Warriors at 33-6.

It’s amazing that veterans like Tim Duncan and Tony Parker can still get things done at such a high level against so many young teams.

Another top West contender is the Oklahoma City Thunder. With Kevin Durant back at full strength and Russell Westbrook by his side they should dominate. Those two on the court in their prime are hard to beat.

The last five spots are up for grabs. Teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks,

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press Jimmy Butler continues to build off of last year’s breakout season. Butler averages 22 points four assist and five rebounds a game. the best record in the NBA at 36-2 with both losses coming on the road. They also currently hold their longest winning-streak at home at 36 wins.

With those 36 wins the Warriors are at the halfway

Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings all have a chance to squeeze their way into that top eight.

However, it is likely that the eighth and last spot will go to either Jazz or Kings.

The Eastern Conference is

much different than in past years. Unlike the West, there are 10 teams over the .500 mark with their records and two other teams close behind.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are paving their way through the conference with 27 wins and nine losses. No other team really comes close to them right now and it’s a safe bet that they will take the East again this year and try for a championship run.

However, the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls are only one game apart from each other to gain that second spot.

The Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat are tied for sixth place at the moment but each team is capable of pulling ahead and being in the top four.

There are six other teams that really need to step up their game if they want a spot in the post season. The Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets are all in the running for a seventh or eighth spot.

In the end, solid predictions for each conference from first to eighth place are Golden State, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers, Houston, Dallas, Memphis and Utah for the West. In the East, Cleveland, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Indiana, Miami, Orlando and New York will all see post-season action.

Many analysts have counted out Golden State for a second championship but don’t sleep on them. The Spurs may be too tired to get past such a young team.

Cleveland is almost a lock to win the East.

The NBA will continue their competitive action until early April, to watch games head to ESPN, TNT, NBA TV or ABC.

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22 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Thursday, January 14, 2016

NFL approves Rams to LA, Chargers option to join HOUSTON (AP) — The Rams are moving back to Los Angeles, maybe with company.

The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders might end up staying put, although the leadership of both teams didn’t come close to making that commitment Tuesday night. Or one of them could be headed to L.A., too.

A long day of votes and re-votes ended with 30 of 32 NFL owners approving Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s ambitious plan to move his team from St. Louis to the site of the old Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood, California, about 10 miles from downtown LA. The Chargers have a yearlong option to join the Rams, followed by the Raiders if the San Diego franchise declines.

The Raiders and Chargers had a competing proposal to share a new stadium in nearby Carson, but neither option got the 24 votes needed for approval. After another negotiating session in the afternoon, Kroenke’s $1.8 billion project prevailed.

The decision ends the NFL’s 21-year absence from the nation’s second-largest media market.

“I often said over those 21 years what we need is a great facility,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said at a news conference about 11 hours after the meetings began. “I think what happened over the last years is we had two outstanding opportunities, both of these stadium projects were outstanding.”

Chargers chairman Dean Spanos was asked if he intended to play in Los Angeles in 2016.

“I’m going to take a day off tomorrow I think,” Spanos said. “This has really been excruciating for everyone. It’s very difficult to say right now I’m going to do this or do that.”

Oakland is still in debt from a renovation 20 years ago when the Raiders moved back from Los Angeles. City officials have said they won’t seek help from taxpayers with a new stadium, and asked the NFL for more time to develop a project in a response to the Raiders’ relocation plan. The NFL gave it to them.

“We’ll see where the Raider nation ends up here,” said owner Mark Davis, who was equally noncommittal in comments to reporters outside the news conference. “We’ll be working really hard to find us a home. So for our fans and everything else, don’t feel bad. We’ll get it right.”

Ray Perez, a 28-year-old Raiders fan from Sacramento

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis were the Rams use to play their home games. They will relocate to LA . who goes by the moniker Dr. Death, traveled to the Houston meeting in his usual Black Hole garb and was cautiously optimistic after hearing the news.

“I will not be completely, fully thrilled until the ink dries on paper and we know we’re staying in Oakland in a new stadium,” Perez said. “I’m very happy, very happy. But I’m not going to be overjoyed until we sign a stadium deal to keep the Raiders in Oakland with our own stadium.”

The Chargers play 120 miles south of Inglewood in aging Qualcomm Stadium.

The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982-94 and currently split a facility with

baseball’s Athletics, the last remaining combination stadium.

The Rams — based in the LA area from 1946-94 — will likely have a temporary home at the Los Angeles Coliseum until the new stadium is ready in 2019. It’s unclear where the Chargers would play if they move.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer says the city and county will negotiate with the Chargers, but “are not interested in a charade by the Chargers if they continue to pursue Los Angeles.”

St. Louis had a plan for an open-air, $1.1 billion stadium along the Mississippi River north of the Gateway Arch

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to replace the Edward Jones Dome. But Kroenke mostly ignored the city’s overtures, and Goodell said the requirement of at least $200 million from the NFL was double what league policy allowed.

Kroenke also has said St. Louis’ economy makes it difficult for an NFL franchise to thrive there.

“We understand the emotions involved of our fans,” he said. “We made a decision and worked long and hard at the various alternatives.

When they didn’t succeed, we worked this one to this point.”

The last NFL franchise to move was the Houston Oilers — led by current Rams

coach and California native Jeff Fisher — to Tennessee in 1997. The Raiders and Rams both left Los Angeles after the 1994 season.

“It is troubling that the league would allow for the relocation of a team when a home market has worked in good faith and presented a strong and viable proposal,” Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said.

“We will review the NFL’s decision thoroughly before determining what next steps to take.”

Goodell offered the first signal the NFL might be intent on making a decision it delayed six weeks earlier in the Dallas area. Days before the Houston meeting, he issued a report to all 32 teams that deemed the venues in all three existing cities inadequate and questioned the stadium proposals.

The relocation agreement gives the Chargers and Raiders $100 million each if they build new stadiums in their current markets, but a stadium plan is required within a year.

The Rams also have to wait at least a year to negotiate naming rights on the new stadium unless they reach a deal with a second team before then.

“It’s been going on for like two years that we’ve been working on this,” said Houston owner Bob McNair, who beat out Los Angeles in a bid for an expansion franchise that debuted in 2002. “We’re quite pleased with the outcome and look forward to the development of a real NFL campus out in Los Angeles.”

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Thursday, January 14, 2016

Sports

MSU Reporter • 23

Slow starts not helping streaky Wild The Minnesota Wild have lost their five home games and will have to turn it around to make a deep playoff run.

DREW MEZZANO Staff Writer Since the New Year has come around, the Minnesota Wild have gone 2-5 in their first seven games of 2016. As of right now, they hold the number one wild card spot in the Western Conference with 52 points and trail the St. Blues by five points for the third spot in the Central Division. They would take on the also streaky Buffalo Sabers on Tuesday night on home ice.

The expectations were set high for the Wild as this is a usual midseason game that the team is used to playing.

Not to mention the Sabers are struggling once again this season as they are continuing to rebuild their franchise. Buffalo is sitting third to last in the NHL this season.

Typically, the Wild have not had many issues pouring on the offense when they play Buffalo every mid-season.

But as of lately the Wild have not been a first period team.

In Tuesday nights game the Sabers were able to jump ahead of Minnesota 3-0 in the first period. Wild’s forward Erik Haula commented on

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Pres The Minnesota Wild have had several issues including their power play and penalty kill this season. The Wild rank 19th in the NHL with a 17.7 power play percentage as well as ranking 18th in the NHL with a 79.6 penalty kill percentage. the team’s poor play saying, “That’s unacceptable” and “it’s pretty embarrassing [being down by 3 after the first].”

Minnesota was able to close the gap on the Sabers and ended up losing by a small margin of 3-2. In today’s league, it is extremely important to get a fast start to your game; as you can see here that it is hard to gain back the lead on any team. The Wild

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were able to get goals from Ryan Suter in the second period and then with 52 seconds remaining in the third, Thomas Vanek was able to shimmer some hope for the players and fans in Minnesota.

The Wild look to be in a good spot, as they went into one of the NHL’s hardest places to play this season and

got a 2-1 win over the Central Division leading Dallas Stars. The Wild followed that up with two terrible performances against the New Jersey Devils and the Sabers at home.

If the Wild want to jump the Blues and Blackhawks they will have to start winning at home. A five game losing

steak is just unacceptable for a team of this caliber. Especially loses against three teams struggling in the Eastern conference.

One trade rumor out is that the Wild are interested in Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathon Drouin. The price for Drouin is said to be talented Defenseman. One that comes to mind for the Wild to give up would be Matt Dumba. Of course, this is all speculation but it is something the Wild are interested in.

Drouin is a 20-year-old forward that has had trouble staying healthy this season.

His camp has asked for a trade away from Tampa Bay, and Minnesota is one of the many teams interested in the young forward.

Minnesota needs to turn things around if they want to consider themselves a serious playoff contender come midApril. The Wild will host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday hoping for a better outcome on home ice before they leave for a four game road trip out west.

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24 • MSU Reporter

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Thursday, January 14, 2016