January 18, 2018

The

Minnesota State University Mankato

www.msureporter.com

Dr. King’s 1961 Mankato speeches added to archives

Calling all ARCH contains audio and transcripts of both speeches presented Vikings fans ALISSA THIELGES News Editor

EMMANUELLA SHOKARE Staff Writer Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Archives Digital Collections (ARCH) recently added a new audio and transcript collection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech which he delivered at Mankato High School during a visit on Nov. 12, 1961.

The speech was part of the Third Annual Lectureship for the Wesley Foundation, a Mankato State College religious student organization.

Dr. King delivered two speeches during his visit to Mankato: “The Good Neighbor” at Centenary Methodist Church and a speech at Mankato High School. The audio recording was provided by Minnesota State University, Mankato radio station, KMSU, and

Photo courtesy of U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

it was titled “Facing the Challenge of a New Age.” The ARCH department was able to upload the audio speech and transcript, which they had to review so that people would know what Dr. King was saying in the audio since it is difficult to hear. They want people to know what message Dr.

King was trying to send to the public and what people were thinking at that time.

The ARCH department also uploaded some news articles online that were published in the College Reporter during Dr. King’s visit on their page.

It can be said that people still follow Dr. King’s ideas and also fulfill the reason for

why Martin Luther King Day of Service was created.

“The fact that the Pathfinder awards were presented on the Martin Luther King Day of Service in Mankato and that the

KING PAGE 4

An interview with MNSU’s first Hmong professor Dr. Brian Xiong states college is the place for students to make mistakes TAEHUI PARK Staff Writer “You, as a student, have a reason to make mistakes,” said Dr. Brian Vangtou Xiong.

He says that student life is the time to make mistakes and learn from them.

Dr. Xiong is the first Hmong professor and doctoral student to graduate from Minnesota State University, Mankato. He affirms the confidence in achieving academic success as well as life goals.

“Make mistakes and learn from them. That is also the only way to learn,” Xiong said.

As a graduating senior

TODAY’S FEATURED STORIES

who has already been through educational courses, Xiong said that it is essential for students to keep staying on course and to not give up.

He added that it is okay for

academic success.

“We know that the U.S. population is increasing and the majority will become the minority and minority will become the majority in the

“Oftentimes, we talk about what we need to prepare students for college. But is the university prepared for the students?” students to be ambivalent about choosing their studies if they are willing to keep themselves on track for their

next 20 years, and we need to prepare for that,” he said.

“Oftentimes, we talk about what we need to prepare

students for college. But is the university prepared for the students?”

Xiong also emphasizes the importance of diversity on campus. He said that American students as well as international students need to try to be more involved with school activities, and help each other out because we are all connected. We should be able to do that at MNSU. “MNSU was a great school for me to study because it not only gave me a chance to meet many friends overall

XIONG PAGE 2

Are resolutions still a thing?

TV review: Black Mirror’s new season

Men’s basketball is heating up

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MNSU students have a unique opportunity to cheer on the Vikings during their next game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

KARE 11 has asked communities to submit Skol chants that will be running during the upcoming game this Sunday. MNSU’s video recording will be taking place on campus Thursday in Bresnan Arena at 6 p.m.

“We got involved with this promotion after seeing the #onemn movement on social media,” said Greg Weis, assistant athletic director for Development and Revenue Generation. “We want to support the Vikings organization and of course, Adam Thielen.”

The video will be sent to multiple news stations who will be broadcasting the NFC Championship game, including KARE 11, Fox and NBC, who is also broadcasting the Super Bowl. Students are asked to wear their MNSU and Maverick apparel for the video.

“The Vikings have been a big part of MSU and Adam has been a great ambassador for our program, so we want to support them any way we can,” Weis said. “Celebrating with the Skol chant on campus is a fun way to do that.”

The lyrics for the Skol Vikings Song, taken from vikings.com, are: “Skol Vikings, let’s win this game, Skol Vikings, honor your name, Go get that first down, Then get a touchdown.

Rock ‘em . . . Sock ‘em Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

Go Vikings, run up the score, You’ll hear us yell for more ...

V-I-K-I-N-G-S Skol, Vikings, let’s go!”

Grab your fellow Vikings fans and come cheer on the team to wish them luck in their next match! Skol Vikes!

Have a story idea or a comment?

EMAIL

News Editor Alissa Thielges alissa.thielges@mnsu.edu

2 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Former U.S. Foreign Service Officer speaks on foreign policy

BILL HAMM Staff Writer Come one, come all, was the call to the student body to hear speaker Tom Hanson speak on current foreign affairs under President Trump’s administration.

The message was strong but weary of an uncertain future. Hanson presented a lot of fascinating information in his nearly hour and a half presentation, plus question sessions both midway and at the end of his presentation.

A special thanks to “Mankato Area Lifelong Learners” for bringing this opportunity to us, with Dave Allen announcing, “We need to thank the sponsorship, Community Bank and Mary Jo Surprenant.”

Hanson is a retired U.S. diplomat presently serving his third semester as Diplomat in Residence at the

Royal D. Alworth Institute for International Studies. In the fulfillment of that role, he gives one public lecture per semester and does a variety of in class lectures as well. His focus is on helping students with an interest in diplomatic careers, most specifically in the U.S. Foreign Service as well as the U.S. State Department.

While his online information sheet explains how diplomatic jobs have been steadily increasing since 9-11.

“Under President Trump,” he said, “that is no longer the case.”

At this time of need, the diplomat core is being drastically reduced, said Hanson, citing the reduction of those taking the test to enter these field dropping from 7,000 in 2006 to 2,000 in 2017.

Hanson explained how the U.S. political instability is having a fragmenting affect across the Western World. He spoke of Antonia Guaviare’s warning that “we should not sleepwalk into the future,” he said. Hanson also pointed

out that by 2025, China will have more scientists than 35 countries of the Western Block.

He also spoke of how world debt is continuing to rise with Japan now at 200 percent of GDP and the US at 100 percent of GDP. He spoke of Brexit and the steadily increasing Populist movements in Europe and Eastern Europe as the refugee and immigration crisis grows On foreign policy, Hanson spoke of Trump’s “America don’t get no respect” policy, and his claims that the rest of the world isn’t paying its fair share. Trump’s policy has shifted from multilateral to bilateral and this is affecting trade agreements, Hanson stated. The total restructuring of the State Department around this policy will affect foreign policy and Congress is pushing to reform the foreign service.

He talked about the U.S.’s withdrawal from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and how that has forced China to create its own replacement policy. He also talked about his expectation that Trump’s

new trade deals will reduce trade via tariff’s starting with steel.

Hanson spoke at length about the “New Silk Road” China and Europe are working on, and how that will move a huge percent of global trade back onto land and away from the modern sea routes.

“This is a huge change coming in the near future,” Hanson said.

He spoke of China taking the leadership role on climate change after Trump pulled us out and discussed how far China is ahead of us on genetic engineering since they have none of our restrictions. This discussion brought up the disturbing topic of how long we will be able to avoid war with China as our power declines and their’s rises.

During the question and answer portion of the talk, Hanson was asked if

Photo courtesy of mnsu.edu

the U.S. could have done anything, intentionally, to have caused more instability in Europe than the influx of Muslim refugees. Always the diplomat, he answered that these were indeed factors, but steered away from any political blame.

Come cheer on the Vikings and enjoy Great Lunch, Dinner & Drink Specials!

XIONG

Continued from page 1 “I want MSU students to be able to take advantage of this huge chance. Do everything you can do.” around the world, but also got me more interested in the importance of diversity.

I want MSU students to be able to take advantage of this huge chance. Do everything you can do,” Xiong said.

Dr. Xiong was born in Ban Vinai Refugee Camp in Thailand. Xiong and his family came to the United States in 1993 when he was 10 years old. As an immigrant, he had to go through many trials and errors before settling down in Minnesota. Xiong began his college courses at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities as a postsecondary enrollment options (PSEO) student when he was 15 years old. He received full scholarships to attend Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall from the Page Education Foundation and from the Wallin Education Partners.

After graduating with his Bachelor of Arts in Justice Administration and Sociology, Xiong started studying for graduate school at MNSU and obtained a Master of

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Thursday, January 18, 2018

News

MSU Reporter • 3

Science panel backs lower drunken driving threshold WASHINGTON (AP) — Most women would need to draw the line at two drinks, and men at two or three if states follow a blueprint by a prestigious scientific panel for eliminating the “entirely preventable” 10,000 alcoholimpaired driving deaths in the United States each year.

The U.S. governmentcommissioned report by a panel of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine made multiple recommendations, including significantly lowering drunken driving thresholds. It calls for lowering the blood-alcohol concentration threshold from 0.08 to 0.05. All states have 0.08 thresholds. A Utah law passed last year that lowers the state’s threshold to 0.05 doesn’t go into effect until Dec. 30.

The amount of alcohol required to reach 0.05 would depend on several factors, including the person’s size and whether the person has recently eaten. The report cites studies indicating most women over 120 pounds would reach 0.05 after two drinks. Men weighing up to about 160 pounds would likely reach the lower threshold at two, and those over 180 pounds at three.

The panel, in its 489-page report, also recommended that states significantly increase alcohol taxes and make alcohol less conveniently available,

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press

including reducing the hours and days alcohol is sold in stores, bars and restaurants.

Research suggests a doubling of alcohol taxes could lead to an 11 percent reduction in traffic crash deaths, the report said.

It also calls for cracking down on sales to people under 21 or who are already intoxicated to discourage binge drinking, and putting limits on alcohol marketing while funding anti-alcohol campaigns similar to those against smoking.

All the proposals are likely to draw fierce opposition from the alcohol and restaurant industries. The American Beverage Institute took out full-page newspaper ads opposing Utah’s new law that featured a fake mugshot under a large headline

reading, “Utah: Come for vacation, leave on probation.”

The recommendation in the academies’ report for lowering the blood-alcohol threshold would “do nothing to deter” repeat offenders and drivers with high bloodalcohol levels, who represent the “vast majority” of alcoholimpaired driving deaths, the Distilled Spirits Council said in a statement. The council said it also doesn’t support the report’s recommendations for “tax increases and advertising bans, which will have little or no impact on traffic safety.”

The report points out that “alcohol-impaired driving remains the deadliest and costliest danger on U.S. roads,” accounting for 28 percent of traffic deaths. Each day, 29 people in the U.S. die in alcohol-related crashes

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and many more are injured.

Forty percent of those killed are people other than the drunken driver.

Rural areas are disproportionately affected.

In 2015, 48 percent of drunken driving fatalities occurred in rural areas.

The report says many strategies have been effective to prevent drunken driving, but “a coordinated multilevel approach across multiple sectors will be required to accelerate change.”

“The problem isn’t intractable,” the report said.

From the early 1980s to the early 2000s, there was significant progress as the result of an increase in the drinking age to 21, decreases in the bloodalcohol threshold, and other measures, the report said.

But since then, progress has stagnated and recently has begun to reverse.

Action to address drunken driving can’t wait for the advent of self-driving cars immune to the lures of a cold beer or a fine wine — it will take too long for autonomous vehicles to replace all the human-driven machines on the road, said the panel’s chairman, Steven Teutsch, a senior fellow for health policy and economics at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

“In the meantime, we have 10,000 people a year dying and we ought to do something about it,” he said.

The report cites studies that show the United States lags behind other high-income countries in preventing drunken driving fatalities.

More than 100 countries have adopted the 0.05 threshold lower. In Europe, the share of traffic deaths attributable to drunken driving was reduced by more than half within 10 years after the standard was dropped, the National Transportation Safety Board said in 2013. The safety board has also recommended the 0.05 threshold.

Alcoholic beverages have changed significantly over the past 25 years. The lack of consistency in serving sizes and the combination of alcohol with caffeine and energy drinks make it harder for drinkers to estimate their level of impairment.

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4 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, January 18, 2018

At least 10 deaths from snow, ice and record cold in South ATLANTA (AP) — Snow, ice and a record-breaking blast of cold closed runways, highways, schools and government offices across the South and sent cars sliding off roads Wednesday in a corner of the country ill-equipped to deal with wintry weather. At least 10 people died, including a baby in a car that plunged off a slippery overpass into a Louisiana canal.

Icicles hung from a statue of jazz musicians in normally balmy New Orleans, and drivers unaccustomed to ice spun their wheels across Atlanta, which was brought to a near-standstill by little more than an inch (2.5 centimeters) of snow. The beach in Biloxi, Mississippi, got a light coating. And the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceled classes as the storm unloaded at least 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow in Durham and Greensboro.

Even the best drivers had trouble: Retired NASCAR

champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted that he had just used his winch to help pull a car out of a ditch when he drove off the road and into a tree in North Carolina.

“NC stay off the roads today/tonight. 5 minutes after helping these folks I center punched a pine tree,” he reported. A spokesman said Earnhardt was not hurt and his pickup had only minor damage.

Though skies were sunny and bright in many places, temperatures remained below freezing throughout the day in much of the South.

Thousands of schoolchildren and teachers got the day off. Many cities canceled meetings and court proceedings, and some businesses closed.

Slippery runways and the need to de-ice planes forced cancellations and delays in New Orleans; Memphis, Tennessee; and RaleighDurham, North Carolina.

Electricity usage surged as

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Continued from page 1

5 Celsius), set on the same date in 1977.

At least four people died in Louisiana, including a man knocked off an elevated portion of Interstate 10 in New Orleans when a pickup spun out on ice, and an 8-month-old baby in a car that slid into a canal in suburban New Orleans. The baby’s mother was in critical condition.

Two others died along an icy stretch of I-75 southeast of Atlanta when a driver lost control and hit them, one of them inside a stopped car and the other standing beside it, authorities said.

One person died in a weather-related traffic accident in West Virginia. In the freezing Houston area,

a homeless man was found dead behind a trash bin, apparently of exposure, while an 82-year-old woman with dementia succumbed to the cold after walking away from her home. Also, a woman was discovered dead in a snowy park near City Hall in Memphis. The temperature was around 10 degrees (minus 12 Celsius) when she was found.

Snow fell in a wide band that stretched from southeastern Texas all the way to western Massachusetts. And along the Gulf Coast, ice pellets covered the tops of sago palm trees, and stretches of

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it shows that Dr. King was consistent in talking about honoring people of different backgrounds and embracing diversity.

The University Archives also provides other digital audio information, yearbooks, photos and other historical documents dating back to 1868 online so as to keep promoting the collection.

“We are happy that people are able to listen and read the speech and I hope that it will lead them to some of our great historical things that we have digitized,” said Sizemore.

people struggled to keep warm.

In Alabama, where some places got at least 3 inches (7 centimeters) of snow, dairy farmer Will Gilmer bundled up for the drive to his milking barn before daybreak in rural Lamar County, the thermometer reading 7 degrees (minus 14 Celsius).

“I probably had four layers on and then insulated coveralls and a heavy coat on over that. I made it OK except for my toes,” he said.

The mercury dropped to record lows overnight in several places in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. It was 21 degrees (minus 6 Celsius) before dawn in New Orleans, breaking the city’s record of 23 (minus

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city of Mankato chose to honor folks who support diversity shows a good example that people still follow his ideas and honor his work,” said Daardi Sizemore, the Archives and Special Collections librarian. “I think that Dr. King’s speech is relevant to what is going on today and also if more people can read and embrace it, it will be a wonderful thing.”

This is to say that people in the United States and maybe around the world still honor the Martin Luther King Day of Service and still follow his works of civil rights.

His other speeches can still be listened to and

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press

Thursday, January 18, 2018

News

MSU Reporter • 5

Unique “SoberBowl” to host Big Game Day fun without alcohol Minneapolis, Minn. (Jan. 16, 2017) – Among the many Big Game parties taking place on Feb. 4, SoberBowl™ will truly stand out.

Featuring live music, comedy, several NFL greats and guest host Leigh Steinberg, the legendary sports agent, SoberBowl looks to be the only highprofile viewing party in Minneapolis that will celebrate the NFL title game 100 percent alcohol-free. The event will be held at MUSE

musicians will be announced in the days ahead.

“SoberBowl is one part of our larger mission to mainstream sobriety,” says Tracy Abbott, Director of The ARK, the Houstonbased nonprofit creator and producer of SoberBowl. “By bringing together amazing athletes and entertainers to share about personal connections to recovery in a festive environment, we aim to mainstream the otherwise radical concept of

and supportive recovery community here,” said Nick Motu, Vice President of the nonprofit Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, the title sponsor of SoberBowl.

“This exciting event will highlight our state’s uniquely valuable contributions to the nation’s culture on a global platform,” added Motu. “We are especially pleased and proud that our hometown hero Carl Eller will be among

the NFL greats and other celebrities at this ultimate alcohol-free game day experience. This is a firstof-its-kind opportunity for the sizable sober population here.”

At $20, SoberBowl is likely the most affordable top-tier viewing party that will be held in the Twin Cities on the day of the Big Game, and the price includes food

by Crave Catering. Doors

open at noon. Pre-game options begin right away.

Music starts at 1 p.m., and the formal program will run from approximately 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., followed by a giant-screen Big Game Watch Party. Tickets, parking and additional information, i n c l u d i ng p e n d i ng announcements, can be found at www.soberbowl.us.

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Continued from page 4

“We aim to mainstream the otherwise radical concept of alcohol-free events.”

Event Center, a premier venue in the North Loop of Minneapolis.

Steinberg, famously depicted in the movie Jerry Maguire, will be joined at SoberBowl by Minnesota Viking Hall of Famer Carl Eller, former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf, comedian and master impressionist Craig Gass, other NFL stars and some of Minnesota’s favorite music acts, including Johnny and Molly Solomon of Communist Daughter, Mark Mallman, Katy Vernon, and The Jorgensen Tagg Band.

Additional athletes and

alcohol-free events. At the same time, we want to serve as an attraction to those who may be seeking the recovery lifestyle, but may think it only exists on the periphery of popular culture.

Most importantly, we invite recovering friends to safely participate in the festivities on a day traditionally reserved for alcohol consumption.”

“Minnesota is the ‘Recovery Capital of the World’ because so many people have overcome substance use and related challenges and now lead outstanding lives in the robust

I-10 were closed in Louisiana and across Alabama’s Mobile Bay. Downtown Atlanta — the corporate capital of the South, notorious for its heavy traffic — was eerily quiet.

Susan Luciano, walking in snow-blanketed Peachtree City just south of Atlanta, was delighted: “It is the most romantic setting. It is beautiful. This is God’s masterpiece ... a living postcard.”

Still, dozens of accidents were reported across the Atlanta metro area, one involving a salt truck.

Southern states and cities don’t have the large fleets of snowplows, salting trucks and other snow-removal equipment common in the

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“Y’all aren’t going to make it!” a driver in a pickup truck yelled at two drivers in compact cars that were spinning their wheels on an icy boulevard near SunTrust Park, where the Atlanta Braves play. “You’re going to slide back down the hill!

Turn around!”

Adrian Benton, a 26-yearold native of snowy Buffalo, New York, tried to help.

“The up-north way of dealing with snow needs to come down here,” Burton said of snowplows and salting up North.

Yet one weather expert who grew up in brutal Michigan winters and now lives in Atlanta said Southern winters have the North beat.

Ryan Maue, a

meteorologist with the private forecaster Weather.

US, said Atlanta’s mostly untreated roads were fraught with icy peril during his car outing Wednesday to the supermarket.

“My little car was struggling even to move,” he said, adding he worried just as much about Southern motorists risking their necks — and those of others in their “non-winterized cars.”

But he told The Associated Press that Southern comfort is on the way, with the mercury to start rising above freezing by midday Thursday in the region and even into the low 60s (15 Celsius) in spots by the weekend.

6 • MSU Reporter

Thursday, January 18, 2018 EMAIL THE EDITOR IN CHIEF:

Are New Year’s resolutions still a thing?

Do resolutions help us to better ourselves or make us feel bad?

Opinion OLUWATOMIKE BALI Staff Writer Over time, the New Year comes with a lot of people making resolutions to be a better person in the new year. To stop certain habits and to develop some certain positive attitudes.

New Year’s resolutions seem like a big deal to a lot of people, while for some it holds not much importance.

I belong to the group of people that feel indifferent about it. I’ve never been one to write out my resolution for the year because I don’t stick to it and end up doing the exact same thing I resolved not to do. I believe we don’t have to wait until the new year to make certain changes to our personality. In essence, a new year doesn’t

gabriel.hewitt@mnsu.edu OR AT reporter-editor@mnsu.edu

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New Year’s resolutions.

Speaking with a few people on campus, some students had their thoughts.

Maria said, “I think it’s still a thing.” She believes that a lot of people still attach much importance to it. She also said that she has resolved to go to

“Although a lot of people make resolutions, they follow-through for only a few months and then it dies down.” automatically change who you become.

A lot of people have different thoughts about

GABE HEWITT

the gym more often and be nicer to people. Maria also stated that, although a lot of people make resolutions,

Pulse

they follow-through for only a few months and then it dies down.

Linda is another student here at MNSU that thinks New Year’s resolutions are still a thing, even though a lot of people don’t follow it religiously. Linda has resolved to focus on her schoolwork more and also go to the gym more often.

On the other hand, Yen is not to be a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, as they don’t work for her and she ends up regretting them. She stopped making resolutions because she doesn’t follow them due to her conflicts with time and school work.

A not her s tudent, Chrysland, believes that resolutions are still a thing for a lot of people, but it’s

quite different for her, as she sees it “as a goal she has to accomplish that year.”

“A lot of people resolve to be in shape in the new year,” she said. “That’s why when you go to the gym around this period you will see a lot of people working out, but go later in the year and you won’t see a lot of people there. That’s because people don’t focus, get busy and forget the importance of the resolution they made.”

Chrysland has resolved to get a better GPA and focus on her life.

In conclusion, I think we should all strive to be a better person in this new year, not only to improve our self but also to be a good influence in our community.

“What is your New Year’s resolution?”

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“Hit the weights more often.”

“Workout every other day for 30 minutes.”

“Increase physical activity and go to the library more.”

MONICA CASSONE, BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE “Diet.”

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‘Very strong’ Democratic sentiment to oppose GOP budget bill WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said Wednesday there’s “very, very strong” sentiment among Democrats in the chamber to oppose GOP-drafted legislation to keep the government’s doors open, comments that could indicate the chances are increasing that the government could shut down at midnight Friday night.

Democrats’ votes are needed to advance the stopgap measure through the Senate, but they have been rebuffed in their demands to add protections against deportation for younger immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children.

“The over whelming number in our caucus have said they don’t like this deal and they believe if we kick the can down the road this time we’ll be back where we started from next time,” Schumer said. “So there’s very, very strong support not to go along with their deal.”

Talks among a bipartisan group of leaders of both the House and Senate convened Wednesday, but participants reported little progress.

“Good will but no progress,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a negotiator but one whose loyalties lie chiefly with separate compromise legislation on the so-called “Dreamer” immigrants that he’s co-authored with Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Cory Gardner, R-Colo., some of the Senate’s most dovish Republicans on immigration.

House GOP leaders unveiled the spending bill Tuesday night, sweetening it with a six-year renewal of the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program and with provisions to temporarily suspend three “Obamacare” taxes, including a tax on generous “Cadillac” health plans.

Some conser vatives oppose the short-term spending bill and said GOP

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press

leaders lacked the votes to pass it. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., declined to say if he had enough Republican support to push it through the House this week. Vote counters gauged GOP support Wednesday in advance of a vote planned for Thursday.

Ryan said it was “baffling” why Democrats would oppose the spending measure, noting it contains money for the military and the widely supported children’s health insurance program.

Republicans are hoping the money for children will pressure some Democrats to back the overall bill.

“I think cool heads hopefully will prevail,” Ryan told reporters. Congress must approve the measure, called a continuing resolution, or CR, by Friday night to prevent a shutdown.

Ryan also said he wants to reach a compromise on immigration but won’t bring such a measure to the House floor unless President Donald Trump supports it. He said Trump is being “completely rational” in demanding that the bill have stronger border security provisions than a bipartisan immigration proposal from six senators that he rejected last week.

Separately, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other Democrats

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met privately in the Capitol with White House chief of staff John Kelly, and some emerged citing little progress. The talks were on legislation aimed at shielding the hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation.

“They have a dispropor tionate focus on the border more than anything else,” Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., one of the six senators who crafted the bipartisan proposal, said after the meeting. He added that in return for protecting the young immigrants, “what they want in return is continuously a moving target and it continuously expands.”

It seems certain that no immigration accord will be reached this week, in time to affect the outcome on

the vote on the separate bill preventing a federal shutdown. If Congress can’t temporarily finance the government by Friday, a shutdown would begin the next day, an election-year debacle that GOP leaders and many Democrats are eager to avoid for fear of alienating voters.

House Republican leaders tried to win over wary conservatives for the spending bill by sweetening it. They added a two-year delay on implementation of unpopular taxes on medical devices and generous employer-subsidized health care plans. The taxes, also unpopular with many Democrats, are part of former President Barack Obama’s marquee health law.

In a bid to pressure Democrats, GOP leaders also included a longdelayed, six-year renewal of the health insurance program for children of low-income families. The overall measure would fund the government through Feb. 16 and was well received by most GOP lawmakers when Ryan proposed it Tuesday.

But some conservatives have yet to be won over.

“At what point do you quit kicking the can down the road and passing just another CR in hopes that things get better in a few weeks,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a leader of the chamber’s most conservative faction.

Even if the spending measure succeeds in the House, Republicans would still need at least nine Democratic votes to push it through the Senate, which the GOP controls 51-49.

Democrats seeking leverage are forcing that bill to require 60 votes for passage.

When the Senate approved a similar shortterm spending bill in December, 17 Democrats plus Maine independent Angus King voted to keep the government open. Seven of those Democrats face re-election in November in states Trump won — including West Virginia, North Dakota and Montana, which have small numbers of minority voters.

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi contains too many subplots Overall story of The Last Jedi falls short of expectations RACHAEL JAEGER Staff Writer

While many enjoyed “The Last Jedi,” I heard just as many people express their disappointment.

When I finally was able to go watch it for myself, mixed feelings arose while I watched the movie play.

“The Last Jedi” starts with the jets chasing each other because of the ongoing war and reminded me too much of “Revenge of the Sith” (2005).

What I did appreciate are the moments when “A New Hope” music theme echoed while Luke Skywalker was training Rey about the jedi mindset and the beliefs about the world, especially in how The Force moves.

I heard it so many

times that I believe it was meant to set the tone for the movie yet in a number of aspects, the plot falls short of what it could have accomplished.

What it all boils down to is the subject of the story and I felt like “The Last Jedi” played off the previous movies instead of finding its own contribution to the whole series.

Like Yoda, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) hides out and Rey (Daisy Ridley) must convince him to train him like he did to Yoda so many years ago.

I understand that director Rian Johnson was trying to tie in connections, but at the same time, the plot needed to advance and I felt like it never did.

Many times the plot could have gone deeper and darker, it fell short

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill)

instead. The power of a darker plot would have had more of a force over its audience.

The set-up of the story structure in “Revenge of the Sith” was well played out, especially in light of

Image courtesy of The Associated Press

Palpatine manipulating Anakin’s emotions and his fears in his wish to protect Padme.

“The Last Jedi” has so many subplots that lack closure and a main focus is out of the question: Ky-

lo’s spiritual battle warring inside him that emerges when he destroys Snoke (Andy Serkis), Poe (Os-

LAST JEDI

PAGE 12

Dark technological future explored in new Black Mirror

The new Black Mirror season doesn’t feel quite like the original

LUCAS TORBORG Staff Writer

The rapid advancement of technology is moving faster than most could have ever imagined.

Netflix’s “Black Mirror” explores our society’s deepest fears of what this technology could potentially do to us in the near future.

“Black Mirror” is an anthology television show, meaning that there is a new story, director, and cast every episode that falls into a different genre.

Similar to the 1950’s “Twilight Zone”, which told science fiction stories

Image courtesy of Global Panorama

with social commentary relevant in the 50s, “Black Mirror” focuses primarily on our society’s obsession with technology, hence the show’s name which is a reference to what our phones look like when we don’t use them.

“Black Mirror” was cre-

ated by British journalist and screenwriter Charlie Brooker in 2011. After season 2 Netflix bought “Black Mirror” and began to develop new seasons with the original creator.

Season four contains six episodes that are all vastly different in tone

and story. Below is a ranking of each episode from worst to best.

I will very vaguely explain the plot for each episode since the best part of this show is not knowing what is going to happen next.

6. Episode three of sea-

son four entitled “Crocodile” falls under the genre of a thriller and is the worst of the new season.

A basic premise of the story consists of Mia No-

BLACK MIRROR

PAGE 13

12 • MSU Reporter

A&E

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Earnhardt Jr. to help NBC at Super Bowl and Olympics

Earnhardt looking to take advantage of once in a lifetime experience CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Nearly every day brings a new experience for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who spent the first 43 years of his life living in a bubble that consisted of NASCAR and not much else.

Now that he has retired from full-time racing, he’s got time to experience new adventures. Just last weekend, he went to brunch — his first brunch ever — with his wife and friends, then was convinced to get his first pedicure .

The best is yet to come.

NBC Sports announced Tuesday it will use Earnhardt in its pregame show before the Super Bowl, then send him to South Korea for the network’s coverage of next month’s Olympics. Earnhardt retired from driving in November and signed on to be an analyst for NBC Sports, a gig that begins in July.

“It’s not going to be putting me anywhere outside of my comfort zone, obviously I’ve never been to a Super Bowl or South Korea,” Earnhardt told The Associated Press. “What they are asking me to do

is just go out there and be myself and hopefully get people interested in tuning into NASCAR.” NBC plans to use Earnhardt at the Super Bowl in outdoor events and activities taking place in Minneapolis in the days before the game.

At the Olympics, he’ll visit the speed skating venue and accept a recent social media invite from American bobsled team pilot Nick Cunningham to ride in a bobsled.

“We can’t wait to get Dale’s take on what is one of the most compelling aspects of the Winter Games — sports that offer a mix of speed with the prospect of danger, an equation that he knows very well,” said Jim Bell, president of NBC Olympics Production and Programming.

“Instead of the turns at Daytona, it’s the downhill, the luge, and the short track oval. And I think he will have something unique to offer about the need for speed on snow and ice.”

Earnhardt, a third-generation NASCAR driver, is the son of Hall of Famer

Dale Earnhardt Sr. He grew up around racing and its grueling 11-month schedule that has drivers on the road and away from home at least three days a week.

Although the Super Bowl is typically held before NASCAR’s season-opening Daytona 500, rabid Washington Redskins fan Earnhardt said he never had a desire to go to the game.

“Not everybody goes to the Super Bowl,” he said.

“I was too young when

LAST JEDI Continued from page 11 car Isaac) attempting to take charge of the Resistance, and the romance unfolding between Finn (John Boyega) and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran).

As a side note, there are touching times in what feels like the few moments we have with Leia (Carrie Fischer).

While she tends to have a voice as a leader because she is the first female jedi, she speaks more gently and softly than she has in her other Star Wars movies which gives her a commanding presence in a sense.

As much as we the audience dread her death, we knew she was not well and when there were several close calls, I held my breath and speculated whether or not the director had killed her off.

I also wonder if it stirred with the audience as much as me since it calls into question of are we mourning for Leia or Carrie Fischer, or both?

Ultimately, I still don’t know what to think about “The Last Jedi” though I thoroughly tried to give it a careful thought before I wrote anything.

The psychic connection between Kylo and Rey is pretty cool and another new element to the story but the tension between them did not feel like it strengthened.

It surprised me that after Kylo and Rey teamed up and fought against Snoke that Kylo still chose the dark side because that is where the hope lies, in that the Jedi will resurrect to full resistance again.

I anticipated some

Image courtesy of The Associated Press

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

parts of the movie would pick up, especially when Kylo and Rey touched hands and that Kylo would join the Jedi but then the entire movie would have lacked substance because of what would seem like an easy choice.

It would have been more real had Rey chosen the dark side. It would have given the audience a reason to look forward to another movie and continuation of the story.

As it is, I don’t know what I should expect in the ninth episode but I am still willing to hold out hope that perhaps the disjointed stories will come together later.

the Redskins were going, I was still in school, and they haven’t been since 1991. I definitely would have gone if they had played in one.

But as a fan of a particular team, it sort of feels

wrong to go to another game. I’d have a hard time even going to see the Redskins play in an oppo-

EARNHARDT

page 13

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EARNHARDT Continued from page 12

BLACK MIRROR Continued from page 11 lan (Andrea Riseborough) being visited by her ex-boyfriend ten years after they killed a bicyclist in a hit and run.

The biggest flaw with “Crocodile” is that it’s just not as creative or original as “Black Mirror” usually is.

The technology featured in this episode is similar to previous episodes that were much better than this episode and the overall twist just seems unnecessary.

Overall, this episode is still worth a watch it is just the weakest of the six.

5. “Metalhead” which is episode five of the new season is the shortest episode of the season and feels the least like a “Black Mirror” episode. “Metalhead” is filmed in black and white and falls under the genre of a monster movie.

The plot is very simple which is primarily why it is so low on the list. Bella (Maxine Peak) is being chased by a robotic dog in what seems to be a post-apocalyptic landscape.

This episode explains very little about what is going on which will anger many viewers.

However; this episode is very intense in certain moments and is extremely well shot. The robot antagonist is also terrifying and looks like something that could actually exist in the very near future.

4. In fourth place is episode two entitled “Ark Angel.” This episode centers around Marie (RoseMarie DeWitt) who buys a piece of technology that is inserted into her daughter’s brain that is a tracking device of sorts that also allows her to see what her daughter is seeing.

“ArkAngel”, directed by acclaimed actress Jodie Foster, has some brilliant commentary on parenting and is filled with very realistic and complex characters.

The main weakness this episode has is that it’s very predictable.

3. The sixth and final episode of the season entitled “Black Museum” makes it into the top three. “Black Museum” is a very unique entry to the season due to its anthology format.

The episode is two stories wrapped around another story.

This episode should be watched last as it ties in technology that is seen from past episodes. “Black Museum” is one of the most enjoyable episodes of the season that acts as a classic horror film with black comedy elements.

2. The second greatest episode of the new season is episode four entitled “Hang the DJ.” This episode acts as a romantic comedy that is a satire of dating apps such as Tinder.

The story takes place

in a society where couples are paired up with a dating platform that also puts an expiration date on every relationship.

This episode perfectly encapsulates the loneliness and overall weirdness of the dating scene. The actors who play Frank (Joe Cole) and Amy (Georgina Campbell) make this episode great with their excellent chemistry and comedic chops.

1. The best episode of the season is definitely “USS Callister.” The first episode of season four is a hilarious scifi epic. This episode is best viewed with knowing as little as possible.

However; without ruining anything, I can say that this is a very thought-provoking episode that focuses on virtual reality and the civil rights of all beings. The episode is also a satire of Star Trek which makes the episode even better.

Overall, this season has some great episodes that rank up with the best of the series.

It’s not the best season of “Black Mirror,” mostly because it does not feel as original as it used to. However, it still proves to be one of the best shows on television.

nent’s stadium. If I had no purpose to be at the Super Bowl, besides to just see a game, it was hard to make that kind of time commitment.”

And the Olympics?

Well, that’s a dream trip that Earnhardt never had the time to even dream of making. Asked Tuesday where he’s been outside the United States, he listed Germany and France — trips he took with his nowwife — as well as Mexico, Canada, Japan and Australia. He also once spent 24 hours in Monaco.

“When I was driving, I didn’t want to do anything else,” Earnhardt said. “Someone would say, ‘Wow, I’ve got some time, let’s go have some fun,’ but I wouldn’t want to do anything. If I had a day to myself, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere or do anything.”

Then he was sidelined for the second half of the NASCAR season with concussion symptoms, and Earnhardt was forced to expand his lifestyle.

“When I started peeling away the layers, I started losing some of that habit and getting more comfortable doing things,” he said. “When we weren’t in the car, you weren’t supposed to be focused on

anything else.

When you went and did something, go to a concert, visit another city, you almost felt guilty for doing it. Like, we already have a pretty good lifestyle as race car drivers and can afford just about anything.

So I just felt bad enjoying yourself.

“But when I was out of the car for so long, my doctor encouraged me to put myself in a lot of complex situations.

That meant going to concerts and places I’ve never been and situations where I could push my anxiety. I’ll tell you, I was like: ‘Wow, this is what retirement is going to be like.’”

He’s not nervous about transitioning into his new television career, or that his first real appearances as an NBC Sports analyst will be on two worldwide stages.

Earnhardt, who recently learned to ski while in Aspen with Jimmie Johnson, is planning on bringing boots and a helmet to South Korea to try out the slopes. He’s also eager to try the cuisine.

The only drawback is that pregnant wife Amy can’t make the trip, and Earnhardt said he doesn’t sleep well when they are apart.

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Dolores O’Riordan, voice of The Cranberries dies at 46

The Irish rockband lead singer leaves a powerful musical legacy because O’Riordan was suffering from back problems.

In 2014, O’Riordan was accused of assaulting three police officers and a flight attendant during a flight from New York to Ireland. She pleaded guilty and was fined 6,000 euros ($6,600.)

Medical records given to the court indicated she was mentally ill at the time of the altercation.

After her court hearing O’Riordan urged other people suffering mental illness to seek help.

She told London’s Metro newspaper last year that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and she spoke to the

Dolores O’Riordan

LONDON (AP) — Dolores O’Riordan, whose urgent, powerful voice helped make Irish rock band The Cranberries a global success in the 1990s, died suddenly on Monday at a London hotel. She was 46.

The singer-songwriter’s publicist, Lindsey Holmes, confirmed that O’Riordan died in London, where she was recording, “No further details are available at this time,” Holmes said, adding that O’Riordan’s family was “devastated” by the news.

Her Cranberries bandmates — Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan and Fergus Lawler — tweeted that O’Riordan “was an extraordinary talent and we feel very privileged to have been part of her life.”

London’s Metropolitan Police force said officers were called just after 9 a.m. Monday to a hotel where a woman in her 40s was found dead.

The police force said the death was being treated as “unexplained.”

The Hilton hotel in London’s Park Lane confirmed that a guest had died on the premises.

Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins said O’Riordan and The Cranberries “had an immense

Image courtesy of The Associated Press

influence on rock and pop music in Ireland and internationally.”

O’Riordan was born on Sept. 6, 1971 in Ballybricken, southwest Ireland. In 1990, she answered an ad from a local band in nearby Limerick city — then called The Cranberry Saw Us — that was looking for a lead singer.

A name change and a confluence of factors turned The Cranberries into international stars.

Their guitar-based sound had an alternative-rock edge at a time when grunge was storming the music scene.

The band’s songs — on which O’Riordan was chief lyricist and co-songwriter — had a Celtic-infused tunefulness. And in O’Riordan the group had a charismatic lead singer with a distinctively powerful voice.

Heavy play on MTV for their debut single “Dream” and the singles that followed helped bring the group to the attention of a mass audience.

The Cranberries’ 1993 debut album, “Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?”, sold millions of copies and produced the hit single “Linger.”

The follow-up, “No Need to Argue,” sold in

even greater numbers and contained “Zombie,” a visceral howl against Northern Ireland’s violent Troubles that topped singles charts in several countries.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar tweeted Monday that “for anyone who grew up in Ireland in the 1990s, Dolores O’Riordan was the voice of a generation. As the female lead singer of a hugely successful rock band, she blazed a trail and might just have been Limerick’s greatest ever rock star.

RIP.” The band released three more studio albums before splitting up in 2003. O’Riordan released a solo album, “Are You Listening,” in 2007, and another, “No Baggage,” in 2009.

The Cranberries also reunited that year, resulting in the album “Roses” in 2012.

For a time, O’Riordan was one of Ireland’s richest women, but she struggled with both physical and mental health problems.

The Cranberries released the acoustic album “Something Else” in 2017 and had been due to tour Europe and North America.

The tour was cut short

Irish News about her battles with depression.

O’Riordan said depression “is one of the worst things to go through,” but that “I’ve also had a lot of joy in my life, especially with my children.”

“You get ups as well as downs. Sure, isn’t that what life’s all about?” she said.

O’Riordan is survived by her ex-husband, the former Duran Duran tour manager Don Burton, and their three children.

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Thursday, January 18, 2018

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Maverick men’s basketball heating up JAKE RINEHART Staff Writer The Minnesota State Mavericks Men’s Basketball team spent their weekend in North Dakota.

The Mavs faced the Minot State Beavers on Friday and the University of Mary Marauders on Saturday.

Minnesota State entered the weekend red-hot, winning nine of their last 10 games. The only loss during this stretch came at the hands of the Northern State Wolves, who were ranked No. 13 in Division II when they played the Mavericks.

The Mavericks’ were unable to keep the momentum going as they fell to Minot State in overtime. The final score was 83-91.

Minnesota State was a victim of foul trouble, committing a total of 24 for the game. Three of the Mavericks’ five starters fouled out during the contest. Cameron Kirksey, Kevin Krieger, and Cole Harper were the players whom had five fouls each. Carlos Anderson came off the bench and ended the game with four fouls himself.

The Mavs were led by Charlie Brown, who scored a team-high 24 points. Chris

Photo by Mansoor Ahmad

Hendrix led the team in rebounding with eight, while also adding 15 points. Carlos Anderson came off the bench to score 12 points.

The Beavers were led by Luis Ricci Maia, who scored a game-high 25 points while dishing out six assists. Tyler Rudolph pulled down a game-high 12 boards for the Beavers, while adding 18 points for his fourth double-double of the season.

An interesting note about Minot State is the number of foreign-born players on their team. The Beavers’ roster includes six players who were born abroad, or one-third of the entire team.

Luis Ricci Maia, who led

the game in scoring, was born and raised in a town that is about four-and-a-half hours north of Sao Paulo, Brazil. There are also players from Australia, England, New Zealand, Spain, and Macedonia on the team.

Minnesota State was able to follow-up that heartbreaking overtime loss with a victory at the University of Mary Marauders. The Mavericks defeated the Marauders by a final score of 80-64.

Cameron Kirksey had a game-high 26 points and seven rebounds for the Mavericks. Chris Kendrix added another 21 points for MSU. Charlie Brown recorded his second highest assist total

on the season, dishing out seven assists against the Marauders. Brown’s season-high is eight assists in one game, which came in the season opener against Pittsburgh State.

Carter Asche came off the bench to score 12 points, setting a new season-high in points in a game. Asche scored all of his points from downtown, as he went 4-5 from beyond the arc.

The Marauders were led in scoring by Keith Hunter, who scored 17 points.

The starters for the University of Mary struggled scoring the ball. Hunter was the lone starter who had over 10 points, while the remaining

four starters scored seven points or less.

Connor Hellebust and Wyatt Carr came off the bench for the Marauders and scored 14 and 10 points respectively.

With the weekend split, the Mavericks move to 13-4 overall, with a 9-2 record in the NSIC. Minnesota State drops to third overall in the NSIC standings with the loss to Minot State.

Northern State continues their dominant run, posting an 18-1 overall record and an NSIC record of 12-0. Minot State is second in the NSIC with a conference record of 10-2, including an overall record of 16-2. Minnesota State is third, followed by Southwest Minnesota State and St. Cloud State.

The Mavericks will be back home at the Taylor Center this week with a pair of home games against Sioux Falls on Friday, January 19th, and Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, January 20th.

It will be important for the Mavericks to sweep this weekend series of games to remain in the top-three of the NSIC standings. Southwest Minnesota State only trails the Mavericks in the standings by one game, and a loss could drop the Mavericks to the fourth position in the table.

If you can’t attend these games, you can still support the Mavericks and catch all of their games online and on the radio on The Fan Mankato, AM 1230.

Men’s hockey win streak snapped by Alaska

COLTON MOLESKY Staff Writer The three game streak the Minnesota State Mavericks had collected was splintered by the Alaska Nanooks. The Nanooks took game one with a 5-0 mark that made the road trip a tough one to stomach.

The Mavericks came back strong with a 5-1 the follow-

ing night, which helped them to a 17-7 record but left some meat on the bones of the weekend road trip.

“I learned that we got some pushback,” said Mavericks head coach Mike Hastings to the MSU athletic department on what he took from his team’s weekend.

“We didn’t do a good job the first night, but came right back.”

The northern venture could not have fared worse on the opening night, with the Mavericks getting fully outplayed by the Nanooks despite the shots on goal evening up at 26 each.

The first goal for Alaska was in the opening period, as Zach Frye slipped a deep shot passed Jason Pawloski on a power play, which set the tone for a night that contained 25 penalty minutes from the Mavs. It started to get out of hand in the second period, with Tristan Thompson finding the back of the net early on to go up 2-0. A late period goal from Taylor Munson on the tap-in further exacerbated the issue.

Instead of a final push in the closing period, the Mavericks dug themselves into a deeper hole. Connor LaCouvee came in to relieve Paw-

lowski, but did not find any answers, letting up a pair of goals himself. The biggest problem leaving the game was the penalties, as the constant time in the box kept the Mavs from building any sort of offensive rhythm or momentum.

Coach Hastings clearly lit a fire under the team, which came out red hot to start game two. The Mavericks went down yet again early on to a Tyler Cline goal following a five minute penalty, which could have potentially derailed the Mavericks again early. But this game was not set for the same trajectory.

Brad McClure

Charlie Gerard came back to even the game, snaking past

HOCKEY PAGE 19

16 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Stefon Diggs’ catch will live in fans’ hearts forever

KEVIN KORBEL Sports Editor Throughout the years, the lives of Minnesota Vikings fans across the country had been living a football nightmare. Since the Vikings became a franchise, they’ve been in the playoffs a whopping 27 times since the team’s existence, which is third-most in the league. As fans of this team, you experience a roller coaster of emotions like no other, and those emotions didn’t fail last Sunday when Diggs scored the touchdown heard around the world.

This year could be an exception to the fact of our past playoff blunders. For the first time in a long time, it seems as if we’ve broken a seal in the space-time continuum.

For once in the playoff history of the Minnesota Vikings, we can celebrate a memory that’ll live in the minds and hearts of not only Vikings fans, but sports fans in general for the rest of our lives.

When you think of past Vikings playoff games, you think of many different events that’ve transpired in recent years. You think of the past blunders that’ve happened throughout the team’s history, like the four Super Bowls we’ve lost, Roger Staubach’s Hail Mary in 1975, the dropped pass vs. the Redskins in 1982, the missed field goal in 1998, bountygate in 2009, the missed kick in the cold in 2015. Saying that Vikings fans have experienced pain first hand is an understatement, because every time you think this team is about to punch their ticket to the big dance, they rip into your heart and soul like having that girl you like open a snap or a text and don’t reply.

Throughout the game last Sunday, you could cut the tension with a knife in that

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press

stadium. Even though the Vikings jumped out to an early 17-0 lead over the New Orleans Saints, the fans of the purple and gold always replay flashbacks in the back of their head of past playoff blunders,

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press

Sports

Pulse

and who could blame them?

Once the score of the game was 23-21 in favor of the Vikings, with just seconds left in the game, with Drew Brees leading the offense down the field, you could feel the air being sucked out of US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The biggest play during New Orleans’ final drive of the game, which led to a field goal and a 24-23 lead over the Vikings, was the pass from Brees to Willie Snead for a fourth down conversion, which put them in range for what seemed at one point to be the game-winning field goal. You could hear a pin drop inside that stadium after Saints kicker, Wil Lutz, kicked that field goal. What nobody knew though at that moment was that the Saints would be the ones going home on this fateful day.

The Vikings proceeded then to go on offense, looking for yardage, to down the field for a game-winning field goal. Vikings quarter-

“What was your reaction to the Minnesota Miracle?”

HUNTER KINCADE, SPORT MANAGEMENT

HUNTER EVEN, FINANCE

JIMMY KEARNEY, FINANCE

“I jumped up and punched my front door; called everyone I knew.”

“Started jumping. Couldn’t believe that (Diggs) made the catch.”

“Ran downstairs to join in the celebration with my buddies.”

LUKE ROMNESS, BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE/ BUSINESS “Rubbed it in my coworker’s face, who’s a Packers fan..”

back Case Keenum was on a mission to make that a reality for this team. The Vikings drove down the field, but with 10 seconds left in the game, it seemed all but over for the purple. Case Keenum proceeded to chuck the ball down the right sideline to Stefon Diggs, and Diggs would house it for a walk-off game-winning touchdown.

If the Diggs catch taught the world anything, it’s that miracles indeed do come true. Not only did Stefon win this game for the Vikings, but he won it for the players of Vikings past. For names like Jared Allen, Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Randall McDaniel, etc.

Stefon has etched his name in history, and he hopes he can do the same thing this weekend in Philly.

Compiled by David Bassey

KYLE MOSS, BUSINESS MANAGEMENT “My friends jump on the table, almost breaking it.”

Thursday, January 18, 2018

MSU Reporter • 17

Sports

NFL Championship weekend set to be a good one

COLTON MOLESKY Staff Writer After some insane finishes and miraculous plays this past weekend, the NFL playoff field has narrowed to four teams: New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings have leapt into the final round of the playoffs. If men play in postseason football, then it is the legends that win proceed to the big dance, the Super Bowl. Here is your breakdown of the upcoming games in the waning games of the 2017 season.

NFC Championship - Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles The Eagles defense squared up against a team only one year removed from scoring a NFL record-setting 540 points in the regular season in the Divisional Round.

They did not flinch, did not let up and barely let them score.

Shutting them down to the very end, clawing out a 15-

10 victory. The Vikings also found plenty of success from their defense, however, it was the offense with the miracle on turf. With 10 seconds left in the game, a 61-yard walkoff touchdown bomb from Stefon Diggs helped the Vikings slip past New Orleans in a 29-24 win.

The two defenses that have been most consistently great all season long are now facing each other in Philly for a trip to the Super Bowl.

Minnesota ranks 1st in points allowed per game (15.8) and yards (275.9). The Eagles are right there at 4th in both points (18.4) and yards (306.4) per game. The biggest problem here too is the formula to beat these teams is very straight forward: the Vikings need to sell out against the running game and put the game on backup quarterback Nick Foles while the Eagles need to produce the pressure that rendered the other backup, Case Keenum, largely ineffective for the second half of Sunday.

Even more intriguing is the players that both defenses boast to play right into theses game plans. Minnesota’s cornerback duo of Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes are

Photo courtesy of The Associated Press

exactly who Foles does not want to face in man to man coverage when his running backs have been stymied. On the flip side, Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox will keep Keenum up at night with how disruptive he has played all season long. This has helped the other Eagles pass rusher, Brandon Graham, get to 9.5 sacks in the regular season.

This game is a pick’em at best, with big special teams plays and turnovers the biggest factor in the game. This game will really go to the team that shoots themselves in the foot the least.

The pick- Vikings win 13-10 AFC Championship Jacksonville Jaguars at New England Patriots

The Patriots squashed a Tennessee team that had no answers for most of their offense. If you thought they were going to win, you probably also thought the Tim Tebow led Denver Broncos also stood a chance. The Jaguars put up a scoring clinic on Pittsburgh, jumping out to a 28-7 lead and winning the 45-42 shootout.

While Jacksonville was impressive, the late game sting for Pittsburgh was running back Le’Veon Bell in the passing game. This is where a back like James White has excelled in playoff games before, and can do it once again. While the Cinderella Jaguars have a lot of momentum, the matchup puts

all-time great Tom Brady up against Blake Bortles in an unlikely quarterback matchup for the underdog to find a victory. The Patriots 40-yearold quarterback looked exceptional in the tundra, despite his age. The highest level of quarterback play is now paired with the solid defense that turned the motley squad from a laughing stock into an efficient buzz saw.

They are now up against unlikely contenders in a game that pits the upper echelon of NFL royalty in the five-time Super Bowl Champion quarterback vs. the young and upstart Jaguars.

The pick - Patriots win 4530

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18 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Maverick womens’s basketball ends win drought

JAKE RINEHART Staff Writer The Mavericks were in North Dakota this last weekend for games against the Minot State Beavers and the University of Mary Marauders.

The Mavericks ended their dry-spell by defeating Minot State by a score of 72-54 on Friday. The victory snaps MSU’s four-game losing streak and is their first win since Dec. 19.

Much like the hit song from the Beatles, the milestone victory for a coach is a long and winding road. In order to secure this victory over Minot State, the Lady Mavs had to lose four consecutive games.

In the end, it makes the team that much stronger and more resilient.

The reason I eluded to the hit song from the Beatles is because this victory against Minot State marked the 100th

career victory for head coach Emilee Thiesse. In her six seasons in charge of the Minnesota State Women’s program, Thiesse has amassed an overall record of 100-62, including a record of 75-45 in NSIC play. The Mavericks team has also made two NCAA Tournament appearances under Thiesse in the 2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons.

Taylor Klug had a monster game for the Mavs against the Beavers. Klug led all scorers with 27 points. Claire Ziegler had a great performance allaround, pulling down seven rebounds and scoring 12 points of her own.

The Beavers struggled offensively in this game. Only two players on the Minot State team scored more than 10 points, and both of those players came off the bench for the Beavers.

The Mavericks put up a great performance following the victory over Minot State, but ultimately fell to the University of Mary in overtime by a score of 84-90.

The Lady Mavs fought their way back from a seven-point deficit at halftime to force the overtime period. Minnesota State outscored the Maraud-

ers 40-33 in the second half.

The University of Mary were able to take a 70-68 lead with nine seconds to play in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks were resilient and answered with a bucket of their own, a layup by Mackenzie Dahl that left three seconds left in regulation. The Marauders had a chance to win the game as time expired, but Claire Ziegler made an important defensive play to block the shot attempt as time expired.

The Lady Mavs were led by Claire Jordan, who scored 16 points, include a perfect seven-for-seven from the freethrow line. Claire Ziegler filled the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists, three steals, and three blocks, that included the final shot to force overtime.

The story of the game has to be the play off the bench for the Mavericks. In 29 minutes of play, Kirstin Klitzke scored 22 points for the Mavs’ bench. Klitzke was dominant from the field, shooting 9-10 on field-goals, including 2-3 from three-point range.

Taylor Klug came off the bench against the University of Mary, having played a

Photo by Mansoor Ahmad

game-high 31 total minutes the night before against Minot State. Although she came off the bench, Klug’s confidence was unwavering. She would finish the game with 16 points.

The Marauder’s starters played a great game. All five starters for the University of Mary scored double-digit points, including two players who had double-doubles.

Cassie Askvig had a gamehigh 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the

season. Lauren Rotunda added 15 points and 10 rebounds of her own, also for her fifth double-double of the season.

Both players played a gamehigh 41 minutes.

The Mavericks have a record of 5-12 overall after the weekend, including 3-8 in conference.

The Lady Mavs return home this weekend to face Sioux Falls on Friday, January 19th, and Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, Jan. 20.

Maverick women’s hockey skunked by the Badgers

COLTON MOLESKY Staff Writer The struggles continued for the Minnesota State Mavericks women’s hockey team, with the girls dropping both games on the road to the Wisconsin Badgers over the weekend. The Mavericks left cheese head country after getting skunked 11-0 over the two-night span.

The Mavs came out sluggish in game one, getting badly outpaced by the number one ranked Badgers early in the game. The opening period found MSU down 2-0, with the game winning goal scored immediately by Sam Cogan in the first 4:12 of the game. MSU was bogged down time and again because of their 10 penalties, which resulted in only 16 shots on goal for the Mavs and it paled in comparison to the 42 shots from Wisconsin.

“We came in here against a team that hasn’t played in a

couple of weeks and obviously they were hungry to play,” said Mavericks head coach John Harrington to the MSU athletics department. “They are an exceptional team we were playing, we wanted to go into the first period and just get out of it with not too much damage against and they got us on the power play, they got a little momentum and we just didn’t generate any offense.”

The goaltending was the real difference maker for the Badgers, as Kristian Campbell recorded her eighth and ninth shutouts over the weekend. The most dominant part of the Badgers squad this season has been Campbell, who boasts a 23-1 record and has a stunning .952 save percentage on 437 total saves.

While game two was a tighter affair at 4-0, Campbell’s brick wall of a performance still gave the Badgers a heavy edge to beat out the Mavericks. Despite coming out in the first period hot with eight of their total 16 shots, MSU still found themselves down 2-0 early, following quick goals from Claudia Kepler and Baylee Wellhausen.

Shots on goal finished out at 36-16 in favor of the Badgers, as the defense pound-

ed the MSU offense that again had trouble sustaining themselves throughout the game. The Badgers refused to give MSU any help, tallying four penalties but killing all of them exceptionally well. They eventually extended the lead to 4-0 in the third period, closing out a weekend that was never close.

“I thought we gave a good effort throughout our lineup today,” said Harrington after the second loss. “Certainly it was the end of the period that cost us with a couple goals but we were happy with the way we played, we had the two power play opportunities in the second and two in the third but we didn’t have a lot of shots on those, we need to get more shots on those, needed to get ourselves on the scoreboard there.”

Wisconsin is in the midst of a crushing run, with a seven win streak going back to mid December. They have also shutout the last four opponents, outscoring the opposition 26-4 over the last seven outings. MSU was headed into the teeth of the most oppressive defense in women’s hockey and the result was predictable. The offensive woes of the Mavericks continued as they have scored once

over the last four losses.

The competition does not get easier, with the Mavericks headed out on the road

again to play the Minnesota Golden Gophers next weekend.

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MSU Reporter • 19

Sports

Minnesota Twins Caravan takes over the Kato Ballroom

KEVIN KORBEL Sports Editor The Minnesota Twins baseball club kicked off their annual Twins Caravan this past Monday at the Kato Ballroom in Mankato, MN. The Twins do this every year before Spring Training begins in Ft. Myers, FL to get a brief look of the club’s outlook headed into the new baseball season. The event kicked off one of six caravans the Twins planned on doing throughout the next ten days.

This year at the Minnesota

HOCKEY

continued from 15 defenders to tie the game 1-1. The Mavericks never looked back.

Brad McClure registered his fifth and sixth goals of the season later in the opening period, with the senior taking over the game, willing the outcome to be vastly different. His second goal was also on a power play, a change that desperately needed to be made after the Mavericks were abused by penalties the night before.

After jumping out to a 3-1 lead, the Mavericks added two more in the following period, dominating the game 5-1 before the third period even kicked off. LaCouvee adjusted well after the early goal, stopping 16 of the 17 Alaska shots. The Mavericks offense, clicking on all cylinders and unencumbered with penalties, racked up 36 shots on goal in a dominate finish to the weekend.

Twins stop in Mankato, the team decided to bring along Hall of Famers Jack Morris (current radio host of the Minnesota Twins), and Paul Molitor (current manager of the Twins). Three other guys that were featured during the Caravan were World Series hero for the Twins back in 1987, Dan Gladden, general manager Derek Falvey, infielder Eduardo Escobar, relief pitcher Alan Busenitz, and the President & CEO of the Twins, Dave St. Peter. All of these people in this organization make in an impact on the Twins’ past, present, and future.

Topics that were talked about during this night were the improvements the club has made going into next year, how the Twins re-estab-

Photos by Mansoor Ahmad

lished themselves this past season, and the Twins focus on deepening the team’s bullpen for next season, with the signings of relievers Fernando Rodney, Addison Reed and Zach Duke.

“We feel as a team that as an organization that we’ve added a lot of depth to our bullpen,” said Derek Falvey, “we have a really young, and talented group of players on this team and we look to continue the development of our players moving into next season.”

Jack Morris was the highlight of the night at the Caravan, as the fans at the Kato Ballroom gave him a standing ovation for his induction into Cooperstown (MLB Hall of Fame). He talked also about his experiences with pitching his one year with the Minne-

sota Twins, and him being born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Twins after the Caravan is over will start Spring Training baseball at the beginning of March. With free agency beginning to slow down, the Twins look to con-

tinue to build on what they accomplished as a ball club last year heading into 2018.

Even though it feel cold and crummy right now in Minnesota, it looks like soon enough baseball will be back in the state of Minnesota.

20 • MSU Reporter

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