February 13, 2014

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MSU holds Peace Corps events Peace Corps supports world peace, friendship.

EMMA DEPPA Staff Writer This week, Minnesota State University, Mankato hosted several events about the Peace Corps. A local volunteer tabled during the study abroad fair and there was also an informational session on Tuesday night.

At these events past volunteers shared their experiences, gave a presentation with information about the Peace Corps and answered many questions from the attendees.

The Peace Corps is a government international service organization based out of the United States. This organization sends American volunteers abroad to help communities tackle their most pressing needs. They help to develop sustainable communities and make changes that live on long after the volunteers are gone. They work at the grassroots level to make a positive difference in the lives of many across the globe.

The Peace Corps’ mission is to promote world peace and

friendship by fulfilling three goals: - To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.

- To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the

part of the peoples served.

- To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

The Peace Corps was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. It began on a temporary pilot basis, but had the

goal of becoming a permanent program. Kennedy’s initial hope for the Peace Corps was to have 500-1,000 volunteers in the first year.

After almost 43 years of international service, the Peace Corps has had over 215,000 vol-

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unteers around the world serving in 139 countries. Currently there are 7,209 active volunteers and trainees serving in 65 countries.

Volunteers are selected based on their commitment to the mission and goals of the Peace Corps. They are also recruited based on knowledge in the fields that the organization works in including education, health, environment, community economic development, youth development, agriculture and more.

Being a Peace Corps volunteer has many benefits. Not only does one gain an incomparable global learning experience, but also has the opportunity to make lifelong impacts on the lives they touch. A returned volunteer is given a living stipend of slightly over $7,000 to readjust to living in America. Returning Peace Corps volunteers have access to any government job that they qualify for within the year they return.

For more information visit: www.peacecorps.gov.

A Peace Corps member in Wang Thong, Thailand.

Roundabouts to be installed on Madison Avenue, Highway 22 Roundabouts found to increase safety, scheduled to be open this fall.

REECE HEMMESCH Editor in Chief Adding to the continuing round-and-round discussion on road safety, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), Blue Earth County and the City of Mankato have agreed to implement two new roundabouts on Highway 22, adding to the plethora of circular intersections put in last year.

The two new, multi-lane roundabouts will bring together the intersections of Madison Avenue and Highway 22, at the corners of Red Lobster, Snell

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Motors, Panera Bread and Baker’s Square, while the other will be on the intersection of 22 and Adams Street after studies have recommended construction of roundabouts at the two intersections to improve safety and decrease traffic delays.

The project will also include the installation of flashing yellow arrows for left-turn signals at other Highway 22 intersections.

Additionally, Madison Avenue and Adams Street will both have reconstruction done between Sioux Road and Haefner Drive, concrete pavement repair will be done along the highway

stretching from Adams Street to North Victory Drive and sidewalk and pedestrian trail accessibility improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. In the past three years, MnDOT determined the intersections on Highway 22 to have the highest crashing rate in District 7. That district, which incorporates 13 counties in south central Minnesota, has decided on 14 other locations on state highways for construction in 2014 and 57 additional sites to be constructed from 2015 to 2017. The State of Minnesota has 115 roundabouts with an additional 39 being

planned for construction.

The key with roundabouts is safety, as most engineers believe that due to slower speeds and angle of collision impact, safety at a roundabout can be dramatically improved when compared to a regular four-way intersection. According to the National Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, intersections converted to roundabouts show a 39 percent decrease in all crashes. Furthermore, a 76 percent reduction in injury crashes and 89 percent decrease in fatal crashes, along with improved pedestrian safety as traffic is moving more slowly.

If you look at the statistics

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on roads where the speed limit is 40 miles-per-hour or higher, like Highway 22, there is a 62 percent reduction in all crashes.

The NIIHS also found a 34 percent lower rate of injury and fatal crashes at an intersection in Washington that went for multilane systems.

These roundabouts can also reduce the likelihood of rearend crashes and their severity by removing the incentive for drivers to speed up as they approach green lights and by reducing abrupt stops at red lights.

Although it sounds like one,

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

MSU Reporter • 3

News

Intensely debated artifact presentation to come to MSU International expert to present his findings on the issue.

SAM WILMES News Editor One of the most hotly debated artifacts in world history will take center stage next Wednesday as Shroud Encounter, a highly-acclaimed multi-media presentation, will be held in the Centennial Student Union at 7 p.m. Admission will be free.

Shroud Encounter is a production of the Shroud of Turin Educational Project Inc. and will be presented by Russ Breault, an international expert on the matter. According to the Catholic Mavs, the presentation will be a fast-moving, big-screen experience that will use over 200 images that will cover all aspects of Shroud Research.

Breault has been seen on several national documentaries, including on CBS, History Channel and Discovery. Breault was interviewed on Good Morning America last year to discuss his most recent research.

Breault has also presented his findings at numerous institutions, including Duke, Johns Hopkins, Penn State and others.

The fourteen-foot long artifact is widely considered as the most analyzed artifact in the world. It has been shown in Turin, Italy for over 400 years and, according to the Catholic Mavs,

bears the faint front and back image of a 5’10” bearded, crucified man with bloodstains and apparent wounds that match the account of the crucification as given in the bible.

The historical trail dates back through France, Italy and Asia Minor- (Present day Turkey) and botanical evidence indicates the shroud may have originated in the Middle East.

In 1981, a team of 40 scientists found that it wasn’t the work of an artist. No visible trace of artistic substances were found on the cloth. The organization contends that skeptics that have mounted numerous attempts to show how a medieval artist could have produced the image have all given inadequate reasons.

Although the shroud was largely dismissed in 1988 when three carbon dating labs indicated medieval origins, a peer review scientific journal in 2005 showed that a single cut from the corner edge may not have been a part of the Shroud material.

There remains a significant controversy surrounding the shroud, partially because proponents claim that in violation of sampling protocol, only one sample was used for dating and was cut from the most handled area of the cloth, an area that

could have been avoided.

They also claim that new chemical and mechanical tests that were published last year by Padua University and Italian scientists indicate a date range of

280 BC to 220 AD, putting the first century within the margin of error.

The national geographic called it “One of the most perplexing enigmas of modern

times.” The presentation is expected to cover all aspects of the science, history, art and theories of the image and how it may have been formed.

Web Photo Ross Breault has become a well-known expert on the Shroud of Turin.

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

Massachusetts woman found guilty in cut-from-womb killing WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A woman accused of killing her pregnant friend three months after her own miscarriage was convicted Wednesday of beating and strangling her, then cutting the baby from her womb and passing the child off as her daughter.

Julie Corey sobbed as a Worcester Superior Court jury found her guilty of the 2009 murder of 23-year-old Darlene Haynes. The jurors had deliberated for 10 hours over two days.

Sentencing was scheduled for Tuesday.

Prosecutors said Haynes was eight months pregnant when Corey attacked her and cut the baby out of her body. They told the jury that Corey had been pregnant, too, but had a miscarriage three months earlier and told her boyfriend and family that Haynes’ baby was her own.

“It’s probably the most horrific case this office has ever seen in terms of facts,” District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said in a statement after the verdict was handed down. “This woman was killed for her baby.”

Corey, 39, did not testify during the trial.

Corey’s lawyers contended that police failed to follow up on leads that could have implicated other potential suspects in the killing, including Haynes’ exboyfriend. They also suggested that Haynes’ ex-boyfriend had

given Corey and her boyfriend, Alex Dion, the baby. Dion denied that on the witness stand.

Defense lawyer Michael Wilcox said he was disappointed with the verdict, but not surprised. He said they plan to appeal.

“We were aware of the evidence against her,” Wilcox said, adding that the facts alone in the case were difficult to discuss.

“We worked very hard to present the jury with a different picture, but we weren’t ultimately successful.”

Wilcox said he would not comment on Corey’s reaction but said it was understandable that she was upset.

“She faced the somber realization that she will spend the rest of her life in prison,” he said.

Haynes’ body was found in a closet in her apartment on July 27, 2009. She had been beaten in the head and strangled with an electrical cord. Her abdomen had been cut open, and her baby was gone.

Corey, Dion and Haynes’ baby were found two days later at a homeless shelter in Plymouth, N.H. Her lawyers acknowledged that she was found with the baby but said she played no role in Haynes’ slaying.

Dion testified that Corey, whom he believed was pregnant at the time, called him on July 23, 2009, and told him she was

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giving Haynes a ride to a store.

Later that night, Corey called him to say her water had broken and a friend was taking her to the hospital to give birth, Dion said.

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daughter. He said he and Corey introduced the baby to family and friends over the next couple of days.

The girl, now 4, lives with her biological father.

Photo Courtesy of Associated Press Julie Corey listens as Judge Janet Kenton-Walker instructs the jury during her murder trial in Worcester Superior Court in Worcester, Mass. Tuesday Feb. 11, 2014. Corey is charged with killing her pregnant friend and cutting the baby from her womb.

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A couple of hours later, Corey called him again and said, “We had a baby,” Dion testified. Dion said Corey arrived home the next morning with a baby girl he believed was his

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News

MSU Reporter • 5

Brony club new to MSU Unique group highlights honesty, kindness and laughter.

EMMA DEPPA Staff Writer This semester an interesting new club will be hitting the Minnesota State University, Mankato campus: a Brony club.

What is a Brony? A Brony (plural: Bronies) is a male, or “bro,” that is an avid fan of the popular children’s television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Though My Little Pony (MLP) is typically aimed at young girls, these fans do not give in to the idea that males cannot enjoy things that might be intended for females. According to www.whatisabrony. com, “First impressions might be that Bronies are creepy or gay, however that’s a typical misconception. Most Bronies are friendly teenagers and young adults that simply aren’t afraid to admit that they enjoy a show that is innocent, colorful, and funny.” Bronies challenge and hope to change the definition of masculinity.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a new generation of MLP, with a new creator, Laura

Faust. Faust, also the creator of Powerpuff Girls, sought to change MLP from an exceedingly girly series, to a creative and fun show that all can enjoy.

Bronies believe that with its experienced creator, talented voice actor and interesting stories, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic can be enjoyed by all.

The television series centers around six main characters known as the “Mane Six.” Each pony has its own distinct personality, as well as a magical feature called The Elements of Harmony. These powers can be united together to ward off evil. The Elements of Harmony include honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, loyalty and magic. These six ponies live in a small village, have friends, jobs and hobbies, but are special in that they embark on epic quests.

On these missions they use their powers to defeat evil villains and mythical beasts. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is available on Netflix.

Bronies have their own trend of fan fiction. They make art, music, animations and videos.

These creative works are typically centered on the artist’s favorite character. Some are more dedicated and have made liveaction shorts and even a fulllength fan made episode.

Bronies also meet in person, in clubs and have regular meetings, like this one on campus.

At these meetings they typically hang out, watch an episode of MLP, or just discuss various topics related to the show. One fun part of these clubs is that each member gets its own MLP name! They even have their own conventions! At these conventions there are artists, game designers and musicians. Bronies have also supported charities over the years, raising tens of thousands of dollars through philanthropic campaigns.

The MNSU Brony Club meets Sundays at 1:15 p.m. in room 101 of the library basement. The current leader, or dictator as they call it, is named Critical Changeling. If you are interested in joining the club, or would like more information, you can reach them at mnsubronyclub@gmail.com

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Harmful practices enacted on a global scale against women The world needs to respond to the epidemic of FGM. HANNAH KLEINBERG Staff Writer Female genital mutilation (FGM) encompasses all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons, according to the World Health Organization. This inhumane procedure persists across the globe, particularly in impoverished and improperly educated countries such as Somalia and Ethiopia.

Over 3 million girls face the risk of FGM each year.

FGM has three major practices: Clitoridectomy is any amount of removal of the clitoris and in some cases the prepuce of the skin which surrounds the clitoris. Excision is any amount of removal of the clitoris, but also the labia minora and is done with or without removal of the labia majora. Infibulation is the narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a covering seal; this may be formed by cutting and/or repositioning the labia and may be done with or without clitoral removal.

Women of all ages are at risk of FGM in these areas, but those who are in the most danger are females from infancy to fifteen years old. There are many reasons why such a harmful process thrives in Middle-Eastern, African, and sometimes Asian areas; many cultures view it as a higher

evolution of purity: believing it to reduce a woman’s libido and therefore keeping her from premarital intercourse, when in reality it is the fear of reopening the vaginal wound that inhibits their sexual desire. An undefended argument is that it’s “tradition,” or for religious practice, but in no religious document of any kind does it prescribe female genital mutilation for women.

It may be argued that FGM is comparable to male circumcision, practiced nearly worldwide and heavily in North America, but it is not. Where there are health benefits to male circumcision, such as HIV and STD risk reduction, there are none for FGM. In fact, it does more harm than it does help; women who have undergone FGM procedures have long-term repercussions, such as chronic bladder and urinary tract infections, cyst formation, infertility and a dramatic increase in possibility of childbirth complications and newborn deaths. Later surgery is also necessary due to childbirth and intercourse, where the woman will have to be stitched up again and again.

Immediate consequences of FGM include severe pain, fatal blood loss, bacterial infections such as tetanus or sepsis and open sores.

In eight countries, nearly all women are victim to FGM; in Somalia, 98% of its girls are exposed to it and in Guinea

96%. Countries that are generally westernized, such as Egypt (with a FGM rate of 91%), have taken cutting to medical health professionals as a guise against the United Nations’ resolution, which declared FGM a violation against human rights. FGM even happens in the United States today, mostly by people who have migrated from these areas and have brought their ‘traditions’ with them.

In order to fight the growing problem of FGM, women in these uneducated areas must

be given the tools necessary to learn. Many of the women who undergo this harmful surgery are either too young to have a choice or go under peer pressure.

Some families will reject their daughters if they refuse this procedure and men will think them ‘unclean’ or ‘impure’ by declining to have their body mutilated.

As they’ve done with safe sex promotion and STD awareness in the Middle East, the world needs to boost the knowledge of FGM, for the safety of women everywhere.

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SPRING 2014 EDITOR IN CHIEF: Reece Hemmesch.......389-5454 NEWS EDITOR: Sam Wilmes..............389-5450 SPORTS EDITOR: Joey Denton.............. 389-5227 VARIETY EDITOR: James Houtsma.......... 389-5157 ADVERTISING SALES: Natasha Jones........... 389-1063 Mac Boehmer............389-5097 Parker Riesgraf.......... 389-1079 Brandon Poliszuk.......389-5453 BUSINESS MANAGER: Jane Tastad............... 389-1926 ADV. DESIGN MANAGER: Dana Clark............... 389-2793

POLICIES & INFORMATION • If you have a complaint, suggestion or would like to point out an error made in the Reporter, call Editor in Chief Reece Hemmesch at 507-3895454. 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.

• The Minnesota State University Mankato Reporter is a studentrun newspaper published twice a week, coming out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Reporter generates 78 percent of its own income through advertising and receives approximately 22 percent from Student Activities fees. The Reporter is free to all students and faculty, but to start a subscription, please call us at 507-3891776. Subscriptions for the academic school year are $55.00 and subscribers will receive the paper within three to five days after publishing.

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“Do you feel roundabouts are necessary?”

DAN CARLSON, BUSINESS “I think for the most part it is just easier to have a stop sign or a stop light.”

Minnesota State University, Mankato

JAXXON ANDERSON, BUSINESS

EMILY HERNANDEZ, ETHNIC STUDIES

“Yes, because I think they are safe and the yield signs prevent your from coming to a stop.”

“I don’t like them because they sometimes seem unnecessary and confusing.”

BOLUWATIFE GDADEBO, BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE “I dont. They are scary to me, it’s similar to going up or down a hill.

Anything could go wrong.”

• Letters exceeding 400 words may not be accepted. The Reporter reserves the right to edit letters to fit space or correct punctuation. The Reporter reserves the right to publish, or not publish, at its discretion. Letters must contain year, major or affiliation with the university, or lack thereof. All letters must contain phone numbers for verification purposes.

Compiled by Yohanes Ashenafi

FUCHIE XIONG, ENGLISH EDUCATION “They can be dangerous because people don’t see them often. However, they help traffic flow more smooth.”

Thursday, February 13, 2014

MSU Reporter • 7

Ed/Op

NFL prospect comes out, society continues to find search for truth The country continues to debate an issue that has no end in sight.

SAM WILMES News Editor Even though an NFL draft prospect has come out and become the first openly gay potential draft pick, we still have a lot to decipher on the language of homosexuality and the acceptance of it within our vast society.

Defensive end Michael Sam, a potential third or fourth round draft pick, came out on Sunday in an interview with The New York Times. Sam had already come out to his teammates in September, but only now did he

have the courage to come out to the rest of the world.

Unfortunately for Sam, his dad, Michael Sam Sr., was less than pleased when Sam came out to him via text.

While saying that he still loved his son and wanted him to have a successful career, he added that one of the greatest pass rushers of all time, former Los Angeles Rams Defensive end Deacon Jones, would be “turning over in his grave.”

He added that he was old school and was bothered by a gay player being in the NFL. Sam Sr.’s reaction is indicative of the significant differences people have on this subject.

This situation begs the question of where we are as a society. We hear the clichés all of the

time- “Old fashioned values,” “Christian,” and other phrases that are commonly cited as having some sense of expertise on the matter.

There are just so many questions on this issue. Where does the line of “Traditional Marriage,” cross over the line of bigotry? Is it a bigoted stance to argue against including homosexual couples in the legal definition of marriage? Depending on your stance on the issue you would probably hold different opinions.

In a deeper sense, there are even more phrases that are confusing. “Politically Correct”this is a common phrase used to describe someone talking within the confines what is socially acceptable, not what they really

think.

But if one weren’t politically correct- what would it mean?

Should it be a sense of accomplishment in a free society?

Should people with a negative outlook on issues such as gay rights be proud of voicing their opinions to the masses? Maybe, depending on what you say, sometimes it is better to hold your tongue.

Many bloggers were encouraging of the elder Sam’s words, noting that he wasn’t being politically correct, a sore spot amongst many.

Many who don’t support the premise of gay marriage cite the bible, saying that those inspired

by God were condemning the act and proclaiming that homosexuals wouldn’t inherit the kingdom

of God. Instead of this being the final answer for Christians, however, there are instead more questions to be answered. For in the bible, there is also a quote in the bible saying: “Judge not, lest you be judged.” Is having Christian values and being bigoted two mutually exclusive terms? Some would argue not.

That is the problem with this debate. There is a lot of gray area. Are the people disagreeing with gay marriage bigots? Or are they just sticking up for the faith they adhere to. Would we have a more sinful society and would the practice be sinful in the eyes of the Lord?

Lots of questions, Many sides, we’ll see where this goes.

Facts needed before judgment made on roundabouts Underrated Roundabouts increase safety, fuel efficiency.

ASHLEY GERKEN Staff Writer Just because it is winter doesn’t give people the excuse to drive poorly and cause accidents. I know there is snow and ice on the roads, but people should take more precaution, especially when it comes to roundabouts.

Roundabouts are a form of intersection that consists of yield signs, lanes that go in a circle and exits. I am not sure why there isn’t something interesting in the middle of our roundabouts, but roundabouts should either be flat or have a monumental item with some history or meaning.

I don’t have a problem with them- roundabouts are easy to understand, but others feel differently. In driver’s training, everyone should have learned how people should drive on roundabouts, but we never had any practice in our own hometowns, or at least I never did. The closest roundabout from my hometown was over an hour away in Medford.

People either need to find a new route to go to class or go back to their books and learn how to drive if they don’t like them. People will blame round-

abouts for being difficult and problem causing even when there is no ice. They are safe and sometimes they are faster than a red light intersection.

Mankato is bringing another roundabouts to the city on Highway 22. Many Mankato residents need to relearn how to drive on a roundabout. It might take 15 minutes to read at most, but, like the Geico commercial says, “15 minutes could save you time and money.”

Minnesota State Department of Transportation has all of the information and tips on its website. Also on the website roundaboutready.com, there is even a link on how cyclists should use a roundabout.

People can’t argue that roundabouts are dumb unless they go to a meeting and actually fight the proposals to construct roundabouts. The world is changing, and it is adding roundabouts.

Decisions to construct are made to decline crash rates and are beneficial to intersections with more than two roads.

Roundabouts cause people to slow down and a study by the National Insurance Institute for Highway safety that the intersections converted to roundabouts show a 39 percent decrease in all crashes and 89 percent decrease in fatal crashes.

Even the popular show Myth-

Busters has an episode about 4 Way Stop vs. Roundabout.

Roundabouts help the environment too by having fewer stop times and they lower fuel

consumption, up to 30 percent or more.

People are anxious and need to practice in order to survive the future of Minnesota roads.

While Mankato drivers already have a bad reputation, we can improve this by using your blinkers and buckling up.

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News

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Relieve the stress of school one step at a time RYAN BERNDT Staff Writer Last semester during finals week, I spent the majority of my time in the Memorial Library. downing coffee and meticulously typing away. On a Thursday afternoon, I witnessed one of the most heartbreaking moments of my collegiate experience: A girl, sitting across from me, burst into tears, exclaimed that she was too stressed out about her anatomy test and ran to the bathroom, followed closely by her friend.

It seems normal now, having a blanket of stress covering the minds of our youth on a daily basis. Whether it’s the homework dished out by our professors, needless drama we deal with, or our seemingly darkening future of student debt, we are running against the wind every day.

Measuring stress levels isn’t a new concept, but researchers are finding that the students of the present face a multitude of problems that older generations never had to deal with. We go to classes (some lasting for an up-

wards of 4 hours), barely using textbooks we paid $500.00 for, only to go home and log onto Facebook to see all the fun our friends are having without us.

In an effort to reduce stress throughout the campus, our university actually has a “Relaxation Station,”which offers a full- body massage chair, an audio relaxation system and aromatherapy, all free to students.

But will a massage and some nice smelling flowers truly solve our stress problem? Of course not.

It’s clear our university tries to help students out in managing our stress levels, but when it comes down to it, stress is what we make of it.

I don’t know what troubles you, reader, but I offer some words of advice that has helped me cope with the daily grind: Find your silence.

There is no underlying philosophy behind it, simply detach yourself from what society has conceptualized you to be and be one with yourself. Sound kind of ridiculous to you? It’s not.

Think about what is causing you stress; is it school? Is your significant other or friends being unreasonable? Let these thoughts flow through your consciousness. Spend time understanding your stressors and what they really mean to you; are they as horrible as you make them out to be?

Unplug yourself from technology; just for a few minutes.

Turn off your phone, get off Netflix, get out of bed and sit down somewhere comfortable and quiet. The lights should be dim, your eyes should be closed, brew some tea or drink some water.

Try and continue this practice once a day when you wake up. It’s normal to get frustrated with the lack of process this brings you in achieving peace, but continuous practice will help you find a calm place to rest your mind.

Our society must change.

Professors need to understand that we are working harder than ever before to achieve little reward. But we, the students, need to remove ourselves from the

negative aspects of society the best we can.

As Hans Selye, an endocrinologist who focused on biological responses to stress once said,

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“It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.” I hope you find an outlet to release the frustration life brings you and keep pushing forward.

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

MSU Reporter • 9

News

Two killed as Venezuelan protests turn violent

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) s— At least two people were ukilled Wednesday as the largest -protests ever against Venezuelan pPresident Nicolas Maduro’s yearold government turned violent.

Gunfire erupted in downtown Caracas when armed members of a pro-government vigilante group arrived on motorcycles and began firing at more than 100 anti-Maduro student protesters clashing with security forces.

As the crowd fled in panic, one demonstrator fell to the ground with a bullet wound in his head.

Onlookers screamed “assassins” as they rushed the 24-year-old student, later identified by family members as Bazil D’Acosta, to a police vehicle.

Also killed was the leader of a pro-government 23rd of January collective, as militant supporters of Venezuela’s socialist administration call themselves. National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello said the “revolutionary” known by his nickname Juancho was “vilely assassinated by the fascists” but he didn’t provide details. o The unrest erupted after a day

of peaceful demonstrations organized by students and hard-line members of the opposition.

Pro-government supporters countered with a march of their own to express support for Maduro, who has accused opponents of trying to violently oust him from power just two months after his party’s candidates prevailed by a landslide in mayoral elections.

While anti-government demonstrators vented frustration over issues ranging from rampant crime to mounting economic hardships, they were united in their resolve to force Maduro out of office by constitutional means.

“All of these problems — shortages, inflation, insecurity, the lack of opportunities — have a single culprit: the government,” Leopoldo Lopez, a Harvard University-trained former mayor, told a crowd of about 10,000 people gathered at Plaza Venezuela in Caracas.

Lopez, who leads a faction of the opposition that has challenged what it considers the meek leadership of two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles,

called the protests “a moral and patriotic duty.”

“If we don’t do it now, then when? And if it’s not us, who will?” he said.

The crowd then marched to the prosecutor’s office to demand

the release of 13 demonstrators who human rights groups say were illegally arrested during the past two weeks of increasingly violent protests.

A smaller group of mostly students lingered after most demon-

strators went home, setting fire to trash and ripping apart concrete sidewalks and steel grating to throw at police and national guardsmen.

VENEZUELA • Page 10

Photo Courtesy of Associated Press Bystanders take cover from the violence on the street after clashes broke out between opposition protesters with security forces and pro-government supporters during a protest against the government in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014.

10 • MSU Reporter

News

Thursday, February 13, 2014

ROUNDABOUTS “Seen more in countries like Australia, the United Kingdom and France, modern roundabouts came to the United States first in 1990 in the state of Nevada. Since then, more than 1,800 have been built within the US as one of nine evidence-based safety countermeasures recommended by the Federal Highway administration.”

l a j t d o t r t

continued from 1 big hectic rush on Highway 22, MnDOT will construct both roundabouts during the same construction season to minimize business impacts, rather than

prolonging the construction for two different seasons as they would end construction on one in 2014 and begin the other in 2015.

VENEZUELA “All of these problems - shortages, inflation, insecurity, the lack of opportunities - have a single culprit: the government.” continued from 9 Across town, Maduro told his supporters that he won’t back down in the face of what he said is a conspiracy by opponents to provoke violence and destabilize his government.

“A Nazi-fascist faction has emerged that wants to take Venezuela down the path of violence,” the 51-year-old former bus driver said. “What we’re going to have is peace and prosperity.”

Protests also took place in other cities, including Merida and San Cristobal, where students clashed with police in recent days.

Merida Mayor Carlos Garcia said three people were injured by gunfire during protests Tuesday when a group of hooded government supporters began firing into the crowd. Maduro on Wednesday acknowledged the incident, but said his supporters shouldn’t respond in kind to what he called the opposition’s violent provocations.

The tentative schedule for these new roundabouts will begin in April while pre-project activities wrap up in May. After that, Highway 22 will be fully closed from Bassett Drive to Highway 14 from June to September of this year, as the Adams Street roundabout will open at the end of July in two directions.

Traffic will open to the north on Adams Street in mid-August and Highway 22 and Madison Avenue will be fully open sometime in September of 2014.

Seen more in countries like Australia, the United Kingdom and France, modern roundabouts came to the United States first in 1990 in the state of Nevada.

Since then, more than 1,800 have been built within the US as one of nine evidence-based safety countermeasures recommended by the Federal Highway Administration.

Area residents who would like to see more information about the roundabouts; construction schedules or refreshers on how to operate in a roundabout can visit www.roundaboutready. com for more information on the subject.

T t l b

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

MSU Reporter • 11

News

Judge hears challenge of Texas’ gay marriage ban

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A lawyer representing Texas asked a federal judge Wednesday to reject pleas from two gay couples to suspend the state constitution’s definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, calling the legalization of same-sex marriages “a more recent innovation than Facebook.”

Mike Murphy, an assistant Texas solicitor general, told District Judge Orlando Garcia if he lifted the state’s voter-approved ban on gay marriage he would

be injecting himself into a social and political debate that should be left to lawmakers.

“These questions are political questions, not constitutional rights,” he told the court. “Samesex marriage is not included in the fundamental right of marriage ... it is a more recent innovation than Facebook.”

Garcia scheduled Wednesday’s hearing, which he noted was on President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, to consider a motion by two couples for a pre-

liminary injunction immediately lifting the Texas gay marriage ban pending a trial later this year. Garcia did not immediately rule or give an indication when he might release a written decision but predicted this case, or one of 22 similar ones in other states, “will make its way to the Supreme Court.”

The case before Garcia is the first of its kind in Texas and in the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Mark Phariss and Victor Holmes filed a federal

Photo Courtesy of Associated Press Couples Cleopatra De Leon, left, and partner, Nicole Dimetman, second from left, and Victor Holmes and partner Mark Phariss. The two homosexual couples are challenging Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage and have taken their case to federal court.

civil rights lawsuit complaining that Texas’ ban unconstitutionally denies them the fundamental right to marry because of their sexual orientation. The other lawsuit was filed by Cleopatra De Leon and Nicole Dimetman, who argue that Texas officials are violating their rights and those of their 2-year-old child by not recognizing their marriage license from Massachusetts.

Holmes and De Leon are both U.S. Air Force veterans who served in San Antonio, though both couples have since moved away.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican running for governor, opposes legalizing gay marriage and has vowed to defend the law. But civil rights groups recently won injunctions against similar bans in Utah and Oklahoma relying on the same argument being cited in the Texas case — that banning gay marriage violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Neel Lane, an attorney for the two couples, dismissed the state’s argument that their rights were not violated because they are free to marry members of the opposite sex. He said that’s like holding someone’s head underwater and saying the person is free to breathe, just not air.

He also rejected Murphy’s argument that lawmakers did not

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exclude homosexuals by passing the ban but were trying to promote responsible procreation.

“If marriage is good for children, then it is irrational to prohibit homosexual couples who could have children from being married,” he said, pointing out that gays may adopt children in Texas.

While Garcia listened to arguments, another federal judge decided Wednesday that Kentucky must recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

In a 23-page ruling, U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II concluded that the government may define marriage and attach benefits to it, but cannot “impose a traditional or faith-based limita-

TEXAS • Page 12

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12 • MSU Reporter

News

Study disputes value of routine mammograms

Thursday, February 13, 2014

TEXAS “He (Ned Lane) also rejected Murphy’s argument that lawmakers did not exclude homosexuals by passing the ban but were trying to promote responsible procreation.” continued from 11 tion” without a sufficient justification for it.

In his comments from the bench, Garcia mentioned key civil rights laws passed after the end of the Civil War and pointed out that racial segregation and bans on interracial marriage were part of American tradition until federal judges declared them unconstitutional.

Attorneys general in other states have taken mixed approaches to court challenges to bans on gay marriage. Utah and Oklahoma are fighting rulings

lifting their bans. In Nevada and Virginia, attorneys general have chosen not to defend them.

The couples denied that they are trying to redefine marriage or carve out a new constitutional right.

“Marriage is something when two people who are committed to each other, who love each other and who want to demonstrate that commitment,” Holmes said. “I think that is what the tradition is about and that tradition should apply to us.”

Photo Courtesy of Associated Press In this Thursday, May 6, 2010 photo, a radiologist uses a magnifying glass to check mammograms for breast cancer in Los Angeles.

A Canadian study that many experts say has major flaws has revived debate about the value of mammograms. The research suggests that these screening Xrays do not lower the risk of dying of breast cancer while finding many tumors that do not need treatment.

The study gives longer follow-up on nearly 90,000 women who had annual breast exams by a nurse to check for lumps plus a mammogram, or the nurse’s breast exam alone. After more than two decades, breast cancer death rates were similar in the two groups, suggesting little benefit from mammograms.

It’s important to note that this study did not compare mammograms to no screening at all, as most other research on this topic has. Many groups have not endorsed breast exams for screening because of limited evidence that they save lives.

Critics of the Canadian study also say it used outdated equipment and poor methods that made mammograms look unfairly ineffective.

The study was published Wednesday in the British journal BMJ. Breast cancer is the leading type of cancer and cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide.

Nearly 1.4 million new cases are diagnosed each year. Many studies have found that mammography saves lives, but how many and for what age groups is debatable. It also causes many false alarms and overtreatment of cancers never destined to become life-threatening.

In the U.S., a governmentappointed task force that gives screening advice does not back mammograms until age 50, and then only every other year. The American Cancer Society recommends them every year start-

ing at age 40. Other countries screen less aggressively. In Britain, for example, mammograms are usually offered only every three years.

The Canadian study has long been the most pessimistic on the value of mammograms. It initially reported that after five years of screening, 666 cancers were found among women given mammograms plus breast exams versus 524 cancers among those given the exams alone.

After 25 years of follow-up, about 500 in each group died, suggesting mammograms were not saving lives. The similarity in the death rates suggests that the 142 “extra” cancers caught by mammograms represent overdiagnosis — tumors not destined to prove fatal, study leaders concluded.

The work was immediately criticized. The American College of Radiology and Society of Breast Imaging called it “an incredibly misleading analysis based on the deeply flawed and widely discredited” study. Mammograms typically find far more cancers than this study did, suggesting the quality was poor, the groups contend.

In a letter posted by the medical journal, Dr. Daniel Kopans, a radiologist at Harvard Medical School, described outdated machines and methods he saw in 1990, when he was one of the experts asked to review the quality of mammograms used in the study.

“I can personally attest to the fact that the quality was poor,” he wrote. “To save money they used secondhand mammography machines” that gave poor images, failed to properly position breasts for imaging and did not train radiologists on how to interpret the scans, he wrote.

The study leader, Dr. Anthony

Miller of the University of Toronto, said it was “completely untrue” that inferior equipment or methods were used.

Still, the study highlights the fact that mammograms are an imperfect tool that lead to many false alarms, needless biopsies and treatment of many tumors that would never threaten a woman’s life.

“Overdiagnosis is not an anomaly in the study from Canada. This has been compellingly demonstrated in research from the U.S. and Europe,” said another study leader, Dr. Cornelia Baines of the University of Toronto.

Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, a professor of medicine at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in New Hampshire, spoke on the issue at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December.

“Screening is a choice, not a public health imperative. There are trade-offs here,” he said.

“The people who stand to gain the most from screening are the people at greatest risk of the disease” — older women who are more likely to have breast cancer and those not too old that they are likely to die of something else, he said.

Death rates from breast cancer have fallen mostly because of dramatic improvement in treatments, he and other doctors have said.

“The better we are at treating clinically evident disease, the less important it becomes to find it early,” Welch said.

A big caveat: The Canadian study was on routine mammograms to screen healthy women.

No one doubts the value of diagnostic mammograms — more detailed X-rays when a problem is suspected or after a lump has been found.

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

MSU Reporter • 13

News

Ex-New Orleans Mayor convicted of taking bribes Ray Nagin, the former Mayor of New Orleans, ‘maintains his innocence’ after accepting bribes for city work after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. awaiting sentencing for their roles in separate bribery schemes alleged in the case, each testified that they bribed Nagin.

Nagin’s former technology chief, Greg Meffert, who also is awaiting sentencing after a plea deal, told jurors he helped another businessman, Mark St. Pierre, bribe Nagin with lavish vacation trips. St. Pierre did not testify.

He was convicted in the case in

Photo Courtesy of Associated Press Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin arrives at the Hale Boggs Federal Building in New Orleans. On Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, a federal jury convicted Nagin on charges that he accepted bribes, free trips and other gratuities from contractors in exchange for helping them secure millions of dollars in city work while he was in office.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Former News Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, best remembered for his impassioned pleas for help after the levees broke during Hurricane Katrina, was convicted Wednesday of accepting bribes in exchange for helping businessmen secure millions of dollars in city work, including after the devastating storm.

The federal jury found Nagin guilty of 20 of 21 counts against him. He sat quietly at the defense table after the verdict was read and his wife, Seletha, was being consoled in the front row.

Before the verdict, the 57-year-old Ray Nagin said outside the New Orleans courtroom: “I’ve been at peace with this for a long time. I’m good.”

The Democrat, who left office in 2010 after eight years, was indicted in January 2013 on charges he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and truckloads of free granite for his family business in exchange for promoting the interests of local businessman Frank Fradella.

He also was charged with accepting thousands of dollars in payoffs from another businessman, Rodney Williams, for his help in securing city contracts.

Nagin testified that key witnesses lied and prosecutors misinterpreted evidence including emails, checks and pages from his appointment calendar linking him to businessmen who said they bribed him.

As Nagin and defense attorney Robert Jenkins left the courthouse, walking with a throng of media, photographers and video cameras, Nagin could be heard saying: “I maintain my innocence.”

The defense repeatedly said prosecutors overstated Nagin’s authority to approve contracts.

His lawyer said there is no proof money and material given to the granite business owned by Nagin and his sons was tied to city business.

The charges against Nagin included one overarching conspiracy count along with six counts of bribery, nine counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy and four counts of filing false tax returns.

He was acquitted of one of the bribery counts.

Each charge carries a sentence from 3 to 20 years, but how long he would serve was unclear and will depend on a pre-sentence investigation and various

sentencing guidelines. No sentencing date was set. Jenkins said Nagin’s testimony didn’t hurt the case and that they plan to appeal after sentencing.

Prosecutors say he took hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of bribes including money, free travel and granite for Stone Age LLC, a family granite business.

They allege the corruption spanned the time before and after Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, plunging the city into chaos.

The conviction wasn’t a surprise to Rainelle Smith, 64, of New Orleans, who said she voted for Nagin.

“I don’t believe he served the city as well as he should have,” she said. “He was supposed to come in and prevent the corruption the city was known for. We, in my family, thought of him as the ‘cleanup man.’ Instead he gets in office and he soiled it more.”

The charges resulted from a City Hall corruption investigation that had resulted in several convictions or guilty pleas by former Nagin associates by the time trial started on Jan. 27.

Fradella and Williams, both

2011.

Nagin said he did not know his vacation trips to Jamaica and Hawaii were paid for by St. Pierre. He also said he wasn’t told that a family trip to New York was paid for by a movie theater owner who, prosecutors said, received help with a city tax issue after Katrina wiped out the theater.

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MSU Reporter • 15

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Food and merriment: your Valentine’s Day guide Gifts and events MADELINE ZAFFT Staff Writer February is the month of flowers, chocolates and love, and with Valentine’s Day quickly approaching you might find yourself on a budget and out of gift ideas. Well have no fear; I’m here to provide you with a last minute gift guide of ten affordable Valentine’s Day gifts.

This list is comprised of five do-it-yourself gifts and five affordable gifts.

On the top of our DIY list we are starting out with the “52 reasons I love you” gift. All that is needed for this gift is a deck of cards, a sharpie, ribbon and a hole punch. Start out by writing things you love about your special someone on each card, hole punch the corner of the each card and tie them together with your ribbon. This is sure to be an ace of a gift for your sweetie.

Next on the list is a personalized coffee mug, perfect for your caffeine lover to put their brew in. For this crafty Valentine gift you will need a white mug, which

you can find at a local thrift store or dollar store, and a sharpie marker. Write an inside joke or words of affection on the mug and it is sure to have your coffee connoisseur head over coffee grinds. For the sweet tooth in your life, try baking cookies or brownies instead of chocolates and Valentine’s Day candy.

You can even cut them into heart shapes to be extra festive.

Does your loved one work themselves to the bone in the library? Instead of buying them a certificate to a local spa or nail salon fill a mason jar up with some of their favorite beauty

items such as nail polish, lip gloss, nail filers, nail clippers even a facial mask and bring the spa to them.

Last but not least this DIY project is one of the least expensive and easiest. The only materials needed are a mason jar and construction paper. On the construction paper write down fun date ideas like spaghetti night, back massage, bowling or movie night. Next time you are bored pick one out of the jar and take it for a spin! This date idea jar will make sure you are never bored.

For those of you who are not quite so crafty try these gift

ideas. A great idea for our early birds would be to go out to a Valentine’s Day breakfast instead of dinner.

If you have the extra pocket change a couple of roses is sure to woo your sweetheart.

Everybody loves to get chocolates in a cardboard box shaped as a heart and it is always a safe bet.

A sentimental show of affection is to get a picture frame and fill it with a picture from a fun day or favorite memory.

Last but not least, would be to attend salsa lessons on campus; it’s a great way to spend time

with your other half and you will be able to make great memories.

Salsa lessons are every Mondays from 6-8 p.m. in the CSU basement in the flexible programming space.

A great resource to make use of, especially if you just can’t find the right words for your Valentine’s Day card, is to stop by the CSU Hearth lounge and make a free Valentine’s Day card. On behalf of the MSU Mankato Student Activities office and the Creative Writing Club, Creative Writing or Master of Fine Arts students will be available to write a poem or letter on the spot for a small fee.

On Feb. 25 at the MNSU pool in the Highland Center there will be a dive-in movie instead of a drive-in movie. They will be showing Finding Nemo. Even though this event is a little after Valentine’s Day it qualifies as a perfect twist on movie night.

I hope this gift guide has sparked some fun ideas for you to romance your loved one on Valentine’s Day and here’s wishing you have a day full of love and happiness.

On the menu:

A 4-course meal

MIRANDA BRAUNWARTH Staff Writer

My mother’s homemade Lasagna takes time and patience, but is so worth it, and the second and easier recipe is Pesto Penne with creamy homemade sauce.

Either will impress your date with their deliciousness.

Though it takes time, this lasagna recipe was always used in my house for special occasions.

It will make your whole house or apartment smell wonderful and the pan will be eaten clean. This recipe could be made beforehand and put into the oven quickly before eating.

Homemade Lasagna 2 hours Serves 8

Nothing is romantic about sitting in a crowded restaurant with your special someone and eating overpriced pasta. Why not make a delicious meal as a surprise or make it together and set the mood with a candlelit dinner?

So instead of going to a crowded restaurant for Valentine’s Day, this year impress your honey with a homemade four course meal.

This four course dinner is sure to impress, including a baked brie appetizer, strawberry salad with strawberry poppy seed dressing and two entrees to choose from: lasagna or pesto penne, and a decadent fudgy dark chocolate brownie with strawberry sauce for dessert.

Brie is a gooey wonderful cheese that gets baked in the oven that pairs well with cut fruit, crackers, wine and champagne. What’s nice about Brie is it takes minimal time to make.

Because it has a rind that is edible, it can be removed or left on depending on your preference; this recipe will cut it off.

Baked Brie 30 minutes Ingredients: 1 round wheel of brie cheese 1 large sheet puff pastry or 1 tube crescent rolls Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a sharp knife cut the rind of the brie being careful not to take off too much of the cheese.

Using a nonstick cookie sheet lay out the puff pastry or crescent rolls flat, put the brie on top.

Fold over the rest of dough to encase the cheese inside. Bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

While devouring your Brie try a festive champagne by blending strawberries in your blender and mixing with your champagne.

Add Strawberries to garnish.

Because strawberries give off the Valentine’s vibe create a yummy salad with Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing for the second course. Pick up some leafy greens and/or spinach whatever you prefer, and add some goat cheese, cut strawberries and pears, red onions and tantalizing strawberry poppy seed dressing.

Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing 10 minutes Yields: 1 cup

Web Photo

Ingredients: 1/3 cup powdered sugar ¼ cup strawberry orange vinegar 2 tablespoons orange juice ½ teaspoon onion powder ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon ground ginger 1/3 cup canola oil ½ teaspoon poppy seeds Instructions: Combine powdered sugar, vinegar, orange juice, onion powder, salt, and ginger in a blender.

Process until blended. Gradually add oil making sure to use cover while blending. Stir in poppy seeds. Chill until mixing with salad.

(From: Taste of Home)

Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef 1 medium onion finely chopped 2 cloves garlic 1 can or pint jar stewed tomatoes 2 small cans tomato paste

VALENTINE’S MEAL • Page 17

16 • MSU Reporter

A&E

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Love on the big screen Andy Simon analyzes two extraordinary examples exploring cinematic romance: (500) Days of Summer and Love Actually.

ANDREW SIMON Staff Writer Every year there are dozens of romantic comedies and romantic dramas released that are all exactly the same. From the beat-by-beat plot to the dialogue, it’s as if these films were produced from some dissociated assembly line. The sole purpose of these films is to make audiences feel good, to “oooohh” and “aweee” at the cuteness onscreen as Dane Cook persuades Kate Hudson that he’s a changed man, because of her, or that the bad boy, like John Cusack, can find love in someone and expresses it by holding a boombox above his head blasting an emotionally resonating song.

These films follow a formula, and they’re harmless fun, for the most part, but very few actually mean something.

The best type of movies are those that are a reflection of ourselves, that shine a light at who we are as a society, how we navigate relationships, how we love and how we hate, while still delivering entertainment and a satisfactory journey. So for this upcoming Valentine’s Day, it’s worth taking a close look at two movies that are about love – the real, genuine thing and all the happiness and all the messiness that comes with it – instead of the limp efforts of cardboard cutouts: (500) Days of Summer and Love Actually.

2009’s (500) Days of Summer, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, is perhaps one of the most honest films on love ever made. As the publicity tagline and in-film narrator emphasizes, “This is not a love story. This is a story about love.” (500) Days examines love in raw form, showcasing the bliss of new love and the heartache of a breakup.

Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is the idealistic romantic (an interesting gender reversal in a role typically cast as a woman), and in him the film hits upon points of reality vs. expectations, presumptions and belief of true love and the One, demanding definition, misplacing importance on words and deeds.

For Tom, he believes in the One, he believes in some cosmic higher power guiding him to the girl of his dreams, he believes in destiny and soul mates and that everything happens for a reason. And then he meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel) who instead

believes in living in the moment and having fun. She’s upfront about where she stands, and although Tom acknowledges it, he doesn’t accept it.

Already the weakness of Tom, and to a large extent of relationships, is one party entering into it with presumptions, of holding greater meaning to a look, a word, a phrase, or mutual interests, than the other party intended. Tom’s teenage sister sums up the reality that he doesn’t quite accept, that “just because she likes the same bizzaro crap you do doesn’t mean she’s your soul mate.” Tom is in love with an idea, that of the perfect girlfriend.

Like most people who refuse to acknowledge any warning signs, he lingers on what makes her perfect instead of recognizing their opposites. He places profound importance on Summer telling him something she hasn’t told anybody before, believing himself special, and some cosmic connection to her affinity for the band the Smiths, which he just so happens to likewise love. In this, he’s mentally assigning her this level of exalted greatness that cannot be compared – putting her on a pedestal.

One of the standout sequences speaks to one of the biggest truths in relationships: in that people don’t talk, they don’t say what they mean and, in some cases, use other methods to speak for them. As a greeting card writer, it’s Tom’s job to write messages of love or inspiration, in turn perpetuating the grand consumer idealization of love, and in a pivotal monologue to his board members, he beseeches people to speak for themselves and face reality. People buy these cards, he argues, “not because they wanna say how they feel, people buy cards because they can’t say how they feel or they’re afraid to.”

This monologue is the realization moment for Tom, as all his preconceived notions of true love, the One, his misconceptions of Summer, of what his job is, just explodes and reveals a fundamental truth about the world. People don’t talk, and that causes friction in many a relationship. Greeting cards, movies and pop songs construct an idealized hyper-reality of the word ‘love’ and what it means, but the feeling of it and the intimate understanding of it gets lost in the commercialization of it. And his biggest com-

Web Photo

ment, suggesting the word ‘love’ doesn’t mean anything, that it’s only actions and words that give that casual word any power.

What (500) Days of Summer offers as an exploration of people and love is that sometimes people place their partner on an impossible pedestal, that they’re so enamored with the notion of all-encompassing love that individuality is lost in the mix.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt summarized the point of (500) Days of Summer best in an interview with Playboy magazine, “A lot of boys and girls think their lives will have meaning if they find a partner who wants nothing else in life but them. That’s not healthy. That’s falling in love with the idea of a person, not the actual person.”

The critically acclaimed Love Actually, written/directed

by Richard Curtis (About Time) is less about exploring love and instead showcasing examples of it in all its many varieties.

There’s Billy Mack, the elderly rock star character who finds satisfaction in his many concubines, but the only real love in his life is his loyal manager, exemplifying a different, but just as profound, love from that of romance. Where romantic love is concerned, there’s the elevenyear old boy Sam who experi-

SCREEN LOVE• Page 20

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

MSU Reporter • 17

A&E

VALENTINE’S MEALS “Because strawberries give off the Valentine’s vibe, create a yummy salad with Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing for the second course. Pick up some leafy greens and/or spinach whatever you prefer, and add some goat cheese, cut strawberries and pears, red onions and tantalizing strawberry poppy seed dressing. ” continued from 15

Web Photos Pesto Penne with alfredo sauce (above), fudgy dark chocolate borwnies with an alternate raspberry sauce (top right), and baked brie (bottom right).

8 ounce carton cottage cheese 16 ounce mozzarella cheese ½ cup parmesan cheese ½ teaspoon oregano ¼ teaspoon pepper 1 bay leaf 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoons basil 1 can sliced black olives (optional) 1 can mushrooms (optional) 8 ounce lasagna noodles Instructions: In large skillet brown ground beef with chopped onion, and chopped garlic. Drain off excess grease.

Add stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, and all spices to large skillet with ground beef. Cover and simmer for one hour stirring occasionally.

After one hour add olives and mushrooms and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Set aside.

While meat filling is simmering cook lasagna noodles. Cook twelve, nine will be used and some may break while cooking.

Drain noodles and run under cold water to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In 9 by 13 inch pan spread ¼ of meat filling. Layer with three noodles. On top of noodles add ¼ of cottage cheese, ¼ of mozzarella and ¼ of parmesan.

Add three more layers in that order. Ending with parmesan cheese.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

For and easier delicious Italian recipe look no further than this pesto penne with moist chicken and creamy heavy sauce.

A tip for making noodles, always add salt to your water, noodles don’t come seasoned and salt will add flavor to your noodles.

Pesto Penne 30 minutes Ingredients: 1 package penne noodles 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips 2 cloves garlic, minced Salt and pepper to taste 1 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream ¼ cup basil pesto 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese Instructions: In large pot of boiling salted water boil noodles until al dente (slightly underdone). Drain cooked pasta and set aside. Keep warm.

Sauté chicken and garlic until chicken is almost cooked, in a large skillet over medium heat butter and olive oil.

Reduce heat to medium low and stir in salt and pepper. Stir in heavy whipping cream, pesto and parmesan cheese. Cook until chicken is done. Stir in cooked pasta.

(From: Taste Arkansas from Farm to Table blog) To end this romantic delicious strawberry-filled dinner, enjoy this fudgy dark chocolate brownie with strawberry sauce dessert.

That’s a mouth full both figuratively and literally. If you haven’t won your date over yet you will after this.

Fudgy Dark Chocolate

Brownies with Strawberry Sauce 1 hour Ingredients: One 4.9 ounce dark chocolate 1 stick and 1 tablespoon butter at room temperature 1 cup and 1 tablespoon sugar 3 jumbo eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup flour 1 package fresh strawberries (or 1 bag frozen strawberries) Sugar to taste Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a medium microwave safe bowl melt chocolate in 1 minute intervals stirring in between.

Add butter to melted chocolate and blend slowly.

In large bowl whisk eggs. Add sugar to eggs. Pour in chocolate mutter mixture. Mix gently. Add Vanilla and flour. Mix well.

In a square baking pan line with parchment paper. Pour brownie batter into pan. Bake for 40 minutes.

In blender, prepare strawberry sauce by blending strawberries to a smooth consistency. Blend in sugar.

When brownies are done and cool serve with strawberry sauce.

Garnish with fresh strawberry halves and powdered sugar.

(From: La Bella Vita Cucina) Your Valentine is sure to love the effort you put into making a special dinner. And you can avoid the restaurant wait and have a delicious candlelit dinner for two – just don’t forget the candles.

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18 • MSU Reporter

A&E

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Entertainment bits 2/13: castings galore!

Casting announcements are made for multiple upcoming series’ and a high-profile superhero film, while a horror sequel makes its public debut.

ANDREW SIMON Staff Writer Gotham, the FOX procedural about the early years of Commissioner Jim Gordon from DC’s Batman mythology, has been on a casting spree. Ben MacKenzie (The O.C., Southland) has landed the main lead role of Jim Gordon, while roles both good and evil have also found their actors. Robin Lord Taylor (Another Earth) will be Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin, the heightimpaired criminal mastermind of Gotham who will do anything to earn a few bucks, and the role of Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce’s trusted butler, will be played by Sean Pertwee (Doomsday). The series, originally envisioned as centering solely on the Gotham Police Department, has expanded to include the early years of pivotal characters in the Gotham City mythology.

How I Met Your Dad, the CBS spin-off to its thankfullynearly-over How I Met Your Mother, has found its lead. Greta Gerwing (Greenberg) will be the mother telling her children about the crazy events that brought her and their father together – just hopefully not for another nine seasons.

The biggest news in the TV industry is that Preacher, the multi-volume graphic novel series following small town preacher Jesse Custer, an Irish vampire, and a hit woman on a mission to find God and hold him accountable for all the world atrocities, is finally being adapted for television on AMC. The 75-issue comic series pushed the boundaries in content and storytelling, and for years has been the mission of several prolific entertainment makers to bring the series to life, such as Kevin Smith, Darren Aronofsky, and Sam Mendes.

Now, AMC has teamed with Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Sam Catlin (Breaking Bad) to set up the series for a possible fall 2014 airdate. The channel, which has found great critical and ratings

Web Photos

success with a myriad of anti-heroes and darkly dramatic content seems the perfect fit to visualize a world of angels, demons, a preacher endowed with the Word of God, and a possible Apocalypse.

After the monumental success of The Purge in 2013, writer/director James DeMonaco is back with The Purge: Anarchy, to open June 20th. Discarding the home invasion plot of the first, the sequel will instead follow its characters – played by Frank Grillo (The Grey), Michael K. Williams (Boardwalk Empire), and Zach Gilford (Friday Night Lights) – outside as they try to stay alive on the one night a year all crimes are legal.

Word was director Roland Emmerich had conceived of two versions of an Independence Day 2 storyline, one with star Will Smith back at the forefront, and the other absent his character. Reports indicate Smith has turned down the chance to reprise his role from the first movie, and now Emmerich and cowriters Dean Devlin and James Vanderbilt can start processing the Smith-less iteration for a set 2016 release.

Another franchise finding its footing again is The Transporter series. Originally starring Jason Statham as the kick-butt action

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star who transported goods for clients, no questions asked, the series spanned three films, and now it appears producer Luc Besson’s company EuropaCorp is aiming to re-imagine the series, starting with an origin story.

Set to be a co-production with key Chinese film studios, the origin story is expected to span another trilogy, albeit Statham-less.

More news as this develops.

And finally, Warner Brother’s follow-up to Man of Steel, tentatively titled Batman vs. Superman, has been postponed from a July 2015 release to May 6, 2016.

This has been done to allow director Zack Snyder a wider timeframe to develop his vision, and allow screenwriter Chris Terrio to make revisions to David S. Goyer’s original script. Additionally, Snyder announced the casting of two central figures in the upcoming movie. For Superman’s arch nemesis, Lex Luthor, Snyder has cast Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), walking in the role that has been played

by Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey, and for Alfred Pennyworth, the loyal butler to billionaire Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), Jeremy Irons will be replacing Michael Caine in this new DC universe. More details on Batman vs. Superman as they become available.

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

MSU Reporter • 19

A&E

All Hail the Kingsley New Marvel short busts guts and rights wrongs.

JAMES HOUTSMA A & E Editor

It’s sad that the best new thing introduced in Iron Man 3 ended up being the thing everyone hated. The reveal that the dreaded Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) was an out of work, oh-so-oblivious stage actor named Trevor Slattery was met, not just with disapproval, but with anger. All this is a shame because Kingsley kills every single moment on screen, as Trevor or “The Mandarin”.

Whether you subscribe to the idea that the plot twist was dumb or that Kingsley made it all work, the new Marvel One-Shot, All sHail the King has something to satisfy everyone. The new short film picks up as an investigative reporter is profiling Trevor in prison, where his status as a jailhouse celebrity is rising. However, not everyone is won over

by Slattery’s antics, in particular one very powerful criminal…

Having come a long way from the original One-Shot, The Consultant, All Hail the King is Marvel hitting their short film stride.

As far as quasi-apologies go, this is a pretty special offering as the short is damn funny. Writer Drew Pearce and Kingsley clearly have a blast in bringing the world’s most clueless criminal figurehead to the screen and still have a lot of ways they’re looking

Web Photo Regardless of plot controversy, there is little doubt in the fun Ben Kingsley brings.

to utilize this character. Seeing the finished product, one realizes that this is definitely a great way to go.

There’s more vibrant, tonguein-cheek fun here in this 15-minute short than there is in most comedies, highlighted by Slattery’s encounter with fellow

inmate White Power Dave, his performing “the voice” for his fanbase, making a fourth-wall breaking crack about angry internet reactions and an inspired cameo from a familiar face to the Iron Man series. Some jokes are self-referential and all are hilarious. Even those who hated

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soundtrack all help, but the treat of watching Kingsley chew the scenery again is a prize enough.

All Hail the King is now available with digital purchases of Thor: The Dark World and will be available on the physical copy of Thor: The Dark World when it releases on February 25.

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20 • MSU Reporter

A&E

Thursday, February 13, 2014

SCREEN LOVE “What (500) Days of Summer offers as an exploration of people and love is that sometimes people place their partner on an impossible pedestal, that they’re so enamored with the notion of all-encompassing love that individuality is lost in the mix.” continued from 16

ences his first love in the popular girl at school, Joanna, and resolutely vows to do anything to get noticed by her. There’s love in Jamie and Aurelia that transcends the language barrier, but is still just as powerful and gravitating. And to a darker extent, there’s faltering love in the story

Web Photo

of Harry and his wife Karen as he’s seduced by the young beauty of Mia. For them, the question becomes, where do they go from there? There’s familial love in Sarah and Michael. Sarah has long held affections for her coworker Karl, but her need to help her mentally unbalanced brother

Michael ruins her relationship with him. John and Judy represent the awkward phase of meeting someone you fancy and working up the courage to ask them out, and the arc of Juliet and Mark presents a love that cannot be returned, but burns anyway.

Love Actually examines the application of love. It doesn’t dissect it or wish to question it, the film simply celebrates it unabashedly and that is, perhaps, its biggest strength, and the reason it has garnered such longevity. Both Love Actually and (500) Days of Summer, however,

approach the subject with a very human, very realistic voice, unflinchingly presenting love in all its permeations, and that is why, above the comic fodder of the latest Jennifer Aniston romcom or regurgitated Nicholas Sparks adaptation, these two films will stand the test of time.

MSU Reporter • 21

Thursday, February 13, 2014

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507-389-5227

Emily Green wins NSIC Swimmer of the Year The swimming and diving team brought home fourth place from the NSIC Meet.

LUCAS RYAN Staff Writer

Photo Courtesy of Minnesota State Athletic Communications Junior Emily Green (above) earned provisional qualifying status in both the 100-yard backstroke and 50- yard freestyle in the NSIC championship meet.

With winter in full swing in Minnesota, most people are not thinking about swimming unless they are planning a spring break in a tropical climate far from the Midwest.

But that is not the case for Minnesota State, University Mankato junior swimmer Emily Green. While most students are finishing their lunch and getting to class the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Swimmer of the year is in the midst of training in preparation for the most prestigious NCAA Division II contest of the season.

In the humid and warm Highland Center Pool at MSU

Emily Green

Wednesday afternoon, Green trained without the rest of her team in anticipation of

GREEN• Page 23

Wilkinson awarded for hard work off hardwood The Mavericks have four road games left in the regular season before the NSIC Tournament is underway.

JOEY DENTON Sports Editor

Arnold Bagamba • MSU Reporter Senior forward Ali Wilkinson is averaging 17.7 points a game to go along with pulling down 8.1 rebounds a game while snatching two steals a game.

Most students believe that they live the busiest life on campus, including yours truly, but once you read this, that won’t be true. Just imagine working on two majors, playing a collegiate sport and being so involved in the community and social work that you earn one of the most prestigious awards a student-athlete can get. That’s what senior forward Ali Wilkinson did in four and a half years here at MSU, and the best has yet to come.

On Monday, Wilkinson saw her name along with nine other student-athletes on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Allstate Good Works Team for the astonishing community service she has provided since roll-

ing into Mankato. To make this even more special, 84 athletes from ranging from NCAA Division I to the NAIA were nominated and only five are chosen from the Division II, III and the NAIA. Along with becoming one of the best forwards the women’s program has ever had, the Blue Mounds, Wis., native took her position as a student-athlete to reach out to others and make this world just a little bit better. Beside her schoolwork, she spends her hours off the court helping out as a mentor in the girls and boys program at the YMCA and visiting nursing homes to play cards with the elderly.

Wilkinson does take some time off in the summer to recuperate and relax, but she has also spent some of that time to play with kids in Peru and Brazil. She

traveled to Peru this past summer with the New Creation World Outreach Church in Mankato from July 29 until August 22, where she got to play with the kids who don’t have a whole lot to do. Upon return, school was just starting back up and she was back to work on the hardwood.

On top of being a giver of her time and attention to others, the three-year starter is approaching elite status statistically here at MSU. As of this past weekend, Wilkinson will be upping the record for career free throws made with 441 and still has numerous games to raise the bar. She is currently eighth in career points per game (13.2), third in rebounds

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL• Page 27

22 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Lehrke’s return sparks Mavericks LaFontaine has skyrocketed to first in the NCAA for power play goals with 13, and first in the WCHA for points with 38. Not only has LaFontaine’s play improved since Lehrke’s return, but also junior Matt Leitner’s.

After a slower start than was expected of him, Leitner has been on fire. Only recording three points in those first ten games, all on assists, Leitner has posted 30 points in the 20 games since and sits in second place in the WCHA scoring race behind LaFontaine.

While calling Zach Lehrke a savior might be a stretch, it’s clear that he is a player that was missed in those first ten games this season. The high level of energy he brings to the table is something that simply cannot be taught to a player, but rather lies within their deep passion for the game. Lehrke shows plenty passion for the game each time he

laces up the skates.

“Goals for me personally are to work hard each day and do anything I can do to help this team win.” said Lehrke.

Though his days in a Maverick sweater are coming to an end, MSU fans hope that Lehrke can help the Mavs to another playoff run into the NCAA tournament like last season, capping off his spectacular senior season and career in Mankato. His hopes are just the same.

“Obviously everybody wants to play in the Frozen Four, so that is definitely a team goal, but there are other goals to succeed in prior to that happening” he said, “we need to win the first round of the playoffs and getting to the final five, then win the final five and make the NCAA tournament, and then winning two games to get to the frozen four.”

Lehrke and the Mavs are back in action at home in a WCHA

Arnold Bagamba • MSU Reporter

COLLISION CENTER

After a muscle condition supposedly knocked MSU skater Zach Lehrke out of college athletics, he is back to lead MSU and create a buzz for his teammates.

DEREK LAMBERT Staff Writer Earlier this year I wrote an article about Minnesota State University, Mankato senior Zach Lehkre deciding to hang up the skates and call an end to his hockey career. A muscle condition that left the Park Rapids, Minn. native in pain most days forced him to retire from hockey just before his final season at MSU began.

Lehrke was a pivotal part of

Zach Lehrke

the Maverick’s lineup the past two seasons and received more than his fair share of time on the power play. Heading into this season, it looked as if though he would be a big part of the Mavs lineup and one of the leaders on the team, but then he decided his body had taken its toll, and called it quits.

That didn’t last too long however, and Lehrke did in fact become a big part of this year’s team. The muscle condition wasn’t enough to keep him from playing the game he loves, and

he decided to join his teammates and finish out his senior season, and his return has been nothing short of a blessing.

“I guess it was really hard to watch the guys play” said Lehrke, “I missed it a lot, as I knew I would but I thought to myself why would I forego my senior season when growing up I have put countless amount of hours into this game and have gone this far with all the pain I go through, it just didn’t seem fair to myself to hang them up yet for good.”

Lehrke was itching to get back on the ice, even if he knew it meant skating through the pain every day. He was humble in his experience, and very aware of how lucky he is to have the opportunity he has.

“Basically I told myself that I have one year left to play and not everybody is lucky enough to say they get to play division one hockey” said Lehrke.

The Mavericks, who hold a record of 17-13, were 4-6 before the return of Lehrke. He returned to the lineup on Nov. 22nd in the series at Bowling Green State University and his impact was immediately felt as he assisted on a power play goal in the first period of his return, and added another power play assist the next night. Two points in his first two games, and he has been keeping pace ever since.

Averaging just over a point per game with seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points through 20 games, Lehrke is on pace for a career high season point total, and in fewer games than the previous two seasons. Lehrke says he hasn’t changed anything

about his game from the past few seasons, but the relationship between him and his team is what helps him succeed.

“I know that the coaches and my teammates have lots of confidence in me on the ice and especially on the power play” said Lehrke, “so I think that helps out tremendously, as confidence seems to elevate my game to a new level.”

Not only is Lehrke reaping the benefits of returning to the team, but his team has benefited as well. Sitting at 4-6 before Lehrke’s comeback, the Maverick power play was hovering around a dismal nine percent success rate. Since the Bowling Green series that saw his return, the Mavs have improved their power play to 25 percent, which is good for second in the NCAA. Captain Johnny McInnis spoke during the North Star College Cup of the improvement of the power play.

“It’s Lehkre”, he said, “He has great poise running the power play and just has a way of knowing how to find people.”

Lehrke, not being one to take all the credit, points to his line mates on the power play for the turnaround.

“We are a familiar group with each other” he said, “ we were together for the most part last year, so I think that is why our power play is successful.”

The extra punch he has brought the power play has also aided certain individuals in stepping up their game.

With the improvement of the power play since Zach returned to the lineup, junior Jean-Paul

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MSU Reporter • 23

Sports

Green “We have a really really tight team camaraderie. We hare all getting our butts kicked together through the hard workouts. We are all sleep deprived, we all wake up for 6 a.m. lifts. We are here every afternoon when maybe we necessarily don’t want to, but we have each other to push through the workouts and get us through wehn we are struggling a little bit,” Green said. “My teammates are my best friends.” continued from 21 extend beyond swimming.

“We have a really really tight team camaraderie. We are all getting our butts kicked together through the hard work outs.

We are all sleep deprived, we all wake up for 6 a.m. lifts. We are here every afternoon when maybe we necessarily don’t really want to, but we have each other to push through the workouts and get us through when we are struggling a little bit.”

Green said. “My teammates are my best friends.”

Green has definitely put in the hard work to get to where she is now. Swimming becomes a year-round sport at this level, where commitment to training is essential to success in the water.

“She is super motivated, she loves swimming, she is really easy for us to work with just because of her work ethic and the passion she has for this sport.

She has done a ton of work to really get to this point over the last couple years, putting in a lot of work in the weight room

Photo Courtesy of Minnesota State Athletic Communications The Mavericks were well represented in the NSIC Championship Meet, including Alyssa Olson who placed seventh in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 18:08.83.

qualifying for the NCAA DII Championships. Green posted NCAA “B” qualifying standards in the 100-yard backstroke at the NSIC Champion-

Alyssa Olson

ships this past weekend. Green currently has the eighth best time in the nation, but with many swimmers still competing, Green must remain within a top-16 time to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

The Lincoln, Neb., native began swimming when she was about 10 years old. By the time she was a teen, she had joined a

local swim club team and started to experience some success in competitions. The success early in Green’s swim career and her competitive spirit made Green interested in college swimming. “(College swimming) is kind of the end goal for club swimmers,” Green said. “I am naturally a really competitive person in anything I do. I think once I started competitive swimming and I actually got pretty good at it, that it was fun to win for me and any aspect that I can be competitive and can win, I enjoy a lot.”

Out of high school Green spent one year swimming at the University of Vermont before becoming a Maverick in 2012.

Green had an immediate positive impact at MSU. She was a member of the school record breaking 400-freestyle relay, while setting individual MSU records in the 100 and 200yard backstroke.

At the NSIC Championships over the weekend Green earned the top-spot in the 100yard backstroke, and finished second in the 50 yard freestyle,

earning provisional qualifying marks in both events. Green was also announced as the conference swimmer of the year at the event.

“I was actually really surprised,” Greens said about winning the award. “It is just really exciting. It is a really big honor to have my hard work acknowledged and paid off” Green has demonstrated an exceptional work ethic accord-

Nate Owens

ing to Owens. Going through the hard workouts can bring a team closer together and cause teammates to form bonds that

last summer,” Swimming Head Coach Nathan Owens said.

“She is as strong as she has ever been and she is swimming as well as she has in her entire life.”

Green competes in several short distance sprits, but her specialty is the 100-Backstorke. The versatility allows her to train several strokes in practice and develop a very well-rounded swim game.

“She is a really good allaround swimmer, she is very competitive, she is very versatile. There are four competitive strokes and she is really really good at three of them,” Owens said. “So she is able to train a lot of different strokes in advance and I think that really takes some pressure off her main event, which is backstroke.”

Greens biggest strength is her explosiveness and power, but her personality and mental approach to competitive swimming also allows her to succeed.

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24 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Thursday, February 13, 2014

There goes Jeter, the best of a generation When people think of baseball, they think of this man right here, Derek Jeter. For years, he has been the prime example of a great competitor and class. The shortstop for the New York Yankees announced Wednesday this season will be his last chance for another World Series Championship. forward in one, flawless motion during his magnificent swing.

His hands would fly through the zone and connect with impeccable timing as he rocked back towards behind the plate while the ball rocketed towards the gap in left center.

Simply put, choose a player that epitomizes this generation of baseball: Derek Jeter. I choose

Derek Jeter because it seemed like nobody worked as hard as he did, nobody cared more about winning than he did, and nobody backed it up as much as he did.

To the people who despise Jeter because of his high onbase-percentage or ability to grab a big hit whenever the situation arose, shame on you. In a sport above all that can relay

success from team-to-team, Jeter awed everybody. As Americans we have never had the problem of cheering for players who aren’t associated with our organization in baseball, and that was how I always felt about the Yankee shortstop. I may not have liked when it seemed like every outing of his against my beloved Twins yielded a two

“I was shocked when I heard the news today. Derek Jeter has been the face of baseball for a long time and though I knew his time was coming, I just put off the idea of retirement. The baseball world, at the end of the season, will lose one of its best .”

- Reece Hemmesch, Editor in Chief

for four night, but I respected the guy. I respected and still do respect Derek Jeter more than any other player whose career fell during my 21 years on this planet.

Even through his ‘Jeter

Cheater’ phase, where fans everyone were aghast at his onfield doings, he saw it as any way to win. In baseball there are two kinds of cheating: doing something over time that will arguably make you a better player

without having to put in any extra work, and pulling simple stunts in game situations that can render your team victorious

JETER• Page 25

Photo Courtesy of Associated Press In this Sept. 11, 2009 photo, New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter waves to the crowd after hitting a single to pass Lou Gehrig’s all-time Yankees hit record during the third inning of a baseball game in New York.

American folk thought simple modifications like the designated hitter, astro turf and night games would be the ultimate demise of baseball in this country. Similarly, scandals like eight men conspiring to throw the World Series, owners holding an iron-like grip on their players or performance enhancing drugs could have been the final nail in the coffin for the pastime of America.

Baseball has been in deep, dark places before, where having to crawl their way out on their forearms, but besides the disruptive ending towards the career of Lou Gehrig, baseball will never be as hurt over the aftermath of a single player leaving as it is now, with New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter deciding to hang up his NY cap for the

last time at the end of the 2014 season.

No man better exemplifies what a baseball player should be like than the class and propriety of DJ, the role model of an entire generation that currently finds itself without one of the greatest heroes on the diamond.

As players slowly began to speak their minds, shy away from signing autographs and from being an old-time ballplayer, there was Jeter. When a time came in baseball where no one worth a nickel could be trusted without the possibility of three letters popping into the minds of everyone, there was Jeter.

When everybody else in baseball looked almost inflated due to a decade-long struggle with performance enhancing drugs, there was Jeter, with the same skinny-framed body and long swing: as his front leg sweeping back and forcefully falling

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Sports

MSU Reporter • 25

JETER “No man better exemplifies what a baseball player should be like than the class and propriety of DJ, the role model of an entire generation that currently finds itself without one of the greatest heroes on the diamond.” continued from 24 even when the outlook appears bleak. There are rules against the former, nothing against the latter, where Jeter shined as magnificently as anyone.

Many would gripe when Jeter would jump out of the box holding his left elbow and wincing in pain on a pitch that appeared to just miss the corner of the plate and come nowhere near the arm of DJ. Because of who he was, and who he played for, he could get away with these types of things, but there are no rules against it. Jeter purely did anything in a game to make sure his squad could have a better chance of winning.

Pretending to be hit by a pitch, phantom tags at second and even fist pumping while crossing the plate after an errant move from teammate Alex Rodriguez as he knocked the ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s glove in game six of the 2004 ALCS. Jeter knew ARod knocked it out; you would have to be plain blind to not see that, but as he crossed the plate looking as if he had just tied the game, he knew a simple gesture like raising his fist in triumph (done so many times before by the elegant SS) could possibly sway an umpire to see a different viewpoint of the play.

‘If you ain’t cheating you ain’t

trying’ has become kosher in the world of baseball due to the style of play that Jeter brought to the table, which reminded of us a spitball, cleats-up-slide era where guts and determination were the only two tools to look at. An honest, trustworthy ball player is something that can be celebrated, but never once have I dogged Derek Jeter for attempting to win a baseball game by prolonging a situation to get what he wants.

Much like Lou Gehrig, Jeter once again showed his true, blue pride Wednesday by taking to Facebook and producing one of the most sophisticated declarations of retirement I had heard since the old footage of an ALS-ridden Lou Gehrig stepped into Yankee Stadium and called himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. Thanking everybody in the Yankee organization, his family, and his fans, Jeter ended it by saying he was going to fight one last time to bring the Commissioner’s Trophy back to the Bronx.

Five years ago, Don Zimmer, a longtime baseball name playfully said ‘he might go down, when it’s all over, as the alltime Yankee’ speaking of the celebrated shortstop. Well Mr. Zimmer, you might be correct,

Web Photo The 19-year-old Tyler Wade is a prime candidate to be the next great shortstop in pinstripes.

because no name has resonated alongside the colorful and terrific history of the Yankees as Jeter’s has in quite some time.

Yankee fans have always been looking for the next guy to add to the list, the list of the best that includes old-time names like Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Mantle.

Over the years the Yankees have had possibilities of other players joining the ranks of the best players in baseball’s most prolific franchise, guys like Rizzuto, Munson, Mattingly and Jackson, who could have been billed as some of the best all-time, had they not been produced in an organization where the best is a year-in and year-out affair.

He won, he did it gracefully and he did it the right way, which is why Derek Jeter will leave the game with his name directly after Mantle’s in the list of Yankee lore; his legacy will also be known as one of the best and most-loved players in a generation jockeyed by scandal, and though the period is still in its teenaged years, Derek Jeter will no questions asked be forever known as the 21st century Mr. Yankee.

Photo Courtesy of Associated Press In this Oct. 6, 2010 photo, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter reacts after throwing out Minnesota Twins’ Denard Span to end the eighth inning of Game 1 of baseball’s American League Division Series in Minneapolis.

Jeter says he will retire after this season.

26 • MSU Reporter

Sports

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Mavericks head up to Grand Forks for a WCHA Showdown against North Dakota Coming down the home stretch, the Mavericks look to end their 2013-2014 campaign on a high note after building some momentum from last weekend.

LUKE CARLSON Staff Writer

Four games remain for the Minnesota State women’s hockey team this season and the pace is still picking up for the ladies in purple. The Mavericks start the

Nicole Germaine

final stretch with a trip to Grand Forks, ND this weekend for a pair of afternoon games against the University of North Dakota, the last two remaining road games on the schedule.

The final road trip will be a challenging one for the Mavericks, North Dakota is playing well this year with a 17-7-4 record, good enough for third in the WCHA behind only Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as fourth in the country. North Dakota averages 2.96 goals and 34.4 shots per game, while yielding an impressive 2.04 goals and 22.9 shots per game to its opponents.

Luckily for the Mavericks, two of North Dakota’s top point

getters, senior Michelle Karvinen and freshman Susanna Tapani, will miss the games this weekend due to commitments with Team Finland at the Olympics in Sochi.

Other top players for North Dakota include junior forward Josefine Jakobsen, who leads the team with 17 assists and 30 points, and sophomore forward Meghan Dufault, who follows Jakobsen with 22 points on the year. North Dakota is backstopped by sophomore goaltender Shelby Amsley-Benzie, who holds a 2.11 goals against average and a .906 save percentage in 17 starts on the season.

But just as encouraging for the Mavericks is their record against North Dakota, which stands at a solid 22-18-6 all-time during the two teams’ 15-year rivalry in the WCHA. And even though MSU has dropped their last pair of games to North Dakota in 2-5 and 1-2 losses at All Seasons Arena back in December, the Mavericks will strike back with a potent offense which has lit the lamp more consistently over the last few games.

Leading the Maverick charge are senior forwards Nicole Germaine and Kari Lundberg, who lead the team with 22 and 20 points, respectively. Top goal scorers for MSU are represented by senior forward Tracy McCann and junior forward Kathleen Rogan, who have 10 and 11 goals, respectively. Senior forward Lauren Barnes leads the team in the assist category with 14.

The Maverick blue line is

manned by senior defenseman Danielle Scholzen, junior defenseman Shelby Moteyunas, and freshman defenseman Anna Fiegert. Moteyunas leads the MSU defensive core with 2 goals and 11 points on the season.

The MSU goalmouth is normally guarded by veteran senior goaltender Danielle Butters, who boasts a .915 save percentage in 23 starts, but backup sophomore goaltender Erin Krichiver has been lighting up the highlight reel with solid performances as well. Tallying a 1.93 goals against average and a .943 save percentage in seven starts, Krichiver has been stellar as of late,

Danielle Scholzen

going 1-0-1 and posting 29 and 28-save performances against St. Cloud State this past weekend.

With a bit of steam on their side after a solid weekend at home, the Mavericks hope to burst onto the scene early against a North Dakota penalty kill that

Ronald Sojjoba • MSU Reporter

holds an 81.9% success rate and a power play that only converts on 16.7% of its chances on the advantage.

It will be up to the Mavericks, with its good crop of goal scorers, to strike early and often in order to stay in the game with a North Dakota team that has scored 83 goals on the year. With

some solid play from its goaltenders, MSU hopes to dislodge North Dakota this weekend and improve on its 10-19-1 record and seventh place standing in the conference. The first puck drops in Ralph Engelstand Arena in Grand Forks at 2:07 pm Saturday afternoon.

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MSU Reporter • 27

Sports

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL “This is an amazing award that I’ve been able to get,” Wilkinson said. “I think it stands above everything else because it doesn’t have anything to do with my athletic ability, but me as a person.”

continued from 21

Photo Courtesy of Minnesota State Athletic Communications

(874), and fourth in scoring (1,520). But these numbers appear inexistent to the accolade she received on Monday.

“This is an amazing award that I’ve been able to get,” Wilkinson said. “I think it stands above everything else because it doesn’t have anything to do with my athletic ability, but me as a person.”

According to second-year head coach Emilee Thiesse, this award sums up Wilkinson as a leader and a person.

“I’m very proud of Ali. This award as well as all the other

awards that she has gotten have been really significant from a standpoint that it really shows how much work she puts in,” Thiesse said. “Whether it’s on the court awards, she’s really dedicated herself to becoming a better player and being the type of leader we need her to be, and then off the court, she doesn’t let the commitments of basketball hold her back from anything she wants to do.”

Wilkinson didn’t drink a magic potion when she came to MSU, her equation for her suc-

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cess was finding her talents on the hardwood and her love for helping others and executing them with a tremendous amount of hard work. That’s all there is to it. When asked about the one thing she will take from this fiveyear experience, she flat out said, “Work ethic.”

“It starts off in the postseason,

offseason, everything. It’s gone down to these last weeks that really matter,” Wilkinson said.

“Just the work ethic in school, the work ethic in everything outside of school and basketball, that’s what’s really going to last with me the longest.”

With all the accolades and awards Wilkinson has received, Thiesse doesn’t believe they show her best quality.

“She’s got the talent and the abilities, but she never lets that become the most important focus in her life. It’s her very humble attitude. It’s about the team, and she’s just a very selfless player, and a lot of very talented basketball players end up a little more concerned about themselves, and Ali has never done that.”

The Mavericks are on a mission of their own with just four regular season games left before the big NSIC dance starts on Feb. 26 and trying to possibly clinch the no. 1 seed in the tournament.

Sitting in third place in the NSIC with a 14-4 conference record, the no. 21 Mavericks will take on these four opponents with these conference records: Bemidji State (4-14), Minnesota Crookston (6-12), Sioux Falls (8-10) and Southwest Minnesota State (2-16). This schedule will give the Mavericks hope for a no.

1 seed, but they will need to get the job done, with some luck, in these next two weekends.

This squad can score with the best of them, averaging 82.9 points per game, which is sixth in

NCAA Division II, and Wilkinson sitting in second in points per game in the NSIC (17.7). Defense will determine how long their season will last: they give up 67.3 points a night, but all five losses were results of the Purple and Gold giving up 79 points or more.

“That’s going to be the most important thing as we hit the road for four games and heading into the conference tournament,” Thiesse said. “We’ve got to be able to get stops on the road, we’ve got to be solid in our defense and let that create our offense.”

The squad is currently on a six-game winning streak and the most they gave up in that span was 68 points against University of Mary on Jan. 31.

“I think we have finally kind of come to our identity of who we are. We’ve learned from a few of our losses this year, and I think we are really started taking some steps forward in regards to our defense and that being the backbone of who we are,” Thiesse said.

Playing as a team has been a strong point for the Mavericks, and according to Wilkinson, that’s what’s going to need to happen from here on out.

“We have to play together,” Wilkinson said. “We have to play aggressive, our defense needs to make stops and make plays on offense. As long as we work together, I don’t think anyone can stop us.”

28 • MSU Reporter

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Thursday, February 13, 2014